Blair Collection > Deo-gréine

AN DEO-GHREINE.
153
yawns far below. From the head of the loch
the path led up a steep hill, and on the other
side it dipped suddenly down into the glen
again. On the top of that ridge Torquil set
his men. A turf wall was on the lower side
of the path ; boulders of rock, birch trees and
fir clung to the slope above it. The walls of
a house stood a few yards away ; fire had con-
sumed the rest of it.
Behind the boulders above the path, Torquil
set his men so that they could all fire at the
little hollow where the road began suddenly
to ascend. Here and there he placed them.
When they had fired behind one boulder, they
were to run in the shelter of the brushwood to
another spot and there they were to fire again
and show the gleam of steel. Thus the soldiers
would think that they were attacked by large
numbers. "You will make no sign till the
cattle are over the ridge first. Then you will
fire on the soldiers and stop them," ordered
Torquil. "And you, Ian Beag, whenever the
cattle are across the ridge and going down the
other side, you will turn them and go off with
them towards Faichem, and drive them as fast
as you can to Inverarigie. If you do that you
will be better than six men."
So they lay, each behind his boulder, their
hearts thumping against their chests. From
the spot where Torquil lay he could see the
turn of the'path, and the deep hollow below
where the river foamed against the rocks in its
stony channels and spread out into deep pools
shadowed by the dark firs. The light still lin-
gered on the tapering crest of Ben Tigh ; but
the foam of the river below was all the bright-
ness left in the dark gorge. The sound of the
water tumbling over the rock issuing from its
long silence and rest in the loch, as if eager
for action, tearing itself in its keenness to
hasten seaward, filled the dark valley with a
dull, monotonous roar.
"No man is to fire till I fire first," was the
last command of Torquil."
At last when the day was nearly done, the
sound of hoofs came up the road, dominating
the sound of the water throwing itself down
the gorge. They came lowing through the
narrow defile, turning their horned heads to
right and left. Torquil felt his hands trembling
and his musket he poised on the rock to steady
it. Very slowly they came ; at least it seemed
so to him ; and behind them came the soldiers
laughing and talking ; so near the fort there
was no thought of danger. In the valley a
mile away was one of their outposts.
Torquil waited till the cattle were past him,
and the first of them well over the ridge.
And then when the soldiers were come to the
hollow at the foot of the steep brae, he fired.
Here and there from the brae, out of the dark-
ness six bullets came hissing into the compact
band of soldiers, and there rose among them
yells of agony.
Torquil and his men ran to the shelter of
other rocks ; and as they ran they shouted.
A sudden panic seized the soldiers. The gather-
ing gloom ; the unexpected attack ; the uncer-
tainty as to how many were lurking there on
the slope — all filled them with dismay. Put-
ting his shoulder to a rock that stood poised
on the slope, Hector Ruadh pushed it with his
might and it came tumbling down with a roar.
Striking his sword on a stone he cried out : —
"Give them the claymore ! "
At the word, the soldiers nearest the turf
wall leaped over it and ran down the gorge,
and the rest ran after them. The horror of the
night in that narrow defile seized them. Behind
every bush a wild Highlander seemed to lurk.
And as they leaped down into the gorge,
Torquil and his men stole up the slope, and
skirting a bog, came up with Ian Beag who
was herding the cattle before him towards
Faichem. The brushwood lay between them
and the soldiers in the dark, gloomy valley
where the rough flowing river foamed and
fretted.
"How many soldiers were left on the path ? "
asked Torquil.
"Three," answered Hector ; "they will not
seek to steal the cattle of honest men again."
Clouds came up from the west and quickly
darkened the sky To the soldiers in the gorge
the night fell suddenly blank. The horror of
desolate hills wrapped in the sable garments
of night, seized them. Carrying their wounded
men they made their way to the fort, bringing
no spoil with them.
In the moor above Glengarry there is a
sudden dip, and when a stranger comes upon
it unexpectedly he is surprised to see a circular
hollow large enough to pasture a few hundred
cattle, with a clear stream flowing through
the midst of it. It is so hid that one might
pass within a few hundred yards without ever
seeing it. The raiders had often rested their
stolen cattle there.
"We will make for the cattle stealers' glade,"
said Torquil to his men," and we will rest the
beasts there, and take them back the following
night. They will be safe there."
So they decided. But Torquil and Ian Beag
in the dawn of the day set forth to return to
Spidean Mileach taking milk with them — the
milk for which Mairi Eachann had so waited
the previous day.
Torquil called her as he came near, and she
came out, standing in the crevice of the rocks,
with her grey hairs streaming in the wind.
"We have brought you milk for Calum,"
cried Torquil, "and the cattle are coming back,