Page:The Snake's Pass (Stoker).djvu/39

 evidently well fitted to, and well drilled in, her work. Presently old Moynahan broke the silence:—

"Well! it's a mighty quare thing anyhow that the hill beyant has been singled out for laygends and sthories and gossip iv all kinds consarnin' shnakes an' the like. An' I'm not so sure, naythur, that some iv thim isn't there shtill—for mind ye! it's a mighty curious thin' that the bog beyant keeps shiftin' till this day. And I'm not so sure, naythur, that the shnakes has all left the hill yit!"

There was a chorus of "Thrue for ye!"

"Aye, an' it's a black shnake too!" said one.

"An' wid side-whishkers!" said another.

"Begorra! we want Saint Pathrick to luk in here agin!" said a third.

I whispered to Andy the driver:—

"Who is it they mean?"

"Whisht!" he answered, but without moving his lips; "but don't let on I tould ye! Sure an' it's Black Murdock they mane."

"Who or what is Murdock? " I queried.

"Sure an' he is the Gombeen Man."

"What is that? What is a gombeen man?"

"Whisper me now!" said Andy; "ax some iv the others. They'll larn it ye more betther nor I can."

"What is a gombeen man?" I asked to the company generally.

"A gombeen man is it? Well! I'll tell ye," said an old, shrewd-looking man at the other side of the hearth. "He's a man that linds you a few shillin's or a few pounds