Upon this hint he descended into the court-yard, and found a trooper
holding a saddled horse, on which he mounted and sallied from the portal
of Doune Castle, attended by about a score of armed men on horseback.
These had less the appearance of regular soldiers than of individuals who
had suddenly assumed arms from some pressing motive of unexpected
emergency. Their uniform, which was blue and red, an affected imitation
of that of French chasseurs, was in many respects incomplete, and sate
awkwardly upon those who wore it. Waverley's eye, accustomed to look at a
well-disciplined regiment, could easily discover that the motions and
habits of his escort were not those of trained soldiers, and that,
although expert enough in the management of their horses, their skill was
that of huntsmen or grooms rather than of troopers. The horses were not
trained to the regular pace so necessary to execute simultaneous and
combined movements and formations; nor did they seem bitted (as it is
technically expressed) for the use of the sword. The men, however, were
stout, hardy-looking fellows, and might be individually formidable as
irregular cavalry.
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