56 UNPLEASANT ADVENTURE. 



withstanding the many deep furrows graven by the 

 hand of time, had an appearance much younger than 

 accorded with his actual age, from the rudd}' hue which 

 still mantled the cheek, and the bright glitter which 

 still flashed from the eye. His locks, white as the 

 driven snow, straggled at random over his shoulders, 

 and his long grey whiskers joined in the same stream. 

 His huge bony hands and broad shoulders still bore 

 testimony to the strength he had once possessed ; and 

 as he drew himself up stiffly to his full height, his whole 

 appearance was striking and even imposing. 



As he moved about the shed, I observed that he 

 slightly halted on one leg; and on inquiring of Donald 

 the cause, I was informed that he had been injured in 

 poaching a deer ; but that if we would produce our 

 whiskey flasks and " bide our time," we might have the 

 account of it from his own lips. Our usquebagh there- 

 fore produced, we drank to each other; and while 

 Walter and Donald each added a pipe to their draught^ 

 Bob offered to me his snuff-box. Snuff-taking has 

 been a habit in the Highlands for many generations, 

 and though with the rising one smoking has become so 

 general, as almost to supplant the more ancient fashion, 

 yet many of the most primitive in these unfrequented 

 districts, still cling tenaciously to " the old paths." 

 Bob's snuffbox was itself a curiosity, as an article of 

 home nanufacture, a deer's hoof forming the box, while 

 the lid was composed of a strip of hart's horn. For 

 some time all communications were carried on in 

 Gaelic, Donald acting as interpreter ; but in vino veritas 

 is an adage old and well tested withal, and as the 

 whiskey warmed the cockles of that aged heart, and 

 thawed the frigid exterior, it evoked the powers of 

 speech, not yet asserted ; and at length the Gaelic 



