A loud rattling overhead startled him.

“We must be at Erith,” he said to himself; and then, after a pause of a second, he took the letter in his hand.  He passed up the companion-way.  Perhaps it was the sudden glare of the light around that falsely gave to his eyes the appearance of a man who had been drinking hard; but his voice was clear and precise as he said to Hamish,—­

“Now, Hamish, you understand everything I have told you?”

“Oh yes, Sir Keith.”

“And you will put away that nonsense from your head; and when you see the English lady that you remember, you will be very respectful to her, for she is a very great friend of mine; and if she is not at the theatre, you will go on to the other address, and Colin Laing will go with you in the cab.  And if she comes back in the cab, you and Colin will go outside beside the driver, do you understand?  And when you go ashore, you will take John Cameron with you, and you will ask the pier-master about the moorings.”

“Oh yes, Sir Keith; have you not told me before?” Hamish said, almost reproachfully.

“You are sure you got everything on board last night?”

“There is nothing more that I can think of, Sir Keith.”

“Here is the letter, Hamish.”

And so he pledged himself to the last desperate venture.

Not long after that Hamish, and Laing, and John Cameron went in the dingy to the end of Erith pier, and left the boat there; and went along to the head of the pier, and had a talk with the pier-master.  Then John Cameron went back, and the other two went on their way to the railway-station.

“And I will tell you this, Hamish,” said the little black Celt, who swaggered a good deal in his walk, “that when you go in the train you will be greatly frightened; for you do not know how strong the engines are, and how they will carry you through the air.”

“That is a foolish thing to say,” answered Hamish, also speaking in the Gaelic; “for I have seen many pictures of trains; and do you say that the engines are bigger than the engines of the Pioneer, or the Dunara Castle, or the Clansman that goes to Stornoway?  Do not talk such nonsense to me.  An engine that runs along the road, that is a small matter; but an engine that can take you up the Sound of Sleat, and across the Minch, and all the way to Stornoway, that is an engine to be talked about!”

But nevertheless it was with some inward trepidation that Hamish approached Erith station; and it was with an awestruck silence that he saw his cousin take tickets at the office; nor did he speak a word when the train came up and they entered and sat down in the carriage.  Then the train moved off, and Hamish breathed more freely:  what was this to be afraid of?

“Did I not tell you you would be frightened?” Colin Laing said.

“I am not frightened at all,” Hamish answered, indignantly.