The victorious Wallace is hailed by his countrymen as Governor of Scotland. But he has not done with the implacable Edward yet. The English king has appeased his revolting nobles, he has made a truce with the French, and has marshalled the might of his realm for another invasion of Scotland. A vast English army rolls northward. Eighty thousand men, including a large array of archers armed with the terrible long-bow which the men of South Wales have taught them to use, follow his banners. They enter the Lowlands, but Wallace has made it a desert. The houses are bare and empty; no cattle are in the fields; the crops have been reaped, the hay and corn stacks have been carried off. Edward’s army “marches on its stomach,” but Wallace has taken good care that there shall be nothing to fill it. By the time Edward draws near to Edinburgh symptoms of mutiny begin to appear amongst his soldiers, and he begins to meditate retreat. Then come traitors from the Scottish camp telling him that Wallace lies in the forest of Falkirk, and is about to attack his foes that very night. Edward is filled with joy at the tidings. “Thanks be to God!” he cries. “They need not wait for me, for I shall go instantly and meet them.” There is no delay. In an hour’s time his army is in motion. Linlithgow is reached, and he bivouacs for the night on the moor. Every man sleeps in his armour, his horse ready harnessed by his side. The king himself lies down on the bare ground and shares discomfort with his men. In the night his frightened charger kicks out, and its hoofs break two of the king’s ribs. But with the dawn Edward mounts bravely, and leads his army to rising ground beyond Linlithgow. Here the fighting Bishop of Durham says mass, and as the sun rises Edward’s keen eye sees its rays reflected from the spears of the Scots, now taking ground on the slope of a small hill not far from Falkirk. Wallace has drawn up his spearmen in four _schiltrons_ or circles. Between these schiltrons are his tall, handsome archers from the forests of Selkirk and Ettrick. His small and doubtful force of cavalry is marshalled in the rear. It includes the Scottish knights, many of whom are jealous of Wallace, and only half-hearted in Scotland’s cause. “I have brought you to the ring,” says the Scottish leader, “now dance as you may.”