3 The Portion of a Champion The Portion of a Champion Francis o Sullivan tighe New York Charles Scribner's Sons 1916 COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Published February, 1916 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. A MEAL AT BRUDEN MESGEDRA ... i II. THE STRANGER WOULD NOT GIVE WAY . 16 III. DUFFA GIVES A MESSAGE; CONAL ASKS FOR A PLACE 27 IV. GIFT FOR GIFT 39 V. CATHBAR WAS DELIGHTED 55 VI. THE DEFENSE OF CATHBAR'S DUN . . 68 VII. EOGHAN THE READY 84 VIII. THE BROKEN CLAN 92 IX. DULL DAYS AT TARA 108 X. A BULL-FEAST FOR CONAL 115 XI. " CONAL WILL NEVER BE KING" ... 124 XII. "INCESTO SPUMAVIT REMIGE TETHYS" . 130 XIII. QUARTER, AND A QUARREL 140 XIV. A REPULSE 150 XV. THE CAMP OF THE BOCANOCHS . . . 156 XVI. THE KING'S FAVOR 167 v vi CONTENTS CHAPTER PACK XVII. MARTIN THE STEWARD 182 XVIII. THE KING'S AMBITION 192 XIX. THE SWORD OF THE SKIES 205 XX. HEADED BY THE LEGIONS 219 XXI. THE HOSTAGE 231 XXII. BETRAYED 247 XXIII. A CHAT IN A GUEST-HOUSE . . . . 256 XXIV. THE MAN WITH THE HAY-WAIN . . . 263 XXV. THE GRATEFUL GAUL 277 XXVI. IN THE BISHOP'S GARDEN 290 XXVII. A MEETING ON THE HIGHROAD . . . 298 XXVHI. LAEGAIRE THE HIGH TANIST .... 306 XXIX. FINULLA'S STRATAGEM 320 XXX. UNDERSTANDING 336 XXXI. AN END TO FIRBIS 345 XXXII. THE CHAMPION'S PORTION 356 The Portion of a Champion ". . . It was in the Year of the World 5604, the Year of Our Lord 405, Honorius being King of the World and Stilicho General of the Roman forces, that Niall of the Nine Hostages made a foray into Gaul and wasted the valley of the Loire. 11 This was not the first or the greatest of Niall' s exploits, for he was the bravest and the most famous and powerful of all the High Kings of Ireland up to that time. Throughout his reign he was busy harrying the Roman borders, and he took hostages not only from the provinces of Ireland but from the Gaels of Alban, the Britons of the south, the Picts, the Saxons, and the Gauls of Armorica as well, and it is from these nine hostages that his name is given him. " Moreover, he forced the Leinstermen to pay him the tribute which they had refused many former High Kings. It was this that cost him his life, for the son of the King of Leinster saw him bathing in the Loire and creeping up on the opposite bank slew him treacherously with an arrow shot. "His nephew, Dathi the Quick with Weapons, came after him, not without fighting for the throne. Laegaire, Niall's youngest son, was chosen as DathVs successor, and for some years the island was peaceful and prosperous. "It was in these days that the Huns were first seen in Gaul. . . ." Here the story commences, in the reign of Dathi the Quick with Arms. The Portion of a Champion CHAPTER I A MEAL AT BRUDEN MESGEDRA Through the door of the guest-house a great light shone out over the crossroads. From within came laughter, the thud of vessels on tables, the strong smell of cooked meats. Servants with caldrons from the kitchen went hurrying between the outbuildings and entered the hall. There was merriment in the hostel, assured welcome, and plentiful hospitality. The door stood open thus always. Mesgedra was its master, a man famous for his great bulk, his huge beard, and his booming laugh a companion for kings. In days past he had borne his part well in war and council, and now in his old age, through the royal favor, kept the guest- house in dignity and honor. He stood within at the head of the long table, waiting, ready to serve. One by one the guests were drawing forward their seats. Rapidly the wooden cups were filling with mead and ale, and the steaming joints were being lifted from caldron to platter, when the noise of horses' hoofs came from outside, and the loud and pretentious creaking of 2 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION wheels certainly some person of importance ar- riving in the height of time. In a moment he entered and, advancing to the table, saluted first the host and then the company. He was young, but by his dress and air accus- tomed to demand and receive consideration. In appearance he was personable and well favored, his skin smooth, without those scars and marks of old wounds which sometimes might repel in older men, his features manly, his body erect, promising strength and agility. But there was a hint of something consequential hi his gait that was not attractive, an arrogance of expression which did not well suit his youth in the presence of so large a company of his elders. However, his greeting was courteous enough and the guests raised their knees to him in return. He then withdrew for a moment into an alcove, where water for washing had been set and, returning, took a good seat well near the head of the table. His charioteer and attendants, follow- ing him, sat where they found room. Mesgedra, carving the roast calf before him, ad- dressed him politely: "A fine day this has been, but the roads were dusty and the sun hot. Have you come far?" "A two days' journey for the horses I have seen in these parts," answered the stranger cavalierly, "but as I had a span of the true Ulster breeding, I rose early and have come from Emain Macha since dawn. " "That was good speed for a man not accustomed A MEAL AT BRUDEN MESGEDRA 3 to driving," said Mesgedra dryly, and as the carving was done he turned to direct the distribution of the portions. "The head for the smith, Ochy, and the chine, as is proper, for the poet yonder. The brisket, you know, is the brehon's portion. The leg for the young lord. The thigh, the portion of a hero," he added good-humoredly, "none other claiming it, I will keep for myself." "No one claims it," laughed one or two. "It is your portion, Mesgedra." "I claim the thigh," said the young stranger. Mesgedra put down the spit and looked him over in some displeasure. Then, smiling whimsically: "You are young to be so famous," he said, "and until we know your name it is not strange if we are slow to do you honor. What do they call you when your glories are being celebrated?" "My name is Conal," said the young man soberly, "and I am the son of Cathbar, who is sometimes called 'the old champion." 1 Mesgedra shook his head slowly. "I knew your father once," he said, "but, believe it or not, I have never before so much as heard your name. Perhaps the poets can do better. Ronan, do you not know a song or two about this fine young fellow?" "I have heard of Cathbar Shanleh," said a round- polled, dark-visaged man farther down the table. "He has many victories to his credit, and no doubt may have many sons. But no bard has made 4 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION rhymes about them to my knowledge and I know many rhymes." Mesgedra turned to the stranger in the friendliest fashion. "You see how ignorant our poets are," he cried cheerfully. "I can see no way but for you to sing your own feats, an easy thing for you, from the way you praise your own horses." "In my own country," said Conal sulkily, "I could find enough bards and shanachies to tell the story of my house." "We know your house, and we know your clan," said a quiet voice at his side, "but men without clan or name have taken the hero's joint before this, and no man takes it until it has been earned. Boy, boy, would you match yourself with Mesgedra in Bruden Mesgedra itself? Why not go to Tara and sit in the High King's chair?" The table shook with laughter, and Conal rose with it. "By the gods my people swear by !" he shouted, "if you do not know me I will show you who I am, not giving satisfaction but taking it. I call for any three of you, except only Mesgedra or, if he will, I will meet him alone." A stout man, red-faced and bald-headed, had been looking on with disfavor at this interruption to the former comfort and good-will of the meal. He rose to his feet and, pounding on the table with the heel of a bowl, raised his voice: "Privilege of the guest-house ! Law of the guest- A MEAL AT BRUDEN MESGEDRA 5 house ! Must we all go hungry because a calf -noble chooses to crow? It is a breach of sanctuary to talk of fighting here, a thing particularly forbidden by the law. Sit down all of you and be judged ! Whoever will not I will fast on him until I wither to a skeleton." So serious a threat quelled Conal, and he sat down slowly, still hot with indignation but silenced for the moment. The others at the table near him assumed a more serious manner, but the colloquy did not disturb the greater number of the guests, who, having no interest in the disposal of the dis- puted joint, proceeded tranquilly with their own allotments. The baldheaded man of law, after a few formal hems and admonitions, called upon Conal to vindi- cate his claim to the thigh. Accordingly, he rose and began to speak. "I have told you my name," he said. "My home is under the ramparts of Emain Macha of Ulster. My father was tanist of the tribe until he lost his eye in battle, and my brother and I are king ma- terial. "My brother took arms at seven years, and is a strong champion. I was fostered by a noble and experienced warrior, who would not give me arms until I was a man, ready for combat. Three days ago I proved myself with the sword, spear, mace, axe, and sling; in running and leaping; in defend- ing myself from blows; in the care of my horses, and in all exercises fit for men and warriors. My 6 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION father was pleased with me, and as I was impatient for the feel of a spear in my hand, and the sight of the road before me, he gave me attendants and horses and sent me out to see the five kingdoms, as is our custom, and if fortune was good, to slay a Connaughtman. "With my shield and sword he put upon me three heavy prohibitions, bonds of honor not to be broken: never to refuse a feast or entertainment; never to allow a single man to pass first before me through a ford; never to omit to claim the highest seat and the choicest portion if the option were given me. "It was this and not discourtesy, noble brehon, which led me to demand the thigh when Mesgedra asked if any other claimed it, for I see he is a tried man of old and a warrior who has taken satisfaction and not given it." The guests nodded one to another in satisfied comprehension, while the brehon pondered, moving his lips as he repeated verses and precedents which might apply to the case. Mesgedra, however, did not wait for his decision. "Hut!" he said, "I think no worse of the boy. How could he break his geasa? After all, if he was in bonds to ask, I was 'not in bonds to give. Let him eat the leg that belongs to him, and say no more about it perhaps some day he will be given the thigh without asking for it." "Could you not have waited for me to speak?" said the brehon indignantly. "One would think A MEAL AT BRUDEN MESGEDRA 7 you had learned the laws yourself ! I had the same thought in my mind, and was only waiting to put a thread of poetry about it before I gave it out." He was much hurt by this disregard of his dig- nity, and sulked and pondered for a long time until he was able to deliver his decision in due form: "No man is bound to restrain himself in asking, For supplication is pleasant and harmless. Every man may ask for what he will, But asking is not always to receive." which was greeted with such favor that he com- pletely recovered his good humor, and finished the meal very pleasantly. So did they all, Conal only excepted, for he could not but feel the amused tolerance with which the others regarded him. He took what was offered him in silence, and when the dinner ended and the table was cleared he was in two minds whether he would not be shown at once to his sleeping-place. But in spite of himself he was absorbed in the talk around him, for the guests spoke of things strange or altogether new to him, and spoke of them casually, as things common and belonging to every-day life; they spoke of men whose names had for him a flavor of the remote and heroic, and spoke of them familiarly, judging them as they spoke, and giving them praise and blame. Conal, fresh from the seclusion and discipline of his foster-father's rath, felt that at last he was out in the world among men worth knowing, observing, 8 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION and imitating. Their good-humored raillery seemed to him the most marvellous wit, their more sober comments seemed the most sage philosophy. He felt very young and inexperienced listening to them, and began to wonder whether, after all, his horses were the splendid animals he had thought them that morning. Mesgedra was not the man to allow any one at his table to have cause to complain of the attention he received there, or to feel neglected and left out of the company. He spoke to the boy pleasantly from time to time, affected to ignore the controversy over the joint, and at last succeeded in getting him to talk of himself and his plans, on which subjects, much to Mesgedra's entertainment, his tongue was inclined to run freely. "While I am travelling I intend to see all that is to be seen of the things that are worth a man's attention. My foster-father gave me a thousand directions, to go to this old battle-field and that one, poets' birthplaces, and his everlasting Brugh-na- Boyne, where the kings are buried. But I have no interest in grave-mounds and corpses. The least celebrated live warrior is more to me than a thou- sand dead heroes, and too many things are happen- ing every day for me to waste thought on the past. "I think it would be only suitable for me to pre- sent myself at Tara," he continued somewhat pom- pously. "My father has friends around the High King who will see that I am well received. I am A MEAL AT BRUDEN MESGEDRA 9 not so sure what other places are worth visiting for a man on a pleasure tour." "Put off your visit to Tara a while," advised Mesgedra. "They say the High King has been preparing for another trip abroad, and it is not likely that he will be at the royal rath at this time. As for other places worth visiting, what could be more inviting for a young man than the Fair of Tailtenn, which is soon to be held, and not far from here?" ' "I know of that fair, of course, but is it really worth seeing? I thought it was a place where brehons and genealogists gathered, and for my part I like jugglers and harpers better." "You will find jugglers and harpers there you may be sure, and every other sort of entertainment you have ever heard of." The guests near him assented in chorus. "There are races there and games " "Merchants with their wares from all the western world " "Kings and warriors " "Courtships and marriages " "The best of feasting and fun of every sort." "The races are the finest in all Eirinn. I know I took a horse there three years ago that I thought could not be matched in Meath, but when I saw the steeds they had there, I hid mine in an empty booth and went about on foot." "But perhaps your horse was not like mine," said the boy so seriously that Mesgedra could not 10 keep back a smile. "I have a mind to go there, to show them what horses we raise in Ulster if for no other reason. They will seldom have seen horses like those of mine." "Very like! Very like!" said Mesgedra. "And you will do well to go. Almost all our company here to-night are bound there, and I myself would be loath to miss it. It is too bad that the High King will not be there with his train; but without that it is a sight that you will remember your life long." "Did you say that the High King was preparing for another voyage?" interrupted one of the guests across the table. "That is good news. I would like well to make the passage to Alban with him, for there is good plunder to be gotten on such raids, and not a little glory." "I think he aims for Gaul this time," said the bard. "However, we will hear more of it at the fair, no doubt." Conal was beginning to find his head swimming and the smoke annoying him. For the first tune in his life a large mead-cup had been put before him at the beginning of the meal, and the liquor, which he had up to this tasted only by sips and on occa- sions of ceremony, had been poured into it with a lavish hand. He had drained it, although the strong mead pricked his nostrils and stung his pal- ate, and was surprised and perhaps a little taken aback to find it immediately refilled without com- ment. This was, he felt, an earnest of his new A MEAL AT BRUDEN MESGEDRA n manful position, and seeing that those around him did not stint their drafts, he played his part with the cup and filled and emptied it three or four times. His speech was becoming a little labored, his laugh high, and he began to take part in the general conversation. His host saw that those about him were watch- ing him with covert amusement, and he easily and tactfully used the excuse of the boy's long journey to bring it about that he excused himself, and sway- ing a little in his walk, went out into the air. The soft moonlight was pleasant after the glare of torches. The cool breath of the night blew gratefully on his face. Still dizzy for a moment, he leaned against the door-post and composed himself. Then he began to walk between the buildings, step- ping carefully to avoid stumbling, with some far from clear idea of looking after his horses. He passed the kitchen and the granary and en- tered the shadow of a large house, set somewhat apart from the other buildings of the bruden. As he walked he sang lurchingly: "'Fairest sound of all to me, The bay of dogs in chase of swift deer,' Said the sharp-speared son of Lugaid." A single deep rumble gave him warning. He stood still instantly, his senses all alert, but the great wolfhound had already made his spring, and he was thrown to the ground and rolled over and over with the shock of the blow. 12 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION Only the dog's muzzle saved him from death, and even that was loose enough to permit a severe bite had not the dog, trained to jump for the throat, dodged about waiting an opening for his favorite hold. Conal could not have suppressed the cry that burst from him. He twisted his body in an effort to roll under a chariot that stood by with its shafts resting on the ground, too low-bodied to permit the hound to get at him if once he could gain its shelter, but the shafts and wheels were turned sideways, and blocked the space. In the shadow the dog's really enormous body loomed as large as an elk. Its quick breath and the terrifying depth of its voice were in his ear. He had no weapon; he gave him- self up for lost. "Help, some one!" he shouted. "The dog will kill me." "Bran! Bran!" cried a shrill voice behind him. "Be still! Good dog!" Some one ran lightly past him, seized the beast's collar, and spoke to him soothingly. Unwillingly the dog allowed himself to be headed away from his quarry. His growl died to a grumble, and he crouched down, head on paws, only partly satisfied, ready to resume the offensive at the least encour- agement. The dog disposed of, Conal's arm was taken firmly and he was led into the moonlight. His preserver looked at him steadily. It was a young girl, hardly of Conal's own years, but her air of assurance and authority was such that he could A MEAL AT BRUDEN MESGEDRA 13 not help feeling on trial and likely to be sternly dealt with. "It is your good fortune alone that has saved you this night," she said accusingly. "If his muzzle had been loosened, I could not have been quick enough. Why are you wandering here hi this fashion? Do you not know enough to keep to your own quarters in another man's house? If Mesgedra had found you lurking about my grianan the hound would be fed full by now. Answer me, for if I call there are those within hearing who will be less patient than I." "I am a guest a traveller," muttered Conal. "I came out to breathe the air, to look after my horses. I meant no harm. But that miserable dog if I had had my spear by me he would not have charged another tune." "Why, it is only a boy," said the girl in disgust, "and a boy who has had more ale than is good for young people. I will tell them in the hall to be more careful how they serve such lads as you with strong drink. I acquit you of evil intention, and advise you to shun the mead-horn till your head is older." She took the dog's leash in her hand and turned away. "You have saved me from an ugly plight," said Conal desperately, "but I could almost wish that you had left me to the hound's mercies, for those merry clowns in the hall have had one chance to laugh at me to-night and I will not bear any more 14 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION of their ridicule. I will call my men and be gone first. That sneaking bard in there, he will sing verses about me and the dog wherever he goes, and I will be a laughing-stock for all Meath." "I have not said that I would tell about the dog, and indeed I do not blame you for not wanting the men in the guest-house to know of it; for, believe me, if you could have had a sight of yourself rolling on the turf with Bran bounding about muzzling at you, you would have found it hard not to have laughed at yourself." "You take it very easily that I was all but man- gled by the brute," said Conal peevishly. "I do not laugh at the mangling he did not give you, but at the fright you did get. After all, how did you know, and how do you know now, that he is not an old toothless mumbler, the grandfather of the kennels? That would make it more laughable still." "You are fond of teasing, I see," said Conal stiffly. "Tell it if you must. I will ask no courtesy from you." "Oh, it is nothing to me!" answered the girl. "I will have forgotten it by morning. And now seek your own quarters if you wish your adventure to go unnoticed, for I will be missed." Voices from inside the house showed that as a matter of fact others were approaching the door. Conal felt ashamed as he realized that the girl was about to leave him before he had said a word of acknowledgment or thanks. A MEAL AT BRUDEN MESGEDRA 15 "Forgive my not speaking of thanks to you," he said hastily, "but I was really much shaken by that beast's charging me out of the darkness. I did not know if he were not something more than hound. To-morrow I will seek you and say what is fitting." "Count it as said," said the girl gayly. "To- morrow I go to Tailtenn fair, and I will be gone by dawn." She passed swiftly into the house, and after a moment Conal turned away and walked briskly back to the guest-hall. He peered about for his charioteer, where he was bent over a chess-board in the corner, and shaking him by the collar said sharply: "To bed now, Car- bry; there is work for you to do to-morrow. We will be up at dawn again, and off to Tailtenn to the fair." CHAPTER II THE STRANGER WOULD NOT GIVE WAY Conal woke with a burning throat, a strange, swollen feeling about the eyes, and a complete dis- taste for mead. The day was little advanced, but promised to be clear and pleasant. He dressed hastily and, running out, overlooked the harnessing of his horses. Carbry, a sober man, grumbled at the fastidiousness with which he examined every buckle, not sparing criticism or even abuse at the least lack of care. With his own hands he put the last touches to the grooming, smoothing down with his palm the glossy legs of one horse, and rebraid- ing the mane of the other. Satisfied at last, he took the rod and drove to the door of the hall. One or two servants loitered about the doorway, one or two belated guests lingered over their milk and oat-cakes, but no merry party was mounting for the day's jaunt, no saucy and provoking maidens, such as he had dreamed of that night, were to be seen. Yes, they told him, Mesgedra was gone some time, the guests and ladies with him. They would be gone an hour or more by now, but those were fine horses the young flaith had, perhaps he could over- take them. Would he have a flask of sour milk for 16 THE STRANGER WOULD NOT GIVE WAY 17 his journey? There it was, then, with the blessing of Bel. The road was to the right, but there was a short cut after one passed the crooked sloe-tree which leaned over the pond. Conal thanked them and, swinging his horses onto the road, urged them into a good pace. Soon he came to the crooked sloe, where a sunken byway led off over the moorland, and took to it, his chariot rolling along, consuming the miles. The fresh and powerful horses tugged at the halter and started playfully at the touch of the rod. His attendants, not so well provided with horseflesh, were long since left behind. The road wound in and out between small hills, most often wooded, and Conal soon lost all sense of distance and almost of direction. At last, when noon was drawing near, the bypath rejoined the main road which stretched white in both directions, empty except for a single chariot moving slowly along it in advance of him. Conal gave up all hope of joining Mesgedra and his party, for he had no way of knowing whether they were before or behind him, nor indeed could he guess how far he had come or where he was. He drove on to overtake the chariot ahead, and came rapidly up behind it. The road at this point ran close beside a small stream, and at a short dis- tance dipped to a crossing. Conal saw that the driver of the other chariot would hi a moment be in the ford. "I had little fortune with my first prohibition 1 8 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION last night," he thought, "and I must hurry before another one is broken. There will be no luck be- fore me in my journey if I let this fellow go first through the ford." He prodded his horses and forced his chariot up on the other, so that the hubs of the wheels ground together, and they both came to a stop at the very edge of the water. The other driver was a man of much more than Conal's age. His clothing was old and worn, though of good fashion. Here and there a withe was missing from the wickerwork of his chariot. His horses, though strong, were poorly cared for. The paint on his shield was battered and defaced, but his weapons were clean and bright, and the long, slender blades of his spears were as sharp as the stone could make them. He looked angrily around, and bellowed in a voice that gave an ill promise of the quality of his temper: "What are you about, youngster? You will have us both hi the water in a moment. If the owner of those horses knew how poorly you manage them he would get another stable-boy. Back easily now, and lay your horse-rod across their necks! Not that way ! Crom Cruach and his twelve sub- gods blight you! You have brains of mutton tallow!" "I know perfectly how to manage the horses," said Conal soothingly, "and you are not in the slightest danger. I am only trying to get to the THE STRANGER WOULD NOT GIVE WAY 19 ford first, for I am under strong geasa not to allow any one to pass through a ford before me, a prohibi- tion not to be broken." "That is all very brave and knightly," said the stranger, smiling in spite of himself, "and it is very honorable to have such geasa on one though it is to be feared that they have a tendency to shorten the life. And now, how do you propose to go about making good the same? For I assure you I do not intend to let you crowd past me like a calf past a cow merely because you say that such is your geasa," and he drew his horses and chariot bodily across the way. "If I say it you may be sure it is so, and I will make it good in such way as seems best to me. Best for you to clear the way and let us go on in peace." Conal felt a little uneasy in spite of his bold speech, for the stranger had evidently no idea of giving way, and there was something very wicked- looking in the way his weapons hung so handily in their worn leather loops. They stood for a moment measuring each other with their eyes. Then the stranger leisurely loos- ened his cloak and put his plain bronze pin away in a little bag. "You are really a very good-looking young lad," he remarked thoughtfully, "and the man who put such prohibitions on you must have thought highly of your qualities granting that he was not your worst enemy. I have in mind not to harm you 20 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION greatly unless my temper is roused, so take care not to vex me by damaging my linen shirt, which I value highly. Will you fight with close hard wrestling, or with rough swords, or with throwing sharp spears?" "I will throw sharp spears with you," answered Conal after some consideration, for his adversary was much weightier than he, and he thought it best to trust to his marksmanship. "Will you fight from the chariot or on foot?" pursued the other gravely. "From the chariot," replied Conal after again reckoning his best chance. "That is just what I would have chosen myself, and just what I would have advised you to choose," said the stranger, suddenly growing very affable. "I am a hard man at wrestling, and unmatched with swords, but my spear-throwing is nothing at all remarkable, so that it will be good practise for both of us." They drew apart a little, keeping punctiliously at equal distances from the ford. Then, at a mutual signal, they came dashing together. Conal, over- eager, threw first. The spear went straight and swift, but the other countered it with a slight mo- tion of his shield, so that it did not even pierce the hide, but fell harmlessly to the ground. The chariots passed one another, turned again, and came back. Again Conal made a cast, and again his opponent avoided it with no apparent effort, but as he moved his arm a worn place in his voluminous linen shirt THE STRANGER WOULD NOT GIVE WAY 21 gave and ripped. Up to this time he had made no offensive movement, but when he felt the cloth tear he snatched a spear from beside him, and threw it, butt foremost, with such incredible swiftness and force that it struck the top of Conal's shield before he could brace himself, drove the rim of it back against his chest, and glancing up struck him a blow on the jaw that sent him headlong over the side of the chariot to the earth. After a long period of pain and semiconsciousness he began to come slowly to himself. Some one was dashing