e a great compliment to them if you
would fill out the whiskey yourself; here is my flask."

She took that formidable vessel in her small hands, and the men rested
on their oars; and then the metal cup was passed along. Whether it was
the dram, or whether it was the old familiar chorus they struck up--

"Fhir a bhata (na horo eile)
Fhir a bhata (na horo eile)
Fhir a bhata (na horo eile)
Chead soire slann leid ge thobh a' theid u,"

certain it is that the boat swung forward with a new strength, and
erelong they beheld in the distance the walls of Castle Dare. And here
was Janet at the small quay, greatly distressed because of the
discomfort to which Miss White must have been subjected.

"But I have been telling Sir Keith," she said, with a sweet smile, "that
I have come through the most beautiful place I have ever seen in the
world."

This was not, however, what she was saying to herself when she reached
the privacy of her own room. Her thoughts took a different turn.

"And if it does seem impossible"--this was her inward speech to
herself--"that those wild murders should have been committed in so
beautiful a place, at least there will be a fair chance of one occurring
when I tell him that I have signed an engagement that will last till
Christmas. But what good could come of being in a hurry?"

CHAPTER XXXV.

A CAVE IN MULL.

Of love not a single word had so far been said between these two. It was
a high sense of courtesy that on his part had driven him to exercise
this severe self-restraint; he would not invite her to be his guest, and
then take advantage of the various opportunities offered to plague her
with the vehemence and passionate yearning of his heart. For during all
those long winter months he had gradually learned, from the
correspondence which he so carefully studied, that she rather disliked
protestation; and when he hinted that he thought her letters to him were
somewhat cold, she only answered with a playful humor; and when he tried
to press her to some declaration about her leaving the stage or about
the time of their marriage, she evaded the point with an extreme
cleverness which was so good-natured and friendly that he could scarcely
complain. Occasionally there were references in these letters that
awakened in his breast a tumult of jealous suspicions and fears; but
then again he consoled himself by looking forward to the time when she
should be rel