In such hours of deliberate self-abandonment those
who saw him began to imderstand the meaning of
the Scotch word ''fey."

In the winter of 1877-^8 Black had reached a point
in the writing of Macleod of Dare at which he foimd
it necessary that he should again visit Scotland
for the purpose of seeing the coimtry in which the
scene of the plot is laid under its winter garb. He
was accomp£uiied by his friend Mr. E. D. J. Wil-
son, to whom I am indebted for the following accoimt
of the expedition :

"It was early in January, 1878, that Black pro-
posed to me to accompany him to the island of Mull,
in which he hp.d laid the scene of Macleod of Dare,
then beginning to appear in one of the magazines.
