A DAUGHTER OF RAASAY A TALE OF THE '45

By WILLIAM MacLEOD RAINE

Illustrated by STUART TRAVIS

NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright, 1901, by Frank Leslie Publishing House

Copyright, 1902, by Frederick A. Stokes Company

All rights reserved

Published in October, 1902

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Illustration: AILEEN]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

TO MR. ELLERY SEDGWICK

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE I. The Sport of Chance 1 II A Cry in the Night 19 III Deoch Slaint an Righ! 39 IV Of Love and War 60 V The Hue and Cry 79 VI In The Matter of a Kiss 99 VII My Lady Rages 116 VIII Charles Edward Stuart 133 IX Blue Bonnets are Over the Border 151 X Culloden 159 XI The Red Heather Hills 180 XII Volney Pays a Debt 202 XIII The Little God has an Innings 223 XIV The Aftermath 231 XV A Reprieve! 251 XVI Volney's Guest 266 XVII The Valley of the Shadow 278 XVIII The Shadow Falls 297 The Afterword 309

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 THE LADIES OF ST. JAMES'S

 The ladies of St. James's Go swinging to the play; Their footmen run before them With a "Stand by! Clear the way!" But Phyllida, my Phyllida! She takes her buckled shoon. When we go out a-courting Beneath the harvest moon. 

 The ladies of St. James's! They are so fine and fair, You'd think a box of essences Was broken in the air: But Phyllida, my Phyllida! The breath of heath and furze When breezes blow at morning, Is not so fresh as hers. 

 The ladies of St. James's! They're painted to the eyes; Their white it stays forever, Their red it never dies: But Phyllida, my Phyllida! Her colour comes and goes; It trembles to a lily, -- It wavers like a rose. 

 The ladies of St. James's! You scarce can understand The half of all their speeches, Their phrases are so grand: But Phyllida, my Phyllida! Her shy and simple words Are clear as after raindrops The music of the birds. 

 The ladies of St. James's! They have their fits and freaks; They smile on you--for seconds; They frown on you--for weeks: But Phyllida, my Phyllida! Come either storm or shine, From shrovetide unto shrovetide Is always true--and mine. 

 _Austin Dobson. _

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOREWORD

When this romance touches history the author believes that it is, in everyrespect, with one possible exception, in accord with the accepted facts. In detailing the history of "the '45'" and the sufferings of the misguidedgentlemen who flung away the scabbard out of loyalty to a worthless cause, care has been taken to make the story agree with history. The writer doesnot of course indorse the view of Prince Charles' character herein setforth by Kenneth Montagu, but there is abundant evidence to show that theYoung Chevalier had in a very large degree those qualities which werelacking to none of the Stuarts: a charming personality and a gallantbearing. If his later life did not fulfil the promise of his youth, theunhappy circumstances which hampered him should be kept in mind as anextenuation. 

The thanks of the writer are due for pertinent criticism to Miss Chase, toMr. Arthur Chapman and to Mr. James Rain, and especially to Mr. EllerySedgwick, whose friendly interest and kindly encouragement have beenunfailing. 

Acknowledgment must also be made of a copious use of Horace Walpole'sLetters, the Chevalier Johnstone's History of the Rebellion, and othereighteenth century sources of information concerning the incidents of thetimes. The author has taken the liberty of using several anecdotes and_bon mots_ mentioned in the "Letters"; but he has in each case put thestory in the mouth of its historical originator. 

 W. M. R. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

A DAUGHTER OF RAASAY

CHAPTER I

THE SPORT OF CHANCE

"Deep play!" I heard Major Wolfe whisper to Lord Balmerino. "Can Montagu'sestate stand such a drain?"

"No. He will be dipped to the last pound before midnight. 'Tis Volney'sdoing. He has angled for Montagu a se'nnight, and now he has hooked him. Ihave warned the lad, but----"

He shrugged his shoulders. 

The Scotchman was right. I was past all caution now, past all restraint. The fever of play had gripped me, and I would listen to nothing but therattle of that little box which makes the most seductive music ever sungby siren. My Lord Balmerino might stand behind me in silent protest tillall was grey, and though he had been twenty times my father's friend hewould not move me a jot. 

Volney's smoldering eyes looked across the table at me. 

"Your cast, Kenn. Shall we say doubles? You'll nick this time for sure. "

"Done! Nine's the main, " I cried, and threw deuces. 

With that throw down crashed fifty ancestral oaks that had weathered thestorms of three hundred winters. I had crabbed, not nicked. 

"The fickle goddess is not with you to-day, Kenn. The jade jilts us all attimes, " drawled Volney, as he raked in his winnings carelessly. 

"Yet I have noted that there are those whom she forsakes not often, and Ihave wondered by what charmed talisman they hold her true, " flashed outBalmerino. 

The steel flickered into Volney's eyes. He understood it for no chanceremark, but as an innuendo tossed forth as a challenge. Of all men SirRobert Volney rode on the crest of fortune's wave, and there were notlacking those who whispered that his invariable luck was due to somethingmore than chance and honest skill. For me, I never believed the charge. With all his faults Volney had the sportsman's love of fair play. 

The son of a plain country gentleman, he had come to be by reason of hishandsome face, his reckless courage, his unfailing impudence, and his giftof _savoir-vivre_, the most notorious and fortunate of the adventurers whoswarmed at the court of St. James. By dint of these and kindred qualitieshe had become an intimate companion of the Prince of Wales. The man had awide observation of life; indeed, he was an interested and whimsicalobserver rather than an actor, and a scoffer always. A libertine from thehead to the heel of him, yet gossip marked him as the future husband ofthe beautiful young heiress Antoinette Westerleigh. For the rest, hecarried an itching sword and the smoothest tongue that ever graced avillain. I had been proud that such a man had picked me for his friend, entirely won by the charm of manner that made his more evil faults sitgracefully on him. 

Volney declined for the present the quarrel that Balmerino's impulsiveloyalty to me would have fixed on him. He feared no living man, but he wasno hothead to be drawn from his purpose. If Lord Balmerino wanted tomeasure swords with him he would accommodate the old Scotch peer with thegreatest pleasure on earth, but not till the time fitted him. He answeredeasily:

"I know no talisman but this, my Lord; in luck and out of luck to bear asmiling front, content with the goods the gods may send. "

It was a fair hit, for Balmerino was well known as an open malcontent andsuspected of being a Jacobite. 

"Ah! The goods sent by the gods! A pigeon for the plucking--the lad youhave called friend!" retorted the other. 

"Take care, my Lord, " warningly. 

"But there are birds it is not safe to pluck, " continued Balmerino, heedless of his growing anger. 

"Indeed!"

"As even Sir Robert Volney may find out. An eaglet is not wisely chosenfor such purpose. "

It irritated me that they should thrust and parry over my shoulder, as ifI had been but a boy instead of full three months past my legal majority. Besides, I had no mind to have them letting each other's blood on myaccount. 

"Rat it, 'tis your play, Volney. You keep us waiting, " I cried. 

"You're in a devilish hurry to be quit of your shekels, " laughed theIrishman O'Sullivan, who sat across the table from me. "Isn't there aproverb, Mr. Montagu, about a--a careless gentleman and his money goingdifferent ways, begad? Don't keep him waiting any longer than need be, Volney. "

There is this to be said for the Macaronis, that they plucked their pigeonwith the most graceful negligence in the world. They might live by theirwits, but they knew how to wear always the jauntiest indifference ofmanner. Out came the feathers with a sure hand, the while they exchangedchoice _bon mots_ and racy scandal. Hazard was the game we played and I, Kenneth Montagu, was cast for the rôle of the pigeon. Against these oldgamesters I had no chance even if the play had been fair, and my head onit more than one of them rooked me from start to finish. I was with a vastdeal of good company, half of whom were rogues and blacklegs. 

"Heard George Selwyn's latest?"[1] inquired Lord Chesterfield languidly. 

"Not I. Threes, devil take it!" cried O'Sullivan in a pet. 

"Tell it, Horry. It's your story, " drawled the fourth Earl ofChesterfield. 

"Faith, and that's soon done, " answered Walpole. "George and I were takingthe air down the Mall arm in arm yesterday just after the fellow Fox washanged for cutting purses, and up comes our Fox to quiz George. Says he, knowing Selwyn's penchant for horrors, 'George, were you at the executionof my namesake?' Selwyn looks him over in his droll way from head to footand says, 'Lard, no! I never attend rehearsals, Fox. '"

"'Tis the first he has missed for years then. Selwyn is as regular as JackKetch himself. Your throw, Montagu, " put in O'Sullivan. 

"Seven's the main, and by the glove of Helen I crab. Saw ever man suchcursed luck?" I cried. 

"'Tis vile. Luck's mauling you fearfully to-night, " agreed Volneylanguidly. Then, apropos of the hanging, "Ketch turned off that fellow Dr. Dodd too. There was a shower, and the prison chaplain held an umbrellaover Dodd's head. Gilly Williams said it wasn't necessary, as the Doctorwas going to a place where he might be easily dried. "

"Egad, 'tis his greatest interest in life, " chuckled Walpole, harking backto Selwyn. "When George has a tooth pulled he drops his kerchief as asignal for the dentist to begin the execution. "

Old Lord Pam's toothless gums grinned appreciation of the jest as hetottered from the room to take a chair for a rout at which he was due. 

"Faith, and it's a wonder how that old Methuselah hangs on year afteryear, " said O'Sullivan bluntly, before the door had even closed on theoctogenarian. "He must be a thousand if he's a day. "

"The fact is, " explained Chesterfield confidentially, "that old Pam hasbeen dead for several years, but he doesn't choose to have it known. Pardon me, am I delaying the game?"

He was not, and he knew it; but my Lord Chesterfield was far too polite tomore than hint to Topham Beauclerc that he had fallen asleep over histhrow. Selwyn and Lord March lounged into the coffee house arm in arm. Ontheir heels came Sir James Craven, the choicest blackleg in England. 

"How d'ye do, everybody? Whom are you and O'Sully rooking to-night, Volney? Oh, I see--Montagu. Beg pardon, " said Craven coolly. 

Volney looked past the man with a wooden face that did not even recognizethe fellow as a blot on the landscape. There was bad blood between the twomen, destined to end in a tragedy. Sir James had been in the high gracesof Frederick Prince of Wales until the younger and more polished Volneyhad ousted him. On the part of the coarse and burly Craven, there wasenduring hatred toward his easy and elegant rival, who paid back hismalice with a serene contempt. Noted duellist as Craven was, Sir Robertdid not give a pinch of snuff for his rage. 

The talk veered to the new fashion of spangled skirts, and Walpole vowedthat Lady Coventry's new dress was covered with spangles big as ashilling. 

"'Twill be convenient for Coventry. She'll be change for a guinea, "suggested Selwyn gloomily, his solemn face unlighted by the vestige of asmile. 

So they jested, even when the play was deepest and while long-inheritedfamily manors passed out of the hands of their owners. The recent Frenchvictory at _Fontenoy_ still rankled in the heart of every Englishman. Within, the country seethed with an undercurrent of unrest anddissatisfaction. It was said that there were those who boasted quietlyamong themselves over their wine that the sun would yet rise some day on aStuart England, that there were desperate men still willing to risk theirlives in blind loyalty or in the gambler's spirit for the race of Kingsthat had been discarded for its unworthiness. But the cut of his Mechlinlace ruffles was more to the Macaroni than his country's future. He madehis jest with the same aplomb at births and weddings and deaths. 

Each fresh minute of play found me parted from some heirloom treasured byMontagus long since dust. In another half hour Montagu Grange was strippedof timber bare as the Row itself. Once, between games, I strolled uneasilydown the room, and passing the long looking glass scarce recognized thehaggard face that looked out at me. Still I played on, dogged andwretched, not knowing how to withdraw myself from these elegant dandieswho were used to win or lose a fortune at a sitting with imperturbableface. 

Lord Balmerino gave me a chance. He clapped a hand on my shoulder and saidin his brusque kindly way--

"Enough, lad! You have dropped eight thou' to-night. Let the old familypictures still hang on the walls. "

I looked up, flushed and excited, yet still sane enough to know his advicewas good. In the strong sallow face of Major James Wolfe I read the sameword. I knew the young soldier slightly and liked him with a greatrespect, though I could not know that this grave brilliant-eyed young manwas later to become England's greatest soldier and hero. I had even pushedback my chair to rise from the table when the cool gibing voice of Volneycut in. 

"The eighth wonder of the world; Lord Balmerino in a new rôle--adviser toyoung men of fashion who incline to enjoy life. Are you by any chancethinking of becoming a ranting preacher, my Lord?"

"I bid him do as I say and not as I have done. To point my case I citemyself as an evil example of too deep play. "

"Indeed, my Lord! Faith, I fancied you had in mind even deeper play forthe future. A vastly interesting game, this of politics. You stake yourhead that you can turn a king and zounds! you play the deuce instead. "

Balmerino looked at him blackly out of a face cut in frowning marble, butVolney leaned back carelessly in his chair and his insolent eyes neverflickered. 

As I say, I sat swithering 'twixt will and will-not. 

"Better come, Kenneth! The luck is against you to-night, " urged Balmerino, his face relaxing as he turned to me. 

Major Wolfe said nothing, but his face too invited me. 

"Yes, better go back to school and be birched, " sneered Volney. 

And at that I flung back into my seat with a curse, resolute to show him Iwas as good a man as he. My grim-faced guardian angel washed his hands ofme with a Scotch proverb. 

"He that will to Cupar maun to Cupar. The lad will have to gang his aingate, " I heard him tell Wolfe as they strolled away. 

Still the luck held against me. Before I rose from the table two hourslater I wrote out notes for a total so large that I knew the Grange mustbe mortgaged to the roof to satisfy it. 

Volney lolled in his chair and hid a yawn behind tapering pinkfinger-nails. "'Slife, you had a cursed run of the ivories to-night, Kenn!When are you for your revenge? Shall we say to-morrow? Egad, I'm ready tosleep round the clock. Who'll take a seat in my coach? I'm for home. "

I pushed into the night with a burning fever in my blood, and the waves ofdamp mist which enveloped London and beat upon me, gathering great dropsof moisture on my cloak, did not suffice to cool the fire that burnt meup. The black dog Care hung heavy on my shoulders. I knew now what I haddone. Fool that I was, I had mortgaged not only my own heritage but alsothe lives of my young brother Charles and my sister Cloe. Our father haddied of apoplexy without a will, and a large part of his personal propertyhad come to me with the entailed estate. The provision for the other twohad been of the slightest, and now by this one wild night of play I hadput it out of my power to take care of them. I had better clap a pistol tomy head and be done with it. 

Even while the thought was in my mind a hand out of the night fell on myshoulder from behind. I turned with a start, and found myself face to facewith the Scotchman Balmerino. 

"Whither away, Kenneth?" he asked. 

I laughed bitterly. "What does it matter? A broken gambler--a ruineddicer-- What is there left for him?"

The Scotch Lord linked an arm through mine. I had liefer have been alone, but I could scarce tell him so. He had been a friend of my father and haddone his best to save me from my folly. 

"There is much left. All is not lost. I have a word to say to yourfather's son. "

"What use!" I cried rudely. "You would lock the stable after the horse isstolen. "

"Say rather that I would put you in the way of getting another horse, " heanswered gravely. 

So gravely that I looked at him twice before I answered:

"And I would be blithe to find a way, for split me! as things look now Imust either pistol myself or take to the road and pistol others, " I toldhim gloomily. 

"There are worse things than to lose one's wealth----"

"I hear you say it, but begad! I do not know them, " I answered with atouch of anger at his calmness. 

"----When the way is open to regain all one has lost and more, " hefinished, unheeding my interruption. 

"Well, this way you speak of, " I cried impatiently. "Where is it?"

He looked at me searchingly, as one who would know the inmost secrets ofmy soul. Under a guttering street light he stopped me and read my faceline by line. I dare swear he found there a recklessness to match his ownand perhaps some trace of the loyalty for which he looked. Presently hesaid, as the paving stones echoed to our tread:--

"You have your father's face, Kenn. I mind him a lad just like you when wewent out together in the '15 for the King. Those were great days--greatdays. I wonder----"

His unfinished sentence tailed out into a meditative silence. His voiceand eyes told of a mind reminiscent of the past and perhaps dreamful ofthe future. Yet awhile, and he snatched himself back into the present. 

"Six hours ago I should not have proposed this desperate remedy for yourills. You had a stake in the country then, but now you are as poor in thisworld's gear as Arthur Elphinstone himself. When one has naught but lifeat stake he will take greater risks. I have a man's game to play. Are youfor it, lad?"

I hesitated, a prophetic divination in my mind that I stood in a mist atthe parting of life's ways. 

"You have thrown all to-night--and lost. I offer you another cut atFortune's cards. You might even turn a king. "

He said it with a quiet steadfastness in which I seemed to detect anundercurrent of strenuous meaning. I stopped, and in my turn looked longat him. What did he mean? Volney's words came to my mind. I began to piecetogether rumours I had heard but never credited. I knew that even now mendreamed of a Stuart restoration. If Arthur Elphinstone of Balmerino wereone of these I knew him to be of a reckless daring mad enough to attemptit. 

"My Lord, you say I might turn a king, " I repeated slowly. "'Tis more likethat I would play the knave. You speak in riddles. I am no guesser ofthem. You must be plain. "

Still he hung back from a direct answer. "You are dull to-night, Kenn. Ihave known you more gleg at the uptake, but if you will call on meto-morrow night I shall make all plain to you. "

We were arrived at the door of his lodgings, a mean house in a shabbyneighbourhood, for my Lord was as poor as a church mouse despite histitle. I left him here, and the last words I called over my shoulder tohim were, "Remember, I promise nothing. "

It may be surmised that as I turned my steps back toward my rooms inArlington Street I found much matter for thought. I cursed the folly thathad led me to offer myself a dupe to these hawks of the gaming table. Iraged in a stress of heady passion against that fair false friend SirRobert Volney. And always in the end my mind jumped back to dally withBalmerino's temptation to recoup my fallen fortunes with one desperatethrow. 

"Fraoch! Dh 'aindeoin co theireadh e!" (The Heath! Gainsay who dare!)

The slogan echoed and reechoed through the silent streets, and snatched mein an instant out of the abstraction into which I had fallen. Hard uponthe cry there came to me the sound of steel ringing upon steel. I leggedit through the empty road, flung myself round a corner, and came plumpupon the combatants. The defendant was a lusty young fellow apparentlyabout my own age, of extraordinary agility and no mean skill with thesword. He was giving a good account of himself against the four assailantswho hemmed him against the wall, his point flashing here and there withswift irregularity to daunt their valiancy. At the moment when I appearedto create a diversion one of the four had flung himself down and forwardto cling about the knees of their victim with intent to knife him at closequarters. The young man dared not shorten his sword length to meet thisnew danger. He tried to shake off the man, caught at his white throat andattempted to force him back, what time his sword still opposed the rest ofthe villains. 

Then I played my small part in the entertainment. One of the rascalsscreamed out an oath at sight of me and turned to run. I pinked him in theshoulder, and at the same time the young swordsman fleshed another ofthem. The man with the knife scrambled to his feet, a ludicrous picture ofghastly terror. To make short, in another minute there was nothing to beseen of the cutpurses but flying feet scampering through the night. 

The young gentleman turned to me with a bow that was never invented out ofFrance. I saw now that he was something older than myself, tall, well-made, and with a fine stride to him that set off the easy grace ofhis splendid shoulders. His light steady blue eyes and his dark ruddy hairproclaimed him the Highlander. His face was not what would be calledhandsome: the chin was over-square and a white scar zigzagged across hischeek, but I liked the look of him none the less for that. His frank manlycountenance wore the self-reliance of one who has lived among the hillsand slept among the heather under countless stars. For dress he wore theEnglish costume with the extra splash of colour that betokened the vanityof his race. "'Fore God, sir, you came none too soon, " he cried in hisimpetuous Gaelic way. "This riff-raff of your London town had knifed me inanother gliff. I will be thinking that it would have gone ill with me butfor your opportune arrival. I am much beholden to you, and if ever I canpay the debt do not fail to call on Don--er--James Brown. "

At the last words he fell to earth most precipitately, all the ferventring dropping out of his voice. Now James Brown is a common name enough, but he happened to be the first of the name I had ever heard crying aHighland slogan in the streets of London, and I looked at him withsomething more than curiosity. I am a Scotchman myself on the mother'sside, so that I did not need to have a name put to his nationality. 

There was the touch of a smile on my face when I asked him if he werehurt. He gave me the benefit of his full seventy three inches and told meno, that he would think shame of himself if he could not keep his headwith his hands from a streetful of such scum. And might he know the nameof the unknown friend who had come running out of the night to lend him anarm?

"Kenneth Montagu, " I told him, laughing at his enthusiasm. 

"Well then, Mr. Kenneth Montagu, it's the good friend you've been to methis night, and I'll not be forgetting it. "

"When I find myself attacked by footpads I'll just look up Mr. JamesBrown, " I told him dryly with intent to plague. 

He took the name sourly, no doubt in an itching to blurt out that he was aMac-something or other. To a Gaelic gentleman like him the Sassenach namehe used for a convenience was gall and wormwood. 

We walked down the street together, and where our ways parted nearArlington Street he gave me his hand. 

"The lucky man am I at meeting you, Mr. Montagu, while we were having thebit splore down the street. I was just weanying for a lad handy with hisblade, and the one I would be choosing out of all England came hot-footround the corner. "

I made nothing of what I had done, but yet his Highland friendliness andflatteries were balm to a sick heart and we parted at my door with a greatdeal of good-will. 

-----

 [1] The author takes an early opportunity to express his obligations to the letters of Horace Walpole who was himself so infinitely indebted to the conversation of his cronies. 

CHAPTER II

A CRY IN THE NIGHT

"Past ten o'clock, and a clear starry night!" the watch was bawling as Iset out from my rooms to keep my appointment with Lord Balmerino. I hadlittle doubt that a Stuart restoration was the cause for which he wasrecruiting, and all day I had balanced in my mind the pros and cons ofsuch an attempt. I will never deny that the exiled race held for me astrong fascination. The Stuarts may have been weak, headstrong Kings intheir prosperity, but they had the royal virtue of drawing men to them intheir misfortune. They were never so well loved, nor so worthy of it, aswhen they lived in exile at St. Germains. Besides, though I had nevermixed with politics, I was a Jacobite by inheritance. My father had foughtfor a restoration, and my uncle had died for it. 

There were no fast bound ties to hold me back. Loyalty to the Hanoverianshad no weight with me. I was a broken man, and save for my head could losenothing by the venture. The danger of the enterprise was a merit in myeyes, for I was in the mood when a man will risk his all on an impulse. 

And yet I hung back. After all an Englishman, be he never so desperate, does not fling away the scabbard without counting the cost. Young as I wasI grued at the thought of the many lives that would be cut off ere theirtime, and in my heart I distrusted the Stuarts and doubted whether thegame were worth the candle. 

I walked slowly, for I was not yet due at the lodgings of Balmerino for anhour, and as I stood hesitating at a street corner a chaise sheered pastme at a gallop. Through the coach window by the shine of the moon I caughtone fleeting glimpse of a white frightened girl-face, and over the mouthwas clapped a rough hand to stifle any cry she might give. I am no DonQuixote, but there never was a Montagu who waited for the cool secondthought to crowd out the strong impulse of the moment. I made a dash atthe step, missed my footing, and rolled over into the mud. When I got tomy feet again the coach had stopped at the far end of the street. Two menwere getting out of the carriage holding between them a slight strugglingfigure. For one instant the clear shrill cry of a woman was lifted intothe night, then it was cut short abruptly by the clutch of a hand at thethroat. 

I scudded toward them, lugging at my sword as I ran, but while I was yetfifty yards away the door of the house opened and closed behind them. Aninstant, and the door reopened to let out one of the men, who slammed itbehind him and entered the chaise. The postilion whipped up his horses anddrove off. The door yielded nothing to my hand. Evidently it was lockedand bolted. I cried out to open, and beat wildly upon the door with thehilt of my sword. Indeed, I quite lost my head, threatening, storming, andabusing. I might as well have called upon the marble busts at the Abbey tocome forth, for inside there was the silence of the dead. Presently lightsbegan to glimmer in windows along the dark street, and nightcapped headswere thrust out to learn what was ado. I called on them to join me in arescue, but I found them not at all keen for the adventure. They took mefor a drunken Mohawk or some madman escaped from custody. 

"Here come the watch to take him away, " I heard one call across the streetto another. 

I began to realize that an attempt to force an entrance was futile. Itwould only end in an altercation with the approaching watch. Staidcitizens were already pointing me out to them as a cause of thedisturbance. For the moment I elected discretion and fled incontinent downthe street from the guard. 

But I was back before ten minutes were up, lurking in the shadows ofopposite doorways, examining the house from front and rear, searching forsome means of ingress to this mysterious dwelling. I do not know why thething stuck in my mind. Perhaps some appealing quality of youth in theface and voice stirred in me the instinct for the championship of damesthat is to be found in every man. At any rate I was grimly resolved not todepart without an explanation of the strange affair. 

What no skill of mine could accomplish chance did for me. While I wasinviting a crick in my neck from staring up at the row of unlightedwindows above me, a man came out of the front door and stood looking upand down the street. Presently he spied me and beckoned. I was alldishevelled and one stain of mud from head to foot. 

"D' ye want to earn a shilling, fellow?" he called. 

I grumbled that I was out of work and money. Was it likely I would refusesuch a chance? And what was it he would have me do?

He led the way through the big, dimly-lighted hall to an up-stairs roomnear the back of the house. Two heavy boxes were lying there, packed andcorded, to be taken down-stairs. I tossed aside my cloak and stooped tohelp him. He straightened with a jerk. I had been standing in the shadowwith my soiled cloak wrapped about me, but now I stood revealed in silkenhose, satin breeches, and laced doublet. If that were not enough toproclaim my rank a rapier dangled by my side. 

"Rot me, you're a gentleman, " he cried. 

I affected to carry off my shame with bluster. 

"What if I am!" I cried fiercely. "May not a gentleman be hungry, man? Iam a ruined dicer, as poor as a church mouse. Do you grudge me myshilling?"

He shrugged his shoulders. Doubtless he had seen more than one brokengentleman cover poverty with a brave front of fine lawn and gildedsplendour of array. 

"All one to me, your Royal 'Ighness. Take 'old 'ere, " he saidfacetiously. 

We carried the boxes into the hall. When we had finished I stood moppingmy face with a handkerchief, but my eyes were glued to the label tacked onone of the boxes. 

_John Armitage, The Oaks, Epsom, Surrey. _

"Wot yer waitin' for?" asked the fellow sharply. 

"The shilling, " I told him. 

I left when he gave it me, and as I reached the door he bawled to be sureto shut it tight. An idea jumped to my mind on the instant, and though Islammed the door I took care to have my foot an inch or two within theportal. Next moment I was walking noisily down the steps and along thepavement. 

Three minutes later I tiptoed back up the steps and tried the door. Iopened it slowly and without noise till I could thrust in my head. Thefellow was nowhere to be seen in the hall. I whipped in, and closed thedoor after me. Every board seemed to creak as I trod gingerly toward thestairway. In the empty house the least noise echoed greatly. The polishedstairs cried out hollowly my presence. I was half way up when I came to afull stop. Some one was coming down round the bend of the stairway. SoftlyI slid down the balustrade and crouched behind the post at the bottom. Theman--it was my friend of the shilling--passed within a foot of me, hishand almost brushing the hair of my head, and crossed the hall to a roomopposite. Again I went up the stairs, still cautiously, but with aconfidence born of the knowledge of his whereabouts. 

The house was large, and I might have wandered long without guessing wherelay the room I wanted had it not been for a slight sound that came tome--the low, soft sobbing of a woman. I groped my way along the darkpassage, turned to the left, and presently came to the door from behindwhich issued the sound. The door was locked on the outside, and the keywas in the lock. I knocked, and at once silence fell. To my second knock Igot no answer. Then I turned the key and entered. 

A girl was sitting at a table with her back to me, her averted headleaning wearily on her hand. Dejection spoke in every line of her figure. She did not even turn at my entrance, thinking me no doubt to be herguard. I stood waiting awkwardly, scarce knowing what to say. 

"Madam, " I began, "may I-- Is there----?" So far I got, then I came to anembarrassed pause, for I might as well have talked to the dead for all theanswer I got. She did not honour me with the faintest sign of attention. Ihemmed and hawed and bowed to her back with a growing confusion. 

At last she asked over her shoulder in a strained, even voice, "What is it you're wanting now? You said I was to be left by my laneto-night. "

I murmured like a gawk that I was at her service, and presently as Ishifted from one foot to the other she turned slowly. Her face was a dumbcry for help, though it was a proud face too--one not lacking in fire andcourage. I have seen fairer faces, but never one more to my liking. It washer eyes that held me. The blue of her own Highland lochs, with all theirchanging and indescribably pathetic beauty, lurked deeply in them. Unconsciously they appealed to me, and the world was not wide enough tokeep me from her when they called. Faith, my secret is out already, and Ihad resolved that it should keep till near the end of my story!

I had dropped my muddy cloak before I entered, and as she looked at me achange came over her. Despair gave way to a startled surprise. Her eyesdilated. 

"Who are you, sir? And--what are you doing here?" she demanded. 

I think some fear or presage of evil was knocking at her heart, for thoughshe fronted me very steadily her eyes were full of alarm. What should aman of rank be doing in her room on the night she had been abducted fromher lodgings unless his purpose were evil? She wore a long cloakstretching to the ground, and from under it slippered feet peeped out. Thecloak was of the latest mode, very wide and open at the neck andshoulders, and beneath the mantle I caught more than a glimpse of thelaced white nightrail and the fine sloping neck. 'Twas plain that herabductors had given her only time to fling the wrap about her before theysnatched her from her bedchamber. Some wild instinct of defense stirredwithin her, and with one hand she clutched the cloak tightly to herthroat. My heart went out to the child with a great rush of pity. The madfollies of my London life slipped from me like the muddy garment outside, and I swore by all I held most dear not to see her wronged. 

"Madam, " I said, "for all the world I would not harm you. I have come tooffer you my sword as a defense against those who would injure you. Myname is Montagu, and I know none of the name that are liars, " I cried. 

"Are you the gentleman that was for stopping the carriage as we came?" sheasked. 

"I am that same unlucky gentleman that was sent speldering in theglaur. [2] I won an entrance to the house by a trick, and I am here at yourservice, " I said, throwing in my tag of Scotch to reassure her. 

"You will be English, but you speak the kindly Scots, " she cried. 

"My mother was from the Highlands, " I told her. 

"What! You have the Highland blood in you? Oh then, it is the good heartyou will have too. Will you ever have been on the braes of Raasay?"

I told her no; that I had always lived in England, though my mother was aCampbell. Her joy was the least thing in the world daunted, and in hervoice there was a dash of starch. 

"Oh! A Campbell!"

I smiled. 'Twas plain her clan was no friend to the sons of _Diarmaid_. 

"My father was out in the '15, and when he wass a wounded fugitive withthe Campbell bloodhounds on his trail Mary Campbell hid him till the chasewas past. Then she guided him across the mountains and put him in the wayof reaching the Macdonald country. My father married her after theamnesty, " I explained. 

The approving light flashed back into her eyes. 

"At all events then I am not doubting she wass a good lassie, Campbell orno Campbell; and I am liking it that your father went back and marriedher. "

"But we are wasting time, " I urged. "What can I do for you? Where do youlive? To whom shall I take you?"

She fell to earth at once. "My grief! I do not know. Malcolm has gone toFrance. He left me with Hamish Gorm in lodgings, but they will not be safesince----" She stopped, and at the memory of what had happened there thewine crept into her cheeks. 

"And who is Malcolm?" I asked gently. 

"My brother. He iss an agent for King James in London, and he brought mewith him. But he was called away, and he left me with the gillie. To-nightthey broke into my room while Hamish was away, weary fa' the day! And nowwhere shall I go?"

"My sister is a girl about your age. Cloe would be delighted to welcomeyou. I am sure you would like each other. "

"You are the good friend to a poor lass that will never be forgetting, andI will be blithe to burden the hospitality of your sister till my brotherreturns. "

The sharp tread of footsteps on the stairs reached us. A man was comingup, and he was singing languidly a love ditty. 

 "What is love? 'Tis not hereafter, Present mirth has present laughter, What's to come is still unsure; In delay there lies no plenty, Then come kiss me sweet and twenty. Youth's a stuff will not endure. "

Something in the voice struck a familiar chord in my memory, but I couldnot put a name to its owner. The girl looked at me with eyes grownsuddenly horror-stricken. I noticed that her face had taken on the hue ofsnow. 

"We are too late, " she cried softly. 

We heard a key fumbling in the lock, and then the door opened--to let inVolney. His hat was sweeping to the floor in a bow when he saw me. Hestopped and looked at me in surprise, his lips framing themselves for awhistle. I could see the starch run through and take a grip of him. Forjust a gliff he stood puzzled and angry. Then he came in wearing his readydare-devil smile and sat down easily on the bed. 

"Hope I'm not interrupting, Montagu, " he said jauntily. "I dare say thoughthat's past hoping for. You'll have to pardon my cursedly malaproposappearance. Faith, my only excuse is that I did not know the lady wasentertaining other visitors this evening. "

He looked at her with careless insolence out of his beautiful dark eyes, and for that moment I hated him with the hate a man will go to hell tosatisfy. 

"You will spare this lady your insults, " I told him in a low voice. "Atleast so far as you can. Your presence itself is an insult. "

"Egad, and that's where the wind sits, eh? Well, well, 'tis the manner ofthe world. When the cat's away!"

A flame of fire ran through me. I took a step toward him, hand on swordhilt. With a sweep of his jewelled hand he waved me back. 

"Fie, fie, Kenn! In a lady's presence?"

Volney smiled at the girl in mock gallantry and my eyes followed his. Inever saw a greater change. She was transformed. Her lithe young figurestood out tall and strong, every line of weariness gone. Hate, loathing, scorn, one might read plainly there, but no trace of fear or despair. Shemight have been a lioness defending her young. Her splendour of darkauburn hair, escaped and fallen free to her waist, fascinated me with theluxuriance of its disorder. Volney's lazy admiration quickened to a deeperinterest. For an instant his breath came faster. His face lighted with thejoy of the huntsman after worthy game. But almost immediately he recoveredhis aplomb. Turning to me, he asked with his odd light smile, "Staying long, may I ask?"

My passion was gone. I was possessed by a slow fire as steady and asenduring as a burning peat. 

"I have not quite made up my mind how long to stay, " I answered coldly. "When I leave the lady goes with me, but I haven't decided yet what to dowith you. "

He began to laugh. "You grow amusing. 'Slife, you are not all country boorafter all! May it please you, what are the alternatives regarding myhumble self?" he drawled, leaning back with an elbow on the pillow. 

"Well, I might kill you. "

"Yes, you might. And--er-- What would I be doing?" he asked negligently. 

"Or, since there is a lady present, I might leave you till another time. "

His handsome, cynical face, with its curious shifting lights and shadows, looked up at me for once suffused with genuine amusement. 

"Stap me, you'd make a fortune as a play actor. Garrick is a tyro besideyou. Some one was telling me that your financial affairs had been goingwrong. An it comes to the worst, take my advice and out-Garrick Garrick. "

"You are very good. Your interest in my affairs charms me, Sir Robert. 'Tis true they are not promising. A friend duped me. He held the Montaguestates higher than honour. "

He appeared to reflect. "Friend? Don't think I'm acquainted with any ofthe kind, unless a friend is one who eats your dinners, drinks your wines, rides your horses, and"--with a swift sidelong look at the girl--"makeslove to your charming adored. "

Into the girl's face the colour flared, but she looked at him with acontempt so steady that any man but Volney must have winced. 

"Friendship!" she cried with infinite disdain. "What can such as you knowof it? You are false as Judas. Did you not begowk my honest brother withfine words till he and I believed you one of God's noblemen, and when hisback was fairly turned----?"

"I had the best excuse in London for my madness, Aileen, " he said with thewistful little laugh that had gone straight to many a woman's heart. 

Her eye flashed and her bosom heaved. The pure girl-heart read him like anopen book. 

"And are you thinking me so mean a thing as still to care for your honeyedwords? Believe me, there iss no viper on the braes of Raasay moredetestable to me than you. "

I looked to see him show anger, but he nursed his silk-clad ankle with thesame insolent languor. He might have been a priest after the confessionalfor all the expression his face wore. 

"I like you angry, Aileen. Faith, 'tis worth being the object of your rageto see you stamp that pretty foot and clench those little hands I love tokiss. But Ecod! Montagu, the hour grows late. The lady will lose herbeauty sleep. Shall you and I go down-stairs and arrange for aconveyance?"

He bowed low and kissed his fingers to the girl. Then he led the way outof the room, fine and gallant and debonair, a villain every inch of him. 

"Will you be leaving me?" the girl cried with parted lips. 

"Not for long, " I told her. "Do not fear. I shall have you out of here ina jiff, " and with that I followed at his heels. 

Sir Robert Volney led the way down the corridor to a small room in thewest wing, where flaring, half-burnt candles guttering in their sconcesdrove back the darkness. He leaned against the mantel and looked long atme out of half-closed eyes. 

"May I ask to what is due the honour of your presence to-night?" hedrawled at last. 

"Certainly. "

"Well?"

"I have said you may ask, " I fleered rudely. "But for me-- Gad's life! Iam not in the witness box. "

He took his snuff mull from his waistcoat pocket and offered it me, thentook a pinch and brushed from his satin coat imaginary grains withprodigious care. 

"You are perhaps not aware that I have the right to ask. It chances thatthis is my house. "

"Indeed! And the lady we have just left----?"

"----Is, pardon me, none of your concern. "

"Ah! I'm not so sure of that. "

"Faith then, you'll do well to make sure. "

"And--er--Mistress Antoinette Westerleigh?"

"Quite another matter! You're out of court again, Mr. Montagu. "

"Egad, I enter an exception. The lady we have just left is of another mindin the affair. She is the court of last resort, and, I believe, notcomplaisant to your suit. "

"She will change her mind, " he said coolly. 

"I trust so renowned a gallant as Sir Robert would not use force. "

"Lard, no! She is a woman and therefore to be won. But I would advise youto dismiss the lady from your mind. 'Ware women, Mr. Montagu! You willsleep easier. "

"In faith, a curious coincidence! I was about to tender you the sameadvice, Sir Robert, " I told him lightly. 

"You will forget the existence of such a lady if you are wise?"

"Wisdom comes with age. I am for none of it. "

"Yet you will do well to remember your business and forget mine. "

"I have no business of my own, Sir Robert. Last night you generouslylifted all sordid business cares from my mind, and now I am quite free toattend those of my neighbours. "

He shrugged his shoulders in the French way. "Very well. A wilful man!You've had your warning, and-- I am not a man to be thwarted. "

"I might answer that I am not a man to be frightened. "

"You'll not be the first that has answered that. The others have 'HicJacet' engraved on their door plates. Well, it's an unsatisfactory worldat best, and Lard! they're well quit of it. Still, you're young. "

"And have yet to learn discretion. "

"That's a pity too, " he retorted lightly. "The door is waiting for you. Better take it, Mr. Montagu. "

"With the lady?"

"I fear the lady is tired. Besides, man, think of her reputation. Zounds!Can she gad about the city at night alone with so gay a spark as you? 'Tisa censorious world, and tongues will clack. No, no! I will save you fromany chance of such a scandal, Mr. Montagu. "

"Faith, one good turn deserves another. I'll stay here to save yourreputation, Sir Robert. "

"I fear that mine is fly-blown already and something the worse for wear. It can take care of itself. "

"Yet I'll stay. "

"Gad's life! Stay then. "

Volney had been standing just within the door, and at the word he steppedout and flung it to. I sprang forward, but before I reached it the clicksounded. I was a prisoner, caught like a fly in a spider's web, and muchit helped me to beat on the iron-studded door till my hand bled, to callon him to come in and fight it out like a man, to storm up and down theroom in a stress of passion. 

