He had shuddered on passing under the barbican-gate, for a man was hanging at the gallows-knob above it. Gray knew the dread custom there--that each culprit or victim was replaced by another, and he knew not _who_ the next "tassel" might be. The night-wind lifted the dead man's hair at times as the body swung mournfully to and fro. Beneath this ghastly object, in the blaze of the torches which were upheld by a crowd of liveried serving-men and savage-looking kilted Galwegians, there shone a great shield of carved and painted stone. It bore the arms of the ancient lords of Galloway--azure a lion rampant, _argent_ crowned with an imperial diadem, impaled with the countless quarterings of the Douglases. The moon was waning now; but the number of torches, as they flared on the walls and grated windows of the vast keep, made the court-yard seem light as if the night was noon. As Gray dismounted, a familiar voice reached his ear, saying, "Thanks, brave friend and kinsman--you have perilled much to save me!" "Thou art right, MacLellan--I come by the king's orders, so take courage!" replied Gray, looking about him; but from _which_ of the black gratings of that lofty edifice the voice came his eye failed to discover. A cruel smile passed over the grim face of the earl, as he said, "Sir Patrick Gray, it is ill speaking between a full man and a fasting; so get you to bed for to-night; after breakfast to-morrow, we will consider your errand from the king; and you have my knightly word for your safety while within the walls of Thrave." "And how, when I leave them, my lord?" "That is as may be," said the other, turning on his heel. With these dubious, or rather ominous words, the earl retired, and within an hour, Gray, after partaking of some refreshment alone, found himself lying on a couch with his armour on and his drawn sword by his side, endeavouring to court sleep, with his mind full of the terrible novelty of his situation; and not without a sense of charm, for he knew that Murielle was near him, and that the same roof covered them both. On a tabourette by the bedside were placed a night-lamp, a cup of sack posset, and the earl of Douglas's dagger as a symbol of peace and protection--that he had armed his unwelcome guest against even his _own_ household; for such was the custom of the age and country. CHAPTER XLVII. HUSBAND AND WIFE. First rose a star out owre the hill, And next the lovelier moon; While the bonnie bride o' Galloway Looked for her blythe bridegroom; Lythlie she sang as the new moon rose, Blythe as a young bride may, When the new moon lights her lamp o' love, And blinks the bride away.--CROMEK. Sir Patrick Gray sprang from a couch, where dreams, rather than sleep, had pressed thick and fast upon him. He rose while yet the summer sun was below the green Galloway hills, and while the dark waters of the Dee were veiled by the white mists of the early morning.