urneyed swiftly to England,
which was still prosperous and fertile, untouched by the deadly
famine, and knowing nothing of the desolation of the sister isle, to
which the English owed so much of their knowledge of the True Faith.

Buys Stores in England

In England Fergus spent all the gold he brought with him, and then
sold all the Countess Cathleen bade him sell--lands, castles, forests,
pastures, timber--all but one lonely castle in the desolate woods,
where she dwelt among her own people, with the dying folk thronging
round her gates and in her halls. Good bargains Fergus made also, for
he was a shrewd and loyal steward, and the saints must have touched
the hearts of the English merchants, so that they gave good prices for
all, or perhaps they did not realize the dire distress that prevailed
in Ireland. However that may have been, Fergus prospered in his
trading, and bought grain, and wine, and fat oxen and sheep, so that
he loaded many ships with full freights of provisions, enough to carry
the starving peasantry through the famine year till the next harvest.
At last all his money was spent, all his ships were laden, everything
was ready, and the little fleet lay in harbour, only awaiting a fair
wind, which, unhappily, did not come.

His Return Delayed

First of all Fergus waited through a deadly calm, when the sails hung
motionless, drooping, with no breath of air to stir them, when the fog
that brooded over the shores of England never lifted and all sailing
was impossible; then the winds dispersed the fog, and Fergus,
forgetting caution in his great anxiety to return, hastily set sail
for his own land, and there came fierce tempests and contrary winds,
so that his little fleet was driven back, and one or two ships went
down with all their stores of food. Fergus wept to see his lady's
wealth lost in the wintry sea, but he dared not venture again, and
though he chafed and fretted at the delay, it was nearly two months
after he reached England before he could sail back to his young
mistress and her starving countrymen. The trusty messenger who had
been sent to buy cattle had succeeded beyond his own expectation; he
also had made successful bargains, and had found more cattle than he
believed were still alive in Ireland. He had bought all, and was
driving them slowly towards the Countess Cathleen's forest dwelling.
Their progress was so slow, because of their weakness and the scanty
fodder by the way, that n