ad
it. His words, with all they implied, would have drawn a howl of rage
from the retainers of any other chief in the land, but the men behind
and around him only grew more silent.

As for the Dark Master, the red hue died slowly from his face, though
his head remained drawn in, and still his eyes held those of Brian. When
he spoke, it was as if he were musing aloud.

"So, Brian of the hard eyes, you have some courage, eh? _Duar na
Criosd!_ Little did I ever think that a man would come to me and borrow
my own men that he might make war upon me! Is this your thought, Yellow
Brian?"

"You have sharp ears, Dark Master," said Brian dryly, and a chuckle
passed through the crowd. "In time I might take this castle, it is true.
Just now I have other things in mind, however, and I shall not fall upon
you until there has passed gage of battle between us."

"Thanks for so much," smiled the other slowly, though the red crept up
to his cheek-bones faintly. Brian seemed perfectly at his ease, as
indeed he was. "And what if I fell upon you first?"

"I am liker to offer battle than accept it, O'Donnell."

"Now, that is a good answer," said the Dark Master, while a whisper
floated around the hall. "I would be glad to have you at my back, Yellow
Brian, for men who ride behind me are like to win much."

Brian laughed a little.

"Some day I may be at your back, O'Donnell Dubh, and in that day I may
win all that you have, from life to goods."

To his blank amazement, O'Donnell only threw out his head and chuckled;
but it was an evil chuckle, and there was venom gleaming in his black
eyes.

"I think that it were best for me to slay you here, Brian of the hard
eyes, to slay you and this Cathbarr of the Ax. It seems to my mind that
it is anything but good to turn you loose upon the land, for I hear a
storm of hoofs in the air, and dead men are riding on the wind, and
there is a whisper--"

He paused, drew his cloak about him, and gazed down at his foot. That
pause was more dreadful than speech, for the crowded men moved not a
finger, so that Brian all but thought that he and the Dark Master were
alone. Then his face blanched a trifle. For, whether it were some
uncanny play of mind or very truth, it seemed to him that from the wide
fireplace there did indeed come a faint ring of hoofs and clash of
steel; the long cressets over them suddenly flickered smokingly, though
no draft crossed their faces.

Then indeed Brian knew that hi