Bonnie Prince Charlie : a tale of Fontenoy and Culloden

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BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

THE FOULSHAM
HENTY LIBRARY

The Bravest of the Brave

In the Heart of the Rockies

The Treasure of the Incas

In the Reign of Terror

With Clive in India

With Wolfe in Canada

When London Burned

By Conduct and Courage

Through Russian Snows

With Kitchener in the Sudan

Under Wellington's Command

With Lee in Virginia

One of the 28th

A Final Reckoning

Bonnie Prince Charlie

A Chapter of Adventures

By Pike and Dyke

St. Bartholomew's Eve

The Young Franc-Tireurs

Won By the Sword

Redskin and Cowboy

In the Irish Brigade

No Surrender

The Blade passed through the body of his adversary

THE FOULSHAM HENTY LIBRARY

BONNIE
PRINCE CHARLIE

A Tale of Fontenoy and Gulloden

by
G. A. HENTY

LONDON

W. FOULSHAM & CO. LTD.

NEW YORK • TORONTO • GAPE TOWN • SYDNEY

This book has been carefully edited and

slightly abridged to meet the reading tastes

qf the Modern Boy

MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN

by C. Tinting & Co. Lid.
Liverpool, London and Prescot

library

CONTENTS

Library

P/?

CHAPTER

I. THE RETURN OF A PRODIGAL

n. THE JACOBITE AGENT .

in. ESCAPE

IV. OLD COMRADES

V. THE CONVENT OF OUR LADY

VI. THE RENDEZVOUS

VII. FONTENOY .

Vni. A PERILOUS JOURNEY .

IX. THE END OF THE QUARREL

X. PRINCE CHARLES

XI. PRESTONPANS

Xn. A MISSION .

Xni. THE MARCH TO DERBY

XIV. THE PLOT THAT FAILED

XV. CULLODEN .

XVI. FUGITIVES .

XVII. HAPPY DAYS.

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CHAPTER I

»

THE RETURN OF A PRODIGAL

It was a dull evening in the month of September, 1 728.
The apprentices had closed and barred the shutters and
the day's work was over. Supper was laid in the long room
over the shop, the viands were on the table, and round it
were standing Bailie Anderson and his wife, his foreman
John Gillespie, and his two apprentices. The latter
were furtively eyeing the eatables, and wondering how
much longer the grace which their master was delivering
would be. Suddenly there was a knock on the door
below. No one stirred until the bailie had finished his
grace, before which time the knock had been twice
repeated.

"Elspeth, woman," the bailie said when he had brought
the grace to an end, "go down below and see who knocks
so impatiently; look through the grille before you open
the door; these are not times when one opens to the first
stranger who knocks."

The old servant who had been standing behind her
mistress, went down stairs. The door was opened, and they
heard an exclamation of surprise at the answer to her
question, "Who is it that's knocking as if the house
belonged to him?"

Those gathered upstairs heard the bolts withdrawn.
There was a confused sound of talking and then a heavy
step was heard ascending the stairs, and without intro-
duction a tall man, wrapped in a cloak and carrying a
child of some two years old, strode into the room. He
threw his hat on to a settie and advanced straight towards

8 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

the bailie, who looked in surprise at this unceremonious
entry.

"Don't you know me, Andrew?"

"Heaven preserve us," the bailie exclaimed, "why it's
Malcolm!"

"Malcolm himself," the visitor repeated, "sound in wind
and limb."

"The Lord be praised!" the bailie exclaimed as he
grasped the other's hand and wrung it warmly. "I had
thought you dead years and years ago. Janet, this is my
brother Malcolm of whom you have often heard me
speak."

"And of whom you can have heard little good, mistress,
if my brother has spoken the truth concerning me. I
was ever a ne'er-do-well, while Andrew struck hard and
fast to our father's trade."

"My husband has ever spoken with affection of you,"
Janet Anderson said. "The bailie is not given to speak
ill of any, much less of his own flesh and blood."

"And now sit down, Malcolm. Supper is waiting, and
you are, I doubt not, ready for it. When you have done
you shall tell me what you have been doing for the last
fifteen years, and how it comes that you thus suddenly
come back among us with your boy."

"He is no boy of mine," Malcolm said; "but I will tell
you all about it presently. First let me lay him down on
that settle, for the poor little chap is fast asleep and dead
tired out. Elspeth, roll up my cloak and make a pillow
for him. That's right, he will do nicely now. You are
changed less than any of us, Elspeth. Just as hard to look
at, and, I doubt not, just as soft at heart as you used to
be when you tried to shield me when I got into scrapes.
And now to supper."

Little was said during the meal. Fortunately the table
was bounteously spread, for the new-comer's appetite

THE RETURN OF A PRODIGAL 9

was prodigious; but at last he was satisfied. Supper over,
John and the apprentices retired. Elspeth went off to
prepare the guest's chamber and to make a Uttle bed for
the child. Malcolm began his story.

"You know, Andrew, that when I saw you last — just
when the troubles in '15 began — inspiteof all your warn-
ings to the contrary, I must needs throw myself into the
thick of them. You, like a wise man, stuck to your shop,
and here you are now a bailie of Glasgow; while I, who
have been wandering over the face of the earth fighting
for the cause of France and risking my life a thousand
times in a matter which concerned me in no way, have
returned just as penniless as I set out.

"The last time I saw you was just as I was starting
with a score of others to make our way to join the Earl
of Mar's army at Perth. I have seen many an army
since, but never did I see sixteen thousand finer fighting
men than were there assembled. There were enough men
there to have done anything had they been properly armed
and led; but though arms and ammunition had been
promised from France, none came, and the Earl of Mar
had so little decision that he would have wrecked the
finest army that every marched.

"The army lay doing nothing for weeks, and just before
we were expecting a movement, the company I belonged
to was sent with a force of Highlanders under Mackintosh
to join the army under the Lords Derwentwater, Kenmure,
and Nithsdale. Lord Derwentwater had risen with a
number of other gentlemen, and with their attendants and
friends had marched against Newcastle. They had done
nothing there but remained idle near Hexham till, joined
by a force raised in the Lowlands of Scotiand, the united
army marched north again to Kelso, where we joined
them.

"We Scots soon saw that we had gained nothing by

lO BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

the change of commanders. Lord Derwentwater was a
brave man but ignorant of military affairs, and he was
greatly swayed by a Mr. Forster, who was somehow at the
head of the business, and who was not only incompetent,
but proved to be a coward, if not, as most folks beheved,
a traitor. So dissension soon broke out, and four hundred
Highlanders marched away north. After a long delay it
was resolved to move south, where, it was said, we should
be joined by great numbers in Lancashire. We crossed the
border and marched down through Penrith, Appleby, and
Kendal to Lancaster, and then on to Preston.

"I was little more than a lad, Andrew, but even to me
it seemed madness thus to march into England with only
two thousand men. Of these twelve hundred were foot,
commanded by Brigadier Mackintosh; the others were
horse. There were two troops of Stanhope's dragoons
quartered in Preston, but these retired when we neared
the town, and we entered without opposition. Next
day, which was, I remember, the loth of November,
the Chevalier was proclaimed king, and some country
gentlemen with their tenants came in and joined us.

"Preston was a strong natural position; an enemy
coming from the south could only reach it by crossing
a narrow bridge over the river Ribble, and from the bridge
to the town the road was so narrow that in several places
two men could not ride abreast. It ran between two high
and steep banks, and it was here that Cromwell was nearly
killed when he attacked Charles's troops. All these places,
where we might certainly have defended ourselves, were
neglected, and we were all kept in the town, where we
formed four main posts. One was in the churchyard, and
this was commanded by Brigadier Mackintosh.

"Two days after we reached the town we heard that
General Wilde was approaching. Colonel Farquharson
was sent forward to hold the bridge and the pass; but Mr.

THE RETURN OF A PRODIGAL II

Forster, who went out on horseback, no sooner saw the
enemy approaching than he gave orders to Farqnharson
and his men to retreat to the town. After that everything
was confusion; the Highlanders came back into the town
furious and disheartened. The garrison prepared to receive
the enemy.

"I was at the post commanded by Brigadier Mackintosh.
I had joined a company commanded by Leslie of Glen-
lyon, who had brought with him some twenty men, and
had made up his company with men who, Uke myself,
came up without a leader. Presently the English attacked
us. We beat them back handsomely, and Derwentwater
with his cavalry charged their dragoons so fiercely that
he drove them off out of the town. It wzis late in the after-
noon when the fight began, and all night the struggle went
on. We knew that it was a hopeless fight we were making,
but we held our own till the news came that Forster had
agreed to capitulate. The end showed that he knew what
he w£is about, for while all the brave young noblemen
were either executed or punished in other ways, Forster,
who had been the leading spirit who had persuaded them
to rise, was after a short imprisonment suffered to go
free.

"Many of us were wounded more or less. I had got
a slice on the shoulder from a dragoon's sword. This I
gained when rushing out to rescue Leslie, who had been
knocked down, and would have been slain by three
dragoons had I not stood over him till some more of our
men rushed out and carried him in. He was not badly
hurt, the sword having turned £is it cut through his bonnet.
My action won his regard, and from that time until a
month since we have never been separated.

"Under a strong escort of soldiers we were marched
south. When we reached Barnet we fell out as usual when
the march was over, and I went up to the door of a house

12 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

and asked a woman for a drink of water. She brought me
some, and while I drank she said:

" 'We are Catholics and well-wishers of the Chevalier,
if you can manage to slip in here after it is dark we
will furnish you with a disguise, and will direct you to
friends who will pass you on until you can escape.'

*' 'Can you give me disguises for two?' I asked. 'I will
not go without my captain.'

*' 'Yes,' she said, 'for two, but no more.'

"I told Leslie what had happened, and after dark we
managed to steal away from our guards. The woman was
on the watch, and as soon as we neared the door she
opened it. Her husband was with her and received us
kindly. He at once furnished us with the attire of two
countrymen, and, letting us out by a back way, started
with us across the country.

"After walking twenty miles he brought us to the
house of another adherent of the Chevalier, where we
remained all day. So we were passed on until we reached
the coast, where we laid for some days until an arrange-
ment was made with the captain of a fishing-boat to take us
to France. So we got over without trouble.

"Long before that, as you know, the business had
virtually come to an end here. The Earl of Mar's army lay
week after week at Perth, till at last it met the enemy
under Argyle at Sheriffmuir.

"You know how that went. The Highland clans in
the right and centre carried all before them, and drove
the enemy from the field, but on the left they beat us
badly. So both parties claimed the victory. But, victory
or defeat, it was fatal to the cduse of the Chevalier. Half
the Highland clans went off to their homes that night,
and Mar had to fall back to Perth.

"Well, that was really the end of it. The Chevalier
landed, and for a while our hopes rose. He did nothing,

THE RETURN OF A PRODIGAL I3

and our hopes fell. At last he took ship and went away,
and the affair was over, except for the hangings and
slaughterings.

"LesUe, like most of the Scottish gentlemen who suc-
ceeded in reaching France, took service with the French
king, and, of course, I did the same. Leslie was a comet.
He was about my age; and you know I was but twenty
when Sheriffmuir was fought. He rose to be a colonel,
and would have given me a pair of colours over and over
again if I would have taken them; but I felt more com-
fortable among our troopers than I should have done
among the officers, so I remained Leslie's right hand.

"A braver soldier never swung a leg over saddle; but
he was always in some love affair or another. However,
some four years ago he got into an affair more serious
than any he had been in before, and this time he stuck to
it in right earnest. Unfortunately she was the only
daughter of the Marquis de Recambours, one of the
wealthiest and most powerful of French nobles, and there
was no more chance of his giving his consent to her
throwing herself away upon a Scottish soldier of fortune
than to her going into a nunnery; less, in fact. However,
she was as much in love with Leslie as he was with her,
and so they got secretly married. Two years ago this
child was born, but she managed somehow to keep it from
her father, who was all this time urging her to marry the
Duke de Chateaurouge.

"At last, as ill luck would have it, he shut her up in a
convent just a week before she had intended to fly with
LesUe to Germany, where he intended to take service
until her father came round. Leslie would have got her
out somehow; but his regiment was ordered to the frontier,
and it was eighteen months before we returned to Paris,
where the child had been in keeping with some people
with whom he had placed it. The very evening of his

14 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

return I was cleaning his arms when he rushed into the
room.

** 'All is discovered,' he said, 'here is my signet-ring,
go at once and get the child, and make your way with it
to Scotland; take all the money in the bureau, quick!'

"I heard feet approaching, and dashed to the bureau,
and transferred the bag of louis there to my pocket. An
official with two followers entered.

" 'Colonel Leshe,' he said, 'it is my duty to arrest you
by order of his gracious majesty;' and he held out an
order signed by the king.

"I went downstairs and saw the colonel enter a carriage
with the two officials, then I went straight to the major.
'Colonel Leslie has been arrested, sir, on what charge
I know not. He has intrusted a commission to me.
Therefore, if you find I am absent from parade in the
morning you will understand I am carrying out his
orders.'

"The major was thunderstruck at the news, but told me
to do as the colonel had ordered me. I mounted the
colonel's horse at once and rode to the house where
the child was in keeping. The people knew me well,
as I had often been there with messages from the colonel.
When I showed them the signet-ring, and told them
that I had orders to take the child to his father, they
made no opposition. I then went and purchased a suit
of civilian clothes, and returning to the house attired
myself in these, and taking the child on the saddle before
me, rode for the frontier.

"Following unfrequented roads, I passed the frontier
unmolested, and made my way to Ostend, where I took
passage for Leith. I arrived there two days ago, and have
walked here, with an occasional lift in a cart; and here I
am, brother Andrew, to ask you for hospitality for a while
for myself and Leslie's boy. I have a hundred louis, but

THE RETURN OF A PRODIGAL I5

these, of course, belong to the child. As for myself, I confess
I have nothing; saving has never been in my line."

"You are heartily welcome, Malcolm, as long as you
choose to stop; but I trust that ere long you will hear of
Colonel Leslie."

"I trust so," Malcolm said; "but if you knew the court
of France as well as I do you would not feel very sanguine
about it. Influence is everything, and as the nobleman
the marquis intended to be the husband of his daughter
is also a great personage at court and a friend of Louis's,
there is no saying how serious a matter they may make of
it. Men have been kept prisoners for Ufe for a far less
serious business than this."

"But supposing he is released, does he know where to
communicate with you?"

"I am afraid he doesn't," Malcolm said ruefully. "He
knows that I come from Glasgow, but that is all. Still,
when he is freed, no doubt he will come over himself to
look for his son, and I am sure to hear of his being here."

Malcolm only remained for a few weeks at his brother's
house. The restraint of life at the bailie's was too much
for him, and his rough conduct scandalized Andrew's
wife.

"Andrew," he said at length, "you are a good fellow,
though you are a bailie and an elder of the kirk, and I
thank you for the hearty welcome you have given me, and
for your invitation to stay for a long time with you; but
it will not do. Janet is a good woman and a kindly, but I
can see that I keep her perpetually on thorns. The ways
of your house would soon be as intolerable to me as my
ways are to your good wife, and therefore it is better by
far that, while we are still good friends I should get out of
this. I met an old friend to-day, one of the lads who went
with me from Glasgow to join the Earl of Mar at Perth.
He i« well-to-do now, and trades in cattle, taking them in

l6 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

droves down to England. For the sake of old times he
has offered me employment, and methinks it will suit me
as well as any other."

"But you cannot surely be going as a drover, Malcolm!"

"Why not? I am only six-and-thirty yet, and am good
for another fifteen years of soldiering, and right gladly
would I go back if Leslie were again at the head of his
regiment, but I have been spoiled by him. He ever
treated me as a companion and a friend rather than as
a trooper in his regiment, and I should miss him sorely
did I enter any other service. Then, too, I would fain be
here to be ready to join him again if he sends for me or
comes, and I should wish to keep an eye always on his
boy. You will continue to take charge of him, won't you,
Andrew? There is the purse of a hundred louis, which
will, I should say, pay for any expense to which he may
put you for some years."

"As if I would take the bairn's money!" Andrew
exclaimed angrily, "what do you take me for, Malcolm?
Assuredly I will take the child. Janet and I have no
bairn of our own, and it's good for a house to have a child
in it. I look upon it as if it were yours, for it is like enough
you will never hear of its father again."

So Malcolm started upon his new occupation of driving
Highland cattle down into Lancashire. Once every two
or three months he came to Glasgow for a week or two
between his trips. In spite of Andrew's entreaties he
refused on these occasions to take up his abode with
him, but took a lodging not far off, coming in in the
evening for an hour to smoke a pipe with his brother, and
never failing of a morning to take the child for a long walk
with him, carrying him upon his shoulder, and keeping
up a steady talk with him in his native French, which he
was anxious that the boy should not forget, as at some
time or other he might again return to France.

THE JACOBITE AGENT I7

Some weeks after Malcolm's return to Scotland, he
wrote to Colonel Leslie, briefly giving his address at
Glasgow; but making no allusion to the child, as, if the
colonel were still in prison, the letter would be sure to
be opened by the authorities. He also wrote to the
major, giving him his address, and begging him to
communicate it to Colonel Leslie whenever he should
see him. No answer came to either of his letters.

Four years later Malcolm went over to Paris, and
made inquiries; but no one had heard anything of
Colonel LesUe from the day he had been arrested. The
regiment was away fighting in the Low Countries, and
the only thing Malcolm could do was to call upon the
people who had had charge of the child, to give them his
address in case the colonel should ever appear to inquire of
them. He found, however, the house tenanted by other
people, and he learned that the last occupants had left
years before. Malcolm returned to Glasgow with the
feehng that he had gained nothing by his journey.

CHAPTER II

THE JACOBITE AGENT

So twelve years passed. Ronald Leslie grew up a sturdy
lad, full of fun and mischief in spite of the sober atmosphere
of the bailie's house, and on his visits, Malcolm was, in
fact, delighted to find, that in spite of repression and
lectures, his young charge was growing up a lad of spirit.
No small portion of his time on each of his visits to
Glasgow Malcolm spent in training the boy in the use of
arms.
The lessons began as soon as Ronald was old enough to

l8 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

hold a light blade, and when he was fourteen Malcolm
secretly took him for further instruction to a fencing-
school kept by an old comrade of his.

Ronald was never tired of questioning Malcolm
Anderson as to the prisons in which, if still alive, his
father would be likely to be confined. He would ask as
to their appearance, the height of their walls, whether
they were moated or not, and whether other houses
abutted closely upon them. One day Malcolm asked him
the reason of these questions, and he replied, "Of course
I want to see how it will be possible to get my father
out."

Ronald worked hard at his school tasks the sooner to
be done with them, and above all devoted himself to
acquiring a mastery of the sword with a perseverance
and enthusiasm which quite surprised his instructor.

"I tell you, Malcolm, man," he said one day to his old
comrade, after Ronald had been for upwards of two
years his pupil, "it is a pleasure to teach him, so eager is
he to learn — so ready to work heart and soul to improve.
The boy's wrist is as strong as mine and his eye as quick.
I have long since taught him all I know, and it is
practice now, and not teaching, that we have every day.
But have you heard the rumours," he went on, "that
the young Chevalier is Ukely to follow the examples
of his father, thirty years back, and make a landing in
Scotland?"

"I have heard some such rumours," Malcolm repUed,
"though whether there be aught in them I know not.
I hope that if he does so he will at anyrate follow the
example of his father no further. As you know, I hold
to the Stuarts, but I must own they are but poor hands
at fighting. Charles the First ruined his cause; James
the Second threw away the crown of Ireland by galloping
away from the battle of the Boyne; the Chevalier showed

THE JACOBITE AGENT I9

here in '15 that he -was no leader of men; and unless this
lad is made of very different stuff to his forefathers he had
best stay in France."

"But if he should come, Malcolm, I suppose you will
join him? I am afraid I shall be fool enough to do so,
even with my fifty years on my head. And you?"

"I suppose I shall be a fool too," Malcolm said. "The
Stuarts are Scotch, you see, and with all their faults I
would rather a thousand times have a Scottish king than
these Germans who govern us from London. However,
nought may come of it; it may be but a rumour. It is a
card which Louis has threatened to play a score of times,
whenever he wishes to annoy England."

"But they tell me that there are agents travelling
about among the Highland clans, and that this time
something is really to be done."

"They have said so over and over again, and nothing
has come of it. For my part, I don't care which way it
goes. After the muddle that was made of it thirty years
ago it does not seem to me more likely that we shall get
rid of the Hanoverians now. Besides, the hangings and
slaughterings then, would, I should think, make the nobles
and the heads of clans think twice ere they risked every-
thing again."

"That is true, but when men's blood is up they do not
count the cost. If Prince Charles comes you will see there
will not be much hanging back whatever the consequences
may be. Well, you and I have not much to lose, except
our lives."

"That is true enough, old friend; and I would rather
die that way than any other."

At home Ronald heard nothing but expressions of

"loyalty to the crown. The mere fact that the Highlanders

espoused the cause of the Stuarts was sufficient in itself

to make the Lowlanders take the opposite side. The

20 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

religious feeling, which had always counted for so much
in the Lowlands, and had caused Scotland to side with
the Parliament against King Charles, had not lost its
force. The leanings of the Stuarts were, it was known,
still strongly in favour of the Catholic religion, and although
Prince Charles Edward was reported to be more Protestant
in feehngs than the rest of his race, this was not sufficient
to counterbalance the effect of the hereditary CathoHc
tendency. Otherwise there was no feeling of active
loyalty towards the reigning king in Scotland. The first
and second Georges had none of the attributes which
attract loyal affection. The first could with difficulty
speak the language of the people over whom he ruled.
Their feelings and sympathies were Hanoverian rather
than English, and all court favours were bestowed as
far as possible upon their countrymen. Their vices were
coarse, and the Hanoverian men and women they
gathered round them were hated by the English people.
Thus neither in England nor Scotland was there any
warm feeling of loyalty for the reigning house; and
though it was possible that but few would adventure
life and property in the cause of the Stuarts, it was
equally certain that outside the army there were still
fewer who would draw sword for the Hanoverian king.
Among the people of the Lowland cities of Scotland the
loyalty which existed was religious rather than civil, and
rested upon the fact that their forefathers had fought
against the Stuarts, while the Highlanders had always
supported their cause. Thus, although in the household
and in kirk Ronald had heard King George prayed for
regularly, he had heard no word concerning him cal-
culated to waken a boyish feeling of loyalty, still less of
enthusiasm. Upon the other hand he knew that his father
had fought and suffered for the Stuarts and was an exile
in their cause, and that the Hanoverians had handed over

(

THE JACOBITE AGENT 21

the estate of which he himself would now be the heir to
one of their adherents.

"It is no use talking of these matters to Andrew,"
Malcolm impressed upon him; "it would do no good.
When he was a young man he took the side of the
Hanoverians, and he won't change now; while, did
Mistress Janet guess that your heart was with the Stuarts,
she would say that I was ruining you, and should bring
you to a gallows."

"But they could not prevent my being with you,"
Ronald said indignantly. "My father gave me into your
charge, not into theirs."

"That's true enough, laddie; but it is they who have
cared for you and brought you up. When you are a man
you can no doubt go which way it pleases you; but till
then you owe your duty and respect to them. You are
getting on for sixteen now; another two years and we will
think about going to Paris together."

A short time after this conversation, as Ronald on his
return from college (for he was now entered at the
university) passed through the shop, the bailie was in
conversation with one of the city magistrates, and Ronald
caught the words:

"He is somewhere in the city. He came down from
the Highlands, where he has been going to and fro, two
days since. I have a warrant out against him, and the
constables are on the look-out. I hope to have him in
jail before to-night. These pestilent rogues are a curse to
the land, though I cannot think the clans would be fools
enough to rise again, even though Charles Stuart did
come."

Ronald went straight up to his room, and for a few
minutes sat in thought. The man of whom they spoke
was doubtless an emissary of Prince Charles, and his arrest
might have serious consequences. Who he was or what he

22 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

was like Ronald knew not; but he determined at anyrate
to endeavour to defeat the intentions of the magistrate
to lay hands on him. Accordingly a few minutes later,
while the magistrate was still talking with Andrew, he
again went out.

Ronald waited about outside the door till he left, and
then followed him at a short distance. The magistrate
spoke to several acquaintances on the way, and then
went to the council chamber. Waiting outside, Ronald
saw two or three of the magistrates enter. An hour later
the magistrate he was watching came out; but he had
gone but a few paces when a man hurrying up approached
him. They talked earnestly for a minute or two. The
magistrate then re-entered the building, remained there
a few minutes, and then joined the man who was waiting
outside. Ronald had stolen up and taken his stand close by.

"It is all arranged," the magistrate said; "as soon as
night has fallen a party will go down, surround the house,
and arrest him. It is better not to do it in daylight. I
shall lead the party, which will come round to my house,
so if the men you have left on watch bring you news
that he has changed his hiding-place, let me know at
once."

The magistrate walked on. Ronald stood irresolute.
He had obtained no clue as to the residence of the person
of whom they were in search, and after a moment's
thought he determined to keep an eye upon the constable,
who would most Ukely join his comrade on the watch.
This, however, he did not do immediately. He had
probably been for some time at work, and now took the
opportunity of going home for a meal, for he at once
made his way to a quiet part of the city, and entered a
small house.

It was half an hour before he came out again, and
Ronald fidgeted with impatience, for it was already

THE JACOBITE AGENT 23

growing dusk. When he issued out Ronald saw that he
was armed with a heavy cudgel. He walked quickly now,
and Ronald, following at a distance, passed nearly across
the town, and down a quiet street which terminated
against the old wall running from the Castle Port to a
small tower. When he got near the bottom of the street
a man came out from an archway, and the two spoke
together. From their gestures Ronald felt sure that it
was the last house on the left-hand side of the street that
was being watched. He had not ventured to follow far
down the street, for as there was no thoroughfare he
would at once be regarded with suspicion. The question
now was how to warn the man of his danger. He knew
several men were on the watch, and as only one was in
the street, doubtless the others were behind the house.

After a minute's thought he went quickly up the street,
and then started at a run, and then came down upon
a place where he could ascend the wall, which was at
many points in bad repair. With some difficulty he
climbed up, and found that he was exactly opposite the
house he wished to reach. It was dark now, but there was
still sufficient light to show Ronald that the house stood at
a distance of some fourteen feet from the wall. The roof
sloped too steeply for him to maintain his holding upon
it; but half-way along the house was a dormer-window
about three feet above the gutter which doubtless gave
Ught to a granary or store-room.

Ronald saw that his only chance was to alight on
the roof close enough to this window to be able to
grasp the woodwork. At any other moment he would
have hesitated before attempting such a leap. The wall
was only a few feet wide, and he could therefore get
but little run for a spring. His blood was up, however,
and he did not hesitate. Drawing back as far as he could
he took three steps, and then sprang for the window.

24 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

Its sill was some three feet higher than the edge of the
wall from which he sprang.

The leap was successful; his feet struck upon the gutter,
and the impetus threw forward his body, and his hands
grasped the woodwork of the window. In a moment
he had dragged himself inside. It was quite dark within
the room. He moved carefully, for the floor was piled
with disused furniture, boxes, sacking, and rubbish.
He was some time finding the door, but although he
moved as carefully as he could he knocked over a heavy
chest which was placed on a rickety chair, the two falling
with a crash on the floor. At last he found the door and
opened it. As he did so a light met his eyes, and he saw
ascending the stairs a man with a drawn sword, and a
woman holding a light above her head following closely.
The man uttered an exclamation on seeing Ronald appear.

"A thief!" he said. "Surrender, or I will run you
through at once."

"I am no thief," Ronald replied. "My name is Ronald
Leslie, and I am a student at the university. I have
come here to warn someone, whom I know not, in this
house that it is watched, and that in a few minutes
a band of the city watch will be here to capture him."

The man dropped the point of his sword, and taking
the light from the woman held it closer to Ronald's face.

"How came you here?" he asked. "How did you learn
this news?"

"The house is watched both sides below," Ronald said,
"and I leapt from the wall through the dormer-window.
I heard a magistrate arranging with one of the constables
for a capture, and gathered that he of whom they were
in search was a Jacobite, and as I come of a stock which
has always been faithful to the Stuarts, I hastened to
warn him."

The woman uttered a cry of alarm.

THE JACOBITE AGENT 25

*'I thank you with all my heart, young sir. I am he
for whom they are in search, and if I get free you will
render a service indeed to our cause; but there is no time
to talk now, if what you tell me be true. You say the
house is watched from both sides?"

"Yes; there are two men in the lane below, one or more,
I know not how many, behind."

"There is no escape behind," the man said; "the walls
are high, and other houses abut upon them. I will sally
out and fight through the men in front."

"I can handle the sword," Ronald put in; "and if you
will provide me with a weapon I will do my best by your
side."

"You are a brave lad," the man said, "and I accept
your aid."

He led the way down stairs and entered a room, took
down a sword from over the fireplace, and gave it to
Ronald.

As he took it in his hand there was a loud knocking at
the door.

"Too late!" the man exclaimed. "Quick, the fight,
Mary! at anyrate I must burn my papers."

He drew some letters from his pocket, let them at the
lamp, and threw them on the hearth; then opening a
cabinet he drew forth a number of other papers and
crumpfing them up added them to the blaze.

"Can you not escape by the way by which I came
hither?" Ronald said. "The distance is too great to leap;
but if you have got a plank, or can pull up a board from
the floor, you could put it across to the wall and make
your escape that way. I will try to hold the stairs till
you are away."

"I will try at least," the man said. "Mary, bring the
light, and aid me while our brave friend does his best to
give us time."

26 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

So saying he sprang upstairs, while Ronald made his
way down to the door.

"Who is making such a noise at the door of a quiet
house at this time of night?" he shouted.

"Open in the king's name," was the reply; "we have a
warrant to arrest one who is concealed here."

"There is no one concealed here," Ronald replied, "and
I doubt that you are, as you say, officers of the peace;
but if so, pass your warrant through the grill, and if it
be signed and in due form I will open to you."

"I will show my warrant when needs be," the voice
answered. "Once more, open the door or we will break
it in."

"Do it at your peril," Ronald replied. "How can
I tell you are not thieves who seek to ransack the house,
and that your warrant is a pretence. I warn you that the
first who enters I will run him through the body."

The reply was a shower of blows on the door, and a
similar attack was begun by a party behind the house.
The door was strong, and after a minute or two the
hammering ceased, and then there was a creaking,
straining noise, and Ronald knew they were applying a
crowbar to force it open. He retreated to a landing half-
way up the stairs, placed a lamp behind him so that it
would show its light full on the faces of those ascending the
stairs, and waited. A minute later there was a crash;
the lock had yielded, but the bar still held the door in
its place. Then the blows redoubled, mingled with the
crashing of wood; then there was the sound of a heavy
fall, and a body of men burst in.

There was a rush at the stairs, but the foremost halted
at the sight of Ronald with his drawn sword.

"Keep back," he shouted, "or beware! The watch will
be here in a few minutes, and then you will all be laid by
the heels."

THE JACOBITE AGENT 27

"Fool! we are the watch," one of the men exclaimed,
and, dashing up the stairs, aimed a blow at Ronald. He
guarded it and ran the man through the shoulder. He
dropped his sword and fell back with a curse.

At this moment the woman ran down stairs from above
and nodded to Ronald to signify that the fugitive had
escaped.

"You see I hold to my word," Ronald said in a loud
voice. "If ye be the watch, which I doubt, show me the
warrant, or if ye have one in authority with you let him
proclaim himself."

"Here is the warrant, and here am I, James M'Whirtle,
a magistrate of this city."

"Why did you not say so before?" Ronald exclaimed,
lowering his sword. "If it be truly the worshipful Mr.
M'Whirtle let him show himself, for surely I know him
well, having seen him often in the house of my guardian,
BaiUe Anderson."

Mr. M'Whirde, who had been keeping well in the rear,
now came forward.

"It is himself," Ronald said. "Why did you not say
you were here at once, Mr. M'Whirtle, instead of setting
your men to break down the door?"

"We bade you open in the king's name," the magistrate
said, "and you withstood us, and it will be a hanging
matter for you, for you have aided the king's enemies."

"The king's enemies!" Ronald said in a tone of surprise.
"How can there be any enemies of the king here, seeing
there are only myself and the good woman upstairs?
You will find no others."

"Search the house," the magistrate said furiously, "and
take this lad into custody."

Two of the watch remained as guard over Ronald; one
of the others searched the house from top to bottom. No
signs of the fugitive were discovered.

28 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

"He must be here somewhere," the magistrate said,
"since he was seen to enter, and the house has been closely
watched ever since. See, there are a pile of ashes on the
hearth as if papers had been recently burned. Sound the
floors and the walls."

The investigation was particularly sharp in the attic,
for a board was here found to be loose, and there were
signs of its being recently wrenched out of its place, but
as the room below was unceiled this discovery led to
nothing. At last the magistrate was convinced that the
fugitive was not concealed in the house, and, after placing
his seals on the doors of all the rooms and leaving four
men in charge, he left the place, Ronald, under the charge
of four men, accompanying him.

On the arrival at the city Tolbooth Ronald was thrust
into a cell and there left until morning. He was then
brought before Mr. M'Whirtle and two other of the city
magistrates. Andrew Anderson was in attendance, having
been notified the night before of what had befallen Ronald.
The bailie and his wife had at first been unable to credit
the news, and were convinced that some mistake had been
made.

The woman found in the house had also been brought
up, but no precise charge had been made against her. The
court was crowded, for Andrew, in his wrath at being
unable to obtain Ronald's release, had not been backward
in publishing his grievance, and many of his neighbours
were present to hear this strange charge against Ronald
Leslie.

The wounded constable and another first gave their
evidence.

"I myself can confirm what has been said," Mr.
M'Whirtle remarked, "seeing that I was present with the
watch to see to the arrest of a person against whom a
warrant had been issued."

THE JACOBITE AGENT 29

"Who is that person?" Ronald asked. "Seeing that
I am charged with aiding and abetting his escape it
seems to me that I have a right to know who he is."

The magistrates looked astounded at the effrontery of
the question, but after a moment's consultation together
Mr. M'Whirtle said that in the interest of justice it was
unadvisable at the present moment to state the name of
the person concerned.

"What have you to say, prisoner, to the charge made
against you?"

"I have nothing to say," Ronald replied quietly. "Being
in the house when it was attacked, with as much noise
as if a band of Border ruffians were at the gate, I stood
on the defence. I demanded to see what warrant they
had for forcing an entry, and as they would show me
none, I did my best to protect the house; but the moment
Mr. M'Whirtle proclaimed who he was I lowered my
sword and gave them passage."

There was a smile in the court at the boy's coolness.

"But how came ye there, young sir? How came ye
to be in the house at all, if ye were there for a good
motive?"

"I have no objection th tell you how I came there,"
Ronald said. "I was walking on the old wall, which, as
you know, runs close by the house, when I saw an ill-
looking loon hiding himself as if watching the house;
looking behind I saw another ruffianly-looking man
there." Two gasps of indignation were heard from the
porch at the back of the court. "Thinking that there
was .mischief on hand I leapt from the wall to the dormer-
window to warn the people of the house that there were
ill-doers who had designs upon the place, and then
remained to see what came of it. That is the simple fact."

There was an exclamation of incredulity from the
magistrates.

30 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

"If you doubt me," Ronald said, "you can send a man
to the wall. I felt my feet loosen a tile and it slid down
into the gutter."

One of the magistrates gave an order, and two of the
watch left the court.

"And who did you find in the house?"

"I found this good woman, and sorely frightened she
was when I told her what kind of folk were lurking out-
side."

"And was there anyone else there?"

"There was a man there," Ronald said quietly, "and
he seemed alarmed too."

"What became of him?"

"I cannot say for certain," Ronald replied; "but if you
ask my opinion I should say, that having no stomach for
meeting the people outside, he just went out the way
I came in, especially as I heard the worshipful magistrate
say that a board in the attic had been lifted."

The magistrates looked at each other in astonishment;
the mode of escape had not occurred to any, and the
disappearance of the fugitive was now explained.

"I never heard such a tale," one of the magistrates
said after a pause. "It passes belief that a lad, belonging
to the family of a worthy and respectable citizen, should
take a desperate leap from the wall through a window
of a house where a traitor was in hiding, warn him
that the house was watched, and give him time to escape
while he defended the stairs. Such a tale, sure, was never
told in a court. What say you, bailie?"

"I can say nought," Andrew said. "The boy is a good
boy and a quiet one; given to mischief like other boys of
his age, but always amenable. What can have possessed
him to behave in such a wild manner I cannot conceive,
but it seems to me that it was but a boy's freak."

"It was no freak when he ran his sword through Peter

THE JACOBITE AGENT 3I

Muir's shoulder," Mr. M'Whirtle said. "Ye will allow
that, neighbour Anderson."

"The man must have run against the sword," the bailie
said, "seeing the boy scarce knows one end of a weapon
from another."

"You are wrong there, bailie," one of the constables
said; "for I have seen him many a time going into the
school of James Macklewain, and I have heard say that
the lad can handle a sword with the best of them."

"I will admit at once," Ronald said, "that I have gone
to Macklewain's school and learned fencing of him. My
father, Colonel Leslie of Glenlyon, was a gentleman,
and it was right that I should know how to wield a
sword. I may say that my guardian knew nothing of
this."

"No, indeed," Andrew said. "I never so much as
dreamt of it."

"Leslie of Glenlyon was concerned in the '15, was he
not?" Mr. M'Whirtle said; "and had to fly the country;
and his son seems to be treading in his steps, bailie. I
doubt ye have been nourishing a viper in your bosom."

At this moment the two constables returned, and
reported that certainly a tile was loose as the prisoner had
described, and there were scratches as if of the feet of
someone entering the window, but the leap was one that
very few men would undertake.

"Your story is so far confirmed, prisoner; but it does
not seem to us that even had you seen two men watching
a house it would be reasonable that you would risk your
neck in this way without cause. Clearly you have aided
and abetted a traitor to escape justice, and you will be
remanded. I hope, before you are brought before us again,
you will make up your mind to make a clean breast of
it, and throw yourself on the king's mercy."

Ronald was accordingly led back to the cell.

32 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

CHAPTER III

ESCAPE

After Ronald had been removed from the court the
woman was questioned. She asserted that her master was
away, and was, she beheved, in France, and that in his
absence she often let lodgings to strangers. Two days
before, a man whom she knew not came and hired a
room for a few days. She supposed he was a thief flying
from justice, but was afraid to refuse to do his bidding.

No cross-questioning could elicit anything further from
the woman, and the magistrate at last ordered her to
return to the house and remain there under the supervision
of the constable until again sent for.

Andrew Anderson returned home sorely disturbed in
his mind.

"The boy's story may be true as far as it goes," he
said to his wife when relating to her the circumstances,
"for I have never known him to tell a lie; but I cannot
think it was all the truth. Janet, I fear that you and I
have been like two blind owls with regard to the boy, and
I dread sorely that my brother Malcolm is at the bottom
of all this mischief."

