Page 105 - The snake's pass

ON KNOCKNACAR. — 93
subject," and I looked rather angrily at him, when Diet
was not looking.
Andy hastened to pnt matters right—he evidently did
not want to lose his day's hire on the morrow :
" Yer 'an'rs ye may take me wnrrd
! for it—there's
a bog beyant at Knocknacar which'll intherest yez
intirely—I remimber it meself a lot higher up the
mountain whin I was a spalpeen—an' it's been crawlin'
"
down iver since. It's a mighty quare shpot intirely !
This settled the matter, and we arranged forthwith to
start early on the following morning for Knocknacar,
Andy, before he left, having a nightcap—out of a
tumbler.
We were astir fairly early in the morning, and having
finished a breakfast sufficiently substantial to tide us
over till dinner time, we started on our journey. The
mare was in good condition for work, the road was
level and the prospect fine, and altogether we enjoyed
our drive immensely. As we looked back we could see
Knockcalltecrore rising on the edge of the coast away to
our right, and seemingly surrounded by a network of
foam-girt islands, for a breeze was blowing freshly from
the south-west.
At the foot of the mountain—or rather, hill—there was
a small, clean-looking sheebeen. Here Andy stopped and
put up the mare ; then he brought us up a narrow lane
bounded by thick hedges of wild briar to where we could
see the bog which was the object of our visit. Dick's foot
was still painful, so I had to give him an arm, as on yes-