th day, however, glad tidings came. Fergus had landed, and
sent word that he was bringing corn and meal as quickly as possible;
also a wandering peasant brought a message that nine hundred oxen were
within one day's journey of her castle; and when the gentle Cathleen
heard this, and knew that her people were safe, she died with a smile
on her lips and thanks to God for her people on her tongue. That same
night a great tempest broke over the land, which drove away the
pestilential mists, and left the country free from evil influences,
for with the morning men found the forest lodge crushed beneath the
fallen trees, and the two demon merchants vanished. All gathered round
the castle and mourned for the Countess Cathleen, for none knew how it
would go with her spirit; they feared that the evil demons had borne
her soul to Hell. All had prayed for her, but there had been no sign,
no token of forgiveness. Nevertheless their prayers were heard and
answered.

The Demons Cheated

In the next night, when the great storm had passed away and the
vapours no longer filled the air, when Fergus had distributed food and
wine, and the oxen had been apportioned to every family, so that
plenty reigned in every house, when only Cathleen's castle lay
desolate, shrouded in gloom, the faithful old nurse Oona, watching by
the body of her darling, had a glorious vision. She saw the splendid
armies of the angels who guard mankind from evil, she saw the saints
who had suffered and overcome, and amid them was the Countess
Cathleen, happy with saints and angels in the bliss of Paradise; for
her love had redeemed her own soul as well as the souls of others,
and God had pardoned her sin because of her self-sacrifice.

"The light beats down: the gates of pearl are wide,
And she is passing to the floor of peace,
And Mary of the seven times wounded heart
Has kissed her lips, and the long blessed hair
Has fallen on her face; the Light of Lights
Looks always on the motive, not the deed,
The Shadow of Shadows on the deed alone."

FOOTNOTES:

[15] C. Kingsley.

[16] The poetical quotations throughout this story are taken, by
permission, from Mr. W. B. Yeats's play "The Countess Cathleen."

CHAPTER IX: CUCHULAIN, THE CHAMPION OF IRELAND

Introduction

Among all the early literatures of Europe, there are two which, at
exactly opposite corners of the continent, display most strikingly
similar characteristic