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For my part, I feel that with regard to Nature I live a sort of border life, on the confines of a world into which I make occasional and transient forays only, and my patriotism and allegiance to the State into whose territories I seem to retreat are those of a moss-trooper.
Had the crowd come up, I must have yielded nolens volens; but the man-hunter himself formidable antagonist though he appeared was still but one, and to surrender tamely to a single individual, was more than my spirit inherited from border ancestry could brook. There was too much of the moss-trooper blood in my veins for that, and I resolved, coute que coute, to risk the encounter.
"You intrude upon my privacy, soldier; withdraw yourself and Your followers. There is peace betwixt our nations, or my servants should chastise thy presumption." "Such peace as ye give such shall you have," answered the moss-trooper, first pointing with his lance towards the burned village, and then almost instantly levelling it against Lord Lacy.
"That will cost me a farther ride," said the man, "but it is all in the day's work. How now, my lad," said he to Halbert, who was handling the long lance which he had laid aside; "how do you like such a plaything? will you go with me and be a moss-trooper?"
"That I can, and bring him back too, by fair means or force, as best likes your reverence." "No force must be used upon him. Within what time wilt thou find him out?" "Within thirty hours, so he have not crossed the Lothian firth If it is to do you a pleasure, I will set off directly, and wind him as a sleuth-dog tracks the moss-trooper," answered Christie.
"If I had known you were such a moss-trooper you should have tasted longer of the Bass," says he. "Speaking of which, my lord, I return your letter." And I gave him the enclosure in the counterfeit hand. "There was the cover also with the seal," said he. "I have it not," said I. "It bore not even an address, and could not compromise a cat.
The Lairds of Staneholme had wild moss-trooper blood in their veins, and they had vindicated it to the last generation by unsettled lives, reckless intermeddling with public affairs, and inveterate feuds with their brother lairds.
The worst part of our job was to keep touch with our flanks, and that was what I used Wake for. He covered country like a moss-trooper, sometimes on a rusty bicycle, oftener on foot, and you couldn't tire him. I wonder what other divisions thought of the grimy private who was our chief means of communication.
He was almost as great a moss-trooper as myself, and, with Elspeth for company, had visited near every settlement in the dominion. Education and Christian privileges were his care, and he deplored the backward state of the land.
Master Stickles's view of the matter was so entirely unromantic, that I scarcely wondered at Mistress Stickles for having run away from him to an adventurous moss-trooper. Now Master Stickles neither had, nor wished to have, any children.
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