e ill that had befallen
the house, ceased not to reproach and scorn him for his brother's fate.

Never did I see Ludar so noble a man as during those gloomy months.
Never once did he waver in his loyalty to his father; never once did he
suffer a word to be said to rebuke the old man's harshness; never once
did he complain if more than a common soldier's hardships, with a common
soldier's fare, fell to his lot; never once would he allow the men, who
were ready to die for him, raise a shout when he came among them, or
even salute him in his father's presence. He took his punishment as
beseemed a hero; and it was the hard work and stern discipline of those
few months, I think, which braced him up once again into his former
manhood and brought back the glow into his cheeks and the fire into his
eyes.

Concerning the maiden he spake not a word; nor would he suffer me to
speak of her. Only when the English fellow returned who had escorted
her to her father did Ludar order him back, charging him to look to her
safety as he valued his own life; which charge the faithful fellow
cheerfully accepted, and departed.

Of all his trials, this journey of submission to Dublin was the
bitterest to Ludar; and I, as I walked at his heels that day in Dublin
city, could see that every step was a pang. The old man chose to bring
Ludar and not his elder brothers for this very reason; and never a duty
taxed the lad's courage and loyalty more.

So to me the pleasure of marching once again under the royal flag of my
Queen was tempered by the concern I felt for my master.

A vast rabble lined the roads to see the doughty Sorley Boy--the hero of
the North, against whose arms England had fought in vain--march thus, to
the tune of English trumpets, to her Majesty's Castle. But if any
looked to see a hanging head or a meek demeanour they were sore
mistaken. For, as the procession moved on and the shouts grew louder,
the spirit seemed to come back into the old warrior, and he walked
rather as one who marches to war than to peace. Perhaps, had the way
been a mile longer, or had the smirking Lord Deputy looked round
oftener, this notable treaty would never have come about; for, by the
time Sorley Boy reached the Castle gate, he was glaring round him
defiantly, and the hilt of his sword was an inch out of the scabbard.

At the gate the Deputy stood and bade him enter. The old fox gave a
suspicious look round, like one that suspects a trap, an