Without much ceremony he invited
Edward to accompany him on a short walk of ten or fifteen miles into the
mountains, and see the place where the cattle were conveyed to; adding,
'If it be as I suppose, you never saw such a place in your life, nor ever
will, unless you go with me or the like of me.'
Our hero, feeling his curiosity considerably excited by the idea of
visiting the den of a Highland Cacus, took, however, the precaution to
inquire if his guide might be trusted. He was assured that the invitation
would on no account have been given had there been the least danger, and
that all he had to apprehend was a little fatigue; and, as Evan proposed
he should pass a day at his Chieftain's house in returning, where he
would be sure of good accommodation and an excellent welcome, there
seemed nothing very formidable in the task he undertook. Rose, indeed,
turned pale when she heard of it; but her father, who loved the spirited
curiosity of his young friend, did not attempt to damp it by an alarm of
danger which really did not exist, and a knapsack, with a few
necessaries, being bound on the shoulders of a sort of deputy gamekeeper,
our hero set forth with a fowling-piece in his hand, accompanied by his
new friend Evan Dhu, and followed by the gamekeeper aforesaid, and by two
wild Highlanders, the attendants of Evan, one of whom had upon his
shoulder a hatchet at the end of a pole, called a Lochaber-axe,
[Footnote: See Note 14] and the other a long ducking-gun.
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