Kings of Carrick

126 THE KINGS OF CARRICK.
grimmed and bloody ; and disheartened and weary combat-
ants who had struggled the live-long day for nothing.
The Earl knew what it meant. He did not require to look
upon his brother, the Master, to know that the assault had
failed ; and that if ever there had been a moment when the
kingship of Carrick hung in the balance, that moment was
now. The tale needed no words. It told itself more plainly
than words could have done. Yet in presence of his fol-
lowers he maintained his outward composure with a stoicism
that not even the long row of the dead could move to display ;
and it was not until he and the Master of Cassillis had
entered the house that he broke silence.
" Tell me, Hew," he said, as he stood by the table at which
the weary Master had seated himself, " tell me how it
happened. I do not need to ask what has happened."
"No, you do not; and the story is simply told. "We
attacked Newark as we arranged to do. Everything was
going on well; we had driven in the hall door, and were
fighting within the very house itself, when we were attacked
from behind by Thomas Kennedy of Bargany."
"Bargany !" echoed the Earl.
" Yes, Bargany himself, and a strong force of men whom
he had collected in Ayr. Bargany came upon us like a
whirlwind, and the day was lost. We could have held our own ;
but hope of carrying Newark was gone."
" A very serious result for us," said the Earl, still standing
by the table, " we shall have a host of hornets about our
ears. Every petty laird who has stood aloof to see how the
wind would blow, will from this day forth side with Bargany,
and ride with him too, when occasion requires it. Every
man who has been afraid of us, and too frightened to take
arms against us, will flock to the standard of Bargany and
Auchendrane."
" And if they do, what then ?" asked the Master, rousing
himself and speaking with animation. " Cassillis has been