Presently my rage abated, and I took stock of my surroundings. The windowswere barred with irons set in stone sockets by masonry. I set my kneeagainst the window frame and tugged at them till I was moist withperspiration. As well I might have pulled at the pillars of St. Paul's. Itried my small sword as a lever, but it snapped in my hand. Again Iexamined the bars. There was no way but to pick them from their sockets bymaking a groove in the masonry. With the point of my sword I chippedindustriously at the cement. At the end of ten minutes I had madeperceptible progress. Yet it took me another hour of labour to accomplishmy task. I undid the blind fastenings, clambered out, and lowered myselffoot by foot to the ground by clinging to the ivy that grew thick alongthe wall. The vine gave to my hand, and the last three yards I took in arush, but I picked myself up none the worse save for a torn face andbruised hands. 

The first fall was Volney's, and I grudged it him; but as I took my way toBalmerino's lodgings my heart was far from heavy. The girl was safe forthe present. I knew Volney well enough for that. That his plan was to takeher to The Oaks and in seclusion lay a long siege to the heart of thegirl, I could have sworn. But from London to Epsom is a far cry, andbetween them much might happen through chance and fate and--KennethMontagu. 

-----

 [2] Speldering in the glaur--sprawling in the mud. 

CHAPTER III

DEOCH SLAINT AN RIGH!

"You're late, Kenn, " was Balmerino's greeting to me. 

"Faith, my Lord, I'm earlier than I might have been. I found it hard topart from a dear friend who was loathe to let me out of his sight, " Ilaughed. 

The Scotchman buckled on his sword and disappeared into the next room. When he returned a pair of huge cavalry pistols peeped from under hiscloak. 

"Going to the wars, my Lord?" I quizzed gaily. 

"Perhaps. Will you join me?"

"Maybe yes and maybe no. Is the cause good?"

"The best in the world. "

"And the chances of success?"

"Fortune beckons with both hands. "

"Hm! Has she by any chance a halter in her hands for Kenn Montagu and anaxe for Balmerino since he is a peer?"

"Better the sharp edge of an axe than the dull edge of hunger for those welove, " he answered with a touch of bitterness. 

His rooms supplied the sermon to his text. Gaunt poverty stared at me onevery hand. The floor was bare and the two ragged chairs were rickety. Iknew now why the white-haired peer was so keen to try a hazard of newfortunes for the sake of the wife in the North. 

"Where may you be taking me?" I asked presently, as we hurried throughPiccadilly. 

"If you ask no questions----" he began dryly. 

"----You'll tell me no lies. Very good. Odd's my life, I'm not caring! Anydirection is good enough for me--unless it leads to Tyburn. But I warn youthat I hold myself unpledged. "

"I shall remember. "

I was in the gayest spirits imaginable. The task I had set myself ofthwarting Volney and the present uncertainty of my position had combinedto lend a new zest to life. I felt the wine of youth bubble in my veins, and I was ready for whatever fortune had in store. 

Shortly we arrived at one of those streets of unimpeachable respectabilitythat may be duplicated a hundred times in London. Its characteristics aremonotony and dull mediocrity; a dead sameness makes all the houses appearalike. Before one of these we stopped. 

Lord Balmerino knocked, A man came to the door and thrust out a headsuspiciously. There was a short whispered colloquy between him and theScotch lord, after which he beckoned me to enter. For an instant I hungback. 

"What are you afraid of, man?" asked Balmerino roughly. 

I answered to the spur and pressed forward at once. He led the way along adark passage and down a flight of stone steps into a cellar fitted up as adrinking room. There was another low-toned consultation before we wereadmitted. I surmised that Balmerino stood sponsor for me, and though I wasa little disturbed at my equivocal position, yet I was strangely glad tobe where I was. For here was a promise of adventure to stimulate a jadedappetite. I assured myself that at least I should not suffer dulness. 

There were in the room a scant dozen of men, and as I ran them over withmy eye the best I could say for their quality in life was that they hadnot troubled the tailor of late. Most of them were threadbare at elbow andwould have looked the better of a good dinner. There were two or threeexceptions, but for the most part these broken gentlemen bore the marks ofrecklessness and dissipation. Two I knew: the O'Sullivan that had assistedat the plucking of a certain pigeon on the previous night, and Mr. JamesBrown, alias Mac-something or other, of the supple sword and the Highlandslogan. 

Along with another Irishman named Anthony Creagh the fellow O'Sullivanrushed up to my Lord, eyes snapping with excitement. He gave me a nod anda "How d'ye do, Montagu? Didn't know you were of the honest party, " thenbroke out with--

"Great news, Balmerino! The French fleet has sailed with transports forfifteen thousand men. I have advices direct from the Prince. Marshal Saxecommands, and the Prince himself is with them. London will be ours withinthe week. Sure the good day is coming at last. The King--God blesshim!--will have his own again; and a certain Dutch beer tub that we knowof will go scuttling back to his beloved Hanover, glory be the day!"

Balmerino's eyes flashed. 

"They have sailed then at last. I have been expecting it a week. If theyonce reach the Thames there is no force in England that can stop them, " hesaid quietly. 

"Surely the small fleet of Norris will prove no barrier?" asked anotherdubiously. 

"Poof! They weel eat heem up jus' like one leetle mouse, my frien', "boasted a rat-faced Frenchman with a snap of his fingers. "Haf they nottwo sheeps to his one?"

"Egad, I hope they don't eat the mutton then and let Norris go, " laughedCreagh. He was a devil-may-care Irishman, brimful of the virtues and thevices of his race. 

I had stumbled into a hornet's nest with a vengeance. They were mad asMarch hares, most of them. For five minutes I sat amazed, listening to thewildest talk it had ever been my lot to hear. The Guelphs would be drivenout. The good old days would be restored; there would be no more whiggeryand Walpolism; with much more of the same kind of talk. There was drinkingof wine and pledging of toasts to the King across the water, and all thewhile I sat by the side of Balmerino with a face like whey. For I wassimmering with anger. I foresaw the moment when discovery was inevitable, and in those few minutes while I hung back in the shadow and wished myselfa thousand miles away hard things were thought of Arthur Elphinstone LordBalmerino. He had hoped to fling me out of my depths and sweep me awaywith the current, but I resolved to show him another ending to it. 

Presently Mr. James Brown came up and offered me a frank hand of welcome. Balmerino introduced him as Captain Donald Roy Macdonald. I let mycountenance express surprise. 

"Surely you are mistaken, my Lord. This gentleman and I have met before, and I think his name is Brown. "

Macdonald laughed a little sheepishly. "The air of London is not justexactly healthy for Highland Jacobite gentlemen at present. I wouldnawonder but one might catch the scarlet fever gin he werena carefu', so Ijust took a change of names for a bit while. "

"You did not disguise the Highland slogan you flung out last night, " Ilaughed. 

"Did I cry it?" he asked. "It would be just from habit then. I didna kenthat I opened my mouth. " Then he turned to my affairs. "And I suppose youwill be for striking a blow for the cause like the rest of us. Well then, the sooner the better. I am fair wearying for a certain day that is nearat hand. "

With which he began to hum "The King shall have his own again. "

I flushed, and boggled at the "No!" that stuck in my throat. Creagh, standing near, slewed round his head at the word. 

"Eh, what's that? Say that again, Montagu!"

I took the bull by the horns and answered bluntly, "There has been amistake made. George is a good enough king for me. "

I saw Macdonald stiffen, and angry amazement leap to the eyes of the twoIrishmen. 

"'Sblood! What the devil! Why are you here then?" cried Creagh. 

His words, and the excitement in his raised voice, rang the bell for ahush over the noisy room. Men dropped their talk and turned to us. A scoreof fierce suspicious eyes burnt into me. My heart thumped against my ribslike a thing alive, but I answered--steadily and quietly enough, I daresay--"You will have to ask Lord Balmerino that. I did not know where hewas bringing me. "

"Damnation!" cried one Leath. "What cock and bull tale is this? Not knowwhere he was bringing you! 'Slife, I do not like it!"

I sat on the table negligently dangling one foot in air. For that matter Ididn't like it myself, but I was not going to tell him so. Brushing aspeck of mud from my coat I answered carelessly, "Like it or mislike it, devil a bit I care!"

"Ha, ha! I theenk you will find a leetle reason for caring, " said theFrenchman ominously. 

"Stab me, if I understand, " cried Creagh. "Balmerino did not kidnap youhere, did he? Devil take me if it's at all clear to me!"

O'Sullivan pushed to the front with an evil laugh. 

"'T is clear enough to me, " he said bluntly. "It's the old story of onetoo many trusted. He hears our plans and then the smug-faced villainpeaches. Next week he sees us all scragged at Tyburn. But he's made alittle mistake this time, sink me! He won't live to see the ChevalierO'Sullivan walk off the cart. If you'll give me leave, I'll put a name tothe gentleman. He's what they call a spy, and stap my vitals! he doesn'tleave this room alive. "

At his words a fierce cry leaped from tense throats. A circle of whitefurious faces girdled me about. Rapiers hung balanced at my throat anddeath looked itchingly at me from many an eye. 

As for me, I lazed against the table with a strange odd contraction of theheart, a sudden standing still and then a fierce pounding of the blood. Yet I was quite master of myself. Indeed I smiled at them, carelessly, asone that deprecated so much ado about nothing. And while I smiled, thewonder was passing through my mind whether the smile would still be thereafter they had carved the life out of me. I looked death in the face, andI found myself copying unconsciously the smirking manners of theMacaronis. Faith, 't was a leaf from Volney's life I was rehearsing forthem. 

This but while one might blink an eye, then Lord Balmerino interrupted. "God's my life! Here's a feery-farry about nothing. Put up your toastingfork, De Vallery! The lad will not bite. "

"Warranted to be of gentle manners, " I murmured, brushing again at theMechlin lace of my coat. 

"Gentlemen are requested not to tease the animals, " laughed Creagh. He wasas full of heat as a pepper castor, but he had the redeeming humour of hisrace. 

Macdonald beat down the swords. "Are you a' daft, gentlemen? The lad camewith Balmerino. He is no spy. Put up, put up, Chevalier! Don't glower atme like that, man! Hap-weel rap-weel, the lad shall have his chance toexplain. I will see no man's cattle hurried. "

"Peste! Let him explain then, and not summer and winter over the story, "retorted O'Sullivan sourly. 

Lord Balmerino slipped an arm through mine. "If you are quite through withyour play acting, gentlemen, we will back to reason and common senseagain. Mr. Montagu may not be precisely a pronounced Jack, but then hedoesn't give a pinch of snuff for the Whigs either. I think we shall findhim open to argument. "

"He'd better be--if he knows what's good for him, " growled O'Sullivan. 

At once I grew obstinate. "I do not take my politics under compulsion, Mr. O'Sullivan, " I flung out. 

"Then you shouldn't have come here. You've drawn the wine, and by God! youshall drink it. "

"Shall I? We'll see. "

"No, no, Kenn! I promise you there shall be no compulsion, " cried the oldLord. Then to O'Sullivan in a stern whisper, "Let be, you blundering Irishman! You're setting him against us. "

Balmerino was right. Every moment I grew colder and stiffer. If theywanted me for a recruit they were going about it the wrong way. I wouldnot be frightened into joining them. 

"Like the rest of us y' are a ruined man. Come, better your fortune. Dutyand pleasure jump together. James Montagu's son is not afraid to take achance, " urged the Scotch Lord. 

Donald Roy's eyes had fastened on me from the first like the grip-ofsteel. He had neither moved nor spoken, but I knew that he was weighing mein the balance. 

"I suppose you will not be exactly in love with the wamey Dutchmen, Mr. Montagu?" he asked now. 

I smiled. "If you put it that way I don't care one jack straw for thewhole clamjamfry of them. "

"I was thinking so. They are a different race from the Stuarts. "

"They are indeed, " I acquiesced dryly. Then the devil of mischief stirredin me to plague him. "There's all the difference of bad and a vast dealworse between them. It's a matter of comparisons, " I concluded easily. 

"You are pleased to be facetious, " returned O'Sullivan sourly. "But Iwould ask you to remember that you are not yet out of the woods, Mr. Montagu. My Lord seems satisfied, but here are some more of us waiting aplain answer to this riddle. "

"And what may the riddle be?" I asked. 

"Just this. What are you doing here?"

"Faith, that's easy answered, " I told him jauntily. "I'm here byinvitation of Lord Balmerino, and it seems I'm not overwelcome. "

Elphinstone interrupted impatiently. 

"Gentlemen, we're at cross purposes. You're trying to drive Mr. Montagu, and I'm all for leading him. I warn you he's not to be driven. Let us talkit over reasonably. "

"Very well, " returned O'Sullivan sulkily. "Talk as long as you please, buthe doesn't get out of this room till I'm satisfied. "

"We are engaged on a glorious enterprise to restore to these islands theirancient line of sovereigns. You say you do not care for the Hanoverians. Why not then strike a blow for the right cause?" asked Leath. 

"Right and wrong are not to be divided by so clean a cut, " I told him. "Iam no believer in the divine inheritance of kings. In the last analysisthe people shall be the judge. "

"Of course; and we are going to put it to the test. "

"You want to set the clock back sixty years. It will not do. "

"We think it will. We are resolved at least to try, " said Balmerino. 

I shrugged my shoulders. "The times are against you. The Stuarts havedropped out of the race. The mill cannot grind with the water that ispast. "

"And if the water be not past?" asked Leath fiercely. 

"Mar found it so in the '15, and many honest gentlemen paid for hismistake with their heads. My father's brother for one. "

"Mar bungled it from start to finish. He had the game in his own hands anddribbled away his chances like a coward and a fool. "

"Perhaps, but even so, much water has passed under London Bridge sincethen. It is sixty years since the Stuarts were driven out. Two generationshave slept on it. "

"Then the third generation of sleepers shall be wakened. The stream iscoming down in spate, " said Balmerino. 

"I hear you say it, " I answered dryly. 

"And you shall live to see us do it, Mr. Montagu. The heather's in a blazealready. The fiery cross will be speeding from Badenoch to the Braes ofBalwhidder. The clans will all rise whatever, " cried Donald Roy. 

"I'm not so sure about Mr. Montagu living to see it. My friends O'Sullivanand De Vallery seem to think not, " said Creagh, giving me his odd smile. "Now, I'll wager a crown that----"

"Whose crown did you say?" I asked politely, handing him back his smile. 

"The government cannot stand out against us, " argued Balmerino. "The Dukeof Newcastle is almost an imbecile. The Dutch usurper himself is over inHanover courting a new mistress. His troops are all engaged in foreignwar. There are not ten thousand soldiers on the island. At this verymoment the King of France is sending fifteen thousand across intransports. He will have no difficulty in landing them and London cannothold out. "

"Faith, he might get his army here. I'm not denying that. But I'll promisehim trouble in getting it away again. "

"The Highlands are ready to fling away the scabbard for King James III, "said Donald Roy simply. 

"It is in my mind that you have done that more than once before and thatbecause of it misguided heads louped from sturdy shoulders, " I answered. 

"Wales too is full of loyal gentlemen. What can the Hanoverians do if theymarch across the border to join the Highlanders rolling down from theNorth and Marshal Saxe with his French army?"

"My imagination halts, " I answered dryly. "You will be telling me nextthat England is wearying for a change back to the race of Kings she hastwice driven out. "

"I do say it, " cried Leath. "Bolingbroke is already negotiating with theroyal family. Newcastle is a broken reed. Hervey will not stand out. Walpole is a dying man. In whom can the Dutchman trust? The nation istired of them, their mistresses and their German brood. "

"When we had them we found these same Stuarts a dangerous and troublesomerace. We could not in any manner get along with them. We drove them out, and then nothing would satisfy us but we must have them back again. Well, they had their second chance, and we found them worse than before. Theyhad not learnt the lesson of the age. They----"

"Split me, y'are not here to lecture us, Mr. Montagu, " cried Leath withangry eye. "Damme, we don't care a rap for your opinions, but you haveheard too much. To be short, the question is, will you join us or won'tyou?"

"To be short then, Mr. Leath, not on compulsion. "

"There's no compulsion about it, Kenn. If you join it is of your own freewill, " said Balmerino. 

"I think not. Mr. Montagu has no option in the matter, " cried O'Sullivan. "He forfeited his right to decide for himself when he blundered in andheard our plans. Willy nilly, he must join us!"

"And if I don't?"

His smile was like curdled milk. "Have you made your will, Mr. Montagu?"

"I made it at the gaming table last night, and the Chevalier O'Sullivanwas one of the legatees, " I answered like a flash. 

"Touché, Sully, " laughed Creagh. "Ecod, I like our young cockerel'sspirit. "

"And I don't, " returned O'Sullivan. "He shall join us, or damme----" Hestopped, but his meaning was plain to be read. 

I answered dourly. "You may blow the coals, but I will not be het. "

"Faith, you're full of epigrams to-night, Mr. Montagu, " Anthony Creagh wasgood enough to say. "You'll make a fine stage exit--granting that Sullyhas his way. I wouldn't miss it for a good deal. "

"If the house is crowded you may have my seat for nothing, " was my reply. Strange to say my spirits were rising. This was the first perilousadventure of my life, and my heart sang. Besides, I had confidence enoughin Balmerino to know that he would never stand aside and let me suffer forhis indiscretion if he could help it. 

The old Lord's troubled eyes looked into mine. I think he was beginning toregret this impulsive experiment of his. He tried a new tack with me. 

"Of course there is a risk. We may not win. Perhaps you do well to thinkof the consequences. As you say, heads may fall because of the rising. "

The dye flooded my cheeks. 

"You might have spared me that, my Lord. I am thinking of the blood ofinnocent people that must be spilled. "

"Your joining us will neither help nor hinder that. "

"And your not joining us will have deucedly unpleasant effects for you, "suggested O'Sullivan pleasantly. 

Lord Balmerino flung round on him angrily, his hand on sword hilt. "Ithink you have forgotten one thing, Mr. O'Sullivan. "

"And that is----?"

"That Mr. Montagu came here as my guest. If he does not care to join us heshall be free as air to depart. "

O'Sullivan laughed hardily. "Shall he? Gadzooks! The Chevalier O'Sullivanwill have a word to say with him first. He did not come as any guest ofmine. What the devil! If you were not sure of him, why did you bringhim?"

Balmerino fumed, but he had no answer for that. He could only say, --

"I thought him sure to join, but I can answer for his silence with mylife. "

"'T will be more to the point that we do not answer for his speech withour lives, " grumbled Leath. 

The Frenchman leaned forward eagerly. "You thought heem to be at heart ofus, and you were meestaken; you theenk heem sure to keep our secret, buthow are we to know you are not again meestaken?"

"Sure, that's easy, " broke out O'Sullivan scornfully. "We'll know when therope is round our gullets. "

"Oh, he won't peach, Sully. He isn't that kind. Stap me, you never know agentleman when you see one, " put in Creagh carelessly. 

The young Highlander Macdonald spoke up. "Gentlemen, I'm all for making anend to this collieshangie. By your leave, Lord Balmerino, Mr. Creagh andmyself will step up-stairs with this gentleman and come to somecomposition on the matter. Mr. Montagu saved my life last night, but Igive you the word of Donald Roy Macdonald that if I am not satisfied inthe end I will plant six inches of steel in his wame for him to digest, and there's gumption for you at all events. "

He said it as composedly as if he had been proposing a stroll down the Rowwith me, and I knew him to be just the man who would keep his word. Theothers knew it too, and presently we four found ourselves alone togetherin a room above. 

"Is your mind so set against joining us, Kenn? I have got myself into apickle, and I wish you would just get me out, " Balmerino began. 

"If they had asked me civilly I dare say I should have said 'Yes!' an hourago, but I'll not be forced in. "

"Quite right, too. You're a broth of a boy. I wouldn't in your place, Montagu, and I take off my hat to your spirit, " said Creagh. "Now let'sbegin again. "--He went to the door and threw it open. --"The way is clearfor you to leave if you want to go, but I would be most happy to have youstay with us. It's men like you we're looking for, and-- Won't you strikea blow for the King o'er the sea, Montagu?"

"He is of the line of our ancient monarchs. He and his race have ruled usa thousand years, " urged Balmerino. "They have had their faultsperhaps----"

"Perhaps, " I smiled. 

"Well, and if they have, " cried Donald Roy hotly in the impetuous Highlandway. "Is this a time to be remembering them? For my part, I will beforgetting their past faults and minding only their present distresses. "

"It appears as easy for a Highlander to forget the faults of the Stuartsas it is for them to forget his services, " I told him. 

"Oh, you harp on their faults. Have you none of your own?" criedElphinstone impatiently. "I have seen and talked with the young Prince. Heis one to follow to the death. I have never met the marrow of him. "

"I think of the thousands who will lose their lives for him. "

"Well, and that's a driech subject, too, but Donald Roy would a hantlerather die with claymore in hand and the whiddering steel aboot his headthan be always fearing to pay the piper, " said the young Highlanderblithely. 

"Your father was out for the King in the '15, " said Balmerino gently. 

Oh, Arthur Elphinstone had the guile for all his rough ways. I was movedmore than I cared to own. Many a time I had sat at my father's knee andlistened to the tale of "the '15. " The Highland blood in me raced thequicker through my veins. All the music of the heather hills and thewimpling burns wooed me to join my kinsmen in the North. My father'sexample, his brother's blood, loyalty to the traditions of my family, myempty purse, the friendship of Balmerino and Captain Macdonald, all tuggedat my will; but none of them were so potent as the light that shone in theeyes of a Highland lassie I had never met till one short hour before. Itossed aside all my scruples and took the leap. 

"Come!" I cried. "Lend yourselves to me on a mission of some danger forone night and I will pledge myself a partner in your enterprise. I canpromise you that the help I ask of you may be honourably given. A fairexchange is no robbery. What say you?"

"Gad's life, I cry agreed. You're cheap at the price, Mr. Montagu. I'myours, Rip me, if you want me to help rum-pad a bishop's coach, " exclaimedthe Irishman. 

"Mr. Creagh has just taken the words out of my mouth, " cried Donald Roy. "If you're wanting to lift a lassie or to carry the war to a foe I'll beblithe to stand at your back. You may trust Red Donald for thatwhatever. "

"You put your finger on my ambitions, Captain Macdonald. I'm wanting to dojust those two things. You come to scratch so readily that I hope you havehad some practice of your own, " I laughed. 

There was wine on the table and I filled the glasses. 

"If no other sword leaves scabbard mine shall, " I cried in a flame ofnew-born enthusiasm. "Gentlemen, I give you the King over the water. "

"King James! God bless him, " echoed Balmerino and Creagh. 

"Deoch slaint an Righ! (The King's Drink). And win or lose, we shall havea beautiful time of it whatever, " cried Donald gaily. 

An hour later Kenneth Montagu, Jacobite, walked home arm in arm withAnthony Creagh and Donald Roy Macdonald. He was setting forth to them atale of an imprisoned maid and a plan for the rescue of that same lady. 

CHAPTER IV

OF LOVE AND WAR

All day the rain had splashed down with an unusual persistence, but nowthere was a rising wind and a dash of clear sky over to the south whichpromised fairer weather. I was blithe to see it, for we had our night'swork cut out for us and a driving storm would not add to our comfort. 

From my hat, from the elbows of my riding-coat, and from my boot-heelsconstant rivulets ran; but I took pains to keep the pistols under mydoublet dry as toast. At the courtyard of the inn I flung myself from myhorse and strode to the taproom where my companions awaited me. In truththey were making the best of their circumstances. A hot water jug steamedin front of the hearth where Creagh lolled in a big armchair. At the tableCaptain Macdonald was compounding a brew by the aid of lemons, spices, andbrandy. They looked the picture of content, and I stood streaming in thedoorway a moment to admire the scene. 

"What luck, Montagu?" asked Creagh. 

"They're at 'The Jolly Soldier' all right _en route_ for Epsom, " I toldhim. "Arrived a half hour before I left. Hamish Gorm is hanging aboutthere to let us know when they start. Volney has given orders for a freshrelay of horses, so they are to continue their journey to-night. "

"And the lady?"

"The child looks like an angel of grief. She is quite out of hope. Faith, her despair took me by the heart. "

"My certes! I dare swear it, " returned Donald Roy dryly. "And did you makeyourself known to her?"

"No, she went straight to her room. Volney has given it out that the ladyis his wife and is demented. His man Watkins spreads the report broadcastto forestall any appeal she may make for help. I talked with the valet inthe stables. He had much to say about how dearly his master and hismistress loved each other, and what a pity 'twas that the lady has latelyfallen out of her mind by reason of illness. 'Twas the one thing thatspoilt the life of Mr. Armitage, who fairly dotes on his sweet lady. Lud, yes! And one of her worst delusions is that he is not really her husbandand that he wishes to harm her. Oh, they have contrived well theirprecious story to avoid outside interference. "

I found more than one cause to doubt the fortunate issue of the enterpriseupon which we were engaged. Volney might take the other road; or he mightpostpone his journey on account of the foul weather. Still othercontingencies rose to my mind, but Donald Roy and Creagh made light ofthem. 

"Havers! If he is the man you have drawn for me he will never be letting asmirr of rain interfere with his plans; and as for the other road, it willbe a river in spate by this time, " the Highlander reassured me. 

"Sure, I'll give you four to one in ponies the thing does not miscarry, "cried Creagh in his rollicking way. "After the King comes home I'll danceat your wedding, me boy; and here's to Mrs. Montagu that is to be, bedad!"

My wildest dreams had never carried me so far as this yet, and I flushedto my wig at his words; but the wild Irishman only laughed at myremonstrance. 

"Faith man, 'tis you or I! 'Twould never do for three jolly blades like usto steal the lady from her lover and not offer another in exchange. No, no! Castle Creagh is crying for a mistress, and if you don't spunk up tothe lady Tony Creagh will. "

To his humour of daffing I succumbed, and fell into an extraordinary easewith the world. Here I sat in a snug little tavern with the two mosttaking comrades in the world drinking a hot punch brewed to a nicety, while outside the devil of a storm roared and screamed. 

As for my companions, they were old campaigners, not to be ruffled by theslings of envious fortune. Captain Donald Roy was wont to bear withcomposure good luck and ill, content to sit him down whistling on thesodden heath to eat his mouthful of sour brose with the same good humourhe would have displayed at a gathering of his clan gentlemen where thetable groaned with usquebaugh, mountain trout, and Highland venison. Creagh's philosophy too was all for taking what the gods sent and leavinguncrossed bridges till the morrow. Was the weather foul? Sure, the sunwould soon shine, and what was a cloak for but to keep out the rain? Inever knew him lose his light gay spirits, and I have seen him at many anevil pass. 

The clatter of a horse's hoofs in the courtyard put a period to ourfestivities. Presently rug-headed Hamish Gorm entered, a splash of mudfrom brogues to bonnet. 

"What news, Hamish? Has Volney started?" I cried. 

"She would be leaving directly. Ta Sassenach iss in ta carriage with tadaughter of Macleod, and he will be a fery goot man to stick a dirk inwhatefer, " fumed the gillie. 

I caught him roughly by the shoulder. "There will be no dirk play thisnight, Hamish Gorm. Do you hear that? It will be left for your betters tosettle with this man, and if you cannot remember that you will just stayhere. "

He muttered sullenly that he would remember, but it was a great pity ifHamish Gorm could not avenge the wrongs of the daughter of his chief. 

We rode for some miles along a cross country path where the mud was sodeep that the horses sank to their fetlocks. The wind had driven away therain and the night had cleared overhead. There were still scudding cloudsscouring across the face of the moon, but the promise was for a clearnight. We reached the Surrey road and followed it along the heath till wecame to the shadow of three great oaks. Many a Dick Turpin of the road hadlurked under the drooping boughs of these same trees and sallied out tothe hilltop with his ominous cry of "Stand and deliver!" Many a jollygrazier and fat squire had yielded up his purse at this turn of the road. For a change we meant to rum-pad a baronet, and I flatter myself we madeas dashing a trio of cullies as any gentlemen of the heath among themall. 

It might have been a half hour after we had taken our stand that therumbling of a coach came to our ears. The horses were splashing throughthe mud, plainly making no great speed. Long before we saw the chaise, thecries of the postilions urging on the horses were to be heard. After aninterminable period the carriage swung round the turn of the road andbegan to take the rise. We caught the postilion at disadvantage as he wasflogging the weary animals up the brow of the hill. He looked up andcaught sight of us. 

"Out of the way, fellows, " he cried testily. Next instant he slipped tothe ground and disappeared in the darkness, crying "'Ware highwaymen!" Inthe shine of the coach lamps he had seen Creagh's mask and pistol. Thevalet Watkins, sitting on the box, tried to lash up the leaders, butMacdonald blocked the way with his horse, what time the Irishman and Igave our attention to the occupants of the chaise. 

At the first cry of the postilion a bewigged powdered head had been thrustfrom the window and immediately withdrawn. Now I dismounted and wentforward to open the door. From the corner of the coach into which AileenMacleod had withdrawn a pair of bright eager eyes looked into my face, butno Volney was to be seen. The open door opposite explained hisdisappearance. I raised the mask a moment from my face, and the girl gavea cry of joy. 

"Did you think I had deserted you?" I asked. 

"Oh, I did not know. I wass thinking that perhaps he had killed you. Iwill be thanking God that you are alive, " she cried, with a sweet littlelift and tremble to her voice that told me tears were near. 

A shot rang out, and then another. 

"Excuse me for a moment. I had forgot the gentleman, " I said, hastilywithdrawing my head. 

As I ran round the back of the coach I came plump into Volney. Thoughdressed to make love and not war, I'll do him the justice to say that onewas as welcome to him as the other. He was shining in silver satin andblue silk and gold lace, but in each hand he carried a great horse pistol, one of which was still smoking at the barrel. The other he pointed at me, but with my sword I thrust up the point and it went off harmlessly in theair. Then I flung him from me and covered him with my barker. Creagh alsowas there to emphasize the wisdom of discretion. Sir Robert Volney was asdaring a man as ever lived, but he was no fool neither. He looked at myweapon shining on him in the moonlight and quietly conceded to himselfthat the game was against him for the moment. From his fingers he slippedthe rings, and the watch from his pocket-coat. To carry out our pretensionI took them and filled my pockets with his jewelry. 

"A black night, my cullies, " said Volney as easy as you please. 

"The colour of your business, " I retorted thoughtlessly. 

He started, looking at me very sharp. 

"Else you would not be travelling on such a night, " I explained lamely. 

"Ah! I think we will not discuss my business. As it happens, the lady hasno jewelry with her. If you are quite through with us, my good fellows, we'll wish you a pleasant evening. Watkins, where's that d--d postilion?"

"Softly, Sir Robert! The night's young yet. Will you not spare us fifteenminutes while the horses rest?" proposed Creagh. 

"Oh, if you put it that way, " he answered negligently, his agile mind busywith the problem before him. I think he began to put two and two together. My words might have been a chance shot, but when on the heel of themCreagh let slip his name Volney did not need to be told that we were notregular fly-by-nights. His eyes and his ears were intent to pierce ourdisguises. 

"Faith, my bullies, you deserve success if you operate on such nights asthis. An honest living were easier come by, but Lard! not so enticing by adeal. Your enterprise is worthy of commendation, and I would wager a ponyagainst a pinch of snuff that some day you'll be raised to a high positionby reason of it. How is it the old catch runs?

 "'And three merry men, and three merry men, And three merry men are we, As ever did sing three parts in a string, All under the gallows tree. '

"If I have to get up in the milkman hours, begad, when that day comes I'llmake it a point to be at Tyburn to see your promotion over the heads ofhumdrum honest folks, " he drawled, and at the tail of his speech yawned inour faces. 

"We'll send you cards to the entertainment when that happy day arrives, "laughed Creagh, delighted of course at the aplomb of the Macaroni. 

Donald Roy came up to ask what should be done with Watkins. It appearedthat Volney had mistaken him for one of us and let fly at him. The fellowlay groaning on the ground as if he were on the edge of expiration. Istooped and examined him. 'Twas a mere flesh scratch. 

"Nothing the matter but a punctured wing. All he needs is a kerchief roundhis arm, " I said. 

Captain Macdonald looked disgusted and a little relieved. 

"'Fore God, he deaved (deafened) me with his yammering till I thought himabout to ship for the other world. These Englishers make a geyan workabout nothing. "

For the moment remembrance of Volney had slipped from our minds. As I roseto my feet he stepped forward. Out flashed his sword and ripped the maskfrom my face. 

"Egad, I thought so, " he chuckled. "My young friend Montagu repairing hisfallen fortunes on the road! Won't you introduce me to the othergentlemen, or would they rather remain incog? Captain Claude Duval, yourmost obedient! Sir Dick Turpin, yours to command! Delighted, 'pon my word, to be rum-padded by such distinguished--er--knights of the road. "

"The honour is ours, " answered Creagh gravely, returning his bow, but theIrishman's devil-may-care eyes were dancing. 

"A strange fortuity, in faith, that our paths have crossed so often oflate, Montagu. Now I would lay something good that our life lines will notcross more than once more. "

"Why should we meet at all again?" I cried. "Here is a piece of good turfunder the moonlight. 'Twere a pity to lose it. "

He appeared to consider. "As you say, the turf is all that is to bedesired and the light will suffice. Why not? We get in each other's wayconfoundedly, and out of doubt will some day have to settle our littledifference. Well then, if 'twere done 'twere well done quickly. Faith, Mr. Montagu, y'are a man after my own heart, and it gives me a vast deal ofpleasure to accept your proposal. Consider me your most obedient tocommand and prodigiously at your service. "

Raffish and flamboyant, he lounged forward to the window of the carriage. 

"I beg a thousand pardons, sweet, for leaving you a few minutes alone, " hesaid with his most silken irony. "I am desolated at the necessity, butthis gentleman has a claim that cannot be ignored. Believe me, I shallmake the absence very short. Dear my life, every instant that I am fromyou is snatched from Paradise. Fain would I be with you alway, but sternduty"--the villain stopped to draw a plaintive and theatric sigh--"callsme to attend once for all to a matter of small moment. Anon I shall bewith you, life of my life. "

She looked at him as if he were the dirt beneath her feet, and still hesmiled his winsome smile, carrying on the mock pretense that she wasdevoted to him. 

"Ah, sweet my heart!" he murmured. "'Twere cheap to die for such a lovinglook from thee. All Heaven lies in it. 'Tis better far to live for manymore of such. "

There was a rush of feet and a flash of steel. Donald Roy leaped forwardjust in time, and next moment Hamish Gorm lay stretched on the turf, muttering Gaelic oaths and tearing at the sod with his dirk in an impotentrage. Sir Robert looked down at the prostrate man with his inscrutablesmile. 

"Your friend from the Highlands is in a vast hurry, Montagu. He can't evenwait till you have had your chance to carve me. Well, are you ready tobegin the argument?"

"Quite at your command. There is a bit of firm turf beyond the oaks. Ifyou will lead the way I shall be with you anon. "

"Lud! I had forgot. You have your adieux to make to the lady. Pray do notlet me hurry you, " he said urbanely, as he picked his way daintily throughthe mud. 

When he had gone I turned to the girl. 

"You shall be quit of him, " I told her. "You may rely on my friends if--ifthe worst happens. They will take you to Montagu Grange, and my brotherCharles will push on with you to Scotland. In this country you would notbe safe from him while he lives. "

Her face was like the snow. 

"Iss there no other way whatever?" she cried. "Must you be fighting withthis man for me, and you only a boy? Oh, I could be wishing for my brotherMalcolm or some of the good claymores on the braes of Raasay!"

The vanity in me was stung by her words. 

"I'm not such a boy neither, and Angelo judged me a good pupil. You mightfind a worse champion. "

"Oh, it iss the good friend you are to me, and I am loving you for it, butI think of what may happen to you. "

My pulse leaped and my eyes burned, but I answered lightly, "For a change think of what may happen to him, and maybe to pass the timeyou might put up a bit prayer for me. "

"Believe me, I will be doing that same, " she cried with shining eyes, andbefore I divined her intent had stooped to kiss my hand that rested on thecoach door. 

My heart lilted as I crossed the heath to where the others were waitingfor me beyond the dip of the hillock. 

"Faith, I began to think you had forgotten me and gone off with the ladyyourself, " laughed Volney. 

I flung off my cloak and my inner coat, for though the night was chill Iknew I should be warm enough when once we got to work. Then, strangelyenough, an unaccountable reluctance to engage came over me, and I stoodtracing figures on the heath with the point of my small sword. 

"Are you ready?" asked the baronet. 

I broke out impetuously. "Sir Robert, you have ruined many. Your victimsare to be counted by the score. I myself am one. But this girl shall notbe added to the list. I have sworn it; so have my friends. There is stilltime for you to leave unhurt if you desire it, but if we once cross swordsone of us must die. "

"And, prithee, Mr. Montagu, why came we here?"

"Yet even now if you will desist----"

His caustic insolent laugh rang out gaily as he mouthed the speech ofTybalt in actor fashion. 

 "'What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagus, and thee; Have at thee, coward. '"

I drew back from his playful lunge. 

"Very well. Have it your own way. But you must have some one to act foryou. Perhaps Captain Mac--er--the gentleman on your right--will secondyou. "

Donald Roy drew himself up haughtily. "Feint a bit of it! I'm on the otherside of the dyke. Man, Montagu! I'm wondering at you, and him wronging aHieland lassie. Gin he waits till I stand back of him he'll go wantin', yemay lippen (trust) to that. "

"Then it'll have to be you, Tony, " I said, turning to Creagh. "Guard, SirRobert!"

"'Sdeath! You're getting in a hurry, Mr. Montagu. I see you're keen afterthat 'Hic Jacet' I promised you. Lard! I vow you shall have it. "

Under the shifting moonlight we fell to work on the dripping heath. Wewere not unevenly matched considering the time and the circumstances. Ihad in my favour youth, an active life, and a wrist of steel. At least Iwas a strong swordsman, even though I could not pretend to anything likethe mastery of the weapon which he possessed. To some extent his superiorskill was neutralized by the dim light. He had been used to win his fightsas much with his head as with his hand, to read his opponent's intentionin advance from the eyes while he concealed his own; but the darkness, combined with my wooden face, made this impossible now. Every turn andtrick of the game he knew, but the shifting shine and shadow disconcertedhim. More than once I heard him curse softly when at a critical moment thescudding clouds drifted across the moon in time to save me. 

He had the better of me throughout, but somehow I blundered throughwithout letting him find the chance for which he looked. I kept my head, and parried by sheer luck his brilliant lunges. I broke ground and wonfree--if but barely--from his incessant attack. More than once he prickedme. A high thrust which I diverted too late with the parade of tierce drewblood freely. He fleshed me again on the riposte by a one-two feint intierce and a thrust in carte. 

"'L'art de donner et de ne pas recevoir, '" he quoted, as he parried mycounter-thrust with debonair ease. 

Try as I would I could not get behind that wonderful guard of his. It waseasy, graceful, careless almost, but it was sure. His point was a gleamingflash of light, but it never wavered from my body line. 

A darker cloud obscured the moon, and by common consent we rested. 

"Three minutes for good-byes, " said Volney, suggestively. 

"Oh, my friends need not order the hearse yet--at least for me. Of course, if it would be any convenience----"

He laughed. "Faith, you improve on acquaintance, Mr. Montagu, like goodwine or--to stick to the same colour--the taste of the lady's lips. "

I looked blackly at him. "Do you pretend----?"

"Oh, I pretend nothing. Kiss and never tell, egad! Too bad they're not foryou too, Montagu. "

"I see that Sir Robert Volney has added another accomplishment to hisvices. "

"And that is----?"

"He can couple a woman's name with the hint of a slanderous lie. "

Sir Robert turned to Creagh and waved a hand at me, shaking his headsorrowfully. "The country boor in evidence again. Curious how it will cropout. Ah, Mr. Montagu! The moon shines bright again. Shall we have thepleasure of renewing our little debate?"

I nodded curtly. He stopped a moment to say:

"You have a strong wrist and a prodigious good fence, Mr. Montagu, but ifyou will pardon a word of criticism I think your guard too high. "

"Y'are not here to instruct me, Sir Robert, but----"

"To kill you. Quite so!" he interrupted jauntily. "Still, a friendly wordof caution--and the guard _is_ overhigh! 'Tis the same fault my third had. I ran under it, and----" He shrugged his shoulders. 

"Was that the boy you killed for defending his sister?" I askedinsolently. 

Apparently my hit did not pierce the skin. "No. I've forgot the nominationof the gentleman. What matter? He has long been food for worms. Pardon me, I see blood trickling down your sword arm. Allow me to offer mykerchief. "

"Thanks! 'Twill do as it is. Art ready?"

