To fall under the ruins of Berwick Castle
was his resolution. Such was the state of his mind when his officers
appeared with the petition from his men. In proportion as they felt
the extremities into which they were driven, the offense he had
committed glared with tenfold enormity in his eyes; and, in a wild
despair, he told them "they might do as they would, but for his part,
the moment they opened the gates to the enemy, that moment should be
the last of his life. He, that was the son-in-law of King Edward,
would never yield his sword to a Scottish rebel."
Terrified at these threats on himself, the soldiers, who loved their
general, declared themselves willing to die with him; and, as a last
effort, proposed making a mine under the principal tower of the Scots;
and by setting fire to it, at least destroy the means by which they
feared their enemies might storm the citadel.
As Wallace gave his orders from this commanding station, he observed
the besieged passing in numbers behind a mound, in the direction of the
tower where he stood: he concluded what was their design; and ordering
a countermine to be made, what he anticipated happened; and Murray, at
the head of his miners, encountered those of the castle at the very
moment they would have set fire to the combustibles laid to consume the
tower.
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