Each chief advanced to the head of his line,
and stood to hear the charge of Wallace.
"Brave Scots!" cried he, "treachery has admitted the enemy whom
resolute patriotism had driven from our borders. Be steady in your
fidelity to Scotland, and He who hath hitherto protected the just
cause, will nerve your arms to lay invasion and its base coadjutors
again in the dust."
The cheers of anticipated victory burst from the soldiers, mingled with
the clangor of their striking shields at the inspiring voice of their
leader. Wallace waved his truncheon (round which the plan of his array
was wrapped) to the chiefs to fall back toward their legions; and while
some appeared to linger, Athol, armed cap-a-pie, and spurring his roan
into the area before the regent, demanded, in a haughty tone, "Which of
the chiefs now in the field is to lead the vanguard?"
"The Regent of Scotland," replied Wallace, for once asserting the
majesty of his station, "and you, Lord Athol, with the Lord Buchan, are
to defend your country under the command of the brave head of your
house, the princely Badenoch."
"I stir not from this spot," returned Athol, fiercely striking his
lance into its rest, "till I see the honor of my country established in
the eye of the world by a leader worthy of her rank being placed in her
vanguard.
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