you and I to travel, hand in hand, into Immanuel's land?--or, but do my
poor eyes deceive me, and are these only our good friends, the fair
traders, come to the rescue, under God and his mercy, in the time of our
need?"

"Indeed," responded a known voice--that, namely, at whose bidding the work
of death had been staid--"indeed, Mr Lawson, we are friends and not foes;
and, whilst our cattle, which are a little blawn, with the haste into which
they were hurried by old Walter here--until the beasts bite, I say, and eat
their corn, we will e'en thank God, and take a little whet of the creature.
You know, such comforts are not forbidden in the laws of Moses, or, indeed,
in any laws but those of this persecuted and oppressed land."

So saying, he disengaged from a hamper a flagon of Nantz, and was about to
make use of the Sacramental cup, which Douglas had dropped, to convey it
around, when his arm was arrested by the still strong hand of Walter.

"For the sake of God and his church--of Him who shed his blood for poor
sinners--profane not, I beseech you, the consecrated, the hallowed vessel
which I have so lately held in these vile hands as the emblem of my
purification through the blood of sprinkling--profane not, I say, that
vessel which, when all worldly goods were forfeited and relinquished as
things of no value, our worthy pastor has borne along with him--being the
gift of his parishioners--to the mountain and the glen--to the desert and
the wilderness!"

There needed no further admonition; the cup was deposited in the hands of
its owner, and the whole _posse comitatus_ spread themselves out on the
grass--for, though all around was heath, this little spot was green and
lovely--and, by applying the vessel directly to their lips, each one took a
draught so long and hearty that the captain or leader had again and again
to replenish the measure. Nor were Lawson and old Walter Gibson behind in
this work of refreshment. Many a day they had laid themselves down to rest
in the damp and cold cave, with little of food and with nothing to cheer
and support them but a mouthful, from time to time, of the _Solway
waters_--viz., _smuggled brandy_. We are all the children, to a great
amount, of circumstances; and the very men who, but a little ago, were
engaged in the most solemn act of religion, and counted themselves as at
the point of death--these very men were now so much cheered, and even
exhilarated, by the reviving cordial, th