lloughby in a vessel trading to
America; this vessel, or another, is among his assets recorded in his
inventory. All his lands he sold--not that he was in debt, he was a
large lender--for purposes of profligacy. These proceedings gave rise to
gossip. The Laird must be selling his lands to evade forfeiture. He
_must_ have been engaged in the Gowrie mystery. Then Logan dies (July
1606). Bower is also dead (January 1606). It occurs to Sprot that there
is money in all this, and, having lost Logan's business, the hungry Sprot
needs money. He therefore makes a pact with some of Logan's debtors.
He, for pay, will clear them of their debts to Logan's executors, whom he
will enable them to blackmail. Logan's descendants by two marriages were
finally his heirs, with Anna, a minor, daughter of his last wife, who had
hoped to have no children by him, the free-spoken Lady Restalrig, _nee_
Ker (Marion). They, of course, were robbed, by Logan's forfeiture, of
33,000 marks, owed to Logan by Dunbar and Balmerino. Meanwhile, just
after Logan's death, in autumn 1606, Sprot forges Letters I, II, III, IV,
V, and the torn letter, with two compromising letters to Bower, two to
Ninian Chirnside, and an 'eik,' or addition, of compromising items to a
memorandum on business, which, in September 1605, Logan gave to Bower and
John Bell before he started for London and Paris. All these documents,
the plot-letters, I, II, III, IV, V, and the rest (which lie before me),
are mere instruments of blackmail, intended to terrorise the guardians of
the Logans.

So far, all is clear. But, in April 1608, Sprot has blabbed and is
arrested. The forgeries are found among his papers, or given up by
Chirnside. Sprot confesses to the plot, to Logan's share of it, and to
the authenticity of the letters and papers. He is then tortured, recants
his confession, and avows the forgery of the papers. The Government is
disappointed. In July, Dunbar comes down from town, treats Sprot
leniently, and gives him medical attendance. Sprot now confesses to his
genuine knowledge of the plot, but unflinchingly maintains that all the
papers so far produced are forgeries, based on facts.

Why does he do this? He has a better chance of pardon, if he returns to
the statement that they are genuine. If they are, the Government, which
he must propitiate, has a far stronger hand, for the forgeries then
defied detection. However, for no conceivable reason, unless it be