"I am glad to see you in so reasonable a frame of mind," continued the advocate. "We are now upon the High Street. If you will refresh yourself in the inn yonder, I will have your horse brought to you and you can then ride to the castle and report to the Governor and the Lord Chief Justice while I turn these bills of exchange into drafts upon London. It would not advantage your cause, should you fall into difficulties, if I should be seen in conversation with you. But should you need an advocate, I recommend to you Master William Abadie, a skilled and learned counsellor-at-law, and my very good friend, through whom my own poor talent will also be at your service freely." "I thank you," said I, "and I will await my horse here." We parted with mutual expressions of esteem, and, though I have little affection for lawyers, I own I never met one that I liked better than Master Dunner. If I got in trouble and Master Abadie proved as agreeable, I should be in fortune. I ventured to charge Master Dunner, ere he left me, with a message of reassurance to her ladyship, which he promised faithfully to deliver, and I engaged his good offices as well to represent my conduct to her in the proper light should occasion serve. My horse was soon brought to me, and I made my way without difficulty to the gates of the castle, announced my name and rank, and demanded to see the commandant without delay. I was ushered into the presence of General Ramesay. He was seated at a table in his office, and by him in another chair was another man of imposing, if somewhat legal, aspect. General Ramesay received me with a certain abruptness, which was somewhat disconcerting. However, I was not called to be a censor to his manners, and, so long as he was decently civil to me, I had no reason to make any complaint. I reported briefly that I had been stopped on the road from Cockenzie to Musselburgh that morning by a highwayman, with whom I had had an encounter; that, although I had wounded him in the shoulder, he had been fortunate enough in an exchange of shots to strike me in the head; that his bullet had laid me senseless in the road, whereupon he had taken my despatch-bag, broken it open, extracted therefrom the warrant for the execution of the Earl of Clanranald, and made off with it; that I had come to my senses, and, without a horse, had availed myself of such means as presented to reach Musselburgh, where I had bought the animal I had left outside, and I now delivered my other despatches and reported myself subject to his orders.