mists of middle sky, while a solitary watch-tower, perched on its top like an eagle's nest, gave dignity to the scene by awakening a sense of possible danger. All there, and every other accompaniment of this noble scene, Captain Dalgetty might have marked, if he had been so minded. But to confess the truth, the gallant captain, who had eaten nothing since day-break, was chiefly interested by the smoke which ascended from the castle chimnies, and the expectations which this seemed to warrant of his encountering an abundant stuck of provant, as he was wont to call supplies of this nature.
The boat soon approached the rugged pier, which abutted into the loch from the little town of Inverara, then a rude assemblage of huts, with a very few stone mansions interspersed, stretching upwards from the banks of Loch Fine to the principal gate of the castle, before which a scene presented itself that might easily
