careful search at the Kaim of Derncleugh, which was occasionally
occupied under night by vagrants of different descriptions. Having
thus dispersed his myrmidons in various directions, he himself
hastened by devious paths through the wood of Warroch to his
appointed interview with Hatteraick, from whom he hoped to learn
at more leisure than last night's conference admitted the
circumstances attending the return of the heir of Ellangowan to
his native country.

With manoeuvres like those of a fox when he doubles to avoid the
pack, Glossin strove to approach the place of appointment in a
manner which should leave no distinct track of his course. 'Would
to Heaven it would snow,' he said, looking upward, 'and hide these
foot-prints. Should one of the officers light upon them, he would
run the scent up like a bloodhound and surprise us. I must get
down upon the sea-beach, and contrive to creep along beneath the
rocks.'

And accordingly he descended from the cliffs with some difficulty,
and scrambled along between the rocks and the advancing tide; now
looking up to see if his motions were watched from the rocks above
him, now casting a jealous glance to mark if any boat appeared
upon the sea, from which his course might be discovered.

But even the feelings of selfish apprehension were for a time
superseded, as Glossin passed the spot where Kennedy's body had
been found. It was marked by the fragment of rock which had been
precipitated from the cliff above, either with the body or after
it. The mass was now encrusted with small shell-fish, and
tasselled with tangle and seaweed; but still its shape and