d eyes
blazing, his red beard and hair flaring out in all directions, he shook
his huge fist at the unoffending skies and called upon the sun and the
moon and all things created to witness the downfall of his enemies.

Fortunately for the usurpers, the steed of state which King William
bestrode, though old and decrepit, still adhered to a youthful habit of
shying, or the procession might never have reached the MacDonalds.
But, as the old grey mare approached the raving obstacle in her path,
she swerved coquettishly and King William curvetted round his enemy
with royal indifference. His subjects wisely followed his example; the
procession divided and streamed noisily on both sides of the profane
wedge which had cloven it, and which gallantly held its position waving
its arms and howling forth derision until the last Orangemen had swept
past.

But as the revellers tooted their victorious way down the street
towards the tavern, a strange sensation of impending disaster made
itself felt. The unwelcome fact began to dawn upon the Orangemen that
the clamour about them was neither composed of acclamation, nor yet of
the expected tumult of the outraged Murphys.

The suspicion grew to a horrible certainty by the time their
destination was reached, and the instant the procession halted, King
William, forgetting his royal dignity, scrambled from his horse and led
a hasty charge against the doors and windows of the tavern. Their
apprehension had been too correct. There, sitting at the Orangemen's
feast, were forty-nine armed MacDonalds, while the fiftieth swept round
the tables, his plaid flying, his kilt waving, his ribbons streaming,
and his pipes shrieking as if they would fain split the roof!

It was a crucial moment for the Glen; and, looking from his vantage
point on the verandah, Store Thompson held his breath. That the
Orangemen even hesitated to pitch themselves headlong upon the usurpers
showed that in the past two years the forces that make for law and
order had been steadily working. However it might be, they hesitated.
Perhaps they were assisted to a pacific decision by the sight before
them. There is nothing so disastrous to a man's fighting qualities as
an empty stomach. King William and his followers looked at their
dinner rapidly disappearing into the capacious interiors of Glencoe;
they looked at the stout clubs beneath the table; they glanced over
their shoulders at Pat Murphy and his men, waiting eag