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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bonnie Prince Charlie, by G. A. Henty
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Bonnie Prince Charlie
+       A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden
+
+Author: G. A. Henty
+
+Posting Date: June 1, 2012 [EBook #7006]
+Release Date: December, 2004
+First Posted: February 21, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Martin Robb
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Bonnie Prince Charlie
+
+A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden
+
+
+by G. A. Henty
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I: The Return of a Prodigal.
+
+
+It was a dull evening in the month of September, 1728. The apprentices
+had closed and barred the shutters and the day's work was over. Supper
+was laid in the long room over the shop, the viands were on the table,
+and round it were standing Bailie Anderson and his wife, his foreman John
+Gillespie, and his two apprentices. The latter were furtively eying the
+eatables, and wondering how much longer the grace which their master was
+delivering would be. Suddenly there was a knock at the door below. No one
+stirred until the bailie had finished his grace, before which time the
+knock had been twice repeated.
+
+"Elspeth, woman," the bailie said when he had brought the grace to an
+end, "go down below and see who knocks so impatiently; look through the
+grille before you open the door; these are nor times when one opens to
+the first stranger who knocks."
+
+The old servant, who had been standing behind her mistress, went
+downstairs. The door was opened, and they heard an exclamation of
+surprise at the answer to her question, "Who is it that's knocking as if
+the house belonged to him?"
+
+Those gathered up stairs heard the bolts withdrawn. There was a confused
+sound of talking and then a heavy step was heard ascending the stairs,
+and without introduction a tall man, wrapped in a cloak and carrying a
+child of some two years old, strode into the room. He threw his hat on to
+a settle and advanced straight towards the bailie, who looked in surprise
+at this unceremonious entry.
+
+"Don't you know me, Andrew?"
+
+"Heaven preserve us," the bailie exclaimed, "why it's Malcolm!"
+
+"Malcolm himself," the visitor repeated, "sound in wind and limb."
+
+"The Lord be praised!" the bailie exclaimed as he grasped the other's
+hand and wrung it warmly. "I had thought you dead years and years ago.
+Janet, this is my brother Malcolm of whom you have often heard me speak."
+
+"And of whom you can have heard little good, mistress, if my brother has
+spoken the truth concerning me. I was ever a ne'er do well, while Andrew
+struck hard and fast to our father's trade."
+
+"My husband has ever spoken with affection of you," Janet Anderson said.
+"The bailie is not given to speak ill of any, much less of his own flesh
+and blood."
+
+"And now sit down, Malcolm. Supper is waiting, and you are, I doubt not,
+ready for it. It is ill talking to a fasting man. When you have done you
+shall tell me what you have been doing for the last fifteen years, and
+how it comes that you thus suddenly come back among us with your boy."
+
+"He is no boy of mine," Malcolm said; "but I will tell you all about it
+presently. First let me lay him down on that settle, for the poor little
+chap is fast asleep and dead tired out. Elspeth, roll up my cloak and
+make a pillow for him. That's right, he will do nicely now. You are
+changed less than any of us, Elspeth. Just as hard to look at, and, I
+doubt not, just as soft at heart as you used to be when you tried to
+shield me when I got into scrapes. And now to supper."
+
+Little was said during the meal; fortunately the table was bounteously
+spread, for the newcomer's appetite was prodigious; but at last he was
+satisfied, and after a long drink at the horn beside him, which Elspeth
+had kept filled with ale, he said:
+
+"There's nothing like a Scottish meal after all, Andrew. French living is
+well enough for a time, but one tires of it; and many a time when I have
+been lying down supperless on the sod, after marching and fighting the
+whole day, I have longed for a bowl of porridge and a platter well filled
+with oatmeal cakes."
+
+Supper over, John and the apprentices retired. Elspeth went off to
+prepare the guest's chamber and to make up a little bed for the child.
+
+"Now, brother, let us hear your story; but, first of all, perhaps you
+want to light your pipe?"
+
+"That do I," Malcolm replied, "if Mistress Janet has no objection
+thereto."
+
+"She is accustomed to it," the bailie said, answering for her. "I smoke
+myself; I deem that tobacco, like other things, was given for our use,
+and methinks that with a pipe between the lips men's brains work more
+easily and that it leadeth to pleasant converse."
+
+Janet went to a cupboard, brought out two long pipes and a jar of
+tobacco, placed two tumblers, a flat bottle, and a jug of water on the
+table.
+
+"That is right," the bailie said. "I do not often touch strong waters.
+The habit, as I see too plainly, is a harmful one, and in this good city
+of Glasgow there are many, even of those so placed that they should be an
+example to their fellows, who are given nightly to drink more than is
+good for them; but on an occasion like the present I deem it no harm to
+take a glass."
+
+"I should think not," Malcolm said heartily; "it is long since I tasted a
+glass of real Scotch spirit, and I never need an excuse for taking a
+glass of whatever it be that comes in my way. Not, Mistress Janet, that I
+am a toper. I don't say that at the sack of a town, or at times when
+liquor is running, so to speak, to waste, I am more backward than the
+rest; but my hand wouldn't be as steady as it is if I had been one of
+those who are never so happy as when they are filling themselves with
+liquor. And now, Andrew, to my story. You know that when I saw you
+last--just when the troubles in '15 began--in spite of all your warnings
+to the contrary, I must needs throw myself into the thick of them. You,
+like a wise man, stuck to your shop, and here you are now a bailie of
+Glasgow; while I, who have been wandering over the face of the earth
+fighting for the cause of France and risking my life a thousand times in
+a matter which concerned me in no way, have returned just as penniless as
+I set out."
+
+"It is said, brother Malcolm," Janet said mildly, "that a rolling stone
+gathers no moss."
+
+"That is true enough," Malcolm assented; "and yet do you know there are
+few rolling stones who, if their time were to come over again, would
+remain fixed in their bed. Of course we have not the pleasures of home,
+of wives and children; but the life of adventure has its own joys, which
+I, for one, would not change for the others. However, brother, as you
+know, I threw myself heart and soul into that business.
+
+"The last time I saw you was just as I was starting with a score of
+others to make our way to join the Earl of Mar's army at Perth. I have
+seen many an army since, but never did I see sixteen thousand finer
+fighting men than were there assembled. The Laird of Mackintosh brought
+five hundred clansmen from Inverness shire, the Marquis of Huntly had
+five hundred horse and two thousand foot, and the Earl Marischal had a
+thousand men. The Laird of Glenlyon brought five hundred Campbells, and
+the Marquis of Tullibardine fourteen hundred, and a score of other chiefs
+of less power were there with their clansmen. There were enough men there
+to have done anything had they been properly armed and led; but though
+arms and ammunition had been promised from France, none came, and the
+Earl of Mar had so little decision that he would have wrecked the finest
+army that ever marched.
+
+"The army lay doing nothing for weeks, and just before we were expecting
+a movement, the company I belonged to was sent with a force of
+Highlanders under Mackintosh to join the army under the Lords
+Derwentwater, Kenmure, and Nithsdale. Lord Derwentwater had risen with a
+number of other gentlemen, and with their attendants and friends had
+marched against Newcastle. They had done nothing there but remained idle
+near Hexham till, joined by a force raised in the Lowlands of Scotland by
+the Earls of Nithsdale, Carnwath, and Wintoun, the united army marched
+north again to Kelso, where we joined them.
+
+"We Scots soon saw that we had gained nothing by the change of
+commanders. Lord Derwentwater was ignorant of military affairs, and he
+was greatly swayed by a Mr. Forster, who was somehow at the head of the
+business, and who was not only incompetent, but proved to be a coward, if
+not, as most folks believed, a traitor. So dissension soon broke out, and
+four hundred Highlanders marched away north. After a long delay it was
+resolved to move south, where, it was said, we should be joined by great
+numbers in Lancashire; but by this time all had greatly lost spirit and
+hope in the enterprise. We crossed the border and marched down through
+Penrith, Appleby, and Kendal to Lancaster, and then on to Preston.
+
+"I was little more than a lad, Andrew, but even to me it seemed madness
+thus to march into England with only two thousand men. Of these twelve
+hundred were foot, commanded by Brigadier Mackintosh; the others were
+horse. There were two troops of Stanhope's dragoons quartered in Preston,
+but these retired when we neared the town, and we entered without
+opposition. Next day, which was, I remember, the 10th of November, the
+Chevalier was proclaimed king, and some country gentlemen with their
+tenants came in and joined us.
+
+"I suppose it would have come to the same thing in the end, but never
+were things so badly managed as they were by Mr. Forster.
+
+"Preston was a strong natural position; an enemy coming from the south
+could only reach it by crossing a narrow bridge over the river Ribble a
+mile and a half away, and this could have been held by a company against
+an army. From the bridge to the town the road was so narrow that in
+several places two men could not ride abreast. It ran between two high
+and steep banks, and it was here that Cromwell was nearly killed when he
+attacked Charles's troops.
+
+"Well, all these places, where we might certainly have defended
+ourselves, were neglected, and we were all kept in the town, where we
+formed four main posts. One was in the churchyard, and this was commanded
+by Brigadier Mackintosh. In support of this was the volunteer horse under
+Derwentwater and the three other lords. Lord Charles Murray was in
+command at a barricade at a little distance from the churchyard. Colonel
+Mackintosh had charge of a post at a windmill; and the fourth was in the
+centre of the town.
+
+"Lord Derwentwater was a poor general, but he was a brave man. He and his
+two brothers, the Ratcliffs, rode about everywhere, setting an example of
+coolness, animating the soldiers, and seeing to the work on the barriers.
+Two days after we reached the town we heard that General Wilde was
+approaching. Colonel Farquharson was sent forward with a portion of
+Mackintosh's battalion to hold the bridge and the pass; but Mr. Forster,
+who went out on horseback, no sooner saw the enemy approaching than he
+gave orders to Farquharson and his men to retreat to the town. If I had
+been in Farquharson's place I would have put a bullet through the
+coward's head, and would have defended the bridge till the last.
+
+"After that everything was confusion; the Highlanders came back into the
+town furious and disheartened. The garrison prepared to receive the
+enemy. Mr. Forster was seen no more, and in fact he went straight back to
+the house where he was lodging and took his bed, where he remained till
+all was over. The enemy came on slowly. They could not understand why
+strong posts should be left undefended, and feared falling in an
+ambuscade. I was at the post commanded by Brigadier Mackintosh. I had
+joined a company commanded by Leslie of Glenlyon, who had brought with
+him some twenty men, and had made up his company with men who, like
+myself, came up without a leader. His company was attached to
+Mackintosh's regiment.
+
+"Presently the English came in sight, and as soon as they ascertained
+that we were still there, which they had begun to doubt, they attacked
+us. We beat them back handsomely, and Derwentwater with his cavalry
+charged their dragoons so fiercely that he drove them out of the town. It
+was late in the afternoon when the fight began, and all night the
+struggle went on. At each of our posts we beat them back over and over
+again. The town was on fire in half a dozen places, but luckily the night
+was still and the flames did not spread. We knew that it was a hopeless
+fight we were making; for, from some prisoners, we learned that three
+regiments of dragoons were also coming up against us, and had already
+arrived at Clitheroe. From some inhabitants, I suppose, the enemy learned
+that the street leading to Wigan had nor been barricaded, and Lord
+Forrester brought up Preston's regiment by this way, and suddenly fell on
+the flank of our barrier. It was a tough fight, but we held our own till
+the news came that Forster had agreed to capitulate.
+
+"I don't say that our case wasn't hopeless. We were outnumbered and had
+no leader; sooner or later we must have been overpowered. Still, no
+capitulation should have been made except on the terms of mercy to all
+concerned. But Forster no doubt felt safe about himself, and that was all
+he cared for; and the end showed that he knew what he was about, for
+while all the brave young noblemen, and numbers of others, were either
+executed or punished in other ways, Forster, who had been the leading
+spirit who had persuaded them to rise, and led them into this strait, was
+after a short imprisonment suffered to go free. I tell you, brother
+Andrew, if I were to meet him now, even if it were in a church, I would
+drive my dagger into his heart.
+
+"However, there we were. So furious were we that it was with difficulty
+the officers could prevent us from sallying out sword in hand and trying
+to cut our way through the enemy. As to Forster, if he had appeared in
+the streets he would have been hewn to pieces. However, it was useless to
+resist now; the English troops marched in and we laid down our arms, and
+our battalions marched into a church and were guarded as prisoners. It
+was not a great army they had taken, for there were but one thousand four
+hundred and ninety captured, including noblemen, gentlemen, and officers.
+
+"Many of us were wounded more or less. I had got a slice on the shoulder
+from a dragoon's sword. This I gained when rushing out to rescue Leslie,
+who had been knocked down, and would have been slain by three dragoons
+had I not stood over him till some of our men rushed out and carried him
+in. He was not badly hurt, the sword having turned as it cut through his
+bonnet. My action won his regard, and from that time until a month since
+we have never been separated. Under a strong escort of soldiers we were
+marched south. In most places the country people mocked us as we passed;
+but here and there we saw among the crowds who gathered in the streets of
+the towns through which we passed, faces which we passed, faces which
+expressed pity and sympathy
+
+"We were not badly treated on the march by our guard, and had little to
+complain of. When we reached Barnet we fell out as usual when the march
+was over, and I went up to the door of a house and asked a woman, who
+looked pityingly at us, for a drink of water. She brought me some, and
+while I drank she said:
+
+"'We are Catholics and well wishers of the Chevalier; if you can manage
+to slip in here after it is dark we will furnish you with a disguise, and
+will direct you to friends who will pass you on until you can escape.
+
+"'Can you give me disguises for two?' I asked. 'I will not go without my
+captain.'
+
+"'Yes,' she said, 'for two, but no more.'
+
+"'I will steal away after dark,' I said as I gave her back the jug.
+
+"I told Leslie what had happened, and he agreed to join me in time to
+escape, for there was no saying what fate might befall us in London; and,
+indeed, the very next morning severities commenced, the whole of the
+troops being obliged to suffer the indignity of having their arms tied
+behind them, and so being marched into London.
+
+"After it was dark Leslie and I managed to steal away from our guards,
+who were not very watchful, for our uniform would at once have betrayed
+us, and the country people would have seized and handed us over. The
+woman was on the watch, and as soon as we neared the door she opened it.
+Her husband was with her and received us kindly. He at once furnished us
+with the attire of two countrymen, and, letting us out by a back way,
+started with us across the country.
+
+"After walking twenty miles he brought us to the house of another
+adherent of the Chevalier, where we remained all day. So we were passed
+on until we reached the coast, where we lay hid for some days until an
+arrangement was made with the captain of a fishing boat to take us to
+sea, and either to land us at Calais or to put us on board a French
+fishing boat. So we got over without trouble.
+
+"Long before that, as you know, the business had virtually come to an end
+here. The Earl of Mar's army lay week after week at Perth, till at last
+it met the enemy under Argyle at Sheriffmuir.
+
+"You know how that went. The Highland clans in the right and centre
+carried all before them, and drove the enemy from the field, but on the
+left they beat us badly. So both parties claimed the victory. But,
+victory or defeat, it was fatal to the cause of the Chevalier. Half the
+Highland clans went off to their homes that night, and Mar had to fall
+back to Perth.
+
+"Well, that was really the end of it. The Chevalier landed, and for a
+while our hopes rose. He did nothing, and our hopes fell. At last he took
+ship and went away, and the affair was over, except for the hangings and
+slaughterings.
+
+"Leslie, like most of the Scottish gentlemen who succeeded in reaching
+France, took service with the French king, and, of course, I did the
+same. It would have done your heart good to see how the Scottish
+regiments fought on many a field; the very best troops of France were
+never before us, and many a tough field was decided by our charge. Leslie
+was a cornet. He was about my age; and you know I was but twenty when
+Sheriffmuir was fought. He rose to be a colonel, and would have given me
+a pair of colours over and over again if I would have taken them; but I
+felt more comfortable among our troopers than I should have done among
+the officers, who were almost all men of good Highland family; so I
+remained Leslie's right hand.
+
+"A braver soldier never swung a leg over saddle; but he was always in
+some love affair or another. Why he didn't marry I couldn't make out. I
+suppose he could never stick long enough to one woman. However, some four
+years ago he got into an affair more serious than any he had been in
+before, and this time he stuck to it in right earnest. Of course she was
+precisely one of the women he oughtn't to have fallen in love with,
+though I for one couldn't blame him, for a prettier creature wasn't to be
+found in France. Unfortunately she was the only daughter of the Marquis
+de Recambours, one of the wealthiest and most powerful of French nobles,
+and there was no more chance of his giving his consent to her throwing
+herself away upon a Scottish soldier of fortune than to her going into a
+nunnery; less, in fact. However, she was as much in love with Leslie as
+he was with her, and so they got secretly married. Two years ago this
+child was born, but she managed somehow to keep it from her father, who
+was all this time urging her to marry the Duke de Chateaurouge.
+
+"At last, as ill luck would have it, he shut her up in a convent just a
+week before she had arranged to fly with Leslie to Germany, where he
+intended to take service until her father came round. Leslie would have
+got her out somehow; but his regiment was ordered to the frontier, and it
+was eighteen months before we returned to Paris, where the child had been
+in keeping with some people with whom he had placed it. The very evening
+of his return I was cleaning his arms when he rushed into the room.
+
+"'All is discovered,' he said; 'here is my signet ring, go at once and
+get the child, and make your way with it to Scotland; take all the money
+in the escritoire, quick!'
+
+"I heard feet approaching, and dashed to the bureau, and transferred the
+bag of louis there to my pocket. An official with two followers entered.
+
+"'Colonel Leslie,' he said, 'it is my duty to arrest you by order of his
+gracious majesty;' and he held out an order signed by the king.
+
+"'I am unconscious of having done any wrong, sir, to his majesty, whom I
+have served for the last sixteen years. However, it is not for me to
+dispute his orders;' thereupon he unbuckled his sword and handed it to
+the officers. 'You will look after the things till I return, Malcolm. As
+I am sure I can clear myself of any charge that may be brought against
+me, I trust to be speedily back again.
+
+"'Your trooper need not trouble himself,' the officer said; 'the official
+with me will take charge of everything, and will at once affix my seal to
+all your effects.'
+
+"I went down stairs and saw the colonel enter a carriage with the two
+officials, then I went straight to the major. 'Colonel Leslie has been
+arrested, sir, on what charge I know not. He has intrusted a commission
+to me. Therefore, if you find I am absent from parade in the morning you
+will understand I am carrying out his orders.'
+
+"The major was thunderstruck at the news, but told me to do as the
+colonel had ordered me, whatever it might be. I mounted the colonel's
+horse at once and rode to the house where the child was in keeping. The
+people knew me well, as I had often been there with messages from the
+colonel. When I showed them the signet ring, and told them that I had
+orders to take the child to his father, they made no opposition. I said I
+would return for him as soon as it was dusk. I then went and purchased a
+suit of civilian clothes, and returning to the house attired myself in
+these, and taking the child on the saddle before me, rode for the
+frontier.
+
+"Following unfrequented roads, travelling only at night, and passing a
+day in a wood, I passed the frontier unmolested, and made my way to
+Ostend, where I sold the horse and took passage in the first ship sailing
+for Leith. I arrived there two days ago, and have walked here, with an
+occasional lift in a cart; and here I am, brother Andrew, to ask you for
+hospitality for a while for myself and Leslie's boy. I have a hundred
+louis, but these, of course, belong to the child. As for myself, I
+confess I have nothing; saving has never been in my line."
+
+"You are heartily welcome, Malcolm, as long as you choose to stop; but I
+trust that ere long you will hear of Colonel Leslie."
+
+"I trust so," Malcolm said; "but if you knew the court of France as well
+as I do you would not feel very sanguine about it. It is easier to get
+into a prison than out of one."
+
+"But the colonel has committed no crime!" the bailie said.
+
+"His chance would be a great deal better if he had," Malcolm laughed. "A
+colonel of one of his majesty's Scottish regiments can do a good deal in
+the way of crime without much harm befalling him; but when it comes to
+marrying the daughter of a nobleman who is a great personage at court,
+without his consent, it is a different affair altogether, I can tell you.
+Leslie has powerful friends, and his brother officers will do what they
+can for him; but I can tell you services at the court of France go for
+very little. Influence is everything, and as the nobleman the marquis
+intended to be the husband of his daughter is also a great personage at
+court and a friend of Louis's, there is no saying how serious a matter
+they may make of it. Men have been kept prisoners for life for a far less
+serious business than this."
+
+"But supposing he is released, does he know where to communicate with
+you?"
+
+"I am afraid he doesn't," Malcolm said ruefully. "He knows that I come
+from Glasgow, but that is all. Still, when he is freed, no doubt he will
+come over himself to look for his son, and I am sure to hear of his being
+here."
+
+"You might do, and you might not," the bailie said. "Still, we must hope
+for the best, Malcolm. At any rate I am in no haste for the colonel to
+come. Now I have got you home again after all these years, I do not wish
+to lose you again in a hurry."
+
+Malcolm only remained for a few weeks at his brother's house. The
+restraint of life at the bailie's was too much for him. Andrew's was a
+well ordered household. The bailie was methodical and regular, a leading
+figure in the kirk, far stricter than were most men of his time as to
+undue consumption of liquor, strong in exhortation in season and out of
+season. His wife was kindly but precise, and as outspoken as Andrew
+himself. For the first day or two the real affection which Andrew had for
+his younger brother, and the pleasure he felt at his return, shielded
+Malcolm from comment or rebuke; but after the very first day the bailie's
+wife had declared to herself that it was impossible that Malcolm could
+long remain an inmate of the house. She was not inhospitable, and would
+have made great sacrifices in some directions for the long missing
+brother of her husband; but his conduct outraged all the best feelings of
+a good Scotch housewife.
+
+Even on that first day he did not come punctually to his meals. He was
+away about the town looking up old acquaintance, came in at dinner and
+again at supper after the meal had already begun, and dropped into his
+place and began to eat without saying a word of grace. He stamped about
+the house as if he had cavalry spurs still on his heels; talked in a
+voice that could be heard from attic to basement; used French and Flemish
+oaths which horrified the good lady, although she did not understand
+them; smoked at all hours of the day, whereas Andrew always confined
+himself to his after supper pipe, and, in spite of his assertions on the
+previous evening, consumed an amount of liquor which horrified the good
+woman.
+
+At his meals he talked loudly, kept the two apprentices in a titter with
+his stories of campaigning, spoke slightingly of the city authorities,
+and joked the bailie with a freedom and roughness which scandalized her.
+Andrew was slow to notice the incongruity of his brother's demeanour and
+bearing with the atmosphere of the house, although he soon became dimly
+conscious that there was a jarring element in the air. At the end of a
+week Malcolm broached the subject to him.
+
+"Andrew," he said, "you are a good fellow, though you are a bailie and an
+elder of the kirk, and I thank you for the hearty welcome you have given
+me, and for your invitation to stay for a long time with you; but it will
+not do. Janet is a good woman and a kindly, but I can see that I keep her
+perpetually on thorns. In good truth, fifteen years of campaigning are
+but an indifferent preparation for a man as an inmate of a respectable
+household. I did not quite know myself how thoroughly I had become a
+devil may care trooper until I came back to my old life here. The ways of
+your house would soon be as intolerable to me as my ways are to your good
+wife, and therefore it is better by far that before any words have passed
+between you and me, and while we are as good friends as on the evening
+when I returned, I should get out of this. I met an old friend today, one
+of the lads who went with me from Glasgow to join the Earl of Mar at
+Perth. He is well to do now, and trades in cattle, taking them in droves
+down into England. For the sake of old times he has offered me
+employment, and methinks it will suit me as well as any other."
+
+"But you cannot surely be going as a drover, Malcolm!"
+
+"Why not? The life is as good as any other. I would not sit down, after
+these years of roving, to an indoor life. I must either do that or cross
+the water again and take service abroad. I am only six and thirty yet,
+and am good for another fifteen years of soldiering, and right gladly
+would I go back if Leslie were again at the head of his regiment, but I
+have been spoiled by him. He ever treated me as a companion and as a
+friend rather than as a trooper in his regiment, and I should miss him
+sorely did I enter any other service. Then, too, I would fain be here to
+be ready to join him again if he sends for me or comes, and I should wish
+to keep an eye always on his boy. You will continue to take charge of
+him, won't you, Andrew? He is still a little strange, but he takes to
+Elspeth, and will give little trouble when he once learns the language."
+
+"I don't like it at all, Malcolm," the bailie said.
+
+"No, Andrew, but you must feel it is best. I doubt not that ere this your
+wife has told you her troubles concerning me."
+
+As the bailie on the preceding night had listened to a long string of
+complaints and remonstrances on the part of his wife as to his brother's
+general conduct he could not deny the truth of Malcolm's supposition.
+
+"Just so, Andrew," Malcolm went on; "I knew that it must be so. Mistress
+Janet has kept her lips closed firm to me, but I could see how difficult
+it was for her sometimes to do so. It could not be otherwise. I am as
+much out of place here as a wolf in a sheepfold. As to the droving, I
+shall not mention to all I meet that I am brother to one of the bailies
+of Glasgow. I shall like the life. The rough pony I shall ride will
+differ in his paces from my old charger, but at least it will be life in
+the saddle. I shall be earning an honest living; if I take more than is
+good for me I may get a broken head and none be the wiser, whereas if I
+remain here and fall foul of the city watch it would be grief and pain
+for you."
+
+The bailie was silenced. He had already begun to perceive that Malcolm's
+ways and manners were incompatible with the peace and quiet of a
+respectable household, and that Janet's complaints were not altogether
+unreasonable. He had seen many of his acquaintances lift their eyebrows
+in disapprobation at the roystering talk of his brother, and had foreseen
+that it was probable trouble would come.
+
+At the same rime he felt a repugnance to the thought that after so many
+years of absence his brother should so soon quit his house. It seemed a
+reflection alike on his affection and hospitality.
+
+"You will take charge of the child, won't you?" Malcolm pleaded. "There
+is a purse of a hundred louis, which will, I should say, pay for any
+expense to which he may put you for some years."
+
+"As if I would take the bairn's money!" Andrew exclaimed angrily. "What
+do you take me for, Malcolm? Assuredly I will take the child. Janet and I
+have no bairn of our own, and it's good for a house to have a child in
+it. I look upon it as if it were yours, for it is like enough you will
+never hear of its father again. It will have a hearty welcome. It is a
+bright little fellow, and in time I doubt not that Janet will take
+greatly to it. The charge of a child is a serious matter, and we cannot
+hope that we shall not have trouble with it, but there is trouble in all
+things. At any rate, Malcolm, we will do our best, and if at the end of a
+year I find that Janet has not taken to it we will see about some other
+arrangement. And, Malcolm, I do trust that you will stay with us for
+another week or two. It would seem to me as if I had turned you out of my
+house were you to leave me so soon."
+
+So Malcolm made a three weeks' stay at his brother's, and then started
+upon his new occupation of driving Highland cattle down into Lancashire.
+Once every two or three months he came to Glasgow for a week or two
+between his trips. In spite of Andrew's entreaties he refused on these
+occasions to take up his abode with him, but took a lodging not far off,
+coming in the evening for an hour to smoke a pipe with his brother, and
+never failing of a morning to come in and take the child for a long walk
+with him, carrying him upon his shoulder, and keeping up a steady talk
+with him in his native French, which he was anxious that the boy should
+nor forget, as at some time or other he might again return to France.
+
+Some weeks after Malcolm's return to Scotland, he wrote to Colonel
+Leslie, briefly giving his address at Glasgow; but making no allusion to
+the child, as, if the colonel were still in prison, the letter would be
+sure to be opened by the authorities. He also wrote to the major, giving
+him his address, and begging him to communicate it to Colonel Leslie
+whenever he should see him; that done, there was nothing for it but to
+wait quietly. The post was so uncertain in those days that he had but
+slight hope that either of his letters would ever reach their
+destination. No answer came to either of his letters.
+
+Four years later Malcolm went over to Paris, and cautiously made
+inquiries; but no one had heard anything of Colonel Leslie from the day
+he had been arrested. The regiment was away fighting in the Low
+Countries, and the only thing Malcolm could do was to call upon the
+people who had had charge of the child, to give them his address in case
+the colonel should ever appear to inquire of them. He found, however, the
+house tenanted by other people. He learned that the last occupants had
+left years before. The neighbors remembered that one morning early some
+officers of the law had come to the house, and the man had been seized
+and carried away. He had been released some months later, only to find
+that his wife had died of grief and anxiety, and he had then sold off his
+goods and gone no one knew whither. Malcolm, therefore, returned to
+Glasgow, with the feeling that he had gained nothing by his journey.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II: The Jacobite Agent.
+
+
+So twelve years passed. Ronald Leslie grew up a sturdy lad, full of fun
+and mischief in spite of the sober atmosphere of the bailie's house; and
+neither flogging at school nor lecturing at home appeared to have the
+slightest effect in reducing him to that state of sober tranquillity
+which was in Mrs. Anderson's eyes the thing to be most desired in boys.
+Andrew was less deeply shocked than his wife at the discovery of Ronald's
+various delinquencies, but his sense of order and punctuality was
+constantly outraged. He was, however, really fond of the lad; and even
+Mrs. Anderson, greatly as the boy's ways constantly disturbed and ruffled
+her, was at heart as fond of him as was her husband. She considered, and
+not altogether wrongly, that his wilderness, as she called it, was in no
+slight degree due to his association with her husband's brother.
+
+Ronald looked forward to the periodical visits of the drover with intense
+longing. He was sure of a sympathetic listener in Malcolm, who listened
+with approval to the tales of the various scrapes into which he had got
+since his last visit; of how, instead of going to school, he had played
+truant and with another boy his own age had embarked in a fisherman's
+boat and gone down the river and had not been able to get back until next
+day; how he had played tricks upon his dominie, and had conquered in
+single combat the son of Councillor Duff, the butcher, who had spoken
+scoffing words at the Stuarts. Malcolm was, in fact, delighted to find,
+that in spite of repression and lectures his young charge was growing up
+a lad of spirit. He still hoped that some day Leslie might return, and he
+knew how horrified he would be were he to find that his son was becoming
+a smug and well conducted citizen. No small portion of his time on each
+of his visits to Glasgow Malcolm spent in training the boy in the use of
+arms.
+
+"Your father was a gentleman," he would say to him, "and it is fitting
+that you should know how to handle a gentleman's arms. Clubs are well
+enough for citizens' apprentices, but I would have you handle rapier and
+broadsword as well as any of the young lairds. When you get old enough,
+Ronald, you and I will cross the seas, and together we will try and get
+to the bottom of the mystery of your father's fate, and if we find that
+the worst has come to the worst, we will seek our your mother. She will
+most likely have married again. They will be sure to have forced her into
+it; but even if she dare not acknowledge you as her son, her influence
+may obtain for you a commission in one of the king's regiments, and even
+if they think I'm too old for a trooper I will go as your follower. There
+are plenty of occasions at the court of France when a sharp sword and a
+stout arm, even if it be somewhat stiffened by age, can do good service."
+
+The lessons began as soon as Ronald was old enough to hold a light blade,
+and as between the pauses of exercise Malcolm was always ready to tell
+stories of his adventures in the wars of France, the days were full of
+delight to Ronald. When the latter reached the age of fourteen Malcolm
+was not satisfied with the amount of proficiency which the lad was able
+to gain during his occasional visits, and therefore took him for further
+instruction to a comrade who had, like himself, served in France, and had
+returned and settled down in Glasgow, where he opened a fencing school,
+having been a maitre d'armes among the Scotch regiments.
+
+The arrangement was, however, kept a profound secret from Andrew and his
+wife; but on half holidays, and on any other days when he could manage to
+slip away for an hour, Ronald went to his instructor and worked hard and
+steadily with the rapier. Had Mrs. Anderson had an idea of the manner in
+which he spent his time she would have been horrified, and would
+certainly have spared her encomiums on his improved conduct and the
+absence of the unsatisfactory reports which had before been so common.
+
+The cloud of uncertainty which hung over his father's fate could not but
+have an influence upon the boy's character, and the happy carelessness
+and gaiety which were its natural characteristics were modified by the
+thought that his father might be languishing in a dungeon. Sometimes he
+would refuse to accompany his school fellows on their rambles or fishing
+expeditions, and would sit for hours thinking over all sorts of wild
+plans by which he might penetrate to him and aid him to escape. He was
+never tired of questioning Malcolm Anderson as to the prisons in which,
+if still alive, his father would be likely to be confined. He would ask
+as to their appearance, the height of their walls, whether they were
+moated or not, and whether other houses abutted closely upon them. One
+day Malcolm asked him the reason of these questions, and he replied, "Of
+course I want to see how it will be possible to get my father out." And
+although Malcolm tried to impress upon him that it would be an almost
+impossible task even to discover in which prison his father was kept, he
+would not allow himself to be discouraged.
+
+"There must be some way of finding out, Malcolm. You tell me that
+prisoners are not even known by their name to the warders, but only under
+a number. Still someone must know--there must be lists kept of those in
+prison, and I shall trust to my mother to find out for me. A great lady
+as she is must be able to get at people if she sets about it, and as
+certainly she must have loved my father very very much, or she never
+would have married him secretly, and got into such trouble for it. I am
+sure she will do her best when she finds that you and I have come over to
+get him out. When we know that, I think we ought to be able to manage.
+You could get employment as a warder, or I could go disguised as a woman,
+or as a priest, or somehow. I feel sure we shall succeed if we do but
+find out that he is alive and where he is."
+
+Malcolm knew too much about the strong and well guarded prisons of France
+to share in the boy's sanguine hopes, but he did not try to discourage
+him. He thought that with such an object in life before him the boy would
+devote himself all the more eagerly to exercises which would strengthen
+his arm, increase his skill with weapons, and render him a brave and
+gallant officer, and in this he was right. As the time went on Ronald
+became more and more serious. He took no part whatever in the school boy
+games and frolics in which he had been once a leader. He worked hard at
+his school tasks the sooner to be done with them, and above all devoted
+himself to acquiring a mastery of the sword with a perseverance and
+enthusiasm which quite surprised his instructor.
+
+"I tell you, Malcolm, man," he said one day to his old comrade, after
+Ronald had been for upwards of two years his pupil, "if I had known, when
+you first asked me to teach the lad to handle a sword, how much of my
+time he was going to occupy, I should have laughed in your face, for ten
+times the sum you agreed to pay me would not have been enough; but,
+having begun it for your sake, I have gone on for the lad's. It has been
+a pleasure to teach him, so eager was he to learn--so ready to work
+heart and soul to improve. The boy's wrist is as strong as mine and his
+eye as quick. I have long since taught him all I know, and it is practice
+now, and not teaching, that we have every day. I tell you I have work to
+hold my own with him; he knows every trick and turn as well as I do, and
+is quicker with his lunge and riposte. Were it not that I have my extra
+length of arm in my favour I could not hold my own. As you know, I have
+many of the officers of the garrison among my pupils, and some of them
+have learned in good schools, but there is not one of them could defend
+himself for a minute against that boy. If it were not that the matter has
+to be kept secret I would set him in front of some of them, and you would
+see what short work he would make of them. Have you heard the rumours,
+Malcolm, that the young Chevalier is likely to follow the example of his
+father, thirty years back, and to make a landing in Scotland?"
+
+"I have heard some such rumours," Malcolm replied, "though whether there
+be aught in them I know not. I hope that if he does so he will at any
+rate follow the example of his father no further. As you know, I hold to
+the Stuarts, but I must own they are but poor hands at fighting. Charles
+the First ruined his cause; James the Second threw away the crown of
+Ireland by galloping away from the battle of the Boyne; the Chevalier
+showed here in '15 that he was no leader of men; and unless this lad is
+made of very different stuff to his forefathers he had best stay in
+France."
+
+"But if he should come, Malcolm, I suppose you will join him? I am afraid
+I shall be fool enough to do so, even with my fifty years on my head. And
+you?"
+
+"I suppose I shall be a fool too," Malcolm said. "The Stuarts are Scotch,
+you see, and with all their faults I would rather a thousand times have a
+Scottish king than these Germans who govern us from London. If the
+English like them let them keep them, and let us have a king of our own.
+However, nought may come of it; it may be but a rumour. It is a card
+which Louis has threatened to play a score of times, whenever he wishes
+to annoy England. It is more than likely that it will come to nought, as
+it has so often done before."
+
+"But they tell me that there are agents travelling about among the
+Highland clans, and that this time something is really to be done."
+
+"They have said so over and over again, and nothing has come of it. For
+my part, I don't care which way it goes. After the muddle that was made
+of it thirty years ago it does not seem to me more likely that we shall
+get rid of the Hanoverians now. Besides, the hangings and slaughterings
+then, would, I should think, make the nobles and the heads of clans think
+twice ere they risked everything again."
+
+"That is true, but when men's blood is up they do not count the cost;
+besides, the Highland clans are always ready to fight. If Prince Charles
+comes you will see there will not be much hanging back whatever the
+consequences may be. Well, you and I have not much to lose, except our
+lives."
+
+"That is true enough, old friend; and I would rather die that way than
+any other. Still, to tell you the truth, I would rather keep my head on
+my shoulders for a few years if I can."
+
+"Well, nothing may come of it; but if it does I shall strike a blow again
+for the old cause."
+
+At home Ronald heard nothing but expressions of loyalty to the crown. The
+mere fact that the Highlanders espoused the cause of the Stuarts was
+sufficient in itself to make the Lowlanders take the opposite side. The
+religious feeling, which had always counted for so much in the Lowlands,
+and had caused Scotland to side with the Parliament against King Charles,
+had not lost its force. The leanings of the Stuarts were, it was known,
+still strongly in favour of the Catholic religion, and although Prince
+Charles Edward was reported to be more Protestant in feelings than the
+rest of his race, this was not sufficient to counterbalance the effect of
+the hereditary Catholic tendency. Otherwise there was no feeling of
+active loyalty towards the reigning king in Scotland. The first and
+second Georges had none of the attributes which attract loyal affection.
+The first could with difficulty speak the language of the people over
+whom he ruled. Their feelings and sympathies were Hanoverian rather than
+English, and all court favours were bestowed as fast as possible upon
+their countrymen. They had neither the bearing nor manner which men
+associate with royalty, nor the graces and power of attraction which
+distinguished the Stuarts. Commonplace and homely in manner, in figure,
+and in bearing, they were not men whom their fellows could look up to or
+respect; their very vices were coarse, and the Hanoverian men and women
+they gathered round them were hated by the English people.
+
+Thus neither in England nor Scotland was there any warm feeling of
+loyalty for the reigning house; and though it was possible that but few
+would adventure life and property in the cause of the Stuarts, it was
+equally certain that outside the army there were still fewer who would
+draw sword for the Hanoverian king. Among the people of the Lowland
+cities of Scotland the loyalty which existed was religious rather than
+civil, and rested upon the fact that their forefathers had fought against
+the Stuarts, while the Highlanders had always supported their cause.
+Thus, although in the household and in kirk Ronald had heard King George
+prayed for regularly, he had heard no word concerning him calculated to
+waken a boyish feeling of loyalty, still less of enthusiasm. Upon the
+other hand he knew that his father had fought and suffered for the
+Stuarts and was an exile in their cause, and that Hanoverians had handed
+over the estate of which he himself would now be the heir to one of their
+adherents.
+
+"It is no use talking of these matters to Andrew," Malcolm impressed upon
+him; "it would do no good. When he was a young man he took the side of
+the Hanoverians, and he won't change now; while, did Mistress Janet guess
+that your heart was with the Stuarts, she would say that I was ruining
+you, and should bring you to a gallows. She is not fond of me now, though
+she does her best to be civil to her husband's brother; but did she know
+that you had become a Jacobite, like enough she would move Andrew to put
+a stop to your being with me, and there would be all sorts of trouble."
+
+"But they could nor prevent my being with you," Ronald said indignantly.
+"My father gave me into your charge, not into theirs."
+
+"That's true enough, laddie; but it is they who have cared for you and
+brought you up. When you are a man you can no doubt go which way it
+pleases you; but till then you owe your duty and respect to them, and not
+to me, who have done nought for you but just carry you over here in my
+cloak."
+
+"I know they have done everything for me," Ronald said penitently. "They
+have been very good and kind, and I love them both; but for all that it
+is only natural that my father should be first, and that my heart should
+be in the cause that he fought for."
+
+"That is right enough, Ronald, and I would not have it otherwise, and I
+have striven to do my best to make you as he would like to see you. Did
+he never come back again I should be sorry indeed to see Colonel Leslie's
+son growing up a Glasgow tradesman, as my brother no doubt intends you to
+be, for I know he has long since given up any thought of hearing from
+your father; but in that you and I will have a say when the time comes.
+Until then you must treat Andrew as your natural guardian, and there is
+no need to anger him by letting him know that your heart is with the king
+over the water, any more than that you can wield a sword like a
+gentleman. Let us have peace as long as we can. You are getting on for
+sixteen now; another two years and we will think about going to Paris
+together. I am off again tomorrow, Ronald; it will not be a long trip
+this time, but maybe before I get back we shall have news from France
+which will set the land on fire."
+
+A short time after this conversation, as Ronald on his return from
+college (for he was now entered at the university) passed through the
+shop, the bailie was in conversation with one of the city magistrates,
+and Ronald caught the words:
+
+"He is somewhere in the city. He came down from the Highlands, where he
+has been going to and fro, two days since. I have a warrant out against
+him, and the constables are on the lookout. I hope to have him in jail
+before tonight. These pestilent rogues are a curse to the land, though I
+cannot think the clans would be fools enough to rise again, even though
+Charles Stuart did come."
+
+Ronald went straight up to his room, and for a few minutes sat in
+thought. The man of whom they spoke was doubtless an emissary of Prince
+Charles, and his arrest might have serious consequences, perhaps bring
+ruin on all with whom he had been in communication. Who he was or what he
+was like Ronald knew not; but he determined at any rate to endeavour to
+defeat the intentions of the magistrate to lay hands on him. Accordingly
+a few minutes later, while the magistrate was still talking with Andrew,
+he again went out.
+
+Ronald waited about outside the door till he left, and then followed him
+at a short distance. The magistrate spoke to several acquaintances on the
+way, and then went to the council chamber. Waiting outside, Ronald saw
+two or three of the magistrates enter. An hour later the magistrate he
+was watching came out; but he had gone but a few paces when a man
+hurrying up approached him. They talked earnestly for a minute or two.
+The magistrate then re-entered the building, remained there a few
+minutes, and then joined the man who was waiting outside. Ronald had
+stolen up and taken his stand close by.
+
+"It is all arranged," the magistrate said; "as soon as night has fallen a
+party will go down, surround the house, and arrest him. It is better not
+to do it in daylight. I shall lead the party, which will come round to my
+house, so if the men you have left on watch bring you news that he has
+changed his hiding place, let me know at once.
+
+The magistrate walked on. Ronald stood irresolute. He had obtained no
+clue as to the residence of the person of whom they were in search, and
+after a moment's thought he determined to keep an eye upon the constable,
+who would most likely join his comrade on the watch. This, however, he
+did not do immediately. He had probably been for some time at work, and
+now took the opportunity of going home for a meal, for he at once made
+his way to a quiet part of the city, and entered a small house.
+
+It was half an hour before he came out again, and Ronald fidgeted with
+impatience, for it was already growing dusk. When he issued out Ronald
+saw that he was armed with a heavy cudgel. He walked quickly now, and
+Ronald, following at a distance, passed nearly across the town, and down
+a quiet street which terminated against the old wall running from the
+Castle Port to a small tower. When he got near the bottom of the street a
+man came out from an archway, and the two spoke together. From their
+gestures Ronald felt sure that it was the last house on the left hand
+side of the street that was being watched. He had not ventured to follow
+far down the street, for as there was no thoroughfare he would at once be
+regarded with suspicion. The question now was how to warn the man of his
+danger. He knew several men were on the watch, and as only one was in the
+street, doubtless the others were behind the house. If anything was to be
+done there was no time to be lost, for the darkness was fast closing in.
+
+After a minute's thought he went quickly up the street, and then started
+at a run, and then came down upon a place where he could ascend the wall,
+which was at many points in bad repair. With some difficulty he climbed
+up, and found that he was exactly opposite the house he wished to reach.
+It was dark now. Even in the principal streets the town was only lit by
+oil lamps here and there, and there was no attempt at illumination in the
+quiet quarters, persons who went abroad after nightfall always carrying a
+lantern with them. There was still sufficient light to show Ronald that
+the house stood at a distance of some fourteen feet from the wall. The
+roof sloped too steeply for him to maintain his holding upon it; but
+halfway along the house was a dormer window about three feet above the
+gutter. It was unglazed, and doubtless gave light to a granary or store
+room.
+
+Ronald saw that his only chance was to alight on the roof close enough to
+this window to be able to grasp the woodwork. At any other moment he
+would have hesitated before attempting such a leap. The wall was only a
+few feet wide, and he could therefore get but little run for a spring.
+His blood was, however, up, and having taken his resolution he did not
+hesitate. Drawing back as far as he could he took three steps, and then
+sprang for the window. Its sill was some three feet higher than the edge
+of the wall from which he sprang.
+
+The leap was successful; his feet struck just upon the gutter, and the
+impetus threw forward his body, and his hands grasped the woodwork of the
+window. In a moment he had dragged himself inside. It was quite dark
+within the room. He moved carefully, for the floor was piled with disused
+furniture, boxes, sacking, and rubbish. He was some time finding the
+door, but although he moved as carefully as he could he knocked over a
+heavy chest which was placed on a rickety chair, the two falling with a
+crash on the floor. At last he found the door and opened it. As he did so
+a light met his eyes, and he saw ascending the staircase a man with a
+drawn sword, and a woman holding a light above her head following
+closely. The man uttered an exclamation on seeing Ronald appear.
+
+"A thief!" he said. "Surrender, or I will run you through at once."
+
+"I am no thief," Ronald replied. "My name is Ronald Leslie, and I am a
+student at the university. I have come here to warn someone, whom I know
+not, in this house that it is watched, and that in a few minutes at the
+outside a band of the city watch will be here to capture him."
+
+The man dropped the point of his sword, and taking the light from the
+woman held it closer to Ronald's face.
+
+"How came you here?" he asked. "How did you learn this news?"
+
+"The house is watched both sides below," Ronald said, "and I leapt from
+the wall through the dormer window. I heard a magistrate arranging with
+one of the constables for a capture, and gathered that he of whom they
+were in search was a Jacobite, and as I come of a stock which has always
+been faithful to the Stuarts, I hastened to warn him."
+
+The woman uttered a cry of alarm.
+
+"I thank you with all my heart, young sir. I am he for whom they are in
+search, and if I get free you will render a service indeed to our cause;
+but there is no time to talk now, if what you tell me be true. You say
+the house is watched from both sides?"
+
+"Yes; there are two men in the lane below, one or more, I know not how
+many, behind."
+
+"There is no escape behind," the man said; "the walls are high, and other
+houses abut upon them. I will sally out and fight through the men in
+front."
+
+"I can handle the sword," Ronald put in; "and if you will provide me with
+a weapon I will do my best by your side."
+
+"You are a brave lad," the man said, "and I accept your aid."
+
+He led the way down stairs and entered a room, took down a sword from
+over the fireplace, and gave it to Ronald.
+
+As he took it in his hand there was a loud knocking at the door.
+
+"Too late!" the man exclaimed. "Quick, the light, Mary! At any rate I
+must burn my papers."
+
+He drew some letters from his pocket, lit them at the lamp, and threw
+them on the hearth; then opening a cabinet he drew forth a number of
+other papers and crumpling them up added them to the blaze.
+
+"Thank God that is safe!" he said; "the worst evil is averted."
+
+"Can you not escape by the way by which I came hither?" Ronald said. "The
+distance is too great to leap; but if you have got a plank, or can pull
+up a board from the floor, you could put it across to the wall and make
+your escape that way. I will try to hold the stairs till you are away."
+
+"I will try at least," the man said. "Mary, bring the light, and aid me
+while our brave friend does his best to give us time."
+
+So saying he sprang upstairs, while Ronald made his way down to the door.
+
+"Who is making such a noise at the door of a quiet house at this time of
+night?" he shouted.
+
+"Open in the king's name," was the reply; "we have a warrant to arrest
+one who is concealed here."
+
+"There is no one concealed here," Ronald replied, "and I doubt that you
+are, as you say, officers of the peace; but if so, pass your warrant
+through the grill, and if it be signed and in due form I will open to
+you."
+
+"I will show my warrant when need be," the voice answered. "Once more,
+open the door or we will break it in."
+
+"Do it at your peril," Ronald replied. "How can I tell you are not
+thieves who seek to ransack the house, and that your warrant is a
+pretence? I warn you that the first who enters I will run him through the
+body."
+
+The reply was a shower of blows on the door, and a similar attack was
+begun by a party behind the house. The door was strong, and after a
+minute or two the hammering ceased, and then there was a creaking,
+straining noise, and Ronald knew they were applying a crowbar to force it
+open. He retreated to a landing halfway up the stairs, placed a lamp
+behind him so that it would show its light full on the faces of those
+ascending the stairs, and waited. A minute later there was a crash; the
+lock had yielded, but the bar still held the door in its place. Then the
+blows redoubled, mingled with the crashing of wood; then there was the
+sound of a heavy fall, and a body of men burst in.
+
+There was a rush at the stairs, but the foremost halted at the sight of
+Ronald with his drawn sword.
+
+"Keep back," he shouted, "or beware! The watch will be here in a few
+minutes, and then you will all be laid by the heels."
+
+"Fools! We are the watch," one of the men exclaimed, and, dashing up the
+stairs, aimed a blow at Ronald. He guarded it and ran the man through the
+shoulder. He dropped his sword and fell back with a curse.
+
+At this moment the woman ran down stairs from above and nodded to Ronald
+to signify that the fugitive had escaped.
+
+"You see I hold to my word," Ronald said in a loud voice. "If ye be the
+watch, which I doubt, show me the warrant, or if ye have one in authority
+with you let him proclaim himself."
+
+"Here is the warrant, and here am I, James M'Whirtle, a magistrate of
+this city."
+
+"Why did you not say so before?" Ronald exclaimed, lowering his sword.
+"If it be truly the worshipful Mr. M'Whirtle let him show himself, for
+surely I know him well, having seen him often in the house of my
+guardian, Bailie Anderson."
+
+Mr. M'Whirtle, who had been keeping well in the rear, now came forward.
+
+"It is himself." Ronald said. "Why did you not say you were here at once,
+Mr. M'Whirtle, instead of setting your men to break down the door, as if
+they were Highland caterans on a foray?"
+
+"We bade you open in the king's name," the magistrate said, "and you
+withstood us, and it will be hanging matter for you, for you have aided
+the king's enemies."
+
+"The king's enemies!" Ronald said in a tone of surprise. "How can there
+be any enemies of the king here, seeing there are only myself and the
+good woman up stairs? You will find no others."
+
+"Search the house," the magistrate said furiously, "and take this
+malapert lad into custody on the charge of assisting the king's enemies,
+of impeding the course of justice, of withstanding by force of arms the
+issue of a lawful writ, and with grievously wounding one of the city
+watch."
+
+Ronald laughed.
+
+"It is a grievous list, worshipful sir; but mark you, as soon as you
+showed your warrant and declared yourself I gave way to you. I only
+resisted so long as it seemed to me you were evildoers breaking into a
+peaceful house."
+
+Two of the watch remained as guard over Ronald; one of the others
+searched the house from top to bottom. No signs of the fugitive were
+discovered.
+
+"He must be here somewhere," the magistrate said, "since he was seen to
+enter, and the house has been closely watched ever since. See, there are
+a pile of ashes on the hearth as if papers had been recently burned.
+Sound the floors and the walls."
+
+The investigation was particularly sharp in the attic, for a board was
+here found to be loose, and there were signs of its being recently
+wrenched out of its place, but as the room below was unceiled this
+discovery led to nothing. At last the magistrate was convinced that the
+fugitive was not concealed in the house, and, after placing his seals on
+the doors of all the rooms and leaving four men in charge, he left the
+place, Ronald, under the charge of four men, accompanying him.
+
+On the arrival at the city Tolbooth Ronald was thrust into a cell and
+there left until morning. He was then brought before Mr. M'Whirtle and
+two other of the city magistrates. Andrew Anderson was in attendance,
+having been notified the night before of what had befallen Ronald. The
+bailie and his wife had at first been unable to credit the news, and were
+convinced that some mistake had been made. Andrew had tried to obtain his
+release on his promise to bring him up in the morning, but Mr. M'Whirtle
+and his colleagues, who had been hastily summoned together, would not
+hear of it.
+
+"It's a case of treason, man. Treason against his gracious majesty;
+aiding and abetting one of the king's enemies, to say nought of brawling
+and assaulting the city watch."
+
+The woman found in the house had also been brought up, but no precise
+charge was made against her. The court was crowded, for Andrew, in his
+wrath at being unable to obtain Ronald's release, had not been backward
+in publishing his grievance, and many of his neighbours were present to
+hear this strange charge against Ronald Leslie.
+
+The wounded constable and another first gave their evidence.
+
+"I myself can confirm what has been said," Mr. M'Whirtle remarked,
+"seeing that I was present with the watch to see the arrest of a person
+against whom a warrant had been issued."
+
+"Who is that person?" Ronald asked. "Seeing that I am charged with aiding
+and abetting his escape it seems to me that I have a right to know who he
+is."
+
+The magistrates looked astounded at the effrontery of the question, but
+after a moment's consultation together Mr. M'Whirtle said that in the
+interest of justice it was unadvisable at the present moment to state the
+name of the person concerned.
+
+"What have you to say, prisoner, to the charge made against you? In
+consideration of our good friend Bailie Anderson, known to be a worthy
+citizen and loyal subject of his majesty, we would be glad to hear what
+you have to say anent this charge."
+
+"I have nothing to say," Ronald replied quietly. "Being in the house when
+it was attacked, with as much noise as if a band of Border ruffians were
+at the gate, I stood on the defence. I demanded to see what warrant they
+had for forcing an entry, and as they would show me none, I did my best
+to protect the house; but the moment Mr. M'Whirtle proclaimed who he was
+I lowered my sword and gave them passage."
+
+There was a smile in the court at the boy's coolness.
+
+"But how came ye there, young sir? How came ye to be in the house at all,
+if ye were there for a good motive?"
+
+"That I decline to say," Ronald answered. "It seems to me that any one
+may be in a house by the consent of its owners, without having to give
+his reasons therefor."
+
+"It will be the worse for you if you defy the court. I ask you again how
+came you there?"
+
+"I have no objection to tell you how I came there," Ronald said. "I was
+walking on the old wall, which, as you know, runs close by the house,
+when I saw an ill looking loon hiding himself as if watching the house,
+looking behind I saw another ruffianly looking man there." Two gasps of
+indignation were heard from the porch at the back of the court. "Thinking
+that there was mischief on hand I leapt from the wall to the dormer
+window to warn the people of the house that there were ill doers who had
+designs upon the place, and then remained to see what came of it. That is
+the simple fact."
+
+There was an exclamation of incredulity from the magistrates.
+
+"If you doubt me," Ronald said, "you can send a man to the wall. I felt
+my feet loosen a tile and it slid down into the gutter."
+
+One of the magistrates gave an order, and two of the watch left the
+court.
+
+"And who did you find in the house?"
+
+"I found this good woman, and sorely frightened she was when I told her
+what kind of folk were lurking outside."
+
+"And was there anyone else there?"
+
+"There was a man there," Ronald said quietly, "and he seemed alarmed
+too."
+
+"What became of him?"
+
+"I cannot say for certain," Ronald replied; "but if you ask my opinion I
+should say, that having no stomach for meeting people outside, he just
+went out the way I came in, especially as I heard the worshipful
+magistrate say that a board in the attic had been lifted."
+
+The magistrates looked at each other in astonishment; the mode of escape
+had not occurred to any, and the disappearance of the fugitive was now
+explained.
+
+"I never heard such a tale," one of the magistrates said after a pause.
+"It passes belief that a lad, belonging to the family of a worthy and
+respectable citizen, a bailie of the city and one who stands well with
+his fellow townsmen, should take a desperate leap from the wall through a
+window of a house where a traitor was in hiding, warn him that the house
+was watched, and give him time to escape while he defended the stairs.
+Such a tale, sure, was never told in a court. What say you, bailie?"
+
+"I can say nought," Andrew said. "The boy is a good boy and a quiet one;
+given to mischief like other boys of his age, doubtless, but always
+amenable. What can have possessed him to behave in such a wild manner I
+cannot conceive, but it seems to me that it was but a boy's freak."
+
+"It was no freak when he ran his sword through Peter Muir's shoulder,"
+Mr. M'Whirtle said. "Ye will allow that, neighbour Anderson."
+
+"The man must have run against the sword," the bailie said, "seeing the
+boy scarce knows one end of a weapon from another."
+
+"You are wrong there, bailie," one of the constables said; "for I have
+seen him many a time going into the school of James Macklewain, and I
+have heard a comrade say, who knows James, that the lad can handle a
+sword with the best of them."
+
+"I will admit at once," Ronald said, "that I have gone to Macklewain's
+school and learned fencing of him. My father, Colonel Leslie of Glenlyon,
+was a gentleman, and it was right that I should wield a sword, and James
+Macklewain, who had fought in the French wars and knew my father, was
+good enough to teach me. I may say that my guardian knew nothing of
+this."
+
+"No, indeed," Andrew said. "I never so much as dreamt of it. If I had
+done so he and I would have talked together to a purpose."
+
+"Leslie of Glenlyon was concerned in the '15, was he not?" Mr. M'Whirtle
+said; "and had to fly the country; and his son seems to be treading in
+his steps, bailie. I doubt ye have been nourishing a viper in your
+bosom."
+
+At this moment the two constables returned, and reported that certainly a
+tile was loose as the prisoner had described, and there were scratches as
+if of the feet of someone entering the window, but the leap was one that
+very few men would undertake.
+
+"Your story is so far confirmed, prisoner; but it does not seem to us
+that even had you seen two men watching a house it would be reasonable
+that you would risk your neck in this way without cause. Clearly you have
+aided and abetted a traitor to escape justice, and you will be remanded.
+I hope, before you are brought before us again, you will make up your
+mind to make a clean breast of it, and throw yourself on the king's
+mercy."
+
+Ronald was accordingly led back to the cell, the bailie being too much
+overwhelmed with surprise at what he had heard to utter any remonstrance.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III: Free.
+
+
+After Ronald had been removed from the court the woman was questioned.
+She asserted that her master was away, and was, she believed, in France,
+and that in his absence she often let lodgings to strangers. That two
+days before, a man whom she knew not came and hired a room for a few
+days. That on the evening before, hearing a noise in the attic, she went
+up with him, and met Ronald coming down stairs. That when Ronald said
+there were strange men outside the house, and when immediately afterwards
+there was a great knocking at the door, the man drew his sword and
+ordered her to come up stairs with him. That he then made her assist him
+to pull up a plank, and thrust it from the attic to the wall, and ordered
+her to replace it when he had gone. She supposed he was a thief flying
+from justice, but was afraid to refuse to do his bidding.
+
+"And why did you not tell us all this, woman, when we came in?" Mr.
+M'Whirtle asked sternly. "Had ye told us we might have overtaken him."
+
+"I was too much frightened," the woman answered. "There were swords out
+and blood running, and men using words contrary both to the law and
+Scripture. I was frighted enough before, and I just put my apron over my
+head and sat down till the hubbub was over. And then as no one asked me
+any questions, and I feared I might have done wrong in aiding a thief to
+escape, I just held my tongue."
+
+No cross questioning could elicit anything further from the woman, who
+indeed seemed frightened almost out of her senses, and the magistrate at
+last ordered her to return to the house and remain there under the
+supervision of the constable until again sent for.
+
+Andrew Anderson returned home sorely disturbed in his mind. Hitherto he
+had told none, even of his intimates, that the boy living in his house
+was the son of Colonel Leslie, but had spoken of him as the child of an
+old acquaintance who had left him to his care. The open announcement of
+Ronald that he was the son of one of the leaders in the last rebellion,
+coming just as it did when the air was thick with rumours of another
+rising, troubled him greatly; and there was the fact that the boy had,
+unknown to him, been learning fencing; and lastly this interference,
+which had enabled a notorious emissary of the Pretender to escape arrest.
+
+"The boy's story may be true as far as it goes," he said to his wife when
+relating to her the circumstances, "for I have never known him to tell a
+lie; but I cannot think it was all the truth. A boy does not take such a
+dreadful leap as that, and risk breaking his neck, simply because he sees
+two men near the house. He must somehow have known that man was there,
+and went to give him warning. Now I think of it, he passed through the
+shop when Peter M'Whirtle was talking to me about it, though, indeed, he
+did not know then where the loon was in hiding. The boy went out soon
+afterwards, and must somehow have learned, if indeed he did not know
+before. Janet, I fear that you and I have been like two blind owls with
+regard to the boy, and I dread sorely that my brother Malcolm is at the
+bottom of all this mischief."
+
+This Mrs. Anderson was ready enough to credit, but she was too much
+bewildered and horrified to do more than to shake her head and weep.
+
+"Will they cut off his head, Andrew?" she asked at last.
+
+"No, there's no fear of that; but they may imprison him for a bit, and
+perhaps give him a good flogging--the young rascal. But there, don't
+fret over it, Janet. I will do all I can for him. And in truth I think
+Malcolm is more to blame than he is; and we have been to blame too for
+letting the lad be so much with him, seeing that we might be sure he
+would put all sorts of notions in the boy's head."
+
+"But what is to be done, Andrew? We cannot let the poor lad remain in
+prison."
+
+"We have no choice in the matter, Janet. In prison he is, and in prison
+he has to remain until he is let out, and I see no chance of that. If it
+had only been a brawl with the watch it could have been got over easily
+enough; but this is an affair of high treason--aiding and abetting the
+king's enemies, and the rest of it. If it were in the old times they
+would put the thumb screws on him to find out all he knew about it, for
+they will never believe he risked his life in the plot; and the fact that
+his father before him was in arms for the Chevalier tells that way. I
+should not be surprised if an order comes for him to be sent to London to
+be examined by the king's councillors; but I will go round now and ask
+the justices what they think of the matter."
+
+His tidings when he returned were not encouraging; the general opinion of
+the magistrates being that Ronald was certainly mixed up in the Jacobite
+plot, that the matter was altogether too serious to be disposed of by
+them, being of the nature of high treason, and that nothing could be done
+until instructions were received from London. No clue had been obtained
+as to the whereabouts of the man who had escaped, and it was thought
+probable that he had at once dropped beyond the walls and made for the
+west.
+
+Malcolm arrived ten days later from a journey in Lancashire, and there
+was a serious quarrel between him and Andrew on his presenting himself at
+the house.
+
+"It is not only that you led the lad into mischief, Malcolm, but that you
+taught him to do it behind my back."
+
+"You may look at it in that way if you will, Andrew, and it's natural
+enough from your point of view; but I take no blame to myself. You treated
+the boy as if he had been your son, and I thank you with all my heart for
+your kindness to him; but I could not forget Leslie of Glenlyon, and I do
+not blame myself that I have kept the same alive in his mind also. It was
+my duty to see that the young eagle was not turned into a barn door fowl;
+but I never thought he was going to use his beak and his claws so soon."
