contest, pledged heart and hand to his exiled sovereign. In the troubles
which broke out almost immediately on the death of the queen, he and his
father took different sides; the old laird fortified his high tower, and
prepared to defend it to the last, against the enemies of the House of
Hanover. The young laird bade adieu to his beautiful wife, and attended
by a band of his young clansmen, easily gained to aid a cause so
romantic, he secretly left his duchess, and joined the army of the
Pretender at Perth.

The young wife had lived with her husband, at a small farm on the
property, a little way up the glen, a mile or two from the castle. But
when her husband deserted her, she was removed by her father-in-law to
his own house for greater security. Months rolled away, and the various
fortunes of the rebels were reported, from time to time, in the remote
glen where the chief strength of the M'Alisters lay. News did not travel
swiftly then, and often they heard what was little to be relied on, so
much did hope or fear magnify any slight success, or any ill-fortune. At
last, there came a sough of a great battle having been fought somewhere
in the west country, which had decided the fate of the opposing parties.
The young laird and his valiant band had turned the fortune of the day.
Argyle was defeated and slain, and the Earl of Marr was victorious;--King
James had arrived, and was to be crowned at Scone, and all Scotland was
his own.

It was on a cold, bleak, stormy, November evening, when this news was
brought, by a Brae-Marr-man, to the laird's tower. He was wise and
prudent, and he would give no ear to a tale so lightly told: but his
beautiful daughter-in-law, sanguine for her husband's sake, cherished
reports that brightened all her prospects. She retired to her chamber,
almost hoping that another day might see it enlivened by his presence,