pposin' we get the three o' them shut
up--the others, when they come, will have nobody to guide them. Of
course some time or other the three will break out, but it may be ower
late for them. At present we're besieged and they're roamin' the
country. Would it no' be far better if they were the ones lockit up
and we were goin' loose?"

"Supposing they don't come in one at a time?" Dickson objected.

"We'll make them," said Dougal firmly. "There's no time to waste. Are
ye for it?"

"Yes," said Heritage. "Who's at the kitchen door?"

"Peter Paterson. I told him no' to whistle, but to wait on me.... Keep
your boots off. Ye're better in your stockin' feet. Wait you in the
hall and see ye're well hidden, for likely whoever comes in will have a
lantern. Just you keep quiet unless I give ye a cry. I've planned it
a' out, and we're ready for them."

Dougal disappeared, and Dickson and Heritage, with their boots tied
round their necks by their laces, crept out to the upper landing. The
hall was impenetrably dark, but full of voices, for the wind was
talking in the ceiling beams, and murmuring through the long passages.
The walls creaked and muttered and little bits of plaster fluttered
down. The noise was an advantage for the game of hide-and-seek they
proposed to play, but it made it hard to detect the enemy's approach.
Dickson, in order to get properly wakened, adventured as far as the
smoking-room. It was black with night, but below the door of the
adjacent room a faint line of light showed where the Princess's lamp
was burning. He advanced to the window, and heard distinctly a foot on
the grovel path that led to the verandah. This sent him back to the
hall in search of Dougal, whom he encountered in the passage. That boy
could certainly see in the dark, for he caught Dickson's wrist without
hesitation.

"We've got Spittal in the wine-cellar," he whispered triumphantly. "The
kitchen door was barricaded, and when they tried it, it wouldn't open.
'Bide here,' says Dobson to Spittal, 'and we'll go round by another
door and come back and open to ye.' So off they went, and by that time
Peter Paterson and me had the barricade down. As we expected, Spittal
tries the key again and it opens quite easy. He comes in and locks it
behind him, and, Dobson having took away the lantern, he gropes his way
very carefu' towards the kitchen. There's a point where the
wine-cellar door and the scullery door are aside each oth