CHAPTER XI

THE PRINCE'S CABINET OF WAR Black John set him some miles on his way, leading him down glen and up corry till he brought him out on the strath of Nairn. The day was warm for a northern spring, and the guide grew exceeding cheerful and hymned the joys of war. "There will be braw battles," he cried, "for all the craws will be fleeing north, and they are the birds that ken." Sometimes they met a lonely shepherd, and then John would stop for a parley in Gaelic and leave Francis to find the path for a mile or so alone. …