The San Francisco call., 1898-01-16


 able men, no further attempt is
 likely to be made to place one of
 the Stuart family on the throne of O Great Britain, at least by force of
 arms. l can now, without prejudice to any one tell the story of the strange adventure which brought me face to face for the first and last time with Charles Edward Stuart, commonly known as the Young Pretender.
 Late In the afternoon of September 22, 1750. received the following letter:
 Dear Friendly the time this Is placed in your hands l shall be at sea on my way to Antwerp. It is all over. Under the name of John Douglas the Prince has been in London for nearly a week and nothing has come of it. There IS no prospect of rising. Gentlemen of quality and influence however devoted to the Prince have no mind to risk their lives and estates by marching on London unless supported by strong body of regular troops, believing that exile, or more probably the scaffold, would be the sure and certain end of any such rash undertaking To speak the plain truth, l am much Of that way of thinking my Self, and, having wife and child. will not draw my sword until l perceive some fair prospect of success.
 Il write to warn you of that which con- cernS you nearly. The other day the Prlnce came unexpectedly to party at Lady PrlmroSe'S, greatly to the conster- nation of her ladyship and of most of her guests. Indeed, he met with but a cold reception from any but your betrothed, Miss Kate Gordon, and her cousin, An drew MacintyTe, who were both present.
 Miss Gordon went down on her knee before them all and kissed his hand. It was very braVely done and moved him greatly, but. indeed, 1t was scarcely pru- dent. Macintyre followed her example and l heard him whisper to the Prince that If his royal highness would degn to honor his poor house with a visit this evening eye Zd) he would meet with a very different kind of welcome. Learn ing that Miss Gordon would be present the Prince consented.
 Now, word in your ear. This Macin- tyre is not 10 be trusted. I have infor- nation from sure source that he is a spy In the pay of the Government and that the man with one eye, the odious creature. Donald Fraser, who follows nm aDOut like a shadow. is. If possible, a more infamous wretch than himself.
 The house IS in a lonely situation and 1 am convinced that these scoundrels arc concocting some plot to betray the Prince and are making use of Miss Gordon's grace and beauty and well-knOwn devo. tion to the Jacobite cause to entice him into trap. l tried to give the Prince a hint of this, but he listened to me coldlv. and indeed of late he has become noto- riously impatient of advice from his best and truest friends.
 That Miss Gordon should be made an accomplice in this villainous scheme will, l know, be hateful to you, and I doubt not you will do what lies in your power to prevent 1t. Yours most faithfully,
 MATTHEW FIELDING"
 My blood boiled as I read his letter. l was no friend to the Stuarts. and. in- deed, cared little whether the Pretender was taken or not; but that Kate should be involved in this infamous plot was in- describably painful to me, and I reso- lutely determined that she never should be if word or act of mine could prevent 1t.
 Yet it was no very pleasant task for me to interfere in the matter. for there had already been sharp quarrel be- tween Kate and myself with regard to this Macintyre and her passionate de- Votion to the cause of the unhappy Stuarts. She was an orphan and Mac mtyre' being her cousin, had undertaken to act as her guardian a piece of pre- sumption which I bitterly resented. for l had good reason to believe that he hated me and meant. by fair means or foul, to supplant me in Rates affections. and win her and her small fortune for himself. But he had been out with the Highlanders in 45, and the courage he had then displayed and his hypocritical professions of attachment to the prince cast a glamor about him in the eyes of a young and romantic girl. Nothing I could say would induce her to put an end to their friendship, and we had finally parted with bitter words on both sides.
 But Fieldings letter drove my anger to the winds. Come of it what would was resolved to go boldly to Macintyre's house, and insist upon her leaving it at once. would escort her to the lodgings of my aunt, Lady Chester, who would, l knew. receive. her gladly.
 So buckled on my sword, procured a coach and drove quickly to Macintyre's house, which lay some distance from the city Within 200 or 300 yards of the gate l alighted, and, leaving the coach hidden in lane near the road, walked forward by myself.
 In spite of my antipathy to Macintyre. l confess there had been moments when could scarcely believe him capable of the infamy of which Fielding had ac- cused him. but, when in the gathering dusk reached the gate in a high stone wall which encircled the spacious gar den, all my doubts vanished at the sight of the isolated house. the lighted win dows of which, were hardly visible through the thick foliage of the trees that surrounded it on all sides. No cry for help would be heard beyond the ly building, and sword or bullet might do it's work and none be the wiser My heart beat quickly as l passed through the gate. Such a man as Mac intyre was not unlikely to clutch at any means of getting rid of a dangerous rival. and l knew well that I carried my life in my hands l thought I might be refused admittance, but the gate stood wide open, and no one ap- peared or challenged me. But that brought me little comfort. It is ever an easy matter to enter trap It is when you seek to leave 1t that the diff ficulties begin.
 Still I went doggedly on, though. as I approached the house. I was confident that I could hear a faint rustling in the bushes to right and left, as though in visible spies were stealthily logging my footsteps. Then a thing happened that confirmed my worst suspicious The door suddenly opened and was swiftly shut again, but not before I caught a glimpse of two or three figures slipping hurriedlv inside; w hat could these things mean if they did not indicate treachery and foul play?
 am not ashamed to say that my limbs forehead. as, after a moments hesifa- ton, set my teeth. and, stepping quick " forward. knocked at the door. It was