But the vision of that morning, whether real or imaginary,
had impressed his mind with a superstitious feeling which he in vain
endeavoured to shake off. The nature of the business which awaited him
at the little inn, called Tod's Hole, where he soon after arrived, was
not of a kind to restore his spirits.
It was necessary he should see Mortsheugh, the sexton of the old
burial-ground at Armitage, to arrange matters for the funeral of Alice;
and, as the man dwelt near the place of her late residence, the Master,
after a slight refreshment, walked towards the place where the body of
Alice was to be deposited. It was situated in the nook formed by the
eddying sweep of a stream, which issued from the adjoining hills. A rude
cavern in an adjacent rock, which, in the interior, was cut into the
shape of a cross, formed the hermitage, where some Saxon saint had in
ancient times done penance, and given name to the place. The rich
Abbey of Coldinghame had, in latter days, established a chapel in
the neighbourhood, of which no vestige was now visible, though the
churchyard which surrounded it was still, as upon the present occasion,
used for the interment of particular persons.
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