after a pause,
"do you see anything peculiar about the rocks or the pool between four
and five; I mean anything that you couldn't notice at any other time
of the day?"

"Nothing at all," I answered despondently; "it is pleasanter here then
than at any other time--or was until we came under this mysterious
spell."

"Why is it pleasanter?" he asked.

"It is just then that it gets most sunshine," I pointed out.

I made the remark idly enough, for the course of the river, with its
rugged banks and great massive rocks, looked particularly beautiful as
the sun streamed full upon it, and I was immeasurably surprised when
Garnesk jumped to his feet with a shout.

"What is it?" I cried in alarm. "You're not----"

"The sun, Ewart, the sun!" he exclaimed, and, snatching a pair of
binoculars which I carried in my hand, he dashed up the slope to the
foot of a cliff that overhung the stream. I gazed after him for a
moment in astonishment, and then set out in pursuit.

"Stop where you are, man!" he called to me as he turned, and saw me
tearing after him. "No, no; I want you there. Don't follow me."

I did as I was told, for I trusted him implicitly, and I knew that he
would not run any risk without first acquainting me of his intention,
and I took it for granted that he had arranged a part for me to
play, although he had not had time to tell me what it was. But my
astonishment increased as I watched him climb the rock, for when he
arrived a few feet from the summit he sat down on a ledge and calmly
lighted a cigarette!

"What is it all about?" I called to him, when I had fully recovered
from my surprise.

"I only wanted to have a look at the view," he laughed back, and put
the glasses to his eyes. First he examined the house, and then he
turned his gaze in the direction of the sea. It was then that it
dawned on me that he was looking for a yacht. This was the fateful
hour, and it had naturally struck him that the unknown yacht might be
in the vicinity.

"Well," I shouted, "can you see the yacht?"

"No," he replied, "there's nothing in sight, only a paddle steamer;
looks like an excursion of some sort."

"Oh! that's the _Glencoe_," I explained; "she won't help us at all.
She runs with tourists from Mallaig."

"She seems to be barely able to take care of herself," he laughed. "I
shouldn't like to be on her in a storm."

We conversed fairly easily while he was on the cliff, for we were not
many yards apart, and I be