"Lard, yes! And guard lower, an you love me. The high guard is the onefault-- Well parried, Montagu!--I find in Angelo's pupils. Correctingthat, you would have made a rare swordsman in time. "

His use of the subjunctive did not escape me. "I'm not dead yet, " Ipanted. 

I parried a feint une-deux, in carte, with the parade in semicircle, andhe came over my blade, thrusting low in carte. His laugh rang out clear asa boy's, and the great eyes of the man blazed with the joy of fight. 

"Gad, you're quick to take my meaning! Ah! You nearly began the longjourney that time, my friend. "

He had broken ground apparently in disorder, and by the feel of his swordI made sure he had in mind to parry; but the man was as full of tricks asthe French King Louis and with incredible swiftness he sent a straightthrust in high tierce--a thrust which sharply stung my ribs only, since Ihad flung myself aside in time to save my vitals. 

After that came the end. He caught me full and fair in the side of theneck. A moist stifling filled my throat and the turf whirled up to meetthe sky. I knew nothing but a mad surge of rage that he had cut me topieces and I had never touched him once. As I went down I flung myselfforward at him wildly. It is to be supposed that he was off guard for themoment, supposing me a man already dead. My blade slipped along his, lurched farther forward, at last struck something soft and ripped down. Ahundred crimson points zigzagged before my eyes, and I dropped down intounconsciousness in a heap. 

V

THE HUE AND CRY

Languidly I came back to a world that faded and grew clear again mostpuzzlingly, that danced and jerked to and fro in oddly irresponsiblefashion. At first too deadly weary to explain the situation to myself, Ipresently made out that I was in a coach which lurched prodigiously andfilled me with sharp pains. Fronting me was the apparently lifeless bodyof a man propped in the corner with the head against the cushions, thewhite face grinning horridly at me. 'Twas the face of Volney. I stirred toget it out of my line of vision, and a soft, firm hand restrained megently. 

"You are not to be stirring, " a sweet voice said. Then to herself itsowner added, ever so softly and so happily, "Thaing do Dhia (Thank God. )He iss alive--he iss alive!"

I pointed feebly a leaden finger at the white face over against me withthe shine of the moon on it. 

"Dead?"

"No. He hass just fainted. You are not to talk!"

"And Donald Roy----?"

The imperious little hand slipped down to cover my mouth, and KennethMontagu kissed it where it lay. For a minute she did not lift the hand, what time I lay in a dream of warm happiness. A chuckle from the oppositeseat aroused me. The eyes in the colourless face had opened, and Volneysat looking at us with an ironic smile. 

"I must have fallen asleep--and before a lady. A thousand apologies! Andfor awaking so inopportunely, ten thousand more!"

He changed his position that he might look the easier at her, ahalf-humorous admiration in his eyes. "Sweet, you beggar my vocabulary. Asthe goddess of healing you are divine. "

The flush of alarmed maiden modesty flooded her cheek. 

"You are to lie still, else the wound will break out again, " she saidsharply. 

"Faith, it has broken out, " he feebly laughed, pretending tomisunderstand. Then, "Oh, you mean the sword cut. 'Twould never open afterit has been dressed by so fair a leech. "

The girl looked studiously out of the coach window and made no answer. Now, weak as I was--in pain and near to death, my head on her lap with herdear hand to cool my fevered brow--yet was I fool enough to grow insanelyjealous that she had used her kerchief to bind his wound. His pale, handsome face was so winning and his eyes so beautiful that they thrust methrough the heart as his sword had been unable to do. 

He looked at me with an odd sort of friendliness, the respect one man hasfor another who has faced death without flinching. 

"Egad, Montagu, had either of us driven but a finger's breadth to left wehad made sure work and saved the doctors a vast deal of pother. I doubt'twill be all to do over again one day. Where did you learn that mad lungeof yours? I vow 'tis none of Angelo's teaching. No defense would availagainst such a fortuitous stroke. Methought I had you speeding to kingdomcome, and Lard! you skewered me bravely. 'Slife, 'tis an uncertain world, this! Here we ride back together to the inn and no man can say which of ushas more than he can carry. "

All this with his easy dare-devil smile, though his voice was faint fromweakness. An odd compound of virtues and vices this man! I learntafterwards that he had insisted on my wounds being dressed before he wouldlet them touch him, though he was bleeding greatly. 

But I had no mind for badinage, and I turned my face from him sullenly. Silence fell till we jolted into the courtyard of "The Jolly Soldier, "where Creagh, Macdonald, and Hamish Gorm, having dismounted from theirhorses, waited to carry us into the house. We were got to bed at once, andour wounds looked to more carefully. By an odd chance Volney and I wereput in the same room, the inn being full, and the Macdonald nursed usboth, Creagh being for the most part absent in London on businessconnected with the rising. 

Lying there day after day, the baronet and I came in time to an odd likingfor each other, discussing our affairs frankly with certain reservations. Once he commented on the strangeness of it. 

"A singular creature is man, Montagu! Here are we two as friendly as--asbrothers I had almost said, but most brothers hate each other with goodcause. At all events here we lie with nothing but good-will; we are tooweak to get at each other's throats and so perforce must endure each theother's presence, and from mere sufferance come to a mutual--shall I sayesteem? A while since we were for slaying; naught but cold steel would letout our heat; and now--I swear I have for you a vast liking. Will it last, think you?"

"Till we are on our feet again. No longer, " I answered. 

"I suppose you are right, " he replied, with the first touch of despondencyI had ever heard in his voice. "The devil of it is that when I want athing I never rest till I get it, and after I have won it I don't care anymore for it. "

"I'm an obstinate man myself, " I said. 

"Yes, I know. And when I say I'll do a thing and you say I sha'n't nothingon earth can keep us from the small sword. "

"Did you never spare a victim--never draw back before the evil was done?"I asked curiously. 

"Many a time, but never when the incentive to the chase was so great asnow. 'Tis the overcoming of obstacles I cannot resist. In this case--topass by the acknowledged charms of the lady--I find two powerful reasonsfor continuing: her proud coyness and your defense of her. Be sure I shallnot fail. "

"I think you will, " I answered quietly. 

Out of doubt the man had a subtle fascination for me, even though I hatedhis principles in the same breath. When he turned the batteries of hisfine winning eyes and sparkling smile on me I was under impulse tocapitulate unconditionally; 'twas at remembrance of Aileen that my jawsset like a vice again. 

But as the days passed I observed a gradual change in Volney's attitudetoward the Highland lass. Macdonald had found a temporary home for her atthe house of a kind-hearted widow woman who lived in the neighbourhood, and so long as we were in danger the girl and her grey-haired friend cameoften to offer their services in nursing. Aileen treated the baronet withsuch shy gentle womanliness, her girlish pity struggling through theHighland pride, forgetting in the suffering man the dastard who hadwronged her, that he was moved not a little from his cynical ironicgayety. She was in a peculiar relation toward us, one lacking the sanctionof society and yet quite natural. I had fought for her, and her warm heartforbade her to go her way and leave me to live or die as chance mightwill. As she would move about the room ministering to our wants, wrappedin her sweet purity and grace, more than once I caught on his face a painof wistfulness that told me of another man beneath the polished heartlessMacaroni. For the moment I knew he repented him of his attempted wrong, though I could not know that a day of manly reparation would come to blotout his sin against her. 

As we grew better Aileen's visits became shorter and less frequent, sothat our only temptation to linger over our illness was removed. One daySir Robert limped slowly across the floor on the arm of Creagh while Iwatched him enviously. From that time his improvement was rapid and withina week he came to make his adieux to me. Dressed point-devise, he was oncemore every inch a fop. 

"I sha'n't say good-bye, Montagu, to either you or the lady, because Iexpect to see you both again soon. I have a shot in my locker that willbring you to mighty short one of these days. Tony Creagh is going toLondon with me in my coach. Sorry you and the lady won't take the othertwo seats. Well, au revoir. Hope you'll be quite fit when you come up forthe next round. " And waving a hand airily at me he went limping down thestairs, devoid of grace yet every motion eloquent of it, to me a livingparadox. 

Nor was it long before I too was able to crawl out into the sunshine withAileen Macleod and Captain Macdonald as my crutches. Not far from the innwas a grove of trees, and in it a rustic seat or two. Hither we threerepaired for many a quiet hour of talk. Long ago Donald had establishedhis relationship with Aileen. It appeared that he was a cousin about eightdegrees removed. None but a Highlander would have counted it at all, butfor them it sufficed. Donald Roy had an extraordinary taking way withwomen, and he got on with the girl much more easily than I did. Indeed, tohear them daffing with each other one would have said they had beenbrought up together instead of being acquaintances of less than threeweeks standing. 

Yet Donald was so clever with it all that I was never the least jealous ofhim. He was forever taking pains to show me off well before her, making asmuch of my small attainments as a hen with one chick. Like many of theWest country Highlanders he was something of a scholar. French he couldspeak like a native, and he had dabbled in the humanities; but he woulddrag forth my smattering of learning with so much glee that one might havethought him ignorant of the plainest A B C of the matter. More than once Ihave known him blunder in a Latin quotation that I might correct him. Aileen and he had a hundred topics in common from which I was excluded byreason of my ignorance of the Highlands, but the Macdonald was as sly as afox on my behalf. He would draw out the girl about the dear Northland theyboth loved and then would suddenly remember that his pistols neededcleaning or that, he had promised to "crack" with some chance gentlemanstopping at the inn, and away he would go, leaving us two alone. While Ilay on the grass and looked at her Aileen would tell me in her eager, impulsive way about her own kindly country, of tinkling, murmuring burns, of hills burnt red with the heather, of a hundred wild flowers thatblossomed on the braes of Raasay, and as she talked of them her blue eyessparkled like the sun-kissed lochs themselves. 

Ah! Those were the good days, when the wine of life was creeping back intomy blood and I was falling forty fathoms deep in love. Despite myself shewas for making a hero of me, and my leal-hearted friend, Macdonald, wasnot a whit behind, though the droll look in his eyes suggested sometimesan ulterior motive. We talked of many things, but in the end we always gotback to the one subject that burned like a flame in their hearts--therising of the clans that was to bring back the Stuarts to their own. Theirpure zeal shamed my cold English caution. I found myself growing keen forthe arbitrament of battle. 

No earthly Paradise endures forever. Into those days of peace the serpentof my Eden projected his sting. We were all sitting in the grove onemorning when a rider dashed up to the inn and flung himself from hishorse. 'Twas Tony Creagh, and he carried with him a placard which offereda reward of a hundred guineas for the arrest of one Kenneth Montagu, Esquire, who had, with other parties unknown, on the night of July first, robbed Sir Robert Volney of certain jewelry therein described. 

"Highwayman it says, " quoth I in frowning perplexity. "But Volney knows Ihad no mind to rob him. Zounds! What does he mean?"

"Mean? Why, to get rid of you! I tore this down from a tavern wall inLondon just after 'twas pasted. It seems you forgot to return thegentleman his jewelry. "

I turned mighty red and pleaded guilty. 

"I thought so. Gad! You're like to keep sheep by moonlight, " chuckledCreagh. 

"Nonsense! They would never hang me, " I cried. 

"Wouldn't, eh! Deed, and I'm not so sure. The hue and cry is out foryou. "

"Havers, man!" interrupted Macdonald sharply. "You're frightening the ladywith your fairy tales, Creagh. Don't you be believing him, my dear. Thehemp is not grown that will hang Kenneth. "

But for all his cheery manner we were mightily taken aback, especiallywhen another rider came in a few minutes later with a letter to me fromtown. It ran:--

 Dear Montagu, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends. " Our pleasant little game is renewed. The first trick was, I believe, mine; the second yours. The third I trump by lodging an information against you for highway robbery. Tony I shall not implicate, of course, nor Mac-What's-His-Name. Take wings, my Fly-by-night, for the runners are on your heels, and if you don't, as I live, you'll wear hemp. Give my devoted love to the lady. I am, Your most obed^t serv^t to command, Rob^t Volney. 

In imagination I could see him seated at his table, pushing aside a scoreof dainty notes from Phyllis indiscreet or passionate Diana, that he mightdash off his warning to me, a whimsical smile half-blown on his face, agleam of sardonic humour in his eyes. Remorseless he was by choice, but hewould play the game with an English sportsman's love of fair play. Eliminating his unscrupulous morals and his acquired insolence of manner, Sir Robert Volney would have been one to esteem; by impulse he was one ofthe finest gentlemen I have known. 

Though Creagh had come to warn me of Volney's latest move, he was also thebearer of a budget of news which gravely affected the State at large andthe cause on which we were embarked. The French fleet of transports, delayed again and again by trivial causes, had at length received ordersto postpone indefinitely the invasion of England. Yet in spite of thisfatal blow to the cause it was almost certain that Prince Charles EdwardStuart with only seven companions, of whom one was the ubiquitousO'Sullivan, had slipped from Belleisle on the Doutelle and escaping theBritish fleet had landed on the coast of Scotland. The emotions whichanimated us on hearing of the gallant young Prince's daring and romanticattempt to win a Kingdom with seven swords, trusting sublimely in theloyalty of his devoted Highlanders, may better be imagined than described. Donald Roy flung up his bonnet in a wild hurrah, Aileen beamed pride andhappiness, and Creagh's volatile Irish heart was in the hilltops. If I hadany doubts of the issue I knew better than to express them. 

But we were shortly recalled to our more immediate affairs. Before we gotback to the inn one of those cursed placards offering a reward for myarrest adorned the wall, and in front of it a dozen open-mouthed yokelswere spelling out its purport. Clearly there was no time to be lost intaking Volney's advice. We hired a chaise and set out for London withinthe hour. 'Twas arranged that Captain Macdonald and Hamish Gorm shouldpush on at once to Montagu Grange with Aileen, while I should lie inhiding at the lodgings of Creagh until my wounds permitted of mytravelling without danger. That Volney would not rest without attemptingto discover the whereabouts of Miss Macleod I was well assured, and noplace of greater safety for the present occurred to me than the seclusionof the Grange with my brother Charles and the family servants to watchover her. As for myself, I was not afraid of their hanging me, but I wasnot minded to play into the hands of Volney by letting myself get coopedup in prison for many weeks pending a trial while he renewed his cavalierwooing of the maid. 

Never have I spent a more doleful time than that which followed. For onething my wounds healed badly, causing me a good deal of trouble. Then tooI was a prisoner no less than if I had been in The Tower itself. Ifoccasionally at night I ventured forth the fear of discovery was alwayswith me. Tony Creagh was the best companion in the world, at once tenderas a mother and gay as a schoolboy, but he could not be at home all dayand night, and as he was agog to be joining the Prince in the North hemight leave any day. Meanwhile he brought me the news of the town from thecoffee-houses: how Sir Robert Walpole was dead; how the Camerons underLochiel, the Macdonalds under Young Clanranald, and the Macphersons underCluny had rallied to the side of the Prince and were expected soon to bedefeated by Sir John Cope, the Commander-in-Chief of the Government armyin Scotland; how Balmerino and Leath had already shipped for Edinburgh tojoin the insurgent army; how Beauclerc had bet Lord March a hundredguineas that the stockings worn by Lady Di Faulkner at the last Assemblyball were not mates, and had won. It appeared that unconsciously I hadbeen a source of entertainment to the club loungers. 

"Sure 'tis pity you're mewed up here, Kenn, for you're the lion of thehour. None can roar like you. The betting books at White's are filled withwagers about you, " Creagh told me. 

"About me?" I exclaimed. 

"Faith, who else? 'Lord Pam bets Mr. Conway three ponies against a hundredpounds that Mr. Kenneth Montagu of Montagu Grange falls by the hand ofjustice before three months from date, '" he quoted with a great deal ofgusto. "Does your neck ache, Kenn?"

"Oh, the odds are in my favour yet. What else?" I asked calmly. 

"'Mr. James Haddon gives ten pounds each to his Royal Highness the Princeof Wales and to Sir Robert Volney and is to receive from each twentyguineas if Mr. K. Montagu is alive twelve months from date. ' Egad, you'rea topic of interest in high quarters!"

"Honoured, I'm sure! I'll make it a point to see that his Royal Highnessand my dear friend Volney lose. Anything else?"

"At the coffee-house they were talking about raising a subscription to youbecause they hear you're devilish hard up and because you made such aplucky fight against Volney. Some one mentioned that you had a temper andwere proud as Lucifer. 'He's such a hothead. How'll he take it?' asksBeauclerc. 'Why, quarterly, to be sure!' cries Selwyn. And that remindsme: George has written an epigram that is going the rounds. Out of somequeer whim--to keep them warm I suppose--Madame Bellevue took her slippersto bed with her. Some one told it at the club, so Selwyn sat down andwrote these verses:

 "'Well may Suspicion shake its head-- Well may Clorinda's spouse be jealous, When the dear wanton takes to bed Her very shoes--because they're fellows. '"

Creagh's merry laugh was a source of healing in itself, and his departureto join the Prince put an edge to the zest of my desire to get back intothe world. Just before leaving he fished a letter from his pocket andtossed it across the room to me. 

"Egad, and you are the lucky man, Kenn, " he said. "The ladies pester uswith praises of your valour. This morning one of the fair creatures gaveme this to deliver, swearing I knew your whereabouts. "

'Twas a gay little note from my former playmate Antoinette Westerleigh, and inclosed was a letter to her from my sister. How eagerly I devouredCloe's letter for news of Aileen may be guessed. 

 MY DEAREST 'TOINETTE:--

 Since last I saw you (so the letter ran) seems a century, and of course I am dying to come to town. No doubt the country is very healthy, but Lud! 'tis monstrous dull after a London season. I vow I am already a lifetime behind the fashions. Is't true that prodigious bustles are the rage? And while I think of it I wish you would call at Madame Ronald's and get the lylack lute-string scirt she is making for me. 

 Also at Duprez's for the butifull little hat I ordered. Please have them sent by carrier. I know I am a vast nuisance; 'tis the penalty, my dear, for having a country mawkin as your best friend. 

 Of course you know what that grate brother of mine has been at. Gaming I hear, playing ducks and drakes with his money, and fighting duels with your lover. For a time we were dreadfully anxious about him. What do you think he has sent me down to take care of for him? But you would never guess. My love, a Scotch girl, shy as one of her own mountain deer. I suppose when he is recovert of his wounds he will be down here to philander with her. Aileen Macleod is her name, and really I do not blame him. I like her purely myself. In a way quite new she is very taking; speaks the prettiest broken English, is very simple, sweet, and grateful. At a word the pink and white comes and goes in her cheeks as it never does in ours. I wish I could acquire her manner, but Alack! 'tis not to be learnt though I took lessons forever. The gracefull creature dances the Scottish flings divinely. She is not exactly butifull, but--well, I can see why the men think so and fall down in worship! By the way, she is very nearly in love--tho she does not know it--with that blundering brother of mine; says that "her heart iss always thanking him at all events. " If he knew how to play his cards--but there, the oaf will put his grate foot in it. 

 She came here with a shag-headed gillie of a servant, under the protection of a Captain Macdonald who is a very fine figure of a man. He was going to stay only an hour or two, but _Charles_ persuaded him to stop three days. Charles teases me about him, swears the Captain is already my slave, but you may depend on't there is nothing in it. Last night we diverted ourselves with playing Hide the Thimble, and the others lost the Scotch Captain and me in the

 armory. He is a peck of fun. This morning he left for the North, and do you think the grate Mr. Impudence did not buss us both; Aileen because she is his cousin a hundred times removed and me because (what a reason!) "my eyes dared him. " Of course I was in a vast rage, which seemed to hily delight Captain Impudence. I don't see how he dared take so grate a preaviledge. Do you?

 Aileen is almost drest, and I must go smart myself. My dear, an you love me, write to

 Your own CLOE. 

 P. S. --Lard, I clear forgot! 'Tis a secret that the Scotch enchantress is here. You must be sure not to mention it, my dear, to your Sir Robert, But la! I have the utmost confidence in your discretion. 

Conceive my dismay! Discretion and Antoinette Westerleigh were as farapart as the poles. What more likely than that the dashing little minxwould undertake to rally her lover about Aileen, and that the adroitbaronet would worm out of her the information he desired? The lettercrystallized my desire to set out at once for Montagu Grange, and fromthere to take the road with Miss Macleod hotspur for Scotland. It appearedto me that the sooner we were out of England the better it would be forboth of us. 

I made the journey to the Grange by easy stages, following so far as Icould little used roads and lanes on account of a modest desire to avoidpublicity. 'Twas early morning when I reached the Grange. I remember thebirds were twittering a chorus as I rode under the great oaks to thehouse. Early as it was, Cloe and Aileen were already walking in the gardenwith their arms entwined about each other's waists in girl fashion. Theymade a picture taking enough to have satisfied a jaded connoisseur ofbeauty: the fair tall Highland lass, jimp as a willow wand, with thelong-lashed blue eyes that looked out so shyly and yet so frankly on thoseshe liked, and the merry brown-eyed English girl so ready of saucy tongue, so worldly wise and yet so innocent of heart. 

Cloe came running to meet me in a flutter of excitement and MistressAileen followed more demurely down the path, though there was a Highlandwelcome in her frank face not to be denied. I slid from the horse andkissed Cloe. Miss Macleod gave me her hand. 

"We are hoping you are quite well from your wounds, " she said. 

"Quite, " I answered. "Better much for hearing your kind voices and seeingyour bright faces. "

I dare say I looked over-long into one of the bright faces, and for apunishment was snatched into confusion by my malapert sister. 

"I didn't know you had heard my kind voice yet, " mimicked Miss Madcap. "And are you thinking of holding Aileen's hand all day?"

My hand plumped to my side like a shot. Both of us flamed, I stammeringapologies the while Cloe no doubt enjoyed hugely my embarrassment. 'Tis asister's prerogative to teach her older brothers humility, and Cloe forone did not let it fall into neglect. 

"To be sure I do not know the Highland custom in the matter, " she wascontinuing complacently when Aileen hoist her with her own petard. 

"I wass thinking that perhaps Captain Macdonald had taught you in thearmory, " she said quietly; and Cloe, to be in the fashion, ran up the redflag too. 

It appeared that my plan for an immediate departure from England jumpedwith the inclination of Miss Macleod. She had received a letter from herbrother, now in Scotland, whose plans in regard to her had been upset bythe unexpected arrival of the Prince. He was extremely solicitous on herbehalf, but could only suggest for her an acceptance of a long-standinginvitation to visit Lady Strathmuir, a distant relative living in Surrey, until times grew more settled. To Aileen the thought of throwing herselfupon the hospitality of one she had never met was extremely distasteful, and she hailed my proposal as an alternative much to be desired. 

The disagreeable duty of laying before my lawyer the involved condition ofmy affairs had to be endured, and I sent for him at once to get it overwith the sooner. He pulled a prodigious long face at my statement of thegaming debts I had managed to contract during my three months' experimentas the prodigal son in London, but though he was extraordinarily severewith me I made out in the end that affairs were not so bad as I hadthought. The estate would have to be plastered with a mortgage, but someyears of stiff economy and retrenchment, together with a ruthless pruningof the fine timber, would suffice to put me on my feet again. Theexpenditures of the household would have to be cut down, but Mr. Briefthought that a modest establishment befitting my rank might still bemaintained. If I thought of marrying----

A ripple of laughter from the lawn, where Aileen and Charles werearranging fishing tackle, was wafted through the open window and cutathwart the dry speech of the lawyer. My eyes found her and lingered onthe soft curves, the rose-leaf colouring, the eager face framed in asunlit aureola of radiant hair. Already my mind had a trick of imaginingher the mistress of the Grange. Did she sit for a moment in the seat thathad been my mother's my heart sang; did she pluck a posy or pour a cup oftea 'twas the same. "If I thought of marrying----" Well, 'twas a thing tobe considered one day--when I came back from the wars. 

CHAPTER VI

IN THE MATTER OF A KISS

It may be guessed that the music of the gray morn when we started found aready echo in my heart. The whistle of a plover cut the breaking day, themeadow larks piped clear above us in chorus with the trilling of thethrush, the wimpling burn tinkled its song, and the joy that took mefairly by the throat was in tune with all of them. For what does a loverask but to be one and twenty, to be astride a willing horse, and to bebeside the one woman in the world for him? Sure 'tis heaven enough towatch the colour come and go in her face, to hear the lilt of her voice, and to see the changing light in her eye. What though at times we were shyas the wild rabbit, we were none the less happy for that. In our heartsthere bubbled a childlike gaiety; we skipped upon the sunlit hilltops oflife. 

And here was the one drop of poison in the honey of my cup: that I waswearing an abominable misfit of a drab-coloured suit of homespun moreadapted to some village tradesman than to a young cavalier of fashion, foron account of the hue and cry against me I had pocketed my pride and wastravelling under an incognito. Nor did it comfort me one whit that Aileenalso was furbished up in sombre gray to represent my sister, for shelooked so taking in it that I vow 'twas more becoming than her finery. YetI made the best of it, and many a good laugh we got from rehearsing ourparts. 

I can make no hand at remembering what we had to say to each other, nordoes it matter; in cold type 'twould lose much of its charm. The merryprattle of her pretty broken English was set to music for me, and the verysilences were eloquent of thrill. Early I discovered that I had notappreciated fully her mental powers, on account of a habit she had offalling into a shy silence when several were present. She had a nimblewit, an alert fancy, and a zest for life as earnest as it was refreshing. A score of times that day she was out of the shabby chaise to pick thewild flowers or to chat with the children by the wayside. The memory ofher warm friendliness to me stands out the more clear contrasted with thefrigid days that followed. 

It may be thought by some that our course in travelling together borderedon the edge of the proprieties, but it must be remembered that thesituation was a difficult one for us both. Besides which my sister Cloewas always inclined to be independent, of a romantical disposition, andherself young; as for Aileen, I doubt whether any thought of theconventions crossed her mind. Her people would be wearying to see her; herfriend Kenneth Montagu had offered his services to conduct her home;Hamish Gorm was a jealous enough chaperone for any girl, and the maid thatCloe had supplied would serve to keep the tongues of the gossips fromclacking. 

We put up that first evening at The King's Arms, a great rambling inn oftwo stories which caught the trade of many of the fashionable world ontheir way to and from London. Aileen and I dined together at a table inthe far end of the large dining-room. As I remember we were still uncommonmerry, she showing herself very clever at odd quips and turns ofexpression. We found matter for jest in a large placard on the wall, withwhat purported to be a picture of me, the printed matter containing theusual description and offer of reward. Watching her, I was thinking that Ihad never known a girl more in love with life or with so mobile a facewhen a large company of arrivals from London poured gaily into the room. 

They were patched and powdered as if prepared for a ball rather than forthe dust of the road. Dowagers, frigid and stately as marble, murmuredracy gossip to each other behind their fans. Famous beauties flittedhither and thither, beckoning languid fops with their alluring eyes. Witsand beaux sauntered about elegantly even as at White's. 'Twas plain thatthis was a party _en route_ for one of the great county houses near. 

Aileen stared with wide-open eyes and parted lips at these great damesfrom the fashionable world about which she knew nothing. They wereprominent members of the leading school for backbiting in England, and inten minutes they had talked more scandal than the Highland lass had heardbefore in a lifetime. But the worst of the situation was that there wasnot one of them but would cry "Montagu!" when they clapped eyes on me. Here were Lord March, George Selwyn, Sir James Craven, Topham Beauclerc, and young Winton Westerleigh; Lady Di Davenport and the Countess Dowagerof Rocksboro; the Hon. Isabel Stanford, Mistress Antoinette Westerleigh, and others as well known to me. They had taken us at unawares, and asCreagh would have put it in an Irish bull the only retreat possible for uswas an advance through the enemy. At present they paid no more attentionto us than they would to the wooden negro in front of a tobacco shop, butat any moment detection might confront me. Faith, here was a predicament!Conceive me, with a hundred guineas set upon my head, thrust into the verycompany in all England I would most have avoided. 

And of all the people in the world they chanced on me as a topic ofconversation. George Selwyn, strolling up and down the room, for want ofsomething better to do, stopped in front of that confounded placard andbegan reading it aloud. Now I don't mind being described as "Tall, strong, well-built, and extremely good-looking; brown eyes and waving hair likeilk; carries himself with distinction;" but I grue at being set down as acommon cutpurse, especially when I had taken the trouble to send back SirRobert's jewelry at some risk to myself. 

"Wonder what Montagu has done with himself, " queried Beauclerc afterSelwyn had finished. 

"Or what Volney has done with him, " muttered March behind his hand. "I'lllay two to one in ponies he never lives to cross another man. "

"You're wrong, March, if you think Volney finished him. He's alive allright. I heard it from Denman that he got safe across to France. PityVolney didn't pink the fellow through the heart for his d----d impudencein interfering; not that I can stand Volney either, curse the popinjay!"snarled Craven sourly. 

"If Montagu reaches the continent, 'twill be a passover the Jews who holdhis notes will not relish, " suggested Selwyn in his sleepy way. 

A pink-and-white-faced youth shimmering in cream satin was the animatedheart of another group. His love for scandal and his facility foracquiring the latest tidbit made him the delight of many an old tabby cat. Now his eyes shone with the joy of imparting a delicious morsel. 

"Egad, then, you're all wrong, " he was saying in a shrill falsetto. "Stapme, the way of it was this! I have it on the best of authority and itcomes direct, rot me if it doesn't! Sir Robert's man, Watkins, told MadameBellevue's maid, from whom it came straight to Lord Pam's fellow andthrough him to old Methuselah, who mentioned it to----"

"You needn't finish tracing the lineage of the misinformation. We'llassume it began with Adam and ended with a dam--with a descendant of his, "interrupted Craven with his usual insolence. "Now out with the lie!"

"'Pon honour, Craven, 'tis gospel truth, " gasped Pink-and-White. 

"Better send for a doctor then. If he tries to tell the truth for oncehe'll strangle, " suggested Selwyn whimsically to March. 

"Spit it out then!" bullied Craven coarsely. 

"Oh, Lard! Your roughness gives me the flutters, Sir James. I'm all of atremble. Split me, I can't abide to be scolded! Er-- Well, then, 'twas aWelsh widow they fought about--name of Gwynne and rich as Croesus--oldenough to be a grandmother of either of 'em, begad! Volney had first claimand Montagu cut in; swore he'd marry her if she went off the hooks nextminute. They fought and Montagu fell at the first shot. Next day the oldBegum ran off with her footman. That's the story, you may depend on't. Lud, yes!"

"You may depend on its being wrong in every particular, " agreed Lady Dicoolly. "You'd better tell the story, 'Toinette. They'll have it a hundredtimes worse. "

"Oh Lard! Gossip about my future husband. Not I!" giggled that livelyyoung woman. 

"Don't be a prude, miss!" commanded the Dowager Countess sharply. "'Tis tostifle false reports you tell it. "

"Slidikins! An you put it as a duty, " simpered the young beauty. "'Twouldseem that--it would appear--the story goes that-- Do I blush?--that SirRobert-- Oh, let Lady Di tell it!"

Lady Di came to scratch with the best will in the world. 

"To correct a false impression then; for no other reason I tell it save tokill worse rumours. Everybody knows I hate scandal. "

"'Slife, yes! Everybody knows that, " agreed Craven, leering over atMarch. 

"Sir Robert Volney then was much taken with a Scotch girl who was visitingin London, and of course she dreamed air castles and fell in love withhim. 'Twas Joan and Darby all the livelong day, but alack! the maiddiscovered, as maids will, that Sir Robert's intentions were--not of thebest, and straightway the blushing rose becomes a frigid icicle. Well, this Northern icicle was not to be melted, and Sir Robert was for tryingthe effect of a Surrey hothouse. In her brother's absence he had the maidabducted and carried to a house of his in town. "

"'Slife! A story for a play. And what then?" cried Pink-and-White. 

"Why then--enter Mr. Montagu with a 'Stay, villain!' It chanced that youngDon Quixote was walking through the streets for the cooling of his bloodmayhap, much overheated by reason of deep play. He saw, he followed, at afitting time he broke into the apartment of the lady. Here Sir Robertdiscovered them----"

"The lady all unready, alackaday!" put in the Honourable Isabel, frombehind a fan to hide imaginary blushes. 

"Well, something easy of attire to say the least, " admitted Lady Diplacidly. 

"I' faith then, Montagu must make a better lover than Sir Robert, " criedMarch. 

"Every lady to her taste. And later they fought on the way to Surrey. Bothwounded, no graves needed. The girl nursed Montagu back to health, andthey fled to France together, " concluded the narrator. 

"And the lady--is she such a beauty?" queried Beauclerc. 

"Slidikins! I don't know. She must have points. No Scotch mawkin woulddraw Sir Robert's eye. "

You are to imagine with what a burning face I sat listening to thisdevil's brew of small talk. What their eyes said to each other ofinnuendo, what their lifted brows implied, and what they whispered behindwhite elegant hands, was more maddening than the open speech. For myself, I did not value the talk of the cats at one jack straw, but for this younggirl sitting so still beside me-- By Heaven, I dared not look at her. Nordid I know what to do, how to stop them without making the matter worsefor her, and I continued to sit in an agony grizzling on the gridiron oftheir calumnies. Had they been talking lies outright it might have beeneasily borne, but there was enough of truth mixed in the gossip to burnthe girl with the fires of shame. 

At the touch of a hand I turned to look into a face grown white and chill, all the joy of life struck out of it. The girl's timorous eyes implored meto spare her more of this scene. 

"Oh Kenneth, get me away from here. I will be dying of shame. Let us begoing at once, " she asked in a low cry. 

"There is no way out except through the crowd of them. Will you dare makethe attempt? Should I be recognized it may be worse for you. "

"I am not fearing if you go with me. And at all events anything iss betterthan this. "

There was a chance that we might pass through unobserved, and I took it;but I was white-hot with rage and I dare say my aggressive bearingbewrayed me. In threading our way to the door I brushed accidentallyagainst Mistress Westerleigh. She drew aside haughtily, then gave a littlescream of recognition. 

"Kenn Montagu, of all men in the world--and turned Quaker, too. Gog'slife, 'tis mine, 'tis mine! The hundred guineas are mine. I call you allto witness I have taken the desperate highwayman. 'Tall, strong, andextremely well-looking; carries himself like a gentleman. ' This way, sir, "she cried merrily, and laying hold of my coat-tails began to drag metoward the men. 

There was a roar of laughter at this, and the pink-white youth loungedforward to offer me a hand of welcome I took pains not to see. 

"Faith, the lady has the right of it, Montagu. That big body of yours isworth a hundred guineas now if it never was before, " laughed Selwyn. 

"Sorry to disappoint the lady, but unfortunately my business carries me inanother direction, " I said stiffly. 

"But Lud! 'Tis not fair. You're mine. I took you, and I want the reward, "cries the little lady with the sparkling eyes. 

Aileen stood by my side like a queen cut out of marble, turning neither tothe right nor to the left, her head poised regally on her fine shouldersas if she saw none in the room worthy a look. 

"This must be the baggage about which they fought. Faith, as fine a pieceas I have seen, " said Craven to March in an audible aside, his bold eyesfixed insolently on the Highland girl. 

Aileen heard him, and her face flamed. I set my teeth and swore to pay himfor that some day, but I knew this to be no fitting time for a brawl. Despite me the fellow forced my hand. He planted himself squarely in ourway and ogled my charge with impudent effrontery. Me he quite ignored, while his insulting eyes raked her fore and aft. My anger seethed, boiledover. Forward slid my foot behind his heel, my forearm under his chin. Ithrew my weight forward in a push. His head went back as though shot froma catapult, and next moment Sir James Craven measured his length on theground. With the girl on my arm I pushed through the company to the door. They cackled after me like solan-geese, but I shut and locked the door intheir faces and led Aileen to her room. She marched up the stairs like agoddess, beautiful in her anger as one could desire. The Gaelic heart is agood hater, and 'twas quite plain that Miss Macleod had inherited acapacity for anger. 

"How dare they? How dare they? What have I done that they should talk so?There are three hundred claymores would be leaping from the scabbard forthis. My grief! That they would talk so of my father's daughter. "

She was superbly beautiful in her wrath. It was the black fury of theHighland loch in storm that leaped now from her eyes. Like a caged andwounded tigress she strode up and down the room, her hands clenched andher breast heaving, an impetuous flood of Gaelic pouring from her mouth. 

For most strange logic commend me to a woman's reasoning, I had been in noway responsible for the scene down-stairs, but somehow she lumped meblindly with the others in her mind, at least so far as to punish mebecause I had seen and heard. Apparently 'twas enough that I was of theirrace and class, for when during a pause I slipped in my word of soothingexplanation the uncorked vials of her rage showered down on me. Faith, Ibegan to think that old Jack Falstaff had the right of it in his rating ofdiscretion, and the maid appearing at that moment I showed a clean pair ofheels and left her alone with her mistress. 

As I was descending the stairs a flunky in the livery of the Westerleighshanded me a note. It was from Antoinette, and in a line requested me tomeet her at once in the summer-house of the garden. In days past I hadcoquetted many an hour away with her. Indeed, years before we had beenlovers in half-earnest boy and girl fashion, and after that the best offriends. Grimly I resolved to keep the appointment and to tell this littleworldling some things she needed much to know. 

I found her waiting. Her back was turned, and though she must have heardme coming she gave no sign. I was still angry at her for her share in whathad just happened and I waited coldly for her to begin. She joined me inthe eloquent silence of a Quaker meeting. 

"Well, I am here, " I said at last. 

"Oh, it's you. " She turned on me, mighty cold and haughty. "Sir, I take itas a great presumption that you dare to stay at the same inn with me afterattempting to murder my husband that is to be. "

"Murder!" I gasped, giving ground in dismay at this unexpected charge. 

"Murder was the word I used, sir. Do you not like it?"

"'Twas a fair fight, " I muttered. 

"Was it not you that challenged? Did you not force it on him?"

"Yes, but----"

"And then you dare to come philandering here after me. Do you think I canchange lovers as often as gloves, sir? Or as often as you?"

"Madam, I protest----"

"La! You protest! Did you not come here to see me? Answer me that, sir!"With an angry stamp of her foot. 

"Yes, Mistress Westerleigh, your note----"

"And to philander? Do you deny it?"

"Deny it. Odzooks, yes! 'Tis the last thing I have in my mind, " I rappedout mighty short. "I have done with women and their follies. I begin tosee why men of sense prefer to keep their freedom. "

"Do you, Kenn? And was the other lady so hard on you? Did she make you payfor our follies? Poor Kenn!" laughed my mocking tormentor with so sudden achange of front that I was quite nonplussed. "And did you think I did notknow my rakehelly lover Sir Robert better than to blame you for hisquarrels?"

I breathed freer. She had taken the wind out of my sails, for I had comepurposing to give her a large piece of my mind. Divining my intention, womanlike she had created a diversion by carrying the war into the countryof the enemy. 

She looked winsome in the extreme. Little dimples ran in and out herpeach-bloom cheeks. In her eyes danced a kind of innocent devilry, and thealluring mouth was the sweetest Cupid's bow imaginable. Laughter rippledover her face like the wind in golden grain. Mayhap my eyes told what Iwas thinking, for she asked in a pretty, audacious imitation of the Scotchdialect Aileen was supposed to speak, "Am I no' bonny, Kenneth?"

"You are that, 'Toinette. "

"But you love her better?" she said softly. 

I told her yes. 

"And yet----" She turned and began to pull a honeysuckle to pieces, pouting in the prettiest fashion conceivable. 

The graceful curves of the lithe figure provoked me. There was a challengein her manner, and my blood beat with a surge. I made a step or two towardher. 

"And yet?" I repeated, over her shoulder. 

One by one the petals floated away. 

"There was a time----" She spoke so softly I had to bend over to hear. 

I sighed. "A thousand years ago, 'Toinette. "

"But love is eternal, and in eternity a thousand years are but as a day. "

The long curving lashes were lifted for a moment, and the dancing browneyes flashed into mine. While mine held them they began to dim. On my soulthe little witch contrived to let the dew of tears glisten there. Now awoman's tears are just the one thing Kenneth Montagu cannot resist. Afterall I am not the first man that has come to make war and stayed to makelove. 

"'Toinette! 'Toinette!" I chided, resolution melting fast. 

"And y'are commanded to love your neighbours, Kenn. "

I vow she was the takingest madcap in all England, and not the worst heartneither. I am no Puritan, and youth has its day in which it will beserved. My scruples took wing. 

