They would not have understood the general philanthropy
which rendered it almost impossible for Waverley to have passed any
person in such distress; but, as apprehending that the sufferer was one
of his _following_ they unanimously allowed that Waverley's conduct was
thatof akind and considerate chieftain, who merited the attachment of his
people. In about a quarter of an hour poor Humphrey breathed his last,
praying his young master, when he returned to Waverley-Honour, to be kind
to old Job Houghton and his dame, and conjuring him not to fight with
these wild petticoat-men against old England.
When his last breath was drawn, Waverley, who had beheld with sincere
sorrow, and no slight tinge of remorse, the final agonies of mortality,
now witnessed for the first time, commanded Callum to remove the body
into the hut. This the young Highlander performed, not without examining
the pockets of the defunct, which, however, he remarked had been pretty
well spunged. He took the cloak, however, and proceeding with the
provident caution of a spaniel hiding a bone, concealed it among some
furze and carefully marked the spot, observing that, if he chanced to
return that way, it would be an excellent rokelay for his auld mother
Elspat.
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