This Mrs. Anderson was ready enough to credit, but
she was too much bewildered and horrified to do more
than to shake her head and weep.

"But what is to be done, Andrew? We cannot let the
poor lad remain in prison."

"We have no choice in the matter, Janet. I should not
be surprised if an order comes for him to be sent to London
to be examined by the king's councillors; but I will go

ESCAPE 33

round now and ask the justices what they think of the
matter."

His tidings when he returned were not encouraging;
the general opinion of the magistrates being that Ronald
was certainly mixed up in the Jacobite plot, and that
nothing could be done until instructions were received
from London.

Malcolm arrived ten days later from a journey in
Lancashire, and there was a serious quarrel between him
and Andrew on his presenting himself at the house.

"It is not only that you led the lad into mischief,
Malcolm, but that you also taught him to do it behind my
back."

"You may look at it that way if you will, Andrew,
and it's natural enough from your point of view; but I
could not forget that he was the son of my old friend and
colonel, Leslie of Glenlyon, and I do not blame myself
that I have kept the same alive in his mind also."

Malcolm proceeded at once to the establishment of his
friend Macklewain.

"This is a nice kettle of fish, Malcolm, about young
Leslie. I have had the justices down here, asking me all
sorts of questions, and they have got into their minds
that I taught him not only sword-play but treason. But
what on earth made the young cock meddle in this
matter? How came he to be mixed up in a Jacobite plot?
Have you got your finger in it?"

"Not I, James; and how it happens that he is concerned
in it is more than I can guess. I know, of course, his heart
is with the king over the water; but how he came to get
his hand into the pie is altogether beyond me."

"And what do you think of doing, Malcolm?"

"I shall get him out somehow. I can lay hands on
a score or two or more of our old comrades here in
Glasgow, and I doubt not that they will all strike a blow

34 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

with me for Leslie's son, to say nothing of his being a
follower of the Stuarts."

"You are not thinking, man, of attacking the jail!"

"No, no, James, I am thinking of no such foolishness.
I guess that they will not be trying him for withstanding
the watch, that's but a small matter; they will be sending
him south for the king's ministers to get out of him
what he knows about the Jacobite plot and the names of
all concerned, and it's upon the road that we must get
him out of their hands."

"It's more like, Malcolm, they will send him by ship.
They will know well enough that if the lad knows aught
there will be plenty whose interest it is to get him out
of their hands."

"Like enough they will," Malcolm agreed, "and in
that case it will be a harder job than I deemed it. What
we have got to do now is to mark every ship in the port
saiUng for London, and to find out whether passages are
taken for a prisoner and his guard in any of them. I will
make that my business, and between times get a score of
trusty fellows together in readiness to start if they should
send him by land; but I doubt not that you are right, and
that he will be taken off by ship."

The days of waiting passed slowly to Ronald, and
Andrew Anderson once or twice obtained permission to
see him. The bailie wisely abstained from any reproaches,
and sought only to persuade him to make a clean breast
of the business, and to tell all he knew about a plot
which could but end in failure and ruin to all concerned.

"I have really told you all, bailie, though you will not
believe me. Anyhow I wish they would settle it. I would
rather know the worst than go on from day to day ex-
pecting something that never happens."

"You have to wait, Ronald, till word comes from
London. If they write from there that your case can

ESCAPE 35

be dealt with merely for the assault upon the watch
I can promise you that a few weeks in jail are all that
you are like to have; but I fear there is little chance
of that. They are sure to send for you in London, and
whether you will ever come back alive the gude Lord
only knows."

A few days afterwards, as he was eating his ration
of prison bread, Ronald found in it a small pellet of paper,
and on opening it read the words: "Keep up your
courage, friends are at work for you. You will hear more
yet of M. A."

Three days later Andrew called again to bid him good-
bye, telling him that orders had been received from
London that he was to be sent thither by ship.

"I should like to have seen Malcolm before I went, if
I could," Ronald said. "Will you tell him, when you see
him next Ihat I got his message."

"What message? I have given you no message that I
know of."

"He will know what I mean."

Ronald was taken down to the river side under a
strong escort, and locked in the cabin under the poop.
Once fairly at sea, however, Ronald was allowed to leave
his cabin, and he thoroughly enjoyed his voyage. The
wind was favourable until the vessel rounded the Land's
End. After that it became baffling and fickle, and it was
more than three weeks after the date of her sailing from
Glasgow that the vessel entered the mouth of the Thames.

As the vessel anchored off Gravesend to wait for the
turn of the tide to take her up, a boat rowed by a water-
man, and with a man sitting in the stern, passed close by
the ship. As the boat passed some twenty yards astern of
the ship the man who was not rowing turned round for a
moment and looked up at Ronald. It was but a momentary
glance that the lad caught of his face, and he suppressed

36 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

with difficulty a cry of surprise, for he recognized Malcolm
Anderson. The rower continued steadily to ply his oars,
and continued his course towards another ship anchored
lower down the river. Ronald stood watching the boat,
and saw that after making a wide sweep it was rowed back
again to Gravesend.

As the captain did not care about proceeding up the
river after dark it was not until the tide turned, just as
morning broke, that the anchor was weighed. There was
a light breeze which just sufficed to give the vessel steer-
age-way, and a mist hung on the water. Ronald took
his favourite seat on the taffi-ail, and kept a vigilant
watch upon every craft which seemed likely to come near
the vessel.

Greenwich was passed, and the vessel presently ap-
proached the crowded part of the Pool. It was near high-
tide now, and the captain was congratulating himself that
he should just reach a berth opposite the Tower before it
turned. Presently a boat with two rowers shot out from
behind a tier of vessels and passed close under the stern
of the Glasgow Lass. A man was steering whom Ronald
instantly recognized.

"Jump!" he cried, and Ronald without a moment's
hesitation leaped from the taffrail.

He came up close to the boat, and was instantly hauled
on board by Malcolm. Just at that moment the guard,
who had stood stupefied by Ronald's sudden action, gave
a shout of alarm and discharged his piece. The ball
struck the boat close to Ronald. It was already in motion;
the men bent to their oars, and the boat glided towards
the Surrey side of the river. Loud shouts arose from on
board the vessel, and four bullets cut the water round the
boat; but before the muskets could be reloaded Malcolm
had steered the boat through a tier of vessels.

A minute later they had reached some landing-steps.

ESCAPE 37

Malcolm tossed some money to the rowers, and then
sprang ashore with Ronald, and handed the latter a long
coat which would reach to his heels and conceal the
drenched state of his clothing from notice. Moderating
his pace so as to avoid attracting attention, Malcolm
proceeded along several streets and lanes, and presently
stopped at the door of a little shop.

"I am lodging here," he said, "and have told the people
of the house that I am expecting a nephew back from a
cruise in the Mediterranean."

As he passed through the shop he said to the woman
behind the counter:

"Here he is safe and sound. He's been some days
longer than I expected, but I was not so very far wrong
in my calculations. The young scamp has had enough
of the sea, and has agreed to go back again with me to
his own people."

When they were together in their room upstairs
Malcolm threw his arms round Ronald's neck.

"Thank God I have got you out of the clutches of the
law! And now tell me how you got into this scrape, for
it has been puzzling me ever since I heard it. Surely when
I saw you last you knew nothing about any Jacobite
goings-on?"

Ronald related the whole particulars of his adventure,
and said that even now he was absolutely ignorant who
was the man whom he had aided to escape.

"And now what do you intend to do?" he asked.
"Make our way back to Scotland?"

"No, no, lad, that would never do. There will be a
hue and cry for you, and all the northern routes will
be watched. No, I shall make a bargain with some Dutch
skipper to take us across the water, and then we will
make our way to Paris."

A week later Malcolm told Ronald that he had made

38 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

arrangements with the captain of a Dutch vessel to take
them over to Holland, and they sailed the next day.
When they arrived in Holland they set off for Paris on
foot.

Ronald greatly enjoyed the journey. It was now the
middle of May, all nature was bright and cheerful, and
everything else was new and strange to him. Malcolm
spoke French as fluently as his own language, and they
had therefore no difficulty or trouble on the way.

They arrived in Paris without any adventure. Malcolm
went to an inn which had at the time when he was in
the French service been much frequented by Scotch
soldiers, being kept by a countryman of their own, an
ex-sergeant in one of the Scottish regiments.

"Ah! Sandy Macgregor," Malcolm exclaimed as the
proprietor of the place approached to take their order.
*'So you are still in the flesh, man! Right glad am I to
see you again."

"I know your face," Sandy replied; "but I canna just
say what your name might be."

"Malcolm Anderson, of Leslie's Scotch regiment. It's
fourteen years since I left them now; but I was here
again four years later, if you can remember, when I came
over to try and find if aught had been heard of the
colonel."

"Ay, ay," Sandy said, grasping Malcolm's outstretched
hand warmly. "It all comes back to me now. Right glad
am I to see you. And who is the lad ye have brought with
you?"

"He is the colonel's son, Sandy. You will remember
I told you I had carried him back to Scotland with me;
but I need not tell ye that this is betwixt ourselves,
for those who have so badly treated his father might well
have a grudge against the son, and all the more that he
is the rightful heir to many a broad acre here in France.

ESCAPE 39

"I give you a hearty welcome, young sir," Sandy said.
"Many a time I have seen your brave father riding at
the head of his regiment, and have spoken to him too, for
he and his officers would drop in here and crack a cup
together. But what Malcolm said is true, and it were best
that none knew who ye are, for they have an unco quick
way here of putting inconvenient people out of the way."

"Have you ever heard aught of my father since?"
Ronald asked eagerly.

"Not a word," Sandy replied. "I have heard it talked
over scores of times by men who were in the regiment
that was once his, and none doubted that if he were still
aUve he was lying in the Bastille, or Vincennes, or one of
the other cages where they keep those whose presence the
king or his favourites find inconvenient."

"You have never heard whether my mother had married
again?" Ronald asked.

"I have never heard her name mentioned. Her father
is still at court, but his daughter has never been seen
since, or I should have heard of it."

"That gives me hopes that my father is still alive,"
Ronald said. "Had he been dead they might have forced
her into some other marriage,"

"There are rumours in Scotland that King Louis is
helping Prince Charlie, and that an army is soon going
to sail for Scotland," said Malcolm.

"It is talked of here, but so far nothing is settled; but
as King George is interfering in Louis's affairs, and is
fighting him in Germany, I think it more than likely
that King Louis is going to stir up a coil in Scotland to
give George something to do at home."

"Then if there's nothing to be done here I shall find
out the old regiment. There will be many officers in it
still who have fought under Leslie, and some of them may
know more about him than you do."

40 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

"That may well be so; but keep a quiet tongue,
Malcolm, as to Leslie's son, save to those on whose
discretion you can rely."

"I will be careful, Sandy, and silent. The first thing
is to find out where the old regiment is lying."

"That I can tell you at once. It is on the fi-ontier
with the Due de Noailles, and they say that there is like
to be a great battle with English George and his army."

"Well, we will find them," Malcolm said."

They set out the next morning.

CHAPTER IV
OLD COMRADES

After walking two or three miles Malcolm and Ronald
came upon the rear of a train of waggons which had left
Paris an hour earlier. Entering into conversation with
one of the drivers they found that the convoy was bound
for the frontier with ammunition and supplies for the
army.

"This is fortunate," Malcolm said. "It is hard if among
the soldiers with the convoy I do not know someone who
has friends in the old regiment. At anyrate we can offer
to make ourselves useful in case of any of the drivers
falling ill or deserting by the way."

As they walked along towards the head of the long
line of waggons Malcolm closely scrutinized the troopers
who formed the escort, but most of them were young
soldiers, and he therefore went on without accosting them
until he reached the head of the column. Here two
officers were riding together, a captain and a young
lieutenant. Malcolm saluted the former.

OLD COMRADES 4I

"I am an old soldier of the 2nd Regiment of Scottish
Cavalry, and am going with my young friend here, who
has relations in the regiment, to join them. Will you
permit us, sir, to journey with your convoy? We are
ready to make ourselves useful in case any of your drivers
are missing, no uncommon thing, as I know, on a long
journey."

The officer asked a few questions about his services,
and said:

"What have you been doing since you left, as you say,
fourteen years ago?"

"I have been in Scotland, sir. I took this lad, who
was then an infant, home to my people, having had
enough of soldiering, while my brother, his father, re-
mained with the regiment. We do not know whether he
is alive or dead, but if the former the lad wants to join
as a trumpeter, and when old enough to fight in the
ranks."

"Very well," the officer said. "You can march along
with us, and if any of these fellows desert you shall take
their places, and of course draw their pay."

It was a short time indeed before Malcolm's services
were called into requisition, for the very first night
several of the drivers, who had been pressed into the
service, managed to elude the vigilance of the guard and
sUpped away.

The next morning Malcolm, with Ronald as his
assistant, took charge of one of the heavy waggons,
loaded with ammunition, and drawn by twelve horses.

Ronald enjoyed the next three weeks greatly as the
train of waggons made its way across the plains of
Champagne, and then on through the valleys of Lorraine
and Alsace until it reached Strasbourg. Little was known
as to the position of the contending armies beyond the
fact that Lord Stair, who commanded the English army,

42 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

had marched down with his Hanoverian allies towards
the Maine, and that the Due de Noailles was lying beyond
the Rhine. But at Strasbourg they learned that the French
army had marched north to give battle to Lord Stair.

The convoy continued its journey, pushing forward
with all speed, and on the 26th of July joined the army
of De Noailles. The French were on the south side of
the river, but having arrived on its banks before the
English they had possession of the bridges. As soon as
the waggons had joined the army Malcolm obtained from
the officer commanding the escort a discharge, saying
that he and Ronald had fulfilled their engagement as
drivers with the waggons to the front, and were now at
Uberty to return to France.

"Now we are our own master again, Ronald," Malcolm
said. "I have taken part in a good many battles, but
have never yet had the opportunity of looking on at
one comfortably. De Noailles should lose no time in
attacking, so as to destroy the English before they receive
their reinforcements. As he holds the bridges he can
bring on the battle when he likes, and I think that to-
morrow or the next day the fight will take place."

It was known in the camp that evening that the
English had established their chief magazines at Hanau,
and were marching up the river towards Aschaffenburg.
In the early morning a portion of the French troops crossed
the river at that town, and took up a strong position there.
Ronald and Malcolm climbed a hill looking down upon
the river from the south side, and thence commanded the
view of the ground across which the English were march-
ing. On the eastern side of the river spurs of the Spessart
Mountains came close down to its bank, inclosing a
narrow flat between Aschaffenburg and Dettingen. At
the latter place the heights approached so closely to the
river as to render it difficult for an army to pass between

OLD COMRADES 43

them. While posting a strong force at Aschaffenburg to
hold the passage across a stream running into the Maine
there, De Noailles marched his main force down the river;
these movements were hidden by the nature of the ground
from the English, who were advancing unconscious of
their danger towards Dettingen.

*'De Noailles will have them in a trap," Malcolm said,
for from their position on the hill they could see the
whole ground on the further bank, Hanau lying some
seven miles beyond Dettingen, which was itself less than
seven miles from Ascheffenburg.

"I am afraid so," Ronald said.

"Afraid!" Malcolm repeated. "Why, you should
rejoice, Ronald."

"I can't do that," Ronald replied. "I should Uke to
see the Stuarts instead of the Hanoverians reigning over
us; but after all, Malcolm, England and Scotland are one
nation."

"But there are Scotch regiments with the French army,
and a brigade of Irish."

"That may be," Ronald said. "Scotchmen who have
got into political trouble at home may enter the service
of France, and may fight heartily against the Germans
or the Flemings, or other enemies of France; but I know
that I should feel very reluctant to fight against the
English army, except, of course, at home for the Stuarts."

"It will benefit the Stuarts' cause if the EngHsh are
defeated here," Malcolm said.

"That may be or it may not," Ronald repUed. "You
yourself told me that Louis cared nothing for the Stuarts,
and would only aid them in order to cripple the English
strength at home. Therefore, if he destroys the English
army here he will have less cause to fear England and so
less motive for helping the Chevalier."

"That is true enough," Malcolm agreed. "You are

44 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

fast becoming a politician, Ronald. Well, I will look
on as a neutral then, because, although the English
are certainly more nearly my countrymen than are the
French, you must remember that for twelve years I
fought under the French flag. However, there can be no
doubt what is going to take place. See, the dark mass of
the English army are passing through the defile of
Dettingen, and the French have begun to cross at Seligen-
stadt in their rear. See, they are throwing three or four
bridges across the river there."

In utter ignorance of their danger the English marched
on along the narrow plain by the river bank towards
Aschaffenburg.

"Look at their cavalry scouting ahead of them,"
Malcolm said. "There, the French are opening fire!"
And as he spoke puffs of musketry rose up from the line
of the stream held by the French.

The English cavalry galloped back, but the columns of
infantry still advanced until within half a mile of the
French position, and were there halted, while some guns
from the French lines opened fire. The bridges at Seligen-
stadt were now completed, and masses of troops could be
seen pouring over. King George and the Duke of Cum-
berland had joined the Earl of Stair just as the army
passed through Dettingen, and were riding at the head of
the column when the French fire opened. A short time
was spent in reconnoitring the position of the enemy in
front. The English believed that the entire French army
was there opposed to them, and that the advance of the
army into Franconia, which was its main objective, was
therefore barred. After a short consultation it was resolved
to fall back at once upon the magazines at Hanau,
which, from their ignorance of the near proximity of the
French, had been left but weakly guarded. Believing
that as they fell back they would be hotly pursued by

OLD COMRADES 45

the French army, the king took the command of the rear
as the post of danger, and the columns, facing about,
marched towards Dettingen.

But the French had been beforehand with them. De
Noailles had sent 23,000 men under his nephew the Duke
de Grammont across the river to occupy Dettingen. He
himself with his main army remained on the south side,
with his artillery placed so as to fire across the river upon
the flank of the EngUsh as they approached Dettingen;
while he could march up and cross at Aschaffenburg
should the English, after being beaten back at Dettingen,
try to retreat up the river.

De Grammont's position was a very strong one behind
a swamp and a deep ravine hollowed out by a stream
from the hill. There seemed no possibility of escape for
the English army, who were as yet absolutely in ignorance
of the position of the French. As the head of the column
approached Dettingen, Grammont's artillery opened upon
them in front, while that of De Noailles smote them in
flank. As soon as the king found that his retreat was
cut off" he galloped from the rear of the column to its
head. His horse, alarmed by the fire of the artillery and
whisthng of balls, ran away with him, and was with
difficulty stopped just as he reached the head of the
column. He at once dismounted and announced his
intention of leading his troops on foot.

There was a hasty council held between him. Lord
Stair, and the Duke of Cumberland, and it was agreed
that the only escape from entire destruction was by
fighting their way through the force now in front of them.
This would indeed have been impossible had De Gram-
mont held his position; but when that officer saw the
English troops halt he believed that he had only the
advanced guard in front of him, and resolving to over-
whelm these before their main body arrived, he abandoned

46 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

his Strong position, led his troops across the swamp, and
charged the EngUsh in front.

De Noailles, from the opposite bank seeing the error his
nephew had made, hurried his troops towards the bridges
in order to cross the river and render him assistance; but
it was too late.

The English infantry, headed by the king in person,
hurled themselves upon the troops of De Grammont.

Every man felt that the only hope of escape from this
trap into which they had fallen lay in cutting their way
through the enemy, and so furiously did they fight that
De Grammont's troops were utterly overthrown, and were
soon in full flight towards the bridges in the rear, hotly
pursued by the English. Before they could reach the
bridges they left behind them on the field six thousand
killed and wounded. King George, satisfied with his
success, and knowing that the French army was still
greatly superior to his own, wisely determined to get out
of his dangerous position as soon as possible, and pushed
on that night to Hanau.

Although Malcolm and Ronald were too far off to
witness the incidents of the battle, they made out the tide
of war rolling away from them, and saw the black masses
of troops pressing on through Dettingen in spite of the
French artillery which thundered from the opposite bank
of the river.

"They have won!" Ronald said, throwing up his cap.
"Hurrah, Malcolm! where is the utter destruction of the
English now? See, the plain beyond Dettingen is covered
by a confused mass of flying men. The English have
broken out of the trap, and instead of being crushed have
won a great victory."

"It looks like it certainly," Malcolm said. "I would not
have believed it if I had not seen it; their destruction seemed
certain. And now let us go round to the camp again."

OLDCOMRADES 47

On their way down Malcolm said:

"I think on the whole, Ronald, that you are perhaps
right, and the French defeat will do good rather than
harm to the Stuart cause. Had they conquered, Louis
would have been too intent on pushing forward his own
schemes to care much for the Stuarts. He has no real
interest in them, and only uses them as cat's-paws to
injure England. If he had beaten the English and
Hanoverians he would not have needed their aid. As it
is, it seems likely enough that he will try to create a
diversion, and keep the English busy at home by aiding
the Stuarts with men and money to make a landing in
Scotland."

"In that case, Malcolm, we need not grieve over the
defeat today."

The next morning a portion of the French army which
had not been engaged crossed the river and collected the
French and English wounded, for the latter had also been
left behind. They were treated by the French with the
same care and kindness that was bestowed upon their
own wounded. De Noailles was about to advance against
the English at Hanau, when he received the news that
the French army in Bavaria had been beaten back by
Prince Charles, and had crossed the Rhine into Alsace.
As he would now be exposed to the whole brunt of the
attack of the allies he decided to retreat at once.

The next day the retreat recommencied. Many of the
drivers had fled at the first news of the defeat, and
Malcolm without question assumed the post of driver of
one of the abandoned teams. For another week the army
retired, and then crossing the Rhine near Worms were
safe from pursuit.

"Now, Ronald, I will look up the old regiment, and
we will see what is to be done."

The 2nd Scotch Dragoons were posted in a little village

48 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

a mile distant from the main camp which had now been
formed. Malcolm did not make any formal transfer of
the waggon to the authorities, thinking it by no means
improbable that they would insist upon his continuing
his self-adopted avocation as driver; but after seeing to
the horses, which were picketed with a long line of
transport animals, he and Ronald walked quietly away
without any ceremony of adieu.

"We must not come back again here," he said, "for
some of the teamsters would recognize me as having been
driving lately, and I should have hard work to prove that
I was not a deserter; we must take to the old regiment
now as long as we are here."

On reaching the village they found the street full of
troopers, who were busily engaged in cleaning their arms,
grooming their horses, and removing all signs of weather
and battle. Ronald felt a thrill of pleasure at hearing
his native language spoken. Malcolm stopped before an
old sergeant who was diligently polishing his sword hilt.

"And how fares it with you all these years, Angus
Grsme?"

The sergeant almost dropped his sword in his surprise.

"Heart alive, but it's Malcolm Anderson! Eh, man,
but I am glad to see you! I thought you were dead years
ago, for I have heard nae mair of you since the day when
you disappeared from among us like a spook, the same day
that puir Colonel Leslie was hauled off to the Bastille.
A sair day was that for us a'! And where ha' ye been all
the time?"

"Back at home, Angus, at least in body, for my heart's
been with the old regiment. And who, think you, is this?
But you must keep a close mouth, man, for it must not
be talked of. This is Leslie's son. By his father's last
order I took him off to Scotland with me to be out of
reach of his foes, and now I have brought him back again

OLDCOMRADES 49

to try if between us we can gain any news of his father."

"You don't say so, Malcolm! I never as much as heard
that the colonel had a son, though there was some talk
in the regiment that he had married a great lady, and
that it was for that he had been hid away in prison.
And this is Leslie's boy! Well, young sir, there isn't a
man in the regiment but wad do his best for your father's
son, for those who have joined us since have heard many
a tale of Colonel Leslie, though they may not have served
under him, and not a tale but was to his honour, for a
braver officer nor a kinder one never stepped the earth.
But come inside, Malcolm. I have got a room to myself
and a stoup of good wine."

The trio were soon seated in the cottage, and Malcolm
then gave a short sketch of all that had taken place since
he had left the regiment.

"Well, well!" the sergeant said when he had ended;
"and so the lad, young as he is, has already drawn his
sword for the Stuarts. And now for your plans, Malcolm."

"Our plans must be left to chance, Angus. We came
hither to see whether any of the colonel's friends are still
in the regiment, and to learn from them whether they
have any news whatever of him; and secondly, whether
they can tell us aught of his mother."

"Ay, there are six or eight officers still in the regiment
who served with him. Hume is our colonel now; you
will remember him, Malcolm, well, for he was captain
of our troop; and Major Macpherson was a captain too.
Then there are Oliphant, and Munroe, and Campbell,
and Graham, all of whom were young lieutenants in your
time, and are now old captains of troops."

"I will see the colonel and Macpherson," Malcolm said.
"Will you go along with us, Angus, and introduce me?"

"They will be dining in half an hour," the sergeant
said; "we'll go after they have done the meal. Our own

50 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

dinner will be ready direcdy. There are four or five of us
old soldiers who always mess together when we are not
on duty with our troops, and . if I mistake not, you will
know every one of them."

A few minutes later four other sergeants dropped in,
and there was a joyful greeting between them and
Malcolm as soon as they recognized his identity. The
meal was a jovial one, as old jokes and old reminiscences
were recalled. After an hour's sitting Angus said:

"Pass round the wine, lads, till we come back again.
I am tziking Anderson to the colonel, who was captain of
his troop."

On leaving the cottage they waited for a while until
they saw the colonel and major rise from beside the fire
round which, with the other officers, they had been taking
their meal, and walk to the cottage which they shared
between them. Angus went up and saluted.

"What is it, Graeme?" the colonel asked.

"There's one here who would fain have a talk with
you. It is Malcolm Anderson, whom you may remember
as puir Colonel Leslie's servant, and as being in your
own troop, and he has brought one with him concerning
whom he will speak to you himself"

"Of course I remember Anderson," the colonel said.
"He was devoted to Leslie. Bring him in at once. You
remember him, Macpherson?"

"Yes, I remember him well," the major said. "The
colonel was very fond of him, and regarded him almost
as a brother."

A minute later Angus ushered Malcolm and Ronald
into the presence of the two officers.

"Well, Anderson, I am glad to see you again," Colonel
Hume said, rising and holding out his hand. "We have
often spoke of you since the day you disappeared, saying
that you were going on a mission for the colonel, and have

OLD COMRADES 5I

wondered what the mission was, and how it was that we
never heard of you again."

"I came over to Paris four years later, colonel, but the
regiment was away in Flanders, and as I found out from
others what I had come to learn, there was no use in my
following you. As to the colonel's mission, it was this;"
and he put his hand on Ronald's shoulder.

"What do you mean, Anderson?" the colonel asked in
surprise.

"This is Colonel Leslie's son, sir. He bade me fetch
him straight away from the folk with whom he was
living and take him off to Scotland so as to be out of
reach of his foes, who would doubtless have made even
shorter work with him than they did with the colonel."

"Good heavens!" the colonel exclaimed; "this is news
indeed. So Leslie left a child and this is he! My lad," he
said, taking Ronald's hand, "believe me, anything I
can do for you, whatever it be, shall be done, for the sake
of your father."

"And I too," the major said. "There was not one of us
but would have fought to the death for Leslie. And now
sit down, my lad, while Anderson tells us your story."

Malcolm began at the account of the charge which
Colonel Leslie had committed to him, and the manner in
which he had fulfilled it. He told them how he had
placed the child in the care of his brother, he himself
having no fixed home of his own, and how the lad had
received a solid education, while he had seen to his
learning the use of a sword, so that he might be able to
follow his father's career. He then told them the episode of
the Jacobite agent, and the escape which had been
effected in the Thames.

"You have done well, Anderson," the colonel said when
he had concluded; "and if ever Leslie should come to see
his son he will have cause to thank you for the way in

52 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

which you have carried out the charge he committed to
you. As to LesHe himself, we know not whether he be
alive or dead. Every interest was made at the time to
assuage his majesty's hostility, but the influence of the
Marquis of Recambours was too strong, and the king at
last peremptorily forbade Leslie's name being mentioned
before him. You see, although the girl's father was, of
course, at liberty to bestow her hand on whomsoever he
pleased, he had, with the toadyism of a courtier, asked
the king's approval of the match with Chateaurouge,
which, as a matter of course, he received. His majesty,
therefore, chose to consider it as a personal oflfence
against himself that this Scottish soldier of fortune
should carry off one of the richest heiresses of France,
whose hand he had himself granted to one of his peers.
At the same time I cannot but think that Leslie still
lives, for had he been dead we should assuredly have
heard of the marriage of his widow with some one else.
The duke has, of course, long since married, and report
says that the pair are ill-matched; but another husband
would speedily have been found for the widow."

"Have you any idea where my mother is, sir?"

"None," the colonel said. "But that I might find out
for you. I will give you a letter' to the Count de Noyes,
who is on intimate terms with the Archbishop of Paris,
who would, no doubt, be able to tell him in which
convent the lady is residing. You must not be too sanguine
of seeing her, for it is possible that she has already taken
the veil."

Ronald thanked Colonel Hume for his kindness,
and the next day, having received the letter to the
Count de Noyes, set out for Paris with Malcolm. On
his arrival there he lost no time in calhng upon the
count, and presenting his letter of introduction.

The count read it through twice without speaking.

THE CONVENT OF OUR LADY " 53

"My friend Colonel Hume," he said at last, "tells mc
that you are the son, born in lawful wedlock, of Colonel
Leslie and Amelie de Recambours. I am aware of the
circumstances of the case, being distantly related to the
lady's family, and will do that which Colonel Hume asks
me, namely, discover the convent in which she is hving.
But I warn you, young man, that your position here is
a dangerous one, and that were it known that Colonel
Leslie's son is aUve and in France, I consider your life
would not be worth a day's purchase. However, that is
your affair. If you will give me the address where you are
staying in Paris, I will write to you as soon as I obtain
the information."

A week later, Ronald, on returning one day to Le
Soldat Ecossais, found a note awaiting him. It contained
only the words:

"She has not taken the veil; she is at the convent of
Our Lady at Tours."

The next morning Ronald and Malcolm set out on their
journey to Tours.

CHAPTER V

THE CONVENT OF OUR LADY

Arrived at Tours, Malcolm took a quiet lodging in a
retired street. Colonel Hume had furnished him with a
regular discharge, testifying that the bearer, Malcolm
Anderson, had served his time in the 2nd Scotch Dragoons,
and was now discharged as being past service, and that he
recommended him as a steady man for any employment
for which he might be suited. Malcolm showed this docu-
ment to his landlord in order that the latter might, as

54 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

required by law, duly give notice to the police of the name
and occupation of his lodger, and at the same time
mentioned that the relations of his wife lived near Tours,
and that he hoped through them to be able to obtain
some sort of employment.

As soon as they were settled in their lodgings they
went out, and after a few enquiries found themselves in
front of the convent of Our Lady. It was a massive
building, in a narrow street near the river, to which its
grounds, surrounded by a high wall, extended. None of
the windows of the building looked towards the street,
upon which the massive gate, with a small wicket entrance,
opened.

"What building is this?" Malcolm, in a careless tone,
asked a woman who was sitting knitting at her door
nearly opposite the entrance. "I am a stranger in Tours."

"That needs no telling," the woman replied, "or you
would have known that that is the convent of Our
Lady, one of the richest in Touraine, and they say in
all France. Though what they do with their riches is
more than I can tell, seeing that the rules are of the
strictest, and that no one ever comes beyond the gates.
They have their own grounds down to the river, and
there is a walk along the wall there where they take the
air of an evening when the weather is fine. Poor things,
I pity them from my soul. They may have all the riches
of France inside those walls, but I would rather sit knitting
at my door here than have a share of them."

"You are a wise woman," Malcolm said. "There is
nothing like freedom. I have been a soldier all my life,
and have had my share of hard knocks; but I never
grumbled so long as I was on a campaign, though I
often found it dull work enough when in garrison."

"Oh, you have been a soldier! I have a brother in the
regiment of Touraine. Perhaps you know him?"

THE CONVENT OF OUR LADY 55

"I know the regiment of Touraine," Malcolm said;
"and there are no braver set of men in the king's service.
What is his name?"

"Pierre Pitou. I have not heard of him for the last
two years. He is a tall man, and broad, with a scar over
the left eye."

"To be sure, to be sure!" Malcolm said. "Of course.
Pierre Pitou is one of my best friends; and now I think
of it, madam, I ought to know without asking, so great is
his resemblance to you. Why, his last words to me were,
'If you go to Tours, seek out my sister, who lives in a
house nearly opposite the entrance to the convent of Our
Lady;' and to think I should have forgotten all about it
till I saw you!"

Malcolm remained for a quarter of an hour chatting
with the woman about her brother, and then, promising to
call again the next day in the evening to be introduced
to her husband, he rejoined Ronald, who had been waiting
at the corner of the lane.

"What have you been talking about all this time,
Malcolm, and what could you have to say to a
stranger?"

"I have been telling her all about her brother, Pierre
Pitou of the Toraine regiment, and how he distinguished
himself at Dettingen, and will surely be made a sergeant,
with a hope some day of getting to be a captain. I have
quite won her heart."

"But who is Pierre Pitou, and when did you know
him?" Ronald asked surprised.

"He is a tall man with broad shoulders and a scar over
his left eye," Malcolm said laughing, and he then related
the whole conversation.

"But why did you pretend to this poor woman that
you knew her brother?"

"Because she may be very useful to us, Ronald; and if

56 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

you can't find a friend in court, it's just as well to have
one near court."

Malcolm followed up the acquaintance he had made,
and soon estabhshed himself as a friend of the family.
Ronald did not accompany him on any of his visits, for
2is the plan of proceeding was still undecided, he and
Malcolm agreed that it was better that he should not show
himself until some favourable opportunity offered.

It was not until Malcolm had become quite at home
with Madame Vipon that he again turned the conversation
towards the convent. He learned that she had often been
inside the walls, for before her marriage she had worked
at a farm whence the convent drew a portion of its supplies,
milk, butter, and eggs, and she had often carried baskets
to the convent.

"Of course I never went beyond the outer court," she
said; "but Farmer Miron's daughter — it was he owned
the farm — is a lay sister there; a sort of servant, you know,
but she is a favourite and often goes to market for them,
and when she does she usually drops in here for a few
minutes for a talk.

"I suppose she knows all the ladies who reside in the
convent as well as the sisters?"

"Oh, yes, and much better than the sisters! It is on
them she waits."

"Now I think of it," Malcolm said, "one of the officers
I served under had a relation, a lady, whom I have heard
him say, when he was talking to another officer, is shut
up here, either because she wouldn't marry some one her
father wanted her to, or she wanted to marry some one
her father didn't want her to, I forget exactly what it
was now. Let me see what was her name. Elise — no,
that wasn't it. AmeUe — Amelie de Recambours — yes,
that was it."

"Oh, yes, I know the name! I have heard Jeanne

THE CONVENT OF OUR LADY 57

speak of her. Jeanne said it was whispered among them
that she had really married somebody against her father's
will. At anyrate she has been there ever so many years,
and they have not made her take the veil, as they do
most of them if they are obstinate and won't give way.
Poor thing! Jeanne says she is very pretty still, though
she must be nearly forty now."

"That is very interesting," Malcolm said; "and if you
will not mind, Madam Vipon, I will write to the officer
of whom I spoke and tell him his cousin is alive and well.
I was his servant in the regiment, and I know, from what
I have heard him say, he was very much attached to her.
There can be no harm in that, you know," he said, as
Madam Vipon looked doubtful; "but if you would prefer
it, of course I will not say how I have heard."

"Yes, that will be better," she agreed. "Though there's
no harm in what I have told you, still it's ill gossiping
about what takes place inside convent walls."

Ronald was very excited when he heard from Malcolm
that he had actually obtained news as to his mother,
and it was with difficulty that his friend persuaded him
to allow matters to go on as he proposed.

"It will never do to hurry things now, Ronald; every-
thing is turning out beyond our expectations. A fortnight
ago it seemed absolutely hopeless that you should com-
municate with your mother; now things are in a good
train for it."

Accordingly Malcolm made no further allusion to the
subject to Madam Vipon until a fortnight had passed;
then he said, calling on her one day:

"Do you know, my dear Madame Vipon, I have had
a letter from the gentleman of whom I was speaking to
you. He is full of gratitude at the news I sent him, I
did not tell him from whom I had heard the news, save
that it was from one of the kindest of women, the sister

58 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

of an old comrade of mine. He has sent me this" — and
he took out a small box which he opened, and showed a
pretty little broach, with ear-rings to match — "and bid me
to give it in his name to the person who had sent him this
good news."

"That is beautiful," Madam Vipon said, clapping her
hands; "and I have so often wished for a real gold broach!
Won't my husband open his eyes when he sees them!"

VI think, if I might advise, my dear madam," Malcolm
said, "I should not give him the exact history of them.
If I were you I would tell him that your brother Pierre
had sent them to you through me."

"Yes, perhaps that would be the best," Madam Vipon
said.

"Now I want to tell you more. Not only does my old
master write to say how glad he is to hear of his cousin's
welfare, but he has told me a great deal more about the
poor lady. The Countess Amelie de Recambours was
secretly married to a young officer, a great friend of my
late master, and her father did not discover it until
after the birth of a child — a boy. Then she was shut up
here. The father got the boy safely away to Scotland,
but he has now come back to France. I do not suppose
the poor lady has ever heard of her little son since, and
it would be an act of kindness and mercy to let her know
that he is alive and well."

"Yes, indeed, poor creature," Madam Vipon said
sympathetically. "And what became of her husband?"

"I fancy he died years ago; but my master says nothing
about him. He only writes of the boy, who it seems is
so delighted with the news about his mother that he is
coming here to see if it is possible to have an interview
with her."

"But it is not possible," Madam Vipon exclaimed.
"How can he see her, shut up as she is in that convent?"

THE CONVENT OF OUR LADY 59

"Yes, it is difficult," Malcolm agreed. "But nothing is
impossible, my dear madam, when a woman of heart like
yourself takes a matter in hand. Now the first measure to be
taken is to open communication between mother and
son.

"That would be the first thing of course, monsieur, but
how is that to be done?"

"Now that is where I look to you, madam. Your friend
Jeanne waits upon her, and I know your quick wit
will already have perceived that Jeanne might deliver
a message. I am sure that she would never be your
friend had she not a warm heart like your own, and it
will need very little persuasion on your part to induce
her to bring gladness to this unfortunate lady."

"Yes; but think of the consequences. Monsieur Ander-
son; think what would happen if it were found out."

"Yes, if there were any talk of the countess running
away from the convent I would not on any condition ask
you to assist in such a matter; but what is this — merely
to give a message, a few harmless words."

"But you said an interview. Monsieur Anderson."

"An interview only if it were possible, my dear madam.
All that we want now is just a little message, a message
by word of mouth which not even the keenest eye can
discover or prevent; there can be no harm in that."

"No, I don't think there can be much harm in that,"
Madam Vipon agreed; "at anyrate I will talk to Jeanne.
It will be her day for going to market to-morrow."

