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UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE
WORKS B7 THE SAME AUTHOR.
A Tragedy in Grey
The Eleventh Commandment
An Episode in Arcady
A Man of the Moors
Ricroft of Withens
Shameless Wayne
By Moor and Fell
Willowdene Will
Mistress Barbara Cunliffe
-
"I SAW HIS FACE GO WHITE.'
\
UNDER THE
WHITE COCKADE
HALLIWELL SUTCLIFFE
WITH EIGHT FULL-PAiiE ILLUSTRATIONS
BY F. H. TOWNSEND
TORONTO: THE COPP. CLARK CO., LIMITED
LONDON: CASSELL AND COMPANY, LIMITED
All Rights Ressrved
I! U^3>7
>l^ ^ ->(<=
310806
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The Udy of thk Post-chaise
CHAPTER II.
A Duel in the Dawn
CHAPTER HI.
Three Jolly Jacobites
CHAPTER IV.
How DUOALD CAME TO PERTH
CHAPTER V.
Nell and the Gloaming-tide .
/. Fair Recruit
CHAPTER VI.
chapter vii.
Nell comes to me .
CHAPTER VIII.
A Fair Lady and a City Gate
MOB
I
. 26
• 47
• 77
• 97
. 112
• "5
«S4
I 1 .^
CHAPTER IX.
Thi Road across the Marsh 185
chapter x.
How Johnnie went Running Home . . ju
CHAPTER XI.
Concerning a Laird and a White Hare . 230
CHAPTER XII.
The Ladv of Kirtlebrae j^
CHAPTER XIII.
The Miller's Daughter jgy
CHAPTER XIV.
A Last Glad Gallop 291
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
"I SAW HIS FACE GC *HITE "
"' REMEMBER OUR OLD MOTTO '"
"I KNOCKED UP HIS PISTOL WITH A WRIST-
TURN OF THE BLADE"
" MY LORD HER FATHER STOOD WITHIN THE
DOORWAY" ....
" ' WK THRE I NEED NONE OF US HAVE DOUBTS ' "
"SIX GOWNS I HAD TO CHOOSE FROM " .
"'THIS IS YOUR DAUGHTER, SIR?"
"'SHE'S DONE!' GASPED ARCHIE SUDDENLY '
Froniis.
. to fact f. 2
H
U
60
68
386
306
UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
CHAPTER I.
THE LAD, OF THE POST-CHAISE.
When I was two-and-twenty-in the yepr of
1745, that IS to say-my erratic father conceived
the Idea that I was like to rust if he kept me
over-close to his country seat and offered me no
better schooling than the hunting-field, the card-
afforded"'^ *^ companionship of rustic squires
The rough life suited me well enough, it is
true ; but I saw no cause for grumbling when I
was told, upon my birthday night, that the
moiTow would see me on the way to London.
Sudden as the news was, I learned that all
the details of my stay in the capital had been
p anned out beforehand by that curious mixture
of sternness, oddity, and rough tenderness, who
stood to me in the relation of father and rigid
guardian. My valise was already packed, ^d
UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
one of the men-servants had been ordered to
take it to the cross-roads at daybreak, there
to await the mail-coach to London. All this
my father told me as we drank our after-dinner
port ; neither did he appear to think that there
was any excuse for the surprise I showed on
being informed so brusquely of his intentions
with regard to me.
" Pish ! " he cried, in answer to something I
stammered as to the suddenness of it all. " Pish,
lad ! Life is all sudden, and the sooner you
learn to take it so, the better it will be for you.
You've hobnobbed long enough with these
country bumpkins, and enough is as good as a
feast. See what they can teach you in London,
and come home again when you have learned
to kUl your man with grace and a mannerly
sword-point."
" I take the coach, then, to-morrow ? " I said,
after a pause. I spoke quietly, for I would not
let my father see how the blood raced through
my veins at the prospect, lest his eccentricity
should lead him to think better of the under-
taking.
" Take the coach, sirrah ? What, do you
want to enter London like any pursy dowager
■REMEMBER OUR OLU MOTTO.'
THE LADY OF THE POST-CHAISE 3
any able-bodied man should do "
witlf mo!! •V*^''.^^"*^^. -nd I went to bed
with more wme in my head and legs than I
found co„venient-my father, indeed would
-onjing. ate a marvellous hearty brIaJaTt
washed down with a cup of wine anH '
into the saddle. ' "'^ '"'""8
"Good-bye, lad," said my father a trifl.
T'r\'f -^'^ --e tendelnesst'l'sfae
than I had yet seen there " R».^ u
motto • K-iii „ V Remember our old
motto, K.U your horse and break your neck
but see that you're in at the death ' Off wifh"
teach^;!!!..' *''" " "^"^''^ ''^« - duel for
But I lost the end of his sentence, for my horse
bolted on the sudden, and I had difficulty^
bnngmg him to reason. Down the carria" 1"
we went at a gallop, and over the clo^^d^trat
the bottom, and the last I hearc ,fl
wasafaint, "Bravo, lad-cleared ..a'foot"
from behind. And that was how / started to
UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
seek manners in London town ; nor did I gtiess
how strangely the duel, which my father had
bequeathed to me as a sort of final blessing,
was to teach me, not the rough taste of ad*
venture only, but the road to Scotland and to
honour.
I pulled the curb after the first half-mile or
so. Leaping five-barred gates was well enough,
and a gallop was well enough ; but I had fifty
miles to cover before London, and my beast
would not last twenty unless I brou(,ht him to
view the situation reasonably. A clear, crisp
morning of summer it was, and, as I rode, the
wiklness of the morning got into my blood.
Thrush and merle and laverock were merry in
the hedgerows and the meadows ; summer was
at full ; aad I was two-and-twenty. London
stroets, the rustics say, are paved with gold ;
but I can answer fcr it that the road to
town on this same morning was paved with
air.
I took dinner at St. Albans, a.\d aftcrwaras
was drinking a measure in the bar while waiting
for my horse to be brought round, v. hen a horse-
man clattered up to the door, dismounted, and
called for the landlord in a quick, high voice.
THE LADY OF THE POST-CHAISE. 5
Boniface came bustling oat, and I could hear
every word that passed between them.
" How can I serve you, sir ? " asked the host.
" I have urgent dispatches for Lord Strange.
Has he reached St. Albans yet, or has he gone
forward ? He set off for London from the North
two nights ago in a post-chaise, and I have fol-
lowed hell-for-leather."
I took a lefaurely pinch of snuft and peeped
through the open door of the bar at the new-
comer, a thin, sallow rascal of five-and-thirty
or so. The scene did not concern me over much
—at least, I thought not at the time ; but any
way of killing leisure was acceptable, ud to
myself I feigned a deep interest in listening
for question and for answer.
" Loid Strange ? Lord Strange ? " muttered
Boniface, with the true manner of his profes-
sion, and the stock answer to all such questions.
" So many gentlemen of quality put up at the
Saracen's Head, sir— a very busy road, the
Holyhead— that indeed I can scarce remember.
Let me see."
" Tut-tut, good host ! " interrupted the other
impatiently. "We know all that by heart.
Has my lord passed through, I say ? "
6 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
Boniface drew himself up with dignity. " A
Royal Duke passed through yester-even and
stayed for supper here." said he, with a touch of
rougery in his voice, "so how should I keep these
'e.ier fry, in mind? Stay, though; there was
sv-.iethmg about a special brew of punch for my
lord— ay, that must have been Lord Strange.
He had a comely maid in the post-chaise with
him."
I took another pinch of snuff, and felt my
interest quicken. The sallow stranger was pacing
up and down, stopping every now and then to
check the host's garrulity.
" Pish for the maid, and to the deuce with
your special punch ! How long since " he
began.
" Ay, but the punch is second to none, sir
craving your pardon. My lord did not alight'
but drank it in the chaise. And, zooks, the longer
I looked at his companion, the surer I felt that
we could not match her in aU Hertfordshire-
there, there! What time was it? Why. it
might be an hour agone ; or again, it might be
two. There have been so many traveUers on
the road to-day."
The stranger paused for no more, but launched
THE LADY OF THE POST-CHAISE. 7
a parting oath at Boniface, then unhitched his
horse and sprang to saddle again. My lord's
pretty travelling companion was in my mind as
i strolled out of the bar and accosted my host ;
and I profited so far by the late discussion that
I had wit to approach him civilly with regard to
the information that I sought.
"Come now," said I, laughingly, "pretty
maids do not grow Uke blackberries, and I may
haply snatch a peep at this one before I get to
town. Who is this Lord Strange, host ? And how
fast do his post-horses travel ? "
He eyed me up and down, then nodded as
if in approbation, then grinned from one full-
blooded ear to the other.
" Faster than warrants your overtaking them,
sir, though you be as well mounted as the best,"
he answered slowly. " And it would seem a pity,
that, for she was a sight one sees three times
or so in a Hfetime. My Lord Strange ? He is
well known on the Holyhead road, and well
known enough in Lond ., though he is Scotch by
birth."
" I thought you disclaimed all remembrance
of him ? " I put in drily.
" Ay, that may be so ; for there's one face
S UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE,
to show to a civil question, and quite another
when your man plays the bully. Ay. his name
•s m men's mouths to-day-Lord Strange's, I
mean-a Scotch lord he is, very zealous for the
King now that this French-bred Prince begins to
talk of landing with an c.rmy."
" Prince Charlie .? " I hazarded.
We were not accustomed to hear much gossip
of the times at homp. and the Stuart enterprise
so t^ked about in the capital, had scarcely
ruffled our dinner-table talk as yet.
"Ay, Prince Chariie. He is getting an army to-
gether on the coast of France, so the gossips say •
but whether it is aU an April mare's nest or no
is more than I can teU. Let King George sit
quiet upon his throne, say I, and keep our custom
merry."
But I was thinking of the fair maid in the
post-chaise as I paid my score and got to horse
agam. A face such as a man meets only thrice
in a hfetime-and that on the word of one so
seasoned to fair faces as a tavern-keeper-was weU
worth the seeing; and for the first few miles I
pressed hotly forward, with some vague, sense-
less hope that I might overtake the chaise before
It clattered into London streets.
THE LADY OF THE POST-CHAISE. 9
The cool air of the road, however, and the
fret of motion, soon brought me to my senses. I
eased my pace, and httle by little my thoughts
turned from s-ch shadowy food as a maid's
h-auty, take, .n hearsay, and fastened them-
selves instead upon the news that the host had
given me of Prince Charlie's doings. Great
news ,t was, and stirring ; and I felt my pulses
Zt" TJ ''°"^'* °' ■*■ ^' ^-*^ »' the
country had never been partial to the Gennan
Kmg, though we were too bent on hunting and
on gammg to trouble ourselves with thoughts of
active partisanship of the Stuart cause ; but we
Iked a hunt, a cock-fight, or a forlorn hope -any-
thing, mdeed, that had a touch of sport in it •
and I warrant there was scarce a squire in'
Buckmgham, however i- .lent he were in politics
who would not have clapped hands to see Prince
Char he s desperate venture crowned with success,
and the Stuarts safe upon the throne again As
for me, long before I reached the White Hart Inn
at Cranford that evening, loyalty to the Scots
Pnnce was well assured-the vagueness of his
personality, the chance of battle, the gaiety and
freedom of rebellion against the King, ali had
their charm for me ; and I got down from my
10 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
f
horse at the door of the White Hart with a wish
that Edinbur{;h, and not the capital of England,
were my destination.
As I was half-way through supper I heard a
great cracking of whips and shouting of post-
boys. Looking from the window I saw a ta'J,
unsteady figure of a man just handing a cloaked
figure into a chaise that stood ready at the door.
The glare of the links shone full on the inn-yard ;
the tall fellow showed for a moment as he half
lurched, half stepped into the carriage ; the door
was shut with a flourish by the driver ; whips
cracked afresh, a handful of silver was thrown
fromthe( haise window, and the postillion rose gaily
to the trot. On a sudden I remembered the face
of which the landlord had told me at St. Albans
— the face such as only gladdens a man'a eyes
three times or so in a whole lifetime. What if
the unsteady figure were my Lord Strange's,
and the maid in the brown cloak no other
than his daughter ? They had had a long start
of me, it was true ; but the x'ery unsteadiness
of the girl's cavalier was proof that he had
spent a longer time than need be at the supper
board.
One excuse is as good as another to lighten a
THE LADY OF THE POST-CHAISE. 1 1
long ride. I would admit no doubt of my lord's
identity, nor of the maid's ; and I said to myself
that I would follow and claim a sight of what
lay beneath that jealous hood of brown. My
supper, which was something of the choicest, I
despatched accordingly with a haste it little
merited, and before long I was ready for the road
once more.
" Was that Lord Strange, sirrah ? " I said to
the ostler, as he held my stirrup.
" It was, sir. He travels from the North in
haste."
" In haste ? He seems to have had ample
leisure for his supper."
" He makes sure of that, sir, always," said the
ostler, with a grin.
" Ah ! And the lady with him ? "
" His daughter, sir."
I tossed a crown to him and laughed — though
I could not have given a reason for my mirth—
and cantered along the ill-kept streets of Cranford.
The fairest face in England was speeding London-
ward in front of me ; that was enough for my
heedless mood, and I did not care to look beyond.
It was well, maybe, I did not look beyond, nor
guess, as I trotted hard and fast in the wake of
UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
my lord's chaise and two, that the hours of this
fancy-free, light boyhood of mine were numbered
—that peril, and the fret of love, and knowledge
of life's darker issues, lay scarce further ahead of
me than my own horse's ears.
What plan had I ? What project, when, if
luck favoured me, I overtook my lord ? Nay,
I had no plan ; my mood was too light to harbour
one, and all I thought of was the distraction of
the chase. The moon was free of clouds as I
rode, ; id swam like a silver boat in the dark lake
of the sky. The woods were mantled in night
mist, and somewhere over the far meadows a
bird was plaining to the stars. Never was
night more friendly to such a tender all-fool's
chase as mine ; and sometimes I thought of
Charlie Stuart, but oftener of the stranger-maid
whose beauty was the gossip of every roadside
tavern.
There was not a stiver to choose, in point of
fact, between the two occupants of my brain —
the one was a name, the other a face, hidden by
a brown hood, which I had taken on hearsay.
Small matter of that, however, so far as my gaiety
went. We dipped over a hill-crest, my horse and
I, and down below us showed a chaise and two,
THE LADY OF THE POST-CHAISE. 13
bumping from side to side of the road as it swung
on its way to London. Further beyond, at the
end of a long sweep of level, a lonely heath spread
open arms to the round, clear moon. Easy going
it was, and pleasant, for on either side the road
there stretched so wide a strip of smooth-shaven
turf that a horseman could avoid altogether the
rutty middle of the track.
"Faster, lad! Art asleep?" I whispered
into my nag's ear, and touched him with the spur.
They had the start of me by a clear half-mile,
and their cattle were more fresh than mine ; nor
could all my persuasions of whip and spur bring
me level with the chaise until we gained the
confines of the heath. I looked ahead; they
were passing a solitary clump of trees, and, unless
the moonlight tricked my eyes for distance, not
five-score yards lay now between us.
As I strained my eyes ahead and counted the
lessening yards, a mounted figure slid from out
the fir shadows. I caught the glint of a pistol-
barrel, and heard a scream as the post-horses
came to a sudden halt ; and it grew clear to
me that I was to become an actor in a drama
such as I had least expected. I covered the
intervening space of road as if all England had
»l
14 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
raised the hue-and-cry behind me, making so
little noise about it, by reason of the smooth
grass beneath my horse's hoofs, that the high-
wayman had scarcely time to turn before I was
at his elbow. My sword was free of the scabbard
by this time, and I knocked up his pistol with a
wrist-turn of the blade that sent his weapon
flying into a neighbouring clump of furze.
" By your leave, I am interested in these
travellers," I laughed, feeling pleased with the
turn which the adventure had taken, and having
no wish to hale the rogue to the gallows if he
would but make good his escape.
And escape he did without delay, but not
before he had whipped a second pistol from the
holster, and turned in the saddle and fired point-
blank at me. I felt a red-hot stab in my bridle-
arm, but had no time to think of that, for I had
glanced at the post-chaise, and at the window
of this same chaise, peeping anxiously out into
the moonlight, I saw a face that beggared praise.
AU pale the face was, with deep shadows of fear
beneath the eyes ; yet neither fear nor pallor
could rob it of a certain flower-like beauty which
resembled nothing I had ever seen beneath a
woman's hood.
THE LADY OF THE POST-CHAISE. 15
We stood there, she and I, for a breathing
space, like boy and girl who can find no words
to break a needless silence. Then the girl's head
disappeared as if by magic, and a wigged face,
scarred where the razor had ill done its work that
morning, was thrust out. A pair of cold grey
eyes looked at me for a moment ; a harsh
chuckle followed ; and then a thick voice, with
a hiccough jagging all its broad Scots words,
saluted me.
"The de'il's not just discreeminating, I'm
thinking," said Lord Strange, for I judged it
could be no other. " I tak' it hard o' the deil
to go robbing members o' the peerage i' this gait,
when all the while I'm burdened wi' the Prince's
papers "
" Hush, father— hush ! " came a sweet voice
from within the chaise.
" And what for should I whisht ? Is it
peaceable ? Is it nae just unchristiar and
against the articles of the Kirk to put a pistol
to the head of one who carries the bonnie
Prince's "
Agaui the warning voice came from behind,
and a slim, gloved hand was laid on my lord's
shoulder. But I was minded to learn what I
i6 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
could, since my new acquaintance seemed in such
a mighty confidential humour.
" Prince Charlie, did you say ? " I put in,
remembering suddenly the sallow-faced stranger
who had ridden up to the tavern at St. Albans
with despatches for this same Lord Strange.
"Prince Charlie? Is he going to land
then ? "
The old man scowled at me.
" What's that to ye, my man ? " he said, with
sudden gruffness. " Is there nae room for the
twa o' ye i' England, that ye'U forbid hU landing ?
Prince Charlie ? I ne'er heard the chiel's na'-,:<i
afore ye spoke it." Another heavy glance at
me. " Is it a rebel ye are ? " said he. " Come
ye wi' me, lad, as far as London, and I'll house
ye snugly on the gallows."
" Father, this gentleman has rescued us. Will
you not thank him ? " put in the girt.
The old man pondered awhUe, then thrust his
hand out into the moonlight.
" Lad," said he, " I bear ye no malice— no
malice at all. Hoots, mon, step in ower aside
me, an' I'll tak ye safe to London."
" My horse would scarce follow, I fear, were I
to leave him riderless," I explained gravely.
THE LADY OF THE POST^HAISE. 17
" Your horsp ' " hiccoughe 1 the other. " Bid
the chiel step in too, for the chaise is unco' roomy.
A guid man cares for his beast, and there's room
for a', I warrant."
I laughed outright at this; but was checked
at sight of the girl's face, so pitiful it was, and
full of half-contemptuous sorrow.
"With your good leave, my lord, I wiU
ride with you as far as London." I said-
"to keep you free of further molestation" I
added, and caught the girl's eyes fixed on mine
and forgot that my bridle-arm was smarting
keenly. 1^
My lord fell back into his seat. I motioned
the postiUion to drive forward, and set my horse's
pace to theirs. And as I rode I recaUed with a
sense of shame how lightly I had thought of
how lightly I had followed, this girl who traveUed
London-ward with a father who showed little
care for her security.
My arm by this time had grown very painful ;
needle-stabs of pain shot through it, and under
the sharper pain there was a dull, heavy aching
not easy to be borne, so that at length I was com-
peUed to draw rein for awhile and bind up the
bullet-wound as best I could with my kerchief.
i8 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
This done, I iode beside the coach again, and told
myself that the hurt was nothing. Yet a strange
dizziness came over me as we neared London ;
I rocked in the saddle, and the furze-clumps on
the heath moved round me like so many regiments
upon the march. It was awkward, too, to use
my right hand for the reins, and my horse liked
the new touch upon his mouth so little that I had
much ado to keep him in. The road seemed
endless, and I was past interest in anything that
might befall me when at last the post-chaise
halted. Dreamily I heard the door open and
saw the flutter of torches about a grim house-
front upon the left hand of the way, and with a
last effort I checked my horse just as Lord
Strange turned unsteadily to hand his daughter
from the chaise.
" Father, will you not ask this gentleman "
came the girl's voice faintly, as I reeled, recovered,
and fell headlong from the saddle.
When I next opened my eyes I found my
self lying on a couch in a roomy, oak-lined
chamber. The girl whose face I had last seen
on Hounslow Heath was bathing my forehead,
and there was a dull, half-pleasant feeling in
my left arm.
THE L.. )/ OF Irift POST-CHAISE. 19
"It was a ''x'.'.ht did it," I munnured, still
half dazed. " Was I fighting for Prince Charlie ?
They say he means to land."
, " Prince Charlie ! "
I sat up with a start, for there was a keen
note of fear in the girl's voice. "I was but
dreaming," I laughed. " Why, now I remember
—a highwayman molested you on the heath,
and he lodged a bullet in my arm when I
made objection. Have they got out the
bullet ? "
" Oh, yes ; and the leech says you will do
very well when you recover from the loss of
blood."
To which end he bled me more, I'll wager,"
I put in.
" Yes, but not much— no more than a cupful
or so. Sir, what was your talk of Prince Charlie
when you awoke ? " she broke off anxiously.
A cough sounded from the threshold, and we
saw her father standing there. It was broad
daylight now, and his last night's drunkenness
was altogether gone. A queer face it was, seen
closely; grey as parchment, with shifty, blue-
grey eyes, and a mouth that harboured little
resolution.
20
UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
rx. , ^,/"^' ""^^^ "^^ y"""" tall^ °f Prince
Charlie ? said my lord with suave chilUness.
'Nay, naught. Only you said, my lord-it
IS almost the last thing I remember of last night's
domgs-that you had despatches for him. and
" Tis a lie, sir ! A Ue ! " roared Lord Strange
with sudden fury. He spoke the purest English
now, nor could I find any trace of the broad
Scots speech of yesternight. . The smoother speech
disquieted me, I confess; for with the Scotch
tongue his one point of honesty seemed likewise
to have vanished.
" Father I Remember, we owe our safety to
this gentleman," the girl remonstrated.
. „"/".'^/''^^ °^^ ^ ^ ^^^^^'' be«ke, if this
talk drift further down the wind. Look you .ir
I give you thanks for help in time of need. 'and
I beg you will stay under my roof until your hurt
IS cured ; but no more talk of Prince Charlie
m the house of one who counts himself a loyal
servant of his Majesty King George."
I wondered a little at my lord's outburst •
but the dizziness came over me again, and left
me no chance of rejoinder. And. as it proved
I was compelled to accept his lordship's hospi^
THE LADY OF THE POST^HAISE. 21
tality whether I would or no. for a longer space
than euher he or I. or the solen^n-featured leech
who visited me, had dreamed of at the first-
frr' ^!!! '°'' °^ "°°'^' ^°"°^g ^ i^ard da;
tol V'ff ' ''' '"' '""'' ^*^^S« disorder
n me that kept me six whole weeks to my couch
liked t\ "' *°,.'' ^'^ ^^^^^^'^ g-^^t. for I
hked the man httle, and he had named me liar
n a fit of passion. Yet the thought of my depar-
ure was fast growing to be unbearable; for my
lady of the post-chaise spent many an hour with
me each day, reading or chatting to ease my
^stlessness and each day I seemed to note a
Mer look m her eyes and in her voice a softer
tone toward me.
WeU I was but twenty-two, and she eighteen.
y^ chance had we against that light-ffngered
rascal Love, who comes behind a man and steals
his heart at unawares ? Why. none ; and the
avowal which had been on my lips a score o
times slipped out at last.
thetn'^""* T""""'' '"'™°°" '* ^^' toward
he end of my long iUness. Though, to be sure.
anS r ^""'^ *•"'' "^^^ ^""^'^ to ^- by
another and a weaker man. still I could move
from room to room, and even out into the garden •
22 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
and in a day or two I looked to be once more
able to sit the saddle. Mistress Strange said
no to that, however ; and, indeed, I felt that
sense of perfect satisfaction in the present, that
unwillingness to change by a single item the order
of my days, which in itself betokens sickness of
some sort.
What was I doing here, content and un-
pshamed, while the land was throbbing with the
stir of arms ? The question came to me this
afternoon as I lay and watched the winsome
to-and-froing of my nurse ; and I could not put
the thought from me, try as I would, but turned
uneasily and felt my cheeks grow hot. For news
had come, sure news, that Prince CharUe had
landed at Moidart, and that the Hielandmen were
rallying to his standard ; and the Prince's image,
gay, debonair, and reckless, had been constantly
beside me during these past weeks, till it was
familiar almost as my own face in the glass. It
had been beside Lord Strange likewise, if I mis-
take not, though for a very different reason.
Cold, precise, and canny, my lord had shown no
glimmering of warm, red human nature since the
night when I had rescued him ; and I had longed
many a time of late, after his formal visits of
THE LADY OF THE POST-CHAISE. 23
condolence and inquiry, that he would thaw him-
self a little at the fire of wine, and talk the Scots
speech again which once, and only once, had run
so glibly from his tongue. I could not but re-
member how he had spoken of "the Prince's
wee bit papers " on that night ; and now, seeing
him so zeaious for King George, I was forced to
the conclusion that he was running with the fox
and hunting with the hounds, and that he sought
by skilful manoeuvring to stand well with which-
ever side secured the upper hand.
It was no pleasant thought as I watched Nell
this afternoon busy setting an apronful of flowers
into a bowl, and wondered what the fashion of
her mother must have been, since Lord Strange
had patently so little kinship with her. I fancy
my thoughts, of one sort and another, showed
plainer than I meant them to ; for she stopped
on the sudden, holding a sprig of ladslove close
against her cheek and looking shyly at me.
" Are your thoughts worth a penny, sir ? "
she asked.
" No, nor the half of it," I laughed.
" Well, but I will risk so much. Come, now ;
two bawbees 1 A good Scot would seU his
thoughts for one."
24 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" I was thinking of Prince Charlie," I answered
slowly, " and of you, and of the way in which
I've risked outstaying my welcome here."
She whitened at the Prince's name; then,
in spite of herself, her grey eyes brightened.
" The Prince," she murmured, " God keep him,
and God help him ! " And then I heard her
whisper, so low she thought I could not hear :
" Would that my father were whole-hearted for
the Cause ! "
The road was plain, as I saw her standing there,
giriish and straight and fearless, giving God-speed
to the weaker cause. A new man stirred in me
—a man with untried hopes and untried sword-
arm— a man who saw love in the substance, and
side by side with it that shadow-substance which
is glory. There was no will or will not in the
matter ; before I knew that I had risen I was
at her side with both her hands in mine.
" Nell," I said in a voice that seemed another's,
not my own, " send me to fight— to fight for the
Prince's cause, and yours."
I think my grasp was cruel, and I hoped as
much. She would not meet my eyes, but stood
and said no word. And then I saw a change
come over her, and my arms were round her as
I
THE LADY OF THE POST-CHAISE. 25
" by right ; and when we next looked up my
lord her father stood within the doorway, while
we poor fools, fell back and eyed him as if w
had been children, and he the fanner whose
orchards we had lately robbed.
i 'I
CHAPTER II.
A DUEL IN THE DAWN.
It was some time before he spoke. Then, " Mr.
Anstruther," he said, in th». cold, thinly sneering
voice I ..Mt-jd, "your return for hospitality >•.
generous."
That voice of his had never failed to set my
teeth on edge ; nor was my anger smoothed by
the consciousness that he spoke the truth, and
that I had in a measure betrayed his hospitality.
" I love your daughter, my lord, and ask your
leave to marry her," I answered hotly. "Is
there anything less than honourable in that ? "
" My faith, no ! You do me honour, sir, to
wish to wed her. Your birth is equal, doubtless,
and your mean: are ample to support a daughter
of Lord Strange's ? "
" My means are less than my birth, but the
last does not need lacquering, my lord."
It was unwise ; but then, if we are wise at
two-and-twenty, what solace is left us for old
A DUEL IN THE DAWN.
27
age ? Lord Strange, as I knew, had earned his
title by means of some unsavoury service he had
rendered Government, and in birth I was his
better ; yet for all that, when I thought about it
afterwards, I was sorry for my lack of courtesy.
As for Lord Strange, it roused him to an extreme
pitch of anger ; he bade me quit his house upon
the instant, and would, I fancy, have ordered
his servants then and there to thrust me out, had
not Nell checked him.
" I will go, my lord, and I will come back," I
said, bowing gravely to him. " There is a Prince
whose name is in men's mouths. You have
heard of him, perchance ? "
Again it was unwise ; but at two-and-twenty
the charm of playing heroics is apt to overweigh
discretion. He saw my meaning, and for the
first time I read cowardice beneath his blustering
front ; and so, like the blind fool I was, I must
needs follow up my advantage.
" I ride to join the Prince," I said. " Shall
I name you to him, my lord, or carry any
message for you ? Shall I say, for instance,
that you are very zealous for his Majesty of
Hanover ? "
" Maurice ' Maurice ! " pleaded Nell.
38
UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
. JV"'"^"" '•'"' '°' ""= *° '^'"' t««:k my hasty
P^ch and for awhile we stood there sile'nt " v
manner. It was an effort to him, I thought, but
Sorted hi" u- T' ^""^ ''" -''^^ i-t"
deserted hm,. H.s face grew suave, he rubbed
h« hands together and smiled at me
"Mr. Anstruther," he said, "there are some
thmg, dark to you as yet. Go to the Prince, and
you w,U one day understand, perhaps, that he
has well-w,shers who, for his very saLy's sake
cannot proclaim themselves just yet. Zd sty,
s r. You have spoken boldly to me-too boldly
U may be-but I like that sort of quality in a'
Tkade ;» "^ *""' °" P""'"« - *•«« ^'te
"I am. my lord," I answered, astounded by
the sudden change in him.
whelT^'^s''"'.' °"* ' '°^""^ '"' y^""^^"' ^d
When ,t ,s made come back and talk to my
daughter and to me about it."
„,i^**^Kf f ^ *"■' '^""^ °* °»^ *ho walks at
midnight along an unknown road. Lad as I was
I could not accept my lord's conversation as less
han feigned, for I knew more than he wished me
to do, and I was pressing a suit wluch could not
A DUEL IN THE DAWN. j^
nn^'^'^ ■''"*,''" '"'"'""'' *° •"" '"''' f^°^ ^ Wndlv.
and he sm.led so warmly when he spoke of my
retun, to Nell, that I was hard put to it to main-
tain the last spark of resentment. He would not
et me go that day. moreover, as I was minded
to do after what had passed ; pooh-poohin, mi
my scruples, he left me no other course than to
spend one more nipht beneath his roof
I liv? 71 " '''"''^ dinner-party that night, as
I live. Nell was puzzled and ill at ease ; I was
m the position of a lover compelled to sit opposite
the lady who was as yet forbidden him ; Lord
Strange, mdeed. was the only one of us who
seemed unembarrassed by the situation. It was
< .wards the end of dinner that he turned to me
as if carelessly. '
__ "My lad," he said, in his kindliest voice,
rebellion is not so easy a matter, it may be as
you count it. I think you were better of'an
escort to-morrow until you find yourself well
on your northward way."
Again I was nonplussed. Was this the
past ? Or had my lord again drained the wine-
30 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
cup a trifle over freely ? NeU, too. was eyeing
him with some concern, and I could see that she
understood him as little as did I.
" It is not needful, my lord ; not needful at
all," I stammered.
" I should have said as much at your age ;
but in this matter you wiU be wise, sir, to trust
to a more ripe experience. The Government is
alarmed by these tidings of the Prince's landing.
A hint, a suspicion,' that your errand is what it is
and you wiU see the Tower walls sooner than'
Prince Charlie. No, I wiU do my utmost to set
you safely on this venture ; and NeU here "—he
glanced toward her teasingly— " will be the first
to thank me, if I mistake not."
" You are too kind," I munnured.
" I risk more on your behalf, certainly, than
you deserve, sir," he answered, with an air of
blunt candour that infinitely became him ; " but
it is my whim. You will start at daybreak— the
roads will be quieter for your journey then— and
I wiU engage a trustworthy escort. You are
drinking nothing, Mr. Anstruther ; fiU your
glass, and we will drink a toast we understand,"
he broke off, and passed his wine-cup over a
carafe of water in token of the King beyond the
seas.
A DUEL IN THE DAWN. 3,
We drank the toast with grave deUberation,
and then a silence feU between us, while I for
one was divided between shame and a sense of
what was due from me to an older man whom
I had so recently insulted. For a moment I
fought against the truer impulse, but it con-
qiiered me at last.
" My lord," I said— and I knew that my face
was crimson-"! was guilty of unpardonable
rudeness this afternoon. I spoke of my birth
and— and of yours— and— I am ashamed, mv
lord." ^
" Tut-tut ! " cried he, passing the bottle once
again. " If I were to regret so keenly aU my
own little faults of temper, why, Mr. Anstruther,
I should not find life bearable. Say no more of
it, sir— say no more of it."
He was generous in the matter; I felt as
much, even while I sought for some explanation
of his change of front. For he grew even warmer
as the evening wore toward candle-time ; no host
could have been more suave, more kindly, and I
began to hate myself for doubting him. Yet, as
I took my candle that night and went upstlirs
betimes in readiness for to-morrow's early start,
I could not rid myself of the suspicion that he
32 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE,
encouraged me so heartily simply because he
hoped that the chances of war would remove
one who held a dangerous secret. I was at an
age, I fancy, to think lightly of such chances
save those which promised high renown ; and I
feU asleep weU pleased with my own cleverness
in guessing my lord's purpose, and weU satisfied
that I should thwart the same by coming safe
through all. I did weU, perhaps, to enjoy while I
might my innofcent self-satisfaction, for the
morrow was to show-and that in no doubtful
terms-with what little skill I had probed Lord
Mrange's wihness.
NeU was down to give me break-ast, though
the sun was barely quit of the horizon-mists as
yet, and all the world was fresh still with the
scents and music of the dawn. My lord too
was down, and he left us Httle leisure for a good-
bye, which, now that it showed so near at hand
struck wondrous chill and drear. But NeU's
glance as I kissed hSr hand and whispered " Wait "
was something to remember through the days to
come--something of which not Lord Strange
himself could beggar me.
Six solemn Lowlanders, belonging to my
lord s retinue, awaited me outside the great main
A DUEL IN THE DAWN. 33
door. They were weU horsed, and armed with
t r T = '"' "^ °- -S ^*°°<1 ready
for me w.th a scanty change of wearing-gear
Lord Strange, a last glance from NeD, and I was
off to seek my fortunes ; and I wondered, L^^
gay m keepmg with the mom, that my backward
g ance at Nell, Just before we tumedVcor^
dUX ir:. f^r^ ^ '-^ ^^ « and
I thought little of my companions for the
first ew miles. Two rode ahead-to show the
to foUow the one beaten highway-the rest
foUowed at a score yards or so
with a^Tt'"' ' "° "'" '"''' '°^'' I ™"«ered
with a laugh, commg out of a long reverie.
I looked about me-from the hedgerows
pearl-beaded with the dew, to the pasturllands'
ttrbaTf*"^'^' ''' ^^^'-™^ '^- ^--«
their backs, from the pastures to the flaked blue
It was aU wondrous sweet and crisp, and Nell's
ace went dancing by me as I rode' And then
I looked at the sun again, and felt a quick in
stmctive doubt. ^ '
D
34 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" What is this ? " I cried, drawing rein on
the sudden. " The sun is constantly on our left
hand, and we should be faring north, not south."
I thought a wrinkled smile passed from one
to another of the Scotchmen— Lord Strange's
sort of smile, so thin that it seemed they had but
the one fuU grin among them, and must therefore
use it sparingly.
"There's mony a chiel gangs south who
thinks he should gang north," said one of them,
as if he were quoting from a godly psalm.
I misliked their look, and I misliked this
little-courteous speech. A hanging cloud of
smoke, moreover, showed in the far distance of
the road, and I knew at last— what only a lover
or a fool would have failed to guess long since—
that it was London we were bound for. What
did it mean ? A score of suspicions came to me ;
but there was nothing cle-... save that I had no
mind to find myself in London. I wheeled about,
but only to find that the four who rode behind
me spread out across the road, and each of them
laid a hand upon his claymore-hilt as though he
loved it like a first-bom. My father's admirable
training stood me in good stead, for I was able,
remembering the many pleasant oaths which he
A DUEL IN THE DAWN. 35
had taught me. to ease my feelings by such abuse
of the SIX stout Lowlanders as only their own
mot eMongue could have surpassed/ Yet at ti:
less thev Tr" """'-^'^-dour, grim, relent-
less they sat their saddles as if no force op th
ecu r I move them.
last'-' ".;"" "° "^'^'y ^^°™. laddie," said one at
last , no badly sworn for a Southron. Hech
mon, but it's a sinful waste o' breath, for we'
had varra careful orders to see ye safe to yoT-r
journey's end." ^^^
'' And whereis that?" I snapped.
Nay, ye will ken a' i' euid tim» r
«^..ddie,forit'nma.rirUr
As I live, I relished those few moments not at
sight of that m the bitterness of knowing that
Pril cT ■• "^ ''' "'""^^'^ '"y -^°lve to join
Pnnce Charhe ; and after this I had not scrupled
to taunt one whose enmity I should at all costs
have avoided. I saw it aU in a flash : my lor J
abrupt change Of front, his eagerness «!:;
should fare across the border, his kindly wish to
see me safely escorted through the more d'angero,!;
36 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
country about London— they meant no more than
that he had framed a plot which did credit to
his mgenuity. I knew, as well as if I held the
proof of it, that these six rascals were pledged
to take me to the Tower, there to be handed over
to Government as a rebel, and likely hanged as
soon as Government foimd leisure to look after
me. True, I might expose my knowledge of
his lordship's " papers from the Prince " ; but
my word would be discredited, and his own
innocence would only show the clearer by reason
of his zeal in securing my imprisonment.
All this ran through my brain ; and when I
turned my horse, wth no word said, and rode
forward once again in the direction of that thick-
ening cloud of smoke, I was so exquisitely alive
with wrath that strength, resource, and cunning
were strangely quickened. I would "come
cannily " with my lord's men ; I would seem to
throw up the sponge ; but the first chance that
offered should find me more than ready.
