264 THE WIDOW'S HOSPITALITY. 



whole limb of it, hastily roasted between two peat fires, 

 lighted for the purpose on the open heath. Well he 

 set forth in quest of venison, nor had he been out long 

 before he wounded a hart, and sent his dog after him. 

 The chase led him far away over the hills, and he was 

 overtaken by a heavy snow storm ; benumbed with cold, 

 and weary with floundering in the drift, his only hope for 

 preserving his life consisted, perhaps, in being able to 

 reach one of the shielings in Strathnaver. After long and 

 painful toil, his life-blood chilled, and in a state of 

 dreadful exhaustion, he arrived after nightfall at a 

 small bothy during one of the most bitter blasts of the 

 storm ; far different now in plight than on that me- 

 morable day when he signalised himself in combat, he 

 humbly sued for shelter. The shieling was inhabited 

 only by a woman and her daughter, who, being intimi- 

 dated, refused his request. He earnestly answered that 

 he was so worn out by struggling against the storm, that 

 he could go no farther, and that he must shortly perish, if 

 refused admittance : the poor woman's kind heart got the 

 better of her fears, and she removed the fastenings of the 

 door ; then, as it was driven inwards by the violence of the 

 wind, and as the snow beat upon her care-worn face, she 

 said in Gaelic, whilst the tear stood in her eye, 



" That on such a night as this she could not refuse ad- 

 mission into her bothy even to Our-na-Kelig himself, 

 should he be wandering on the moor, although he had 

 slain her good man and her two brave sons, and left her 

 ill to do in the world, and desolate." 



Our-na-Kelig was not personally known to this poor 

 widow ; and having obtained admittance and shelter, for- 



