40 CHAPTER VI. 



There was to me in those Highland summits not alone the rare 

 pleasure of conquest through sturdy labor; there was an elevation 

 above sordid and commonplace and ordinary things. A freedom and 

 a liberty, a glad, high joyousness which was worth crossing all the 

 seas to feel. 



There is not any use trying to convey to you the impression which 

 the hills of Scotland made upon me. Go for yourself and see and 

 feel. If they are for you and you for them you will know what I 

 mean. If not it would be a waste of time to try to tell you. 



I saw ptarmigan again this day. Not pure white as yet, though they 

 will be so later in the season. Fine, swift-flying birds. It would be 

 great sport to go for them with a shotgun, because they live only on 

 the heights and rocky, stern, places are their choice. I never saw one 

 in the grass or anywhere except in the broken, rocky tops. They are 

 about the size of a grouse, perhaps a little smaller, but they fly differ- 

 ently. They use their wings more as a pigeon does. 



It was very broken ground on this top. Nature had here evidently 

 passed through the severest convulsions. Great dikes of rock would 

 loom before us and apparently cut off further progress, but there 

 were ways around. Donald was not leading us this day, but "Danny," 

 Danny Mackay, the head stalker. Danny looked frail. He had a thin 

 face, his cheeks were not very full, though his eyes were bright. But 

 he had legs so long that it seemed to me he could, like the historic 

 character in vaudeville, button his trousers to his collor button if he 

 wished. The way he could move over rough ground and the speed at 

 which he navigated upon those legs was almost paralyzing. He never 

 seemed to tire, and he could cover the worst ground as fast as most 

 of us move upon the level. 



It was not until after lunch that Danny spied deer where he thought 

 we might stalk. Then after moving over some reasonably rough 

 ground, he stopped near the edge of the great rock dike and came 

 back to the Chief, who had been following three paces in his rear, 

 while I had maintained that distance to keep third place and a gillie 

 followed me, after an equal interval. 



Danny spoke for a few moments in whispers to my friend, who 

 came back to me and with some concern said : ''The place where Danny 

 is going to stalk now is probably the most difficult in the forest. It 



