]
Mr. Morton had been alarmed by the discharge of the pistol, and the
increasing hubbub around the smithy. His first attention, after he had
directed the bystanders to detain Waverley, but to abstain from injuring
him, was turned to the body of Mucklewrath, over which his wife, in a
revulsion of feeling, was weeping, howling, and tearing her elf-locks,
in a state little short of distraction. On raising up the smith, the
first discovery was, that he was alive; and the next, that he was likely
to live as long as if he had never heard the report of a pistol in his
life. He had made a narrow escape, however; the bullet had grazed his
head, and stunned him for a moment or two, which trance terror and
confusion of spirit had prolonged, somewhat longer. He now arose
to demand vengeance on the person of Waverley, and with difficulty
acquiesced in the proposal of Mr. Morton, that he should be carried
before the laird, as a justice of peace, and placed at his disposal. The
rest of the assistants unanimously agreed to the measure recommended;
even Mrs. Mucklewrath, who had begun to recover from her hysterics,
whimpered forth, 'She wadna say naething against what the minister
proposed; he was e'en ower gude for his trade, and she hoped to see him
wi' a dainty decent bishop's gown on his back; a comelier sight than
your Geneva cloaks and bands, I wis.
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