“Father,” he cried, “he’s gone!”

“Gone?”

“Yes. Max has gone.”

“Gone? Impossible! Where could he have gone?”

“Scoodrach saw him go, hours ago, right up the track; and he watched him till he saw him disappear.”

“What! across the mountain—alone?”

“Yes, father,” cried Kenneth excitedly.

“But walking—to be overtaken by a night like this—the precipices—the bogs! Good heavens, Kenneth! he could not have been so mad!”

“He asked Scood if Glasgow did not lie out there,” said Kenneth hoarsely; “and he told him, yes.”

“He told him that? The young scoundrel! Why?”