'Na,' she said; 'the butcher kens his knife; but he would only hide it in the day of trial. I will give it to my ain well-kenned lord.'
And she put the napkin into the hands of the Earl of Cassillis, who looked at it with the most minute attention.
'This kerchief,' said the Earl, gravely, 'has the crest and motto of John Mure of Auchendrayne.'
The King looked staggered and bewildered.
'Let all dismount till we try further of this thing,' he said.
But John Mure would have had him go on, saying that it was yet more of the plot. But the King would not now hearken to him; for he was an obstinate man, and oftentime he would listen to no reason, though his ear was ever open enough to flattery. Besides, he thought himself to be the wisest man in all the islands and kingdoms of the world—wiser, even, than Solomon the son of David.
So His Majesty commanded his inclination, and went up to the body. There was also a rope around the neck with a long end, which was embedded in the sand. With his own hand the King drew this out.
He held it up.
'Kens any man this length of rope?' he asked, looking about.
Now, one strand of sea-cordage is like another as two peas; but this was our Solomon's way of judging—to find out the insignificant, and then pretend that it told him a mighty deal.