re numerous, and where he would likely betake himself in
this emergency. That he might elude his pursuers with greater certainty,
the Laird of Drimnin had him escorted across the Sound of Mull by some
trusty kinsmen, to the charge of another Maclean (Pennycross), and with
whom he was to remain until he received further instructions respecting
his future destination. The grief and revenge of _Morsheirlich's_
friends had not yet subsided, and would not, for years to come, so that
Alan would be unwise to return to his native home, or place himself in
their path.

The Collector of His Majesty's Customs at the Port of Greenock was an
immediate relation to the Laird of Drimnin by marriage, and a
correspondence was entered on with him with the view of ascertaining his
opinion as to what was best to be done for Alan. Negotiations occupied
more time for their conduct at that time than in the present day; at any
rate nothing satisfactory was proposed to Alan, so that for a couple of
years he continued wandering up and down the island of Mull, and through
the glens of Morvern, entirely under the guidance of his uncle. At last
a request came from the Collector to send the fugitive to him, that he
might find employment for him in his own office. The uncle decreed,
rather against Alan's grain, that the offer of clerkship should
meanwhile be accepted. He remained in this occupation for several
months, until he received an invitation from another friend residing in
Leith. This gentleman wrote to say that there was now an opportunity of
giving him service in an enterprise likely to be congenial to "a man of
metal" such as he conceived Alan to be. The war of American Independence
had commenced, and the employment which the Leith friend proposed was
that Alan should join a privateer which was fitting out in an English
port, armed with letters of marque, to capture and destroy American
shipping. Alan answered the invitation by repairing to Leith in person
with all speed. The nature of the service offered, however, did not
accord with his ideas of honourable warfare; in fact, he considered it
more akin to piracy, and not such as a gentleman should take part in. He
had no affection, he said, for clerkship, but he had still less for the
life of a pirate.

While Alan was oscillating in this manner, he learned that another
relative of his mother's, Colonel Alan Maclean of Torloisk, who had
emigrated to one of the North American colonies some y