+
+"A nice thing you will have to tell his father, that owing to your
+teachings his son is a prisoner in the Tower, maybe for life. But
+there--there's no fear of that. You will never have to render that account,
+for there's no more chance of your ever hearing more of him than there is
+of my becoming king of Scotland. It's bad enough that you have always
+been a ne'er do well yourself without training that unfortunate boy to
+his ruin."
+
+"Well, well, Andrew, I will not argue with you, and I don't blame you at
+being sore and angry over the matter; nor do I deny what you have said
+about myself; it's true enough, and you might say worse things against me
+without my quarreling with ye over it. However, the less said the better.
+I will take myself off and think over what's to be done."
+
+"You had better come up and have your supper with us," Andrew said,
+mollified by his brother's humility.
+
+"Not for twenty golden guineas, Andrew, would I face Mistress Janet. She
+has borne with me well, though I know in her heart she disapproves of me
+altogether; but after this scrape into which I have got the boy I daren't
+face her. She might not say much, but to eat with her eye upon me would
+choke me."
+
+Malcolm proceeded at once to the establishment of his friend Macklewain.
+
+"This is a nice kettle of fish, Malcolm, about young Leslie. I have had
+the justices down here, asking me all sorts of questions, and they have
+got into their minds that I taught him not only swordplay but treason,
+and they have been threatening to put me in the stocks as a vagabond; but
+I snapped my fingers in their faces, saying I earned my money as honestly
+as they did, and that I concern myself in no way in politics, but teach
+English officers and the sons of Glasgow tradesmen as well as those of
+Highland gentlemen. They were nicely put out, I can tell you; but I
+didn't care for that, for I knew I was in the right of it. But what on
+earth made the young cock meddle in this matter? How came he to be mixed
+up in a Jacobite plot? Have you got your finger in it?"
+
+"Not I, James; and how it happens that he is concerned in it is more than
+I can guess. I know, of course, his heart is with the king over the
+water; but how he came to get his hand into the pie is altogether beyond
+me."
+
+"The people here are well nigh mad about it. I know not who the gallant
+who has escaped is; but it is certain that his capture was considered a
+very important one, and that the justices here expected to have gained no
+small credit by his arrest, whereas now they will be regarded as fools
+for letting him slip through their fingers."
+
+"I cannot for the life of me make out how he came to be mixed up in such
+a matter. No one but you and I could have known that he was a lad of
+mettle, who might be trusted in such a business. It can hardly be that
+they would have confided any secrets to him; still, the fact that he was
+in the house with the man they are in search of, and that he drew and
+risked his life and certain imprisonment to secure his escape, shows that
+he must have been heart and soul in the plot."
+
+"And what do you think of doing, Malcolm?"
+
+"I shall get him out somehow. I can lay hands on a score or two or more
+of our old comrades here in Glasgow, and I doubt not that they will all
+strike a blow with me for Leslie's son, to say nothing of his being a
+follower of the Stuarts."
+
+"You are not thinking, man, of attacking the jail! That would be a
+serious matter. The doors are strong, and you would have the soldiers, to
+say nought of the town guard and the citizens, upon you before you had
+reached him."
+
+"No, no, James, I am thinking of no such foolishness. I guess that they
+will not be trying him for withstanding the watch, that's but a small
+matter; they will be sending him south for the king's ministers to get
+out of him what he knows about the Jacobite plot and the names of all
+concerned, and it's upon the road that we must get him out of their
+hands. Like enough they will only send four troopers with him, and we can
+easily master them somewhere in the dales."
+
+"It's more like, Malcolm, they will send him by ship. They will know well
+enough that if the lad knows aught there will be plenty whose interest it
+is to get him out of their hands. I think they will take the safer way of
+putting him on board ship."
+
+"Like enough they will," Malcolm agreed, "and in that case it will be a
+harder job than I deemed it. But at any rate I mean to try. Ronald's not
+the lad to turn traitor; he will say nothing whatever they do to him, you
+may be sure, and he may lie for years in an English prison if we do not
+get him out of their hands before he gets there. At any rate what we have
+got to do now is to mark every ship in the port sailing for London, and
+to find out whether passages are taken for a prisoner and his guard in
+any of them. I will make that my business, and between times get a score
+of trusty fellows together in readiness to start if they should send him
+by land; but I doubt not that you are right, and that he will be taken
+off by ship."
+
+The days of waiting passed slowly to Ronald, and Andrew Anderson once or
+twice obtained permission to see him. The bailie wisely abstained from
+any reproaches, and sought only to persuade him to make a clean breast of
+the business, and to tell all he knew about a plot which could but end in
+failure and ruin to all concerned. Although his belief in Ronald's
+truthfulness was great he could not credit that the story which he had
+told contained all the facts of the matter. To the bailie it seemed
+incredible that merely from an abstract feeling in favour of the Stuarts
+Ronald would have risked his life and liberty in aiding the escape of a
+Jacobite agent, unless he was in some way deeply involved in the plot;
+and he regarded Ronald's assurances to the contrary as the outcome of
+what he considered an entirely mistaken sense of loyalty to the Stuart
+cause.
+
+"It's all very well, Ronald," he said, shaking his head sadly; "but when
+they get you to London they will find means to make you open your mouth.
+They have done away with the thumb screws and the rack, but there are
+other ways of making a prisoner speak, and it would be far better for you
+to make a clean breast of it at once. Janet is grieving for you as if you
+were her own son, and I cannot myself attend to my business. Who would
+have thought that so young a lad should have got himself mixed up in such
+sair trouble!"
+
+"I have really told you all, bailie, though you will not believe me, and
+I am sorry indeed for the trouble I have brought upon you and my aunt"--for
+Ronald had from the first been taught to address the bailie and his
+wife as if Malcolm Anderson had been his real father; "anyhow I wish they
+would settle it. I would rather know the worst than go on from day to day
+expecting something that never happens."
+
+"You have to wait, Ronald, till word comes from London. If they write
+from there that your case can be dealt with merely for the assault upon
+the watch I can promise you that a few weeks in jail are all that you are
+like to have; but I fear that there is little chance of that. They are
+sure to send for you to London, and whether you will ever come back alive
+the gude Lord only knows. We know what came of treason thirty years ago,
+and like enough they will be even more severe now, seeing that they will
+hold that folks have all the less right to try and disturb matters so
+long settled."
+
+"Have you seen Malcolm?" Ronald asked, to change the conversation.
+
+"Ay, lad, I have seen him, and the meeting was not altogether a pleasant
+one for either of us."
+
+"I hope you have not quarrelled with him on my account!" Ronald said
+eagerly.
+
+"We have not exactly quarrelled, but we have had words. I could not but
+tell him my opinion as to his learning you to take such courses, but we
+parted friends; but I doubt it will be long before Janet can see him with
+patience."
+
+The jailer, who was present at the interview, here notified that the
+bailie's time was up.
+
+"I shall see you again, Ronald, before they take you south. I would that
+I could do more to help you besides just coming to see you."
+
+"I know you cannot, uncle. I have got into the scrape and must take the
+consequences; but if I were placed in the same position I should do it
+again."
+
+A few days afterwards, as he was eating his ration of prison bread,
+Ronald found in it a small pellet of paper, and on opening it read the
+words: "Keep up your courage, friends are at work for you. You will hear
+more yet of M. A."
+
+Ronald was glad to know that his old friend was thinking of him, but,
+knowing how strong was the prison, he had little hopes that Malcolm would
+be able to effect anything to help him. Still the note gave him comfort.
+
+Three days later Andrew called again to bid him goodbye, telling him that
+orders had been received from London that he was to be sent thither by
+ship.
+
+"I should like to have seen Malcolm before I went, if I could," Ronald
+said.
+
+"I have not seen him for several days," the bailie said. "I have sent
+down several times to the house where he lodges, but he is always away;
+but, whether or no, there would be no chance of your seeing him. I myself
+had difficulty in getting leave to see you, though a bailie and known to
+be a loyal citizen. But Malcolm knows that there would be no chance of
+one with such a character as his getting to see you, and that it would
+draw attention to him even to ask such a thing, which, if he has a hand
+in this mad brain plot, he would not wish."
+
+"Malcolm would not mind a straw whether they kept a watch on him or not,"
+Ronald said. "Will you tell him, when you see him next, that I got his
+message?"
+
+"What message? I have given you no message that I know of."
+
+"He will know what I mean. Tell him, whether aught comes of it or not I
+thank him, and for all his kindness to me, as I do you and Aunt Janet."
+
+At the same time with the order that Ronald should be sent to London the
+authorities of Glasgow received an intimation that the ministers felt
+great surprise at the lukewarmness which had been shown in allowing so
+notorious and important an enemy of his majesty to escape, and that the
+king himself had expressed marked displeasure at the conduct of the city
+authorities in the matter. Greatly mortified at the upshot of an affair
+from which they had hoped to obtain much credit from government, and
+believing it certain that there were many greatly interested in getting
+Ronald out of the hands of his captors, the authorities took every
+precaution to prevent it. He was taken down to the river side under a
+strong escort, and in addition to the four warders who were to be in
+charge of the prisoner as far as London, they put on board twelve men of
+the city guard. These were to remain with the ship until she was well out
+at sea, and then to return in a boat which the vessel was to tow behind
+her.
+
+Ronald could not but smile when he saw all these formidable preparations
+for his safety. At the same time he felt that any hope he had entertained
+that Malcolm might, as the message hinted, make an attempt at rescue were
+blighted. The vessel dropped down with the tide. The orders of the
+justices had been so strict and urgent that the whole of the men placed
+on board kept a vigilant watch.
+
+Just as they were abreast of Dumbarton the sound of oars was heard, and
+presently a boat was seen approaching. As it got nearer two men were seen
+to be rowing, and two others seated in the stern; but as the craft was a
+large one there was room for others to be lying in the bottom. The
+constable in charge shouted to the boat to keep them off.
+
+"Stop rowing," he cried, "and come no nearer. If you do we fire, and as I
+don't want to shed your blood I warn you that I have sixteen armed men
+here."
+
+As his words were emphasized by the row of men, who with levelled muskets
+ranged themselves along at the side of the ship, the boat ceased rowing.
+
+"What are you afraid of?" one of the men in the stern shouted. "Cannot a
+fisherman's boat row out without being threatened with shooting? What are
+you and your sixteen armed men doing on board? Are you expecting a French
+fleet off the coast? And do you think you will beat them off if they
+board you? How long have the Glasgow traders taken to man their ships
+with fighting men?"
+
+Ronald was in the cabin under the poop; it opened on to the waist, and
+received its light from an opening in the door, at which two armed men
+had stationed themselves when the boat was heard approaching. Had the
+cabin possessed a porthole through which he could have squeezed himself
+he would long before have jumped overboard and tried to make his escape
+by swimming under cover of the darkness. He now strove to force the door
+open, for he recognized Malcolm's voice, and doubted not that his friend
+had spoken in order to let him know that he was there, that he might if
+possible leap over and swim to the boat; but it was fastened strongly
+without, and the guards outside shouted that they would fire unless he
+remained quiet.
+
+No reply was made to the taunts of the man in the boat, and slowly, for
+the wind was but just filling her sails, the vessel dropped down the
+river, and the boat was presently lost sight of.
+
+In the morning the breeze freshened. It was not till the ship was eight
+miles beyond the mouth of the river that the boat was pulled up
+alongside, and the guard, taking their places on board, hoisted sail and
+started on their return to Glasgow.
+
+Once fairly at sea Ronald was allowed to leave his cabin. Now that he was
+enjoying the fresh air his spirits soon recovered the tone which they had
+lost somewhat during his three weeks' confinement in prison, and he
+thoroughly enjoyed his voyage. The man who was in charge of the guard had
+at first wished to place some restriction on his going about on board as
+he chose; but the crew sided with the young prisoner, and threw such
+ridicule on the idea that four warders and a head constable were afraid,
+even for a moment, to lose sight of a boy on board a ship at sea, that he
+gave way, and allowed Ronald free liberty of action, although he warned
+his subordinates that they must nor relax their caution for a moment.
+
+"The crew are all with him. They think it a shame that a lad like this
+should be hauled to London as a prisoner charged with treasonable
+practices; and sailors, when they once get an idea into their head, are
+as obstinate as Highland cattle. I have told them that he drew a sword
+and held the staircase against us all while a noted traitor made his
+escape, and that he ran one of us through the shoulder, and they only
+shouted with laughter, and said he was a brave young cock. Like as not,
+if they had a chance, these men would aid him to escape, and then we
+should have to answer for it, and heavily too; loss of place and
+imprisonment would be the least of what we might expect; so though, while
+at sea and in full daylight he can do as he pleases, we must be doubly
+vigilant at night, or in port if the vessel should have to put in."
+
+Accordingly, to the great disgust of the sailors the watch by turns stood
+sentry outside Ronald's door at night, thereby defeating a plan which the
+sailors had formed of lowering a boat the first night they passed near
+land, and letting Ronald make his escape to shore.
+
+The wind was favourable until the vessel rounded the Land's End. After
+that it became baffling and fickle, and it was more than three weeks
+after the date of her sailing from Glasgow that the vessel entered the
+mouth of the Thames. By this time Ronald's boyish spirits had allayed all
+suspicion on the part of his guards. He joked with the sailors, climbed
+about the rigging like a cat, and was so little affected by his position
+that the guards were convinced that he was free from the burden of any
+state secret, and that no apprehension of any serious consequence to
+himself was weighing upon him.
+
+"Poor lad!" the head warder said; "he will need all his spirits. He will
+have hard work to make the king's council believe that he interfered in
+such a matter as this from pure love of adventure. He will have many a
+weary month to pass in prison before they free him, I reckon. It goes
+against my heart to hand over such a mere laddie as a prisoner; still it
+is no matter of mine. I have my duty to do, and it's not for me to
+question the orders I have received, or to argue whether a prisoner is
+innocent or guilty."
+
+As the vessel anchored off Gravesend to wait for the turn of the tide to
+take her up, a boat rowed by a waterman, and with a man sitting in the
+stern, passed close by the ship. The head warder had now redoubled his
+vigilance, and one of the guards with loaded musket was standing on the
+deck not far from Ronald, who was standing on the taffrail. As the boat
+passed some twenty yards astern of the ship the man who was not rowing
+turned round for a moment and looked up at Ronald. It was but a momentary
+glance that the lad caught of his face, and he suppressed with difficulty
+a cry of surprise, for he recognized Malcolm Anderson. The rower
+continued steadily to ply his oars, and continued his course towards
+another ship anchored lower down the river. Ronald stood watching the
+boat, and saw that after making a wide sweep it was rowed back again to
+Gravesend.
+
+Ronald had no doubt that Malcolm had come south in hopes of effecting his
+escape, and guessed that he had taken up his post at Gravesend with the
+intention of examining every ship as she passed up until the one in which
+he knew he had sailed made its appearance. What his next step would be he
+could not tell; but he determined to keep a vigilant lookout, and to
+avail himself instantly of any opportunity which might offer.
+
+As the captain did nor care about proceeding up the river after dark it
+was not until the tide turned, just as morning broke, that the anchor was
+weighed. There was a light breeze which just sufficed to give the vessel
+steerage way, and a mist hung on the water. Ronald took his favourite
+seat on the taffrail, and kept a vigilant watch upon every craft which
+seemed likely to come near the vessel.
+
+Greenwich was passed, and the vessel presently approached the crowded
+part of the Pool. It was near high tide now, and the captain was
+congratulating himself that he should just reach a berth opposite the
+Tower before it turned. Presently a boat with two rowers shot out from
+behind a tier of vessels and passed close under the stern of the Glasgow
+Lass. A man was steering whom Ronald instantly recognized.
+
+"Jump!" he cried, and Ronald without a moment's hesitation leaped from
+the taffrail.
+
+He came up close to the boat, and was instantly hauled on board by
+Malcolm. Just at that moment the guard, who had stood stupefied by
+Ronald's sudden action, gave a shout of alarm and discharged his piece.
+The ball struck the boat close to Ronald. It was already in motion; the
+men bent to their oars, and the boat glided towards the Surrey side of
+the river. Loud shouts arose from on board the vessel, and four bullets
+cut the water round the boat; but before the muskets could be reloaded
+Malcolm had steered the boat through a tier of vessels, whose crews,
+attracted by the firing, cheered the fugitives lustily.
+
+A minute later they had reached some landing steps. Malcolm tossed some
+money to the rowers, and then sprang ashore with Ronald, and handed the
+latter a long coat which would reach to his heels and conceal the
+drenched state of his clothing from notice.
+
+"We have tricked them nicely, dear boy," he said; "we are safe now. Long
+before they can lower a boat and get here we shall be safe in shelter,
+and our five Glasgow bodies will have something to do to look for us
+here."
+
+Moderating his pace so as to avoid attracting attention, Malcolm
+proceeded along several streets and lanes, and presently stopped at the
+door of a little shop.
+
+"I am lodging here," he said, "and have told the people of the house that
+I am expecting a nephew back from a cruise in the Mediterranean."
+
+As he passed through the shop he said to the woman behind the counter:
+
+"Here he is safe and sound. He's been some days longer than I expected,
+but I was nor so very far wrong in my calculations. The young scamp has
+had enough of the sea, and has agreed to go back again with me to his own
+people."
+
+"That's right," the woman said. "My own boy ran away two years ago, and I
+hope he will have come to his senses by the time he gets back again."
+
+When they were together in their room up stairs Malcolm threw his arms
+round Ronald's neck.
+
+"Thank God, my dear boy, I have got you out of the clutches of the law!
+You do not know how I have been fretting since I heard you were caught,
+and thought that if ill came to you it would be all my fault. And now
+tell me how you got into this scrape, for it has been puzzling me ever
+since I heard it. Surely when I saw you last you knew nothing about any
+Jacobite goings on?"
+
+Ronald related the whole particulars of his adventure, and said that even
+now he was absolutely ignorant who was the man whom he had aided to
+escape.
+
+"I know no more than you do, Ronald, but they must have thought his
+capture an important one by the fuss they made over his escape. And now,
+to think that you have slipped out of their hands too!" and Malcolm broke
+into a loud laugh. "I would give a month's earnings to see the faces of
+the guard as they make their report that they have arrived empty handed.
+I was right glad when I saw you. I was afraid you might have given them
+the slip on the way, and then there would have been no saying when we
+might have found each other again."
+
+"The sailors would have lowered a boat at night and let me make for the
+land," Ronald said, "but there was a good guard kept over me. The door
+was locked and a sentry always on watch, and I had quite given up all
+hope until I saw you at Gravesend. And now, what do you intend to do?
+Make our way back to Scotland?"
+
+"No, no, lad, that would never do. There will be a hue and cry after you,
+and all the northern routes will be watched. No, I shall make a bargain
+with some Dutch skipper to take us across the water, and then we will
+make our way to Paris."
+
+"But have you got money, Malcolm?"
+
+"I have got your purse, lad. I went to Andrew and said that I wanted it
+for you, but that he was to ask no questions, so that whatever came of it
+he could say that he knew nothing. He gave it me at once, saying only:
+
+"'Remember, Malcolm, you have done the boy some harm already with your
+teaching, see that you do him no further harm. I guess you are bent on
+some hare brained plan, but whatever it be I wish you success.'"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV: In France.
+
+
+The next day Malcolm went out alone, and on his return told Ronald that
+there were placards on the walls offering a reward of a hundred pounds
+for his apprehension.
+
+"You don't think the people below have any suspicion, Malcolm?"
+
+"Not they," Malcolm replied. "I was telling them last night after you had
+gone to bed all about the places you have been voyaging to, and how
+anxious your father, a snug farmer near Newcastle, was to have you back
+again. I had spoken to them before so as to prepare them for your coming,
+and the old woman takes quite an interest in you, because her son at sea
+is a lad just about your age. I have brought you in a suit of sailor
+clothes; we will go down and have a chat with them after the shop is
+closed of a night. You will remember Newcastle and the farm, and can tell
+them of your escape from Greek pirates, and how nearly you were taken by
+a French frigate near the straits."
+
+The consternation of the watch at Ronald's escape was extreme. The shot
+which the man on guard had fired was their first intimation of the event,
+and seizing their muskets they had hastily discharged them in the
+direction of the fugitive, and had then shouted for a boat to be lowered.
+But never was a boat longer getting into the water than was that of the
+Glasgow Lass upon this occasion. The captain gave his orders in a
+leisurely way, and the crew were even slower in executing them. Then
+somehow the fall stuck and the boat wouldn't lower. When at last she was
+in the water it was found that the thole pins were missing; these being
+found she was rowed across the river, the five constables undergoing a
+running fire of jokes and hilarity from the sailors of the ships they
+passed near. In answer to their inquiries where the fugitives landed,
+some of the sailors shouted that she had pulled up the river behind the
+tier of vessels, others insisted that she had sunk with all hands close
+by.
+
+Completely bewildered, the chief of the party told the sailors to put
+them ashore at the first landing. When the party gained the streets they
+inquired eagerly of all they met whether they had seen aught of the
+fugitives. Few of those they questioned understood the broad Scotch in
+which the question was asked, others laughed in their faces and asked how
+they were to know the man and boy they wanted from any others; and after
+vainly looking about for some time they returned to the stairs, only to
+find that the boat had returned to the ship.
+
+A waterman's boat was now hired, and the rower, who had heard what had
+happened, demanded a sum for putting them on board which horrified them;
+but at last, after much bargaining, they were conveyed back to the ship.
+An hour later the chief of the party went ashore, and repairing to the
+Tower, where he had been ordered to conduct the prisoner, reported his
+escape. He was at once taken into custody on the charge of permitting the
+escape of his prisoner, and it was not until three days later, upon the
+evidence of his men and of the captain and officers of the ship, that he
+was released.
+
+His four men were put on board a ship returning to Glasgow next day,
+while he himself was kept to identify the fugitive should he be caught.
+
+A week later Malcolm told Ronald that he had made arrangements with the
+captain of a Dutch vessel to take them over to Holland.
+
+"We are to go on board at Gravesend," he said, "for they are searching
+all ships bound for foreign ports. It is not for you especially, but
+there are supposed to be many Jacobites going to and fro, and they will
+lay hands on anyone who cannot give a satisfactory account of himself. So
+it is just as well for us to avoid questioning."
+
+Accordingly the next day they walked down to Gravesend, and taking boat
+there boarded the Dutch vessel when she came along on the following day.
+The Dutch captain received them civilly; he had been told by Malcolm that
+they wished to leave the country privately, and guessed that they were in
+some way fugitives from the law, but as he was to be well paid this gave
+him no concern. There were no other passengers, and a roomy cabin was
+placed at their disposal. They passed down the river without impediment,
+and anchored that night off Sheerness.
+
+"These Dutch traders are but slow craft," Malcolm said as he walked
+impatiently up and down the deck next morning, watching the slow progress
+which they made past the shore. "I wish we could have got a passage
+direct to France, but of course that is impossible now the two nations
+are at war."
+
+"What is the war about, Malcolm? I heard at home that they were fighting,
+but yet that somehow the two countries were not at war."
+
+"No, I don't know how that comes about," Malcolm said. "England has a
+minister still at Paris; but for all that King George is at the head of a
+number of British troops in Germany fighting against the French there."
+
+"But what is it about, Malcolm?"
+
+"Well, it is a matter which concerns Hanover more than England; in fact
+England has no interest in the matter at all as far as I can see, except
+that as France takes one side she takes the other, because she is afraid
+of France getting too strong. However, it is a German business, and
+England is mixed up in it only because her present king is a Hanoverian
+and not an Englishman. This is the matter as far as I can make it out.
+Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, died in October, 1740. It had been
+arranged by a sort of general agreement called the Pragmatic Sanction--"
+
+"What an extraordinary name, Malcolm! What does it mean?"
+
+"I have not the least idea in the world, lad. However, that is what it is
+called. It was signed by a lot of powers, of whom England was one, and by
+it all parties agreed that Charles's daughter Maria Theresa was to become
+Empress of Austria. However, when the emperor was dead the Elector of
+Bavaria claimed to be emperor, and he was supported by France, by Spain,
+and by Frederick of Prussia, and they marched to Vienna, enthroned the
+elector as Duke of Austria, and drove Maria Theresa to take refuge in
+Hungary, where she was warmly supported.
+
+"The English parliament voted a large sum to enable the empress to carry
+on the war, and last year sixteen thousand men under the Earl of Stair
+crossed the seas to cooperate with the Dutch, who were warm supporters of
+the empress, and were joined by six thousand Hessians and sixteen
+thousand Hanoverians in British pay; but after all nothing was done last
+year, for as in the last war the Dutch were not ready to begin, and the
+English army were in consequence kept idle."
+
+"Then it seems that everyone was against the empress except England and
+these three little states."
+
+"That is pretty nearly so," Malcolm said; "but at present the empress has
+bought off the Prussians, whose king joined in the affair solely for his
+own advantage, by giving him the province of Silesia, so that in fact at
+present it is England and Hanover, which is all the same thing, with the
+Dutch and Hessians, against France and Bavaria, for I don't think that at
+present Spain has sent any troops."
+
+"Well, it seems to me a downright shame," Ronald said indignantly; "and
+though I have no great love for the English, and hate their Hanoverian
+George and his people, I shouldn't like to fight with one of the Scotch
+regiments in the French service in such a quarrel."
+
+Malcolm laughed.
+
+"My dear lad, if every soldier were to discuss the merits of the quarrel
+in which he is ordered to fight there would be an end of all discipline."
+
+"Yes, I see that," Ronald agreed; "if one is once a soldier he has only
+to obey orders. But one need not become a soldier just at the time when
+he would be called upon to fight for a cause which he considers unjust."
+
+"That is so, Ronald, and it's fortunate, if your feelings are in favour
+of Maria Theresa, that we are not thinking of enlisting just at present,
+for you would be puzzled which side to take. If you fought for her you
+would have to fight under the Hanoverian; if you fight against the
+Hanoverian you are fighting against Maria Theresa."
+
+"Well, we don't want to fight at all," Ronald said. "What we want to do
+is to find out something about my father. I wish the voyage was at an
+end, and that we had our faces towards Paris."
+
+"It will not be so easy to cross from Holland into France," Malcolm said.
+"I wish our voyage was at an end for another reason, for unless I mistake
+there is a storm brewing up."
+
+Malcolm's prediction as to the weather was speedily verified. The wind
+rose rapidly, ragged clouds hurried across the sky, and the waves got up
+fast, and by nightfall the sea had become really heavy, dashing in sheets
+high in the air every time the bluff bowed craft plunged into it. Long
+before this Ronald had gone below prostrate with seasickness.
+
+"It's just like the obstinacy of these Dutchmen," Malcolm muttered to
+himself as he held on by a shroud and watched the labouring ship. "It
+must have been clear to anyone before we were well out of the river that
+we were going to have a gale, and as the wind then was nearly due south,
+we could have run back again and anchored in shelter till it was over.
+Now it has backed round nearly into our teeth, with every sign of its
+getting into the north, and then we shall have the French coast on our
+lee. It's not very serious yet, but if the wind goes on rising as it has
+done for the last four or five hours we shall have a gale to remember
+before the morning."
+
+Before the daylight, indeed, a tremendous sea was running, and the wind
+was blowing with terrible force from the north. Although under but a rag
+of canvas the brig was pressed down gunwale deep, and each wave as it
+struck her broadside seemed to heave her bodily to leeward. Malcolm on
+coming on deck made his way aft and glanced at the compass, and then took
+a long look over the foaming water towards where he knew the French coast
+must lie. The wind was two or three points east of north, and as the
+clumsy craft would not sail within several points of the wind she was
+heading nearly east.
+
+"She is making a foot to leeward for every one she forges ahead," he said
+to himself. "If she has been at this work all night we cannot be far from
+the coast."
+
+So the Dutch skipper appeared to think, for a few minutes afterwards he
+gave orders to bring her about on the other tack. Three times they tried
+and failed; each time the vessel slowly came up into the wind, but the
+heavy waves forced her head off again before the headsails filled. Then
+the skipper gave orders to wear her. Her head payed off to the wind until
+she was nearly before it. Two or three great seas struck her stern and
+buried her head deeply, but at last the boom swung over and her head came
+up on the other tack. During the course of these manoeuvres she had made
+fully two miles leeway, and when she was fairly under sail with her head
+to the west Malcolm took another long look towards the south.
+
+"Just as I thought," he said. "There is white water there and a dark line
+behind it. That is the French coast, sure enough."
+
+It would have been useless to speak, but he touched the arm of the
+skipper and pointed to leeward. The skipper looked in this direction for
+a minute and then gave the order for more sail to be put on the ship, to
+endeavour to beat out in the teeth of the gale. But even when pressed to
+the utmost it was evident to Malcolm that the force of the waves was
+driving her faster towards the coast than she could make off it, and he
+went below and told Ronald to come on deck.
+
+"I would rather lie here," Ronald said.
+
+"Nonsense, lad! The wind and spray will soon knock the sickness out of
+you; and you will want all your wits about you, for it won't be many
+hours before we are bumping on the sands, and stoutly built as the craft
+is she won't hold together long in such a sea as this."
+
+"Do you really mean it, Malcolm, or are you only trying to get me on
+deck?"
+
+"I mean it, lad. We are drifting fast upon the French coast, and there is
+no hope of her clawing off in the teeth of such a gale as this."
+
+The news aroused Ronald effectually. He had not suffered at all on the
+voyage down from Glasgow, and he was already beginning to feel better
+when Malcolm went down to call him. He was soon on deck holding on by the
+bulwark.
+
+"There it is, that long low black line; it looks a long way off because
+the air is full of spray and the coast is low, but it's not more than
+three or four miles; look at that broad belt of foam."
+
+For some hours the Dutch skipper did his best to beat to windward, but in
+vain, the vessel drove nearer and nearer towards the shore; the anchors
+were got in readiness, and when within a quarter of a mile of the line of
+breakers the vessel's head was brought up into the wind, and the lashings
+of the two anchors cut simultaneously.
+
+"Will they hold her, do you think?" Ronald asked.
+
+"Not a chance of it, Ronald. Of course the captain is right to try; but
+no cables were ever made would hold such a bluff bowed craft as this in
+the teeth of such a wind and sea."
+
+The cables ran out to the bitts. Just as they tightened a great sea
+rolled in on the bow. Two dull reports were heard, and then her head
+payed off. The jib was run up instantly to help her round, and under this
+sail the brig was headed directly towards the shore. The sea was breaking
+round them now; but the brig was almost flat bottomed and drew but little
+water. All on board hung on to the shrouds and bulwarks, momentarily
+expecting a crash, but she drove on through the surf until within a
+hundred yards of the shore. Then as she went down in the trough of a wave
+there was a mighty crash. The next wave swept her forward her own length.
+
+Then there was another crash even more tremendous than the first, and her
+masts simultaneously went over the side. The next wave moved her but a
+few feet; the one which followed, finding her immovable, piled itself
+higher over her, and swept in a cataract down her sloping deck. Her stern
+had swung round after the first shot, and she now lay broadside to the
+waves. The Dutch skipper and his crew behaved with the greatest calmness;
+the ship lay over at such an angle that it was impossible to stand on the
+deck; but the captain managed to get on the upper rail, and although
+frequently almost washed off by the seas, contrived to cut the shrouds
+and ropes that still attached the masts to the ship there. Then he joined
+the crew, who were standing breast high in the water on the lee side, the
+floating masts were pulled in until within a few yards of the vessel, and
+such of the crew as could swim made towards them.
+
+The skipper cut the last rope that bound them, and then plunged in and
+joined his men. The distance was little over fifty yards to the shore,
+and the wreck formed a partial shelter. A crowd of people were assembled
+at the edge of the beach with ropes in readiness to give any assistance
+in their power. Malcolm and Ronald were among those who had swum to the
+masts, but when within a short distance of the shore the former shouted
+in the latter's ear:
+
+"Swim off, lad, the masts might crush us."
+
+As soon as they neared the shore a number of ropes were thrown. Most of
+the sailors, seeing the danger of being crushed, followed the example of
+Malcolm, and left the masts. Malcolm and Ronald swam just outside the
+point where the waves broke until a line fell in the water close to them.
+They grasped it at once.
+
+"Give it a twist round your arm," Malcolm shouted, "or the backwash will
+tear you from it."
+
+The sailors on shore watched their opportunity, and the instant a wave
+passed beneath the two swimmers ran up the beach at full speed with the
+rope. There was a crash. Ronald felt himself shot forward with great
+rapidity, then as he touched the ground with his feet they were swept
+from under him, and so great was the strain that he felt as if his arm
+was being pulled from the socket. A few seconds later he was lying at
+full length upon the sands, and before the next wave reached him a dozen
+men had rushed down and seized him and Malcolm, and carried them beyond
+its influence. For a minute or two Ronald felt too bruised and out of
+breath to move. Then he heard Malcolm's voice:
+
+"Are you hurt, Ronald?"
+
+"No; I think not, Malcolm," he replied, making an effort to sit up. "Are
+you?"
+
+"No, lad; bruised a bit, but no worse."
+
+One by one the sailors were brought ashore, one with both legs broken
+from the force with which he was dashed down by the surf, and one man who
+stuck to the mast was crushed to death as it was rolled over and over on
+to the beach. The captain and three sailors were, like Malcolm and
+Ronald, unhurt. There still remained four men on the wreck. Fortunately
+she had struck just at high tide, and so stoutly was she built that she
+held together in spite of the tremendous seas, and in an hour the four
+sailors were able to wade breast high to the shore.
+
+They found that the spot where the vessel had struck was half a mile west
+of Gravelines. They were taken to the town, and were hospitably
+entertained. A small body of soldiers were quartered there, and the
+officer in command told the Dutch skipper, that as the two nations were
+at war he and his crew must be detained until he received orders
+respecting them. On learning from Malcolm that he and Ronald were
+passengers, and were Scotsmen making their way from England to escape
+imprisonment as friends of the Stuarts, and that he had for twelve years
+served in one of the Scotch regiments of Louis, and was now bound for
+Paris, the officer said that they were free to continue their journey at
+once.
+
+It was two or three days before they started, for they found the next
+morning that they were both too severely bruised to set out at once on
+the journey. As Malcolm had taken care to keep the purse containing
+Ronald's money securely fastened to a belt under his clothes they had no
+lack of funds; but as time was no object they started for Paris on foot.
+Ronald greatly enjoyed the journey. Bright weather had set in after the
+storm. It was now the middle of May, all nature was bright and cheerful,
+the dresses of the peasantry, the style of architecture so different to
+that to which he was accustomed in Scotland, and everything else were new
+and strange to him. Malcolm spoke French as fluently as his own language,
+and they had therefore no difficulty or trouble on the way.
+
+They arrived at Paris without any adventure. Malcolm went to a cabaret
+which had at the time when he was in the French service been much
+frequented by Scotch soldiers, being kept by a countryman of their own,
+an ex-sergeant in one of the Scottish regiments.
+
+"Ah! Sandy Macgregor," Malcolm exclaimed as the proprietor of the place
+approached to take their order. "So you are still in the flesh, man!
+Right glad am I to see you again.
+
+"I know your face," Sandy replied; "but I canna just say what your name
+might be."
+
+"Malcolm Anderson, of Leslie's Scotch regiment. It's fourteen years since
+I left them now; but I was here again four years later, if you can
+remember, when I came over to try and find out if aught had been heard of
+the colonel."
+
+"Ay, ay," Sandy said, grasping Malcolm's outstretched hand warmly. "It
+all comes back to me now. Right glad am I to see you. And who is the lad
+ye have brought with you? A Scot by his face and bearing, I will be
+bound, but young yet for the service if that be what he is thinking of."
+
+"He is the colonel's son, Sandy. You will remember I told you I had
+carried him back to Scotland with me; but I need not tell ye that this is
+betwixt ourselves, for those who have so badly treated his father might
+well have a grudge against the son, and all the more that he is the
+rightful heir to many a broad acre here in France."
+
+"I give you a hearty welcome, young sir," Sandy said. "Many a time I have
+seen your brave father riding at the head of his regiment, and have
+spoken to him too, for he and his officers would drop in here and crack a
+cup together in a room I keep upstairs for the quality. Well, well, and
+to think that you are his son! But what Malcolm said is true, and it were
+best that none knew who ye are, for they have an unco quick way here of
+putting inconvenient people out of the way."
+
+"Have you ever heard aught of my father since?" Ronald asked eagerly.
+
+"Not a word," Sandy replied. "I have heard it talked over scores of times
+by men who were in the regiment that was once his, and none doubted that
+if he were still alive he was lying in the Bastille, or Vincennes, or one
+of the other cages where they keep those whose presence the king or his
+favourites find inconvenient. It's just a stroke of the pen, without
+question or trial, and they are gone, and even their best friends darena
+ask a question concerning them. In most cases none know why they have
+been put away; but there is no doubt why Leslie was seized. Three or four
+of his fellow officers were in the secret of his marriage, and when he
+had disappeared these talked loudly about it, and there was sair grief
+and anger among the Scottish regiment at Leslie's seizure. But what was
+to be done? It was just the king's pleasure, and that is enough in
+France. Leslie had committed the grave offence of thwarting the wishes of
+two of the king's favourites, great nobles, too, with broad lands and
+grand connections. What were the likings of a Scottish soldier of fortune
+and a headstrong girl in comparison! In Scotland in the old times a
+gallant who had carried off a daughter of a Douglas or one of our
+powerful nobles would have made his wife a widow ere many weeks were
+over, and it is the same thing here now. It wouldna have been an easy
+thing for his enemies to kill Leslie with his regiment at his back, and
+so they got an order from the king, and as surely got rid of him as if
+they had taken his life."
+
+"You have never heard whether my mother has married again?" Ronald asked.
+
+"I have never heard her name mentioned. Her father is still at court, but
+his daughter has never been seen since, or I should have heard of it; but
+more than that I cannot say."
+
+"That gives me hopes that my father is still alive," Ronald said. "Had he
+been dead they might have forced her into some other marriage."
+
+"They might so; but she was plainly a lassie who had a will of her own
+and may have held out."
+
+"But why did they not kill him instead of putting him in prison if he was
+in their way?"
+
+"They might, as I said, have done it at once; but once in prison he was
+beyond their reach. The king may grant a lettre de cachet, as these
+orders are called, to a favourite; but even in France men are not put to
+death without some sort of trial, and even Chateaurouge and De Recambours
+could not ask Louis to have a man murdered in prison to gratify their
+private spite, especially when that man was a brave Scottish officer
+whose fate had already excited much discontent among his compatriots in
+the king's service. Then again much would depend upon who was the
+governor of the prison. These men differ like others. Some of them are
+honourable gentlemen, to whom even Louis himself would not venture to
+hint that he wanted a prisoner put out of the way; but there are others
+who, to gratify a powerful nobleman, would think nothing of telling a
+jailer to forget a fortnight to give food to a prisoner. So you see we
+cannot judge from this. And now what are you thinking of doing, Malcolm,
+and why are you over here?"
+
+"In the first place we are over here because young Leslie took after his
+father and aided a Jacobite, whom George's men were in search of, to
+escape, and drew his sword on a worshipful justice of Glasgow and the
+city watch."
+
+"He has begun early," Sandy said, laughing; "and how did he get away?"
+
+"They brought him down a prisoner to London, to interrogate him as to the
+plot. I had a boat in the Thames and he jumped over and swam for it; so
+here we are. There are rumours in Scotland that King Louis is helping
+Prince Charlie, and that an army is soon going to sail for Scotland."
+
+"It is talked of here, but so far nothing is settled; but as King George
+is interfering in Louis's affairs, and is fighting him in Germany, I
+think it more than likely that King Louis is going to stir up a coil in
+Scotland to give George something to do at home."
+
+"Then if there's nothing to be done here I shall find out the old
+regiment. There will be many officers in it still who have fought under
+Leslie, and some of them may know more about him than you do, and will
+surely be able to tell me what has become of the lad's mither."
+
+"That may well be so; but keep a quiet tongue, Malcolm, as to Leslie's
+son, save to those on whose discretion you can rely. I tell you, if it
+were known that he is alive and in France his life would not be worth a
+week's purchase. They would not take the trouble to get a lettre de
+cachet for him as they did for his father; it would be just a pistol
+bullet or a stab on a dark night or in a lonely place. There would be no
+question asked about the fate of an unknown Scotch laddie."
+
+"I will be careful, Sandy, and silent. The first thing is to find out
+where the old regiment is lying."
+
+"That I can tell you at once. It is on the frontier with the Duc de
+Noailles, and they say that there is like to be a great battle with
+English George and his army."
+
+"Well, as we have nothing else to do we will set out and find them,"
+Malcolm said; "but as time is not pressing we will stop a few days here
+in Paris and I will show the lad the sights. I suppose you can put us
+up."
+
+"That can I. Times are dull at present. After '15 Paris swarmed with
+Scotsmen who had fled to save their heads; but of late years but few have
+come over, and the Scotch regiments have difficulty in keeping up their
+numbers. Since the last of them marched for the frontier I have been
+looking after empty benches, and it will be good news for me when I hear
+that the war is over and they are on their way back."
+
+For some days Malcolm and Ronald wandered about the narrow streets of
+Paris. Ronald was somewhat disappointed in the city of which he had heard
+so much. The streets were ill paved and worse lighted, and were narrow
+and winding. In the neighbourhood of the Louvre there were signs of
+wealth and opulence. The rich dresses of the nobles contrasted strongly
+indeed with the sombre attire of the Glasgow citizens, and the appearance
+and uniform of the royal guards filled him with admiration; but beyond
+the fashionable quarter it did not appear to him that Paris possessed
+many advantages over Glasgow, and the poorer class were squalid and
+poverty stricken to a far greater degree than anything he had seen in
+Scotland. But the chief points of attraction to him were the prisons. The
+Bastille, the Chatelet, and the Temple were points to which he was
+continually turning; the two former especially, since, if he were in
+Paris, it was in one of these that his father was most probably lying.
+
+The various plans he had so often thought over, by which, in some way or
+other, he might communicate with his father and aid his escape, were
+roughly shattered at the sight of these buildings. He had reckoned on
+their resembling in some respect the prison in Glasgow, and at the sight
+of these formidable fortresses with their lofty walls and flanking
+towers, their moats and vigilant sentries, his hopes fell to zero. It
+would, he saw at once, be absolutely impossible to open communication
+with a prisoner of whose whereabouts he was wholly ignorant and of whose
+very existence he was doubtful. The narrow slits which lighted the cell
+in which he was confined might look into an inner court, or the cell
+itself might be below the surface of the soil. The legend of the
+troubadour who discovered King Richard of England's place of captivity by
+singing without the walls had always been present in his mind, but no
+such plan would be practicable here. He knew no song which his father,
+and his father only, would recognize; and even did he know such a song,
+the appearance of anyone loitering in the open space outside the moat
+round the Bastille singing at intervals at different points would have
+instantly attracted the attention of the sentries on the walls. Nor, even
+did he discover that his father was lying a prisoner in one of the cells
+facing outwards in the fortress, did he see any possibility of compassing
+his escape. The slits were wide enough only for the passage of a ray of
+light or the flight of an arrow. No human being could squeeze himself
+through them, and even if he could do so he would need a long rope to
+descend into the moat.
+
+One day Ronald talked over his ideas with Malcolm, who declared at once
+that they were impossible of execution.
+
+"There is scarcely a case on record," he said, "of an escape from either
+the Bastille or the Chatelet, and yet there have been scores of prisoners
+confined in them with friends of great influence and abundant means. If
+these have been unable, by bribing jailers or by other strategy, to free
+their friends, how could a stranger, without either connection,
+influence, or wealth, hope to effect the escape of a captive were he
+certain that he was within the walls. Do not waste your thought on such
+fancies, Ronald. If your father is still in prison it is by influence
+only, and influence exerted upon the king and exceeding that of your
+father's enemies, that his release can be obtained.
+
+"Such influence there is no possibility of our exerting. Your father's
+comrades and countrymen, his position and services, availed nothing when
+he was first imprisoned; and in the time which has elapsed the number of
+those who know him and would venture to risk the king's displeasure by
+pleading his cause must have lessened considerably. The only possibility,
+mind I say possibility, of success lies in your mother.
+
+"So far it is clear that she has been powerless; but we know not under
+what circumstances she has been placed. She may all this time have been
+shut up a prisoner in a convent; she may be dead; but it is possible
+that, if she is free, she may have powerful connections on her mother's
+side, who might be induced to take up her cause and to plead with the
+king for your father's liberty. She may have been told that your father
+is dead. She is, no doubt, in ignorance of what has become of you, or
+whether you are still alive. If she believes you are both dead she would
+have had no motive for exerting any family influence she may have, and
+may be living a broken hearted woman, firm only in the resolution to
+accept no other husband."
+
+"Yes, that is possible," Ronald agreed. "At any rate, Malcolm, let us
+lose no further time, but set out tomorrow for the frontier and try to
+find out from my father's old comrades what has become of my mother."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V: Dettingen.
+
+
+After walking two or three miles Malcolm and Ronald came upon the rear of
+a train of waggons which had set out from Paris an hour earlier. Entering
+into conversation with one of the drivers they found that the convoy was
+bound for the frontier with ammunition and supplies for the army.
+
+"This is fortunate," Malcolm said; "for to tell you the truth, Ronald, I
+have looked forward to our meeting with a good many difficulties by the
+way. We have no passes or permits to travel, and should be suspected of
+being either deserters or thieves. We came down from the north easy
+enough; but there they are more accustomed to the passage of travellers
+to or from the coast. Going east our appearance if alone would be sure to
+incite comment and suspicion. It is hard if among the soldiers with the
+convoy I do not know someone who has friends in the old regiment. At any
+rate we can offer to make ourselves useful in case of any of the drivers
+falling ill or deserting by the way."
+
+As they walked along towards the head of the long line of waggons Malcolm
+closely scrutinized the troopers who formed the escort, but most of them
+were young soldiers, and he therefore went on without accosting them
+until he reached the head of the column. Here two officers were riding
+together, a captain and a young lieutenant. Malcolm saluted the former.
+
+"I am an old soldier of the 2d Regiment of Scottish Calvary, and am going
+with my young friend here, who has relations in the regiment, to join
+them. Will you permit us, sir, to journey with your convoy? We are ready,
+if needs be, to make ourselves useful in case any of your drivers are
+missing, no uncommon thing, as I know, on a long journey."
+
+The officer asked a few questions about his services, and said: "What
+have you been doing since you left, as you say, fourteen years ago?"
+
+"I have been in Scotland, sir. I took this lad, who was then an infant,
+home to my people, having had enough of soldiering, while my brother, his
+father, remained with the regiment. We do not know whether he is alive or
+dead, but if the former the lad wants to join as a trumpeter, and when
+old enough to fight in the ranks."
+
+"Very well," the officer said. "You can march along with us, and if any
+of these fellows desert you shall take their places, and of course draw
+their pay."
+
+It was a short time indeed before Malcolm's services were called into
+requisition, for the very first night several of the drivers, who had
+been pressed into the service, managed to elude the vigilance of the
+guard and slipped away.
+
+The next morning Malcolm, with Ronald as his assistant, took charge of
+one of the heavy waggons, loaded with ammunition, and drawn by twelve
+horses.
+
+"This is better than walking after all, Ronald. In the first place it
+saves the legs, and in the second one is partly out of the dust."
+
+"But I think we should get on faster walking, Malcolm."
+
+"Yes, if we had no stoppages. But then, you see, as we have no papers we
+might be detained for weeks by some pig headed official in a little
+country town; besides, we are sure to push on as fast as we can, for they
+will want the ammunition before a battle is fought. And after all a few
+days won't make much difference to us; the weather is fine, and the
+journey will not be unpleasant."
+
+In fact Ronald enjoyed the next three weeks greatly as the train of
+waggons made its way across the plains of Champagne, and then on through
+the valleys of Lorraine and Alsace until it reached Strasbourg. Malcolm
+had speedily made friends with some of the soldiers of the escort, and of
+an evening when the day's work was over he and Ronald sat with them by
+the fires they made by the roadside, and Malcolm told tales of the
+campaigns in which he had been engaged, and the soldiers sang songs and
+chatted over the probabilities of the events of the war. None of them had
+served before, having been but a few months taken from their homes in
+various parts of France. But although, doubtless, many had at first
+regretted bitterly being dragged away to the wars, they were now all
+reconciled to their lot, and looked forward eagerly to joining their
+regiment, which was at the front, when the duty of looking after the
+convoy would be at an end.
+
+Little was known in Paris as to the position of the contending armies
+beyond the fact that Lord Stair, who commanded the English army, sixteen
+thousand strong, which had for the last year been lying inactive in
+Flanders, had marched down with his Hanoverian allies towards the Maine,
+and that the Duc de Noailles with sixty thousand men was lying beyond the
+Rhine. But at Strasbourg they learned that the French army had marched
+north to give battle to Lord Stair, who had at present with him but
+twenty-eight thousand men, and was waiting to be joined by twelve
+thousand Hanoverians and Hessians who were on their way.
+
+The convoy continued its journey, pushing forward with all speed, and on
+the 26th of July joined the army of De Noailles. The French were on the
+south side of the river, but having arrived on its banks before the
+English they had possession of the bridges. As soon as the waggons had
+joined the army, Malcolm obtained from the officer commanding the escort
+a discharge, saying that he and Ronald had fulfilled their engagement as
+drivers with the waggons to the front, and were now at liberty to return
+to France.
+
+"Now we are our own masters again, Ronald," Malcolm said. "I have taken
+part in a good many battles, but have never yet had the opportunity of
+looking on at one comfortably. De Noailles should lose no time in
+attacking, so as to destroy the English before they receive their
+reinforcements. As he holds the bridges he can bring on the battle when
+he likes, and I think that tomorrow or next day the fight will take
+place."
+
+It was known in the camp that evening that the English had established
+their chief magazines at Hanau, and were marching up the river towards
+Aschaffenburg. In the early morning a portion of the French troops
+crossed the river at that town, and took up a strong position there.
+Ronald and Malcolm climbed a hill looking down upon the river from the
+south side, and thence commanded the view of the ground across which the
+English were marching. On the eastern side of the river spurs of the
+Spessart Mountains came down close to its bank, inclosing a narrow flat
+between Aschaffenburg and Dettingen. At the latter place the heights
+approached so closely to the river as to render it difficult for an army
+to pass between them. While posting a strong force at Aschaffenburg to
+hold the passage across a stream running into the Maine there, De
+Noailles marched his main force down the river; these movements were
+hidden by the nature of the ground from the English, who were advancing
+unconscious of their danger towards Dettingen.
+
+"De Noailles will have them in a trap," Malcolm said, for from their
+position on the hill they could see the whole ground on the further bank,
+Hanau lying some seven miles beyond Dettingen, which was itself less than
+seven miles from Aschaffenburg.
+
+"I am afraid so," Ronald said.
+
+"Afraid!" Malcolm repeated. "Why, you should rejoice, Ronald."
+
+"I can't do that," Ronald replied. "I should like to see the Stuarts
+instead of the Hanoverians reigning over us; but after all, Malcolm,
+England and Scotland are one nation."
+
+"But there are Scotch regiments with the French army, and a brigade of
+Irish."
+
+"That may be," Ronald said. "Scotchmen who have got into political
+trouble at home may enter the service of France, and may fight heartily
+against the Germans or the Flemings, or other enemies of France; but I
+know that I should feel very reluctant to fight against the English army,
+except, of course, at home for the Stuarts."
+
+"It will benefit the Stuarts' cause if the English are defeated here,"
+Malcolm said.
+
+"That may be or it may not," Ronald replied. "You yourself told me that
+Louis cared nothing for the Stuarts, and would only aid them in order to
+cripple the English strength at home. Therefore, if he destroys the
+English army here he will have less cause to fear England and so less
+motive for helping the Chevalier."
+
+"That is true enough," Malcolm agreed. "You are fast becoming a
+politician, Ronald. Well, I will look on as a neutral then, because,
+although the English are certainly more nearly my countrymen than are the
+French, you must remember that for twelve years I fought under the French
+flag. However, there can be no doubt what is going to take place. See,
+the dark mass of the English army are passing through the defile of
+Dettingen, and the French have begun to cross at Seligenstadt in their
+rear. See, they are throwing three or four bridges across the river
+there."
+
+In utter ignorance of their danger the English marched on along the
+narrow plain by the river bank towards Aschaffenburg.
+
+"Look at their cavalry scouting ahead of them," Malcolm said. "There, the
+French are opening fire!" And as he spoke puffs of musketry rose up from
+the line of the stream held by the French.
+
+The English cavalry galloped back, but the columns of infantry still
+advanced until within half a mile of the French position, and were there
+halted, while some guns from the French lines opened fire. The bridges at
+Seligenstadt were now completed, and masses of troops could be seen
+pouring over. King George and the Duke of Cumberland had joined the Earl
+of Stair just as the army passed through Dettingen, and were riding at
+the head of the column when the French fire opened. A short time was
+spent in reconnoitring the position of the enemy in front. The English
+believed that the entire French army was there opposed to them, and that
+the advance of the army into Franconia, which was its main objective was
+therefore barred. After a short consultation it was resolved to fall back
+at once upon the magazines at Hanau, which, from their ignorance of the
+near proximity of the French, had been left but weakly guarded. Believing
+that as they fell back they would be hotly pursued by the French army,
+the king took the command of the rear as the post of danger, and the
+columns, facing about, marched towards Dettingen.
+
+But the French had been beforehand with them. De Noailles had sent 23,000
+men under his nephew the Duke de Grammont across the river to occupy
+Dettingen. He himself with his main army remained on the south side, with
+his artillery placed so as to fire across the river upon the flank of the
+English as they approached Dettingen; while he could march up and cross
+at Aschaffenburg should the English, after being beaten back at
+Dettingen, try to retreat up the river.
+
+De Grammont's position was a very strong one behind a swamp and a deep
+ravine hollowed out by a stream from the hill. There seemed no
+possibility of escape for the English army, who were as yet absolutely in
+ignorance of the position of the French. As the head of the column
+approached Dettingen, Grammont's artillery opened upon them in front,
+while that of De Noailles smote them in flank. As soon as the king found
+that his retreat was cut off he galloped from the rear of the column to
+its head. His horse, alarmed by the fire of the artillery and whistling
+of balls, ran away with him, and was with difficulty stopped just as he
+reached the head of the column. He at once dismounted and announced his
+intention of leading his troops on foot.
+
+There was a hasty council held between him, Lord Stair, and the Duke of
+Cumberland, and it was agreed that the only escape from entire
+destruction was by fighting their way through the force now in front of
+them. This would indeed have been impossible had De Grammont held his
+position; but when that officer saw the English troops halt he believed
+he had only the advanced guard in front of him, and resolving to
+overwhelm these before their main body arrived, he abandoned his strong
+position, led the troops across the swamp, and charged the English in
+front.
+
+De Noailles, from the opposite bank, seeing the error his nephew had
+made, hurried his troops towards the bridges in order to cross the river
+and render him assistance; but it was too late.
+
+The English infantry, headed by the king in person, hurled themselves
+upon the troops of De Grammont.
+
+Every man felt that the only hope of escape from this trap into which
+they had fallen lay in cutting their way through the enemy, and so
+furiously did they fight that De Grammont's troops were utterly
+overthrown, and were soon in full flight towards the bridges in the rear,
+hotly pursued by the English. Before they could reach the bridges they
+left behind them on the field six thousand killed and wounded. King
+George, satisfied with his success, and knowing that the French army was
+still greatly superior to his own, wisely determined to get out of his
+dangerous position as soon as possible, and pushed on that night to
+Hanau.
+
+Although Malcolm and Ronald were too far off to witness the incidents of
+the battle, they made out the tide of war rolling away from them, and saw
+the black masses of troops pressing on through Dettingen in spite of the
+French artillery which thundered from the opposite bank of the river.
+
+"They have won!" Ronald said, throwing up his cap. "Hurrah, Malcolm!
+Where is the utter destruction of the English now? See, the plain beyond
+Dettingen is covered by a confused mass of flying men. The English have
+broken out of the trap, and instead of being crushed have won a great
+victory."
+
+"It looks like it certainly," Malcolm said. "I would not have believed it
+if I had not seen it; their destruction seemed certain. And now let us go
+round to the camp again."
+
+On their way down Malcolm said:
+
+"I think, on the whole, Ronald, that you are perhaps right, and the
+French defeat will do good rather than harm to the Stuart cause. Had they
+conquered, Louis would have been too intent on pushing forward his own
+schemes to care much for the Stuarts. He has no real interest in them,
+and only uses them as cat's paws to injure England. If he had beaten the
+English and Hanoverians he would not have needed their aid. As it is, it
+seems likely enough that he will try to create a diversion, and keep the
+English busy at home by aiding the Stuarts with men and money to make a
+landing in Scotland."
+
+"In that case, Malcolm, we need not grieve over the defeat today. You
+know my sympathies are with the brave Empress of Austria rather than with
+her enemies, and this defeat should go far towards seating her securely
+on the throne. Now, what will you do, Malcolm? Shall we try and find my
+father's friends at once?"
+
+"Nor for another few days," Malcolm said. "Just after a defeat men are
+not in the best mood to discuss bygone matters. Let us wait and see what
+is done next."
+
+The next morning a portion of the French army which had not been engaged
+crossed the river and collected the French and English wounded, for the
+latter had also been left behind. They were treated by the French with
+the same care and kindness that was bestowed upon their own wounded. De
+Noailles was about to advance against the English at Hanau, when he
+received the news that the French army in Bavaria had been beaten back by
+Prince Charles, and had crossed the Rhine into Alsace. As he would now be
+exposed to the whole brunt of the attack of the allies he decided to
+retreat at once.
+
+The next day the retreat recommenced. Many of the drivers had fled at the
+first news of the defeat, and Malcolm without question assumed the post
+of driver of one of the abandoned teams. For another week the army
+retired, and then crossing the Rhine near Worms were safe from pursuit.
+
+"Now, Ronald, I will look up the old regiment, and we will see what is to
+be done."
+
+The 2d Scotch Dragoons were posted in a little village a mile distant
+from the main camp which had now been formed. Malcolm did nor make any
+formal transfer of the waggon to the authorities, thinking it by no means
+improbable that they would insist upon his continuing his self adopted
+avocation as driver; but after seeing to the horses, which were picketed
+with a long line of transport animals, he and Ronald walked quietly away
+without any ceremony of adieu.
+
+"We must not come back again here," he said, "for some of the teamsters
+would recognize me as having been driving lately, and I should have hard
+work to prove that I was not a deserter; we must take to the old regiment
+now as long as we are here."
+
+On reaching the village they found the street full of troopers, who were
+busy engaged in cleaning their arms, grooming their horses, and removing
+all signs of weather and battle. Ronald felt a thrill of pleasure at
+hearing his native language spoken. He had now so far improved the
+knowledge of French as to be able to converse without difficulty, for
+Malcolm had from his childhood tried to keep up his French, and had
+lately always spoken in that language to him, unless it was necessary to
+speak in English in order to make him understand.
+
+These occasions had become more and more rare, and two months of constant
+conversation with Malcolm and others had enabled Ronald by this time to
+speak with some fluency in the French tongue. None of the soldiers paid
+any attention to the newcomers, whose dress differed in no way from that
+of Frenchmen, as after the shipwreck they had, of course, been obliged to
+rig themselves out afresh. Malcolm stopped before an old sergeant who was
+diligently polishing his sword hilt.
+
+"And how fares it with you all these years, Angus Graeme?"
+
+The sergeant almost dropped his sword in his surprise at being so
+addressed in his own tongue by one whose appearance betokened him a
+Frenchman.
+
+"You don't know me, Angus," Malcolm went on with a smile; "and yet you
+ought to, for if it hadn't been for me the sword of the German hussar who
+carved that ugly scar across your cheek would have followed it up by
+putting an end to your soldiering altogether."
+
+"Heart alive, but it's Malcolm Anderson! Eh, man, but I am glad to see
+you! I thought you were dead years ago, for I have heard nae mair of you
+since the day when you disappeared from among us like a spook, the same
+day that puir Colonel Leslie was hauled off to the Bastille. A sair day
+was that for us a'! And where ha' ye been all the time?"
+
+"Back at home, Angus, at least in body, for my heart's been with the old
+regiment. And who, think you, is this? But you must keep a close mouth,
+man, for it must nor be talked of. This is Leslie's son. By his father's
+last order I took him off to Scotland with me to be out of reach of his
+foes, and now I have brought him back again to try if between us we can
+gain any news of his father."
+
+"You don't say so, Malcolm! I never as much heard that the colonel had a
+son, though there was some talk in the regiment that he had married a
+great lady, and that it was for that that he had been hid away in prison.
+And this is Leslie's boy! Only to think, now! Well, young sir, there
+isn't a man in the regiment but wad do his best for your father's son,
+for those who have joined us since, and in truth that's the great part of
+us, have heard many a tale of Colonel Leslie, though they may not have
+served under him, and not a tale but was to his honour, for a braver
+officer nor a kinder one never stepped the earth. But come inside,
+Malcolm. I have got a room to myself and a stoup of good wine; let's talk
+over things fair and gentle, and when I know what it is that you want you
+may be sure that I will do all I can, for the sake baith of the colonel
+and of you, auld comrade."
+
+The trio were soon seated in the cottage, and Malcolm then gave a short
+sketch of all that had taken place since he had left the regiment.
+
+"Well, well!" the sergeant said when he had ended; "and so the lad, young
+as he is, has already drawn his sword for the Stuarts, and takes after
+his father in loyalty as well as in looks, for now that I know who he is
+I can see his father's face in his plain enough; and now for your plans,
+Malcolm."
+
+"Our plans must be left to chance, Angus. We came hither to see whether
+any of the colonel's friends are still in the regiment, and to learn from
+them whether they have any news whatever of him; and secondly, whether
+they can tell us aught of his mother."
+
+"Ay, there are six or eight officers still in the regiment who served
+with him. Hume is our colonel now; you will remember him, Malcolm, well,
+for he was captain of our troop; and Major Macpherson was a captain too.
+Then there are Oliphant, and Munroe, and Campbell, and Graham, all of
+whom were young lieutenants in your time, and are now old captains of
+troops."
+
+"I will see the colonel and Macpherson," Malcolm said; "if they do not
+know, the younger men are not likely to. Will you go along with us,
+Angus, and introduce me, though Hume is like enough to remember me,
+seeing that I was so much with Leslie?"
+
+"They will be dining in half an hour," the sergeant said; "we'll go after
+they have done the meal. It's always a good time to talk with men when
+they are full, and the colonel will have no business to disturb him then.
+Our own dinner will be ready directly; I can smell a goose that I picked
+up, as it might be by accident, at the place where we halted last night.
+There are four or five of us old soldiers who always mess together when
+we are not on duty with our troops, and if I mistake not, you will know
+every one of them, and right glad they will be to see you; but of course
+I shall say no word as to who the lad is, save that he is a friend of
+yours."
+
+A few minutes later four other sergeants dropped in, and there was a
+joyful greeting between them and Malcolm as soon as they recognized his
+identity. The meal was a jovial one, as old jokes and old reminiscences
+were recalled. After an hour's sitting Angus said:
+
+"Pass round the wine, lads, till we come back again. I am taking Anderson
+to the colonel, who was captain of his troop. We are not likely to be
+long, and when we come back we will make a night of it in honour of old
+times, or I am mistaken."
