"Muckle John," said Rob, as the cart came to a standstill, and his companion had kept a tight mouth for a full half-hour after his last curt1 words, "Muckle John, why did you rescue me?"
Acting3 on a sudden impulse Rob leapt over the side of the cart upon the bank of grass beside it, and began to walk in the direction they had come.
"Where are you going?" cried Muckle John, startled for once.
"I'm not the one to take favours from you nor any one," he said. "I know fine why you wanted to keep me safe; and now that you've lost the thing you sought I'm no more to you than a peewit's egg." With that he set off again towards Fort Augustus.
"Stop, Rob!" shouted Muckle John. "What's taken ye?" and flinging his legs over the side of the cart, he began to run in pursuit.
"Rob!" he cried again, and came up with him.
"Well?"
"What has come over ye?" he asked.
"Would ye hang yersel' just to spite me? What's done is done, Rob; and I'm no perhaps the saint ye took me for. But save ye I will, and that's the naked truth."
"Let me pass!" cried Rob, and took a step to the right of him.
"Very good," he replied grimly, "but come ye will," and catching6 him into his huge arms, he flung him suddenly upon the ground and bound his wrists. Struggle as Rob would it availed him less than nothing, and so at last, with hands tied together and a dirk-point in his ribs7, he must needs march in the direction Muckle John wished.
Then at last he spoke.
"Stop!" he said, holding out his wrists. "I have had enough of this."
"Where," asked Rob, "are you taking me, for I have important business in the south?"
"What might that be?"
"It is the warning of Lord Lovat."
"It is done already; I have sent a man two days since."
"Am I, then, your prisoner?"
His captor broke into a laugh.
"Just a visitor, Rob," he replied, "and nothing more."
In this manner they travelled northwards, passing through wild, desolate10 glens and black ravines, scaling rugged11 hills, seeing few upon the road, and more in the heather. Several times in the night they saw the camp-fires of the English, but Muckle John seemed as familiar with the country even in black darkness. During the day they lay close hid in some cranny of the rocks, or skulked12 upon the crest13 of a hill, watching the surrounding district for sight of moving troops.
It was nearing nightfall two days after Rob's escape from Fort Augustus when they entered a small, precipitous glen, shut in by lowering, ragged14 crags, while through its tortuous15 course a burn was drumming in a melancholy16 undertone. No drearier17 spot had ever met Rob's eye. Deserted18 even by the eagles, it might have been a habitation of the dead.
Now at the side of the burn a shattered pine tree was standing19 against the evening sky, and as such gruesome thoughts passed through Rob's mind he raised his eyes, and a cry came and died unuttered on his lips. For on a solitary20 branch about the height of a tall man from the heather, a human head was stuck with the hair still fluttering in the breeze; while underneath22 dangled23 the faded uniform of an English soldier.
"Look!" cried Rob.
But Muckle John only nodded absently.
"They're as common as berries hereabouts," he replied.
"Hereabouts?" repeated Rob. "Then whose land is this?"
For answer Muckle John sprang upon a rock and with his hands hollowed about his mouth, sent a clear, penetrating24 call. From up the hillside a reply came swift as an echo.
"Some call it," he said, "the country of Muckle John."
Before Rob could reply several Highlanders came running down the hill-side, and greeted his companion with every sign of respect and pleasure, all of which he took very naturally.
Then passing onward26 they came to a narrow defile27 with a man on guard at the entrance, and continuing their way, reached the opening to a cave.
In the sheltered ground which lay before the cave three men were engaged around a fire, and the smell of cooking drifted in a cloud about their stooping forms.
"Rob," said Muckle John, making way for him to pass, "will you step inside, for if I am not mistaken there is one who will be pleased to see ye."
Without a word, but anxious to know to whom Muckle John could refer, Rob entered the cave. For a moment the darkness of the place made him think he was alone. Then of a sudden he made out the form of a man lying upon the floor; and with a quick fear he knelt down and recognized Archibald Cameron, bound hand and foot.
"This is a queer manner of hospitality," said he. "If ye had mentioned the name o' the gentleman you were serving I would have taken the hint kindly30."
"I serving?" broke in Rob, "I do not understand."
"Maybe ye do not remember the letter," he said very politely, "maybe ye are not Rob Fraser?"
"Dr. Cameron," replied Rob, "this is no time for quarrelling. I know of no letter, and I am a prisoner like yourself. We are both in the hands of Muckle John."
"Muckle John! So that's how the wind blows, eh? Oh, I begin to see. Poor Rob, you're aye the scapegoat34. Muckle John, indeed!"
"You know of him?"
Cameron snorted.
"Wha does not?" said he, "there's few between here and Rome has not heard tell of Muckle John."
"Then is he Hanoverian?"
"Then what does he want with us?"
"Money."
