place where two ridges of hill enclosed the view so that only a
short bit of road was visible.

'I'll get back to the Kyle,' he told me, 'and a'body there kens
Andra Amos, if ye should find a way of sendin' a message or comin'
yourself. Oh, and I've got a word to ye from a lady that we ken of.
She says, the sooner ye're back in Vawnity Fair the better she'll be
pleased, always provided ye've got over the Hill Difficulty.'

A smile screwed up his old face and he waved his whip in
farewell. I interpreted Mary's message as an incitement to speed,
but I could not make the pace. That was Gresson's business. I think I
was a little nettled, till I cheered myself by another interpretation.
She might be anxious for my safety, she might want to see me
again, anyhow the mere sending of the message showed I was not
forgotten. I was in a pleasant muse as I breasted the hill, keeping
discreetly in the cover of the many gullies. At the top I looked
down on Ranna and the sea.

There lay the _Tobermory busy unloading. It would be some time,
no doubt, before Gresson could leave. There was no row-boat in
the channel yet, and I might have to wait hours. I settled myself
snugly between two rocks, where I could not be seen, and where I
had a clear view of the sea and shore. But presently I found that I
wanted some long heather to make a couch, and I emerged to get
some. I had not raised my head for a second when I flopped down
again. For I had a neighbour on the hill-top.

He was about two hundred yards off, just reaching the crest,
and, unlike me, walking quite openly. His eyes were on Ranna, so