e. Now they had good hope to win
her for their master; but they knew that their time was short, since
help was not far away.

"Last night, closed in the image of an owl,
I hurried to the cliffs of Donegal,
And saw, creeping on the uneasy surge,
Those ships that bring the woman grain and meal;
They are five days from us.
I hurried east,
A grey owl flitting, flitting in the dew,
And saw nine hundred oxen toil through Meath,
Driven on by goads of iron; they too, brother,
Are full five days from us. Five days for traffic."

Cathleen's Despair

The Countess then went back in bitter grief to her desolate castle,
where only faithful old servants now waited in the halls, and
whispered together in the dark corners, and, kneeling in her oratory,
she prayed far into the night for light in her darkness. As she prayed
before the altar she slept for very weariness, and was aroused by a
sudden furious knocking, and an outcry of "Thieves! Thieves!" Cathleen
rose quickly from the altar steps, and met her foster-mother, Oona, at
the door of the oratory; and Oona cried aloud: "Thieves have broken
into the treasure-chamber, and nothing is left!" Cathleen asked if
this were true, and discovered that not a single coin, not a single
gem was left: the demons had stolen all. And while the servants still
mourned over the lost treasures of the house there came another cry of
"Thieves! Thieves!" and an old peasant rushed in, exclaiming that all
the food was gone. That, alas! was true: the few sacks of meal which
supplied the scanty daily fare were emptied and the bags flung on the
floor. Now indeed the last poor resource was gone.

[Illustration: "Thieves have broken into the treasure-chamber"]

A Desperate Decision

When the Countess heard of this last terrible misfortune a great light
broke upon her mind with a blinding flash, and showed her a way to
save others, even at the cost of her own salvation. It seemed God's
answer to her prayer for guidance, and she resolved to follow the
inspiration thus sent into her mind. She decided now what she would
do; her mind was made up, and the light which shines from extreme
sacrifice of self was so bright upon her face that her old nurse and
her servants, wailing around her, were awe-stricken and durst not
question or check her. She returned to her oratory door, and, standing
on the steps, looking down on her weeping domestic