y that no man could afterward say where there was
beginning or end, the whirling figure of soot dissipated; and little by
little the dancing stream of gray ashes drifted back into the fireplace;
then it also dissipated, seeming to pass up the chimney, so that the
embers glowed red and naked.

"_Seanachie_," said the Dark Master in a terribly piercing voice, "who
is this standing in my way, standing between me and Brian of the hard
eyes?"

The blind harper began to tremble, but again came the clash and the
watcher's voice from the doorway.

"Master, there is snow mingled with the fog, and the wind is shifting to
the eastward."

"Light the beacon and remain on watch," said the Dark Master. But at the
watcher's word new terror seized on the men in the hall.

"_Seanachie_, who stands in my way? Speak!"

The beard of the blind harper quivered and rose as if the wind lifted
it, but men felt no wind through the hall. Then the old man began to
writhe in his chair, and twisted to take his hands from the table, but
he could not, although only he alone held them there. Suddenly his
mouth opened, and a voice that was not his voice made answer:

"Master, two people stand in your way."

"Describe them," said the Dark Master, and those near by saw that sweat
was running down his face, despite the coldness of the hall. After a
moment's silence the old harper spoke again; he had lost his eyes twenty
years since, yet he spoke of seeing.

"Master, I see two people but dimly. One is a man, huge of stature and
standing like Laeg the hero, the friend of the hero Cuculain, leaning
upon an ax--"

"That is Cathbarr of the Ax," broke in the Dark Master. "His bane comes
not at my hands. Who is the other?"

Again the old harper seemed to struggle, and his voice came more
faintly:

"I cannot see, master. I think it is a woman--"

"That is the Bird Daughter," quoth the Dark Master.

"Nay, it is an old woman, but she blinds me--"

And the harper fell silent, writhing, until horror gripped those who
looked on. O'Donnell leaned forward, his head sticking straight out and
his eyes blazing.

"What do you see, _seanachie_? Speak!"

"I see men," and the old harper's voice rose in a great shriek. "A storm
of men and of hoofs, and red snow on the ground, and fire over the snow,
and the man of the ax laughing terribly. And I see other men riding
hard; men with long hair and the flag of England in their midst--and
Cuculain smites them--C