iron hammer which hung at his saddle-bow, Bruce dashed out the brains
of this new assailant. The dying man still clung to the king's mantle,
so that, to get free, Bruce was obliged to undo the brooch by which it
was fastened, and leave it with the mantle behind. This brooch fell
into the hands of Lorn, and was kept in the family for many
generations as a memorial of Bruce.

8. But Bruce was soon reduced to greater straits, and, without
followers, was obliged to conceal himself in stables and caves. In all
his misfortunes he never gave up the cause of his country, and he
sacredly devoted his life to the freedom of Scotland. After one of his
defeats he was lying one night on a wretched bed in a rude hut, while
debating in his own mind whether it were not best to enlist in a
crusade, when his attention was directed to a spider on the rafters
overhead. He saw that the little spinner was trying to swing from one
rafter to another, so as to fix his thread across the space. Time and
again it tried and failed. Admiring the perseverance of the creature,
Bruce began to count the number of times he tried. One, two, three,
four, five, six. It suddenly occurred to Bruce that this was just the
number of times he had failed in his attempts against the enemy. He
then made up his mind that if the spider succeeded in the next trial
he would make one more endeavor to recover his kingdom, but if it
failed he would start at once for Palestine. The spider sprang into
the air, and this time succeeded, so the king resolved upon another
trial, and never after met with a defeat.

[Illustration: _Edinburgh Castle_]

9. Many a wild story is told of his feats of arms and hairbreadth
escapes while he wandered about without a country. Sir Walter Scott,