+
+On leaving the cottage they waited for a while until they saw the colonel
+and major rise from beside the fire round which, with the other officers,
+they had been taking their meal, and walk to the cottage which they
+shared between them. Angus went up and saluted.
+
+"What is it, Graeme?" the colonel asked.
+
+"There's one here who would fain have a talk with you. It is Malcolm
+Anderson, whom you may remember as puir Colonel Leslie's servant, and as
+being in your own troop, and he has brought one with him concerning whom
+he will speak to you himself."
+
+"Of course I remember Anderson," the colonel said. "He was devoted to
+Leslie. Bring him in at once. What can have brought him out here again
+after so many years? Been getting into some trouble at home, I suppose?
+He was always in some scrape or other when he was in the regiment, for,
+though he was a good soldier, he was as wild and reckless a blade as any
+in the regiment. You remember him, Macpherson?"
+
+"Yes, I remember him well," the major said. "The colonel was very fond of
+him, and regarded him almost as a brother."
+
+A minute later Angus ushered Malcolm and Ronald into the presence of the
+two officers, who had now taken seats in the room which served as kitchen
+and sitting room to the cottage, which was much the largest in the
+village.
+
+"Well, Anderson, I am glad to see you again," Colonel Hume said, rising
+and holding out his hand. "We have often spoken of you since the day you
+disappeared, saying that you were going on a mission for the colonel, and
+have wondered what the mission was, and how it was that we never heard of
+you again."
+
+"I came over to Paris four years later, colonel, but the regiment was
+away in Flanders, and as I found out from others what I had come to
+learn, there was no use in my following you. As to the colonel's mission,
+it was this;" and he put his hand on Ronald's shoulder.
+
+"What do you mean, Anderson?" the colonel asked in surprise.
+
+"This is Colonel Leslie's son, sir. He bade me fetch him straight away
+from the folk with whom he was living and take him off to Scotland so as
+to be out of reach of his foes, who would doubtless have made even
+shorter work with him than they did with the colonel."
+
+"Good heavens!" the colonel exclaimed; "this is news indeed. So poor
+Leslie left a child and this is he! My lad," he said, taking Ronald's
+hand, "believe me that anything that I can do for you, whatever it be,
+shall be done, for the sake of your dear father, whom I loved as an elder
+brother."
+
+"And I too," the major said. "There was not one of us but would have
+fought to the death for Leslie. And now sit down, my lad, while Anderson
+tells us your story."
+
+Malcolm began at the account of the charge which Colonel Leslie had
+committed to him, and the manner in which he had fulfilled it. He told
+them how he had placed the child in the care of his brother, he himself
+having no fixed home of his own, and how the lad had received a solid
+education, while he had seen to his learning the use of his sword, so
+that he might be able to follow his father's career. He then told them
+the episode of the Jacobite agent, and the escape which had been effected
+in the Thames.
+
+"You have done well, Anderson," the colonel said when he had concluded;
+"and if ever Leslie should come to see his son he will have cause to
+thank you, indeed, for the way in which you have carried out the charge
+he committed to you, and he may well be pleased at seeing him grown up
+such a manly young fellow. As to Leslie himself, we know not whether he
+be alive or dead. Every interest was made at the time to assuage his
+majesty's hostility, but the influence of the Marquis of Recambours was
+too strong, and the king at last peremptorily forbade Leslie's name being
+mentioned before him. You see, although the girl's father was, of course,
+at liberty to bestow her hand on whomsoever he pleased, he had, with the
+toadyism of a courtier, asked the king's approval of the match with
+Chateaurouge, which, as a matter of course, he received. His majesty,
+therefore, chose to consider it as a personal offence against himself
+that this Scottish soldier of fortune should carry off one of the richest
+heiresses of France, whose hand he had himself granted to one of his
+peers. At the same rime I cannot but think that Leslie still lives, for
+had he been dead we should assuredly have heard of the marriage of his
+widow with some one else. The duke has, of course, long since married,
+and report says that the pair are ill-matched; but another husband would
+speedily have been found for the widow."
+
+"Since the duke has married," Ronald said, "he should no longer be so
+bitter against my father, and perhaps after so long an imprisonment the
+king might be moved to grant his release."
+
+"As the duke's marriage is an unhappy one, I fear that you cannot count
+upon his hostility to your father being in any way lessened, as he would
+all the more regret the interference with his former plans."
+
+"Have you any idea where my mother is, sir?"
+
+"None," the colonel said. "But that I might find out for you. I will give
+you a letter to the Count de Noyes, who is on intimate terms with the
+Archbishop of Paris, who would, no doubt, be able to tell him in which
+convent the lady is residing. You must not be too sanguine, my poor boy,
+of seeing her, for it is possible that she has already taken the veil.
+Indeed, if your father has died, and she has still refused to accept any
+suitor whom the marquis may have found for her, you may be sure that she
+has been compelled to take the veil, as her estates would then revert to
+the nearest kinsman. This may, for aught we know, have happened years
+ago, without a word of it being bruited abroad, and the affair only known
+to those most concerned. However, we must look at the best side. We shall
+be able, doubtless, to learn through the archbishop whether she is still
+merely detained in the convent or has taken the veil, and you can then
+judge accordingly whether your father is likely to be alive or dead. But
+as to your obtaining an interview with your mother, I regard it as
+impossible in the one case as the other.
+
+"At any rate it is of the highest importance that it should not be known
+that you are in France. If it is proved that your father is dead and your
+mother is secluded for life, we must then introduce you to her family,
+and try and get them to bring all their influence to bear to have you
+acknowledged openly as the legitimate heir of the marquis, and to obtain
+for you the succession to at least a portion of his estates--say to
+that of those which she brought him as her dowry. In this you may be sure
+that I and every Scottish gentleman in the army will give you all the aid
+and influence we can bring to bear."
+
+Ronald warmly thanked Colonel Hume for his kindness, and the next day,
+having received the letter to the Count de Noyes, set out for Paris with
+Malcolm. On his arrival there he lost no time in calling upon the count,
+and presenting his letter of introduction.
+
+The count read it through twice without speaking.
+
+"My friend Colonel Hume," he said at last, "tells me that you are the
+son, born in lawful wedlock, of Colonel Leslie and Amelie de Recambours.
+I am aware of the circumstances of the case, being distantly related to
+the lady's family, and will do that which Colonel Hume asks me, namely,
+discover the convent in which she is living. But I warn you, young man,
+that your position here is a dangerous one, and that were it known that
+Colonel Leslie's son is alive and in France, I consider your life would
+not be worth a day's purchase. When powerful people are interested in the
+removal of anyone not favoured with powerful protection the matter is
+easily arranged. There are hundreds of knives in Paris whose use can be
+purchased for a few crowns, of if seclusion be deemed better than
+removal, a king's favourite can always obtain a lettre-de-cachet, and a
+man may linger a lifetime in prison without a soul outside the walls
+knowing of his existence there.
+
+"You are an obstacle to the plans of a great noble, and that is in France
+a fatal offence. Your wisest course, young man, would be to efface
+yourself, to get your friend Colonel Hume to obtain for you a commission
+in his regiment, and to forget for ever that you are the son of Colonel
+Leslie and Amelie de Recambours. However, in that you will doubtless
+choose for yourself; but believe me my advice is good. At any rate I will
+do what my friend Colonel Hume asks me, and will obtain for you the name
+of the convent where your mother is living. I do not see that you will be
+any the better off when you have it, for assuredly you will nor be able
+to obtain permission to see her. However, that again is your affair. If
+you will give me the address where you are staying in Paris I will write
+to you as soon as I obtain the information. Do not be impatient, the
+archbishop himself may be in ignorance on the point; but I doubt not,
+that to oblige me, he will obtain the information from the right quarter.
+
+A week later, Ronald, on returning one day to Le Soldat Ecossais, found a
+note awaiting him. It contained only the words:
+
+"She has not taken the veil; she is at the convent of Our Lady at Tours."
+
+The next morning Ronald and Malcolm set out on their journey to Tours.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI: The Convent of Our Lady.
+
+
+Arrived at Tours, Malcolm took a quiet lodging in a retired street.
+Colonel Hume had furnished him with a regular discharge, testifying that
+the bearer, Malcolm Anderson, had served his time in the 2d Scotch
+Dragoons, and was now discharged as being past service, and that he
+recommended him as a steady man for any employment for which he might be
+suited. Malcolm showed this document to his landlord in order that the
+latter might, as required by law, duly give notice to the police of the
+name and occupation of his lodger, and at the same time mentioned that
+the relations of his wife lived near Tours, and that he hoped through
+them to be able to obtain some sort of employment.
+
+As soon as they were settled in their lodgings they went out, and after a
+few inquiries found themselves in front of the convent of Our Lady. It
+was a massive building, in a narrow street near the river, to which its
+grounds, surrounded by a high wall, extended. None of the windows of the
+building looked towards the street, upon which the massive gate, with a
+small wicket entrance, opened.
+
+"What building is this?" Malcolm, in a careless tone, asked a woman who
+was sitting knitting at her door nearly opposite the entrance. "I am a
+stranger in Tours."
+
+"That needs no telling," the woman replied, "or you would have known that
+that is the convent of Our Lady, one of the richest in Touraine, and they
+say in all France. Though what they do with their riches is more than I
+can tell, seeing that the rules are of the strictest, and that no one
+ever comes beyond the gates. They have their own grounds down to the
+river, and there is a walk along the wall there where they take the air
+of an evening when the weather is fine. Poor things, I pity them from my
+soul."
+
+"But I suppose they all came willingly," Malcolm said; "so there is no
+need for pity."
+
+"I don't know about willingly," the woman said. "I expect most of them
+took the veil rather than marry the men their fathers provided for them,
+or because they were in the way of someone who wanted their lands, or
+because their lovers had been killed in the war, just as if grief for a
+lover was going to last one's life. Besides, they are not all sisters.
+They say there's many a lady of good family shut up there till she will
+do her father's will. 'Well, well,' I often says to myself, 'they may
+have all the riches of France inside those walls, but I would rather sit
+knitting at my door here than have a share of them.'"
+
+"You are a wise woman," Malcolm said. "There is nothing like freedom.
+Give me a crust, and a sod for my pillow, rather than gold plates inside
+a prison. I have been a soldier all my life, and have had my share of
+hard knocks; but I never grumbled so long as I was on a campaign, though
+I often found it dull work enough when in garrison."
+
+"Oh, you have been a soldier! I have a brother in the regiment of
+Touraine. Perhaps you know him?"
+
+"I know the regiment of Touraine," Malcolm said; "and there are no braver
+set of men in the king's service. What is his name?"
+
+"Pierre Pitou. I have not heard of him for the last two years. He is a
+tall man, and broad, with a scar over the left eye."
+
+"To be sure, to be sure!" Malcolm said. "Of course, Pierre Pitou is one
+of my best friends; and now I think of it, madam, I ought to know without
+asking, so great is his resemblance to you. Why, his last words to me
+were, 'If you go to Tours, seek out my sister, who lives in a house
+nearly opposite the entrance to the convent of Our Lady;' and to think I
+should have forgotten all about it till I saw you!"
+
+Malcolm remained for a quarter of an hour chatting with the woman about
+her brother, and then, promising to call again the next day in the
+evening to be introduced to her husband, he rejoined Ronald, who had been
+waiting at the corner of the lane, and had been fidgeting with impatience
+at the long interview between Malcolm and the woman.
+
+"What have you been talking about all this time, Malcolm, and what could
+you have to say to a stranger?"
+
+"I have been telling her all about her brother, Pierre Pitou of the
+Touraine regiment, and how he distinguished himself at Dettingen, and
+will surely be made a sergeant, with a hope some day of getting to be a
+captain. I have quite won her heart."
+
+"But who is Pierre Pitou, and when did you know him?" Ronald asked
+surprised.
+
+"He is a tall man with broad shoulders and a scar over his left eye,"
+Malcolm said laughing, and he then related the whole conversation.
+
+"But why did you pretend to this poor woman that you knew her brother?"
+
+"Because she may be very useful to us, Ronald; and if you can't find a
+friend in court, it's just as well to have one near court. She is a
+gossiping woman, and like enough she may know some of the lay sisters,
+who are, in fact, the servants of the convent, and come out to buy
+supplies of food and other things, and who distribute the alms among the
+poor. I don't know what advantage will come of it yet, Ronald; but I can
+see I have done a great stroke of business, and feel quite an affection
+for my friend Pierre Pitou."
+
+Malcolm followed up the acquaintance he had made, and soon established
+himself as a friend of the family. Ronald did not accompany him on any of
+his visits, for as the plan of proceeding was still undecided, he and
+Malcolm agreed that it was better that he should not show himself until
+some favourable opportunity offered.
+
+Sometimes towards evening he and Malcolm would take a boat and float down
+the stream past the convent walls, and Ronald would wonder which of the
+figures whose heads he could perceive as they walked upon the terrace,
+was that of his mother. It was not until Malcolm had become quite at home
+with Madame Vipon that he again turned the conversation towards the
+convent. He learned that she had often been inside the walls, for before
+her marriage she had worked at a farm whence the convent drew a portion
+of its supplies; milk, butter, and eggs, and she had often carried
+baskets to the convent.
+
+"Of course I never went beyond the outer court," she said; "but Farmer
+Miron's daughter--it was he owned the farm--is a lay sister there.
+She was crossed in love, poor girl. She liked Andre, the son of a
+neighbouring farmer, but it was but a small place by the side of that of
+Miron, and her father would not hear of it, but wanted her to marry
+Jacques Dubois, the rich miller, who was old enough to be her father.
+Andre went to the wars and was killed; and instead of changing when the
+news came, as her father expected, and taking up with the miller, she
+hated him worse than ever, and said that he was the cause of Andre's
+death; so the long and short of it was, she came as a lay sister to the
+convent here. Of course she never thought of taking the vows, for to do
+that here one must be noble and be able to pay a heavy dowry to the
+convent.
+
+"So she is just a lay sister, a sort of servant, you know, but she is a
+favourite and often goes to market for them, and when she does she
+generally drops in here for a few minutes for a talk; for though she was
+only a child when I was at the farm we were great friends, and she hears
+from me how all the people she used to know are getting on."
+
+"I suppose she knows all the ladies who reside in the convent as well as
+the sisters?"
+
+"Oh, yes, and much better than the sisters! It is on them she waits. She
+does not see much of the sisters, who keep to their own side of the
+house, and have very little to do with the visitors, or as one might call
+them the prisoners, for that is what most of them really are."
+
+"Now I think of it," Malcolm said, "one of the officers I served under
+had a relation, a lady, whom I have heard him say, when he was talking to
+another officer, is shut up here, either because she wouldn't marry some
+one her father didn't want her to, I forget exactly what it was now. Let
+me see, what was her name. Elise--no, that wasn't it. Amelie--Amelie
+de Recambours--yes, that was it."
+
+"Oh, yes, I know the name! I have heard Jeanne speak of her. Jeanne said
+it was whispered among them that she had really married somebody against
+her father's will. At any rate she has been there ever so many years, and
+they have not made her take the veil, as they do most of them if they are
+obstinate and won't give way. Poor thing! Jeanne says she is very pretty
+still, though she must be nearly forty now."
+
+"That is very interesting," Malcolm said; "and if you will not mind,
+Madam Vipon, I will write to the officer of whom I spoke and tell him his
+cousin is alive and well. I was his servant in the regiment, and I know,
+from what I have heard him say, he was very much attached to her. There
+can be no harm in that, you know," he said, as Madam Vipon looked
+doubtful; "but if you would prefer it, of course I will not say how I
+have heard."
+
+"Yes, that will be better," she agreed. "There is never any saying how
+things come round; and though there's no harm in what I have told you,
+still it's ill gossiping about what takes place inside convent walls."
+
+"I quite agree with you, my dear Madam Vipon, and admire your discretion.
+It is singular how you take after your brother. Pierre Pitou had the
+reputation of being the most discreet man in the regiment of Touraine."
+
+Ronald was very excited when he heard from Malcolm that he had actually
+obtained news at second hand as to his mother, and it was with difficulty
+that his friend persuaded him to allow matters to go on as he proposed.
+
+"It will never do to hurry things now, Ronald; everything is turning out
+beyond our expectations. A fortnight ago it seemed absolutely hopeless
+that you should communicate with your mother; now things are in a good
+train for it."
+
+Accordingly Malcolm made no further allusion to the subject to Madame
+Vipon until a fortnight had passed; then he said, on calling on her one
+day:
+
+"Do you know, my dear Madam Vipon, I have had a letter from the gentleman
+of whom I was speaking to you. He is full of gratitude at the news I sent
+him. I did not tell him from whom I had heard the news, save that it was
+from one of the kindest of women, the sister of an old comrade of mine.
+He has sent me this"--and he took out a small box which he opened, and
+showed a pretty gold broach, with earrings to match--"and bid me to
+give it in his name to the person who had sent him this good news."
+
+"That is beautiful," Madam Vipon said, clapping her hands; "and I have so
+often wished for a real gold broach! Won't my husband open his eyes when
+he sees them!"
+
+"I think, if I might advise, my dear madam," Malcolm said, "I should not
+give him the exact history of them. He might take it into his head that
+you had been gossiping, although there is no woman in the world less
+given to gossiping than you are. Still, you know what husbands are.
+Therefore, if I were you I would tell him that your brother Pierre had
+sent them to you through me, knowing, you see, that you could not have
+read a letter even if he could have written one."
+
+"Yes, perhaps that would be the best," Madam Vipon said; "but you had
+better write to Pierre and tell him. Otherwise when he comes home, and my
+husband thanks him for them, he might say he had never sent them, and
+there would be a nice affair."
+
+"I will do so," Malcolm said; "but in any case I am sure your wit would
+have come to the rescue, and you would have said that you had in fact
+bought them from your savings; but that thinking your husband might
+grumble at your little economies you had thought it best to say that they
+came from your brother."
+
+"Oh, fie, monsieur; I am afraid you are teaching me to tell stories."
+
+"That is a very hard word, my dear madam. You know as well as I do that
+without a little management on both sides husbands and wives would never
+get on well together; but now I want to tell you more. Not only does my
+old master write to say how glad he is to hear of his cousin's welfare,
+but he has told me a great deal more about the poor lady, and knowing
+your kindness of heart I do not hesitate to communicate the contents of
+his letter to you. The Countess Amelie de Recambours was secretly married
+to a young officer, a great friend of my late master, and her father did
+not discover it until after the birth of a child--a boy. Then she was
+shut up here. The father got the boy safely away to Scotland, but he has
+now come back to France. I do not suppose the poor lady has ever heard of
+her little son since, and it would be an act of kindness and mercy to let
+her know that he is alive and well."
+
+"Yes, indeed, poor creature," Madame Vipon said sympathetically. "Only to
+think of being separated from your husband, and never hearing of your
+child for all these years!"
+
+"I knew your tender heart would sympathize with her," Malcolm said; "she
+is indeed to be pitied."
+
+"And what became of her husband?"
+
+"I fancy he died years ago; but my master says nothing about him. He only
+writes of the boy, who it seems is so delighted with the news about his
+mother that he is coming here to see if it is possible to have an
+interview with her."
+
+"But it is not possible," Madam Vipon exclaimed. "How can he see her,
+shut up as she is in that convent?"
+
+"Yes, it is difficult," Malcolm agreed; "but nothing is impossible, my
+dear madam, when a woman of heart like yourself takes a matter in hand;
+and I rely, I can tell you, greatly on your counsel; as to your goodwill,
+I am assured of that beforehand."
+
+"But it is quite, quite, quite impossible, I assure you, my good Monsieur
+Anderson."
+
+"Well, let us see. Now I know that you would suggest that the first
+measure to be taken is to open communication between mother and son, and
+there I heartily agree with you."
+
+"That would be the first thing of course, monsieur; but how is that to be
+done?"
+
+"Now that is where I look to you, madam. Your friend Jeanne waits upon
+her, you see, and I know your quick wit will already have perceived that
+Jeanne might deliver a message. I am sure that she would never be your
+friend had she not a warm heart like your own, and it will need very
+little persuasion on your part, when you have told her this sad story, to
+induce her to bring gladness to this unfortunate lady."
+
+"Yes; but think of the consequences, Monsieur Anderson: think what would
+happen if it were found out."
+
+"Yes, if there were any talk of the countess running away from the
+convent I would not on any condition ask you to assist in such a matter;
+but what is this--merely to give a message, a few harmless words."
+
+"But you said an interview, Monsieur Anderson."
+
+"An interview only if it is possible, my dear madam, that is quite
+another matter, and you know you said that it was quite impossible. All
+that we want now is just a little message, a message by word of mouth
+which not even the keenest eye can discover or prevent; there can be no
+harm in that."
+
+"No, I don't think there can be much harm in that," Madam Vipon agreed;
+"at any rate I will talk to Jeanne. It will be her day for going to
+market tomorrow; I will tell her the story of the poor lady, and I think
+I can answer beforehand that she will do everything she can."
+
+The following afternoon Malcolm again saw Madam Vipon, who told him that
+although she had not actually promised she had no doubt Jeanne would
+deliver the message.
+
+"She will be out again on Saturday, monsieur, at nine in the morning, and
+if you will be here with the boy, if he has arrived by that time, you
+shall speak to her."
+
+At the time appointed Malcolm, with Ronald, attired now as a young French
+gentleman, arrived at the house of Madam Vipon, who was warmly thanked by
+Ronald for the interest she had taken in him.
+
+"My friend here has spoken to me in the highest terms of you, Madam
+Vipon, and I am sure that all that he has said is no more than the
+truth."
+
+"I am sure I will do all I can," replied Madam Vipon, who was greatly
+taken by Ronald's appearance and manner; "it's a cruel thing separating a
+mother from a son so many years, and after all what I am doing is no
+hanging matter anyway."
+
+A few minutes later Jeanne entered; she was a pleasant looking woman of
+five or six and twenty, and even her sombre attire as a lay sister failed
+to give a formal look to her merry face.
+
+"So these are the gentlemen who want me to become a conspirator," she
+said, "and to run the risk of all sorts of punishment and penalties for
+meddling in their business?"
+
+"Not so much my business as the business of my mother," Ronald said. "You
+who have such true heart of your own, for madam has told us something of
+your story, will, I am sure, feel for that poor lady shut up for fifteen
+years, and knowing not whether her child is dead or alive. If we could
+but see each other for five minutes, think what joy it would be to her,
+what courage her poor heart would take."
+
+"See each other!" Jeanne repeated surprised. "You said nothing about
+that, Francoise; you only said take a message. How can they possibly see
+each other? That's a different thing altogether."
+
+"I want you to take a message first," Ronald said. "If nothing more can
+be done that will be very much; but I cannot think but that you and my
+mother between you will be able to hit upon some plan by which we might
+meet."
+
+"But how," Jeanne asked in perplexity, "how could it possibly be?"
+
+"For example," Ronald suggested; "could I not come in as a lay sister? I
+am not much taller than you, and could pass very well as a girl."
+
+Jeanne burst our laughing.
+
+"You do not know what you are saying, monsieur; it would be altogether
+impossible. People do not get taken on as lay sisters in the convent of
+Our Lady unless they are known; besides, in other ways it would be
+altogether impossible, and even if it were not it might be years before
+you could get to speak to the countess, for there are only two or three
+of us who ever enter the visitors' rooms; and lastly, if you were found
+out I don't know what would be done to both of us. No, that would never
+do at all."
+
+"Well, in the next place, I could climb on to the river terrace at night,
+and perhaps she could come and speak to me there."
+
+"That is more possible," Jeanne said thoughtfully; "but all the doors are
+locked up at night."
+
+"But she might get out of a window," Ronald urged; "with a rope ladder
+she could get down, and then return again, and none be the wiser."
+
+Jeanne sat silent for a minute, and then she asked suddenly:
+
+"Are you telling me all, monsieur, or are you intending that the countess
+shall escape with you?"
+
+"No, indeed, on my honour!" Ronald exclaimed. "I have nowhere where I
+could take my mother. She would be pursued and brought back, and her
+position would be far worse than it is now. No; I swear to you that I
+only want to see her and to speak to her, and I have nothing else
+whatever in my mind."
+
+"I believe you, monsieur," Jeanne said gravely. "Had it been otherwise I
+dare not have helped, for my punishment if I was discovered to have aided
+in an escape from the convent would be terrible--terrible!" she
+repeated with a shudder. "As to the other, I will risk it; for a gentler
+and kinder lady I have never met. And yet I am sure she must be very,
+very brave to have remained firm for so many years. At any rate I will
+give her your message."
+
+Ronald took from a small leather bag, which he wore round his neck, a
+tiny gold chain with a little cross.
+
+"I had this round my neck when I was taken away as a child to Scotland.
+No doubt she put it there, and will recognize it. Say to her only: 'He
+whom you have not seen since he was an infant is in Tours, longing above
+all things to speak to you;' that is all my message. Afterwards, if you
+will, you can tell her what we have said, and how I long to see her. How
+high is her room from the ground? Because if it is high it will be better
+that I should climb to her window, than that she should descend and
+ascend again."
+
+Jeanne shook her head.
+
+"That could not be," she said. "The visitors have all separate cells, but
+the partitions do not go up to the ceiling; and even if you entered, not
+a word could be spoken without being overheard. But fortunately she is on
+the first floor, and I am sure she is not one to shrink from so little a
+matter as the descent of a ladder in order to have an interview with her
+son."
+
+That same afternoon as Amelie de Recambours was proceeding from the
+refectory to her cell, following several of her fellow captives, her
+attendant Jeanne came out from one of the cells. Glancing behind to see
+that no one was following, she put her finger on her lips and then
+whispered: "Make some excuse not to go into the garden with the others
+this evening. It is most important." Then she glided back into the room
+from which she had come.
+
+The countess followed the others in a state of almost bewilderment. For
+sixteen years nothing had occurred to break the monotony of her
+existence. At first occasional angry messages reached her from her
+father, with orders to join an application to the pope for a divorce; but
+when it had been found impossible to overcome her steady refusals the
+messages had at last ceased, and for years no word from the outer world
+had reached her, although she had learned from those who from time to
+time came to share her captivity what was passing outside. Whether her
+husband was alive or dead she knew not. They had told her over and over
+again that he was dead; but the fact that she had never had the option
+given her of accepting another husband or taking the final vows kept hope
+alive. For she was convinced that if he was really dead, efforts would be
+made to compel her to marry again.
+
+What, then, she wondered to herself, could this communication so secretly
+given mean? She regarded the lay sister who attended upon her as a happy
+looking young woman whose face was in strong contrast to most of those
+within the walls of the convent; but she had exchanged but few words with
+her, knowing that she would be but a short time about her. For the policy
+of the abbess was to change the attendants upon the ladies in their
+charge frequently, in order to prevent them from being tampered with, or
+persuaded into conveying communications without the walls.
+
+"You look pale, Amelie," one of the other ladies said as they gathered in
+a group for a moment before proceeding to their respective apartments,
+where they were supposed to pass the afternoon in working, reading, and
+meditation.
+
+"It is the heat," the countess said. "I have a headache."
+
+"You look it," the latter said. "It is not often that you have anything
+the matter with you. You know we all say that you must have a
+constitution of iron and the courage of a Roland to be sixteen years here
+and yet to have no wrinkle on your forehead, no marks of weeping round
+your eyes."
+
+The countess smiled sadly.
+
+"I wept the first six months almost without ceasing, and then I told
+myself that if I would be strong and resist I must weep no more. If a
+bird in a cage once takes to pining he is sure not to live long. There
+are few of us here the news of whose death would not give pleasure to
+those who shut us up, and I for one resolved that I would live in spite
+of all."
+
+"Well, you must not get ill now, Amelie. We should miss you terribly in
+the one hour of the day when we really live, the hour when we walk and
+talk, and laugh if we can, on the river terrace.
+
+"I don't think I shall be able to come this evening," the countess said.
+"I shall lie down and keep myself quiet. Tomorrow I hope to be myself
+again. It is a mere passing indisposition."
+
+The hours passed slowly as Amelie lay on her couch and wondered over the
+coming interview. There were so many things which she might hear--that
+her father was dead; that her family had hopes at last of obtaining her
+restoration to the world. That it could be a message from her husband she
+had no hope, for so long as her father lived she was sure that his
+release would never be granted. As to the child, she scarce gave it a
+thought. That it had somehow been removed and had escaped the search that
+had been made for it she was aware; for attempts had been made to obtain
+from her some clue as to where it would most likely have been taken. She
+was convinced that it had never been found, for if it had she would have
+heard of it. It would have been used as a lever to work upon her.
+
+At last the hour when she was accustomed to go into the garden arrived,
+and as the convent bell struck seven she heard the doors of the other
+cells open, the sound of feet in the corridor, and then all became still.
+In a few minutes a step approached, and one of the sisters entered to
+inquire why she was not in the garden with the others.
+
+She repeated that her head ached.
+
+"You look pale," the sister said, "and your hand is hot and feverish. I
+will send you up some tisane. It is the heat, no doubt. I think that we
+are going to have thunder."
+
+In a few minutes a step was again heard approaching, and Jeanne entered
+with the medicament. As she closed the door the countess started into a
+sitting position.
+
+"What is it, Jeanne? What is it that you have to say to me?"
+
+"Calm yourself, I pray you, countess," Jeanne said. "For both our sakes I
+pray you to hear what I have to say calmly. I expect Sister Felicia will
+be here directly. When she heard you were unwell she said she would come
+up and see what you needed. And now, I will begin my message. In the
+first place I was to hand you this." And she placed in Amelie's hand the
+little necklet and cross.
+
+For a moment the countess looked at them wonderingly, and then there
+flashed across her memory a sturdy child in its nurse's arms, and a tall
+man looking on with a loving smile as she fastened a tiny gold chain
+round the child's neck. A low cry burst from her lips as she started to
+her feet.
+
+"Hush, lady, hush!" Jeanne exclaimed. "This is my message: 'He whom you
+have not seen since he was an infant is in Tours, longing above all
+things to speak to you.'"
+
+"My child! my child!" the countess cried. "Alive and here! My God, I
+thank thee that thou hast remembered a friendless mother at last. Have
+you seen him, Jeanne? What is he like? Oh, tell me everything!"
+
+"He is a right proper young gentleman, madam. Straight and comely and
+tall, with brown waving hair and a bright pleasant face. A son such as
+any mother might be proud of."
+
+The countess suddenly threw her arms around Jeanne's neck and burst into
+tears.
+
+"You have made me so happy, Jeanne; happy as I never thought to be again.
+How can I thank you?"
+
+"The best way at present, madam," Jeanne said with a smile, "will be by
+drinking up that tisane, and lying down quietly. Sister Felicia moves
+about as noiselessly as a cat, and she may pop in at any moment. Do you
+lie down again, and I will stand a little way off talking. Then if she
+comes upon us suddenly she will suspect nothing."
+
+The countess seized the bowl of tisane and drank it off, and then threw
+herself on the couch.
+
+"Go on, Jeanne, go on. Have pity on my impatience. Think how I am longing
+to hear of him. Did the message say he was longing to see me? But that is
+not possible."
+
+"It is not quite impossible, madam; though it would be dangerous, very
+dangerous. Still it is not quite impossible."
+
+"How then could it be done, Jeanne? You know what our life is here. How
+can I possibly see my boy?"
+
+"What he proposes, madam, is this: that he should some night scale the
+river wall, and await you on the terrace, and that you should descend
+from your window by a rope ladder, and so return after seeing him."
+
+"Oh, yes, that is possible!" the countess exclaimed; "I could knot my bed
+clothes and slide down. It matters not about getting back again, since we
+have no ladder."
+
+"I can manage to bring in two light ropes," Jeanne said. "It would not do
+for you to be found in the garden, for it would excite suspicion, and you
+would never have a chance of doing it again. But it is not an easy thing
+to climb up a rope ladder with no one to help you, and you know I shall
+be at the other end of the house."
+
+"That is nothing," the countess said. "Had I to climb ten times the
+height, do you think I should hesitate for a moment when it was to see my
+son? Oh, Jeanne, how good you are! And when will it be?"
+
+"I will bring in the ropes next time I go out. Mind and place them in
+your bed. You will know that that night at eleven o'clock your son will
+be on the terrace awaiting you.
+
+As Jeanne finished speaking she placed her finger on her lips, for she
+thought she heard a slight noise without. The countess closed her eyes
+and then lay down on her pillow, while Jeanne stood as if watching her.
+The next instant the door opened noiselessly and Sister Felicia entered.
+She moved with a noiseless step up to Jeanne.
+
+"Is she asleep?" she whispered.
+
+"Oh no!" Jeanne answered in a louder voice, guessing that the sister
+would have heard the murmur of voices. "She has only just closed her
+eyes."
+
+The countess looked up.
+
+"Ah! is it you, sister? I have taken the tisane Sister Angela sent up,
+but my hands are burning and my head aches. The heat in chapel was so
+great I thought I should have fainted."
+
+"Your hands are indeed burning," the sister said, convinced, as soon as
+she touched them, that the countess was really indisposed. "Yes; and your
+pulse is beating quicker than I can count. Yes, you have a touch of
+fever. I will mix you a draught and bring it up to you at once. Hark!
+that is the first peal of thunder; we are going to have a storm. It will
+clear the air, and do you even more good than my medicine. I will leave
+you here for tonight; if you are not better tomorrow we will move you
+into the infirmary."
+
+The next morning Sister Felicia found her patient much better, though she
+still seemed languid and weak, and was ordered to remain quietly in her
+apartment for a day or so, which was just what she desired, for she was
+so filled with her new born happiness that she feared that if she went
+about her daily tasks as usual she should not be able to conceal from the
+sharp eyes of the sisters the joyousness which was brimming over in her,
+while had she laughed she would have astonished the inmates of the gloomy
+convent.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII: Mother!
+
+
+When Jeanne, after accomplishing her errands the next time she went out,
+entered Madam Vipon's, she found Ronald and Malcolm awaiting her.
+
+"You have told my mother?" the former asked eagerly as she entered.
+
+"Yes, I have told her, and if I had been an angel from heaven, with a
+special message to her, the poor lady could not have looked more happy."
+
+"And you have been like an angel to us!" Ronald exclaimed, taking her
+hand. "How can I thank you for your goodness?"
+
+"For shame, sir!" Jeanne said, smiling and colouring as Ronald, in his
+delight, threw his arms round her and kissed her. "Remember I am a lay
+sister."
+
+"I could not have helped it," Ronald said, "if you had been the lady
+superior. And now," he went on eagerly, "is all arranged? See, I have
+brought a ladder of silk rope, light and thin, but quite strong enough to
+bear her."
+
+"You take all for granted then, sir. You know I said I would take your
+message, but that I would not engage to meddle further in it."
+
+"I know you said so; but I was sure that having gone so far you would do
+the rest. You will, won't you, Jeanne?"
+
+"I suppose I must," Jeanne said; "for what with the countess on one side
+and you on the other, I should get no peace if I said no. Well, then, it
+is all arranged. At eleven o'clock tonight you are to be on the terrace,
+and you can expect her there. If she does not come you will know that
+something has occurred to prevent her, and she will come the following
+night at the same hour."
+
+Jeanne took the silken cords and wound them round her, under her lay
+sister's robe, and then, with a kindly nod at Ronald, and an injunction
+to be as noiseless as a mouse in climbing up the terrace, and above all
+not to raise his voice in speaking to his mother, she tripped away across
+the street to the convent.
+
+Malcolm and Ronald sallied out from Tours before the city gates were
+closed at sunset, and sat down on the slope which rises from the other
+side of the river and waited till it was time to carry the plan into
+operation. Gradually the lights disappeared from the various windows and
+the sounds which came across the water ceased, and by ten o'clock
+everything was profoundly still. They had, in the course of the
+afternoon, hired a boat, saying they were going out for a night's
+fishing. This they had moored a short distance below the town, on the
+side of the river where they now were. They now made their way to it and
+rowed quietly across the stream; then they left it and waded through the
+water, which flowed knee deep at the foot of the walls.
+
+Although Tours was still a walled town the habit of keeping sentry in
+time of peace had long since died out, and they had no fear, at that
+hour, of discovery. There was no moon, but the night was bright and
+clear, and they had no difficulty in finding that part of the wall which
+now formed the terrace of the convent.
+
+They were provided with a rope knotted at every foot, and with a grapnel
+attached to one end. At the second attempt this caught on the parapet of
+the wall, and Ronald at once climbed it and stood on the terrace, where,
+a minute later, he was joined by Malcolm. The convent itself could not be
+seen, for a screen of trees at the foot of the wall shut it off from the
+view of people on the opposite bank of the river. They waited quietly
+until a sudden peal of the bells of the numerous churches announced that
+it was the hour. Then they moved towards the steps leading down into the
+garden. A minute later a figure was seen approaching. Malcolm fell back,
+and Ronald advanced towards it. As the countess approached she held our
+her arms, exclaiming:
+
+"My boy, my boy!" and with a cry of "Mother!" Ronald sprang forward into
+her embrace.
+
+For a short time not a word was spoken, and then the countess murmured:
+
+"My God, I thank thee for this great happiness. And now, my son," she
+said, recovering herself, "tell me everything. First, have you news of
+your father?"
+
+"Alas, no!" Ronald said. "Nothing has been heard of him since the fatal
+day when he was seized; but I am convinced that he is still alive, and
+since I have found you, surely I shall be able to find him."
+
+"Who is that with you, Ronald?"
+
+"That is Malcolm Anderson; it is to him I owe everything. He carried me
+off and took me away with him to Scotland the day my father was arrested.
+He has been my best friend ever since, and it is he who brought me here
+to you."
+
+The countess advanced to Malcolm.
+
+"My son has told me that we owe everything to you, my brave Malcolm!" she
+said, holding out her hand. "I guessed that it was to you that my husband
+had confided the care of the child when I learned that it had
+disappeared. I remember what confidence he had in your devotion, and how
+he confided everything to you."
+
+"He was like a brother to me, madam," Malcolm replied; "and glad indeed
+am I that I have been able to befriend his son and to bring him back to
+you a gentleman who will be an honour even to his father's name and
+yours."
+
+"And now let us sit down here," the countess said, taking a seat upon a
+bench. "It gets light very early, and you must not stay after two
+o'clock, and there is so much for me to hear."
+
+For the next two hours Ronald sat holding his mother's hand, while he
+told her the story of his life. "And now, mother," he said, when he had
+concluded, "we have but an hour left, for it has just struck one, and we
+have not said a word yet about the principal thing of all. How are we to
+obtain your freedom? Cannot you arrange to escape with us? I do not, of
+course, mean tonight, for we have nothing prepared, and, moreover, I
+promised Jeanne that there should be no attempt at escape; but we can
+come again when everything is ready. We shall, of course, need a disguise
+for you, for there will be a hot pursuit when your escape is known. But
+we might manage to reach the coast and cross over to England, and so make
+our way north."
+
+"No, my son," the countess said. "I have thought it over in every way
+since I knew you were here, and I am resolved to remain here. Were I to
+fly, the last hope that your father might be freed would be lost. My
+father would be more than ever incensed against him and me; and,
+moreover, although that is but a minor consideration, there would be no
+hope whatever of your ever recovering the rank and estate to which you
+are entitled. No, I am resolved to wait here, at any rate so long as my
+father lives. At his death doubtless there will be some change, for as
+heiress to his estates my existence must be in some way recognized, and
+my family may be enabled to obtain my release when his powerful
+opposition is removed; if not, it will be time to take the idea of flight
+into consideration; till then I remain here. Now that I have seen you,
+now that I know you as you are, for I can just make out your face by the
+light of the stars, I shall be as near contentment and happiness as I can
+be till I meet your father again. In the meantime your good friend here
+can advise you far better than I can as to what your course had better
+be. If you can obtain any high influence, use it for obtaining your
+father's release. If it be accompanied by a sentence of exile from France
+it matters not, so that he is freed. You can then return here, and I will
+gladly fly with you to join him in Scotland."
+
+Malcolm now rose from his seat and left mother and son half an hour
+together. When two o'clock struck he returned to them.
+
+"There is the signal," the countess said, rising, "and now we must part."
+She had already refused to accede to Ronald's entreaty that she would
+meet him there again.
+
+"No, my son, we have been permitted to meet this once, but we must not
+tempt fortune again. Sooner or later something would be sure to occur
+which would lead to discovery, and bring ruin upon all our plans. It is
+hard to say no, and to refuse the chance of seeing you again now that we
+have come together, but I am fully resolved that I will not risk it."
+
+"We will see you safe up the ladder, mother," Ronald said. "It is no easy
+matter to climb up a rope ladder swinging loosely."
+
+"No, I discovered that in descending," the countess said; "but if you
+come with me you must take off your boots--the print of a man's
+footstep in the garden would ruin us all; and mind, not a word must be
+spoken when we have once left the terrace."
+
+Taking off their boots they accompanied her through the garden. There was
+a last passionate embrace at the foot of the ladder, then the countess
+mounted it while they held it steady. Directly she entered the window she
+undid the fastening of the rope inside and let the ladder drop down to
+them. Five minutes later Ronald descended the rope into the river.
+Malcolm shifted the grapnel so that it caught only on the edge of the
+parapet and could be shaken off from below when the strain on the rope
+was removed, then he slid down to Ronald's side. A sharp jerk brought
+down the grapnel, and they returned along the edge of the river as they
+had come, crossed in the boat, and waited for morning.
+
+They waited two days longer in Tours in order that they might receive,
+through Jeanne from the countess, a list of the noble families to which
+she was related, with notes as to those persons of whom she had seen most
+before her marriage, and who she believed would be most disposed to exert
+their influence on her behalf.
+
+"Jeanne," Ronald said, "I am troubled that I do not know what I can do to
+show you how grateful I am. I should so like to give you some souvenir,
+but what can I do--you could not wear brooches, or earrings, or
+trinkets."
+
+"That I could not, monsieur," Jeanne broke in with a smile; "and if I
+could I would not accept them from you. I have done what I have done
+because I pitied your mother and you, and I am content that if I have
+broken the rules I have done it with a good purpose."
+
+"Well, Jeanne," Ronald said, "you may not be a lay sister all your life;
+you have taken no vows that will bind you for ever, and I have no doubt
+that the lady superior can absolve you from your engagements should you
+at any time wish to go back to the world; if so, and if I am still in
+France, I will come to dance at your wedding, and will promise you as
+pretty a necklace and earrings as are to be found in Touraine."
+
+"Very well, that is a bargain," Jeanne said laughing; "and it is not
+impossible, young sir, that some day I may hold you to your promise, for
+only last market day I met my father, and he spoke more kindly to me than
+he used to, and even said that he missed me; and I hear that the miller
+has found someone who will put up with him for the sake of his money. I
+shouldn't be surprised if, when that comes off, father wants me home
+again; but I sha'n't go directly he asks me, you may be sure, but shall
+bargain that if there be again any question of a husband it will be for
+me to decide and not him."
+
+The next day Ronald and his companion started for Paris. They were highly
+gratified with the success which had attended them, and Ronald felt his
+whole life brightened now that he had found the mother who had been so
+long lost to him. On arriving at Paris they found that Colonel Hume's
+regiment had returned to the capital. It was not expected that there
+would at present be any further fighting on the frontier, and two or
+three of the Scotch regiments had been brought back. Ronald at once
+called on Colonel Hume and related to him the success which had attended
+the first portion of his undertaking.
+
+"I congratulate you indeed," Colonel Hume said. "I own that I thought
+your enterprise was a hopeless one, for it seemed to me impossible that
+you should be able to obtain an interview with a lady closely imprisoned
+in a convent. Why, Anderson, it is plain now that your talents have been
+lost, and that you ought to have been a diplomatist instead of wasting
+your time as a soldier. The way you carried out your plan was indeed
+admirable, and I shall really begin to think that Ronald will yet
+succeed; and now, my young friend, what do you mean to do next?"
+
+"Would it be possible, sir, to ascertain where my father is confined?"
+
+"I think not, my lad," the colonel said gravely. "In addition to the four
+or five prisons in Paris there are a score of others in different parts
+of France. The names of the prisoners in each are known only to the
+governors; to all others within the walls they exist as numbers only. The
+governors themselves are sworn to secrecy, and even if we could get at
+one or two of them, which would be difficult enough, we could hope for no
+more. Nor would it be much satisfaction to you merely to know in which
+prison your father is lying, for it is a very different matter to
+communicate with a prisoner in one of the royal fortresses to passing a
+message to a lady detained in a convent. I can see nothing for you but to
+follow the example of your mother and to practise patience, so conducting
+yourself as to gain friends and make a name and influence, so that at
+your grandfather's death we may bring as strong a pressure as possible to
+bear upon the king."
+
+"How old is my grandfather?" Ronald asked.
+
+"He is a man about sixty."
+
+"Why, he may live twenty years yet!" Ronald exclaimed bitterly.
+
+"Do not look at the worst side of the question," Colonel Hume replied
+with a smile. "But he may live some years," he went on more gravely, "and
+in the meantime you must think what you had better do. I will tell you as
+a great secret, that it has been finally resolved that an expedition
+shall sail this winter for Scotland, and fifteen thousand troops will
+assemble at Dunkirk under Marshal Saxe. Nothing could be more opportune.
+We are to form part of the expedition, with several other Scottish
+regiments. You are too young as yet for me to ask for a commission for
+you, but if you like I will enroll you as a gentleman volunteer; in this
+way you may have an opportunity of distinguishing yourself. I will
+introduce you to the Chevalier, and it may be that if he succeeds in
+gaining the crown of Scotland, if not of England, he will himself ask
+King Louis as a personal favour to release and restore to him Colonel
+Leslie of Glenlyon, who fought bravely with him in '15. If the expedition
+fails, and we get back alive to France, I will then obtain for you a
+commission in the regiment, and we can carry out our plan as we arranged.
+What do you say to that?"
+
+"I thank you greatly, sir, and accept your offer most gratefully. I see
+that I am powerless to do anything for my father now, and your plan gives
+at least a prospect of success. In any case nothing will give me so much
+delight as to serve with the regiment he formerly commanded, and under so
+kind a friend as yourself."
+
+"That is settled then," Colonel Hume said; "and now about outfit. A
+gentleman volunteer wears the uniform of the officers of the regiment,
+and indeed is one in all respects except that he draws no pay. My purse
+will be at your disposal. Do not show any false modesty, my lad, about
+accepting help from me. Your father would have shared his last penny with
+me had I needed it."
+
+"I thank you heartily, colonel, for your offer, and should it be
+necessary I will avail myself of it, but at present I have ample funds.
+Malcolm carried off with me a bag with a hundred louis, and up to the day
+when I landed in France these had never been touched. I have eighty of
+them still remaining, which will provide my outfit and my maintenance for
+a long time to come."
+
+"There is another advantage in your being a volunteer, rather than on the
+list of officers, Ronald; in that if it is necessary at any time, you
+can, after a word with me, lay aside your uniform and go about your
+affairs as long as you choose without question, which would be hard to do
+if you belonged regularly to the regiment."
+
+At the end of a week Ronald had procured his uniform, and was presented
+by the colonel to the officers of the regiment as Ronald Leslie, the son
+of an old friend of his, who was joining the regiment as a gentleman
+volunteer. Malcolm joined only in the capacity of Ronald's servant. It
+was painful to the lad that his old friend and protector should assume
+such a relation towards him, but Malcolm laughed at his scruples.
+
+"My dear Ronald," he said, "I was your father's servant, and yet his
+friend. Why should I not act in the same capacity to you? As to the
+duties, they are so light that, now I do not belong to the regiment, my
+only difficulty will be to kill time. There is nothing to do save to
+polish up your arms and your equipment. Your horse will be looked after
+by a trooper so long as you are with the regiment. I shall call you in
+the morning, get your cup of chocolate, and prepare your dinner when you
+do not dine abroad, carry your messages when you have any messages to
+send, and escort you when you go about any business in which it is
+possible that a second sword would be of use to you. As I have said, the
+only trouble will be to know what to do with myself when you do not want
+me."
+
+It was now the end of August, and for the next four months Ronald worked
+hard at drill. He soon became a general favourite with the officers. The
+fact that his name was Leslie, and that he was accompanied by Malcolm,
+who was known to many of the old soldiers as being devoted to their
+former colonel and as having in some strange way disappeared from the
+regiment at the same time, gave ground to a general surmise that Leslie
+was the colonel's son.
+
+Malcolm himself, when questioned, neither denied nor acknowledged the
+fact, but turned it off with a joke and a laugh. He was soon as much at
+home in his old regiment as if he formed a part in it, and when not
+required by Ronald passed the greater part of his time with his former
+comrades. As was natural, the opinion entertained by the men as to
+Leslie's identity was shared by the officers. The avoidance by Ronald of
+any allusion to his family, his declining when he first came among them
+to say to which branch of the Leslies he belonged, and the decided manner
+in which Colonel Hume, the first time the question was broached in his
+hearing in Ronald's absence, said that he begged no inquiries would be
+made on that score; all he could assure them was that Leslie's father was
+a gentleman of good family, and a personal friend of his own--put a
+stop to all further questioning, but strengthened the idea that had got
+abroad that the young volunteer was the son of Colonel Leslie.
+
+Early in January the 2d Scottish Dragoons marched for Dunkirk, where
+twenty thousand men assembled, while a large number of men of war and
+transports were gathered in the port. One day, when Ronald was walking in
+the street with Malcolm at his heels, the latter stepped up to him and
+touched him.
+
+"Do you see that officer in the uniform of a colonel of the Black
+Musketeers, in that group at the opposite corner; look at him well, for
+he is your father's greatest enemy, and would be yours if he knew who you
+are; that is the Duke de Chateaurouge."
+
+Ronald gazed at the man who had exercised so evil an influence upon the
+fate of his parents. He was a tall dark man with a pointed moustache, and
+of from forty to forty-five years of age. His features were regular and
+handsome; but in his thin straight eyebrows, the curl of his lips, and a
+certain supercilious drooping of the eyelids, Ronald read the evil
+passions which rendered him so dangerous and implacable an enemy.
+
+"So that is the duke!" Ronald said when he had passed on. "I did not know
+he was a soldier."
+
+"He is an honorary colonel of the regiment, and only does duty when it is
+called on active service; but he served in it for some years as a young
+man, and had the reputation of being a good soldier, though I know that
+he was considered a harsh and unfeeling officer by the men who served
+under him. That is the man, Ronald, and if you could get six inches of
+your sword between his ribs it would go a good long way towards obtaining
+your father's release; but I warn you he is said to be one of the best
+swordsmen in France."
+
+"I care not how good a swordsmen he is," Ronald said hotly, "if I do but
+get a fair chance."
+
+"Don't do anything rash, Ronald; I have no fear about your swordsmanship,
+for I know in the last four months you have practised hard, and that
+Francois says that young as you are you could give a point to any officer
+in the regiment. But at present it were madness to quarrel with the duke;
+you have everything to lose and nothing to gain. If he killed you there
+would be an end of you and your plans; if you killed him you would have
+to fly the country, for a court favourite is not to be slain with as much
+impunity as a bourgeois, and equally would there be an end of all hope of
+obtaining your father's release.
+
+"No, for the present you must be content to bide your time. Still it is
+as well for you to know your foe when you see him, and in the meantime go
+on frequenting the various schools of arms and learn every trick of the
+sword that is to be taught. Look!" he went on, as a group of mounted
+officers rode down the street; "that is Marshal Saxe, one of the best
+soldiers in France, if not the best, and just as wild and reckless in
+private life as he is calm and prudent as a general."
+
+Ronald looked with some surprise at the great general. He had expected to
+see a dashing soldier. He saw a man who looked worn and bent with
+disease, and as if scarce strong enough to sit on his horse; but there
+was still a fire in his eye, and as he uttered a joke to an officer
+riding next to him and joined merrily in the laugh, it was evident that
+his spirit was untouched by the disease which had made a wreck of his
+body.
+
+A few days later a messenger arrived with the news that the French fleet
+from Brest had sailed, and had met the English fleet which had gone off
+in pursuit of it, and the coast of Kent was in consequence unguarded.
+Orders were instantly given that the troops should embark on board the
+transports, and as fast as these were filled they set sail. The
+embarkation of the cavalry naturally took longer time than that of the
+infantry, and before the Scottish Dragoons had got their horses on board
+a portion of the fleet was already out of sight.
+
+"Was there ever such luck!" Malcolm exclaimed, after assisting in getting
+the horses on board, a by no means easy task, as the vessel was rolling
+heavily at her mooring. "The wind is rising every moment, and blowing
+straight into the harbour; unless I mistake not, there will be no sailing
+tonight."
+
+This was soon evident to all. Signals were made from ship to ship, fresh
+anchors were let down, and the topmast housed. By midnight it was blowing
+a tremendous gale, which continued for three days. Several of the
+transports dragged their anchors and were washed ashore, and messages
+arrived from different parts of the coast telling of the wreck of many of
+those which had sailed before the storm set in.
+
+The portion of the fleet which had sailed had indeed been utterly
+dispersed by the gale. Many ships were lost, and the rest, shattered and
+dismantled, arrived at intervals at the various French ports. The blow
+was too heavy to be repaired. The English fleet had again returned to the
+coast, and were on the lookout to intercept the expedition, and as this
+was now reduced to a little more than half of its original strength no
+surprise was felt when the plan was abandoned altogether.
+
+Marshal Saxe with a portion of the troops marched to join the army in
+Flanders, and the Scotch Dragoons were ordered to return to Paris for the
+present.
+
+For a year Ronald remained with the regiment in Paris. He had during that
+time been introduced by Colonel Hume to several members of his mother's
+family. By some of these who had known her before her marriage he was
+kindly received; but all told him that it would be hopeless to make any
+efforts for the release of his father as long as the Marquis de
+Recambours remained alive and high in favour at court, and that any
+movement in that direction would be likely to do harm rather than good.
+Some of the others clearly intimated to him that they considered that the
+countess had, by making a secret marriage and defying her father's
+authority, forfeited all right to the assistance or sympathy of her
+mother's family.
+
+Twice Ronald travelled to Tours and sent messages to his mother through
+Jeanne, and received answers from the countess. She had, however, refused
+to meet him again on the terrace, saying that in spite of the love she
+had for him, and her desire to see him again, she was firmly resolved not
+to run the risk of danger to him and the failure of all their hopes, by
+any rash step.
+
+At the end of the summer campaign in Flanders Marshal Saxe returned to
+Paris, and Colonel Hume one day took Ronald and introduced him to him,
+having previously interested the marshal by relating his history to him.
+The marshal asked Ronald many questions, and was much pleased with his
+frank manner and bearing.
+
+"You shall have any protection I can give you," the marshal said. "No man
+has loved adventures more than I, nor had a fairer share of them, and my
+sympathies are altogether with you; besides, I remember your father well,
+and many a carouse have we had together in Flanders. But I am a soldier,
+you know, and though the king is glad enough to employ our swords in
+fighting his enemies, we have but little influence at court. I promise
+you, however, that after the first great victory I win I will ask the
+release of your father as a personal favour from the king, on the ground
+that he was an old comrade of mine. I can only hope, for your sake, that
+the marquis, your grandfather, may have departed this world before that
+takes place, for he is one of the king's prime favourites, and even the
+request of a victorious general would go for little as opposed to his
+influence the other way. And now, if you like, I will give you a
+commission in Colonel Hume's regiment. You have served for a year as a
+volunteer now, and younger men than you have received commissions."
+
+Ronald thanked the marshal most heartily for his kind promise, but said
+that at present he would rather remain as a volunteer, because it gave
+him greater freedom of action.
+
+"Perhaps you are right," the marshal said. "But at any rate you had
+better abstain from attempting any steps such as Colonel Hume tells me
+you once thought of for obtaining the release of your father. Success
+will be all but impossible, and a failure would destroy altogether any
+hopes you may have of obtaining his release from the king."
+
+It seemed that some of his mother's family with whom he had communicated
+must have desired to gain the favour of the favourite of the king by
+relating the circumstances to him, for a short time after Ronald's
+interview with the marshal the marquis came up to Colonel Hume when he
+was on duty in the king's antechamber, and, in the presence of a number
+of courtiers, said to him:
+
+"So, Colonel Hume, I find that I have to thank you for harbouring in your
+regiment an imposter, who claims to be my grandson. I shall know, sir,
+how to repay the obligation."
+
+"The gentleman in question is no imposter, marquis, as I have taken the
+pains to inform myself. And I am not aware of any reason why I should not
+admit the son of a Scottish gentleman into my regiment, even though he
+happen to be a grandson of yours. As to your threat, sir, as long as I do
+my duty to his majesty I fear the displeasure of no man."
+
+Two nights later, as Ronald was returning from dining with Colonel Hume
+and some of his officers, he was suddenly attacked in a narrow street by
+six men. Malcolm was with him, for Colonel Hume had at once related to
+him the conversation he had had with the marquis, and had warned him to
+take the greatest precautions.
+
+"He is perfectly capable of having you suddenly put out of his way by a
+stab in the back, Ronald. And if there were anywhere for you to go I
+should advise you to leave Paris at once; but nowhere in France would you
+be safe from him, and it would upset all your plans to return to Scotland
+at present. However, you cannot be too careful."
+
+Ronald had related what had passed to Malcolm, who determined to watch
+more carefully than ever over his safety, and never left his side when he
+was outside the barracks.
+
+The instant the six men rushed out from a lane, at whose entrance a
+lantern was dimly burning, Malcolm's sword was out, and before the
+assailants had time to strike a blow he had run the foremost through the
+body.
+
+Ronald instantly recovered from his surprise and also drew. He was now
+nearly eighteen, and although he had not yet gained his full height he
+was a match for most men in strength, while his constant exercise in the
+school of arms had strengthened the muscle of his sword arm, until in
+strength as well as in skill he could hold his own against the best
+swordsman in the regiment. The men were for a moment checked by the fall
+of their leader; but then seeing that they had opposed to them only one
+man, and another whom they regarded as a lad, scarcely to be taken into
+consideration, they rushed upon them. They were quickly undeceived.
+Ronald parried the first blow aimed at him, and with his riposte
+stretched his opponent on the pavement, and then springing forward, after
+a few rapid thrusts and parries ran the next through the shoulder almost
+at the same moment that Malcolm stretched another opponent on the ground.
+
+Terrified at the downfall of three of their number, while a fourth leaned
+against a door post disabled, the two remaining ruffians took to their
+heels and fled at the top of their speed, the whole affair having lasted
+scarce a minute.
+
+"Tell your employer," Ronald said to the wounded man, "that I am not to
+be disposed of so easily as he imagined. I should be only giving you what
+you deserve if I were to pass my sword through your body; but I disdain
+to kill such pitiful assassins except in self defence."
+
+The next morning Ronald communicated to Colonel Hume what had happened.
+
+"It's just as well, my young friend, that you are going to leave Paris. I
+received orders half an hour ago for the regiment to march to the
+frontier at once. That is the marquis's doing, no doubt. He thought to
+get rid of you last night and to punish me this morning; but he has
+failed both ways. You have defeated his cutthroats; I shall be heartily
+glad to be at the front again, for I am sick of this idle life in Paris."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII: Hidden Foes.
+
+
+"I am heartily glad to be out of Paris," Ronald said to Malcolm on their
+first halt after leaving the capital. "It is not pleasant to regard every
+man one meets after dark as a possible enemy, and although I escaped scot
+free from the gang who attacked us the other night, one cannot always
+expect such good fortune as that. It was a constant weight on one's mind,
+and I feel like a new man now that we are beyond the city walls."
+
+"Nevertheless, Ronald, we must not omit any precautions. Your enemy has a
+long purse, and can reach right across France. That last affair is proof
+of his bitterness against you, and it would be rash indeed were we to act
+as if, having made one attempt and failed, he would abandon his plans
+altogether. He is clearly a man who nourishes a grudge for years, and his
+first failure is only likely to add to his vindictive feeling. I do not
+say that your danger is as great as it was in Paris, but that is simply
+because the opportunities of attacking you are fewer. I should advise you
+to be as careful as before, and to be on your guard against ambushes and
+surprises."
+
+"Well, it may be so, Malcolm, and of course I will be careful; but till I
+have proof to the contrary I shall prefer to think that the marquis will
+trust to my being knocked on the head during the war, and will make no
+further move against me until the regiment returns to Paris."
+
+"Think what you like, lad," Malcolm said, "so that you are cautious and
+guarded. I shall sleep with one eye open, I can tell you, till we are
+fairly beyond the frontier."
+
+Two days later the regiment encamped outside the town of St. Quentin.
+They were usually quartered on the inhabitants; but the town was already
+filled with troops, and as the weather was fine Colonel Hume ordered his
+men to bivouac a short distance outside the walls. Ronald was seeing that
+his troop got their breakfast next morning, when a sergeant came up with
+two men with a horse.
+
+"This is Monsieur Leslie," he said to them. "These men were asking for
+you, sir."
+
+"What do you want with me?" Ronald said surprised.
+
+"We heard, sir," one of the peasants said, "that you wanted to buy a
+horse. We have a fine animal here, and cheap."
+
+"But I do not want to buy one," Ronald replied. "I am very well supplied
+with horses. What made you think I wanted one?"
+
+"We asked one of the officers, sir, if anyone in the regiment would be
+likely to buy, and he said that Monsieur Leslie wanted one, he believed."
+
+"No," Ronald said decidedly. "Whoever told you was mistaken. I have my
+full complement, and though your horse looks a nice animal I could not
+take him if you offered him to me for nothing. I don't think you will get
+anyone to buy him in the regiment. I believe that every officer has his
+full complement of chargers."
+
+In the evening Ronald happened to mention to Malcolm the offer he had had
+in the morning.
+
+"It was a nice looking beast," he said, "and I had half a mind to ask
+them what they would take to exchange him with my roan, but I did not
+want to dip further into my purse."
+
+"I wish I had been beside you at the time," Malcolm said earnestly;
+"those two fellows wouldn't have gone out of the camp so easily."
+
+"Why, what do you mean, Malcolm?"
+
+"Mean!" Malcolm repeated in a vexed tone. "This is what comes of your
+being watchful and cautious, Ronald. Why, the matter is clear enough. The
+marquis has set men on your track, but of course they could do nothing
+until some of them knew you by sight, so two of them are sent into camp
+with this cock and bull story about a horse, and they come and have a
+good look at you and go quietly off. It is too provoking. Had I been
+there I would have given them in charge of a file of men at once. Then we
+would have asked every officer in the regiment if he had sent them to
+you, and when we found, as we certainly should have found, that none of
+them had done so, we should have marched the men off to Colonel Hume, and
+I am sure, when he heard the circumstances of the case, they would have
+been lashed up and flogged till he had got the truth of the matter out of
+them. My great hope has been that they could not very well attempt your
+life, because none of the men who might be engaged on the job would be
+likely to know your face, and they would therefore have no means of
+singling you out for attack; and now two of the ruffians will be able to
+follow you and watch their opportunity."
+
+"Oh, nonsense, Malcolm, you are too suspicious altogether! I have no
+doubt the affair was just as they stated it to be. What was more
+natural?"
+
+"Well, Ronald, you will meet all the other officers at supper in half an
+hour. Just ask if any of them sent two men wanting to sell a horse to you
+this morning; if any of them say that they did so, I will acknowledge I
+am wrong.
+
+Accordingly Ronald, at supper, put the question, but none of the officers
+admitted they knew anything about the matter.
+
+"You have two very good horses, Leslie; why should anyone suppose that
+you wanted another?" the colonel asked.
