Kings of Carrick

AUCHENDRANE'S PREDESTINATION. 309
and trouble, and with the eighty years that furrow him. He
is followed by his son James, who walks with a crutch, and
carries himself as bravely as he can. His father has fixed
his gaze on the Scottish arms above the judge's head ; James
scans the assemblage, who scan him in return, and mentally
take unflattering notes of his appearance and demeanour.
Bannatyne comes last, his chin resting on his breast, his eyes
downcast, shame and a sense of disgrace and abject misery
written on face and demeanour. He leans forward, buries
his head in his hands as he sits down, and, as latter-day
scribes would put it, feels his position acutely.
There is a tiresome preliminary discussion, which wastes
two hours, to the inexpressible disgust of the audience, over
the relevancy of the indictment. Technicality upon techni-
cality is interposed, but one by one these are set aside, and
the charge is found relevant. The audience are grateful ;
they are getting frightened lest the sensation should be
swallowed up in some abstruse point of law which they do
not comprehend.
"John Mure — you are accused of the crime of murder.
What say you ? Are you guilty or not guilty ?"
Auchendrane rises to his feet, draws himself together,
steadies his voice, looks the Judge full in the face.
" Not guilty, my lord !"
James gave a similar response in studied, loud, defiant tones ;
and Bannatyne in a voice which hardly reaches the Judge.
A jury is empanelled, and the case goes on.
Auchendrane thought that all these things which they
witnessed against him had been buried deep in an irrevoc-
able past. But no ! here they are again, trooping up in
damning sequence. Here are men who hid in the woods of
Cassillis and of Auchendrane years ago, and who watched the
comings and goings of Mure and his confederates ere Carrick
rang with the tidings of the death of the Knight of Culzean.
Here is one who saw the cavalcade ride away to St. Leonards