CHAPTER XVII THE DEATH OF THE RED FOX The next day Mr. Henderland found for me a man who had a boat of his own and was to cross the Linnhe Loch that afternoon into Appin , fishing . Him he prevailed on to take me , for he was one of his flock ; and in this way I saved a long day 's travel and the price of the two public ferries I must otherwise have passed . It was near noon before we set out ; a dark day with clouds , and the sun shining upon little patches . The sea was here very deep and still , and had scarce a wave upon it ; so that I must put the water to my lips before I could believe it to be truly salt . The mountains on either side were high , rough and barren , very black and gloomy in the shadow of the clouds , but all silver-laced with little watercourses where the sun shone upon them . It seemed a hard country , this of Appin , for people to care as much about as Alan did . There was but one thing to mention . A little after we had started , the sun shone upon a little moving clump of scarlet close in along the water-side to the north . It was much of the same red as soldiers ' coats ; every now and then , too , there came little sparks and lightnings , as though the sun had struck upon bright steel . I asked my boatman what it should be , and he answered he supposed it was some of the red soldiers coming from Fort William into Appin , against the poor tenantry of the country . Well , it was a sad sight to me ; and whether it was because of my thoughts of Alan , or from something prophetic in my bosom , although this was but the second time I had seen King George 's troops , I had no good will to them . At last we came so near the point of land at the entering in of Loch Leven that I begged to be set on shore . My boatman -LRB- who was an honest fellow and mindful of his promise to the catechist -RRB- would fain have carried me on to Balachulish ; but as this was to take me farther from my secret destination , I insisted , and was set on shore at last under the wood of Lettermore -LRB- or Lettervore , for I have heard it both ways -RRB- in Alan 's country of Appin . This was a wood of birches , growing on a steep , craggy side of a mountain that overhung the loch . It had many openings and ferny howes ; and a road or bridle track ran north and south through the midst of it , by the edge of which , where was a spring , I sat down to eat some oat-bread of Mr. Henderland 's and think upon my situation . Here I was not only troubled by a cloud of stinging midges , but far more by the doubts of my mind . What I ought to do , why I was going to join myself with an outlaw and a would-be murderer like Alan , whether I should not be acting more like a man of sense to tramp back to the south country direct , by my own guidance and at my own charges , and what Mr. Campbell or even Mr. Henderland would think of me if they should ever learn my folly and presumption : these were the doubts that now began to come in on me stronger than ever . As I was so sitting and thinking , a sound of men and horses came to me through the wood ; and presently after , at a turning of the road , I saw four travellers come into view . The way was in this part so rough and narrow that they came single and led their horses by the reins . The first was a great , red-headed gentleman , of an imperious and flushed face , who carried his hat in his hand and fanned himself , for he was in a breathing heat .
The XXXXX , by his decent black garb and white wig , I correctly took to be a lawyer .
Alan Appin Balachulish George Lettermore Loch catechist first second tenantry