s
Majesty, to account for the absence of his master, tell where he had
gone, and record his proceedings. The man reluctantly obeyed the call.

"Where is thy master, sirrah?" inquired the king.

The warder was silent, and the question was repeated in sterner tones.

"I keep only this castle, your Highness," replied the warder; "my master
is his ain keeper--an' a better there's no between the twa Tynes."

"Thou art a good keeper of thine own tongue, at least," said James,
angrily; "but we come not from court unprepared with remedies for
opening the mouths of close-hearted seneschals. Let Lithcraig attend."

An opening was now made in the circle of nobles, and a man, dressed in a
long black doublet, came forward, holding in his hands a rope, ready to
be suspended, and to suspend, in its turn, the disobedient warder.

"Throw thy cord over the buttress, there," cried one of the nobles;
"give the noose mouth enough to tell its own tale, and I will answer for
it bringing out his."

The man proceeded forward to a buttress of the castle completely
exposed to the eyes of Marjory, by the gleams that flared from the
torches; and she saw him deliberately go through the operation of making
the projection available for the purpose of a gallows, by binding the
cord to it, and suspending a running noose, which seemed to gape in grim
gesture for its victim. The moment the rope was suspended, James pointed
to it, and asked the warder to proceed and answer his questions. The
terrified man cast a wild eye on the relentless crowd around him, and
then on the engine of death that dangled before him, and, with faltering
tongue, told the king that Cockburn had gone on a midnight raid against
Adam Scott of Tushielaw, who, some time before, had made an assault on
Henderland, and carried off twenty head of cattle, besides wounding
several of Cockburn's men; he stated, farther, that there had been many
raids of late in Liddesdale; but that his master had had, until
Tushielaw roused him, scarcely any share in these struggles, preferring
the society of his lady, the fairest and the kindest woman of the
Borders, to the pleasures of rieving. This statement was received as
evidence against Cockburn.

All these transactions had been narrowly watched by Marjory, who was
now more and more satisfied that the doom of her husband was sealed, if
he made his appearance before the king in the humour he now exhibited.
She saw them bind the warder with rope