324 DOWNHILL WITH A PAIR OF SCREWS 



pressed on my mind even yet, and had painted it 

 truthfully, I am sure that it would have been set down 

 as the work of a raving maniac. As it was, I fancy 

 that my intellectual driver thought I was slightly ' off 

 my head '; he himself had no eyes for anything but a 

 rather doubtful-looking sinew below tlie knee of one 

 of his screws as he drove down the steep hill, and 

 vouchsafed no reply to my exclamations of astonish- 

 ment and admiration. I must admit that I myself 

 felt not a little relieved when we safely reached the 

 bottom of the hill, which he had negotiated at a full 

 gallop, with a pair of horses absolutely deficient in 

 shoulders, with doubtful fore-legs, and no breeching. 

 However, 'all's well that ends well '; but since then a 

 very bad accident happened to the same ' mail,' the 

 pole breaking when going down this very hill. How- 

 ever, I must resume my narrative. 



After a good night's rest and a breakfast at eight 

 o'clock, I started in hopes of being able to accomplish 

 the- eight miles I had to go, before my friend could 

 have started for the forest ; but I quite forgot that he 

 always kept his clocks an hour too fast : the result 

 was that I had started an hour too late, and when I 

 met Mr, B. half-way between Ullapool and the forest, 

 he informed me that my friend had started, and had 

 left word for me to stalk the northern beat of the 

 forest ; and he also told me that the sport had been 

 very bad, and that several deer had been also missed. 

 Wishing him 'Good-bye' and 'Good-luck,' I hurried on 

 to the lodge, some four miles off, and found breakfast 

 awaiting me, to which I did ample justice. The 

 celebrated Donald McLeay, head-stalker to the 

 Duchess of Sutherland, gave me a Highland welcome' 



