HON. FREDERICK MONCREIFF
 
 (n a-^ <\J a,^-^-^^-^ , X^--^ 
 
 
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 THE X JEWEL 
 
 A SCOTTISH ROMANCE OF THE DAYS OF 
 JAMES VI. 
 
 HON. FREDERICK MONCREIFF 
 
 N E W YORK 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
 
 1896 
 
 y
 
 Copyright, 1806, by IlAUPrR *fc Brotuees. 
 
 Alt rights reserved.
 
 THE X JEAYEL 
 
 CHAPTER 1 
 
 T WAS brought out of the Loav Countries into 
 Scothmd in the year 15S5 — by whom I need not 
 to say here. For though it is now more than 
 twenty years since the things I speak of passed, 
 and they are forgotten by some who might have 
 remembered them, there are others still in life 
 who remember but may not wish them to be 
 stirred. This, however, can I say : that my 
 coming back was known to one who required 
 it, and whose wish it was scarce possible for me 
 to pass by. 
 
 So, on the 3d of May in the above year, hav- 
 ing made a quick passage from the Scheldt on 
 a quiet sea, I landed at the Fastcastle, near to 
 Eyemouth, at eight hours of the morning. And 
 glad indeed was I that morning when I jumped 
 ou to the jetty and ran up the steps leading to
 
 the keep, which, as many kno^v, are cut from 
 the rock, and not easy to be found, 
 
 I was glad — what else should I be ? I had the 
 yearning for my native land which is common 
 to my race, and I had no great heart to remain 
 in the service I had kept for the greater part of 
 ten years. Monsieur was gone ; the Poor Frog 
 of the Queen of England was dead of a fever. 
 The Prince of Orange was dead by the bullet of 
 Balthasar Gerard, a mean fanatic and hired as- 
 sassin. For this Prince lived at a time not yet 
 distant when money and patents of nobility were 
 given for the doing of murder. The Pope, for 
 whom my Pastors have many injurious words, 
 naming him Antichrist and that Man of Sin, 
 offered his rewards openly — even as he might 
 send the crier about for a lost dog. But when 
 the English Harry, or the Queen his daughter, 
 had a mind to the removal of a troublesome 
 person, tlic}^ handled the matter with some de- 
 cency through the medium of an ambassador or 
 envoy, though they paid not as handsomely as 
 the Pope. 
 
 When the Prince fell the life of the cause in 
 the States seemed to die, and to none Avas this 
 so much due as to the termagant who misgov- 
 erned England. Surely there was scarce an evil 
 thing done either in the Low Countries or my
 
 native Scotland which she had not lal^ored to 
 bring about. Her ambassadors came to Edin- 
 burgh witli instructions to make it impossible to 
 govern the country, to set one interest against 
 another, and to lie to all — to King, Council, 
 Ministers, Nobility, and Barons. Nobod}^ should 
 know this better than I ; but, if the commonty 
 had known the truth, I fairly believe that they 
 would have flayed the English ambassador alive 
 in the Grassmarket and sent his skin to his mis- 
 tress. This and much more might they have 
 done at that time with impunity ; for if the 
 Queen of England feared nothing else, she did 
 fear a Avar Tvith the Scots. 
 
 I left a service which had been kind to me, 
 and I had heard from those who had the best 
 reasons for knowing that I was returning to a 
 land " where nane was in account but he that 
 could either kill or reve his neighbor." "Well, I 
 could kill and reve with the best of them — in a 
 good cause, be it said. It was my trade. 
 
 In the keen morning air I ran quickly up the 
 steps leading from the jetty, so that I was forced 
 to stay for breath before I had compassed half 
 of the distance — in faith, an evil ])lace. The 
 cliffs, which are very high on this coast, go down 
 almost sheer into the sea. At one part, where a 
 point juts out into the North Sea, there is a ])lat-
 
 form half-way down the diff, which is reached 
 from the jetty below by a flight of steps cut out 
 of the rock. On this platform stands Fastcastle, 
 and half-Avay up the steps to it on this May 
 morning stood I, panting for breath and look- 
 ing down upon the many-colored sea. 
 
 As I stood, my head swimming somewhat with 
 the exertion of running after being cramped in 
 the boat, the voice as of one singing came up to 
 me out of the sea. It came dimly, as from a 
 great distance ; if so I may say, it struggled to 
 me; but the words were not the less plain to 
 be heard, and what I heard and remember was 
 somewhat to the following purpose: 
 
 "Five fiithom deep, 
 
 Beneath the keep, 
 Not forgotten, not forgiving ; 
 Better to be loose and living 
 
 Upon the sea 
 
 Than bide with me." 
 
 Kow it may be that I was in some measure 
 oppressed by the weird aspect of the place. But 
 there is no Scotsman who does not know the 
 meaning of "'loose and living" as well as he 
 knows the name of Douglas. So it came to pass 
 that I, who have never rejected these messages 
 of God, went down the ste]« more quickly than 
 1 came up and stopped the disembarkation of
 
 my baggage, resolved that on no consideration 
 would I land at the Fastcastle. 
 
 I had no sooner done this tlian one came down 
 from the castle whom I believed to be tlie Laiixl 
 of Lundygrange, the keeper or owner of the 
 place ; but as I never saw him before or after- 
 wards, I cannot speak of this with certainty. I 
 had reason to believe that this man would both 
 allow me to land and assist me with horses for 
 my journey to Edinburgh, but now I was no 
 lono-er willino- to trust him. 
 
 " I believe I have the pleasure to welcome to 
 my poor castle the Colonel Andrew Eviot," said 
 be, saluting me with much courtesy. 
 
 "Excuse me, Laird," I replied ; '• I am but sim- 
 ple Capitaine, and great as is the pleasure of see- 
 ing you and your hospitable castle, I am sorry 
 my business requires that I should push on to 
 Edinburgh without delay. Indeed, I trust you 
 will furnish me with horses to transport myself 
 and my servants." 
 
 " Impossible ; quite im])ossible. Horses are 
 at the moment the most expensive and most val- 
 uable possession a man can have in Scotland. 
 They are hardly come by, and I have not enough 
 for my own service. You had better stay a few 
 days with me and look about you — the coast is 
 very fine and the air bracing."
 
 " Xay," said I, after thanking him profusely 
 for his offer of hospitalit}^ " if I may not ride, I 
 must walk ;'' and 1 looked resolute, for I Avould 
 compel him to show his hand. Whereupon he 
 gazed somewhat sadly and sympathetically at 
 me, and said : 
 
 " You had better stay ; believe me, sir, the air 
 of Edinburgh may not be good for you just now." 
 
 " Good or bad, I'm going to test it." 
 
 "Kay, nay," he returned, irritabl\% "it is the 
 King's opinion, not mine." He spoke as one 
 who had been reluctantly compelled to tell a dis- 
 agreeable fact, but I felt that 1 held him com- 
 mitted. 
 
 " If so the King wishes it to be, you doubtless 
 have his warrant, and I shall crave a sight of it." 
 
 " I have what is as good — the Chancellor's 
 letter, in which he says that he holds the King's 
 commission." 
 
 " The Chancellor, forsooth !" cried I. " Cap- 
 tain James? You may tell Captain James that 
 I obey the King first, and after him I may think 
 of obeying the Chancellor." 
 
 At this my man's eyes opened very wide, as if 
 he had been listening to some astounding blas- 
 phemy and could not believe his ears. Now my 
 experience had taught me that in interviews 
 which may end in " inconvenients," a man should
 
 cast his eyes about betimes, and know what he 
 is going to do when the rub comes. In this case 
 I saw very clearly what I had to do. Going 
 close up to the Laird, so close tiiat by putting 
 forth his hand he could touch me and no more, 
 I looked earnestly in his eyes. 
 
 " Friend Lundygrange," said I, " ye are but a 
 poor bungler, and were I not in a hurry I should 
 pull the lugs off your head. It is not for such 
 as ye to meddle with things of Estate. They 
 are ticklish enough for those whom God has fur- 
 nished with brains to their heads, but they will 
 grind the Laird of Lundygrange and his like 
 to powder. Ye mislike that I call ye bungler. 
 What are ye, then, that having yon message for 
 me kept it not until I was within your walls ? 
 Whereas now, look ye, I shall simply go aboard 
 again, and, bidding adieu to this inhospitable 
 place, commend ye to the mercies of Captain 
 James." 
 
 Thereupon it fell out as I thought. Being a 
 stout man, and seeing me within his grasp, the 
 Laird reached forth his hand to seize me by the 
 neck of the corselet. When his hand was about 
 an inch from my neck, I struck him a blow with 
 my gauntleted hand on the chest, which placed 
 him upon a heap of mackerel lying some paces 
 in his rear. God made my arms longer than
 
 they ought by rights to be. But the keeper of 
 Fastcastle knew not that, nor that in the States 
 I was surnamed the iron-armed, else the result 
 might have been different. 
 
 As it was, the few men who had followed him 
 down from the keep were lightly armed, and as 
 they received no orders from their master, who 
 was for the moment unable to give any, they 
 concerned themselves in picking him out of the 
 dirt. In the meantime I went on board unmo- 
 lested, and had no difficulty in persuading my 
 skipper to land me at Berwick. 
 
 This change of plan was somewhat embarrass- 
 ing, because the English were chary of passing 
 anybody into Scotland. There were in London, 
 Newcastle, and Berwick banished Lords and ban- 
 ished Ministers, and many other banished Scots 
 who were neither Ministers nor Lords. And 
 the Amity between the Courts of London and 
 Edinburgh required that the English authorities 
 should give no open countenance to those who 
 passed backward and forward between the exiles 
 and their friends in Scotland. 
 
 Moreover, in order to reach Berwick, we had 
 to pass Alexander Home of Manderston, who 
 watched for little ships as a spider watches for 
 flies, and but lately had taken a boat belonging 
 to the Earl of Angus cominc from Tantallon to
 
 Berwick. Nevertheless did we clear out from 
 the Fastcastle amid great noise from the fowls 
 upon the ci'ag and witli a bow to the keeper of 
 the place. Then turning our backs to the Law 
 of North Berwick and the Bass Ilociv — it was a 
 clear morning, and I saw both very plainly — we 
 made for l>erwick. There I found those who 
 had interest enough to pass me unnoticed through 
 the English posts, and to furnish me so effectu- 
 ally with what I required that early next morn- 
 ing, accompanied by David Carryg and another 
 named John Sloan, I rode past the tennis-court 
 to the north of Ilolyroodhouse, and into Edin- 
 burgh by the Watergate, marking the time on 
 the horologe in the King's Garden to be six 
 hours. And so, once more, after long years, was 
 I within thy walls, O most beautiful and most 
 filthy of cities ! where the butchers hang out 
 upon the street the hides of the meat they have 
 killed, where the kennel runs with the garbage 
 of vegetables and all manner of refuse, and the 
 blood of last night's brawl lies damp upon the 
 causeway. Yet, for all thy dirty face, I would 
 not have been elsewhere ; and so hungry was I 
 that I could almost have eaten the landlord of 
 Eobertson's Inns.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 I CAKED little for the scuffle on the pier-head 
 at the Fastcastle, but the reception I met with 
 in Edinburgh fairly took me aback. I came 
 home in the belief that — it might be quietly and 
 not officially — some honorable service would be 
 required of me, and before I had been three 
 hours in Edinburgh I was served with a per- 
 emptory notice to appear before the Council at 
 eleven o'clock. 
 
 I had dressed myself with care, purposing to 
 seek out the lodging of the Colonel Stewart, 
 whom his Highness greatly affected at this time, 
 so that the messenger of the Council had the 
 benefit of my brigandine jacket with its facings 
 of velvet and silk, which was lined in the inside 
 with steel scales. He beheld, moreover, my 
 hose, which lay loose round the hips, and fitting 
 tight to the knees, were tied below with bows. 
 Ilis notice, however, caused me at once to forget 
 these little vanities, for I marvelled at it not a 
 little. But when the messenger had gone, my 
 host, who was better acquainted with his office
 
 11 
 
 than I was, inquired in a whisper whether I was 
 for Antichrist or Mr. Andrew Melvill. 
 
 " Saunders," says I, " why think you that the 
 Council would only stretch forth its hand against 
 the followers of these two ?" 
 
 " I think so because there is nothing so peril- 
 ous as religion. Eh ! man — may God forgie me ! 
 — but I could drive a grand trade in this sinful 
 auld toun if it werena for religion. It's swarm- 
 ing wi' men wi' maisters, and — what's waur — 
 men wanting maisters; but a body canna get 
 peace to entertain them." 
 
 " What do you mean, man?" 
 
 " Weel, sir, I'm speaking not of my own re- 
 ligious opeenions, which are sound enough, but 
 of those of other folk. There are plenty of 
 loons in this toun with faces long enough to 
 turn a cup of ale sour, who would put the 
 Bailie of the ward on to me for harboring you — 
 alwaj's supposing you were a Papist. And al- 
 though the Bailie liath prosecuted no man these 
 ten years — as ye can see by the state of the 
 causeway — he would have to move against me. 
 I would maybe be finit, or deprivit of my license 
 to import wines from Bordeaux or Oporto. Or 
 if they were mindit to carry things Avith a high 
 hand, I might be cast into the Thieves' Hole for 
 a twalmonth, and booted before I would win out.''
 
 12 
 
 " Aye ; and if I were for Mr. Andrew ?" 
 
 To my surprise Saunders made no reply to 
 this, but looked moodily on the ground, as if he 
 had heard not. On my repeating the question 
 he tried out of courtesy to his guest to smile, but 
 it was a wan, foolish, sickly smile, and he looked 
 again upon the ground. At last he said, with 
 some earnestness : " Ye'd maybe not notice that 
 ye're summoned for eleven o'clock, whereas it's 
 weel kenned that the Council rises at eleven, 
 and does not sit again till two in the afternoon. 
 l^ow if ye are a friend of Mr. Andrew's I would 
 beseech ye to have 3"our horses saddled at once 
 and brought to the foot of my garden. Ye could 
 go by the Back of the Canongate, through the 
 Kirk-of-Field Port, to the fields, and a few hours' 
 ride would bring ye to the wild Earl of Both- 
 w^ell's country." 
 
 "No, Saunders, I shall bide my chance. I 
 mean not to cut or burn for either Mr. Andrew 
 or Archbishop Adamson." 
 
 "It's easy seen," grumbled Saunders, "that 
 ye ken naething about this country that speir at 
 me that gate, and flee at my nose when I answer 
 ye. Dinna ye ken that the Earl of Arran, him 
 that was Captain James Stewart, holds the sway 
 down yonder?" (Here he w^aved his hand com- 
 prehensively towards the east.) "There is nane
 
 13 
 
 to say Nay to him if it be not his brother, the 
 Colonel. They say the Colonel is very inward 
 with his Highness. It seems but yesterday that 
 the Earl made his peace with the Kirk and Avent 
 regularl}'' to the sermon, very humble in appear- 
 ance and devout. There was to be an end of 
 the feud between the Kirk and the Council, but 
 it a' ended in smoke. One fine morning it was 
 fund that the Ministers — them as were imco 
 guid, or, as ye might term them, Puritans — had 
 gone south on very urgent business, and to this 
 day they are going to and fro upon the face of 
 England seeking rest for the soles of their feet." 
 This was not news to me. The King, who 
 was but a lad eighteen years of age, was said to 
 be ruled by the Earl of Arran. This so-called 
 Earl, by name James Stewart, was a younger 
 son of his house, who, having spent some time 
 as a soldier of fortune in Sweden and the Low 
 Countries, came home and rose into great favor 
 with the King. By some fantastic claim he dis- 
 possessed the Hamiltons of the earldom of Arran, 
 and gatliered to himself I know not what offices 
 of trust and value. If my memory fails me not, 
 he was at this time High Chancellor, Governor 
 of Edinburgh and Stirling Castles, Provost of 
 Edinburgh, Captain of the Guard, President of 
 the Council, and Lieutenant-general of Scotland.
 
 14 
 
 Sucli distinctions are not in my country gathered 
 by a mushroom nobleman without interfering 
 with other folk ; so it came about that there 
 were sundry factions eating out their hearts in 
 England and waiting for a chance to end the 
 sway, or the life, of Captain James — that is to 
 say, the factions of the Ilamiltons and Douglases, 
 the Ruthven Lords, as the}^ were called, and the 
 Presbyterian Ministers, who styled themselves 
 sometimes the Kirk and sometimes the Saints of 
 God. These, packing up their feuds, made a 
 combination so strong that the Earl of Arran 
 was constrained to pray for the help of the Queen 
 of England or the King of France. But none 
 could say from which quarter the help might 
 come ; and inasmuch as one of those monarchs 
 was a Roman and the other of the Reformed 
 Religion the choice of Popery or Presbytery 
 seemed for the moment to hang upon a throw 
 of the dice. 
 
 Now the Earl had, as I have said, a brother 
 who was known to all Scotland as the Colonel 
 or Coronall. Some called him the Crownal. 
 And I, having dressed myself with great care, 
 was about to go in search of the lodging of this 
 same Colonel when Saunders Robertson inter- 
 rupted me. I knew him for a true Scot and a 
 good soldier, and 1 doubted not that for old ac-
 
 quaintance he would lind for me at least a formal 
 introduction to the Court. l>ut ho knew not 
 Avhy I had come into Scotland, nor did I design 
 to tell him ; and that for two reasons. The 
 Colonel had taken to affairs of State, and it be- 
 hooved him to " run a course," as they say, which 
 might be his brother's, and Avould probably not 
 be mine. In the second place, I had not much 
 to tell, for I had trusted rather to the weight of 
 those who sought me than to the information 
 they gave. In short, it was thought that, if it 
 were known at whose motion I came, the pur- 
 pose of my coming would be defeated ; and as to 
 that purpose, I should be the less embarrassed in 
 concealing it if it were not intrusted to me until 
 my arrival. My instructions, therefore, were to 
 seek an independent entry to the Court, and 
 await the occasion of my friends. 
 
 And now, as it seemed, I Avas to be intro- 
 duced to the Court in a character I had scarce 
 looked for. So, perceiving that I had been taken 
 seriously in suspicion by some, I exchanged the 
 brigandine jacket I was Avearing for a stout steel 
 corselet, and sallied forth with my two rascals at 
 my heels. 
 
 I left these latter in the western court of 
 Holyroodhouse, and gave uj) ni}' sword to the 
 oihcer of the guard — for such was the custom at
 
 16 
 
 this dangerous moment. I was then carried to 
 the southeastern corner of the second court, and 
 caused to ascend a turnpike stair which led from 
 this point to the first floor. Thence I traversed 
 a passage of some length, and, going through an 
 apartment in which certain idle persons were 
 lounging about, I was brought into a chamber, 
 the windows of which gave both to the north 
 and south. 
 
 In this chamber there w^ere five or six persons. 
 One sat at a table writing, while another stood 
 beside him looking over his shoulder. A third, a 
 younger man, walked or lounged about the room, 
 and the rest — one of whom I recognized for Colo- 
 nel Stewart — stood about the fireplace. All 
 wore the dress then in vogue at the Court of 
 King James, the hose being deeply padded across 
 the loins and hips. There was an absence of 
 bright colors, and these men clearly wore their 
 dress — which was rich enough — for use and not 
 for show ; that of him wdio perambulated the 
 room bore the signs of wear. Indeed, I might at 
 first have taken this man for a Court servitor, 
 but there was something- which forbade that. 
 
 Nobody spoke, nobody looked up when we en- 
 tered ; not the slightest notice was taken of us. 
 
 " Sir," said I, nfter some small space, to the 
 Groom of the Chamber, wJio stood beside me, "I
 
 17 
 
 was summoned to appear before the Council. This 
 is not tlie Council-chamber. Are these erentle- 
 men of the Council? This is not well, sir." 
 
 '"Silence!" he whispered, " the King has de- 
 sired to see you himself." 
 
 " By all means the King ; take me to the King. 
 The King, sir — I would see the King." I sup- 
 pose I spoke loudly, for a deep, measured voice 
 from behind answered : 
 
 " Ilauld your tongue, ye blethering bull. It 
 becomes ye not to make so free with j'^on name 
 in our presence. Pericles " (he continued to the 
 man who was writing at the table), " who is the 
 chiel ? Who the deil is he ?" 
 
 " It is Captain Eviot, sir, who was summoned 
 before the Council for returning home without 
 the permission of your Highness and the Coun- 
 cil." 
 
 " Never mind the Council," replied the young 
 man, collapsing into the arm-chair at the head of 
 the table ; " give me the notice." 
 
 Having obtained the notice and glanced 
 through it, he tore it into fragments, which he 
 flung into a box provided for rejected supplica- 
 tions and the like idle and unprofitable literature. 
 Then placing his elbows on the table, he leaned 
 his chin on his hands, and with large, dull, lack- 
 lustre eyes looked straight into my face. Where-
 
 18 
 
 upon I made a low obeisance to him, for by this 
 time I saw he was the King; but he continued 
 to stare moodily at me. I had begun to grow 
 weary and almost to forget his presence, when 
 he said, abruptly : 
 
 " What made ye come home, Andrew V 
 
 I looked in vain for a twinkle in his eye or 
 signal of secret intelligence. This young old 
 man was master of himself as well as of many 
 other persons. 
 
 " Sir," I said, " I had served ten years in for- 
 eign lands, and I was wearying to see my native 
 Prince and my native country." 
 
 " That is weel said, and I am fain to hear it 
 said in the vulgar tongue. But this zeal for your 
 native Prince must be something mature by this 
 time, for it is now six sorrowful years since we 
 took upon us the burden of this realm. Why did 
 ye not ask our leave to return ?" 
 
 " I had come sooner, sir, but I might not run 
 from my colors. As for my coming back, I had 
 license to go abroad for ten years, and I knew 
 not that, by the law of Scotland, I required any 
 license to return." 
 
 " Aye ; are ye there with your law ? As ye 
 appeal unto Ceesar, maybe Cfesar — being for the 
 time our Lord Justice-Clerk — ^will answer ye. 
 What say you, Caesar ?"
 
 19 
 
 " Your Highness will remember," said he who 
 stood by the table, " that some stringent order 
 was taken in view of the prevalence of the 
 Pest." 
 
 " The Pest, to be sure !" cried the King, fid- 
 geting in his chair ; " maybe he has it on him. 
 Speak, man ; are ye clengit, piirgit of the infec- 
 tion ? Know ye not that all men are dischargit 
 from approaching our person at this time with- 
 out sufficient testimonial of health ?" 
 
 "I have such testimonial from the burgomas- 
 ter of Ghent, and I am here by the order of your 
 Ilighness's Council. 
 
 Upon this he who sat writing at the table 
 broke in, saying that the Council had been con- 
 strained to pass stringent orders on account of 
 the return of expatriated Scotsmen, especially of 
 Scottish Archers of the Guard, to Fastcastle, 
 and of the many plots and attempts made of 
 late upon the lives of illustrious persons. 
 
 " Small need to remind us of that," said the 
 King, as he wriggled out of his chair, and fell to 
 walking about the room, talking — as it seemed — 
 as much to himself as anybody else. " Twa Re- 
 gents violently and treasonably slain in this 
 countr}^ not to speak of our own father mur- 
 dered in his bed, within sight of this our palace. 
 Then it was but the other day that William the
 
 20 
 
 Silent, as they called him — he's silent enough 
 now, poor man ! — had three drops of lead put 
 through him by a common messenger fellow 
 with a Bible under his oxter. 
 
 " Ye can judge, Captain Andrew, what manner 
 of times we live in here when we behoove to 
 Avear a bolster like this" (here he indicated the 
 puffed padding of his hose) "about our royal 
 loins, all to escape six inches of cruel steel in the 
 wame. Yet we think not that there are any of 
 Scottish blood who would lay hands, with bloody 
 mind, upon our person — except — it might be — " 
 
 "Mr. Andrew Melvill," said the person who 
 was writing at the table ; the others, who were 
 now standing by the King's chair, smiled as men 
 scarce daring to laugh. 
 
 " Aye," resumed the King ; " Mr. Andrew 
 would like to do it, but his religion will not let 
 him. So there is one article of religion upon 
 which he and I agree. But as to the orders of 
 Council, they are mair for the protection of the 
 latent monarchs among you, my Lords, than for 
 ourselves — for I ken that there are Jacobi Septimi 
 among ye. Weel, as it is your affair, what say 
 ye I should make of this Capitanus Redux V 
 
 The man at the table said "Blackness"; the 
 Justice-Clerk suggested Stirling ; a third, whom 
 I afterwards knew to be Lord Rothes, said that
 
 21 
 
 the Arx Ejriscojn at St. Andrews was the only 
 safe place for a man not purged of treason or the 
 Pest. There was some laughter at this, in which 
 the King joined not, tiiough I know not why. 
 The Colonel said nothing. 
 
 " Na, na," said the King, shaking his head ; " it 
 is weel kenned that, for a man of mean sub- 
 stance, confinement in one of our fortresses 
 means ruin ; and if we were to dispose him upon 
 the Archbishop, he would hardly escape from 
 St. Andrews with the skin upon his back. Cap- 
 tain Andrew," he added, addressing me, " we like 
 not this peremptory return of yours, this enter- 
 ing at both our front and back doors without so 
 much as crying Here I am', it partaketh too 
 much of the appearance of force. It is there- 
 fore our wish that, until we are further informed 
 of the occasion of your return to this realm, you 
 retire yourself benorth the Forth within twenty- 
 four hours. You will reside at the Castle of 
 Euthven, in Strathearn, with which we are weel, 
 Ave might say ower weel, acquaint ; and there 
 you Avill be entertained by our Chancellor, the 
 Earl of Arran, into whose hands the castle has 
 been rendered for the moment. You will not be 
 restrained in respect of your liberty, except that 
 you will not pass two nights in succession away 
 from your place of ward."
 
 23 
 
 I confess this sentence crushed me for the mo- 
 ment, and I walked back to ray lodging scarce 
 conscious of the passers-by. Neglect I had 
 looked for, and oven hostility in certain quar- 
 ters , but to be coldly ignored and packed off 
 like a vagabond beadsman by the man whose 
 name had been used to draw me home — was not 
 this overmuch ? I, who had lived a life of action 
 and excitement, to rot and rust in a countr}^ 
 tower in the company of husbandmen and occa- 
 sional jackmen ! For a moment I regretted that 
 I had not spoken out plainly, both as to my re- 
 turn to Scotland and the incident at Fastcastle ; 
 but on reflection I saw that it would have been 
 foll}^ to do otherwise than I did. Perhaps there 
 was a meaning in it which I could not see, and 
 if I sulked I might miss my chance, if it came. 
 So I struggled to possess myself, and to watch 
 and wait. 
 
 I was followed to my lodging by the Colonel, 
 who shook me warmly by the hand, and told me 
 not to be cast down by the inhospitable recep- 
 tion I had met with. He took me into the gar- 
 den at the back of the lodging, and spoke to me 
 with much earnestness ; but I was on ray guard 
 with him. His visit surprised me, for I knew it 
 was unusual for a courtier to show kindness or 
 cordiality to one who had, even in a trifling
 
 23 
 
 matter, offended the Court. And this was the 
 second thing which made me think that my pres- 
 ence was understood by somebody, and tliat it 
 was thought worthy of attention. 
 
 " Captain Andrew," said he, " I came to you 
 because you are a stranger to the Avays of this 
 Court. Here is a copy of the order in your 
 case, signed by the King. The country is in a 
 disturbed state, and furious searches are being 
 made for men, especially in Fife and Strathearn. 
 You may find it convenient to have that about 
 you. Then you will be wise to leave Edinburgh 
 at once. You need not attempt to go by Stir- 
 ling, for my good brother James has closed the 
 Brig. The Queensferry is a little too near to 
 Kinneil for you ; and, besides, on account of the 
 Plague, the ferry-boats are everywhere forbidden 
 to cross, except those plying between Leith and 
 Kingorn." 
 
 " You seem," said I, " to think that my Lord 
 of Arran has some grudge against me. That 
 can scarce be, for I have never crossed his path." 
 
 " If there is anything," replied he, with some 
 evasion, " which you can tell mc in confidence 
 about your return to Scotland, I might be of 
 some real service to you, I stand well with his 
 Highness, and should stand better still but for 
 James. James is my brother, but he is a rascal.
 
 24 
 
 and his wife is — well, he will pinch you between 
 his finger and thumb — so — like a fly, for a mere 
 suspicion. But he will first try to win you, and 
 if he fails in that look to yourself. I should be 
 sorry to see you side with him. Ilis motto is, 
 ' Scotland for Captain James Stewart, and after 
 hira the devil.' I am for Scotland for the Scots, 
 and in particular for Colonel William Stewart. 
 James has not treated me fairly. His last ex- 
 ploit was to deprive rae of the wardship of 
 George Uchiltrie's lass, which the King had 
 promised me ; but we have not seen the end of 
 that yet. Now, Eviot, I will travel for you 
 with his Highness, if you wish it ; and if you 
 should ever be in a position to assist me, I shall 
 look with assurance for your help." 
 
 All this was said with so simple and kindly 
 an air that I would gladly have taken this val- 
 iant gentleman into my confidence. But that 
 was not in the game, and I was not the man to 
 turn my cloak. Moreover, he spoke so mean- 
 ingly that I failed not to see that he invited an 
 explanation. Why? There was something be- 
 hind this to which I could not as yet reach. So 
 I tlianked him warmly for his kindness, and told 
 him that I was always at his service ; but that 
 in terms so general that he went not away con- 
 tent.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 At this time the common passages across the 
 Forth were, with one exception, forbidden, the 
 Plague of Pestilence having appeared in Fife, 
 being brought, as was said, by a collier to the 
 Wester Wemyss. I therefore crossed by the 
 ship Jonas of Leith to Pettycur, a small haven 
 beside the town of Kingorn. Two Englishmen, 
 most merry fellows, rode thence with me as far 
 as Kinross. But afterwards I had reason to 
 think that they rode rather for their own edifi- 
 cation than mine, for I learned that they had 
 haunted Kingorn for some time, and Avere be- 
 lieved to be in the pay of Mr. Edward Wotton, 
 then the Queen of England's Ambassador in 
 Scotland. 
 
 A man of my Lord of xVrran's also came with 
 me, on the pretext of showing me the way, but, 
 as I thought, that he might spy upon me; for 
 both then and after I had much ado to escape 
 his presence. I resented this attention all the 
 more because of his countenance, whicli made 
 men almost doubt the kindness of Almiohtv
 
 26 
 
 God. His features were naturally so villanous 
 and mean that no one born with the like might 
 either be, or pass for, an honest man. His hair 
 was of the rusty red ascribed to Iscariot, and 
 therefore I would fain have called him Judas. 
 Among his fellows he was Red Rynian, or Rusty 
 Rynian; and as he came from the Debatable 
 Ground, he may have been one of Dick the 
 Devil's bairns. But I was content to call him 
 Barabbas ; and although he did once observe 
 that his name was Rynian, he dropped the sub- 
 ject when I told him of my preference. 
 
 We were stopped on Kinross Moor by a party 
 of twenty lances belonging to the Earl of Craw- 
 ford, but not detained. At Kinross were many 
 great wagons carrying timber, slates, and lime 
 to the King's palace at Falkland ; the wagoners 
 but little content, although the King had prom- 
 ised, in 'verho Prinpipis^ to be grateful for their 
 service. We saw also many sturdy beggars, idle 
 persons, sickly bodies, and of those who will not 
 work. So by way of Millsforth we passed into 
 Strathearn, crossing the water of Earn by the 
 Brig of that name, and not long after making 
 the Castle of Ruthven. 
 
 This place is at no great distance from St. 
 Johnston. The water of Almond running here 
 through a flat basin, a spur or knowe juts out
 
 27 
 
 into the flat from the ridge to the south of the 
 water, and on that knowe stands tlie Castle of 
 Ruthven within a Avail, marvellously secure. 
 
 It consisted then of two blocks, besides a num- 
 ber of out-buildings. The eastern, and doubtless 
 most ancient, part was a square or oblong keep 
 of four storys, Avhich communicated by means of 
 a turnpike, or newel, staircase, in the northwest- 
 ern corner of the building. On the upper part 
 of this tower was the apartment assigned to me. 
 The western wing was a later and entirely dis- 
 tinct building, standing at some paces distance 
 from the old keep, and was occupied by persons 
 concerned with the management of the estate. 
 The late Earl of Gowrie having been executed 
 for treason in 15S3, his Countess and children 
 were compelled to surrender the whole of his 
 possessions — and among other things this Castle 
 of Ruthven, which for the tjme was placed in 
 the Earl of Arran's hands. 
 
 I had been a fortnight or so in this dreary 
 place when I made a discovery I might have 
 made much sooner if I had cared to be inquisi- 
 tive. But as I suspected that some manner of 
 watch would be kept on me, I took care that no 
 curiosity should be shown by my men or myself, 
 and spent most of the time in hunting and hawk- 
 in"" at a distance from the house. The monoto-
 
 28 
 
 ny of this life began to pall on me, and I took 
 to remaining more about the castle, having it in 
 my mind to ride to Falkland and make a per- 
 sonal appeal to the King, if I could but win a 
 reservation of his ear. 
 
 It happened about this time that a snatch of a 
 song I had heard, I know not where, began — as 
 men say — to run in my head. There was a 
 cursed catch m it. Although I tried to drive it 
 from me, it met me at every corner : it caught 
 me on the hills ; it wakened me in the morn- 
 ing ; it was the last thing I knew before I 
 slept. 
 
 I cudgelled my brain in order to call to mind 
 where I had heard it, but to no purpose. Some 
 of the words came back to me, and at times I 
 found myself singing it. 
 
 One afternoon, as the sun was cooling tow- 
 ards the horizon, I had gone to my room, which, 
 as I have said, was on the top of the eastern 
 keep. There was a door or window in the room 
 opening on to the parapet, and facing towards 
 the subsidiary or western part of the castle. As 
 I was looking over my wardrobe, I fell into this 
 song which, though plaintive and catching, I 
 had begun to curse in silence and aloud. " Ten 
 fathom deep," I sang; for a bar or two I had 
 not the words ; then the end came thus —
 
 29 
 
 "Better to be loose and living 
 Upon the sea 
 Than bide with me" — 
 
 whereupon, to my great astonishment, the last 
 t^vo bars were returned to me by a woman's 
 voice from the Avestern block of the castle, with 
 this difference, that the words ran thus : 
 
 ' ' Upon the sea 
 Alone with me." 
 
 I ran out at once to the parapet ; but although I 
 lingered on the spot for a long time to find some 
 sign of the songstress, I had no success. I heard 
 nothing and saw nothing, and I spent the night 
 in cursing my folly for not divining that I had 
 in all possibility been sent to this castle with a 
 purpose. 
 
 I was up betimes the following morning, and, 
 resolved to provide myself first with a bird's-eye 
 view of the country and the neighboring build- 
 ings, I climbed on to the roof of the keep, conceal- 
 ing myself as well as I could behind the projection 
 of the window, so as not to attract the attention 
 of any one in the fields. I saw but little for m}'- 
 pains that T had not seen before. One thing, how- 
 ever, I did notice. To the south and west of the 
 castle lay a garden or pleasure-ground which was 
 compassed by a high wall. There were two
 
 30 
 
 doors in the wall, but these were kept locked, 
 because — as I was told — the garden was reserved 
 for the ground steward, who lodged in the west 
 wing, and he gained access to it b}^ means of a 
 flight of steps from the first floor. The matter 
 had not interested me, but now for the first time 
 I could look into a part of the garden I had not 
 seen before. To the sight there was nobody in it ; 
 but the sun was still low in the sky, and from 
 time to time a long shadow wavered across the 
 far wall. 
 
 And I watched not this shadow in vain, for 
 ere many minutes had passed the shadow was 
 followed into view by the substance. As God 
 shall judge me, a lady in the Castle of Ruthven ! 
 Young and tall, w^ith a beaver hat and a feather 
 to it, walking to and fro with as much pride as 
 if the place belonged to her, and carrying in the 
 one hand a French book, and in the other a fan 
 and a pair of embroidered gloves. And a strange 
 pleasure she seemed to find in her black satin 
 gown with its silver lace laid over. 
 
 " Now, Andrew, or never," I said to myself, 
 hurrying as fast as I could with decency down 
 the turnpike stair. I contrived to reach the back 
 of the garden without being observed, where I 
 found that the wall was not to be scaled without 
 difficulty ; but by cutting out the mortar with
 
 '.n 
 
 my dagger, and using a fallen branch to mount 
 with, I scrambled on to the top, and flung my- 
 self hastily on to the grass within. As it 
 chanced, the girl was but a pace or two from the 
 spot where I fell, and I looked that this violent 
 arrival of an armed stranger — for the fall was 
 full twelve feet — would scare her. I feared she 
 might cry out, or run towards the house. But 
 she simply glanced at me — contemptuously, I 
 thought — stooping as if to rescue her dress 
 from some imaginarj' mud or obstruction on the 
 path, and, almost before I recovered my balance, 
 said : 
 
 " Well, sir, you have come at last ; you have 
 been a long time about it." 
 
 " Come at last !" I gasped, with astonishment ; 
 "and pray, mistress, why should I come at all?" 
 
 " Because I am here, sir!" she retorted, tapping 
 the ground with her foot. Here, thought I, is 
 an original who will forgive the fashion of my 
 introduction, but she will be all the more difficult 
 for that. Those strongly marked black eye- 
 brows, and the quick eyes, which had the look 
 of being fully as black, belonged to no sickly 
 girl in her nonage. 
 
 " Young lady, Avhat 3^ou say is beyond dispute; 
 but how knew you I would come ?" 
 
 " Because I am here, sir ! How often would
 
 32 
 
 j'^ou have me say it ? Did you tliink I did not 
 see you sitting, as you were glued to the roof of 
 the keep, and gazing abroad like a moon-calf ? 
 Did you expect me to call out to you, ' My pretty 
 man, Jean Uchiltrie is waiting for j^ou in the 
 Beech AValk'?" 
 
 " Nay ; I know not how you could see me. 
 My eyes are sharp, yet could I not see you." 
 
 " If your eyes had not been as dull as your 
 wits you would have seen a musket-hole in the 
 wall facing you, and you would have known that 
 I saw you through that." 
 
 " I could not think that weapons so deadly as 
 Jean Uchiltrie's eyes were levelled on me through 
 a common musket-hole. But Jean Uchiltrie will 
 confess that I kept her waiting at most but half 
 an hour." 
 
