"As a gentleman, sir, I am not discussing this matter, but as a justice." "Then, sir," said I, "we have no common ground on which to meet." "You may pay," said Sir Alexander, smiling grimly at my repartee, "for your silence with your head." "At least, sir," I answered, "'tis better to pay with my head than with my honour." "There is not a woman in Edinburgh," said my lord reflectively, "or in Scotland, that I know of, who could do this thing, unless it were Clanranald's daughter." I was a veteran; I am glad to say I did not change colour or manifest the slightest emotion, although this arrow drawn at a venture had hit the mark. It was General Ramesay who interposed at this juncture to relieve what might otherwise have been an embarrassing pause. "She hath been searched for throughout Scotland. She hath vanished completely since her father's apprehension, and it is believed she is now in England," he said. Would God she were, thought I. "Well," said Sir Alexander, "whoever it was, she must be found. 'Tis not safe that such a woman should be at large." He rose to his feet as he spoke and bowed grimly but not ungracefully toward me. Indeed I rather liked this stern old Justiciary. "Sir Hugh Richmond," he said, "speaking as a man, and not as a justice, I will admit that there is some reason for admiration and protection and alliance with a woman of that stamp, if her person accord with her courage." "Sir," said I, bowing in my turn, "her spirit is above all praise, and her wit and her beauty are beyond even her enterprise." "I take it," continued Sir Alexander, "that if you escape the block, Sir Hugh, you will be a lucky man in more ways than one." "Even should I not escape, sir," said I, "I shall count myself fortunate in what I have been able to do." "As a man," continued Sir Alexander, stepping closer to me, "I offer you my hand." I shook it heartily as he continued, turning to withdraw: "And as a justice, if I have to sentence you, it will be with a very grave regret. General Ramesay, with this information laid before you, attested by the landlord of the inn, the physician at Musselburgh, the soldiers on watch at the gate, Lord Leven's coachman,--you see we have agents everywhere and spies as well in these troublous times, Sir Hugh,--you will, of course, put this gentleman under immediate arrest, and keep him in close confinement, pending the formal presentation of the charges, the trial, and the King's pleasure."