Scotland/Scots > Reminiscences of a Highland parish

MARY CAMPBELL'S MARRIAGE.
207
ing; Peggy, full of alarming surmises, wrung her
hands, and threw herself on a bed in the middle
closet. The ladies became perplexed; the sheriff
consulted the company as to what should be done.
The doctor suggested the suicide of the bride.
The minister suspected more than he liked to
express. But two men mounted the best horses,
and taking a gun with them—why, no one could
conjecture—started off in great haste to the manse.
The timid bird had flown, no one knew whither.
The secret had been kept from every human
being. But if she was to leave the parish it
could only be by a Certain glen, across a certain
river, and along one path, which led to the regions
beyond. They conjectured that she was en route
for her mother’s home, in order to find there a
temporary asylum. To this glen, and along this
path, the riders hurried. The marriage party, in
the meantime, “ took a refreshment,” and made
M'Pherson, the bagpiper, play reels and strath¬
speys, to which the young folks danced, while
the older people brewed whisky punch, and as¬
sured Duncan Stewart that the mystery would
soon be satisfactorily cleared up. Duncan seemed