ow where to find me."

And he went, with a light heart, into the maiden's tower.

I know not why, I grudged to see him go in. 'Twas not jealousy--I was
beyond that now. Nor was it that his help was needed without. For
Alexander, I guessed, would have easy work with the foe; and 'twas like
Ludar's nobleness to leave this new glory to his brother. 'Twas not
that he did not deserve the rest and comfort, for he had worked like a
lion that night, and denied himself till now the greeting the maiden
owed to her preserver. Yet, for all that, I know not why, I had sooner
he had remained, sword in hand, on the walls with us.

I scorned myself for my silly qualms, and hastened to call in our men,
and bid them give fair field to Alexander and his company. They obeyed
with difficulty; yet, when they heard that it was Ludar's order that no
man should baulk his brother, they came in, and lined the walls to view
the combat.

The McDonnells on the cliff, when they saw the constable hang over the
castle walls, and perceived the great bunch of heather on our topmost
tower, stopped a moment to cheer and wave their bonnets. Then Alexander
shouted to them in a voice we could hear half-a-mile away, and they
broke into a run.

Meanwhile, Captain Merriman's party was, as I said, taken aback by this
new danger, and threatened to draw off. But when they saw our party
retire into the castle, and understood that the battle was between them
and Alexander only, they stood their ground again, and wheeled round to
meet him. They were some five hundred men against the McDonnells' three
hundred, and contained not a few of O'Neill's men in their number.

From where we stood we could see but little of the fight, except that
within a few yards of the enemy Alexander halted his men, and then,
stepping forward sword in hand, boldly dared the English leader, whoever
he might be, to single combat. I marvelled to see if Captain Merriman
would accept the challenge. For a while, amid the shouting and
threatening on either side, I could not discern what followed, but
presently, as Alexander, brandishing his sword, stepped up and repeated
his challenge, there sprang out upon him, without warning, a huge
gallowglass of the O'Neill's men, who with a club smote the young chief
to the earth. The blow was so sudden and unexpected (for Alexander was
not even looking that way), that the McDonnell was reeling back in the
arms of his men before friend or fo