ieftain, he would probably have been attended by all that
retinue which Evan described with so much unction, he judged it more
respectable to advance to meet Waverley with a single attendant, a very
handsome Highland boy, who carried his master's shooting-pouch and his
broadsword, without which he seldom went abroad.

When Fergus and Waverley met, the latter was struck with the peculiar
grace and dignity of the Chieftain's figure, Above the middle size, and
finely proportioned, the Highland dress, which he wore in its simplest
mode, set off his person to great advantage. He wore the trews, or
close trousers, made of tartan, chequed scarlet and white; in other
particulars, his dress strictly resembled Evan's, excepting that he had
no weapon save a dirk, very richly mounted with silver. His page, as we
have said, carried his claymore and the fowling-piece, which he held in
his hand, seemed only designed for sport. He had shot in the course of
his walk some young wild-ducks, as, though CLOSE TIME was then
unknown, the broods of grouse were yet too young for the sportsman. His
countenance was decidedly Scottish, with all the peculiarities of
the northern physiognomy, but yet had so little of ifs harshness
and exaggeration, that it would have been pronounced in any country
extremely handsome. The martial air of the bonnet, with a single eagle's
feather as a distinction, added much to the manly appearance of his
head, which was besides ornamented with a far more natural and graceful
cluster of close black curls than ever were exposed to sale in Bond
Street.

An air of openness and affability increased the favourable impression
derived from this handsome and dignified exterior. Yet a skilful
physiognomist would have been less satisfied with the countenance on
the second than on the first view. The eyebrow and upper lip bespoke
something of the habit of peremptory command and decisive superiority.
Even his courtesy, though open, frank, and unconstrained, seemed
to indicate a sense of personal importance; and, upon any check or
accidental excitation, a sudden, though transient lour of the eye,
showed a hasty, haughty, and vindictive temper, not less to be dreaded
because it seemed much under its owner's command. In short, the
countenance of the Chieftain resembled a smiling summer's day, in which,
notwithstanding, we are made sensible by certain, though slight signs,
that it may thunder and lighten before the close of evening.