The following afternoon Malcolm again saw Madam
Vipon, who told him that although she had not actually
promised she had no doubt Jeanne would deliver the
message.

'She will be out again on Saturday, monsieur, at nine
in the morning, and if you will be here with the boy, if
he has arrived by that time, you shall speak to her."

6o BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

At the time appointed Malcolm, with Ronald, attired
now as a young French gentleman, arrived at the house
of Madam Vipon, who was warmly thanked by Ronald
for the interest she had taken in him.

A few minutes later Jeanne entered; she was a pleasant-
looking young woman of five or six and twenty, and even
her sombre attire as a lay sister failed to give a formal
look to her merry face.

"So these are the gentlemen who want me to become
a conspirator," she said, "and to run the risk of all sorts
of punishment and penalties for meddling in their
business?"

"Not so much my business as the business of my
mother," Ronald said. "You who have such a true heart
of your own, will, I am sure, feel for that poor lady shut up
for fifteen years, and knowing not whether her child is
dead or alive. If we could but see each other for five
minutes, think what joy it would be to her, what courage
her poor heart would take."

"See each other!" Jeanne repeated surprised. "You
said nothing about that, Frangoise; you only said take a
message. How can they possibly see each other? That's
a different thing altogether."

"I want you to take a message first," Ronald said. "If
nothing more can be done that will be very very much;
but I cannot think but that you and my mother between
you will be able to hit upon some plan by which we
might meet."

"But how," Jeanne asked in perplexity, "how could it
possibly be?"

"For example," Ronald suggested, "I could climb on
to the river terrace at night, and perhaps she could come
and speak to me there."

"That is possible," Jeanne said thoughtfully; "but
all the doors are locked up at night."

THE CONVENT OF OUR LADY 6l

"But she might get out of a window," Ronald urged;
"with a rope-ladder she could get down, and then return
again, and none be the wiser."

Jeanne sat silent for a moment, and then she asked
suddenly:

"Are you telling me all, monsieur, or are you intending
that the countess shall escape with you?"

"No, indeed, on my honour!" Ronald exclaimed. "I
have nowhere where I could take my mother. She would
be pursued and brought back, and her position would be
far worse than it is now. No; I swear to you that I only
want to see her and to speak to her, and I have nothing
else whatever in mind."

"I believe you, monsieur," Jeanne said gravely. "Had
it been otherwise I dare not have helped, for my punish-
ment if I was discovered to have aided in an escape from
the convent would be terrible — terrible!" she repeated
with a shudder. "As to the other, I will risk it; I will
give her your message."

Ronald took from a small leather bag, which he wore
round his neck, a tiny gold chain with a little cross.

"I had this round my neck when I was taken away as
a child to Scotland. No doubt she put it there, and will
recognize it. Say to her only: 'He whom you have not
seen since he was an infant is in Tours, longing above all
things to speak to you'; that is all my message. After-
wards, if you will, you can tell her what we have said,
and how I long to see her. How high is her room from
the ground? Because if it is high it will be better that
I should climb to her window, than that she should
descend and ascend again."

Jeanne shook her head.

"That could not be," she said. "The visitors have all
separate cells, but the partitions do not go up to the
ceiling; and even if you entered, not a word could be

62 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

sp>oken without being overheard. But fortunately she is on
the first floor, and I am sure she is not one to shrink from
so little a matter as the descent of a ladder in order to
have an interview with her son."

That same afternoon as Amehe de Recambours was
proceeding from the refectory to her cell, following
several of her fellow captives, her attendant Jeanne came
out from one of the cells. Glancing behind to see that no
one was following, she put her finger on her lips and then
whispered: "Make some excuse not to go into the garden
with the others this evening. It is most important."
Then she glided back into the room from which she had
come.

The countess followed the others in a state of almost
bewilderment. For sixteen years nothing had occurred to
break the monotony of her existence. At first occasional
angry messages reached her from her father, with orders
to join an application to the Pope for a divorce; but when
it had been found impossible to overcome her steady
refusals the messages had at last ceased, and for years no
word from the outer world had reached her, although
she had learned from those who from time to time came
to share her captivity what was passing outside. Whether
her husband was alive or dead she knew not. They had
told her over and over again that he was dead; but the
fact that she had never had the option given her of
accepting another husband or taking the final vows kept
hope alive. For she was convinced that if he was really
dead, efforts would be made to compel her to marry
again.

"You look pale, Amelie," one of the other ladies said as
they gathered in a group for a moment before proceeding
to their respective apartments, where they were supposed
to pass the afternoon in working, reading, and meditation.

*Tt is the heat," the countess said. "I have a headache.

THE CONVENT OF OUR LADY 63

I shall lie down and keep myself quiet. To-morrow I hope
to be myself again. It is a mere passing indisposition."

The hours passed slowly as Amelie lay on her couch
and wondered over the coming interview, but at last the
hour when she was accustomed to go into the garden
arrived. As the convent beU struck seven she heard the
doors of the other cells open, the sound of feet in the
corridor, and then all became still. In a few minutes a
step approached, and one of the sisters entered to inquire
why she was not in the garden with the others.

She repeated that her head ached.

"You look pale," the sister said, "and your hand is hot
and feverish. I will send you up some tisane. It is the
heat, no doubt. I think that we are going to have thunder."

In a few minutes a step was again heard approaching,
and Jeanne entered with the medicament. As she closed
the door the countess started into a sitting position.

"What is it, Jeanne? What is it that you have to say
to me?"

"Calm yourself, I pray you, countess," Jeanne said.
"For both our sakes I pray you to hear what I have to
say calmly. I expect Sister Felicia will be here direcdy.
When she heard you were unwell she said she would
come up and see what you needed. And now, I will
begin my message. In the first place I was to hand you
this." And she placed in Amelie's hand the Uttle necklet
and cross.

For a moment the countess looked at them wonderingly,
and then there flashed across her memory a sturdy
child in its nurse's arms, and a tall man looking on with
a loving smile as she fastened a tiny gold chain round the
child's neck. A low cry burst from her lips as she started
to her feet.

"Hush, lady, hush!" Jeanne exclaimed. "This is my
message: *He whom you have not seen since he was an

64 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

infant is in Tours, longing above all things to speak to
you.' "

"My child! my child!" the countess cried. "Alive and
here! Have you seen him, Jeanne? What is he like? Oh,
tell me everything!"

"He is a right proper young gentleman, madam.
Straight and comely and tall, with brown waving hair
and a bright pleasant face. A son such as any mother
might be proud of."

The countess suddenly threw her arms round Jeanne's
neck and burst into tears.

"You have made me so happy, Jeanne; happy as I
never thought to be again. How can I thank you?"

"The best way at present, madam," Jeanne said with a
smile, "will be by drinking up that tisane, and lying
down quietly. Sister Felicia moves about as noiselessly
as a cat, and she may pop in at any moment."

The countess seized the bowl of tisane and drank it off,
and then threw herself on the couch.

"Go on, Jeanne, go on. Did the message say he was
longing to see me? But that is not possible."

"It is not quite impossible, madam; though it would
be dangerous, very dangerous. What he proposes, madam,
is this: that he should some night scale the river wall, and
await you on the terrace, and that you should descend
from your window by a rope-ladder, and so return after
seeing him."

"Oh yes, that is possible!" the countess exclaimed;
"I could knot my bed-clothes and slide down. It matters
not about getting back again, since we have no ladder."

"I can manage to bring in two light ropes," Jeanne said.
"It would not do for you to be found in the garden, for
it would excite suspicion, and you would never have a
chance of doing it again. But it is not an easy thing to
climb up a rope-ladder with no one to help you, and

THE RENDEZVOUS 65

you know I shall be at the other end of the house."
"That is nothing," the countess said. "Oh, Jeanne, how

good you are! And when will it be?"

"I will bring in the ropes next time I go out. Mind

and place them in your bed. You will know that that

night at eleven o'clock your son will be on the terrace

awaiting you."

CHAPTER VI

THE RENDEZVOUS

When Jeanne, after accomplishing her errands the next
time she went out, entered Madam Vipon's, she found
Ronald and Malcolm awaiting her.

"You have told my mother?" the former asked eagerly
as she entered.

"Yes, I have told her, and if I had been an angel from
heaven, with a special message to her, the poor lady could
not have looked more happy."

"And you have been like an angel to us!" Ronald
exclaimed, taking her hand. "How can I thank you for
your goodness?"

"For shame, sir!" Jeanne said, smiling and colouring as
Ronald, in his delight, threw his arms round her and
kissed her; "remember I am a lay sister."

"I could not have helped it," Ronald said, "if you had
been the lady superior. And now," he went on eagerly,
"all is arranged? See, I have brought a ladder of silk
rope, light and thin, but quite strong enough to bear her."

"You take all for granted then, sir. You know I said
I would take your message, but that I would not engage
to meddle further in it."

66 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

"I know you said so; but I was sure that having gone
so far you would do the rest. You will, won't you,
Jeanne?"

"I suppose I must," Jeanne said; "for what with the
countess on one side and you the other, I should get no
peace if I said no. Well, then, it is all arranged. At eleven
o'clock to-night you are to be on the terrace, and you can
expect her there."

Jeanne took the silken cords and wound them round
her, under her lay sister's robe, and then tripped away
across the street to the convent.

Malcolm and Ronald sallied out from Tours before the
city gates were closed at sunset, and sat down on the
slope which rises from the other side of the river and
waited till it was time to carry the plan into operation.
Gradually the lights disappeared from the various
windows and the sounds which came across the water
ceased, and by ten o'clock everything was profoundly still.
They had, in the course of the afternoon, hired a boat,
saying they were going out for a night's fishing. This they
had moored a short distance below the town, on the side of
the river where they now were. They now made their
way to it and rowed quietly across the stream; then they
left it and waded through the water, which flowed knee-
deep at the foot of the walls.

Although Tours was still a walled town the habit of
keeping sentry in time of peace had long since died out,
and they had no fear, at that hour, of discovery. There
was no moon, but the night was bright and clear, and
they had no difficulty in finding that part of the wall
which now formed the terrace of the convent.

They were provided with a rope knotted at every foot,
and with a grapnel attached to one end. At the second
attempt this caught on the parapet of the wall, and
Ronald at once climbed it and stood on the terrace, where,

THE RENDEZVOUS 67

a minute later, he was joined by Malcolm. The convent
itself could not be seen, for a screen of trees at the foot
of the wall shut it off from the view of people on the
opposite bank of the river. They waited quietly until
a sudden peal of the bells of the numerous churches
announced that it was the hour. Then they moved
towards the steps leading down into the garden. A
minute later a figure was seen approaching. Malcolm fell
back, and Ronald advanced towards it. As the countess
approached she held out her arms, exclaiming:

"My boy, my boy!" and with a cry of "Mother!"
Ronald sprang forward into her embrace.

For a short time not a word was spoken, and then the
countess murmured:

"My God, I thank thee for this great happiness. And
now, my son," she said, recovering herself, "tell me every-
thing. First, have you news of your father?"

"Alas, no!" Ronald said; "nothing has been heard of
him since the fatal day when he was seized; but I am
convinced that he is still alive, and since I have found
you, surely I shall be able to find him."

"Who is that with you, Ronald?"

"That is Malcolm Anderson; it is to him I owe every-
thing. He carried me off and took me away with him
to Scotland the day my father was arrested. He has
been my best friend ever since, and it is he who brought
me here to you."

The countess advanced to Malcolm.

"My son has told me that we owe everything to you,
my brave Malcolm!" she said, holding out her hand. "I
guessed that it was to you that my husband had confided
the care of the child when I learned that it had dis-
appeared. I remember what confidence he had in your
devotion, and how he confided everything to you."

"He was like a brother to me, madam," Malcolm

68 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

replied; "and glad indeed am I that I have been able to
befriend his son and to bring him back to you a gentleman
who will be an honour even to his father's name and yours."

"And now let us sit down here," the countess said,
taking a seat upon a bench. "It gets light very early,
and you must not stay after two o'clock, and there is so
much for me to hear."

For the next two hours Ronald sat by his mother
while he told her the story of his life. "And now, mother,"
he said, when he had concluded, "we have but an
hour left, for it has just struck one, and we have not
said a word yet about the principal thing of all. How
are we to obtain your freedom? Cannot you arrange to
escape with us? I do not, of course, mean to-night, for
we have nothing prepared, and, moreover, I promised
Jeanne that there should be no attempt at escape; but we
can come again when everything is ready."

"No, my son," the countess said. "I have thought it
over in every way since I knew you were here, and I
am resolved to remain here. Were I to fly, the last hope
that your father might ever be freed would be lost. My
father would be more than ever incensed against him and
me; and, moreover, although that is but a minor consider-
ation, there would be no hope whatever of your ever
recovering the rank and estate to which you are entitled.
No, I am resolved to wait here, at anyrate so long as my
father lives. At his death doubtless there will be some
change, for as heiress to his estates my existence must be
in some way recognized, and my family may be enabled
to obtain my release when his powerful opposition is
removed; if not, it will be time to take the idea of flight
into consideration; till then I remain here. Now that I
have seen you, now that I know that you are alive and
well, now that I can think of you as you are, for I can
just make out your face by the light of the stars, I shall

THE RENDEZVOUS 69

be as near contentment and happiness as I can be till I
meet your father again. In the meantime your good
friend here can advise you far better than I can as to
what your course had better be. If you can obtain any
high influence, use it for obtaining your father's release.
If it be accompanied by a sentence of exile from France
it matters not, so that he is freed. You can then return
here, and I will gladly fly with you to join him in Scot-
land."

Malcolm now rose from his seat and left mother and
son half an hour together. When two o'clock struck he
returned to them.

"There is the signal," the countess said, rising, "and
now we must part." She had already refused to accede
to Ronald's entreaty that she would meet him there
again.

"No, my son, we have been permitted to meet this
once, but we must not tempt fortune again. Sooner or
later something would be sure to occur which would lead
to discovery, and bring ruin upon all our plans."

"We will see you safe up the ladder, mother," Ronald
said. "It is no easy matter to climb up a rope-ladder
swinging loosely."

"No, I discovered that in descending," the countess
said; "but if you come with me you must take off your
boots — the print of a man's footstep in the garden would
ruin us all."

Taking off their boots they accompanied her through
the garden. There was a last passionate embrace at the
foot of the ladder, then the countess mounted it while
they held it steady. Directly she entered the window
she undid the fastening of the rope inside and let the
ladder drop down to them. Five minutes later Ronald
descended the rope into the river. Malcolm shifted the
grapnel so that it caught only on the edge of the parapet

70 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

and could be shaken off from below when the strain on
the rope was removed, then he slid down to Ronald's side.
A sharp jerk brought down the grapnel, and they returned
along the edge of the river as they had come, crossed in
the boat, and waited for morning.

They waited two days longer in Tours in order that
they might receive, through Jeanne from the countess,
a list of the noble families to which she was related, with
notes as to those persons of whom she had seen most
before her marriage, and who she beUeved would be most
disposed to exert their influence on her behalf.

"Jeanne," Ronald said, "I am troubled that I do not
know what I can do to show you how grateful I am. I
should like to give you some souvenir, but what can I
do — you could not wear brooches, or ear-rings, or
trinkets."

"That I could not, monsieur," Jeanne broke in with a
smile; "and if I could I would not accept them from you.
I have done what I have done because I pitied your
mother and you."

"Well, Jeanne," Ronald said, "you may not be a lay
sister all your life; you have taken no vows that will bind
you for ever, and I have no doubt that the lady superior
can absolve you from your engagements should you at any
time wish to go back to the world; if so, and if I am still
in France, I will come to dance at your wedding, and will
promise you as pretty a necklace and ear-rings as are to be
found in Touraine."

"Very well, that is a bargain," Jeanne said laughing.

The next day Ronald and his companion started for
Paris. On arriving they found that Colonel Hume's
regiment had returned to the capital. Ronald at once
called on Colonel Hume and related to him the success
which had attended the first portion of his undertaking.

"I congratulate you indeed," Colonel Hume said. "I

THE RENDEZVOUS 7I

own that I thought your enterprise was a hopeless one.
Now, my young friend, what do you mean to do next?"

"Would it be possible, sir, to ascertain where my father
is confined?"

"I think not, my lad," the colonel said gravely. "In
addition to the four or five prisons in Paris there are a
score of others in different parts of France. The names
of the prisoners in each are known only to the governors;
to all others within the walls they exist as numbers only.
The governors themselves are sworn to secrecy, and even
if we could get at one or two of them, which would be
difficult enough, we could hope for no more. I can see
nothing for you but to practise patience, so conducting
yourself as to gain friends and make a name and influence,
so that at your grandfather's death we may bring as
strong a pressure as possible to bear upon the king."

"How old is my grandfather?" Ronald asked.

"He is a man about sixty."

"Why, he may Uve twenty years yet!" Ronald ex-
claimed bitterly.

"Do not look at the worst side of the question,"
Colonel Hume repUed with a smile. "But he may live
some years," he went on more gravely, "and in the
meantime you must think what you had better do. I
will tell you a great secret, that it has been finally
resolved that an expedition shall sail this winter for
Scotland, and fifteen thousand troops will assemble at
Dunkirk under Marshal Saxe. We are to form part of the
expedition, with several other Scottish regiments. You
are too young as yet for me to ask for a commission for
you, but if you like I will enrol you as a gentieman
volunteer. I will introduce you to the Chevalier, and it may
be that if he succeeds in gaining the crown of Scotland,
if not of England, he will himself ask King Louis as
a personal favour to release and restore to him Colonel

72 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

Leslie of Glenlyon, who fought bravely with him in '15.
What do you say to that?"

"I thank your greatly, sir, and accept your offer most
gratefully."

"That is settled then," Colonel Hume said; "and now
about outfit. A gentleman volunteer wears the uniform
of the officers of the regiment, and indeed is one in all
respects except that he draws no pay. My purse will be
at your disposal. Do not show any false modesty about
accepting help from me. Your father would have shared
his last penny with me had I needed it."

"I thank you heartily, colonel, for your offer, and
should it be necessary I will avail myself of it, but at
present I have ample funds. Malcolm carried off with
me a bag with a hundred louis, and up to the day when
I landed in France these had never been touched. I have
eighty of them still remaining, which will provide my
outfit and my maintenance for a long time to come."

At the end of a week Ronald had procured his uni-
form, and was presented by the colonel to the officers of
the regiment as Ronald Leslie, the son of an old friend of
his, who was joining the regiment as a gentleman volun-
teer. Malcolm joined only in the capacity of Ronald's
servant. It was painful to the lad that his old friend
and protector should assume such a relation towards him,
but Malcolm laughed at his scruples.

"My dear Ronald," he said, "I was your father's
servant, and yet his friend. Why should I not act in the
same capacity to you? As to the duties, they are so light
that, now I do not belong to the regiment, my only
difficulty will be to kill time. There is nothing to do
save polish up your arms and your equipment."

It was now the end of August, and for the next four
months Ronald worked hard at drill. Early in January
the 2nd Scottish Dragoons marched for Dunkirk, where

THE RENDEZVOUS 73

twenty thousand men assembled, while a large number
of men-of-war and transports were gathered in the port.
One day, when Ronald was walking in the street with
Malcolm at his heels, the latter stepped up to him and
touched him.

"Do you see that officer in the uniform of a colonel of
the Black Musketeers, in that group at the opposite
comer; look at him well, for he is your father's greatest
enemy, and would be yours if he knew who you are; that
is the Duke de Chateaurouge."

Ronald gazed at the man who had exercised so evil
an influence upon the fate of his parents. He was a tall
dark man with a pointed moustache, and of from forty
to forty-five years of age. His features were regular and
handsome; but in his thin straight eyebrows, the curl of
his lips, and a certain supercilious drooping of the eyelids,
Ronald read the evil passions which rendered him so
dangerous and implacable an enemy.

"So that is the duke!" Ronald said when he had passed
on. "I did not know that he was a soldier."

"He is an honorary colonel of the regiment, and only
does duty with it when it is called on active service; but;
he served in it for some years as a young man. I warn
you he is said to be one of the best swordsmen in France."

"I care not how good a swordsman he is," Ronald said
hotly.

"Don't do anything rash, Ronald; I have no fear about
your swordsmanship, for I know in the last four months
you have practised hard. But at present it were madness to
quarrel with the duke; you have everything to lose and
nothing to gain. If he killed you there would an end of you
and of your plans; if you killed him you would have to fly
the country, for a court favourite is not to be slain with
as much impunity as a bourgeois, and equally would there
be an end of all hope of obtaining your father's release."

74 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

A few days later a messenger arrived with the news
that the French fleet from Brest had sailed, and had met
the English fleet which had gone off in pursuit of it, and
that the coast of Kent was in consequence unguarded.
Orders were instantly given that the troops should
embark on board the transports, and as fast as these were
filled they set sail. The embarkation of the cavalry
naturally took longer time than that of the infantry, and
before the Scottish Dragoons had got their horses on
board a portion of the fleet was already out of sight.

"Was there ever such luck!" Malcolm exclaimed, "the
wind is rising every moment, and blowing straight into
the harbour; unless I mistake not, there will be no saiUng
to-night."

This was soon evident to all. Signals were made from
ship to ship, fresh anchors were let down, and the top-
mast housed. By midnight it was blowing a tremendous
gale, which continued for three days. The portion of the
fleet which had sailed had been utterly dispersed by
the gale. Many ships were lost, and the rest, shattered and
dismantled, arrived at intervals at the various French
ports. The blow was too heavy to be repaired. The English
fleet had again returned to the coast, and were on the
look-out to intercept the expedition, and as this was now
reduced to a little more than half of its original strength
no surprise was felt when the plan was abandoned al-
together.

Marshal Saxe with a portion of the troops marched to
join the army in Flanders, and the Scotch Dragoons were
ordered to return to Paris for the present.

For a year Ronald remained with the regiment in Paris.
He had during that time been introduced by Colonel
Hume to several members of his mother's family. Twice he
travelled to Tours and sent messages to his mother
through Jeanne, and received answers from the countess.

THE RENDEZVOUS 75

She had, however, refuse to meet him again on the
terrace, saying that she was firmly resolved not to run
the risk of danger to him and the failure of all their hopes,
by any rash step.

At the end of the summer campaign in Flanders
Marshal Saxe returned to Paris, and Colonel Hume one
day took Ronald and introduced him to him, having
previously interested the marshal by relating his history
to him. The marshal asked Ronald many questions, and
was much pleased with his frank manner and bearing.

"You shall have any protection I can give you," the
marshal said. "I remember your father well, and many
a carouse have we had together in Flanders. But I am
a soldier, you know, and though the king is glad enough
to employ our swords in fighting his enemies, we have
but Httle influence at court. I promise you, however,
that after the first great victory I win I will ask the
release of your father as a personal favour from the
king, on the ground that he was an old comrade of mine."

It seemed that some of his mother's family with whom
he had communicated must have desired to gain the
favour of the favourite of the king by relating the circum-
stances to him, for a short time after Ronald's interview
with the marshal the marquis came up to Colonel Hume
when he was on duty in the king's ante-chamber, and, in
the presence of a number of courtiers, said to him:

"So, Colonel Hume, I find that I have to thank you
for harbouring in your regiment, an impostor, who claims
to be my grandson. I shall know, sir, how to repay the
obligation."

"The gentleman in question is no impostor, marquis,
as I have taken the pains to inform myself. And I am
not aware of any reason why I should not admit the son
of a Scottish gentleman into my regiment, even though
he happen to be a grandson of yours. As to your threat.

76 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

sir, as long as I do my duty to his majesty I fear the
displeasure of no man."

Two nights later, as Ronald was returning from dining
with Colonel Hume and some of his officers, he was
suddenly attacked in a narrow street by six men. The
instant the men rushed out from a lane, at whose entrance
a lantern was dimly burning, Malcolm's sword was out,
and before the assailants had time to strike a blow he
had run the foremost through the body.

Ronald instantly recovered from his surprise and also
drew. The men were for a moment checked by the fall of
their leader; but then seeing that they had opposed to
them only one man, and another whom they regarded as
a lad, scarcely to be taken into consideration, they rushed
upon them. They were quickly undeceived. Ronald
parried the first blow aimed at him and stretched his
opponent on the pavement, and then springing forward,
after a few rapid thrusts and parries ran the next through
the shoulder almost at the same moment that Malcolm
stretched another opponent on the ground.

Terrified at the downfall of three of their number, while
a fourth leaned against a door-post disabled, the two re-
maining ruffians took to their heels and fled at the top of
their speed, the whole affair having lasted scarce a minute.

"Tell your employer," Ronald said to the wounded
man, "that I am not to be disposed of so easily as he
imagined."

The next morning Ronald communicated to Colonel
Hume what had happened.

"It's just as well, my young friend, that you are going
to leave Paris. I received orders half an hour ago for
the regiment to march to the frontier at once. That is
the marquis's doing, no doubt. He thought to get rid
of you last night and to punish me this morning; but he
has failed both ways."

FONTENOY 77

CHAPTER VII
FONTENOY

A FORTNIGHT after the Scottish dragoons joined the
army the king was present at an inspection of their
regiment. As the brilHant cortege passed along the Hne
Ronald saw among the gaily-dressed throng of officers
riding behind the king and Marshal Saxe the Marquis de
Recambours and the Duke de Chateaurouge side by
side. Ronald with two other gentleman volunteers were
in their places in the rear of the regiment. It was drawn
up in double line, and as the royal party rode along for
the second time, Ronald saw that the two noblemen were
looking scrutinizingly through the line of troopers at
himself and his two companions.

That evening Colonel Hume on his return from a visit
to Marshal Saxe told Ronald that the general had
inquired after him, and had sent him word that if he
won the battle he would not forget the promise he had
made him. He had requested Colonel Hume to place
Ronald at his disposal on the day of battle.

" 'I shall want active officers to carry my messages,' he
said, 'and your young friend may have a greater oppor-
tunity of distinguishing himself than he would with the
regiment. I should in that case find it all the easier to
bring his business before the king.'

"The marshal is terribly ill," Colonel Hume said as he
reported the conversation to Ronald, "so ill that he can
only occasionally sit on his horse. Nothing but his
indomitable courage sustains him. He is drawn about in
a light carriage made of basket-work, and this serves
him also for his bed."

78 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

On the 7 th of May the enemy were known to be close
at hand, and the French selected the position on which
they would fight. The village of Fontenoy had already
been occupied by a strong body of troops under Marshal
Noailles, and the rest of the army now moved forward to
the posts allotted to them. The English army were close
at hand, and it was certain that the battle would be fought
on the morrow.

Before daybreak the camp was astir, and the troops
took the positions assigned to them. Even now it was
hardly believed that an attack would be made by the
enemy so long as the French remained in their all but
impregnable position; but presently the columns of the
enemy were seen advancing. Ronald had ridden up to
the litter on which Marshal Saxe was placed, and after
saluting, had taken up his position with a number of
other officers, in readiness to carry orders to different
parts of the field.

At a short distance from the marshal the King of
France with the dauphin and the brilliant cortege of
nobles had taken up his post. From the position in which
the marshal had caused himself to be placed a complete
view of the enemy's approaching ranks was obtained. It
could soon be seen that the Dutch troops, who on the
English right were advancing to the attack, were moving
against the villages of Antoin and Fontenoy. A strong
force, headed, as was known afterwards, by General
Ingoldsby, moved towards the wood of Barre; while a
solid column of EngUsh and Hanoverians, 10,000 strong,
marched forward to the attack across the broken ground
between Fontenoy and the wood of Barre.

It was as yet but five o'clock in the morning when the
cannon broke out into a roar on both sides. The Dutch,
who were commanded by the Prince of Waldeck, soon
hesitated, and in a short time fell back out of range of fire.

FONTENOY 79

On the English right General Ingoldsby penetrated some
distance into the wood of Barre, and then fell back again
as the Dutch had done. In an hour after the fighting had
commenced the right and left flank of the allied army had
ceased their attack. There remained only the centre, but
this was advancing.

Under the command of the Duke of Cumberland the
column crossed the ravine in front of Fontenoy. The
ground was so broken that the troops were unable to
deploy, but moved forward in a solid mass with a front
of only forty men.

The French batteries from the right and left mowed
them down in lines, but as steadily as if on parade the
places were filled up, and unshaken and calm the great
column moved forward. The cannon which they dragged
along by hand opened against Fontenoy and the redoubts,
and as, in spite of the hail of fire, they pressed steadily
on, the French gunners were obliged to abandon their
cannon and fly.

The regiment of French guards, officered almost
entirely by the highest nobles, met the English guards, who
composed the front lines of the column. A tremendous
volley flashed along the English line, shattering the ranks
of the French guard. There was a moment's fierce
fighting, and then the EngUsh column swept from before it
the remains of the French guard, and cleared the ravine
which defended Fontenoy.

Ronald felt his heart beat with excitement and a
feeling of pride and admiration as he saw the English
advancing unmoved through the storm of fire. They
advanced in the most perfect order. The sergeants calmly
raised or depressed the soldiers' muskets to direct the
fire; each vacant place was filled quietly and regularly
without hesitation or hurry; and exclamations of surprise
and admiration broke even from the French officers.

80 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

Regiment after regiment was brought up and hurled
against the head of the column, but with no more effect
than waves against a rock, each being dashed aside
shattered and broken by the steady volleys and regular
lines of bayonets. Ronald and other officers were sent
off to bring up the cavalry, but in vain did these strive to
break the serried column. One regiment after another
charged down upon it, but the English, retaining their
fire until they were within a few yards of their muzzles,
received them with such tremendous volleys that they
recoiled in disorder.

The French regiment of Vaisseaux next advanced to
the attack, and fought with greater gallantry than any
which had preceded it; but at last, when almost anni-
hilated, its survivors fell back. And now it seemed as if
this 10,000 men were to be victorious over the whole
French army. Marshal Saxe begged the king to retire
with the dauphin across the bridge of Calonne while he
did what he could to retrieve the battle, but the king
refused to leave the field. There was a hurried council
held round Louis, and it was agreed to make a great
effort by calling up the whole of the troops between
Fontenoy and Antoin, as the positions they held were no
longer threatened by the Dutch.

Had the latter now advanced nothing could have saved
the French army from utter defeat; but they remained
immovable at a distance from the field of battle. The
English had now won the crown of the position, had cut
through the French centre, and were moving forward
towards the bridge of Calonne, when the whole of the
French artillery, which had, by the advice of the Duke of
Richelieu, been brought up, opened fire on the English
column. At the same moment the French regiments from
Antoin fell upon it; while Marshal Saxe, who had, when
the danger became imminent, mounted his horse, himself

FONTENOY 8l

brought up the Irish Brigade, who, with a wild yell of hatred,
flung itself furiously upon the flank of the English.

Attacked thus on all sides, mown down by a heavy
fire of artillery, unsupported amid an army of foes, the
column could do no more. Ten thousand men could not
withstand fifty thousand. Their ranks were twice broken
by the Irish, but twice their officers rallied them; until
at last, when it became evident that no more could be
done, the column fell slowly back in an order as perfect
and regular as that in which it had advanced.

French historians have done ample justice to the
extraordinary valour shown by the English troops on this
occasion, a valour never surpassed in the long annals of
the British Army. The glory and honour of the day
rested with them, rather than with the victorious army of
France. More than half the column had fallen in the
desperate engagement, but the loss of the victors was
even greater, and comprised many belonging to the
noblest families of France.

Ronald had won the warm approval of Marshal Saxe
for the manner in which he carried his orders across
ground swept by a heavy fire, and brought up the
regiments to within close quarters of the English; and after
the battle was over Marshal Saxe presented to the king
several of his staff" who had most distinguished themselves,
and calling up Ronald, who was standing near, for his
horse had been shot under him as he rode by the side of
the marshal with the Irish Brigade to the attack, the
marshal said:

"Allow me to present to your majesty Ronald Leslie,
a young Scottish gentleman of good family, who is a
volunteer in the Scottish Dragoons, and has rendered
great service to-day by the manner in which he has borne
my orders through the thickest of the fire."

"I will bear you in mind, young gentleman," the king

F

82 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

said graciously, "and I charge the marshal to bring your
name before me on a future day."

His duty as aide-de-camp over, Ronald rejoined his
regiment. They had lost nearly a third of their number
in their charges upon the English column. Major Munro
had been killed, the colonel severely wounded, and a
number of officers had fallen. Ronald went about among
the men assisting to bind up wounds, and supplying those
who needed it with wine and other refreshments. Presently
he was joined by Malcolm.

"Thank God you are safe, Ronald. This has been a
great day for you."

"You mean about the marshal presenting me to the
king? Yes, that ought to help us."

"No, I didn't mean that, for I had not heard of it. I
mean about your grandfather, the Marquis de Recambours.
A ball from one of the English field-pieces struck him
full in the chest, and of course slew him instantly. So now
the greatest obstacle to the release of your father and
mother is out of the way."

"Thank God for that!" Ronald said. "I have no reason
for feeling one spark of regret at what has befallen him.
He was the cruel persecutor of my parents, and did his best
to get me removed. There is but one obstacle now to ob-
taining my father's release, and as he is neither a relation
nor an old man I shall be able to deal with him myself."

"Yes, but you must be careful, Ronald; remember the
decree against duelling. We must not make a false step
now, when fortune is at last favouring us. There will be
no more fighting, I fancy. The English will certainly not
attack us again, and Tournay must fall. The king is sure
to go back to Paris at once, where he will be received
with enthusiasm. Marshal Saxe will probably follow
as soon as Tournay has fallen. When the marshal arrives
in Paris we will get him to present it."

FONTENOY 83

Tournay surrendered a few days after the battle, and
the allied army fell back and resumed a defensive attitude.
The king therefore returned at once to Paris, and Marshal
Saxe, handing over the command of the army to Marshal
de Noailles, followed him by easy stages. Delighted above
all things at a success gained over the English, who had
for centuries been victorious in every battle in which
England and France had met as enemies, the citizens of
Paris organized a succession of brilliant fetes, which
were responded to by entertainments of all kinds at
Versailles. The Scottish Dragoons were still at the front;
but Colonel Hume had been brought to Paris, as it would
be some time ere he would be able again to take the com-
mand of his regiment. Ronald called at the house where
the colonel lodged, upon the day after his return from
Tours, and found that he had arrived upon the previous
day. Ronald was at once shown up on sending in his name.
The colonel was lying on the couch when he entered.

"How are you, colonel?"

"I am going on as well as possible, Ronald; they found
the ball and got it out the day before I left the regiment,
and I shall do well now. What I have got to do now is
lie quiet, and the doctor promises me that in six weeks'
time I shall be fit to mount a horse again. Marshal Saxe
sent yesterday evening to inquire after me, and I will
send you to thank him for so sending, and to inquire on
my part how he himself is going on. My message will be
a good excuse for your presenting yourself."

Ronald found the ante-chamber of the marshal crowded
with nobles and officers who had come to pay their
respects to the victorious general, who was, next to the
king himself, at that moment the most popular man in
France. Hitherto, as a Protestant and a foreigner, Maurice
of Saxony had been regarded by many with jealousy and
dislike; but the victory which he had won for the French

84 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

arms had for the time obliterated every feeling save
admiration and gratitude.

Presently the marshal came out from the inner room
with the dauphin, who had called on the part of the king
to inquire after his health. He was now able to walk,
the excitement of the battle and the satisfaction of the
victory having enabled him partially to shake off the
disease which afflicted him. After the dauphin had left
the marshal made the tour of the apartment, exchanging
a few words with all present.

"Ah! you are there, young Leslie," he said familiarly
when he came to Ronald. "Where have you been? I
have not seen you since the day when you galloped about
with my messages through the English fire as if you had
a charmed life."

"Colonel Hume gave me leave, sir, to travel on private
business. I am now the bearer of a message from him,
thanking you for your kind enquiries as to his wound;
he bids me say that he trusts that your own health is
rapidly recovering."

"As you see, Leslie, Fontenoy has done wonders for me
as well as for France; but wait here, I will speak with
you again."

In half an hour most of the callers took their departure,
then the marshal called Ronald into an inner room.

"To-morrow," he said, "I am going to pay my respects
to the king at Versailles. I will take you with me. I do
not think the king will be able to refuse my first request,
and when your mother is out we must put our heads
together and see about getting your father's release."

Ronald expressed his deep gratitude at the marshal's
kindness.

The next day Ronald presented himself at the hotel of
Marshal Saxe and rode by the side of his carriage out to
Versailles. The king, surrounded by a brilliant train of

FONTENOY 85

courtiers, received the marshal with the greatest warmth,
and after talking to him for some time retired with him
into his private closet. A few minutes later one of the
royal pages came out into the audience-chamber and said
in a loud voice that the king desired the presence of
Monsieur Ronald Leslie.

Greatly embarrassed at finding himself the centre of
observation not unmingled with envy at the summons,
Ronald followed the page into the presence of the king,
who was alone with Marshal Saxe. Louis, who was in
high good humour, gave Ronald his hand to kiss, saying:

"I told the marshal to recall your name to me, and he
has done so now. He says that you have a boon to ask
of me."

"Yes, sire," the marshal said; "and please consider
graciously that it is I who ask it as well as he."

"It is granted before you name it, marshal," the king
said. "I give you my royal word that whatever be your
boon, provided that it be within the bounds of possibility,
it is yours."

"Then, sire, I ask that an old comrade and fellow-
soldier of mine, who fought bravely for your majesty, but
who fell under your majesty's displeasure many years
ago on account of a marriage which he made contrary to
your pleasure, may be released. He has now been over
sixteen years in prison, and has therefore paid dearly for
thwarting your will, and his wife has all this time been
confined in a convent. They are the father and mother of
this brave lad — Colonel Leslie, who commanded your
majesty's regiment of Scotch Dragoons, and his wife, the
Countess Amelie of Recambours. I ask your majesty, as
my boon, that you will order this officer to be released
and the lady allowed to leave the convent."

"Peste, marshal!" the king said good-temperedly; "your
request is one which will get me into hot water with a

86 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

score of people. From the day the marquis was killed at
Fontenoy I have heard of nothing but questions about his
estates, and I believe that no small portion of them have
been already promised."

"I say nothing about the estates," the marshal replied;
"as to that, your majesty's sense of justice is too well
known for it to be necessary for me to say a single word.
The countess has estates of her own, which she inherited
from her mother, but even as to these I say nothing. It
is her liberty and that of her husband which I and this
brave lad ask of your majesty."

"It is granted, marshal, and had your boon been a great
one instead of a small one I would have granted it as
freely"; and the king again held out his hand to Ronald,
who bent on one knee to kiss it, tears of joy flowing
down his cheeks and preventing the utterance of any
audible thanks for the boon, which far surpassed his
expectations; for the marshal had said nothing as to his
intention of asking for his father's freedom, which indeed
he only decided to do upon seeing in how favourable a
disposition he found the king.

The king touched a bell and bade the page who entered
order his secretary to attend at once.

