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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30979-8.txt b/30979-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7fab109 --- /dev/null +++ b/30979-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8244 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Nuala O'Malley, by H. Bedford-Jones + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Nuala O'Malley + + +Author: H. Bedford-Jones + + + +Release Date: January 15, 2010 [eBook #30979] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUALA O'MALLEY*** + + +E-text prepared by Steven desJardins and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Transcriber's note: + + This novel was originally serialized in four installments in + _All-Story Weekly_ magazine from December 30, 1916, to January + 20, 1917. The original breaks in the serial have been retained, + but summaries of previous events preceding the second, third, + and fourth installments have been moved to the end of this + e-book. The Table of Contents which follows the introduction + was created for this electronic edition. + + + + + +NUALA O'MALLEY + +by + +H. BEDFORD-JONES + + + +ALL-STORY WEEKLY + +VOL. LXVI NUMBER 2 + +SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1916 + + +NUALA O'MALLEY + +by + +H. Bedford-Jones + +Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc. + + + + +This is a stirring, entrancing story of Erin when Cromwell was +campaigning, and when the fighting heritage that is every Irishman's +found vent through sword and ax and fire. You meet Brian Buidh, Brian of +the Yellow Hair, more thrilling than even your favorite movie hero; and +as for Nuala herself--well, just wait till you meet her!--THE EDITOR. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + +Part I + +I. THE BLACK WOMAN. 177 +II. THE BEGINNING OF THE STORM. 179 +III. THE DARK MASTER. 182 +IV. BRIAN LEANS ON HIS SWORD. 186 +V. YELLOW BRIAN RIDES SOUTH. 191 +VI. BRIAN TAKES CAPTIVES. 196 +VII. THE BIRD DAUGHTER. 201 + +Part II + +VIII. HOW BRIAN WAS NETTED. 419 +IX. THE NAILING OF BRIAN. 424 +X. IN BERTRAGH CASTLE. 429 +XI. THE BAITING OF CATHBARR. 434 +XII. HOW THE DARK MASTER WAS RUINED. 438 + +Part III + +XIII. BRIAN RIDES TO VENGEANCE. 659 +XIV. HOW THE STORM FARED NORTH. 664 +XV. WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TARN. 670 +XVI. BRIAN GETS HIS SWORD AGAIN. 674 +XVII. BRIAN GOES A CRUISING. 679 + +Part IV + +XVIII. BRIAN YIELDS BERTRAGH. 137 +XIX. BRIAN MEETS THE BLACK WOMAN. 142 +XX. THE STORM BURSTS. 147 +XXI. CATHBARR YIELDS UP HIS AX. 151 +XXII. THE STORM OF MEN COMES TO REST. 155 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BLACK WOMAN. + + +The horseman reined in as his jaded steed scrambled up the shelving +bank, and for a space sat there motionless, for which the horse gave +mute thanks. The moon was struggling to heave through fleecy clouds, as +it was hard on midnight; in the half obscurity the rider gazed around +suspiciously. + +There was nothing in sight to cause any man fear. Behind him rippled the +Dee, and all around was desolation. Ardee itself lay a good two miles in +the rear, burned and laid waste six weeks before, and ten miles to the +south lay Drogheda. Indeed, as the horseman gazed about, he caught +sight of a faint glare on the horizon that drew a bitter word from his +lips. + +Dismounting with some difficulty, owing to his cloak and Spanish hat, he +examined a long, raking gash in his horse's flank; then flung off hat +and cloak and calmly proceeded to bind up his own naked shoulder +beneath. + +His was a strange figure, indeed, now that he stood revealed. He wore no +clothing save breeches and high riding-boots; an enormous sword without +a sheath was girt about his waist, and the caked blood on his shoulder +and cheek made his fair skin stand out with startling contrast. + +About his shoulders fell long hair of ruddy yellow, while his face was +young and yet very bitter, tortured by both physical and mental +anguish, as it seemed. He bound up the deep slash in his shoulder with a +strip of cloth torn from his cloak, felt his wealed cheek tenderly, then +flung the cloak about him again and drew down his broad-brimmed hat as +he turned to his weary horse. + +"Well, my friend," and his voice sounded whimsical for all its rich +tone, "you've had a change of masters to-day, eh? I'd like to spare you, +but man's life is first, though Heaven knows it's worth little in +Ireland this day!" With that he reeled and caught at the saddle for +support, put down his head, and sobbed unrestrainedly. + +"Oh, my God!" he groaned at length, straightening himself to shake a +clenched and blood-splashed fist at the sky. "Where were You this day? +God! God! The blood of men on Thine altars--" + +"Faith, you must be new come to Ireland, then!" + +At the shrill, mocking voice the man whirled about and his huge blade +was out like a flash. But only a cackling laugh answered him, as down +from the bank above slipped a perfect hag of a creature, and he drew +back in alarm. At that instant the moon flooded out; his sudden motion +had flung off his wide hat, and he stood staring at the wrinkled +creature whose scanty garments and thin-shredded gray locks were pierced +by a pair of weird brown eyes. + +Then he quivered indeed, and even the poor horse took a step backward, +for the old woman had flung up her arms with a shrill cry as she gazed +on the yellow-haired young man. + +"The O'Neill!" The words seemed to burst from her involuntarily. She +craned forward, her hands twisting at her ragged shawl, and a flood of +Gaelic poured from her lips as she stared at the awe-struck man. + +"Are you, then, the earl, come back from the dead? Ghost of Tyr-owen, +why stand you here idle in the gap of Ulster, where once Cuculain fought +against the host of Meave? Do you also stand here to fight as he +fought--" + +"Peace, mad-woman!" exclaimed the young man, stooping after his hat. +"Peace, and be off out of my way, for I have far to ride." + +The Gaelic words came roughly and brokenly from him, but the old hag +took no heed. Instead, she advanced swiftly and laid her hand on his +arm, still gazing into his face with a great wonder on her wrinkled +features. + +"Who are you?" she whispered. "Tell the Black Woman your name, if you +are no ghost! For even as you stand now, once did these eyes see the +great earl himself." + +"I am from Drogheda," answered the man, something very like fear stamped +on his powerful and bitter-touched young face. "My name is Brian Buidh, +and I ride to join Owen Ruadh--" + +"Liar!" The old woman spat forth the word with a cackle of laughter. +"Oh, you cannot fool the Black Woman, Yellow Brian! Listen--Brian your +name is, and Yellow Brian your name shall be indeed, since this is your +will. Owen Ruadh O'Neill lies at the O'Reilly stead at Lough Oughter, +but you shall never ride to war behind him, Brian Buidh! No--the Black +Woman tells you, and the Black Woman knows. Instead, you shall ride into +the west, and there shall be a storm of men--a storm of men behind you +and before you--" + +"For the love of Heaven, have done!" cried Yellow Brian, shrinking +before her, and yet with anger in his face. "Are you crazed, woman? +Drogheda has fallen; O'Neill must join with the royalists, and never +shall I ride into the west. Be off, for I have no money." + +He turned to mount, but again she stopped him. It seemed to him that +there was strange power in that withered hand which rested so lightly on +his arm. + +"The Black Woman needs no money, Yellow Brian," she cackled merrily. +"You shall meet me once again, on a black day for you; and when you meet +with Cathbarr of the Ax you shall remember me, Brian Buidh; and when +you ride into the west and meet with the Bird Daughter you shall +remember me. + +"So go, Yellow Brian, upon whose heart is stamped the red hand of the +O'Neills! _Beannacht leath!_" + +"_Beannacht leath_," repeated the man thickly. + +There was a rustle of bushes, and he was alone, wiping the cold sweat +from his face. + +"Woman or fiend!" he muttered hoarsely. "How did she know that last? +Yes, she was crazed, no doubt. I suppose that I do look like the +earl--since he was my grandfather!" + +And with a bitter laugh he climbed into the saddle and pushed his horse +up the bank. The bushes closed behind him, the night closed over him, +but it was long ere the weird words of the old hag who called herself +the Black Woman were closed from his mind. + +For, after all, Yellow Brian was of right not alone an O'Neill, but The +O'Neill. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BEGINNING OF THE STORM. + + +The people of every nation--that is, the tillers of the soil, the people +who form the backbone of their race--are in continual expectancy of a +Man and a Day. Theirs is always the, perhaps, dumb hope, but still the +hope, that in their future lie these two things, a Man and a Day. +Sometimes the Man has come and the Day has failed; sometimes the Day has +come and there has been no Man to use it; but now all Ireland had swept +up in a wild roar, knowing that the Man and the Day had come together. + +And so, in truth, they had. Owen, the Ruadh, or red, O'Neill, had fought +a desperate struggle against the royalists. Little by little he had +cemented his own people together, his personal qualities and his +splendid generalship had overborne all else, and the victory of Benburb +had crowned the whole. Then Owen Ruadh was stricken down with sickness, +Cromwell landed and stormed Drogheda, and Yellow Brian had fought clear +and fled away to the kinsman he had never seen. + +Now, standing on the castle ramparts overlooking Lough Oughter, Yellow +Brian stared moodily out at the lake. His identity had been revealed to +none, and the name of Brian Buidh had little meaning to any in Ireland. +Years since he who was The O'Neill, the same whom the English called +Earl of Tyr-owen, had fled with his family from the land. His eldest son +John had settled at the Spanish court. + +John was a spineless man, unworthy son of a great father, content to +idle away his life in ease and quiet. And it was in the court of Spain +that Brian O'Neill had been born, with only an old Irishwoman to nurse +him and teach him the tongue and tidings of Ireland which his father +cared nothing for. + +Yellow Brian had written out these things, sending the letter to the +sick general who lay within the castle. His terrible news of Drogheda +had created consternation, but already O'Neill's forces had been sent to +join the royalists against the common foe. All Ireland was distraught by +war. Royalist, patriot, and Parliament man fought each against the +other, and the only man who could have faced Cromwell lay sick unto +death. + +The Day was passing, the Man was passing, and shadow lay upon all the +land. + +A man came up and touched Yellow Brian's arm, with word that Owen Ruadh +would see him at once. Brian nodded, following. He was well garbed now, +and a steel jack glittered from beneath his dark-red cloak as he strode +along. Upon his strong-set face brooded bitterness, but his eyes were +young for all their cold blue, and his ruddy hair shone like spun gold +in the sunlight; while his firm mouth and chin, his erect figure, and +his massive shoulders gained him more than one look of appreciation +from the clustered O'Reillys. + +He followed the attendant to a large room, whose huge mantel was carven +with the red hand and supporting lions of the clan Reilly, and passed +over to the bed beside the window. He had requested to see O'Neill +alone, and the attendant withdrew silently. Brian approached the bed, +and stood looking down at the man who was passing from Ireland. + +Sharp and bright were the eyes as ever, but the red beard was grayed and +the face was waxen; a spark of color came to it, as Owen Ruadh stretched +forth a hand to take that of his visitor. + +"Brian O'Neill!" he exclaimed, in a voice singularly like that of Brian +himself. "Welcome, kinsman! But why the silence you enjoined in your +letter?" + +"My name is Yellow Brian," answered the younger man somberly. "I have +none other, general. You know the gist of my story, and here is the +rest. I broke with my father, for he would hear nothing of my coming to +Ireland. So I cast off his name and left him to his cursed idleness, +reaching Drogheda barely in time to take part in the siege. I managed to +cut through, as you know, and meant to take service with you--" + +He paused, for words did not come easily to him, as with all his race. A +low groan broke from the crippled warrior. + +"Too late, kinsman, too late! Cromwell is come, and I will never sit a +horse again--ah, no protests, lad! How old are you?" + +"Twenty-three." + +"By my faith, you look thirty! Lad, my heart is sore for you. I am +wasted and broken. I have no money, and Cromwell will shatter all before +him; I can do naught save give you advice." + +"I want naught," broke in Brian quickly, a little glint as of ice in his +blue eyes. "Not for that did I cast off my name and come to--" + +"Tut, tut, lad!" O'Neill reproved him gently. "I understand, so say no +more of that matter. You are Brian Buidh, but to me you are my kinsman, +the rightful head of my house. You can do two things, Yellow +Brian--either follow my advice, or go down to ruin with all Ireland. Now +say, which shall it be?" + +Brian gazed at him with thoughtful face. What was the meaning of this +dark speech? As he looked into the keen, death-smitten eyes of the man +who might have saved Ireland, he smiled a little. + +"I see naught but ruin, Owen Ruadh," he replied slowly. "I care little +for my life, having no ties left on this earth--" + +"Oh, nonsense!" broke in the other impatiently. "You are young, lad--the +bitterness will soon pass, trust me. Now see, here is my advice, such +advice as I would give no other man alive. I am dying, Yellow Brian. +Well, I know that Cromwell will break down all I have built up, and I +can see no brightness for my country. But for you I can see much. You +are young, powerful, the last of the old race; you look strangely like +the old earl, Brian!" + +The younger man started. For the first time in many days he remembered +that crazed hag he had met by the Dee water the night of Drogheda. + +"Now, harken well. I tell you that our house lies in the dust, Brian; +there is no hope for it or for any O'Neill. But for Yellow Brian there +is hope. You must carve out a holding for yourself, for you are a ruler +of men by your face, lad. Go into Galway, and there, where Cromwell's +men will have hardest fighting of all, gather a force and make head. I +have heard strange tales of a man who has done this very thing--they say +he has seized on a castle somewhere near Bertraghboy Bay, in Galway, +and-- But I am getting weak, Brian lad. Hearken well--Ireland is lost; +carve out now for your own hand, for the Red Hand of the old house, lad! +And take this for my sake." + +Almost whispering the last words, Owen Ruadh took from his finger a +signet graven deeply with the Red Hand of Tyr-owen. Brian accepted it +gravely, kissed the hand that gave it, and with tears choking his +throat, left the chamber of the man who was passing from Ireland. + +He had been there a brief fifteen minutes, yet it seemed that an age had +passed. Both he and the sick man had said much in few words, for they +were both men who spared speech and did much. But Brian had received a +great wrench. + +As he had said, he had cast off his father, for the grandfather's blood +ran riot within him, and had kindled to burning rage against the +sluggard who had made his name a thing of reproach in all lands. With +the overstrong bitterness of youth he had meant to die sword in hand, +fighting for Ireland. The few burning words of Owen Ruadh had stripped +all this false heroism from him, however, and had sent a flame of sanity +into his brain. + +Brian returned slowly to the round tower, and stood looking out over the +waters, for the castle was built on an island in the lake a mile from +shore. It was nearing sunset, and snow was in the air--the first snow, +for this was the end of September. + +"Ruin--the storm of men!" He repeated unconsciously the words of the hag +who had stopped him by the Dee water. "What shall I do? Which is the +part of a man, after all; to fall for Ireland or to hew out new lands +and found a new house in the west? By my hilt! That old hag told me +truly after all!" + +At that thought he stood silent, his eyes troubled. What was this fate +which seemed to drive him into the west, instead of leading him to the +flame of swords as he had so long hoped and dreamed? Death meant little +to him; honor meant much. All his life he had lived in Spain, yet it had +been a double life. He had ridden and hunted and learned arms with the +young nobles of the court, but he had talked and sorrowed and dreamed +with the old Irishwoman who had nursed him. + +After all, it is often the dreams of the youth which determine the +career of the man, he reflected. + +Which path should he take? As he stood there struggling with himself, +his hand went unconsciously to his long, powerful jaw; it was a gesture +habitual with him when in deep thought--which he seldom was, however. +Now the youth in him spoke for death, now the sanity which had flashed +into his brain from that of the sick man spoke for the life of deeds and +renown which lay in the west. + +An incident might turn him either way--and the incident came in the +shape of a very tall old man who wore the Irish garb of belted, +long-sleeved tunic and woolen hose, with iron-soled shoes. The old man's +face was cunning, but his eyes were bright and keen and deep gray; his +gray hair hung low to conceal his lopped ears, and there hung about him +an indescribable air of shrewdness faced with apparent openness of +heart. + +Brian glanced at him, remembered that he had heard him called Turlough +Wolf, and looked away carelessly, absorbed in his own thought. But the +old man halted abruptly with an exclamation: + +"_Corp na diaoul!_ Where got you that face and that gesture, Drogheda +man?" + +Brian looked at him, frowning. + +"What mean you, Turlough Wolf?" + +The other stared, his thin jaw fallen. + +"Why--why," he stammered, "I thought it had been The O'Neill come to +life again! When I was a boy I have seen the earl hold his hand to his +chin--often, often! And--and you look like him, Brian Buidh---" + +"Nonsense!" Brian forced a laugh, but as he folded his arms again the +glitter of O'Neill's ring on his finger caught the sharp gray eyes. + +Turlough Wolf started. + +"Listen!" he said, coming forward insinuatingly. "Yellow Brian, no man +knows who you are, nor do I ask. But Turlough Wolf knows a man when he +sees one, a chieftain among men. I owe no man service; but if you will +need a swift brain, a cunning hand, and an eye that can read the hearts +of men, I will serve you." + +Brian looked down into the shrewd face in wonder, then waved an +impatient hand. + +"No use, Turlough Wolf. I have no money to pay for service, and to-night +I must ride out to seek I know not what--nay, whether I ride west or +east or south, I know not!" + +He turned abruptly, wishing to close the matter, but the old man laid a +restraining hand on his shoulder. + +"I seek no money, Yellow Brian. I seek only a master such as yourself; a +man who is a master among men, and whom I can set higher still if he +will heed my counsels. I am old, you are young; I know all parts of the +land by heart, from the Mayo shore to Youghal, and I am skilled at many +things. Take my service and you will not regret it." + +Brian hesitated. After all, he considered, the thing came close to being +uncanny. The Black Woman by Dee water; Owen Ruadh himself, and now this +Ulysseslike Turlough Wolf--whither was fate driving him? Was he really +to meet such persons as the Bird Daughter and Cathbarr of the Ax, or +were they only the figment of a crazed old woman's brain? + +So he hesitated, gazing down into those clear gray eyes. And as he +looked it seemed to him that he found strange things in them, strange +urgings that touched the chords of his soul. After all, adventure lay in +the west, and he was young! + +"Good!" he said, gravely extending his hand. "To-night we ride to the +west, you and I. Come; let us see O'Reilly about horses." + +And this was the beginning of the storm of men that came upon the west. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE DARK MASTER. + + +"There are two things, Yellow Brian, for you to mind. First, you must +have men at your back who know you for their master; second, you must +stand alone, giving and receiving aid from no man or party in the +land." + +Brian nodded and stored away the words in his heart, for in their three +weeks of wandering he had learned that Turlough Wolf was better aid than +many men. It was his doing that, when they had chanced on a party of +ravagers beyond Carrick, Yellow Brian had been led into strife with +their leader. The upshot of that matter was that there was a dead rover; +Yellow Brian had a dozen horsemen behind him and money in his purse, and +of the dozen none but feared utterly this silent man who fought like a +fiend. + +To the dozen had been added others--four Scotch plunderers strayed from +Hamilton's horse and half a dozen Breffnians from Ormond's army, who had +been driven out of Munster by the rising of the Parliament men there. +They were a sadly mixed score, of all races and creeds, but were +fighting ruffians to a man, and were bound together by Brian's solemn +pledge that he himself would slay any who quarreled. The result was +peace. + +So now, with a good score of men behind him, Yellow Brian had ridden +down into Galway, was past Lough Corrib and Iar Connaught, and was hard +upon Connemara. + +There was a thin snow upon the hills, and the bleak wind presaged more; +but the score of men sang lustily as they rode. Two days before they had +come upon a dozen strayed Royalist plunderers, and had gained great +store of food and drink--particularly drink. So all were well content +for the time being. + +"Turlough," asked Brian suddenly, as they rode side by side, "did you +ever hear of one called the Black Woman?" + +The Wolf crossed himself and grimaced. + +"That I have, Yellow Brian, but dimly. They say she deals in magic and +sorcery, and no good comes of meeting with her. But stop--there are +horsemen on the road! Scatter the men, and quickly; let us two bide +here." + +There was cunning in the advice, for the two had come to a bend in the +road and the men were a hundred yards behind them. Brian drew rein at +sight of a score of men a scant quarter-mile away and riding up the hill +toward them. He knew that they must also have been seen, but his men +would still be out of sight, so he turned with a quick word: + +"Off into the rocks, men! If I raise my sword, come and strike. Off!" + +As he spoke he bared that same huge cut-or-thrust brand he had borne +from Drogheda and set the point on his boot. Instantly the men scattered +on either side the road, where black rocks thrust up from the snow, and +within two minutes they and their horses had disappeared. + +The riders below came steadily forward in a clump, and Brian saw old +Turlough staring with bulging eyes. Then the Wolf half caught at his +bridle, as if minded to fly, and his hands were trembling. + +"What ails you, man?" smiled Brian. "Are they magicians and sorcerers, +then?" + +"No, _fareer gair_--worse luck!" blurted out the other. "Look at the +little man who rides first, Yellow Brian!" + +Brian squinted against the snow-glare, and saw that the leader of the +approaching party seemed indeed to be a little man with hunched +shoulders and head that glinted steel. + +"A hunchback!" he exclaimed. "Well, who is he?" + +"The Dark Master--O'Donnell More himself! It is in my mind that this is +a black day, Brian Buidh. O'Donnell More is the master of all men at +craft, and the match of most men at weapons. Beware of him, master, +beware! I had thought that he was still under siege at Bertragh Castle, +else I had never taken this road." + +"Nonsense!" laughed out Brian joyously, drinking in the clear afternoon +air. "So much the more honor if we slay him, Turlough Wolf! Let him +match me at weapons, or you at wits, if he can!" + +Turlough muttered something and drew back behind Brian's steed with +pallid face. Yellow Brian, however, having a sure trust in his own right +arm and his hidden men, scanned the approaching O'Donnell curiously, +seeking what had inspired such unwonted fear in the old gray Wolf. + +He could find nothing ominous in that hunched figure, save its mail-coat +and steel helm. Yet the face was peculiar. Over a drooping mustache of +black flared forth two intense black eyes. Brian noted this, and the +thin, curved nose and prominent chin, and laughed again. + +"Who is this Dark Master, Turlough?" + +The other shivered slightly. "He is an O'Donnell from the north, come +here some ten years since--he seized on Bertragh even as we intend +seizing on a stead, and has since done evil things in the land. Now +hush, for they say the wind bears him idle talk." + +Brian's thin lips curved a trifle scornfully, but he kept silence, +watching the approaching men. At fifty yards' distance they halted. +Their leader eyed the motionless pair for a moment and then slowly rode +on alone, waving back his followers. And Yellow Brian made a strange +figure, with his ruddy hair streaming from beneath his steel cap and the +bright, naked sword rising up from toe to head beside him. + +"Well?" O'Donnell More's voice was deep and harsh, though Brian +afterward found that it could be changed to suit its owner's mood. "Who +are you thus disputing my passage?" + +"I am Brian Buidh," came Brian's curt reply. "As for dispute, that is as +you will." + +"Yellow Brian?" The black brows shot up in surprise. "A strange name. +Whence come you, and seeking what?" + +"I seek men, O'Donnell More." Brian swiftly determined that this was a +man who might give him aid, a man after his own heart. "Whence I come is +my affair. Give me men, and I will repay with gold." + +"What need have you of men, Yellow Brian," came the sardonic answer, +"when your own lie hidden among the rocks?" + +Now indeed Brian started, whereat the other smiled grimly. + +"How knew you that?" + +"If you recognized me from afar, you had not stayed to meet me unless +you had men," stated O'Donnell shrewdly enough. + +"True," said Brian, and laughed out. "Well said, O'Donnell. I have a +score, and want another score. I will match mine against yours, or make +a pact, as you desire." + +The Dark Master sat fingering his sword-hilt and considered. With the +black brows down and the black eyes fixed on him, Brian suddenly began +to like the man less. + +"I will give you service," returned O'Donnell at last. + +Brian smiled. "Men serve me, not I them." + +At this curt answer O'Donnell looked black, then fell into thought, his +shoulders hunched up and his head drawn in like the head of a turtle. +Brian wished now that he had struck first and talked afterward. + +Finally the Dark Master looked up with a slow smile. + +"Welcome to you, Brian of the hard eyes and hollow cheeks," he said. +"_Slaintahut!_ I will not give you men, but I will give you the loan of +men if you will do me one of two favors. Ten miles to the south of here +there is an old tower on a cliff, and in the tower dwells a man with +certain companions who sets me at naught. On an island out near Golam +Head is a castle where a woman rules, who has also set me at naught. Go, +reduce either of these twain, and I will lend you twoscore men for three +months." + +Brian sat his great horse and looked at the Dark Master. He would have +sought advice from Turlough Wolf, save that he did not like to turn his +back on those burning eyes. After all, the pact was not a bad one. + +"These enemies of yours--who are they, and what force have they?" + +The Dark Master chuckled, and his head shot out from between his +shoulders. + +"The man is called Cathbarr of the Ax, and he is a hard man to fight, +for he has ten men like himself, axmen all. The woman cannot fight, but +she has a swift mind, many men, and her name is Nuala O'Malley, of the +O'Malleys of Erris." + +"I had sooner fight a man than a woman," returned Brian slowly. "Also, +this Cathbarr of the Ax has fewer men. I will do you this favor, +O'Donnell Dubh." + +He gave no sign of the wonder that had shot into his mind at the name of +Cathbarr, except that his blue eyes seemed changed suddenly to cold ice. +The Dark Master saw the change, and his smile withered. Brian, watching +him, reflected that this malformed freebooter could be venomous-looking +at times. + +"I have passed my word," O'Donnell the Black made curt answer. "Fetch +either of the twain to Bertragh, dead or alive, and you have the loan of +twoscore men for three months, free. Is it a pact?" + +"It is a pact," answered Brian, and at that the other galloped back to +his men. + +Brian swung his sword and flung it high into the air; before it had +flashed down to nestle in his palm again, his men were scrambling into +the road. He sheathed the sword, smiling a little, and turned to +Turlough. + +"Well? To your mind or not, Wolf?" + +"My father saw the Brown Geraldine at Dublin," responded that worthy, +scratching the gray beard which had begun to sprout. "They broke his +bones with the back of an ax and swung him out in a cage until he died, +and after. He made pacts too easily." + +"Well?" asked Brian again, but a dull flush crossed his cheeks. + +"I gave you my rede," said Turlough sullenly. "I said to stand alone, +receiving aid from neither man nor faction. Now there is mischief to be +repaired." + +"Then my sword shall repair it," said Brian, and ordered the men to +swing in after him. "Guide us to this tower of Cathbarr's, for my honor +is in my own keeping." + +They swung about and headed to the south and the sea. + +The hill-paths, which Turlough Wolf seemed to know perfectly, were +cruelly hard on the horses; none were as yet trodden down, for the snow +was fresh, and all the west coast lay desolate. The plague had stricken +Galway and Mayo heavily that year, smiting the mountains with death. +Some few parties of Roundhead horse had come through, because they +feared God and Ireton more than the plague, and some Royalists had fled +up from the south for much the same reason. + +In any case, Yellow Brian found all the land desolate, and liked it. The +more wasted the land, he reflected, the more chance for that sword of +his to find swinging-room. As he had ridden, news had come from the +east--news of the Wexford killing and the curse that was come upon the +land. Owen Ruadh O'Neill was not yet dead, but Brian knew that he had +prophesied truly. Ireland's day was gloaming fast. + +Despite the dismal tone of Turlough Wolf, Brian told himself that he had +done a good day's work. O'Donnell Dubh would keep his word beyond any +question. As for the man he was to slay, the only part of it which +troubled Brian was the prediction of the Black Woman at the Dee water. +She had known him, and had prophesied O'Neill's death, and had spoken of +the west and this Cathbarr of the Ax. After all, however, she might have +shot a chance shaft which had gone true. Brian had no faith in magic. + +All that afternoon he rode on, Turlough Wolf ahead of him, the men +behind. They feared and hated the old Wolf as much as they feared and +loved Brian. + +Progress was slow, owing to the bad paths, the snow, and sundry changes +of direction, so that when night fell they had covered but eight miles +of the ten. Turlough suggested that they push on and finish their +business at a stroke, but Brian curtly refused. So the men made camp in +lee of a cliff and proceeded to feast away the last of their provisions +and wine, in confidence that on the morrow they would have more, or else +would need none. + +Brian and Turlough built a fire apart, and after their repast Brian +broke silence with a request for information about Cathbarr. It was his +first speech since the parting with the Dark Master. + +"I never heard of him," responded Turlough. "No doubt he is some outlaw +who has become a thorn in the Dark Master's flesh. With the woman it is +different." + +"Tell me of her," said Brian, gazing into the fire. + +"She is an O'Malley, and, like all the clan, makes much of ships and +seamen and little of horses and riders. When the Dark Master came, ten +years ago, he slew her father and mother by treachery, and would have +slain her but that her men carried her off. She was a child then. Now +she is a woman, very bitter against O'Donnell Dubh, and is allied with +the Parliament so that her ships may have the run of the seas, it is +said. O'Donnell takes sides with no faction, but caters to all. He lays +nets and snares, and men fall into them, and he laughs." + +"Why is Nuala O'Malley called the Bird Daughter?" asked Brian quietly. + +At this question old Turlough rose on his elbow, and in his wide, gray +eyes was set mingled fear and wonder. + +"_M'anam an diaoul!_" he spat out. "Who are you to know this thing?" + +"Answer my question," returned Brian, hiding his own surprise. + +"Seven years ago, master, I was at Sligo Bay with O'Dowda when Hamilton +cut us to pieces. Nuala O'Malley had brought us some powder--she was but +a slip of a girl then. In the evening I was down at the ship when I saw +her come from below, a hooded pigeon in her hands. She whispered in the +bird's ear, set off the hood, and the bird flew into the night. I named +her Bird Daughter, but no other man knew the name." + +"Then a woman did," chuckled Brian dryly. "It was but a carrier pigeon, +Turlough; I have seen them used in Spain. Now listen to me." + +With that he told him of the Black Woman and his weird meeting at Dee +water. Old Turlough listened in no little amazement, for he was full of +superstitious fancies, but Brian said nothing of his own name. The +uncanny prophecies, however, which now seemed on the road to fulfilment +were enough to give any man pause. + +When he had finished, a very subdued Turlough Wolf stated that the Black +Woman was an old hag who wandered all over the land, that some called +her crazy and others thought her inspired, and that his own belief was +that she was a banshee, no less. + +At this Brian saw the thing in a more rational light. The old woman knew +of this nook in the west, and, attracted to him by his resemblance to +the long-dead earl, she had endeavored to steer him thither. After all, +it was quite simple. + +Of course, old Turlough swore that he had never breathed his name of +Bird Daughter to a living soul, and that it was but a name he had used +in his own mind for the slim girl who had fetched powder from the south. +Brian chuckled, guessing that Turlough was not the only one who had seen +carrier pigeons used, and who had ascribed the thing to higher powers. + +The incident served the purpose of establishing a firmer intimacy +between Brian and the old man, however, and convinced Turlough that his +master was destined to fly high. Nor through all the storm of men that +befell after did Turlough again breathe reproof as he had dared that +day. + +"I begin to see that your advice was good, Turlough Wolf," said Brian +the next morning, as he rode shivering from camp. "As to making my men +know me for their master, that troubles me little; but I think it will +be a hard matter to avoid making pacts, and to stand alone." + +"Lean on your sword," grunted old Turlough. "To my notion, such +friendship as that huge blade of yours can give is better than good. +Order men ahead." + +Brian nodded and sent two of the men ahead as scouts, with the Wolf +himself. For the better part of an hour they made slow headway among the +rocks, and then emerged suddenly on the slope leading down to the cliffs +and sea. Turlough pointed to the left. + +"There lies the tower, if I mistake not." + +Drawing rein, Brian saw at once why he had been sent on this errand. +Cathbarr's tower was an old ruin at the end of a long and narrow +headland--indeed, at high tide most of the headland would be covered, +for it was low and yet beyond shot of the cliffs. Except from the water, +it was almost impregnable; cannon might have reached it from shore, but +two axmen could have held the narrow way against an army. + +Brian laughed softly and ordered the men to remain where they were. + +"What are you going to do, master?" queried old Turlough anxiously. + +"I am going to lean on my sword, as you advised me," chuckled Brian, and +rode on alone. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +BRIAN LEANS ON HIS SWORD. + + +As he had foreseen, Brian was allowed to ride across the narrow neck of +land where his men would have had to battle for progress. It was from no +mere bravado that he had gone forward alone to the tower, but because +men were worth saving, and he believed that his own sword was a match +for any ax. If this ruffian Cathbarr was a freebooting outlaw, he would +be willing enough to stake his ten men on his prowess, and Yellow Brian +was very anxious to have those ten axmen behind him. + +At the top of the tower men watched and steel glistened, and as Brian +rode up to the low gateway, it was flung open and a man strode out. +This man hardly came up to Brian's conception of an outlaw, except as to +stature. + +He was a good six feet four, reflected Brian as he drew rein and waited, +and was built in proportion--or, rather, out of proportion. His +shoulders and chest seemed tremendous, and a long mail-shirt reached to +his knees; his hair was short-clipped and brown, and beneath his curly +brown beard Brian made out a massive face, wide-set brown eyes, and an +air not so much ruffianly as of cheerful good-humor. + +Brian had no need to ask his name, however, for in one hand he carried a +weapon such as had seldom seen the light since powder had come to +Ireland. It was an ax, some five feet from haft to helve; double-bladed, +each blade eight inches long, curved back slightly, and two inches thick +by twice as much wide. The edges, which came down sharply from the +thickness, were not overkeen, and were not meant to be so. When the +thing struck, that was the end of what stood before it. + +"_Cead mile failte!_" cried Cathbarr of the Ax in a deep, rumbling +voice, his white teeth flashing through his beard in a smile. "A hundred +thousand welcomes to you, swordsman! Are you come to capture my lordly +castle?" + +"No; your men," laughed Brian, liking this huge, merry giant on the +instant. "I am come from O'Donnell Dubh to reduce you and fetch you to +him." + +The smile froze on the giant's face. + +"I am sorry for that, yellow one! I like your face and your thews, and +to find that you serve the black traitor of Bertragh is an ill thing." + +"I serve no man," answered Brian easily. "I need men. If I conquer you, +O'Donnell lends me twoscore men for three months; also, by conquering +you I win your men to me, which makes fifty. With my seventy men, I +shall fall to work." + +"By my faith, a ready reckoner!" and Cathbarr grinned again. "Get down +and fight." + +Brian swung out of the saddle and led his horse to one side. They were +not so badly matched, he reflected. Cathbarr's head was bared, while he +had steel cap and jack; but for some reason he felt hesitant at thought +of killing this merry giant. + +"Not so bad," he said, baring his five-foot blade and holding it up +against the huge ax. "Not so bad, eh?" + +Cathbarr burst into a laugh. + +"It will grieve me to crush your skull, dear man," he rumbled. "What a +pair we would make, matched against that Dark Master! But enough. +Ready?" + +Brian nodded slightly, and the long ax flashed up. + +Now, Brian O'Neill had served a stiff apprenticeship at weapons, and had +faced many men whose eyes boded him death, but here, for the first time +in all his life, he felt the self-confidence stricken out of him. + +As Cathbarr heaved up his ax, he became a different man. All the good +cheer fled out of his face; his curly brown beard seemed to stand out +about his head like snakes, and the massiveness of his body was +reflected in the battle-fury of his face. He needed no blows to rouse +him into madness; but with the ax swinging like a reed about him, he +came rushing at Brian, a giant come to earth from of old time. His men +on the tower set up a wild yell of encouragement. + +Brian leaped swiftly aside and, thinking to end the fight at a blow, +brought down his sword against the descending ax-haft. Sparks flew--the +haft was bound with iron; Brian only saved himself from falling by a +miracle. + +Then began a strange battle of feet against brawn, for Cathbarr rushed +and rushed again, but ever Brian slipped away from the falling ax, nor +was he able to strike back. The play of that ax was a marvel to behold; +it was shield and weapon in one, and it seemed no heavier than a thing +of wood as it whirled. Twice Brian got in his point against the +mail-coat without effect, and twice the ax brushed his shoulder, so that +he gave over thrusting. He knew that he was fighting for his life +indeed. + +An instant later he discovered that fact anew as a glancing touch of the +ax drove off his steel cap and sent him staggering back a dozen paces, +reeling and clutching at the air. To his amazement Cathbarr did not +follow him, but stood waiting for him to recover; he had not looked for +such courtesy on the west coast. + +He sprang back into his defense, desperate now. Again the ax whirled, +seeming a part of the giant himself, and Brian knew that he was lost if +he waited for it. So, instead of waiting, he leaped under the blow, +dropped his sword, and drove up his fist into the bearded chin, now +flecked with foam. + +It was a cruel blow. Cathbarr grunted, his head rocked back, and he +swayed on his feet. Before he could recover, Brian had set his thigh +against him, caught his arm, and sent him whirling to the ground, ax and +all. Then he picked up his sword and stood leaning on it, panting. + +Cathbarr sat up and gazed around blankly, until his gaze fell on the +waiting figure. Brian looked at him, smiling slightly, and the eyes of +the two men met and clinched. As if he had been a child caught doing +wrong, the giant grinned and wiped the foam from his beard. + +"Was that fair fighting, yellow man?" he asked. + +"No," laughed Brian. "It was unfair, Cathbarr; but I think my fists can +best your ax yet." + +Slowly the giant got to his feet. To Brian's surprise he left his ax +where it lay and came forward with extended hand. + +"Had you claimed that blow as fair," he rumbled, "I would have slain +you. Now I love you, yellow man. Let us make a pact together. What is +your name?" + +They struck hands, and Brian felt a great thrill of admiration for this +man whose terrible strength enclosed the simple heart of a child. But +he shook his head. + +"I make no pacts, Cathbarr. My name is Brian Buidh. I made pact with the +Dark Master, and now I am sorry for it; yet it must be held to, for I +see no way out of it. But wait--I have a cunning man whose wit may help +us here." + +He turned and flung up his sword in the air. His men rode down to the +narrow causeway, while from the tower came shouts warning Cathbarr +against treachery. But the giant only grinned again, and Brian shouted +to Turlough Wolf to come on alone. + +Old Turlough obeyed in no little wonder. When he came up Brian told him +what had chanced--that out of enmity had arisen friendship. + +"But," he concluded, trouble in his heart, "you must find me a way out, +Turlough. I have passed my word to O'Donness to reduce Cathbarr; to do +that I must slay him, or he me. I see little honor either way." + +"Few men find honor in their dealings with the Dark Master," grumbled +Turlough, looking from Cathbarr to Brian. "Yet, if you want a way out, +it is an easy matter. Cathbarr of the Ax, give service to my master. +Thus, Brian Buidh, you shall reduce Cathbarr; yet the Dark Master said +naught of giving up this man to him." + +"Good!" cried Brian, eagerness in his blue eyes, and swung on the giant. +"Will you give me your service, friend, and follow me? There shall be a +storm of men--" He paused abruptly as the words fell from his lips, but +he had said enough. + +"I give you service, Yellow Brian," rumbled Cathbarr, taking his hand +again, and his strong, white teeth flashed through his beard. "I will +follow you, and my men, and there shall be firm friendship between us. +Is it good?" + +"It is good!" exclaimed Brian, his heart singing. But Turlough laughed +harshly. + +"So you have again broken my rede, Brian Buidh, for this man knows you +not as his master, but names you his friend. I bade you take, not give." + +"It was your own advice," retorted Brian, laughing. + +"Aye, since you asked it, I found the way out. But you have not +conquered him." + +"He conquered me by not telling a lie," said Cathbarr simply. "I serve +him." + +Turlough eyed them keenly, heard how the fight had gone, and then +suddenly comprehended what manner of man this huge, bearded fellow was. +His face cleared, and without a word he clasped Cathbarr's hand, and +asked Brian for orders. + +"How far from here is Bertragh Castle?" questioned Brian. + +"It overlooks Bertraghboy Bay," answered the giant. "Bide here till +noon, while my men bring in their horses from the hills, and with the +night we can arrive there." + +To this Brian assented, well pleased that Cathbarr had horses. Turlough +went back to bring up his men, and Brian entered the tower that served +Cathbarr for castle. It was a small place, but strong; the ten men who +took his hand and gave him service were cut after the pattern of their +master--huge fellows all, O'Flahertys from the mountains who had +followed Cathbarr down to loot the coast, with no ill success. + +It was a strange tale that he heard, while he and his men ate and drank +with their new comrades. For some months Cathbarr had maintained himself +here, raiding O'Donnell's lands chiefly and making his ax feared through +all the coast. In fact, the giant had attempted his own errand--to set +himself up in power; but he had gone about it like a child. + +The Dark Master had come against him with a hundred men, and after +losing a score and more at the causeway, had tried to starve him out. At +that Cathbarr had calmly stolen away by boat, raided O'Donnell's +choicest farms overnight, and was back with his plunder before the Dark +Master guessed his absence. After this O'Donnell had kept watch and ward +upon his lands, with better results; Cathbarr occupied himself with +raiding against the scattered parties of plunderers in the hills, and +had won some booty. + +Brian discovered many things during the hour or two he waited for the +horses to be fetched in. Chief of these was that he had set himself a +difficult nut to crack. The Dark Master held a strong castle, with rich +farms around it, and could summon at need some three hundred men to his +standard. In short, Brian found that O'Donnell held the very position he +himself wanted to hold--and was like to keep it. + +"Of course," he thought soberly, reflecting on his future course, "if I +come off clear to-night I can ride with my seventy men to a better +place. And yet--I don't know! What better place than this? It will be no +long time before hoofs are in the land, for Royalist and Roundhead and +Ulsterman will be storming through the hills; Galway will be the last to +give in to Cromwell, of a certainty. When the hurricane falls, I want a +roof to shelter me--and whom could I turn out better than this +O'Donnell?" + +Cathbarr's tower was too small to serve him as a fortalice, for it was +barely large enough to shelter the eleven axmen. Suddenly an idea +flashed across Brian's mind. Why not a union with this O'Malley woman +against the Dark Master? + +Upon the thought, he rose and went out to the ice-rimmed shore below the +tower, where he paced up and down, considering the matter. After all, it +would do no harm, and there were great possibilities in it. He returned +to the tower at sound of shouts and clattering hoofs, and took Turlough +aside. + +"Turlough Wolf, in your advice you spoke against making pacts with men, +but you said nothing of women. It is my purpose to send you to this +O'Malley castle, to propose a pact with Nuala O'Malley against the Dark +Master. You can tell her that I have a hundred horsemen behind me--for +I will have them. Will you do this, bearing her word back to me?" + +Turlough plucked moodily at his ragged beard. + +"I see no harm in such a pact, master," he replied thoughtfully. "As to +reaching the Bird Daughter, that is another matter. I think that I can +do it, however. When shall I start, and where shall I find you again?" + +Brian reflected a moment. + +"Start now, Turlough. Cathbarr and I will have no need of advice this +night, for we shall either fight our way clear, or else the Dark Master +will keep to his word. When you return, you will find me here; if I am +not here, I will leave a man here to give you word of me." + +"I am to say that you have a hundred horsemen behind you?" Turlough's +sharp eyes swept to Brian's half-questioningly. + +"Say a hundred and a half," laughed out Brian, "and trust your silver +tongue for the rest, old Wolf! Never fear, I will have the men. But mind +this, Turlough. I will make no other pact with her than this, against +the Dark Master. It may be that when I have driven him forth I may fly +after other game." + +"Men have sought to drive the Dark Master forth," quoth Turlough, "and +their heads have rotted above his gate. Take heed lest there be an empty +spike there this night, Yellow Brian!" + +But Brian only laughed shortly, and bade the old man affectionate +farewell, for he knew that Turlough loved him. And when Turlough had +ridden somberly away, Brian felt a strange sense of desertion, of loss, +that was no whit inspired by Turlough's gloomy last words. He shook it +off, however, at gripping hands again with Cathbarr. The axmen had +gathered most of their loot and buried what was of value, for Brian had +determined to return here from Bertragh and make use of the tower until +he had heard from Turlough's errand. + +So now, at the head of thirty men, he rode across the narrow causeway +with Cathbarr of the Ax at his side for friend and guide. The giant did +not yet quite comprehend exactly what plan had flashed across the brain +of old Turlough, so as they rode Brian made the thing clearer to him. +When the simple and straightforward Cathbarr grasped the matter, he +smote his horse's neck with a bellow of laughter. + +"Ho! So you bring me before the Dark Master ax in hand, reduced to +_your_ service instead of his, my men added to yours--oh, it is a jest, +brother, a jest! I think that O'Donnell will slay us both on the spot!" + +"Not if your axmen are true," retorted Brian. + +Cathbarr laughed again. "They fear me and they love me, brother," he +cried, gazing back at the file of horsemen. "Your own men fear you and +love you also. Therefore we are men alike." + +Brian began to love the man for his utter simplicity, save where there +was killing in hand. Cathbarr seemed in reality to have the heart of a +child, impulsive and passionate to an extreme, and there was always a +certain rugged power in his bearing which bespoke him a true Flaherty of +the mountains. His men were like himself in this respect, and after they +had fraternized with Brian's men they began to feel the same unbounded +surety in Yellow Brian as Cathbarr expressed. Their axes were the usual +splay-bladed affairs that their grandfathers had used under Red Hugh at +the Yellow Ford, nor indeed in all his life had Brian ever seen another +ax like to that of Cathbarr's. + +They rode through the afternoon while a light snow fell and a keen east +wind cut down from the peaks of the Twelve Pins, until the shaggy horses +slithered along with tails tucked tight beneath them. But there was good +cheer in the company, for the news had spread of how Yellow Brian would +have seventy men behind him that night. When the darkness began to fall, +Bertragh Castle came in sight far below--a gray crag jutting up from +the plain, scarped and embattled, the sea behind it and the watch-fires +of men twinkling from its keep. All about lay farms and steads, and the +lowing of byred cattle rose on the evening air when the snow ceased. + +"Be careful not to drink or eat in that hall," warned Cathbarr blackly. +"Ill comes of it to all who accept hospitality there." + +Brian nodded and rode on in silence, for there were parties of horsemen +and pikemen down below and the blare of horns shrilled up. Evidently the +riders on the hills had been seen from afar. + +As they reached the lower ground Brian was aware of a band of men riding +to meet them, and halted. Through the dusk came a score of armed +horsemen, and their leader inquired their business, shouting from a safe +distance. Brian returned the shout. + +"I am Yellow Brian, and I seek O'Donnell Dubh according to a pact made +with him yesterday. I have reduced Cathbarr of the Ax, and am come in +peace." + +"You are expected," called the other, riding up with his men. "The Dark +Master is waiting for you." + +And Brian rode on to Bertragh, not without some forebodings. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +YELLOW BRIAN RIDES SOUTH. + + +Outside the castle gates, where cressets flared over the snow, an old +seneschal appeared and ordered Brian to leave his men outside. To this +the men made some objection, but Brian laughed softly. + +"Bide where you are," he said. "You shall not be slain unless I am slain +inside." + +The O'Donnells watched him and Cathbarr with no little wonder, and the +two men made a fine pair as they marched across the creaking drawbridge. +Though Cathbarr topped Brian by half a head, there was no doubt as to +which was the nobler man; the giant gazed around him with amazed eyes, +but Brian held his head high and strode in with a smile flickering on +his lips. But his blue eyes were very sharp that night. + +He saw the crowded men in the courtyard, many of them armed with +muskets, their matches burning, and noted also that the Dark Master +possessed some half-dozen bastards--immense, nine-foot pieces mounted on +huge carriages, with their eight-pound balls piled beside them. In those +days it was no small thing to own such cannon in the west of Ireland, +and Brian eyed them approvingly as he passed through the courtyard. He +was beginning to count them as his own. + +Cathbarr had told him that the Dark Master had brought many O'Donnells +down from the north to settle the farms and lands beyond the castle, but +Brian saw that these were not all. The garrison was a riffraff of all +the armies that had wasted Ireland, and they were fighting men fit for +their work. + +Brian entered the hall, with Cathbarr muttering oaths a pace behind him. +The hall was high, lit with cressets, and beside a huge fireplace sat +the Dark Master in a carved chair of black wood, an old harper sitting +opposite. Behind Brian and Cathbarr flocked in men until the hall was +well filled. + +Brian found the penetrating eyes fixed on him as he advanced, but in +them was no surprise or fear, and O'Donnell calmly stroked his drooping +mustache as he watched. Cathbarr still followed behind, bearing that +great ax of his, and Brian stopped a few paces from the hearth as the +Dark Master spoke. + +"Welcome to Bertragh, Yellow Brian. I had not looked for you so soon." + +"No." Brian's voice rang out richly in the stillness. "But I am here, +O'Donnell Dubh, to claim my two-score men. I have reduced Cathbarr of +the Ax." + +For the first time the hunched O'Donnell seemed to notice Cathbarr. His +black eyes flickered curiously to the giant, then he smiled sourly. + +"If he is reduced, why does he not kneel, Brian of the hard eyes?" + +"Kneel," ordered Brian. + +Cathbarr flushed and his beard began to stand out, but he obeyed. There +was no great love in his face as he knelt, holding to his ax, and gazed +at O'Donnell. + +"Throw your ax into the fire," said the Dark Master, his voice smooth as +silk. + +"Do not," exclaimed Brian, and his eyes grew bitterly cold as they +clinched with those of the Dark Master. Over the latter's pallid face +crept a slow red fire, and his head drew back between his shoulders. Men +held their breaths. + +"O'Donnell," went on Brian slowly, "I have fulfilled my pact. I have +reduced Cathbarr of the Ax--but he serves me and not you. Since I have +conquered him as you bade, I call on you to carry out the pact and lend +me two-score men for three months, scat-free." + +If Brian had wanted any testimony as to O'Donnell's iron hand, he had +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 his fate hung upon the Dark Master's +thoughts, and he drew himself up a little straighter, and his blue eyes +glinted colder than any ice as his hand closed upon his sword-hilt. But +at the slight motion O'Donnell looked up keenly. + +"You have ridden hard, Brian. Pause and sup with me--" + +"I did not come to eat or drink," said Brian sternly. "Also, I am weary +of this talking. Now fulfil your pact, Dark Master, or be shamed before +all your men." + +"Are you for Royalist or Parliament?" asked O'Donnell, as if he had not +heard. + +"I am for Brian Buidh." + +"Take two-score men and begone," and the other rose. To his surprise, +Brian found that, despite the hunched back, O'Donnell was as tall as +himself. The black eyes flamed out at him for an instant. "I will keep +my honor, though I regret it later, Yellow Brian. Go, with your men. +When next we meet your head shall grin over my gates." + +"Thanks for so much," retorted Brian mockingly, though he drew a swift +breath of relief. "My head serves me too well to render it easily. _Slan +leat_, O'Donnell!" + +"_Slan leat_," repeated the Dark Master and turned his back, gazing down +at the fire. + +Brian turned and strode down the hall, Cathbarr at his heels. When they +reached the courtyard he found men saddling in haste, and an officer +saluted him gravely. + +"Two-score men are at your orders, Yellow Brian." + +"Let them follow me," said Brian curtly. "And who quarrels with my men, +dies." + +To that there was no dispute. The drawbridge clanked down once more, +Brian and Cathbarr mounted and rode out to where the thirty waited +grimly, and after them came the forty men from the garrison. Cathbarr, +who trusted the Dark Master little, set his ten axmen in the van, +followed with Brian, and the sixty followed them into the night. + +"I think we came out of that well, brother," said the giant softly. +"Where do we ride?" + +"To your tower, for the night. After that, in search of more men." + +"Toward Galway or Slyne Head?" + +"Wherever there are men." + +After that they rode on in silence, while the men behind fraternized +freely. All were of the same stamp, and indeed the two-score already +were as willing to serve Brian as O'Donnell, since they had witnessed +that scene in the castle hall. + +Brian wondered dully what the outcome of all this was to be. The strain +of facing O'Donnell and bearding him in his own den had been no light +one, but he knew that Cathbarr had spoken truth in saying that they were +well out of it. The Dark Master, he thought, was a man well worth +fighting. To take his castle was not like turning out a chieftain of +some ancient family, with his clan about him for miles around; O'Donnell +had seized upon the place himself, his men were reavers and outlaws, and +the castle was a strong one. + +Then there was the O'Malley alliance. Brian had it in mind to beset the +Dark Master by sea and land at once, for all the O'Malley clan had been +seamen and rovers from time immemorial, while he himself preferred men +and horses at his back. In calmer mood now, he reflected that Turlough +might not return for a week, and there was food and fodder for seventy +men and horses to be obtained. + +If he rode toward Galway he would have to plunder the patriots, which +went against the grain. But in lower Galway and Clare things were +different. That winter no army held to winter quarters save that of +Cromwell, and between Limerick and Galway there was a wild rout of men +out of half a dozen armies, the plague had swept off all but the +seafaring folk, and men held only what their swords could guard. + +So Brian determined that he would ride toward the south. + +He realized well that his men must be drawn together by fighting, that +they must learn a perfect confidence in him, and that they must earn +their sustenance for the time being. Cathbarr already knew of old +Turlough's mission, and of course approved, since in his eyes Brian +could do no wrong. What was more, reflected Brian, he could not make +this alliance empty-handed. He must get men and spare horses, stores and +powder, and some muskets or pistols if possible, for few of his men +carried more than sword or perhaps a sorry pistolet or ancient +bombardule out of date a generation since. + +"A storm of men!" he muttered as he gazed at the stars. "A storm of men! +Did that Black Woman speak truly, I wonder? And what dark magic was that +which passed to-night?" + +But no answer came to his questions save that the cold stars chilled him +to the bone. Since they had no better place to seek, they returned to +Cathbarr's tower, but it was long past midnight when they reached it, +and the men were nodding in their saddles. As barely a dozen could crowd +into the place, the rest were forced to camp outside in the snow, but +roaring fires and some little food put them in good humor and it was no +hardship to any of them. + +"It has been a strange two days for us twain," said Brian as he and +Cathbarr divided a scorched bannock one of the Scots had hastily turned +out over the coals. + +"Yes," smiled the giant into his beard, his deep-throated bull's voice +rumbling through their tiny room. "But it is in my mind that there are +stranger days ahead of us, Brian Buidh. A witch-woman once told me that +I would meet my death from water and fire together, brother, in a cause +not mine own." + +"You are not bound to my service," replied Brian. + +"But I am bound to you, for I like you," answered Cathbarr, and his hand +crushed down on Brian's. That night they slept together beneath the same +blanket, and though after that they spoke few words of love or +friendship, the two men drew ever closer each to the other in all +things. + +It had indeed been a strange two days for him, thought Brian as he +roused up the camp late the next morning and set out sentries in the +hills. He had met the Dark Master on the first, and on the second he had +met Cathbarr, then had forced the Dark Master into lending him men +against his will. Now, after a scant three days beyond Lough Corrib, he +had twined his fate with that of other men, had set his heart upon +winning Bertragh Castle, and had won both a stout friend and a stout +enemy. + +For he counted O'Donnell as a foe, in which he was not far wrong. + +However, there was no time to be wasted, for fodder was exceeding +scanty, and Brian himself had no heart for idleness. As he had resolved +on his course during that return ride the night before, he gathered his +men together and briefly ordered them to be ready to ride at noon, and +to Cathbarr alone he outlined his plan. Then he picked two of the axmen +who knew the country roundabout, and ten from among those O'Donnell had +loaned him, and took them aside and told them of Turlough Wolf, who +would come before long. + +"You will bide here," he concluded, "and bid him wait for me. I shall +return this side of ten days. And mind you, if there is feud or +treachery among you so that one man's blood is let, then I will exact a +tenfold vengeance from both men." + +The twelve, who were sturdy ruffians and well able to hold the place +against any sudden attack by the Dark Master, looked into the ice-blue +eyes for an instant, and straightway vowed that there would be neither +treachery nor quarreling among them. And Brian guessed shrewdly that he +had inspired some little fear in their hearts. + +So that at high noon they rode away to the east, threescore strong, with +Brian and Cathbarr and the remaining eight axmen in the van. Brian did +not spare either man or horse that day, for there was little food left +them; when midnight came they had slipped past Galway and were ready to +ride south, though they all went to rest supperless. + +With the morning Brian found that two of the men had slipped off and +were busy plundering a hill-farm a mile away, where an old woman lived +alone. He promptly had them brought before him, and bade them take up +their weapons. + +"I am no executioner," he said as he bared his huge sword. "I am a +teacher of lessons, and my lessons must be learned." + +When they rode away from that place, leaving the two men buried under +cairns, Brian was well assured that there would be no more ravaging by +his men, though they died of hunger. + +However, it proved that there was no great chance of this, for Brian +drove such a storm past Slieve Aughty as had not been heard of in +generations. Of all that chanced in those seven days ere he set his face +to the north again, not much has survived, for there were greater storms +to come afterward, and more talked-of fighting. But certain things were +done which had a sequel. + +By the fifth day Brian had swept past Gort toward Lough Graney, and +turned west by Crusheen, which he passed through with a hundred horsemen +at his heels. Two days before he had struck upon fifty Ulstermen who +were working north from Munster, and what were left of them after the +meeting took service with him. From them he learned that O'Neill was +dying or dead, and that the Royalists and Confederacy men were paralyzed +through the south. + +They had left Crusheen ten miles behind them on the fifth day, when +Cathbarr laid his hand on Brian's knee and pointed to the left, where a +hill rose against the sky. + +"Look there, _boucal_--when the birds fly from the _ceanabhan_, seek for +snakes!" + +Brian drew rein. Gazing at the long slopes of moor-grass that rose +across the hill, he saw a sudden flight of blackbirds from over the +crest; they flew toward him, then swerved swiftly and darted to the +right. Brian called up two of his men who knew the country, and asked +them what lay over the hill. + +"The Ennis road to Mal Bay," they replied, and he sent them ahead to +scout. + +Before he reached the hill-crest they were back with word that an +"army" was on the road, and Brian pushed forward with Cathbarr to see +for himself. Slipping from their horses, they gained the hilltop and +looked over on the winding road beyond. Neither of them spoke, but +Brian's eyes glinted suddenly, for he beheld a train of four wagons +convoyed by some two hundred troopers. He touched Cathbarr and they +returned. + +"A party of Ormond's Scottish troopers," he said quietly when they had +rejoined the men. "Cathbarr, take thirty men and work around them. When +you strike, I will lead over the hill and flank them." + +The giant nodded, picked his men, and rode away. Brian led his seventy +closer to the rise of ground, and as they waited they could hear the +creaking of wagons and the snap of whips. It was a Royalist convoy, and +since there was no love between the Scots and the Irish of any party, +Brian's men were hungry for the fight. + +They got their fill that day. + +A rippling shout, a scattering of shots, and Brian spurred forward. The +road wound a hundred yards below, and Cathbarr had already fallen on the +vanguard. The Scots were riding forward to whelm him when Brian's men +drove down with a wild yell and smote the length of their flank. + +Brian hewed his way to the side of Cathbarr, and then the sword and ax +flashed side by side. The captain in command of the troopers pistoled +Cathbarr's horse, but the huge ax met his steel cap and Cathbarr was +mounted again. Meanwhile, Brian was engaged with a cornet who had great +skill at fencing, and his huge Spanish blade touched the young officer +lightly until the Scot pulled forth a pistol, and at that Brian smote +with the edge. + +The muskets and pistols of the troopers worked sad havoc among Brian's +men at first, but there was no chance to reload, and when the officers +had gone down the Scots lost heart. They would have trusted to no Gaelic +oaths, for men got no quarter in the west, but when Brian shouted at +them in English they listened to him right willingly. A score broke away +and galloped breakneck for the south again, and perhaps fifty had gone +down; the rest gathered about the wagons stared at Brian and Cathbarr in +superstitious awe as the two lowered bloody ax and sword and offered +terms. + +"I offer service to you," said Brian. "I am Brian Buidh, and if you will +ride with me you shall find war. Those who wish may return to Ennis." + +Now, at the most Brian had some seventy-five men left, and those +clustered at the wagons were over a hundred and a score, with muskets. +But their officers were down, they had received no pay for a year and +more, and they were for the most part Macdonalds of the Isles, who loved +freebooting better than army work. So out of them all only ten men chose +to ride to Ennis again, and Cathbarr shook his head as they departed. + +"It seems to me that ill shall come of this," he said, and wiped his ax +clean. + +Brian laughed shortly and dismounted. He found that the wagons contained +powder, stores, and muskets; so after placing the wounded in them, he +rode north to Corrofin that day with close to two hundred men at his +back. Staying that night at Corrofin, he hanged ten of the Scots for +plundering, rested his horses for two days, and set his face homeward +with the surety that his men knew him for master. + +The storm of men was gathering fast. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +BRIAN TAKES CAPTIVES. + + +"_Failte abhaile!_ Welcome, Yellow Brian!" + +"So you won back before me, eh?" Brian swung down from his horse and +gripped hands with old Turlough Wolf. "Get the men camped, Cathbarr, +then join us." + +Turlough's cunning eyes rested on the wagons and weary horsemen, and he +nodded approvingly as Brian told him of what had chanced. + +"Said I not that you were a master of men?" he chuckled quietly, as he +turned to follow into Cathbarr's tower. "But it is easier to master men +than women, Brian. I bear you a bitter rede from the Bird Daughter, +master." + +"Hard words fare ill on empty stomachs," quoth Brian. "Keep it till I +have eaten." + +When Cathbarr had joined them and they had dined well on Royalist stores +and wine, Turlough made report on his mission. It seemed that he had met +with a party of the O'Malleys at the head of Kilkieran Bay at the close +of his first day's ride, and after hearing his errand they had taken him +in their ship out to Gorumna Isle, where stood the hold of Nuala, the +Bird Daughter. And somewhat to his own amazement, Turlough had found +that by this same name she was known along the whole coast. + +He reported that it was a strong place, for the castle had been built by +her father; that she had two large ships and five small ones, and that +both ships and castle were defended by all manner of "shot"--meaning +cannon. She had just returned from Kinsale, where she had been aiding +Blake hold Prince Rupert's fleet in the bay. Now Rupert had slipped +away, and after plundering a French ship with wines, she had come home +again. + +"She seems a woman of heart," smiled Brian. "What of her looks?" + +"I did not see her." Turlough shook his head. "She ordered my message +written out, so she has some clerkly learning. She took an hour to +ponder it, master, then set me ashore with this message. + +"'Tell Yellow Brian,' she ordered, 'that I claim tribute from Golam Head +to Slyne. I will make no pact with him until he pay me tribute; and if I +find him on my land I will set him in chains above my water-gate.'" + +Brian felt no little dismay at this, for he had counted strongly on +alliance with this Bird Daughter. + +However, Turlough proceeded to set forth the reasons for such a message, +as he had conceived them within his shrewd mind. First, it seemed that +the pestilence had visited Gorumna in the absence of its mistress, and +that the Dark Master had caught a score of the O'Malleys who had been +wrecked in Bertraghboy Bay, promptly hanging them all. Between the +plague and the hanging Nuala had a bare fourscore men left within the +castle, and she counted Brian's offer as a ruse on the part of +O'Donnell, for she was strongly afraid of treachery. + +"There is more pride than power in that message," commented Cathbarr +easily. "The Dark Master has stripped away all her lands along the +coast, and save for Kilkieran Bay she has little left. Let us fall on +her, brother, and take what _is_ left." + +Brian laughed at this naive counsel, looking at Turlough. But the old +Wolf said nothing, brooding over the fire, and Brian reflected within +himself. + +He had come into a merciless feud, that he knew well. If he was to enter +upon it he must banish all pity from his heart, which was no easy thing +for him; but Turlough related things he had heard which speedily changed +his mind. There were tales of O'Donnell's ridings through the land, of +men slaughtered and women carried off to people his castle; of +treachery, and worse. + +It was also whispered that the Dark Master had made alliance with +certain pirates from the north coast. + +However, Brian knew that he must reach some decision regarding his own +men, and that speedily. The three talked long that night, setting aside +the question of the O'Malley alliance for the time being. Brian had some +two hundred men to house and horses to feed; he had good store of +provision and powder, but Cathbarr's little tower was utterly useless to +house the tenth of them all, while the stores would have to be +sheltered. Then O'Donnell might fling his men on them at any moment, +which would mean disaster in their present position. + +Cathbarr suggested an attack on Bertragh castle, but Turlough dissented. + +"When we strike, we must strike to win," he said shrewdly. "The Dark +Master has more men than we, and the sea is at his back, and they say he +is a warlock to boot." + +The giant stared and crossed himself at talk of warlocks, but Brian +laughed out. + +"I have a plan," he said, fingering his sword. "O'Donnell watches all +the hill-paths like a hawk, even now in winter. Those wagons are of no +great use to us, and we can store the goods here in the tower for the +present. Get it done to-night, Cathbarr, and get the accouterments from +two of those largest Scots for yourself and me." + +Turlough Wolf chuckled suddenly, and Brian knew that the old man had +pierced to something of his plan. But not all. + +"Turlough," he went on as the scheme came to him more clearly, "at dawn +ride out with a hundred men to that hill-road where first we met the +Dark Master. Hide the men in the hills, and be ready to ride hard when +the time comes. Cathbarr, before the dawn breaks have the wagons start +out with twenty of the Scots troopers as escort. Bid as many more as can +lie down in the wagons and cover up close with their muskets. Send a man +or two with them to guide to that hill-road of which I spoke. We will +ride after and catch them up shortly after sunrise." + +"Good!" roared out the giant, whose brains lay all in his ax. "And the +Dark Master will swoop down to the feast, eh?" + +"He will not," returned Brian dryly. "He will send two or threescore men +upon us, and it is my purpose to take as many of these prisoner as may +be." + +Cathbarr stared, and Turlough's gray eyes squinted up at Brian. + +"How is this, master?" he asked inquiringly. "It is too good a trap to +waste on prisoners--" + +"My plan is my plan," said Brian briefly. "I am not making war on +O'Donnell, but I intend to pay tribute to the Bird Daughter, and that +right soon. While we are gone have a score of men remain here and build +huts on the cliffs, Cathbarr." + +Turlough fell to staring into the fire, divining the plan at length, and +Cathbarr went out to fulfil his orders. Brian knew well that there was +danger in the scheme, but he determined to deal with one thing at a +time, and thoroughly. Just at present he was intent on forming an +alliance with Nuala O'Malley, for ships and cannon were needful before +he could nip the Dark Master in his hold. It was going to cost the lives +of men, and he made up his mind not to pause for that. If he was to live +and make head it must be by the strong hand alone--the Red Hand of +Tyr-owen; and he looked down at the ring of Owen Ruadh and took it for a +symbol, as his ancestors had taken it. + +Before they went to rest Turlough pointed out that if the hills were +watched he and his hundred would be noted, so Brian bade him hit back +toward Lough Corrib and then to come straight down upon the main road. +It might be that he could overcome the Dark Master's men of himself, and +if not, he would hold them until Turlough came up. + +With this plan arranged, then, the four wagons set forth under the cold +stars, with thirty Scots lying hidden and twenty riding before and +behind. With the first gleam of dawn Turlough and his hundred cantered +off to the northeast, and an hour later Brian and Cathbarr put on the +buff coats and steel jacks of the troopers, with the wide morions; took +a pair of loaded pistols, and galloped after the slow-moving wagons. +Brian wore his Spanish blade, but Cathbarr had sent his ax ahead with +the troopers. + +They caught up with the wagons when the latter were entering upon the +road proper out of the hill-track they had followed. The first snows had +vanished for the most part, leaving bleak, gaunt hills and rugged crags +that twisted with soft fog. The sun struck the fog away, however, and as +Brian rode on he gazed up at the purple mountains on his right, and down +at the purple bog to his left, and caught the gleam of the Bertraghboy +water out beyond. He laughed as he drank in the keen air of morning. + +"Best get your edge ready, Cathbarr of the Ax!" + +Cathbarr grunted, and slung the heavy hammer-ax at his saddlebow. One of +the guides, who were from the Dark Master's twoscore men, pointed to a +twisted peak on their right, whence an almost invisible spiral of gray +smoke wound up. + +"The signal, Yellow Brian," he grinned, cheerfully giving away his +secrets. In fact, all those twoscore men rather hoped that their old +master would be crushed by Brian, for so long as there was booty in +sight they cared not whom they served. + +Half an hour later Brian saw ahead of him that same bend of road where +first he and Turlough had met O'Donnell Dubh. But there was no sign of +Turlough, and he cantered ahead to see if the O'Donnell men were below. +As he did so a bullet sang past his ear, and he whirled to see half a +dozen of his men go down beneath a storm of lead from the hillsides; at +the same instant some three-score men came scrambling down from among +the rocks--those same rocks where he had first laid ambush for the Dark +Master. + +And riders were coming up on the road below! + +He was caught very neatly, and caught by more men than he had looked +for. The remainder of the twenty gathered behind him and Cathbarr, and +the thirty rose among the wagons and for a moment stopped the assault +with their musketry; but before the smoke had cleared away two-score +horsemen came thundering up the road from behind the curve, and struck. + +"Albanach! Albanach!" + +The wild yells shrilled up, and the Scots troopers knew that they were +fighting without quarter in sight, for the "Albanach," as they were +termed in Gaelic, gave and got little mercy in Ireland. The saddles of +the fallen were filled from the men in the wagons, and leaving the +musketeers to hold off the unmounted men, Brian plunged into the swirl +of fighting horsemen and joined Cathbarr. + +The odds were heavy, but the big claymores of the Scots were heavier +still. Side by side, Brian and Cathbarr plunged through the ranks, sword +biting and ax smiting, until they stood almost alone among the +O'Donnells, for their men had been borne back. Then the giant bellowed +and his ax crushed down a man stabbing at Brian's horse; Brian pistoled +one who struck at Cathbarr's back, and pressing their horses head to +tail they faced the circle of men, while behind them roared the battle. + +For a moment the O'Donnells held off, recognizing the pair, then one of +them spurred forward with a howl of delight. + +"_Dhar mo lamh_, Yellow Brian--your head to our gates!" + +Brian thrust unexpectedly, and the man went over his horse's tail as the +ring closed in. So far Cathbarr had forgotten his pistols, but now he +used them, and took a bullet-crease across his neck in return; then the +ax and sword heaved up together, and the ring surged back. A skean went +home in Cathbarr's horse, however, and the giant plunged down, but with +that Brian spurred and went at the O'Donnells with the point of his +blade. This sort of fighting was new to them, and when Brian had spitted +three of them he heard Cathbarr's ax crunch down once more. + +They were still cut off from the wagons, but there came a wild drumming +of hoofs, and wilder yells from the men on the hillside. Like a +thunder-burst, Turlough and his hundred broke on the battle. The +O'Donnells were swallowed up, stamped flat; the unmounted men fled among +the rocks, Turlough's men after them, and a dozen horsemen went +streaming down the road. + +It was hard to make the maddened Scots take prisoners, but Brian did it, +and when Turlough's men came back he found that they had in all thirty +captives. Some forty of the attackers had fallen and the rest had fled. + +Since all his captives expected no less than a quick death, Brian +ordered ten of them bound on spare horses, of which there were plenty. +He himself had lost twenty-three of his Scots, and the remaining score +of captives cheerfully took service under him. Then, picking out one of +them, he gave the man a horse and told him to ride home. + +"Tell your master, O'Donnell Dubh," he said, "that his men made this +attack on me, and therefore there is war between us." + +The man grinned and departed at a gallop, and word passed through the +men that the Dark Master had found his match at last. As to this, +however, they were fated to change their opinion later. + +"Now," said Brian to old Turlough, as between them they bound up a slash +in Cathbarr's thigh, "do you put the wounded in the wagons and begone +home again. Set out sentries against an attack from O'Donnell, and +scatter a score of men out along the roads to watch for other parties. +You might pick up another score of recruits, Turlough Wolf." + +Turlough shook his head and tugged at his beard. + +"Best take me with you, master, instead of this overgrown ox. You may +need brains in dealing with the Bird Daughter, and he has no more brains +than strew his ax-edge. Also he is wounded." + +Brian pondered this, while Cathbarr furtively shook a fist at Turlough. +There was wisdom in the advice, but on the other hand Brian did not like +to leave his precious two hundred men in care of Cathbarr. If the Dark +Master attacked suddenly, as he was like to do, brains would be more +needed than brawn. + +On the other hand, he counted on Cathbarr's open face removing the +evident suspicion that the smooth-tongued Turlough had raised in Gorumna +Isle. It had been a mistake, he saw plainly, to send such an emissary on +his mission. Picturing this woman who led her own ships to war, he +limned her in his mind as a large-boned, flat-breasted, wide-hipped +creature--and with good reason. He had seen women fighting at Drogheda +and he had seen them in other places as he rode to the rest, for in +those days many a woman took her slain lord's _skean fada_ and drew +blood for Ireland before she was cut down. And when women rode to battle +there was no mercy asked or given, from Royalist or Confederate or +Parliament man. + +Nuala O'Malley was a woman of blood, said Brian to himself, and he would +give her blood for her help. + +So he curtly refused Turlough's advice, saw that the ten bridles of his +bound and mounted captives were lined together, and beckoned to +Cathbarr. Before they rode off, however, they doffed their Scot +accouterments and took back their own garments, after which Cathbarr led +the way over the hills to Kilkieran Bay, and Turlough took command of +the force in sullen ill-humor. + +The morning was still young, for the attack had taken place a short two +hours after sunrise and had soon been quelled. Beyond a slashed thigh +and a red-creased neck, Cathbarr of the Ax was unhurt, and Brian had +received no scratch. If the ten captives wondered why they were bound +and their comrades freed, they said nothing of it. + +Even after seeing what he had of the merciless war in Ireland, Brian had +much ado in making up his mind to hold to the plan he had formed on the +previous evening. These ten ruffians were scoundrels enough, to judge by +looks, and yet they were men; and he had been raised in no such school +of war as this, where surrender meant slaughter without pity. However, +he determined to do what he could for them, and he would have held to +this determination had it not been for what chanced when they rode down +to the little fishing village where Turlough had met the O'Malley men. + +They arrived just as the evening was darkling, after a hard day's ride. + +As they came within sight of the place, which lay at the head of +Kilkieran water, Brian made out that a small galley was pulled up on +shore, and there were a number of men about the huts. Upon the approach +of the two chiefs with their file of captives there was an instant +scurry of figures; women ran to the huts, and a dozen or more roughly +clad men appeared with pikes and muskets. Brian held up his hand in sign +of peace and rode slowly onward, Cathbarr at his side, to within a dozen +paces of the huts. + +"Who are you?" cried out one of the musketeers. "Be off!" + +"Bark less, dog," said Brian, scorn in his eye. "We seek Nuala O'Malley. +Take us out to Gorumna Isle in your boat." + +"What seek ye with the Bird Daughter?" queried the other suspiciously. + +"Her business, not yours." + +The seamen gazed at them doubtfully, then a number of other men came +from the huts, well-armed. One of these set up a cry, pointing at the +captives, and a burst of yells answered him from the rest. Next instant +Brian and Cathbarr had their weapons out and were facing an excited +crowd of men. + +"Be silent, dogs!" bellowed Cathbarr, and his voice quelled the uproar. +"What means this attack? Would you have the Bird Daughter strip you with +whips, fools?" + +The spokesman stood out, his dark face quivering with fury as he +pointed. + +"That is as it may be, axman, but first those bound men shall die. One +is the man who slew my brother, nailing him to his own door till he +died; another is he who burned Lame Art's wife and child last +Whit-Sunday--" + +"There is he who lopped my husband's hands and nose! Slay him!" shrieked +out a hag as she burst forward. Brian held out his sword and she drew +back, but instantly others had taken up the cry. + +"And the devil who hung Blind Ulick!" + +"There is he who--" + +In that brief moment Brian heard things too horrible for speech. The ten +bound men had grouped together, some pale as death, others laughing +defiantly. But as the crowd surged forward Brian held up his sword, and +they paused to listen; he knew now that there was no more pity in his +heart for these black ruffians of O'Donnell's. + +"Let the Bird Daughter render judgment upon them," he shouted. "Friends, +take us to the Bird Daughter and let her do as she will, for I bear +these men to her alone." + +At that the crowd fell silent, but their leader gave a rapid order, and +half a dozen men ran down to the strand. Another order, and the maddened +villagers gave back as the seamen closed about Brian and Cathbarr and +their captives. + +"Come," said the leader roughly. "You shall go to Gorumna Isle with us, +strange men, but I do not think that you shall ever come back again." + +"Nor do I," grinned Cathbarr in the ear of Brian, as they left their +horses to the fishermen, unbound the prisoners from their steeds, and +made their way down to the galley. Brian looked at his friend, and they +both smiled grimly. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BIRD DAUGHTER. + + +"Now, _there_ is a castle worth the taking, Yellow Brian!" said +Cathbarr. + +Brian nodded, his eyes shining in the starlight. After a pull of a long +seven miles down the bay, the galley had rounded into the northern end +of Gorumna Isle, guided by a high beacon set among the stars. As they +drew nearer Brian made out that this beacon was set on the tower of a +high pile of masonry black against the sky, lit here and there by +cressets, and it was plain that the Bird Daughter kept good watch since +they had more than once been hailed in passing the islands. + +Once turned into the harbor, Brian found suddenly that they were among +ships, many of them small galleys, but two of good size which bore +riding-lights. Again they responded to hails, and without warning a few +torches blazed out ahead of them. Then it was seen that the castle was +built with its lower part close on the water, and its upper part rising +on the crag. In reality, as he found later, it was two castles in one, +as of necessity it had to be. Were the opposite isles held by an enemy, +and hostile ships in the little harbor, the higher towers running up the +crag could dominate all, and the lower castle could be abandoned without +danger. + +Even in the starlight Brian's trained soldier's eye made out something +of this. Then the leader of the seamen came and stood beside them, for +during the two-hours' trip he had talked somewhat with Cathbarr and had +come to look with more respect on Brian himself. That was only natural, +for seamen ever like those men who talk least. + +"Strangers," he said with rough courtesy, "a word in your ear. If you +would gain speech with the Lady Nuala, deal not with her as with me. +Send in your names and your business, and you may perchance get to see +her in the morning, or a week hence, as she may choose." + +"Thanks," answered Brian. "But my will is not like to hang upon hers." + +The seaman shrugged his shoulders, the oars were put in, and they +floated up to where the torches flared. Here there was a landing-place +of hewn stone, with a gate lying open beyond it, and armed men waiting. +One of these, from his bunch of huge keys and air of authority, Brian +knew for the seneschal. + +"_M'anam go'n Dhia!_" he growled, peering down into the boat as it +ground on the stone, "what fish have you there?" + +"Two salmon and ten herring, Muiertach," laughed one of the men. Brian +and his friend stepped out while the ten prisoners were prodded after +them, and Brian found the seneschal looking him over with some wonder, +hands on hips. + +"Well! A giant with a devil's ax, and Cuculain, the Royal Hound, come to +life again! Who are you, yellow man, and who is this axman, and who are +these ten bound men?" + +Brian was minded to answer curtly enough, but he looked at the seneschal +and remembered the seaman's kindly warning. Under his eye the laugh +withered suddenly on the seneschal's lips. + +"These ten men belong to me, Muiertach. Go, tell the Bird Daughter that +Brian Buidh and Cathbarr of the Ax have come to her, bringing tribute as +she demanded." + +Now it was that Cathbarr, who had asked no questions all that day, +perceived for the first time the reason of their fighting and hard +riding, and what the manner of that tribute was. He broke into a great +bellow of laughter so that the rough-clad seamen stared at him in +wonder, but at a word from Brian he quieted instantly. + +"In the morning the message shall be delivered, Brian Buidh," returned +burly Muiertach with a glimmer of respect in his voice. "And now render +up your weapons, so that we may treat you as guests--" + +"So you sea-rovers are afraid of two men, lest they capture your hold?" + +Brian's biting words brought a deep flush to Muiertach's face. + +"No weapons do we render," he went on, his voice cold as his eyes. "We +come as guests, seneschal, and our business is not with you. Take these +ten men to your dungeons, take us to guest chambers and give us to eat, +and see that we have speech with the Bird Daughter before to-morrow's +sun is high." + +At this Muiertach growled something into his beard, but turned with a +gesture of assent. His men closed around the captives, while Brian and +Cathbarr followed him into the castle, the giant still chuckling to +himself with great rumbles of laughter. + +"Let strict watch be kept over these two," said Muiertach in English to +one of the torchmen who accompanied them, thinking he would not be +understood. + +"You may yet get a touch of the whip for that order," said Brian in the +same tongue. + +Stricken with amazement, Muiertach turned and stared at him, jaw +dropping, while Cathbarr glanced from one to the other in perplexity. +Brian smiled. + +"Lead on, and talk less." + +With tenfold respect, the seneschal obeyed. Now Brian saw that this +castle was indeed a stronghold, and might easily be defended by fewer +men than it had. The inner walls of the lower castle were well lined +with falcons and falconets, while on the towers above peered out heavier +cannon, which he took for culverins from their length of nose. Crossing +the courtyard, they entered the building itself, and Muiertach led them +through upward-winding corridors, studded with cressets and with here +and there a recessed _prie-dieu_ in the wall. + +From the snatches of talk behind the doors they passed, Brian guessed +that this lower castle was occupied by the garrison. In this he was +right, for with torchmen before and behind them they emerged into the +cold night air again and climbed upward, coming to a gate in the wall of +the upper castle. This stood open, but it clanged shut behind them, and +after crossing a steep courtyard they entered a second and broader +corridor. + +Muiertach led them up a long flight of stairs, then another, and finally +flung open a heavy door. It was evident that they were lodged in one of +the towers. + +"Rest sound and fear not to eat our food," said the seneschal. +"_Beannacht leath!