Page:Jeanie Deans and the lily of St. Leonard's.pdf/11

 11 their warrant from her bed, and placed her in a coach which they had brought with them for that purpose The day on which the unhappy Effie Deans was conveyed to the Tolbooth had been anxious- ly waited for by the populace of Edinburgh as that on which Captain Porteous was expected to suffer the last sentence of the law; and the Grassmarket, the common place of execution at that period, was filled by an immense crowd of spectators, eager to glut their sight with a tri- umphant revenge. The usual hour for produc- ing the criminal had been past for some time, and the question,—would they dare to defraud public justice ? spread rapidly from one to ano- ther. At length the news were announced, inti- mating the royal pleasure that Captain Porteous be respited for six weeks from the time appoint- ed for his execution. The multitude uttered a groan or rather a roar of indignation and disap- pointment. But no disturbance took place. The scaffold and other preperations which had been made for the execution were speedily re- moved, and the multitude quietly dispersed. Matters were in this state when Reuben But- ler arrived in Edinburgh with the intention of calling on a clerical friend for whom he had pro- mised to officiate on the ensuing Sabbath. As he was returning up the High Street, in the dusk of the evening, he met Mr Saddletree, who communicated to him the astounding intelli- gence of Effie's imprisonment; and having rea- sons much deeper than those dictated by mere humanity for interesting himself in the fate of Jeanie Deans' sister, he immediately set of in quest of a friend of his connected with the law, of whom he wished to make more particular in-