73 



CHAPTER III. 



CONON-SIDE A MANIAC FRIEND LIFE IN THE BARRACK 



WANDERINGS IN THE WOODS SCENERY OF CONON-SIDE 



AT HOME AGAIN. 



IN the spring of 1821 Miller resumed his labours. In 

 the latter end of May, his master had finished the 

 work contracted for in the district of Cromarty, and, as no 

 more contracts were to be had, was compelled to descend 

 from the position of master and seek employment as 

 journeyman. The apprentice he had taken at the same 

 time with Miller seized the opportunity of regaining his 

 freedom and setting up as journeyman on his own ac- 

 count; and one might have thought that the wilful, 

 headstrong lad, who had set his uncles and his school- 

 masters at defiance, would have followed this example. 

 But Hugh was no longer the turbulent schoolboy of 

 sixteen, and among the qualities which had ripened 

 in the wholesome atmosphere of labour, was a pro- 

 found sense of justice. He continued to serve old David 

 Wright, and proceeded with him to the banks of the 

 Conon, a river which falls into the Cromarty Frith at 

 its , western extremity. On reaching Conon-side, they 

 found that the scene of their occupation lay a few miles 

 farther to the west, and for four weeks they were em- 

 ployed in building a jointure-house for the widow of a 