 "Half an hour too much, if it were half an 
 hour ; but it happens to be a fortnight and four 
 days." 
 
 " Indeed," I pi'otested, "• I came hither many 
 long days ago ; but it is one brief half-hour since 
 I saw you." 
 
 " What !" she exclaimed ; " is it possible that 
 you are not the noble captain who fell in love 
 with me at sight in Edinburgh, and when he 
 heard that T liad gone swore he would dash his 
 brains out or be after me? Eo? Nor the Con-
 
 33 
 
 stable of Dundee's son, -who left a wife and 
 six children, so they told me, in Stirlin^^, to 
 ride after me along the King's lioad to Dun- 
 blane?" 
 
 " 'Nor am I he," I said, ruefully, although I 
 suspected that this outburst was meant to cover 
 the disappointment of some other hope my pres- 
 ence had raised. " I saw you for the first time 
 a few minutes ago ; but, having seen, I would 
 follow you, not from Edinburgh — which is no 
 great distance — but from the bounds of the 
 earth." 
 
 " Get you gone, sir ; to the bounds of the earth, 
 if you will. I see that I misknew you. I sup- 
 pose you are simply one of my jailers, though if 
 you are I cannot think why you should scramble 
 over the wall and fall at my feet like a sack of 
 pease instead of coming in by the door. 
 
 " No?" she continued ; " well, I am marvellous 
 sorry. You are " (turning round and pretending 
 to look at me critically) " not amiss. Your cloak 
 might have been made at Paris. Ah ! it was ? 
 Then you look strong — and I am for men who 
 can beat each other to pieces with broadswords. 
 That's a man's sport. I care not for that narrow 
 blade you carry ; to fight with the ])oint of a 
 needle is a game for women. Yes ; I'm sorry 
 you arc not to be my jailer, for you are a bit of
 
 34 
 
 a fool, and would have amused me, I dare say, 
 for a fortnight or so." 
 
 I say not this did not stir me, for no man — be 
 he as old as Methuselah and as ugly as sin — likes 
 to be despitefully entreated by a young and 
 comely woman. Tarry a space, my young lady, 
 said I to myself, and I will see whether I cannot 
 make you dance to another tune ; but to her I 
 said : 
 
 " Mistress Jean, you do both me and my sword 
 wrong, as you may find in time. I am no jailer, 
 Init a prisoner in this castle, even as you seem 
 to be. I confess I came to 3'our garden because, 
 as you would have it, you were here. And I 
 came over the wall like a sack of meal because 
 I would have heard from you whether I could 
 serve you in aught, whereas I should not have 
 gained entrance by the house." 
 
 " How should I know that ?" Then, in that 
 tone of mocking levity which I found this strange 
 girl to adopt when she was most serious : " Yes, 
 there is one thing I will allow you to do for me. 
 You shall teach me that charming ballad you 
 were singing last night ; but on this condition, 
 that you tell me where you learned it." 
 
 " Was it ' The Man of Ballingry ' ? No ? Or 
 'Andrew Lambie'^ Ah! I know what you 
 mean " (and here I looked upon the ground in
 
 35 
 
 my perplexity). " I fear I cannot tell you that. 
 Perhaps it will come to me, but I cannot recall 
 now where I heard it." 
 
 " I knew it," she said, indignanth' ; " I was 
 sure of it. It was very smart of 3''ou, but I am 
 not to be taken in by a spy. And now that wo 
 understand each other, I shall walk from this part 
 of the garden where we are not seen to that part 
 where we shall be seen, and you may safely go 
 out by the door like a Christian." 
 
 " Nay ; if I were seen, steps would be taken to 
 prevent my coming here again, and as I purpose 
 to come again, I shall not follow you." 
 
 She was noAV moving away, but she turned, 
 gracefully and coquettishly enough, I will admit, 
 to say : 
 
 " Good-bye, Mr, Spy ; I should like to see you 
 leap the wall again." 
 
 There srew outside the ^^arden wall a beech of 
 gigantic proportions, which had much renown in 
 the district under the name of the Mailer's Tree. 
 This ancient denizen of the Ruthven policies had 
 thrown one of his limbs over the wall and some 
 distance into the garden. Jumping up and seiz- 
 ing the branch at the lowest point which would 
 bear my Aveight, I drew myself along it hand 
 over hand until I could drop on to the wall ; and 
 haviuu' made a low obeisance to the ladv, who
 
 36 
 
 was kind enough to watch the exploit, I dropped 
 into the shrubbery. 
 
 Now I conceived not that I had come by the 
 worse in this passage of arms, because it sug- 
 gested some explanation to me. His Highness 
 was aware of ray coming to Scotland, but I could 
 not bring myself to believe that his Chancellor 
 was privy to it. An underhand attempt had 
 been made upon me at Fastcastle, as I believed 
 at the instigation of the Chancellor ; but he was 
 a man Avho did many violent things on suspicion. 
 Yet at first sight it was scarce to be explained 
 why his Highness, who had brought me home, 
 should consign me to the man from whom, above 
 all, he must wish to conceal his purpose. 
 
 I knew him, however, to be a very secret and 
 cunning man ; and it was jiossible that, in order 
 to lull the suspicions which his Chancellor seemed 
 to hold about me, he had held back from all com- 
 munication with me, and had committed me to a 
 castle in Arran's keeping. What if, in appear- 
 ing to humor the Chancellor, he had sent me to 
 the very place he all along meant to despatch me 
 to ? What if the secret lay in this castle ? I bit 
 my lips with vexation to think that this was all 
 surmise, and that I had neither information nor 
 instructions.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Well, I knew that if anybody could tell me 
 what was going on in liuthven Castle that man 
 lived in Perth, and was the minister of Tibber- 
 mure. For the ministry knew not only the scan- 
 dal of the ale-house and the barber's shop, but a 
 good deal more, and some of the worthy men 
 spent the greater portion of their time in inves- 
 tigating the private misdeeds of their flocks. 
 Never did priest, with the mark of the Beast 
 upon him, ride the people so hard. Master Pat- 
 rick Murray, though he had no great stomach 
 for this work, knew all that went on in his par- 
 ish, for there were sundry who would not suffer 
 him to be ignorant. 
 
 From him I learned — for I had the means to 
 make him speak — that the Earl of Arran was 
 both hated and feared by the ministry and the 
 people, and that very little was required to make 
 the whole country rise against him. The peo- 
 ple hated him for the execution of the Earl of 
 Gowi'ie, and the Kirk for the persecution it en- 
 dured at his hands. When the harvest failed,
 
 and the infection of Plague grew very sore, men 
 knew tliat 2uy Lord of Arran was without ex- 
 cuse and past praying for. 
 
 As for the young lady kept close at Ruthven, 
 she was the daughter of George Uchiltrie, of 
 l^ewton, who had been very great with the Re- 
 gent ]\[orton. Rightly or wrongly, all men be- 
 lieved that the Regent had made great secret 
 hoards of treasure, and that George Uchiltrie 
 knew where they were. So, when the Regent 
 was beheaded, Uchiltrie was booted by the or- 
 ders of Captain James Stewart, otherwise the 
 Earl of Arran, albeit without any shadow of 
 law. But whether it was that the popular voice 
 was wrong, and the Regent had no secret 
 hoards, George Uchiltrie said never a word. 
 The Raid of Ruthven then put the Earl of Ar- 
 ran from Court for a time, but he came back — 
 and the day arrived when the Laird of Newton 
 simply disappeared from the face of God's earth. 
 He was riding home from the Queensferry when 
 he had word that the passes through the hills 
 were beset for him. lie then attempted to cross 
 from Alva to Blackford, a wild road, and rough 
 for horses. As his party skirted the shoulder of 
 Benbuck he found that they were pursued, and, 
 directing them to continue on their way, he 
 turned himself some other gate. From that day
 
 :!'j 
 
 nothing had been heard either of him or liis 
 horse, and most had given liini up for dead — in- 
 deed, there could be no reasonable doubt that he 
 was dead. 
 
 Thereupon there had been a great rivalry be- 
 tween the Earl of Arran and his brother the 
 Colonel for the wardship of George Uchiltrie's 
 daughter, Xobody knew how the matter stood, 
 although the Earl and Countess had carried the 
 gii'l about with them to Edinburgh and Kinneil ; 
 but lately, for what reason was not known, she 
 had been sent to Ruthven, and in some manner 
 confined in the castle. 
 
 " And now," said the worthy Master Patrick, 
 " that I have answered j'our questions, I would 
 ask a favor of you in return." 
 
 " You may take it for granted," I replied ; 
 "what may it be?" 
 
 " Well, I would have you attend the sermon 
 at St. Serfs Chapel, which stands on the other 
 side of Almond, and tell me what you think 
 thereof. There came one hither no great time 
 ago of whom I would have assurance. The 
 brethren tell me that his ministrations at St, 
 Serf's smell of grace, but I mistrust me of him." 
 
 "What like is he, sir?" 
 
 "A fiery-faced, boastful-looking man." 
 
 " Callinir himself Mr. Peter AVilkie ?"
 
 40 
 
 " The very same ; but wlio he may trul}'- be 
 no one here knows." 
 
 " Well," said I, " I have seen your man. As I 
 rode through the Hilton of Mailer, on my ar- 
 rival in these parts from Edinburgh, I noticed 
 a person of ministerial appearance whose face 
 seemed familiar to me. So much was I struck 
 with him that I made inquiry, and w^as told that 
 he w^as Mr. Wilkie, of St. Serf's, a very power- 
 ful and sanctified 'veshel' when in the pulpit. 
 But though I know not the name of Wilkie, I 
 know the face of that man." 
 
 I had looked to be without the presence of 
 Barabbas on this occasion, for the Plague was 
 very sore in Perth, and the people of the neigh- 
 boring villages were shy of going into the town. 
 But I suppose the Fiend had so inoculated the 
 man with evil that he feared not a hundred 
 plagues, and I had to put up with his company. 
 I brought, of course, both of my own men wath 
 me, because the state of the country was such 
 that one with a plack piece in his pocket might 
 not go a mile unaccompanied without danger. 
 We had nearly reached the castle on our re- 
 turn wlicn, from one of those subtle channels of 
 inspiration Avhich the wit of man cannot fol- 
 low, I became aware that something was 
 amiss.
 
 41 
 
 I was roused from this uneasy feeling- by Ba- 
 rabbas, who, pressing past me without ceremony, 
 threw himself from his horse and ran towards 
 the door in the garden wall. This door had been 
 kept carefully closed since I came to the castle, 
 and had the appearance of not having been used 
 for some considerable time before that. It was 
 now open, and marvelling not less than Ijarab- 
 bas at the sight, I also leaped from my horse and 
 ran into the garden. Here was a state of things 
 which puzzled me. On one side Barabbas, hav- 
 ing his drawn sword in his hand, was pressing 
 matters with two men, who appeared to be more 
 anxious to drive him off than hurt him. On the 
 other hand were Jean Uchiltrio and her woman, 
 whom a cavalier booted and spurred Avas ad- 
 dressing in a resolute manner, but with a certain 
 amount of deference. The girl was listening 
 with a contemptuous air, but her woman seemed 
 to be quite unconcerned. 
 
 Isow I was not going to draw my sword for Ba- 
 rabbas, whose very face I loathed. Xor did I in- 
 tend to draw readily for the young lady who had 
 a few hours before called me a spy. So, walking 
 towards the latter group near enough to see and 
 hear what was being done, I stood by as one that 
 pauses at a street scene from idle curiosity. Two 
 things, however, I noted carefully — that the sun
 
 43 
 
 should be, and the open door of the garden should 
 not be, at my back. 
 
 " Madame," the cavalier was saying, " I have 
 treated you with all possible forbearance ; but if 
 you will persist in refusing to come, I must sum- 
 mon those who will not be so gentle." 
 
 " Summon them," said the girl, with a scornful 
 laugli ; " there are also those who will perhaps 
 not treat you as gently as I have." 
 
 I know not whether this was intended as an 
 appeal to me, but she looked in my direction, 
 and I returned the look as if I had no under- 
 standing of such meaning. Following her eyes, 
 my cavalier turned and saw me. 
 
 " Ah !" said he, " madame thinks that this gen- 
 tleman — May I ask, sir, what you do here ?" 
 
 " Have you any objection to my being here?" 
 I answered, with indolence, flicking the heads off 
 the go wans with my wand. 
 
 " None, so long as you keep your tongue and 
 your hands to yourself." 
 
 " Thank you. You will, however, allow me to 
 mind my own business. If not, I may be tempt- 
 ed to inquire into yours." 
 
 " Go pack, knave, or I shall take thee by the 
 nose !" he cried, angrily, thinking to bear me 
 down with great words. 
 
 " Not so, until I know whether it is this lady's
 
 43 
 
 wish to go with you or not. I had no intention, 
 wJicn I came in, of interfering with what seemed 
 not to concern me. But when an ill-bred cur is 
 not content to worry his bone in peace, but snarls 
 at me, I generally give him something for his 
 compliment." 
 
 Again he called upon me to stand from the 
 way, and reaching forth his hand caught the girl 
 by the Avrist, in order to drag her towards the 
 gate. He had no sooner done this than I cut 
 him across the ear with the horse-wand which I 
 still carried. Knowing what this meant between 
 men accustomed to carry weapons in their hands, 
 I dropped my wand at once and drew my rapier, 
 making sure at the same time that my dagger 
 was loose. My man was nearly as quick. Coarse 
 Avretch that he was, he belonged to a class of men 
 who were ready with tlieir hands and knew no 
 fear. The stroke of the vrand had been severe, 
 but well I knew it was the indignity which galled 
 him. 
 
 Before one might have counted three, he had 
 dropped the girl's wrist, drawn his sword, and 
 sprung upon me. Like all men whose temper 
 becomes ungovernable, he thought to carrv off 
 the matter on the first intention — a thino- which 
 does sometimes come about, though not often. 
 Kow I had no mind to spare this man ; and,
 
 44 
 
 moreover, though I have heard men speak of 
 fighting on the defensive, I have never been able 
 to find any system of single combat with deadly 
 weapons which could be so called. But in truth 
 I have known men fight in such a manner that 
 success was impossible. So I stood firmly on my 
 feet, without budging an inch, and, parrying his 
 stroke, nipped him on the forearm before he 
 could recover. I was under this disadvantage, 
 that whereas I wore my corselet, he had on both 
 breastplate and back, and I was forced to play 
 with precision for the vulnerable points. 
 
 At an early point in the encounter I noticed — 
 as one will notice trifles at critical moments — a 
 vegetable, such as a leek, which had been dropped 
 on the grass and flattened by somebody's heeh 
 I shifted my ground in order to avoid this hazard 
 of the green ; but my adversary in his heat was 
 less cautious, and, after parrying with difficulty 
 a thrust which grazed the outside of his upper 
 arm, he stepped upon the leek, and fell all his 
 length upon his back. 
 
 As this Avas not a combat of honor, but an un- 
 warrantable attack upon myself, I thought at 
 first of putting my foot on his sword ; but a deep 
 guffaw from behind telling me that Carryg had 
 come in, it seemed that I needed not to put my- 
 self to the trouble. The two fellows who had
 
 45 
 
 beset Barabbas left him when they found that 
 their master was engaged with me, but the entry 
 of my men at the same moment had compelled 
 them to stand by -without interference. They 
 now set him upon his legs, for, having his armor 
 on, he had got something of a shock b}' his fall. 
 
 " May the devil burst me," he spluttered, '" if 
 I do not have the best blood in your body for 
 this !" 
 
 "Don't be a fool, man," I replied; "I found 
 you doing something ver}^ questionable in this 
 garden, for I take it you had no authority for 
 carrying ofT this ladj' ; and I must tell j^ou now 
 very plain]}" that, if you do not clear off at once, 
 both you and your men shall hang from yon 
 beech-tree within the hour. And an ugly sight 
 youll be." 
 
 " You have no right to ask for my authority," 
 he grumbled ; "but," he added, maliciously, "you 
 may read it for yourself, so long as you show it 
 not to others." He thereupon handed me a pa- 
 per, which I proceeded to glance at. It con- 
 tained authority to Eoger Algate to search all 
 apartments in Ruthven Castle, and, if necessary, 
 carry away with him such persons as he might 
 suspect of concealing from him certain jewels 
 wdiich had been stolen from the royal jewel-chest 
 in EcUnburgh Castle. The paper pui-ported to
 
 40 
 
 be signed by " Arran " ; but as it was j^lainly 
 written in the handwriting of a woman, I laughed 
 softly, and began to fold it up as if to return it. 
 
 '' Roger, Roger," I said, " I fear you are a very 
 sad and a very bad dog. I wouldn't prevent 
 3"our having a sweetheart on the other side of 
 the Tweed, but — ah, you rogue ! — you shouldn't 
 flourish about your mistress's love-letters as au- 
 thority for carrying decent women out of their 
 houses. Fie ! Roger." And tearing the paper 
 to pieces, I cast the fragments upon the wind, 
 w^hich carried them hither and thither, some 
 over the wall, and some into the trees and 
 bushes. 
 
 Thereupon methought Roger would have be- 
 taken him again to his sword ; but one cr3'ing to 
 us from the open gate to "have a bishop in," a 
 little laugh began among our rascals. A number 
 of countrymen coming from the fields, hearing 
 raised voices in the garden and seeing the gate 
 open, had peered in to spy what was going for- 
 Avard. There was not one of those men who had 
 not more or less knowledge of arms, and at sight 
 of them Roger knew that his venture had mis- 
 carried, and that if he did not go at once he 
 might not have the chance of going at all. 
 
 " For this," he said, with some spite, " you will 
 have to answer to one who will know how to
 
 47 
 
 deal with you. If you survive that, you will 
 have to reckon with me." 
 
 " Not again with you, Roger," I replied ; " next 
 time, if he pleases, another will amuse you, and 
 a pretty mess he will make of you." 
 
 Without further words he drew off with his 
 men. Once outside the garden he made for the 
 thicket which grows close by, followed by the 
 country people, who jeered and jested at his ex- 
 pense, lie had left two men in the thicket Avith 
 his horses, but as there were seven horses among 
 five men, it was reasonable to suppose that they 
 came with the fixed intention of carrying off 
 the girl and her woman. Their plan had been 
 good enough. They had been waiting this op- 
 portunity for some days in Methven "Wood, a 
 natural forest, which was allowed to ilourish for 
 the express purpose of harboring broken men, 
 common tiiieves, and traitors and vagabonds, 
 coming; both from the Highlands and Lowlands. 
 On my departure to visit the minister of Tibber- 
 mure, by means of a pretended summons from 
 Barabbas they drew off to Forteviot Kirk the 
 three or four men left at Iluthven. AVhcther by 
 first scaling the wall and removing the bolts, or 
 with the assistance of an accomplice inside, they 
 entered by the garden gate, and, proceeding to 
 the house, searched the whole of Jean Uchiltrie's
 
 48 
 
 apartments. But not finding what they wanted, 
 they came to the conclusion that she carried it 
 upon her person. 
 
 I had but too much cause to fear that this 
 raid, strange as it might seem, was instigated 
 on the part of the Earl of Arran. The Countess, 
 as everybody knew, had forced the king's jewel- 
 chest ; and, when Sir Kobert Melvill had the 
 locks altered, she had a new set of keys made 
 for her own use. Whether it was one of the 
 king's jewels or not, it was clear that something 
 of interest was missing, and that Jean Uchiltrie 
 was suspected. For Eoger and his men had 
 searched in sober earnest. He could not venture 
 to search the young lady in Euthven Castle ; 
 but there were places near at hand in the High- 
 land glens where that could be done without in- 
 convenience, and without the victim's knowing 
 at whose instance, or even where, it was done. 
 I have little doubt now that such was the inten- 
 tion, and that the unhappy girl had been sent to 
 Euthven because the place was convenient for 
 executing the scheme. For I afterwards learned 
 that at this time my Lord of Arran went for 
 some days upon a secret journey, and that it 
 was thought — although none knew — that he had 
 gone into the Highlands to buy the interest of 
 sonic of the chieis.
 
 49 
 
 In the meantime it occurred to me that, hav- 
 ing gained admission to the garden by the door, 
 I was not going to be expelled without knowing 
 the reason. Moreover, friend lioger's authority 
 had given me a clew to Mistress Jean's secret, 
 although she knew not what the paper con- 
 tained. So, begging a word in private, I pre- 
 vailed upon her to walk a few paces apart with 
 me. When out of hearing, I faced her, and, 
 looking her gravely in the face, said : 
 
 " Where is it r 
 
 " Where is what ? What do you mean ?" 
 
 " It is not necessary to say more — you under- 
 stand — what your friends, who were here just 
 now, were looking for." 
 
 "Looking for? It is true they turned every- 
 thing upsidedown in the house ; but that was 
 but a pretext for carrying off my woman and 
 myself. You know, Captain Eviot, such things 
 are done for less attractive merchandise than I 
 am." 
 
 "I am sorry," I said, seriously, "you should 
 take this tone with me. You know as well as I 
 do Avhat lloger Algate came to seek ; you know 
 who sent him ; you know that, failing to find 
 what he wanted, he was about to carry you off 
 to a place where you yourself might be searched. 
 You were entirely at his mercy but for my inter-
 
 50 
 
 ference, and now 3^ou den}^ to me what even the 
 knave himself admitted." I spoke at a venture, 
 but I knew that I was warm. 
 
 " Here's a pretty man !" cried she. " Cristine ! 
 here, Cristine, is one who swears we carry about 
 witli us I know not wliat, and has a mind to 
 search us himself, as I think." 
 
 "I can promise him a good clawing if he 
 begins," said Cristine. 
 
 " The man is crazed. I marvel who could 
 have possessed his brain with such maggots." 
 
 " Shall I tell you who ?" said I ; but giving no 
 answer to this, she walked off towards the house. 
 However, when she had reached the flight of 
 steps which led to the first floor, she left Cris- 
 tine, and, coming quickly back to me, said : 
 
 " Who told you this — this nonsense V 
 
 " You might have asked that a little sooner, 
 Mistress Jean. AVho told me? AVho but Ye 
 Ken Wha?" 
 
 " Ye Ken Wha?" she answered, irritably ; " oh 
 yes, Ye Ken Wha ; but if there be any such 
 person, what did he say ?" 
 
 " Mistress Jean, as you are pleased to mind 
 your own business, I am moved to mind mine, 
 though this may not be pleasing to the person I 
 have spoken of." 
 
 This I said because, althourrh I was what is
 
 51 
 
 called warm, 1 could not insist furLlier without 
 betraying my ignorance, and finally forfeiting 
 the confidence of this girl. 
 
 " Ah," she replied, " I had begun to be sorry 
 for what I said this morning, but now I fear I 
 was right. You seem to think you have obliged 
 me by driving off that wretched man. Who 
 told you that? Was it Ye Ken AVha? How 
 do you know that I prefer to be patronized by 
 you to being carried off by Eoger Algate? 
 And, pray, after all is said, what did you do for 
 me? It's easy fighting where your adversary 
 lies down on his back." 
 
 "Well, well, the next time I see you in the 
 clutches of lioger I will let you be." 
 
 " Nay, Captain Andrew, but you will do ex- 
 actly as I tell )"0U. Think you I know you not ? 
 Why " (and she spoke in a low voice, putting her 
 face close to mine), "you would sooner see the 
 little finger of Jean Uchiltrie than a regiment 
 of other women. But you ! What are you to 
 me?" And, snapping her fingers at me with 
 great contempt, she rejoined Cristine and en- 
 tered the house. 
 
 I laughed heartily at this, and said to myself 
 it was not so. And it was not.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 The following morning, being the day of the 
 weekly sermon, I betook myself, without much 
 hope of edification, to the chapel in which Mr. 
 Peter Wilkie ministered. For mj^self, I was of 
 the " Trew" Keligion," and did not wish to see 
 the order of Bishops revived in Scotland — so far 
 I was sound. My only quarrel with the Bishops 
 was that the Scots neither liked them nor needed 
 them. But the ordering of these matters had 
 fallen into the hands of Mr. Andrew Melvill, 
 who proved to be a " sair sanct " for the Kirk ; 
 because witli him began tlie hatred, malice, and 
 uncharitableness which lie between her and the 
 civil power to this day. 
 
 Mr. Andrew was a man of great learning and 
 abilities, and very upright in his walk and con- 
 versation ; but he was a fain and foolish man to 
 lead the Kirk, lie taught tlie ministry that the 
 order of Bishops was not only not meet, but un- 
 lawful according to the Scriptures, and dam- 
 nable ; and under his control the Kirk proceeded 
 to claim an interference in civil affairs which
 
 no system of government and no race of people 
 could tolerate. It portended a tyranny which 
 would have gone far beyond that of Rome. The 
 King, Avho was but a boy, though shrewd for his 
 years, saw the encroachments upon the civil 
 power, and retaliated with expedients which en- 
 dangered the liberties of the Kirk. Much injustice 
 has been done upon this head to my master ; for, 
 whatever may be the merits of our troubles now, 
 I do not doubt that he would then have given 
 the Kirk all that it could fairly ask. But the 
 demands made upon him were beyond all reason, 
 and they were put forward by Mr. Andrew and 
 his imitators of inferior mould with such terms 
 of insult and abuse as were not tolerable. Hence 
 he became suspicious ; nor do I believe that the 
 Kirk will recover what it has lost through these 
 worthy but unwise men for many years to come. 
 A sermon from Mr. Andrew Melvill was one 
 thing, the discourse of Mr. Peter "Wilkie another. 
 If Mr. Andrew was indiscreet, overbearing, and 
 unfair, his wit and learning were inexhaustible, 
 and he was full of fire. But Mr. Peter ? Well, 
 there were but a handful of men, there were no 
 young men, in his congregation; three-fourths 
 of those who attended the sermon were women. 
 Mr. Peter himself, a thick-necked, black-browed 
 man, I had no difficulty in recognizing as having
 
 54 
 
 been in one of our Scots companies at Ghent. I 
 had also seen him more recently at Edinburgh, 
 for my host of Robertson's Inus pointed to him, 
 and told me that some years before he had stood 
 in the pillory for four hours and was pelted by 
 the Kascal with rotten fish for saying Mass in the 
 Kowgate. But then he was no Peter Wilkie. 
 To what end he supplied this double character I 
 know not ; but that he continued it I do know, 
 for many 3^ears afterwards he was denounced by 
 proclamation for his abominable atheism in the 
 same. 
 
 In his sermon he first made some bald remarks 
 upon the text, ^vhich were followed by what he 
 called doctrine. Doctrine it may have been ; he 
 used some very hard words. 
 
 But the practical application Avas the mainstay 
 of his discourse ; and when he arrived at that 
 there was a shufliing of feet, and the congrega- 
 tion pulled itself together. After some parochial 
 personalities, we had for grace what in truth I 
 can only describe as a red-hot picture of hell, 
 with the King and his Council occupying a 
 prominent place in the foreground. At times a 
 few of the women groaned, but the blasphemous 
 abuse excited no admiration, for, indeed, it had 
 furnished the greater part of some men's sermons 
 for two or tliree years before.
 
 55 
 
 I was presently glad of my knowledge of the 
 man, for by degrees he began to direct his course 
 to me. In the end, pointing with his finger, he 
 cried out at me with great passion : 
 
 "Pestiferous trallickers, practeesers, Jesuits, 
 Seminary Priests, and other children of the An- 
 tichrist, are cree])ing into the country, and in 
 this kirk itself sit those who dwell in the portion 
 of Sathan." 
 
 As these Avords drew the eyes of the congre- 
 gation upon me, I rose at once to m}^ feet and 
 answered him. 
 
 "Sir," said I, "you will be good enough to 
 keep your sour tongue off me. I have those to 
 answer for me who know that I am a better ser- 
 vant of the Kirk than you ; and for one who 
 has stood in the pillory for saying the filthy 
 and blasphemous Mass in the Kowgate of Edin- 
 burgh — " 
 
 " Nay, brother,'' he broke in, sharply, " I did 
 but speak in general terms, and had no thought 
 of touching your particular affairs. I spoke of 
 their famous Archbishop and his minions — the 
 carnal atheists, foul and bloody idolaters, hellish 
 witches, licentious libertines, pernicious flatter- 
 ers, and such other devilish counsellors — "' 
 
 " Ilaud ye there, man," said a hoarse voice 
 near the door, " I canna do wi' mair nor that."
 
 56 
 
 " Peace, mocker ; depart, blasphemer, to your 
 master Sathan. But what can be expected from 
 such as you, when many of those appointed to 
 preach the Word of God are found to be festered 
 and cankered with avarice, lying, deceit, villany, 
 hand-shaking with bloody murderers, sacrilege, 
 witchcraft, simony, flattery, apostasy, tricking, 
 obscenity — " 
 
 " God's mercy," whispered a half-witted wom- 
 an who sat to my left, " I never kenned there 
 were sa mony deidly sins." 
 
 "Wheesht, woman," replied her neighbor, "a' 
 they sins is amang the Ministers themselves." 
 The preacher, as if intoxicated by his own pow- 
 ers of abuse — for which he was greatly indebted, 
 be it confessed, to Mr. Andrew and Mr. James — 
 Avent on to touch upon the King, whom he 
 qualified as a "false, deceitful, greedy smayk, 
 that smothered and held down the Word of 
 God." 
 
 " Come down !" cried a voice of thunder from 
 the door of the chapel. " Come down at once, 
 you white-livered, lying knave." A tall man, 
 armed with sword and dagger, and a pair of pis- 
 tolets at his belt, stood between the people and 
 the light streaming through the doorway. 
 
 "I will not come down," bellowed Mr. Peter, 
 "thougli all the lions in hell were to roar at me ;
 
 57 
 
 and whether you are commissioned Jiither by 
 God's silly vassal, or the Lady Jezabel, who — " 
 
 There was a clanking of steel and a rush, and 
 the tali man, clearing the space between the door 
 and the pulpit, ran up the steps on one side as 
 the pastor fled down the other side and rushed 
 into the vestry. 
 
 In a few seconds we were all out in the kirk- 
 yard. The stranger was holding his sword by 
 the scabbard and shaking the hilt of it at Mr. 
 Peter, who stood at a safe distance w^ithout the 
 wall. The women made haste to follow him, 
 and minister such consolation as they might. 
 But the men remaining, one of them made so 
 bold as to put his hand upon the stranger's arm. 
 
 "And wha nuiy ye be ?" said he. 
 
 "I," replied the stranger, with a curious smile 
 — " I am Captain James." 
 
 Thereupon there was a silence, and in the space 
 of a few seconds Mr. Peter's congregation, male 
 and female, melted away, leaving the intruder 
 and myself alone in the kirk-yard ; for the fear of 
 this man's name was as great among the humble 
 as it Avas among the noble and rich. Assuredly 
 this James Stewart, ''callit Earl of Arran," as 
 men say now that he is under the ground, was a 
 man of grand presence. Tall, of great strength, 
 and brought up from his youth to arms, he held
 
 58 
 
 himself abov^e the jests of the insolent or the prov- 
 ocation of bullies. His countenance was very 
 noble ; his nose straight and delicate ; his hair 
 inclining to fair with a shade of golden ; his 
 eyes light blue. If a fault could be found witli 
 him, it was in the haughty and imperious ex- 
 pression — which somewhat became him — and the 
 hardness at the corners of his mouth. But he 
 had the brave appearance of a man at his prime, 
 wdio has been bred both to arms and the man- 
 ners of the Court. His dress, thougli rich, was 
 sober in color, and the dust on his boots and 
 arms showed that he had but recently come off 
 the road. Addressing me verj^ gravely and with 
 much courtesy, he said : 
 
 " What think ye, sir, of this ?" 
 
 " I w^ould, my lord, that I had not come back 
 to the old country to look upon such scenes." 
 
 " Aye, Captain Andrew, it would have been 
 better for you ; you see, although 3^our face and 
 figure are not known to me, I had no diffi- 
 culty in finding you. I learned at the castle 
 that you were here, and as I had that which I 
 wished to say to you I followed you. But one 
 moment to close this treason - hole, and as our 
 roads lie in tlie same direction I shall be glad of 
 your company." 
 
 He then carefully locked the doors of the
 
 59 
 
 chapel, and, putting the irons in his pocket, came 
 back to me. But as I turned towards the road 
 by which I came, he put forth his hand and 
 sta3'ed me. 
 
 "Nay," said he; " let us cross the river liigher 
 up. When I am Hghtly accompanied I return 
 from no place b}^ the road I take in coming. I 
 said, sir, that it might be better for you not to 
 be in Scotland ; but that hangs upon what you 
 mean to do. Now I will be frank with 3"ou, for 
 3'ou are reputed to be an honest man, as well as 
 a soldier and courtier. You must have seen 
 enough of this country to know that no man 
 is safe in it without taking one part or an- 
 other." 
 
 " I know not that," said I ; " I have nothing 
 that men may covet, and I confess the divisions 
 in the State are so strange that I understand 
 them not," 
 
 " No ; 3^ou are scarce so simple as that. It is 
 the Peregrine Ministers and Vanished Lords in 
 England against the Earl of Arran ; but, by the 
 body of God ! 1 will break theni all. Not a 
 Minister or Lord of the whole pack shall cross 
 the Border but his head leaps from his shoulders. 
 All this would have been at an end long ago but 
 for the she-devil who sits and fumes and frets 
 upon the Euglish throne. She has kept these
 
 GO 
 
 rebels in Newcastle and Berwick, at the King's 
 nose, these twelv^e months past." 
 
 " You have heavy metal against you, my lord. 
 You have put the Kirk against ^"ou ; and though 
 I am neither for Paul nor Apollos, for Mr. An- 
 drew nor the Bishop, you have been very sore 
 upon the Saints." 
 
 "The Saints! the long -faced, canting hypo- 
 crites. Why, I undertook to give them every 
 satisfaction. I attended their long, dreary dis- 
 courses, I listened without murmuring to the 
 abuse they poured upon me from the pulpit, I 
 winked at their treason and blasphemy. I actu- 
 ally did penance in the presence of the King — 
 the stool of repentance. Captain Andrew — I, the 
 first man in the kingdom after his Majesty. And 
 they would none of me. It came to be a ques- 
 tion whether Mr. Andrew or I was to go. So I 
 got ready a comfortable chamber in Blackness 
 Castle, with the boots handy, and took care that 
 he had news of what I was doing. As I ex- 
 pected, he found about that time that he had 
 occasion to visit the godly, if there be any, at 
 Oxford and Cambridge." 
 
 I knew that this man was playing a desperate 
 game. In every quarter he was making interest 
 to meet the dangers which threatened him. JSTow 
 it was the French Court, now the Earl of Both-
 
 61 
 
 well and Lord Maxwell, or some of the Highland 
 chieftains ; and again he did his very best to win 
 the good-will of the Queen of England. With- 
 out the last, I well knew, his failure was only a 
 question of time. 
 
 " Now, Eviot," he resumed, " what I want at 
 this moment, and what I cannot find, is an hon- 
 est man. Believe me, there is not such a man in 
 Scotland, if it be not the Earl of March, who is a 
 fool, or Sir James Melvill, who is an obstinate, 
 officious meddler. I have some men like Adam 
 Hepburn, Monro, and Colin Ramsay, whom I 
 knew in the old days in France and the Low 
 Countries. They will.be faithful enough so long 
 as their hiring lasts, but they would sell me to 
 the devil for a groat when it ends. His Majesty 
 has need of men of a different kind. You have 
 no objection to serve his Majesty ?" 
 
 " None whatever," said I, well knowing what 
 he meant ; " it was the hope that I might serve 
 him which brought me home; but I would fain 
 have speech with his Majesty, and with your 
 permission I will ride over to Falkland to- 
 morrow, and petition him for a release from my 
 ward." 
 
 At this the Earl shook his head gravely. 
 
 " I should hardly advise that. I Avill speak to 
 him myself; and yet — and yet it might be better
 
 G2 
 
 SO. I need not tell you that he who serves the 
 King serves me." 
 
 To this I bowed ; but I thought to myself that 
 the King might tell a very different tale if he 
 chose. 
 
 So far I had nothing but soft w^ords from the 
 Chancellor. 'Not a word about the scuffle at 
 Fastcastle, or the tearing up of Roger Algate's 
 warrant, which, I never doubted, was the work 
 of the Countess. But I knew the man's charac- 
 ter well by reputation. My life was not worth 
 a minute's purchase if he thought that I balked 
 him in the meanest wish ; but he would enter- 
 tain me with kind words for a space, though he 
 meant the w^orst. I was keen to be off to Falk- 
 land. I would start early the following morn- 
 ing, and — said I to myself — not all the kings in 
 Christendom will send me back to this man. 
 
 "We parted within the yard of the castle, and I 
 went within to my apartment, wondering whether 
 Mr. Peter Wilkie was an avenging angel or the 
 mean, malignant churl he seemed to me — whether 
 the Earl of Arran really meant me mischief — 
 whether I should ever reach Falkland — and if I 
 did, what the King would say to me — or whether 
 he might not altogether refuse to see me. What 
 was that ? Was it not — Yes ; somebody was in 
 my chamber. And greatly indeed did I marvel
 
 63 
 
 ■when I saw that two Avomen were busied with 
 my liumble possessions. One Avas on her knees, 
 throwing tliem out and sifting them ; the other, 
 who carefully handled each article, was a woman 
 of very great presence, a Juno in form and face, 
 though too much inclined to flesh. The lips, 
 however, were full and sensual, and albeit she 
 was handsome, there was an impression in the 
 features of greed and selfishness which women 
 who are greedy and selfish can seldom conceal. 
 
 Truly the Ministers were right when they said 
 that Captain James was well mated, for this was 
 the Countess of Arran.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 " A BLACK camlet jacket — new ; a satin doublet; 
 a riding-coat guarded with velvet. A pretty man 
 indeed ! If I could but find some item of Popery 
 in the j^ochette — for I shall find nothing else. 
 Where does the man carry his money ? Ah — " 
 
 O Monstrous Remment, is nothino: sacred from 
 your claws? Is there no secret into which your 
 eager eyes will not pry ? 
 
