blood, both his eyes were bloodshot, and his whole appearance bore evident marks of violence. On seeing me his aspect of savage ferocity softened into a slight grin of recognition, and his suspicious glance was exchanged for an air of seeming confidence, but still he retained the attitude of defence and the grasp of his shillelah.

"My honest friend, Alastair, can this be you?" said I. "I am sorry to see you in such a plight."

"Och, I hope she's very well," he replied, while with the familiarity of an old acquaintance he presented to me his huge fist, which, I remarked, was likewise stained with blood.

"Pray, Alastair, what made you take up your lodging in such a place, and how came you by all these marks of strife? Have you had a scuffle lately with your neighbour, Rory of the Glen?"

"Och, sir, I had a visit yesterday from worse neighbours than Rory of the Glen ever was to me."

I had already begun to suspect the true cause of the smuggler's calamity, and, observing that he still kept a distrustful eye on my companions, whose presence seemed to lay a constraint upon his tongue, I assured him that he need be under no apprehension from them, as they would be as sorry as myself to reveal anything to his prejudice. When they all had confirmed by their own mouths what I had said, and encouraged him to explain his case with confidence, Alastair Roy-for this was his true name- -proceeded without reserve to detail the particulars of a visit which he had received from a party of Excise. They had demolished his still, destroyed all his apparatus, and would have also made himself their captive, but for the stubborn resistance which he offered, and for the presence of mind and masculine courage of his female assistant.

This heroine had not only taken an active part in the scuffle from its commencement, but when Alastair had been stunned and felled to the ground by a stroke from a cutlass, and the man that dealt the blow was about to secure him with manacles, she snatched his weapon from his hands and, presenting it to his bosom, compelled him to relinquish his prey, and kept him and all his companions at bay till the smuggler recovered his senses and his trusty claymore. Their united efforts then succeeded in putting to flight all the party, though they themselves had been reduced in consequence to the necessity of consulting their safety by absconding. Last evening in the dusk Alastair had arrived in Glen Lynna; but fearing to entrust his safety with any of the inhabitants, with whom he had been but slightly acquainted, and being unable to proceed farther on account of fatigue, he had preferred abiding for a night in the Uaimh a Bhodaich, although he was not ignorant of its forbidding character. He said he would much rather encounter the Bodach Glas, together with all the other goblins in Glen Lynna, than be put on his trial before the powdered wigs of the Exchequer Court in Edinburgh. Knowing how much Alastair Roy stood in awe of imaginary beings, I could readily believe that his horror of the venerable Bench of Barons was by no means fictitious, when rather than confront them he could thus venture to brave all the powers of darkness. I could also form some conception of the magnitude of his sufferings and fatigue when he could sleep so soundly in the very stronghold of the demons of Glen Lynua.

It was his intention, he said, to continue his light, now that he was

somewhat refreshed by sleep, to a distant part of the country, where he had some friends, by whose means he hoped to be able to lie concealed till the storm was blown over. By this time his calamities, whether merited or not, had engaged as much the sympathies of my companions as my own. The Doctor now examined his wounds, and gave it as his opinion that it would be very dangerous for him to attempt going farther till they were in a better state. After a brief consultation, therefore, it was agreed that he should remain for some days at a shealing belonging to the Captain not far distant, along with two of his shepherds, whose secrecy he would take care to secure. The Doctor engaged to visit him there till he were again fit for his journey. On inquiry after my friend the shepherd of Glenaverain, I was glad to find that, by the surgical skill of the wise man of the clachan, and the capital attention of his own affectionate Ericht, he was already on foot again, and able, with the aid of a crutch, to walk small distances.

When everything was arranged for Alastair Roy's accommodation, we set out on our return to Auldour, where we arrived before many eyelids were yet opened. When at length all the company assembled round the breakfast table, it was a high treat to observe the victorious airs with which Miss Grisilda began to crow over the seemingly crestfallen Captain. The latter sat silent and apparently thoughtful, while she proceeded to state how he had made a full recantation of all his heretical opinions, and represented in glowing colours all the dreadful sights and sounds which he had last night witnessed. He had been nearly frightened out of his wits by a white ghost at the churchyard; by a dreadful burning inside the old chapel; by a troop of phantom horsemen, who hailed him with a volley of loud laughter as they galloped past him; and lastly, by something in the haunted cave, of which he had promised to give a full account at breakfast-even the particulars of an encounter which he had had with the Bodach Glas himself. She concluded by now calling on him to fulfil his engagement, and gratify the company with what he had promised.

