of Loch Fyne.

He was singing a plaintive Gaelic song, and a fair maid, whose deep red
hair was covered by a coarse blue cloak, joined in the wild strain with
notes that were as the sweet song of the night bird of the far south.
The youth was Earl Kenric of Bute; the maiden was Aasta the Fair.

Crossing from Ardlamont Point, they crept up the opposite shores of
Kintyre until they came to a wide bay upon whose banks lies the little
fishing village of Tarbert. In the growing darkness Kenric paddled the
boat inward to the extreme end of this bay. Had he been in less hurry he
might have reached the isle of Gigha by taking a larger craft and
sailing down Kilbrannan Sound and so round the Mull of Kintyre, by the
way he had gone with the galleys. But he now adopted a speedier way and
a much safer one. The great peninsula of Kintyre, which at the north
joins to Knapdale, forms at Tarbert a narrow isthmus of but a mile
broad. Landing at the head of Tarbert Bay, Kenric bade Aasta carry the
paddles and her basket of fish, and himself taking up the little boat in
his two strong arms and raising it upon his back, he thus crossed the
mile of dry land. The boat was but a light one, built of pine ribs and
covered with hide, and his task was less difficult than it might seem.

In half-an-hour's time the two had arrived at another sheet of water
which is called Loch Tarbert, and here launching the coracle again, they
seated themselves and sailed down the narrow loch. It was now well upon
midnight, and there was no moon; but there was little danger to be
feared, unless, indeed, some of the Norse outposts might surprise them.

Kenric spoke little, for, in truth, he was yet doubtful of his
companion, who might, he imagined, at any moment turn herself into the
form of a wolf. But Aasta was very calm, and there was small need to
doubt her, for Earl Kenric had done her a great service in setting her
free from her thralldom, and she would have given her life for him at
any moment.

When at last they emerged from the loch where it enters the open sea
they paused a while by the shore to eat their bread cakes and drink the
milk that Aasta had brought. They sat face to face. Once Kenric thought
he saw the maid's eyes sparkle with a green flash of light and he drew
back, though in sooth it was but the reflection of the planet Venus,
shining in the clear mirror of her eyes.

The gentle rippling of the water against the boat alone disturbed the