The life of Sir William Wallace, the governor general of Scotland, and hero of the Scottish chiefs. By Peter Donaldson.

122 THE LIFE OF
at three different points at the same moment. Wal
lace saw their divisions advance, and ordered his
Longueville with six men, Crawford with six, to keep
the weakest parts bf the strength, and Wallace kept
five with himself to meet Butler at the pass. —
Wallace then allowed some men to come in, on purpose to ensnare them. Seven men entered, looked
very timid, and were immediately cut down; but
Butler withdrew from the entrance when he saw the
fate of his men, and Longueville and Crawford made
so grand a defence, that the enemy were forced to
retire for the night.
Butler set his watches, and retired to feast on good
provisions, while the wearied Scots had only water to
drink; but Wallace, with cheerful countenance, and
encouraging words, made a single night of fasting easy to them, and before morning, under the cover of a
thick fog, sallied out upon the English, killed Butler
and thirty of his men, carried wounded Crawford off
the field, retired to Methven wood, marched off to
Birnam wood, and thence to Athol and Lorn, where
they were reduced to the last extremity by famine.
There, as Wallace slept alone in the woods, (for
he had retired from his men, and had fallen asleep,)
five sanguinary assassins, who had been bound, on
pain of death, to take Wallace, dead or alive, drew
near and attempted to bind Wallace; but he rose
like a lion in his full strength, dashed the brains out
of the first against a tree, despatched the other three
~vith the dead man's sword, and two fled. The enraged champion pursued and smote them both to the
ground. Wallace having found a bov with some