w yard. His captors were no doubt aware of the possibility of
such a visit, for it was not until broad daylight, when the army would
again be on its forward march, that they uncovered him.

Brave as Malcolm was he could scarce repress a shudder as he looked at
the band of women who surrounded him. All were past middle age, some
were old and toothless, but all were animated by a spirit of ferocious
triumph. Raising him into a sitting position, they clustered round him,
some shook their skinny hands in his face, others heaped curses upon
him, some of the most furious assailed him with heavy sticks, and had he
not still been clothed in his armour, would then and there have killed
him.

This, however, was not their intention, for they intended to put him to
death by slow torture. He was lifted and carried into the cottage.
There the lacings of his armour were cut, the cords loosened one by one,
sufficient to enable them to remove the various pieces of which it was
composed, then he was left to himself, as the hags intended to postpone
the final tragedy until the men returned from the hills.

This might be some hours yet, as the Swedish cavalry would still be
scouring the country, and other bodies of troops might be marching up.
From the conversation of the women, which he understood but imperfectly,
Malcolm gathered that they thought the men would return that night. Some
of the women were in favour of executing the vengeance themselves, but
the majority were of opinion that the men should have their share of the
pleasure.

All sorts of fiendish propositions were made as to the manner in which
his execution should be carried out, but even the mildest caused Malcolm
to shudder in anticipation. His arms were bound tightly to his side at
the elbows, and the wrists were fastened in front of him, his legs were
tied at the knees and ankles. Sometimes he was left alone as the women
went about their various avocations in the village, but he was so
securely bound that to him as to them his escape appeared altogether
impossible. The day passed heavily and slowly. The cloth had been
removed from his mouth, but he was parched with thirst, while the
tightly bound cords cut deeply into his flesh.

He had once asked for water, but his request had been answered with such
jeers and mockery that he resolved to suffer silently until the last. At
length the darkness of the winter evening began to fall when a thought
suddenly struck him. On