's eyes mechanically rested
on this child, whom she had already seen upon her arrival, when suddenly
a horn sounded from the Kinross side. At the same moment Little Douglas
threw away his line, and began to row towards the shore whence the
signal had come with skill and strength beyond his years. Mary, who
had let her gaze rest on him absently, continued to follow him with her
eyes, and saw him make for a spot on the shore so distant that the
boat seemed to her at length but an imperceptible speck; but soon it
reappeared, growing larger as it approached, and Mary could then observe
that it was bringing back to the castle a new passenger, who, having
in his turn taken the oars, made the little skiff fly over the tranquil
water of the lake, where it left a furrow gleaming in the last rays of
the sun. Very soon, flying on with the swiftness of a bird, it was near
enough for Mary to see that the skilful and vigorous oarsman was a young
man from twenty-five to twenty-six years of age, with long black hair,
clad in a close coat of green cloth, and wearing a Highlander's cap,
adorned with an eagle's feather; then, as with his back turned to the
window he drew nearer, Little Douglas, who was leaning on his
shoulder, said a few words which made him turn round towards the queen:
immediately Mary, with an instinctive movement rather than with the
dread of being an object of idle curiosity, drew back, but not so
quickly, however, but that she had been able to see the handsome
pale face of the unknown, who, when she returned to the window, had
disappeared behind one of the corners of the castle.

Everything is a cause of conjecture to a prisoner: it seemed to Mary
that this young man's face was not unknown to her, and that he had seen
her already; but though great the care with which she questioned her
memory, she could not recall any distinct remembrance, so much so that
the queen ended in thinking it the play of her imagination, or that some
vague and distinct resemblance had deceived her.

However, in spite of Mary, this idea had taken an important place in her
mind: she incessantly saw this little boat skimming the water, and the
young man and the child who were in it drawing near her, as if to bring
her help. It followed that, although there had been nothing real in all
these captive's dreams, she slept that night a calmer sleep than she had
yet done since she had been in Lochleven Castle.

Next day, on rising, Mary ran to he