"'But for him,' said he, 'instead of being a lonely trapper here by the shore of Lake George, the heather bells of thirty summers had bloomed and withered over my grave on the fatal moor of Culloden; but God's blessed will be done.' "After this unexpected meeting with one of whom I had so often heard my worthy father speak when I was but a bairn, we became quite as old friends, and parted with regret when we reached the outposts of the Royal Scottish Emigrants, close to which he guided me, and then took his departure to join General Montgomery, who deemed Donald Macdonald the chief of his marksmen. "I never heard of him more; and as for the snuff-mull, I was robbed of it by some Germans, who cut the knapsack off my back as I lay wounded in the skirmish at Stoney Point, in the State of New York, in 1776; but this chance meeting with its original proprietor, shows us, dominie, what unexpected things come to pass in the world. Life, as I said, is full of strange coincidences, and we may meet with Quentin Kennedy or hear sure tidings of him, when least expected." "I pray Heaven it may be so," sighed the dominie, over his empty toddy-jug, as he tied an ample yellow bandanna over his old three-cornered hat, and under his chin; and then assuming his cane, prepared to depart. "Jack Andrews has brought your pony round to the private door; take care o' the Lollard's Linn, for the night is dark; and now for the _deoch_--the stirrup-cup." "Whilk the Romans ever drank in honour of Mercury, as I do now--that he may bestow a sound night's sleep," said the dominie, smacking his lips as the dram went down. CHAPTER XX. THE WAYFARER. "On, on! through the wind and rain, With the blinding tears and burning vein! When the toil is o'er and the pain is past, What recks it all if we sleep at last." _All the Year Round._ When we last saw him, we said that Quentin was going forth into the world to seek his fortune, though, perhaps, his chief idea or emotion was to get as far away as possible from the vicinity of Rohallion, its haughty lady, and the cold and crafty Master. As he passed through the ivied archway, he dashed aside the tears that his farewell with the old quartermaster had summoned. "How often," thought he, "have I read in novels and romances, in dramas and story-books, of the heroes doing _this_--setting out on the vague and hopeful errand that was to lead to fame and fortune; but how little I ever expected to experience the stern reality, or believe that it would be my own fate! And now the hour has come--oh, it seems so strange now-a-days!" Passing down the avenue, the stately trees of which were tossing their branches wildly in the gathering blast, he issued upon the highway, and proceeded along it without caring, and perhaps without considering, whether he went to the right or to the left.