Page 129 - The snake's pass

CONFIDENCES. 117
condition; but a moment's reflection was sufficient to
reject any such folly. I therefore achieved the other
extreme, and made Mrs. Keating' s kindly face beam
by the vehemence with which I demanded food. I
found that Diet had not yet returned—a fact which did
not displease me, as it insured me a temporary exemp-
tion from Andy's ill-timed banter, which I did not feel
in a humour to enjoy at present.
I was just sitting down to my dinner when Dick
arrived. He too had a keen appetite ; and it was not
until we had finished our fish, and were well into our
roast duck, that conversation began. Once he was started,
Dick was full of matters to tell me. He had seen Mo-
riarty—that was what had kept him so late—and had
got his permission to investigate and experiment on the
bog. He had thought out the whole method of work
to be pursued, and had, during Murdock's dinner-time,
made to scale a rough diagram for me to work by. We
had our cigars lit before he had exhausted himself on
this subject. He had asked me a few casual questions
about my walk, and, so as not to arouse any suspicions,
I had answered him vaguely that I had had a lovely
day, had enjoyed myself immensely, and had seen some
very pretty things—all of which was literally and exactly
true. I had then asked him as to how he had got on
with his operations in connection with the bog. It
amused me to think how small and secondary a place
Shleenanaher, and all belonging to it, now had in my
thoughts. He told me that they had covered a large