Comforted with these
tidings, Wallace declared his intentions of visiting his suffering
friend as soon as he could establish any principle in the minds of his
followers to induce them to bear, even for a little time, with the
insolence of the abthanes. "I will then," said he, "watch by the side
of our beloved Bruce till his recovered health allows him to proclaim
himself king; and with that act I trust all these feuds will be forever
laid to sleep!" Ruthven participated in these hopes, and the friends
returned into the council-tent. But all there was changed. Most of
the Lothian chieftains had also received messages from their friends in
Stirling. Allegations against Wallace; arguments to prove "the policy
of submitting themselves and their properties to the protection of a
great and generous king, though a foreigner, rather than to risk all by
attaching themselves to the fortunes of a private person, who made
their services the ladder of his ambition," were the contents of their
packets; and they had been sufficient to shake the easy faith to which
they were addressed. On the reentrance of Wallace, the chieftains,
stole suspicious glances at each other, and, without a word, glided
severally out of the tent.
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