But still his
mother's entreaties, his own natural disposition to
linger among scenes long dear to him, and, above
all, his firm reliance in his speed and activity, induced
him to protract his departure till the sixth
day, being the very last which he could possibly
afford to spend with his mother, if indeed he meant
to comply with the conditions of his furlough.
CHAPTER V.
But for your son, believe it---Oh, believe it---
Most dangerously you have with him prevailed,
If not most mortal to him.---
_Coriolanus._
On the evening which preceded his proposed
departure, Hamish walked down to the river with
his fishing-rod, to practise in the Awe, for the last
time, a sport in which be excelled, and to find, at
the same time, the means for making one social
meal with his mother on something better than
their ordinary cheer. He was as successful as
usual, and soon killed a fine salmon. On his return
homeward an incident befell him, which he
afterwards related as ominous, though probably
his heated imagination, joined to the universal
turn of his countrymen for the marvellous, exaggerated
into superstitious importance some very ordinary
and accidental circumstance.
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