"Search the register of the state prisons," he said, "and
tell me where Colonel Leslie, who was arrested by our
orders sixteen years ago, is confined, and then make out
an order to the governor of his prison for his release; also

draw up an order upon the lady superior of ," and he

paused.

"The Convent of Our Lady at Tours," Ronald ventured
to put in.

"Oh! you have discovered that, eh?" the king said with
a smile; and then turned again to the secretary — "bidding
her suffer the Countess Amelie de Recambours to leave
the convent and proceed where she will."

FONTENOY 87

The secretary bowed and retired. Ronald, seeing that
his own presence was no longer required, said a few words
of deep gratitude to the king and retired to the audience-
room, where he remained until the marshal, accompanied
by many of the nobles, made his way down to his carriage.
Ronald again mounted, and as soon as the carriage had
left the great court-yard of the palace, rode up alongside
and poured out his gratitude to the marshal.

"It has been another Fontenoy," the marshal said
smiling. "Here are the two orders, the one for Tours, the
other for the governor of the royal castle at Blois. The
king made light of it but I know his manner so well
that I could see he would rather that I had asked for a
dukedom for you. It is not often that kings are thwarted,
and he regards your parents as being rebels against his
authority. However, he was bound by his promise, and
there are the papers. If you take my advice you will go first
and fetch your mother, in order that she may be at hand to
receive your father when he leaves the fortress."

Malcolm was wild with joy when Ronald returned with
the account of his interview with the king and its successful
result, and had his not been a seasoned head the number
of bumpers which he drank that night in honour of
Marshal Saxe would have rendered him unfit for travel
in the morning. Ronald had, after acquainting him with
the news, gone to Colonel Hume, whose pleasure at
hearing that his former colonel and comrade was to regain
his freedom was unbounded. Every preparation was
made for an early start.

"Be sure you look well to the priming of your pistols
before you put them in your holsters to-morrow,"
Malcolm said.

"Do you think it will be necessary?"

"I am sure of it, Ronald. News travels fast; and you
may be sure that by this time the fact that the king has

88 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

granted an order for the release of your father and mother
is known to the Duke of Chateaurouge. I consider the
journey we are going to undertake to-morrow an affair
of greater danger than going into a pitched battle. As to
our travelling by the direct road, I look upon it as impos-
sible. Our only chance is to throw them off the scent, and
as they know our destination that will be no easy matter."

They were astir by daylight, and Malcolm soon brought
the horses round to the door.

"That is not your own horse, Malcolm, is it?"

"No, it is one of the troopers'. It is one of the best in
the regiment, and I persuaded the man to change with
me for a week. No one is likely to notice the difference,
as they are as nearly as possible the same colour. Your
horse is good enough for anything; but if I could not
keep up with you its speed would be useless. Now, I
think, we can keep together if we have to ride for it."

"What have you got in that valise, Malcolm? One
would think that you were going upon a campaign."

"I have got four bottles of good wine, and bread and
meat enough to last us for two days. I do not mean, if
I can help it, to enter a shop or stop at an inn till we
arrive at Tours. We can make a shift to sleep for to-
night in a wood. It would be safer a thousand times
than an inn, for I will bet fifty to one that if we ventured
to enter one we should find one or both of our horses lame
on starting again."

"Oh come, Malcolm, that's too much! The Duke of
Chateaurouge is not ubiquitous. He has not an army to
scatter all over France."

"No, he has not," Malcolm agreed; "but from what I
know of him I doubt not that he can lay his hands on a
number of men who will stick at nothing to carry out
his orders and earn his money. Paris swarms with dis-
charged soldiers and ruffians of all kinds, and with plenty

A PERILOUS JOURNEY 89

of gold to set the machine in motion there is no limit to
the number of men who might be hired for any desperate
deed."

As they were talking they were making their way
towards one of the southern gates, they arrived there
before it was opened, and had to wait a few minutes.
Several other passengers on horseback and foot were
gathered there.

"I could bet a crown piece," Malcolm said, "that some
one among this crowd is on the watch for us, and that
before another half-hour the Duke of Chateaurouge will
know that we have started."

CHAPTER VIII

A PERILOUS JOURNEY

A NUMBER of peasants with market carts were waiting
outside the gates, and for the first few miles of their ride
the road was dotted with people making their way to the
city. After riding for upwards of an hour they came, at
the turn of the road, upon two carts. One had apparently
broken down, and the other had stopped that those with
it might give assistance in reparing it. One cart was
turned across the road, and the other filled the rest of the
space.

"Stop!" Malcolm exclaimed, checking his horse sud-
denly.

"What is it?" Ronald asked in surprise.

"Turn back!" Malcolm said sharply as he wheeled his
horse round.

Ronald, without a word, did the same, and they
galloped a hundred yards down the road.

90 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

"We were nearly caught there," Malcolm said.

"Why, how do you mean?"

"Never mind now, Ronald. Turn sharp to the right
here, and make a detour through the fields."

"It is a shame riding through this ripe corn," Ronald
said, as he leaped his horse over the bank and dashed off
among the golden grain, which stretched far and wide on
both sides of the road.

They had not gone fifty yards before they heard loud
shouts, and as they came abreast of where the carts were
standing several shots were fired, and ten or twelve men
were seen running through the corn as if to cut them
off. But although they heard the whiz of the bullets they
were too far off to be in much danger, and the men on
foot had no chance of cutting them off, a fact which they
speedily perceived, as one by one they halted and fired.
A few hundred yards farther the two horsemen came
round into the road again and pursued their journey.

"Well, what do you think of that, Ronald?"

"It was an ambush, no doubt, Malcolm; but what on
earth made you suspect it?"

"I am in a suspicious humour this morning, Ronald,
and it is lucky I am. The sight of the two carts completely
blocking the road brought me to a halt at once, and
as I checked my horse I saw a movement among the
bushes on the right of the road, and felt sure that it was an
ambush. Now I propose that we take the next lane which
branches off to the right, and travel by by-roads in future."

Two miles further a road branched to the right. As
they approached it Ronald was about to touch his horse's
rein, when Malcolm said shortly, "Ride straight on."

Although surprised at this sudden change of plan,
Ronald obeyed without question.

"What was that for?" he asked when he had passed
the turning.

A PERILOUS JOURNEY 9I

"Did you not see that man lying down by the heap of
stones at the corner?"

"Yes, I saw him; but what of that?"

"I have no doubt he was on the look-out for us. Yes,
I thought so," he went on, as he stood up in his stirrups
and looked back; "there, do you see that horse's head in
that Uttle thicket, just this side of where the road separates?
I expected as much. If we had turned off, in another
two minutes that fellow would have been galloping
along this road to take the news to those ahead, and they
would have ridden to cut us off further along. I have
no doubt we shall find someone on watch at every turning
between this and Orleans."

"But this is a regular campaign."

"It is a campaign, Ronald. The ruffians and thieves of
Paris form a sort of army."

"What is our next move now, Malcolm?"

"We will turn off before we get to the next road.
They can see a long way across these level plains; so we
will dismount and lead our horses. The corn is well-nigh
shoulder-deep, and if we choose a spot where the ground
lies rather low, neither that scoundrel behind nor the one
at the next road is likely to see us."

Half a mile further there was a slight dip in the
ground.

"This is a good spot," Malcolm said. "This depression
extends far away on our right, and although it is very
slight, and would not conceal us if the ground were bare,
it will do so now, so let us take advantage of it."

So saying he dismounted, and leading his horse, turned
into the corn-field. Ronald followed him, and for two
miles they kept straight on through the corn; then they
came upon a narrow road connecting two villages.
They mounted and turned their horse's heads to the
south.

92 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

As they left the rich plains of the Beauce, the country
was less carefully cultivated. The fields of corn were no
longer continuous, and presently they came to tracts of
uncultivated land with patches of wood. They now left
the httie road they had been following, and rode straight
across country, avoiding all villages. They crossed several
hills, and late in the afternoon drew rein in a wide-
spreading forest. They were, Malcolm thought, quite as
far south as Orleans, and by starting at daylight would
arrive at Tours by mid-day.

"Here at least we are perfectly safe," he said; "when
we approach Tours our perils will begin again. The river
can only be crossed at certain points, and they will feel
sure we shall go by one or other of them."

"And I suppose we shall," Ronald said.

"No, Ronald; my idea is that we turn west and ride
to Le Mans, then take a wide detour and enter Tours
from the south side. It will take us a day longer, but
I think that we shall in that way entirely outwit them."

Hobbling their horses, they turned them loose to pick
up what they could in the forest, and then sat down to
enjoy a good meal from the ample supply Malcolm had
brought with him. When night fell they unstrapped
their cloaks from their saddles and rolled themselves in
them and lay down to sleep.

In the morning Malcolm saddled the two horses, and
they started for Le Mans, which town they reached
late in the afternoon, without adventure. Deeming it
improbable that any watch would be set for them at a
place so far from their line of travel, they put up for the
night at the principal inn. In the morning they again
started, and after riding for some distance to the south,
made a wide sweep, and crossing the river, entered Tours
from the south, late in the evening. They put up at the
principal inn, for they had no fear of molestation in a

A PERILOUS JOURNEY 93

town like Tours. And on the following morning Ronald
presented himself at the entrance to the convent.

"I wish to see the lady-superior," he said to the lay
sister at the wicket. "I am the bearer of a communication
to her from the king."

He was left waiting for a few minutes outside the gate,
then the wicket door opened, and the sister requested him
to follow her. Not a soul was to be seen as he traversed
the gloomy courts and passed through several corridors
to the room where the abbess was waiting him. In silence
he handed to her the king's order. The abbess opened
and read it.

"His majesty's commands shall be obeyed," she said;
"in an hour the countess ^^ill be in readiness to depart."

"A carriage shall be in waiting at the gate to receive
her," Ronald said, bowing, and then, without another
word, retired.

Malcolm was awaiting him outside, and they at once
went to the office of the royal post and engaged a carriage
and post-horses to take them to Blois.

The carriage was at the door at the appointed time, and
a few minutes later the gate opened, and the countess, in
travelling attire, issued out, and in a moment was clasped
in her son's arms. He at once handed her into the carriage
and took his place beside her. Malcolm closed the door
and leapt up on the box, the postilion cracked his whip,
and the carriage moved off.

"Can it be true, Ronald, or am I dreaming? Am I
really free? It seems like a dream. Where are we going?"

"We are going to Blois."

"To a prison?" the countess exclaimed. "But there are
no guards or escorts. Are we going to see my husband?"

"Yes, mother, we are going, not only to see him but
to release him. I have the king's order in my pocket."

For some time the countess was unable to speak, her

94 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

joy was too great for words. Ronald said nothing until
she had somewhat recovered her calmness, and then he
told her the manner in which Marshal Saxe had obtained
the two orders of release.

"I will pray for him night and morning to the last day
of my life," the countess said.

It was late at night before Blois was reached, and having
alighted at the Aigle d'Or they engaged a private room.

That night Ronald and his mother debated what would
be the best way to proceed in the morning, and finally
they agreed that Malcolm should present himself at the
prison with the order of release, and that they should
remain at the hotel, to which Malcolm should bring
Colonel Leslie, after breaking to him the news that his
wife and son were both awaiting him. The shock, in any
case, of sudden liberty, would be a severe one, and the
meeting with his attached comrade would act as a
preparation for that with his wife.

Malcolm went in the morning, and in little over an
hour the carriage drove back into the court-yard.

"Be brave, mother," Ronald said, as he felt the hand
he held in his own tremble violently. "You must be
calm for his sake."

Steps were heard approaching. The door opened, and
Malcolm entered with a man leaning on his arm. The
countess with a cry of joy sprang forward, and the next
moment was clasped in her husband's arms.

Ronald drew aside to the window to leave his father
and mother to enjoy the first rapture of their meeting
undisturbed, while Malcolm slipped quietly from the
room again.

"Why, Amelie," Leslie said at last, holding her at arms'-
length that he might look the better at her, "you are
scarce changed. It does not seem to me that you are
five years older than when I saw you last, while I have

A PERILOUS JOURNEY 95

become an old man — my hair is as white as snow, and I
am so crippled with rheumatism I can scarce move my
limbs."

"You are not so much changed, Angus. Your hair is
white and your face is very very pale; but you are not
so much changed. If I have suffered for your love, dear,
what have you suffered for mine! I have been a prisoner
in a way, but I had a certain amount of freedom in my
cage, while you " And she stopped.

"Yes, it has been hard," he said; "but I kept up my
spirits, Amelie. I never lost the hope that some day we
should be reunited."

"And now, Angus, here is our boy, to whom we owe
our liberty and the joy of this meeting. You may well
be proud of such a son."

"I am proud," Leslie said as Ronald advanced. "Grod
bless you, my boy. You have performed well-nigh a
miracle. Malcolm has been telling me of you. Call him
in again. It is right that he to whom you owe so much
should share in our happiness."

Ronald at once fetched Malcolm, and until late at
night they talked of all that had happened during so
many years. Not a word was said as to their future
plans, all their thoughts being in the past; but the next
morning Colonel Leslie said at breakfast:

"And now what are we going to do next? How do
we stand?"

"I know no more than you do, Angus. I do not know
whether the king has gifted my mother's estate to others,
as assuredly he has done my father's lands. If he has, I
have been thinking that the best plan will be to ask the
king's permission to leave the kingdom and return to your
native Scotland."

"I am very fond of Scotland, Amelie; but I have also
a fondness for living, and how I should live in Scotland

96 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

I have not the most remote idea. My estate there was
but a small one, and was forfeited thirty years ago, so
it seems to me that we must stop in France. For very
shame they cannot let the daughter of the Marquis de
Recambours starve, and they must at least restore you a
corner of your parents' estates, if it be but a farm."

"I should think, Angus, that the proper thing would be
for me to write to the king thanking him for our release,
asking his commands, and petitioning him that my
mother's estates may be restored to me. I will also ask
permission to retire to some southern town where there
are waters which may do good to your rheumatism."

Colonel Leslie frowned.

"I suppose that is the right thing to do, Amelie; though,
for my part, I cannot thank a sovereign whom I have
served well after such treatment as I have received.
Ronald, what do you think had best be done? You and
Malcolm have managed so well that we had best leave it
for you to decide."

"I think what you propose, mother, is best. I think
you had better travel down to some place near where
your mother's estates lay, and then write your petition
to the king. I will leave you there and return with it to
Paris, and will there consult Colonel Hume and Marshal
Saxe as to how it should be delivered to the king."

This plan was carried out. The party journeyed to-
gether to Poitiers, and there having seen his parents
comfortably settled in a small house near the town, and
remained with them a few days, Ronald with Malcolm
returned to Paris, bearing with him his mother's memorial
to the king.

Ronald was glad to find that Colonel Hume was now
recovered from his wound. Marshal Saxe too was better;
the latter at once took charge of the petition, and said
that he would hand it to the king on the first opportunity.

A PERILOUS JOURNEY 97

Ronald accompanied the marshal several times to
Versailles, but the latter had no private audience with the
king, and thought it better not to present the memorial
in public. One day, however, he was called into the
king's closet.

When he emerged with the king, Ronald thought
from his expression of countenance that things had not
gone well. On leaving the palace he mounted his horse —
for he was now well enough to ride — and as he set out
he called Ronald, who with other gentlemen had accom-
panied him to ride beside him.

"Things have not gone well," he said. "Your father's
enemies have evidently been at work, and have been
poisoning the king's mind. He read the memorial, and
then said harshly, 'The Countess of Recambours has
forfeited all rights to her mother's estates by marrying an
alien. The lands of France are for the King of France's
subjects, not for soldiers of fortune. An answer to the
petition will be sent to you to-morrow, marshal.'

"I bowed, and without another word the king left his
closet and entered the room of audience. However, lad,
you must not look so downcast. We could perhaps
expect no more the first time. Of course every man who
has a hope, or who has a relation who has a hope, of
obtaining the grant of your mother's estates is interested in
exciting the king's displeasure against her; besides which
there is, as you have told me, the Due de Chateaurouge,
who may be regarded as a personal enemy of your father,
and who has the king's ear as much as anyone about him.
However, we must have courage."

At the appointed time Ronald again called at Marshal
Saxe's hotel. An hour later a royal attendant entered and
handed a document to the marshal. The latter glanced
at it and looked around. As soon as his eye fell upon
Ronald he nodded to him.

gS BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

"Here is the judgment," he said in a low tone, as he
handed him the paper. "You see it is directed to the count-
ess, to my care. I suppose you will start with it at once."

"Yes, marshal; the horses are saddled and we shall
leave immediately."

"Don't hurry your horses," the marshal said with a
slight smile; "from the king's manner I think that the
contents are such that a few hours' delay in the delivery
will cause the countess no pain. However, I do not
anticipate anything very harsh. In the first place, although
the king is swayed by favourites who work on his prejudices,
his intention is always to be just; and in the second
place, after granting the release of your parents as a boon
to me he can scarcely annul the boon by any severe
sentence. Will you tell the countess from me that I am
wholly at her service, and that, should any opportunity
offer, she may be sure that I will do what I can to incline
the king favourably towards her. Lastly, Leslie, take
care of yourself. The change in the king's manner shows
that you have powerful enemies, and now that you have
succeeded in obtaining your parents' freedom you have
become dangerous. Remember the attack that was made
upon you before, when there seemed but little chance
that you would ever succeed in obtaining their release or
in seriously threatening the interests of those who were
looking forward to the reversion of the family estates.
Their enmity now, when it only needs a change in the
king's mood to do justice to your parents, will be far
greater than before."

A quarter of an hour later Ronald was on horseback.
He had already provided himself with a pass to leave the
city after the usual hour of closing the gates, and he and
Malcolm were soon in the open country. Travelling by
by-ways Ronald and Malcolm arrived at Poitiers without
adventure.

A PERILOUS JOURNEY 99

"I have brought you the king's answer, mother, "Ronald
said as he ahghted; "but before you open it I may tell
you that it is unfavourable, though I am ignorant of the
precise nature of its contents. But you must not be
disappointed. Marshal Saxe bade me tell you that when-
ever an opportunity occurs he will endeavour to move
the king's mind in your favour. How is my father?"

"He suffers grievously from rheumatism, Ronald, and
can scarce move from his couch."

As soon as they joined the colonel the countess opened
the king's letter. It was brief. "The Countess Amelie
de Recambours is hereby ordered to withdraw at once to
her estate of La Grenouille and there to await the king's
pleasure concerning her."

The king's signature was affixed.

"Well, that is not so very bad," the countess said. "At
anyrate my right to one of my mother's estates is recog-
nized. La Grenouille is the smallest of them, and contains
but three or four farms. Still that will suffice for our
wants, and as it lies but twenty miles from Bordeaux
the air will be warm and soft for you, Angus."

"Is there a chateau on it, mother?"

"Yes, there is a small chateau. I was there once as a
girl. It has never been modernized, but is still a castle
such as it was two hundred years ago."

A week later a carriage was hired to convey the colonel
and his wife, and so they journeyed quietly down to La
Grenouille. On arriving there they found that they were
expected, the old steward in charge having received a
letter from the royal chancellor, saying that he was to
receive the countess as the owner of the estate.

The old man, who had known her mother well and
remembered her visits as a child, received the countess
with respectful joy. The chateau was, as Amelie had
said, really a casde. It was surrounded by a moat filled

100 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

with water, from which the walls rose abruptly, with no
windows in the lower stories and only small loopholes in
those above. Although the steward was ignorant when
his mistress might be expected he had already caused
great fires to be Ughted in all the rooms and had tem-
porarily engaged two of the farmer's daughters to wait
upon the countess, and five stout men as servitors.

"Do you think five men will be sufficient?" the countess
said. "I ask because I have powerful enemies, and in
these lawless times an attack upon a lonely house might
well be carried out."

"With the drawbridge drawn up, madam, five men
could hold the chateau against a score, and the sound of
the alarm-bell would bring all the tenants and their men
down to your assistance. I will answer for them all.
There were great rejoicings last week when I sent round
the news that you were expected. The memory of your
mother, who once resided here for a year, is very dear
to all of us, and there is not a man on the estate but would
take up arms in your defence. The sound of the alarm-
bell would bring thirty stout fellows, at least, to your aid."

"Then we need not trouble on that score, Amelie," the
colonel said cheerfully. "Malcolm will see to the draw-
bridge to-morrow; probably it has not been raised for
years."

"I have already been examining it," Malcolm — who
had just entered the room — said. "It only needs a little oil
and a bolt or two. I will have it raised to-night. Things
look better than I expected, colonel, and I shall be able
to return to Paris without having any anxiety upon your
score."

"But you are not thinking of going back, Ronald?" the
countess asked anxiously. "If there is danger here for
us, there must be surely danger for you in Paris. And I
want you here with us."

A PERILOUS JOURNEY lOI

"I will Stop for a few days, mother, and then Malcolm
and I will be off. As I have Marshal Saxe's protection
I need fear no open enmity from anyone, and as I shall
be with the regiment I shall be safe from secret attacks;
besides, my sword can guard my head."

"You have taught him to defend himself — eh,
Malcolm?" Colonel Leshe said.

"I," Malcolm repeated — "I can use my sword in a
melee, colonel, as you know, and hold my own against
Dutchman or German when I meet them on the field;
but Ronald is a different blade altogether. He was well
taught in Glasgow, and has practised under the best
maitres-d'arms in Paris since, and I am proud to say
that I do not think there are ten men in France against
whom he could not hold his own."

"That is good, that is good, indeed," the colonel said
delighted. "Malcolm, I feel my obligations to you more
and more every day. Truly I had never even hoped that
if my son were ever to be restored to me, I should have
such cause to be proud of him."

"But why do you think you had better return to Paris,
Ronald?" his mother inquired.

"Because, mother, it will not do to let your enemies
have entirely their own way now that you have been so
far restored. Doubtless your family will be the more
inchned to aid you with their influence, but there must
be somebody to urge them to do so."

"Besides, Amelie," the colonel put in, "we must not
cage the lad here at your apron-strings. He has already
won Saxe's regard and protection by his conduct in the
field, and can now accept a commission in the old regi-
ment. He has begun well, and may yet live to command
it. No, no, my love. I should like to keep him here as
much as you would, but in every way it is better that he
should go out and take his place in the world. To you

102 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

and me, after our long imprisonment, this place is life,
freedom, and happiness, and we are together; but for him
it is a dreary little country chateau, and he would soon
long for a life among men."

And so, after three weeks' stay at the chateau, Ronald
and Malcolm rode back to Paris, and the former received
a week later a commission through Marshal Saxe in the
Scottish Dragoons. That regiment had returned from the
frontier, and Ronald at once took his place in its ranks,
and was heartily received by all the officers, to whom he
was formally introduced by Colonel Hume as the son of
their former commanding officer.

A short time afterwards it became the turn of duty of
the Scottish Dragoons to furnish the guards for a week at
Versailles, and Colonel Hume took down two troops for
that purpose. That to which Ronald belonged was one
of them. Ronald, knowing that for the present he was
not in favour with the king, begged the colonel to put
him on duty as often as possible, so that he might avoid
the necessity of being present at the king's audiences
with the other officers.

He was one day walking with the colonel and several
other officers in the grounds at a distance from the
palace, when they came, at the turn of the walk, upon
the Due de Chateaurouge and three other gentlemen of the
court. The former stopped abruptly before Colonel Hume.

"I had the honour. Colonel Hume, to speak to you some
time since of a volunteer in your regiment who chose to
call himself by the name of Leslie. I understand he is now
an officer. I see by the lists in the court-yard that a
Cornet Leslie is now on duty here. Where does he hide
himself, for I have been seeking in vain to meet him?"

"Cornet Leslie is not one to balk any man's desire
that way," Colonel Hume said gravely. "This is Comet
LesHe."

A PERILOUS JOURNEY IO3

Ronald stepped forward and looked the Duke calmly
in the face.

"So this is the young cockerel," the duke said contemp-
tuously. "A worthy son of a worthy father, I doubt not."

"At anyrate, my lord duke," Ronald said quietly, "I
do not get rid of my foes by getting those I am afraid
to meet as man to man thrown into prison, nor by setting
assassins upon them. Nor do I rely upon my skill as a
swordsman to be a bully and a coward."

The duke started as if struck.

"I had made up my mind to kill you, young sir," he
said, "sooner or later; but you have brought it on your-
self now. Draw, sir!" And the duke drew his sword.

Colonel Hume and several others threw themselves
before Ronald.

"Put up your sword, sir. Duelling is forbidden, and
you know the consequence of drawing within the precincts
of the palace."

"What care I for ordinances!" the duke said furiously.
"Stand aside, gentlemen, lest I do you harm!"

"Harm or no harm," Colonel Hume said sternly, "my
young friend shall not fight in the palace grounds. I
protest against his being forced into a duel at all; but at
anyrate he shall not fight here."

The duke looked for a moment as if he was about to
spring upon Colonel Hume, but he saw by their faces
that his companions were also against him. For the
consequences of drawing a sword within the precincts of
a palace were so serious, that even the most powerful
nobles shrank from braving them.

"Very well," he said at last, thrusting his sword back
into its scabbard. "It is but ten minutes' walk to the
boundary-wall, I will let him live till then."

So saying he started off with rapid strides down the
walk, followed at a slower pace by the rest.

104 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

CHAPTER IX

THE END OF THE Q,UARREL

"This is a serious business, Leslie," the colonel said in a
low voice. "If it had been anyone but you I should have
ordered him to the barracks at once under pain of arrest,
and have laid the matter before the king, for it would have
been nothing short of murder. But I can trust you to
hold your own even against the Duke of Chateaurouge.
And, in truth, after what has been said, I do not see that
you can do other but meet him."

"I would not avoid it if I could," Ronald said. "His
insults to me do not disturb me; but I have my father's
wrongs to avenge."

"Forbes," the colonel said to one of the other officers,
"go straight to the barracks, bid Leslie's man saddle
his own horse and his master's instantly, and bring them
round outside the wall of the park. If Leslie wounds or
kills his man he will have to ride for it."

The officer at once hurried away.

"Ronald, I will tell you a piece of news I heard this
morning. The young Chevalier left Paris secretly five
days ago, and I have received certain private information
this morning that he has gone to Nantes, and that he is
on the point of sailing for Scotland on his own account.
I am told that this plan of his is known to but five or six
persons. If you get safely through this business mount
and ride thither at all speed. They are more likely to
pursue you towards the frontier or the northern ports,
and will not think you have made for Nantes. If you
get there before the prince has sailed, present yourself to

THE END OF THE QUARREL IO5

him and join his expedition. The king will be furious at
first, both at the loss of his favourite and the breaking
of the edicts; but he must come round. The gentlemen
here with the duke are all honourable men, and were, I
could see, shocked at the insult which the duke passed
on you. Therefore I can rely upon them to join me in
representing the matter in its true light to the king.
Before you return the matter will have blown over, and
it may be that the removal of your father's most powerful
enemy may facilitate an arrangement. In any case, my
boy, you can rely upon the marshal and myself to look
after your interests."

They had now reached a wicket-gate in the wall of the
park. The duke was standing a few paces distant, having
already removed his coat and turned up the shirt sleeve
of the sword-arm.

"You will act as my second, marquis?" he said to one
of the gentlemen.

The latter bowed coldly.

"I act as second to my friend Leslie," Colonel Hume
said. "And I call upon you all, gentlemen, to bear witness
in the future, that this encounter has been wantonly
forced upon him by the Due de Chateaurouge, and
that Comet LesUe, as a man of honour, has no alternative
whatever but to accept the challenge forced upon him."

Ronald had by this time stripped to his shirt sleeves.
The seconds took the two swords and compared their
length. They were found to be as nearly as possible the
same. They were then returned to their owners. A piece
of even turf was selected, and a position chosen in which
the Ught was equally favourable to both parties. Then
both fell into position on guard, and as the rapiers crossed
Colonel Hume said solemnly:

"May God defend the right!" .

An instant later they were engaged in deadly conflict.

I06 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

It lasted but a few seconds. The duke, conscious of his
own skill, and believing that he had but a lad to deal
with, at once attacked eagerly, desirous of bringing the
contest to a termination before there was any chance of
interruption. He attacked carelessly and eagerly, and
made a furious lunge which he thought would terminate
the encounter at once; but Ronald did not give way an
inch, but parrying in carte, slipped his blade round that
of the duke, feinted in tierce, and then rapidly disengaging,
lunged in carte as before. The blade passed through the
body of his adversary, and the lunge was given with
such force that the pommel of his sword struck against
the ribs. The duke fell an inert mass upon the ground
as Ronald withdrew the rapier.

An exclamation of surprise and alarm broke from the
three gentlemen who had accompanied the duke, while
Colonel Hume said gravely:

"God has protected the right. Ah! here come the
horses! Mount and ride, Leslie, and do not spare the spurs.
I should advise you," he said, drawing him aside, "to take
the northern route for a few miles, so as to throw them off
the scent. When you get to Nantes search the inns till you
find the Duke of Athole, he is an intimate friend of mine,
and it was from him I learned in strict secrecy of the
prince's intentions. Show him this ring, he knows it well,
and tell him I sent you to join him; say nothing at first as
to this business here. Your own name and my name will
be enough. He will introduce you to Prince Charlie, who
will be with him under a disguised name. May God bless
you, my lad! We will do our best for you here."

At this moment Malcolm arrived with the two horses.

"Thank God you are safe, Ronald!" he exclaimed as
Ronald leapt into his saddle, and with a word of thanks
and adieu to the colonel dashed off at full speed.

Colonel Hume then rejoined the group gathered round

THE END OF THE QUARREL IO7

the duke. The Scottish officers were looking very grave,
the courtiers even more so. They had from the first
recognized fully that the duel had been provoked by the
duke, and had accompanied him reluctantly, for they
regarded the approaching conflict as so unfair that it
would excite a strong amount of feeling against all who
had a hand in the matter. As to the edict against duelling,
it had not concerned them greatiy, as they felt sure that
with the duke's influence the breach of the law would
be passed over with only a show of displeasure on the
part of the king, and an order to absent themselves for
a short time from court. The contingency that this young
Scottish officer, who had scarcely yet attained the age
of manhood, should kill one of the best swordsman in
France had not occurred to them; but this had happened,
and there could be no doubt that the king's anger, alike
at the loss of his favourite and at the breach of the law,
would fall heavily on all concerned, and that a prolonged
exile from court was the least evil they could expect. Not
a word had been spoken after they had, on stooping over
the duke, found that death had been instantaneous, until
Colonel Hume joined them.

"Well, gentlemen," he said; "this is a bad business, and
means trouble for us all. His majesty will be vastly
angry. However, the duke brought it upon himself, and
is the only person to blame. He forced on the duel,
and would have fought within the royal park had we
not interfered, and we were in a way forced to be present.
I propose that we return to the palace and give notice
of what has occurred. Captain Forbes, as you were
not present at the affair, and will not therefore be called
upon to give any account of it, will you remain here
until they send down to fetch the body?

"We will, if you please, gentiemen, walk slowly, for
every mile that LesUe can put between him and Versailles

I08 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

is very important. The news will reach the king's ears
very shortly after we have made it public. You and I,
marquis, as the seconds in the affair, are sure to be sent
for first. As, fortunately, we were both present at the
quarrel we are both in a position to testify that the duke
brought his fate upon himself, and that the duke fell
in consequence of the rashness of his attack and his
contempt for his adversary."

"I suppose there's nothing else for it," the marquis
grumbled. "I must prepare myself for a prolonged visit
to my country estates."

"And I shall no doubt be placed under arrest for some
time," Colonel Hume said; "and the regiment will
probably be packed off to the frontier again. However,
these things don't make much difference in the long run.
What I am most anxious about, marquis, is that his
majesty should thoroughly comprehend that Leslie was
not to blame, and that this affair was so forced upon him
that it was impossible for him to avoid it. There is much
more than the lad's own safety dependent on this."

"You may be sure, colonel, that I will do him
justice."

At a slow pace the party proceeded until they neared
the palace, when they quickened their steps. The marquis
proceeded immediately to the apartments occupied by the
duke, and told his domestics that their master had been
killed in a duel, and directed them to obtain assistance
and proceed at once to the spot where his body would be
found. The colonel went to the king's surgeon, and told
him of what had taken place.

"His death was instantaneous," he said; "the sword
passed right through him, and I believe touched the
heart. However, it will be as well that you should go
and see the body, as the king will be sure to ask particulars
as to the wound."

THE END OF THE QUARREL lOQ

The rest of the party joined their acquaintances, and
told them what had happened, and the news spread
quickly through the palace. It created a great sensation.
Breaches of the edict were not unfrequent; but the death of
so powerful a noble, a chief favourite, too, of the king, took
it altogether out of the ordinary category of such events.
The more so since the duke's reputation as a swordsman
and a duellist was so great that men could scarce believe
that he had been killed by a young officer who had but
just joined his regiment. It seemed like the story of
David and Goliath over again. A quarter of an hour
later a court official approached Colonel Hume and the
Marquis de Vallecourt, who were standing together
surrounded by a number of courtiers and officers.

"Monsieur le Marquis and Colonel Hume," he said,
saluting them; "I regret to say that I am the bearer of
the orders of his majesty that you shall dehver me your
swords, and that you will then accompany me to the
king's presence."

The two gentlemen handed over their swords to the
official, and followed him to the king's presence. Louis
was pacing angrily up and down his apartment.

"What is this I hear, gentlemen?" he exclaimed as they
entered. "A breach of the edicts here at Versailles,
almost in the boundaries of the park; and that the Due de
Chateaurouge, one of my most valued officers and friends
hcis been killed; they tell me that you acted as seconds
in the affair."

"They have told your majesty the truth," the marquis
said.

"How did it come about?" the king asked abruptly.

"The duke was walking with De Lisle, St. Aignan, and
myself, when we suddenly came upon Colonel Hume with
three of the officers of his regiment. The duke at once
walked up to them and addressed Colonel Hume, and

no BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

finding which of his companions was Monsieur Leslie,
addressed him in terms of so insulting a nature that they
showed that he had been waiting for the meeting to
provoke a quarrel. The young officer replied perfectly
calmly, but with what I must call admirable spirit and
courage, which so infuriated the duke, that he drew at
once, and when we interfered he called upon him to
proceed forthwith outside the park, and there settle the
quarrel. We most reluctantly accompanied him, and
determined to interfere at the first blood drawn; but the
affair scarcely lasted for a second. The duke threw himself
furiously and rashly upon the lad, for, as your majesty is
aware, he is but little more. The latter, standing firm,
parried with admirable coolness, and in an instant ran the
duke right through the body."

"But I have always heard," the king said, "that the
duke was one of the best swordsmen in the army."

"Your majesty has heard correctly," Colonel Hume
replied; "but young Leslie is one of the best swordsmen
in France. The duke's passion and rashness led to the
speedy termination of the duel; but had he fought with
his accustomed coolness I believe that Leslie would have
turned out his conqueror."

"But what was the cause of the quarrel? Why should
the Due de Chateaurouge fix a dispute, as you tell me
he did, upon this officer of yours?"

"I believe, sire, that it was a long-standing quarrel.
The duke's words showed that he bore an enmity against
the lad's father, and that it was on this account that he
insulted the son."

"Leslie!" the king exclaimed, with a sudden recol-
lection. "Is that the youth whom Marshal Saxe presented
to me?"

"The same, sire; the lad who distinguished himself at
Fontenoy, and whom the marshal afterwards appointed

THE END OF THE QUARREL III

to a commission in my regiment, in which he had served
as a gentleman volunteer for nearly a year."

"These Leslies are always causing trouble," the king
said angrily. "I have already given orders that he shall
be arrested whenever he is found, and he shall be punished
as he deserves."

"In punishing him," Colonel Hume said with grave
deference, "I am sure that your majesty will not forget
that this quarrel was forced upon him, and that, had he
accepted the insults of the Duke of Chateaurouge, he
would have been unworthy to remain an officer of your
majesty."

"Silence, sir!" the king said angrily. "You will return
immediately to Paris, under arrest, until my pleasure in
your case is notified to you. I shall at once give orders
that your troops here are replaced by those of a regiment
whose officers abstain from brawling and breaking
the edicts in our very palace. Marquis, you will retire
at once to your estates." The two gentlemen bowed and
left the royal presence.

"Not worse than I expected," the marquis said, after
the door had closed behind them. "Now he will send
for St. Aignan and De Lisle, and will hear their account,
and as it cannot but tally with ours the king must see
that the duke brought his fate upon himself. Louis is
not unjust when his temper cools down, and in a few
weeks we shall meet here again."

"I expect to be on the frontier with my regiment before
that," Colonel Hume replied; "but as I would rather be
there than in Paris that will be no hardship."

Colonel Hume at once mounted and rode back to Paris
and proceeded straight to the hotel of Marshal Szixe, to
whom he communicated what had occurred.

"If Leslie gets safely away it will, perhaps, all turn out
for the best," the marshal said. "As soon as the king's

112 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

anger dies out I will begin to plead the cause of the boy's
parents; and now that the influence of Chateaurouge
the other way is withdrawn, I may hope for a more
favourable hearing. As to the lad himself, we will make
his peace in a few months. The king is brave himself,
as he showed when under fire at Fontenoy, and he admires
bravery in others, and when he has once got over the loss
of Chateaurouge he will appreciate the skill and courage
which the lad showed in an encounter with one of the
most noted duellists in France. I only hope that they will
not manage to overtake the lad before he reaches the
frontier, for although I can rely on the king's justice when
he is cool I would not answer for it just at present."

As Ronald rode off at full speed with Malcolm he
related to him the whole circumstances of the quarrel and
subsequent duel.

"It is well done, Ronald. I made sure that sooner
or later you and the duke would get to blows, that is if
he did not adopt other means to get you removed from
his path; anyhow I am heartily glad it's all over, and that
the most dangerous enemy of your father and yourself
is out of the way. And now we must hope that we
sha'n't be overtaken before we get to the frontier. The
danger is that orders for your arrest will be passed by
signal."

"We are not going to the frontier, Malcolm; I am only
riding this way to throw them off the scent. We are
going to Nantes."

"Well, that's not a bad plan," Malcolm said. "They
are not so Ukely to send orders there as to the northern
ports. But it will not be easy to get a vessel to cross,
for you see, now that we are at war with England, there
is little communication. However, we shall no doubt be
able to arrange with a smuggler to take us across."

"We are not going to England, Malcolm; we are going

THE END OF THE Q^UARREL II3

direct to Scotland. Colonel Hume has told me a secret:
Prince Charies has gone down to Nantes and is going to
cross at once to Scotland."

"What! Alone and without an army!" Malcolm
exclaimed in astonishment.

"I suppose he despairs of getting assistance from Louis.
Now that Fontenoy has put an end to danger on the
frontier, the King of France is no longer interested in
raising trouble for George at home."

"But it is a mad scheme of the prince's," Malcolm said
gravely. "If his father did not succeed in '15 how can he
expect to succeed now?"

