RECONNOITRING. 129 



did not appear ; and now the shades of evening were 

 coming on apace, and our view each moment more 

 contracted. At length, tired out, and certain that even 

 had he found any game, it was now too late to attempt 

 a stalk, we slowly turned our steps homewards, still 

 anxious lest the man should be overtaken by the dark, 

 and crossing the river in the gloaming, uncertain of his 

 way, should be carried down by its waters. But never 

 was anxiety thrown away on a subject less needing it. 

 In the forest he knew almost every stone, and on the 

 river he was acquainted with each ford, rapid, and pool. 

 On approaching the cottage we were agreeably sur- 

 prised to see the cause of our uneasiness himself 

 advancing to meet us. He had examined not only the 

 corrie, but the ravines ; and recollecting that there was 

 a more favourable spot for crossing the river higher up, 

 he had gone thither, and so taken a shorter route home 

 than the winding course we had pursued. He had 

 found no traces of deer, but that, he concluded, was so 

 much the more in favour of our finding them elsewhere 

 on the morrow. It was, therefore, with spirits consider- 

 ably revived that we again entered our cabin, the roof 

 of which the shepherd had, during our brief absence, 

 been patching up, while his wife had arranged the 

 interior in a more comfortable fashion. 



Thursday. The small hours of the morning were 

 already passed, and the sun high in the heavens, when 

 a colloquy carried on outside our door between Gillespie 

 and the shepherd roused us from our slumbers. The 

 god of the morning was pouring a rich flood of golden 

 rays through the small dingy lattice of our cabin ; and 

 when we stepped forth, everything around savoured of 

 health and freshness. The balmy air, the invigorating 

 breeze, the scent of the heather-bloom, freshened by 



