The Castle of Dunstaffnage Bruce's party were now more than ever straitened for provisions, since they had to depend almost entirely upon such fish as they might catch, as it was dangerous to stray far away in pursuit of deer.

Archie, however, with his bow and arrows ventured several times to go hunting in order to relieve the sad condition of the ladies, and succeeded two or three times in bringing a deer home with him.
He had one day ventured much further away than usual.

He had not succeeded in finding a stag, and the ladies had for more than a week subsisted entirely on fish.

He therefore determined to continue the search, however long, until he found one.

He had crossed several wooded hills, and was, he knew, leagues away from the point where he had left his party, when, suddenly emerging from a wood, he came upon a road just at the moment when a party some twenty strong of wild clansmen were traversing it.