"He will not need to do so," said Muckle John, and rose to his feet.
Footsteps suddenly sounded on the street without. A loud knock came at the door—then another, and the noise of a horse's impatient hoofs thumped and clattered on the cobbles.
Like a vast shadow, Muckle John passed silently inside the other room, while Miss Macpherson drew back the bolts.
In the street was a trooper, holding a package in his hand.
"For Mistress Macpherson," said he, "from Captain Strange, now stationed at Fort Augustus," and, mounting again, he walked slowly up the street.
Inside, she tore open the paper. It requested her to travel to Fort Augustus at dawn.
Muckle John read what it was at a glance.
Then, gathering up his coat, he bowed, and, meeting her eyes for a moment, passed into the darkness of the street and was gone.