 The woman who took so much freedom with 
 my wardrobe was reputed the most impudent 
 and shameless in Scotland — and that is to say 
 not a little. She disposed of her second and 
 married her third husband under circumstances 
 which were not usual ; but she flinched not from 
 them. Nor did she scruple to undergo the pen- 
 ance prescribed by the Kirk, though she gave 
 many grievous Avords that she, being the daugh- 
 ter of an ancient house, should be moved to hum- 
 ble herself in public. Now she had her revenge 
 upon the Kirk ; but if the Earl of Arran ever 
 had hope of success in Scotland, the cruelty, 
 greed, and rapacity of the Countess had surely
 
 65 
 
 quenched it. On all sides she extorted money ; 
 and my poor treasure had not escaped her 
 clutches but that I carried with me — and that 
 upon my person — only what I required for im- 
 mediate use. For a moment she was taken aback, 
 and lost her speech. 
 
 "Madame docs me too much honor," said I, 
 bowing low ; " and there is not one of these poor 
 possessions which will not have a double value 
 for me, now that they have passed through ma- 
 darae's hands." 
 
 " There is more sense in that, sir, than you 
 think for ; for I have washed my hands in the 
 Hole of Euthven, the water of which is of virtue 
 against the Pest. But in truth I am here on 
 another errand. Having no assurance of you, 
 Captain Eviot, or your presence here, I took upon 
 hand to see that you brought with you neither 
 book, writing, nor monument of Papistry. I 
 might have directed Eynian, who is a ryper or 
 licensed searcher, to do this office — which, be you 
 sure, is not grateful — but having regard for you, 
 I have undertaken it myself." 
 
 " I trust Madame the Countess is satisfied with 
 what she has seen." 
 
 "More or less. Your copy of the Scripture 
 does not bear as much witness of use as might 
 be Avished ; and some part of your wardrobe in- 
 
 5
 
 66 
 
 dicates a sad leaning to the vain show of the 
 world. But be frank with me, Captain Andrew " 
 (here she came close to me, laying her hand 
 upon my arm), " and you will not regret it. 
 What made his Majesty send you here ?" 
 
 " I only wish I could tell you," said I, throw- 
 ing my arms abroad. 
 
 " Then," replied she, with an incredulous sneer, 
 "you neither know nor guess the reason?" 
 
 " I have not the wildest conception of what it 
 all means." 
 
 " So be it ; but at least you can answer a 
 blunt question — who pays you ?" 
 
 "Blunt indeed and deficient," said I, with a 
 contemptuous laugh, for I was provoked for the 
 moment, and I felt the blood mount to my 
 throat. I think she saw that she had lost her 
 way. 
 
 " Well, who pays for all this ?" she retorted, 
 pointing to my scattered wardrobe. " You have 
 two men and three horses here. How is it all 
 done ? If you do it on your own means, you 
 may at least say who can answer for it." The 
 fiend had put her finger upon the weakest point 
 of my position. I had a letter of credit to a 
 merchant in Edinburgh from Antwerp; but to 
 name him to this harpy was to lose every groat 
 I had in the world. She sold for hard cash
 
 67 
 
 every suit which came before the Council or the 
 Session, and complaints were manufactured by 
 the score in order that the victims of them 
 should buy them off through her. I was in her 
 hands for the moment ; but as she did not veil 
 her hostility to me, to make a stand here could 
 not make matters worse. 
 
 "Madame will pardon me," said I; "but the 
 name of the person who is answerable for my 
 means is a matter between him and myself." 
 
 " Ah ! is it so you answer us ? AVe shall see 
 by to-morrow. For the present I will hope that 
 you prove not the busy and dangerous trafficker 
 you are said to be." And so, with a stiff incli- 
 nation of the head, she descended the turnpike 
 stair, which was indeed the only means of access 
 to my apartment. 
 
 What happened thereafter I will set down 
 with some cu*cumstance, because part thereof, 
 and part only, becoming known to sundry in 
 that country, a romance grew upon it which did 
 some injustice to those wdio deserved it not. 
 
 Having given directions for an early start on 
 the following morning, I sat within my chamber 
 searching for light without finding it. It seemed 
 that for some cause the Arrans had taken me 
 in suspicion before I landed in Scotland, and 
 strange it was that, although in their hands, they
 
 68 
 
 bad allowed me to remain unmolested for some 
 weeks. But now they Avere to be resolved of 
 me one way or another. I thought, too, of Mr. 
 Peter Wilkie. Were he and the Ministers of bis 
 kidney in the right, and was I in the wrong? 
 Were they so good, and the rest of us so vile ? 
 Were they, as they were never weary of saying, 
 the " best " people ; and was humanity to be 
 swept into Paradise by the terrors of lire and 
 brimstone rather than by the love of God ? 
 
 Finding to my hand the Book which, the 
 Countess truly said, might have shown more 
 traces of use, I opened it in sundry places, and 
 therein I read not that the Gospel of Christ was 
 preached with blasphemous and scurrilous abuse. 
 But it is written in the Book that the Master, 
 who himself knew what was in man, was sent 
 into the world not to judge, but that the world 
 should be saved. And indeed I could find noth- 
 ing which recalled to me the bellowings of Mr. 
 Peter and his like. 
 
 As I sat so thinking something touched me 
 smartly upon the cheek and fell with a faint 
 sound upon the floor. Marvelling what it might 
 be, I sought for it some time Avitliout success ; 
 but it was not until I groped on hands and knees 
 that I found it under the bent or white grass 
 with which the floor was strewn. A piece of
 
 69 
 
 paper wrapped round a small pebble, which must 
 have been thrown through the window — and 
 thrown from the western wing, for the window 
 Avas so far from the ground that one could hard- 
 ly hope to throw into it from below. The 
 paper was Avritten upon, and this is what I read 
 in it : 
 
 " At ten hours to-night — on the parapet of the 
 west wing — you shall have that you seek. Turn 
 to the left when you cross, and go sunways 
 round the parapet. J. U." 
 
 The handwriting was unknown to me, but the 
 initials — could they stand for aught but Jean 
 Uchiltrie ? Then, were they genuine, or did they 
 conceal a trap? I could not tell that the paper 
 came from Jean Uchiltrie, for I knew not her 
 writing; and if it came from her, how knew 
 I that she would not trick me, and what did 
 she mean ? Again, if it were sent by others 
 in her name, the intention could scarce be 
 friendly. 
 
 I puzzled my brains over this until I was in 
 a fever of doubt. First I would go, then wild 
 horses would not make me go; and in that mind 
 was I when the hour arrived. 
 
 Thus, though still unresolved, I went out upon
 
 70 
 
 the battlements, and greatly marvelled to find, 
 what I had never seen before, a substantial plank 
 thrown across and bridging the space — about ten 
 feet — between the parapets of the two wings. 
 The invitation was plain. "Was it given by a 
 friend or an enemy ? 
 
 It could do no harm to test the bridge, and this 
 I did after a time, finding that it was firm, and 
 that at least there was no intention that I should 
 fall into the abyss between the two wings. From 
 testing the bridge to crossing was but a small 
 step ; for though there was a fall of sixty feet 
 below me, I had a good head and a sure foot, and 
 the trick was one I had often practised. A ten- 
 foot plank is soon passed. 
 
 Once across I made a mistake. I should have 
 held to the left ; but so engrossed was my mind 
 that I followed the parapet to the right. After 
 turning the first angle I crept along by the 
 northern side until I came to some steps, which I 
 descended. I then became aware of a light com- 
 ing from a door or open window within a few 
 feet of me. I was in doubt whether to go back 
 or stay where I was when I was arrested by my 
 lord's voice. 
 
 " What is it, Bess ? Why are you at this 
 again ?" 
 
 " 'Tis but M'Kuskan Grossok," replied a voice.
 
 71 
 
 which I recognized, " who is helping me to win 
 some hght." 
 
 " You will be burned, and the rest of us with 
 you, for the rusty, miskenning scoundrel, if you 
 look not how you go." 
 
 " Well, you have allowed our man to go to- 
 morrow, and he will never come back." 
 
 "Leave him to me, leave him to me; he will 
 never come back." 
 
 " Then leave me to find out what I can in my 
 own way. You will not have justice ministrat 
 upon him, and you will not allow him to be boot- 
 ed, although the boots were brought over for the 
 purpose. I confess that I should be sorry that 
 so proper a man were spoiled by the boots, but 
 you know we are quite at large about him." 
 
 " Leave him to me, Bess. He will get more 
 than he thinks for if he does not see reason." It 
 seemed to me, judging from the sound, that on 
 this the speaker left the room. 
 
 I listened to this without the slightest scruple. 
 I care not for other folk's talk ; but Avhen there 
 are words about booting and ministrating justice 
 upon a gentleman — and that gentleman is one's 
 self — well, let those who prefer to be booted save 
 their ears. But I was minded to do more than 
 listen, for, creeping noiselessly forward, I peered 
 through the window.
 
 72 
 
 What I saw was this : The room was light- 
 ed by a rag-wicked candle. In the middle of it 
 was a small table, such as men use for playing 
 cards upon, at which an undersized man, with a 
 face like a ferret, was sitting. There "was noth- 
 ing upon the table, although — for what I could 
 see — some figures or designs may have been 
 traced thereon ; but the ferret - faced man was 
 gazing attentively at it. The Countess w^as 
 standing behind him with her face to the 
 wall. 
 
 " Do you see her?" said the lady. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Where is she ?" 
 
 " In the kirk-yard of Glendevon." 
 
 " What is she doing ?" 
 
 " She is behind the big gravestone, lying on 
 her face on the grass, watching the great trout 
 that lies in the corner of the black pool." 
 
 " What does she say ?" 
 
 " ' Banes to the fire, and soul to hell.' " 
 
 " Oh yes ; I know that. Anything else ?" 
 
 " Listen — 
 
 " ' Leap, little loon, across the moon ; 
 
 Put out the lamp of Heaven. 
 For devils lurk behind the kirk, 
 And villains wait to set the gate 
 
 Or he rides in Glendevon.'"
 
 rd 
 
 I misliked the mention of Glendevon, for I 
 knew it of old for a place which was greatly af- 
 fected by those who hold communion with Sathan. 
 For the trout in the black pool — 'tis said by some 
 that a trout hath but a life of ten years; but the 
 most ao-ed indwellers in the Glen had knowledire 
 of that trout during all their lives, and I can 
 bear witness after a space of twenty years that 
 it is there still. 
 
 " I understand not that," said ray lady, " and 
 in any case it is not Avhat I want. Have you the 
 cards?" 
 
 The weazened man fetched a small box, from 
 which he took a pack of cards, and, selecting 
 about twenty from the pack, began to deal 
 them. His mistress now stood behind him and 
 looked over his shoulder. He first cut the cards 
 and dealt them into two heaps — two cards each 
 time to the left heap and one to the right. He 
 then took them up and dealt them again, revers- 
 ing the proportion. Finally he dealt every third 
 card into a small heap, and, taking the third card 
 from the top of the heaj), turned it over on its 
 face. 
 
 " It's Craft," said the Countess, after looking 
 carefully at the card. " James is right, and yet 
 the design is very like the other." 
 
 I could see the card from where I crouched,
 
 for the light fell upon it. It bore a design on 
 which were two castles standing together, and the 
 moon was shining upon them. A road leading 
 from the castles and disappearing on the horizon 
 was stained with drops of blood. It was the 
 card known as La Lune in the Tarot, As I 
 craned my neck forward to see this precious 
 sight I felt a soft touch on my arm which made 
 my flesh creep. I fairly shivered from head to 
 foot. I dared not turn quickly round, lest I 
 should draw the attention of the persons in the 
 room ; if I did not turn, my enemy might strike 
 from behind. I took my chance of the latter 
 risk, and, drawing myself slowly back, turned 
 round to find myself face to face with — Jean 
 Uchiltrie ; and for the first time it flashed across 
 my mind that after crossing the plank I should 
 have held to the left. 
 
 Without giving time for speech she turned, 
 and, signing to me to follow, remounted the 
 steps Avith extreme caution. When we were 
 safely on the other side of the building she 
 stopped, and, putting her face very close to mine, 
 in a manner by no means displeasing, said, in a 
 whisper : 
 
 "Are you a fool or only a bold man? You 
 never were in greater danger in your life than 
 you have been within the last few minutes. Put
 
 3^our head down — low — lower," She put her 
 arms round ray neck. I was in a maze of as- 
 tonishment; I thought she was going to kiss 
 me. The imperious beauty Avas going to kiss the 
 flouted soldier of fortune. But she was not — of 
 course not ; and I was glad and I was sorry 
 when I found that instead of embracing me she 
 was simply putting a necklace or a chain round 
 my neck. 
 
 " Now you have it," she said. " "Wear it inside 
 your doublet." 
 
 "I will," I murmured; "but what is it?" 
 
 " It is the X, of course." 
 
 " The X ?" I said. " What on earth is that ?" 
 
 " Are you frenzied, man ? Did you not write 
 yourself and ask me for it ?" 
 
 " That I can safeh' say I never did." 
 
 " What ! you didn't ? Then, sir, you will be 
 good enough to give it back to me." 
 
 "Nay," said I; "I shall keep the chain now 
 that I have it, for I Avould teach you that I am 
 ■worthy of more trust than you have hitherto 
 given me. But go at once ; for, look you, if you 
 received a missive which purported to come from 
 me, it is like that a trap has been laid for us. 
 Ere it be too late I will bid you not good-b3'e, 
 but au revoirP 
 
 I could not see, and I did not stop to see, the
 
 effect of these words, but hastened back to the 
 plank. I again took the precaution of testing it, 
 and it was well I did so, for no sooner did I put 
 my foot upon it than it slipped from under me 
 and disappeared over the parapet.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 The loss of the plank was a serious matter for 
 me — and others. I had been in haste to return 
 to my own part of the castle, because it Avas 
 clear that somebod}'" had laid a trap for me or 
 Mistress Jean, or both of us. And now I could 
 not go back at all. The person who had forged 
 the letter in my name had succeeded in part of 
 his object : Jean Uchiltrie had passed the X into 
 my keeping. But he liad possibly not thought 
 of the plank bridge, and as yet did not know 
 what had happened. And yet he might be wait- 
 ing to catch me in an equivocal position ; if 
 so, it seemed that he had succeeded, and I was 
 caught like a rat in a trap. 
 
 I crept back to the bartizan, where the girl 
 was still watching me. 
 
 " Tell me,'' said I — " this is no time for words, 
 but tell me — what chance is there that I may 
 pass through the house unseen ?" 
 
 " Absolutely none. You must ]iass through 
 the rooms on the first floor, where are my Lord 
 of Arran's men. If you took them by surprise
 
 78 
 
 you might make a push for it ; that is your best, 
 your only, course. You don't know those people 
 as I do or you would know that. If you are 
 found here you will be pitched over the battle- 
 ment without more ado, and no questions asked. 
 Draw your sword, sir, I say, and commit you to 
 God." 
 
 " No, no. Mistress Jean ; that would be but a 
 forlorn -hope at the best, and I must think of 
 others. I must not be seen here, and there is 
 but one way for that. See, it is but ten feet 
 from here to the keep." 
 
 " For the love of God think not of that ; it is 
 certain death." 
 
 I thought diiferently. A ten-foot jump is no 
 great matter, even without a run, but there were 
 circumstances which made this leap more peril- 
 ous than even Jean Uchiltrie thought. The par- 
 apet upon which Ave stood was two or three feet 
 lower than the parapet of the keep, so that when 
 the plank was thrown across one end of it rested 
 upon the parapet of the keep and the other end 
 upon the roof of the Avestern Aving, at a point 
 some feet above the parapet. How tliis end of 
 the plank had become dislodged from its position 
 on the roof I could not tell. But it was clear 
 enough that, if I attempted to leap, I should ha\^e 
 to jump upward, and that, as the parapet of the
 
 79 
 
 keep "Was liiglier by three feet, I could not make 
 a clean jump of it. My only hojie was that I 
 might land so as to grip the top of the parapet 
 with my arms. 
 
 I examined the place with great care, and End- 
 ing that the two buildings were not exactly par- 
 allel, but that they diverged towards the north, 
 and approached each other at their southern 
 ends, I chose a spot at the narrowest point. 
 Mounting here, with my left foot upon the top 
 of the parapet and my right upon the roof, I 
 measured the distance and elevation with my 
 eye, and made my spring. 
 
 I landed well and according to my calculation, 
 but just before my arms gripped the parapet my 
 foot struck against something — I missed my hold 
 and fell. As I fell I caught — as a drowning man 
 catches — at the parapet, and my hand grasped 
 one of the gutters which protruded just above 
 the corbels. It was doubtless against this object 
 that my foot had struck ; and, as it had destroyed 
 me a second before, so now it gave me life — for 
 a few moments. It was but a slender thing to 
 bear my Aveight', and I knew I could not cling 
 long to it. I tried to raise myself and reach the 
 top of the parapet with my hand, l)ut I failed. 
 I tried again, and failed. Then I knew I was 
 done, and my weight uj)ou tlie gutter seemed to
 
 80 
 
 double. It was but a few seconds to wait, and 
 I should be falling down — down. I thought 
 of the girl, who, I knew, w^as watching me 
 but ten feet away, and w^ho, in her anxie- 
 t}^ not to unnerve me, had not uttered a 
 sound. 
 
 I was beginning to grow dazed when I heard 
 a small, soft voice behind me — it seemed to 
 speak in my ear : 
 
 " Turn your face to the left." 
 
 Up to that point I had hung with my face 
 towards the south. I now turned mechanically 
 to the north, and saw the lost plank lianging by 
 a rope within eighteen inches of me. I remem- 
 ber noticing, when I first saw it, that a rope with 
 a noose was attached to my end of it. Without 
 any conscious purpose I had passed the noose 
 over a projection of the battlement, and the re- 
 sult w^as that, when the farther end of the plank 
 slipped off the roof of the west wing, the plank 
 itself was suspended by the rope from the para- 
 pet of the keep. 
 
 I was now very much exhausted, but I was 
 able to shift my hands to the rope, and could 
 coil my legs round the plank, and that done I 
 was a new man. I was soon out of danger, with 
 tlie loss of a few inches of skin from my knuckles ; 
 but, indeed, at the moment 1 would readily have
 
 m 
 
 given the knuckles themselves of both my hands 
 in return for my life. 
 
 I leaned against the doorway in the roof inca- 
 pable of speech, and the gii'l still stood watch- 
 ing me from the other side of the chasm. Quick- 
 ly gathering for what she waited, I drew up the 
 plank, and poised it again upon the opposite 
 roof, whence she bore it away to its own place. 
 
 All this passed quickly ; but my absence from 
 the keep even for a quarter of an hour might 
 have drawn some attention to Avhat was hap- 
 pening. 1 found no, sign of this in my own room ; 
 but it was well I had not lingered, for I had no 
 sooner washed the blood from my hands and 
 bound them up than I had a visit from no less 
 a person than my Lord himself. If this man 
 knew or had any suspicion of my adventure, he 
 had a rare command of himself. He broug-ht 
 with him a letter for the King, which he begged 
 me to carry with me to Falkland in the morning, 
 inasmuch as he could not attend the Court for a 
 day or two to come. 
 
 When he Avas gone I looked first at the letter, 
 but the exterior bore nothing but these Avords : 
 "To the King, his most Sacred Majestic." 1 
 was grateful for this errand, because it would in- 
 sure me audience of his Majesty, and I ])laced 
 the letter carefully within my doublet.
 
 But I'was eager, above all, to see what man- 
 ner of necklace Jean Uchiltrie had cast about my 
 neck. I found it to be a chain of massive gold 
 links, an ornament which must have cost a great 
 sum of mone3^ The chain, however, was but a 
 worthless toy compared with the jewel it carried. 
 This jewel was in the shape of an X, or, rather, 
 St. Andrew's Cross. It consisted of nine dia- 
 monds or white sapphires of great size and beauty 
 set in gold, with roses of gold between the stones. 
 On the back were the letters spI'. but I did not 
 at that time guess what they might signify. I 
 gazed upon it with delight, and, as I was to make 
 an early start in the morning, replaced it within 
 my doublet, where, at all events, it was as safe 
 as my own life. I threw myself upon my pallet 5 
 but, being disturbed in my mmd by the oc- 
 currences of tlie day, I did not extinguish my 
 candle. 
 
 What made the Countess raise the arras in the 
 corner of the room by the turnpike stair ? Was 
 she not well called the Lady Jezabel ? I liked 
 not this coming to nw room by night. I could 
 not suffer that. And she smiled with a kindness 
 which was not familiar to her features. Me- 
 thought her smile was almost what I pictured to 
 be an angel's. What had wrought tliis change 
 in the woman? And why should she put her
 
 88 
 
 hands upon ni}'- neck ? Ah ! the chain ; no, it 
 was not that, for she knew not that I had it : 
 l)ut it was to strangle nie, and her hands were 
 strong. 
 
 I tried to rise, but I could not move a joint of 
 my body, far less struggle — and I was being 
 killed. After what seemed a long time I awoke ; 
 it was a dream, but even so it Avas some mmutes 
 before I could move. The candle had burned 
 out, and the chill morning air came through the 
 window. It was a dream, thank God, and I slept 
 again. 
 
 About six hours of the morning I was roused 
 by Carryg, and quickly descended to the castle- 
 yard, simply satisfying myself that the letter and 
 jewel were safe within my doublet. We were a 
 party of four, for Barabbas, accordmg to custom, 
 was one of us. 1 wore my steel-bonnet and 
 armor, and the other three had lance-staves and 
 plate-sleeves, for I knew now that the strong 
 hand was the law of Scotland, and I did not in- 
 tend to be cut off — if cut off I must be — without 
 a struggle. 
 
 Going easily, for part of the road -was very 
 steep, Ave reached Falkland before noon with but 
 one incident to break the quiet of the ride. After 
 crossing the Earn the road rises gently for a few 
 miles, but the ascent into the Pass of Dron de-
 
 84 
 
 layed us somewhat. As we were coming into 
 Glenfarg, below the Clochrigstane, we heard far 
 ahead of us the sound of a horse coming towards 
 us at a great speed. Presently a cry from the 
 far side of the valley and above us drew our at- 
 tention to a rider whom I recognized as one of 
 my Lord of Arran's men. lie pointed as he rode 
 to the stream where the ford lay between us, and 
 shouted loudly. Although we saw not the ford 
 for the trees, I gathered that he was in pursuit 
 of somebody who was crossing the river. It was 
 as I thought, for we soon espied a horseman 
 coming down the hill at full speed. 
 
 Not being minded to dip in quarrels which 
 were none of mine, I drew my horse to one side ; 
 and, the others following my example, it seemed 
 that there would be no interference from my 
 party. But just as the man passed Barabbas 
 touched his mare with the spur and picked his 
 man out of the saddle with his lance. Whether 
 by the fall or the point of the lance the fellow 
 was, I believe, quite dead; anyway, he moved 
 not, but lay as he fell, with the face downward, 
 lie was scarce there before Barabbas dismount- 
 ed, and, bending over him — though without in 
 any way moving the body — possessed himself of 
 everything he had about him — that is to say, of 
 a whinger, a knife, some string, a coral necklace,
 
 85 
 
 an old horse-comb, a Portugal ducat, two Eose 
 Nobles, and two pounds of white silver. 
 
 " That's bonnily done," said Carryg, who was 
 much moved by the smartness of the whole trans- 
 action. '' Eh, man, ye will be a r3'per." 
 
 " Aye," replied Barabbas, " I Avill be something 
 of that kind." And with some ostentation he 
 proceeded to lay out the spoils upon the grass, as 
 one who would say : " See, I am an honest man ; 
 I have kept back nothing." 
 
 But Barabbas did keep back something which, 
 in spite of the nimbleness of his hands, I saw 
 him take from the dead man's doublet. I had 
 been watching for a hold upon this man, and 
 now it seemed to me that by-and-by there would 
 be some conversation between Barabbas and me 
 about that somethinr;: — which was nothins" more 
 nor less than a letter. But at this moment his 
 fellow, who was named Joshua Henderson, com- 
 ing up, inquired at once whether he had searched 
 the body. 
 
 " For," said he, '" it had been an ill day for me 
 if he had gotten off with his pouch full. AVhat, 
 man Rynian," he added, as he glanced over the 
 spoil, " is this a' ye took fra off him ?" 
 
 "Aye, is it; and ye are welcome to your ain 
 from it, and half of the rest, though it is the spoil 
 of my spear. Na, na ; ye needna trouble to rype
 
 86 
 
 the poor body again. It's an empty hand that 
 comes after Rusty Rynian's." 
 
 " And that's true,'- said the fellow, with a rue- 
 ful face ; "but had he not my lord's letter that 
 he stole fra me? It was for the Laird of Kil- 
 syth." 
 
 "A letter?" replied Barabbas, opening his eyes 
 very wide and whistling ; " that's bad. Look 
 ye here, laddie — dinna ye gang back to Captain 
 James wi' yon tale. Ye had best take your foot 
 in your jiand, and be off to the Border, where 
 they're aye wanting lang-luggit lads. And I'll 
 make ye a present of the haill of the loon's 
 gear, for ye'll maybe be a day or two on the 
 road. But who was by when he grippit the 
 letter?" 
 
 " ISTane but he and I and the horses. And 
 whose man he was I canna say, for he carried 
 no mark." 
 
 Hereupon I bade the rogues hold their peace 
 and lift the body ; so they carried it a few paces 
 from the road, where doubtless it lay unburied 
 for a month. 
 
 And so thereafter wo came to Falkland, but 
 only to find that the King had unexpectedly rid- 
 den to St. Andrews. We had no choice but to 
 follow him, and that we did after resting our 
 
 horses for a couple of hours.
 
 87 
 
 Now while we waited, the heat of the sun be- 
 ing very great, I put off ray back and breast- 
 plate and my gauntlets, and was minded to have 
 spoken Avith Barabbas but that I could not find 
 him. On putting on my armor again, before 
 remounting, I found an obstruction in my right- 
 hand gauntlet, by reason of Avhich it was not 
 possible to insert my hand. Supi)osing that this 
 might be something secret, placed there — who 
 knew? — by the King's direction, I made an ex- 
 cuse for re-entering the ale-house, and, passing 
 into the garden behind it, where I was not ob- 
 served, I drew from the gauntlet a ball of crum- 
 pled paper. It consisted of two papers, or, rath- 
 er, letters ; the cover which held them was gone, 
 but their contents were to be but too easily un- 
 derstood. 
 
 The shorter of the two letters ran thus : 
 
 "Maist Wise and Gracious, — I have de- 
 spached unto you the pretty man whom j^our 
 Hienes consigned to my cair in this Castell. I 
 have fund no use for him heir, but to make him 
 the bearer to your Ma''^ of his own letter which 
 was taken from his messenger twa dayes ago : 
 That so he may be dealt with as seem best to 
 your Ma'"-' maist wise and princelie jugement. 
 Ilartlie kissing your Mat''' hand, and praying
 
 88 
 
 the Eternell to grant your Ilienes lang lyfe, I 
 rest your maist bumble and obedient Servitour, 
 " James, Erle of Are an. 
 '■'From the Castell op EuTirv'EN." 
 
 If I liked not the look of this, I was some- 
 what more deeply moved by the following : 
 
 " Right Tkaist Feiend, — I greet you weilL 
 You will receave my news in this letter by a 
 sure hand, and doubtless ere that you will have 
 receaved by a hand still mair sure that of which 
 you have knawledge ; but that you may not 
 doubt my meaning, I will plainly say that I 
 mean the Jewell callit the X. I was sent hither 
 
 to ward by , who spoke with me at Iloly- 
 
 roodhous, saying much at large as one who had 
 a great conceat of himself. Yet being Davy's 
 son he is but a carle, and his learning some rot- 
 ten ends of the Law and the Prophets, learnit 
 backwards. But, if I mistake not, what I have 
 sent you will, before many days be out, teach 
 him to think mair cheaply of himselff. From 
 the Castell of Ruthven. Your assured good 
 friend, Andeew Eviot. 
 
 " 27m 15 oj June 1585."
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 These letters so alarmed me that I was reso- 
 lute not to go forward until I had pondered 
 thereupon. The idea occurred to me that they 
 had been placed in my gauntlet by some mis- 
 chievous person who desired to put me off ray 
 visit to the King. But I rejected it at once, for 
 no man would employ so clumsy a means to so 
 simple an end. I did not doubt that the shorter 
 note was in my Lord of Arran's hand, and 
 that he had forged the other in my name, hop- 
 ing to disgrace me with the King. The con- 
 es o o 
 
 temptuous references to my master's learning, 
 of which he was justly proud, and to Davy as his 
 supposed father, were enough to insure me im- 
 mediate imprisonment and probable execution. 
 If there was one thing the King could not tol- 
 erate it was any reference to the extravagances 
 of his mother. 
 
 I had otherwise good reasons for suspecting 
 my Lord's intentions. My presence at Ruthven 
 had apparently annoyed him from the first, al- 
 though he had been suave and polite in his per-
 
 90 
 
 sonal relations with me. On bis own admission, 
 I had escaped the boots only because he had a 
 better way of dealing with me. There had also 
 been an attempt, by means of a forged message, 
 to bring on a communication between his ward 
 and myself. In this he had probably acted upon 
 a mere suspicion that the X was in her hands; 
 and he had failed in his object only because it 
 never occurred to him that she would commu- 
 nicate with me by way of the roof. Forgery 
 was a weapon often used by this man and by 
 others ; and a very formidable weapon it was 
 when the roads were dangerous and the wing^s 
 of truth slow. These letters were part of his 
 work, and no doubt he was thinking of them 
 when he said " leave him to me." 
 
 But there was one thing which puzzled me — 
 who put these letters in my gauntlet ? If I were 
 right he must be a friend — but who was he ? 
 If one of my company did it, that one must be 
 Barabbas, or Arran's post, who had returned 
 with us from Glenfarg, for I knew that neither 
 of my men would do it. If Barabbas — that led 
 me into a curious puzzle. I had seen Barabbas 
 take a letter from the dead man's doublet, which 
 he kept for his own private purpose. "Was I to 
 think that he had opened the packet, and, after 
 reading the contents, passed them over to me?
 
 Ul 
 
 That was to suppose some very improbable things, 
 as that he had betrayed his master, and was 
 riskinir his own neck to ol)ho-e me. J'esides, 
 there was the Avord of the post himself timt the 
 packet was for the Laird of Kilsyth, Avhile these 
 letters were indubitabh' for the King's eye. 
 
 The solution of this puzzle seemed to come 
 from the letters in my hand. According to 
 Arran, I was to be "the bearer of my own letter, 
 which was taken from my messenger twa days 
 ago ;"* and, as I was not the bearer of it, the in- 
 ference seemed irresistible that these letters had 
 been tampered with, or that they had been mis- 
 directed by accident. By some mischance the 
 post had been carrying the letter meant for the 
 King to the Laird of Kilsyth — but what was 
 the letter which I carried in my doublet ? Was 
 it for the Laird of Kilsyth, and could I safely de- 
 liver it to the King? 
 
 On the whole, I thought that this letter was 
 more likeh' to do me good than harm. The 
 other letters had miscarried ; and, although I 
 knew my Lord of Arran would begin again, I 
 could take care that that trick was not played 
 upon me a second time. I thought I was safe 
 enough for a day or two, and 1 was resolved 
 that, unless I found some satisfaction at St. An- 
 drews, I should not again put myself inside the
 
 92 
 
 jaws of the lion. These reflections somewhat 
 reassured me; but they delayed me some little 
 time at Falkland, and the afternoon Avas far ad- 
 vanced when we rode into St. Andrews, and 
 some time was lost in securing a lodging for the 
 night. The King, we found, was in the Auld 
 Inns, which men once called the Prior's House. 
 It stood at no great distance from the tennis- 
 court and the ruins of that great structure which 
 Mr. Knox caused the Rascal to destroy. 
 
 It was late in the day to seek admission to 
 the King's presence ; but the letter I carried for 
 him gave me an excuse, and some commotion be- 
 ginning about his lodging at the moment of my 
 arrival helped to procure my admission within 
 the wall surrounding it. A loud calling and 
 shouting arose in the court-yard of the Inns, and 
 thither ran everybody within the enclosure. 
 Drawing near with the rest, I found that the 
 outcry came from a room on the first floor, the 
 window of which was open, the night being 
 very warm. Below this window was a small 
 crowd of about thirty persons — grooms, lackeys, 
 and jackmen — who listened with that face of 
 amused interest which men assume when they 
 stand by and watch the follies of their betters. 
 
 There were two voices, both of great power. 
 One deep in tone, with a measured utterance;
 
 93 
 
 the other loud and rapid of speech — the voices 
 of men bellowing with rage, and striving to 
 roar each other down. From some of the 
 words which came out upon the night air I 
 gathered that both were as powerful in their 
 language as their lungs. But the strange thing 
 — the thing which brought the smile to the faces 
 of the little knot of listeners — was that the sub- 
 ject of dispute was — the Kirk. 
 
 "Be moderate, Mr. Andrew," said the deep 
 voice, " and have some regard to our presence. 
 If noise would serve, ye'd bear the bell away. 
 Ye've been gaping for full half an hour, like the 
 President of a Craws' Court, and making no bet- 
 ter sound or sense for a' that I can hear." 
 
 " I had need to speak loud to ears that hear 
 not, and hearing do not understand. I speak 
 boldly in your presence, because I am the mean 
 messenger of one who is a Prince above you ; 
 and I tell you, sir, that it will pass your power, 
 or that of any that come after you, to take from 
 God's Kirk the po\ver of binding and lousing." 
 
 "That's aye your sang. Ye can bind or louse 
 a' the devils in hell if it please ye — the mair the 
 merrier. But ye w^ould be omnipotent in this 
 State, and when ye are asked for reason ye say 
 ye arc the messenger of God and not to be ques- 
 tioned. Why, deil take ye, man, if the Lord has
 
 94 
 
 to answer for a' that ye say and do, He'll be sair 
 put to it. Your syllogism runs in this wise : 
 Mr. Andrew is the messenger of God ; the au- 
 thority of God is infallible ; therefore the au- 
 thority of Mr. Andrew is infallible. That's ex- 
 actly what that auld sneaking sinner the Pope 
 says of himself, and with mair color of reason ; 
 but whereas he is content to sit upon the Seven 
 Hills at a convenient distance, ye must needs 
 clap your hinder parts about the thrapple of 
 your anointed Prince." 
 
 " I would, sir, ye were as free from suspicion 
 of Papistry as I am. There are strange tales 
 abroad, and but for them ye had not seen me 
 here this night. I have your Majesty's safe-con- 
 duct ; but even with that I would not have faced 
 the perils of the sea and the malice of your Maj- 
 esty's familiar friends to come hither but that 
 I had a testimon}^ to uplift — " 
 
 " It's marvellous strange, Mr. Andrew, that ye 
 are aye troubled wi' a testimony when ye visit 
 us. I sorely fear it is a Papish testimony, for 
 ye will have me not above but under ye. Im- 
 jyerator honus intra, non suj>ra, ecclesiam est, 
 saith Ambrose ; but ye Avould read it inf^xi ec- 
 clesiam. There is not one of the points ye are 
 sa thrawin about for which ye will not find war- 
 rant in the Papist writers. Why, man. Father
 
 95 
 
 Ogilvy, the Seminary Priest, and the whole crew 
 of honi operarii, sing the same sang as yourself, 
 note by note." 
 
 •' And Avbat if they do claim for their filthy 
 religion some rights which are due to the Kirk 
 of God? Does that make it wrang for the Kirk 
 to claim its due? It pities me, sir, that a Prince 
 of your Majesty's learning should be sa stangit 
 with the poison of the Dragon as to use such ar- 
 guments, which are indeed more fit for bairns." 
 
 " And sa indeed thought I when ye quoted a' 
 the Bishop's points out of the Papists. But it 
 seems that we may not grease our mouths in 
 private with the butter that the Principal of the 
 New College slabbers in public. Ye will say, 
 na doubt, that ye are the messenger of God, and 
 not to be judgit by the same measure as the 
 Bishop. But how is it, man, that ye are bauld 
 to excommunicate my Bishop, and have na the 
 sponke to excommunicate me who made him 
 Bishop?" 
 
 " "We dare do that, too, sir ; and I am here to 
 tell ye that we will do it if ye do not repent and 
 put from ye that godless Papist and bloody Ila- 
 man, callit the Earl of Arran, and his filthy and 
 adulterous spouse, meet match for the devil him- 
 self." 
 
 "Wheesht, man, wheesht. I promised ye
 
 96 
 
 should be free to come hither and see me in 
 quiet manner, and also to return ; but ye ken 
 that in Scotland even the air has lugs of its ain, 
 and I canna answer for ye if such words come 
 to bloody Haman's ears." 
 
 " I care not to whose ears they come ; for 
 know I not, James Stewart, that you have been 
 trafficking with the Antichrist, and that you 
 carry in your bosom the mark and order of the 
 Beast, w^hich he hath given you to be a sign that 
 you are his ?" 
 
 " Ye are in the wrang, Mr, Andrew, and pre- 
 sume ower far upon our patience. We have no 
 mark of the Beast upon us. Doubtless ye refer 
 to yon idle bruit about the Jewel callit the X. 
 Weel, we have no such jewel or emblem of Pop- 
 ery about us ; by the wounds ! man, if such 
 thing exists, we ken not in what part of God's 
 earth it lies. And this we say in verbo Princi- 
 pis. So, as it is time ye were aboard, and I fear 
 ye have mair learning than sense, w^e will ad- 
 journ these matters until — " 
 
 " Until a mair convenient season. Say it, sir, 
 for I perceive your meaning but over plain- 
 ly." 
 
 "JSTay, until God purge ye of impertinent 
 pride. The man is distracted of his senses." 
 
 This discussion was listened to, for the most
 
 97 
 
 part, in silence ; but there was some tittering, 
 and now and again a tall, dark man, who seemed 
 to be greatly gratified, burst into bi-oad laugh- 
 ter. The disputants, however, if they heard 
 him, were too much occupied with each other to 
 notice his presence. 
 
 So the X Jewel was, according to Mr. Andrew 
 Melvill, a Popish emblem — a pretty piece of bag- 
 gage to carry inside one's doublet. I would fain 
 have had speech with Mr. Andrew, for the man 
 was a great scholar and a good servant of his 
 Master ; and I had a testimony to lift up to him 
 on my own account, which, however, would have 
 moved him not a jot. But my business pressed, 
 and it seemed that he would return into Eng- 
 land by ship ; for his visit was private, and un- 
 known even to his own people in St. An- 
 drews. 
 
