firing might be heard by the tenders[553] who were hovering upon
the coast.

As they proceeded through the mountains, taking many a circuit to avoid
any houses, Malcolm, to try his resolution, asked him what they should
do, should they fall in with a party of soldiers: he answered, 'Fight,
to be sure!' Having asked Malcolm if he should be known in his present
dress, and Malcolm having replied he would, he said, 'Then I'll blacken
my face with powder.' 'That, said Malcolm, would discover you at once.'
'Then, said he, I must be put in the greatest dishabille possible.' So
he pulled off his wig, tied a handkerchief round his head, and put his
night-cap over it, tore the ruffles from his shirt, took the buckles out
of his shoes, and made Malcolm fasten them with strings; but still
Malcolm thought he would be known. 'I have so odd a face, (said he) that
no man ever saw me but he would know me again[554].'

He seemed unwilling to give credit to the horrid narrative of men being
massacred in cold blood, after victory had declared for the army
commanded by the Duke of Cumberland. He could not allow himself to think
that a general could be so barbarous[555]. When they came within two
miles of M'Kinnon's house, Malcolm asked if he chose to see the laird.
'No, (said he) by no means. I know M'Kinnon to be as good and as honest
a man as any in the world, but he is not fit for my purpose at present.
You must conduct me to some other house; but let it be a gentleman's
house.' Malcolm then determined that they should go to the house of his
brother-in-law, Mr. John M'Kinnon, and from thence be conveyed to the
main land of Scotland, and claim the assistance of Macdonald of
Scothouse. The Wanderer at first objected to this, because Scothouse was
cousin to a person of whom he had suspicions. But he acquiesced in
Malcolm's opinion.

When they were near Mr. John M'Kinnon's house, they met a man of the
name of Ross, who had been a private soldier in the Highland army. He
fixed his eyes steadily on the Wanderer in his disguise, and having at
once recognized him, he clapped his hands, and exclaimed, 'Alas! is this
the case?' Finding that there was now a discovery, Malcolm asked 'What's
to be done?' 'Swear him to secrecy,' answered Prince Charles. Upon which
Malcolm drew his dirk, and on the naked blade, made him take a solemn
oath, that he would say nothing of his having seen the Wanderer, till
his escape should be made publick.

Malcolm's