and one day,
as Wallace walked in the market-place in a rich green dress, with a
handsome dagger by his side, an Englishman accosted him insultingly,
saying that no Scotchman had the right to wear such finery or to carry
so showy a weapon.

He had tried his insolence on the wrong man. A quarrel quickly followed,
and, as on similar occasions before, Wallace killed the Englishman. It
was an unwise act, inspired by his hasty temper and fiery indignation.
His peril was great. He hastened to his house, which was quickly
attacked by soldiers of the garrison. While they were seeking to break
in at the front, Wallace escaped at the rear, and made his way to a
rocky glen, called the Cortland-crags, near the town, where he found a
secure hiding-place among its thick-growing trees and bushes.

Meanwhile, the governor of Lanark, Hazelrigg by name, finding that the
culprit had escaped, set fire to his house, and with uncalled-for
cruelty put his wife and servants to death. He also proclaimed Wallace
an outlaw, and offered a reward for any one who should bring him in,
dead or alive. He and many of his countrymen were destined to pay the
penalty of this cruel deed before Wallace should fall into English
hands.

The murder of his wife set fire to the intense patriotism in Wallace's
soul. He determined to devote his life to acts of reprisal against the
enemy, and if possible to rescue his country from English hands. He soon
had under his command a body of daring partisans, some of them outlaws
like himself, others quite willing to become such for the good of
Scotland. The hills and forests of the country afforded them numerous
secure hiding-places, whence they could issue in raids upon the insolent
foe.

From that time forward Wallace gave the English no end of trouble. One
of his first expeditions was against Hazelrigg, to whom he owed so
bitter a debt of vengeance. The cruel governor was killed, and the
murdered woman avenged. Other expeditions were attempted, and collisions
with the soldiers sent against him became so frequent and the partisan
band so successful, that Wallace quickly grew famous, and the number of
his followers rapidly increased. In time, from being a band of outlaws,
his party grew to the dimensions of a small army, and in place of
contenting himself with local reprisals on the English, he cherished the
design of striking for the independence of his country.

The most notable adventure which followed this inc