We had no time for conversation．‘Come！’ Alan said，and started running along the side of the hill， keeping low to the ground． I followed him like a sheep． We ran and ran， faster than I had ever run before， and my heart was beat ing wildly． Sometimes， to my surprise， Alan straightened his back and showed himself to the soldiers who were chasing us．

After fifteen minutes， Alan stopped， lay flat in the heather，and turned to me．‘Now，’ he said，‘this is serious． Do what I do，if ye don't want to die’．And just as fast，but much more carefully and secretly， we went back almost the same way that we had come． At last we arrived back in the wood where I had found Alan．

We fell down in the heather， and lay without moving for a long time．My legs hurt，my head was aching，and I thought I was dead．

Alan was the first to speak．‘Well，’ he said，‘that was hot work， David．’

I said nothing． I had seen murder done． I knew that Colin Campbell had been Alan's greatest enemy， and I had found Alan hiding in the wood． Although I didn't think that he had actually shot Campbell，I felt sure that he had planned the killing．I coult not look at him．

‘Are ye still tired？’ he asked．

‘No，’ I replied， my face turned away from him，‘no， I'm not tired now．Alan，I can't stay with you，I must leave you．I liked you very much， but we're two different people，that's all．’

‘Ye must explain what ye mean by that， David，’ said Alan， looking very serious．

‘ Alan， why do you ask？ You know very well that Colin Campbell is lying dead in the road in his own blood．’

Alan was silent for a moment，‘Well， Mr Balfour of Shaws，’he said at last，‘I promise ye that I did not plan the murder， or know anything about it．’

‘Thank God for that！’ I cried， and offered him my hand．

He did not appear to see it．I don't know why ye're so worried about a dead Campbell，’ he said． ‘I know that you hate their clan， Alan， but taking a life in cold blood is a terrible thing to do．Do you know who did it？’

‘I wouldn't recognize him again，’ said Alan， shaking his head sadly，‘I'm good at forgetting，David．”

I had to laugh at that．Then I remembered something．‘But when we were running away， you showed yourself to the sol diers， to give the murderer a chance to escape！’

‘Any Highlander would do that． The best place for the lad who shot Colin Campbell is the heather，and we must all do what we can to help him keep away from the soldiers．’

I shook my head at this． These Highlanders were strange，wild people， to be sure． But Alan was ready to die for what he thought was right， and I liked him for that． I offered him my hand again， and this time he took it．

‘Now， David，’ he said，‘we must escape too． The Campbells will accuse us both of the murder．’

‘But we didn't do it！’ I cried．‘We can prove that in court！’

‘Man， I'm surprised at ye，’ said Alan．‘Do ye not know that if a Campbell is killed， the accused has to go to court in Inveraray， in the heart of Campbell country？ When the Campbell lawyers have finished with ye，ye'll be dead！’

This frightened me a little．‘ All right， Alan，’ I said，‘ I'll go with you．’

‘But remember，’ said Alan，‘it'll be a hard life． Ye'll have to sleep in the open air， and ye'll often have an empty stomach． Ye can choose-either live in the heather with me，or die at the hands of the Campbells．’

‘That's easy to decide，’ I said， and we shook hands on it．

When we looked between the trees， we could just see the redcoats of the soldiers， still moving away from us across the hills． Alan smiled， and told me that we would go first to the house of his clansman， James Stewart， and then to the Low lands． The Campbells and the English soldiers would not think of looking for us there， and Alan could find a place on a ship sailing to France．

We walked for several hours， and arrived that night at a large house in a valley．

There were lights in all the windows，and people were running in and out of the open doors． Alan whistled three times， and we were met at the door by a tall，good-looking man of about fifty， who welcomed us in Gaelic．

‘James Stewart， ’ said Alan，‘I'll ask ye to speak in English， because my friend here comes from the Lowlands，and cannot speak Gaelic．’

James spoke politely to me for a few moments， but soon he turned back to Alan，with a very worried look on his face ‘This is a terrible accident，’ he said．‘It will bring trouble to all of us！’

‘Well，man，’ said Alan，‘ye should be grateful that Colin Campbell is dead！’

‘Aye，’ replied James，‘but he was killed in Appin， remem ber that， Alan， so it's the Appin Stewarts who'll be accused．And I'm a man with a family！’

I looked around me． Men with white， frightened faces were hurrying here and there， without any clear idea of what they ought to do first．

Some were hiding guns and swords， while others were burning papers． When James saw me looking sur prised， he explained，‘The soldiers'll search my house first，ye see， and I don't want them to find anything．’

We went inside， and met James's wife and children， who were crying in a corner． I felt very sorry for them， but we did not have much time to talk． Alan explained what we needed for our escape， and soon James's men brought us two swords，two pistols， some food， a cooking pot and a bottle of whisky．We needed money too， because Alan had given his gold to an other man to take to France． But James had only a little to give us．

‘Ye must find a safe place somewhere near，’ he said， ‘and send me a message． I'll find some more money for ye， and send it to ye．

But， Alan，’ and here he stopped for a moment，biting his finger worriedly，‘I'll have to accuse ye of killing that Campbell． I'll have to！If I don't， they'll accuse me！ I have to think of myself and my family！Do ye see that？’

‘Aye，’ said Alan slowly．‘I see that．’

‘And I'll have to accuse your friend from the Lowlands too．Ye see that， Alan— say that ye see that！’

Alan's face went red．‘It's hard on me， James！ I brought him here， and now my friends accuse him of murder！’

‘But just think，Alan，man！’cried James．‘The Campbells will be sure to accuse him． And I have children！’

‘Well，sir，’ said Alan， turning to me，‘what do ye say？ If ye do not agree，I won't let James do it．’

‘I cannot understand why we don't accuse the man who did kill Campbell，’ I replied sharply，‘but accuse me， Mr Stewart，if you like，accuse Alan，accuse King George！I am Alan's friend， and if I can help his friends in any way， I don't mind the danger．’

So that night we started our long journey to the Lowlands．Sometimes we walked， and sometimes we ran． But although we travelled as fast as we could，daylight began to appear before we had found a good hiding－place． We were in the rocky valley of Glencoe， with high mountains on both sides，and a river running fast through the middle． Alan was clearly worried．‘The soldiers will find us easily here，’ he said． He looked around，and saw a great rock，about seven metres high． With difficulty we both climbed to the top of it． Then I saw why he had chosen it． The top of the rock was shaped like a plate， and there was room for two or three men to lie there，hidden from people in the valley．

At last Alan smiled．‘Aye，’ he said．‘Now we have a chance． Ye can sleep for a while． I'll watch for soldiers．’

But when I woke up， several hours later， the valley was full of redcoats， and Alan was looking worried again， ‘If they go up the sides of the mountains，they'll see us，’he said．‘We'll just have to stay here and hope they don't， When it's dark，we'll try to get past them．’

That was a terrible day． We lay on the rock............