cutting up the
animal into quarters he threw the head, the lower joints of the legs,
and the offal, from the window. The hide he carried, with the four
quarters, into his kitchen, and there concealed it under the pile of
straw which served for his bed.

When the dinner was over, and the usual carousal had begun, and he knew
there was no chance of any of the freebooters coming into the room, he
spread out the hide on the floor, cut off the edges, and trimmed it up
till it was nearly circular in form, and then began to cut a strip two
inches wide round and round till he reached the centre. This gave him a
thong of over a hundred feet long. Tying one end to a ring in the wall
he twisted the long strip until it assumed the form of a rope, which
was, he was sure, strong enough to bear many times his weight.

This part of the work was done after the freebooters had retired to
rest. When he had finished cutting the hide he went in as usual and sat
down with them as they drank, as he wished to appear contented with his
position. The freebooters were discussing an attack upon a village some
thirty miles away. It lay in a secluded position, and had so far escaped
pillage either by the armies or wandering bands. The captain said he had
learned that the principal farmer was a well-to-do man with a large herd
of cattle, some good horses, and a well stocked house. It was finally
agreed that the band should the next day carry out another raid which
had already been decided upon, and that they should on the day following
that sack and burn Glogau.

As soon as the majority of the band had started in the morning Malcolm
made his way with his rope to the back of the castle, fastened it to the
window, and launched himself over the rock, which, although too steep
to climb, was not perpendicular; and holding by the rope Malcolm had
no difficulty in lowering himself down. He had before starting taken
a brace of pistols and a sword from the heap of weapons which the
freebooters had collected in their raids, and as soon as he reached the
ground he struck off through the wood.

Enough had been said during the conversation the night before to
indicate the direction in which Glogau lay, and he determined, in the
first place, to warn the inhabitants of the village of the fate which
the freebooters intended for them.

He walked miles before seeing a single person in the deserted fields. He
had long since left the wood, and was now traversing t