ON THE MOUNTAINS 177 



Grampians, forming the backbone of the 

 Highlands. 



Nor is it mainly for the scene I have come, 

 though never for so much as a moment is it 

 possible to lose consciousness of it, but because 

 these torrent-ploughed slopes form one of the few 

 wild-gardens certainly one of the first three of 

 our rarest Scottish alpines. 



Like Nelson, I am blind to the signal I do not 

 wish to see, and obey the finger-post which points 

 the nearest way to Braemar as up the glen. 



The road passes near the dwelling I believe 

 it now makes a detour. As I thread nay way 

 among the outhouses, I am aware of being the 

 object of a little hostile attention. Loiterers cast 

 a side glance, and disappear into some doorway as 

 if to make my unwelcome presence known. A 

 few moments bring me beyond the shot of eyes 

 into a scene of picturesque wildness that is, wild- 

 ness which is not at the same time desolation. 



One autumn day it may be such another as 

 this a sportsman was shooting over the sur- 

 rounding heights. His title came from a barren 

 spot in one of the shorter glens opening on 

 Strathmore, watered by the Quharity, dear to 



all readers of Barrie. His income he owed to a 

 12 



