“Now,” he said, “we will make for Aberfilly; they think us all cooped up here, and will be rejoicing in our supposed deaths.  We will strike one more blow, and then, driving before us a couple of score of oxen for the use of the army, rejoin Wallace.  Methinks we shall have taken a fair vengeance for Kerr’s doings at Glen Cairn.”

The consternation of the few men left in the castle was great when, three hours after sunset, eight homesteads burst suddenly into flames.  They dared not sally out, and remained under arms until morning, when Sir John and his band returned more furious than ever, as they had penetrated the cavern, discovered the barrier which had cut off the smoke, and the hole by which the foe had escaped; and their fury was brought to a climax when they found the damage which had been inflicted in their absence.  Many a week passed before the garrison of Aberfilly and the vassals of the Kerrs were able to sleep in peace, so great was the scare which Archie’s raid had inflicted upon them.

The truce was now at an end.  The indignation excited by the treachery of the English spread widely through Scotland, and the people flocked to Wallace’s standard in far greater numbers than before, and he was now able to undertake operations on a greater scale.  Perth, Aberdeen, Brechin, and other towns fell into his hands, and the castle of Dundee was invested.  In the south Sir William Douglas captured the castles of Sanquhar, Desdeir, and others, and the rapid successes of the Scots induced a few of the greater nobles to take the field, such as the Steward of Scotland, Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell, Sir Richard Lundin, and Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow.

Wallace was one day lamenting to Archie and his friend Grahame that the greater nobles still held aloof.  “Above all,” he said, “I would fain see on our side either Comyn or the young Bruce.  Baliol is a captive in London, and it is to Comyn or Bruce that Scotland must look for her king.  So long as only I, a poor knight, am at the head of this rising, it is but a rebellion against Edward, and its chances are still so weak that but few men, who have aught to lose, join us; but if Bruce or Comyn should raise his banner all would receive him as our future king.  Both are lords of wide territories, and besides the forces they could bring into the field, they would be joined by many of the principal nobles, although it is true that the adherents of the other would probably arm for Edward.  Still the thought of a king of their own would inflame the popular mind, and vast numbers who now hesitate to join a movement supported by so little authority, would then take up arms.”

“Which of the two would you rather?” Archie asked.