Page:Rowland--The Mountain of Fears.djvu/102

  Where are ye from?' said the fellow, with a rough Caledonian accent, and staring down with his red beard thrust out and his small, pale eyes watching us suspiciously. His sleeves were rolled up to the elbow and his huge forearms, covered with shaggy hair, were folded across his bulging chest.

" 'From the other side of the island,' said Lynch. He stepped out on the bank as if he had been invited and proceeded to moor the canoe.

" 'What's this ye 're doin'?' growled the red-bearded giant above him. His great arms had dropped to his side and one could see how the thick muscles held them with bent elbows.

" 'Hitching the boat, ' replied Lynch, indifferently. He did so, and walked to the top of the bank.

" 'Whose house is that?' he asked.

" 'The hoos is mine,' growled the man, 'and 't is no tavern I'm keepin'—d'ye see!'

Oh, I quite understand that,' said Lynch, [ 86 ]