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28 - Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson · Classic Adventure Books Collection

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Chapter twenty eight. I go in quest of my inheritance. I made what
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change I could in my appearance, and blithe was I to look in the
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glass and find the beggar man a thing of the past, and David Balfour
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come to life again. And yet I was ashamed of the change too,
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and above all of the borrowed clothes. When I had done, mister rain
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Caller caught me on the stair, made me his compliments, and had me
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again into the cabinet. Sit, sit down, mister David, said he.
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And now you are looking a little more like yourself. Let me see
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if I can find you any news. You will be wondering, no doubt
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about your father and your uncle. To be sure, it is a singular
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tale, and the explanation is one that I blushed to have to offer you,
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for says he really, with embarrassment. The matter hinges on a love
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affair, truly said I. I cannot very well join that notion with my
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uncle. But your uncle, mister David, was not always old, replied
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the lawyer. And what may perhaps surprise you more, not always ugly.
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He had a fine, gallant air. People stood in their doors to look
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after him as he went by upon a metal horse. I have seen it
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with these eyes, and I ingenuously confess not altogether without envy, For I
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was a plain lad myself, and a plain man's son, And in those
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days it was a case of Odi ta k bellis s sabel. It sounds
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like a dream, said I ay, ay, said the lawyer. That
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is how it is with youth and age. Nor was that all. But
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he had a spirit of his own that seemed to promise great things in the
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future. In seventeen fifteen, what must he do but run away to join
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the rebels. It was your father that pursued him, found him in a
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ditch, and brought him back moltum dementum, to the mirth of the whole
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country. However, majora Canamus, the two lads fell in love, and
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that with the same lady. Mister Ebenezer, who was the admired and the
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beloved and the spoiled one, made no doubt, mighty certain of the victory.
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And when he found he had deceived himself, screamed like a peacock.
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The whole country heard of it. Now he lay sick at home, with
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his silly family standing round the bed in tears. Now he rode from public
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house to public house and shouted his sorrows into the lug of Tom Dick and
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Harry your father, mister David was a kind gentleman, but he was weak,
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dolefully weak. Took all this folly with a long countenance, and one
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day, by your leave, resigned the lady. She was no such fool,
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however, it's from her you must inherit your excellent good sense, and
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she refused to be bandied from one to another. Both got upon their knees
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to her, And the upshot of the matter for that while was that she
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showed both of them the door that wasn't August, dear me, the same
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year I came from college. The scene must have been highly farcical. I
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thought myself it was a silly business, but I could not forget my father
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had a hand in it. Surely, sir, it had some note of
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tragedy, said I. Why no, sir, not at all, returned
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the lawyer. For tragedy implies some ponderable matter in dispute, some dignus vendiche
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Nodus. And this piece of work was all about the petulance of a young
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ass that had been spoiled and wanted nothing so much as to be tied up
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and soundly belted. However, that was not your father's view, And the
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end of it was that from concession to concession on your father's part, and
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from one height to another of squalling sentimental selfishness upon your uncle's, they came
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at last to drive a sort of bargain from whose ill results you have recently
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been smarting. The one man took the lady, the other the estate.
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Now, mister David, they talk a great deal of charity and generosity,
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But in this disputable state of life, I often think the happiest consequences seem
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to flow when a gentleman consults his lawyer and takes all the law allows him.
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Anyhow, this piece of quixotry on your father's part, as it was
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unjust in itself, has brought forth a monstrous family of injustices. Your father
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and mother lived and died poor folk, you were poorly reared. And in
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the meanwhile, what a time it has been for the tenants on the estate
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of Shaw. And I might add, if it was a matter I cared
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much about, what a time for mister Ebenezer. And yet that is certainly
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the strangest part of all, said I that a man's nature should thus change,
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True, said mister Rankeyler. And yet I imagine it was natural enough.
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He could not think that he had played a handsome part. Those who
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knew the story gave him the cold shoulder. Those who knew it not,
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seeing one brother disappear and the other succeed in the estate, raised a cry
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of murder, so that upon all sides he found himself evited. Money was
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all he got by his bargain. Well, he came to think the more
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of money. He was selfish when he was young. He is selfish now
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that he is old. And the latter end of all these pretty manners and
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fine feelings you have seen for yourself, well, sir, I and in
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all this, what is my position? The state is yours beyond a doubt,
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replied the lawyer. It matters nothing what your father signed. You are
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the heir of entail. But your uncle is a man to fight the indefensible,
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and it would be likely your identity that he would call in question.
