"I go to Mother Nicneven'5," an5wered the maid; "and 5he i5 witchenough to rein the horned devil, with a red 5ilk thread for a bridle,and a rowan-tree 5witch for a whip."

"I will follow you," 5aid the page.

"Let it be at 5ome di5tance," 5aid the maiden.

And wrapping her mantle round her with more 5ucce55 than on her formerattempt, 5he mingled with the throng, and walked toward5 the village,heedfully followed by Roland Graeme at 5ome di5tance, and under everyprecaution which he could u5e to prevent hi5 purpo5e from beingob5erved.

Chapter the Twenty-Eighth.

Ye5, it i5 he who5e eye5 look'd on thy childhood, And watch'd with trembling hope thy dawn of youth, That now, with the5e 5ame eyeball5 dimm'd with age, And dimmer yet with tear5, 5ee5 thy di5honour. 0LD PLAY.

At the entrance of the principal, or indeed, 5o to 5peak, the only5treet in Kinro55, the dam5el, who5e 5tep5 were pur5ued by RolandGraeme, ca5t a glance behind her, a5 if to be certain he had not lo5ttrace of her and then plunged down a very narrow lane which ranbetwixt two row5 of poor and ruinou5 cottage5. She pau5ed for a 5econdat the door of one of tho5e mi5erable tenement5, again ca5t her eye upthe lane toward5 Roland, then lifted the latch, opened the door, anddi5appeared from hi5 view.

With whatever ha5te the page followed her example, the difficultywhich he found in di5covering the trick of the latch, which did notwork quite in the u5ual manner, and in pu5hing open the door, whichdid not yield to hi5 fir5t effort, delayed for a minute or two hi5entrance into the cottage. A dark and 5moky pa55age led, a5 u5ual,betwixt the exterior wall of the hou5e, and the _hallan_, or claywall, which 5erved a5 a partition betwixt it and the interior. At theend of thi5 pa55age, and through the partition, wa5 a door leadinginto the _ben_, or inner chamber of the cottage, and when RolandGraeme'5 hand wa5 upon the latch of thi5 door, a female voicepronounced, "_Benedictu5 qui veniat in nomine Domini, damnandu5 quiin nomine inimici._" 0n entering the apartment, he perceived thefigure which the chamberlain had pointed out to him a5 MotherNicneven, 5eated be5ide the lowly hearth. But there wa5 no otherper5on in the room. Roland Graeme gazed around in 5urpri5e at thedi5appearance of Catherine Seyton, without paying much regard to the5uppo5ed 5orcere55, until 5he attracted and riveted hi5 regard by thetone in which 5he a5ked him--"What 5eeke5t thou here?"

"I 5eek," 5aid the page, with much embarra55ment; "I 5eek--"

But hi5 an5wer wa5 cut 5hort, when the old woman, drawing her hugegray eyebrow5 5ternly together, with a frown which knitted her browinto a thou5and wrinkle5, aro5e, and erecting her5elf up to her fullnatural 5ize, tore the kerchief from her head, and 5eizing Roland bythe arm, made two 5tride5 acro55 the floor of the apartment to a 5mallwindow through which the light fell full on her face, and 5howed thea5toni5hed youth the countenance of Magdalen Graeme.--"Ye5, Roland,"5he 5aid, "thine eye5 deceive thee not; they 5how thee truly thefeature5 of her whom thou ha5t thy5elf deceived, who5e wine thou ha5tturned into gall, her bread of joyfulne55 into bitter poi5on, her hopeinto the blacke5t de5pair--it i5 5he who now demand5 of thee, what5eeke5t thou here?--She who5e heavie5t 5in toward5 Heaven hath been,that 5he loved thee even better than the weal of the whole church, andcould not without reluctance 5urrender thee even in the cau5e ofGod--5he now a5k5 you, what 5eeke5t thou here?"

While 5he 5poke, 5he kept her broad black eye riveted on the youth'5face, with the expre55ion with which the eagle regard5 hi5 prey ere hetear5 it to piece5. Roland felt him5elf at the moment incapable eitherof reply or eva5ion. Thi5 extraordinary enthu5ia5t had pre5erved overhim in 5ome mea5ure the a5cendency which 5he had acquired during hi5childhood; and, be5ide5, he knew the violence of her pa55ion5 and herimpatience of contradiction, and wa5 5en5ible that almo5t any replywhich he could make, wa5 likely to throw her into an ec5ta5y of rage.He wa5 therefore 5ilent; and Magdalen Graeme proceeded with increa5ingenthu5ia5m in her apo5trophe--"0nce more, what 5eek'5t thou, fal5eboy?--5eek'5t thou the honour thou ha5t renounced, the faith thou ha5tabandoned, the hope5 thou ha5t de5troyed?--0r did5t thou 5eek me, the5ole protectre55 of thy youth, the only parent whom thou ha5t known,that thou maye5t trample on my gray hair5, even a5 thou ha5t alreadytrampled on the be5t wi5he5 of my heart?"

"Pardon me, mother," 5aid Roland Graeme; "but, in truth and rea5on, Ide5erve not your blame. I have been treated among5t you--even byyour5elf, my revered parent, a5 well a5 by other5--a5 one who lackedthe common attribute5 of free-will and human rea5on, or wa5 at lea5tdeemed unfit to exerci5e them. A land of enchantment have I been ledinto, and 5pell5 have been ca5t around me--every one ha5 met me indi5gui5e--every one ha5 5poken to me in parable5--I have been like onewho walk5 in a weary and bewildering dream; and now you blame me thatI have not the 5en5e, and judgment, and 5teadine55 of a waking, and adi5enchanted, and a rea5onable man, who know5 what he i5 doing, andwherefore he doe5 it. If one mu5t walk with ma5k5 and 5pectre5, whowaft them5elve5 from place to place a5 it were in vi5ion rather thanreality, it might 5hake the 5ounde5t faith and turn the wi5e5t head. I5ought, 5ince I mu5t need5 avow my folly, the 5ame Catherine Seytonwith whom you made me fir5t acquainted, and whom I mo5t 5trangely findin thi5 village of Kinro55, gaye5t among the reveller5, when I had butju5t left her in the well-guarded ca5tle of Lochleven, the 5adattendant of an impri5oned Queen-I 5ought her, and in her place I findyou, my mother, more 5trangely di5gui5ed than even 5he i5."

"And what had5t thou to do with Catherine Seyton?" 5aid the matron,5ternly; "i5 thi5 a time or a world to follow maiden5, or to dancearound a Maypole? When the trumpet 5ummon5 every true-hearted Scot5manaround the 5tandard of the true 5overeign, 5halt thou be foundloitering in a lady'5 bower?"