never, while the name and the lands continue, shall there be a son to
the house of M'Alister!"

The curse of the bereaved widow clung steadily to the house of
M'Alister. The lands passed from heir to heir, but no laird had ever
been succeeded by a son. Often had the hopes of the clan been raised;
often had they thought for years that the punishment of their ancestor's
cruelty was to be continued to them no longer--that the spirits of the
widow's sons were at length appeased; but M'Alister More was to suffer
for ever; the hopes of his house might blossom, but they always faded.
It was in the reign of the good Queen Anne that they flourished for the
last time; they were blighted then, and for ever.

The laird and the lady had had several daughters born to them in
succession, and at last a son: he grew up to manhood in safety--the
pride of his people, and the darling of his parents; giving promise of
every virtue that could adorn his rank. He had been early contracted in
marriage to the daughter of another powerful chieftain in the North, and
the alliance, which had been equally courted by both families, was
concluded immediately on the return of the young laird from his travels.
There was a great intercourse in those days with France--most of the
young highland chiefs spent a year or two in that country, many of them
were entirely educated there, but that was not the case with the young
heir of M'Alister; he had only gone abroad to finish his breeding after
coming to man's estate. It was shortly before the first rebellion in the
15, to speak as my informant spoke to me--and being young, and of an
ardent nature, he was soon attracted to the court of the old Pretender,
whose policy it was to gain every Scotch noble, by every means, to his
views. The measures he took succeeded with the only son of
M'Alister:--he returned to his native country, eager for the approaching