And she bade us finish our meat , get clear of the clachan as soon as might be , and lie close in the bit wood on the sea-beach . `` And ye can trust me , '' says she , `` I 'll find some means to put you over . '' At this we waited for no more , but shook hands with her upon the bargain , made short work of the puddings , and set forth again from Limekilns as far as to the wood . It was a small piece of perhaps a score of elders and hawthorns and a few young ashes , not thick enough to veil us from passersby upon the road or beach . Here we must lie , however , making the best of the brave warm weather and the good hopes we now had of a deliverance , and planing more particularly what remained for us to do . We had but one trouble all day ; when a strolling piper came and sat in the same wood with us ; a red-nosed , bleareyed , drunken dog , with a great bottle of whisky in his pocket , and a long story of wrongs that had been done him by all sorts of persons , from the Lord President of the Court of Session , who had denied him justice , down to the Bailies of Inverkeithing who had given him more of it than he desired . It was impossible but he should conceive some suspicion of two men lying all day concealed in a thicket and having no business to allege . As long as he stayed there he kept us in hot water with prying questions ; and after he was gone , as he was a man not very likely to hold his tongue , we were in the greater impatience to be gone ourselves . The day came to an end with the same brightness ; the night fell quiet and clear ; lights came out in houses and hamlets and then , one after another , began to be put out ; but it was past eleven , and we were long since strangely tortured with anxieties , before we heard the grinding of oars upon the rowing-pins . At that , we looked out and saw the lass herself coming rowing to us in a boat . She had trusted no one with our affairs , not even her sweetheart , if she had one ; but as soon as her father was asleep , had left the house by a window , stolen a neighbour 's boat , and come to our assistance single-handed . I was abashed how to find expression for my thanks ; but she was no less abashed at the thought of hearing them ; begged us to lose no time and to hold our peace , saying -LRB- very properly -RRB- that the heart of our matter was in haste and silence ; and so , what with one thing and another , she had set us on the Lothian shore not far from Carriden , had shaken hands with us , and was out again at sea and rowing for Limekilns , before there was one word said either of her service or our gratitude . Even after she was gone , we had nothing to say , as indeed nothing was enough for such a kindness . Only Alan stood a great while upon the shore shaking his head . `` It is a very fine lass , '' he said at last . `` David , it is a very fine lass . '' And a matter of an hour later , as we were lying in a den on the sea-shore and I had been already dozing , he broke out again in commendations of her character . For my part , I could say nothing , she was so simple a creature that my heart smote me both with remorse and fear : remorse because we had traded upon her ignorance ; and fear lest we should have anyway involved her in the dangers of our situation . CHAPTER XXVII I COME TO MR. RANKEILLOR The next day it was agreed that Alan should fend for himself till sunset ; but as soon as it began to grow dark , he should lie in the fields by the roadside near to Newhalls , and stir for naught until he heard me whistling . At first I proposed I should give him for a signal the `` Bonnie House of Airlie , '' which was a favourite of mine ; but he objected that as the piece was very commonly known , any ploughman might whistle it by accident ; and taught me instead a little fragment of a Highland air , which has run in my head from that day to this , and will likely run in my head when I lie dying .
Every time it comes to me , it takes me off to that last day of my uncertainty , with XXXXX sitting up in the bottom of the den , whistling and beating the measure with a finger , and the grey of the dawn coming on his face .
Airlie Alan Inverkeithing RANKEILLOR commendations day first hamlets left piper