ary Stuart: "I believe that to
wish to act against such unanimity would be dangerous. In Scotland,
madam, there is an ancient proverb which has it that 'there is most
prudence in courage.'"

"But have you not heard that the regent has taken up an advantageous
position?" the queen said.

"The greyhound hunts the hare on the hillside as well as in the plain,"
replied Seyton: "we will drive him out, wherever he is."

"Let it be as you desire, then, my lords. It shall not be said that Mary
Stuart returned to the scabbard the sword her defenders had drawn for
her."

Then, turning round to Douglas

"George," she said to him, "choose a guard of twenty men for me, and take
command of them: you will not quit me."

George bent low in obedience, chose twenty from among the bravest men,
placed the queen in their midst, and put himself at their head; then the
troops, which had halted, received the order to continue their road. In
two hours' time the advance guard was in sight of the enemy; it halted,
and the rest of the army rejoined it.

The queen's troops then found themselves parallel with the city of
Glasgow, and the heights which rose in front of them were already
occupied by a force above which floated, as above that of Mary, the royal
banners of Scotland, On the other side, and on the opposite slope,
stretched the village of Langside, encircled with enclosures and gardens.
The road which led to it, and which followed all the variations of the
ground, narrowed at one place in such a way that two men could hardly
pass abreast, then, farther on, lost itself in a ravine, beyond which it
reappeared, then branched into two, of which one climbed to the village
of Langside, while the other led to Glasgow.

On seeing the lie of the ground, the Earl of Argyll immediately
comprehended the importance of occupying this village, and, turning to
Lord Seyton, he ordered him to gallop off and try to arrive there before
the enemy, who doubtless, having made the same observation as the
commander of the royal forces, was setting in motion at that very moment
a considerable body of cavalry.

Lord Seyton called up his men directly, but while he was ranging them
round his banner, Lord Arbroath drew his sword, and approaching the Earl
of Argyll--

"My lord," said he, "you do me a wrong in charging Lord Seyton to seize
that post: as commander of the vanguard, it is to me this honour belongs.
Allow me, then, to use my privilege in clai