Page 203 - A Jacobite Exile

the letter, he requested Allan Ramsay to hand over to the bearer some of the
clothes left in his lodgings, and to pay him for his trouble.

"As to the money I left in your hands, I do not think it worth while for you

to send it. However much these men may consider me a comrade, I have
not sufficient faith in their honesty to believe that money would reach me
safely; but, if you send me a suit of clothes, two or three gold pieces might

be wrapped up in a piece of cloth and shoved into the toe of a shoe. The
parcel must be a small one, or there would be little chance of the man

carrying it far. I will ask him, however, to bring me a sword, if you will buy
one for me, and my pistols."

He folded up the letter and gave it to the captain. There was no means of
fastening it, but this mattered little, because, being written in English, there

was no chance of its being read. The captain handed it to one of the men,
with instructions for its delivery. The messenger started at once. The others,
after remaining a short time in the hut, set out through the forest.

After an hour's walking, Charlie was unable to go further. The captain,

seeing this, ordered four of the men to stop with him, and to follow the next
morning. As soon as he had gone on with the rest of the band, the men set
about collecting sticks and making a fire. Charlie, who was utterly

exhausted, threw himself on the ground, and was not long before he fell
sound asleep.

When he awoke, the shades of evening were already falling, and the men
were sitting over the fire, roasting a portion of a goat, one of a flock they

had fallen in with in the wood, where large numbers roamed about in a
semi-wild state.

The man who could speak Swedish was one of those who had remained
with him, and, from him, he learnt that the present headquarters of the band

were some six miles farther away. This distance was performed next
morning, frequent halts being made to enable him to sit down and rest; and

it was not till five hours after the start that they arrived.