Page 274 - The snake's pass

262 THE snake's pass.
gloomy scenes, and got inextricably mixed up with the
King of the Snakes. They freely exchanged personalities,
and at one time I could see the Gombeen Man defying
St. Patrick, whilst at another the Serpent seemed to be
struggling with Joyce, and, after twisting round the
mountain, being only beaten off by a mighty blow from
Koran's father, rushing to the sea through the Shlee-
nanaher.
Towards morning, as I suppose the needs of the waking
day became more present to my mind in the gradual
process of awakening, the bent of my thoughts began
to be more practical ; the Saint and His Majesty of the
Serpents began to disappear, and the two dim cuirassiers
who, with the money chest, had through the earlier hours
of the night been passing far athwart my dreams—appear-
ing and disappearing equally mysteriously—took a more
prominent, or, perhaps, a more real part. Then I seemed
to see Murdock working in a grave, whose sides were ever
crumbling in as he frantically sought the treasure chest,
whilst the gun-carriage, rank with the slime of the bog,
was high above him on the brink of the grave, projected
blackly against the yellow moon. Every time this scene
in its myriad variations came round, it changed to one
where the sides of the grave began to tumble in, and
Murdock in terror tried to scream out, but could make
no sound, nor could he make any effort to approach
Norah, whose strong hands were stretched out to aid
him.
With such a preparation for waking is it any wonder