“You had best beware, Master Furness,” the king said.  “He needs a long spoon they say, who sups with the deil.  The Earl of Argyll is the real king of Scotland at present, and it is ill quarreling with him.  You have got the best of it in the first three rubbers, but be sure that Argyll will play on till the cards favor him.  And if you are once in his power, I would not give a baubee for your life.  The proud earl treats me as a master would teach a froward pupil, but I tell you, Master Furness, and I know you are discreet and can be trusted, that as surely as the earl brought Montrose to the block, so surely shall Argyll’s head roll on the scaffold, if Charles II. is ever King of England.  But I fear for you, Master Furness.  I can help you here not at all, and the lecture which, on your behalf, I administered to the earl—­and in faith I wonder now at my own courage—­will not increase his love for you.  You will never be safe as long as you remain in Scotland.  What do you say?  Will you south and join one or other of the Royalist bodies who are in arms there?”

“Not so, your majesty.  With your permission, I will play the game out to the end, although I know that my adversary holds the strongest cards.  But even did I wish to leave, it would be as hazardous to do so as to stay here.  So long as I am with my regiment I am in safety.  I could not gain England by sea, for the Parliament ships bar the way, and did I leave my regiment and go south with only a small party, my chance of crossing the border alive would be but small.  No, your majesty, I have the honor to command a king’s regiment, and whether against Cromwell in the field, or against Argyll’s plots and daggers, I shall do my duty to the end.”

When, upon his return to the camp, Harry told his friends the purport of the interview between himself and Argyll, of Alan Campbell being put under arrest and the earl openly reproved by the king, Donald Leslie raised his hands in despair.

“If you get through this, Furness,” he said, “I shall for the rest of my life be convinced that you have a charmed existence, and that your good genius is more powerful than the evil one of Argyll.  The gossips say that he is in alliance with the evil one himself, and I can well believe them.  But I beg you, in all seriousness, to confine yourself to the camp.  So long as you are here you are safe.  But once beyond its limits your life will not be worth a straw.”

Jacob added his entreaties to those of Leslie, and Harry promised that until the decisive battle was over he would keep among his men, unless compelled by duty to appear at court.

Four days afterward a soldier entered Harry’s tent, and handed him a missive.  It was as follows:  “Upon receipt of this, Colonel Furness will proceed to Leith and will board the vessel, the Royalist, which has just arrived from Holland.  There he will inspect the newly arrived recruits, who will be attached to his regiment.  He will examine the store of arms brought by her, and will report on their state and condition.—­David Leslie, commanding his majesty’s armies.”