In an adjacent hollow they found several Highlanders,
with a horse or two. They had not joined them above a few minutes, which
Waverley's attendant employed, in all probability, in communicating
the cause of their delay (for the words 'Duncan Duroch' were often
repeated), when Duncan himself appeared, out of breath indeed, and with
all the symptoms of having run for his life, but laughing, and in high
spirits at the success of the stratagem by which he had baffled his
pursuers. This, indeed, Waverley could easily conceive might be a matter
of no great difficulty to the active mountaineer, who was perfectly
acquainted with the ground, and traced his course with a firmness and
confidence to which his pursuers must have been strangers. The alarm
which he excited seemed still to continue, for a dropping shot or two
were heard at a great distance, which seemed to serve as an addition to
the mirth of Duncan and his comrades.
The mountaineer now resumed the arms with which he had entrusted our
hero, giving him to understand that the dangers of the journey were
happily surmounted. Waverley was then mounted upon one of the horses,
a change which the fatigue of the night and his recent illness rendered
exceedingly acceptable.
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