how father o'rourke and i fell in with broken men and saw the end of a lost cause.
the morning broke into as fine and merry a day as ever smiled on two miserable hearts; my own seemed dead in its utter brokenness. besides this, we were so wearied with our long exertions that walking had become a pain. "what will the duke think? what will the duke think?" ran through my head without ceasing, for i could find no answer. but the worst of things must end at length, and we arrived at dundonald.
here we were welcomed by a hearty breakfast, and after asking for men who could be trusted, we posted two of them as sentries under mr. gordon, for we could not feel our lives were safe while in the mckenzie country; then throwing ourselves on a bed, dressed and armed as we were, we slept for some hours without moving.
when we awoke somewhat refreshed, we were able, through the kindness of lady dundonald, to procure guides on whose faithfulness she assured us we might rely. she further advised us to make our way to loch airkaig, in lochiel's country, "for there you will find those you seek, though i am not supposed to know such things, and still less to be harbouring the prince's men in dundonald's absence," she said, smiling.
"madam," said father o'rourke, "you have only done an act of christian charity of which your own good heart must approve, and which has done much to comfort us in our own hard case. we have a right to look for kindness in woman, but we do not always look for sensibility such as you have evinced."
"captain lynch, you make me ashamed of my poor efforts, and i pray you and captain mcdonell to receive them as some token of my regret this thing should have happened among my own people."
"madam," said i, "you cannot be held responsible for being a mckenzie."
"no more than you for being a dundering blockhead," said father o'rourke, rudely.
"that is merely his way of saying, madam," he continued, with a bow, "that your kindness to us will place you in our minds above all other women, whatever name they may ornament."
so thereupon i left the compliments to him, as i never made any pretence to skill in the art, and proceeded to get our baggage in order.
i received the bag of guineas again into my charge, and taking a respectful leave of this most amiable lady, we set forth.
we had no cause to complain of our guides, who were faithful and intelligent, and led us almost due south over wild and almost inaccessible mountains, for all the roads and even open places had to be avoided on account of parties of the english who were scouring the country in all directions; and, to our impatience, we wasted many days lying close when the danger was too pressing, so that we were nearly three weeks in making the journey.
at last we drew near to loch airkaig, and from where we looked down i saw a body of highland troops. we came forward without hesitation, and, on answering their sentries in gaelic, which had come back to me readily enough after a little practice, i satisfied them of our intents and they allowed us to approach.
"whose command are you?" i asked.
"young coll barisdale," was the answer.
"we are in luck; come on," i cried, "these are my own people, and are commanded by my cousin, coll mcdonell of barisdale."
"i suppose you'll be related to nearly every man of note we'll meet in the country now," father o'rourke said, with a laugh.
"very near," said i; "but come on."
as we approached my cousin came out to meet us, and i remembered his face though i had not seen him since i was a lad.
"well, barisdale, and how are you?" said i, not making myself known, but willing to put a joke on him.
"sir, you have the advantage of me," says he, drawing himself up mighty stiff; "i do not remember that i ever had the honour of seeing you before."
"man, man!" i said, "and is that the way you will be disowning your kith and kin—this comes of consorting with princes," i said, aside, with a droll look to father o'rourke. "things have come to a pretty pass when barisdale does not know scottos because he wears a foreign uniform."
at this he saw my end and received us most courteously. "come away, come away, you and captain lynch, too! well! well! to think of my meeting with little john, grown up into a man. 'tis enough to make me feel like a grandfather!" and we all sate down under some pines and heartily discussed the meat and drink his people set before us.
his news was bad enough, but i was greatly relieved to hear mr. secretary murray was with lochiel at his seat of auchnacarrie, and that though lochiel had been badly wounded through both legs, he was recovering, after having made the narrowest of escapes as he was borne thither. that a meeting of lord lovat, lochiel, glengarry, glenbucket, and others had taken place at murlagan, near the head of the lake, on the fifteenth of may—we were now at the twentieth—that it was decided to gather what men could be found, and either make a stand or obtain terms from the duke of cumberland, now at fort augustus. lochgarry, colonel donald mcdonald, would be here to-morrow with the rest of glengarry's regiment, and he, coll, had just gathered these men in our own country, knoidart, and was on his way slowly to the rendezvous at glenmallie, but he could not count even on his own men with any certainty, as there had been no pay, and the want at home was heart-breaking. it was the same story that drove the loss of the money deeper and deeper into my heart like a crying that would not be stilled. he did not know what had become of the prince, but assuredly he had not been killed in the battle, as he had passed by loch-na-nuagh, in arisoig, on the twenty-first of last month, and that doubtless, ere this, lochiel would have had tidings of him. i told barisdale we would proceed on the morrow to auchnacarrie and see mr. secretary murray, and would then determine on our future movements.
