t be known
that we're here. Only the Princess will have a lamp. Yes"--this in
answer to Dickson--"she knows that we're coming--you too. We'll hunt
for quarters later upstairs. You scouts, you must picket every
possible entrance. The windows are safe, I think, for they are locked
from the inside. So is the main door. But there's the verandah door,
of which they have a key, and the back door beside the kitchen, and I'm
not at all sure that there's not a way in by the boiler-house. You
understand. We're holding his place against all comers. We must
barricade the danger points. The headquarters of the garrison will be
in the hall, where a scout must be always on duty. You've all got
whistles? Well, if there's an attempt on the verandah door the picket
will whistle once, if at the back door twice, if anywhere else three
times, and it's everybody's duty, except the picket who whistles, to
get back to the hall for orders."

"That's so," assented Dougal.

"If the enemy forces an entrance we must overpower him. Any means you
like. Sticks or fists, and remember if it's a scrap in the dark to
make for the man's throat. I expect you little devils have eyes like
cats. The scoundrels must be kept away from the ladies at all costs.
If the worst comes to the worst, the Princess has a revolver."

"So have I," said Dickson. "I got it in Glasgow."

"The deuce you have! Can you use it?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you can hand it over to me, if you like. But it oughtn't to
come to shooting, if it's only the three of them. The eight of us
should be able to manage three and one of them lame. If the others
turn up--well, God help us all! But we've got to make sure of one
thing, that no one lays hands on the Princess so long as there's one of
us left alive to hit out."

"Ye needn't be feared for that," said Dougal. There was no light in
the room, but Dickson was certain that the morose face of the Chieftain
was lit with unholy joy.

"Then off with you. Mr. McCunn and I will explain matters to the
ladies."

When they were alone, Heritage's voice took a different key. "We're in
for it, Dogson, old man. There's no doubt these three scoundrels
expect reinforcements at any moment, and with them will be one who is
the devil incarnate. He's the only thing on earth that that brave girl
fears. It seems he is in love with her and has pestered her for years.
She hated the sight of him, but he wouldn't take no, and bein