d head, go, leave me to the
fate it brings; your oath of allegiance is dissolved. I have yet
faithful followers, to make one bold stand against the tyrant, and die
for Scotland; but if ye absolve me, if ye will yet give me your hearts
and swords, oh, fear me not, my countrymen, we may yet be free!"

Cries, tears, and blessings followed this wisely-spoken appeal, one
universal shout reiterated their vows of allegiance; those who had felt
terrified at the mandate of their spiritual father, now traced it not to
his impartial judgment, but to the schemes of Edward, and instantly felt
its weight and magnitude had faded into air. The unwavering loyalty of
the Primate of Scotland, the Bishop of Glasgow, and the Abbot of Scone
strengthened them alike in their belief and allegiance, and a band of
young citizens were instantly provided with arms at the expense of the
town, and the king entreated by a deputation of the principal
magistrates to accept their services as a guard extraordinary, lest his
life should be yet more endangered from private individuals, by the
sentence under which he labored; and gratified by their devotedness,
though his bold spirit spurned all Fear of secret assassination, their
request was graciously accepted.

The ceremony of knighthood which the king had promised to confer on
several of his young followers had been deferred until the present time,
to admit of their preparing for their inauguration with all the solemn
services of religion which the rites enjoined.

The 15th day of June was the time appointed, and Nigel Bruce and Alan of
Buchan were to pass the night previous, in solemn prayer and vigil, in
the abbey church of Scone. That the rules of chivalry should not be
transgressed by his desire to confer some honor on the son of the
Countess of Buchan, which would demonstrate the high esteem in which she
was held by her sovereign, Alan had served the king, first as page and
then as esquire, in the interval that had elapsed since his coronation,
and now he beheld with ardor the near completion of the honor for which
he pined. His spirit had been wrung well-nigh to agony, when amidst the
list of the proscribed as traitors he beheld his mother's name; not so
much at the dangers that would encircle her--for from those he might
defend her--but that his father was still a follower of the unmanly
tyrant, who would even war against a woman--his father should still
calmly assist and serve the man who set a