He said it with a serious heat of admiration that was honey to the girl,
and through her, to me. It seemed to wipe us clean of all James More's
disgraces. And the next moment he was just himself again.

"And now by your leave, my dawties," said he, "this is a' very bonny;
but Alan Breck'll be a wee thing nearer to the gallows than he's caring
for; and Dod! I think this is a grand place to be leaving."

The word recalled us to some wisdom. Alan ran upstairs and returned with
our saddle-bags and James More's portmanteau; I picked up Catriona's
bundle where she had dropped it on the stair; and we were setting forth
out of that dangerous house, when Bazin stopped the way with cries and
gesticulations. He had whipped under a table when the swords were drawn,
but now he was as bold as a lion. There was his bill to be settled,
there was a chair broken, Alan had sat among his dinner things, James
More had fled.

"Here," I cried, "pay yourself," and flung him down some Lewie d'ors;
for I thought it was no time to be accounting.

He sprang upon that money, and we passed him by, and ran forth into the
open. Upon three sides of the house were seamen hasting and closing in;
a little nearer to us James More waved his hat as if to hurry them; and
right behind him, like some foolish person holding up its hands, were
the sails of the windmill turning.

Alan gave but the one glance, and laid himself down to run. He carried a
great weight in James More's portmanteau; but I think he would as soon
have lost his life as cast away that booty which was his revenge; and he
ran so that I was distressed to follow him, and marvelled and exulted to
see the girl bounding at my side.

As soon as we appeared, they cast off all disguise upon the other side;
and the seamen pursued us with shouts and view-hullohs. We had a start
of some two hundred yards, and they were but bandy-legged tarpaulins
after all, that could not hope to better us at such an exercise. I
suppose they were armed, but did not care to use their pistols on French
ground. And as soon as I perceived that we not only held our advantage
but drew a little away, I began to feel quite easy of the issue. For all
which, it was a hot, brisk bit of work, so long as it lasted; Dunkirk
was still far off; and when we popped over a knowe, and found a company
of the garrison marching on the other side on some manoeuvre, I could
very well understand the word that Alan had.

He stopped running