1 62 HIGHLAND SPORT 



the end ; then he took my hand while tragically pointing to the 

 ceiling of Mrs. Lovewell's room, which was over the one we 

 were in, he sternly said, " You must tell her, I couldn't " ; and 

 forthwith he departed to his room. I lit a cigar and sat think- 

 ing on the sofa, but always to the following effect: "Well, as 

 Auldjoe is much my senior, surely he is a more proper person 

 to tell poor Mrs. Lovewell than I am " ; then I pursued him to 

 his bedroom, only to find my friend packing a small hand-bag. 



Guiltily, he said, " Look here. Green, I cannot stand these 

 tragedies, so I'm going to walk over to the ' Inverness Arms' 

 and stay the night there, while the rest of my belongings can 

 follow me in the morning." 



"I'm hanged if you shall," I said to myself, but to my 

 coward I replied, " Look here, my friend, you and I have had 

 some very pleasant days side by side, and I'm confident, from 

 what I have seen of you, that you are not the man to desert a 

 friend in a situation like this ; at any rate, dinner is ready, so 

 let us go and eat it with what appetite we can while we discuss 

 the matter quietly." 



To this he replied, "Very well, Green, it shall be as you 

 wish, for perhaps it ivas rather cowardly of me to think of 

 deserting you." 



During our meal I said to the butler, in an off-hand way, 

 and just as if the Colonel's absence was quite expected, "Oh, 

 James, will you send up word to your mistress and tell her that 

 as the Colonel has written to me saying he will not be back this 

 evening, we propose to come upstairs presently for the pleasure 

 of a talk ? " 



Auldjoe looked daggers at me, and as soon as the mes- 

 senger had departed he said, " Surely, Green, you might have 

 left me out of this dreadfully painful interview " ; then when 

 James returned to say Mrs. Lovewell would prefer to see us in 

 the morning, we both were so delighted at the respite that we 

 passed the rest of the evening quite pleasantly. As my friend's 

 bedroom door closed I heard him mutter to himself, " Poor old 



