, separated from the others, lay the
carcasses of three English dragoons, two horses, and the page Callum Beg, whose
hard skull a trooper's broadsword had, at length, effectually cloven. It was
possible his clan had carried off the body of Fergus; but it was also possible
he had escaped, especially as Evan Dhu, who would never leave his chief, was not
found among the dead; or he might be prisoner, and the less formidable
denunciation inferred from the appearance of the Bodach Glas might have proved
the true one. The approach of a party, sent for the purpose of compelling the
country people to bury the dead, and who had already assembled several peasants
for that purpose, now obliged Edward to rejoin his guide, who awaited him in
great anxiety and fear under shade of the plantations.
    After leaving this field of death, the rest of their journey was happily
accomplished. At the house of Farmer Williams, Edward passed for a young
kinsman, educated for the church, who was come to reside there till the civil
tumults permitted him to pass through the country. This silenced suspicion among
the kind and simple yeomanry of Cumberland, and accounted sufficiently for the
grave manners and retired habits of the new guest. The precaution became more
necessary than Waverley had anticipated, as a variety of incidents prolonged his
stay at Fasthwaite, as the farm was called.
    A tremendous fall of snow rendered his departure impossible for more than
ten days. When the roads began to become a little practicable, they successively
received news of the retreat of the Chevalier into Scotland; then, that he had
abandoned the frontiers, retiring upon Glasgow; and that the Duke of Cumberland
had formed the siege of Carlisle. His army, therefore, cut off all possibility
of Waverley's escaping into Scotland in that direction. On the eastern border,
Marshal Wade, with a large force, was advancing upon Edinburgh; and all along
the frontier, parties of militia, volunteers, and partisans, were in arms to
suppress insurrection, and apprehend such stragglers from the Highland army as
had been left in England. The surrender of Carlisle, and the severity with which
the rebel garrison were threatened, soon formed an additional reason against
venturing upon a solitary and hopeless journey through a hostile country and a
large army, to carry the assistance of a single sword to a cause which seemed
altogether desperate.
    In this lonely and secluded situation, without the advantage of company or
conversation with men of cultivated minds, the arguments of Colonel Talbot often
recurred to the mind of our hero. A still more anxious recollection haunted his