Bonnie Prince Charlie | Page 9

early some officers of the law had come to the house, and the
man had been seized and carried away. He had been released some
months later, only to find that his wife had died of grief and anxiety,
and he had then sold off his goods and gone no one knew whither.
Malcolm, therefore, returned to Glasgow, with the feeling that he had
gained nothing by his journey.

CHAPTER II
: The Jacobite Agent.
So twelve years passed. Ronald Leslie grew up a sturdy lad, full of fun
and mischief in spite of the sober atmosphere of the bailie's house; and
neither flogging at school nor lecturing at home appeared to have the
slightest effect in reducing him to that state of sober tranquillity which
was in Mrs. Anderson's eyes the thing to be most desired in boys.
Andrew was less deeply shocked than his wife at the discovery of
Ronald's various delinquencies, but his sense of order and punctuality
was constantly outraged. He was, however, really fond of the lad; and
even Mrs. Anderson, greatly as the boy's ways constantly disturbed and
ruffled her, was at heart as fond of him as was her husband. She
considered, and not altogether wrongly, that his wilderness, as she
called it, was in no slight degree due to his association with her
husband's brother.
Ronald looked forward to the periodical visits of the drover with
intense longing. He was sure of a sympathetic listener in Malcolm, who
listened with approval to the tales of the various scrapes into which he
had got since his last visit; of how, instead of going to school, he had
played truant and with another boy his own age had embarked in a
fisherman's boat and gone down the river and had not been able to get
back until next day; how he had played tricks upon his dominie, and
had conquered in single combat the son of Councillor Duff, the butcher,
who had spoken scoffing words at the Stuarts. Malcolm was, in fact,
delighted to find, that in spite of repression and lectures his young
charge was growing up a lad of spirit. He still hoped that some day

Leslie might return, and he knew how horrified he would be were he to
find that his son was becoming a smug and well conducted citizen. No
small portion of his time on each of his visits to Glasgow Malcolm
spent in training the boy in the use of arms.
"Your father was a gentleman," he would say to him, "and it is fitting
that you should know how to handle a gentleman's arms. Clubs are well
enough for citizens' apprentices, but I would have you handle rapier
and broadsword as well as any of the young lairds. When you get old
enough, Ronald, you and I will cross the seas, and together we will try
and get to the bottom of the mystery of your father's fate, and if we find
that the worst has come to the worst, we will seek our your mother. She
will most likely have married again. They will be sure to have forced
her into it; but even if she dare not acknowledge you as her son, her
influence may obtain for you a commission in one of the king's
regiments, and even if they think I'm too old for a trooper I will go as
your follower. There are plenty of occasions at the court of France
when a sharp sword and a stout arm, even if it be somewhat stiffened
by age, can do good service."
The lessons began as soon as Ronald was old enough to hold a light
blade, and as between the pauses of exercise Malcolm was always
ready to tell stories of his adventures in the wars of France, the days
were full of delight to Ronald. When the latter reached the age of
fourteen Malcolm was not satisfied with the amount of proficiency
which the lad was able to gain during his occasional visits, and
therefore took him for further instruction to a comrade who had, like
himself, served in France, and had returned and settled down in
Glasgow, where he opened a fencing school, having been a maitre
d'armes among the Scotch regiments.
The arrangement was, however, kept a profound secret from Andrew
and his wife; but on half holidays, and on any other days when he could
manage to slip away for an hour, Ronald went to his instructor and
worked hard and steadily with the rapier. Had Mrs. Anderson had an
idea of the manner in which he spent his time she would have been
horrified, and would certainly have spared her encomiums on his
improved conduct and the absence of the unsatisfactory reports which
had before been so