As the ladies went up the ridge, regarded in the neighbourhood as the chief's pleasure-ground where nobody went except to call upon the chief, they must, having mounted it lower down than where they descended, pass the cottage. The grove of birch, mountain-ash, and fir which surrounded it, was planted quite irregularly, and a narrow foot-path went winding through it to the door. Against one of the firs was a rough bench turned to the west, and seated upon it they saw Ian, smoking a formless mass of much defiled sea-foam, otherwise meer-schaum. He rose, uncovered, and sat down again. But Christina, who regarded it as a praiseworthy kindness to address any one beneath her, not only returned his salutation, but stopped, and said, "Good morning! We have been learning how they plough in Scotland, but I fear we annoyed the ploughman." "Fergus does sometimes LOOK surly," said Ian, rising again, and going to her; "he has bad rheumatism, poor fellow! And then he can't speak a word of English, and is ashamed of it!" "The man we saw spoke English very well. Is Fergus your brother's name?" "No; my brother's name is Alister--that is Gaelic for Alexander." "He was ploughing with two wild little oxen, and could hardly manage them." "Then it must have been Alister--only, excuse me, he could manage them perfectly. Alister could break a pair of buffaloes." "He seemed rather vexed, and I thought it might be that we made the creatures troublesome.--I do not mean he was rude--only a little rough to us." Ian smiled, and waited for more. "He did not like to be told he was hard on the animals. I only said the poor things did not know better!" "Ah--I see!--He understands animals so well, he doesn't like to be meddled with in his management of them. I daresay he told you that, if they didn't know better, he had to teach them better! They are troublesome little wretches.--Yes, I confess he is a little touchy about animals!" Somehow Christina felt herself rebuked, and did not like it. He had almost told her that, if she had quarrelled with his ploughman-brother, the fault must be hers! "But indeed, Captain Macruadh," she said--for the people called him captain, "I am not ignorant about animals! We have horses of our own, and know all about them.--Don't we, Mercy?" "Yes," said Mercy; "they take apples and sugar from our hands."