Clanranold and Lady, Captain O'Neal, Baileshear, and other parties at Ormiclade, commenced to arrange their plans, that they might be put into execution with all possible speed. Milton, Flora's brother, although one of the friends of the Prince, did not happen to be at Ormiclade on this important occasion. He intended to have been there, but he pleaded indisposition as an apology for his absence. It was, however, well known that Angus Macdonald of Milton was a prudent, cautious man, and although desiring that all would fare well with the Prince, he had no wish to be involved in what he considered the perilous schemes about to be devised for his release. Milton wanted much of the determination and magnanimity of his talented sister Flora, yet he was a man who was much respected for his integrity and sterling honesty.

On the next evening after the important meeting at Ormiclade, Flora resolved to go to Milton to acquaint her brother of all that had been done, and more especially of the dangerous and difficult part which was allotted to herself in the enterprise. She was well aware that she would meet with stern opposition from her brother to the very risky duties that she had undertaken to perform. She said to Lady Clanranold that, in a sense, she had more dread to meet the expected disapproval of her dear and only brother than she had to face the many perils to which the whole enterprise was exposed, and that still she would require to brave it out to the best of her power.

On Flora's arrival at Milton she met her brother near the house, and at once she pictured in his visage the great displeasure that evidently rankled in his heart. He addressed her sternly and said, "What is this you are about to do, my foolish sister? Are you recklessly to submit to be made a tool in a scheme that is, as sure as death, to terminate in ruin to yourself, as well as to our kindred, and country, and clan? Can you not see that a failure in the enterprise, which will be the more probable result by far, may subject all its partisans to the punishment of imprisonment and death? Just consider what Cumberland has already done by fire, and sword, and death, on the mainland, and can you, silly woman, expect to receive more mercy at his cruel hands, if found to be one of the prominent protectors of his great but unfortunate rival, Prince Charles Edward Stuart."

Flora listened patiently to the painful address of her brother, marked all his expressions with earnest attention, but remained inexorable. After some minutes of calm reflection, and when she had observed that her .brother's feelings had somewhat subsided, she addressed him and said, "My dear Angus, do you not believe that there is an overruling Providence, and that there exists a benevolent Being who has the control of all events? Take matters easy, my dear brother, and do not concern yourself about me. It will be all right, for God will prosper the adventure."

Flora spent the night with her brother at Milton, and remained until the evening of the following day, when she set off along with her servant, Niel MacEachainn, for Ormiclade. As she had not been furnished with a passport from any of the militia officers, she resolved to travel under night, expecting to reach her destination in safety. In this, however, she was sadly disappointed, for in passing one of the fords on her way to Clanranold's mansion, she and her attendant, the faithful MacEachainn, were pounced upon by a party of Major Allan Macdonald's company, and

detained as prisoners for the night. Major Allan was one of the most inveterate and cruel officers in the whole service against the adherents of the Prince, as will be afterwards mentioned. Poor Flora felt very uncomfortable, dreading that she might be detained as a prisoner, and that in consequence her intended good services to rescue the Prince might prove abortive. She ventured to ask one of the parties in the guard-house who the officer in command was, and when he would appear there? She was informed that Captain Hugh Macdonald was the officer, who was expected to be there next morning at any early hour. This intelligence dissipated at once the fears under which she had for some hours suffered. On the arrival of Captain Macdonald he was surprised to find his stepdaughter in the guard-house, which was but a small turf-built hut roofed with bulrushes. A long conversation took place between them in private, in which, no doubt, they fully discussed all the schemes and plans that were to be resorted to to secure the preservation of the Prince. Captain Macdonald cherished the most friendly feelings towards his Royal Highness, and it was undoubtedly the desire of his heart that he would escape. Had he been as vigilant and inveterate as his Skye countryman and neighbour, Major Allan Macdonald of Knock, the Prince would have fallen long before then into the relentless hands of his enemies. Flora, in the hearing of the military present, addressed her step-father and told him that she had a strong desire to go to Skye and visit her mother at Armadale, in order to avoid all these unpleasant encounters with the soldiers, who then ransacked every dwelling, and creek, and corner of the Long Island. To this natural request her step-father readily assented, and promised to transmit to her by a trusty messenger that evening the necessary passports for herself, for her man-servant (Niel MacEachainn), for an Irish spinning-maid named Betty Burke, and for six of a crew. It is needless to say that Betty Burke, the smart Irish girl, who was noted as an expert flax-spinner, was none else than Prince Charles Stuart. Late at night the passports were handed to Flora at Ormiclade by a sergeant of Captain Macdonald's company. In addition to the passports the good Captain addressed a letter to his wife (Flora's mother), which was written on an unsealed sheet of paper, and was framed in the following terms :

