drink their cup to the dregs.

The blame of what happened must be laid at Graham's door, and in his
last hours he took it altogether to himself; but since it has to be
written about, and he showed so badly, let us make from the first the
best excuse we can for him, and try to appreciate his state of mind.
It was a brave event and a taking scene when he set up the standard of
King James above Dundee, and he left to raise the North Country with
a flush of hope. It soon passed away and settled down into dreary
determination, as he made his toilsome journey with a handful of
followers by Aboyne and Huntly, till he landed in Inverness. The
Gordons had sent him a reenforcement, and certain of the chiefs had
promised their support, but the only aid the Highlanders had given was
of dubious value and very disappointing issue. The MacDonalds had
hastened to Inverness by way of meeting Dundee, and then had seized
the opportunity to plunder their old enemies, the Mackintoshes, and to
extract a comfortable ransom out of Inverness. This was not his idea
of war, and Dundee scolded Keppoch, who commanded the MacDonalds, most
vigorously. Keppoch immediately returned homeward to his fastnesses
with the accumulated spoil, partly because his fine, sensitive
Highland nature was hurt by Dundee's plain speech, and partly because
whatever happened it was wise to secure what they had got. It is no
reflection on Dundee's manhood that he was cast down during those days
at Inverness, for a ten times more buoyant man would have lost heart.
His life was a romantic drama, and it seemed as if the Fates had
constructed it for the stage, for now, after the lapse of years,
MacKay, his old rival in Holland, reappears, and they resume the duel,
which this time is to be unto death. While Dundee was struggling in
Edinburgh to save the throne for James, MacKay was on his way with
regiments of the Scots Brigade to make sure of Scotland for William. A
few days after Dundee left Edinburgh MacKay arrived, and now, as
Dundee rode northward in hot haste, MacKay was on his track. Both were
eager for a meeting, but the bitterness of it for Dundee was that he
dared not run the risk. With all his appeals and all his riding, he
had only a handful of mounted men, and the clans had not risen. It
seemed as if his enterprise were futile, and that Scotland would not
lift a hand for King James. He might be a commander-in-chief, but he
was a commander of nobody; he might raise