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"I have but one word to say," said I; "for to all this dispute I am a perfect stranger. But the plain common-sense is to set the blame where it belongs, and that is on the man who fired the shot. Paper him, as ye call it, set the hunt on him; and let honest, innocent folk show their faces in safety." But at this both Alan and James cried out in horror; bidding me hold my tongue, for that was not to be thought of; and asking me what the Camerons would think? (which confirmed me, it must have been a Cameron from Mamore that did the act) and if I did not see that the lad might be caught? "Ye havenae surely thought of that?" said they, with such innocent earnestness, that my hands dropped at my side and I despaired of argument.

Like the previous quote, this one from Chapter 19 reveals an important moral difference between the Protestant Whig, David, and the Catholic, Jacobite Highlanders. David still believes that the guilty party should be punished, whereas Alan and James believe that it is Alan's and David's duty to take the blame, mostly since they have the best chance of escape. This suggests that both James and Alan feel that justice has been done; the killer of Colin Campbell was the punishment for a greater crime, not a crime itself.

There is a practical reason to blame Alan and David as well. Alan is a notorious figure and a well-known hater of the Campbells. It is much easier to claim that he acted alone, thereby sparing the Stewart clan the brunt of the Campbells' anger.

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