The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

The Legend of Ihe Dark Loch. 731
shepherd's staff which was firmly fixed in the soil. At his
feet lay two large, shaggy collie dogs. The latter, on
observing me, commenced to growl and bark. Thus dis-
turbed, the old man, having rebuked the dogs, was on the
point of departing hurriedly, when I recognised him as an
old friend whose acquaintance I had made several years
before when spending a holiday in Sutherlandshire. The
next moment we were shaking hands in the true, hearty
Highland fashion, while the old man poured forth a torrent
of questions.
" And is it really yourself, Mister Alick ? x'\nd I
thought it was only a Sassenach, Lie down, Gaisgeach [
And where have you been all this time, and when did you
come here ? Come ahint. Rover !
Ah
!
the poor brutes
know you too. See how they jump and bark with joy at
seeing you." And he continued in this strain for fully five
minutes before I had an opportunity of satisfying the
curiosity he evinced regarding my doings and whereabouts
since I saw^ him last. In a few sentences I gave him a
brief account of my career during the past few years, and
then we both sat down on the green bank—his former seat
—for I would gladly have sacrificed even the day's trout-
fishing for the sake of having a chat wath old Rob Gordon.
Never shall I forget that June morning ; and often
since, on wild winter nights when the wind is howling
round the corners of the house, and whistling at the doors
and windows, and shaking violently the mighty trees in its
fury, has that magnificent view I had from the shores of
Loch Veyatie risen before my imagination, a view unsur-
passed in grandeur, a view that can only be adequately
delineated by the artist's brush.
In front of us stretched the loch like a huge mirror^
reflecting, faithfully, not only the exact image and well-
defined outlines of the hill that rose on its northern side,,
but even the various delicate tints of heather, grass, moss
and bush in which the hill was arrayed. Away to the right
we could see Cannisp with its grassy slopes and rugged