g stranger in splendid
armour came secretly to Wallace. It was Robert Bruce, seeking to offer
his services to his country and to wipe out the stigma that his father
had cast upon his name.

_IV.--The Traitors_

None fought more fiercely than Robert Bruce in the attack made by
Wallace's men upon the English on the banks of the Carron, and the
traitor, Earl of March, fell by the young warrior's own hand. But
treason, smitten on the field of battle, was rampant at Stirling; and
when Wallace returned there, bowed with grief at the death of Lord Mar,
he found the Cummin faction--Lady Mar's kinsmen--in furious revolt
against the "upstart." His resolution was quickly made; he would not be
a cause of civil strife to his country.

"Should I remain your regent," said he to the assembled people, "the
country would be involved in ruinous dissensions. I therefore quit the
regency; and I bequeath your liberty to the care of the chieftains. But
should it be again in danger, remember that, while life breathes in this
heart, the spirit of Wallace will be with you still!" With these words
he mounted his horse, and rode away, amidst the cries and tears of the
populace.

Lady Mar, whose secret hopes had been stirred afresh by the death of her
husband, heard with consternation of Wallace's departure. But he went
away without a thought of her; his mission was the rescue of Helen, to
which he had pledged himself by the death-bed of Lord Mar. Helen had
been kidnapped by De Valence, and carried off by him to his castle in
Guienne.

Wallace disguised himself as a minstrel, and travelled to Durham, where
King Edward held his court, and where young Bruce, taken captive, was
now confined. By making himself known to the Earl of Gloucester, Wallace
was able to gain access to Bruce, whose father was now dead, and to lay
his plans before him. These were that Bruce should escape from Durham,
that the two should travel to Guienne and rescue Helen, and that they
should then, as unknown strangers, offer their services to Scotland.

The plans were fulfilled. Bruce escaped, De Valence was once more
deprived of his prey--he did not suspect the identity of the two knights
until after Helen had been delivered from his clutches--and the pair
fought as Frenchmen in the wars of Scotland. To few was the truth
revealed, and only one discovered it--a knight wearing a green plume,
who refused to divulge his name until Wallace proclaimed his own on the
day