We journeyed for a matter of a mile, it may
be, and still no loophole of escape had shown
itself. My resolution faltered once or twice, I
own ; but each time I took a firmer grip of the
saddle, and set my teeth, and said to myself that
A DUEL IN THL DAV'N.
37
I would find a way out of this, if the odds against
me were twelve instead of six to one. And by-
and-by, when I least looked for it, ray oppor-
tunity showed plain, for in a pasture-field that
lay on our right hand at the turning of the way
we came upon a pretty scene. Two gentlemen
were facing each other on the sward, stripped to
their rufHed shirts, and the sun struck points of
light from off their sword-blades as they settled
into position. Behind each combatant his second
stood, and under a great elm tree, not far re-
moved, a couple of grave-faced leeches watched
and waited. Between the duellists and us was a
high wooden fence, with a little stream at the
far side of it.
I had glanced idly at the combatants at first ;
and then a thrill ran through me— the thrill of
blind impulse — and I took in every detail of the
scene with one quick glance. My guards, seeing
me so tame and well behaved, were riding in
loose order. Before they guessed my aim, I had
driven my horse back as far as the width of the
road permitted, had given a piercing yeU as I
drove my spurs well home, and was flying like a
swallow over that ugly six-barred fence that
would have unseated any but a madman. A
3« ^^^ER THE WHITE COCKADE
madman I was at the moment • but I M, ■
gay. and I remember thini" ^"* ^ ^^^* P«smg
topmost Of the leaped J^d T. ' "* '' ''^
dance . minuet beneath Te^l . '""^^ ^"^^
bidden me loam Tood dt^' ""^ ^""'^'^ ^^^
;hese,entiem:rorirr;hrr
teTtr,r™'"-^-'-r^
chance "/;4;''^« again -thout mis-
saw the foremo? oV h^e S^ t^H ""' ' *""''"^' '
strange antics on the sword j"™ '^''°™'"«
tance his horse lav fl ^ ' '"'' '' ^ ^'"^^ dis-
Thisgavemel "^^ r""''""^ ^ the stream,
warned by th mLh' """"' ^'^^^ ""^ ^^"°-.
--rb;r;e;tdTt"'T '"'---
blades were ^bou^o t^ *"™!'^'J-' ^ ^^eir
dear the fence A mo 1 ^""^ '^^° ">«
drawn rein beside th '"°"' ^"'^ ^ •>-d
ground. ^' *'''" ^"^ h-d slipped to
" Gentlemen," I ea,H ^ ,-
«-e. "it is ag ins ul J ' "''"^ ^* "^
between crossed blades but I TT *° ^""^
to show you." ^ ^^"^ '^"er sport
I -de the request as if it had nothing more
ing
the
rth
ad
lat
ly
A DUEL IN THE DAWN. 39
radettf!;"^"''^^'"^"^"-*- friend;
made ,t, mdeed. so cooUy that they stared at me
and one-a bullet-headed rogue, with a red fTc
a.d^ devU-.ay-care bright eyes-laughed o"!
sum'l'^""'*'' ''"■■" '' '"'"'• "y°"'^« '=°°1 « the
summers mom itself. You come here like Old
Nick astride a broom, and "
through" z ::::X"T^-^^^' ^"'^^^ ^'^^
meadow come "Tile" '"' '""""^ *° ^''^
i-uraer. nme presses, sir, and if vou
cannot let your duel wait, why, I must say good
day and trust to my horse's heels again "
one Jh'^ ^^"t you?" said the bullet-headed
one, as he leaned his sword-point carelessly against
the ground and bent the blade into a crescent
Ay, sir, they want me," I rejoined. " And
so does the Scotch lord who bade them see me
sale to prison by trickery."
" What, have you stolen his lordship's purse
or^merely kissed his women-folk behind the'
" The latter, to be canHiH '■ t
„„, . , . ' " L-e canaid. I answered,
echoing his own cheery laugh.
I think my spirits were infectious, or they
matched the temper of their own. At any rate!
40 JNDER THE WUrTE COCKADE
barlf unft, J "ucjiist cjaj ped me on the
with a bow to his .,-..d-„,-,. •'' °'^' '""'"'S
The other responded with a salute as sweeping
It W.U g,ve n,e the greatest pleasure, sir to
^youmaquarterofanhour-stimeins'teTd;;
Again we all laughed merrily; and then
tt L*. enemy's strength incr'ised now l'
the add:t,on of the fallen man-who, wit! .is
horse, seemed not much the worse fo, Lis a, .en
ture-and seeing them all advance upon us\2th
drawn blades, we looked at one anoL asW
wh.ch way were best to meet the ho^et^
Our own horses, with the exception of mine'
reach them, d m any case I think we aU pre-
iTt f m f^ r ''"''• --^'""^ *» ^^ ^ashTn
most famJiar to us. My bullet-headed friend
und k"'n^ ' ''°''- °" '""^ *°P °^ -^-h wa^^a
round knoU, covered thick with rocks and fur«
A DUEL IN THE DAWN. 4,
and prickly shrubs ; he pointed to it after a
moment's thought, and soon we were following
him to this vantage-ground with all the speed
that we could muster.
It was good, my faith, to see those dour
Scotch faces as they learned our plan too late •
they could have cut us to ribbons a moment
since, but now we were so securely guarded
against a cavalry attack that they had no re-
source save to dismount. I could not but admire
the fellows. I confess. They never halted nor
thought, it seemed, of retreat ; they just came
on with whirling broadswords, and before I had
recovered from the surprise of my mad escapade
we were fighting for our lives. The leeches would
have thrown in their lot with ours, but we bade
them keep whole skins against the time when
most of us might need their services ; and so it
was SIX against five-six canny devUs, with swords
four times the weight of ours, and five laughter-
shaken gentlemen who would not see any but
the droll side of the matter. But of these five
four were practised duellists ; and if my own sword
were less tiicd, it was time I learned experience
from my betters. We had, moreover, the advan-
tage of the ground, and the game, aU points con-
4= UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE,
sidered. was as fairly matcher' as if a kindly
Provdence had made all due arrangements for us.
We did not laugh ..ftc. ihe first clash of blades.
We had no breath k, it, indeed, nor leisure, for
the broadsword claims a respect peculiarly its own.
Hotter the fight grew ; ou. breath began to come
fitf.'ly, then in light sobs, till I, for one. could feel
my heart come lumbering up against my ribs.
Heavy strokes from the Scotchmen, and quick
flashes from our own light blades, followed
one the other ceaselesly. I was touched twice
upon the body, and I heard the bullet-
headed fellow, fighting on mv right, rap out a
sudden oath i„ token that he. too. was hurt
Swift, stubborn, and entrancing it all was • the
world was shrunk to a patch of fur.y heath, and
all the gladness in the worid was centred in the
sunlit whirr of blades that never rested.
I got my man at last high up toward his
shoulder-blade; and at the same moment the
bullet-headed duellist, for aU his wound, sent up
a merry cry.
"We have them, gentlemen!" he cried
breathing hard between the words. "By the
luck of Our Lady, charge ! "
And charge we did. right down upon the Scots,
■
A DriEL IN THE DAWN. 43
who had momentarily given way before us.
Before they could raUy we were through them ;
we raised a wild, low cheer of victory, and circled
round them with such quick turns and feints and
shif tingsof our ground that they grewas bewildered
as if a hive of bees were buzzing round them.
Even their hard courage failed them ; again they
wavered, then broke and fled for dear Ufe down
the slope.
Two of them, thrust through the thigh,
dropped headlong as they ran, but the rest made
for their horses which stood tethered to thp gate.
" We must stop them t " I yelled, r.icing hot-
foot after them.
" Ay, marry," growled the bullet-headed one,
"or they'll raise the hue and cry before we've
settled our interrupted duel."
With what little wind was left us we gave
them a fast race to the gate, overtook them,
turned them, dismayed yet and unable to rally
for one last stand, and drove them in a scattered
line up the steep hill again.
This done, we cast an eye over their honses,
and found that we should not benefit by the
exchange ; so, unslipping their bridles, we gave
them each a touch of the sword-point and sent
44 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
them racing weU beyond the reach of present
capture. My own horse stood where I had left
him, regarding the scene with pricked ears and
wondrous eager eyes; I whistled to him, got
to back, and sat for a moment looking down
upon my comrades— friends now, though not
long since they had been less even than
acquaintances.
"Gentlemen," 1 said, "it is something rude
to leave in haste after having claimed your
leisure ; but what would you, when there are
four resourceful Scots still on their teet-and
still bent on taking me, I warrant ? "
"Sir," said the bullet-headed one, reaching
up one hand and wiping a cheek-cut with the
other, " we have to thank you for a frolic. We
came a league from town this morning to seek a
light, and, gad, we've found it ! "
Each in turn reached up a hand— one his left,
for the right was useless by his side. And a keen
regret was with me as I bade farewell, that I
must part from four such light-hearted blades as
soon as I had tried their mettle. Thrice I turned
about in the saddle after going through the gate,
and the third glance showed me that the princi-
pals had gravely taken their ground again, and
A DUEL IN THE DAWN. 45
that the seconds, too hurt to stand unaided, were
kneeUng each behind his man and ordering the
conduct of their interrupted duel. I was to see
life m Scotland ; but amongst the wannest of my
recollections is that of my friendly, gay quartette,
ready to fight with or against any man at any
moment of the day.
My northward road lay, of necessity, past
Lord btrange's house, which I had left with less
expenence an hour or so agone. It was still early
and the close-barred look of doors and windows
stirred a fresh frolic in my blood. It was a lad's
tnck, I know; but I could not hold back from
It. Glancing behind me to make sure that none
of my late guard were on my track, I cantered
up the smooth, broad drive and stopped beneath
Lord Strange's window. My shouts brought
forth a nightcapped head.
" I come to bid farewell a second time, my
lord," I cried. " My thanks for the guard, which
IS trusty as your honour."
He looked as if a ghost had serenaded him.
and then he withdrew his head, and I, with a
thought of pistols, turned my rein. As I did so
a window opened over the main door, and the edge
of the dearest face in England peered at me
46 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
slantwise from a Ufted comer of the curtain
I stopped, although delay was risky.
" Give me a gage, Nell ! " I cried, careless of
all eavesdroppers. "A gage, dear lass! For
there'U luck go with the gift."
There was a pause, broken by a pistol-bullet
which touched my ear; and then a kerchief
light as thistledown and fragrant as Nell's self
came floating from tjie window over the main
door.
I made a white cockade from that same
kerchief; and aU the luck it brought me you
shall read, if these rough-written memoirs lead
you further on the road to Scotland.
Ah, weU ! Time wags. But that summer's
mom, which saw me win a fight and claim a
ladys kerchief, shows crisp and merry to me
as If stiU the dawn were breaking over Lord
Strange s house, and 1 were watching Nell's
face peep from the lifted blind.
CHAPTER III.
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES.
YOUNG men and old have this trait in common
- hey both regard their own fortunes, their own
teehngs, as the keynote of the world. Old men
disguise it better, even to themselves ; they lack
the fresh, compelling candour of the boy, who
looks all men in the face and says, " See me, I am
a>mmg high, and there's nothing worthier than
success— than my success."
I was two-and-twenty when I left Lord
Strange s house, with the daughter's kerchief in
my breast and the father's pistol-bullet whistling
past my ear ; I was two-and-twentv. and on my
way to join Prince Charlie, whose name had
magic m .t. SmaU wonder that I fancied every
man must know my business and approve it
and that I felt a something, quick and warm
and notous, go singing through my blood
The country was full of smouldering rumours
as I went north ; news travelled slowly from far
48 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
Scotland, and every taphouse gossip-monger was
free to give, with circumstantial detail, the plan
of Charlie's route, the forces he had mustered,
the number of the men he hoped to win in England.
One thing was sure — that in every county the
better sort of men, the squires and so forth,
were hot for the Stuart cause ; no man could halt
at so many taverns as did I, and listen to the
tongue-wagging, and not be sure that Prince
Charlie had more supporters than the reigning
King. And this seemed natural ; for even I,
who knew more of impulse than of sober pohtics,
could understand that CharUe's cause was
England's cause. The Stuarts were our own, of
the same blood ; the Georges, with no grace of
mind or body to recommend them, were alien to
the soil. I have lived long since then, and times
have changed, and they tell me that all has
worked together for the best, now that we have
a settled Throne and prosperous days. That may
be, but to this hour it seems strange to me that
all dignity, aU sense of God-sent privilege, has
been removed from Royalty, leaving it a bare,
wooden thing, carved in the image of what once
had life.
At any rate, there were thousands of generous
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. 49
hearts iu England here going out to Charhe in the
North, and I met few who, lukewarm as they
might be for the cause, could yet find aught to
say for George's claims. The further north I
got— I took the western route through Lan-
cashire—the deeper grew the general unrest, the
wilder the rumours of coming battle. Some said
that aU the Highlands were up for the Stuarts,
and that the Lowlands waited only for the
Prince's coming to join his company. The
Lancashire gentry, indeed, were fuller of zeal
than any I had met with yet, and talked openly,
in tavern and in market-place, of their readiness
to take up arms for Charlie. It was. as if the
ancient days were back, when Mary Stuart's
name was like the breath of violets in the land,
and men were moved to desperate hazards by
chivalry alone.
Ah, how that northward ride of mine comes
back to me ! The busy streets of Ashbourne on
a market day, the sunlit roofs of Macclesfield, the
softened grimness of old Lancaster. They were
to witness much, these streets, although I could
not know it as I rode upon my eager quest. They
were to see the wild Hielandmen come down,
with strange weapons in their hands and the
so UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
battle-hunger in their eyes, to conquer London ;
they were to see the backward march, and strong
men weeping for their shame, and bonnie Charlie
riding, a figure of sorrow, on a jaded horse, a
mile behind their rear. But this, thank God, was
hid from us, and by the time I reached Carlisle I
was assured that we had only to ride south to
have all England with us.
At Carlisle I was icompelled to he three days
to rest my horse, and the city was full of a curious
unrest. They were nearer than they liked to
Scotland, and memories of the old-time raids
were passed between the greybeards. Already
they were making preparations in the Castle —
that luckless Castle of Carlisle which seems to
have been built only to be taken by the first
enemy that came beneath its walls. There was
surer news here of the Prince's doings ; and when
I heard, on the third morning, that his army
was marching upon Perth I got to saddle gaily,
feeling that at last I was Hearing all that made
life love-worthy. Through the Lowlands I went,
with the glamour of the cause about me, and in
my heart a gaining love for the Prince whom I
had never seen.
It was Hearing candle-time as I rode into
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. j,
Dunblane, saddle-sore indeed, but fuU of the news
wh.ch I had lately gleaned in Edinburgh-tri
news, nan^ely, that Prince Charlie, whom I had
ndden many a score miles to meet, was lying
T K\r^ "° ''''''''' °ff *han Perth. M
through the journey I had been picturing how
my meetmg w^.th the Prince would come to pass
-d what fashioned gaUant he would prove.'aTd
Ma^ A rH' "-^"^^^ ^"^ ^-*^^"' that
I. Maunce Anstruther, had ridden so far to place
my sword-blade at his service. Truly 71
young for two-and-twenty i
talked"v^S."h-"" kk' ''™^"*' ^"^ -'^h --
taJked w,th his neighbour of the Highlanders who
lay so near the town. The folk seemed aU to be
m a panic, and they were certainly in no good
mood toward the Prinrp • J„^« a ^ ° sooa
h,lf u .. ' '"'^^''^' ™y sword was
half unsheathed three times or .so between the
outskirts of the village and my tavern. Yet
prudence was a growing quality with me-'tis in
the air up here, I fancy-and I held back from
demanding satisfaction for insults to a Prince
who^ as yet was a name to me and nothLg
Weary saddle-sore, unable to shake off my
^n at hearing a fair name fouled, I gave my
spli
52 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
horse to the ostler and strode into the tavern
with a brief and scarcely civil call for supper.
" I have but the one room, sir, and two
gentlemen are there already," said the host.
" Have they the plague, that you should
not wish me to share their company ? " I
snapped.
" Why, no ; but I thought you maybe looked
for quiet." ,
" I look for supper and a bottle of wine, and
after that ten hours of bed. And be speedy, host,
lest I should forget my stomach in a nap, and
wake the worse for it."
He opened the door of a low, stuffy room, rich
with the mingled odours of snuff, tobacco, and
old ale-droppings. I entered, and by the light
of the candles set upon the mantel I saw two
gentlemen seated by the hearth, each with a pot
of liquor in his hand. At lea."!, they wore the
air of gentlemen, but. one of them was smoking
a clay pipe so black and stunted that a hackney
coachman would have looked askance at it.
They tunned as I came in and bowed most
civilly ; and I, on my part, bowed in response
and muttered that the night was fine. The
strangers courteously agreed, with the suggestion
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. 53
that the wind was softening for rain, and then
they asked me if I had ridden far.
"Stirling was my last i«sti„g.place on mv
way from Edinburgh." I answered, availing my-
self of the space they made for me before the
hearth It was September, but the warmth of
the peat fire was welcome.
The one who smoked the unclean pipe turned
qu.ldytome.andlnotedthathiseyerasthey
rested for a moment upon mine, were curiously
bnght, yet soft for all that.
" What are they saying, sir, in the capital ' »
he^asked. " It is long since I trod Edinburgh
^J,"^^7 ^'' '^^"® *''"* P™'^'' Charlie is a
daft caUant-and that he is a rebel-and that
he ,s the Lord's Anointed," I laughed. " My'
irintdUurg^r^ "° ^^° ^'^^^ ^^^ i-
oart'Lf ; ^?"' ^'""■"^ •' ^'^^y ''' ^ -«« thing
man, a wide-shouldered, goodly looking Scot.
Their talk, for the most part, does not
suggest so much. They are strengthening the
Castle garrison, moreover, and the city is look
>ng to its guard. As for Dunblane here, the
54 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
think the Prince is brother to Old
townsfolk
Nick."
My voice was testy, and I saw the two of
them cross glances.
" Your opinion differs, sir, if I may hazard a
conjecture ? " said the man with the black pipe.
I spread my hands above the peats with a
mighty nonchalant air. "I'm but a plain
Englishman, travelling for pleasure," I said.
" Faith, what should I know of His Highness or
his merits ? "
" True," put in the wide-shouldered Scot, and
I thought there was some dry laughter under-
neath his words. " True ; His Highness's merits
are not yet voiced upon the housetops. You
choose an unlikely time, sir, as I live, for a visit
to this country."
Misgiving seized me. Had I allowed my
tongue too loose a rein when speaking of the
Dunblane folk ? It might be so, for I was a
'prentice hand at pnidence yet, and my two
companions had exchanged more than one mean-
ing glance. To cover my uneasiness, I put a
thumb and forefinger into the snuff-box on the
mantel and dusted each of my nostrils in their
turn.
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. 55
" Indeed, sir," I answered slowly, " I find
httle pleasure in my travels, unless there be danger
here and there to salt the journey. And yet I
scarcely think *he Government would on that
account suspect me of any disaffection toward
the reigning house."
" Well, that may be ; but yet it is curious
you should speak of this Pretender lad as His
Highness, as you did awhile smce. It had a rebel
ring with it, I thought."
Do as I would, that tell-tale blush came
mounting to my cheeks- -the blush for which my
father had been wont to rail at me three times
a day at least. The man w>h the black pipe
was eyeing me gravely all this while ; and each
time that I met his glance I was conscious of a
feehng I could not explain-a compulsion and a
charm in one. His next words altered that
however. '
" Pardieu, sir," said he, using an oath that was
not common on our side the English Channel,
I trust that your wit is equal to your comeli-
ness, and that you are not bent on following this
mad Prince to the gallows."
" I am bent, sir, on eating a good supper
as soon as the] fool-host^will serve me>ith it." I
56 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
answered briefly. " As for the Prince, I have
never yet set eyes on him."
" You have not missed much," he went on,
with an easy impudence that maddened me.
" They say the yellow-haired laddie is well enough
if a woman or a wine-flask is to be conquered,
but that his talents scarcely go beyond."
, His companion smiled drily, and I wondered
that I still kept silence'.
" Besides, I hear that he is apt to leave good
comrades in the lurch when danger threatens,"
went on the first .nan, taking some tobacco from
a purse as dirty as the pipe itself and slowly
ramming it into the bowl.
My temper, frayed too roughly, snapped on
the sudden. New lessons were forgotten, and aU
my old impulsiveness leaped out.
"The next time you hear it, sir, give him
that says it a cut across the cheek," I flashed.
He only seemed amused, as i{ he had a chUd
to deal with.
"Indeed!" said he. "But why, I pray
you ? " y f *y
"Because he «es— because all lie who say
that the Prince is less than his weU-wishers
think him."
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES, 57
My faith, I had no hear! f ,r strategy One
swift regret I had. to have been trapped into
self-betrayal so easUy ; and ilien regret went by
the board. I cared not ; if they were spies-
and I had no doubt of it In this-the- ni^-ht
test the mettle of my -.word-blvJ.' I.ete and now
Instmctively I glanced about nio, ,eekiig a place
of vantage from which I might ke, p up a fi^ht
against the double odds.
The man seemed lacking in the least spark of
passion ; he lit a tinder-stick at the fire before
repiymg, and blew a cloud of evil-smelling sn.ol e
from out his pipe. Tlien. "You are warm
ma foi," he said, " and you have less prudence,'
after all, than comeliness."
" Hark ye, sir ! " I cried hotly. " r have
heard enough of treason for one day. There was
no huckster in Dunblane, as I passed through
but had your sort of sneer upon his lips. The
Prmce was this, and the Prince was that, accord-
ing to the foul mind of his backbiters."
He shrugged his shoulders, and smiled again.
"The Pretender wears fine feathers; you'U
age in time,"my lad," he said drily.
That was the last touch. I turned and seized
the ale-pot resting on the table at liis elbow, and
'Hi
58 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
was about to fling the contents in his face — when
the broad-shouldered Scot, who had been laugh-
ing at the quarrel rntil now, got sharply to
his feet.
" Hold, laddie ! " he cried, seizing my arm.
" A jest's a jest, but I wadna carry it ower far if
I were ye." His voice had dropped into the broad-
est Scotch, though heretofore his English had
been smooth and chiselled as his comrade's.
I stared at him. " A jest, sir ? " I spluttered.
" A jest ? I do not understand. I mean to sting
this fellow into fight ; and, by th I ord Harry,
I'll thrash him through the town if he refuses."
But the Scot still kept his hand upon my
sword-arm ; and a tighter grasp, or one that
made me wince with pain more exquisite, I never
have experienced. His comrade, not moving a
hair's-breadth from his seat, puffed out another
cloud of smoke.
" I refuse your challenge, sir, and I deny your
right to name me coward."
" Indeed, and do you ? " I cried. " I'm
grieved, sir, that you will find no gentleman of
iionour to support your view of it."
"Any gentleman would support me," he
went on quietly. " There is in the imwritten
IS
II
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. 59
code, if you remember, a law to the effect that
a Prince need not accept a duel with a subject."
He was playing with me, this fellow with the
queer brown eyes and self-assured demeanour
Agam I felt a qualm, for the Scot had not released
my arm, and I saw with sufficient clearness that
they would not let me fight, but meant to appre-
hend me by brute force.
" Spare me further jests," I said sourly. " I
mistook you for gentlemen, and find that you
are spies. Pardon me the error."
" I did not say I was a spy, but that I was a
Prince," put in my enemy.
''One tale will serve as weU as another, doubt-
less," said I, minded to be as ironical as he. " Of
what country, sir, are you a Prince ? Of Newgate,
may be, or the Kingdom of the Thieves ? "
"Nay, of a fairer country. They call me
Charlie Stuart, and some think that I'm a
Prince of Scottish blood."
The room spun round me. Was he mocking
me still, or was it truth ? I recalled the charm,
as of a kingliness suppressed, which had been
broken by his rough handhng of the Prince's
name. What did it mean? My companions
were shaking with laughter all this while, and I
6o UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
could see that they were making the most of my
bewilderment. Yet they laughed like honest
men ; and when they bared their breasts to me,
and showed me the white cockade close hidden
there, I knew not what to think.
"Forgive me, sir, if I tried your loyalty a
trifle over far," said he with the black pipe.
" Faith, your Highness, he knows not whether
to believe you now ! " put in his friend.
The other's glance met mine with friendly
straightforwardness.
" Laddie," he said, " we three need none of
us have doubts. I am the Prince ; and you, as
I live, are loyal to the point of recklessness. It
is a temper that I like to meet with."
I could not doubt him now. The mask was
off, and I, who had ridden far to meet the Prince,
was weU content to find him at the end— to find
him as he was, black pipe and all.
" Sire," I said, dropping to my knee, " I came
to fight for ycu."
" God give you fortune, lad," he said, and
then he lifted me as a step sounded down the
passage; for it was perilous in those days to
be discovered kneeling to anyone who had brown
eyes and a figure like the Prince's.
Iiii> I ii
\
■ WE THREE NEEU NONE OF US HAVE DOUBTS.
V
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. 6i
It was the serving-maid bringing in my supper,
and after she was gone His Highness would hear
of nothing less than my sitting down forthwith
to table.
" But, sire," I cried, " I cannot sit at meat,
and see you there without a dish before you."
He got to his feet at once and placed a chair
for himself at the comer next my own. " You
have two plates there, I see ; I pray you, give
me one," he said. " And now that I have robbed
you of one coUop out of four, I pray you, sir,
begir for you look sadly over-ridden."
I fell to with a vigour that did me credit,
while the Prince ate sparingly, and watched me
as if it did him good to see a healthy appetite.
It was not till I had finished that I fount, time
to remember all that I had said to Prince Chariie
during the late controversy; and I found no
great comfort in the recollection. So seriously
had I ridden in quest of him, and with such
buoyant faith in the romance that led me on ;
and at the end of aU I had sought to fasten a
tap-room brawl upon the object of my loyalty.
" Your Highness," I stammered, feeling vastly
ill at ease, " I suspected you of being a spy just
now."
i^s^BS%^^'ist::iMjxsMxxiJ^nim mrAMMijmi]ii i imK B ma Km m ■J ii 'SMaraig'.'MM'iiBt ;
i
62 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" True ; 'twas mighty ungenerous of you,"
said he with a mellow laugh.
" I— I sought a duel with you."
'' r faith you did, and that was treasonable."
" I said you lied, sire, and offered to whip you
through the town. Sire, I'm a fool— the first of
all the Anstruthers who ever was, my father
says."
He laid a hand on mine. " Mr. Anstruther
—that is your name. I take it— I would wish to
meet more fools of your kidney ; and, if you need
proof of my regard for you, I will tell vou why
my friend MacGregor here and I find ourselves so
far from Perth, where all my army lies."
The broad-shouldered Scot who answered to
the name MacGregor gave a dry cough. " Is it
wise, your Highness ? " he muttered.
"Perfectly wise. Look you, MacGregor, I
never yet could trust a man by halves, and Mr.
Anstruther has brought my boyhood back to
me."
It was left-handed praise, my faith, to one
who began to think himself a man indeed ; but
I cared not whether the Prince thought me a boy
or not, so only he was pleased to give me appro-
bation.
l^^Mi:tSKii BS^^Uiii ■ .«K.:vj
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. 63
" A word in your ear, though, Mr. Anstruther,"
went on His Highness, turning to me quickly.
" Our meeting here has been so unlocked for and
so curious that when you said you had come to
fight fa me I accepted your services at once.
Yet thmk awhile. You are young, and the world's
betore you. Will you not choose, while there is
time, some enterprise less hazardous ? "
What was ray happiness to him, that he should
scruple to avail himself of one more sword-arm '
Nothing ; but I was to learn that another man's
happmess was precious to him as his own— and
this, I take it, is the kingliest weakness that a
man can have.
I lifted my head, and our eves met and
chnched the matter.
" Sire, I will go your way, not mine," I said.
Captain MacGregor lost half his doumess on
the sudden, and came and took my hand. " Mr
Anstruther," said he, ' yc Iiae an unco' honest
ring about ye, for a' tlie woild like guid steel
rmging on a man's skull-bonr."
This, as I afterwards tame to learn, was praise
as fine as the big Scot had at his command ; and,
after I had given him a hand-gnp that was some-
wliat feebler than his own, we .settled, all three
t/Kon . T" -^ rjj^jmma a i a m ^ sa
64 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
of us, about the hearth, and had fresh measures
of liquor brought, while the Prince told me, in a
few crisp words, the mission that brought him-
self and Mi-Gregor so far from the quarters of
his arm J His explanation enlightened me a
little as to a matter which even to-day is some-
what perplexing to my English mind — the laws,
namely, that bind a Scottish clan and chief to-
gether. For there was a great band of Camerons,
it seemed, in this neighbourhood, and its chief,
Dugald Cameron, lived scarce a league from
Dunblane town. All the clan, and Dugald's wife,
and Dugald's sons, were hot for the Prince, but
the old fox himself would not imperil his pros-
perity by joining the rebellion. The Prince had
tried persuasion fruitlessly, and he and MacGregor
had come to-night to the chief's wife privily in
Dunblane, had learned from her that old Dugald
was more than ever inclined toward the Govern-
ment, but that she had one more card to play
that night, and that she would send them instant
word in case her suit should prosper.
" And so we wait here, Mr. Anstruther," the
Prince finished, " with little hope of the result.
I have let you share our secrets — why, think
you ? "
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. 65
" I cannot guess, sire."
" Because I am a Scot in superstition, and
because, from the first moment I set eyes upon
your face to-night, a quiet voice whispered in
my ear that you would bring me luck. That is
why I drew you into talk, to try you ; that is
why I ask you what were best to be done
supposing-as is likely, seeing the hour grows
late— that Lady Cameron has no word to send
to us to-night."
I shifted uneasily in my chair. His Highness's
confidence in me was gratifying, doubtless ; but
It was embarrassing as well, for I had not the
smallest inkling of counsel or suggestion.
" What were best to be done ? " I echnrd.
" The intricacies, sire, of this clan system that
you speak of are all so new and puzzling to me."
" They would puzzle the deuce himself, I
own," he laughed, "unless, indeed, the deuce
were a native of the country, as our enemies
assert. Yet, if one comes to think of it, Mr.
Anstruther," he went on slowly, and with a
meaning I tried hard to guess, ' its laws in some
respects are very simple. Suppose Dugald
Camero!!, by accident, were to be incapable of
directing the m eU-being of the clan ? Hi.^ eldest
f
•?1
66 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
son would claim their fealty, and would bring
the whole clan, as I know, straight to my camp
at Perth."
I began to understand him in a measure.
" Some accident, your Highness ? " I echoed.
" Yes ; the gravity of the situation war-
rants accidents, since there are six hundred
men in question. But I think Dugald has an
eye to that. He never goes abroad without a
guard ; and at home, his lady tells me, he lives
as if an enemy were laying siege to him."
" And you wish me to secure his person, sire ? "
I said, as a light broke in on me.
" You put it bluntly," laughed the Prince.
" Let us suppose, now, you cotdd make him
prisoner. It would be greatly to your credit, I
own. Neither MacGregor nor myself, you see,
could trick Dugald's canny eyes, or we should
long ago have tried some strategy."
" If I could only do it ! " I murmured, more
to myself than to him.
" All Scotchmen are objects of suspicion to
Dugald now," he went on after a pause ; " and
I, Mr. Anstruther, though I thank Our Lady that
I cannot hide my birth, am somewhat incon-
venienced by it at times."
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. «;
My spirits rose at a bound. There were great
^akes to be played for here, and I was proud to
be a pawn in this game where opposing kings
and castles met upon a board that covered two
wide countries.
"This chief, sire, of the Camerons-what
weakness has he ? '■ I asked. •• There's no rogue
so canny but he's a fool on some one point "
" vl' ^V^^Z J'^** "^^^ **'"'■"•" ^'""^'J Charles.
Yes, Dugald has a weakness, and one that rides
hmi-he cannot keep from sucking honey at a
woman's lips." y ti a
shall 5*''' * r" ^""^ ^"^ *'^"'''"S' ^"d ever
shaUhave; buttherecametomenow. ina
fr!^' T , °'' ^""'^ P'^"^ "'"^»' -«"" to
frame themselves without our will or effort '
"You want this Dugald Cameron's person
sire, without violence ? " said I.
«h=.n ^ f ' ''"*■ "" ^ "^'' ^'- Anstruther. you
shaU not move unless you tell me all your plans •
and, 1 there's danger to yourself in the adventure,'
1 shall not let you go."
" May I leave you awhile, your Highness ? I
am country-bom. and only by walking in the
night a,r can I cool my wits. When I have
shaped my plan. I will return and teU you of it "
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68 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
He signed to me to go, and I heard MacGregor,
who plainly had miscalculated the keenness of my
ears, murmur to the Prince :
" What ailed you, sire, to claim this laddie's
help ? "
And the Prince answered with a laugh :
"What ailed me to land in Scotland, with
seven men, to iight a kingdom ? What will
always ail me, in qommon with Mr. Anstruther
himself ? "
I heard no more, as I turned down the passage
and went as far as the open door of the kitchen,
for my wish for fresh air was a ruse, and I
was minded to try the success of my wild plan
before I ventured into the maw of Dugald
Cameron. Besides, His Highness had enjoyed
considerable laughter at my expense, and
perhaps I might return it in the same good-
humoured kind.
There was no one in the kitchen except the
maid who had brought in my supper. By her
appearance I judged she was the landlord's
daughter, and it suited me well to find her thus
alone.
" There is a jest afoot," I said abruptly. " I
want to play the lady for the benefit of my
■SIX DOWNS 1 HAD TO CHOOSE FROM,"
I' '
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. 6,
suit the delicacy of my shape ' "
said she, .s weel eneuch, but I wadna change
It for a lassie's if I were ye." ^
I knew myself in this guise, however as I
She had been maid to a lady of quality in the
ne^hbourhood. it seemed, and I her Card
robe were many of her mistress's abandoned
dearly and .t was .n outrageous spirits that I
oUowed her upstairs. Six gowns I had to choos
from, and none of the daintier sex had
ever, surely. .ch hard work to cho^'
between contrasting styles. I made my choke
fuU-bottomed coat above, such as was then in
heigh of fashion; and over my wigged heai
to ma^e all trim. I slipped a hood of rufSt br' ^n'
The servant-maid cried out as I stood before
her m my bravery and took the floor with little
minang steps, and she vowed that I looked
the lady to the life. I thanked her gravely Ld
gravely too I put my arms about h^r ; for' "'
was bonme. and my spirits were at flood. '
" I
70 UNDER THE WHITE CCCKADE.
" Surely a woman may kiss a woman," I said.
She held away from me, yet with a look
that bade me persevere.
" Great ladies are not in the habit of kissing
their tiring-maids," she murmured, with averted
tace.
" Great ladies condescend at times."
" So it is a condescension, sir — to — to kiss
me ? " she flashed.
And then, remem,bering that the time was
slipping by, I brought the matter to the proof ;
and her lips were soft as rose petals, with a cling-
ing trick about them that I had not known in
England.
" For a woman, you do it well," she murmured.
And so, of coarse, I showed her I could do
it better still ; and, when next I remembered
the pressing nature of my business and glanced
toward the door, I saw a lady standing on the
threshold — a lady young and slim, who was
regarding this odd scene in which a mistress and
tiring-maid kissed with the fervour of sisters long
separated.
And the lady, young and slim, who stood
there, was no other than Mistress Strange, and I
was wearing her favour at that moment in my
bosom.
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. 7,
I have had many moments in my life when
Hfe itself seemed doubtful, lost ; yet rarely have
I been so moved by despair and heart-sickness
as when I met the eyes of my dear mistress.
You see, it is so light a matter for a man to kiss
a woman— both knowing it is lightness— and yet
so hard to explain the thing to any witness.
Something of my perturbation must have
found its way into my face. My coat, moreover,
lay upon the floor, just as I had thrown it down
when making preparadon for my change of gear.
The tender scene between myself and my own
tiring-woman, as I have said, must have worn
an unusual air to Mistress Strange, and everything
was calculated to arouse suspicion; yet what
fixed this same suspicion was a trifle no man
would ever think of twice— a trifle which to a
woman's mind was proof beyond refutal.
But I did not know of this same trifle, and
so I set myself to make the be.=t of matters. I
curtseyed graciously, and passed good-even with
the lady; and she on her part returned my
bow with an odd air of mimicry.
" I came to seek you, giri," she said, turning
to the tiring-maid. "I grew weary of calling
for you, and now I know the cause."
72 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" This— this lady sought my help," said the
maid, with a frolic in her eyes.
" So it would seem. Indeed, she sought your
kisses too — truly, a warm-hearted country this,
in spite of all they say of it."
I felt as foolish as a man uell could do, between
the pair of them. A woman is enough at any
time to try one's wits, but twa— and each of them
with hidden mockery under dulcet tones— are past
endurance. Yet the matter had to be faced out,
and I did my best.
"The country is warm-hearted, madam," I
said ; " and this was once a maid of mine. She
served me well, and I remember it."
" Indeed ! " cried Mistress Strange again, with
the same delicate, French lifting of the shoulders.
" I will leave you, then, to show more of this
rare gratitude."
And with that she turned, and was gone before
I could ask myself how far she had seen under
my disguise.
Then she was back in the doorway again,
and her ey^ s were on my wearing-gear.
" Madam," she said, " if a stranger might offer
you advice, I should bir< you not wear spurs
beneath a trailing gown ; the gown is a pretty
one, and it will suffer."
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. 73
I looked at the tiring-maid. and she laughed
as If, my faith, the jest were a richer one than I
was finding it.
" Damme 1" I muttered, and took a step
toward the door, not knowing whether I should
teU my lady who I was and trust to her forgive-
ness, or whether I had best say nothing until I
had resumed my ordinary gear. It was impossi-
ble, I told myself, that she should have known
me for Maurice Anstruther, her accepted lover
though It was very plain that she knew me for a
man. My doubts were quickly solved, however for
there was no one in the doorway ; only the rustle
of skirts far up the stair and the echo of a low
disdainful laugh were left to tell me that Mis'
tress Strange was here in the same inn with me
There is a philosophy in all matters, and no
man need be sad for long. So I slipped my arm
about the yielding waist of the tiring-maid, and
Sweet," I said, " a. weU be hung for a kingdom
as a sheep. Let me show you once again how
a great lady kisses when her heart is in it."