 Now it is possible that I might not have seen 
 his Majesty that night but for an unforeseen oc- 
 currence. Being unable to come at the Colonel 
 Stewart, and my name not being known to those 
 on attendance on the King, I was not able to 
 penetrate beyond a certain hall, which, the space 
 being limiteil, was used by the gentlemen of the 
 Chamber. Here some efforts were made to in- 
 duce me to part with the Earl of Arran's letter, 
 but that I positively denied to do. Presently
 
 98 
 
 the tall man who had laughed so heartily at the 
 King's wit came and began to eye me with that 
 nameless insolence which cannot be described. 
 In strutting uj) and down the room he contrived, 
 whether by accident or of purpose, to rasp the 
 point of his sword against me ; but going closer 
 by me than he had meant, he received such a 
 push as sent him with his hands spread out 
 against the wall. 
 
 Hereupon arose some tumult with loud speak- 
 ing, at which a door leading to the King's 
 apartments opened, and a marvellously elegant 
 young gentleman, whose face was unknown to 
 me, came out. 
 
 " Wliat's this ?" said he. " Gautrie, you ought 
 to know that his Majesty will not suffer these 
 disturbances near him. Who is this gentleman V 
 and he looked earnestly at me, as if he knew me 
 not. 
 
 " Sir," said I, in reply, " I am Captain Eviot, 
 and I am here to place in the King's hands a let- 
 ter from the Earl of Arran ; but this gentleman 
 has borne himself with such insolence towards 
 me that I turned his face to the wall." 
 
 Upon that he repeated the name '• Eviot " 
 twice, as if lie were striving to recollect it. 
 Then having gone again into the King's cham- 
 ber, he returned in a few moments, and brought
 
 99 
 
 me into the King's presence, where I delivered 
 my letter and was permitted to kiss the King's 
 hand. 
 
 His Highness, a})parelled in a night-gown of 
 tawny velvet embroidered with gold, was seat- 
 ed on an arm-chair, while one of his gentlemen 
 was engaged in pulling off his boots. But no 
 sooner had he opened the letter than he appeared 
 to be greatly surprised, and glanced at me with 
 a blank, puzzled look. I confess I had reason to 
 be uneasy, but I tried to look as unconscious as 
 possible. 
 
 "God's soul and body! man," burst out the 
 King, " what manner of prank is this ye have 
 played on us ? See, read your letter to us, if ye 
 can." 
 
 I took the letter in my hand, and was astound- 
 ed to see that the page was blank, 
 
 " I knew naught, sir," said I, " of my Lord of 
 Arran's purpose ; but, if it please your Majesty, 
 the letter may be written in white ink, and if so 
 the heat of the candle will suffice to show the 
 writing." 
 
 " "VVeel,^(/^ exjwrhnentum / but l.aste ye, Cap- 
 tain Andrew, for our throat is dry with bellow- 
 ing at yon bull of JJasliaii." 
 
 I drew the paper near to the candle, under the 
 rays of which the writing gradually became dis-
 
 100 
 
 tinct, and I was able to read aloud to the King 
 the following letter : 
 
 "Eight Traist Friend, — I greet you weill. 
 Having your welfare at heart, I have thought it 
 meet to acquaint you with that which may con- 
 cern you and all those who ride by the King's 
 stirrup. It is known to some here that there is 
 a practice against the lives and liberty of the 
 King and his Chancellor. The ship is at the 
 Wemyss which shall carry his Highness into 
 England ; and the purpose is to seize his person 
 some ten days hence within the Park of Falk- 
 land. The Chancellor has had George Drum- 
 mond of Blair in the boots for this enterprise, 
 and will show the same courtesy to one Eviot, 
 warded these many weeks in Kuthven Castle, 
 who — if all tales be true — could show the whole 
 ^ot aux roses. The King is suspected of some 
 hollow dealing in sending this knaive to an open 
 castle. But he careth not for anything save for 
 dogges and deir. At the Court men cannot close 
 their ej^es to sleep, or open their mouths to eat, 
 for continual hunting ; and it is weill seen that 
 for a pair of good deir-dogges the Prince would 
 give a score of his Ministers, and throw the Bish- 
 op into the bargain. — Yours in the auld manner, 
 
 "7v,\,ii- r /„.,. ir«t-. " "Tjiom AS Miller. 
 
 lliiH \o <ij June looo.
 
 101 
 
 " What deil's gett is yon ?'' cried the King. 
 " But his last word is no so much amiss, for I ken 
 many an honest hound that is worthy of mair 
 commendation than Craig, or Mr. David Bhick, 
 and all his sort. Dogs and deer ! dogs and deer ! 
 Deil stick him! — but think 3'e, Patrick, that the 
 loon would ken anything about such matters?" 
 
 The Master of Gray, the elegant young man 
 who had been pulling off his master's boots and 
 replacing them with pantaffles furnished with 
 thick soles, looked carefully at the letter, and 
 said, quietly : 
 
 " I think, sir, it is a jest, though I understand 
 it not. The letter is for the Laird of Kils\'th, 
 but the cover is directed to your Majesty, and 
 the writing is the writing of my Lord of Arran." 
 
 " It is even so ; awa' wi' it for an unseasoned 
 jest. But we would ask this braw messenger if 
 he hath any knowledge of Beza. Have you read 
 the Confessio, man, or the Tractationes Theologi- 
 es f Is it so? Then, as the night is Avarm, Ave 
 will go below to the garden and speak with 3'ou 
 thereon." 
 
 So we went down bv some stone steps into 
 the garden, which was surrounded by a low wall, 
 and his Highness carried me with him to the 
 centre of the grass, where he seated himself 
 upon a stone bench.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 "Akd do ye ken, raan, Andrew, your errand 
 in this country ?'' 
 
 " Indeed I do not, sir," 
 
 " But ye will have some guess of it ?" 
 
 " Well, sir, I think it hath somewhat to do 
 with one of the Crown-jewels called the X, which 
 has been stolen out of the jewel-chest in the 
 Castle of Edinburgh ; but I know not the truth 
 of the matter." 
 
 " And no sa bad a guess, for though it be not 
 exact to the mark, I marvel that ye came sa near. 
 I'm thinkino: the Colonel was not far wran^:. It 
 happened to us some time syne to say in hearing 
 of sundry of our Council that we kenned not an 
 honest man in our kingdom of Scotland who was 
 not a fool ; and the loons, scarce knowing upon 
 which leg to dance, held their peace. But the 
 Colonel, though he made no claim for himself, 
 rounded in my ear that he kenned ane. ' Is that 
 so T said I, for I thought that he had some turn 
 to serve in saying it. ' Aye,' answered he, ' nane 
 other than Captain Andrew Eviot, now in the
 
 103 
 
 service of the States.' Now the Colonel is but 
 a simple body, and he will do by accident what 
 none of the others would do willingly — whiles 
 he speaks the truth. Sa, though we told him 
 that his honest man was removit to a marvellous 
 distance from our Court, we took heed of what 
 ho said, for we have sair need of some honesty 
 about us." 
 
 " It was the hope of serving your Majesty that 
 brought me to Scotland." 
 
 " I ken that, sir. When ye were brought to 
 me in our Palace of Ilolyrood I made ye no sign. 
 But I knew ye to be a stanch man, for ye said 
 never a word, nor so much as showed a change 
 of countenance, though you got but uncivil 
 entertainment." 
 
 " It was evil likely enough then, and I am no 
 nearer to understanding it now." 
 
 "Bide a minute. Captain Andrew, and hear 
 what I have to tell ye. Some time syne a cer- 
 tain chain with a jewel attached came into our 
 keeping and possession, as it were by way of 
 pledge. Though post 5 et 100 proavos inmcti 
 manemus, we are strangely pressed at times for 
 money, and have not the revenues to maintain 
 waged men of war as becomcth a Prince. It 
 chanced that our cousin of Spain was in the 
 mind to thrust 20,000 red-hot Papist soldiers
 
 104 
 
 into this our realm ; and we were constrained to 
 certain temporary shifts to preserve our indepen- 
 dence. So, partly of good-nature, partly to serve 
 some necessity of the moment, we took upon us 
 the pledge of the Jewel callit the X, which was 
 unhonestly subtracted from our cabinet at Holy- 
 roodhouse, and is now at large." 
 
 "And what like is this jewel, sir?" said I, be- 
 ing: careful not to touch on the flaw in the 
 King's excuse for himself. 
 
 " It is a jewel of white sapphires and gold 
 roses ; but it is not, as ye suppose, a Crown-jewel, 
 nor was it ever in the jewel-chest in Edinburgh 
 Castle. Ye would ken it best by the letters lll^ 
 which are graven on the back. And it is in 
 these letters that the trouble lies, for little did I 
 knaw, when I took the gear in pledge, that it 
 was a rank monument of Papistry. Ye may 
 judge for yourself what dangers to our service 
 Inay ensue, not only in Scotland, but Avith our 
 cousin the Queen of England, if we get not this 
 pledge back into our hands. Already that auld 
 blethering worry-cow, Mr. Andrew Melvill, has 
 smelled out something of this, and if he once had 
 the truth of it I should scarce have a day's rest 
 until the daft body was hangit. Now, sir, I sent 
 ye to Ituthven Castle because I knew ye were 
 safer there than anywhere else in Scotland, and ye
 
 1U5 
 
 were near those who might show ye something 
 of this matter. For to be round, I fear that the 
 jewel hath been taken by tlie Lady of our Chan- 
 cellor, who is a thought ower nimble with her 
 lingers when they get among other folks' gear." 
 
 "And do I understand, sir," said I, feeling 
 somewhat mortified, " that the recovery of this 
 jewel is all the service you require of me?" So 
 vexed indeed was I that I was minded not to 
 give him the jewel, though it hung at that mo- 
 ment round my neck. 
 
 " Is that all, say ye?" cried he, growing warm 
 "with choler; "what mair would ye have? Will 
 anything please ye? Here is a matter of State 
 which affects the stability of our Crown, and 
 upon which many great enterprises hang; for, 
 if James Stewart turn Papist, what then, man? 
 We are trusting you with our mind upon this 
 subject ; and, though other folk may suspect, 
 you alone have the knowledge of it. Then say 
 ye, Is that all f 
 
 " Surely, sir, this is a service that many here 
 would have done better than I who am a stranger 
 to 3'our Court." 
 
 " Ye are in the wrang there. Of all these 
 brave gentlemen ye see about us there is none 
 who — but for fear or interest — would not sell us 
 like a bullock to the highest bidder. And if I
 
 106 
 
 had required this service of one of them, he would 
 have had large offers of siller from the Queen 
 of England, or the Due de Guise, or the Bishop 
 of Ross, or our cousin of Spain— for a' these bod- 
 ies are as busy as bugs with our maist private 
 matters. The young gentleman yonder, who is 
 pleased to mind our writings for us — he gives 
 copies of everything to Wotton, the English Am- 
 bassador ; our very cook is not safe from them. 
 But we are weel content that it should be so ; 
 for so they think that they have knawledge of 
 all our secret dealings, while Ave have the assur- 
 ance that they knaw na mair than we choose. 
 For, man, the King is the only person in Scot- 
 land whose secrets are known to nobody. And 
 therefore we are concerned to hear how ye came 
 at sa much knawledge as ye have." 
 
 To this long address I replied that I was sorry 
 that the service demanded of me was so simple, 
 but that I could do no less than render it at once. 
 So, bending forward, I caught the chain with 
 both my hands and drew it forth over my head. 
 
 Great God ! what was this ? 
 
 Though not conscious of such things at the 
 time, I can see now the sparkle of pleasure in 
 the young King's eye when he understood my 
 gesture. I can see the looks of disappointment, 
 doubt, and suspicion which succeeded ; and I can
 
 107 
 
 hear his loud laughter, whicli brought me to the 
 knowledge that I must present a strange spec- 
 tacle Avitli my open mouth and staring eyes. The 
 X Jewel was gone, and in my hand lay a chain 
 of calcedoniee. 
 
 From the day my mother brouglit me into this 
 world of sin and sorrow I can remember no mo- 
 ment of like humiliation and dismay. The earth, 
 had she been kind, would have gaped for me, 
 but she did not. 
 
 After a space, when I had caught my breath 
 again, 1 said : 
 
 " Think you, sir, that the devil hath power to 
 do the like of this?^' 
 
 " I thought not," replied the King, " that 
 God's Ape would have uttered himself so bauld- 
 ly within the precincts of our Court. That he 
 hath done such things, himself in the form of a 
 goat-buck, or by other spirits in the likeness of 
 a little beast or fowl, is ower weel kenned to 
 be gainsaid. But I must know something of 
 your stor}', or I can rightly resolve your ques- 
 tion." 
 
 So I told him my story from the beginning, 
 and he listened with attention, as well he might, 
 for it concerned him as much as myself. AVhen 
 he interrupted me from time to time his com- 
 ment was of rare shrewdness for one of his years.
 
 108 
 
 The account of M'Kuskan Grossok and the witch 
 of Glendevon greatly excited him. 
 
 " Glendevon, say ye ? Saul of God ! I like 
 not that. It is an evil place, for all it looks sa 
 bonny in broad daylight, and smiles over the 
 stream as though it feared it not. But by night 
 it is the haunt of rank hell-dogs, and Sathan him- 
 self hath ofttimes preached his damnable stuff 
 from the very pulpit which is filled by the min- 
 ister of God. We had a mind to adventure our- 
 selves in it, to wrestle with him and drive him 
 forth, but the pestilent crew of Puritans would 
 have cried out that we had dealt with the Evil 
 One, sa that for the time the place is sair ridden 
 by witches. I ken not what concern this chiel 
 — Grossok ca' ye him? — hath in the place; 
 but women are aye ready to deal Avith witch- 
 es for every little trifling turn they have ado 
 with." 
 
 When I came to the dream or vision which 
 troubled me the last night I was at Ruthven 
 Castle he said that doubtless I had been ridden 
 by the Mare or Incubus, and that my senses were 
 dimmed by '' a thick fleume." 
 
 "And yet, man," he added, after appearing to 
 consider my figure for some seconds, " it fears 
 me that ye had mair commerce with the Lady 
 Potiphar than the Lady Jezabel. Have ye told
 
 109 
 
 me all, or are 3'e keeping back ony part of the 
 tale, to spare the poor lady's fame ?" 
 
 " Indeed, sir, I have kept nothing back." 
 
 " And yet the stor}'^ is marvellous strange as 
 ye tell it, for ye had a gold chain with a jewel 
 when the lady visited ye, and Avhen she was 
 gone the chain and jewel were gone also. If 
 she had a mind to ye, not all the bolts and bars 
 ill Scotland would keep yon besom out. Now, 
 I charge 3"e, tell me, Captain Andrew, not as sin- 
 ner to confessor, but as a subject to his prince — 
 was there no kindness between 3'e, no sort of 
 dalliance, during which she might have shifted 
 the gear from off 3^our neck? No? Weel, ye 
 maun back to Ruthven Castle as fast as ye may. 
 Haste, man ; away ! away !" 
 
 But I saw not my way to Ruthven so plain. 
 For whether the jewel were taken from me by 
 human or devilish means I was equally at a loss 
 to know who had it. And if I knew the thief, 
 wdio could doubt that he had removed his prize 
 to a place of safety ? Then, to put myself again 
 in the power of the Earl of iVrran would be sui- 
 cide — for now that other means had failed, he 
 would not spare me. Methought his Ilighness 
 was a trifle indifferent. 
 
 " Sureh'," said I, *' I might serve your Majesty 
 bettor outside the Castle of lluthveu than inside,
 
 no 
 
 where I should have half a dozen dirks in my 
 puddings before I could pull off my boots." 
 
 " If it's danger you fear, Scotland is no place 
 for you, for no part of it is safe for you or any- 
 body else. The maist dangerous spot of all is 
 this garden, and the man maist in danger is j^our 
 anointed King. Why, man, there's a plot once 
 a week, either to rive the liver forth of us, or to 
 ravish our person from the realm. Ye are in 
 greater danger here than anywhere else. But 
 mark this — I have made it plain ere this to my 
 Lord of Arran that I will not have his ward mar- 
 ried until the jewels abstracted from our keeping 
 are all returned to us. I could not deal mair 
 openly with him, for I think not to name this X 
 Jewel to him. Though men think otherwise, 
 there are many things of State of which my 
 Chancellor knoweth nothing; and, by the body 
 of God ! Captain Andrew, if this X Jewel be not 
 returned to us, our Chancellor — braw lad as he 
 is — may hang for a' we care. Ye see, we have 
 given him a strong bribe to return it, for he is 
 greatly set upon the marriage of this ward. And 
 as for the lassie Uchiltrie, our wish is that ye 
 should sift her thoroughly on this matter, for 
 our mind misgives us tliat this is no devil's Avork, 
 but some mischief of women."" 
 
 " That is like enough, sir ; but there are those
 
 Ill 
 
 Tvho have a shrewd guess of my errand, and the 
 gentle hand will not find this jewel. I could not 
 go back as I came without deserving and finding 
 the reward of a spy. But if the means could 
 be spared to give me some manner of war- 
 rant — " 
 
 " Sairts ! would ye requisition us as ye would 
 the burgomaster of any mean Flemish town? 
 Ye call for our signature as ye would for a cup 
 of ale — the King's blank ; the like was never 
 heard. And yet the matter presses. Maybe 
 Patrick hath not paid ower the taxes of his 
 sheriffdom of Forfar, as we required him, to the 
 chiel Hunter our glasingwright. But 3^e are bet- 
 ter without the men ; they would but lead ye 
 into temptation. Come into the lodging, and we 
 will find some better way for ye. The walls are 
 low, and wha kens how mony night-walkers 
 might spring in upon us at any moment." 
 
 So we went in, and the King wrote out and 
 luinded to me a commission giving me absolute 
 control over the Castle of Kuthven and every- 
 body within it. I thought that would serve at a 
 pinch, though I knew that my Lord of Arran 
 would not regard it. His Highness gave me, 
 moreover, a letter, couched in kindly terms, to 
 the Laird of Duncrub, requiring him to furnish 
 me with four fully equipped men for sixteen
 
 112 
 
 days, in return for which service he offered his 
 gracious thanks. 
 
 Thereupon I asked his Highness whether I 
 was at hberty to seek his presence when he re- 
 turned to Edinburgh. " If your horse will let 
 you," said the King ; " but dinna be flashing the 
 bit paper in every carle's face. And we would 
 have you carry this with you, so that, if at any 
 time you get knowledge of the gear we were 
 speaking of, you may return it to us. By which 
 token we shall know that we may be easy upon 
 the matter." Thereupon he gave me a topaz 
 and dismissed me, in a homely manner patting 
 me upon the cheek, and saying that I was a 
 braw man. 
 
 As I might have expected, if I had had time 
 to think of it, my dark friend was waiting for 
 me at the door of the King's lodging, very anx- 
 ious for an immediate conclusion with me. The 
 night, however, was black as pitch, and, as I 
 told him, the light, though good for murder, was 
 very bad for fighting. The remark was not well 
 received ; but after some parley a rendezvous 
 was arranged for six hours on the followino; 
 morning by tlie windmill. This was no sooner 
 agreed upon than from an upper window of the 
 lodging came a voice, well-known to all, Avhich 
 said :
 
 113 
 
 " Saul ! but we will be there with the best of 
 ye, and if we spy the Laird of Gautrie, we will 
 hang him to the sail of the windmill before he 
 can say his prayers." 
 
 So I was rid of a fool for that night ; but I 
 had reason to be sorry afterwards that I did not 
 meet him by the windmill, for the townspeople 
 of St. Andrews, who arc a iwstering crew, would 
 have been present in great numbers, and a public 
 lesson might have encouraged other men to be 
 less pressing in their attentions to me. 
 
 Thinking that now I might go without further 
 hinderance to my lodging, I started for the gate 
 of the enclosure, my men carrying torches to 
 show the way ; but before I had gone many 
 steps I was drawn aside by one whose figure I 
 did not recognize in the gloom, but whose voice 
 I well knew. 
 
 " Are you mad, friend Andrew," said this per- 
 son, " that you would pass at this time of night, 
 with lighted torches and only two attendants, 
 through the streets of St. Andrews? Has the 
 sight of your native Prince addled 3'our wits?" 
 
 " Why," protested I, " it is but a few hundreds 
 of yards to go. Besides, I have only been four 
 hours in the town, and nobody outside this en- 
 closure either knows or cares about me or my 
 business."
 
 114 
 
 " But they care about it inside the enclosure, 
 and that is the serious matter for you. It is high 
 time you knew Captain James a httle better. He 
 may not know your business, but he suspects it ; 
 and he is apt to treat a man he suspects as one 
 he knows to be an enemy. As you well know, 
 he has already made two indirect attempts upon 
 your life. Did you not suppose that there were 
 those here who knew you were coming, and 
 waited to see the result of your interview with 
 his Highness? Owing to some blunder — which 
 I do not understand — about the letters you car- 
 ried, you have, against their expectation, come 
 out of the royal presence with a whole skin and 
 a topaz in your pouch. Do you suppose, then, 
 that you would ever come alive at your lodging 
 with your torches and your two men?" 
 
 " But I can't mend matters," I interposed ; "I 
 cannot do otherwise." 
 
 " You can do otherwise ; but I wish you to un- 
 derstand your danger. I dare say you think that 
 Graham tickled your shins with his rapier out of 
 mere devilry. I^othing of the sort. He's a Pa- 
 pist, and very great with the King for the mo- 
 ment ; otherwise he would not have ventured to 
 quarrel with you in the precincts of the Court. 
 He is also very great with Captain James, who 
 has broken for the present at least with the Min-
 
 115 
 
 isters and the English Protestants. AVhat is to 
 be the upshot of these intrigues no man can tell ; 
 but sure am I that our master hath little liking 
 for the Man of Sin, and will have no serious deal- 
 ings with him in the end if he can make his mar- 
 ket elsewhere. But in the meantime he is con- 
 strained to keep him in pla3^" 
 
 " Master, I like not that. Do you make no re- 
 monstrance ?" 
 
 " I go with the rest, in appearance. Man, I am 
 playing for my life, as you are for yours, though 
 you don't seem to know it. To be frank Avith 
 you, I have done with the Antichrist and his cup- 
 board of plate, and he shall go to perdition if I 
 can send him there. But to return to yourself, 
 Captain James means to be rid of you if he can, 
 and he is a man who has his eyes, ears, and hands 
 everywhere. He will strike whenever and wher- 
 ever he can, so keep your wits a little more 
 alive. In the meantime bid your men put out 
 their torches and return by themselves to your 
 lodging by the Southgate. They will wait for 
 you at the foot of your stair, and I will give 
 you directions for your own return by another 
 route." 
 
 My men were therefore despatched by them- 
 selves, while the Master conducted me to a pos- 
 tern in the northern wall of the enclosure. One
 
 116 
 
 of his men was waiting for us there, under whose 
 guidance I came out by the Shore Port, and 
 turned up by the Fishergate, past the Castle, and 
 so into North o-ate.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 It marvels rae in what disdain a woman will 
 hold the wit of man. She will thankfully use 
 it when she is in straits, but at other times she 
 holds the cheapest subterfuge good enough to 
 puzzle his dull brain. And she will play the 
 sorriest of tricks at his very nose, in the full con- 
 fidence that he does not see them. 
 
 I know not why this should be but that women 
 are intoxicated by the power God hath given them 
 over us. For some purpose they are permitted to 
 work much evil by nature of their beauty and 
 gentle manners. And such is not the philosophy 
 of weak men only, for mulier confusio honiinis 
 was a saying well understood of Mr. Knox ; and 
 Mr. James Melvill, Avho, though sour enough in 
 his Church politics, had some elements of hu- 
 manity in his private life, hath told me that he 
 trembled to think how far he was moved by 
 fascinating women. 
 
 And I am fain to believe that women put 
 down to their wit a good deal that is due to 
 their beautv. Here had I been robbed of a
 
 118 
 
 gold chain by one of two women, but so great 
 a contempt had the thief for ray understand- 
 ing that she left in my hands a clew to her 
 identity in the shape of a collar of calcedonies. 
 She had some reason for this ; but I think not 
 she knew she was preparing means for her detec- 
 tion, for women look not forward. There is 
 much talk of their skill in practices and intrigue, 
 but I respect not their plots. They are wondrous 
 cunning and adroit, and when advised by men 
 will do wonders. But their plots are full of 
 windows, through which any one may look who 
 will ; and they are apt to believe that, if they 
 shut their own eyes, no one else can see what 
 they are doiug. 
 
 But in this matter there was much I could not 
 understand. If the Countess had the chain, why 
 these attempts upon m\" life ? Why did she not 
 restore the jewel to the King and claim the mar- 
 riage of her husband's ward ? Was the jewel 
 worth more than the right to dispose of a rich 
 heiress in marriage ? As for Jean Uchiltrie, I 
 could conceive no motive strong enough to ac- 
 count for her being the thief. 
 
 I had, however, something more pressing to 
 think of as I mounted my horse the morning 
 following my interview with the King. I had 
 to get back to Kuthven Castle, and the events of
 
 119 
 
 the previous day told me that this might be a 
 difficult matter. Although at first strongly 
 moved not to return, I had changed my mind 
 upon that head. I was piqued by the loss of the 
 jewel, and, strange as it may seem, I had come 
 to think that my life would be nowhere so safe 
 as in Kuthven Castle. My reason for thinking 
 so I shall not here set down, because it is not 
 alwa3's well to lay bare the whole mind of a man, 
 and provoke idle charges of vanity and conceit. 
 
 Fully alive was I now to the danger of this 
 journe}'', and I had carefull}' considered the ques- 
 tion of routes. The shortest road was through 
 Cupar and Lindores, or I might follow the shore 
 of the Tay, if I pleased, as far as Abernethy. 
 Again, by making a detour to the south, I might 
 ride as far as Strathmiglo, and, turning then at 
 right angles, reach Perth by the Pass of Dron. 
 But I rejected each of these routes, and deter- 
 mined to go by Glendevon and Gleneagles, 
 making a circuit so wide that nobody would 
 suspect me of entertaining it. So it was by 
 the Southgate Port that we rode out St, An- 
 drews at six hours in the morning, intending to 
 avoid Cupar and reach the How of Fife by the 
 by-roads. But we had gone but a short distance 
 when a cry arose behind us, and, looking back, 
 we saw one running towards us.
 
 120 
 
 This man bad been charged to carry a letter 
 to me before I started, but having missed me at 
 my lodging had followed me to the gate. The 
 letter, which came from a sure hand, contained 
 the following passage : 
 
 " There are twelve men in the w^ood below the 
 Hill of Moonzie, there are six at Ballinbreich on 
 the low road by the Tay, and six in the Pass of 
 Dron. Judge for yourself whether your best 
 way is not by Glendevon. The enclosure came 
 for you by my Lady Arran's post late last night." 
 
 This only gave me more serious reasons for 
 the route I had already chosen, but the enclosure 
 quite altered my mind. It ran thus : 
 
 " MoNsiEUE LE Capitaine, — Nc rcvcncz pas, je 
 vous prie, sous pretexte aucun par le Glendevon, 
 si vous tenez ii la vie, Elizabeth." 
 
 What could this mean ? The signature Avas 
 royal in manner — or had it another meaning? 
 But how knew the woman to speak of Glendevon, 
 a route which of all others Avas the least prob- 
 able for one coming from St. Andrews to take or 
 even to think of ? AVas it that she knew the gate 
 was beset for me on all the other routes? That
 
 121 
 
 was scarce probable. If not, was the warning 
 meant in good faith ? Unhappily, it was a ques- 
 tion whether this woman ever did anything in 
 good faith ; and again she was not likely to 
 trump her own cards ; and yet — 
 
 The mention, however, of Glendevon was 
 enough ; the experiment was hopeless. Calling 
 David Carryg to rae at once, I said : 
 
 " David, you will take John Sloan and my 
 horse and Barabbas. You will keep the south 
 side of the hills until you strike the road which 
 crosses to Dunning. You will follow that road 
 into Strathearn, and on your way you will leave 
 this letter with the Laird of Duncrub. The 
 letter is in his Majesty's own handwriting, so 
 that if any stop you a sight of the outside will 
 reduce them to civility. That is all, except that 
 you will wait for me at Ruthven Castle until I 
 come." 
 
 Then, dismounting, I pu£ the bridle into his 
 hand, and would have bade the party godspeed, 
 but that I saw Barabbas climbing deliberately 
 from his saddle. 
 
 " Sir," said he, in a dogged manner, '' I will be 
 of your company.'' 
 
 " You will obey my orders, sir," retorted I ; 
 "you are not now in Ruthven Castle, and you 
 will accompany my men wherever they go.''
 
 122 
 
 " I am sorry, sir ; I must go with you what- 
 ever befalls. I dare not disobey my master's 
 orders in this," 
 
 For a moment I was moved to end this diffi- 
 culty in an obvious manner. My life was in 
 danger, and this man's obstinacy threatened to 
 put me to the extremity. I had a right to his 
 life. Seizing one of my pistols, I balanced it for 
 a moment in my hand ; but catching sight of 
 the face of the poor wretch, who made no move- 
 ment to escape or protect himself, I dropped my 
 hand. It is hard to strike a creature which does 
 not resist. Moreover, the suspicion that he had 
 perhaps done me some service with the papers 
 which were crumpled into my gauntlet came 
 back to me, and I relented. 
 
 '• Well," said I, " if you must be an obstinate 
 fool, you shall come with me; but listen care- 
 fully to the condition. For the next twenty-four 
 hours you will neither leave my sight nor open 
 your lips. You will be absolutely dumb, not- 
 withstanding any temptation to speak Avhich 
 may be offered to you. If you say so much as 
 ' Bobo Finla ' I will put a bullet through your 
 brain on the moment. Is that understood ? 
 Well, give your horse to Sloan ; they can hire 
 some rascals to help them by the way." 
 
 Thereupon, turning back towards St. Andrews,
 
 123 
 
 I started him off at a very sharp pace along the 
 path by the Common Lade, as they call the water 
 which runs outside the southern wall of the city. 
 AVhen we had compassed one-half of the circuit 
 of the place, by skirting the outside of this wall 
 we came to the Haven, which faces to the north. 
 And this we did in no great space of time, be- 
 cause, although the number of the inhabitants is 
 great, their buildings do not cover much ground. 
 
 "What I was purposed to do I had had in my 
 mind before; so that I knew in what quarter to 
 apply, and had no difficulty in finding a skipper to 
 carry me to Dundee. It was an ill chance that the 
 water was low at the time, and w'ould not grow 
 again for two hours so as to let us put out ; for 
 the Haven, which is fashioned by means of a 
 wooden framework with stones inside, is much 
 impaired by sand and rocks, and it is only at 
 certain conditions of the tide that ships can enter 
 or go out. The boat, moreover, in which we 
 were to sail had no deck. Nevertheless, I caused 
 Barabbas to embark with me, and, spreading the 
 sail over the stern, we lay down beneath it, so as 
 to escape the eyes of the curious and wait for 
 the rising of the water. 
 
 I think I have seldom spent two hours so 
 wholly miserable ; but the tide came at last, and 
 with it the skipper. Xow it chanced that this
 
 124 
 
 skipper, having the half of our passage-money 
 paid in advance, had so misused the two hours 
 of waiting that he was plainly very drunk and 
 blasphemous in his speech. But by the time I 
 could creep out with safety and sit upright in 
 the boat he was so far gone that he lay grunt- 
 ing in the bilge, out of all sense or knowledge. 
 He was soon joined in that refuge by Barabbas, 
 who, not being accustomed to go upon the sea, 
 w^as seized with a sore sickness when we came 
 into the rough water at the mouth of the Tay. 
 
 This might have been a serious matter if I had 
 depended only on the skill of the skipper, for I 
 was minded to land not at Dundee, but St. Johns- 
 ton, and the Tay has so many sand-banks that 
 none but an experienced mariner can sail a boat 
 up it. It chanced, however, that there was a 
 smart man on board who knew the river as well 
 as the skipper ; and I was glad that things fell 
 out as they did, for I had less difficulty in per- 
 suading the younger man to take me up the Tay 
 than I might have had with the skipper. But 
 on no consideration would he consent to o-o as 
 far as Perth, for the Pest was very hot there, 
 and I had to be content to be landed by Elcho 
 Castle. 
 
 When we were off Dundee the breeze died 
 away, and we had to fall to the oars. This was
 
 125 
 
 indeed a severe labor, for the boat was heavy 
 and the oars ill-raade; but the lad and I worked 
 with a will, so that for some days after I had 
 little use of my sword-hand. I have scarce ever 
 seen anything so beautiful as the country on both 
 sides of this river, and I would fain have lingered 
 on the journey but for my anxieties. When we 
 had worked some distance up the river the course 
 we were constrained to take brought us close 
 under the walls of Ballinbreicli Castle and past 
 the landing-place of Xewburgh. And here I 
 grew anxious lest the horsemen set to intercept 
 me at this ])oint should spy me in the boat. But 
 inasmuch as we could make no progress unless I 
 took an oar, and I was afraid that my dress 
 might draw the attention of those on the shore, 
 I stripped myself naked to the waist, and so con- 
 tinued to row until we were out of the ranae of 
 prying eyes. 
 
 At Elcho Castle, a few miles below St. Johns- 
 ton, we took the land, and parted from the 
 boatmen, Barabbas, who had recovered his stom- 
 ach, lending a sly kick to the still recumbent 
 skipper. From this point it was but a few miles 
 inland to our destination, and I counted upon 
 reaching it without dilhculty by avoiding the 
 beaten tracks and keeping to the rough ground. 
 
 It behooved us, however, to cross the King's
 
 126 
 
 road froin Falkland to Perth. As we came down 
 the brae towards this road, the twio;s cracklino: 
 beneath our feet, Barabbas sought to sta}^ me by 
 catching at my cloak; but having my senses 
 alive to other things, and forgetting for the mo- 
 ment that he was dumb, I cast him off impa- 
 tiently. In a few seconds we were crossing the 
 road ; but we had hardly stepped upon it when 
 a gentleman, followed by four other horsemen, 
 rode out of a clump of trees and called upon us 
 to stop. 
 
 "I am," said he, in a kindlv manner, "the 
 Sheriff of this county, or, rather, the Sheriff- 
 Deputy, and I believe I have the good chance to 
 speak to Captain Andrew Eviot." 
 
 "That is so, Mr. Sheriff," I rephed ; "can I 
 serve you in any way ?" 
 
 " The fact is," said he, in an embarrassed man- 
 ner, " I am sorry to tell you that I hold a com- 
 mission for your arrest for stealing a letter Avith 
 violence from a rider named Joshua Henderson 
 by the Clochrigstane." 
 
 Whereupon I laughed, saying, " If that is all, 
 it is soon settled, for there is no truth in it, as I 
 can easily prove." But I glanced with some sus- 
 picion at the companion of my voyage. 
 
 " That may well be," said the Sheriff ; " but," 
 he added, meaningly, " there's many a man
 
 137 
 
 thrown into jiiil on a trilling charge, and once 
 he is in more dangerous matter is pretended 
 against him. I hope it will not be so in your 
 case. I am also charged to arrest one Carryg, 
 your servant. I suppose this is he, although he 
 hardly answers the description given me. llo ! 
 you, sir ; are you Carryg V 
 
 To this Barabbas replied nothing, but shook 
 his head; and being many times called upon, 
 and ffivino; no answer, he was about to receive 
 some chastisement at the hands of the Sheriff 
 when I thought right to interpose. At first I 
 was more than content to watch his embarrass- 
 ment ; but seeing clearly that this was not a play 
 prepared for my benefit, I explained that he was 
 a servitor of my Lord of Arran, and was well 
 known at Ruthven Castle. Whereupon Mr. 
 Sheriff opened his eyes very wide, and seemed to 
 be shrewdly puzzled ; but some of his own men 
 being acquainted with the appearance of Barab- 
 bas, which was singular enough, he was satisfied 
 to discharge him. 
 
 Now the Tolbooth of Perth, whither I was 
 constrained to go with the Sheriff, was an insti- 
 tution conducted on hospitable principles. My 
 arms, it is true, Avere taken from me and hung 
 up in the jailer's lodge ; but in common with the 
 other guests I was allowed to roam unchecked
 
 128 
 
 over the rest of the building, and there was no 
 restriction as to food, provided a prisoner could 
 pay for it. The jailer was devoted to his charges, 
 and loved them more than the Bailies of Perth, 
 who found him his wages. The Sheriff himself 
 paid us a visit in the evening, with the special 
 object of cheering his cousin, the Laird of Strowie, 
 who was in jail for debt. Moreover, before leav- 
 ing us he consumed two pints of ale and a chopin 
 of auld wine, and smoked two pipes of tobacco, 
 to his own great contentment. 
 
 The Laird of Strowie shook his head when he 
 heard how I came to be cast into the Tolbooth. 
 
 " Sir," said he, " I was thrown in here six 
 months ago for debt, though the whole country 
 knows that I owe not a gray groat to any 
 man. But it was in my Lady Jezabel's knowl- 
 edge that I had been in the Raid of Ruthven, 
 and she keepeth me here in the hope of wringing 
 a large sum of money from me in purchase of 
 my freedom. It is like that she looketh for the 
 same from you." 
 
 I lay here some days in no discomfort of body, 
 but in sore distress of mind. But on a certain 
 morning, being Sunday, our jailer left the Tol- 
 booth and its occupants to themselves. Whether 
 the unusual sum I had given him by way of 
 gratuity drew him to some congenial haunt, or
 
 129 
 
 he attended the morning preaching, about which 
 the Ministers were now very noisy, I know not. 
 But I took the opportunity of his absence to 
 examine the only part of the building with 
 which the guests were, as a rule, expected not 
 to trifle. And when my companions saw what 
 I was about they watched my motions with 
 some interest. 
 
 The door of the Tolbooth was generally 
 secured on the outside by a catband, but on this 
 occasion the jailer had not put it on. Besides 
 the catband there was a lock with a double and 
 a single cast. AVhat might have happened if 
 the door had been locked with the double cast I 
 cannot say, but in truth it was, on this as on 
 many other mornings, locked only with the 
 single cast. I soon found that my predecessors 
 in the Tolbooth had, as was only natural, paid a 
 good deal of attention to this lock ; for not only 
 was a large portion of the stone, into which the 
 bolt was shot, broken away, but the bolt itself 
 was half worn through with the frequent filings 
 it had undergone. I had therefore nothing to 
 do but insert my finger in the cleft of the stone 
 and draw back the bolt, and the door of the 
 Tolbooth stood wide open for those to go out 
 thereat who would. 
 
