Carrie was right. The hikers had captured Catriona and Mary. The gallant and hefty girls had marched boldly into the Black Corrie, and though they put up a magnificent fight against the mobile reserve they had finally been overwhelmed by twenty young women fighting for the honour of their sex under the eyes of their male companions. Back to back Catriona and Mary had fought, but as fast as they unzipped the shorts of their assailants others took their places, and though five were unzipped with such heftiness that they had to retire from the contest, the rest were able to zip themselves up again quickly enough to fling themselves all together against Catriona and Mary and finally to drag them down to the ground. When Johnnie Macpherson reached Glenbogle with the news of their disappearance the two gallant and hefty girls were lying in a tent, bound securely with ropes.

“What are we to do?” Mrs MacDonald boomed desolately.

“We’ll have to wait till Monday now and see what can be done,” Johnnie Macpherson said.

“Wait till Monday?”

“To-morrow’s the Sabbath,” he reminded her. “We might get one or two to have a look for them to-morrow, but och, we won’t get many, The Minister has been fierce about Sabbath-breaking for the last four Sundays.”

“But surely when Ben Nevis himself may be in danger there will be plenty of volunteers,” said Mrs MacDonald.

Johnnie Macpherson shook his head.

“It’s a pity Major MacIsaac went away for his holiday after the Gathering,” he said. “He might have persuaded some of them, but they’ll never listen to me. And Big Duncan, he might have persuaded them, but himself is missing. So’s Lachy Macdonald. So’s Roddy Maclean. Archie MacColl would go right enough, being an Episcopalian from Appin, but what would Archie and me do by ourselves? They’re saying in the bothy there are five or six hundred hikers camping in the Black Corrie.”

“And Catriona and Mary are in the hands of these people,” Mrs MacDonald moaned.

In spite of her own anxiety about Chester, Carrie could not help winking at Myrtle, who could not contain an explosion of merriment which she apologized for as a sneeze.

“I think we may safely assume they will come to no grievous harm, Mrs MacDonald,” said the chaplain. “The intention is probably to use them to bargain with.”

This notion was too much altogether for Myrtle, who was seized with such spasms of pent-up laughter that she was driven into crawling under the table on all-fours to look for an imaginary ruby supposed to have fallen out of her bracelet.

“Well, I know what I’m going to do to-morrow morning,” said Carrie. “I’m going to drive to Knocknacolly and consult Chester’s lawyer, Mr Buchanan.”

“Oh, and I’ll come with you, Carrie,” said her sister-in-law, emerging from beneath the table. “That’s a wonderful idea.”