to descend. His comrade again stepped upon the raft,
pushed out to the middle of the channel, secured the raft, grasped the
rope, and steadied himself. Lady Carse thought she could not look; but
she glanced up now and then, when there was a call from above, or a
question from below, or when there was a fling of the rope or a pause in
the proceedings. When Rollo at last slid down upon the raft, hauled it
to shore, and jumped on the rock beside her, he was as careless as a
hedger coming home to breakfast, while she was trembling in every limb.

And Rollo was thinking more of his breakfast than of the way he had
earned it, or of the presence of a stranger. He was a stout, and now
hungry, lad of eighteen, to whom any precipice was no more startling
than a ladder is to a builder. And, as his mother had taught him to
speak English, and he had on that account been employed to communicate
with such strangers as had now and then come to the island during
Macdonald's absence, he was little embarrassed by the apparition of the
lady. He was chiefly occupied with his pouchful of eggs, there being
more than he had expected to find so late in the season. It was all
very well, he said, for their provision to-day; but it was a sign that
somebody knew this cove as well as themselves, and that it was no longer
a property to himself and his comrade.

"How so?" inquired the lady. "How can you possibly tell by the eggs
that anyone has been here?"

Rollo glanced at his comrade, in a sort of droll assurance that it could
be no voice from the grave, no ghostly inhabitant of a cave, who could
require to have such a matter explained. He then condescendingly told
her that when the eggs of the eider-duck are taken she lays more; and
this twice over, before giving up in despair. Of course, this puts off
the season of hatching; and when, therefore, eggs are found fresh so
late in the season, it is pretty plain that someone has been there to
take those earlier laid. Rollo seemed pleased that the lady could
comprehend this when it was explained to her. He gave her an
encouraging nod, and began to scramble onward over the rocks, his
companion being already some paces in advance of him. The lady followed
with her basket as well as she could; but she soon found herself alone,
and in not the most amiable mood at being thus neglected. She had not
yet learned that she was in a place where women are accustomed to shift
for themselves, and pre