+
+"I don't know," Ronald said. "I only know that two men did come up with a
+horse to me this morning, and said that one of the officers had told them
+that I wanted to buy one."
+
+"It must have been one of the men," the colonel said carelessly, "though
+I don't know why anyone should suppose that you wanted another charger.
+Still, someone, knowing that you are the last joined officer, might think
+you had need for a second horse."
+
+The subject dropped, and Malcolm shook his head ominously when Ronald
+acknowledged to him that his suspicions were so far right that none of
+the officers had sent the men to him. The next day, as the regiment was
+passing through a thick wood, and Ronald was riding with Captain Campbell
+behind his troop, which happened to be in the rear in the regiment, two
+shots were fired from among the trees. The first struck Ronald's horse in
+the neck, causing him to swerve sharply round, a movement which saved his
+rider's life, for the second shot, which was fired almost instantly after
+the first, grazed his body and passed between him and Captain Campbell.
+
+"Are you hit, Leslie?" the latter exclaimed, for the sudden movement of
+his horse had almost unseated Ronald.
+
+"Nothing serious, I think. The bullet has cut my coat and grazed my skin,
+I think, but nothing more."
+
+The captain shouted orders to his men, and with a score of troopers
+dashed into the wood. The trees grew thickly and there was a dense
+undergrowth, and they had difficulty in making their way through them.
+For half an hour they continued their search without success, and then
+rejoined the regiment on its march.
+
+"This is a curious affair," Colonel Hume said when Captain Campbell
+reported, at the next halt, that an attempt at assassination had taken
+place.
+
+"It looks like a premeditated attempt upon one or other of you. You
+haven't been getting into any scrape, have you?" he asked with a smile;
+"kissing some peasant's wife or offering to run away with his daughter?
+But seriously this is a strange affair. Why should two men lie in wait
+for the regiment and fire at two of its officers? The men have been
+behaving well, as far as I have heard, on the line of march, and nothing
+has occurred which could explain such an outrage as this."
+
+"It may be fancy on my part, colonel," Ronald said, "but I cannot help
+thinking that it is a sequence of that affair I told you about in Paris,
+just before we started. The first shot struck my horse and the second
+would certainly have killed me had it not been for the horse's sudden
+swerve, therefore it looks as if the shots were aimed at me. I have some
+reason, too, for supposing that I have been followed. If you remember my
+question last night at supper about the men who wanted to sell me a
+horse. Malcolm Anderson is convinced that the whole thing was only a ruse
+to enable them to become acquainted with my face. They wanted to be able
+to recognize me, and so got up this story in order to have me pointed out
+to them, and to have a talk with me. None of the officers did send them
+to me, as they said, and they could hardly have hit upon a better excuse
+for speaking to me."
+
+"It certainly looks like it," Colonel Hume said gravely. "I would give a
+good deal if we had caught those two men in the wood. If we had I would
+have given them the choice of being hung at once or telling me what was
+their motive in firing at you and who paid them to do it. This is
+monstrous. If we could get but a shadow of proof against your enemies I
+would lay a formal complaint before the king. Marquis or no marquis, I am
+not going to have my officers assassinated with impunity. However, till
+we have something definite to go upon, we can do nothing, and until then,
+Leslie, you had best keep your suspicion to yourself. It were best to say
+nothing of what you think; in this country it is dangerous even to
+whisper against a king's favourite. Let it be supposed that this attack
+in the woods was only the work of some malicious scoundrels who must have
+fired out of pure hatred of the king's troops."
+
+Captain Campbell and Ronald quite agreed with the view taken by the
+colonel, and answered all questions as to the affair, that they had not
+the least idea who were the men who fired on them, and that no one
+obtained as much as a glimpse of them.
+
+With most of the officers of the regiment, indeed with all except one,
+Ronald was on excellent terms. The exception was a lieutenant named
+Crawford; he was first on the list of his company, and had, indeed, been
+twice passed over in consequence of his quarrelsome and domineering
+disposition. He was a man of seven or eight and twenty; he stood about
+the same height as Ronald and was of much the same figure, indeed the
+general resemblance between them had often been remarked.
+
+His dislike to Ronald had arisen from the fact that previous to the
+latter joining the regiment Crawford had been considered the best
+swordsman among the officers, and Ronald's superiority, which had been
+proved over and over again in the fencing room, had annoyed him greatly.
+Knowing that he would have no chance whatever with Ronald in a duel, he
+had carefully abstained from open war, showing his dislike only by
+sneering remarks and sarcastic comments which frequently tried Ronald's
+patience to the utmost, and more than once called down a sharp rebuke
+from Colonel Hume or one or other of the majors. He did not lose the
+opportunity afforded by the shots fired in the wood, and was continually
+suggesting all sorts of motives which might have inspired the would be
+assassins.
+
+Ronald, who was the reverse of quarrelsome by disposition, laughed good
+temperedly at the various suggestions; but one or two of the senior
+officers remonstrated sharply with Crawford as to the extent to which he
+carried his gibes.
+
+"You are presuming too much on Leslie's good nature, Crawford," Captain
+Campbell said one day. "If he were not one of the best tempered young
+fellows going he would resent your constant attacks upon him; and you
+know well that, good swordsman as you are, you would have no chances
+whatever if he did so."
+
+"I am quite capable of managing my own affairs," Crawford said sullenly,
+"and I do not want any advice from you or any other man."
+
+"I am speaking to you as the captain of Leslie's troop," Captain Campbell
+said sharply, "and I do not mean to quarrel with you. You have had more
+quarrels than enough in the regiment already, and you know Colonel Hume
+said on the last occasion that your next quarrel should be your last in
+the regiment. I tell you frankly, that if you continue your course of
+annoyance to young Leslie I shall report the matter to the colonel. I
+have noticed that you have the good sense to abstain from your remarks
+when he is present."
+
+Three days later the regiment joined the army before Namur.
+
+That evening, having drunk more deeply than usual, Lieutenant Crawford,
+after the colonel had retired from the circle round the fire and to his
+tent, recommenced his provocation to Ronald, and pushed matters so far
+that the latter felt that he could no longer treat it as a jest.
+
+"Mr. Crawford," he said, "I warn you that you are pushing your remarks
+too far. On many previous occasions you have chosen to make observations
+which I could, if I had chosen, have resented as insulting. I did not
+choose, for I hate brawling, and consider that for me, who have but
+lately joined the regiment, to be engaged in a quarrel with an officer
+senior to myself would be in the highest degree unbecoming; but I am sure
+that my fellow officers will bear me out in saying that I have shown
+fully as much patience as is becoming. I, therefore, have to tell you
+that I will no longer be your butt, and that I shall treat any further
+remark of the nature of those you have just made as a deliberate insult,
+and shall take measures accordingly."
+
+A murmur of approval rose among the officers sitting round, and those
+sitting near Crawford endeavoured to quiet him. The wine which he had
+taken had, however, excited his quarrelsome instinct too far for either
+counsel or prudence to prevail.
+
+"I shall say what I choose," he said, rising to his feet. "I am not going
+to be dictated to by anyone, much less a boy who has just joined the
+regiment, and who calls himself Leslie, though no one knows whether he
+has any right to the name."
+
+"Very well, sir," Leslie said in a quiet tone, which was, however, heard
+distinctly throughout the circle, for at this last outburst on the part
+of Crawford a dead silence had fallen on the circle, for only one
+termination could follow such an insult. "Captain Campbell will, I hope,
+act for me?"
+
+"Certainly," Captain Campbell said in a loud voice; "and will call upon
+any friend Lieutenant Crawford may name and make arrangements to settle
+this matter in the morning."
+
+"Macleod, will you act for me?" Crawford said to a lieutenant sitting
+next to him.
+
+"I will act," the young officer said coldly, "as your second in the
+matter; but all here will understand that I do solely because it is
+necessary that some one should do so, and that I disapprove absolutely
+and wholly of your conduct."
+
+"Well, make what arrangements you like," Crawford said with an oath, and
+rising he left the circle and walked away.
+
+When he had left there was an immediate discussion. Several of the
+officers were of opinion that the duel should not be allowed to proceed,
+but that Crawford's conduct should be reported to the colonel.
+
+"I am entirely in your hands, gentlemen," Ronald said. "I have no desire
+whatever to fight. This affair has been forced upon me, and I have no
+alternative but to take it up. I am not boasting when I say that I am a
+far better swordsman than he, and I have no need to shrink from meeting
+him; but I have certainly no desire whatever to take his life. He has
+drunk more than he ought to do, and if this matter can be arranged, and
+he can be persuaded in the morning to express his regret for what he has
+said, I shall be very glad to accept his apology. If it can be settled in
+this way without either fighting or reporting his conduct to the colonel,
+which would probably result in his having to leave the regiment, I should
+be truly glad--What is that?" he broke off, as a loud cry rang through
+the air.
+
+The whole party sprang to their feet, and snatching up their swords ran
+in the direction from which the cry had come. The tents were at some
+little distance, and just as they reached them they saw a man lying on
+the ground.
+
+"Good heavens, it is Crawford!" Captain Campbell said, stooping over him.
+"See, he has been stabbed in the back. It is all over with him. Who can
+have done it?"
+
+He questioned several of the soldiers, who had now gathered round,
+attracted like the officers by the cry. None of them had seen the act or
+had noticed anyone running away; but in so large a camp there were so
+many people about that an assassin could well have walked quietly away
+without attracting any attention.
+
+The colonel was speedily on the spot, and instituted a rigid inquiry, but
+entirely without success. The attack had evidently been sudden and
+entirely unsuspected, for Crawford had not drawn his sword.
+
+"It is singular," he said, as with the officers he walked slowly back to
+the fire. "Crawford was not a popular man, but I cannot guess at any
+reason for this murder. Strange that this should be the second attack
+made on my officers since we left Paris."
+
+Captain Campbell now related what had taken place after he had left the
+circle.
+
+"The matter should have been reported to me at once," he said; "although,
+as it has turned out, it would have made no difference. Perhaps, after
+all, it is best as it is, for a duel between two officers of the regiment
+would have done us no good, and the man was no credit to the regiment.
+But it is a very serious matter that we should be dogged by assassins.
+Leslie, come up with me to my tent. I am not going to blame you, lad," he
+said when they were together, "for you could not have acted otherwise
+than you have done. Indeed, I have myself noticed several times that
+Crawford's bearing towards you was the reverse of courteous. Have you any
+idea as to how he came by his death?"
+
+"I, sir!" Ronald said in surprise. "No, I know no more than the others."
+
+"It strikes me, Leslie, that this is only the sequel of that attack in
+the wood, and that your enemies have unwittingly done you a service.
+Crawford was very much your height and build, and might easily have been
+mistaken for you in the dark. I fancy that blow was meant for you."
+
+"It is possible, sir," Ronald said after a pause. "I had not thought of
+it; but the likeness between him and myself has been frequently noticed.
+It is quite possible that that blow was meant for me."
+
+"I have very little doubt of it, my lad. If any of these men were hanging
+about and saw you as they believed coming away from the circle alone,
+they may well have taken the opportunity. Let it be a lesson to you to be
+careful henceforth. It is unlikely that the attempt will be repeated at
+present. The men who did it will think that they have earned their money,
+and by this time are probably on the way to Paris to carry the news and
+claim their reward. So that, for a time at least, it is not probable that
+there will be any repetition of the attempt. After that you will have to
+be on your guard night and day.
+
+"I wish to heaven we could obtain some clue that would enable me to take
+steps in the matter; but at present we have nothing but our suspicions,
+and I cannot go to the king and say three attempts have been made on the
+life of one of my officers, and that I suspect his grandfather, the
+Marquis de Recambours, has been the author of them."
+
+When Malcolm heard the events of the evening his opinion was exactly the
+same as that of the colonel, and he expressed himself as convinced that
+Crawford had fallen by a blow intended for Ronald. He agreed that for a
+while there was no fear of a renewal of the attempt.
+
+"The fellows will take the news straight to Paris that you have been put
+out of the way, and some time will elapse before the employers know that
+a mistake has been made. Then, as likely as not, they will decide to wait
+until the campaign is over."
+
+The camp before Namur was a large and brilliant one. The king and dauphin
+had already arrived with the army. All the household troops were there,
+and a large contingent of the nobles of the court. The English army was
+known to be approaching, and was expected to fight a battle to relieve
+Namur, which the French were besieging vigorously. The French confidently
+hoped that in the approaching battle they would wipe our the reverse
+which had befallen them at Dettingen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX: Fontenoy.
+
+
+A fortnight after the Scottish Dragoons joined the army the king was
+present at an inspection of their regiment. As the brilliant cortege
+passed along the line Ronald saw among the gaily dressed throng of
+officers riding behind the king and Marshal Saxe the Marquis de
+Recambours and the Duke de Chateaurouge side by side. Ronald with two
+other gentlemen volunteers were in their places in the rear of the
+regiment. It was drawn up in double line, and as the royal party rode
+along for the second time, Ronald saw that the two noblemen were looking
+scrutinizingly through the line of troopers at himself and his two
+companions.
+
+That evening Colonel Hume on his return from a visit to Marshal Saxe told
+Ronald that the general had inquired after him, and had sent him word
+that if he won the battle he would not forget the promise he had made
+him. He had requested Colonel Hume to place Ronald at his disposal on the
+day of the battle.
+
+"'I shall want active officers to carry my messages,' he said, 'and your
+young friend may have a greater opportunity of distinguishing himself
+than he would with the regiment. I should in that case find it all the
+easier to bring his business before the king.'
+
+"The marshal is terribly ill," Colonel Hume said as he reported the
+conversation to Ronald, "so ill that he can only occasionally sit on his
+horse. Nothing but his indomitable courage sustains him. He is drawn
+about in a light carriage made of basketwork, and this serves him also
+for his bed."
+
+On the 7th of May the enemy were known to be close at hand, and the
+French selected the position on which they would fight. The village of
+Fontenoy had already been occupied by a strong body of troops under
+Marshal Noailles, and the rest of the army now moved forward to the posts
+allotted to them. The English army were close at hand, and it was certain
+that the battle would be fought on the morrow. In the evening the king
+held a grand reception at which all the officers of rank were present.
+When Colonel Hume returned to his camp his officers were still sitting
+round the fire.
+
+"Have you any news for us, sir?"
+
+"No; I believe everything stands as was arranged. The king is in the
+highest spirits, though I must say his majesty did not choose
+reminiscences of a nature to encourage those who heard him. He remarked,
+for instance, that since the days of St. Louis the French had never
+gained a decisive success over the English, and a few minutes later he
+observed that the last time a king of France with his son had fought at
+the head of the French army was at the battle of Poictiers."
+
+There was a general laugh.
+
+"Certainly the king was not happy with his reminiscences," Major Munro
+remarked; "but I think this time the tables are going to be turned. In
+the first place we considerably outnumbered the enemy, even after leaving
+15,000 men to continue the siege. In the second place, the position we
+have chosen is almost impregnable. The Scheldt covers our right, with the
+fortified bridge securing our communication, and the village of Antoin
+resting on the river. Along our front from Antoin to Fontenoy is a narrow
+and difficult valley. Our left is covered by the wood of Barre, where a
+strong redoubt has been constructed; and the whole of the position is
+fortified with breastworks and abattis as far as Fontenoy. Between that
+village and Barre the natural difficulties are so great that field works
+are unnecessary. I cannot believe myself that they will attack us in such
+a position, especially as nearly half their army are Dutch, who will
+count for little. The English are the only troops which we shall find
+formidable."
+
+Before daybreak the camp was astir, and the troops took the positions
+assigned to them. Even now it was hardly believed that an attack would be
+made by the enemy so long as the French remained in their all but
+impregnable position; but presently the columns of the enemy were seen
+advancing. Ronald had ridden up to the litter on which Marshal Saxe was
+placed, and after saluting, had taken up his position with a number of
+other officers, in readiness to carry orders to different parts of the
+field.
+
+At a short distance from the marshal the King of France with the dauphin
+and the brilliant cortege of nobles had taken up his post. From the
+position in which the marshal had caused himself to be placed a complete
+view of the enemy's approaching ranks was obtained. It could soon be seen
+that the Dutch troops, who on the English right were advancing to the
+attack, were moving against the villages of Antoin and Fontenoy. A strong
+force, headed, as was known afterwards, by General Ingoldsby, moved
+towards the wood of Barre; while a solid column of English and
+Hanoverians, 10,000 strong, marched forward to the attack across the
+broken ground between Fontenoy and the wood of Barre.
+
+It was as yet but five o'clock in the morning when the cannon broke out
+into a roar on both sides. The Dutch, who were commanded by the Prince of
+Waldeck, soon hesitated, and in a short time fell back out of range of
+fire. On the English right General Ingoldsby penetrated some distance
+into the wood of Barre, and then fell back again as the Dutch had done.
+In an hour after the fighting had commenced the right and left of the
+allied army had ceased their attack. There remained only the centre, but
+this was advancing.
+
+Under the command of the Duke of Cumberland the column crossed the ravine
+in front of Fontenoy. The ground was so broken that the troops were
+unable to deploy, but moved forward in a solid mass with a front of only
+forty men.
+
+The French batteries from the right and left mowed them down in lines,
+but as steadily as if on parade the places were filled up, and unshaken
+and calm the great column moved forward. The cannon which they dragged
+along by hand opened against Fontenoy and the redoubts, and as, in spite
+of the hail of fire, they pressed steadily on, the French gunners were
+obliged to abandon their cannon and fly.
+
+The regiment of French guards, officered almost entirely by the highest
+nobles, met the English guards, who composed the front lines of the
+column. A tremendous volley flashed along the English line, shattering
+the ranks of the French guard. There was a moment's fierce fighting, and
+then the English column swept from before it the remains of the French
+guard, and cleared the ravine which defended Fontenoy.
+
+Ronald felt his heart beat with excitement and a feeling of pride and
+admiration as he saw the English advancing unmoved through the storm of
+fire. They advanced in the most perfect order. The sergeants calmly
+raised or depressed the soldiers' muskets to direct the fire; each vacant
+place was filled quietly and regularly without hesitation or hurry; and
+exclamations of surprise and admiration broke even from the French
+officers.
+
+Regiment after regiment was brought up and hurled against the head of the
+column, but with no more effect than waves against a rock, each being
+dashed aside shattered and broken by the steady volleys and regular lines
+of bayonets. Ronald and other officers were sent off to bring up the
+cavalry, but in vain did these strive to break the serried column. One
+regiment after another charged down upon it, but the English, retaining
+their fire until they were within a few yards of their muzzles, received
+them with such tremendous volleys that they recoiled in disorder.
+
+The French regiment of Vaisseaux next advanced to the attack, and fought
+with greater gallantry than any which had preceded it; but at last, when
+almost annihilated, its survivors fell back. And now it seemed as if this
+10,000 men were to be victorious over the whole French army. Marshal Saxe
+begged the king to retire with the dauphin across the bridge of Calonne
+while he did what he could to retrieve the battle, but the king refused
+to leave the field. There was a hurried council held round Louis, and it
+was agreed to make a great effort by calling up the whole of the troops
+between Fontenoy and Antoin, as the positions they held were no longer
+threatened by the Dutch.
+
+Had the latter now advanced nothing could have saved the French army from
+utter defeat; but they remained immovable at a distance from the field of
+battle. The English now won the crown of the position, had cut through
+the French centre, and were moving forward towards the bridge of Calonne,
+when the whole of the French artillery, which had, by the advice of the
+Duke of Richelieu, been brought up, opened fire on the English column. At
+the same moment the French regiments from Antoin fell upon it; while
+Marshal Saxe, who had, when the danger became imminent, mounted his
+horse, himself brought up the Irish Brigade, who, with a wild yell of
+hatred, flung itself furiously upon the flank of the English.
+
+Attacked thus on all sides, mown down by a heavy fire of artillery,
+unsupported amid an army of foes, the column could do no more. Ten
+thousand men could not withstand fifty thousand. Their ranks were twice
+broken by the Irish, but twice their officers rallied them; until at
+last, when it became evident that no more could be done, the column fell
+slowly back in an order as perfect and regular as that in which it had
+advanced.
+
+French historians have done ample justice to the extraordinary valour
+shown by the English troops on this occasion, a valour never surpassed in
+the long annals of the British army. Had they received the slightest
+assistance from their cowardly allies the victory must have been theirs.
+As it was, although unsuccessful, the glory and honour of the day rested
+with them, rather than with the victorious army of France. More than half
+the column had fallen in the desperate engagement, but the loss of the
+victors was even greater, and comprised many belonging to the noblest
+families of France.
+
+Ronald had won the warm approval of Marshal Saxe for the manner in which
+he carried his orders across ground swept by a heavy fire, and brought up
+the regiments to within close quarters of the English; and after the
+battle was over Marshal Saxe presented to the king several of his staff
+who had most distinguished themselves, and calling up Ronald, who was
+standing near, for his horse had been shot under him as he rode by the
+side of the marshal with the Irish Brigade to the attack, the marshal
+said:
+
+"Allow me to present to your majesty Ronald Leslie, a young Scottish
+gentleman of good family, who is a volunteer in the Scottish Dragoons,
+and has rendered great service today by the manner in which he has borne
+my orders through the thickest of the fire."
+
+"I will bear you in mind, young gentleman," the king said graciously,
+"and I charge the marshal to bring your name before me on a future day."
+
+His duty as aide de camp over, Ronald rejoined his regiment. They had
+lost nearly a third of their number in their charges upon the English
+column. Major Munro had been killed, the colonel severely wounded, and a
+number of officers had fallen. Ronald went about among the men assisting
+to bind up wounds, and supplying those who needed it with wine and other
+refreshments. Presently he was joined by Malcolm.
+
+"Thank God you are safe, Ronald. I tell you, you have given me many a
+fright today as I watched you galloping along through the line of the
+English fire."
+
+"Where were you, Malcolm? I did not see you."
+
+"I had nothing to do," Malcolm said, "and I climbed a tree not fifty
+yards from the marshal's litter, and keeping the trunk in front of me to
+protect me from a stray bullet I had a good view of the whole
+proceedings. At one time I was on the point of slipping down and making a
+bolt for it, for I thought it was all over with us. How that column did
+fight! I have been in many a battle, but I never saw anything like it, it
+was grand; and if it hadn't been for the Irish Brigade, I think that they
+would have beaten the whole French army. But if you go into a battle
+again I sha'n't come to see you. I have done my share of fighting, and
+can take hard knocks as well as another; but I would not go through the
+anxiety I have suffered today about you on any condition. However, this
+has been a great day for you."
+
+"You mean about the marshal presenting me to the king? Yes, that ought to
+help us."
+
+"No, I didn't mean that, for I had not heard of it. I mean about that old
+rascal your grandfather, the Marquis de Recambours."
+
+"What about him? I have not heard."
+
+"No!" Malcolm exclaimed; "then I have good news for you. A ball from one
+of the English field pieces struck him full in the chest, and of course
+slew him instantly. He was not thirty yards from the tree when I saw him
+knocked over. He is quite dead, I can assure you, for when the others
+moved off I took the trouble to clamber down to assure myself. So now the
+greatest obstacle to the release of your father and mother is out of the
+way."
+
+"Thank God for that!" Ronald said. "I have no reason for feeling one
+spark of regret at what has befallen him. He was the cruel persecutor of
+my parents, and did his best to get me removed. There is but one obstacle
+now to obtaining my father's release, and as he is neither a relation nor
+an old man I shall be able to deal with him myself."
+
+"Yes, but you must be careful, Ronald; remember the decree against
+duelling. We must not make a false step now, when fortune is at last
+favouring us. There will be no more fighting, I fancy. The English will
+certainly not attack us again, and Tournay must fall, and I don't think
+that on our part there will be any desire whatever to go out of our way
+to seek another engagement with them. The king is sure to go back to
+Paris at once, where he will be received with enthusiasm. Marshal Saxe
+will probably follow as soon as Tournay has fallen. I should advise you,
+therefore, to get leave from the colonel to be absent from the regiment
+for a time, and we will make our way down to Tours and let your mother
+know the marquis is dead, and get her to write a memorial to the king
+requesting permission to leave the convent, and then when the marshall
+arrives in Paris we will get him to present it."
+
+Ronald agreed to Malcolm's proposal, and the next morning, having
+obtained leave of absence from the colonel, he and Malcolm mounted and
+rode for Tours.
+
+The message was duly conveyed to the countess by Jeanne, together with
+Ronald's earnest request that his mother would again meet him. She sent
+back by Jeanne the memorial he had asked her to write to the king,
+begging that she might be allowed to leave the convent; but she refused
+to agree to his wishes to meet her, bidding Jeanne say that now it seemed
+there was really a hope of her release shortly, she would less than ever
+risk any step which if discovered might prejudice their plans.
+
+Although disappointed, Ronald could not deny that her decision was a wise
+one, and therefore contented himself by sending word that he had obtained
+one very powerful friend, and that he hoped that she would ere long
+receive good tidings. After a short stay at Tours, Ronald and Malcolm
+returned to Paris, where a series of brilliant fetes in honour of the
+victory of Fontenoy were in preparation. Tournay had surrendered a few
+days after the battle, the governor of that town having accepted a heavy
+bribe to open the gates, for the place could have resisted for months,
+and the allied army were ready to recommence hostilities in order to
+relieve it.
+
+After its surrender they fell back and resumed a defensive attitude. The
+king therefore returned at once to Paris, and Marshal Saxe, handing over
+the command of the army to Marshal de Noailles, followed him by easy
+stages. Delighted above all things at a success gained over the English,
+who had for centuries been victorious in every battle in which England
+and France had met as enemies, the citizens of Paris organized a
+succession of brilliant fetes, which were responded to by entertainments
+of all kinds at Versailles. The Scottish Dragoons were still at the
+front; but Colonel Hume had been brought to Paris, as it would be some
+time ere he would be able again to take the command of the regiment.
+Ronald called at the house where the colonel lodged, upon the day after
+his return from Tours, and found that he had arrived upon the previous
+day. Ronald was at once shown up on sending in his name. The colonel was
+lying on the couch when he entered.
+
+"How are you, colonel?"
+
+"I am going on as well as possible, Ronald; they found the ball and got
+it out the day before I left the regiment, and I shall do well now. I
+have been carried on a litter all the way by eight of our troopers, and
+the good fellows were as gentle with me as if I had been a child, and I
+scarce felt a jar the whole distance. What I have got to do now is to lie
+quiet, and the doctor promises me that in six weeks' time I shall be fit
+to mount a horse again. Marshal Saxe sent yesterday evening to inquire
+after me, and I will send you to him to thank him for so sending, and to
+inquire on my part how he himself is going on. My message will be a good
+excuse for your presenting yourself."
+
+Ronald found the antechamber of the marshal crowded with nobles and
+officers who had come to pay their respects to the victorious general,
+who was, next to the king himself, at that moment the most popular man in
+France. Hitherto, as a Protestant and a foreigner, Maurice of Saxony had
+been regarded by many with jealousy and dislike; but the victory which he
+had won for the French arms had for the first time obliterated every
+feeling save admiration and gratitude.
+
+Presently the marshal came out from the inner room with the dauphin, who
+had called on the part of the king to inquire after his health. He was
+now able to walk, the excitement of the battle and the satisfaction of
+the victory having enabled him partially to shake off the disease which
+afflicted him. After the dauphin had left, the marshal made the tour of
+the apartment, exchanging a few words with all present.
+
+"Ah! you are there, my young Leslie," he said familiarly when he came to
+Ronald. "Where have you been? I have not seen you since the day when you
+galloped about with my messages through the English fire as if you had a
+charmed life."
+
+"Colonel Hume gave me leave, sir, to travel on private business. I am now
+the bearer of a message from him, thanking you for the kind inquiries as
+to his wound; he bids me say that he trusts that your own health is
+rapidly recovering."
+
+"As you see, Leslie, Fontenoy has done wonders for me as well as for
+France; but wait here, I will speak with you again."
+
+In half an hour most of the callers took their departure, then the
+marshal called Ronald into an inner room.
+
+"Tomorrow," he said, "I am going to pay my respects to the king at
+Versailles. I will take you with me. Have you your mother's memorial?
+That is right. As her father was killed at Fontenoy there will, I hope,
+be the less difficulty over the matter; but we must not be too sanguine,
+for there will be a host of hungry competitors for the estates of the
+marquis, and all these will unite against you. However, I do not think
+the king will be able to refuse my first request, and when your mother is
+out we must put our heads together and see about getting your father's
+release."
+
+Ronald expressed his deep gratitude at the marshal's kindness.
+
+"Say nothing about it, my lad. Fortunately I want nothing for myself, and
+it is no use being a victorious general if one cannot utilize it in some
+way; so I am quite glad to have something to ask the king."
+
+The next day Ronald presented himself at the hotel of Marshal Saxe and
+rode by the side of his carriage out to Versailles. The king, surrounded
+by a brilliant train of courtiers, received the marshal with the greatest
+warmth, and after talking to him for some time retired with him into his
+private closet. A few minutes later one of the royal pages came out into
+the audience chamber and said in a loud voice that the king desired the
+presence of Monsieur Ronald Leslie.
+
+Greatly embarrassed at finding himself the centre of observation not
+unmingled with envy at the summons, Ronald followed the page into the
+presence of the king, who was alone with Marshal Saxe. Louis, who was in
+high good humour, gave Ronald his hand to kiss, saying:
+
+"I told the marshal to recall your name to me, and he has done so now. He
+says that you have a boon to ask of me."
+
+"Yes, sire," the marshal said; "and please consider graciously that it is
+I who ask it as well as he. Your majesty has always been gracious to me,
+and if you think me deserving of any mark of your favour after this
+success which your majesty and I have gained together, I would now crave
+that you grant it."
+
+"It is granted before you name it, marshal," the king said. "I give you
+my royal word that whatever be your boon, provided that it be within the
+bounds of possibility, it is yours."
+
+"Then, sire, I ask that an old comrade and fellow soldier of mine, who
+fought bravely for your majesty, but who fell under your majesty's
+displeasure many years ago on account of a marriage which he made
+contrary to your pleasure, may be released. He has now been over sixteen
+years in prison, and has therefore paid dearly for thwarting your will,
+and his wife has all this time been confined in a convent. They are the
+father and mother of this brave lad--Colonel Leslie, who commanded your
+majesty's regiment of Scotch Dragoons, and his wife, the Countess Amelie
+of Recambours. I ask your majesty, as my boon, that you will order this
+officer to be released and the lady to be allowed to leave the convent."
+
+"Peste, marshal!" the king said good temperedly; "your request is one of
+which will get me into hot water with a score of people. From the day the
+marquis was killed at Fontenoy I have heard nothing but questions about
+his estates, and I believe that no small portion of them have been
+already promised."
+
+"I say nothing about the estates," the marshal replied; "as to that, your
+majesty's sense of justice is too well known for it to be necessary for
+me to say a single word. The countess has estates of her own, which she
+inherited from her mother, but even as to these I say nothing. It is her
+liberty and that of her husband which I and this brave lad ask of your
+majesty."
+
+"It is granted, marshal, and had your boon been a great one instead of a
+small one I would have granted it as freely;" and the king again held out
+his hand to Ronald, who bent on one knee to kiss it, tears of joy flowing
+down his cheeks and preventing the utterance of any audible thanks for
+the boon, which far surpassed his expectations; for the marshal had said
+nothing as to his intention of asking his father's freedom, which indeed
+he only decided to do upon seeing in how favourable a disposition he had
+found the king.
+
+"You see, marshal," Louis went on, "marriages like this must be sternly
+discouraged, or all order in our kingdom would be done away with. Wilful
+girls and headstrong soldiers cannot be permitted to arrange their
+affairs without reference to the plans of their parents, and in this
+instance it happened that the father's plans had received our approval.
+The great estates of France cannot be handed over to the first comer, who
+may perhaps be utterly unworthy of them. I do not say that in the present
+case Colonel Leslie was in any way personally unworthy; but the disposal
+of the hands of the great heiresses of France is in the king's gift, and
+those who cross him are against his authority."
+
+The king touched a bell and bade the page who entered to order his
+secretary to attend at once.
+
+"Search the register of the state prisons," he said, "and tell me where
+Colonel Leslie, who was arrested by our orders sixteen years ago, is
+confined, and then make out an order to the governor of his prison for
+his release; also draw up an order upon the lady superior of--," and he
+paused.
+
+"The convent of Our Lady at Tours," Ronald ventured to put in.
+
+"Oh! you have discovered that, eh?" the king said with a smile; and then
+turned again to the secretary--"bidding her suffer the Countess Amelie
+de Recambours to leave the convent and to proceed where she will."
+
+The secretary bowed and retired. Ronald, seeing that his own presence was
+no longer required, said a few words of deep gratitude to the king and
+retired to the audience room, where he remained until, ten minutes later,
+the door of the king's closet opened, and the king and Marshal Saxe again
+appeared. The audience lasted for another half hour, and then the
+marshal, accompanied by many of the nobles, made his way down to his
+carriage. Ronald again mounted, and as soon as the carriage had left the
+great courtyard of the palace, rode up alongside and poured out his
+gratitude to the marshal.
+
+"It has been another Fontenoy," the marshal said smiling. "Here are the
+two orders, the one for Tours, the other for the governor of the royal
+castle at Blois. The king made light of it; but I know his manner so well
+that I could see he would rather that I had asked for a dukedom for you.
+It is not often that kings are thwarted, and he regards your parents as
+being rebels against his authority. However, he was bound by his promise,
+and there are the papers. Now, only one word, Leslie. Do not indulge in
+any hopes that you will see your father more than a shadow of the
+stalwart soldier that he was sixteen years ago. There are few men,
+indeed, whose constitution enable them to live through sixteen years'
+confinement in a state prison. Therefore prepare yourself to find him a
+mere wreck. I trust that freedom and your mother's care may do much for
+him, but don't expect too much at first. If you take my advice you will
+go first and fetch your mother, in order that she may be at hand to
+receive your father when he leaves the fortress. By the way, I thought it
+just as well not to produce your mother's memorial, as it seemed that we
+should be able to do without it, for it might have struck the king to ask
+how you obtained it, and he would probably have considered that your
+communication with your mother was a fresh act of defiance against his
+authority."
+
+Malcolm was wild with joy when Ronald returned with the account of his
+interview with the king and its successful result, and had his not been a
+seasoned head, the number of bumpers which he drank that night in honour
+of Marshal Saxe would have rendered him unfit for travel in the morning.
+Ronald had, after acquainting him with the news, gone to Colonel Hume,
+whose pleasure at hearing that his former colonel and comrade was to
+regain his freedom was unbounded. Every preparation was made for an early
+start.
+
+"Be sure you look well to the priming of your pistols before you put them
+in your holsters tomorrow," Malcolm said.
+
+"Do you think it will be necessary?"
+
+"I am sure of it, Ronald. News travels fast; and you may be sure that by
+this time the fact that the king has granted an order for the release of
+your father and mother is known to the Duke of Chateaurouge. If he did
+not hear it from the king himself, which he would be most likely to do,
+as Louis would probably lose no time in explaining to him that he had
+only gone against his wishes because under the circumstances it was
+impossible for him to refuse the marshal's request, the secretary who
+drew out the document would, no doubt, let the duke know of it. There are
+no secrets at court."
+
+"But now that the orders for release have been granted," Ronald said,
+"the duke can have no motive in preventing them being delivered, for
+fresh ones could, of course, be obtained."
+
+"In the first place, Ronald, the duke will be so furious at your success
+that he will stick at nothing to have his revenge; in the second place,
+he and the others, for there are many interested in preventing your
+mother from coming into her father's possessions, will consider that the
+gain of time goes for a good deal. You are the mover in the matter. Were
+you out of the way, and the documents destroyed, the matter might rest as
+it is for a long time. The marshal is busy from morning till night, and
+would be long before he missed you, and would naturally suppose that you
+had, after obtaining the release of your parents, retired with them to
+some country retreat, or even left the kingdom.
+
+"This would give ample time for working upon Louis. Besides, the king
+might never inquire whether the prisoners had been released. Then the
+marshal might die or be sent away to the frontier. Therefore, as you see,
+time is everything. I tell you, Ronald, I consider the journey you are
+going to undertake tomorrow an affair of greater danger than going into a
+pitched battle. You will have to doubt everyone you meet on the road, the
+people at the inns you stop at--you may be attacked anywhere and
+everywhere. As to our travelling by the direct road, I look upon it as
+impossible. Our only chance is to throw them off the scent, and as they
+know our destination that will be no easy matter."
+
+They were astir by daylight, and Malcolm soon brought the horses round to
+the door.
+
+"It's a comfort to know," he said, "that the horses have passed the night
+in the barracks, and that therefore they have not been tampered with.
+Look well to the buckles of your girths, Ronald. See that everything is
+strong and in good order."
+
+"That is not your own horse, Malcolm, is it?"
+
+"No, it is one of the troopers'. It is one of the best in the regiment,
+and I persuaded the man to change with me for a week. No one is likely to
+notice the difference, as they are as nearly as possible the same colour.
+Your horse is good enough for anything; but if I could not keep up with
+you its speed would be useless. Now, I think, we can keep together if we
+have to ride for it.
+
+"What have you got in that valise, Malcolm? One would think that you were
+going upon a campaign."
+
+"I have got four bottles of good wine, and bread and meat enough to last
+us for two days. I do not mean, if I can help it, to enter a shop or stop
+at an inn till we arrive at Tours. We can make a shift to sleep for
+tonight in a wood. It would be safer a thousand times than an inn, for I
+will bet fifty to one that if we ventured to enter one we should find one
+or both of our horses lame on starting again."
+
+"Oh come, Malcolm, that's too much! The Duke of Chateaurouge is not
+ubiquitous. He has not an army to scatter over all France."
+
+"No, he has not," Malcolm agreed; "but from what I know of him I doubt
+not that he can lay his hands on a number of men who will stick at
+nothing to carry out his orders and earn his money. Paris swarms with
+discharged soldiers and ruffians of all kinds, and with plenty of gold to
+set the machine in motion there is no limit to the number of men who
+might be hired for any desperate deed."
+
+As they were talking they were making their way towards one of the
+southern gates. They arrived there before it opened, and had to wait a
+few minutes. Several other passengers on horseback and foot were gathered
+there.
+
+"I could bet a crown piece," Malcolm said, "that some one among this
+crowd is on the watch for us, and that before another half hour the Duke
+of Chateaurouge will know that we have started."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X: A Perilous Journey.
+
+
+A number of peasants with market carts were waiting outside the gates,
+and for the first few miles of their ride the road was dotted with people
+making their way to the city. As they rode, Malcolm discussed the
+question of the best road to be taken. Ronald himself was still in favour
+of pushing straight forward, for he was not so convinced as his follower
+that a serious attempt would be made to interrupt their journey. He
+pointed out that the road, as far as Orleans at least, was one of the
+most frequented in France, and that in that city even the most reckless
+would hardly venture to assault them.
+
+"I agree with you, Ronald, that the road offers less opportunities for
+ambushes than most others, for the country is flat and well cultivated;
+but after all a dozen men with muskets could lie in ambush in a cornfield
+as well as a wood, and the fact that people are going along the road
+counts for little one way or the other, for not one in fifty would
+venture to interfere if they saw a fray going on. But granting that so
+far as Orleans the country is open and cultivated, beyond that it is for
+the most part forest; but above all--although they may regard it as
+possible that we may be on our guard, and may travel by other roads--it
+is upon this direct line that they are sure to make the most preparations
+for us. Beyond that it can only be chance work. We may go by one road or
+by another. There may be one trap set on each road; but once past that
+and we are safe."
+
+After riding for upwards of an hour they came, at the turn of the road,
+upon two carts. One had apparently broken down, and the other had stopped
+that those with it might give assistance in repairing it. One cart was
+turned across the road, and the other filled the rest of the space.
+
+"Stop!" Malcolm exclaimed, checking his horse suddenly.
+
+"What is it?" Ronald asked in surprise.
+
+"Turn back!" Malcolm said sharply as he wheeled his horse round.
+
+Ronald, without a word, did the same, and they galloped a hundred yards
+down the road.
+
+"We were nearly caught there," Malcolm said.
+
+"Why, how do you mean?"
+
+"Never mind now, Ronald. Turn sharp to the right here, and make a detour
+through the fields. You will soon see whether I was right."
+
+"It is a shame riding through this ripe corn," Ronald said, as without
+any further comment he leaped his horse over the bank and dashed off
+among the golden grain, which stretched far and wide on both sides of the
+road.
+
+They had not gone fifty yards before they heard loud shouts, and as they
+came abreast of where the carts were standing several shots were fired,
+and ten or twelve men were seen running through the corn as if to cut
+them off. But although they heard the whiz of the bullets they were too
+far off to be in much danger, and the men on foot had no chance of
+cutting them off, a fact which they speedily perceived, as one by one
+they halted and fired. A few hundred yards farther the two horsemen came
+round into the road again and pursued their journey.
+
+"Well, what do you think of that, Ronald?"
+
+"It was an ambush, no doubt, Malcolm; but what on earth made you suspect
+it? I saw nothing suspicious. Merely two carts in the road, with three or
+four men doing something to one of the wheels."
+
+"I am in a suspicious humour this morning, Ronald, and it is lucky I am.
+The sight of the two carts completely blocking the road brought me to a
+halt at once, and as I checked my horse I saw a movement among the bushes
+on the right of the road, and felt sure that it was an ambush. It was a
+well laid one, too, and had we ridden on we should have been riddled with
+bullets. No doubt there were men lying in the carts. They would have
+jumped up as we came up to them, and the fellows in the bushes would have
+taken us in the rear; between their two fires our chances would have been
+small indeed. No doubt they had a man on watch, and directly they saw us
+coming they got their carts across the road, and took up their positions.
+It was a well contrived scheme, and we have had a narrow escape."
+
+"Thanks to your quickness and watchfulness, Malcolm, which has saved our
+lives. I admit that you are right and I was wrong, for I own that I did
+not share your apprehensions as to the dangers of our journey. Henceforth
+I will be as much on the lookout as you are, and will look with suspicion
+at every beggar woman that may pass."
+
+"And you will be right to do so," Malcolm said seriously; "but for the
+present I think that we are safe. This, no doubt, was their main ambush,
+and they may reasonably have felt certain of success. However, we may be
+sure that they did not rely solely upon it. This, no doubt, is the
+unmounted portion of their gang. They were to try and put a stop to our
+journey at its outset; but mounted men will have ridden on ahead,
+especially as they couldn't have been sure that we should follow this
+road. We might have gone out by one of the other gates at the south side
+of the town, and they will have watched all the roads. Now I propose that
+we take the next lane which branches off to the right, and travel by
+byroads in future. Do not press your horse too fast. We have a long
+journey before us, and must always have something in hand in case it is
+necessary to press them to full speed."
+
+Two miles further a road branched to the right. As they approached it
+Ronald was about to touch his horse's rein, when Malcolm said shortly,
+"Ride straight on."
+
+Although surprised at this sudden change of plan, Ronald obeyed without
+question.
+
+"What was that for?" he asked when he had passed the turning.
+
+"Did you not see that man lying down by the heap of stones at the
+corner?"
+
+"Yes, I saw him; but what of that?"
+
+"I have no doubt he was on the lookout for us. Yes, I thought so," he
+went on, as he stood up in his stirrups and looked back; "there, do you
+see that horse's head in that little thicket, just this side of where the
+road separates? I expected as much. If we had turned off, in another two
+minutes that fellow would have been galloping along this road to take the
+news to those ahead, and they would have ridden to cut us off further
+along. I have no doubt we shall find someone on watch at every turning
+between this and Orleans."
+
+"But this is a regular campaign, Malcolm."
+
+"It is a campaign, Ronald. The ruffians and thieves of Paris form a sort
+of army. They have heads whom they implicitly obey, and those who have
+money enough to set this machine in motion can command the services of
+any number of men. Sharp fellows, too, many of them are, and when they
+received orders to arrest our journey to Tours at any cost, they would
+not omit a single precaution which could ensure success. Their former
+attack upon you, and its result, will have showed them that we are not
+children, and that the enterprise was one which demanded all their
+efforts."
+
+"What is our next move now, Malcolm?"
+
+"We will turn off before we get to the next road. They can see a long way
+across these level plains; so we will dismount and lead our horses. The
+corn is well nigh shoulder deep, and if we choose a spot where the ground
+lies rather low, neither that scoundrel behind nor the one at the next
+road is likely to see us."
+
+Half a mile further there was a slight dip in the ground.
+
+"This is a good spot," Malcolm said. "This depression extends far away on
+our right, and although it is very slight, and would not conceal us if
+the ground were bare, it will do so now, so let us take advantage of it."
+
+So saying he dismounted, and leading his horse, turned into the
+cornfield. Ronald followed him, and for two miles they kept straight on
+through the corn; then they came upon a narrow road connecting two
+villages. They mounted and turned their horses' heads to the south.
+
+"It is as well that none of the peasants saw us making through their
+corn," Ronald said, "or we should have had them upon us with stone and
+flail like a swarm of angry bees."
+
+"It could not be helped," Malcolm replied, "and we could easily have
+ridden away from them. However, it is just as well that we have had no
+bother with them. Now we will quicken our pace. We are fairly between two
+of the main roads south, and if we can contrive to make our way by these
+village tracks we shall at any rate for some time be free from all risk
+of molestation."
+
+"I should think we should be free altogether," Ronald said. "When they
+find we do not come along the road they will suppose we have been killed
+at the first ambush."
+
+Malcolm shook his head.
+
+"Do not build upon that, Ronald. No doubt as soon as we had passed, some
+of those fellows mounted the horses we saw in the carts, and rode off in
+accordance with an agreed plan to give notice that we had passed them
+safely, and were proceeding by that road. In the next place the fellow we
+saw on watch would most likely after a time mount and follow us, and when
+he got to the watcher at the next crossroad and found that we had not
+come along there would know that we must have turned off either to the
+right or left. One of them is doubtless before this on his way to the
+next party with the news, while the other has set to work to find out
+where we turned off, which will be easy enough to discover. Still, we
+have gained something, and may fairly reckon that if we ride briskly
+there is no fear of those who were posted along the road we have left
+cutting us off."
+
+They rode all day at a steady pace, stopping occasionally for a short
+time to allow the horses a rest and a feed. The people in the quiet
+little villages looked in surprise at the young officer and his follower
+as they rode through their street or stopped for a quarter of an hour
+while the horses were fed, for even Malcolm agreed that such pauses were
+unattended by danger. It was rarely, indeed, that a stranger passed along
+these bypaths, and the peasants wondered among themselves what could
+induce them to travel by country byways instead of following the main
+roads.
+
+As they left the rich plains of the Beauce, the country was less
+carefully cultivated. The fields of corn were no longer continuous, and
+presently they came to tracts of uncultivated land with patches of wood.
+They now left the little road they had been following, and rode straight
+across country, avoiding all villages. They crossed several hills, and
+late in the afternoon drew rein in a wide spreading forest. They were,
+Malcolm thought, quite as far south as Orleans, and by starting at
+daylight would arrive at Tours by midday.
+
+"Here at least we are perfectly safe," he said; "when we approach Tours
+our perils will begin again. When once they find that we have given them
+the slip they are not likely to try to intercept us anywhere along the
+route till we near the town, for they will know that the chances are
+enormous against their doing so, and the parties along the various roads
+will push on so as to meet us somewhere near that city. The river can
+only be crossed at certain points, and they will feel sure we shall go by
+one or other of them."
+
+"And I suppose we shall," Ronald said.
+
+"No, Ronald; my idea is that we turn west and ride to Le Mans, then take
+a wide detour and enter Tours from the south side. It will take us a day
+longer, but that is of little consequence, and I think that we shall in
+that way entirely outwit them. The only precaution we shall have to take
+is to cross the main road on our right at some point remote from any town
+or village."
+
+"I think that is a capital plan. I do not mind a share of fair fighting;
+but to be shot down suddenly in an ambush like that of this morning, I
+own I have little fancy for it."
+
+Hobbling their horses, they turned them loose to pick up what they could
+in the forest, and then sat down to enjoy a good meal from the ample
+supply Malcolm had brought with him. When night fell they unstrapped
+their cloaks from their saddles and rolled themselves in them, and lay
+down to sleep. An hour later they were roughly awakened, each being
+seized by three men, who, before they could attempt to offer resistance,
+bound their arms to their sides, and then hurried them along through the
+forest.
+
+"I have been a fool, Ronald," Malcolm said bitterly; "I ought to have
+kept watch."
+
+"It was not your fault, Malcolm. One could never have guessed that they
+would have found us in this forest. Somebody must have followed us at a
+distance and marked us down, and brought the rest upon us; but even had
+you kept watch it would have been no good, for they would have shot us
+down before we could make any resistance."
+
+"I wonder they didn't cut our throats at once," Malcolm said. "I don't
+know what they are troubling to make us prisoners for."
+
+Presently they saw a light in the forest ahead of them, and soon arrived
+at a spot where a number of men were sitting round a fire.
+
+"You had no trouble with them, Pierre, I suppose?"
+
+"No, captain, they slept as soundly as moles. They have been speaking
+some strange language as we came along."
+
+"Thank God!" Malcolm exclaimed fervently. "I think, after all, Ronald, we
+have only fallen in with a band of robbers, and not with our enemies."
+
+"Unbind their hands," the captain of the band said, "but first take away
+their swords and pistols. Gentlemen, may I ask you to be seated; and
+then, perhaps, you will inform us what you, an officer in the Scotch
+dragoons, as I perceive by your uniform, are doing here in the forest?"
+
+Ronald, to whom the question was principally addressed, replied frankly:
+
+"We took to this forest, I fancy, for the same reason for which you use
+it, namely, for safety. We are on our way to Tours, and there are some
+people who have interest in preventing our arriving there. They made one
+attempt to stop us near Paris; fortunately that failed, or we should not
+be now enjoying your society; but as it was likely that another attempt
+would be made upon the road, we thought it better to leave it altogether
+and take to the forest for the night."
+
+"What interest could anyone have in preventing an officer of the king
+from arriving at Tours?" the man asked doubtfully.
+
+"It is rather a long story," Ronald said, "but if it is of interest to
+you I shall be happy to relate it; and I may mention that there are three
+bottles of good wine in the valise of one of the saddles, and a story is
+none the worse for such an accompaniment."
+
+A laugh went round the circle at Ronald's coolness, and a man stepped
+forward with the two saddles which he had carried from the spot when the
+captives had been seized. The wine was taken out and opened.
+
+"Yes," the captain of the band said, after tasting it, "the wine is good;
+now let us have your story."
+
+Ronald gave them an outline of his history, told them how his father and
+mother had been for many years imprisoned for marrying contrary to the
+king's pleasure, and how he had at last obtained the royal order for
+their release, and how the enemies of his parents were now trying to
+prevent him from having those orders carried out. "There are the orders,"
+Ronald said as he concluded, taking them from the inner pocket where he
+carried them. "You see they are addressed to the abbess of the convent of
+Our Lady at Tours, and to the governor of Blois."
+
+"The story you tell us is a singular one," the captain replied, "and I
+doubt not its truth. What was the name of your father?"
+
+"He was Colonel Leslie, and commanded the same regiment to which I
+belong."
+
+"I remember him," one of the band said. "Our regiments were quartered
+together, nigh twenty years ago, at Flanders, and I was in Paris at the
+time when he was imprisoned. We were in the next barracks to the
+Scotchmen, and I remember what a stir it made. The regiment was very nigh
+mutinying."
+
+"And I remember you too, though I cannot recall your name," Malcolm said,
+rising and looking hard at the speaker; "and if I mistake not we have
+cracked many a flask together, and made many a raid on the hen roosts of
+the Flemish farmers. My name is Malcolm Anderson."
+
+"I remember you well," the other said, rising and giving him his hand.
+"Of course I met you scores of times, for the regiments were generally
+brigaded together."
+
+"That confirms your story altogether, monsieur," the captain of the band
+said. "From this moment do not consider yourself a prisoner any longer. I
+may say that we had no expectation of booty in your case, and you were
+captured rather from curiosity than from any other reason. One of my men,
+this afternoon, happened to see you ride into the wood and then dismount
+and make preparations for passing the night there. He reported the matter
+to me. I know that gentlemen of your cloth--I may say of mine, for I
+was once an officer of his majesty, though I left the service somewhat
+hastily," and he smiled, "on account of an unfortunate deficiency in the
+funds of the regiment in which I happened, at the time, to be acting as
+paymaster--are seldom burdened with spare cash, but the incident seemed
+so strange that I determined to capture and question you. If you happen
+to have more cash on you than you care about carrying we shall be glad to
+purchase a few bottles of wine equal to that which you have given us. If
+not, I can assure you that I do not press the matter.".
+
+"I am obliged to you for your courtesy," Ronald said; "and as at present
+I really happen to be somewhat flush of cash I am happy to contribute ten
+louis for the laudable purpose you mention."
+
+So saying he took out his purse, counted out ten pieces, and handed them
+to the captain.
+
+The action was received with a round of applause, for the robbers had
+not, from the first, anticipated obtaining any booty worth speaking of,
+and the turn affairs had taken had altogether driven any idea of gain
+from their minds.
+
+"I thank you warmly, sir," the captain said, "and promise you that I will
+tomorrow despatch a messenger to Orleans, which is but ten miles away,
+and will lay out the money in liquor, with which we will, tomorrow night,
+drink your health and success in the enterprise. Nay, more, if you like,
+a dozen of my men shall accompany you on your road to Tours. They have,
+for various reasons, which I need not enter into, a marked objection to
+passing through towns, but as far as Blois they are at your service."
+
+"I thank you for your offer," Ronald replied, "but will not accept it, as
+we intend to ride tomorrow morning to Le Mans, and then to enter Tours
+from the south side, by which we shall throw our enemies completely off
+the scent."
+
+"But why do you not go to Blois first?" the man asked. "It is on your way
+to Tours."
+
+"I wish my mother to be present at the release of my father. So long a
+confinement may well have broken him down. Now that I see how obstinately
+bent our enemies are upon our destruction I will take with me two or
+three stout fellows from Tours, to act as an escort."
+
+"What day will you be leaving there?" the man asked.
+
+"Today is Tuesday," Ronald said; "on Thursday we shall be at Tours, on
+Friday morning we shall leave."
+
+"Very well," the man replied, "we will be on the road. It is no
+difference to us where we are, and as well there as here. I will have men
+scattered all along in the forest between Blois and Amboise, and if I
+find that there are any suspicious parties along the road we will catch
+them, and if you are attacked you will find that we are close at hand to
+help you. You are a generous fellow, and your story has interested me. We
+gentlemen of the woods are obliged to live, whatever the law says; but if
+we can do a good action to anybody it pleases us as well as others."
+
+"I am greatly obliged to you," Ronald said, "and can promise you, anyhow,
+that your time shall be not altogether thrown away."
+
+Soon afterwards the whole band lay down round the fire and were sound
+asleep. In the morning Malcolm saddled the two horses, and after a hearty
+adieu from the captain and his followers--all of whom were discharged
+soldiers who had been driven to take up this life from an inability to
+support themselves in any other way--they started for Le Mans, which
+town they reached late in the afternoon, without adventure.
+
+Deeming it in the highest degree improbable that any watch would be set
+for them at a place so far from their line of travel, they put up for the
+night at the principal inn. In the morning they again started, and after
+riding for some distance to the south, made a wide sweep, and crossing
+the river, entered Tours from the south, late in the evening. They again
+put up at the principal inn, for although they doubted not that their
+arrival would be noticed by the emissaries of the enemy, they had no fear
+of molestation in a town like Tours. And on the following morning Ronald
+presented himself at the entrance to the convent.
+
+"I wish to see the lady superior," he said to the lay sister at the
+wicket. "I am the bearer of a communication to her from the king."
+
+He was left waiting for a few minutes outside the gate, then the wicket
+door opened, and the sister requested him to follow her. Not a soul was
+to be seen as he traversed the gloomy courts and passed through several
+corridors to the room where the abbess was waiting him. In silence he
+handed to her the king's order. The abbess opened and read it.
+
+"His majesty's commands shall be obeyed," she said; "in an hour the
+countess will be in readiness to depart."
+
+"A carriage shall be in waiting at the gate to receive her," Ronald said,
+bowing, and then, without another word, retired.
+
+Malcolm was awaiting him outside, and they at once went to the officer of
+the royal post and engaged a carriage and post horses to take them to
+Blois.
+
+The carriage was at the door at the appointed time, and a few minutes
+later the gate opened, and the countess, in travelling attire, issued
+out, and in a moment was clasped in her son's arms. He at once handed her
+into the carriage and took his place beside her. Malcolm closed the door
+and leapt up on the box, the postilion cracked his whip, and the carriage
+moved off.
+
+"Can it be true, Ronald, or am I dreaming? It is but a week since you
+were here last, and the news of my release came upon me with such a
+surprise that, do you know, I fainted. Am I really free? Is it possible
+that I have seen the last of those hateful walls? It seems like a dream.
+Where are we going?"
+
+"We are going to Blois."
+
+"To a prison?" the countess exclaimed. "But no, there are no guards or
+escorts. Are we going, oh, Ronald, are we going to see my husband?"
+
+"Yes, mother, we are going, not only to see him but to release him. I
+have the king's order in my pocket."
+
+For some time the countess was unable to speak, her joy was too great for
+words. Then tears came to her relief, and she sobbed out exclamations of
+joy and gratitude. Ronald said nothing until she had somewhat recovered
+her calmness, and then he told her the manner in which Marshal Saxe had
+obtained the two orders of release.
+
+"I will pray for him night and morning to the last day of my life," the
+countess said. "God is indeed good to me. I had hoped, from what you
+said, that my term of imprisonment was drawing to an end; but I had
+looked forward to a long struggle, to endless efforts and petitions
+before I could obtain your father's release, with, perhaps, failure in
+the end. Not for one moment did I dream that such happiness as this
+awaited me."
+
+Ronald now thought it wise to repeat the warning which the marshal had
+given him.
+
+"Mother, dear," he said "you must be prepared to find that a total change
+will have taken place in my father. His imprisonment has been a very
+different one to yours. You have had companions and a certain amount of
+freedom and comfort. You have had people to speak to, and have known what
+is going on in the world. He has been cut off altogether from mankind. He
+cannot even know whether you are alive, or whether you may not have
+yielded to the pressure that would be sure to be brought upon you, and
+acquiesced in a divorce being obtained. He has, doubtless, been kept in a
+narrow cell, deprived almost of the air and light of heaven. He will be
+greatly changed, mother. He will not be like you; for it does not seem to
+me that you have changed much from what you were. I could not see you
+much that night on the terrace; but now I see you I can hardly believe
+that you are my mother, so young do you look."
+
+"I am nearly forty," the countess said smiling. "I was past twenty-one
+when I married. Had I not been of age they could have pronounced the
+marriage null and void. But you are right, Ronald, and I will prepare
+myself to find your father greatly changed. It cannot be otherwise after
+all he has gone through; but so that I have him again it is enough for
+me, no matter how great the change that may have taken place in him. But
+who are these men?" the countess exclaimed, as, a quarter of a mile
+outside the town, four men on horseback took up their places, two on each
+side of the carriage.
+
+"Do not be alarmed, mother, they are our escort. Malcolm hired them at Le
+Mans. They are all old soldiers, and can be relied on in case of
+necessity."
+
+"But what need can there be for them, Ronald? I have heard that bands of
+discharged soldiers and others make travelling insecure; but I had no
+idea that it was necessary to have an armed escort."
+
+"Not absolutely necessary, mother, but a useful measure of precaution. We
+heard of them as we came through from Paris, and Malcolm and I agreed,
+that as you would have with you any jewels and valuables that you took to
+the convent, it would be just as well to be in a position to beat off any
+who might be disposed to trouble us. As you see, they have brought with
+them Malcolm's horse and mine, and we shall now mount. The less weight
+the horses have to draw the better. I will get in and have a talk from
+time to time where the road happens to be good; but, to tell you the
+truth, the jolting and shaking are neither pleasant nor good for
+talking."
+
+"You are expecting to be attacked, Ronald," the countess said. "I am sure
+you would not be wanting to get out and leave me so soon after we have
+met did you not anticipate some danger."
+
+"Frankly, mother, then, I do think it is probable that an attempt may be
+made to stop us, and that not by regular robbers, but by your enemies.
+They did their best to prevent me from reaching Tours, and will now most
+likely try to prevent our arriving at Blois. I will tell you all about it
+when we get there tonight. Here is the order for my father's release.
+Will you hide it in your dress? I had rather not have it about me. And,
+mother, if we should be attacked, do not be alarmed, for I have reason to
+believe that if we should be outnumbered and hard pressed, help will
+speedily be forthcoming."
+
+"I am not in the least afraid for myself," the countess said; "but be
+careful, Ronald. Remember I have only just found you, and for my sake do
+not expose yourself unnecessarily."
+
+"I will take care of myself, mother," he said. "You know I have always
+had to do so."
+
+Malcolm had already mounted his horse, and Ronald was really glad when he
+took his place beside him a few yards ahead of the carriage. The art both
+of road making and carriage building was still in its infancy. When the
+weather was fine and the ground hard a fair rate of progress could be
+maintained; but in wet weather the vehicles often sank almost up to their
+axles in mud holes and quagmires, and the bumping and jolting were
+terrible.
+
+"Now we take up our work of looking out for ambushes again, Malcolm."
+
+"It will not be quite the same thing now," Malcolm said. "Before, two or
+three men with guns behind a wall might do the business, now they will
+have to make a regular attack. I have no doubt that we were watched from
+the time we entered the town, and that the news that we are travelling
+with the countess in a carriage, and with an escort of four armed men,
+has been carried on ahead already. It is by horsemen that we shall be
+attacked today if we are attacked at all, and they will probably fall
+upon us in the forest beyond Amboise. They will know that with a vehicle
+we must keep the road, and that as we cannot travel more than six miles
+an hour at the outside, we cannot attempt to escape by our speed."
+
+"Do you think we had better wait at Amboise for the night and go on to
+Orleans tomorrow?"
+
+"No, I think we had better push straight on, especially as we told our
+friends in the forest that we should come today, and I feel sure they
+will keep their promise to be on the lookout to aid us. If it were not
+for that I should have said let us stay at Tours for the present, for we
+may expect to be attacked by a force much superior to our own."
+
+"Why, they would not have sent down more than six men to attack us two,
+Malcolm?"
+
+"No, if they had been sure which road we should travel; but as they
+didn't know that, they may have had small parties at half a dozen spots,
+and these will now be united. Probably there may be a score of them.
+However, I rely on the robbers. The captain meant what he said, and you
+won the goodwill of all the men. If there are a dozen horsemen anywhere
+along the road they are sure to know of it, and will, I have no doubt,
+post themselves close at hand so as to be ready to join in the fray as
+soon as it commences."
+
+Amboise was reached without adventure. Here the horses in the carriage
+were changed, and the party proceeded on their way. Four miles further
+they entered a great forest. Ronald now ordered two of the men to ride a
+few yards in front of the horses' heads. He and Malcolm rode on each side
+of the coach, the other two followed close behind. He ordered the driver,
+in case they were attacked, to jump off instantly and run to the horses'
+heads, and keep them quiet during the fray.
+
+A vigilant lookout was kept. Suddenly, when they were in the thickest
+part of the wood, a number of mounted men dashed out from either side. In
+obedience to the orders Ronald had given, the men in front and behind at
+once closed in, so that there were three on either side of the carriage.
