A Sportsman at Large 265 



we had left Scotland ; then much to the surprise and disgust 

 of Marcus, he received a letter from McDonald, hinting that 

 he (Marcus) had purposely shot him, and demanding fifty 

 pounds as a solatium. I told my young friend to take no 

 notice of such an outrageous demand ; especially as he had 

 been charged with what amounted to an attempt at wilful 

 murder. After a time a second letter arrived from McDonald, 

 threatening legal proceedings. Marcus wanted to place the 

 matter in the hands of his solicitors, but again I urged him to 

 " lie doggo." My advice proved sound, for this was the last 

 we heard of the rascal's abominable attempt at blackmail. 



It was now that Dr. Straton reappeared on the scene, 

 not this time for the purpose of fishing in the Kyles for sea- 

 trout, or in the lochs for brown ; but because he wanted to 

 whisk me off to a wonderful piece of water which he had 

 heard of, called Loch Dianard, which lay some fifteen miles 

 distant, in the heart of the mountains. The stories he had 

 to tell about this loch revealed it as a perfect angler's paradise ; 

 so I readily consented to fit out an expedition thereto. It was 

 impossible to carry out our programme in one day, but the 

 Bishop had some kind friends, whose house was situated at 

 the foot of the hill overlooking the wonderful loch, and they 

 had told him that they would be delighted to put us up for 

 the night. 



The idea was that we should start early the next morning, 

 and taking a couple of ponies laden with our impedimenta, 

 make our way over the hills, and spend the second night in 

 a shepherd's hut which was said to stand near the banks of 

 the water. We were very hospitably received and enter- 

 tained by his lordship's friends, and after a good night's rest 

 we began our strenuous climb, accompanied only by my 

 valet Bedford, who was detailed to look after the ponies and 

 our goods and chattels. We had an ascent of nearly three 

 thousand feet ovei very rough going before we reached the 

 ridge. Then, looking down, we could see, shimmering below, 

 the object of our expedition, a kite-shaped piece of water, 

 the tail of which was formed by what, at a distance, looked 

 like a streak of silver ribbon, but on closer investigation 

 proved to be a stream about fifteen feet wide. 



