The rest of the
soldiers were commanded to take their refreshment still under arms.
These duties performed, Wallace turned with the eagerness of friendship
and loyalty to see how Bruce fared.
The moon shone brightly as his party rode forward. Wallace ascended
the steep acclivity on which Roslyn Castle stands. In crossing the
drawbridge which divides its rocky peninsula from the main land, he
looked around and sighed. The scene reminded him of Ellerslie. A deep
shadow lay on the woods beneath; and the pensile branches of the now
leafless trees bending to meet the flood, seemed mourning the deaths
which now polluted its stream. The water lay in profound repose at the
base of these beautiful craigs, as if peace longed to become an
inhabitant of so lovely a scene.
At the gate of the castle its aged master, the Lord Sinclair, met
Wallace, to bid him welcome.
"Blessed be the saint of this day," exclaimed he, "for thus bringing
our best defender, even as by a miracle, to snatch us as a brand from
the fire! My gates, like my heart, open to receive the true Regent of
Scotland."
"I have only done a Scotchman's duty, venerable Sinclair," replied
Wallace, "and must not arrogate a title which Scotland has transferred
to other hands.
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