+The assailants fired their pistols as they dashed down, but the bullets
+flew harmlessly by, while the fire of the defenders, sitting quietly on
+their horses, was more accurate, two of the assailants falling dead,
+while another was severely wounded.
+
+A moment later swords were drawn, and a furious combat ensued. Ronald had
+told his men to keep close to the carriage, so that they could not be
+attacked in the rear, keeping just far enough out on either side of him
+to be able to use their swords. For a short time the defenders of the
+coach maintained their position, the number of their assailants giving
+them but slight advantage, as they were unable to utilize their force.
+
+Ronald ran the first man who attacked him through the body, and laid open
+the face of the next with a sweeping blow from left to right. The men
+they had hired fought stoutly; but they were being pressed together as
+the assailants urged forward their horses, when suddenly a volley of
+firearms was heard.
+
+Several of the assailants fell dead, and with a loud shout a number of
+men rushed out from the wood and fell upon them in rear. The assailants
+turned to fly, and it was now the turn of the defenders of the coach to
+attack, which they did furiously.
+
+In two or three minutes all was over. Five or six only of the assailants
+cut their way through the footmen who had attacked them in rear, while
+twelve lay dead or dying on the ground. Ronald's first impulse was to
+ride up to the carriage to assure his mother of his safety, his next to
+leap off his horse and grasp the hand of the chief of the robbers.
+
+"You have kept your promise nobly," he said, "and arrived at the very
+nick of time. They were beginning to press us hotly; and though I fancy
+we should have rendered an account of a good many more, we must have been
+beaten in the end."
+
+"I was farther behind than I intended to be," the man said; "but we were
+obliged to keep in hiding some little distance behind them. There were
+four parties of them. We kept them in sight all yesterday, and last night
+they assembled a mile or two away. I had men watching them all night, and
+this morning we followed them here, and saw them take up their position
+on both sides of the road. We crept up as closely as we dared without
+being observed, but you had for a couple of minutes to bear the brunt of
+it alone."
+
+"I thank you most heartily," Ronald said. "My mother will thank you
+herself." So saying, he led them to the door of the carriage, which he
+opened.
+
+"Mother, I told you that if we were attacked I relied upon help being
+near at hand. We owe our lives, for I have no doubt that yours as well as
+mine would have been taken, to this brave man and his followers."
+
+"I thank you most sincerely, sir," the countess said. "At present I feel
+like one in a dream; for I have been so long out of the world that such a
+scene as this has well nigh bewildered me."
+
+"I am only too glad to have been of service," the man said as he stood
+bareheaded. "I am not a good man, madame. I am one of those whom the
+necessities of the times have driven to earn their living as they can
+without much regard to the law; but I trust that I have not quite lost my
+instincts as a gentleman, and I am only too glad to have been able to be
+of some slight assistance to a persecuted lady; for your son, the other
+night, related to us something of the treatment which you have had to
+endure."
+
+With a bow he now stepped back. His followers were engaged in searching
+the pockets of the fallen, and found in them a store of money which spoke
+well for the liberality of their employer, and well satisfied the robbers
+for the work they had undertaken. After a few words with her son the
+countess opened a small bag she carried with her, and taking from it a
+valuable diamond brooch, called the leader of the band up and presented
+it to him.
+
+Ronald and his party then remounted their horses--the robbers had
+already overtaken and caught those of the fallen assailants--the driver
+mounted the box, and after a cordial farewell to their rescuers the party
+proceeded on their way to Blois.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI: Free.
+
+
+It was late at night before Blois was reached, and having alighted at the
+Aigle d'Or they engaged a private room.
+
+"Even the Duke of Chateaurouge will be satisfied," Ronald said, "that his
+schemes have failed, and that no more can be done just at present. It
+will be a bitter blow to him when those scoundrels, on their return to
+Paris, report their utter failure, for he must have considered it
+impossible that we could escape from the toils he had laid for us. I only
+wish that we had clear evidence that he is the author of these attempts.
+If so, I would go straight with Marshal Saxe and lay an accusation
+against him before the king; but however certain we may feel about it, we
+have really nothing to connect him with the affair, and it would be
+madness to accuse a king's favourite unless one could prove absolutely
+the truth of what one says. However, I hope some day that I shall get
+even with him. It will not be my fault if I do not."
+
+That night Ronald and his mother debated what would be the best way to
+proceed in the morning, and finally they agreed that Malcolm should
+present himself at the prison with the order of release, and that they
+should remain at the hotel, to which Malcolm should bring Colonel Leslie,
+after breaking to him the news that his wife and son were both awaiting
+him. The shock, in any case, of sudden liberty, would be a severe one,
+and the meeting with his attached comrade would act as a preparation for
+that with his wife.
+
+Mother and son sat hand in hand after hearing the carriage drive off with
+Malcolm next morning. In the hours they had spent together they had come
+to know each other, and the relationship had become a real one. They had
+scarce been able to make out each other's features at their midnight
+meeting on the terrace, and at that meeting, rejoiced as they both were,
+there was still a feeling of strangeness between them. Now they knew each
+other as they were, and both were well satisfied. The countess was less
+strange to Ronald than he was to her. Malcolm had already described her
+to him as he knew her eighteen years before, and the reality agreed
+closely with the ideal that Ronald had pictured to himself, except that
+she was younger and brighter. For in thinking of her he had told himself
+over and over again that she would have grown much older, that her hair
+might have turned gray with grief and trouble, and her spirit been
+altogether broken.
+
+She on her part had been able to form no idea as to what the infant she
+had last seen would have grown up, and was not even sure that he was in
+existence. She had hoped that if he had lived he would have grown up like
+his father, and although she now saw but slight resemblance between them,
+she was indeed well satisfied with her son.
+
+He was not, she thought, as handsome as his father, but he bade fair to
+surpass him in strength and stature. She was delighted with his manly
+bearing; and when he laughed he reminded her of her husband, and she
+thought that she read in his gray eye and firm mouth a steadfastness and
+depth of character equal to his. They spoke but little now. Both were too
+anxious, Ronald for his mother's sake rather than his own. He was
+prepared to find this unknown father a man broken down by his years of
+captivity; but although his mother said that she too was prepared for
+great changes, he could not but think that the reality would be a sad
+shock to her. In little over an hour the carriage drove into the
+courtyard.
+
+"Be brave, mother," Ronald said, as he felt the hand he held in his own
+tremble violently. "You must be calm for his sake."
+
+Steps were heard approaching. The door opened, and Malcolm entered with a
+man leaning on his arm. The countess with a cry of joy sprang forward,
+and the next moment was clasped in her husband's arms.
+
+"At last, my love, at last!" she said.
+
+Ronald drew aside to the window to leave his father and mother to enjoy
+the first rapture of their meeting undisturbed, while Malcolm slipped
+quietly from the room again.
+
+"Why, Amelie," Leslie said at last, holding her at arms' length that he
+might look the better at her, "you are scarce changed. It does not seem
+to me that you are five years older than when I saw you last, and yet
+Malcolm tells me that you too have been a prisoner. How much my love has
+cost you, dear! No, you are scarce changed, while I have become an old
+man--my hair is as white as snow, and I am so crippled with rheumatism
+I can scarce move my limbs."
+
+"You are not so much changed, Angus. Your hair is white and your face is
+very pale; but you are not so much changed. If I have suffered for your
+love, dear, what have you suffered for mine! I have been a prisoner in a
+way, but I had a certain amount of freedom in my cage, while you--" And
+she stopped.
+
+"Yes, it has been hard," he said; "but I kept up my spirits, Amelie. I
+never lost the hope that some day we should be reunited."
+
+"And now, Angus, here is our boy, to whom we owe our liberty and the joy
+of this meeting. You may well be proud of such a son."
+
+"I am proud," Leslie said as Ronald advanced, and he took him in his
+arms. "God bless you, my boy. You have performed well nigh a miracle.
+Malcolm has been telling me of you. Call him in again. It is right that
+he to whom you owe so much should share in our happiness."
+
+Ronald at once fetched Malcolm, and until late at night they talked of
+all that had happened during so many years. Colonel Leslie had passed the
+first three years of his confinement in the Chatelet. "It was well it was
+no longer," he said; "for even I, hard as I was with years of soldiering,
+could not have stood that much longer. My cell there was below the level
+of the river. The walls were damp, and it was there I got the rheumatism
+which has crippled me ever since. Then they moved me to Blois, and there
+my cell was in one of the turrets, and the sun shone in through the
+window slit for half an hour a day; besides for an hour once a week I was
+allowed to take what they called exercise on the wall between my turret
+and the next. The governor was not a bad fellow, and did not try to
+pocket the best part of the money allowed for the keep of the prisoners.
+Fortunately I never lost hope. Had I done so I would have thrown myself
+over the parapet and ended it at once. I felt sure that you too were shut
+up, Amelie, and I pictured to myself how they would try to make you give
+me up; but I never thought they would succeed, dear. I knew you too well
+for that. Sometimes for months I lay as if paralysed by rheumatism, and I
+think I should have died if I had not known how my enemies would have
+rejoiced at the news of my death. So I held on stoutly, and I have got my
+reward."
+
+But the hardships had told their tale. Although but the same age as
+Malcolm Anderson, Colonel Leslie looked fully ten years older. His long
+confinement had taken every tinge of colour out of his face, and left it
+almost ghastly in its whiteness. He could with difficulty lift his hands
+to his head, and he walked as stiffly as if his legs had been jointless.
+His voice only had not lost the cheery ring his wife remembered.
+
+"No, Amelie," he said when she remarked this. "I kept my tongue in
+practice; it was the one member that was free. After I had been confined
+a few months it struck me that I was rapidly losing the power of speech,
+and I determined that if I could not talk for want of someone to answer
+me, I could at least sing, and having a good store of songs, Scottish and
+French, I sang for hours together, at first somewhat to the uneasiness of
+the prison authorities, who thought that I could not be so merry unless I
+had some communication from without, or was planning an escape; but at
+last they grew accustomed to it, and as my voice could not travel through
+the thick walls of my cells, it annoyed no one."
+
+"And did you never think of escaping, father?"
+
+"The first few years of my confinement I was always thinking of it,
+Ronald, but nothing ever came of my thought. I had no tools to burrow
+through a four foot wall, and if I could have done so I should have tried
+if it had only been to give me something to do, had it not been that I
+hoped some day to obtain my release, and that any attempt at escape
+would, if discovered, as it was almost certain to be, decrease my
+chances."
+
+Not a word was said that evening as to their future plans, all their
+thoughts being in the past; but the next morning Colonel Leslie said at
+breakfast:
+
+"And now what are we going to do next? How do we stand?"
+
+"I know no more than you do, Angus. I do not know whether the king has
+gifted my mother's estate to others, as assuredly he has done my father's
+lands. If he has, I have been thinking that the best plan will be to ask
+the king's permission to leave the kingdom and return to your native
+Scotland."
+
+"I am very fond of Scotland, Amelie; but I have also a fondness for
+living, and how I should live in Scotland I have not the most remote
+idea. My estate there was but a small one, and was forfeited thirty years
+ago; so unless I become a gaberlunzie and sit on the steps of St. Andrews
+asking for alms, I don't see how we should get porridge, to say nothing
+of anything else. No, Amelie, it seems to me that we must stop in France.
+For very shame they cannot let the daughter of the Marquis de Recambours
+starve, and they must at least restore you a corner of your parents
+estates, if it be but a farm. How are we off for funds at present?" he
+asked with a laugh. "I hope at least we have enough to pay our hotel
+bill."
+
+"We have forty louis in cash, father; the remains of the hundred you
+committed to Malcolm with me."
+
+"Is that so?" he exclaimed. "All I can say is that that money has lasted
+longer than any that ever passed through my fingers before."
+
+"We have plenty of money," the countess said quietly. "I have all the
+jewels which came to me from my mother, and their sale will keep us for
+years, either in Scotland or France."
+
+"That is good indeed," the colonel said cheerily.
+
+"Yes; I took them all with me when I was sent to the convent, and have
+parted with none save the diamond necklet which I gave to the girl who
+brought Ronald and me together, as a parting keepsake, and a brooch with
+which I rewarded the men who aided us in the forest; but seriously,
+Angus, we must settle upon something."
+
+"I quite agree with you, Amelie; but what is that something to be?"
+
+"I should think, Angus, that the proper thing would be for me to write to
+the king thanking him for our release, asking his commands, and
+petitioning him that my mother's estates may be restored to me. I will
+also ask permission to retire to some southern town where there are
+waters which may do good to your rheumatism."
+
+Colonel Leslie frowned.
+
+"I suppose that is the right thing to do, Amelie; though, for my part, I
+cannot thank a sovereign whom I have served well after such treatment as
+I have received. I would rather beg my bread from door to door."
+
+"No, I would not ask you, Angus, and of course you are differently
+placed; but I have my rights as a peeress of France; besides I have on my
+own account no complaint against the king. It was my father who shut me
+up in the convent, not the king."
+
+"By the way, Amelie," her husband said, "you are not yet in mourning."
+
+"Nor do I intend to be," she said firmly; "unless I have to go to court
+no thread of mourning do I put on. My father behaved like a tyrant to me,
+and I will not feign a grief at an event which has brought us happiness.
+Well, Ronald, what do you think had best be done? You and Malcolm have
+managed so well that we had best leave it for you to decide."
+
+"I think what you propose, mother, is best. I think you had better travel
+down to some place near where your mother's estates lay, and then write
+your petition to the king. I will leave you there and return with it to
+Paris, and will there consult Colonel Hume and Marshal Saxe as to how it
+should be delivered to the king."
+
+This plan was carried out. The party journeyed together to Poitiers, and
+there having seen his parents comfortably settled in a small house near
+the town, and remained with them a few days, Ronald with Malcolm returned
+to Paris, bearing with him his mother's memorial to the king.
+
+Ronald was glad to find that Colonel Hume was now recovered from his
+wound. Marshal Saxe too was better; the latter at once took charge of the
+petition, and said that he would hand it to the king on the first
+opportunity. Ronald accompanied the marquis several times to Versailles,
+but the latter had no private audience with the king, and thought it
+better not to present the memorial in public. One day, however, he was
+called into the king's closet.
+
+When he emerged with the king, Ronald thought from his expression of
+countenance that things had not gone well. On leaving the palace he
+mounted his horse--for he was now well enough to ride--and as he set
+out he called Ronald, who with other gentlemen had accompanied him to
+ride beside him.
+
+"Things have not gone well," he said. "Your father's enemies have
+evidently been at work, and have been poisoning the king's mind. He read
+the memorial, and then said harshly, 'The Countess of Recambours has
+forfeited all rights to her mother's estates by marrying an alien. The
+lands of France are for the King of France's subjects, not for soldiers
+of fortune.' This touched me, and I said, 'Your majesty may recollect
+that I am an alien and a soldier of fortune, and methinks that in time of
+war the swords of our soldiers of fortune have done such things for
+France that they have earned some right to gratitude. In a hundred
+battles our Scottish troops have fought in the front ranks, and had it
+not been for the Irish Brigade we should not have had to write Fontenoy
+down among the list of French victories."
+
+"You are bold, marshal," the king said angrily.
+
+"I am bold, sire," I replied, "because I am in the right: and I humbly
+submit that a brave soldier like Colonel Leslie deserves better treatment
+than he has received at the hands of France."
+
+The king rose at once.
+
+"An answer to the petition will be sent to you tomorrow, marshal."
+
+"I bowed, and without another word the king left his closet and entered
+the room of audience. However, lad, you must not look so downcast. We
+could perhaps expect no more the first time. Of course every man who has
+a hope, or who has a relation who has a hope, of obtaining the grant of
+your mother's estates is interested in exciting the king's displeasure
+against her; besides which there is, as you have told me, the Duc de
+Chateaurouge, who may be regarded as a personal enemy of your father, and
+who has the king's ear as much as anyone about him. However, we must have
+courage. I consider my personal honour is touched in the matter now, and
+I will not let the matter drop till justice is done."
+
+At the appointed time Ronald again called at Marshal Saxe's hotel, and
+watched the gay crowd of officers and nobles who were gathered in his
+reception rooms. An hour later a royal attendant entered and handed a
+document to the marshal. The latter glanced at it and looked around. As
+soon as his eye fell upon Ronald he nodded to him.
+
+"Here is the judgement," he said in a low tone, as he handed him the
+paper. "You see it is directed to the countess, to my care. I suppose you
+will start with it at once."
+
+"Yes, marshal; the horses are saddled and we shall leave immediately."
+
+"Don't hurry your horses," the marshal said with a slight smile; "from
+the king's manner I think that the contents are such that a few hours'
+delay in the delivery will cause the countess no pain. However, I do not
+anticipate anything very harsh. In the first place, although the king is
+swayed by favourites who work on his prejudices, his intention is always
+to be just; and in the second place, after granting the release of your
+parents as a boon to me he can scarcely annul the boon by any severe
+sentence. Will you tell the countess from me that I am wholly at her
+service, and that, should any opportunity offer, she may be sure that I
+will do what I can to incline the king favourably towards her. Lastly,
+Leslie, take care of yourself. The change in the king's manner shows that
+you have powerful enemies, and now that you have succeeded in obtaining
+your parents' freedom you have become dangerous. Remember the attack that
+was made upon you before, when there seemed but little chance that you
+would ever succeed in obtaining their release or in seriously threatening
+the interests of those who were looking forward to the reversion of the
+family estates. Their enmity now, when it only needs a change in the
+king's mood to do justice to your parents, will be far greater than
+before.
+
+"Bid your father, too, to have a care for himself and your mother.
+Remember that violence is common enough, and there are few inquiries
+made. An attack upon a lonely house and the murder of those within it is
+naturally put down as the act of some party of discharged soldiers or
+other ruffians. Tell him therefore he had best get a few trusty men
+around him, and be on guard night and day against a treacherous attack.
+Those who stand in the way of powerful men in France seldom live long, so
+he cannot be too careful."
+
+A quarter of an hour later Ronald was on horseback. He had already
+provided himself with a pass to leave the city after the usual hour of
+closing the gates, and he and Malcolm were soon in the open country. As
+they rode along Ronald repeated the warning that the marshal had given
+him.
+
+"He is quite right, Ronald, and you cannot be too careful. We have
+against us, first, this vindictive Duc de Chateaurouge, who, no doubt,
+has poisoned the king's mind. In all France there is no one whom I would
+not rather have as a foe. He is powerful, unscrupulous, and vindictive;
+he would hesitate at nothing to carry out anything on which he had set
+his mind, and would think no more of obtaining the removal of one whom he
+considered to stand in his way than of crushing a worm. Even as a young
+man he had a villainous reputation, and was regarded as one of the most
+dangerous men about the court. To do him justice, he is brave and a fine
+swordsman, and for choice he would rather slay with his own hands those
+who offend him than by other means. Though he was but three-and-twenty at
+the time I first left France he had fought half a dozen duels and killed
+as many men, and several others who were known to have offended him died
+suddenly. Some were killed in street brawls, returning home at night, one
+or two were suspected of having been poisoned. Altogether the man was
+feared and hated in those days, although, of course, none spoke their
+suspicions openly.
+
+"From what I have heard those suspicions have stuck to him ever since. He
+has not been engaged in many duels, because in the first place edicts
+against duelling are very strict, and in the second because his
+reputation as a swordsman is so great that few would risk their lives
+against him. Still all who stood in his way have somehow or other come to
+a sudden end. We must therefore be on our guard night and day. He is, of
+course, your most dangerous foe; but besides him must be numbered all
+those who hope to obtain your mother's estates. The heirs of the marquis
+doubtless feel perfectly safe from interference. There is no chance
+whatever of the king dispossessing them in favour of a foreigner, so we
+need not count them among your foes.
+
+"It is just as well, Ronald, that we started tonight instead of waiting
+till tomorrow. The duke is pretty certain to learn that the king's answer
+will be sent this evening, and may possibly have made preparations for
+you on the road; but he will hardly expect that you will start before the
+morning. However, in order to be on the safe side I propose that we shall
+presently turn off from the main road and avoid all large towns on our
+way down to Poitiers."
+
+"Do you think the danger is as great as that, Malcolm?"
+
+"I do not think there is much danger, Ronald, just at present, though I
+do in the future."
+
+Travelling by byways Ronald and Malcolm arrived at Poitiers without
+adventure.
+
+"I have brought you the king's answer, mother," Ronald said as he
+alighted; "but before you open it I may tell you that it is unfavourable,
+though I am ignorant of the precise nature of its contents. But you must
+not be disappointed. Marshal Saxe bade me tell you that he considers his
+honour engaged in seeing you righted, and that whenever an opportunity
+occurs he will endeavour to move the king's mind in your favour. How is
+my father?"
+
+"He suffers grievously from rheumatism, Ronald, and can scarce move from
+his couch."
+
+As soon as they joined the colonel the countess opened the king's letter.
+It was brief. "The Countess Amelie de Recambours is hereby ordered to
+withdraw at once to her estate of La Grenouille and there to await the
+king's pleasure concerning her."
+
+The king's signature was affixed.
+
+"Well, that is not so very bad," the countess said. "At any rate my right
+to one of my mother's estates is recognized. La Grenouille is the
+smallest of them, and contains but three or four farms. Still that will
+suffice for our wants, and as it lies but twenty miles from Bordeaux the
+air will be warm and soft for you, Angus."
+
+"Is there a chateau on it, mother?"
+
+"Yes, there is a small chateau. I was there once as a girl. It has never
+been modernized, but is still a castle such as it was two hundred years
+ago."
+
+"All the better," Ronald said; and he then gave Malcolm's reasons for
+their being on the watch against any sudden attack.
+
+"He is quite right, Ronald," Colonel Leslie said. "The duke is capable of
+anything. However, we will be on our guard, and if, as your mother says,
+it is a fortified house, we need have no fear of any sudden attack."
+
+"I would suggest, colonel, that I should ride to Tours," Malcolm said,
+"and hire two of the men who escorted madame's carriage. They have served
+in the wars and can be relied upon. They would not need high wages, for
+most of the discharged soldiers have trouble enough to keep body and soul
+together. With a couple of men of this kind, and two or three of the men
+on the estate, I think, colonel, you need fear no sudden attack."
+
+The colonel approved of the suggestion, and a week later, Malcolm having
+returned with the two men, a carriage was hired to convey the colonel and
+his wife, and so they journeyed quietly down to La Grenouille. On
+arriving there they found that they were expected, the old steward in
+charge having received a letter from the royal chancellor, saying that he
+was to receive the countess as the owner of the estate.
+
+The old man, who had known her mother well and remembered her visits as a
+child, received the countess with respectful joy. The chateau was, as
+Amelie had said, really a castle. It was surrounded by a moat filled with
+water, from which the walls rose abruptly, with no windows in the lower
+stories and only small loopholes in those above. Although the steward was
+ignorant when his mistress might be expected, he had already caused great
+fires to be lighted in all the rooms and had temporarily engaged two of
+the farmer's daughters to wait upon the countess, and three stout men as
+servitors.
+
+"What are the revenues of the estate?" the countess asked the steward
+that evening. "My mother's other estates have not been restored to me as
+yet, and I have only this to depend upon, and I do not know what
+establishment I can afford to keep up."
+
+"The revenue amounts to twelve thousand francs," he said. "There are
+three large farms and four small ones. Twelve thousand francs are not
+much, countess, for your mother's daughter; but they go a long way here,
+where one can live for next to nothing. We have a garden which will
+provide all the fruit and vegetables you require, and your poultry will
+cost you nothing. The vineyard attached to the chateau furnishes more
+than enough wine, and the cellars are well filled, for every year I have
+put aside a few barrels, so that in fact it will be only meat you have to
+buy."
+
+"So that you think I can keep the two men I have brought with me and the
+servants you have engaged?"
+
+"Easily, madam, and more if you wished it."
+
+"Do you think five men will be sufficient?" the countess said. "I ask
+because I have powerful enemies, and in these lawless times an attack
+upon a lonely house might well be carried out."
+
+"With the drawbridge drawn up, madam, five men could hold the chateau
+against a score, and the sound of the alarm bell would bring all the
+tenants and their men down to your assistance. I will answer for them
+all. There were great rejoicings last week when I sent round the news
+that you were expected. The memory of your mother, who once resided here
+for a year, is very dear to all of us, and there is not a man on the
+estate but would take up arms in your defence. The sound of the alarm
+bell would bring thirty stout fellows, at least, to your aid."
+
+"Then we need not trouble on that score, Amelie," the colonel said
+cheerfully. "Malcolm will see to the drawbridge tomorrow; probably it has
+not been raised for years."
+
+"I have already been examining it," Malcolm--who had just entered the
+room--said. "It only needs a little oil and a bolt or two. I will have
+it raised tonight. Things look better than I expected, colonel, and I
+shall be able to return to Paris without having any anxiety upon your
+score."
+
+"But you are not thinking of going back, Ronald?" the countess asked
+anxiously. "If there is danger here for us, there must be surely danger
+for you in Paris. And I want you here with us."
+
+"I will stop for a few days, mother, and then Malcolm and I will be off.
+As I have Marshal Saxe's protection I need fear no open enmity from
+anyone, and as I shall be with the regiment I shall be safe from the
+secret attacks; besides, my sword can guard my head."
+
+"You have taught him to defend himself--eh, Malcolm?" Colonel Leslie
+said.
+
+"I," Malcolm repeated--"I can use my sword in a melee, colonel, as you
+know, and hold my own against Dutchman or German when I meet them on the
+field; but Ronald is a different blade altogether. He was well taught in
+Glasgow, and has practised under the best maitres d'armes in Paris since,
+and I am proud to say that I do not think there are ten men in France
+against whom he could not hold his own."
+
+"That is good, that is good, indeed," the colonel said, delighted.
+"Malcolm, I feel my obligations to you more and more every day. Truly I
+had never even hoped that if my son were ever to be restored to me, I
+should have such cause to be proud of him."
+
+"But why do you think you had better return to Paris, Ronald?" his mother
+inquired.
+
+"Because, mother, it will not do to let your enemies have entirely their
+own way now that you have been so far restored. Doubtless your family
+will be the more inclined to aid you with their influence, but there must
+be somebody to urge them to do so."
+
+"Besides, Amelie," the colonel put in, "we must not cage the lad here at
+your apron strings. He has already won Saxe's regard and protection by
+his conduct in the field, and can now accept a commission in the old
+regiment. He has begun well, and may yet live to command it. No, no, my
+love. I should like to keep him here as much as you would, but in every
+way it is better that he should go out and take his place in the world.
+To you and me, after our long imprisonment, this place is life, freedom,
+and happiness, and we are together; but for him it is a dreary little
+country chateau, and he would soon long for a life among men."
+
+And so, after three weeks' stay at the chateau, Ronald and Malcolm rode
+back to Paris, and the former received a week later a commission through
+Marshal Saxe in the Scottish Dragoons. That regiment had returned from
+the frontier, and Ronald at once took his place in its ranks, and was
+heartily received by all the officers, to whom he was formally introduced
+by Colonel Hume as the son of their former commanding officer.
+
+A short time afterwards it became the turn of duty of the Scottish
+Dragoons to furnish guards for a week at Versailles, and Colonel Hume
+took down two troops for that purpose. That to which Ronald belonged was
+one of them. Ronald, knowing that for the present he was not in favour
+with the king, begged the colonel to put him on duty as often as
+possible, so that he might avoid the necessity of being present at the
+king's audiences with the other officers.
+
+He was one day walking with the colonel and several other officers in the
+grounds at a distance from the palace, when they came, at the turn of the
+walk, upon the Duc de Chateaurouge and three other gentlemen of the
+court. The former stopped abruptly before Colonel Hume.
+
+"I had the honour, Colonel Hume, to speak to you some time since of a
+volunteer in your regiment who chose to call himself the name of Leslie.
+I understand he is now an officer. I see by the lists in the courtyard
+that a Cornet Leslie is now on duty here. Where does he hide himself, for
+I have been seeking in vain to meet him?"
+
+"Cornet Leslie is not one to balk any man's desire that way," Colonel
+Hume said gravely. "This is Cornet Leslie."
+
+Ronald stepped forward and looked the duke calmly in the face.
+
+"So this is the young cockerel," the duke said contemptuously. "A worthy
+son of a worthy father, I doubt not."
+
+"At any rate, my lord duke," Ronald said quietly, "I do not rid myself of
+my foes by getting those I am afraid to meet as man to man thrown into
+prison, nor by setting midnight assassins upon them. Nor do I rely upon
+my skill as a swordsman to be a bully and a coward."
+
+The duke started as if struck.
+
+"I had made up my mind to kill you, young sir," he said, "sooner or
+later; but you have brought it on yourself now. Draw, sir!" And the duke
+drew his sword.
+
+Colonel Hume and several others threw themselves before Ronald.
+
+"Put up your sword, sir. Duelling is forbidden, and you know the
+consequence of drawing within the precincts of the palace."
+
+"What care I for ordinances!" the duke said furiously. "Stand aside,
+gentlemen, lest I do you harm!"
+
+"Harm or no harm," Colonel Hume said sternly, "my young friend shall not
+fight in the palace grounds. I protest against his being forced into a
+duel at all; but at any rate he shall not fight here."
+
+The duke looked for a moment as if he was about to spring upon Colonel
+Hume, but he saw by their faces that his companions also were against
+him. For the consequences of drawing a sword within the precincts of a
+palace were so serious, that even the most powerful nobles shrank from
+braving them.
+
+"Very well," he said at last, thrusting his sword back into its scabbard.
+"It is but ten minutes' walk to the boundary wall, I will let him live
+till then."
+
+So saying he started off with rapid strides down the walk, followed at a
+slower pace by the rest.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII: The End of the Quarrel.
+
+
+"This is a serious business, Leslie," the colonel said in a low voice.
+"If it had been anyone but you I should have ordered him to the barracks
+at once under pain of arrest, and have laid the matter before the king,
+for it would have been nothing short of murder. But I can trust you to
+hold your own even against the Duke of Chateaurouge. And, in truth, after
+what has been said, I do not see that you can do other but meet him."
+
+"I would not avoid it if I could," Ronald said. "His insults to me do not
+disturb me; but I have my father's wrongs to avenge."
+
+"Forbes," the colonel said to one of the other officers, "do you go
+straight to the barracks, bid Leslie's man saddle his own horse and his
+master's instantly, and bring them round outside the wall of the park. If
+Leslie wounds or kills his man he will have to ride for it."
+
+The officer at once hurried away.
+
+"Ronald, I will tell you a piece of news I heard this morning. The young
+Chevalier left Paris secretly five days ago, and I have received certain
+private information this morning that he has gone to Nantes, and that he
+is on the point of sailing for Scotland on his own account. I am told
+that this plan of his is known to but five or six persons. If you get
+safely through this business mount and ride thither at all speed. They
+are more likely to pursue you towards the frontier or the northern ports,
+and will not think you have made for Nantes. If you get there before the
+prince has sailed, present yourself to him and join his expedition. The
+king will be furious at first, both at the loss of his favourite and the
+breaking of the edicts; but he must come round. The gentlemen here with
+the duke are all honourable men, and were, I could see, shocked at the
+insult which the duke passed on you. Therefore I can rely upon them to
+join me in representing the matter in its true light to the king. Before
+you return, the matter will have blown over, and it may be that the
+removal of your father's most powerful enemy may facilitate an
+arrangement. In any case, my dear boy, you can rely upon the marshal and
+myself to look after your interests."
+
+They had now reached a wicket gate in the wall of the park. The duke was
+standing a few paces distant, having already removed his coat and turned
+up the shirt sleeve of the sword arm.
+
+"You will act as second, marquis?" he said to one of the gentlemen.
+
+The latter bowed coldly.
+
+"I act as second to my friend Leslie," Colonel Hume said. "And I call
+upon you all, gentlemen, to bear witness in the future, that this
+encounter has been wantonly forced upon him by the Duc de Chateaurouge,
+and that Cornet Leslie, as a man of honour, has no alternative whatever
+but to accept the challenge forced upon him."
+
+Ronald had by this time stripped to his shirt sleeves. The seconds took
+the two swords and compared their length. They were found to be as nearly
+as possible the same. They were then returned to their owners. A piece of
+even turf was selected, and a position chosen in which the light was
+equally favourable to both parties. Then both fell into position on
+guard, and as the rapiers crossed Colonel Hume said solemnly:
+
+"May God defend the right!"
+
+An instant later they were engaged in deadly conflict. It lasted but a
+few seconds. The duke, conscious of his own skill, and believing that he
+had but a lad to deal with, at once attacked eagerly, desirous of
+bringing the contest to a termination before there was any chance of
+interruption. He attacked, then, carelessly and eagerly, and made a
+furious lunge which he thought would terminate the encounter at once; but
+Ronald did not give way an inch, but parrying in carte, slipped his blade
+round that of the duke, feinted in tierce, and then rapidly disengaging,
+lunged in carte as before. The blade passed through the body of his
+adversary, and the lunge was given with such force that the pommel of his
+sword struck against the ribs. The duke fell an inert mass upon the
+ground as Ronald withdrew the rapier.
+
+An exclamation of surprise and alarm broke from the three gentlemen who
+had accompanied the duke, while Colonel Hume said gravely:
+
+"God has protected the right. Ah! here come the horses! Mount and ride,
+Leslie, and do not spare the spurs. I should advise you," he said,
+drawing him aside, "to take the northern route for a few miles, so as to
+throw them off the scent. When you get to Nantes search the inns till you
+find the Duke of Athole, he is an intimate friend of mine, and it was
+from him I learned in strict secrecy of the prince's intentions. Show him
+this ring, he knows it well, and tell him I sent you to join him; say
+nothing at first as to this business here. Your own name and my name will
+be enough. He will introduce you to Prince Charlie, who will be with him
+under a disguised name. May God bless you, my lad! We will do our best
+for you here."
+
+At this moment Malcolm arrived with the two horses.
+
+"Thank God you are safe, Ronald!" he exclaimed as Ronald leapt into his
+saddle, and with a word of thanks and adieu to the colonel dashed off at
+full speed.
+
+Colonel Hume then rejoined the group gathered round the duke. The
+Scottish officers were looking very grave, the courtiers even more so.
+They had from the first recognized fully that the duel had been provoked
+by the duke, and had accompanied him reluctantly, for they regarded the
+approaching conflict as so unfair that it would excite a strong amount of
+feeling against all who had a hand in the matter. As to the edict against
+duelling, it had not concerned them greatly, as they felt sure that with
+the duke's influence the breach of the law would be passed over with only
+a show of displeasure on the part of the king, and an order to absent
+themselves for a short time from court. The contingency that this young
+Scottish officer, who had scarcely yet attained the age of manhood,
+should kill one of the best swordsmen in France had not occurred to them;
+but this had happened, and there could be no doubt that the king's anger,
+alike at the loss of his favourite and at the breach of the law, would
+fall heavily on all concerned, and that a prolonged exile from court was
+the least evil they could expect. Not a word had been spoken after they
+had, on stooping over the duke, found that death had been instantaneous,
+until Colonel Hume joined them.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he said; "this is a bad business, and means trouble
+for us all. His majesty will be vastly angry. However, the duke brought
+it upon himself, and is the only person to blame. His character is pretty
+well known, and it will be manifest that if he had made up his mind to
+fight no remonstrance on your part would have availed to induce him to
+abstain from doing so. At the same time the king will not, in the first
+burst of his anger, take that into consideration, and for awhile we shall
+no doubt all of us suffer from his displeasure; but I do not think that
+it will be lasting. The duke forced on the duel, and would have fought
+within the royal park had we not interfered, and we were in a way forced
+to be present. I propose that we return to the palace and give notice of
+what has occurred. Captain Forbes, as you were not present at the affair,
+and will not therefore be called upon to give any account of it, will you
+remain here until they send down to fetch the body?
+
+"We will, if you please, gentlemen, walk slowly, for every mile that
+Leslie can put between him and Versailles is very important. The news
+will reach the king's ears very shortly after we have made it public. You
+and I, marquis, as the seconds in the affair, are sure to be sent for
+first. As, fortunately, we were both present at the quarrel we are both
+in a position to testify that the duke brought his fate upon himself,
+that there was no preventing the duel, and that had we refused to act he
+was in a frame of mind which would have driven him to fight without
+seconds if none had been forthcoming; lastly, we can testify that the
+combat was a fair one, and that the duke fell in consequence of the
+rashness of his attack and his contempt for his adversary, although in
+point of fact I can tell you that young Leslie is so good a swordsman
+that I am confident the result would in any case have been the same."
+
+"I suppose there's nothing else for it," the marquis grumbled. "I must
+prepare myself for a prolonged visit to my country estates."
+
+"And I shall no doubt be placed under arrest for some time," Colonel Hume
+said; "and the regiment will probably be packed off to the frontier
+again. However, these things don't make much difference in the long run.
+What I am most anxious about, marquis, is that his majesty should
+thoroughly comprehend that Leslie was not to blame, and that this affair
+was so forced upon him that it was impossible for him to avoid it. There
+is much more than the lad's own safety dependent on this."
+
+"You may be sure, colonel, that I will do him justice."
+
+At a slow pace the party proceeded until they neared the palace, when
+they quickened their steps. The marquis proceeded immediately to the
+apartments occupied by the duke, and told his domestics that their master
+had been killed in a duel, and directed them to obtain assistance and
+proceed at once to the spot where his body would be found. The colonel
+went to the king's surgeon, and told him of what had taken place.
+
+"His death was instantaneous," he said; "the sword passed right through
+him, and I believe touched the heart. However, it will be as well that
+you should go and see the body, as the king will be sure to ask
+particulars as to the wound."
+
+The rest of the party joined their acquaintances, and told them what had
+happened, and the news spread quickly through the palace. It created a
+great sensation. Breaches of the edict were not unfrequent; but the death
+of so powerful a noble, a chief favourite, too, of the king, took it
+altogether out of the ordinary category of such events. The more so since
+the duke's reputation as a swordsman and a duellist was so great that men
+could scarce believe that he had been killed by a young officer who had
+but just joined the regiment. It seemed like the story of David and
+Goliath over again. A quarter of an hour later a court official
+approached Colonel Hume and the Marquis de Vallecourt, who were standing
+together surrounded by a number of courtiers and officers.
+
+"Monsieur le Marquis and Colonel Hume," he said, saluting them; "I regret
+to say that I am the bearer of the orders of his majesty that you shall
+deliver me your swords, and that you will then accompany me to the king's
+presence."
+
+The two gentlemen handed over their swords to the official, and followed
+him to the king's presence. Louis was pacing angrily up and down his
+apartment.
+
+"What is this I hear, gentlemen?" he exclaimed as they entered. "A breach
+of the edicts here at Versailles, almost in the boundaries of the park;
+and that the Duc de Chateaurouge, one of my most valued officers and
+friends has been killed; they tell me that you acted as seconds in the
+affair."
+
+"They have told your majesty the truth," the marquis said; "but I think
+that, much as we regret what has happened, we could scarcely have acted
+otherwise than we did. The duke drew in the first place within the limits
+of the park, and would have fought out his quarrel there had we not, I
+may almost say forcibly, intervened. Then he strode away towards the
+boundary of the park, calling upon his antagonist to follow him; and had
+we not gone the encounter would have taken place without seconds or
+witnesses, and might then have been called a murder instead of a duel."
+
+"You should have arrested him, sir," the king exclaimed, "for drawing in
+the park."
+
+"Perhaps we should have done so, sire; but you must please to remember
+that the Duke of Chateaurouge was of a temper not to be crossed, and I
+believe that bloodshed would have taken place had we endeavoured to
+thwart him. He enjoyed your majesty's favour, and a forcible arrest, with
+perhaps the shedding of blood, in the royal demesne would have been a
+scandal as grave as that of this duel."
+
+"How did it come about?" the king asked abruptly.
+
+"The duke was walking with De Lisle, St. Aignan, and myself, when we
+suddenly came upon Colonel Hume with three of the officers of his
+regiment. The duke at once walked up to them and addressed Colonel Hume,
+and finding which of his companions was Monsieur Leslie, addressed him in
+terms of so insulting a nature that they showed that he had been waiting
+for the meeting to provoke a quarrel. The young officer replied perfectly
+calmly, but with what I must call admirable spirit and courage, which so
+infuriated the duke, that, as I have already had the honour of telling
+your majesty, he drew at once, and when we interfered he called upon him
+to proceed forthwith outside the park, and there settle the quarrel. We
+most reluctantly accompanied him, and determined to interfere at the
+first blood drawn; but the affair scarcely lasted for a second. The duke
+threw himself furiously and rashly upon the lad, for as your majesty is
+aware, he is but little more. The latter, standing firm, parried with
+admirable coolness, and in an instant ran the duke right through the
+body."
+
+"But I have always heard," the king said, "that the duke was one of the
+best swordsmen in the army."
+
+"Your majesty has heard correctly," Colonel Hume replied; "but young
+Leslie is one of the best swordsmen in France. The duke's passion and
+rashness led to the speedy termination of the duel; but had he fought
+with his accustomed coolness I believe that Leslie would have turned out
+his conqueror."
+
+"But what was the cause of the quarrel? Why should the Duc de
+Chateaurouge fix a dispute, as you tell me he did, upon this officer of
+yours?"
+
+"I believe, sire, that it was a long standing quarrel. The duke's words
+showed that he bore an enmity against the lad's father, and that it was
+on this account that he insulted the son."
+
+"Leslie!" the king exclaimed, with a sudden recollection. "Is that the
+youth whom Marshal Saxe presented to me?"
+
+"The same, sire; the lad who distinguished himself at Fontenoy, and whom
+the Marshal afterwards appointed to a commission in my regiment, in which
+he had served as a gentleman volunteer for nearly a year."
+
+"These Leslies are always causing trouble," the king said angrily. "I
+have already given orders that he shall be arrested wherever he is found,
+and he shall be punished as he deserves."
+
+"In punishing him," Colonel Hume said with grave deference, "I am sure
+that your majesty will not forget that this quarrel was forced upon him,
+and that, had he accepted the insults of the Duke of Chateaurouge, he
+would have been unworthy to remain an officer of your majesty."
+
+"Silence, sir!" the king said angrily. "You will return immediately to
+Paris, under arrest, until my pleasure in your case is notified to you. I
+shall at once give orders that your troops here are replaced by those of
+a regiment whose officers will abstain from brawling and breaking the
+edicts in our very palace. Marquis, you will retire at once to your
+estates." The two gentlemen bowed and left the royal presence.
+
+"Not worse than I expected," the marquis said, after the door had closed
+behind them. "Now he will send for St. Aignan and De Lisle, and will hear
+their account, and as it cannot but tally with ours the king must see
+that the duke brought his fate upon himself. Louis is not unjust when his
+temper cools down, and in a few weeks we shall meet again here."
+
+"I expect to be on the frontier with my regiment before that," Colonel
+Hume replied; "but as I would rather be there than in Paris that will be
+no hardship."
+
+Colonel Hume at once mounted and rode back to Paris and proceeded
+straight to the hotel of Marshal Saxe, to whom he communicated what had
+occurred.
+
+"If Leslie gets safely away it will, perhaps, all turn out for the best,"
+the marshal said. "As soon as the king's anger dies out I will begin to
+plead the cause of the boy's parents; and now that the influence of
+Chateaurouge the other way is withdrawn, I may hope for a more favourable
+hearing. As to the lad himself, we will make his peace in a few months.
+The king is brave himself, as he showed when under fire at Fontenoy, and
+he admires bravery in others, and when he has once got over the loss of
+Chateaurouge he will appreciate the skill and courage which the lad
+showed in an encounter with one of the most noted duellists in France.
+Now, too, that the duke has gone, some of the stories to his
+disadvantage, of which there are so many current, are likely to meet the
+king's ears. Hitherto no one has ventured to speak a word against so
+powerful a favourite; but the king's eyes will soon be open now, and he
+will become ashamed of so long having given his countenance to a man who
+is generally regarded as having not only killed half-a-dozen men in
+duels, but as having procured the removal, by unfair means, of a score of
+others. When he knows the truth the king is likely to do justice, not
+only to young Leslie, but to his parents. I only hope that they will not
+manage to overtake the lad before he reaches the frontier, for although I
+can rely on the king's justice when he is cool I would not answer for it
+just at present."
+
+As Ronald rode off at full speed with Malcolm he related to him the whole
+circumstances of the quarrel and subsequent duel.
+
+"It was well done, Ronald. I made sure that sooner or later you and the
+duke would get to blows, that is if he did not adopt other means to get
+you removed from his path; anyhow I am heartily glad it's over, and that
+the most dangerous enemy of your father and yourself is out of the way.
+And now we must hope that we sha'nt be overtaken before we get to the
+frontier. The danger is that orders for your arrest will be passed by
+signal."
+
+"We are not going to the frontier, Malcolm; I am only riding this way to
+throw them off the scent. We are going to Nantes."
+
+"Well, that's not a bad plan," Malcolm said. "They are not so likely to
+send orders there as to the northern ports. But it will not be easy to
+get a vessel to cross, for you see, now that we are at war with England,
+there is little communication. However, we shall no doubt be able to
+arrange with a smuggler to take us across."
+
+"We are not going to England, Malcolm; we are going direct to Scotland.
+Colonel Hume has told me a secret: Prince Charles has gone down to Nantes
+and is going to cross at once to Scotland."
+
+"What! Alone and without an army!" Malcolm exclaimed in astonishment.
+
+"I suppose he despairs of getting assistance from Louis. Now that
+Fontenoy has put an end to danger on the frontier the King of France is
+no longer interested in raising trouble for George at home."
+
+"But it is a mad scheme of the prince's," Malcolm said gravely. "If his
+father did not succeed in '15 how can he expect to succeed now?"
+
+"The country has had all the longer time to get sick of the Hanoverians,
+and the gallantry of the enterprise will appeal to the people. Besides,
+Malcolm, I am not so sure that he will not do better coming alone than if
+he brought the fifteen thousand men he had at Dunkirk last year with him.
+Fifteen thousand men would not win him a kingdom, and many who would join
+him if he came alone would not do so if he came backed by an army of
+foreigners. It was the French, you will remember, who ruined his
+grandfather's cause in Ireland. Their arrogance and interference
+disgusted the Irish, and their troops never did any fighting to speak of.
+For myself, I would a thousand times rather follow Prince Charles
+fighting with an army of Scotsmen for the crown of Scotland than fight
+for him with a French army against Englishmen."
+
+"Well, perhaps you are right, Ronald; it went against the grain at
+Fontenoy; for after all, as you said, we are closely akin in blood and
+language to the English, and although Scotland and France have always
+been allies it is very little good France has ever done us. She has
+always been glad enough to get our kings to make war on England whenever
+she wanted a diversion made, but she has never put herself out of the way
+to return the favour. It has been a one sided alliance all along.
+Scotland has for centuries been sending some of her best blood to fight
+as soldiers in France, but with a few exceptions no Frenchman has ever
+drawn his sword for Scotland.
+
+"No, I am inclined to think you are right, Ronald, and especially after
+what we saw at Fontenoy I have no wish ever to draw sword again against
+the English, and am willing to be the best friends in the world with them
+if they will but let us Scots have our own king and go away peacefully. I
+don't want to force Prince Charles upon them if they will but let us have
+him for ourselves. If they won't, you know, it is they who are
+responsible for the quarrel, not us."
+
+"That is one way of putting it, certainly," Ronald laughed. "I am afraid
+after having been one kingdom since King James went to London, they won't
+let us go our own way without making an effort to keep us; but here is a
+crossroad, we will strike off here and make for the west."
+
+They avoided the towns on their routes, for although they felt certain
+that they were ahead of any messengers who might be sent out with orders
+for their arrest, they knew that they might be detained for some little
+time at Nantes, and were therefore anxious to leave no clue of their
+passage in that direction. On the evening of the third day after starting
+they approached their destination.
+
+On the first morning after leaving Versailles they had halted in wood a
+short distance from Chartres, and Malcolm had ridden in alone and had
+purchased a suit of citizen's clothes for Ronald, as the latter's uniform
+as an officer of the Scotch Dragoons would at once have attracted notice.
+Henceforward, whenever they stopped, Malcolm had taken an opportunity to
+mention to the stable boy that he was accompanying his master, the son of
+an advocate of Paris, on a visit to some relatives in La Vendee. This
+story he repeated at the inn where they put up at Nantes.
+
+The next morning Malcolm went round to all the inns in the town, but
+could hear nothing of the Duke of Athole, so he returned at noon with the
+news of his want of success.
+
+"They may have hired a private lodging to avoid observation," Ronald
+said, "or, not improbably, may have taken another name. The best thing we
+can do is to go down to the river side, inquire what vessels are likely
+to leave port soon, and then, if we see anyone going off to them, to
+accost them. We may hear of them in that way."
+
+Accordingly they made their way down to the river. There were several
+vessels lying in the stream, in readiness to sail when the wind served,
+and the mouth of the river was reported to be clear of any English
+cruisers. They made inquiries as to the destination of the vessels. All
+the large ones were sailing for Bordeaux or the Mediterranean ports of
+France.
+
+"What is that little vessel lying apart from the rest?" Malcolm asked.
+"She looks a saucy little craft."
+
+"That is the privateer La Doutelle, one of the fastest little vessels on
+the coast. She has brought in more than one English merchantman as a
+prize."
+
+As they were speaking a boat was seen to leave her side and make for the
+shore. With a glance at Malcolm to break off his conversation with the
+sailor and follow him, Ronald strode along the bank towards the spot
+where the boat would land. Two gentlemen got out and advanced along the
+quay. As they passed Ronald said to Malcolm:
+
+"I know one of those men's faces."
+
+"Do you, Ronald? I cannot recall having seen them."
+
+Ronald stood for a moment in thought.
+
+"I know now!" he exclaimed. "And he is one of our men, sure enough."
+
+"I think, sir," he said as he came up to them, "that I have had the
+honour of meeting you before."
+
+A look of displeasure came across the gentleman's face.
+
+"I think you are mistaken, sir," he said coldly. "You must take me for
+some one else. My name is Verbois--Monsieur Verbois of Le Mans."
+
+"I have not the pleasure of knowing Monsieur Verbois," Ronald said with a
+slight smile; "but I hardly think, sir, that that is the name that you
+went by when I had the honour of meeting you in Glasgow more than two
+years ago?"
+
+"In Glasgow!" the gentleman said, looking earnestly at Ronald. "In
+Glasgow! I do not remember you."
+
+"I had the pleasure of doing you some slight service, nevertheless,"
+Ronald said quietly, "when I brought you news that your enemies were upon
+you, and managed to detain them while you made your escape through the
+attic window."
+
+"A thousand pardons!" the gentleman exclaimed, speaking in English. "How
+could I have forgotten you? But I saw you for such a short time, and two
+years have changed you greatly. This is the young gentleman, marquis, to
+whom I am indebted for my escape when I was so nearly captured at
+Glasgow, as you have heard me say. It was to his kindly warning in the
+first place, and to his courage in the second, that I owed my liberty. It
+is wonderful that you should remember me."
+
+"Two years have not changed you as much as they have changed me," Ronald
+said; "besides, you were busy in destroying papers, while I had nothing
+to do but to watch you."
+
+"That is so," the gentleman agreed. "At any rate I am heartily glad of
+the happy chance which has thrown us together, and has given me an
+opportunity of expressing to you the deep gratitude which I have felt for
+your warning and assistance. Had it not been for that, not only should I
+myself have been taken, but they would have got possession of those
+papers, which might have brought the heads of a score of the best blood
+of Scotland to the scaffold. I took a boat that was lying in readiness,
+and making down the river got on board a ship which was cruising there
+awaiting me, and got off. It has always been a matter of bitter regret to
+me that I never learned so much as the name of the brave young gentleman
+to whom I owed so much, or what had happened to him for his share in that
+night's work."
+
+"My name is Ronald Leslie, sir. I am the son of Leslie of Glenlyon, who
+fought with the Chevalier in '15, and afterwards entered the service of
+the King of France, and was colonel of the 2nd Scorch Dragoons."
+
+"Of course I knew him well," the gentleman said, "and with others
+endeavoured to obtain his pardon when he fell under the king's
+displeasure some fifteen years ago, although I regret to say without
+success. Believe me, if Prince Charles--" He stopped suddenly as his
+companion touched him.
+
+"You would say, sir," Ronald said with a smile, "If Prince Charles
+succeeds in his present enterprise, and regains his throne, you will get
+him to exert his influence to obtain my father's release."
+
+The two gentlemen gave an exclamation of astonishment.
+
+"How do you know of any enterprise that is meditated?"
+
+"I was told of it as a secret by a Scotch officer in Paris, and am the
+bearer of a message from him to the Duke of Athole, to ask him to allow
+me to join the prince."
+
+"I am the duke," the other gentleman said.
+
+"Since it is you, sir, I may tell you that the officer I spoke of is
+Colonel Hume, and that he bade me show you this ring, which he said you
+would know, as a token that my story was a correct one."
+
+"Hume is my greatest friend," the duke exclaimed, "and his introduction
+would be sufficient, even if you had not already proved your devotion to
+the cause of the Stuarts. I will take you at once to the prince. But," he
+said, "before I do so, I must tell you that the enterprise upon which we
+are about to embark is a desperate one. The prince has but five
+companions with him, and we embark on board that little privateer lying
+in the stream. It is true that we shall be escorted by a man of war,
+which will convey the arms which Prince Charles has purchased for the
+enterprise; but not a man goes with us, and the prince is about to trust
+wholly to the loyalty of Scotland."
+
+"I shall be ready to accompany him in any case, sir," Ronald said, "and I
+beg to introduce to you a faithful friend of my father and myself. His
+name is Malcolm Anderson. He fought for the Chevalier in '15, and
+accompanied my father in his flight to France, and served under him in
+the French service. Upon the occasion of my father's arrest he carried me
+to Scotland, and has been my faithful friend ever since."
+
+So saying he called Malcolm up and presented him to the duke, and the
+party then proceeded to the lodging where Prince Charles was staying.
+
+"I have the misfortune to be still ignorant of your name, sir," Ronald
+said to his acquaintance of Glasgow.
+
+"What!" the gentleman said in surprise. "You do not know my name, after
+doing so much for me! I thought, as a matter of course, that when you
+were captured for aiding my escape you would have heard it, hence my
+remissness in not introducing myself. I am Colonel Macdonald. When you
+met me I was engaged in a tour through the Highland clans, sounding the
+chiefs and obtaining additions to the seven who had signed a declaration
+in favour of the prince three years before. The English government had
+obtained, through one of their spies about the person of the Chevalier,
+news of my mission, and had set a vigilant watch for me."
+
+"But is it possible that there can be spies among those near the
+Chevalier!" Ronald exclaimed in astonishment.
+
+"Aye, there are spies everywhere," Macdonald said bitterly. "All sorts of
+people come and go round the Chevalier and round Prince Charles. Every
+Scotch or Irish vagabond who has made his native country too hot to hold
+him, come to them and pretend that they are martyrs to their loyalty to
+the Stuarts; and the worst of it is their story is believed. They flatter
+and fawn, they say just what they are wanted to say, and have no opinion
+of their own, and the consequence is that the Chevalier looks upon these
+fellows as his friends, and often turns his back upon Scottish gentlemen
+who have risked and lost all in his service, but who are too honest to
+flatter him or to descend to the arts of courtiers. Look at the men who
+are here with the prince now."
+
+"Macdonald! Macdonald!" the duke said warmly.
+
+"Well, well," the other broke off impatiently; "no doubt it is better to
+hold one's tongue. But it is monstrous, that when there are a score, ay,
+a hundred of Scottish gentlemen of family, many of them officers with a
+high knowledge of war, who would gladly have accompanied him at the first
+whisper of his intentions, the prince should be starting on such a
+venture as this with yourself only, duke, as a representative of the
+Scottish nobles and chiefs, and six or eight mongrels--Irish, English,
+and Scotch--the sort of men who haunt the pot houses of Flanders, and
+spend their time in telling what they have suffered in the Stuart cause
+to any who will pay for their liquor."
+
+"Not quite so bad as that, Macdonald," the duke said. "Still I admit that
+I could have wished that Prince Charles should have landed in Scotland
+surrounded by men with names known and honoured there, rather than by
+those he has selected to accompany him."
+
+"But you are going, are you not, sir?" Ronald asked Colonel Macdonald.
+
+"No, I do not accompany the prince; but I hope to follow shortly. As soon
+as the prince has sailed it is my mission to see all his friends and
+followers in France, and urge them to join him in Scotland; while we
+bring all the influence we have to bear upon Louis, to induce him to
+furnish arms and assistance for the expedition."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII: Prince Charles.
+
+
+Upon arriving at the prince's lodgings Macdonald remained without, the
+Duke of Athole entering, accompanied only by Ronald.
+
+"The prince is in disguise," he said, "and but one or two of us visit him
+here in order that no suspicion may be incited among the people of the
+house that he is anything beyond what he appears to be--a young student
+of the Scotch college at Paris."
+
+They ascended the stairs to the upper story, and on the marquis knocking,
+a door was opened. The duke entered, followed by Ronald.
+
+"Well, duke, what is the news?"
+
+The question was asked by a young man, who was pacing restlessly up and
+down the room, of which he was, with the exception of his valet de
+chambre, an Italian named Michel, the person who had opened the door, the
+only occupant.
+
+"Ah! whom have you here?"
+
+"Allow me to present to your royal highness Lieutenant Leslie. He is the
+son of Leslie of Glenlyon, who fought by my side in your father's cause
+in '15, and has, like myself, been an exile ever since. This is the young
+gentleman who, two years since, saved Macdonald from arrest in Glasgow."
+
+"Ah! I remember the adventure," the prince said courteously, "and right
+gallant action it was; but how did you hear that I was here, sir?"
+
+"I was told by my good friend and commanding officer, Colonel Hume of the
+2nd Scottish Dragoons, your royal highness."
+
+"I revealed it to Hume before leaving Paris," the duke said, "he being a
+great friend of mine and as staunch as steel, and I knew that he could be
+trusted to keep a secret."
+
+"It seems that in the last particular you were wrong," the prince
+remarked with a slight smile.
+
+"Colonel Hume only revealed it to me, sir," Ronald said, anxious to save
+his friend from the suspicion of having betrayed a secret confided to
+him, "for very special reasons. I had the misfortune to kill in a duel
+the Duke of Chateaurouge, and as we fought just outside the park of
+Versailles, and the duke was a favourite of the king's, I had to ride for
+it; then Colonel Hume, knowing my devotion to the cause of your highness,
+whispered to me the secret of your intention, and gave me a message to
+his friend the Duke of Athole."
+
+"Do you say that you have killed the Duke of Chateaurouge in a duel?" the
+duke exclaimed in astonishment. "Why, he has the reputation of being one
+of the best swordsmen in France, and has a most evil name as a dangerous
+and unscrupulous man. I met him constantly at court, and his arrogance
+and haughtiness were well nigh insufferable. And you have killed him?"
+
+"I knew him well too," the prince said, "and his reputation. We do not
+doubt what you say, young gentleman," he added quickly, seeing a flush
+mount into Ronald's face; "but in truth it seems strange that such should
+have been the case."
+
+"Colonel Hume did me the honour to be my second," Ronald said quietly,
+"and the Marquis de Vallecourt was second to the duke; some other
+officers of the Scottish regiment were present, as were two other French
+noblemen, De Lisle and St. Aignan."
+
+"We doubt you not, sir," the duke said warmly. "You will understand that
+it cannot but seem strange that you at your age--for it seems to me
+that you cannot be more than nineteen--should have been able to stand
+for a moment against one of the best swordsmen in France, to say nothing
+of having slain him."
+
+"Colonel Hume would scarcely have consented to act as my second had he
+thought that the contest was a wholly unequal one," Ronald said with a
+slight smile; "indeed I may say that he regarded it as almost certain
+that I should have the best of the fray."
+
+"Why, you must be a very Paladin," the prince said admiringly; "but sit
+down and tell us all about it. Upon my word I am so sick of being cooped
+up for four days in this wretched den that I regard your coming as a
+godsend. Now tell me how it was that the Duc de Chateaurouge condescended
+to quarrel with a young officer in the Scottish Horse."
+
+"It was a family quarrel, sir, which I had inherited from my father."
+
+"Yes, yes, I remember now," the Duke of Athole broke in. "It is an old
+story now; but I heard all about it at the time, and did what I could, as
+did all Leslie's friends, to set the matter right, but in vain. Leslie of
+Glenlyon, prince, was colonel of the Scottish Dragoons, and as gallant
+and dashing a soldier as ever was in the service of the King of France,
+and as good looking a one too; and the result was, the daughter of the
+Marquis de Recambours, one of the richest heiresses in France, whom her
+father and the king destined as the bride of this Duke of Chateaurouge,
+who was then quite a young man, fell in love with Leslie, and a secret
+marriage took place between them. For three years no one suspected it;
+but the young lady's obstinacy in refusing to obey her father's orders
+caused her to be shut up in a convent. Somehow the truth came out. Leslie
+was arrested and thrown into the Bastille, and he has never been heard of
+since. What became of the child which was said to have been born no one
+ever heard; but it was generally supposed that it had been put out of the
+way. We in vain endeavoured to soften the king's anger against Leslie,
+but the influence of Recambours and Chateaurouge was too great for us.
+Hume told me some time since that Leslie's son had been carried off to
+Scotland by one of his troopers, and had returned, and was riding as a
+gentleman volunteer in his regiment; but we have had no further talk on
+the subject."
+
+"You will be glad to hear, sir," Ronald said, "that my father and mother
+have within the last few weeks been released, and are now living on a
+small estate of my mother's in the south. They were ordered to retire
+there by the king."
+
+"I am glad, indeed," the duke said cordially; "and how is your father?"
+
+"He is sadly crippled by rheumatism, and can scarce walk," Ronald said,
+"and I fear that his health is altogether shaken with what he had to go
+through."
+
+"How did you obtain their release, Leslie?" the prince asked.
+
+"Marshal Saxe obtained it for me," Ronald answered. "Colonel Hume first
+introduced me to him, and as he too had known my father he promised that
+should he obtain a victory he would ask as a boon from the king the
+release of my father, and he did so after Fontenoy, where the Marquis de
+Recambours was killed, and the king thereby freed from his influence. The
+Duke of Chateaurouge, whose hostility against my father had always been
+bitter, was doubtless greatly irritated at his release, and took the
+first opportunity, on meeting me, of grossly insulting me. On my replying
+in terms in accordance with the insult, he drew, and would have fought me
+in the palace grounds had not Colonel Hume and his friends interfered;
+then we adjourned outside the park. The duke doubtless thought that he
+would kill me without difficulty, and so rushed in so carelessly that at
+the very first thrust I ran him through."
+
+"And served him right," the prince said heartily. "Now since both your
+father's enemies are gone, it may be hoped that his troubles are over,
+and that your mother will recover the estates to which she is entitled.
+And now, duke, what is your news? When are we going to sail?"
+
+"The Doutelle is already by this time on her way down the river, and it
+is proposed that we shall start this evening and board her there. The
+stores and arms are all safely on board the Elizabeth, and she is lying
+off Belleisle; so far as Mr. Walsh has heard, no suspicion has been
+excited as to their purpose or destination, so that we may hope in
+twenty-four hours to be fairly on board."
+
+"That is the best news I have heard for months," the prince said; "thank
+goodness the time for action is at last at hand!"