"MY DEAR MARION,-I have sent your daughter from this country, lest she should be any way frightened with the troops lying here. She has got one Betty Burke, an Irish girl, who, as she tells me, is a good spinster. If her spinning pleases you, you can keep her till she spin all your lint; or, if you have any wool to spin, you may employ her. I have sent Niel MacEachain along with your daughter and Betty Burke, to take care of them.-I am your dutiful husband,

"June 22d 1746."*

"HUGH MACDONALD,

Seeing that the gallant Flora was now fortified with her passports and plans, a number of friends met privately at Ormiclade, who, with the Laird

* About forty-five years ago this letter was seen by the writer of this narrative, in the careful possession of Miss Mary Macleod, at Stein, in Skye. Miss Macleod was a grand-daughter of Flora Macdonald. She had a variety of relics that belonged to the Prince, such as rings, lockets, an ivory miniature likeness of himself, and other ornaments in gold and silver.

and his Lady, were to lose no time in effecting every suitable arrangement. This was an evening of the deepest anxiety to all present, as the fate of the Prince depended solely on the success of the scheme about to be resorted to that night. Of all these preparations the unfortunate fugitive himself knew little or nothing at the time, unless perhaps a general idea that may have been conveyed to him by Captain O'Neal, who visited him as often as possible. As the hut in which Charles was concealed was within a short distance of a military station, he deemed it prudent to shift his humble quarters to Rossinish, and in doing so he and O'Neal nearly lost their lives. They were ignorant as to the nature of the journey, and owing to the darkness of the night, they had almost fallen over a precipice. O'Neal lost no time in acquainting his friends at Ormiclade of the Prince's new place of concealment; and in return he was instructed to acquaint His Royal Highness that all preparations were already matured, and would speedily be put in execution. An excellent six-oared boat, the best that could be had, and six stalwart and experienced seamen, were selected and secured before then, and sworn-in to be faithful. These were all in readiness to attend to orders, and to meet the party at a fixed time and place. A great part of the evening was spent in procuring from Lady Clanranold's wardrobe suitable habiliments for the poor, ragged Irish girl. The difficulty experienced was not from any scarcity of every variety of garments in the good Lady's possession, but from the uncommonly awkward, masculine-like stature of that halffamished Emerald-Isle girl. Whether or not she had been fed, like many of her benighted countrymen on what is called "potatoes and point," is not well known, yet whatever had been her nourishment, she exhibited such an enormous size as a young peasant female that article after article, as produced by the good Lady of Ormiclade, was cast aside by the unanimous verdict of all the company present as ridiculously small. However, the dress condescended upon was one almost entirely made up that evening by all who could handle a needle in the house. It consisted of a flowered linen gown, sprigged with blue, a light-coloured quilted petticoat, a large cap and broad apron, and a mantle of grey-coloured camlet with a large hood, such as Irish girls were in the habit of wearing. Next day being the 26th of June, as everything was carefully prepared, Lady Clanranold, and Flora, and Niel MacEachainn, who carried Betty Burke's dress in a well-packed bundle, were cautiously conducted by O'Neal to the miserable place where the Prince was concealed. It lay at the distance of seven or eight miles from the mansion-house of Ormiclade. At length the vigilant party arrived in safety, and found His Royal Highness alone at the time in his wretched cave. The elegant youth, the descendant of a line of kings that stretched back to the remotest antiquity, was then found roasting kidneys, and the heart and liver of a sheep, for his humble repast. The sight was affecting indeed, and it moved the party to tears; but the natural, cheerful, and affable demeanour of the Prince soon restored his affected visitors to a calm composure of mind. At his request the whole party sat down to partake of His Royal Highness's cookery. The table was a flat stone resting on a pillar of turf, and the seats were bundles of heather closely packed together. Although the fare consisted of no great variety, yet it was substantially supplemented by a large supply of prepared meat and of roasted fowls, as well as by an

abundance of wine, brandy, and other acceptable necessaries that had just arrived from Ormiclade, as requisites for the intended voyage. While thus seated at table, the Prince greatly amused his guests with racy anecdotes, and a variety of facetious remarks. In short, he made himself so very agreeable that all present were charmed with his affability and pleasant manners.

It may be stated that on this evening Flora had her first interview with him whom all along she was so very eager to rescue. Although the unfortunate Prince had been for such a length of time a hunted fugitive on that island, yet Flora studiously avoided meeting with him until that night. Clanranold and his Lady had seen him frequently, and did all in their power to contribute to his comforts, but Flora, quite contrary to general impression, had not the honour of a sight of him, until Lady Clanranold had introduced her at that time to His Royal Highness, as the young lady who was ready to sacrifice her life for his safety.

