Oswald at once took up the armour, and went down the steps into the
courtyard, so that the sound of his hammer should not disturb the
sleepers. As, with slight but often repeated blows, he got out the
dents that had been made in the fray, he thought over what his mother
had been saying. To him also the death of three of the men, who had for
years been his companions, came as a shock. It was seldom, indeed, that
the forays for cattle lifting had such serious consequences. As a rule
they were altogether bloodless; and it was only because of the long
feud with the Bairds, and the fact that some warning of the coming of
the party had, in spite of their precaution, reached Allan Baird; that
on the present occasion such serious results had ensued.
Had it not been for this, the cattle would have been driven off without
resistance, for Allan Baird's own household would not have ventured to
attack so strong a party. No attempt would have been made to assault
his hold; for he had often heard his father say that, even in the case
of a blood feud, he held that houses should not be attacked, and their
occupants slain. If both parties met under arms the matter was
different; but that, in spite of the slaying of his own father by them,
he would not kill even a Baird on his hearthstone.
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