f
the Pope bids me, when I have come to Rome," said he. "Alas! and how
long will you be away from me?" "That I know not, but it may be for
years if the heathen Saracens will not surrender the Holy Land to the
warriors of the Cross." "What shall I do during those long, weary
years?" asked she. "Dear love, you shall dwell here on the Islet and
be Lady of Glenurchy till I return again. The vassals and clansmen
shall obey you in my stead, and the tenants shall pay you their rents
and their dues, and in all things you shall hold my land for me."

The Token

The Lady of Loch Awe sighed as she asked: "But if you die away in that
distant land how shall I know? What will become of me if at last such
woeful tidings should be brought?"

"Wait for me seven years, dear wife," said Colin, "and if I do not
return before the end of that time you may marry again and take a
brave husband to guard your rights and rule the glen, for I shall be
dead in the Holy Land."

[Illustration: "Wait for me seven years, dear wife"]

"That I will never do. I will be the Lady of Glenurchy till I die, or
I will become the bride of Heaven and find peace for my sorrowing soul
in a nunnery. No second husband shall wed me and hold your land. But
give me now some token that we may share it between us; and you shall
swear that on your deathbed you will send it to me; so shall I know
indeed that you are no longer alive."

"It shall be as you say," answered Black Colin, and he went to the
smith of the clan and bade him make a massive gold ring, on which
Colin's name was engraved, as well as that of the Lady of Loch Awe.
Then, breaking the ring in two, Colin gave to his wife the piece with
his name and kept the other piece, vowing to wear it near his heart
and only to part with it when he should be dying. In like manner she
with bitter weeping swore to keep her half of the ring, and hung it on
a chain round her neck; and so, with much grief and great mourning
from the whole clan, Black Colin and his sturdy following of Campbell
clansmen set out for the Holy Land.

The Journey

Sadly at first the little band marched away from all their friends and
their homes; bagpipes played their loudest marching tunes, and plaids
fluttered in the breeze, and the men marched gallantly, but with heavy
hearts, for they knew not when they would return, and they feared
to find supplanters in their homes when they came back after many
years. Their courage rose, however