l keep them busy for
a bit. When they've finished wi' him and find the place is empty,
they'll try the Hoose and we'll give them a warm reception. That
should keep us goin' till the polis arrive, unless they're comin' wi'
the blind carrier."

Sir Archie nodded. "But why put ourselves in their power at all?
They're at present barking up the wrong tree. Let them bark up another
wrong 'un. Why shouldn't the House remain empty? I take it we're here
to protect the Princess. Well, we'll have done that if they go off
empty-handed."

Dougal looked up to the heavens. "I wish McCunn was here," he sighed.
"Ay, we've got to protect the Princess, and there's just the one way to
do it, and that's to put an end to this crowd o' blagyirds. If they
gang empty-handed, they'll come again another day, either here or
somewhere else, and it won't be long afore they get the lassie. But if
we finish with them now she can sit down wi' an easy mind. That's why
we've got to hang on to them till the polis comes. There's no way out
o' this business but a battle."

He found an ally. "Dougal is right," said Saskia. "If I am to have
peace, by some way or other the fangs of my enemies must be drawn for
ever."

He swung round and addressed her formally. "Mem, I'm askin' ye for the
last time. Will ye keep out of this business? Will ye gang back and
sit doun aside Mrs. Morran's fire and have your teas and wait till we
come for ye. Ye can do no good, and ye're puttin' yourself terrible in
the enemy's power. If we're beat and ye're no' there, they get very
little satisfaction, but if they get you they get what they've come
seekin'. I tell ye straight--ye're an encumbrance."

She laughed mischievously. "I can shoot better than you," she said.

He ignored the taunt. "Will ye listen to sense and fall to the rear?"

"I will not," she said.

"Then gang your own gait. I'm ower wise to argy-bargy wi' women. The
Hoose be it!"

It was a journey which sorely tried Dougal's temper. The only way in
was by the verandah, but the door at the west end had been locked, and
the ladder had disappeared. Now, of his party three were lame, one
lacked an arm, and one was a girl; besides, there were the guns and
cartridges to transport. Moreover, at more than one point before the
verandah was reached the route was commanded by a point on the ridge
near the old Tower, and that had been Spidel's position when Dougal
made his last reconnaissance. It