In the year which Malcolm had spent in camp he had learned a good
deal of rough cookery, for when on active duty the officers had
often to shift for themselves, and consequently next day he was
able to produce a dinner so far in advance of that to which the
band was accustomed that their approbation was warmly and loudly
expressed.
The stew was juicy and tender, the roast done to a turn, and the
bread, baked on an iron plate, was pronounced to be excellent.
The band declared that their new cook was a treasure. Malcolm had
already found that though he could move about the castle as he
chose, one of the band was now always stationed at the gate with
pike and pistols, while at night the door between the room in which
he cooked and the hall was closed, and two or three heavy logs
thrown against it.
Under the pretence of getting wood Malcolm soon explored the castle.
The upper rooms were all roofless and open to the air. There were
no windows on the side upon which the path ascended, and by which
alone an attack upon the castle was possible. Here the walls were
pierced only by narrow loopholes for arrows or musketry. On the
other sides the windows were large, for here the steepness of the
rock protected the castle from attack.
The kitchen in which he cooked and slept had no other entrance save
that into the hall, the doorway into the courtyard being closed by
a heap of fallen stones from above.
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