he
hunts down a foe. Be warned by me, and never relax a precaution so long
as you are on Scottish ground. There are men who whisper that even now,
when he stands by the side of the king, Argyll is in communication with
Cromwell. Trust me, if he can do you an ill turn, he will."

Upon the following morning the detachment marched, with flags flying and
drums beating, and the king himself rode down to see them depart. Argyll
was with him, and the king, as if in bravado of the formidable earl,
waved his hand to Harry, and said: "Good-by, my grave colonel. Take care
of yourself, and do not spare my enemies as you spared my friend."

Harry doffed his plumed hat, and rode on at the head of his regiment.
The force marched rapidly, for it was known that Cromwell was within a
few days of Berwick. So fast did they travel that in three days they
were near the border. Then they began the work which they had been
ordered to carry out. Every head of cattle was driven up the country,
and the inhabitants were ordered to load as much of their stores of
grain in wagons as these would hold, and to destroy the rest. The force
under Colonel Macleod saw that these orders were carried out, and when,
on the 14th of July, Cromwell crossed the Tweed, he found the whole
country bare of all provision for his troops. In vain his cavalry made
forays to a distance from the coast. Harry's foot opposed them at every
defensible point, while the cavalry hung upon their skirts. In vain the
Roundheads tried to charge by them. The Scotch cavalry, in obedience to
orders, avoided a contest, and day after day Cromwell's troopers had to
return empty handed, losing many of their men by the fire of Harry's
infantry. Thus the army of Cromwell was obliged to advance slowly upon
the line of coast, drawing their supplies wholly from the fleet which
accompanied it.

One evening Colonel Macleod rode up to the cottage where Harry was
quartered for the night.

"I am going to beat up Oliver's camp to-night," he said. "Do you cover
the retreat with your men at the ford of the river. If I can get for
five minutes in his camp I will read the Roundheads a lesson, and maybe
spike some of his cannon. If I could catch Cromwell himself it would be
as good as a great victory."

After nightfall the force approached the enemy's camp; at the ford the
infantry halted, the cavalry crossing and continuing their way to the
camp, about a mile distant. An hour passed without any sound