taken, I stole out of the little crowd. It is true I
would rather have waited to shake hands with Laclas, but in the last man
who had descended I thought I recognised Clausel, and since the scene in
the shed my distrust of Clausel was perfect. I believed the man to be
capable of any infamy, and events have since shown that I was right.

CHAPTER VII

SWANSTON COTTAGE

I had two views. The first was, naturally, to get clear of Edinburgh
Castle and the town, to say nothing of my fellow-prisoners; the second
to work to the southward so long as it was night, and be near Swanston
Cottage by morning. What I should do there and then, I had no guess, and
did not greatly care, being a devotee of a couple of divinities called
Chance and Circumstance. Prepare, if possible; where it is impossible,
work straight forward, and keep your eyes open and your tongue oiled.
Wit and a good exterior--there is all life in a nutshell.

I had at first a rather chequered journey: got involved in gardens,
butted into houses, and had even once the misfortune to awake a sleeping
family, the father of which, as I suppose, menaced me from the window
with a blunderbuss. Altogether, though I had been some time gone from my
companions, I was still at no great distance, when a miserable accident
put a period to the escape. Of a sudden the night was divided by a
scream. This was followed by the sound of something falling, and that
again by the report of a musket from the Castle battlements. It was
strange to hear the alarm spread through the city. In the fortress drums
were beat and a bell rung backward. On all hands the watchmen sprang
their rattles. Even in that limbo or no-man's-land where I was
wandering, lights were made in the houses; sashes were flung up; I could
hear neighbouring families converse from window to window, and at length
I was challenged myself.

"Wha's that?" cried a big voice.

I could see it proceeded from a big man in a big nightcap, leaning from
a one-pair window; and as I was not yet abreast of his house, I judged
it was more wise to answer. This was not the first time I had had to
stake my fortunes on the goodness of my accent in a foreign tongue; and
I have always found the moment inspiriting, as a gambler should. Pulling
around me a sort of greatcoat I had made of my blanket, to cover my
sulphur-coloured livery,--"A friend!" said I.

"What like's all this collieshangie?" said he.

I had never heard of a colli