-path that led up the beach, an' so zig-zag
along the cliff's edge. There was a sort o' neuk beside a turn o' this
path, where was a big stane, that one might sit upon, and so lose sight
o' everything but the distant sea an' the beach below, to which the
rocks shelved down, rugged an' bare in places, an' in others wi' a toss
an' tangle o' weed and brushwood, where there was a hollow in the face
of the cliff.

There I sat, an' sat, and felt all strange an' drowsy, dreamin' about
Rab an' Maggie, but not rightly thinking o' anything; but holding in my
hand the bauble that I had taken out o' my pocket to look at. Night was
comin' down quick out at sea, and the mist was creepin' over the hills,
when I heard a man's footstep on the path, and stood up to see who came.

No need to look twice; 'twas Rory Smith, the keeper, trampling quick and
heavy, and with a heavy cudgel in his clenched hands--a murderous look
in his eyes.

He turned upon me, clutching his stick.

"Whaur are ye goin'?" he said, "and who's that for?" pointin' to the
necklace that hung on my fingers.

"I'm no here to answer questions," answered I; "but ye can know for a'
that, or ye can turn back, and see for yoursel'."

"Go, if ye daur!" he shrieked; "for it shall be but one o' us, if ye'll
no turn about the way I'm walkin'. It's through you, is it, that Maggie
flouts me, an' throws back my gifts, that are o' mair cost than ye can
earn, ye loupin' beggar?"

"Hand off!" I shouted; "or I'll no answer for mysel'," for he was
pressin' on, an' there was no room for a struggle between the rock an'
the road's edge. "Haud off, or not one, but baith, may make a turn too
many."

"Gie me that trash," he said, making a snatch toward the necklace. "Gie
it me, and go no more to Maggie's house--you nor your baby cousin Rab.
Gie it me, I say!"

He was upon me before I could answer him, mad wi' passion and wi'
whisky, and dealt me a heavy blow upon the head; but I was quicker and
stronger than he, and, before he could repeat it, had him by wrist and
shoulder. As I've said, 'twas no place to wrestle in, and when we both
came to grips, we had but one scuffle, and then our footing was gone,
and I lost him and myself, too--lost sense, and hearing, and a' things.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was high in the sky, when I came to myself--shining like a
golden shield over the blue sea, and the wavin' grass and hea