“Oh, you may tell whom you please,” cried the king. “I was sure you would bungle it in the Gaelic.”
The king was pacing up and down the room in no very good humour, so the young Highlander thought it best not to reply. He was saved however, from the embarrassment of silence by the entrance of Malcolm MacLeod.
“You are in great good fortune,” said Malcolm. “The messengers have returned with a score of horsemen at their backs, and Dunvegan himself invites you to the castle.”
MacDonald seemed in no way jubilant over what his host considered the utmost honour that could be bestowed upon two strangers.
“What does he say?” demanded the king.
“He says that MacLeod of Dunvegan has invited us to his castle.”
“Well, we will go then. I suppose we can get horses here, or shall we journey round by boat?”
“I understand,” replied MacDonald, “that the chief has sent horses for us, and furthermore an escort of a score of men, so I’m thinking we have very little choice about the matter.”
“Very well,” returned the king with a shrug of indifference, “let us be off and see our new host. I wonder if he will be as easily flattered as the one we are leaving.”