the
kitchen fire,--a necessity then considered no serious matter by the
hardy Scotch. But such was not the opinion of all present. An English
footman, a domestic of the earl, came pushing among the gentlemen,
complaining bitterly at having to sit up all night, and saying that
rather than put up with much of this he would go back to his own country
and turn Whig. As to his Toryism, however, he comforted himself with the
idea that he served a lord who was especially skilful in escaping
danger.

"Let my lord alone," he said; "if he finds it necessary, he can turn
cat-in-pan with any man in England."

While these doings were in progress in the Highlands, the Jacobites were
no less active in the Lowlands, and an event took place in the
metropolis of Scotland which showed that the spirit of disaffection had
penetrated within its walls. This was an attempt to take the castle of
Edinburgh by surprise,--an exploit parallel in its risky and daring
character with those told of the Douglas and other bold lords at an
earlier period.

The design of scaling this almost inaccessible stronghold was made by a
Mr. Arthur, who had been an ensign in the Scots' Guards and quartered in
the castle, and was, therefore, familiar with its interior arrangement.
He found means to gain over, by cash and promises, a sergeant and two
privates, who agreed that, when on duty as sentinels on the walls over
the precipice to the north, they would draw up rope-ladders, and fasten
them by grappling-irons at their top to the battlements of the castle.
This done, it would be easy for an armed party to scale the walls and
make themselves masters of the stronghold. Arthur's plan did not end
with the mere capture of the fortress. He had arranged a set of signals
with the Earl of Mar, consisting of a beacon displayed at a fixed point
on the castle walls, three rounds of artillery, and a succession of
fires flashing the news from hill-top to hill-top. The earl, thus
apprised of the success of the adventurers, was to hasten south with all
the force he could bring, and take possession of Edinburgh.

The scheme was well devised, and might have succeeded but for one of
those unlucky chances which have defeated so many well-laid plans.
Agents in the enterprise could be had in abundance. Fifty Highlanders
were selected, picked men from Lord Drummond's estates in Perthshire. To
these were added fifty others chosen from the Jacobites of Edinburgh.
Drummond, otherwise