The Lion of the North | Page 4

him I would be a father to the boy,
and see that he got his rights."
"Well, we will talk of the affair after supper, Graheme, for now that I
have got rid of the cold I begin to perceive that I am well nigh
famished."
As the officer was speaking, the servitors were laying the table, and
supper was soon brought in. After ample justice had been done to this,
and the board was again cleared, the three men drew their seats round
the fire, Malcolm seating himself on a low stool by his uncle.
"And now to business, Nigel," Colonel Munro said. "We have not come
back to Scotland to see the country, or to enjoy your weather, or even
for the pleasure of swimming your rivers in flood.
"We are commissioned by the King of Sweden to raise some 3000 or
4000 more Scottish troops. I believe that the king intends to take part in
the war in Germany, where the Protestants are getting terribly mauled,
and where, indeed, it is likely that the Reformed Religion will be
stamped out altogether unless the Swedes strike in to their rescue. My
chief object is to fill up to its full strength of two thousand men the
Mackay Regiment, of which I am lieutenant colonel. The rest of the
recruits whom we may get will go as drafts to fill up the vacancies in
the other regiments. So you see here we are, and it is our intention to

beat up all our friends and relations, and ask them each to raise a
company or half a company of recruits, of which, of course, they would
have the command.
"We landed at Berwick, and wrote to several of our friends that we
were coming. Scott of Jedburgh has engaged to raise a company.
Balfour of Lauderdale, who is a cousin of mine, has promised to bring
another; they were both at St. Andrew's with us, as you may remember,
Graheme. Young Hamilton, who had been an ensign in my regiment,
left us on the way. He will raise a company in Douglasdale. Now,
Graheme, don't you think you can bring us a band of the men of
Nithsdale?"
"I don't know," Graheme said hesitatingly. "I should like it of all things,
for I am sick of doing nothing here, and my blood often runs hot when I
read of the persecutions of the Protestants in Germany; but I don't think
I can manage it."
"Oh, nonsense, Nigel!" said Hume; "you can manage it easily enough if
you have the will. Are you thinking of the lad there? Why not bring
him with you? He is young, certainly, but he could carry a colour; and
as for his spirit and bravery, Munro and I will vouch for it."
"Oh, do, uncle," the lad exclaimed, leaping to his feet in his excitement.
"I promise you I would not give you any trouble; and as for marching,
there isn't a man in Nithsdale who can tire me out across the
mountains."
"But what's to become of the house, Malcolm, and the land and the
herds?"
"Oh, they will be all right," the boy said. "Leave old Duncan in charge,
and he will look after them."
"But I had intended you to go to St. Andrews next year, Malcolm, and I
think the best plan will be for you to go there at once. As you say,
Duncan can look after the place."
Malcolm's face fell.
"Take the lad with you, Graheme," Colonel Munro said. "Three years
under Gustavus will do him vastly more good than will St. Andrews.
You know it never did us any good to speak of. We learned a little
more Latin than we knew when we went there, but I don't know that
that has been of any use to us; whereas for the dry tomes of divinity we
waded through, I am happy to say that not a single word of the musty

stuff remains in my brains. The boy will see life and service, he will
have opportunities of distinguishing himself under the eye of the most
chivalrous king in Europe, he will have entered a noble profession, and
have a fair chance of bettering his fortune, all of which is a thousand
times better than settling down here in this corner of Scotland."
"I must think it over," Graheme said; "it is a serious step to take. I had
thought of his going to the court at London after he left the university,
and of using our family interest to push his way there."
"What is he to do in London?" Munro said. "The old pedant James,
who wouldn't spend a shilling or raise a dozen men to aid the cause of
his own daughter, and who