"The country has had all the longer time to get sick
of the Hanoverians, and the gallantry of the enterprise
will appeal to the people. Besides, Malcolm, I am not so
sure that he will not do better coming alone than if he
brought the fifteen thousand men he had at Dunkirk last
year with him. Fifteen thousand men would not win
him a kingdom, and many who would join him if he
came alone would not do so if he came backed by an
army of foreigners. It was the French, you will remember,
who ruined his grandfather's cause in Ireland. Their
arrogance and interference disgusted the Irish, and
their troops never did any fighting to speak of. For
myself, I would a thousand times rather follow Prince
Charles fighting with an army of Scotsmen for the crown
of Scotland than fight for him with a French army against
Englishmen."

"Well, perhaps you are right, Ronald; it went against
the grain at Fontenoy; for after all, as you said, we
are closely akin in blood and language to the English,
and although Scotland and France have always been
allies it is a very little good France has ever done us. She
has always been glad enough to get our kings to make
war on England whenever she wanted a diversion made,

H

114 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

but she has never put herself out of the way to return
the favour. It has been a one-sided alliance all along.
Scotland has for years been sending some of her best
blood to fight as soldiers in France, but with a few
exceptions no Frenchman has ever drawn his sword for
Scotland.

"No, I am inclined to think you are right, Ronald, and
especially after what we saw at Fontenoy I have no
wish ever to draw sword again against the English, and
am willing to be the best friends in the world with them
if they will but let us Scots have our own king and go
away peacefully. I don't want to force Prince Charles
upon them if they will but let us have him for ourselves.
If they won't, you know, it is they who are responsible
for the quarrel, not us."

"That is one way of putting it, certainly," Ronald
laughed. "I am afraid, after having been one kingdom
since King James went to London, they won't let us go
our own way without making an effort to keep us; but
here is a cross-road, we will strike off here and make for
the west."

They avoided the towns on their routes, for although
they felt certain that they were ahead of any messengers
who might be sent out with orders for their arrest, they
knew that they might be detained for some little time at
Nantes, and were therefore anxious to leave no clue of
their passage in that direction. On the evening of the
third day after starting they approached their destination.

On the first morning after leaving Versailles they had
halted in a wood a short distance from Chartres, and
Malcolm had ridden in alone and had purchased a suit
of citizen's clothes for Ronald as the latter's uniform as
an officer of the Scotch Dragoons would at once have
attracted notice. Henceforward, whenever they stopped,
Malcolm had taken an opportunity to mention to the

THE END OF THE Q^UARREL II5

Stable-boy that he was accompanying his master, the
son of an advocate of Paris, on a visit to some relatives
in La Vendee. This story he repeated at the inn where
they put up at Nantes.

The next morning Malcolm went round to all the inns
in the town, but could hear nothing of the Duke of
Athole, so he returned at noon with the news of his want
of success.

"They may have hired a private lodging to avoid
observation," Ronald said, "or, not improbably, may have
taken another name. The best thing we can do is to go
down to the river side, inquire what vessels are likely to
leave port soon, and then, if we see anyone going off to
them, to accost them. We may hear of them in that
way."

Accordingly they made their way down to the river.
There were several vessels lying in the stream, in readi-
ness to sail when the wind served, and the mouth of the
river was reported to be clear of any English cruisers.
They made inquiries as to the destination of the vessels.
All the large ones were saiUng for Bordeaux or the
Mediterranean ports of France.

"What is that little vessel lying apart from the rest?"
Malcolm asked. "She looks a saucy little craft."

"That is the privateer La Doutelle, one of the fastest
little vessels on the coast. She has brought in more than
one English merchantman as a prize."

As they were speaking a boat was seen to leave her
side and make for the shore. With a glance at Malcolm
to break off his conversation with the sailor and follow
him, Ronald strode along the bank towards the spot where
the boat would land. Two gentlemen got out and ad-
vanced along the quay. As they passed Ronald said to
Malcolm:

"I know one of those men's faces."

Il6 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

"Do you, Ronald? I cannot recall having seen them."

Ronald stood for a moment in thought.

"I know now!" he exclaimed. "And he is one of our
men, sure enough."

So saying he hurried after the gentlemen.

"I think sir," he said as he came up to them, "that I
have had the honour of meeting you before."

A look of displeasure came across the gentleman's
face.

"I think you are mistaken, sir," he said coldly. "You
must mistake me for some one else. My name is Vervois —
Monsieur Verbois of Le Mans."

"I have not the pleasure of knowing Monsieur Verbois,"
Ronald said with a light smile; "but I hardly think, sir,
that that is the name that you went by when I had the
honour of meeting you in Glasgow more than two years
ago?"

"In Glasgow!" the gentleman said, looking earnestly at
Ronald. "In Glasgow! I do not remember you."

"I had the pleasure of doing you some slight service,
nevertheless," Ronald said quietly, "when I brought you
news that your enemies were upon you, and managed to
detain them while you made your escape through the
attic window."

"A thousand pardons!" the gentleman exclaimed,
speaking in English. "How could I have forgotten you?
But I saw you for such a short time, and two years have
changed you greatly. This is the young gentleman,
marquis, to whom I am indebted for my escape when I was
so nearly captured at Glasgow, as you have heard me
say. It was to his kindly warning in the first place, and
to his courage in the second, that I owed my liberty. It
is wonderful that you should remember me."

"Two years have not changed you as much as they
have changed me," Ronald said; "besides, you were busy

THE END OF THE QUARREL II7

in destroying papers, while I had nothing to do but to
watch you."

"That is so," the gentleman agreed. "At anyrate I am
heartily glad of the happy chance which has thrown us
together, and has given me an opportunity of expressing
to you the deep gratitude which I have felt for your
warning and assistance. Had it not been for that, not
only should I myself have been taken, but they would
have got possession of those papers, which might have
brought the heads of a score of the best blood of Scotland
to the scaffold. I took a boat that was lying in readiness,
and making down the river got on board a ship which
was cruising there awaiting me, and got off. It has
always been a matter of bitter regret to me that I never
learned so much as the name of the brave young gentle-
man to whom I owed so much, or what had happened
to him for his share in that night's work."

"My name is Ronald Leslie, sir. I am the son of Leslie
of Glenlyon, who fought with the Chevalier in '15, and
afterwards entered the service of the King of France, and
was colonel of the 2nd Scotch Dragoons."

"Of course I knew him well," the gentleman said,
"and with others endeavoured to obtain his pardon when
he fell under the king's displeasure some fifteen years
ago, although I regret to say without success. Believe

me, if Prince Charles " He stopped suddenly as his

companion touched him.

"You would say, sir," Ronald said with a smile, "if
Prince Charles succeeds in his present enterprise, and
regains his throne, you will get him to exert his influence
to obtain my father's release."

The two gentlemen gave an exclamation of astonish-
ment.

"How do you know of any enterprise that is medi-
tated?"

Il8 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

"I was told of it as a secret by a Scotch officer in Paris,
and am the bearer of a message from him to the Duke of
Athole, to ask him to allow me to join the prince."

"I am the duke," the other gentleman said.

"Since it is you, sir, I may tell you that the officer I
spoke of is Colonel Hume, and that he bade me show you
this ring, which he said you would know, as a token that
my story was a correct one."

"Hume is my greatest friend," the duke exclaimed,
"and his introduction would be sufficient, even if you had
not already proved your devotion to the cause of the
Stuarts. I will take you at once to the prince. But," he
said, "before I do so, I must tell you that the enterprise
upon which we are about to embark is a desperate one.
The prince has but five companions with him, and we
embark on board that Uttle privateer lying in the stream.
It is true that we shall be escorted by a man-of-war,
which will convey the arms which Prince Charles has
purchased for the enterprise; but not a man goes with
us, and the prince is about to trust wholly to the loyalty
of Scotland."

"I shall be ready to accompany him in any case, sir,"
Ronald said, "and I beg to introduce to you a faithful
friend of my father and myself. His name is Malcolm
Anderson. He fought for the Chevalier in '15, and
accompanied my father in his flight to France, and served
under him in the French service. Upon the occasion of my
father's arrest he carried me to Scotland, and has been
my faithful friend ever since."

So saying he called Malcolm up and presented him to
the duke, and the party then proceeded to the lodging
where Prince Charles was staying.

"I have the misfortune to be still ignorant of your
name, sir," Ronald said to his acquaintance of Glasgow.

"What!" the gentleman said in surprise. "You do not

\

THE END OF THE Q,UARREL II9

know my name, after doing so much for me! I thought,
as a matter of course, that when you were captured for
aiding my escape you would have heard it, hence my
remissness in not introducing myself. I am Colonel
Macdonald. When you met me I was engaged in a tour
through the Highland clans, sounding the chiefs and
obtaining additions to the seven who had signed a
declaration in favour of the prince three years before. The
English government had obtained, through one of their
spies about the person of the ChevaUer, news of my
mission, and had set a vigilant watch for me."

"But is it possible that there can be spies among those
near the Chevalier!" Ronald exclaimed in astonishment.

"Aye, there are spies everywhere," Macdonald said
bitterly. *'A11 sorts of people come and go round the
Chevalier and round Prince Charles. Every Scotch or
Irish vagabond who has made his native country too hot
to hold him, come to them and pretend that they are
martyrs to their loyalty to the Stuarts; and the worst of
it is their story is believed. They flatter and fawn, they
say just what they are wanted to say, and have no
opinion of their own, and the consequence is that the
Chevalier looks upon these fellows as his friends, and
often turns his back upon the Scottish gentlemen who have
risked and lost all in his service, but who are too honest
to flatter him or to descend to the arts of courtiers. Look
at the men who are with the prince now "

"Macdonald! Macdonald!" the duke said warmly.

"Well, well," the other broke off" impatiently; "no doubt
it is better to hold one's tongue. But it is monstrous that
when there are a score, aye, a hundred of Scottish gentle-
men of family, many of them officers with a high know-
ledge of war, who would gladly have accompanied him
at the first whisper of his intentions, the prince should
be starting on such a venture as this with yourself

I20 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

only, duke, as a representative of the Scottish nobles and
chiefs, and six or eight mongrels — Irish, English, and
Scotch — the sort of men who haunt the pot-houses of
Flanders, and spend their time in telling what they have
suffered in the Stuart cause to any who will pay for
their liquor."

"Not quite so bad as that, Macdonald," the duke said.
"Still I admit that I could have wished that Prince
Charles should have landed in Scotland surrounded by
men with names known and honoured there, rather than
by those he has selected to accompany him."

"But you are going, are you not, sir?" Ronald asked
Colonel Macdonald.

"No, I do not accompany the prince; but I hope to
follow shordy. As soon as the prince has sailed it is my
mission to see all his friends and followers in France, and
urge them to join him in Scotland; while we bring all
the influence we have to bear upon Louis, to induce him
to furnish arms and assistance for the expedition."

CHAPTER X

PRINCE CHARLES

On arriving at the prince's lodgings Macdonald remained
without, the Duke of Athole entering, accompanied only
by Ronald.

"The prince is in disguise," he said, "and but one or
two of us visit him here in order that no suspicion may be
incited among the people of the house that he is anything
beyond what he appears to be — a young student of the
Scotch college at Paris."

They ascended the stairs to the upper story, and on the

PRINCE CHARLES 121

marquis knocking a door was opened. The duke entered,
followed by Ronald.

"Well, duke, what is the news?"

The question was asked by a young man, who was
pacing restlessly up and down the room, of which he was,
with the exception of his valet de chambre, an ItaUan
named Michel, the person who had opened the door, the
only occupant.

"Ah! whom have you here?"

"Allow me to present to your royal highness Lieutenant
Leslie. He is the son of LesUe of Glenlyon, who fought
by my side in your father's cause in '15, and has, like
myself, been an exile ever since. This is the young
gentieman who, two years since, saved Macdonald from
arrest in Glasgow."

"Ah! I remember the adventure," the prince said
courteously, "and a right gallant action it was; but how did
you hear that I was here, sir?"

"I was told by my good friend and commanding officer,
Colonel Hume of the 2nd Scottish Dragoons, your royal
highness."

"I revealed it to Hume before leaving Paris," the duke
said, "he being a good friend of mine and as staunch as
steel, and I knew that he could be trusted to keep a
secret."

"It seems that in the last particular you were wrong,"
the prince remarked with a slight smile.

"Colonel Hume only revealed it to me, sir," Ronald
said, anxious to save his friend from the suspicion of
having betrayed a secret confided to him, "for very
special reasons. I had the misfortune to kill in a duel the
Duke of Chateaurouge, and as we fought just outside
the park of Versailles, and the duke was a favourite of
the king's, I had to ride for it; then Colonel Hume,
knowing my devotion to the cause of your highness,

122 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

whispered to me the secret of your intention, and gave
me a message to his friend the Duke of Athole."

"Do you say that you have killed the Duke of Chateau-
rouge in a duel?" the duke exclaimed in astonishment.
"Why, he has the reputation of being one of the best
swordsmen in France, and has a most evil name as a
dangerous and unscrupulous man. I met him constantly
at court, and his arrogance and haughtiness were well-nigh
insufferable. And you have killed him?"

"I knew him well too," the prince said, "but sit down
and tell us all about it. Upon my word I am so sick of
being cooped up for four days in this wretched den that I
regard your coming as a godsend. Now tell me how was it
that the Due de Chateaurouge condescended to quarrel
with a young officer in the Scottish Horse."

"It was a family quarrel, sir, which I had inherited
from my father."

"Yes, yes, I remember now," the Duke of Athole broke
in. "It is an old story now; but I heard all about it at the
time, and did what I could, as did all Leslie's friends to
set the matter right, but in vain." He told the prince the
facts of the affair, and Ronald described how his parents
came to be released and how he fought a duel with their
enemy.

"The duke doubtless thought that he would kill me
without difficulty, and so rushed in so carelessly that at
the very first thrust I ran him through," he concluded.

"And served him right," the prince said heartily. "Now
since both your father's enemies are gone, it may be
hoped that his troubles are over, and that your mother
will recover the estates to which she is entitled. And
now, duke, what is your news? When are we going to
sail?"

"The Doutelle is already by this time on her way down
the river, and it is proposed that we shall start this evening

PRINCE CHARLES 123

and board her there. The stores and arms are all safely
on board the Elizabeth^ and she is lying off Belleisle;
so far as Mr. Walsh has heard, no suspicion has been
excited as to their purpose or destination, so that we may
hope in twenty-four hours to be fairly on board."

"That is the best news I have heard for months," the
prince said; "thank goodness the time for action is at last
at hand!"

"I have, I trust, your royal highness' permission to
accompany you," Ronald said; "together with my
follower, Anderson. He is the trooper who carried me
over to Scotland as a child, and has been my faithful
friend ever since."

"Certainly, LesUe. I shall be glad indeed to have a
member of a family who have proved so faithful to my
father's cause with me in the adventure upon which I am
embarking."

Ronald with a few words of thanks bowed and took
his leave, after receiving instructions from the duke to
start shortly and to ride down the river towards Lorient.

"You can halt for a few hours on the road, and then
ride on again; we shall overtake you before you reach the
port. We shall all leave singly or in pairs, to avoid
attracting any attention."

Ronald left, delighted with the kindness of the prince's
manner. Prince Charles was indeed possessed of all the
attributes which win men's hearts and devotion. In
figure he was tall and well formed, and endowed both
with strength and activity. He excelled in all manly
exercises, and was an excellent walker, having applied
himself ardently to field-sports during his residence in
Italy.

The weakness in the prince's character was that he
was a bad judge of men, and inchned on all occasions
to take the advice of designing knaves who flattered

124 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

and paid deference to him, rather than that of the
Scottish nobles who were risking their Hves for his cause,
but who at times gave their advice with a bluntness and
warmth which were displeasing to him. It was this
weakness which brought an enterprise, which at one time
had the fairest prospect of success, to destruction and
ruin.

On leaving the house Ronald was joined by Malcolm,
and half an hour later they mounted their horses and
rode for the mouth of the Loire. The whole party arrived
on the following day at St. Nazaire, embarking separately
on board the Doutelle, where Prince Charles, who had
come down from Nantes in a fishing-boat, was received
by Mr. Walsh, the owner of the vessel. Ronald now
saw gathered together the various persons who were
to accompany Prince Charles on this adventurous
expedition. These were Sheridan, the former tutor of the
prince; Kelly, a non-juring clergyman, and Sullivan —
both, like Sheridan, Irishmen; Strickland, a personage so
unimportant that while some writers call him an English-
man, others assert that he was Irish; iEneas Macdonald, a
Scotchman; Sir John Macdonald, an officer in the Spanish
service; the prince's valet, Michel; and the Duke of
Athole, or, as he more generally called, the Marquis of
Tullibardine, the last-named being the only man of high
standing or reputation. Never did a prince start to fight
for a kingdom with such a following.

The Doutelle weighed anchor as soon as the last of the
party arrived on deck, and under easy sail proceeded to
Belleisle. Here she lay for some days awaiting the arrival
of the Elizabeth. Mr. Rutledge, a merchant at Nantes,
had obtained an order from the French court that this
man-of-war should proceed to cruise on the coast of
Scotland, and had then arranged with the captain of the
ship to take on board the arms that had been purchased

PRINCE CHARLES I25

by the prince with the proceeds of the sale of some of the
family jewels.

These consisted of fifteen hundred muskets, eighteen
hundred broadswords, twenty small field-pieces, and some
ammunition. The captain had also agreed that the
Doutelle, which only mounted eighteen small guns, should
sail in company with the Elizabeth to Scotland. As soon
as the Elizabeth was seen the Doutelle spread her sails,
and keeping a short distance from each other the two
vessels sailed north. So great was the necessity for
prudence that the prince still maintained his disguise as
a Scottish student, and, with the exception of Mr. Walsh,
none of the officers and crew of the Doutelle were ac-
quainted with his real rank, and the various members of
his party treated him and each other as strangers.

Four days after leaving Belleisle a British man-of-war
of fifty-eight guns hove in sight, and crowding on all
sail rapidly came on. The Elizabeth at once prepared to
engage her, signalling to the Doutelle to do the same.
The prince urged Mr. Walsh to aid the Elizabeth^ but
the latter steadily refused.

He had undertaken, he said, to carry the prince to
Scotland, and would do nothing to endanger the success
of the enterprise. The two vessels were well matched,
and he would not allow the Doutelle to engage in the
affair. The prince continued to urge the point, until at
last Mr. Walsh said "that unless he abstained from
interference he should be forced to order him below."

The Doutelle, therefore, stood aloof from the engage-
ment, which lasted for five or six hours, and sailed
quietly on her course, in order to be beyond the risk
of capture should the English ship prove victorious;
neither of the vessels, however, obtained any decided
advantage. Both were so crippled in the encounter that
the Elizabeth returned to France, the Lion to Plymouth]

126 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

to refit. Thus the small supply of arms and artillery
which the prince had with such great trouble got to-
gether was lost.

"Well, Ronald," Malcolm said that evening as they
leant over the taffrail together, "I do think that such a
mad-headed expedition as this was never undertaken.
An exiled prince, an outlawed duke, six adventurers, a
valet, and our two selves. One could laugh if one was
not almost ready to cry at the folly of invading a country
like England in such a fashion."

"That is only one way of looking at it, Malcolm. We
are not an army of invasion. The prince is simply travelling
with a few personal followers to put himself at the head
of an army. The affair depends, not upon us, but upon
the country. If the clans turn out to support him as
they did in '15 he will soon be at the head of some twenty
thousand men. Not enough, I grant you, to conquer
England, but enough for a nucleus round which the
Lowland and English Jacobites can gather."

"Yes, it depends upon the ifs, Ronald. If all the
Highland clans join, and if there are sufficient Jacobites
in the Lowlands and England to make a large army, we
may do. I have some hopes of the clans, but after what
we saw of the apathy of the English Jacobites in '15
I have no shadow of faith in them. However, I fought
for the Chevalier in '15, and I am ready to fight for
Prince Charles now as long as there is any fighting to
be done, and when that is over I shall be as ready to
make for France as I was before."

Ronald laughed.

"You are certainly not enthusiastic about it, Malcolm."

"When one gets to my age, Ronald, common sense takes
the place of enthusiasm, and I have seen enough of wars
to know that for business a well-appointed and well-
disciplined army is required. If Prince Charles does

PRINCE CHARLES 127

get what you call an army, but which I should call an
armed mob, together, there will be the same dissensions,
the same bickerings, the same want of plan that there
was before; and unless something like a miracle happens
it will end as the last did at Preston, in defeat and ruin."

Two days later another English man-of-war came in
sight and gave chase to the Doutelle, but the latter was
a fast sailer and soon left her pursuer behind, and with-
out further adventure arrived among the Western Isles,
and dropped anchor near the little islet of Erisca, between
Barra and South Uist. As they approached the island
an eagle sailed out from the rocky shore and hovered
over the vessel, and the Duke of Athole pointed it out as
a favourable augury to the prince.

Charles and his companions landed at Erisca and passed
the night on shore. The found on inquiry that this
cluster of islands belonged to Macdonald of Clanranald,
a young chief who was known to be attached to the
Jacobite cause. He was at present absent on the main-
land, but his uncle and principal adviser, Macdonald of
Boisdale, was in South Uist. The prince sent off one of
his followers in a boat to summon him, and he came
aboard the Doutelle the next morning; but when he
heard from the prince that he had come alone and un-
attended he refused to have anything to do with the
enterprise, which he asserted was rash to the point of
insanity, and would bring ruin and destruction on all
who took part in it.

The prince employed all his efforts to persuade the
old chief, but in vain, and the latter returned to his isle
in a boat, while the Doutelle pursued her voyage to the
mainland and entered the Bay of Lochnanuagh, in
Inverness-shire, and immediately sent a messenger to
Clanranald, who came on board shortly with Macdonald
of Kinloch-Moidart, and several other Macdonalds.

128 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

They received the prince with the greatest respect,
but, like Macdonald of Boisdale, the two chiefs refused to
take up arms in an enterprise which they beHeved to be
absolutely hopeless. In vain Prince Charles argued and
implored. The two chiefs remained firm, until the prince
suddenly turned to a younger brother of Moidart, who
stood listening to the conversation, and with his fingers
clutching the hilt of his broadsword as he heard the
young prince, whom he regarded as his fiiture king, in
vain imploring the assistance of his brother and kinsmen.

"Will you at least not assist me?" the prince exclaimed.

"I will, I will!" Ranald Macdonald exclaimed.
"Though no other man in the Highlands shall draw a
sword, I am ready to die for you."

The enthusiasm of the young man was catching, and
throwing to the winds their own convictions and fore-
bodings the two Macdonalds declared that they also
would join, and use every exertion to engage their
countrymen. The clansmen who had come on board the
ship without knowing the object of the visit were now told
who the prince was, and they expressed their readiness
to follow to the death. Two or three days later, on the
25th of July, Prince Charles landed and was conducted
to Borodale, a farmhouse belonging to Glanranald.

Charles at once sent off letters to the Highland chiefs
whom he knew to be favourable to the Stuart cause.
Among these the principal were Cameron of Locheil,
Sir Alexander Macdonald, and Macleod. Locheil im-
mediately obeyed the summons, but being convinced of the
madness of the enterprise he came, not to join the prince,
but to dissuade him from embarking in it. On his way
he called upon his brother, Cameron of Fassefern, who
agreed with his opinion as to the hopelessness of success,
and urged him to write to the prince instead of going to
see him.

PRINCE CHARLES 129

"I know you better than you know yourself," he said.
*'If the prince once sets eyes upon you, he will make you
do whatever he pleases."

Locheil, however, persisted in going, convinced that the
prince would, on his representation, abandon the design.
For a long time he stood firm, until the prince exclaimed:

"I am resolved to put all to the hazard. In a few days
I will erect the royal standard and proclaim to the people
of Britain that Charles Stuart is come over to claim the
crown of his ancestors or perish in the attempt. Locheil,
who my father has often told me was our firmest friend,
may stay at home and learn from the newspapers the fate
of his prince."

Locheil's resolution melted at once at these words, and
he said:

"Not so. I will share the fate of my prince whatsoever
it be, and so shall every man over whom nature or fortune
hath given me power."

The conversion of Locheil was the turning-point of the
enterprise. Upon the news of the prince's landing spreading
most of the other chiefs had agreed that if Locheil stood
aloof they would not move; and had he remained firm
not a man would have joined the prince's standard,
and he would have been forced to abandon the enterprise.
Sir Alexander Macdonald and Macleod, instead of going
to see the prince, had gone off together, on the receipt
of his letter, to the Isle of Skye, so as to avoid an interview.
Glanranald was despatched by Prince Charles to see
them, but they declined to join, urging with truth that
the promises which they had given to join in a rising
were contingent upon the prince arriving at the head of a
strong French force with arms and supplies. They there-
fore refused at present to move. Others, however, were
not so cautious. Fired by the example of Locheil, and by
their own traditions of loyalty to the Stuarts' cause, many

130 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

of the lesser chiefs at once summoned their followers to
the field. With the majority the absence of French troops
had the exactly opposite effect that it had had with Sir
Alexander Macdonald and Macleod. Had the prince
landed with a French army they might have stood aloof
and suffered him to fight out his quarrel unaided; but his
arrival alone and unattended, trusting solely and wholly
to the loyalty of the Scottish people, made an irresistible
appeal to their generous feelings, and although there were
probably but few who did not foresee that failure, ruin,
and death would be the result of the enterprise, they
embarked in the cause with as much ardour as if their
success had been certain.

From Borodale, after disembarking the scanty treasure
of four thousand louis-d'or which he had brought with
him and a few stands of arms from the Doutelle, Charles
proceeded by water to Kinloch-Moidart.

Mr. Walsh sailed in the Doutelle, after receiving the
prince's warmest thanks, and a letter to his father in
Rome begging him to grant Mr. Walsh an Irish earldom
as a reward for the services he had rendered, a recom-
mendation which was complied with.

The chiefs soon began to assemble at Moidart, and the
house became the centre of a picturesque gathering.

Ronald had now put aside the remembrance of
Malcolm's forebodings, and entered heart and soul into
the enterprise. He had in Glasgow frequently seen
Highlanders in their native dress, but he had not before
witnessed any large gathering, and he was delighted with
the aspect of the sturdy mountaineers in their picturesque
garb.

The prince had at once laid aside the attire in which
he had landed and assumed Highland costume, and
by the charm and geniaUty of his manner he completely
won the hearts of all who came in contact with him.

PRINCE CHARLES I3I

Among those who joined him at Moidart was Murray
of Broughton, a man who was destined to exercise as
destructive an influence on the prince's fortune as had
Mr. Forster over that of his father. Murray had hurried
from his seat in the south, having first had a large number
of manifestoes for future distribution printed. He was at
once appointed by Charles his secretary of state.

While the gathering at Moidart was daily growing, the
English remained in ignorance of the storm which was
preparing. It was not until the 30th of July that the fact
that the prince had sailed from Nantes was known in
London, and as late as the 8th of August, nearly three
weeks after Charles first appeared on the coast, the fact
of his landing was unknown to the authorities in Edin-
burgh.

On the 1 6th of August the English governor at Fort
Augustus, alarmed at the vague reports which reached
him, and the sudden news that bodies of armed High-
landers were hurrying west, sent a detachment of two
companies under Captain Scott to reinforce the advance
post of Fort WilHam.

After marching twenty miles the troops entered the
narrow ravine of Spean Bridge, when they were suddenly
attacked by a party of Keppoch's clansmen who were on
their way to join the prince when they saw the English
troops on their march. They were joined by some of
Locheil's clansmen, and so heavy a fire was kept up from
the heights that the English, after having five or six men
killed and many more wounded, among them their
commanding officer, were forced to lay down their arms.

They were treated with great humanity by their
captors, and the wounded were well cared for. The news
of this success reached the prince on the day before that
fixed for the raising of his standard, the 19th of August,
and added to the enthusiasm which prevailed among the

132 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

little force gathered in Glenfinnan, where the ceremony
took place. The glen lay about half-way between Borodale
and Fort William, both being about fifteen miles distant.
The gathering consisted principally of the Camerons of
Locheil, some six hundred strong, and they brought with
them the two English companies captured on the i6th,
disarmed and prisoners.

The Duke of Athole performed the ceremony of un-
furling the banner. He was the heir to the dukedom of
Athole, but had been exiled for taking part in the rising
of '15 and the dukedom bestowed by the EngHsh govern-
ment upon his brother; thus among the English he was
still spoken of as the Marquis of Tullibardine, while at
the French court and among the followers of the Stuarts
he was regarded as the rightful Duke of Athole.

The unfurling of the standard was greeted with loud
shouts, and the clansmen threw their bonnets high in the
air. The duke then read the manifesto of the Chevalier,
and the commission of regency granted by him to Prince
Charles. After this the prince himself made an inspiring
speech, and declared that at the head of his faithful
Highlanders he was resolved to conquer or to perish.

Among the spectators of the ceremony was Captain
Swetenham, an English officer taken prisoner a few days
before while on his way to assume the command of
Fort William. He had been treated with great courtesy
and kindness by the prince, who, after the ceremony,
dismissed him with the words, "You may now return to
your general; tell him what you have seen, and add that I
am about to give him battle."

Soon after the conclusion of the ceremony Keppoch
marched in with three hundred of his clan, and some
smaller parties also arrived. The next morning the force
marched to Locheil's house at Auchnacarrie, where the
prince was joined by the Macdonalds of Glencoe, a

PRINCE CHARLES I33

hundred and fifty strong, two hundred Stuarts of Appin
under their chief, and by the younger Glengarry with
two hundred more, so that the force had now swelled to
sixteen hundred men.

"We begin to look like an army," Ronald said to
Malcolm.

"Well, yes," the latter replied drily, "we are rather
stronger than one regiment and not quite so strong as
two; still, if things go on like this we shall ere very long
have mounted up to the strength of a brigade; but even
a brigade, Ronald, does not go very far towards the
conquest of a kingdom, especially when only about one
man in three has got a musket, and so far there are neither
cavalry nor artillery. Still, you know, these things may
come."

Ronald laughed gaily at his companion's want of faith.
He himself had now caught the enthusiasm which
pervaded all around. It was true that as yet the prince's
adherents were but a handful, but it was not to be
expected that an army would spring from the ground.
Promises of assistance had come from all quarters, and if
the army was a small one the English army in Scotland
was but little larger, and if a first success could be
achieved, all Scotland might be expected to rise, and the
news would surely influence the Jacobites of England to
declare for the prince.

Sir John Cope, the English officer commanding the
English forces in Scotland, at the first rumour of troubles
had ordered his troops to assemble at Stirling. He had
with him two regiments of dragoons, Gardiner's and
Hamilton's, both young regiments and the whole force
at his disposal, exclusive of troops in garrison, did not
exceed three thousand men. With these he proposed to
march at once to the west, and crush the rebellion before
it gained strength. The English government approved

134 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

of his proposal, and sent him a proclamation offering
a reward of thirty thousand pounds to any person who
should seize and secure the pretended Prince of Wales,

On the day of the raising of the standard Cope set out
from Edinburgh for StirUng and the next day commenced
his march at the head of fifteen hundred infantry, leaving
the dragoons behind him, as these could be of but Uttle
service among the mountains, where they would have
found it next to impossible to obtain forage for their
horses. He took with him a large quantity of baggage,
a drove of black cattle for food, and a thousand stand of
arms to distribute among the volunteers who he expected
would join him. As, however, none of these came in he
sent back seven hundred muskets to Crieff.

The first object of the march was Fort Augustus, which
he intended to make his central post. As he advanced
he was met by Captain Swetenham, who informed him
of the raising of the standard and the gathering he had
witnessed. As, however, only Locheil's clansmen had
arrived before Swetenham left. Cope considered his force
ample for the purpose, and continued his march. In
order to reach Fort Augustus, however, he had to pass
over Corry Arrack, a lofty and precipitous mountain
which was ascended by a military road with fifteen
zigzags, known to the country as the devil's staircase.

Prince Charles, who had received early news of the
advance from Stirling, had recognized the importance of
the position, and having burned and destroyed all baggage
that would impede his progress, made a forced march
and reached Corry Arrack on the 27 th, before Sir John
Cope had commenced his ascent. As Sir John saw that
the formidable position was in the hands of the enemy
he felt that it would be in vain to endeavour to force it.
Each zigzag would have to be carried in turn, and the
enterprise would be a desperate one. Success would be

PRESTONPANS I35

of no great advantage, as the Highlanders, hghtly-clad
and active, would make off and defy pursuit; defeat
would be disastrous. He, therefore, called a council of
war and asked his officers to decide whether it would be
best to remain at Dalwhinnie at the foot of the mountain,
to return to Stirling, or to march to Inverness, where they
would be joined by the well-affected clans. He himself
strongly urged the last course, believing that the prince
would not venture to descend into the Lowlands while he
remained in his rear. The council of war adopted his
opinion. No officer advocated remaining inactive at
Dalwhinnie, one only supported the alternative of the
retreat to Stirling, the rest agreed upon an advance to
Inverness.

When it was found that Cope's army had moved away
without fighting, the exultation of the Highlanders was
great. Most of the chiefs wished to follow at once and
give battle, urging that it would be hazardous to advance
south and leave the enemy to cut off their retreat; but the
prince himself saw the supreme importance of a descent
into the Lowlands, and that plan of action was decided
upon.

CHAPTER XI

PRESTONPANS

Advancing in high spirits through the mountains of
Badenoch, Prince Charles with his army came down into
the vale of Athole, and visited, with Tullibardine, the
castle of Blair-Athole, the noble property of which the
marquis had so long been deprived, owing to his constancy
to the cause of the Stuarts, but which would again be his
own were this great enterprise successful.

136 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

From Blair-Athole the little army moved on to Perth.
Here they were joined by powerful friends, of whom the
principal were the young Duke of Perth, Lord Nairn, and
Lord George Murray, the younger brother of the Marquis
of Tullibardine. Lord George Murray was but ten years
of age when the events of 17 15 had taken place, but four
years later he came over with the marquis with a handful
of Spaniards and was wounded at the battle of Glenshiels.
The influence of the family obtained his pardon on the
plea of his extreme youth, but he remained at heart a
Jacobite, and, going on the Continent, entered the
service of Sardinia, then a portion of the possessions of
the Duke of Savoy. For many years he served abroad,
and acquired a considerable reputation as an excellent
officer and a most gallant soldier.

He had, indeed, a natural genius for military operations,
and had he not been thwarted at every turn by the
jealousy of Murray of Broughton it is by no means im-
probable that he would have brought the enterprise to
a successful termination and seated the Stuarts upon the
throne of England. The accession of such an officer was
of the highest value to the prince.

Hitherto the army had consisted merely of wild clans-
men, full of valour and devotion but wholly undisciplined;
while among those who accompanied him, or who had
joined him in Scotland, there was not a single officer of
any experience in war or any military capacity whatever.
Lord George Murray and the Duke of Perth were at once
named generals in the prince's army; but the command
in reality remained entirely in the hands of Murray, for
Lord Perth, though an estimable young nobleman
possessed of considerable ability, had no military ex-
perience and was of a quiet and retiring disposition.

Lord George Murray at once set about raising the
tenantry of his brother the Hanoverian Duke of Athole,

PRESTONPANS I37

who was absent in England, and as these had always
remained attached to the Stuart cause, and still regarded
the Marquis of Tullibardine as their rightful head, they
willingly took up arms upon Lord George Murray's
bidding. Lord George decided at once that it would be
useless to attempt to drill the Highlanders into regular
soldiers, but that they must be allowed to use their
national style of fighting and trust to their desperate charge
with broadswords and target to break the enemy's ranks.

Unfortunately dissensions commenced among the
leaders from the very first. Secretary Murray, who desired
to be all-powerful with the prince, saw that he should
not succeed in gaining any influence over so firm and
energetic a character as Lord George Murray, while it
would be easy for him to sway the young Duke of Perth,
and he was not long in poisoning the ear of the latter
against his companion in arms by representing to him that
Lord George treated him as a mere cipher, although of
equal rank in the army. The secretary's purpose was even
more easily carried out with Prince Charles. The latter
w£is no judge of character, and fell readily under the
influence of the wily and unscrupulous Murray, who
flattered his weakness and assumed an air of deference
to his opinions. Lord George Murray, on the other hand,
was but too prone to give offence. He was haughty and
overbearing in manner, expressed his opinions with a
directness and bluntness which were very displeasing to
the prince, and, conscious of his own military genius and
experience, put aside with open contempt the suggestions
of those who were in truth ignorant of military matters.

Ronald was introduced to him as soon as he joined at
Perth, and finding that young Leslie had had some
miUtary experience. Lord George at once appointed him
one of his aides-de-camp, and soon took a warm liking to
the active and energetic young officer.

138 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

Malcolm rode as Ronald's orderly, and during the few
days of their stay in Perth Ronald was at work from
morning till night riding through the country with
messages from Lord George, and in the intervals of such
duty in trying to inculcate some idea of discipline into
the wild Highland levies. At this time Charles was using
all his efforts to persuade Lord Lovat, one of the most
powerful of the northern noblemen, to join him, offering
him his patent as Duke of Fraser and the lord lieutenancy
of the northern counties.

Lovat, however, an utterly unscrupulous man, refused
openly to join, although he sent repeatedly assurances of
his devotion. Throughout the struggle he continued to
act a double part, trying to keep friends with both
parties, but declaring for the prince at the moment when
his fortunes were at their highest. The result was that
while he afforded the prince but little real assistance, his
conduct cost him his head.

Sir John Cope, finding that his march to Inverness had
failed to draw the prince after him, and had left the Low-
lands and the capital open to the insurgents, directed his
march to Aberdeen, and sent to Edinburgh for transports
to bring down his army to cover that city. But Prince
Charles determined to forestall him, and on the nth of
September commenced his march south. The age and
infirmities of the Marquis of Tullibardine prevented his
accompanying Prince Charles during active operations.

It was impossible for the army to march direct against
Edinburgh, as the magistrates of that town had taken
the precaution to withdraw every ship and boat from
the northern side of the Forth, and the prince was con-
sequently obUged to make a detour and to cross the river
at the fords eight miles above Stirling, and then marching
rapidly towards Edinburgh, arrived on the evening of the
1 6th within three miles of that town.

PRESTONPANS 139

So long as the coming of the prince was doubtful the
citizens of Edinburgh had declared their willingness to
defend the town to the last. Volunteer regiments had
been formed and guns placed on the walls; but when the
volunteers were ordered to march out with Hamilton's
regiment of dragoons, to oppose the advance of the in-
surgents, the men quitted their ranks and stole away to
their houses, leaving the dragoons to march out alone.
The latter, however, showed no greater courage than that
of their citizen allies, when on the following day they
came in contact with a party of mounted gentlemen
from the prince's army, who fired their pistols at their
pickets. These rode off in haste, their panic was com-
municated to the main body, whose officers in vain
endeavoured to check them, and the whole regiment
galloped away in wild confusion, and passing close under
the walls of Edinburgh continued their flight without
halting to Preston. There they halted for the night; but
one of the troopers happening in the dark to fall into
a disused well, his shouts for assistance caused an alarm
that they were attacked, and mounting their horses the
regiment continued their flight to Dunbar, where they
joined General Cope's army, which had just landed there.

