The Penn's Grove record., 1920-10-01

tell Jeanne Deans that, when the moot
Uses. | shall expect to meet her o;
Nicol Muschat's Cairn, beneath Saint
~Anthony's chapel
After attempting in vain to induce
Ieanie to explain the message, he re
urned to visit Effie again. in the TOl
booth. only to be compelled, on his ar
.ival there. to tell the whole story
est he be convicted of guilt in tn
2~orteous affair. And then he was sen
nome, under bail not to leave Libber
ON, nor to communicate with any
member of the family of Eflie Deans.
But if his experiences were to him
lncomprehensible they were by no
means so to the authorities. BY piec-
ing together his testimony with those
Of others, they rightly determined that
the stranger in the Eing's park, the
leader of the Porteous mob, and the
father of Efie's child were n and
the same person; namely, Geordie
Robertson, comrade of Wilson the
SlluSSlcI, anu Dut iulCiy OSNopt'
he very prison in which Fife Deans
was now confined. Accordingly. they
planned to capture him that night at
Muschat's Cairn. But before they
could reach that place, Robertson had
lime to beg Jeanne to save her sister
1T the trial by testifying that Efle had
disclosed to her her condition. Then
he escaped.
Merely that slight falsehood would
have removed the case of Fife Deans
from under the letter of the cruel
Scotch statute But Jeanne, ~steadfast-
~, devoutly truthful, was utterly IN
able to placate her conscience in hear
ing false witness. Nor could the dis
appointment of Fife herself, whom she
was at last permitted to visit in the
strong-roOm of the prison, alter her
resolution. "He wanted that l suld
be mansworn.'' she SAID. II told him
that l daurna swear to an untruth.'
At the trial, when jeanne was
brought in to testify, Effie, in human
weakness, cried. 20 Jeanne, Jeanne,
save mel" But when the solemn oath,
-"the truth to tell, and no truth to
conceal, as far as she knew or was
asked" was administered Sin the name
of God, and as the witness should an
swer to God at the great day of judg-
ment," jeanne, educated in deep reyer
ence for the name of the deity, was
elevated above all considerations save
those which she could, with a clear
conscience. call Him to witness. And
when the advocate came at length to
the point of asking her, what your
sister said allied her when you in
quired:' Jeanne could only answer.
nothing" When the sentence was
pronounced by the doomsman. Effie'S
own eyes were the only dry ones in
the court. God forgive We. my lords,
she said. land dinna be angry WI mo
for wishin' tive a need forgiveness
The next morning found Jeanne
Deans travelling alone and afoOt on
the long road to London "to see the
Queens face that gives grace" and
beg for her sisters pardon. Her tar
tan screen served all the purposes of
a riding habit, and of an umbrella a
small bundle contained such changes
of linen as were absolutely necessary.
She had a few guineaS. and a letter
from Reuben Butler to the Duke of
Argyle, whose grandfather had been
under obligations of the deepest to
the famous Bible Butler, grandfather
of the poor Observation-Disclosures now
sick at Libberton.
She passed luckily, on the whole.
through so weary and dangerous a
journey, and at length, through the
of the duke, secured the
which she sought.
Before she reached Scotland again.
Efie had eloped with her lover, who
was in reality George StauntOn. son
of an English nobleman. The sisters,
who had last met when Fife vas sit
ting on the bench of the condemned,
did not meet again for many years,
though Lady Staunton wrote some
times to Jeanie-now Mrs. Butler,
wife of Mr.. Reuben Butler, pastor of
Knocktarlitie.
Finally, by chance, Sir George
that Meg Murdockson, who had
attended Effie in her illness. had not
murdered the child, as they had al
ways supposed. He traced the boy to
certain troop of vagabonds. of which
Black Donald was the chief. In an
ARRAY with Black Donald's men, Sir
George was shot by a young lad called
'the Whistler" who proved to be the
lost son. The lad disappeared, and
escaped to America. Lady Staunton.
overcome by the tragedy, after vain
efforts to drown her grief in society.
to a convent in France. AL
though she took nc vows, she remained
here until her death. But her in
at court accomplished much
for the children of her sister Jeanne.
who lived happily on in the good par
ish with which the bounty of the
Duke of Argyle had provided her hus-
band.
The Heart of Midlothian is notable