h they had been
dislodged could be seen still fresh and light-coloured, nearly a
thousand feet up on the riven cliffs. It was a species of desolation
that powerfully recalled some scenes in Dante's "Inferno," and had a
depressing effect on the youth's spirits, for nothing seemed more
unlikely than the existence of a human habitation in such a place.

A new view of the matter broke upon him, however, when he suddenly
became aware that a spot in the confused scene which he had taken to be
a clump of withered bracken was in reality a red cow! Looking a little
more narrowly at objects he soon perceived a hut among the rocks. It
was so small and rude and rugged as almost to escape detection. A
furious barking soon told that he had been seen, and two collie dogs
rushed towards him with demonstrations that threatened him with
immolation on the spot. The uproar put life into a few more clumps of
red bracken, and produced a lively display of sheep and cattle
throughout the region.

Barret walked straight up to the door of the hut, and the collies
withdrew from the attack--as most noisy demonstrators do when treated
with silent indifference.

"Is there any one inside?" he asked of a bare-legged, shaggy-headed boy,
who came out and gazed at him, apparently with his mouth as well as his
eyes.

"Na," answered the boy.

"Any other cottages or houses near this?"

"Ay; yonder."

The boy pointed in the direction of the sea, where, in a stony nook
between two jutting masses of rock, nestled about a dozen huts built of
boulder stones gathered from the sea-shore. So small were these huts,
and so stupendous the rocks around them, that they might easily have
been overlooked by a careless eye. So might the half-dozen
fishing-boats that lay in the little cove beside them.

A stream or rivulet--better known in Scotland as a burn--ran past the
hamlet, formed a pool just below it, and dropped into the cove close to
the place where the boats lay.

Rejoiced to find even the poorest kind of shelter in such a place,
Barret hastened down to the cove, and, tapping at the door of the
largest of the cottages, was bidden "come in" by a soft voice.

Entering, he was surprised to find a neatly, though plainly, furnished
room, which was evidently the kitchen of the house--indeed, the sole
room, with the exception of an off-shoot closet. The large open
fireplace contained a peat fire on the hearth, over which hung a
bubbling pot. There