I embraced her, I kissed the wound.
"And am I to be out of the kissing, me that never lost a chance?"
says Alan; and putting me aside and taking Catriona by either
shoulder, "My dear," he said, "you're a true daughter of Alpin. By
all accounts, he was a very fine man, and he may weel be proud of
you. If ever I was to get married, it's the marrow of you I would
be seeking for a mother to my sons. And I bear's a king's name and
speak the truth."
He said it with a serious heat of admiration that was honey to the
girl, and through her, to me. It seemed to wipe us clean of all
James More's disgraces. And the next moment he was just himself
again.
"And now by your leave, my dawties," said he, "this is a' very
bonny; but Alan Breck'll be a wee thing nearer to the gallows than
he's caring for; and Dod! I think this is a grand place to be
leaving."
The word recalled us to some wisdom. Alan ran upstairs and
returned with our saddle-bags and James More's portmanteau; I
picked up Catriona's bundle where she had dropped it on the stair;
and we were setting forth out of that dangerous house, when Bazin
stopped the way with cries and gesticulations. He had whipped
under a table when the swords were drawn, but now he was as bold as
a lion. There was his bill to be settled, there was a chair
broken, Alan had sat among his dinner things, James More had fled.
"Here," I cried, "pay yourself," and flung him down some Lewie
d'ors; for I thought it was no time to be accounting.
He sprang upon that money, and we passed him by, and ran forth into
the open. Upon three sides of the house were seamen hasting and
closing in; a little nearer to us James More waved his hat as if to
hurry them; and right behind him, like some foolish person holding
up his hands, were the sails of the windmill turning.
Alan gave but one glance, and laid himself down to run. He carried
a great weight in James More's portmanteau; but I think he would as
soon have lost his life as cast away that booty which was his
revenge; and he ran so that I was distressed to follow him, and
marvelled and exulted to see the girl bounding at my side.
As soon as we appeared, they cast off all disguise upon the other
side; and the seamen pursued us with shouts and view-hullohs. We
had a start of some two hundred yards, and they were but bandy-
legged tarpaulins after all, that could not hope to better us at
such an exercise. I suppose they were armed, but did not care to
use their pistols on French ground. And as soon as I perceived
that we not only held our advantage but drew a little away, I began
to feel quite easy of the issue. For all which, it was a hot,
brisk bit of work, so long as it lasted; Dunkirk was still far off;
and when we popped over a knowe, and found a company of the
garrison marching on the other side on some manoeuvre, I could very
well understand the word that Alan had.
He stopped running at once; and mopping at his brow, "They're a
real bonny folk, the French nation," says he.
CONCLUSION
No sooner were we safe within the walls of Dunkirk than we held a
very necessary council-of-war on our position. We had taken a
daughter from her father at the sword's point; any judge would give
her back to him at once, and by all likelihood clap me and Alan
into jail; and though we had an argument upon our side in Captain
Palliser's letter, neither Catriona nor I were very keen to be
using it in public. Upon all accounts it seemed the most prudent
to carry the girl to Paris to the hands of her own chieftain,
Macgregor of Bohaldie, who would be very willing to help his
kinswoman, on the one hand, and not at all anxious to dishonour
James upon other.
We made but a slow journey of it up, for Catriona was not so good
at the riding as the running, and had scarce sat in the saddle
since the 'Forty-five. But we made it out at last, reached Paris
early of a Sabbath morning, and made all speed, under Alan's
guidance, to find Bohaldie.