Bonnie Prince Charlie | Page 2

got into scrapes. And now to supper."
Little was said during the meal; fortunately the table was bounteously
spread, for the newcomer's appetite was prodigious; but at last he was
satisfied, and after a long drink at the horn beside him, which Elspeth
had kept filled with ale, he said:
"There's nothing like a Scottish meal after all, Andrew. French living is
well enough for a time, but one tires of it; and many a time when I have
been lying down supperless on the sod, after marching and fighting the
whole day, I have longed for a bowl of porridge and a platter well filled
with oatmeal cakes."
Supper over, John and the apprentices retired. Elspeth went off to

prepare the guest's chamber and to make up a little bed for the child.
"Now, brother, let us hear your story; but, first of all, perhaps you want
to light your pipe?"
"That do I," Malcolm replied, "if Mistress Janet has no objection
thereto."
"She is accustomed to it," the bailie said, answering for her. "I smoke
myself; I deem that tobacco, like other things, was given for our use,
and methinks that with a pipe between the lips men's brains work more
easily and that it leadeth to pleasant converse."
Janet went to a cupboard, brought out two long pipes and a jar of
tobacco, placed two tumblers, a flat bottle, and a jug of water on the
table.
"That is right," the bailie said. "I do not often touch strong waters. The
habit, as I see too plainly, is a harmful one, and in this good city of
Glasgow there are many, even of those so placed that they should be an
example to their fellows, who are given nightly to drink more than is
good for them; but on an occasion like the present I deem it no harm to
take a glass."
"I should think not," Malcolm said heartily; "it is long since I tasted a
glass of real Scotch spirit, and I never need an excuse for taking a glass
of whatever it be that comes in my way. Not, Mistress Janet, that I am a
toper. I don't say that at the sack of a town, or at times when liquor is
running, so to speak, to waste, I am more backward than the rest; but
my hand wouldn't be as steady as it is if I had been one of those who
are never so happy as when they are filling themselves with liquor. And
now, Andrew, to my story. You know that when I saw you last -- just
when the troubles in `15 began -- in spite of all your warnings to the
contrary, I must needs throw myself into the thick of them. You, like a
wise man, stuck to your shop, and here you are now a bailie of
Glasgow; while I, who have been wandering over the face of the earth
fighting for the cause of France and risking my life a thousand times in
a matter which concerned me in no way, have returned just as penniless
as I set out."
"It is said, brother Malcolm," Janet said mildly, "that a rolling stone
gathers no moss."
"That is true enough," Malcolm assented; "and yet do you know there
are few rolling stones who, if their time were to come over again,

would remain fixed in their bed. Of course we have not the pleasures of
home, of wives and children; but the life of adventure has its own joys,
which I, for one, would not change for the others. However, brother, as
you know, I threw myself heart and soul into that business.
"The last time I saw you was just as I was starting with a score of
others to make our way to join the Earl of Mar's army at Perth. I have
seen many an army since, but never did I see sixteen thousand finer
fighting men than were there assembled. The Laird of Mackintosh
brought five hundred clansmen from Inverness shire, the Marquis of
Huntly had five hundred horse and two thousand foot, and the Earl
Marischal had a thousand men. The Laird of Glenlyon brought five
hundred Campbells, and the Marquis of Tullibardine fourteen hundred,
and a score of other chiefs of less power were there with their clansmen.
There were enough men there to have done anything had they been
properly armed and led; but though arms and ammunition had been
promised from France, none came, and the Earl of Mar had so little
decision that he would have wrecked the finest army that ever marched.
"The army lay doing nothing for weeks, and just before we were
expecting a movement, the company I belonged to was sent with a
force of Highlanders