 Taking down my sword, dagger, and pistols
 
 130 
 
 from the wall in the jailer's lodge, I step23ed out 
 into the street, followed by the rest of the 
 prisoners, who within an incredibly short time 
 melted away and were seen no more. There 
 was no one to stop us ; the place was like a city 
 of the dead. Whether this was due to the fear 
 inspired b}^ the Plague of Pestilence I cannot 
 say, but at this time a citizen could scarce walk 
 upon the street or the shore during the time of 
 the preaching without being haled before the 
 kirk-session, and maybe we of the Tolbooth 
 owed more to the ministry of Perth than we 
 wot of. 
 
 This exodus of its inhabitants from the Tol- 
 booth without leave led to a prolonged lawsuit 
 between the Bailies of Perth and an infuriate 
 suitor whose debtor escaped with me. At sev- 
 eral seasons, when much outcry has been made 
 in the matter, the Bailies came very near to re- 
 pairing the lock ; but it is there as it was to this 
 day, after a lapse of more than twenty years.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 In less than an hour I was mounting the steps 
 leading to the apartments in Ruthven Castle 
 occupied by my Lady Arran. In the room on 
 the first floor I found two young men lolling on 
 the seats in the window and pondering upon 
 their dinner. To the elder of the two, who was 
 wielding a picktooth, I addressed myself. 
 
 " Sir," said I, " if my Lady Arran is still at 
 the castle, I shall be obliged if you will cause 
 her to be informed that Captain Eviot seeks an 
 interview with her." 
 
 The young gentleman looked at me, said 
 nothing, and resumed the occupation of pick- 
 ing his teeth, which I had inconsiderately inter- 
 rupted. 
 
 " I asked you a question, sir," said I, " which 
 you appear not to have understood." 
 
 '' My Lady will not see you," he replied, care- 
 lessly, and speaking with his back half turned 
 upon me. 
 
 " Pray be good enough to take my message, 
 and bring me my Lady's answer."
 
 133 
 
 "Not I." 
 
 " Well, if you will not do your duty, I must 
 make you do it," and, seizing him by the collar, 
 I dragged him to the corner of the room, where, 
 throwing back the tapestry, I entered upon the 
 stairs leading to tlie upper floor. Up those steps 
 I dragged him, taking care to permit his knees 
 and other projecting members of his body to 
 make acquaintance with the steps, which were 
 of hard whinstone. 
 
 When we arrived at the upper floor he was 
 the richer by a good many contusions, while his 
 dress was disordered, and here and there frayed 
 by contact with stone edges. This was not done 
 without some noise, which brought out Mistress 
 Kennedy, the Countess's gentlewoman. 
 
 " What meaneth this V cried she. 
 
 "It meaneth, fair mistress, that this young 
 gentleman refused to carry my name to my 
 Lady, and that I have merely compelled him to 
 show me the way up-stairs." 
 
 " And you have done well, sir. Of a truth my 
 Lady will be glad to see you ; but as for you, 
 John Munro, if your impertinence comes to the 
 ears of my Lady, you will have an ill time. You 
 are a forward, lazy, conceited, useless varlet, and 
 we should be well quit of you." 
 
 On my entry to the chamber ujy Lady ap-
 
 133 
 
 peared to be taken by surprise, but she greeted 
 me with some warmth, taking both of ray hands 
 in hers. I cared not whether this cordiahty was 
 real or assumed. For the moment it allowed me 
 to think that I was safe in Ruthven Castle. ]\lis- 
 tress Jean, on the other hand, met me as one who 
 had no interest in my coming. 
 
 " I am fortunate," said I — " fortunate in com- 
 ing safely back, and in finding both of you fair 
 ladies still here." 
 
 "I care not, as a rule," answered my Lad}^, 
 " for a country life, but I have taken a strange 
 fancy to this place. My Lord has unpleasant as- 
 sociations with it and likes it not. But Jean 
 agrees with me that there is an air of romance 
 about it. Is it not so, Jean ?" 
 
 " I see nothing in the place," said Jean ; " the 
 society of M'Kuskan Grossok and Cristine does 
 not go very far." 
 
 " You see. Captain Andrew, you and I count 
 for nothing," remarked my Lady, with malice. 
 
 " Nay," retorted Jean, " my Lady is always 
 engrossing, and Captain Andrew is really very 
 funny." 
 
 There was clearly something amiss between 
 the two. The Countess covered this retort b}' 
 turning to me, and asking whether I had met my 
 Lord on my way.
 
 134 
 
 "I could hardly do that," said I, "unless my 
 Lord took ship at Perth, for I came by boat to 
 the Castle of Elcho, and should have been here 
 some nights ago but that I was thrown into the 
 Tolbooth at Perth on a charge of stealing a let- 
 ter." "Whereat my Lady was greatly surprised, 
 and showed signs of displeasure. 
 
 " Who did this ? And if it were so, how came 
 you hither ?" 
 
 " I simply walked out at the front door of the 
 Tolbooth, and here I am. As for my accuser, he 
 was one of my Lord's men named Henderson ; 
 but I need hardly say there was no truth in the 
 charge." 
 
 " He shall hear more of this, I pledge my word. 
 But, in truth, we are rather dull here, Captain 
 Andrew, and wish to be amused. Have you had 
 any other good-fortunes ?" 
 
 " Well, to say sooth, I have. I found a chain." 
 1 noticed that Jean's eyes w^ere fixed on the 
 ground. 
 
 " You are rather fond of chains, are you 
 not?" 
 
 "I have not had much experience in them. 
 The only other chain I ever had in my posses- 
 sion was stolen from me" (Jean was clearly dis- 
 pleased) ; " but I will show you that which I 
 found, for one of you two ladies may have lost
 
 135 
 
 it." And I produced the chain of calcedonies 
 from my doublet. 
 
 " It probably belongs to some serving-woman," 
 said ray Lady, eying it indulgently. But before 
 I could look at Jean Uchiltrie she had snatched 
 it from my hand, crying, with great indignation : 
 " IIow dare you, sir? That is mine ; where did 
 you get it ? Did you bribe somebody to steal it 
 from me ?" And Avithout further words she flung 
 out of the apartment. 
 
 "What in the name of John Knox does that 
 mean V said I, my eyes wide open with astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " Ah !" laughed my Lady, softly, " men never 
 do understand us ; but of all the stupid men I 
 ever saw you are the most stupid. Why, man, 
 can you not see that the girl is in love with you, 
 and meant you to keep the chain as a gage ? 
 Then you bring it here, and before another of 
 her own sex make a jest of it. I wonder she did 
 not tear your eyes out. But you are right to 
 treat it lightly ; I have had great trouble Avith 
 her, and her fancy will change to some other 
 man in a month. But tell me where you ' found ' 
 this chain." 
 
 " Kay," said I, " I have already said too much 
 about it ; I will say no more." And I had my 
 own opinion of my Lady's surmise, and my
 
 136 
 
 stupidity, and Mistress Jean's fanciful nature. 
 I was not so stupid as I looked. 
 
 " Well, we will drop that subject ; but tell me, 
 did you get a letter from me about Glendevon ? 
 Well, Andrew, you believe that I am your 
 friend ?" And she spoke softly, coming close to 
 me and putting her hand upon my arm ; and — 
 Avell, she was assuredly a very handsome woman, 
 but I lost not my head. 
 
 " Have I not the best reason to know my Lady 
 for my friend ?" 
 
 " Well," continued she, " if you know that, you 
 know that there are two sides to friendship. I 
 would have you help me as I help you. You 
 have interested me, and I will make your fort- 
 une if you will be a friend to me. I want your 
 help." 
 
 " I know of no way in which so humble a per- 
 son as I can serve you ; but if you w^ill make 
 your meaning plain, I will try." 
 
 " I think you understand my meaning ; but in 
 case you don't, I will ask you a plain question : 
 Have you ever heard of the X Jewel ?" 
 
 " Yes," said I, " I have heard of it ; it is said 
 to be a Papist jewel." 
 
 " Where did you hear that ?" she asked, sharp- 
 ly, with the manner of one who had me in a 
 trap.
 
 137 
 
 " Mr. Andrew Melvill said so on Monday night 
 in St. Andrews." 
 
 "How dare you jest with me, sir';!"' she cried, 
 in great anger. " The whole world knows that 
 Mr. Andrew fled to England many months ago, 
 and dares not show his nose in St. Andrews." 
 
 " So my Lord told me," replied I, with a great 
 calm, " the last time I was here. The whole 
 world knows it ; but the whole world does not 
 know that Mr. Andrew was in St. Andrews on 
 Monday last." 
 
 " Did you see him, sir ?" 
 
 " Nay, but I heard him. I may as well tell 
 you the whole story, as it is known to all the 
 horse-boys and grooms who follow the Court. 
 His Highness and Mr, Andrew were disputing 
 in a chamber with an open window last Mon- 
 day night, and Mr. Andrew charges his Highness 
 with carrying the X Jewel, being the mark of 
 the Beast, in his bosom; whereupon his High- 
 ness declares m verbo Principis, that, if such a 
 thing exists, he knows not in what part of the 
 world it is." 
 
 " Is tliat all ?" said my Lady, relapsing into 
 her ordinary humor. " Perhaps there is no such 
 thing. And yet," she added, as if speaking to 
 herself, " he is fond of a grim jest." 
 
 " What is the jest ?" said L
 
 138 
 
 " Jest ? Did I say jest ? Oh ! there is no jest 
 in it." But I said to myself that I knew what 
 she meant. The King was fond of a practical 
 joke at the expense of the members of his Court, 
 and he was quite capable of making one of tliem 
 miserable about the supposed loss of a jewel, 
 while he was actually carrying it suspended 
 about his neck. Such a trick he was capable of 
 playing upon my Lord and Lady of Arran, but I 
 knew he would not play it upon me. This doubt 
 in my Lady's mind, and her evident earnestness 
 about the whole matter, set my mind at rest 
 upon one point. Whoev^er had the jewel, she 
 had it not. 
 
 " I doubt," continued the Countess, " whether 
 there is such a jewel ; but it truly is said that a 
 jewel belonging to the King is missing, and I have 
 thought that this girl may have taken it. She 
 had the opportunity — that much is certain. She 
 is a strange, secretive creature, and I can make 
 nothing of her. My Lord, as I dare say you 
 know, has the gift of her marriage, and it may 
 be that she resents this ; but, believe me, she has 
 given me much anxiety. She seems to have a 
 liking for you ; and you can help me in this — you 
 can tell me what you think of her." 
 
 This was in effect what I desired, and I could 
 not pass the chance. I wished to have the op-
 
 139 
 
 portunity of speaking to Mistress Jean; but 
 neither to the King nor to this woman did I en- 
 gage to betray her secrets if she confided in me, 
 nor indeed did any such idea enter into my mind. 
 So I rephed, temperately, to my Lady : 
 
 " If it is your wish to know what I think of 
 this young lady, you must give me the chance of 
 speaking with her — a chance I have as yet not 
 had." 
 
 " You shall certainly have every possible op- 
 portunity." And indeed my Lady was as good as 
 her word, for I was constantly in the company 
 of both of these ladies ; and the Countess from 
 time to time, as she had the chance of doing so 
 without appearance of intention, left me alone 
 with Mistress Jean, but always in the garden, a 
 good view of which could be got from the house. 
 But the plot entirely missed its mark, for no 
 sooner was I alone with the girl than, as if she 
 knew what passed between m3''self and my Lady, 
 she became silent and morose, and refused to 
 speak with me. And this continuing for some 
 space, both my Lady and I began to be very far 
 from content.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 This was a state of things which could not 
 last. For a time my Lady was very great with 
 me, treating me on terms of familiarity and 
 friendship. But erelong I fancied that she began 
 to fall out of conceit with me. Whether she 
 thought me useless, or maybe her enemy, it was 
 enough that I seemed to have failed her. I 
 doubt not that, if I had been able to run their 
 course, this woman and my Lord of Arran 
 would have proved as faithful friends as most 
 other Court politicians in Scotland, or, for that 
 matter, in any other country in the world. But 
 I had my own course to run, and though I lived 
 on terms of intimacy with my Lady and her 
 ward, the intimacy stopped at a certain point. 
 Like all imperious and selfish women, she was 
 vain, and though she may have had little real 
 value for me, she could not endure that I should 
 prefer the younger woman to her. And I fear 
 she came to feel this — for it is a thing women 
 quickly detect or men easily betray — although I 
 
 I
 
 Ml 
 
 endeavored to conceal it, and Mistress Jean 
 avoided me like poison. So it came about that 
 my Lady would leave the castle for periods of 
 two or three da3's at a time, for she had much 
 business on hand, and Iluthven began to lose its 
 romance in her eyes. 
 
 I was at that time riding a great black horse 
 with a white spot on its forehead and three 
 white feet. It was a beautiful creature, and as 
 generous in its temper as its appearance. It 
 chanced one morning that, when he was brought 
 out of his stable by John Sloan, my Lady and 
 Mistress Jean were present ; and, as some women 
 are prone to do. Mistress Jean showed him much 
 courtesy, stroking his sleek coat, caressing, and 
 even talking to him. All which the good beast, 
 who was accustomed to kind treatment — for he 
 was a horse which even the devil himself would 
 not ill use — seemed to understand, and accepted 
 with pleasure. 
 
 " By what name call you this horse. Captain 
 Andrew?" said the girl. 
 
 " I call him Black Ouviot, which is a good 
 name for a good horse." 
 
 " ISTay, I think not that that is his name — is it, 
 old fellow ? But where got you him ?" 
 
 " I think I shall not tell you, Mistress Jean. 
 I begin to think you would claim him from me.
 
 142 
 
 and as he is worth his weight in gold to me, I 
 cannot give him up." 
 
 This was no vain protest, for the theft of 
 horses was as fruitful a source of quarrels and 
 feuds in Scotland as the disposing of teind 
 sheaves. Men were hanged or drowned every 
 day "for" horses, staigs, or mares, as well as 
 for humbler and less useful creatures. It was 
 the habit of the thief to sell the stolen horse as 
 promptly as possible, and therefore often at a 
 low price. But whether the new owner ac- 
 quired him fairly or not, he was loath to give 
 him up. Mr. George Buchanan, for all that he 
 was a great scholar, was "extreme vengeable 
 against any that offendit him," and did much 
 mischief to my Lord of Morton for a hackney 
 which my Lord bought after it had been stolen 
 from Mr. George. Indeed, but for Mr. George's 
 allowance of it, the practice against the Regent 
 might never have taken a beginning. And all 
 for a horse ! 
 
 Mistress Jean's question was simple enough, 
 and it was simply put ; no stranger would have 
 thought it anything but idle. I could see what 
 my Lady thought of the episode, but my Lady 
 did not understand this girl, and she was wrong. 
 I, however, knew that the question had some- 
 thing behind it, because relations were so strained
 
 143 
 
 between Mistress Jean and myself that she would 
 not willingly have shown interest in anything 
 belonging to me. And I mention it because, as 
 Avill be seen, there was something behind it. 
 
 The day following this question about my 
 horse, one Berald Stewart, a cousin of my Lord 
 of Arran, came to seek an interview with my 
 Lady. AVith him were two other gentlemen, 
 one of whom was said to be a son of the Laird 
 of Graden, Avho looked as if he feared the face 
 of no man, but went where and did whatsoever 
 he listed. But for all his bold countenance, the 
 man was simple in his manner and free from ar- 
 rogance ; and I told myself that, if I had not re- 
 membered awry all that I had heard, this man 
 was not a son of Graden, but my Lord of Both- 
 well. 
 
 The demeanor of Berald Stewart I liked not, 
 and as I was not yet prepared for an open rupt- 
 ure with my Lady and her friends, I troubled 
 her guests with but little of my presence. But 
 I noted with admiration the arrogance of her 
 bearing to them as compared with, her kindness 
 to me, and I misliked it. By-and-bv, however, 
 this Berald Stewart, accompanied by my Lord 
 of Bothwell, coming down the steps from the 
 lii*st floor, sought me in the garden. 
 
 " Ila," said the former, " the chain-Under !"
 
 144 
 
 " What mean you, feather-head. ?" replied my 
 Lord. 
 
 "The poor devil of a capitaine, who finds chains 
 for ladies." 
 
 " I would he might find a chain for thy fool's 
 tongue, thou addle-pated chatterbox. If it be 
 yonder man you speak of, by God's death ! he 
 looketh to me to be the man to do it." 
 
 " Francis, Francis, you know that 1 love you, 
 and will take all your hard Avords without of- 
 fence ; but you are in the wrong about this man 
 of chains." 
 
 " Hout, hout, ye bear with my words because 
 ye darena refuse them. But what the devil have 
 ye to do with this gentleman? If ye provoke 
 him, he will cut your comb for ye, for I trow he 
 is the better man. Believe me, Berald Stewart, 
 ye are no match for that man. I have an eye 
 for such matters." 
 
 " I will show you that your eye deceives you at 
 times. Ah ! my captain, how is the weather for 
 chains 1" This he addressed in a loud voice to me. 
 
 " It seems," replied I, " good enough weather 
 for chaining your tongue to your lugs. I am 
 somewhat of my Lord's opinion about you." 
 
 " Ah !" said my Lord, " is it so ; do ye know 
 me, man ? To be sure there's more know Francis 
 Stewart than Francis Stewart knows."
 
 145 
 
 " Be assured, my Lord ; ray tongue is not, like 
 your friend's, in need of chaining. If I know 
 you, I will keep my own counsel." 
 
 Hereupon Berald Stewart got his word in 
 again. 
 
 " Who's tongue, sir, were you good enough to 
 say you would chain ?" 
 
 " I would," retorted I, with some irritation, 
 "that thou wert chained by the tongue to the 
 fork at the end of the devil's tail, and that he 
 would drag thee — " 
 
 '' "Would you ? I suppose j^ou are prepared to 
 give me the satisfaction I have a right to ask for 
 this — at once ?" 
 
 " Surely, at once." 
 
 "With one or two persons present to see that 
 all things are done in order ?" 
 
 " With everybody present who is within hail 
 of the castle, and cares to attend." And calling 
 aloud for Carryg, I bade him warn all the men 
 who were about to attend within five minutes 
 in the Watery Meadow. This meadow lay be- 
 tween two thickets outside the garden wall. 
 The garden itself "would have been the better 
 place, but we could scarce desecrate with our 
 combat the retreat of the ladies in the castle. 
 
 Within but a short space of time about for- 
 ty or fifty persons, being gentlemen, gentle- 
 
 10
 
 146 
 
 men's gentlemen, servants, husbandmen, and 
 jackmen, stood round a small open space in the 
 Watery Meadow, in the midst of which Berald 
 Stewart was to have his satisfaction. When we 
 had removed our doublets, the sun having passed 
 the meridian by two hours, we drew lots for the 
 western position, and the lot falling to me, we 
 took our places and engaged at once. 
 
 I soon found that this man had more sense in 
 his sword than his tongue. So far as science 
 went, I knew all that the Italian fencers of the 
 day practised, but this man also knew it. And 
 being master of his science, he went somewhat 
 beyond it, and did what some masters of fence 
 Avere tempted to do. From time to time he would 
 indulge in combinations which were in defiance 
 of all the known rules. This method is likely to 
 be very deadly with those who, though knowing 
 the rules, are not complete masters of them. To 
 a man like myself, to whom the practice of those 
 rules was a second nature, these outbursts were 
 not so embarrassing, but they were very danger- 
 ous to the man who practised them. 
 
 In particular he made use of a certain curved 
 thrust, Avhich was very dangerous to him in this 
 sense, that its use must of necessity leave his 
 guard open for a moment. The first time he 
 tried it he touched me slightly on the outside of
 
 147 
 
 the arm, and the cut, thougli slight, bled profuse- 
 ly. The second time I only saved it Avitli the 
 counter-guard of my sword. The third time — 
 what happened the third time passed so quickly 
 (I might say it passed more quickly than thought) 
 that no description in words can give an accurate 
 idea of it. I speak now of things I noticed, or 
 things I thought ; but they passed so quickly 
 that it seems more correct to say that I felt 
 them. 
 
 After my adversary had used tliis curved 
 thrust for the second time, I became conscious 
 that it was on both occasions preceded by a sort 
 of shiver in his arm. AYhen I saw the shiver for 
 the third time, I simply ran him through the 
 body. 
 
 Speaking of the thing afterwards in cold blood, 
 I can only explain it by saying that I knew there 
 was a moment before the thrust came in which a 
 quick stroke might get past his guard. When I 
 saw the shiver I ran the risk of assuming that 
 the curved cut was coming again, and without 
 looking at his sword I ran him through on the 
 moment. My instinct was right. 
 
 " That shows," said my Lord Bothwell, as 
 Stewart's men were busied with him, " that a man 
 may be a good fencer and a bad fighter. This 
 poor devil had skill of fence, but no brains ; and
 
 148 
 
 SO he must needs use that thrust three times with 
 a swordsman who knew what to do with it." 
 Then he drew me a little apart and said : 
 " Captain Eviot, this matter has done me much 
 good. I feel a better man after it, and I am not an 
 over good one. But, my friend, this will come 
 to the King's lugs, which are longer than they 
 ought to be, as I know to ray cost. He liketh 
 not the sight of cold steel, nor those who use it. 
 But I am your witness that the quarrel was none 
 of your seeking; only I must be out of this 
 country before you appeal to my testimony. 
 JS'ay, I will do better, man ; I will write to his 
 Majesty. It is my painful duty to write often 
 to my cousin James about his own miscarriages; 
 and though he taketli my letters in but ill part, 
 he knoweth that I do not bear false witness." 
 
 As I was wiping the blood from my sword 
 with a wisp of grass, I caught sight of a pale face 
 with glittering eyes on the outskirt of the crowd. 
 It was Jean Uchiltrie. 
 
 i
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 The little crowd was melting away and break- 
 ing into small clusters, discussing the encounter 
 with deep interest. Now and then a man would 
 break into gestures, making thrusts in pantomime 
 to enforce his meaning, while others would shake 
 their heads. 
 
 But what did Mistress Jean at such a meet- 
 inof? Beins: minded that she should remain no 
 longer on the ground, I passed to where she 
 stood ; but before 1 could speak her sharp e3'es 
 had seen what I myself had for the moment for- 
 gotten. 
 
 " You are hurt," she said, pointing to the blood 
 which was still dripping from my arm. 
 
 " Nay, it is no more than a scratch ; some 
 scratches bleed freely. But wliat do you here? 
 Tills is not a siglit for your bright e^'es to look 
 upon." 
 
 " I could not help it. I saw from the tow- 
 er what was passing, and I could not stay 
 there and look on at a distance. I am ghid I 
 came."
 
 150 
 
 " You must go now ; you cannot be permitted 
 to remain on such a scene." 
 
 " I will o^o, but I would say something; first. 
 I must speak with you. Can you be under the 
 beech-tree in the garden just before dusk ?" 
 
 " You may count on my being there, if it will 
 serve you in any way." 
 
 Women are sadly out of place on such occa- 
 sions, and I was glad to see her go, for Cristine, 
 who had come with her, was on the point of 
 going into hysterics. 
 
 Whether my antagonist yet lived I knew not. 
 His people had carried him to the basement of 
 the castle, and now I made my way to my own 
 apartment, where Carryg bound up my arm. 
 It was slashed, not dangerously, but so as to re- 
 quire some slight attention. And for some hours 
 I lay on my pallet nursing it. Towards dusk I 
 stole out and found my way to the beech-tree 
 in the garden, and here I was joined before 
 many minutes b}^ Mistress Jean. It seems that 
 at this hour it was my Lady's practice to shut 
 herself up in an apartment where she consulted 
 the occult powers as to the future, and Jean 
 availed herself of the respite to escape from the 
 house. 
 
 " Captain Eviot," said she, defiantly, " you 
 will readily believe that only very strong mo-
 
 151 
 
 tives would have made me seek this inter- 
 view." 
 
 " I can have no difficulty in understanding^ 
 that," I replied, somewhat dryly. She was too 
 ready to show me that this meeting was not due 
 to any interest she took in me. 
 
 " AVhat is a matter of life or death to me may 
 seem trifling to you." 
 
 " That is clearly impossible." 
 
 These curt replies annoyed her, as I meant 
 they should ; for, though herself much given to 
 irony, in common with the rest of her sex she 
 could ill bear to be made the subject of it. 
 
 " It may be everything in the world to me," 
 she continued, " and it will cost you nothing to 
 give it." 
 
 " Very well, Mistress Jean ; to come to the 
 point, what is it ?" 
 
 " I would have you tell me where 3'ou got 
 your horse." I opened my eyes in some aston- 
 ishment, and marvelled what this might mean. 
 After some thought I answered her thus : 
 
 " Mistress Jean, some time since you asked me 
 a question about a ballad you heard me sing, 
 which I could not answer. And because I could 
 not answer, you called me a spy. Was that 
 well ?" 
 
 " Surely I hope not."
 
 152 
 
 " You hope not 'i And mean you that you ask 
 a service of me — be it a trifle, if you will have 
 it so — when you hope I am not a spy ?" 
 
 " Nay, I do not think it. I did not think it 
 then; I never thought it ; I would I had never 
 said it." 
 
 " Well, I could tell you now, if so you wish it, 
 what you asked me then — it has come back to 
 my remembrance. And surely I could tell you 
 somewhat about Black Ouviot, though possibly 
 not so much as you would wish to know. But 
 whereas the jade Fortune has made of me a 
 soldier. Nature meant me for a tradesman, and 
 it is my rule never to do anything for noth- 
 ing." 
 
 " Whatever I may think of others, I could 
 scarce think that of you." 
 
 " You have thought much worse of me than 
 that, to judge from the manner in which you have 
 used me for some time back. For a friend, for 
 one who trusts and believes in him, a man Avill 
 do much. But be not mistaken ; even an auld 
 sang has its price in this world, or the story of 
 a ballad and a horse." 
 
 " And what may your price be, sir ? They 
 tell me I am rich." 
 
 " Tell me," said I, wholly disregarding the 
 sneer, " what you know about the jewel, and I
 
 i5;j 
 
 will answer your question, and possibly as many 
 more as you may be pleased to ask." 
 
 " I can tell you nothing," she replied in a low 
 voice, and looking on the ground. She said not 
 that she had knowledge of the jewel, but I 
 thought she had. 
 
 " I thought you said this was a matter of life 
 and death to you, and yet you will pass it by 
 that you may keep your own knowledge of a 
 miserable chain." 
 
 " I can tell you nothing," she repeated ; " but 
 your miserable chain seems to be a matter of 
 death and life to you." 
 
 " It is ; but you women expect to get all 
 things you ask for in this "world and give noth- 
 ing in return. The chain is as vital to me as 
 the horse and ballad are to you." 
 
 " Ask me not ; I can tell 3'ou nothing." Her 
 tone was despondent; then she roused herself 
 and spoke with some passion : 
 
 " You are a man and strong ; have you no 
 pity for a weak and friendless woman? Have 
 you no generosity in your strength that you can 
 give me nothing without a return ? I am alone 
 in this place, held down by a hateful woman, 
 without father or mother, without friends or kin 
 to protect me ; and when I ask you a question 
 which concerns one who was dear to me above
 
 154 
 
 all in this world, and which it would cost you 
 nothing to answer, you talk about your price. 
 If I had thought you a man of ' honor,' such as 
 many wc have in this countrj'^, I should not have 
 asked you, but I thought not of you in that 
 way." 
 
 I know not why — for w^hat was this girl to 
 me ? — but when she spoke of one dear to her 
 above all others, my blood seemed to turn sour. 
 Eead me this riddle if ye can, ye wise, for it 
 passed my understanding. 
 
 " AVhen you speak," said I, " of one who was 
 dear to you, mean you him to whom my Lord of 
 Arran W' ould marry you ?" 
 
 " What ! the man you killed this afternoon ! 
 Assuredly not." 
 
 " That man ! was he to be your husband ? I 
 knew it not, but now I begin to understand. Nor 
 knew I that he was dead," 
 
 " I cannot hope he is not. As you might ex- 
 pect, they would marry me to a Stewart if they 
 could. But I had a right to expect that they 
 would at least choose a man for me, and not 
 a mean, selfish, conceited coxcomb. God be 
 thanked, there is a reservation in the gift of my 
 marriage, and they shall marry me only where 
 I please. But if you must know, I spoke not of 
 a lover or a husband, but of my father, who was
 
 155 
 
 dearer to me than all other men. The ballad 
 you sang- is his ballad, and lilack Onviot was his 
 horse." 
 
 At this I felt my courage begin somewhat to 
 abate. But I asked myself — was this true ? And 
 if she believed it, might she not be mistaken { 
 Had not all nations under the sun, whether Par- 
 thians, Medes, or EUimites, or the dwellers in 
 Mesopotamia, in Pontus and Asia, long ago set- 
 tled that men should give no credit to the tales 
 of women ? Well, I had heard many tales from 
 men which were villanous lies, and I had known 
 some women's tales which proved to be true, so 
 that the rule of nations held not always. It was 
 a hard thing to be churlish to this girl ; for the 
 mixture of entreaty and defiance in her was 
 scarce not to be admired, and in truth she had 
 touched me where I was most open to a wound. 
 To yield would be to give up the weapon by 
 "which I hoped to win the jewel. But then to 
 show myself a scurvy fellow — above all, to Jean 
 Uchiltrie — there, it could not be done by me. 
 And thrusting from me all thought of what I 
 might lose by it, I said to myself I would sur- 
 render ; but still it should be upon terms, for the 
 mercantile instinct was strong within me, 
 
 "Think not. Mistress Jean," I said at length, 
 " that you have not moved me. But you may be
 
 156 
 
 mistaken. Others have been known to sing that 
 ballad, I trow, and one horse is sometimes not 
 unlike another." 
 
 " The horse knew me." 
 
 " Well, so be it ; it is like he did. I would 
 fain barter with you still, but I cannot do it. 
 You think it costs me nothing to tell you what 
 you ask. It may cost me everything, and in 
 sooth I think not I would do it for any other 
 woman." 
 
 "Ah! was I not right — did I not know you? 
 I have never indeed doubted you in my heart ; 
 never since — but I scarce can bear to see you 
 laughing and jesting and plotting with the ogress 
 who watches over me, and every hour of the 
 day studies to wound and pain me." 
 
 " You know something, but you may not know 
 that I carry my life in my hand in this castle ; 
 and, surely, if a man does no worse, he may 
 laugh and jest with the devil in defence of his 
 life. As to your questions, the horse I bought 
 in the town of Berwick two days before I came 
 hither. Buying it in Berwick, I know it must 
 have come from Scotland, because while an Eng- 
 lishman will always sell a horse honestly come 
 by to a Scot, from whom he gets a better price, 
 yet he is not likely to sell in Berwick a horse 
 stolen in England. The seller said that it came
 
 157 
 
 to him from Cockburnspath, and I make no 
 doubt that it was stolen in Scotland and taken 
 across the English lines to be sold. 
 
 " As for the ballad, I must tell you that, before 
 landing at Berwick, I tried to land at the Fast- 
 castle, and when half-way up the steps leading 
 to the keep I heard some one sing the verse 3'ou 
 asked about. AVhose was the voice, or from 
 where it came, I could not tell. I like not to raise 
 hopes in your mind which may be disappointed, 
 but I may tell you that Cockburnspath is but a 
 few miles from Fastcastle. Of course, that may 
 be but a coincidence. But believe me, and I 
 speak in all seriousness, you can never find the 
 truth of this sad story until an end is made with 
 James Stewart, callit the Earl of Arran, and if 
 you could say anything about the chain — " 
 
 "I can tell you nothingy' she said again, in a 
 low voice ; " it may seem ungracious, but I can- 
 not. If you knew you would know I cannot. 
 But you hold me grateful from my heart for all 
 time, and there is my hand in token thereof. 
 And now, fare thee well, Andrew Eviot, for we 
 shall be parted ere many days ; but we shall 
 meet again, though not yet awhile. Well I know 
 we shall meet again. And if thou art ever in 
 sorrow or sickness, or poor and friendless, think 
 that there is one who will have thee always in
 
 158 
 
 her thoughts, for thou hast had mercy on the 
 fatherless." 
 
 She went before I could speak in ans^yer, and 
 — well, had I my reward ? 
 
 There are many who, reading this, would say 
 I chose the better part ; or, seeing the like at the 
 playhouse, would be the first to applaud. And 
 yet these same, being perhaps of the most de- 
 bauched, when they came to the practice of 
 daily life, would flout me for a fool. And the 
 world — it is a cold, hard world — would say of 
 one who held to his own, without pity for the 
 weak and helpless, and thereby gained distinc- 
 tion, that he was a wise and capable man ; but 
 of him who yielded that he was weak and 
 threw away his chances, and Avas unfit for af- 
 fairs. 
 
 But I know not. I who write this am a man 
 of many sins and transgressions, for the remis- 
 sion of which I look, not to man, but to an all- 
 merciful God. But I have ever hoped that, 
 when the great book of Time is opened, there 
 will be found written therein the few acts of 
 kindness God has permitted me to do, to my 
 own loss and prejudice. I look not tliat they 
 should be counted for righteousness, but that it 
 may be thought in mercy that I caught a few 
 rays of light from the Great Example. For did
 
 loO 
 
 not He, who bad not where to lay His head, go 
 about doing good ? 
 
 There is one who has for his motto, " Thou 
 shalt want ere I want,'' and who lias risen to 
 great place in these days. He pacified the Bor- 
 ders, besieging and burning men's homes over 
 their heads without form or pretence of trial, 
 and cutting down those who attempted to es- 
 cape. I know not whether in all things he be 
 true to his motto ; but if so, he has need, in 
 truth, to be a godly man in his walk and con- 
 versation.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 I SUPPOSE all men have a soft place in them, 
 although, like the spring of a secret drawer, it is 
 not easily found. This girl had hit upon the soft 
 place about me, and for some time after she had 
 gone I could scarce recover my balance. I could 
 see now how miserable and cheerless her life was 
 rendered by those who professed to protect her ; 
 and, although she was styled an heiress, I knew 
 too well that her property would be practically 
 confiscated by the man whom they forced her 
 to marry. 
 
 I could see also with some clearness the truth 
 about her father's disappearance. He had been 
 hurried, along with his horse, probably under 
 cloud of night, across the water at the Queens- 
 ferry, and before the sun rose again he was with- 
 in the walls of Fastcastle. The place had an evil 
 name, but only those who had an intimate ac- 
 quaintance with it knew the story of its secret 
 dungeons. There was, however, a cavern on the 
 sea-level immediately below the keep, and it was 
 generally believed that there were various cham-
 
 161 
 
 bers in the rock which supplied a communication 
 between the cavern and the castle. It Avas pos- 
 sible that the song I heard came from one of 
 those chambers, and if so the impression made 
 on me of a voice coming from a distance was 
 explained. As for the horse, it was probably 
 stolen, or sent purposely for sale to Berwick, that 
 it might not give a clew to the fate of its former 
 master. 
 
 The coincidence was singularly striking, and 
 would have justified an appeal to any ordinary 
 monarch. But my native Prince had his irons 
 in many strange fires, and he who hit his min- 
 ions ran the risk of striking the Prince himself. 
 George Uchiltrie, moreover, had got into trouble 
 about the secret hoards of the Kegent Morton, 
 and the mere mention of a secret hoard kindled 
 the imagination of this King to such a degree 
 that he lost his common-sense, of which as a rule 
 he had no small share. On the other hand, though 
 he affected not women, he could not endure that 
 defenceless women should be harshly treated, and 
 this weakness in his nature was so strong that 
 many designing creatures took an unjust advan- 
 tage of it. 
 
 As for myself, my position Avas critical and 
 my work but half done. My endeavors had 
 not been fruitless. I knew that my Lady had
 
 162 
 
 not recovered the jewel ; and while I felt certain 
 that Jean Uchiltrie could tell me where it was, 
 I was equally certain that she would not speak, 
 and I had no clew to her motive. I was to leave 
 the puzzle unsolved, for I could not now doubt 
 that Berald Stewart's visit and insolence were 
 meant as a declaration of war by my Lord and 
 Lady Arran. His signal failure was likely to 
 double their exasperation, for knowing his skill 
 of fence they had not doubted that he would 
 give a good account of me. And this is why I 
 was sorry I liad not met the Laird of Gautrie at 
 St. Andrews, for if I had Berald Stewart had 
 never visited Ruthven Castle. Clearly I must go 
 from this sooner or later, only I was unwilling 
 to be driven out of the place without some as- 
 surance that my danger was actual. So I de- 
 spatched John Sloan that night to Falkland with 
 a letter containing a full account of the affair 
 with Berald Stewart. This letter was directed 
 to one who was even better able than I to judge 
 the meaning of these events, but I grudge to 
 mention his name. 
 
 The following morning, as I was pondering 
 these matters in the garden, my Lady came to 
 me and said she would speak with me. 
 
 " Come hither," said she, " to yonder beech- 
 tree, where we can talk freely." I had rather it
 
 163 
 
 liad been anywhere else. It seemed strange, and 
 I liked it not that I should be talking with this 
 woman on the spot where I spoke with Jean the 
 night before, but I could not mend it. Had she 
 chosen, the place because she knew of my meet- 
 ing with my Lord's ward ? 
 
 " Andrew," she said, when we were under the 
 tree, " you have done a foolish thing.''' 
 
 " What have I done, madame ?" 
 
 " How could you go and quarrel with Berald 
 Stewart V 
 
 " My Lord of Both well— " 
 
 " Hush, hush ! don't mention his name. None 
 knew that he was here. Above all, don't speak 
 of him to his Highness if you do not wish to in- 
 jure him." I took care not to tell her that my 
 Lord had probably written ere this to the King. 
 
 " My Lady," said I, " I had no choice in the 
 matter. Berald Stewart sought me out here, 
 and fastened a quarrel upon me which I could 
 not without disgrace avoid." 
 
