esplanade there was a gateway leading into the castle
yard. There was a sentinel, in a Highland costume, keeping guard there.
Mr. George asked him if the public were allowed to go into the castle.
He said, "O, yes, certainly;" and so Mr. George and the boys went in.

As they went in they looked up, and saw a great many cannons pointed
down at them from the embrasures in the surrounding ramparts and
bastions.

"Those guns must be to keep the enemy from coming in," said Waldron.

Presently the party passed through another arched gateway, and came into
a large inner court, which was surrounded with various buildings, all
built of stone, and of a very massive and solid character. The palace
was on one side. It was adorned with a great many quaint and curious
sculptures and images. The palace itself, and all the other buildings,
were used as barracks for soldiers. A great many soldiers were standing
about the doors, and some were playing together about the court. Some of
them were dressed in the common British uniform, and some were in the
Highland costume.

While the boys were looking at the palace front, a soldier advanced
towards them in a very respectful manner, and said to Mr. George,--

"If you and the young gentlemen are strangers in Stirling, I will walk
about the castle with you, and point out the objects of interest to you,
if you desire it."

Mr. George accepted this offer, and the young soldier accordingly walked
with them all about. He pointed out all the different buildings, and
mentioned the dates of the erection of them, and referred to the most
important historical events that had transpired in them. Finally he led
the party through a gate into a small garden, and thence out upon the
rampart wall, from which there was a very extended and extraordinarily
beautiful view of the surrounding country.[E] To the north-west were
seen the Highlands, with the peaks of Ben Lomond, Ben Venue, and Benan,
rising conspicuously among them. On the east were other hills, rising
abruptly out of the smooth and smiling plain, and covered with dark
plantations of evergreen. All around the foot of the castle, and
extending to the distance, in some directions, of many miles, the
country was level and fertile, and it presented every where the most
enchanting pictures of rural beauty. Some of the fields were of the
richest green, others were brown from fresh tillage, with men ploughing
or harrowing in them, or plants just spri