hae seen the warrant; but if ye come to be incarcerated of your ain
accord, wha can help it, my jo?«
    »So I cannot see Effie Deans, then,« said Butler; »and you are determined
not to let me out?«
    »Troth will I no, neighbour,« answered the old man, doggedly; »as for Effie
Deans, ye'll hae eneuch ado to mind your ain business, and let her mind hers;
and for letting you out, that maun be as the magistrate will determine. And fare
ye weel for a bit, for I maun see Deacon Sawyers put on ane or twa o' the doors
that your quiet folk broke down yesternight, Mr. Butler.«
    There was something in this exquisitely provoking, but there was also
something darkly alarming. To be imprisoned, even on a false accusation, has
something in it disagreeable and menacing even to men of more constitutional
courage than Butler had to boast; for although he had much of that resolution
which arises from a sense of duty and an honourable desire to discharge it, yet,
as his imagination was lively, and his frame of body delicate, he was far from
possessing that cool insensibility to danger which is the happy portion of men
of stronger health, more firm nerves, and less acute sensibility. An indistinct
idea of peril, which he could neither understand nor ward off, seemed to float
before his eyes. He tried to think over the events of the preceding night, in
hopes of discovering some means of explaining or vindicating his conduct for
appearing among the mob, since it immediately occurred to him that his detention
must be founded on that circumstance. And it was with anxiety that he found he
could not recollect to have been under the observation of any disinterested
witness in the attempts that he made from time to time to expostulate with the
rioters, and to prevail on them to release him. The distress of Deans's family,
the dangerous rendezvous which Jeanie had formed, and which he could not now
hope to interrupt, had also their share in his unpleasant reflections. Yet,
impatient as he was to receive an éclaircissement upon the cause of his
confinement, and if possible to obtain his liberty, he was affected with a
trepidation which seemed no good omen; when, after remaining an hour in this
solitary apartment, he received a summons to attend the sitting magistrate. He
was conducted from prison strongly guarded by a party of soldiers, with a parade
of precaution, that, however ill-timed and unnecessary, is generally displayed
after an event,