"Faith, one might travel far and not do better, " I told her. "When thegods send their best to a man he were a sorry knave to complain. "

Yet I stood helpless, in longing desire and yet afraid to dare. No nicetyof conscience held me now, rather apprehension. I had not lived my one andtwenty years without learning that a young woman may be free of speech andyet discreet of action, that alluring eyes are oft mismated with primmaiden conscience. 'Tis in the blood of some of them to throw down thegauntlet to a man's courage and then to trample on him for daring toaccept the challenge. 

Her eyes derided me. A scoffing smile crept into that mocking face ofhers. No longer I shilly-shallied. She had brought me to dance, and shemust pay the piper. 

"Modesty is a sweet virtue, but it doesn't butter any bread, " I criedgaily. "Egad, I embrace my temptation. "

Which same I did, and the temptress too. 

"Am I your temptation, Adam?" quoth the lady presently. 

"I vow y'are the fairest enticement, Eve, that ever trod the earth sincethe days of the first Garden. For this heaven of your lips I'll pay anyprice in reason. A year in purgatory were cheap----"

I stopped, my florid eloquence nipped in bud, for the lady had suddenlybegun to disengage herself. Her glance shot straight over my shoulder tothe entrance of the summer-house. Divining the presence of an intruder, Iturned. 

Aileen was standing in the doorway looking at us with an acrid, scornfulsmile that went to my heart like a knife. 

CHAPTER VII

MY LADY RAGES

I was shaken quite out of my exultation. I stood raging at myself in adefiant scorn, struck dumb at the folly that will let a man who loves onewoman go sweethearting with another. Her eyes stabbed me, the while Istood there dogged yet grovelling, no word coming to my dry lips. What wasthere to be said? The tie that bound me to Aileen was indefinable, tenuous, not to be phrased; yet none the less it existed. I stoodconvicted, for I had tacitly given her to understand that no woman foundplace in my mind save her, and at the first chance she found another in myarms. Like a detected schoolboy in presence of the rod I awaited mysentence, my heart a trip-hammer, my face a picture of chagrin and dread. 

For just a moment she held me in the balance with that dreadful smile onher face, my day of judgment come to earth, then turned and away without aword. I flung wildly after her, intent on explaining what could not beexplained. In the night I lost her and went up and down through theshrubbery calling her to come forth, beating the currant and gooseberrybushes in search of her. A shadow flitted past me toward the house, and atthe gate I intercepted the girl. Better I had let her alone. My heartmisgave me at sight of her face; indeed the whole sweep of her lithesomereedy figure was pregnant with Highland scorn and pride. 

"Oh, Aileen, in the arbour----" I was beginning, when she cut me short. 

"And I am thinking I owe you an apology for my intrusion. In troth, Mr. Montagu, my interruption of your love-makings was not intentional. "

Her voice gave me the feel of being drenched with ice-water. 

"If you will let me explain, Aileen----"

"Indeed, and there iss nothing to explain, sir. It will be none of mybusiness who you are loving, and-- Will you open the gate, Mr. Montagu?"

"But I must explain; 'twas a madness of the blood. You do notunderstand----"

"And gin I never understand, Mr. Montagu, the lift (sky) will not fall. Here iss a great to-do about nothing, " she flung back with a kind ofbitter jauntiness. 

"Aileen, " I cried, a little wildly, "you will not cast me off without ahearing. Somehow I must make it clear, and you must try----"

"My name it iss Miss Macleod, and I would think it clear enough already atall events. I will be thanking you to let me pass, sir. "

Her words bit, not less the scorch of her eyes. My heart was like runningwater. 

"And is this an end to all-- Will you let so small a thing put a period toour good comradeship?" I cried. 

"Since you mention it I would never deny that I am under obligations toyou, sir, which my brother will be blithe to repay----"

"By Heaven, I never mentioned obligations; I never thought of them. Isthere no friendship in your heart for me?"

"Your regard iss a thing I have valued, but"--there was a little break inthe voice which she rode over roughshod--"I can very well be getting alongwithout the friendships of that girl's lover. "

She snatched open the gate and flung past me to the house, this superbyoung creature, tall, slim, supple, a very Diana in her rage, a woman tooif one might judge by the breasts billowing with rising sobs. More slow Ifollowed, quite dashed to earth. All that I had gained by months ofservice in one moment had been lost. She would think me another of theVolney stamp, and her liking for me would turn to hate as with him. 

A low voice from the arbour called "Kenn!" But I had had enough ofgallivanting for one night and I held my way sullenly to the house. Swiftfeet pattered down the path after me, and presently a little hand fell onmy arm. I turned, sulky as a baited bear. 

"I am so sorry, Kenn, " said Mistress Antoinette demurely. 

My sardonic laughter echoed cheerlessly. "That there is no more mischiefto your hand. Oh never fear! You'll find some other poor breeched gullshortly. "

The brown dovelike eyes of the little rip reproached me. 

"'Twill all come right, Kenn. She'll never think the worse of you forthis. "

"I'll be no more to her than a glove outworn. I have lost the only woman Icould ever love, and through my own folly, too. "

"Alackaday, Kenn! Y' 'ave much to learn about women yet. She will thinkthe more of you for it when her anger is past. "

"Not she. One of your fashionables might, but not Aileen. "

"Pooh! I think better of her than you. She's not all milk and water. There's red blood in her veins, man. Spunk up and brazen it out. Cock yourchin and whistle it off bravely. Faith, I know better men than you whowould not look so doleful over one of 'Toinette Westerleigh's kisses. If Iwere a man I would never kiss and be sorry for all the maids inChristendom. "

The saucy piquant tilt to her chin was a sight for the gods to admire. 

"You forget I love her. "

"Oh, you play on one string. She's not the only maid i' the world, " poutedthe London beauty. 

"She's the only one for me, " I said stubbornly, and then added dejectedly, "and she's not for me neither. "

The little rogue began to laugh. "I give you up, Kenn. Y'are as moonstrucka lover as ever I saw. Here's for a word of comfort, which you don'tdeserve at all. For a week she will be a thunder-cloud, then the sun willbeam more brightly than ever. But don't you be too submissive. La! Womencannot endure a wheedling lover. "

After that bit of advice my sage little monitor fell sober and explainedto me her reason for sending me the note. It appeared that Sir RobertVolney was due to meet the party at the inn that very evening, and MissWesterleigh was of opinion that I and my charge would do well to take theroad at once. I was of that mind myself. I lost no time in reaching thehouse and ordering a relay of horses for our immediate travel. Then I tookthe stairs three at a time and came knocking at Aileen's door. 

"Who iss there?" asked a small voice, full of tears and muffled in apillow. 

Her distress went to my heart, none the less because I who had been thecause of it could not heal it. 

"Tis I--Kenneth Montagu. Open the door, please. "

There was a moment's silence, then--

"I am not wishing to see Mr. Montagu to-night. "

"Not for the world would I trouble you, Miss Macleod, but there is amatter I have to disclose that touches us nearly. "

"I think you will not have heard aright. I am desiring to be alone, sir, "she answered, the frost in her voice. 

It may be guessed that this dismissal chafed me. My eagerness was daunted, but yet I would not be fubbed off. 

"Miss Macleod, you may punish me as much as you like some other time, " Icried desperately, "but 'fore God! if you do not open the door you willregret it till the last day of your life. "

"Are you threatening me, sir?" she asks, mighty haughty. 

"Threatening--no! I do not threaten, but warn. This matter is of life anddeath, not to be played with;" and to emphasize my words I mentioned thename of Volney. 

She came raging to the door and whipped it open very sudden. Her affrontedeyes might have belonged to a queen, but the stains on her cheeks betrayedher. 

"Well, and what iss this important matter that cannot be waiting? PerhapsMr. Montagu mistakes this for the room of Mistress Westerleigh. "

I told her that Sir Robert was expected shortly to arrive at the inn, andthat we must be on the road at once. She thanked me very primly for theinformation, but declared she would not trouble me further, that she meantto abide at the inn all night no matter who came; moreover, that when shedid leave Hamish Gorm would be sufficient guard. I argued, cajoled, warned, threatened, but she was not to be moved. The girl took a perversepleasure in thwarting me, and the keener I grew the more dour grew she. Wemight have disputed the point an hour had I not come to my senses andappeared to give way. 

Suspecting that the girl's fears of Sir Robert would reassert themselveswhen she was left to herself, I sought her maid and easily induced thegirl to propose to her mistress a departure without my knowledge. Thesuggestion worked like a charm, and fifteen minutes later I had thepleasure of seeing the chaise roll out of the lighted yard into the night. Need it be said that Kenneth Montagu was ahorse and after the coach withina few minutes. 

All night I jogged behind them, and in the morning rode up to the innwhere they stopped for breakfast. From Mistress Aileen I got the slightestbow in the world as I passed to my solitary breakfast at a neighbouringtable. Within the hour they were away again, and I after to cover therear. Late in the day the near wheeler fell very lame. The rest of theanimals were dead beat, and I rode to the nearest hamlet to get anotherhorse. The night was falling foul, very mirk, with a rising wind, andmethought the lady's eyes lightened when she saw me return with help toget them out of their difficulty. She thanked me stiffly with a verystraight lip. 

"At all events there will be no end to the obligations I am under, Mr. Montagu. They will be piling high as Ben Nevis, " she said, but 'twouldhave taken a penetrating man to have discovered any friendliness in thevoice. 

Yet henceforth I made myself one of the party, admitted on sufferance witha very bad grace. More than once I tried to break through the chillconventionals that made the staple of our conversation, but the girl wasice to me. In the end I grew stiff as she. I would ride beside the coachall day with scarce a word, wearying for a reconciliation and yetnourishing angry pride. When speech appeared to be demanded between us'twas of the most formal. Faith, I think we were liker a pair of spoiltchildren than sensible grown folks. 

While we were still in the northern counties rumours began to reach usthat General Cope's army had been cut to pieces by the Highlanders. Thestories ran that not a single man had escaped, that the clans, twentythousand strong, were headed for England, that they were burning anddestroying as they advanced. Incredible reports of all kinds sprang out ofthe air, and the utmost alarm prevailed. The report of Cope's defeat wassoon verified. We met more than one redcoat speeding south on afoam-flecked weary steed, and it did not need the second sight to divinethat the dispatches they carried spoke loudly of disaster fallen and ofreinforcements needed. 

After we had crossed the border parties of foraging Highlanders began toappear occasionally, but a word in the Gaelic from Hamish Gorm alwaysserved as a password for us. To make short, early in October we reachedthe Scottish capital, the formal relations which had been establishedbetween Miss Macleod and me continuing to the end of the journey. 

There lived in Edinburgh an unmarried aunt of Aileen, a Miss Flora MacBeanby name, and at her house I left the girl while I went to notify herbrother of our arrival. I found him lodged in High Street near the oldFlesh-market Close. Malcolm Macleod was a fine manly fellow of about threeand thirty, lusty and well-proportioned, very tanned and ruddy. He had aquick lively eye and a firm good-humoured mouth. In brief, he was the verypicture of a frank open-hearted Highland gentleman, and in the gay Macleodtartan looked as gallant a figure of a soldier as one would wish to see. He greeted me with charming friendliness and expressed himself as deeplygratified for my care of his sister, offering again and again to puthimself at my service in any way I might desire. 

We walked down the street together, and more than once a shot plumped atour feet, for the city was under fire from the Hanoverian garrison at thecastle. Everywhere the clansmen were in evidence. Barefooted andbarelegged Celts strutted about the city with their bonnets scrugged lowon their heads, the hair hanging wild over their eyes and the mattedbeards covering their faces. For the most part they were very ragged, andtanned exceedingly wherever the flesh took a peep through their outwornplaids. They ran about the streets in groups, looking in shop windows likechildren and talking their outlandish gibberish; then presently theirHighland pride would assert itself at the smile of some chance passer andwould send them swinging proudly off as though they had better things athome. 

Out of a tobacco shop came Captain Donald Roy singing blithely, "'Will ye play me fair, Highland laddie, Highland laddie?'"

He was of course in the full Macdonald tartan regimentals--checkered kilt, sporran, plaid, a brace of pistols, a dirk in his stocking, and claymore. At sight of me his face lighted and he came running forward with bothhands outstretched. 

"And is it you at last, Kenn? Man, but I've been wearying for a sight ofyour honest face. I was whiles thinking you must have given us the go-by. Fegs, but it's a braw day and a sight guid for sair een to see you, lad. You will have heard how we gave Johnnie Cope his kail through his reek. "He broke off to hum:--

"'Now Johnnie, troth, ye werena blate, to come wi' the news o' your ain, And leave your men in sic a strait, so early in the morning. '

"And did you bring my kinswoman back safe with you? I'se wad ye found thejourney no' ower lang;" and he cocked a merry eye at me. 

I flushed, and introduced him to Major Macleod, who took occasion to thankhim for his services to his sister. They fell into a liking for each otherat once. When the major was called aside by one of his gillies a momentlater, Macdonald expressed his trust of the other in the old Scotchsaying, "Yon's a man to ride the water wi', Kenneth. "

A curious sight illustrative of the Highland way of "lifting" what tooktheir fancy occurred as we were all three walking toward the house ofMacleod's aunt. Three shag-headed gillies in the tattered Cameron tartandragged an innkeeper from his taproom and set him down squat on thecauseway. Without even a by-your-leave they took from his feet a pair ofnew shoes with silver buckles. He protested that he was a loyal Jacobite. 

"Sae muckle ta better. She'll no' grumble to shange a progue for thePrince's guid, " one of the caterans answered cheerfully by way ofcomfort. 

To my surprise the two Highland gentlemen watched this high-handedproceeding with much amusement, enjoying not a little the ridiculousfigure cut by the frightened, sputtering host. I asked them if they werenot going to interfere. 

"What for would we do that at all events?" asked the Macdonald. "Man, Montagu, but you whiles have unco queer notions for so wise a lad. It's asnatural for a Hielander to despoil a Southron as for a goose to gangbarefit. What would Lochiel think gin we fashed wi' his clansmen at theirploy? Na, na! I wad be sweir to be sae upsitten (impertinent). It wadna betellin' a Macdonald, I'm thinkin'. "

Aileen was so prettily glad to see her brother and so friendly with DonaldRoy, so full of gay chatter and eager reminiscence, that I felt myselfquite dashed by the note of reserve which crept into her voice and hermanner whenever she found it incumbent to speak to me. Her laugh would beringing clear as the echo of steel in frost, and when Donald lugged meinto the talk she would fall mim as a schoolgirl under the eye of hergoverness. Faith, you would have thought me her dearest enemy, instead ofthe man that had risked life for her more than once. Here is a prettygratitude, I would say to myself in a rage, hugging my anger with the babythought that she would some day scourge herself for this after I werekilled in battle. Here is a fine return for loyal service rendered, andthe front of my offending is nothing more than the saluting an oldplaymate. 

"Man, Kenneth, but you hae played the cuddie brawly, " was Donald'scomforting remark to me after we had left. "You maun hae made an awfu'bauchle of it. When last I saw the lady she hoisted a fine colour when Idaffed about you, and now she glowers at you in a no' just friendly way. "

I admitted sadly that 'twas so and told him the reason, for Donald Roy hada wide observation of life and a varied experience with the sex that madehim a valuable counsellor. The situation amused him hugely, but what hecould find of humour in it was more than I could see. 

"Deil hae't, but yon quean Antoinette will be a geyan ettercap (madcap). Tony Creagh has been telling me about her; he's just a wee thingie touchedthere himsel'. "

"Pardon me, " I interrupted a little stiffly, "but I think I did not givethe name of the lady. "

The Highlander looked at me dryly with a pawky smile. 

"Hoots, man! I ken that fine, but I'm no a fule. You named over the partyand I picked the lady that suited the speceefications. " Then he began tochuckle: "I wad hae liked dooms weel to hae seen you stravaiging(wandering) through the grosset (gooseberry) bushes after the lass. "

I told him huffily that if that was all he could say I had better havekept the story to myself. I had come for advice, not to be laughed at. Donald flashed his winsome smile and linked an arm in mine. 

"Well then, and here's advice for you, man. Jouk (duck) and let the jaw(wave) go by. Gin it were me the colder she were the better I wad like it. Dinna you see that the lass rages because she likes you fine; and sinceshe's a Hieland maid brought up under the blue lift she hasna learnt tohate and smile in the same breath. "

"I make neither head nor tail of your riddles, " I told him impatiently. "By your way of it so far as I can make out she both likes and hates me. Now how can that be?"

Captain Macdonald's droll eye appeared to pity me. "Kenneth, bairn, butyou're an awfu' ignoramus. You ken naething ava about the lassies. I'mwondering what they learnt you at Oxford. Gin it's the same to you we'lltalk of something mair within your comprehension. " And thereupon hediverted the conversation to the impending invasion of England by theHighland army. Presently I asked him what he thought of the Prince nowthat he had been given a chance to study the Young Chevalier at closerrange, and I shall never forget the eager Highlander's enthusiasticanswer. 

"From the head to the heel of him he is a son of Kings, kind-hearted, gallant, modest. He takes all hearts by storm. Our Highland laddie is thebravest man I ever saw, not to be rash, and the most cautious, not to be acoward. But you will be judging for yourself when you are presented at theball on Tuesday. "

I told him that as yet I had no invitation to the ball. 

"That's easy seen to. The Chevalier O'Sullivan makes out the list. I'lldrop a flea in his lug (ear). "

Next day was Sunday, and I arrayed myself with great care to attend thechurch at which one Macvicar preached; to be frank I didn't care a flip ofmy fingers what the doctrine was he preached; but I had adroitly wormedout of Miss MacBean that he was the pastor under whom she sat. Creaghcalled on me before I had set out, and I dragged him with me, heprotesting much at my unwonted devotion. 

I dare say he understood it better when he saw my eyes glued to the pewwhere Miss Aileen sat with her aunt in devout attention. What the sermonwas to have been about we never knew, on account of an interruption whichprevented us from hearing it. During the long prayer I was comfortablywatching the back of Aileen's head and the quarter profile of her facewhen Creagh nudged me. I turned to find him looking at me out of a verycomical face, and this was the reason for it. The hardy Macvicar waspraying for the Hanoverians and their cause. 

"Bless the King, " he was saying boldly. "Thou knows what King I mean-- Maythe crown sit easy on his head for lang. And for the young man that iscome among us to seek an earthly crown, we beseech Thee in mercy to takehim to Thyself, and give him a crown of glory. "

One could have heard a pin fall in the hush, and then the tense rustlethat swept over the church and drowned the steady low voice that neverfaltered in the prayer. 

"Egad, there's a hit for the Prince straight from the shoulder, " chuckledthe Irishman by my side. "Faith, the Jacks are leaving the church to theWhigs. There goes the Major, Miss Macleod, and her aunt. "

He was right. The prayer had ended and the Macleod party were sailing downthe aisle. Others followed suit, and presently we joined the stream thatpoured out of the building to show their disapproval. 'Tis an ill windthat blows nobody good. Miss MacBean invited Creagh and me to join them indinner, and methought that my goddess of disdain was the least thingwarmer to me than she had been in weeks. For the rest of the day I trod onair. 

CHAPTER VIII

CHARLES EDWARD STUART

A beautifully engrossed invitation to the Prince's ball having dulyarrived from his Secretary the Chevalier O'Sullivan, I ask you to believethat my toilet Tuesday evening was even more a work of art than that ofSunday. In huge disorder scarfs, lace cravats, muffs, and other necessaryequipment were littered about the room. I much missed the neat touch of myvalet Simpkins, and the gillie Hamish Gorm, whom Major Macleod had put atmy service, did not supply his place by a deal, since he knew no more ofpatching the face or powdering a periwig than he had arrived at by thelight of nature. But despite this handicap I made shift to do myselfjustice before I set off for the lodgings of Lord Balmerino, by whom I wasto be presented. 

'Twas long since the Scottish capital had been so gay as now, for a partof the policy of the Young Chevalier was to wear a brave front before theworld. He and his few thousand Highlanders were pledged to a desperateundertaking, but it was essential that the waverers must not be allowed tosuspect how slender were the chances of success. One might have thoughtfrom the splendour of his court and from the serene confidence exhibitedby the Prince and his chiefs that the Stuarts were already in peaceablepossession of the entire dominions of their ancestors. A vast concourse ofwell-dressed people thronged to Holyrood House from morning till night topresent their respects to Prince Charles Edward. His politeness andaffability, as well as the charms of his conversation and the graces ofhis person, swept the ladies especially from their lukewarm allegiance tothe Hanoverians. They would own no lover who did not don the white cockadeof Jacobitism. They would hesitate at no sacrifice to advance the cause ofthis romantic young gambler who used swords for dice. All this my threedays residence in the city had taught me. I was now to learn whether apersonal meeting with him would inspire me too with the ardent devotionthat animated my friends. 

A mixed assembly we found gathered in the picture gallery of HolyroodHouse. Here were French and Irish adventurers, Highland chiefs and Lowlandgentlemen, all emulating each other in loyalty to the ladies who hadgathered from all over Scotland to dance beneath the banner of the whiterose. The Hall was a great blaze of moving colour, but above the tartansand the plaids, the mixed reds, greens, blues, and yellows, everywherefluttered rampant the white streamers and cockades of the Stuarts. 

No doubt there were here sober hearts, full of anxious portent for thefuture, but on the surface at least was naught but merriment. The gayestabandon prevailed. Strathspey and reel and Highland fling alternated withthe graceful dances of France and the rollicking jigs of Ireland. Plainlythis was no state ceremonial, rather an international frolic to tune allhearts to a common glee. We were on the top of fortune's wave. Had we notwon for the Young Chevalier by the sword the ancient capital of hisfamily, and did not the road to London invite us southward? The pipers ofeach clan in turn dirled out triumphant marches, and my heart began tobeat in faster time. Water must have filled the veins of a man who couldstand unmoved such contagious enthusiasm. For me, I confess it, a climaxcame a moment later that made my eyes swim. 

Balmerino was talking with Malcolm Macleod and James Hepburn of Keith, amodel of manly simplicity and honour who had been "out" in the '15; and asusual their talk fell on our enterprise and its gallant young leader. Keith narrated a story of how the Young Chevalier, after a long day'smarch on foot, had led the army three miles out of its way in order toavoid disturbing the wife of a cottar who had fallen asleep at thecritical stage of a severe illness. Balmerino capped it with anotheranecdote of his dismounting from his horse after the battle of Gladsmuirto give water and attendance to a wounded English soldier of Cope's army. 

Macleod smiled, eyes sparkling. "He iss every inch the true prince. He cantramp the hills with a Highlander all day and never weary, he can sleep onpease-straw as well as on a bed of down, can sup on brose in five minutes, and win a battle in four. Oh, yes, he will be the King for MalcolmMacleod. "

While he was still speaking there fell over the assembly a suddenstillness. The word was passed from lips to lips, "The Prince comes. "Every eye swept to the doorway. Men bowed deep and women curtsied low. Ayoung man was entering slowly on the arm of Lord George Murray. 

"The Prince!" whispered Balmerino to me. 

The pipes crashed out a measure of "Wha'll be King but Charlie?" then fellinto quiet sudden as they had begun. "Dhia theasirg an Righ!" (God savethe King) cried a splendid young Highland chief in a voice that echoedthrough the hall. 

Clanranald's cry was lifted to the rafters by a hundred throats. A hundredclaymores leaped to air, and while the skirling bagpipes pealed forth, "The King shall enjoy his own again, " Charles Stuart beneath an arch ofshining steel trod slowly down the hall to a dais where his fathers hadsat before him. 

If the hearts of the ladies had surrendered at discretion, faith! we ofthe other sex were not much tardier. The lad was every inch a prince. Hisafter life did not fulfil the promise of his youth, but at this time hewas one to see, and once having seen, to love. All the great charm of hisrace found expression in him. Gallant, gracious, generous, tender-heartedin victory and cheerful in defeat (as we had soon to learn, alas!), evenhis enemies confessed this young Stuart a worthy leader of men. Usuallysuffused with a gentle pensiveness not unbecoming, the ardour of hiswelcome had given him on this occasion the martial bearing of a heroicyoung Achilles. With flushed cheek and sparkling eye he ascended thedais. 

"Ladies, gentlemen, my loyal Highlanders, friends all, the tongue ofCharles Stuart has no words to tell the warm message of his heart. Unfriended and alone he came among you, resolved with the help of goodswords to win back that throne on which a usurper sits, or failing in thatto perish in the attempt. How nobly you our people have rallied to ourside in this undertaking to restore the ancient liberties of the kingdomneeds not be told. To the arbitrament of battle and to the will of God weconfidently appeal, and on our part we pledge our sacred honour neither tofalter nor to withdraw till this our purpose is accomplished. To thisgreat task we stand plighted, so help us God and the right. "

'Tis impossible to conceive the effect of these few simple sentences. Again the pipes voiced our dumb emotion in that stirring song, "We'll owre the water and owre the sea, We'll owre the water to Charlie; Come weal, come woe, we'll gather and go, And live and die wi' Charlie. "

The mighty cheer broke forth again and seemed to rock the palace, butdeeper than all cheering was the feeling that found expression inlong-drawn breath and broken sob and glimmering tear. The gallant lad hadtrusted us, had put his life in our keeping; we highly resolved to proveworthy of that trust. 

At a signal from the Prince the musicians struck up again the dance, andbright eyes bedimmed with tears began to smile once more. With a whisperedword Balmerino left me and made his way to the side of the Prince, aboutwhom were grouped the Duke of Perth, Lord Lewis Gordon, Lord Elcho, theill-fated Kilmarnock, as well as Lochiel, Cluny, Macleod, Clanranald, andother Highland gentlemen who had taken their fortune in their hands at thecall of this young adventurer with the enchanting smile. To see him was tounderstand the madness of devotion that had carried away these wisegray-haired gentlemen, but to those who never saw him I despair ofconveying in cold type the subtle quality of charm that radiated from him. In the very bloom of youth, tall, slender, and handsome, he had a grace ofmanner not to be resisted. To condescend to the particulars of his person:a face of perfect oval very regular in feature; large light blue eyesshaded by beautifully arched brows; nose good and of the Roman type;complexion fair, mouth something small and effeminate, forehead high andfull. He was possessed of the inimitable reserve and bearing that mark theroyal-born, and that despite his genial frankness. On this occasion hewore his usual light-coloured peruke with the natural hair combed over thefront, a tartan short coat on the breast of which shone the star of theorder of St. Andrews, red velvet small-clothes, and a silver-hiltedrapier. The plaid he ordinarily carried had been doffed for a blue sashwrought with gold. 

All this I had time to note before Lord Balmerino rejoined me and led meforward to the presentation. The Prince separated himself from the groupabout him and came lightly down the steps to meet me. I fell on my kneeand kissed his hand, but the Prince, drawing me to my feet, embraced me. 

"My gallant Montagu, " he cried warmly. "Like father, like son. God knows Iwelcome you, both on your own account and because you are one of the firstEnglish gentlemen to offer his sword to the cause of his King. "

I murmured that my sword would be at his service till death. To put me atmy ease he began to question me about the state of public feeling inEngland concerning the enterprise. What information I had was put at hisdisposal, and I observed that his grasp of the situation appeared to beclear and incisive. He introduced me to the noblemen and chiefs about him, and I was wise enough to know that if they made much of me it was ratherfor the class I was supposed to represent than for my own poor merits. Presently I fell back to make way for another gentleman about to bepresented. Captain Macdonald made his way to me and offered a frank handin congratulation. 

"'Fore God, Montagu, you have leaped gey sudden into favour. Deil hae't, Red Donald brought with him a hundred claymores and he wasna half sokenspeckle (conspicuous). I'll wad your fortune's made, for you hae leapedin heels ower hurdies, " he told me warmly. 

From affairs of state to those of the heart may be a long cast, but themind of one-and-twenty takes it at a bound. My eye went questing, fell onmany a blushing maid and beaming matron, at last singled out my heart'sdesire. She was teaching a Highland dance to a graceful cavalier in whitesilk breeches, flowered satin waistcoat, and most choicely powderedperiwig, fresh from the friseur. His dainty muff and exquisite cloudedcane depended from a silken loop to proclaim him the man of fashion. Something characteristic in his easy manner, though I saw but his back, chilled me to an indefinable premonition of his identity. Yet an instant, and a turn in the dance figure flung into view the face of Sir RobertVolney, negligent and unperturbed, heedless apparently of the fact thatany moment a hand might fall on his shoulder to lead him to his death. Aileen, to the contrary, clearly showed fear, anxiety, a troubled mind--tobe detected in the hurried little glances of fearfulness directed towardher brother Malcolm, and in her plain eagerness to have done with themeasure. She seemed to implore the baronet to depart, and Volney smilinglynegatived her appeal. The girl's affronted eyes dared him to believe thatshe danced with him for any other reason than because he had staked hislife to see her again and she would not have his death at her door. Disdain of her own weakness and contempt of him were eloquent in everymovement of the lissom figure. 'Twas easy to be seen that the man wasworking on her fears for him, in order to obtain another foothold withher. I resolved to baulk his scheme. 

While I was still making my way toward them through the throng theydisappeared from the assembly hall. A still hunt of five minutes, and Ihad run down my prey in a snug little reception-room of a size to fit twocomfortably. The girl fronted him scornfully, eyes flaming. 

"Coward, you play on a girl's fears, you take advantage of her soft heartto force yourself on her, " she was telling him in a low, bitter voice. 

"I risk my life to see the woman that I love, " he answered. 

"My grief! Love! What will such a thing as you be knowing of love?"

The man winced. On my soul I believe that at last he was an honest lover. His beautiful, speaking eyes looked straight into hers. His mannerisms hadfor the moment been sponged out. Straight from the heart he spoke. 

"I have learnt, Aileen. My hunger for a sight of you has starved my follyand fed my love. Believe me, I am a changed man. "

The play and curve of her lips stung him. He flung himself desperatelyinto his mad love-making. "'Belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux me font mourird'amour, '" he quoted from Moliere. "'Tis true, Aileen; I die of love; itburns me up, " he added passionately, hungry eyes devouring the flyingcolours of her cheek, the mass of rippling hair, the fresh, sweet, subtlefragrance of her presence. 

"You'll have to hurry about it then, for on my soul you're due to die oftightened hemp to-morrow, " I told him, lounging forward from the door. 

The girl cried out, eyes dilating, hand pressing to the heart. For theman, after the first start he did not turn a hair. The face that lookedover his shoulder at me was unmoved and bereft of emotion. 

"My malapropos friend Montagu again. Devil take it, you have an awkwardway of playing harlequin when you're not wanted! Now to come blundering inupon a lady and her friend is-- Well, not the best of form. Better drop itbefore it becomes a habit, " he advised. 

"'Slife, 'tis tit for tat! I learnt it from you, " was my answer. 

Long we looked at each other, preparing for the battle that was to come. Save for the quick breathing of the girl no sound fell. 

"Sir Robert, your audacity confounds all precedent, " I said at last. 

"You flatter me, Mr. Montagu. "

"Believe me, had Major Macleod discovered you instead of me your soul hadby this time been speeding hellward. "

"Exit Flattery, " he laughed. "The lady phrased it less vilely. Heavenward, she put it! 'Twould be interesting to know which of you is right. "

"As you say, an interesting topic of speculation, and one you're like tofind the answer of shortly, presupposing that you suffer the usual fate ofcaptured spies. "

His brows lifted in polite inquiry. "Indeed! A spy?" he asked, indifferently. 

"Why not? The favourite of the Hanoverian usurpers discovered in ourmidst--what other explanation will it bear?"

He smiled. "Perhaps I have a mind to join your barelegged rebellion. "

"Afraid your services are not available, Sir Robert. Three hundred Macleodclaymores bar the way, all eager to wipe out an insult to the daughter ofRaasay. Faith, when they have settled their little account against youthere won't be much left for the Prince. "

"Ah! Then for the sake of argument suppose we put it that I'm visitingthis delightful city for my health. "

"You will find the climate not agree with you, I fear. "

"Then say for pleasure. "

"'Twill prove more exciting than amusing. "

"On my life, dear Kenn, 'tis both. "

"I have but to raise my voice and you are undone. "

"His voice was ever soft, gentle, and low, an excellent thing in Kenneth, "he parodied, laughing at me. 

The girl said never a word, but her level eyes watched me steadily. Noneed of words to tell me that I was on trial! But I would not desist. 

"You appear not to realize the situation, " I told him coldly. "Your lifeis in hazard. "

The man yawned in my face. "Not at all, I sit here as safe as if I were atWhite's, and a devilish deal better satisfied. Situation piquant! Companyof the best! Gad's life, I cry content. "

"I think we talk at cross purposes. I am trying to have you understandthat your position is critical, Sir Robert. "

Nonchalant yet watchful, indolent and yet alert, gracefully graceless, hewatched me smilingly out of half-closed eyes; and then quietly fired theshot that brought me to. 

"If you were not a gentleman, Montagu, the situation would be vastlydifferent. "

"I do not see the point, " I told him; but I did, and raged at it. 

"I think you do. Your lips are sealed. I am your rival"--he bowed toAileen--"for the favour of a lady. If you put me out of the way by playinginformer what appearance will it bear? You may talk of duty till the worldends, but you will be a marked man, despised by all--and most of all byKenneth Montagu. "

The man was right. At one sweep he had spiked my guns, demolished mydefenses. The triumph was sponged from my face. I fumed in a stress ofimpotence. 

"I don't know about that. I shall have to think of it. There is a duty toperform, " I said at last, lamely. 

He waved a hand airily. "My dear fellow, think as long as you please. Youcan't think away facts. Egad, they're immutable. You know me to be no spy. Conceded that I am in a false position. What can you do about it? Youcan't in honour give me up. I'faith, you're handcuffed to inaction. "

I was, but my temper was not improved at hearing him tell it me so suavelyand so blandly. He sat smiling and triumphant, chuckling no doubt at thedilemma into which he had thrust me. The worst of it was that while I wasostensibly master of the situation he had me at his mercy. I was ahelpless victor without any of the fruits of victory. 

"You took advantage of a girl's soft heart to put her in a position thatwas indefensible, " I told him with bitter bluntness. "Save this ofthrowing yourself on her mercy there was no other way of approaching her. Of the wisdom of the serpent you have no lack. I congratulate you, SirRobert. But one may be permitted to doubt the manliness of such acourse. "

The pipers struck up a song that was the vogue among our party, and ayoung man passed the entrance of the room singing it. 

 "Oh, it's owre the border awa', awa', It's owre the border awa', awa', We'll on an' we'll march to Carlisle Ha', Wi' its yetts, its castles, an' a', an' a'. "

The audacious villain parodied it on the spot, substituting two lines ofhis own for the last ones. 

 "You'll on an' you'll march to Carlisle Ha', To be hanged and quartered an' a', an' a', "

he hummed softly in his clipped English tongue. 

"Pity you won't live to see it, " I retorted tartly. 

"You're still nursing that maggot, are you? Debating with yourself aboutgiving me up, eh? Well that's a matter you must settle with yourconscience, if you indulge in the luxury of one. "

"You would never give him up, Kenneth, " said Aileen in a low voice. "Surely you would not be doing that. "

"I shall not let him stay here. You may be sure of that, " I saiddoggedly. 

The girl ventured a suggestion timidly. "Perhaps Sir Robert will beleaving to-morrow--for London mayhap. "

Volney shook his head decisively. "Not I. Why, I have but just arrived. Besides, here is a problem in ethics for Mr. Montagu to solve. Strengthcomes through conflict, so the schools teach. Far be it from me to removethe cause of doubt. Let him solve his problem for himself, egad!"

He seemed to find a feline pleasure in seeing how far he could taunt me togo. He held me on the knife-edge of irritation, and perillous as was theexperiment he enjoyed seeing whether he could not drive me to give himup. 

"Miss Macleod's solution falls pat. Better leave to-morrow, Sir Robert. Tostay is dangerous. "

"'Tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to drink; but I tell you, mylord fool, 'out of this nettle danger, we pluck this flower safety, '" hequoted. 

"I see you always have your tag of Shakespeare ready; then let me remindyou what he has to say about the better part of valour, " I flung back, foronce alert in riposte. 

"A hit, and from the same play, " he laughed. "But a retreat-- 'Tis not tobe thought of. No, no, Montagu! And it must be you'll just have to give meup. "

"Oh, you harp on that! You may say it once too often. I shall find a wayto get rid of you, " I answered blackly. 

"Let me find it for you, lad, " said a voice from the doorway. 

We turned, to find that Donald Roy had joined the party. He must have beenstanding there unobserved long enough to understand my dilemma, for heshot straight to the mark. 

"Sir Robert, I'll never be denying that you're a bold villain, and that isthe one thing that will be saving your life this night. I'm no' here toargie-bargie with you. The plain fact is just this; that I dinna care arap for you the tane gate or the tither (the one way or the other). I'dlike fine to see you dancing frae the widdie (gallows), but gin the ladywants you spared I'll no' say her no. Mr. Englisher, you'll just gie meyour word to tak the road for the border this night, or I'll give a bitcall to Major Macleod. I wouldna wonder but he wad be blithe to see you. Is it to be the road or the Macleod?"

I could have kissed the honest trusty face of the man, for he had liftedme out of a bog of unease. I might be bound by honour, but CaptainMacdonald was free as air to dictate terms. Volney looked long at him, weighed the man, and in the end flung up the sponge. He rose to his feetand sauntered over to Aileen. 

"I am desolated to find that urgent business takes me south at once, MissMacleod. 'Tis a matter of the gravest calls me; nothing of less importancethan the life of my nearest friend would take me from you. But I'm afraidit must be 'Au revoir' for the present, " he said. 

She looked past the man as if he had not existed. 

He bowed low, the flattery of deference in his fine eyes, which knew sowell how to be at once both bold and timid. 

"Forgiven my madness?" he murmured. 

Having nothing to say, she still said it eloquently. Volney bowed himselfout of the room, nodded carelessly to me as he passed, touched Macdonaldon the arm with a pleasant promise to attend the obsequies when theHighlander should be brought to London for his hanging, lounged elegantlythrough the crowded assembly hall, and disappeared into the night. 

CHAPTER IX

BLUE BONNETS ARE OVER THE BORDER

Next day I enrolled myself as a gentleman volunteer in Lord Balmerino'stroop of horse-guards, and was at once appointed to a lieutenancy. Inwaiting for reinforcements and in making preparations for the invasionthree weeks were lost, but at last, on the 31st of October, came the orderfor the march. We had that day been joined by Cluny Macpherson at the headof his clan Pherson, by Menzies of Shien, and by several other smallbodies of Highlanders. All told our force amounted to less than fivethousand men, but the rapidity of our movements and the impetuousgallantry of the clansmen made the enterprise less mad than it appearedupon the face of it. Moreover we expected to be largely reinforced byrecruits who were to declare themselves as we marched south. 

It may be guessed that the last hour of leisure I had in the city wasspent with Aileen. Of that hour the greater part of it was worse thanlost, for a thickheaded, long-legged oaf of an Ayrshire laird shared theroom with us and hung to his chair with dogged persistency the while myimagination rioted in diverse forms of sudden death for him. Nor did itlessen my impatience to know that the girl was laughing in her sleeve atmy restlessness. She took a malicious pleasure in drawing out herhobnailed admirer on the interesting subject of sheep-rot. At last, havingtormented me to the limit of prudence, she got rid of him. To say truth, Miss Aileen had for weeks held me on the tenter-hooks of doubt, now inhigh hope, far more often in black despair. She had become very popularwith the young men who had declared in favour of the exiled family, and Inever called without finding some colour-splashed Gael or broad-tonguedLowland laird in dalliance. 'Twas impossible to get a word with her alone. Her admirers were forever shutting off the sunlight from me. 

Aileen was sewing on a white satin cockade, which the man from Ayrshire, in the intervals between the paragraphs of his lecture on the sheepindustry, had been extremely solicitous of obtaining for a favour. 'Twas asatisfaction to me that my rustic friend departed without it. He was nosooner gone than I came near and perched myself on the arm of a chairbeside the girl. For a minute I sat watching in silence the deft movementsof the firm brown hands in which were both delicacy and power. 

Then, "For Malcolm?" I asked. 

"No-o. "

"For whom then?"

"For a brave gentleman who iss marching south with the Prince--a kindfriend of mine. "

"You seem to have many of them. For which one is the favour?" I queried, alittle bitterly. 

She looked at me askance, demure yet whimsical. 

"You will can tell when you see him wearing it. "

I fell sulky, at the which mirth bubbled up in her. 

"Is he as good a friend as I am, this fine lover of yours?" I asked. 