The moments passed pleasantly enough until
I remembered what had brought me into this
The Pnnce, hard by us in the taproom, was wait-
mg all this time untU I should return and tell him
74 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
of .1 plan to secure Dugald Cameron ; and so I
gave the tiring-maid a last caress — they .all it
" bussing " up in Scotland here, and it is mighty
pleasant — and then stood off from her.
" Great ladies weary soon," said she, with a
glint of her bonnie browr een.
" Great ladies have great woik on hand at
times, ' said I.
"Oh, ay," said she- -and her voice was
strangely like Nell Strange's- -" another lass to
kiss in the next town, or "
What was a man to do, with the girl standing
there, slim, inviting, her mouth rounded into a
pout of invitation ? There was but the one thing
a man could do, and the road of duty was, for
once, not rough at all. Indeed, it was wrong to
forget the Prince's business, and wrong to let
Mistress Strange steal into the cold background
of my mind ; but the Scotch air, I think, has
some queer influence on a man, and all seemed
natural. At any rate, 1 was lecalled to duty by
a second interruption — this time from the land-
lord, who came in hurriedly to pive some order
to his daughter. He entered too hurriedly, in
fact, and I put the girl away from me, and felt
exceedingly foolish, and cast about for some
THREE JOLLY JACOBITES. „
excuse or explanation. The Scotch are tolerant
in these matters, it would seem ; for when I looked
at the host's face I saw a quiet, sardonic grin
upon It, in place of the anger I had looked for
" Aweel, aweel," he said, in the midst of my
vam stammerings, "I'll „o be saying there's
harm in a wee bit buss ; an again I'll no be
saying there mightn't be. Jean, lass, ye should
hae clouted him ower the lugs ; but ye'U be learn-
ing by-and-by.'"
For my part, I was busy with my spurs ; f. ■
If the Prince's business was to be forwarded to-
night, it was time I set about it. The land-
lord watched me as I took off the spurs and shook
my gowi.. into its place with a little woman's
gesture I had learned from stae«;-craft.
"Hoots," he said, still with the same drv
quiet smile ; " there's been a wheen o' haverings
sm' Pnnce Chariie came back to Perth. Lasses
an' lads they've a' run wild, an' now a lad mun
don a lass's claes. I'm thinking, sir, ye are just
ai> o' the wild Charlie's men-an' guid luck to
him for a canty callant."
I answered nothing, but laughed to think how
near to the Prince was this loyal host, and how
little inkling he ha., of it.
t6 under the white cockade.
" This is a posting house ? " I asked.
He said it was, and I ordered a chaise to be
ready at the door without delay; and, while
I waited for it, I went over in my mind what I
should say to the gentlemen who thought that
all this whUe I was taking the night air to
cool my rustic wit. Remembering, too, how
easily I had been discovered, I doffed my boots.
My feet are something small for a man's, and the
lady's— if I may say it without lack of gallantry
—had patently been large. At any rate, I got
me, with some hardship, into a pair of buckled
shoes, and the landlord laughed his quiet, slow
laugh to see me try my paces.
"I've seen mony a more ill-favoured lass,"
he said.
CHAPTER IV.
HOW DUGALD CAME TO PERTH.
When the chaise came, at last. I bade the driver
takemeahalfmiledown the road, and then
return and dr.- up with a great flourish at the
mn-door; for f saw that my chances were far
greater of hoodwinking his Highness and Mac-
Gregor ,f I seemed to step t of a chaise into
the tavern than if I came • hout preamble of
any sort^ I had no time to ask for news of
Mistress Strange, or to leam how long her stay
would be; but it seemed out of question that
she would leave that night, and I reckoned con-
fidenUy upon another meeting with her
AU went smoothly. My driver, though
puzzled by the nature of my commands, obeyed
them implicitly, and. as the chaise drew up a
second time before the door. I stepped UghUy
out and tnpped across the passage. Then, after
knockmg timidly at the door of the room where
my new friends were sitting. I turned the handle
78 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
and went in. On seeing them, I glanced round
the chamber and took a backward step or two,
as if dismayed, keeping my hood close wrapped.
" Your pardon," I said, in a voice as slender
as a blackbird's. " I— I looked to find a friend
here."
The Prince and Mai,Gregor both rose, and
each bowed low.
" Can I assist you, madam ? " said his High-
ness. "There was a gentleman here not long
ago "
" Was it Mr. Anstruther ? " I asked, still in
my dulcet blackbiid voice, and still with trepi-
dation.
" Yes ; that was his name. He has just left
us, and is returning by-and-by."
"Ah I I am glad. The roads are lonely—
so lonely, and I dread them. You are sure he
will return ? "
MacGregor laid hs hand upon his heart, and
heaven is my witness what self-command it
needed to hold my laughter back. " Madam,"
he said, " I think that Mr. Anstruther will return,
knowing who it is awaits him here."
" You do not know him," I said sadly, and
as if the words slipped from me against my will.
HOW DUGALD CAME TO PERTH. 79
"He is a man with men, but with women-oh !
Our Lady pity aU of us who pin their faith to
mm 1 "
I saw a dark look cross the Prince's face. I
Jd not know then that Ughtness in matter of
the heart was to him a grave offence.
" I should not have thought as much of Mr
Anstruther," he said.
"Nor I, until it was too late," I murmured,
with a sob in the rearward of my voice. " What
am I saying ? " I broke off. " You are strangers,
and my private interests are less than nothing to
you." *
Again MacGregor laid his hand upon his heart
and bowed bewitchingly. " That we are stranger^
cannot but be a matter of regret to me," he said.
Beheve me, madam, my sword is wholly devoted
to your service."
" Ah, no ! " I shuddered. " Granted he has
done me wrong-granted that he will leave me
to bear my foUy as I may-I could not see him
hurt Besides, they say he has great skill, sir
m the duel, and the risk would be too great for
yoU."
The daft MacGregor bent like a reed which-
ever way I chose to blow on him ; and this last
4
|< BJ|i';
[ill
80 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
suggestion, as I knew it would, brought all his
fighting temper to the front.
" The risk too great ! " said he. " Madam, I
may one day find my match, but, by the Lord,
'twill not be this lad Anstruther. Give me your
quarrel, and I will right it for you."
I still professed reluctance, yet made it plain
that I was asking for his help ; and at the last
I gave my quarrel to ^im, and he breathed fire
and slaughter on my absent self. It was a
pleasant moment, such as I like to look back upon.
" You shall not regret your kindness, sir," I
said softly, and threw my hood back and kissed
my gauntlet to him.
I have ever admiied MacGregor for his be-
haviour under a situation most embarrassing.
He looked hard at me awhile, and then he dropped
into his chair, with his face as stony as the wall
he stared at ; and the one tribute he gave me
was a muttered :
" Deil tak' the chiel ! I'd like to roast him
ower a slow fire ! "
As for the Prince, he was speechless for awhile
with wonderment, and then he laughed as I have
never heard a man, before or since that date,
give way to merriment: and after that I ex-
HOW DUGALD CAME TO PERTH 8,
plained that the jest was equal now on both sides
challenge MacGregor to a
Your wit ,s pretty, sir." said Charles ".n^
now that we shaU hear fro. La^^cler. '"^^
A chaise is ready at the door I will ,,„ .
tioningglance ' • '^^ P"^ '"• with a ques-
Gregor'tr'sol"' ^°" "'' ""^ "*^ *^^- «-
road- """^ """^"'^"* -nier of the
They took my „.eaning. and I left them in
i-^€-
82 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
order to get through the business as soon as
might be, for the night was wearing on. Another
delay awaited me, however; for, as I passed out,
the Isiss who had played the part of tiring-maid
was coming down the stair. She stopped on
seeing me, and set a shapely hand on either
shapely hip, and laughed provokingly.
" It was a pity you forgot the spurs," said
she.
I crossed the passage with a freer stride than
my garb warranted, wishing to close the laugh
in a fashion I had learned already ; but she would
none of it, and mounted with me, step by step,
till she was at the stair-head and I half-way
toward the top.
" It seems she knew your face, in spite of all,"
she said.
" Why, how should that be ? " I stammered.
" Nay, when a woman loves she can see
through any daintiness of garb. Besidet, there
was your voice. She had heard it closer to her
ear, I warrant, than -"
Again I turned to quiet her mockery, but
she eluded me.
" Oh, it was plain," she said. " I read it in
your face at first, and then in hers. And after
HOW DUGALD CAME TO PERTH. 83
you were gone she rated me as if— as if I too
loved you, which is not true."
This was alluring, I confess. To know that a
woman busies herself to deny her love for you is
always pleasant, just as a gallop behind a willing
fox is healthy for the blood; and I know not
what she and I would have made of it, had not
the landlord's heavy tread sounded on the floor
below.
" One word," I said. '• How long does she
stay here ? "
She left a half-hour since. It may be she
does not love you very much, when all is
said."
Again the tempting laugh; but I was in no
mood for laughter, now that I knew my mistress
was lost— lost, when I had made sure of seeing
her again. Perhaps my trouble showed too
plainly in my face, for the lass forgot her mockery
on the sudden.
" Ye'll meet again, laddie, never fear," said
she, coming nearer to me by a step or two and
lookmg at me with her bonnie, honest eyes. "A
lad that can kiss as you do need never go whistling
long for a pretty lass."
" Which road did they travel ? " said I, all
84 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
eagerness now that my mistress seemed slipping
out of reach.
" The road to the Laird's. Her father—eh,
but the ugly face of hirw !— just paid their reckon-
ing and got into I chaise, and I heard him name
the house of Dugald Cameron."
I laughed for sheer relief. It seemed that my
Lord Strange, his daughter, and myself were to
meet once again, and that at the very house to
which the Prince's mission took me. I was sure
that once I met my lady face to face there should
be an end of our late misunderstanding.
The tiring-maid had come down another step,
and from the fulness of my heart— the landlord's
step was coming nearer — I snatched a farewell
kiss, and tripped down to my chaise, and gave
the order that Lord Strange had given half an
hour before, " To the Laird's house."
While I was rattling fast along the road that
led to Dugald Cameron's, my mind was in a state
of odd confusion. In my ears was MacGregor's
parting murmur, " The chiel ! I'll hae his bluid
for this." In my ears, too, was the disdainful
laugh of Mistress Strange as she had climbed
the tavern stair and left me to the warm company
of the tiring-maid.
HOW DUGALD CAME TO PERTH. 85
What was she doing here in Scotland > I
asked myself. What strange chance had brought
her to the same tavern on this far northern road >
Above all. What should her father have come to
seek at the Laird's house ?
The truth was plain to me on the sudden Lord
Strange could have come only on business con-
nected with the rising; and from what I knew of
Strange, and had heard of wilyDugald Cameron, it
was likely they would pull in the same boat. Per-
haj^s even now they were deep in plot and counter-
plot, and all those crafty speculations as to the
likelihood of Charles or George being King which
disgraced a certain party of the Scottish lairds
Ay, and NeU had been brought, I doubted
not, to play upon those same amorous tendenci-
of Dugald's to which I hoped myself to ministt
My rehearsal of the play before I started gave
courage and assurance to me as I neared my
destination. I felt that I need not fail, and was
determmed that I would not. Yet on reaching
the house I was dismayed a little-though I
had looked to see it there-to find Lord Strange's
chaise drawn up before the door; and, though I
went up the great steps of stone and knocked
with a commanding briskness, I could not but
86 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
wonder how the presence of this other guest
would alter my position. Would he recognise
me under my disguise ? That was the one
question in my mind. Then once again I re-
membered my success with MacGregor and the
Prince, and I took heart of grace.
The door wa:5 opened promptly by a man-
servant, but not, as I soon discovered, entirely
in answer to my knock. Two men and a lady
stood near the door and one of them — old Dugald
Cameron himself, if the Prince's description went
for anything— was ready to bow out his guests.
And these same guests were no other than Lord
Strange and his daughter.
My lord looked hard at me as he passed me
on the stairs ; not with the hardness of recognition
or distrust, I noticed, but with that glint of
admiration— an ugly glint— which comes to old
men's eyes when they are still young enough to
covet women. The daughter, from the safe
shelter of the father's back, gave me a glance I
could not penetrate. There was mirth in it, and
there was cold disdain, and something that
seemed warmer than I merited.
Then they were gone ; and as I listened to
the rumbling of their chaise I realised that once
HOW TJUGALD CAME TO PERTH. 87
again I had lost my dearest lady. The tavern-
maid had told me that their reckoning was paid,
and now they were gone upon a journey which
might take them back to England for aupht I
knew. Another thing I realised— that my sur-
mise as to Strange's policy held good, for Dugald
had bidden him a warm farewell, a farewell with
unction in it, and it was clear that their unholy
counsels were prosperiiig. Dugald himself, mean-
while, was waiting on the steps ; and when I
came out of my abstraction I found his eyes fixed
on me, with the look in them that I had seen
in Strange's.
"Your errand, madam?" said he, with a
fine bow. " I am completely at your service."
"It is a private one, and very urgent," I
answered, with a long upward glance.
He ushered me into a lean, bare room, which
somehow fitted with the picture my friends had
given me of the master. For old Dugald himself
was dry as a November leaf, and only at the
half-hidden rearward of his eyes was there a hint
of that ill passion for the sex which was his weak-
ness.
" You are Mr. Cameron ? " I said, with twice
the sweetness 1 had shown MacGregor.
88 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
His glance was ugly, now that a rising warmth
ILT. "•, "•' .''" ''"'' honour."' said he
smoothly, for ,t .s an honour when I am privi-
leged to entertain so fair a guest. How can I serve
you, madam?"
He wished, I could see, to learn more of the
fashion of my face than the jealousy of my brown
hood permitted; and by-and-by I showed the
half of a smooth cheek to him, and glanced at
him as I have seen light-headed lasses do It
was shameful in a man with whitered hair but
as I live, the old rogue came a full two yards
nearer me, and smiled in quick anticipation of a
conquest.
^.uL^"" '" *''""''^''" ^ ''^'^- '"'''^ing fonvard
With the tale I had repeated a score times on mv
journey hither. " I am in trouble, and I-I
came to you because they say you are zealous
for the King."
" More zealous, maybe, than the Pretender and
his friends at Perth quite relish," answered he
with a grim chuckle.
" I have-I have a brother, Mr. Cameron "
I went on, very low and pitifully ; " he has had
access to the Prince, and aU the worid knows
what foUows in these cases. He is enthraUed
HOW n,;GALD CAME TO PERTH. ,,
can,patPenh.'src\7;uV„X^ri'^
own sake, to keep him back ? » ^' '"' *"'
He looked at me curious] v anH t,-
hi«h and tiun When next ^etpoke'^^"'^^-'
cases. ISnTe:;::/!?^ ^-3. in these
hin. to General Cope foith toTu '° """'
martial Ian." '"""""th. to be hanged by
My anguish was extreme.
" But. sir. they said you were so kind Tu
told me you would i,c» L • ''^''^y
-r he is but a ad ^r"''"" "''''*'''' '=>'^-
world. Mr cleron i "° '"P*"^"" «' 'he
have come ht?;2nf """ *''"'' ^ ^''-'d
told you this if^"^ ^ °" y""'- ''°"°"^ and
" I only said it was mv dutv >• i,« • *
softening suddenly. "^Lr i^'n " ""''''^•
Sd^stLrr^-^"--^^^^^^^^^^
wards relel^™.tCa.^-^-. and a.^^^
cretion was overpast." '"**"
I saw old Dugald's tactirc n
sternness at the fi.'t >- idleant f '"'"'"^
that he held the rein '/,'"',^"*.to assure me
'" ' ''y relenting he looked
90 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
to claim much favour from me. Such tricks of
sorrow and long glances as I had learned from
play-actmg I was using to the fuU ; and, faith, I
rarely saw a man look sillier than this beau of
sixty, as he unmasked his amorous batteries for
my benefit.
" Oh, sir, how shall I thank you ? " I mur-
mured, holding out my hand to him. " I knew
you would be good— I knew you would be go^u."
He took the proffered hand and kissed it
twice ; and then, after another gla I with-
drew it timidly. All this, of cours. was not
done in a moment. I had led on Mr. Cameron
from less to more by scarce perceptible degrees of
coquetry ; and, though he grew warm in his de-
meanour toward me, I will do him so much justice
as to say that it was not without encouragement.
I was on needles all the time, being afraid in the
first place of giving way to merriment, and in
the second of betraying myself by some full-
blooded oath or other Jropjjed inadvertently.
" I have a cha-se in waiting," I said, after a
silence. " Will you come with me now, sir ?
There is little time to lose."
He hesitated, caught another lingering glance
from me, and, " It does not suit my health to go
HOW DUGALD CAME TO PERTH. 91
abroad at night, madam," he answered. " There
W danger of Scots thieves, they say, since the
Pretender marched this way."
" Then you cannot come, sir ? " I murmured
and sighed like a shepherdess upon a porcelain
vase.
" I may take my guard with me ? " said he
perplexed between pnidence and my charms.
" It would be our undoing, Mr. Cameron," I
put m hastily. " AU depends upon our making
a quiet approach. My brother wUl be even now
busy with his preparations, and the least stir of
armed men about the hou - would put him on
his guard. Sir, do thb for me, and you shall not
regret it."
Another glance I gave him ; and how the
matter would have ended I scarce can say-for
prudence was an ancient ally of his, not readily
to be forsworn even for a lady's eyes-had not
I remembered how to weep. I think those tears
were worth six hundred men to Prince Charlie
since Mr. Cameron, not being able to withstand
them, made up his mind upon the sudden.
" How far is it ? " he asked.
" Not a league, sir. But I will not persuade
you against your better judgment. Heaven
m
92 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
knows my brother's life is dear "—I sobbed
afresh in quiet fashion—" but you shall not risk
your own for it."
" Foi you, madam, I would nsk much," said
he, and kissed my hand again, and led me to the
chaise.
My faith, it was a pleasant drive, though
Dugald Cameron alarmed me once or twice by
his attentions. I let him press my hand without
demur; but when the fancy took him, after we
had gone two miles or so, to set an arm about
my waist, I had to quench his growing ardour,
being diffident as to my shape and fearful lest
all my acting up to now should go for nothing.
" Not that, sir, I pray you," I pleaded, forcing
his arm away with a gentleness that could mean
no reproach. " My thoughts ar« all of the brother
who is .laply gone by this time, and "
A big round voice— MacGregor's, if memory
served me right— rang out into the stillness of
the night.
" Stand, there ! Deuce take ye, driver, d'ye
want a pistol-bullet i' your lug ? "
The chaise pulled up, and Dugald Cameron
dropped my hand as if it were molten to the
touch ; and never have I seen such terror on
HOW DUGALD CAME TO PERTH. 93
man's face as showed in his when he pushed his
head f o„, ,,, ^.„,^^ ^^ falteringly d
answered h,m, .n quiet, good-tempered tones.
My name is Stuart," he said, "and I wish
you a fair good-even, Mr. Cameron. The St^rt
and^Cameron clans were aye friendly one to the
"What would you with me'" saiH nU
^"fffr1^-"^<^-t'^elegsofhim;:l
as he leaned against the door.
" No harm, to be sure. There's nn^ ,„
at Perth would speak with yotl7:V:iT
escort you thither. Nay. I know what you
would say. The times are troublous, eh Z
nat too, has been foreseen, sir, and we have
Chan ab^ arranged that all your clan shall follow
you to Perth. We look for them in two days"
t™e at furthest, under conduct of your eldSt
Mr. Cameron feU back into his seat, and I
no longer havmg a cue. went merrily where fancy'
"Gentlemen, I know not what this tale
means." I said, thrusting my head in turLflm
I
94 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
out the chaise, " but I beg you let this brave
companion of mine go free. He comes with me
to save my brother from death, or worse."
It would be scarce fitting, perhaps, to say
that His Highness winked at me, and the uncer-
tain ligh' might well have played me false. At
any rate, his voice was grave enough as he replied
that for no cause whatsoever could he allow
Mr. Cameron to increase an already tiring
journey.
" But, sire, have you no brother, no sister ?
Are the claims of kin so light ? " I pleaded.
" My answer is final, madam, much as I regret
it."
" Then at least permit me to get down. I
wish to change my wearing-gear "
" Impossible, I fear. I would not rob Mr.
Cameron of so fair a travelling companion. For-
ward, coachman, and drive with the knowledge
that you'll get no halt from here to Perth."
The chaise rumbled forward once again. I
could b 5ar MacGregor ride to the front, while the
hoof-beats of the Prince's horse sounded from
the rear. Eight leagues or so it must have been
to Perth, and for half the way old Dugald kept
silence; only I fancied now and then that he was
HOW DUGALD CAME TO PERTH. 55
looking very closely at me as if i,»
I leaned forward at last
" I ha'^e a'^rT'" ' '"''' '" "^^ ^^^^rest voice
wi^r::sr?rf---e.a.d-:
hand on his. °"' '^J""? a
me, madam," he said "u'J ""^^
day live to mock the Prince t'u C 7' """^
I doubt not, but •. ^°''' '^"" "°^'
let tor the rest of th^t i«„
-11 co.^.„, since it was c eTr'tlT'" ' ""
old Du. .d did not doubt my sex I'^rr
when we pulled up at lastTutSe the Prin
quarters in the town of Perth "
whi;is'trpt:Th?r 1 7"-"-^-'
-dway;..but,faitrrra^htrnkTllir
you jester to my camp " '"^''^
96 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
\i'\i
i
Yet, as I watched his show of courtesy to old
Dugald Cameron during the days that followed,
I thought that Charlie Stuart himself might well
be left to pla;' the part of jester, for throughout
he treated him as if he were a welcome and an
honoured guest, and averred, indeed, that he
had him guarded day and night only because he
feared lest harm of any sort should come to him.
And two days latjer Cameron's eldest-bom
came riding into camp, and took, along with all
his clansmen, that oath of fealty which none can
lightly break. Ah, well ! There have been tears
shed since then by grown men who followed
Prince Charlie through all the stress of fortune ;
but there was heart-break in them. And I, for
my part, choose rather to recall the tears, quick,
light, and meaningless as \pril rain, by which I
conquered Dugald Cameron's caution.
CHAPTER V.
NELL AND THE GLOAMING-TIDE.
I HAD had difficulty enough to find the Prince,
and I had met him under strange conditions ;
but from the moment that we came to the
camp at Perth— he, and MacGregor, and myself,
with our unwilling guest— I knew that now at last
I was free to foUow my ambition. AU was stir,
and life, and bustle ; and, vivid as the scenes were
which I had pictured throughout my north-
ward ride, I had imagined no scene so full as
this of picturesqueness, colour, and that sense
of wild adventure which is the only freedom
worth the name.
It was my first sight of Highlanders gathered
for the purposes of war ; and each hour I won-
dered more at this strange race— at the simplicity
of the men, their proneness to take quick offence
and to forgive as quickly, their stature, their
ragged hair and beards, and their complete
H
98 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
devotion to their chiefs. It was Wonderland to
me, and as in a dream I went about the camp,
pleased, like the boy I was, with every fresh
development of a life which I had never known
till now.
The Prince, soon after our arrival, had
lodged me comfortably in the town, and late in
the next afternoon he sent for me to his own
quarters.
" Good-day to you, Mr. Anstruther," he cried,
in cheery fashion, as I entered and kissed his
hand with due formality.
Indeed, the formality was all upon my side,
for on the table at his left there stood a glass of
spirits, and in his mouth was the same black pipe
with which I had first made acquaintance at
Dunblane. Afterwards I learned that this was
one of his peculiar traits — that he could be royal
and distant to a fault when strangers or enemies
were in case, but that it pleased him always to
unbend to one whom he could trust.
" Good-day, your Highness," I answered, my
heart beating fast.
" You were both droll and brave yesternight,"
he went on, " and they are the qualities I like best
in a man. Now, you have come from England to
I
NELL AND T^-. GLOAMING-TIDE. 99
join my forces, and I take It you would wish to
have a company."
II Your Highness is too good," I stammered.
" Faith, it is not often I am credited with too
much virtue ! Men care only to find out one's
faults, Mr. Anstruther, m this queer world. Now,
as to this company of yours— it shall be as you'
wish, but. for my part, I would prefer to keep
you as my aide-de-camp. You could be of far
greater service to me, I am sure, in that capacity."
"I have no desires beyond your own," I
said.
"Nay, you're a courtier ready-made; and
that I do not want just now. How do your
wishes lie ? "
" I would prefer personal service with your-
self," I answered, truthfully enough, for the
honour seemed as great as any he could give me.
" Ah, that is weU. But I warn you that your
duties wiU be wearisome. We are hard pressed
for arms. You must have seen already how
badly these poor friends of mine are furnished,
and I shall look to you to devise expedients."
I was protesting the greatness of my zeal for
work when there came a gentle tapping at the
door, and the Prince's body-servant entered.
100 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" Lord Murray would see you instantly, your
Highness," he said.
The Prince's face lit up.
" Admit him," he answered briefly. " No,
Mr. Anstruther, you need not leave us yet."
Again the door opened, and a fine-standing
man was ushered in — a man with dark eyes, dark
hair, and an arrogant, unyielding face. He
hastened to do obeisance to the Prince, who Ufted
him in kindly fashion.
" You are very welcome, my lord, especially
If you bring your folk with you."
" I do, your Highness ; and they are spoiling
for a fight."
" So is my friend here, if I mistake not. Mr.
Anstruther, let me present you to Lord Murray.
My lord, this gentleman has already done me one
signal favour, and you and he should know each
other."
Lord Murray gave me a cold salute, and in his
face I saw a flash of that same jealousy which
was to endanger and ultimately to shipwreck our
whole enterprise. He did not hke to hear another
praised ; and from the first I conceived toward
him an antipathy which proved to be equalled only
by his own toward myself.
•
NELL AND THE GLOAMING-TIDE. loi
After some idle t Uk I took my leave, and I
was free to walk the streets and lanes, and muse
on my good fortune.
It was gloaming-tide, I remember, and the air
was sweet with memories of the summer late gone
by. September though it was, and apt at any
minute to be as chill as winter, the night was
almost balmy. Above the hills the stars were
showing one by one, and the quiet stir of life
that came from cityward seemed only part of
all the restfulness.
A grassy lane— they call it a loaning up here
in Scotland, I believe-led from the camp into a
by-way of the town ; and as I paced it, my snuff-
box in one hand, I fell to thinking of all that
might be waiting for me in the future. Surely it
was strange that, amid preparations for a march
that was to shake two countries, amid the con-
stant strain oi work and of anxiety, I could yet
snatch a little moment with the stars, and walk
with a pinch of snuff between my fingers, and
the gait of a lad who waits for his mistress to
come over the next stile.
I think these Scottish hills breed rest and
unrest in a man ; unrest when there is work to
do, and rest when the work is fairly done for the
102 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
one day. At any rate, I walked and thought of
the Prince whose power it was to increase, not to
lessen, the glamour of his name by daily inter-
course. I thought, too, of the Cause whose aim
it was to oust the German cuckoo from his nest ;
of battles, and the witchery of the sword.
And then a breath of kine came to me from
a neighbouring byre ; and the scent, familiar
and sweet, brought back to me my wooing, I
can scarce say why. Twice had I met my mis-
tress under strange auspices, twice she had
escaped me ; and now, though lately she had
been within a few leagues of my present resting-
place, she seemed as far off as if all England lay
between us. Perhaps I have said little of my love
for her, though it is the fashion nowadays to talk
much of feelings and the like. Yet, when I try
to speak of what lies, will always lie, nearer to
me than anything on earth, I feel a sense of
shrinking from mere words. Nell was part of
the starshine and the autumn scents, part of
the purpling, dreamy hills, part of all things love-
some, tender, pure ; and I was ready, as I thought
of her to-night, to be as mad a lover as any maid
was vexed with.
I had my chance withal, for as I reached a
NELL AND THE GLOAMING-TIDE. 103
turning of the lane a figure came from under a
gateway on the left and showed against the strip
of gloaming-light that topped the hill. I did not
wait to ask how this goodly thing had come about ;
I simply dropped my snuff-box and moved to her
side, and caught her hand, and would have kibsed
her.
" NeU I NeU I " I cried.
But she withdrew; and even in the first
moment of rebuff I wondered that she showed no
great surprise to see me there.
"You forget, sir; and you presume," she
said, with a queenly sort of distance in her
tone.
I was at a loss altogether. I wore her favour
at the moment, and she had given it me. What
had I done since then to excuse tiiis chance in
her?
" I remember that you pledged your faith to
me," I answered hotly.
"Yes, for I thought foolish things of you.
Since then I have travelled in a tender-hearted
country, where even tiring-maids "
I remembered then, although she did not end
her speech.
" Why, I had forgotten it already ! " I said.
«04 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
with wondrous clumsiness. " Surely you would
not blame me for a usual piece of folly ! "
" Indeed ! Is it so usual with you, then, to
-to be warm-hearted in a tender-hearted country?
Beheve me, sir, our sex is daintier than your own
We do not care to drink from the same glass
with any man or woman."
" What of the glass, if only the wine be
sweet ? • I said, with one of those daft impulses to
say the worst thing possib!e-the impulses that
come to a man when a maid is using her tongue
as a stiletto.
She swept her skirts aside, and honoured me
with a grave curtsey, and, "Go dru:.your wine,
Mr. Anstruther," she said. " I trust it wiU be
for your health."
I watched her disappear in the darkness of
the lane, and felt exceeding foolish; and when
at last I turned to go back to the camp
I was sure that all was over with me in this
world A kiss or two to stand between myself
and her I It was a monstrous price to pay for
folly. "^ '
As I came to the little bridge of stone that
took the lane across a brook, I heard a curious
sound ; and, following this, I found my lady her
NELL AND THE GLOAMING-TIDE ,05
arms upon the parapet and her head half buried
W them, weeping as if she meant the brook to
bcmspafe. AH the dignity was gone, and i„ its
place thero was a something childlike, winsome,
mat moved me strangely.
"Sweetheart," I said, " what ails you ? "
She threw her head back bravely
for 7?'"!'" '''''"'''• ^"'' ^'^^ t» vouch
for her truthfulness. " That is, I was weeping
because I feared that you would foUow me ; and
-and, oh I how I hate you-hate you I "
Yet somehow the matter seemed quite other-
wise, and my arm was close about her now.
" Is all forgotten, dear .' " I said.
th.n'yTr~" ""'" ^ '°°"' ^"'J then-and
hen I shaU not hate you any more, but just
forget you." '
ni.hf "^"°* ^'"^ ^'' ''=°™- '"^^'^ ^^' the
night, I went on eagerly, "when first I told
you what you were to me-the roses were all
ZlZ 1 *'' °^' garden-and the scent came
through the casement as we kissed-and I knew
tha there was none but you in all the world-
well, do you remc.nber ? "
othere~"°°" ^"^ ^"""^ *^^* ^^^"^ ""^'^ ""^"y
106 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" Hush ! That is treason. What ! Is a light
kiss to come between us two ? "
" Was it light, Maurice ? Are you sure ? "
said she, with an upward glance.
And then I knew that all was well, and I
cajoled, explained, until at last she gave a happy
sigh, and reached me up her face, and let me
know myself forgiven.
"Ah! I am in trouble, dear," she said ; "such
trouble as I have never known till now. And
then I found you — found you being warm-hearted,
and all seemed gone."
There was an April sort of look about her—
sunshine and rain, and now and then a touch of
keen, cold wind. But my arms were still about
her, and she seemed happy there ; and I knew,
past argument, that neither in England nor in
Scotland was there any maid at all to be compared
with Nell.
" What is the trouble, sweet ? " I asked.
"It is— it is about my father. I ought to
honour him, Maurice, and I cannot ; I ought to
stand by him, and I dare not."
" Tell me," I said, my new-found pity for
her growing deeper. I had seen little of Lord
Strange as yet, but he had given me ample
N'^.LL AND THE Gj^AMlNG-TIDE. 107
proof of h)s capacity to lose the respect of
honest folk
Sfte v,r.j silent awhile, looking at me with a
wistful question in her eyes. Then, creeping
closer to me, she put one hand upon my
shoulder.
" We are lodging in the great house yonder,"
she went on. " I slipped away from them, and
came through the garden gate. I wanted to
climb the hill-top there and think what I should
do."
"It is not wise," I interrupted. "Dear, it
is late, and there is an army lying near."
I saw the delicate, sweet face grow proud.
" I am of the country," she said ; " and do
you think I could fear anything from these good
men who follow the Prince's fortunes ? "
" But there are others— rogues and \'agabonds,
who follow in our wake, and don the white cockade,
and rob, and worse, under cover of our good
repute."
" That may be true ; but I needed room,
Maurice— fresh air and space about me, while I
decided what to do. And then— and then— why,
you found me, and you would not let me go my
own way, and— and I am glad, my dear."
io8 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
Surely the Scottish nights have magic in
them ! My lady, so chary of showing more
than a little of her heart at any time,
had made a frank confession, and for awhile I
had no thought to asic her what her trouble
was.
" You will teach me what to do ? " she said
at last, like a child whose dependence is com-
plete. " My father is deep in treason. He talks
wildly when— when he has dined or supped too
well ; and I have learned more than he dreams
of. Letters pass constantly between Lord Lovat
and himself : and Lovat, as I know, has not an
honest thought— he is sly and crafty, Maurice,
and his aid, on which the Prince counts so much,'
can do your cause no good. My father plays a
Uke part, and he is here to make fair promises,
and to find out your strength, and to advise Lord
Lovat and the rest which policy will be the better
likely to succeed."
" Is Dugald Cameron in the plot ? " I asked.
"Yes; it was he who urged my father to
come here."
"That was the reason, then, I found you
quitting Dugald's house the night that you sur-
prised me at the tavern ? "
NELL AND THE GLOAMING-TIDE. ,09
" Yes ; and I wondered what could bring you
to the house of such as Dugald Cameron."
I told her briefly of my plot, of Dugald's
foolishness, of my success ; and she laughed as if
danger and suffering were leagues away.
__ " Oh, it was droU to see you there," she cried,
although I was so angry and so-so miserable.
My father was as foolish as old Dugald, it would
seem, for he talked of your beauty all through
the northward drive."
" He gave me a long glance, I noticed."
" And he talked of making acquaintance with
you soon through Dugald Cameron. He praised
your eyes-think of it, Maurice !-and your
graceful, upright carriage Yes, it was droll,
when I remembered how he had sent a pistol-
bullet after you at your last meeting."
We laughed awhile together-the low and
tranquil laugh of lovers who meet at a warm
gloaming-tide.
" And you are here," I said, " and I am here ;
and what else matters in the world .' "
On the sudden she stood away from me.
" This business of the Prince's matters." said
she, "and it is I-I alone, who must decide it.
At first I thought that you:could judge for me.
no UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
but it is not so. Maurice, I am Lord Strange's
daughter, but I have the old wild blood in me,
and I would sooner die than let a Stuart Prince
fall into danger."
Again the note was sounded that I have heard,
before and since, from many differing types of
Scottish folk. Herdsman or laird, lassie of
high degree or tiring-maid, if once the glamour
of the Stuart has settled in their blood there
is no holding them., The Stuart, in his
strength or in his weakness, has surely been
the greatest master of men's hearts that we
have known.
"I am on the Prince's staff," I said at
last, for in truth I was troubled to see where
duty lay in this vexed matter. "Will you
come with me and be presented, and tell him
all ? "
For a moment her face lit up, as if the project
pleased her ; then she shook her head.
" Nt, dear," she said ; " I must think it over
by myself, and decide for myself— and likely
repent, whichever course I take," she added, with
a touch of the whimsical, sweet air that she alone
possessed.
And when we parttd my heart was sore for
NELL AND THE GLOAMING-TIDE, m
her. It seemed a hopeless matter to decide which
course made for the right, and I could give no
help. Only, I was sure that Nell could do no
wrong, and from the thought I drew great
comfort. °
CHAPTER VI.
A FAIR RECRUIT.
Nell's judgment, once it was taken, was acted
on with a promptness almost manlike, as I
learned on the next morning. The sun was rising
noonward when I entered the Prince's quarters
in answer to a summons, and the warm hght
came through and showed, with dazzhng clear-
ness, the figure of my mistress. I bowed to her,
and felt great sorrow that, however fair the lady,
one dared not kiss her in the Presence.
" This lady is a friend of yours, she tells me,"
said his Highness, smiling on us both, " and she
has just done me a service at bitter cost to her
own feelings."
To my surprise she broke down utterly, and
came and put both hand= in mine and laid her
head upon my shoulder. Women — women as
bonnie as my Nell— can do these things uu-
chidden, whether Royalty be looking on or no.
r 1 <
hi
A FAIR RECRUIT. ,,3
be s^'fr',' '': "'•"'' " ' '°'^ y- '*--w
of a Jt / "^^ *° ""^ '^"^^^> '"^t-d
I told Hs^H^r ''"""• «"*• °h, before
wea tha ' f'^ '"^*''"^' ^ '"^'^'^ ''^
hZ » ""^ ''*'" ^'•""^^ ^"'"^ by no
.ri.f ' ^f"'' ""^^ '"'"* ^"^ ^^hile, until her
gnef was lessened.
voiZwT'" ''' '"''• '" '''' "^'P- sympathetic
voice that I was mor. than once to hear, "if only
suffer hardship at my hands. I may come to mv
own and, if I do so, my fi,.t effort will be to pTr-
suade your father how far he wandered from the
rue old f,.th. And now ther. is some busines
:n the camp to see to. No, Anstruther, I do not
need your services; I called you because-be-
cause I am young myself, like you, and know that
sometimes a stolen moment can be precious."
U^^\ l''"V'^''''^'^''"^^y' ''"* kissed my
ladyshand and left us there. It was but one
-ore proof of what I soon had leamed-th^t
ready mtuition and unfailing courtesy were
mbred m this yourgest of a gmcious race
Mistress Strange looked after him and sighed
I know not why. =«K"ea,
114 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" There goes a man" she said ; " the court-
liest I have ever known."
The sentiment was loyal in a sense, but
treasonable toward myself ; and so I closed all
further argument upon the topic of the Prince-
closed it by the easiest and the pleasantest of
means.
" I shall tell my father all," she said, as soon
as she had recovered breath.
