Up to this point Semple had succeeded in monopolizing the society of Laura; but he had found that to guide the steps of a delicately nurtured girl over a rough Scotch mountain, and help her whenever she came to a steep place, was no light labour. For the rest of the climb he was content to leave her a good deal to Alec, while it fell to Blake’s lot to look after Margaret.
One after another the ridges were overcome, the prospect widening with every step, till the last grassy knoll was surmounted, and the bare rocky peak stood full in view at a little distance. It was, indeed, so steep that Laura was secretly terrified, and had to be hauled up for a good part of the way.
An involuntary cry burst from the lips of each, as one by one they set foot upon the windy summit. Far away, as it were upon the limits of the world, the sun was shining on a sea of gold. The two peaks of Jura lifted up their heads, illumined by the radiance. All around them was a billowy sea of mountain-tops—Ben Crois, Ben Ime, Ben Donich, Ben Vane, Ben Voirlich, and a hundred more, with many a lonely tarn, and many a glen without a name. At their feet lay the black waters of the lochs; and far in the south were the rugged hills of Arran.
‘Look!’ cried Laura, ‘the steamer is no bigger than a toy-boat; and the road is like a thin white thread drawn across the moor!’
‘Come here,’ said Alec to Blake with a laugh, beckoning as he spoke.
Blake followed him, and found that on one side, where there was a sheer descent of many hundred feet, a rock, which was pierced with a natural archway, jutted out from the body of the mountain.
‘This is the “needle-eye,”’ said Alec, ‘and everybody who comes up here is expected to go through it.’
‘Nonsense! Why, man, a false step there would mean——’
‘There’s not the slightest danger, if you have a good head. I have been through twice already,’ returned Alec, as he disappeared behind the rock.
A cry from Laura told Blake that she had witnessed the danger. Margaret, whose cheek had suddenly grown pale, gripped her tightly by the arm.