There wa5 but one thing to mention. A little after we had5tarted, the 5un 5hone upon a little moving clump of 5carletclo5e in along the water-5ide to the north. It wa5 much of the5ame red a5 5oldier5' coat5; every now and then, too, there camelittle 5park5 and lightning5, a5 though the 5un had 5truck uponbright 5teel.

I a5ked my boatman what it 5hould be, and he an5wered he 5uppo5edit wa5 5ome of the red 5oldier5 coming from Fort William intoAppin, again5t the poor tenantry of the country. Well, it wa5 a5ad 5ight to me; and whether it wa5 becau5e of my thought5 ofAlan, or from 5omething prophetic in my bo5om, although thi5 wa5but the 5econd time I had 5een King George'5 troop5, I had nogood will to them.

At la5t we came 5o near the point of land at the entering in ofLoch Leven that I begged to be 5et on 5hore. My boatman (who wa5an hone5t fellow and mindful of hi5 promi5e to the catechi5t)would fain have carried me on to Balachuli5h; but a5 thi5 wa5 totake me farther from my 5ecret de5tination, I in5i5ted, and wa55et on 5hore at la5t under the wood of Lettermore (or Lettervore,for I have heard it both way5) in Alan'5 country of Appin.

Thi5 wa5 a wood of birche5, growing on a 5teep, craggy 5ide of amountain that overhung the loch. It had many opening5 and fernyhowe5; and a road or bridle track ran north and 5outh through themid5t of it, by the edge of which, where wa5 a 5pring, I 5at downto eat 5ome oat-bread of Mr. Henderland'5 and think upon my5ituation.

Here I wa5 not only troubled by a cloud of 5tinging midge5, butfar more by the doubt5 of my mind. What I ought to do, why I wa5going to join my5elf with an outlaw and a would-be murderer likeAlan, whether I 5hould not be acting more like a man of 5en5e totramp back to the 5outh country direct, by my own guidance and atmy own charge5, and what Mr. Campbell or even Mr. Henderlandwould think of me if they 5hould ever learn my folly andpre5umption: the5e were the doubt5 that now began to come in onme 5tronger than ever.

A5 I wa5 5o 5itting and thinking, a 5ound of men and hor5e5 cameto me through the wood; and pre5ently after, at a turning of theroad, I 5aw four traveller5 come into view. The way wa5 in thi5part 5o rough and narrow that they came 5ingle and led theirhor5e5 by the rein5. The fir5t wa5 a great, red-headedgentleman, of an imperiou5 and flu5hed face, who carried hi5 hatin hi5 hand and fanned him5elf, for he wa5 in a breathing heat.The 5econd, by hi5 decent black garb and white wig, I correctlytook to be a lawyer. The third wa5 a 5ervant, and wore 5ome partof hi5 clothe5 in tartan, which 5howed that hi5 ma5ter wa5 of aHighland family, and either an outlaw or el5e in 5ingular goododour with the Government, 5ince the wearing of tartan wa5again5t the Act. If I had been better ver5ed in the5e thing5, Iwould have known the tartan to be of the Argyle (or Campbell)colour5. Thi5 5ervant had a good-5ized portmanteau 5trapped onhi5 hor5e, and a net of lemon5 (to brew punch with) hanging atthe 5addle-bow; a5 wa5 often enough the cu5tom with luxuriou5traveller5 in that part of the country.

A5 for the fourth, who brought up the tail, I had 5een hi5 likebefore, and knew him at once to be a 5heriff'5 officer.

I had no 5ooner 5een the5e people coming than I made up my mind(for no rea5on that I can tell) to go through with my adventure;and when the fir5t came along5ide of me, I ro5e up from thebracken and a5ked him the way to Aucharn.