and
gay as if it had not even neared a scene of strife; and there was an air
of hilarity and gallantry about them that argued well for success, if
about to commence an expedition, or if returning, told with equal
emphasis they had been successful. That the latter was the case was
speedily evident, from the gay converse passing between them; their
allusions to some late gallant achievement of their patriot sovereign;
their joyous comparisons between good King Robert and his weak opponent,
Edward II. of England, marvelling how so wavering and indolent a son
could have sprung from so brave and determined a sire; for, Scotsmen as
they were, they were now FREE, and could thus afford to allow
the "hammer" of their country some knightly qualities, despite the stern
and cruel tyranny which to them had ever marked his conduct. They spoke
in laughing scorn of the second Edward's efforts to lay his father's
yoke anew upon their necks; they said a just heaven had interfered and
urged him to waste the decisive moment of action in indolence and folly,
in the flatteries of his favorite, to the utter exclusion of those wiser
lords, whose counsels, if followed on the instant, might have shaken
even the wise and patriot Bruce. Yet they were so devoted to their
sovereign, they idolized him alike as a warrior and a man too deeply, to
allow that to the weak and vacillating conduct of Edward they owed the
preservation of their country. It was easy to perceive by the springy
step, the flashing eye, the ringing, tone with which that magic name,
the Bruce, was spoken, how deeply it was written on the heart; the joy
it was to recall his deeds, and feel it was through him that they were
free! Their converse easily betrayed them to be one of those
well-ordered though straggling parties into which King Robert's invading
armies generally dispersed at his command, when returning to their own
fastnesses, after a successful expedition to the English border.

The laugh and jest resounded, as we have said, amongst both officers and
men; but their leader, who was riding about a stone's throw ahead, gave
no evidence of sharing their mirth. He was clad from head to foot in
chain armor, of a hue so dark as to be mistaken for black, and from his
wearing a surcoat of the same color, unenlivened by any device, gave him
altogether a somewhat sombre appearance, although it could not detract
in the smallest degree from the peculiar gracefulness and easy dignity
of