I tell ye this at the start , for it 's a life that I ken well . But if ye ask what other chance ye have , I answer : Nane . Either take to the heather with me , or else hang . '' `` And that 's a choice very easily made , '' said I ; and we shook hands upon it . `` And now let 's take another keek at the red-coats , '' says Alan , and he led me to the north-eastern fringe of the wood . Looking out between the trees , we could see a great side of mountain , running down exceeding steep into the waters of the loch . It was a rough part , all hanging stone , and heather , and big scrogs of birchwood ; and away at the far end towards Balachulish , little wee red soldiers were dipping up and down over hill and howe , and growing smaller every minute . There was no cheering now , for I think they had other uses for what breath was left them ; but they still stuck to the trail , and doubtless thought that we were close in front of them . Alan watched them , smiling to himself . `` Ay , '' said he , `` they 'll be gey weary before they 've got to the end of that employ ! And so you and me , David , can sit down and eat a bite , and breathe a bit longer , and take a dram from my bottle . Then we 'll strike for Aucharn , the house of my kinsman , James of the Glens , where I must get my clothes , and my arms , and money to carry us along ; and then , David , we 'll cry , ` Forth , Fortune ! ' and take a cast among the heather . '' So we sat again and ate and drank , in a place whence we could see the sun going down into a field of great , wild , and houseless mountains , such as I was now condemned to wander in with my companion . Partly as we so sat , and partly afterwards , on the way to Aucharn , each of us narrated his adventures ; and I shall here set down so much of Alan 's as seems either curious or needful . It appears he ran to the bulwarks as soon as the wave was passed ; saw me , and lost me , and saw me again , as I tumbled in the roost ; and at last had one glimpse of me clinging on the yard . It was this that put him in some hope I would maybe get to land after all , and made him leave those clues and messages which had brought me -LRB- for my sins -RRB- to that unlucky country of Appin . In the meanwhile , those still on the brig had got the skiff launched , and one or two were on board of her already , when there came a second wave greater than the first , and heaved the brig out of her place , and would certainly have sent her to the bottom , had she not struck and caught on some projection of the reef . When she had struck first , it had been bows-on , so that the stern had hitherto been lowest . But now her stern was thrown in the air , and the bows plunged under the sea ; and with that , the water began to pour into the fore-scuttle like the pouring of a mill-dam .
It took the colour out of XXXXX 's face , even to tell what followed .
Alan Ay James birchwood bulwarks fore-scuttle keek left red-coats second