"It's little of that I have."
Very greatly puzzled, Rob fell back on silence, and presently Muckle John himself entered the place.
He was in Highland25 dress and made a great appearance of surprise at seeing Cameron, which ill accorded with the reception that unfortunate gentleman gave him. Then turning, he clapped Rob upon the shoulder and bade them both be seated.
"It's poor hospitality," said he in Gaelic; "but these are sad times, Dr. Cameron. Old campaigners like us know there's thin rations37 when one takes to the heather."
"Come, sir," replied Cameron, still standing and replying in Scots, "what is it you want? I ken5 ye fine, and well ye know it. It is not for the pleasure of my company that your cutthroats brought me here. But I warn you there will be a reckoning for this. There will be a bonny ending for you, sir, when it is known in Lochaber."
"Lochaber," sneered38 Muckle John. "While there is a guineapiece buried in Lochaber neither you nor the Prince himself would raise a Cameron to his side."
"Braw words for a nameless man," cried Cameron bitterly, but very red about the neck. "Hark, Rob, for maybe ye will never hear the like again."
"I am no nameless man!" roared Muckle John; "and well ye know it."
Cameron smiled quietly to himself.
At that Muckle John, flinging back his stool, leaped to his feet, and called out a name which no man Lochaber way can hear in silence.
For an instant, indeed, Cameron seemed on the point of springing upon him; then restraining himself with an effort, he spoke in a very polite tone:
"You will perceive," said he, "I have no sword."
But now that the thing was said Muckle John appeared greatly put about and anxious to smooth it over. He shrugged his shoulders and fiddled40 with the brooch upon his plaid.
"Tuts, Dr. Cameron!" he said. "I spoke over warmly."
But Cameron only frowned and shook his head.
"I have no sword," he said again.
"Do not fight him, doctor," broke in Rob. "It is sheer madness. Oh, how could ye fall into such a trap? It is to kill you he led you on."
"Rob," replied Cameron, "you are too young to understand the ways of a Highland gentleman."
"But surely you are more service to the Prince..."
"Whisht, boy! Dinna haver. Ye heard what word he used. A man's name means mair than a whole clan of Princes."
After that there was nothing more to be said.
"It is lighter42 outside, Dr. Cameron," he said, as though they were about to discuss a friendly bout21 together.
"As you will," replied Cameron with equanimity43, and bowed to him to take the lead. But Muckle John bowed still lower, and with his head cocked very high Cameron passed through.
A level place of about ten feet square lay before the cave, and clustered on a ledge44 above sprawled45 and sat some dozen ragged Highlanders, who evinced no sort of interest whatever in the impending46 encounter.
Cameron swung his blade once or twice and tested the steel upon the ground. The targe he threw aside. Then taking off their coats they rolled up their sleeves, and saluted47 each other. Seeing that the thing was past mending, Rob took his seat very sadly upon a mound48 and wondered how it would all end. The grey, desolate sky, the silence of utter solitude49, the cluster of dirty, unmoved Highlanders, and above and upon them all the smirr of thin hill rain, made his heart sink like lead.
And in the weary greyness of it all, two men about to fight to the death over a hasty word. It was a situation typically Highland.
Cameron, as sturdy a figure as one could wish to see, was standing on guard right foot foremost, his left arm behind his back.
Muckle John was facing him, his long hair loose about his neck, his vast forearms bared, perfectly50 motionless, a figure of colossal51 strength.
Suddenly there was a faint scuffle and footsteps in the entrance way.
"Dr. Cameron—Dr. Cameron!" said a low voice, with the round softness of a foreign accent.
They all looked towards the narrow passage which led from the valley below, and Rob sprang to his feet at the sight. For standing there, dressed in faded, tattered52 clothes, thin and harassed53, but with a smile upon his lips, was Prince Charlie.
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1
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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dourly
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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7
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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8
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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9
thongs
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| 的东西 | |
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10
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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11
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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skulked
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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14
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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15
tortuous
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| adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的 | |
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16
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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17
drearier
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| 使人闷闷不乐或沮丧的( dreary的比较级 )； 阴沉的； 令人厌烦的； 单调的 | |
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18
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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19
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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20
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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21
bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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22
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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23
dangled
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| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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24
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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25
highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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27
defile
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| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
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28
slashes
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| n.（用刀等）砍( slash的名词复数 )；（长而窄的）伤口；斜杠；撒尿v.挥砍( slash的第三人称单数 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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29
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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30
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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31
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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32
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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33
cynically
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| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
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34
scapegoat
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| n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊 | |
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35
hovers
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| 鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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36
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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37
rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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38
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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40
fiddled
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| v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动 | |
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41
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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42
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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43
equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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44
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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45
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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46
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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47
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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48
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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49
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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50
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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51
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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52
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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53
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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