They spent a long evening talking over the past.
“I wonder if I shall ever see you again, Ronald!”
Mrs. Anderson said, with tears in her eyes, as they
rose to say goodbye.
“You need nor fear about that, Janet, woman,”
her husband said. “Ronald and Malcolm aye
fall on their legs, and we shall see them back again
like two bad pennies. Besides,” he went
on more seriously, “there will be an end of
these savage doings in the north before long.
Loyal men in Scotland are crying out everywhere against
them, and the feeling in England will be just as strong
when the truth is known there, and you will see that
before long there will be a general pardon granted
to all except the leaders. Fortunately Ronald
and Malcolm are not likely to be in the list of exceptions,
and before a year is up they will be able to come
back if they will without fear of being tapped on the
shoulder by a king’s officer.”
“I shall come back again if I can, you may be
sure,” Ronald said. “Of course I
do not know yet what my father and mother’s plans
may be; but for myself I shall always look upon Scotland
as my home, and come back to it as soon as I have
an opportunity.”
“You do not intend to stay in the French army?”
“Certainly not. After the treatment my
father has received I have no inclination to serve
France. The chief reason why Scotchmen have entered
her service has been that they were driven from home,
and that they looked to France for aid to place the
Stuarts on the throne again. Now that the time
has come, France has done nothing to aid, and has seen
the Stuart cause go down without striking a blow to
assist it. I consider that cause is lost for
ever, and shall never again draw my sword against
the House of Hanover. Nor have I had any reason
for loving France. After living in a free country
like Scotland, who could wish to live in a country
where one man’s will is all powerful —
where the people are still no better than serfs —
where the nobles treat the law as made only for them
— where, as in my father’s case, a
man may not even marry according to his own will without
incurring the risk of a life’s imprisonment?
No, I have had enough of France; and if ever I get
the opportunity I shall return to Scotland to live.”
The next morning early Ronald and Malcolm embarked
on board a ship. Their permits were closely scrutinized
before the vessel started, and a thorough search was
made before she was allowed to sail. When the
officers were satisfied that no fugitives were concealed
on board they returned to shore, and the vessel started
on her voyage for London.
On arriving in London, after ten days’ voyage,
Ronald and Malcolm obtained garments of the ordinary
cut. The one attired himself as an English gentleman,
the other in a garb suitable to a confidential attendant
or steward, and after a stay of two or three days they
made their way by coach down to Southampton.
