"_Thou_, Ashkirk? it is impossible!" said James, filled with pity at the deplorable aspect of his long-dreaded rebel. "Look at me, king! My years are not yet thirty, and my brow is wrinkled; for the hand of a tyrant, less than time, hath touched it." "A tyrant?" "Thou!" "Darest thou say so to my teeth?" "Ay, thou, James V.; for thou wagest the quarrels and the feuds of the fathers upon their children. By war and death thou dost; revengefully and remorselessly. Thou hast put a price upon my head, and hunted me, even as a wild beast, from place to place. But think not that I will ever sue for pardon; I will live as my fathers hath lived, or die, sword in hand, as my fathers have died. Never shalt thou see a Seton of Ashkirk among those fawning slaves of the house of Arran, who, watching for every passing smile, crowd round thy throne like sycophants--never! never!" "This to me!" cried the king, snatching up a sword; "to me from thee, thou parricide, who hast carried fire and sword into the heart of thy fatherland! Must I tell thee, false earl, that, in addition to thy rebellion, all assurance and friendship with Englishmen is _treason_; that the residence of a Scot in England is treason; that buying from or selling to Englishmen is _treason_; that all travelling or trafficking with Englishmen, by word or writing, _is treason_; incurring the penalties of proscription and death! Not content with the committal of all these crimes, and with levying war against our wardens with lances uplifted and banner displayed, I find thee the boon-companion of thieves and outlaws, who live by slaughter and robbery; by stealing pikes from ponds; by breaking dowcots and orchards; by lifting sheep and slaying parked deer; all contraventions of the laws passed by my father, James IV., for the security of property; and involving the penalty of the scourge." "The scourge!" reiterated the earl, with a bitter laugh; "I can respect the name of James IV., for he was my father's friend, and side by side they have often fought like two brave comrades; but thou, his son, the ruthless oppressor of the bravest nobles Scotland ever saw--who hast thrown the sceptre into the scales that justice might be overborne, never! The scourge? I am indeed degraded, when even a king dare mention it to me. Proud and ungrateful prince, hast thou, indeed, forgotten all that thou and thy forefathers owe to the houses of Seton and of Douglas?" "I have not," said the king, standing on his guard; "it is, indeed, a debt of vengeance, so take up a sword and come on. Here, man to man, I defy thee, and repay it." "Nay, nay; it shall never be said that the royal blood of Scotland stained the hand of a Seton. Ten minutes ago I might have slain thee in the _mêlée_, and there had ended thy Stuart line for ever."