For a moment he blinked, and then perceiving that the soldiers on the mainland were pushing a boat on to the loch he shrugged his shoulders.
"I was awaiting you," he remarked quietly, "but I did not look for red-coats! Even Murray, your last messenger, came alone."
Muckle John shook the water from his coat.
"Had I known you were here," he said, "I would rather have been taken."
Lovat was greatly puzzled, so puzzled he could only gape at him.
"Come," went on Muckle John, "there is not a moment to be lost. Get you into a boat, and away with you. Leave a dozen of your men here, we can hold them back awhile. But when you reach the mainland consider yourself no longer safe from me."
Lovat grinned at that.
"How you fight who's to have my poor body," he replied. "What if I stay quietly here? If it must be one or other, better Fort William, where I shall at least be protected from you."
"My lord," returned Muckle John, "you estimate Fort William over highly. But let that pass—come, sir, if you will not move I'll put you in a boat by force. They are half-way across. Will you rise or no?"
Very slowly Lovat got upon his legs.