sup in the
dwelling of Mrs. Black. It was the Sabbath. Wallace and Black had
remained close all day--with the exception of an hour before daylight in
the morning when they had gone out for exercise. It was one of those
dreary days not unknown to Auld Reekie, which are inaugurated with a
persistent drizzle, continued with a "Scotch mist," and dismissed with
an even down-pour. Yet it was by no means a dismal day to our friends
of Candlemaker Row. They were all more or less earnestly religious as
well as intellectual, so that intercourse in reference to the things of
the Kingdom of God, and reading the Word, with a free-and-easy
commentary by Mrs. Black and much acquiescence on the part of Mrs.
Wallace, and occasional disputations between Andrew and Bruce, kept them
lively and well employed until supper-time.

The meal had just been concluded when heavy footfalls were heard on the
stair outside, and in another moment there was a violent knocking at the
door. The men sprang up, and instinctively grasped the weapons that
came first to hand. Wallace seized the poker--a new and heavy one--
Andrew the shovel, and Jock Bruce the tongs, while Ramblin' Peter
possessed himself of a stout rolling-pin. Placing themselves hastily in
front of the women, who had drawn together and retreated to a corner,
they stood on the defensive while Mrs. Black demanded to know who
knocked so furiously "on a Sabbath nicht."

Instead of answering, the visitors burst the door open, and half-a-dozen
of the town-guard sprang in and levelled their pikes.

"Yield yourselves!" cried their leader. "I arrest you in the King's
name!"

But the four men showed no disposition to yield, and the resolute
expression of their faces induced their opponents to hesitate.

"I ken o' nae King in this realm," said Andrew Black in a deep stern
voice, "an' we refuse to set oor necks under the heel o' a usurpin'
tyrant."

"Do your duty, men," said a man who had kept in the background, but who
now stepped to the front.

"Ha! this is your doing, Glendinning," exclaimed Wallace, who recognised
his old comrade. The sergeant had obviously been promoted, for he wore
the costume of a commissioned officer.

"Ay, I have an auld score to settle wi' you, Wallace, an' I hope to see
you an' your comrades swing in the Grassmarket before lang."

"Ye'll niver see that, my man," said Black, as he firmly grasped the
shovel. "Ye ha'ena gotten us yet, an' it's my opeenion t