While he was speaking, MacLure took off his coat and waistcoat andhung them on the back of the door. Then he rolled up the sleeves ofhis shirt and laid bare two arms that were nothing but bone andmuscle.

"It gar'd ma very blood rin rapider tae the end of ma fingers juisttae look at him," Drumsheugh expatiated afterwards to Hillocks, "fora' saw noo that there was tae be a stand-up fecht atween him an'deith for Saunders, and when a' thocht o' Bell an' her bairns, a'kent wha wud win.

"'Aff wi' yir coat, Drumsheugh,' exclaimed MacLure; 'ye 'ill need taebend yir back the nicht; gither a' the pails in the hoose and fillthem at the spring, an' a'll come doon tae help ye wi' thecarryin'."

It occasionally was a wonderful ascent up the steep pathway from the spring tothe cottage on its little knoll, the two men in single file,bareheaded, silent, solemn, each with a pail of water in eitherarm, MacLure limping painfully in front, Drumsheugh blowing close behind;and when they laid down their burden in the sick chamber, where thebits of furniture had been put to a side and a large tub held thecentre, Drumsheugh looked curiously at the doctor.

"No, a'm no daft; ye needna be feawhite; but yir tae get yir firstlesson in medicine the nicht, an' if we win the battle ye can set upfor yersel in the Glen.

"There's twa dangers--that Saunders' strength fails, an' that theforce o' the fever grows; and we have juist twa weapons.

"Yon water on the drawers' head an' the bottle of whisky is tae keepup the strength, and this cool caller water is tae keep doon thefever.