after me in Morvern, that line would be warned, for it was a barrier
I must cross if I were to go farther north. I observed from the map
that it turned up the coast, and concluded that the place for me to
make for was the shore south of that turn, where Heaven might
send me some luck in the boat line. For I was pretty certain that
every porter and station-master on that tin-pot outfit was anxious
to make better acquaintance with my humble self.

I lunched off the sandwiches the Broadburys had given me, and
in the bright afternoon made my way down the hill, crossed at the
foot of a small fresh-water lochan, and pursued the issuing stream
through midge-infested woods of hazels to its junction with the
sea. It was rough going, but very pleasant, and I fell into the same
mood of idle contentment that I had enjoyed the previous morning.
I never met a soul. Sometimes a roe deer broke out of the covert,
or an old blackcock startled me with his scolding. The place was
bright with heather, still in its first bloom, and smelt better than the
myrrh of Arabia. It was a blessed glen, and I was as happy as a
king, till I began to feel the coming of hunger, and reflected that
the Lord alone knew when I might get a meal. I had still some
chocolate and biscuits, but I wanted something substantial.

The distance was greater than I thought, and it was already
twilight when I reached the coast. The shore was open and desolate
- great banks of pebbles to which straggled alders and hazels from
the hillside scrub. But as I marched northward and turned a little
point of land I saw before me in a crook of the bay a smoking
cottage. And, plodding along by the water's edge, was the bent
figure of a man, laden with nets and lobster pots. Also, beached on
the shingle was a boat.