Page 367 - The snake's pass

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THE FULFILMENT. 355 !
crowd outside, the general body of which seemed to con-
tinue as great as ever from the number of new arrivals
—despite the fact that a large number of those present
had followed Dick and the head constable in their inves-
tigation of the scene of the catastrophe. The silence
was as odd as noise would have been under ordinary
circustances, so I went to the door to see what it meant.
In the porch I met Father Eyan, who had just come
from the scene of the disaster. He shook me warmly
by the hand, and said loudly, so that all those around
might 'hear :
"Mr. Severn, I'm real glad and thankful to see ye
this day. Praise be to God, that watched over ye last
night, and strengthened the arms of that brave girl to
hold ye up." Here Norah came to join us ; and he
took her warmly by both hands, whilst the people
cheered :
" My ! but we're all proud of ye ! Eemember that
God has given a great mercy through your hands
—and ye both must thank Him all the days of
your life! And those poor men that met their death
so horribly — poor Moynahan, in his drunken slumber
Men! it's a warning to ye all! Whenever ye may be
tempted to take a glass too much, let the fate of that
poor soul rise up before ye and forbid ye to go too far.
As for that unhappy Murdock, may God forgive him
and look lightly on his sins ! I told him what he
should expect—that the fate of Ahab and Jezebel would
be his. For as Ahab coveted the vineyard of his neigh-