o use his judgment, and above all
to keep out o' sight and no' let himsel' be grippit."

The plan, like all great tactics, was simple, and no sooner was it
expounded than it was put into action. The Die-Hards faded out of the
kitchen like fog-wreaths, and Dickson and Mrs. Morran were left looking
at each other. They did not look long. The bare feet of Wee Jaikie
had not crossed the threshold fifty seconds, before they were followed
by Mrs. Morran's out-of-doors boots and Dickson's tackets. Arm in arm
the two hobbled down the back path behind the village which led to the
South Lodge. The gate was unlocked, for the warder was busy elsewhere,
and they hastened up the avenue. Far off Dickson thought he saw shapes
fleeting across the park, which he took to be the shock-troops of his
own side, and he seemed to hear snatches of song. Jaikie was giving
tongue, and this was what he sang:

"Proley Tarians, arise!
Wave the Red Flag to the skies,
Heed no more the Fat Man's lees,
Stap them doun his throat!
Nocht to lose except our chains----"

But he tripped over a rabbit wire and thereafter conserved his breath.

The wind was so loud that no sound reached them from the House, which,
blank and immense, now loomed before them. Dickson's ears were alert
for the noise of shots or the dull crash of bombs; hearing nothing, he
feared the worst, and hurried Mrs. Morran at a pace which endangered
her life. He had no fear for himself, arguing that his foes were
seeking higher game, and judging, too, that the main battle must be
round the verandah at the other end. The two passed the shrubbery
where the road forked, one path running to the back door and one to the
stables. They took the latter and presently came out on the downs,
with the ravine of the Garple on their left, the stables in front, and
on the right the hollow of a formal garden running along the west side
of the House.

The gale was so fierce, now that they had no wind-break between them
and the ocean, that Mrs. Morran could wrestle with it no longer, and
found shelter in the lee of a clump of rhododendrons. Darkness had all
but fallen, and the House was a black shadow against the dusky sky,
while a confused greyness marked the sea. The old Tower showed a tooth
of masonry; there was no glow from it, so the fire, which Jaikie had
reported, must have died down. A whaup cried loudly, and very eerily:
then another.

The birds stirred up Mrs. Morran. "