cold water on him in a very annoying fashion, making him gasp, and at every gasp sharp pains ran through his chest. His face felt pulled all to one side. He knew that he had met with some serious injury, and was probably at the point of death. Gradually his mind became clearer and he dis- tinguished voices around him, cheerful voices which laughed and spoke jestingly. His enemies were re- joicing at his downfall. He opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a circle of men whose faces he vaguely remembered. One of them was sluicing water over him at intervals, the others watched him with broad smiles. From behind him came a ring- ing girlish voice. He tried to move and, finding that no great pain followed, rolled himself over. Mesgedra stood near by, with Ronan the bard and the bald-headed brehon. The stranger of the ford was telling, with much gesticulation, a story to which the others were listening, convulsed with 22 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION mirth. A little apart, observing him intently with an expression of playfully malicious glee, sat the girl of the night before, the girl in whose eyes he had hoped to magnify himself with all his fine harness. He turned back and pretended to be still uncon- scious. But this expedient could not serve him for- ever, and realizing that he was making much of what was after all only a slight hurt, at last, sum- moning his courage, he sat up suddenly and faced them. He was glad that he had done so, and was relieved when he had taken a look about him, for their faces, though amused, were friendly and even in a measure respectful. "Yourself again, youngster?" cried the stranger. "None the worse for your tumble, my boy?" asked Mesgedra. "None the worse," answered Conal, rising with one hand to his jaw. He looked himself all over, tried each limb and joint. "None the worse, and ready to go on whenever our friend here is ready." "Enough for one day! Enough!" said Mes- gedra. "Luck does not last long when it is tempted. I know of no one else who has come off as easily, fighting with my old friend Brian here, particularly when you were, as he tells me, the cause of his tear- ing his shirt, a garment which he prized." "You say well, and it is a very fine piece of linen, as you can see, not to speak of the beautiful em- broidery." Brian displayed a tattered sleeve osten- tatiously as he drew the bronze pin out of its bag, THE STRANGER WOULD NOT GIVE WAY 23 and once more adjusted his cloak. "But I bear no malice, and indeed he is a fine, impudent young lad, and will go far in his day, with proper training. I must teach you to pull spear and throw with the one movement. You waste too much time taking aim, which is useless when you fight on wheels. One learns to aim by instinct." Conal noticed that all the others closed in on him and listened with the deepest attention and respect while he went on with a little lecture on the use of the throwing-spear and the comparative merits of broad and narrow spear-heads, and this perhaps did more to convince him of the character and skill of the man he had had to deal with, and to satisfy him that he had come well out of the affair, than did his own catastrophe, which he had been tacitly as- cribing in his own mind more to chance than to any superiority on the stranger's part. It was pleasant for him to feel that there was no disgrace in his downfall that rather it was a matter of pride to have fought such a man on equal terms, and the attitude of the bystanders assured him that this was so. It was now about the hour of the midday meal, and they began to look about them for a convenient place for taking it. "If there were a guest-house hereabout," said Mesgedra, "I would say that we had come far enough for this day, particularly since young Conal has been so roughly handled." "I am not as badly hurt as that, Brugaid Mes- 24 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION gedra, so do not think of me, nor cut your journey short for my sake, for I never felt better or more like travelling." "AH the same your face is somewhat one-sided, so that you will have trouble keeping your balance in the chariot. Let Brian give you a blow on the other side to make all even again." "Willingly," offered Brian, reaching out his knotty fist, "for I do not like to leave my work half done." "Prove to me first that the second lump will not be greater than the other, which would be no gain to me," said Conal, dodging the playful blow. "For my part," persisted Mesgedra, "I am ready to call a halt if any one knows of a hospitable dun where so many of us will be well received." "There is such a dun," said Brian, "and I know the lord of it well. He is called DufTa the Ollave, for he is both druid and poet. He has taken gifts of me, and there has been stock of mine in his pas- tures. It would be strange if there was not a wel- come there for all of us." "I have heard of that druid," said Mesgedra. "They say he has strange gifts, the knowledge of the working of spells, and power over mists and storms. I would be glad to see such a man." "I cannot say for that," answered Brian somewhat brusquely, "enough for me if he has power to slay swine and knowledge of the cooking of cabbages. I bother my head very little over spells and witchcraft." He took the lead and the others followed him in order. THE STRANGER WOULD NOT GIVE WAY 25 Now and again Brian would chuckle to himself and repeat: "He told me not to be afraid of danger, for he was skilled in managing horses." Whereupon Mesgedra's resonant laugh would ring out, and he would lean over and clap Conal on the shoulder, who took it all in good part, seeing that" they thought the better of him for his assur- ance. The ladies, too, jested with him, and espe- cially the maiden who had saved him from the hound would laugh merrily, showing her white teeth so that Conal could not keep his eyes from her. If he had ever seen a fair woman, she was twice as fair. Her skin was the color of skimmed milk, and her hair like red bronze. Conal's heart was lifted up at the sight of her, and then cast down by the thought of the appearance he had made in her eyes on this day and the night before. Now and then he would look at her timidly, and seeing her laugh frankly back in his face he would blush fiery red, and within himself begin to make high resolves and picture how before another day was past he would show in some way that there were qualities in him that had not yet appeared. In a short tune the high earthen wall of the dun was in sight, and before they reached it Duffa him- self came out to meet them. He embraced Brian with the greatest affection, and greeted Mesgedra as his dignity demanded. Welcoming them all, he had baths prepared, and entertained them with games, wrestling, racing, and running. When night drew near they gathered indoors together. Food 26 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION and drink were set on the tables. The Ollave and Ronan the bard brought out their harps. They divided that night into three parts : one for feasting and drinking; one for the telling of tales and the singing of songs; the third for rest and quiet sleep. But Duffa the Ollave was walking by himself in the oak grove until dawn. CHAPTER III DUFFA GIVES A MESSAGE; CONAL ASKS FOR A PLACE Before the sun had well risen Mesgedra and Brian were waiting at the door of the hall to thank DufFa for his hospitality, and say farewell to him. The whole dun was filled with the noise of departure. Servants were running about, horses stamping, sleepy men stumbling to their chariots with their knuckles in their eyes. A dozen times all seemed ready for a start when some shout for a lie-a-bed comrade or missing necessary gave the signal for more delay and greater confusion. Only those two, like the old campaigners they were, had been ready from the first, as if they had slept fully clothed in their chariots. They looked on their bustling fellow travellers with good-humored contempt, and would have been off without ceremony had not the druid delayed his coming. Conal had been up first of all and, though he was slow appearing, it was only that he took twice as much pains with his horses as he had even the morn- ing before, and being without attendants, had all the work to do himself, for he would not trust his precious steeds to the hands of Duffa's slaves. He 27 28 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION drove out at last, proudly conscious of his knightly appearance, and took his place at Mesgedra's side, and not far from the canopied chariots in which the women of Mesgedra's party were sitting. He felt at his best, except for a little stiffness of the jaw, and the knowledge that the side of his face was disfigured by a purple lump of the size of a walnut, which put him to the pains of keeping that cheek turned away as much as possible. . "Where can the Ollave be?" asked Brian impa- tiently. "When a man has guests he has guests, and it is to be expected that he will show himself to them at parting, and not let them take them- selves off like crows that have been stealing corn." "He is an old man," said Mesgedra. "Perhaps he drank too much mead in encouraging us to make free with it, and is sleeping so soundly after it that the servants dare not rouse him for fear of his anger." " Call one of them, then, and ask whether he sleeps or not." "But is not that he coming now?" cried Conal, pointing. In fact, looking out through the gate, they could see the druid approaching, walking slowly between the thin trees, with his face raised to the east so that he seemed to stare straight into the rising sun. They got down out of their chariots, and Brian and Mesgedra went forward to meet him, but he walked past as if he did not see them, and coming up to Conal, put his hand on the boy's shoulder, and DUFFA GIVES A MESSAGE 29 spoke in a low, earnest voice that made his words seem to carry some mysterious authority. "When you come to the High King greet him well for me." "I would carry your greeting gladly," answered Conal hesitantly, "but I go only to Tailtenn, and it is not likely, from what they say, that I will see Dathi there." "That is true," put in Brian, "but I am on my way to join the High King, and I will do your errand for you." "There is a man in a distant city," went on the druid without noticing the interruption. "You will know him by his shaven head, by his cloak which is pierced for his head to pass through, by his crook- headed staff. Tell him that the people who dwell by the wood of Focluth bid him come again and walk with them." "But where is that city, and what is its name?" asked Conal, stepping back a pace. Duffa's white face and wide-open, expressionless eyes, fixed so steadily on the distant sky, struck him with dread. All the tales he had ever heard of the mysteries of the druids came crowding into his mind; tales of prophecies and visions, of enchantments and met- amorphoses, of cruel old rites, remembered still in fable, of madness put upon men by the throwing of a wisp of straw. He would have liked to have looked about him to draw courage from the pres- ence of the others, but he could not take his eyes from the Ollave's face. Duffa did not answer, but 30 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION his exaltation seemed slowly to pass from him. His hand fell to his side, and the color returned to his face. When he spoke again it was briefly and imperiously, looking straight at Conal. "For yourself, avoid quarrels with your kins- folk," and turning he walked directly into the house, and the bronze-studded door swung to after him. They passed out of the gate in silence. When, after a little, Conal would have spoken of the druid's strange message, hoping to be encouraged to dismiss it as idle words, the others avoided discussing it. Ronan looked straight before him and frowned for- biddingly, and Brian would only reply with mutter- ings of "Tush!" and other vague noises. "Best let such things be and forget them," said Mesgedra bluntly. "Whether they are prophecy or not, they are dressed in mysterious words, and it is useless or worse for any one not learned in old lore or magic rhymes to attempt to explain them. Time will show. For the present let it pass, and if Ronan will shorten the road for us with a cheerful song, it will please me better than talking of it." Ronan was glad to forget the druid's words, and glad too of the chance to display the power of his own art over men's minds. There was not a beau- tiful lament or an heroic tale which he did not have at his tongue's end, and he delighted their ears with song and story until their awe faded, and they recovered the gay spirit suited to such a journey. After they had gone on for an hour they began to DUFFA GIVES A MESSAGE 31 meet other wayfarers more and more frequently. Every lane and horse-track gave its group or two, until the road was full, and they became, as it were, part of a procession of chariots, bright with bronze and gilding and feathered canopies. The clatter of tongues, the stamp of hoofs, and the scream of creaking axles became deafening. The crowd moved slowly, stopping frequently and surging to and fro, and it needed skill and patience to avoid accident, but every one was in good humor, and every delay and discomfort was taken with a jest as was becom- ing in those who travelled for pleasure. Presently Conal found his chariot pressing close on the one which carried his girlish rescuer, and a longer stop than usual gave him the chance of speak- ing to her, which he had desired but had not had enough address to bring about himself. After re- garding her sidewise for a little he summoned cour- age and made some remark about the press of peo- ple and the slowness of their travel. "It is wonderful to be among so many people," replied the girl simply. "I have never seen such a number together before, though many folk gather at the bruden at times." "These are only a few of those who will be at Tailtenn. That will be a sight for you to remember. You will not be able to see that there are earth and grass there from the number of men and women, besides the horses and chariots without end." "I am impatient to see it ! You, no doubt, have been there often before, and have seen many such 32 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION sights, but I have lived in seclusion." She spoke demurely, looking at him under her lashes. Conal blushed and hesitated. "To be truthful," he said, "I too have lived until now in fosterage, in a rath far from such scenes as this, where not even travellers passed. You, at Mesgedra's bruden, have seen more of life than I, and indeed I envy you what you have seen there, though now I am going out in the world to see for myself." "I have seen little enough," said the girl, "for it would be unbecoming for me to be about where guests are so frequent. Often when I have watched beautiful queens and handsome young lords pass in and out I have wondered who they were, and where they were going, and have wished that I, too, were a traveller, journeying to Cruachan or Ard- Macha. But, sigh as I will, I must stay at home, for it is not for girls to travel. Mesgedra did not even want to bring me with him this time, but I threatened him and he thought better of it." "And what did you threaten him with?" "First I told him I would run away, but he laughed; so then I threatened to cry, and that set- tled it. But I think he would have brought me any- how. He puffs his cheeks and blows through his beard very frightfully, but at last he says: 'Well, if you must! A man must have peace in his house'; so I get what I wish." She tossed back her plaited hair and laughed merrily. DUFFA GIVES A MESSAGE 33 "I can well believe that before you Mesgedra is like Diarmuid o Duibne, who had geasa on him never to refuse anything to a woman." "That is his nature," replied the girl, looking back at the old man tenderly. "He is kindness it- self to^all young people, and to me, of course, above all. You would not believe he was a flame of fire to his enemies." "It can easily be seen that he is a man of a kindly nature, but I believe you when you say he has an- other side to show. When we first met I disputed with him about a certain joint of meat, and though he exercised restraint, he looked at me with the eyes of a fierce old wolf-dog." "Then you were the pert boy who claimed his portion. But wolfhounds even can be soothed by speaking to them gently." "Who should know that better than I? It is no small return I owe you for saving me." " Better not to recall that. It should not be known of a young champion that he owes his good looks to a woman's help. Ronan Dhu may overhear you and make rhymes to amuse his friends." "I am ashamed of having spoken so. After all, I am too small game for Ronan, and if he wished to satirize me he could find enough to amuse them in the figure I made claiming the hero's portion, or in my fight with Brian at the ford." "That is talking sensibly, and I am glad you have come to see it in that way." Conal perhaps had expected a somewhat differ- 34 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION ent answer. He began to speak of himself belittlingly as if hoping she would not agree with him. "No doubt a man such as I, fresh from country places, falling from one difficulty into another, seems ridiculous in your eyes compared with the brave lords you spoke of who come and go at the bruden." " It would be useless to say that you seemed heroic rolling on the ground with Bran, or rubbing your face from Brian's blow, but you are young and can- not expect that everything will turn to your glory. You should be proud at having met Brian with the spear at all rather than ashamed at being defeated by him. As for your coming fresh from quiet places, have I not told you that I am in the same case ? We should rather share the pleasure of these new sights than cast our inexperience up at one another." "There is comfort in what you say, and if you are willing, let us see these sights together. I will put you under bonds to save the place at your side for me throughout the fair, and wherever we travel in company." "We will not travel in company long, I fear, because when the fair is over you will go your way, and we ours," said the girl with a little mournful air that was the perfection of artifice. "How do you know our ways may not be the same? Indeed, I am minded to place myself under Mesgedra as his man and travel in his train for the pleasure of being with you." " How could that be ? Your way is already chosen DUFFA GIVES A MESSAGE 35 for you. Did you not hear the druid say that you would come to far countries and speak with men of strange appearance ? It is the way of men to go far off and live their lives, while women stay at home and spin flax how I hate the name of linen !" She dropped her head and sighed delicately so that Conal immediately began to feel pity for her, because they would part so soon and she would see him no more. "It is true, travelling is more suitable for men than for women," he said pompously, "and no doubt I must go where my fate and fame lead me. But all the same we will meet again, for I will return to Bruden Mesgedra in time and tell you of the places I have seen and the deeds I have done." "I prefer to do my travelling for myself. I have not a flax-spinning nature, though it would be ask- ing too much of your country-bred youth to expect you to see that unaided. Perhaps when you come back from following your fame and fortune you will find I have been as far afield as yourself." "You are certainly the strangest girl I have ever seen," said Conal resentfully. "You say one thing in one breath and another in the next. I made no secret of my bringing up, and I do not see why you fling it in my face so suddenly." "It is not that I am strange, but that you are stupid," answered the girl impatiently. "You are so smug and confident that you will be the one to have tales to tell,, while I sit open-eyed. Why should I not have adventures of my own?" 36 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION "It is not my fault if you do not like to be taken at your word," protested Conal. "You said your- self it was proper for women to stay in their own houses." "I said that it was the lot of most women, not that I meant to do so. No, indeed ! I am going on my travels as well as you." "It is your own fault if I offended you, then, for you could have said as much in the first place," Conal grumbled, his respect for her increased mightily, none the less, and his curiosity aroused as well. "You are going on, then, when the fair is done? Perhaps we will journey together after all." "Never mind. We will see. At least I know where I am going, while you must wait for fate and fame to show the way." "You will never have done teasing," said Conal, biting his lip. "Very well, but do not be surprised if I give you as good as you send when I have the chance." "Remember what the druid said," cried the girl gayly: "'Beware of quarrelling with your kinsfolk.' We are of the same blood, so mind how you speak to me." "You are more likely of the blood of the Shee than of mine you have the looks of their daughters and something of their temper as well. But do you know I have never even asked your name?" "It is Etain, and I am of the blood of the Shee, as the name witnesses." "Of course it is common for kingly families to be DUFFA GIVES A MESSAGE 37 allied with them, as Cucullin was, and so many others, but how are we related?" "They say that you are of the Hy Fiacra, and my mother was also of that race. She was the daughter of Lugaid the Sleepless, who went to Alban with Niall and settled there." "That is the same clan but a different family. There are three tuaths of the descendants of Fiacra : one in Ulster, one in Leinster, and one in Alban; but I am of the Ulster branch, which is the chief one." "That is disputed, I think." "How disputed?" cried Conal, bristling. "I have heard it said but I know nothing of such things. Leave it to the genealogists." By degrees they had been moving forward with the crowd, and now they came to where a broad plain spread out on both sides of the road, covered as far as the eye could reach with slight buildings of every sort, arranged regularly to form streets, with open spaces at intervals. The din was insup- portable, for every sort of activity was in full swing at the same tune. Mesgedra, coming up, advised Conal to seek quar- ters while there was tune, as he had already ar- ranged for the shelter of his own party hi a place where no more would be received. They settled upon a place of meeting for the next day and separated. Conal wanted desperately to snatch a last word with Etain, but he hung back until the opportunity was gone. Only, as she drove 38 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION past him, she leaned over the edge of the chariot until her lips almost touched his ear. "If you wish it, I will save the place for you," she whispered, and went on laughing and shaking her braids, while Conal grew red as fire and hated himself bitterly for doing so. He watched her out of sight and then set out to look for lodgings and to get his first view of the fair. CHAPTER IV GIFT FOR GIFT A place at her side for the length of the fair whether Etain meant more when she said it than she afterward found it convenient to remember, or whether, as girls will, she had made the promise with no intention of keeping it, merely for the pleasure of seeing him blush and stammer, Conal found fewer chances of being with her than he had expected. True, every day he would meet Mesgedra's party and go with them to whatever sport or ceremony the day offered. There were even moments when, other eyes being turned elsewhere, he could whisper stumbling, daring speeches to be met with flashing eyes and frivolous answers. But for the most part she was so ringed about by the other maidens of Mesgedra's house, and so shepherded by Mesgedra's staid and elderly sister, that Conal, too self-conscious to air his preferences before the world, kept in the background or walked with the men. Even so he did not escape jesting, and other men were not so backward but would venture among the women to walk by her side. This, to be sure, made Conal grind his teeth, as did also her habit, when they were watching the races at the field of 39 40 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION games, of praising in extravagant terms the looks, the figure, and the bearing of each successful chari- oteer. She would call upon Conal to testify to these excellences, and quarrel with him when he grew sulkily critical about them, as it must be confessed he usually did. He took this so much to heart that, from very jealousy, he was forced to grease his axles, a thing which he was very loath to do, spoiling as it did the fashionable creaking of the wheels, and drive a race or two himself. As his driving was thoroughly finished, and his horses really unmatched, he succeeded in giving a good account of himself in the first race and won the second. Etain for once forgot her mockery and, glowing with excitement, cheered him on across the line and spoke warm words of praise and congratulation, making him blush, and strut, and feel completely happy until she changed front again, a short half- hour after, and became more provoking than ever and less tolerant of his boyish attempts at a senti- mental understanding. , As was to be expected, the fair provided every sort of amusement, from the drolleries of jesters and jugglers to the lyrical contests of the bards. The passing crowd was a veritable levy of all ranks and classes. There were kings there and cunning crafts- men, merchants from Gaul, Iberia, and the Islands, tradesmen with their trades, ollaves of the three learned professions, and private folk of every degree. GIFT FOR GIFT 41 The High King himself appeared for an hour one day, driving up furiously with a crowd of guards and officers. He met the judges and historians, went through the formality of confirming some laws and customs, and whirled off again, through the dust clouds, for Tara or Inver Colptha at the mouth of the Boyne, for preparations for his expedi- tion were going rapidly forward in both of these places. As for the expedition, every one talked of it. Hundreds of seasoned soldiers passed through the fair every day on their way to the port. Some- tunes, with chief at head and banners displayed, the manhood of some mountain clan came by in full strength, going to join the High King in a body, although no general call had been made on the provinces. Half the grizzled veterans in Eirinn came seeking out Brian, buried their faces in his bushy beard, and dragged him off to bear them company in a last revel. Then would follow a night of wild merry-making, breaking up with shouting groups parading the streets, cheering the most renowned warriors, and overturning booths, until some mag- nate bought them off with a supper or some vener- able brehon reproved them with stinging words and sent them away abashed. Mesgedra also was in great demand for evening gatherings. He was known and beloved by every man of note in the five kingdoms, and elevated in men's eyes by his present dignity and past exploits. 