w that something was wrong.
Three hundred men of the militia were in arms, and the whole place was
in an uproar. The secret had leaked out; one of the boat's crew, getting
tipsy, had boasted that the Prince was at hand with five hundred men,
ready to take by force what he could not obtain by good-will.

The inhabitants of Stornoway were all Mackenzies, pledged by their
chief, Seaforth, to loyal support of the Government. It is eternally to
their honour that all that they demanded was that the Prince should
instantly remove himself from their neighbourhood. Not one amongst them
seems to have suggested that a sum of 30,000_l._ was to be gained by
taking the Prince prisoner. So complete was Donald's confidence in their
honesty that he did not hesitate to say to a roomful of armed
militiamen, 'He has only two companions with him, _and when I am there I
make a third_, and yet let me tell you, gentlemen, that if Seaforth
himself were here he durst not put a hand to the Prince's breast.'
Donald doubtless looked pretty formidable as he said these words; at any
rate, the 'honest Mackenzies' had no sinister intentions, only they
vehemently insisted that the party should depart at once, and, what was
worse, absolutely refused to give them a pilot. In vain Donald offered
500_l._; fear made them obdurate; and so, depressed and crestfallen,
Donald returned to Kildun and urged the Prince to instant flight. But
not even the fear of immediate capture could induce the three wearied
men to set out again in the wet and darkness to plod over rocks and
morasses with no certain goal. So Donald had to control his fears and
impatience till next day.

At eight next morning they started in the boat, hospitable Mrs. MacLeod
insisting on their taking with them beef, meal, and even the luxuries of
brandy, butter, and sugar. The weather being stormy they landed on a
little desert island called Eiurn, which the Stornoway fishermen used as
a place for drying fish. Between some fish which they found drying on
the rocks and Mrs. MacLeod's stores they lived in comparative luxury for
the next few days. Ned Burke, the valet, was told off as cook; but he
soon found that the Prince was far more skilful in the art of cookery
than himself. It was his Royal Highness who suggested the luxury of
butter with the fish, and who made a quite original cake by mixing the
brains of a cow with some meal, giving orders to 'birsle the bannock
weel, or it would not do at al