lph, smiling, "that I do
not at all fly, nor shall I know why I should not remain where I am
until you tell me."

"Then know that your life's not worth a pin's fee if you remain here
to be taken. Oh, that Garth--that devil's garth--that--that--_Joe_
Garth!"

There was clearly no epithet that suited better with Monsey's mood
than the said monster's proper name.

"Friends," said Ralph, more seriously, "it's clear I can't leave
before I see my father buried, and it's just as clear I can't see him
buried if I stay. With your help I may do both--that is, seem to do
both."

"How? how? unfold--I can interpret you no conundrums," said Monsey.
"To go, and yet not to go, that is the question."

"Can I help you?" said Robbie with the simplicity of earnestness.

"Go back, schoolmaster, to the Lion."

"I know it--I've been there before--well?"

"Say, if your conscience will let you--I know how tender it is--say
you saw me go over Lauvellen in the direction of Fairfield. Say this
quietly--say it to old Matthew in a whisper and as a secret; that will
be enough."

"I've shared with that patriarch some secrets before now, and they've
been common property in an hour--common as the mushrooms on the
common--common as his common saws--common--"

"Robbie, the burial will take place the day after to-morrow, at three
in the afternoon, at the kirk-garth--"

"Oh, that Garth,--that devil's garth--that Joe--"

"At the kirk-garth at Gosforth," continued Ralph. "Go round the city
and the dale, and bid every master and mistress within the warning to
Shoulthwaite Moss at nine o'clock in the morning. Be there yourself as
the representative of the family, and see all our old customs
observed. The kirk-garth is twenty miles away, across rugged mountain
country, and you must follow the public pass."

"Styehead Pass?"

Ralph nodded assent. "Start away at eleven o'clock; take the old mare
to bear the body; let the boy ride the young horse, and chain him to
the mare at the bottom of the big pass. These men, these spies, these
constables, whatever they may be, will lie in wait for me about the
house that morning. If they don't find me at my father's funeral
they'll then believe that I must have gone. Do _you_ hold the mare's
head, Robbie--mind that. When you get to the top of the pass, perhaps
some one will relieve you--perhaps so, perhaps not. You understand?"

"I do."

"Let nothing interfere with this plan as I give it you. If you fail