the cavalcade conceded with reluctance.


Chapter XXVII.

The Frith of Clyde.



At Gourock, Murray engage two small vessels; one for the earl and
countess, with Wallace as their escort; the other for himself and
Edwin, to follow with a few of the men.

It was a fine evening, and they embarked with everything in their
favor. The boatmen calculated on reaching Bute in a few hours; but ere
they had been half an hour at sea, the wind, veering about, obliged
them to woo its breezes by a traversing motion, which, though it
lengthened their voyage, increased its pleasantness by carrying them
often within near views of the ever-varying shores. Sailing under a
side-wind, they beheld the huge irregular rocks of Dunoon, overhanging
the ocean; while from their projecting brows hung every shrub which can
live in that saline atmosphere.

"There," whispered Lady mar, gently inclining toward Wallace, "might
the beautiful mermaid of Corie Vrekin keep her court! Observe how
magnificently those arching cliffs overhang the hollows, and how richly
they are studded with shells and sea-flowers!"

"No flower of the field or of the ocean that came within the ken of
Wallace, wasted its sweetness unadmired. He assented to the remarks of