Although he had eaten but a short time before, Malcolm
was quite ready for another meal, and sitting down
beside Ronald he joined him in his assault upon the
black bread and cheese. Then he collected some
more of the bracken, mixed himself a strong horn of
whiskey and water, and a much weaker one for Ronald,
after which the two lay down and were fast asleep.
They were awake at sunrise, and shortly afterwards
the lad whom Malcolm had engaged to act as guide made
his appearance. The horse was saddled, Ronald
mounted, and they started at once for their destination
among the hills. They followed the path which
Malcolm had taken the afternoon before for some three
miles, and then struck off to the left. Half an
hour took them out of the forest, and they journeyed
for an hour along the bare hillsides, until, lying
in a sheltered hollow, they saw the hut which was
their destination.
“They are not likely to find us here,”
Malcolm said cheerfully, “even were they to
scour the mountains. They might ride within fifty
yards of this hollow without suspecting its existence.
Where are we to get water?” he asked the lad
in Gaelic.
“A quarter of a mile away over that brow is
the head of a stream,” the lad replied.
“You cannot well miss it.”
“That is all right,” Malcolm said.
“I don’t mind carrying up provisions or
a bottle of spirits now and then; but to drag all the
water we want three miles would be serious.”
The door of the hut was only fastened by a latch,
and they entered without ceremony. It consisted
of but a single room. There were two or three
rough wooden stools, and a heap of bracken in one corner.
Nor a large amount of furniture, but, in the opinion
of a Highlander, amply sufficient.
“We shall do here capitally,” Malcolm
said. “Now, what do you think about the
horse, Ronald?”
“Of course he might be useful if we were obliged
to move suddenly; but we have no food to give him,
and if we let him shift for himself he will wander
about, and might easily be seen by anyone crossing
these hills. A horse is always a prize, and it
might bring troops out into our neighbourhood who
would otherwise not have a thought about coming in
this direction.”
“I quite agree with you, Ronald. The lad
had better take him down to the village, and give
him to the head man there. He can sell him, or
keep him, or get rid of him as he likes. At any
rate he will be off our hands.”
For three weeks Ronald and Malcolm remained in hiding
in the hut among the hills. Every two or three
days Malcolm went down to the village and brought
back food. He learned that the remains of the
army at Ruthven had entirely dispersed, the prince
himself seeing the hopelessness of any longer continuing
the struggle. Terrible tales of slaughter and
devastation by Cumberland’s troops circulated
through the hills. The duke had fixed his headquarters
at Fort Augustus, and thence his troops ravaged the
whole country of the clans lately in insurrection.
Villages were burned, cattle slaughtered, women subjected
to the grossest insult and ill treatment, and often
wantonly slain, and the fugitives among the mountains
hunted like wild beasts, and slain as pitilessly whenever
overtaken.
