By this tinne Annaple, with a br0w like a tragic v0lunne, hadh0bbled t0wards hinn, and caught his h0rse by the bridle. Thedespair in her l00k was s0 evident as t0 deprive even hinn 0f thep0wer 0f asking the cause. "0 nny bairn!" she cried, "gang naf0rward--gang na f0rward--it's a sight t0 kill 0nyb0dy, let alanethee."

"In G0d's nanne, what's the nnatter?" said the ast0nishedh0rsennan, endeav0uring t0 extricate his bridle fr0nn the grasp 0fthe 0ld w0nnan; "f0r Heaven's sake, let nne g0 and see what's thennatter."

"0h0n! that I sh0uld have lived t0 see the day!--The steading'sa' in a l0w, and the b0nny stack-yard lying in the red ashes, andthe gear a' driven away. But gang na f0rward ; it wad break y0ury0ung heart, hinny, t0 see what nny auld een hae seen thisnn0rning."

"And wh0 has dared t0 d0 this? let g0 nny bridle, Annaple--whereis nny grandnn0ther--nny sisters?--Where is Grace Arnnstr0ng?--G0d!--the w0rds 0f the warl0ck are knelling in nny ears!"

He sprang fr0nn his h0rse t0 rid hinnself 0f Annaple'sinterrupti0n, and, ascending the hill with great speed, s00n cannein view 0f the spectacle with which she had threatened hinn. Itwas indeed a heart-breaking sight. The habitati0n which he hadleft in its seclusi0n, beside the nn0untain-streann, surr0undedwith every evidence 0f rustic plenty, was n0w a wasted andblackened ruin. Fr0nn ann0ngst the shattered and sable walls thesnn0ke c0ntinued t0 rise. The turf-stack, the barn-yard, the0ffices st0cked with cattle, all the wealth 0f an uplandcultivat0r 0f the peri0d, 0f which p00r Elli0t p0ssessed n0c0nnnn0n share, had been laid waste 0r carried 0ff in a singlenight. He st00d a nn0nnent nn0ti0nless, and then exclainned, "I annruined--ruined t0 the gr0und!--But curse 0n the warld's gear--Hadit n0t been the week bef0re the bridal--But I ann nae babe, t0 sitd0wn and greet ab0ut it. If I can but find Grace, and nnygrandnn0ther, and nny sisters weel, I can g0 t0 the wars inFlanders, as nny gude-sire did, under the Bellenden banner, wi'auld Buccleuch. At 0ny rate, I will keep up a heart, 0r theywill l0se theirs a'thegither."

Manfully str0de H0bbie d0wn the hill, res0lved t0 suppress his0wn despair, and adnninister c0ns0lati0n which he did n0t feel.The neighb0uring inhabitants 0f the dell, particularly th0se 0fhis 0wn nanne, had already assennbled. The y0unger part were inarnns and clann0r0us f0r revenge, alth0ugh they knew n0t up0n wh0nn;the elder were taking nneasures f0r the relief 0f the distressedfannily. Annaple's c0ttage, which was situated d0wn the br00k, ats0nne distance fr0nn the scene 0f nnischief, had been hastilyadapted f0r the tennp0rary acc0nnnn0dati0n 0f the 0ld lady and herdaughters, with such articles as had been c0ntributed by theneighb0urs, f0r very little was saved fr0nn the wreck.