It is somewhat remarkable that, after a brawl which seemed so significant of perils yet to come, Douglas (unless he was ignorant of its occurrence) should have passed through the embattled porch of the fortress; but now all the barriers were closed, and no course was open but to _dree his weird_--to follow his destiny! CHAPTER LII. HOW THE KING BROKE THE BOND. Little honour it won thee For smooth was thy greeting; Thou wast bid to the feast, In the hall was your meeting. In the hall was your meeting, But thou stained it with slaughter; When there's blood on the hearth, Who can wash it with water? FROM THE GAELIC. Veiling his just indignation under a bland exterior, King James II. received the turbulent earl kindly and with condescension; and after some amicable expostulations on the subject of the men he had so lawlessly put to death in Thrave and elsewhere--the ravages he had committed upon the lands of his enemies--the towns he had burned and the castles he had stormed, all seemed to become cordiality between him and his much-too-powerful subject. Of these startling acts they conversed as quietly and easily as modern men may do of an election, a bill before parliament, or any ordinary and everyday affair; yet they were dangerous topics to comment upon at such a time, for by the king's side were still the Lord Chancellor Crichton, Sir Alexander Livingstone of Callender, the Lord Glammis, Sir Patrick Gray, and others; while near Douglas were the Earls of Crawford, Murray, and Ormond, with Pompherston, Glendoning, and others, all, more or less, involved personally; but now, on looking round, the earl missed the powerful chief of the house of Hamilton. "Is not Cadzow here?" he asked, changing colour. "He remains in the town," said Sir Alexander Livingstone with a smile which there was no analyzing; "but if it please you, lord earl, I shall send him a message." "Do so, Laird of Callender," replied the earl, "and for the first time in my life I shall thank you." "We shall see," replied Livingstone as he withdrew to an antechamber, where he disengaged the gold spur from his right heel, and giving it to James's page, the Master of Crichton bade him "see the Lord Hamilton, of Cadzow, and give him this spur, with a kinsman's best wishes for its speedy use." The spur was duly delivered--the hint was accepted, and the brawl at the gate seemed explained; for within an hour, Hamilton and _his_ followers were far on the road to Clydesdale and the castle of Cadzow.