Master Allan; that is right,' said the Highlander.
'No, puir lad; no one who will pe knowing him will hev been pelieving
that of him; and it wass ferry hard that efferything went against him
at the trial, whateffer.'

'Well, Mr. MacLean, we came to see whether you could help us,' said
Allan; 'we have made a compact, and promised not to rest until we have
found out that Neil didn't really do it, and have him brought home
again.'

'Proud to hear you say so, Mr. Allan;' broke out the Highlander; 'and
hev you ahl made a compact, the young ladies too?'

'Yes,' replied Tricksy, dimpling; 'we are all in it; Marjorie and I,
and even Laddie.--Down, Laddie; don't jump up on me,' as the collie,
who had been sitting with an amiable expression in the centre of the
group, sprang up and put one paw on her knee.

'Ferry proud indeed that you should hev done so,' repeated Mr.
MacLean.--'My tear,' he added, turning to his wife, who had re-entered
the cottage with a pitcher of milk; 'these young ladies and gentlemen
will hev been making a compact that they will help Neil, and prove that
he hass not committed the robbery.'

The woman, who knew very little English, replied in Gaelic, and the
young folk took up that language, somewhat to the relief of MacLean,
who prided himself on his knowledge of the Saxon tongue but found it
easier to sustain a conversation in his own.

'That would be a great comfort to Neil, did he only know of it, and to
his mother too,' he said. 'Poor lad, I wish we could send him a
message.'

'Does any one know where he has gone?' inquired Reggie.

'Some one must know, Master Reggie, since he could hardly have got
clear away without help; but we do not know how he managed his escape.
Some say that he went away with the gipsies that left Inchkerra the day
of the trial, for they put in at Stornwell harbour that same night; and
others think that it was smugglers who helped him. He will no doubt
try to escape to America; but the poor lad stands a thousand chances of
being caught before he gets there.'

'Oh, I hope not,' cried the girls.

'I don't know, young ladies. If there was any chance of his being
cleared, it might be better for him to stand his trial. It is a very
strange thing indeed, how everything seemed to point to his being
guilty.'

'Then do you think some one has been trying to make him appear so?'

'I don't know, Master Reggie. It is very mysterious indeed who can
have done it. The poli