imself with a convulsive effort; and,
striking into the gloom, the two young men sped forward with a step as
fleet as that of the hunted deer.

Their pursuers having seen them stand, had slackened their pace, or it
is probable the fugitives would have been captured before Rhimeson had
prevailed on his friend to fly; but now, separating so as to intercept
them if they deviated from the direct path, the policemen raised a loud
shout and instantly gave chase. But the young poet, in his solitary
rambles amid the noble scenery of Arthur's Seat and the adjoining
valleys, had become intimately acquainted with every path which led
through their romantic recesses; and he now sped along the broken
footway which skirted the mountain-side with as much confidence as if
he had trod on a level sward in the light of noonday. Elliot, having
his mind diverted by the necessity of looking to his immediate
preservation--for the path, strewed with fragments of rock, led along
what might well be termed a precipice, of two or three hundred feet in
height--roused up all his energies, and followed his friend with a speed
which speedily left their pursuers far behind. Thus they held on for
about a quarter of an hour, gradually and obliquely ascending the
mountain side, until the voices of the policemen, calling to each other
far down in the valley, proved that they had escaped the immediate
danger which had threatened them. Still, however, Rhimeson kept on,
though he relaxed his pace in order to hold some communication with his
companion.

"We have distanced the bloodhounds for the nonce, Frank," he said;
"these ale-swilling rascals cannot set a stout heart to a stey brae; but
whither shall we go now? Edinburgh, perhaps Scotland, is too hot to hold
us, and the point is how to get out of it. What do you advise?"

"I am utterly careless about it, Rhimeson; do as you think best,"
replied Elliot, in a tone of deep despondency.

"Cheer up, cheer up! my dear Frank," said the young poet, feigning a
confidence of hope which his heart belied. "Whitaker may still recover;
he is too gallant a fellow to be lost to us in a drunken brawl; and even
if the worst should happen, it must still keep you from despair to
reflect that you were forced into this rencontre, and that it was
an unhappy accident, resulting from his own violence and not your
intention, which deprived him of his life." Elliot stopped suddenly, and
gazing down from the height which they had