It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER V THE INN OF TARK. IRRA It was no ordinary change-house; so much is certain. Nor yet were they common muirland folk that made assignation there, as well I saw so soon as I lifted the latch to enter. And right sorry was I that we had two such good beasts with us, as Jasper and I had perforce to leave tied up to the rings let into the wall of unwhitewashed masonry which surrounded the little steading of Tarkirra. i " Ye are welcome, kind sirs " So a voice, harsh as a frog's croak, greeted us as we set our noses within, and a strange-looking being moved out from the dusky glow of the foul fireplace into the clearer light that streamed from the glassless window. The speaker was a dwarf, with long arms that wambled from side to side as he hirpled about the house or sat crouching like a beast in the corner. His gnarled thighs and outjointed knees prevented quick movement, but he rocked himself to and fro as he went on concocting his messes over the red peat fire upon the unraked hearth. " Ow aye," this fearsome carl chuckled, without taking any further notice of us; " ye'll no ken me, but ony o' thae decent men by the fireside will tell ye wha I am. ' Grisly Tam o' Tarkirra, ' they caa'me in their daffin'. But when they wad hae puir auld Tam to fill the pint stoup, when they hae sma' siller to pay for it, it's nae less than Laird Tarkirra that they will set their tongues to, the vaigabonds " As the darkness of the evil-smelling little cot- house gradually melted down before our eyes, through the reek of a score of pipes and the downblow or a narrow chimney, we c...