The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-04-21
ways and altogether,
CHAPTER ii
THE CRISIS
D.tNllE q.

COuSl OF iScOliuHu, ana IL was Il Dlttef
morning III March when Dundee took
another oil his many tnre%ens before
he left his wife to attend the Conyen
tion at Edinburgh. II WAS Only Il month
since he had come down from London,
disheartcned for the moment by the
trcachery OF Royalists and the timidity
OF Jaxlcs. and he had found relief in
administering municipal affairs as
Provost OF Dundee. IL 1T had been pos
sible In consistencc with his loyalty to
the Jacobite cause, and the commission
he had received from James, Dundee
would have gladly withdrawn from public
life and lived quietly with his wife. He
was an ambitious man. and Of stirring
spirit, but none knew better the weak
ness OF his party, and no one on his
side had been more shamefuly treated.
II had been Ills lot to leave his bride on
their marriage day, and now 1t would
be harder to leave her ut a time when
every husband desires to be near his
wife. But the summons tosb present
at the Convention had come, and it's
business was to decide who should be
King OF Scotland, for though William
had succeeded to the throne of England.
James still reigned in law over the
be absent al the deposition of his king
and the virtual close OF the Stuart dy-
nasty. AS usual he would be one of n
beaten party. or perhaps might stand
alone; 1t was not his friends. but his en-
emies who were calling him to Edin-
burgh, and the chances were that the
hilmen would settle their account with
him by assassination His Judgment
burgh would be fruiticss. and his heart
held him to his home Yet day after
day he put off his going. II was now
the thirteenth of March, and to- morrow
the Convention would meet. and IL he
were to go he must go quickly. He
had been tossed in mind and troubled in
heart. but the instinct of obedience to
duty which Graham had obeycd through
q
and without scruple. till lie had done
not only the things he ought to have
done, but many things also which he
ought not to have done. finally triumph-
ed. He had told Jean that morning that
he must leave. His little escort of
troopers were saddling their. horses.
and in half an hour they would be on
the road. the dreary, hopeless road 1t
was his fate to be ever travelling. Jean
and he were saying their last words
before this new adventure, for they
be the final parting. They were stand
ing at the door. and nothing could be
srayer than their outlook. For haar
had come up from the sea- as is COM
dripping mist blotted out the seascape:
Il hid the town of Dundee. which lay
below Dudhope, and cnveloped the cas-
tie in its cold garments. like shroud.
and chilled Graham and his wife to the
very bone.
I'VE will acknowledge. John, that
have never f1indcred you when the call
came" AS she spoke Jean took his flow
ing hair in her hand, and he had never
seen her so gentle before, for indeed
she could not be called soft or tender
woman.
..Ye told me what would be the way
of life for us, and it has been what We
said, and l have not complained. But
this day l wish to God that we could
have stayed, for when my hour comes.
and 1t is not far off, ye ken will miss
mothers with them in that strait, but
for me there is none; naebody but
strangers. II ony evil befall thee, John,
1t will go i'll with me, and have in
Can ye no bide quietly here with me
and let them that have the power do as
they will in Edinburgh? No man of
your own party has ever thanked you
people do their. will By you, shall
surely die and the child with me. And
that will be the end of the House of
Dundee. Must we go and leave me?
with the other handNshe caresscd his
face. while her warm bosom pressed
against his cold hard cuirass.
:QueenSberry. for the liar. he always
was. said We would be my Delilah, Jean.
but that knew was not in yon,'' said
Dundee smiling sadly and stroking the
proud head. which he had never seen
you are, believe in my soul, the
bravest woman in Scotland. and I wish
to God the men on our side had only
had the heart of my Lady Dundee. With
a hundred men and your spirit in them,
Jean, we had driven William of Orange
into the sea, or. at the worst. we should
certainly save Scotland for the king.
Well and bravely have We stood by me
since our marriage day, and if had ever
consulted my own safety or sought after
private ends. I believe We would have
been the first to cry shame upon me.
Surely We have been true soldiers wife.
and We are the same this morning, and
drawer even than on our wedding day.
''Do not make little of yourself. Jean,
because your heart is sore and We Gamma
keep back the tears. 1t is not given to
a man to understand what woman
feels in your place, but am trying to
imagine, and my love is suffering with
you sweetheart. I do pity you, and I
could weep with you but tears are
strange tony eycs---Gs?d made me soft
without and hard witliin-and / have a
hat fer medicine TO helm Won than pfty" :