"Every whit. " Mockery of my sullenness danced in her blue eyes. 

"And do you--like him as well?" I blurted out, face flaming. 

She nodded yes, gaily, without the least sentiment in the world. 

I flung away in a pet. "You're always laughing at me. By Heaven, I won'tbe made a fool of by any girl!"

The corners of her eyes puckered to fresh laughter. "Troth, and you neednafear, Kenneth. No girl will can do that for you. "

"Well then, " I was beginning, half placated at the apparent flattery, butstopped with a sudden divination of her meaning. "You think me a foolalready. Is that it?"

"I wass thinking that maybe you werena showing the good gumption this day, Mr. Kenneth Montagu. "

My pride and my misery shook hands. I came back to blurt out in boyishfashion, "Let us not quarrel again to-day, Aileen, and--do not laugh at me theselast few minutes. We march this afternoon. The order has been given out. "

Her hands dropped to her lap. Save where a spot of faint red burned ineither cheek the colour ran out of her face. I drove my news home, playingfor a sign of her love, desiring to reach the spring of her tears. 

"Some of us will never cross the border twice, " I said. 

My news had flung a shadow across the bright track of her gayety. 'Tis onething for a high-spirited woman to buckle on the sword of her friend; 'tisanother to see him go out to the fight. 

"Let us not be thinking of that at all, Kenneth, " she cried. 

"Why not? 'Tis a fact to face, " I insisted cruelly. "There'll be many amerry lusty gentleman lying quiet under the sod, Aileen, before we reachLondon town. From the ownership of broad moorland and large steading theywill come down to own no more of earth than six foot by two. "

"They will be dying as brave gentlemen should, " she said, softly, hervoice full of tears. 

"And if I am one of them?" I asked, making a more home thrust. 

The girl stood there tall, slim, pallid, head thrown back, the pulse inthe white curved throat beating fast. 

"Oh Kenneth, you will not be, " she cried piteously. 

"But if I am?"

"Please, Kenneth?" Her low voice implored me to desist; so too the deepbillowing breasts and melting eyes. 

"The fighting will be sharp and our losses heavy. It's his death many aman is going to, Aileen. "

"Yes, and if you will be believing me, Kenneth, the harder part iss forthose of us who cannot fight but must wear away the long days and mirknights at home. At the least I am thinking so whatever. The long live daywe sit, and can do nothing but wait and wait. After every fight will notsome mother be crooning the coronach for her dear son? Every glen willhave its wailing wife and its fatherless bairns. And there will be thelovers too for whom there iss the driech wait, forby (besides) that maybetheir dearest will be lying under the rowans with their een steekit (eyesfixed) in death. "

"There are some of us who have neither mother, wife, nor lover. Will therebe none to spare a tear for us if we fall?"

"Indeed, and there will, but"--a wan little smile broke through the filmof gathering tears--"we will be waiting till they are needed, and we willbe praying that the evil day may never come. "

"I'm hoping that myself, " I told her, smiling, "but hope never turns asidethe leaden bullet. "

"Prayers may, " she answered quickly, the shy lids lifting from the blueeyes bravely to meet my look, "and you will never be wanting (lacking)mine, my friend. " Then with the quick change of mood that was socharacteristic of her, she added: "But I will be the poor friend, to fash(bother) you with all these clavers (idle talk) when I should beheartening you. You are glad to be going, are you not?"

All the romance and uplift of our cause thrilled through me. 

"By God, yes! When my King calls I go. "

Her eyes shone on me, tender, wistful, proud. 

"And that's the true word, Kenneth. It goes to the heart of your friend. "

"To hear you say that rewards me a hundred times, dear. "

I rose to go. She asked, "Must you be leaving already?"

When I told her "Yes!" she came forward and shyly pinned the cockade onthe lapel of my coat. I drew a deep breath and spoke from a husky throat. 

"God bless you for that, Aileen girl. "

I was in two minds then about taking her in my arms and crying out that Iloved her, but I remembered that I had made compact with myself not tospeak till the campaign was ended and the Prince seated as regent on hisfather's throne. With a full heart I wrung her hand in silence and turnedaway. 

Prince Charles and his life-guards, at the head of the army, moved fromHolyrood to Pinkie-house that afternoon. A vast concourse of people weregathered to cheer us on our way, as we passed through the streets to thesound of the pipes and fife and beating drum. More than one twistedcripple flung himself before the horse of the Prince, begging for "theKing's touch. " In each case the Young Chevalier disclaimed any power ofhealing, but his kindly heart forbade his denying the piteous appeal. Witha slight smile of sympathy he would comply with the request, saying, "Itouch, but God heal. " At the head of each clan-regiment rode its chief, and in front of every company the captains, lieutenants, and ensigns, allof whom were gentlemen of the clan related by blood ties to the chief. Though I say it who was one of them, never a more devoted little army wentout on a madder or more daring enterprise. 

Just one more glimpse of Aileen I got to carry with me through wearymonths of desire. From the window of her aunt's house she was waving atartan scarf, and many a rugged kerne's face lighted at the girl's eagerloyalty. Flushed with shy daring, the soft pliant curves of her figure allyouth and grace, my love's picture framed in the casement was anunconscious magnet for all eyes. The Prince smiled and bowed to her, thensaid something which I did not catch to Creagh who was riding beside him. The Irishman laughed and looked over at me, as did also the Prince. HisHighness asked another question or two, and presently Tony fell intonarration. From the young Stuart Prince's curious looks at me 'twas plainto be seen that Creagh was recounting the tale of my adventures. Once Iheard the Prince exclaim, "What! That boy?" More than once he laughedheartily, for Creagh was an inimitable story-teller and every point to bescored in the telling gained sparkle from his Irish wit. When he hadfinished Prince Charles sent for me and congratulated me warmly on theboldness and the aplomb (so he was kind enough to phrase it) which hadcarried me through devious dangers. 

CHAPTER X

CULLODEN

I have neither space nor heart to attempt a history of our brilliant butill-starred campaign. Surely no more romantic attempt to win a throne wasever made. With some few thousand ill-armed Highlanders and a handful oflowland recruits the Prince cut his way through the heart of England, defeated two armies and repulsed a third, each of them larger than his ownand far better supplied with the munitions of war, captured Carlisle, Manchester, and other towns, even pushed his army beyond Derby to a pointlittle more than a hundred miles from London. Had the gentlemen of Englandwho believed in our cause been possessed of the same spirit of devotionthat animated these wild Highlanders we had unseated the Hanoverians outof doubt, but their loyalty was not strong enough to outweigh theprudential considerations that held them back. Their doubts held theminactive until too late. 

There are some who maintain that had we pushed on from Derby, defeated thearmy of the Duke of Cumberland, of which the chance at this time was good, and swept on to London, that George II would have been sent flying to hisbeloved Hanover. We know now in what a state of wild excitement thecapital city was awaiting news of our approach, how the householdtreasures of the Guelphs were all packed, how there was a run on the Bankof England, how even the Duke of Newcastle, prime minister of GreatBritain, locked himself in his chamber all day denying admittance to allin an agony of doubt as to whether he had better declare at once for theStuarts. We know too that the Wynns and other loyal Welsh gentlemen hadalready set out to rally their country for the honest cause, that cautiousFrance was about to send an army to our assistance. 

But all this was knowledge too late acquired. The great fact thatconfronted us was that without a French army to assist, our Englishfriends would not redeem their contingent pledges. We were numerically ofno greater force than when we had set out from Scotland, and the hazard ofan advance was too great. General Wade and the Duke of Cumberland wereclosing in on us from different sides, each with an army that outnumberedours, and a third army was waiting for us before London. 'Tis justpossible that we might have taken the desperate chance and won, as thePrince was so eager that we should do, but it was to be considered that asa defeated army in a hostile country, had the fortune of war declaredagainst us, we would surely have been cut to pieces in our retreat. ByLord George Murray and the chiefs it was judged wiser to fall back andjoin Lord John Drummond's army in Scotland. They declared that they wouldfollow wherever the Prince chose to lead, but that they felt strongly thata further advance was to doom their clansmen to destruction. Reluctantlythe Prince gave way. 

On the 6th of December, before daybreak, the army began its retreat, whichwas conducted with great skill by Lord George Murray. Never were men moredisappointed than the rank and file of the army when they found that aretreat had been resolved upon. Expressions of chagrin and disappointmentwere to be heard on every hand. But the necessity of the retreat was soonapparent to all, for the regulars were now closing in on us from everyhand. By out-marching and out-maneuvering General Wade, we beat him toLancaster, but his horse were entering the town before we had left thesuburbs. At Clifton the Duke of Cumberland, having joined forces withWade, came in touch with us, and his van was soundly drubbed by ourrear-guard under Lord George, who had with him at the time the Stewarts ofAppin, the Macphersons, Colonel Stuart's regiment, and Donald Roy'sMacdonalds. By great good chance I arrived with a message to Lord Georgefrom the Prince in time to take part in this brilliant little affair. Withhis usual wisdom Lord George had posted his men in the enclosures and parkof Lowther Hall, the Macdonalds on the right of the highway, ColonelStuart in close proximity, and the Macphersons and the Appin regiment tothe left of the road. I dismounted, tied my horse, and joined the RedMacdonald's company where they were lying in the shrubbery. We lay there adevil of a while, Donald Roy smoking as contented as you please, I in astew of impatience and excitement; presently we could hear firing over tothe left where Cluny Macpherson and Stewart of Ardshiel were feeling theenemy and driving them back. At last the order came to advance. Donald Royleaped to his feet, waved his sword and shouted "Claymore!" Next moment wewere rushing pell-mell down the hillside through the thick gorse, overhedges, and across ditches. We met the dragoons in full retreat across themoor at right angles toward us, raked them with a cross fire, and comingto close quarters cut them to pieces with the sword. In this littleskirmish, which lasted less than a quarter of an hour, our loss wasinsignificant, while that of the enemy reached well into the threefigures. The result of this engagement was that our army was extricatedfrom a precarious position and that Cumberland allowed us henceforth toretreat at leisure without fear of molestation. 

Of the good fortune which almost invariably attended our variousdetachments in the North, of our retreat to Scotland and easy victory overGeneral Hawley at the battle of Falkirk, and of the jealousies andmachinations of Secretary Murray and the Irish Prince's advisers, particularly O'Sullivan and Sir Thomas Sheridan, against Lord GeorgeMurray and the chiefs, I can here make no mention, but come at once to thedisastrous battle of Culloden which put a period to our hopes. A number ofunfortunate circumstances had conspired to weaken us. According to theHighland custom, many of the troops, seeing no need of their immediatepresence, had retired temporarily to their homes. Several of the clanregiments were absent on forays and other military expeditions. TheChevalier O'Sullivan, who had charge of the commissariat department, hadfrom gross negligence managed to let the army get into a state borderingon starvation, and that though there was a quantity of meal in Invernesssufficient for a fortnight's consumption. The man had allowed the army tomarch from the town without provisions, and the result was that at thetime of the battle most of the troops had tasted but a single biscuit intwo days. To cap all, the men were deadly wearied by the long night marchto surprise the Duke of Cumberland's army and their dejected return toDrummossie Moor after the failure of the attempt. Many of the men andofficers slipped away to Inverness in search of refreshments, being on theverge of starvation; others flung themselves down on the heath, sullen, dejected, and exhausted, to forget their hunger for the moment in sleep. 

Without dubiety our plain course was to have fallen back across the Nairnamong the hills and let the Duke weary his troops trying to drag hisartillery up the mountainsides. The battle might easily have beenpostponed for several days until our troops were again rested, fed, and ingood spirits. Lord George pointed out at the counsel that a further reasonfor delay lay in the fact that the Mackenzies under Lord Cromarty, thesecond battalion of the Frasers under the Master of Lovat, the Macphersonsunder Cluny, the Macgregors under Glengyle, Mackinnon's followers, and theGlengary Macdonald's under Barisdale were all on the march to join us andwould arrive in the course of a day or two. That with thesereinforcements, and in the hill country, so eminently suited to our methodof warfare, we might make sure of a complete victory, was urged by him andothers. But O'Sullivan and his friends had again obtained the ear of thePrince and urged him to immediate battle. This advice jumped with his ownhigh spirit, for he could not brook to fall back in the face of the enemyawaiting the conflict. The order went forth to gather the clans for thefight. 

To make full the tale of his misdeeds came O'Sullivan's fatal slight tothe pride of the Macdonalds. Since the days of Robert the Bruce andBannockburn it had been their clan privilege to hold the post of honour onthe right. The blundering Irishman assigned this position to the Atholemen in forming the line of battle, and stubbornly refused to reform hisline. The Duke of Perth, who commanded on the left wing, endeavoured toplacate the clan by vowing that they would that day make a right of theleft and promising to change his name to Macdonald after the victory. Riding to the Duke with a message from the Prince I chanced on a man lyingface down among the whin bushes. For the moment I supposed him dead, tillhe lifted himself to an elbow. The man turned to me a gash face the colourof whey, and I saw that it was Donald Roy. 

"Ohon! Ohon! The evil day hass fallen on us, Kenneth. Five hundred yearsthe Macdonalds have held the post of honour. They will never fight on theleft, " he told me in bitter despair and grief. "Wae's me! The red deathgrips us. Old MacEuan who hass the second sight saw a vision in the nightof Cumberland's ridens driving over a field lost to the North. Death onthe field and on the scaffold. "

I have never known a man of saner common sense than Donald Roy, but whenit comes to their superstitions all Highlanders are alike. As well I mighthave reasoned with a wooden post. MacEuan of the seeing eyes had predicteddisaster, and calamity was to be our portion. 

He joined me and walked beside my horse toward his command. The firing wasby this time very heavy, our cannon being quite ineffective and theartillery of the English well served and deadly. Their guns, charged withcartouch, flung death wholesale across the ravine at us and decimated ourranks. The grape-shot swept through us like a hail-storm. Galled beyondendurance by the fire of the enemy, the clans clamoured to be led forwardin the charge. Presently through the lifting smoke we saw the devotedMackintoshes rushing forward against the cannon. After them came theMaclaughlans and the Macleans to their left, and a moment later the wholeHighland line was in motion with the exception of the Macdonalds, whohewed the turf with their swords in a despairing rage but would neitherfight nor fly. Their chief, brave Keppoch, stung to the quick, advancedalmost alone, courting death rather than to survive the day's disgrace. Captain Donald Roy followed at his heels, imploring his chieftain not tosacrifice himself, but Keppoch bade him save himself. For him, he wouldnever see the sunrise again. Next moment he fell to the ground from amusket-shot, never to speak more. My last glimpse of Captain Roy was tosee him carrying back the body of his chief. 

I rode back at a gallop along the ridge to my troop. The valley below wasa shambles. The English cannon tore great gaps in the ranks of theadvancing Highlanders. The incessant fire of the infantry raked them. Fromthe left wing Major Wolfe's regiment poured an unceasing flank fire ofmusketry. The Highlanders fell in platoons. Still they swept forwardheadlong. They reached the first line of the enemy. 'Twas claymore againstbayonet. Another minute, and the Highlanders had trampled down theregulars and were pushing on in impetuous gallantry. The thin tartan lineclambering up the opposite side of the ravine grew thinner as thegrape-shot carried havoc to their ranks. Cobham's and Kerr's dragoonsflanked them _en potence_. To stand that hell of fire was more than mortalmen could endure. Scarce a dozen clansmen reached the second line ofregulars. The rest turned and cut their way, sword in hand, through theflanking regiments which had formed on the ground over which they had justpassed with the intention of barring the retreat. 

Our life-guards and the French pickets, together with Ogilvy's regiment, checked in some measure the pursuit, but nothing could be done to save theday. All was irretrievably lost, though the Prince galloped over the fieldattempting a rally. The retreat became a rout, and the rout a panic. Asfar as Inverness the ground was strewn with the dead slain in that ghastlypursuit. 

The atrocities committed after the battle would have been worthy ofsavages rather than of civilized troops. Many of the inhabitants ofInverness had come out to see the battle from curiosity and were cut downby the infuriated cavalry. The carnage of the battle appeared not tosatiate their horrid thirst for blood, and the troopers, bearing in mindtheir disgrace at Gladsmuir and Falkirk, rushed to and fro over the fieldmassacring the wounded. I could ask any fair-minded judge to set upagainst this barbarity the gentle consideration and tenderness of PrinceCharles and his wild Highlanders in their hours of victory. We never slewa man except in the heat of fight, and the wounded of the enemy werealways cared for with the greatest solicitude. From this one may concludethat the bravest troops are the most humane. These followers of the Dukehad disgraced themselves, and they ran to an excess of cruelty in anattempt to wipe out their cowardice. 

Nor was it the soldiery alone that committed excesses. I regret to have torecord that many of the officers also engaged in them. A party wasdispatched from Inverness the day after the battle to put to death all thewounded they might find in the inclosures of Culloden Park near the fieldof the contest. A young Highlander serving with the English army wasafterwards heard to declare that he saw seventy-two unfortunate victimsdragged from their hiding in the heather to hillocks and shot down byvolleys of musketry. Into a small sheep hut on the moor some of ourwounded had dragged themselves. The dragoons secured the door and firedthe hut. One instance of singular atrocity is vouched for. Nineteenwounded Highland officers, too badly injured to join the retreat, secretedthemselves in a small plantation near Culloden-house, to which mansionthey were afterward taken. After being allowed to lie without caretwenty-four hours they were tossed into carts, carried to the wall of thepark, ranged against it in a row, and instantly shot. I myself was awitness of one incident which touches the butcher of Cumberland nearly. IfI relate the affair, 'tis because it falls pat with the narrative of myescape. 

In the streets of Inverness I ran across Major Macleod gathering togetherthe remnant of his command to check the pursuit until the Prince shouldhave escaped. The man had just come from seeing his brave clansmen moweddown, and his face looked like death. 

"The Prince-- Did he escape?" I asked. "I saw him last trying to stem thetide, with Sheridan and O'Sullivan tugging at his reins to induce aflight. "

The Macleod nodded. "They passed through the town not five minutes ago. "

I asked him whether he had seen anything of Captain Roy Macdonald, and hetold me that he had last seen him lying wounded on the field. I had himdescribe to me accurately the position, and rode back by a wide circuittoward Drummossie Moor. I had of course torn off the white cockade and putit in my breast so as to minimize the danger of being recognized as afollower of the Prince. My heart goes to my throat whenever I think ofthat ride, for behind every clump of whins one might look to find awounded clansman hiding from the riders of Cumberland. By good providenceI came on Captain Macdonald just as three hussars were about to make anend of him. He had his back to a great stone, and was waiting grimly forthem to shoot him down. Supposing me to be an officer of their party thetroopers desisted at my remonstrance and left him to me. Donald Roy waswounded in the foot, but he managed to mount behind me. We got as far asthe wall of the park when I saw a party of officers approaching. Hastilydismounting, we led the horse behind a nest of birches till they shouldpass. A few yards from us a sorely wounded Highland officer was lying. Macdonald recognized him as Charles Fraser, younger of Inverallachie, theLieutenant-Colonel of the Fraser regiment and in the absence of the Masterof Lovat commander. We found no time to drag him to safety before theEnglish officers were upon us. 

The approaching party turned out to be the Duke of Cumberland himself, Major Wolfe, Lord Boyd, Sir Robert Volney, and a boy officer of Wolfe'sregiment. Young Fraser raised himself on his elbow to look at the Duke. The Butcher reined in his horse, frowning blackly down at him. 

"To which side do you belong?" he asked. 

"To the Prince, " was the undaunted answer. 

Cumberland, turning to Major Wolfe, said, "Major, are your pistols loaded?"

Wolfe said that they were. 

"Then shoot me that Highland scoundrel who dares look on me soinsolently. "

Major Wolfe looked at his commander very steadily and said quietly: "Sir, my commission is at the disposal of your Royal Highness, but my honour ismy own. I can never consent to become a common executioner. "

The Duke purpled, and burst out with, "Bah! Pistol him, Boyd. "

"Your Highness asks what is not fitting for you to require nor for me toperform, " answered that young nobleman. 

The Duke, in a fury, turned to a passing dragoon and bade him shoot theyoung man. Charles Fraser dragged himself to his feet by a great effortand looked at the butcher with a face of infinite scorn while the soldierwas loading his piece. 

"Your Highness, " began Wolfe, about to remonstrate. 

"Sir, I command you to be silent, " screamed the Duke. 

The trooper presented his piece at the Fraser, whose steady eyes neverleft the face of Cumberland. 

"God save King James!" cried Inverallachie in English, and next momentfell dead from the discharge of the musket. 

The faces of the four Englishmen who rode with the Duke were stern anddrawn. Wolfe dismounted from his horse and reverently covered the face ofthe dead Jacobite with a kerchief. 

"God grant that when our time comes we may die as valiantly and as loyallyas this young gentleman, " he said solemnly, raising his hat. 

Volney, Boyd, and Wolfe's subaltern uncovered, and echoed an "Amen. "Cumberland glared from one to another of them, ran the gamut of all tintsfrom pink to deepest purple, gulped out an apoplectic Dutch oath, and dugthe rowels deep into his bay. With shame, sorrow, and contempt in theirhearts his retinue followed the butcher across the field. 

My face was like the melting winter snows. I could not look at theMacdonald, nor he at me. We mounted in silence and rode away. Only once hereferred to what we had seen. 

"Many's the time that Charlie Fraser and I have hunted the dun deer acrossthe heather hills, and now----" He broke into Gaelic lamentation andimprecation, then fell as suddenly to quiet. 

We bore up a ravine away from the roads toward where a great gash in thehills invited us, for we did not need to be told that the chances ofsafety increased with our distance from the beaten tracks of travel. A manon horseback came riding behind and overhauled us rapidly. Presently wesaw that he was a red-coated officer, and behind a huge rock we waited topistol him as he came up. The man leaped from his horse and came straighttoward us. I laid a hand on Captain Roy's arm, for I had recognized MajorWolfe. But I was too late. A pistol ball went slapping through the Major'shat and knocked it from his head. He stooped, replaced it with the utmostcomposure, and continued to advance, at the same time calling out that hewas a friend. 

"I recognized you behind the birches, Montagu, and thought that you andyour friend could use another horse. Take my Galloway. You will find him agood traveller. "

I ask you to believe that we stared long at him. A wistful smile touchedhis sallow face. 

"We're not all ruffians in the English army, lad. If I aid your escape itis because prisoners have no rights this day. My advice would be for youto strike for the hills. "

"In troth and I would think your advisings good, sir, " answered Donald. "No glen will be too far, no ben too high, for a hiding-place from thesebloody Sassenach dogs. " Then he stopped, the bitterness fading from hisvoice, and added: "But I am forgetting myself. God, sir, the sights I haveseen this day drive me mad. At all events there iss one English officerCaptain Macdonald will remember whatever. " And the Highlander bowed withdignity. 

I thanked Wolfe warmly, and lost no time in taking his advice. CaptainRoy's foot had by this time so swollen that he could not put it in thestirrup. He was suffering a good deal, but at least the pain served todistract him from the gloom that lay heavy on his spirits. From thehillside far above the town we could see the lights of Inverness beginningto glimmer as we passed. A score of times we had to dismount on account ofthe roughness of the ground to lead our horses along the steep incline ofthe mountainsides, and each time Donald set his teeth and dragged hisshattered ankle through bracken and over boulder by sheer dour pluck. Hunger gnawed at our vitals, for in forty-eight hours we had but tastedfood. Deadly weariness hung on our stumbling footsteps, and in our gloomyhearts lurked the coldness of despair. Yet hour after hour we held oursilent course, clambering like heather-cats over cleugh and boggymoorland, till at last we reached Bun Chraobg, where we unsaddled for asnatch of sleep. 

We flung ourselves down on the soft heather wrapped in our plaids, but forlong slumber was not to be wooed. Our alert minds fell to a review of allthe horrors of the day: to friends struck down, to the ghastly carnage, tofugitives hunted and shot in their hiding-places like wild beasts, to themistakes that had ruined our already lost cause. The past and the presentwere bitter as we could bear; thank Heaven, the black shadow of the futurehung as yet but dimly on our souls. If we had had the second sight andcould have known what was to follow--the countryside laid waste with fireand sword, women and children turned out of their blazing homes to perishon the bleak moors, the wearing of the tartan proscribed and made a crimepunishable with death, a hundred brave Highlanders the victim of thescaffold--we should have quite despaired. 

Except the gentle soughing of the wind there was no sound to stir thesilent night. A million of night's candles looked coldly down on an armyof hunted stragglers. I thought of the Prince, Cluny, Lord Murray, Creagh, and a score of others, wondering if they had been taken, and fell at lastto troubled sleep, from which ever and anon I started to hear the wildwail of the pibroch or the ringing Highland slogans, to see the flamingcannon mouths vomiting death or the fell galloping of the relentlessHanoverian dragoons. 

In the chill dawn I awoke to a ravening hunger that was insistent to benoted, and though my eyes would scarce believe there was Donald Roy cockedtailor fashion on the heath arranging most temptingly on a rock sconesandwiches of braxy mutton and a flask of usquebaugh (Highland whiskey). Ishut my eyes, rubbed them with my forefingers, and again let in the light. The viands were still there. 

The Macdonald smiled whimsically over at me. "Gin ye hae your appetite wi'you we'll eat, Mr. Montagu, for I'm a wee thingie hungry my nainsell(myself). 'Deed, to mak plain, I'm toom (empty) as a drum, and I'mthinkin' that a drappie o' the usquebaugh wad no' come amiss neither. "

"But where in the world did you get the food, Donald?"

"And where wad you think, but doon at the bit clachan yonder? A very guidfreend of mine named Farquhar Dhu lives there. He and Donald Roy are farben (intimate), and when I came knocking at his window at cock-craw he wasno' very laithe to gie me a bit chack (lunch). "

"Did you climb down the mountain and back with your sore ankle?"

He coloured. "Hoots, man! Haud your whitter (tongue)! Aiblins (perhaps) Iwass just wearying for a bit exercise to test it. And gin I were you Iwadna sit cocking on that stane speiring at me upsitten (impertinent)questions like a professor of pheelosophy, you muckle sumph!"

I fell to with a will. He was not a man to be thanked in words. Long sinceI had found out that Captain Roy was one to spend himself for his friendsand make nothing of it. This was one of his many shining qualities thatdrew me so strongly to him. If he had a few of the Highland faults he didnot lack any of the virtues of his race. 

Shortly we were on our way once more, and were fortunate enough beforenight to fall in with Cluny and his clan, who having heard of our reversehad turned about and were falling back to Badenoch. At Trotternich wefound a temporary refuge at the home of a surgeon who was distantlyrelated to the Macdonald, but at the end of a fortnight were driven awayby the approach of a troop of Wolfe's regiment. 

The course of our wanderings I think it not needful to detail at length. For months we were forever on the move. From one hiding-place to anotherthe redcoats and their clan allies drove us. No sooner were we fairlyconcealed than out we were routed. Many a weary hundred miles we trampedover the bleak mountains white with snow. Weariness walked with us by day, and cold and hunger lay down with us at night. Occasionally we slept insheilings (sheep-huts), but usually in caves or under the open sky. Werewe in great luck, venison and usquebaugh fell to our portion, but moreoften our diet was brose (boiling water poured over oatmeal) washed downby a draught from the mountain burn. Now we would be lurking on themainland, now skulking on one of the islands or crossing rough firths incrazy boats that leaked like a sieve. Many a time it was touch and go withus, for the dragoons and the Campbells followed the trail like sleuths. Wefugitives had a system of signals by which we warned each other of theenemy's approach and conveyed to each other the news. That Balmerino, Kilmarnock, and many another pretty man had been taken we knew, and scoresof us could have guessed shrewdly where the Prince was hiding in theheather hills. 

CHAPTER XI

THE RED HEATHER HILLS

A sullen day, full of chill gusts and drizzle, sinking into a wet mistynight! Three hunted Jacobites, dragging themselves forward drearily, foundthe situation one of utter cheerlessness. For myself, misery spoke inevery motion, and to say the same of Creagh and Macdonald is to speak bythe card. Fatigue is not the name for our condition. Fagged out, dispirited, with legs moving automatically, we still slithered downcleughs, laboured through dingles and corries, clambered up craggymountainsides all slippery with the wet heather, weariness tugging at ourleaden feet like a convict's chain and ball. Our bones ached, our throatswere limekilns, composts of sores were our ragged feet. 

On every side the redcoats had hemmed us in, and we knew not whether wetramped to a precarious safety or to death. Indeed, 'twas little we cared, for at last exhaustion had touched the limit of endurance. Not a word hadpassed the lips of any of us for hours, lest the irritation of our wornnerves should flame into open rupture. 

At length we stood on the summit of the ridge. Scarce a half mile from usa shieling was to be seen on the shoulder of the mount. 

"That looks like the cot where O'Sullivan and the Prince put up a monthago, " said Creagh. 

Macdonald ruffled at the name like a turkeycock. Since Culloden the wordhad been to him as a red rag to a bull. 

"The devil take O'Sullivan and his race, " burst out the Scotch Captain. "Gin it had not been for him the cause had not been lost. "

The Irishman's hot temper flared. 

"You forget the Macdonalds, sir, " he retorted, tartly. 

"What ails you at the Macdonalds?" demanded the gentleman of that ilk, looking him over haughtily from head to foot. 

Creagh flung out his answer with an insolent laugh. "Culloden. "

The Macdonald's colour ebbed. "It will be a great peety that you hafeinsulted me, for there will presently be a dead Irishman to stain the snowwith hiss blood, " he said deliberately, falling into more broken Englishas he always did when excited. 

Creagh shrugged. "That's on the knees of the gods. At the worst it leavesone less for the butcher to hang, Scotch or Irish. "

"It sticks in my mind that I hafe heard you are a pretty man with thesteel--at the least I am thinking so, " said Captain Roy, standing straightas an arrow, his blue eyes fixed steadily on his opponent. 

"Gadso! Betwixt and between, but I dare say my sword will serve to keep myhead at all events whatefer, " cried Creagh, mimicking scornfully theother's accent. 

Donald whipped his sword from its scabbard. 

"Fery well. That will make easy proving, sir. "

The quarrel had cropped out so quickly that hitherto I had found no timeto interfere, but now I came between them and beat down the swords. 

"Are you mad, gentlemen? Put up your sword, Tony. Back, Macdonald, or onmy soul I'll run you through, " I cried. 

"Come on, the pair of ye. Captain Roy can fend for (look out for)himself, " shouted the excited Highlander, thrusting at me. 

"Fall back, Tony, and let me have a word, " I implored. 

The Irishman disengaged, his anger nearly gone, a whimsical smile alreadytwitching at his mouth. 

"Creagh, you don't mean to impeach the courage of Captain Macdonald, doyou?" I asked. 

"Not at all--not at all. Faith, I never saw a man more keen to fight, " headmitted, smiling. 

"He was wounded at Culloden. You know that?"

"So I have heard. " Then he added dryly, some imp of mischief stirring him:"In the heel, wasn't it?"

"Yes, in the foot, " I told him hastily. "I suppose you do not doubt thevalour of the Captain's clan any more than his own. "

"Devil a bit!" he answered carelessly. "I've seen them fight too often toadmit of any question as to their courage at all, at all. For sheer daringI never saw the beat of the Highland troops--especially if there chancedto be any plunder on the other side of the enemy, Egad!"

I turned to Donald Roy, who was sullenly waiting for me to have done. "Areyou satisfied, Captain, that Tony meant to impute nothing against you oryour men?"

"Oich! Oich!" he grumbled. "I wass thinking I heard some other dirtysneers. "

"If the sneers were unjust I retract them with the best will in the world. Come, Captain Macdonald, sure 'tis not worth our while doing the work ofthe redcoats for them. 'Slife, 'tis not fair to Jack Ketch!" exclaimed theIrishman. 

"Right, Donald! Why, you fire-eating Hotspur, you began it yourself with afling at the Irish. Make up, man! Shake hands with Tony, and be done withyour bile. "

Creagh offered his hand, smiling, and his smile was a handsome letter ofrecommendation. Donald's face cleared, and he gripped heartily the hand ofthe other. 

"With great pleasure, and gin I said anything offensive I eat my words atall events, " he said. 

"You may say what you please about O'Sullivan, Captain Macdonald. Ecod, hemay go to the devil for me, " Creagh told him. 

"Well, and for me too; 'fore God, the sooner the better. "

"If there is to be no throat-cutting to warm the blood maybe we had betterpush on to the bothy, gentlemen. I'm fain niddered [perishing] with thecold. This Highland mist goes to the marrow, " I suggested merrily, andlinking arms with them I moved forward. 

In ten minutes we had a roaring fire ablaze, and were washing down withusquebaugh the last trace of unkindness. After we had eaten our bannocksand brose we lay in the shine of the flame and revelled in the blessedheat, listening to the splash of the rain outside. We were stillencompassed by a cordon of the enemy, but for the present we were contentto make the most of our unusual comfort. 

"Here's a drammoch left in the flask. I give you the restoration, gentlemen, " cried Donald. 

"I wonder where the Prince is this night, " I said after we had drunk thetoast. 

We fell to a meditative sombre silence, and presently Captain Roy began tosing softly one of those touching Jacobite melodies that go to the sourceof tears like rain to the roots of flowers. Donald had one of the rarevoices that carry the heart to laughter and to sobs. The singer's song, all pathos and tenderness, played on the chords of our emotion like aharp. My eyes began to smart. Creagh muttered something about thepeat-smoke affecting his, and I'm fain to admit that I rolled over with myface from the fire to hide the tell-tale tears. The haunting patheticwistfulness of the third stanza shook me with sobs. 

 "On hills that are by right his ain, He roams a lanely stranger; On ilka hand he's pressed by want, On ilka hand by danger. "

"Ohon! Ohon!" groaned Donald. "The evil day! The evil day! Wae's me forour bonnie Hieland laddie!"

"May the Blessed Mother keep him safe from all enemies and dangers!" saidCreagh softly. 

"And God grant that he be warm and well fed this bitter night wherever hemay be, " I murmured. 

Something heavy like the butt of a musket fell against the door, and westarted to our feet in an instant. Out flashed our swords. 

"Who goes?" cried the Macdonald. 

We threw open the door, and in came a party of four, rain dripping fromtheir soaked plaids. I recognized at once Young Clanranald and MajorMacleod. The other two were a tattered gillie in the Macdonald tartan anda young woman of most engaging appearance, who was supported in the armsof Clanranald and his henchman. The exhausted lady proved to be no otherthan the celebrated Miss Flora Macdonald, whose gallant and generousdevotion, for a protracted period, as we afterwards learned, hadundoubtedly saved the life of the Prince from his enemies. 

Donald no sooner beheld his kinswoman than he dropped on his knee and withthe wildest demonstrations of joy kissed the hand of the ragged kerne whosupported her. I stared at Captain Roy in amazement, and while I was yetwondering at his strange behaviour Tony Creagh plumped down beside him. Myeyes went to the face of the gillie and encountered the winsome smile ofthe Young Chevalier. Desperately white and weary as he was, and dressed inan outcast's rags, he still looked every inch the son of kings. To me hewas always a more princely figure in his days of adversity, when he roameda hunted wanderer among Highland heughs and corries with only those abouthim over whose hearts he still was king, than when he ruled at Holyroodundisputed master of Scotland. 

It appeared that the party of the Prince, with the exception ofClanranald, were destined for Raasay, could they but run the cordon oftroopers who guarded the island of Skye. Through Malcolm, arrangements hadbeen made by which Murdoch Macleod, a younger brother wounded at Culloden, was to be in waiting with a boat to convey the party of the Prince acrossthe sound. It will be believed that we discussed with much care andanxiety the best disposition to be made of ourselves in running the linesof the enemy. The final decision was that the Prince, Malcolm, and Ishould make the attempt that night while Creagh, Captain Roy, and MissFlora followed at their leisure on the morrow. Since the young lady wasprovided with a passport for herself and her attendant this promised to bea matter of small danger on their part. 

Never have I known a woman treated with truer chivalry and deference thanthis heroic Highland girl was by these hardy mountaineers. Her chief, Clanranald, insisted on building with his own hands a fire in her sleepingroom "ben" the house, and in every way the highest marks of respect wereshown her for her devotion to the cause. Though he expected to join heragain shortly, the Prince made her his warmest acknowledgments of thanksin a spirit of pleasantry which covered much tender feeling. They had beenunder fire together and had shared perils by land and by sea during whichtime his conduct to her had been perfect, a gentle consideration for hercomfort combined with the reserve that became a gentleman under suchcircumstances. On this occasion he elected to escort her in person to thedoor of her chamber. 

After a snatch of sleep we set out on our perillous journey. Sheets ofrain were now falling in a very black night. Donald Roy parted from us atthe door of the hut with much anxiety. He had pleaded hard to be allowedto join the party of the Prince, but had been overruled on the ground thathe was the only one of us with the exception of Malcolm that could act asa guide. Moreover he was the kinsman of Miss Flora, and therefore hernatural protector. Over and over he urged us to be careful and to donothing rash. The Prince smilingly answered him with a shred of theGaelic. 

"Bithidh gach ni mar is aill Dhiu. " (All things must be as God will havethem. )

The blackness of the night was a thing to be felt. Not the faithfulAchates followed Æneas more closely than did we the Macleod. No sound cameto us but the sloshing of the rain out of a sodden sky and the noise offalling waters from mountain burns in spate (flood). Hour after hour whilewe played blindly follow-my-leader the clouds were a sieve over ourdevoted heads. Braes we breasted and precipitous heathery heights wesliddered down, but there was always rain and ever more rain, turning atlast into a sharp thin sleet that chilled the blood. 

Then in the gray breaking of the day Malcolm turned to confess what I hadalready suspected, that he had lost the way in the darkness. We were atpresent shut in a sea of fog, a smirr of mist and rain, but when thatlifted he could not promise that we would not be close on the campfires ofthe dragoons. His fine face was a picture of misery, and bitterly hereproached himself for the danger into which he had led the Prince. TheYoung Chevalier told him gently that no blame was attaching to him; ratherto us all for having made the attempt in such a night. 

For another hour we sat on the dripping heather opposite the corp-whiteface of the Macleod waiting for the mist to lift. The wanderer exertedhimself to keep us in spirits, now whistling a spring of Clanranald'smarch, now retailing to us the story of how he had walked through theredcoats as Miss Macdonald's Betty Burke. It may be conceived with whatanxiety we waited while the cloud of moisture settled from the mountaintops into the valleys. 

"By Heaven, sir, we have a chance, " cried Malcolm suddenly, and began tolead the way at a great pace up the steep slope. For a half hour wescudded along, higher and higher, always bearing to the right and at sucha burst of speed that I judged we must be in desperate danger. The Princehung close to the heels of Malcolm, but I was a sorry laggard ready to dieof exhaustion. When the mist sank we began to go more cautiously, for thevalley whence we had just emerged was dotted at intervals with thecampfires of the soldiers. Cautiously we now edged our way along theslippery incline, keeping in the shadow of great rocks and broom whereverit was possible. 'Tis not in nature to walk unmoved across an open whereevery bush may hide a sentinel who will let fly at one as gladly as at afat buck--yes, and be sure of thirty thousand pounds if he hit the rightmark. I longed for eyes in the back of my head, and every moment couldfeel the lead pinging its way between my shoulder blades. 

Major Macleod had from his youth stalked the wary stag, and every saughand birch and alder in our course was made to yield us its cover. Once amuircock whirred from my very feet and brought my heart to my mouth. Presently we topped the bluff and disappeared over its crest. Another hourof steady tramping down hill and the blue waters of the sound stretchedbefore us. 'Twas time. My teeth chattered and my bones ached. I wassick--sick--sick. 

"And here we are at the last, " cried the Major with a deep breath ofrelief. "I played the gomeral brawly, but in the darkness we blunderedram-stam through the Sassenach lines. "

"'Fortuna favet fatuis, '" quoted the Young Chevalier. "Luck for fools! Theusurper's dragoons will have to wait another day for their thirty thousandpounds. Eh, Montagu?" he asked me blithely; then stopped to stare at mestaggering down the beach. "What ails you, man?"

I was reeling blindly like a drunkard, and our Prince put an arm around mywaist. I resisted feebly, but he would have none of it; the arm of aking's son (de jure) supported me to the boat. 

We found as boatmen not only Murdoch Macleod but his older brother YoungRaasay, the only one of the family that had not been "out" with our army. He had been kept away from the rebellion to save the family estates, buthis heart was none the less with us. 

