When Winterton had finished his drink, which he did hastily, he proposed
to my grandfather that they should take a stroll through the town; and
my grandfather being eager to throw stour in his eyes, was readily
consenting thereto.
"Weel," said the knave, when he had warily led him into the abbey
kirk-yard, "I didna think ye would hae gane back to my Lord; but it's a'
very weel, since he has looked o'er what's past, and gi'en you a new
dark."
"He's very indulgent," replied my grandfather, "and I would be looth to
wrang so kind a master;" and he looked at Winterton. The varlet,
however, never winced, but rejoined lightly,--
"But I wish you had come back to Widow Rippet's, for ye would hae spar't
me a hard ride. Scarcely had ye ta'en the road when my Lord mindit that
he had neglekit to gie you the sign, by the which ye were to make
yoursel and message kent to his friends, and I was sent after to tell
you."
"I'm glad o' that," replied my grandfather; "what is't?" Winterton was a
thought molested by this thrust of a question, and for the space of
about a minute said nothing, till he had considered with himself, when
he rejoined,--
"Three lads were sent off about the same time wi' you, and the Earl was
nae quite sure, he said, whilk of you a' he had forgotten to gie the
token whereby ye would be known as his men. But the sign for the Earl of
Eglinton, to whom I guess ye hae been sent, by coming to Kilwinning, is
no the same as for the Lord Boyd, to whom I thought ye had been
missioned; for I hae been at the Dean Castle, and finding you not there,
followed you hither."
"I'll be plain wi' you," said my grandfather to this draughty speech.
"I'm bound to the Lord Boyd; but coming through Paisley, when I reached
the place where the twa roads branched, I took the ane that brought me
here, instead of the gate to Kilmarnock; so, as soon as my beast has
eaten his corn, I mean to double back to the Dean Castle."
"How, in the name of the saints and souls, did ye think, in going frae
Glasgow to Kilmarnock, o' taking the road to Paisley?"
"'Deed, an' ye were acquaint," said my grandfather, "wi' how little I
knew o' the country, ye would nae speir that question; but since we hae
fallen in thegither, and are baith, ye ken, in my Lord Glencairn's
service, I hope you'll no objek to ride back wi' me to the Lord Boyd's."
"Then it's no you that was sent to the Earl of Eglinton?" exclaimed
Winterton, pretending more surprise than he felt; "and all my journey
has been for naething. Howsever, I'll go back wi' you to Kilmarnock, and
the sooner we gang the better."
Little farther discourse then passed, for they returned to the hostel,
and ordering out their horses, were soon on the road; and as they
trotted along, Winterton was overly outspoken against the papisticals,
calling them all kinds of ill names, and no sparing the Queen Regent.
But my grandfather kept a calm tongue, and made no reflections.
"Howsever," said Winterton, pulling up his bridle and walking his horse
as they were skirting the moor of Irvine, leaving the town about a mile
off on the right, "you and me, Gilhaize, that are but servants, need nae
fash our heads wi' sic things. The wyte o' wars lie at the doors of
kings, and the soldiers are free o' the sin o' them. But how will ye get
into the presence and confidence of the Lord Boyd?"
"I thought," replied my grandfather, pawkily, "that ye had gotten our
master's token; and I maun trust to you."
"Oh," cried Winterton, "I got but the ane for the lad sent to Eglinton
Castle."
"And ha'e ye been there?" said my grandfather.
Winterton didna let wot that he heard this, but, stooping over on the
off-side of his horse, pretended he was righting something about his
stirrup-leather. My grandfather was, however, resolved to prob him to
the quick; so, when he was again sitting upright, he repeated the
question, if he had been to Eglinton Castle.
"O, ay," cried the false loon; "I was there, but the bird was flown."
"And how got he the ear of the Earl," said my grandfather, "not having
the sign?"
"In for a penny in for a pound," was Winterton's motto, and ae lie with
him was father to a race. "Luckily for him," replied he, "some of the
serving-men kent him as being in Glencairn's service, so they took him
to their master."
My grandfather had no doubt that there was some truth in this, though he
was sure Winterton knew little about it; for it agreed with what James
Coom, the smith, had said about the lads from Eglinton that had been at
his smiddy to get the horses shod, and remembering the leathern purses
under the Earl his master's pillow, he was persuaded that there had been
a messenger sent to the head of the Montgomeries, and likewise to other
lords, friends of the Congregation; but he saw that Winterton went by
guess, and lied at random. Still, though not affecting to notice it, nor
expressing any distrust, he could not help saying to him, that he had
come a long way, and after all it looked like a gowk's errand.
The remark, however, only served to give Winterton inward satisfaction,
and he replied with a laugh, that it made little odds to him where he
was sent, and that he'd as lief ride in Ayrshire as sorn about the
causey of Enbrough.
In this sort of talk and conference they rode on together, the o'ercome
every now and then of Winterton's discourse being concerning the proof
my grandfather carried with him, whereby the Lord Boyd would know he was
one of Glencairn's men. But, notwithstanding all his wiles and devices
to howk the secret out of him, his drift being so clearly discerned, my
grandfather was enabled to play with him till they were arrived at
Kilmarnock, where Winterton proposed to stop till he had delivered his
message to the Lord Boyd, at the Dean Castle.
"That surely cannot be," replied my grandfather; "for ye ken, as there
has been some mistak about the sign whereby I am to make myself known,
ye'll ha'e to come wi' me to expound, in case of need. In trooth, now
that we hae forgatherit, and as I ha'e but this ae message to a' the
shire of Ayr, I would fain ha'e your company till I see the upshot."
Winterton could not very easily make a refusal to this, but he hesitated
and swithered, till my grandfather urged him again;--when, seeing no
help for it, and his companion, as he thought, entertaining no suspicion
of him, he put on a bold face and went forward.
When they had come to the Dean Castle, which stands in a pleasant green
park about a mile aboon the town-head of Kilmarnock, on entering the
gate, my grandfather hastily alighted, and giving his horse a sharp
prick of his spur as he lap off, the beast ran capering out of his hand,
round the court of the castle.
With the well-feigned voice of great anxiety, my grandfather cried to
the servants to shut the gate and keep it in; and Winterton alighting,
ran to catch it, giving his own horse to a stripling to hold. At the
same moment, however, my grandfather sprung upon him, and seizing him by
the throat, cried out for help to master a spy.
Winterton was so confounded that he gasped and looked round like a man
demented, and my grandfather ordered him to be taken by the serving-men
to their master, before whom, when they were all come, he recounted the
story of his adventures with the prisoner, telling his Lordship what his
master, the Earl of Glencairn, suspected of him. To which, when
Winterton was asked what he had to say, he replied bravely, that it was
all true, and he was none ashamed to be so catched, when it was done by
so clever a fellow.
He was then ordered by the Lord Boyd to be immured in the dungeon-room,
the which may be seen to this day; and though his captivity was
afterwards somewhat relaxed, he was kept a prisoner in the castle till
after the death of the Queen Dowager, and the breaking-up of her
two-faced councils. This exploit won my grandfather great favour, and he
scarcely needed to show the signet-ring when he told his message from
the Lords of the Congregation.