e
the quantity of venison I did, because as I have not done so, I and my
men are like to go hungry."

And thus Buchanan came into his title of King of Kippen, although he
had to wait some time for his dinner on the day he acquired the
distinction.

THE KING'S TRYST

The king ruled. There was none to question the supremacy of James the
Fifth. At the age of twenty-two he now sat firmly on his throne. He
was at peace with England, friendly with France, and was pledged to
take a wife from that country. His great grandfather, James the
Second, had crushed the Black Douglas, and he himself had scattered
the Red Douglas to exile. No Scottish noble was now powerful enough to
threaten the stability of the throne. The country was contented and
prosperous, so James might well take his pleasure as best pleased him.
If any danger lurked near him it was unseen and unthought of.

The king, ever first in the chase, whether the quarry ran on four legs
or on two, found himself alone on the road leading north-west from
Stirling, having outstripped his comrades in their hunt of the deer.
Evening was falling and James being some miles from Stirling Castle,
raised his bugle to his lips to call together his scattered followers,
but before a blast broke the stillness, his majesty was accosted by a
woman who emerged suddenly and unnoticed from the forest on his left
hand.

"My lord, the king;" she said, and her voice, like the sound of silver
bells, thrilled with a note of inquiry.

"Yes, my lassie," answered the young man, peering down at his
questioner, lowering his bugle, and reining in his frightened horse,
which was startled by the sudden apparition before him. The dusk had
not yet so far thickened but the king could see that his interlocutor
was young and strikingly beautiful. Although dressed in the garb of
the lower orders, there was a quiet and imposing dignity in her
demeanour as she stood there by the side of the road. Her head was
uncovered, the shawl she wore over it having slipped down to her
shoulders, and her abundant hair, unknotted and unribboned, was ruddy
as spun gold. Her complexion was dazzlingly fair, her eyes of the
deepest blue, and her features perfection, except that her small mouth
showed a trifle too much firmness, a quality which her strong but
finely moulded chin corroborated and emphasised. The king, ever a
connoisseur of womanly loveliness, almost held his breath as he gazed
down upon the comely