The friends of the victims, then, remembering that certain priests in the town had frequently sat at the tables of the accused, entreated them to bear in mind their old friends who were then in misfortune, and to intercede with the cardinal in their behalf. But these poor priests were terrified at the thought that the cardinal might hear of their former relations with the condemned, and they answered that they would much rather see them dead than living. That was their way of showing their gratitude. So the chronicler, whose phrase is not always elegant, adds, ‘So cruel are these beasts, from the lowest to the highest.’ Agitation was increasing in the town. The cardinal had ready a great band of armed men, who were charged to conduct the victims to the place of execution. Robert Lamb, standing at the foot of the gallows, said to the people, ‘Fear God, and forsake the pope.’ Then he announced that calamity and ruin would not be slow to light upon the cardinal.[320] The five Christians comforted one another with the hope ‘that they should sup together in the kingdom of heaven that night.’ Hellen desired earnestly to die with her husband, but this was not permitted her. At the moment of their parting she gave him a kiss and said, ‘Husband, rejoice, for we have lived together many joyful days; but this day in which we must die ought to be most joyful unto us both, because we must have joy forever. Therefore I will not bid you good-night, for we shall suddenly meet with joy in the kingdom of heaven.’ She was then taken to a pond to be drowned. She was holding her infant in her arms and giving it suck for the last time. But this pathetic incident did not touch the pitiless hearts of her executioners. She had entreated her neighbors to take care of her children. She took the ‘sucking bairn’ from her breast and gave it to the nurse, and was then flung into the water. The cardinal was satisfied.[321] From Perth the cardinal passed into Forfarshire, always dragging along with him the unhappy regent. Many inhabitants of that region appeared before him for having committed the hateful crime of reading the New Testament. Among them was a Dominican named John Rogers, a man of piety and learning, who, by preaching Christ in Forfarshire, had led many souls into peace. He was confined with others in the castle of St. Andrews, and a few days later his dead body was found at the foot of the walls. It was very generally believed that the cardinal had ordered him to be put to death in his dungeon, and to be thrown over the walls. A report was then circulated that the prisoner, in attempting to escape, had fallen on the rocks and been killed. A considerable number of Scots, among them Sir Henry Elder, John Elder, Walter Piper, Lawrence Pullar, and others were banished, merely on suspicion of having read the Gospel.[322] [Sidenote: THE ENGLISH FLEET AT LEITH.]