Now for it!" whispered George, for he and Matthew were the two
rustics, "we can save the convoy. Our men, after trampling over the
burn here, will have turned as we agreed. We shall find them in the
next plantation."

He was right in his conjecture. The two regained their friends just as
the head of the convoy hove in sight. To lead the train in a different
direction, and to safety, was now easy. The supplies reached their
destination.

"Ton my honour, young sirs," the Colonel exclaimed, when he learnt the
story, "it was a smart trick, but a risky one--confoundedly risky,
gentlemen!"

The fall of Lille reduced France to desperation. Louis was at his
wits' end. To his credit, he sought earnestly to negotiate a peace for
his unhappy and exhausted country. The terms offered by the Allies,
however, were too exacting, and not a Frenchman but rose to the
occasion; this, however, was in the following year. So the campaign
ended, the enemy beaten and exhausted, but not in utter despair.

Captains Blackett and Fairburn were once more granted a term of leave
when late autumn came round. From London, which George saw now for the
first time, the two travelled all the way to Newcastle in the
wonderful stage-coach which ran from the English to the Scotch
capital.

In high spirits they hurried towards their native village. At the
entrance to it they came all at once upon a gentleman walking in the
company of three ladies.

"Fieldsend!" declared Matthew.

"Yes, by Jove!" cried George, "And with three ladies all to himself.
It's too much!"

CHAPTER XI

THE HARDEST FIGHT OF THEM ALL

There had been an attempted descent on the shores of Scotland in 1708,
the Old Pretender, under the auspices of Louis XIV, seeking to land
4,000 men in the Firth of Forth. Admiral Byng with sixteen vessels was
ready for the French expedition, and their fear of the redoubtable
sailor kept the enemy from doing anything, so that this attempt came
to less even than that which followed seven years later.

Politics about this time demanded much of Marlborough's care and
thought. The power of the Whigs was still growing, Harley, St. John,
and others of the moderate Tories giving way to such strong and active
Whigs as Somers, Walpole, and Orford. It was in 1709 that a violent
quarrel took place between "Mrs. Morley" and "Mrs. Freeman." The Queen
was becoming more than ever dissatisfied with Marlborough's policy.
The overthrow of the Churchill