No more than the whispering suggestion upon the wind -- then the clear sense comes to Duncan's ears:The rushing of a horse across the heath -- with an odd tinkling, as of one loose shoe . . ."Tell me that was not what you heard!" says his nurse, when Duncan tells her. The youth is just making his way into the world -- heading to London to become a gentleman -- when this ill portent comes to his ears.The Portent is one of seven tales of mystery, imagination and the Scottish "second sense," by the northern master of the magical, George MacDonald.