With a bounding heart Edwin bent his knee, and Wallace giving him the
hallowed accolade,** the young knight rose from his position with all
the roses of his springing fame glowing in his countenance. Scrymgeour
presented him the knightly girdle, which he unbraced from his own
loins, and while the happy boy received the sword to which it was
attached, he exclaimed, with animation, "While I follow the example
before my eyes, I shall never draw this in an unjust cause, nor ever
sheath it in a just one."

**Accolade, the three strokes of the sword given in knighting.

"Go, then," returned Wallace, smiling his approval of this sentiment,
"while work is to be done I will keep my knight to the toil; go, and
with twenty men of Lanark, guard the wall by which we ascended."

Edwin disappeared, and Wallace, having dispatched detachments to occupy
other parts of the garrison, took a torch in his hand and, turning to
Murray, proposed seeking the Earl of Mar. Lord Andrew was soon at the
iron door which led from the hall to the principal stairs.

"We must have our friendly battering-ram here," cried he; "a close
prisoner do they indeed keep my uncle when even the inner doors are
bolted on him."

The men dragged the tree forward, and striking it against the iron, it
burst open with the noise of thunder. Shrieks from within followed the
sound. The women of Lady Mar, not knowing what to suppose during the
uproar of the conflict, now hearing the door forced, expected nothing
less than that some new enemies were advancing; and, giving themselves
up to despair, they flew into the room where the countess sat in equal