the Hill of
Horns."

The King of the Cats marched out of the house and the Hag of the Ashes
hobbled after him. The goat was lying under the hawthorn bush. He put
his horns to the ground when they came up to him.

"Will you go to the Hill of Horns?" said the Hag of the Ashes.

"Indeed, that I will not do," said the goat.

"Oh, the soft tops of the hedges on the way to the Hill of Horns--sweet
in the mouth of a goat they should be," said the Hag of the Ashes. "But
my own poor goat wants to stay here and eat the tops of the burnt-up
thistles."

"Why didn't you tell me of the hedges on the way to the Hill of Horns
before?" said the goat, rising to his feet. "To the Hill of Horns I'll
go."

"And will you let a cat ride on your back to the Hill of Horns?"

"Indeed, I will not do that."

"Then, my poor goat, I'll not untie the rope that's round your neck, for
you can't go to the Hill of Horns without this cat riding on your back."

"Let him sit on my back then and hold my horns, and I'll take no notice
of him."

The Hag of the Ashes untied the rope that was round his neck, the King
of the Cats jumped up on the goat's back, and they started off on the
path through the wood. "Oh, how I'll miss my goat, until he comes back
to me with gold on his horns and silver on his hooves," the Hag of the
Ashes cried after them.

VI

The King of Ireland's Son did not leave the Castle the next day, but
stayed to question those who came to it about the Sword of Light. And
some had heard of the Sword of Light and some had not heard of it. In
the afternoon he was in the chambers of the Castle and he watched his
two foster-brothers, Dermott and Downal, the sons of Caintigern, the
Queen, playing chess. They played the game upon his board and with his
figures. And when he went up to them and told them they had permission
to use the board and the figures, they said, "We had forgotten that you
owned these things." The King's Son saw that everything in the Castle
was coming into the possession of his foster-brothers.

He found another board with other chess-men and he played a game with
the King's Steward. And Art said, "The coming of the King of the Cats
into King Connal's Dominion is a story still to be told.

"To your father's Son in all truth be it told "--

What should a goat do but ramble down laneways, wander across fields,
stray along hedges and stay to rest under shady trees? All this the
Hag's goat did. But at last