246 THE GOLD OF FAIRNILEE.

 

awakened by a great noise of shouting; he
looked out of the window, and saw bright
torches moving about. He heard the cows
“routing,” or bellowing, and the women
screaming. He thought the English had
come. So they had; not the English army,
but some robbers from the other side of the
Border. At that time the people on the south
side of Scotland and the north side of England
used to steal each other’s cows time about.
When a Scotch squire, or “laird,” like Ran-
dal’s father, had been robbed by the neighbour-
ing English, he would wait his chance and drive
away cattle from the English side. This time
most of Randal’s mother’s herds were seized,
by a sudden attack in the night, and were
driven away through the Forest to England.
Two or three of Lady Ker’s men were hurt by
the English, but old Simon Grieve took a
prisoner. He did this in a curious way. He
‘shot an arrow after the robbers as they rode
off, and the arrow pinned an Englishman’s
leg to the saddle, and even into his horse. The
horse was hurt and frightened, and ran away
right back to Fairnilee, where it was caught,
with the rider and all, for of course he could
not dismount.

They treated him kindly at Fairnilee, though
they laughed at him a good deal. They found
out from him where the English had come
from. He did not mind telling them, for he