se ahead of him, and a bristling monster, lifting its claws above
the water, in a moment was beside the boat and stuck one of his claws
in the left arm of the prince, and pierced the flesh to the bone.
Maddened by the pain the prince drew his sword and chopped off the
monster's claw. The monster disappeared beneath the lake, and, as it
did so, the colour of the water changed, and the silver moonlight
shone down from the sky again, but the boat no longer went on towards
the mainland, but sped back towards the floating island, while forth
from the island came a fleet of fairy boats to meet it, led by the
shallop of the fairy queen. The queen greeted the prince as if she
knew not of his attempted flight, and to the music of the harps the
fleet returned to the palace.

The next day passed and the night came, and again the prince was lying
on the couch, thinking of the Princess Ailinn, and again he saw the
shadow on the floor and heard the tapping against the window.

And when he opened it the little woman slid into the room.

"You failed last night," she said, "but I come to give you another
chance. To-morrow the queen must set out on a visit to her fairy
kinsmen, who dwell in the green hill near the plain of Tara; she
cannot take you with her, for if your feet once touched the green
grass that grows in the fruitful fields of Erin, she could never bring
you back again. And so, when you find she has left the palace, go at
once into the banquet hall and look behind the throne, and you will
see a small door let down into the ground. Pull this up and descend
the steps which you will see. Where they lead to I cannot tell. What
dangers may be before you I do not know; but this I know, if you
accept anything, no matter what it is, from anyone you may meet on
your way, you shall not set foot on the soil of Erin."

And having said this the little woman, rising from the floor, floated
out through the window.

The prince returned to his couch, and the next morning, as soon as he
heard the queen had left the palace, he hastened to the banquet hall.
He discovered the door and descended the steps, and he found himself
in a gloomy and lonesome valley. Jagged mountains, black as night,
rose on either side, and huge rocks seemed ready to topple down upon
him at every step. Through broken clouds a watery moon shed a faint,
fitful light, that came and went as the clouds, driven by a moaning
wind, passed over the valley.

Cuglas, nothin