last I saw it twelve years ago,
but worn away by rains and winds.

"Again and again my mother said over to me his words, 'Ye that build
forts here shall lie in darksome prisons'; for always she had fear of
the soldier's life, and she was moved by signs and dreams.

"But this is how the thing came to shape my life:

"About a year after The Man died, there came to my grandfather's house,
my mother and I being present, a gentleman, by name Sir John Godric,
and he would have my mother tell the whole story of The Man. That being
done, he said that The Man was his brother, who had been bad and wild in
youth, a soldier; but repenting had gone as far the other way, giving up
place and property, and cutting off from all his kin.

"This gentleman took much notice of me and said that he should be glad
to see more of me. And so he did, for in the years that followed he
would visit at our home in Glasgow when I was at school, or at Balmore
until my grandfather died.

"My father liked Sir John greatly, and they grew exceedingly friendly,
walking forth in the streets of Glasgow, Sir John's hand upon my
father's arm. One day they came to the school in High Street, where I
learned Latin and other accomplishments, together with fencing from an
excellent master, Sergeant Dowie of the One Hundredth Foot. They
found me with my regiment at drill; for I had got full thirty of my
school-fellows under arms, and spent all leisure hours in mustering,
marching, and drum-beating, and practising all manner of discipline and
evolution which I had been taught by my grandfather and Sergeant Dowie.

"Those were the days soon after which came Dettingen and Fontenoy and
Charles Edward the Pretender, and the ardour of arms ran high. Sir John
was a follower of the Stuarts, and this was the one point at which he
and my father paused in their good friendship. When Sir John saw me with
my thirty lads marching in fine order, all fired with the little sport
of battle--for to me it was all real, and our sham fights often saw
broken heads and bruised shoulders--he stamped his cane upon the ground,
and said in a big voice, 'Well done! well done! For that you shall have
a hundred pounds next birthday, and as fine a suit of scarlet as you
please, and a sword from London too.'

"Then he came to me and caught me by both shoulders. 'But alack, alack!
there needs some blood and flesh here, Robert Moray,' said he. 'You have
more heart than muscle.'

"This was tru