On the night referred to, Wallace had landed in Scotland, accompanied by Sir Thomas de Longueville, John Blair, Thomas Gray, and a few other friends who had attended him in France; and being near one of his old places of resort, he wished to gain some knowledge of the state of the country, to enable him to regulate his further proceedings; for this purpose he raised his bugle, and before the reverberations had died away among the woodlands, a rustling was heard among the underwood, and presently an unarmed Scot stood before him. From this ready adherent, who had been watching the landing of the party, Wallace learned the situation of the kingdom, the slaughters committed by Edward, the submission of the regency, and the terror that pervaded the nobility. Finding, from the number of the English that were in the neighbourhood, the necessity of betaking himself to some place of concealment, he and his party were conducted by their informer to a farm-house in a secluded part of the country, occupied by a relation of Wallace, of the name of Crawfurd. Here he was joyfully received, and a hiding-place artfully constructed in the barn, for him and his companions, where they lurked during the search made for them by Butler. In this retreat they might have remained, till some favourable occurrence had enabled them to appear more openly; but it seems the unusual quantity of provisions which Crawfurd was obliged to purchase for the maintenance of his guests, awakened the suspicions of the English at Dundee; and on his return, having mentioned the examination he was subjected to, Wallace and his party thought it prudent to retire to a neighbouring thicket, and wait the result. They had not long adopted this precaution, before a body of the English made their appearance; and having surrounded the dwelling of Crawfurd, they discovered, in the course of search, the lair of the fugitives.