out.

As to the other guns, there was one on the east terrace, rusty and old-
fashioned, but happily loaded; and there were others at various corners
and buttresses, all of which the young laird inspected and ascertained
to be ready for any emergency. He also placed muskets in readiness at
various points in case of need.

All these preparations occupied a long time in effecting, and it was not
till an hour had passed since the departure of his men that Singleton
felt able to take his place on the watch, and quietly await the result
of his venture.

He had scarcely done so, however, when it occurred to him that though
all the garrison had left the place, there was still plenty of armour in
the castle which might be used to good purpose. Why not set out helmets
on the ramparts, and pikes as well as guns? It was a good idea. He
hurried to the armoury, and quickly took from their places all the steel
helmets and pikes and plumes on which he could lay his hands. These he
artfully disposed on various parts of the battlements, so that to any
one below it would appear that instead of one man, twenty armed warriors
guarded the place.

"Who knows but these numskulls may serve me in good stead?" said the
youth to himself, laughing to think what excellent substitutes for a
living man an empty helmet with a spear-head beside it may be made to
appear. This little artifice being satisfactorily accomplished, and
lights set burning in various rooms of the castle still further to aid
the delusion, he returned once more to the east terrace and began his
solitary vigil.

The moon was up, and peeped occasionally from behind the drifting clouds
to light up the dark scene below. As Singleton peered down from his
lofty post, he could see the water sparkling below him, and catch the
distant lights here and there on wood and mountain. Not a sound was to
be heard but the moaning of the wind among the turrets and the distant
splash of the water against the south base of the castle. Not a moving
creature was to be seen, except the uneasy bats which flapped round now
and then over his head. Everything below was motionless and silent,
without one token of life, except, indeed, the distant light of a
beacon, which tinged the sky with a lurid glare, and added a weird
feature to the dark, solitary landscape.

Singleton, after a turn or two, was conscious of a half-dismal sensation
and a feeling of loneliness, which, as long as he had