to-day?"

"Because of amiability--pure and simple. You know I don't care a rush
for fishing, but, to my surprise, this morning MacRummle expressed a
wish to try my repeating rifle at the rabbits, and offered to let me try
his rod, and--I might almost add--his river. Wasn't it generous of him?
So I'm off to have a try for `that salmon,' and he is off no one knows
where, to send the terrified rabbits into their holes. Good-bye, old
fellow--a pleasant day to you."

Left alone, Barret began to devote himself to the cliffs. It was
arduous work, for the said cliffs were almost perpendicular, and plants
grew in such high-up crevices, and on such un-get-at-able places, that
it seemed as if "rare specimens" knew their own value, as well as the
great demand for them, and selected their habitations accordingly.

It was pleasant work, and our hero revelled in it! To be in such
exceptional circumstances, with the grand cliffs above and below him,
with no one near, save the lordly eagle himself, to watch his doings,
with the wild sweeps of mountain-land everywhere, clothed with bracken,
heather, and birch, and backed by the island-studded sea; with the fresh
air and the bright sun, and brawling burns, and bleating sheep, and the
objects of his favourite science around him, and the strong muscular
frame and buoyant spirits that God had given to enable him to enjoy it
all, was indeed enough to arouse a feeling of gratitude and enthusiasm;
but when, in addition to this, the young man knew that he was not merely
botanising on his own account, but working at it for Milly, he felt as
though he had all but attained to the topmost pinnacle of felicity!

It is sad to think that in human affairs this condition is not
unfrequently the precursor of misfortune. It is not necessarily so.
Happily, it is not always so. Indeed, we would fain hope that it is not
often so, but it was so on this occasion.

Barret had about half filled his botanical box with what he believed to
be an interesting collection of plants that would cause the eyes of
Milly Moss to sparkle, when the position of the sun and internal
sensations induced him to think of his midday meal. It was tied up in a
little square paper package. There was a spring at the bottom of the
cliffs. It was near the stone where he had met Milly, and had given way
to precipitancy. Not far from the spot also where he had made Milly up
into a bundle, with a plaid, and started with her tow