have to fetch you home ignominiously on the back of a shooting-pony, and then you might have a chance of practising patience through a protracted term of confinement. No, my good boy, be guided by me. Go in for a walk to-morrow, by all means, but don't attempt the innermost recesses of our Dark Continent."
But if there was one thing on which Venables prided himself, it was in sticking to a pet scheme he had originated.
"Of course, if you put your veto on it, sir, I have nothing more to say; but even if there were a dash of risk in the expedition, as there is none, I know you would be the last man to grudge me the fun of it."
"Well, well, my good boy, you must go your own way. I suppose the worst that can happen, after all, is your being knocked up after a mud-bath in a moss-pit. Only, if you do go, you must be content to take one of the gillies. I send Donald to-morrow to Dingwall after some dogs."
"And the absence of Donald is half the battle. Not that I do not appreciate his society. I never met a fellow who was better company. But Donald is as much at home among his hills as a policeman on his beat in Pall Mall; and no exploration can be possible when one is in charge of a dry-nurse. But I shall take Peter, if you will allow me. I want a man to carry a rifle."
"Take Peter, and carry a rifle? Is the boy mad? Why, Peter knows nothing of the country, and is the dullest lout on the ground. And for the rifle, it would only be so much dead-weight, for I fancy you do not propose to kill one of my deer in June."
"Not exactly. But I have a notion that I may have a shot all the same, – always supposing I arrive at the end of my pilgrimage. And as for Peter, he is a fool, and as strong as a horse; and these are the qualities that recommend him to me as a follower. He will never feel the weight of the rifle, and will certainly not volunteer advice."
"Go your own way, as I said before," returned Moray, "and amuse yourself as you like. I have too much of the Highland hospitality to put restraint on a guest, even if he do happen to be crack-brained and a nephew of my own. Only remember, I wash my hands of all responsibility, and we refuse to wait dinner."
Leslie laughed, and chimed in –
"Don't say 'we,' sir, when you talk of dinner. I cast in my lot with Jack Venables, always supposing he has no objection."
"Not in the least, my dear fellow – not in the least! I should have asked you, on the contrary, to accompany me, but I did not care to put the screw on. With you for a companion, and the worthy Peter for a beast of burden, I consider the expedition to be perfectly equipped. And whatever be the case with me, your exertions ought to reward you. There must be matter for a baker's dozen of lyrics among the mists and braes of Balgarroch."
The pair had made an early start. Five miles of the flat had been covered on ponies, which had subsequently been hobbled and turned loose to graze. It was in a delightful sense of freedom that the young men stretched their legs, and set their faces to breast the first slopes of the hills. As for Peter, he plodded along behind, bearing the rifle, and with a game-bag slung across his shoulders, containing whisky and sherry flasks, with the materials for luncheon. Peter's ordinary calling was that of a sea-fisherman: he usually 'listed with a shooting-