42 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION Although not inclined to boisterous mirth, he was a sociable companion and a hearty man at the cups, and his sagacity was respected by even the oldest. His nights were spent at the tables of great lords, where matters of state were discussed in half -finished sentences, and whole volumes of meaning were conveyed in a compressed lip or a sober nod. The most powerful chiefs bent eagerly for his opinion on questions of tribute and defiance between prov- inces, or war and peace between nations. Sometimes Conal accompanied one, sometimes the other, for both made him free of their company. He learned much of life in those days. He became able to distinguish intelligently between the lighter and more delicately flavored wine of Iberia, and the heavier, darker product of Gaul, which is so much improved by the addition of sea water. He listened while acknowledged masters discussed the military art and wrangled over this or that nice point of leadership. The High King's own counsellors gave him his first insight into the confused wisdom of politics and commerce. Mesgedra and his fellows chatted mysteriously of missions to the Picts, of treaties with the Saxon, and of the far-off activities of him whom they called King of All the World ("Eirinn excepted," they punctiliously added, with honorable pride). All this Conal drank in with interest. His acquaintanceship grew also, and he got in the way of rising at dawn to course hounds hi the com- pany of men of his own age, among whom his skill GIFT FOR GIFT 43 in sports and his superb horses gave him a pleasura- ble ascendancy. His days passed pleasantly, and he grew insen- sibly more mature. One indication of the passing of his first boyish rawness was that it became more difficult for Etain to put him to confusion with her raillery. One day, when they were standing in the square watching the crowds of people of the poorer sort who had gathered there for the making of marriages, she began to tease him about a certain dark beauty who she declared was waiting for Conal to claim her. She urged him to send Mesgedra to the girl's mother to arrange the match, and made much sport of him altogether. Conal only looked at her steadily and said: "Before the marrying is over I will have some- thing to say to Mesgedra, but not that, as you know." Etain would have been well pleased could she have given him a pert answer, but suddenly found herself marking circles in the sand with her toe, un- able to meet his eye. She stalked away in great disgust with herself and hoping he had not noticed her confusion, but at the same time conscious of a certain pleasant breathlessness and an altogether unusual timidity. Conal perhaps noticed nothing; at any rate, he let her go without another word. The last day of the fair approached. Brian had gone on some days before with one of the last parties of warriors. Numbers of people left Tail- 44 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION term daily, but many waited for the great feast which most of those of any rank expected to at- tend. Mesgedra advised Conal to see the herald in ad- vance and tell him his station and family, so that he might be given a good place. He did so, and left his shield to secure his seat. On the morning of the feast they strolled to the Hall of the Mead- drinking to see what arrangements had been made and what places had been given them. The hall, though not intended to stand perma- nently, was commodious and handsome. It had numerous doors on both sides, and the tables and seats were arranged along the walls, so that one side was free for serving and no man faced his neighbor. Mesgedra's shield was hung behind a bench near the head of the table in the position to which his office entitled him. Ronan Dhu and Eoghan, the bald brehon, found themselves well placed; but Conal looked a long time for his place, to discover his shield hung in a poor situation, among those of flaiths and aires indeed, but men of little conse- quence. "See here, Mesgedra, where they have put me!" he fumed. "This is small honor they have done to the clan of Fiacra." "It is well we came here beforehand," sympathized Ronan; "and it is a shame on the shanachie who arranged the shields that such an affront should be put on your noble house." "It was not well done," said the brehon, "and it GIFT FOR GIFT 45 is my advice that you call on the law against him. It is a serious thing to deprive a man of rank and place, as is shown by the verse: * The duties of a shanachie it is not hard to tell them. To be learned and skilled in the rights of kings; To give each man his rightful place, Knowing the privileges of every rank.' "It is plain that this herald cannot be skilled as he should be, and you are justified in asking pay- ment for your injury." "Pestilence swallow you and your payment," growled Mesgedra. "Do you think the boy will trade his nobility for a cow? I believe there is a mistake here that can be set right in a word to the herald. And if I am not mistaken, here he comes." He advanced against the herald and, shaking his finger under his nose, stormed at him: "This was a fool's blunder, shanachie. You have put this lad among men of no account, offending his clan and himself, after he had told you his name and descent." "Who is he?" returned the shanachie impatiently. "I have had a hundred complaints this morning alone, and I cannot be expected to remember every flaith who comes to me with stories of his pedigree. In the name of Bel! Is modesty dying out alto- gether that no one is satisfied with the place that is given him? What is the name and descent you speak of so importantly?" "I am Conal, son of Cathbar, who is called Shan- 46 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION leh, of the tribe of Fiacra; a free tribe with no overlord except the King of Ulster, and I am of his blood and king-material in my own territory." "And your rank, and your father's?" "A flaith myself, and Cathbar a high aire, for- merly the tanist." "And your shield is among the shields of flaiths and aires. What more would you have?" "It is not for my rank that I ask more, but as the representative of Fiacra's house, which makes it right for me to sit next after the kings of tuaths, being king-material of a tuath myself." "All of which," said the brehon sharply, "you should have known without asking, for what says the verse ? 'The duties of a shanachie it is not hard to tell them. To be learned ' " " Enough ! " said the shanachie. " I know the duties of my office well enough without being wearied with ranns and old verses; as for the son of Cathbar, he would be justly entitled to the place he claims but that Firbis, the son of Heremon, of the Leinster branch of the Clan Fiacra, is here, and being of closer kinship to Fiacra, and of a family from whom Cathbar's ancestors have taken gifts, he has claimed and been given the place. Here is his shield." "By the oath of my people!" exclaimed Conal. "If any Leinsterman claims nearer descent from Fiacra than myself he is a foul liar, and if Firbis GIFT FOR GIFT 47 says his fathers have given gifts to mine, except it may be as friends give them, he shall answer for it. The Hy Fiacra of Leinster is a mere offshoot, their blood tainted with the blood of Firbolgs and foreigners, and I will prove it on his skin." "Peace, peace, boy ! " whispered Mesgedra. " Re- member the dignity of the herald. That Firbis is a plotter like all Leinstermen. I know him well. But do not storm and bluster. We will appeal to the king's shanachies who will surely do you justice." "If what you say is true it will be easy to show it," the shanachie said. "And there are several reverend men of my profession outside who are here to decide just such questions. It is better that they should give judgment than I." They followed him to a tree near by, under which two or three aged men were sitting with their heads together. The herald addressed them respectfully. "Learned men, a dispute concerning the descent of Conal, son of Cathbar Shanleh, and Firbis the son of Heremon, both of Hy Fiacra." "Are both here present?" asked the oldest, turn- ing his head slightly. Ronan the bard pushed forward. "Conal is here," he explained confidently, "and there is no need of the other's presence. We merely ask that right be done, and a word will serve as well as an hour's talk." "Let Firbis be summoned," said the old man, going back to his talk with his fellows. Word was sent out through the fair, and after 48 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION some delay a crier appeared bringing the Leinsterman with him. Firbis was a dark, short man with thin lips and a brush of black hair shooting up almost from his eye- brows. Turning his head from side to side with a challenging air, as if he expected controversy and was prepared to welcome it, he came striding up to the group under the tree, and demanded impa- tiently why he had been sent for. "One is here who claims your seat," the shanachie told him, "a young flaith from Ulster." "That is fine news indeed," the Leinsterman said with ready hostility. "And what reason does the young flaith give for wanting my seat besides that he does not like his own?" "He claims the headship of the clan of Fiacra for his family, and the seat as its representative for himself." "I have heard of such a claim before," Firbis said with a bitter look, but without any appearance of concern. "That will be one of Cathbar's scrubs, I suppose. I am satisfied to have the question set- tled now once for all. Bring him out with his claim!" He turned sharply and saw Mesgedra. "Ho!" he cried quickly. "I thought that no Ulsterman would have had the impudence to put forward that demand of himself. I see how it is now. Here is the High King's kitchen boy, and I have no doubt that he is the fat fool who has encour- aged this boy to insult me." GIFT FOR GIFT 49 "What way is that to talk of the noble Mes- gedra?" cried Ronan Dhu. "If it were not for the peace of the fair, I would drive my spear into your gullet." "We will speak of that later," Mesgedra said calmly. "Meantime the question is of the boy's rights."" "I will give him his belly full of his rights," snapped Firbis. "He knows, and so do you, that his family and he are as much beneath mine as pike is beneath salmon. If they are really descended from Fiacra at all, then they are of my blood, and have that much on which to pride themselves but as for rights and rank, my charioteer has as much and more than they. They are pigs of Ulster, noth- ing more." "Enough talk," said Ronan sharply, for he saw that Conal's temper was stirred beyond enduring. "Prove your right or move your shield. Your voice is unpleasant. It annoys me." "My right is already proven, and my shield placed," answered Firbis. "Let him move it who can." The old shanachie turned his head again. "Are both claimants present now?" "Both," Eoghan said, pushing himself to the front. "And I am here also, Eoghan the brehon my name is not unknown, I think. My help is at your ser- vice in any point touching the law. Not that a learned man like you is not versed in the laws, just as I dabble a little in genealogy myself; but a man 50 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION can do but one thing at a time. While you have learned pedigrees I have learned precedents. Each to his trade. One for scent, the other for speed, as the man said when he bred the deerhound to the sleuth." "What is your interest in this affair?" the old genealogist asked coldly. "I stand with Conal, as far as I may in reason. I am an impartial man, I trust. I judge fairly be- tween all, so do not hesitate to ask my opinion. In matters of law I will make no difference between one man and another, though one were my brother and one my enemy." "The law has nothing to do with this case," an- swered the shanachie with grave restraint. "Your help is kindly offered. We thank you. Please stand aside." The bald-headed brehon drew himself up to the full of his not imposing height, and puffed out his cheeks indignantly. "What case is there with which the law has nothing to do?" he demanded. "Who is there so high that the law may not take hold of him? See that you do right hi this matter, or I will show you that a shanachie is under the law like another man his duties are laid down for him with pains and penalties for the breach of them. I will tell you what the law has to say to you. How goes the verse ? 'What are the duties of a shanachie? It is easy to an- swer ' " GIFT FOR GIFT 51 "I will finish your verse for you," said the old man: " ' To reprove the presumptuous who thrust forward without right, To restrain each to his own place, not heeding vain boasting, These are a shanachie's duties; fearless his behavior, Following traditions, not listening to the speech of the ignorant ' So the first part of my duty is to put you in your place. You are an intruding meddler. Stand aside." The brehon grew scarlet and waved his hands impotently, but one or two of the shanachie's stal- wart disciples closed in on him, and he thought it best to say no more, only glaring at the old man and muttering through his teeth: "Disrespectful! Abominable! The law will see to it later." "Which is Conal?" the old man asked. "Who is your father?" "Cathbar, called Shanleh, son of Con-mara." "Firbis, what is your descent?" "I am the son of Heremon the son of Cecht." "And the dispute concerns ?" "Which is the closer in descent to Fiacra, and has the higher place by right of birth." The shanachies put their heads together again and consulted in low tones for some time. At length the oldest said: 52 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION "The case is clear enough. So clear that I am surprised at its ever having arisen. The verse is plain: ' Who was first of the blood of Fiacra, strong the hero, Before Ulster and Leinster were made separate ? It was Art, the flame of war, the bestower of victory.' " "And Art was my ancestor," claimed Firbis tri- umphantly. "That is true," said the shanachie. "Moreover, it says: 'Therefore let all men of Fiacra's race, Take gifts from Art by reason of his kingship Cows, or cloaks, or an ounce of fine gold.' " The other shanachies nodded solemnly. "That is the right of it. Let Firbis have the place." Conal's face had gone red and white by turns a dozen times while the verses were recited. "By the gods of Ulster!" he exclaimed, "if Art had been the whole chivalry of the Red Branch rolled into one, this fellow's Firbolg blood has made him unfit to be chief of mine. Art is dead and his bones are burned. The three tuaths of the clan of Fiacra have had different chiefs for a century, and mine has been strong in war and honored in men's eyes, while this one's has been paying ig- noble tribute and plotting rebellion against the High King, as all know. What does his descent from GIFT FOR GIFT 53 Art matter? Look at his black face and bushy hair. He is pure Firbolg, and no son of Fiacra." "Let Firbis have the place," repeated the shan- achie indifferently. "But let the son of Cathbar be set first among the nobles of less than kingly rank, for his place should be a high one." "Keep no place for me !" Conal cried, dashing his hand against the door-post. "Have your feast as seems best to you, and fill your hall with traitors and bondsmen. Set the Firbolgs in the high places, and put the Gaels outside to eat the scraps. For myself I take my shield and go." He strode into the hall, sprang upon the table and pulled his shield down from the wall, scatter- ing cups and trenchers with his foot. He came out holding the shield in his hand, with his head high and his shoulders squared, and stood in the door for a moment while he looked each one there full in the face in turn. His eyes glittered, his face was white and strained with passion, and the veins on his forehead stood out purple. He began to walk away slowly, but Firbis called after him: "Wait a bit, son of Cathbar, there is something else." His laugh was like the croak of an ill-natured crow. Conal turned, his neck bent and his free hand clenched, but said nothing. "You have forgotten your gift. -Here, take it home to your father, and tell him to come himself and claim my seat and see how he fares." 54 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION Taking a torque from his wrist, he threw it on the ground at Conal's feet and laughed in his face. "A gift for a gift!" cried Conal in a strange, choking voice, and he flung his heavy shield full at Firbis's head. There was a sharp crack as bronze met bone, and Firbis fell, his limbs flung out, sprawl- ing limply. A great rush of blood flooded his face like a curtain and filled the footprints in the soft earth. CHAPTER V CATHBAR WAS DELIGHTED Etain was sitting in the sun with her hair spread over her j shoulders to dry. At the other end of the bench Finulla, her aunt, was idly folding her sleeve in pleats and pushing her bodkin through the folds. Etain was combing first one side of her hair, then the other, and she was singing to herself softly as she combed. Her look was abstracted. From time to time a sly smile passed over her face and her lips moved in imaginary conversation. Then she would nod her head or toss it triumphantly, laughing quietly. At last, rising to her feet, she twisted her hair back over her ears, pinned it with the comb, and caught up a mirror of polished metal in which she regarded herself intently and critically. "I can guess what you are thinking," said Fi- nulla, hardly glancing up. "Guess if you can," Etain defied her, but she col- ored a little. "'After all, I cannot blame the noble Conal/ you were saying to yourself, 'you are really very good- looking.'" Etain laughed and blushed still more. "You should be kinder to him, Etain," Finulla 55 56 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION went on. "You should truly. Confess. You like him." "He is very amiable," said Etain. "He is too patient for his own good. He would go faster if he would not let himself be imposed upon. Now, suppose he were to come to you to-morrow and say forthright, in that hard, determined tone he can use when he chooses: 'Etain, there must be no more trifling. Either we wed or I go. Which shall it be?'" Etain put her finger to her aunt's lip and shook her head rebukingly. "Do not be foolish ! He is only a boy." "He is boyish, but that is because he was late in taking arms. You are only a maid, for that matter, but most girls are wooed and are wives at your age." "Wives! Say no more, for I am not thinking of marriage as yet." "But Conal is thinking of it, and some day he will wait for an answer no longer. Then you may be sorry and wish that you had your champion back again, but he will be courting some one else." "Let him dare, that is all!" cried Etain threat- eningly, and then laughed in her shrill, clear tone. "All the same," persisted Finulla, "you are vain, and unreasonable, and provoking. You spend your time (I know you) thinking of traps to catch un- wary young men who deserve better of you. Conal is entirely too good for you." "I wonder if he thinks so," said Etain, and laughed more than ever. CATHBAR WAS DELIGHTED 57 "Have you told him you are going to Tara after the fair?" "That would spoil my joke. He will be sure to come there before long, and by that time I will have gotten over the first strangeness and will have be- come quite one of the court. Can you not see him when he appears before the Queen? He will be bashful and embarrassed, and will come forward, so, without taking his eyes from her, and bow very deep, so. Then when he raises his eyes, so, there am I, so, by the Queen's side, quite at home and quite composed, in a new gown of five colors at least and gold and pearls in my hair ! Can you not see him?" "I can see that Mesgedra is foolish to let you go to Tara without me. You will run wild there with no firm hand over you. So you are planning to carry your mischief even into the High King's court ? " Etain laughed again and put her arm about Fi- nulla's waist, and they turned to go back into the house. Suddenly from the direction of the fair came a medley of cries and shouts, and the clatter of plung- ing horses. Men could be seen running about be- tween the booths, and in a few moments horsemen appeared riding off in groups, or galloping singly and apparently aimlessly about. Then, in no more than the time it took to harness them, chariots rumbled along the road. The noise increased and spread. Beacon smokes appeared on the hills, and throngs of people burst from every 58 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION opening between the booths and poured over the fields, hurrying from the fair. Some of them had heads or shoulders roughly bandaged with bloody cloths; one or two limped along on the arms of others; one or two stiff cloak-covered forms were carried past. At the first alarm the household came running out and, looking in suspense and excitement toward the source of the disturbance, tried to guess its cause. They questioned the passers-by . also, and got no answer but that there was fighting in the fair, and that it behooved peaceful folk to go their ways. After a time the crowd of fugitives grew less; the noise among the buildings quieted. Then bodies of mounted men, grim of face, with stern eyes, went galloping off in all directions. At last Mesgedra appeared, breathless, his robe torn and dusty, his beard out of curl. Etain and the others flew at him and besieged him with ques- tions, but for a long time he only sat and panted, until it occurred to some one to fetch a measure of ale. He seized it and embraced it, shaking his head and breathing deep between swallows. "Bad news! Bad news!" he gasped at last. "The fau: is on fire. A hundred old feuds have broken out. The like has not been seen in my time or^my father's, either. Oh, bad ! Bad !" "What has happened? Tell us quickly. Who are fighting?" " No one now. There were blows struck, but that CATHBAR WAS DELIGHTED 59 is over. Oh, me ! To have seen weapons raised at Tailtenn!" "What caused it? What was the quarrel? Tell us in the name of Bel !" "It was Ulster against Leinster, clan against clan, and a. family quarrel to boot. Such a web of grudges was never seen." He finished his ale with a gulp. "Well, it is over now, I think, but it has spoiled the fair as far as pleasure is concerned. Etain, you must be gone. I have sent for your chariot and the servants. Present my duty to the Queen and to Dathi, if he be there, and my fond love to Laegaire, your foster-brother. There ! A kiss, my dear, and be getting your belongings together." "But I cannot go now," said Etain in dismay. "Without notice? Without farewells? Every one will think it so strange. What harm in my staying if the fighting is over?" "No one will think it strange if you do as your father bids you. Here are all the household. Make your farewells now." "Why must you hurry the child so?" said Fi- nulla crossly. "I had promised her a peep at the banquet-hall, and when Conal comes (he will be here in a moment) I mean to ask him to walk that far with us. It is silly to spoil our pleasure because of a broil." "There will be no walking to-day," answered Mes- gedra impatiently. "After what has happened the hall is no sight for women's eyes." 60 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION Etain hung back and showed that she thought her- self very much abused. "It is not that I mind myself," she said in an aggrieved tone, "but I do not like people to think me rude. Conal will be offended, I am sure. He said particularly that he was coming for us. Finulla was telling me that I was not polite enough to him, and now you would have me treat him so slightingly. I think I should wait until he comes. That little time will not matter." Mesgedra looked at Etain with a frown and yet dubiously. "Conal? Hut! Make yourself easy. He will not come. One can never count on lads of his age. This morning he decided suddenly to go travelling again, and he has left the fair long ago." A little pink spot sprang up on Etain's cheek; her nostrils widened a trifle, and her eyes snapped omi- nously, but she turned away as indifferently as pos- sible. "Oh, well," she said, "a day does not matter. I will make ready." She marched away, striking her heels vigorously against the ground. When she had gone Finulla turned instantly to her brother. " What of Conal ? Where is he ? " "Conal? Who knows? The farther off the luckier he." "He is in trouble, then? What have they done to him, or what has he done?" CATHBAR WAS DELIGHTED 61 "He has broken the peace of the fair. He has slain Firbis and fled ! " Finulla's face filled with concern as she turned un- consciously to look after Etain. "It is death," she said in a low voice. "Death without mercy." "That is the law. If he is caught they will stab him to death with the butts of their spears. The Leinstermen are thirsting for blood. He is an un- lucky Ulsterman who is found in Tailtenn to-night. Luckily for Conal, they fell to fighting instead of fol- lowing him, for it has given him a good start, and with such horses as he has he may escape them. I hope so, for I liked the boy. I liked him well." "I pray he may escape," said Finulla compassion- ately. "How did it happen? He is so hot-tem- pered." "Yes, he is no person to abuse, and that Firbis had a rough tongue. But he should have been pa- tient and waited until the fair was over instead of answering word with blow." "Why did you not bring him away? You knew he would not bear insult from any one." "It is true the things Firbis said were not to be borne in patience," admitted Mesgedra. "I would have killed him to-morrow myself, for he ran out his tongue at me, too. But I respected the peace, for I knew there was time enough. Conal should have waited, too. It will go hard with him if he is caught." "Where has he gone, do you think?" 62 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION "I do not even know what direction he took, for he was off like an arrow, and sank into the crowd like a raindrop in a river. I wish I had been able to tell him to put himself under the High King's protection. Dathi has a grudge against all Leinster- men, and would perhaps have welcomed him in spite of the law and taken him to Gaul with his army." " Most likely he has gone home," suggested Finulla. "He would be safe there, would he not?" "He will be sought there first of all," said Mes- gedra with a foreboding shake of the head. "But Cathbar will protect him for a time, I suppose. I am thinking that it would be a friendly thing for me to go to Cathbar and consult with him what may be done. Perhaps we may find means of help- ing Conal to escape the penalty. I will wait for Eoghan the brehon; his knowledge of the law will be serviceable, though he has little sense. And Ronan must go with me, for he is a good man to have about and handy with weapons. The others can go back with you to the bruden, and we will be home hi a week's tune at most. . . . And there is no need to say anything to Etain. She likes the boy (I do, too, for that matter), but her liking had best be forgotten. Conal is a marked man now. The best he can hope for is to escape with his life and live an exile hi Alban." Finulla nodded a reluctant agreement. In a little time Etain returned, ready for the road, kissed her father and Finulla soberly, and set off in her feathered chariot. CATHBAR WAS DELIGHTED 63 Mesgedra also made his preparations, and hardly had Eoghan and Ronan appeared before they, too, were on the road, splashing through puddles, for a fine rain had begun to fall. The old man looked over the dismal, damp fields and the gloom of the day weighed upon him. He had gro'wn fond of the boy, and, knowing that he was in a strait that was like to be fatal to him unless older and wiser heads came to his aid, he pondered continually over the chances for his escape. But for once his sapient brain failed of resource. He imagined Conal, hunted and desperate, spurring through the misty mountain passes, with the aven- gers of blood at his heels. Sometimes he was able to picture him drawing away from them, eluding them, coming safe to some discreet hiding-place, or some quiet port from which merchant vessels sailed, but more often he saw the pursuers coming closer and closer until their cries rang hi Conal's ears; his horse began to pant and flag; the first arrow dropped a scant pace behind him Mesgedra shook his head and pressed on. Another thing troubled him. He and Conal's father had been old comrades hi arms, and he had plotted innocently, seeing the lad's growing intimacy with Etain, to throw them more and more together. Now he felt that he had been unwise, and was con- sumed with fear that Conal's plight might mean too much to Etain, lest the news of his punishment might be a weapon to strike her down. Ronan suggested one wild project after another, 64 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION but Mesgedra would have none of them. They all felt very gloomy and depressed. They spent that night in a guest-house a few miles on the road to Ulster. The next day was brighter, and they travelled faster and were more hopeful. The third day they came in sight of the deserted forts and crumbling mounds of Emain Macha, and at last to a great and strong dun, the dun of Cathbar, Conal's home. Mesgedra and Ronan exclaimed with pleasure over the strength and beauty of the castle, which was indeed hardly to be surpassed hi Eirinn. Rich green pastures swept up to it and encircled it. The wall, towering to a great height, was snowy white with lime and shone bravely in the sun. The gate was narrow, fit for strong defense against great num- bers; over it a stoutly built wooden structure was projected, the sunny house of the women in time of peace and an excellent lookout-place if danger threatened. For a space of thirty yards around the wall sharp flintstones were planted, as large as a man, and set so close together that in places a man could hardly squeeze between them. Within the circuit of the wall was space for hall and kitchen, granary and treasure-house, and in- numerable buildings for every purpose of use and comfort. Cathbar had seen them coming in the distance, and he hurried to meet them, wishing to do Mes- gedra honor. "This is friendly of you, friendly indeed," he CATHBAR WAS DELIGHTED 65 cried, beaming with pleasure. "I can guess why you have come; so speak out, for I am anxious for news." "Is Conal here?" asked Mesgedra quickly. "He is not here." "Others have been searching for him, I sup- pose. You know what mischief he has done at the fair?" "I know nothing. Two parties came seeking him, as you say, but they had arms in their hands, so I barred the gate and laughed at them from the top of the grianan. They were all Leinstermen. It was very funny to hear them curse and threaten. So I have not heard a word of what Conal has done, but I take it that it must have been something sprightly to have caused so many to lose sleep hunt- ing for him." "He has killed Firbis, your kinsman." "That was a good beginning for a young man," said Cathbar complacently. "Firbis was a strong man, skilled in fighting. How did he kill him?" "He threw his shield at him and broke his skull. They quarrelled over a matter of descent." "An excellent cause for a quarrel. And what happened then?" "Why, then he ran away. I do not know where." "Ran away? What do you say? Black shame on him not to have stood his ground though there were twenty against him ! " "Twenty ! There were two thousand. He killed Firbis in the face of Tailtenn fair. The shanachies 66 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION upheld the Leinsterman against him, and he laid him at their feet." "That is a son for a man !" cried Cathbar hi tri- umph. "Brave boy ! It is a deed that will be told hi songs ! A notable thing ! It was like you, Mes- gedra, to hurry to me with the news. I am a happy man this day! In sight of all the fair! Well, well!" "But have you thought what is to become of the boy?" cried Mesgedra impatiently. Cathbar stopped and scratched his head. "That is true," he said in an altered voice. "It is death without eric to break the peace of Tailtenn. We must find some way of saving him." "At any rate, send out runners and rouse your men. If the Leinstermen think he is in the dun, we may hold them here until he has gotten safely away." "I will do that," said Cathbar, much encouraged. "At least, however it turns out, he has made a name for himself. Come you inside and tell me the whole tale, while I make ready. There will be fires burning about here by morning." Soon there came a great sound of bellowing and bleating as numbers of cattle were driven into the enclosure of the dun. People, too, began to arrive in haste, the families that lived under the walls of the dun first, and after a tune other men of the clan, armed and ready. The story of Conal's exploit spread and was magnified, and all agreed with de- light that he was a true son of Cathbar's and of CATHBAR WAS DELIGHTED 67 Fiacra's, a credit to the clan and an honor to the knightly order. As fast as his supporters arrived Cathbar disposed them about the wall. The grianan was emptied and the women removed to less exposed quarters. Cathbar himself took his station there to direct the defense.