I rue something for the
bit lassie; but he'll get anither, and little skaith dune--ane is as
gude as anither. And now, you that like to hear o' splores, heard ye
ever o' a better ane than I hae had this morning?"

"Air, ocean, and fire," said the Dwarf, speaking to himself, "the
earthquake, the tempest, the volcano, are all mild and moderate,
compared to the wrath of man. And what is this fellow, but one more
skilled than others in executing the end of his existence?--Hear me,
felon, go again where I before sent thee."

"To the Steward?"

"Ay; and tell him, Elshender the Recluse commands him to give thee gold.
But, hear me, let the maiden be discharged free and uninjured; return
her to her friends, and let her swear not to discover thy villainy."

"Swear," said Westburnflat; "but what if she break her aith? Women are
not famous for keeping their plight. A wise man like you should ken
that.--And uninjured--wha kens what may happen were she to be left lang
at Tinning-Beck? Charlie Cheat-the-Woodie is a rough customer. But if
the gold could be made up to twenty pieces, I think I could ensure her
being wi' her friends within the twenty-four hours."

The Dwarf took his tablets from his pocket, marked a line on them, and
tore out the leaf. "There," he said, giving the robber the leaf--"But,
mark me; thou knowest I am not to be fooled by thy treachery; if thou
darest to disobey my directions, thy wretched life, be sure, shall
answer it."

"I know," said the fellow, looking down, "that you have power on earth,
however you came by it; you can do what nae other man can do, baith by
physic and foresight; and the gold is shelled down when ye command, as
fast as I have seen the ash-keys fall in a frosty morning in October. I
will not disobey you."

"Begone, then, and relieve me of thy hateful presence."

The robber set spurs to his horse, and rode off without reply.

Hobbie Elliot had, in the meanwhile, pursued his journey rapidly,
harassed by those oppressive and indistinct fears that all was not
right, which men usually term a presentiment of misfortune. Ere he
reached the top of the bank from which he could look down on his own
habitation, he was met by his nurse, a person then of great consequence
in all families in Scotland, whether of the higher or middling classes.
The connexion between them and their foster-children was considered a
tie far too dearly intimate to be broken; and it usually happened, in
the course o