100 AUTUMNS IN ARGYLESHIRE 



Here I fasten a loop firmly round the beast 

 behind the fore-flippers, and taking a turn of the 

 other end of the rope round my right hand, enter 

 the water again. 



For a while all goes well, and I am compli- 

 menting myself on the final conclusion of my 

 labours, when suddenly I feel the touch of the 

 rope against my instep. Unwilling to be en- 

 tangled, I pause to let the slack sink out of my 

 way, and having accomplished this object resume 

 my former rate. But, alas ! I had forgotten a 

 secondary result of this manoeuvre. As the rope 

 comes taut again there must necessarily be a jerk 

 yes, sure enough, the jerk takes place, and the 

 next moment I find myself swimming on with a 

 yard and a half of rotten hemp in my hand. The 

 rope was broken, and my seal has sunk where 

 I cannot hope to reach him, has foundered in fact 

 within sight of port ! There are feelings too deep 

 for words, and, besides, there is a lady present. 

 So silently and gloomily I leave Ardskinish, and 

 my " damp unpleasant body " is soon being whirled 

 home on the back seat of a buckboard, a part of 

 that ingenious vehicle which is not conducive at 

 the best of times to a pleasant frame of mind 

 but now ! 



The next day we return with grappling-hooks 

 and no ladies, and my brother, a more skilful 

 diver than myself, prepares to perform in the 

 costume or want of it best adapted to success ; 



