ff. Ye gave me a bitter time, the like of which I never had
before, and beside which death, when it comes, will be welcome, but ye
did it not in baseness, but in all honesty. It was our calamity. Life,
Jock, is full o' sic calamities, and we are all for the maist part at
cross purposes. It seemeth to me as if we were travelling in the
darkness, knowing not whether the man beside us be friend or foe, and
often striking at our friends by mistake. But we must march on till
the day breaks.

"It'll break for us soon, at any rate," went on Dundee, "for by
to-morrow night the matter will be settled between General MacKay and
me. Div ye mind, Jock, how I fain would have fought with him at The
Hague, and he wouldna take my challenge?"

"Cowardly and cold-blooded Whig like the lave o' them," burst out
Jock, in a strong reaction from his former mood of tenderness. "Leave
him to look after himsel', he micht have stood mair nor once thae last
weeks and faced ye like a man, but would he? Na, na, he ran afore ye,
and I doot sair whether he will give you a chance to-morrow."

"Have no fear of that, Jock, we've waited long for our duel, but, ye
may take my word for it, it will come off at Killiecrankie before the
sun goes down again behind the hills. There will be a fair field and a
free fight, and the best man will win; and, Jock, I will not be sorry
when the sun sets. What ails you, Jock, for your face is downcast?
That didna used to be the way with you in the low country on the
prospect of battle. Div ye mind Seneffe and the gap in the wall?"

"Fine, my lord, fine, and I'll acknowledge that I've nae rooted
objection in principle or in practice to fechtin'--that is, when it's
to serve a richt cause and there be a good chance o' victory, to say
nothing o' profit. But a' thing maun be fair and aboveboard, and I'm
dootin' whether that will be the case the mornin'. What I'm feared o'
is no war, but black murder." And there was an earnestness in
Grimond's tone which arrested Dundee.

"My lord," said Jock, in answer to the interrogation on his master's
face, "I came here to speak, if Providence gave me the chance, for
aifter all that has happened, I didna consider your ear would be open
to hear me. When a man has made as big a mistake as I have dune, and
caused as muckle sorrow, it behooves him to walk softly, and this is
pairt of his judgment that them he loves most may trust him least.

"Na, na, my lord," for the face of Dundee was