+
+"I have, I trust, your royal highness' permission to accompany you,"
+Ronald said; "together with my follower, Anderson. He is the trooper who
+carried me over to Scotland as a child, and has been my faithful friend
+ever since."
+
+"Certainly, Leslie. I shall be glad indeed to have a member of a family
+who have proved so faithful to my father's cause with me in the adventure
+upon which I am embarking."
+
+Ronald with a few words of thanks bowed and took his leave, after
+receiving instructions from the duke to start shortly and to ride down
+the river towards Lorient.
+
+"You can halt for a few hours on the road, and then ride on again; we
+shall overtake you before you reach the port. We shall all leave singly
+or in pairs, to avoid attracting any attention."
+
+Ronald left, delighted with the kindness of the prince's manner. Prince
+Charles was indeed possessed of all the attributes which win men's hearts
+and devotion. In figure he was tall and well formed, and endowed both
+with strength and activity. He excelled in all manly exercises, and was
+an excellent walker, having applied himself ardently to field sports
+during his residence in Italy.
+
+He was strikingly handsome, his face was of a perfect oval, his features
+high and noble, his complexion was fair, his eyes light blue, and,
+contrary to the custom of the time, when wigs were almost universally
+worn, he allowed his hair to fall in long ringlets on his neck. His
+manner was graceful, and although he always bore himself with a sort of
+royal dignity he had the peculiar talent of pleasing and attracting all
+with whom he came in contact, and had the art of adapting his
+conversation to the taste or station of those whom he addressed.
+
+His education had been intrusted to Sir Thomas Sheridan, an Irish Roman
+Catholic, who had grossly neglected his duties, and who indeed has been
+more than suspected of acting as an agent in the pay of the British
+government. The weakness in the prince's character was that he was a bad
+judge of men, and inclined on all occasions to take the advice of
+designing knaves who flattered and paid deference to him, rather than
+that of the Scottish nobles who were risking their lives for his cause,
+but who at times gave their advice with a bluntness and warmth which were
+displeasing to him. It was this weakness which brought an enterprise,
+which at one time had the fairest prospect of success, to destruction and
+ruin.
+
+On leaving the house Ronald was joined by Malcolm, and half an hour later
+they mounted their horses and rode for the mouth of the Loire. The whole
+party arrived on the following day at St. Nazaire, embarking separately
+on board the Doutelle, where Prince Charles, who had come down from
+Nantes in a fishing boat, was received by Mr. Walsh, the owner of the
+vessel. Ronald now saw gathered together the various persons who were to
+accompany Prince Charles on this adventurous expedition. These were
+Sheridan, the former tutor of the prince; Kelly, a non-juring clergyman,
+and Sullivan--both, like Sheridan, Irishmen; Strickland, a personage so
+unimportant that while some writers call him an Englishman, others assert
+that he was Irish; Aeneas Macdonald, a Scotchman; Sir John Macdonald, an
+officer in the Spanish service; the prince's valet, Michel; and the Duke
+of Athole, or, as he is more generally called, the Marquis of
+Tullibardine, the last named being the only man of high standing or
+reputation. Never did a prince start to fight for a kingdom with such a
+following.
+
+The Doutelle weighed anchor as soon as the last of the party arrived on
+deck, and under easy sail proceeded to Belleisle. Here she lay for some
+days awaiting the arrival of the Elizabeth. Mr. Rutledge, a merchant at
+Nantes, had obtained an order from the French court that this man of war
+should proceed to cruise on the coast of Scotland, and had then arranged
+with the captain of the ship to take on board the arms that had been
+purchased by the prince with the proceeds of the sale of some of the
+family jewels.
+
+These consisted of fifteen hundred muskets, eighteen hundred broadswords,
+twenty small field pieces, and some ammunition. The captain had also
+agreed that the Doutelle, which only mounted eighteen small guns, should
+sail in company with the Elizabeth to Scotland. As soon as the Elizabeth
+was seen the Doutelle spread her sails, and keeping a short distance from
+each other, the two vessels sailed north. So great was the necessity for
+prudence that the prince still maintained his disguise as a Scottish
+student, and, with the exception of Mr. Walsh, none of the officers and
+crew of the Doutelle were acquainted with his real rank, and the various
+members of his party treated him and each other as strangers.
+
+Four days after leaving Belleisle a British man of war of fifty-eight
+guns hove in sight, and crowding on all sail rapidly came up. The
+Elizabeth at once prepared to engage her, signalling to the Doutelle to
+do the same. The prince urged Mr. Walsh to aid the Elizabeth, but the
+latter steadily refused.
+
+He had undertaken, he said, to carry the prince to Scotland, and would do
+nothing to endanger the success of the enterprise. The two vessels were
+well matched, and he would not allow the Doutelle to engage in the
+affair. The prince continued to urge the point, until at last Mr. Walsh
+said "that unless he abstained from interference he should be forced to
+order him below."
+
+The Doutelle, therefore, stood aloof from the engagement, which lasted
+for five or six hours, and sailed quietly on her course, in order to be
+beyond the risk of capture should the English ship prove victorious;
+neither of the vessels, however, obtained any decided advantage. Both
+were so crippled in the encounter that the Elizabeth returned to France,
+the Lion to Plymouth to refit. Thus the small supply of arms and
+artillery which the prince had with such great trouble got together was
+lost.
+
+"Well, Ronald," Malcolm said that evening as they leant over the taffrail
+together, "I do think that such a mad headed expedition as this was never
+undertaken. An exiled prince, an outlawed duke, six adventurers, a valet,
+and our two selves. One could laugh if one was not almost ready to cry at
+the folly of invading a country like England in such a fashion."
+
+"That is only one way of looking at it, Malcolm. We are not an army of
+invasion. The prince is simply travelling with a few personal followers
+to put himself at the head of an army. The affair depends, not upon us,
+but upon the country. If the clans turn out to support him as they did in
+'15 he will soon be at the head of some twenty thousand men. Not enough,
+I grant you, to conquer England, but enough for a nucleus round which the
+Lowland and English Jacobites can gather."
+
+"Yes, it depends upon the ifs, Ronald. If all the Highland clans join,
+and if there are sufficient Jacobites in the Lowlands and England to make
+a large army, we may do. I have some hopes of the clans, but after what
+we saw of the apathy of the English Jacobites in '15 I have no shadow of
+faith in them. However, I fought for the Chevalier in '15, and I am ready
+to fight for Prince Charles now as long as there is any fighting to be
+done, and when that is over I shall be as ready to make for France as I
+was before."
+
+Ronald laughed.
+
+"You are certainly not enthusiastic about it, Malcolm."
+
+"When one gets to my age, Ronald, common sense takes the place of
+enthusiasm, and I have seen enough of wars to know that for business a
+well appointed and well disciplined army is required. If Prince Charles
+does get what you call an army, but which I should call an armed mob,
+together, there will be the same dissensions, the same bickerings, the
+same want of plan that there was before; and unless something like a
+miracle happens it will end as the last did at Preston, in defeat and
+ruin. However, lad, here we are, and we will go through with it to the
+end. By the time we get back to France we must hope that King Louis will
+have got over the killing of his favourite. However, I tell you frankly
+that my hope is that when the Highland chiefs see that the prince has
+come without arms, without men, and without even promises of support by
+France, they will refuse to risk liberty and life and to bring ruin upon
+their people by joining in such a mad brained adventure."
+
+"I hope not, Malcolm," Ronald said, as he looked at the prince as he was
+pacing up and down the deck with the Duke of Athole, talking rapidly, his
+face flushed with enthusiasm, his clustering hair blown backward by the
+wind. "He is a noble young prince. He is fighting for his own. He has
+justice and right on his side, and God grant that he may succeed!"
+
+"Amen to that, Ronald, with all my heart! But so far as my experience
+goes, strength and discipline and generalship and resources go a great
+deal further than right in deciding the issue of a war."
+
+Two days later another English man of war came in sight and gave chase to
+the Doutelle, but the latter was a fast sailer and soon left her pursuer
+behind, and without further adventure arrived among the Western Isles,
+and dropped anchor near the little islet of Erisca, between Barra and
+South Uist. As they approached the island an eagle sailed out from the
+rocky shore and hovered over the vessel, and the Duke of Athole pointed
+it out as a favourable augury to the prince.
+
+Charles and his companions landed at Erisca and passed the night on
+shore. They found on inquiry that this cluster of islands belonged to
+Macdonald of Clanranald, a young chief who was known to be attached to
+the Jacobite cause. He was at present absent on the mainland, but his
+uncle and principal adviser, Macdonald of Boisdale, was in South Uist.
+The prince sent off one of his followers in a boat to summon him, and he
+came aboard the Doutelle the next morning; but when he heard from the
+prince that he had come alone and unattended he refused to have anything
+to do with the enterprise, which he asserted was rash to the point of
+insanity, and would bring ruin and destruction on all who took part in
+it.
+
+The prince employed all his efforts to persuade the old chief, but in
+vain, and the latter returned to his isle in a boat, while the Doutelle
+pursued her voyage to the mainland and entered the Bay of Lochnanuagh, in
+Inverness shire, and immediately sent a messenger to Clanranald, who came
+on board shortly with Macdonald of Kinloch Moidart, and several other
+Macdonalds.
+
+They received the prince with the greatest respect, but, like Macdonald
+of Boisdale, the two chiefs refused to take up arms in an enterprise
+which they believed to be absolutely hopeless. In vain Prince Charles
+argued and implored. The two chiefs remained firm, until the prince
+suddenly turned to a younger brother of Moidart, who stood listening to
+the conversation, and with his fingers clutching the hilt of his
+broadsword as he heard the young prince, whom he regarded as his future
+king, in vain imploring the assistance of his brother and kinsmen.
+
+"Will you at least not assist me?" the prince exclaimed.
+
+"I will, I will!" Ranald Macdonald exclaimed. "Though no other man in the
+Highlands shall draw a sword, I am ready to die for you."
+
+The enthusiasm of the young man was catching, and throwing to the winds
+their own convictions and forebodings, the two Macdonalds declared that
+they also would join, and use every exertion to engage their countrymen.
+The clansmen who had come on board the ship without knowing the object of
+the visit were now told who the prince was, and they expressed their
+readiness to follow to the death. Two or three days later, on the 25th of
+July, Prince Charles landed and was conducted to Borodale, a farmhouse
+belonging to Clanranald.
+
+Charles at once sent off letters to the Highland chiefs whom he knew to
+be favourable to the Stuart cause. Among these the principal were Cameron
+of Locheil, Sir Alexander Macdonald, and Macleod. Locheil immediately
+obeyed the summons, but being convinced of the madness of the enterprise
+he came, not to join the prince, but to dissuade him from embarking in
+it. On his way he called upon his brother, Cameron of Fassefern, who
+agreed with his opinion as to the hopelessness of success, and urged him
+to write to the prince instead of going to see him.
+
+"I know you better than you know yourself," he said. "If the prince once
+sets eyes upon you, he will make you do whatever he pleases."
+
+Locheil, however, persisted in going, convinced that the prince would, on
+his representation, abandon the design. For a long time he stood firm,
+until the prince exclaimed:
+
+"I am resolved to put all to the hazard. In a few days I will erect the
+royal standard and proclaim to the people of Britain that Charles Stuart
+is come over to claim the crown of his ancestors or perish in the
+attempt. Locheil, who my father has often told me was our firmest friend,
+may stay at home and learn from the newspapers the fate of his prince."
+
+Locheil's resolution melted at once at these words, and he said:
+
+"Not so. I will share the fate of my prince whatsoever it be, and so
+shall every man over whom nature or fortune hath given me power."
+
+The conversion of Locheil was the turning point of the enterprise. Upon
+the news of the prince's landing spreading, most of the other chiefs had
+agreed that if Locheil stood aloof they would not move; and had he
+remained firm not a man would have joined the prince's standard, and he
+would have been forced to abandon the enterprise. Sir Alexander Macdonald
+and Macleod, instead of going to see the prince, had gone off together,
+on the receipt of his letter, to the Isle of Skye, so as to avoid an
+interview. Clanranald was despatched by Prince Charles to see them, but
+they declined to join, urging with the truth that the promises which they
+had given to join in a rising were contingent upon the prince arriving at
+the head of a strong French force with arms and supplies. They therefore
+refused at present to move. Others, however, were not so cautious. Fired
+by the example of Locheil, and by their own traditions of loyalty to the
+Stuarts' cause, many of the lesser chiefs at once summoned their
+followers to the field. With the majority the absence of French troops
+had the exactly opposite effect that it had had with Sir Alexander
+Macdonald and Macleod. Had the prince landed with a French army they
+might have stood aloof and suffered him to fight out his quarrel unaided;
+but his arrival alone and unattended, trusting solely and wholly to the
+loyalty of the Scottish people, made an irresistible appeal to their
+generous feelings, and although there were probably but few who did not
+foresee that failure, ruin, and death would be the result of the
+enterprise, they embarked in the cause with as much ardour as if their
+success had been certain.
+
+From Borodale, after disembarking the scanty treasure of four thousand
+louis d'or which he had brought with him and a few stands of arms from
+the Doutelle, Charles proceeded by water to Kinloch Moidart.
+
+Mr. Walsh sailed in the Doutelle, after receiving the prince's warmest
+thanks, and a letter to his father in Rome begging him to grant Mr. Walsh
+an Irish earldom as a reward for the services he had rendered, a
+recommendation which was complied with.
+
+The chiefs soon began to assemble at Moidart, and the house became the
+centre of a picturesque gathering.
+
+Ronald had now put aside the remembrance of Malcolm's forebodings, and
+entered heart and soul into the enterprise. He had in Glasgow frequently
+seen Highlanders in their native dress, but he had not before witnessed
+any large gathering, and he was delighted with the aspect of the sturdy
+mountaineers in their picturesque garb.
+
+The prince had at once laid aside the attire in which he had landed and
+had assumed Highland costume, and by the charm and geniality of his
+manner he completely won the hearts of all who came in contact with him.
+Among those who joined him at Moidart was Murray of Broughton, a man who
+was destined to exercise as destructive an influence on the prince's
+fortune as had Mr. Forster over that of his father. Murray had hurried
+from his seat in the south, having first had a large number of
+manifestoes for future distribution printed. He was at once appointed by
+Charles his secretary of state.
+
+While the gathering at Moidart was daily growing, the English remained in
+ignorance of the storm which was preparing. It was not until the 30th of
+July that the fact that the prince had sailed from Nantes was known in
+London, and as late as the 8th of August, nearly three weeks after
+Charles first appeared on the coast, the fact of his landing was unknown
+to the authorities in Edinburgh.
+
+On the 16th of August the English governor at Fort Augustus, alarmed at
+the vague reports which reached him, and the sudden news that bodies of
+armed Highlanders were hurrying west, sent a detachment of two companies
+under Captain Scott to reinforce the advance post of Fort William.
+
+After marching twenty miles the troops entered the narrow ravine of Spean
+Bridge, when they were suddenly attacked by a party of Keppoch's clansmen
+who were on their way to join the prince when they saw the English troops
+on their march. They were joined by some of Locheil's clansmen, and so
+heavy a fire was kept up from the heights that the English, after having
+five or six men killed and many more wounded, among them their commanding
+officer, were forced to lay down their arms.
+
+They were treated with great humanity by their captors, and the wounded
+were well cared for. The news of this success reached the prince on the
+day before that fixed for the raising of his standard, the 19th of
+August, and added to the enthusiasm which prevailed among the little
+force gathered in Glenfinnan, where the ceremony took place. The glen lay
+about halfway between Borodale and Fort William, both being about fifteen
+miles distant. The gathering consisted principally of the Camerons of
+Locheil, some six hundred strong, and they brought with them two English
+companies captured on the 16th, disarmed and prisoners.
+
+The Duke of Athole performed the ceremony of unfurling the banner. He was
+the heir to the dukedom of Athole, but had been exiled for taking part in
+the rising of '15 and the dukedom bestowed by the English government upon
+his brother; thus among the English he was still spoken of as the Marquis
+of Tullibardine, while at the French court and among the followers of the
+Stuarts he was regarded as the rightful Duke of Athole.
+
+The unfurling of the standard was greeted with loud shouts, and the
+clansmen threw their bonnets high in the air. The duke then read the
+manifesto of the Chevalier, and the commission of regency granted by him
+to Prince Charles. After this the prince himself made an inspiring
+speech, and declared that at the head of his faithful Highlanders he was
+resolved to conquer or to perish.
+
+Among the spectators of the ceremony was Captain Swetenham, an English
+officer taken prisoner a few days before while on his way to assume the
+command of Fort William. He had been treated with great courtesy and
+kindness by the prince, who, after the ceremony, dismissed him with the
+words, "You may now return to your general; tell him what you have seen,
+and add that I am about to give him battle."
+
+Soon after the conclusion of the ceremony Keppoch marched in with three
+hundred of his clan, and some smaller parties also arrived. The next
+morning the force marched to Locheil's house at Auchnacarrie, where the
+prince was joined by the Macdonalds of Glencoe, a hundred and fifty
+strong, two hundred Stuarts of Appin under their chief, and by the
+younger Glengarry with two hundred more, so that the force had now
+swelled to sixteen hundred men.
+
+"We begin to look like an army," Ronald said to Malcolm.
+
+"Well, yes," the latter replied drily, "we are rather stronger than one
+regiment and not quite so strong as two; still, if things go on like this
+we shall ere very long have mounted up to the strength of a brigade; but
+even a brigade, Ronald, does nor go very far towards the conquest of a
+kingdom, especially when only about one man in three has got a musket,
+and so far there are neither cavalry nor artillery. Still, you know,
+these things may come."
+
+Ronald laughed gaily at his companion's want of faith. He himself had now
+caught the enthusiasm which pervaded all around. It was true that as yet
+the prince's adherents were but a handful, but it was not to be expected
+that an army would spring from the ground. Promises of assistance had
+come from all quarters, and if the army was a small one the English army
+in Scotland was but little larger, and if a first success could be
+achieved, all Scotland might be expected to rise, and the news would
+surely influence the Jacobites of England to declare for the prince.
+
+Sir John Cope, the English officer commanding the English forces in
+Scotland, at the first rumour of troubles had ordered his troops to
+assemble at Stirling. He had with him two regiments of dragoons,
+Gardiner's and Hamilton's, both young regiments, and the whole force at
+his disposal, exclusive of troops in garrison, did not exceed three
+thousand men. With these he proposed to march at once to the west, and
+crush the rebellion before it gained strength. The English government
+approved of his proposal, and sent him a proclamation offering a reward
+of thirty thousand pounds to any person who should seize and secure the
+pretended Prince of Wales.
+
+On the day of the raising of the standard Cope set out from Edinburgh for
+Stirling and the next day commenced his march at the head of fifteen
+hundred infantry, leaving the dragoons behind him, as these could be of
+but little service among the mountains, where they would have found it
+next to impossible to obtain forage for their horses. He took with him a
+large quantity of baggage, a drove of black cattle for food, and a
+thousand stand of arms to distribute among the volunteers who he expected
+would join him. As, however, none of these came in, he sent back seven
+hundred muskets to Crieff.
+
+The first object of the march was Fort Augustus, which he intended to
+make his central post. As he advanced he was met by Captain Swetenham,
+who informed him of the raising of the standard and the gathering he had
+witnessed. As, however, only Locheil's clansmen had arrived before
+Swetenham left, Cope considered his force ample for the purpose, and
+continued his march. In order to reach Fort Augustus, however, he had to
+pass over Corry Arrack, a lofty and precipitous mountain which was
+ascended by a military road with fifteen zigzags, known to the country as
+the devil's staircase.
+
+Prince Charles, who had received early news of the advance from Stirling,
+had recognized the importance of the position, and having burned and
+destroyed all baggage that would impede his progress, made a forced march
+and reached Corry Arrack on the 27th, before Sir John Cope had commenced
+his ascent. As Sir John saw that the formidable position was in the hands
+of the enemy he felt that it would be in vain to endeavour to force it.
+Each zigzag would have to be carried in turn, and the enterprise would be
+a desperate one. Success would be of no great advantage, as the
+Highlanders, lightly clad and active, would make off and defy pursuit;
+defeat would be disastrous. He, therefore, called a council of war and
+asked his officers to decide whether it would be best to remain at
+Dalwhinnie at the foot of the mountain, to return to Sterling, or to
+march to Inverness, where they would be joined by the well affected
+clans. He himself strongly urged the last course, believing that the
+prince would not venture to descend into the Lowlands while he remained
+in his rear. The council of war adopted his opinion. No officer advocated
+remaining inactive at Dalwhinnie, one only supported the alternative of
+the retreat to Stirling, the rest agreed upon an advance to Inverness.
+
+When it was found that Cope's army had moved away without fighting, the
+exultation of the Highlanders was great. Most of the chiefs wished to
+follow at once and give battle, urging that it would be hazardous to
+advance south and leave the enemy to cut off their retreat; but the
+prince himself saw the supreme importance of a descent into the Lowlands,
+and that plan of action was decided upon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV: Prestonpans.
+
+
+Advancing in high spirits through the mountains of Badenoch, Prince
+Charles with his army came down into the vale of Athole, and visited,
+with Tullibardine, the castle of Blair Athole, the noble property of
+which the marquis had so long been deprived, owing to his constancy to
+the cause of the Stuarts, but which would again be his own were this
+great enterprise successful.
+
+From Blair Athole the little army moved on to Perth. Here they were
+joined by powerful friends, of whom the principal were the young Duke of
+Perth, Lord Nairn, and Lord George Murray, the younger brother of the
+Marquis of Tullibardine. Lord George Murray was but ten years of age when
+the events of 1715 had taken place, but four years later he came over
+with the marquis with a handful of Spaniards and was wounded at the
+battle of Glenshiels. The influence of the family obtained his pardon on
+the plea of his extreme youth, but he remained at heart a Jacobite, and,
+going to the Continent, entered the service of Sardinia, then a portion
+of the possessions of the Duke of Savoy. For many years he served abroad,
+and acquired a considerable reputation as an excellent officer and a most
+gallant soldier.
+
+He had, indeed, a natural genius for military operations, and had he not
+been thwarted at every turn by the jealousy of Murray of Broughton, it is
+by no means improbable that he would have brought the enterprise to a
+successful termination and seated the Stuarts upon the throne of England.
+The accession of such an officer was of the highest value to the prince.
+
+Hitherto the army had consisted merely of wild clansmen, full of valour
+and devotion but wholly undisciplined; while among those who accompanied
+him, or who had joined him in Scotland, there was not a single officer of
+any experience in war or any military capacity whatever. Lord George
+Murray and the Duke of Perth were at once named generals in the prince's
+army; but the command in reality remained entirely in the hands of
+Murray, for Lord Perth, though an estimable young nobleman possessed of
+considerable ability, had no military experience and was of a quiet and
+retiring disposition.
+
+Lord George Murray at once set about raising the tenantry of his brother
+the Hanoverian Duke of Athole, who was absent in England, and as these
+had always remained attached to the Stuart cause, and still regarded the
+Marquis of Tullibardine as their rightful head, they willingly took up
+arms upon Lord George Murray's bidding. Lord George decided at once that
+it would be useless to attempt to drill the Highlanders into regular
+soldiers, but that they must be allowed to use their national style of
+fighting and trust to their desperate charge with broadsword and target
+to break the enemy's ranks.
+
+Unfortunately dissensions commenced among the leaders from the very
+first. Secretary Murray, who desired to be all powerful with the prince,
+saw that he should not succeed in gaining any influence over so firm and
+energetic a character as Lord George Murray, while it would be easy for
+him to sway the young Duke of Perth, and he was not long in poisoning the
+ear of the latter against his companion in arms by representing to him
+that Lord George treated him as a mere cipher, although of equal rank in
+the army. The secretary's purpose was even more easily carried out with
+Prince Charles. The latter was no judge of character, and fell readily
+under the influence of the wily and unscrupulous Murray, who flattered
+his weaknesses and assumed an air of deference to his opinions. Lord
+George Murray, on the other hand, was but too prone to give offence. He
+was haughty and overbearing in manner, expressed his opinions with a
+directness and bluntness which were very displeasing to the prince, and,
+conscious of his own military genius and experience, put aside with open
+contempt the suggestions of those who were in truth ignorant of military
+matters. Loyal, straightforward, and upright, he scorned to descend to
+the arts of the courtier, and while devoting his whole time to his
+military work, suffered his enemies to obtain the entire command of the
+ear of the prince.
+
+Ronald was introduced to him as soon as he joined at Perth, and finding
+that young Leslie had had some military experience, Lord George at once
+appointed him one of his aides de camp, and soon took a warm liking to
+the active and energetic young officer, whose whole soul was in his work,
+and who cared nothing for the courtly gatherings around the person of the
+prince.
+
+Malcolm rode as Ronald's orderly, and during the few days of their stay
+in Perth, Ronald was at work from morning till night riding through the
+country with messages from Lord George, and in the intervals of such duty
+in trying to inculcate some idea of discipline into the wild Highland
+levies. At this time Charles was using all his efforts to persuade Lord
+Lovat, one of the most powerful of the northern noblemen, to join him,
+offering him his patent as Duke of Fraser and the lord lieutenancy of the
+northern counties.
+
+Lovat, however, an utterly unscrupulous man, refused openly to join,
+although he sent repeatedly assurances of his devotion. Throughout the
+struggle he continued to act a double part, trying to keep friends with
+both parties, but declaring for the prince at the moment when his
+fortunes were at their highest. The result was that while he afforded the
+prince but little real assistance, his conduct cost him his head.
+
+Sir John Cope, finding that his march to Inverness had failed to draw the
+prince after him, and had left the Lowlands and the capital open to the
+insurgents, directed his march to Aberdeen, and sent to Edinburgh for
+transports to bring down his army to cover that city. But Prince Charles
+determined to forestall him, and on the 11th of September commenced his
+march south. The age and infirmities of the Marquis of Tullibardine
+prevented his accompanying Prince Charles during active operations.
+
+It was impossible for the army to march direct against Edinburgh, as the
+magistrates of that town had taken the precaution to withdraw every ship
+and boat from the northern side of the Forth, and the prince was
+consequently obliged to make a detour and to cross the river at the fords
+eight miles above Stirling, and then marching rapidly towards Edinburgh,
+arrived on the evening of the 16th within three miles of that town.
+
+So long as the coming of the prince was doubtful the citizens of
+Edinburgh had declared their willingness to defend the town to the last.
+Volunteer regiments had been formed and guns placed on the walls; but
+when the volunteers were ordered to march out with Hamilton's regiment of
+dragoons, to oppose the advance of the insurgents, the men quitted their
+ranks and stole away to their houses, leaving the dragoons to march out
+alone. The latter, however, showed no greater courage than that of their
+citizen allies, when on the following day they came in contact with a
+party of mounted gentlemen from the prince's army, who fired their
+pistols at their pickets. These rode off in haste, their panic was
+communicated to the main body, whose officers in vain endeavoured to
+check them, and the whole regiment galloped away in wild confusion, and
+passing close under the walls of Edinburgh continued their flight,
+without halting, to Preston. There they halted for the night; but one of
+the troopers happening in the dark to fall into a disused well, his
+shouts for assistance caused an alarm that they were attacked, and
+mounting their horses the regiment continued their flight to Dunbar,
+where they joined General Cope's army, which had just landed there.
+
+This disgraceful panic added to the terror of the citizens of Edinburgh,
+and when, late in the afternoon, a summons to surrender came in from
+Prince Charles, the council could arrive at no decision, but sent a
+deputation to the prince asking for delay, hoping thereby that Cope's
+army would arrive in time to save them. But the prince was also well
+aware of the importance of time, and that night he sent forward Lochiel
+with five hundred Camerons to lie in ambush near the Netherbow Gate. They
+took with them a barrel of powder to blow it in if necessary; but in the
+morning the gate was opened to admit a carriage, and the Highlanders at
+once rushed in and overpowered the guard, and sending parties through the
+streets they secured these also without disturbance or bloodshed, and
+when the citizens awoke in the morning they found, to their surprise,
+that Prince Charles was master of the city.
+
+The Jacobite portion of the population turned out with delight to greet
+the prince, while the rest thought it politic to imitate their
+enthusiasm. The Highlanders behaved with perfect order and discipline,
+and although the town had, as it were, been taken by storm, no single
+article of property was touched. An hour later Prince Charles, at the
+head of his troops, entered the royal palace of Holyrod, being met by a
+crowd of enthusiastic supporters from the city, who received him with
+royal shouts and tears of joy.
+
+In the evening a grand ball was held in the palace, in spite of the fact
+that it was within range of the guns of Edinburgh Castle, which still
+held out. But one day was spent in Edinburgh. This was occupied in
+serving out about a thousand muskets found in the magazines to the
+Highlanders, and in obtaining tents, shoes, and cooking vessels, which
+the town was ordered to supply. They were joined during the day by many
+gentlemen, and on the night of the 19th the army, two thousand five
+hundred strong, of whom only fifty were mounted, moved out to the village
+of Duddingston. There the prince that evening called a council of war,
+and proposed to march next morning to meet the enemy halfway, and
+declared that he would himself lead his troops and charge in the first
+ranks.
+
+The chiefs, however, exclaimed against this, urging that if any accident
+happened to him ruin must fall upon the whole, whether they gained or
+lost the battle; and upon the prince persisting they declared that they
+would return home and make the best terms they could for themselves. He
+was therefore obliged to give way, declaring, however, that he would lead
+the second line. The next morning the army commenced its march. They had
+with them only one cannon, so old that it was quite useless, and it was
+only taken forward as an encouragement to the Highlanders, who had the
+greatest respect for artillery.
+
+Sir John Cope, who had received intelligence of all that had happened at
+Edinburgh, had also moved forward on the 19th, and on the 20th the two
+armies came in sight of each other. The Highlanders, after passing the
+bridge of Musselburgh, left the road, and turning to the right took up
+their position on the brow of Carberry Hill, and there waited the attack.
+The English forces were marching forward with high spirit, and believed
+that the Highlanders would not even wait their assault. Cope had with him
+two thousand two hundred men, including the six hundred runaway dragoons.
+The numbers, therefore, were nearly equal; but as the English were well
+armed, disciplined, and equipped, while only about half the Highlanders
+had muskets, and as they had, moreover, six pieces of artillery against
+the one unserviceable gun of Prince Charles, they had every reason to
+consider the victory to be certain.
+
+On seeing the Highland array Cope drew up his troops in order of
+battle--his infantry in the centre, with a regiment of dragoons and three
+pieces of artillery on each flank. His right was covered by a park wall
+and by the village of Preston. On his left stood Seaton House, and in his
+rear lay the sea, with the villages of Prestonpans and Cockenzie. Their
+front was covered by a deep and difficult morass.
+
+It was now about three o'clock in the afternoon, and the Highlanders,
+seeing that the English did not advance against them, clamoured to be led
+to the attack. Prince Charles was himself eager to fight, but his
+generals persuaded him to abstain from attacking the English in such a
+formidable position. The Highlanders, however, fearing that the English
+would again avoid a battle, were not satisfied until Lord Nairn with five
+hundred men was detached to the westward to prevent the English from
+marching off towards Edinburgh.
+
+During the night the two armies lay upon the ground. Cope retired to
+sleep at Cockenzie, the prince lay down in the middle of his soldiers.
+Before doing so, however, he held a council, and determined to attack
+next morning in spite of the difficulty of the morass. But in the course
+of the night Anderson of Whitburg, a gentleman well acquainted with the
+country, bethought himself of a path from the height towards their right
+by the farm of Ruigan Head, which in a great measure avoided the morass.
+This important fact he imparted to Lord George Murray, who at once awoke
+the prince.
+
+Locheil and some other chiefs were sent for, and it was determined to
+undertake the enterprise at once. An aide de camp was sent to recall Lord
+Nairn and his detachment, and under the guidance of Anderson the troops
+made their way across the morass. This was not, however, accomplished
+without great difficulty, as in some places they sank knee deep. The
+march was unopposed, and covered by the darkness they made their way
+across to firm ground just as the day was breaking dull and foggy. As
+they did so, however, the dragoon outposts heard the sound of their
+march, and firing their pistols galloped off to give the alarm. Sir John
+Cope lost no time facing his troops about, and forming them in order of
+battle. He was undisturbed while doing so, for the Highlanders were
+similarly occupied.
+
+As the sun rose the mist cleared away, and the two armies stood face to
+face. The Macdonalds had been granted the post of honour on the Highland
+right, the line being completed by the Camerons and Stuarts, Prince
+Charles with the second line being close behind. The Highlanders
+uncovered their heads, uttered a short prayer, and then as the pipers
+blew the signal they rushed forward, each clan in a separate mass, and
+raising their war cry, the Camerons and Stuarts rushed straight at the
+cannon on the left.
+
+These guns were served, not by Royal Artillerymen, but by some seamen
+brought by Cope from the fleet. They, panic struck by the wild rush of
+the Highlanders, deserted their guns and fled in all directions. Colonel
+Gardiner called upon his dragoons to follow him, and with his officers
+led them to the charge. But the Stuarts and Camerons, pouring in a volley
+from their muskets, charged them with their broadswords, and the
+dragoons, panic stricken, turned their horses and galloped off.
+
+The Macdonalds on the right had similarly captured three guns, and
+charging with similar fury upon Hamilton's regiment of dragoons, drove
+them off the field; Macgregor's company, who, for want of other weapons
+were armed with scythes, doing terrible execution among the horses and
+their riders. The English infantry, deserted by their cavalry, and with
+their guns lost, still stood firm, and poured a heavy fire into the
+Highlanders; but these, as soon as they had defeated the cavalry, faced
+round and charged with fury upon both flanks of the infantry. Their
+onslaught was irresistible. The heavy masses of the clans broke right
+through the long line of the English infantry, and drove the latter
+backward in utter confusion. But the retreat was impeded by the inclosure
+and park wall of Preston, and the Highlanders pressing on, the greater
+portion of the English infantry were killed or taken prisoners.
+
+A hundred and seventy of the infantry alone succeeded in making their
+escape, four hundred were killed, and the rest captured. Colonel Gardiner
+and many of his officers were killed fighting bravely, but the loss of
+the dragoons was small. Only thirty of the Highlanders were killed, and
+seventy wounded. The battle lasted but six minutes, and the moment it had
+terminated Prince Charles exerted himself to the utmost to obtain mercy
+for the vanquished.
+
+He treated the prisoners with the greatest kindness and consideration,
+and the wounded were relieved without any distinction of friend or foe.
+The dragoons fled to Edinburgh, and dashed up the hill to the castle; but
+the governor refused to admit them, and threatened to open his guns upon
+them as cowards who had deserted their colours. Later on in the day the
+greater portion were rallied by Sir John Cope and the Earls of Loudon and
+Home; but being seized with a fresh panic they galloped on again at full
+speed as far as Coldstream, and the next morning continued their flight
+in a state of disgraceful disorder as far as Berwick. The contents of the
+treasure chest, consisting of two thousand five hundred pounds, with the
+standards and other trophies, were brought to Prince Charles. The rest of
+the spoil was divided among the Highlanders, of whom a great number
+immediately set off towards their homes to place the articles they had
+gathered in safety.
+
+So greatly was the Highland army weakened by the number of men who thus
+left the ranks that the prince was unable to carry out his wish for an
+instant advance into England. His advisers, indeed, were opposed to this
+measure, urging that in a short time his force would be swelled by
+thousands from all parts of Scotland; but unquestionably his own view was
+the correct one, and had he marched south he would probably have met with
+no resistance whatever on his march to London. There were but few troops
+in England. A requisition had been sent to the Dutch by King George for
+the six thousand auxiliaries they were bound to furnish, and a resolution
+was taken to recall ten English regiments home from Flanders.
+
+Marshal Wade was directed to collect as many troops as he could at
+Newcastle, and the militia of several counties was called out; but the
+people in no degree responded to the efforts of the government. They
+looked on coldly, not indeed apparently favouring the rebellion, but as
+little disposed to take part against it. The state of public feeling was
+described at the time by a member of the administration, Henry Fox, in a
+private letter.
+
+"England, Wade says, and I believe, is for the first comer, and if you
+can tell me whether these six thousand Dutch and the ten battalions of
+England, or five thousand French or Spaniards, will be here first, you
+know our fate. The French are not come, God be thanked; but had five
+thousand landed in any part of this island a week ago, I verily believe
+the entire conquest would not have cost a battle."
+
+The prince indeed was doing his best to obtain assistance from France,
+conscious how much his final success depended upon French succour.
+
+King Louis for a time appeared favourable. The prince's brother, Henry of
+York, had arrived from Rome, and the king proposed to place him at the
+head of the Irish regiments in the king's service and several others to
+enable him to effect a landing in England; but with his usual insincerity
+the French king continued to raise difficulties and cause delays until it
+was too late, and he thus lost for ever the chance of placing the family
+who had always been warm friends of France, and who would in the event of
+success have been his natural friends and allies, on the throne of
+England.
+
+In the meantime Prince Charles had taken up his abode in Edinburgh, where
+he was joined by most of the gentry of Scotland. He was proclaimed king
+in almost every town of the Tweed, and was master of all Scotland, save
+some districts beyond Inverness, the Highland forts, and the castles of
+Edinburgh and Stirling.. Prince Charles behaved with the greatest
+moderation. He forbade all public rejoicing for victory, saying that he
+could not rejoice over the loss which his father's misguided subjects had
+sustained. He abstained from any attempt to capture Edinburgh Castle, or
+even to cut off its supplies, because the general of the castle
+threatened that unless he were allowed to obtain provisions he would fire
+upon the city and lay it in ruins, and he even refused to interfere with
+a Scotch minister who continued from his pulpit to pray for King George.
+
+In one respect he carried his generosity so far as to excite discontent
+among his followers. It was proposed to send one of the prisoners taken
+at Preston to London with a demand for the exchange of prisoners taken or
+to be taken in the war, and with the declaration that if this were
+refused, and if the prince's friends who fell into the enemy's hands were
+put to death as rebels, the prince would be compelled to treat his
+captives in the same way. It was evident that this step would be of great
+utility, as many of the prince's adherents hesitated to take up arms, not
+from fear of death in battle, but of execution if taken prisoners.
+
+The prince, however, steadily refused, saying, "It is beneath me to make
+empty threats, and I will never put such as this into execution. I cannot
+in cold blood take away lives which I have saved in the heat of action."
+
+Six weeks after the victory the prince's army mustered nearly six
+thousand men; but Macleod, Macdonald, and Lovat, who could have brought a
+further force of four thousand men, still held aloof. Had these three
+powerful chiefs joined at once after the battle of Prestonpans, Prince
+Charles could have marched to London, and would probably have succeeded
+in placing his father on the throne, without having occasion to strike
+another blow; but they came not, and the delay caused during the
+fruitless negotiations enabled the English troops to be brought over from
+Flanders, while Prince Charles on his side only received a few small
+consignments of arms and money from France.
+
+But in the meantime Edinburgh was as gay as if the Stuart cause had been
+already won. Receptions and balls followed each other in close
+succession, and Prince Charles won the hearts of all alike by his
+courtesy and kindness, and by the care which he showed for the comfort of
+his troops.
+
+At the commencement of the campaign Lord George Murray had but one aide
+de camp besides Ronald. This was an officer known as the Chevalier de
+Johnstone, who afterwards wrote a history of the campaign. After the
+battle of Prestonpans he received a captain's commission, and immediately
+raised a company, with which he joined the Duke of Perth's regiment. Two
+other gentlemen of family were then appointed aides de camp, and this
+afforded some relief to Ronald, whose duties had been extremely heavy.
+
+A week after the battle Lord George said to Ronald:
+
+"As there is now no chance of a movement at present, and I know that you
+care nothing for the court festivities here, I propose sending you with
+the officers who are riding into Glasgow tomorrow, with the orders of the
+council that the city shall pay a subsidy of five thousand pounds towards
+the necessities of the state. The citizens are Hanoverians to a man, and
+may think themselves well off that no heavier charge is levied upon them.
+Do you take an account of what warlike stores there are in the magazines
+there, and see that all muskets and ammunition are packed up and
+forwarded."
+
+The next morning Ronald started at daybreak with several other mounted
+gentlemen and an escort of a hundred of Clanranald's men, under the
+command of the eldest son of that chief, for Glasgow, and late the same
+evening entered that city. They were received with acclamation by a part
+of the population; but the larger portion of the citizens gazed at them
+from their doorways as they passed in sullen hostility. They marched
+direct to the barracks lately occupied by the English troops, the
+gentlemen taking the quarters occupied by the officers. A notification
+was at once sent to the provost to assemble the city council at nine
+o'clock in the morning, to hear a communication from the royal council.
+
+As soon as Malcolm had put up Ronald's horse and his own in the stables,
+and seen to their comfort, he and Ronald sallied out. It was now dark,
+but they wrapped themselves up in their cloaks so as not to be noticed,
+as in the hostile state of the town they might have been insulted and a
+quarrel forced upon them, had they been recognized as two of the new
+arrivals. The night, however, was dark, and they passed without
+recognition through the ill lighted streets to the house of Andrew
+Anderson. They rang at the bell. A minute later the grille was opened,
+and a voice, which they recognized as that of Elspeth, asked who was
+there, and what was their business.
+
+"We come to arrest one Elspeth Dow, as one who troubles the state and is
+a traitor to his majesty."
+
+There was an exclamation from within and the door suddenly opened.
+
+"I know your voice, bairn. The Lord be praised that you have come back
+home again!" and she was about to run forward, when she checked herself.
+"Is it yourself, Ronald?"
+
+"It is no one else, Elspeth," he replied, giving the old woman a hearty
+kiss.
+
+"And such a man as you have grown!" she exclaimed in surprise. For the
+two years had added several inches to Ronald's stature, and he now stood
+over six feet in height.
+
+"And have you no welcome for me, Elspeth?" Malcolm asked, coming forward.
+
+"The Lord preserve us!" Elspeth exclaimed. "Why, it's my boy Malcolm!"
+
+"Turned up again like a bad penny, you see, Elspeth."
+
+"What is it, Elspeth?" Andrew's voice called from above. "Who are these
+men you are talking to, and what do they want at this time of night?"
+
+"They want some supper, Andrew," Malcolm called back, "and that badly."
+
+In a moment Andrew ran down and clasped his brother's hand. In the
+darkness he did not notice Malcolm's companion, and after the first
+greeting with his brother led the way up stairs.
+
+"It is my brother Malcolm," he said to his wife as he entered the room.
+
+Ronald followed Malcolm forward. As the light fell on his face Andrew
+started, and, as Ronald smiled, ran forward and clasped him in his arms.
+
+"It is Ronald, wife! Ah, my boy, have you come back to us again?"
+
+Mrs. Anderson received Ronald with motherly kindness.
+
+"We had heard of your escape before your letter came to us from Paris.
+Our city constables brought back the news of how you had jumped
+overboard, and had been pulled into a boat and disappeared. And finely
+they were laughed at when they told their tale. Then came your letter
+saying that it was Malcolm who had met you with the boat, and how you had
+sailed away and been wrecked on the coast of France; but since then we
+have heard nothing."
+
+"I wrote twice," Ronald said; "but owing to the war there have been no
+regular communications, and I suppose my letters got lost."
+
+"And I suppose you have both come over to have a hand in this mad
+enterprise?"
+
+"I don't know whether it is mad or not, Andrew; but we have certainly
+come over to have a hand in it," Malcolm said. "And now, before we have a
+regular talk, let me tell you that we are famishing. I know your supper
+is long since over, but doubtless Elspeth has still something to eat in
+her cupboard. Oh, here she comes!"
+
+Elspeth soon placed a joint of cold meat upon the table, and Ronald and
+Malcolm set to at once to satisfy their hunger. Then a jar of whiskey and
+glasses were set upon the table, and pipes lighted, and Ronald began a
+detailed narration of all that had taken place since they had last met.
+
+"Had my father and mother known that I was coming to Scotland, and should
+have an opportunity of seeing you both, they would have sent you their
+warmest thanks and gratitude for your kindness to me," he concluded. "For
+over and over again have I heard them say how deeply they felt indebted
+to you for your care of me during so many years, and how they wished that
+they could see you and thank you in person."
+
+"What we did was done, in the first place, for my brother Malcolm, and
+afterwards for love of you, Ronald; and right glad I am to hear that you
+obtained the freedom of your parents and a commission as an officer in
+the service of the King of France. I would be glad that you had come over
+here on any other errand than that which brings you. Things have gone on
+well with you so far; but how will they end? I hear that the Jacobites of
+England are not stirring, and you do not think that with a few thousand
+Highland clansmen you are going to conquer the English army that beat the
+French at Dettingen, and well nigh overcame them at Fontenoy. Ah, lad, it
+will prove a sore day for Scotland when Charles Stuart set foot on our
+soil!"
+
+"We won't talk about that now, Andrew," Malcolm said good temperedly.
+"The matter has got to be fought out with the sword, and if our tongues
+were to wag all night they could make no difference one way or another.
+So let us not touch upon politics. But I must say, that as far as Ronald
+and I are concerned, we did not embark on this expedition because we had
+at the moment any great intention of turning Hanoverian George off his
+throne; but simply because Ronald had made France too hot to hold him,
+and this was the simplest way that presented itself of getting out of the
+country. As long as there are blows to be struck we shall do our best.
+When there is no more fighting to be done, either because King James is
+seated on his throne in London, or because the clans are scattered and
+broken, we shall make for France again, where by that time I hope the
+king will have got over the breach of his edict and the killing of his
+favourite, and where Ronald's father and mother will be longing for his
+presence."
+
+"Eh, but it's awful, sirs," Elspeth, who as an old and favourite servant
+had remained in the room after laying the supper and listened to the
+conversation, put in, "to think that a young gallant like our Ronald
+should have slain a man! He who ought not yet to have done with his
+learning, to be going about into wars and battles, and to have stood up
+against a great French noble and slain him. Eh, but it's awful to think
+of!"
+
+"It would be much more awful, Elspeth, if the French noble had killed me,
+at least from the light in which I look at it."
+
+"That's true enough," Elspeth said. "And if he wanted to kill you, and it
+does seem from what you say that he did want, of course I cannot blame
+you for killing him; but to us quiet bodies here in Glasgow it seems an
+awful affair; though, after you got in a broil here and drew on the city
+watch, I ought not to be surprised at anything."
+
+"And now we must go," Ronald said, rising. "It is well nigh midnight, and
+time for all decent people to be in bed."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV: A Mission.
+
+
+The next morning early Ronald proceeded to take an inventory of the arms
+and ammunition left behind by the troops when they had marched to join
+Sir John Cope at Stirling. Having done this he saw that they were all
+packed up in readiness to be sent off the next day under the escort, who
+were also to convey the money which the city was required to pay. For the
+provost and council, knowing that it was useless to resist the order, and
+perhaps anxious in the present doubtful state of affairs to stand well
+with Prince Charles, had arranged that the money should be forthcoming of
+the following morning. After his work was over Ronald again spent the
+evening at Andrew Anderson's.
+
+The next morning he returned to Edinburgh with the arms and escort. It
+was late when he arrived; but as he knew that Lord George Murray would be
+at work in his tent, he repaired there at once.
+
+"We have brought back the money and arms, Lord George. I have handed over
+the arms and ammunition at the magazine tent, and those in charge of the
+money have gone into the town with a part of the escort to give it over
+to the treasurer."
+
+"How many arms did you get?"
+
+"Two hundred and twenty-three muskets and eighty pistols, fourteen kegs
+of gunpowder, and well nigh a ton of lead."
+
+"That is more than I had expected. And now, Leslie, I have an important
+mission for you. The prince this morning asked me whom I could recommend,
+as a sure and careful person likely to do the business well, to go down
+into Lancashire to visit the leading Jacobites there, and urge them to
+take up arms. I said that I knew of none who would be more likely to
+succeed than yourself. Your residence of two years in France has rubbed
+off any Scotch dialect you may have had, and at any rate you could pass
+for a northern Englishman. In the next place, your youth would enable you
+to pass unsuspected where an older man might be questioned. The prince
+agreed at once, and took shame to himself that he had not before given
+promotion to one who was his companion on his voyage to Scotland, the
+more so as he had made Johnstone a captain. Your claims are far greater
+than his, and moreover you have served as an officer in the French army.
+But, in truth, the fault is in some degree your own, for you spend all
+your time in carrying out your duties, and do not show yourself at any of
+the levees or festivities. And you know, with princes, as with other
+people, out of sight is out of mind. However, the prince at once took
+steps to repair the omission, and has signed your commission as captain.
+Here it is. You will understand, of course, that it is for past services,
+and that you are perfectly free to decline this mission to the south if
+you would rather not undertake it. It is unquestionably a dangerous one."
+
+"I will undertake it readily, sir," Ronald said, "and I thank you
+sincerely for bringing my name before the prince, and the prince himself
+for his kindness in granting me his commission, which so far I have done
+but little to win. I shall be able, I trust, to carry out this mission to
+his satisfaction; and although I am ignorant of the country I shall have
+the advantage of taking with me my brave follower, Malcolm Anderson, who
+for years was in the habit of going with droves of cattle down into
+Lancashire, and will not only know the country but have acquaintances
+there, and being known as a drover would pass without suspicion of his
+being engaged with politics."
+
+"That will do well," Lord George said. "I will get the list of persons on
+whom you should call prepared tomorrow. You had best go to Sir Thomas
+Sheridan and Francis Strickland, who came over with you, and get them to
+present you to Secretary Murray and recommend you to him. If he hears
+that your mission is of my recommendation he will do all he can to set
+the prince against you. Everything that I do is wrong in his eyes, and I
+do believe that he would ruin the cause in order to injure me, did he see
+no other way to accomplish that end. Therefore, if he mentions my name,
+as he is like to do, knowing that you have been my aide de camp, be sure
+that you say nought in my favour, or it will ruin you with him. You will,
+of course, attend the prince's levee tomorrow, and had best make
+preparation to start at nightfall."
+
+The next day, accordingly, Ronald called upon Sir Thomas Sheridan and
+Strickland, and telling them that the prince had determined to send him
+on a mission into Lancashire, asked them to present him to Secretary
+Murray, from whom he would receive orders for his guidance and
+instruction as to the persons whom he was to visit. The two gentlemen
+proceeded with him to the house in which Secretary Murray had taken up
+his abode, and introduced him, with much warmth, as a fellow passenger on
+board the Doutelle.
+
+"You have been serving since as Lord Murray's aide de camp?"
+
+"Yes, sir, the prince recommended me to him at Perth, and I have since
+had the honour to carry his orders."
+
+"Captain Leslie, for so the prince has granted him a commission," Sir
+Thomas said, "has served two years in the French army, and was present at
+Dettingen and Fontenoy. He mentioned to me on the voyage that he had the
+honour of being presented by Marshal Saxe to the King of France, and that
+he received his commission from the marshal, to whom he had acted as aide
+de camp at Fontenoy."
+
+"You have begun well, indeed, young sir," Murray said, "to have received
+at your age, for I judge that you are not yet twenty, commissions in the
+French army and ours."
+
+Ronald bowed.
+
+"He has another claim upon all you Scottish gentlemen," Sir Thomas said,
+"for Colonel Macdonald told us, when he introduced him to us at Nantes,
+that it was through his interference and aid alone that he escaped safely
+from Glasgow, and that all his papers, with the names of the king's
+friends in Scotland, did not fall into George's hands. He was taken
+prisoner for his share in that affair, but escaped from the ship in the
+Thames, and succeeded in crossing to France. So you see, young as he is,
+he has rendered good service to the cause."
+
+The expression of the secretary's face, which had before been cold and
+distant, changed at once. He had been aware that Ronald had been chosen
+for this business on the recommendation of Lord George Murray, and his
+jealousy of that nobleman had at once set him against Ronald, of whose
+antecedents he was entirely ignorant; but what he now heard entirely
+altered the case, and disposed him most favourably towards him,
+especially as his own name would have been one of the most prominent in
+the list, he having been in constant communication with Colonel Macdonald
+during the stay of the latter in Scotland.
+
+"I had no idea it was to you that we are all so indebted," he said
+warmly. "I heard from Colonel Macdonald, after his return from France,
+that he owed his escape entirely to the quickness and bravery of a young
+gentleman of whose name he was ignorant, but who, he feared, would suffer
+for his interference on his behalf, and prayed me and all other loyal
+gentlemen of Scotland to befriend you should they ever discover your
+name, for that we assuredly owed it to you that we escaped imprisonment,
+if not worse. I am truly glad to meet you and thank you in person. And so
+you are going on this mission?"
+
+"I have undertaken to do my best, sir. Fortunately I have a faithful
+follower who fought beside my father in '15, followed him to France and
+fought by his side in the Scottish Dragoons for fifteen years, and who
+has since been my best friend. He worked for years, when I was a child,
+as a drover of cattle from the Highlands into England. He knows
+Cumberland and Lancashire well, and would be known at every wayside inn.
+He will accompany me, and I shall pass as his nephew, therefore no
+suspicion will be likely to light upon me."
+
+"And you set out tonight?"
+
+"Yes, sir, if my orders and letters are ready."
+
+"There will not be many letters," the secretary said. "It would not do
+for you to have documents upon you which might betray you and our friends
+there should you be arrested. I will give you a list of the gentlemen on
+whom you have to call, which you had best learn by heart and destroy
+before you cross the frontier. You shall have one paper only, and that
+written so small that it can be carried in a quill. This you can show to
+one after the other. If you find you are in danger of arrest you can
+destroy or swallow it. I will give them to you at the prince's levee this
+afternoon, and will send to your tent a purse of gold for your expenses."
+
+"I shall need but little for that, sir," Ronald said smiling.
+
+"For your expenses, no," the secretary said; "but one never can say what
+money may be required for. You may have to buy fresh horses, you may want
+it to bribe someone to conceal you. Money is always useful, my young
+friend. By the way, what family of Leslies do you belong to? I heard that
+one of your name had accompanied the prince, but no more."
+
+"My father was Leslie of Glenlyon."
+
+"Indeed!" the secretary exclaimed. "Of course, I know the name well. The
+lands were confiscated; but we shall soon set that right, and I will see
+that they are added to when the time comes to reward the king's friends
+and punish his foes."
+
+Ronald now took his leave and returned to Malcolm, who was making
+preparation for the enterprise. He had already purchased two suits of
+clothes, such as would be worn by Lowland drovers, and was in high
+spirits, being more elated than was Ronald himself at the latter's
+promotion. In the course of the day he bought two rough ponies, as being
+more suitable for the position they were to assume than the horses with
+which they had been furnished at Perth. Ronald attended the levee, and
+thanked the prince for the favour which he bestowed upon him.
+
+"You are a young gentleman after my own heart," Prince Charles said, "and
+I promised myself on shipboard that we should be great friends; but I
+have been so busy since I landed, and you have been so occupied in my
+service, that I have seen but little of you. On your return I hope that I
+shall be able to have you near my person. I am half jealous of you, for
+while you are younger than I am you have seen good service and taken part
+in great battles, but hitherto I have led a life almost of idleness."
+
+Ronald bowed deeply at the prince's gracious speech. On his return to his
+tent he found a messenger from the secretary with a purse which, on
+counting its contents, they found to amount to a hundred guineas.
+
+They started immediately, and travelled twenty miles before stopping for
+the night at a small wayside inn.
+
+"This seems like old times to me," Malcolm said as, after eating supper,
+they sat by a turf fire, "except that on my way down I had the herd to
+look after. There is no fear of our being questioned or suspected till we
+reach the border, for there is not an English soldier between the Forth
+and the Tweed; nor is it likely that we shall meet with any difficulty
+whatever till we get to Carlisle. Cope's forces, or what remain of them,
+are at Newcastle, and it will be there that the English will gather, and
+the western road is likely to be open until, at any rate, Prince Charles
+moves south. George's troops have plenty to think about without
+interfering with the Lowlands drovers. At the same time, after we have
+once crossed the Tweed, we may as well leave the high road. I know every
+bypath over the fells."
+
+On the third day after starting they crossed the border and were among
+the hills of Cumberland. They found that among the villages great
+apprehension existed. The tales of the rapine and destruction wrought in
+the old times by the Scottish forays had been handed down from father to
+son, and nothing less than the destruction of their homes and the loss of
+their flocks and herds was looked for. Malcolm was welcomed warmly at the
+little village inn where they put up for the night.
+
+"Why, it's well nigh three years since I saw you last," the host said,
+"and before that it was seldom two months without our seeing you. What
+have you been doing with yourself?"
+
+"I have been gathering the herds in the Highlands," Malcolm said, "while
+others have driven them down for sale; but at present my occupation is
+gone. The Highlanders are swarming like angry bees whose hive has been
+disturbed, and even if we could collect a herd it would not be safe to
+drive it south; it would be seized and despatched to Edinburgh for the
+use of the clans there."
+
+"Is it true that there are fifty thousand of them, and that they have
+sworn to kill every English man, woman, and child?"
+
+"No, they are not so strong as that," Malcolm said. "From what I hear I
+should say they were not more than half; and I do not think there is any
+occasion for peaceful people to be afraid, for they say that the prince
+has treated all the prisoners who fell into his hands in the kindest
+manner, and that he said that the English are his father's subjects as
+well as the Scots, and that he will see that harm is done to no man."
+
+"I am right glad to hear it," the innkeeper said. "I don't know that I am
+much afraid myself; but my wife and daughter are in a terrible fright,
+and wanted me to quit the house and go south till it is all over."
+
+"There is no occasion for that, man," Malcolm said; "you will have no
+reason for fear were the whole of the clans to march through your
+village, unless you took it into your head to stand at the door and
+shout, 'God bless King George.'"
+
+"I care not a fig about King George or King James," the man said. "It's
+nought to me who is king at London, and as far as I know that's the way
+with all here. Let them fight it out together, and leave us hard working
+folks to ourselves."
+
+"I don't suppose either James or George would care for that," Malcolm
+said laughing; "but from what I have heard of Prince Charles I should say
+that there is nothing in the world that he would like better than to
+stand with broadsword or dagger against the Duke of Cumberland, and so
+settle the dispute."
+
+"That would be the most sensible thing to my mind," the innkeeper said;
+"but what brings you here, Anderson, since you have no herd with you?"
+
+"I am just getting out of it all," Malcolm said. "I have had my share of
+hard knocks, and want no more of them. I don't want to quarrel with
+Highlanders or Lowlanders, and as trade is at a standstill at present,
+and there's nothing for me to do in the Highlands, I thought I would come
+south till it was all over. There is money to collect and things to look
+after, and I have to notify to our regular customers that the herds will
+come down again as soon as the tempest is over; and between ourselves,"
+he said in a lower voice, "I wanted to get my nephew out of harm's way.
+He has a hankering to join the prince's army, and I don't want to let him
+get his brains knocked out in a quarrel which isn't his, so I have
+brought him along with me."
+
+"He is a good looking young fellow, I can see, and a strong one. I don't
+wonder that he wanted to mount the white cockade; lads are always wanting
+to run their heads into danger. You have had your share of it, as you
+say; still you are wise to keep the lad out of it. I don't hold with
+soldiering, or fighting in quarrels that don't concern you.
+
+Malcolm and Ronald travelled through Cumberland and Westmoreland, calling
+upon many of the gentlemen to whom the latter had been charged to deliver
+Prince Charles's messages. They could not, however, flatter themselves
+that their mission was a success, for from few of those on whom they
+called did they receive assurances that they were prepared to take
+action; all the gentlemen professed affection for the Stuarts, but
+deprecated a descent into England unless the prince were accompanied by a
+strong body of French troops.
+
+The rising of '15 had been disastrous for the Jacobites of the North of
+England, and though all declared that they were ready again to take up
+arms and risk all for the cause of the Stuarts, if the prince was at the
+head of a force which rendered success probable, they were unanimously of
+opinion that it would be nothing short of madness to rise until at any
+rate the prince had marched into England at the head of a strong army.
+
+The principal personage upon whom they called was Mr. Ratcliff, a brother
+of the Earl of Derwentwater, who had been executed after the rising of
+'15. That gentleman assured them that he himself was ready to join the
+prince as soon as he came south, but that he wished the prince to know
+that in his opinion no large number of English would join.
+
+"The memory of '15 is still too fresh," he said; "while the Stuarts have
+been absent so long that, although there are great numbers who would
+prefer them to the Hanoverians, I do not believe that men have the cause
+sufficiently at heart to risk life and property for it. Many will give
+their good wishes, but few will draw their swords. That is what I wish
+you to say to Prince Charles. Among gentlemen like myself the feeling of
+respect and loyalty to his father's house is as strong as ever, and we
+shall join him, however desperate, in our opinion, the chances of success
+may be; but he will see that the common people will stand aloof, and
+leave the battle to be fought out by the clansmen on our side and
+George's troops on the other."
+
+Some weeks were passed in traversing the country to and fro, for the
+desired interviews were often only obtained after considerable loss of
+time. They could not ride up as two Highland drovers to a gentleman's
+house, and had to wait their chances of meeting those they wished to see
+on the high road, or of sending notes requesting an interview, couched in
+such terms that while they would be understood by those to whom they were
+addressed they would compromise no one if they fell into other hands.
+There was indeed the greatest necessity for caution, for the authorities
+in all the towns and villages had received orders from the government to
+be on the lookout for emissaries from the north, and they were frequently
+exposed to sharp examination and questioning. Indeed it was only
+Malcolm's familiarity with the country, and the fact that he had so many
+acquaintances ready to testify that he was, as he said, a Scotch drover,
+in the habit for many years of journeying down from the north with
+cattle, that enabled them to escape arrest.
+
+After much thought they had decided upon a place of concealment for the
+quill containing Ronald's credentials, which would, they thought, defy
+the strictest scrutiny. A hole had been bored from the back into the heel
+of Ronald's boot deep enough to contain the quill, and after this was
+inserted in the hiding place the hole was filled up with cobbler's wax,
+so that it would need a close examination indeed to discover its
+existence. Thus, although they were several times closely searched, no
+document of a suspicious nature was found upon them.
+
+Their money was the greatest trouble, as the mere fact of so large a sum
+being carried by two drovers would in itself have given rise to
+suspicions, although had they been on their return towards Scotland the
+possession of such an amount would have been easily explained as the
+proceeds of the sale of the cattle they had brought down. They had
+therefore left the greater part of it with a butcher in Carlisle, with
+whom Malcolm had often had dealings, retaining only ten pounds for their
+necessary expenses.
+
+The day after they reached Manchester four constables came to the little
+inn where they were stopping and told them that they were to accompany
+them before the magistrates.
+
+"I should like to know what offence we are charged with," Malcolm said
+angrily. "Things have come to a pretty pass, indeed, when quiet drovers
+are to be hauled before magistrates without rhyme or reason."
+
+"You will hear the charge quickly enough when you are before their
+worships," the constable said; "but that is no affair of mine--my
+orders are simply to take you there."
+
+"Well, of course we must go," Malcolm said grumblingly; "but here we have
+been well nigh twenty years travelling to and fro between England and
+Scotland, as my host here can testify, without such a thing happening
+before. I suppose somebody has been robbed on the highway, and so you
+sharp sighted gentlemen clap hands on the first people you come across."
+
+Three magistrates were sitting when Ronald and Malcolm were brought into
+the courthouse. They were first asked the usual questions as to their
+names and business, and then one of the magistrates said:
+
+"Your story is a very plausible one; but it happens that I have here
+before me the reports, sent in from a score of different places, for in
+times like these it is needful to know what kinds of persons are
+travelling through the country, and two men answering to your description
+are reported to have visited almost every one of these places. It is
+stated in nearly every report that you are drovers ordinarily engaged in
+bringing down herds of Highland cattle, and it is added that in every
+case this account was verified by persons who have previously known you.