In all probability Flora's great precaution and prudence were the motives which prevented her from visiting the Prince before then. She no doubt desired to keep herself clearly aloof from any interview with him, as in the event of her intentions to rescue him being discovered by his pursuers, she could truthfully plead in defence the unreasonableness of accusing her of favouring a person whom she had never seen, and of whom she personally knew nothing.

When the homely repast was over, Lady Clanranold suggested that it was high time to commence the important business for which they had met, and to get the Prince robed in his new attire. To the no small amusement of the little party, Flora unloosed the parcel, and produced the antique dress of Betty Burke. She explained to the Prince that he must now assume the character of that Irish spinning-maid, to suit the passport that she had procured for her. The Prince laughed heartily at the very idea of the process, although he had previously been furnished by O'Neal with some description of it. Yet on his seeing the reality he could not restrain his risible faculties. He, however, greatly appreciated the ingenuity of the contrivance, thanked Flora for it in the kindest terms, and expressed a hope that it would be attended with success. His Royal Highness then retired with O'Neal to the cleft of a rock near by, that he might be robed in his new vestments. After about twenty minutes' absence he returned, and to the no small merriment of the ladies he stood before them as a tall, awkward, Irish servant. Scarcely had the metamorphosis been completed when a private messenger arrived, and announced that Captain Ferguson and Major Allan Macdonald, with troops of soldiers, had reached Ormiclade, and in consequence it was absolutely necessary that Lady Clanranold should hasten home to avoid all suspicion. She accordingly took an affectionate leave of the Prince, and left the heroic Flora, Captain O'Neal, and Niel MacEachainn to pass the night with him. It was a period of indescribable anxiety, yet the soul of Flora felt no fear. She rose superior to the dire emergency of that eventful evening, and in none of the trying scenes of her chequered life did she appear to more advantage than in her firmness and mental determination that night, and in that cave, in the presence of the Prince and his friends, after the departure of Lady Clanranold. Captain O'Neal, who had been the inseparable companion of His Royal Highness, insisted

on accompanying him from the island, while the Prince, in turn, refused to be separated from his faithful friend. At this juncture Flora smartly addressed the Prince, and told him in a firm, determined tone of speech, that his proposal to Captain O'Neal was utterly and clearly impracticable! She spoke very sharply, but respectfully, and her reasonable speech proved the inflexibility of her will as well as the sagacity of her judgment. "Your Royal Highness may at once understand," said she, "that as I procured passports for three persons only; that is for myself and servant, and for my mother's spinning-maid, the attempt of a fourth to escape without a passport, and especially so Captain O'Neal, a gentleman so well known to every officer and soldier all over the island, would jeopardise the lives of the whole." To this smart reasoning the Prince and O'Neal yielded at once, although, no doubt, with considerable reluctance. About midnight Flora, Captain O'Neal, and the servant took their leave of the Prince, and left him to meditate in his lonely solitude. Flora made the best of her way to bid farewell to her brother, as the coming evening was the one appointed for the attempt to get to Skye. Captain O'Neal was that morning arrested by a party of military on his way to Ormiclade, and made prisoner. When Lady Clanranold had arrived at home she was rigidly and even rudely questioned by General Campbell and Captain Ferguson. They insisted on her telling where she had been, when did she leave home, and what was the cause of her absence? She replied, with firm composure, that she had too good a reason for her absence, a reason that caused her much grief, and that was visiting a dear dying friend. It is true that she did call on her way home upon a young lady who was suffering in the last stage of a rapid consumption.

It may be mentioned that the interest taken by all at Ormiclade in favour of the Prince became well known to the Government officials, and consequently Clanranold and Lady, Boisdale, Clanranold's brother; the faithful Donald Macleod of Galtrigal, and many others, were soon afterwards arrested and brought to London, where they were detained as state prisoners for nearly a whole year.

About ten at night on the following evening, being Friday, the 27th June 1746, the Prince, and Flora, and Niel MacEachainn, proceeded to the sea-shore, to the place where it was arranged that they would meet the boat. On their arrival, wet and weary, as the rain fell in torrents from the surrounding hills, they observed to their horror several little vessels, or wherries, filled with armed men, sailing within a gunshot of the place where they lay concealed. Fortunately, however, these objects of terror tacked in an opposite direction, and disappeared in the hazy gloom. In about an hour thereafter, their own boat, which lay concealed in a creek, rowed up gently with muffled oars to the spot where they had so anxiously awaited it. The party with all possible speed embarked to make their perilous voyage across the Minch to Skye, a distance of 35 to 40 miles. The Prince was more anxious to get to Skye than to any quarter on the mainland, as that island was almost entirely the property of two parties, the Macdonalds and the Macleods, both of whom were ostensibly hostile to the Jacobite cause. On this account Cumberland had sent but few of his Government men to occupy that island, and to set a watch upon the movements of strangers. Charles was likewise well aware that he had a warm and faithful friend in Lady Margaret, the wife