" You will not ! " I cried, remembering Lord
Strange's readiness to avenge an injury, _ad
fearing for her safety.
She read my thoughts, and laughed a trifle
bitterly.
" You need not fear for me. My father will
not send his servants to carry me upon a treason-
able charge to London, nor will he fire on me.
He cares for me, Maurice ; he cares for me, and
that's where lies the sting."
Again I thought she would break down, but
she recovered bravely.
" I've not lived long, dear," she said wistfully,
"and yet I find the world an odd, perplexing
place. I used to think that duty was just duty,
plain to be seen, and now — But I have chosen,
and I will not let mv father think me other than
I am."
A FAIR RECRUIT.
"5
• You will tell him that you saw the Prince
th>s monung ? " J asked in wondennent.
Yes for at least I did the best, so far as I
could judge. IJere are these Highlander, thl
s the p there's you, my dear, all fighting
Jiave the Pnnce's word for that "
'■But will you suffer? "I broke in.
flinch"" ''°"'' ' ' ^* ^"^ '^'^' I «haU not
Nor did she, for toward nightfall, on return-
ng from a mission entrusted to me by the PrinS
hadTVI'* L-d Strange and his daughS
had already eft the camp. I was dumbfounded
How -uld she go without one word of fareweU to
Zr \ '*^"' "'"'^ ^"^^^ ^°''=«. and carried
her away against her wiU ? My mind wasTn
o conjecture, dread, and perturbation rd d^
i e tS r''\-'^-g vain questions of the
suence that hung about the camp
JiaSed 1 , ""'■ ^ "^^^^ ^"d tender-
hearted a gentleman as any in our ranks. There
f^nTmlSt^nt'ir'-:^*^-^^''^-
ii6 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
li
i
and I had scarce wit enough to think of anything
but bed ; yet under all was the dull ache of
separation, and the sense that Nell had
left me without word or token. As I pushed
open the door of my room I was already un-
buckling my sword-belt, so glad I was to be near
my bed at last ; but I stopped upon the threshold,
for a couple of candles were burning on the mantel-
shelf, and a slim lad was standing with his back
to the fire of wood and peats. He bowed to me
■ 'ightly, and looked, I thought, embarrassed.
" Well, lad ? " I said, not over courteously,
although his face wa^ pleasant. " What is your
business with me, for I can scarcely keep my
eyehds open."
" You are Mr. Anstruther ? " he answered.
" I come to you from the Prince."
" Indeed ! I have been upon his business all
the day."
" My name is Strange, and I have joined your
army here, and His Highness said I was to be
undT your command."
" Strange ? " I echoed. " Are you kin to
Lord Strange, who was lately here ? "
" His son. I did not know- "
" Not know that I had met your father ? " I
A FAIR RECRUIT. ,,7
Jaughed. "I'd good cause to know it. lad. Yet
he never spoke to me of any son."
When the Pnnce set foot in Scotland I was
^amng down in Edinburgh yonder. withouTa
IT' ""'* "^ ''''-'■ ^"'^ ^^^^ -«id s,.:
JShe can do much to oring comfort to a
• An. ;f ' "'*'' " '""^^ ^* "'y °^n slyness
And you'll allow me freedom to say tha^S;
.s the bonmest maid from this to London."
They say as much," he answered .-care-
lessly, as brothers will.
"And so the Prince has sent you to me P I
TaTSV°"^"^'^°^^'^^^----nd-
Hi:H;h:2t-"'"''*"^^'^°"^'^"™'»--on
His face fell.
" Then-then why did he send me here P "
he asked. " It must be that he means to give
you Jt^ command, and I am to be your earhest
h. "I *™'!.^°'" I ^'"swered, turning to the
Sv^a^d ?^" ^^ ^ *"«« °^ Highland
whiskey and a glass or two. "Let us drink
Scotch fashion, to our better acquaintance."
118 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
He withdrew a little, and I wondered at his
bash fulness.
" I thank you, no," he said. " I— I have
abjured all liquor since — since my wild days in
Edinburgh."
I thought him mawkish, and I was brittle-
tempered owing to my weariness. " You'll see
wilder days," I snapped, " if you mean to follow
us to England. Ay, and you'll be glad of an
honest glass or two to oust the cold."
" It may be so," he said ; " and even
now I would not keep you from pledging our
success."
I wondered how long he meant to stay, and
groaned for weariness. There seemed no reason,
indeed, why he should ever go, and his errand to
a tired man seemed needless and unreasonable.
I filled a goodly bumper, however, and drank
the toast, and speedily felt the warm glow of
charity and all forbearance go creeping through
my veins. After all, he was NeU's brother, and
something like her in the face, and it might be
that he would give me news of her.
" When did you last see your sister ? " I asked
abruptly, as I mixed myself a second kindly
measure.
A FAIR RECRUIT.
lly
He laughed and stroked his beardless face.
" When did r see her last ? I have no head
for counting days and hours-indecd. I've been
too busy lately."
" In what way ? " I asked, annoyed by his
light tone. '
" Why. I could not shake off the old habits
at once, and when I h;Uted at Dunblane "
•'^ Well ? " said I. to fill a lengthy paus...
'* I fell in with a pretty tavern-maid "
" Had she grey eyes and yellow hair ? " 1
asked, to ail another paijse.
" Yes. deep grey eyes and wondrous hair •
and I found her in the kitchen aU alone, and I-
weU. you know how sweet a woman's lips are."
I clapped him on the back.
" I know how sweet .\cr lips are, for I kissed
them sooner than yourself."
" I shall return that way as soon as I am
able," said he, with a long sigh.
" And so shaU 1 1 For good wine improves
with keeping."
And then I remembered what my lady had
said about drinking from other people's glasses,
and I grew sorrowful and half ashamed. The'
lad himself was frowning at me, and this I took
120 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
as a reproach well merited, though he was guilty
as myself.
" You often taste good wine — of that sort ? "
said he.
" Always, when it is offered. How could a
man do otherwise ? "
" Nay, but he has ties sometimes— a woman
who has pledged troth with him, or "
" Pish ! It is no matter either way," I
answered, uneasily I milst confess. " I never
heard a kiss could kill, and lips were made for
it."
" They preach strange sermons in your High-
land camps," he answered curtly.
I began to wonder if the reaction from high
living had turned his thoughts toward the ministry,
and I answered with a yawn as deep as the bed
of Loch Lomond, for fear lest he should try his
'prentice hand upon me with a sermon.
" You are weary," said he.
" I am very weary,". I answered. " I have
been in saddle since the first cock crew."
"Then I will leave you. But before I
go I will answer your first question. When
did I last see Helen Strange ? Ten moments
since."
■ i
A FAIR RECRUIT.
121
tips^ *'' ^^"^^ '^*^"' ^""^^^eer to my finger
where ? My anx.ety was plain enough to
warrant his guessing the truth, but I cared not
•fo^y I could find my lady once again,
room.' ^'"''^ *° " '"'"•°'- ^t the far end of the
" ^ saw her there," he said.
I stared at him. Was he in liquor, or had
remorse and a wild life together turned his brain ?
went on.""" ''" "'" ""' "' *^' ^''^'"P'^'" ^^^
" I set you the example ? Go home to bed,
laddie .f you can reach it, and sleep the madness
Snh t ^°" "° '^^P^" °* ^^ living in
Edmburgh or any other town."
" y^t y°" put on a woman's garments, and I
have done no more than don a man's. You see
my dearest, / am Helen Strange."
These things are plain as soon as one is privi-
leg d to know the answer to the riddle. How
could the Pnnce and MacGregor have faUed to
recopuse me when I played the lady to them at
the tavern.. I was too glad to have her here
i2a UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
r^'' ^'il
to question much, but took her, willy-nilly, into
safe-keeping. She seemed content, moreover,
until she lifted her head and gave me a quick,
dangerous smile.
" Tou are going back to Dunblane, so I under-
stand," she said. " I trust the tiring-maid will
have no new gallant in the kitchen."
Explanation, as I ^ave said, is difficult in
these matters ; but I won through somehow, and
saw the old, glad light of happiness shine fair
and steady in her eyes. And this it is, I think
— this happiness a man can bring into a maid's
ey^ — that makes him te der toward her welfare.
" You will wonder how I came ? " she said at
last. " You will wonder, just £is you wondered
— ah, I know you did 1 — ^how I could leave you
without word of any sort. Dear, you should have
known me better. My father, when I told him
all, said I was no longer a child of his, and I took
him at his word ; and ' when we stopped at our
first lodging-place — he did not wait to see the
Prince again — I found means to change my
wearing-gear, and — and here I am, Maurice, and
nothing in this world shall ever part us again.
I — I fear to leave you free to kiss too many
tiring-maids."
A FAIR RECRUIT. ,33
I was glad, and I was sorry. What would this
dehcate, slim girl make of the hardships of a
campaign ?
" You cannot march with us," I said.
" Ah I cannot I ? " she answered. " I am
under the Prince's orders, sir, not youre."
" Then you have se i him ? "
" Did I not say as much ? I came to him
soon as I reached the camp, and told him what
had chanced; and he, like you, spoke of the
hardships of the march. I told him I had known
greater hardships than any march could offer
and I was mean enough to speak of the service
I had rendered him. And at the last he
laughed, and said my plan was as wild as his
own venture, and gave me leave to do as I
best pleased."
" I fear for you," I muttered. It was all
that I could find to say.
She came across to me and laid her hands upon
my shoulders.
"When you are with me, dear. I have no
fear," she said.
Neither had I, for I knew that love like hers
and rame must win its way through somehow.
And I told her so in speech that none but she
124 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
and I could understand, and then she bade me
take her back to her own quarters.
" Soldiers are not in need of escort home," I
laughed.
" Then you need not trouble, sir. I think
you said that you were weary."
I had overtaken her, of course, before she
gained the door ; and the stars were kindly
over camp and moor as we trod the dream-
wrapt streets.
i
CHAPTEj v'II.
nell comes to me.
We stayed a week or so in camp at Perth, and
left It with an army which, though smaU, was
palpably increased since that first night when I
had joined it as a lady. Not only had Murray
and the Duke of Perth with many foUowers
come m. but Dugald's six hundred Camerons
also and many of the smaller lairds.
It seemed but a fitting comedy that, just as
I had entered Perth in woman's garb, so my lady
had entered it in man's appat^l. Yet I had the
easier part to play in this same comedy, for while
she was compeUed to maintain her unwonted
gear I was privileged-and a mighty pleasant
pnvilege it was— to doff my skirt. Nor have I
since that day found heart to be truly angry with
a woman, when I remember that fate has con-
demned her to the hardship of a petticoat.
Yet, for all that, I was troubled in my mind.
126 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
The Prince knew of Nell's disguise, and the more
I pondered on the sacrifice that she had made for
me, the more clearly I saw that some means must
be found to rob scandal of its sting. I approached
my friend MacGregor, therefore. And in calling
him my friend I use the word in no loose sense,
for comedy and peril joined hand in hand I
have always found to be a quick and certain
road to comradeship ; and since the night when I
had fooled the doughty Scot into bowing his
heart out in my service he had shown a grim,
unswerving partiality toward myself.
" MacGregor," I said suddenly, as we walked
beneath the star-shine and chatted of Lord Lovat's
policy toward the Prince, "MacGregor, I'm in
a difficulty."
" Hoot awa ! " cried he, with an alarming
drop into the broadest Scotch. " Hoot awa,
laddie. Ye're meaning , there's a woman i' the
case. Na, na ! It's a safe guide through
life to ken that a man wi' a long face an' a
deeficulty is just getting wrapped up i' some
saft lassie's petticoat."
" Well, there is a lady in the case," I said, a
trifle angered by his tone. " I want help, Mac-
Gregor. You see, a lady has come into the camp.
**
NELL COMES TO ME.
she has enlisted under the White
"7
and — and
Cockade."
"What's this? Enlisted? WeU, it's all of a
piece wi- Jennie Cameron-Colonel Cameron, as
Chairhe likes to call her-who brought the whole
clan out to meet us on the road."
" Yes, but-but she is dressed as a man, you
see, and— and I love her."
He laid a hand upon my shoulder, and his
voice grew softer.
" Ye say that as if ye kenned the meaning of
a heartsome word, laddie. Ye love her. An' she
lo'es ye, I'm thinking, or she'd not doff her kirtle
for the breeches."
" She loves me, and I fear lest "
I did not finish, and MacGregor lost his new-
found tenderness of voice.
" What do yt fear, ye witless caUant ? If
she lo'es ye, an' ye lo'e her, an' ye're together,
what power on earth can frichten ye ' Gin I
were-Awell, that's no muckle matter. Ye want
advice ? Well, ye can do ain o' two things-ye
can marry her, or "
"MacGregor," I interrupted, "you're a fool
to doubt me. Haven't you such a word as ' lady '
up in Scotland here ? "
%
138 UNDER THE WHITE 'COCkADE.
He understood me perfectly, as I had under-
stood what he had left unsaid. But he seemed
unruffled — pleased, even — by my temper, and
again he patted me on the shoulder.
" Look, laddie, I'm in love mysel'— an' yet
I didna think to mention it ; an' I ken weel how
it maks a man long sairly to fecht without just
provocation. So we'll just say nae mair about
your naming me a fool, ^n' I'll gie ye a bit o' guid
advice. Powder an' sparks are not just neigh-
bourly, an' ye'd be wise, for both your sakes, to
wed her now. It's easy, laddie, as falling out of
a birchen tree to wed a lassie up in Scotland here,
an' shell mrrch wi' a livelier step if her callant's
her ain."
"The Prince knows of her diaguise, Mac-
Gregor, and so do you. I look,*D j»u to keep
our secret." -^^
" I keep what I get, la^dlt V this hard Ufe,
an' youi secret's safe wi' me. Lad Anstruther,"
he broke off, his voice softoiing again, " I wad
gie the world to be i' your place. There's a
lassie now i' Edinburgh toun ; an' first she thocht
^e'd hae me, an' then she thocht she wadna, an'
last of a' I just ran awa' to Chairlie, to see if I
could drive the madness oot by fechting. An'
NELL COMES TO ME. „,
my heart is sair the nicht. for her face is printed
plain on aU yon wheen o' winking stars "
own" J""'" "^ ^" y^'" ^ ^'^^ «^"^«d of my
own^happiness, and ready to be sure of all the
"Ay, when there's summer heat i' winter
Now. nn awa' hame to your bed. laddie, for I've
told ye mair than ever I meant to tell "
For a half-hour after he had left me I paced
beneath the stars. MacGregor gave me pleasa^J
adv.ce. and I was glad to know that, for ^r
own sake, I must many NeU before another sun
had set Yet. under all the gladness, there was
a small, msistent voice that mocked at me for
pvmg up what men have at their birth-their
freedom. Men camiot help the feeling, I imagine,
though separation from their mistress seems an
agony. Tis but another witness to the one deep
tnath of hfe that there's no paradise so green
but we would have it greener.
One thing was clear, however. The Prince
had been a true friend to us both-to Nell and
to myself-and I could not many without his
leave and sanction. When I presented myself
on the mon-ow, accordingly, I took occasion to
speak of what was in my mind ; and, so far from
Ni''
130 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
presenting any obstacles, he smiled — the quiet,
warm-hearted smile which afterwards led men to
live brave lives and die brave deaths for love of
him.
" To be sure, my lad," he said, with a whifl
of the black pipe, which already, with its cracks
and seams and odd deformities, was familiar to
me as my own face. " To be sure it would be
better so. The minister here shall marry you,
and I will give the bride away."
He seemed determined to load me with honours
greater than my desert, and I could only answer
diffidently, foolishly, because the sense of his
great kindliness was strong on r ?.
" Tut ! iut ! " he put in ly. Ay. " You have
both done me services, and >t is a pleasure to
repay them in any coin, however light. Women
are full of whimsies, Anstruther. Can you per-
suade her, think you, to return with you to my
quarter^ in one hour's time ? I must see Lord
Murray for a half-hour or so, and then I shall be
entirely at your service. I will send for the
minister meanwhile, and you shall find all in
order."
I thanked him warmly, and set off in quest of
Nell. I found her down by the brook which
watered the low meadows, and learned, when I
♦
NELL COMES TO ME. ,3,
not Jwt r ^ ^ '^ ""^'^^ whimsies. She did
twelvemonth^^me S "'' ""'" ''
at Dunblane ton K ""^^ ^''^ tiring-maid
andsootuur;rrd:tr-"^-^--
your td':/irwe'''r^ '''■"-" *°^^V
courtesy to him.Mcrier " "' ^'°" '^'^■
not li^'^^'l""' ■ ^'"' ''^^ discourtesy is yours
nl^" ' "■ ""'■ ""^"^ -^•^ P-™- in her
"for ^r ^'" '^«°"''" ^ ^a''*' -n a great rage
n>"ei"e::Xt:-!:?..-^-^°-^"-"'
weli^to be sure beforehand that yo. can keep the
"You may begone," she answered calmly
I am very sure that I can win my way to for^
rir."^^^^-''--'^«-oLoftL
\
i!
I'l lit
I3» UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" Yet I fancied that you loved me," I said,
ftill in a white heat.
She shruggec' iier shoulders in a fashion that
the Scotch have learned from ♦'^sir French
neigi;t.>ouis.
" Love you ? Oh, yes ; as much as I love
many folk '"ho bring me trouble."
" When did I bring you trouble ? " I muttered.
I think— for since those days I have learned
much — I think she saw that my patience was
like to break its tether, for on the sudden she
came to me, and stroked my face, and finally laid
her cool cheek to mine.
" Dear," she said, " it is hard for a woman
to surrender altogether ; the cost is great. And
yet — and yet — you may take me to the
Prince."
I was reminded of how I myself had felt last
night, when I had thought on the surrender of
my freedom ; and in some misty fashion I under-
stood th^'t surrender, to a maid, means more
than the mere loss of liberty. My anger seemed
a year away, and she was crying softly in my
arms, and I knew myself the happiest man
from London to the Ness of Sutherland.
" The Prince warned me that you might be
NELL COMES TO v. ,„
whimsical." I said at last, minded to be teasing
m ri'v turn. '
"Warned you ? " she repeated, with a little
g^U^e^of disdain. " What does he know of
" That, sweet, is a delicate question, and one I
cannot ^swer readily. On,y, jt i, time we went
to the Pnnce's quarters, for he ha, made all
arrangements there."
"So you counted on my coming with you ?
Whistle an- ru ,ome to ye. my lad.' as they
say m this warm-hearted country."
"No ; I counted on nothing, for I knew you
could not change your sex's failings with your
raiment." '
"Your wits grow sharper, sir." she cried.
Then with a laughable fall from her manner of
high dignity. " Maurice," whispered she. " I can-
not be married in these clothes."
" I care not what your clothes are, Nell so
only It is you I marry."
"But 'tis unheard of; and the minister-he
will be shocked ! "
"Scotch ministers are not by way of K.„r.
shocked. I fancy. They know their flocks too
134 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
II
" Oh, Maurice, I am ashamed ! At what time
does the Prince expect us ? "
"Why, at once, since a certain wilful maid
has wasted a good hour in argument."
" She must waste more time, then, Maurice
— just a little more, for marry in this garb I will
not."
I did not press the question, for I was growing
wise before my time where women were concerned,
and I saw that argument would but deepen her
resolve.
" Then we must keep His Highness waiting,"
I said. " But where will you find change of
gear ? "
" At my own lodging. There's a dear Scotch
goodwife there, with a daughter nearly my own
height. You'll laugh, Maurice, but anything is
better than these — oh, Maurice, what I have
given up for you ! "
There was a sudden blush as she surveyed
herself, and I understood — again in a dim way —
the primeval truth that ever since Eve's day
our women measure life, its passions, sins, and
fears, by clothes. Perhaps they measure it
rightly, all the same ; for it matters not of what
you make your two-foot rule, if only it be true
to scale.
NELL COMES TO ME. ,35
She was gone before I knew it, and by-and-by
returned in a brave homespun dress that suited
her to admiration. But then my lady-and I
have lived with her through many springs since
then-has that queer quality of looking at her
best m any garb. It may be that is why I think
so httle of a lady's dress, and so much of her
face.
" You are sweeter that way, Nell," I said
when <=he came back in the bravery of her land-
lady's daughter.
" I feel so, dear," she murmured, with a happy
laugh. And then I knew that she no longer feared
the ceremony that awaited us.
We reached the Prince's quarters, contrary to
expectation, within the hour appointed ; but he
was ready for us, as was the minister.
"You will present Miss Strange to me
afresh ? " said His Highness, smiling on us both.
I did so in due form, and he bowed in a style
that made me fearful of my right in her. As for
NeU, she curtseyed bewitchingly-as bewitchingly
as my friend MacGregor had bowed upon a certain
evenmg in Dunblane-and kissed his hand, and
flushed as red as any peony in May.
" Oh, your Highness, will you forgive me ? "
she whispered.
136 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" For anything, I promise you. But what is
your offence ? "
" I— I could get nothing to wear within the
time — the clothes were borrowed from my land-
lady."
•Again the Prince smiled — an enigmatic smile
this time.
"Miss Strange," he said, "you forget your
mirror when you think about your wearing
gear."
" So I thought just now," I blurted out, like
the raw, love-sick lad I was. " When she came
tripping to the waterside and asked my pardon
for her wearing gear, I thought "
"Ay, you thought a sweet lass and a love-
some had given you more than you deserved,"
put in the Prince. "I can well believe it.
Anstruther, this is Mr. Cameron, the minister,
and the sooner he performs his duty by you, the
happier you will be."
The minister proved deft at the business,
and before we well knew what was going forward,
Nell and I were pledged to a life-joumey that
afterwards, we confessed, we neither of us would
have missed for sake of the crown for which
Prince Charlie fought.
NELL COMES TO ME. ,37
When aU was over, and we haa shaken hands
with the grey-headed, courteous Mr. Cameron— I
believe he kissed NeU, but my eyes were quite
elsewhere-the Prince claimed also a kiss upon
the cheek.
" Madam," he said, " brave men and bonnie
women should always mate together. I am glad
that you two came together here, and all that
superstition means by 'luck '-and / am super-
stitious-I wish to you. And now, Anstruther.
It IS hard to give a man work upon his wedding
morning, but there's a hard day's ride before
you."
He took me aside, with an apology to Nell,
and gave me instructions for the day. They were
such as promised saddle-soreness, but I welcomed
them because by cheerfully performing them I
could show my sense of the Prince's kindness.
" Tut ! tut ! " he answered, when I said as
much. " You're a good lad, and a willing, and
your wife shall be proud of you when we come
into action."
When we come into action. The words were
characteristic. That itch for battle was ever
with the Prince ; it seemed his faith was absolute
in an appeal to arms, and when from time to
138 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
time news came of the enemy's movements, I
could see his eyes light up, and he wotild throw
back his head as if he scented powder from
afar.
After Nell had taken her leave, and I also,
we went out together into the crisp sunlight of
the street. The first person that we saw was no
other than Captain MacGregor, who came up the
street with the jaunty i swing that would have
suited a kilt to perfection, but which looked
something odd in legs which were breeched and
booted after our English fashion. But then this
jauntiness was part of MacGregor. He always
walked a road as if he owned the adjacent
countryside; and the same manner when he
met a lady was apt to carry all before it, as
a two-handed sword would, or a ball from out
a cannon.
He lifted his hat to us, and bowed.
" MacGregor," I said, stopping him as he
would have passed by, " allow me to present you
to my wife."
Again the bow, which tickled my memory of
a certain recent comedy.
" This, Nell, is a dear friend of mine," I went
on, in a sober voice ; " so dear that a few nights
NELL COMES TO ME. ,39
ago he offered to take up my quarrel and fight
for me. I told you of that escapade, if you
remember."
MacGregor eyed me sideways, as if to say I
owed my safety only to a lady's presence ; and
Nell laughed outright, for she too. I fancy, had
noted the elaboration of the bow, and was seeing
in imagination the scene in the Dunblane tavern.
"Aweel, ye'll never rest, I see, till the whole
world kens the tale," said he, with a near approach
to a smile. " I wish ye joy o' the chiel, madam ;
for, gin he can fool Archie MacGregor, what
chance at a' wi' him has a wee bit slip of a lassie
like yoursel' .> "
"I must trust to fortune, sir," said she,
demurely.
" Ye'll find her tricksy ; she's a won n," he
answered, with sobriety.
He left us then, and we strolled on toward
the meadows where I had found her eariier in
the morning.
" Only an hour ago," she whispered, seating
herself on the stone bridge, "only an hour ago,
and now we're man and wife, Maurice."
"And now we're man and wife," I echoed,
catching her hands and holding them.
I40 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
She nestled to me as a child might.
" Maurice, I must not keep you here, for you
have much to do. Tell me, this business of the
Prince's that you go on, will it lead you into
danger ? "
" Why, no, sweet. It will lead me into danger
of great weariness, but nothing else."
" Ah, that is good to hear, Maurice. Already
I begin — to be afraid, dear."
Yes, she had begun to be afraid ; and so had
I. For the first time in my life I knew that
sickening depth of fear which is not for one's
own safety, but for the separation which would
come through death. I was to know more of
that fear by-and-by, and was to learn that, if a
man would enjoy the lust of battle to the full, he
must remain unwedded or fail to love his mis-
tress as a lover should.
To-day, however, I put my fears aside, and
answered lightly, and left her, tearful and smiling
both, at the bridge that spanned the stream.
And when at last I reached the camp, long after
dusk had fallen, I was too weary to have room
for fear of any sort, except that I might miss my
bed.
At least, I thought I was too weary, until I
NELL COMES TO ME. 141
rode past the comfortable lodging which His
Highness had allotted to a certain private soldier
in his army. For the private soldier was my
wife, and she was pacing up and down the road-
way as if she waited for some friend.
She turned quickly at the sound of my horse's
hoofs, and ran to meet me ; and in a moment I
was out of the saddle and had her in my arms.
" I waited for you, dear ; and you were so
long in coming," she said.
" Nell, it is good— good to have you here and
to know that you're my wife. Think of it, Nell
— my wife."
Already she was learning how to cross that
dreaded threshold which lies between girlhood
and womanhood, for her lips were warm on mine,
and she seemed to creep closer to my arms than
she had known the way of once. And a great
longing seized me— a great longing, and with it
a great fear of parting, even for the few hours
that lay 'twixt now and morning.
" Nell ! " I cried.
She looked up, with fear and wonder and a
sort of gladness in her eyes, and I could feel her
tremble in my grasp.
" Ah, no, my dear," she said at last. " Be
m
m
i4» UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
kind to me, Maurice, for I feel— how shall I tell
you ? It has been so hurried and so strange.
See, dear, I do not like this masquerading. I
know that it is needful now, that a woman
would only hamper you, and so I am dressed
like this for sake of being near you. But
but "
My sudden longing was cnished out of sight.
I only knew that what Nell wished I wished,
because her happiness was mine ; and, much as
I have thought about it Since, with experience to
guide me, I cannot find a better test of love.
" Dear lass, I understand," I said ; " and we
shall be in Edinburgh soon, and that will mean
a change of gear for you."
" Maurice, will it ? " she cried eagerly. " I
have a kinswoman there, a Mrs. Cameron, and—
and I shall be glad to find womenfolk again. Is
it true, Maurice ? It seems too good."
" I've been thinking about it all the day, for
I cannot bear to rte you sharing all our hard-
ships."
"'Tis for you, dear. I do nc -nd them
hardships."
" Yet I cannot bear them — for you. When
Edinburgh is reached, all will be different. The
t.'.
IJ
NELL COMES TO ME. 143
roads are better that lead south, and you can
travel in a chaise from place to place "
" And leave you ? " she interrupted.
"Why, no," I laughed. "I shall ride up
every now and then and laugh your fears to
scorn."
" It will be good to get to Edinburgh," she
said, with the curious, sweet air of frankness that
was her own.
And so we parted on the starlit road, and I
regretted nothing— not even our few hours of
separation— after she had whispered in my ear
that I was good to her.
On the morrow— it was late when I got abroad
—the whole army was astir, and word was going
round from mouth to mouth that our route was
to be taken without delay.
The Prince, when I presented mvself, con-
firmed the report.
" You are late, sir," he cried in his merriest
voice ; " but then the work I gave you yesterday
was two men's work, and you performed it weU.
And then a new-made wife is troublesome, I take
it— and, on the top of all, I have fresh work for
you. Our route is to be taken in an hour's time,
as doubtless you have heard. You will ride be-
■44 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
Si"-'!
m
n
side me, Mr. Anstruther, if you can consent to part
so soon from a wife and a well-earned holiday."
" She is but a private in your army, sire. I
have no choice."
He laughed, and so dismissed me. And first
I went to find out Nell at her own lodging, and
when I told her of the march her face lit up.
" Dear, we shall be in Edinburgh soon," she
cried, " and I can put these men's things off for
ever." i
Clothes were the ruling passion still, I could see ;
yet I was glad that she felt so eager toward the
journey, which might entail some hardships on her.
I need not tell all the details of our march
on Edinburgh, although it was studded thick
with adventure and surprises. Enough that we
passed through Dunblane, where I had to en-
counter once again the pretty serving-maid, and
to hear some irony from Nell ; across the Fords
of Frew, so narrowed now by extreme drought
that we covld cross with ease where, thirty
years before, the ill-starred Earl of Mar had failed
to make a passage ; through Stirling, Gardiner's
dragoons still falling two steps back for every for-
ward stride we took ; on to the camping-ground
at Duddingstone, which was to prove the last
iS'i
NELL COMES TO ME. ,45
halt before our Prince secured command of his
own capital.
As aide-de-camp in personal attendance on
His Highness. I was to witness many tragic
many pathetic, sights in the course of this most
strange and picturesque campaign ; but there
were scenes as well, as I have said, that had in
more pure comedy them than either tragedy or
pathos. Indeed, the one characteristic of our hot
march into England which stands out to me the
most clearly, as Hook back upon the Forty-Five
with the spectacles of age, is the mixture of high
purpose and broadest merriment that ruled our
enterpriser. One of us kissed a woman lightly,
say, when sun and autumn warmth were on the
braeside. and the issue of a battle was decided
by It. as at Prestonpans. Or a laird's wife upset
a kettle of boiling water over her goodman's
knees-a tale I may have to teU before I finish
these light memoirs— and thereby saved the
Pnnce from certain death, as when we rode
together, he and L to Kirtlebrae. It was these
laughable, small incidents of war, I think, that
added to the wild campaign the last touch of
carelessness; and it was these. I am sure, that
helped to keep my own spirits from despair
«'■
f
146 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
when the dark days of Derby and the backward
march came on us all.
The incident, however, which more than any
other moved my laughter — which makes me
smile even now as I put quill to paper — was the
manner of our taking the good city of Edinburgh.
I had looV.ed, with all the fine expectation of
two-and-twenty, for danger in the assault, for
the cries of stricken men, for flare of gunpowder
and fall of shattered masonry ; and these things
I found, it may be, at another date, but not at
Edinburgh.
I am glad that it falls to me just now to tell
the story of the capture of Edinburgh by the
Jacobite laddies, for it is heartsome weather as
I write — although the season is late autumn, as
on the day we played the pipes in Edinburgh —
and the mind turns with kindliness to that side
of warfare on which love and laughter intermingle.
The love interest, as not infrequently occurred,
was supplied by Archie MacGregor, now a trusted
officer of the Prince and a firm friend of my
own. MacGregor, who commanded a company of
Highlanders as devil-may-care as himself, had
chosen to cement his intimacy ..ith me, though
in all respects he was as different from myself as
NELL COMES TO ME ,4;
weU could be. Frolic or fight he took with a
queer Scot's doumess of demeanour that was for
ever clashing ulth my own tell-tale spirits, and
fifty times a day we rubbed angles with each
other, nut ,t was these very differences of
temper, 1 fancy, that drew us close together. At
any rr,tc, onr friendship hid already grown so
strong t'.at 1 e ir i conhded to me the secret of his
love affair, ui w,,.,h 1 e had hinted on the eve of
my own weddn-g-day. The lady, it seemed, was
one Flora Maclvor, and her wit, to judge fn-n
my friend's account of it, was as Uttle comfcr'ij.^-
as the edge of a skean-dhu. She wo: '-! ,-,.
neither "No" nor "Yes,' moreove' *o 'll
dogged love-making, but kept him. -.'. v.,n„..
have a pretty knack of doing, swing^.g ak-,
pendulum between extreme hope and eviii.ilv
extreme despair. She had played a trifle too
long with him at last, and it was her willy-nilly
mood, no less than his own love of adventure
that had sent him from Edinburgh-where Miss
Maclvor chanced to be staying for awhile when
the RebeUion broke out-to seek distraction in
the wake of the White Cockade.
This had all happened in the early summer,
and now, as our southward march brought us'
148 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
nearer Edinburgh, I could see Archie's restlessness
grow with each mile we travelled, until, indeed,
I began to fancy he would run amuck among us
all, unless a battle came to draw his thoughts
from the lady who to him was Edinburgh town
and Edinburgh castle both in one. His face
was hke a fiddle out of tune when we finished the
last stage but one of our march, and went into
camp at a spot some twelve miles from the city ;
and I watched him as he stood and glowered upon
the murky haze, touched here and there with a
stonry sunset, which showed him the dwelling-
place of a disdain • lady.
" Are you gauging to-morrow's weather,
Archie ? " I said, linking an arm through his.
" Ay, gauging the weather, lad," he muttered.
" An' what's that to ye, I'm wondering ? Canna
an honest man tak' a peep at the sky, but raw
bit laddies maun come smirking, an' "
" You are too careful to excuse yourself," I
laughed. " Well, we shall see the streets of
Edinburgh before the next two days are out ;
and they're pleasant streets to walk along, they
tell me, Archie."
I spoke a true word, as it fell out ; but I did
not guess, while I stood there and bantered dour
im/il
NELL COMES TO ME. ,49
MacGregor, that our entry was to be largely du»
to himself-and to Miss Flora Maclvor too. in
a remote degree.
We struck camp at an early hour on the
monow, and started in the best of spirits for
the capital ; and now, after a couple of leagues
or so had been covered, I was riding by the
Prince's side, in advance of the main body, while
he gave me his instructions for the day.
" Look yonder ! They mean to check us in
good time!" he cried, drawing rein upon the
sudden and pointing to the low roofs of the village
of Corstorphine, which showed just ahead of its
I followed the direction of his finger, and saw
a band of dragoons— some fifty, more or less
there seemed to be-drawn up across the road
at the comer where it turned round to the
village.
"Ride forward, Mr. Anstruther," said His
Highness, preparing to return to the main body
of his army, with the intention, as I guessed, of
leading them promptly forward. " Ride forward
and reconnoitre these feUows who grudge nje
admittance to my capital."
Some members of his staff, with Archie Mac-
Gregor among them, joined us at this moment.
w
ISO UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
and he motioned them to ride forward with me
toward Corstorphine.
" Anstruther," whispered MacGregor, as we
drew near the dragoons, " they have a michty
saft look about them, as if they feared the de'il
was somewhere near and they didna ken just
where to look for him."
I, too, had been observing the city soldiers
narrowly, and so ready they seemed to break
that I for one could not resist the temptation. I
just yelled, " Let's ride at them," and set spurs to
my horse. MacGregor, not to be outdone in folly,
followed me, and after us our Httle company of
eight came galloping.
We were within ten paces of them now, and
I could see them look at one another with very
doubtful faces. Then Archie raised a Gaelic
howl, than which there is no more strident nor
more fearsome thing on earth. We fired our
pistols point-blank at the enemy, swung our
swords free to the accompaniment of a second
howl from MacGregor, and galloped forward for
the charge. But there are two sides to a charge,
as to a bargain, and we found ourselves, when we
had gained the corner, riding only at an empty
stretch of road. For the dragoons had wavered,
NELL COMES TO ME. ,5,
had made a half-attempt toraUy, and had broken,
without so much as a gun-shot fired.
We struck our spurs well home and off
we set, each trying to outstrip the other in
the race; and with what little breath was
left us we laughed, and laughed again, to
see the dragoons gallop, down over their horses-
manes, across the meadows and away. Thev
rode finely, I admit, so far as speed went
and we were still behind them after a hard run
had brought us to the fields that flank Colt
Bridge. Here, to our surprise, we found a larger
body, of which the dragoons had onlv been an
outpost, drawn up in battle array and" evidently
waiting for the Prince's army. A curious figure
stood m the foreground of the crescent formed
by the troops-a thin, tall figure, wrapped in a
great surcoat, his hat tied underneath his chin
by a white kerchief. This, as we learned after-
wards, was Colonel Gardiner, the one brave man
among them.
The ride and the excitement of the chase
had gone to our heads by this time, and, had
the Usurper's entire army stood across our path
I thmk that we should still have gone forward
with the same unconcern. There were eight of
i!
152 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
us against two regiments of dragoons, the city
guard, and all the volunteers that Edinburgh
could muster; and they must have thought, hear-
ing our yell of " Claymore ! " and seeing us
advance so hotly, either that we were mad or
that we had a strong reserve of force following
close behind us. The latter supposition se°med to
find more favour with them; and the fifty troopers
whom we had first dislodged, as they galloped
between the lines of their own comrades and on
toward the city, increased yet further the growing
panic and confusion. In vain the man with the
strange head-gear strove to rally them ; in vain
he struck right and left with the flat of his sword,
and upbraided the runaways with fierce invective.
Our clan-cries were too much for them, and for
the second time that morning we found ourselves
pursuing, with bared blades, as silly a flock of
sheep as ever cropped green herbage. We
stopped at last, for lack of breath, and because
the fugitives would soon be under shelter of the
Castle guns ; and when we got back to the Prince,
who had brought up the army in time to see us
go galloping down the distant road in hot pursuit,
we found big tears of laughter rolling down his
cheeks.
NELL COMES TO ME. ,53
"My thanks, gentlemen, my thanks!" he
cried. " Yon have gained me the first victory
of the campaign."
It was seldom that Prince Charlie laughed
whole-heartedly; but when he did, there was a
strange infection in his mirth. Even Archie
MacGregor joined in our laughter, as we lifted
hats and bonnets to the sky in token of our
victory.
CHAPTER VIII.
A FAIR LADY AND A CITY GATE.
