no time to close the
gate, and the place was captured. Great stores and booty were found
here; these were carried to the woods, and the castle was burned
to the ground, as that of Gargunnock had been, as Wallace's force
was too small to enable him to hold these strongholds. Indignant
at this enterprise so close to their walls the English moved out
the whole garrison, 1000 strong, against Wallace, who had with him
but fifty men in all. After a desperate defence, in which Sir John
Butler and Sir William de Loraine, the two officers in command,
were killed by Wallace himself, the latter succeeded in drawing off
his men; 120 of the English were killed in the struggle, of whom
more than twenty are said to have fallen at the hands of Wallace
alone. Many other similar deeds did Wallace perform; his fame grew
more and more, as did the feeling among the Scotch peasantry that
in him they had found their champion and leader.

Archie eagerly drank in the tale of Wallace's exploits, and his soul
was fired by the desire to follow so valiant a leader. He was now
sixteen, his frame was set and vigorous, and exercise and constant
practice with arms had hardened his muscles. He became restless
with his life of inactivity; and his mother, seeing that her quiet
and secluded existence was no longer suitable for him, resolved
to send him to her sister's husband, Sir Robert Gordon, who dwelt
near Lanark. Upon the night before he started she had a long talk
with him.

"I have long observed, my boy," she said, "the eagerness with
which you constantly practise at arms; and Sandy tells me that he
can no longer defend himself against you. Sandy, indeed is not a
young man, but he is still hale and stout, and has lost but little
of his strength. Therefore it seems that, though but a boy, you may
be considered to have a man's strength, for your father regarded
Sandy as one of the stoutest and most skilful of his men-at-arms.
I know what is in your thoughts; that you long to follow in
your father's footsteps, and to win back the possessions of which
you have been despoiled by the Kerrs. But beware, my boy; you are
yet but young; you have no friends or protectors, save Sir Robert
Gordon, who is a peaceable man, and goes with the times; while
the Kerrs are a powerful family, able to put a strong body in the
field, and having many powerful friends and connections throughout
the country. It is our obscurity which has so far saved you, for
Sir John K