 "I know, I know. He is a fool and you are 
 a man, and that's the whole of it. But you 
 might have kept out of the way. You know not 
 what I have done for you. His Highness took 
 you in suspicion when you came to Edinburgh, 
 and sent you here. That should have made you 
 more cautious. You well know that you have
 
 164 
 
 enemies anxious to do an ill turn to a man who 
 is unpopular at Court, and I have stood between 
 you and them. But for me you would have had 
 the Sheriff of the county here about that affair 
 at the Tolbooth of Perth." 
 
 " He would have got a warm reception, I as- 
 sure you." 
 
 " And then you do this thing, which will cause 
 you endless trouble. The King has no sympathy 
 with such folly, and I know not what more I 
 can do for you." 
 
 I thought it wiser not to answer this. I would 
 not tell her what she either did not, or pretended 
 not, to know. And I knew not how much truth 
 there was in what this strange woman said. 
 
 " Andrew," she continued, " I have always 
 liked you — I don't like many people besides my- 
 self — and I thought I should have you always 
 with us. But even with that wretched girl you 
 have given me no help. If you have learned 
 anything you have not told me." 
 
 This speech rather jarred upon me, for it im- 
 plied that I had promised to act as a spy on 
 Jean Uchiltrie, and, moreover, that I had kept 
 my information to myself and been false to 
 both sides. I determined to put this right at 
 once. 
 
 "My Lady Arran," said I, "I think you mis-
 
 1C5 
 
 apprehend. I promised that, if you gave me the 
 opportunity of judging, I would tell you what I 
 thought of Mistress Jean, and I now tell you 
 that I think her an honest, simple-minded girl. 
 But as for the jewel you spoke of, though I took 
 not in hand to report upon that matter, she has 
 told me nothino", and that I can say without 
 harm." 
 
 " Have you asked her about it ?" 
 
 " I have." 
 
 "Have you mentioned the jewel b\^ name to 
 her?" 
 
 " I have." 
 
 "And what said she?" 
 
 " She said nothing, but made as if she under- 
 stood me not." 
 
 " I mind it weel. It was round yon mulberry- 
 bush that he came — I was but a bairn at the 
 time — and said, ' Better bairns greet than bearded 
 men.' The auld carle ! I'm riglit glad he is not 
 here now, nor like to be. Did ye say he would 
 come back, man ? God forbid ! Na, na ; the 
 Maister of Glamis is weel enough Avhere he is, 
 and there he'll bide maybe until God be pleased 
 to call us in succession to our dearest cousin of 
 England, when he will have to seek other lodging; 
 for there will be no coming back here in our 
 time. The day of enterprises is over."
 
 166 
 
 This speech came from behind the mulberry- 
 bush which hid us from the speaker, and to my 
 great rehef put an end to my converse with my 
 Lady. It was the custom of my master, the 
 King — an innocent custom, but embarrassing to 
 some of his subjects — to visit them in an uncere- 
 monious way without due warning. A messen- 
 ger had, indeed, been sent on half an hour in 
 advance ; but as no one knew where the Coun- 
 tess was, the message had not been delivered to 
 her. In addition to the numerous company 
 which followed tlie King, many of the neighbor- 
 ing barons came to pay their respects to his 
 Highness ; and how food was found for them all 
 I know not, but I suppose the escheat of my 
 Lord of Gowrie bore the expense. 
 
 His Highness caught sight of my Lady and 
 myself as w^e rounded the mulberry-bush to meet 
 him. He was attired in a riding-coat of scarlet, 
 he had a high crowned hat with a large feather 
 on his head, and carried a hawk-glove on his 
 hand. 
 
 " After sair searching, madame," he cried, " we 
 have found ye ; but although we took your castle 
 by assault before ye knew we were at the gate, 
 w^e see ye are not without j)rotection. For all 
 men ken that Captain Eviot is ready enough 
 w^ith his sword."
 
 Wi 
 
 The cynicism of this speech was readily caught 
 by those in attendance, and if I had not gathered 
 it from the sober manner in which the King 
 acknowledged my obeisance, the hard looks of 
 those about him would have told me but plainly 
 enough that I was supposed to be in disgrace. Of 
 course it was the affair with Berald Stewart. 
 
 "But in sooth, madame," he continued, "we 
 have come hither purposing to dine with you, 
 ]:)artly for our pleasure and partly that we might 
 converse with the loon Grossok, w'ho, as we are 
 informed, liveth in this castle and hath some 
 knowledge of the abominable blasphemies which 
 Sathan is permitted to put forth at this time in 
 the kirk-yard of Glendevon." 
 
 A slight color came into my Lady's face at the 
 mention of Grossok's name. And well it might, 
 for Grossok could tell more of my Lady's deal- 
 ings than was convenient, and there was no as- 
 surance of what he might say when under the 
 King's influence. There is a certain toleration 
 of witchcraft and divination in this country, but 
 at times the Scots are carried away by a deluge 
 of fanaticism, and persons of the highest rank 
 (of whom my Lady Glaniis is the example most 
 notorious) are sent to the stake. In many cases 
 it hath been observed that the persons put to 
 death for witchcraft are obnoxious in regard of
 
 168 
 
 their political conduct, but to the victims it mat- 
 ters not whether they are executed for political 
 reasons or for witchcraft. 
 
 "Grossok'^" said my Lady. "Yes, indeed 
 there is one named M'Kuskan Grossok, who 
 is my secretary ; but inasmuch as he is a 
 most devout man, I should doubt his having 
 any knowledge of those who deal with Sa- 
 than." 
 
 " Weel, weel, we trust not, but we Avould have 
 speech with him presently. For the moment 
 there is a gentleman here in whose ear we 
 would say a word in season, and we would have 
 the rest of ye interrupt us not until we have oc- 
 casion to summon ye." So, beckoning to me, he 
 led the way to the middle of the bowling-green, 
 where, turning sharply round, he laid his hand 
 familiarly upon my arm, a gesture which must 
 have been well seen by those who witnessed the 
 asperity of his manner to me a few moments be- 
 fore. 
 
 I thought, as doubtless the on -lookers also 
 thought, that the affair with Berald Stewart 
 was the subject of this word in my ear. But 
 once out of ear-shot the King seemed to forget 
 that he was within sight of his courtiers. 
 
 " Have ye come ony speed, man ?" he said, 
 eagerly.
 
 169 
 
 " Does your Highness mean in respect of the 
 jewel «" 
 
 "Aye, what else would I be speiring at ye 
 for ? — the bit Papist chain we spoke of when ye 
 were at St. Andrews." 
 
 " "Well, sir, I cannot tell you where it is, but 
 I can tell you where it is not." 
 
 " That's always something ; but mean you that 
 yon besom of a Countess hasna got it ?" 
 
 " That is Avhat I mean." 
 
 " And how may 3'ou know that ?" 
 
 " I know it from the woman's feverish anxiety 
 to regain the jewel, and her attempts to bribe 
 me to help her in getting it." 
 
 "That's a good telling, anyhow," said the 
 King, his face brightening ; " but say you that 
 she spoke openly of it to you, calling it the X 
 Jewel T 
 
 " She did ; but not knowing how far I Avas in- 
 formed, threw doubts upon the character of the 
 chain." 
 
 " "Were ye discreet, man, to let on that ye had 
 ever heard tell of the chain V 
 
 " It was known at St. Andrews, sir, that Mr. 
 Andrew Melvill had charged you with having 
 the chain, and I thought well not to deny hav- 
 ing: heard somethino; of the matter." 
 
 " That all comes of our good-nature, which is
 
 170 
 
 ower good for some folk. But what of the lass, 
 Captain Andrew ? It is ill work guessing ; but 
 our experience, wiiich is not small in such mat- 
 ters, tells us that, if the thief was not the aulder 
 besom, it was the lassie Jean." 
 
 " So I thougiit, sir ; but she will not speak. 
 She claimed the chain of calcedonies, and I have 
 told her that she put the jewel chain round my 
 neck with her own hands ; but to that, as well 
 as to all else I said, she made as if she under- 
 stood me not. Your Majesty may be able to 
 move her, but sure am I that nobody else will." 
 
 " Weel," said the King, " w^e will have speech 
 with her upon this matter after our dinner. But 
 I am minded to mention to ye what I was near 
 forgetting. They have made a stir to disgrace 
 you, sir, in regard to your affair with Berald 
 Stewart. We like not that pestilent French hu- 
 mor, and if ye had been to blame we should not 
 have spared ye ; but we know the whole truth 
 of the matter, and are not sorry to know that 
 there are some men yet in our kingdom. We 
 had a letter from my Lord of Both well about ye, 
 and though the poor body hath neither mind nor 
 manners, he is an honest man in suchlike matters. 
 So ye can be at rest upon that point." 
 
 The company the King brought with him was 
 not only numerous, for it included most of the
 
 171 
 
 men then in favor at the Court ; and after they 
 had dined the quiet garden saw a gayer scene 
 than it was accustomed to. Men in varied col- 
 ors of satin and silk walked over the grass or 
 stood in groups and talked. Their unusual num- 
 ber was shortl}'^ explained, for the elegant young 
 man I had seen in the King's Chamber at St. An- 
 drews was good enough to make the matter plain 
 to me. But while he spoke his demeanor was 
 so \\crht and careless that none without hearins: 
 would have guessed what he was saying. 
 
 "Andrew," said he, " will you stand by me, if 
 need be?" 
 
 "I am bound to stand b}" you, whether in good 
 report or evil report." 
 
 " That is but what I thought. I got your let- 
 ter, and, if I may say so, I think you may safely 
 stay here for a day or two, until you hear fur- 
 ther from me ; I can think of no other place 
 where the danger ^vould not be greater. I am 
 told that they have made up their minds to stick 
 me in the King's presence, if need be, and in this 
 garden to-day. But as I have word of the time 
 and place about once a week I look not for it 
 now. However, I wear a shirt of mail under my 
 doublet, and my friends are here in good num- 
 bers, as also are those of my Lord of Arran. You 
 see, then, how the matter stands, but it would
 
 173 
 
 not stay there long but for that woman in Eng- 
 land. She has put me into this ; and when the 
 time is ripe, and my life is in danger day and 
 night, she will not go on, but keeps our men on 
 the other side of the Border." 
 
 " And is the Captain Eviot one of the Master 
 of Gray's friends ?" said a voice in interruption 
 of us, and the Earl of Arran stood by, gazing at 
 us with his head in the air, and an expression of 
 scorn on his face which 'would have provoked me 
 to lauehter but that I knew the scorn to be 
 deep. 
 
 " I should have thought," said the other, draw- 
 ing himself up in like manner with great dis- 
 daining — and I noticed that his right hand rested 
 on his dagger — "that any man in Scotland, even 
 my Lord of Arran, might speak to Captain Eviot 
 without offence." 
 
 " Well," replied the Earl, falling into proud 
 terms, " let him incur no scath." 
 
 " If he does," was the retort, " it will be from 
 your lordship, and not from the Master of 
 Gray." 
 
 Before any reply could be made to this plain 
 speech the King came out of the house, and a 
 cry of " To horse ! to horse !" was raised. So 
 that in no great time the whole cavalcade set 
 forth for Falkland, but by way of Glendevon,
 
 173 
 
 while special orders were given to M'Kuskan 
 Grossok and myself to attend the King as far as 
 the kirk-3'^ard in the glen. A number of the 
 local gentry, also, for reasons of their own, set 
 out with us, being minded, in particular, to see 
 what order the King would take with Grossok. 
 And a gallant sight we made as we straggled up 
 Gleneagles, in which there is a stiff incline, with 
 steep hills on either side, and the bed of a torrent, 
 almost dry in summer, between them. 
 
 When we were half - way up the glen I was 
 directed to ride forward and speak with his 
 Majesty. 
 
 " It is even as you told us," said he ; " we have 
 failed to make anything with the lassie Uchiltrie, 
 and we have taken some displeasure thereat, but 
 all to no purpose. It is not the first time we 
 have had ado with her on matters of importance, 
 though my Lord of Arran and his lady know it 
 not, and heretofore we have found her a maist 
 lo3'al and understanding subject. I am marvel- 
 lous sorry she should question the right of her 
 Prince to her most inmost thoughts. But she 
 told me, man, a strange tale about a horse and a 
 ballad. Is that so ?" 
 
 " The tale is true, sir, and this is the horse 
 which I am now riding." 
 
 " And a bonny beast it is — fit for a prince."
 
 174 
 
 " It is at your disposal, sir, if you would deign 
 to—" 
 
 "Xa, na; Ave meant not that. We were 
 thinking whether we have not with us one who 
 was a friend of the poor man, and would ken his 
 horse ; and straunge it is I cannot come at one. 
 And yet methinks the Laird of Duncrub, who is 
 with us, might know." 
 
 The Laird of Duncrub was therefore sum- 
 moned, and to him the King said : 
 
 " Duncrub, yell mind Geordie Uchiltrie, who 
 was drowned in a bog, or fell down a coil-pit, or 
 went some other gate of that sort V 
 
 "I mind him well, sir; but I think not that 
 he was drowned in a bog." 
 
 " What think ye came to him, then ?" 
 
 " I think he was kidnapped." 
 
 " And who would kidnap him, man ?" said the 
 King, sharply. 
 
 " I cannot say, sir, because I do not know ; 
 but none the less I think he was kidnapped." 
 
 " Weel,if ye kenned the man, ye would ken his 
 horse, for they tell me it was gey kenspeckle." 
 
 " I mind the horse well. The gentleman on 
 the other side of your Highness is riding it at 
 this moment." 
 
 " God's death !" exclaimed the King ; " this is 
 passing straunge."
 
 175 
 
 " I had a mind, sir, to speak to the gentleman 
 about it ; but I was loath to dip in a matter 
 which was no concern of mine. There are oth- 
 ers in this country who have spoken of it to mc. 
 Peter Pardovine, of the Knowe, was for making 
 a stir, and the miller at Dunning, and John 
 Bonar, in the Kirkton of Mailer, came to me with 
 the same story. But I told them to try and be- 
 lieve that they had never seen the horse, or they 
 would come by the worse. For a time Captain 
 Eviot suffered some prejudice in the minds of 
 the country-folk on account of this horse; but 
 since he broke out of the Tolbooth of Perth 
 and fought Berald Stewart at Ruthven they will 
 believe no evil of him." 
 
 " There is no evil in him, and ye may tell 
 them that I said so. But, Duncrub, both you 
 and he must be secret in this matter. We will 
 smell out the truth of it ourselves ; and it is bet- 
 ter so, for the King has many sources of knowl- 
 edge which other men know nothing of. And, 
 indeed, we think that Heaven has specially en- 
 dowed us with gifts which enable us to unravel 
 such mysteries. But at one thing we are sorely 
 grieved. There is no house more honorable in 
 this land than the auld house of Duncrub ; there 
 is none who has been a more loyal subject and 
 faithful friend to us than the Laird of Duncrub ;
 
 176 
 
 and yet our affairs are so mishandled that he is 
 afraid to ask for justice. Our Council is rotten 
 enough to ruin the whole realm." 
 
 "I would to God your Highness would alter 
 it," was the blunt repl}'', " and that is the wish 
 of most of your subjects." 
 
 " It's easy wishing," grumbled the King ; " but, 
 body o' me, man, who is to come in their jDlace ?" 

 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 Beixg no^v at the bead of Gleneagles, where 
 the water parts, to go one-half to the river Tay, 
 and the other half to the Forth, we turned into 
 Glendevon, than which I know no place in our 
 country more gentle of aspect. Nowhere have 
 the green hills, with their patches of heather, 
 more grace of form. Down the glen runs a clear 
 stream over a pebbly bed, through clumps of 
 natural poplar, oak, and mountain-ash — to the 
 eye a place little likely for the devices of the 
 foul Fiend. Moreover, it lies apart from the 
 highways of men, and withal so unpeopled that 
 when all the homes in the small glens branching 
 off it are told they would scarce furnish a con- 
 gregation of twoscore for the minister's preach- 
 ing. "What place is this for the assembling of 
 hell-dogs ? 
 
 At the kirk, which is some distance down tlie 
 glen, a halt was called, and the part}', having 
 dismounted, repaired to the kirk-yard. It was 
 observed that his Highness on entering sniffed 
 the air, coughed ])ortentously, and frowned ; but
 
 178 
 
 having called for bis afternoon and drunk it, he 
 sent for the irons of the kirk door, and without 
 more ado led the way inside. As many as could 
 find space followed him ; but their admission was 
 no simple matter, for the capacity of the build- 
 ing Avas small, and the noblemen and gentlemen 
 in the King's company stood stiffly upon their 
 precedence. 
 
 There was much admiration when his High- 
 ness was seen to enter and take his seat in the 
 pulpit — a thing unlooked for, and not performed 
 without some protest on the part of the minister. 
 Mr. James Pyott, having been duly warned by 
 the King of his intended visit, was present, and 
 remonstrated as far as he might ; and although 
 I was too far distant to hear what was said, I 
 could see that some warm passages were ex- 
 changed between him and the King. I believe 
 that the latter, while admitting his duty to 
 sit among the congregation during preaching, 
 prayer, or praise, contended that he had a right, 
 as head of the Kirk, to occupy the pulpit when 
 investigating a matter proper to his function. 
 Not much stir was made about this intrusion at 
 the time, because the firebrands of the Kirk were 
 for the most part among the Peregrine Ministers 
 in England. But Mr. Craig, the King's minister, 
 preaching the following Sabbath, sharply admon-
 
 179 
 
 ished his Highness in respect of the same, declar- 
 ing that it sraelled of Popery, and was prompted 
 by his godless and villanous Council. At the 
 moment, however, little heed was given to what 
 Mr. Craig said, although my Lord of Arran did 
 threaten him with his dagger when he spoke 
 these words. 
 
 "How comes it, Mr. James," cried the King 
 from his seat, " that ye have not cleared the auld 
 rotten Papistry out of this house of God i Yon- 
 der is a stone font — we like not the look of it ; 
 and here are some straunge letters carved on the 
 back of an oaken chair. And if our eyes deceive 
 us not, we can perceive the figure of some sanct 
 rudely done in relief and let into the eastern end 
 of the kirk. Maybe it will be meant for the 
 blessed Servanus ; the poor bodie hath a brig 
 named after him in this glen. It was even he, 
 if we mistake not, who cured a chiel Avho had 
 miskenned his appetite by putting a dirty tliurab 
 down his throat. Moreover, we can see mony 
 odds and ends of other Popish baggage brushed 
 away into the corner yonder. 
 
 " It is mair nor twent}'- years," he continued, 
 " since their filthy religion was swept out of 
 Scotland, but its roots are not dead in this glen, 
 as it seems." 
 
 "I knew not, sir," said the minister, being
 
 180 
 
 somewhat confused, "that these were emblems 
 of sin. And I think not that my flock has suf- 
 fered from their presence here, for no one has 
 regarded them." 
 
 " Daur ye to tell me, sir, that your flock has 
 not suffered ?" cried the King, growing red with 
 indignation. " Sma' wonder that this is weel 
 kenned to be the maist witch - ridden place in 
 Scotland, when the minister hoards these -me- 
 morials of the Man of Sin in the kirk, and the 
 haill kirk-yard smells maist damnably of fire and 
 brimstone. Ye will not tell me, sir, that ye 
 have not heard the accounts we speak of?" 
 
 " I have indeed heard them, but I looked upon 
 them as idle tales, fabricated by auld wives." 
 
 "By auld witches, mair like. Having the 
 cure of ma3^be less than forty souls, have ye 
 ever visited your kirk at the appointed time to 
 see if there be ony truth in these tales?" 
 
 " The aj)pointed time V 
 
 " Aye, the witching hour." 
 
 " No, sir, the hour is midnight, when all hon- 
 est men ought to be abed." 
 
 "And very good law for slowbellies and coun- 
 try parsons. But we take no delight in being 
 large ; so we would have ye hear one who can 
 maybe tell ye mair about your kirk-yard than 
 ye ken yourself. Where awa' is the chiel Gros-
 
 181 
 
 sok? Ah! man, arc yo there? Is it Grossok 
 they ca' ye ?'' 
 
 " Maister M'Kuskan Grossok, if it please your 
 IVIajesty." 
 
 "Maister, indeed! And which of our Univer- 
 sities made ye Maister ? But I neechia ask, for 
 I would wager my crown to a gray groat that it 
 was St. Andrews. Ye will be saying next that 
 ye are a minister." 
 
 "Aye, a minister of the Gospel. Your Maj- 
 esty is right. I was laureated at St. Andrews." 
 
 "What!" screamed the King, "a minister of 
 the Gospel ! Of whose gospel, sir ?" 
 
 " Of the Gospel of Christ." 
 
 " Mair like to be the gospel of hell," muttered 
 the King, regaining his composure. " Ye'll ken, 
 Maister Grossok, if ye were educated at St. An- 
 drews, that the dcil has a gospel or book of his 
 ain. Have ye ever had a sight of iff 
 
 " I know it not, sir." 
 
 "It is a book, they tell me — them that has 
 seen it— which has braw pictures of men and 
 women and castles, the sun, moon, and stars, 
 and suchlike." 
 
 " I may have seen the cards, sir, but not to 
 handle or to have any skill in them." 
 
 "So it seems. But have ye skill to cast a 
 horoscope, or any gift of divination, by which
 
 182 
 
 ye might foretell future events, or maybe speir 
 where stolen gear is, as it might be jewels or 
 precious stones ?" 
 
 The man looked ill at ease, for the King be- 
 gan to press him so close that he could scarce 
 doubt that some one had betrayed him. Pie 
 glanced at my Lord of Arran, whose counte- 
 nance, however, showed nothing but extreme in- 
 difference. 
 
 " I would I had such a gift ; it might be use- 
 ful to your Majesty and other honest folk," he 
 replied, at last. 
 
 " Weel," said the King, " for all the good it 
 has done us it seems ye have it not, though that 
 gives us no assurance that ye have not tried it. 
 But 3'e have heard that this place is given up at 
 unlawfid hours to witches and warlocks. Ye'll 
 no deny that ye ken the place. Ye have been 
 here before?" 
 
 " Aye, I ken the place weel enough." 
 
 " Ye have been here at night, man. What 
 hour was it ?" 
 
 " It was midnight." 
 
 "Aye," said the King, eagerl}^, apparently 
 much interested, "and what did ye see?" 
 
 " I saw nothing, sir, if it were not a howlet or 
 twa in the dark trees." 
 
 " But ye ken the character of the place at
 
 183 
 
 yon hour? "Was there nobody here but your- 
 self?" 
 
 " Nobody but myself and the howlets." 
 
 " And what manner of man did ye come to 
 see ? Ye expected to see somebody ?" 
 
 " I didna ken who might be here. I came to 
 see if a' tales were true." 
 
 " Weel, if ye ken the place, yc'll have seen the 
 big trout in the pool yonder?" 
 
 " Aye, I saw him ance. lie was lying under 
 a stane, with his heid out at one end and his 
 tail at the other ; but he lookit no different from 
 ony other big trout." 
 
 "And what thought ye — that ho was going 
 up and down the water about his ain business, 
 or that he was possessed by some evil power ?" 
 
 " I thought he wasna canny." 
 
 " What made ye think that ?" 
 
 "Weel, there's no a man about the country-side 
 who hasna tried to catch the creature, and I 
 have heard that the minister, who angled with 
 the best of them, ance hookit it as he supposed. 
 But it first dragged him into the water and 
 almost drowned him. Then the muckle beast 
 loupit out as it would have bitten him, and run- 
 ning down the top of the water never stopped 
 until it came to the mill at Downhill." 
 
 " Some ministers," said the King, gravely,
 
 184 
 
 " would catch men, and some would catch rats. 
 For this pastime, we have not as yet demeanit 
 ourselves to it ; but from what other folks have 
 told us we see nothing in this to signify posses- 
 sion by any infernal power." 
 
 " Maybe no," retorted Grossok ; " but when 
 the minister recovered his tackle it was tied in 
 sic knots as only the deil himsel' could have 
 fashioned. And Mr. Pyott didna doubt that he 
 had had ado with something mair than earthly." 
 
 Mr. James Pyott grew very red in the face 
 while this tale was being told ; but, being called 
 upon, he could not deny that it was true. 
 
 His Highness thereupon made some speech at 
 large upon the filthy and abominable practice of 
 witchcraft, which was most damnable in a man, 
 seeing that rather women, and especially old 
 women, being of a weaker nature, were prone to 
 it. He shrewdly suspected that Maister Grossok 
 (whom he styled a trout-spying, kirk-yard thief) 
 knew further in the matter; and desired that, 
 until he should be better informed, the diviner 
 should find strong caution for his behavior. 
 "Whereupon the Earl of Arran, who seemed to 
 be disturbed by the course of the conversation, 
 agreed to be cautioner, and the party dissolved 
 once more into the kirk-yard. 
 
 There were some godless men at the King's
 
 185 
 
 Court at this time who believed neitlier in (tO(1 
 nor devil, and these, when their master's back 
 was turned, spoke of this scene with ridicule and 
 blaspliemous laughter. But the greater portion 
 of those present believed firmly in the power of 
 the fiend, and liked not the matter at all. 
 
 I have often been asked in later years what I 
 thought of ray masters course on this occasion. 
 For myself, I believe that he has no more doubt 
 than I have of the power of the enemy of man 
 to work for evil through perverted men and 
 women. And I verily believe that he looked 
 upon this place as bewitched, as it is in fact at 
 this day. But even at his early age he was a 
 very deep man, whose mind no one could fathom. 
 He took a strange delight in scenes, some of them 
 ludicrous, which m3^stified those who were about 
 him. And I think that he had a twofold purpose 
 in this visit to Glendevon. He deeply enjoyed the 
 solemn perplexity on the faces of the men about 
 his Court, many of whom he knew to be profligate 
 blasphemers. But his main purpose was in a 
 circuitous manner to bring home to my Lady 
 Arran and Grossok that it would not be safe for 
 them to go further in their dealings with the Evil 
 One. For he fully believed that the powers of 
 evil might be invoked by human agency to work 
 ruin to mankind and to himself amono; others.
 
 186 
 
 Those of us who parted here from his High- 
 ness rode down Gleneagies that night a goodly 
 company ; for which I was glad, because I had 
 not forgotten the card which the abominable 
 Grossok turned up the night I looked in at the 
 window, nor the rhyme which he professed to 
 repeat about the kirk-yard of Glendevon. And 
 when we rode out of the glen into the lowland 
 of Strathearn I drew a long breath of relief. 
 
 When we had ferried the Earn, and had now 
 no great distance to go, a little crimson light 
 grew up into the sky to the east ; and, as 
 it began to spread, I turned to Carryg, and 
 said : 
 
 " Surely, David, it is early in the season to be 
 burning the undergrowth." 
 
 " Yon's no undergrowth, sir." 
 
 "What is it, then, if it be not St. Johnston, 
 with its amiable Tolbooth, that burns ?" 
 
 "It will be buildings of some sort, but no St. 
 Johnston, which is farther fra us by twa miles 
 than yon fire." 
 
 "Nothing cheats the eye, David, more than 
 the reflection of fire in the sky. Multiply the 
 distance as it seems to your eye by four, and 
 you will not be far wrong." 
 
 " I am reckoning that, sir." 
 
 "Then, great God! man, do you mean that
 
 187 
 
 that is the castle ? Ride up, lads ; for the love 
 of God, ride !" 
 
 Long before we rode into Ruthven the trutli 
 was only too plain. The castle was on fire. On 
 reaching the spot we found much people col- 
 lected, who, for the most part, looked on with 
 marvelling e3"es. The western wing was in 
 flames throughout the whole of its lower part; 
 but the wind setting from the southeast, the 
 eastern tower, in which I was lodged, was un- 
 touched, and likely to remain so. The efforts 
 of man, therefore, could avail but little ; so the 
 crowd stood by while the castle burned. The 
 upper part of the burning building was not yet 
 affected, but the flames were Avorking steadily 
 upward, and all access was cut off from below. 
 
 I marvelled somewhat when I perceived my 
 Lady and her party f idly equipped for departure, 
 her horses and baggage being in appearance com- 
 plete. She, at least, had taken no scath by the 
 fire. Making bold to address her, T asked wheth- 
 er all had escaped from the castle, to which she 
 replied " Yea." And on my saying that I saw 
 not Mistress Jean or her woman, she said that 
 they were safe, but in a manner so strange and 
 cold that I felt ill at ease. 
 
 Whereupon I inquired of others who stood by, 
 and finding that none had seen or had any knowl-
 
 188 
 
 edge of Mistress Jean's escape, I ran forthwith 
 to the keep in which I was lodged. And having 
 entered with some doubt that all was not well, 
 by the time I reached the parapet I was sick at 
 heart with fear. 
 
 Truly it marvelled me to see the plank thrown 
 across between the two parapets, but it gave me 
 some relief ; for here, at the worst, was a bridge 
 of escape, though a mere lass was scarce like to 
 have the head to cross it. 
 
 In less than a second I was on the parapet of 
 the burning castle ; and remembering the mis- 
 take I had made the last time I was there, turned 
 to the left, and ran quickly round to the southern 
 side. Here, finding an open window, I stepped 
 into an apartment, from which, as I was enter- 
 ing, I saw the figure of a w^oman pass quickly 
 out by the door. She was scarce gone when I 
 ran through the same door, only to see her es- 
 cape through the window of the adjacent apart- 
 ment. Quick as thought I sped out of the win- 
 dow — I was so close upon her I might almost 
 have cauofht her dress — but once out I could see 
 her nowhere. She could not have gone by the 
 parapet, for I must have seen her before she 
 turned the corner, whether she took to the right 
 or the left. There was no door or window by 
 which she could have regained the building. She
 
 189 
 
 could not have clambered on to the roof. There 
 was only one thing left, and that was not credi- 
 ble. Jean — for I felt assured it was she — could 
 not have thrown herself from the parapet. 
 
 Then I clean lost my head. I searched every 
 corner and recess in the roof, calling "Jean! 
 Jean !" at the full of ray voice ; but naught came 
 back from the rafters but the echo of my own 
 cry. Could God let such things be — that one in 
 the flesh should vanish on the moment into thin 
 air ? In a frenzy of wonder, fear, and grief I 
 ran from one part to another, crying aloud for 
 Jean ; but the only answer I got was a dull, life- 
 less, mechanical "Jean" from the walls. 
 
 The flames wer« now beginning to lick up to 
 the plank, my only hope of escape, and the place 
 became very hot. I could do no more, but with 
 what reluctance I came away I can scarce tell. 
 I soon found that no one had fallen from the 
 parapet and been dashed to death on the ground 
 below. But I know not that this discovery gave 
 me rest ; for it left me to think that the same 
 power which had taken the apostle Peter through 
 four quartern ions of soldiers had passed ,Tean 
 Uchiltrie from the top of Kuthven Castle, or that 
 she was being burned alive at that moment in 
 some secret part of the building. 
 
 My Lady and her people had slipped away,
 
 190 
 
 nobody knew in what direction, or by whom ac- 
 companied, and I was left for the moment in 
 possession of what remained of Kuthven Castle. 
 But so clouded was my mind by what had hap- 
 pened that I felt I could think of nothing until 
 I had certainty upon one point. I must know 
 whither my Lady had gone and Avho had gone 
 with her. I must have- the truth about Jean 
 TJchiltrie before I did anything else in this world. 
 So, tired as our horses were, I had them saddled 
 again, and rode forth upon the King's road tow- 
 ards Stirling.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 As I thought, my Lady's party had taken tho 
 road to Stirling. I had knowledge of this not 
 many minutes after leaving the castle, and again 
 at Auchterarder. It was strange, however, that 
 one spoke of a company of six persons, while 
 another put the number as high as twenty, and 
 the report at Auchterarder was that there were 
 but two women of the party. As we rode on 
 we got no further information, for the night was 
 far spent and nobody was stirring. 
 
 So we came at last, as the day began to break, 
 to a point at no great distance from the JSTorth 
 Brig of Stirling, and it behooved us to go no 
 farther in that direction. By the tracks on the 
 road, seen in the first rays of the rising sun, we 
 could tell that the party had turned neither to 
 the right nor the left, but gone straight for the 
 Brig ; but we might not follow them, for two 
 reasons. The Brig was closed for ordinary pas- 
 sengers, and my Lord of Arran was Captain of 
 the Castle. Andrew Eviot would have had short 
 shrift in Stirling on that day. So we turned
 
 192 
 
 aside into ttie Earl of Mar's country, and sought 
 the house of a yeoman of whom I had certain 
 intelligence. 
 
 My Lord of Mar was one of the Banished 
 Lords, and at that moment was living perforce 
 in London, But for these Banished Lords the 
 rule of Bloody Plaman and his wicked Jezabel 
 would have been absolute in Scotland ; and for 
 that reason urgent appeals had been made to 
 the English Court for their surrender. But the 
 Queen of England, learning from the anxiety of 
 my Lord of Arran that she held an important 
 card in her liand, followed her usual custom. 
 She kept the card in her liand, and not all the 
 entreaties of her best advisers could induce her 
 to use it either for or against the exiles. So my 
 Lord of Arran continued to be Dominiis Fac- 
 totum in the Court of the King my master ; but 
 he lived in the daily dread of the return of the 
 men who could pluck him from his place. And 
 so time drifted. 
 
 But during this time there was constant and 
 daily communication held between these Lords 
 and their friends in Scotland. In sooth, the posts 
 between the two countries have never ridden so 
 regularly either before or since, and yet on both 
 sides they were prohibited. My Lord Hunsdon 
 complained bitterly of the strange riding from
 
 193 
 
 Newcastle into Scotland, and out of Scotland 
 again, but he could not stop it. Now there Avere 
 certain houses, known only to those who had 
 secret intelligence, where the friends of the ex- 
 iled men were welcomed, and of these was the 
 house where I now sought shelter. 
 
 It was noon before I aw^oke the following 
 morning. As I had no mind to sleep out my 
 time there, I Avas soon stirring, and began by 
 explaining to my host what I required. It was 
 not possible for me or either of my men to enter 
 openly into Stirling ; but we found that, clothed 
 in some of my host's old garments, I made a 
 reasonably good yeoman, while John Sloan Avas 
 with no great difficulty so apparelled that none 
 would have taken him for anything but a hind. 
 So John Sloan and I went on our Avay towards 
 Stirling, the one disguised as a yeoman, the other 
 as a hind. We crossed to the south side of the 
 Forth in a crazy boat, nigh to the place of Alloa, 
 and in time came on foot to the West Port of 
 Stirling, by Avhicli we entered the town. 
 
 And we had no difficulty in assuring ourselves 
 of the information we sought, for all knew that 
 my Lady had entered the night before and passed 
 into the castle, and that there were but two 
 women in the part3^ This news discouraged 
 me, but I feared some trick had been played 
 
 13
 
 194 
 
 upon me, and was not yet satisfied that I was 
 on a wrong scent. 
 
 We chanced, as we were on the point of leav- 
 ing the town, to see a thing which is of but too 
 common occurrence in the great towns of this 
 country. One, stripped naked of clothing, was 
 scourged from the West Port to the Brig End, 
 and there thrust out of the Port, with a warning 
 not to return to the town upon the pain of death. 
 
 I knew not what this poor wretch had done. 
 I had bade John Sloan inquire ; but the first he 
 spoke to shook his head and moved away with- 
 out answer, and the second said, " If ye are on 
 fameeliar tearmes wi' my Lord Arran, wha keeps 
 the castle yonder, ye might speir at him. Nae- 
 body else in this toun kens. But if I was ye, 
 man, I wouldna speir at onybody." Well, I 
 think there are some crimes for which I could 
 flog a man with my proper hand, for they make 
 my blood boil. In some things reasoning is a 
 waste of breath, and I would not argue with 
 any man whether my instinct is right here ; 
 though well I know that there are men Avhose 
 blood never boils. 
 
 But knowing not the nature of this poor man's 
 ofi'ence, the terrible suffering inflicted on him 
 caused a great pity to arise in me. The lash 
 cut through the skin, and coming back upon
 
 195 
 
 the same spots widened the wounds until tliere 
 was not an inch of sound skin remaining on liis 
 back. We are apt to pass by witli closed eyes 
 the extremes of human liain ; but I was moved 
 to follow this man to the end of his castigation, 
 because through it all he flinched not once. ISTor 
 did he give one sob, or sigh, or dolorous sign. I 
 have seen men do acts of great bravery and cour- 
 age, but I have known nothing more approach- 
 ing to heroism than the demeanor of this man. 
 
 When the scourgers had done their office, and 
 were about to thrust him out of the Port, one of 
 the poorer sort, a woman, cast a cloth over him 
 to cover his nakedness. Perchance she had a 
 son, or a husband, or a brother, who had suffered 
 the like treatment. She had followed with the 
 rest of us to the Port, and when she had cast the 
 cloth upon him she went her wa3's, looking not 
 for thanks, nor regarding those who stood b3^ 
 Surely the great God seeth these things, and 
 some treasure is laid up for those who do them, 
 where neither moth nor rust do corrupt, nor 
 thieves break through and steal. It hath often 
 moved me to see how quick the poor are to show 
 compassion. Every stroke of the lash I had felt 
 on my own back, and yet had I not as much 
 thought for the object of my pity as this poor 
 woman.
 
 196 
 
 AVitli some feeling of indignation that one who 
 had shown himself a man indeed should be thus 
 mishandled, we left the town as we entered it ; 
 but for some cause which I remember not now 
 we returned to our quarters by a different route. 
 After going a few miles up the river we crossed 
 to the north side, and so came down the water- 
 side to the spot whence we started in the morn- 
 ing. But when we had passed the Stirling 
 Brig by no great distance I noticed an object of 
 unusual appearance at no great distance from 
 the track ; and being curious to know what it 
 might be, I found on approaching that it was no 
 other than the poor creature whom we had seen 
 scourged through the streets of Stirling. He was 
 crouching in an attitude of the deepest dejection, 
 his elbows resting on his knees and his face 
 buried in his hands. 
 
 " Cheer up, luan," said I, " and give not the 
 devil a chance now. One who can take his fortune 
 as we saw you an hour or two ago must be of bet- 
 ter spirit than to sit upon the ground like this." 
 
 Thereupon he lifted up his face (which I had 
 not yet seen, for I walked behind him when he 
 was scourged), and I marvelled indeed to see 
 that this man was Barabbas, the servitor of the 
 Earl of Arran, and my constant companion for 
 some time past.
 