"Miss Grisilda," replied the Captain, "I must take the liberty to tell you that in your representation of my last night's confessions you make rather a more liberal use of the figure of speech called hyperbole than strict justice to the accused party would demand. I made no recantation whatever-begging your pardon, ma'am-nor did I admit that I had seen or encountered either deadlight, goblin, or bodach, much less that I had been so seriously terrified as your words imply."

"Well, after that, anything!" exclaimed Miss Grisilda, raising both her hands and eyes with astonishment, and appearing as the actual personification of surprise. "I appeal," she added with much emphasis, "to Miss Jacobina, to Miss Madelina, to Miss Johanna, and to all the other ladies and gentlemen who were present, if I have not faithfully reported your words. Did you not say, 'that if ever a sheeted ghost was seen in a churchyard, you saw one last night?' Answer me that, Captain Maclaine."

"Why, I must admit that I made use of words much to that import. But I am glad, Miss Grisilda, that you remembered the if. There is much virtue in your ifs,' you know, and I see I must be much beholden to them on the present occasion. If ever a ghost was seen in a churchyard, I am still ready to allow that last night I did see one, and trembled

too, if you will have it so, at the awful sight. But till you convert the supposition into a certainty, and prove the reality of such an apparition, I must beg to assert that what I saw was only my own grey horse, while standing with his face directly towards me, and the rest of his body thereby concealed. Such an appearance in the dark, and so near a churchyard, might have been taken for a real apparition in any country. This is not the first time that Sultan has played upon the fancy of the benighted passenger. As to the eldritch laugh which I mentioned, if ever you happened to hear a horse neigh faintly, you could be at no loss to understand it."

"Well, such equivocation!" exclaimed Miss Grisilda, while the majority of the company had no small enjoyment at her expense. "I suppose," she added, "you will explain away everything else that you saw and heard by similar shuffling. How do you account for the light which you said you saw in the chapel?"

"Very easily. It was nothing more nor less than a light from a back window of the house, which I saw through a window of the old ruins in the precise manner I formerly described."

"And what becomes of the phantom horses?"

"They were real horses, ma'am-no phantoms. You will find them still grazing in the corry if you doubt my word and choose to be at the trouble of going to see. Frightened by some cause which I cannot pretend to explain-by the Bodach Glas if you please-they came thundering past me in the darkness exactly in the way I mentioned. And after the story of my own horse, I suppose there is no occasion to explain the awful mystery of the laughter. It was genuine horse laughter."

Sounds of a similar character were by this time rising from all parts of the table, while Miss Grisilda and her partisans strove in vain to conceal their uneasiness at their awkward position. Still, however, they had sufficient resolution to inquire about the adventure in the cave; and as the Captain, agreeably to the resolution which had been adopted on our way homeward from the corry, chose to communicate no more of that affair than appeared consistent with the smuggler's safety, he related only the most marvellous part of it, leaving his audience to explain them in any way they pleased.

This furnished the defeated party with a rallying point. Miss Grisilda recovered her spirits and her voice, and with much eloquence contended that the breathing he had heard could have proceeded from no imaginable creature but the Bodach Glas. Several of her fair allies again took up their weapons in her cause, and the controversy threatened once more to become general. The Captain for some time kept entirely aloof, till, perceiving that neither party was likely to come off with an undisputed victory, he at once put a period to the strife, by remarking that for his part he would never again engage in argument with Miss Grisilda, as she had last night proved herself more than a match for him, but must beg to refer the disputants to the evidence of three competent witnesses, then at the table, who had that morning accompanied him to inquire into the mysterious circumstance.

The said witnesses having been called up accordingly, severally deponed that they had found no Bodach Glas in the cave, but that a very substantial Bodach Roy was there, fast asleep on a couch of heather.' In

other words, they asserted that they had found a stout, red-haired man, who had taken up his night's lodging in the Uaimh-a-Bhodaich, and who seemed no less astonished at the sight of intruders upon his morning slumbers than they themselves were at his ferocious aspect. They would confess no more for the present, but consented, if any one desired to know any more about him, or his reasons for seeking an asylum there, to afford entire satisfaction on both these points before night.

