On
Edwin he at times looked with penetrating tenderness; and when the bell
from the neighboring convent sounded the hour of rest, he stretched out
his hand to him with a smile, which he wished should speak of comfort
as well as of affection; but the soul spoke more eloquently than he had
intended: his smile was mournful, and the attempt to render it
otherwise, like a transient light over a dark sepulcher, only the more
distinctly showed the gloom and melancholy within.
"And am I, too, to leave you?" said Edwin.
"Yes, my brother," replied Wallace; "I have much to do with my own
thoughts this night. We separate now to meet more gladly hereafter. I
must have solitude to arrange my plans. To-morrow you shall know them.
Meanwhile farewell!"
As he spoke he pressed the affectionate youth to his breast, and,
warmly grasping the hands of his three other friends, bade them an
earnest adieu.
Bothwell lingered a moment at the tent-door, and looking back, "Let
your first plan be, that to-morrow you lead us to Lord Soulis'
quarters, to teach the traitor what it is to be a Scot and a man!"
"My plans shall be deserving of my brave colleagues," replied Wallace;
"and whether they be executed on this or the other side of the Forth,
you shall find, my long-tried Bothwell, that Scotland's peace and the
honor of her best sons are the dearest considerations of your friend.
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