He could not disguise from himself that he was venturing rather too rashly into the power of outlawed and desperate persons; for with such only, a man in the situation of Redgauntlet could be supposed to associate.

There were other grounds for apprehension, Several marks of intelligence betwixt Mrs.Crosbie and the Laird of Summertrees had not escaped Alan's acute observation; and it was plain that the provost's inclinations towards him, which he believed to be sincere and good, were not firm enough to withstand the influence of this league between his wife and friend.

The provost's adieus, like Macbeth's amen, had stuck in his throat, and seemed to intimate that he apprehended more than he dared give utterance to.
Laying all these matters together, Alan thought, with no little anxiety on the celebrated lines of Shakespeare, -- A drop, That in the ocean seeks another drop, &c.
But pertinacity was a strong feature in the young lawyer's character.
He was, and always had been, totally unlike the 'horse hot at hand,' who tires before noon through his own over eager exertions in the beginning of the day.

On the contrary, his first efforts seemed frequently inadequate to accomplishing his purpose, whatever that for the time might be; and it was only as the difficulties of the task increased, that his mind seemed to acquire the energy necessary to combat and subdue them.

If, therefore, he went anxiously forward upon his uncertain and perilous expedition, the reader must acquit him of all idea, even in a passing thought, of the possibility of abandoning his search, and resigning Darsie Latimer to his destiny.
A couple of hours' riding brought him to the little town of Annan, situated on the shores of the Solway, between eight and nine o'clock.
The sun had set, but the day was not yet ended; and when he had alighted and seen his horse properly cared for at the principal inn of the place, he was readily directed to Mr.Maxwell's friend, old Tom Trumbull, with whom everybody seemed well acquainted.