They had passed a large open moor, and were entering into the enclosures which surround a small village called Clifton.

The winter sun had set, and Edward began to rally Fergus upon the false predictions of the Grey Spirit.

'The Ides of March are not past,' said Mac-Ivor, with a smile; when, suddenly casting his eyes back on the moor, a large body of cavalry was indistinctly seen to hover upon its brown and dark surface.

To line the enclosures facing the open ground, and the road by which the enemy must move from it upon the village, was the work of a short time.

While these manoeuvres were accomplishing, night sunk down, dark and gloomy, though the moon was at full.