"And what folly is this, Ronald?" cried Malcolm when he saw the head ofthe house on the links. "Murdoch and I are already as black as we can be, but you were to keep clean of the Prince's affairs. It wad be a geyan illoutcome gin we lost the estates after all. The red cock will aiblins crawat Raasay for this. "

"I wass threepin' so already, but he wass dooms thrang to come. He'llmaybe get his craig raxed (neck twisted) for his ploy, " said Murdochcomposedly. 

"By Heaven, Malcolm, I'll play the trimmer no longer. Raasay serves hisPrince though it cost both the estate and his head, " cried the youngchieftain hotly. 

"In God's name then let us get away before the militia or the sidier roy(red soldiers) fall in with us. In the woody cleughs yonder they are thickas blackcocks in August, " cried the Major impatiently. 

We pushed into the swirling waters and were presently running free, sending the spurling spray flying on both sides of the boat. The wind cameon to blow pretty hard and the leaky boat began to fill, so that we werehard put to it to keep from sinking. The three brothers were quite used tomaking the trip in foul weather, but on the Prince's account were now muchdistressed. To show his contempt for danger, the royal wanderer sang alively Erse song. The Macleods landed us at Glam, and led the way to awretched hovel recently erected by some shepherds. Here we dined onbroiled kid, butter, cream, and oaten bread. 

I slept round the clock, and awoke once more a sound man to see the Princeroasting the heart of the kid on an iron spit. Throughout the day weplayed with a greasy pack of cards to pass the time. About sundown Creaghjoined us, Macdonald having stayed on Skye to keep watch on any suspiciousactivity of the clan militia or the dragoons. Raasay's clansmen, ostensibly engaged in fishing, dotted the shore of the little island togive warning of the approach of any boats. To make our leader's safetymore certain, the two proscribed brothers took turns with Creagh and me indoing sentinel duty at the end of the path leading to the sheep hut. 

At the desire of the Prince--and how much more at mine!--we ventured up tothe great house that night to meet the ladies, extraordinary precautionshaving been taken by Raasay to prevent the possibility of any surprise. Indeed, so long as the Prince was in their care, Raasay and his brotherswere as anxious as the proverbial hen with the one chick. Doubtless theyfelt that should he be captured while on the island the reputation of thehouse would be forever blasted. And this is the most remarkable fact ofCharles Edward Stuart's romantic history; that in all the months of hiswandering, reposing confidence as he was forced to do in hundreds ofdifferent persons, many of them mere gillies and some of them littlebetter than freebooters, it never seems to have occurred to one of theseshag-headed Gaels to earn an immense fortune by giving him up. 

My heart beat a tattoo against my ribs as I followed the Prince and Raasayto the drawing-room where his sister and Miss Macdonald awaited us. Eightmonths had passed since last I had seen my love; eight months of battle, of hairbreadth escapes, and of hardships scarce to be conceived. She toohad endured much in that time. Scarce a house in Raasay but had been razedby the enemy because her brothers and their following had been "out" withus. I was to discover whether her liking for me had outlived the turmoilsof "the '45, " or had been but a girlish fancy. 

My glance flashed past Miss Flora Macdonald and found Aileen on theinstant. For a hundredth part of a second our eyes met before she fell tomaking her devoirs to the Young Chevalier, and after that I did not needto be told that my little friend was still staunch and leal. I couldafford to wait my turn with composure, content to watch with long-starvedeyes the delicacy and beauty of this sweet wild rose I coveted. Sure, herswas a charm that custom staled not nor longer acquaintance made lessalluring. Every mood had its own characteristic fascination, and are notthe humours of a woman numberless? She had always a charming note ofunconventional freshness, a childlike _naiveté_ of immaturity andunsophistication at times, even a certain girlish shy austerity that hadfor me a touch of saintliness. But there-- Why expatiate? A lover'smidsummer madness, you will say!

My turn at last! The little brown hand pressed mine firmly for an instant, the warm blue eyes met mine full and true, the pulse in the soft-throatedneck beat to a recognition of my presence. I found time to again admirethe light poise of the little head carried with such fine spirit, themusic of the broken English speech in this vibrant Highland voice. 

"Welcome-- Welcome to Raasay, my friend!" Then her eyes falling on thesatin cockade so faded and so torn, there came a tremulous little catch toher voice, a fine light to her eyes. "It iss the good tale that mybrothers have been telling me of Kenneth Montagu's brave devotion to hissfriends, but I wass not needing to hear the story from them. I will bethinking that I knew it all already, " she said, a little timidly. 

I bowed low over her hand and kissed it. "My friends make much of nothing. Their fine courage reads their own spirit reflected in the eyes ofothers. "

"Oh, then I will have heard the story wrong. It would be Donald who wentback to Drummossie Moor after you when you were wounded?"

"Could a friend do less?"

"Or more?"

"He would have done as much for me. My plain duty!" I said, shrugging, anxious to be done with the subject. 

She looked at me with sparkling eyes, laughing at my discomposure, in ahalf impatience of my stolid English phlegm. 

"Oh, you men! You go to your death for a friend, and if by a miracle youescape: 'Pooh! 'Twas nothing whatever. Gin it rain to-morrow, I think'twill be foul, ' you say, and expect to turn it off so. "

I took the opening like a fox. 

"Faith, I hope it will not rain to-morrow, " I said. "I have to keep watchoutside. Does the sun never shine in Raasay, Aileen?"

"Whiles, " she answered, laughing. "And are all Englishmen so shy of theirvirtues?"

Tony Creagh coming up at that moment, she referred the question to him. 

"Sure, I can't say, " he answered unsmilingly. "'Fraid I'm out of court. Never knew an Englishman to have any. "

"Can't you spare them one at the least?" Aileen implored, gaily. 

He looked at her, then at me, a twinkle in his merry Irish eyes. 

"Ecod then, I concede them one! They're good sportsmen. They follow thegame until they've bagged it. "

We two flushed in concert, but the point of her wit touched Creagh on the_riposte_. 

"The men of the nation being disposed of in such cavalier fashion, whatshall we say of the ladies, sir?" she asked demurely. 

"That they are second only to the incomparable maidens of the North, " heanswered, kissing her hand in his extravagant Celtic way. 

"But I will not be fubbed off with your Irish blarney. The English ladies, Mr. Creagh?" she merrily demanded. 

"Come, Tony, you renegade! Have I not heard you toast a score of times thebeauties of London?" said I, coming up with the heavy artillery. 

"Never, I vow. Sure I always thought Edinburgh a finer city--not so dirtyand, pink me, a vast deal more interesting. Now London is built----"

"On the Thames. So it is, " I interrupted dryly. "And--to get back to thesubject under discussion--the pink and white beauties of London are builtto take the eye and ensnare the heart of roving Irishmen. Confess!"

"Or be forever shamed as recreant knight, " cried Aileen, her blue eyesbubbling with laughter. 

Tony unbuckled his sword and offered it her. "If I yield 'tis not tonumbers but to beauty. Is my confession to be in the general or theparticular, Miss Macleod?"

"Oh, in the particular! 'Twill be the mair interesting. "

"Faith then, though it be high treason to say so of one lady beforeanother, Tony Creagh's scalp dangles at the belt of the most bewitchinglittle charmer in Christendom. "

"Her name?"

"Mistress Antoinette Westerleigh, London's reigning toast. "

Aileen clapped her hands in approving glee. 

"And did you ever tell her?"

"A score of times. Faith, 'twas my rule to propose every second time I sawher and once in between. "

"And she----?"

"Laughed at me; played shill-I-shall-I with my devotion; vowed she wouldnot marry me till I had been killed in the wars to prove I was a hero;smiled on me one minute and scorned me the next. "

"And you love her still?"

"The sun rises in 'Toinette's eyes; when she frowns the day is vile. "

"Despite her whims and arrogances?"

"Sure for me my queen can do no wrong. 'Tis her right to laugh and mock atme so only she enjoy it. "

Aileen stole one shy, quick, furtive look at me. It seemed to questionwhether her lover was such a pattern of meek obedience. 

"And you never falter? There iss no other woman for you?"

"Saving your presence, there is no other woman in the world?"

Her eyes glistened. 

"Kneel down, sir, " she commanded. 

Tony dropped to a knee. She touched him lightly on the shoulder with hissword. 

"In love's name I dub you worthy knight. Be bold, be loyal, be fortunate. Arise, Sir Anthony Creagh, knight of the order of Cupid!"

We three had wandered away together into an alcove, else, 'tis almostneedless to say, our daffing had not been so free. Now Malcolm joined uswith a paper in his hand. He spoke to me, smiling yet troubled too. 

"More labours, O my Theseus! More Minotaurs to slay! More labyrinths tothread!"

"And what may be these labours now?" I asked. 

"Captain Donald Roy sends for you. He reports unusual activity among theclan militia and the redcoats on Skye. A brig landed men and officersthere yesterday. And what for will they be coming?"

"I think the reason is very plain, Major Macleod, " said Tony blithely. 

"I'm jalousing (suspecting) so mysel'. They will be for the taking of awheen puir callants (lads) that are jinking (hiding) in the hill birken(scrub). But here iss the point that must be learned: do they ken that thePrince iss on the islands?"

Creagh sprang to his feet from the chair in which he had been lazying. "The devil's in it! Why should Montagu go? Why not I?"

"Because you can't talk the Gaelic, Creagh. You're barred, " I told himtriumphantly. 

"Would you be sending our guest on such an errand of danger, Malcolm?"asked Aileen in a low voice. 

"Not I, but Fegs! I will never say the word to hinder if he volunteers. 'Tis in the service of the Prince. The rest of us are kent (known) men andcanna gang. "

Grouped behind Malcolm were now gathered the Prince, Raasay, and MissFlora. To me as a focus came all eyes. I got to my feet in merry humour. 

"Ma foi! Ulysses as a wanderer is not to be compared with me. When do Iset out, Major?"

"At skreigh-o'-day (daybreak). And the sooner you seek your sleep thebetter. Best say good-night to the lassies, for you'll need be wide awakethe morn twa-three hours ere sun-up. Don't let the redcoats wile (lure)you into any of their traps, lad. You maunna lose your head or----"

"----Or I'll lose my head, " I answered, drolling. "I take you, Major; but, my word for it, I have not, played hide-and-go-seek six months among yourHighland lochs and bens to dance on air at the last. "

The Prince drew me aside. "This will not be forgotten when our day ofpower comes, Montagu. I expected no less of your father's son. " Then headded with a smile: "And when Ulysses rests safe from his wanderings atlast I trust he will find his Penelope waiting for him with a trueheart. "

Without more ado I bade Miss Macdonald and Aileen good-bye, but as I leftthe room I cast a last look back over my shoulder and methought that thelissome figure of my love yearned forward toward me tenderly andgraciously. 

CHAPTER XII

VOLNEY PAYS A DEBT

There are some to whom strange changes never come. They pursue the eventenor of their way in humdrum monotony, content to tread the broad safepath of routine. For them the fascination of the mountain peaks of giddychance has no allurement, the swift turbulent waters of intrigue no charm. There are others with whom Dame Fortune plays many an exciting game, andto these adventure becomes as the very breath of life. To such everyhazard of new fortune is a diversion to be eagerly sought. 

Something of this elation seized me--for I am of this latter class--asMurdoch and his gillies rowed me across the sound to Skye in the darknessof the early morning. It was a drab dawn as ever I have seen, and everytug at the oars shot me nearer to the red bloodhounds who were debouchedover the island. What then? Was I not two years and twenty, and did I notventure for the life of a king's son? To-day I staked my head on luck andskill; to-morrow--but let the future care for her own. 

In a grove of beeches about half a mile from Portree we landed, andMurdoch gave the call of the whaup to signal Donald Roy. From a clump ofwhins in the gorse the whistle echoed back to us, and presently CaptainMacdonald came swinging down to the shore. It appeared that anotherboatload of soldiers had been landed during the night, a squad of clanmilitia under the command of a Lieutenant Campbell. We could but guessthat this portended some knowledge as to the general whereabouts of thePrince, and 'twas my mission to learn the extent and reliability of thatknowledge if I could. That there was some danger in the attempt I knew, but it had been minimized by the philibeg and hose, the Glengarry bonnetand Macleod plaid which I had donned at the instance of Malcolm. 

I have spoken of chance. The first stroke of it fell as I strode along thehighway to Portree. At a crossroad intersection I chanced on a fellowtrudging the same way as myself. He was one of your furtive-faced fellows, with narrow slits of eyes and an acquired habit of skellying sidewise atone out of them. Cunning he was beyond doubt, and from the dour look ofhim one to bear malice. His trews were like Joseph's coat for the colourof the many patches, but I made them out to have been originally of theCampbell plaid. 

"A fine day, my man, " says I with vast irony. 

"Wha's finding faut wi' the day?" he answers glumly. 

"You'll be from across the mountains on the mainland by the tongue ofyou, " I ventured. 

"Gin you ken that there'll be nae use telling you. "

"A Campbell, I take it. "

He turned his black-a-vised face on me, scowling. 

"Or perhaps you're on the other side of the hedge--implicated in thisbarelegged rebellion, I dare say. "

Under my smiling, watchful eye he began to grow restless. His hand creptto his breast, and I heard the crackle of papers. 

"Deil hae't, what's it to you?" he growled. 

"To me? Oh, nothing at all. Merely a friendly interest. On the whole Ithink my first guess right. I wouldn't wonder but you're carryingdispatches from Lieutenant Campbell. "

The fellow went all colours and was as easy as a worm on a hook. 

"I make no doubt you'll be geyan tired from long travel, and theresponsibility of carrying such important documents must weigh down yourspirits, " I drolled, "and so I will trouble you"--with a pistol clapped tohis head and a sudden ring of command in my voice--"to hand them over tome at once. "

The fellow's jaw dropped lankly. He looked hither and thither for a way ofescape and found none. He was confronting an argument that had a greatdeal of weight with him, and out of the lining of his bonnet he ripped aletter. 

"Thanks, but I'll take the one in your breast pocket, " I told him dryly. 

Out it came with a deal of pother. The letter was addressed to the Duke ofCumberland, Portree, Skye. My lips framed themselves to a long whistle. Here was the devil to pay. If the butcher was on the island I knew he hadcome after bigger game than muircocks. No less a quarry than the Princehimself would tempt him to this remote region. I marched my prisoner backto Captain Roy and Murdoch. To Donald I handed the letter, and he rippedit open without ceremony. 'Twas merely a note from the Campbell Lieutenantof militia, to say that the orders of his Highness regarding the watchingof the coast would be fulfilled to the least detail. 

"Well, and here's a pirn to unravel. What's to be done now?" asked theMacdonald. 

"By Heaven, I have it, " cried I. "Let Murdoch carry the news to Raasaythat the Prince may get away at once. Do you guard our prisoner here, while I, dressed in his trews and bonnet, carry the letter to the Duke. His answer may throw more light on the matter. "

Not to make long, so it was decided. We made fashion to plaster up theenvelope so as not to show a casual looker that it had been tampered with, and I footed it to Portree in the patched trews of the messenger, not withthe lightest heart in the world. The first redcoat I met directed me tothe inn where the Duke had his headquarters, and I was presently admittedto a hearing. 

The Duke was a ton of a little man with the phlegmatic Dutch face. He readthe letter stolidly and began to ask questions as to the disposition ofour squad. I lied generously, magnificently, my face every whit as woodenas his; and while I was still at it the door behind me opened and a mancame in leisurely. He waited for the Duke to have done with me, softlyhumming a tune the while, his shadow flung in front across my track; andwhile he lilted there came to me a dreadful certainty that on occasion Ihad heard the singer and his song before. 

 "'Then come kiss me sweet and twenty. Youth's a stuff will not endure, '"

carolled the melodious voice lazily. Need I say that it belonged to myumquhile friend Sir Robert Volney. 

Cumberland brushed me aside with a wave of his hand. 

"Donner! If the Pretender is on Skye--and he must be--we've got himtrapped, Volney. Our cordon stretches clear across the isle, and everyoutlet is guarded, " he cried. 

"Immensely glad to hear it, sir. Let's see! Is this the twelfth timeyou've had him sure? 'Pon honour, he must have more lives than theproverbial cat, " drawled Sir Robert insolently. 

There was one thing about Volney I could never enough admire. He was norespecter of persons. Come high, come low, the bite of his ironic tonguestruck home. For a courtier he had the laziest scorn of those he courtedthat ever adventurer was hampered with; and strangely enough from him hisfriends in high place tolerated anything. The Prince of Wales and hisbrother Cumberland would not speak to each other, yet each of them foughtto retain Volney as his follower. Time-servers wondered that his uncurbedspeech never brought him to grief. Perhaps the secret of his security layin his splendid careless daring; in that, and in his winning personality. 

"By God, Volney, sometimes I think you're half a Jacobite, " saidCumberland, frowning. 

"Your Grace does me injustice. My bread is buttered on the Brunswickside, " answered the baronet, carelessly. 

"But otherwise--at heart----"

Volney's sardonic smile came into play. "Otherwise my well-known caution, and my approved loyalty, --Egad, I had almost forgotten that!--refute suchan aspersion. "

"Himmel! If your loyalty is no greater than your caution it may be countedout. At the least you take delight in tormenting me. Never deny it, man! Ibelieve you want the Pretender to get away. "

"One may wish the Prince----"

"The Prince?" echoed Cumberland, blackly. 

"The Young Chevalier then, if you like that better. 'Slife, what's in aname? One may wish him to escape and be guilty of no crime. He and hisbrave Highlanders deserve a better fate than death. I dare swear that halfyour redcoats have the sneaking desire to see the young man win free outof the country. Come, my good fellow"--turning to me--"What do they callyou--Campbell? Well then, Campbell, speak truth and shame the devil. Areyou as keen to have the Young Chevalier taken as you pretend?"

Doggedly I turned my averted head toward him, saw the recognition leap tohis eyes, and waited for the word to fall from his lips that would condemnme. Amusement chased amazement across his face. 

A moment passed, still another moment. The word was not spoken. Instead hebegan to smile, presently to hum, "'You'll on an' you'll march to Carlisle ha' To be hanged and quartered, an' a', an' a'. '

"Come, Mont-Campbell, you haven't answered my question yet. If you knewwhere Charles Edward Stuart was in hiding would you give him up?" Helooked at me from under lowered lids, vastly entertained, playing with meas a cat does with a mouse. 

"I am a fery good servant of the King, God bless him whatefer, and I wouldjust do my duty, " answered I, still keeping the rôle I had assumed. 

"Of course he would. Ach, liebe himmel! Any loyal man would be bound to doso, " broke in Cumberland. 

Volney's eyes shone. "I'm not so sure, " said he. "Now supposing, sir, thatone had a very dear friend among the rebels; given the chance, ought he toturn him over to justice?"

"No doubt about it. Friendship ends when rebellion begins, " said the Duke, sententiously. 

Sir Robert continued blandly to argue the case, looking at me out of thetail of his eye. Faith, he enjoyed himself prodigiously, which was morethan I did, for I was tasting a bad quarter of an hour. "Put it this way, sir: I have a friend who has done me many good turns. Now assume that Ihave but to speak the word to send him to his death. Should the word bespoken?"

The Duke said dogmatically that a soldier's first duty was to work for thesuccess of his cause regardless of private feelings. 

"Or turn it this way, " continued Volney, "that the man is not a friend. Suppose him a rival claimant to an estate I mean to possess. Can I inhonour give him up? What would you think, Mont--er--Campbell?"

"Not Mont-Campbell, but Campbell, " I corrected. "I will be thinking, sir, that it would be a matter for your conscience, and at all events it issfery lucky that you do not hafe to decide it. "

"Still the case might arise. It's always well to be prepared, " heanswered, laughing. 

"Nonsense, Robert! What the deuce do you mean by discussing such a matterwith a Highland kerne? I never saw your match for oddity, " said the Duke. 

While he was still speaking there was a commotion in the outer room of theinn. There sounded a rap at the door, and on the echo of the knock anofficer came into the room to announce the capture of a suspect. He wasfollowed by the last man in the world I wanted to see at that moment, noother than the Campbell soldier whose place I was usurping. The fat was inthe fire with a vengeance now, and though I fell back to the rear I knewit was but a question of time till his eye lit on me. 

The fellow began to tell his story, got nearly through before his ferreteyes circled round to me, then broke off to burst into a screed of theGaelic as he pointed a long finger at me. 

The Duke flung round on me in a cold fury. "Is this true, fellow?"

I came forward shrugging. 

"To deny were folly when the evidence is writ so plain, " I said. 

"And who the devil are you?"

"Kenneth Montagu, at your service. "

Cumberland ordered the room cleared, then turned on Volney a very grimface. "I'll remember this, Sir Robert. You knew him all the time. It has abad look, I make plain to say. "

"'Twas none of my business. Your troopers can find enough victims for youwithout my pointing out any. I take the liberty of reminding your Highnessthat I'm not a hangman by profession, " returned Volney stiffly. 

"You go too far, sir, " answered the Duke haughtily. "I know my duty toowell to allow me to be deterred from performing it by you or by anybodyelse. Mr. Montagu, have you any reason to give why I should not hang youfor a spy?"

"No reason that would have any weight with your Grace, " I answered. 

He looked long at me, frowning blackly out of the grimmest face I had everfronted; and yet that countenance, inexorable as fate, belonged to a youngman not four years past his majority. 

"Without dubiety you deserve death, " he said at the last, "but because ofyour youth I give you one chance. Disclose to me the hiding-place of thePretender and you shall come alive out of the valley of the shadow. "

A foretaste of the end clutched icily at my heart, but the price of theproffered safety was too great. Since I must die, I resolved that itshould be with a good grace. 

"I do not know whom your Grace can mean by the Pretender. "

His heavy jaw set and his face grew cold and hard as steel. 

"You fool, do you think to bandy words with me? You will speak or byheaven you will die the death of a traitor. "

"I need not fear to follow where so many of my brave comrades have shownthe way, " I answered steadily. 

"Bah! You deal in heroics. Believe me, this is no time for theatricals. Out with it. When did you last see Charles Stuart?"

"I can find no honourable answer to that question, sir. "

"Then your blood be on your own head, fool. You die to-morrow morning bythe cord. "

"As God wills; perhaps to-morrow, perhaps not for fifty years. "

While I was being led out another prisoner passed in on his way tojudgment. The man was Captain Roy Macdonald. 

"I'm wae to see you here, lad, and me the cause of it by sending you, " hesaid, smiling sadly. 

"How came they to take you?" I asked. 

"I was surprised on the beach just after Murdoch left, " he told me in theGaelic so that the English troopers might not understand. "All should bewell with the yellow haired laddie now that the warning has been given. Are you for Carlisle, Kenneth?"

I shook my head. "No, my time is set for to-morrow. If they give youlonger you'll find a way to send word to Aileen how it went with me, Donald?"

He nodded, and we gripped hands in silence, our eyes meeting steadily. From his serene courage I gathered strength. 

They took me to a bothy in the village which had been set apart as aprison for me, and here, a picket of soldiers with loaded musketssurrounding the hut, they left me to myself. I had asked for paper andink, but my request had been refused. 

In books I have read how men under such circumstance came quietly tophilosophic and religious contemplation, looking at the issue with thefar-seeing eyes of those who count death but an incident. But for me, I amneither philosopher nor saint. Connected thought I found impossible. Mymind was alive with fleeting and chaotic fragmentary impulses. Memoriesconnected with Cloe, Charles, Balmerino, and a hundred others occupied me. Trivial forgotten happenings flashed through my brain. All the differentAileens that I knew trooped past in procession. Gay and sad, wistful andmerry, eager and reflective, in passion and in tender guise, I saw my lovein all her moods; and melted always at the vision of her. 

I descended to self-pity, conceiving myself a hero and a martyr, revellingin an agony of mawkish sentiment concerning the post-mortem grief of myfriends. From this at length I snatched myself by calling to mind the manysimple Highlanders who had preceded me in the past months without anymorbid craving for applause. Back harked my mind to Aileen, imaginationspanning the future as well as the past. Tender pity and love suffused me. Mingled with all my broken reflections was many a cry of the heart formercy to a sinner about to render his last account and for healing balm tothat dear friend who would be left to mourn the memory of me painted inradiant colours. 

Paradoxical though it may seem, the leaden hours flew on feathered foot. Dusk fell, then shortly darkness. Night deepened, and the stars came out. From the window I watched the moon rise till it flooded the room with itspale light, my mind at last fallen into the sombre quiet of deepabstraction. 

A mocking voice brought me to earth with a start. 

"Romantic spectacle! A world bathed in moonlight. Do you compose verses toyour love's bright eyes, Mr. Montagu? Or perhaps an epitaph for some closefriend?"

An elegant figure in dark cloak, riding boots, and three-cornered hatconfronted me, when I slowly turned. 

"Hope I don't intrude, " he said jauntily. 

I gave him a plain hint. "Sir Robert, like Lord Chesterfield, when he wasso ill last year, if I do not press you to remain it is because I mustrehearse my funeral obsequies. "

His laugh rang merrily. Coming forward a step or two, he flung a legacross the back of a chair. 

"Egad, you're not very hospitable, my friend. Or isn't this your eveningat home?" he fleered. 

I watched him narrowly, answering nothing. 

"Cozy quarters, " he said, looking round with polite interest. "May I askwhether you have taken them for long?"

"The object of your visit, sir, " I demanded coldly. 

"There you gravel me, " he laughed. "I wish I knew the motives for myvisit. They are perhaps a blend--some pique, some spite, some curiosity, and faith! a little admiration, Mr. Montagu. "

"All of which being presumably now satisfied----"

"But they're not, man! Far from it. And so I accept the courteousinvitation you were about to extend me to prolong my call and join you ina glass of wine. "

Seeing that he was determined to remain willy-nilly, I made the best ofit. 

"You have interpreted my sentiments exactly, Sir Robert, " I told him. "ButI fear the wine will have to be postponed till another meeting. My cellaris not well stocked. "

He drew a flask from his pocket, found glasses on the table, and filledthem. 

"Then let me thus far play host, Mr. Montagu. Come, I give you a toast!"He held the glass to the light and viewed the wine critically. "'T is adevilish good vintage, though I say it myself. Montagu, may you alwaysfind a safe port in time of storm!" he said with jesting face, but with acertain undercurrent of meaning that began to set my blood pounding. 

But though I took a glimmer of the man's purpose I would not meet himhalf-way. If he had any proposal to make the advances must come from him. Nor would I allow myself to hope too much. 

"I' faith, 'tis a good port, " I said, and eyed the wine no less judiciallythan he. 

Volney's gaze loitered deliberately over the cottage furnishings. "Cozyenough, but after all not quite to my liking, if I may make so bold as tocriticise your apartments. I wonder now you don't make a change. "

"I'm thinking of moving to-morrow, " I told him composedly. "To a lessroomy apartment, but one just as snug. "

"Shall you live there permanently?" he asked with innocent face. 

"I shall stay there permanently, " I corrected. 

Despite my apparent unconcern I was playing desperately for my life. ThatVolney was dallying with some plan of escape for me I became moreconfident, and I knew from experience that nothing would touch the man onhis weak side so surely as an imperturbable manner. 

"I mentioned pique and spite, Mr. Montagu, and you did not take mymeaning. Believe me, not against you, but against that oaf Cumberland, " hesaid. 

"And what may your presence here have to do with your pique against theDuke? I confess that the connection is not plain to me, " I said incareless fashion. 

"After you left to-day, Mr. Montagu, I humbled myself to ask a favour ofthe Dutchman--the first I ever asked, and I have done him many. He refusedit and turned his back on me. "

"The favour was----?"

"That you might be taken to London for trial and executed there. "

I looked up as if surprised. "And why this interest on my behalf, SirRobert?"

He shrugged. "I do not know--a fancy--a whim. George Selwyn would neverforgive me if I let you be hanged and he not there to see. "

"Had you succeeded Selwyn would have had you to thank for a pleasantdiversion, but I think you remarked that the Dutchman was obstinate. 'Tisa pity--for Selwyn's sake. "

"Besides, I had another reason. You and I had set ourselves to play out acertain game in which I took an interest. Now I do not allow anyblundering foreigners to interfere with my amusements. "

"I suppose you mean you do not like the foreigner to anticipate you. "

"By God, I do not allow him to when I can prevent it. "

"But as in this instance you cannot prevent it----" My sentence tailedinto a yawn. 

"That remains to be seen, " he retorted, and whipped off first one boot andthen the other. The unfastened cloak fell to the floor, and he began tounloose his doublet. 

I stared calmly, though my heart stood still. 

"Really, Sir Robert! Are you going to stay all night? I fear myaccommodations are more limited than those to which you have beenaccustomed. "

"Don't stand gaping there, Montagu. Get off those uncivilized rags ofyours and slip on these. You're going out as Sir Robert Volney. "

"I am desolated to interfere with your revenge, but--the guards?"

"Fuddled with drink, " he said. "I took care of that. Don't waste timeasking questions. "

"The Duke will be in a fearful rage with you. "

His eyes grew hard. "Am I a child that I should tremble when Cumberlandfrowns?"

"He'll make you pay for this. "

"A fig for the payment!"

"You'll lose favour. "

"I'll teach the sullen beast to refuse me one. The boots next. "

He put on the wig and hat for me, arranged the muffler over the lower partof my face, and fastened the cloak. 

"The watchword for the night is 'Culloden. ' You should have no trouble inpassing. I needn't tell you to be bold, " he finished dryly. 

"I'll not forget this, " I told him. 

"That's as you please, " he answered carelessly. "I ask no gratitude. I'msettling a debt, or rather two--one due Cumberland and the other you. "

"Still, I'll remember. "

"Oh, all right. Hope we'll have the pleasure of renewing our little gamesome day. Better take to the hills or the water. You'll find the roadsstrictly guarded. Don't let yourself get killed, my friend. The pleasureof running you through I reserve for myself. "

I passed out of the hut into the night. The troopers who guarded the bothywere in either the stupid or the uproarious stage of their drink. Two ofthem sang a catch of a song, and I wondered that they had not alreadybrought down on them the officer of the day. I passed them carelessly witha nod. One of them bawled out, "The watchword!" and I gave them"Culloden. " Toward the skirts of the village I sauntered, fear dogging myfootsteps; and when I was once clear of the houses, cut across a meadowtoward the shore, wary as a panther, eyes and ears alert for signals ofdanger. Without mishap I reached the sound, beat my way up the sand linksfor a mile or more, and saw a boat cruising in the moonlight off shore. Igave the whaup's cry, and across the water came an answer. 

Five minutes later I was helping the gillie in the boat pull across toRaasay. When half way over we rested on our oars for a breathing space andI asked the news, the rug-headed kerne shot me with the dismal tidingsthat Malcolm Macleod and Creagh, rowing to Skyes for a conference withCaptain Roy, had fallen into the hands of the troopers waiting for themamong the sand dunes. He had but one bit of comfort in his budget, andthat was "ta yellow-haired Sassenach body wass leaving this morning withRaasay hersel' and Murdoch. " At least I had some assurance that myundertaking had secured the safety of the Prince, even though threestaunch men were on their way to their death by reason of it. 

Once landed on Raasay, I made up the brae to the great house. Lights werestill burning, and when I got close 'twas easy to be seen that terror andconfusion filled it. Whimpering, white-faced women and wailing bairns ranhither and thither blindly. Somewhere in the back part of the house thebagpipes were soughing a dismal kind of dirge. Fierce-eyed men with mopsof shock hair were gathered into groups of cursing clansmen. Through themall I pushed my way in to Aileen. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE LITTLE GOD HAS AN INNINGS

By the great fireplace she stood, hands clasped, head upturned as inprayer. The lips moved silently in the petition of her heart. I saw inprofile a girl's troubled face charged with mystery, a slim, tall, wearyfigure all in white against the flame, a cheek's pure oval, the tensecurve of a proud neck, a mass of severely snodded russet hair. So Irecalled her afterward, picture of desolation seeking comfort, but at themoment when I blundered on her my presence seemed profanity and no timewas found for appraisement. Abashed I came to a halt, and was fortiptoeing back to the door; but hearing me she turned. 

"Kenneth!" she cried, and stood with parted lips. Then, "They toldme----"

"That I was taken. True, but I escaped. How, I will tell you later. ThePrince-- Is he safe?"

"For the present, yes. A lugger put in this morning belonging to somesmugglers. In it he sailed for the mainland with Ronald and Murdoch. Youwill have heard the bad news, " she cried. 

"That Malcolm, Creagh, and Donald are taken?"

"And Flora, too. She iss to be sent to London for assisting in the escapeof the Prince. And so are the others. "

I fell silent, deep in thought, and shortly came to a resolution. 

"Aileen, the Highlands are no place for me. I am a stranger here. Everyclachan in which I am seen is full of danger for me. To-morrow I am forLondon. "

"To save Malcolm, " she cried. 

"If I can. Raasay cannot go. He must stay to protect his clansmen. Murdochis a fugitive and his speech would betray him in an hour. Remains onlyI. "

"And I. "

"You?"

"Why not? After 'the '15' women's tears saved many a life. And I too havefriends. Sir Robert Volney, evil man as he iss, would move heaven andearth to save my brother. "

There was much truth in what she said. In these days of many executions apardon was to be secured less by merit than by the massing of influence, and I knew of no more potent influence than a beautiful woman in tears. Together we might be able to do something for our friends. But there wasthe long journey through a hostile country to be thought of, and theprobability that we might never reach our destination in freedom. I couldnot tell the blessed child that her presence would increase threefold mychances of being taken, nor indeed was that a thing that held weight withme. Sure, there was her reputation to be considered, but the company of amaid would obviate that difficulty. 

Ronald returned next day, and I laid the matter before him. He wasextraordinarily loath to let Aileen peril herself, but on the other handhe could not let Malcolm suffer the penalty of the law without making aneffort on his behalf. Raasay was tied hand and foot by the suspicions ofthe government and was forced to consent to leave the matter in our hands. He made only the one stipulation, that we should go by way of Edinburghand take his Aunt Miss MacBean with us as chaperone. 

We embarked on the smuggler next day for the Long Island and were landedat Stornoway. After a dreary wait of over a week at this place we tookshipping on a brig bound for Edinburgh. Along the north coast of Scotland, through the Pentland Firth, and down the east shore _The Lewis_ scudded. It seemed that we were destined to have an uneventful voyage till one daywe sighted a revenue cutter which gave chase. As we had on board _TheLewis_ a cargo of illicit rum, the brig being in the contraband trade, there was nothing for it but an incontinent flight. For some hours ourfate hung in the balance, but night coming on we slipped away in thedarkness. The Captain, however, being an exceedingly timid man for one inhis position, refused absolutely to put into the Leith Road lest hisretreat should be cut off. Instead he landed us near Wemyss Castle, somedistance up the coast, and what was worse hours before the dawn hadcleared and in a pelting rain. 

I wrapped Volney's cloak around Aileen and we took the southward road, hoping to come on some village where we might find shelter. The situationmight be thought one of extreme discomfort. There were we three--Aileen, her maid, and I--sloshing along the running road in black darkness withthe dreary splashing of the rain to emphasize our forlorn condition. Overunknown paths we travelled on precarious errand. Yet I for one never tooka journey that pleased me more. The mirk night shut out all others, and afair face framed in a tartan shawl made my whole world for me. A note oftenderness not to be defined crept into our relationship. There was asweet disorder in her hair and more than once the wind whaffed it into myface. In walking our fingers touched once and again; greatly daring, mineslipped over hers, and so like children we went hand in hand. An oldromancer tells quaintly in one of his tales how Love made himself of theparty, and so it was with us that night. I found my answer at last withoutwords. While the heavens wept our hearts sang. The wine of love ranthrough me in exquisite thrills. Every simple word she spoke went to myheart like sweetest music, and every unconscious touch of her hand was acaress. 

"Tired, Aileen?" I asked. "There is my arm to lean on. "

"No, " she said, but presently her ringers rested on my sleeve. 

"'T will be daylight soon, and see! the scudding clouds are driving awaythe rain. "

"Yes, Kenneth, " she answered, and sighed softly. 

"You will think I am a sad blunderer to bring you tramping through thenight. "

"I will be thinking you are the good friend. "

Too soon the grey dawn broke, for at the first glimmer my love disengagedherself from my arm. I looked shyly at her, and the glory of her youngbeauty filled me. Into her cheeks the raw morning wind had whipped thered, had flushed her like a radiant Diana. The fresh breeze had outlinedher figure clear as she struggled against it, and the billowing sail wasnot more graceful than her harmonious lines. 

Out of the sea the sun rose a great ball of flaming fire. 

"A good omen for the success of our journey, " I cried. "Look!

 "'Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. '

"The good God grant it prove so, Kenneth, for Malcolm and for all ourfriends. "

After all youth has its day and will not be denied. We were on an anxiousundertaking of more than doubtful outcome, but save when we remembered tobe sober we trod the primrose path. 

We presently came to a small village where we had breakfast at the inn. For long we had eaten nothing but the musty fare of the brig, and I shallnever forget with what merry daffing we enjoyed the crisp oaten cake, thebuttered scones, the marmalade, and the ham and eggs. After we had eatenAileen went to her room to snatch some hours sleep while I madearrangements for a cart to convey us on our way. 

A wimpling burn ran past the end of the inn garden, and here on a rusticbench I found my comrade when I sought her some hours later. The sun wasshining on her russet-hair. Her chin was in her hands, her eyes on thegurgling brook. The memories of the night must still have been thrillingher, for she was singing softly that most exquisite of love songs "AnnieLaurie. "

 "'Maxwelton's braes are bonnie, Where early fa's the dew, Where me and Annie Laurie Made up the promise true. '"

Her voice trembled a little, and I took up the song. 

 "'Made up the promise true, And ne'er forget will I; And for bonnie Annie Laurie I'd lay me doun and dee. '"

At my first words she gave a little start, her lips parted, her head cameup prettily to attention, and though I could not see them I was ready tovow that she listened with shining eyes. Softly her breath came and went. I trod nearer as I sang. 

 "'Her brow is like the snaw-drift, Her throat is like the swan, She's jimp about the middle, Her waist ye weel micht span. '

"Oh, Aileen, if I might--if I only had the right! Won't you give it me, dear heart?"

In the long silence my pulse stopped, then throbbed like an aching tooth. 

"I'm waiting, Aileen. It is to be yes or no?"

The shy blue eyes met mine for an instant before they flutteredgroundward. I could scarce make out the low sweet music of her voice. 

"Oh, Kenneth, not now! You forget--my brother Malcolm----"

"I forget everything but this, that I love you. "

In her cheeks was being fought the war of the roses, with Lancastervictorious. The long-lashed eyes came up to meet mine bravely, love lucentin them. Our glances married; in those clear Highland lochs of hers I wassunk fathoms deep. 

"Truly, Kenneth?"

"From the head to the heel of you, Aileen, lass. For you I would die, andthat is all there is about it, " I cried, wildly. 

"Well then, take me, Kenneth! I am all yours. Of telling love there willbe many ways in the Gaelic, and I am thinking them all at once. "

And this is the plain story of how the great happiness came into KennethMontagu's life, and how, though all unworthy, he won for his own thedaughter of Raasay. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE AFTERMATH

At Edinburgh we received check one. Aileen's aunt had left for theHighlands the week before in a fine rage because the Duke of Cumberland, who had foisted himself upon her unwilling hospitality, had eaten her outof house and home, then departing had borne away with him her cherishedhousehold _penates_ to the value of some hundred pounds. Years later MajorWolfe told me with twinkling eyes the story of how the fiery little ladycame to him with her tale of woe. If she did not go straight to the dourDuke it was because he was already out of the city and beyond her reach. Into Wolfe's quarters she bounced, rage and suspicion speaking eloquent inher manner. 

"Hech, sir! Where have ye that Dutch Prince of yours?" she demanded ofWolfe, her keen eyes ranging over him. 

"'Pon honour, madam, I have not him secreted on my person, " returned theMajor, gravely turning inside out his pockets for her. 

The spirited old lady glowered at him. 

