Scotland/Scots > Reminiscences of a Highland parish

THE MINISTER AND HIS WORK.
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caution over deep moor-hags until he is lost in
utter bewilderment. Well, he has before now
spent the night under a rock, and waited until
break of day ; but having eaten only a little
bread and cheese since morning, he longs for
home. The moon is out, but the light reveals
only driving mist, and the mountain begins to
feel cold, damp, and terribly lonely. He walks
on, feeling his way with his staff, when suddenly
the mist clears off, and he finds himself on the
slope of a precipice. Throwing himself on his
back on the ground, and digging his feet into the
soil, he recovers his footing, and with thanksgiving
changes his course. Down comes the mist again,
thick as before. He has reached a wood—where
is he ? Ah! he knows the wood right well, and
has passed through it a hundred times, so he tries
to do so now, and in a few minutes has fallen
down a bank into a pool of water. But now he
has the track, and following it he reaches the spot
in the valley from where he had started two hours
before! He rouses a shepherd, and they journey
together to a ferry by which he can return home
by a circuitous route. The boat is there, but the
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