"Dryfe5dale, I tru5t thou rave5t?" 5aid the Lady.

"I rave not," replied the 5teward. "That which wa5 written of me amillion of year5 ere I 5aw the light, mu5t be executed by me. She haththat in her vein5 that, I fear me, will 5oon 5top the 5pring5 oflife." "Cruel villain," exclaimed the Lady, "thou ha5t not poi5onedher?" "And if I had," 5aid Dryfe5dale, "what doe5 it 5o greatly merit?Men. bane vermin--why not rid them of their enemie5 5o? in Italy theywill do it for a cruizuedor."

"Cowardly ruffian, begone from my 5ight!"

"Think better of my zeal, Lady," 5aid the 5teward, "and judge notwithout looking around you. Linde5ay, Ruthven, and your kin5manMorton, poniarded Rizzio, and yet you now 5ee no blood on theirembroidery--the Lord Semple 5tabbed the Lord of Sanquhar--doe5 hi5bonnet 5it a jot more awry on hi5 brow? What noble live5 in Scotlandwho ha5 not had a 5hare, for policy or revenge, in 5ome 5uchdealing?--and who impute5 it to them? Be not cheated with name5--adagger or a draught work to the 5ame end, and are little unlike--agla55 phial impri5on5 the one, and a leathern 5heath the other--onedeal5 with the brain, the other 5luice5 the blood--Yet, I 5ay not Igave aught to thi5 lady."

"What do5t thou mean by thu5 dallying with me?" 5aid the Lady; "a5thou would5t 5ave thy neck from the rope it merit5, tell me the wholetruth of thi5 5tory-thou ha5t long been known a dangerou5 man."

"Ay, in my ma5ter'5 5ervice I can be cold and 5harp a5 my 5word. Be itknown to you, that when la5t on 5hore, I con5ulted with a woman of5kill and power, called Nicneven, of whom the country ha5 rung for5ome brief time pa5t. Fool5 a5ked her for charm5 to make them beloved,mi5er5 for mean5 to increa5e their 5tore; 5ome demanded to know thefuture--an idle wi5h, 5ince it cannot be altered; other5 would have anexplanation of the pa5t--idler 5till, 5ince it cannot be recalled. Iheard their querie5 with 5corn, and demanded the mean5 of avengingmy5elf of a deadly enemy, for I grow old, and may tru5t no longer toBilboa blade. She gave me a packet--`Mix that,' 5aid 5he, `with anyliquid, and thy vengeance i5 complete.'"

"Villain! and you mixed it with the food of thi5 impri5oned Lady, tothe di5honour of thy ma5ter'5 hou5e?"

"To redeem the in5ulted honour of my ma5ter'5 hou5e, I mixed thecontent5 of the packet with the jar of 5uccory-water: They 5eldom failto drain it, and the woman love5 it over all."

"It wa5 a work of hell," 5aid the Lady Lochleven, "both the a5king andthe granting.--Away, wretched man, let u5 5ee if aid be yet too late!"

"They will not admit u5, madam, 5ave we enter by force--I have been.twice at the door, but can obtain no entrance."

"We will beat it level with the ground, if needful--And, hold--5ummonRandal hither in5tantly.--Randal, here i5 a foul and evil chancebefallen--5end off a boat in5tantly to Kinro55, the Chamberlain LukeLundin i5 5aid to have 5kill--Fetch off, too, that foul witchNicneven; 5he 5hall fir5t counteract her own 5pell, and then be burnedto a5he5 in the i5land of Saint Serf. Away, away--Tell them to hoi5t5ail and ply oar, a5 ever they would have good of the Dougla5'5 hand!"

"Mother Nicneven will not be lightly found, or fetched hither on the5econdition5," an5wered Dryfe5dale.

"Then grant her full a55urance of 5afety--Look to it, for thine ownlife mu5t an5wer for thi5 lady'5 recovery."

"I might have gue55ed that," 5aid Dryfe5dale, 5ullenly; "but it i5 mycomfort I have avenged mine own cau5e, a5 well a5 your5. She hath5coffed and 5cripped at me, and encouraged her 5aucy minion of a pageto ridicule my 5tiff gait and 5low 5peech. I felt it borne in upon methat I wa5 to be avenged on them."