_" + +"Blessing on you," responded Brian and Cathbarr together, and entered. + +For a wonder, Brian found that the chamber was lighted with candles, +which Cathbarr examined with no little awe. Also, it contained a very +good bed, on which the giant looked with suspicion. The hard stone walls +were hung with tattered tapestries, and before they had settled well +into their chairs two men entered with food and wine of the best. + +"Not so bad," smiled Brian as they ate. "How come your wounds, brother?" + +"Those scratches? Bah!" And the giant gurgled down half a quart of +Canary at a stretch. "You are not going to sleep on that bed of cloths?" + +"That I am," laughed Brian, "and soon, for I am overweary with riding. +Try it, Cathbarr, and you will be glad of it." + +"Not I! Since there is no bracken here the floor is good enough for me. +Eh, but this sea-woman will have a thought in her mind over your +message, brother!" + +Brian chuckled, but he was too weary with that day's work to talk or +think, and when the remnants of their meal had been removed and their +door shut, he gratefully sought the first bed he had known for weeks. +After some laughing persuasion he prevailed on the suspicious Cathbarr +to blow out the candles, and upon that he fell asleep. + +When he wakened it was broad daylight, and Cathbarr was still snoring +with his ax looped about his wrist as usual. Brian, feeling like a new +man, went to the open casement and looked out. + +He found himself gazing through a three-foot stone wall, and as he was +doubtless in one of the towers, this argued that the lower walls were +twelve feet thick or more. The lower castle was hid from him, but his +view was toward the upper bay and included the harbor. The two larger +ships, which were small caracks, but large for the west coast in that +day, bore six guns on a side, and Brian saw that they were being +scrubbed and made shipshape. The Bird Daughter must be a woman of some +scrupulousness, he reflected. Beyond the brown sails of two +fishing-boats, and low, storm-boding clouds over the farther hills, +there was nothing more in sight. + +As Cathbarr still wore his long mail-shirt, Brian kicked him awake, and +after his first bellowing yawn their door opened and men brought in jars +of water. When the giant's wounds had been dressed, under protest, and +they had broken their fast, the seneschal appeared. + +"Chieftains," he said respectfully, "the Lady Nuala has received your +message and will have speech with you this afternoon. Until then she +wishes that you keep your chamber, since she knows not your mind in this +visit." + +"That is but fair," assented Brian. + +Cathbarr grumbled, but there was no help for it, since they were +virtually prisoners. The day passed slowly, and toward noon storm drew +down on the harbor and snow eddied in their casement. With that, they +fell to polishing their weapons; Brian procured a razor and a +much-needed shave, and Cathbarr furbished up his huge ax until it glowed +like silver. + +Finally Muiertach appeared. Brian slung the great sword across his back, +and they followed the seneschal down to the courtyard. Here they were +joined by the captive O'Donnells and the seamen who had brought them to +the castle, and Muiertach led them to the great hall. + +The father of this O'Malley woman must have been a man of parts, thought +Brian as he gazed around. The hall was scantily filled with, perhaps, +three-score men ranged along the walls, and at the farther end was a low +dais where a huge log fire roared high. The beams were hung with a few +pennons and ship-ensigns, and on the dais were placed a half-dozen +chairs. Behind one of these stood two women, and in the chair, calmly +facing the hall, sat the Bird Daughter. + +Brian caught his breath sharply, and his blue eyes flickered flame as he +saw her. Never in his life had his gaze met such a woman--not in all the +land of Spain or elsewhere in Ireland. + +At this time Nuala O'Malley was twenty years old, and ten of those years +had been passed either on shipboard or here in Gorumna Isle. As one +chronicler describes her, "She was not tall, but neither was she small +of stature, and when she stood on a ship's deck there was no tossing +could cause her to stumble. Her hair was not blue, but neither was it +black, and her eyes were very deep and bright, violet in color, and set +wide in her head. Her nose was neither small nor large, her cheeks were +ever red with the wind off the sea, her mouth was finely curved, but +tight-set withal, and she had more chin than women are wont to have. She +was very lissom in body, but her head never drooped." + +And that is a most excellent description of the Bird Daughter, in fewer +words than most men might use to-day. + +But of all this Brian noted at the moment only that before him sat a +girl-woman whose calm poise and confident power struck out at him like a +vibrant presence. Like himself, she wore a cloak of dark red, but no +steel jack glittered beneath it; there was a torque of ancient gold +about her neck, and her hair was caught up and hidden beneath a small +cap of red. + +Brian thought of the woman he had painted in his mind, then laughed +softly. She caught the laugh on his face, and comprehended it, and was +pleased; then as she watched him very calmly, it seemed to Brian that +her sheer beauty was a thing of deception. It must be, for she was +surely a woman of blood. He had known enough of beautiful women, who +played the parts of men, to know that on the far side of their beauty +was neither mercy nor love nor compassion, that their lovers were many +steps to ambition, and that they were venomous. So his smile died away, +and his blue eyes glittered cold and dark, and this the Bird Daughter +saw also. + +Now, there was no man on the dais save Muiertach, who mounted the two +steps with his keys jangling. As Brian would have gone after him, two +pikemen stepped forward to intervene. Brian looked into their eyes and +they drew back again. He and Cathbarr mounted to the dais, and he bowed +a low, courtly, Spanish bow, of which the Bird Daughter took no note. +Instead he heard her voice, very low and penetrating, and she was +speaking to the two pikemen. + +"Go out into the courtyard," she said, "and give each other five lashes. +This is because you dared insult a guest, and because you drew back +after insulting him. Go!" + +The two pikemen, rather pale under their beards, handed over their pikes +to comrades and strode out of the hall. She turned to Brian, speaking +still in Gaelic: + +"Welcome, Brian Buidh. You have come to bring me tribute?" + +"Yes, Lady Nuala, and the tribute is these ten men of the Dark +Master's." + +She looked at Cathbarr; her eyes swept over his ax. Then she looked +again at Brian, and spoke to Muiertach in English. + +"Truly, I have seldom seen such a man as this--" + +A swift look of warning flashed over the seneschal's face, and Brian +laughed. + +"Lady," he said in the same tongue, "he is Cathbarr of the Ax, and he +will be a good man to stand with us against the Dark Master." + +She betrayed no surprise, except that a little tinge of red crept to her +temples. + +"I did not know you spoke English, Brian Buidh. Still, it was not to +Cathbarr that I referred." + +At that it was Brian's turn to redden, and mentally he cursed himself. +There was no evil in this woman's heart, he saw at once. For an instant +he was confused and taken aback. Then she smiled, slowly rose, and +tendered him her hand. Going to one knee, he put her fingers to his +lips. + +"Now sit, Yellow Brian," she said, "and let us talk. First, these +captives of yours. Do you in truth bring them as a tribute? How do I +know they are O'Donnell's men?" + +"Ask these seamen of yours," laughed Brian, seating himself beside her. +Cathbarr remained standing and leaning on his ax, looking like some +giant of the old times. + +She took him at his word, and when she had heard from the seamen certain +tales of what cruelties the ten prisoners had done, her violet eyes +suddenly turned black and an angry pallor drove across her face. + +"That is enough," she interrupted curtly. "Take them out and hang them." + +The men were led away, and Brian saw that her hands were tightly +clenched, but whether in fury or in fear of herself he could not tell. +Then she turned to him, looking straightly into his face, and on the +instant Brian knew that if this girl-woman bade him go to his death, he +would go, laughing. + +"Tell me of yourself, Brian Buidh. Of what family are you? By the ring +on your finger you are an O'Neill; yet I have heard nothing of such a +man as yourself leading that sept. When your messenger came to me, I +read cunning in his face, and took it for a trap set by the Dark Master; +but now that I have seen you and Cathbarr of the Ax, I will take fealty +from you if you wish to serve me." + +Brian smiled a little. + +"Serve you I would, lady, but not in fealty. I take fealty and do not +give it. My name is indeed Brian Buidh, and as for that ring, it was a +gift from Owen Ruadh." + +"Owen Ruadh died two days since," she said softly, watching his face. "I +had word of it this morning." + +At that he started, and Cathbarr's eyes widened in fear of magic. Owen +Ruadh had lain on the other side of Ireland, and three months would have +been fast for such news to travel. But Brian nodded sadly. + +"Carrier pigeons, eh?" he said in English and paused. He knew not why, +but his loneliness seemed stricken into his heart on a sudden; he who +neither explained nor asked for explanation from any man, felt impelled +to open his life to this girl-woman. He crushed down the impulse, yet +not entirely. + +"Perhaps, Lady Nuala, there shall be greater confidence between us in +time, and so I truly desire. But know this much--I am better born than +any man in Ireland--aye, than Clanrickard himself; and I am here in the +west to seek a new name and a new power. It is in my mind to take +O'Donnell's castle from him, lady. I have some two hundred men, of whom +the Dark Master himself lent me twoscore, and in alliance with your +ships we could reduce him." + +"How is this, Brian? You say he _lent_ you twoscore men?" + +He laughed and explained the fashion of that loan; and when he had +finished a great laugh ran down the hall, and the Bird Daughter herself +was chuckling. Then he waited for her answer, and it was not long in +coming. + +"There is some reason in your plan, Brian Buidh, but more reason against +it. The castle that O'Donnell holds was formerly my father's. If you +held it, there would be no peace between us, unless you gave fealty to +me, which I see plainly you will not do. I claim that castle, and shall +always claim it." + +"Then it seems that I am held in a cleft stick," smiled Brian easily, +"since I will give fealty to none save the king, or Parliament. You are +allied with the Roundheads, I understand?" + +She nodded, watching him gravely. + +"Yes. Cromwell is master of the country, and I am not minded to butt my +head against a wall, Brian Buidh. If I am to hold to the little that is +left me, I shall need all my strength." + +"And that is not much, lady. Your coasts are plague-smitten, your men +reduced, and Cromwell has not yet won all the country. Galway will be +the last to fall, indeed. But as to Bertragh Castle, why should you not +sell your rights in it to me?" + +At his first words a helpless anger flashed into her face, succeeded by +a still more helpless pride. + +"No, I will not sell what I have been unable to conquer back, Brian +Buidh. If there were any way out of this difficulty with honor, I would +take it; for I tell you frankly that I would make alliance with you if I +could." + +Brian gazed at her, reading her heart, and fighting vainly against the +impulse that rose within him. Twice he tried to speak and could not, +while she watched the conflict in his face and wondered. He wished +vainly that he had Turlough's cunning brain to aid him now. + +"Lady," he said at last, biting his lips, "I will do this. I will give +you fealty for the holding of Bertragh Castle, keeping it ever at your +service, but for this alone. When we have taken it, it may be that I +shall render it back after I have won a better for myself; yet, because +I would sit at your side and have equal honor with you, and because we +have need of each other, I will give you the service that I would grant +to no man alive. Is it good?" + +For an instant he thought that she was about to break forth in eager +assent, then she sank back in her chair, while breathless silence filled +the hall. She gazed down at the floor, her face flushing deeply, and +finally looked up again, sadly. + +"I do not desire pity or compassion, Brian Buidh," she said simply, and +her eyes held tears of helpless anger. + +Then Brian saw that she had pierced his mind, for which he was both +sorry and glad. He knew well there were other castles to be had for the +taking, and there was nothing to prevent his riding on past Slyne Head +and winning them--except for his meeting with this girl-woman. Therefore +he lied, and if she knew it, she gave no sign. + +"You mistake me, lady," he said earnestly, his blue eyes softening +darkly. + +"I propose this only as a stepping-stone to my own ambition. Soon there +will be a sweep of war through the coasts, and I would have a roof over +my head. Is it good?" + +She rose and held out her hands to him. + +"It is good, Brian Buidh. Give me fealty-oath, for Bertragh Castle +alone." + +And he gave it, and his words were drowned in a roar of cheers that +stormed down the hall, for the O'Malleys had heard all that passed. + +An hour later Cathbarr of the Ax was despatched in a swift galley to +bear the tidings to Turlough, and bid him make ready for a swift and +sharp campaign. + +Through the remainder of that afternoon and evening Brian sat beside the +Bird Daughter, and he found his tongue loosened most astonishingly, for +him. He told her some part of his story, though not his name, while in +turn he learned of her life, and of how her father and mother had been +slain by O'Donnell through blackest treachery. + +The more he saw of her, the more clearly he read her heart and the more +he gave her deeper fealty than had passed his lips in the oath of +service. As for her, she had met Blake and others of the Roundhead +captains on her cruises, deadly earnest men all; but in the earnestness +of Brian she found somewhat more besides, though she said nothing of it +then. It was arranged between them that in three days they would meet +before Bertragh Castle, by sea and land, and the Dark Master would be +speedily wiped out. + +With the morning Brian set forth to join his men in the largest sailing +galley, for a wild gale was sweeping down from Iar Connaught. But the +O'Malleys were skilled seamen who laughed at wind and waves, and Brian +kissed the hand of the Bird Daughter as he stepped aboard, with never a +thought of the storm of men that was coming down upon them both, and of +the blacker storm which the Dark Master was brewing in his heart. + + +TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. Don't forget this magazine is issued weekly, +and that you will get the continuation of this story without waiting a +month. + + + + +Nuala O'Malley + +by H. Bedford-Jones + +Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc. + + +This story began in the All-Story Weekly for December 30. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +HOW BRIAN WAS NETTED. + + +The Dark Master sat in his dark hall, brooding. + +It was a bad morning, for there was a sweep of wind and black cloud +mingled with snow bearing out of the north; and since the great hall, +with its huge fireplace, was the warmest part of the castle, as many of +the men as could do so had drifted thither, but without making any undue +disturbance over it. + +For that matter, they might have passed unseen, since the hall was black +as night save for a single cresset above the fireplace. Here sat the +Dark Master, a little oaken table before him on which his breakfast had +rested, and at his side crouched a long, lean wolfhound that nuzzled him +unheeded. On the other side the table sat the old _seanachie_, who was +blind, and who fingered the strings of his harp with odd twangings and +mutterings, but without coherence, for O'Donnell had bade him keep +silence. + +"Go and see what the weather is," commanded the Dark Master. A man rose +and ran outside, while other men came in with wood. Their master +motioned them away, although the fire had sunk down into embers. + +"A gale from the north, which is turning to the eastward, with snow, +master." + +"Remain outside, and bring me word what changes hap, and of all that you +see or hear. Waste no time about it." + +The Dark Master drew his cloak about his humped shoulders, and in the +flickering dim light from overhead his face stood out in all its ghastly +pallor, accentuated by the dead black hair and mustache. But his eyes +were burning strangely, and when they saw it the men drew back, and more +than one sought the outer chill in preference to staying. + +Now O'Donnell Dubh stared into the embers and muttered below his breath, +while, as if in response, a little flickering whirlwind of gray ash rose +up and fell back again, so that it blew over the embers and deadened +them. The muscles of the Dark Master's face contracted until his teeth +flashed out in a silent snarl. + +"I could have slain, and I did not," he whispered as if to himself. "But +there is still time, and I will not be a fool again!" + +The watching men shivered, for it seemed that the wind scurried down the +wide chimney and again blew up the gray ash until the embers glowed +through a white coating. But the wind wrought more than this, for it +brought down from the gray clouds a whispering murmur that drifted +through the hall, and in that murmur were mingled the sounds of beating +hoofs and ringing steel and shrieking men. + +"Are watchers posted over the hills and the paths and the Galway roads?" +spoke out the Dark Master as he gazed into the ashes. + +"They are watching, master," answered a deep voice from the darkness. + +Suddenly the wolfhound raised its head and stared into the ashes also, +as if it saw something there that no man saw, for the bristles lifted on +its neck, and it whined a little. O'Donnell dropped his hand to the thin +muzzle, and the dog was quiet again. But after that the men stared at +the fireplace with frightened eyes. + +"There is still time, though one has escaped me," said the Dark Master, +looking up suddenly at his sightless harper, who seemed to fall +atrembling beneath the look. "The one who has escaped matters not, for +his bane comes not at my hands. It is the other whom I shall slay--Brian +Buidh of the hard eyes. Then the Bird Daughter. But it seems to me that +one stands in my path of whom I do not know." + +He brooded over the ashes as his head sank between his shoulders like a +turtle's head. Then once again the wind swooped down on the castle, and +whistled down the chimney, and filled the great hall with a thin noise +like the death-rattle of men. The cresset wavered and fell to smoking +overhead. + +The Dark Master reached his hand across the table and caught the hand of +the blind harper and spread it out on the oak. A little shudder shook +the old man, and as if against his will he spread out his other hand +likewise, his two hands lying between those of the Dark Master. Then +there fell a terrible and awestruck silence on the hall. + +The stillness was perfect, and continued for a long while. Slowly +occurred a weird and strange thing, for, although no blast whimpered +down the chimney, the ashes fell away from the embers, which began to +glow more redly and set out the forms of the Dark Master and the blind +harper in a ruddy light. Suddenly a man pointed to the feet of the Dark +Master, and would have cried out but that another man struck him back. + +For the ashes had drifted out from the fireplace, flake after flake, and +were settling about the feet of the Dark Master beneath the table. They +rose slowly into a little gray pile; then one of the men shrieked in +horror at the sight, and the Dark Master threw out his head. + +"Slay him," he said quietly and drew in his head once more, staring at +the table. + +There was a thudding blow and a groan, then the stillness of death. The +ashes were quiet; the fire glowed ruddily. After a little there came a +soft whirl of soot down the chimney, blackening the embers. The soot +rose and fell, rose and fell, again and again; it was as if an eddying +draft of wind were trying to raise it. Finally it was lifted, but it +only whirled about and about over the embers, like a shape drawn +together by some uncanny force. + +The Dark Master raised his head as a clash of steel and the voice of the +watcher came from the outer doorway. + +"Master, the blast thickens with black fog!" + +"Remain on watch," said O'Donnell, and his head fell. + +But through the hall men's hands went out to one another in the +darkness. For storm-driven fog was not a thing that many men had seen +even on the west coast, and when it did happen men said that a warlock +was at work. There was not far to seek for the warlock in this case, +muttered the O'Donnells. + +Now the Dark Master looked into the fireplace and that whirling figure +of soot raised itself anew and began its unearthly dance over the +embers. After no long time men saw that the pile of gray ashes under the +table was lifting also, lifting and whirling as though the wind spun it; +but there was no wind. + +"There is a man to be blinded," said the Dark Master. "Let him be +blinded with fog and snow, and the men with him, and let the wind come +out of the east and drive him to this place." + +Slowly, so slowly 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--Cuculain of the yellow hair--the Royal Hound of +Ulster smites them and scatters them--" + +"_Liar!_" + +With the hoarse word the Dark Master leaned forward and smote the blind +harper with his fist, so that the old man slid from his chair senseless. +Upon that the Dark Master swung around with his teeth bared and his head +drawn in like the head of a snake about to strike. + +"Lights!" he roared. "Lights! Bear the _seanachie_ to his chamber, and +send men to ring in the harbor and build beacons on the headlands. +Hasten, you dogs, or I'll strip the flesh from you with whips!" + +Under his voice and his flaming eyes the hall sprang into life, while +the men carried out the blind harper and one of their own number who had +been stricken with madness at what he had seen. Then the hall blazed up +with cressets, logs were flung on the fire, and parties of men set out +to build beacons and guard the bay as the Dark Master had given command. +And when word was spread abroad among the others of what had chanced in +the hall that morning, Red Murrough, the Dark Master's lieutenant, swore +a great oath. + +"If that Cuculain of whom the _seanachie_ spoke be not the man Brian +Buidh, then may I go down to hell alive!" + +And the men, who feared Red Murrough's heavy hand and hated him, +muttered that he would be like to travel that same road whether living +or dead, in which there was some truth. + +While these things took place in the hall at Bertragh--and they were +told later to Brian by many who had seen them and heard them, all +telling the same tale--Brian and his sailing galley was making hard +weather of it. Six of the O'Malleys had been sent with him to manage the +galley, for he was no seaman and had placed himself in their hands; and +after rounding into Kilkieran Bay from the castle harbor and reaching +out across the mouth of the bay toward Carna, intending to reach +Cathbarr's tower direct, the blast came down on them, and even the +O'Malleys looked stern. + +Sterner yet they looked when Brian cried that Golam Head was veiling in +fog behind them, and with that the wind swerved almost in a moment and +swept down out of the east, bearing fog and snow with it. Nor was this +all, for the shift of wind bore against the seas and swept down +currents and whirlpools out of the bay, and after the snow and black fog +shrieked down upon them, the seamen straightway fell to praying. + +"Get up and bail!" shouted Brian, kicking them to their feet, for the +seas were sweeping over the counter. The helmsman groaned and bade him +desist, and almost at the same instant their mast crashed over the bow, +breaking the back of one seaman, and the galley broached to. + +With that the O'Malleys ceased praying and fell to work with a will, +getting out the sweeps and bailing. The mingling of snow, shrieking +wind, and black fog had been too much for their superstitious natures, +but made no impression on Brian, for the simple reason that he did not +see why fog and wind should not come together. After he understood their +fears better he shamed them into savage energy by his laughter, and +since the broken-backed man had gone overboard, took his sweep and set +his muscles to work. + +They made shift to keep the craft before the wind, but presently Brian +found that half the men's fear sprang from the fact that the fog and +snow blinded them, shutting out the land, and that the shifting wind had +completely bewildered them. When he asked for their compass, their +leader grunted: + +"No need have we for a compass on this boat, Brian Buidh, save when +warlocks turn the fog and wind upon us. I warrant that were it not for +the fog, we would be safe in port ere now. As it is, the Virgin alone +knows where we are or whither going." + +"This is some of the Dark Master's wizardry," growled out another. +"Before we hung those men of his last night, they said that the winds +would bear word of it to the dark one, _cead mile mollaght_ on him!" + +"Add another thousand curses for me," ordered Brian, "but keep to the +bailing, or I'll give you a taste of my foot! And no more talk of +warlocks." + +The five men fell silent, and indeed they needed all their breath, for +the struggle was a desperate one. Instead of lessening, the fog only +increased with time, and even Brian began to perceive the marvel in it +as swirl after swirl of darkness swept over them. Yet, since the wind +was from the east, he reasoned, it would naturally blow out the fog from +the bogs and low lands. But this explanation was received in dour +silence by the men, so he said no more. + +There was no doubt that Cathbarr had reached home safely, since the +night had been fair enough for the winter season. An hour passed, and +then another, still without a lessening of the eery storm; and the nerve +of the seamen was beginning to give way under the strain, when the +helmsman let out a wild yell: + +"A light ahead! A beacon!" + +The rowers twisted about with shouts of joy, and Brian perceived a +faint, ruddy light against the sky. Also, the fog began to lessen +somewhat; and upon making out that the beacon undoubtedly came from a +high tower or crag, the shout passed around that they had headed back to +Gorumna with the shifting wind. + +This heartened them all greatly, the more so since the gale drove them +straight onward toward the beacon. The fog closed down again, but the +ruddy glare pierced through it; and of a sudden there was no more fog +about them--only a blinding thick snow, which made all things grotesque. +Then two more beacons were made out, lower than the first, and the men +yelled joyously that fires had been lighted on either side the harbor to +guide them in. And so they had been, but otherwise than the men thought. + +Half frozen with the cold, they drove on through the snow and spray +until at length they swept in between the guiding fires and scanned the +shores for landing. Then the snow ceased, though the hurricane howled +down behind them with redoubled fury; and as they floated in against a +low, rocky shore, silence of wild consternation fell on them all. For +they had come to Bertragh Castle, and fifty feet away a score of men +were waiting, while others were running down with torches. + +Even in that moment of terrible dismay, Brian noted their muskets, and +how the lighted matches flared like fireflies in the wind. + +"Trapped!" groaned one of the men, and they would have rowed out again +into the teeth of the storm had not Brian stayed them. + +"No use, comrades. They have muskets, and there are cannon up above. Row +in, and if we must die, then let us die like men and not cowards." + +Seeing no help for it, the men growled assent, and they drifted slowly +in, all standing ready with drawn swords, while Brian's Spanish blade +flared in the prow. Then in the midst of the gathered men he saw a dark +figure with hunched shoulders, sword in hand. As he turned to the seamen +behind him, there was a glitter in his blue eyes colder than the icy +blast behind them. + +"There is the Dark Master, comrades! Let him be first to fall." + +They drove up on the shore, and Brian leaped out, with the men behind +him. Still the group above stood silent until the voice of O'Donnell +sheared through the gale. "Fire, and drop Yellow Brian first." + +So there was to be no word of quarter! As the thought shot like fire +through Brian's mind, he leaped forward with a shout. A ragged stream of +musketry broke out from the men gathered on the higher rocks, and he +heard the bullets whistle. He paid no heed to the seamen who followed +him, however. His eyes were fixed on the Dark Master's figure, and with +only one thought in his mind he plunged ahead. + +More and more muskets spattered out; a bullet splashed against his jack, +and another; something caught his steel cap and tore it away, and a hot +stab shot through his neck. But the group of men was only a dozen paces +from him now, and a wild yell broke from his lips as he saw O'Donnell +step forward to meet him. + +Then only did he remember Turlough's speech on the day of that first +meeting with the Dark Master--"The master of all men at craft and the +match of most men at weapons"--and he knew that, despite the hunched +shoulders, this O'Donnell must be no mean fighter. But the next instant +he was gazing into the evil eyes, and their blades had crossed. + +Flaming with his anger, Brian forced the attack savagely; then a sharp +thrust against his jack showed him that O'Donnell was armed with a +rapier, and he fell to the point with some caution. With the first +moment of play, he knew that he faced a master of fence; yet almost upon +the thought his blade ripped into the Dark Master's arm. + +Involuntarily he drew back, but O'Donnell caught the falling sword in +his left hand and lunged forward viciously. Just as the blades met +again, Brian saw a match go to a musket barely six paces away. He +whirled aside, but too late, for the musket roared out, and a drift of +stars poured into his brain. Then he fell. + +Like a flash the Dark Master leaped at the man who had fired and spitted +him through the throat; the others drew back in swift terror, for +O'Donnell was frothing at the mouth, and his face was the face of a +madman. With a bitter laugh he turned and rolled Brian over with his +foot. The five seamen had gone down under the bullets. + +"He is only stunned," said Red Murrough. "Shall I finish it?" + +"If you want to die with him, yes. Carry him in, and we will nail him up +to the gates to-morrow." + +And the clouds fell asunder, and the stars came out, cold and beautiful. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE NAILING OF BRIAN. + + +Brian woke in darkness, with pain tearing at his head and heaviness upon +his hands and feet. When he tried to put his hand to his head, that +heaviness was explained; for he could not, and thick iron struck dull +against stone. + +He lay there, and thought leaped into his brain, and he felt very bitter +of spirit, but chiefly for those men who had come with him, and because +he had failed before the Dark Master's hand. + +It was cold, bitterly cold, and thin snow lay around him, so that he +knew that he was in some tower or prison that faced to the east. It was +from that direction that the snow had driven, as he had sore cause to +know, and he wondered if the Dark Master had had any hand in that +driving. But this he was not to know for many days. + +It was the cold which had awakened him from his unconsciousness, he +guessed. By dint of shifting his position somewhat, he managed to get +his back against a wall, and so got his hands to his head. In such +fashion he made out that his hair was matted and frozen with blood, and +his neck also, where a bullet had plowed through the muscles on the +right side. His head-wound was no more than a jagged tear which had +split half his scalp, but had not hurt the bone, as he found after some +feeling. Then he dropped his hands again, for the chains that bound him +to the wall were very heavy. It must be night, for light would come +where snow had come, and there was no light. + +Now, having found that he was not like to die, at least from his wounds, +he set about stretching to lie down again, and found some straw on the +floor. He drew it up with his feet and gathered it about him; it was +dank and smelled vilely, but at the least it gave his frozen body some +warmth, so that he fell asleep after a time. + +When he wakened again, it was to find men around him and a narrow strip +of cold sunlight coming through a high slit in the wall of his prison. +From the sound of breakers that seemed to roar from below him, he +conjectured that he was in a sea-facing tower of the castle, in which he +was right. + +The men, who were led by Red Murrough, gave him bread and meat and +wine, but they offered no word and would answer no questions. So he ate +and drank, and felt life and strength creeping back into his bones. He +concluded that it must be the day after his arrival. + +Now Red Murrough beckoned to the hoary old seneschal, whose red-rimmed +eyes glittered evilly. The old man shook his keys and stooped over +Brian, unlocking the hasp which bound him to the wall-ring. The +oppressive silence of these men struck a chill through Brian, but he +came to his feet readily enough as Murrough jerked his shoulder. + +He followed out into a corridor, and the men closed around him, going +with him down-stairs and along other passageways. Brian wondered as to +his fate and what manner of death he was going to die; yet it seemed to +him that death was an impossible and far-off thing where he was +concerned. + +He expected no less than death from the Dark Master, but at the same +time it was very hard to believe that he was going to that fate. He was +by no means afraid to die, but he felt that he would like to see the +Bird Daughter once more. Also, he had always thought of fate as coming +to him suddenly and swiftly in battle or foray; and to be deliberately +done to death in cold blood by hanging or otherwise was not as he would +have wished. + +"At least," he thought without any great comfort, "Cathbarr and Turlough +will avenge me on the Dark Master--though I had liefer be living when +that was done!" + +In one of the larger and lower corridors they came on two men bearing a +body, sewed for burial. Murrough stopped his party and growled out +something. + +"It is the _seanachie_," answered one of the bearers. "Since the Dark +Master struck him yester-morn he has not spoken, and he died last +night." + +Upon this Red Murrough crossed himself, as did the rest, muttered into +his tangle of red beard, and motioned Brian forward. + +This wider passage gave through a doorway upon the great hall. There was +no dais, but the Dark Master was seated before the huge fireplace, his +wolf-hound crouched down at his side. The hall was pierced near the roof +with openings, and lower down with loopholes, so that when the sun shone +outside it was bright enough. + +Red Murrough led Brian forward, the clank of the heavy chain-links +echoing hollowly through the place, but O'Donnell Dubh did not look up +until the two men stood a scant four paces from him. Then his head came +out from between his rounded shoulders and his eyes spat fire at Brian. + +"A poor ending to proud talk, Brian Buidh!" + +Brian tried to smile, but with ill success, for he was chilled to the +bone and there was blood on his face. + +"I am not yet dead, O'Donnell." + +"You will be soon enough," the Dark Master chuckled, and the hall +thrilled with evil laughter. In the eyes of all Brian had proven himself +the weaker man and therefore deserved his fate. "What of this O'Malley +journey of yours, eh?" + +Brian made no answer, save that his strong lips clamped shut, and his +blue eyes narrowed a little. O'Donnell laughed and began to stroke his +wolf-hound. + +"I have many messengers and many servants, Yellow Brian, and there is +little my enemies do which is not told me. Even now men are riding hard +and fast to trap Cathbarr of the Ax and your following." + +At that Brian laughed, remembering Turlough Wolf and his cunning. + +"I think this trapping will prove a hard matter, Dark Master." + +"That is as it may be. Now, Brian Buidh, death is hard upon you, and +neither an easy nor a swift one. Before you die there are two things +which I would know from your lips." + +Brian looked at him, but without speaking. The Dark Master had thrust +out his head, his hand still lingering on the wolfhound's neck, and his +pallid face, drooping mustache, and high brow were very evil to gaze +upon. Brian, eying that thin-nostriled, cruel nose, and the undershot +jaw of the man, read no mercy there. + +"First, who _are_ you, Brian Buidh? Are you an O'Neill, as that ring of +yours would testify, or are you an O'Malley come down from the western +isles?" + +At that Brian laughed out harshly. "Ask those servants of which you +boast, Dark Master. Poor they must be if they cannot tell you even the +names of your enemies!" + +"Well answered!" grinned the other, and chuckled again to himself as +though the reply had indeed pleased him hugely. "I would that you served +me, Brian of the hard eyes; I suppose that you are some left-hand scion +of the Tyr-owens by some woman overseas, and the O'Neill bastards were +ever as strong in arm as the true sons. Yet you might have made pact +with me, whereas now your head shall sit on my gates, after your bones +are broken and you have been nailed to a door." + +"Fools talk over-much of killing, but wise men smite first and talk +after," Brian said contemptuously. He saw that the Dark Master was +somewhat in doubt over slaying him, since if he were indeed an O'Neill +there might be bitter vengeance looked for, or if he belonged to any +other of the great families. + +"Quite true," countered the Dark Master mockingly, and with much relish. +"Therein you were a fool, not to slay when first we met, instead of +making pacts. Who will repay me my two-score men, Brian of the hollow +cheeks?" + +"The Bird Daughter, perhaps," smiled Brian, "since two days ago she hung +ten of those men I took in my ambuscade." + +This stung O'Donnell, and his men with him. One low, deep growl swirled +down the hall, and the Dark Master snarled as his lips bared back from +his teeth. Brian laughed out again, standing very tall and straight, and +his chains clanked a little and stilled the murmur. He saw that +O'Donnell wore his own Spanish blade, and the sight angered him. + +"There is another thing I would know," said the Dark Master slowly. +"Tell me this thing, Brian Buidh, and I will turn you out of my gates a +free man." + +Brian looked keenly at him and saw that the promise was given in +earnest. He wondered what the thing might be, and was not long in +learning. + +"You came hither from Gorumna Castle," went on O'Donnell, fixing him +with his black flaming eyes. "Tell me what force of men is in that +place, Brian of the hard eyes, and for this service you shall be set +free." + +"Now I know that you are a fool, O'Donnell Dubh," and Brian's voice rang +out merrily. "I have heard many tales of your wizardry and your servants +and your watchers, but when an unknown man comes to you, his name is +hidden from you; and all your black art cannot so much as tell you the +number of your enemies! Now slay me and have done, for you have wasted +much breath this day, and so have I, and it goes ill in my mind to waste +speech on fools." + +"You refuse then?" O'Donnell peered up at him, but Brian set his face +hard and made no reply. With a little sigh the Dark Master leaned back +in his chair and motioned to Red Murrough to come forward. + +"Strip him," he said evenly, and at the word a great howl rang out from +all the watching men, like the howl of wolves when they scent blood in +the air. + +Murrough in turn signed to two of his men. These came forward and +stripped off what clothes had been left to Brian, so that he stood naked +before them. In that moment he was minded to spring on the Dark Master +and crush him with his chains, but he saw that Red Murrough held a +flint-lock pistolet cocked, and knew it would be useless. Also, if he +had to die, he was minded to do it like a man and not to shame the blood +of Tyr-owen, either by seeking death or by shrinking at its face. + +Now there passed a murmur through the hall, and even the Dark Master's +evil features glowed a little; for Brian's body was very fair and slim +and white, yet these judges of men saw that he was like a thing of +steel, and that beneath the satin skin his body was all rippling sinew. +Red Murrough drew out a hasp, brought his chained hands together, and +caught the chain close to his wrists, so that his hands were bound +close. + +"Now," said the Dark Master, settling back and stroking his wolfhound as +if he were watching some curious spectacle, "do with him as we did with +Con O'More last Candlemas. But let us work slowly, for there is no +haste, and we must break his will. In the end we will nail him to the +door, and finish by breaking all his bones. It will be very interesting, +eh?" + +A fierce howl and clash of steel answered him from the men. At another +sign from Red Murrough, Brian felt himself jerked to the floor suddenly, +and his hands were drawn up over his head. His wrist-chains were +fastened to an iron ring set in the floor, and his ankles to another, +and he stared up at the ceiling-rafters of the hall, watching the motes +drift past overhead in the reaching sunbeams. It all seemed very unreal +to him. + +"First that long hair of his," said the Dark Master quietly. + +Murrough went to the fire and returned with a blazing stick. Brian's +gold-red hair had flung back from his head, along the floor, and +presently he felt it burning, until his head was scorched and his brain +began to roast and there was the smell of burnt hair rising from him. +Then Murrough's rough hand brushed over his torn scalp, quelling the +fire, but it did not quell the agony that wrenched Brian. + +"Paint him," ordered O'Donnell. + +Again Murrough went to the fireplace, and returned with a long white-hot +iron which had lain among the embers. This he touched to Brian's right +shoulder, so that the stench of scorched flesh sizzled up in a thin +stream, and followed the iron down across the white breast and thigh, +until it stopped at the knee, and there was a swath of red and blackened +flesh down Brian's body. Yet he had not moved or flinched. + +Then Murrough touched the iron to his left shoulder and drew it very +slowly down his left side. One of the watching men went sick with the +smell and went out vomiting. A second swath of red and black rose on the +white flesh, and beneath it all Brian felt his senses swirling. Try as +he would he could not repress one long shudder, at which a wild yell of +delight shrilled up--and then he fainted. + +"Take him away," said the Dark Master, smiling a little, as he leaned +forward and saw that Brian had indeed swooned with the pain. "To-morrow +we will paint his back with the whip." + +So they loosened him from the iron rings, and four men lifted him and +carried him out. As they passed across the courtyard another came by +with a pail of sea-water, which they flung over him; the salt entered +into his wounds, washing away the blackness from his scalp, and slowly +the life came back to him after he had been chained again in his +tower-room and left alone. + +He was sorry for this, because he thought that he had died under the +iron. He found a pitcher of water beside him, and after drinking a +little he spent the rest in washing out the salt from his flesh, though +every motion was terrible in its torture. So great was the pain that +gasping sobs shook him, though he stared up dry-eyed at the stones, and +a great desire for death came upon him. + +"Slay me, oh God!" he groaned, shuddering again in his anguish. "Slay +me, for I am helpless and cannot slay myself!" + +As if in answer, there came a soft laugh from somewhere overhead, and +the voice of the Dark Master. + +"There is no God in Bertragh Castle save O'Donnell, Brian Buidh!" + +The blasphemy shocked him into his senses, which had wandered. Now he +knew that from some hidden place the Dark Master was watching him and +listening for his ravings, and upon that Brian sternly caught his lips +together and said no more, though he prayed hard within himself. A cloak +had been laid near-by him, and when he had covered himself somewhat +against the cold, though with great pain in the doing, he lay quiet. + +The cold crept into him and for a space he was seized with chills that +sent new thrills of pain through his burned body, for he could not +repress them. After a time he relapsed slowly into numbed +unconsciousness, waking from time to time, and so the hours dragged away +until the night came. + +Then men brought him more food and wine and straw, and he managed to +sleep a bit during the darkness, in utmost misery. But after the day had +come, and more wine had stirred his blood redly, Murrough fetched him to +his feet and bade him follow. Brian did it, though walking was agony, +for his pride was stronger even than his torture. + +He was halted in the courtyard, found the Dark Master and his men +gathered there, and knew that more torture was to come upon him. After a +single scornful glance the Dark Master ordered him triced up to a post, +which was done. Brian saw a man standing by with a long whip, but gained +a brief respite as the drawbridge was lowered to admit a messenger +mounted on a shaggy hill-pony. O'Donnell bade him make haste with his +errand. + +"The word has come, master, that five hundred of Lord Burke's pikemen +are on the road from Galway and will be close by within a day or so." + +"And what of Cathbarr of the Ax?" queried the Dark Master. Brian's +heart caught at the words, then his head fell again at the response. + +"They have scattered in the mountains, it is said, master." + +"Murrough, have men sent to meet these royalists with food and wines, +and if they are bound hither we will entreat them softly and send them +home again empty. Now let us enjoy Brian Buidh a while--though he has +stood up but poorly. It is in my mind that we will nail him up +to-morrow." + +With that Brian felt the whip stroking across his naked back. His +muscles corded and heaved up in horrible contraction, but no sound broke +from him; again and again the hide whip licked about him until he felt +the warm blood running down his legs, and then with merciful suddenness +all things went black, and he hung limp against the post. + +"Take him back," ordered the Dark Master in disgust. "Why, that boy we +cut up the other side of Clifden had more strength than this fool!" + +"His strength went out of him with his hair," grinned Red Murrough, and +they carried Brian to his prison. + +The Dark Master had spoken truly, however. Brian's strength lay not so +much in brute muscles, though he had enough of them, as in his nervous +energy; and the slow horror of his burning hair and of that iron which +had twice raked the length of his body had come close to destroying his +whole nervous system. Other men might have endured the same thing and +laughed the next day, but Brian was high-strung and tense, and while his +will was still strong, his physical endurance was shattered. + +With the next morning, this fact had become quite evident to the general +disgust of all within Bertragh Castle. The Dark Master himself visited +the cell, and upon finding that Brian was lost in a half stupor and +muttering words in Spanish which no one understood, he angrily ordered +that he be revived and finished with that afternoon. + +Red Murrough set about the task with savage determination. By dint of +sea water externally and mingled wine and uisquebagh internally he had +Brian wakened to a semblance of himself before midday. Then food, oil, +and bandages about his wounds, and in another hour Brian was feeling +like a new man. + +He was under no misapprehension as to the cause of this kindness, but +cared little. So keenly had he suffered that he was glad to reach the +end, and he walked out behind Red Murrough that afternoon with a ghastly +face, but with firm mouth and firmer stride, though he was very weak and +half-drunk with the liquors he had swallowed. + +His fetters were unlocked and he was led to the doorway of the great +hall, with the Dark Master and his men watching eagerly. Red Murrough, +with an evil grin, pressed his back to the door and held up his left arm +against the heavy wood. Brian was half-conscious of another man who bore +a heavy mallet and spikes, and whose breath came foul on his face as he +pressed something cold against the extended left hand. + +Then Brian saw the mallet swing back, heard a sickening crunch, and with +a terrible pain shooting to his soul, fell asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +IN BERTRAGH CASTLE. + + +Now, of what befell after that nail had been driven through his hand, +Brian learned afterward; though at the time he was unconscious and +seemed like to remain so. Hardly had he sagged forward limply when two +men came riding up to the gates demanding instant admittance. One of +these was of the Dark Master's band, the other was a certain Colonel +James Vere, of the