Yet this first attempt to check our entry into
Edinburgh, absurd as was its climax, was serious
enough in one respect, for it showed us there was
great opposition to our cause within the city
waUs. Until now we had had no certainty on
this head, one way or the other ; and the more
sanguine of us— of whom the Prince himself was
one— had good hopes that our supporters would
outnumber the disaffected, and th it we should
be welcomed rather than resisted.
Our meeting with the dragoons disposed of
that hope effectuaUy, and the Prince and his
officers in council decided to halt for the remainder
of the day at Corstorphine, until we had gleaned
further knowledge of the strength of our oppo-
nents. With this object in view, His Highness
despatched me after dinner with orders to ride
out as far from camp as was politic, to reconnoitre
the walls, if possible, and to learn from chance
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. 155
acquaintances on the road all that was to be
known for the asking.
I had just finished saddling when Nell
looking mighty slim and fair in her boy's gear'
came up and rested one hand on my horee's
neck.
" You'll break my heart, Maurice." was her
astonishing prelude to what promised to be
tearful talk.
" Indeed ! " I ventured laughin^y. " Then
'tis brittle, if a puff of wind will shatter it.-'
Then I saw that the tears were reaJly in her
eyes, and I laid a hand upon her own.
" Dear lass," I said, " the march is trying you
too much, and you are fanciful."
" But I saw you ride against the dragoons—
I saw you, Maurice. And I said to myself that
you must be very tired of hfe to risk it wantonly.
And— and I was ^orry I had wearied you in
these few days."
I w.is amazed. Marriage had scarcely shown
Itself in such a serious light before. I had been
ready to fight for Nell, to love her, to know her
sweeter than all other women ; but I had never
thought to be put on my defence with subtleties
of thislkind.
156 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" You do not answer. Ah I I knew that it
was true," she murmured with a sob.
" It is true that you are wearied out, Nell.
See, we shall be in Edinburgh soon, and we
shall halt there for awhile, and these discom-
forts will be over. 'Tis just that you long for
a gown again, and a home that we can share."
Luckily we were out of sight of any passing
busybody, for NeU came to me with the red of
sunset in her face and a wondrous softness in
her eyes.
" Dear lad, I am ashamed to say it, but 'tis
true," she whispered. "I'm lonely, and— and
when I saw you ride against those men, and
fancied that I saw you lying dead, I felt a great
darkness, dear, come over me. I wish I loved
you less," she added with a sob.
"Then you'U unwish it, sweet, for no man
in the world could love you more than I."
"Say it again, dear. I want to be quite
sure."
I made it sure beyond dispute, and she
turned a happy, tearful face to me.
" And I'm glad, too, that I saw you ride so
foolishly,.because— Ah ! but I like a man to be
brave, Maurice."
e^rr:' >^^
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. 15;
My laughter was in no way feigned, for I
remembered how the enemy had fled.
" Then there are many valiant folk in Scot-
land," I answered. " Every cowherd who drives
his kme to pasture is a hero, and "
" I saw you, and you cannot make your
bravery seem less," she interrupted.
And this was fortunate ; an older man would
have garnished up his exploits for a wife's ear
knowing how difficult it is for any husband to'
maintam a reputation at his own fireside. But
I was young to the matter yet, and to lift the
monimg's comedy to the high level of heroism
seemed out of reason.
" Well, dear, I'm away to Edinburgh," I said,
kBsmg her before I got to saddle. • Nay there's
no danger," I added, soeing in her eves the
question I was, beginning to Itam. "Just a ride
about the walls, and home again. V\isli me luck,
NeU, for I'm fain to see you safe in Edinburgh."
I turned in the saddle as I reached the bending
of the road, and she ki-s^d her hand to me ; and
then I rode in great content, thinking more of
Nell and of the happiness to come, I fear, than
of the Prince's business, until I neared the out-
skirts of the city.
IS8 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
I met with no opposition of any sort upon the
road, and after taking a leisurely survey of the
Netherbow Port I was about to pass on, when
the gates opened and three riders came out— two
ladies and a man-servant. The younger lady
arrested my attention, for the scornful face, with
the brown hair piled above it, under a three-
cornered hat set rakishly a-tilt, seemed in some
way familiar to me. They took tl.c Corstorphine
road, no little to my surprise, and I heard the
younger say to her companion as they passed
me :
" Do us harm ? Is it likely that Highlanders
would do a Highland lassie harm ? "
" But to ride into the midst of a whole army ? "
put in the other timidly. " Besides, they are
rough and wild, they say."
" They say, they say ! " echoed the first
speaker sharply. "What do they know of my
countrymen down here in the Lowlands ? I tell
you it's a twelvemonth and a day since last I
saw a Highland face, and I sicken for the sight
of one."
Now, Miss Flora Maclvor was Highland bom,
and I put two and two together, and guessed
why I had found the girl's face so familiar. It
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. 159
was not for nothing that MacGregor had dinned
his lady's praises into my ears o' nights. This
scornful beauty, then, with the temper that
promised merry times for Archie in the days to
come, was riding to Corstorphine with the express
purpose of seeing our camp ; and I had a shrewd
suspicion that the Highland face which she had
expressed such strong desire to see, was owned by
one of the clan MacGregor. I wished him joy
of her, and so went forward with the reconnoitring
of the waUs. They were frail beyond belief-
scarce an embrasure or a bastion worth the name
and all the walls from the Netherbow Port to the
Cowgate Port huddled thick with houses, big and
little. "
" This will be good news for the Prince," I
thought, as I set off for the camp again. '" A
litUe powder and a few of us to scale the breach
and Edinburgh is ours." '
I was half-way to Corstorphine when I heard
the same voice that had attracted my attention
not long ago. Then a deep, stolid bass, no less
familiar to me, came round the sharp bend of the
road, and presently my disdainful lady appeared
m sight, with Archie walking by her stirrup; and
following them were the other riders whom I
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i<So UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
had lately seen come out of the Netherbow Port-
If I had needed any proof that my guess as to
the identity of Miss Maclvor had been correct.
Archie himself would have supplied it, for his
dour face nad grown both tender and embar-
rassed, and the shadow of a blush passed over it
as he made acknowledgment of my sweeping
bow.
MacGregor came home to camp that evening,
in consequence, v/ith something near to jollity in
his voice and gait. He found me in the tent
which we shared in common, soon after my
return from carrying news of the city's fortifica-
tions to Prince Charhe, and from a half-hour
spent in lovers' talk with NeU ; and the first
thing Archie did, after fiUing himself a measure
of whiskey, was to take out his dirk and finger
the edge of it— a favourite trick of his, as I have
said, when a good humour held him.
" Anstruther," said he, " we are going to
take Edinburgh before the next few days are
out."
" Indeed ? " I said.
"Ay, indeed, and indeed again. An' wha's
to do it, think ye, lad ? "
"A lady, may-be, who came out by the Nether-
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. ,6.
" She seemed to
bow Port to-day," I answered,
have business in the camp."
Archie after threatening me with his dirk-
he was always a little ponderous when gay of
mood-bega^ to walk up and down, and to eye
me m^gly from mider his shaggy brows.
The laay is Highland-bom, at any rate
and a weU-,^her to His Highness." he «iopped
at length. "For a raw lad. Anstruther. y^e
no ^ed so wide o' the mark, I'm jalousin/"
But K that to the point, think you ? If
now you had said she was a weU-wisher to one'
of the Pnnce's captams "
Archie, however, was making for me in grim
-nest this time, and I thoughts unwiseToS^
a'SLdZ-f ir '^ --- -^--'
" for ^'" T "^ **^"* '*•" ^ ^^^ ^"«' ^ pause :
for. you know. Archie, she was fairer than aU
your tales of her."
"Well, there's naething but my tongue to
^e for that." said MacGregor. Jentinfonce
a^ toward me. "What said she. think ye
when I wanted her to wed ? "
"She said ' Yes ' and ' No.' I fancy, and you
sighed like the fir trees on Ben Alder-l"
i62 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" Then, lad, ye're wrang ! For she said she
wad — but wi' an if thereby. She'll wed me if
I'm the first into Edinburgh when the toun is
ta'en."
" It was a hard sort of bargain on her side,
Archie," I laughed. " First, we have to take the
town ; next, you are to be the first of us who
enters "
" Well, an' who shall keep us oot o' the to<m ? "
cried Archie sturdily. ,
" Is it a general offer, then ? " I asked gently.
" Suppose, now, I were to steal a march on you,
and be the first into the town, the lady's hand
would be transferred to me ? "
" Ay, if I had not dirked ye before ye dragged
in the second foot ahint the first," growled Archie.
" Here's a wager for you," I cried. " My
sword against your lady's glove that you do not
enter Edinburgh first."
" I hae sma' use for your sword, laddie, for
I've a muckle better one o' my ain."
" Think well, Archie ! It is Andrew Ferrara's
make, and the Prince himself it was who gave it
to me."
" Hoots ! Ferrara's well eneuch, but mak' it
a keg o' whiskey, lad, and MacGregor'll hold ye
to the wager."
A LADY AND A CITY GATE ,63
»»«'<• goes to the winner ? " T „jj j
great part in my life ^ ^ ^
^^ He smiled sourly at me, in a way that piqued
as ll^I' *" ^''' '^""■'" '^^ ^'"^J^d, " and that's
as good as saying mysel' "
tol/;^" thT: ^'"^ •",* ^ -"- -tte. and
Edinburgh butT -f "'"^' ^" *°^ °f
^Omburgh . but I said no more to Archie on the
"A wager's no wager at a' at =• -t
dinna wet its whistle" h. * ' ** ^ • '^ V^
to the brown k!g tiSt sL "'' ^°"^
the tent. ""'^ '" ^ <=°™er of
was'aruir'"''°''*°^'="P*'''^*°-t.forI
i64 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
the night. The coach disgorged three portly
figures by-and-by, who proved to be Baillie
Hamilton and two other members of the City
Council, and all of them, after parleying awhile
on the threshold of the mill, disappeared within
its precincts.
It was about eight of the evening now, and
Archie and I were pushed about in mind to guess
what had brought these gentry to His Highness
at so late an hour. Nor was our curiosity satis-
fied until a half-hour later, when we learned, from
certain friends of ours who had been in the Prince's
company at the time, how there was so great a
fear of us among the townsfolk that they had
sent a deputation to treat with us for capitulation.
The Prince, very properly, had declined to treat
with his father's subjects, and the deputation
had retired chapfallen to Edinburgh, protest-
ing that they would but be sent back again in
search of a more favourable answer, and en-
treating the Prince to reconsider his decision.
This visit, following on the absurd retreat of the
dragoons and volunteers, naturally raised our
spirits, for it was plain that the city could not
long hold out against us ; and the Prince lost
no time in despatching to Edinburgh eight himdred
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. ,65
tools, with orders to examir.e the fortification^
under cover of the darkness and secure an ent^
^ opportunity offered. Archie MacGregor an^
myse f were bidden to stay in camp and to hdd
ourselves m readiness to fulfil any command ffis
Highness might lay upon us ; and I never saw a
man so nonplussed as Archie when he knew that
the town m,ght very well be taken before dawn
and that he had no chance in that case of ber^
first w.thm the walls. He railed at the hard wlys
t^'^t T" "' '"'■ '"" '""'^ "^^ f^U into a
sort o broodmg quiet ; and for my life I could
not help rallymg him afresh, asking if our wager
d:;;:lT'^'''^°«-^°--P-3^ the next
"They'll no tak' the toun the nicht," said
Archie at last, more cheerfuUy, and feU into a
quieter mood than ever. Then, still with the
same deep silence on him, he took me by the
arm and led me into the fields, and walked me
up and down for at least a score of weary minutes
before condescendmg to enlighten me as to the
meanmg of his odd behaviour.
" Archie." I said at last. " the stare are well
i66 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
I'
enough, and a night walk is well enough ; but
what ails you, man ? "
He still gripped my arm as in a vice.
" Whisht, laddie ! " he muttered. " I hae a
braw plan in my head, and my brain gangs
a wee thing slow, and I would like ye to speak
saft, for the brain is a deeficult jade to play
wi'."
I held my laughter, at some inconvenience to
myself, and soon felt Archie's hold upon my arm
relax. It was not his way to show gaiety, so that
I knew there must be something out of the ordinary
afoot when I saw him begin .o step it featiy over
the starlit sward.
" Man Anstruther, I have it ! " he cried,
coming to a breathless halt. " Hark ye, now ;
thae folk of Edinburgh are scared, an' the Prince's
answer will no just tend to soothe them. Baillie
Hamilton was richt, I'm thinking, when he said
we'll see this very nicht anither deputation come
to speak wi' the Prince; and the Prince, I'm
thinking, will send them back again, wi' a flea
i' their lug this time. And Archie MacGregor,
wha's 3f)eaking til ye the noo, will meet the city
folk aj they are getting, glumpy and frichtened,
into their coach."
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. 167
" It will be pleasant for them to see so sweet a
face as yours, Archie," I murmured. " Well, and
what after you have met them ? "
" Laddie, ye've nae imageer ation— nae turn of
fancy at a'. What then ? says the chiel ! Man,
I'll look twice as honest as the honestest man
they've ever been acquaint wi' ; and I'll speak
smooth and grave, and tell them that the Prince
will not hearken to them because he is no just
sure of the good faith o' Edinburgh. And then
I'll look ahint me, as if feared that some
chiel was hearkening, and whisper that Edinburgh
is my ain toun— a toun I love richt dearly. And
they'll gi'e me a look oot o' the sides o' their een,
and say they dinna doot I hae some power to
move the Prince. And at that I'll tak' Baillie
Hamilton by the button-hole, and look about me
with rare caution, and say that His Highness
counts me his most cherished counsellor. Does
it no gang bonnily ? " he broke off.
"Bonnily," I assured him, and waited for
more.
" WeU, then, I'll ask them to tak' me back
privately to the toun wi' them, so I may judge
for mysel' o' the look o' things in Edinburgh, and
talk wi' the folk aboot the streets, and bring
I '
168 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
back a fair report to the Prince. And the depu-
tation— at their wits' end a'ready, Ans, uther, and
gey weary o' driving up and doon the road to
Corstorphine— will just drink down aU I say to
them as if 'twere whiskey."
" Aad they'Jl take you back with them to-
night. Yes. I see so far. Archie ; but of wha'
use will the drive be to you ? "
" A puir imageenatiop ye have, laa.lie ; but
some men are afflicted in that gait fro' their
cradles." said Archie, sorrowfuUy. " And yet it's
as plain as my own face. Anstruther. that I'U
go in and about, wearing yon air of honesty I
mentioned, and then I'U wish Baillie Hamilton
and his friends a varra tender guid-nicht. and
I'll bid the coachman drive me back again to
Corstorphine. And what will I do. think ye.
when I reach the Netherbow Port, and the porter
opens to let us through ? "
" Archie," said I, holding his meaning at last,
" it is a pretty plot. What will you do at the
Netherbow Port ? Knock the porter down and
give the ' Clayn.ore ' cry, and bring our friends
in from without ! "
" Ye show discreemination whUes." growled
MacGregor. " There's eight hundred of us some-
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. ,69
where under the walls, wi> their gunpowder and
» .eir sea .ng-,n,n, and what not ; but they'll find
r Z°' !?""■ '■'" *'*"'''"«' °"" I've talked
w. BaUhe Hamilton. And now. laddie.- he
broke off .3 our walk brought us to the tent
again. "IVe a n,i„d to lay me doon and sleep
a jee before yon hackrey-coach comes rumbling
f„,."':lT'^'"^ °" *''* **'^^ °* t"^ tent, and I
followed h.s example, for by 'his time each of u,
had learned to sleep with both ears open. Mac-
Grego. was asleep at once, and the music of .im
mied the tent for Archie snorea in Scotch, and
ieLnT^ r "'' "'' "°*''"« ^'- that I had
hea^d before I shared a couch with him. To-
n.ght. mdeed, he kept me waking for two mortal
hours ; and so. as I could not find my way to
sfeep. I went over aU the doings of the day. ard
thought o Baillie Hamilton, and wondeL '
MacGregor-s specious plan would come to any-
thmg^ Then, remembering onr wager. I began
to ask myself, by way of passing tU if the^
w«-e no way by whid. I could outwit MacGrego
hnnself, just as he proposed to outwit the Baillk •
HTd then i saw my way dear on the sudden, and
I thmk an exdamation must have slipped from
i;o ITNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
\l'
mc, for Archie leaped to hisi (eet and reached
out one hand for hin dirk.
" Wha gangs there ? " lie cried.
" It is only I, MacGregor. I was thinking of
the keg of whiskey we had wagered, and the
thought somehow made me laugh."
"They're lang on the way, these chiels fro'
Edinburgh," said MacGregor, yawning. " Have
we o'ersleepit their coming ? "
I cocked my ears toward the road.
" We have waked just in time, if I know the
sound of a hackney-coach," I answered.
And so it proved, for when Archie and 1 got
out on to the highway we saw Baillie Hamilton
and his brethren of the City Council going in
at the door of Gray's Mill for the second time
that night. Archie's surmise, after all, had
proved correct, and he could not lose the
opportunity now of playing the part he had
set himself.
" Do you wait for them at the mill door," I
said, " and leave me to wet the driver's throat
in here. I may learn something from him of the
way the world WEigs in Edinburgh."
Archie glanced at me, for he was always a
man of suspicions. But my face, I fancy, showed
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. 171
guileless as his own. and he could see little harm
in my offering whiske- ti a hackney-coachman
on so chUly a night as < hi. , He went and lurked
in the darkness that lay between the coach and
the Prince's door, while I enticed the driver from
his seat— a matter of smaU difficulty, indeed—
and led him to our tent and poured him out a
liberal quantity of whiskey.
" The night is fine, driver," I said.
" Fine and bricht, sir, but a wee thing cauld
the noo," said he, as he drank my health.
"The sort of night when it is pleasa-t to
ride in arch of gallantry." I went on. helping
him aft „i.
" Oh. ay. when ye are in that time o' life."
I leaned toward him confidentially.
" There's discord in the city, so I hear, and
they do not welcome visitors from our camp. And
that is awkward for me, driver, if the truth must
out, for I want to visit a lady in the town, and I
see no chance at aU of getting through the gates.
Will you take me up beside you, and never a
man the wiser .' "
He finished the measure before answering,
and I filled up the pause by thrusting a guinea
into^his palm.
172 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" Aweel," he said gravely, " if ye choose to
climb up while I'm no just looking— ay, the thing
might varra weel be done, I'm thinking. J
wadna go agen releegion, ye ken. I'm a member
o' the Kirk, an' pledged to honesty; but gin
I dinna see ye mount the blame will no be
mine."
Bright as the stars were overhead, the coach
lay deep in shadow of the trees that overhung
Gray's Mill, so that once I was on the box there
was little risk of Arci.ie seeing me. I waited till
the door of the mill opened, and the three members
of the deputation were bowed out into the night.
" I wish you a pleasant journey, gentlemen,
and your townsfolk more level minds," I heard
Princp Charlie say.
Then the mill door was closed, and I saw
Archie come out of the shadows and follow the
deputation into the middle of the road. Word
for word, almost gesture for gesture, the scene
was pla3'ed out as MacGregor had rehearsed
it earlier in the evening; and his slow, broad
speech, as he confided to them his love of Edin-
burgh and his desire for its security, had in it
something persuasive to the last degree. The
delegates, good folk, were so perplexed by all
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. 173
this to-and-fromg between Corstorphine and the
town that they were ready to snatch at an> offer
of assistance; and in a few minutes Eaillie
Hanulton was bowing my friend into the hackney-
coach.
" Ye ken weel, maybe, that an honest man is
putting his life in your hands for sake o' the auld
toun ? " said Archie, adding a last deft touch to
his play-acting as he halted on the step of the
coach.
" Ye'U no regret it, Captain MacGregor, ye'll
no regret it," the Baillie answered.
The four of them got up into the coach, and,
judging that it was time for me to join the game'
I sUd up by the left fore wheel to my place beside
the driver— the driver who was a member of the
Kirk. The horses were whipped into a show of
spirit, the coach started forward, and there was
no halt until we stood outside the Nether-
bow Port and clamoured for admission. The
gates were iiung open and shut behind us again,
and I wondered what our eight hundred comrades
were doing outside the walls, and how we should
fare if they chose just this moment for blowing
up the gate. AU was quiet, however, except for
the folk who thronged the streets, talking in
174 UNDER Tip: WHITE COCKADE.
loud tones together. Here and there a knot
of them would recognise Baillie Hanulton as
we rode through the town, and it was plain
from their eager glances at us that the object
of his journey to Corstorphine was known
to everyone. We stopped at last in front of
the Baillie's house, and I sheltered myself
behind the coachman's burly figure as Archie
and his new companions stepped out into the
road. I
" Ye'U hae to bide for me, for I maim get
hame again to Corstorphine," said Archie to
the driver, who, not relishing this third journey,
asked if he were to spend the remainder of
his days in driving between Corstorphine and
Auld Reekie.
" I dinna ken aboot your da5rs, man, but an
hour or two mair o' this same nicht ye'll hae to gi'e
me," cried MacGregor, in a tone which admitted
no dispute.
While the driver muttered his complaints,
and while Archie followed Baillie Hamilton in-
doors, I slipped down unnoticed from the box,
opened the coach door noiselessly and took my
seat inside, there to await my friend's return.
Stray items from the crowds that hugged the
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. 175
Canongate, the Cowgate, and the Lawnraarket.
passed by me, saying this and that of the Prince
according to the complexion of their loyalty.
Then Archie came out again from Baillie Hamil-
ton's house, and walked up the street with him—
to carry through the farce, so I judged, by seeming
to convince himself of the good faith of the town.
The minutes dragged along; I yawned and
fidgeted ; but at last I heard Archie's step once
more, as he stopped in the roadway just outside
the coach and gave a soft good-night to the
Baillie.
" Ye'U persuade the Prince, then, think ye ? "
said the BaiUie, for the seventh time, as MacGregor
opened the coach door.
" Oh, ay, I'll persuade His Highness. Guid-
nicht, Baillie, and guid luck to the auld toun."
There was a pause, and then, " Wake up, ye daft
auld wife ! Corstorphine ! " I heard him cry to
the member of the Kirk who sat upon the
box.
The coachman roused himself with a start,
and whipped up his cattle, and soon we were re-
traversing the crowded thoroughfare that led us
to the gate.
I shrank into the comer of the coach, nigh
;:'r,Ug
176 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
split with laughter to hear Archie mutter, with
grave complacency :
" Bonnily done I Hech ! It's bonnily done.
And Miss Flora Maclvor "
" Is to wed the first man into Edinburgh," I
broke in ; " and the first man in was myself,
friend MacGregor."
MacGregor ripped out his dirk at the first
shock of surprise, then upbraided me in his
sweet mother tongi^e as soon as he learned
who shared the coach with him; and he only
stormed the more when I told him that by
riding on the box I had come well first into
the town.
" I wadna so muckle mind your laughter,
laddie," he groaned, "but it's the whiskey I
grudge — for, man, the price of a keg of whiskey
will leave me with a lean purse."
" Not to mention the lady," I put in, as we
pulled up at the Netherbow Port, and heard our
driver shouting for the guard.
" On whose orders ? " said the guard gruffly.
" Baillie Hamilton's. We're for Corstorphine,"
answered the coachman.
The gates were unlocked, and the guard stood
back to let us pass. It was the moment we bad
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. i-„
schemed for. Archie gave a yeU Uke the crack
of doom as he leaped from the bowels of the coach
and two quick "strakes" of his skean-dhu
brought the guards to ground before I had time
to foUow him. His shout of " Claymore ! " went
nngmg up and down the street. There was an
answering call from without and a rush of feet
and Archie and I fell i„to line together.'
presentmg bare blades and a front of sur-
passing gravity to our comrades, who. eight
hundred strong, were lurking on the far side
of the gate. Cameron of Lochiel was the
first of them to enter. He stopped amazed to
see us standing there so quieUy. Then he began
to laugh, and : ^
"Captain MacGregor," said he. "how comes
|t that you and Mr. Anstruther must needs have
the cream of every jest ? We were but just
settmg fire to a fuse when you called us to the
gate.
"Come in. ye braw ts laddies," said
Archie suavely, "for the toun is all agog to
see ye." 6 5 i"
Lord Harry, what a night it was ! Up we
marched through the town in the gaining dawn.
and the knots of idlers, wrangling as to whether
%
178 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
old Edinburgh could or could not hold out against
the Prince, were scattered right and left by the
Prince's soldiery. The nevs spread. Casements
were flung open ; men with nightcapped heads
and lassies all in disarray peeped forth to learn
the cause of the tumult ; the pipes struck up
"The King shall enjoy his own again," and
eight hundred Scottish bonnets went roof-high
toward the clouds.
Two of us rode to Corstorphine to tell the
Prince of our success, and found him seated at the
supper-board.
" Well, gentlemen," he said, glancing quickly
up as we entered, " these deputations make a
man hungry, as you see, and I am supping for
the second time to-night. Do you bring any
news ? "
" We do, your Highness. Edinburgh is ours."
And then I told him all the way of it, and he
would have us pledge the bloodless victory in a
glass of the strongest whiskey it had ever been
my lot to taste.
" It is boot and saddle now ! " he cried.
" Anstruther, do you go give my orders that we
must march as soon as the men can breakfast
and stri e camp. Yes, they must breakfast first,
;!| 4
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. ,79
poor feUows," he added, as if to himself. " They
nave been sorely tried of late."
As soon as I had passed on the orders I went
in search of Nell, and I had long to stand beneath
her window before my calls could rouse her. Poor
child ! The constant bustle was sadly wearying
to her and she slept. I fancy, with the same
dreamless somidness that I enjoyed myself when
worn out by hard riding.
She came at last, however, and the sun shone
full upon her face, dreamy and half surprised, as
she flung the casement wide.
"I seemed to be dreaming. Maurice." she
S T r 1° ^'^' ^°" "^""S- ''^S to me.
And I thought you were in danger, and then I
woke, and Are you really safe, dear ' "
" ^"l^'^y '^^^•" I '^"ghed. " but I have con-
quered Edinburgh. 1 t on your boy's gear for
the last time. NeU. We are on the point of
marching now."
She did not stay to question me, for the up-
roar m the camp was witness to the fact that we
were just about to march, and sooner than I had
hoped for she was at my side.
'' TeU me what has chanced," she said.
" Nay, there's not time enough. I'U tell you
i8o UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
when — when you don a kirtle, lassie, and come to
me in Edinburgh as my own true wife."
And then, of course, I kissed her — as who
would not, seeing the glamour and the softness
of her face when that word " wife " was spoken ?
And all seemed very wel' with the Prince's cause
and with my own.
The army took some hours to get finally into
marching order ; but after that it was a quick
march and a joyous to Edinburgh, and when the
sun got up toward the noonv ard sky it found us
massed in arms about the Market Cross. Fore-
most of all was Lochiel, the handsomest figure
in all our army ; behuid him were his own
picked cavalry, and behind the cavalry again
as wild and picturesque a crowd of infantry
as Edinburgh, surely, ever saw — lean, sinewy
fellows, with faces chiselled ont of oak, and
tattered tartans blowing loosely jn the wind
of mom.
The townsfolk would never get done with their
gazing at us, so it seemed, and by their looks I
fancied that they liked us better in the flesh than
they had done in imagination. Among the crowd
I saw a horse\voman come riding through the
press ; she had brown hair, breeze-blown into
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. ,8,
disarray, and a three-cornered hat set rakishly
abo. a scornful face, and a «,. not to Z
I was not the only one. indeed, who recognised
M«s Mac vor. for I stole a ,.ance at A?chTe
and saw that he was edging his horse out o
the pr^s He drew rein beside her. and raised
h.s linnet as .Miss Flora wer. a second Queen
she"'^°R"'"T'''/'P'''" MacGregor." said
sne. It 13 a fair day that brings •■
she;f^sed'^*'''"^^"'^^'^-^«'^-«-lyas
,hp7''K?""*^ ^""" ^^^'^'^ •"*<> Edinburgh."
she finished with great demureness.
"Miss Maclvor." said Archie, after a discon-
c^rtingsUence. "who first set foot in the aTd
toiin this morning, think ye ' "
horsl\Ir'^'^'°"*'^^^^**''^-">'*'>-gof
^el^ir'^' ""'P!"" ''^^'^'Sor. I couldn't
toC,. ^° """"y "^ y°" ^^^^ ^«t foot within the
'■ Ay but there's a bargain, if ye call to mind."
her H r^^ ■ " '''" "=^°'^'^' "**^g the tip of
her^damty nose and the curve of two da^ty
182 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
iil'lji!;
i^
" Ay, a bargain," he repeated stolidly. " Miss
Flora Maclvor weds the first wha steppit through
the Netherbow Port."
" But, sir, I cannot wed a whole r mpany of
horse," she cried, glancing abotrt her once again.
" Nae, nae, I wadna ask it of ye," said he very
seriously. " Just wed the ane of us. Miss Flora,
an' I'll no press ye further."
I had in mind, hearing Archie so shamefully
claim credit for being first into the city, to ride
to Miss Maclvor's other hand and t^ll her it was
I who had earned the distinction ; but I forbore.
What followed I could not catch, owing to a fresh
outbreak of cheering and a fresh throwing up of
Highland bonnets as the Prince rode down the
lines; but Archie seemed to have made the
most of his opportunities, for when Prince
Charlie passed him he stepped forward and begged
that His Highness would allow him to present
Miss Flora Maclvor, whom he hoped soon to make
his wife.
The Prince glanced at her with the keen and
kindly glance which he gave to all new acquain-
tances, and then he bowed in a fashion I would
give three years of my life to learn.
" I value Captain MacGregor as much as any
A LADY AND A CITY GATE. 183
officer in my amy," said he, " but I doubt if he
merits the fairest lady I have seen since setting
foot in Scotland."
Miss Flora laughed a little, and flushed, and
looked so soft and womanly that I wondered
where all her scorn was gone.
" Are we so little well-favoured as that, your
Highness ? " she murmured. " Or is vour expe-
rience of our country less intimate as yet than we
would have it be ? " she added, wth a pretty
exchange for his own compliment.
MacGregor was delighted, I could see ; and
he was just turning, after the Prince had passed
on, to whisper some foUy into Miss Maclvor's ear,
when BaiUie Hamilton came shouldering through
the press. The Baillie's keen grey eyes sought
Archie, and found him.
" Captain MacGregor, I tak' it this is no just
kind o' ye," said he reproachfully.
" Man, a's fair in love and war; and I've won
a wife as weel," cried Archie.
"Hoots!" said the BaiUie, and his face
was sour as whey. "A wife's easy come
by; but what of a man's self-respect, an'
a' that?"
"Easy come by.'" laughed MacGregor.
'«4 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" Aweel, I wadna just say that." And then he
glanced at Miss Maclvor.
But I heard him murmur, in a subdued and
passionate aside :
"I've won a wife-oh, ay. I've won a wife;
but I m fashed to hae lost the full price of a kee
of whiskey I " r *cg
CHAPTER IX.
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH.
X£Lh ^<^ here, at last. I was able to
pve Nell the home she craved for. Indeed I
t at^::?, °r "r r "^ '-' ^^- ^•'^'i
taat crov led round the market-cross before sh^
.<-n- bes.de me as I sat i„ saddle, watc J^" 1
«conce.vable uproar and unrest aro„n7me
X looked at the dimpLng face beneath the laced
Wcomered hat. I wondered how my f^d
MacGregor could waste his thoughts on any other
woman m the world but this. "yotner
"You have been speedy. Nell." I laughed
bendmg to touch her hand •' a '""Snta,
you were a boy. and no:!^.. ^ '"°'"^"' -«
" Dear. I am happy again ! I have a kin.,
woman, as I told you. who lives at the sSTet'
i
1 86 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
comer yonder, and I went to her and tcld her all,
and begged one of her grand-daughter's gowns.
She wants me to present you to her, Maurice ; and
'tis the one dream of her life, remember, to see
Prince Charlie and to kiss his hand,"
" She should be here, then," I laughed ; " for
every woman in the city seems running to per-
form that service. Nell, sweetheart, I never saw
you look so bonnie."
" 'Tis the change' of wearing-gear ; and I'm
not half so bonnie as that lady talking there
with Captain MacGregor."
" If you'll not retract, Nell, I'll ask the Prince
himself, for no man can deny his taste."
" Who is she, Maurice ? " said she, neglecting
my pleasant rendering of the truth.
"She's his promised wife, and not so
sparing of her tongue as you, if all I hear be
true."
" Wait, sir, awhile. Now that I am free to
wear a gown again, it may be I shall find a
woman's tongue. Come, will you ride to my
kinswoman's— 'tis but a step from here— and be
presented ? "
"I'm sadly travel-stained; but if you dare
present me in this guise, I will ask the Prince's
':!'TS
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH. 187
leave. See him there, Nell ! How straight and
bonnily he sits his horse ! "
I edged my way to the Prince's side, not with-
out difficulty, and readily secured permission to
be absent for an hour or so.
"Your excuse is yonder, I take it," he laughed
following the direction of my eyes, which would
not keep away irom Nefl's trim figure. " Well,
'tis a fair excuse, and I am puzzled to know why
MacGregor and yourself are permitted to rob
Scotland of its bonniest women."
I repeated his words to Nell as we went down
the crowded street, and added that it was some-
thmg of a doubtful compliment, to my thinking,
that he should name Mistress Maclvor in the
same breath with her. At which she laughed
disdamfuUy, though-perhaps because-I spoke
plain truth.
We had arrived at her kinswoman's door by
this, and Mrs. Cameron received me very kindly.
She was a homely, shrewd-faced body, with all a
Scotchwoman's love for a romance. This, and
doubUess the little-merited character that' Nell
had given me, seemed to have opened both her
house and heart to me ; and nothing would do
but NeU and I must make our lodging with her
188 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE,
so long as we were resting in the town. I was
glad of the offer, for it meant that NeU would
find comfort and the sort of care which only
women can give to women ; and it was pleasant
to thmk that she had done with the shifts ai, ]
changes of our southward march at any ra-
for some few da)^.
I learned that Mrs. Cameron was related to
the minister who had married NeU and
myself at Perth, and more distantly to old
Dugald^ne of those Scotch relationships
that are not dimmed by any remoteness-and
that she entertained a cheerful hatred toward his
poUcy. I told her then the tale of how I went
by night and tempted Dugald to his own undoing ;
and with the old dame's laughter in my ears I
hurried off to learn if there were any orders from
the Prince.
Ah, how those days at Edinburgh come back
to me ! From the moment of our entry to the
moment of our leavmg, aU was a quick succession
of acclamations, gaiety, and pomp. It seemed
that in truth our Prince was come to his own
again, and no words of mine can picture the great
baU at Holyrood which the Prince gave on the
evening of this same day. For Holyrood seems
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH. ,89
to have gathered to itself the charm of Edinburgh
-grey Edinburgh, whose memories are like a
Seat upon an autumn gloaming-tide. Blood-red
of brawl and battle, purple of royal splendour
v:olet of woman's witchery-aU the'e hang rou^d
the Scottish capital, and shine through every X
dow of its forsaken Palace ^
soofr"''"^ """^ ''"" "" "°^' ^"d would be
soon agam ; but meanwhile we brought back the
ancient splendour. And the ghosts 'retu^tlt:
watch us. and strange, unnoticed figures crept
amongst us. to whisper in our ear. that chi^
was not yet dead, and that a Stuart was toS
back t, us the Stuart days. ^
Not aU the folk of quality about the town
came to the ball; but. as I live. I think that i;
he men^est d-d. for the wit and grace of Scot-
land seemed gathered to the rout. I was close
bes.de the Prince as he stood to welcome tl
.nconung guests, and I thought the hand-kisses
would never cease. I have married a Scotch
^sie^ and It may be I am prejudiced .-but never
our eL r """^ "'"' ' ^^" ''^^^ "'Sht, that
our English women are fairer than their sisters
of the North. "Douce and sonsy." was ArcS
190 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
I
'li
MacGregor's^muttered comment, oft repeated, as
this lady of quality or that came to offer homage ;
and douce and sonsy best expresses them.
And last of all, despite infirmities, came Mis.
Cameron, my hostess, hobbling on two sticks and
chattering to Nell, whose beauty drew all eyes
toward her. I was a"iazed to see her here, but
more amazed to hear the homely greeting which
she gave the Prince. ■,
' "Aweel, laddie, we've waited sair an' lang
for ye," said she, kissing his hand ; " an' whiles
we've greeted i' the nicht-time, to think o' ye
beyond the seas."
The Prince laughed, his merriest and softest
laugh.
" They say that a woman's tears are prayers,
and surely I must thank you for the help you
have given the Cause. Madam, will you dance
the minuet with mi ? "
Her keen old eyes began to twinkle.
" An' me wi' goiit i' both my legs, your High-
ness ? Nay, 'tis just my heart that's dancing to
see ye here, an' ye mauna ask too muckle o' my
legs."
So he claimed Nell's hand for the minuet,
though she was of less consequence than a score
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH. ,9,
of tiUed ladies eager for the honour ; and I saw
the gladness .n her face, and caught the glance
Z S:."^' '"' '"^" *'^* ^'^^ -- P-<1 ^or
As often as was possible I claimed Nell's hand,
though the callants swarmed about her like bee
about a clover field. And it was sweet, when we
had danced our fill, to wander through the haunted
chambers of the Palace, each chamber with Us
drwe.'^^^ °' ''''''''''' ^"'^ «^'^^-'*^^- o^
"Yonder is Rizzio's stair." I said, as we
passed a darksome stairway, "and above"
Mary's bedchamber."
"Oh, Maurice!" she whispered, her ungers
t:ghtenmg on my arm. " Did they drag him
Strst^'r-^'^^^^"^^-" went from
fa„cr,?''''r'""''"'^'''''*'^°"g'^I-">notofa
anc.ful turn of mind at most times ; yet here in
he dusky corridor, alone with the ghosts, it was
wWch h "if;? '" ''"" ""'^^PP^'- gulden days
which held aUure.aent in one hand and in th^
other a sword-blade dripping red.
"Come away, sweet," I said at last.
i '
Mil!
^^t^^^^H
III!
^^^^^^^^^1
If
192 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
"Come away to the lights and music. I'd
rather hear the pipes than all this stir of
ghosts."
