o speak with any of those Norse folk, it was little that I could do --"

"You have done well, Duncan, in coming for what aid we now can give,"
said Allan Redmain. "But say, how long time is it since my lord was thus
made captive?"

"Five days as I count," said Duncan, "and had it not been for the thing
that I next discovered he had not been there five hours. When I found
myself outside the castle and with the bridge drawn up, I hied me over
the hill towards the ships. Alas! they were no longer there in the bay
where we had left them. They were standing out to sea, with seven great
Norse galleys and as many fishing boats pursuing them."

"Alas!" said Allan; "and whose ships were those?"

"They were three galleys of Coll and four of Colonsay," said Duncan, "as
I learned three days past when they returned to Breacacha. Our own four
ships of Bute came not within sight again, and I fear they have gone
back to Rothesay."

"Not so," said Allan confidently. "Our men would never return without
truthfully knowing how it had fared with Earl Kenric. But what of the
four galleys of Colonsay?"

"They left for the north two days ago, and the men of Coll went some
into the castle and some to their homes, leaving their ships at anchor
in the shelter of the isle of Gunna."

"And say you that those in the castle know not that our lord is in the
dungeon?"

"Even so, for who could tell them? Five days have passed since our fight
in Coll. Like a beast of the field have I lived since then, feeding upon
the wild roots and berries, and waiting that our ships might come back.
But by good fortune I came across the poor fisherman who brought me over
in his boat. He could speak the Gaelic, and with promise of reward I
bade him bring me to the place where Earl Kenric had told me we were to
rejoin Sir Piers de Currie. Had the man refused me I would have slain
him; but now that he has kept his word, I beg you to give him the reward
that is his due."

"That will I do," said Allan, "for well does he deserve it. A good boat
with oars and sails shall be his reward."

By the time that Duncan had told his tale, Allan Redmain's two strong
galleys were abreast of the isle of Coll, and steering into a beauteous
bay that Duncan had told of, they were rowed far in until they stood
under the strong-built fortress of Breacacha.

The garrison had been reinforced by many men from the ships of Coll. But
the men of Bute were desperate, and they said that