enemy of a man placed in a situation like that in which lord William now stood-the prime foe, as it were, of their ravaging bands; and so strange did the information appear to him, that he hesitated for some moments how to reply to it.

Irwin, his first leader, thus addressed him"The instance of an enemy passing over to the side of his foe is by no means a singular one; it may be caused by his having deserted, for a length of time, from his own party, to whom he now fears to return, dreading the chastisement due to his crime; it is also possible that it may be occasioned by a prepossession for ours; and it is still more probable, that the hope of future reward and preferment have been his inducements to this step. Whatever the motive, a single individual is incapable of committing injury within our walls. Let him, so please your lordship, be searched, to P prove whether he conceal about him any instrument of death, which it may be his desperate purpose to level at your person; and this done, let him be brought before you."

"But should he come merely as a spy upon our strength?" suggested the wary baron: this is a supposition which has escaped you."

That will be easily discovered," replied the leader who had before spoken, "and if such he appears, we have chains and dungeons, to prevent his carrying back the information that may be required of him."

on hers and my lost father's murderer. Admit me to your ranks, and for iny own revenge I will be a lion in your cause, when opposed to the savage Allanrod. You know not whom you have to fear in Allanrod ; more of the demon than the man, there dwells within him: wild, ungoverned, cruel, and ferocious are his passions; dire is his enmity to England and its sovereign; but still more against your person, than the nation, or its queen, does his hatred appear to be directed; for from the moment that he learnt the commission to which you were appointed, he has been collecting forces to subdue your power. His strength is now all raised; I have watched him for the completion of my just revenge, and the present hour alone is yours, to save yourself from falling into his power, and mine, to execute my vengeance on him. He is now on his march towards your castle; his forces now move in divisions; within three miles of your abode, these divisions are to unite; and so great are their numbers, that fatal to you must be the event of the day, if you once suffer them to gain this union. The first division Allanrod heads himself. Do you march out boldly then, and attack it on its way. Entire victory must be yours, for small is the division he leads; and their chief being once cut off, his other forces will lose all spirit to attack your castle. Say 'ay,' good baron, and the blow that levels Allanrod shall be my own. I am no hypocrite, and I confess that it is not for England, but against Allanrod, I fight."

Lord William inquired of the young man, at what distance from his castle he supposed the first division of this Allanrod's troops might now be?

He replied, that he had for some days past been an unobserved spy of their progress, and that he conjectured them to be now at the distance of about thirty miles." Thus," continued he, "according to the speed they usually proceed at, they will reach this castle by noon on the day following the

morrow."

Lord William next demanded of him to point out the exact route in which they were advancing. This he readily answered, and particularized the spots where he supposed the first division, headed by Allanrod, would halt on that and on the following night.

To the baron's questions of what had been the rank, title, or name of Allanrod, before he had taken upon him those he now bore? the youth declared himself unable to reply; and lord William then commanded him into safe custody. telling him that he should deliberate on what use to make of the information he had brought him.

Why the freebooter Allanrod should bear a greater and acknowledged hatred to him, than even to the government to which he was a rebel, was an enigma which lord William found himself unable to solve. He dismissed his attendants, and being left alone with his leaders, submitted to their judgment the propriety of following the advice given him by the deserter from Allanrod's camp.

B

All the leaders, and in particular Irwin, declared it their opinion, that the tale of his misfortunes had worn the appearance of having proceeded from a heart unacquainted with deceit; they could see also, they said, no motive but his hatred to Allanrod for the step he had taken, since in the very moment he had declared himself on their side, solely because they were the foes of Allanrod, he had not endeavoured to impose himself upon them for a friend to the English cause, which one well schooled in the lessons of hypocrisy would doubtless have made his first point of information, as the one most likely to ingratiate himself into their favour.

The baron coincided in their opinion; but there were still two nights and a day before them for action ere (as the deserter had said) the enemy could gain the castle; accordingly he determined to give the present night to cool reflection upon his pillow, and not to form his resolution till it was past. Before he retired to his chamber, he again called the youth into his presence; again he heard his tale, and was still more convinced that it appeared the tale of nature and of truth; so forcibly did the countenance and emotions of Donald (for such was the young man's name) present themselves as vouchers for the veracity of his words.

Lord William arose with the dawn, resolved to march and surprise the division of the enemy headed by Allanrod, which the youth Donald had described as the most advanced body in their quarters that night.

Donald was again questioned on the strength of this advanced body; and having positively asserted that it consisted of not more than eighty men, lord William resolved to take with him only one hundred and twenty of his own soldiers, in order to leave his castle in the better security during his absence.

According to the custom in those days, his one hundred and twenty companions, with their leaders or captains, destined for this enterprise, and whoin he had selected from amongst his best men, were divided into fifty mounted as cavalry with matchlocks, forty foot with pikes and broad-swords, and a body of about thirty archers and slingers, who brought up the rear; these were intended to be placed in ambush, and to commence the charge with a shower of arrows on the first onset.

Every thing being prepared for their departure, it was agreed, as the distance they had to journey could not exceed fifteen, or at most eighteen miles, to begin their march under cover of the night, that they might have a greater chance of keeping themselves concealed, and bursting upon the enemy unexpectedly.

During the whole of the day, lord William had been employed in superintending the preparations for his march; towards the approach of evening, he entered the apartment of his daughter, to bid her farewell previously to his departure. The child of woe, he found the beauteous Rosalind hanging over that lute, of which the tones had