And so we got us back again to the great hall,
and there was the Prince, laughing with a knot
of bystanders, and showing nothing of that sad
look of eyes and mouth which gave him now and
then a curious likeness to his ancestress.
This ball at Holyrood, for all its splendour,
proved to be but the beginning of our
gaieties, for Prince Chailie, watchful as he
had to be lest a sortie from the Castle
should surprise us, kept as high revel here
at Holyrood as the daintiest lady of his hne had
done close upon two hundred years ago. We
danced the minuet, we made light love-vows —
those of us, that is, who were free to do so, and
some, I fear, who were not free— according to the
French traditions that Mary Stuart herself had
loved ; and over the least of all our doings— a
breakfast party or a reception— there hung that
subtle, undefinable romance which the Stuarts
never failed to conjure up. And all the time we
were embarked upon a venture full as desperate,
surely, as any that Edinburgh's wildest days
had seen. We had all England and no small
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH ,93
part of Scotland against us ; we were ill , ^
an^s by day and dancld by TJ ;\r,t;?^ ^*
spinas high unta the battleL^ho^ col?"
thos?Zysitt;:s.rtr"""^*--
us. I think, but fi is , ' Tetir rr
nobler for the.-none of us but fS tSt h:
marches, counter-marches, and the sword dni
which was our constant care. ^^"'•d-dnll
.o,,^ *°,'u^"''; ^""'™"' '^' ^^"-"'gh forgot her
Nell and I returned from rout or banquet.
JMow. barnis. ye'll just sif ,» ^
would begin, as soon as we a;peaf:d Tn t
tell an old body what muckk'fSt there^
een th „, ,, j^„^^_ ^^ grand-daJghtZi,^,^
m::"e5ir:^r;:t^--^atth^
^beenaw.Wtheauld^rn':L"^?,°^^^^
in It. The Pnnce. now-did he carry the kHf
as brawly as when I kissed his hand a7 tdd hi
0' my gouty legs ? " wia him
And then would follow a f.,ii
^ u louow a tuii account of all
'm
194 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
r
that had happened, of all that gossip said and
rumour credited as to our movements.
"Ay, ay," the old lady would put in from
time to time, " it taks me back to the Fifteen.
I lost a husband i' that rising; an' would I had
sons and a husband now, that they micht fecht
for Chairlie ! "
And last of all she would let fall a gentle tear
or two, and her lips would move. We knew that
she was praying for our laddie with the yellow
hair ; and Nell and I would slip away in search of
the rest that we had earned.
While we were in the midst of our revels,
however, news came that Cope, the English
general, had landed with his army at Dunbar,
then that he had marched as far west as Hadding-
ton, some score miles or so from Edinburgh ;
and at once the gaieties were forgotten, and we
prepared ourselves in earnest to meet the enemy.
This General Cope — better known as
Joh.inie Cope to us rebels, whom he wa« sent
northward to chastise — enjoys, I believe, a unique
place in history. Other leaders have suffered
crushing defeats at the hands of an inferior army,
other leaders have fled with zealous haste from
the field of battle ; but only one, to my know-
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH .95
ledge has been the first to bring tidings of his
o^vn defeat to the King whose uniform he wore.
And the causes of his discomfiture were, first, my
goodfnend Archie MacGregor, and secondly-if
I may say it with all modesty-myself
After the first news had reached us of Cope's
nearness to our camp, there was no question, as
I have said, of anything but battle. It was of
the greatest moment that we should gain such
prestige for our arms as a swift attack and a
sweepmg victory would give us. We had en-
thusiasm on our side, and high spirits, and care-
lessness of odds ; and we doubted little but that
our fifteen hundred men would give a good account
of the three thousand hirelings of the German
Kmg who were under General Cope's command.
As the days went by. and the Prince moved in
and out between Holyrood and the camp at
Duddmgston, where the bulk of his army lay
I could see his step grow firmer, his shoulders
quarer; and the underlying melancholy of his
ace was smoothed out more and more, until at
last we rnarched in search of fight, with the brave
Highland pipes before us, and behind us the
waving of kerchiefs from every lattice on the
m
Mil
196 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
Before the boot-and-saddle trumpet sounded
I had taken my farewell of Nf-U — a parting that
I do not care to dwell upon, for the sight of her
troubled, half-reproachful face, and the trem-
bling of her hands in mine, made me for the
moment more soft of heart than is fitting in one
who goes to battle.
" Courage, sweet," I whispered. " See this
white cockade thou gav'st me — 'tis a talisman
to keep the sword-cuts off."
" Why, yes, laddie," added Mrs. Cameron,
embracing me with kindly vehemence, " I hae
the second sight, ye ken, an' all last nicht I
couldna sleep for hearing the pipes play ChairUe
hame again fro' victory."
Nell brightened at the last enough to give me
a wan smile, and I galloped off to join our friends
who were already making last preparations for
the march.
General Cope was at Prestonpans by this
time, and we reached the hill overlooking his
camp at two in the afternoon. A rare fine day
of September it was. The bracken was golden-
brown, the wind crisp with a thought of frost in
it, the sky a clear green-blue. It was a '^y for
victory, wd told ourselves — bei-.j, prone, as soldiers
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH ,97
7:u°r^ '^ superstitious price upon the faiiTiess
of the day When we had climbed the hiU. how-
InT^nf .""'""'^ *'^ "'"^«^ °^ Prestonpans.
and had taken a clear view of the enemy's camp
Sp':a;e;;""'"''^'^^'°^-°-«-<^^p^rit'
General Cope has suffered in his reputation
owing to the doings of the night that foUowed •
but at least, he had chosen his position with
masterly regard to the necessities of war. Flanked
on the one side by the sea, on the other by a
broad mar^h, a ditch, and a lake-hemmed in
to nght and left by the high stone walls that
bounded the road to the village of Prestonpans-
h.s safety seemed as assured as if he had taken
refuge m Edinburgh Castle itself.
"We have set ourselves a pretty task, Mr.
Vnstruther," said the Prince to me, ^s I drew
rem bes.de him and watched the scene below
We looked to meet them in the open, and they
have stolen a march upon us. I think we under-
rated General Cope's ability, after all."
" This is the first sign that he has shown us,
and even yet he may undo it by some false step
or other, I answered, anxious to believe that it
would happen so.
Hiv-f »-\ir
III
rill
198 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
The Prince was quiet for awhile, as he tof»k
in every detail of the enemy's position. Then he
turned to me with one of his quick, impulsive
movements.
"Mr. Anstruther," he said, "you once, I
remember, trapped old Dugald Cameron for me.
Cannot you bring as good a wit to bear on General
Cope yonder ? "
" If we could but lure them into the open "
I began.
" Ay," the Prince broke in drily, " if we could
but salt the tail of Johnny Cope ! Come ; are
you ready with a plan for that ? "
"i wu' find one, «irc," I replied, ,il! my
high spirits returning to me when met by so
direct a challenge.
Lord Murray, riding up at this moment, cut
short our talk, and I fell back a few paces to the
rear, with ears wide open for what Murray had
to say of the chances of a battle.
The Prince eyed him a shade coldly.
"What think you of the prospects, Lord
Murray ? " he said.
Murray did not turn his head.
" I think, your Highness," he answered, keep-
ing his eyes fixed on the glinting uniforms and
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH. 199
weapons of the enemy, " I think it would be well
to retreat at once— «< once— on Edirburgh."
" Indeed I Your point of view has, at least,
the merit of singxilarity."
" You know the temper of the Highlanders,
sire, as weU as I do," went on the other doggedly.
" If they scent a fight, nothing less will please
them. They have set a trap for us down there,
and, if we stay, impulse will lead us into it."
The Prince was never patient for long in
Murray's company.
" Impulse, my lord ! " he flashed. " That is
the first word of our motto-the first word and
the last. It is impulse that will lead us into
London, or kill us by the way."
" Or kill us by the way," repeated the other,
dour and hard.
" There is no inlet for us yonder ? " said the
Prince, after a pause. " No way of getting be-
tween the waUs that shelter them, so that we
can fight on equal terms ? "
" On equal terms ? They number close on
four thousand, your Highness, while we "
" Are Highlanders," put in the Prince, with
his quiet. unswprvMf faith in those who foUowed
him.
200 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
"Cope's men have fought at Fontenoy an'
Dettingen ; they are the pick of ah ^he EiigHsL
troops," went on Murray, still coldly obstinate.
" Pride is well, your Highness, and I know what
Highlanders can do; but— why, only half of
them are armed," he broke off, frowning heavily.
" What service will clubs and hedge-stakes do
us when we come to meet sword and bayonet and
musket .' We are not ready to fight, your High-
ness, and that is the^ plain truth."
The Prince turned to me.
"Mr. Anstruther, you have been zealous in
procuring arms. TeU Lord Murray here that we
have done our best." His voice was testy a
little, as if patience played the indifferent hand-
maid to his courtesy.
"Captain MacGregor and myself, sire, have
done what we could," I said, vastly enjoying
Murray's glance of chill disdain. " I was about
to ask leave of absence for Captain MacGregor
and myself, so that we might pursue our search
for weapons."
" It is granted ; but return before nightfall,
for I shall have need of you. Lord Murray, we
are going to attack the English before to-morrow's
sun sinks," he added, but I could not catch what
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH. 201
foUowed, being already down the steep slope of
the hill and out of hearing.
I went at once in search of Archie MacGregor
and found him grinding his dirk against a stone'
and singing the " Reiver's Neck Verse," all with
an air of great content.
"Archie," I said, taking the dirk from him
and running my linger along it to test the edge,
" the Prince means to fight to-raorrow."
He lifted his big head, with the sword-cuts
on It, and eyed me gravely for awhile.
"Man, that's grand news," he said, and
clutched at the dirk and went on sharpening it.
" But first we are to seek more weapons. I
have just secured leave of absence for the two
of us, on the promise of finding tools of some
sort."
" Oh ! and have ye .' " cried MacGregor with
fine irony. " Promise awa', but dinna forget that
weapons are no like lassies-they never lilt
' Whistle and I'll come to ye, my lad.' "
" We must do what we can. There must be
houses, Archie, where they have weapons of a
sort," I began ; but he checked me.
"Awa wi' your havers! Haena I gi'en
earnest thocht to it ? " he cried, with the air
n
'! ff !
i
tl <
202 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
of a master rebuking a mere 'prentice hand.
Archie was never so grave as when the earnest
topic of arms was in question— unless, indeed, he
were discussing a lady or the merits of the Shorter
Catechism.
" The farms, I'm thinking— they should gi'e us
some braw fichting tools," he went on, after a
long silence.
" Mattocks and the like ? "
"Ay, and scythes— scythes, my lad, that
would lop an arm, or a leg, or a head, as saft as
clover-grass."
When he had finished sharpening his dirk he
untethered his horse, which was browsing close
at hand, and got to saddle. One last look he
gave at Johnnie Cope's army down below, then
laughed in sober fashion, and set oft up the hill-
side at a canter.
We drew rein at the door of a white-walled
farm that stood atop the slope, and MacGregor
dismounted. A pretty, arms-akimbo lass an-
swered to his knocking, and Archie gave her a
grave Scots kiss by way of prologue; but he
handled the maid, I noticed, a shade less
tenderly than he had done the dirk.
Then he said that we had come in search of
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH. 203
scythes, that she must open the outhouses to us
and show where the farm tools were kept, that
there were no weU-favoured maids in Lanark-
shire who grudged the gift to douce Prince Charlie
Whereat she blushed an honest red, and ogled
the pair of us, and called to one Peter to come out.
Peter came slowly— a big, loose-jointed feUow,
whose way of looking at the lassie showed plain
enough that there was more than brotherliness
m his regard. And after some demur— a great
display of Lowland caution on his part, and a hint
from my friend that cold steel was the only judge
of the matter in dispute— he led us to a roomy
outhouse that backed the farmstead. There was
no lack of prowling rogues who hung upon the
outskirts of our army ; so, for safety's sake, we
took our horses with us, and tethered them within
the outbuilding. The giri followed us, and I was
a good deal put about, I own, to decide whether
her glances were for MacGregor or for mc.
Archie had clean forgotten her by now, how-
ever, and I saw that his eyes were moving from
one to another of the heavy farming tools which
surrounded us. A half-score of scythes hung
upon the waUs, and by-and-by he took down one
of these, and made rough play with it.
14
204 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
"Ay, they wad lop a limb," he muttered,
with the old droll tenderness in his voice. " Ay,
they'll danc3 bonnily amang yon chiels o' Johnnie
Cope's."
He unfastened the blade from the crooked
shaft, and asked if they had any six-foot poles
about the farm. Peter, grudging and slow,
made shift to find the poles, and after these
some twine , and MacGregor set to work without
delay. '
I had lost my mterest a little in the errand
that had brought me here, for the farm lass was
still watching us from the door, and she was
bonnier than I had thought her ; and so, to make
quite sure whether her glances were meant for
me, I went across to her, and left MacGregor
humming blithely over his task. Peter stood in
the yard a few paces off ; and he did not like
the English evidently, for he glowered at me
with deep and laughable resentment.
The lass looked at me, her hands on her hips,
with a frank mixture of challenge and defiance
that was eminently characteristic of her country-
women.
" You come from the Prince's camp ? " said
she to me.
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH. 205
" I do, and am like to return to it the richer "
I laughed.
" Hoots ! " said she. " Ye've a sma' idea o'
riches. I'm thinking, if ye find them here."
" Nay, for I count a trim shape and a pair
of saucy eyes " I did not finish, for some-
how I thought of NeU, and was ashamed.
" Awa' wi- your daft talk," said she, with an
air that I mistook for modesty until she spoilt it
all by adding : " Can ye no see Peter keeking at
us ? "
It takes a Scot to flatter his own womenfolk
I fancy. At any rate, they make short work of
our smooth English speeches. Now I did no
more than ask her, very gravely, what day I
could come here again with the certainty that
Peter would not be " keeking at us." I was to
return, indeed, sooner than I thought, and her
next words gave me likelier occupation than any
idle gallantry.
She had been watching Archie, who was still
busy with his scythes, and I was wondering what
was in her mind when she turned sharply to me
and asked, pointing to the weapons, "gin the
yellow-haired laddie was like to win the day wi'
siccan puir tools ? "
2o6 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
I
h m
" The Prince will win with any fighting tools,"
I said, " and if your face be anything to go by,"
I added, tickled by her eagerness, " you would
right well like to run a bodkin on your own
account into his enemies."
" Ye're Enghsh," she said, as if it were a taunt ;
" ye'U never rightly ken what a Scots lassie wad
do for the lad frae ower the seas ; and if our men
were o' the like mind " — again she glanced at
Peter and glanced away — "he'd hae all
Scotland at his back. And it's no just love
for the Prince," she went on after awhile.
" There's been a saucy band o' General Cope's
men here the day frae Prestonpans. They're
English, same as ye, and they steal wi' a puir
grace."
" They have had less practice than you Scots,"
I murmured.
She tossed her head.
" The Prince's chiels are braw," she answered
with great seriousness. " Wha wad say them
nay when they tak' a poke o' meal or a bit beast
or Iwa ? "
" Or what my friend MacGregor took not long
since," I put in, thinkirig of the grave kiss he had
given her.
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH. 207
She blushed at that, and, "When do ye
fecht ? " said she, to turn the talk.
" As soon as we can find a way to Johnnie
Cope's encampment, or as soon as we can lure
him cut."
It was a foolish thing to say, and an aide-de-
camp of the Prince should have known better
than to go babbling of such matters to the first
rustic beauty who chanced to cross his path.
Yet, foolish or no, this idle talk of mine brought
me, by great good luck, a piece of knowledge
which neither Lord Murray's wisdom nor lean
Pitsligo's caution could have secured us. For
my companion feU very silent, and then she
glanced up quickly at me.
" There's a path across the marsh," she said.
" A path ? " I echoed. " A path across the
marsh ? Lassie, are you daft, that you did not
tell me this before ? "
" I haena the second sight," she answered
drily, " so how should I ken ye were thinking o'
the marsh at all ? "
And then she told me that this track across
the marsh was very narrow, that few of those
who lived on the braeside knew of it, and that
she herself had only learned its whereabouts on
In! I
208 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
a day of the past winter when she chanced to be
taking butter to the great house in the valley,
and saw a horseman riding straight over • 'h&t
she had thought to be a pathless bog.
" Mr. Anderson it was," she finished. " He
lives in the big house, ye ken, and he w^ riding
home frae the hunt."
" Mr. Anderson ! " I echoed, scarcely credit-
ing her information. " Why, he has lately joined
the Prince, if I mstake not. In all soberness,
does he know a way that will take us over the
bogland to the camp of General Cope ? "
" Ay, he kens fine, for I marked the spot
where he rode through, wi' the water up to his
horse's hocks, an' the spot where he came to
dry ground. I ken the way fro' one end
to the other, and I could tak' ye ower it i' the
dark."
I could scarcely master my excitement. The
Prince was eager above all things for a speedy
battle, and here, by a stroke of rare good fortune,
I had found a way to take our army right under
the nose of Johnnie Cope while he slept tran-
quilly between his walls. I began to dance fan-
tastic measures up and down the floor. I drove
my hand so warmly between MacGregor's shoulder-
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH. ,09
blades that I all but sliced off his le.t hand with
fthttdt^ ^^^°"^ '-'- i^ad'tai^rr; ::
turned to go in search If her b„ theTr' '"'
bered that M. Anderson. so .rSLT^d
o 1 rf " •^^"P = '^^ ' --•« guidance
o my tbnkzng, was more to our advantage Tan
a woman's in this affair ^
weap^nf 7^''"'" "" ^"" ''"^^ ^^^^ •>- -w
SIX foot poles which Peter had lately brought
from some outbuilding. ^ ^ *
" We can cross the matsh ! " I cried '• A r. v
we can cross the marsh t " '"''"'
He took down a fresh scythe from its peg.
And wha told ye that, laddie ? " he Sed
I repeated all that I had heard iust now
She knows the path," I fin^hed. "And
Mr. Anderson knows it, and before to-morrow we
shall see what Johnnie Cope is made of "
Aweel, there's more lies to one lass's head
210 Uf.DER THK WHITE COCKADE.
than blades to an acre o' wheat. I doot, man
Anstnither, there's no sic path at a'," said Mac-
Gregor, with the stoUd air that threatened a score
times a day to break our friendship. But I could
see his fingers work more merrily at the twine,
and presently he had fallen to singing the
" Reiver's Neck Verse "—a sure sign that Archie
was in good temper with the world.
He bade me fall to and help him with the
work ; which I did, my mind altogether occupied
with the gooa news that I had to bring the Prince.
" Ye see," said MacGregor, as we were binding
the last of the blades to their poles, " my company
cannot fecht without arms— but wi' these I'm
making they wad meet the de'il and fricht him.
So, lad, my work is better than yours, when all
is said, even if this tale of the marsh holds
good. Man Anstruther, I shall live to fame, I
tell ye, as he who framed the bonniest
weapon "
He stopped, aiid both of us glanced quickly
at the door. For a noisy clattering of hoofs
and horse's gear came from the farmyard, and
grufi EngUsh voices sounded high above the
clamour.
"We found such good provender here when
tiirts.
■m^-'h
THE ROAD ACROSS THE MARSH. ,„
last we called, that we have come for a second
helping, mistress," said the voice.
"An- ye took sae rauckle awa' wi' ye that
there s none left ower for the second helping."
retorted our friendly lassie, standing wide of the
nouse door.
CHAPTER X.
HOW JOHNNIE WENT RUNNING HOME.
I LOOKED at Archie MacGregor, and he at me, and
we both crept quietly to the door, finishing the
wrapping of our scythe-blades as we went. In
the yard were a dozen or so of Johnnie Cope's
troopers, just dismounting from their horses.
Facing them stood the girl, with her sweetheart
Peter close beside her. Peter's face had an ugly
look on it, and there was a red spot of colour in
either of the girl's cheek'? liat boned ill to the
swaggering captain of horse wlio was laughing his
way across the yard.
" What, saucy ? " said the captain. " There's
but one way, now,' with a saucy maid."
It had all happened before Archie and I,
watching the scene from our half-hidden door-
way, could stir a finger. The captain tried to put
his arms about the girl, and honest Peter sprang
at him and drove half his teeth well down his
HOW JOHNNIE WENT HOME. 2,3
throat with the one straight blow. The soldier
went down like a ninepin, and his comrades raised
a storm of cnrses ; and in a moment Peter had
snatched the fallen man's sword from its scab-
bard and set himself against the house wall, and
had begun his uphill fight with death
" ^^: "^ ' " ""'"ered Archie, as he ran across
the yard With me behind him. " Na, na 1 Ane
agamst twelve. That mayna be."
We never thought to draw our swords, but
grasped the weapons already in our hands, and
swHng them high as we ran forward. A second
more and we should have been beside young Peter-
but the troopers had recovered from their aston-
ishment, and while we were a full six yards awav
they made at him from all sides, and we saw him
drop as suddenly as the captain had done a while
ago.
It was our turn then. Johnnie Cope's men-
of whom ten were still left standing-had been
so fuU of the matter in hand, and so enraged by
the clumsy vigour of their adversary's strokes
that they neither saw us nor heard our wild rush
across the yard. Archie MacGregor's fiery bass
It was that first told them we were there
"A Stuart! A Stuart!" he roared, and
I
;';
m
214 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
ill
sprang like a madman high into the air and
brought down his scythe-blade on the skull-top
of the man nearest him.
I claimed the next, and after that the fray
began in earnest, and a hot foretaste it proved of
what was to follow down there at Prestonpans.
They were ten to two, and they had never a
chance, thanks to the length and weight of
Archie's tools. We roared with glee as the
scythe-blades swept up and down, and I for one
can liken the matter to no loftier thing than
cutting butter. Muscle or bone or flesh, it was
all one to these uncanny, heavy-handled weapons.
Six of the ten troopers fell, and the remaining
four waited for no more, but fled, as fast as
heavy riding-boots would let them, through the
garden gate and out into the meadows. We let
them go, and made no attempt at pursuit, being
well content with matters as they stood.
" It is a wee thing hard on the dragoons ; but,
man, did I not tell ye they would prove braw
weapons ? " said Archie, sitting on an upturned
barrel and wiping his curved blade with his hand-
kerchief.
There came a sound of sobbing from the door-
way, and, looking up, I saw the farm lass kneeling
HOW JOHNNIE WENT HOME. 215
over Peter's body. I crossed to her side, and
handled him to find how far the mischief
went.
"It is nothing— a clean thrust through the
side and a cut across his cheek," I muttered,
wishing to ease her fears. " Show us a bedroom,'
and we'll bind the wounds, and in a week's time
there'll be naught amiss with him."
She was full of disquiet, however, when
Archie and I, after doing all we could, made
shift to say good-bye. Her folk were from home,
it seemed, until the evening, and Peter had stolen
to the farm to improve a golden opportunity ;
and it was gey dreary, said she, that now, all
in a moment, he should be lying ready for his
shroud.
De'il tak' your shrouds, and throtUe himself
wi' them," said Archie, with what stood for
gaiety with him. " The lad's no gaun to the
kirkyard yet, unless ye droon him wi' your tears,
maybe."
" Ay, but if they English come in search o'
yon fallen men ? " said she, pointing out of the
window to where the bodies lay.
" True ; we had forgotten that," I muttered.
, Archie glowered at her, for there was work
2i6 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
to be done before nightfall, and he little relished
delay of any sort.
" Have ye no friends at hand ? " he asked.
"There's more than one farm, I tak' it, on
the braeside, and Johnnie Cope will nae
find his sheep just yet awhile. Get the lad
carried to a place of shelter, and do ye gae
wi' him."
She was hard to persuade, but we quieted her
at last, and left with lighter hearts when we
learned from her that the farmer who lived over
the next hill, a mile away, had seven stout sons
to lend her aid.
" Now, laddie, I've a' my company to arm,"
said MacGregor briskly. "There'll be a sad
dearth of scythes i' the country, I'm thinking,
before the stars shine out."
But my thoughts were of Johnnie Cope lying
snugly behind a marsh he thought impassable.
Leaving MacGregor to beat up his company, and
send them in search of the scythes which now
were proved weapons, I rode in and about our
army until I chanced on Mr. Anderson, whose
acquaintance with the marsh was like to be of
such signal service to the Cause. I found him at
last, standing on a little spur of hill in company
HOW JOHNNIE WENT HOME. 217
with Lo-d Pitsligo, and chatting of the numbers
and situation of General Cope's army.
" Mr. Anderson," I said, breaking in with Httle
ceremony upon their talk, "they tell me you
know a way across the marsh. Is it so ? "
" Oh, yes, there is a narrow path."
"Then, by the Lord, why have you not
acnuainted His Highness of the fact ? "
He raised his brows, just as my Lord Murray
would have done.
" Why should I acquaint him of it ? " said
he. " It seems to me that a way out for Cope is
what we want to find, for if the path across the
marsh were wide as a turnpike road it would but
lead us into a patent trap."
" The Prince, it may be, will think otherwise,"
I said, with a quietness I was far from feeling. '
Pitsligo gave me a glance from under his
grey brows; he had the wariness of age, and he
liked us madcap youngsters not at all.
" His Highness and yourself, Mr. Anstruther,
have youth in common," he said-" youth, and
a tendency to underrate the risks of battle."
" And a tendency, my lord, to think more of
Highland valour than Lowlanders are wont to
do." I flashed.
2i8 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
It was not over courteous, I own, from a young
man to an old, but -^here was something in Pit-
sligo's smooth, unalterable caution that maddened
me, though he was as brave and clean-lived a
gentleman as ever fought a battle. Like Munay,
he was all for tactics and well-considered plans
modelled on the usages of warfare, forgetting that
our whole enterprise was conceived in rashness,
and could succeed alone by a series of wild attacks
and imexpected victories.
"Well, well, Mr. Anstruther," struck in
Anderson sharply ; " we have dissensions enough
as it is, and I see not how you further the Cause
by harping on the Highland and the Lowland
feud. Of what use is my knowledge of the
marsh ? "
"Come with me to the Prince, and he will
tell you. Nay, you may smile, but at least it
will do no harm."
Anderson was in two minds about the matter,
and I could see that he thought an attack on the
English camp was httle better than stark mad-
ness. But I took him by the arm and would
listen to no refusal, and we presented ourselves
at the Prince's tent just as the sun went down
behind the distant cloud-line.
ti^.,
HOW JOHNNIE WENT HOME. 219
" Your Highness, you were good enough this
morning to ask me for a plan of attack," I said,
coming directly to my point.
" I am not disposed to withdraw my request.
What is ycur plan ? " the Prince answered,
smil.'-
" iJr. Anderson here knows how to cross the
marsh in safety. The night bids fair to be dark,
sire, and they will scarce expect us."
The Prince was aU attention on the moment.
He put a score of eager questions to myself, to
Mr. Anderson, and last of all he sent for Murray,
Pitsligo, and the other leaders.
What passed between them I can only (,
but when I returned some hours later from ful-
filling certain commands of His Highness I
learned that the attack was fixed for daybreak.
The Prince, it seemed, had had his own way in
the matter ; and his own way proved throughout
the march to be the road to victory.
All was silent bustle in the camp. Grim
gaiety was on the faces of the Highlanders
as they got their arms in readiness ; and Archie
MacGregor, for aU the need of silence, could not
help breaking out into his favourite song as he
hastened on the preparations of his company, one-
«T-
220 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
half of which were already armed with scythe-
blades.
The most part of the army lay down for a few
hours before dawn, and slept as if there were no
chance of life and death to be settled on awaken-
ing. But I could not sleep. This was my first
battle, and as the hour of it came nearer I own
that a certain breathless dread took hold of me.
It shamed me then, this dread, but I have since
learned that it is common to all men, brave or
womanish, when they have leisure to think out
in silence what battle means. There was Nell,
moreover, to think of— NeU, who had made my
life a thing to cherish and to love.
So restless was I, and so ashamed, that I feU
to walking up and down the grass until the Prince
and his officers came forth, an hour before dawn,
to make sure that all was in readiness for the
attack. Mr. Anderson was with them, and His
Highness ordered me to accompany them down
the marsh that we might know beforehand which
way the path led that was to take us to Johnnie
Cope; for, hot-headed as our plan of attack
was, the Prince was not minded to forego such
reconnaissance as the prudence^ of a general
demanded.
HOW JOHNNIE WENT HOME. 221
Saently we went down the hill, until we reached
a troublesome thickset hedge, with a bank on the
further side, at the foot of which was the dry,
pebbly bed of what had evidently been a water-
course. It was in climbing down this bank that
Mr. Anderson lost his footing and fell headlong
to the bottom. The mischance seemed slight
enough, and some of us, I remember, laughed
soberly to see our guide take such a headlong
flight ; but we could not see in the darkness ho>v
deep the fall was nor of what nature was the
bottom, and our consternation was extreme when,
after much waiting for Anderson to join us, and
much running to and fro in search of him, we
found him lying prone in the streamway, with
his head on a sharp edge of stone. Some among
us were leeches enough to know that the hurt,
though it might not prove mortal, was yet dis-
astrous to our enterprise, and that the dawn would
be red above Prestonpans before our guide re-
turned to consciousness.
A buzz of anxiety arose. I heard Pitsligo
whisper in Lord Murray's ear that the mischance
was fortunate enough if only it held back the
Prince from his mad enterprise. As for His High-
ness, he was speechless for awhile, between rage
w
223 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
and sorrow ; then he shook Anderson roughly
by the shoulders.
" Wake, you fool ! " he cried in a strained
voice. " Wake for one little moment, and tell us
where to find the path."
Humane to a fault His Highness was at most
times, and I knew by his wild outburst how
dearly he had counted on this night attack. I
stood there for a nioment, sick at heart that all
my brave plan had been tangled out of shape by
one chance tumble down a hedge-bank. And
then it flashed across me that there was one
other who knew of the marsh path— the girl who
lived at the white-walled farm above. What
followed is something vague at this date. I have
a blurred recollection of telling the Prince that I
would yet find the path, if he would get the men
under arms and wait for me at the camp above ;
of running up the hill slope and leaping to the
back of the first horse I found, of galloping my
hardest until I reached the farm, and struck into
the road that led over the next hill to the house
which she had named as a refuge for her sweet-
heart and herself. A yell at the house door
brought the farm lass's head from an upper
window. I bade her come down to me, as I had
HOW JOHNNIE WENT HOME. 223
urgent business ; and after a twelvemonth's wait-
ing, as it seemed, she stood beside me on the
pavestones of the yard.
" Up behind ! There is no time for questions,"
I cried.
She stood just out of arm's reach and eyed
me wonderingly, and for the first time I saw that
my meaning needed explanation. So I told her
in what case I stood, spoke of the devotion she
had boasted toward the Prince, and urged her to
ride with me at once. She shook her head, how-
ever, and muttered that her sweetheart Peter was
too ill to be left.
" This Peter would be dead by now," I put
in roughly, " if two of us had not given him help
this afternoon. You owe us that much."
" Aweel ! " she answered, with annoying slow-
ness. " Ye want a way across the marsh, ye
say ? "
"We do, and quickly. The yellow-haired
laddie is dear to you, you said. Well, prove it,
and get up behind me, and lead us into battle.
It's not Peter's Ufe, but the hves of all our men
that are at stake."
She halted still, and I could see she was loth
to leave the wounded man ; so, wasting no time
"4 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
in niceUes of scruple, I brought my horse close
up to her on the sudden, slipped an arm about her
waist, and hoisted her to my saddle-bow. Fast
down the hill we gaUoped, and ever as we rode I
saw the dawn-fingers spreading grey and wan
across the hill-tops. But all was dark as yet,
and would be in the valley for a full half-hour,
and I told m\self the while we galloped that all
should yet be very well at Prestonpans.
I found all in readiness at the camp, and
Archie MacGregor with difficulty held back his
men from cheering when they saw me ride down
the slop", and stop when I reached the Prince,
and pc to the lass who clung behind me on
the sT'i.Je. The girl had lost her doubts during
the hot ride, and Prince Charlie's courteous
greeting sealed the matter. Without haste, with-
out noise, yet with a speed that told their hearts
were in it, the men moved down the hill. Avoid-
in,^ the treacherous place where Anderson had
slipped, we found another inlet to the meadows
below, and soon we were marching stealthily
forward along the margin of the marsh, the girl's
figure, seen dimly through the night-mists, leading
us step by step until we came to where two httle
streams joined their currents and fell into the bog.
HOW JOHNNIE WENT HOME ,,5
"The crossing is here, your Highness," whis-
pered ^the girl, when we had gone a score yards
„n ^\^?'^ "*' °"' ^°°* ^"'^ *'"'" the other
on the track, and found it firm.
"Let me venture first, sire-it was almost a
promise you gave me," I said impulsively
He d.d not check me as he might have done.
The credit is yours, Mr. Anstruther." he
said. Lord Murray claims to lead the van, and
you shall be his guide."
I waited no second order, but ran across ; =ind
after me came Lord Murray and a thousand of
our men, each treading upon the other's heels in
tte anxiety to be first to bid good-morrow to
Johnnie Cope. I would rather, indeed, have had
the Pnnce for leader; b„t Murray, I must
^.cknowledge, showed the true temper of his
character-stubborn to move, but heart-whole
when he stood with the enemy before him. The
dawn was purpling fast as we drew up in line
after gaming the firm ground beyond the marsh •
and we learned afterwards that the EngUsh
sentnes mistook us for tree-stumps in the un-
certain, misty light. There was a second's
suspense, while each man marked his neighbour's
326 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
breathing and the soft tread of our rear-guard as
it crossed the marsh. Archie MacGregor was
close on my right hand, and I could hear him
muttering, ar -.' it were a charm :
" Johnnie Cope will find them bonnie weapons.
Oh, ay, he'll find them bonnie tools to fecht wi'."
And I laughed as I gripped my sword-hilt tighter.
The silence, still unbroken, was deep as the
hush that goes before a storm. Quiet and still
we stood, like so many statues, watching the
outposts of the enemy and waiting for the signal.
And then the pipes belched out their music,
and the cry rang out upon the sudden, " Clay-
more ! Claymore ! " and we were on them like
the storm. MacGregor's scythesmen grew in
stature, so it seemed, as they let loose their battle-
cry and swung their blades up to the free, dawn-
crimsoned sky.
Cope's army woke from sleep. The drifting
skirl of the pipes was in their ears to tell them
what was going forward, and as they reached out
for sword and musket and stumbled to their
feet the wild MacGregor clan-cry brought such
terror to their faces as I for one had never wit-
nessed.
They stood up to us in the mirk of the rising
HO'- 'OHNNIE WENT HOME. 2*7
dawn, and the crimson spots of light danced up
and down before me as I swept forward with the
rest. The/ might as well have tried to check
Tay River at its flood. Claymore and scythe
rained down upon them. We were through the
first line— through the second now— and still our
speed was scarcely slackened. I found a big
fellow opposite to me, with a red blade lifted high
above my crown. I cut at him with the brute
fury that sets all one's hard-learned tricks of fence
at naught ; and somehow he went down, I knew
not how, and I was driven forward by the mad,
deep-throated Highlanders behind me. And that
was all I knew of the hottest of the fight, save
that a moment after Cope's men were scattering
far as the confined battle-ground would let them,
and that a shriek of " Quarter ! Quarter ! " went
up into the dawn-red sky.
But quarter was out of question, once the
Highlanders had tasted blood ; and flight was,
useless, for they were crippled by what had been
the very strength of their position— the high
walls, namely, and the marsh that shut them in.
Between the walli ■'.■ ran, seeking an outlet,
and trying, some d ....em, to climb wherever
there was an inch of foothold. My own hand
!2S UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE,
wearied on the hilt at last, and I was passing
glad that they were Dutch and Hessians, not
Englishmen, who for the most part met me in
this narrow road of death.
I found Archie MacGregor when all was done
•' Archie," I said. " 'twas well we helped yon
Scotch lassie this afternoon. She has won us
Prestonpans."
" She ! » growled Archie. " It was my .oythe-
blades did it, lad."
His eyes roamed over the scene of our late
battle-over that small and dreadful space, sur-
rounded by three waUs. where the Highlanders
had had their will. For myself. I was franUy
sick, I confess it, now that the heat and clamour
had died down ; but I saw that Archie's glance
was soft-nay, almost dreamy-as he marked the
clean-lopped limbs and heads that littered every
foot of ground-the limbs which witnessed to
the force of the new weapon, and which made
the field of Prestonpans more terrible than any
other battle-field of our own times.
" I never saw the like ! " he muttered.
•Never! There's nae doubt I've given the
world a braw new fechting tool."
It was Archie's way. Some men there are
HOW JOHNNIE WENT HONfE 229
who fret and labour to give the world a new
song, a love poem, or a book of pious discourses
The same spirit was in Archie, only his ambition
was to mvent new ways of slaving men.
How skilled he was in invention the field of
Prestonpans bears witness; and even now
when I am sitting by the hearth, may be, and
thmkmg of the summertide and aU quiet things
the thought of what the field looked like comes
back to me, and I put my hands before my eyes
And then I remember Johnnie Cope, and how
he fled by chaise to Newcastle. And I laugh with
heart-whole merriment. Truly we have no such
generals now !
CHAPTER XI.
CONCERNING A LAIRD AND A WHITE HARE
If Edinburgh, the loyal part of it. had run wild
we Zu^LT' f ^^'^ ""^'"^ *^--^ves wl
s^TZT, r ^^*°"P-- The Prince had
struck, and his first blow bad scattered the
Usuiper's „,en like chaff ; and he, who a day ago
had been lovable and kingly, had now the addfd
glo^ of battle and of victory to grace his caul
It was with some hardship, indeed, that I
led to^Mrs. Cameron's, to find NeU waging at
"My dear, my dear ! " was all she said, with
;:itd;r""^'^"'^'^^°-^-"^^^p'^n«
.J ""1 "^^t""^ *° " ""« '" *he house-wall
-dwentwithm; and there, in the shadowed
nail, she came to me as n<.«, ™oj
UK as new-made wives will
heed the blood-streaks, mud, and rain upon my
A LAIRD AND A WHITE HARE. 23,
clothes, though her gown was like to suffer from
them ; and I believe-but am not sure-that she
named me every foolish name that lover thought
of. and cned upon my shoulder, and then laughed
like a throstle in a hawthorn-brake.
