"May I have what I please from the Bothwell armory ?" "Command even there," said the earl; "your uncle Bothwell is too true a Scot to grudge a sword in so pious a cause." Helen threw her arms about her father's neck, thanking him tenderly, and with a beating heart retired to prosecute her plans.

Murray, who met her in the anteroom, informed her that fifty men, the sturdiest in the glen, awaited her orders; while she, telling her cousin of the earl's approval, took the sacred banner in her hand, and followed him to the gallery in the hall.
The moment she appeared, a shout of joy bade her welcome.

Murray waved his hands in token of silence; while she, smiling with the benignity that spoke her angel errand, spoke with agitation: "My brave friends!" said she, "I thank you for the ardor with which, by this night's enterprise, you assist me to pay, in part, the everlasting tribute due to the man who preserved to me the blessing of a father.
"With that spirit, then," returned she, "I address ye with greater confidence.

Who amongst you will shrink from following this standard to the field for Scotland's honor?
Who will refuse to make himself the especial guardian of the life of Sir William Wallace?
and who, in the moment of peril, will not stand by him to the last?
"None are her," cried a young man, advancing before his fellows, "who would not gladly die in his defense." "We swear it," burst from every lip at once.
She bowed her head, and said, "Return from Ellerslie to-morrow, with the bier of its sainted mistress, I will then bestow upon every man in this band a war-bonnet plumed with my colors; and this banner shall then lead you to the side of Sir William Wallace.

In the shock of battle look at its golden ensign, and remember that God not only armeth the patriot's hand, but shieldeth his heart.