I surmised that these two younger men were to play the part of sentinels to give timely warning, if need arose, of the coming of the dreaded troopers. They had no weapons but shepherd’s crooks. As the two elder men approached me, I rose, and as they drew nearer I heard my friend still pleading for me. "I believe that, at heart, he is no’ a bad young man, but being English, his opportunities have been few, and he is strangely lacking in a knowledge o’ the fundamentals, but I am hoping that he may yet prove to be a brand plucked from the burning." With difficulty I restrained a smile, but I took a step towards them and, bowing to my friend’s companion who stood straight-backed and stalwart before me, I said: "My uniform is but a poor passport to your trust, but the heart beneath it is not a false heart and none of your people need fear ill from me." The old man offered me his hand. "Young man," he said, "I hae little cause to trust your coat, but if your creedentials satisfy the meenister, they’re guid enough for Tammas Frazer." "That’s richt, Thomas!" cried the minister, "that’s richt. As the Buik says: ’Charity suffereth long and is kind’!" We stood silent for an embarrassed moment, until the hill-man said: "And noo, Meenister, ye’ll gi’e us a word afore I set the kirk in order," and lifting their bonnets the two men closed their eyes. I followed their example, and then the minister lifted up his voice and, in tones of pathetic earnestness, besought the blessing of God upon all the doings of the day; sought, too, for divine protection for all who at the hazard of their lives should come to worship there that Sabbath morning. When the prayer was over, Thomas turned to me, and said: "You are a likely young man and a hefty; we had better leave the man o’ God to his meditations. Come and lend me a hand." For a moment I was at a loss to understand what he meant, but I followed him, and when he picked up a small boulder I did likewise and together we carried the stones to the sloping hillside and arranged them at short intervals from each other. Altogether we gathered some thirty or forty stones, which we set in semi-circular rows. Opposite to these, on the other side of the amphitheatre, we built a little mound of boulders and laid upon the top of it a great flat rock. This was to be the preacher’s pulpit, and I was struck with the care that Thomas devoted to its building. When it was finished he stood upon it and tested it. Satisfied, he descended from it, saying: "It’ll dae fine. There’s naething like a guid foundation for a sermon," and in his austere eyes a light flickered.