garrison which held Galway for the king. + +O'Donnell, who suddenly found himself with greater things on hand than +the nailing of a prisoner, ordered Brian left where he lay for the +present, and had the drawbridge lowered in all haste. Colonel Vere, who +had late been in rebellion against his gracious majesty, was now joined +with Ormond's men against the common enemy, and was in command of that +force of five hundred pikemen which had been marching to the west. + +Knowing this, the Dark Master made ready to set his house in order, +since it was known that Vere's men were only a few hours away. Hardly +had the garrison gone to their posts, leaving Brian in the center of a +little group about the hall doorway, when Colonel Vere rode in and was +received in as stately fashion as possible by the Dark Master. It was +not for nothing that O'Donnell had trimmed his sails to the blast, since +he was on very good terms with all in Galway. + +"Welcome," he exclaimed with a low bow as Vere swung down from his +saddle. "Your men received the provision I sent off yesterday?" + +"Aye, and thankful we were!" cried the other cheerily, for he was a +red-faced man of forty, a Munsterman and half-English, and loved his +bottle. "Hearing certain news from one of your men I made bold to ride +ahead in all haste, O'Donnell." + +"News?" repeated the Dark Master softly. "And of what nature, Colonel +Vere?" + +"Why, of one Brian Buidh, or Yellow Brian." At this the Dark Master +began to finger the Spanish blade he had taken from Brian, and for a +second Vere was very near to death, had he known it. + +"What of him, Colonel Vere?" + +"Why, the rogue had the impudence to come down on a convoy of powder and +stores, last week, going from the Archbishop at Ennis to Malbay, for our +use. Not only this, but a hundred of our rascally Scots deserted to him, +he slipped past us at Galway, and I was in hopes you could give me word +of him when I hit over this way. You're something of a ravager yourself, +sink me if you aren't!" and he dug the Dark Master jovially in the +ribs. + +"Yes," murmured O'Donnell thoughtfully, "so they say, Colonel Vere. But +only when Parliament men come past, you understand. So you heard that +this Yellow Brian was here?" + +"Aye, and that you were doing him to death," coolly responded Vere, and +his eyes flickered to the white form on the stones. "Zounds! What's +this?" + +"Yellow Brian," responded the Dark Master dryly. "What do you want with +him?" + +"Eh? Why, I'll take him back to Galway and hang him! I've a dozen of the +Scots he was fool enough to let loose, and when my men come up they'll +identify him readily enough." + +"Unless he's dead," chuckled O'Donnell. "Well, if you want him you may +have him and welcome. So now come in and sample some prime sack I took +from the O'Malleys last year." + +"With all the honors," responded Vere gallantly, and as they strode past +Brian the Dark Master hastily directed that he be washed and tended and +brought back to his right mind as soon as might be. + +This order, and the conversation preceding it, gave Red Murrough some +cause for thought. So it was that when Brian wakened once more in his +cell, as evening was falling, he found the fetters on him indeed, but +Red Murrough had bound up his wounds, dressed his sundered hand-bones, +and was sitting watching him reflectively. It had occurred to the Dark +Master's lieutenant that there might be something made out of this man, +who seemed wanted in several places at once. + +Therefore it was that while Brian made an excellent meal for a man +swathed from crown to knees in bandages, Red Murrough poured into his +ear the tale of what had chanced in the courtyard, and why it was that +he was not at this moment nailed to the castle door. Brian collected his +energy with some effort. + +"Well, what of it?" he asked weakly. + +"Just this, Yellow Brian," and Murrough stroked his matted red beard +easily. "O'Donnell will make a good thing out of handing you over to the +royalists, who mean to hang you in style, it seems. Now, it is in my +mind that it might advantage you somewhat if you were not moved thence +for a few days--indeed, you might even escape, for I think you are not +without friends." + +"Eh?" Brian stared up at him wonderingly. "What does it matter to you?" + +"Nothing, whether you live or die. But you are in my care, and if I +report that you are in too bad shape to be moved--which you are +not--then this Colonel Vere will camp outside our castle until you are +handed over to him. You will gain a few days in which to get your wits +back, and the rest is in your hands." + +"I had not thought you loved me so much," and despite his agony Brian +forced out a bitter laugh. + +"Not I! Faith, I had liefer see you nailed--but a service may be paid +for." + +"I have no money," Brian closed his eyes wearily. + +"No, but you have friends," and Murrough leaned forward. "Promise me a +clerkly writing to the Bird Daughter's men, or to your own men, ordering +that I be paid ten English pounds, and it is done." + +"With pleasure," smiled Brian wryly. "Also, if I escape, I will spare +your life one day, Red Murrough." + +"Good. Then play your part." And Murrough departed well pleased with his +acumen. + +And indeed, the man carried out his bargain more than faithfully. One +visit assured the Dark Master that this broken, burned, cloth-swathed +man was helpless to harm him further, and after that he gave Brian +little thought. + +As Murrough had reckoned Brian's swoop on the convoy had given him some +notoriety, and more than once Brian himself remembered Cathbarr's dark +presage after he had let the ten Scots go free to Ennis; Colonel Vere +was anxious to carry him back to Galway for an example to other +freebooters, and he was quite content to bide at Bertragh Castle until +his prisoner could travel. + +For that matter the other officers of his command were quite as content +as he himself, since all were men from the south-country who loved good +wines, and the Dark Master had better store of these than the empty +royalist commissariat. + +As for the Dark Master, Murrough reported to Brian that he also was well +content. Cromwell was sweeping like an avenging flame from Kilkenny to +Mallow and Ormond was helpless before him; both king's men and Irish +Confederacy men were pouring out of the South in despair, but the two +had finally joined forces and the final stand would take place in the +West. In fact, it seemed that things were dark for Parliament, despite +Cromwell's activity, and the Dark Master was only one of many such who +counted strongly on the rumors that the new king, Charles II, was on his +way to Ireland with aid from France. + +And indeed he was at that time; but Charles, then and later, was more +apt at starting a thing than at finishing it. + +Red Murrough lost no time in getting his "clerkly writing," luckily for +himself. On the morning after his agreement he brought Brian a quill, +and blood for lack of ink, and sheepskin. Brian wrote the order for ten +pounds, promising to honor it himself if he escaped. + +This, however, did not seem likely, and even Murrough frankly stated +that it was impossible. But Brian was tended well, and his perfect +health was a strong asset. His head had been little more than scorched, +and the scalp-wound stayed clean; after the first day there came a +festering in his broken hand, but Murrough washed it out with vinegar +which ate out the wound and cleansed it, after which he bound it firmly +in wooden splints and it promised well. + +More than once Brian laughed grimly at the care he was getting, to the +simple end that he should hang over Galway gates as a warning to the +City of the Tribes and to all who entered the ancient Connacian town. +For in that day Galway was a second Venice, and its commerce made rich +plundering for the O'Malley's both of Gorumna and of Erris in the North, +though the war had somewhat dimmed the glory of the fourteen great +merchant families. + +Brian wondered often what had become of Cathbarr and his two hundred +men, and Murrough could give him little satisfaction. It was known that +the force had slipped away from Cathbarr's tower and had vanished; Brian +guessed that Turlough had either led them north, or else into the +western mountains where the O'Flahertys held savage rule. However, it +was certain that neither the Dark Master nor the royalists had scattered +them as yet. + +So Brian lay in his tower four days and might have lain there four-score +more by dint of Red Murrough's lies, had it not been that on the fourth +evening Colonel Vere managed to stay unexpectedly sober. Being thus +sober, it occurred to him that he had best make sure he had the right +man by the heels. So he ordered his ten Scots troopers in from the camp +outside the walls, and the Dark Master sent for Brian to be identified. + +"I'll have you carried down," said Red Murrough on coming for him. "Play +the part, _ma boucal_, and when these royalists get into their cups +again they'll forget all that is in their heads. Here's a cup of wine +before ye go, and another for myself. _Slainte!_" + +"_Slainte_," repeated Brian, and went forth to play his part. + +When the four men, with Red Murrough at their head, carried him down +into the great hall, Brian found it no little changed. Tables were set +along the walls, each of them being some ten feet in length by two wide, +of massive oak, and in the center was another at which sat O'Donnell, +Colonel Vere, and one or two other officers. Besides these there were a +score more of the royalist officers mingled with the Dark Master's men, +and it seemed that there would be few sober men in that hall by +midnight, from the appearance of things. Only the ten Scots stood calm +and dour before the fireplace. + +After that first quick glance around, Brian lay with his head back and +his eyes closed, careful not to excite O'Donnell's suspicion that he was +stronger than he seemed. He was set down in front of the ten Scots, and +there was an eager craning forward of men to look at him, for his name +was better known than himself. + +"Zounds!" swore Vere thickly. "The man has a strong and clean-cut face, +O'Donnell! Strike me dead if he does not look like that painting of +O'Neill, the Tyrone Earl, that hangs in the castle at Dublin! Though for +that matter there is little enough of his face to be seen. You must have +borne hardly on him with your cursed tortures." + +"I fancy he is an O'Neill bastard," returned the Dark Master lightly. +Brian felt the red creep into his face, but he knew that he was helpless +in his chains, and he lay quiet. "Is he your man, Vere?" + +"How the devil should I know?" Vere turned to the troopers and spoke in +English. "Well, boys, is this the fellow we're after? Speak up now!" + +"It's no' sae easy tae ken," returned one cautiously. "Yon man has the +look o' Brian Buidh, aye." + +"Devil take you!" cried Vere irritably. "Do you mean to say yes or no? +Speak out, one of you!" + +"Weel, Colonel," answered another cannily, "Jock here has the right of +it. I wouldna swear tae the pawky carl, but I'd ken the een o' him full +weel. An I had a peep in his een, sir. I'm thinkin' I'd ken their +de'il's look. Eh, lads?" + +Since it seemed agreed that they would know Brian better by his hard +blue eyes than by what they could see of his face, the exasperated Vere +commanded that he be made open them if he were unconscious. + +"Run your hand down his body, Murrough," ordered the Dark Master +cynically. + +Red Murrough leaned over Brian, and the latter opened his eyes without +waiting for the rough command to be obeyed. Instantly the Scots broke +into a chorus of recognition as Brian's gaze fell on them. Vere looked +at him with an admiring laugh. + +"Sink me, but the man has eyes! Well, so much the better for the ladies, +eh? Now that this is over, give the lad a rouse and send him back to his +cell." + +He waved the Scots to begone, and rose cup in hand. Smiling evilly, the +Dark Master joined him in the toast to Brian, and a yell of delight +broke from the crowd as they caught the jest and joined in. O'Donnell +was just motioning Murrough to have Brian taken away, when there came a +sudden interruption, as a man hastened up the hall. It was one of Vere's +pikemen. + +"There is a party of four horsemen just outside our camp, colonel. One +of them bade us get safe-conduct for him from O'Donnell Dubh, upon his +honor." + +"Eh?" the Dark Master snarled suddenly. "What was his name, fool?" + +"Cathbarr of the Ax, lord." + +A thrill shot through Brian, and he tried feebly to sit up. The Dark +Master flashed him a glance. The hall had fallen silent. + +"His business?" + +"He bears word from one called the Bird Daughter, he said." + +While the royalists stared, wondering what all this boded, O'Donnell bit +his lips in thought. Finally he nodded. + +"Let the man enter, and tell him that he has my honor for his +safe-conduct." + +Vere nodded, and the pikeman departed. Instantly the hall broke into +uproar, but leaving the table, the Dark Master crossed swiftly to +Brian, and bent over him. + +"Either swear to keep silence, or I have you gagged." + +"I promise," mumbled Brian as if he were very weak. The Dark Master +ordered him carried behind one of the tables close by, and a cloak flung +over him. When it had been done, Brian found that he could see without +being seen, which was the intent of O'Donnell. + +Meanwhile the Dark Master was telling Vere and the other officers of +Cathbarr, it seemed, and Vere hastily collected his wine-stricken +senses. + +"Nuala O'Malley, eh?" he exclaimed when the Dark Master had finished. +"She is the one who has held Gorumna Castle and would make no treaty +with us, though she has more than once sent us powder, I understand." + +"I will talk with you later concerning her," returned O'Donnell. "She is +allied with Parliament, they say, and it might be well for all of us if +ships were sent against her place from Galway, and she were reduced." + +Brian saw that things were going badly. The Dark Master seemed to be +playing his cards well, and was doubtless thinking of throwing off the +cloak and openly allying himself with the royalist cause. In this way he +could secure help against Gorumna in the shape of Galway ships and men, +and it was like to go hard with the Bird Daughter in such case. + +However, Vere had no power to treat of such things, as Brian well knew. +Also, Nuala had told him herself that her ships had not preyed on the +commerce of Galway's merchants, but only on certain foreign caracks +which free-traded along the coast. Therefore the Galwegians were not apt +to make a troublesome enemy in haste, even if she were proved to be in +alliance with Cromwell. + +None the less, the Dark Master was plainly thinking of making an effort +in this direction, and Brian knew that the Bird Daughter was in no shape +to carry things with a high hand in Galway town. + +He saw Vere and the Dark Master talking earnestly together across the +table, but could not hear their words--and it was well, indeed, for him +that he could not. As he was to find shortly, O'Donnell's quick brain +had already grasped at what lay behind Cathbarr's coming, or something +of it, and he had formed the devilish scheme on the instant--that scheme +which was to result in many things then undreamed of. + +"If I had followed Turlough's rede, there when I first met this devil," +thought Brian bitterly, "I had slain him upon the road, and that would +have been an end of it. Well, I think that I shall heed Turlough Wolf +next time--if there is a next time." + +Brian looked out from his shelter with troubled eyes, for there was +something in the wind of which he had no inkling. He saw Vere break into +a sudden coarse laugh, and a great light of evil triumph shot across +O'Donnell's face. Then the Dark Master gained his feet, gathered his +cloak about his hunched shoulders, and sent Murrough to stand guard over +Brian with a pistol and to shoot if he spoke out. + +"Surely he cannot be going back on his word, passed before so many men?" +thought Brian bitterly. "No, that would shame him before all Galway, and +he is proud in his way. But what the devil can be forward?" + +To that he obtained no answer. The Dark Master shoved his table back +toward the fireplace, and placed his chair in front of it beside that of +Colonel Vere. It seemed to Brian that the stage was being set for some +grim scene, and a great fear seized on him lest harm was in truth meant +toward Cathbarr. + +No doubt the giant had been in communication with the Bird Daughter, and +it had been ascertained that the galley had come to grief at Bertragh +Castle. A sudden thrill of hope darted through Brian. Was it possible +that Cathbarr had led down his men and placed them in readiness to +attack? Yet such a thing would have been madness--to set a scant two +hundred against Vere's pikemen and the Dark Master's force combined! + +But Brian knew that Turlough Wolf was at large, and Turlough's brain was +more cunning than most. + +If he could only get free, he thought, he might still be able to do +something. He could ride, though it would mean bitter pain, and his +sword-arm was still good--but he had got no farther than this when there +came a tramping of feet, and in the doorway appeared Cathbarr, his +mighty ax in hand, with the O'Donnells around him as jackals surround a +lion. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE BAITING OF CATHBARR. + + +The bearded giant still wore the long mail-shirt that reached to his +knees, and he paused at the doorway with his eyes roving about the hall. +Well did Brian know whom he sought, but it was vain, for Cathbarr could +not see him where he lay. + +Then Brian saw that the ax had been changed, and wondered at it. One of +the long, back-curving blades had been rubbed down with files, so that +it was very tapering and thin like an ordinary ax-blade, while the other +was still the blunt, heavy thing it had always been. Brian read the +cunning of Turlough Wolf in that handiwork, and in fact the great ax was +thus rendered tenfold more deadly. + +The Dark Master waited quietly until Cathbarr began a slow advance up +the hall, all eyes fixed on him in no little wonder. Then O'Donnell +raised a hand, stopping him. + +"Let us have your message, Cathbarr." + +The giant halted and dropped the ax-head, leaning on the haft of the +weapon. He took his time about replying, however, and his eyes still +roved about the hall ceaselessly and uneasily. Then of a sudden he gave +over the search, and gazed straight at the Dark Master with a swift +word: + +"Have you slain him?" + +"Slain who, Cathbarr?" queried O'Donnell, with a thin smile. + +"_Duar na Criosd!_" bellowed Cathbarr with sudden fury. "Who but my +friend Brian?" + +"Oh!" The Dark Master laughed and eased back in his chair. "No, he's +still alive, Cathbarr? Is your message from the Bird Daughter in his +regard?" + +"Yes." Cathbarr fought for self-control, the breast of his mail shirt +rising and falling, his bloodshot eyes beginning to circle about the +place once more in a helpless and angry wonder. + +"O'Donnell Dubh," he went on at last, "Nuala O'Malley sends you this +word. Give Brian Buidh over to her, and she will pay you what ransom you +demand." + +"What alliance is there between Brian and her?" asked O'Donnell softly. + +"Brian has given her service, and I have," Cathbarr flung up his head. +"Our men lie in Gorumna Castle, there are ships coming from Erris and +the isles, and if Brian be slain we shall bear on this hold and give no +quarter. We have four hundred men now, and five ships are coming from +the North." + +The Dark Master gazed quietly at the giant, Vere taking no part in the +talk. But Brian, watching also, saw that which brought a mocking smile +to O'Donnell's pallid face. Cathbarr had no fear of any man, and lies +did not come easily to his lips; when he spoke of the force lying in +Gorumna, and of help from Erris, his face gave him away. Brian saw +Turlough behind that tale, but Cathbarr was no man to carry it off with +success. + +"Well," laughed the Dark Master, "none the less shall Brian be slain. +Carry back that word to Nuala O'Malley." + +Cathbarr's mighty chest heaved like a barrel near to bursting. Brian was +minded to break his promise, but Murrough's pistol was at his head, and +he could but lie quietly and watch. The giant's face flushed somewhat. + +"I have not finished," said he. "My business for the Bird Daughter is +done in truth, but now I have to speak a word of my own." + +"Let us hear it," returned O'Donnell. + +"It is this." Cathbarr drew himself up. "I am more your enemy than is +Brian. Let him go, O'Donnell Dubh, and take me in his place, for I love +him." + +A sudden amazed silence fell on every man there, and but for Murrough's +warning hand Brian would have sat up. O'Donnell's jaw fell for an +instant, then his head drew in between his shoulders, he put a hand to +Vere's arm, and whispered something. The royalist nodded, a grin on his +coarse face, and the Dark Master settled back easily. Cathbarr still +stood waiting, the ax held out before him, and a glory in his wide eyes. + +"I would sooner hold you than Brian," and O'Donnell spoke softly. "If +you will to take his place and die in his stead, Cathbarr, then loose +that ax of yours." + +Brian saw that Cathbarr was lost indeed, for the Dark Master was not +likely to give over his pact with the royalists so easily. Cathbarr +heaved up his ax with a great laugh, like a child; he brought it down on +the stones, but if he had meant to break it the effort was vain. The +huge weapon clanged down and bounded high out of his two hands, so that +men drew back in awe; but the ax whirled twice in the cresset-light, +then fell and slithered over the flagging beneath a table, and no man +touched it. + +"Take me," said Cathbarr simply. + +"Nay," answered the Dark Master calmly, though his eyes flamed, "kneel +down." + +Cathbarr stood breathing heavily for an instant, then slowly obeyed. +Brian saw that his curly beard was beginning to stand out from his face, +but no word came from him as he went to his knees. + +"Now," went on the Dark Master, "pray me for Brian's life, mighty one." + +The giant struggled with himself, for humiliation came hard to him. Then +his voice fell curiously low, terrible in its self-restraint. + +"I pray you for the life of Yellow Brian, O'Donnell." + +Brian forced himself up, thinking to cry out a warning before it was too +late; but Murrough's hand closed over his mouth and forced him back +relentlessly. + +"Bring ropes," said the Dark Master, and ordered Cathbarr to his feet. + +Men hastened out, and returned with a length of rope, binding the +giant's arms behind his back, from elbow to wrist. Then the Dark Master +laughed harshly, but Vere leaned toward him, his face troubled. + +"Do not carry this thing farther, O'Donnell," said the royalist +hoarsely. "This man is a fool, but he has a great heart. Let be." + +For answer the Dark Master whirled on him with such fury in his snarl +that Vere drew back hastily, and no more words passed between them at +that time. O'Donnell rose and walked down the hall toward Cathbarr, in +his hand a little switch that he used upon that wolfhound of his. + +"Now," he said softly, yet his voice pierced hard through the dead +stillness, "in token that your humility in this affair is without guile, +Cathbarr of the Ax, bow your head to me." + +The giant obeyed, closing his eyes. The Dark Master lifted his hand and +cut him twice across the head with his switch, while Brian gasped in +amazement and looked for Cathbarr to strike out with his foot. But +although the giant shuddered, he made no move, and the Dark Master +strode back to his seat with a laugh. Then Cathbarr raised his face, and +Brian saw that it was terribly convulsed. + +"Do with me as you wish," he said, still in that low voice. "But now let +Brian be freed in my presence." + +The Dark Master flung back his head in a laugh, and when the men saw his +jest, a great howl of derision rang up to the rafters. Only Vere's +officers looked on with black faces, for it was plain that this affair +was none of their liking. A look of simple wonder came into Cathbarr's +wide-set eyes. + +"Why do you not loose him?" he asked quietly. + +"Fetch the man out, Murrough," ordered the Dark Master. "Shoot him if he +speaks." + +Now, whether through some shred of mercy--for he knew well that Brian +would cry out--or for some other reason, Murrough leaned down swiftly to +Brian's ear. + +"Careful," he whispered as he motioned his men forward. "Play the part, +and mind that this thing is not yet finished." + +The warning came in good time, and cooled Brian's raging impulse. He was +lifted from behind the table, his chains clanking, and laid upon it; +Cathbarr gave a great start and bellowed out one furious word: + +"Dead!" + +"Nay," smiled the Dark Master. "His eyes are open, and he is but weak +with his wounds, Cathbarr. Now say--would you sooner that we cut off +that right hand of his, or blinded him? One of these things I shall do +before I loose him, for I said only that I would take your life for +his." + +Brian saw that the Dark Master was only playing with the giant, for well +he knew that Vere wanted to take him back to Galway whole and sound. But +Cathbarr knew nothing of this, and as the whole terrible trickery +flashed over his simple mind he lifted a face that was dark with blood +and passion. + +"Do not play with me!" he cried out, his voice deep and angry. "Loose +him!" + +Then O'Donnell leaned back in his chair, laughing with his men, and +waved a careless hand toward Vere. + +"He is not mine," he grinned. "I have given him to the royalists, for +hanging at Galway. You, however, are now mine to slay." + +Whether the Dark Master indeed meant to break his plighted faith, Brian +never knew. Cathbarr took a single step forward, his curly beard +writhing and standing out, and his whole face so terrible to look on +that all laughter was stricken dead in the hall. + +"You lied to me!" he cried hoarsely. "You lied to me!" + +O'Donnell laughed. + +"Aye, Cathbarr. Your master goes back to Galway to be hung--he is out of +my hands, but you are in them. However, since I have passed my word on +your safe-conduct, I think that I may hold to it." + +But the giant had not heard him. Throwing back his head, he gave one +deep groan of anguish, and his shoulders began to move very slowly as +his chest heaved up. All the while his eyes were fixed on the Dark +Master, while the whole hall watched him in awe; not even Brian or +O'Donnell himself guessed what that slow movement of Cathbarr's body +boded. + +"Best put chains upon him, Murrough," said the Dark Master, his teeth +shining under his drooping mustache. + +Vere cried out in sudden wonder. + +"'Fore Gad! Look!" + +Then indeed the Dark Master looked, and sprang to his feet, and one +great shout of alarm and fear shrilled up from those watching. For as +Cathbarr stood there, the veins had suddenly come out on his face and +neck, and with a dull sound the ropes had broken on his arms, and he was +free. + +Murrough rushed forward, and his pistol spat fire. Cathbarr, with his +eyes still on the Dark Master, put out a hand and Murrough went whirling +away with a dull groan. Then the giant rushed. + +O'Donnell did not stay for that meeting, but slipped away like a shadow +into his surging men, yelling at them to fire. There were few muskets in +the hall, however, and an instant later Cathbarr had reached the table +where Vere still sat astounded. He brought down a fist on the royalist's +steel cap, and Vere coughed horribly and fell out of his chair with his +skull crushed. + +Now a musket roared out, and another. But Cathbarr caught up the oaken +table and faced around on the men who were surging forward at him; +lifting the ten-foot table as though it were paper, he bellowed +something and rushed at them, casting the table in a great heave. It +fell squarely on the front rank, and then indeed fear came upon the +hall. For Cathbarr's foot had struck against his ax, and he rose with it +in his hand. + +There was a din of screams and shouts, for half the men were struggling +to get out of the hall and the rest were rushing to get at Cathbarr. +Another musket crashed, and in the smoke Brian saw the giant stagger, +recover, and go bellowing into the crowd. + +Brian struggled from the table, groaned with pain, and then stood +watching. He could walk, but his weakness and the chains on his wrists +and ankles hindered him from being of any advantage to Cathbarr, though +he lifted his voice in a shout of encouragement. + +Cathbarr heard the shout, and roared out with delight. A musket-ball had +cut across his forehead, and with the blood dripping from his beard he +looked more like a demon than a man. The huge ax flashed in the smoky +light, and before it men groaned and shrieked and gave back; it cleaved +steel and flesh, or smashed helms and heads together, and the Dark +Master had slipped from the place, so that his men had no leader. + +Over the roar of fear-mad men, over the storm of shrieks and shouts, +over the dust and smoke, rose the mighty bellow of Cathbarr and the +thudding blows of his ax. The royalist officers were fighting around the +doorway, while O'Donnell's men were trying to make head against the +giant, but he swept through them like a whirlwind, awing them more by +his ferocious aspect and his mad rage than by the half-seen effect of +his terrific strength. + +Little by little they eddied out from the door. Men lay all about, +tables were overturned, and through the crowd swirled the terrible ax, +leaving a path of dead in its wake. Brian staggered to the motionless +form of Colonel Vere, and reaching down drew a pistol from the dead +man's belt. His strength was flooding back to him, and in spite of the +agony caused by every movement, he clanked slowly down toward the door. +At sight of his chained and bandage-swathed figure a wild shriek welled +up, and when he laughed and fired into the midst of them all opposition +ceased. + +Cathbarr still sought the Dark Master, raging back and forth, smiting +and smiting with never a pause in the flaillike sweep of his long arms. +He saw Brian standing there, and emitted a wild bellow of joy, but never +ceased from his smiting. Out through the door poured a stream of +maddened figures, for blind panic had come on every man there, and +Cathbarr's was not the only weapon that drew blood as the men fought for +exit. + +Brian laughed again, for now he knew that he would die in no long time, +but it would not be under the torturers. Cathbarr cleared the hall, sent +the last man flying out with an arm lopped from him, and swung to the +huge doors after kicking two or three bodies from his way. When the beam +had dropped into place and they were alone with the dead and dying, he +turned to Brian and flung out his arms. + +"Careful!" exclaimed Brian, seizing his hand. "None of your bear-hugs, +old friend," and he swiftly told of his tortures. Tears ran down the +giant's blood-strewn face as he listened, and with the tenderness of a +woman he picked up Brian and carried him back to a table, setting him on +it. + +"First for these chains, brother," he cried, going back for his ax. "We +may yet win out against these devils." + +"Small chance," smiled Brian grimly. "I cannot swing a blade, and we +cannot hold this hall for long. Besides, you have some wounds." + +Cathbarr roared out a laugh, exuberantly as a boy, and carefully spread +Brian's legs open on the table. + +"Hold quiet!" he cautioned, and swung up the ax. Down it flashed, the +thinner blade sheared through the chain an inch from Brian's ankle and +split the oak beneath, and Cathbarr drew back for a second blow. + +Four times he struck, and the blows smote off the chains from each wrist +and ankle, although the locked rings still remained. But Brian was free, +and when he gained his feet he found the exercise had somewhat loosened +his muscles, and he picked up a sword. + +"We can at least die fighting, Cathbarr," he said, and looked into the +giant's eyes. "And, brother, I thank you." + +"Nonsense!" blurted out Cathbarr, wiping the blood from his eyes and +grinning through his beard. "Turlough Wolf has our men hidden around +this royalist camp, and the Bird Daughter has a boat outside the castle. +We cannot get through the royalists, but there is a chance that we can +get to the shore. Besides, she has ships and men coming from her kinsmen +in the North. Now, how shall we get away?" + +Brian shook his head. "I can hardly walk, Cathbarr, to say nothing of +swimming or fighting. There is a rear door out of the hall, yonder, but +no use trying it." + +"Perchance I have still some strength," grinned Cathbarr, picking up his +ax. "Let us have a look at that rear door, before they come at us with +muskets." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +HOW THE DARK MASTER WAS RUINED. + + +The fear that had come upon the O'Donnells was so great that not until +pikemen entered the castle from the camp could the Dark Master get men +at the doors of the hall. And this proved the salvation of Brian and +Cathbarr, for when they left the hall by the rear door and slipped +through the corridors, they came out upon the rear or seaward +battlements of the castle. + +These they found denuded of men, while from the courtyard and front of +the keep were rising shouts and batterings, whereat Cathbarr chuckled. + +"They are all drawn around to the front, brother. Now, how to get down +from here?" + +Brian looked around in the starlight, but saw that there was no gate or +other opening in the walls. He began to lose hope again; once the Dark +Master had burst into the great hall he would scatter men over the whole +castle, and their shrift would be short. At this point the walls were +some thirty feet high, and pointing out to the sea stood four of the +bastards, with balls piled beside them. + +"Now if we had a rope," he said, "the matter would not be hard. Is that +boat near the shore?" + +"Not so far that I cannot make them hear," grinned Cathbarr, opening his +mouth to shout, but Brian stopped him. + +"Be careful--do you want to draw down the O'Donnells likewise? Now, cut +the ropes from these cannon, and if we have time we shall yet get down +safe." + +Cathbarr rushed off in delight, and began hewing at the recoil-ropes +which bound the bastards and their carriages to their places. Brian +followed him, seizing the ropes and trying to knot the strands hastily +and with no little pain to himself; but now the hope of escape began to +thrill through him, and for the first time since sighting the Dark +Master's stronghold he began to think that he might yet get away. +However, he could do little knotting with one hand, and not until +Cathbarr impatiently took over the task was it finished. At the same +instant a great burst of yells rose over the castle. + +"Hasten!" cried Brian, as the other began fastening the line to a +cannon. "I can use one hand--" + +"Save your strength," grunted Cathbarr, lifting him after swinging the +loop of his ax around his neck. "Catch me about the neck with your good +arm, and trust me for the rest, brother." + +Brian did as he was ordered, since there was no time for lowering him +down. The giant scrambled over the edge, gripping the twisting rope, and +Brian tightened his lips to keep down his groans, for the agony was +cruel to him. He was forced against the body of Cathbarr, and swirl +after swirl of pain went over him at each touch on his burns. + +The giant grunted once or twice, for he had many slight wounds also, but +with the rope gripped in hands and feet, he lowered away steadily. At +length they reached the ground, and the scattered rocks along the shore +were but a few yards away. + +Cathbarr sent his bull-like voice roaring out at the stars, while Brian +clung weakly to him and searched the waters. He could see nothing, but +suddenly there drifted in a faint shout, and Cathbarr bellowed once +more. + +"Swim for it," said Brian, as torches began to move along the walls +above. "If those cannon are not loaded, we're safe." + +Cathbarr nodded, and caught up the body of Brian tenderly enough in one +arm, as he splashed out. The icy water shocked Brian's brain awake and +drove the pain out of him momentarily, and before Cathbarr was +waist-deep he heard a hail and saw the dark shape of a galley +approaching. + +Muskets flashed out from the walls, and their bullets whistled overhead, +but five minutes later Brian was on the galley, Cathbarr was clambering +over the side, and the light boat was being rowed out again. + +Brian thought his senses were slipping away when he found Nuala O'Malley +herself holding his head as he lay in the stern, while men flung cloaks +around him; but warm tears dripped on his face, and she patted his arm +soothingly. + +"Lie quiet," she said, but Brian would not, for already his brain was +leaping ahead, and he knew that there was work to be done. + +"Tell me," he asked eagerly, "are my men camped around the royalists? +Is help indeed coming to you from the North?" + +"Yes," she replied, trying to quiet him. "A pigeon came in from Erris +to-day, with word that two ships with men were on the way to help me. +When I returned from the South and found that the plague had been at +Gorumna, I sent off asking for help, and now it is coming." + +"Then send word to Turlough!" cried Brian eagerly. "Tell him to throw my +men on the royalist camp _to-night_ and drive the pikemen into the +castle! Colonel Vere is dead, and there is such confusion that all will +think we have more than two hundred men. If we can leaguer them there +until your ships come, we may win all at a blow!" + +Nuala found instantly that there was meat in the plan, and as they were +rowing out to meet one of her caracks, promised to send in the galley +with word to Turlough when they got aboard the larger ship. + +This they were no great while in doing. Brian knew nothing of it, for +upon the Bird Daughter's word he had dropped away into a faint once +more. With this Nuala O'Malley was quite content, so that when Brian +wakened he was greatly refreshed and found himself lying bandaged on a +bunk with the sunlight coming through a stern-port beside him, and the +Bird Daughter watching him with food and drink ready. + +"Take of this first," she smiled; "then we will talk." + +Brian obeyed, being very thirsty and ravenously hungered. He had little +pain except when he tried to move, and so he ate as he lay, propped up +with folded garments, and watched the Bird Daughter. She refused to +speak until he had eaten the meat and cakes she had fetched, but when he +smiled and asked for a razor her grave face rippled with frank laughter, +and her deep violet eyes danced as they looked into his. + +"I am sorry I have none," she said mockingly. "So you must wait till we +come to port again. Just at present we are off Slyne Head and bearing +northward." + +"What!" Brian stared at her. "Are you in jest?" + +It appeared that she was not, for she was sailing north to meet those +ships of her kinsmen, and to hasten them back with her. Meantime +Cathbarr had been sent ashore to meet Turlough and hold the Dark Master +and his royalists in check. Nuala had sent fifty of her men to join +Turlough, left twenty to hold her castle, and had ten with her upon the +carack. It seemed likely that Turlough and Cathbarr could hold the Dark +Master penned up for a few days at least, even with fewer men; if they +could not, said Nuala shortly, they had best sit at spinning-wheels for +the rest of their lives. + +"You are a wonderful girl!" said Brian, and fell asleep again. + +He remembered little of that voyage, for they met two caracks crowded +with men off Innishark that afternoon, found they were the expected +O'Malleys from the North, and turned back with them at once. Brian +wakened again that same evening, but Nuala refused to let him go on deck +until the following morning, when they sighted Bertraghboy Bay. Then +Brian discarded most of his bandages, dressed, and, with his left arm in +a sling, joined the Bird Daughter on the quarterdeck. He found that his +burns were well on toward healing, for he could walk slowly without +great pain, and had every confidence that he could sit a horse if need +be. + +Sailing past Bertragh Castle, the three ships went on up the bay and +cast anchor. It was not hard to see that Turlough and Cathbarr had done +their work well, for in passing the castle they had made out that the +royalist pikemen had been driven inside, and there was some musketry to +be heard at times. No sooner had the anchor-cables roared out, indeed, +than a band of men came riding toward the shore, and Nuala sent off a +boat for them. She had known nothing of Cathbarr's deeds at the castle +until Brian had told her of them, and on seeing that the giant was among +those coming off, she smiled at Brian. + +"Now you shall see how a girl can conquer a giant, Yellow Brian!" + +Brian laughed and waved a hand to Turlough, who was beside Cathbarr in +the boat. As the men came over the rail, Nuala quietly pushed him aside +and faced the giant, sharply bidding him kneel. Cathbarr had been all +for rushing forward to Brian, and obeyed with an ill grace, when Nuala +quickly leaned forward and kissed him on the brow. + +"That is for bravery and faith," she said. "Truly, I would that you +served me!" + +Poor Cathbarr grew redder than the Bird Daughter's cloak. He started to +his feet, gazed around sheepishly, found all men laughing at him--and +did the best thing he could have done, which was to go to his knees +again and put Nuala's hand to his lips. + +"While my master serves you, I serve you," he blurted out, and this +answer must have pleased Nuala mightily, for she flushed, laughed, and +bade all down into the cabin. + +Brian greeted Turlough with no little joy, but beyond assurances that +all went well, gained no knowledge of what had happened. Nuala had sent +for the O'Malley chieftains, and proposed to hold a conference at once. + +The O'Malleys arrived from the other ships in a scant five +minutes--dark, silent men who spoke little, but spoke to the point. Art +Bocagh, or the Lame, had had one leg hamstrung in his youth, but Brian +took him for a dangerous man in battle; while his cousin Shaun the +Little was a very short man with tremendous shoulders. + +Nuala took her seat at the head of the stern-cabin table, and the +position of affairs was gone over carefully. + +It seemed that no sooner had Turlough learned from Cathbarr of what had +taken place in the castle, and that Brian was safe on shipboard, than +he drove his men down pell-mell on the camp, just before dawn. Any other +man would have been exhausted by the events of that night, but Cathbarr +had led them in the assault. The result had been that, with hardly any +resistance, they had slain some four-score of the pikemen, and would +have captured or slain them all had it not been for the Dark Master's +cannon which drove them back. + +The better part of the royalist officers had fallen, either then or +under the ax of Cathbarr in the hall of the castle. In fact, after +learning that he had slain some nineteen persons on that occasion, +Cathbarr had taken no few airs upon himself. Vanity was to him as +natural as to a child, and Brian hugely enjoyed watching the giant +strut. However, what remained of Vere's five hundred pikemen were in the +castle, joined to the Dark Master's men; and Turlough's advice was that +since there must be some seven hundred mouths to feed, the safest plan +was to bide close and force the fight to come to them, rather than to +take it to O'Donnell. + +"There is reason against that, Turlough Wolf," said Brian quickly. "The +Dark Master has men on the hills, and if news is borne to Galway of what +has happened, we are like to have a larger army on our heels than we can +cope with." + +"I have attended to O'Donnell's watchers," said Turlough grimly. "When +Cathbarr bore word of the pact from Gorumna Castle, I sent out horsemen +and we swept the hills bare of men. O'Donnell has no more than are in +the castle, and a score of our own men are on the roads, watching for +any ill." + +"How many men have we in all?" spoke up Lame Art O'Malley. "In our ships +there are sixty men we can spare for land battle." + +"That gives us three hundred in all," replied Turlough to Nuala's +questioning glance. "If we take a strong position we should sweep most +of O'Donnell's men away at the first charge." + +"There you are wrong," said Brian, shaking his head. "Those pikemen are +bad foes for cavalry, and our two hundred horsemen would shatter on them +if they stood firm." + +"Not if we choose our ground," said the Bird Daughter, her eyes +flashing. "Nay, _I_ am master here, my friends! Now this is my rede. We +shall not waste men by attacking the castle, unless forced to it by an +army from Galway. Instead, we will wait until the Dark Master is driven +out by hunger; then we will fall on him and destroy him utterly. + +"Yellow Brian, you have some knowledge of war, and you shall take this +matter in charge. Cathbarr, do you command fifty horse, with the men +from our ships here, and keep the Dark Master in play. With the +remainder, we shall wait in whatever spot Brian shall choose, and before +many days are sped I think that Bertragh will be mine again." + +The Bird Daughter had her way, since none could find much against her +plan; and that afternoon Brian went ashore with her and the O'Malleys, +leaving the three ships at anchor under a small guard. Turlough had made +camp a short mile from the castle, on a little hill among the farms; +both Nuala and the O'Malley men were somewhat surprised at finding the +O'Donnell women and children safe and untouched in their own steads. + +"I saw to that," laughed Turlough, slanting his crafty eyes at Brian. "I +had but to threaten them in Brian's name, and the men only were slain." + +"I think that you are a hard master," laughed Nuala, but Brian smiled +and pointed to his men, who were pouring out to meet him with shouts of +joy. + +"All men do not rule by fear alone, Bird Daughter," he said quietly. She +gave him a quick glance. "I found these men riffraff of the wars, and +while they have no such love for me as Cathbarr here, I think they had +liefer follow me than any other leader." + +After that Nuala said little concerning Brian's discipline. + +That night Nuala and Brian took up headquarters at one of the larger +farms, and while Cathbarr went before the castle to keep the Dark Master +in check and allow none to leave the place, they called in a number of +those men O'Donnell had loaned to Brian, and questioned them about the +provisioning of the castle. + +From these they found that there was good store of all things for the +usual garrison, but with seven hundred men to feed the Dark Master would +be forced out speedily. So with the dawn Brian and Turlough rode forth +to select a battleground, and while Brian was very sore and riding +caused him great pain at first, he soon found himself in better shape. + +Turlough picked a hollow in the road a mile farther from the castle, +flanked on either hand by woods and hillsides where men might lie +hidden. Brian found it good, and that afternoon a part of their horsemen +were shifted thither in readiness. + + * * * * * + +For the next three days there was little done. Twice the Dark Master +attempted sallies with what few horsemen he had left, but on each +occasion Cathbarr's horse smote his men and drove them back. To be sure, +O'Donnell thundered with his bastards, but the guns only burned up good +powder, for Brian would allow no assault made. + +By Turlough's advice, however, they brought about the Dark Master's fall +through certain prisoners made in the two sallies. + +These captives were led through the depleted central camp, though they +knew nothing of that picked place farther back. Having been allowed to +see what men Brian had here, Turlough slyly drove Cathbarr into parading +his vanity before them; and in all innocence the giant told how he could +put the Dark Master's men to flight single-handed, and of his anxiety +lest the O'Donnells should fear to fight in the open. What was more, +Brian affected to be utterly shattered by his wounds, and with that the +prisoners were sent back with a message offering quarter to all within +the castle save the Dark Master himself. + +Early the next morning a horseman came riding fast from Cathbarr with +word that the garrison was stirring. Without delay, Brian donned a +mail-shirt, bound his useless left arm to his side, and mounted. The +Bird Daughter insisted on accompanying him, and stilled his dismayed +protests by asserting her feudal superiority; in the end she had her +way. + +Leaving her kinsmen and a hundred more men to dispute O'Donnell's +passage and give back slowly before him with Cathbarr, she and Brian +rode to their men among the trees on the hillsides over the hollow in +the road. Here they had a hundred and fifty men, composed of the Scots +troopers and the pick of the others, and Nuala took one side of the road +while Brian took the other. Then, being well hidden, they waited. + +Brian was savagely determined to slay the Dark Master that day, and came +near to doing it. Presently a man galloped up to say that O'Donnell and +six hundred men were on the road, having left the rest to hold the +castle. A little later Cathbarr's retreating force came in sight, and +after them marched O'Donnell. He had deployed his muskets in front and +rear, and rode in the midst of his pikemen, whose banner of England blew +out bravely in the morning wind. + +At the edge of the dip in the road Cathbarr led his men in full flight +down the hollow and up the farther rise, where he halted as if to +dispute the Dark Master further. There were barely a dozen mounted men +with O'Donnell, and he made no pursuit, but marched steadily along with +his muskets pecking at Cathbarr's men. When he had come between the +wooded hillsides, however, Cathbarr came charging down the road; the +pikemen settled their pikes three deep to receive him, and with that +Brian led out his men among the trees and swooped down with an ax +swinging in his right hand. + +Alive to his danger, the Dark Master tried to receive his charge, but +at that instant Nuala's men burst down on the other flank. Brian headed +his men, and at sight of him a yell of dismay went up from the +O'Donnells. A moment later the pikemen's array was broken and the fight +disintegrated into a wild affray wherein the horsemen had much the +better of it. + +Brian tried to cut his way to the Dark Master, but when O'Donnell saw +the pikemen shattered he knew that the day was lost. He gathered his +dozen horsemen and went at Cathbarr viciously; Brian saw the two meet, +saw O'Donnell's blade slip under the ax and Cathbarr go from the saddle, +then the Dark Master had broken through the ring and was riding hard for +the North. + +Brian wheeled his horse instantly, found the Bird Daughter at his side, +and with a score of men behind them they rode out of the battle in +pursuit. It proved useless, however, for the Dark Master had the better +horseflesh; after half an hour he was gaining rapidly, and with a bitter +groan Brian drew rein at last. + +"No use, Nuala," he said. "I must wait until my strength has come back +to me, for I have done too much and can go no farther." + +The girl reined in beside him, and her hand went out to his, and he +found himself gazing deep into her eyes. + +"For what you have done, Brian," she said simply, "thanks. Now let us +ride back, for I think there is work before us, and we shall see the +Dark Master soon enough." + +"I am not minded to wait his coming," quoth Yellow Brian darkly, and +they returned. + + +TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. Don't forget this magazine is issued weekly, +and that you will get the continuation of this story without waiting a +month. + + + + +Nuala O'Malley + +by H. Bedford-Jones + +Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc. + + +This story began in the All-Story Weekly for December 30. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +BRIAN RIDES TO VENGEANCE. + + +"Then you are intent on this vengeance, master?" asked Turlough +thoughtfully. + +"Yes," answered Brian. "I here take oath that I will never cut hair nor +beard again until I have seen the Dark Master dead." + +"You are not like to have a chance at your hair very soon," laughed out +Lame Art O'Malley. "But that is a good oath, Yellow Brian." + +"Then I think this is a better plan," spoke up Turlough Wolf. "Give me +ten men, Brian, and I will go to Galway. I will soon get traces of +O'Donnell; and if he goes into the north to get men of his own sept" +(tribe or family), "as I think most likely, I will send back word, and +we can follow him." + +"Do it," said Brian, and Turlough was gone that night. + +This discussion took place in the hollow, where the fight was soon over +after the flight of the Dark Master. Out of the six hundred who had left +the castle, two hundred had been O'Donnell's men. Half of these remained +and took service with Brian at once. Of the four hundred pikemen, three +hundred had gone down fighting like the stubborn south-country men they +were, and the rest took service with Nuala O'Malley. They were most of +them Kerry men, and well disposed toward ships and piracy. + +Brian had lost in all fifty men in that battle, while the Dark Master +had given Cathbarr a goodly thrust through the shoulder, which had let +out most of the giant's vanity and promised to give the huge ax some +time to rest and rust. So, then, Brian found himself heading two hundred +and fifty men of his own, with Nuala's hundred O'Malleys, when they rode +down again to Bertragh Castle. + +This had been left in charge of a hundred men under Red Murrough, who +had not been slain, but only wounded by Cathbarr's fist, that night in +the great hall. Having left a party to bring in the wounded in wagons +from the farms, they arrived before the castle shortly after noon. +Cathbarr was left in charge of the camp, and Brian rode up to the gates +with Nuala and her two kinsmen, with a flag of truce. + +Murrough and his men were put into consternation by the news Brian gave +them. After much stroking of his matted beard, Murrough proposed to +surrender the castle on condition that he hold his post of lieutenant. +Brian laughed, for he had other views on the subject. + +"You sold your master, and you will have no chance to sell me, Murrough. +I will give you the ten pounds I owe you and a good horse. Refuse, and I +slay you when we storm the castle." + +The end of that matter was that Murrough assented. An hour later he +opened the gates, his men taking service with the rest under Brian. +Then, having obtained his ten English pounds and a horse, he waved +farewell to his men and rode away; and what became of him after that is +not set forth in the chronicle, so he comes no more into this tale. + +Nuala loaded her fifty men into her carack, and sent them home that +night to Gorumna in case of need, proposing to follow later with Lame +Art, Shaun the Little, and her Kerry recruits. The O'Malley cousins +intended going south, since their affair had been so unexpectedly +ended, and picking up a Spanish ship or two before returning home. + +"And now, what of your plans?" asked Nuala, as she and Brian sat +together that night before the huge fireplace in the hall, where Brian +had been burned and where Cathbarr had fought so well. "Of course, we +can settle rents later on." + +"When there are farms to gather rents from," laughed Brian, stretching +out easily. He lifted his bandaged left hand, gazing at it. "First, I am +minded to rest here and wait for news from Galway. The bones in this +hand of mine are not broken, from what I can make out, and it will soon +knit. As soon as may be, I shall ride after the Dark Master; when I have +paid my debts, I will then be in shape to look for a castle for myself." + +"Then you are determined to kill O'Donnell?" and she looked at him +sidewise. + +"He has my Spanish blade," said Brian. "It is good Toledo steel, and I +want it back again." + +"You have three hundred and fifty men here," she observed. "Can you feed +them?" + +"You have food in Gorumna--send me some. When I am well again I shall +ride with most of them, which will lessen the burden. With the spring I +will take lands between here and Slyne Head, for now I am strong enough +to defend what I take." + +"I shall also send you some of my pigeons, Brian. They are born and bred +on Gorumna Isle, and if you tie a message to them they will--" + +"I know," nodded Brian. "I have seen them used in Spain." + +With that she described how she used these pigeons, and Brian saw that +it was not by strength alone that this girl had maintained her position. +She kept men in Galway, Kinvarra, and elsewhere, as far south as the +Shannon and as far north as Erris, with others at Limerick and Tuam and +Castlebar. In this wise she got news of what was passing in Connaught +and Munster before most men had it, and more than one foreign ship had +found her caracks waiting for it through the same means, since she held +a privateer commission given her by Blake to legalize her sea-roving. +Also, she had pigeons which carried return messages, chiefly to her +kinsmen in Erris. + +"And what is your goal, Bird Daughter?" Brian turned to her, his blue +eyes clinching on her violet ones. "What will the end of all this wild +life of yours be?" + +"I do not know," she answered him, and turned away from his eyes to +stare down into the fire. "In the end I may be forced into marriage, +though I think not, for I have some will of my own in that regard." She +laughed out suddenly and looked up. "Two years ago Stephen Lynch sent me +a fair screed in all the glory of his chevron and three shamrocks and +wolf crest, saying that he was coming in one of his ships to marry me." + +"And did he ever come?" smiled Brian. + +"Yes; but I took his ship from him and sent him home again by road, tied +to a horse," she rippled out merrily. "Poor Stephen! The Bodkins never +let the Lynches hear the last of it until Stephen fell fighting against +Coote, and there was an end of it and him, too. When are you going to +tell me your name, Brian?" + +At the sudden question Brian was tempted, but forbore. + +"When I have slain the Dark Master," he laughed. + +"Then you are likely to be bearded worse than Cathbarr," she mocked him +gaily. "Unless, indeed, you break that oath you swore this morning." + +"Not I," returned Brian shortly. "I am not given to light oaths or light +pacts, Bird Daughter. I think I shall get me a ship and go cruising some +day." + +"Come with me," she said, rising, "and you may win food and wine without +begging from your overlord. Well, now for that chamber Cathbarr fixed up +for me. _Beannacht leath!_" + +Somewhat to his surprise, the next morning Brian found that Nuala was +extremely businesslike and even curt. Knowing little of women, he tried +to find wherein he had offended; failed utterly, and gave over the +attempt on seeing that Nuala preferred the company of Cathbarr. + +Then, remembering that kiss she had given the giant aboard ship, he +concluded that the Bird Daughter was drawn by the physical magnificence +of the man, which gave him a little bitterness. So he merely set his jaw +the harder and said nothing of the thing that lay in his heart to any +one. For that matter, he was not quite sure himself what the thing was; +but he knew that he had never seen a woman such as the Bird Daughter in +all his life, and was not apt to find another. + +Turlough having departed on his mission, Brian fell back on Cathbarr to +act as lieutenant; with Nuala herself, the work of getting the castle in +shape proceeded apace. The Bertragh hold was built on a cliff that rose +from the plain on the one hand, and sloped down to the water on the +other; had the Dark Master not fallen into Turlough's trap, he might +have turned out the pikemen to shift for themselves and have held the +castle with his own men for as long as he wished. + +Indeed, Brian found that the removal of danger and the taking of the +castle had somewhat puffed up his men, lessening their fear of him. So, +on the second day, he quelled a free fight that rose among them, hanged +ten of the worst, and after this the others became as lambs before him. + +Upon exploring the castle, Brian was delighted to find it well equipped +in all things except prisoners. The Dark Master had had little use for +captives, it seemed, and his dungeons were in sad disrepair. However, +there was good store of powder, provisions in moderation, a well within +the castle, and no lack of arms and munitions of war. Brian promptly +took the chamber of O'Donnell for his own use--a large tower-room well +furnished in English style, and having the luxury of a fireplace +besides. + +The construction of the building was simple--a large stone structure +with embattled walls, running down close to the sea behind and rising +above the plain in front. Save for the courtyard, the walls were not +separated from the building proper, and there was one high tower, on +which the flagstaff had been shattered since O'Donnell had taken the +place, for he was not given to flags and display. Besides a dozen of the +large bastards, there were five falcons, with plenty of ball. + +Therefore, Brian had good reason to be satisfied with his new home. The +only thing that rankled was that he held it not for himself, but for the +Bird Daughter; and he was determined that when he had settled scores +with the Dark Master he would only remain here until he had secured a +hold for himself, free of all service. + +But settling with O'Donnell Dubh was the first duty he had. Brian +recalled his torture and the agony of Cathbarr every time he entered the +hall. The iron rings that had been in the floor he had already torn out, +while Nuala had taken for her own the lonely wolfhound, which had been +left behind by the Dark Master. But Brian, who put all his desire for +vengeance in the wish to "get back his Spanish blade," could hardly turn +around without having some phase of his sufferings brought back to him. + +The men who had been thrown out along the roads had fetched in word that +the Dark Master had ridden for Galway, so Brian had great hopes that +Turlough would bring back some definite news. If O'Donnell settled in +the city, he was determined to go in at all risks and seek out his enemy +face to face; the O'Malleys were on good terms with the Bodkins, who in +old Galway played _Capulet_ to the _Montague_ of the Lynch family, and +he would be able to command some help in that quarter. + + * * * * * + +On the fifth day after the castle had been taken, a galley came over +from Gorumna Castle bearing news. Cromwell had failed before Duncannon, +and promised to fail again at Waterford, and hope was rising high among +the royalists, while O'Neill's Ulster army was biding its time in the +north until a new leader was chosen by the Confederacy to make head with +Ormond against the Parliament armies. + +Upon this the O'Malley rovers were impatient to revictual at Gorumna and +be off to the south after plunder, so Nuala decided to leave Bertragh +the next morning. That night, after Cathbarr had drunk himself asleep +and the O'Malleys had sought their ships, the Bird Daughter unexpectedly +became very cordial toward Brian once more, and they sat up late before +the fireplace. + +Brian did not understand it, but he was quite willing to accept it, and +when the talk turned on personal matters he was careful to ask no +questions concerning Nuala's plans for the future. Instead, he told her +tales of his life at the Spanish court, which interested her vastly, +until in the end she broke forth with a passionate outburst. + +"Oh, I wish I were a man!" she cried softly and eagerly, looking into +the red embers. "All my life I have been among men, and yet not of them; +I have had to do with guns and ships and powder, and I think I have not +done so ill, yet I have had dreams of other things--things which I +hardly know myself." + +Astonished though he was at her sudden unfolding of herself, Brian +looked at her gravely, his blue eyes very soft as he pierced to her +thought. + +"Yes," he said gently, "you are a woman, Bird Daughter--and if you were +a man I think that you might have gain, but others would have great +loss." + +"Eh?" She looked straightly at him, unfearing his half-expressed +thought. "I do not seek idle compliments, Yellow Brian, from those who +serve me." + +Brian flushed a little. + +"It is hard to receive compliments gracefully," he said, and at that she +also colored, but laughed, her eyes still on his. + +"There, give grace to my rude tongue, Brian! Of course you meant it--but +why?" + +"Because there is no woman like you, Nuala--so able to weld men into +union, so vibrant with inner power, and yet so womanly withal. It is no +little honor to have known you, to have--" + +"I wish you would tell me your name, Yellow Brian!" + +There was woman's cunning in the placing of that answer, and it took +Brian all aback. For a moment he was near to blurting out his whole +story; then he took shame for letting a girl's face so run away with +him. None the less, he knew well that it was her heart as well as her +face, and her spirit as well as her heart, that had captured him; yet, +because he had had no dealings with women since leaving Spain some +months before, he told himself that if the Bird Daughter had other women +near by to compare herself with, less attraction might be found in her. + +But he did not pause long upon that thought, sweeping his blue eyes to +hers in a smile. + +"If you had been a man, Nuala, you had never had fealty from me." + +"So--then it _was_ pity?" and swift anger leaped into her face. + +"Was it pity that drove Cathbarr to proffer his life for mine?" parried +Brian, his eyes grave. He felt a great impulse to speak out all that was +in him, but crushed it down. Her eyes met his, and held there for a long +moment. Then she spoke very calmly: + +"When will you take that cruise with me, Yellow Brian?" + +"When I have won my Spanish blade again," he smiled, and after that they +talked no more of intimate things, yet Brian's heart was glad within +him. + +With the next morning the Bird Daughter said farewell and went aboard +Lame Art's carack. Sorry was Brian to see her go, for he had come to +count much on her fine backing and inspiring courage, and knew not if he +would ever see her again. As the ships raised anchor, Cathbarr suddenly +let off the bastards with a great roar and raised on the shattered +flag-pole an ensign he had secretly obtained from Shaun the Little. The +ship-cannon barked out in brave answer and hoisted ensigns likewise; but +as Brian looked up at the flag overhead, his despondent mood was not +heartened. The three-masted ship of the O'Malleys flew above him, where +he had much rather flown the red hand of his own house. + +"When I have slain the Dark Master," he thought, watching from those +same sea-facing battlements where he and Cathbarr had descended, as the +two caracks leaped off to the south, "and when I have established myself +in some hold, be it never so small, then I shall take back my name again +and let the red hand hold what it has gripped. But not until these +things have been done, for Brian O'Neill will give fealty to none--no, +not even to the Bird Daughter herself." + +Thus he thought in his proud bitterness, reckoning not on what the +future was to bring forth. However, he had lost his idea that Nuala +might love Cathbarr, and had great gladness of it. + +Now there was work to be done, and Brian soon found himself too busy to +bother his mind with thoughts of bitterness. Cathbarr had done no little +drinking, so that his wound was turning bad, and in no little alarm +Brian banished all liquors from him and tended him carefully. Taking a +lesson from Red Murrough, he washed out the wound with vinegar, and +found that this had its effect. + +Since Brian was irked at having to rely on others for his supplies, he +rode to all the outlying farms and sent off the families there under +escort, with sufficient money to keep them and take them to their homes +in the north. Many of them chose to remain, and certain of his men knew +of women-folk they wished to bring hither, so that Brian saw he would +not lack for farmers and settlers. Enough fodder was obtained to keep +his horses for a time; but as this did not satisfy him, he set forth +after four days on a cattle-raid to the northeast, riding past the +Manturks toward Ashford with ninety men. + +He was gone on that raid five days; found to his great joy that his +strength had returned to him, and also found a small party of Royalist +horse near Lough Corrib. These had been buying up cattle for the Galway +garrison, and had collected fifty head; but on Brian's approach they did +not stay for dispute, but fled. + +So Brian cheerfully sent the fifty head of cattle home with as many men, +and with the others swept around through the mountains. With him were +two of Cathbarr's axmen, and they led him to the hold occupied by +Murrough O'Flaherty of the Kine, where Brian stayed half a day. He +concluded a friendship with the mountaineers, promising them powder in +exchange for cattle, and they promised, in turn, that within three weeks +they would fetch a hundred kine down to Castle Bertragh. + +Having thus assured himself of both food and stock for his farms, he +rode home again, to find great news awaiting him. + +First, there had come a galley from Gorumna with wine and stores. Nuala +sent word that her men in Galway had informed her the Dark Master was +there, but in no high favor with Lord Burke and the other commanders. +Second, one of Turlough Wolf's men had come in with news which had +caused Cathbarr to have the men in all readiness against Brian's return. + +The Dark Master was indeed in Galway town, and had made small head with +his suit for men, having related that Vere and his pikemen were lost. +However, he had been promised some help, provided he could gather any +force of his own and would hold Bertragh for the Royalists. Cromwell had +been driven back at Waterford, but Cork had risen for him, and his men +had entered there. + +So the Dark Master was going to the north to get him men in Sligo, as +Turlough had predicted he would do, and his plan was to raise a force, +bring down those Donegal pirates with whom he was in alliance, and set +on Bertragh by sea and land, as Brian himself had aimed at doing. +Turlough said that he was following, but would leave men at Swineford +and Tobercurry with further news of what happed. + +"Good!" cried Brian joyfully. "Cathbarr, have a hundred and fifty men +saddled at dawn--what is this?" + +Turlough's messenger handed him a paper. It was a safe-conduct issued by +the Confederacy and Royalist leaders in the name of one Stephen Burke, +and where the wily Wolf had gotten it the messenger did not know. But it +might come in useful, since there were few parliament men in Sligo and +Mayo, and Brian tucked it away with a laugh. + +"Then to the north at dawn--and O'Donnell shall not escape me this +time!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +HOW THE STORM FARED NORTH. + + +Now, it was no easy matter for a band of horsemen to ride from Galway to +Sligo in that day, unless they were known men and rode for the king or +the Confederacy. Scattered bands of men had come into the west from +Ulster and Leinster, and these had driven out what Parliament men had +landed; through the early years of the war Owen Ruadh's men had swept +all the west country, and now the land was resting, waiting for the +storm that was fated to come upon it when the rest of Ireland had been +crushed under the heel of Ireton. Enniskillen alone, in Fermanagh, held +out for Parliament. + +So, while the larger towns were all under Irish authority, the +hill-country was full of seething parties from all armies, most of them +being ravagers and outlaws who would fear to lay hand on so large a +party as Brian's. But little Brian cared for them, and without let or +pause he drove north to Ashford and so into the lowlands. + +Knowing that he must return again by the same way, he avoided the larger +towns and pushed hard for Swineford, where he would find word from +Turlough. More than once he met parties of men on the road, but these +were not anxious to question him, and it was not until he was riding +around Claremorris that men began to feel his heavy hand. + +With Lough Garra falling behind on the left, and Claremorris at safe +distance on the right, Brian was clattering along on the third morning. +His men carried muskets slung at their saddles, with bandoliers of +cartridges at their waists ready for quick action; and well it was that +they were so prepared. Searching ahead with narrowed eyes, Brian caught +a quick glint of steel on the road, and in no long time he made out a +party of a hundred men riding toward him. Brian got ready both his ax +and his safe-conduct, and rode forward without pause. + +Now, he had brought with him most of those Scots troopers he had taken +into service, and as the other party drew near he heard a swift yell of +"Albanach!" that boded no good. But Brian shouted to them and asked who +they were. + +"None of your affair!" answered their leader, a huge, dark man. "Who are +you?" + +"Stephen Burke from Galway," answered Brian; but before the words left +him he saw a musket flash, and one of his men fell. + +Upon that, no more words were wasted. Brian threw up his ax and dug in +his spurs, with his men behind; and when they loosed their muskets they +rode on the hundred with butts swinging. This was a new kind of warfare +in Connaught, and before Brian's ax had struck twice the field was won. +From two prisoners he found that the band was composed of a levy of the +O'Connors out of the Storm Mountains. + +"That is not well for our return," said one of his lieutenants. "We will +have the whole country up after this battle, and we have lost ten men." + +"Then we shall have the more need of recruits," quoth Brian, and let his +prisoners go free, since they would take no service, but only cursed +him. + +However, Brian was not ill pleased, since he found that he was nearly +sped of his wounds, though his left hand gave him some trouble at times. +His pleasure was speedily cured, for when they camped that night on the +hither side of Kiltarnagh there came a rush of men toward dawn, and +before they were beaten off twenty of Brian's men were dead. Five +prisoners were taken, and when two of these had been hung, the other +three confessed that the attack had been made by certain O'Connors from +the southern end of Lough Conn, to whose villages fugitives had come +from the affray of the previous morning. + +With that, Brian took counsel with some of his men who knew the country, +and it was their advice that he give up the ride and return home. + +"I will not," said Brian shortly. "This war was not of my seeking, but +thirty of my men have been slain. Guide me to these villages, and I will +take blood-fine." + +This he did because he needs must. His men did no ravaging, and were in +need of provisions, while he was minded to fill up his ranks. Also, by +taking sharp vengeance, he knew that on his return he was not like to be +molested. + +So he turned aside and rode fast for Lough Conn, which he reached the +next evening, and there came a storm of men on all that country. Twice +through the days that followed Brian had to fight hard--once against a +muster of the O'Connors, and once against a large force of ravaging +hillsmen under one Fitzgerald. Him Brian slew with a blow of his ax that +went from shoulder to saddle. + +From his men he gained fifty recruits and no small booty, both of money +and horses; and from the O'Connors he took bitter blood-fine for his +slain men in spare horses and provisions. + +These doings are set down briefly in the chronicle; but when Brian +turned east again, with Swineford a hard day's ride away, he once more +had a hundred and fifty men at his back, with a good store of all +things, while his name was one that spread fear. He left his men camped +two miles out of Swineford, on the Moy, and rode next morning into the +town with a dozen horsemen only. + +In the town was quartered a small force of Maguires from Fermanagh, and +as he rode in Brian was halted by their leader, who gave him the sele of +the day and asked his name. Brian held out his passport, and after +Maguire had fumbled over it and pretended that he could read, he gave it +back with a grin and Brian passed on with another. + +The seal of the Confederacy on the safe-conduct was quite enough for any +man in these parts, however. + +Brian had not ridden a hundred paces farther before he saw one of +Turlough's men beckoning to him from the door of an inn, so he left his +troopers to drink outside and passed within. Turlough's man joined him +at a table, and there Brian gained news of the most cheering. + +Six days before this the Dark Master had arrived at Swineford, with +Turlough an hour behind him. The old Wolf, whose cunning made up for his +lack of courage, had made shift to get two of O'Donnell's dozen men +embroiled with the Maguires. The upshot of that had been a fight, +followed by a delay of two days for investigation; finally the Dark +Master had slipped away, his two men had promptly been hung, and +Turlough had meantime gone ahead to prepare fresh delays at Bellahy and +Tobercurry. He had four men left with him, though he had left Bertragh +with ten. + +"Then O'Donnell has four days' start of me," reflected Brian. "If +Turlough can hold him, we will catch him at Sligo at latest." + +He left the inn and rode back to his camp, where he had the men on the +road in ten minutes. Tobercurry was only fifteen miles north, and +putting his horses to a gallop, Brian rode hard and fast until that +afternoon he came into the place. He found no garrison, but, instead, +was met by old Turlough himself, with a bandaged head and two wounded +men. + +"_Mile failte!_" cried Turlough joyously, running forward to kiss +Brian's hand in wild delight. "You are well come, master! Is all well +down below?" + +"All well, old friend," laughed Brian, swinging down to clasp the old +man in his arms. "Where is the Dark Master?" + +"Where we shall catch him in a forked stick presently," chuckled +Turlough, wagging his beard. "Get these wild men of yours out of the +town, and come into the inn with me to talk. I have all the Dark +Master's plans, master, and we have only to strike." + +Brian ordered his men to camp a mile outside town and to do no +plundering, so they clattered off, to the great relief of the townfolk. + +"Now," said Brian, when they two were sitting across a table, "what has +passed that you are bound up? Have you been fighting?" + +"Well, after a fashion," grimaced Turlough disgustedly. "I was here +ahead of the Dark Master, and raised the townpeople against him for a +plunderer. When he came up the road was full of men; but the devil slew +two and wounded two of my own men, cut his way through the rest, and as +I fled north my horse flung me and bruised my head. Has the castle +fallen?" + +"Yes," laughed Brian, and related what had happed at Bertragh. "Have I +time to bide here and eat?" + +Turlough yeasaid this and sent the inn-master bustling for food and +wine. When this was set before them, Turlough Wolf told his tale, +beginning with the statement that two of O'Donnell's men had been +captured when he cut through the townfolk and rode off. + +"Where are they?" asked Brian quickly, his eyes narrowing. + +"Hanged," chuckled the old man succinctly. "At Galway I could make out +nothing more than the word I sent you by messenger, so I came north +after O'Donnell Dubh, taking very good care that he saw nothing of me." + +"I'll warrant that," laughed Brian. "We met your man at Swineford." + +"Then no need to tell what passed there. Well, I said that we caught two +of his men here, and I got back into the town just in time to keep the +folk from hanging them to the church steeple." + +"Eh?" Brian stared, with his mouth full. "Why, I thought you said--" + +"_Dhar mo lamh_, give me time to finish, master!" Turlough hesitated a +little, evidently in some fear. "We took them into the churchyard and +burned them a little, and so got out of them all the Dark Master's +plans. Then the priest shrived them, and I let the townfolk hang them." + +Brian looked across the table, his blue eyes like ice and his nostrils +quivering with anger; the old man slanted up his gray eyes and turned +uneasily in his seat, for well he knew what Brian would say to this. + +"That was ill done, Turlough Wolf. If you had not served me so well, you +would repent that work. By my faith, I am minded to hang you at their +side!" + +Brian meant it, for the torture of men made him furious. + +"I am no fool to spare mad dogs," muttered Turlough sullenly. "It was +the Dark Master who lopped these ears of mine eight years gone." + +"Tell your tale," said Brian curtly and fell to eating again. + +"I found tidings both good and bad, master. From Galway the Dark Master +had sent messengers to his kin in Donegal, bidding them send aid south; +also, he sent to certain pirates north of Sligo Bay. From Sligo to the +Erne all that land is desolate, and has been so these six years, and the +O'Donnells from Lough Swilly have set up a pirate hold near Millhaven. +It was to these that the Dark Master sent also. + +"He has appointed a meeting-place in the hills beyond Drumcliff, at a +certain mountain named Clochaun, or the Stone. Now, whether you think +my craft evil or good, master, it is yet gainful to us." + +This much Brian was forced to acknowledge, though for many days +afterward he was still angry at Turlough for torturing and hanging those +men. He had no scruples about a downright hanging, but torturing was a +very different matter, and one of which he had tasted himself. + +"Well, what is your advice in this?" + +"We can do one of two things, master. The one is to ride on to Sligo and +fall on him when he comes south again with his men; the other is to ride +hard after him and catch him, then fall on the Millhaven men, then meet +the O'Donnells who are coming south to join him at the Stone Mountain +with the rest." + +"The first plan is more cautious," said Brian thoughtfully; "but to +strike him when he has his men around him would be to repeat what we +have done. I like the other way the better." + +"It is both safer and yet more dangerous, master. Safer in that we smite +him and his men separately, and more dangerous because we shall be in +the heart of a wild country, without supplies, and with no aid in case +we are defeated." + +"It is more to my mind to talk of winning than losing," grunted Brian. +"I have spare horses and money with which to buy provisions. Also, I +think that I shall stamp flat that pirate nest at Millhaven, and set up +my own banner there." + +"Then you have a banner of your own, master?" Turlough squinted up +slyly, for it was the first hint Brian had given him of what lay behind +his nickname. + +"Aye!" laughed Brian as the wine warmed him. "And it shall bear the Red +Hand of Tyr-owen, old Wolf; but first to catch the Dark Master. Now let +us go, for we shall ride to the Stone Mountain and see what haps there." + +Upon that they rode forth from the town, and all the townfolk bade the +crafty Turlough farewell, and gave him gifts for warning them against +the "plunderers." Turlough looked up at the two bodies swinging in the +wind as they passed the church-tower, and put his tongue in his cheek, +but Brian said no more on the subject. + +That night they camped outside the town, and Brian bought all the +provision that the people would sell. This he loaded on the spare +horses, and the next morning they set off for the north. + + * * * * * + +Now, in that fighting by Lough Conn, Brian had taken a shrewd clip which +had reopened the bullet-tear over his scalp. Added to this, he was not +yet in all of his former strength, and the hard ride to Tobercurry had +set his blood to heating; wherefore it was that before coming to Sligo +Brian was heavy with fever and was shaken with chill. A hard snow was +driving through the night, and Turlough sent most of the men around the +city to wait for them on the other side the Garravogue to avoid danger. + +There was no garrison in Sligo, however. The old castle which Red Hugh +O'Donnell had fought over in the old days was ruined; the grand +monastery, built by Brian of Tyr-erril, had been burned by Hamilton's +men, together with the town itself, and Sligo was well-nigh desolate. +Turlough got shelter in a hovel, however; managed to put Brian into a +miserable bed, and gave him a brew to drink. With the morning Brian +found his fever gone, but weakness was on him. + +They stayed in Sligo town all that day and the next night, and upon +dawn, Brian insisted on riding north once more, against Turlough's +protests. However, no ill came of it, for Brian was well used to riding, +and the exercise gave him strength, though they made but a short march +that day past the round tower of Drumcliff, halting in the hills. + +As Turlough Wolf knew where the Stone Mountain was they had no use for +guides. It lay only another day's march ahead of them, and there was +some danger that their quarry would descry their coming and flee away to +Millhaven. + +"This is my rede, master;" said Turlough, "that you and I ride ahead +with a few men to see how things go, and leave our men to follow. The +hills are empty of rovers, for there is naught to plunder; but it were +well to know if the Dark Master has joined with those friends of his." + +"That seems good advice," said Brian, and, taking a dozen men, they rode +forward warily, sending out other parties to scout also. + +Over them towered the whiteness of the Stone Mountain, for snow lay +thickly on all things. Brian gazed up at the gray-jutted crags, but his +thoughts were not all with the Dark Master. Him he already accounted +slain, and he was thinking of that Millhaven stronghold. + +One day his own banner should fly there, he told himself. There must be +a good harbor, else the northern pirates had never settled down to hold +the place; and since all the country roundabout lay bleak and unsettled +of men, the vision came to him of first taking the place, and then +fetching O'Neills from the east and north to settle the lands around. +They would flock to him when his condition was made known, and that +Cromwell's men would shatter the royalists and confederacy Brian saw +clearly, as Owen Ruadh had foretold him. + +Already the house of Tyr-owen was scattered and fallen, as the greater +house of Tyr-connall had been before it, for when the last earl had fled +from the land, there had been only the younger branch to hold the sept +together. Owen Ruadh was the final glory of that branch, and now Brian +entertained the vision of transplanting the Red Hand and of making his +rule strong in the west. + +But other men had entertained the same vision before him, and it had +remained a vision, and no more; and the high hopes of Brian himself were +fated to be driven upon the rocks of destiny before many days had passed +over. + +With the afternoon the little party stood on the lower slopes of the +Stone Mountain itself, and Turlough drew the shape of the place in the +snow with his pike-haft. + +"Here are we," he explained, "on the southern slopes. A half-mile ahead +of us is a valley with a small and fast-rushing water, where we shall +make camp this night if the Dark Master be not before us. And if he is +not, then he will be on the northern side, where there are two +well-sheltered valleys with water running, fit for the meeting-place and +camp of men. Here is the easternmost, but, as I remember it, the snow +fills the valley somewhat in winter. The other holds a small lake called +the Dubh Linn, or Black Tarn, and in one of these we shall find the Dark +Master, unless he is here before us." + +"Well, let us ride on and see to that," said Brian, and they did so. + +However, they found the valley deserted and empty, and picked a place +for camp, sending back a horseman to bring up the force. They could make +out no smoke rising from the mountain, nor dared they light fires until +after dark for fear of alarming O'Donnell; but when the force came up, +Brian sent out scouts to bring in what word might be had. + +"Where got you such knowledge of this wilderness?" he asked Turlough +that night when the fires were blazing and the men were warmed and fed. +The old man narrowed his gray eyes and chuckled a little. + +"I have been in many armies, master, though I have fought not; and I +have been outlawed twice by the English, in the old days. This was +always a good place to flee to." + +Brian laughed and said no more. That night the men rested well, and +Brian himself got sleep which sent strength into him and served him well +in the days to come, for it was long before he was to sleep again, save +as he rode, nodding in the saddle. + +Not until nearly dawn did the last of the scouts straggle in. None of +these bore any news, and all agreed that no signs could they find of any +large band of men, nor of any men at all. Turlough heard their reports, +letting Brian sleep, and only when the last man came in were any tidings +brought. This man bore a strip of sheepskin, which, he said, an old +woman had given him to bear to his master. + +"A woman!" exclaimed Turlough, scanning the written words on the +sheepskin, but unable to read them. "What is she like? It is a strange +thing if women bide on Slieve Clochaun! Was there any stead near by?" + +"None," replied the man, who trembled with something more than cold. +"_M'anam go'n Dhia!_ She was a witch woman, or worse, Turlough Wolf. She +leaped out of the snow in my path, told me to bear that skin to Yellow +Brian, and vanished in a burst of fire. How could she not have been a +devil?" + +"Nonsense!" grunted Turlough, though he suddenly laid the strip of skin +down. "You are overwarm with _uisquebagh_, man. What was this woman +like? Was she clad all in black?" + +"Faith, I did not stop to see," grinned the man sheepishly. + +Turlough stroked his beard, while the men went off to eat and sleep. He +gazed at the strip of skin, and twice stretched out his hand toward it, +with his eye on the fire, but each time drew back. Then he glanced +around craftily, found he was alone, and took from under his cloak a +small, brass crucifix. With this he touched the skin, found that nothing +happened, and rose with a nod. The dawn was just breaking in the east. + +"There is no sorcery in it, at least," he muttered; "but I think it +bodes no great good to us. Ho, Brian!" + +Brian woke and sprang up. Turlough handed him the strip of skin, saying +no word, and when Brian had held it to the light of the embers, he +looked up suddenly. + +"Whence came this?" + +"What does it say first?" returned Turlough uneasily. + +"News!" cried Brian, his blue eyes aflame with eagerness. "It says that +O'Donnell bides alone by the Black Tarn, and that his horsemen from the +north are camped two miles beyond the mountain, waiting for him, and +that he has made pact with the Millhaven pirates and they have left for +their stronghold. Answer me--whence came this? It is written in good +English writing, man!" + +Then Turlough told of what had chanced, and when he had done, Brian +stared into his gray eyes with a great wonder. Twice he tried to speak, +but his lips were dry. + +"The Black Woman!" he muttered thickly. "Can it be, Turlough? Who is +she?" + +"That was my thought, master," said Turlough. "Who she is none know save +herself; but she deals with no good. This may be a trap; let us ride +south again, and at once, lest evil come upon us." + +"South? Not I," laughed Brian, though his face was pale. "To horse, +men!" + +And at his ringing shout the camp awoke, and Brian saw his vengeance +drawing near. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TARN. + + +It had been long, indeed, since Brian had given thought to his meeting +with the Black Woman on the other side of Ireland. In that brief +meeting, the Black Woman had spoken of seeing the old earl, his +grandfather, in his youth. Yet it was forty years since the two earls, +O'Donnell and O'Neill, had fled together from Ireland, and even then +Tyr-owen had been an old man. Unless this Black Woman was close on a +hundred years of age, Brian could not see how she had known Hugh O'Neill +in his youth. + +The mere fact that she had recognized him there in the moonlight was +proof of her true speaking, however. Brian could no longer hide from +himself that her words had some strange prophecy in them. She had +foretold his meeting with Cathbarr and with the Bird Daughter, though, +indeed, she might have been attempting only to guide him on the path +which he had afterward followed. + +While the men were saddling, Brian called Turlough and told of the hag's +word that she would meet him again "on a black day for him." + +"Now, what think you she meant by that, Turlough? Is this the meeting?" + +"No, master, for it is no meeting. It may be as you think, and that she +was but trying to lead you into the west; yet, for my part, I call it +sorcery," and the old man crossed himself, for, like better men than +himself, Turlough ascribed all he could not fathom to magic. "It seems +to me that she is some witch who is hanging on your tracks, and that +when--" + +"Oh, nonsense!" laughed Brian, flinging the matter from his mind. "At +any rate, she has served me well this time. Now, what rede shall we +follow in this matter, and shall we capture and slay the Dark Master +first, or fall on his men first, or both together?" + +"It is ill to sunder a force of men, master," quoth Turlough. "If those +horsemen of O'Donnell's are encamped in a valley two miles to the north, +it is a vale of which I know well. But we must mind this--if O'Donnell +gets safe into Galway again with either these horsemen or those +Millhaven pirates of his clan, he will drive hard against Bertragh." + +"The Dark Master shall come no more to Galway," said Brian grimly, +fingering his ax. "Now finish, and quickly." + +"I have a plan in my mind, master; but unless we slay the Dark Master, +it is like to fail us. Let us send a hundred of the men around to the +north, for I will tell them how to ride, so that by this night they can +fall upon those men of his and scatter them in the darkness, and drive +them south where we can slay them utterly at our wills. If we drove them +back whence they came, there would be little craft in it, and it is to +my liking to do a thing well or not at all." + +"A true word there," nodded Brian, his eyes gleaming. "I think those men +are as good as dead now, Turlough. Speak on." + +"With fifty men, master, you and I can reach the valley of the Dubh +Linn. We cannot do it with horses, unless we ride around to the north, +and in that there would be danger of striking on the Dark Master's +scouts. But while our hundred are circling far around, we with fifty can +go over the mountain by valleys and paths I know of, so that by this +evening we will come to the Black Tarn and strike the Dark Master as our +hundred men fall on his camp. That is my--" + +"Good!" cried Brian, leaping up eagerly. "Then we--" + +"Hold, master!" And Turlough caught his arm, quickly staying him. When +Brian looked down he read a sudden fear in the old man's gray eyes. +"That was my first rede, Yellow Brian, and you would do well to hear my +second also." + +"Say it," said Brian, and glanced at the brightening sky. + +"My second rede is this. That message might be a trap to ensnare us, +though I have two minds about this Black Woman. But if we fail to slay +the Dark Master at the Black Tarn, we are like to have an ill time." + +"Why so?" asked Brian, for he could see no likelihood of that. "I said +that we would slay him." + +"Master, do you hold the lives of men in your keeping?" In the gray eyes +leaped a swift horror that amazed Brian. "I tell you that if the Dark +Master escapes from our hand, and his men are driven past our fifty into +the south, he will ride hard before us into Galway. I see evil in that +first rede of mine, Yellow Brian. I see evil in it--" + +He broke off, staring past Brian with fixed and unseeing eyes, his face +rigid. + +"Turlough, are you mad?" Brian seized the other's shoulder, shaking him +harshly. The old man shivered a little, and sanity came back into his +eyes as they met the icy blue of Brian's. "What daftness is upon you, +man?" + +"I know not, master," whimpered old Turlough feebly. "Do as you will." + +"Then I will to follow your rede, divide my men as you say, and when we +have slain the Dark Master, we will cut off the last of these O'Donnells +of his, ride to Millhaven and take that hold, and send word to the Bird +Daughter that she may keep Bertragh Castle and send Cathbarr north to +me. Now go, and tell a hundred of the men how to ride around this +mountain; then be ready to guide me over it to the Black Tarn." + +"You are a hard man, Yellow Brian," said Turlough, and turned him about +and did as Brian had ordered. + +None the less, Brian gave some thought to that second rede of +Turlough's. He saw clearly enough that with the northern horsemen driven +past, scattered though they might be, they could be cut off to a man if +the Dark Master were slain. But if O'Donnell should escape by some trick +of fate, he could gather up his men and drive south. + +"If he does that, there will be slaying between Sligo and Galway," swore +Brian quickly. "But I cannot see that he will escape me here. When +another day breaks, I shall have won my Spanish blade again--and then +ho! for the Red Hand of Tyr-owen!" + +So Brian laughed and donned his jack and back-piece, while Turlough drew +plans in the snow and showed the leaders of the hundred how to sweep +around without discovery so that they might fall on the northern +horsemen at eve. + +Brian had grown into an older and grimmer man since the day he had stood +beside the bed of Owen Ruadh O'Neill, short though the time had been. +Youth was still in his face when he smiled out, but suffering had +deepened his eyes and sunk his cheeks and drawn the skin tighter over +that powerful jaw of his. When he had armed, he stood in thought for a +little, with hand on jaw in his instinctive gesture, and wakened +suddenly to find old Turlough bending the knee before him. + +"Now I know of what blood you come, Yellow Brian," said the old man +softly. "I saw Hugh O'Neill, the great earl, standing even as you stand +now, on the morning when we slew the English at the Yellow Ford." + +"Man, man!" exclaimed Brian in wonder; "that battle was fought fifty +years ago, and yet you say that you were there?" + +"I was the earl's horse-boy, master." And Brian saw tears on the old +man's beard. "I loved him, and I was at the flight of the earls ten +years after, going with Tyr-owen to Italy, and it was these hands laid +him in his grave, master; master, have faith in me--" + +Brian put down his hands to those of Turlough, his heart strangely +softened. + +"He was my grandfather," he said simply, and Turlough broke down and +wept like a child. + +When they left their horses and the camp behind, Brian followed +Turlough, feeling like a new man. He had lightened his heart of a great +load, and he wished that he had talked of these things with Turlough +Wolf long before this. Now he understood why the old man had offered him +service as he stood in that attitude on the battlements of O'Reilly's +castle after leaving Owen Ruadh, and he understood the love that +Turlough bore him, and the silence the old man had kept on the matter, +though it must have ever been deep in his heart to speak out. + +No more words passed between them, nor did Brian tell Turlough more of +his story until long after; but of this there was no need. As they +climbed higher on the mountain they could see the hundred horsemen +filing off to the eastward; but soon these were lost sight of as +Turlough led Brian and the fifty through the valleys and deep openings, +which were drifted deep in snow, making progress slow and wearisome. + +Indeed, Brian thought afterward that this hard traveling might have been +responsible for what chanced on the other side of the mountain. + +On the higher crests and ridges there was little snow, however, and +Turlough seemed to know every inch of the place by heart, though more +than once Brian gave himself up for lost in the maze of smaller peaks +and the twisted paths they followed. Most of the fifty Turlough had +chosen from those hillmen who had joined Brian by Lough Conn, so that +they were not unused to such climbing, and remained with spirits +unshaken by the vast loneliness that surrounded them, and to which other +men might have succumbed somewhat. + +Brian himself was no little awed by the desolate grandeur of the Stone +Mountain, but he only wrapped his cloak more closely about him, and +swore that the Dark Master should yield up the Spanish blade before many +more hours. + +And so indeed it was done, though not as Brian looked for. + +Until long after noon the band wended their way with great toil and pain +over the flanks of the mountain, until Turlough led Brian out to a point +of black rock and motioned toward the valleys below them. + +"There to the left," he said, "is the valley of the Black Tarn. Do you +see that smoke, Brian, and that dark spot between the trees and the +lake?" + +Brian looked, squinting because of the snow-glare. Leading down from the +side of the mountain itself was a valley--long, and widening gradually +to the plain, where a dark wood swallowed it up. Almost under his feet, +as it were, was a small, round lake deep in the rock, with a small, +frozen-over outlet that was lost in the snow. + +But farther down the valley-slopes there were trees, and among them +horses tethered and a fire strewing smoke on the air close beside. +Between this little wood and the tarn itself there stood a low house of +thatch with smoke also rising from it, and from the other fire among the +trees came a sheen of steel caps and jacks, where were men. + +But to Brian all these things were very small and hard to make out +distinctly, as if he were looking at some carven mimicry, such as +children are wont to use in play. + +"Now come," said Turlough Wolf. "It is no easy task getting there +without being discovered, and the way is long." + +Brian found, indeed, that to avoid being seen from below they must +needs take a roundabout way; but when the afternoon was far spent they +had come to a snow-filled hollow among the rocks which Turlough declared +was just over the edge of that valley-slope where stood the low house. +Turlough said that in his day that house had not stood there, and he +knew nothing of it. + +Since there could be no talk of lighting a fire, Brian's men huddled +together in the hollow, and ate and drank cheerlessly. Brian was minded +to meet the Dark Master and win his Spanish blade with his own hand, so +he ordered that his men pass on after dark and make ready to fall upon +those men who were camped at the wood, but to hold off until he and +Turlough had smitten the Dark Master in that little thatched house, +where he was most like to be found. Turlough yeasaid this plan, for he +trusted greatly to Brian's strength. + +At length they set out under the cold stars, and Brian's men were very +weary, but promised to do all as he had commanded. He and Turlough set +off alone over the hill, and when they had come to the hill-crest after +much toiling through the snow they looked down and found the house a +hundred yards below them. + +"Let us go down cautiously," said Turlough, "for I think we can peer +through the thatch and plan our stroke well." + +So they struck down openly across the hill-slope, and found that there +was none on guard. The door of the house was fast shut, but Turlough +strode cautiously in the trampled snow around the house, where, at the +side, a spark of firelight glittered through the loose thatch. To this +he led Brian, and Brian stooped down and looked through the cranny, +while Turlough went farther and fared as well. + +There was but one room in the hut, and it was well lighted by the fire +that glittered merrily on the hearth. Sitting not far away, but with his +back to Brian, was a man; he sat on a stool, and there seemed to be a +wide earthenware bowl of water or some dark liquid on the floor between +his feet into which he was staring. In his bent-down position his +rounded shoulders stood up stark against the fire, and Brian knew this +was the Dark Master. + +His hand went to the pistol in his belt, but since there was no other +man in the hut, he thought it shame to murder O'Donnell as he sat, and +made up his mind to go around to the door and burst in. He saw his own +great sword slung across the Dark Master's back, but even as he stirred +to rise, O'Donnell's voice came to him, low and vibrant, so that he bode +where he was and listened. + +"I cannot make out the figures," muttered the Dark Master, still staring +down into the bowl of dark water. "The man has the face of Yellow Brian, +yet he is swart; the woman I sure never saw before. _Corp na diaoul!_ +What is the meaning of this? Who stands in my way?" + +Brian paused in no little astonishment, and stole a glance aside to see +old Turlough crossing himself fervently. It struck his mind that he had +chanced on some sorcery here, and, remembering the tales he had heard of +the Dark Master's work, he laughed a little and settled down. He was +minded to see what this thing might be; but he made his pistol ready in +case the magic told O'Donnell of his danger. + +"It is some great man," came the Dark Master's voice again. "There is +something broidered on his-- By my soul, it is the Red Hand of Tyr-owen! +It is The O'Neill himself--the earl-- Is Yellow Brian of his blood, +then?" + +At hearing this Brian crouched closer, in some fear and more wonder. Was +the Dark Master in reality seeing such figures in that water-bowl? Then +the man must be either mad or--or figures were there. Now O'Donnell's +voice rose stronger: + +"Which of these twain stands now in my way? It is not Yellow Brian. Ah, +the earl is slipping away, and the woman is smiling. One of his loves, +belike, for he had many; she is fair, wondrous fair! Ah, what's this?" + +Brian saw the dark figure crouch lower, as if in astonishment. + +"Changing, changing! Is it this woman who stands in my way, then? +Toothless and grinning, crouched low over a stick, rags and tatters and +wisps of gray hair--" + +The Dark Master paused in his jerky speech, stiffened as if in wild +amazement at that which he beheld, and a sudden cry broke from him, +sharp and awestruck: + +"The Black Woman!" + +Then Brian straightened up, feeling Turlough's hand touch his; but for a +space he stood silent while his mind cast out for what the Dark Master's +words meant. + +In a flash it came to him. Through some black dealings O'Donnell had in +truth pictured The O'Neill in that bowl, and with him a woman he had +loved and who loved him; and this was no other than she whom Brian had +known as the Black Woman, now become an old hag indeed, with only the +memories of her fair youth and her love behind her. And this was why she +had recognized him and why she had evidently watched over him since that +first meeting, out of the love she had borne the earl, his grandsire, in +days now buried under many bitter years. + +The two men looked into each other's eyes, and Brian saw that Turlough's +jaw had dropped loosely, and that fright had stricken the old man almost +out of his senses. With that Brian felt his own fear take wings. He +laughed a little as his grip closed on the haft of his ax, and the cold +star-glint seemed to shine back again from his eyes. + +"Bide here if you will," he smiled quietly. "I have my work to do." + +And, turning with the word, he strode quickly to the door, just as there +came a great cry from within the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +BRIAN GETS HIS SWORD AGAIN. + + +Brian pushed the door open, and it gave easily to his fist. Gazing +within he saw the Dark Master standing over the shattered bowl, whose +liquid flowed down toward the hearth and hissed on the embers; plainly, +the Dark Master had seen nothing good in that water, for he had +shattered the bowl with his foot, and his teeth were snarling under his +drooping mustache. + +"I am come," said Brian, laughing grimly as he stood in the doorway. + +O'Donnell whirled, gripping at his sword. + +Now, whether there was magic on the place, as Turlough ever swore, or +whether the opening of the door had made a draft, as Brian thought more +likely, a strange thing happened. + +Brian had raised his pistol in his left hand, meaning to kill the Dark +Master without pity in that first moment. Out of the hearth came a great +swirl of ashes and red embers, flying toward the door and closing around +O'Donnell; as Brian pressed the trigger the ashes smote him in a +blinding swirl, and a harsh laugh answered the roar of the pistol. + +With a curse Brian cleared his eyes of the light ash and reached with +his ax at the dim figure of the Dark Master, nigh hid with ashes and +powder-smoke. From down the vale came other shots and cries, and he knew +his men had struck on that small camp lying there; but at this O'Donnell +gave him other things to think of. + +That was a great fight, for Brian was little used to ax-play and had +much ado to parry the keen thrusts of his own Spanish blade; the roof +was too low to give room for a swing, and when the Dark Master had +lunged him back to the door again, he knew that he had done ill. So with +another bitter curse Brian flung the ax from his hand and ripped out the +long, Irish dagger that hung at his girdle. + +For all his wrath he had taken good heed to fling the ax aright, and the +broad flat of it took the Dark Master full in the chest and bore him +back, reeling and shouting for his men. Before he could recover Brian +leaped at him, caught O'Donnell's sword wrist in his left hand, and +aimed a deadly stroke with his _skean_. + +The blow went true, but the steel turned aside from the Dark Master's +mail-shirt; O'Donnell caught his wrist in turn, and there the two stood +heaving each at the other for a long minute. Brian's eyes struck cold +and hard into the evil features of the Dark Master; the other's breath +came hot on his cheeks, and so beastlike was the man's face that Brian +half expected those snarling teeth to close snapping at his throat. But +the Dark Master was strong, for all his hunched shoulders. + +Then a great flame of vengeance seemed to cleave Brian's soul, and with +a curt laugh he threw out his strength and flung the Dark Master back +bodily so that he fell into the hearth and burst the mud chimney and the +thatched wall behind. Before he could rise again Brian had whipped out +his other pistol and fired; he saw the man's figure writhe aside, then +up through the powder-smoke rose a burning brand that smote him over the +brow heavily. At the same instant the scattered sparks caught the +thatch, and the whole house broke into flame. + +Brian's eyes found the dark figure once more and he rushed forward. At +the broken heap of mud from the chimney his feet struck on the sword, +which had fallen from the Dark Master's hand, and he caught it up with a +cry of joy and bore forward. + +That brief instant of delay lost him his quarry, however. Brian flung +through the shattered wall, with the whole structure flaming up behind +him; he saw a dark figure on the snow and ran at it, only to find +himself striking at Turlough Wolf, and stayed his hand barely in time. + +"Where is he?" he panted hoarsely, looking around with fierce eyes. + +Then he caught the Dark Master's figure running across the snow toward +that camp amid the trees, where fighting was still forward and men were +shouting and firing. Brian rushed off, with Turlough staggering after +him; but with a sob of despairing anger he saw the Dark Master flit into +the trees, and heard his voice ringing at his men. + +It turned out afterward that Brian's fifty men, weary and chilled, had +made a somewhat heartless assault on the score of horsemen camped in the +trees; therefore, instead of carrying O'Donnell's men off their feet and +cutting them down straightway, they were held off for a little. + +The Dark Master knew that he was lost if he stayed long in that place, +however, and when Brian reached the clump of trees he found that he was +too late. With two or three men behind him, O'Donnell had cut through +Brian's men and was galloping away. Brian groaned savagely, leaped at a +mounted man and dragged him from the saddle, and was just springing up +when Turlough caught and stayed him. + +"Wait, master!" panted the old man in desperate fear of the surging men +around him, but in more desperate fear for Brian. "This is madness, for +I ordered our fifty horses fetched around--" + +"Bide here for them, then!" said Brian, and swung up into the saddle. +One of the Dark Master's men barred his way, and Brian's blade went +through his throat; then he was off after the four figures who by now +were far distant toward the dark forest that swallowed up the valley +ahead. + +The cold night air cleared his brain, however, and after a moment he +drew rein with bitterness upon him. Turlough had spoken rightly, for to +ride after those four men with his naked sword alone was in truth +madness. So he came back again to where the last of the hemmed-in +horsemen was being cut out of his saddle, and when his men gathered +about him with a shout, his tongue gave them little joy. + +"You are fools," he said harshly, "for the Dark Master has escaped us. +Take these horses, fifteen of you, and ride. Let five men go to bring in +our horses with all speed, and let ten more scatter out in search of our +hundred men. These are not more than two miles distant, and in an hour I +must ride from here. See to it that you return with the men and horses +by then, or shift for yourselves." + +"That is too much," spoke out a burly fellow angrily. "We have been +climbing all day, and have----" + +Brian said no word, but leaned down from his saddle and his Spanish +blade flickered in the light. The man fell and lay quiet, while the +others drew back in black fear. + +"I am master here," said Brian coldly, when a long instant had passed. +"Go." + +There was no more muttering among his recruits, either then or later. He +dismounted, saw that the O'Donnells had been slain to the last man, and +joined Turlough at the campfire. Food and drink had been found in the +camp, and a flagon of wine heartened Brian greatly. + +"Now give me your rede, Turlough Wolf," he said. "I have failed in this +matter, and it seems that ill shall come of it." + +"So I foretold, master, but we may still remedy the ill if we catch +O'Donnell. I think that by now his horsemen are scattered, and this +burning hut will draw our own men thither. Before midnight they will be +here, and we can ride forth. I think that the Dark Master will gather +what men are left him and strike down for Galway." + +"Two men may ride the same road," quoth Brian grimly, and set his naked +blade in his belt. He saw that before him lay some fighting and much +hard riding, so inside the next hour he had his men full-fed. Before +this was finished the spare horses and those of his men came in, for +Turlough had ordered them to start at noon and ride around in case of +need. + +Brian determined to spare neither men nor horseflesh on that riding, and +when his men were mounted he set out across the night to meet his +hundred, and to hear what had been done at the camp two miles distant. +As the moon was rising he met them; and if he was glad at the meeting, +they were twice glad. + +They had found the camp and had lain off it until after dark as +Turlough had bidden them, the more so since there were two-score over a +hundred men there. But at length they had ridden down as if they were +fresh come from the north, and had twice ridden through the camp before +the O'Donnells were well awake, though it had been sharp work. The +result had been that a score of Brian's men had fallen, they had slain a +full half of the O'Donnells, and the rest had been driven and scattered +southward. Brian's men had plundered their camp and were weary, so that +when they heard of what had chanced at the Black Tarn they were somewhat +less than half willing to ride farther. + +But Brian speedily persuaded them to that course, and Turlough led them +all to the south on the way to Sligo. + +Bitterness and heaviness of heart dwelt deep in Brian that night, and +for some time to come. With the escape of the Dark Master, whether it +had been by magic or craft, all his visions had burst; he must ride away +from the pirate hold at Millhaven, he saw that he would lose many men on +his way south, and yet there lay no choice before him. He had scotched +the snake, and now he must kill it. If the Dark Master reached Galway +town in safety, those O'Donnells from Millhaven would be around by sea +to meet him, and the royalists would lend him men and guns to go against +Bertragh in their cause. + +"Is there any likelihood that the Dark Master will miss those scattered +men of his?" he asked Turlough, who rode on his right hand. + +"Little, master. There is but the one road south to Sligo at this +season, and it is great wonder indeed that the scattered men did not +fall on us at the Black Tarn in seeking their master. But with only +seventy-five men or so I do not think they will bide our coming." + +"Nor do I," and Brian laughed grimly as he thought of that fight with +his enemy. + +Certain men had been wounded in those frays, and he left them to follow +after him, so that he turned south with a hundred and a score men at his +back. He did not think that the Dark Master would face him, but since +those men were all O'Donnells who would obey him utterly, he looked to +have some fighting; in which he was not far wrong. + +An hour after the day was broken they thundered up to the bridge that +spanned the Garravogue, and ten wild and silent men were holding that +bridge behind an overturned cart for barricade. Brian would waste no men +on a storm, but slew six of the men with musketry and rode over the +other four; even so, those four brought down three of his men before +they were done with. + +Brian baited the horses in Sligo, remaining there a scant half-hour. +From the townfolk he learned that the Dark Master was but two hours +ahead of him, and Brian had great hopes of running him to earth that +same day. So he set forth again and they rode hard to Ballsadare, at the +south branch of Sligo Bay, and on to Coolany at the edge of the Storm +Mountains. + +At this latter place they found different work, however, for here was a +small garrison of Cavan pikemen who stopped them, lined with their pikes +three deep across the road before the church. Brian was no long time in +learning that the Dark Master had spread word of him as a plunderer and +Parliament man. + +"I have no time to waste on you," he said shortly to the leader of the +pikemen. "Here is a safe-conduct, and I am Stephen Burke." + +"None the less, you must stay until I have looked into this," said the +other, pulling out his pistol with some determination. + +"Stay I will not, but I think you shall," replied Brian, and thrust as +the man fired. The bullet glanced from his jack, but the officer fell +back among his pikes, and Brian spurred after him in great anger. His +Scots troopers were in the van, or what was left of them, and they came +down galloping, and rode over the pikemen leaving a sea of smitten men +in the roadway behind. + +Also, ten of Brian's men were left. + +By the evening they were back at Tobercurry again, where Turlough had +hung those two men after torturing them. The Dark Master was something +over an hour ahead of them, and he had stayed to fire the church and the +town. Brian's heart was sore for the townfolk, but he could pause no +longer than to bait horses and men, since he looked for hard riding that +night; however, he gave what money and plunder he had to the townfolk +and got a blessing in return, and so rode forth again as the stars +peeped out. + +"There are Maguires in Swineford, master," said old Turlough with a +cunning, sidelong look. + +"I met them coming north," laughed Brian softly. "They will prove good +men to avoid, so I think that we shall ride around that burg." + +Brian thought that he could get through the Maguires, but he intended to +take no chances. However, they had gained to within five miles of +Swineford and had halted to blow the horses, when one of the scouts came +riding back to say that a score of farmers with three carts were +approaching from the town. + +Presently they came on them--a black mass swinging down the road, which +was very boggy on either hand. Neither Brian nor Turlough smelt any ill +in this until they were within a hundred paces of the party, when +suddenly the carts were swung across the road and a score of muskets +spat death into Brian's men. + +"Back!" shouted Brian, when his men would have charged. "We have no time +and lives to waste on this party--what shall we do, Turlough? The fields +are all bog." + +"We cannot well ride around," said Turlough, when they had ridden back a +little, leaving dead men on the road. "But a little way back is a path +that leads out and around Swineford. Put ten men here to keep these +O'Donnells from following us, and we will make a short cut to the Moy +near Kiltanmugh. It was a clever trick, this!" + +It was indeed, and it had cost Brian a round score of men, so that he +followed Turlough out into the open land with less than a hundred men +behind him. His fury abated before dawn, when they had splashed across +the Moy and came upon the road once more, but he saw that the O'Donnells +were willing enough to die if the Dark Master might escape, and he +became more cautious. + +When the night fell again they were far south of Claremorris, but a +score of horses had foundered and he was forced to leave more men +behind. Until evening Turlough led him at a distance from the main +roads, then they struck into good riding again and save for one detour +to avoid Tuam would have a clear road between themselves and Galway, +which Brian meant to reach before dawn unless his own horse foundered +with the rest. + +Of the Dark Master they heard nothing until they were fording the Clare +north of Tuam, when two men gave them word that a scant half-hour before +some two-score horsemen had fled past them toward Tuam. + +"Good!" cried Brian. "Now, Turlough, lead us around Tuam, and I think we +shall finish this thing long before the day comes." + +Said Turlough sourly, "Every horse down is a man gone, master," but to +that Brian only laughed and set in his spurs. + +So now they let gallop through the darkness, trusting more to Turlough's +wits than to their horses' feet; for Brian knew that if his own beasts +were spent, those of the Dark Master were no better unless he were to +get mounts at Tuam. That would be hard, however, for there were no +horses to be had save far in the mountains where the war had not swept +all things away. + +No sooner had they reached the road again beyond Tuam than it seemed to +Brian that he heard the faint drum of hoofs ahead of him, and at that he +gave a shout and drove on with such of his men storming behind as might +come. Many of them had gone down, indeed, but now all wakened from their +nodding sleep and kept close, though here and there one dropped out. +Turlough, whose steed had been the best of all save Brian's, kept at his +master's flank. + +They were hard on Claregalway when Brian saw his quarry first--a deep +mass of men far ahead on an open stretch of road. Then he knew that the +race was nearly won, and for all that his beast was sobbing under his +thighs, he raced ahead, and laughed out loud when a little band cut off +from the main body of the Dark Master's men. There were fifteen or less +who waited his coming with pistols ready, but Brian rode hardily at +them, their balls whistled overhead or past, and he was on them. + +The shock of the meeting came near to unseating him, and sent one of the +foe sprawling, horse and man; Brian cut another to the chin and thrust +the life from a third, and before the first sword had slithered on his +steel-cap his men had swept aside the devoted fifteen, and he was riding +on. O'Donnell had straightened his party for nothing. + +Now the Dark Master was riding for his life, and knew it. Some few of +his men fell out with spent beasts, and these Brian's party rode over, +taking and giving but one blow, or none at all. When Claregalway drew up +ahead, cold and gray under the stars, Brian was but two hundred yards +behind with forty men still behind him, while O'Donnell had not half so +many. + +As he thundered down to the river Brian had drawn as much ahead of +Turlough and the others as he was behind the Dark Master. He shouted +back to those of his men whose matches were lit to loose off their +muskets, but before the first pan had flashed out he saw the O'Donnells +draw rein and wheel at the bridge-head, while two of their number drove +clattering on into the town. + +Now, had Brian chosen to wait for his men things would have fallen out +differently; but this he would not do, for he thought to break through +these as he had done with the others. So he went at them with naked +sword, his heart raging within him and his face set and cold like stone. +He was still fifty paces from the bridge-head when their pistols +spattered out; the men behind dared not fire for fear of hitting him, so +that Brian had all the fight for himself. + +He came near to having none, for at that first discharge a pistol-ball +split his jack and lodged in his buff-coat over his heart, while another +came between his arm and his side, drawing blood a little from both; +while a third and worse went into his horse between the fore shoulders. +Brian felt the poor beast falter shudderingly, and pause; then the +O'Donnells shouted greatly and closed about him, thinking to slay him +before his men could come up. + +Brian saw a long _skean_ plunge into his horse's neck, and in terrible +anger he smote with the edge, so that a hand and arm hung down from the +dagger, a ghastly thing to see. But the poor steed was dead with that +blow, and Brian had but time to fling himself headlong ere the horse +rolled over. + +The leap saved his life, for the O'Donnells were striking fast at him. +Brian rose up between two of them, dragged one down with his left hand +and thrust the other under the arm, and tried to leap up into the +saddle. But as he did so his own men struck, so that the horses were +swept together and pinned Brian's legs between them, and he hung +helpless. + +In that instant he saw an ax swinging above him and flung back his head, +but not enough, for the ax fell, and Brian went down under the horses. + +Save for three of his men who saw the thing and stood over him, Brian +would have been trampled to death on the spot. These O'Donnells were no +loose fighting-men, and they smote shrewdly against the press of +Brian's greater numbers, while their wild cry rose high over the shrill +of steel. When Brian's men knew that he was down, however, they struck +such blows as they knew not they had in them, and quarter was not asked +or offered in that battle by the bridge. + +The fight was not ended until the last O'Donnell went down in a swirl +and clash of steel. Then Turlough, who had kept well out of it according +to his wont, pushed through and fell upon Brian's body. When Brian +opened his eyes his head was still ringing, while his men were bathing +him with water. After an instant he sat up and gazed around. + +"The Dark Master--did you catch him?" + +"Nay, our thought was all for you, master," answered Turlough. + +Brian groaned in great bitterness, but said no word. He knew that his +chance was gone from him for that time, and as he looked around his +heart sank within him. Half of his men had slipped down and lay sleeping +among the dead, and the rest could scarce stay in their saddles for +weariness and lack of sleep. But Turlough sprang up and gazed at the +graying sky with fear in his face. + +"Up, master!" he cried fiercely. "We must still ride hard, for the Dark +Master will send out a troop of horse from Galway to catch us, and we +must get past that town before the sun is high!" + +So the sleeping were roused in haste, the wounded were put in saddle, +and with their beasts staggering under them, those that were left of +Brian's men closed around him and rode over the bridge through +Claregalway. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +BRIAN GOES A CRUISING. + + +Above the head of Bertraghboy Bay there was a swooping curve in the hill +road. It was at this same curve that Brian Buidh had first met the Dark +Master, and it was here he had set that trap which had won him tribute +for the Bird Daughter. When first he had ridden that road Brian had had +a score of lusty men at his back; on the second occasion he had headed a +hundred and four-score; but when he drew rein there a week after that +fight at Claregalway bridge there was with him only old Turlough Wolf, +and their horses were sorry skeletons like themselves. + +"We are somewhat worse than when we twain started out together," laughed +Brian bitterly. "Then we had full bellies at the least, but now we have +naught." + +"There are men coming, master," said Turlough, hanging weakly to his +saddle. "I think they are our castle watchers." + +Very gaunt was Brian that day, and nigh spent with his wounds and hunger +and weariness. During the week that had passed since the Dark Master +slipped away from him, nothing but evil had come upon him. + +First they had tried to slip past to the north of the city, and had +reached the Lough Corrib River, and could even faintly hear the bells of +St. Nicholas below, when a half-troop of horse fell upon them. Then in +desperation Brian's men smote for the last time, and put the royalists +to flight; but there Brian lost the most of his men. However, he got +fresh horses, and so fled eastward again when more men were seen +approaching. + +What chanced in the six days following is not fully set forth, for Brian +got little glory from it. One by one he lost his men, and at length was +forced north again to the shores of Lough Corrib, with men riding hot +and fast to catch him. With Turlough Wolf alone left to him, he had made +shift to cross the lake in a leaky fisherman's boat, the horses swimming +behind, and so came into the O'Flahertys' country. + +There word had also gone forth against him, but because of the pact +between them, Murrough of the Kine sped him in peace through Iar +Connaught, and at length Brian had won home again with joyless heart. + +As Turlough said, men were coming, and they were Brian's own men who +watched the roads. From them he got food and wine and two fresh horses, +and with the afternoon they rode down to Bertragh in worse shape than +they had ridden from it. Brian was the less heartened when he saw two of +Nuala O'Malley's ships in the bay, and knew that she must be at the +castle. + +Indeed, before they reached the gates the Bird Daughter rode out to meet +them, with Cathbarr striding before her. When the woman saw Brian's face +her violet eyes filled with tears, and when he dismounted and kissed her +hand and would have spoken, she stayed him. + +"Nay, we know enough of the story for now, Brian. First rest and eat, +then talk." + +Brian guessed straightway that pigeons had come from her men in Galway +telling of those ridings about the city, and that she had come over to +Bertragh in anxiety; and this was the truth indeed. + +Turlough Wolf hied him away and slept, but Brian sat about a table in +the hall with Cathbarr and Nuala. He was very worn and weary, but when +he had eaten and drunk he refused to sleep yet a while, and told how +that storm had fared north and what had come of it. + +"So I have lost a hundred and fifty hard-won men," he concluded +gloomily. "I would not grudge them if the Dark Master had fallen, but he +is in Galway, and the Millhaven pirates will be down to meet him, and +that means war on Bertragh." + +"I will be glad of that," said Cathbarr simply. "I am sound again and +have been sharpening up this ax of mine." + +Nuala smiled and put her hand across the table to lay it on Brian's. + +"Success would be of little worth, Yellow Brian," she said softly, and +her eyes steadied him, "if it were won without reverses. Few men have +the luck to win always, and a touch of defeat is not an ill thing, +perhaps. When we had this news of you from Galway, a week since, I sent +off a galley to find Blake at the Cove of Cork and seek aid of him. Also +my kinsmen will return to Gorumna before going home to Erris, and we are +not in hard case here. So now get rested, Brian Buidh, and afterward we +will see what may be done. Those Millhaven men have not yet passed +Erris, or I would have word of it by pigeon, so they have doubtless +delayed to plunder in Sligo or Killala." + +Brian looked into her eyes, and from that moment he began to put behind +him all thoughts of capturing that Millhaven castle for himself or of +placing himself out of touch with Nuala O'Malley. He went to his chamber +as she bade, and slept that night and the next day and the night after, +waking on the second morning still empty of sleep and seeming more weary +than when he had laid down. + +This was but seeming, however, and when he had bathed and eaten he felt +more like himself than for many a day. + +Cathbarr had departed at dawn with a wagon-load of powder to trade for +kine with his O'Flaherty kinsmen in the hills, and before Brian had +broken his fast one of the galleys from Gorumna came over with three +pigeons for Nuala. The cage was brought to her as she sat at meat with +Brian in the hall, and she opened the tiny messages with all the +delighted anticipation of a girl. + +"This is from that galley I sent to Cork," she exclaimed, laying down +the first. "It merely reports safe arrival and the delivery of my letter +to Blake, who is leaving there before long. Now for the--ah!" + +"Good news or bad?" smiled Brian easily, as animation flashed into her +face. She looked up at him with a rippling laugh. + +"Both, Brian! This is from Erris, and says that the O'Donnell seamen +have made a landing at Ballycastle under Downpatrick Head, and will +likely put to sea again in a day or two. They will give Erris a wide +berth, never fear, and that means that they will make no pause until +they come to Galway." + +The third message was from Galway itself, and said that the Dark Master +was biding the coming of those Millhaven men, and had been promised both +horsemen and shot if they came, so that Bertragh might be taken and held +for Ireland against the Parliament. + +"It is not taken yet," laughed Nuala as old Turlough came shuffling up, +and they gave him the sele of the day merrily enough. "You had best keep +these birds, Brian, so that if there is any need you may send me +messages to Gorumna. Now, shall we bide here until the Dark Master comes +against us?" + +"I thought you were going to take me cruising with you?" smiled Brian, +but at that Turlough struck in and asked what the messages were. When he +had heard them he stood pulling at his gray beard for a little, then +turned to Brian. + +"How is your body, master?" + +"Well enough," said Brian, feeling his head. "Save for this beard, which +now I may not cut for a time." + +He intended to abide by that oath of his, and so his beard was growing +out and his hair as well, of which latter he was glad. + +Since he had ever kept his face clean shaven, however, the beard was not +to his liking. He was quite unaware that it built out his face greatly +and made him grimmer-looking than before, and yet so young were his blue +eyes except when he was in anger that it was not hard for Nuala to +believe that he was only two years older than herself. + +None the less, she made great sport of his beard, saying that it curled +at the end like a drake's tail, as indeed it did; and as Brian only +repaid her laughter with the open wonder and admiration that he held for +her, there was great good-comradeship between them. + +"There is still one chance for stopping the Dark Master," said Turlough +thoughtfully. "If we cut off those pirate ships on their way south he is +not like to get much help from Galway." + +"Oh--and I never thought of it!" cried Nuala, staring at him. + +Turlough chuckled. "That was spoken like a woman, mistress! If the rede +seems good we could lay aboard men from here for fighting, and sail out +with those two ships of yours." + +Now Brian's heart filled with new hope, and after no long discussion +they decided to adopt the plan. Nuala was of the opinion that a short +cruise would do Brian great good, so they decided to set off that +evening in her two ships, leaving Turlough to keep the castle against +Cathbarr's return. + +Had they taken Turlough Wolf with them or had Brian been less +close-mouthed on his return from that cruise, the evil that befell might +have been averted. The old man was cunning and swift at piercing beneath +the craft of other men and turning it back upon themselves; but as +Brian's mind lost its bitterness at his own failure it gained joy at +being with the Bird Daughter, while Nuala had no less friendship and +liking for him, so that neither of them gave much thought to O'Donnell +Dubh who lay in Galway and bided his time after his own fashion. + +Once having reached their decision, they hastened it somewhat and sent +men and muskets aboard the two ships at noon. Nuala wished to sail first +to Gorumna Castle and make all safe there, then reach back for Slyne +Head. She proposed that Brian take one carack and she the other, but at +this Brian laughed. + +"No, lady--I am no seaman, and I am your guest on this cruise, so I go +with you." + +"Well, you shall have good guesting," she answered, flushing a little, +but her eyes not flinching from his, and so they went aboard her ship +together. + +Having two hundred men still, Brian had put fifty on each ship in case +they met with those pirates, who were like to give good battle. Also +Turlough had hopes that many of Brian's men would win home from that +riding of his yet, since a large part of them had dropped out by the way +or had been left behind with wounds. And in the end, indeed, fifty or +less did find their way back. + +Before night they made Gorumna Castle, and Brian found why they had come +here first. With her Kerry recruits, Nuala had a hundred and eighty men, +so she had set to work to build a tower and small keep on the opposite +island, that Gorumna itself might be more easily defended. Also she had +taken some falconets and two bastards out of a large French ship, and +had set about building a battery outside the castle that would overlook +the harbor. + +"That will be better than good when it is done," said Brian approvingly. +"But you had best get it done speedily. When we come back from this +cruise you shall take this hundred men of mine, for I will not need them +until the Dark Master comes, and of that we shall have good warning." + +This she was glad of, and she was glad because Brian had found her work +well planned; nor did either of them suspect what grief that loan of a +hundred men was to bring upon Brian. + +They paused only to sup at Gorumna, then set forth again, and by dawn +were off Slyne Head with a light breeze behind them. Nuala would take no +chance of missing those Millhaven men, so instead of going north among +the islands she turned her ships and beat off Slyne all that day, seeing +no sail save fishing-craft. + +Those were pleasant hours for Brian, for the sea was fair and he had +naught to do but sit with the Bird Daughter. He found himself drawn ever +closer to her, admiring her wit and fairness as he did, and he fancied +that she was by no means unwilling to talk with him and open her mind +as she did to few men. Yet he remembered that he was no more than her +vassal, a landless man in truth. + +That night the two caracks separated, standing well off the land and +keeping good watch, but no sign did they catch of the O'Donnell pirates. +Toward morning a stiff wind came upon them from the west, and Brian's +men, being all landsmen, got no great joy out of that cruise. + +"This wind is like to hold," said Nuala, laughing as she stood on the +poop with Brian that morning and watched the decks. "I am afraid that we +might as well give over this attempt, Brian. Your men will be in no +shape to fight. What think you?" + +"Right," nodded Brian slowly, for he saw that those men of his were +worse than useless with their sickness. + +So they turned about and drove before the wind, but before ever they had +got past Slyne Head the men aloft descried a sail to the south that +seemed like a large galley. Nuala signaled the other carack to bear down +with her, and presently they made out that it was a large sailing +galley, which headed straight for them. + +"That is none of my ships," exclaimed Nuala, watching. "It seems strange +that she does not flee before us, Brian. She bears no ensign, yet she +must be from these parts, and would naturally have some fear of +pirates." + +Brian looked at her rather than the ship, and thought her a fine +picture, with her body swinging a little to the sway of the deck and the +wind blowing her red cloak around her. The galley came straight for them +as if seeking speech, however, and when a falconet was fired from the +carack without charge, she lowered her sail and put out her sweeps, +coming straight for them. + +Nuala sped a word to her sailing-master, and the men let down the sails +with shouting and great creaking of ropes. The Bird Daughter stood under +the high poop bulwark, and now she turned to Brian. + +"Do you speak with them and find their business, for it seems to me that +all is not as it should be, and they would likely know me too well." + +Brian nodded, and when the galley had come under their lee he saw that +she was well laden, and had for crew a dozen rough-looking men. One of +these replied to his hail. + +"We are come from Galway, lord, with a gift of stores and wines from +O'Donnell Dubh to certain friends of his whom we came to meet. Are you +those friends, as we think?" + +Brian started in surprise, but needed no word from Nuala. He saw that +the Dark Master must have sent this galley out to meet the Millhaven +men, and that the crew had taken the two caracks for those pirate ships. + +"We are the O'Donnells from Millhaven," he shouted, and ordered the +seaman to cast down ropes to the galley. Her master, a stout man with +bushy black beard, waved a hand in reply, and after another moment the +two craft ground together. The master of the galley got aboard over the +low waist of the carack, and Brian ordered a dozen of his own +green-faced men down into the smaller ship. At this the galley's master +stared somewhat, but came up to the poop. + +"Lord, O'Donnell sends you these stores with a message. I am Con Teague +of Galway." + +"Let us have it," ordered Brian, liking the looks of the man not at all. + +"He bade us say that he was leaving Galway to-morrow at dawn with a +force of men, and that you should meet him at Bertragh Castle and fall +on that place to take it." + +"That is good," laughed Brian. "Now learn that you have found the wrong +ships, my man. We are not the Millhaven pirates, but I am Brian Buidh, +who holds Bertragh; and here is the Lady Nuala, for whom I hold it." + +At that Nuala came forward, and Teague looked greatly astonished, as +well he might, and all the Bird Daughter's men fell roaring with +laughter. But he could make no resistance, and stood chapfallen while +Brian talked with Nuala. + +"I must back to the Castle," he said, "and see if this news be true. Do +you go on to Gorumna with my men, and I will let loose a pigeon to you. +If the Dark Master is indeed on the way, then come with all the men you +can spare, and it will go hard if we do not best his royalists, and the +pirates later when the latter come." + +This was clearly the best plan, so Brian sent Teague down into the +galley and followed him, as the light ship was faster than the caracks. +Replacing half of Teague's men with O'Malleys, he had the ropes cast +off, waved his hand at Nuala, and they drove to the eastward and +Bertragh Castle. + +Teague made so much moan over losing his ship that Brian promised it +back to him when they had reached the castle; the stores and wine, +however, he accounted good spoils of war. This put the seaman in better +mood, and by noon the fast galley had covered the twenty miles to +Bertragh, and cast down her anchor in the little bay beyond the castle, +that same bay where Brian had come to grief through O'Donnell's sorcery. + +The men crowded down to meet him joyfully, and Brian found that Cathbarr +had come home safe with his beeves and was hungry for fight. No sign had +been heard of the Dark Master along the roads, however, so Brian set +Turlough in charge of getting the stores and wine-casks off the galley, +and fell to work putting the castle in shape for defense. + +Since there was no need of loosing a pigeon until word came that the +Dark Master was actually on the way, he sent out men to have a beacon +built on the hills at the bay's head as soon as the enemy was sighted. +What with seeing that the bastards and other shot were cleaned and +loaded, and stationing his hundred men to the best advantage, he found +that the afternoon soon wore away. + +"Those are good wines," said Turlough when they sat at meat that +evening, the men eating below in the courtyard around fires. "But I do +not like that ship-master." + +So far Brian had said nothing of how the galley had been taken, save +that they had chanced on it at sea and had heard from Teague that the +Dark Master might be on them in another day. As for the O'Malleys, they +kept to themselves and talked not at all, so that neither Turlough nor +Cathbarr had heard the way of that capture. + +"Is she unladen?" asked Brian. + +"All save a few barrels. That ship-master was so eager to be off," +grunted old Turlough spitefully, "that I stayed the work and put a guard +on the galley until morning." + +"Give the men a cask of the best wine," ordered Brian shortly. + +Having taken upon himself the duties of seneschal, Turlough departed +grumbling. While he was gone, Brian's tongue was a little loosened with +wine, so that he told Cathbarr of how he had taken the galley, at which +the giant bellowed with laughter. Presently from the courtyard came +shouting and singing, and Turlough appeared with a beaker of wine. + +"The men like it well enough," he said, "yet to me it seems soured. +Taste it, Brian; if it be so, then you have made a poor haul on that +cruise." + +Brian sipped the wine, and in truth it seemed to have soured. Cathbarr +made little of that, and would have drunken it except that his clumsy +hand knocked it from the table and emptied it all. But as it happened, +that mischance saved his life. + +A little after, Brian pulled out a Spanish pipe he had got that day from +one of the O'Malleys, with some tobacco, and began puffing in great +good-humor, for it was long since he had tasted tobacco. Cathbarr +watched in awe, never having seen this done before, so that Brian and +Turlough had great fun with him. All his life the giant had lived in the +mountains and he knew no more than his ax had taught him; though he had +seen men smoke before, he had ever accounted it sorcery of some kind, +nor could Brian get him to as much as touch the pipe with his finger. + +Brian was sorry that the wine had proved sour; the butts were huge ones, +and he had counted on their lasting him and his men all the winter +through. However, he dismissed the matter from his mind and fell to +talking with Turlough and Cathbarr over their arrangements in case of an +attack. In the midst, one of the men who had been watching from the +tower ran in to say that he had caught sight of a beacon on the hills, +which meant that the arch-enemy was on the road. + +"Good!" exclaimed Brian, springing up. "Turlough, go fetch me that cage +of pigeons. Cathbarr, see that the men are set on the walls--" + +He had got no further than this when there came a strange noise from the +doorway. Turning, he saw a man staggering forward, choking as he came, +and recognized him as one of the Bird Daughter's seamen. The fellow held +a bloody sword in his hand. + +"What's this?" cried Brian angrily, noting that there was silence upon +the court-yard. "Has there been wrangling again--" + +"Death!" coughed the O'Malley, staring at him with starting, terrible +eyes. "Con Teague--I slew him--too--too late--" + +"Man, what is forward?" Brian leaped out and caught the seaman in his +arms, for the fellow's head was rolling on his shoulders. + +"Death!" whispered the man again. "They are--all dead--" + +His head fell back in death, and the sword fell from his hand with a +clatter. But from Cathbarr, who had gone to the doorway, came one +terrible shout of grief and rage. + +"Brian! Our men lie dead--" + +"I think the Dark Master has sent us a kindly gift," quoth Turlough +Wolf, as Brian rose with horror in his face and let the seaman's body +fall. "Now I know why that wine was sour, master!" + + +TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK. Don't forget this magazine is issued weekly, +and that you will get the conclusion of this story without waiting a +month. + + + + +Nuala O'Malley + +by H. Bedford-Jones + +Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc. + + +This story began in the All-Story Weekly for December 30. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +BRIAN YIELDS BERTRAGH. + + +"I dare not trust birds alone in this strait, Cathbarr. Go to that +galley with the two O'Malleys and hasten to Gorumna. Bid the Bird +Daughter stay and wait further word from me; but take those hundred men +of mine with her galleys, and hasten back. If the beacon on the tower is +burning, I will be here; if not, and if I can make terms, I will meet +you at that tower of yours. Now hasten!" + +"But--" + +"For God's love go, or my heart will burst!" + +Brian sank down on the horse-stone with a groan, and Cathbarr, catching +up his ax, fled through the open gates and was gone into the night. +Brian gazed up after him, and on the hills he saw that dim beacon-fire +heralding the Dark Master. + +The six men guarding the galley, two of them being O'Malleys, and three +men who had watched on the tower, were all that remained alive in +Bertragh besides Turlough and Brian. The men had drunk deep of that +poisoned wine; when Con Teague and his men tried to get away after a few +had died, they were slain. But so swift was the poison that only one of +the O'Malleys had lived to reach Brian. + +The fires still burned brightly, and before some of them meat was +burning. Sitting in blank despair on a horse-block, Brian saw the dead +bodies of a few less than a hundred men lying there. Turlough Wolf and +his six gave over trying to put life into any of them, and now the old +man came and put his hand on Brian's shoulder. + +"Where has Cathbarr of the Ax gone, master?" + +Brian told him dully, and Turlough nodded approval, having at length +learned all the story of how that galley had been taken. + +"Master, there was deep cunning in this. O'Donnell sent that galley to +you, or, rather, to the Bird Daughter, and he had spies watching. Had +the Gorumna men drunk of that brew, he would have fallen on there; but +here came the galley, and now he comes over the hills. And we are few to +meet him." + +"We will be more when the men come in from the hill-roads before him," +and Brian rose up with heavy heart, forcing himself to the task. "Send +out a man to haste them in and to warn what men there be at the farms. +Also let him send a wagon or two, that these dead may be carried out +before the Dark Master falls on us. Send two men to the tower to build a +beacon, for Cathbarr will not be back before to-morrow night." + +Brian went to the stables where the three carrier-pigeons were caged, +and fetched the cage to the great hall. Here he wrote what had happened, +with his plan, in small space, fastened it under the wing of a bird, and +let loose the pigeon from the courtyard. + +Stunned though he was by the sudden and terrible blow, Brian had seized +on the only course left him. If he could make shift to hold the castle +at all, he would do so; if not, he must make terms and get off to +Gorumna that he might take vengeance for this dastardly stroke that had +been dealt him. + +Nuala had nigh three hundred men in her castle, and he felt that all was +not yet lost, even should he have to yield Bertragh. The Dark Master +would hardly have a large force with him, and he would know nothing of +those hundred men Brian had loaned Nuala; so Brian reckoned that if he +could get away, O'Donnell would think him a broken man who could do no +further against him. + +"Well, that's looking too far ahead," thought Brian very wearily. +"Perchance I am broken, indeed, since I have lost two hundred and a half +of men without gain." + +An hour later rode in a score of men with wagons, and fell to work +getting the dead out of the castle, though for burying there was no +time. This score, and two more who came in later, were all the men left +to Brian; they reported that the Dark Master would be on them by +daybreak, with two hundred Scots troopers and one horse cannon. + +"His friends proved niggardly, then," laughed Brian drearily. "We have +but to hold the place till to-morrow night, friends, and the O'Malleys +will relieve us. Now, one man to watch and the rest of us to rest, for +there is work ahead." + +Brian, indeed, got some sleep that night, but it was shot through with +visions of those poisoned men of his, and their twisted faces gibbered +at him, and he thought they shrieked and howled for revenge. When he was +roused at dawn, he found the meaning of those noises, since a great +storm was sweeping down out of the west, and the farther wore the day, +the worse grew the storm. + +"Is Heaven itself fighting against us?" he thought bitterly, watching +the sea from the battlements. "Against this blast Nuala cannot reach me, +if she will." + +He got little time to brood, however. Before he had broken his fast the +Dark Master's horsemen came in sight--two hundred braw Scots, with +wagons and a cannon following after. It was no large force, but Brian +found afterward that it was the best the Dark Master could get, since +the Galway Irish cared nothing whether the Scots lived or died. + +They halted and spread out, half a mile from the castle, and Brian saw +that the men were being quartered on the farms round about. Bitterly he +wished that he had his lost men, for with them he could have sent those +Scots flying home again; but now he was helpless. + +With the gates shut and the bastards loaded with bullets to sweep the +approach, Brian sent his twenty men to the battlements and watched, with +Turlough beside him. It was plain that no offensive operations were +under way as yet, and an hour passed quietly; then ten men rode down to +the castle under a white flag, and foremost of them was the Dark Master. + +"Now, if I were in your place, master," said Turlough, slanting his eyes +up at Brian in his shrewd way, "I would loose those bastards and sweep +the road bare." + +"You are not in my place," said Brian, and the Wolf held his peace. + +The Dark Master looked at those bodies piled between the castle and the +shore, and it was easy to see that he was laughing and pointing them out +to the Scots. At that Brian heard his men mutter no little, and he +himself clenched his nails into his palms and cursed bitterly; but he +forbade his men to fire and they durst not disobey him. The party rode +up under the walls, and the Dark Master grinned at Brian standing above. + +"You have great drunkards, Yellow Brian," he called mockingly. "Have all +your men drunk themselves to death?" + +Brian answered him not, but fingered his hilt; even at that distance the +Dark Master seemed to feel the icy blue eyes upon him, for his leer +vanished. + +"Yield to us, Yellow Brian," he continued, shooting up his head from +betwixt his shoulders. "I do not think you have many men in that +castle." + +"I have enough to hold you till more come," answered Brian. + +"Mayhap, and mayhap not," and O'Donnell laughed again. "Keep a watch to +seaward, Yellow Brian, and when you see four sail turning the headland, +judge if those two caracks of the Bird Daughter's are like to help you." + +"If you have no more to say, get you gone," said Brian, feeling the +anger in him rising beyond endurance. The Dark Master looked along the +walls for a moment, then signed to his men, and they rode off through +the driving snow again. + +Turlough looked at Brian and Brian at him, and the same thought was in +the minds of both. If those Millhaven men had four ships driving down +before that storm, as seemed probable enough, the Bird Daughter's two +little caracks would never land men under the guns of Bertragh. + +About noon the snow fell less thickly, though the storm had risen to +great power, and Brian made out that the Scots were bringing forward +that cannon of theirs. Having some little knowledge of artillery +himself, he drew the charge of bullets from a bastard and put in more +powder, then put the bullets back, a full bag of them. He did the same +with two more of the bastards on that wall, and when the Scots had +halted aimed all three very carefully, and set men by them to fire at +his order. The Scots were turning their cannon about, a score of men +being in their party, and Brian judged that they were eight hundred +paces away--just within range of his bastards. + +"The Dark Master lost this hold because he had too many men," he said to +Turlough, "and we shall lose it because we have too few; but we will +make better use of these shot than did he. Fire, men!" + +The three men brought down their linstocks and ran for it, having seen +that extra charge of powder set in the cannon. But none of the pieces +burst, though they roared loud enough and leaped at their recoil-ropes +like mad things. When the white smoke shredded down the wind, Brian's +men yelled in great delight, for those Scots and horses about the cannon +were stricken down or fleeing, and the piece had not yet been loaded. + +"They will get little joy of that cannon," said Brian grimly, and went +in to meat. + +During the rest of the day the cannon stood there silent, dead horses +and men around it; nor was any further attack made. Brian knew well that +having found him prepared, the Dark Master would now attack at night and +hard did Brian pray that the storm might abate from the west, or at +least shift around, so that Nuala's ships could come to his aid. + +Instead, the gale only swooped down the wilder, and seemed like to hold +a day or more, as indeed it did. About mid-afternoon Turlough came and +beckoned him silently out to the rear or seaward battlement and pointed +out. + +No words passed between the two men, nor were any needed; beating around +the southern headland were four flecks of white that Brian knew for +ships coming from the west with the storm, and he saw that for once the +Dark Master had told the truth. + +"I have some skill at war," he said to Turlough that afternoon when they +had seen the four ships weather past them and anchor a mile up the bay; +"and since the Dark Master's troopers are also skilled at that game, +they will fall to work without waste of time or men. We may look to have +the dry moat filled with fascines to-night and our gates blown in with +petards. At the worst, we can hold that tower, where the powder is +stored." + +If he had had more men, Brian would have slung the bastards down from +the high walls and set them in the courtyard where they could sweep the +gates when these had been blown in. But they weighed a ton and half +each, and there was no time to build shears to let them down, even had +they had spars and ropes at hand. So Brian set them to cover the +approach, and had the smaller falcons brought down to the courtyard, all +five, where he trained them on the gates and loaded them with bullets +heavily. + +"Turlough and I will fire these ourselves," he told his men that evening +as they made supper together, the men looking forward to the night's +work with great joy. "Do the rest of you gather on either hand by the +stables, with spare muskets and pistols." + +So this was done as he said. Because of the storm Brian did not light +his beacon after all, but he stocked the tower with food and wine, and +told his men to get there, if they could, when the rest was taken. That +tower had Brian's chamber in the lower part and a ladder in the upper +part, where was great store of powder. + +The five falcons were set in front of the hall doorway, where once Brian +had come near to being nailed. Brian loosed another of the pigeons, +telling Nuala how things chanced, and of the four pirate ships, and set +the last bird in the tower in case of need, which proved a lucky thing +for him in the end. + +Brian and his men slept after meat, while Turlough Wolf remained +watching. It was wearing well on to midnight when the old man woke them +all, and Brian went to the walls to hear a thud of hoofs and a murmur of +men coming across the wind to him. He sent off men to loose the loaded +guns on the outer walls at random, and then suddenly flung lighted +cressets over the gates. + +A wild yell answered this, and bullets from the men who were filling the +dry moat, while others scrambled across it and charged up to the gates +with small powder-kegs and petards ready. This was not done without +scathe, however; Brian's men loosed their muskets, and one by one the +heavy bastards thundered out across the snow, though the result was hard +to see in the darkness. + +There came a ragged flash of musketry in reply, and that abandoned +cannon roared out lustily, though its ball passed far overhead. Brian +stood on a demi-bastion that half flanked the gates, and after firing +his pistol into the men below, he leaped down the steps into the +courtyard and joined Turlough behind the falcons. + +"One at a time, Turlough. They'll have the gates down in a minute." + +While he waited for the storm to fall, Brian saw that two or three of +his men had been hit. He wondered dully that the Dark Master had not +made a general assault, and concluded that he must wish to save men. It +was a long moment that dragged down on him; then a splash of light burst +up, the gates were driven inward and shattered, and with a great roar +there fell a rain of riven beams and stones and dirt. + +Sheltering in the hall doorway, Brian and Turlough stayed unmoving +through an instant of black silence. Out of it broke a wild Scots yell, +and in the light of the courtyard cressets a wave of men surged up in +the breach. Brian's linstock fell on a falcon, and the little gun barked +a hail of bullets across the Scots; Turlough's gun followed suit, and +the first lines of men went down in a struggling mass. + +The Dark Master was not to be beaten this time, however. Another wave of +Scots swept up, with a mass of men behind them. While some of Brian's +men tried to get the two falcons reloaded, a storm of bullets swept +across the courtyard, and Brian saw Turlough turn and run for it through +the doorway, while two of the men fell over a falcon. + +But as the first line of men broke into the courtyard, Brian fired the +remaining three cannon as fast as he could touch linstock to powder. The +bullet-hail tore the front ranks to shreds, but through the darkling +smoke-cloud he saw other men come leaping, and knew that the game was +up. + +On the next instant his men had closed around him, muskets were stabbing +the powder-smoke, and Brian fell to work with his Spanish blade. +O'Donnells and Scots together heaved up against them, but Brian's point +weaved out between cutlas and claymore and bit out men's lives until +the mass of men surged back again like the backleash of a wave that +comes against a wall. + +Brian heard the Dark Master's voice from somewhere, and with that +muskets spat from the gloom and bullets thudded around him. One slapped +his steel cap away and another nicked his ear, and a third came so close +across his eyes that he felt the hot breath of it; but his men fared in +worse case than that, for they were clutching and reeling and fallen, +and Brian leaped across the last of them into the hall with bullets +driving at his back-piece. + +As he ran through the hall he knew that his falcons had punished +O'Donnell's men heavily, and that his twenty men had not fallen without +some payment for their lives. None the less, Bertragh Castle was now +lost to him and to the Bird Daughter; but he thought it likely that he +would yet make a play that might nip O'Donnell in the midst of his +success. + +In this Brian was a true O'Neill and the true luck of the Red Hand had +seemed to dog him, for he had lost all his men without suffering a +defeat, and now that he was beaten down, he was planning to strike +heaviest. + +He gained the tower well enough, and found Turlough there to receive +him, with food and wine and loaded pistols. They soon had the door of +the lower chamber fast barred and clamped, and Brian flung himself down +on his bed, panting, but unwounded to speak of. + +"Now sleep, master," said the old man. "They will search elsewhere, and +finding this door closed will do naught here until the morning." + +Brian laughed a little. + +"It is not easy to sleep after fighting, Turlough. I think that now I +will send off that last pigeon, so give me that quill yonder." + +With great care Brian wrote his message, telling what had passed, and +saying that he hoped to ride free from the castle next morning. In that +case he would be at Cathbarr's tower before evening came, and he told +Nuala to have all her men landed there at once, since she could hope to +do nothing by sea against the pirate ships. + +When the writing was bound to the pigeon's wing he loosed the bird +through the seaward casement, and bade Turlough blow out their +flickering oil-light. + +After eating and drinking a little, they lay down to sleep. Men came and +pounded at the door, then departed growling; but Turlough had guessed +aright. The Dark Master was plainly speeding the search for Brian +elsewhere, and since there was no sign of life from the powder-tower, he +did not molest this until close to dawn. Then Brian was wakened by a +shock at the door, and he heard the Dark Master's voice outside +directing his men. Still he seemed to have no thought that Brian was +there, but wanted to get at the powder and into his own chamber again. + +Brian took up his pistols and went to a loophole opening on the +battlements, while Turlough still crouched on the bed in no little fear. +Finding that the Dark Master stood out of his sight, Brian fired at two +of the men under the door, and they fell; then he raised his voice above +the shouting that came from outside. + +"O'Donnell, are you there?" + +The uproar died away, and the other's voice came to him. + +"So you are trapped at last, Brian Buidh! Now yield and I promise you a +swift hanging." + +"Not I," laughed Brian curtly. "There is no lack of powder here, +O'Donnell Dubh, and one of my men holds a pistol ready for it." + +At this he glanced at Turlough, who grimaced. But from outside came a +sudden yell of alarm, and Brian saw a few fleeing figures, while +O'Donnell shouted at his men in furious rage. Brian called out to him +again: + +"Give me a horse and let me go free with the one man left me, or else I +will blow up both tower and castle, and you will have little gain for my +death." + +"Would you trust my word in this?" cried the Dark Master. Brian smiled. + +"Yes, as you must trust mine to leave no fuse in the powder when I am +gone." + +Then fell silence. Brian hated O'Donnell, as he knew he was hated in +return; and so great was the hatred between them that he felt +instinctively he could trust the Dark Master to send him out free. It +seemed to him that the other would sooner have him go broken and crushed +than do him to death, for that would be a greater revenge. Moreover, the +Dark Master could know nothing of those men at Gorumna and would have +little fear of the Bird Daughter. + +And it befell exactly as Brian thought. + +"I agree," cried the Dark Master, stepping out in the dawn-light boldly. +"You shall go forth empty as you came, Yellow Brian. What of those +two-score men you owe me?" + +"The time is not yet up," returned Brian, beginning to unbar the door, +and he laughed at the mocking voice. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +BRIAN MEETS THE BLACK WOMAN. + + +"The storm is over, master, or will be by this night." + +"Too late now, Turlough." + +Brian and the old man stood in the courtyard, while the Dark Master was +seeing to horses being made ready for them. Drawing his cloak farther +about his hunched shoulders, the latter turned to Brian with a mocking +sneer. + +"Now farewell, Brian Buidh, and forget not to repay that loan, if you +can gather enough men together. When you come again, you will find me +here. A merry riding to you. _Beannacht leath!_" + +Brian looked at him grimly. + +"Your curse would make better company than your blessing, O'Donnell," he +said, and turned to his horse with no more words. + +The Scots who were standing around gave vent to a murmur of approval, +and Brian saw the black looks passing between them and the wild +O'Donnells. The Highlanders had done murdering enough in Ireland since +Hamilton brought them over, but they were outspoken men, who had little +love for poisoners; and as Brian settled into the saddle with his huge +sword slung across his back, he caught more than one word of muttered +approval, which the Dark Master was powerless to check. + +So Yellow Brian rode out from the castle he had lost, with Turlough Wolf +at his heels, and his heart was very sore. Once across the filled-in +moat and he saw fifty men at work by the shore, loading the dead into +boats to be buried in the bay, for the ground was hard-frozen. + +Parties of Scots troopers and the horseless O'Donnells were scattered +over the farmlands and country ahead, but these offered no menace as the +two horsemen rode slowly through them. For all his bitterness, Brian +noted that the four pirate ships had been brought around into the bay +before the castle, into which the Scots had moved, while a great number +of the O'Donnells had landed and were hastily throwing up brush huts on +the height above the shore, evidently intending to camp there for the +present. + +That was a dark leave-taking for Brian, since he had lost so many men +and his castle to boot. Yet more than once he looked back on Bertragh, +and when they came to the last rise of ground before the track wound +into the hills and woods, he drew rein and pointed back with a curt +laugh. + +"This night I shall return, Turlough, and I think we shall catch the +Dark Master off his guard at last. If we throw part of our men on that +camp at dawn and the rest upon the castle, the tables may yet be +turned." + +"A good rede, Brian O'Neill," nodded the old Wolf approvingly. At thus +hearing his name Brian flung Turlough one lightning-swift glance, then +pulled out his Spanish sword and threw it high, and caught it again with +a great shout. + +"Tyr-owen! _Slainte!_" + +With that he put spurs to his horse and rode on with better heart, +striving to forget his troubles in thinking of the stroke he would deal +that night. If those three pigeons had won clear to Gorumna, he would +find Nuala and her men waiting at Cathbarr's tower, and before the dawn +they would be back again and over the hills. + +So they rode onward, and presently came to a stretch of forest, dark +against the snow. Suddenly Turlough drew up with a frightened glance +around. + +"Master--what is that wail? If I ever heard a banshee, that is the cry! +Beware of the Little People, master--" + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Brian, drawing rein also and listening. He heard a +faint, sobbing cry come from ahead, and so mournful was it, so charged +with wild grief, that for an instant his heart stood still, and the +color fled from his face. + +"It is some woman wailing her dead, Turlough," he said at length, +although doubtfully. "Yet I have never heard a _caoine_ like it; but +onward, and let us see." + +"Wait, master!" implored the old man. "Let us cut over the hills and go +by another path--" + +"Go, if you are afraid," returned Brian, and spurred forward. The other +hesitated, but followed unwillingly, and a moment later Brian came upon +the cause of that mournful wailing, as the trees closed about them and +the road wound into a hollow. + +The dingle was so sheltered by the brooding pines that there was little +snow, except on the track itself, and no wind. Under the spreading +splay-boughs to the right was what seemed to be a heap of rags and +tatters, though the wailing cry ceased as the two riders clattered down, +with Turlough keeping well behind Brian. + +The latter drew rein, seeing that the creature under the pine-boughs was +some old crone whose grief seemed more bitter still than his own. + +"What is wrong, mother?" he cried cheerily. "Are you from one of the +Bertragh farms?" + +The tattered heap moved slightly, and a wrinkled, withered face peered +up at him. + +"Nay, I come from farther than that," and to his surprise there was a +mocking note in her voice, though it was weak. "That is a good horse of +yours, _ma boucal_; he must trot sixteen miles to the hour, eh?" + +"All of that, mother," returned Brian, wondering if the old crone was +out of her senses. "Was it you whom I heard wailing a moment ago? Where +is your home?" + +The old woman broke into a cackle of hideous laughter. + +"My home, is it? Once I had a home, Yellow Brian--and it was in +Dungannon, with Tyr-owen and Cormac and Art and the noblest of the +chiefs of Ulster to do me honor! Have you forgotten me, Brian O'Neill, +since we met at the Dee Water?" + +Then Brian gave a great cry, and swung down to earth, for now he +recognized the Black Woman. But as he strode toward her she tried to +rise and failed, and forth from the midst of her rags came a quick gush +of red blood. Brian leaped forward and caught her in his arms, pitying +her. + +"I knew you," she gasped out weakly, clutching at his shoulder. "I knew +you, son of Tyr-owen! You had yellow hair, but your face was the face I +once loved, the face of the great Hugh--" + +She stopped abruptly, and her words were lost in a choking gasp as blood +came from her mouth. Brian swore. + +"_Mile Mollaght!_ What has happened here, woman? Are you wounded?" + +"Aye, those dogs of O'Donnells," she moaned feebly. Then new strength +came to her, and she peered up with another cackle. "But did I not tell +wisely, son? Have you not found Cathbarr of the Ax and the Bird Daughter +even as I foretold?" + +"Yes, yes," returned Brian impatiently. "Where are you wounded, mother? +We can take you--" + +"Peace, avic," she cried. "They came on me last night, and my life is +gone. You shall take vengeance for the old _calliagh_, Brian--but first +I must talk. Do you know who I am, avic--or who I was, rather?" + +"How should I know that, mother?" answered Brian. "Old Turlough Wolf, +yonder, swears you are some witch--" + +"Turlough!" The hag raised herself on his arm, cackling. "So the old +Wolf is still living! Do _you_ know me, Turlough? Do you remember the +sorrowful day of the earl's flight?" + +Old Turlough, who had ridden closer, bent over and looked down, fear in +his face. Suddenly he straightened up again with a wild cry. + +"Noreen of Breffny! By my hand, it is the earl's love!" + +"Aye, the earl's love!" she gasped out, falling back. "I was his love in +truth, Yellow Brian, and he loved me above all the rest, though +another's hand closed his eyes and laid him to earth in Rome. I knew you +would come, Brian--I saw you at Drogheda, though you saw me not, and I +bade you come here into the West, and I have watched over you--" + +She coughed horribly, clutching at Brian's arm. He stared down at her in +amazement, for the incredible story seemed true enough. This old hag had +been that Noreen of Breffny of whom he had heard much--the fairest maid +of the North, whom the great earl had loved to the last, though the +church had not blessed their union. + +Brian's old Irish nurse had often told him of the "Breffny lily," and it +was bitter and hard to realize that this ancient hag, withered and +shrunk and done to death by the Dark Master's men, had been the fairest +maid in Ulster. She gasped out a little more of her story, and Brian +found that his wild surmises had been true; after seeing him and +recognizing him for one of the earl's house, she had instantly led his +mind to this part of the country, being aware of the strife between +O'Donnell and Nuala O'Malley. It had been a crazed notion enough, and +since then she had kept as near to him as possible in the half-sane idea +that she might help him. + +How she had managed to do it ever remained a mystery to Brian, since his +marches had been none of the slowest, but she had done so. + +"Where are--your men?" she exclaimed after a little. Brian told her what +had chanced at the castle, and she broke out in a last wild cackling +laugh. + +"Tyr-owen's luck!" she cried. "Betrayed and blasted, betrayed and +blasted--but the root of the tree is still strong, Yellow Brian--give me +your blessing, master--give Noreen your blessing before you go to Rome, +Hugh _mo mhuirnin_--" + +Brian's face blanched and his hands trembled, for he saw that her +wandering mind took him for his grandsire. + +"_Dhia agus mhuire orth_," he murmured, and with a little sob the Black +Woman died. + +Silence fell upon the dingle, as Brian gazed down at the woman his +grandfather had loved, and whose love had been no less. Then Turlough +pushed his horse closer, looking down with a shrewd leer. + +"Said she not that it would be a black day when you met her again, +master?" he queried with awe in his voice. "I think--" + +"Keep silence!" commanded Brian shortly. "Get down from that horse and +dig a grave." + +"But the ground is frozen--" began old Turlough in dismay. Brian gave +him one look, and the old man hastily dismounted, crossing himself and +mumbling. + +Brian joined him, and they managed to scoop out a shallow grave with +knife and sword, laid the old woman in it, and covered her up again. It +was a sorry burial for the love of the great earl, but it was the best +they could do. + +Shaken more than he cared to admit, Brian mounted and rode on in +silence. As he had thought, there was nothing supernatural about this +weird Black Woman, except, perhaps, the manner in which she had +contrived to keep close to him. She had warned him at the Stone +Mountain, and she must have been keeping close to Bertragh ever since, +unseen by any, with her unhinged mind driving her forward relentlessly. + +"Poor woman!" he thought darkly, gazing into the hills ahead. "There has +been little luck to any who ever followed an O'Neill or loved an +O'Neill! And now it seems likely that the same ill luck of all my family +is to dog my heels, bringing me up to the heights, only to cast me down +lower than before. Well, I may fall, but it shall not be until I have +dragged down the Dark Master. If I fall not I may yet best the ill-luck +and conquer Millhaven for my own." + +With that his mind leaped ahead again as the plan outlined itself to +him. The O'Donnell pirates must have brought their whole force to the +Dark Master's aid, and if he could but cut off that camp of theirs +between the castle and the shore, Nuala O'Malley might bring her two +ships against the weakened four and take them all. + +Then, when the castle had fallen, he could sail north to Millhaven, +reduce the stronghold there, and let fly his own banner at last. It was +a good plan, but it hung on many things. + +With a short laugh at his own fancies he turned in the saddle as the +voice of Turlough broke into his musings. + +"I mind the last time I saw the poor woman back yonder, master. It was +just before the great flight, and I mind now that she was not so +ill-looking even then, though she was well past her youth, and that was +forty years ago. Tyr-connall's bag-pipe men were blowing as we marched +to Lough Swilly, and two earls rode in front when the poor _caillin_ +rushed out and flung herself under Tyr-owen's horse--oh, _Mhuire as +truagh, Mhuire as truagh_ for the old days! And when the earl died, her +name was on his lips, and I came home again to find her disappeared. Oh, +what sorrow for the old days! Would that I had died in Rome with the +princes--" + +"Stop that wailing," interrupted Brian sternly, for the old man was +lashing himself into a frenzy of grief. "Put spurs to that horse of +yours, Turlough, for we must reach Cathbarr's tower by noon if possible +in order to start the men off over the hills. It'll be a long night's +march, and I've no time to be idling here on the road." + +Upon which he dug in his spurs and urged his steed into a gallop, and in +order to keep up, Turlough Wolf had to give over his laments and do +likewise. Brian forced himself to bend all his energies toward carrying +out his final desperate plan, but he silently vowed that the old woman +who had so foully been cut down by the O'Donnells should not die +unavenged. + +On they galloped without pause, gained the head of Bertraghboy Bay, and +swung to the east on the last stretch of the trip. The storm which had +arisen so inopportunely was now dying away, and the sun was breaking +through the gray clouds; when they turned out from the main track into +the hill-paths that led to Cathbarr's tower, the rough ground made them +slow their pace. When they were still three miles from the tower, +however, Brian gave a shout. + +"Men, Turlough! Cathbarr has sent out men to meet us!" + +So, indeed, it proved, and five minutes later a dozen men met them with +yells of delighted welcome. From these overjoyed fellows Brian quickly +learned that Cathbarr was at the tower and that Nuala O'Malley had just +arrived there. + +So, leaving them to follow, he and Turlough went on at their best speed, +and twenty minutes later they topped that same long rise from which +Brian had first gazed down on the little promontory where stood +Cathbarr's tower. But now, as he saw what lay beneath, he drew up with a +shout of amazement. + +For around the tower and at the base at the neck of land were camped a +goodly force of men, while at anchor near the tower lay--not Nuala's two +ships alone, but also those other two of her kinsmen! + +"Those two O'Malleys have returned from the south," exclaimed Turlough +in wild delight. "That means more men and ships, master--we will cut off +those Millhaven pirates to a man!" + +Brian sent out a long shout, but his arrival had already been noted. As +he rode down the slope, men poured from the camp and tower, and ahead of +them all came Cathbarr of the Ax, with Nuala and Lame Art and Shaun the +Little behind him. + +"Welcome!" bellowed the giant with a huge laugh, pulling Brian from his +horse with a great hug of delight. "Welcome, brother!" + +Brian escaped from his grip and bowed over the Bird Daughter's hand. As +he rose, he saw that her face had lost its ruddy hue, and that her eyes +were ringed with darkness. Before he could speak she smiled and gripped +his hand. + +"The birds came safe, and we know all. Yesterday arrived these kinsmen +of mine, and their force is joined to our own, Yellow Brian--" + +Brian held up his hand, halting her suddenly, and silence fell on the +men who had crowded around. For a moment he gazed into her deep eyes, +then flung up his head and his voice rang clear and stern in the +stillness. + +"Lady Nuala," he said quietly, "I promised you that when I slew the Dark +Master I would tell you my name. Before another day has passed I shall +have slain him; and now I tell you and your kinsmen that I renounce all +fealty to you." + +At this the Bird Daughter started, staring in amazement, while an abrupt +oath burst from Lame Art. Brian went on calmly. + +"This I do because it is not meet that The O'Neill should give fealty to +any, Lady Nuala. I am Brian O'Neill, of right The O'Neill and Earl of +Tyr-owen, though these are empty titles. And this night you and I shall +fall on Bertragh together, Bird Daughter, and when we have won it again +it shall be yours as of old." + +And amid a great roar of shouts welling up around him Brian bowed to +Nuala. + +"Then, Brian O'Neill," she said, quieting the tumult a little, "am I to +understand that you wish to make pact with me, and to receive no +reward?" + +For a moment he gazed openly and frankly into her eyes, and under his +look the red crept into her cheeks again; yet her own eyes did not +flinch. + +Brian laughed out. + +"Yes, lady! It may be that I shall have a reward to ask of you, but that +may not be until I have won back what I have lost for you." + +"And what if the reward be too great?" + +"Why, that shall be for you to say!" and Brian laughed again. "Is it +agreed, Bird Daughter?" + +For an instant he thought she meant to refuse, as she drew herself up +and met his level eyes; the men around held their breaths, and the +O'Malley chiefs glanced at each other in puzzled wonder. Then her quick +laugh rippled out and she gave him her hand. + +"Agreed, Brian--and I hope that you can shave that yellow beard of yours +by to-morrow!" + +And the great yell that went up from the men drowned all else in Brian's +ears. