Caleb replied: "He had never repeated the lines to living mortal; they
were told to him by an auld priest that had been confessor to Lord
Allan's father when the family were Catholic. But mony a time," he said,
"I hae soughed thae dark words ower to myself, and, well-a-day! little
did I think of their coming round this day."
"Truce with your nonsense, and let me hear the doggerel which has put it
into your head," said the Master, impatiently.
With a quivering voice, and a cheek pale with apprehension, Caleb
faltered out the following lines:
"When the last Laird of Ravenswood to Ravenswood shall ride, And woo a
dead maiden to be his bride, He shall stable his steed in the Kelpie's
flow, And his name shall be lost for evermoe!"
"I know the Kelpie's flow well enough," said the Master; "I suppose, at
least, you mean the quicksand betwixt this tower and Wolf's Hope; but
why any man in his senses should stable a steed there----"
"Oh, ever speer ony thing about that, sir--God forbid we should ken what
the prophecy means--but just bide you at hame, and let the strangers
ride to Ravenswood by themselves.
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