, 1898-11-21

opehhlhS- Dit'h IL tDt Insult Sou law
put upon my fathers son in your own
house, and you will be believing ma
when l say to you that if yuu were an
other man than the father of Helen
Cameron it is your blood ] would te
having for it upon this place. l was
not called the Heather Cat for nuthing,
said he, and now l am waiting for yo1
70 ask pardon for your words
"'Ma chorp m dhiaoul! said Dun
can Cameron. Perhaps you would be
finding the blood as hard to come by as
the music, but it is true what you have
been saying about the insult in my own
house, and / will be asking your par
don, as it becomes a gentleman to do.
You are a very proper lad, Dougal, and
l like you very well, but l cannot 60
back from my word. Yet, if You will
learn but Il pibrooh and play it to me,
you shall have my daughter Helen t.
wife, ever if you never touch the pipes
again or learn another note. There is
my hand on it, Dougal!' said he.
"The two clasped hands, and Dougal
put on his bonnet and took his long gun
ALUM III oIlltl III "tHlO ul. lis IGdl Y
was black with sorrow, for he knew
that the learning of one pibroch would
be no easier to him than the learning
of a hundred. So he went up into the
hills to be thinking of his sorrow, and
little was he mindiDg what way he was
going. His desire was but to be alone,
and he wandered on till something
ypaHa hi,, c,,lIarly GONNA tn hi,pca1f
and, raising his head with a start. he
found that he had come upon the moor
which is On the top of Ben Minor.
"The sunset was shining on the great
cairn, and, looking over at it. he saw a
huge heather cat playing and springing
by itself among the whin. 1t never no.
ticed Dougal at all, but just kept on
with its diversion, and he was minded
to shoot it, but it came over him that
it was doing no harm and enjoying its
life in its own way, Which l cannot
be doing said he, smiling sadly to
himself. So he lowered his gun and
turned away.
"And then he noticed that there was
a strange, deadly quiet in the ARA
weird, awesome kind of stiffness. Sud-
denly it came upon him that this wa
Hallow Eve, and there he was on the
top of Ben Minor, which was very well
known to be a favorite haunt of them
we must not name God save usD on
their own special day, with God knows
what watching all round him perhaps
in the heather. 1t had been that very
night five years that N Sergeant Loft
us, that had come with a search party
of tho electors soldiers (my black curse
be upon them y had gone up the noun
tain for a wager, being drunk. In the
face of warning he had gone up, jest
ing and disappearing. He came not
down that night, and in the morning
he was found lying dead on the moor
at the foot of the cairn. There was not
a mark on his body, but upon his face
was such a look of horror and fear that
they had to wrapa plaid round his head
before carrying him down, and in that
manner he was buried.
"Now, Dougal vas not n lad that
the waving Of a bush would brighten,
but he knew well that the place was
not a place to be delaying in at all. Sc
he turned to go down the mountain,
and as he did So there was a little old
man standing in front of him looking
him in the face.
"He was dressed in a long cloak of
dark gray that looked like cats fur,
with a red cap upon his head. The face
of him was yellow and wien, and out
of it looked two green. fiery eyes, like
the eyes of a wildcat, and as Dougal
gazed into these eyes he knew that it
was no mortal creature that was there.
God save us!
"He wished to make the holy sign.
but there was no more power in him
than in a-babe Of a day old. He could
not raise his hand. For a moment ter
ror gripped cold to his heart. Then he
remembered who he WAS and the name
he bore and he looked into the green
eyes without fear.
!" 1T is late that You are upon the
hill, Dougal, said the little old man
or the thing in the likeness of one. His
voice was like the wind in the chin.
ney, and seemed as if it had come from
far away and was very weary in the
coming. And it is neither your long
gum, said he, nor your claymore that
has kept you from leaving your dead
body on the hill this night. Well was
it for your fathers son, Dougal Mac.
Pherson, that you kept from trying to
harm in wantonness that which had
never harmed you and from firing the
shot that would have been the ending
of your good days upon this earth, and
well was it that you quailed not under
the eyes of the cat of Ben Mhor! 1t is
your kind heart, said he, and your
courage that have saved you this night,
and now you must ask n wish, and il
shall be granted to you, and since you
are my namesake I will be telling you
that it il according to what you shall
wish for that you shall thrive here
after. Bad wish, bad fortune said he,
and laughed, and his laugh seemed to
have come from farther away than his
voice and to be more weary.
CHOW, some there are that would
have been asking for lands and more for
gold, but all that was in the heart OF
Donegal was the Thought Of the blue
eyes and the fair hair of Helen Cam
eron.
"'Iwish,' said he, ito be able to play
q pibroch!
1T is a small asking, ; said the
thing, but it is u good one, and when
you shall have had your wish there
shall lie no more between you and me.
Your hearts desire you shall have, and
ever shall you thrive. Take these
pipes, said he, bringing a set from I'M
der the cloak and banding them to