* Night drew quietly down. The gates were closed and the defenders slept hi their mantles. Presently fires glowed around the dun, and the rumbling of wheels announced that the besiegers were at hand. With the dawn a loud shout resounded around the wall and the dun was attacked from all sides. CHAPTER VI THE DEFENSE OF CATHBAR'S DUN So well was the assault prepared that two or three sentries who had been placed outside the wall were overtaken and cut down before they could gain shel- ter, and Cathbar and Mesgedra, hurrying out on the roof, could see the assailants, coming on at a run, and already almost under the ramparts. The air was full of darts and arrows, and the sling-stones striking the wooden walls of the sunny house made a noise like the continual pounding of heavy beetles, or like a woman mixing batter in an earthen bowl. " Strike, Ulster ! " cried Cathbar, whirling up his long green spear. It flew droning through the air, and a tall warrior got death from it. "Strike!" echoed Mesgedra, and cast in his turn. Everywhere the defenders had flung off their cloaks and mounted the wall, and were returning arrow for arrow and spear for spear. The advancing assailants were broken and ham- pered by the hedge of planted flintstones. The road was free at the entrance only, and they flew at the gate with mighty axes, hewing and battering until it seemed that no wood or bronze could withstand the shock of their blows. Cathbar had ample stores of stones and darts on 68 THE DEFENSE OF CATHBAR'S DUN 69 the roof of the grianan, besides boiling water and blazing tow, which they poured without ceasing on the heads below, but the rain of arrows from with- out hindered them. Moreover, every time a mis- sile struck the wall or bounded off a ready shield, a puff of white powder flew from the dry lime, so that a thick cloud of fine dust drifted continually up- ward, filling their eyes and nostrils; but, although this was disconcerting, it did not discourage those in the dun, secure hi the strength of their walls, and they worked the more vigorously for the difficulty of aiming, and were not surprised when the dust cloud lifted for an instant and showed that the be- siegers were giving up the attack and dodging away through the flints at the sides of the road. Cathbar sent a last spear after them, rested his hands on his hips and wagged his head in triumph. "Not so fast ! Not so fast, nobles of Leinster !" he bellowed. " You have forgotten something. You are leaving your shields behind you." He waved them farewell contemptuously. "A hot meal is soon served," he said to Mesgedra. "I think those jolly Leinstermen have had their fill of nibbling at our pretty white walls." Mesgedra combed his beard with his fingers and looked critically after the retreating men. "They pressed us hard here, and they will return," he said positively. " And next time it will be harder still to deal with them. If they have a leader of but ordinary skill he will mass his men on the gate and threaten the other sides with small parties. Better 70 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION call more of your men here, and be ready to deal with a stronger force this time." " Strong or weak, we will handle them but what you say is wise, and I will call off some from the other side to help us here." He walked to the edge of the roof, leaped lightly down on top of the wall, and made the circuit of the dun, selecting here one and there another to swell the numbers at the gate. The few wounds among the clansmen were bound, and the women and children were set to gathering the weapons and sling-stones, which covered the earth inside the enclosure. Among those whom Cathbar chose to join his party at the gate was Ronan Dhu. He had been busy on another part of the wall, and at the word hitched his shield over his shoulder and made his way to the grianan, reaching it just as Eoghan's head appeared above the roof level. The brehon was climbing up a ladder from the inside of the dun. He raised himself cautiously, rung by rung, and looked about in every direction before trusting himself fully into view. His long saffron robe was generously kilted up to show the greater part of a very fat and somewhat hairy pair of legs. For a weapon he had a small iron mace with a prong in the end, which he held gingerly be- tween his fingers as if afraid of dropping it. "Well, Eoghan? How went things where you were?" asked Ronan cheerfully (he was more affable than usual when fighting was on foot). THE DEFENSE OF CATHBAR'S DUN 71 "Very noisily and disagreeably!" complained the brehon. "The women cried and the children bel- lowed, and heavy things kept dropping on the roof so that I found it impossible to sleep. It is disgust- ing for people to fight at this hour. They have spoiled my appetite for my morning meat." "What?" cried Ronan. "Have you been skulk- ing in bed while we have held the wall, bald-headed ox that you are? If I had known where you were I would have dragged you out and tossed you on their heads. Indeed, I have a mind to pitch you over on the flints now." " Hut ! Hut ! " said Mesgedra, coming up to them. "He is here to help us now. What more do you want? It is not his fault if he is a heavy sleeper. It needs a cool head to sleep while a fight rages. I am glad to have another willing hand at the gate here, for I can see that they are making ready for another attack, and we will need all our strength against them." " He will be great help ! " growled Ronan. " What does he expect to do with that silly little mace ? It is a thing to drive pegs with, not to crack skulls, and he is too fat to strike a good blow. But as you say, one man more is something. If the arrows come thick, we can all hide behind him." Eoghan looked dubious as if the strategy did not appeal to him. "Do not mind Ronan," said Mesgedra, clapping him cheerfully on the shoulder. "He is a grumbler. I am sure you will do your part, and if you wish to 72 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION change your weapon there are enough about for you to take your pick." "I will keep to my mace, no matter what Ronan thinks of it," Eoghan answered. "Nor do I mind his jokes at all. I confess, though, that my mind misgives me about this affair. I trust I have as much courage as the next one, but after all, my pro- fession must be considered. I am a man of the law, which makes it hard for me to take part in this quarrel. Young Conal has broken the law, that is certain, and these men are in their rights in trying to seize him. Suppose they were to see me on the wall and appeal to me: 'Brehon, give judgment.' I should be forced to decide in their favor, and give sentence against all of you. Perhaps it would be best for me to get out of sight, where they will not recognize me. You see my position. Think how very awkward it would be." "Listen!" said Ronan grimly. "That is not the position at all. You see this spear ? Feel the point of it well. It is sharp ? Remember it, for, by the oath of my people, as these Ulstermen say, I will send it two inches into the fat of your hams if I see you give way by the breadth of a thumb." "Take care what you say. That approaches a threat," said the brehon with dignity. "It sounded very like one," Mesgedra affirmed gravely. "How lucky that we know that Ronan is joking, for if he said such a thing seriously, I be- lieve he is the very fellow to do as he promised. But, for your own misgivings, you have my word THE DEFENSE OF CATHBAR'S DUN 73 that Conal is not in the dun; so if they call on you, you can give judgment for them to go and hunt for him." "If Conal is not here, then they are only tres- passers," the brehon cried, his professional interest aroused at once. "It is my advice for you not to bother With fighting them, but to leave it to me to settle. Every noble's homestead is a sanctuary. The green before his gate is a sacred place. Every one of them, and they are many, would be liable for eric-fine, three seds in cattle or gold, besides honor price, which would be a great sum in itself. All that is necessary is for you not to attempt to fight them, but to put aside your arms and appeal to the law." "This fellow will drive me mad!" cried Ronan, beside himself. "You fat swine, what use will three seds of cattle be to a man with his throat cut? I tell you if you will not fight for your friend's sake, or for honor, fight for your own skin. Those Lein- stermen care as little for a brehon as I do for a badger." Mesgedra had turned away and was examining the besiegers again. "There are others besides Leinstermen there," he asserted. "They have many from the fair to help them. And indeed, Ronan," he went on, lowering his voice and drawing away a little from the brehon, "if it were not for the sake of my old friendship with Cathbar, and the liking I have for our lad Conal, I would be as well pleased not to be concerned in the 74 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION affair myself. Look there where they stand close together. Do you see the red shields shining in the sun ? If I am not wrong those are men of the High King's household soldiers, the Fir Tighe. If Dathi himself has taken part against us, I do not see what there is for us to do but to give in or die in the flames of the dun, an ill death for men whom the king has honored." "I saw those red shields on the other side where I was fighting," replied Ronan. "They are men of the Fir Tighe without question, but there are few of them, and they held back, as far as I could see, and rather hindered the attack than helped it." "In that case it is likely that they happened to be at the fair, and came along only because they had no orders one way or the other. However, they know that Dathi has no liking for Leinster, and if we do not single them out and give them cause to seek revenge on their own part, they will grow weary soon and make some excuse for going away. In any case, we are here, and we will stay. Eh, Ronan?" "I will stay or go at your word," replied the bard in loyal fashion, "but it is more to my liking to finish a fight once begun, than to seek safety." "They are massing their men. We will have more fighting soon," called Cathbar, appearing with his picked band. "What do you say, Mesgedra? Would it not be better for you to take your party and go out of the dun? I am thankful for the friendly part you have played, but after all you have THE DEFENSE OF CATHBAR'S DUN 75 no part in Conal's quarrel. They will let you pass through now, but later, when their fighting rage is up, your chance will be gone." "Ronan and I have been speaking of that," re- plied the old brugaid frankly, "but we are neither of us so sickly that we grudge a little blood on a friend's- behalf. So count us in the garrison, as well as this brave brehon here, who alone is worth a dozen men." "I thank you, Mesgedra, and the noble brehon, too, and I will confess your spears will be a help, for, though the dun is strong, it has a great circuit, and it takes many men to hold it. It will not be for long though; last night I sent word to my chief of what was threatening, and by now five hundred spears are on the road here." " That was well thought of . But see! Here they come !" They dropped to their knees behind the parapet as a fresh flight of arrows sang around them. As Mesgedra had foretold, the second attack centred on the gate, though bodies of spearmen, creeping up on all sides, felt for other weak places along the wall. The main column came on with a dash. The front ranks held their shields aloft. Behind them came men carrying notched trunks, serving equally as battering rams and ladders. They suffered ter- ribly in their advance from the missiles of the de- fenders, but they pushed on gallantly and reached the wall, where they were sheltered a little, for the grianan projected, and they gathered under it. 76 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION The gate began to shake under their blows, and the wooden bolts jumped and rattled in their sockets. Up the notched trunks the warriors swarmed, set- ting foot again and again on the wall, to be beaten down and overwhelmed by the bowlders plunging down on them from the roof of the sunny house. Cathbar was fighting furiously with a gay and impetuous valor that contradicted his white hair and wrinkled cheeks. His sword seemed to twist and struggle hi his hand with impatience to slay. He leaned far out over the verge, exposing himself recklessly, and defying the sling-stones that struck and bounded about him. Mesgedra hurled spears steadily, with an easy, regular swing of the arm like a woman throwing grain to chickens. A long leather sling whirled continuously over Ronan's head. It made a smooth, humming sound, ending in a clean swish as the stone left the pocket. He muttered angrily when he missed, and hissed be- tween his teeth when he made a good throw, and sometimes, when the Leinstermen came crowding up the ladders and pressed them hard, he would drop the sling and cast the stones from his hand with scarcely less force. Eoghan the brehon knelt inside the parapet with his nose against the palings. From time to time he extended his arm into view, and made a labored stroke with his mace, but as he always waited for the moments when the attack slackened, and never by any chance raised his head to see where to strike, THE DEFENSE OF CATHBAR'S DUN 77 his efforts were without any great effect on the result of the battle. It was easy to deal with those who tried to climb the wall, but those who kept under shelter beneath the overhang of the grianan and put forth their strength on the gate were having better success. They were working there without a pause, and it became evident that they must be dislodged or the gate would go. Cathbar sent a few of his men to place braces and balks against it on the inside, but the timbers could be gotten only by tearing them out of the houses inside the dun, and the work went slowly. "If we could reach those below there," said Mes- gedra, "we could keep the wall clear easily. Is there no way of getting at them except to leap down and fight them on the ground?" "Of course, there is a way !" said Cathbar, striking his brow. "I was so taken up with the joy of fight- ing that I have forgotten to put any men in the grianan. The floor is loose, and it is only a matter of moving a few staves to be able to drop on their heads from above." "You might have thought of that before," Ronan grumbled. "Let us hurry, or that forgetfulness of yours will lose us the gate." He began to make his way to the ladder, but at the moment Mesgedra raised his eyes and with a shout pointed to the dis- tance. Just within arrowshot a strange engine was approaching the dun. It was a sort of hut on wheels ; a framework of chariot shafts and the wicker sides 78 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION of chariots, hung with hides, and robes, and shields set close together, so that it completely hid and pro- tected a number of men within it. A heavy beam protruded through an opening. It swung freely from stout ropes, and an iron knob was lashed to the tip of it. The whole was set on the wheels and axles of the chariots that had been destroyed to make it, and it was being pushed rapidly up to the gate of the dun. Every one on the roof turned his weapons against it at once, but the bolts glanced off the hides with- out effect, and the respite encouraged the party below to batter on the gate with redoubled vigor. "Now, there is something clever !" Mesgedra cried in honest admiration. "They have a good man among them who thought of that." "More stones here! More stones!" shouted Ronan Dhu, toppling a huge bowlder over the edge of the roof. "The frame shakes. They are loosen- ing it in the wall." The machine came forward steadily, and was at the very gate. The men who had been battering with axes and tree-trunks leaped aside to allow the formidable thing to have free play, and with a deaf- ening crash it set its head against the stout leaves of the entrance. The force of the impact could be felt even on the top of the grianan. Over from the roof went stones and timbers, a crushing weight of them, but the inventive Leinster- man had done his work well; the frame of the machine withstood all their attempts to crush it. THE DEFENSE OF CATHBAR'S DUN 79 The defenders looked at each other in doubt. Surely the gate was nothing against the rhythmical pounding that made the grianan quiver. Secure as they had felt themselves, this fellow's perverse in- genuity had no sooner seen the weak spot they had overlooked than he had taken advantage of it. What use in the thickness and height of the wall, or the baffling intricacy of the barrier of flints, when, under the shelter of their own projecting battlement, this machine, flung together of what came first to hand, was undoing them? "Every man out of the grianan!" cried Cathbar suddenly. " For your lives ! Back!" His followers sprang down on the walls at the word, Mesgedra was hurried down a ladder, and the Old Hero, beckoning to Ronan to follow, dropped down into the interior of the building. He seized a great axe himself, and thrust another into the bard's hand, and tearing up loose boards from the floor, began to hack and hew frantically at the timbers which, running athwart the wall, supported the walls of the sunny house. Ronan imitated him, though he could not make out what he was at, and with a few dozen hearty strokes they severed the two main beams. With a creak and a groan the walls settled and separated a little, until only the stout wooden pegs that pinned the frame together kept the structure from falling apart. "Down now !" Cathbar gasped, and running to the window, first he and then Ronan jumped clear to the pavement of the dun, far below. It was a feat 8o THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION for Ronan; for Cathbar, in his old age, so extraor- dinary a piece of daring and agility that the clans- men stopped in their resistance and cheered him. He landed erect, although he staggered a few paces, and at once grasped a long pole, placed the point of it against the inner wall of the grianan, and pushed mightily. Some hurried to help him. Others took his idea and brought other poles, and as many of the fighting men as could be spared came down from the wall to help. The veins leaped out on their faces as their strong backs bent, and their feet slipped and shifted under the strain. The building quivered and the timbers widened, but their utmost efforts were still not enough to dislodge it from its place. Then the women and the children, too, came run- ning from the houses, for they saw that even a little more strength would turn the scale. The men shouted at them to go back, but they came on across the open, dodging the falling arrows and sling-stones, and, flinging their slight weight against this pole or that, called for one more effort. The men responded ; they pushed as if they would lift the wall from its bed. The grianan rocked, split, parted, and toppled bodily over. With one accord they made for the waU to see what had been accomplished by its fall. All this time the machine had kept steadily in motion against the gate. Its blows had splintered one leaf and broken it, although the bars still held the shattered pieces together. One more good swing and the breach would have been made, but as the THE DEFENSE OF CATHBAR'S DUN 81 ram leaped forward and crashed its way through, the grianan above it swayed, slid forward a little, and dissolving into a mere jumble of timbers, fell in a mass on the heads of the surprised assailants. Most of them were caught and crushed under the pile without a chance of escape. The others fled without stopping to see how the catastrophe had come about. A moment elapsed and a movement was seen among the tumbled beams. They heaved and parted, and a yellow-robed figure crawled into view and raised himself painfully to his feet. He held a small iron mace in his hand, and his form was squat and chubby. He staggered a step or two, and then, catching up his robe, he started to run lumberingly after the retreating Leinstermen. The observers on the wall stared open-mouthed after him, and he had nearly reached the edge of the flint-stone maze before they recognized him, or rather, before they could believe their eyes, for they knew him at once. "It is Eoghan !" Ronan shouted. "Crom Cruach and the sacred Twelve ! What is the fat fool about ? He is charging them ! " "After him!" said Cathbar. "Will you let him lead the way and not follow? Open the gates and after him!" They threw open the gates, scrambled over the ruins, and charged madly after the flying brehon. Eoghan's speed increased as he heard the noise of running behind him. His fat legs twinkled under the 82 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION saffron kilts, and his breath came in gasps through his wide-open mouth. He was far in advance still and making his best speed when one of the retreating besiegers turned his head and, seeing his single form within reach and the others so far behind, turned and waited for him. The brehon came on blindly until he was within spearthrust of the waiting enemy, then he faltered and swerved heavily sideways. The Leinsterman thrust too forcibly, so as to over- balance himself, and as he stumbled the brehon's mace rose and fell, and the two went down together, their limbs tangled inextricably. Cathbar bellowed with rage when he saw the brehon fall, and bounded on, his clansmen at his heels. They had passed the last of the planted flints, and were driving the fugitives before them through their very camp, when suddenly the pur- sued turned and withstood them, and enemies sprang upon them from behind every bush and tree. The astute Leinstermen had prolonged their flight only to lead them farther from the dun. They were ambushed, surrounded, utterly cut off, doomed. It was hand to hand now, and every man for him- self. A dozen heroic struggles were going on at once, and a dozen times every man of them, by superhuman feats, saved his skin. Arm to arm, shoulder to shoulder, they pressed slowly backward toward the gate, not daring to look at the dun they had left undefended for fear of seeing the smoke begin to rise already above the wall. They knew their fate would come soon. Their spears made a THE DEFENSE OF CATHBAR'S DUN 83 thorny and a bristling hedge about them, but one rush and they would be overborne and trampled down. None the less they held their lives at a high price, and were determined to exact full pay- ment. And- now the Leinstermen make ready, and now they come on, pell-mell. "Stand fast, sons of Fiacra!" Cathbar exhorted, and he waved his shield above his head. But before the swords clashed and the ranks touched something seemed to numb the arms of the attackers. A confused shouting came from their rear, and they pressed no longer but went slipping off between the trees. Their horses were flying over the fields in every direction. Then was heard the thunder and rumble of many hoofs and wheels, and around the corner of the fort came rank after rank of swaying, bumping chariots, whirling at the full speed of their stretched-out, foam-specked spans. The besiegers ran weaponless with outstretched arms before them, looking about for refuge. A glad cry went up from the children of Fiacra as they recognized their kinsmen and rescuers. The horses sank back on their haunches, the chariots slid to a stop, and on all sides men threw themselves into one another's arms. CHAPTER VII EOGHAN THE READY From the wall the women had watched the chang- ing fortunes of the sally. Each blow that had been struck had shaken them, they had mourned each man who fell. But when rescued and rescuers came streaming back to the dun, and they saw that the day was saved, they forgot their terrors and came flocking down to the gate to see them enter in triumph. First of all came Cathbar, leading by the halters of the horses a sumptuous and roomy chariot occu- pied by an extraordinary figure, a man whose shrunken body and parchment skin spoke of age and weakness beyond belief. A few bunches of white hair clung to his scalp, a few long wisps descended from his chin nearly to his knees. His skin, crossed and furrowed by myriads of wrinkles, hung loosely over his great bones and swollen veins ran through it like mole-hills in soft earth. He was banked in by cushions and robes, and crossed straps of soft leather supported and steadied him in his seat. His head was bent on his chest, and his arms rested limply at his sides, but there was fire smouldering at the back of his dun eyes, and his hand was clenched 8 4 EOGHAN THE READY 85 on the hilt of an ancient sword which he could hardly have been able to lift for a generation past. Cathbar loosened the straps and lifted the wasted form tenderly to the ground. "Gods of our people !" the Old Champion grum- bled. " I had sooner seen the dun burn than that you should have taken this ride. I never thought that you would come yourself. Are there no trusty young men of Fiacra's house to take the burden of such things from you?" The patriarch lifted his toothless lip in a grin, and replied hi a voice so thin and high-pitched that it could barely be heard: "Once for all, Cathbar, I need no one to bear my burdens for me. Trusty men ! I suppose I am not trusty myself! The old man is not too feeble yet to lead the spearmen and, until he is, none of these boys shall come thrusting themselves into his place and setting him aside. I know them. They would like nothing better than to pretend that I am grow- ing old and that my vigor is failing. 