"And where will ye go when ye die?"
"I'll go to hell."
"What's hell?"
"A big place bigger than the chapel or the church, with a terrible, grand fire in it."
"And what is it full of?"
"It's full of little fellows like me!"
This was the melancholy piece of catechism John Brennan was constrained to hear as he went past.
It added the last wave of sadness to the gray mood which had been descending upon him by degrees since the beginning of the day.... He stood upon the road and listened for anything in the nature of a sound which might connect his mind with a thought that had some brightness. Although only a few days had elapsed since his return his ears were already beginning to redevelop that delicate perception of slight sounds which comes to one in the quiet places. He now heard a car come through Garradrimna and move a short distance down the valley road. That, he thought, should be Paddy McCann driving the new mistress to her lodging in the house of Sergeant McGoldrick.
The small realization held occupation of his mind as he went into the house of his mother. He was surprised to find that it was past ten. Still lonely as he went to his room, he thought once more of the kind invitation of Mr. Myles Shannon.