Part 3 (2/2)

The air blew keenly in his face, and he knew not where he was. At last he saw a faint gray light, and soon this light grew broader and brighter, and as the shadows fled before it, he could hardly believe his eyes when he found himself in his curragh on the lake, and the moonlight streaming down from the mountain-tops.

For a moment he thought he must have been dreaming; but there in the boat before him were the crystal helmet, and the water-dress, and the gleaming spear, and the golden bowl of perfumed water that was to remove the spell of enchantment from the white swan of the lake, and sailing towards him from the sedgy bank came the snow-white swan; and when she touched the boat, Enda put out his hands and lifted her in, and then over her plumage he poured the perfumed water from the golden bowl, and the Princess Mave in all her maiden beauty stood before him.

”Take your oar, Enda,” she said, ”and row to the southern bank.”

Enda seized his oar, and the curragh sped across the waters swifter than a swallow in its flight. When the boat touched the sh.o.r.e Enda jumped out, and lifted the princess on to the bank.

”Send your boat adrift, Enda,” she said; ”but first take out your s.h.i.+ning spear; the water-dress and the crystal helmet will take care of themselves.”

Enda took out the spear, and then pushed the boat from the bank. It sped on towards the hut in the middle of the lake; but before it had reached halfway six nymphs sprang up from the water and seizing the helmet and dress, sank with them beneath the tide, and the boat went on until it pushed its prow against the steps of the little hut, where it remained.

Then Enda and the princess turned towards the south, and it was not long until they came to a deep forest, that was folding up its shadows and spreading out its mossy glades before the glancing footsteps of the morning. They had not gone far through the forest when they heard the music of hounds and the cries of huntsmen, and cras.h.i.+ng towards them through the low branches they saw a fierce wild boar. Enda, gently pus.h.i.+ng the princess behind him, leveled his spear, and when the boar came close to him he drove it into his throat. The brute fell dead at his feet, and the dogs rus.h.i.+ng up began to tear it to pieces. The princess fainted at the sight, and while Enda was endeavoring to restore her, the king of Erin, followed by his huntsmen, appeared, and when the king saw the princess he started in amazement, as he recognized the features of his daughter Mave.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”'I have mourned you as dead, my darling,' said he”]

At that moment the princess came to herself, and her father, lifting her tenderly in his arms, kissed her again and again.

”I have mourned you as dead, my darling,” said he, ”and now you are restored to me more lovely than ever. I would gladly have given up my throne for this. But say who is the champion who has brought you hither, and who has slain the wild boar we have hunted so many years in vain?”

The princess blushed like a rose as she said:

”His name is Enda, father; it is he has brought me back to you.”

Then the king embraced Enda and said:

”Forgive me, Enda, for asking any questions about you before you have shared the hospitality of my court. My palace lies beyond the forest, and we shall reach it soon.”

Then the king ordered his huntsman to sound the bugle-horn, and all his n.o.bles galloped up in answer to it, and when they saw the Princess Mave they were so dazzled by her beauty that they scarcely gave a thought to the death of the wild boar.

”It is my daughter, Mave, come back to me,” said the king.

And all the n.o.bles lowered their lances, and bowed in homage to the lady.

”And there stands the champion who has brought her home,” said the king, pointing to Enda.

The n.o.bles looked at Enda, and bowed courteously, but in their hearts they were jealous of the champion, for they saw he was already a favorite of the king's.

Then the pages came up, leading milk-white steeds with golden bridles, and the king, ordering Enda to mount one of them, lifted Mave on to his own, and mounted behind her. The pages, carrying the boar's head on a hollow s.h.i.+eld, preceded by the huntsmen sounding their horns, set out towards the palace, and the royal party followed them.

As the procession approached the palace crowds came rus.h.i.+ng out to see the trophies of the chase, and through the snow-white door the queen, Mave's cruel stepmother, attended by her maids-of-honor and the royal bards, came forth to greet the king. But when she saw seated before him the Princess Mave, who she thought was at the bottom of the lake under a spell of enchantment, she uttered a loud cry, and fell senseless to the ground.

The king jumped from his horse, and rus.h.i.+ng to the queen, lifted her up and carried her in his arms to her apartments, for he had no suspicion of the wickedness of which she had been guilty.

And the court leeches were summoned to attend her, but she died that very night, and it was not until a green mound, worthy of a queen of Erin, had been raised over her grave that the Princess Mave told her father of the wickedness of her stepmother. And when she told him the whole story of how Enda had broken the spell of enchantment, and of the dangers which he had faced for her sake, the king summoned an a.s.sembly of all his n.o.bles, and seated on his throne, wearing his golden helmet, the bards upon his right hand and the Druids upon his left, and the n.o.bles in ranks before him with gleaming helmets and flas.h.i.+ng spears, he told them the story of the princess, and of the service which Enda had rendered to her.

”And now,” said the king, ”if the princess is willing to take her deliverer for her husband, I am willing that she shall be his bride; and if you, my subjects, bards and Druids and n.o.bles and chiefs of Erin, have anything to say against this union, speak. But first, Mave,” said the king, as he drew the blus.h.i.+ng princess to him, ”speak, darling, as becomes the daughter of a king--speak in the presence of the n.o.bles of Erin, and say if it is your wish to become Enda's bride.”

The princess flung her white arms around her father's neck, as she murmured:

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