'Back by the fire, grandfather, and give up your crown to another !' I know them." His eye wandered about the dun and he went on absently : "I know this place. I remember it well. It is many years ago, but I remember it. I lived here in fosterage with Tuathal. He has a grandson who will do him credit; Cathbar is his name a strong, handsome boy. It is many years ago. I forget things sometimes, but I believe I remember things 86 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION that happened here then better than things that happened yesterday." He hesitated a moment, and looked about him uneasily, searching for some one who was not there. "I tell you, B rigid," he resumed feebly, "it is warmer at Tuathal's fire than here. I remember being warm and comfortable there, but here I am cold, cold, always cold, and smoke passes over my eyes and dims my sight." "Take him hi," said Cathbar solicitously. "This has been too much for him." " I fear so," said one of those who stood by. " His mind fails him recently, and he talks to his wife as if she were alive beside him. It is weird to hear him." "It is so with old men," said Mesgedra. "It would have been better to have left him at home. He is not strong enough for many such rides." "You do not know our old king. Even to-day no one dares resist his will, and he will trust no one except Cathbar to lead his fighting men. When Cathbar is not by, he will take the field himself in spite of what we say." "Has he no tanist to help him?" "I was his tanist," Cathbar answered, "until a splinter robbed me of the sight of my eye and, being so blemished, I had to give it up. Since then no one has been chosen in my place, for he has become very jealous of his dignity, and thinks that even the choosing of a successor hurts his power in some way. It is an old man's fancy, but we give way to him, of EOGHAN THE READY 87 course. Still he is not apt to last long, and when he dies we will wish, I suppose, that we had settled it in his lifetime." "There is always trouble and quarrelling over choosing a new chief, unless it is done leisurely, during -the life of the last one," Mesgedra agreed. He pursed his lips and began to walk up and down. "You have other sons than Conal?" he said at last. "One other, Ferdiad. A good boy, too." "Where is he?" "At Cruachan, as a hostage to the Connaughtmen that we will keep the truce we have sworn with them." Mesgedra nodded, as if pleased. "You still have the good will of the clan?" "You saw how they fought for me." "Conal, too, will be well thought of now." "No doubt, no doubt. They are proud of the way he stood up for our name and rights." "Old Hero," said Mesgedra, "it is my advice that you send out to the borders of the tuath and call all the flaiths of the clan together to a feast on some set day. Those who are here can be detained on the excuse that you fear the Leinstermen will return in force. Ronan must go back to Tailtenn and see if anything has been heard of Conal. If we act cautiously and make no blunder, I see a way to bring things right, perhaps." "I see you have a plan," exclaimed Cathbar in open admiration. "Ah, Mesgedra, if I had not 88 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION seen you in battle, I would not believe that a man could be good with both hands and head. I leave it to you; only remember, when fighting is to be done, I am to have my share." "That you shall," said Mesgedra, in high good humor at the compliment, "for I grow fat with much thinking, and I do not swing a spear as I did twenty years since while time has not changed you at all." They prodded one another merrily, and stepped aside to allow a litter to be carried through the gate. A body was stretched on it, and they recognized the yellow robes and rotund figure of the brehon Eoghan. A score of willing hands were struggling for a share of the burden, and as the litter passed men of the garrison told those of the rescue party how Eoghan had led the way against the enemy. "He leaped down from the wall on their heads, and chased them till they howled for quarter. Then he fought with a giant, was stabbed seven times. Oh, no doubt he is dead but it was a gallant thing; brave beyond measure." A dozen versions of the story were going on at once. "It will hurt me to the heart, if that brave fellow has found death," exclaimed Cathbar. "It is not often that one is before me in charging. He bore himself in a way that would have done credit to one of Niall's old warriors. You said well that he was worth a dozen men." "I was joking when I said that," Mesgedra ad- mitted penitently, "for I thought he was of a cow- EOGHAN THE READY 89 ardly nature. But in truth he made amends to-day if he ever failed before, for I never saw a man die in more knightly fashion." Inside the gate the litter bearers put down their load. At once the brehon sat upright, swung his legs over the side of the litter, and blinked owlishly at the bystanders. "By the favor of Bel ! He is unhurt !" "Unhurt!" cried the brehon indignantly, "It is easy for you to say unhurt! Look at me, unhappy man that I am ! There is not a whole bone in me; and see my cloak, torn to rags; and my mace, where is it? Show me the man who played that trick on me, and I will fast on him until he is a mass of boils from head to heels." "He is raving," muttered the clansmen compas- sionately. "A blow on the head has dazed him." "I tell you I will find him out," continued the brehon furiously, "and proceed against him with the rigor of the law. It is no light thing to hurl a man from the housetop, pursue him with weapons, and drive chariots over his body. If there is justice in Eirinn, or respect for the law, he shall pay in gold and cattle, cloaks, and fine armor." Mesgedra caught Ronan's eye, and a look of mirth- ful intelligence came in his face. "Eoghan," he said gravely, "leave off speaking of your wrongs, while right is done you. Famous as you were before, your bravery and readiness have been shown anew to-day. The walls of the dun were not as high as your brave spirit. Single-handed you go THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION charged the Leinstermen, and they fled before you. Hereafter a new name shall be given you Luasach, The Ready One, for the promptness with which you sprang upon the enemy and the speed with which you attacked them." The brehon stared during the first words, and opened his mouth once or twice to speak, but as Mesgedra ended, and he heard the murmur of hearty approval that ran through the crowd, his expression changed, and he swelled visibly. His pursy face took on a look of modest deprecation. "Not so! Not so!" he protested. "Whatever his deeds may be, it is not fitting for a brehon to be notorious as a man of might and valor. Learning and wisdom are my trade exploits of arms are only for my moments of leisure." "None the less you shall be called Eoghan The Ready, be'it for your feats of valor or for your fluent eloquence, and, lest your courage lead you into diffi- culties, I put geasa on you never again to fight more than six men at a tune or to go more than five leaps ahead of your supporters." Ronan gulped and snickered, but the clansmen shouted and rattled their shields in approval, and the brehon, receiving graciously the compliments that were thrust on him, made his way into the hall of the dun, his tatters of saffron trailing regally be- hind him. Meantime the blood of cattle was flowing where the blood of men had wet the ground so short a tune before. There was not a caldron in the dun EOGHAN THE READY 91 without a fire beneath it, not a cask of mead or ale that was not staved. They divided that night hi to three parts: one for feasting and drinking; one for retelling the story of the siege and singing the praises of the victors; the third for rest and the sound slumber of warriors after battle. CHAPTER VIII THE BROKEN CLAN The brave horse, though spent and tired, still ran willingly. His hoofs sank deep in the spongy mould at every bound, the soaking leaves slapped his wet sides and clung as if to hold him, and the dangling traces, cut hastily in taking him from the shafts, napped about his legs, enough to have driven him half wild with nervousness another time, but he kept on doggedly, for he was too road-weary to start or shy. Conal had long ago lost his way. For hours he had been riding aimlessly onward through the thick woods, content that he was leaving Tailtenn behind him. He had seen no one, heard nothing. He was confident that he had eluded pursuit, if pursuit had been made. As his passion cooled and he began to consider his position, he found himself completely at a loss. The alternatives which occurred to him were few, and none of them wholly satisfactory. He could go home; but there, if anywhere, search would be made for him. Cathbar, he knew would stand by him, but his chance of reaching the dun without capture was small. He could lie hidden for a time; but where? And how long a time must pass before it 92 THE BROKEN CLAN 93 would be safe to venture out again? He could leave Eirinn, but he knew not in what direction to seek the sea, and his heart failed at the thought of exile perhaps for a lifetime. He thought of the promise his youth had held for him., of his happy fosterage, the pride of taking arms, the joy of journeying forth a man; he thought of the honors he had hoped to win, of the rank and power to which he might, not without reason, have aspired; of all these, his yesterday, lost to-day for the sake of a seat at a feast. He thought of Etain, too, her tantalizing coquetry, and the flaming sincerity which lay behind it. What hope had he of seeing her again ? The pleas- ant playtime of his lif e was past his high place and consideration forfeited. Not that he regretted the act which had cost him these losses his blood flamed again at the thought of Firbis's taunts but it seemed hard that circum- stances of place and tune had turned so simple a matter as the mortal revenge of a mortal insult into an unpardonable offense. Then he thought of Mesgedra, the wise and kindly, who for the past week had played the part of friend and mentor to him. Brave, true-hearted, fond of a good-natured jest and a pleasant cup among friends, sage, experienced, ready of resource and sound coun- sel, who, so well as he, could solve the tangle of Conal's plight and suggest the course that would save him from the vengeance of Leinster? With quick relief, he decided to make a round- 94 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION about way to the bruden and put himself in Mes- gedra's hands. At least he could see Etain once more before he left Eirinn behind him, if the brugaid had no other advice to give and go he must. But first it was necessary to seek shelter for the night, and food for himself and his horse and, above all things, to readjust his harness lest he might be sus- pected of having stolen the valuable animal, for it could easily be seen that it had been taken from a chariot. He dismounted in an open space and, by the fail- ing light, cut away the traces, and made such changes as suggested themselves hi the halter and the set of the back-cloth. It was some time before he did this to his satisfaction, for his fingers were cold and numb, and he was forced, more than once, to begin again. An uneasy instinct, some feeling of being overlooked, made him raise his head suddenly. He had been silently surrounded by a number of sav- age, ragged men, who leaned on their rude spears and looked at him critically. "These fellows mean no good, coming up so quietly," thought Conal, and he brought his sword- hilt sharply under his hand and slipped a fold of his cloak over his forearm. The strangers nodded and nudged one another, but said nothing, and Conal was determined that they should give first indication of their intentions; so they stood in silence for some moments. At length, at a barely perceptible signal from his fellows, one of the strangers spoke: THE BROKEN CLAN 95 "You are a flaith, young champion, and I can easily guess of some rich family. I wonder that a man of your rank should travel in these lonely places with- out attendants." "I travel as I please, but, since you ask it, there are meH following who will be here soon enough," answered Conal prudently. The stranger laughed quietly and, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb, went on in a less abrupt tone. "Our dwelling is yonder, such as it is. When we saw you coming alone we thought it likely you had lost your way. This is an out-of-the-way place, with no guest-houses near; so, if you like, you can spend the night by our fire. We killed a sheep to-day, and there is grain for the horse as well. After eating, we have something to ask of you." "The loan of my gold collar, no doubt," thought Conal. "I like your looks little, but you are twelve to one, and will take me whether I go willingly or not, and I may as well consent cheerfully and eat while I can." "Your offer is a very kindly one," he said aloud, "and I will accept it gladly, for there is geasa on me never to refuse a feast." The strangers shouldered their spears, and one of them, with quiet assurance, took the horse by the halter and led him hi advance. They walked rapidly through the forest, Conal in their midst, and, after climbing a stiff slope, came out in the open again on a rocky shelf commanding a view of a 96 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION broad expanse of country. A cleft in the hillside was lit up with dancing firelight, and the odor of cooking drifted out to them. They entered a dry and roomy cavern and, disposing themselves on the ground, shared their rustic meal. Over their mutton and oat-cakes the strangers watched Conal narrowly. They talked little, but exchanged understanding looks and gestures so often that Conal felt that they were appraising him for some deeper purpose than mere robbery, and he was glad when the last of the food disappeared and their spokesman seemed inclined to open the subject which was on their minds. "It is a great honor for us," he began, "to have a noble flaith sharing our meal, humble men that we are for I remember you said you were a flaith." The whole ruffianly crew bent forward a little, as if his answer were of the greatest importance, while the fellow who had spoken endeavored to put on a careless and hearty air, to indicate that he was not greatly concerned in the answer, nor cared overmuch whether a reply was given at all. "I am a flaith, certainly," said Conal guardedly. "It can easily be told from your speech and bear- ing, and I venture to guess you are of some powerful clan, and a man of importance despite your youth." "What can he be after?" Conal thought. "If I tell him I am a person of consequence and of a strong sept, he may be afraid of their vengeance and let me go. On the other hand, he may hold me for ransom." THE BROKEN CLAN 97 "My clan is greater than some, and less than others," he answered at length. "I should say that you were on your way to join the High King at Inver Colptha," the other con- tinued. "Perhaps you are one of Dathi's officers, and have influence with the monarch." "That may be so or not," said Conal a little im- patiently. "It seems to me that you are getting more than you are giving. Before I tell any more of myself, do you tell me what manner of men you are who live in this waste place and are so hospitable to travellers." "I fear our rank can be guessed as easily as your own. We are fudhirs, landless men, a broken clan." "That is a grave misfortune," said Conal, cautious of giving offense. "We have found it so indeed, but lest you think more hardly of us than we deserve, I will tell you something of our story." He paused and looked at the ground, while a proud and rebellious look passed over his wild fea- tures. "Except for a few women and children who are scattered in distant hiding-places/' he went on gloomily, "you see before you the miserable remnant of the Children of the Raven. "Up to nine years ago we were a small clan but prosperous, holding land on the borders of Con- naught and Leinster. Our chief was brave and generous and because of his virtues the gods loaded 98 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION r>v ' ^ with fruit and ou* t^oiLS and herds in- 01 eased year by year. "We had powerful neighbors who fought among themselves, and sought jealously to increase their own power and importance. They would have had us take gifts of them and come under their rule, but we trusted in justice and refused them. "Then came the great wars when Dathi strove with his cousins for the kingship. The armies fought about us and over us, but we kept on in our peaceful way, for we could not see that one of them had more right than another, and we only wished that the quarrel would be settled so that we could honor the High King, as the laws command, with- out fear that the honor we paid one king to-day would count against us with his rival to-morrow. But the tribes of Leinster took one side, and the tribes of Connaught the other, and between them we were ground as a stone is ground under a man's heel. None the less we inclined to neither, but tended our fields. "Both sides threatened us. One night our chief's dun was stormed and every one within it put to the sword without mercy. Fire was set to the thatch and stack, and our cattle were driven off to the hills. We went to throw ourselves at the King's feet, but we had no chief to answer for us. Our enemies entered on our lands, and now for all these years we have lived the life of outlaws and homeless wanderers." "That is a sad tale!" cried Conal, with ready THE BROKEN CLAN 99 sympathy. "A heavy curse on the clan that wronged you, whoever they may have been!" "Lately we have found our lot more and more desperate. We are hunted from place to place, and are barely able, by threat and force, to wring a miser- able existence from dwellers in unprotected places; and word has come to us from friendly mouths that soon the king of this territory will move against us. Our wanderings must begin again; once more we must seek some wild corner where we can live un- disturbed; and all this comes upon us because we have no chief." " It would be easy for you to put yourselves under some chief's protection." "Yes, if we were willing to forget our freedom and former happiness and become bondmen," replied the stranger fiercely, "but that we have sworn not to do. We will enter no stranger's clan except as free- men and sharers in the lands." " How can you hope for that ? It is hard that you should suffer without fault, but such is the custom of the men of Eirinn, and no clan will take in strangers on equal terms with themselves. Why should they?" "It is indeed too much to expect. Yet we have thought that it would be to the advantage of some ambitious young flaith to use his interest in our behalf. A little land that he would never miss would give homes to us all, a few cattle from his herd would be a fortune to us, and in return he would gain followers pledged to him till death. Look at ioo THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION us. We are fourteen, skilled in arms, used to hard- ship and danger. With such men as we to back him, a flaith might rise to be an aire, or an aire to a throne. Any man might be glad to have such fol- lowers, young champion." "I trust you will find such a chief," replied Conal. "I myself would be glad to speak for you to some I know. But there are difficulties which need not be spoken of at any rate, you have my warm wishes." "If I have told you our story," said the outlaw deliberately, "it was not that you should pass us on to some other as an unvalued gift is passed on. Why should you yourself not show kindness to us? We^have weighed you and think well of you^and we are ready to forswear our name and take yours, if you say the word. We will be your men against any enemy, though it be the High King himself." "If you knew to whom you were speaking," said Conal a little bitterly, "I would think your offer fair enough. But my service has little in it to tempt any one to it. You seek peace and protection, and a share of lands and cattle, while I am chiefly rich in enemies, and if I told you how I had gotten them, you would leave me here alone, or, more likely, hand me over to them." "I mean what I say," said the outlaw proudly. "Our chief's enemies will be ours. If you doubt us, try our faith. If you will be our chief we will take the blood-oath here and now, and then you can tell us who are your enemies, and see if we shrink at their names." THE BROKEN CLAN 101 " By the oath of my people ! " Conal cried. " Your confidence is as pleasant to me as new mead. You have given me your story and why should I not trust you with mine? In truth, then, I am not, though I was yesterday, the rich and powerful noble you take me to be. I am, like yourselves, an out- law. I am fleeing for my life, and I do not yet know whether I have gotten away safely from my pur- suers and avoided the bloody punishment which will surely be mine if I am taken. Every man is my enemy who regards the law, and especially every man of Leinster." "And how have you come to this pass ? " asked the outlaw without emotion. "On account of my slaying a certain noble who offended me. He was powerful among the people of Leinster, and they will never rest till I am taken and put to death." "Young as you are, you know the law better than that. You have only to put yourself in sanctuary and offer compensation. Why, there is enough gold in your collar and bunne-do-at to pay eric and honor price thrice over, though his rank were as high as the king of a province. Do not trifle with us or attempt to put us off with weak excuses, for look you, you are here in our power and we have sworn that you leave this place as our chief, or stay here a corpse." He looked at Conal so malevolently that the boy felt assured that he meant no less than he said. He felt a quick impulse to spring to his feet and defy 102 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION them, but reason told him that he must tempo- rize. "I do not speak to deceive you. There is no eric for that slaying. I killed him at Tailtenn, in the midst of the fair." The suspicion in the fudhir's face gave way to amazement. He stared incredulous for a single in- stant, then he glanced rapidly around the cave and seemed to get some desired assurance from the faces of his comrades. "You say well that you are in as bad a case as we," he exclaimed. "But the man who did that deed is all the more a chief for us. Lands and cattle are very good things, but more than all it is good for men to have a chief whom they can respect. While we thought you a rich and worthless young lord we were willing to accept you for a leader for the sake of comfort. Now we are willing to brave hardship again for the sake of having such a chief. It is all the same. There are lands enough and herds enough in this island of ours for a band of desperate men, led by such a one as you, to make themselves feared if not famous. There is my hand. If you will lead us we will follow you." "I will keep faith with you, I swear it!" cried Conal, grasping hi turn the hand of each of the outlaws. They drew their daggers and, opening their arms, let their blood mingle while they swore oaths of fidelity. Then with solemn formality, the fudhirs invested him, putting the white rod in his hand, turning him three times with the sun and three THE BROKEN CLAN 103 times against it, and observing all the customary rites as minutely as if the clan had mustered four- teen hundred, not fourteen. The ceremony over, they prepared a bed for him, bade him sleep well, and left him alone in the cave. For^ a long time he lay and watched the fire burn low. His mind was dazzled. The outlaw's words had opened to him the vision of a lawless pre- eminence; of lands and lordship won by the sword and held by it. He saw in fancy how all the out- laws of the kingdom would flock to his side, how every broken clan would own him chief and claim his protection, serving him with their bodies in re- turn for a share of the spoil their arms would win for him. He saw himself ruling among his un- tamed bands, feared by those who feared no one else, laughing at the law and the baffled Leinster- men. But other ambitions fought with these dreams that he had long cherished and was loath to dismiss, dreams of a tune to come when clean fame and knightly distinction were to raise his name to the level of old heroes in songs. Then, too, the new dream that lately had thrust the others into second place, that was compounded of white dun walls, new built, and the bright painted sides of a new grianan, with a girl, bronze-haired and clear-eyed, leaning out to look for him as he came riding out of the forest. Strongest of all, perhaps, was the innate reverence for immemorial law, the lifelong schooling in respect for the wisdom of ancient cus- 104 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION torn, which stood like a barrier between him and the new life that tempted him. The decision was not made when weariness over- came him and he passed off to sleep. The sun was bright when he awoke and came out of the cave. The fresh morning air whisked briskly in his face around the shoulder of the mountain, and drove away drowsiness like a dash of cold water. One of his new clansmen was standing sentry at the entrance to the cavern. The others were sitting quietly at a little distance, waiting for him to ap- pear. A tattered cloak had been spread on a smooth rock and food was set out on it for him. As he came out they rose and saluted him respectfully, and one, who held his spear and sword, newly cleaned and shining, came forward and put them in his hands. Every look and gesture showed Conal then* new attitude to him. With a strange thrill, he realized that to these men he was now their chief, invested with the fulness of that almost sacred char- acter. For all his youth, his wish was their will; his approval their standard of good; his comfort their chief anxiety. They might go hungry, but he must be satisfied, and they were pleased that it should be so. Before beginning his meal he went to the edge of the platform and looked out over the country be- low him. The dark forest stretched away to right and left in an endless carpet of tangled boughs. Before him it ended abruptly at the bank of a wide river, and beyond the river fields began, sprinkled THE BROKEN CLAN 105 with ponds and tufts of trees, and crossed by a buff ribbon of curving highway. "What stream is that?" he asked idly. "It is the Boyne, my chief." "And how far are we from where it enters the sea ? " "Less, than two days' journey." ConaJ* remembered what they had told him at the fair: "From the mouth of the Boyne, Dathi's ships sail for Gaul." Of a sudden his doubts were blown from his mind, his resolution was made. "Sons of the Raven," he said, "I have thought much of what we said last night. It is not right that we should be ravagers of our own country and enemies of all, like those men who, of old, slew Conaire the High King. There is righting to be done in far countries, and riches there for those who are not afraid. Perhaps if we do our part well we may all win pardon. Is it not better for us to go with the High King to Gaul, and use our arms against strangers instead of Gaels?" His followers looked at him with indifferent ac- quiescence. "That is as the chief pleases," they said in chorus. Again Conal felt sharply the readjustment that had taken place. His clansmen no longer felt that thought or care on their part was necessary or de- sirable. He was chief, let him decide. As supreme among his fourteen followers as the king of his own tuath among his hundreds of spearmen, on his shoulders lay the responsibility for their welfare. io6 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION He must think for them and, in return, he knew they would follow him to death. "Better for them; better for me," he muttered. "If they return, the High King will provide for them; for myself, I must take my chance." He unbound his hair and took the fragile gold balls from among the locks, and, after some con- sideration, added a bracelet to the handful. "Let some of you hurry to the road," he com- manded, "and wait for merchants returning from the fan*. Buy new spears and shields of them, enough for all, and all of the same pattern; cloaks, too, if they can be gotten, and a horse rod; but do not buy all from one man, or show too much gold at a tune. If they speak of Conal mac Shanleh, listen to what they say, and remember it." By noon the messengers returned with the things they had sought. They brought news also that word had come from the fair that Conal was surely in his father's dun, and that all the Leinstermen had hurried there to take him, led by one Mesgedra, keeper of the King's guest-house on the road of Meath. Conal shook his head over the last piece of news. "It is the way of the world," he thought soberly. "But I did think Mesgedra my friend. Yesterday I should have despaired at hearing it. To-day I can laugh at it. I have others to depend on than Mesgedra. But Etain I wonder " It was with a sober face that he mounted his horse and took the road along the bank of the Boyne. THE BROKEN CLAN 107 The second day they came out on the hills above the river mouth. Below them Dathi's fleet lay at anchor, a countless profusion of minute black dots on the blue waters of the bay. Up from the valley came a confused uproar, mingled of the clang of hammers on a thousand anvils, the crack and crash of falling trees, and all the noise of the hundred activities of that busy arsenal. The smoke of forges and furnaces hung and drifted among the tree tops. Long trams of pack-animals came and went from the countryside; huge barges floated in endless procession down the bosom of the Boyne. As they descended into the valley, the sun's rim touched the horizon. Reluctantly the clamor died and ended. A hoarse challenge halted them, and their ears were assailed by the barking of innumera- ble dogs. CHAPTER IX DULL DAYS AT TARA The more Etain thought of it, the more angry she grew; the more her anger increased, the more her mind ran on her grievance. It was not that she was disappointed at all, that she made clear to her- self to begin with; as for being jealous, the very word would never have occurred to her in connec- tion with her just indignation at Conal's outrageous behavior. Mainly she resented not having foreseen the slight, or even the possibility of it. She had certainly had reason for counting on Conal's subjection; she had boasted of it to Finulla, had proved its completeness by judicious experiment, and, being convinced of it, had laid herself open to be flouted before the world. For there was no question that every one had noted the affront; Mesgedra himself had shown that he felt she had been treated rudely, though he had made some clumsy effort to hide it. The others had seen, no doubt. The idea was unbearable. Then there was the failure of her expected tri- umph, her excellent stroke of wit with which she had plotted to dazzle Conal. How she had hugged herself in advance at the thought of his bewilder- 108 DULL DAYS AT TARA 109 ment, when, awed himself by the splendor of the court, he saw her at her ease among the Queen's maids ! But the shoe was like to be upon the other foot, for there could be no doubt that Conal had scored first. It was at Tara that she was brooding over her injury, sitting under a tree near a well behind the grianan. It was in the heat of the day; the Queen was sleeping, the girls amusing themselves elsewhere. There was no one near to see her, and she soon had gotten to such a pitch of exasperation that she would not have cared if there had been. She kicked the dust until the hem of her gown was streaked and grimy; she beat the tree with her fist (it only made her knuckle sore) ; she threw a stone (laboriously) at a bird, and, finding no balm in these feats, composed herself with her face in the crook of her arm and whimpered without restraint. After she had cried for a time, she felt famously relieved, washed her face at the well, decided that it was time to be dress- ing, and when she had changed her gown presented herself to wait upon the Queen where she sat in her sunny house. Nessa had awakened in a sulky temper, and she was of such a nature that it was impossible for her to be out of sorts herself without making every one near her uncomfortable. She was a fretful, spoiled, peevish person at best, was Nessa, fond of her com- fort, fond of good living, restless, fickle, eager for entertainment. She had, too, a good idea of her position. Her father had been King of Munster no THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION in his time, but she had wearied of his small court, and it was no secret that she had married Dathi for the sake of the rank he gave her. No matter, they were quits, for it was no secret either that he married her to bring her father and her powerful kinsmen to his side. They both had what they desired. We may suppose they both were satisfied. Nessa at any rate was contented to be the first woman in the kingdom, to adorn herself profusely with gold and fine clothes, to feast pompously day after day, and to have her share of women to flatter and champions to pay court to her. Now the reason for her ill-humor was that the chief of these pleasures had lately failed. Dathi's warlike preparations had swept the court of Tara clean of men. There was no longer any amusement to be had; there was no hunting by day or feasting at night; pomp and jollity had alike gone by the board. At the first whisper of the High King's plan, all the youth and gallantry of the court had transformed itself suddenly into manhood and mettle, had turned from ladies' smiles to consort with sooty smiths and drovers with the smell of the herd strong upon them, had clattered away at last with hardly a look behind, leaving the field free to the dotards