This disgraceful panic added to the terror of the citizens
of Edinburgh, and when, late in the afternoon, a summons
to surrender came in from Prince Charles, the council
could arrive at no decision, but sent a deputation to the
prince asking for delay, hoping thereby that Cope's army
would arrive in time to save them. But the prince was
also well aware of the importance of time, and that night
he sent forward Lochiel with five hundred Camerons to
He in ambush near the Netherbow Gate. They took with
them a barrel of powder to blow it in if necessary; but
in the morning the gate was opened to admit a carriage,
and the Highlanders at once rushed in and overpowered

^

140 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

the guard, and sending parties through the streets they
secured these also without disturbance or bloodshed, and
when the citizens awoke in the morning they found, to
their surprise, that Prince Charles was master of the city.

The Jacobite portion of the population turned out
with delight to greet the prince, while the rest thought
it politic to imitate their enthusiasm. The Highlanders
behaved with perfect order and discipline, and although
the town had, as it were, been taken by storm, no single
article of property was touched. An hour later Prince
Charles, at the head of his troops, entered the royal palace
of Holyrood, being met by a crowd of enthusiastic
supporters from the city, who received him with loyal
shouts and tears of joy.

In the evening a grand ball was held in the palace, in
spite of the fact that it was within range of the guns of
Edinburgh Castle, which still held out. But one day was
spent in Edinburgh. This was occupied in serving out
about a thousand muskets found in the magazines to
the Highlanders, and in obtaining tents, shoes, and
cooking vessels, which the town was ordered to supply.
They were joined during the day by many gentlemen, and
on the night of the 19th the army, two thousand five
hundred strong, of whom only fifty were mounted, moved
out to the village of Duddingston. There the prince
that evening called a council of war, and proposed to
march next morning to meet the enemy half-way, and
declared that he would himself lead his troops and charge
in the first ranks.

The chiefs, however, exclaimed against this, urging that
if any accident happened to him ruin must fall upon the
whole, whether they gained or lost the battle; and upon
the prince persisting they declared that they would
return home and make the best terms they could for them-
selves. He was therefore obliged to give way, declaring,

PRESTONPANS I4I

however, that he would lead the second line. The next
morning the army commenced its march. They had with
them only one cannon, so old that it was quite useless,
and it was only taken forward as an encouragement to
the Highlanders, who had the greatest respect for
artillery.

Sir John Cope, who had received intelligence of all
that had happened at Edinburgh, had also moved for-
ward on the 19th, and on the 20th the two armies came
in sight of each other. The Highlanders, after passing
the bridge of Musselburgh, left the road, and turning to
the right took up their position on the brow of Garberry
Hill, and there waited the attack. The English forces
were marching forward with high spirit, and believed
that the Highlanders would not even wait their assault.
Cope had with him two thousand two hundred men,
including the six hundred runaway dragoons. The
numbers, therefore, were nearly equal; but as the English
were well armed, disciphned, and equipped, while only
about half the Highlanders had muskets, and as they had,
moreover, six pieces of artillery against the one unservice-
able gun of Prince Charles, they had every reason to
consider the victory to be certain.

On seeing the Highland array Cope drew up his troops
in order of battle — his infantry in the centre, with a
regiment of dragoons and three pieces of artillery on each
flank. His right was covered by a park wall and by the
village of Preston. On his left stood Seaton House, and
in his rear lay the sea, with the villages of Prestonpans
and Cockenzie. Their front was covered by a deep and
difficult morass.

It was now about three o'clock in the afternoon, and
the Highlanders, seeing that the English did not advance
against them, clamoured to be led to the attack. Prince
Charles was himself eager to fight, but his generals

142 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

persuaded him to abstain from attacking the EngHsh in
such a formidable position. The Highlanders, however,
fearing that the English would again avoid a battle, were
not satisfied until Lord Nairn with five hundred men
was detached to the westward to prevent the English
from marching off towards Edinburgh.

During the night the two armies lay upon the ground.
Cope retired to sleep at Cockenzie, the prince lay down
in the middle of his soldiers. Before doing so, however,
he held a council, and determined to attack next morning
in spite of the difficulty of the morass. But in the course
of the night Anderson of Whitburg, a gentleman well
acquainted with the county, bethought himself of a path
from the height towards their right by the farm of
Ruigan Head, which in a great measure avoided the
morass. This important fact he imparted to Lord George
Murray, who at once awoke the prince.

Locheil and some other chiefs were sent for, and it was
determined to undertake the enterprise at once. An
aide-de-camp was sent to recall Lord Nairn and his
detachment, and under the guidance of Anderson the
troops made their way across the morass. This was not,
however, accomplished without great difficulty, as in some
places they sank knee-deep. The march was unopposed,
and covered by the darkness they made their way across
to firm ground just as the day was breaking dull and
foggy. As they did so, however, the dragoon outposts
heard the sound of their march, and firing their pistols
galloped off" to give the alarm. Sir John Cope lost no
time in facing his troops about, and forming them in
order of battle. He was undisturbed while doing so, for
the Highlanders were similarly occupied.

As the sun rose the mist cleared away, and the two
armies stood face to face. The Macdonalds had been
granted the post of honour on the Highland right, the

PRESTONPANS I43

line being completed by the Camerons and Stuarts.
Prince Charles with the second line being close behind.
The Highlanders uncovered their heads, uttered a short
prayer, and then as the pipers blew the signal they rushed
forward, each clan in a separate mass, and raising their
war-cry, the Camerons and Stuarts rushed straight at the
cannon on the left.

These guns were served, not by Royal Artillerymen, but
by some seamen brought by Cope from the fleet. They,
panic-struck by the wild rush of the Highlanders, deserted
their guns and fled in all directions. Colonel Gardiner
called upon his dragoons to follow him, and with his
officers led them to the charge. But the Stuarts and
Camerons, pouring in a volley from their muskets, charged
them with their broadswords, and the dragoons, panic-
stricken, turned their horses and galloped off.

The Macdonalds on the right had similarly captured
three guns, and charging with similar fury upon Hamil-
ton's regiment of dragoons, drove them off the field, Mac-
gregor's company, who, for want of other weapons were
armed with scythes, doing terrible execution among the
horses and their riders. The English infantry, deserted by
their cavalry, and with their guns lost, still stood firm, and
poured a heavy fire into the Highlanders; but these, as
soon as they had defeated the cavalry, faced round and
charged with fury upon both flanks of the infantry.
Their onslaught was irresistible. The heavy masses of the
clans broke right through the long line of the English
infantry, and drove the latter backward in utter confusion.
But the retreat was impeded by the inclosure and park
wall of Preston, and the Highlanders pressing on, the
greater portion of the English infantry were killed or
taken prisoners.

A hundred and seventy of the infantry alone succeeded
in making their escape, four hundred were killed, and the

144 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

rest captured. Colonel Gardiner and many of his officers
were killed fighting bravely, but the loss of the dragoons
was small. Only thirty of the Highlanders were killed,
and seventy wounded. The battle lasted but six minutes,
and the moment it had terminated Prince Charles exerted
himself to the utmost to obtain mercy for the vanquished.

He treated the prisoners with the greatest kindness
and consideration, and the wounded were relieved with-
out any distinction of friend or foe. The dragoons fled
to Edinburgh, and dashed up the hill to the castle; but
the governor refused to admit them, and threatened to
open his guns upon them as cowards who had deserted
their colours. Later on in the day the greater portion were
rallied by Sir John Cope and the Earls of Loudon and
Home; but being seized with a fresh panic they galloped
on again at full speed as far as Coldstream, and the next
morning continued their flight in a state of disgraceful
disorder as far as Berwick. The contents of the treasure-
chest, consisting of two thousand five hundred pounds,
with the standards and other trophies, were brought to
Prince Charles. The rest of the spoil was divided among
the Highlanders, of whom a great number immediately
set off towards their homes to place the articles they had
gathered in safety.

So greatly was the Highland army weakened by the
number of men who thus left the ranks that the prince
was unable to carry out his wish for an instant advance
into England. His advisers, indeed, were opposed to this
measure, urging that in a short time his force would be
swelled by thousands from all parts of Scotland; but
unquestionably his own view was the correct one, and had
he marched south he would probably have met with no
resistance whatever on his march to London. There were
but few troops in England. A requisition had been sent
to the Dutch by King George for the six thousand

PRESTONPANS I45

auxiliaries they were bound to furnish, and a resolution
was taken to recall ten English regiments home from
Flanders.

Marshal Wade was directed to collect as many troops
as he could at Newcastle, and the militia of several
counties was called out; but the people in no degree
responded to the efforts of the government. They looked
on coldly, not indeed apparently favouring the rebellion,
but as little disposed to take part against it. The state
of pubUc feeling was described at the time by a member
of the administration, Henry Fox, in a private letter.

"England, Wade says, and I beHeve, is for the first
comer, and if you can tell me whether these six thousand
Dutch and the ten battalions of England, or five thousand
French or Spaniards, will be here first, you know our
fate. The French are not come, God be thanked; but had
five thousand landed in any part of this island a week
ago, I verily believe the entire conquest would not have
cost a batde."

The prince indeed was doing his best to obtain assis-
tance from France, conscious how much his final success
depended upon French succour.

King Louis for a time appeared favourable. The
prince's brother, Henry of York, had arrived from Rome,
and the king proposed to place him at the head of the
Irish regiments in the king's service and several others
to enable him to effect a landing in England; but with
his usual insincerity the French king continued to raise
difficulties and cause delays until it was too late, and he
thus lost for ever the chance of placing the family who
had always been warm friends of France, and who would
in the event of success have been his natural friends and
allies, on the throne of England.

In the meantime Prince Charles had taken up his abode
in Edinburgh, where he was joined by most of the gentry

146 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

of Scotland. He was proclaimed king in almost every
town north of the Tweed, and was master of all Scotland,
save some districts beyond Inverness, the Highland forts,
and the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling. Prince Charles
behaved with the greatest moderation. He forbade all
public rejoicing for victory, saying that he could not
rejoice over the loss which his father's misguided subjects
had sustained. He abstained from any attempt to capture
Edinburgh Castle, or even to cut off its supplies, because
the general of the castle threatened that unless he were
allowed to obtain provisions he would fire upon the city
and lay it in ruins, and he even refused to interfere with
a Scotch minister who continued from his pulpit to pray
for King George.

Six weeks after the victory the prince's army mustered
nearly six thousand men; but Macleod, Macdonald, and
Lovat, who could have brought a further force of four
thousand men, still held aloof. Had these three powerful
chiefs joined at once after the battle of Prestonpans,
Prince Charles could have marched to London, and would
probably have succeeded in placing his father on the
throne, without having occasion to strike another blow;
but they came not, and the delay caused during the
fruitless negotiations enabled the English troops to be
brought over from Flanders, while Prince Charles on his
side only received a few small consignments of arms and
money from France.

But in the meantime Edinburgh was as gay as if the
Stuart cause had been already won. Receptions and balls
followed each other in close succession, and Prince Charles
won the hearts of all alike by his courtesy and kindness,
and by the care which he showed for the comfort of his
troops.

At the commencement of the campaign Lord George
Murray had but one aide-de-camp besides Ronald. This

PRESTONPANS I47

was an officer known as the Chevalier de Johnstone, who
afterwards wrote a history of the campaign. After the
battle of Prestonpans he received a captain's commission,
and immediately raised a company, with which he joined
the Duke of Perth's regiment. Two other gentlemen
of family were then appointed aides-de-camp, and this
afforded some reUef to Ronald, whose duties had been
extremely heavy.

A week after the battle Lord George said to Ronald:

"As there is now no chance of a movement at present,
and I know that you care nothing for the court festivities
here, I propose sending you with the officers who are
riding into Glasgow to-morrow, with the orders of the
council that the city shall pay a subsidy of five thousand
pounds towards the necessities of the state. The citizens
are Hanoverians to a man, and may think themselves
well off that no heavier charge is levied upon them. Do
you take an account of what warlike stores there are in
the magazines there, and see that all muskets and ammu-
nition are packed up and forwarded."

The next morning Ronald started at daybreak with
several other mounted gentlemen and an escort of a
hundred of Clanranald's men, under the command of the
eldest son of that chief, for Glasgow, and late the same
evening entered that city. They were received with
acclamation by a part of the population; but the larger
portion of the citizens gazed at them from their doorways
as they passed in sullen hostility. They marched direct to
the barracks lately occupied by the English troops, the
gentlemen taking the quarters occupied by the officers. A
notification was at once sent to the provost to assemble the
city council at nine o'clock in the morning, to hear a
communication from the royal council.

As soon as Malcolm had put up Ronald's horse and his
own in the stables, and seen to their comfort, he and

148 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

Ronald sallied out. It was now dark, but they wrapped
themselves up in their cloaks so as not to be noticed, as
in the hostile state of the town they might have been
insulted and a quarrel forced upon them, had they been
recognized as two of the new arrivals. The night, how-
ever, was dark, and they passed without recognition
through the ill-lighted streets to the house of Andrew
Anderson. They rang at the bell. A minute later the
grille was opened, and a voice, which they recognized as
that of Elspeth, asked who was there, and what was their
business.

"We come to arrest one Elspeth Dow, as one who
troubles the state and is a traitor to his majesty."

There was an exclamation from within and the door
suddenly opened.

"I know your voice, bairn. The Lord be praised that
you have come back home again!" and she was about to
run forward, when she checked herself. "Is it yoursell,
Ronald?"

"It is no one else, Elspeth," he replied, giving the old
woman a hearty kiss.

"And such a man as you have grown!" she exclaimed
in surprise.

"And have you no welcome for me, Elspeth?" Malcolm
asked, coming forward.

"The Lord preserve us!" Elspeth exclaimed. "Why
it's my boy Malcolm!"

"Turned up again like a bad penny, you see, Elspeth."

"What is it, Elspeth?" Andrew's voice called from above.
"Who are these men you are talking to, and what do they
want at this time of night?"

"They want some supper, Andrew," Malcolm called
back, "and that badly."

In a moment Andrew ran down and clasped his
brother's hand. In the darkness he did not notice

PRESTONPANS I49

Malcolm's companion, and after the first greeting with
his brother led the way up stairs.

"It is my brother Malcolm," he said to his wife as he
entered the room.

Ronald followed Malcolm forward. As the light fell
on his face Andrew started, and, as Ronald smiled, ran
forward and clasped him in his arms.

"It is Ronald, wife! Ah, my boy, have you come back
to us again?"

Mrs. Anderson received Ronald with motherly kindness.

"We had heard of your escape before your letter came
to us from Paris. Our city constables brought back the
news of how you had jumped overboard, and had been
pulled into a boat and disappeared. And finely they were
laughed at when they told their tale. Then came your
letter saying that it was Malcolm who had met you with
the boat, and how you had sailed away and been wrecked
on the coast of France; but since then we have heard
nothing."

"I wrote twice," Ronald said; "but owing to the war
there have been no regular communications, and I
suppose my letters got lost."

"And I suppose you have both come over to have a
hand in this mad enterprise?"

"I don't know whether it is mad or not, Andrew; but
we have certainly come over to have a hand in it,"
Malcolm said. "And now, before we have a regular talk,
let me tell you that we are famishing."

Elspeth soon placed a joint of cold meat upon the table,
and Ronald and Malcolm set to at once to satisfy their
hunger. Then a jar of whisky and glasses were set upon
the table, and pipes hghted, and Ronald began a detailed
narration of all that had taken place since they had last
met.

"Had my father and mother known that I was coming

150 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

to Scotland, and should have an opportunity of seeing
you both, they would have sent you their warmest thanks
and gratitude for your kindness to me," he concluded.

"What we did was done, in the first place, for my
brother Malcolm, and afterwards for love of you, Ronald;
and right glad I am to hear that you obtained the free-
dom of your parents and a commission as an officer in the
service of the King of France. I would be glad that you
had come over here on any other errand than that which
brings you. Things have gone on well with you so far;
but how will they end? Ah, lad, it will prove a sore day
for Scotland when Charles Stuart set foot on our soil!"

"We won't talk about that now, Andrew," Malcolm
said good-temperedly. "The matter had got to be fought
out with the sword, and if our tongues were to wag all
night they could make no difference one way or another.
So let us not touch upon politics. But I must say, that
as far as Ronald and I are concerned, we did not embark
on this expedition because we thought that it was going
to be successful, or because we had at the moment any
great intention of turning Hanoverian George off his
throne; but simply because Ronald had made France too
hot to hold him, and this was the simplest way that
presented itself of getting out of the country. As long as
there are blows to be struck we shall do our best. When
there is no more fighting to be done, either because
King James is seated on his throne in London, or because
the clans are scattered and broken, we shall make for
France again, where by that time I hope the king will
have got over the breach of his edict and the killing
of his favourite, and where Ronald's father and mother
will be longing for his presence."

"And now we must go," Ronald said, rising. "It is
well-nigh midnight, and time for all decent people to be
in bed."

A MISSION 151

CHAPTER XII

A MISSION

The next morning early Ronald proceeded to take an
inventory of the arms and ammunition left behind by the
troops when they had marched to join Sir John Cope at
Stirling. Having done this he saw that they were all packed
up in readiness to be sent off the next day under the escort,
who were also to convey the money which the city was
required to pay. For the provost and council, knowing
that it was useless to resist the order, and perhaps anxious
in the present doubtful state of affairs to stand well with
Prince Charles, had arranged that the money should be
forthcoming on the following morning. After his work
was over Ronald again spent the evening at Andrew
Anderson's.

The next morning he returned to Edinburgh with the
arms and escort. It was late when he arrived; but as he
knew that Lord George Murray would be at work in his
tent, he repaired there at once.

"We have brought back the money and arms. Lord
George. I have handed over the arms and ammunition
at the magazines tent, and those in charge of the money
have gone into the town with a part of the escort to give
it over to the treasurer."

"How many arms did you get?"

"Two hundred and twenty- three muskets and eighty
pistols, fourteen kegs of gunpowder, and well-nigh a ton
of lead."

"That is more than I had expected. And now, Leslie,
I have an important mission for you. The prince this

152 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

morning asked me whom I could recommend, as a sure
and careful person likely to do the business well, to go
down into Lancashire to visit the leading Jacobites
there, and urge them to take up arms. I said that I knew
of none who would be more likely to succeed than your-
self. Your residence of two years in France has rubbed
off any Scotch dialect you may have had, and at anyrate
you could pass for a northern Englishman. The prince
agreed at once, and has signed your commission as
captain. Here it is. You will understand, of course, that
you are perfectly free to decline this mission to the
south if you would rather not undertake it. It is un-
questionably a dangerous one."

"I will underteike it readily, sir," Ronald said, "and
although I am ignorant of the country I shall have the
advantage of taking with me my brave follower, Malcolm
Anderson, who for years was in the habit of going with
droves of cattle down into Lancashire, and will not only
know the country but have acquaintances there, and being
known as a drover would pass without suspicion of his
being engaged with politics."

"That will do well," Lord George said. "I will get the
list of persons on whom you should call prepared to-
morrow. You had best go to Sir Thomas Sheridan and
Francis Strickland, who came over with you, and get
them to present you to Secretary Murray and recommend
you to him. If he hears that your mission is of my
recommendation he will do all he can to set the prince
against you. Everything that I do is wrong in his eyes,
and I do beheve that he would ruin the cause :n order to
injure me, did he see no other way to accomplish that
end. Therefore, if he mentions my name, as he is like to
do, knowing that you have been my aide-de-camp, be
sure that you say nought in my favour, or it will ruin you
with him. You will, of course, attend the prince's levee

A MISSION 153

to-morrow, and had best make preparation to start at
nightfall."

The next day, accordingly, Ronald called upon Sir
Thomas Sheridan and Strickland, and telling them that
the prince had determined to send him on a mission into
Lancashire, asked them to present him to Secretary
Murray, from whom he would receive*" orders for his
guidance and instruction as to the persons whom he was
to visit. The two gentiemen proceeded with him to the
house in which Secretary Murray had taken up his abode,
and introduced him, with much warmth, as a fellow-
passenger on board the Doutelle.

"You have been serving since as Lord Murray's aide-
de-camp?"

"Yes, sir, the prince recommended me to him at Perth,
and I have since had the honour to carry his orders."

"Captain Leslie, for so the prince has granted him a
commission," Sir Thomas said, "has served two years in
the French army, and was present at Dettingen and
Fontenoy. He has another claim upon all you Scottish
gentlemen, for Colonel Macdonald told us, when he
introduced him to us at Nantes, that it was through
his interference and aid alone that he escaped safely
from Glasgow, and that all his papers, with the names
of the king's friends in Scotland, did not fall into George's
hands. He was taken prisoner for his share in that affair,
but escaped from the ship in the Thames, and succeeded
in crossing to France. So you see, young as he is, he has
rendered good service to the cause."

The expression of the secretary's face, which had before
been cold and distant, changed at once. He had been
aware that Ronald had been chosen for this business on
the recommendation of Lord George Murray, and his
jealousy of that nobleman had at once set him against
Ronald, of whose antecedents he was entirely ignorant;

154 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

but what he now heard entirely altered the case, and
disposed him most favourably towards him, especially
as his own name would have been one of the most
prominent in the list, he having been in constant com-
munication with Colonel Macdonald during the stay of
the latter in Scotland.

"I had no idea it was to you that we are all so
indebted," he said warmly. "I am truly glad to meet you
and thank you in person. And so you are going on this
mission?"

"I have undertaken to do my best, sir."

"And you set out to-night?"

"Yes, sir, if my orders and letters are ready."

"There will not be many letters," the secretary said.
"It would not do for you to have documents upon you
which might betray you and our friends there should
you be arrested. I will give you a list of the gentlemen
on whom you have to call, which you had best learn by
heart and destroy before you cross the frontier. You
shall have one paper only, and that written so small that
it can be carried in a quill. This you can show to one
after the other. If you find you are in danger of arrest
you can destroy or swallow it. I will give them to you
at the prince's levee this afternoon, and will send to your
tent a purse of gold for your expenses. By the way, what
family of Leslies do you belong to? I heard that one of
your name had accompanied the prince, but no more."

"My father was Leslie of Glenlyon."

"Indeed!" the secretary exclaimed. "Of course, I know
the name well. The lands were confiscated; but we shall
soon set that right, and I will see that they are added to
when the time comes to reward the king's friends and
punish his foes."

Ronald now took his leave and returned to Malcolm,
who was making preparation for the enterprise. He had

A MISSION 155

already purchased two suits of clothes, such as would be
worn by Lowland drovers, and was in high spirits, being
more elated than was Ronald himself at the latter's
promotion. In the course of the day he brought two rough
ponies, as being more suitable for the position they were
to assume than the horses with which they had been
furnished at Perth. Ronald attended the levee, and
thanked the prince for the favour which he bestowed
upon him.

They started that night, and travelled twenty miles
before stopping for the night at a small wayside inn.

"This seems Uke old times to me," Malcolm said as,
after eating supper, they sat by a turf fire, "except that
on my way down I had the herd to look after. There is
no fear of our being questioned or suspected till we reach
the border, for there is not an English soldier between
the Forth and the Tweed; nor is it hkely that we shall
meet with any difficulty whatever till we get to Carhsle."

One the third day afler starting they crossed the border
and were among the hills of Cumberland. They found
that among the villages great apprehension existed. The
tales of the rapine and destruction wrought in the old
times by the Scottish forays had been handed down from
father to son, and nothing less than the destruction of
their homes and the loss of their flocks and herds was
looked for. Malcolm was welcomed warmly at the little
village inn where they put up for the night.

"Why, it's well-nigh three years since I saw you last,"
the host said, "and before that it was seldom two months
without our seeing you. What have you been doing with
yourself?"

"I have been gathering the herds in the Highlands,"
Malcolm said, "while others have driven them down for
sale; but at present my occupation is gone. The High-
landers are swarming like angry bees whose hive has

156 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

been disturbed, and even if we could collect a herd it
would not be safe to drive it south; it would be seized
and despatched to Edinburgh for the use of the clans
there."

"Is it true that there are fifty thousand of them, and
that they have sworn to kill every English man, woman,
and child?"

"No, they are not so strong as that," Malcolm said.
"From what I hear I should say they were not more
than half; and I do not think there is any occasion for
peaceful people to be afraid, for they say that the prince
has treated all the prisoners who fell into his hands in
the kindest manner, and that he said that the English are
his father's subjects as well as the Scots, and that he will
see that harm is done to no man."

"I am right glad to hear it," the innkeeper said. "I
don't know that I am much afraid myself; but my wife
and daughter are in a terrible fright, and wanted me to
quit the house and go south till it is all over."

Malcolm and Ronald travelled through Cumberland
and Westmorland, calling upon many of the gentlemen
to whom the latter had been charged to deliver Prince
Charles's messages. They could not, however, flatter
themselves that their mission was a success, for from few
of those on whom they called did they receive assurances
they they were prepared to take action; all the gentlemen
professed affection for the Stuarts, but deprecated a
descent into England unless the prince were accompanied
by a strong body of French troops.

The rising of ' 1 5 had been disastrous for the Jacobites
of the North of England, and though all declared that
they were ready again to take up arms and risk all for
the cause of the Stuarts, if the prince was at the head
of a force which rendered success probable, they were
unanimously of the opinion that it would be nothing short

A MISSION 157

of madness to rise until at anyrate the prince had marched
into England at the head of a strong army.

The principal personage upon whom they called was
Mr. Ratcliff, a brother of the Earl of Derwentwater, who
had been executed after the rising of '15. That gentle-
man assured them that he himself was ready to join the
prince as soon as he came south, but that he wished the
prince to know that in his opinion no large number of
English would join.

"The memory of '15 is still too fresh," he said; "while
the Stuarts have been absent so long that, although there
are great numbers who would prefer them to the Han-
overians, I do not believe that men have the cause
sufficiently at heart to risk life and property for it.
Many give their good wishes, but few will draw their
swords. That is what I wish you to say to Prince
Charles. Among gentlemen like myself the feeUng of
respect and loyalty to his father's house is as strong as
ever, and we shall join him, however desperate, in our
opinion, the chances of success may be; but he will See
that the common people will stand aloof, and leave the
battle to be fought out by the clansmen on our side and
George's troops on the other."

Some weeks were passed in traversing the country to
and fro, for the desired interviews were often only ob-
tained after considerable loss of time. They could not
ride up as two Highland drovers to a gentleman's house,
and had to wait their chances of meeting those they
wished to see on the high-road, or of sending notes
requesting an interview, couched in such terms that while
they would be understood by those to whom they were
addressed they would compromise no one if they fell into
other hands. There was indeed the greatest necessity
for caution, for the authorities in all the towns and
villages had received orders from the government to be on

158 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

the look-out for emissaries from the north, and they were
frequently exposed to sharp examination and questioning.

After much thought they had decided upon a place of
concealment for the quill containing Ronald's credentials,
which would, they thought, defy the strictest scrutiny.
A hole had been bored from the back into the heel of
Ronald's boot deep enough to contain the quill, and after
this was inserted in the hiding-place the hole was filled
up with cobbler's wax, so that it would need a close
examination indeed to discover its existence. Thus, al-
though they were several times closely searched, no
document of a suspicious nature was found upon them.

They day after they reached Manchester four constables
came to the littie inn where they were stopping and told
them that they were to accompany them before the
magistrates.

"I should like to know what offence we are charged
with," Malcolm said angrily. "Things have come to a
pretty pass, indeed, when quiet drovers are to be hauled
before magistrates without rhyme or reason."

"You will hear the charge quickly enough when you
are before their worships," the constable said; "but that
is no affair of mine — my orders are simply to take you
there."

"Well, of course we must go," Malcolm said grum-
blingly; "but here we have been well-nigh twenty years
travelling to and fro between England and Scotland, as
my host here can testify, without such a thing happening
before."

Three magistrates were sitting when Ronald and
Malcolm were brought into the court-house. They were
tirst asked the usual questions as to their names and
business and then one of the magistrates said:

"Your story is a very plausible one; but it happens
that I have here before me the reports, sent in from a

A MISSION 159

score of different places, for in times like these it is need-
ful to know what kinds of persons are travelling through
the country, and two men answering to your description
are reported to have visited almost every one of these
places. It is stated in nearly every report that you were
drovers ordinarily engaged in bringing down herds of
Highland cattle, and it is added that in every case this
account was verified by persons who have previously
known you. All this would seem natural enough, but
you seem for upwards of a month to have been engaged
in wandering to and fro in such a way as is wholly in-
compatible with the affairs upon which you say you were
engaged."

"But you will observe, sir," Malcolm said quietly, "that
I have not said I am engaged upon any affairs what-
ever. I am not come to England on business, but to
escape from the troubles which have put a stop to my
trade in the Highlands, and as for fifteen years I was
engaged in journeying backwards and forwards, and had
many friends and acquaintances, I came down partly, as
I have said, to avoid being mixed up in the trouble,
partly to call upon old acquaintances, and partly to
introduce them to my nephew, who is new to the work,
and will shortly be engaged in bringing down cattle here.
I thought the present was a good opportunity to show him
all the roads and halting-places in order that he might
the better carry out the business."

"Your story has been well got up," one of the magis-
trates said, "though I doubt whether there be a single
word of truth in it. However, you will be searched, and
detained until we get to the bottom of the matter."

The prisoners were then taken to a cell and searched
with the utmost rigour. Their clothes were examined
with scrupulous care, many of the seams being cut open
and the linings sUt, to see if any documents were concealed

l60 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

there. Their shoes were also carefully examined; but the
mud had dried over the opening where the quill was
concealed, and the officials failed to discover it.

The next morning they were removed from the cell in
which they were placed to the city jail.

CHAPTER XIII

THE MARCH TO DERBY

Two days later when the jailer brought in breakfast to
their cell he dropped on the table by the side of the loaf a
tiny ball of paper, and then without a word went out
and locked the door. Malcolm put his finger to his Hps
as Ronald was about to utter an exclamation of joy.

"One's appetite is not as good as it was when we
were tramping the hills, Ronald; but one looks forward
to one's meals; they form a break in the time."

So saying, he took up one of the lumps of bread and
began to eat, securing at the same time the pellet of paper.
"We can't be too careful," he said in a whisper. "It is
quite possible that they may be able to overhear us."

The little piece of paper when unfolded contained but
a few words: "Keep up your courage. You have friends
without working for you. Destroy this."

Malcolm at once again rolled up the pellet, put it into
his mouth and swallowed it, and then whispered to
Ronald what he had just read.

"I thought," he whispered, "that we should soon get a
message of some sort. The news of our arrest will have set
the hearts of a score of people quaking, and they would
do anything now to get us out from this prison. They
have already, you see, succeeded in bribing our warder."

THE MARCH TO DERBY l6l

At his evening visit the warder passed into Ronald's
hand a small parcel, and then, as before, went out without
speaking.

"I am confirmed in the behef that we can be over-
heard," Malcolm said. "Had the man not been afraid of
listeners he would have spoken to us. Now let us see
what he has brought us this time."

The parcel contained a small file, a saw made of watch-
spring, and a tiny phial of oil.

"So far so good," Malcolm said quietly. "Our way
through these bars is clear enough now. But that is only
the beginning of our difficulties. This window looks into
the prison yard, and there is a drop of some forty feet to
begin with. However, I have no doubt our friends will
send us the means of overcoming these difficulties in due
course. All we have to concern ourselves about now is
the sawing through of these bars."

As soon as it was dark they began the work, relieving
each other in turns. The oil prevented much sound being
made, but to deaden it still further they wrapped a hand-
kerchief over the file. The bars had been but a short
time in position and the iron was new and strong. It was
consequendy some hours before they completed their
work. When they had done, the grating was left in
the position it before occupied, the cuts being concealed
from any but close observation by kneading up small
pieces of bread and pressing them into them, and then
rubbing the edges with iron filings.

"That will do for to-night," Malcolm szdd. "No one is
likely to pay us a visit; but if they did, they would not
notice the bars unless they went up and shook them.
To-morrow morning we can put a finishing touch to the
work."

As soon as it was dayhght they were upon their feet.

"It does very well as it is," Malcolm said, examining

L

l62 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

the grating. "It is good enough to pass, and we need not
trouble further about it." They watched their warder
attentively when he next came into the cell, but this
time he had no message for them. "We must not be
impatient," Malcolm said; "our friends have a good
many arrangements to make, for they will have to provide
for our getting away when we are once out; besides, they
will probably have to bribe other warders, and that kind
of thing can't be done in a hurry."

It was not for another two days that the warder made
any fresh sign. Then, as on the first occasion, he placed
a pellet of paper on the table with their bread.

"This is a good deal larger than the last," Ronald
whispered.

It was not until some little time after they had finished
their meal that Ronald unrolled the little ball of paper;
it contained only the words:

"You will receive a rope this evening. With this lower
yourselves from your window into the court-yard. Start
when you hear the church-bells strike midnight, cross
the court and stand against the wall near the right-hand
corner of the opposite side. The third window on the
second floor will be opened, and a rope lowered to you.
Attach yourselves to this, and you will be pulled up from
above."

After reading the note Ronald passed it on to Malcolm,
who, as before, swallowed it, but had this time to tear it
into several pieces before doing so. The warder was later
bringing their supper than usual that evening, and it was
dark when he came in. As he entered the room he let
the lamp fall which he carried.

"Confound the thing!" he said roughly. "Here, take
hold of this bread, and let me feel for the lamp. I can't
be bothered with going down to get another light. You can
eat your supper in the dark just as well, I have no doubt."

THE MARCH TO DERBY 163

As he handed Ronald the bread he also pushed into his
hand the end of a rope, and while he pretended to search
for the lamp he turned round and round rapidly, and so
unwound the rope, which was twisted many times round
his body. As soon as this was done he picked up the
lamp, and with a rough "Good-night," left them.

They ate their bread in silence, and then lay down on
their rough pallets to pass with what patience they could
the long hours before midnight, for it was late in October,
and it was little after five o'clock when the warder
visited them. At last, after what seemed almost an endless
watch, they heard the church clocks strike twelve, and
simultaneously rose to their feet. Not a word was spoken.
The grating was lifted out and laid down on one of the
couches so that all noise should be avoided. The rope was
then strongly fastened to the stump of one of the iron bars.

"Now, Malcolm, I will give you a leg up; I am younger
and more active than you are, so you had better go first."

Without debating the question, Malcolm put his foot
on Ronald's hand, and in a moment was seated in the
opening of the window. Grasping the rope he let him-
self quietly out, and lowered himself to the ground,
reaching it so noiselessly that Ronald, who wzis Hstening,
did not hear a sound. After waiting a minute, however,
he sprang up on to the sill, and feeling that the rope was
slack, was soon by Malcolm's side below. Then both
removed their shoes and hung them round their necks,
and walking noiselessly across the court they took up
their post under the window indicated in the note. In
less than a minute the end of a rope was dropped upon
their heads.

"You go first this time, Ronald," Malcolm said, and
fastened it beneath Ronald's arms. Then h^ gave a pull
at the rope to show that they were ready. The rope
tightened, and Ronald found himself swinging in the air.

164 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

He kept himself from scraping against the walls by his
hands and feet, and was especially careful as he passed
the window on the first floor. In a minute he was pulled
into the room on the second floor by the men who had
hoisted him up. A low "Hush!" warned him that there
was still a necessity for silence. The rope was lowered
again, and Ronald lent his aid to hoist Malcolm up to
the window. As soon as he was in, it was slowly and
carefully closed.

"You are mighty heavy, both of you," a voice whis-
pered. "I should not have thought it would have been
such hard work to lift a man up this height. Now, follow
us, and be sure you make no noise."

Two flights of stairs were descended, and then they
stood before a small but heavy door; some bolts were
drawn and a key turned in the lock, this being done
so noiselessly that Ronald was sure they must have
been carefully oiled. The two men passed through with
them, locking the door behind them.

"Thank God we are out!" Malcolm said fervently. "I
have been in a watch-house more than once in my young
days, but I can't say I like it better as I grow older."
They walked for some minutes, and then their guides
opened a door and they entered a small house.

"Stir up those peats. Jack," one of the men said, "and
blow them a bit, while I feel for a candle."
In a minute or two a light was obtained.
"That's very neatly done, I think, gentlemen," laughed
the man adressed as Jack, and who they now saw
was the warder who had attended upon them.

"Well, we are immensely obliged to you," Ronald
said.

"Oh, you needn't be obliged to us," the warder
replied; "we are well paid for the job, and have a promise
of good berths if Prince Charles gets the best of it.

THE MARCH TO DERBY 165

Anyhow, we shall both make for London, where we have
acquaintances. Now we are going to dress up; there's
no time to be lost talking. There is a light cart waiting
for us and horses for you half a mile outside the town."

He opened a cupboard and took out two long smock-
frocks, which he and his companion put on.

"Now, gentlemen, will you put on these two suits of
soldiers' clothes. I think they will about fit you."

Ronald and Malcolm were soon attired as dragoons.

"There's a regiment of them here," the man saiid, "so
there was no difficulty in buying a cast-off suit and
getting these made from it. I was to give you this letter
to take with you; it is, as you see, directed to General
Wade at Newcastle, and purports to come from the colonel
of your regiment here, so that if by any chance you are
questioned on the way, that will serve as a reason for
your journeying north. Here is a purse of twenty guineas;
I think that's about all. And now if you are ready we will be
starting. The further we get away from here before morn-
ing the better."

They made their way quiedy along the streets. The
town was in total darkness, and they did not meet a single
person abroad, and in a quarter of an hour they were in
the open country. Another ten minutes and they came
upon the cart and horses. Three men were standing
beside them, and the impatient stamp of a horse's hoof
showed that the horses were tied up closely. A lantern
was held up as the party came up.

"All safe?"

"All safe," Ronald replied. "Thanks, many thanks to
you for our freedom."

The man holding the lantern was masked, so they could
not see his face. He first turned to the two warders, and
placed a bag of money in their hand.

"You have done your work well," he said, "the cart

l66 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

will take you thirty miles on your road, and then drop
you. I wish you a safe journey."

With a word of farewell to Ronald and Malcolm the
two warders climbed into the cart, one of the men mounted
beside them and took the reins, and in another minute
the cart drove away in the darkness. As soon as it had
started the man with the lantern removed his mask.
"Mr. Ratcliff !" Ronald exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, it is myself. There are half a dozen of us engaged
in the matter. As soon as we heard of your arrest we
determined to get you out. I was only afraid you would
have been taken up to London before we could get all
our plans arranged, for I knew they had sent up for
instructions. And now you had best mount at once;
follow this road for half a mile, and then take the broad
road to the left; you cannot mistake it. It goes straight to
Penrith. You have got the letter to General Wade?"

"Yes, sir, and the money; we are indeed in every way
greatly indebted to you."