"Dear lad, and you're not hurt ? " she said at
last, holding me off to scan my face and limbs.
Not a scratch, save where the skin is off
my sword-hand. NeU, 'twas terrible ! You must
not ask me yet to tell you of it."
th flZ^!^ ^" ^™' ^^°"* '»^' I ^^ again
that field of stricken men, and smelt the blood-
reek as It mounted; and when Mrs. Cameron
came hobbling out, a brimful tankard in her
hand and a welcome on her lips. I was glad to
drain the wine in two big gulps and let it steal a
little sharpness from my memories. a
_^ " Did I no teU ye, lad ? " cried the old lady.
Should I be hearing the pipes come playing
Chairhe m, aU through a long, wake nicht. gin he
waumagauntowin? Guid go wi' him ! We'll
see a Stuart yet upon the throne."
" And now you will be leaving Edinburgh ' "
said NeU. Wives, truly, have a sad cleverness
m fmdmg causes for their fears.
" I cannot teU. We may stay on untU the
•2.52
UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
quite contenurot/t-ir^'-'^^^-nd
waJp t ^ ^'"""^ knowledge o' men's
your ie;i„;. Tt's tLnrx V"* *^"'^
forye„besa:ra„:ea^'r^^^''^''--'
yesterdav Th7 T ^'^ ^^"^^ ^^^ her
She ^astifo^^SX' ; '''' '''' ^°"°-''
A LAIRD AND A WHITE HARE. .33
woufn ^"^ '° ''^ " "^ """^-^ how long
mers were coldly anxious to conduct on lines of
prudence a campaign which had no touch of L
wi Lr' "h ''""^^' ^* "" «- care;;:i o r;
Tex 5 Tat '' °"'' "" ''^^'""-^ ^-^T
-ee^cS!^— ---^-u^nthe
paign went on. Mv InrH m
clever soldier as h. '^^' "P"^''* ^"^
old M^fr„7 ^' ^^ P-'-'^^g himself the
whold °" '=°""^^^^-^ old wife, moreover
who had a consummate gift for nagging
as tirr^uT:? °' t""*^ ^""^ ■"' — '>«^.
J^:n-:;:.^naS:L-^^^^^
Z '"'"^^ P^°°^ ^S--* -action ; and h^
00k was careworn, as it had not been before he
found h own officers at variance with his ^h^
Inaction was ruin to us, and only the PrinTe
seemed to realise as much ; but at Lt when !
was plain that few more, if any, Of 1"':;;:
li
234 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
I 1
bouring clans would come in, Lord Murray and
the rest agreed that we should march on England
— not against Wade, but by Carlisle, and on
through Lancashire, where we had promise of
support.
I broke the news to Nell, and told her that it
would be best for her to stay with Mrs. Cameron
until the Prince's fortunes were determined one
way or the other. She was vehement in protest,
and, faith, 'twas a little Prestonpans had to be
won and lost before the matter was decided. But
I had thought too long about it to yield lightly,
and seen too clearly the hardships, needless hard-
ships, that would attach to her, though the roads
were suited to a chaise and she might travel with
some degree of comfort. Mrs. Cameron, more-
over, was on my side, and between us we per-
suaded Nell.
Ah, but it was bitter when the parting came I
Revels and love and gaiety were over, and before
us lay a road that led no man knew whither ;
and in my heart I knew that it would be long
before I saw my wife again. Almost, at the very
last, I was minded to bid her come ; and then
again I remembered that her safety and her com-
fort were my first care, and I kissed her tears
A LAIRD AND A WHITE HARE. 235
away, and promised soon to come, under safe
conduct from King James, to claim her once
again.
The last I saw of her for many a year was at
the Netherbow Port, as we rode out for England.
A dainty figure in a gown of white, a face of
tears and roses, a waving kerchief. And now
my road was a lonely one again ; and there lay
before me, had I known it, long months of flight
through England and the Scottish wilds, long
years of living over seas, until weighty family
influence purchased me a pardon— a pardon for
the sin of loyalty, which I accepted for Nell's
sake and with indifferent grace.
Truly, I feel again the loneliness that beset
me at Edinburgh gate now that I have to finish
my tale without NeU's company. My very pen
seems to drowse above the paper, and to stir it
I can think of nothing better than to tell the
story of what chanced at Kirtlebrae.
Many stories of the R. ;ig have been written,
and many details of the march narrated ; but
there is one adventure, shared only by Prince
CharUe and myself, which has not been glanced
at, to my knowledge, in any history of the times.
In one way it is a difficult story for me to teU,
236 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE,
lor I run risk, if I give the true name of a certain
chief actor in the drama, to bring public discredit
and contempt upon other members of his family,
who are upright gentlemen for the most part, and
men who would as lief cut off their sword-hand
as violate the laws of hospitality. So for kind-
ness' sake I will call him the Laird of Kirtlebrae,
and I must give no clearer indication as to the
situation of his house than to say that it lay
some two Idagues off our line of march between
Edinburgh and Carlisle town. The whole country-
side about Kirtlebrae was markedly disaffected
toward the Stuart cause, and the Laird, whose
mfluence was paramount in the district, was him-
self a hot advocate of the House of Hanover.
Knowing this, and having already proved how
deft a tongue he had for converting the dourest
Scots to his cause. Prince Charlie determined to
nde privily to the Laird's house, to use every
effort at persuasion, and to bring back him and
all hi« friends, if possible, to sweU the numbers
of oii ttle army.
I W..S still acting as Prince Charlie's aide-de-
camp, and it pleased him to make me his com-
panion on the journey ; for he would ride with no
more than one friend at his back, lest by seeming
A LAIRD AND A WHITE HARE. ,3;
to bring armed pressure to bear upon the Laird
he should lose al, chance of exercising th so tr
art of persuasmn which he possessed in such
strange degree. We set off, therefore, from th^
camp .n the middle of an October momi " h
Pnnce leavmg orders with the army to pursue
>ts march as if he himself were present "^
We will join them at the next halting-r,lace
borrhe?;rt;f«s-;-^^^^^^^--
Yet my own spirits did not keep stride S
h d I W°" "°* "'=^* '^^ -' ^"" think trat
a touch^f" -P«f "'ous, r should have named U
a touch of second sight.
brae''^T'v"'"'''™''^^"^"^^-'^K'rtk-
brae. I vow no man ever had a sadder com-
panon for a morning ride. What ails you Mr
;orr:p^*--^'-^^---;'h:f
" I cannot say, sire. It may be that I nm
h-bng what a thing of price you a e tru Z
to the Laird of Kirtlebrae." ^
m
338 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
Tlie Prince laughed, and eyed me curiously.
" My liberty, you mean ? Mr. Anstruther,
your dreads show more than I had guessed ; you
bear me, I think, not loyalty alone, but love."
His sentence ended a shade wistfully, as if affection
were very dear to him.
" Yes, sire," I answered, and I meant it ; " a
deeper love than I have ever known, save one."
His passing seriousness was gone, however.
" Oh, I do not attempt rivalry with a lady,"
he laughed. " No wise man ever does, especially
when she is as fair as yours. Ah ! there is the
Laird's house down yonder among the trees, if t
mistake not. Mr. Anstruther, it is a sad pity
that you should be in love. Confess, now, that
your heart is travelUng post to Edinburgh while
your body jogs along beside me here ? Some-
times I fancy you're too young to be so deep in
love."
I tried to keep down my rising colour, and
could not ; , and he, quizzing me with his bonnie
brown eyes, would not spare my diffidence one
single glance.
"A man is never too young for that, your
Highness," I responded.
" True ; nor too old. Heaven pity us ! So you
A LAIRD AND A WHITE HARE. ,3,
think my undertaking a rash one ? Well I
nothing o,,y„^^^^^^^^^^^^^W^^^
most men ? " '""« * *""« ^
We had reached the boundary wall of th.
Laird's park by this time, and I stoppTdLL'
m my answer to the Prince it„, i'i"^" "ait way
deed, there was not in all Scotland T
superstitious as its Prince ' """" *°
laugh''''" m''\'1^. "* ''"«**•• ^th a forced
not" \L? " '""^''^'^^ '^ -'»'«. « it
not ? And honour ,s white, and chastity ? "
«rie,"i;:;?'^^''^-''-''-wntocome.to
He laughed whole-heartedly at that.
that 2t V/ '^'"'' °' ''^^"'^'^ -* to salt
"lat jest, Mr. Anstruther TpII m»
brought up within earshot of I L"'p "" '""
?{i'
240 UNDER THi. WHITE COCKADE.
But a great drrad was growing on me, and
I could not keep up the banter.
" Your Highness, will you ride back before it
is too late ? " I stammered.
" No— and no I " he cried, with sudden petu-
lance, and I saw that it needed all his resolution
to go forward in the face of what had crossed \.k
path just now. " Precede me, sir," he added,
" and tell ^e Laird who it is that waits upon his
pleasure. I will not dismount until he comes out
to bid me welcome."
I had no choice but to obey, Uttle as I relished
the affair. A man-servant took my horse, a
second left me standing in the hall while he went
to inform the Laird that a gentleman who refused
his name had called upon some urgent business
of the State. I had been bidden to send in this
message, and, indeed, it secured me a speedier
audience of the Laird than I had hoped for. The
man-servant returned in a few minutes with the
intimation' that his master would see me at once,
and I followed him without more ado into the
dining-haU, where a spare man, with ferret eyes
ard a distorted mouth, sat looking over some
pajjers.
" The Laird of KirUebrae ? " I asked.
A LAIRD AND A WHITE HARE. ,„
■' The same. Your business with me ' "
ear. He started at the Princ'. „ame. and before
he could control his features I had noti«d a
m^hty cunous expression on his face. Keen
dehght was mixed with craft, and craft with the
purposefuUoolc of one who is holding fasT^ he
fin. threads of a plot. But aU thft was gon
-hen he next spoke; the wrinkles smoofhed
<hem.lv.. the hard voice was deferential, ani
di.h:ir:!'i;vr::.::ij^««^-obe
longer pf ,. • " "" Highness waiting
longer at i),v ,r,or:' h« -„,;,' nnH Ua tK
ontotheg . ( and led the way out
Sr.*'^" cast a look over his right
"Your Highness understands the times and
-. » Why I ^. ,„ ,i.. ^,^ ^^ ,^^^«.
242 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
■il .f-.'
wished to disprove the calumnies that hurt the
reputation of the Laird of Kirtlebrae."
He favoured the Laird with one of those rare
smiles that were said to have gained half the
hearts that followed the white cockade to England;
but the I^ird was not touched at heart, as I, who
watched all this from the background, could read
plain enough.
We sat down to meat presently, after the
Laird's wife, pretty and slight and self-possessed,
had joined us. Our hostess left nothing wanting
in her manner toward the Prince, and it was
plain that, whatever winds of politics might blow
upon her husband, she at least held true to the
woman's creed — to embrace the cause which
showed her the most romance and the best-
favoured leader. But then I never yet knew a
woman who could sit eye to eye with Charlie
Stuart and keep her judgment ; and it had been
no small relief to me to see the Lady of Kirtle-
brae come in to meat with us, for I knew that we
had one friend at least within the house.
The Prince chatted gaily, and drank as freely
as his custom was. The Laird, on his part, drank
very little, but kept filling his guest's cup with a
sly set of face that put me in mind of my Lord
A LAIRD AND A WHITE HARE .43
«'hich the Lairf had just set d "^
his plate. ^ ^* '^"^n "Pon
;; In many things," retorted the other,
ihey said, for instance that if r j
" *"« i< were, y„„ Hiuhno. I - k, u
wenllnJh'rSl'lf"^^^^"^-^"-''
oracle ot" T^ . * ^'"'°°*'>' '^^ ^^re some
oracle 01 olden time. " Winds shift your Hi.h
-.and wrong views so.eti.es grow'°;;t:t
I
044 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
I would crave your pardon if I ask time to think
well upon the matter."
The Prince pursued the topic no further, and
seemed well content with the turn that things
had taken. But I was not content, for as the
meal went forward, and I noted the Laird's quiet
filling of his neighbour's glass, I read his meaning
as plainly as if I saw it written in a plain round
hand upon his face. True, he need fill until the
sun went down if he thought to trick the Prince
into drunkenness ; but the purpose was there,
and I had hard work to keep silence. His wife,
too, showed signs of great uneasiness, and an-
swered all amiss to Prince Charlie's chatter.
" I pray you, sir, sit on and drink to the good
cause," said the Laird smoothly, as he rose from
table. " I have a matter of pressing moment to
despatch. Have I your Highness's permission to
be absent for awhile ? "
" Indeed, yes. A self-invited guest must not
stand too nicely upon ceremony, and if your
heart, sir, is as good as your wine, I shall see
much of you within the next few weeks."
" I have heard that men cannot resist the
Prince when once he stoops to plead," said the
Laird, and crept softly out into the hall.
A LAIRD AND A WHITE HARE. 245
In vain the Prince tried to draw the Laird's
The talk dragged drearily, and she sat there
sUent, a frown across her pretty brows. My
compamon, I think, was nonplussed, being httle
used to have his courtesies fall on idle ears'; ^ d
It seemed strange to me that he could not guess
what was passing through the mind of Tady
Kn^ebrae-strange that he should suspect so
Lttle when there was such grave cause torfear
Cause for fear? Ay. that there was, and
deeper even than I guessed.
CHAPTER XII.
THE LADY OF KIRTLEBRAE.
The Laird was back anon, and I alone marked
how soon after his return there came a somid of
horses' hoofs pounding the hard gravel of the
road. Nay, though ! I was not the only one
who marked, for the Laird's wife turned her head
toward the window suddenly, and I saw that she
had much ado to keep her self-possession.
" His Highness must taste our punch," she
murmured. "There is no better, they say, in
Scotland, and it is but once in a lifetime we enter-
tain such company. I crave your leave, sire,"
she added, turning to the Prince ; " I must go
unlock the cupboard where I keep my spices."
She wis gone longer than the Laird— so long,
in fact, that we began to wonder. Her face was
white when she returned, but she set down her
spices, her lemons, and what not, with a merry
laugh.
" There were no lemons in the house, and I
M
'■MMW^WB^MM^mmlA^-
A'«5::^£:!/'i:-'.v' • '.*''
THE LADY OF KIRTLEBRAE. ,47
had to send a-borrowing." sa.d she. " Was it
not a stroke of good fortune, your Highness, that
I was able to borrow from the villager p -
StJl talking briskly, she crossed to the hearth
where the kettle was already bubbling over o^'
to the cheery fire of logs. The Laird reached down
a punch-bowl from the shelf, set it on his ngM
hand, and poured into it a liberal measure of n,«k
andwh^key. His wife reached down for the
kettle, brought it to him, stumbled against a
f ootstoo , and upset the boiling water ovef Kirlle!
Draes thm knees and shadowy legs. The LairH
roared out with pain, h.s wife w2 aU dis^'^
and tender helpfulness ; the Prince started to hL
feet muttering his regrets that so untoward an
accident should have occurred. But I sZ
nothmg-only sat still and watched the turmoil
aad wondered what the Lady of K^rtlebrae would
have found agamst which to stumble, had not the
footstool stood convenient in her way
We got the Laird to bed at last, for his wife
was unwilling to let the servants have the hand
ling of hnn, and the Prince was very ready to give
What help he could. It was no ijht buinesn
prorru^ you. for he writhed so in our hands, and
twsted with the pain, that more than once on
248 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
our way up the oaken stair we all but let him
drop upon the polished oak. Once we had
laid him on the bed, however, the Lady of
Kirtlebrae pulled us from the room and locked
the door on him, and turned and faced us.
" Your Highness, do you know that two score
men are at this moment nding to take your
person ? " she said. " It was a rough device of
mine "—pointing to the room behind her—
" but had I shown more scruple the little
chance of safety that remains would have been
gone."
The Prince stared open-eyed at her.
" What mean you ? " he asked.
" Why, the business which called my husband
from the table was the despatching of a messenger
to our kinsfolk. I feared as much, and when I
urged the punch as an excuse for shpping away,
I ran up to the conning-tower and looked across
the meadows, and saw horseman after horse-
man come riding toward Kirtlebrae."
The Prince laughed, for danger always made
him gay.
" If that is so, madam," said he, " the sooner
we get to horse the better it will be for the army
that waits me on the road to Edinburgh."
mmr ^:V'
THE LADY OF KIRTLEBRAE. 249
"Stay, stay! It may already be too late.
Wait here until I see how near they are."
"So the white hare, Mr. Anstruther, knew
more about the Laird than we," said the Prince
as we stood upon the landing awaiting our
hostess's return from the conning-tower. " Lord
Murray tells me that superstition should never
enter mto military bu.siness ; but, faith, it enters
into all affairs of life, I think "
I answered nothing, for the case seemed
desperate, and there was a better life than my
own at stake. I„ a moment our hostess was
down again, breathless and dismayed
"Too late!" she cried. "They are scarce
half a mile away, and they are approaching the
house m three separate companies."
" Why do they leave the fourth unguarded ' "
the Prince asked quickly.
She shook her head.
"It is useless on that side. There are no
wmdows low enough to allow escape, as tliey
know ; and, even if you escaped that way how
would you secure your horses ? The stables are
m front, and at least fifty of them ride that way "
Faith, but good luck befriends a man at
tunes ! It aU came to me as I stood there and
250 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE,
l^tened to the talk of that one unguarded side.
The Pnnce could not weU escape that way, with
no horse to depend upon. True ; but I could
make it seem as if he had escaped.
" Which is the unguarded side ? " I asked
abruptly.
Our hostess pointed along the corridor to our
left. 1 nodded.
" Will your Highness leave me to face the
matter out ? " I went on.
He glanced in some surprise at me.
" I am not likely to leave you in such a pass "
he answered briefly. "What is your meaning,
Mr. Anstruther ? "
" I want you to seek a place of safety—to
hide," I answered breathlessly.
■■ Our kinsmen know every comer of the house ■
that, too, is useless," put in our hostess.
" The garrets, the wine-ceUar-anywhere so
long as he. is out of sight," I cried. "Your
Highness, will you let me have a free hand in
this? I swear to bring you through ,n
safety."
There was a touch of resentment in his bearine
now.
"A comrade is not less a co;nn,de, Mr.
^f^mimmak i^^MOki 'iiuiP'^»4'
THE LADY OF KIRTLEBRAE. 25,
Anstnither, when danger presses. I wiU not
leave you. but I wiU stand at the stair-top here
and fight out the issue to the last."
I grew frantic with impatience.
" What is my liie ? And what is your own ? "
I cried.
" My own, I think, is less than honour to me "
he answered, stiU with the same accent of re-
proach.
" But it is not yours— it is your army's," I
pleaded. " Will you give over all your High-
landers to death when I can save both you and
them ? "
The look he gave me, as he moved nearer to
mv side, was not one to be lightly forgotten, for
I read m it full measure of that personal love
which I myself had giv,n uir«--(pven without
return, as I had fancied unci now
" Mr. Anstruther," he said. ' my Highlanders
know how to appraise a ina., Womi t ey wel-
come back a leader, think yof. who soji..^ t shelter
while another gave his lift for him r " '
Time was slipping by.
"There is no danger to myself," T cried.
" Trust me. I have a plan, and if you'll .„liow
Jt your army will share your safety and my own."
"7fJM^
Pi'lii
25* UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
^^JMVhat is your plan, then ? Tell it me, and
" There is no time," I broke in. " You must
beheve me sire, when I say there's no danger
to myself." °
I was wide of the truth, perhaps. It did not
trouble me; what I said was for friendship's
sake, and without some such assurance the I'l-jnce
as I knew, would never be persuaded to seek
^uelter,- but, indeed, I should have known him
better than to think that any words of mine couJd
move him in such a case.
" I am not accustomed to play the part you
give me," he said coldly.
As for the Lady ot K.rUetrae, she wished
for two contrary things at once, as women will.
She longed to see the Prince in a safe place, and
she onged to see him play the man of impulse,
not the man ot prudence.
"Do you remember, sire," I cried, ao a last
appeal 'how once I played tl,e lady for old
Dugald Cameron, and brought him into camp P
1 ran no nsk on that occasion."
"They will be here by now! Oh. hasten-
h^sten. pleaded the Laird's pretty wife. And
first her glance was toward a hiding-place, and
THE LADY OF KIRTLEBKAE. 253
then it fell upon the Prince's sword and rested
there.
" Why figlit a battle already lost, when I tan
outwit theso rogues ? " I persisted.
For a moment the Prince looked grim and
hard, as if I had insulted him ; then his face
softened, and he laid a hand upon my arm
"Dear lad." he said, "you would give your
life for mine, and I'll not take it. Come, we will
set a price, a price of sword-play, on our lives."
I glanced about me in desperation. Our one
slender chance was gone if he persisted, and it
was plain I could not turn him. I saw the dim
and empty corridor, the oaken stair 1 p which our
t-nemies would soon be running ; last I saw the
closed door of the Laird's room, with the key upon
the outside of it.
" Then will you help me with my plan ? " I
said, as a sudden flash of hope came to me.
" Ah ! that is another matter. Yes, I will
help you in anything so long as we are side by
side." ^
I turned the key and opened the Laird's door
and bowed in token that I wished liim to precede
me. He gave a puzzled glance at me, as if asking
to what purpose we were returning to this room
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254 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
which we had only lately left; then, with a
shrug, as of one who had watched other forlorn
hopes of mine and found them prosper, he crossed
the threshold. In a moment I had closed and
locked the door upon him— upon him and upon
the Laird, who was still cursing freely in his pain.
"Your pardon, sire," I cried through the
closed door, " but it is your life I play for."
Already there were shouts and hoof-beats
from belo^^r, and I had to measure time by seconds.
With one droU thought that I had left two strange
companions together— both prisoners, both full of
anger, each hostile to the other— I ran along the
passage until I gained a low, wide bed-chamber
whose window looked out on to the unguarded
side. I snatched the sheets from off the bed and
tore them feverishly into strips, and made a long
rope of them. One end of the rope I fixed to a
crossbar of the window, the other I threw out,
letting down the twisted sheet until it touched
the ground. Already I could hear the trampling
of horses' feet outside the great main door below.
As a last after-thought I took the white cockade
—my lady's gift— from my hat and flung it
through the open window ; and I felt a strange
qualm, as if my luck had fallen with it, when I
THE LADY OF KIRTLEBRAE. 255
saw the wind snatch ?.t it and whirl it out of sight.
I turned then, and shut the door of the bed-
chamber behind me, and stood before it with my
drawn sword in my hand, waiting for the next
move in a desperate game. Nor had I long to
wait. Some eight or ten men burst suddenly
into the hall, and a deep voice, mingled with the
tramp of feet, came up to me as I waited at the
chamber door.
" Where is your unfledged king, Laird ? Where
is the laddie that's bom to swing high ? "
Rude laughter applauded the fellow's wit-
laughter which I brought to an abrupt end.
" The Prince is in this room behind me, gentle-
men," I said. " Step forward."
I marvelled at my own voice, to hear how
cool it was and unconcerned, for God knows my
heart was beating fast enough, and somewhere
in my throat there was a little lump— a tribute,
maybe, to the enjoyment life had given me, and
to the thought that Nell and I might never meet
again. The men were pressing up the stair by
this time ; but they fell back on seeing me and
stopped a full half-minute, looking one at another,
until he who had first spoken was now again the
first to find his tongue.
256 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
Do you look to fight
" Stand aside, laddie,
ten men and win ? "
" I look to fight ten men, sir, certainly. As
for the winning, I have not tasted the flavour of
your sword-play yet."
" Then, by the Lord, you shall ! " roared the
other, and started to come up the stair.
There was another check, however, for KirUe-
brae's wife came hurrying into the hall and ran
in front of my would-be adversary, and clung to
him.
" Shame on you ! " she cried. " Ten men to
fight one helpless laddie ! Shame on you, Geordie
Armstrong ! And may you never call yourself
■dn to me while the world lasts ! "
" We have no wish to fight him," said he who
Was named Geordie Armstrong, and who seemed
to be a kinsman of her own. " Let him stand
hack, say I, and let us through the door, and after-
wards we'll trust him to the hangman."
She glanced at me in perplexed entreaty. But
I shook my head, and, seeing I was firm, a relief
that was half pity came into her face. The
Prince's safety was more to her than mine, I
saw, and that was fitting.
" The Lady o' Kirtlebrae is mair concerned.
THE LADY OF KIRTLEBRAE. 257
I'm thinking, wi' the lad who stands ahint the
door than the lad who stands afore it," said one
at the rear of the company. "There's nae man
but kens the yeUow-haired laddie's way wi'
women." '
She turned to him with a quick word on her
tongue; then she saw her opportunity-saw
what was in my mind, and how she could
strengthen their delusion that Prince Charlie was
in the room behind me.
" Will nothing turn you, gentlemen ? » she
said beseechingly. "The Prince is not there I
give you my word. He is-hc is fled. Go see'-
him m the woods ; Y , anywhere but here."
Her mcoherence s.as well feigned. Had I
known less of the matter I could have sworn that
she hed most clumsily. So, too, the enemy
thought, for a shout of mockery went up, and
Geordie Armstrong thrust her rudely from the
stair.
" Have at ye, lad ! " said he, and came at me
"Ke a hurricane.
The rest pressed up behind him, but it was
one at a time up the narrow stair, and I had a
chance of life so long as I could keep my wind.
I he end was sure, and I think the certainty of
258 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
this gave me a courage not my own, for it is only
hope that keeps our fears awake.
Parrying Armstrong's first wild cut, I made a
feint, and all but had him through the breast;
and after that our swords rang swift and gay as
sleigh-bells on a frosty night. When Armstrong
fell, and I ripped my sword clear for parley with
the next man up, the blood was racing through
me. I saw the keen eyes of my adversary, I
felt my good Andrew Ferrara answer to my
wrist; I knew myself to be most exquisitely
alive.
Well, all men are long-winded when they fall
to telling how this cross-cut was countered, how
that struck home, and all the dainty catalogue
of thrust and parry. None but a swordsman
cares for such talk, 1 fancy, and it is not for me
to praise the cut which sent my second adversary
reeling down the stair. I claimed another by-
and-by, and then my arm grew dead for weari-
ness, and, seeing that all was over, I made at the
next up the stair and dashed my sword-hilt full
against his face. His blade dropped from his
hand, he stumbled hard against me, and we came
to grips upon the stone floor of the passage. Over
and over we rolled, seeking each to free his dirk.
THE LADV or KIRTLEBRAE ,„
were wet, and therP „,, ^^^ '^'"th^s
but this, found ;" r "°'''"" °" "^ '"^^^^ ■'
from n>; enel wW """^ V'"" ' ''^'^ ^^*h^-d
When lLvel;Tr;°;! ^ -.-* ''^ broken
sat up, a littleZ h f ^^^'"'' ^'^ f^-^^- I
then Lw h7w "had ; "° "'"* '"^ "°^- '• -"d
band had pSt^t^--^'^^* the upcoming
gether on the eronnH . ^ "" '^^^^'^^^ to-
stair-head nto?dal , '°''^^ ^^-^ of the
guessed toTh/ ^'de-passage, leading, as I
guessed, to the servants' quarters Tf,»
Mg men, their minds set nn ?,, '■^'"^"'-
Prince, had left us to it an A / """''•''' °' *^«
the closed door beh nH ^ u '^ '"" ^°^^^'d to
tbeir pri.e. Tndtw, TTsl^TT. " ^"^
ear toward the room lluW l '' "' '"^
loud to hear how well mv t rickhad ""''' °"*
" Deil tak> him ! " one If th ^"°"^''^-
"How did he ken h.r [ "" ""^^ '''°"ti„g.
'''° ^^^ ^« bad left but the one
j6o under the white COCKADE.
side unguarded ? And now he's awa', and we
may hunt till the day o' doom for him."
" It was a' through yon bit laddie wha held
the stair," said another. " I'd fnin hae my dirk
in him."
" Hoots-toots ! " broke in the first gruffly.
" The laddie can bide until we've clappit an
inch o' the dirk into t'other ane. Wha'll follow
me doun the rope ? "
I crept on tiptoe to the door and peeped in,
for I was mighty curious to know how that frail
rope of twisted sheets would bear a strong man's
weight. The Scotsman was already climbing on
to the window-sill, and as I pushed my face round
the corner of the door he grasped the rope tight
in both hands and swung himself clear out into
the sunlight. There was a snap, and one broken
end of the rope leaped high above the sill. A
hush fell upon his companions, who were waiting
to follow the leader of the chase ; then they
turned in a sort of panic, and I had scarcely time
to shrink back into my passage befoie the first
of them brushed past me. Across the passage
they ran, and down the stair, and out through
the wide door of the hall, before I was well aware
of what had happened.
THE LADY OF KIRTLEBRAE. ,6,
Contented with my share of the day's work
sore andstiff,and filled with the after-joyofbrtte'
I ran up to the conning-tower to watch';he m t'
men s ,, .^ose who had stayed without to guard
the three sides of the house. Here I fo„nH il
Lr '""' "•' '°°' ^^^^ -y ''-nds in
"Laddie, I little thought to see you again "
S-Ia.d here; hut. firVLss-r^I:
Siirof"r-^"^^— -'-t™
sudit'pit;;'"'""'°""'^''''^''^'="^'^'-*'>
ras ed by her compassion than her tenderness
Jl; -other's blood that stains me. not my
" Well, then, His Highness will have good need
^o pra.se, our sword-play. See .- they L ridSg
th J WK P'""'" '^^ ^""^^ °ff. pointing
through the window of the tower.
frnJ,'"^"? u^' '' ""^'' ^'^^ ^"^°^ of the room
from wh.ch the Prince escaped." I ,.ughe^
262 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
watching all that were left of my late adversaries,
with a dozen others, spurring round the comer of
the house. " Come ; shall we watch their mo»fe-
ments ? "
I led the \*'ay along the passage, and Kirtle-
brae's wife would have stopped to aid thewounded,
who were crying piteously, uad not I forced her
past ther-. The frayed end of the rope still hung
fluttering in the breeze, a storm of muttered
cries came from below. I hugged myself with a
lad's glee to hear them pounce upon the white
cockade which I had thrown, and hugged myself
the more when I learned the bait was swallowed,
and they thought it dropped by the Prince him-
self.
" We'll catch him yet ! " cried one. " Split
into companies, my lads, and scour the country-
side. He can have no horse under him, for we
held the stables at the moment he escaped."
" Your pardon, sir, but he can have a horse of
the fleetest imder him," I laughed, as I heard
them ride away. " his own being thoroughbred."
" Yes, but you must not start just yet ; you
must hide here awhile," pleaded the Lady of
Kirtlebrae.
" It is our opportunity," I put in eagerly.
THE LADY OF KIRTLEBRAE. .63
A m !h! • "''"■'^*' ^'^"' 'h« house."
...» .ft.™a,d,. a„„rf," "X "'f fS""-
<!..■ i. dying h.,, God pi,y „°, """""'
"He » pas, ,„„„_
I am ashamed, sir " eaJH rko.i
he took my hand. ^'^''^ Charles simply, as
safepfan" ""r" '""--P^^ed to take the one
.. D "^"h "° repnmand.
'Jon. t!"'' ^°" "'"P'^"^'^ '"^ *» let you %ht
■'Jone. It was disloyal, sir, and very brave ' h.
sa.d.w.h a humility I had never sr^'^ei
H^
264 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
And that was all I let him say about the
matter, for praise is always three times as hard
to listen to as blame.
We wished to get to saddle without more
delay, but our hostess would not hear of it until
she had assured herself that all was well ; and so
we fretted up and down the hall until at last she
came to the outer door with the bridles of our
horses in either hand.
" Ride ! " said she, as we mounted. " And
may good luck keep your feet."
The Prince uncovered, for he was reverent in
those days.
" A brave woman's prayers are always an-
swered," he said.
" Stay ! " I cried, and reddened at the thought
which kept me back. "One moment, sire. I
have left my gage of luck beneath the window
yonder."
The cockade was in my hat when I returned
to the Prince's side, and the Lady of Kirtlebrae,
despite her own anxieties, betrayed that lively
tenderness toward a love affair which is the most
pronounced of Scottish women's qualities. She
looked from my hot cheeks to the cockade and
back again.
'•HE LADY OF KIRTLEBRAE 265
" Tell her you fought vnll, laddie," she liiiighed,
" and bid her ride you loosely on the curb, for
that you're well deserving of good treatment."
Again we made rir farewells to her, and started
at the trot toward our camp. At the end of the
third mile we thought that we were safely through,
but the r'?y was yet full charged with danger, it
seemed, jor as wc turned a sharp corner of the
road two horsemen, riding fast, showed fifty yards
in front of us. I knew them at a second glance,
for they had been aming those who attacked me
on the stair.
" Foes, your Hignness ! " I cried, and thought
to have ridden first at them.
But the Prince was not to 1 outdone this
time, and his horse was faster an my own.
Like a flash he had ridden at the first horseman
and I saw his sword, as he whirled it high above
his head, cut crimson zigzags from the sunset.
Then I, too, caught the fever once again, and
had at the second horseman, and I was tired by
the time we had made an end.
We had a quiet ride home through the gloam-
ing after that. And I went tenderly, point by
point, over thrust and parry of my fight upon the
stair. One does these things at two-and-twenty
: iP
266 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE,
without diffidence, for death is but a dim under-
note at that age. and batUes are the daintiest
food for talk.
"I have met a man. Mr. Anstruther. and I
have made a friend," said the Prince, as we came
to the first outposts of our army.
But then His Highness was always over
generous m his judgments.
hi
if f.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE miller's daughter.
Of the long march through England I can say
but little in this place. Indeed, the ins and outs
of it would need a book of memoirs bigger than
such a lazy and indifferent pen as mine could
write. Looking back upon it now, it seems to
have been one long-continued strain, as if through
all those weeks of marching we had been playing
a game of chess with an adversary who claimed
our best attention.
Our army, npver greater than five
thousand, and weakened constantly by the
desertion of Highlanders who yearned for their
rainy moors again, threaded its way through
a country uniformly hostile, and between two
armies of trained troops. In the north
was poor General Wade, blundering after us
from point to point, and always seeming to be
a day behind the fair ; in front of us was the
ii
If
268 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
Duke of Cumberland, with another army of tried
soldiers. Yet somehow we moved forward with-
out a battle-moved forward, with the thought
of London in our hearts, and a sense that Provi-
dence was with the right, since it permitted us
so small a number and so ill equipped, to escape
the desperate hazards that we ran.
Yet 'twas a sad march, when all is said, for
aU our harvest was one of broken promise.. The
Lancashire gentlemen, who had been so ardent in
their loyalty when I rode north, and who had
given the Prince every reason to count upon their
aid, drew back when we came too near to their
firesides. How it was I know not. Perhaps the
chill dreariness of the weather had damped their
spints, or it may be that the claims of wives and
sweethearts and little children showed stronger
when the moment came for risking life and oil.
At any rate, in Manchester alone did we find
wiUing men to join us, and as we left the shire
and hurried through the counties of Cheshire and
of Staffordshire, the Prince's heart grew heavier
It was not so much the actual loss of men, I think
that troubled him, for he would have fought ai
cheerfully with five thousand as with fifty
thousand men ; but he felt the lack of sympathy
THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER. 269
and the broken pledges of the English gentry
were exceeding bitter to one who held the lightest
promise sacred.
"There's a loyalty called tavern loyalty,
Anstruther," he said to me one day, as we were
riding near to Congleton, a half-mile or so in front
of the main body, " and that is what they have
given me freely in England here. There's a talk
of rising, and bottles are cracked in every tavern
on the strength of it, and men grow very bold.
But when the rain comes, and the cold, and
loyalty means following me through the lanes of
trampled slush, why, they crack another bottle,
and drink remembrance of their pledges out."
" That is true, your Highness ; for I saw
these gentlemen of Lancashire drain many a
bottle to your health, and vow their sword-arms
to your service."
" I was sure of them, lad," he went on impet-
uously. " No pledges could have worn a fairer
look, and on the strength of them I made this
dash for London. Well, let them stand aside,
and we'll show them what my bonnie Highlanders
can do without their help."
Yet his temper, sorely tried— and not least by
my Lord Murray — never broke ; and if I had
m
H
270 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
loved him at the first, he touched me now with
something more akin to worship. Charm was his
in plenty, but to this was added a courage such
as only we who rode with him upon hU hopeless
quest can understand. Courage in battle, I take
it, is the crude stuff of bravery; but steadfastness
under disappointment, under the hardships of a
hurried march, under all the an.\ieties that attach
themselves to the leader of such a cause as ours
—this is courage of the finest temper. There
was no ragged Highlander too unimportant for
his notice, and many a time I have seen tears
spring into the eyes of one of these great fellows
—trudging with sodden clothes on sodden roads,
and thinking, likely, of his home— when the
Prince noticed him in passing, and stopped, and
with a hand upon his shoulder spoke kindly to
him as friend speaks with friend. Nay, more—
when dejection fell upon the whole army, and the
foot soldiers went forward with bowed shoulders
and sad faces, the Prince would get from s ddle
and march on foot with them, and by sheer force
of jest and laughing prophecy of better days in
store would lift their Celtic spirits from sudden
gloom to sudden hopefuhiess.
Ah I small wonder that one thought alone
THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER. 27,
rang day-long in the hearts of us who loved him :
"Who would not die for Charlie?" Those
gentlemen of Lancashire had pledged themselves
to a name that carried glamour with it ; but we
who knew him found him, not a name only, but
a man, the gentlest and the strongest and the
sweetest natured that ever lost a battle against
brutal circumstance.
Well, we neared Derby, and the bitterness of
those days weU-nigh maddens me as I look back
upon them. The old impulse to throw useless
curses at Lord Murray's head comes back to me ;
the old. wUd yearning to have the choice of advance
or of retreat from Derby still open to us. But
Nell says that grief must have no place in this
tale of love, and fight, and laughter ; and, as I
write for NeU's pleasure and the children's, I
must obey, and move forward to that capture of
the enemy's dragoons which was to prove our
last light-hearted frolic.
