he field of action, though some stood fearfully gazing at a distance.
About sixty or seventy dragoons lay slain within the first enclosure,
upon the highroad, and on the open moor. Of the Highlanders, not above a
dozen had fallen, chiefly those who, venturing too far on the moor, could
not regain the strong ground. He could not find the body of Fergus among
the slain. On a little knoll, separated from the others, lay the
carcasses of three English dragoons, two horses, and the page Callum Beg,
whose hard skull a trooper's broadsword had, at length, effectually
cloven. It was possible his clan had carried off the body of Fergus; but
it was also possible he had escaped, especially as Evan Dhu, who would
never leave his Chief, was not found among the dead; or he might be
prisoner, and the less formidable denunciation inferred from the
appearance of the Bodach Glas might have proved the true one. The
approach of a party sent for the purpose of compelling the country people
to bury the dead, and who had already assembled several peasants for that
purpose, now obliged Edward to rejoin his guide, who awaited him in great
anxiety and fear under shade of the plantations.

After leaving this field of death, the rest of their journey was happily
accomplished. At the house of Farmer Williams, Edward passed for a young
kinsman, educated for the church, who was come to reside there till the
civil tumults permitted him to pass through the country. This silenced
suspicion among the kind and simple yeomanry of Cumberland, and accounted
sufficiently for the grave manners and retired habits of the new guest.
The precaution became more necessary than Waverley had anticipated, as a
variety of incidents prolonged his stay at Fasthwaite, as the farm was
called.

A tremendous fall of snow rendered his departure impossible for more than
ten days. When the roads began to become a little practicable, they
successively received news of the retreat of the Chevalier into Scotland;
then, that he had abandoned the frontiers, retiring upon Glasgow; and
that the Duke of Cumberland had formed the siege of Carlisle. His army,
therefore, cut off all possibility of Waverley's escaping into Scotland
in that direction. On the eastern border Marshal Wade, with a large
force, was advancing upon Edinburgh; and all along the frontier, parties
of militia, volunteers, and partizans were in arms to suppress
insurrection, and apprehend such stragglers from the Highla