and graybeards. Small wonder, then, that Nessa was discontented. She was lolling in her chair with her chin in her hand and her elbow on her knee, her foot tap- tapping, and an uncomely sullenness marring her handsome face. She looked up with a frown as DULL DAYS AT TARA in Etain entered, and asked her sharply why she was late. Though Etain saw at once that she was in a tem- per, she was not frightened by that, but she knew that she deserved and would presently get a scold- ing for her tardiness unless she could contrive some distraction for Nessa's mind. A merry piece of im- pertinence would do as well as anything. Already, she knew, her readiness and her whimsical turn of mind had made her somewhat of a favorite of the Queen's. So she came forward smiling. "I stopped to dress myself in my best," she said, "for I knew that at court one must always be ready for a revel, and I did not know what sort of merry- making you might have in mind for to-night." Nessa smiled in spite of herself. "You are right," she returned, "it is always best to be prepared. And that your trouble may not be wasted, you have my free leave to be as merry as you please. There is a harp in the corner, wine and ale on the table, and the whole grianan to dance in. There are even men to be had if they are necessary for your pleasure. You may have your choice of a brehon, a bard, or a druid, all ollaves and all grandfathers, or of Laegaire, the High Tanist." "Why, that would be very nice," said Etain in all earnestness. "I like old, wise men who talk seri- ously, and Laegaire, you know, is my foster-brother." The Queen was much amused. "Would you have believed there lived a girl," she H2 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION appealed to the others, "whose notion of pleasure was to talk with her brother?" "I do not see why you say that," said Etain in surprise. "Of course any girl would rather talk to her brother than to a stranger. When Laegaire talks he says things worth listening to. He is not like some young men who think girls have no more sense than children and never speak to them of anything but of games and clothes." "No one would be so rude as to call him amusing," assented the Queen with a yawn. "At any rate, he is the best figure of a man to be found at Tara to-day. Oh, I could wish a pestilence on Dathi for spoiling my pleasure so ! If it is so tiresome here already, what will it be before he returns?" "I wonder you did not go with him," began Etain, and at once an inspiration came to her. One way was left still to get the better of Conal, a triumph even more complete and satisfying than the one she had planned. What if, when he came to Tara, he found no Queen, no court? What if she could persuade Nessa to take her and all the household away, and go adventuring in far Gaul? She hurried on eagerly: "If you are weary of Tara I wonder you do not go to Gaul yourself. Oh, it is a voyage worth taking, I know that. I have heard my father tell of those countries and of the strange sights there are to see in them. There are cities there, fifty, a hundred times as big as the largest rath, and in them people live packed together, tumbling over one another like DULL DAYS AT TARA 113 ants. And the houses are high, rising story upon story, and piled high with goods every day is a fair day with them. It is marvellous. I have heard my father tell of it. Why should we not go ? " "What? With the army? To war?" cried the maidens incredulously, but Etain was not to be put down. " "Why not? Have queens never gone to war before? I suppose Mab stayed at home in her grianan when her husband went out to fight ! Why, many old tales tell of one queen or another who went to war and some who even led armies. Every- one knows that. Why could not Nessa go as well as the others?" "You are not taking account of Dathi," said the Queen impatiently. "Of course he will be glad for you to go if it gives you pleasure." "What does he care for my pleasure? It is his own that concerns him. Such are men, even the best of them, and Dathi is not one of the best. Do you remember," she appealed to the maidens, "the last time he took me to hunt with him, how surly he was because we began to sing and laugh? He said we frightened the boar as if one goes hunting for the boar's comfort. He is all selfishness. Little does he care how dull the days are with us." "Once, when my father travelled, he did not want to take me with him," said Etain thoughtfully, "but I made ready quietly and followed after him for a mile or so, and then showed myself. Then, 114 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION you see, he had no time to turn back with me, and though he blustered a little, I went along in the end." The Queen sprang to her feet, took Etain by the hand, and kissed her warmly. "Praise fortune for your brains!" she cried. "That is the first bit of sense that maid of mine has spoken in months." She swept across the grianan and flung open the lid of a chest. "Four days to Inver Colptha," she calculated rapidly, "or three if the roads are dry. One day to make ready that is five at most. We will arrive just as he is on the point of sailing. Oh, what a thing it is to have brains ! Hurry, lazy ones ! All the gowns but only the golden ornaments. The steward must see to the horses. Run, some one, and tell him; but it is better that Laegaire should not know until we are gone." She began to pluck at the fastenings of her gown, and Etain, spinning ecstatically on her toes, sped out of the house to make ready. CHAPTER X A BULL-FEAST FOR CONAL Ronan came rattling up to the gate and hailed the dun with a triumphant shout. "What news from the fair, Ronan?" called Mes- gedra, hurrying out of the hall. "What news?" cried Cathbar, hurrying after him, mead-horn in hand. The bard got down from his chariot and grinned with the tantalizing way of a man who has something worth hearing to tell and means to make the most of it. "I have news, but guess whether good or bad." "Hut ! Hut ! " said Mesgedra. " How should we know? Tell us that yourself." "You know as well as I, for, upon my word, I cannot tell." "Never mind, man. Quick, quick! What have you heard?" "First, then, Firbis lives." "That is ever the way," Mesgedra complained. "A blow that would kill seven honest men is harm- less to such a weasel as that. I saw Conal strike him, and his skull spattered open like a rotten egg. Are you sure it is true?" "I saw him myself. He has a hole in his head "5 n6 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION you could put an apple into, but otherwise he will be as sound as you or I in a few weeks." "But Conal?" said Mesgedra impatiently. "Yes," said Cathbar. "The Bocanochs fly off with Firbis ! What of the boy ? " " Good news of him, at least. It is certain he has escaped, and Buadach, the sea-captain, who came to Tailtenn on an errand from the High King, told me quietly that he was sure he had seen him in Dathi's presence, with other late arrivals, and he described him very plainly." "That is comforting. No place could be safer for him. But go on with your story." "Shall I not eat first?" The bard looked long- ingly toward the kitchen. "Into the hall!" Cathbar cried. "A man must eat, of course. The rest can be told to-night." "Have you forgotten that to-night the notables of the clan, whom you summoned, are coming?" Mesgedra reminded him. "True, and I trust everything will turn out as you have planned. I am uneasy about one thing only. My other son, Ferdiad, is popular with the clansmen, and I fear some of his friends may not be satisfied at seeing Conal made tanist while he is away, for to tell you the truth, he has always looked on the succession as his own." "A good thing he is away, then. How does the old chief seem?" "About the same; weak and wandering. I fear he will never live to leave the dun." A BULL-FEAST FOR CONAL 117 "Well, he is comfortable here, and his mind runs so on his boyhood that I hardly think he knows from one moment to another whether he is here or at the royal rath." "It is well for your scheme that his mind is so feeble. - If he knew what we were about he would be very angry. When I was made tanist he was not pleased with it, though he was then advancing in years, and lately, as I told you, he has grown more and more to resent the idea of his successor being chosen in his lifetime." "We are doing what is best for him and for the clan," Mesgedra protested. "Would you rather have it fought out after his death, as Dathi and his cousins fought for the High Kingship after Niall was killed? Our ancient lawgivers were wise and far- sighted, Cathbar. See how the ranks of men are fixed among us, and how the grades rise one above another like trees on a hillside; chiefs of clans, kings of tuaths, kings of provinces, up to the High King himself, in order and decency. Each has his rights and his duties, which every man knows and respects. What plan could be wiser and better? Do you suppose our ancestors, who settled all that so wisely, were wrong in providing that the tanist should be chosen in the King's lifetime? Be sure that there was good reason for it, and that it is best to follow old custom." "I would be the last to propose new departures," said Cathbar in haste. "It is only that a loyal man fears to do anything against the will of his n8 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION chief. I would be tanist to-day myself, but that a blemished man like me cannot hold the rank." "That, too, is a good law, as all our laws are," maintained the old brugaid. "Strangers are coming," said Eoghan, looking in at the door. "Would it not be well to close the gates?" "Those will be the flaiths," said Cathbar. "Let us go and meet them, Mesgedra, for it would be better for them to have seen you and talked with you, before you open your scheme to them." They welcomed the newcomers and dismissed them to the baths. Before sunset, the green around the dun was crowded with chariots, and every flaith with a claim to a voice in the clan's counsels was at hand. The hall of the dun was not large enough to hold them all at table, so the evening meal was served under the sky, for Cathbar feared discontent and quarrelling if some had places in the hall and some were sent elsewhere. After they had eaten, they crowded, one and all, into the hall, for they knew that they had been called there to take part in some important debate. It was a notable house, this hall of Cathbar's, finer even than the hall of Mesgedra's bruden. The walls were of polished yew, the posts of strong wood, covered, to the height of a man's head, with plates of bronze and ornamented with gilded figures of birds and animals. There were nine divisions on each side between the door and the wall, and a A BULL-FEAST FOR CONAL 119 fine bronze bed frame in each division, wide enough for one, two, or three bedfellows, and covered with furs and beautifully woven robes. At the foot of each division there was a seat. The floor was of hard, white earth, strewn with yellow reeds, and a stone hearth in the centre held the fire. When all had seated themselves as best they could, the chain of silence was shaken, and at the sound of its melodious tinkle, all talk was hushed. In the absence of the old King, Mesgedra was the eldest, and after a polite interval he arose and spoke to them: "It is not through intrusiveness or love of talking that I am here speaking to you this night. Cathbar, my old friend, thought you would not be displeased if an old man, who has given counsel to the High King before now, should advise you, but if it does not please you I will be silent, for I force my opin- ions upon no one. "Your King lies in a house of this dun, stricken with great age. For more years than are commonly given to men he has been the strong stay of the house of Fiacra, a flame of battle, an old bestower of vic- tory; now his mind wanders and his speech thickens; not for long will he be with you, and he has led your chariots for the last time. "That is the first subject of my speech. It is bad for a strong clan to be without a leader young enough and strong enough to defy its enemies. For this reason do we choose tanists to help an aging chief, and to take his place, when he dies, without 120 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION bickering and bloodshed, quarrels and disputed right. " So much for that. The choice is yours, if choice be made, and after you have thought of what I say, you will do what seems fitting to yc : I go on to another matter. "You know what brought me to this n. It was friendship for your young kinsman Cv ^S, now unhappily a fugitive. He has done that w ich the ancient law forbids and punishes more sverely than any other crime except one and tl ? a one a horrible impiety and offense against tic gods no less than the lighting of a fire on the day of Bel. "I come before you to-day to ask your favor for this boy, and I am confident that you will give it, for he is your cousin, and it was in your cause that he struck down the Leinsterman. It is true that, if you will, his lands may be taken from him and he may be cast out of the tribe forever. But the laws appoint those who were injured to take vengeance on him who has done wrong, not his kinsmen and neighbors, and I do not believe you will find it hi your hearts to treat him harshly when I have told you for what reason he slew Firbis: how he taunted Conal, saying that your kings had taken gifts of his. Many coarse insults did Firbis heap upon your name, and it was in avenging these that Conal broke the law. "A good man is Conal, proud of his race, quick in revenge, not giving satisfaction, but taking it. A BULL-FEAST FOR CONAL 121 If he were here among us to-night, free from the penalty that hangs over him, it would not be strange if you were to choose him for your King's successor. But as things are, that, alas, cannot be, for it would bring down on you the enmity of the tribes of Lein- ster, which is already stirred against you, and their power is so great that no clan in Eirinn dares brave them." The clansmen had listened so far with grave silence and attention, but at these words a grumble of disapproval burst from them. "A sow's tail for the tribes of Leinster!" they shouted. "We will brave them whether others dare or not." And they made such a noise striking their spears against their shields that Mesgedra was forced to wait for some moments until they had bellowed themselves out. "Be not rash," he said at last, stretching out his arms over them. "It is useless to talk of this, for Conal is not here. Moreover, even if your powers were a match for the might of Leinster, it were best to live at peace with them, for the shanachies gave decision that they were closer to the blood of Fi- acra than yourselves, and that by rights their chiefs were your overlords it was for saying this that Conal struck Firbis." Again a roar went up from the clansmen, partly of rage at Firbis's humiliating claim, partly of grati- fication at Conal's ready retort. "Let Conal be tanist!" cried a voice from some- where in the back of the hall. 122 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION "Not so!" exclaimed Mesgedra hurriedly. "Be- lieve me it would be more prudent and safer in every way not to take a step so sure to infuriate Firbis's clan and family. It would be a mortal affront to defy them so publicly. Let Conal protect himself as best he can. He is hot-headed and quarrelsome. Some more cautious person would be better, a man less inclined to resentment and passion. If he were chief he would be leading your spears into Leinster, sacking duns, and levying tribute." "Sit down, old man!" cried the clansmen. " Conal ! We will have Conal ! " The room was in an uproar. The cry was coming from all sides. " Conal for tanist ! A white bull ! A white bull ! Conal for tanist ! Defiance to Leinster !" Suddenly the stirring note of a harp sounded, struck by a vigorous hand, and Ronan Dhu sprang on a couch and began to chant in rapid verses, praising Conal and defying the Leinstermen. The clansmen caught the blazing torches from the wall and poured out of the house, with waving weapons and hoarse shouts. "A white bull ! A white bull ! Conal for tanist ! " Mesgedra let himself down into his seat. "You see," he said, smiling at Cathbar, "we need worry no more over young Conal's trouble. He is safe now with the High King. When he returns I will say a word to Dathi for him, and when the old chief dies he will take his place quietly; the Lein- stermen will not dare pursue the chief of the clan A BULL-FEAST FOR CONAL 123 of Fiacra, and in time the whole affair will be for- gotten." A mighty roar swept in through the door. A great white bull, the king of the herd, was being led into the enclosure of the dun. The clan shouted and clashed their weapons as he paced slowly on be- tween the torches, sniffing right and left, but not frightened or surprised by the glare and tumult. He was halted at the door of the hall, and one of the flaiths, with steady hand, thrust a broad cutting- spear deep into his throat. He toppled like an oak falling in the forest. In a trice the great carcass was dismembered, and the water was seething and bubbling in the largest caldron. The bull-feast was prepared and eaten, and Conal's election was com- pleted. CHAPTER XI "CONAL WILL NEVER BE KING" With his purpose so happily accomplished, Mes- gedra had nothing further to keep him at the dun, so he exchanged good wishes with The Old Cham- pion and set off for the guest-house again. A full train of attendants had come from the bruden to bring them home, so they travelled in suitable state, making short stages, and resting at whatever guest-house, rath, or dun was nearest when the mood for stopping took them. In this way they came, without haste, to Tail- tenn, passing through it on the fourth day, about noon. The place was utterly transformed since they left it, with the fair in full course. The city of tents and booths had been swept away, leaving a bare dozen houses strung along the highroad. Where the crowds had hurried to and fro, herds were graz- ing. The mounds and banks where the meetings of the bards had been held were new sodded and green. Fresh young grass covered the trodden earth of the field of games, and the peaceful and pastoral scene had nothing about it to recall the busy centre of trade and revelry they had left. 124 "CONAL WILL NEVER BE KING" 125 As they approached the houses they saw a cart standing before one of them. A number of British slaves were lifting a stretcher into it, which sup- ported a man whose head was so swathed in band- ages that scarcely an inch of his face could be seen. Although they were handling him with the most solicitous care, a stream of curses was coming from him, mixed with pitiful groans. At last the stretcher was gotten into place, with a slave on either side to steady it, and the cart moved out into the road. Mesgedra's attendants were laughing and chatter- ing as they came along, and the wounded man raised himself a little on his elbow to look at them. Ronan recognized him and called to Mesgedra: "Look, it is Firbis. He is riding out to take the air. :< Your veil is so thick I could hardly recognize you," he said to the Leinsterman, not attempting to suppress a smile of malicious triumph. Firbis's eyes glowed through the folds of linen, bright with concentrated hate. He raised himself higher, by a great effort, and turned his gaze on Eoghan and Mesgedra in their turn. "You are all here to look at me, I see. All here but Conal. If you ever see him again, tell him how I looked this day. It may make him feel easier, and he will need consolation." "Do not fear for Conal," said Ronan cheerfully. "We have placed him where he will not need to fear you or any one." 126 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION "Old news!" snarled Firbis. "I know what you did at Cathbar's dun, and I will tell you another thing that I know, and you do not. He will never be tanist." "He will be King of Dal-Fiacra when you rot on a dung-pile," replied Ronan speedily. "He will never be King, or tanist either," Firbis repeated in an exulting voice. "He will learn what price must be paid for wounding me." He pushed back the bandage and exposed the terrible gash, now barely beginning to heal. "Do you think that is a little thing?" he croaked, "or that my vengeance will not reach him for it? He shall pay first, and you afterward. Bid him farewell if you are friends of his. He will never be tanist. I will come to you later." He fell back gasping in the arms of his slaves. "You have sung your death-song!" Ronan cried. He snatched a spear and waved the Britons aside, but a number of Leinstermen came running from the house and put themselves before Firbis. The two parties stood facing one another tensely, while Firbis lay back, half-fainting, on the stretcher; but he recovered himself in a little, and bade his attendants move on. So they drew apart slowly, keeping hands on hilts until they were a spear's throw apart, and even then watching each other over their shoulders. At last the winding of the road took them out of sight. "That fellow has an unhappy temper," said Eoghan critically. "I think he is a man to be avoided. If he were on his feet he would be danger- "CONAL WILL NEVER BE KING" 127 ous, for it is easy to see he is plotting some evil against Conal." "Those were only words meant to vex us," said Ronan confidently. "Since we know that Conal has sailed with the High King to Gaul, we need not worry over Firbis and his threats of revenge." Mesgedra suddenly struck his forehead with his clenched fist. " If we know it, why not he ? If Firbis knows that Conal was made tanist, why not that he has gone to Gaul?" "True !" cried Ronan, and he tugged at his reins until his horses reared high over him, and the chariot spun on its wheels. With a gesture he summoned those of the train who were armed and mounted to follow him, started back at a furious pace over the road they had just come by, and before long was out of sight. The others went on faster than before, for they had a nervous feeling that something, they did not quite know what, should be done and at once. Toward night they stopped and camped at the roadside, and before they had eaten the roar of wheels came from the darkness behind, and Ronan dashed up to them, plying the horse-rod recklessly. Mesgedra, who had been pacing up and down in the road, waiting for him, was on the step of the chariot in an instant and silently waited for what he had to say. "I caught one of the Britons," Ronan muttered, "and he spoke under persuasion. It is true, what 128 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION you suspected. Firbis knows where he has gone, and has sent men after him." "Where is the Briton?" "Back there in the bushes. What use to keep him alive? He told all he knew. They are not to kill, but to maim, so that Conal cannot be tanist. They will blind him, or cut his nose off. It was Firbis's own idea." "Horrible !" Mesgedra groaned. "There is noth- ing to do, that is the worst of it. We could never find him to warn him." "Firbis hopes to find him." "It might be done," Mesgedra admitted, with new hope. "The High King's army will leave a broad red trail, easy to follow. Do you speak the Roman?" "I have none of it worth talking of; a few words picked up from slaves." "That would not do. Whoever goes must have it well, so that he can pass for a Gaul or a Briton. Eoghan perhaps no, no, it is impossible. None of us could do it. There is no one to send." "A slave," Ronan suggested. "There are some Gauls at the bruden who are trustworthy. Laegaire has a steward he puts great dependence in. He would go if you asked for him." "They would go willingly, but how could we trust them to keep faith with us?" "It would be necessary to pick the right man and to bind him with oaths. They have certain sacred things mysteries, I do not know what and "CONAL WILL NEVER BE KING" 129 when they have sworn by them they hold it binding. I learned that from my old nurse." "That is one way," Mesgedra agreed, without much confidence. "We must try it, I suppose, since nothing better offers." "Let us make haste, then," Ronan said impa- tiently. "We do not know how much start Firbis's men have, or how long it will take to find Conal." They took the road again, moving on through the darkness, slowly at first, then faster and faster, as if no treacherous fords or roadside precipices threat- ened them, while sparks flew from the jolting wheels and the horses struggled blindly for footing. CHAPTER XII "INCESTO SPUMAVIT REMIGE TETHYS" The low waves overside slid past interminably. The sea was gray-green without a fleck of white, except for the little ripples parted evenly over the bow, the long sweep of the wake, spreading like a swallow's tail, and the clouds of milky bubbles, springing from under the churning oars. The galley heaved steadily forward to the thump and scrape of the sweeps. Overhead the sail swelled out smoothly from the yards with the pressure of the unfailing breeze. A succession of low hulls and painted sails stretched nearly to the horizon in every direction. Dazzling points of light flashed back and forth from polished bronze and iron, and the chant of the rowers came monotonously over the water, dying in one quarter to be taken up hi another. Far in the distance on the white cliffs of Alban, already fading from sight, terrified Britons watched the passing of the fleet, and now were beginning to raise hymns of thanksgiving that, for this time at least, their coasts were not to be visited, nor their villas burned. A tanned seaman sat against the rail, steadying 130 "INCESTO SPUMAVIT REMIGE TETHYS" 131 the steering oar with one hand. In the other he held a bit of charred wood with which he was draw- ing on the deck boards. Conal sprawled beside him, watching and listening. "This is the point of Iberia," said the seaman, sketching away briskly, "and here runs the river they call Librus. Boats can pass up it for a day's journey. Then there are rapids, and you must take to the land. Here is another great river. I do not know its name, but it divides the territory of the King of All the World from the barbarians. Our friends the Saxons live thereabouts. The legions are posted on that river, for there is always fighting to do there." "And where do we go?" asked Conal lazily. "Wherever the High King leads. There is good plunder everywhere, large and rich cities." "When will the fighting begin?" "You will find it hard to fight with the Gauls. They are the most cowardly of mankind. They hire the legions to fight for them, a body somewhat like the Fianna. I am told they are men of proper spirit, but they have been drawn off to other parts since Niall was killed." "I am sorry for that. I had hoped to see some war worth the name. Brian, do you hear? Bua- dach says we will have no fighting." The old warrior unwound himself from his cloak and sat up. "Likely not, unless the legions come against us. There will be sharp work if we meet them. They I 3 2 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION make a hedge of battle like a thorn-tree thicket. I have fought with them in Alban, and once before in Gaul when I was with Niall, and I have not for- gotten them. They are rough warriors. But they have strange customs, and no idea of honor at all. They refuse single combat and stand shoulder to shoulder throughout a battle." "But if one goes out before the army and challenges them, they cannot refuse." "Strange as it may seem, they care nothing for that. I have seen men dare them for hours, singing satires about them and taunting them to their faces. They would shout back, sometimes, but they stood in line tamely and were afraid to budge until the word was given. That is the way they fight. They stand still for a long time, and then when they are ready they lower their spears and come on as one man. It is hard to stand against them, too, even for the bravest, for the shock of their charge is staggering, like the charge of chariots against footmen. There, indeed, we would have the ad- vantage of them if we had some horses, for they fight always on foot." "They cannot be of much account," said Conal contemptuously. "How can a man love glory who will not fight except in line? And is it not love of fame that makes a warrior formidable? I cannot see either why their attack should be so much to be feared. One chariot-king is worth a dozen men on foot at close quarters." "That is true with us, and yet they have something "INCESTO SPUMAVIT REMIGE TETHYS" 133 dangerous about them that we lack. Three Romans are no more than a match for one Scot, but fifty Romans can meet fifty of ours on equal terms, and two hundred of them, standing on the defensive, have little to fear from twice as many of our war- riors. " "There will be good spoil, at any rate," said Buadach. "You well may say so. It is not that the country is so rich, but that they huddle together so closely, so that one has as much under one's hand in taking one of their cities as if he were to sack Tailtenn fair. It is all in tight bulk, too; wine and jewels, and other things that are easily carried. Then there are the slaves; with three cows as the price of a handmaid there is profit in them." "Riches are not to be despised, for rank rests on them," said Conal meditatively. "But I would rather meet champions in hard, rough combat than plunder cowards." Buadach shook his head dubiously. "Honors are all very well," he said, "but I hope, when my trade has gone a little better, to buy a herd and settle on some land of my clan's. Then I will be treated with consideration, and my sons will be aires. No one will sing songs about me, but my head will stand square on my shoulders." "You are both right," said Brian. "Glory is what makes a man live on after the earth has taken him. A pillar stone with a few scratches on it and a dozen verses at the end of a bard's song seem little 134 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION enough in themselves, but