ched ground, to lend a hand to his friend
Tonal', who was not far behind him.

Thus, one by one, the whole party got safely to land, for the laird,
although old, was still vigorous, and, like the others, able to swim.
MacRummle came in last, and they had some difficulty in getting him out
of the water, for he was rather sluggish, as well as heavy; but he was
none the worse for his immersion, and to the anxieties afterwards
expressed by his friends, he replied quietly that he had become pretty
well used to the water by that time. It was a trying experience,
however, for all of them, and, in the opinion of Ian Anderson, as he
gave it to his wife when they met, "it was a queer way o' feenishin' off
a fery extraor'nar Sawbath tay--what-e-ver!"

One morning, not long after this incident, the gentlemen made up a
shooting party to try the summit of the hill for mountain hares--their
hostess having twitted them with their inability to keep the household
supplied with hare soup.

"I will accompany you, gentlemen, to the shoulder of the first hill,"
observed their host, as he finished his breakfast, "but not farther, for
I am not so young as I once was, and cannot be expected to keep pace
with a `Woods and Forester.'"

"That is not a good reason for your stopping short, laird," retorted
Jackman, with a smile, "because it is quite possible for the `Woods and
Forester' to regulate his pace to that of the Western Isles."

"Well, we shall see," returned his host. "And what does my reckless
Milly intend to do with herself?"

"I mean to have a little picnic--all by myself," said Milly; "that is to
say with nobody but me and Aggy Anderson."

"D'you think that quite safe, so soon after her ducking?" asked Mrs
Gordon.

"Quite safe, auntie, for she has not felt a bit the worse for that
ducking; indeed, she seems much the better for it, and I am quite sure
that hill air is good for her."

"Oh! then, you mean to have your very select picnic on the hills?" said
the laird.

"Yes, but no one shall know to what part we are going, for, as I have
said, we mean to have a day of it all to ourselves; only we will take
Junkie to protect us, and carry our provisions."

There were two of the gentlemen who declined the shooting expedition.
John Barret said he would start with them, but would at a certain point
drop behind and botanise. MacRummle also preferred to make _one more_
effort to catch that grilse which had risen so often to him