SUNDAY. 227 



and a mulct of my best weeds, that you also must 

 crush my wittiest reflections ? " 



" Massacre of the innocents ! But what a lovely 

 night ! " And, indeed, it was beautiful. 



Some of the aspects of nature have such charm that 

 they never fail to delight, and one of these is a fair 

 autumn night in the Highlands, when the moon, just* 

 risen over the crest of the mountain, casts a tender 

 light on the edges and slopes of the hills, softening 

 all that is rude and rugged into forms of weirdlike 

 and dreamy grace, while far in the vault above the 

 stars shine forth in their ever-mysterious beauty ; nor 

 is the enjoyment of such a scene much lessened by the 

 more mundane accompaniments of friendly converse 

 and unexceptionable tobacco. 



"We remained out this night to rather a late hour 

 in talking of our departure from Ardenmohr, and 

 even rashly, perhaps, speculating on a distant future. 



On the evening of the 23rd October we sat round 

 a blazing wood fire, talked of the pleasant days that 

 had passed, and about going to Dunesk, for which 

 we were to leave on the 25th. 



For some time past we had been chiefly salmon 

 fishing, only occasionally taking the gun to find a 

 bird or two for the larder. The stock of grouse 



Q 2 



