his band and cried aloud--

"Which of ye is Crimmal, son of Trenmor?" And one of the elders said,
"I am Crimmal." Then tears filled the eyes of the youth, and he knelt
down before the old man and put his hands in his.

"My lord and chief," he said, "I am Finn, son of Cumhal, and the day
of deliverance is come."

[Illustration: "And that night there was feasting and joy in the
lonely hut"]

So the youths brought in the spoils of their hunting, and yet other
spoils than these; and that night there was feasting and joy in the
lonely hut. And Crimmal said--

"It was foretold to us that one day the blood of Cumhal should be
avenged, and the race of Cumhal should rule the Fianna again. This was
the sign that the coming champion should give of his birth and
destiny; he was to bear with him the Treasure Bag of Cumhal and the
sacred things that were therein."

Finn said, "Ye know the Bag and its treasures, tell us if these be
they." And he laid his skin bag on the knees of Crimmal.

Crimmal opened it, and he took out the jewels of sovranty the magic
spear-head made by the smiths of the Fairy Folk, and he said, "These
be the treasures of Cumhal; truly the ripeness of the time is come."

And Finn then told the story of how he had won these things.

"But yesterday morning," he said, "we met on our way a woman of noble
aspect, and she knelt over the body of a slain youth. When she lifted
her head as we drew near, tears of blood ran down her cheeks, and she
cried to me, 'Whoever thou art, I bind thee by the bonds of the sacred
ordinances of the Gael that thou avenge my wrong. This was my son
Glonda,' she said, 'my only son, and he was slain to-day wantonly by
the Lord of Luachar and his men.' So we went, my company and I, to the
Dun of the Lord of Luachar, and found an earthen rampart with a fosse
before it, and on the top of the rampart was a fence of oaken posts
interlaced with wattles, and over this we saw the many-coloured thatch
of a great dwelling-house, and its white walls painted with bright
colours under the broad eaves. So I stood forth and called to the Lord
of Luachar and bade him make ready to pay an eric to the mother of
Glonda, whatsoever she should demand. But he laughed at us and cursed
us and bade us begone. Then we withdrew into the forest, but returned
with a great pile of dry brushwood, and while some of us shot stones
and arrows at whoever should appear above the palisade, others rushed
up with bundl