Page 78 - The snake's pass

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66 THE snake's pass.
grown into a burly, hale, stalwart man, with keen
eyes and a flowing brown beard. The only pallor
noticeable was the whiteness of his brow, which was
ample and lofty as of old.
We greeted each other cordially, and I felt as if
old times had come again, for Dick and I had been
great friends at school. When we were on our way
I renewed my inquiries about Shleenanaher and its
inhabitants. I began by asking Sutherland as to what
brought him there. He answered:
" I was just about to ask you the same question.
' What brings you here ? "
'
I felt a difficulty in answering as freely as I could
have wished, for I knew that Andy's alert ears were
close to us, so I said:
"I have been paying some visits along the West
Coast, and I thought I would take the opportunity on
my way home of investigating a very curious pheno-
menon of whose existence I became casually acquainted
on my way here—a shifting bog."
Andy here must strike in :
" Shure the masther is mighty fond iv bogs, intirely.
I don't know there's anything in the wurruld what
intherests him so much."
Here he winked at me in a manner that said as
plainly as if spoken in so many words, " All right, yer
'an'r, I'll back ye up !
Sutherland laughed as he answered:
" Well, you're in the right place here, Art ; the difficulty