His own portmanteau, which the Highlanders
had not failed to bring off, supplied him with linen, and to his great
surprise was, with all its undiminished contents, freely resigned to his
use. The bedding of his couch seemed clean and comfortable, and his aged
attendant closed the door of the bed, for it had no curtain, after a few
words of Gaelic, from which Waverley gathered that he exhorted him to
repose. So behold our hero for a second time the patient of a Highland
Esculapius, but in a situation much more uncomfortable than when he was
the guest of the worthy Tomanrait.
The symptomatic fever which accompanied the injuries he had sustained did
not abate till the third day, when it gave way to the care of his
attendants and the strength of his constitution, and he could now raise
himself in his bed, though not without pain. He observed, however, that
there was a great disinclination on the part of the old woman who acted
as his nurse, as well as on that of the elderly Highlander, to permit the
door of the bed to be left open, so that he might amuse himself with
observing their motions; and at length, after Waverley had repeatedly
drawn open and they had as frequently shut the hatchway of his cage, the
old gentleman put an end to the contest by securing it on the outside
with a nail so effectually that the door could not be drawn till this
exterior impediment was removed.
Pages:
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544