after a long night, we took a guide and men to carry our baggage and set out—the first comfortable marching we had yet done, for the weather was fine and there was no more danger of meeting an english soldier here than in the corso. we recovered our old spirits; indeed, we had done so the moment we fell in with our own people.
that same evening we arrived at auchnacarrie, and were most kindly received by lochiel, a perfect figure of a highland gentleman; indeed, he reminded us much of our own gallant colonel macdonnell, who fell at velletri. there he was, lying in a state most men would have found evil enough, with most likely a reward out for his capture, dead or alive, his fortunes broken and his house falling about his ears. but he banished all thought of his personal loss and suffering in his anxiety to fittingly provide for the entertainment of his guests, who were constantly arriving; to soothe those who were finding fault with everything from the beginning, and they were many; to hold together his men, who were desperate and almost at the point of mutiny for arrears of the pay so sadly needed; and, above all, to inspire somewhat of his own great spirit into the downhearted. truly, a man one might worship!
i had almost a hesitation in meeting him, for it was my uncle scottos whom the prince had sent to induce him to join his cause, and i could not but reflect on what the outcome had been. but at his first words my apprehensions vanished. "welcome, mcdonell!" he said, "we have a common loss, and that is enough for friendship. donald mcdonell was as good a gentleman as ever drew sword, and i am proud to welcome his nephew."
mr. secretary murray we found very different from the gentleman we had seen in the santi apostoli; he had lost all his fine airs, and, as father o'rourke said, had as much rattle to him as a wet bladder. from the bottom of my heart i wished that my business had been with his host instead of him. indeed, i remember the curious feeling came over me that i would with as much confidence hand over the money to creach as to him. not that i then had any doubt of his honesty—for i will not pretend to be a prophet now that everything is over—but i had rather pin my faith to a stout scamp provided he have some sense of honour—and i have met few men without it in my time—than to an indifferent honest man who is badly frightened.
however, as i had my orders, and it was not for me to question them, i handed over the five hundred guineas with the duke's letters and took his receipt for them, at the same time promising to give him a statement in writing of the robbery at loch broom, signed by father o'rourke and myself, in the morning.
"and now, mr. secretary, i would like to ask a private question," i said. "did creach—or graeme, if you like—ever deliver the money he was entrusted with?"
"i do not know; i never received any," he answered, hurriedly, and then asked, anxiously, "have you heard anything of him?"
"heard of him? damn his smooth, white face! we have heard of him, and seen him, and had a taste of his quality, too! he was at the bottom of this robbery, or my name is not mcdonell! and hark you, mr. secretary. your head, and better heads too, i will add without offence, are not worth a tallow dip while that scoundrel is above ground. think you vermin of his kind will run any risk while safety is to be bought by a little more of his dirty work? he will sell you and lochiel, and, god help him, the prince too, if he has opportunity, and you only have yourselves to thank for it."
his own face was as white as creach's by this time, and, seeing nothing was to be gained by going farther, now that i had relieved my mind, i left him to sleep on the pillow i had furnished and returned to lochiel's, where i found him and father o'rourke in as lively a conversation as if there were not a trouble within or without the four walls.
"well, mcdonell," he said, "i have to thank you for the day you joined forces with father o'rourke and marched on my poor house of auchnacarrie. 'tis the best reinforcement i have had for many a long day."
"faith, 'tis a long day since we began campaigning together," laughed the priest. "it all began in the inn at aquapendente," and thereupon he must tell the story of our adventure with creach, at which lochiel laughed heartily; indeed, father o'rourke's stories seemed to jump with his humour, and he was never tired of his company during the time we spent with him.
a day or so afterwards, it was proposed that i should cross the lake with mr. secretary murray to hold a consultation with lord lovat, at glendesherrie, bearing messages from lochiel. thither we went and found an old man bent with illness and his own weight, and of a temper most uncertain. indeed, he did nothing but grumble and swear most of the time we were there, and at first would return no sensible answer to the projects we laid before him.
