But when we came to the town there was a great to-do, men running about briskly and talking to one another, old women and young gossiping at house and close doors, and the upper windows filled with heads. There was a curious, anxious hum throughout the air, as if some great news had come or was coming ere long. I forgot for a moment my position and leaned from the saddle to ask the cause of a man who stood talking to a woman at the causeway side. He looked at me rudely. "What for d’ye want to ken, ye black-faced tinkler? D’ye think it’ll matter muckle to you what king there is when you’re hangit?" But the woman was more gracious and deigned to give me some sort of answer. "There’s word o’ news," she said. "We kenna yet what it is, and some think ae thing and some anither, but a’ are agreed that it’ll make a gey stramash i’ the land. A man cam ridin’ here an hour syne and has been closeted wi’ the provost ever since. Honest man, his heid ’ll be fair turned if there’s onything wrung, for he’s better at sellin’ tatties than reddin’ the disorders o’ the state." And then the man by her side bade her hold her peace, and I rode on without hearing more. By and by we came to the market-place where stands the ancient cross of Lanerick, whereat all proclamations are made for the Westlands. Straight down from it one looks on the steep braes of Kirkfieldbank and the bridge which the Romans built over the river; and even there the murmur of the great falls in Clyde comes to a man’s ear. The place was thronged with people standing in excited groups, and the expression on each face was one of expectancy. Folk had come in from the country round as on some errand of enquiry, and the coats of a few of the soldiery were to be discerned among the rest. But I had no fear of them, for they were of the lowlands regiment, and had no knowledge of me. The sight of us, and of myself in especial, for Baillie had changed his garb, caused some little stir in the crowd and many inquisitive looks. The captain came up to me. "There’s dooms little to be dune here," he cried; "the place is in sic a fever, I canna think what’s gaun to happen. We may as weel gang back to the muirs and wait till things quiet doun." "I know not either," said I, and yet all the time I knew I was lying, for I had some faint guess at the approach of great tidings, and my heart was beating wildly.