When I recall the incident, I mind me that
Heaven guards all fools, and that only by this
clemency did I succeed in a venture thatwas under-
taken at a critical juncture in our fortunes. As I
have said, we were moving each day nearer to
the capital, still without moeting the enemy in
II
li i
372 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
open fight. Until now we had been all eagerness
to come to blows, because the Highlanders need
that sort of food to keep their stomachs sweet,
and they were already showing signs of grear
impatience ; but now that our rash march had
brought us so far ■=outh, our one aim was to push
on to London, avoiding all unnecessary conflict
by the way, and reserving our energies to cope
with such resistance as the capital might offer us.
On the first day of December— a chill, raw day,
I remember— our cavalry set off from Maccles-
field in the early morning to march to Congleton ;
and while we were on the road the Prince com-
manded Lord Elcho, Archie MacGregor, myself,
and a few of our cavalry to reconnoitre in the
direction of Newcastle-under-Lyne. The Duke of
Cumberland, with his 10,000 men, was encamped
somewhere in the neighbourhood of the village,
and His Highness wished to learn, not only their
exa'-t situation, but also whether the Duke were
lying quietly in camp or whether he were already
up and on. our track.
There was no sign of life about Newcastie-
under-Lyne as we drew near, save the reek from
the cottage chimneys, and, over beyond the
houses, the lighter smoke which mounts from camp-
THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER. 273
fi«s half extinguished. We drew rein awhile
watchmg the scene; and as we waited there
came a sudden rattle of musketry from far away
on our left and after that a silence, and then a
second discharge of firearms. At a loss to under-
stand the cause of this, yet disposed to keep on
our way until we had gained information of some
sort, we made forward warily. We passed through
the village, however, without incident of any sort
except that down in the hollow we came upon a
tnm-b-ult corn-mill, at the door of which a young
girl stood-the miller's daughter, as we guessed--
and showed us so tempting a face, all milk and
roses with the dew on them, that Archie needs
must throw her some daft speech in going by.
The mcident was slight, it seemed-indeed, a
usual one wherever Archie went; but we were
soon to see the miller's daughter for the second
time.
Leaving Newcastle behind us, then, we viewed
the place where the Duke's forces had clearly
lam last night, and began to speculate as to his
motive in striking camp. The trampled lane of
slush that lay between the meadows and the
highroad, made by the horse-hoofs and the wheels
of gun-carriages, led into the highway between
Wl
'74 UNDER THE WH^TE COCKADE.
NewcasUe and Lichfidd, and it was plain that
the whole body had retreated upon the last-
named village. Another matter there was. too,
which piuzled us, for a second trampled path, no ■
wider than might accommodate two horeemen
nding abreast, diverged at right angles fr<n,
the wider track, and led, so far as we comd
trace it, straight over the northward spur of
hill,
"Had we met him marching hard toward
Congleton or Macclesfield, I could have under-
stood," said Lord Elcho to me. as he stood and
looked up and down the road.
"it's my scythe-blades that he fears," laughei
Archie MacGregor, who was stiU vasUy proud of
the weapon he had fathered.
I was about to tell him that we were entirely
CMvinced of the merits of his scythes without
hearing any more of them, when my eye was
caught by some movement in the hedge in front
of me. We had found reason lately to be jealous
of all skulking figures, and I watched the hedge
narrowly.
" What is it, Mr. Anstruther ? " asked Lord
Elcho.
By this time I could distinguish the upper
THE M.LLER'S DAUGHTER. ,75
hdf of a face and two bright eyes peering through
the thick network of boughs and twigs.
and J; " V'"'' "^ ^"'^^ ^ *'»'"''•" I ^''^^ered.
and set my horse at the hedge.
It was a hard leap, taken so suddenly but
we crashed through somehow andlandedsquashUy
into wet land on the further side The fellow
whose face I had seen through the twigsT^
S w I '"* r' ""•''"« "-'' -'- *»>«'
stopped and gnpped him by the collar of his
coat.
" Your business, sir ? " I asked.
He made no answer, nor could I extort any
speech from him by threats of rough usage. So
I inade hm. show my horse the way to the nearest
S h T"""- ' P^*°' "^""'^ *»» "«>• ^d *hen
we had r^gamed the highroad I p:^„ted him to
Lord Elcho with much ceremony.
Elcho looked hard at him
The man changed colour; and, —ng him
shnnk from the word ■' spy ■■ so daintily, I took
LoT'h !,T7 °* '^'" "^^ ^""^'^ «^*t «°t long
ago he had had pretensions to the rank of gentle.
.:
i:
i
276 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
man. But still he did not open his mouth, nor
could we get a single word from him until a rope
had been fixed to the nearest bough and my
delicate rascal's neck fitted snugly to the noose.
"Our time is precious," said Lord Elcho
briefly. " Either you tell us all yon know, or— '
He shrugged his shoulders.
" Do you vouch for my life if I play— play
traitor ? " said the man— and again he shrank
from the last word " traitor."
" I cannot. His Highness must be the judge
of that. But this I promise— I will take you
safely into camp and use my utmost persuasions
for your hfe. Come, your answer."
He gave up the game then, and once he had
determined to accept the situation he answered
Elcho's questions in a clear, straightforward
fashion. We had thought him a common spy
only, and our glee may be imagined when we
found that he was no other than Mr. Weir, the
chief agent of the Duke of Cumberland, a gentle-
man by birth, and closely intimate with all that
concerned the plans of the English army.
We learned, in fine, that the Duke's retreat to
Lichfield was in pursuance of his resolve to wait
until Marsha! Wade joined him before giving
THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER. ^^^
battle to us, for in that case he would have two
armies under him, and his attack could scarcely
fail to be successful.
" This Duke of Cumberland must be a varra
valiant chiel," muttered MacGregor. " Has nae
he gotten ten thou.sand under him as it is, and
is he flichtered by five thousand Hieland laddies ? "
" Captain MacGregor, you have less prudence
than I am wont to look for in my countrymen,"
chided Lord Elcho. "Why furnish Mr Weir
with details of our numbers ? "
Weir smiled, for the first time since I had
captured him.
" We know to a hair's-breadth your numbers
and your plans," he said.
Elcho turned sharply on him.
" How, sir ? " he flashed.
" Well, perhaps it is no matter to boast about,
but I have been in and out among your men a
score times since Carlisle."
Lord Elcho bit his lip, for he had prided him-
self upon the secrecy of all our movements. To
cover his annoyance he turned and pointed to
the narrower of the two trampled paths that
climbed the hill-side on our right.
" The whole army, it w- ' =eem, did not go
i! I
fl
27i UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
on to Lichfield," he said. " A smaller force has
been detached from the main column. What
was its purpose, Mr. Weir ? "
"Just this," he said mrlijy. "Sir Peter
Talbot lives over yonder hills, a half-league «w»y,
and it came to the Duke's knowledge that Sir
Peter was zealously arming his friends on the
Pretender's behalf."
I tapped him smartly on the arm.
" The Prince's, sir," I corrected.
" As you will," he said with a shrut Two
hundred dragoons were despatched this . .ming
to sack the house and bring Sir Peter a d his
friends as prisoners to the camp."
Lord Elcho glanced at me, and I at him. We
understood now what was the meaning of the
musketry that we had heard awhile since.
" What can we do ? " said he. " We are too
few to ride to the rescue of this Sir Peter Talbot."
" Shalll gallop back to the army ? " I put in
eagerly. "The Prince, I think, would let me
have a cavalry detachment."
" No, no : He could not spare them, and it
would delay our march too much. It seems a
pity, Mr. Anstruther, but there is nothmg what-
ever to be done."
THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER. tjg
It did seem a pity, and more than a pity,
that a loyal gentleman should be lying undet
arrest almost within musket-shot of us, and yet
we could not move a step to help him. There
would be a brief trial for Sir Peter Talbot by-
and-by. and a short shrift at Cumberland's hands ;
and we, his fellow Jacobites, were well aware of it.
Was it the fact that we could do nothing ?
As I asked myself the question I glanced at
my friend MacGregor, to see if he could throw
any light upon the situation ; and somehow I
was struck by the curious likeness that he boi«
to Prince Chariie—not in face, irdeed, but in
shoulder-width and poise of body.
" Aweel, laddie, and hae I anither face this
morning fro' that which ye're acquaint wi' ? "
said Archie, catching my keen glance. " Maybe
ye'll tell us what ye're thinking Oi the noo ? "
" I was thinking," I answered slowly, " that
if you hid your face, or if the light was over dim
to show it plainly, there's many a man even in
our own army might mistake you for the Prince."
" Hoots ! dinna tickle my vanity. Is that a'
ye mean by yon fine rapt gaze o' yours."
" 1 was thinking, too, that there's a heavy
price upon the Prince's head, and that these two
I
280 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
hundred dragoons would go far on the chance of
capturing him.
I was feeling my way dimly. I had a glim-
mering of my plan, but its details all escaped
me ; and I think I should have yielded tr^ Elcho's
impatient summons and have ridden quietly to
camp with him had Archie himself not given me
the hint I needed.
" Dinna be hard on the chief," he said, with a
slow glance at Elcho. " I ken fine what ails him.
He's looking over at Newcastle, ye'U mark, an'
I'll wager a crown to a bawbee that his thochts are
wi' yon miller's daughter we saw as we came by."
" Come, gentlemen ; a truce to all this jest-
ing," cried Elcho, gathering up his reins. " His
Highness will be growing impatient for our
return."
But my plan was ripening now. I, too, had
remembered the miller's daughter, and wondered
why I had not thought of her tiU now.
" Lord Elcho," I said, without waiting to see
anything more clearly, " will you give leave of
absence to MacGregor and myself till midnight ? "
" Leave of absence ? " he repeated. " We
know your taste for long odds, Mr. Anstruther,
but surely you do not mean to "
THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER. 281
" Indeed, but I do," I interrupted, laughing.
" And if you see me back in camp at all, it will be
with the best part of those ten-score dragoons."
" But what is your plan, sir ? Two men
against two hundred does not sound promising."
" Your pardon, but if I told you you'd never
credit its achievement. I have made witless
requests before, my lord," I added, laughing still,
"and it is the fashion nowadays to humour
me."
" That is true, sir," said Elcho, with a puzzled
smile. " In fart, since we took Edinburgh the
Prince has almost given carte blanche to MacGregor
and yourself ; and if you're bent on it, I have no
more to say. Captain MacGregor, do you wish
to join him ? "
" Where the chiel gangs, there maun I gang
too, for fear he comes to harm," said Archie
slowly.
" And can you spare four of the troopers who
rode with us this morning ? " I asked, as Elcho,
still puzzled, was turning to bid us both farewell
and wish us luck
" Take them, sir. It is useless giving my
consent by halves," growled Elcho, motioning
half his guard to join us.
Iii
I'
282 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
After I had asked him to inform the Prince of
what was going forward, and to prepare our camp
for a sudden bugle-call to boot and saddle— all
which he promised with an air that spoke little
for his faith in our wild venture— Lord Elcho
headed straight for Congleton, with the remainder
of his guard and Weir, the spy. Archie and I
were left standing in the middle of the road, while
the four troopers waited at a little distance for
their orders ! and for awhile we looked gravely
at each other in perfect silence.
" Aweel, ye ken best, laddie ; but I'm think-
ing we wad look fine and naked if yon ten thoiisand
English came marching back to Newcastle," said
MacGregor presently.
" There's a miU, Archie, at the bottom of the
village, and a big house beside it," I said. " I
think you marked it as we passed through."
" I wilna hearken to your gibes, lad. Mark
it ? And weel I micht, for there was as braw a
lassie on the doorstep as I've seen i' this dour,
waefu' England. I..ad Anstruther, it's sad to
leave a wedded wife behind ye, when ye canna
find other lips as sweet as hers."
" Yes, there was a lass upon the doorstep," I
answered softly ; " and the miller's daughter is
THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER. 283
going to prove the mainstay of our plot. You'll
foUow me. Archie, if I tell the miUer some queer
facts about you ? " I put in by-and-by.
" Tell him what you like, laddie, except that
I ha i '-o' the Lowlands— but, gin ye tell him that,
I'll I'.'K. ye, as sure as I'm a MacGregor."
Archie was ever sore on this point, for he had
been bred in the Lowlands, and it was a great
affliction to him that even his speech played false
to his Highland birth.
But I had no thought, indeed, of wronging
him so far, and meant to present him to the
miller in quite another guise ; so, after sending
the four troopers to get bite and sup at the village
tavern, I beckoned MacGregor t, foUow me down
the street in the opposite direction. Arrived
at the house abutting on the mill, we knocked at
the street dr , claimed audience of th- miller,
and were ushered forthwith into the chamber
where he sat drinking a mug of old October. I
hastened to him, a world of anxiety in my
demeanour.
Sir," said I, " you have strange company
under your roof to-day."
" What say you, young man ? " he answered,
glancing from one to the other of us stolidly.
K !(!!!;
,.,1*1
284 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" My friend and I are in dire peril," I went on.
" We asked in the viUage where Mved the honest-
est man in it, and were sent to you. Can you
keep a secret, miliar ? "
" As well as most men."
" Ay, I would swear you could. Well, then,
our need is urgent, and it is no time for mincing
words. My friend here is "—I lowered my voice
— " who, think ye ? "
" Nay. how should I know ? By his wearing-
gear I warrant he's one of the Scots that are
marching close by here, they say. Come, my
masters, is it a jest ye play on me ? "
" Yes, the jest of life and death," I answered
grimly. "The Scotch are beat-n, and their
leader has sought flight with the miller of New-
castle. Get to your feet and bow, man, for this
is no less than Prince Charlie who has come to
honour your poor roof."
The miller was a hard man to move, it seemed ;
yet even he got up from his chair as the name
passed my lips. He stood regarding Archie
attentively, then :
"I had heard teU he was a handsome
lad to look at," said he, with evident dis-
appointment.
f.S,' '
m
THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER. 285
I laughed out of aU moderation, so quaintly it
was put, and so honestly.
"It is plain speaking that," I said, "and
plain speaking leads us to expect plain dealing
from you, miller."
" Ay, it was plain eneuch," muttered Archie
ruefully.
" Well, sirs, what do you want of me } " asked
our host.
" Just this. The troops are up and after the
Prince here, and he must hide tiU nightfall.
Will you give him shelter ? "
The miUer pondered, and the miller frowned,
and not for full five minutes would he venture
" yes " or " no."
" Ay, I'U do it," he said at last.
Seeing that his mind was fixed, I thought
that it would do no harm to carry the mummery
a little further.
" Think weU," I urged him. " It is a hanging
matter, as you know, if King George's troopers
catch you at it."
"I've said my say. He can hide here if he
will," said the miller stubbornly. "It shaU
never be said of me that I let a fine, upstanding
lad like yon be kiUed while I could help it."
286 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
"Good. They said weU, mUler, when they
told me you were passing honest."
" I wiU not forget your honesty, sir, when I
come to my own again," put in MacGregor, with
such admirable mimicry of the Prince's manner
—nay, of his very words-that I was fain to look
out of the window for awhile and smile my
When next I turned about I saw that a
comely lass had stepped into the room, and that
she stood regarding MacGregor and myself with
mterest and surprise. It was the maid we had
seen standing at the street door earlier in the day,
and I was struck for a second time with the fresh-
ness of her beauty and the modest way she wore
It. Indeed, I began to be sorry that Ihad given
MacGregor so fair a part to play in what was
next to happen.
" This is your daughter, sir ? " I said, bowing
first to the maid and then to the dusty miller.
" I guessed as much, and I am glad that she has
come, for His Highness here had never anything
to fear from women."
The miller seemed m doubt as to the wisdom of
such frankness, but MacGregor, taking his cue
from me, insisted on her knowing all his secret ;
m
in
m
THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER. 287
and the girl went pink and white by turns as she
curtseyed prettily.
"Your Highness," I said, bowing low to
Archie, " I must see to some matters that we know
of, but I will be here by nightfall without faU."
MacGregor responded without a blush.
"Be expeditious, sir," he answered loftily.
" Remember that even a Prince has but the one
life, nor is he one whit more willing to lose it
than a common man."
He dropped his English speech as soon as
we were alone together on the road without.
"Laddie," he whispered, with a twang you
could have buttered bannocks with, "I aye
thocht ye had a bee i' your bonnet, and now I've
no doubt at a' aboot the matter. De'U kens
what this last devilry o' yours may mean."
I told him in a lew words what I meant to
do, and Archie grew thoughtful for awhile. Then
he *ook me by the button-hole and quizzed me
with his keen grey eyes.
"Man Anstruther, ye've a head on your
shoulders!" he cried. "Gang your ain gait,
laddie, and trust me to empty a measure or two
while I'm biding for ye, a' i' the Prince's easy
fashion."
288 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
" Ay, but you've not the Prince's head for
liquor, and I'd rather find you sober when I
come back again," said I. " Well, then, you'll
remember that thu lane leads past the mill-
garden ? Have your horse ready saddled under-
neath the window that overlooks the lane, and
gallop when the signal comes."
" I ken fine," said Archie softly, fingering his
dirk. " Ap' the wee bit lassie, Anstruther ?
Think ye now I should deal saft wi' her, just to
make the foolery seem more real ? "
" If there's a lass in it, Archie MacGregor will
deal saft with her," I laughed, and left him to
while away the time as best he could.
A quick ride brought me to the tavern at the
far end of the village, where my troopers lay, and,
after bidding them hold themselves in readiness
to fulfil certain commands of mine, I set off at a
gallop up the road. The sun was close on setting
by this time, and a silver moon was brightening
the first edge of nightfall; the roads, though
heavy in places, were drying under a crisp north
wind. The night seemed made for me and for
my purpose. A mile's ride brought me to the
spot where the narrow, tanglea path, which we
had noticed earlier in the day, led off at right
THE MILLERS DAUGHTER. 289
angles from the main road. I foUowed this, and
by-and-by came in sight of a high, turreted house
perched upon the topmost of the slope, which I
judged could be no other than Sir Peter Talbot's
Any doubts I might have felt upon the point
were settled long before I reached the house
itself for there were troopers m the grounds, and
I had scarcely ridden through the outer gate
when a loud " Who goes there ? " came down the
slope to me.
" A friend," I answered jauntily.
The sentry waited till I drew rein at the gate
then asked me for the password. I carried the
matter with a high hand, told him that I had
left the rebel army too lately to be acquainted
with the password, and said that I must see the
officer in command without delay.
" You come here from the rebel army, and
liave the face to own it ? " he growled, staring at
me in amazement.
" Well," I answered, " do you think I'm the
hrst to exchange a bad penny for a good ?
I must see the captain, I tell you. Take
him the tale I've given you, and say that
I have certain information of the Prince's
whereabouts."
T
^
i<)0 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
He hesitated, glanced at me again, then called
to a comrade near at hand and passed me forward
under his escort to the house. The second trooper
left me standing in the hiU while he took in my
message, and presently I was ushered ii to a dark,
oak-panelled room. A well-favoured man of five-
and-thirty years or so sat writing at a table.
The trooper who had brought me in stood close
behind me, with pistol cocked, and for a quick
moment I felt my heart beat foolishly as I realised
how completely I had burnt ray bridges.
CHAPTER XIV.
A LAST GtAD GALLOP
nervtaS: Z.T^ ^TT' ''^^"^ "^^
into icy water. ' ^ '''''' '^«" ^ P'"nge
and now a „7giT "" ''^ "'•'*^ '^^''^'^e.
bJack." * ^'' ^ ^"^ ""'nded to wear the
«>eZt"orturarnt ^"^7^"-^*-^^« ^or
•'nife-ed.e to ~ • e.'^Si T,*'^ ^^^
affair, not mine Yo„ ' ' '''^* '* Vo^r
-nts Of the ^iende; "' '" '"°" ^''^ ">--
wei^itirirenrcrtrT'^-^^^^-
answered. looidn,,,,^™^-- much,. I
A .MS" .-tTk.
,1
it
292 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
'■ Mr. Weir ? " he snapp(!d. " How come you
to know anything of Mr. Weir ? "
" Because, sir, I rode out this morning with
Lord Elcho to reconnoitre, and we trapped Mr.
Weir upon the road. It was he who told me you
were here, and I little thought at the time that
I should so soon be seeking your assistance."
Again he eyed me keenly, but my information
as to Mr. Weir ,was patently so accurate, and my
danger in coming here for any other purpose
than to play the traitor so pressing, that I saw
he was growing ripe to credit all I told him.
" In what way do you seek my help ? " he
asked, cold as ever.
" The Prince was with Lord Elcho and my-
self this morning," I went on. " Ah, sir ! you
grow warmer on the sudden ! "
" The Pretender ! How near was he ? And
did he bring no guard ? "
" Only the two of us ; the rest of his guard
he left in a little coppice, two miles from New-
castle, while he himself went on into the village."
The captain sprang to his feet.
" Why make so long a tale of it ? " he cried.
" The Pretender in Newcastle, unguarded ? Take
me^to him, sirrah "
A LA.Sr GLAD GALLOP
< . , ^•'
■ ""," T iutemipted. "The Prince is .Im
Pery. and if we huny i„ this n,at"er h, 't
"' ''•"• y™ !~. *«re were lhi,ty a,„,,I.
S"',' " .°'"'-'' "'-'• ■»" '. wh. 1 Tot
"-h to g.,n lhe„. had m .he better ot 2
He seated himself af rv.,.
«.«.„e.,-,.<.h;h.^-:r.t;,^"'
What IS his business in Newcastle > •' he
asked abruptly. ' ""^
"What is his usual business in the intervals
of marching ' " T answpr^.^ vu '"icrvais
" Thp n, 11 . XT ^''^^^'^'^' "''th a careless shrug.
The mUle^ of Newcastle has a daughter ••
came through this morning."
.. Th'Jp" ''''''^ '" S°°'^ '^"'"Pany. sir," I laughed
The Pnnce. .f I mistake not, is foUowing your
294 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
example at this moment." And then I scowled,
and, " Curse his gallantry ! " I flashed, as if the
words slipped out before I knew.
Again the other smiled.
" I begin to understand," he murmured. " It
is jealousy, then, that brings you here to-day ? "
" Yes, though I did not mean to own it. He
has robbed me, I tell you ; the girl was mine
before he came, and he took her from me by a
trick."
I regretted so to take away the character of
the miller's daughter, but there seemed no help
for it.
"You shall repay him," said the captain
quietly. And then I heard him mutter, "The
tale fits well with what we have heard of the Pre-
tender. It is just what they are saying all
through England— flutter a woman's gown before
his eyes, and there'll be no army needed to take
him in a trap." .
The taunt stung me, but I checked my impulse
to defend the Prince.
" Sir," I answered, " we will prove within
the hour that he has followed once too often his
passion for the sex."
The captain got to his feet again, and I could
A LAST GLAD GALLOP. 255
see that he was counting over the tale of those
thirty thousand pounds.
*' Your visit is weU-timed, sir. Can you ride
with me to the miUer's, and help to make the
capture sure ? "
"You could not well do without me" I
answered coolly, "since there are by-ways from
the house that you know nothing of. Besides I
airn at vengeance, and that will not be satisfied
unless I see him taken."
" True ; I only aim at honour, and revenge is
a more potent spur, they say."
"You only aim at honour, Jr ; there is no
pnce upon the Prince's head," I put in. with an
irony which was not over safe.
He only glanced at me, however, as if he found
unsuspected depths in one whom he had rated
lightly.
" WiU a score men make it safe ? " he asked
"They will not. The Prince's guard, fifty
s rong, lie hidden, as I told you, two miles from
Newcastle. They have orders, to my positive
knowledge, to creep nearer in toward nightfall
and It may well be that we stumble on them'
either at the mill or after we have captured
296 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
"How far away is the main body of the
army ? " said he, after a long pause.
" They lie at Leek to-night," I murmured
dishkmg more than I had thought possible the
need to speak other than the truth.
" At Leek ! Our advices told us Congleton."
He glanced sharply at me.
"Mr. Weir would doubtless have brought
you tidings of, our change of plan, had we not
discourteously prevented him," I answered drily.
" How many men have you at your command ' "
" Two hundred."
" All mounted ? "
" Yes."
" Then bring them aU," I went on. " I teU
you. there shaU be no miscarriage in this matter
If we take too few. and meet the Prince's guard
and lose him, I'll Your pardon, sir. I had
m mmd to threaten you. and that would mean
death, would it not. seeing what our positions
are ? "
" Your good faith is sure enough, at any rate,
and th .t IS all I care about," he said. " Besides
sir, d'ye think I'm one whit less eager than your-
self ? But take all mj' men I cannot, for Sir
Peter Talbot is a prisoner worth the keeping."
A LAST GLAD GALLOP. ,^^
" But Sir Peter is bound, I take it ? i. a
satety. Look you, sir, they're devils to fi„>.f
these fifty Highlanders of the P^es, an te
shall need all our force "
My credit wa. established one ,„, .j, ,„.
--r/r-eft^r:ZdTsLr'
and as I followed him out into the garden I smi-eci
to th.„k that four of our own picked troops eft
with n,e by Lord Elcho earlier in the day ll "
dready ly,„g in ambush near at hand-accorZ
to the orders I had given them-and were waiS
:«L:;LSt"^^^^^^«^^'----e
and saddle call rang echoing up the hills, and
Thalf IT '^T' '"' '°-'^'' '"^^ v;ilage
A half-mJe from the miller's we called a halt and
j'l
298 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
made forward cautiously ; and as I rode at the
left hand of the captain I saw that he was vastly
restless.
" We are all but there," I muttered. " Will
you let me take the conduct of this matter, sir ?
I know every loophole of escape, for I studied
them well before I left the Prince here earlier in
the day ? "
" Ay, you shall have the conduct of it, and
remember that \ve play for no light stakes. Dead
or alive, the warrant ran, if you recall."
" Dead or alive," I answered, and knew that
Archie MacGregor was willing to share in that
grim alternative.
Grace of our Lady, how that scene comes
back to me ! The dry road, with the north wind
fleeting down it, the frosted hedgerows, the round,
bright moon, and the httle stars that hung like
lanterns from the blue-black of the sky. And
here was I, with two hundred troopers of the
Usurper behind me, leading them into as fair a
trap as ever moon or stars or frosted landscape
looked upon.
" Yonder is the mill," I saia, pointing to a
star of light that flickered out on to the roadway.
" Give me half the men, sir, and I will guard the
A LAST GLAD GALLOP. 299
lane that goes along the garden wall. Do you
-nake attack upon the front, and one way
or the other we will have him safe. The
Highlanders, I warrant, are nowhere within
pistol-range."
The captain, seeing how clearly I had planned
It out, consented, and I took my men some
score yards down the road to the comer where the
lane came into it, and edged my horse so
well across the narrow way that those behind
me could see nothing of what chanced in that
direction.
" So ! There is a saddled horse just round
the bend," I whispered-and it was the truth I
spoke. " I hear it champing at the bit, and it is
ten to one that we on this side of the house will
get the credit of the capture."
The men began to cock their pistols, but I
was rough with them.
" Ye fools, d'ye want to spoil it all ? " I
snapped. " Put up your pistols, for he's more
use to us alive than dead."
The men obeyed me without protest, and a
moment later I heard the captain knocking loudly
at the mill door. The angle of the house forbade
my seemg anything that passed, but each word
ill
300 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
came crisp and clear enough through the frost-
sharpened air.
" Open, in the King's name ! " sounded the
captain's voice.
There was no answer, and a sudden misgiving
seized me. Archie was to have watched against
my coming, and to have had all in readiness.
Why did he delay ?
" Open, I say ! It is ' One, two, three ! '
and the door . come3 ' down if there is no
answer."
Still all was quiet within the mill, and I grew
feverish. I recalled how Archie had talked of
" dealing saft " with the miller's bonnie daughter.
Was he even now throwing all away for the sake
of dalliance ?
" One ! " said the captain grimly, " two '
three 1 "
And then I heard a casement flung back so
sharply that the glass fell down in fragments,
and Archie's voice came round the comer of the
mill.
"What would you, disturbing the peace of
honest folk ? " he cried.
" We want one Charlie Stuart, rebel and Pre-
tender," answered the captain. " To be brief,
A LAST GLAD GALLOP. 30,
sir w. want you, for may I rot if you are any
other than the Pretender. Come down to us or
we jre upon the instant."
" Sir I-I am not the Prince. What would
you with me ? " quavered Archie MacGregor
had never reckoned Archie at his proper
worth. He spoke plain truth when he denSd
h.s royalty, yet his denial was so clumsy and so
fnghtened that you could not have found a
man m England to have thought it less than
"Time presses, and we'll waste none of
1 ■ "^A".' ■' P'^^^^^ y°-'" --red the
capta.. J.Q„,ek! Will you come, or shall
Archie's voice changed upon the sudden, and
I knew that the frolic had begun in earnest.
Fire, ye havering loons !■' he cried. " Hae
ye no heard that there's neither sword nor pistol
can touch Charlie Stuart ? " ^
" Fire ! " cried the captain, and I could hear
that anger was putting his judgment all at fault
There was a roar of firearms, a further shatter -
'ng of glass, and down the wind a blue-white ha^e
of smoke trailed lightly. This did not trouW
me. for Arch.e MacGregor was not the man to
li
III «*■!« ;■
302 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
draw an enemy's fire on him before he was well
ready to escape it. I edged my horse more
squarely across the narrow lane-top, and pointed
toward the mill.
" Have they shot him ? " I cried. " Go to
the bend, some of you, and see if help is needed
at the front, while the rest of us keep watch upon
the lane here."
Accustomed to obey without using their wits
over much, they turned their eyes away from the
Ian- and some of them rode slowly toward the
mih. But I, for my part, looked down into the
miller's garden, and saw a figure, in plaid and
Highland bonnet, steal shadowy between the box
shrubs and the orchard trees. To my surprise,
another figure followed, and, as I live, daft Archie
halted at the very edge of peril to put an arm
about the miller's daughter and to stoop his lips
to hers. Not five yards from him, at the turning
of the lane, I could hear his horse neigh fret-
fully ; and when he showed not content with the
one embrace, but tarried foi a dozen at the least,
I cursed him by every dulcet oath I had acquired
in camp and field.
My men had seen nothing as yet, for I blocked
their view, and they were trusting altogether to
A LAST GLAD GALLOP. 303
my eyes ; but from the miU there came a shouting
and a trampling of feet, and I knew that our
game was up if Archie lost one single minute
more. The half of that, priceless as it was he
wasted on the miller's daughter, and then he
leaped the hedge and sprang to saddle, and I
drew breath again.
It was a nice opportunity for judgment, this.
It I led my troopers forward too soon, Archie
would have but an indifferent start of us ; if too
late, pursuit would be out of question, and Prince
Charhe would never see those ten-score soldiers I
had promised him. As I halted, knowing that
MacGregor was in the saddle and away, yet
wshful to secure him a better advantage, the
captam and a score or so of his fellows came
running out into the garden, and so decided
me.
" He has got the better of us," I cried, turning
7 *:?P'"- " ^" ^th your spu:^. men, and
we 11 catch hm, if we have to foUow till the dawn
comes up."
I started forward at the gaUop ; they foUowed
and by-and-by I heard another band of men com^
thundering after us, and knew-as I had guessed
.t wouid be-that the captain was not minded to
304 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
forego all credit of this enterprise. And as we
rode I thanked his Majesty of Hanover for laying
those thirty thousand pounds upon the Prince's
head, since without such lucre I think the captain
would have led the one-half of his men back to
Sir Peter Talbot's, and have left me to secure
the Prince's person.
The lane led us shortly into the main road
to Congleton, and two furlongs off at furthest
we saw MacGregor gaUoping like the wind.
My faith I it was pretty; and, though I say it, we
played this game as well as need be. Our horses,
Archie's and mine, were less heavy in the build
and less weighed down with accoutrements than
our enemies'. We could either of us have dis-
tanced them outright within a mile had it been
our interest. But it was not our interest. Each
time that the pursuit seemed like to lose its
interest MacGregor slackened, and I spurred
forward with a shout, and there was not one man
among the troopers who thought of anything
e-xcept the fever of the chase.
Ah, me ! to live those few wild minutes once
again ! The two of us against ten score, and we
the masters of them, if we could but keep their
zest at fever-point. The moonlit raeadowlands of
A LAST GLAD GALLOP. 305
Staffordslmc. swirled past us down th. wind;
through Hanlcy village. Burslem. Tunstall. we
duR he rowels in, and roused the heavv-sleeping
n^t, s from the.r beds. On till we gained the
Cheshae flats, and the sparks flew up from tlK.
frost-bound road like hre from stricken smithy
" We shall lose him ! He will gain his army ! "
panted the captain, riding on my left
,* T ^^" ^^t" f^-t'ongleton, and his army sle,.ps
at Leek." I laughed. "See, see! He faiM
We have him ! "
I lifted myself i„ the stirrups and yelled till
I was hoarse. MacCiregor bided till we we,., all
but on h.m, and a pistol-bullet whispered in his
ear m passing. Then he plucked at the curb
agam. and again the stormy chase began
But two miles now to camp-a mile; and
Arch.e s mare was swaying like a drunkard as she
I gathered the reins more tightly. I glanced
at the captain and the ten-score men behind us
And then I drove my spurs in with a will, and
shoumg..F„ , follow." I gained on them,
stride over stnde, until I was level with Mac-
i^regor s staggering mare.
3o6 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
"Another half-mile, if she dies for it," I
panted, and snatched the bugle that was slung
at my back and set my lips to it.
Clear as a bell, and loud as a thunder-clap
amid the night, the caU to boot and saddle rang
down the dizzy wind. And those behind saw
how the matter lay at last, and Archie and I
were galloping under a bullet-hail toward the
roughly wakened camp.
" She's done ! " gasped Archie suddenly, and
slipped from the good mare's back and clutched
my stirrup.
And so we came into camp. The High-
landers, roused by my bugle-call and by the
musketry, were up and running forward with
bared blades ; and only in the nick of time I
jerked the password out, and panted " Foes be-
hind ! " and turned my over-ridden beast to
meet the enemy.
We took them to a man. Their headlong pace
had driven them ahnost on to the claymores of
the Highlanders ; and when they sought to return,
their horses, spent with the long ride, refused to
move a footpace further.
"No slaughter; make them prisoners," a
voice rang out.
A LAST GLAD GALLOP. 307
when the dragoons had been escorted into canip
with much skThng of the bagpipes. His Highness
came to where MacGregor and myself were stand-
mg-standing and watching the sweat nm off in
nvers from each other's faces.
"That was a hazardous vent -re, Mr. Anstru-
tner, he said.
"I've known but one equal to it for jollity
your Highness." I answered, still panting in my
speech "and that was when I kept tL stair
against the men of Kirtlebrae. But Captain
MacGregor here should have a full half of the
credit.
"Nae. nae." muttered Archie. "I did but
kiss the miller's daughter aince or twice."
kin?^ ^""''^ ^"^ *^^'"^ ^^^ ^^" °^ "" ^^'J'
"The de'il fathered both of you, I fancy"
said he smiling. "Mr. Anstruther. what request
have you to make ? Any you wish, so long as it
be great enough."
"To go with you to London, sire, and set you
on the throne," I answered.
But the Prince turned aside, and I thought
the tears were in his eyes as I spoke of London
3o8 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
and the crown. And well they might! But
that does not concern my present tale, for
we had not then begun that drear retreat from
Derby.
I have been garrulous, perhaps. I crave your
paHon. But that moonlit ride to Congle-
ton has stirred my pulses all afresh, and they say
the pen should keep the memory of the sword
al've. I
And now the tale is done, just as my fighting
days are done ; and I sit idly, and nibble at tlie
feathers of my quill, and let the glamour of old
days steal over me.
It is Nell's hand upon my shoulder that dis-
turbs me, and Nell's voice— which I have always
likened in my mind to the sound of water running
between primrose banks— that comes as if from
the past, when she and I rode through the Scottish
roads together.
" Is't finished, dear ? " she asks.
" Ay, every word ; and I am sorry, for I have
lived my fights again."
Even yet Nell has not lost her trick of pouting,
though I tell her it ill becomes the mother of
great lads, and lasses old enough themselves to
pout a man's heart out of his body.
A LAST GLAD GALLOP. 309
" Is't only your fights that you have lived
again ? " says she.
"Why, no, but the love-makings, too Be
sure I have not forgotten a word or look of thine
dear lass." '
" And the finish ? " she persists,. " Have you
said anywhere toward the end that you love
me full as well as when I sent you up to Scot-
land with a white cockade ? "
"I have not said that," I answer soberly
for ,n tnth I love you better-how much
better only I can know."
And so she kisses me with the sweetness of a
girl, and I am well content to sit there, with
her hand m mine, and watch the sunset deepen
over vale and mead and stream. I am content
to listen to the rooks, and hear the merle sit
piping m her bush. Yet now and always there's
a shadow on my life, for, whether my own
days move in trouble or in joy, there is ever
the thought with me of one who is dying
yonder across the seas-dying in a land of
sun and bluest skies, where wine comes over-ready
to his hand. And my eyes grow thick with
tears as I recall the look of Royal Charlie
when he led us south, and remember how
310 UNDER THE WHITE COCKADE.
they broke his heart for good and all at
Derby.
Lost to himself and to the world is Charlie,
and wine hides him as deep as the kirkyard
mould could do. But love can find no word
of blame, for heart-break kills as surely as
the sword, though with a slower hand. And
some day, when men's lives stand plain to
read, it will be found that one man's heart,
whUe it was whole and fit for the batOes that
God sends to us, was full of courage, modesty
and faith. And even now, could the silver
cord be tightened once again, and our Prince
come to us with the old look in his eyes and
the sword-sheath swinging at his side, there
would be some of us who would recall our
failing strength. For love of Charlie is a thing
that, known once, can never in any way be
dimmed or tarnished.
Nell, dear. wife, I love you as it is given
to few men to love their wives. Yet, I
wonder, do you blame me that my heart is
aching now toward the Scottish glens, toward
the skirl of bagpipes cutting through the
mountain mists, toward a sad, heroic figure
who swings, the kilt above his bare brown
A LAST GLAD GALLOP. 3,,
knees, across my quiet pictures of content and
well-being ?
You'U not be jealous of him, NeU ? For
surely there is none like Royal Charlie, nor wiU
be again.
THE END.
p.«T.D ., ca..,u. » co.i;;:;;7in;;;i;n:
BiLtE Sauvaqi, Lonixjii.