Page 336 - The snake's pass

324 THE snake's pass. —
ever, it was conveyed to us that early in the evening
Joyce had gone out to look after the cattle, and had not
since returned. Late at night old Moynahan had come to
the door half drunk, and had hiccoughed a message that
Joyce had met with an accident and was then in Mur-
dock's house. He wanted Norah to go to him there, but
Norah only was to go and no one else. She had at
once suspected that it was some trap of Murdock's for
some evil purpose, but still she thought it better to go,
and accordingly called to Hector, the mastiff, to come with
her, she remarking to her aunt " I am safe with him, at
any rate." But Hector did not come. He had been rest-
less, and groaning for an hour before, and now on looking
for him they had found him dead. This helped to con-
firm Norah' s suspicions, and the two poor women were
in an agony of doubt as to what they should do. Whilst
they were discussing the matter Moynahan had returned
this time even drunker than before—and repeated his
message, but with evident reluctance. Norah had accord-
ingly set to work to cross-examine him, and after a while
he admitted that Joyce was not in Murdock's house at
all—that he had been sent with the message and told
when he had delivered it to go away to mother Kelligan's
and not to ever tell anything whatever of the night's
proceedings—no matter what might happen or what
might be said. When he had admitted this much he
had been so overcome with fright at what he had done
that he began to cry and moan, and say that Murdock
would kill him for telling on him. Norah had told him,