CH. XXV. SHEPHERD S COTTAGE. Ud 



burns and glens through which I should have to 

 walk. I did not blame Malcolm much, knowing the 

 mischief done by deer to the shepherds' little crops ; 

 besides which the ground where he had shot this 

 stag was not preserved or used as a forest by the 

 owner. 



We had a weary walk, though enlivened by 

 Malcolm's quaint remarks. Without his company 

 and guidance I saw plainly that I should have had 

 some difficulty in finding my way through the rough 

 ground over which we had to pass. The night, too, 

 had come on quite dark before we reached the 

 shealing. 



On entering I was much struck by the group 

 which we saw by the light of several splinters of 

 bog-fir laid on a stone. Malcolm's old father, a 

 man whose years numbered at least fourscore, was 

 reading a chapter of the Bible in Gaelic to the rest 

 of his family, which consisted of his wife, a woman 

 of nearly equal age to himself, but hale, neat, and 

 vigorous, and of a sister and brother of Malcolm's ; 

 the former a peculiarly pretty, though somewhat 

 extensive damsel ; and the latter a giant like Mal- 

 colm himself, equally good-looking, and equally 

 respected in his own rank of life. The old man 

 having looked off his book for a moment, without 

 pausing in his reading, continued his chapter. Fol- 



