"Astonishing, isn't it?" said the Irishman, as they stood side by
side, peering ahead.
"Marvellous is the better word," said Barnes.
"The fairies might have built it," said the other, with something like
awe in his voice. He shook his head solemnly.
"One could almost fancy that a fairy queen dwelt there, surrounded by
Peter Pans and Aladdins," mused Barnes.
"Instead of an ogre attended by owls and nightbirds and the devil
knows what,--for I don't."
Barnes looked at him in amazement, struck by the curious note in his
voice.
"If you were a small boy in knickers, O'Dowd, I should say that you
were mortally afraid of the place."
"If I were a small boy," said O'Dowd, "I'd be scairt entirely out of
me knickers. I'd keep me boots on, mind ye, so that I could run the
better. It's me Irish imagination that does the trick. You never saw
an Irishman in your life that wasn't conscious of the 'little people'
that inhabit the places that are always dark and green."
De Soto was seen approaching through the green sea, his head appearing
and disappearing intermittently in the billows formed by the
undulating underbrush. He shook hands with Barnes a moment later.
"I'm glad you had the sense to bring Mr.
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