"DEAR ROB,--When ye hear a whustle such as ye ken, do as I say. File through the bars of your window and your chains should you have any and lower yoursel down into the outer yard where a cart with hay will be lying. When dawn breaks the cart will move out but it will not be searched for reasons that I will not say. Should ye have anything to entrust to me in case of accident give it to Mistress Macpherson, who is our good friend."--M.J. It was the last sentence that sent the blood into Rob's cheeks. "Do you know why Muckle John is so anxious regarding my safety?" he asked his aunt. "No," she replied with a troubled frown, "though I asked him." "Did he reply?" "Not he, but he was sair put about." Rob went over to the window, and laid his head upon his arm. A deep despondency had suddenly fallen upon him. That Muckle John was only interested in the suppositious plan of the treasure seemed only too apparent. It was to obtain this that he schemed and planned. His own safety and life were trifles in comparison. Enemies within and enemies without, and all fashed about a plan that did not exist. A sudden determination came to him. Taking a pencil from his pocket, he took up Muckle John's letter, tore off the part which contained the reference to the treasure and wrote upon the back: "This to tell you that what you seek has fallen into the hands of the Duke." Then folding it up, he handed it to his aunt. "Give that to Muckle John," he said. Miss Macpherson scrutinized his face closely. "Rob," she asked, "ye will do what the letter tells ye? This is no enviable position for any Highland woman, Rob, and I took for granted that no false pride would prevent you from making good your escape." "I have not refused," he replied. A look of relief sprang into her face. "Then good-bye," she said with unusual warmth. For a moment they stood hand in hand, and then she knocked upon the locked door, and waited for Strange to come. When it fell back, she passed from sight without a backward glance. For long Rob paced up and down the room. But of a sudden he stopped, and, uttering a sharp cry, rushed half-way to the door. For long he shouted, banging with his fists upon the wood. It was too late. That Lovat would be discovered had suddenly forced itself upon him, and that he would be regarded as his betrayer would naturally follow. For now, through his own foolish pride, he had thrown away the only chance of saving the old man, by rejecting the help of Muckle John. CHAPTER XIV MUCKLE JOHN SHOWS HIS HAND Miss Macpherson, saying good-bye to Captain Strange, and acquainting him of Rob's present obstinacy, but bidding him not to despair, took her way through the porter's gates, and turned her horse's head towards the north. After travelling in a leisurely manner for some six miles, she drew in her beast, and dismounting led him into a small coppice upon the hill-side.