he sword; and then the low thrilling laugh of
derisive contempt would disperse the shade, and the muttered oath of
vengeance drown the voice of execration. It would have been a strange
yet mighty study, the face of man in that old town; but men were all too
much excited to observe their fellows, to them it was enough--unspoken,
unimparted wisdom as it was--to know, to feel, one common feeling bound
that varied mass of men, one mighty interest made them brothers.

The ancient Palace of Scone, so long unused, was now evidently the
head-quarters of the noblemen hovering about the town, for whatever
purpose they were there assembled. The heavy flag of Scotland, in all
its massive quarterings, as the symbol of a free unfettered kingdom,
waved from the centre tower; archers and spearmen lined the courts,
sentinels were at their posts, giving and receiving the watchword from
all who passed and repassed the heavy gates, which from dawn till
nightfall were flung wide open, as if the inmates of that regal dwelling
were ever ready to receive their friends, and feared not the approach of
foes.

The sun, though sinking, was still bright, when the slow and dignified
approach of the venerable abbot of Scone occasioned some stir and bustle
amidst the joyous occupants of the palace yard; the wild joke was
hushed, the noisy brawl subsided, the games of quoit and hurling the bar
a while suspended, and the silence of unaffected reverence awaited the
good old man's approach and kindly-given benediction. Leaving his
attendants in one of the lower rooms, the abbot proceeded up the massive
stone staircase, and along a broad and lengthy passage, darkly panelled
with thick oak, then pushing aside some heavy arras, stood within one of
the state chambers, and gave his fervent benison on one within. This was
a man in the earliest and freshest prime of life, that period uniting
all the grace and beauty of youth with the mature thought, and steady
wisdom, and calmer views of manhood. That he was of noble birth and
blood and training one glance sufficed; peculiarly and gloriously
distinguished in the quiet majesty of his figure, in the mild attempered
gravity of his commanding features. Nature herself seemed to have marked
him out for the distinguished part it was his to play. Already there
were lines of thought upon the clear and open brow, and round the mouth;
and the blue eye shone with that calm, steady lustre, which seldom comes
till the changef