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,
in his poem, "The Lord of the Isles," records one of these legends. It
is reported that, on one occasion, with his brother Edward and sister
Isabel in a boat, he was driven by stress of weather to take refuge in
one of the Hebrides upon the western coast, the home of Roland, the
Lord of the Isles. It happened to be a festive occasion, a large
assembly having met to celebrate the marriage of the Lord of the Isles
with the sister of the Lord of Lorn. As Bruce entered the
banquet-hall, Lorn recognized him:
10.
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