Page:The Snake's Pass (Stoker).djvu/179

 "Go on," said I, concealing my delight as well as I could.

He accordingly named a sum which, to me, accustomed only as I had hitherto been to the price of land in a good English county, seemed very small indeed.

"HeHe [sic] evidently thought he was driving a hard bargain, for he said with a cunning look:—

"I suppose ye'll want to see lawyers and the like. So you may; but only to see that ye get ye bargin hard and fast. I'll not discuss the terrums wid anyone else; an' if y' accept, ye must sign me a writin' now, that ye buy me land right here, an' that ye'll pay the money widin a month before ye take possession on the day we fix."

"All right," said I. "That will suit me quite well. Make out your paper in duplicate, and we will both sign. Of course, you must put in a clause guaranteeing title, and allowing the deed to be made with the approval of my solicitor, not as to value, but as to form and completeness.

"That's fair!" he said, and sat down to draw up his papers. He was evidently a bit of a lawyer—a gombeen man must be—and he knew the practical matters of law affecting things in which he was himself interested. His Memorandum of Agreement was, so far as I could judge, quite complete and as concise as possible. He designated the land sold, and named the price which was to be paid into the account in his name in the Galway Bank before twelve o'clock noon on the 27th September, or which