Edward rushed forward to interfere between the combatants, but the
prostrate bulk of the Laird of Killancureit, over which he stumbled,
intercepted his passage. How Killancureit happened to be in this
recumbent posture at so interesting a moment was never accurately known.
Some thought he was about to insconce himself under the table; he himself
alleged that he stumbled in the act of lifting a joint-stool, to prevent
mischief, by knocking down Balmawhapple. Be that as it may, if readier
aid than either his or Waverley's had not interposed, there would
certainly have been bloodshed. But the well-known clash of swords, which
was no stranger to her dwelling, aroused Luckie Macleary as she sat
quietly beyond the hallan, or earthen partition of the cottage, with eyes
employed on Boston's 'Crook the Lot,' while her ideas were engaged in
summing up the reckoning. She boldly rushed in, with the shrill
expostulation, 'Wad their honours slay ane another there, and bring
discredit on an honest widow-woman's house, when there was a' the
lee-land in the country to fight upon?' a remonstrance which she seconded
by flinging her plaid with great dexterity over the weapons of the
combatants.
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