peering, restless, sunken eyes came out of their furrowed caverns,
turned calm, full, and satisfied; the lines of the brow and mouth, the
contour of the cheek, the carriage of the head, the disposition of the
hands, altered and improved. An hour ago, when we were the sport of
ferocious nature in the heart of a country infernal, no more than one
of us would have swithered to strike a blow at a fellow-creature and to
have robbed his corpse of what it might have of food and comfort Now we
gloated in the airs benign of Dalness house, very friendly to the world
at large, the stuff that tranquil towns are made of. We had even the
minister's blessing on our food, for Master Gordon accepted the
miracle of the open door and the vacant dwelling with John Splen-did's
philosophy, assuring us that in doing so he did no more than he would
willingly concede any harmless body of broken men such as we were,
even his direst enemies, if extremity like ours brought them to his
neighbourhood.

"I confess I am curious to know how the thing happened, but the hand of
the Almighty's in it anyway," he said; and so saying he lay back in his
chair with a sigh of satisfaction that lost nothing of its zest by the
influence of the rain that blattered now in drumming violence on the
window-panes.

John Splendid, at the table-end, laughed shortly between his sups at a
flagon of wine.

"All the same," said he, "I would advise you to put some of the
Almighty's provand in your pouch, for fear the grace that is ours now
may be torn suddenly enough from us."

Sonachan pointed at Stewart, who had already filled every part of his
garments with broken meat, and his wallet as well. "There's a cautious
man," said he, "whatever your notion of sudden ceasing may be. He has
been putting bite about in his wallet and his stomach since ever we sat
down. Appin ways, no doubt."

"_Biadh an diugh, cogadh a maireach_--food to-day, war to-morrow," said
the son of kings. "Royal's my race! A man should aye be laying in as he
goes: if I had not had my wallet on Loch Leven-side, I ken some gentry
who would have been as hungry as common herds, and with nothing to help
it."

John Splendid laughed again. "Wise man, Rob!" said he; "you learnt the
first principles of campaigning in Appin as nicely as ever I did in
the wars of the Invincible Lion (as they called him) of the North. Our
reverend comrade here, by the wisdom of his books, never questions, it
seems, that we have