"why in the name of all that is evil do you come to me with your fiddle-faddle plans when i am ready to step into my grave?" he grumbled. "whom am i to believe? where in the devil are the sixteen thousand men that were coming from france? where are the ships with supplies and money that were only waiting for a fair wind? has no wind blown off the coast of france since it blew the prince here last july with a beggarly following not fit for a private gentleman? had he come absolutely alone it might have been better, for then he would have been without some of his rattle-brained councillors, not even excepting yourself, mr. murray of broughton," the old man said, with a sneer and a low bow that brought the blood in a rush to mr. secretary's face. "if even money had been sent, something might have been done—might be done even yet; but here are these men clamouring for return to their homes, where their wives and little ones have been starving and dying for want of support, and this, too, when no man can say how long his head will be above his shoulders. pay the men who are here! let them send something to their homes in the hills, and i'll answer for it they will stand even yet. but, my god! how can you ask human creatures to do more than they have done, with starvation at home as well as in their own bellies?
"and what has your prince done? pranced and prinked at balls, and chucked silly wenches under the chin. listened to the blatherings of irish adventurers, greedy only for themselves. estranged, if not insulted, every man of weight and sensibility. made paper proclamations and scattered paper titles that will rob the men who receive them of life and lands and everything else."
"not everything, my lord," i objected, for i was tired of this long tirade; "honour is left."
"honour!" he snorted, "and who are you to talk of honour? a fine specimen you have given us of it, not to carry a sum of money that i would have entrusted to one of my drovers."
"i know nothing of your drovers, my lord, and i beg leave to withdraw, as i cannot stay and listen to insults, which your age and infirmities prevent my answering as they deserve."
"you can answer them till you're black in the face, if that's any satisfaction to you! and, what's more, if you will but provide me with a new backbone and another pair of legs, nothing would give me a greater pleasure than to see some of your new-fangled tricks at the fence. tell me now," he went on, in an entirely new tone, "did you ever learn anything abroad better than your uncle scottos taught you at home?"
"never," i answered, somewhat softened. and the strange part is that before i parted from his lordship i was only full of admiration for his courage and address; for, now that he had blown off all his black vapours, no one could be more engaging, and he discussed each plan with a keen insight that was admirable. he questioned me much on rome and my experiences, and was very apt with his bits of latinity, which i made no effort to cap, i think a little to his disappointment, until i saw that he began to weary, for his infirmity was visible upon him. so we took leave, and i shook hands for the first and last time with simon fraser, lord lovat.
we returned to auchnacarrie that same evening, and the next day one donald mcleod came and was closeted for a long while with lochiel and mr. secretary murray. when he left, i was told he was from the prince, who was in a safe place, and that my letters were confided to his care. i never dreamed at the time of enquiring about the money i had handed murray, supposing it had gone too, but long afterwards was told by mcleod himself that mr. secretary had informed him that he had only sixty louis d'ors, which was barely sufficient for himself, so he went back to the prince without a shilling of the money that the duke had raised with so much pains, and which i had so hardly delivered.
"the last stand for prince charles was at an end"
at the time i discovered this, i put mr. secretary down as low as creach; but feeling then ran high against him, and nothing was too black to lay at his door; but since then i have considered it like enough that old fox, lovat, may have wheedled it out of him, for he was in such miserable fear that he was easy to work upon; and, at all events, the man had quite enough on his weary shoulders without this addition to carry about through the rest of his miserable life. and if i am right that lovat got it, it was a rare turn of justice that mr. secretary should be the one who swore away his life.
at daybreak—it was the 27th of may—we were expecting to be awakened by the general gathering on the pipes, but instead we were awakened by the warning notes of the "cogadh no sith" (war or peace) and rushed out to hear the news that lord london was advancing upon us, hardly a quarter of a mile distant. our eight hundred men were gathered at once, and lochiel, being borne by four stout highlanders, made his escape in a boat which was kept for such an emergency, while we set out in all haste for the west end of loch airkaig, which we reached just in time to escape another body of soldiers sent to intercept us.
at dusk we separated with sad farewells but brave wishes, and by bodies, which quickly dwindled smaller and smaller, every man took his own way, and the last stand for prince charles was at an end.
