CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
THE MYSTERIOUS LIGHT.
There were moments when Max began to feel doubtful; others when hefancied it might be some deceptive marsh light; and then a great despaircame upon him, for, just as he had come to the hopeful conclusion thatthere really was a cottage in the glen, where he could find rest, andwarmth, and food, the light suddenly disappeared, and he was in adarkness which seemed to be, from the overshadowing mountains, evendeeper than the darkness of the mist.
That was but the fancy of the moment, for the stars gave him lightenough to slowly continue his way, but he stopped and hesitated as towhether he should go on or go back.
The way along the edge of the loch was easy, and seemed to lead towardthe entrance of the glen. This side branch grew more difficult at everystep, and, as the light had disappeared, he felt it would be better togo back, and he began to descend the rough way among the stones in thebed of the stream, when, turning one of these, he happened to look back,and there was the light burning clearly once more.
That was no marsh light, it was too clear and glowing, and, feelingconvinced now that it had only been hidden by some turn of the ravine orinterposing stone, he once more began to ascend the streamlet, till thelight, which he watched intently, suddenly again disappeared.
He stopped short and stepped back a couple of paces, when the lightreappeared; and, seeing that he was right, he pressed on, with theresult that at the end of a few minutes there was the light again.
Twice over it disappeared as he stumbled onward, but there it was again,and growing so much plainer as he drew nearer, that it gradually tookthe form of fire shining through an open door.
Convinced that it was either a little country inn or the home of someshepherd, Max's hopes rose, and he stumbled on, hoping every minute tocome upon a path which should lead up to the door.
But he hoped in vain, though he had one satisfaction, that of seeing theshape of a doorway quite plainly, and the flickering of a fire, whichsome one must be in the act of stirring.
Directly after he saw the doorway darkened, as if somebody had passedout, and his lips parted to call for guidance to the place, when heheard a movement behind him, and, turning sharply, there was anothersound, as if a stone had fallen.
This made him turn round again toward the light, when, quick as thought,something thick was thrown over his head and drawn close, a pair ofsinewy arms dashed his to his sides; he was drawn backward; some oneseized his legs, and, in spite of his straggles, he was lifted from theground, and two men seemed to be carrying him over a rugged way, now up,now down.
He shouted and begged as well as his half-suffocated state would allow,for the covering to be taken from his head, but the only response heobtained was an angry shake and a tighter clasp of the arms about hislegs.
All at once he could see red light glowing through the great woollencloth which covered him, and he felt that he was thrown on the ground,and that some one was binding his legs together. Directly after, hisarms were bound behind his back, he was placed in a sitting posture, andthe cloth was snatched from his head.
The glowing light of a fire shone right into his eyes, dazzling them, sothat for some few moments he could make out nothing but the fact that hewas in a stone-built hut, before a fierce fire, and that twofierce-looking bearded men were glaring at him.
Before he could collect himself to speak, some one shouted from outside,and one of his captors replied, but the Gaelic words were quiteunintelligible to the prisoner, as was also the conversation whichensued between the two men before him, though it was apparent that onewas urging the other to do something from which he shrank.
"Hwhat will she want?" said the latter at last, in a harsh voice.
"I've lost my way in the mountains," said Max. "I'm tired and cold andhungry. Please undo this rope; it hurts."
The man who had not spoken said something now to Max's questioner, andit seemed that the words which had passed were translated, with theresult that he burst into a torrent of harsh-sounding speech, apparentlyfull of dissent.
This seemed to be the case, for the one who tried to speak Englishexclaimed sharply,--
"She shall tell her a lee."
"I--I don't understand you," said Max.
"She came along wi' ta exciseman."
"No," said Max. "I came quite alone."
"Sassenach" was the only word which Max could make out in the dialoguewhich followed, and this was at its height when a third fierce-lookingman came in, and the three laid their heads together, glancing towardthe door uneasily, and then at what seemed to be a great copper boilingover the fire.
As they stood together, with the ruddy glow playing upon their fiercecountenances, it seemed to Max that he must have fallen into the handsof Scottish freebooters, and the next thing he felt was that he shouldbe robbed and murdered, or the operations be performed in reversefashion.
The men's appearance was wild enough to have excited dread in one ofstouter nerves than Max Blande, who, faint and exhausted, lay there inso helpless a plight that he was not in a condition to do more thananxiously watch his captors, as they talked loudly in Gaelic andgesticulated angrily.
To Max it seemed as if they were debating how he should be done todeath; and, in spite of the horror of the thought, he was so stunned, asit were, his feelings were so deadened, that he did not feel the acutedread that might have been expected. There was almost as much curiosityin his feelings as fear, and he began at last to wonder why they did nottake his watch and chain, purse and pocket-book, both of which latterwere fairly well filled--his father having been generous to him when hestarted upon his journey, and there having been absolutely no means ofspending money at Dunroe.
The debate grew more and more angry, the men evidently quarrellingfiercely, but not a word could Max make out. Their actions, however,seemed plain enough, as they all turned their eyes fiercely upon him,and the effect was peculiar, for the ruddy firelight was reflected fromthem, so that they seemed to glow as they suddenly made a dart at him,two of the men dragging him unresisting to his feet, while the third,before he could grasp his intention, flung the dingy old plaid which hadmuffled him before, over his head, twisting it tightly about his throat.
Max uttered a hoarse cry, but it was smothered directly, and he gavehimself up for lost, as he was seized once more and hurried out into thedarkness. This much he knew by the absence of the light dimly shiningthrough the coarse woollen fabric which covered his head.
He was carried in this way for quite a quarter of an hour. Sometimesthey were going upwards and sometimes downwards; while he could gatherthat the way chosen was terribly rough, from the manner in which he wasjerked about.
This went on till a dull sound came in a muffled way through the plaid,and he gathered from this that they were approaching the falls he hadheard before, or else some others.
The sound of roaring water grew louder and louder, and now he knew thatthey were climbing more slowly evidently upward, as if the ascent wereexceedingly steep. Then the sound of the water falling--a deep bass,quivering roar--grew louder and louder; while, from being hot now almostto suffocation, the perspiration gathered on his brow grew cold, and,trembling with horror, he felt that the end was near, and that thewretches who held him were about to throw him off into the fall whosewaters thundered in his ear.
He uttered a few wild cries for mercy, but they seemed to be unheard,and, just when his agony was strained to the highest pitch, the roarsuddenly grew fainter, and the bearers paused on comparatively levelground.
All at once one of the men unfastened the cords which confined him,after which the other grasped his wrist, and he was forced to walkonward at a rapid rate.
For some minutes he could hardly stumble along, his feet feeling numbedand tingling sharply, but by degrees the normal sensation returned, andhe could feel that he was walking through short heather, and at timesover soft, springy grass.
At last he was so exhausted that he stumbled agai
n and again, recoveringhimself by an effort, and keeping on for another quarter of an hour,when his legs gave way beneath him, and he sank upon his knees.
A low, guttural ejaculation from his conductor now reached his ears, andhe felt that the plaid was twisted quickly from his neck, the cool nightair fell upon his cheek, and he could see the stars indistinctly, as ifthrough a mist, as they suddenly grew dark, and then there was nothing.