Guy Mannering

He could not deny, that looking round upon the dreary region, and seeing nothing but bleakfields, and naked trees, hills obscured by fogs, and flats covered with inundations, he did forsome time suffer melancholy to prevail on him, and wished himself again safe at home-Travelsof Will Marvel, Idler, No. 49.It was in the beginning of the month of November, 17-, when a young English gentleman, whohad just left the university of Oxford, made use of the liberty afforded him, to visit some parts ofthe north of England; and curiosity extended his tour into the adjacent frontier of the sister country.He had visited, on the day that opens our history, some monastic ruins in the county of Dumfries, and spent much of the day in making drawings of them from different points; so that, on mountinghis horse to resume his journey, the brief and gloomy twilight of the season had already commenced.His way lay through a wide tract of black moss, extending for miles on each side and before him.Little eminences arose like islands on its surface, bearing here and there patches of corn, which evenat this season was green, and sometimes a but, or farm-house, shaded by a willow or two, andsurrounded by large elder bushes. These insulated dwellings communicated with each other bywinding passages through the moss, impassable by any but the natives themselves. The public road, however, was tolerably well made and safe, so that the prospect of being benighted brought with itno real danger. Still it is uncomfortable to travel, alone and in the dark, through an unknowncountry; and there are few ordinary occasions upon which Fancy frets herself so much as in asituation like that of Mannering.As the light grew faint and more faint, and the morass appeared blacker and blacker, our travellerquestioned more closely each chance passenger on his distance from the village of Kippletringan, where he proposed to quarter for the night. His queries were usually answered by a counterchallenge respecting the place from whence he came. While sufficient daylight remained to show thedress and appearance of a gentleman, these cross interrogatories were usually put in the form of acase supposed, as, "Ye'll hae been at the auld abbey o' Halycross, sir? there's mony Englishgentlemen, gang to see that."-Or, "Your honour will be come frae the house o' Pouderloupat?" Butwhen the voice of the querist alone was distinguishable, the response usually was, "Where are yecoming frae at sic a time o' night as the like o' this?"-or, "Ye'll no be o' this country, freend?" Theanswers, when obtained, were neither very reconcilable to each other, nor accurate in theinformation which they afforded. Kippletringan was distant at first "a gey bit"; [* Considerabledistance] then the "gey bit" was more accurately described as "ablins [* Perhaps] three mile"; thenthe "three mile" diminished into "like a mile and a bittock "; then extended themselves into "fourmile or thereawa"; and, lastly, a female voice, having hushed a waiting infant which thespokeswoman carried in her arms, assured Guy Mannering, "It was a weary lang gate yet to 3Kippletringan, and unco heavy road for foot passengers." The poor hack upon which Manneringwas mounted was probably of opinion that it suited him as ill as the female respondent; for he beganto flag very much, answered each application of the spur with a groan, and stumbled at every stone(and they were not few) which lay in his road.