The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne | Page 9

towards
the mouth of a horrible cavern, when despair seized her mind, and she
lost all signs of existence: in this state she remained some time; but it is
impossible to describe her situation, when she unclosed her eyes, and
beheld Alleyn, who was watching with the most trembling anxiety her
return to life, and whose eyes, on seeing her revive, swam in joy and
tenderness. Wonder; fearful joy, and the various shades of mingled
emotions, passed in quick succession over her countenance; her
surprize was increased, when she observed her own servants standing
by, and could discover no one but friends. She scarcely dared to trust
her senses, but the voice of Alleyn, tremulous with tenderness,
dissolved in a moment the illusions of fear, and confirmed her in the
surprising reality. When she was sufficiently recovered, they quitted
this scene of gloom: they travelled on in a slow pace, and the shades of
night were fallen long before they reached the castle; there distress and
confusion appeared. The Countess, alarmed with the most dreadful
apprehensions, had dispatched her servants various ways in search of
her child, and her transports on again beholding her in safety, prevented
her observing immediately that it was Alleyn who accompanied her.
Joy, however, soon yielded to its equal wonder, when she perceived
him, and in the tumult of contending emotions, she scarce knew which
first to interrogate. When she had been told the escape of her daughter,
and by whom effected, she prepared to hear, with impatient solicitude,

news of her beloved son, and the means by which the brave young
Highlander had eluded the vigilance of the Baron. Of the Earl, Alleyn
could only inform the Countess, that he was taken prisoner with
himself, within the walls of the fortress, as they fought side by side;
that he was conducted unwounded, to a tower, situated on the east
angle of the castle, where he was still confined. Himself had been
imprisoned in a distant part of the pile, and had been able to collect no
other particulars of the Earl's situation, than those he had related. Of
himself he gave a brief relation of the following circumstances:
After having lain some weeks in the horrible dungeon allotted him, his
mind involved in the gloom of despair, and filled with the momentary
expectation of death, desperation furnished him with invention, and he
concerted the following plan of escape: Ñ He had observed, that the
guard who brought him his allowance of food, on quitting the dungeon,
constantly sounded his spear against the pavement near the entrance.
This circumstance excited his surprize and curiosity. A ray of hope
beamed through the gloom of his dungeon. He examined the spot, as
well as the obscurity of the place would permit; it was paved with flag
stones like the other parts of the cell, and the paving was everywhere
equally firm. He, however, became certain, that some means of escape
was concealed beneath that part, for the guard was constant in
examining it by striking that spot, and treading more firmly on it; and
this he endeavoured to do without being observed. One day,
immediately after the departure of the guard, Alleyn set himself to
unfasten the pavement; this, with much patience and industry, he
effected, by means of a small knife which had escaped the search of the
soldiers. He found the earth beneath hard, and without any symptoms
of being lately disturbed; but after digging a few feet, he arrived at a
trap; he trembled with eagerness. It was now almost night, and he
overcome with weariness; he doubted whether he should be able to
penetrate through the door, and what other obstructions were behind it,
before the next day. He therefore, threw the earth again into the hole,
and endeavoured to close the pavement; with much difficulty, he trod
the earth into the opening, but the pavement he was unable exactly to
replace. It was too dark examine the stones; and he found, that even if
he should be able to make them fit, the pavement could not be made

firm. His mind and body were now overcome, and he threw himself on
the ground in an agony of despair. It was midnight, when the return of
his strength and spirits produced another effort. He tore the earth up
with hasty violence, cut round the lock of the trap door, and raising it,
unwilling to hesitate or consider, sprung through the aperture. The vault
was of considerable depth, and he was thrown down by the violence of
the fall; an hollow echo, which seemed to murmur at a distance,
convinced him that the place was of considerable extent. He had no
light to direct him, and was therefore obliged to walk with his arms
extended, in