door into a deep well of night.
There, like Napoleonâs numbed dog-army of foot-weary, undecided, and demoralized men, stood the shadowy but familiar mob, their hands full of picturesâpictures leaned against their legs, pictures on theirbacks, pictures stood upright and held by trembling, panic-whitened hands in the drifted snow. A terrible silence lay over and among the men. They seemed stranded, as if one enemy had gone off to fight far better wars while yet another enemy, as yet unnamed, nipped silent and trackless at their behinds. They kept glancing over their shoulders at the hills and the town as if at any moment Chaos herself might unleash her dogs from there. They alone, in the infiltering night, heard the far-off baying of dismays and despairs that cast a spell.
âIs that you , Riordan?â called Casey, nervously.
âAh, who the hell would it be!â cried a voice out beyond.
âWhat do they want? â asked the old party.
âItâs not so much what we want as what you might now want from us ,â called a voice.
âYou see,â said another, advancing until all could see it was Hannahan in the light, âconsidered in all its aspects, your Honor, weâve decided, youâre such a fine gent, weââ
âWe will not burn your house!â cried Blinky Watts.
âShut up and let the man talk!â said several voices.
Hannahan nodded. âThatâs it. We will not burn your house.â
âBut see here,â said the Lord, âIâm quite prepared. Everything can easily be moved out.â
âYouâre taking the whole thing too lightly, begging your pardon, your Honor,â said Kelly. âEasy for you is not easy for us.â
âI see,â said the old man, not seeing at all.
âIt seems,â said Tuohy, âwe have all of us, in just the last few hours, developed problems. Some to do with the home and some to do with transport and cartage, if you get my drift. Whoâll explain first? Kelly? No? Casey? Riordan?â
Nobody spoke.
At last, with a sigh, Flannery edged forward. âItâs this wayââ he said.
âYes?â said the old man, gently.
âWell,â said Flannery, âme and Tuohy here got half through the woods, like damn fools, and was across two thirds of the bog with the large picture of the Twilight of the Gods when we began to sink.â
âYour strength failed?â inquired the Lord kindly.
âSink, your Honor, just plain sink, into the ground ,â Tuohy put in.
âDear me,â said the Lord.
âYou can say that again, your Lordship,â said Tuohy. âWhy together, me and Flannery and the demon gods must have weighed close on to six hundred pounds, and that bog out there is infirm if itâs anything, and the more we walk the deeper we sink, and a cry strangled in me throat, for Iâm thinking of those scenes in the old story where the Hound ofthe Baskervilles or some such fiend chases the heroine out in the moor and down she goes, in a watery pit, wishing she had kept at that diet, but itâs too late, and bubbles rise to pop on the surface. All of this a-throttling in me mind, your Honor.â
âAnd so?â the Lord put in, seeing he was expected to ask.
âAnd so,â said Flannery, âwe just walked off and left the damn gods there in their twilight.â
âIn the middle of the bog? â asked the elderly man, just a trifle upset.
âAh, we covered them up, I mean we put our mufflers over the scene. The gods will not die twice, your Honor. Say, did you hear that , boys? The godsââ
âAh, shut up,â cried Kelly. âYa dimwits. Why didnât you bring the damn portrait in off the bog?â
âWe thought we would come get two more boys to helpââ
âTwo more!â cried Nolan. âThatâs four men, plus a parcel of gods, youâd all sink twice as