Looking back to the place from which he came, he could not help admiring
the address which had adopted a retreat of such seclusion and secrecy.
The rock, round the shoulder of which he had turned by a few
imperceptible notches, that barely afforded place for the foot, seemed,
in looking back upon it, a huge precipice, which barred all further
passage by the shores of the lake in that direction. There could be no
possibility, the breadth of the lake considered, of descrying the
entrance of the narrow and low-browed cave from the other side; so that,
unless the retreat had been sought for with boats, or disclosed by
treachery, it might be a safe and secret residence to its garrison as
long as they were supplied with provisions. Having satisfied his
curiosity in these particulars, Waverley looked around for Evan Dhu and
his attendants, who, he rightly judged, would be at no great distance,
whatever might have become of Donald Bean Lean and his party, whose mode
of life was, of course, liable to sudden migrations of abode.
Accordingly, at the distance of about half a mile, he beheld a Highlander
(Evan apparently) angling in the lake, with another attending him, whom,
from the weapon which he shouldered, he recognised for his friend with
the battle-axe.
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