who does not wish to be remembered after death? "On the other hand, it is in every man's mind to settle down in his age in some quiet countryside, and tell stories to his grandchildren. "But those things go best together, and it is no small satisfaction, after a well-fought campaign, to count over a few ounces of gold or a score of cattle that have fallen into your hands in the intervals of fighting; and when one is telling children tales it is pleasant to be able to say: 'It was I who took that dun,' or, 'Thus I slew the champion at the ford.'" "I will set my mind on the pillar stone and the poet's verses," said Conal, with a show of cheer- fulness. "It is no use for me to gather gold and cattle, for I have no hopes of a peaceful old age at home, with grandchildren at my knee. I hope only to do some deed worthy of a bard's praise, and then if death meets me on this voyage, I will welcome it." "What talk is that?" said Brian impatiently. "Boys love to nurse gloomy thoughts. If I have done things that bards sing of, do I wish to die? Far from it. I wish to go on and do another thing and then yet another, still more honorable. Here you are with fourteen sturdy followers. You have come off safe so far, and for all you know your troubles may be over. No one knows who you are or what you have done except Buadach and I, and we will not betray you. Then, after you have shown the High King that you are a man to be counted "INCESTO SPUMAVIT REMIGE TETHYS" 135 on, it will not matter whether it is known or not. Dathi never lets one of his warriors be bothered by the law. Think of that pretty young girl of Mes- gedra's (I saw you had a fancy for her) and for her sake make up your mind once for all that you will come Dut of this adventure with credit, and hi the meantime save your skin whole if you can." Conal sprang to his feet and walked to the stern of the boat where he could look over the water and turn his back on the others, so that they could not see from his face how this careless talk of Etain stung him. He tried to force himself to respond to Brian's rough common sense, but he could not feel that the future was very bright. At last he went forward, rolled himself in his cloak, lay down under the half -deck, and slept, or pretended to sleep. Between the mouths of the Boyne and the Loire the ocean is turbulent, and storms brew quickly, but, whether because of druid spells or the favor of for- tune, the sea was calm for Dathi's fleet, and the crossing was made without misadventure or con- fusion. There were skilled pilots among the ships who had made the voyage many times for trade in wool and wine, and they were not afraid to time their progress so that the night was upon them when they en- tered the mouth of the river, and, laboring all night long, they won their way far up the stream before dawn. When the sun rose they had come to a place where the river ran narrow, and the current was so swift 136 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION that the strength of the rowers was taxed to force the great galleys against it. The woods came down to the water on both sides, and no cleared ground was to be seen, except an occasional tiny farm, and these had bare. rafters and crumbling stacks, and from all appearances were deserted. The High King, Dathi, stood on the prow of the foremost ship, with his chosen captains about him. Now at the height of his adventurous career, and in the prime of his magnificent manhood, the monarch did not need the diadem or the mingled colors hi his cloak to distinguish him among them. He was a man of more than common height, and his frame was, if anything, too massive to be well- proportioned. His features were bold and well formed, his nose broad and strong, his mouth gen- erous but straight-lipped, inclining to subtlety. His face was given an expression of power and dignity by his high forehead and prominent cheek-bones. His complexion was of a fresh and pleasant ruddiness, his hair and beard of a dark chestnut color, his eyes brown or green as his mood changed or as the ob- server viewed them. The hardy virility of his face and form contrasted curiously with the extremely ornate fashion of his dress. He wore a green tunic of exaggerated ful- ness of cut, decorated with a pattern of small pur- ple dots, and terminating hi a short kilt of the same material. His legs were covered with breeches of saffron cloth, as excessively tight as the vest was voluminous. His beard was carefully clipped, "INCESTO SPUMAVIT REMIGE TETHYS" 137 parted, and curled. His hair was dressed elabo- rately, and delicate golden balls were threaded on the hanging locks. His golden collar was as wide as a man's palm, his brooch extended across his breast from shoulder to shoulder, and the frogs that fastened his tunic were as large as goats' horns. Standing with one foot on the carved gunwale, he talked rapidly, gesticulating with a short hunting- spear which he held in his hand. He was in the highest spirits, and as he recognized and pointed out one landmark after another which showed that they were nearing the limit of navigation he laughed and shouted boisterously, baiting those about him with coarsely familiar jokes. His captains, knowing from experience that the temper of kings is uncertain and changeable, answered him respectfully, paying his jokes no more tribute than that of a low laugh; but it was plain that they all shared his enthusi- asm. In time the grumble of the rapids was heard. On a signal from the King the galley's head was turned to the shore. The vessels following wheeled hi turn, and their keels grated on the gravel at the same instant. In a moment a flock of curraghs covered the river; the galleys were run up on the land, and in a few hours' time the army was in train to march. Conal stood idly about, bewildered with the bustle and excitement. He was in every one's way. He tried to help this man or that, but no one had time for explanations, and whenever he put his hand to 138 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION a task some busy seaman or officer would come by, put him aside quietly, and have it done in a trice. Brian had been summoned to the High King's presence; his clansmen had been impressed to assist in unloading the baggage, and Conal felt very much deserted. At length Brian came striding between the heaps of leather bags and beckoned to him impatiently. "You are doing nothing," he cried. "Come with me, and hurry. I am sent in advance to spy about. The rest will follow with little delay, but I know you will like to be in the first of it. Call your men and come. "Dash is everything hi these raids," he went on, as he took Conal by the arm and half pushed him ahead through the forming ranks. "If we fall on the Gauls before they suspect we are near, they will hardly dare resist. But it will take tune before the tents are set and the women hoisted ashore; and Dathi cannot leave before his wife is comfortable, so we will go on and see that none gets sight of us and escapes to give the alarm. Dathi always lets me choose my own men, and I knew you would want to come." "Indeed, yes," said Conal. "It is what I would have asked above everything." " Be on your guard," said Brian. " I do not think the Gauls suspect we are near, but we must think of everything." They struck into the woods and proceeded for some tune along a rough woodland track, advancing "INCESTO SPUMAVIT REMIGE TETHYS" 139 with suitable caution, although there seemed little to fear. In time the forest grew thinner, and broad open spaces allowed the sunlight to reach them. Then the openings became more extended, the for- est thinned to isolated groups of trees, and at last the wpods were left behind and the open country lay before them. Rising from the river the slopes of the valley were clothed with orchards and vineyards and crowned with the green terraces and rambling buildings of a noble villa. In the distance the walls of a good- sized town stretched down to the water. Facing them twin towers rose, flanking a gate through which a road issued that wound upward and disap- peared over the hilltops. The fields of the villa were dotted with laborers. Travellers were passing in both directions along the road. The scene was bathed in soft sunlight. It seemed a temple, eternally dedicated to Peace and Plenty, as secure under the aegis of Rome as Rome itself. But Brian's men were already creeping along the terraces; Conal and his clansmen were working their way through the vine stumps and dodging from cover to cover like shadows. The stolid peasant, pruning the vines on the upper terrace, saw nothing, heard nothing, until a cloaked and kilted form rose from the ground before him, a great axe flashed in the sun over his head, and he died with his lips still opened with his scream, " The Scot ! The Scot ! ' ' CHAPTER XIH QUARTER, AND A QUARREL As that cry, unheard for years but remembered and dreaded of old, rang over the vine rows, the laborers threw down their hooks and ran shrieking along the terraces, doubling and turning until at length then* blind rush carried them among the ad- vancing Scots, and they blundered onto the thirsty spears. Conal wasted no time on these defenseless serfs but led his clansmen on, bounded up the slope, and threw himself into the villa. He passed with rapid step through lofty rooms and shady courts, but met no resistance, and indeed found only solitude. A single man of the better class, his robe flung over his head, cowered in a convulsion of terror behind the couches of the triclinium. One of Conal's followers dealt him a blow with the end of his spear in passing, and he howled horribly with fright but had not the courage to move. This was not the game Conal sought. He took no more than a passing look at the rich plunder scattered about the room, though his men snatched here and there at whatever took their fancy. They came out of the villa on the side toward 140 QUARTER, AND A QUARREL 141 the highroad. Looking back, Conal could see Brian's men rolling out huge vases of wine and beating in the plugs with their sword-hilts. Some of them were already staggering; others were running about fling- ing burning brands into the barns and granaries. Curling flames were lapping the eaves of the low buildings, and ribbands of light smoke were stream- ing from the windows. A party of travellers were approaching along the road at no great distance. At sight of the smoke rising over the villa they halted for a brief look, whirled about, and spurred for the city. Instantly men and women were seen nuining over the fields and along the highway. Fugitives streamed from every bypath and made for the gate with what speed they could. The next moment the wide doors of the villa were burst open from within and the High King's guard came swarming out into the road. Conal cried to his clansmen and waved them forward, and they raced for the gate after the flying country folk. Neither the cries of the pursued nor the shouts of the pursuers alarmed the guard lounging in the gate- house until the terrified mob swept under the arch. Then they ran to the gates, but no effort could force them shut against the pressure of the panic-stricken rabble struggling for admittance. The guards were flung aside, the fugitives poured into the streets, and close on their heels came the elated Scots. Up and down the narrow streets, in and out of the crowded houses the warriors stormed, their spears 142 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION dripping blood, their eyes red with unrestrained ferocity. The miserable citizens were helpless and hopeless. Cowering in cellars and porticos, they saw their homes sacked, their treasures tossed into the streets and trampled, and their neighbors, no, their own children, dragged about like bales, and herded into captivity. Lucky was he whom some passing plunderer did not pull from his poor hiding- place and slaughter carelessly for a whim. In one place only some desperate resistance was offered. An ancient basilica stood facing the forum, years ago given over by the courts and transformed into a church. Hundreds of women and children had been crowded into it, and on its steps a handful of Gauls, braver than their fellows, were gathered to die defending their wives and families. Conal was not tempted to join in the useless blood- shed and heartless pillage about him, but pushed on into the square seeking a chance to wet his new weapons manfully. His countrymen were at their work of rapine all around, but they had not mo- lested the group on the porch; there would be time for them later, after the first orgy of blood and destruction was over. Conal shouldered his way through them and, drawing his sword, walked coolly up the steps. Here at least was promise of work for him, and work that he welcomed, be the odds what they might. As he made ready for the first blow, a resonant peal of terrifying loudness resounded from the belfry above him. The sound was so strange and unearthly QUARTER, AND A QUARREL 143 that he recoiled involuntarily. Again and again the sound came, a vibrant hollow stroke that seemed to search out taut cords in his body and set them throbbing in unison. He hesitated but for a moment, but in that moment he had taken in the group before him and he found his impetuous desire for the excite- ment of combat giving way to a feeling of contempt and pity. The men on the porch carried their arms awk- wardly. Not one of them had in the least degree that martial air that is shared by the most peace- able of a nation where to bear arms is the duty and high privilege of all. Their swords turned unsteadily in their hands, fear was stamped deep in their faces, but desperation had raised them for a time to the resolve that they would not live to see the fate that awaited those who were dear to them. "What glory is there in fighting these novices?" thought Conal. "A pretty feat, that, for bards to ten i" He threw up his hand, palm outward. "Lay down your arms," he said in the clipped Latin he had learned from his father's slaves. "Your lives will be spared you." The Gauls looked at him without hope. "It is not the custom of the Scots to spare," said one of them. "We have determined to die. Quo' 'lie diabol' ! Better death than bondage." But a little doubtful note had crept into his voice, and he did not look as if his thoughts quite kept pace with his words. 144 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION "By the oath of my people," said Conal, "you shall go free." "And our wives and children?" "They too shall be spared," cried Conal impa- tiently. "Fools! Will you haggle with me? I could slay you with my spears from where I stand." "I will trust you, pagan," said the Gaul suddenly, and he dropped his sword on the pavement and folded his arms. "Stand close tome, then," said Conal; "or better, go inside. My men will keep the door." He posted his clan on the steps and followed his prisoners into the church, for he was curious to see what was within. The nave was crowded with women and children, too terrified to weep, almost too terrified to pray. Somewhere hi the church a voice was chanting a litany, and an occasional voice responded, but other- wise the silence was so deep that between the notes of the chant the breathing of the multitude was clearly audible. At the sight of Conal's garb a single deep moan rose from the crowd and those near him gave back, until a wide open space was left around the entrance, although a moment before it would have seemed impossible that they could have been packed closer. Conal halted just within the door. The dim in- terior with its endless perspective of columns, the huddled refugees, the monotonous notes of the chant, the measured tolling of the great bell, and the glow of the lamp-lighted altars stirred his simple QUARTER, AND A QUARREL 145 nature fantastically. There was something of mys- tery in it that took him aback, something of beauty that drew him on. He felt an overmastering awe move in him that he had known before, when on the eve of Beltain the druids, with muttered spells, extinguished the fires and offered sacrifice to Bel, or when by the hearth in midwinter old men told tales of the Riders of the Shee feasting in their enchanted underground palaces, and of the mystic power they, though a conquered race, had over the destinies of men. Strive against it as he might, that emotion shook him as no tangible thing could. He shivered and backed out without a word. Once hi the sunlight again the uncomfortable feel- ing passed away. The clansmen were leaning stolidly on their spears, talking in low tones and watching the smoke rising over the city where houses had been fired, and the looters passing with their pre- cious spoil. At sight of him they straightened and stood ready. Conal's heart warmed as he contrasted their bear- ing with the riot and confusion that was going on about them, and he spoke a word of praise, which they received with respectful pleasure. At that moment a trumpet sounded and a column advanced into the square, with Dathi and Brian at its head. They came straight to the steps, and the King cast an approving look at the sturdy fourteen, standing so soberly to their arms. "You have a good band here," he said. "They 146 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION bear themselves like veterans. Where did you gather them?" "They are my own poor clansmen, and at the King's service," said Conal proudly. "What have you within there that you are guard- ing so carefully?" "Prisoners. I have promised them their lives, and I am protecting them from violence." "That is a good thought," said the High King. "These others are thinking of nothing but blood to-day, and I must humor them until they are sated, but I am glad to see that some are less hot-headed and more provident. How many are there?" "More than two thousand, I think." "That is a good capture, indeed; the worth of sixty hundreds of heifers at home, or a trifle less, as the market will be glutted. Look after them well, and in the division of spoil you will be treated fairly." "It was not to enslave them that I spared them," answered Conal; "and in truth I have promised them that they shall go free." The High King's brow clouded. "Do you think I am a child?" he said sharply. "You mean to take ransom from them and keep the gold yourself. But in my armies no one, not I myself, keeps back his plunder from the common store for his own sole profit. Do not attempt it or it will go hard with you." "It .is not in my mind to keep back plunder for myself," said Conal haughtily. "I care little for QUARTER, AND A QUARREL 147 such things. I speak the truth; I have promised them their freedom." "You have promised!" cried the High King. "And by what right do you say who shall go free and who shall be taken, when I have given over this city for spoil ? Let me tell you that the men who follow me spare and slay as I bid them, and not as they think fit. Out of my way ! And if I say no more at this time, do not think I have forgotten your presumption. As for those in here, they shall die every one." The Children of the Raven shifted their posi- tions the merest trifle, but enough for Conal to note and to recognize as a sign of their literal readiness to carry out their promise and support him against even the High King. "That may not be, Dathi, Quick with Weapons," he said evenly. "If I have done anything presump- tuous I will pay eric, or do whatever else your dignity demands, but my word is given. I have sworn by the gods by whom my people swear that they shall not be harmed." Dathi's face darkened with inward rage and the veins in his neck swelled under the skin. "What is your oath to me?" he answered, re- straining his voice with difficulty. "You will find that the gods of Ulster are easier to appease than I. Say no more if you value your life, for I will bear no more words from you." "My life is not of so much value that I will for- feit honor to save it," said Conal defiantly. "I do 148 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION not know by what laws you govern these hordes of yours, but I know my rights as a flaith of Eirinn and a free chief, and I trust I have not lost them by following you into Gaul. I have been taught that a champion's captives are his own, to treat as seems best to him. Let the Laws of the Men of Eirinn judge between us. There are those who will avenge my death." Brian thrust himself hastily between them, and pushed Conal back with a bolt of cloth that he car- ried under his arm. " j o not heed him, Dathi," he said peremptorily. "Tb., is boy's talk and not to be taken seriously. It i not worthy of a High King's dignity to be ang ed by high-flown words. And you, Conal, sho^d know better what language is fitting from a petty chief to the Lord of All the Scots. In my time, if a lad like you spoke so to his elders he was taught politeness with the loose end of a dog-leash." "I meant no disrespect," said Conal sulkily, "but the High King threatened my life." "Your life is not of enough importance for him to waste breath giving orders for slaying you. But you see, Dathi, Quick with Arms, the boy means no harm, but is only a lad of spirit with a hot tongue; and indeed, if you consider, you will agree with me that he is partly right. It is the part of a King to have care for the honor of his followers and respect for their oaths." Dathi's anger had had a moment's time to cool. He had a wide knowledge of men, and knew to a QUARTER, AND A QUARREL 149 hair how far it was safe to override the prejudices of his countrymen. Seeing that Brian's sympathy was actually with Conal, he felt instinctively that his attitude would be unpopular with all those knightly and high-spirited flaiths in whose support lay his main strength and who were his chief de- pendence. With scarcely any visible effort he smoothed the frown from his forehead and smiled, though his smile was not a friendly one. "Since you intercede for him, Brian, it shall be as you wish," he said. Some traces of asperity lingered in his tone, but he spoke affably on the whole. "But remember, young chief, one does not wrestle with a bear twice without suffering from his claws. For this time I pass over your insolence, and those whom you have sworn to protect shall go unharmed; but beware of rash oaths, for I do not promise to be as patient another time." He turned away abruptly and strode across the square, making his guards run to keep pace with him. CHAPTER XIV A REPULSE "We have made ourselves a fine enemy, you and I," said Brian cheerfully. "But you were right to defy him, for a flaith's rights are as good as a King's, and he knows it as well as you. Only, hi the name of Bel, choose your words more discreetly. You have a tongue like a file. It is not safe to rail at a King as you would at a cowherd. If it were not that he cannot trust this rabble he has brought with him, and needs the support of the flaiths, he would have sent you to be flayed." "I would say nothing to a cowherd that I would not dare say to a King," answered Conal in an in- jured tone. "I struck Firbis for less cause than Dathi gave me just now." "The less said of that the better," cautioned Brian hastily. "Can you not see that he spared your life only because he feared that violence against you would raise your friends in Eirinn into a faction against him, and embroil him with the flaiths. If he had so respectable an excuse as that it would not be long before you paid the penalty of breaking the peace of the fair. You must guard your tongue and your actions from now on, for 150 A REPULSE 151 give him the least occasion against you and he will have no mercy." "I seem to do nothing but fall into trouble," said Conal gloomily. "And this time I have gotten you into it with me." "That is nothing. I understand Dathi's ways, and Ke mine. He is never angry for long with a man who is useful to him. But look you, Conal, when the King threatened you, you should have stepped back a pace and half turned so as to bring him on your left side, and a little in front of you. Then if it had come to blows you could have reached him in the very act of drawing your sword. At- tention to points such as that repays the care it takes to think them out, and that is a piece of coun- sel that may save your life some time in a sudden bicker. "But shall we not go on and find comfortable quarters while it is still day? I have no mind to walk these streets after nightfall, for they are so foul with blood that my shoes would be ruined, a great misfortune, for they are of the finest doeskin, and I prize them highly." "I will set guards and then I will come," said Conal, and after instructing his men to watch at the door through the night, he went with Brian to seek shelter. They turned into a deserted street, where the tide of havoc had already passed before them, where splintered doors hung askew on their hinges and smashed panes gaped at them, where the pave- 152 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION ments were slimy with blood and almost impassable for the tangle of discarded plunder underfoot. At the first crossing they came into the glare of a burn- ing house and caught sight of pillagers at their work farther down the street. Next moment they were out of sight around the corner and passing along a quiet avenue between rows of shuttered houses, whose respectable privacy had, by some chance, been left unviolated; then through a lane and past a splendid palace, where a crowd of Scots had billeted themselves and were sprawling all over the steps and the pavement in front of it and hanging out of the windows. Such scenes were new ,to Conal and he stopped every ten paces to look about him. He was excited, absorbed, repelled somewhat, but on the whole delighted to find himself moving among such scenes, and a part of them. But to Brian it was all an old story and he kept straight on, looking neither to right nor to left, until they came opposite to the palace. There he halted and, after exchanging a word with one of the loungers on the steps, took a critical look at the buildings across the way. "These are as good lodgings as a man could ask," he said in satisfaction, "and we can pick and choose, for there is room for all. Murrough and his men have settled themselves here, and Dathi has be- spoken the house with the posts in front for him- self and his household, but the rest are for any one who takes them. What do you say to the high one yonder, with the cloth blowing out of the window ? " A REPULSE 153 "One is as good as another to me, but do not let us go high in them, for these stories, piled one above another, make me dizzy." They began to cross over when theylieard a stir behind them and, looking back, saw the loungers scrambling to their feet and making way. Mounted men approaching blocked the roadway, and behind them litters came bobbing along, swung between horses. Women's heads peeped out from between curtains of the litters, and the High King walked beside one of them. "Here come the Queen and her ladies," said Brian. "Let us watch them pass, for I have never seen her, and, besides, it will be respectful to wait until they are past before we go in." Conal agreed, for he, too, was curious to see the Queen, and they drew back against the house as the cortege came nearer. The head of the line stopped before the building which Brian had pointed out as Dathi's lodging, and the Queen and her at- tendants alighted and passed indoors. Conal craned his neck to see better and was struck with a vast homesickness at the sight of the fresh-faced, smiling girls, with their smooth braided heads and gay kirtles, walking past demurely, two by two. There was something about each of them, figure, coloring, or carriage, which recalled Etain to him. He forgot where he was for a little, while he tormented himself with the sweet, inaccessible memory of her. A bitter sense of loss and wrong took hold of him, and he thought fiercely of the 154 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION injustice of fortune that had left others their happi- ness but had sent him to live cut off from sight of his love forever. His mind was still given wholly to the thought of her, still disquieted by longings as intense as hopeless, when he raised his eyes and saw her before him, his vision embodied. ConaPs pulse leaped ahead and raced, while his good sense told him that what he thought he saw was impossible. How could she be there ? And yet there she was, her face turned from him a little, her head drooping pensively, too real not to be con- vincing. He believed at last, advanced a step, spoke her name, and she turned and saw him. She knew him, that he could swear, but no trace of friendliness or even the old merry scorn awoke in her face to welcome him. Her cheeks colored a little, her eyes flashed, and she swept by him with straight neck and face averted. "Brian, did you see?" he cried in bewilderment. "The way of the world," muttered the veteran. "Never mind, lad. If she despise you in misfor- tune you are the better off to be rid of her." "Oh, a plague eat you and your philosophy!" cried the boy in a choked voice, and he turned on his heel and blundered into the nearest doorway. A cringing Gaul made way for him to enter. "Bring wine," he commanded harshly and, fall- ing on a bench, buried his face in his hands. One of the loungers on the steps opposite saw him as he turned, and touched his, neighbor on the arm. A REPULSE 155 "That flaith yonder, going in at the door," he said. "Quick! Who is he?" "A Connaughtman," said the man he spoke to after a glance. "Chief of a clan. He came in Buadach's galley." The other sat back in disappointment. After a moment he thought to ask another question. "Do you happen to know a young Ulsterman, Conal by name? Or perhaps I have the name wrong, but he is a tall fellow, dark-haired, brags about his horses continually " CHAPTER XV THE CAMP OF THE BOCANOCHS In the morning Dathi called the seniors of the town before him and wrung from them by way of ransom whatever the plunderers had