self
that much must be done ere he could in these times arise to be an
eminent and dreaded leader. Yet when she saw him again, she almost
expected him at the head of a daring band, with pipes playing and
banners flying, the noble tartans fluttering free in the wind, in
despite of the laws which had suppressed, under severe penalties, the
use of the national garb and all the appurtenances of Highland chivalry.
For all this, her eager imagination was content only to allow the
interval of some days.

From the moment this opinion had taken deep and serious possession of
her mind, her thoughts were bent upon receiving her son at the head of
his adherents in the manner in which she used to adorn her hut for the
return of his father.

The substantial means of subsistence she had not the power of providing,
nor did she consider that of importance. The successful caterans would
bring with them herds and flocks. But the interior of her hut was
arranged for their reception, the usquebaugh was brewed or distilled in
a larger quantity than it could have been supposed one lone woman could
have made ready. Her hut was put into such order as might, in some
degree, give it the appearance of a day of rejoicing. It was swept and
decorated, with boughs of various kinds, like the house of a Jewess upon
what is termed the Feast of the Tabernacles. The produce of the milk of
her little flock was prepared in as great variety of forms as her skill
admitted, to entertain her son and his associates whom she, expected to
receive along with him.

But the principal decoration, which she sought with the greatest toil,
was the cloud-berry, a scarlet fruit, which is only found on very high
hills; and these only in small quantities. Her husband, or perhaps one
of his forefathers, had chosen this as the emblem of his family, because
it seemed at once to imply, by its scarcity, the smallness of their
clan, and, by the places in which it was found, the ambitious height of
their pretensions.

For the time that these simple preparations of welcome endured, Elspat
was in a state of troubled happiness. In fact, her only anxiety was that
she might be able to complete all that she could do to welcome Hamish
and the friends who she supposed must have attached themselves to
his band, before they should arrive and find her unprovided for their
reception.

But when such efforts as she could make had been accomplished, she once
more had nothing left to engage