Page:The Snake's Pass (Stoker).djvu/180

 might be paid in at an earlier date, with the deduction of two per cent. per annum as discount—in which case the receipt was to be given in full and an undertaking to give possession at the appointed time, namely Wednesday, 27 Oct., at 12 noon.

We both signed the memorandum, he having sent the old woman who came up from the village to cook for him for the old schoolmaster to witness the signatures. I arranged that when I should have seen my solicitor and have had the deed proper drafted, I would see him again. I then came away, and got back at the hotel a little while before Dick arrived.

Dick was in great spirits; his experiment with the bog had been quite successful. The cutting had advanced so far that the clay wall hemming in the bog was actually weakened, and with a mining cartridge, prepared for the purpose, he had blown up the last bit of bank remaining. The bog had straightway begun to pour into the opening, not merely from the top, but simultaneously to the whole depth of the cutting.

"The experience of that first half-hour of the rush," went on Dick, "was simply invaluable. I do wish you had been there, old fellow. It was in itself a lesson on bogs and their reclamation."

It just suited my purpose that he should do all the talking at present, so I asked him to explain all that happened. He went on:—

"The moment the cartridge exploded the whole of the small clay bank remaining was knocked to bits and was