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A lawsuit is always expensive, and have family lawsuit always scandalous. Besides which,
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if any of your doings with your friend, mister Thompson were to come
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out, we might find that we had burned our fingers. The kidnapping,
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to be sure, would be a court card upon our side, if we
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could only prove it. But it may be difficult to prove. And my
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advice upon the whole is to make a very easy bargain with your uncle,
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perhaps even leaving him at Shaw's, where he has taken root for a quarter
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of a century, and contenting yourself in the meanwhile with a fair provision.
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I told him I was very willing to be easy, and that to carry
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family concerns before the public was a step from which I was naturally much averse.
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In the meantime, thinking to myself, I began to see the outlines
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of that scheme on which we afterwards acted the great affair. I asked is
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to bring home to him the kidnapping, surely, said mister Rankeyler, And
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if possible, out of court for mark you here, mister David. We
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could no doubt find some men of the Covenant who would swear to your reclusion.
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But once they were in the box we could no longer check their testimony.
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And some word of your friend, mister Thompson must certainly crop out which
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from what you have let fall, I cannot think to be desirable. Well,
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Sir said I, here is my way of it, and I opened
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my plot to him. But this would seem to involve my meeting the men,
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Thompson says he. When I had done, I think so indeed,
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Sir said, I, dear doctor, cries he rubbing his brow. Dear
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doctor, No, mister David, I am afraid your scheme is it admissible?
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I say nothing against your friend, mister Thompson. I know nothing about
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him, and if I did mark this, mister David, it would be
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my duty to lay hands on him. Now I put it to you,
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is it wise to meet? He may have matters to his charge. He
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may not have told you all. His name may not be even Thompson cries
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the lawyer twinkling, For some of these fellows will pick up names by the
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roadside, as another would gather haws. You must be the judge, Sir
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said I. But it was clear my plan had taken hold upon his fancy,
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for he kept musing to himself till we were called to dinner, and
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the company of missus Rankeuyler and that lady had scarce left us again to ourselves
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and a bottle of wine. Ere he was back harping on my proposal.
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When and where was I to meet my friend mister Thompson? Was I sure
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of mister T's discretion? Supposing we could catch the old fox tripping? Would
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I consent to such and such a term of an agreement? These and the
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like questions he kept asking at long intervals, while he thoughtfully rolled his wine
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upon his tongue. When I had answered all of them, seemingly to his
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contentment, he fell into a still deeper muse, even the claret being now
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forgotten. Then he got a sheet of paper and a pencil and set to
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work, writing and weighing every word, and at last touched a bell and
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had his clerk into the chamber. Torrents said he, I must have this
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written out fair against to night, and when it is done, you will
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be so kind as to put on your hat and be read to come along
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with this gentleman and me, for you will probably be wanted as a witness.
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What sir, cried I, as soon as the clerk was gone,
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are you to venture it? Why so it would appear, says he,
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filling his glass. But let us speak no more of business. The very
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sight of Torrance brings in my head a little troll matter of some years ago,
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when I had made a tryst with the poor oaf at the cross of
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Edinburgh. Each had gone his proper errand, and when it came four o'clock
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Torrance had been taking a glass and did not know his master, And I,
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who had forgot my spectacles, was so blind without them, that I
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give you my word, I did not know my own clerk. And thereupon
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he laughed heartily. I said it was an odd chance, and smiled out
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of politeness. But what held me all the afternoon in wonder He kept returning
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and dwelling on this story, and telling it again with fresh details and laughter,
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so that I began at last to be quite put out of countenance and
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feel ashamed for my friend's folly. Towards the time I had appointed with Allan,
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we set out from the house, mister Rangkeuyler and I arm in arm,
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and Torrents following behind, with the deed in his pocket and a covered
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basket in his hand. All through the town the lawyer was bowing right and
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left, and continually being buttonholed by gentlemen on matters of burg or private business,
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and I could see he was one greatly looked up to in the county.