After this clearing up of so many mysteries, there remained nothing for the advocates of the marvellous but to endure the mortifying laugh which their opponents now raised against them. Miss Grisilda was reduced to absolute silence-a more extraordinary phenomenon than any that had yet been discussed. Her aspect and behaviour betrayed an evident struggle between her good nature and her indignation. The Captain, I was afraid, had entirely forfeited her favour, which I doubted if he could ever recover, unless the pleasing occasion of presenting the well-earned marriage gloves should revive her kindlier feelings towards him. She soon, however, recovered the full use of her tongue, and gave her opponents to understand that nothing had yet occurred to invalidate her general doctrine of apparitions, and that she was by no means disposed to concede the palm of victory. As the opposite party had lost their chief pillar in the defection of the Captain, they showed no disposition to renew the combat. They therefore suffered her to erect her trophy unmolested and to enjoy her imagined triumph. Some of her fair partisans candidly confessed that they regretted that the Captain's adventure had thus lost all its marvellous character, chiefly because they were thereby deprived of a choice topic for filling their next letters to their correspondents.

I took a temporary leave that day of my kind friends at Auldour to extend my excursion westward. What befel me before my return I at present reserve; and not to break the continuity of my narrative, I shall briefly state the result of my observations and information during the only other evening which I had the happiness to spend under that hospitable roof. I was anxious to learn how the Captain's cause had prospered during the two weeks that I had been absent. I was fortunate enough to find Maclaine there when I returned, and was glad to perceive that his friendly footing did not seem to be diminished. The Colonel in his evening walk leaned on his arm as usual, and the young ladies flirted with him as familiarly as ever. Mrs Mackenzie, however, and some one or two besides of the more aged dames, together with Miss Grisilda, treated him, as I believed, with more than their wonted coldness and reserve. In the manners of Jacobina herself I could discover no change. She had such absolute control over the external expression of her feelings that in his presence she betrayed no symptom from which any certain inference could be drawn. The most amusing incident of the evening was a certain dry but rather severe practical joke, which she contrived to play off upon him. As all men have their foibles, and not a few have very ridiculous ones, so the gallant Captain was not without his, which was a violent nervous antipathy to mice. At the sight of "such small deer" he would start and scream and run like a city-bred miss. Though he had never turned his back to an armed foe of his own species, and could brave, as we have seen, all the powers of darkness, he was yet a sheer coward when he beheld one

of the little depredators of the pantry. Had his enemy in the wars known this weakness, instead of opposing him with sword and bayonet, he would have set before him a couple of the small quadrupeds just mentioned, the very sight of them in the slips in all probability would have as effectually discomfitted him as in days of old the feline allies of King Cambyses did the numerous hosts of Egypt.

This infirmity in the Captain being well known, had been often laid hold of to raise a little merriment at his expense; and though the joke had been often repeated, its success was still as certain as ever. I myself witnessed this, when a repetition of it was effected by means of her whom he most admired; and when I add that the inference which I have deduced was somewhat unfavourable to my friend, I perhaps hazard my own character for penetration in such matters by the remark.

At supper the Captain was requested by Jacobina to help her from a covered dish that was before him. With his usual politeness he hastened to oblige her, On his lifting the cover, out leaped into his bosom a spirited little mouse. The cover dropped from his hand, he uttered a nervous shriek, instantly sprang to his feet, nearly demolished the table, and leaped upon his chair, where he stood for several seconds with the aspect of personified horror, amidst the deafening peals of laughter which rose all around him from the convulsed company.

The concussion which the jest gave to the sides of the hearty old landlord had nearly proved more serious to him than the alarm to the Captain. Several others also suffered severely, and some time elapsed before tranquillity could again be restored. Maclaine did not immediately recover from the shock, and his appetite seemed completely spoiled. Had any other but the lovely Jacobina acted so to him, it is difficult to conceive how he could have forgiven it; but as he could harbour no resentment against her, he recovered his good humour much sooner than might have been expected, and joined in the mirth he had excited,

I was under the necessity next morning of bidding a final adieu to the worthy family, from whom I had experienced such kindness. I was accompanied to the bridge of Eihre by the Captain, whom the favourable day had induced to try the river for a grilse. Though I had several times used the freedom to rally him on his affaires de cœur, I had never yet succeeded in drawing from him any explicit confession. I was too much interested in his success, however, to take my leave without making another attempt to discover what progress he had made. As we walked along, therefore, I seized my opportunity to remark that before the elapse of many weeks I hoped to see announced in the newspapers the consummation of his happiness.

The observation had all the desired effect. He thanked me for my warm interest in his views, and, affecting no misconception of my meaning, proceeded without farther hint to let me into the knowledge of the state of his case. I rejoiced to learn, notwithstanding the apparently immense superiority of force brought to bear against him, that he had during my brief absence achieved ar almost decisive victory. While his rival Dunbreckan was most urgent in his suit, and when circumstances seemed most favourable to his views, the Captain had succeeded in gaining from the blushing object of their rivalship the flattering confession for which he had so long and so zealously struggled. He had also been able to gain