an to cross was Tam.

"Heaven protect you," he said, humbly, "and forgive me for the insult I
put upon you." Then reining in his horse, he added, almost
beseechingly, "Once again, let me stay with you."

"Not I," replied young Singleton, gaily. "Forward, Tam, and to-morrow,
if you return, you shall hear how I fared."

Tam said nothing, but setting spurs to his horse, bounded across the
drawbridge and rejoined his comrades.

Singleton, having watched the troop as they slowly wended their way
among the trees of the wood till they were lost to sight, drew up the
bridge and closed and barred the great gate. Then, with a stout though
anxious heart, he turned and addressed himself to his solitary and
hazardous undertaking.

Sub-Chapter II.

THE NIGHT WATCH.

The young laird of Singleton turned slowly from the courtyard out of
which his men had just ridden, back into the castle.

Young as he was, and inexperienced, he knew enough of the state of his
country to feel that the task which he had imposed upon himself was one
of the greatest peril, not only to his own life, but to the ancestral
castle of his clan, for the country swarmed with freebooters and hostile
clans, on the look-out for any chance of plunder; and they, if only they
got wind of the unprotected state of Singleton Towers, would lose no
time, he knew, in striking a blow during the absence of the clan, which
might end in the loss of the old fortress for ever. Still, what else
could he have done? He was bound in honour to fulfil his pledge to the
royal cause by sending the thirty men, and as for himself, he had no
hesitation in deciding that, for this night at least, the post of duty,
if not of honour, was on the ramparts of his own castle, even though on
that account the Singletons must ride leaderless to the king's standard.

Besides, it must be confessed, there was a spice of adventure about the
undertaking which well accorded with his bold spirit; and as his
thoughts went back to the scene of the banquet and the suspicions
entertained there as to his own courage, it pleased him to reflect that,
whatever happened, a Singleton would never again be able to charge his
chief with cowardice.

It was nine o'clock and quite dark when he turned from the gateway out
of which his men had just sallied, and retraced his steps slowly into
the deserted castle. His solitary footsteps sounded weird and lonely
across the paved yard which a few minutes before had