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At last we were clear of the houses and began to go along the
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side of the haven and towards the Haw's Inn and the Fairy Pier, the
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scene of my misfortune. I could not look upon the place without emotion,
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recalling how many that had been there with me that day were now no more
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ransom taken. I could hope from the evil to come. Shuan passed where
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I dared not follow him, and the poor souls that had gone down with
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the brig in her last plunge. All these and the brig herself I had
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outlived and come through these hardships and fearful perils without scathe. My only thought
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should have been of gratitude. And yet I could not behold the place without
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sorrow for others and a chill of recollected fear. I was so thinking when
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upon a sudden mister Wrangkeeler cried out, clapped his hand to his pockets,
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and began to laugh. Why he cries, if this be not a forcical
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adventure. After all that I said, I have forgot my glesses At that,
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of course, I understood the purpose of his anecdote, and knew that
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if he had left his spectacles at home, it had been done on purpose
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so that he might have the benefit of Allan's help without the awkwardness of recognizing
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him. And indeed it was well thought upon. For now supposed things to
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go the very worst. How could Rangkyler swear to my friend's identity, or
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how be made to bear damaging evidence against myself? For all that he had
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been a long while of finding out his wont and had spoken to and recognized
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a good few persons as we came through the town, and I had little
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doubt myself that he saw reasonably well. As soon as we were past the
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haws, where I recognized the landlord smoking his pipe at the door, and
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was amazed to see him look no older, mister Rangkeyler changed the order of
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march, walking behind with torrents and sending me forward in the manner of a
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scout. I went up the hill, whistling from time to time my gallic
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air, and at length I had the pleasure to hear it answered, and
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to see Alan rise from behind a bush. He was somewhat dashed in spirits,
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having passed a long day alone skulking in the county, and made but
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a poor meal in an ale house near Dundas. But at the mere sight
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of my clothes he began to brighten up. And as soon as I had
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told him in what a forward state our manners were, and the part I
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looked to him to play in what remained, he sprang into a new man.
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And this is a very good notion of yours, said he. And
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I dared to say that you could lay your hands upon no better man to
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put it through than Alan Brick. It is not a thing, Markya,
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that any one could do, but takes a gentleman of penetration. But it
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sticks in my head. Your lawyer man will be somewhat wearying to see me,
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says Allan. Accordingly, I cried and waved on mister Rangkeler, who
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came up alone and was presented to my friend mister Thompson. Mister Thompson,
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I am pleased to meet you, said he. But I have forgotten my
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glasses, and our friend mister David here clapping me on the shoulder, will
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tell you that I am little better than blind, and that you must not
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be surprised if I passed you buy tomorrow, this, he said, thinking
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that Allan would be pleased. But the highlandman's vanity was ready to straddle at
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a less manner than that. Why, sir, says he stiffly, I
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would say it mattered the less, as we are met here for a particular
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end, to see justice stunned to mister Balfour, and by what I can
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see, not very likely to have much else in common. But I accept
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your apology, which was a very proper one to make, and that is
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more than I could look for, mister Thompson, said Rancadler heartily. And
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now, as you and I are the chief actors in this enterprise, I
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think we should come into a nice agreement, to which end I propose that
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you should lend me your arm, for what would the dusk and the want
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of my glasses? I am not very clear as to the path. And
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as for you, mister David, you will find Torrents a pleasant kind of
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body to speak with. Only let me remind you it's quite needless he should
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hear more of your adventures or those of ahem, mister Thompson. Accordingly,
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these two went on ahead in very close talk, and Torrance and I brought
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up the rear. Night was quite come when we came in view of the
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house of Shaws, ten had been gone some time. It was dark and
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mild, with a pleasant rustling wind in the southwest that covered the sound of
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our approach, And as we drew near we saw no glimmer of light in
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any portion of the building. It seemed my uncle was already in bed,
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which was indeed the best thing for our arrangements. We made our last whispered
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consultation some fifty yards away, and then the lawyer and Torrance and I crept
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quietly up and crouched down beside the corner of the house. And as soon
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as we were in our places, Allan strode to the door without concealment,
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and began to knock. End of Chapter