"It's ill setting ye to be sae humoursome, " she told him frankly. "It wadbe better telling ye to answer ceevilly a ceevil question, my birkie. "

"If I can be of any service, madam----"

"Humph, service! And that's just it, my mannie. The ill-faured tykes haerampaigned through the house and taen awa' my bonnie silver tea servicethat I hae scoured every Monday morning for thirty-seven years comeMichelmas, forby the fine Holland linen that my father, guid carefu' man, brought frae the continent his nainsel. "

"I am sorry----"

"Sorry! Hear till him, " she snorted. "Muckle guid your sorrow will do meunless----" her voice fell to a wheedling cajolery--"you just be a guidladdie and get me back my linen and the silver. "

"The Duke has a partiality for fine bed linen, and quaint silver devicesare almost a mania with him. Perhaps some of your other possessions"--

"His Dutch officers ate me out of house and home. They took awa' eightsacks of the best lump sugar. "

"The army is in need of sugar. I fear it is not recoverable. "

Miss MacBean had a way of affecting deafness when the occasion suitedher. 

"Eih, sir! Were you saying you wad see it was recovered? And my silver setwi' twenty solid teaspoons, forby the linen?" she asked anxiously, herhand to her ear. 

Wolfe smiled. 

"I fear the Duke----"

"Ou ay, I ken fine you fear him. He's gurly enough, Guid kens. "

"I was about to say, madam, that I fear the Duke will regard them asspoils from the enemy not to be given up. "

The Major was right. Miss MacBean might as well have saved her breath tocool her porridge, for the Duke carried her possessions to London despiteher remonstrances. Five years later as I was passing by a pawnbroker'sshop on a mean street in London Miss MacBean's teapot with its curiousdevice of a winged dragon for a spout caught my eye in the window. Theshopkeeper told me that it had been sold him by a woman of the demi-mondewho had formerly been a mistress of the Duke of Cumberland. She said thatit was a present from his Royal Highness, who had taken the silver servicefrom the house of a fiery rebel lady in the north. 

Our stay in the Scottish capital was of the shortest. In the early morningwe went knocking at the door of Miss MacBean's house. All day I kept undercover and in the darkness of night we slipped out of the city southwestbound. Of that journey, its sweet comradeship, its shy confidences, itsperpetual surprises for each of us in discovering the other, I have notime nor mind to tell. The very danger which was never absent from ourtravel drew us into a closer friendliness. Was there an option between tworoads, or the question of the desirability of putting up at a certain inn, our heads came together to discuss it. Her pretty confidence in me wastouching in the extreme. To have her hold me a Captain Greatheart made mysoul glad, even though I knew my measure did not fit the specifications bya mile. Her trust in me was less an incense to my vanity than a spur to mymanhood. 

The mere joy of living flooded my blood with happiness in those days. Ivow it made me a better man to breathe the same air as she, to hear thelilt of her merry laugh and the low music of her sweet voice. Not a curvein that dimpled cheek I did not love; not a ripple in the russet hair myhungry eyes had not approved. When her shy glance fell on me I rode in thesunshine of bluest sky. If by chance her hand touched mine, my veinsleaped with the wine of it. Of such does the happiness of youth consist. 

'Tis strange how greedy love is in its early days of the past from whichit has been excluded, how jealous sometimes of the point of contact withother lives in the unknown years which have gone to make up the rungs ofthe ladder of life. I was never tired of hearing of her childhood on thebraes of Raasay: how she guddled for mountain trout in the burn with herbrother Murdoch or hung around his neck chains of daisies in childishglee. And she-- Faith, she drew me out with shy questions till that partof my life which would bear telling must have been to her a book learnedby rote. 

Yet there were times when we came near to misunderstanding of each other. The dear child had been brought up in a houseful of men, her mother havingdied while she was yet an infant, and she was in some ways still innocentas a babe. The circumstances of our journey put her so much in my powerthat I, not to take advantage of the situation, sometimes held myself withundue stiffness toward her when my every impulse was to tenderness. Perhaps it might be that we rode through woodland in the falling duskwhile the nesting birds sang madrigals of love. Longing with all my heartto touch but the hem of her gown, I would yet ride with a wooden face setto the front immovably, deaf to her indirect little appeals forfriendliness. Presently, ashamed of my gruffness, I would yield to thesweetness of her charm, good resolutions windwood scattered, and woo herwith a lover's ardour till the wild-rose deepened in her cheek. 

"Were you ever in love before, Kennie?" she asked me once, twisting at abutton of my coat. We were drawing near Manchester and had let thepostillion drive on with the coach, while we loitered hand in hand throughthe forest of Arden. The azure sky was not more blue than the eyes whichlifted shyly to mine, nor the twinkling stars which would soon gaze downon us one half so bright. 

I laughed happily. "Once--in a boy's way--a thousand years ago. "

"And were you caring for her--much?"

"Oh, vastly. "

"And she--wass she loving you too?"

"More than tongue could tell, she made me believe. "

"Oh, I am not wondering at that, " said my heart's desire. "Of course shewould be loving you. "

'Twas Aileen's way to say the thing she thought, directly, in headlongHighland fashion. Of finesse she used none. She loved me (oh, a thousandtimes more than I deserved!) and that was all there was about it. To beashamed of her love or to hide it never, I think, occurred to her. Whatmore natural then than that others should think of me as she did?

"Of course, " I said dryly. "But in the end my sweetheart, plighted to mefor all eternity, had to choose betwixt her lover and something she hadwhich he much desired. She sighed, deliberated long--full five seconds Ivow--and in end played traitor to love. She was desolated to lose me, butthe alternative was not to be endured. She sacrificed me for a raspberrytart. So was shattered young love's first dream. 'Tis my only consolationthat I snatched the tart and eat it as I ran. Thus Phyllis lost both herlover and her portion. Ah, those brave golden days! The world, anunexplored wonder, lay at my feet. She was seven, I was nine. "

"Oh. " There was an odd little note of relief in the velvet voice thatseemed to reproach me for a brute. I was forever forgetting that the waysof 'Toinette Westerleigh were not the ways of Aileen Macleod. 

The dying sun flooded the topmost branches of the forest foliage. My eyescame round to the aureole which was their usual magnet. 

"When the sun catches it 'tis shot with glints of gold. "

"It is indeed very beautiful. "

"In cloudy weather 'tis a burnished bronze. "

She looked at me in surprise. 

"Bronze! Surely you are meaning green?"

"Not I, bronze. Again you might swear it russet. "

"That will be in the autumn when they are turning colour just before thefall. "

"No, that is when you have it neatly snodded and the firelight plays aboutyour head. "

She laughed, flushing. "You will be forever at your foolishness, Kenn. Ithought you meant the tree tips. "

"Is the truth foolishness?"

"You are a lover, Kennie. Other folks don't see that when they look atme. "

"Other folks are blind, " I maintained, stoutly. 

"If you see all that I will be sure that what they say is true and love isblind. "

"The wise man is the lover. He sees clear for the first time in his life. The sun shines for him--and her. For them the birds sing and the flowersbloom. For them the world was made. They----"

"Whiles talk blethers, " she laughed. 

"Yes, they do, " I admitted. "And there again is another sign of wisdom. Your ponderous fool talks pompous sense always. He sees life in only onefacet. Your lover sees its many sides, its infinite variety. He can laughand weep; his imagination lights up dry facts with whimsical fancies; hedives through the crust of conventionality to the realities of life. 'Tisthe lover keeps this old world young. The fire of youth, of eternallaughing youth, runs flaming through his blood. His days are radiant, hisnights enchanted. "

"I am thinking you quite a poet. "

"Was there ever a better subject for a poem? Life would be poetry writinto action if all men were lovers--and all women Aileens. "

"Ah, Kenneth! This fine talk I do not understand. It's sheer nonsense totell such idle clavers about me. Am I not just a plain Highland lassie, asunskilled in flattering speeches as in furbelows and patches? Gin you willplay me a spring on the pipes I'll maybe can dance you the fling, but ofFrench minuets I have small skill. "

"Call me dreamer if you will. By Helen's glove, your dreamer might be theenvy of kings. Since I have known you life has taken a different hue. Onelives for years without joy, pain, colour, all things toned to the dullmonochrome of gray, and then one day the contact with another soulquickens one to renewed life, to more eager unselfish living. Never sobright a sun before, never so beautiful a moon. 'Tis true, Aileen. No fearbut one, that Fate, jealous, may snatch my love from me. "

Her laughter dashed my heroics; yet I felt, too, that back of her smilesthere was belief. 

"I dare say. At the least I will have heard it before. The voice issJacob's voice, but----"

I blushed, remembering too late that my text and its application were bothVolney's. 

"'Tis true, even if Jacob said it first. If a man is worth his salt lovemust purify him. Sure it must. I am a better man for knowing you. "

A shy wonder filled her eyes; thankfulness too was there. 

"Yet you are a man that has fought battles and known life, and I am onlyan ignorant girl. "

I lifted her hand and kissed it. 

"You are my queen, and I am your most loyal and devoted servant. "

"For always, Kenn? When you are meeting the fine ladies of London will youlove a Highland lassie that cannot make eyes and swear choicely?"

"Forever and a day, dear. "

Aileen referred to the subject again two hours later when we arose fromthe table at the Manchester ordinary. It was her usual custom to retire toher room immediately after eating. To-night when I escorted her to thedoor she stood for a moment drawing patterns on the lintel with her fan. Afine blush touched her cheek. 

"Were you meaning all that, Kennie?"

"All what, dear heart?"

"That--nonsense--in the forest. "

"Every bit of it. "

Her fan spelt Kenneth on the door. 

"Sometimes, " she went on softly, "a fancy is built on moonlight andlaughing eyes and opportunity. It iss like sunshine in winter onRaasay--just for an hour and then the mists fall. "

"For our love there will be no mists. "

"Ah, Kenn, you think so now, but afterward, when you take up again yourLondon life, and I cannot play the lady of fashion, when you weary of mysimpleness and are wishing me back among the purple heather hills?"

"That will be never, unless I wish myself there with you. I am no LondonMohawk like Volney. To tramp the heather after muircocks or to ride tohounds is more my fancy. The Macaronis and I came long since to theparting of the ways. I am for a snug home in the country with the woman Ilove. "

I stepped to the table, filled a glass with wine, and brought it to her. 

"Come, love! We will drink together. How is it old Ben Jonson hath it?

 "'Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I'll not look for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise Doth seek a drink divine; But might I of Jove's nectar sup I would not change from thine. '

"Drink, sweetheart. "

She tasted, then I drained the glass and let it fall from my fingers toshiver on the floor. 

Before we parted Aileen had one more word for me, "Kennie. "

"Yes, dear heart, " I cried, and was back at her side in a moment. 

"What you said in the woods--I am knowing it all true. It is greatfoolishness, but my heart is singing the same song, " and with that shewhipped the door to in my face. 

I sauntered into the common room, found a seat by the fireplace, and letmy eye wander over the company. There were present some half dozen yokels, the vicar's curate, a country blood or two, and a little withered runt ofa man in fustian with a weazened face like a wrinkled pippin. The moment Iclapped eyes on him there came to my mind the dim recollection of a formeracquaintance and the prescient fear of an impending danger. That I hadseen him I was ready to take oath, yet I could not put my finger upon thecircumstances. But the worst of it was that the old fellow recognized me, unless I were much mistaken, for his eyes never left me from the first. 

From my mother I have inherited a Highland jauntiness which comes stealingover me when sobriety would set me better. Let the situation be adifferent one, uncertain of solution, with heads tipping in the balance, and an absurd spirit of recklessness straightway possesses me. But now, with this dear child on my hands, carelessness and I were far apart as thepoles. Anxiety gripped me, and I sweated blood. Yet I must play thecareless traveller, be full of good stories, unperturbed on the surfaceand apparently far from alarm. I began to overdo the part, recognized thefact, and grew savage at myself. Trying to conciliate him, I was free withthe ale, and again overdid it. 

He drank my ale and listened to my stories, but he sat cocking on his seatlike an imp of mischief. I rattled on, insouciant and careless to allappearances, but in reality my heart like lead. Behind my smiling lips Icursed him up hill and down dale. Lard, his malicious grin was a thing torile the gods! More than once I wake up in the night from dreaming thathis scrawny hand was clapping the darbies on my wrists. 

When we were ready to start next morning the post boy let me know that oneof the horses had gone lame. Here was a pretty pickle. I pished andpshawed, but in the end had to scour the town to find another in itsplace. 'Twas well on toward noon when the boy and I returned to theordinary with a nag that would serve. 

Of other lovers I have scant knowledge, but the one I know was wont tocherish the memory of things his love had said and how she had said them;with what a pretty tilt to her chin, with what a daring shyness of theeyes, with what a fine colour and impetuous audacity she had done this orlooked that. He was wont in advance to plan out conversations, to decidethat he would tell her some odd brain fancy and watch her while he toldit. Many an hour he spent in the fairy land of imagination; many a one hedreamed away in love castles built of fancied rambles in enchanted woods, of sweet talks in which he always said and did the right thing; destinedalas! never to pass from mind to speech, for if ever tongue essayed thetelling it faltered some fatuous abortion as little like love's dream asCaliban resembled Ariel. Fresh from the brave world of day-dreams, stillsmiling happily from some whimsical conceit as well as with anticipationof Aileen's gladness at sight of me, I passed through the courtyard andinto the ordinary. 

A hubbub at the foot of the stairway attracted me. A gaping crowd wasgathered there about three central figures. My weasened pippin-face of themalicious grin was one of them; a broad-shouldered, fair-faced and verymuch embarrassed young officer in the King's uniform stood beside him; andfrom the stairway some three steps up Aileen, plainly frightened, frontedthem and answered questions in her broken English. 

"I am desolated to distress you, madam, " the boy officer was saying, "butthis man has laid an information with me that there is a rebel in yourparty, one who was in Manchester with the Pretender's force some monthssince. It will be necessary that I have speech with him. "

"There iss no rebel with me, sir. The gentleman with whom I travel iss ofmost approved loyalty, " she faltered. 

"Ah! He will no doubt be able to make that clear to me. May I ask where heis at present?"

Aileen went white as snow. Her distress was apparent to all. 

"Sir, I do entreat you to believe that what I say iss true, " she criedwhitely. 

The little rat in fustian broke out screaming that he would swear to meamong ten thousand: as to the girl she must be the rebel's accomplice, hismistress mayhap. Aileen, her big, anxious eyes fixed on the officer, shrank back against the stair rail at her accuser's word. The ladcommanded him sharply to be quiet, but with the utmost respect let Aileenunderstand that he must have talk with me. 

All this one swift glance had told me, and at this opportune moment Isauntered up, Volney's snuff-box in my hand. If the doubt possessed me asto how the devil I was to win free from this accusation, I trust no shadowof fear betrayed itself in my smirking face. 

"Egad, here's a gathering of the clans. Hope I'm not _de trop_, " Isimpered. 

The lieutenant bowed to me with evident relief. 

"On the contrary, sir, if you are the gentleman travelling with this ladyyou are the desired complement to our party. There has been some doubtexpressed as to you. This man here claims to have recognized you as one ofthe Pretender's army; says he was present when you bought provisions for atroop of horsemen during the rebel invasion of this town. "

"'Slife, perhaps I'm Charles Stuart himself, " I shrugged. 

"I swear to him. I swear to him, " screamed fustian. 

On my soul merely to look at the man gave me a nausea. His whitemalevolence fair scunnered me. 

I adjusted Volney's eye-glass with care and looked the fellow over with acandid interest, much as your scientist examines a new specimen. 

"What the plague! Is this rusty old last year's pippin an evidence againstme? Rot me, he's a pretty scrub on which to father a charge against agentleman, Lud, his face is a lie. No less!"

"May I ask your name, sir, and your business in this part of the country?"said the lieutenant. 

Some impulse--perhaps the fact that I was wearing his clothes--put it intomy head to borrow Volney's name. There was risk that the lad might havemet the baronet, but that was a contingency which must be ventured. Itbrought him to like a shot across a lugger's bows. 

"Sir Robert Volney, the friend of the Prince, " he said, patentlyastonished. 

"The Prince has that honour, " I smiled. 

"Pray pardon my insistence. Orders from headquarters, " says heapologetically. 

I waved aside his excuses peevishly. 

"Sink me, Sir Robert Volney should be well enough known not to be badgeredby every country booby with a king's commission. Lard, I vow I'll have achange when Fritz wears the crown. "

With that I turned on my heel in a simulation of petty anger, offered myarm to Aileen, and marched up the stairs with her. My manner and my speechwere full of flowered compliments to her, of insolence to the younggentleman below, for there is nothing more galling to a man's pride thanto be ignored. 

"'Twas the only way, " I said to Aileen when the door was closed on usabove. "'Tis a shame to flout an honest young gentleman so, but in suchfashion the macaroni would play the part. Had I stayed to talk with him hemight have asked for my proof. We're well out of the affair. "

But we were not out of it yet. I make no doubt that no sooner was my backturned than the little rat in fustian, his mind set on a possible reward, was plucking at the lad's sleeve with suggestions and doubts. In any casethere came presently a knock at the door. I opened. The boy officer wasthere with a red face obstinately set. 

"Sir, I must trouble you again, " he said icily. "You say you are SirRobert Volney. I must ask you for proofs. "

At once I knew that I had overdone my part. It had been better to havedealt with this youth courteously; but since I had chosen my part, I mustplay it. 

"Proofs, " I cried blackly. "Do you think I carry proofs of my identity forevery country bumpkin to read? Sink me, 'tis an outrage. "

He flushed, but hung doggedly to his point. 

"You gain nothing by insulting me, Sir Robert. I may be only a poor lineofficer and you one high in power, but by Heaven! I'm as good a man asyou, " cried the boy; then rapped out, "I'll see your papers, if you haveme broke for it. "

My papers! An inspiration shot into my brain. When Volney had substitutedfor me at Portree he had given me a pass through the lines, made out inhis name and signed by the Duke of Cumberland, in order that I mightpresent it if challenged. Hitherto I had not been challenged, and indeed Ihad forgotten the existence of it, but now-- I fished out the sheet ofparchment and handed it to the officer. His eye ran over the passport, andhe handed it back with a flushed face. 

"I have to offer a thousand apologies for troubling you, Sir Robert. Thispaper establishes your identity beyond doubt. "

"Hope you're quite satisfied, " I said with vast irony. 

"Oh, just one more question. The lady travelling with you?"

I watched him silently. 

"She is from the Highlands, is she not?" he asked. 

"Is she?"

"To be sure 'tis sufficient if Sir Robert Volney vouches for her. "

"Is it?"

"And of course the fact that she travels in his company----"

My answer was a yawn, half stifled behind my hand. The lad glared at me, in a rage at me for my insolence and at himself for his boyish inabilityto cope with it. Then he swung on his heel and stamped down-stairs. Fiveyears later I met him at a dinner given by a neighbour of mine in thecountry, and I took occasion then to explain to him my intolerableconduct. Many a laugh we have since had over it. 

We reached London on a dismal Wednesday when the rain was pouring down insheets. Aileen I took at once to our town house that she might be withCloe, though I expected to put up with my old nurse in another part of thecity. I leave you to conceive the surprise of Charles and my sister whenwe dropped in on them. 

The news they had for us was of the worst. Every week witnessed theexecution of some poor Jacobites and the arrival of a fresh batch to taketheir place in the prisons. The Scotch Lords Balmerino, Cromartie andKilmarnock were already on trial and their condemnation was a foregoneconclusion. The thirst for blood was appalling and not at all glutted bythe numerous executions that had already occurred. 'Twas indeed for me amost dismal home-coming. 

CHAPTER XV

A REPRIEVE!

"My Lord of March, is Arthur Lord Balmerino guilty of High Treason?"

Lord March, youngest peer of the realm, profligate and scoundrel, laid hishand on the place where his heart ought to have been and passed judgmentunctuously. 

"Guilty, upon my honour. "

The Lord High Steward repeated the same question to each of the peers inorder of their age and received from each the same answer. As it becameplain that the prisoner at the bar was to be convicted thegentleman-gaoler gradually turned the edge of his axe toward Balmerino, whose manner was nonchalant and scornful. When the vote had been polled myLord bowed to the judges with dignity and remarked, "I am sorry to havetaken up so much of your time without avail, my lords. If I pleaded 'notguilty' my principal reason was that the ladies might not miss theirshow. " Shortly afterward he was ushered out of Westminster Hall to hiscarriage. 

From the view-point of the whigs Balmerino was undoubtedly guilty asLucifer and not all the fair play in the world could have saved him fromTower Hill. He was twice a rebel, having been pardoned for his part in"the '15, " and 'twas not to be expected that so hardened an offender wouldagain receive mercy. But at the least he might have been given courtesy, and that neither he nor his two fellows, Kilmarnock and Cromartie, did atall receive. The crown lawyers to the contrary took an unmanly delight ingirding and snapping at the captives whom the fortune of war had put intheir power. Monstrous charges were trumped up that could not besubstantiated, even the Lord High Steward descending to vituperation. 

Horry Walpole admitted Balmerino to be the bravest man he had ever seen. Throughout the trial his demeanour had been characteristic of the man, bold and intrepid even to the point of bravado. The stout old lordconversed with the official axe-bearer and felt the edge of the ominousinstrument with the unconcern of any chance spectator. There was present alittle boy who could see nothing for the crowd and Balmerino alone wasunselfish enough to think of him. He made a seat for the child besidehimself and took care that he missed nothing of the ceremony. When theSolicitor-General, whose brother, Secretary Murray, had saved his own lifeby turning evidence against Balmerino, went up to the Scotch Lord andasked him insolently how he dared give the peers so much trouble, Balmerino drew himself up with dignity and asked, "Who is this person?"Being told that it was Mr. Murray, "Oh!" he answered smiling, "Mr. Murray!I am glad to see you. I have been with several of your relations; the goodlady your mother was of great use to us at Perth. "

Through the crowd I elbowed my way and waited for the three condemnedScotch lords to pass into their carriages. Balmerino, bluff and soldierly, led the way; next came the tall and elegant Kilmarnock; Lord Cromartie, plainly nervous and depressed, brought up the rear. Balmerino recognizedme, nodded almost imperceptibly, but of course gave no other sign ofknowing the gawky apprentice who gaped at him along with a thousandothers. Some one in the crowd cried out, "Which is Balmerino?" The oldlord turned courteously, and said with a bow, "I am Balmerino. " At thedoor of the coach he stopped to shake hands with his fellow-sufferers. 

"I am sorry that I alone cannot pay the debt, gentlemen. But after all'tis but what we owe to nature sooner or later, the common debt of all. Ibear in mind what Sir Walter Raleigh wrote the night before his head paidforfeit. 

 "'Cowards fear to die; but courage stout, Rather than live in snuff, will be put out. '

"Poor Murray drags out a miserable life despised by all, but we go to ourGod with clean hands. By St. Andrew, the better lot is ours. "

"I think of my poor wife and eight fatherless bairns, " said Cromartiesadly. 

Rough Arthur Elphinstone's comforting hand fell on his shoulder. 

"A driech outlook, my friend. You must commend them to the God of orphansif the worst befalls. As for us-- Well, in the next world we will not betried by a whig jury. "

Balmerino stepped into the coach which was waiting to convey him to theTower. The gentleman-gaoler followed with the official axe, the edge ofwhich still pointed toward its victim. He must have handled it carelesslyin getting into the carriage, for I heard Balmerino bark out, "Take care, man, or you'll break my shins with that d----d axe. "

They were the last words I ever heard from his lips. The door slammed andthe coach drove away to the prison, from which my Lord came forth only tomeet the headsman and his block. 

Sadly I made my way towards the city through the jostling crowds ofsightseers. Another batch of captives from the North was to pass throughthe town that day on their way to prison, and a fleering rabble surged toand fro about the streets of London in gala dress, boisterous, jovial, pitiless. From high to low by common consent the town made holiday. Abovethe common ruck, in windows hired for the occasion, the fashionable world, exuding patronage and perfume, sat waiting for the dreary procession topass. In the windows opposite where I found standing room a party from theWest End made much talk and laughter. In the group I recognized AntoinetteWesterleigh, Sir James Craven, and Topham Beauclerc. 

"Slitterkins! I couldn't get a seat at Westminster Hall this morning forlove or money, " pouted Mistress Westerleigh. "'Tis pity you men can't findroom for a poor girl to see the show. "

"Egad, there might as well have been no rebellion at all, " said Beauclercdryly. "Still, you can go to see their heads chopped off. 'Twill be somecompensation. "

"I suppose you'll go, Selwyn, " said Craven to that gentleman, who withVolney had just joined the group. 

"I suppose so, and to make amends I'll go to see them sewn on again, "returned Selwyn. 

"I hear you want the High Steward's wand for a memento, " said Beauclerc. 

"Not I, " returned Selwyn. "I did, but egad! he behaved so like an attorneythe first day and so like a pettifogger the second that I wouldn't takethe wand to light my fire with. "

"Here they come, sink me!" cried Craven, and craned forward to get a firstglimpse of the wretched prisoners. 

First came four wagon-loads of the wounded, huddled together thick asshrimps, their pallid faces and forlorn appearance a mute cry forsympathy. The mob roared like wild beasts, poured out maledictions ontheir unkempt heads, hurled stones and sticks at them amid furious din andclamour. At times it seemed as if the prisoners would be torn from thehands of their guard by the excited mob. Scarce any name was found toovile with which to execrate these unfortunate gentlemen who had beenguilty of no crime but excessive loyalty. 

Some of the captives were destined for the New Prison in Southwark, othersfor Newgate, and a few for the Marshalsea. Those of the prisoners who wereable to walk were handcuffed together in couples, with the exception of afew of the officers who rode on horseback bound hand and foot. Among thehorsemen I easily recognized Malcolm Macleod, who sat erect, dour, scornful, his strong face set like a vise, looking neither to the rightnor the left. Another batch of foot prisoners followed. Several of thepoor fellows were known to me, including Leath, Chadwick, and the lawyerMorgan. My roving eye fell on Creagh and Captain Roy shackled together. 

From the window above a piercing cry of agony rang out. 

"Tony! Tony!"

Creagh slewed round his head and threw up his free hand. 

"'Toinette!" he cried. 

But Miss Westerleigh had fainted, and Volney was already carrying her fromthe window with the flicker of a grim smile on his face. I noticed withrelief that Craven had disappeared from sight. 

My relief was temporary. When I turned to leave I found my limbs cloggedwith impedimenta. To each arm hung a bailiff, and a third clung like aleech to my legs. Some paces distant Sir James Craven stood hulloing themto the sport with malign pleasure. 

"To it, fustian breeches! Yoho, yoho! There's ten guineas in it for eachof you and two hundred for me. 'Slife, down with him, you red-hairedfellow! Throw him hard. Ecod, I'll teach you to be rough with Craven, mycockerel Montagu!" And the bully kicked me twice where I lay. 

They dragged me to my feet, and Craven began to sharpen his dull wit onme. 

"Two hundred guineas I get out of this, you cursed rebel highwayman, besides the pleasure of seeing you wear hemp--and that's worth a hundredmore, sink my soul to hell if it isn't. "

"Your soul is sunk there long ago, and this blackguard job sends you onecircle lower in the Inferno, Catchpoll Craven, " said a sneering voicebehind him. 

Craven swung on his heel in a fury, but Volney's easy manner--and perhapsthe reputation of his small sword too--damped the mettle of his courage. He drew back with a curse, whispered a word into the ear of the nearestbailiff, and shouldered his way into the crowd, from the midst of which hewatched us with a sneer. 

"And what mad folly, may I ask, brought you back to London a-courting thegallows?" inquired Volney of me. 

"Haven't you heard that Malcolm Macleod is taken?" I asked. 

"And did you come to exchange places with him? On my soul you're madderthan I thought. Couldn't you trust me to see that my future brother-in-lawcomes to no harm without ramming your own head down the lion's throat?Faith, I think Craven has the right of it: the hempen noose is yawning forsuch fools as you. "

The bailiffs took me to the New Prison and thrust me into an undergroundcell about the walls of which moisture hung in beads. Like the rest of theprisoners I was heavily ironed by day and fastened down to the floor by astaple at night. One hour in the day we were suffered to go into the yardfor exercise and to be inspected and commented upon by the great number ofvisitors who were allowed access to the prison. On the second day of myarrival I stood blinking in the strong sunlight, having just come up frommy dark cell, when two prisoners shuffled across the open to me, theirfetters dragging on the ground. Conceive my great joy at finding Creaghand Donald Roy fellow inmates of New Prison with me. Indeed Captain Royoccupied the very next cell to mine. 

I shall not weary you with any account of our captivity except to statethat the long confinement in my foul cell sapped my health. I fell victimto agues and fevers. Day by day I grew worse until I began to think that'twas a race between disease and the gallows. Came at last my trial, andprison attendants haled me away to the courts. Poor Leath, white to thelips, was being hustled out of the room just as I entered. 

"By Heaven, Montagu, these whigs treat us like dogs, " he criedpassionately to me. "They are not content with our lives, but must heapfoul names and infamy upon us. "

The guards hurried us apart before I could answer. I asked one of themwhat the verdict had been in Leath's case, and the fellow with an evillaugh made a horrid gesture with his hands that confirmed my worst fears. 

In the court room I found a frowning judge, a smug-faced yawning jury, androw upon row of eager curious spectators come to see the show. Besidesthese there were some half-score of my friends attending in the vain hopeof lending me countenance. My shifting glance fell on Charles, Cloe, andAileen, all three with faces like the corpse for colour and despairingeyes which spoke of a hopeless misery. They had fought desperately for mylife, but they knew I was doomed. I smiled sadly on them, then turned toshake hands with George Selwyn. 

He hoped, in his gentle drawl, that I would win clear. My face lit up athis kindly interest. I was like a drowning man clutching at straws. Eventhe good-will of a turnkey was of value to me. 

"Thanks, Selwyn, " I said, a little brokenly. "I'm afraid there's no chancefor me, but it's good hearing that you are on my side. "

He appeared embarrassed at my eagerness. Not quite good form he thoughtit, I dare say. His next words damped the glow at my heart. 

"'Gad, yes! Of course. I ought to be; bet five ponies with Craven that youwould cheat the gallows yet. He gave me odds of three to one, and Ithought it a pretty good risk. "

It occurred to me fantastically that he was looking me over with the eyeof an underwriter who has insured at a heavy premium a rotten hulk boundfor stormy seas. I laughed bitterly. 

"You may win yet, " I said. "This cursed prison fever is eating me up;" andwith that I turned my back on him. 

I do not intend to go into my trial with any particularity. From first tolast I had no chance and everybody in the room understood it. There were adozen witnesses to prove that I had been in the thick of the rebellion. Among the rest was Volney, in a vile temper at being called on to givetestimony. He was one of your reluctant witnesses, showed a decidedacrimony toward the prosecution, and had to have the facts drawn out ofhim as with a forceps. Such a witness, of high social standing andevidently anxious to shield me, was worth to the State more than all theother paltry witnesses combined. The jury voted guilty without leaving thecourt-room, after which the judge donned his black cap and pronounced thehorrible judgment which was the doom of traitors. I was gash with fear, but I looked him in the face and took it smilingly. It was Volney who ledthe murmur of approval which greeted my audacity, a murmur which brokefrankly into applause when Aileen, white to the lips, came fearlessly upto bid me be of good cheer, that she would save me yet if the importunityof a woman would avail aught. 

Wearily the days dragged themselves into weeks, and still no word of hopecame to cheer me. There was, however, one incident that gave me muchpleasure. On the afternoon before the day set for our execution Donald Roymade his escape. Some one had given him a file and he had been tinkeringat his irons for days. We were in the yard for our period of exercise, andhalf a dozen of us, pretending to be in earnest conversation together, surrounded him while he snapped the irons. Some days before this time hehad asked permission to wear the English dress, and he now coollysauntered out of the prison with some of the visitors quite unnoticed bythe guard. 

The morning dawned on which nine of us were to be executed. Our coffee wasserved to us in the room off the yard, and we drank it in silence. Inoticed gladly that Macdonald was not with us, and from that argued thathe had not been recaptured. 

"Here's wishing him a safe escape from the country, " said Creagh. 

"Lucky dog!" murmured Leath, "I hope they won't nail him again. "

Brandy was served. Creagh named the toast and we drank it standing. 

"King James!"

The governor of the prison bustled in just as the broken glasses shiveredbehind us. 

"Now gentlemen, if you are quite ready. "

Three sledges waited for us in the yard to draw us to the gallows tree. There was no cowardly feeling, but perhaps a little dilatoriness ingetting into the first sledge. Five minutes might bring a reprieve for anyof us, and to be in the first sledge might mean the difference betweenlife and death. 

"Come, gentlemen! If you please! Let us have no more halting, " said thegovernor, irritably. 

Creagh laughed hardily and vaulted into the sledge. "Egad, you're right!We'll try a little haltering for a change. "

Morgan followed him, and I took the third place. 

A rider dismounted at the prison gate. 

"Is there any news for me?" asked one poor fellow eagerly. 

"Yes, the sheriff has just come and is waiting for you, " jeered one of theguards with brutal frankness. 

The poor fellow stiffened at once. "Very well. I am ready. "

A heavy rain was falling, but the crowd between the prison and KenningtonCommon was immense. At the time of our trials the mob had treated us inruffianly fashion, but now we found a respectful silence. The lawyerMorgan was in an extremely irritable mood. All the way to the Common hepoured into our inattentive ears a tale of woe about how his coffee hadbeen cold that morning. Over and over again he recited to us the legalprocedure for bringing the matter into the courts with sufficient effectto have the prison governor removed from his position. 

A messenger with an official document was waiting for us at the gallows. The sheriff tore it open. We had all been bearing ourselves boldly enoughI dare say, but at sight of that paper our lips parched, our throatschoked, and our eyes burned. Some one was to be pardoned or reprieved. Butwho? What a moment! How the horror of it lives in one's mind! Leisurelythe sheriff read the document through, then deliberately went over itagain while nine hearts stood still. Creagh found the hardihood at thatmoment of intense anxiety to complain of the rope about his neck. 

"I wish the gossoon who made this halter was to be hanged in it. 'Slife, the thing doesn't fit by a mile, " he said jauntily. 

"Mr. Anthony Creagh pardoned, Mr. Kenneth Montagu reprieved, " said thesheriff without a trace of feeling in his voice. 

For an instant the world swam dizzily before me. I closed my eyes, partlyfrom faintness, partly to hide from the other poor fellows the joy thatleaped to them. One by one the brave lads came up and shook hands withCreagh and me in congratulation. Their good-will took me by the throat, and I could only wring their hands in silence. 

On our way back to the prison Creagh turned to me with streaming eyes. "Doyou know whom I have to thank for this, Kenneth?"

"No. Whom?"

"Antoinette Westerleigh, God bless her dear heart!"

And that set me wondering. It might be that Charles and Aileen alone hadwon my reprieve for me, but I suspected Volney's fine hand in the matter. Whether he had stirred himself in my affairs or not, I knew that I tooowed my life none the less to the leal heart of a girl. 

CHAPTER XVI

VOLNEY'S GUEST

Of all the London beaux not one had apartments more elegant than SirRobert Volney. [3] It was one of the man's vanities to play the part of afop, to disguise his restless force and eager brain beneath the vapidpunctilios of a man of fashion. There were few suspected that his recklessgayety was but a mask to hide a weary, unsatisfied heart, and that thissmiling debonair gentleman with the biting wit was in truth the leasthappy of men. Long he had played his chosen rôle. Often he doubted whetherthe game were worth the candle, but he knew that he would play it to theend, and since he had so elected would bear himself so that all men shouldmark him. If life were not what the boy Robert Volney had conceived it; iffailure were inevitable and even the fruit of achievement bitter; if hisnature and its enveloping circumstance had proven more strong than hisdim, fast-fading, boyish ideals, at least he could cross the stagegracefully and bow himself off with a jest. So much he owed himself and somuch he would pay. 

Something of all this perhaps was in Sir Robert Volney's mind as he lay onthe couch with dreamy eyes cast back into the yesterdays of life, that dimpast which echoed faintly back to him memories of a brave vanished youth. On his lips, no doubt, played the half ironic, half wistful smile whichhad become habitual to the man. 

And while with half-shut eyes his mind drifted lazily back to that goldenage forever gone, enter from the inner room, Captain Donald Roy Macdonald, a cocked pistol in his hand, on his head Volney's hat and wig, on his backVolney's coat, on his feet Volney's boots. The baronet eyed the Highlanderwith mild astonishment, then rose to his feet and offered him a chair. 

"Delighted, I'm sure, " he said politely. 

"You look it, " drolled Macdonald. 

"Off to the wars again, or are you still at your old profession oflifting, my Highland cateran?"

Donald shrugged. "I am a man of many trades. In my day I have beensoldier, sailor, reiver, hunter and hunted, doctor and patient, forby awheen mair. What the gods provide I take. "

"Hm! So I see. Prithee, make yourself at home, " was Volney's ironicaladvice. 

Macdonald fell into an attitude before the glass and admired himselfvastly. 

"Fegs, I will that. The small-clothes now-- Are they not an admirable fitwhatever? And the coat-- 'Tis my measure to a nicety. Let me congratulateyou on your tailor. Need I say that the periwig is a triumph of thefriseur's art?"

"Your approval flatters me immensely, " murmured Volney, smilingwhimsically. "Faith, I never liked my clothes so well as now. You make anadmirable setting for them, Captain, but the ruffles are somewhat indisarray. If you will permit me to ring for my valet Watkins he will be atyour service. Devil take him, he should have been here an hour ago. "

"He sends by me a thousand excuses for his absence. The fact is that he isunavoidably detained. "

"Pardon me. I begin to understand. You doubtless found it necessary to puta quietus on him. May one be permitted to hope that you didn't have topistol him? I should miss him vastly. He is the best valet in London. "

"Your unselfish attachment to him does you infinite credit, Sir Robert. Itfair brings the water to my een. But it joys me to reassure you at allevents. He is in your bedroom tied hand and foot, biting on a knottedkerchief. I persuaded him to take a rest. "

Volney laughed. 

"Your powers of persuasion are great, Captain Macdonald. Once youpersuaded me to leave your northern capital. The air, I think you phrasedit, was too biting for me. London too has a climate of its own, a throatdisease epidemic among northerners is working great havoc here now. Onetrusts you will not fall a victim, sir. Have you--er--developed anysymptoms?"

"'Twould nae doubt grieve you sair. You'll be gey glad to learn that thecrisis is past. "

"Charmed, 'pon honour. And would it be indiscreet to ask whether you aremaking a long stay in the city?"

"Faith, I wish I knew. Donald Roy wad be blithe to answer no. And thatminds me that I will be owing you an apology for intruding in your rooms. Let the facts speak for me. Stravaiging through the streets with the chasehot on my heels, your open window invited me. I stepped in, footed itup-stairs, and found refuge in your sleeping apartments, where I took theliberty of borrowing a change of clothes, mine being over well known atthe New Prison. So too I purloined this good sword and the pistol. ThatSir Robert Volney was my host I did not know till I chanced on someletters addressed to that name. Believe me, I'm unco sorry to force myselfupon you. "

"I felicitate myself on having you as a guest. The vapours had me by thethroat to-night. Your presence is a sufficing tonic for a most oppressiveattack of the blue devils. This armchair has been recommended as an easyone. Pray occupy it. "

Captain Roy tossed the pistol on a table and sat him down in the chairwith much composure. Volney poured him wine and he drank; offered himfruit and he ate. Together, gazing into the glowing coals, they suppedtheir mulled claret in a luxurious silence. 

The Highlander was the first to speak. 

"It's a geyan queer warld this. _Anjour d'hui roi, demain rien. _ YestreenI gaped away the hours in a vile hole waiting for my craig (neck) to beraxed (twisted); the night I drink old claret in the best of companybefore a cheery fire. The warm glow of it goes to my heart after that dankcell in the prison. By heaven, the memory of that dungeon sends a shiverdown my spine. "

"To-morrow, was it not, that you were to journey to Tyburn and from thenceacross the Styx?"

"Yes, to-morrow, and with me as pretty a lot of lads as ever threw steelacross their hurdies. My heart is wae for them, the leal comrades who havelain out with me in the heather many a night and watched the stars comeout. There's Montagu and Creagh now! We three have tholed together emptywame and niddering cold and the weariness o' death. The hurly o' thewhistling claymore has warmed our hearts; the sight of friends stark fromlead and steel and rope has garred them rin like water. God, it makes mefeel like a deserter to let them take the lang journey alane. Did you kenthat the lad came back to get me from the field when I was wounded atDrummossie Moor?"

"Montagu? I never heard that. "

"Took his life in his hand to come back to that de'il's caldron where thered bluid ran like a mountain burn. It iss the boast of the Macdonaldsthat they always pay their debts both to friend and foe. Fine have I paidmine. He will be thinking me the true friend in his hour of need, "finished Donald bitterly. 