 197 
 
 " I see, sir," said lie, " tliat ye knew me not. 
 Nor know ye my occasion. For the bodily pain 
 and the shame done to me, I have endurit them, 
 and they count for little — though truly I am sa 
 sair Avoundit that I could scarce walk from this 
 spot if I would. But I have lost my employ- 
 ment, and nane will readily take a man to serve 
 him who has been with the Earl of Arran. I 
 care not for myself ; but I have a mother, a wid- 
 owed woman, living in Ilalidayhill, who hath de- 
 pended these ten years past wholly upon me. 
 And what I may do for her now, poor Avoman, 
 God alone knoweth." And this man, who had 
 not so much as winked an eye under the most 
 terrible punishment, burst into a flood of tears. 
 
 " Give not way to this," I replied ; " be a man 
 still ; and albeit I have not been without some 
 grudge against you" (here he looked curiously 
 at me), " because I know you to be a man I will 
 not desert you. I will have you taken from 
 hence to a place where you may remain until 
 you recover from your wounds, and will give 
 you wherewithal to maintain and clothe you 
 until you are able to seek a new master for 
 yourself." 
 
 The sight of this uncouth creature in tears, 
 while not without something of the ludicrous, 
 was strangely pitiable. And indeed, as I said,
 
 198 
 
 I had him taken from where he was to a cer- 
 tain cottage, where he was to lie until he was 
 recovered. And, being a temperate man, and 
 living much in God's fresh air, he made a quick 
 recovery. 
 
 Meanwhile I continued for a few days in the 
 same spot, making such inquiries as I might in 
 different parts, including the vicinity of KinneU. 
 For I still thought that a trick had been plaj'ed 
 upon me, in the hope that I might seek else- 
 where when I knew that but two women had 
 passed from Euthven Castle to Stirling on the 
 night of the fire. But I could gain no intelli- 
 gence ; and being satisfied at length that I was 
 on the wrong track, I ordered my horse to be 
 saddled, meaning to return to Ruthven, which 
 indeed I should never have left. 
 
 While, then, my horse was being saddled, and 
 preparations were made for our departure, to 
 my great surprise Barabbas stood before me. 
 Though he could scarce have put his garment on 
 his back without enduring great agony, he had 
 arisen and come forth to speak with me. 
 
 " I heard, sir," said he, " that ye had ordered 
 your horse to be saddled. I felt I couldna be 
 left behind if I might get your permission to go 
 with ye." 
 
 This would never do. I had had enough of
 
 19'J 
 
 supervision from Barabbas, and wished for no 
 more. Besides, though I now knew him tcj be a 
 brave man, it did not follow that he was a true 
 man. 
 
 "^ay," I replied, "that may not be. For, to 
 begin, your back must still be so sore that you 
 could not possibly travel. Then I am a man of 
 no great substance, and though for the present I 
 can make such show as I do, I cannot be at the 
 charge of another man." 
 
 " As to that, sir, I would serve for a season 
 without wages. I have received unlooked-for 
 kindness from ye, and would show that I am 
 grateful." 
 
 "In the third place, Barabbas, I have my own 
 particular affairs to attend to, and for the pres- 
 ent, at least, they cannot be set forward by those 
 who are strangers to them." 
 
 "Ah!" he replied, with some reproach in his 
 voice, "'twas but likely that ye should distrust 
 me, for I served one who endeavored to do ye 
 much evil. But that service is over, indeed, as 
 ye can well credit, having seen what ye did." 
 
 " Aye, it is like, indeed ; but it marvels me 
 that I asked you not before for what cause did 
 my Lord use you in this despiteful fashion ?" 
 
 " Joshua Ileuderson put him first in suspicion 
 of me about a letter which the loon said I ripped
 
 200 
 
 from yon body by the Clochrigstane. Ye'll mind 
 the rider that came clattering down the brae 
 when I fetched him out of his saddle ?" 
 
 " I remember it well. I saw you take the 
 letter." 
 
 " Ye saw me ? Well, I didna think there was 
 a man alive could have seen that." 
 
 " I have sharp eyes, and I wonder not that ray 
 Lord took you in suspicion if he knew it." 
 
 " He knew it not for truth. But ye, at least, 
 Captain Eviot, can scarce complain, for found ye 
 not the letter in your gauntlet at Falkland ? 
 And long before we came to the Clochrigstane 
 had not the letters to his Highness and the Laird 
 of Kilsyth been exchanged, the one for the other?" 
 
 " How know you that, man ?" said I, sharply. 
 
 " Because I shifted them myseF." 
 
 At which reply I was somewhat startled. I 
 had thought this Barabbas a cunning, spying 
 man, but I had not looked for such adroitness as 
 this from him. If he were so deep in these mat- 
 ters, perchance he knew more of my designs and 
 doings than I thought for. But I could scarce 
 run the risk of sounding him further than he 
 chose to go of his own accord. 
 
 " I have been of service to ye," he continued, 
 " mair often than ye ken ; maybe I might serve 
 ye again if I but get the chance. We who serve
 
 201 
 
 ken mair than is thought, both of our master's 
 business and the business of other folk. Because 
 we do not speak our silence is oft taken for ig- 
 norance. But if ye would not take it for pre- 
 sumption I would make bold to say that Cai)tain 
 Eviot requires my service." 
 
 " Tut, tut, man ; what do you know V 
 
 " If I were to say, sir, what I know it might 
 hurt others, therefore I will hold my peace. But 
 if ye will take me I will do ye no scath, and may 
 do ye service as good as I have done before." 
 
 "Nay, friend Barabbas," said I, irritated by 
 his persistence, " I will have no one about me or 
 in my service who tells me that he will keep his 
 knowledge to himself. I want no one whom I 
 cannot trust or who cannot trust me. So fish 
 for yourself, and in your own waters." 
 
 But the creature continued to plead with so 
 much persistency and humility, vowing fidelity, 
 and asserting his power to serve me, that at last, 
 because of his importunity, I consented to allow 
 him to ride with me back to Ruthven Castle, but 
 no farther. So we procured for him a sorry-look- 
 ing hackney, which seemed to be but skin and 
 bone, and mounted him thereon. And the hack- 
 ney, for all that it had such an ill appearance, held 
 its own with the other horses, and when it made 
 Ruthven Castle was as fresh as when it started.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 If my Lady Jezabel had failed to recover the X 
 Jewel it seemed that she had at least thrown me 
 out of the chase. I had lost her presence for the 
 moment if not for always, and thus I could no 
 longer run with the hound that would always be 
 near the hare. I might follow my Lady at a 
 distance, but she would never again endeavor to 
 use me as a tool. 
 
 It was possible she knew as little of Mistress 
 Jean's fate as I did, but in my heart I knew that 
 that could scarce be true. I had not thrown off 
 the feeling that I had been tricked, but where and 
 how I could not find. As to the jewel — time 
 alone would show whether I was in the right or 
 not ; but I still believed that to find Jean Uchil- 
 trie w^as to recover the mistress of the jewel, and 
 I had come back to the spot where I lost her, 
 resolute to follow her step by step until I knew 
 the truth. But no intelligence did I get from 
 the indwellers on the spot which was of any use 
 to me. Nobody had been found in the buildings 
 after the fire abated, and none believed that life
 
 203 
 
 had been lost ; but, unhappily, that proved noth- 
 ing. On the following morning I sent my men 
 into the neighboring villages, but they brought 
 back nothing beyond the vague, distracted ru- 
 mors which the rustic brain delights to fabri- 
 cate. 
 
 Meantime I set myself to examine with great 
 care the fabric of the burned-out building. And 
 I took upon hand to do this because none was 
 present who had power or occasion to hinder 
 me. The Cliancellor's folk had abandoned the 
 place, and my Lord of Montrose had not entered 
 upon the possession of it ; so, albeit the commis- 
 sion I carried in my poucli was but for a shift, I 
 made it serve my turn on this occasion. 
 
 The fire had cleared out all that was combusti- 
 ble in the upper part of the castle ; but inasmuch 
 as the walls were of fi^reat thickness and streno-tJK 
 and the turnpike-stairs built of stone, but little 
 harm was done to the permanent frame of the 
 building. Tliere was nothing to hinder me from 
 ascending by the winding staircase to the para- 
 pet, and thitlier I did indeed go, Carryg and 
 Sloan being absent from the castle on my busi- 
 ness, and Barabbas having disappeared, bent on 
 some particular of his own. When I had been en- 
 gaged for some space in examining every visible 
 inch of the structure, with a view to detect some
 
 204 
 
 secret arrangement in it, but so far without suc- 
 cess, I found myself on a sudden face to face 
 with Barabbas. I was not surprised that he 
 should follow me there, for I thought him of a 
 prying disposition ; but for a moment it gave 
 me a scare to think that he had not come up by 
 the turnpike-stair, which was the only means of 
 ascending to the parapet. M'Kuskan Grossok 
 might come up on a broomstick for aught that I 
 knew, or in the form of a carrion-crow, but I 
 had scarce reckoned Barabbas among the devil's 
 bairns. The staircase was behind me, and I had 
 assured myself that there was no one else on the 
 parapet ; and yet as I was busied with my work 
 — there was Barabbas in front of me. 
 
 I had had time to ponder upon this man's tale 
 and to question to what purpose he had inter- 
 fered in my business. I had resolved that he 
 should purge himself on that point, if he would 
 speak on no other. But when I found him 
 again upon my track, not being bidden thereto, 
 I thought I should let him see who was master. 
 
 " What do you here," I cried, harshly, " with- 
 out leave and without orders from me ? And by 
 what road came you hither ? Answer me that." 
 
 "I came by the gate I have aye used. Captain." 
 
 I was not willing he should guess what was in 
 my mind on that head, so I again demanded
 
 205 
 
 to know for what purpose he had sought me 
 there. 
 
 "E'en to dehver this letter into your hands,'' 
 he replied, giving me a letter directed in a hand 
 which I knew right well, and bearing these words 
 on the back : " Ride, ride, for your life, for your 
 life, for your life!" A rude gallows was traced 
 in the corner, and the following indorsement had 
 been freshly written on it : " Received at the 
 Castell of Ruthven, an hour before Noon, this 
 19th day of July 1585." 
 
 " Who made this indorsement ?" said I. 
 
 " I did, sir." 
 
 " And how dare you do that ? How dare you 
 take upon yourself to handle a letter directed to 
 me ? You are not in my service, and methinks, 
 friend Barabbas, 3'^our lingers are over nimble 
 with other folks' writings. I begin to find how 
 3'ou came by that scourging at Stirling. And, 
 hark ye : if ye have not more care ye will come 
 by something worse than scourging." 
 
 " I did it for the best, sir. Your men were ab- 
 sent, none knew where ye were, and I would not 
 folk should ken. The post was pressed for time, 
 and if I had not taken the letter he miglit have 
 left it with those whose eyes are mair curious 
 than mine. As you ken weel, an ill-delivered let- 
 ter seldom comes to the hands of its rightful
 
 206 
 
 owner in this country. Moreover, although ye 
 trust me not, maybe the writer of this letter does." 
 And he mentioned a name which I would fain 
 not have heard from his lips. 
 
 " You are an over-presuming knave, and as 
 you will not leave my business alone you will be 
 good enough to explain how you came to inter- 
 fere in it. What made you tamper with the let- 
 ters of my Lord of Arran ? What made 3^ou ram 
 the Laird of Kilsyth's letter into my gauntlet at 
 Falkland ? It was not for love of me. What 
 was it, man ? If you had desisted, I might have 
 let you pass ; but as I find you still in my path, 
 and 3^ou have no longer my Lord of Arran to 
 please, you leave not this spot until you have 
 given me an answer." 
 
 " I confess, sir, that I came hither for another 
 purpose besides the delivery of 3^on letter. I had 
 but to bide below, and I had not incurred your 
 anger; but I canna forget your kindness to me. 
 I was poor and hungry, and ye clothed and fed 
 me ; I was sick, and ye tended me ; I was bruised 
 and broken in spirit, and ye gave me courage. 
 And these are things a Border lad never forgets. 
 So I made bold to face your anger; and now I 
 would anger ye still further, though if ye could 
 but think me a true man to you there would be 
 no just cause for anger."
 
 207 
 
 "What's all this talk about ? Speak up, man." 
 
 " I Avould not be thought to pry into your rea- 
 sons. In the performance of my service accident 
 made me acquaint with some of your particular 
 affairs ; but that was not ray fault, and I have 
 used my knowledge only to your advantage. I 
 seek not to know your purpose in coming hither ; 
 but this I would say, in the hope it may save ye 
 some trouble and anxiety : if ye seek here any 
 person or any thing, ye waste your time; for 
 both she and it are elsewhere, and in sure keep- 
 ing." 
 
 His meaning was plain enough to me, though 
 his words were veiled. "Was it possible for me 
 to pretend to misunderstand him ? 
 
 " Speak plainly, man," I said. " Of whom and 
 what do you speak ? There is none to overhear 
 3'ou here." 
 
 " I'm no so sure o' that," he replied, looking 
 suspiciously round, and seeming to peer between 
 the joints of the masonr3^ " As for the lady, I 
 needna name her ; ye will surely ken my mean- 
 ing without that. But as for the gear, there is 
 no reason why it should not be named between 
 us, for it is well known to both of us — in plain 
 Scots, the X Jewel." 
 
 "Ah!" said I, jeeringly, for I believed him not, 
 saying to myself that he would gain what he
 
 208 
 
 could of my knowledge, " so this lady and this 
 jewel are in sure keeping. Where, may I 
 ask ?" 
 
 " As for the lady, I can say no more but that 
 she is in safety," 
 
 " Of course you cannot. You are a lying 
 knave, and I suppose your knowledge of the 
 jewel goes not beyond your formula that it is 
 in safe keeping." 
 
 " I have it myself, and that is sure enough." 
 
 " What, you rascal !" I cried, losing all sense of 
 caution in the surprise and anger of the moment, 
 " do you boast of having in your keeping one of 
 the royal jewels stolen from the King's jewel- 
 chest ?" 
 
 " It's no a roj^al jewel," he replied, contemptu- 
 ously ; " it's but a piece of filthy Papistry ; but 
 it's in good keeping, sure enough, and there it 
 will bide for a Avhile." 
 
 " Not so, cozening knave. If you don't hand 
 it over to me on the spot, I will call up Carryg 
 and Sloan, and we will hang you from the para- 
 pet without more ado. So you can begin your 
 prayers as soon as you like." 
 
 " That wouldna do ye much good, sir ; for ye 
 will likely ken that I w^ould not be speaking so 
 blithely of yon gear if I had it about me. It's in 
 sure keeping now ; but if I am hangit, maybe
 
 209 
 
 the secret of its hiding-place would die with 
 me." 
 
 " This passes all endurance," I cried ; " if I 
 cannot bring you to reason, I will take you to 
 his Majesty." 
 
 I know not what I should have made of him if 
 I had taken him then and there. I might have 
 thrown him into the dungeoin below the castle 
 until he gathered his manners, or I might have 
 ridden over with him to Falkland and delivered 
 him out of liand to the King. But as I stepped 
 forward, making as I would have seized him, he 
 slipped behind the masonry of the window and 
 seemed to disappear into the stone. 
 
 This is passing strange, thought I, as 1 went 
 forward to examine the place, but the mystery 
 Avas soon explained. Behind a stone which was 
 somewhat larger than its neighbors was a clum- 
 sily shaped gap in the masonry of space suffi- 
 cient to admit the body of a person of middle 
 size. On coming close to the aperture and look- 
 ins: into it I could see that a rude staircase of 
 narrow compass descended somewhat precipi- 
 tously, and I doubted not that it led to the base 
 of the building. Perhaps I should liave come 
 upon it if my search had not been interrupted; 
 but there was small wonder that I did not dis- 
 cover it on the evening of the fire, for it was clev-
 
 210 
 
 erly concealed, the light was bad, and I was 
 greatly excited. It was here that the woman I 
 saw vanished, and it was by means of this stair 
 that Barabbas had intercepted me a few minutes 
 before, when I was examining the parapet, 
 
 I was debating whether I should descend and 
 endeavor to catch him below, for I had no mind 
 to venture my person in this rat -hole, when I 
 heard a little cry, as of an animal when it is 
 caught in a gin. A sort of disturbed sound also 
 came from the secret passage, such as is made 
 by weasels and conies when they engage each 
 other beneath the ground. As the sound seemed 
 to approach me I waited a space, and erelong 
 the form of Barabbas retreated backward forth 
 of the passage, dragging with him some object 
 as he came. 
 
 "Here's a precious vermin!" he cried, as I rec- 
 oo-nized the ferret features of M'Kuskan Grossok. 
 " I kent there were open lugs about, but it's well 
 it happened no waur. The place is convenient, 
 and none will guess that he didna fall or throw 
 himself down, like Judas Iscariot, for he hath 
 been a sinful body." And without more ado he 
 swung Grossok over the parapet, and held him 
 suspended by the collar. 
 
 " Give him live seconds for his prayers," said I. 
 
 " Mercy ! For the love of (.hrist, spare me !"
 
 211 
 
 cried the wretched man. " I will tell everything, 
 on my great oath." 
 
 " Pull him up for a moment and swear him. 
 I will give him a chance for his life." 
 
 Barabbas, with some show of dissatisfaction, 
 drew him over the parapet again, trembling and 
 with the fear of death upon him, and swore him 
 upon a copy of the Gospels which, to my aston- 
 ishment, he produced from his pouch. 
 
 "Now," said I, "how came you here?" 
 
 " By yon passage." 
 
 " Aye, but avIio sent you, and wdiat Avas your 
 purpose ? Tell me the truth, and I will spare 
 your life. If you lie, over you go." 
 
 "Nobody sent me. My Lady would know 
 where a certain chain was, and what had come 
 of Mistress Jean Uchiltrie, of whom she had no 
 tidings since the fire here. And, having some 
 skill of divination, I — " 
 
 " You came here to pry out with your ferret's 
 eyes and your rascally lugs what the devil 
 wouldn't tell you. Now, mark me, sirrah, for 
 on the truth of your answer to this question 
 your life depends — what is this chain you speak 
 of, and what hath my Lady to do with it V" 
 
 " It is a chain with a jewel hanging fra it 
 wliich has been callit the X,and was at one time 
 in my Lady's hands ; but it has been reft fra her."
 
 213 
 
 " So be it ; you seem to have spoken the truth, 
 and you have not taken much by your pains. 
 None the less, this manner of divination deserv- 
 eth some recompense, and ye shall not be cheat- 
 ed of it." 
 
 " Shall I put him over, sir ?" said Barabbas, 
 with alacrity. I think that Barabbas had many 
 old scores to pay off upon this man, to Avhose 
 chattering tongue he owed his disgrace and dis- 
 missal from the Earl of Arran's service. More- 
 over, he knew that Grossok had probably over- 
 heard his admission that he had the X Jewel; 
 and he rightly feared that if the tale got abroad 
 he would become an object of my Lady Arran's 
 most sohcitous care. But I saw no disadvantage 
 in that, because I reckoned that it would force 
 him to open his hand to me. 
 
 " No, no," replied I ; " I meant not that." 
 
 " Dead folk winna bite ; and this one, if he 
 lives, will bite like a viper." 
 
 " I cannot have it, man. Bring him down in 
 the meantime." 
 
 And, to be short, the wretched man was cast 
 into the castle dungeon, where he remained for 
 some hours. When Carryg and Sloan returned 
 I was able to attend to him according to his mer- 
 its ; for, causing the three men to mount their 
 horses, I bade them chase the creature from tho
 
 213 
 
 place, keeping him on the trot for the space of 
 three miles or so, and giving him an occasional 
 taste of their horse-wands. I learned some time 
 afterwards that the rascals had the insolence to 
 exceed their authority ; for not only did they flog 
 the diviner most unmercifully, but they cropped 
 his ears before they let him go. 
 
 This was a lucky adventure for Barabhas, for 
 ere I could speak further with him I had gone 
 somewhat from my anger, and I listened to him 
 with some patience. 
 
 " Sir," said he, when he could approach me 
 again, "ye may send me to the King if ye will, 
 but that will not serve. I ken, of course, I 
 should be booted ; but ye have seen enough of 
 me to know that the torture will not make me 
 speak. If I could but make ye believe it, the 
 King will draw nothing from me that I will not 
 tell to you. And after I am booted, who would 
 be the better i My Lord and Lady, and yonder 
 Grossok ye have with too much mercy spared, 
 would be wcel content ; but ye Avould lose a ser- 
 vant whose help, I ken weel, ye will want, and, 
 moreover, it is an ill moment for you, sir, to re- 
 pair to the Court." 
 
 " Why so ?" 
 
 " Maybe the letter I brought ye some time 
 since will give ye news." I had forgotten the
 
 214 
 
 letter for the moment, and yet from the extrav- 
 agances on the back of it I was to suppose it 
 was urgent. Dismissing Barabbas, I broke open 
 the despatch, wherein I read as follows : 
 
 " Right Teaist Freind, — It needs that I see 
 you quickh'^, for the cause is in straits and w^ant- 
 eth you. All at this Court walk in greate daun- 
 ger, insomuch than none goeth without his pis- 
 tols, and I enter not even the King's presence 
 except I am well attended by my friends. These 
 things cannot endure, and it behooveth us to be 
 the first to strilvc. I now see clearly that we 
 shall lose our Latin except we contrive a last- 
 ing breach between the Queen of England and 
 Bloody Ilaman; and, as I shall show you when 
 we meet, you are the instrument chosen for the 
 work. But our occasion is of days, nay, of hours, 
 for the King inclineth to this league with Eng- 
 land ; and if he sigQ it with the great Blood- 
 sucker by his side w^e must make a run of it. 
 For though his Highness greatly affecteth me, 
 he will not allow a hair of the other's head to 
 be injured. 
 
 " For our tryst 'twere best you came not 
 here ; for, seeing the work we have in hand, I 
 Avould have none know that I speak wnth you, 
 and none know that you come into Fyff, or that
 
 215 
 
 you go thence. For if that be known your 
 passing to the South might chance to be more 
 lively than you look for. Come, therefore, under 
 the darkness of night, and meet me an hour 
 before sunrise to-morrow morning on St. Serf's 
 Inch, in Lochleven. Bring all and everything 
 with you; for if I know you rightly you will 
 scarce return to your enchanted castell now 
 that the birds have flown. A boat will await 
 you at the southeastern extremity of the Loch 
 which you may trust to carry you to the Inch, 
 but let not those who guide it set their foot on 
 the island. At Falkland, this 19th day of July 
 1585. — Your verie affectionat freind to do you 
 service." 
 
 This letter was without signature, but it need- 
 ed no siirnature for me.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 The air grows cold upon St. Serf's Inch an 
 hour before sunrise. I, who have been there 
 at such an hour, albeit on a summer morn- 
 ing, should know. For half an hour I had 
 crouched among the reeds on the northern edge 
 of the island, straining my eyes towards the 
 shore. But to no purpose, for a murky gloom 
 hung over the loch, and there was no thin 
 streak of liglit in tlie east such as usually pre- 
 cedes the dawn. The water was as smooth 
 as polished glass, and there was not a breath of 
 wind. There was a dead silence, and it grew 
 colder. 
 
 Then there was a faint stirring of the reeds ; 
 I could hear them jostle each other ; and a light 
 breeze grew over the water and rippled it. A 
 tinge of crimson crept on to the horizon to the 
 east, but it would be some time 3'et ere the sun 
 rose. Here and there came a single chirrup from 
 a small bird, or a croak from a cock grouse 
 which had been roused too soon, and ducks be- 
 gan to ily across the Inch in twos and threes.
 
 •217 
 
 It was still veiy dark, for the murk was thick 
 upon the water. 
 
 Then there came from the loch, but, as it 
 seemed, close to the island and very low, the note 
 of the thrush. I suppose the thrush visits the 
 Inch, but it does not ])ipe on the water in the 
 cold hours of the morning. So I returned the 
 note, and when a few seconds had passed I saw 
 the nose of a boat glide out of the gloom and 
 make the shore but a few paces from me. A 
 tall, slim man sprang from the bow, and desired 
 those w^ho had brought him to remain by their 
 oars, and on no account to land or leave the boat. 
 When he turned I was standing at his elbow, 
 and, dark as it was, we had no need of light to 
 see each other ; but he was careful not to name 
 me, nor did I name him. 
 
 This Inch, once, as it is said, the site of a mon- 
 astery founded by the Culdees, is now wholly 
 given up to pasturage for cattle ; but inasmuch 
 as it extends to ninety acres or so of ground, 
 and is not encumbered with trees or brushwood, 
 it is not unsuited for secret converse. 
 
 " Andrew," said this stranger, when he liad 
 drawn me by the arm out of all danger of being 
 overheard, " I am late. I had great difficulty in 
 winning clear of them. This is a strange place 
 for a tryst, is it not T'
 
 218 
 
 " Aye," I said ; " surely you might have saved 
 us the trouble of the boats and the danger of 
 babbling from the owners of tliera ?" 
 
 " Nay, I think I have done well. Our purpose 
 is ruined if they know that I have met you ; for 
 even if your adventure succeeds it would be 
 worse than useless to us if they know it to be 
 done by you. Now I think not that you have 
 been tracked hither ; but I have been closely 
 haunted for some days past, so that I was sore 
 put to it to get free. It happened, however, 
 some years ago, when I was at Rome and unre- 
 generate, that one calling himself the Bishop of 
 Koss gave me the secret of certain passages 
 which lead from the Prior's House at St. An- 
 drews to the Haven. The knowledge thereof is 
 now to few ; but as I could not, without spiting 
 our purpose, come away openly, I made my exit 
 underground. Doubtless they still watch the 
 place, and will be there to-morrow morning 
 when I am disjuning at Falkland." 
 
 " But we might have met in the fields." 
 
 " We might ; but if I have been tracked hither 
 there is a better chance of your escaping un- 
 known than if we were observed together in 
 the fields. And that is the important point. 
 Now, listen, for we may not stay many minutes ; 
 we must not be seen here."
 
 219 
 
 He had need to bo quick, lor the crimson glow 
 in the east was growing larger and deeper in 
 tint, and the clamor from the birds on the shores 
 of the loch had become almost deafening. J>ut 
 it was still very dark. 
 
 " Here, Andrew," continued my friend, " is a 
 safe-conduct for you when you are across the 
 Border, which will be to-night, if I mistake not, 
 or to-morrow morning. And this is a letter you 
 will deliver to the Master of Glamis." 
 
 " To London T' said I, in some dismay. 
 
 " Nay, to Newcastle. I forgot you would 
 scarce know, for it hath been kept secret. The 
 Master of Glamis is at Newcastle, you can guess 
 for what. You will seek not for the Master, but 
 Mr. Lion, at the direction written hereon, and 
 the letter, as well as tlie safe-conduct, are on be- 
 half of Captain Brown. You are Captain Brown 
 for the occasion." 
 
 " I like not," said I, " to misknow my own 
 name." 
 
 ""Well, it is a thing we must all do in these 
 times if we would live. You must take thino-s 
 as you find them. You will do it to save your 
 own life and the lives of your friends, and for 
 any other things you may have an e_ye to in this 
 country ; for, if all tales be true, there are such 
 things for you, Andrew Eviot."
 
 220 
 
 " I understand you not ; but you have made 
 me sure on the other side of the Border. Have 
 you thought of how I am to reach the Border 
 from this side V 
 
 " Well," he said, with some hesitation, " we all 
 have to run some risk. I reckoned that you 
 might travel without notice as far as Leith ; the 
 passages are not watched for you. On Leith 
 sands a party of my Lord of Bothwell's men 
 Avill await you ; they have been, so far, on busi- 
 ness of their own, but a^ou had best not ask them 
 what it was. You can ride with them as far as 
 you please, or leave them when they are clear 
 of the Lothians. The rest of the way is easy 
 enough." 
 
 " But what is the purpose of all this ?" 
 
 "Nqw, mark me, my Captain. Our native 
 Prince is on the point of concluding a League 
 with the Queen of England, which Avill give him 
 a sura of money in annual rent which would turn 
 the head of any Scot in this sweet kingdom of 
 ours. If this be done while my Lord of Arran 
 sits at the stern and steers the ship there is an 
 end of you and me, for there will be no further 
 quarrel between him and the Queen of England. 
 Of course this must not be. Our only hope is 
 to have the banished Lords set loose — we can 
 make no head here without them — and to gain
 
 221 
 
 that we must shuffle the cards. The old woman 
 has brought those poor devils to poverty and 
 misery because they took her advice ; for her I 
 go in daily dread of six inches of cold steel; and, 
 in sooth, she has left the whole of us to tlie mercy 
 of the devil. 
 
 " Well, we have no choice but to force her 
 hand. The AVardens of the Middle March will 
 hold a day of truce on the 2Gtli of this month, 
 and — 'tis no hard matter — there will be then 
 such a scene as will flutter Hampton Court. The 
 old she-devil who rules the roost there is a wom- 
 an of a proud stomach, and she will not easily 
 forgive it. I will take care that it is laid at my 
 Lord of Arran's door — fear not for that. It will 
 be for you to see that the thing is done — always 
 under the style and title of Captain Brown." 
 
 " But I must have some more definite instruc- 
 tions than these." 
 
 " The Master of Glamis will tell you all you 
 desire to know. I have told you enough to car- 
 ry you to Mr. Lion, at Newcastle. Now, An- 
 drew, lad, this is a meeting for business, and I 
 do not ask you to forgive my abruptness, for I 
 know you understand such matters. But it will 
 not be long before we meet under very different 
 circumstances."' 
 
 I have never wavered in mv admiration for
 
 222 
 
 the extraordinary skill and genius of this man, 
 and I can truly say that I never knew one who 
 had so great a power over me. He was very 
 young, but he had the craft of a man of seventy ; 
 and in his intercourse with men he had a charm 
 which was due not solely to his youth or the 
 grace of his manners, but to the sympathy he 
 showed to all things human. If he fell, as he 
 did some years after this, into one of the pitfalls 
 laid for him, I can only say in his purgation that 
 he partook of the frailties to which all men are 
 subject who fly at the highest game. But to me, 
 as I have reason to say, he was a true and con- 
 stant friend, and his misfortune grieved me sorely. 
 After our business was concluded we Avalked 
 together towards the point where he had landed, 
 speaking of things indifferent and heedless of 
 danger. But when we were not far from the 
 spot I seized him by the arm and bade him lie 
 down. About one hundred and fifty yards from 
 the shore of the Inch were two boats, api:>arent- 
 ly at anchor; the boat which brought him had 
 vanished. Once on the ground, and seeing this 
 unexpected sight, I bade him follow me, and, 
 crawling on my hands and knees, made the best 
 of my way towards the southern side of the isl- 
 and. When we were sufficiently out of sight of 
 the strange boats 1 rose to my feet, and, again
 
 223 
 
 seizing hiin by the wrist, drew liim towards my 
 boat. For a moment he resisted, and seemed to 
 consider ; then he relented, and we both ran at 
 the top of our speed. To my great relief the 
 boat was where I left it, and the men were wait- 
 ing at their oars. No word was spoken, and we 
 pushed off at once and headed for the point from 
 which I had embarked. 
 
 I doubted not that these men were trusty, but 
 we dared not speak freely before them. We 
 could not with safety make use of Latin ; but, 
 although there was a risk in it, Ave spoke in 
 French, for speak we must, and time was short. 
 
 " Understand you that V said I. 
 
 " Not entirely." 
 
 " "Well, you have been tracked, or, what comes 
 to the same thing, you have been observed on 
 your Avay hither, or you have a traitor among 
 your men." 
 
 " Thank 3^ou for the last suggestion ; I fear it 
 is too true to the mark, for a man above corrup- 
 tion is hardly to be found." He might well say 
 so, who knew his own history so well. 
 
 '• They surprised your men," said I, '• where 
 you left them, gagged them, and rowed out some 
 distance from shore, the better to observe. And 
 here comes in the wisdom of your precautions, 
 wliich I Avas inclined to scoff at. It has not oc-
 
 224 
 
 curred to them that there was ctiiother boat on 
 this side of the Inch, and they will lie off where 
 they are until the light comes, in the expectation 
 that they Avill then take 3'ou without trouble." 
 
 " It is like enough," he said, ruefully, 
 
 " Well, you must come with me as far as Edin- 
 burgh, where you will be safe until you can bring 
 your friends together." 
 
 " Nay," he replied, " I am not so witless as 
 that. I cannot be absent from the Court and 
 my master while this League with England is in 
 the wind. They have played me a trick, but I 
 will play them a better one in return. Leave me 
 to go my wa3'S when we land, and ride for your 
 life. I know every inch of the ground. What- 
 ever happens, you must not be found here. The 
 ship waits for you at Kingorn." 
 
 And so it went. We gave our boatmen more 
 drink-silver than they were used to see, for a 
 good service deserves to be well paid, and if ever 
 good service was done it was this. Then he van- 
 ished into the thicket, while I started at a round 
 pace for Kingorn, followed by Carryg and John 
 Sloan. 
 
 As we hoped, I met with no difficulties. If 
 my departure from Strathearn wxre known, it 
 seemed that none took much notice of it. What- 
 ever might be thought of the purpose of my
 
 225 
 
 companion on St. Serf's Inch, mine at least was 
 unknown ; and I had cause to think that even 
 my presence on the island had passed without 
 suspicion. However that might be, the pas- 
 sage of tlie water was not spied upon for me, 
 and it was still early morning when I landed 
 at Leith. 
 
 A score or so of horsemen were grouped to- 
 gether on the sands whom I naturally assumed 
 to be my Lord of Bothwell's men. But they 
 gave me no time for inquiry, for I had no soon- 
 er hailed their leader than he signed to me to 
 fall in, and started his troop at a round trot. 
 This man — who was one named Peter Bell, but 
 called by his friends and enemies Gelly Jock — 
 told me that his orders were to wait for the in- 
 coming of the Kingorn boat and no longer, and 
 that he knew me on the instant by the descrip- 
 tion furnished to him. 
 
 " Ye see," he said, " that time is siller to poor 
 lads like us fra the Border, who must live by 
 honest trade." 
 
 In truth the company presented a strange sight 
 on this ride. They took with them a large num- 
 ber of led horses — apparently tliey dealt for the 
 most part in horse-flesh. They had not been sat- 
 isfied to come abroad with one dagger and one 
 brac(' of [)istols apiece, for they literally bristled
 
 226 
 
 with deadly weapons, some of the latest fash- 
 ion, and others such as men had used in the days 
 of Halidon Hill. From their saddle-bows hung 
 a profusion of hacquebuts, petronels, snaphances, 
 knives, whingers, and daggers, which men are 
 not used to carry abroad at one time from their 
 own dwellings. One man had a bagpipe, an- 
 other had three pairs of spurs, others had vari- 
 ous articles of domestic utility. I could scarce 
 commit so serious a breach of courtesy as to ask 
 whence came this merchandise ; but Peter Bell 
 looked with favor upon a jest, if only it were 
 grim enough to take his fancy. 
 
 *' Trade is brisk, sir," said I. 
 
 " Aye, it's no that bad," he replied, looking 
 lovingly at a pair of new pistols, which he had 
 evidently negotiated on this trip ; '' it never was 
 better ; but how long will it last, man ? Yon's a 
 sad question for Border lads. The exchange is 
 a' in our favor the noo, and, as ye see, we are 
 not sleeping away our time. But if a' tales be 
 true, his Highness is for entering into what they 
 ca' a League with the English. If he does that, 
 God pity us, there will be no more trading for 
 these braw lads. Man, there will no be a horse 
 stolen — or, as I might mair justly say, bought or 
 sold — on either side of the Border. The coun- 
 try will be ruined; but there will not be sa mony
 
 237 
 
 Scotts and Elliots cheat the widdie as docs the 
 day." 
 
 I parted with this good man and patriot in 
 Teviotdale. I think we had a regard for each 
 other. 
 
 We travelled thence to within a mile or two 
 of Newcastle without challenge or greeting from 
 Scot or Englishman. The light failed before we 
 reached the city on the evening of the second 
 day, and our beasts were spent, so that our prog- 
 ress was slow, when a considerable party, com- 
 ing from behind, rode past us. For the most 
 part they noticed us not ; but one, having ob- 
 served us earnestly, said to his fellow : 
 
 " Who may these be ? The buck's cloak hath 
 a turn I have not seen before." 
 
 " More lousy Scots, most like," was the reply, 
 given in a grumbling tone. 
 
 " Ha !" cried the other to me. " Who are you, 
 sir? AVhat is your name, and what may your 
 business be here ?" 
 
 "And who may you be?" I returned, some- 
 what angered. " It is not my habit to give my 
 name to the first who hath the impertinence to 
 ask it." 
 
 Whereupon he who had spoken slightingly of 
 my nation raised his wand, and one cried from 
 behind : " Fie ! if I could cut the thrapplc out of
 
 228 
 
 him." But when I had drawn m}'- sword the 
 other gentleman, with some appearance of good- 
 humor, interposed. 
 
 " Come, come," he said, " I can have none of 
 this. I had best tell 3'ou, sir, as you appear to 
 be a stranger, that I am Lord Ilunsdon, the 
 General Warden of the Marches, and this is Sir 
 John Forster." 
 
 " If your lordship had begun by telling me 
 that, the questions had been answered ere this. 
 But it is scarce kindly to allow one to ride at 
 your elbow who insults strangers Avho have pro- 
 voked him not, and doubtless would refuse the 
 ordinary satisfaction due to a gentleman." 
 
 " Sir John Forster is a man of warm passions 
 and hot words ; but believe me, sir, he hath an 
 honest heart." 
 
 " I must have liberty to doubt that. I never 
 knew one of a generous nature to insult strangers 
 who were guests in his country." 
 
 " And whose guest may you be ?" roared the 
 knight at me. " Who bade you come to New- 
 castle ?" 
 
 " I carry your own Queen's safe-conduct in 
 my doublet ; and if she be satisfied to give it me, 
 am I to account to you for what my business 
 is?" 
 
 Whereupon the two spoke together apart, and
 
 229 
 
 my Lord at length told me that I must attend 
 bim until lie was satisfied as to my safe-conduct 
 and my business in England. In effect I was 
 bis prisoner, and might be detained for a month 
 while inquiries were being made. So I rode into 
 Newcastle by the New Gate with my Lord 
 Ilunsdon's part}'', whereas I should have been 
 constrained to wait outside until the morning 
 but for this chance. 
 
