JJ 



2 Life and Times of " The Druid" 



"The mountain burns, which soon began 

 to run right viciously, made music to my sor- 

 row, and as the moon sailed out from behind 

 a cloud, and shone on the long pools, which 

 were fast gathering by the roadside, they 

 seemed like polar bears craftily stealing 

 along. I hailed the mail-road at Lybster 

 and the roar of the sea as quite old friends, 

 and felt a little comforted. As for the mare, 

 although she had only known me for two 

 days, she had got so accustomed to my voice 

 that if I fell a little behind, she would stop 

 when spoken to and look round, first to the 

 near and then to the off-side in the gloom, 

 to be sure I was at hand. Weariness at 

 length defied all face-washing at the roadside 

 springs, and two hours of that night are best 

 accounted for in the preface. Be that as it 

 may, the mist-wreaths began to curl lazily up 

 the deep mountain ravines, and away to the 

 vast granite deer forest behind. Morning 

 broke and the rain was gone, while the rain- 

 bow spanned the Berriedale valley. There 

 were all the varied purples of the heather, 

 and the rich green livery of fir and larch, to 

 brace man and horse for the dreaded Ord of 



