"Ay, and a gallant soldier to boot," added Allan Redmain. "But for his
turning upon those ruffians, methinks it would have gone ill with Kenric
and my sister Ailsa."
"God be thanked for our escape," murmured the abbot. "And now, if
Roderic and his crew come not back over soon, all may yet go well with
us. At sunrise we will all set forth with picks and shovels and give a
true Christian burial to both friend and foe alike. And God rest their
souls, one and all."
CHAPTER XXVII. THE BATTLE OF LARGS.
Two weeks of gloomy weather passed, with clouded skies and fitful winds.
During that time nothing was heard in Bute of either Roderic the Rover
or King Hakon of Norway. Kenric and his men, with the priests of St.
Blane's, made busy work in burying the dead. Also, they got all their
shipmen and fishers, farm workers and shepherds, to build up the
devastated cottages and farmsteads, and one by one these dwellings again
received their wonted inmates. The villages of Rothesay, Ardbeg, Kames,
Ascog, and other settlements in the island had been roughly handled by
the invaders, and many farms had been despoiled. But for the greater
part the shells of the houses had been left standing, and there were
many hands to make light work of restoring them.
The Lady Adela of Rothesay, Lady Grace de Currie, Ailsa Redmain, and the
women of Rothesay Castle took up their quarters in the nunnery attached
to the barony of St.
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