appointment. The form was not that of Flora, nor was the face visible;
and, to crown his vexation, while he laboured with the nail to enlarge
the hole, that he might obtain a more complete view, a slight noise
betrayed his purpose, and the object of his curiosity instantly
disappeared, nor, so far as he could observe, did she again revisit the
cottage.

All precautions to blockade his view were from that time abandoned, and
he was not only permitted but assisted to rise, and quit what had been,
in a literal sense, his couch of confinement. But he was not allowed to
leave the hut; for the young Highlander had now rejoined his senior, and
one or other was constantly on the watch. Whenever Waverley approached
the cottage dooi the sentinel upon duty civilly, but resolutely, placed
himself against it and opposed his exit, accompanying his action with
signs which seemed to imply there was danger in the attempt and an enemy
in the neighbourhood. Old Janet appeared anxious and upon the watch; and
Waverley, who had not yet recovered strength enough to attempt to take
his departure in spite of the opposition of his hosts, was under the
necessity of remaining patient His fare was, in every point of view,
better than he could have conceived, for poultry, and even wine, were no
strangers to his table. The Highlanders never presumed to eat with him,
and, unless in the circumstance of watching him, treated him with great
respect. His sole amusement was gazing from the window, or rather the
shapeless aperture which was meant to answer the purpose of a window,
upon a large and rough brook, which raged and foamed through a rocky
channel, closely canopied with trees and bushes, about ten feet beneath
the site of his house of captivity.

Upon the sixth day of his confinement Waverley found himself so well that
he began to meditate his escape from this dull and miserable
prison-house, thinking any risk which he might incur in the attempt
preferable to the stupefying and intolerable uniformity of Janet's
retirement. The question indeed occurred, whither he was to direct his
course when again at his own disposal. Two schemes seemed practicable,
yet both attended with danger and difficulty. One was to go back to
Glennaquoich and join Fergus Mac-Ivor, by whom he was sure to be kindly
received; and in the present state of his mind, the rigour with which he
had been treated fully absolved him, in his own eyes, from his allegiance
to the existing