e engaged. Come tomorrow
morning, at half past eight, and I shall then be able to give you
an hour, or maybe two, if necessary, and will then hear the whole
story fully."

The young men, on presenting themselves the next morning, at the
hour named, were at once ushered in.

"Now, let us lose no time," the duke said, after shaking hands
heartily. "Which of you will tell the story?"

"Carstairs will do so, my lord," Harry replied. "The mischief was
hatched in his house, and my father, and six other gentlemen, were
the victims of the treachery of a kinsman of his."

Charlie told the story of the events that had brought about the
ruin of his father and friends.

"It is monstrous!" the duke exclaimed indignantly, when he had
brought this part of his story to a conclusion. "That my old
friend, Mat Jervoise, should be concerned in a plot for
assassination, is, I would pledge my life, untrue; and Sir
Marmaduke Carstairs was, I know, an honourable gentleman, who would
be equally incapable of such an act. That they were both Jacobites,
I can well believe, for the Jacobites are strong everywhere in the
north, but, as half of us are or have been Jacobites, that can
scarcely be counted as an offence. At any rate, a Stuart is upon
the throne now, and, as long as she reigns, there is no fear that a
civil war will be set up by another of the race. The story, as you
have told it, sir, is, I doubt not for a moment, true, but at
present it is unsupported; and though, on my assurance of their
loyalty, I think I can promise that her majesty would extend a
pardon to the gentlemen who have been so unjustly accused, I fear
that she could not, by her own act, restore the estates that have
been confiscated, unless you can bring some proof that this fellow
you speak of was suborned to get up false evidence against them."

"That, sir, is what I shall have the honour to inform you now."

And Charlie then related the story of their quest for the man
Nicholson, and its result.

"Rarely devised and carried out," the duke said warmly. "Do you lay
the knave by the heels, and frighten him into confessing the truth,
and I will see to the rest of the matter. I do not know that I
ought to let the North coach be robbed, after the information you
have given me, but, as we will hunt down all the other fellows, and
shall probably recover the booty they carry off, the passengers
will have no reason to grumble.

"Well, young sirs, the king of Sweden