selling whiskey in Greenock?"

"Yes; and that shows what an ignorant man you are, Hamish," said the
other, with disdain. "For do you not know that the gold is mixed with
quartz and you have got to take the quartz out? But I dare say now you
do not know what quartz is; for it is a very ignorant man you are,
although you can sail a yacht. But I do not grumble at all. You are
master of your own yacht, just as I am the master of my own shop. But if
you were coming into my shop, Hamish, I would say to you, 'Hamish, you
are the master here, and I am not the master; and you can take a glass
of anything that you like.' That is what people who have travelled all
over the world, and seen princes and great cities and palaces, call
_politeness_. But how could you know anything about _politeness?_ You
have lived only on the west coast of Mull; and they do not even know how
to speak good Gaelic there."

"That is a lie, Colin!" said Hamish, with decision, "We have better
Gaelic there than any other Gaelic that is spoken."

"Were you ever in Lochaber, Hamish?"

"No, I was never in Lochaber."

"Then do not pretend to give an opinion about the Gaelic--especially to
a man who has travelled all over the world, though perhaps he cannot
sail a yacht as well as you, Hamish."

The two cousins soon became friends again, however. And now, as they
were approaching London, a strange thing became visible. The blue sky
grew more and more obscured. The whole world seemed to be enveloped in
a clear brown haze of smoke.

"Ay, ay," said Hamish, "that is a strange thing."

"What is a strange thing, Hamish?"

"I was reading about it in a book many a time--the great fire that was
burning in London for years and years and years, and have they not quite
got it out yet, Colin?"

"I do not know what you are talking about, Hamish," said the other, who
had not much book-learning, "but I will tell you this, that you may
prepare yourself now to open your eyes. Oh yes, London will make you
open your eyes wide; though it is nothing to one who has been to Rio,
and Shanghai, and Rotterdam, and other places like that."

Now these references to foreign parts only stung Hamish's pride, and
when they did arrive at London Bridge he was determined to show no
surprise whatever. He stepped into the four-wheeled cab that Colin Laing
chartered, just as if four-wheeled cabs were as common as sea-gulls on
the shores of Loch-na-Keal. And though his eyes were bewildere