The
approach of a party sent for the purpose of compelling the country people
to bury the dead, and who had already assembled several peasants for that
purpose, now obliged Edward to rejoin his guide, who awaited him in great
anxiety and fear under shade of the plantations.
After leaving this field of death, the rest of their journey was happily
accomplished. At the house of Farmer Williams, Edward passed for a young
kinsman, educated for the church, who was come to reside there till the
civil tumults permitted him to pass through the country. This silenced
suspicion among the kind and simple yeomanry of Cumberland, and accounted
sufficiently for the grave manners and retired habits of the new guest.
The precaution became more necessary than Waverley had anticipated, as a
variety of incidents prolonged his stay at Fasthwaite, as the farm was
called.
A tremendous fall of snow rendered his departure impossible for more than
ten days. When the roads began to become a little practicable, they
successively received news of the retreat of the Chevalier into Scotland;
then, that he had abandoned the frontiers, retiring upon Glasgow; and
that the Duke of Cumberland had formed the siege of Carlisle.
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