voices of the soldiers quite distinctly. Under
cover of the friendly darkness they crept up another hill and came out
opposite another fire. At a point midway between these two posts a
mountain torrent had made a deep fissure on the side of a hill on the
further side. Could they break through the line and reach this river-bed
the overhanging banks, aided by the darkness of night, would conceal
their figures, and following the stream they could cross over into wild
broken country, where they could hide themselves. Donald Cameron, with
a fine Highland gallantry, undertook to make trial of the way first. If
he could reach the spot and return again to report 'all safe,' the rest
of the party might make the attempt. It had all to be done in a quarter
of an hour, for that was the interval at which the patrolling parties
succeeded each other.

In dead silence they waited till the sentinels had past; then as
stealthily and rapidly as a cat Cameron slipped down the hillside and
disappeared into the darkness. The rest stood breathless, straining
every nerve for the faintest sound; no footfall or falling pebble broke
the stillness, and in a few long, heavily-weighted minutes Cameron
returned and whispered that all was well. It was two o'clock now and the
darkness was growing thinner. They waited till the sentries had crossed
again and had now their backs to the passage, then they all moved
forward in perfect silence. Reaching the torrent, they sank on all fours
and one after the other crept up the rocky bed without a sound. The
dreaded cordon was passed, and in a short time they reached a place
where they were completely hidden and could take a little much-needed
rest.

Once clear of this chain of their enemies they turned northward to the
Glenelg country. Their plan was to go through the Mackenzie's country to
Poole Ewe, where they hoped to find a French vessel. But the next day
they learned from a wayfaring man that the only French ship which had
been there had left the coast. Seeing that that plan was fruitless,
their next idea was to move eastward into the wilds of Inverness and
wait there till the way should be clear for the Prince's joining Lochiel
in Badenoch.

[Illustration]

In Glen Sheil they parted with Cameron of Glenpean, and here too they
had a curious adventure which might have proved seriously inconvenient
to them. They had spent a whole hot August day hiding behind some rocks
on a bare hillside, the midges ha