r he was a prudent lad and slow of speech;
while I, being no man of war, also looked well to my words, and let a
wary tongue keep my head. As for John Meiklewood, honest man, he took
suddenly one morning what he termed a "sair income in his wame," and
leave being scantily asked, he hied him home to his wife and weans at
the Mains of Earlstoun.

Now this was the manner of our march. Claverhouse sent his horse
scouring up on the tops of the hills and along the higher grounds, while
his foot quartered the lower districts, bringing all such as were in any
way suspicious to the kirkyards to be examined. Old and young, men and
women alike, were taken; and often--chiefly, it is true, behind
Claverhouse's back--the soldiers were most cruel at the business, making
my blood boil, till I thought that I must fly out and strike some of
them. I wondered not any longer that my father had taken to the hill,
sick to death of the black terror which Charles's men caused daily to
fall upon all around them, wherever in Scotland men cared enough about
their religion to suffer for it.

How my cousin Lochinvar stood it I cannot tell. Indeed I think that but
for the teaching of his mother, and the presence of John Scarlet, who at
this time was a great King's man and of much influence with Wat Gordon,
he had been as much incensed as I.

One morning in especial I mind well. It was a Tuesday, and our company
was under the command of this Johnstone of Westerha', who of all the
clan, being a turncoat, was the cruellest and the worst. For the man was
in his own country, and among his own kenned faces, his holders and
cottiers--so that the slaughter of them was as easy as killing chickens
reared by hand.

And even Claverhouse rather suffered, and shut his eyes to it, than took
part in the hard driving.

"Draw your reins here," the Johnstone would say, as we came to the
loaning foot of some little white lime-washed house with a reeking lum.
"There are some Bible folk here that wad be none the worse o' a bit
ca'!"

So he rode up to the poor muirland housie sitting by itself all alone
among the red heather. Mostly the folk had marked us come, and often
there was no one to be seen, but, as it might be, a bairn or two playing
about the green.

Then he would have these poor bits of things gathered up and begin to
fear them, or contrariwise to offer them fair things if only they would
tell where their parents were, and who were used to come about th