 By the gate I noticed one going towards the 
 city wall whose face and figure attracted me. 
 His strongly marked features betrayed his na- 
 tionality, and although he was but soberly attired 
 there were several apparently in attendance on 
 him, and his demeanor was such as to catch a 
 stranger's attention. As I glanced at him I saw 
 that he looked at me curiously ; and methought 
 I might not have another chance, so I cried out 
 loudly to him : 
 
 " Sir, I am a Scot travelling with the Queen's 
 safe-conduct to visit one in this city, and without 
 offence, warrant, or suspicion, my Lord Ilunsdon 
 leadeth me Avith him a prisoner," 
 
 But when this person heard me he turned his 
 back and hurried away, as one who would hear 
 no more of such matters.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 My Lord Hunsdon carried me witli him to his 
 lodging, where he gave me in charge to some of 
 his servants, saying that he would speak with me 
 in a few minutes. The treatment I had from 
 his servants was not over civil, but I could bet- 
 ter bear it than the bluff insolence of Sir John 
 Forster. As the minutes went by they became 
 weary of their charge, and, thrusting me into a 
 small cabinet or chamber at the rear of their 
 apartment, turned the lock upon me. 
 
 One hour went by, and then a second. I be- 
 gan to think I was forgotten, and to look about 
 me with a view to passing the night in this 
 wretched cabin, when the door was thrown open 
 and I was bidden to come out. But this was no 
 summons to answer for myself to the General 
 Warden of the Marches, for the gentleman I 
 had seen at ISTew Gate stood within the apart- 
 ment, and, advancing to me and taking me by 
 the arm, marched me so into the street. This 
 he did without so much as uttering one word. 
 When we were outside he bade me hold my
 
 231 
 
 peace until he told me to speak, and then he led 
 me back to the Gate, and so on to the city wall. 
 We were followed by the persons I had seen 
 with him before, all heavily armed, each man 
 carrying a brace of pistols. At last he turned 
 to me and said : 
 
 " I have had a hard job to convince that old 
 pig - headed Englishman ; but it is done, sir, 
 though at some cost, as we shall find. But, to 
 do things regularly, 3^0 u are here to visit — " 
 
 "Mr. Lion, at Newcastle." 
 
 " Precisely. Well, young man, your wits are 
 strong enough to have told you ere this that I 
 am Mr. Lion ; but if you wish to be assured that 
 I am I will whisper to you one or two matters 
 which will satisfy you." 
 
 As I insisted upon this being done, he whis- 
 pered a name and some other matters in my ear 
 which were more than enough for the purpose. 
 Then he asked for my letter of commendation, 
 and, after glancing at it by the light of a torch 
 and putting it away in his pouch, he took me 
 again by the arm, and began afresh our walk 
 upon the walls. 
 
 " I had the devil's ain shind}' with yon creat- 
 ure Hunsdon. He's like a thrawen fiend when 
 the name of Scot is but mentioned. At first he 
 was for not seeing me, but I sent him a message
 
 233 
 
 which I knew he would understand ; I cannot, 
 however, with honor repeat it to you. He was 
 but ill pleased to see me, the auld sinner ; and 
 when he learned that I sought the release of his 
 prisoner, he was for putting- me to the door 
 again. For he is a miglity proud cock, and 
 crows ower loudly on his ain dunghill. But I 
 minded him that, before he turned me away, he 
 might as well ask my name, and he saw some- 
 thing in my face which made him believe that I 
 had given him good advice. And when I had men- 
 tioned to him a name I need not repeat here, for 
 even these accursed English stones have lugs, he 
 burst out into a great anger, asking how I dared 
 come there when the Queen his mistress had or- 
 dered me to remain in London, and threatening 
 to send me to join you down the stair. 
 
 " Well, Captain David, I took his tantrums 
 very quietly, with now and then a laugh which 
 I could not smother. And when he was done I 
 told him that he would have to pipe another tune 
 to me, else he was like to learn ere many days 
 were passed more about Mr. Lion than he thought. 
 Whereupon I clapped upon his nose some papers 
 which I thought would be wholesome to those 
 who breathe this foul Newcastle air ; and when 
 my cock sees the signature to them the feathers 
 of his tail fall down and all the fight dies out of
 
 233 
 
 him. But he sware raaist horribly against the 
 Queen his mistress, as he calls her, and my Lord 
 Burghley, saying that the Scots are left free to 
 come and go as they like in this city, that they 
 parade the walls at midnight in great numbers 
 and armed to the teeth, and that even the Gen- 
 eral Warden of the Marches may not find a fault 
 in. them. But the body kenned that I had him 
 by the lugs, and he had no choice but to let 
 you go. 
 
 " Now, sir, there's a bad side to this, and I 
 would not for much that it had chanced. My 
 Lord Ilunsdon is the sworn friend of the Earl of 
 Arran, and ye need have no doubt that yon 
 horseman making to the gate carrieth across the 
 Border the news that I am here. The auld pock- 
 pudding Ilunsdon would never have nosed it 
 out for himself ; but I could not have got your 
 release without telling, and now he will write 
 and tell his mistress what a smart fellow he is. 
 When Captain James knows the news he will 
 not lose his time, and I shall have to look to my 
 own life here. But, God be thanked ! there is 
 one thing he does not and cannot know. He 
 may not guess what Captain David Brown is 
 going to do on the 2Gth day of this month." 
 
 " Captain David," said I, " does not know him- 
 self."
 
 " Ah ! I forgot," said the Master, with a grim 
 laugh ; " that pompous old pumpkin hath so in- 
 fected me that I scarce think of anything but 
 his purple face when he saw my writings. But 
 to business. David, man, we found none so meet 
 as you to do this thing for us. If you fail — 
 well, you know we are powerful for little. If 
 you do it — I can speak for others, and those not 
 of the least — your service will never be forgot- 
 ten, either by them or the Master of Glamis. I 
 mean by this that our gratitude will be very 
 plainly made known to you. To be short, the 
 Laird of Ferniherst rides on the 26th of this 
 month to meet yonder noisy, empty-headed auld 
 bottle, Forster. I will give you a letter written 
 by my Lord of Mar to one Halyday, his oflScer 
 on the other side of the Border, charging him to 
 furnish you with a force which will be not less 
 than half a hundred lances. You will take these 
 men with you on the morning of the 26th, and 
 you will so carry the matter that the day of 
 truce shall be set at naught, and Sir John Fors- 
 ter's force driven off the ground. That will be 
 enough for our purpose, for it will cause an 
 earthquake with a good deal of noise at Hamp- 
 ton Court. The details I must leave to your 
 discretion, for I would not hamper you with in- 
 structions, well knowing that one in Newcastle
 
 235 
 
 caunot direct the movements of a force at Cock- 
 law. I would only counsel you not to expose 
 yourself too much, as Forster and some of his 
 people have seen you here." 
 
 " I think there will be no danger of that," 
 said I ; " but as you have touched the subject, I 
 would say that I ride a horse which is so marked 
 that many would recognize it with ease. More- 
 over, it is sore spent with travel, and my men 
 and I can hardly start on the moment without 
 giving the cattle a rest." 
 
 " David, this is a job in which delay is impos- 
 sible. You must pass out of the gate to-morrow 
 morning as soon as it opens. Leave the horses 
 to me ; I will find them for j'ou, and I will 
 keep yours until — not for long, I trow. I have 
 said all I have to say hero, for the open air is the 
 only place for such talk ; but I will now show 
 you something within about which we need not 
 speak." 
 
 He thereupon took me to his lodging, where 
 he showed me a plat or plan of the Middle March, 
 whereon the valleys of the Bowmont and Kale 
 water were displayed, flowing to the north from 
 the Border, being parallel to each other and but 
 a mile or two a])art. I saw also the route the 
 Warden of Scotland would take in approaching 
 the place of meeting at Cocklaw, which lay, as
 
 236 
 
 it seemed, about the sources of the Bowmont 
 water. 
 
 Assuredly I was weary when I lay down to 
 rest. My mind was so excited that I would 
 gladly have gone without sleep ; but the Master 
 took upon himself all our arrangements, which 
 he said were his own, and even roused me in the 
 early morning with his proper hand. Thus it 
 came about that, before we had been twelve 
 hours in Newcastle, and, I must own, to the sat- 
 isfaction of my part}", we were well started on 
 our way back to Scotland. 
 
 The letter which I carried with me ran as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " Charles Halyday, — Be it known to you that 
 the Laird of Ferniherst, the Warden of the Mid- 
 dle March, will ride on the 26th day of this 
 month from Kelso to hold a day of truce with 
 the Warden of England at a place indifferent 
 nigh to Cocklaw. We therefore bid you to warn 
 our tenants within the County of Roxburgh to 
 be in readiness to ride with him. You will also 
 give warning to Andrew Ladely, of the Thirty 
 Acres, to concur with you therein. This letter 
 will come to you by the hands of Captain David 
 Brown, under whose commands our tenants will 
 place themselv^es ; and we charge them through
 
 237 
 
 you to obey him in all matters, being one of 
 skill in everything pertaining to the art of war, 
 as if we ourself were present. You will con- 
 ceive that this movement must be kept as secret 
 as possible, even from the Laird of Ferniherst ; 
 but in case any should bide from the raid, you 
 may assure them — always in private — that ere 
 many weeks are gone we will return to our own, 
 and we shall not be ignorant of the names of 
 those who are contrary to our wishes. You will 
 learn further in this matter from Captain David 
 when he is with you, and will in all things obey 
 his wishes. — At London, this 12th day of July 
 1585. Mar. 
 
 " To Charles Halyday, 
 
 " Qui- officer in the County of Roxburgh." 
 
 If my business had been in Strathearn, or Fife, 
 or the Lothians, I should have come stealthily 
 upon the worthy officer. But in the country of 
 the Kers I knew that I breathed a different air. 
 The hold of the Court over the Borders was com- 
 paratively slight ; and where Charles Ilalyday 
 dwelt there were no furious searches after men, 
 for if there had been, in those days no man 
 sought for there would have been found. 
 
 Charles Ilalyday was my Lord of Mar's as- 
 sured man, and no easy part had he to play
 
 238 
 
 while his lord and master was in disgrace on the 
 other side of the Border, He went over with 
 me the list of tenants, some of whom he refused 
 to warn, on the ground that it would be danger- 
 ous to tell them so much. But with Andrew 
 Ladeley's men he reckoned that at least fifty 
 horsemen would answer to the call, although 
 their feudal superior was disgraced and banished 
 from his country. 
 
 If they had but known the service expected of 
 them I doubt whether a dozen of these men 
 would have shown their faces at the rendezvous. 
 But all the information they had was to meet 
 beyond Ilounam Kirk at six hours on the morn- 
 ing of the 26th of the month on the service of 
 my Lord of Mar and the Warden, to put them- 
 selves there under the orders of Captain Brown, 
 and to be secret. These were men of rare spirit ; 
 and once in the open were likely, as it proved, to 
 turn back for no man. 
 
 I chose the glen beyond Hounam for the ren- 
 dezvous because, having intelligence that the 
 Warden would lie at Kelso on the night of the 
 25th, I knew that he would ride to the March 
 by the Bowmont Water, and it was my part to 
 travel by another route. So it came to pass that, 
 at six hours on a rare summer morning in the 
 year 1585, 1 found myself face to face with more
 
 239 
 
 than fifty horsemen, as proper a set of men as I 
 ever saw. And great need they had to be so, for 
 no man who could not light for his life mifjlit 
 live on that border. 
 
 I made them a little speech, in which I told 
 them not much beyond that there was a suspi- 
 cion of foul play, and that it was the wish of my 
 Lord that they should be near the spot where the 
 Wardens were to meet, but that their presence 
 should not be disclosed to the Laird of Ferni- 
 herst unless it should become necessary. There- 
 fore some caution must be used in approaching 
 the spot, so as not to create an unnecessary 
 panic. 
 
 Thereupon I drew the whole party to the left 
 into a path which strikes over the hills towards 
 the Bowmont AVater, and when we came behind 
 Mow Law I halted them for a space, sending two 
 men to the top of the Law with instructions to 
 look down the Bowmont valley. These men 
 Avere placed so far on our side of the Law that, 
 while they could see everything in the valley on 
 the other side, the AYarden's party looking their 
 way would have seen nothing, if it Avere not their 
 heads. So we had due warning of the Warden's 
 coming. 
 
 Once we knew that the AVarden had passed, 
 on his way up the water, the i)oint where the
 
 240 
 
 Calroust joins the Bowmont, we moved forward 
 again until we halted beneath a steep knowe on 
 the Kelsocleuch Burn, at no great distance from 
 the place of meeting. 
 
 At this point the March between Scotland and 
 England runs on the line from which the water 
 falls to the north and south. Therefore two par- 
 ties travelling, one from the north and one from 
 the south, to meet each other, must gradually 
 ascend for many miles, and then are scarce like 
 to see each other until they meet. At first I left 
 my men in the Kelsocleuch glen, mounting my- 
 self the shoulder of the hill to see what was 
 going forward ; but by degrees I advanced them 
 until they were only hid from the Warden's party 
 by the round of the hill. 
 
 The Laird of Ferniherst was first upon the 
 ground, and had with him close upon four hun- 
 dred men, a number somewhat exceeding the 
 usual force ; but the Warden on the opposite 
 side was Sir John Forster, whom no Scottish 
 Warden would meet without certain precautions. 
 There was also, as there always was, a large 
 gathering of the rascals of Teviotdale, some 
 openly crowding upon the Warden's force, and 
 others lurking in little corners to see what prey 
 miglit by accident come their way. To this Sir 
 John Forster I had no liking, and though I had
 
 241 
 
 more serious reasons for being where I was, I 
 was also glad to be there for his sake. He passed 
 for a blulf, honest soldier. lie may have been 
 brave enough ; and as for soldiering, he was 
 good for hard knocks ; but of the military art, 
 as it was understood in Europe, he knew noth- 
 ing. As for his honesty, we Scots who know 
 the figure he cut in the affair of the Reidswire 
 and this matter of Cocklaw can say two words 
 to that. 
 
 It was not long after the "Wardens met and 
 had begun to call their bills when a little dis- 
 turbance was begun. An English horse-boy was 
 caught in the act of stealing a pair of Scottish 
 spurs, which I have little doubt had been skil- 
 fully exposed for the purpose of tempting him. 
 The rascals on both sides ran together, and I 
 thought my moment had come. I had divided my 
 men into three companies, each stationed to the 
 side, and a little to the rear, of each other ; and 
 I only awaited a certain signal, but it came not 
 then. The Wardens ran out of their tent, and 
 Sir John Forster offering to deliver the culprit to 
 be hanged, if need be, the tumult died away, and 
 the Wardens went back to fyle a bill upon Gyles 
 Douglas, of Berop. 
 
 But the tire was still smouldering, and ere 
 many minutes one by the Wardens' tent, whom 
 
 IG
 
 242 
 
 I had been watching, held up his hand. Where- 
 upon, before any one well knew what was hap- 
 pening, my horse were thundering through the 
 "Wardens' camp. Forster's men did not wait for 
 us, but scattered like chaff, south, east, and west. 
 As we passed the Wardens' tent the Laird of 
 Ferniherst ran out with his drawn sword, and 
 AYOuld have cut down the man who rode nearest 
 to him, but that Forster seized him round the 
 waist, and would not part with him, because, as 
 I heard afterwards, he feared that his whole train 
 would have been put to the sword if the Scots 
 Warden had left them. 
 
 It happened that in the press the Lord Rus- 
 sell, the eldest son of the Earl of Bedford, was 
 shot — whether by accident, or of purpose, or by 
 whom, none can say. But he had no more right 
 to be upon the ground than I had, and he had 
 wandered apart from the AVardens' tent with 
 some of his own people when he met his death. 
 It was no part of my design to shed blood if it 
 could be avoided ; and although we pushed the 
 pursuit for four miles into English ground, no 
 other life was lost on either side. 
 
 As may be supposed, we were careful not to 
 return by the way we came. When I had rallied 
 my men I took them over the March by the head 
 of Coquetdale without any sort of hinderance.
 
 and without the loss of a single life. Most of 
 them were alive to the necessity for secrecy on 
 this raid, and I had little dillicultv in restraining 
 them from the ordinar^^ amenities of the JJorder ; 
 but in some the taint of sin was too strong to be 
 wholly suppressed, and there were a few sheep 
 and goats, Avith a bullock or two, in our ranks 
 when I disbanded them by Oxnam Water. 
 
 I had done my part of the work. And as one 
 — he was an Englishman — was pleased to say 
 afterwards of this enterprise, it could not have 
 happened better. It was for others to do the 
 rest, and they did it so well that the Queen of 
 England pressed for the delivery of my Lord of 
 Arran, and the King my master cast him into 
 the Castle of St. Andrews. And though this 
 man was sent after a few days to vegetate at 
 Kinneil, and in the end broke forth and regained 
 the King's presence, his credit with the English 
 Queen was finally destroyed.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 I NOW found that Captain David Brown was 
 in a somewhat narrow shift. It was scarce likely 
 that any would know him for Andrew Eviot ; 
 but if David Brown were taken in Scotland he 
 would be delivered out of hand to ray Lord 
 Hunsdon, and if he were taken in England he 
 would be hanged without ceremony. So on 
 neither side of the Border could he well be com- 
 fortable. 
 
 On the whole, I judged it best to retire, until 
 matters were more advanced, into the Earl of 
 Both well's country ; and there an asylum was 
 cheerfully offered to me without too much curi- 
 osity as to my reasons for seeking it. It was 
 enough for my Lord that I preferred the air of 
 Liddesdale for the present. From beyond the 
 Hermitage I wrote to Mr. Lion, at ISTewcastle, 
 and to my accomplice of St. Serfs Inch, telling 
 them where David Brown might be found, and 
 entreating them to remember him Avhen more 
 serious work was in hand. I had no need to 
 speak to them of the Wardens' meeting at Cock-
 
 245 
 
 law, for men talked of nothing else for a nKjnth. 
 Thereafter I fell into a low, monotonous life, 
 Avandcring daily about the Xine-Stane Rig; for 
 time drifted, and I began to fear that nothing 
 would come of the Cocklaw Raid. 
 
 On the Gth of August the King rode out of 
 St. Andrews for Stirling. It was said that the 
 Plague of Pestilence had grown apace, so that 
 it carried off no less than four thousand per- 
 sons, and that the Court became alarmed at the 
 increased mortalit3\ But I know not whether 
 such was the true reason, for the house of Kin- 
 neil, where my Lord of Arran was ordered to 
 reside, is at no great distance from Stirling. 
 Moreover, my Lord had fitted out and kept in 
 readiness on the Western Sea certain ships for 
 some particular of his own. Many designs were 
 put to these ships; but there were some who 
 said that they were meant to carry my Lord and 
 his Iliglmess, if need be, to the coast of France. 
 Sure it is that letters passed every day between 
 my Lord and the King, and my Lady made fre- 
 quent visits to Stirling Castle. 
 
 Then came news that the Queen would give 
 the exiled Lords permission to go abroad — to 
 Germany, it was said ; though when slie did, as 
 was well understood, tliey headed straiglit for 
 the Border. Whereupon my Lord of Arran broke
 
 246 
 
 his ward, and came openly to the Court ; and 
 there ensued some space of time during which 
 there were such conspiracies and intrigues as no 
 Christian Court hath seen the hke, either before 
 or since. For my Lord of Arran, had he been 
 able, would have slain the Master of Gray even 
 in the King's closet, and there were many who 
 would have slain my Lord out of hand, but that 
 they had no chance. For neither of these men 
 could lessen the favor of the other with his High- 
 ness, and both were so closely guarded by their 
 friends that a man with a free sword could not 
 find his occasion. But Mr. Edward Wotton, the 
 English ambassador, trembled at his own shadow, 
 and at last, so greatlj" did he fear it, that he 
 mounted a horse and rode in haste to Berwick, 
 leavino: his baggage and the whole of his train 
 behind him. 
 
 And there were many other motions and enter- 
 prises. For certain blundering hot-heads had a 
 purpose to kidnap the King; but it was some 
 carrion bird and not the eagle they took in their 
 toils. Then there came to my Lord of Arran 
 sundry boxes of bullion from that fury of hell, 
 the Due de Guise, and it was reported that his 
 Highness would entertain the Antichrist. And 
 this was said with some show of reason; but 
 well I knew that the Prince, though he might
 
 247 
 
 allow others to put it forth by way of policy, 
 had no thought of such apostasy. These and 
 many other designs ran through the Court at 
 Stirling, until men with the coldest heads knew 
 not where they stood. But the Queen of Eng- 
 land as yet moved not. 
 
 The time seemed long to me, who lived not in 
 the heat of these intrigues, and who dared not 
 to go near them. But early one morning there 
 came a horseman up the brae to the house in 
 which I dwelt ; and the horse was very weary, 
 from which I gathered that his rider had trav- 
 elled through the night. Such a sight was an 
 event there, and I went forward to meet the 
 stranger, when, to my astonishment, my eyes 
 fell upon my old dragon Barabbas. 
 
 "Well, old trickster," cried I, "you are gen- 
 erally an ill wind to me. What do you bring 
 me this journey V 
 
 " Even a letter. Captain." 
 
 " Ah ! your fingers have an itch for letters," 
 I replied, taking the packet he brought forth 
 from his pouch and breaking it open. 
 
 It was from my Lochleven friend, and told 
 me not much that I did not know, lie was 
 grateful for what I had done, but had not time 
 to write further upon that. He had a very anx- 
 ious time, but nothing he had gone through could
 
 248 
 
 equal what was before bira. Tbe banisbed Lords 
 would cross tbe Border witbin tbree days and 
 meet at Kelso, whither he bade me go and 
 seek out the Master of Glamis, who would as- 
 suredly have need of me. But until the crisis 
 came be himself was constrained to tarry with 
 the Court in the midst of an army which, out- 
 wardly at least, was hostile to his friends. 
 And this he wrote from the Castle of Stir- 
 ling. 
 
 When I bad read tbe letter I raised my eyes 
 and saw Barabbas looking at me with a strange 
 expression. 
 
 " I suppose, sirrah,'' said I, " you know all that 
 this letter contains." 
 
 " I suppose I do. Captain." 
 
 " Well," I continued, seeing a sort of grin on 
 his ugly mouth, and noticing again the strange 
 expression of his eyes, " have you any message 
 to give me by word of mouth T 
 
 '' There is no message." 
 
 " Then why stand you gaping at me ? Speak 
 out, man ; what is it ?" 
 
 " I was thinking, sir, I bad better have spoken 
 to ye when we last met." 
 
 " Better, indeed, my man ; for if my name is 
 Andrew Eviot you will have to answer for a 
 good deal before many days be past."
 
 24!) 
 
 "For the love of Christ, dinna speak to mo 
 tliat gate, Captain." 
 
 "You'll hear worse, I promise 3'ou, before all 
 is said and done." 
 
 " Speak not so, I beseech you. I will hide 
 notiiing from ye, and I have somewhat to tell, 
 if only—" 
 
 " If what, you rascal ? Think you I will make 
 a bargain Avith you V 
 
 " Nay, sir ; but hear what I have to say, and 
 then judge. I couldna have spoken before with- 
 out betraying a confidence which even a ser- 
 vant of Captaiu James would hold sacred. I 
 confess I had more ado with your affairs than 
 ye will like to hear; but it moveth me that 
 ye will pardon what I did when ye ken what 
 I did it for. Before ye came to Ruthven Cas- 
 tle there was a lady keepit therein with some 
 closeness— an unfortunate lady, but yet gracious. 
 And because she was unfortunate, and gracious 
 even to Eusty Rynian, to whom no man was 
 wont to speak without a curse, I pitied her. 
 With my ain hand I had ta'en her father's 
 horse by the bridle at the back of Benbuck, 
 and I carried him, I and those that were with 
 me, to the Fastcastle. By some means she has 
 since found some part of the truth of this ; 
 but I dared not tell her, fur the band of my
 
 250 
 
 service forbade that I should so betray my mas- 
 ter." 
 
 "A quaint philosophy, and worthy of Barab- 
 bas ; but go on." 
 
 " By many small services I won her to believe 
 me to be her faithful servant, and such indeed I 
 have been. One night, some time after ye came, 
 I was brought to her presence by a signal, which 
 I need not stay to describe, but which I wxel 
 understood. The secret passage ye saw the last 
 time ye were at the castle took me to the para- 
 pet without the knowledge of any but this lady. 
 I found her in great trouble, for she had but just 
 learnit that the King had promised ni}^ master, 
 the Earl of xlrran, that he should have the gift 
 of her marriage so soon as he had recovered a 
 certain chain and jewel which he had lost. It 
 marvelled me that the news should so upset her, 
 for surely it were better for a lass to be well 
 married than mewed up in Ruthven Castle." 
 
 " Go on, sir ; it is not given to you to know 
 the things which even the ancient Solomon could 
 not understand." 
 
 " My marv^el was even greater when I heard 
 that she had given the chain and jew^el to you, 
 believing that you would deliver it to his High- 
 ness the following morning, but knowing not that 
 she had sealed her own fate. So great was her
 
 251 
 
 distress that I bethought me of an expedient, 
 which I own was very hazardous; but to her I 
 said nothing beyond this, that if she would lend 
 me the chain of calcedonies about her neck I 
 would serve her to some purpose. In the end 
 I got the chain, but before I came so far I was 
 fain to promise that not a hair of 3'our head 
 should suffer through what I was in purpose 
 to do. 
 
 " Now ye may guess in part what I did. I 
 knew my Lord had written two letters — one to 
 be carried by you, sir, to the King, the other to 
 be delivered by Joshua Henderson to the Laird 
 of Kilsyth. But I knew also the habit of my 
 Lord ; and having taken a squint at the letter to 
 the Laird of Kilsyth, I altered the direction, and 
 placed it in your breast at the same moment 
 when I took from ye the other letter." 
 
 " You are an accursed thief !" 
 
 "But I did waur nor that. To change the 
 letters was nothing ; there is no a ryper in the 
 country who can touch me for nimbleness and 
 softness of finger. But what I did further I 
 could scarce have done had ye not fallen into a 
 very deep and sound sleep. For I drew the gold 
 chain with the X Jewel from your craig and 
 put the calcedonies in its ])lace.'' 
 
 " You scoundrel ! Know you not that you dis-
 
 253 
 
 obliged his Highness, while you robbed me of 
 the credit I might have won, and put me to some 
 shame in the presence of my Prince ?" 
 
 " In truth, I ken it, sir ; but I also ken that I 
 saved my young lady from a marriage which 
 filled her with disgust." 
 
 "Aye," said I — I had not thought of that — 
 " so you did, man ; so you did. And — I will not 
 say you did wrong. Tliere, I call back my hard 
 words to you. But you have more to tell me. 
 I will hear you out. Where is she ?" 
 
 " I may tell ye now without harm that she 
 escapit from the castle on the night of the fire 
 to the house of one of her father's tenants. It 
 was for my part in that that I was scourgit at 
 Stirling, but I would bear much mair nor that 
 for her. If she had keepit close none would 
 have known, but she was possessed with the 
 thought that her father Avas at the Fastcastle, 
 and when she began to inquire about it Captain 
 James and his spouse got knowledge of where 
 she was, and carried her off to Kinneil. But I 
 have waur still to tell; for Captain* James, ei- 
 ther because he is angered at the lady's spirit, or 
 that he hopes to get news of the King's jev/el 
 from her, has carried her with him to Stirling ; 
 and folk have said that he will take her with 
 him to France in the ship which awaiteth him
 
 253 
 
 on the western coast. It was tliis news that 
 made me beg leave to carry the letter to ye ; for 
 I believe not indeed, Captain Eviot, that yc will 
 desert the poor lass in this strait." 
 
 " No, no ; that indeed I will not. But you 
 have not finished your tale, man ; for one thing 
 you have forgotten to tell me. Where is the 
 jewel ?" 
 
 The man looked embarrassed, and cast his ej-'es 
 on the ground ; but he answered me : 
 
 " As I told ye before, the jewel is in sure keep- 
 ing ; and I promise ye that when Captain James 
 is safe I will deliver it to ye, and to no one else. 
 More than that I canna say." 
 
 I knew this man to be as obstinate as a mule, 
 and I was in the mind to take his promise ; for 
 though his philosophy of service was all his own, 
 there was one person to whom, as it seemed, he 
 had been a faithful servant. 
 
 " I will take your word," said I, " for what it 
 is worth, and your body as security for it ; for as 
 I ride to - morrow morning you shall ride with 
 me, and part not with me until the delivery is 
 complete. But I warn you that there is one who 
 will not take your conditions as kindly as I have." 
 
 " So be it, sir ; I canna mend it. The lass shall 
 get no harm through any faintncss of heart in 
 me."
 
 254 
 
 So we rode on the following morning to Kelso, 
 where a great company was met to welcome the 
 banished Lords ; and, as all know, Ave marched 
 from thence to Falkirk without hinderance. A 
 force of five hundred picked horsemen was ap- 
 pointed to look to it in especial that neither his 
 Highness nor my Lord of Arran should make 
 his escape ; and having my own purposes in 
 view, I prevailed that I might be joined with 
 this force. From Falkirk we made a rapid de- 
 scent upon Kinneil, but found that my Lady 
 had gone towards Edinburgh ; and, as Barabbas 
 had told me, Jean Uchiltrie had been carried to 
 Stirling by my Lord. 
 
 By the evening of the 2d of November we 
 came, being now grown to a great army, to St. 
 Ninian's Chapel, which is but a mile from Stir- 
 ling. And all that night my Lord of Arran 
 watched upon the walls, for he feared those that 
 were within more than all the host without. 
 But when the day came we entered the town 
 by a close above the West Port ; and though 
 the Colonel offered a sharp resistance for a 
 space, the Earl of Arran's men, having little 
 stomach for the work, retired into the castle. 
 The town being in this way free of the contrary 
 party, and our soldiers occupied in securing their 
 positions, there was great reiving of horses and
 
 goods by Will Kinmonth's bairns, who regarded 
 neither friend nor foe in this pursuit of their 
 trade. And I have since heard that my old 
 friend Peter Bell v.'as behind nobody in the zeal 
 with which this free comraerce was prosecuted. 
 
 The place was tlius practically gained, for 
 those within the castle were divided, the Master 
 of Gray, Sir John Maitland, and the Lord Jus- 
 tice-Clerk being in effect of our own party. 
 Moreover, had it been otherwise, its reduction 
 ■was only a matter of da3's. But the castle being, 
 as one expressed it, "rammed full in a manner 
 of great personages," our leaders were not will- 
 ing to let any of them escape. 
 
 It chanced that it was known to several Avho 
 were with us that there was a secret postern on 
 the western wing of the castle ; and care having 
 been taken to block this exit, a strong force was 
 posted hard by it, in which by good-fortune my 
 company was included. For there were still 
 fears that Arran might abscond, and take with 
 him the King, because the ships still lay on the 
 "West Sea which should have carried them to 
 France. 
 
 Having heavily barricaded this postern with 
 brushwood and branches of trees, the main body 
 of our company retired a little space, leaving a 
 small number for immediate guard upon the
 
 256 
 
 spot. After we had lain there some two hours 
 or more there came a sort of movement on the 
 inside of the postern, and I crept up close, the 
 better to listen. I heard the irons put into the 
 lock, and the plain sound as of one trying to 
 push the gate open. As that succeeded not, there 
 followed some whispering, the intent of which 
 reached not my ears. Then I heard a low, meas- 
 ured voice which I could not mistake say : 
 
 " A bonny posture this for a crowned and 
 anointed King !" 
 
 I ventured thereupon to say, in a voice to be 
 heard of him who had spoken : 
 
 " Was that his Majesty who spoke ?" 
 
 " That it was," was the reply, " whoever ye 
 may be. And a sad place we are in for a born 
 Prince. Who may ye be, man ? What do they 
 ca' ye ?" 
 
 " Even Andrew Eviot, sir, your own loyal 
 subject, whom ye may not have forgotten." 
 
 " We forget no loyal subject, sir. But what 
 kind of loyalty ca' ye this ? Canna ye open the 
 yett, man ? I charge ye, Andrew, upon your 
 loyalty, open the yett." 
 
 " I cannot do it, sir," I said ; and I added, with 
 a certain amount of hypocris}^, " I would do it 
 fast enough if I could ; but it would give me an 
 hour's hard work to clear away the barricade,
 
 257 
 
 and long before that I should have a dozen 
 swords inside me." 
 
 '•Then Avho is in command here? Bid him 
 speak with us without delay." 
 
 " The Master of Glamis commands us." I was 
 in error here, as I discovered afterwards ; but it 
 was a lucky mistake, for the reply it produced 
 was : 
 
 " God save us ! Then there is no help, for yon 
 is a hard-handed man, as we know to our cost. 
 But I looked not to find you here, Captain An- 
 drew, to bar our path." 
 
 " I am not here for any such purpose, sir, but 
 to render you a token," and I clambered over 
 the brushwood and presented at the eye-hole 
 through which his Majesty had been delivering 
 himself the topaz which he had given me some 
 months before. 
 
 " What's yon ? God's banes ! what is it ? Aye, 
 I see it now. And it's the blithest sign we've 
 geen for many a long week. It almost recon- 
 ciles us to — And where is yon. Captain An- 
 drew, that ye wot of, for I take it by this sign 
 that it is in safe hands." 
 
 " I have the surest information that it is in 
 safe keeping, but I cannot obtain possession of 
 it from those who have it until my Lord of Ar- 
 ran is in hand.'' Here I i)ut the matter some- 
 
 17
 
 258 
 
 what too stiff, but I had an eye to my own ob- 
 ject. 
 
 " What !" cried the King, evidently indignant, 
 " would they be making conditions with their 
 lawful Prince?" 
 
 " I^ay, sir," said I, smiling to myself as I 
 thought of the conditions his own nobles would 
 make with him within a few hours ; " they made 
 conditions with me which they would not vent- 
 ure to offer to your Majesty." 
 
 Here, for the only occasion in my experience, 
 the King lost his cue, for, excited by the nature 
 of his position and the prospect of recovering 
 his jewel, he cried out : 
 
 " But they'll never have him in hand. He's 
 gone man — clean gone !" 
 
 " Gone ?" said I, amazed. 
 
 " Aye, gone by the North Yett over the Brig." 
 
 Never did subject run from his native Prince 
 as I ran from that postern. As my arms were 
 long, so were my legs, and as my wind was 
 good I ran fast, holding my sword by the scab- 
 bard. 
 
 When I. came in sight of the river the light 
 was beginning to fail ; but my eyes were good, 
 and I could see some horses under a clump of 
 trees on the far side. That gave me hope that 
 I was not too late. As I came nearer I made
 
 259 
 
 out four horses, one man, and what appeared to 
 be two women. I was now descending the 
 bank to the river when a boat shot out from 
 the river-side. There was one man in it, who 
 rowed himself across. When he was half-way 
 over he paused to throw something into the 
 stream, and when he landed on the other side 
 he made the boat fast to the stump of a tree 
 and threw the oars into the river. There was 
 no mistaking the tall, powerful frame of Cap- 
 tain James. 
 
 While I took all this in I had noticed that the 
 stream was somewhat swollen by the autumn 
 rains and the current strong. So I altered my 
 course and struck the water some seventy yards 
 above the point from which the boat put off. I 
 lost no time in throwing off my armor, and, dis- 
 carding my pistols, committed myself to the 
 stream. 
 
 It chanced that I took the water at the mo- 
 ment when the fugitive was engaged in tying 
 up the boat, so that he saw me not. But it 
 seems that I was seen by Joshua Henderson, 
 Avho stood by the horses under the trees, for he 
 ran hurriedly down to the e(\ge of the stream 
 and pointed to me. Then both men drew their 
 pistols, and presently I heard the bullets cut the 
 water near me ; but the distance was too great
 
 260 
 
 for a sure aim, and. they seemed to wait for my 
 landing, walking down the bank to meet me as I 
 came ashore. 
 
 Then for the first time I began to think I had 
 been too foolhardy ; but it was no time to think, 
 and I put the thought from me. 
 
 While they were firing at me I swam with 
 my head up-stream, and, as I still wore my steel 
 bonnet, kept my face averted from the opposite 
 shore, hoping in that way to escape a bullet 
 through the brain. Now for a brief space I 
 turned my head again, and I saw what the two 
 men who watched me could not see. A figure 
 stole out from the gloom of the trees, loosened 
 the boat from the stump which held it, sprang 
 into it, and with one push sent it out into the 
 stream. By this time I was more than half- 
 way across, and the current Avas bearing me 
 Avitli fatal precision to the spot where stood my 
 Lord of Arran and his man. When I saw the 
 boat drifting towards me, and could no longer 
 mistake the woman wlio had set it loose, I had 
 a difl'erent mind. Timing the speed of the cur- 
 rent as well as I might, I swam so as to catch 
 the boat as it passed me ; but I might have 
 missed it after all ray endeavors but that a hand 
 wliich I well know came forth to save mo. 
 With iriiinitc dinicidty, and no small danger of
 
 261 
 
 swamping the boat — for my dress was heavy 
 and full of water, and my arms sadly in the way 
 — I clambered over the gunwale. But as I 
 cleared the edge of it I felt a sharp sting on the 
 back of the neck, and I sank down into the 
 bottom of the boat. 
 
 There was a strange sound. It said " gurgle, 
 gurgle, gurgle." It came at intervals ; it went 
 on for a long time — a very long time. "Would it 
 never stop ? It wearied me. 
 
 Then there was a " lap, lap, lapping," which 
 came with the gurgling sound ; and finally the 
 gurgling ceased, and there was nothing but " lap, 
 lap, lap" — at Hrst very faint. And I was glad, 
 for the gurgling sound pained me. 
 
 Then the lapping grew louder, and I liked it 
 not so well. And it grew still louder, and in- 
 flicted such torture upon me as I have no words 
 to express. By degrees it became louder and 
 louder, until methought the sound had destroyed 
 the sense of hearing. And, as it seemed to me, 
 I awoke as from a hideous dream. But it was 
 dark. I tried to speak, and my voice sounded 
 as a whisper. But I did say, for I heard the 
 words : 
 
 " Where am I ?" 
 
 And a voice, which seemed to come from long
 
 263 
 
 ago, and had been with me night and day for 
 many months, said : 
 
 "Upon the sea, 
 Alone with me." 
 
 THE END
 
 By a. CONAN DOYLE 
 
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 T\A L '■/
 
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