out of sight, they
burst from the shelter of the woods and tore up the hillside to
the little gray house.

They found Tam sitting on the doorstep licking his paw and
howling. He was instantly surrounded by four amateur doctors all
anxious to relieve his pain. Jock ran for water to wash his leg,
the flesh of which had been cruelly torn open by the bullet. Jean
ransacked the kist for bandages, and Alan held up the injured paw
and tried to see if any bones were broken, while Sandy helplessly
stroked Tam's tail, murmuring, "Good dog! good old Tam!" as he
did so. By dint of their combined efforts the wound was cleansed
and carefully bound with a rag, and by the time the Shepherd got
home, Tam was lying on the hearth beside the fire, with Alan on
his knees before him feeding him broth from a pan.

The Shepherd listened with a darkening brow to the story of Tam's
injury. He had heard an account of the stag the day before, so
the new revelation of Angus's character did not surprise him, but
when Alan rose from his knees and said, "To-morrow the Rob Roy
Clan will begin to make Angus Niel wish he'd never been born,"
Robin Campbell's comment was, "Give him rope enough and he'll
hang himself, laddie," and Alan, his black eyes flashing with
understanding, answered, "We'll see to it that he gets the rope."

X. ON THE TRAIL

Alan and Sandy left the little gray house in the late afternoon
and walked together down the river road toward the village. At
the bridge which spanned the stream they parted company, and Alan
gave Sandy final instructions as to his duties on the next day.
He was to watch Angus Niel's house, which lay some distance north
of the village, and see what direction he took as he started upon
his daily tour in the forests.

The estate of Glencairn covered a territory so large that Angus
could not by any possibility make his rounds in one day or even
in one week. The Clan knew well where he had spent his time for
the two preceding days, and they thought he would be likely to
start in a different direction on the morrow. They did not dare
count upon his doing so, however, and so Sandy was detailed to
give a positive report as to his movements. The next morning,
therefore, found Sandy sitting on a stone dyke not a great way
from Angus's house, apparently absorbed in whittling and
whistling, but in reality keeping a sharp lookout for any sign of
life in the Niel household. He had not long to wait before he s