spared or missed. The files of fettered slaves and the long train of wagons piled high with loot were sent back to the ships and, after burning the gate-towers and breaking great breaches in the walls, he led his army on. As they passed out of the city, bells began to clamor in the scattered towers that rose against the horizon all around. From that time forward this sound of distant bells ringing a violent alarm ac- companied their march without ceasing, a thing of mystery and a cause of distrust to all the Scots. The country through which they proceeded was swept clean of people. The villas stood vacant on the hillsides, with all their treasures unprotected, as the owners or caretakers had left them at the news of the raiders' approach. The less disciplined of the army were inclined to burn every building they passed, but Dathi repressed them with a severe hand. Others wallowed among the oceans of wine that were to be had for the tak- 156 THE CAMP OF THE BOCANOCHS 157 ing in that land of vineyards, until the High King hanged a dozen of the drunkards on the poplars by the roadside. Of a truth, a considerable part of Dathi's follow- ers were of the most worthless and unmanageable type. JThe desire of avoiding jealousies and dis- putes, so inevitable whenever one great chief was preferred before another, had kept him from calling upon the clans of the provinces to go with him, and he had filled up his levies with fudhirs and broken men of all sorts. He was more rigorous with them than any other would have dared be, but he was obliged to wink at many irregularities which seemed little less than enormities to the trained warriors and chivalric flaiths who surrounded his person. From this cause the army was split into two parts from the beginning. The nobles and men of known clans marched by themselves and camped at a distance from the other fires. Only Brian and the other battle leaders, relics of NialTs victorious armies, had equal influence with both fac- tions. A long apprenticeship in partisan war had made them tolerant of excesses in men who fought well, and the haughtiest of aires could not deny their right to deference. Brian was always a march in advance, scouting and skirmishing, and Conal kept with him. Brian was inwardly troubled over the boy, for he took his rebuff to heart and showed it in a hundred ways. He had become hard, moody, and morose overnight. He sought solitude when he could, avoided all talk 158 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION of the past, and was cynically unconcerned for the future except for an increase of interest hi the chances for action and hard fighting. His disap- pointment grew daily greater as they advanced farther and farther into the heart of Gaul without any show of opposition, and he complained bitterly to Brian as the days passed uneventfully. The old warrior would have been contented enough for his own part with this profitable and safe campaigning but he understood Conal's restlessness and assured him daily that before long a chance to blood his sword must come. One more city they stormed in their progress, sending back much plunder. They passed by other towns with stronger walls, not wishing to delay for a siege. In a week's time they were well into the territory of the Aquitani. One morning Conal and Brian, marching as usual far in front of the army, saw clouds of dust approach- ing. They hid in the hedges and in course of time a great company of Gauls came out of the dust, men, women, and children, with heaped wagons, hurrying at top speed. Conal fell upon them with his men when they were within distance; the Gauls abandoned their wagons at the first shout and scat- tered across the field, but the clansmen circled and headed them and brought back half of them hi bonds. Once taken, they accepted their position without much resistance, and while they showed some fear when brought before Brian they did not shrink and cower as might have been expected of THE CAMP OF THE BOCANOCHS 159 captives, but one of them stepped forward and, before Brian could speak, began to question hirn, "What fate may we expect?" "Why do you ask that?" replied Brian, wondering at his readiness. "Death or slavery is the lot of prisoners; or are you rich enough to pay ransom?" "I ask only if we need fear death." "And if you need not? for our spears are for champions fighting equally in hard, rough combat." "Then we are satisfied," said the Gaul, "for I have heard that the Scots treat their slaves kindly. I ask only that you keep us in your own service, for from your look you will not be a hard master." "It is strange to me," said Conal in surprise, "to hear any man talk so calmly of slavery. Does it mean nothing to you to be carried off to a distant country to do another man's will forever? I did not know we had so fair a name among you." "We have feared the Scots of old," answered the Gaul. "But there is little to frighten us now in your bold faces. Your garb is strange and your customs savage, but at least you are humankind, and the fiends of hell have been on our track these three days past." His voice sank to a whisper, and he looked over his shoulder as he spoke. Although the clansmen did not understand his speech they read the gesture and with one accord grasped their amulets for pro- tection against unseen powers. Conal, too, knew the fear of the supernatural, and was impressed by the awe in the Gaul's voice. 160 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION "Do you mean that the Riders of the Shee are your enemies?" he demanded. "Have they shown themselves to you or did they come in the storm- winds and attack you with the fury of the ele- ments?" "I saw them myself," said the Gaul with a shud- der. "They have been wandering hereabout for a month or more and we were warned but we de- layed to save our baggage, and when they came upon us we barely escaped them. It was then I saw them would I could forget the sight." "In what appearance did they come?" "In forms too horrible to describe," replied the Gaul. "If I had not seen them I could not have believed that even demons could be so hideous." Conal's eyes flashed with generous emotion. "This at last promises something worth a warrior's efforts," he exclaimed. "Our fathers of old fought with the Shee and vanquished them, and I believe that we have enough of their spirit in us to fight, where they have fought, with high hopes of victory and fame." "The Shee fight with many weapons that human hand can do little against," said Brian dubiously; " and, if old stories be true, our ancestors themselves dabbled more in witchcraft than folk of our time are used to. But I am willing to go against them, the more so that in a long and busy lif e I have gen- erally found that spirits, when met bravely, turned out to be cows or trees, and probably these Boca- nochs will be found to be much of our own build and THE CAMP OF THE BOCANOCHS 161 breed, when all is said and done. Ask him in what numbers he saw these apparitions." "They were as the grass in the meadows, as the stars on a clear night," the Gaul asserted with vigor. "That would be about a thousand spears, I take it," commented Brian practically. "Best wait for the High King to come up." Conal grumbled at the prospect of divided glory, but the old warrior overruled him and they sent a runner back with the news and waited until they saw the dust and glitter of the army approaching before they commenced a cautious advance. They pushed forward from rise to rise under Brian's guidance, going rapidly across the hollows, creeping with the utmost precaution up to the edge of each ridge, and carefully surveying the country between them and the next crest before going farther. At length, gently parting the long grass on the summit of a hillock over which they were crawling, they saw an extensive camp spread be- fore them. Not far away a knot of dwarfish crea- tures were watering their horses at a shallow pond. Their scarcely articulate chatter could be heard plainly, and one of them was singing, if his tuneless and discordant howling could be given so fair a name. "In the name of the great Bel," muttered Brian. "The Gaul was right. These are Bocanochs or Bananochs, and no humankind. Look at the squat figures of them, and their flat faces, and their color 162 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION they are precisely of the shade of pigskin. May the Dagda assist me, I never thought to see such monsters." "Monsters or not, to my eye they are more dis- gusting than formidable," said Conal, panting with eagerness. "And, spells aside, I will handle a dozen of them. Shall we charge them with a hero's shout and see whether they stand their ground or van- ish?" "There are enough of them in that camp to spare a hundred to each of us, and those are odds I do not care for. Moreover, I feel as if their spells would be less effective if they were spread out over the whole army instead of being concentrated on us. Better for us to leave your clansmen here to keep watch, while we go back to Dathi with our tale and let him decide what shall be done." Dathi's van had closed up quickly since the run- ner reached them, and when the High King heard their story he began at once to make his dispositions for an attack. Bodies were flung out on the flanks, and it was arranged that at a signal a general ad- vance on the camp should take place. The detach- ments took their positions with such circumspec- tion that no alarm was given, and waited on their arms for the approach of night. The evening came on slowly as it does in those climates. Camp-fires began to glow among the tents. A number of deformed beings, huddled hi their greasy sheepskins, drove a large herd of mares into the circle of wagons that protected the camp- THE CAMP OF THE BOCANOCHS 163 ing-ground. The uproar around the fires grew steadily louder as if the horde had settled itself for a night's revel. When the time was ripe, Dathi gave the signal, and at once the Scots began their advance, crawl- ing silently forward under cover with the skill of born woodsmen. When concealment became no longer possible, they sprang up and came on at their best speed. Unexpected as their charge was, it failed as a sur- prise. Their strange opponents seemed to have sensed their approach, and they were met with a withering flight of arrows which stretched many hardy champions lifeless. At the same time a numerous troop of horsemen issued from back of the enclosure and, wheeling out with the greatest rapidity, began to weave a wide circle around the rear of the Scots. Thus the fight stood for a time; the strong ring of wagons in the centre with every chink serving as a loophole for the bows; the Scots massed around it, cutting and thrusting ineffectually; around them again, the horsemen, whirling past like a circling dust-storm in the dim twilight, and discharging their darts upon the Scots from behind. Pre-eminent among his men, the High King strove at the barrier. His strong voice made itself heard above the howling of the horde as he encouraged his champions to fresh efforts; his axe rose and fell like an oak-bough thrashing in a storm, and it was not long before he cleared a path for himself and 1 64 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION went bounding in between the wagons. The little men sprang at him viciously, to be swept aside by his axe, but in defending himself he had no eyes for where he stepped, a projecting tongue tripped him, and he fell headlong. Those nearest the King fought hard to go to his help, but the very eager- ness with which they all pressed forward together made them hinder one another, for each was bound to be the first and none was willing to make way. In spite of all he could do, Conal had not been able to keep his place in the front rank of the at- tack but had been jostled aside in the pushing and struggling, and more than one warrior's body was between him and the King. But when he saw Dathi fall and be swallowed under the wave of sheepskin coats, he buffeted his way into the middle of the confusion until he got his hands on a wagon wheel, sprang for the top of the wagon, slid to the ground, and, bestriding the High King's body, met the rush of the horde. The odds were sufficiently against him, although in the narrow alley between the wagons he was pro- tected at both sides. The dwarf-like enemy came at him howling like wolves, and striking and parry- ing with such address that he could not escape wounds, and the blood began to trickle in warm threads over his hands and down his cheeks. None the less he fought coolly and adroitly. Blow after blow was wasted on his diminutive round target; time after time, with the deliberate ease of long practise, he swung his spear under the guard of an THE CAMP OF THE BOCANOCHS 165 assailant and, with delicate thrust and recover, added another corpse to the heap before him, and was on the defensive again. As he fought he began to sing. All his life had been only a preparation for this moment; he had been taught to long for it as the beginning of his true career; each of these passes he made so expertly had been tried again and again during long years of fosterage that he might be perfect to-day. Now the fruit of his labors was be- ing harvested, his hand failed not, his eye was sure; was it not then a time for rejoicing? He began to feel that he had been fighting thus for ages, and would go on forever fighting as long as wolfish, flattened faces were left in the world to lear at him and squat figures to strike and be stricken. His effort was too great to be long sustained, and he began to weaken with the loss of much blood, but, before his grow- ing unsteadiness was seen and taken advantage of, the Scots broke through the wagons at a dozen places, and the camp was carried. The horde re- sisted for a time but took to their horses at last and scattered without pursuit. Conal, without knowing how it came about, found himself without opponents. Behind him the High King was getting to his feet, pulling himself up by the wagon wheels, and spitting out mouthfuls of mud. "Give me a hand there!" he demanded petu- lantly. "Will you leave me sprawling in the dirt all day? A pest seize you, spearman, you have gone to sleep on your feet!" 1 66 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION "A moment, Dathi," Conal muttered drowsily. "I feel strangely " His head was swimming, and his knees seemed to weaken and grow limp, but he took a step to help the King. At that moment a crowd of exulting flaiths came running up, pushed him aside, and took Dathi up on their shoulders. They carried him off cheering, while Conal slid slowly to the earth and lay unnoticed under the wagons. CHAPTER XVI THE KING'S FAVOR Presently the clansmen came shouldering through the press and bore their young leader away, to bind up his wounds with clean linen and lay him com- fortably on a pile of skins. With riotous glee the Gaels feasted on the joints that were ready smoking over the camp-fires, and sampled the strange, sour liquor in the skins that had been set about ready for the horde's indulgence. It was Brian who first thought to rummage among the wagons. No one had suspected that plunder would be found amid such squalor and filth, but heaped under the foul-smelling sheepskins was a marvellous treasure, the spoil of a dozen opulent provinces. Out on the earth they tumbled plate and jewels, rich stuffs and rare wines, spices and carved ivory. Here one drew from a casket curling plumes a cubit long and light as sea-foam, each worth the ransom of a high aire; there ropes of pearls of a length to encircle a man's waist were pulled one by one from their greasy wrappings and tossed heed- lessly on the ground. They ran from wagon to wagon all night long, finding fresh marvels, more and more splendid. When morning came they gathered the booty into 167 1 68 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION a vast pile in the centre of the camp. The warriors surrounded it and, poking about the heap, at- tempted vainly to estimate the thousands of seds it represented, but it was plain to be seen that here was sufficient spoil to enrich every man of them be- yond his most extravagant dreams. No one spoke of anything but of a division of the treasure and immediate return to Eirinn, for all were agreed that the capture had well repaid their efforts and that for this time they might well be content. By the time the tents were pitched and the women and the rear-guard, coming up slowly, had entered the wagon-ring, Dathi freed himself from his over- zealous well-wishers and went in to where the Queen was waiting for him. Nessa was apt to be irked by even a little appearance of neglect. She was of- fended with him, lay back on her cushions with a sulky face, and began to reproach him for not hav- ing looked better to her comfort. "Why did you not see that at least a roof was made ready for me? Do you know that I waited for hours in the damp and dark while this poor kennel was built for me to crawl into?" "What is wrong with the tent that you put a bad name on it?" asked Dathi gruffly. "It cost hard knocks and bloodshed to win a place to pitch it, and I have other things to look to than your comfort." "You think always of fighting never of me, cer- tainly, or you would not show yourself to me in such a state. You are covered with mould and THE KING'S FAVOR 169 blood like a plaster a pretty sight for a queen's presence." "If the dress is fit for a king to wear, it is fit for a queen to see. Lucky it is not my own blood, for I lost my footing in the charge and fell sprawling, and fifty howling Bocanochs were upon me at once. It was close work then, and no room to spare. You were never nearer widowed than you were to-day." " Why were you alone ? Where were all the cham- pions that have taken gifts from you?" "Of course not one was near when I needed them. But there was a nimble young flaith, not one of the household at all, but a free-lance, a hanger-on of Brian's, who reached me in time and managed to hold them for a moment until I got to my feet again." Etain pulled at the Queen's sleeve from behind her chair. "Ask the High King the name of the flaith who helped him," she whispered breathlessly. "I did not trouble to get it in the thick of the fighting. He is a black-haired, bragging youngster, some petty princeling, an Ulsterman by his habit of swearing; an uncomfortable fellow, always talk- ing of his rank and his honor I had to reprove him for it just the other day. But for all that, he did me better service than the men that eat my bread." "You must have those champions' heads lor that!" said the Queen frostily. 170 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION "You will reward that flaith royally, will you not?" cried Etain, forgetting her manners in her eagerness. "Why, true enough," said the High King, look- ing from one to the other with an amused grin. "And I would thank you for your interest did it not seem to me that the Queen is thinking more of my dignity than of my life, and the maiden more of the man than of either. What do you know of him, pretty one?" Etain began to blush guiltily. "How should I know him when you have not even told his name?" "Yet you are sure that it must needs have been your own particular knight!" The Queen put out her hand and drew Etain out to face her from where she was cowering behind the chair, and the other women began to laugh and whisper, a little ill-naturedly, perhaps, being not displeased at having a chance to abash the Queen's favorite, without fear of her displeasure. "Tell us, tell, Etain! Is he good-looking, gallant, ardent? Do the bards know him? Oh come, no secrets ! What is his clan ? " Etain walked away a little and looked at them with her head held high. "I do not know what you mean at all," she said haughtily. "I think it is to the King's honor that he should reward those who deserve it, that is all." "Fie," tittered the Queen. "Do not fear that we will betray you, for we are all discreet; neither THE KING'S FAVOR 171 try to hoodwink us, for we have been girls our- selves. Never be ashamed of your likings. Where did you first meet him and how?" Dathi, laughing, took her by the wrist. "We are in place of your foster-parents," he said, "and we must know in whom you take an interest. Tell us everything and perhaps we will wink at it." Etain pulled away from him, striking with all her small force on his mighty arms. "Let me go!" she panted. "I will be angry in a moment ! I will scratch, I swear it ! Let me go ! " When she had freed herself she walked away a little and eyed them menacingly. "You have no right," she complained. "I take no interest in him whatever. He is nothing to me." "If that is true we will have him in," cried Dathi, enjoying himself to the utmost, "for it can make no difference to you one way or the other." "No! no!" screamed Etain, and when they all burst into laughter at her, she hid behind the Queen's chair again and began to sniff with her wrist at her eyes, until for peace sake Nessa haled her forth, and the King bargained with her that the flaith was to be rewarded and that it was to be understood that Etain took no interest hi the matter whatever. On these terms she came out with her face shining, so gay and captivating that Dathi seemed inclined to enlarge the terms of their agree- ment, and would have amused himself longer with her girlish artlessness had not the Queen suddenly desired food, and after that sleep. 172 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION In the morning the High King appeared, went up to the treasure heap, picked out a few jewels for the Queen, a trinket or two for his own adorning, and returned to his tent, and hi a little while sent word that the spoil was to be loaded on the wagons and sent back to the coast, with a sufficient guard, while the rest of the army would proceed with its march. At this unlooked-for command surprise became disaffection, and disaffection approached mutiny. The ill-disciplined bands grumbled hi corners and grew brave enough at last to send a deputation to the High King to tell him they would go no farther. Dathi's guards drove them away with indignant threats, but the malcontents surrounded the pile and swore they would go back and take the booty with them. They had one of the lower order of bards among them, who composed satires against the King, which all took up with avidity and sang in chorus. The flaiths begged to be allowed to fall on them with spears, and Dathi would certainly have ordered it, or more likely given them to torture, had he not needed every man he had. Besides he was too politic to attempt force except when the power in his hand was overwhehning. Another deputation was received with no more than a calm refusal of their demand to return, and he treated with them so adroitly and held out so many hopes of glory and greater plunder that at length they were persuaded to stay with him, although he was forced to consent THE KING'S FAVOR 173 that the booty be divided and every man receive his share on the spot. Conal slept through most of this, and when he wakened he was in such a weary state that he was content to lie on the skins, sip wine, and watch the life and movement of the camp, without asking why the flaiths gathered on one side and the common men on the other, or what was the meaning of the jeering songs which were being bandied about through the crowd. Brian came after a little and sat down beside him. The old soldier was beside himself with disgust and rage, and his brow was so black, and he spat between his teeth so forcibly from time to time that Conal could not but notice it. "Something is amiss with you, Brian," he ven- tured feebly. "Either they have put an affront on you or else your cloak has been damaged in the fighting." "Truly my clothes have suffered, and they were all new, every stitch gotten since we left Eirinn; but it is not that which vexes me, for stuffs as good are to be picked up anywhere on the march. It is the sight of those scoundrels yonder picking and choosing whether it pleases them to serve the King or not. If I had my way I would soon show them how a warrior understands discipline. Dathi sickens me with his softness. The sword is the only cure for such as they. I abhor disobedience myself and, in spite of Dathi's strict orders, I am minded to shy a spear into the midst of the pack and see how they take it." 174 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION Conal got up on his elbow and craned his neck to see better. "I can see that something is wrong. Tell me what has been happening, for I have been sleep- ing off my soreness." "Pretty things have been happening! I am ashamed to tell you of them ! What do you think of righting men in the field defying the High King and telling him they will follow him no farther? And Dathi is arguing with them and begging them to stay instead of falling upon them and slaughter- ing every mother's son of them where he stands. Pah ! it sickens me so that I spit upon the ground !" Which he did very vigorously. "That is indeed shameful," cried Conal, "and unheard of and disgraceful unless, indeed, some geasa forbids them to go on." "Nothing of the sort. It is the sight of loot that has turned their brains. We took so much from these Bocanochs that they are every one made men, and by consequence are timid about trusting their new-found riches to the chance of war; a plague eat them!" "And what are the flaiths doing? and the battle leaders?" "What can they do but stand apart and look sour, since Dathi has forbidden violence?" "At any rate," said Conal with decision, "we must show ourselves among the loyal men less some might think we sided with the rabble, and we should share their dishonor. Tell them to bring my arms." THE KING'S FAVOR 175 "Well," said Brian, "indeed what I came for I had forgotten it for the moment was to bring you word that Dathi wishes you to present yourself be- fore him when you are able. I do not know what he wants, but he seems in good temper, and perhaps he is minded to be generous." "Come, then, we will go to him," said Conal. Brian had to help him to rise, for his cuts were sore and every muscle ached, but once erect he flung back his shoulders gallantly and refused further as- sistance, declaring that he felt as well as ever. The whole army was swarming around the trea- sure pile in the centre of the camp. The division was being made then and there. A number of warriors, chosen for their known fairness, were making little heaps of it, adding a golden chain to one, taking away an armful of weapons from an- other. The High King's cushioned seat had been set up to one side, and Dathi himself was lounging in it, chatting with the Queen, as unconcerned as if no breath of sedition had ever come between him and his men. Nessa sat beside him on a lower seat, and his officers and her maidens and matrons were gathered about them. Conal and Brian paused at the edge of the crowd, and after a moment the King caught sight of them and raised his hand in peremptory command. "Stop ! Let that young flaith come forward." Every one turned to look as Conal advanced and presented himself before the King. Outwardly he was cold and composed, but it was only by an effort 176 THE PORTION OF A CHAMPION that he controlled himself and hid the agitation within him. He knew that Etain must be among the Queen's attendants, that her eye might be upon him even then, and though he tried to rise above the feeling and tell himself that it was the part of a man to meet scorn with scorn, he felt the sting of recent humiliation too strongly to be at ease. Dathi rose as he approached, stepped forward a pace, and looked at him in a friendly fashion, yet with some apparent constraint. "You are the man who came to my help last night when I was near to being overcome by num- bers," he said. "It was close work there. If you had not been ready I do not know what might have happened. Do not think I am not grateful for your readiness, though at the moment I let you go without expressing it." "Think no more of it, Quick One," answered Conal readily. "I know it is no more pleasant to a King to be rolled in mud than to any one else." The High King smiled somewhat wryly. "It is true, a King must think of his dignity. All the same, I owe it to you to remember your bravery in coming to my help, and to acknowledge it before all, that the bards may note it. The last time we met I left you with a threat. Let that be forgotten ; and to show you that I value fidelity and courage, I will take you into my household and give you com- mand over men, and before these riches are appor- tioned you shall have your pick of all the pile. Choose what you will." THE KING'S FAVOR 177 "Horses from the horse herd," cried Conal with- out hesitation. "A knight's choice!" said the King, standing up and clapping him on the shoulder. "I will choose them for you myself, for I am never deceived in horse-flesh." "I am a fair judge of horses myself," thought Conal, but he discreetly kept his thought to himself. "Have your clansmen drive the herd past, that we may see their paces," the King continued, "for a judge of horses will always choose to see them in motion. A steed is valued for its beauty, its speed, and the evenness of its action there are other points, of course, that must be looked to, defects and blemishes which spoil animals otherwise per- fect, but one cannot learn to detect them at once; experience is needed for that which time will give you." Conal stirred a little impatiently, and might have said something in defense of his own knowledge, had he felt more at his ease. He sent his men after the horses as the King commanded, and presently the herd appeared. The clansmen were driving them with blows and cries, and they came thunder- ing by, a tangle of tossing heads, bounding bodies, and flying, slender legs, biting, rearing, squealing, and lashing out to right and left, so that it was as hard to follow any single horse with one's eye as to pick one gnat out of a swarm of them. r