+All this would seem natural enough, but you seem to have journeyed hither
+and thither without any fixed object. Sometimes you have stopped for two
+days at little villages, where you could have had no business, and, in
+short, you seem for upwards of a month to have been engaged in wandering
+to and fro in such a way as is wholly incompatible with the affairs upon
+which you say you were engaged."
+
+"But you will observe, sir," Malcolm said quietly, "that I have not said
+I am engaged upon any affairs whatever. I am not come to England on
+business, but solely to escape from the troubles which have put a stop to
+my trade in the Highlands, and as for fifteen years I was engaged in
+journeying backwards and forwards, and had many friends and
+acquaintances, I came down partly, as I have said, to avoid being mixed
+up in the trouble, partly to call upon old acquaintances, and partly to
+introduce to them my nephew, who is new to the work, and will shortly be
+engaged in bringing down cattle here. I thought the present was a good
+opportunity to show him all the roads and halting places in order that he
+might the better carry out the business."
+
+"Your story has been well got up," one of the magistrates said, "though I
+doubt whether there be a single word of truth in it. However, you will be
+at present searched, and detained until we get to the bottom of the
+matter. This is not a time when men can travel to and fro through the
+country without exciting a suspicion that they are engaged upon other
+than lawful business. At present I tell you that in our eyes your conduct
+appears to be extremely suspicious."
+
+The prisoners were then taken to a cell and searched with the utmost
+rigour. Their clothes were examined with scrupulous care, many of the
+seams being cut open and the linings slit, to see if any documents were
+concealed there. Their shoes were also carefully examined; but the mud
+had dried over the opening where the quill was concealed, and the
+officials failed to discover it. Even their sticks were carefully
+examined to see if they contained any hollow place; but at last,
+convinced that had they been the bearers of any documents these must have
+been discovered, the officials permitted them to resume their clothes,
+and then paying no heed to the angry complaints of Malcolm at the state
+to which the garments had been reduced, they left the prisoners to
+themselves.
+
+"Be careful what you say," Malcolm whispered to Ronald. "Many of these
+places have cracks or peepholes, so that the prisoners can be watched and
+their conversation overheard."
+
+Having said this Malcolm indulged in a long and violent tirade on the
+hardship of peaceful men being arrested and maltreated in this way, and
+at the gross stupidity of magistrates in taking an honest drover known to
+half the countryside for a Jacobite spy. Ronald replied in similar
+strains, and any listeners there might have been would certainly have
+gained nothing from the conversation they overheard.
+
+"I should not be surprised," Malcolm said in low tones when night had
+come and all was quiet, "if some of our friends outside try to help us.
+The news will speedily spread that two men of the appearance of drovers
+have been taken on suspicion of being emissaries from Scotland, and it
+will cause no little uneasiness among all those on whom we have called.
+They cannot tell whether any papers have been found upon us, nor what we
+may reveal to save ourselves, so they will have a strong interest in
+getting us free if possible."
+
+"If we do get free, Malcolm, the sooner we return to Scotland the better.
+We have seen almost all those whom we are charged to call upon, and we
+are certainly in a position to assure the prince that he need hope for no
+rising in his favour here before he comes, and that it is very doubtful
+that any numbers will join him if he marches south."
+
+The next morning they were removed from the cell in which they had been
+placed to the city jail, and on the following day were again brought
+before the magistrates.
+
+"You say that you have been calling on people who know you," one of the
+magistrates began; "and as I told you the other day we know that you have
+been wandering about the country in a strange way, I now requite that you
+shall tell us the names of all the persons with whom you have had
+communication."
+
+The question was addressed to Malcolm as the oldest of the prisoners.
+Ronald looked round the court, which was crowded with people, and thought
+that in several places he could detect an expression of anxiety rather
+than curiosity.
+
+"It will be a long story," Malcolm said in a drawling voice, "and I would
+not say for sure but that I may forget one or two, seeing that I have
+spoken with so many. We came across the hills, and the first person we
+spoke to was Master Fenwick, who keeps the Collie Dog at Appleswade. I
+don't know whether your worship knows the village. I greeted him as
+usual, and asked him how the wife and children had been faring since I
+saw him last. He said they were doing brawly, save that the eldest boy
+had twisted his ankle sorely among the fells."
+
+"We don't want to hear all this nonsense," the magistrate said angrily.
+"We want a list of persons, not what you said to them."
+
+"It will be a hard task," Malcolm said simply; "but I will do the best I
+can, your worship, and I can do no more. Let me think, there was Joseph
+Repton and Nat Somner--at least I think it was Nat, but I won't be sure
+to his Christian name--and John Dykes, and a chap they called Pitman,
+but I don't know his right name."
+
+"Who were all these people?" the magistrate asked.
+
+"Joe Repton, he is a wheelwright by trade, and Nat Somner he keeps the
+village shop. I think the others are both labouring men. Anyhow they were
+all sitting at the tap of the Collie Dog when I went in."
+
+"But what have we to do with these fellows?" the magistrate exclaimed
+angrily.
+
+"I don't know no more than a child," Malcolm said; "but your worship
+ordered me to tell you just the names of the persons I met, and I am
+doing so to the best of my ability."
+
+"Take care, prisoner," the magistrate said sternly; "you are trifling
+with the court. You know what I want you to tell me. You have been to
+these villages," and he read out some fifteen names. "What did you go
+there for, and whom did you see?"
+
+"That is just what I was trying to tell your worship in regular order,
+but directly I begin you stop me. I have been going through this district
+for fifteen years, and I am known in pretty well every village in
+Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire. Having been away for three
+years, and my trade being stopped by the war, as your worship well knows,
+I have been going round having a crack with the people I know. Such as
+were butchers I promised some fine animals next time I came south; such
+as were innkeepers I stayed a night with and talked of old times. If your
+worship will have patience with me I can tell you all the names and what
+I said to each of them, and what they said to me, and all about it."
+
+"I don't want to know about these things. I am asking you whether you
+have not been calling on some of the gentry."
+
+"Indeed, now," Malcolm said with an air of astonishment, "and this is the
+first time that I have heard a word about the gentry since I came into
+the court. Well, let me think now, I did meet Squire Ringwood, and he
+stopped his horse and said to me: 'Is that you, Malcolm Anderson, you
+rascal;' and I said, 'It's me, sure enough, squire;' and he said, 'You
+rascal, that last score of beasts I bought of you--'"
+
+"Silence!" shouted the magistrate as a titter ran through the court. "All
+this fooling will do you no good, I can tell you. We believe that you are
+a traitor to the king and an emissary of the Pretender. If you make a
+clean breast of it, and tell me the names of those with whom you have
+been having dealings, there may be a hope of mercy for you; but if not,
+we shall get at the truth other ways, and then your meanness of condition
+will not save you from punishment."
+
+"Your worship must do as you like," Malcolm said doggedly. "I have done
+my best to answer your questions, and you jump down my throat as soon as
+I open my mouth. What should a man of my condition have to do with kings
+or pretenders? They have ruined my trade between them, and I care not
+whether King George or King James get the best of it, so that they do but
+make an end of it as soon as possible, and let me bring down my herds
+again. There's half a dozen butchers in the town who know me, and can
+speak for me. I have sold thousands of beasts to Master Tregold; but if
+this is the treatment an honest man meets with I ain't likely to sell
+them any more, for as soon as I am let free and get the money the
+constables have taken from me I am off to Glasgow and if I ever come
+south of the border again, may I be hung and quartered."
+
+Finding that nothing was to be made out of the prisoners, the magistrate
+ordered them to be taken back to jail.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI: The March to Derby.
+
+
+Two days later when the jailer brought in breakfast to their cell he
+dropped on the table by the side of the loaf a tiny ball of paper, and
+then without a word went out and locked the back door. Malcolm put his
+finger to his lips as Ronald was about to utter an exclamation of joy.
+
+"One's appetite is not as good here as it was when we were tramping the
+hills, Ronald; but one looks forward to one's meals; they form a break in
+the time."
+
+So saying, he took up one of the lumps of bread and began to ear,
+securing at the same time the pellet of paper. "We can't be too careful,"
+he said in a whisper. "It is quite possible that they may be able to
+overhear us."
+
+"I don't see how," Ronald replied in the same tone; "I see no crack or
+crevice through which sound could pass."
+
+"You may not see one," Malcolm said, "but it may exist for all that. One
+of the boards of the ceiling may be as thin as paper, and anyone
+listening through could hear every word we say when we speak in our
+natural voices. The magistrates evidently believe that they have made a
+valuable capture, and would give anything to prove that their suspicions
+are correct. Now, I will go and stand at that grated opening and look at
+this paper, if they are watching us they will see nothing then."
+
+The little piece of paper when unfolded contained but a few words: "Keep
+up your courage. You have friends without working for you. Destroy this."
+
+Malcolm at once again rolled up the pellet, put it into his mouth and
+swallowed it, and then whispered to Ronald what he had just read.
+
+"I thought," he whispered, "that we should soon get a message of some
+sort. The news of our arrest will have set the hearts of a score of
+people quaking, and they would do anything now to get us out from this
+prison. They have already, you see, succeeded in bribing our warder."
+
+At his evening visit the warder passed into Ronald's hand a small parcel,
+and then, as before, went out without speaking.
+
+"I am confirmed in the belief that we can be overheard," Malcolm said.
+"Had the man not been afraid of listeners he would have spoken to us. Now
+let us see what he has brought us this time."
+
+The parcel contained a small file, a saw made of watch spring, and a tiny
+phial of oil.
+
+"So far so good," Malcolm said quietly. "Our way through these bars is
+clear enough now. But that is only the beginning of our difficulties.
+This window looks into the prison yard, and there is a drop of some forty
+feet to begin with. However, I have no doubt our friends will send us the
+means of overcoming these difficulties in due course. All we have to
+concern ourselves about now is the sawing through of these bars."
+
+As soon as it was dark they began the work, relieving each other in
+turns. The oil prevented much sound being made, but to deaden it still
+further they wrapped a handkerchief over the file. The bars had been but
+a short time in position and the iron was new and strong. It was
+consequently some hours before they completed their work. When they had
+done, the grating was left in the position it before occupied, the cuts
+being concealed from any but close observation by kneading up small
+pieces of bread and pressing them into them, and then rubbing the edges
+with iron filings.
+
+"That will do for tonight," Malcolm said. "No one is likely to pay us a
+visit; but if they did, they would not notice the bars unless they went
+up and shook them. Tomorrow morning we can put a finishing touch to the
+work."
+
+As soon as it was daylight they were upon their feet.
+
+"It does very well as it is," Malcolm said, examining the grating. "It is
+good enough to pass, and we need not trouble further about it. Now
+collect every grain of those iron filings. No, don't do that on any
+account," he broke in, as Ronald was preparing to blow some of it from
+the lower stonework through the opening. "Were you to do that, it would
+be quite possible that one of the prisoners walking in the yard might see
+it, and would as likely as not report the circumstance to one of the
+warders in order to curry favour and perhaps obtain a remission of his
+sentence. Scrape it inside and pour every atom down the crevices in the
+floor. That done, we are safe unless anyone touches the grating."
+
+They watched their warder attentively when he next came into the cell,
+but this time he had no message for them. "We must not be impatient,"
+Malcolm said; "our friends have a good many arrangements to make, for
+they will have to provide for our getting away when we are once out;
+besides, they will probably have to bribe other warders, and that kind of
+thing can't be done in a hurry."
+
+It was not for another two days that the warder made any fresh sign.
+Then, as on the first occasion, he placed a pellet of paper on the table
+with their bread.
+
+"This is a good deal larger than the last," Ronald whispered.
+
+It was not until some little time after they had finished their meal that
+Ronald moved to the grating and unrolled the little ball of paper; it
+contained only the words:
+
+"You will receive a rope this evening. With this lower yourselves from
+your window into the courtyard. Start when you hear the church bells
+strike midnight, cross the court and stand against the wall near the
+right hand corner of the opposite side. The third window on the second
+floor will be opened, and a rope lowered to you. Attach yourselves to
+this, and you will be pulled up from above."
+
+After reading the note Ronald passed it on to Malcolm, who, as before,
+swallowed it, but had this time to tear it into several pieces before
+doing so. The warder was later bringing their supper than usual that
+evening, and it was dark when he came in. As he entered the room he let
+the lamp fall which he carried.
+
+"Confound the thing!" he said roughly. "Here, take hold of this bread,
+and let me feel for the lamp. I can't be bothered with going down to get
+another light. You can eat your supper in the dark just as well, I have
+no doubt."
+
+As he handed Ronald the bread he also pushed into his hand the end of the
+rope, and while he pretended to search for the lamp he turned round and
+round rapidly, and so unwound the rope, which was twisted many times
+round his body. As soon as this was done he picked up the lamp, and with
+a rough "Goodnight," left them.
+
+"It is just as I suspected," Malcolm said in Ronald's ear. "There is a
+peephole somewhere, otherwise there could be no occasion for him to have
+dropped the lamp. It is well that we have always been on our guard."
+
+They ate their bread in silence, and then after a short talk on the
+stupidity of the English in taking two drovers for messengers of Prince
+Charles, they lay down on their rough pallets to pass with what patience
+they could the long hours before midnight, for it was late in October,
+and it was little after five o'clock when the warder visited them. They
+felt but slight anxiety as to the success of the enterprise, for they had
+no doubt that every detail had been carefully arranged by their friends
+without, although certainly it seemed a strange method of escape that
+after lowering themselves from a third floor window they should
+afterwards be hauled up into a second. At last, after what seemed almost
+an endless watch, they heard the church clocks strike twelve, and
+simultaneously rose to their feet. Not a word was spoken, for although it
+was improbable in the extreme that any watcher would be listening at that
+hour of the night, it was well to take every precaution. The grating was
+lifted out and laid down on one of the couches so that all noise should
+be avoided. The rope was then strongly fastened to the stump of one of
+the iron bars.
+
+"Now, Malcolm, I will give you a leg up; I am younger and more active
+than you are, so you had better go first."
+
+Without debating the question, Malcolm put his foot on Ronald's hand, and
+in a moment was seated in the opening of the window. Grasping the rope he
+let himself quietly out, and lowered himself to the ground, reaching it
+so noiselessly that Ronald, who was listening, did nor hear a sound.
+After waiting a minute, however, he sprang up on to the sill, and feeling
+that the rope was slack, was soon by Malcolm's side below. Then both
+removed their shoes and hung them round their necks, and walking
+noiselessly across the court they took up their post under the window
+indicated in the note. In less than a minute the end of a rope was
+dropped upon their heads.
+
+"You go first this time, Ronald," Malcolm said, and fastened it beneath
+Ronald's arms. Then he gave a pull at the rope to show that they were
+ready. The rope tightened, and Ronald found himself swinging in the air.
+He kept himself from scraping against the walls by his hands and feet,
+and was especially careful as he passed the window on the first floor. In
+a minute he was pulled into the room on the second floor by the men who
+had hoisted him up. A low "Hush!" warned him that there was still a
+necessity for silence. The rope was lowered again, and Ronald lent his
+aid to hoist Malcolm up to the window. As soon as he was in, it was as
+slowly and carefully closed.
+
+"You are mighty heavy, both of you," a voice whispered. "I should not
+have thought it would have been such hard work to lift a man up this
+height. Now, follow us, and be sure you make no noise."
+
+Two flights of stairs were descended, and then they stood before a small
+but heavy door; some bolts were drawn and a key turned in the lock, this
+being done so noiselessly that Ronald was sure they must have been
+carefully oiled. The two men passed through with them, locking the door
+behind them.
+
+"Thank God we are out!" Malcolm said fervently. "I have been in a watch
+house more than once in my young days, but I can't say I like it better
+as I grow older." They walked for some minutes, and then their guides
+opened a door and they entered a small house.
+
+"Stir up those peats, Jack," one of the men said, "and blow them a bit,
+while I feel for a candle."
+
+In a minute or two a light was obtained.
+
+"That's very neatly done, I think, gentlemen," laughed the man addressed
+as Jack, and who they now saw was the warder who had attended upon them.
+"We had rare trouble in hitting upon that plan. The cell you were in
+opened upon a corridor, the doors to which are always locked by the chief
+constable himself; and even if we could have got at his key, and opened
+one of them, we should have been no nearer escape, for two of the warders
+sleep in the lodge, and there would be no getting out without waking
+them, and they could not be got at. They are both of them married men,
+with families, and that sort of man does not care about running risks,
+unless he happens to be tired of his wife and wanting a change. Nat here
+and I have no incumbrances, and weren't sorry of a chance to shift.
+Anyhow, there was no way, as far as we could see, of passing you out
+through that part of the prison, and at last the idea struck us of
+getting you out the way we did. That wing of the jail is only used for
+debtors, and they are nothing like so strict on that side as they are on
+the other. Some of the warders sleep there, so there was no difficulty in
+getting hold of the key for an hour and having a duplicate made. Till
+yesterday all the cells were full, and we had to wait till a man, whose
+time was just up, moved out. After that it was clear sailing."
+
+"Well, we are immensely obliged to you," Ronald said.
+
+"Oh, you needn't be obliged to us," the warder replied; "we are well paid
+for the job, and have a promise of good berths if Prince Charles gets the
+best of it. Anyhow, we shall both make for London, where we have
+acquaintances. Now we are going to dress up; there's no time to be lost
+talking. There is a light cart waiting for us and horses for you half a
+mile outside the town."
+
+He opened a cupboard and took our two long smock frocks, which he and his
+companion put on.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, will you put on these two suits of soldiers' clothes. I
+think they will about fit you."
+
+Ronald and Malcolm were soon attired as dragoons.
+
+"There's a regiment of them here," the man said, "so there was no
+difficulty in buying a cast off suit and getting these made from it. As
+to the helmets, I guess there will be a stir about them in the morning.
+We got hold of a soldier today and told him we wanted a couple of helmets
+for a lark, and he said, for a bottle of brandy he would drop them out of
+a barrack window at ten o'clock tonight; and he kept his word. Two of
+them will be surprised in the morning when they find that their helmets
+have disappeared; as to the swords and belts, I don't know that they are
+quite right; they were bought at an old shop, and I believe they are
+yeomanry swords, but I expect they are neat enough. I was to give you
+this letter to take with you; it is, as you see, directed to General Wade
+at Newcastle, and purports to come from the colonel of your regiment
+here, so that if by any chance you are questioned on the way, that will
+serve as a reason for your journeying north. Here is a purse of twenty
+guineas; I think that's about all."
+
+"But are we not to see those who have done us such service," Ronald
+asked, "in order that we may thank them in person?"
+
+"I don't know who it is any more than the man in the moon," the warder
+replied. "It was a woman dressed as a serving wench, though I doubt it
+was only a disguise, who came to me. She met me in the street and asked
+me if I should like to earn fifty pounds. I said I had no objection, and
+then after a good deal of beating about the bush it came out that what
+was wanted was that I should aid in your escape. I didn't see my way to
+working it alone, and I told her so. She said she was authorized to offer
+the same sum to another, so I said I would talk it over with Nat. He
+agreed to stand in, and between us we thought about the arrangements; but
+I never got to know any more about her. It was nothing to me whom the
+money came from, as long as it was all right. We have had half down, and
+are to have the other half when we get to the cart with you. And now if
+you are ready we will be starting. The further we get away from here
+before morning the better."
+
+They made their way quietly along the streets. The town was in total
+darkness, and they did not meet a single person abroad, and in a quarter
+of an hour they were in the open country. Another ten minutes and they
+came upon the cart and horses. Three men were standing beside them, and
+the impatient stamp of a horse's hoof showed that the horses were tied up
+closely. A lantern was held up as the party came up.
+
+"All safe?"
+
+"All safe," Ronald replied. "Thanks, many thanks to you for our freedom."
+
+The man holding the lantern was masked, so they could not see his face.
+He first turned to the two warders, and placed a bag of money in their
+hand.
+
+"You have done your work well," he said; "the cart will take you thirty
+miles on your road, and then drop you. I wish you a safe journey. You had
+best hide your money in your boots, unless you wish it to fall into the
+hands of highwaymen. The London road is infested with them."
+
+With a word of farewell to Ronald and Malcolm, the two warders climbed
+into the cart, one of them mounted beside them and took the reins, and in
+another minute the cart drove away in the darkness. As soon as it had
+started the man with the lantern removed his mask.
+
+"Mr. Ratcliff!" Ronald exclaimed in surprise.
+
+"Yes, it is myself. There are half a dozen of us engaged in the matter.
+As soon as we heard of your arrest we determined to get you out. I was
+only afraid you would have been taken up to London before we could get
+all our plans arranged, for I knew they had sent up for instructions. It
+was well that we were ready to act tonight, for orders were received this
+afternoon that you should be sent up under an escort tomorrow. You
+puzzled them rarely at your examination, and they could make nothing of
+you. Our greatest fear was that you might betray yourselves in the prison
+when you fancied you were alone, for we learned from the men who have
+just left us that you were placed in a special cell where all that you
+said could be overheard, and your movements to some extent watched
+through a tiny hole in the wall communicating with the cell next to it.
+It widens out on that side so that a man can get his ear or his eye to
+the hole, which is high up upon the wall, and but a quarter of an inch
+across, so that it could scarcely be observed unless by one who knew of
+its existence. The warder said that they could hear plainly enough
+through this hole, but could see very little. However, they do not seem
+to have gathered much that way."
+
+"We were on guard, sir; my friend Malcolm thought it possible that there
+might be some such contrivance."
+
+"And now, my young friend," Mr. Ratcliff said, "you had best mount at
+once; follow this road for half a mile, and then take the broad road to
+the left; you cannot mistake it. It goes straight to Penrith. You have
+got the letter to General Wade?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and the money; we are indeed in every way greatly indebted to
+you."
+
+"Say nothing about it," Mr. Ratcliff said. "I am risking my life as well
+as my fortune in the cause of Prince Charles, and this money is on his
+service. I hear he is already on the march south. Repeat to him when you
+join him what I have already told you, namely, that I and other gentlemen
+will assuredly join him; but that I am convinced there will be no general
+rising in his favour unless a French army arrive to his assistance. The
+delay which has taken place has, in my opinion, entirely destroyed his
+chances, unless he receives foreign assistance. Wade has ten thousand men
+at Newcastle, the Duke of Cumberland has gathered eight thousand in the
+Midlands, and there is a third army forming to cover London. Already many
+of the best regiments have returned from Holland, and each day adds to
+their number. Do all you can to dissuade him from advancing until French
+aid arrives; but tell him also that if he comes with but half a dozen
+followers, Charles Ratcliff will join him and share his fate, whatever it
+be."
+
+With a hearty shake of the hand he leapt on his horse, and, followed by
+his servant, galloped off in one direction, while Ronald and Malcolm set
+out in the other.
+
+"This is a grand disguise," Ronald said. "We might ride straight into
+Wade's camp at Newcastle without being suspected."
+
+"I have no doubt we could," Malcolm agreed. "Still, it will be wiser to
+keep away from the neighbourhood of any English troops. Awkward questions
+might be asked, and although the letter you have for the general may do
+very well to impress any officers of militia or newly raised troops we
+may meet on the road, and would certainly pass us as two orderlies
+conveying despatches, it would be just as well not to have to appear
+before the general himself. Our swords and belts would probably be
+noticed at once by any cavalry officers. I know nothing about the English
+army, and do not know how much the yeomanry swords and belts may differ
+from those of the line. However, it is certain the less observation we
+attract from the soldiers the better; but as to civilians we can ride
+straight on through towns and villages with light hearts."
+
+"We may as well breathe our horses a bit, Malcolm, now there is no
+occasion for haste, and we can jog along at our own pace. There is no
+probability of pursuit, for when they find that we and the warders are
+missing and see the rope from our window they will be sure that we shall
+have started early and are far away by the time they find out we are
+gone."
+
+Accordingly they travelled quietly north, boldly riding through small
+towns and villages, putting up at little inns, and chatting freely with
+the villagers who came in to talk over the news, for the north was all
+excitement. Orders had been issued for all the militia to turn out, but
+there was little response, for although few had any desire to risk their
+lives in the cause of the Stuarts, fewer still had any intention of
+fighting for the Hanoverians.
+
+When they arrived within a few miles of Newcastle they left the main road
+and struck across country, their object being to come down upon the road
+running north from Carlisle, for they thought it likely that parties of
+General Wade's troops would be scattered far over the country north of
+Newcastle. At a farm house they succeeded in buying some civilian
+clothes, giving out that they were deserters, and as they were willing to
+pay well, the farmer, who had no goodwill towards the Hanoverians, had no
+difficulty in parting with two of his best suits.
+
+They were now in a country perfectly well known to Malcolm, and
+travelling by byways across the hills they crossed the Cheviots a few
+miles south of Carter Fell, and then rode down the wild valleys to
+Castletown and thence to Canobie of the Esk. As they entered the little
+town they found the wildest excitement prevailing. An officer with two
+orderlies had just ridden in to say that quarters were to be prepared for
+Prince Charles, and a quantity of bullocks and meal got in readiness for
+the use of the army, which would arrive late that evening. Ronald soon
+found the officer who had brought the order and recognized him as one of
+Lord Perth's aides de camp. He did not know Ronald in his present dress,
+but greeted him heartily as soon as he discovered who he was.
+
+"How is it the troops are coming this way?" Ronald asked.
+
+"They are marching through Liddesdale from Kelso. We halted there for two
+days, and orders were sent forward to Wooler to prepare quarters. This
+was to throw Wade off the scent and induce him to march north from
+Newcastle to oppose us on that road, while, as you see, we have turned
+west and shall cross into Cumberland and make a dash at Carlisle."
+
+A few hours later the prince arrived with his army, and as soon as he
+entered the quarters prepared for him Ronald proceeded there and made his
+report.
+
+"I could wish it had been better, Captain Leslie," the prince said; "but
+the die is cast now, and I cannot think that our friends in the north,
+who proved so loyal to our cause in '15, will hang back when we are among
+them. When they see that Charles Ratcliff and other gentlemen whom you
+have visited range themselves under our banner I believe the common
+people will join us also. Now give me a full account of your mission."
+
+Ronald gave the list of the gentry he had visited, and described his
+arrest and imprisonment in Manchester and the manner in which Mr.
+Ratcliff had contrived his escape.
+
+"You have done all that is possible, sir," the prince said, "and at an
+early opportunity I will show you I appreciate your services."
+
+On the next day, the 8th of November, the corps crossed the border; on
+the 9th they were joined by another column, which had marched from
+Edinburgh by the western road, and the united force marched to Carlisle
+and sat down before it. The walls of the city were old and in bad
+condition, the garrison was ill prepared for a siege. It consisted of a
+company of invalids in the castle, under the command of Colonel Durand,
+and a considerable body of Cumberland Militia. The walls, however, old as
+they were, could for some time have resisted the battery of four pounder
+guns which formed the prince's sole artillery.
+
+The mayor returned no answer to the prince's summons and orders were
+issued to begin to throw up trench works, but scarcely had the operations
+begun when news arrived that Marshal Wade was marching from Newcastle to
+relieve the city. The siege was at once abandoned, and the prince marched
+out with the army to Brampton and took up a favourable position there to
+give battle. The news proved incorrect, and the Duke of Perth with
+several regiments were sent back to resume the siege.
+
+On the 13th the duke began to raise a battery on the east side of the
+town, but after a few shots had been fired from the walls the courage of
+the besieged failed them. The white flag was hung out, and the town and
+castle surrendered on the condition that the soldiers and militia might
+march away, leaving their arms and horses behind and engaging not to
+serve again for a year. On the 17th the prince made a triumphal entry
+into the place, but was received with but little show of warmth on the
+part of the inhabitants.
+
+A halt was made at Carlisle and a council was held to determine upon the
+next step to be taken. The news which had been received from Scotland was
+very unfavourable. Lord Strathallan, who had been appointed by the prince
+as commander in chief, and directed to raise as many troops as possible,
+had collected between two and three thousand men at Perth, and Lord Lewis
+Gordon had raised three battalions in Aberdeenshire; but on the other
+hand a considerable force had been collected at Inverness for King
+George. The towns of Glasgow, Paisley, and Dumfries had turned out their
+militia for the house of Hanover. The officers of the crown had
+re-entered Edinburgh and two regiments of cavalry had been sent forward
+by Marshal Wade to their support.
+
+While even Scotland was thus wavering it seemed almost madness for the
+little army to advance into England. The greater portion of the
+Highlanders had from the first objected strongly to leave their country,
+and upwards of a thousand had deserted and gone home on the march down
+from Edinburgh. They had started less than six thousand strong, and after
+leaving a garrison of two hundred men in Carlisle, but four thousand five
+hundred were available for the advance south, while Wade, with his ten
+thousand men, would be in their rear and two English armies of nearly
+equal strength be waiting to receive them. At the council the opinions of
+the leaders were almost unanimous against an advance, but upon Lord
+George Murray saying that if Prince Charles decided upon advancing the
+army would follow him, he determined upon pressing forward.
+
+The army began its advance on the 20th of November, and halted a day at
+Penrith, upon the news that Marshal Wade was moving to attack them; but
+the English general had not made any move, and the Scotch again pushed on
+through Shap, Kendal, and Lancaster, to Preston. During the march Prince
+Charles marched with his troops clad in Highland garb, and with his
+target thrown across his shoulder. He seldom stopped for dinner, but ate
+his food as he walked, chatting gaily with the Highlanders, and by his
+cheerfulness and example kept up their spirits. The strictest discipline
+was enforced, and everything required by the troops was paid for. At
+Preston the prince on his entry was cheered by the mob, and a few men
+enlisted.
+
+From Preston the army marched to Wigan, and thence to Manchester. The
+road was thronged with people, who expressed the warmest wishes for the
+prince's success; but when asked to enlist, they all hung back, saying
+they knew nothing about fighting. Still the feeling in favour of the
+prince's cause became stronger as he advanced south, and at Manchester he
+was received with the acclamations of the inhabitants, the ringing of the
+bells, and an illumination of the city in the evening. The people mounted
+white cockades, and the next day about two hundred men enlisted and were
+enrolled under the name of the Manchester Regiment, the command of which
+was given to Mr. Francis Townley, a Roman Catholic belonging to an old
+Lancashire family, who, with Mr. Ratcliff and a few other gentlemen, had
+joined the army on the advance.
+
+The leaders, however, of the prince's army were bitterly disappointed at
+the general apathy of the people. Lancashire had in '15 been the
+stronghold of the Jacobites, and the mere accession of two or three
+hundred men was evident that nothing like a popular rising was to be
+looked for, and they had but themselves to rely upon in the struggle
+against the whole strength of England. Marshal Wade was in full march
+behind them. The Duke of Cumberland lay at Lichfield in their front with
+a force of eight thousand veteran troops; while a third army, of which
+the Royal Guards were the nucleus, was being formed at Finchley. Large
+bodies of militia had been raised in several districts. Liverpool had
+declared against them; Chester was in the hands of the Earl of
+Cholmondeley; the bridges of the Mersey had been broken down;
+difficulties and dangers multiplied on all sides.
+
+Prince Charles, ever sanguine, was confident that he should be joined by
+large numbers as he advanced south; but his officers were now thoroughly
+alarmed, and the leaders in a body remonstrated with Lord George Murray
+against any further advance. He advised them, however, to offer no
+further opposition to the prince's wishes until they came to Derby,
+promising that, unless by that time they were joined by the Jacobites in
+considerable numbers, he would himself, as general, propose and insist
+upon a retreat. Ronald utilized the short halt at Manchester to obtain
+new uniforms for himself and Malcolm, which he was glad to exchange for
+the farmer's garb, which had been the occasion of a good deal of joking
+and mirth among his fellow officers on the downward march.
+
+On the first of December, Prince Charles, at the head of one division,
+forded the Mersey near Stockport, where the water was waist deep. The
+other division, with the baggage and artillery, crossed lower down, at
+Cheadle, on a hastily constructed bridge, and the two columns joined that
+evening at Macclesfield. Here Lord George Murray succeeded in misleading
+the Duke of Cumberland as to his intentions by a dexterous manoeuvre.
+Advancing with a portion of his force he dislodged and drove before him
+the Duke of Kingston and a small party of English horse posted at
+Congleton, and pursued them some distance along the road towards
+Newcastle under Tyne.
+
+The Duke of Cumberland, supposing that the prince's army were on their
+march either to give him battle or to make their way into Wales, where
+the Jacobite party were extremely strong, pushed forward with his main
+body to Stone. Lord George Murray, however, having gained his object,
+turned sharp off to the left, and after a long march arrived at Ashborne,
+where the prince, with the other division of the army, had marched
+direct. The next afternoon they arrived at Derby, having thus altogether
+evaded the Duke of Cumberland, and being nearly three days' march nearer
+London than was his army.
+
+The prince that night was in high spirits at the fact that he was now
+within a hundred and thirty miles of London, and that neither Wade's nor
+Cumberland's forces interposed between him and the capital. But his
+delight was by no means shared by his followers, and early next morning
+he was waited upon by Lord George Murray and all the commanders of
+battalions and squadrons, and a council being held, they laid before the
+prince their earnest and unanimous opinion that an immediate retreat to
+Scotland was necessary.
+
+They had marched, they said, so far on the promise either of an English
+rising or a French descent upon England. Neither had yet occurred. Their
+five thousand fighting men were insufficient to give battle to even one
+of the three armies that surrounded them--scarcely adequate, indeed, to
+take possession of London were there no army at Finchley to protect it.
+Even did they gain London, how could they hold it against the united
+armies of Wade and Cumberland? Defeat so far from home would mean
+destruction, and not a man would ever regain Scotland.
+
+In vain the prince replied to their arguments, in vain expostulated, and
+even implored them to yield to his wishes. After several hours of stormy
+debate the council broke up without having arrived at any decision. The
+prince at one time thought of calling upon the soldiers to follow him
+without regard to their officers; for the Highlanders, reluctant as they
+had been to march into England, were now burning for a fight, and were
+longing for nothing so much as to meet one or other of the hostile armies
+opposed to them. The prince's private advisers, however, Sheridan and
+Secretary Murray, urged him to yield to the opinion of his officers,
+since they were sure that the clansmen would never fight well if they
+knew that their chiefs were unanimously opposed to their giving battle.
+Accordingly the prince, heartbroken at the destruction of his hopes,
+agreed to yield to the wishes of his officers, and at a council in the
+evening gave his formal consent to a retreat.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII: A Baffled Plot.
+
+
+Utterly disheartened and dispirited the army commenced its march north.
+The prince himself was even more disappointed than his soldiers, and
+showed by his manner how bitterly he resented the decision at which his
+officers had arrived. It had seemed to him that success was within his
+grasp, and that he had but to march to London to overthrow the Hanoverian
+dynasty. And it is by no means improbable that his instincts were more
+correct than the calculations of his advisers. The news of his rapid
+march south had sent a thrill through the country; and although so far
+the number of those who had joined him was exceedingly small, at that
+moment numbers of gentlemen in Wales and other parts of the country were
+arming their tenants, and preparing to take the field.
+
+There was no hostile force between himself and London, for the force at
+Finchley was not yet organized, and could have offered no effectual
+opposition. A panic reigned in the metropolis, and the king was preparing
+to take ship and leave the country. Had the little army marched forward
+there is small doubt that James would have been proclaimed king in
+London. But it may be doubted whether Prince Charles could have
+maintained the advantage he had gained. Two armies, both superior to his
+own, were pressing on his rear, and would have arrived in London but a
+few days after himself; and although the Londoners might have accepted
+him, they would hardly have risen in arms to aid him against Cumberland's
+army. Had this halted at a distance, the reinforcements which might have
+joined the prince would have been more than counterbalanced by the
+regiments of English and Hanoverian troops which the king could have sent
+over, and although the strife might have been lengthened the result would
+in all probability have been the same.
+
+Prince Charles had no ability in governing. His notions of the absolute
+power of kings were as strong as those of his ancestors, and, surrounded
+as he was by hotheaded Highlanders, he would speedily have caused
+discontent and disgust even among those most favourably inclined by
+hereditary tradition to the cause of the Stuarts. But of all this he was
+ignorant, and in the retreat from Derby he saw the destruction of his
+hopes.
+
+Hitherto he had marched on foot with the Highlanders, chatting gaily as
+he went. Now he rode in rear of the column, and scarce exchanged a word
+with even his most intimate advisers. The Highlanders no longer preserved
+the discipline which had characterized their southward march. Villages
+were plundered and in some cases burned, and in retaliation the peasantry
+killed or took prisoners stragglers and those left behind. Even at
+Manchester, where the reception of the army had been so warm a few days
+before, its passage was opposed by a violent mob, and the prince was so
+offended at the conduct of the townspeople that he imposed a fine of five
+thousand pounds upon the city.
+
+The next morning the march was continued. The Highlanders laid hands on
+every horse they could find, and so all pressed on at the top of their
+speed for the border. The Duke of Cumberland, who had fallen back in all
+haste for the protection of London, was close to Coventry when he heard
+that the Scotch had retreated northward. With all his cavalry, and a
+thousand foot whom he mounted on horses supplied by the neighbouring
+gentry, he set out in pursuit. At Preston he was joined by another body
+of horse, sent across the country from the army of Marshal Wade; but it
+was not until he entered Westmoreland that he came up with the rear guard
+of the insurgents, which was commanded by Lord George Murray.
+
+Defeating some local volunteers who molested him, Lord George learned
+from the prisoners that the duke with four thousand men was close at
+hand, and he sent on the news to the prince, who despatched two
+regiments, the Stuarts of Appin and the Macphersons of Cluny, to
+reinforce him. It was nearly dark when by the light of the moon Lord
+George saw the English infantry, who had now dismounted, advancing. He at
+once charged them at the head of the Macphersons and Stuarts, and in a
+few minutes the English were completely defeated, their commander,
+Colonel Honeywood, being left severely wounded on the field, with a
+hundred killed or disabled men, while the loss of the Scotch was but
+twelve.
+
+It was with great difficulty that the Highlanders could be recalled from
+the pursuit, and Lord George himself sent an urgent message to the prince
+begging for a further reinforcement, in order that he might maintain his
+ground and defeat the whole force of the duke. As usual his wishes were
+disregarded, and he was ordered to fall back and join the main body at
+Penrith. The check, however, was so effective that the duke made no
+further attempt to harass the retreat of the Highlanders.
+
+Passing through Carlisle, some men of a Lowland regiment, and Colonel
+Twonley with his regiment raised at Manchester, were left there as a
+garrison, so that the road should be kept open for another and, as the
+prince hoped, not far distant invasion. The step was, however, a cruel
+one, for the Duke of Cumberland at once laid siege to the place, battered
+a breach in its ancient wall, and the garrison were forced to surrender.
+Many of them were afterwards executed and imprisoned, and ruin fell upon
+all.
+
+Charles with his army marched north to Glasgow, where they remained eight
+days, requisitioning supplies from the town. During their stay Ronald and
+Malcolm put up at the house of Andrew Anderson.
+
+"What think you of the chances now, Malcolm?" Andrew asked his brother,
+after hearing what had taken place since he had last seen him.
+
+"I think no better and no worse of it than I did before, brother. They
+have had more success than I looked for. I did not think they would ever
+have got as far south as Derby. Who would have thought that a few
+thousand Highlanders could have marched half through England? But I see
+no prospect of success. The prince is badly advised. He has but one
+really good soldier with him, and he is set against him by the intrigues
+and spite of Secretary Murray and his friends, and partly, it may be, by
+Lord George's own frankness of speech. He has at his back but half the
+Highlands, for the other portion stand aloof from him. In the Lowlands he
+has found scarce an adherent, and but a handful in England. The
+Highlanders are brave; but it is surely beyond human expectation that
+five or six thousand Highlanders can vanquish a kingdom with a brave and
+well trained army with abundant artillery. Ronald and I mean to fight it
+out to the end; but I do not think the end will be very far off."
+
+"I am sorry for the young prince," Andrew said. "He is a fine fellow,
+certainly--handsome and brave and courteous, and assuredly clement. For
+three times his life has been attempted, and each time he has released
+those who did it without punishment. I could not but think, as I saw him
+ride down the street today, that it was sad that so fine a young man
+should be doomed either to the block or to a lifelong imprisonment, and
+that for fighting for what he has been doubtless taught to consider his
+right. There are many here who are bitter against him; but I am not one
+of them, and I am sorry for him, sorry for all these brave gentlemen and
+clansmen, for I fear that there will be a terrible vengeance for all that
+has been done. They have frightened the English king and his ministers
+too sorely to be ever forgiven, and we shall have sad times in Scotland
+when this is all over."
+
+Two evenings later Ronald noticed that Andrew, who had been absent for
+some time, and had only returned just in time for supper, looked worried
+and abstracted, and replied almost at random to any questions put to him.
+
+"It is of no use," he said suddenly when his wife had left the room after
+the conclusion of the meal. "I am a loyal subject of King George, and I
+wish him every success in battle, and am confident that he will crush out
+this rebellion without difficulty, but I cannot go as far as some. I
+cannot stand by and see murder done on a poor lad who, whatever his
+faults, is merciful and generous to his enemies. Malcolm, I will tell you
+all I know, only bidding you keep secret as to how you got the news, for
+it would cost me my life were it known that the matter had leaked out
+through me."
+
+"This evening five of the council, knowing that I am a staunch king's
+man, took me aside after the meeting was over, and told me that there was
+a plan on foot to put an end to all the trouble by the carrying off or
+slaying of Prince Charles. I was about to protest against it, when I saw
+that by so doing I should, in the first place, do no good; in the
+second, be looked upon as a Jacobite; and in the third, be unable to
+learn the details of what they were proposing. So I said that doubtless
+it was a good thing to lay by the heels the author of all these troubles,
+and that the life of one man was as nought in the balance compared to the
+prosperity of the whole country. Whereupon they revealed to me their
+plan, asking me for a subscription of a hundred pounds to carry it out,
+and saying truly that I should get back the money and great honour from
+the king when he learned I had done him such service. After some
+bargaining I agreed for fifty pounds."
+
+"But what is the plot, Andrew?" Malcolm said anxiously.
+
+"It is just this. The prince, as you know, goes about with scant
+attendance, and though there are guards in front of his house, there are
+but two or three beside himself who sleep there. There is a back entrance
+to which no attention is paid, and it will be easy for those who know the
+house to enter by that door, to make their way silently to his chamber,
+and either to kill or carry him off. I threw my voice in against killing,
+pointing out that the king would rather have him alive than dead, so that
+he might be tried and executed in due form. This was also their opinion,
+for they had already hired a vessel which is lying in the stream. The
+plan is to seize and gag him and tie his arms. There will be no
+difficulty in getting him along through the streets. There are few folks
+abroad after ten o'clock, and should they meet anyone he will conclude
+that it is but a drunken Highlander being carried home. You see, Malcolm,
+there is not only honour to be gained from the king, but the thirty
+thousand pounds offered for the prince's person. I pretended to fall in
+with the plan, and gave them the fifty pounds which they lacked for the
+hire of the vessel, the captain refusing to let them have it save for
+money paid down. Now, Malcolm, I have told you and Ronald all I know
+about the matter, and it is for you to see how a stop may be put to it."
+
+"The scoundrels!" Malcolm said. "Their loyalty to the king is but a veil
+to hide their covetousness for the reward. When is it to take place, and
+how many men are likely to be engaged in it?"
+
+"Six trusty men of the city watch and their five selves. I said I would
+subscribe the money, but would have no active share in the business. They
+might have all the honour, I would be content with my share of the reward
+offered. Two of them with four of the guards will enter the house and
+carry off the prince. The rest will wait outside and follow closely on
+the way down to the port ready to give aid if the others should meet with
+any obstruction. The whole will embark and sail to London with him."
+
+"And when is this plot to be carried out?" Malcolm asked.
+
+"Tomorrow at midnight. Tide will be high half an hour later; they will
+drop down the river as soon as it turns, and will be well out to sea by
+the morning. And now I have told you all, I will only ask you to act so
+that as little trouble as possible may arise. Do not bring my name into
+the matter if you can avoid doing so; but in any case I would rather run
+the risk of the ruin and death which would alight upon me when this
+rebellion is over than have such a foul deed of treachery carried out.
+There is not a Scotchman but to this day curses the name of the traitor
+Menteith, who betrayed Wallace. My name is a humble one, but I would not
+have it go down to all ages as that of a man who betrayed Charles Stuart
+for English gold."
+
+"Make yourself easy, brother; Ronald and I will see to that. When once
+treachery is known it is easy to defeat, and Ronald and I will see that
+your name does not appear in the matter."
+
+"Thank God that is off my mind!" Andrew said. "And I will off to bed, or
+Janet will wonder what I am talking about so long. I will leave you two
+to settle how you can best manage the affair, which you can do without my
+help, for matters of this kind are far more in your way than in mine."
+
+"This is a villainous business, Ronald," Malcolm said when they were
+alone; "and yet I am not surprised. Thirty thousand pounds would not
+tempt a Highlander who has naught in the world save the plaid in which he
+stands up; but these money grubbing citizens of Glasgow would sell their
+souls for gain. And now what do you think had best be done in the matter,
+so that the plot may be put a stop to, and that without suspicion falling
+upon Andrew? It would be easy to have a dozen men hiding in the yard
+behind the house and cut down the fellows as they enter."
+
+"I do not think that would do, Malcolm; it would cause a tumult, and the
+fact could not be hidden. And besides, you know what these Highlanders
+are; they already loathe and despise the citizens of Glasgow, and did
+they know that there had been a plot on foot to capture and slay the
+prince, nothing could prevent their laying the town in ashes."
+
+"That is true enough. What do you propose then, Ronald?"
+
+"I think it best that if there should be any fighting it should be on
+board the ship, but possibly we may avoid even that. I should say that
+with eight or ten men we can easily seize the vessel, and then when the
+boat comes alongside capture the fellows as they step on to the deck
+without trouble, and leave it to the prince to settle what is to be done
+with them."
+
+"That is certainly the best plan, Ronald. I will get together tomorrow
+half a dozen trusty lads who will ask no questions as to what I want them
+to do, and will be silent about the matter afterwards. We must get from
+Andrew tomorrow morning the name of the vessel, and see where she is
+lying in the stream, and where the boat will be waiting for the prince."
+
+The next night Ronald and Malcolm with six men made their way one by one
+through the streets so as not to attract the attention of the watch, and
+assembled near the strand. Not until the clock struck twelve did they
+approach the stairs at the foot of which the boat was lying. There were
+two men in it.
+
+"You are earlier than we expected," one said as they descended the steps.
+"The captain said a quarter past twelve."
+
+"Yes, we are a little early," Malcolm replied as he stepped into the
+boat; "we are ready earlier than we expected."
+
+A moment later Malcolm suddenly seized one of the sailors by the throat
+and dragged him down to the bottom of the boat, a handkerchief was
+stuffed into his mouth, and his hands and feet tied. The other was at the
+same time similarly secured.
+
+So suddenly and unexpected had been the attack that the sailors had had
+no time to cry out or to offer any resistance, and their capture was
+effected without the slightest sound being heard. The oars were at once
+got out and the boat was rowed out towards the vessel lying out in the
+middle of the stream with a light burning at her peak. As they approached
+the side the captain appeared at the gangway.
+
+"All is well, I hope?" he asked.
+
+"Could not be better," Malcolm replied as he seized the rope and mounted
+the gangway, the others closely following him. As he sprang upon the deck
+he presented a pistol at the captain's head.
+
+"Speak a word and you die," he said sternly.
+
+Taken by surprise, the captain offered no resistance, but suffered
+himself to be bound. Two or three sailors on deck were similarly seized
+and secured, the hatchway was fastened to prevent the rest of the crew
+from coming on deck, and the ship being thus in their possession two of
+the men at once took their places in the boat and rowed back to the
+stairs.
+
+A quarter of an hour later those on board heard a murmur of voices on
+shore, and two or three minutes later the splash of oars as the boat
+rowed back to the ship. Ronald put on the captain's cap and stood at the
+gangway with a lantern.
+
+"All right, I hope?" he asked as the boat came alongside.
+
+"All right, captain! You can get up your anchor as soon as you like."
+
+Two men mounted on to the deck, and then four others carried up a figure
+and were followed by the rest. As the last one touched the deck Ronald
+lifted the lantern above his head, and, to the astonishment of the
+newcomers, they saw themselves confronted by eight armed men.
+
+The six men of the watch, furious at the prospect of losing the reward
+upon which they had reckoned, drew their swords and rushed forward; but
+they were struck down with handspikes and swords, for Ronald had
+impressed upon his men the importance of not using their pistols, save in
+the last extremity. In two minutes the fight was over. The five citizens
+had taken little part in it, save as the recipients of blows; for
+Malcolm, furious at their treachery, had bade the men make no distinction
+between them and the watch, and had himself dealt them one or two heavy
+blows with his handspike after he had seen that the guard was
+overpowered.
+
+The whole of them were then bound, and warned that their throats would be
+cut if they made the least noise. The prince was released from his bonds,
+and he was at once conducted by Malcolm and Ronald to the cabin, where a
+light was burning.
+
+The prince was so much bewildered by the events that had occurred that he
+did not yet understand the state of the case. He had been awoke by a gag
+being roughly forced into his mouth, while at the same moment his hands
+were tightly bound. Then he was lifted from his bed, some clothes were
+thrown on to him, a man took his place on either side, and, thrusting
+their arms into his, threatened him with instant death if he did not come
+along with them without resistance. Then he had been hurried down stairs
+and along the streets, two men keeping a little ahead and others
+following behind. He had been forced into a boat and rowed up to a ship,
+and on reaching the deck a desperate combat had suddenly commenced all
+round him. Then the gag had been removed and the bonds cut. Bewildered
+and amazed he gazed at the two men who had accompanied him to the cabin.
+
+"Why, Captain Leslie!" he exclaimed. "Is it you? What means all this
+scene through which I have passed?"
+
+"It means, your royal highness," Ronald said respectfully, "that I and my
+friend Malcolm obtained information of a plot on the part of some of the
+citizens to carry you off and sell you to the English. We could have
+stopped it by attacking them as they entered the house to seize you; but
+had we done so an alarm must have been raised, and we feared that the
+Highlanders, when they knew of the treachery that had been attempted
+against you, might have fallen upon the citizens, and that a terrible
+uproar would have taken place. Therefore we carried out another plan. We
+first of all obtained possession of the ship in which you were to have
+been taken away, and then overcame your captors as they brought you on
+board. All this has been done without any alarm having been given, and it
+now rests with you to determine what shall be done with these wretches."
+
+"You have done well, indeed, Captain Leslie, and I thank you and your
+friend not only for the great service you have rendered me, but for the
+manner in which you have done it. I ought to have foreseen this. Did not
+the Lowlanders sell King Charles to the English? I might have expected
+that some at least would be tempted by the reward offered me. As for
+punishment for these men, they are beneath me. And, moreover, if I can
+trust my eyes and my ears, the knocks which you gave them will be
+punishment enough even did I wish to punish them, which I do not. I could
+not do so without the story of the attempt being known, and in that case
+there would be no keeping my Highlanders within bounds. As it is they are
+continually reproaching me with what they call my mistaken clemency, and
+there would be no restraining them did they know of this. No, we had best
+leave them to themselves. We will order the captain to put to sea with
+them at once, and tell him he had best not return to Glasgow until I have
+left it. They will have time to reflect there at leisure, and as,
+doubtless, they have each of them given reasons at home for an absence of
+some duration there will be no anxiety respecting them. And now,
+gentlemen, will you fetch in those who have aided in my rescue. I would
+thank every one of them for the service they have rendered, and impress
+upon them my urgent desire that they should say nothing to anyone of this
+night's work."
+
+While the prince was speaking to the men, Malcolm went out, and having
+unbound the captain, ordered him to deliver up the sum which he had
+received for the conveyance of the prince and his captors to England.
+
+The captain did as he was ordered.
+
+"How much is there here?" Malcolm asked.
+
+"Three hundred pounds."
+
+Malcolm counted out fifty of it and placed them in his pocket, saying to
+Ronald:
+
+"There is no reason Andrew should be a loser by the transaction. That
+will leave two hundred and fifty, which I will divide among our men when
+we get ashore."
+
+Malcolm then gave the prince's orders to the captain; that he must,
+immediately they left the ship, get up his anchor as before intended, and
+make out to sea; and that under pain of being tried and executed for his
+share in this treacherous business, he was not to return to Glasgow with
+his eleven passengers for the space of a week.
+
+The prince and his rescuers then entered the boats and rowed to shore,
+and the prince regained his apartment without anyone in the house being
+aware that he had been absent from it. The next day the prince sent for
+Ronald and Malcolm, and in a private interview again expressed to them
+his gratitude for his rescue from the hands of his enemies.
+
+"I have none but empty honour to bestow now," he said; "but believe me,
+if I ever mount the throne of England you shall see that Charles Edward
+Stuart is not ungrateful."
+
+The incident was kept a close secret, only two or three of the prince's
+most intimate advisers ever informed of it. These were unanimous in
+urging that an absolute silence should be maintained on the subject, for
+the fact that the attempt would have certainly been crowned with success
+had it not been for the measures Ronald had taken, might encourage others
+to attempt a repetition of it.
+
+Having rested his army by a stay of eight days at Glasgow, Prince Charles
+set out on the 3rd of January, 1746, for Stirling, where he was joined by
+Lords John Drummond, Lewis Gordon, and Strathallan, the first named of
+whom had brought some battering guns and engineers from France. Their
+following raised the force to nearly nine thousand men--the largest
+army that Charles mustered during the course of the campaign. The siege
+of Stirling was at once commenced; but the castle was strong and well
+defended, and the siege made but little progress.
+
+In the meantime the Duke of Cumberland had been recalled with the greater
+part of his force to guard the southern coasts of England, which were
+threatened by an invasion by a French force now assembled at Dunkirk, and
+which, had it sailed before the Highlanders commenced their retreat from
+Derby, might have altogether altered the situation of affairs. The
+command of the English army in the north was handed by the duke to
+General Hawley, a man after his own heart, violent in temper, brutal and
+cruel in conduct.
+
+He collected at Edinburgh an army of nearly the same strength as that of
+Prince Charles, and with these he matched out as far as Falkirk to raise
+the siege of Stirling, and, as he confidently boasted, to drive the
+rebels before him. Prince Charles, leaving a few hundred men to continue
+the siege, matched out to Bannockburn. The English did not move out from
+Falkirk, and the prince, after waiting for a day, determined to take the
+initiative.
+
+Hawley himself was stopping at Callendar House at some distance from his
+army and General Huske remained in command of the camp. To occupy his
+attention the prince despatched Lord John Drummond, with all the cavalry,
+by the straight road by Stirling to Falkirk, which ran north of the
+English camp. They displayed, as they marched, the royal standard and
+other colours, which had the desired effect of impressing Huske with the
+idea that the prince with all his army was moving that way. In the
+meantime Charles with his main force had crossed the river Carron to the
+south and was only separated from the English by Falkirk Muir, a rugged
+and rigid upland covered with heath.
+
+Just as the English were about to take their dinner some country people
+brought in the news of the approach of the Highlanders. Huske at once got
+his men under arms, but he had no authority, in the absence of Hawley, to
+set them in motion. Messengers, however, were sent off on horseback at
+once to Callendar House, and the general presently galloped up in
+breathless haste, and putting himself at the head of his three regiments
+of dragoons, started for Falkirk Muir, which he hoped to gain before the
+Highlanders could take possession of it. He ordered the infantry to
+follow as fast as possible. A storm of wind and rain beat in the face of
+the soldiers, and before they could gain the crest of the muir the
+Highlanders had obtained possession. The English then halted and drew up
+on somewhat lower ground.
+
+Between them was a ravine which formed but a small depression opposite
+the centre of the English line, but deepened towards the plain on their
+right. The English artillery, in the hurry of their advance, had stuck
+fast in a morass, but as the Highlanders had brought no guns with them
+the forces were equal in this respect. Lord John Drummond had from a
+distance been watching the movements of the English, and as soon as he
+saw that they had taken the alarm and were advancing against the prince,
+he made a detour, and, riding round the English, joined the Highland
+infantry. The prince's army was divided into two lines: its right was
+commanded by Lord George Murray, the left by Lord John Drummond; the
+prince, as at Preston, took up his station in the centre of the second
+line on a conspicuous mound, still known by the name of Charlie's Hill.
+
+The English infantry were also drawn up in two lines, with the Argyle
+militia and the Glasgow regiment in reserve behind the second line. The
+cavalry were in front under Colonel Ligonier, who, at the death of
+Colonel Gardiner, had succeeded to the command of his regiment. General
+Hawley commanded the centre and General Huske the right.
+
+The battle commenced by a charge of Ligonier with his cavalry upon the
+Highland right. Here the Macdonald clansmen were posted, and these, at
+Lord George Murray's order, reserved their fire until the dragoons were
+within ten yards, and then poured in a scathing volley, under which
+numbers of the horsemen went down. The two dragoon regiments, which had
+fled so shamefully at Preston and Coltbridge, turned and galloped at once
+from the field; but Cobham's regiment fought well, and when compelled to
+retreat rallied behind the right of the line.
+
+Lord George Murray endeavoured to get the victorious Macdonalds into line
+again; but these were beyond control and rushing forward fell upon the
+flank of Hawley's two lines of foot, which were at the same moment
+furiously assailed in front; the Highlanders, after pouring in their
+fire, dropped their muskets and charged broadsword in hand.
+
+The English, nearly blinded by the wind and rain, were unable to
+withstand this combined assault. General Hawley, who at least possessed
+the virtue of courage, rode hither and thither in their front, trying to
+encourage them, but in vain, the whole centre gave way and fled in
+confusion. On the right, however, the English were defending themselves
+successfully. The three regiments placed there, on the edge of the
+ravine, maintained so steady a fire that the Highlanders were unable to
+cross it, and Cobham's dragoons charged down upon the scattered and
+victorious Highlanders in the centre and effectually checked their
+pursuit. Prince Charles, seeing the danger, put himself at the head of
+the second line and advanced against the three English regiments who
+still stood firm.
+
+Unable to withstand so overwhelming a force these fell back from the
+ground they had held, but did so in steady order, their drums beating,
+and covering, in their retreat, the mingled mass of fugitives. Had the
+Highlanders, at this critical moment, flung themselves with their whole
+force upon these regiments the English army would have been wholly
+destroyed; but night was already setting in, and the Scottish leaders
+were ignorant how complete was their victory, and feared an ambuscade.
+Lord John Drummond, a general officer in the French service, especially
+opposed the pursuit, saying, "These men behaved admirably at Fontenoy;
+surely this must be a feint."
+
+The Highlanders remained stationary on the field until some detachments,
+sent forward by the prince, brought back word that the English had
+already retreated from Falkirk. They left behind them on the field four
+hundred dead or dying, with a large portion of officers, and a hundred
+prisoners; all their artillery, ammunition, and baggage fell into the
+hands of the Highlanders, whose total loss was only about a hundred. The
+English, on their retreat, burned to the ground the royal palace at
+Linlithgow.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII: Culloden.
+
+
+The victory of Falkirk brought but little advantage to Prince Charles,
+and dissensions arose among the officers; Lord George Murray being
+furious with Lord John Drummond for preventing the complete destruction
+of the English army, while Lord John Drummond severely criticised Lord
+George for the confusion which had taken place among his troops after
+their success.
+
+Great numbers of the Highlanders, who had spent the night after the
+battle in plundering the English camp and stripping the slain, made off
+with their booty to the mountains, and the number of desertions was
+increased by the withdrawal of the greater part of Glengarry's clansmen.
+On the day after the battle the musket of one of the Clanranald clansmen
+went off by accident and killed the son of Glengarry. His clansmen loudly
+demanded life for life, and Clanranald having reluctantly consented to
+surrender his follower, the poor fellow was immediately led out and shot;
+but even this savage act of vengeance was insufficient to satisfy the
+Glengarry men, the greater part of whom at once left the army and
+returned to their homes.
+
+After the battle the siege of Stirling was renewed; but owing to the
+gross incompetence of a French engineer, who had come over with Lord
+Drummond, the batteries were so badly placed that their fire was easily
+silenced by that of the castle guns. The prince, in spite of the advice
+of Lord George Murray and the other competent authorities, and listening
+only to his favourite councillors, Secretary Murray and Sir Thomas
+Sheridan, continued the siege, although on the 30th of January the Duke
+of Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh and took the command of the army.
+
+Never had Scotland a more bitter enemy. Relentless and savage as General
+Hawley had been, his deeds were more than rivalled by those of the Duke
+of Cumberland, who was justly branded by contemporary historians with the
+name of "the butcher." He was, however, an able general, of great
+activity and high personal courage.
+
+After halting but one night in Edinburgh he set out at the head of his
+army to meet the enemy; but these did not repeat their tactics at
+Falkirk. Disgusted at the conduct of the prince in slighting their advice
+and listening only to his unworthy counsellors, Lord George Murray with
+all the principal military leaders held a consultation, and presented a
+memorial to the prince. In this they stated that, seeing the great
+numbers of Highlanders who had gone home, they were of opinion that
+another battle could not be fought with a chance of success, and
+therefore recommended that the army should at once retire to the
+Highlands, where a sufficient number of men could be kept together to
+defy the efforts of the enemy at such a season of the year, and that in
+the spring ten thousand Highlanders could be got together to go
+wheresoever the prince might lead them. Prince Charles was struck with
+grief and dismay at this decision, but as all the military leaders had
+signed it he was forced to give way.
+
+The army at once blew up its magazines, spiked its guns, and marched for
+the north in two divisions with much confusion and loss of order. The
+Duke of Cumberland pursued, but was unable to come up to them, and halted
+at Perth.
+
+Ronald, who had, from the time he returned to the army, again taken up
+his former appointment of aide de camp to Lord George Murray, had during
+this time tried his best to reconcile the differences which were
+constantly breaking out between that general, the prince, and the clique
+who surrounded him. It was a difficult task, for Lord George's
+impetuosity and outspoken brusqueness, and his unconcealed contempt for
+Secretary Murray and Sheridan, reopened the breach as fast as it was
+closed.
+
+Since the day when he had saved the prince from being carried off at
+Glasgow the latter had shown a marked partiality for Ronald's society,
+and the latter had therefore many opportunities of intervening to prevent
+open quarrels from breaking out. The prince himself was frequently
+greatly depressed in spirits, and the light hearted gaiety which had
+distinguished him on the first landing was now fitful and short lived.
+His disappointment at the failure of a campaign in which he had won every
+battle was deep and bitter. He had relied upon the aid of France, but no
+aid had come. He had been grossly misinformed as to the willingness of
+the Jacobites of England to take up arms in his favour; and although a
+portion of the Highlanders of Scotland had warmly embraced his cause, yet
+many on whom he had relied stood aloof or were in arms against him, while
+in the Lowlands he had found but few adherents.
+
+So far from gaining ground, he was losing it. Numbers of the Highlanders
+had gone off to their homes. The retreat from Derby had completely
+chilled the enthusiasm of his adherents, while the waverers and time
+servers had been induced thereby to declare against him. The Duke of
+Cumberland's army steadily increased, and even had the advice of the
+Highland chiefs been followed and the army dispersed to reassemble in the
+spring, the chances of success would have been no more favourable than at
+present, for now that the first surprise and panic were past England
+would put forth her whole strength, and would by the spring have an army
+assembled in Scotland against which the Highland clans, even if
+unanimous, could not hope to cope.