"Say nothing about it," Mr. Ratcliff said. "I am
risking my life as well as my fortune in the cause of Prince
Charles, and this money is on his service. I hear he is
already on the march south. Repeat to him when you
join him what I have already told you, namely, that I and
other gentlemen will assuredly join him; but that I am
convinced there will be no general rising in his favour
unless a French army arrive to his assistance. The delay
which has taken place has, in my opinion, entirely
destroyed his chances, unless he receives foreign assistance.
Wade has ten thousand men at Newcastle, the Duke
of Cumberland has gathered eight thousand in the
Midlands, and there is a third army forming to cover
London. Already many of the best regiments have returned
from Holland, and each day adds to their number. Do all
you can to dissuade him from advancing until French aid

THE MARCH TO DERBY 167

arrives; but tell him also that if he comes with but half
a dozen followers, Charles Ratchff will join him and share
his fate whatever it be."

With a hearty shake of the hand he leapt on his horse,
and, followed by his servant, galloped off in one direction,
while Ronald and Malcolm set out in the other.

"This is a grand disguise," Ronald said. "We might
ride straight into Wade's camp at Newcastle without being
suspected."

"I have no doubt we could," Malcolm agreed. "Still,
it will be wiser to keep away from the neighbourhood of
any English troops."

They travelled quietly north, boldly riding through
small towns and villages, putting up at little inns, and
chatting freely with the villagers who came in to talk
over the news, for the north was all excitement. Orders
had been issued for all the militia to turn out, but there
was little response, for although few had any desire to
risk their Hves in the cause of the Stuarts, fewer still had
any intention of fighting for the Hanoverians.

When they arrived within a few miles of Newcastle
they left the main road and struck across country, their
object being to come down upon the road running north
from Garhsle, for they thought it Ukely that parties of
General Wade's troops would be scattered far over the
country north of Newcastle. At a farm-house they
succeeded in buying some civilian clothes, giving out that
they were deserters, and as they were willing to pay well,
the farmer, who had no good-will towards the Hano-
verians, had no difficulty in parting with two of his best
suits.

They were now in a country perfectly well known to
Malcolm, and travelling by by-ways across the hills they
crossed the Cheviots a few miles south of Carter Fell,
and then down the wide valleys to Castletown and

l68 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

thence to Canobie on the Esk. As they entered the little
town they found the wildest excitement prevaiHng. An
officer with two orderhes had just ridden in to say that
quarters were to be prepared for Prince Charles, and a
quantity of bullocks and meal got in readiness for the
use of the army, which would arrive late that evening.
Ronald soon found the officer who had brought the order
and recognized him as one of Lord Perth's aides-de-camp.
He did not know Ronald in his present dress, but greeted
him heartily as soon as he discovered who he was.

'*How is it the troops are coming this way?" Ronald
asked.

"They are marching through Liddesdale from Kelso.
We halted there for two days, and orders were sent
forward to Wooler to prepare quarters. This was to
throw Wade off the scent and induce him to march north
from Newcasde to oppose us on that road, while, as you
see, we have turned west and shall cross into Cumberland
and make a dash at Carlisle."

A few hours later the prince arrived with his army,
and as soon as he entered the quarters prepared for him
Ronald proceeded there and made his report.

"I could wish it had been better. Captain LesUe," the
prince said; "but the die is cast now, and I cannot think
that our friends in the north, who proved so loyal to our
cause in '15, will hang back when we are among them.
When they see that Charles Ratcliff and other gentlemen
whom you have visited range themselves under our
banner I believe the common people will join us also.
Now give me a full account of your mission."

Ronald gave the list of the gentry he had visited, and
described his arrest and imprisonment in Manchester
and the manner in which Mr. RatcUff had contrived his
escape.

"You have done all that is possible, sir," the prince

THE MARCH TO DERBY 169

said, "and at an early opportunity I will show you I
appreciate your services."

On the next day, the 8th of November, the corps
crossed the border; on the gth they were joined by
another column, which had marched from Edinburgh by
the western road, and the united force marched to Carlisle
and sat down before it. The walls of the city were old
and in bad condition, the garrison was ill prepared for
a siege. It consisted of a company of invaUds in the
castie, under the command of Colonel Durand, and a
considerable body of Cumberland Mihtia. The walls,
however, old as they were, could for some time have
resisted the battery of four-pounder guns which formed
the prince's sole artillery.

The mayor returned no answer to the prince's summons
and orders were issued to begin to throw up trench-works,
but scarcely had the operations begun when news arrived
that Marshal Wade was marching from Newcastle to
relieve the city. The siege was at once abandoned, and the
prince marched out with the army to Brampton and took
up a favourable position there to give battle. The news
proved incorrect, and the Duke of Perth with several
regiments were sent back to resume the siege.

On the 13th the duke began to raise a battery on the
east side of the town, but after a few shots had been fired
from the walls the courage of the besieged failed them.
The white flag was hung out, and the town and castle
surrendered on the condition that the soldiers and militia
might march away, leaving their arms and horses behind
and engaging not to serve again for a year. On the 17th
the prince made a triumphal entry into the place, but was
received with but little show of warmth on the part of
the inhabitants.

A halt was made at Carhsle and a council was held to
determine upon the next step to be taken. The news

170 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

which had been received from Scotland was very un-
favourable. Lord Strathallan, who had been appointed by
the prince as commander-in-chief, and directed to raise
as many troops as possible, had collected between two and
three thousand men at Perth, and Lord Lewis Gordon had
raised three battalions in Aberdeenshire; but on the other
hand a considerable force had been collected at Inverness
for King George. The towns of Glasgow, Paisley, and
Dumfries had turned out their militia for the house of
Hanover. The officers of the crown had re-entered
Edinburgh and two regiments of cavalry had been sent
forward by Marshal Wade to their support.

While even Scotland was thus wavering it seemed
almost madness for the little army to advance into
England. The greater portion of the Highlanders had
from the first objected very strongly to leave their country,
and upwards of a thousand had deserted and gone home
on the march down from Edinburgh. They had started
less than six thousand strong, and after leaving a garrison
of two hundred men in Carlisle, but four thousand five
hundred were available for the advance south, while
Wade, with his ten thousand men, would be in their rear
and two English armies of nearly equal strength be
waiting to receive them. At the council the opinions of
the leaders were almost unanimous against an advance,
but upon Lord George Murray saying that if Prince
Charles decided upon advancing the army would follow
him, he determined upon pressing forward.

The army began its advance on the 20th of November,
and halted a day at Penrith, upon the news that Marshal
Wade was moving to attack them; but the English
general had not made any move, and the Scotch again
pushed on through Shap, Kendal, and Lancaster, to
Preston. During the march Prince Charles marched with
his troops clad in Highland garb, and with his target

THE MARCH TO DERBY I7I

thrown across his shoulder. He seldom stopped for
dinner, but ate his food as he walked, chatting gaily with
the Highlanders, and by his cheerfulness and example
kept up their spirits. The strictest discipline was en-
forced, and everything required by the troops was paid
for. At Preston the prince on his entry was cheered by
the mob, and a few men enlisted.

From Preston the army marched to Wigan, and thence
to Manchester. The road was thronged with people, who
expressed their warmest wishes for the prince's success;
but when asked to enlist, they all hung back, saying they
knew nothing about fighting. Still the feeling in favour
of the prince's cause became stronger as he advanced
south, and at Manchester he was received with the
acclamations of the inhabitants, the ringing of the bells,
and an illumination of the city in the evening. The people
mounted white cockades, and the next day about two
hundred men enlisted and were enrolled under the name
of the Manchester Regiment, the command of which was
given to Mr. Francis Townley, a Roman Catholic be-
longing to an old Lancashire family, who, with Mr.
Ratcliff and a few other gentlemen, had joined the army
on the advance.

The leaders, however, of the prince's army were bitterly
disappointed at the general apathy of the people. Lan-
cashire had in ' 1 5 been the stronghold of the Jacobites,
and the mere accession of two or three hundred men was
a small addition indeed to their force. It was evident
that nothing like a popular rising was to be looked for,
and they had but themselves to rely upon in the struggle
against the whole strength of England. Marshal Wade
was in full march behind them. The Duke of Cumber-
land lay at Lichfield in their front with a force of eight
thousand veteran troops; while a third army, of which
the Royal Guards were the nucleus, was being formed

172 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

at Finchley. Large bodies of militia had been raised in
several districts. Liverpool had declared against them;
Chester was in the hands of the Earl of Cholmondeley;
the bridges of the Mersey had been broken down;
difficulties and dangers multiplied on all sides.

Prince Charles, ever sanguine, was confident that he
should be joined by large numbers as he advanced south;
but his officers were now thoroughly alarmed, and the
leaders in a body remonstrated with Lord George Murray
against any further advance. He advised them, however,
to offer no further opposition to the prince's wishes until
they came to Derby, promising that, unless by that time
they were joined by Jacobites in considerable numbers,
he would himself, as general, propose and insist upon a
retreat.

On the first of December, Prince Charles, at the head
of one division, forded the Mersey near Stockport, where
the water was waist-deep. The other division, with the
baggage and artillery, crossed lower down, at Cheadle, on
a hastily-constructed bridge, and the two columns joined
that evening at Macclesfield. Here Lord George Murray
succeeded in misleading the Duke of Cumberland as to
his intentions by a dexterous manoeuvre. Advancing
with a portion of his force he dislodged and drove before
him the Duke of Kingston and a small party of English
horse posted at Congleton, and pursued them some
distance along the road towards Newcastle-under-Lyme.

The Duke of Cumberland, supposing that the prince's
^rmy were on their march either to give him battle or to
make their way into Wales, where the Jacobite party
were extremely strong, pushed forward with his main
body to Stone. Lord George Murray, however, having
gained his object, turned sharp off to the left, and after a
long march arrived at Ashbourne, where the prince, with
the other division of the army, had marched direct. The

THE MARCH TO DERBY 1 73

next afternoon they arrived at Derby, having thus
altogether evaded the Duke of Cumberland, and being
nearly three days' march nearer London than was his
army.

The prince that night was in high spirits at the fact
that he was now within a hundred and thirty miles of
London, and that neither Wade's nor Cumberland's
forces interposed between him and the capital. But his
delight was by no means shared by his followers, and early
next morning he was waited upon by Lord George Murray
and all the commanders of battalions and squadrons, and
a council being held, they laid before the prince their
earnest and unanimous opinion that an immediate retreat
to Scotland was necessary.

They had marched, they said, so far on the promise
either of an English rising or a French descent upon
England. Neither had yet occurred. Their five thousand
fighting men were insufficient to give battle to even one
of the three armies that surrounded them — scarcely
adequate, indeed, to take possession of London were there
no army at Finchley to protect it. Even did they gain
London, how could they hold it against the united armies
of Wade and Cumberland? Defeat so far from home
would mean destruction, and not a man would ever regain
Scotland.

In vain the prince replied to their arguments, in vain
expostulated, and even implored them to yield to his
wishes. After several hours of stormy debate the council
broke up without having arrived at any decision. The
prince at one time thought of calling upon the soldiers to
follow him without regard to their officers; for the High-
landers, reluctant as they had been to march into England,
were now burning for a fight, and were longing for
nothing so much as to meet one or other of the hostile
armies opposed to them. The prince's private advisers,

174 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

however, Sheridan and Secretary Murray, urged him to
yield to the opinion of his officers, since they were sure
that the clansmen would never fight well if they knew
that their chiefs were unanimously opposed to their
giving battle. Accordingly the prince, heart-broken at
the destruction of his hopes, agreed to yield to the wishes
of his officers, and at a council in the evening gave his
formal consent to a retreat.

CHAPTER XIV

THE PLOT THAT FAILED

Utterly disheartened and dispirited the army com-
menced its march north. The prince himself was even
more disappointed than his soldiers, and showed by his
manner how bitterly he resented the decision at which
his officers had arrived. It had seemed to him that success
was within his grasp, and that he had but to march to
London to overthrow the Hanoverian dynasty.

Hitherto he had marched on foot with the Highlanders,
chatting gaily as he went. Now he rode in rear of the
column, and scarce exchanged a word with even his most
intimate advisers. The Highlanders no longer preserved
the discipline which had characterized their southward
march. Villages were plundered and in some cases burned,
and in retaliation the peasantry killed or took prisoners
stragglers and those left behind. Even at Manchester,
where the reception of the army had been so warm a few
days before, its passage was opposed by a violent mob,
and the prince was so offended at the conduct of the
townspeople that he imposed a fine of five thousand
pounds upon the city.

THE PLOT THAT FAILED I75

The next morning the march was continued. The
Highlanders laid hands on every horse they could find,
and so all pressed on at the top of their speed for the
border. The Duke of Cumberland, who had fallen back
in all haste for the protection of London, was close to
Coventry when he heard that the Scotch had retreated
northward. With all his cavalry, and a thousand foot
whom he mounted on horses supplied by the neighbour-
ing gentry, he set out in pursuit. At Preston he was joined
by another body of horse, sent across the country from
the army of Marshal Wade; but it was not until he
entered Westmorland that he came up with the rear-
guard of the insurgents, which was commanded by Lord
George Murray.

Defeating some local volunteers who molested him,
Lord George learned from the prisoners that the duke with
four thousand men was close at hand, and he sent on the
news to the prince, who despatched two regiments, the
Stuarts of Appin and the Macphersons of Cluny, to
reinforce him. It was nearly dark when by the light of the
moon Lord George saw the English infantry, who had now
dismounted, advancing. He at once charged them at the
head of the Macphersons and Stuarts, and in a few
minutes the English were completely defeated, their
commander, Colonel Honeywood, being left severely
wounded on the field, with a hundred killed or disabled
! men, while the loss of the Scotch was but twelve.

It was with great difficulty that the Highlanders could
be recalled from the pursuit, and Lord George himself
sent an urgent message to the prince begging for a
further reinforcement, in order that he might maintain his
ground and defeat the whole force of the duke. As usual
his wishes were disregarded, and he was ordered to
fall back and join the main body at Penrith. The
check, however, was so effective that the duke made no

176 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

further attempt to harass the retreat of the Highlanders.

Passing through CarHsle, some men of a Lowland regi-
ment, and Colonel Townley with his regiment raised at
Manchester, were left there as a garrison, so that the road
should be kept open for another and, as the prince hoped,
not far distant invasion. The step was, however, a cruel
one, for the Duke of Cumberland at once laid siege to
the place, battered a breach in its ancient wall, and the
garrison were forced to surrender. Many of them were
afterwards executed and imprisoned, and ruin fell upon
all.

Charles with his army marched north to Glasgow,
where they remained eight days, requisitioning supplies
from the town. During their stay Ronald and Malcolm
put up at the house of Andrew Anderson.

"What think you of the chances now, Malcolm?"
Andrew asked his brother, after hearing what had taken
place since he had last seen him.

"I think no better and no worse of it than I did before,
brother. They have had more success than I looked for.
I did not think they would ever have got as far south
as Derby. But I see no prospect of success. The prince is
badly advised. He has but one really good soldier with
him, and he is set against him by the intrigues and spite
of Secretary Murray and his friends, and partly, it may be,
by Lord George's own frankness of speech."

"I am sorry for the young prince," Andrew said. "He
is a fine fellow, certainly — handsome and brave and
courteous, and assuredly clement. I could not but think,
as I saw him ride down the street to-day, that it was
sad that so fine a young man should be doomed either
to the block or to a lifelong imprisonment, and that
for fighting for what he has been doubtless taught to
consider his right."

Two evenings later Ronald noticed that Andrew, who

THE PLOT THAT FAILED I77

had been absent for some time, and had only returned just
in time for supper, looked worried and abstracted, and
replied almost at random to any questions put to him.

"It is of no use," he said suddenly when his wife had
left the room after the conclusion of the meal. "I am a
loyal subject of King George, and I wish him every
success in battle, and I am confident that he will crush out
this rebellion without difficulty, but I cannot go as far as
some. I cannot stand by and see murder done on a poor
lad who, whatever his faults, is merciful and generous to
his enemies. Malcolm, I will tell you all I know, only
bidding you keep secret as to how you got the news, for
it would cost me my Ufe were it known that the matter
had leaked out through me.

"This evening five of the council, knowing that I am
a staunch king's man, took me aside after the meeting
was over, and told me that there was a plan on foot to
put an end to all the trouble by the carrying off or
slaying of Prince Charles. I was about to protest against it,
when I saw that by so doing I should, in the first place,
do no good; in the second, be looked upon as a Jacobite;
and in the third, be unable to learn the details of what
they were proposing. So I said that doubtless it was a
good thing to lay by the heels the author of all these
troubles, and that the life of one man was as nought in
the balance compared to the prosperity of the whole
country. Whereupon they revealed to me their plan,
asking me for a subscription of a hundred pounds to
carry it out, and saying truly that I should get back the
money and great honour from the king when he learned
I had done him such a service. After some bargaining I
agreed for fifty pounds."

"But what is the plot, Andrew?" Malcolm said
anxiously.

"It is just this. The prince, as you know, goes about

M

178 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

with scant attendance, and though there are guards in
front of his house, there are but two or three beside him-
self who sleep there. There is a back entrance to which
no attention is paid, and it will be easy for those who
know the house to enter by that door, to make their way
silently to his chamber, and either kill or carry him
off. I threw my voice in against killing, pointing out
that the king would rather have him alive than dead, so
that he might be tried and executed in due form. This
was also their opinion, for they had already hired a vessel
which is lying in the stream. The plan is to seize and
gag him and tie his arms. There will be no difficulty in
getting him along through the streets. There are few
folks abroad after ten o'clock, and should they meet any-
one he will conclude that it is but a drunken Highlander
being carried home. You see, Malcolm, there is not only
honour to be gained from the king, but the thirty thousand
pounds offered for the prince's person. I pretended to
fall in with the plan, and gave them the fifty pounds
which they lacked for the hire of the vessel, the captain
refusing to let them have it save for money paid down.
Now, Malcolm, I have told you and Ronald all I know
about the matter, and it is for you to see how a stop may
be put to it."

"The scoundrels!" Malcolm said. "Their loyalty to
the king is but a veil to hide their covetousness for the
reward. When is it to take place, and how many men
are likely to be engaged in it?"

"Six trusty men of the city watch and their five selves.
I said I would subscribe the money, but would have
no active share in the business. They might have all
the honour, I would be content with my share of the
reward offered. Two of them with four of the guards
will enter the house and carry off the prince. The rest
will wait outside and follow closely on the way down to

THE PLOT THAT FAILED I79

the port ready to give aid if the others should meet
with any obstruction. The whole will embark and sail
to London with him."

"And when is this plot to be carried out?" Malcolm
asked.

"To-morrow at midnight. Tide will be high half an
hour later; they will drop down the river as soon as it
turns, and will be well out to sea by the morning. And
now I have told you all, I will only ask you to act so
that as little trouble as possible may arise."

"This is a villainous business, Ronald," Malcolm said
when they were alone; "and yet I am not surprised.
Thirty thousand pounds would not tempt a Highlander
who has nought in the world save the plaid in which he
stands up; but these money-grubbing citizens of Glasgow
would sell their souls for gain. And now what do you
think had best be done in the matter, so that the plot
may be put a stop to, and that without suspicion falling
upon Andrew. It would be easy to have a dozen men
hiding in the yard behind the house and cut down the
fellows as they enter."

"I do not think that would do, Malcolm; it would
cause a tumult, and the fact could not be hidden. And
besides, you know what these Highlanders are; they
already loathe and despise the citizens of Glasgow, and
did they know that there had been a plot on foot to
capture and slay the prince, nothing could prevent their
laying the town in ashes."

"That is true enough. What do you propose then,
Ronald?"

" I think it best that if there should be any fighting it
should be on board the ship, but possibly we may avoid
even that. I should say that with eight or ten men we
can easily seize the vessel, and then when the boat comes
alongside capture the fellows as they step on to the deck

l80 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

without trouble, and leave it to the prince to settle what
is to be done with them."

"That is certainly the best plan, Ronald. I will get
together to-morrow half a dozen trusty lads who will ask
no questions as to what I want them to do, and will be
silent about the matter afterwards. We must get from
Andrew to-morrow morning the name of the vessel, and
see where she is lying in the stream, and where the boat
will be waiting for the prince."

The next night Ronald and Malcolm with six men
made their way one by one through the streets so as not
to attract the attention of the watch, and assembled near
the strand. Not until the clock struck twelve did they
approach the stairs at the foot of which the boat was
lying. There were two men in it.

"You are earlier than we expected," one said as they
descended the steps. "The captain said a quarter past
twelve."

"Yes, we are a littie early," Malcolm replied zis he
stepped into the boat; "we were ready earlier than we
expected."

A moment later Macolm suddenly seized one of the
sailors by the throat and dragged him down to the
bottom of the boat, a handerchief was stuffed into his
mouth, and his hands and feet tied. The other was at
the same time similarly secured.

So sudden and unexpected had been the attack that the
sailors had had no time to cry out or offer any resistance,
and their capture was effected without the slightest sound
being heard. The oars were at once got out and the boat
was rowed out towards the vessel lying out in the middle
of the stream with a light burning at her peak. As they
approached the side the captain appeared at the gang-
way.

"All is well, I hope?" he asked.

THE PLOT THAT FAILED l8l

"Could not be better," Malcolm replied as he seized the
rope and mounted the gangway, the others closely
following him. As he sprang upon the deck he presented a
pistol at the captain's head.

"Speak a word and you die," he said sternly.

Taken by surprise the captain offered no resistance,
but suffered himself to be bound. Two or three sailors
on deck were similarly seized and secured, the hatchway
was fastened to prevent the rest of the crew from coming
on deck, and the ship thus being in their possession two
of the men at once took their places in the boat and
rowed back to the stairs.

A quarter of an hour later those on board heard a
murmur of voices on shore, and two or three minutes
later the splash of oars as the boat rowed back to the
ship. Ronald put on the captain's cap and stood at the
gangway with a lantern.

"All right, I hope?" he asked as the boat came along-
side.

"All right, captain! You can get up your anchor as
soon as you like."

Two men mounted on to the deck, and then four others
carried up a figure and were followed by the rest. As
the last one touched the deck Ronald lifted the lantern
above his head, and, to the astonishment of the new-
comers, they saw themselves confronted by eight armed
men.

The six men of the watch, furious at the prospect of
losing the reward upon which they had reckoned, drew
their swords and rushed forward; but they were struck
down with handspikes and swords, for Ronald had im-
pressed upon his men the importance of not using their
pistols, save in the last extremity. In two minutes the
fight was over. The five citizens had taken little part in
it, save as the recipients of blows; for Malcolm, furious

l82 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

at their treachery, had bade the men make no distinction
between them and the watch, and had himself dealt them
one or two heavy blows with his handspike after he had
seen that the guard was overpowered.

The whole of them were then bound, and warned that
their throats would be cut if they made the least noise.
The prince was released from his bonds, and he was at
once conducted by Malcolm and Ronald to the cabin,
where a light was burning.

The prince was so much bewildered by the events that
had occurred that he did not yet understand the state of
the case. He had been awoke by a gag being roughly
forced into his mouth, while at the same moment his
hands were tightly bound. Then he was lifted from his
bed, some clothes were thrown on to him, a man took his
place on either side, and, thrusting their arms into his,
threatened him with instant death if he did not come
along with them without resistance. Then he had been
hurried down stairs and along the streets, two men
keeping a little ahead and the others following behind.
They had met no one until they reached the shore. He had
been forced into a boat and rowed up to a ship, and on
reaching the deck a desperate combat had suddenly
commenced all round him. Then the gag had been re-
moved and the bonds cut. Bewildered and amazed he
gazed at the two men who had accompanied him to the
cabin.

"Why, Captain Leslie!" he exclaimed. "Is it you? What
means all this scene through which I have passed?"

"It means, your royal highness," Ronald said respect-
fully, "that I and my friend Malcolm obtained infor-
mation of a plot on the part of some of the citizens to carry
you off and sell you to the English. We therefore obtained
possession of the ship in which you were to have been
taken away, and then overcame your captors as they

THE PLOT THAT FAILED 183

brought you on board. All this has been done without
any alarm having been given, and it now rests with you
to determine what shall be done wdth these wretches."

"You have done well, indeed, Captain Leslie, and I
thank you and your friend not only for the great service
you have rendered me, but for the manner in which you
have done it. As for punishment for these men, they are
beneath me. We will order the captain to put to sea with
them at once, and tell him he had best not return to
Glasgow until I have left it. And now, gentlemen, will
you fetch in those who have aided you in my rescue. I
would thank every one of them for the service they have
rendered, and impress upon them my desire that they
should say nothing to anyone of this night's work."

While the prince was speaking to the men Malcolm
went out, and having unbound the captain, ordered him
to deliver up the sum which he had received for the
conveyance of the prince and his captors to England.

The captain did as he was ordered.

"How much is there here?" Malcolm asked.

"Three hundred pounds."

Malcolm counted out fifty of it and placed them in his
pocket, saying to Ronald:

"There is no reason Andrew should be a loser by the
transaction. That will leave two hundred and fifty, which
I will divide among our men when we get ashore."

Malcolm then gave the prince's orders to the captain;
that he must, immediately they left the ship, get up his
anchor and make out to sea; and that under pain of being
tried and executed for his share in this treacherous
business, he was not to return to Glasgow with his
eleven passengers for the space of a week.

The prince and his rescuers then entered the boats and
rowed to shore, and the prince regained his apartment
without anyone in the house being aware that he had

184 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

been absent from it. The next day the prince sent for
Ronald and Malcolm, and in a private interview again
expressed to them his gratitude for his rescue from the
hands of his enemies.

"I have none but empty honour to bestow now," he
said; "but believe me, if I ever mount the throne of
England you shall see that Charles Edward Stuart is
not ungrateful."

Having rested his army by a stay of eight days at
Glzisgow, Prince Charles set out on the 3rd of January,
1746, for StirUng, where he was joined by Lords John
Drummond, Lewis Gordon, and Strathallan, the first-
named of whom had brought some battering guns and
engineers from France. Their following raised the force
to nearly nine thousand men — the largest army that
Charles mustered during the course of the campaign.
The siege of Stirling was at once commenced; but the
castle was strong and well defended, and the siege made
but Uttle progress.

In the meantime the Duke of Cumberland had been
recalled with the greater part of his force to guard the
southern coasts of England, which were threatened by
an invasion by a French force now assembled at Dunkirk,
and which, had it sailed before the Highlanders com-
menced their retreat from Derby, might have altogether
altered the situation of affairs. The command of the
Enghsh army in the north was handed by the duke to
General Hawley, a man after his own heart, violent in
temper, brutal and cruel in conduct.

He collected at Edinburgh an army of nearly the same
strength as that of Prince Charles, and with these he
marched out as far as Falkirk to raise the siege of Stirhng,
and, as he confidently boasted, to drive the rebels before
him. Prince Charles, leaving a few hundred men to
continue the siege, marched out to Bannockbum. The

THE PLOT THAT FAILED 185

English did not move from Falkirk, and the prince,
after waiting for a day, determined to take the initiative.

Hawley himself was stopping at Gallendar House at
some distance from his army and General Huske remained
in command of the camp. To occupy his attention the
prince despatched Lord John Drummond, with all the
cavalry, by the straight road by StirUng to Falkirk,
which ran north of the EngUsh camp. They displayed,
as they marched, the royal standard and other colours,
which had the desired effect of impressing Huske with
the idea that the prince with all his army was moving
that way. In the meantime Charles with his main force
had crossed the river Garron to the south and was only
separated from the English by Falkirk Muir, a rugged
and rigid upland covered with heath.

Just as the Enghsh were about to take their dinner
some country people brought in the news of the approach
of the Highlanders. Huske at once got his men under
arms, but he had no authority, in the absence of Hawley,
to set them in motion. Messengers, however, were sent
off on horseback at once to Gallendar House, and the
general presently galloped up in breathless haste, and
putting himself at the head of his three regiments of
dragoons, started for Falkirk Muir, which he hoped to
gain before the Highlanders could take possession of it.
He ordered the infantry to follow as fast as possible.
A storm of wind and rain beat in the face of the
soldiers, and before they could gain the crest of the
muir the Highlanders had obtained possession. The
English then halted and drew up on somewhat lower
ground.

Between them was a ravine which formed but a small
depression opposite the centre of the English line, but
deepened towards the plain on their right. The Enghsh
artillery, in the hurry of their advance, had stuck fast in

l86 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

a morass, but as the Highlanders had brought no guns
with them the forces were equal in this respect. Lord
John Drummond had from a distance been watching the
movements of the English, and as soon as he saw that
they had taken the alarm and were advancing against the
prince, he made a detour, and, riding round the English,
joined the Highland infantry. The prince's army was
divided into two lines: its right was commanded by Lord
George Murray, the left by Lord John Drummond; the
prince, as at Preston, took up his station in the centre of
the second line on a conspicuous mound, still known by
the name of Charlie's Hill.

The English infantry were also drawn up in two lines,
with the Argyle militia and the Glasgow regiment in
reserve behind the second line. The cavalry were in
front under Colonel Ligonier, who, at the death of Colonel
Gardiner, had succeeded to the command of his regiment.
General Hawley commanded the centre and General
Huske the right.

The battle commenced by a charge of Ligonier with
his cavalry upon the Highland right. Here the Macdonald
clansmen were posted, and these, at Lord George Murray's
order, reserved their fire until the dragoons were within
ten yards, and then poured in a scathing volley, under
which numbers of the horsemen went down. The two
dragoon regiments, which had fled so shamefully at
Preston and Coltbridge, turned and galloped at once
from the field; but Cobham's regiment fought well, and
when compelled to retreat rallied behind the right of the
line.

Lord George Murray endeavoured to get the victorious
Macdonalds into line again; but these were beyond control
and rushing forward fell upon the flank of Hawley's two
lines of foot, which were at the same moment furiously
assailed in front; the Highlanders, after pouring in their

THE PLOT THAT FAILED 187

fire, dropped their muskets and charged broadsword in
hand.

The English, nearly bUnded by the wind and rain,
were unable to withstand this combined assault. General
Hawley, who at least possessed the virtue of courage,
rode hither and thither in their front, trying to encourage
them, but in vain, the whole centre gave way and fled in
confusion. On the right, however, the Enghsh were
defending themselves successfully. The three regiments
placed there, on the edge of the ravine, maintained so
steady a fire that the Highlanders were unable to cross
it, and Gobham's dragoons charged down upon the
scattered and victorious Highlanders in the centre and
effectually checked their pursuit. Prince Charles, seeing the
danger, put himself at the head of the second line and
advanced against the three English regiments who still
stood firm.

Unable to withstand so overwhelming a force these
fell back from the ground they had held, but did so
in steady order, their drums beating, and covering, in
their retreat, the mingled mass of fugitives. Had the
Highlanders, at this critical moment, flung themselves
with their whole force upon these regiments the English
army would have been wholly destroyed; but night was
already setting in, and the Scottish leaders were ignorant
how complete was their victory, and feared an ambuscade.
Lord John Drummond, a general officer in the French
service, especially opposed the pursuit, saying, "These
men behaved admirably at Fontenoy; surely this must
be a feint."

The Highlanders remained stationary on the field until
some detachments, sent forward by the prince, brought
back word that the English had already retreated from
Falkirk. They left behind them on the field four hundred
dead or dying, with a large proportion of officers, and

l88 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

a hundred prisoners; all their artillery, ammunition,
and baggage fell into the hands of the Highlanders, whose
total loss was only about a hundred. The English, on
their retreat, burned to the ground the royal palace at
Linlithgow.

CHAPTER XV

GULLODEN

The victory of Falkirk brought but little advantage to
Prince Charles, and dissensions arose among the officers;
Lord George Murray being furious with Lord John
Drummond for preventing the complete destruction of the
English army, while Lord John Drummond severely
criticised Lord George for the confusion which had taken
place among his troops after their success.

Great numbers of the Highlanders, who had spent the
night after the battle in plundering the English camp
and stripping the slain, made off with their booty to the
mountains, and the number of desertions was increased
by the withdrawal of the greater part of Glengarry's
clansmen. On the day after the battle the musket of one
of the Clanranald clansmen went off by accident and
killed the son of Glengarry. His clansmen loudly de-
manded life for life, and Clanranald having reluctantly
consented to surrender his follower, the poor fellow was
immediately led out and shot; but even this savage act
of vengeance was insufficient to satisfy the Glengarry
men, the greater part of whom at once left the army and
returned to their homes.

After the battle the siege of Stirling was renewed; but
owing to the gross incompetence of a French engineer,

CULLODEN 189

who had come over with Lord John Drummond, the
batteries were so badly placed that their fire was easily
silenced by that of the castle guns. The prince, in spite
of the advice of Lord George Murray and the other
competent authorities, and Ustening only to his favourite
councillors. Secretary Murray and Sir Thomas Sheridan,
continued the siege, although on the 30th of January the
Duke of Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh and took
the command of the army.

Never had Scotland a more bitter enemy. Relentiess
and savage as General Hawley had been, his deeds were
more than rivalled by those of the Duke of Cumberland,
who was justly branded by contemporary historians with
the name of "the butcher." He was, however, an able
general, of great activity and high personal courage.

After halting but one night in Edinburgh he set out
at the head of his army to meet the enemy; but these did
not repeat their tactics at Falkirk. Disgusted at the
conduct of the prince in slighting their advice and
listening only to his unworthy counsellors, Lord George
Murray with all the principal military leaders held a
consultation, and presented a memorial to the prince. In
this they stated that, seeing the great numbers of High-
landers who had gone home, they were of opinion that
another batde could not be fought with a chance of success,
and therefore recommended that the army should at once
retire to the Highlands, where a sufficient number of men
could be kept together to defy the efforts of the enemy at
such a season of the year, and that in the spring ten
thousand Highlanders could be got together to go where-
soever the prince might lead them. Prince Charles was
struck with grief and dismay at this decision, but as all the
military leaders had signed it he was forced to give way.

The army at once blew up its magazines, spiked its
guns, and marched for the north in two divisions with

igO BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

much confusion and loss of order. The Duke of Cumber-
land pursued, but was unable to come up to them, and
halted at Perth.

Ronald was perfectly aUve to the hopelessness of final
success. When he and Malcolm talked the matter over
together they agreed that there could be but one issue
to the struggle, and that ruin and disaster must fall
upon all who had taken part in the enterprise.

"I feel thankful indeed," Ronald said one day, "that I
am here only as a private gentleman risking my own life.
I do not know what my feelings would be, if, like these
Highland chiefs, I had brought all my kinsmen and
followers with me into the field. The thought of the ruin
and misery which would fall upon them would be dread-
ful. I fear that the vengeance which will be taken after this
is over will be far greater and more widespread than that
which followed '15. All say that the Duke of Cumberland
is brutal and pitiless, and the fact that we were nearly
successful will naturally add to the severity with which
the English government will treat us if we fall into their
power. I fear that they will determine to teach the
Highlands such a lesson as will ensure their never
again venturing to rise in arms against the house of
Hanover."

"And I don't know that they are altogether to be
blamed," Malcolm said. "I am not so young as I was,
Ronald, and I see now that I was wrong in teaching you to
be a Jacobite. It is all very well for men like Tullibardine,
who knew the Stuarts on the throne, to fight to put them
back again; but to your generation, Ronald, the Stuarts
are after all only a tradition, and it is a sort of generous
madness for you to risk your life to set them again on
the throne of England. It cannot matter a brass pin to
you whether James or George rules at St. James's; and
after all it seems to me that if the majority in these islands

CULLODEN igi

determine that they will be ruled by the house of Hanover
instead of the house of Stuart they have some right to
make their own choice."

"You argue like a philosopher, Malcolm," Ronald said
laughing, "and do not remind me in the slightest degree
of the Malcolm who used to chat with me in Glasgow."

"You are right there, lad. You see I was brought up
a Jacobite, and I have been a soldier all my life, accus-
tomed to charge when I was told to charge and to kill
those I was told to kill; but I own that since I have been
out now I have got to look at matters differently. The
sight of all these poor Highland bodies blindly following
their chiefs and risking life and all for a cause in which
they have no shadow of interest has made me think. If
we get over this scrape I have done with fighting; and I
hope that no Stuart will ever again succeed in getting
Scotland to take up his cause. I shall go on fighting for
Prince Charlie as long as there is a man left with him;
but after that there is an end of it as far as I am con-
cerned, and I hope as far as Scodand is concerned."

Charles on approaching Inverness found it roughly
fortified and held by Lord Loudon with a force of two
thousand men. The prince halted ten miles from the town
at Moy Castle, where he was entertained by Lady
MTntosh, whose husband was servihg with Lord Loudon,
but who had raised the clan for Prince Charles. The
prince had but a few personal attendants with him,
the army having been halted at some distance from the
casde.

One evening Ronald had ridden over to Moy Castle
with some despatches from Lord George Murray to the
prince, and had remained there to dine with him. It
was late before he mounted his horse. He was, as usual,
accompanied by Malcolm. They had ridden but a short
distance through the wood which surrounded the castle

192 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

when a shot was fired, and almost immediately afterwards
four or five men came running through the trees.

"What is the matter?" Malcolm shouted.

"The English army are upon us!" one of the M'Intoshes
— for they were clansmen who had been sleeping in the
wood — answered.

"They must intend to seize the prince," Ronald said,
"and will already have sent round a body of horse to cut
off his retreat. Scatter through the wood, men, and
raise the war-cry of one of the clans as if the whole
army were here. This may cause a delay and enable
the prince to ride off. Malcolm, you ride back with all
speed to the castle and warn the prince of Loudon's
approach."

The Highlanders at once obeyed Ronald's orders, and
in a minute or two the war-cries of half a dozen of the
principal clans in Prince Charles's army rang through the
woods, while at the same time the Highlanders discharged
their muskets. Ronald also shouted orders, as to a large
body of men.

The English, who had made sure of effecting a success-
ful surprise, hesitated as they heard the war-cries of the
clans ringing through the woods, and believing that the
whole of Prince Charles's army were at hand and they
were about to be attacked in overwhelming numbers,
retreated hastily to Inverness. No sooner had Ronald
discovered that they had fallen back than he rode off to
inform the prince that the danger was over.

He found Prince Charles mounted, with Lady M'Intosh
on horseback by his side, and the retainers in the castle
gathered round, broadsword in hand, in readiness to cut
their way through any body of the enemy's horse who
might intercept their retreat. Charles laughed heartily
when he heard of the strategy which Ronald had employed
to arrest the advance of the enemy, and thanked him

CULLODEN 193

for again having saved him from faUing into the hands
of the enemy.

The EngHsh made their retreat to Inverness in such
confusion and dismay that the affair became known in
history as the "rout of Moy."

The next morning, the 17th of February, the prince
called up his army, and the next day advanced against
Inverness. Lord Loudon did not await his coming. The
panic of his soldiers two days before showed him that
no reliance could be placed upon them, and embarking
with them in boats he crossed the Moray Firth to
Cromarty, where the troops shortly afterwards disbanded
upon hearing that the Earl of Cromaity was marching
against them with some Highland regiments.

The town of Inverness was occupied at once, and the
citadel surrendered in a few days. The army, now in a
barren and mountainous region, were deprived of all
resources. Many ships with supplies were sent off from
France, but few of them reached their destination; several
being captured by British cruisers, and others compelled
to go back to French ports.

