The herald., 1897-10-24

IT am tired-take me home. You
promised to take me home!" The lit
tie maids voice was full of pitifulness
further and further from the house of
Earlstoun.
I'VE cannot pass that way-the SOL
! dier men would shoot u.s." l answered
her with truth.
"Then take me to my Auntie JEAN"
she persisted, catching at my hand pet
tishly, "and my mother will come for
me in the morning."
But where does your Auntie Jean
live?"
How can 1 tell--it is such a long
way" she answered. 1T is in a house
in the middle of loch"
This could only mean in the old
tower of Lochinvar. But that was yet
longer and more difficult road than
to the Earlstoun, and line of sem
tries up the Bennan side barred our
progress as completely as ever.
Yet there was something attractive
in the little maids idea. For that an
cient strength. alone, among all the
neighboring houses sheltered no band
of troopers. It's owner. Walter Gordon,
the famous swordsman, was in exile
abroad, so they said, and the place,
save for a room or two, totally dis
rupted and broken down.
There was, however, no safer refuge
for little Mary, if indeed her aunt dwelt
there, and we could find our way. Sud-
denly, as we looked about, an idea
came to me. and what is not so COM
mon, the means of carrying it out.
The sheepfolds Cor buchts) in which
we were hiding were walled in with
rough stones from the hill, piled so as
to form dykes, high and strong, and
the entrances were defended by heavy
wooden gates swung upon posts driven
deep into the ground. The gates lifted
away easily from their hinges. Two OF
three of these would make a secure
enough raft if l could only fasten them
together.
So with the little girl close behind
me, I searched both sets of buchts
from end to end. 1 found three gates
which could be easily detached from
their posts. These 1 dismounted one
after another.
How, then, was I to get them to the
waters edge? For they were far toe
heavy for my puny strength. I could
only break limb from a tree and draw
them down to the loch shore on that.
So we set off for the wood to break
our branch. 1t was not long before
had one of beech lying upon the
ground. with all it's wealth of rustling
leaves upon it. Trailing this behind us
we came again to the "ewe-buchts."
1t was now no difficult job to trans
port the raft of gates down to the
water. / gave Mary Gordon branch
to tug at, which made her happier
than anything l had done since Anna
committed her to my care, for she
pleased herself with thinking that she
did the whole work.
was almost on the point of using q
hay.rope to bind them together as the
best l could do, when ! remembered
that in the corner of our own buchts
my father kept some well-tarred hem
pen cord If it CHANGED not to be re-
moved, without doubt it would prove
the very thing.
I found it in the little shelf-press
rudely constructed in the wall of foul
| blocks of stone split into faces. With
this I tied the bars closely together by
| the corners, and cross bars, and pres
emily had built up very commodious
raft indeed though one more than 6
| trifle heavy. 1t was some time before
1 hit upon plan of launching my tor
heavy craft. With the loose "stob' OF
a gate-post, l managed to lever the
crank construction to the edge of q
sloping bank, down which it slid sc
quickly that had to set my heels into
the grass and hold back with all my
might