+
+Ronald was perfectly alive to the hopelessness of final success. He had
+seen the British infantry at Dettingen and Fontenoy, and felt sure that
+although the wild Highland rush had at first proved irresistible, this
+could nor continue, and that discipline and training must eventually
+triumph over mere valour. When he and Malcolm talked the matter over
+together they agreed that there could be but one issue to the struggle,
+and that ruin and disaster must fall upon all who had taken part in the
+enterprise.
+
+"I feel thankful indeed," Ronald said one day, "that I am here only as a
+private gentleman risking my own life. I do not know what my feelings
+would be, if, like these Highland chiefs, I had brought all my kinsmen
+and followers with me into the field. The thought of the ruin and misery
+which would fall upon them would be dreadful. I fear that the vengeance
+which will be taken after this is over will be far greater and more
+widespread than that which followed '15. All say that the Duke of
+Cumberland is brutal and pitiless, and the fact that we were nearly
+successful will naturally add to the severity with which the English
+government will treat us if we fall into their power. Had the enterprise
+been defeated at its commencement they could have afforded to be lenient.
+As it is, I fear that they will determine to teach the Highlands such a
+lesson as will ensure their never again venturing to rise in arms against
+the house of Hanover."
+
+"And I don't know that they are altogether to be blamed," Malcolm said.
+"I am not so young as I was, Ronald, and I see now that I was wrong in
+teaching you to be a Jacobite. It is all very well for men like
+Tullibardine, who knew the Stuarts on the throne, to fight to put them
+back again; but to your generation, Ronald, the Stuarts are after all
+only a tradition, and it is a sort of generous madness for you to risk
+your life to set them again on the throne of England. It cannot matter a
+brass pin to you whether James or George rules at St. James's. It is not,
+as in the case of the Royalists in England in Charles's time or of the
+Covenanters of Scotland, that a great principle is involved--a
+principle for which men may well risk their lives and all they hold dear.
+It is a question of persons only, and although I may hold that by right
+of descent Charles Edward is Prince of Wales and rightful heir to the
+throne of England, that is no reason why I should risk my life to place
+him there; and after all it seems to me that if the majority in these
+islands determine that they will be ruled by the house of Hanover instead
+of the house of Stuart they have some right to make their own choice."
+
+"You argue like a philosopher, Malcolm," Ronald said laughing, "and do
+not remind me in the slightest degree of the Malcolm who used to chat
+with me in Glasgow."
+
+"You are right there, lad. You see I was brought up a Jacobite, and I
+have been a soldier all my life, accustomed to charge when I was told to
+charge and to kill those I was told to kill; but I own that since I have
+been out now I have got to look at matters differently. The sight of all
+these poor Highland bodies blindly following their chiefs and risking
+life and all for a cause in which they have no shadow of interest has
+made me think. A soldier is a soldier, and if he were to sit down to
+argue about the justice of every cause in which he is ordered to fight
+there would be an end to all discipline. But these poor fellows are not
+soldiers, and so I say to myself, What concern have they in this matter?
+Their chiefs would gain honours and rewards, patents of high nobility,
+and additions to their estates if the Stuarts conquered, but their
+followers would gain nothing whatever. No, lad, if we get over this
+scrape I have done with fighting; and I hope that no Stuart will ever
+again succeed in getting Scotland to take up his cause. I shall go on
+fighting for Prince Charles as long as there is a man left with him; but
+after that there is an end of it as far as I am concerned, and I hope as
+far as Scotland is concerned."
+
+"I hope so too, Malcolm. When Scotland is herself divided, Ireland
+passive, and all England hostile, success is hopeless. The Stuarts will
+never get such another chance again as they had on the day when we turned
+our backs on London at Derby, and I hope that they will not again make
+the attempt, especially as it is manifest now that France has only used
+them as tools against England, and has no idea of giving them any
+effectual aid."
+
+Charles on approaching Inverness found it toughly fortified and held by
+Lord Loudon with a force of two thousand men. The prince halted ten miles
+from the town at Moy Castle, where he was entertained by Lady M'Intosh,
+whose husband was serving with Lord Loudon, but who had raised the clan
+for Prince Charles. The prince had but a few personal attendants with
+him, the army having been halted at some distance from the castle.
+
+One evening Ronald had ridden over to Moy Castle with some despatches
+from Lord George Murray to the prince, and had remained there to dine
+with him. It was late before he mounted his horse. He was, as usual,
+accompanied by Malcolm. They had ridden but a short distance through the
+wood which surrounded the castle when a shot was fired, and almost
+immediately afterwards four or five men came running through the trees.
+
+"What is the matter?" Malcolm shouted.
+
+"The English army are upon us!" one of the M'Intoshes--for they were
+clansmen who had been sleeping in the wood--answered.
+
+"They must intend to seize the prince," Ronald said, "and will already
+have sent round a body of horse to cut off his retreat. Scatter through
+the wood, men, and do each of you raise the war cry of one of the clans
+as if the whole army were here. This may cause a delay and enable the
+prince to ride off. Malcolm, do you ride back with all speed to the
+castle and warn the prince of Loudon's approach."
+
+The Highlanders at once obeyed Ronald's orders, and in a minute or two
+the war cries of half a dozen of the principal clans in Prince Charles's
+army rang through the woods, while at the same time the Highlanders
+discharged their muskets. Ronald also shouted orders, as to a large body
+of men.
+
+The English, who had made sure of effecting a successful surprise,
+hesitated as they heard the war cries of the clans ringing through the
+woods, and believing that the whole of Prince Charles's army were at hand
+and they were about to be attacked in overwhelming numbers, they
+retreated hastily to Inverness. No sooner had Ronald discovered that they
+had fallen back than he rode off to inform the prince that the danger was
+over.
+
+He found Prince Charles mounted, with Lady M'Intosh on horseback by his
+side, and the retainers in the castle gathered round, broadsword in hand,
+in readiness to cut their way through any body of the enemy's horse who
+might intercept their retreat. Charles laughed heartily when he heard of
+the strategy which Ronald had employed to arrest the advance of the
+enemy, and thanked him for again having saved him from falling into the
+hands of the enemy.
+
+The English made their retreat to Inverness in such confusion and dismay
+that the affair became known in history as the "rout of Moy."
+
+The next morning, the 17th of February, the prince called up his army,
+and the next day advanced against Inverness. Lord Loudon did not await
+his coming. The panic of his soldiers two days before showed him that no
+reliance could be placed upon them, and embarking with them in boats he
+crossed the Moray Frith to Cromarty, where the troops shortly afterwards
+disbanded upon hearing that the Earl of Cromarty was marching against
+them with some Highland regiments.
+
+The town of Inverness was occupied at once, and the citadel surrendered
+in a few days. The army, now in a barren and mountainous region, were
+deprived of all resources. Many ships with supplies were sent off from
+France, but few of them reached their destination; several being captured
+by British cruisers, and others compelled to go back to French ports.
+
+The supply of money in the treasury was reduced to the lowest ebb, and
+Charles was obliged to pay his troops in meal, and even this was
+frequently deficient, and the men suffered severely from hunger. Many
+deserted, and others scattered over the country in search of subsistence.
+
+In the meantime the Duke of Cumberland's army was receiving powerful
+reinforcements. In February Prince Frederick of Hesse Cassel, with five
+thousand of his troops, who had been hired by the British government,
+landed at Leith. These troops were placed in garrison in all the towns in
+the south of Scotland, thus enabling the Duke of Cumberland to draw
+together the whole of the English forces for his advance into the
+Highlands.
+
+On the 8th of April he set out from Aberdeen with eight thousand foot and
+nine hundred horse. He marched along the coast accompanied by the fleet,
+which landed supplies as needed. At the Spey, Lord John Drummond had
+prepared to defend the fords, and some works had been thrown up to
+protect them; but the English cannon were brought up in such numbers that
+Lord John, considering the position untenable, retired to Inverness,
+while the English army forded the Spey, and on the 14th entered Nairn,
+where some skirmishing took place between their advance guard and the
+Highland rear.
+
+Prince Charles and his principal officers rested that night at Culloden
+House and the troops lay upon the adjacent moor. On the morning of the
+15th they drew up in order of battle. The English, however, rested for
+the day at Nairn, and there celebrated the Duke of Cumberland's birthday
+with much feasting, abundant supplies being landed from the fleet.
+
+The Highlanders, on the other hand, fasted, only one biscuit per man
+being issued during the day. Consequently many straggled away to
+Inverness and other places in search of food. Lord Cromarty, with the
+regiments under his command, were absent, so that barely five thousand
+men were mustered in the ranks. At a council of war Lord George Murray
+suggested that a night surprise should be made on the duke's camp at
+Nairn, and as this was the prince's own plan it was unanimously agreed
+to.
+
+Before, however, the straggling troops could be collected it was eight
+o'clock at night. Nairn was twelve miles distant, and the men, weakened
+by privation and hunger, marched so slowly across the marshy ground that
+it was two o'clock in the morning before the head of the columns arrived
+within four miles of the British camp, while the rear was still far away,
+and many had dropped out of the ranks from fatigue.
+
+It was now too late to hope that a surprise could be effected before
+daylight, and the army retraced its steps to Culloden Moor. Worn out and
+exhausted as they were, and wholly without supplies of provisions, Lord
+George Murray and the other military officers felt that the troops could
+not hope to contend successfully against a vastly superior army, fresh,
+well fed, and supported by a strong force of artillery, on the open
+ground, and he proposed that the army should retire beyond the river
+Bairn, and take up a position there on broken ground inaccessible to
+cavalry.
+
+The prince, however, supported by Sir Thomas Sheridan and his other evil
+advisers, overruled the opinion of the military leaders, and decided to
+fight on level ground. The Highlanders were now drawn up in order of
+battle in two lines. On the right were the Athole brigade, the Camerons,
+the Stuarts, and some other clans under Lord George Murray; on the left
+the Macdonald regiments under Lord John Drummond. This arrangement,
+unfortunately, caused great discontent among the Macdonalds, just as
+their being given the post of honour at Falkirk had given umbrage to the
+other clans.
+
+At eleven o'clock the English army was seen approaching. It was formed in
+three lines, with cavalry on each wing, and two pieces of cannon between
+every two regiments of the first line. The battle began with an artillery
+duel, but in this the advantage was all on the side of the English, the
+number of their pieces and the skill of their gunners being greatly
+superior.
+
+Prince Charles rode along the front line to animate his men, and as he
+did so several of his escort were killed by the English cannonade. A
+storm of snow and hail had set in, blowing full in the face of the
+Highlanders. At length Lord George Murray, finding that he was suffering
+heavily from the enemy's artillery fire, while his own guns inflicted but
+little damage upon them, sent to Prince Charles for permission to charge.
+
+On receiving it he placed himself at the head of his men, and with the
+whole of the right wing and centre charged the enemy. They were received
+with a tremendous musketry fire, while the English artillery swept the
+ranks with grape; but so furious was their onslaught that they broke
+through Munro and Burrel's regiments in the first line and captured two
+pieces of cannon. But behind were the second line drawn up three deep,
+with the front rank kneeling, and these, reserving their fire until the
+Highlanders were close at hand, opened a rolling fire so sustained and
+heavy that the Highlanders were thrown into complete disorder.
+
+Before they could recover themselves they were charged by horse and foot
+on both flanks, and driven together till they became a confused mass. In
+vain did their chiefs attempt to rally them. Exhausted and weakened in
+body, swept by the continuous fire of the English, they could do no more,
+and at last broke and fled. In the meantime the Macdonalds on the left
+remained inactive. In vain Lord John Drummond and the Duke of Perth
+called upon them to charge, in vain their chief, Keppoch, rushed forward
+with a few of his clansmen and died in front of them. Nothing would
+induce them to fight, and when the right and centre were defeated they
+fell back in good order, and, joining the remnants of the second line,
+retired from the field unbroken.
+
+Charles, from the heights on which he stood with a squadron of horse,
+could scarce believe the evidence of his eyes when he saw the hitherto
+victorious Highlanders broken and defeated, and would have ridden down
+himself to share their fate had not O'Sullivan and Sheridan seized his
+horse by the bridle and forced him from the field. Being pressed by the
+English, the retreating force broke into two divisions. The smaller
+retreated to Inverness, where they next day laid down their arms to the
+Duke of Cumberland; the other, still preserving some sort of order,
+marched by way of Ruthven to Badenoch.
+
+Fourteen colours, two thousand three hundred muskets, and all their
+cannon fell into the hands of the English. The loss of the victors in
+killed and wounded amounted to three hundred and ten men, that of the
+Highlanders to a thousand. No quarter was given to the stragglers and
+fugitives who fell into the hands of the English. Their wounded were left
+on the ground till the following day without care or food, and the
+greater portion of them were then put to death in cold blood, with a
+cruelty such as never before or since disgraced an English army.
+
+Some were beaten to death by the soldiers with the stocks of their
+muskets, some were dragged out from the thicket or caverns to which they
+had crawled and shot, while one farm building, in which some twenty
+wounded men had taken refuge, was deliberately set on fire and burned
+with them to the ground. In any case such conduct as this would have
+inflicted eternal discredit upon those who perpetrated it; but it was all
+the more unjustifiable and abominable after the extreme clemency and
+kindness with which Prince Charles had, throughout the campaign, treated
+all prisoners who fell into his hands.
+
+Ronald had ridden close beside Lord George Murray as he led the
+Highlanders to the charge; but he had, as they approached the first
+English line, received a ball in the shoulder, while almost at the same
+instant Malcolm's horse was shot under him. Ronald reeled in the saddle,
+and would have fallen had not Malcolm extricated himself from his fallen
+horse and run up to him.
+
+"Where are you hit, lad?" he asked in extreme anxiety.
+
+"In the shoulder, Malcolm. Help me off my horse, and do you take it and
+go on with the troops."
+
+"I shall do nothing of the kind," Malcolm said. "One man will make no
+difference to them, and I am going to look after you."
+
+So saying he sprang up behind Ronald, and placing one arm round him to
+support him, took the reins in the other and rode to the rear. He halted
+on rising ground, and for a short time watched the conflict.
+
+"The battle is lost," he said at last. "Lord George's troops are in utter
+confusion. The Macdonalds show no signs of moving, though I can see their
+officers are urging them to charge. Now, Ronald, the first thing is to
+get you out of this, and beyond the reach of pursuit."
+
+So saying he turned the horse and rode away from the field of battle.
+
+"Does your shoulder hurt much?" he asked after they had gone a short
+distance.
+
+"It does hurt abominably," Ronald said faintly, for he was feeling almost
+sick from the agony he was suffering from the motion of the horse.
+
+"I am a fool," Malcolm said, "not to have seen to it before we started. I
+can't do much now; but at least I can fasten it so as to hurt you as
+little as possible."
+
+He took off his scarf, and, telling Ronald to place his arm in the
+position which was most comfortable to him, he bound it tightly against
+his body.
+
+"That is better, is it not?" he asked as he again set the horse in
+motion.
+
+"Much better, Malcolm. I feel that I can go on now, whereas before I
+could not have gone much further if all Cumberland's cavalry had been
+close behind. How far are you thinking of going? I don't think my horse
+can carry double much further. Poor beast, he has had as short rations as
+his master, and was on the move all last night."
+
+"No. But we shall not have to make a very long journey. The English
+marched twelve miles before they attacked us, and I do not think they are
+likely to closely pursue far tonight; besides, I have no intention of
+riding now that there is no fear of immediate pursuit. I think that in
+another two miles we shall be safe from any fear of the English cavalry
+overtaking us, for we shall then reach a forest. Once in that we shall be
+safe from pursuit, and shall soon be in the heart of the hills."
+
+On reaching the forest Malcolm dismounted, and leading the horse turned
+off from the road. Following a little trodden path they were soon in the
+heart of the forest, and after keeping on for two hours, and crossing
+several hills, he stopped by the side of a stream.
+
+"We are perfectly safe here," he said, "and can sleep as securely as if
+we were in a palace."
+
+The saddle was taken off and the horse turned loose to graze. Malcolm
+then removed Ronald's coat and shirt, bathed the wound for some time with
+water, cut some pieces of wood to act as splints, and tearing some strips
+off his sash bound these tightly.
+
+"The ball has regularly smashed the bone, Ronald, and we must be careful
+to keep the shoulder in its proper position or you will never look square
+again."
+
+"That does not seem very important to me just at present, Malcolm."
+
+"No. Just at present the most important question is that of getting
+something to eat. We have had nothing today and not much yesterday, and
+now that we are no longer in danger of pursuit one begins to feel one is
+hungry. You stay here while I go and forage. There ought to be a village
+somewhere among the hills nor far away."
+
+"Do you know the country, Malcolm?"
+
+"I never came by this path, lad; but I have travelled pretty well all
+over the Highlands, and, just as you found to be the case in Lancashire,
+there are few villages I do not know. I will first pull you a couch of
+this dead bracken, and then be off; an hour's sleep will do you almost as
+much good as a meal."
+
+Ronald lay down on the soft couch Malcolm prepared for him, and before he
+had been alone for a minute he was fast asleep.
+
+The sun was setting when he awoke. Malcolm stood beside him.
+
+"Here is supper, lad. Not a very grand one, but there's enough of it,
+which is more than has been the case for some weeks."
+
+So saying he laid down by Ronald's side a large loaf of black bread, a
+cheese made of sheep's milk, and a bottle of spirits.
+
+"The village is five miles away, which is farther than I expected.
+However, I came back quicker than I went, for I had had a bowl of milk
+and as much bread as I could eat. I found the place in a state of wild
+excitement, for two or three of the men had just come in from the
+battlefield, and brought the news with them. They are all for the Stuarts
+there, and you would be well entertained, but there is sure to be a
+search high and low, and you would not be safe in any village. However, a
+lad has promised to be here in the morning, and he will guide us to a
+lonely hut in the heart of the hills, used by the shepherds in summer.
+You will be perfectly safe there."
+
+"It is about three miles from the village, he said. So I can go down two
+or three times a week and get food, and learn how things are going on.
+The Highlanders may rally again and make another fight of it; but I
+hardly expect they will. They are not like regular troops, whose home is
+naturally with their colours, and who, after the first rout, try to
+rejoin their regiments. There is no discipline among these Highlanders.
+Each man does as he likes, and their first impulse after a battle is to
+make for their homes--if it is a victory, to carry home their spoil; if
+they are defeated, for rest and shelter. At any rate, whether they gather
+again or not, you will have to keep perfectly quiet for a time. When your
+shoulder is perfectly healed we can act according to circumstances, and
+make for the army if there be an army, or for the seacoast if there is
+not."
+
+Although he had eaten but a short time before, Malcolm was quite ready
+for another meal, and sitting down beside Ronald he joined him in his
+assault upon the black bread and cheese. Then he collected some more of
+the bracken, mixed himself a strong horn of whiskey and water, and a much
+weaker one for Ronald, after which the two lay down and were fast asleep.
+
+They were awake at sunrise, and shortly afterwards the lad whom Malcolm
+had engaged to act as guide made his appearance. The horse was saddled,
+Ronald mounted, and they started at once for their destination among the
+hills. They followed the path which Malcolm had taken the afternoon
+before for some three miles, and then struck off to the left. Half an
+hour took them out of the forest, and they journeyed for an hour along
+the bare hillsides, until, lying in a sheltered hollow, they saw the hut
+which was their destination.
+
+"They are not likely to find us here," Malcolm said cheerfully, "even
+were they to scour the mountains. They might ride within fifty yards of
+this hollow without suspecting its existence. Where are we to get water?"
+he asked the lad in Gaelic.
+
+"A quarter of a mile away over that brow is the head of a stream," the
+lad replied. "You cannot well miss it."
+
+"That is all right," Malcolm said. "I don't mind carrying up provisions
+or a bottle of spirits now and then; but to drag all the water we want
+three miles would be serious."
+
+The door of the hut was only fastened by a latch, and they entered
+without ceremony. It consisted of but a single room. There were two or
+three rough wooden stools, and a heap of bracken in one corner. Nor a
+large amount of furniture, but, in the opinion of a Highlander, amply
+sufficient.
+
+"We shall do here capitally," Malcolm said. "Now, what do you think about
+the horse, Ronald?"
+
+"Of course he might be useful if we were obliged to move suddenly; but we
+have no food to give him, and if we let him shift for himself he will
+wander about, and might easily be seen by anyone crossing these hills. A
+horse is always a prize, and it might bring troops out into our
+neighbourhood who would otherwise not have a thought about coming in this
+direction."
+
+"I quite agree with you, Ronald. The lad had better take him down to the
+village, and give him to the head man there. He can sell him, or keep
+him, or get rid of him as he likes. At any rate he will be off our
+hands."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX: Fugitives.
+
+
+For three weeks Ronald and Malcolm remained in hiding in the hut among
+the hills. Every two or three days Malcolm went down to the village and
+brought back food. He learned that the remains of the army at Ruthven had
+entirely dispersed, the prince himself seeing the hopelessness of any
+longer continuing the struggle. Terrible tales of slaughter and
+devastation by Cumberland's troops circulated through the hills. The duke
+had fixed his headquarters at Fort Augustus, and thence his troops
+ravaged the whole country of the clans lately in insurrection. Villages
+were burned, cattle slaughtered, women subjected to the grossest insult
+and ill treatment, and often wantonly slain, and the fugitives among the
+mountains hunted like wild beasts, and slain as pitilessly whenever
+overtaken.
+
+Ronald's arm was healing fast. Youth and a good constitution, and the
+care and attention of Malcolm, aided perhaps by the pure mountain air,
+did wonders for him. The splints had proved efficacious, and although
+they had not yet been taken off, Malcolm was confident that the injury
+would be completely repaired. One morning Malcolm had left but half an
+hour for the village when he returned.
+
+"The enemy are in the village," he said. "I can see clouds of smoke
+rising in that direction. We had better be off at once. They will be
+scouring all the hills here, as they have done elsewhere, and we had
+better get out of the neighbourhood."
+
+There was no packing to be done, and taking with them what remained of
+the food Malcolm had last brought, they started on their way. They made
+first for the spring from which they had drawn their water, and then
+followed the little stream on its way down the hill, as it flowed in the
+opposite direction to the village. An hour's walking took them into the
+forest.
+
+"Before we go further let us have a consultation," Malcolm said. "We are
+safe now from pursuit, and had better settle upon what course we intend
+to adopt. Shall we make for Glasgow, and lie hid there until things blow
+over a little; or make for the isles, and stay there until we get a
+chance of being taken off by some French ship? That is what they say the
+prince has done; and indeed as there would be no chance of his getting a
+ship on the east coast, and all the Lowlands are against them, he is
+certain to have made for the isles. The Clanranalds and most of the other
+islemen are loyal to him, and would receive and shelter him. Skye is
+hostile, but elsewhere he will be safe, and would move from island to
+island or get across to the mainland by night if the pursuit became too
+hot. What do you say, Ronald?"
+
+"I would not try Glasgow unless as a last resource, Malcolm; you are
+known to many there, and as I was there as one of the prince's officers
+on two occasions I might easily be recognized. You may be sure that there
+is a very strict lookout for fugitives, and every stranger who enters a
+town will be closely examined. After some time, when Prince Charles and
+the principal chiefs and the leaders will either have escaped across the
+water or been hunted down, things will calm down; but at present we must
+not try to pass through the Lowlands."
+
+"At any rate we cannot try to do so till your shoulder is completely
+healed, and you can use your arm naturally; but I do not think that we
+had better try and cross to the isles just at present. If Prince Charles
+is there, or is believed by the English to be there, the search will be
+so keen that every stranger would be hunted down; and although the
+Highlanders might risk imprisonment and death for the prince himself,
+they could not be expected to run the same risk for anyone else. If the
+prince escapes it will be because the whole population are with him, and
+every man, woman, and child is trying to throw the pursuers off the
+scent. No, I think we should be safer in Edinburgh itself than in the
+isles. We will make a shift to live as we can for a month or so; by that
+time I hope you will be able to use one arm as well as the other, and we
+will then boldly go down into the Lowlands in our old characters as two
+drovers."
+
+"That will be the best plan, no doubt," Ronald agreed; "the difficulty
+will be the getting over the next month."
+
+"We shall manage that," Malcolm said; "fortunately you have still got
+some money left."
+
+"Yes, I have over fifty pounds; it was lucky I was able to draw it, as we
+returned north, from the man I left it with at Carlisle."
+
+"Yes, and you wanted to give it back to the treasury," Malcolm said, "and
+would have done it if I had not almost quarrelled with you about it,
+saying that it had been given you for a certain purpose, that you had
+carried out that purpose, and had, therefore, a right to it, and that you
+would be only looked upon as a fool if you offered to pay it back.
+However, there it is now, and lucky it is you have got it. However hard
+the times, however great the danger, a man will hardly starve in Scotland
+with fifty pounds in his pocket; so now we will turn our faces west, and
+make for the head of one of the lochs; there are plenty of fish to be had
+for catching, and with them and a little oatmeal and a bottle or two of
+whiskey we can live like lords."
+
+They walked for some hours, and stopped for the night in the hut of a
+shepherd, who received them hospitably, but could give them but little
+food, his scanty supplies being almost exhausted, for, as he told them,
+"the hills are full of fugitives, and those who come all cry for meal; as
+for meat, there is no want of it. Men won't starve as long as there are
+sheep and cattle to be had for lifting them, and at present there are
+more of these than usual in the hills, for they have all been driven up
+from the villages lest they should fall into the hands of the troopers;
+but meal is scarce, for men dare not go down to the villages to buy, and
+we only get it when the women bring it up as they have a chance."
+
+In the morning the shepherd gave them directions as to the way they
+should take, and a few hours later they came down upon the head of one of
+the many deep inlets on the western coast. A small fishing boat stood on
+the shore, but they dared not descend into this, but made their way to
+the point where, as the shepherd had told them, a stream which flowed
+from a mountain tarn some miles inland made its way down into the sea.
+
+The banks were thickly wooded for some two miles from its outlet; beyond
+that was a moorland covered with heather. They determined to encamp near
+the upper edge of the wood, and at once set to with their swords to cut
+down branches and construct a hut. This was completed before dusk, and
+Malcolm then started for the village on the seashore. Ronald besought him
+to be most careful.
+
+"There is likely," he said, "to be a party of soldiers in every village
+round the coast, for they will know that all the chiefs and officers
+would be making for the sea. The clansmen have only to remain in the
+hills until this persecution dies out, and then go quietly home again;
+but for the leaders the only hope is escape by sea."
+
+"I will be careful, lad," Malcolm said. "I shall not enter the village,
+but will hang about in its outskirts until I come across someone, and
+with plenty of money in my pocket it is hard if I cannot manage to get a
+bag of meal and a net, even if the place is full of English soldiers."
+
+Three hours later Malcolm returned laden with a sack containing forty
+pounds of meal, a jar with two gallons of whiskey, and a net.
+
+"There," he said as he entered; "we can do for a month now, if needs be.
+There is a party of militia in the village, and I hear the whole coast is
+closely watched, and there are a number of English cruisers among the
+islands."
+
+"How did you get the things?"
+
+"I waited till a woman came down with a bundle of faggots, and told her
+what I wanted. She said at first it was impossible; but when I said I was
+prepared to pay well she altered her tone, and said she would send her
+husband out to me. He soon came, and after some bargaining he agreed to
+bring me out the things I wanted for three pounds, and here they are. I
+see you have got a fire alight, so we will make some cakes at once. I
+have brought a griddle and two horns with me."
+
+The next morning they set to work to fish. The net was stretched across
+the lower end of a pool, and they then stripped and waded in, splashing
+and throwing stones as they went. It was just up to their necks in the
+deepest parts, shallowing to two feet below. When they reached the net
+they found two fine salmon caught there, and carrying these ashore they
+split one and placed it above the fire. The net was then removed, and in
+half an hour they were sitting down to a breakfast of grilled salmon and
+hot oatmeal cakes, which Ronald thought the most delicious repast he had
+ever tasted.
+
+For three weeks they remained at this spot. They were not always alone,
+being sometimes joined for a day or two by other fugitives, who, like
+themselves, were wandering near the sea coast seeking escape. These
+seldom stayed long, for it was felt unsafe to keep in parties of more
+than two or three at the utmost. Some of the fugitives were in wretched
+condition, having been wandering among the moors and forests for weeks,
+and as the fishing was very successful, Ronald and Malcolm were able to
+give them at parting a good supply of smoked salmon, and a portion of
+meal, of which Malcolm from time to time brought a fresh supply up from
+the village.
+
+The people there knew little of what was passing in the outer world; but
+from the conversation of the soldiers they were sure that Prince Charles
+had so far escaped capture, and an opinion began to prevail that he had
+succeeded in making his escape by sea, in spite of the vigilance of the
+English cruisers.
+
+By the end of the three weeks even Malcolm admitted that Ronald's wound
+was completely cured. Two large blue scars showed where the bullet had
+passed through, and beneath this could be felt a lump where the broken
+bone had knitted together, and this would in time become as strong as the
+rest of the shoulder. Malcolm's splints had done their duty, and the eye
+could detect no difference between the level or width of the two
+shoulders. Ronald could move his arm freely in all directions, and,
+except that he could not at present venture to put any strain upon the
+arm, he might be considered as perfectly cured. They determined,
+therefore, to continue their way. In the first place, however, it was
+necessary to procure other clothes, for Ronald was still in uniform, and
+although Malcolm's attire was not wholly military, it yet differed
+materially from that of a countryman.
+
+"We shall have to get other clothes when we get south," Malcolm said;
+"for a Highlander's dress would be looked upon with as much suspicion in
+Glasgow as would that uniform of yours. But until we get down to the
+Lowlands the native garb will be the best."
+
+Accordingly he paid another visit to the village, and with the utmost
+difficulty persuaded the man he had before dealt with to bring him two
+suits of clothes, such as were worn by the fishermen there. In these,
+although Malcolm's small stock of Gaelic would betray them at once for
+other than they seemed to the first clansman who might address them, they
+could pass muster with any body of English troops they might meet by the
+way.
+
+Before starting they caught and smoked as many salmon as they could
+carry, as the fishermen of the coast were in the habit of exchanging fish
+for sheep with their inland neighbours. They cut each a short pole, and
+slung some fish at each end, and then placing it on their shoulder,
+started on their way. They kept along the hillside until they struck the
+track--for it could scarcely be called a road--leading from the
+village into the interior, and then boldly followed this; for the
+difficulty of travelling across the hilly and broken country was so great
+that they preferred to run the slight extra risk of keeping to the road,
+feeling certain that for the first day's march at least their appearance
+and the fish they carried would answer for themselves with any body of
+troops they might meet.
+
+Of this, however, they did not think there was much chance. The
+authorities would have long since learned the futility of hunting the
+fugitives among the hills, and would be confining their efforts to the
+sea coast. They were now at a considerable distance from the scene of the
+bloody persecutions of Cumberland and Hawley, and although in other parts
+of Scotland severe measures might be adopted against known adherents of
+the Stuarts, it was among the Highland clans only that savage and
+wholesale massacres were being carried into effect.
+
+Occasionally in the course of the day's walk they met with clansmen
+passing along the road. These generally passed with a brief word of
+greeting in Gaelic. One or two who stopped to speak recognized at once by
+Malcolm's accent that the wayfarers were not what they pretended to be;
+but they asked no questions, and with a significant smile and an
+expression of good wishes went on their way.
+
+At the village where they stopped, after a long day's journey, the same
+line of conduct was observed towards them. The inhabitants guessed at
+once that they were in disguise; but the edicts against those who
+assisted fugitive insurgents were so severe that none made any open sign
+of their recognition. They paid for their night's lodging and food with a
+portion of their fish, which they were indeed glad to get rid of.
+
+The next day they resumed their journey, and towards sunset arrived at a
+village where they saw a party of English cavalry, who had apparently but
+just arrived. The men were cleaning their horses, and an officer was
+sitting on a bench in front of the principal house in the village; for he
+had already made a close inspection of every house in the village, and
+the angry faces of the women and the sullen looks of a few men there were
+about showed how they resented the disturbance of their households.
+
+It was too late to retreat, and Malcolm and Ronald walked boldly to the
+public house in the centre of the village. The officer at once rose and
+walked across to him.
+
+"Who are you?" he asked; "and where do you come from?"
+
+Malcolm shook his head and said in Gaelic:
+
+"I do not understand English."
+
+"What fools these people are!" the officer exclaimed. "Ho, within there!"
+
+The landlady came to the door.
+
+"Do you speak English?"
+
+"I speak a little," the woman said.
+
+"Just ask these men who they are and where they come from."
+
+The woman asked the question in Gaelic, and Malcolm replied:
+
+"We are, as you see, fishermen, and we come from Huish."
+
+As he spoke there was a slight change in the woman's face; but it passed
+away, and she translated Malcolm's answer to the officer.
+
+"But that is forty miles away," the officer said. "What do they do with
+their fish at this distance from their home?"
+
+The question being put in Gaelic by the woman, Malcolm replied that owing
+to the boats being seized by the soldiers, and trade being at a
+standstill, they could no longer make a living at home, and were
+therefore on their way to Glasgow to ship as sailors. They were carrying
+their fish with them to pay for their food and lodging on the way.
+
+The story was probable enough, and the officer's suspicion was allayed.
+
+"They are fine looking fellows, both of them," he said to himself as he
+returned to his bench. "Father and son, I suppose. The young one would
+make a strapping soldier. Like enough he was at Culloden. However, thank
+goodness, I have no grounds for suspecting or detaining them. I am sick
+of this brutal business of fugitive hunting. We are officers and not
+butchers, and this slaying of brave men who have met us fairly in battle
+is a disgrace to the British name."
+
+Ronald and Malcolm followed the woman into the house.
+
+"I am ready to buy some of your fish," she said in a loud tone of voice
+in Gaelic, "for there will be many to feed this evening; as my house is
+full of soldiers I cannot take you in, but if you like you can sleep in
+that shed over there. I can cook one of your fish for you, and let you
+have some black bread; but that is all I can do. Now, how much do you
+want for the fish?"
+
+Malcolm named a low price, and the woman took three or four of the
+largest. For these she offered him the price he had asked. He glanced
+round, and seeing that they were not overlooked, he shook his head.
+
+"We don't want money," he said. "We are well provided. Many thanks for
+keeping our secret."
+
+The woman nodded, and without another word the two went out and sat down
+on a stone bench outside until the landlady brought out a platter with a
+fish and some black bread. This they ate where they sat. Malcolm then
+went in to get some tobacco, and returned with his pipe alight, and sat
+with Ronald watching with apparent interest the operations of the
+soldiers until night closed in. Then they retired to the shed the
+landlady had pointed out, and found that a large bundle of freshly
+gathered rushes had been shaken out to form a bed. Carrying in their
+poles with their now diminished load of fish, they closed the door and
+threw themselves down upon the rushes.
+
+"That has passed off well," Malcolm said. "Tomorrow we will only go a
+mile or so out of the village, and stop in the first wood we come to, and
+go on at night. Thirty miles will take us close down to Dumbarton, and
+there we must manage to get some fresh clothes."
+
+"We shall be able to leave our poles behind us," Ronald said, "and that
+will be a comfort. Although my load of fish was not nearly as heavy as
+yours, still carrying it on one shoulder was no joke, and I shall be
+heartily glad to get rid of it."
+
+"I shall not be sorry myself," Malcolm said; "but there will be no
+occasion to waste the fish. We shall be up and away long before the
+soldiers are stirring, and we may as well hand them over as a present to
+the landlady."
+
+This was done, and at an early hour in the morning they were upon the
+road again. After an hour's walking they stopped in a wood till evening
+and then continued on their way until they reached Dumbarton, where they
+threw themselves down beside some boats drawn up upon the shore, and
+slept till the morning.
+
+They then boldly entered the town, and as their garb was similar to that
+of the men who brought down the fish caught at the villages on the coast,
+no attention whatever was paid to them. They had no difficulty in
+purchasing the clothes they required, and carrying them out of the town
+they changed in the first retired spot they reached, and, as two Lowland
+drovers, tramped on to Glasgow. With their bonnets pulled well down over
+their eyes they entered the town. They had little fear of discovery, for
+none would be likely to recognize in Ronald the gaily dressed young
+officer of Prince Charles.
+
+As to Malcolm, he felt safe from molestation. He was, of course, known to
+many drovers and others, but they would not concern themselves with what
+he had been doing since they last saw him, and even had they noticed him
+when he was there with Ronald, would not denounce an old comrade. He
+went, therefore, boldly to the little inn where he had been in the habit
+of staying when in the city.
+
+"Ah, Malcolm, is that you, man?" the landlord said as he entered. "I
+didna think o' seeing you again. I thought it likely ye were laying stiff
+and stark somewhere out on the muirs. Eh, man, you are a foolish fellow
+to be mixing yourself up in the affairs of ithers."
+
+"I have done with it now, Jock, for good and all," Malcolm said, "and am
+going back to my old trade again."
+
+"I think you are a fule to come back here so soon. There's mony a one
+marked ye as ye rode in behind that young officer of the prince's, and if
+they denounce you now they would soon clap you in between four walls."
+
+"Hoots, man!" Malcolm laughed; "who would trouble themselves about a body
+like me!"
+
+"There are bleudy doings up i' the Highlands," the landlord said gravely,
+"if a' they say is true."
+
+"It is true, Jock, more shame to them; but they wouldn't do in Glasgow
+what they are doing there. They are hunting down the clansmen like wild
+beasts; but here in the Lowlands they will not trouble themselves to ask
+who was for King George and who was against him, except among those who
+have got estates they can confiscate."
+
+"May be no," the landlord replied. "Still, Malcolm, if you will take my
+advice you won't show yourself much in the streets, nor your friend
+either," he added significantly. "You may be safe, but the citizens are
+smarting yet over the requisitions that were made upon them, and your
+friend had best keep in his room as long as ye stay here."
+
+Malcolm nodded.
+
+"He will be careful, Jock, never fear. We shall be off again as soon as
+we get a chance. I will leave him here while I go down the town and find
+whether there is a herd starting for England. If there is we will go with
+it; if not, I shall try and get a passage by sea."
+
+Malcolm could not hear of any drove of cattle going south. The troubles
+had, for the time, entirely put a stop to the trade. After it was dark he
+went to Andrew's. His brother's face expressed both pleasure and dismay
+at seeing him.
+
+"Right glad I am to see you have got safely through it all, Malcolm, but
+you must be mad to show yourself here again at present. But how is the
+boy? We have troubled sorely over him. I trust that he too has come
+safely through it?"
+
+"Safe and sound, Andrew, save that he had a bullet through his shoulder
+at Culloden; but he is tight enough again now."
+
+"And what have you been doing ever since?"
+
+"Curing his shoulder and fishing;" Malcolm briefly related their
+adventures since Culloden.
+
+"And is he with you here in Glasgow, Malcolm? Surely you are not mad
+enough to bring him here, where he is known to scores of people as one of
+the rebel officers!"
+
+"He is here, sure enough," Malcolm said, "and safer than he has been for
+some time. It is nearly two months since Culloden, and people are
+beginning to think of other things, except in the Highlands, where those
+fiends Cumberland and Hawley are burning and slaying. Ronald is dressed
+like a drover, and no one is likely to recognize him. However, he will
+remain within doors. And now, brother, I want you to take us a passage in
+the next vessel sailing for London. If I go to a shipper he may ask
+questions, and like enough it may be necessary to get passes signed
+before we can go on board."
+
+"Certainly it is," Andrew said. "A strict lookout is kept to prevent the
+rebel leaders from escaping, and no captain of a ship is permitted to
+take a passenger unless he is provided with a pass, signed by a
+magistrate, saying that he is a peaceable and well known person."
+
+"But just at present we are both peaceable persons, Andrew, and we can
+certainly claim to be well known citizens."
+
+"It is no joking matter, Malcolm, I can tell you," Andrew said irritably;
+"but of course I will see what I can do. And now I will put on my bonnet
+and come with you and have a chat with Ronald. It will not do to bring
+him here tonight, but we must arrange for him to come and see Janet
+before he sails. I shall not tell her anything about it till he is ready
+to start, for you know she is very particular, and I am afraid I shall
+have to say what is not quite true to get the order. I can sign it
+myself, but it must have the signature of the provost too."
+
+So saying he took his cap and accompanied Malcolm to the lodging.
+
+"Stay here a moment, Andrew," Malcolm said when he arrived within a few
+yards of the little inn. "I will see that there is no one drinking
+within. It wouldna look well to see a decent bailie of the city going
+into a liquor shop after dark. It will be best for me to fetch him out
+here, for I doubt there's any room where you could talk without fear of
+being overheard."
+
+Ronald, who was sitting with his cap pulled down over his eyes as if
+asleep, in a corner of the room, where three or four drovers were smoking
+and talking, was called out by Malcolm.
+
+"I am right glad to see you again," Andrew Anderson said heartily. "Janet
+and I have passed an ill time since the battle was fought. Elspeth has
+kept up our hopes all along. She said she was sure that you were alive,
+quite downright sure; and though neither Janet nor I have much faith in
+superstitions, the old woman's assertions that she should assuredly know
+it if you were dead did somehow keep up our spirits. Besides, I had faith
+in Malcolm's knowledge of the country, and knew you were both famous for
+getting into scrapes and out of them, so I thought that if neither bullet
+nor sabre had stretched you on the moor of Culloden you would manage to
+win your way out of the trouble somehow. However, I think you are pretty
+safe here. The bloody doings of Cumberland have shocked every Scotchman,
+and even those who were strongest against the Stuarts now cry shame, and
+so strong is the feeling that were the prince to appear now with a
+handful of followers I believe the whole country would rise in his
+favour. So deep is the wrath and grief at the red slaughter among the
+Highlands there would not be many Scotchmen found who would betray a
+fellow Scot into the hands of these butchers. I will make inquiry
+tomorrow as to what ships are sailing, and will get you a passage in the
+first. There may be some difficulty about the permit; but if I can't get
+over it we must smuggle you on board as sailors. However, I don't think
+the provost will ask me any questions when I lay the permit before him
+for his signature. He is heart and soul for the king, but, like us all,
+he is sick at heart at the news from the North, and would, I think, shut
+an eye if he saw a Jacobite making his escape. And now, lad, I must be
+going back, for the hour is getting late and Janet does not know why I am
+away. Come to us tomorrow evening as soon as the shop closes. Janet and
+Elspeth will be delighted to see you, and we will have a long talk over
+all that you have gone through."
+
+On the following evening Ronald and Malcolm presented themselves at
+Andrew's and were received with delight by Elspeth and Mrs. Anderson. The
+latter had, while the rebellion appeared to have a chance of success,
+been its bitter opponent, and had spoken often and wrathfully against her
+husband's brother and Ronald embarking in such an enterprise; but with
+its overthrow all her enmity had expired, and she would have been ready
+to give assistance not only to them, but to any other fugitive trying to
+escape.
+
+"I have good news for you," Andrew said, when the first greetings were
+over. "A vessel sails in the morning, and I have taken passages for you
+in it; and what is more, have brought your permits. I went to the provost
+and said to him, 'Provost, I want you to sign these permits for two
+friends of mine who are wanting to go up to London.'
+
+"'Who are they?' said he.
+
+"'They are just two drover bodies,' I said. He looked at me hard.
+
+"'One question, Andrew. I know how you feel just at present. You are a
+loyal man like myself, but we all feel the same. I will sign your permit
+for any save one. Give me your word that neither of these men is Charles
+Stuart. I care not who they may be beside, but as a loyal subject of King
+George I cannot aid his arch enemy to escape.'
+
+"'I give you my word, provost,' I said. 'One is--'
+
+"'I don't want to know who they are,' he interrupted. 'I had rather not
+know. It is enough for me that you give me your word that neither of them
+is Charles Stuart,' and he took the pen and signed the permit. 'Between
+ourselves,' he went on, 'I shall be glad to hear that the misguided young
+man is safe across the water, but as Provost of Glasgow I could lend him
+no help to go.'
+
+"'They say he has got safe away already,' I said.
+
+"'I think not, Andrew; the coast has been too closely watched for that.
+The young man is hiding somewhere among the isles, among the Clanranalds
+or Macdonalds. I fear they will have him yet. I dread every day to get
+the news; but I hope beyond all things, that if they do lay hands on him
+it will be through the treachery of no Scot.'
+
+"'I hope not, provost,' I said. 'They haven't got over throwing it in our
+teeth that we sold King Charles to Cromwell.' So we just shook hands and
+said goodbye, and here is the permit."
+
+They spent a long evening talking over the past.
+
+"I wonder if I shall ever see you again, Ronald!" Mrs. Anderson said,
+with tears in her eyes, as they rose to say goodbye.
+
+"You need nor fear about that, Janet, woman," her husband said. "Ronald
+and Malcolm aye fall on their legs, and we shall see them back again like
+two bad pennies. Besides," he went on more seriously, "there will be an
+end of these savage doings in the north before long. Loyal men in
+Scotland are crying out everywhere against them, and the feeling in
+England will be just as strong when the truth is known there, and you
+will see that before long there will be a general pardon granted to all
+except the leaders. Fortunately Ronald and Malcolm are not likely to be
+in the list of exceptions, and before a year is up they will be able to
+come back if they will without fear of being tapped on the shoulder by a
+king's officer."
+
+"I shall come back again if I can, you may be sure," Ronald said. "Of
+course I do not know yet what my father and mother's plans may be; but
+for myself I shall always look upon Scotland as my home, and come back to
+it as soon as I have an opportunity."
+
+"You do not intend to stay in the French army?"
+
+"Certainly not. After the treatment my father has received I have no
+inclination to serve France. The chief reason why Scotchmen have entered
+her service has been that they were driven from home, and that they
+looked to France for aid to place the Stuarts on the throne again. Now
+that the time has come, France has done nothing to aid, and has seen the
+Stuart cause go down without striking a blow to assist it. I consider
+that cause is lost for ever, and shall never again draw my sword against
+the House of Hanover. Nor have I had any reason for loving France. After
+living in a free country like Scotland, who could wish to live in a
+country where one man's will is all powerful--where the people are
+still no better than serfs--where the nobles treat the law as made only
+for them--where, as in my father's case, a man may not even marry
+according to his own will without incurring the risk of a life's
+imprisonment? No, I have had enough of France; and if ever I get the
+opportunity I shall return to Scotland to live."
+
+The next morning early Ronald and Malcolm embarked on board a ship. Their
+permits were closely scrutinized before the vessel started, and a
+thorough search was made before she was allowed to sail. When the
+officers were satisfied that no fugitives were concealed on board they
+returned to shore, and the vessel started on her voyage for London.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX: Happy Days.
+
+
+On arriving in London, after ten days' voyage, Ronald and Malcolm
+obtained garments of the ordinary cut. The one attired himself as an
+English gentleman, the other in a garb suitable to a confidential
+attendant or steward, and after a stay of two or three days they made
+their way by coach down to Southampton.
+
+Here they remained for a week, and then effected a bargain with the
+captain of a fishing lugger to set them on shore in France. As the two
+countries were at war this could only be done by landing them at night at
+some quiet spot on the French coast. The lugger cruised about a couple of
+days, and then, choosing a quiet night when there was a mist on the
+water, she ran in as closely as she dared, then the boat was lowered, and
+Malcolm and Ronald were rowed to shore and landed a few miles south of
+Boulogne.
+
+When it was light they made their way to a village; here but few
+questions were asked them, for many refugees from Scotland and England
+were crossing to France. As they had been well provided with funds by
+Andrew they posted to Paris, and on arriving there put up at the inn
+where they had stopped on the occasion of their first visit.
+
+"We must be careful," Malcolm said, "how we stir out until we know how
+things stand. The first thing to do is to find out whether the regiment
+is still in Paris."
+
+This they were not long in doing, as their host was able to inform them
+at once that it had left the capital several months before, and on
+comparing dates they found that its departure had followed within a day
+or two that of their own flight from Paris.
+
+"It was no doubt meant as a punishment," Ronald said, "on Colonel Hume
+for acting as my second in that affair with the duke. I hope that no
+further ill befell him."
+
+His mind was set easy on this score by the news that Colonel Hume had
+accompanied his regiment. On asking after Marshal Saxe they learned that
+he was away on the frontier, where he had been carrying on the war with
+great success, Antwerp, Mons, Namur, and Charleroi all having been
+captured.
+
+The king was in person with the army. This being the case Ronald saw that
+it was of no use remaining in Paris, as he was without friend or
+protector there, and he dared not rejoin his regiment until he learned
+whether the king's anger was as hot as ever. He therefore started at once
+with Malcolm and travelled down to La Grenouille.
+
+It was a joyful meeting between him and his parents, who were in the
+greatest anxiety respecting him, for although he had written several
+times, communication was uncertain owing to the war, the only chance of
+sending letters being by such French vessels as arrived at Scottish ports
+after running the gauntlet with English cruisers. Some of these had been
+captured on the way back, and only two of Ronald's letters had arrived
+safely. The last of these had been written a few days after the battle of
+Falkirk, and Ronald had then stated that he no longer had any hope of the
+final success of the expedition. They had received the news of the defeat
+at Culloden, and had since passed nearly three months of painful
+suspense, relieved only by the arrival of Ronald himself. He found his
+mother looking well and happy; his father had somewhat recovered from his
+rheumatism, and looked a younger man by some years than when he saw him
+last.
+
+"He will recover fast now," the countess said; "but he has worried about
+you night and day, Ronald. I hope that you will stay with us for a time.
+We have seen so little of you yet."
+
+Ronald learned that a few days after his flight an officer had appeared
+at the chateau with the royal order for his arrest, and it was from him
+that his parents had first learned the news of his duel with the Duke of
+Chateaurouge and its result.
+
+"I could hardly believe my ears, Ronald," his father said; "to think that
+my son, scarce a man yet, should have killed in fair fight one of the
+first duellists in France. It seemed almost incredible. Malcolm told me
+that you were a first rate swordsman, but this seemed extraordinary
+indeed. The officer remained here for three days, and then, convinced
+that you had not made in this direction, left us. A day or two afterwards
+we received the letter you wrote us from Nantes, saying that you were
+starting for Scotland with the prince. I grumbled sorely over my
+rheumatism, I can tell you, which prevented my drawing my sword once more
+for the Stuarts; but it was no use my thinking of it."
+
+"No, indeed," the countess said; "and I can tell you, Ronald, that had he
+been ever so well I should not have let him go. After being separated
+from one's husband for sixteen years one is not going to let him run off
+to figure as a knight errant at his pleasure."
+
+"Your friend Colonel Hume wrote to us," the colonel said with a smile at
+his wife's word, "giving us details of the duel, and speaking of your
+conduct in the highest terms. He said that at present the king was
+furious; but that he hoped in time he would get over it. Colonel Hume had
+seen Marshal Saxe, who had promised on the first opportunity to speak to
+the king, and to open his eyes to the character of his late favourite,
+and to tell him of the attempts which the duke had made to prevent the
+royal orders for our release being carried out, and to remove you by
+assassination. Two months ago he wrote again to us from Antwerp, which
+had just fallen, saying that Marshal Saxe had bid him tell us that the
+king was in a much more favourable disposition, and that he had taken the
+opportunity when his majesty was in a good humour to tell him the whole
+circumstances of your journey with the orders for our release, and that
+in consequence the king had made other inquiries respecting the late
+duke, and had acknowledged that he had been greatly deceived as to his
+character. At the same time, as your name had been by the king's order
+removed from the list of officers of the Scottish Dragoons immediately
+after the duel, he recommended that should you return to France you
+should not put yourself in the king's way or appear at all in public for
+the present.
+
+"'The marshal,' Colonel Hume wrote, 'has made your affair a personal
+matter, and he, as is his habit in war, will persevere until he succeeds.
+His reputation and influence are higher than ever, and are daily rising;
+be assured that when the campaign is over, and he reaps all the honours
+to which he is entitled, he will push your claim as before.'"
+
+In the first week in October the suspense from which they had suffered as
+to the fate of Prince Charles was relieved by the news that on the 29th
+of September he had safely landed at the little port of Roscoff near
+Morlaix. He made his way to Paris, and Ronald, accompanied by Malcolm,
+took horse at once and rode there to pay his respects to the prince, and
+congratulate him on his escape. The prince received him with great warmth
+and cordiality, and from his own lips Ronald learned the story of his
+adventures.
+
+He had, eight days after Culloden, embarked for the cluster of islets to
+which the common name of Long Island is applied. After wandering from
+place to place and suffering greatly from hunger, he gained South Uist,
+where his wants were relieved by Clanranald. The English, suspecting or
+learning that he was there, landed two thousand men on the island, and
+commenced an active search for him. He must have been detected had not
+Flora Macdonald--stepdaughter of a captain in a militia regiment which
+formed part of the troops who had landed--upon being appealed to by
+Lady Clanranald, nobly undertaken to save him.
+
+She obtained from her stepfather a passport to proceed to Skye with a
+manservant and a maid. Charles was dressed in female clothes, and passed
+as Betty Bourk, while a faithful Highlander, Neil M'Eachan, acted as her
+servant. They started at night in an open boat, and disembarked in Skye.
+Skye was ever a hostile country, as its chief, Sir Alexander Macdonald,
+who had at first wavered, was now a warm supporter of the Hanoverians,
+and was with the Duke of Cumberland. Nevertheless Flora appealed to his
+wife, Lady Margaret, a daughter of the Earl of Eglinton, and informed her
+that her attendant was Prince Charles in disguise. Lady Margaret nobly
+responded to her appeal. Her own house was full of militia officers, and
+she intrusted Charles to the charge of Macdonald of Kingsburgh, her
+husband's kinsman and factor, who took the party to his house.
+
+The next day Charles took leave of Flora Macdonald with warm expressions
+of gratitude, and passed over to the Isle of Rasay, in the disguise of a
+male servant. Thence he made his way to the mainland, where on landing he
+was compelled to lie in concealment for two days cooped up within a line
+of sentries. After many dangers he took refuge in a mountain cave
+inhabited by seven robbers, who treated him with the greatest kindness,
+and supplied his wants for the three weeks he remained with them. After
+many other adventures he joined his faithful adherents Cluny and Locheil,
+who were in hiding in a retreat on the side of Mount Benalder, and here
+he lived in comparative comfort until he heard that two French vessels
+under the direction of Colonel Warren of Dillon's regiment had anchored
+in Lochnanuagh.
+
+Travelling by night he made his way to that place, and embarked on the
+20th of September, attended by Locheil, Colonel Roy Stuart, and about a
+hundred other fugitives who had learned of the arrival of the French
+vessels. It was almost precisely the spot at which he had disembarked
+fourteen months before. A fog concealed the vessel as she passed through
+the British fleet lying to intercept her, and they reached Roscoff after
+a nine days' voyage.
+
+Such was the tale which Prince Charles told to Ronald. He had after
+Culloden entirely recovered his high spirits, and had borne all his
+fatigues and hardships with the greatest cheerfulness and good humour,
+making light of hunger, fatigue, and danger. Ronald only remained two
+days in Paris, and then returned home.
+
+In October the campaign of Flanders ended with the complete defeat of
+Prince Charles of Lorraine at Rancaux, and Marshal Saxe returned to
+Paris, where he was received with enthusiasm by the population. The royal
+residence of Chambord was granted him for life, and he was proclaimed
+marshal general of the king's armies. A fortnight later Colonel Leslie
+received a letter from him, saying that he had received his majesty's
+command that he with the countess and his son should present themselves
+in Paris, and that he was happy to say that the king's disposition was
+most favourable. They set off at once. On their arrival there they called
+upon Marshal Saxe, who greeted the colonel as an old friend, and refused
+to listen to the warm expression of gratitude of Leslie and the countess.
+
+"Say nothing about it, madam," he exclaimed. "Your son won my heart, and
+I was only too glad to be of service to him and my old comrade here. What
+is the use of a man winning victories if he cannot lend a helping hand to
+his friends!"
+
+The next day they went down to Versailles, where Marshal Saxe presented
+them to the king in a private audience. Louis received them graciously.
+
+"I fear, countess, that you and your husband have been treated with some
+harshness; but our royal ear was deceived by one in whom we had
+confidence. Your husband and yourself were wrong in marrying without the
+consent and against the will of your father, and such marriages cannot be
+permitted; but at the request of Marshal Saxe, who has done so much for
+France that I cannot refuse anything he asks, I have now consented to
+pardon and overlook the past, and have ordered my chancellor to prepare
+an order reinstating you in all the possessions and estates of the
+countess, your mother. I hope that I shall often see you together with
+your husband and son, both of whom have done good service as soldiers of
+France, at my court; and now that I see you," he said with a gracious
+smile, "I cannot but feel how great a loss our court has suffered by your
+long absence from it."
+
+Upon leaving the king's private chamber and entering the great audience
+hall Colonel Hume came up and grasped the hand of his old friend, and was
+introduced by him to his wife; while many of the courtiers, who were
+either connections or friends of the family of the countess, also
+gathered round them, for the news that she was restored to royal favour
+had spread quickly. The countess knew how small was the real value of
+such advances, but she felt that it was best for her husband and son's
+sake to receive them amicably. For a few weeks they remained in Paris,
+taking part in the brilliant fetes which celebrated the success of the
+French arms, and they then retired to the handsome chateau which was now
+the property of the countess.
+
+Here they lived quietly for two years, making occasional visits to Paris.
+At the end of that time Ronald received a letter from Andrew Anderson, to
+whom he had written several times since his return to France. He told him
+that he had just heard that Glenlyon and the rest of the property which
+had been confiscated after the rising of 1715 was for sale. It had been
+bestowed upon a neighbouring chief, who had been active in the Hanoverian
+cause. He was now dead without leaving issue, and his wife, an English
+lady, was anxious to dispose of the property and return to England.
+
+"I do not know whether your father is disposed to buy back his estates,"
+Andrew wrote, "but I hear that a general amnesty will very shortly be
+issued to all who took part in the insurrection, saving only certain
+notorious persons. The public are sick of bloodshed. There have been
+upwards of eighty trials and executions, besides the hundreds who were
+slaughtered in the Highlands. Besides this, thousands have been
+transported. But public opinion is now so strong, and persons of all
+shades of politics are so disgusted with the brutal ferocity which has
+been shown, that it is certain government will ere long be compelled to
+pass an act of amnesty. In the meantime, if it should be your father's
+wish to purchase the property, I can buy it in my name. The priced asked
+is very low. The income arising from it is stated to be about four
+hundred a year, and four thousand pounds will be accepted for it. I
+understand that as the late owner took no part in the insurrection, and
+joined the Duke of Cumberland when he came north, the property is in good
+condition and the clansmen have escaped the harrying which befell all
+those who sided with Charles Stuart."
+
+Ronald at once laid the letter before his father, who, after reading it
+through, passed it, without a word, to the countess.
+
+"You would like to return to Scotland?" she asked quietly, when she read
+it. "Do not hesitate to tell me, dear, if you would. It is no matter to
+me whether we live there or here, so long as I have you and Ronald with
+me."
+
+Colonel Leslie was silent.
+
+"For Ronald's sake," she went on, "perhaps it would be better so. You are
+both of opinion that the cause of the Stuarts is lost for ever, and he is
+determined that he will never again take part in any rising. He does not
+care again to enter the French army, nor, indeed, is there any reason why
+Scotchmen should do so, now that they no longer look for the aid of the
+King of France to set the Stuarts on the English throne. I myself have no
+ties here. My fifteen years of seclusion have separated me altogether
+from my family, and although they are willing enough to be civil now, I
+cannot forget that all those years they did nothing towards procuring our
+liberty. The king has so far given way that he has restored me my
+mother's estates, but it was only because he could not refuse Marshal
+Saxe, and he does not like French lands to be held by strangers;
+therefore I feel sure, that were I to ask his permission to sell my
+estates and to retire with you to Scotland he would at once grant my
+request."
+
+"No, Amelie, it would not be fair to accept your generous offer."
+
+"But it would be no sacrifice," she urged. "I have little reason to love
+France, and I can assure you I should be just as happy in your country as
+in my own."
+
+"But it would be exile," the colonel said.
+
+"No more exile than you and Ronald are suffering here. Besides, I suppose
+we should get as many comforts in Scotland as here in France. Of course
+our estates here will fetch a sum many times larger than that which would
+purchase Glenlyon, and we need not live all our time among the mountains
+you tell me of, but can go sometimes to Edinburgh or even to London. Even
+if you did not wish it, I should say it would be far better to do so for
+Ronald's sake. You have lived so long in France that you may have become
+a Frenchman; but it is not so with Ronald."
+
+It was not until two or three days later that the discussion came to an
+end and the countess had her way. Colonel Leslie had resisted stoutly,
+but his heart beat at the thought of returning to the home of his youth
+and ending his days among the clansmen who had followed him and his
+fathers before him. Ronald had taken no part whatever in the debate, but
+his mother read in his eyes the delight which the thought of returning to
+Scotland occasioned him. As soon as this was settled they went to Paris,
+and as the countess had foreseen, the king was pleased at once to give
+his consent to her disposing of her lands on his approval of the
+purchaser.
+
+No difficulty was experienced on this score, as a noble whose lands
+adjoined her own offered at once to purchase them. As soon as this was
+arranged instructions were sent to Andrew to purchase not only the
+Glenlyon property, but the other estates of its late owner.
+
+In due time a letter was received from Andrew saying that he had arranged
+for the purchase of the whole for the sum of thirteen thousand pounds,
+and the money was at once sent over through a Dutch banking house. Very
+shortly afterwards, at the end of 1747, the act of general amnesty was
+passed, and as Ronald's name was not among those excluded from its
+benefits they at once prepared to return to Scotland. The journey was
+facilitated by the fact that shortly after the passing of the act, peace
+was concluded between England and France.
+
+Accompanied by Malcolm, Colonel Leslie, the countess, and Ronald sailed
+for Scotland. The colonel and his wife remained in Edinburgh while Ronald
+and Malcolm went to Glasgow, where Andrew had in readiness all the papers
+transferring the estates purchased in his name to Colonel Leslie, who
+shortly afterwards journeyed north with his wife and son and took
+possession of his ancestral home amid the enthusiastic delight of the
+clansmen, who had never ceased to regret the absence of him whom they
+considered as their rightful chief.
+
+There is little more to tell. Colonel Leslie lived but a few years after
+returning home, and Ronald then succeeded him as Leslie of Glenlyon. He
+had before this married the daughter of a neighbouring gentleman, and
+passed his time between Glenlyon and Edinburgh, varied by an occasional
+visit to London.
+
+The countess never regretted her native land, but, happy in the affection
+of her son and daughter in law and their children, lived happily with
+them until nearly the end of the century. Malcolm remained the faithful
+and trusty friend of the family; and his brother and his wife were
+occasionally persuaded to pay a visit to Glenlyon, where their kindness
+to Ronald as a child was never forgotten. Happily the rising of '45 was
+the last effort on behalf of the Stuarts. Scotland accepted the decision
+as final, and the union between the two countries became close and
+complete. Henceforth Scotchmen went no longer to fight in the armies of
+France, but took service in that of their own country, and more than one
+of Ronald's grandsons fought stoutly in Spain under Wellington.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bonnie Prince Charlie, by G. A. Henty
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