ell-nigh as did Lir himself. Ofttimes would he
come to see them and ofttimes were they brought to his palace by the
Great Lake.

And through all the Green Isle, where dwelt the Dedannan people, there
also was spread the fame of the beauty of the children of Lir.

Time crept on, and Finola was a maid of twelve summers. Then did a
wicked jealousy find root in Eva's heart, and so did it grow that it
strangled the love which she had borne her sister's children. In
bitterness she cried: "Lir careth not for me; to Finola and her brothers
hath he given all his love."

And for weeks and months Eva lay in bed planning how she might do hurt
to the children of Lir.

At length, one midsummer morn, she ordered forth her chariot, that with
the four children she might come to the palace of Bove Derg.

When Finola heard it, her fair face grew pale, for in a dream had it
been revealed unto her that Eva, her stepmother, should that day do a
dark deed among those of her own household. Therefore was Finola sore
afraid, but only her large eyes and pale cheeks spake her woe, as she
and her brothers drove along with Eva and her train.

On they drove, the boys laughing merrily, heedless alike of the black
shadow resting on their stepmother's brow, and of the pale, trembling
lips of their sister. As they reached a gloomy pass, Eva whispered to
her attendants: "Kill, I pray you, these children of Lir, for their
father careth not for me, because of his great love for them. Kill them,
and great wealth shall be yours."

But the attendants answered in horror: "We will not kill them. Fearful,
O Eva, were the deed, and great is the evil that will befall thee, for
having it in thine heart to do this thing."

Then Eva, filled with rage, drew forth her sword to slay them with her
own hand, but too weak for the monstrous deed, she sank back in the
chariot.

Onward they drove, out of the gloomy pass into the bright sunlight of
the white road. Daisies with wide-open eyes looked up into the blue sky
overhead. Golden glistened the buttercups among the shamrock. From the
ditches peeped forget-me-not. Honeysuckle scented the hedgerows. Around,
above, and afar, caroled the linnet, the lark, and the thrush. All was
color and sunshine, scent and song, as the children of Lir drove onward
to their doom.

Not until they reached a still lake were the horses unyoked for rest.
There Eva bade the children undress and go bathe in the waters. And when
the chil