_Tobermory_
will be in Ranna by now. She passed Broadford two hours syne. When I
saw her I yoked this beast and came up on the chance of foregathering
with ye.'

'How on earth did you know I would be here?' I asked in some surprise.

'Oh, I saw the way your mind was workin' from your telegram. And says I
to mysel'--that man Brand, says I, is not the chiel to be easy stoppit.
But I was feared ye might be a day late, so I came up the road to hold
the fort. Man, I'm glad to see ye. Ye're younger and soopler than me,
and yon Gresson's a stirrin' lad.'

'There's one thing you've got to do for me,' I said. 'I can't go into
inns and shops, but I can't do without food. I see from the map there's
a town about six miles on. Go there and buy me anything that's
tinned--biscuits and tongue and sardines, and a couple of bottles of
whisky if you can get them. This may be a long job, so buy plenty.'

'Whaur'll I put them?' was his only question.

We fixed on a cache, a hundred yards from the highway in a place where
two ridges of hill enclosed the view so that only a short bit of road
was visible.

'I'll get back to the Kyle,' he told me, 'and a'body there kens Andra
Amos, if ye should find a way of sendin' a message or comin' yourself.
Oh, and I've got a word to ye from a lady that we ken of. She says, the
sooner ye're back in Vawnity Fair the better she'll be pleased, always
provided ye've got over the Hill Difficulty.'

A smile screwed up his old face and he waved his whip in farewell. I
interpreted Mary's message as an incitement to speed, but I could not
make the pace. That was Gresson's business. I think I was a little
nettled, till I cheered myself by another interpretation. She might be
anxious for my safety, she might want to see me again, anyhow the mere
sending of the message showed I was not forgotten. I was in a pleasant
muse as I breasted the hill, keeping discreetly in the cover of the
many gullies. At the top I looked down on Ranna and the sea.

There lay the _Tobermory_ busy unloading. It would be some time, no
doubt, before Gresson could leave. There was no row-boat in the channel
yet, and I might have to wait hours. I settled myself snugly between
two rocks, where I could not be seen, and where I had a clear view of
the sea and shore. But presently I found that I wanted some long
heather to make a couch, and I emerged to get some. I had not raised my
head for a second when I flopped down again. For I had a n