r all. We will go
by ourselves first, and I will tell you if it is necessary to send any
farther."

The two dames, the very next morning, dressed themselves like country
goodwives, and, hiring two stout ponies furnished with pillions, they
took their journey westward, and the second evening after leaving
Edinburgh they arrived at the village about two miles below Dalcastle,
where they alighted. But Mrs. Logan, being anxious to have Mrs.
Calvert's judgment, without either hint or preparation, took care not
to mention that they were so near to the end of their journey. In
conformity with this plan, she said, after they had sat a while:
"Heigh-ho, but I am weary! What, suppose we should rest a day here
before we proceed farther on our journey?"

Mrs. Calvert was leaning on the casement and looking out when her
companion addressed these words to her, and by far too much engaged to
return any answer, for her eyes were riveted on two young men who
approached from the farther end of the village; and at length, turning
round her head, she said, with the most intense interest, "Proceed
farther on our journey, did you say? That we need not do; for, as I
live, here comes the very man!"

Mrs. Logan ran to the window, and, behold, there was indeed Robert
Wringhim Colwan (now the Laird of Dalcastle) coming forward almost
below their window, walking arm in arm with another young man; and, as
the two passed, the latter looked up and made a sly signal to the two
dames, biting his lip, winking with his left eye, and nodding his head.
Mrs. Calvert was astonished at this recognizance, the young man's
former companion having made exactly such another signal on the night
of the duel, by the light of the moon; and it struck her, moreover,
that she had somewhere seen this young man's face before. She looked
after him, and he winked over his shoulder to her; but she was
prevented from returning his salute by her companion, who uttered a
loud cry, between a groan and shriek, and fell down on the floor with a
rumble like a wall that had suddenly been undermined. She had fainted
quite away, and required all her companion's attention during the
remainder of the evening, for she had scarcely ever well recovered out
of one fit before she fell into another, and in the short intervals she
raved like one distracted or in a dream. After falling into a sound
sleep by night, she recovered her equanimity, and the two began to
converse seriously on what