The moment she appeared, a shout of joy bade her welcome. Murray waved
his hands in token of silence; while she, smiling with the benignity
that spoke her angel errand, spoke with agitation:
"My brave friends!" said she, "I thank you for the ardor with which, by
this night's enterprise, you assist me to pay, in part, the everlasting
tribute due to the man who preserved to me the blessing of a father.
"With that spirit, then," returned she, "I address ye with greater
confidence. Who amongst you will shrink from following this standard
to the field for Scotland's honor? Who will refuse to make himself the
especial guardian of the life of Sir William Wallace? and who, in the
moment of peril, will not stand by him to the last?
"None are her," cried a young man, advancing before his fellows, "who
would not gladly die in his defense."
"We swear it," burst from every lip at once.
She bowed her head, and said, "Return from Ellerslie to-morrow, with
the bier of its sainted mistress, I will then bestow upon every man in
this band a war-bonnet plumed with my colors; and this banner shall
then lead you to the side of Sir William Wallace.
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