One day before Margaret’s visit came to an end, Alec proposed that the whole party--that is, Blake, Laura Mowbray, his sister, Semple, and himself--should make an ascent of ‘The Cobbler.’ He described the view which was to be obtained from the top of the mountain in terms which fired even Laura’s enthusiasm; and the ascent was fixed for the following forenoon. The morning was rather cloudy, but not sufficiently so to make the party abandon the expedition, especially as Alec pointed out that they would find it much easier to climb than they would have done if the day had been one of brilliant sunshine. They rowed over to the foot of the hill, so as to save walking round the head of the loch; and were soon in a wilderness of heather and wild juniper. The ascent, they found, though by no means difficult, was long and tiresome. The girls, indeed, if they had consulted merely their own inclination, would have turned back at the end of the first hour; but it never occurred to Margaret to give way to her feeling of fatigue, and Laura was too proud to be the first to complain. Everyone was glad, however, when Blake proposed a halt about half-way up. They threw themselves down on the heather, and tasted the delicious sense of rest to strained muscles and panting lungs. ‘I am afraid this is rather too much for you,’ said Alec to Laura, noticing her look of weariness. ‘Oh, I shall get on after I have rested,’ she replied; ‘but it is so tiresome to imagine, every now and then, that the crest before you is the top of the hill, and to find when you arrive there that the real summit seems farther off than ever.’ ‘The finest views are always to be had half-way up a mountain,’ said Blake. ‘How much we can see from this knoll! There is Loch Lomond, Ben Lomond, Ben Venue, and I don’t know how many Bens besides--a perfect crowd of them. Then we can see right down the loch and out into the frith. Let us be content with what we have. Miss Mowbray and your sister would prefer, I think, to wait here with me, Alec, while you and your cousin get to the top and back again.’ But this proposal was not entertained; and in a quarter of an hour the whole party were on foot once more. Up to this point Semple had succeeded in monopolizing the society of Laura; but he had found that to guide the steps of a delicately nurtured girl over a rough Scotch mountain, and help her whenever she came to a steep place, was no light labour. For the rest of the climb he was content to leave her a good deal to Alec, while it fell to Blake’s lot to look after Margaret. One after another the ridges were overcome, the prospect widening with every step, till the last grassy knoll was surmounted, and the bare rocky peak stood full in view at a little distance. It was, indeed, so steep that Laura was secretly terrified, and had to be hauled up for a good part of the way.