The supply of money in the treasury was reduced to
the lowest ebb, and Charles was obliged to pay his troops
in meal, and even this was frequently deficient, and the
men suffered severely from hunger. Many deserted, and
others scattered over the country in search of subsistence.

In the meantime the Duke of Cumberland's army was
receiving powerful reinforcements. In February Prince
Frederick of Hesse-Cassel, with five thousand of his
troops who had been hired by the British government,
landed at Leith. These troops were placed in garrison
in all the towns in the south of Scotland, thus enabling
the Duke of Cumberland to draw together the whole of
the EngUsh forces for his advance into the Highlands.

On the 8th of April he set out from Aberdeen with

H

194 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

eight thousand foot and nine hundred horse. He marched
along the coast accompanied by the fleet, which landed
supplies as needed. At the Spey Lord John Drummond
had prepared to defend the fords, and some works had
been thrown up to protect them; but the English cannon
were brought up in such numbers that Lord John,
considering the position untenable, retired to Inverness,
while the English army forded the Spey, and on the 14th
entered Nairn, where some skirmishing took place
between their advance guard and the Highland rear.

Prince Charles and his principal officers rested that
night at Culloden House and the troops lay upon the
adjacent moor. On the morning of the 15th they drew
up in order of battle. The English, however, rested for
the day at Nairn, and there celebrated the Duke of
Cumberland's birthday with much feasting, abundant
supplies being landed from the fleet.

The Highlanders, on the other hand, fasted, only one
biscuit per man being issued during the day. Conse-
quently many straggled away to Inverness and other
places in search of food. Lord Cromarty, with the regi-
ments under his command, were absent, so that barely
five thousand men were mustered in the ranks. At a
council of war Lord George Murray suggested that a
night surprise should be made on the duke's camp at
Nairn, and as this was the prince's own plan it was
unanimously agreed to.

Before, however, the straggling troops could be collected
it was eight o'clock at night. Nairn was twelve miles
distant, and the men, weakened by privation and hunger,
marched so slowly across the marshy ground that it was
two o'clock in the morning before the head of the columns
arrived within four miles of the British camp, while the
rear was still far away, and many had dropped out of the
ranks from fatigue.

CULLODEN 195

It was now too late to hope that a surprise could be
effected before daylight, and the army retraced its steps
to Culloden Moor. Worn out and exhausted as they were,
and wholly without supplies of provisions, Lord George
Murray and the other miUtary officers felt that the troops
could not hope to contend successfully against a vastly
superior army, fresh, well fed, and supported by a strong
force of artillery, on the open ground, and he proposed
that the army should retire beyond the river Nairn, and
take up a position there on broken ground inaccessible
to cavalry.

The prince, however, supported by Sir Thomas Sheri-
dan and his other evil advisers, overruled the opinion of
the military leaders, and decided to fight on level ground.
The Highlanders were now drawn up in order of battle
in two lines. On the right were the Athole brigade, the
Camerons, the Stuarts, and some other clans under Lord
George Murray; on the left the Macdonald regiments
under Lord John Drummond. This arrangement, unfor-
tunately, caused great discontent among the Macdonalds,
just as their being given the post of honour at Falkirk
had given umbrage to the other clans.

At eleven o'clock the English army was seen approach-
ing. It was formed in three lines, with cavalry on each
wing, and two pieces of cannon between every two regi-
ments of the first hne. The batde began with an artillery
duel, but in this the advantage was all on the side of the
English, the number of their pieces and the skill of their
gunners being greatly superior.

Prince Charles rode along the front line to animate his
men, and as he did so several of his escort were killed by
the English cannonade. A storm of snow and hail had
set in, blowing full in the face of the Highlanders. At
length Lord George Murray, finding that he was suffering
heavily from the enemy's artillery fire, while his own

196 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

guns inflicted but little damage upon them, sent to Prince
Charles for permission to charge.

On receiving it he placed himself at the head of his
men, and with the whole of the right wing and centre
charged the enemy. They were received with a tremen-
dous musketry fire, while the English artillery swept
the ranks with grape; but so furious was their onslaught
that they broke through Munro and Burrel's regiments in
the first line and captured two pieces of cannon. But
behind were the second line drawn up three deep, with
the front rank kneeling, and these, reserving their fire
until the Highlanders were close at hand, opened a rolling
fire so sustained and heavy that the Highlanders were
thrown into complete disorder.

Before they could recover themselves they were charged
by horse and foot on both flanks, and driven together till
they became a confused mass. In vain did their chiefs
attempt to rally them. Exhausted and weakened in body,
swept by the continuous fire of the English, they could
do no more, and at last broke and fled. In the meantime
the Macdonalds on the left remained inactive. In vain
Lord John Drummond and the Duke of Perth called
upon them to charge, in vain their chief, Keppoch, rushed
forward with a few of his clansmen and died in front of
them. Nothing would induce them to fight, and when
the right and centre were defeated they fell back in good
order, and joining the remnants of the second line, retired
from the field unbroken.

Charles, from the heights on which he stood with a
squadron of horse, could scarce believe the evidence of
his eyes when he saw the hitherto victorious Highlanders
broken and defeated, and would have ridden down him-
self to share their fate had not O' Sullivan and Sheridan
seized his horse by the bridle and forced him from the
field. Being pressed by the English, the retreating force

CULLODEN 197

broke into two divisions. The smaller retreated to
Inverness, where they next day laid down their arms
to the Duke of Cumberland; the other, still preserving
some sort of order, marched by way of Ruthven to
Badenoch.

Ronald had ridden close beside Lord George Murray
as he led the Highlanders to the charge; but he had, as
they approached the first English line, received a ball in
the shoulder, while almost at the same instant Malcolm's
horse was shot under him. Ronald reeled in the saddle,
and would have fallen had not Malcolm extricated him-
self from his fallen horse and run up to him.

"Where are you hit, lad?" he asked in anxiety.

"In the shoulder, Malcolm. Help me off my horse, and
go on with the troops."

"I shall do nothing of the kind," Malcolm said. "One
man will make no difference to them, and I am going to
look after you."

So saying he sprang up behind Ronald, and placing
one arm round him to support him, took the reins in the
other and rode to the rear. He halted on rising ground,
and for a short time watched the conflict.

"The battle is lost," he said at last. "Lord George's
troops are in utter confusion. The Macdonalds show no
signs of moving, though I can see their officers are urging
them to charge. Now, Ronald, the first thing is to get
you out of this, and beyond the reach of pursuit."

So saying he turned the horse and rode away from the
field of battle.

"Does your shoulder hurt much?" he asked after they
had gone a short distance.

"It does hurt abominably," Ronald said faintly, for he
was feeling almost sick from the agony he was suffering
from the motion of the horse.

"I am a fool," Malcolm said, "not to have seen to it

igS BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

before we started. I can't do much now; but at least I
can fasten it so as to hurt you as Httle as possible."

He took off his scarf, and, telling Ronald to place his
arm in the position which was most comfortable to him,
he bound it tightly against his body.

"That is better, is it not?" he asked as he again set the
horse in motion.

"Much better, Malcolm. I feel that I can go on now,
whereas before I could not have gone much further if
all Cumberland's cavalry had been close behind. How far
are you thinking of going? I don't think my horse can
carry double much further."

"No. But we shall not have to make a very long
journey. The English marched twelve miles before they
attacked us, and I do not think they are likely to closely
pursue far to-night; besides, I have no intention of riding
now that you are strong enough to sit your horse alone,
and there is no fear of immediate pursuit. I think that
in another two miles we shall be safe from any fear of
the English cavalry overtaking us, for we shall then reach
a forest. Once in that we shall be safe from pursuit,
and shall soon be in the heart of the hills."

On reaching the forest Malcolm dismounted, and lead-
ing the horse turned off from the road. Following a little
trodden path they were soon in the heart of the forest,
and after keeping on for two hours, and crossing several
hills, he stopped by the side of a stream.

"We are perfectly safe here," he said, "and can sleep
as securely as if we were in a palace."

The saddle was taken off and the horse turned loose to
graze. Malcolm then removed Ronald's coat and shirt,
bathed the wound for some time with water, cut some
pieces of wood to act as splints, and tearing some strips
off his sash bound these tightly.

"The ball has smashed the bone, Ronald, and we must

CULLODEN 199

be careful to keep the shoulder in its proper position or
you will never look square again."

"Tha*- does not seem very important to me just at
present, Malcolm."

"No. Just at the present the most important question is
that of getting something to eat. We have had nothing
to-day and not much yesterday, and now that we are no
longer in danger of pursuit one begins to feel one is
hungry. You stay here while I go and forage. There
ought to be a village somewhere among the hills not far
away."

"Do you know the country, Malcolm?"

"I never came by this path, lad; but I have travelled
pretty well all over the Highlands, and, just as you found
to be the case in Lancashire, there are few villages I
do not know. I will first pull you a couch of this dead
bracken, and then be off; an hour's sleep will do you
almost as much good as a meal."

Ronald lay down on the soft couch Malcolm prepared
for him, and before he had been alone for a minute he
was fast asleep.

The sun was setting when he awoke. Malcolm stood
beside him.

"Here is supper, lad. Not a very grand one, but there's
enough of it, which is more than has been the case for
some weeks."

So saying he laid down by Ronald's side a large loaf
of black bread, a cheese made of sheep's milk, and a
bottle of spirits.

"The village is five miles away, which is farther than
I expected. However, I came back quicker than I went,
for I had had a bowl of milk and as much bread as I
could eat. I found the place in a state of wild excite-
ment, for two or three of the men had just come in from
the battle-field, and brought the news with them. They

200 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

are all for the Stuarts there, and you would be weU
entertained, but there is sure to be a search high and
low, and you would not be safe in any village. However,
a lad has promised to be here in the morning, and he will
guide us to a lonely hut in the heart of the hills, used by the
shepherds in summer. You will be perfectly safe there.

"It is about three miles from the village, he said. So
I can go down two or three times a week and get food,
and learn how things are going on. The Highlanders
may rally again and make another fight of it; but I
hardly expect they will. At anyrate, whether they gather
again or not, you will have to keep perfectly quiet for a
time. When your shoulder is perfectly healed we can act
according to circumstances, and make for the army if
there be an army, or for the sea-coast if there is not."

Although he had eaten but a short time before, Mal-
colm was quite ready for another meal, and sitting down
beside Ronald he joined him in his assault upon the black
bread and cheese. Then he collected some more of the
bracken, mixed himself a strong horn of whisky and
water, and a much weaker one for Ronald, after which
the two lay down and were soon fast asleep.

They were awake at sunrise, and shortly afterwards
the lad whom Malcolm had engaged to act as guide made
his appearance. The horse was saddled, Ronald mounted,
and they started at once for their destination among the
hills. They followed the path which Malcolm had taken
the afternoon before for some three miles, and then struck
ofif to the left. Half an hour took them out of the forest,
and they journeyed for an hour along bare hillsides, until,
lying in a sheltered hollow, they saw the hut which was
their destination.

"They are not likely to find us here," Malcolm said
cheerfully, "even were they to scour the mountains.
They might ride within fifty yards of this hollow with-

FUGITIVES 201

out suspecting its existence. Where are we to get water?"
he asked the lad in GaeUc.

"A quarter of a mile away over that brow is the head
of a stream," the lad replied. "You cannot well miss it."

"That is all right," Malcolm said. "I don't mind carry-
ing up provisions or a bottle of spirits now and then; but
to drag all the water we want three miles would be
serious."

The door of the hut was only fastened by a latch, and
they entered without ceremony. It consisted of but a single
room. There were two or three rough wooden stools, and
a heap of bracken in one corner. Not a large amount of
furniture, but, in the opinion of a Highlander, amply
sufficient.

"We shall do here capitally," Malcolm said. "Now,
what do you think about the horse, Ronald? Of course
he might be useful if we were obUged to move suddenly;
but we have no food to give him, and if we let him shift
for himself he will wander about, and might easily be
seen by anyone crossing these hills."

"I quite agree with you, Malcolm. The lad had better
take him down to the village, and give him to the head
man there."

CHAPTER XVI

FUGITIVES

For three weeks Ronald and Malcolm remained in
hiding in the hut among the hills. Every two or three
days Malcolm went down to the village and brought
back food. He learned that the remains of the army at
Ruthven had entirely dispersed, the prince himself seeing

202 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

the hopelessness of any longer continuing the struggle.
Terrible tales of slaughter and devastation by Cumber-
land's troops circulated through the hills. The duke had
fixed his headquarters at Fort Augustus, and thence his
troops ravaged the whole country of the clans lately in
insurrection. Villages were burned, cattle slaughtered,
women subjected to the grossest insult and ill-treatment,
and often wantonly slain, and the fugitives among the
mountains hunted like wild beasts, and slain as pitilessly
whenever overtaken.

Ronald's arm was healing fast. Youth and a good con-
stitution, and the care and attention of Malcolm, aided
perhaps by the pure mountain air, did wonders for him.
The splints had proved efficacious, and although they had
not yet been taken off, Malcolm was confident that the
injury would be completely repaired. One morning
Malcolm had left but half an hour for the village when
he returned.

"The enemy are in the village," he said. "I can see
clouds of smoke rising in that direction. We had better
be off at once. They will be scouring all the hills here,
as they have done elsewhere, and we had better get out
of the neighbourhood."

There was no packing to be done, and taking with them
what remained of the food Malcolm had last brought, they
started on their way. They made first for the spring
from which they had drawn their water, and then followed
the little stream on its way down the hill, as it flowed
in the opposite direction to the village. An hour's walking
took them into the forest.

"Before we go further let us have a consultation,"
Malcolm said. "We are safe now from pursuit, and had
better settle upon what course we intend to adopt. Shall
we make for Glasgow, and lie hid there until things blow
over a little; or make for the isles, and stay there until

FUGITIVES 203

we get a chance of being taken off by some French ship?
That is what they say the prince has done; and indeed as
there would be no chance of his getting a ship on the east
coast, and all the Lowlands are against them, he is
certain to have made for the isles. What do you say,
Ronald?"

"I would not try Glasgow unless as a last resource,
Malcolm; you are known to many there, and as I was
there as one of the prince's officers on two occasions I
might easily be recognized. At present we must not try
to pass through the Lowlands."

"At anyrate we cannot try to do so till your shoulder
is completely healed, and I do not think that we had
better try and cross to the isles just at present. If Prince
Charles is there, the search will be so keen that every
stranger would be hunted down. We will make a shift
to live as we can for a month or so; by that time I hope
you will be able to use one arm as well as the other, and
we will then boldly go down into the Lowlands in our old
characters as two drovers."

"That will be the best plan no doubt," Ronald agreed;
"the difficulty will be getting over the next month."

"We shall manage that," Malcolm said.

They walked for some hours, and stopped for the night
in the hut of a shepherd, who received them hospitably.
In the morning he gave them directions as to the way
they should take, and a few hours later they came down
upon the head of one of the many deep inlets on the
western coast. A small fishing-boat stood on the shore,
but they dare not descend into this, but made their way
to the point where, as the shepherd had told them, a
stream which flowed from a mountain tarn some miles
inland made its way down into the sea.

The banks were thickly wooded for some two miles
from its outlet; beyond that was a moorland covered with

204 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

heather. They determined to encamp near the upper edge
of the wood, and at once set to with their swords to cut
down branches and construct a hut. This was completed
before dusk, and Malcolm then started for the village on
the sea-shore. Three hours later he returned laden with
a sack containing forty pounds of meal, a jar with two
gallons of whisky, and a net.

"There," he said as he entered, "we can do for a month
now, if needs be. There is a party of militia in the village,
and I hear the whole coast is closely watched, and there
are a number of English cruisers among the islands."

The next morning they set to work to fish. The net
was stretched across the lower end of a pool, and they
then stripped and waded in, splashing and throwing stones
as they went. It was just up to their necks in the deepest
parts, shallowing to two feet below. When they reached
the net they found two fine salmon caught there, and
carrying these ashore they split one and placed it above
the fire. The net was then removed, and in half an hour
they were sitting down to a breakfast of grilled salmon
and hot oatmeal cakes, which Ronald thought the most
delicious repast he had ever tasted.

For three weeks they remained at this spot. They were
not always alone, being sometimes joined for a day or
two by other fugitives, who, like themselves, were wander-
ing near the sea-coast seeking escape. They were sure that
Prince Charles had so far escaped capture, and an
opinion began to prevail that he had succeeded in making
his escape by sea, in spite of the vigilance of the English
cruisers.

By the end of the three weeks even Malcolm admitted
that Ronald's wound was completely cured. They deter-
mined, therefore, to continue their way. In the first place,
however, it was necessary to procure other clothes, for
Ronald was still in uniform, and although Malcolm's

FUGITIVES 205

attire was not wholly military, it yet differed materially
from that of a countryman.

"We shall have to get other clothes when we get south,"
Malcolm said; "for a Highlander's dress would be looked
upon with as much suspicion in Glasgow as would that
uniform of yours. But until we get down to the Low-
lands the native garb will be the best."

Accordingly he paid another visit to the village, and
with the utmost difficulty persuaded the man he had
before dealt with to bring him two suits of clothes, such
as were worn by the fishermen there. In these, although
Malcolm's small stock of GaeUc would betray them at
once for other than they seemed to the first clansman
who might address them, they could pass muster with
any body of English troops they might meet by the
way.

Before starting they caught and smoked as many
salmon as they could carry, as the fishermen of the coast
were in the habit of exchanging fish for sheep with their
inland neighbours. They cut each a short pole, and slung
some fish at each end, and then placing it on their
shoulder, started on their way. They kept along the hill-
side until they struck the track — for it could scarcely be
called a road — leading from the village into the interior,
and then boldly followed this.

Occasionally in the course of the day's walk they met
with clansmen passing along the road. These generally
passed with a brief word of greeting in Gaelic. One or
two who stopped to speak recognized at once by Malcolm's
accent that the wayfarers were not what they pretended
to be; but they asked no questions, and with a significant
smile and an expression of good wishes went on their
way. At the village where they stopped, after a long day's
journey, the same line of conduct was observed towards
them. They paid for their night's lodging and food with

206 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

a portion of their fish, which they were indeed glad to
get rid of.

They continued in this way until they reached Dum-
barton, and as their garb was similar to that of the men
who brought down the fish caught at the villages on the
coast, no attention whatever was paid to them. They had
no difficulty in purchasing the clothes they required, and
carrying them out of the town they changed in the first
retired spot they reached, and, as two Lowland drovers,
tramped on to Glasgow. With their bonnets pulled well
down over their eyes they entered the town.

After it was dark Malcolm went to Andrew's. His
brother's face expressed both pleasure and dismay at
seeing him.

"Right glad I am to see you have got safely through it
all, Malcolm, but you must be mad to show yourself here
again at present. But how is the boy? We have troubled
sorely over him. I trust that he too has come safely
through it?"

"Safe and sound, Andrew, save that he had a bullet
through his shoulder at Culloden; but he is right enough
again now."

"And what have you been doing ever since?"

"Curing his shoulder and fishing;" and Malcolm briefly
related their adventures since Culloden.

"And is he with you here in Glasgow, Malcolm?
Surely you are not mad enough to bring him here, where
he is known to scores of people as one of the rebel
officers!"

"He is here, sure enough," Malcolm said, "and safer
than he has been for some time. Ronald is dressed like a
drover, and no one is likely to recognize him. However,
he will remain within doors. And now, brother, I want
you to take us a passage in the next vessel sailing for
London. If I go to a shipper he may ask questions, and

FUGITIVES 207

like enough it may be necessary to get passes signed
before we can go on board."

"Certainly it is," Andrew said. "A strict look-out is
kept to prevent the rebel leaders from escaping, and no
captain of a ship is permitted to take a passenger unless
he is provided with a pass, signed by a magistrate, saying
that he is a peaceable and well-known person."

"But just at present we are both peaceable persons,
Andrew, and we can certainly claim to be well-known
citizens."

"It is no joking matter, Malcolm, I can tell you,"
Andrew said irritably; "but of course I will see what I
can do. And now I will come with you and have a chat
with Ronald. It will not do to bring him here to-night,
but we must arrange for him to come and see Janet before
he sails. I shall not tell her anything about it till he is
ready to start, for you know she is very particular, and I
am afraid I shall have to say what is not quite true to
get the order. I can sign it myself, but it must have the
signature of the provost too."

So saying he took his cap and accompanied Malcolm
to the lodging.

Ronald, who was sitting with his cap pulled down over
his eyes as if asleep in a corner of the room, where three
or four drovers were smoking and talking, was called
out by Malcolm.

"I am right glad to see you again," Andrew Anderson
said heartily. "Janet and I have passed an ill time since
the battle was fought. I will make inquiry to-morrow as
to what ships are sailing, and will get you a passage in
the first. There may be some little difficulty about the
permit; but if I can't get over it we must smuggle you on
board as sailors. However, I don't think the provost will
ask me any questions when I lay the permit before him
for his signature. And now, lad, I must be going back.

208 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

for the hour is getting late and Janet does not know why
I am away. Gome to us to-morrow evening as soon as the
shop closes. Janet and Elspeth will be delighted to see
you, and we will have a long talk over all that you have
gone through."

On the following evening Ronald and Malcolm pre-
sented themselves at Andrew's and were received with
delight by Elspeth and Mrs. Anderson.

"I have good news for you," Andrew said, when the
first greetings were over. "A vessel sails in the morning,
and I have taken passages for you in it; and what is more,
have brought your permits."

They spent a long evening talking over the past.

"I wonder if I shall ever see you again, Ronald!" Mrs.
Anderson said, with tears in her eyes, as they rose to say
good-bye.

"You need not fear about that, Janet, woman," her
husband said. "Ronald and Malcolm aye fall on their
legs, and we shall see them back again like two bad
pennies. Besides," he went on more seriously, "there will
be an end of these savage doings in the north before long.
You will see that before long there will be a general
pardon granted to all except the leaders. Fortunately
Ronald and Malcolm are not likely to be in the list of
exceptions, and before a year is up they will be able to
come back if they will without fear of being tapped on
the shoulder by a king's officer."

"I shall come back again if I can, you may be sure,"
Ronald said. "Of course I do not know yet what my
father and mother's plans may be; but for myself I shall
always look upon Scotland as my home, and come back
to it as soon as I have an opportunity."

"You do not intend to stay in the French army?"

"Certainly not. After the treatment my father has
received I have no inclination to serve France. The chief

HAPPY DAYS 209

reason why Scotchmen have entered her service has
been that they were driven from home, and that they
looked to France for aid to place the Stuarts on the
throne again. Now that the time has come, France has
done nothing to aid, and has seen the Stuart cause go
down without striking a blow to assist it. I consider
that cause is lost for ever, and shall never again draw
my sword against the House of Hanover. Nor have I
had any reason for loving France; and if ever I get the
opportunity I shall return to Scotland to live."

The next morning early Ronald and Malcolm em-
barked on board a ship. Their permits were closely
scrutinized before the vessel started, and a thorough
search was made before she was allowed to sail. When
the officers were satisfied that no fugitives were concealed
on board they returned to shore, and the vessel started
on her voyage for London.

CHAPTER XVII

HAPPY DAYS

On arriving in London, after ten days' voyage, Ronald
and Malcolm obtained garments of the ordinary cut.
The one attired himself as an English gentleman, the
other in a garb suitable to a confidential attendant or
steward, and after a stay of two or three days they made
their way by coach down to Southampton.

Here they remained for a week, and then effected a
bargain with the captain of a fishing lugger to set them
on shore in France. As the two coj''^* * ;.,-« ^a",* '^'.^
this could only be done by landii
quiet spot on the French coast. '^
o

210 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

a couple of days, and then, choosing a quiet night when
there was a mist on the water, she ran in as closely as
she dared, then the boat was lowered, and Malcolm and
Ronald were rowed to shore and landed a few miles south
of Boulogne.

When it was light they made their way to a village;
here but few questions were asked them, for many re-
fugees from Scotland and England were crossing to
France. As they had been well provided with funds by
Andrew they posted to Paris, and on arriving there put
up at the inn where they had stopped on the occasion
of their first visit.

"We must be careful," Malcolm said, "how we stir out
until we know how things stand. The first thing to do is
to find out whether the regiment is still in Paris."

This they were not long in doing, as their host was
able to inform them at once that it had left the capital
several months before, and on comparing dates they found
that its departure had followed within a day or two that
of their own flight from Paris.

"It was no doubt meant as a punishment," Ronald said,
"on Colonel Hume for acting as my second in that affair
with the duke. I hope that no further ill befell him."

His mind was set easy on this score by the news that
Colonel Hume had accompanied his regiment. On asking
after Marshal Saxe they learned that he was away on
the frontier, where he had been carrying on the war with
great success, Antwerp, Mons, Namur, and Charleroi all
having been captured.

The king was in person with the army. This being
the case Ronald saw that it was of no use remaining in
Paris, as he was without friend or protector there, and he
-"nrjf -■ - -<^ -f>' ■ i-t*c regiment until he learned whether the

as ever. He therefore started at
ravelled down to La Grenouille.

HAPPY DAYS 211

It was a joyful meeting between him and his parents,
who were in the greatest anxiety respecting him, for
although he had written several times, communication
was uncertain owing to the war, the only chance of
sending letters being by such French vessels as arrived at
Scottish ports after running the gauntlet with English
cruisers. Some of these had been captured on the way
back, and only two of Ronald's letters had arrived safely.
The last of these had been written a few days after the
battle of Falkirk, and Ronald had then stated that he no
longer had any hope of the final success of the expedition.
They had received the news of the defeat at CuUoden,
and had since passed nearly three months of painful sus-
pense, relieved only by the arrival of Ronald himself. He
found his mother looking well and happy; his father had
somewhat recovered from his rheumatism, and looked a
younger man by some years than when he saw him last.

"He will recover fast now," the countess said; "but he
has worried about you night and day, Ronald. I hope
that you will stay with us for a time. We have seen so
little of you yet."

Ronald learned that a few days after his flight an officer
had appeared at the chateau with the royal order for his
arrest, and it was from him that his parents had first
learned the news of his duel with the Duke of Chateau-
rouge and its result.

"I could hardly believe my ears, Ronald," his father
said; "to think that my son, scarce a man yet, should
have killed in fair fight one of the first duellists in France.
It seemed almost incredible. Malcolm told me that you
were a first-rate swordsman, but this seemed extraordinary
indeed. Tiie officer remained here for three days, and
then, convinced that you had not made in this direction,
left us. A day or two afterwards we received the letter
you wrote us from Nantes, saying that you were starting

212 THE PLOT THAT FAILED

for Scotland with the prince. I grumbled sorely over my
rheumatism, I can tell you, which prevented my drawing
my sword once more for the Stuarts; but it was no use
my thinking of it."

"No, indeed," the countess said; "and I can tell you,
Ronald, that had he been ever so well I should not have
let him go. After being separated from one's husband for
sixteen years one is not going to let him run off to figure
as a knight-errant at his pleasure."

"Your friend Colonel Hume wrote to us," the colonel
said with a smile at his wife's words, "giving us details
of the duel, and speaking of your conduct in the highest
terms. He said that at present the king was furious; but
that he hoped in time he would get over it. Colonel
Hume had seen Marshal Saxe, who had promised on the
first opportunity to speak to the king, and to open his
eyes to the character of his late favourite, and to tell him
of the attempts which the duke had made to prevent the
royal orders for our release being carried out, and to
remove you by assassination. Two months ago he wrote
again to us from Antwerp, which had just fallen, saying
that Marshal Saxe had bid him tell us that the king was
in a much more favourable disposition, and that he had
taken the opportunity when his majesty was in a good
humour to tell him the whole circumstances of your
journey with the orders for our release, and that in con-
sequence the king had made other inquiries respecting
the late duke, and had acknowledged that he had been
greatly deceived as to his character. At the same time, as
your name had been by the king's order removed from
the list of officers of the Scottish Dragoons immediately
after the duel, he recommended that should you return
to France you should not put yourself in the king's way
or appear at all in public for the present.

"The marshal," Colonel Hume wrote, "has made your

HAPPY DAYS 213

affair a personal matter, and he, as is his habit in war, will
persevere until he succeeds. His reputation and influence
are higher than ever, and are daily rising; be assured that
when the campaign is over, and he reaps all the honours
to which he is entitled, he will push your claim as before."

In the first week in October the suspense from which
they had suffered as to the fate of Prince Charles was
reheved by the news that on the 29th of September he
had safely landed at the litde port of Roscoff near Mor-
laix. He made his way to Paris, and Ronald, accompanied
by Malcolm, took horse at once and rode there to pay his
respects to the prince, and congratulate him on his escape.
The prince received him with great warmth and cordiality,
and from his own lips Ronald learned the story of his
adventures.

He had, eight days after Culloden, embarked for the
cluster of islets to which the common name of Long
Island is apphed. After wandering from place to place
and suffering greatly from hunger, he gained South Uist,
where his wants were relieved by Clanranald. The EngUsh,
suspecting or learning that he was there, landed two
thousand men on the island, and commenced an active
search for him. He must have been detected had not
Flora Macdonald — stepdaughter of a captain in a militia
regiment which formed part of the troops who had landed
— ^upon being appealed to by Lady Clanranald, nobly
undertaken to save him.

She obtained from her stepfather a passport to proceed
to Skye with a man-servant and a maid. Charles was
dressed in female clothes, and passed as Betty Bourk, while
a faithful Highlander, Neil M'Eachan, acted as her ser-
vant. They started at night in an open boat, and disem-
barked in Skye. Skye was ever a hostile country, as its
chief, Sir Alexander Macdonald, who had at first wavered,
was now a warm supporter of the Hanoverians, and was

214 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

with the Duke of Cumberland. Nevertheless Flora ap-
pealed to his wife, Lady Margaret, a daughter of the Earl
of Eglinton, and informed her that her attendant was
Prince Charles in disguise. Lady Margaret nobly res-
ponded to her appeal. Her own house was full of militia
officers, and she intrusted Charles to the charge of Mac-
donald of Kingsburgh, her husband's kinsman and factor,
who took the party to his house.

The next day Charles took leave of Flora Macdonald
with warm expressions of gratitude, and passed over to
the Isle of Rasay, in the disguise of a male servant. Thence
he made his way to the mainland, where on landing he
was compelled to lie in concealment for two days cooped
up within a line of sentries. After many dangers he took
refuge in a mountain cave inhabited by seven robbers,
who treated him with the greatest kindness, and supplied
his wants for the three weeks he remained with them.
After many other adventures he joined his faithful ad-
herents Cluny and Locheil, who were in hiding in a
retreat on the side of Mount Benalder, and here he
lived in comparative comfort until he heard that two
French vessels under the direction of Colonel Warren of
Dillon's regiment had anchored in Lochnanuagh.

Travelling by night he made his way to that place, and
embarked on the 20th of September, attended by Locheil,
Colonel Roy Stuart, and about a hundred other fugitives
who had learned of the arrival of the French vessels. It
was almost precisely the spot at which he had disem-
barked fourteen months before. A fog concealed the
vessel as she passed through the British fleet lying to
intercept her, and they reached Roscoff after a nine days'
voyage.

Such was the tale which Prince Charles told to Ronald.
He had after Culloden entirely recovered his high spirits,
and had borne all his fatigues and hardships with the

HAPPY DAYS 215

greatest cheerfulness and good humour, making light of
hunger, fatigue, and danger. Ronald only remained two
days in Paris, and then returned home.

In October the campaign of Flanders ended with the
complete defeat of Prince Charles of Lorraine at Rancaux,
and Marshal Saxe returned to Paris, where he was received
with enthusiasm by the population. The royal residence
of Chambord was granted him for life, and he was pro-
claimed marshal-general of the king's armies. A fortnight
later Colonel Leslie received a letter from him, saying
that he had received his majesty's command that he with
the countess and his son should present themselves in
Paris, and that he was happy to say that the king's dis-
position was most favourable. They set off at once. On
their arrival there they called upon Marshal Saxe, who
greeted the colonel as an old friend, and refused to listen
to the warm expression of gratitude of Leslie and the
countess.

"Say nothing about it, madam," he exclaimed. "Your
son won my heart, and I was only too glad to be of service
to him and my old comrade here. What is the use of a
man winning victories if he cannot lend a helping hand
to his friends."

The next day they went down to Versailles, where
Marshal Saxe presented them to the king in a private
audience. Louis received them graciously.

"I fear, countess, that you and your husband have been
treated with some harshness; but our royal ear was
deceived by one in whom we had confidence. Your hus-
band and yourself were wrong in marrying without the
consent and against the will of your father, and such
marriages cannot be permitted; but at the request of
Marshal Saxe, who has done so much for France that I
cannot refuse anything he asks, I have now consented
to pardon and overlook the past, and have ordered my

2l6 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

chancellor to prepare an order reinstating you in all the
possessions and estates of the countess, your mother. I
hope that I shall often see you together with your hus-
band and son, both of whom have done good service
as soldiers of France, at my court; and now that I see
you," he said with a gracious smile, "I cannot but feel
how great a loss our court has suffered by your long
absence from it."

Upon leaving the king's private chamber and entering
the great audience-hall Colonel Hume came up and
grasped the hand of his old friend, and was introduced
by him to his wife; while many of the courtiers, who were
either connections or friends of the family of the countess,
also gathered round them, for the news that she was
restored to royal favour had spread quickly. The countess
knew how small was the real value of such advances,
but she felt that it was best for her husband and son's
sake to receive them amicably. For a few weeks they
remained in Paris, taking part in the brilliant fetes which
celebrated the success of the French arms, and they then
retired to the handsome chateau which was now the
property of the countess.

Here they Uved quietly for two years, making occa-
sional visits to Paris. At the end of that time Ronald
received a letter from Andrew Anderson, to whom he had
written several times since his return to France. He told
him that he had just heard that Glenlyon and the rest
of the property which had been confiscated after the
rising of 1715 was for sale. It had been bestowed upon
a neighbouring chief, who had been active in the Hano-
verian cause. He was now dead without leaving issue,
and his wife, an English lady, was anxious to dispose of
the property and return to England.

"I do not know whether your father is disposed to
buy back his estates," Andrew wrote, "but I hear that

HAPPY DAYS 217

a general amnesty will very shortly be issued to all who
took part in the insurrection, saving only certain notorious
persons. The public are sick of bloodshed. There have
been upwards of eighty trials and executions, besides the
hundreds who were slaughtered in the Highlands. In the
meantime, if it should be your father's wish to purchase
the property, I can buy it in my name. The price asked
is very low."

Ronald at once laid the letter before his father, who,
after reading it through, passed it, without a word, to
the countess.

"You would like to return to Scotland?" she asked,
when she had read it. "Do not hesitate to tell me, dear,
if you would. It is no matter to me whether we live there
or here, so long as I have you and Ronald with me."

Colonel Leshe was silent.

"For Ronald's sake," she went on, "perhaps it would
be better so. You are both of opinion that the cause of
the Stuarts is lost for ever, and he is determined that he
will never again take part in any rising. He does not
care again to enter the French army, nor, indeed, is there
any reason why Scotchmen should do so, now that they
no longer look for the aid of the King of France to set
the Stuarts on the English throne. I myself have no ties
here. My fifteen years of seclusion have separated me
altogether from my family, and although they are wiUing
enough to be civil now, I cannot forget that all those
years they did nothing towards procuring our liberty.
The king has so far given way that he has restored me
my mother's estates, but it was only because he could not
refuse Marshal Saxe, and he does not like French lands
to be held by strangers; therefore I feel sure, that were
I to ask his permission to sell my estates and to retire
with you to Scotland he would at once grant my
request.'*

2l8 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

"No, Amelie, it would not be fair to accept your
generous offer."

"But it would be no sacrifice," she urged. "I have little
reason to love France, and I can assure you I should be
just as happy in your country as in my own."

"But it would be exile," the colonel said.

"No more exile than you and Ronald are suffering
here. Besides, I suppose we should get as many comforts
in Scotland as here in France. Of course our estates here
will fetch a sum many times larger than that which
would purchase Glenlyon, and we need not live all our
time among the mountains you tell me of, but can go
sometimes to Edinburgh or even to London. Even if you
did not wish it, I should say it would be far better to do
so for Ronald's sake. You have lived so long in France
that you may have become almost a Frenchman; but it is
not so with Ronald."

It was not until two or three days later that the dis-
cussion came to an end and the countess had her way.
Colonel Leslie had resisted stoutly, but his heart beat at
the thought of returning to the home of his youth and
ending his days among the clansmen who had followed
him and his fathers before him. Ronald had taken no
part whatever in the debate, but his mother read in his
eyes the delight which the thought of returning to Scot-
land occasioned him. As soon as this was settled they went
to Paris, and as the countess had foreseen, the king was
pleased at once to give his consent to her disposing of
her lands on his approval of the purchaser.

No difficulty was experienced on this score, as a noble
whose lands adjoined her own offered at once to purchase
them. As soon as this was arranged instructions were sent
to Andrew to purchase not only the Glenlyon property,
but the other estates of its late owner.

In due time a letter was received from Andrew saying

HAPPY DAYS 219

that he had arranged for the purchase of the whole for
the sum of thirteen thousand pounds, and the money was
at once sent over through a Dutch banking-house. Very
shortly afterwards, at the end of 1 747, the act of general
amnesty was passed, and as Ronald's name was not among
those excluded from its benefits they at once prepared to
return to Scotland. The journey was facilitated by the
fact that shortly after the passing of the act peace was
concluded between England and France.

Accompanied by Malcolm, Colonel Leslie, the countess,
and Ronald sailed for Scotland. The colonel and his wife
remained in Edinburgh while Ronald and Malcolm went
to Glasgow, where Andrew had in readiness all the papers
transferring the estates purchased in his name to Colonel
Leslie, who shortly afterwards journeyed north with his
wife and son and took possession of his ancestral home
amid the enthusiastic delight of the clansmen, who had
never ceased to regret the absence of him whom they
considered as their rightful chief.

There is little more to tell. Colonel Leslie lived but a
few years after returning home, and Ronald then suc-
ceeded him as Leslie of Glenlyon. He had before this
married the daughter of a neighbouring gentleman, and
passed his time between Glenlyon and Edinburgh, varied
by an occasional visit to London.

The countess never regretted her native land, but,
happy in the affection of her son and daughter-in-law
and their children, lived happily with them until nearly
the end of the century. Malcolm remained the faithful
and trusty friend of the family; and his brother and his
wife were occasionally persuaded to pay a visit to Glen-
lyon, where their kindness to Ronald as a child was
never forgotten. Happily the rising of '45 was the last
effort on behalf of the Stuarts. Scotland accepted the
decision as final, and the union between the two countries

220 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

became close and complete. Henceforth Scotchmen went
no longer to fight in the armies of France, but took
service in that of their own country, and more than one
of Ronald's grandsons fought stoutly in Spain under
Wellington.

THE END

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES

COLLEGE LIBRARY

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