darkness. 'But as God would have it,' to use Donald's
words, 'by peep of day we discovered ourselves to be on the coast of the
Long Isle. We made directly for the nearest land, which was Rossinish in
Benbecula.'

Here they found only a deserted hut, low, dark, and destitute of window
or chimney; the floor was clay, and when they had lit a fire, the peat
smoke was blinding and stifling. Still, they could dry their clothes and
sleep, even though it were on a bed no better than a sail spread on the
hard ground. Here they rested two days, and then found a more
comfortable refuge in the Island of Scalpa, where the tacksman--although
a Campbell--was a friend of Donald MacLeod's and received them
hospitably.

CHAPTER II

ON THE LONG ISLAND

THE object of the expedition was, of course, to find some vessel big
enough to carry the Prince and his friends over to France. Such ships
were to be had in Stornoway, and Donald MacLeod, being a man well known
in these parts, undertook to secure a vessel and pilot, under the
pretence of going on a trading expedition to the Orkneys. The Prince and
his party were to remain at Scalpa till Donald should send for them. On
May 3 came the message that vessel and pilot were in readiness, and that
they should come to Stornoway without a moment's delay.

Owing to the wind being ahead it was impossible to go by sea, and the
Prince and his two Irish followers were forced to go the thirty miles to
Stornoway on foot. No footpath led through the wastes of heavy, boggy
moorlands, the rain fell with an even downpour, and the guide stupidly
mistook the way and added eight long Highland miles to the distance.
They were thoroughly drenched, exhausted, and famished when Donald met
them at a place a mile or two out of Stornoway. Having cheered their
bodies with bread and cheese and brandy, and their souls with the
hopeful prospect of starting the next day for France, he took them to a
house in the neighbourhood, Kildun, where the mistress, though a
MacLeod, was, like most of her sex, an ardent Jacobite. Leaving the
Prince and his friends to the enjoyment of food, dry clothes, a good
fire, and the prospect of comfortable beds for tired limbs, Donald went
back to Stornoway in hopeful spirits to complete his arrangements for
taking the Prince on board. Another twenty-four hours and the ship would
have weighed anchor, and the worst difficulties would be left behind.
But as soon as he entered Stornoway he sa