awkward maid-servant Betty Bruce being no less a
personage than the wandering prince. The daring and devoted lady was
step-daughter to a chief of Sir Alexander McDonald's clan, who was on
the king's side, and in command of a section of the party of search.
From him Flora obtained a passport for herself and two servants, and was
thus enabled to pass in safety through the cordon of investing boats. No
one suspected the humble-looking Betty Bruce as being a flying prince.
And so it was that the bird had passed through the net of the fowlers,
and found shelter in the island of Skye.

And now we must return to the fugitives, whom we left concealed in a
basaltic cavern on the rocky coast of Skye. The keen-witted Flora had
devised a new and bold plan for the safety of her charge, no less a one
than that of trusting the Lady Margaret McDonald, wife of Sir Alexander,
with her dangerous secret. This seemed like penetrating the very
stronghold of the foe; but the women of the Highlands had--most of
them--a secret leaning to Jacobitism, and Flora felt that she could
trust her high-born relative.

She did so, telling Lady Margaret her story. The lady heard it with
intense alarm. What to do she did not know. She would not betray the
prince, but her husband was absent, her house filled with militia
officers, and shelter within its walls impossible. In this dilemma she
suggested that Flora should conduct the disguised prince to the house of
McDonald of Kingsburgh, her husband's steward, a brave and intelligent
man, in whom she could fully trust.

Returning to the cavern, the courageous girl did as suggested, and had
the good fortune to bring her charge through in safety, though more than
once suspicion was raised. At Kingsburgh the connection of Flora
McDonald with the unfortunate prince ended. Her wit and shrewdness had
saved him from inevitable capture. He was now out of the immediate range
of search of his enemies, and must henceforth trust to his own devices.

From Kingsburgh the fugitive sought the island of Rasa, led by a guide
supplied by McDonald, and wearing the dress of a servant. The laird of
Rasa had taken part in the rebellion, and his domain had been plundered
in consequence. Food was scarce, and Charles suffered great distress. He
next followed his seeming master to the land of the laird of MacKinnon,
but, finding himself still in peril, felt compelled to leave the
islands, and once more landed on the Scottish mainlan