"I'm but thinkin' hoo to begin," she returned, "sae as to gie ye a richt haud o' the thing.--I'm thinkin' I canna do better nor jist tell 't as it cam to mysel'!--Weel, ye see, I was but a yoong lass, aboot--weel, I micht be twenty, mair or less, whan I gaed til the place I speak o'. It was awa' upo' the borders o' Wales, like as gien folk ower there i' Perth war doobtfu' whether sic or sic a place was i' the hielan's or the lowlan's. The maister o' the hoose was a yoong man awa' upo' 's traivels, I kenna whaur--somewhaur upo' the continent, but that's a mickle word; an' as he had the intention o' bein' awa' for some time to come, no carin' to settle doon aff han' an' luik efter his ain, there was but ane gey auld wuman to hoosekeep, an' me to help her, an' a man or twa aboot the place to luik efter the gairden--an' that was a'. Hoose an' gairden was to let, an' was intil the han's o' ane o' thae agents, as they ca' them, for that same purpose--to let, that is, for a term o' years.
Weel, ae day there cam a gentleman to luik at the place, an' he was sae weel pleased wi' 't--as weel he micht, for eh, it was a bonny place!--aye lauchin' like, whaur this place is aye i' the sulks!--na, no aye! I dinna mean that, my lady, forgettin' at it's yours!--but ye maun own it taks a heap o' sun to gar this auld hoose here luik onything but some dour--an' I beg yer pardon, my lady!"
"You are quite right, mistress Brookes!" said Arctura with a smile.
"If it were not for you it would be dour dour.--You do not know, Mr. Grant--mistress Brookes herself does not know how much I owe her! I should have gone out of my mind for very dreariness a hundred times but for her."
"The short an' the lang o' 't was," resumed mistress Brookes, "that the place was let an' the place was ta'en, mickle to the satisfaction o' a' pairties concernt. The auld hoosekeeper, she bein' a fixtur like, was to bide, an' I was to bide as weel, under the hoosekeeper, an' haein' nothing to do wi' the stranger servan's.
"They cam. There was a gentleman o' a middle age, an' his leddy some yoonger nor himsel', han'some but no bonnie--but that has naething to do wi' my tale 'at I should tak up yer time wi' 't, an' it growin' some late."
"Never mind the time, mistress Brookes," said Arctura; we can do just as we please about that! One time is as good as another--isn't it, Mr. Grant?"
"I sometimes sit up half the night myself," said Donal. "I like to know God's night. Only it won't do often, lest we make the brain, which is God's too, like a watch that won't go."
"It's sair upsettin' to the wark!" said the housekeeper. "What would the house be like if I was to do that!"
"Do go on, please, mistress Brookes," said Arctura.
"Please do," echoed Donal.
"Sir, an' my lady, I'm ready to sit till the cock's be dune crawin', an' the day dune dawin', to pleasur the ane or the twa o' ye!--an' sae for my true tale!--They war varra dacent, weel-behavet fowk, wi' a fine faimly, some grown an' some growin'. It was jist a fawvour to see sic a halesome clan--frae auchteen or thereawa' doon tu the wee toddlin' lassie was the varra aipple o' the e'e to a' the e'en aboot the place! But that's naither here nor yet there! A' gaed on as a' should gang on whaur the servan's are no ower gran' for their ain wark, nor ower meddlesome wi' the wark o' their neebours; naething was negleckit, nor onything girned aboot; but a' was peace an' hermony, as quo' the auld sang about out bonny Kilmeny--that is, till ae nicht.--You see I'm tellin' ye as it cam' to mysel' an' no til anither!
"As I lay i' my bed that nicht--an' ye may be sure at my age I lay nae langer nor jist to turn me ower ance, an' in general no that ance--jist as I was fa'in' asleep, up gat sic a romage i' the servan' ha', straucht 'aneth whaur I was lyin', that I thoucht to mysel', what upo' earth's come to the place!--'Gien it bena the day o' judgment, troth it's no the day o' sma' things!' I said. It was as gien a' the cheirs an' tables thegither war bein' routit oot o' their places, an' syne set back again, an' the tables turnt heels ower heid, an' a' the glaiss an' a' the plate for the denner knockit aboot as gien they had been sae mony hailstanes that warna wantit ony mair, but micht jist lie whaur they fell. I couldna for the life o' me think what it micht betoken, save an' excep' a general frenzy had seized upo' man an' wuman i' the hoose! I got up in a hurry: whatever was gaein' on, I wudna wullin'ly gang wantin' my share o' the sicht! An' jist as I opened my door, wha should I hear but the maister cryin' at the heid o' the stair,--'What, i' the name o' a' that's holy,' says he, 'is the meanin' o' this?' An' I ran til him, oot o' the passage, an' through the swing-door, into the great corridor; an' says I,--''Deed, sir, I was won'erin'! an' wi' yer leave, sir, I'll gang an' see,' I said, gaitherin' my shawl aboot me as weel as I could to hide what was 'aneth it, or raither what wasna 'aneth it, for I hadna that mickle on. But says he, 'No, no, you must not go; who knows what it may be? I'll go myself. They may be robbers, and the men fighting them. You stop where you are.' Sayin' that, he was half-ways doon the stair. I stood whaur I was, lookin' doon an' hearkenin', an' the noise still goin' on. But he could but hae won the len'th o' the hall, whan it stoppit a' at ance an' a'thegither. Ye may think what a din it maun hae been, whan I tell ye the quaiet that cam upo' the heels o' 't jist seemed to sting my twa lugs. The same moment I h'ard the maister cryin' til me to come doon. I ran, an' whan I reached the servan's ha', whaur he stood jist inside the door, I stood aside him an' glowered. For, wad ye believe me! the place was as dacent an' still as ony kirkyard i' the munelicht! There wasna a thing oot o' it's place, nor an air o' dist, nor the sma'est disorder to be seen! A' the things luikit as gien they had sattlet themsel's to sleep as usual, an' had sleepit till we cam an' waukit them. The maister glowert at me, an' I glowert at the maister. But a' he said was,--'A false alarm, ye see, Rose!' What he thoucht I canna tell, but withoot anither word we turnt, an' gaed up the stair again thegither.
