I bowed, and with a beating heart hurried to my tent. I was most anxious that this attempt should be successful, for the eyes of all in the camp were on us, and on me in particular. Our rendezvous was the tent of the Marquis. 'I shall be punctual,' said Cheyne, when I explained my plans. 'Thanks, Raynold, and you Viscount, and Home?' 'We will be punctual as night or death,' said the wild Laird of Redden with his grim smile as we separated. By my direction seven suits of clothes like those worn by the Croats of Gallas were procured for us. Under their tight jackets we wore our back and breast plates. We invested our nether-persons in wide red pantaloons, which ended in ankle-boots; we put on thick fur caps, and arming ourselves with crooked sabres, daggers, and six pairs of loaded pistols each, (two in the holsters and four in the girdle,) after practising to whoop and to scream, we found ourselves turned into very respectable Croats of whom the Ban himself might have been proud. We chose active little horses, and after meeting at the tent of the Marquis, departed from the camp at sunset, followed, about a mile in our rear, by fifty of the light horse, who were led by the young Marquis de Toneins, and were to cover our retreat, and if necessary aid the attempt. CHAPTER XX. THE DECOY. A ride of some miles brought us to a valley overshadowed by steep black mountains. The darkness had set in, and a waning moon, diminished to a crescent, peeped coldly above the shoulder of a rocky hill, pale, sharp, and keen. Over this grassy hollow, which was less than a mile in extent, we could see the chargers to the number of a thousand, at least, quietly at grass; and just as the troop of light horse concealed themselves in a thicket, a fire was seen to flash and burn brightly on the brow of the rocky hill. This marked the post of the Imperialist guard who had charge of the steeds in the valley. Scattered among them we could distinguish a number of the enemy's dragoons in foraging dress. Riding furiously with short stirrups, and in that wild and tumultuous fashion peculiar to the Croatian troopers, we succeeded in deceiving and passing two advanced sentinels; and on making a circuit of the little valley, we got between the scattered horses and the guard which protected them. 'Now, gentlemen, now is our time to drive the prey!' said I, in a loud whisper. 'Hah, Viscount,' cried Home, whose eyes flashed with excitement, ''tis a touch of the old times this!' 'True, Sir Quentin,' added young Scott of Tushielaw; 'and in gude faith, sirs, I could almost fancy this hollow a scroggy glen on the southern slope of the Cheviots; yonder gorge, by which we have come, the Pass of Carter-bar; and all these Austrian nags, a herd of well-fed English kye.' 'Hush, sirs,' said I; 'be wary, be wary, and remember my directions.' 'Of course,' said Dundrennan; 'I never trust horses or women, as both are apt to grow skittish on occasions; so wary we must be.'