"You don't know him. The temper of the man is not so grudging. His joy inyour escape will help deaden his own pain. Besides, what could you do forhim if you were with him at the end? 'Twould be only one more sacrifice. "

The grim dour Highland sternness hung heavy on Donald's face. 

"I could stand shoulder to shoulder with him and curse the whigs at allevents. I could cry with him 'God save King James' in the teeth of thesidier roy. "

Volney clapped his hands softly. "Hear, hear!" he cried with flaming eyes. "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Jacobite. "

The Gael turned to him impetuously, his blue eyes (as I conceive) moistwith emotion. 

"Man, could I persuade you to be saving the lad? It was for this that Iwaited in your rooms to see you. They say that you are a favourite ofprinces, that what you ask you get. Do for once a fine thing and ask thisboy's life. "

"They exaggerate my power. But for argument's sake suppose it true. Whyshould I ask it? What have I to gain by it?"

Volney, his eyes fixed on the fire, asked the question as much to himselfas to the Highlander. The manner of his tone suggested that it was not anew one to him. 

"Gain! Who spoke of gain? Are you a Jew peddler or an English gentleman?"cried Donald. 

"They call me dissolute, gambler, profligate. These be hard names, but Ihave earned them all. I make no apologies and offer no excuses. As I havelived my life, so have I lived it. For buttered phrases I have no taste. Call me libertine, or call me man of fashion; 'tis all one. My evilnature--_C'est plus fort que moi_. At least I have not played thehypocrite. No canting sighs! No lapses to morality and prayers! No vicessmugly hidden! The plain straight road to hell taken at a gallop!" So, with chin in hand and dark eyes lit by the flickering flame, this roué andsentimentalist philosophized. 

"And Montagu?" cried the Gael, harking back to his prosaic text. 

"Has made his bed and he must lie in it. "

"By Heaven, who ruined him and made an outlaw of him? Who drove him torebellion?"

"You imply that I strewed his bed with nettles. Perhaps. 'Tis well myshoulders are broad, else they could not bear all that is laid uponthem. "

"You would never be letting a petty private grudge influence you?"

Volney turned, stung to the quick. 

"You go too far, Captain Macdonald. Have I given bonds to save this foolfrom the consequences of his folly? I cherish no hatred toward him, but Iplay no Jonathan to his David. Egad, it were a pretty rôle for me toessay! You would cast me for a part full of heroics, the moving of heavenand earth to save my dearest enemy. Thank you, I am not for it. Neitherfor nor against him will I lift a hand. There is no malice in my hearttoward this poor condemned young gentleman. If he can win free I shall beglad, even though his gain is my loss, but further than that I will notgo. He came between me and the thing I most desired on earth. Shall I helphim to the happiness which will condemn me to misery?"

For an instant the habitual veil of mockery was snatched aside and thetortured soul of the man leaped from his burning eyes. 

"You saved him at Portree, " was all that Donald could say. 

"I paid a debt to him and to Cumberland. The ledger is now balanced. "

The Jacobite paced up and down the room for a minute, then stopped andtouched the other on his shoulder where he sat. 

"I too am somewhat in your debt, Sir Robert. When Montagu opposed you hefought for his own hand. Therein he was justified. But I, an outsider, interfered in a quarrel that was not mine own, spoiled sport for you, inshort lost you the lassie. You followed her to Scotland; 'twas I thatdrove you back to England when Montagu was powerless. From first to last Iam the rock on which your love bark has split. If your cause has spelledfailure I alone am to blame. "

"So? What then?"

"Why this: without Captain Donald Roy Macdonald the lad had been helpless. Donald was at his back to whisper words of advice and encouragement. Donald contrived the plot which separated you from the lady. Donald stoodgood fairy to the blessed pair of bairns and made of himsel' amatch-making auld mither. You owe your hatred to Donald Roy and not to thelad who was but his instrument. "

The macaroni looked at the other with an odd smile twitching at thecorners of his mouth. 

"And so?"

"And so, " continued the Macdonald triumphantly, a challenge in his voiceand manner, "and so, who but Donald should be your enemy? My certes, aprettier foe at the broadsword you will not find in a' Scotland. "

"I do not quite take your meaning. Would you fight with me?"

"Blithe would I be to cross the steel with you, but little that would helpKenneth. My plan is this: save the lad from the halter and I will tak' hisplace. "

"You mean that if I compass his freedom you will surrender to beexecuted?"

"I am meaning just that. "

"I thought so from the first. 'Slife, man, do you think I can change myfoes like gloves? _Chacun paie son écot. _"

"Why not? Iss not a man a better foe than a halfling boy?"

"I would never seek a better foe or a better friend than either you orMontagu, Captain. On my soul, you have both the true ring. But as to youroffer I must decline it. The thing is one of your wild impracticableHighland imaginings, a sheer impossibility. You seem to think I have ablood feud and that nothing less than a foeman's life will satisfy me. Inthat you err. I am a plain man of the world and cannot reach yourheroics. "

The Jacobite's face fell. 

"You are going to let the boy die then?"

Volney hesitated, then answered with a shrug. 

"I shall be frank with you. To-day I secured Montagu a reprieve for twoweeks. He shall have his chance such as it is, but I do not expect him totake it. If he shows stubborn I wash my hands of him. I have said the lastword. You may talk till Yule without changing my mind. " Then, with anabrupt turn of the subject: "Have you with you the sinews of war, Captain?You will need money to effect your escape. My purse is at your service notless than my wardrobe, or if you care to lie hidden here for a time youwill be quite safe. Watkins is a faithful fellow and devoted to me. "

The Highlander flushed, stammering out:

"For your proffered loan, I accept it with the best will in the world; andas to your offer of a hiding-place, troth! I'm badly needing one. Gin itwere no inconvenience----"

"None in the world. "

"I will be remembering you for a generous foe till the day of my death. You're a man to ride the water wi'. "

"Lard! There's no generosity in it. Every Mohawk thinks it a pleasure tohelp any man break the laws. Besides, I count on you to help drive awaythe doldrums. Do you care for a hand at piquet now, Captain?"

"With pleasure. I find in the cartes great diversion, but by your leaveI'll first unloose your man Watkins. "

"'Slife, I had forgot him. We'll have him brew us a punch and make a nightof it. Sleep and I are a thousand miles apart. "

-----

 [3] The material for this chapter was furnished me with great particularity by Captain Donald Roy Macdonald. From his narrative to me, I set down the story in substance as he told it. --K. M. 

CHAPTER XVII

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW

There came to me one day a surprise, a marked hour among my weeks struckcalm. Charles, Cloe, and Aileen had been wont to visit me regularly; onceSelwyn had dropped in on me; but I had not before been honoured by a visitfrom Sir Robert Volney. He sauntered into my cell swinging a clouded cane, dressed to kill and point device in every ruffle, all dabbed with scentedpowder, pomatum, and jessamine water. To him, coming direct from thestrong light of the sun, my cell was dark as the inside of Jonah's whale. He stood hesitating in the doorway, groping with his cane for some guideto his footsteps. 

For an instant I drew back, thinking he had come to mock me; then I putthe idea from me. However much of evil there was in him, Volney was not asmall man. I stepped forward to greet him. 

"Welcome to my poor best, Sir Robert! If I do not offer you a chair it isbecause I have none. My regret is that my circumstances hamper myhospitality. "

"Not at all. You offer me your best, and in that lies the essence ofhospitality. Better a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox andhatred, Egad, " returned my guest with easy irony. 

All the resources of the courtier and the beau were his. One could butadmire the sparkle and the versatility of the man. His wit was brilliantas the play of a rapier's point. Set down in cold blood, rememberedscantily and clumsily as I recall it, without the gay easy polish of hismanner, the fineness is all out of his talk. After all 'tis acharacteristic of much wit that it is apposite to the occasion only andloses point in the retelling. 

He seated himself on the table with a leg dangling in air and lookedcuriously around on the massive masonry, the damp floor, the walls oozingslime. I followed his eye and in some measure his thoughts. 

"Stone walls do not a prison make, " I quoted gaily. 

"Ecod, they make a pretty fair imitation of one!" he chuckled. 

I was prodigious glad to see him. 

His presence stirred my sluggish blood. The sound of his voice was to melike the crack of a whip to a jaded horse. Graceful, careless, debonair, aman of evil from sheer reckless wilfulness, he was the one person in theworld I found it in my heart to both hate and admire at the same time. 

He gazed long at me. "You're looking devilish ill, Montagu, " he said. 

I smiled. "Are you afraid I'll cheat the hangman after all?"

His eyes wandered over the cell again. "By Heaven, this death's cage isenough to send any man off the hooks, " he shivered. 

"One gets used to it, " I answered, shrugging. 

He looked at me with a kind of admiration. "They may break you, Montagu, but I vow they will never bend you. Here are you torn with illness, theshadow of the gallows falling across your track, and never a whimper outof you. "

"Would that avail to better my condition?"

"I suppose not. Still, self-pity is the very ecstasy of grief, they tellme. "

"For girls and halfling boys, I dare say. "

There he sat cocked on the table, a picture of smiling ease, raffish andfascinating, as full of sentimental sympathy as a lass in her teens. Hiscommiseration was no less plain to me because it was hidden under adebonair manner. He looked at me in a sidelong fashion with a question inhis eyes. 

"Speak out!" I told him. "Your interest in me as evidenced by this visithas earned the right to satisfy your curiosity. "

"I dare swear you have had your chance to save yourself?" he asked. 

"Oh, the usual offer! A life for a life, the opportunity to save myself bybetraying others. "

"Do you never dally with the thought of it?" he questioned. 

I looked up quickly at him. A hundred times I had nursed the temptationand put it from me. 

"Are you never afraid, Montagu, when the night falls black and slumber isnot to be wooed?"

"Many a time, " I told him, smiling. 

"You say it as easily as if I had asked whether you ever took the air inthe park. 'Slife, I have never known you flinch. There was always acertain d----d rough plainness about you, but you play the game. "

"'Tis a poor hound falls whining at the whip when there is no avoidingit. "

"You will never accept their offer of a pardon on those terms. I know you, man. Y'are one of those fools hold by honour rather than life, and damme!I like you for it. Now I in your place----"

"----Would do as I do. "

"Would I? I'm not so sure. If I did it would be no virtue, but anobstinacy not to be browbeat. " Then he added, "You would give anythingelse on earth for your life, I suppose?"

"Anything else, " I told him frankly. 

"Anything else?" he repeated, his eyes narrowing. "No reservations, Montagu?"

Our eyes crossed like rapiers, each searching into the other's very soul. 

"Am I to understand that you are making me an offer, Sir Robert?"

"I am making you an offer of your life. "

"Respectfully declined. "

"Think again, man! Once you are dead you will be a long time dead. Refuseto give her up, and you die; she is not for you in any case. Give way, andI will move heaven and earth for a pardon. Believe me, never was suchperfect weather before. The birds sing divinely, and Charles tells meMontagu Grange is sorely needing a master. "

"Charles will look the part to admiration. "

"And doubtless will console himself in true brotherly fashion for the lossof his brother by reciting his merits on a granite shaft and straightwayforgetting them in the enjoyment of the estate. "

"I think it likely. "

He looked at me gloomily. "There is a way to save you, despite yourobstinacy. "

I shuffled across to him in a tumult of emotion. "You would never do it, would never be so vile as to trade on her fears for me to win her. "

"I would do anything to win her, and I would do a great deal to save yourlife. The two things jump together. In a way I like you, man. "

But I would have none of his liking. "Oh, spare me that! You are the mostsentimental villain unhung, and I can get along without your liking. "

"That's as may be, " said he laughing, "but I cannot well get along withoutyou. On my honour, you have become one of my greatest sources ofinterest. "

"Do you mean that you would stake my life against her hand?" I demandedwhitely. 

He gave me look for look. "I mean just that. By Heaven, I shall win herfair or foul. "

I could only keep saying over and over again, "You would never do it. Evenyou would never do that. "

"Wouldn't I? You'll see, " he answered laughing hardily. "Well, I must begoing. Oh, I had forgot. Balmerino sent you this note. I called on himyesterday at the Tower. The old Scotchman is still as full of smiles as abride. "

Balmerino's letter was the friendliest imaginable. He stated that for hima pardon was of course out of the question, but that Sir Robert Volney hadassured him that there was a chance for me on certain conditions; heunderstood that the conditions had to do with the hand of a young woman, and he advised me, if the thing were consistent with honour, to makesubmission, and let no foolish pride stand in the way of saving my life. The letter ended with a touching reference to the cause for which he wasabout to die. 

I was shaken, I confess it. Not that I thought for a moment of giving upmy love, but my heart ached to think of the cruel position into which shewould be cast. To save her lover's life, she must forsake her love, or ifshe elected the other alternative must send him to his death. That Volneywould let this burden of choice fall on her I would scarce let myselfbelieve; and yet--there was never a man more madly, hopelessly in lovethan he. His passion for her was like a whirlwind tossing him hither andthither like a chip on the boiling waters, but I thought it verycharacteristic of the man that he used his influence to have me moved to amore comfortable cell and supplied with delicacies, even while he plottedagainst me with my love. 

After that first visit he used to come often and entertain me with thenews and gossip of the town. I have never met a more interesting man. Hewas an onlooker of life rather than an actor, an ironical cynic, chucklingwith sardonic humour. The secret of his charm lay perhaps in a certainwhimsical outlook and in an original turn of mind. 

Once I asked him why he found it worth while to spend so many hours withme when his society was so much sought after by the gayest circle in thetown. 

"I acquit you of any suspicion of philanthropy, Sir Robert. I give youcredit for pursuing a policy of intelligent selfishness. You must know bythis time that I will not purchase my life, nor let it be purchased, onthe terms which you propose. Well then, I confess it puzzles me to guesswhat amusement you find in such a hole as this. "

"Variety spices life. What's a man to do to keep himself from ennui? Forinstance, I got up this morning at ten, with Selwyn visited Lady Dapperwitwhile she was drinking coffee in her nightrail, talked a vast deal ofscandal with her, strolled in the park with Fritz, from there to White'sin a sedan, two hours at lunch, and an hour with you for the good of mysoul. "

"The good of your soul?" I quizzed. 

"Yes, I visit you here and then go away deuced thankful for my mercies. I'm not to be hanged next week, you know. I live to marry the girl. "

"Still, I should think you might find more interesting spots than this. "

"I am a student of human nature, Montagu. "

"A condemned prisoner, never a wit at the best of times, full of fears andagues and fevers! One would scarce think the subject an inviting one forstudy. "

"There you do yourself injustice. Y'are the most interesting man I know. Adozen characters are wrapped up in you. You have the appearance of beingas great a rip as the rest of us, and I vow your looks do not belie you, yet at times you have the conscience of a ranting dissenter. I find in youa touch both of Selwyn's dry wit and of Balmerino's frostly bluntness; thecool daring of James Wolfe combined with as great a love of life as Murrayhas shown; the chivalry of Don Quixote and the hard-headedness ofCumberland; sometimes an awkward boy, again the grand manner Chesterfieldhimself might envy you; the obstinacy of the devil and----"

"Oh, come!" I broke in laughing. "I don't mind being made a compositeepitome of all the vices of the race, but I object to your crossing theStyx on my behalf. "

"And that reminds me of the time we came so near crossing together, " hebroke out, diverting the subject in his inconsequent fashion. "D'yeremember that Dr. Mead who dressed our wounds for us after our littleargument? It appears that he and a Dr. Woodward fell into someprofessional dispute as to how a case should be treated, and Lud! nothingwould satisfy them but they must get their toasting forks into action. Thestory goes that they fought at the gate of Gresham College. Mead pinkedhis man. 'Take your life, ' quoth he. 'Anything but your medicine, ' returnsWoodward just before he faints. Horry Walpole told me the story. I supposeyou have heard Selwyn's story of Lord Wharton. You know what a spendthriftWharton is. Well the Duke of Graftsbury offered him one of his daughtersin marriage, a lady of uncertain age and certain temper. But the lady hasone virtue; she's a devilish fine fortune. A plum, they say! Wharton wroteGraftsbury a note of three lines declining the alliance because, as he putit, the fortune was tied up and the lady wasn't. "

"Not bad. Talking of Selwyn, I suppose he gets his fill of horrors thesedays. "

"One would think he might. I met him at the Prince's dinner yesterday, andbetween us we two emptied nine bottles of maraschino. Conceive thesplitting headache I'm wearing to-day. "

"You should take a course in Jacobitism, " I told him gravely. "'Tiswarranted to cure gout, liver trouble, indigestion, drunkenness, andsundry other complaints. I can warrant that one lives simply while hetakes the treatment; sometimes on a crust of bread and a bowl of brose, sometimes on water from the burn, never does one dine over-richly. "

"Yet this course is not conducive to long life. I've known a hundredfollowers of it fall victim to an epidemic throat disease, " he retorted. Then he added more gravely, "By the way, you need have no fears for yourfriend Miss Flora Macdonald. I learn on the best of authority that she isin no danger whatever. "

"And Malcolm?" I asked. 

"His name has been put near the foot of the list for trial. Long beforethat time the lust for blood will be glutted. I shall make it a point tosee that his case never comes to trial. One cannot afford to have hisbrother-in-law hanged like a common cutpurse. "

Day by day the time drew nearer on which my reprieve expired. I sawnothing of Aileen now, for she had followed the King and his court toBath, intent on losing no opportunity that might present itself in myfavour. For one reason I was glad to have her gone; so long as she was outof town Sir Robert could not urge on her the sacrifice which he intended. 

The time of my execution had been set for Friday, and on the precedingMonday Volney, just arrived from the executions of Balmerino andKilmarnock, drove out to New Prison to see me. He was full of admirationfor Balmerino's bold exit from the stage of life and retailed to me withgreat gusto every incident of the last scene on Tower Hill. 

"I like your bluff Balmerino's philosophy of life, " he told me. "When Icalled on him and apologized for intruding on the short time he had leftthe old Lord said, 'O sir, no intrusion at all. I am in no ways concernedto spend more time than usual at my devotions. I think no man fit to livewho is not fit to die, and to die well is much the easier of the two. ' Onthe scaffold no bridegroom could have been more cheerful. He was dressedin his old blue campaign uniform and was as bold and manly as ever. Heexpressed joy that Cromartie had been pardoned, inspected with interestthe inscription on his coffin, and smilingly called the block his pillowof rest. 'Pon honour, the intrepid man then rehearsed the execution withhis headsman, kneeling down at the block to show how he would give thesignal for the blow. He then got up again, made a tender smiling farewellwith his friends, and said to me, 'I fear some will think my behaviourbold, Volney, but remember what I say, that it arises from confidence inGod and a clear conscience. ' He reaffirmed his unshaken adherence to thehouse of Stuart, crying aloud, 'God save King James!' and bowed to themultitude. Presently, still cheerfully, he knelt at the block and said ina clear voice, 'O Lord, reward my friends, forgive my enemies, blessPrince Charles and his brother, the Duke, and receive my soul. ' His armsdropped for the signal, and Arthur Elphinstone of Balmerino passed to theValhalla where brave men dwell as gods. "

"God bring peace to his valiant restless soul, " I said, much moved. 

"'Tis a thing to admire, the sturdy loyalty of you Jacobites, " he saidafter a pause. "You carry it off like gentlemen. Every poor Highlander whohas yet suffered has flung out his 'God save King James' on the scaffold. Now I'll wager you too go to death with the grand air--no canting prayersfor King George, eh?"

"I must e'en do as the rest, " I smiled. 

"Yet I'd bet a pony you don't care a pinch of snuff for James Stuart. 'Tisloyalty to yourselves that animates you. "

Presently he harked back to the topic that was never closed between us. 

"By this time next week you will have touched the heart of our eternalproblem. The mystery of it will perhaps be all clear to you then. 'Tismost strange how at one sweep all a man's turbulent questing life passesinto the quiet of--of what? That is the question: of unending death or ofachieved knowledge?" Then he added, coming abruptly to the issue: "The daydraws near. Do you think better of my offer now?"

"Sir Robert, I have lived a tempestuous life these past months. I haveknown hunger and cold and weariness; I have been at the top of fortune'swave and at the bottom; but I have never found it worth my while to becomedivorced from honour. You find me near dead from privations and disease. Do you think I would pay so much for such an existence? Believe me, when aman has passed through what I have he is empty of fears. "

"I could better spare a better man, " he said. 

"Sorry to inconvenience you, " I told him grimly. 

"I' faith, I think you're destined to do that dead or alive. "

"I think I am. You will find me more in your way dead than alive. "

"I'll outlive your memory, never fear. " Then quietly, after a moment'shesitation: "There's one thing it may be a comfort for you to know. I'vegiven up any thought of putting her on the rack. I'll win fairly or not atall. "

I drew a deep free breath. "Thank you for telling me. "

"I mean to marry her though. I swear to you, Montagu, that my heart iswrapped up in her. I thought all women alike until I met this one. Now Iknow better. She could have made a different man of me; sometimes I thinkshe could even yet. I vow to you I would not now injure a hair of herhead, but willy-nilly, in the end I shall marry the girl. "

"To ruin her life?"

"To save mine rather. "

"Do you think yourself able to change the whole course of your life forher?"

He mused. "Ah, Montagu! There your finger falls pat on the pulse of mydoubt. My heart cries aye, my reason gives a negative. "

"Don't worry overmuch about it, " I answered, railing at him. "She'll neverlook at you, man. My grave will be an insurmountable barrier. She willidealize my memory, think me a martyr and herself a widowed maid. "

The shot scored. 'Twas plain he must have often thought of that himself. 

"It may interest you to know that we are engaged to be married, " I added. 

"Indeed! Let me congratulate you. When does the happy event occur, may Iask? Or is the day set?"

He had no need to put into words more clearly the irony of the fate thatencompassed us. 

"Dead or alive, as you say, I bar your way, " I said tartly. 

"Pooh, man! I give you six weeks of violent grief, six months of tendermelancholy. "

"You do not know the Scotch. She will die a maid, " I answered. 

"Not she! A live lover is more present than a dead one. Has she swornpretty vows to you, Montagu? 'At lovers' perjuries, they say, lovelaughs. ' Is there nothing to be said for me? Will her heart not alwayswhisper that I deserve gratitude and love, that I perilled my life forher, saved the lives of her brother and her lover, neither of them friendsof mine, again reprieved her lover's life, stood friend to her through allher trouble? You know a woman's way--to make much of nothing. "

"Forgive, if I prod a lagging memory, Miss Westerleigh?"

Long he laughed and merrily. 

"Eloped for Gretna Green with Tony Creagh last night, and I, poor forsakenswain, faith! I do not pursue. "

You may be sure that dashed me. I felt as a trapped fox with the dogsclosing in. The future loomed up clear before me, Aileen hand in hand withVolney scattering flowers on my grave in sentimental mood. The futility ofmy obstinacy made me bitter. 

"Come, Montagu! Listen to reason, " urged the tempter. "You get in my way, but I don't want to let you be sponged out. The devil of it is that if Iget you a pardon--and I'm not sure that I can get it--you'll marry thegirl. I might have you shipped to the Barbadoes as a slave with some ofthe others, but to be frank I had rather see you hanged than give you soscurvy an end. Forswear what is already lost and make an end of it. "

I turned away blackly. "You have my answer. Sir Robert, you have playedyour last card. Now let me die in peace. "

He shrugged impatiently and left me. "A fool's answer, yet a brave man'stoo, " he muttered. 

Aileen, heart-broken with the failure of her mission, reached town onThursday and came at once to the prison. Her face was as the face oftroubled waters. I had no need to ask the question on my lips. With asobbing cry she threw herself on my breast. My heart was woe for her. Utter weariness was in her manner. All through the long days and nightsshe had agonized, and now at last despaired. There seemed no tears left toshed. 

Long I held her tight, teeth set, as one who would keep his own perforcefrom that grim fate which would snatch his love from him. She shivered tome half-swooning, pale and of wondrous beauty, nesting in my arms as aweary homing-bird. A poignant grief o'erflowed in me. 

"Oh, Aileen! At least we have love left, " I cried, breaking the longsilence. 

"Always! Always!" her white lips answered. 

"Then let us regret nothing. They can do with me what they will. What arelife and death when in the balance dwells love?" I cried, rapt inunearthly worship of her. 

Her eyes found mine. "Oh, Kenneth, I cannot--I cannot--let you go. "

Sweet and lovely she was beyond the dream of poet. I trembled in anecstasy of pain. From the next cell there came to us softly the voice of apoor condemned Appin Stewart. He was crooning that most tender andheart-breaking of all strains. Like the pibroch's mournful sough he wailedit out, the song that cuts deep to a Scotchman's heart in time of exile. 

 "Lochabar no more, Lochabar no more. We'll maybe return to Lochabar no more. "

I looked at Aileen, my face working. A long breath came whistling throughher lips. Her dear face was all broken with emotion. I turned my eyesaside, not daring to trust myself. Through misty lashes again I looked. Her breast lifted and fell in shaking sobs, the fount of tears touched atlast. Together we wept, without shame I admit it, while the Stewart'sharrowing strain ebbed to a close. To us it seemed almost as the keeningof the coronach. 

So in the quiet that comes after storm, her dear supple figure still in myarms, Sir Robert Volney came in unexpectedly and found us. He stopped atthe door, startled at her presence, and methought a shadow fell on hisface. Near to death as I was, the quality of his courage was so fine andthe strength of the passion in him so great that he would have changedplaces with me even then. 

Aileen went up to him at once and gave him her hand. She was very simple, her appeal like a child's for directness. 

"Sir Robert, you have already done much for me. I will be so bold as toask you to do more. Here iss my lover's life in danger. I ask you to saveit. "

"That he may marry you?"

"If God wills. "

Volney looked at her out of a haggard face, all broken by the emotionswhich stirred him. 

A minute passed, two minutes. He fought out his fight and won. 

"Aileen, " he said at last, "before heaven I fear it is too late, but whatman can do, that will I do. "

He came in and shook hands with me. "I'll say good-bye, Montagu. 'Tispossible I'll see you but once more in this world. Yet I will do my best. Don't hope too much, but don't despair. "

There was unconscious prophecy in his words. I was to see him but the oncemore, and then the proud, gallant gentleman, now so full of energy, waslying on his deathbed struck out of life by a foul blow. 

CHAPTER XVIII

THE SHADOW FALLS

It would appear that Sir Robert went direct from the prison to the clubroom at White's. He was observed to be gloomy, preoccupied, his manner nota little perturbed. The usual light smile was completely clouded under agravity foreign to his nature. One may guess that he was in no humour tocarry coals. In a distant corner of the room he seated himself and fell tofrowning at the table on which his elbow rested. At no time was he a manupon whom one would be likely to foist his company undesired, for he hadat command on occasion a hauteur and an aloofness that challenged respecteven from the most inconsiderate. 

We must suppose that he was moved out of his usual indifference, that somelong-dormant spring of nobility was quickened to a renewed life, that agirl's truth and purity, refining his selfish passion, had bitten deepinto the man's callous worldliness. For long he sat in a sombre silencewith his head leaning on his hand, his keen mind busy with the problem--soI shall always believe--as to how he might even yet save me from thegallows. 

By some strange hap it chanced that Sir James Craven, excited with drink, the bile of his saturnine temper stirred to malignity by heavy losses atcards, alighted from his four in hand at White's shortly after Volney. Craven's affairs had gone from bad to worse very rapidly of late. He hadbeen playing the races heavily and ruin stared the man in the face. Morethan suspected of dubious play at cards, it had been scarce a week sincethe stewards of a leading racetrack had expelled him for running crosses. Any day a debtor's prison might close on him. Within the hour, as wasafterward learned, his former companion Frederick Prince of Wales hadgiven him the cut direct on the Mall. Plainly his star was on the decline, and he raged in a futile passion of hatred against the world. Need it besaid that of all men he most hated his supplanter in the Prince of Wales'good-will, Sir Robert Volney. 

To Volney then, sitting gloomily in his distant solitude, came Craven withmurder in his heart and a bitter jest on his lips. At the other side ofthe table he found a seat and glared across at his rival out of apassion-contorted face. Sir Robert looked past him coldly, negligently, asif he had not been there, and rising from his seat moved to the other sideof the room. In the manner of his doing it there was somethingindescribably insulting; so it seemed to Topham Beauclerc, who retailed tome the story later. 

Craven's evil glance followed Volney, rage in his bloodshot eyes. If alook could kill, the elegant macaroni had been a dead man then. It is tobe guessed that Craven struggled with his temper and found himself notstrong enough to put a curb upon it; that his heady stress of passionswept away his fear of Volney's sword. At all events there he satglowering blackly on the man at whose charge he chose to lay all hismisfortunes, what time he gulped down like water glass after glass ofbrandy. Presently he got to his feet and followed Sir Robert, stilldallying no doubt with the fascinating temptation of fixing a quarrel uponhis rival and killing him. To do him justice Volney endeavoured to avoidan open rupture with the man. He appeared buried in the paper he wasreading. 

"What news?" asked Craven abruptly. 

For answer the other laid down the paper, so that Sir James could pick itup if he chose. 

"I see your old rival Montagu is to dance on air to-morrow. 'Gad, you'llhave it all your own way with the wench then, " continued Cravenboisterously, the liquor fast mounting to his head. 

Volney's eyes grew steelly. He would have left, but the burly purple-facedbaronet cut off his retreat. 

"Damme, will you drink with me, or will you play with me, Volney?"

"Thanks, but I never drink nor play at this time of day, Sir James. If itwill not inconvenience you to let me pass----"

With a foolish laugh, beside himself with rage and drink, Craven flung himback into his chair. "'Sdeath, don't be in such a hurry! I want to talk toyou about-- Devil take it, what is it I want to talk about?-- Oh, yes! Thatpink and white baggage of yours. Stap me, the one look ravished me! Pityyou let a slip of a lad like Montagu oust you. "

"That subject is one which we will not discuss, Sir James, " said Volneyquietly. "It is not to be mentioned in my presence. "

"The devil it isn't. I'm not in the habit of asking what I may talk about. As for this mistress of yours----"

Sir Robert rose and stood very straight. "I have the honour to inform youthat you are talking of a lady who is as pure as the driven snow. "

Buck Craven stared. "After Sir Robert Volney has pursued her a year?" heasked with venomous spleen, his noisy laugh echoing through the room. 

I can imagine how the fellow said it, with what a devilish concentrationof malice. He had the most irritating manner of any man in England; Inever heard him speak without wanting to dash my fist in his sneeringface. 

"That is what I tell you. I repeat that the subject is not a matter fordiscussion between us. "

Craven might have read a warning in the studied gentleness of Volney'scold manner, but he was by this time far beyond reck. By common consentthe eyes of every man in the room were turned on these two, and Craven'svanity sunned itself at holding once more the centre of the stage. 

"And after the trull has gadded about the country with young Montagu inall manner of disguises?" he continued. 

"You lie, you hound!"

Sir James sputtered in a speechless paroxysm of passion, found words atlast and poured them out in a turbid torrent of invective. He let fall theword baggage again, and presently, growing more plain, a word that is notto be spoken of an honest woman. Volney, eyeing him disdainfully, theman's coarse bulk, his purple cheeks and fishy eyes, played with his winegoblet, white fingers twisting at the stem; then, when the measure of thefellow's offense was full, put a period to his foul eloquence. 

Full in the mouth the goblet struck him. Blood spurted from his lips, anda shower of broken glass shivered to the ground. Craven leaped across thetable at his enemy in a blind fury; restrained by the united efforts ofhalf a dozen club members, the struggling madman still foamed to get athis rival's throat--that rival whose disdainful eyes seemed to count himbut a mad dog impotent to bite. 

"You would not drink with me; you would not play with me; but, by God, youwill have to fight with me, " he cried at last. 

"When you please. "

"Always I have hated you, wanted always to kill you, now I shall do it, "he screamed. 

Volney turned on his heel and beckoned to Beauclerc. 

"Will you act for me, Topham?" he asked; and when the other assented, added: "Arrange the affair to come off as soon as possible. I want to havedone with the thing at once. "

They fought within the hour in the Field of the Forty Footsteps. The onewas like fire, the other ice. They were both fine swordsmen, but there wasno man in England could stand against Volney at his best, and those whowere present have put it on record that Sir Robert's skill was this day athigh water mark. He fought quite without passion, watching with coolalertness for his chance to kill. His opponent's breath came short, histhrusts grew wild, the mad rage of the man began to give way to a no lessmad despair. Every feint he found anticipated, every stroke parried; andstill his enemy held to the defensive with a deadly cold watchfulness thatstruck chill to the heart of the fearful bully. We are to conceive thatCraven tasted the bitterness of death, that in the cold passionless faceopposite to him he read his doom, and that in the horrible agony of terrorthat sweated him he forgot the traditions of his class and the training ofa lifetime. He stumbled, and when Sir Robert held his hand, waiting pointgroundward with splendid carelessness for his opponent to rise, Cravenflung himself forward on his knees and thrust low at him. The blade wenthome through the lower vitals. 

Volney stood looking at him a moment with a face of infinite contempt, than sank back into the arms of Beauclerc. 

While the surgeon was examining the wound Craven stole forward guiltily tothe outskirts of the little group which surrounded the wounded man. Hishorror-stricken eyes peered out of a face like chalk. The man's own secondhad just turned his back on him, and he was already realizing that thefoul stroke had written on his forehead the brand of Cain, had made him anoutcast and a pariah on the face of the earth. 

The eyes of Volney and his murderer met, those of the dying man full ofscorn. Craven's glance fell before that steady look. He muttered a hopethat the wound was but slight; then, in torture, burst out: "'Twas a slip. By Heaven, it was, Volney! I would to God it were undone. "

"'To every coward safety, and afterward his evil hour, '" quoted Volneywith cold disdain. 

The murderer turned away with a sobbing oath, mounted his horse and rodefor the coast to begin his lifetime of exile, penury, and execration. 

"Do I get my passport?" asked Sir Robert of the surgeon. 

The latter began to talk a jargon of medical terms, but Volney cut himshort. 

"Enough! I understand, " he said quietly. "Get me to my rooms and send atonce for the Prince of Wales. Beauclerc, may I trouble you to call onCumberland and get from him an order to bring young Montagu to my placefrom the prison? And will you send my man Watkins for a lawyer? Oh, andone more commission--a messenger to beg of Miss Macleod her attendance. Incase she demurs, make it plain to her that I am a dying man. Faith, Topham, you'll be glad I do not die often. I fear I am an unconscionablenuisance at it. "

Topham Beauclerc drove straight to the residence of the Duke ofCumberland. He found the Duke at home, explained the situation in a fewwords, and presently the pair of them called on the Duke of Newcastle andsecured his counter-signature for taking me temporarily from the NewPrison. Dusk was falling when Beauclerc and the prison guards led me toVolney's bedroom. At the first glance I saw plainly that he was not longfor this world. He lay propped on an attendant's arm, the beautiful eyesserene, an inscrutable smile on the colourless lips. Beside him satAileen, her hand in his, and on the other side of the bed the Duke ofCumberland and Malcolm. When he saw me his eyes brightened. 

"On time, Kenneth. Thanks for coming. "

Beauclerc had told me the story, and I went forward with misty eyes. Helooked at me smiling. 

"On my soul I believe you are sorry, Montagu. Yes, I have my quietus. Thefellow struck foul. My own fault! I always knew him for a scoundrel. I hadhim beaten; but 'tis better so perhaps. After all I shall cross the riverbefore you, Kenneth. " Then abruptly to an attendant who entered the room, "Has the Prince come yet?"

"But this moment, sir. "

The Prince of Wales entered the room, and Volney gave him his old winsomesmile. 

"Hard hit, your Highness!"

"I trust it is not so bad as they say, Robert. "

"Bad or good, as one looks at it, but this night I go wandering into thegreat unknown. Enough of this. I sent for you, Fritz, to ask my lastfavour. "

The face of the stolid Dutchman was all broken with emotion. 

"'Tis yours, Robert, if the thing is mine to grant. "

"I want Montagu spared. You must get his pardon before I die, else I shallnot pass easy in mind. This one wrong I must right before the end. 'Twas Idrove him to rebellion. You will get him pardoned and see to it that hisestates are not confiscated?"

"I promise to do my best. It shall be attended to. "

"To-day?"

"This very hour if it can be arranged. "

"And you, Cumberland, will do your share. "

The Duke nodded, frowning to hide his emotion. 

Volney fell back on the pillows. "Good! Where is the priest?"

A vicar of the Church of England came forward to offer the usualministrations to the dying. Volney listened for a minute or two withclosed eyes, then interrupted gently. 

"Thank you. That will suffice. I'll never insult my Maker by fawning forpardon in the fag hour of a misspent life. "

"The mercy of God is without limits----"

"I hope so. That I shall know better than you within the space offour-and-twenty hours. I'm afraid you mistake your mission here. You cameto marry Antony, not to bury Cæsar. " Then, turning to me, he said with aflare of his old reckless wit: "Any time this six weeks you've beenqualifying for the noose. If you're quite ready we'll have the obsequiesto-night. "

He put Aileen's hand in mine. The vicar married us, the Prince of Walesgiving away the bride. Aileen's pale face was shot with a faint flush, asplash of pink in either alabaster cheek. When the priest had made us manand wife she, who had just married me, leaned forward impulsively andkissed our former enemy on the forehead. The humorous gleam came back tohis dulling eyes. 

"Only one, Montagu. I dare say you can spare that. The rest are for abetter man. Don't cry, Aileen. 'Fore Heaven, 'tis a good quittance foryou. "

He looked at the soft warmth and glow of her, now quickened to throbbinglife, drew a long breath, then smiled and sighed again, her lover even tothe last. 

A long silence fell, which Sir Robert broke by saying with a smile, "Incase Selwyn calls show him up. If I am still alive I'll want to see him, and if I'm dead he'll want to see me. 'Twill interest him vastly. "

Once more only he spoke. "The shadow falls, " he said to Aileen, andpresently dozed fitfully; so slipped gradually into the deeper sleep fromwhich there is no awakening this side of the tomb. Thus he passed quietlyto the great beyond, an unfearing cynic to the last hour of his life. 

THE AFTERWORD

My pardon came next day, duly signed and sealed, with the customary riderto it that I must renounce the Stuarts, and swear allegiance to KingGeorge. I am no hero of romance, but a plain Englishman, a prosaic loverof roast beef and old claret, of farming and of fox-hunting. Our cause wasdead, and might as well be buried. Not to make long of the matter, I tookthe oath without scruple. To my pardon there was one other proviso: that Imust live on my estate until further notice. If at any time I were foundten miles from Montagu Grange, the pardon was to be void. 

Aileen and I moved to our appointed home at once. It may be believed thatour hearts were full of the most tender joy and love, for I had beensnatched from the jaws of death into the very sunshine of life. We had butone cloud to mar the bright light--the death of many a dear friend, andmost of all, of that friendly enemy who had given his life for her goodname. Moralists point out to me that he was a great sinner. I care not ifit be so. Let others condemn him; I do not. Rather I cherish the memory ofa gallant, faultful gentleman whose life found wrong expression. There besome to whom are given inheritance of evil nature. Then how dare we, whoknow not the measure of their temptation, make ourselves judges of theirsin?

At the Grange we found awaiting us an unexpected visitor, a red-haired, laughing Highlander, who, though in hiding, was as full of merriment as aschoolboy home for the holidays. To Cloe he made most ardent love, andwhen, at last, Donald Roy slipped across the waters to St. Germains, hecarried with him a promise that was redeemed after the general amnesty waspassed. 

Six weeks after my pardon Malcolm Macleod and Miss Flora Macdonald stoppedat the Grange for a short visit with us. They were on their way north, having been at length released without a trial, since the passion forblood was now spent. 

"We three, with Captain Donald Roy and Tony Creagh, came to London to behangit, " smiled Major Macleod as they were about to resume their journey. "Twa-three times the rope tightened around the gullets of some of us, yetin the end we all win free. You and Tony have already embraced the othernoose; Donald is in a geyan ill way, writing Latin verses to his lady'seyes; and as for me, "--he smiled boldly at his companion--"I ride to theland of heather side by side with Miss Flora Macdonald. "

Here I drop the quill, for my tale is told. For me, life is full of manyquiet interests and much happiness, but even now there grips me at times alonging for those mad wild days, when death hung on a hair's breadth, andthe glamour of romance beckoned the feathered foot of youth. 

FINIS