Then downstairs in the dark fled Margaret, down to the room where
Sir John Carmichael lay slumbering, without a thought of his
prisoner, the young Laird of Logie.
Loud did the maiden knock at his door, loud and long, until at
last Sir John was roused.
'Sir John,' cried the maid, 'haste thee and wake thy prisoner,
the young Laird of Logie, for the king would speak to him this
very moment. Open the door, for here be the tokens he sends to
thee,' and Margaret held out to Carmichael the gold comb and the
pearl knife.
Now, when Sir John had opened the door, he saw the tokens that
the maid held out to him. He knew them well and hastened to do
the king's will, rubbing his sleepy eyes the while, and muttering
under his breath, 'The king holds audience at strange hours; yet
must his orders be obeyed.'
He took the great key in his hand and went to the prison door.
Margaret followed close, her heart bounding, not wholly in fear,
nor yet wholly in hope.
Sir John turned the prison lock and roused the young Laird of
Logie from his dreams, saying only, 'The king would speak with
thee, without delay.'
Thus in the dead of night Margaret led the captain and his
prisoner to the door of the ante-room.
'Wait thou here, Sir John,' said the maid, until thy prisoner
returns.'
The young laird started as Margaret spoke. He had not guessed
that the maid wrapped in the rough cloak was his own dear
Margaret Twynlace.
But Sir John noticed nothing. He was wondering how long it would
be ere he would be again in his comfortable bed.
Margaret drew the prisoner into her own little room. He tried to
speak, but not a word would she let him utter. She led him to the
window, and shewed him a rope which she herself had fastened
there.
She pushed a purse of gold into his hand, a pistol into his belt,
and bade him shoot when he was free, that she might know that he
was safe. 'Then haste,' said Margaret, 'haste with all thy might
to the pier at Leith. Ships wilt thou find there in plenty to
carry thee into a safe haven.'
The young Laird of Logie would fain have tarried with the brave
Danish maid, but not a moment was there to lose. The king might
wake, Sir John might grow impatient and come in search of his
prisoner; thus whispered the maid as she urged young Wemyss of
Logie to flee.
He knew she spoke the truth, and he slipped down the rope, and in
a moment was standing on the ground. He hastened to the palace
gates, and getting safely through, he stayed only to fire his
pistol that Margaret Twynlace might know that no evil had
befallen.
When Margaret heard the shot she stole softly downstairs and
stood at the hall door gazing wistfully after the young Laird of
Logie. Yet not long dare she tarry there, lest the queen should
need her services. Noiselessly she crept back into the ante-room.
Hark! what was that? The king was moving! Indeed, the pistol-shot
had roused King James, and he jumped out of bed crying, 'That
pistol was fired by none other than the young Laird of Logie.'
[Illustration: She stood at the hall door gazing wistfully after
the young Lard of Logie]
He shouted for his guards and bade them go send their captain,
Sir John Carmichael, to his presence.
Sir John, fearing nothing, came before the king, and falling on
his knee before him he said, 'Sire, what is thy will?'
'Where is thy prisoner, where is the young Laird of Logie?'
demanded the king.
Sir John stared. Had not the king himself sent for his prisoner?
'The young Laird of Logie!' he said. 'Sire, thou didst send thy
tokens to me, a golden comb, a pearl knife. See, they are here,'
and Sir John drew them from his pocket and held them up before
the bewildered king.
'And with the tokens came an order to send my prisoner at once to
thy presence. I brought him to the door of the ante-room, where I
was bidden to wait thy will.'
'If thou hast played me false, Carmichael, if thou hast played me
false,' said the king, 'thou shalt thyself be tried to-morrow in
the court of justice in place of the prisoner, the young Laird of
Logie.'
Then Carmichael hastened to the door of the ante-room as fast as
ever he could go. And he called out, 'O young Wemyss of Logie, an
thou art within, come out, for I must speak to thee.'
Margaret Twynlace smiled to herself as she opened the door of the
ante-room. Carmichael stepped into the room, stopped short, and
stared. The open window, the rope that hung there, told him all
he had come to ask. He stared, but never a word did he find to
say.
Then maid Margaret laughed aloud and clapped her hands for glee.
'Dost wish thy prisoner, the Laird of Logie?' she cried. 'Thou
shalt not see him again for many a long day. Long ere the morning
dawned he was on board one of the ships at Leith, and now he is
sailing on the sea. He is free, he is free!'
King James did not punish the brave Danish maid. Nor when he
heard from Queen Anne all that the maid had done did he blame Sir
John Carmichael.
Indeed ere many months had passed away the king sent a pardon to
the young laird. Then was he not long in coming back to bonny
Scotland to marry brave Margaret Twynlace, who had saved his
life.
* * * * *
End of Project Gutenberg's Stories from the Ballads, by Mary MacGregor