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE STORM BURSTS. + + +"Now, the first thing is to see what force of men we have," said Brian, +after the midday meal. They were all gathered in Cathbarr's tower before +a log fire, and were preparing the plan of campaign. + +"I have my hundred and eighty men," said Nuala. "When that last pigeon +came from you I set out at once. With the hundred men under Cathbarr, we +have close to three hundred. You can take them all, for my kinsmen here +have enough and to spare to handle my two ships as well as theirs." + +"Good!" exclaimed Brian, as the two O'Malleys nodded. "I think that by +striking at dawn we shall find most of the O'Donnells ashore or in the +castle, and if you time your sailing to strike on their four ships at +the same time we may easily take castle, camp, and ships at one blow." + +"If all went as men planned we would not need to pray Heaven for aid," +quoth Shaun the Little sententiously. Brian glanced at him. + +"Eh? What do you mean by that?" + +"Nothing," returned the wide-shouldered seaman with a shrug. "Except +that there may be more to it than we think, Brian." + +"The Dark Master will not suspect your return so suddenly," spoke up +Nuala. "Pay no heed to Shaun, Brian--he was ever a croaker. When think +you we had best start?" + +"I am no seaman," laughed Brian. "Get there at dawn, that is all. I will +send on my men at once, then; since we have only two horses, Cathbarr +and I will ride after them later and catch them up. Will you take the +men, Turlough, or bide here out of danger?" + +"I think it will be safest with the Lady Nuala," hesitated the old man +craftily. + +"Little you know her, then," roared Lame Art, his cousin joining in the +laugh. + +So Turlough had decided, however, and he stuck to it. Brian then +described closely how the four pirate ships lay in the bay under +Bertragh, while Shaun went out to arrange the distribution of his men on +Nuala's ships. + +The arrangements having been perfected, Brian saw his three hundred men +troop off on their march over the hills, after which he told Nuala at +greater length all that had taken place in the castle since his parting +with her at sea. Bitter and unrestrained were the curses of the +O'Malleys as they heard of how his men had been poisoned, while Nuala's +eyes flamed forth anger. + +"There shall be no quarter to these O'Donnells," she cried hotly. "Those +whom we take shall hang, and the Scots with them--" + +"Not the Scots," exclaimed Brian quickly. "They are honest men enough, +Nuala, and may serve us well as recruits. If we find them in the castle, +as I think we shall, we may leave them there until we have finished the +Millhaven men; however, it is possible that my men will find the castle +almost unguarded, and so take it at the first blow. However that turns +out, the Dark Master shall not escape us this time." + +During the afternoon, when the two O'Malleys were busily getting their +ships in order for the coming fray, Brian sat in the tower with Nuala. +He told her freely of himself, and although neither of them referred to +that reward of which he had spoken at their meeting, Brian knew well +that he would claim it. + +He did not conceal from himself that the Black Woman had guided him to +more than conquest by sword. The Bird Daughter was such a woman as he +had dreamed of, but had never found at the Spanish court, and he knew +that whether there was love in her heart or not, his own soul was in her +keeping. + +Perhaps he was not the only one who knew this, for as Lame Art rowed out +with his cousin, the latter nodded back at the tower. + +"What think you of this ally, Art Bocagh? Could he be truly the Earl's +grandson?" + +"I know not," grunted the other. "But I do not care whether he be Brian +Buidh or Brian O'Neill or Brian the devil--he is such a man as I would +fain see sitting in Gorumna Castle, Shaun!" + +And Shaun the Little nodded with a grin. + +When the sun began its westering, Brian and Cathbarr rode back from the +tower with food and weapons at their saddle-bows, and they paused at the +hill-crest to watch the four ships weigh anchor and up sail, then went +on into the hills. They were to meet their men at that valley where the +Dark Master had been defeated and broken in the first siege, and jogged +along slowly, resting as they rode. + +"Brother," said Cathbarr suddenly, fingering the haft of his ax and +looking at Brian, "do you remember my telling you, that night after we +had bearded the Dark Master and got the loan of those two-score men, how +an old witch-woman had predicted my fate?" + +"Yes," returned Brian, with a sharp glance. In the giant's face there +was only a simple good-humor, however, mingled with a childlike +confidence in all things. "And I told you that you were not bound to my +service." + +"No, but I am bound to your friendship," laughed Cathbarr rumblingly. "I +can well understand how I might die in a cause not mine own, since I am +fighting for you; but I cannot see how death is to come upon me through +water and fire, brother!" + +"Nonsense," smiled Brian. "Death is far from your heels, brother, unless +you are seeking it." + +"Not I, Brian. I neither seek nor avoid if the time comes. Only I wish +that witch-woman had told me a little more--" + +"Keep your mind off it, Cathbarr," said Brian. "In Spain the Moriscoes +say that the fate of man is written on his forehead, and God is just." + +"What the devil do I care about that?" bellowed Cathbarr. "I care not +when I die, brother--but I want to strike a blow or two first, and how +can that be done if death comes by water and fire?" + +"Well, take heart," laughed Brian, seeing the cause of the other's +anxiety. "You are not like to die from that cause to-night, and I +promise you blows enough and to spare." + +Cathbarr grunted and said no more. The last of the storm had fled away, +and the two men rode through a glittering sunset and a clear, cold +evening that promised well for the morrow. + +They traveled easily, and it was hard on midnight when a sentry stopped +them half a mile from the hollow where the men were resting. Brian noted +with approval that no fires had been lighted, and he and Cathbarr at +once lay down to get an hour's sleep among the men. + +Two hours before daybreak the camp was astir, and Brian gathered his +lieutenants to arrange the attack. Thinking that the Dark Master would +be in the castle, he and Cathbarr took a hundred men for that attack, +ordering the rest to get as close to the camp as might be, but not to +attack until he had struck on the castle, and to cut off the O'Donnells +from their ships. Then, assured that the plan was understood, he and +Cathbarr loaded their pistols and set out with the hundred. + +Brian ordered his men to give quarter to all the Scots who would accept +it, if they got inside the castle, and as they marched forward through +the darkness he found to his delight that O'Donnell seemed to have no +sentries out. + +"We have caught the black fox this time," muttered Cathbarr, after they +had passed the camp-fires without discovery and the black mass of the +castle loomed up ahead. "They will hardly have repaired those gates by +now, brother." + +Brian nodded, and ordered his men to rest, barely a hundred paces from +the castle. Since there was no need of attacking before dawn, in order +to let Nuala come up the bay, he went forward with Cathbarr to look at +the gates. + +These, as nearly as he could tell, were still shattered in; there were +fires in the courtyard, and sentries were on the wall, but their watch +was lax and the two below were not discovered. They rejoined the +hundred, and Brian bade Cathbarr follow him through the hall to that +chamber he himself had occupied in the tower, where O'Donnell was most +likely to be found. + +"Well, no use of delaying further," he said, when at length the grayness +of dawn began to dull the starlight. Since to light matches would have +meant discovery, he had brought with him those hundred Kerry pikemen +Nuala had recruited after the dark Master's defeat, and he passed on the +word to follow. + +The mass of men gained the moat before a challenge rang out from above, +and with that Brian leaped forward at the gates. A musket roared out, +and another, but Brian and Cathbarr were in the courtyard before the +Scots awakened. A startled group barred their way to the hall, then +Brian thrust once, the huge ax crashed down, and they were through. + +Other men were sleeping in the hall, but Brian did not stop to battle +here, running through before the half-awakened figures sensed what was +forward. A great din of clashing steel and yells was rising from the +court; then he and Cathbarr gained the seaward battlements and rushed at +the Dark Master's chamber. The door was open--it was empty. + +For a moment the two stared at each other in blank dismay. With a yell, +a half-dozen Scots swirled down on them, but Brian threw up his hand. + +"The castle is mine," he shouted. "You shall have quarter!" + +The Scots halted, and when two or three of the Kerry pikemen dashed up +with news that the rest of the garrison had been cut down or given +quarter, they surrendered. + +Brian's first question was as to O'Donnell. + +"Either at the camp or aboard one of his kinsmen's ships," returned one +of the prisoners. "They were carousing all last evening." + +At the same instant Cathbarr caught Brian's arm and whirled him about. + +"Listen, brother!" + +So swift had been Brian's attack that the castle had been won in a scant +three minutes. Now, as he listened, there came a ragged roar of +musketry, pierced by yells, and he knew that the camp was attacked. + +With that, a sudden fear came on him that he would again be outwitted. +There was a thin mist driving in from the sea which would be dissipated +with the daybreak, and if the Dark Master was on one of the ships he +might get away before Nuala's caracks could arrive. Brian had been so +certain that he would find O'Donnell in the castle that the +disappointment was a bitter one, but he knew that there was no time to +lose. + +"Come," he ordered Cathbarr quickly, "get a score of the men and to the +camp. Leave the others here to hold the castle if need be." + +As he strode through the courtyard and the sullen groups of Scots +prisoners, he directed the Kerry men to load the bastards on the walls +and give what help might be in destroying the pirate ships. Then, with +Cathbarr and twenty eager men at his back, he set off for the camp at a +run, fearful that he might yet be too late. + +The day was brightening fast, and from the camp rose a mighty din of +shouts and steel and musketry. Brian's men had charged after one hasty +volley, but their leader gave a groan of dismay as he saw that instead +of attacking from the seaward side as he had ordered, they were pouring +into the camp from the land side. + +O'Donnell must have landed the greater part of his men, for Brian's +force was being held in check, though they had swept in among the brush +huts. Over the tumult Brian heard the piercing voice of the Dark Master, +and with a flame of rage hot in his mind he sped forward and found +himself confronted by a yelling mass of O'Donnells. + +Then fell a sterner battle than any Brian had waged. In the lessening +obscurity it was hard to tell friend from foe, since the mist was +swirling in off the water and holding down the powder-smoke. Brian saved +his pistols, and, with Cathbarr at his side, struck into the wild, +shaggy-haired northern men; they were armed with ax and sword and skean, +and Brian soon found himself hard beset despite the pikemen behind. + +The Spanish blade licked in and out like a tongue of steel, and Brian's +skill stood him in good stead that morn. Ax and broadsword crashed at +him, and as he wore no armor save a steel cap, he more than once gave +himself up for lost. But ever his thin, five-foot steel drove home to +the mark, and ever Cathbarr's great ax hammered and clove at his side, +so that the fight surged back and forth among the huts, as it was +surging on the other side where was the Dark Master, holding off the +main attack. + +Little by little the mist eddied away, however, and the day began to +break. A fresh surge of the wild O'Donnells bore down on Brian's party, +and as they did so a man rose up from among the wounded and stabbed at +Brian with his skean. Brian kicked the arm aside, but slipped in blood +and snow and went down; as a yell shrilled up from the pirates, Cathbarr +leaped forward over him, swinging his ax mightily. With the blunt end he +caught one man full in the face, then drove down his sharp edge and +clove another head to waist. For an instant he was unable to get out his +ax, but Brian thrust up and drove death to a third, then stood on his +feet again. + +At the same instant there came a roar from across the camp where his +main body of men were engaged, and Brian thrilled to the sound. As he +afterward found, it was done by Turlough's cunning word; but up over the +din of battle rose the great shout that struck dismay to the pirates and +heartened Brian himself to new efforts. + +"Tyr-owen! Tyr-owen!" + +With a bellow of "Tyr-owen!" Cathbarr went at the foe, and Brian joined +him with his own battle-cry on his lips for the first time in his life. +The shout swelled louder and louder, and among the huts Brian got a +glimpse of the Dark Master. In vain he tried to break through the +Millhaven men, however; they stood like a wall, dying as they fought, +but giving no ground until the ax and the sword had cloven a way, +although the remnant of the twenty pikemen were fighting like fiends. + +Suddenly a yell of dismay went up from the O'Donnell ranks, and they +broke in wild confusion. Leaning on his sword and panting for breath, +Brian looked around and saw what had shattered them so swiftly. + +While the stubborn fight had raged, the eastern sky had been streaming +and bursting into flame. Now, sharply outlined against the crimson +water, appeared Nuala's four ships close on those of the pirates. Even +as he looked, Brian saw their cannon spit out white smoke, while from +behind came a deeper thunder as the castle's guns sent their heavy balls +over the pirate ships. + +These were anchored a hundred yards from shore, and Brian saw the danger +that betided as the stream of fugitives swept down toward the boats. +Nuala's ships were undermanned, for he had counted on cutting off most +of the pirates in the camp; should the Dark Master get to the ships with +his men, things were like to go hard. + +"To the boats!" cried Brian to Cathbarr, and leaping over the dead, the +two joined their men and poured down on the shore. + +The Dark Master himself stood by one of the boats, and others were +filling fast with men as they were shoved down. Brian tried to cut his +way to O'Donnell, but before he could do so the Dark Master had leaped +aboard and oars were out. Fully aware of their danger, those of the +pirates who could do so got into their boats and lay off the shore, +while others splashed aboard; Brian led his men down with a rush, +cutting down man after man, splashing out into the swirling water and +hacking at those in the boats, but all in vain. Some half-dozen of the +boats got off, crowded with men, while the remnant of the pirates held +off Brian's force that their master might escape. + +Drawing out of the fight, Brian pulled forth his pistols and emptied +them both at the figure of O'Donnell. He saw the Dark Master reel, and +the rower next him plunged forward over the bows, but the next moment +O'Donnell had taken up the oar himself and was at work in mad haste. +Brian groaned and flung away his pistols. + +Those aboard the pirate ships had already cut the cables and were +striving to make sail, for there was a light off-shore breeze in their +favor, with an ebbing tide. The O'Malley ships were close on them, +however, and as the cannon crashed out anew the masts of one O'Donnell +ship crashed over. But the Dark Master's boat was alongside another of +the ships, whose sails were streaming up, and now his cannon began to +answer those of Nuala. + +But Brian stood in bitterness, unmindful of the wild yells of his men, +for once more the Dark Master had escaped his hand at the last moment. +Shaun the Little had been correct in his "croakings." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +CATHBARR YIELDS UP HIS AX. + + +Brian gazed out at the scene before him in dull despair. So close were +the ships that he could clearly make out Nuala's figure, with its +shimmering mail and red cloak, on the poop of the foremost. + +Her second carack had fallen behind, a shot having sent its foremast +overside, but the other two ships were driving in. All three were +lowering sail, for the Dark Master's craft were unable to get out of the +bay and were giving over the attempt; his disabled ship was sending +over its men to reinforce him, and Brian saw all his own efforts gone +for nothing. + +There came a new burst of cannon, and through the veil of smoke he +perceived that Nuala was laying her carack alongside one of the pirate +ships. But it was not that on which stood the Dark Master; his was the +ship closest to the castle, and Lame Art was bearing down on him, while +Shaun the Little stood for the third, spitting out a final broadside as +he came about and lowered sail. + +The crowding men on the shore had fallen silent as they watched the +impending conflict, but now Brian felt Cathbarr touch his arm, and +turned. + +"Why so doleful, brother?" grinned the giant; though blood dripped into +his beard from a light slash over the brow, his eyes were as clear and +childlike as ever, and the rage of battle had gone from him. "Let us +join in that fight, you and I?" + +"Eh?" Brian started, staring at him. "How may that be?" + +"Ho, here is our captain given way to despair!" bellowed Cathbarr, and +his fist smote down on Brian's back. "Wake up, brother! We have three +boats here, and we can still strike a blow or two!" + +Now Brian wakened to life indeed. He saw the three boats on the shore, +with dead men hanging over them, and leaped instantly into action. + +"Push out those boats--get the oars, there!" he shouted, leaping down to +help shove them out. The men saw his intent, and sprang to work with a +howl of delight. + +In no long time the dead were flung out, and the boats pushed down until +they were afloat. Brian leaped into one, Cathbarr into another, and men +piled in after them until the craft were almost awash. + +An eddy in the veil of smoke that hung over the bay showed Brian that +Lame Art's ship had grappled with that of O'Donnell, and with renewed +confidence thrilling in him, he shouted to his men to get aboard the +O'Malley ship. The Bertragh cannon had ceased to thunder as the ships +came together, but from the ships balls were hailing, musketry was +crackling, and the water was tearing into spurting jets around the +boats. + +Brian's men fell to their oars in sorry fashion enough, but they made up +in energy what they lacked in skill. Driving past Nuala's ship, Brian +saw that she had also grappled and that the battle was raging over her +bulwarks, but sorely tempted to turn aside though he was, he waved his +men on. + +They rowed close under the ship to which she was fastened, and as they +sped past the O'Donnells saw them, and gave them a scattering volley. +One or two of Brian's men went down, and a cry broke from him as he saw +a round shot heaved over into his third boat, sinking her; then they +were past, and bearing down on Art Bocagh's ship. + +"Tyr-owen for O'Malley!" + +Cathbarr's bellow rose over the tumult, and his boat crashed into the +waist of the ship just as Brian leaped up into the mizzen-chains. His +feet gained hold on a triced-up port, and as he looked down he saw a +swell heave up the two boats, then bring them down together with a +splintering smash. + +The result was dire confusion. None of the men were seamen, but some of +them gained the side of Brian, others scrambled in through the ports, +and more than one of them fell short and went down. Standing in the +sinking boat with the water swirling about his ankles, Cathbarr caught +up his ax and leaped; a moment later Brian was over the bulwarks with +the giant at his side, and the O'Malleys welcomed them with a yell of +joy. + +They were badly needed, indeed. The Dark Master had led his men in +furious onslaught across the waist of the ship, and Art Bocagh was being +beaten back to the poop despite his stubborn resistance. Brian saw that +the Dark Master's men far outnumbered Art's, while from the rigging of +each ship musketeers were sending down bullets into the mêlée. With a +shout, Brian and Cathbarr led their men on the O'Donnell flank, and the +tide of battle turned. + +At the first instant the rush of men bore Brian against the Dark Master, +who was fighting like a demon. Brian caught the snarl on the other's +pallid face, and struck savagely; O'Donnell parried the blow with his +skean and returned it, but Brian warded with his left arm and swept down +his blade. The Dark Master flung himself back, but not far enough, and +Brian saw the point rip open the pallid cheek. Even as he pressed his +advantage, however, another surge of men separated them. + +Now Brian gave over every thought save that of reaching his enemy again, +and fell on the O'Donnells with stark madness in his face. A pistol +roared into his stubbly beard and the ball carried off his steel cap, +but he cut down the man and pressed into the midst of the pirates, +cutting and thrusting in terrible rage. + +At sight of him men bore back; the icy flame in his eyes took the heart +from those who faced him, and behind rose Cathbarr's wild bellows as the +giant hewed through after Brian. Back went the pirates, and farther +back. Brian found that he had cut his way to Lame Art, and with a yell +the forces joined and swept on the Dark Master's men. + +O'Donnell had vanished, and now his men were swept back to the bulwarks +and over to their own deck. Here they made a brief stand; then Cathbarr +leaped over into the midst and his ax crushed down two men at once; +Brian followed him, and for an instant it seemed that they would sweep +all before them. + +Just then, however, Lame Art toppled from the bulwarks with a bullet +through him from above, and the Dark Master's disappearance was +explained by a rain of grenades that whirled among the O'Malleys. They +gave back in dismay, Brian and Cathbarr were forced after them, and the +Dark Master himself led his men in a mad stream over the bulwarks once +more. + +There was no stopping them now. The death of Art Bocagh had disheartened +his men, and amid flashing steel and spurting fire Brian and Cathbarr +retreated to the quarterdeck. Here they had a brief breathing space +until the pirates came at them anew, and with such fury that three of +them gained a footing to one side. Brian went at them with a shout, +thrust one man through the body, sent a second back with his bare fist, +and as the third man struck down at him a pikeman transfixed the man +before the blow could fall. + +The boarders drew back, but as they did so a great heave of the grinding +ships broke the hastily flung grapplings. The ships were borne apart, +and the Dark Master with most of his men remained in the waist of the +O'Malley ship. + +This gave a new turn to the conflict. O'Donnell had to master the ship +to win free, and when Brian saw this he gave a great laugh and rejoined +Cathbarr. A quick glance around showed him that Nuala was slowly winning +her grappled decks, while Shaun the Little was hanging off and sending +his cannon crashing into the third pirate ship. The two disabled craft +were slowly drawing together with the tide, which was forcing all eight +into the bay, and were pounding away with their guns as they came. + +Now the combat resolved itself into a desperate struggle for possession +of the quarterdeck, which Brian and Cathbarr held. The Dark Master's men +swarmed up at them bravely enough, but the ax and sword flashed up and +down, and time after time the Millhaven men fell back, unable to win a +footing. Twice the Dark Master himself led them, snarling with baffled +rage, but the first time a pikeman thrust him down and the second time +Cathbarr's ax glanced from his helm. + +O'Donnell reeled back and was lost to sight for a time. + +"That was a poor blow," grunted the giant in disgust. "'Ware, brother! +Stand aside!" + +Brian leaped away as the men behind him ran out a falcon and sent its +blast into the crowd below in the waist. A dozen men went down under +that storm of death, but almost at the same moment a grenade burst +behind the falcon, and with that Brian was driven back as a keg of +powder tore out half the quarterdeck in a bursting wall of flame and +smoke. + +Barely had the shattering roar died out when Brian's reeling senses +caught a wild yell of dismay from his men. + +"Fire! The ship is afire forward!" + +Brian saw that the grenades had indeed fired the ship forward, while the +explosion had sent the quarterdeck into a burst of fire also, and the +lowered but unfurled sails were roaring up in flame. + +Up poured the O'Malleys, and Brian staggered back to the poop. He had a +vision of the great form of Cathbarr heaving up through the smoke, +blackened and bleeding, but with the ax whirling like a leaf and smiting +down men; then Brian gained the poop, helped the giant up, and with the +few men left they turned to drive down the pirates, who were striving +desperately to win the ship before it was too late. + +As he stood with Cathbarr at the narrow break of the poop, beating down +man after man, Brian knew that it was only a question of time now, for +the whole ship was breaking into flame forward. Suddenly he felt a tug +at his buff coat, and looked down to see his belt fall away, sundered at +his side by a bullet. He thought little of it, for he had half a dozen +slight wounds, and turned to smite down at a man who had leaped for the +poop; as his sword sheared through helm and skull, there came another +tug, and Brian felt a bullet scrape along his ribs. + +The O'Donnells drew back momentarily, and in the brief pause Brian saw +the figure of the Dark Master by the starboard rail in the waist, aiming +up at him with a pistol, while two men behind him were hastily charging +others. Cathbarr saw the action also, and hastily flung Brian aside, but +too late. A burst of smoke flooded over the waist, and Brian caught the +pistol-flash through it, as the ball ripped his left arm from shoulder +to elbow. Then the pirates were at the poop again, and the waist was +shut out by the flooding smoke as the wind drove it down from forward. + +With a scant dozen men behind them, Brian and Cathbarr once more beat +the enemy back; the giant swung his ax less lightly now, and seemed to +be covered with wounds, though most of them were slight. Brian still +eyed the waist for another glimpse of the Dark Master, but the smoke was +thick and he could see nothing. In the lull he flung a wan smile at +Cathbarr, who stood leaning on his ax, his mail-shirt shredded and +bloody. + +"Are you getting your fill of battle, brother?" + +"Aye," grinned the giant, "and we had best swim for it in another minute +or the ship--look! _M'anam an diaoul!_ Look!" + +At his excited yell Brian turned, as a ball whistled between them. There +below, in a boat half full of dead, but with two men at the oars, stood +the Dark Master, just lowering his pistol. He flung the empty weapon up +at Brian with a hoarse yell of anger, and passed from sight beneath the +ship's counter, toward the stern. + +Realizing only that his enemy was escaping, Brian whirled and darted for +the poop-cabins. He was dimly conscious of a mass of figures behind, +amid whom stood Cathbarr with the ax heaving up and down, then he was in +the cabins. Jerking open the door to the stern-walk, he saw the Dark +Master's boat directly underneath, hardly six feet from him. + +"Tyr-owen!" yelled Brian, and dropping his sword, but holding his skean +firmly, he hurdled the stern-walk railing and leaped. + +At that wild shout the Dark Master looked up, but he was too late. Brian +hurtled down, his body striking O'Donnell full in the chest and driving +him over on top of the two rowers, so that all four men sprawled out +over the dead. For an instant the shock drove the breath out of Brian, +then he felt a hand close on his throat, and struck out with his skean. + +One of the rowers gurgled and fell back, and Brian rolled over just as +steel sank into his side. Giddy and still breathless, he gained his +knees to find the Dark Master thrusting at him from the stern, while at +his side the other rower was rising. Brian brought up his fist, caught +the man full on the chin, and drove him backward over the gunwale. The +lurch of the boat flung the Dark Master forward, Brian felt a sickening +wrench of pain as the sword pierced his shoulder and tore loose from +O'Donnell's hand, then he had clutched his enemy's throat, and his skean +went home. + +Spent though both men were, the sting of the steel woke the Dark Master +to a burst of energy. As the two fell over the thwarts, he twisted above +and bore Brian down and tried to break the grip on his throat, but could +not. For the second time in his life Brian felt that he had a wild +animal in his grasp; the sight of the snarling face, the venomous black +eyes, and the consciousness that his own strength was slowly ebbing, all +roused him to a last great effort. + +The smoke-pall had shut out everything but that wolfish face, and as he +writhed up even that seemed to dim and blur before his eyes, so that in +desperate fear he struck out again and again, blindly. The blows fell +harmless enough, for all his strength was going into that right hand of +his; he did not know that his fingers were crushing out the Dark +Master's life, that O'Donnell's face was purple and his hands feebly +beating the air. + +Brian knew only that the terrible face was hidden from him by some loss +of vision, some horrible failure of sight due to his weakness. Suddenly +there was a great crash at his side, and he thought that a huge ax with +iron twisted around its haft had fallen from the sky and sheared away +half the gunnel of the boat. He struck out again with his skean, and +felt the blow go home--and with that there came a terrific, blinding +roar. The smoke-veil was rent apart by a sheet of flame, Brian realized +that the burning ship must have blown up, and then a blast of hot wind +drove down against him and smote his senses from him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE STORM OF MEN COMES TO REST. + + +"Very well, Turlough. Tell Captain Peyton that I will give him an answer +to his message to-night, then bid my kinsman Shaun entertain him in the +hall, with the other officers. Send some food up here, and I may come +down later." + +"And, mistress--you will tell me if--" + +"Surely. Now go." + +Brian tried to open his eyes, but could not. He tried to move, but could +not; and realized at length that he was lying on a bed, and that a +bandage was on his head and others on his limbs. + +Suddenly a hand fell on his cheek, and a thrill shot through him; his +beard had been shaved away, for he could feel the softness of the hand +against his chin. He felt the hand passed over his mouth--and he kissed +it. + +There was a startled gasp, then the soft hand returned to his cheek. + +"Brian! Are you awake at last?" + +"I seem to be," he said, though his voice sounded more like a whisper. +"Is that you, Nuala? Where are we?" + +"Yes, it is I," came her voice softly, and something warm splashed on +his cheek. "Oh, Brian! I so feared that--that you were dead!" + +The hand moved away, and he moved uneasily, to feel pain through his +body. + +"Nay, put back your hand!" he said. He tried to smile. "There, that's +better. Where are we, Nuala? On your ship?" + +"No, Brian--at Gorumna. But I forgot. Turlough said you must not talk--" + +"Oh, curse Turlough," he cried in irritation. "Gorumna? What has +happened? Where is the Dark Master?" + +"Lie still or I must leave you!" she cried sharply, and he obeyed. "The +Dark Master's head is over the gate, Brian. It is two days since the +fight." + +"Take that bandage from my eyes, Nuala," he said. After a minute her +hands went to his head, and as he felt the bandage removed, light +dazzled him, and he shut his eyes with a groan. Then he opened them +again, and gradually he made out the figure of Nuala leaning over him, +while a cresset shed light from above. + +"Tell me what has happened," said Brian quietly, as he tried again to +move and failed. "Why am I helpless here?" + +"Because you are wounded," she replied softly. "Please lie quiet, Brian! +I will tell you all that has chanced." + +"Where is Cathbarr! Did we win?" + +"Yes, we won; but--but Cathbarr--he must have flung away his ax before +the ship exploded, for we found it sticking in your boat, and--" + +Her voice broke, and a pang of bitterness shot through Brian as he +remembered it all now. He groaned. + +"And I left him there to die! Oh, coward that I am--coward, and false to +my friend--" + +A great sob shook his body, but Nuala's hands fell on his face, and +there was fear in her voice when she answered him. + +"No, Brian--don't say that! If any one's fault, it was Shaun's for not +coming sooner to your aid. Cathbarr died as he would have wished, and +indeed as he always thought he would die. But now listen, Brian, for I +have news." + +So, leaning over him, she swiftly told him of what had passed. The +O'Donnells had been defeated and slain to the last man; one of their +ships was sunk, and the other three captured, and her men held Bertragh. +As she and Shaun O'Malley lay refitting and gathering their wounded that +same afternoon, a Parliament ship had come in from the south, bearing an +answer to the appeal she had sent to Blake at the Cove of Cork. + +He had not only sent her powder and supplies, but had sent her a blank +commission from Cromwell, which would be filled in upon her definite +allegiance to the Commonwealth. The commission guaranteed her possession +of Gorumna and Bertragh and the lands she claimed, and promised that +when the royalists were driven from Galway the grant would be confirmed +by Parliament. + +"I am to answer Captain Peyton to-night, Brian," she finished, her eyes +dancing. "And Shaun is going to remain and hold Bertragh for me--" + +"What's that?" cried Brian. "Hold Bertragh? Am I then wounded so sore +that I cannot draw sword again?" + +"No," and her laugh rippled out. "Turlough says that you will be as well +as ever in a month, Brian. But since you withdrew your fealty to me, I +had to find another servant!" + +"I had forgotten that," answered Brian moodily. He stared up at her +face, and as he met her eyes saw the color flow up to her temples. + +"You have slain the Dark Master as you promised, Brian," she said +quietly. "And have you forgotten also that you meant to claim a reward +from me for that deed?" + +Brian laughed, and his face softened as happiness laid hold upon his +heart. + +"I have not forgotten that, Nuala; but now I am not going to ask that +reward in the same way I had intended." + +"How do you mean, Brian?" she asked gravely, though her eyes widened a +trifle as if in quick fear. + +"This, dear lady," he smiled. "When you answer Captain Peyton, let the +commission be made out in the name of Nuala O'Neill--and take my fealty +for what is left to me of life, Nuala." + +He looked up steadily, knowing that all things hung on that instant. + +"Well, to tell the truth, Brian," and for a moment she seemed to +hesitate, so that Brian felt a sudden shock, "I--I delayed answering him +in--in that hope!" + +And her face came down to his. + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The following synopsis originally appeared at the +beginning of the second installment.] + + +The scene is laid in Ireland during Cromwell's time, when the whole +country was in arms for or against the various parties. Brian Buidh, or +Brian of the Yellow Hair, himself The O'Neill, comes home from Spain, +where he had been brought up to fight for his country. After a +mysterious warning from the Black Woman, an old hag, he wins forty men +from O'Donnell More, the Black Master, by a trick, and wins the +friendship of Turlough Wolf and Cathbarr of the Ax. His intention is to +gather a storm of men and hold an independent place near Galway. He +forms an alliance with Nuala O'Malley, known as the Bird Daughter +because of her carrier pigeons, for the purpose of recovering her +castle, Bertragh, which O'Donnell had won years before from her parents +by black treachery. + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The following synopsis originally appeared at the +beginning of the third installment.] + + +The scene is laid in Ireland during Cromwell's time, when the whole +country was in arms for or against the various parties. Brian Buidh, or +Brian of the Yellow Hair, himself The O'Neill, comes home from Spain, +where he had been brought up to fight for his country. After a +mysterious warning from the Black Woman, an old hag, he wins forty men +from O'Donnell More, the Black Master, by a trick, and wins the +friendship of Turlough Wolf and Cathbarr of the Ax. His intention is to +gather a storm of men and hold an independent place near Galway. He +forms an alliance with Nuala O'Malley, known as the Bird Daughter +because of her carrier pigeons, for the purpose of recovering her +castle, Bertragh, which O'Donnell had won years before from her parents +by black treachery. + +By warlock arts O'Donnell More brings Brian and a handful of men through +a snowstorm to Bertragh and makes him prisoner. He proceeds to torture +him fiendishly, ending by nailing him to the castle door by one hand. +Just then Colonel James Vere, British officer, arrives, and demands +Brian in order to hang him comfortably in Galway. Red Murrough, +O'Donnell's lieutenant, agrees, for the promise of ten English pounds, +to pretend that Brian is worse off than he is so that he may take longer +to recover. Cathbarr comes in, and offers to take Brian's place if +O'Donnell will release Brian; and when the Black Master makes fun of +him, he goes berserk and cleans out the hall, escaping with Brian to +Nuala. Then they besiege and best O'Donnell, who escapes. + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The following synopsis originally appeared at the +beginning of the fourth and final installment.] + + +The scene is laid in Ireland during Cromwell's time, when the whole +country was in arms for or against the various parties. Brian Buidh, or +Brian of the Yellow Hair, himself The O'Neill, comes home from Spain, +where he had been brought up to fight for his country. After a +mysterious warning from the Black Woman, an old hag, he wins forty men +from O'Donnell More, the Black Master, by a trick, and wins the +friendship of Turlough Wolf and Cathbarr of the Ax. His intention is to +gather a storm of men and hold an independent place near Galway. He +forms an alliance with Nuala O'Malley, known as the Bird Daughter +because of her carrier pigeons, for the purpose of recovering her +castle, Bertragh, which O'Donnell had won years before from her parents +by black treachery. + +By warlock arts O'Donnell More brings Brian and a handful of men through +a snowstorm to Bertragh and makes him prisoner. He proceeds to torture +him fiendishly, ending by nailing him to the castle door by one hand. +Just then Colonel James Vere, British officer, arrives, and demands +Brian in order to hang him comfortably in Galway. Red Murrough, +O'Donnell's lieutenant, agrees, for the promise of ten English pounds, +to pretend that Brian is worse off than he is so that he may take longer +to recover. Cathbarr comes in, and offers to take Brian's place if +O'Donnell will release Brian; and when the Black Master makes fun of +him, he goes berserk and cleans out the hall, escaping with Brian to +Nuala. Then they besiege and best O'Donnell, who escapes. + +Brian goes after O'Donnell with a couple of hundred men, having +recovered from his hurts, and all but catches him in a valley, just as +he is working some kind of a divination with a bowl of water. Brian gets +back his Spanish sword, but O'Donnell escapes with some of his men, and +Brian loses all of his in chasing him to keep him from joining with his +pirate friends. Brian and Turlough get back to Bertragh exhausted. He +goes cruising with Nuala, and they meet a small vessel laden with wine +and food for some of O'Donnell's men. Brian goes back with it to +Bertragh, while Nuala goes on to Gorumna Castle, her own home. But the +captured wine proves to be poisoned--it is a trick of the Black +Master's. + + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +The following typographical errors present in the original magazine +publication have been corrected for this electronic edition. + +In Chapter V, a missing quotation mark was added after "I am for Brian +Buidh." + +In Chapter VI, "Dhar mo lamb" was changed to "Dhar mo lamh". + +In Chapter VII, "which were small carracks" was changed to "which were +small caracks". (While "carrack" is the more common English spelling, +the author used "carack" consistently elsewhere in the text.) + +In Chapter XI, a missing quotation mark was added after "I would take +your life for his." + +In Chapter XII, a missing period was added after "shifted thither in +readiness". + +In Chapter XIII, "coming ing in one of his ships to marry me" was +changed to "coming in one of his ships to marry me", and "Beannact +leath!" was changed to "Beannacht leath!". + +In Chapter XIV, a missing quotation mark was added after "has joined +with those friends of his". + +In Chapter XVI, "those of the Dark Maser were no better" was changed to +"those of the Dark Master were no better". + +In Chapter XVIII, a missing quotation mark was added after "They'll have +the gates down in a minute." + +In Chapter XIX, "Mhuire as truagh, Muire as truagh" was changed to +"Mhuire as truagh, Mhuire as truagh". + +In Chapter XXII, a missing comma was added after "curse Turlough". + +No other corrections were made to the original text. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUALA O'MALLEY*** + + +******* This file should be named 30979-8.txt or 30979-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/9/7/30979 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Bedford-Jones</title> + <style type="text/css"> + p { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + td.chapnum {text-align: left; padding-right: 2em;} + td.chapname {text-align: left;} + td.chappage {text-align: right; padding-left: 2em;} + td.issuedate {text-align: center; padding-top: 0.75em; + padding-bottom: 0.25em;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Nuala O'Malley, by H. Bedford-Jones</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Nuala O'Malley</p> +<p>Author: H. Bedford-Jones</p> +<p>Release Date: January 15, 2010 [eBook #30979]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUALA O'MALLEY***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Steven desJardins<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Transcriber's Note:<br /> +<br />This novel was originally serialized in four +installments in <i>All-Story Weekly</i> magazine from October 5, 1918, to +October 26, 1918. The original breaks in the serial have been retained, +but summaries of previous events preceding the second and third +installments have been moved to the end of this e-book. The Table of +Contents which follows the introduction was created for this electronic +edition.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="center" style="font-size: 125%; font-weight: bold;">ALL-STORY WEEKLY</p> + +<p class="center" style="font-weight: bold;">VOL. LXVI NUMBER 2</p> + +<p class="center" style="font-weight: bold;">SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1916</p> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h1><i>Nuala O'Malley</i><br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%">by H. Bedford-Jones</span></h1> + +<p class="center">Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc.</p> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Editor</span>.This is a stirring, entrancing story of Erin when Cromwell was +campaigning, and when the fighting heritage that is every Irishman's +found vent through sword and ax and fire. You meet Brian Buidh, Brian of +the Yellow Hair, more thrilling than even your favorite movie hero; and +as for Nuala herself—well, just wait till you meet her!—</p> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2>TABLE OF CONTENTS</h2> + +<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<td colspan="3" class="issuedate"><a href="#Part_I">December 30, 1916</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">I.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE BLACK WOMAN.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">177</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">II.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE BEGINNING OF THE STORM.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">179</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">III.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE DARK MASTER.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">182</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IV.</td> +<td class="chapname">BRIAN LEANS ON HIS SWORD.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">186</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">V.</td> +<td class="chapname">YELLOW BRIAN RIDES SOUTH.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">191</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VI.</td> +<td class="chapname">BRIAN TAKES CAPTIVES.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">196</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VII.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE BIRD DAUGHTER.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">201</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="3" class="issuedate"><a href="#Part_II">January 6, 1917</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">HOW BRIAN WAS NETTED.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">419</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IX.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE NAILING OF BRIAN.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">424</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">X.</td> +<td class="chapname">IN BERTRAGH CASTLE.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">429</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XI.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE BAITING OF CATHBARR.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">434</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XII.</td> +<td class="chapname">HOW THE DARK MASTER WAS RUINED.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">438</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="3" class="issuedate"><a href="#Part_III">January 13, 1917</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">BRIAN RIDES TO VENGEANCE.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">659</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIV.</td> +<td class="chapname">HOW THE STORM FARED NORTH.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">664</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XV.</td> +<td class="chapname">WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TARN.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">670</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVI.</td> +<td class="chapname">BRIAN GETS HIS SWORD AGAIN.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">674</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVII.</td> +<td class="chapname">BRIAN GOES A CRUISING.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">679</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="3" class="issuedate"><a href="#Part_IV">January 20, 1917</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">BRIAN YIELDS BERTRAGH.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">137</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIX.</td> +<td class="chapname">BRIAN MEETS THE BLACK WOMAN.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">142</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XX.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE STORM BURSTS.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">147</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXI.</td> +<td class="chapname">CATHBARR YIELDS UP HIS AX.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">151</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXII.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE STORM OF MEN COMES TO REST.</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">155</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="Part_I" id="Part_I"></a><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">THE BLACK WOMAN.</span></h2> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>The horseman reined in as his jaded steed scrambled up the shelving +bank, and for a space sat there motionless, for which the horse gave +mute thanks. The moon was struggling to heave through fleecy clouds, as +it was hard on midnight; in the half obscurity the rider gazed around +suspiciously.</p> + +<p>There was nothing in sight to cause any man fear. Behind him rippled the +Dee, and all around was desolation. Ardee itself lay a good two miles in +the rear, burned and laid waste six weeks before, and ten miles to the +south lay Drogheda. Indeed, as the horseman gazed about, he caught +sight of a faint glare on the horizon that drew a bitter word from his +lips.</p> + +<p>Dismounting with some difficulty, owing to his cloak and Spanish hat, he +examined a long, raking gash in his horse's flank; then flung off hat +and cloak and calmly proceeded to bind up his own naked shoulder +beneath.</p> + +<p>His was a strange figure, indeed, now that he stood revealed. He wore no +clothing save breeches and high riding-boots; an enormous sword without +a sheath was girt about his waist, and the caked blood on his shoulder +and cheek made his fair skin stand out with startling contrast.</p> + +<p>About his shoulders fell long hair of ruddy yellow, while his face was +young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> and yet very bitter, tortured by both physical and mental +anguish, as it seemed. He bound up the deep slash in his shoulder with a +strip of cloth torn from his cloak, felt his wealed cheek tenderly, then +flung the cloak about him again and drew down his broad-brimmed hat as +he turned to his weary horse.</p> + +<p>"Well, my friend," and his voice sounded whimsical for all its rich +tone, "you've had a change of masters to-day, eh? I'd like to spare you, +but man's life is first, though Heaven knows it's worth little in +Ireland this day!" With that he reeled and caught at the saddle for +support, put down his head, and sobbed unrestrainedly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my God!" he groaned at length, straightening himself to shake a +clenched and blood-splashed fist at the sky. "Where were You this day? +God! God! The blood of men on Thine altars—"</p> + +<p>"Faith, you must be new come to Ireland, then!"</p> + +<p>At the shrill, mocking voice the man whirled about and his huge blade +was out like a flash. But only a cackling laugh answered him, as down +from the bank above slipped a perfect hag of a creature, and he drew +back in alarm. At that instant the moon flooded out; his sudden motion +had flung off his wide hat, and he stood staring at the wrinkled +creature whose scanty garments and thin-shredded gray locks were pierced +by a pair of weird brown eyes.</p> + +<p>Then he quivered indeed, and even the poor horse took a step backward, +for the old woman had flung up her arms with a shrill cry as she gazed +on the yellow-haired young man.</p> + +<p>"The O'Neill!" The words seemed to burst from her involuntarily. She +craned forward, her hands twisting at her ragged shawl, and a flood of +Gaelic poured from her lips as she stared at the awe-struck man.</p> + +<p>"Are you, then, the earl, come back from the dead? Ghost of Tyr-owen, +why stand you here idle in the gap of Ulster, where once Cuculain fought +against the host of Meave? Do you also stand here to fight as he +fought—"</p> + +<p>"Peace, mad-woman!" exclaimed the young man, stooping after his hat. +"Peace, and be off out of my way, for I have far to ride."</p> + +<p>The Gaelic words came roughly and brokenly from him, but the old hag +took no heed. Instead, she advanced swiftly and laid her hand on his +arm, still gazing into his face with a great wonder on her wrinkled +features.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" she whispered. "Tell the Black Woman your name, if you +are no ghost! For even as you stand now, once did these eyes see the +great earl himself."</p> + +<p>"I am from Drogheda," answered the man, something very like fear stamped +on his powerful and bitter-touched young face. "My name is Brian Buidh, +and I ride to join Owen Ruadh—"</p> + +<p>"Liar!" The old woman spat forth the word with a cackle of laughter. +"Oh, you cannot fool the Black Woman, Yellow Brian! Listen—Brian your +name is, and Yellow Brian your name shall be indeed, since this is your +will. Owen Ruadh O'Neill lies at the O'Reilly stead at Lough Oughter, +but you shall never ride to war behind him, Brian Buidh! No—the Black +Woman tells you, and the Black Woman knows. Instead, you shall ride into +the west, and there shall be a storm of men—a storm of men behind you +and before you—"</p> + +<p>"For the love of Heaven, have done!" cried Yellow Brian, shrinking +before her, and yet with anger in his face. "Are you crazed, woman? +Drogheda has fallen; O'Neill must join with the royalists, and never +shall I ride into the west. Be off, for I have no money."</p> + +<p>He turned to mount, but again she stopped him. It seemed to him that +there was strange power in that withered hand which rested so lightly on +his arm.</p> + +<p>"The Black Woman needs no money, Yellow Brian," she cackled merrily. +"You shall meet me once again, on a black day for you; and when you meet +with Cath<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>barr of the Ax you shall remember me, Brian Buidh; and when +you ride into the west and meet with the Bird Daughter you shall +remember me.</p> + +<p>"So go, Yellow Brian, upon whose heart is stamped the red hand of the +O'Neills! <i>Beannacht leath!</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Beannacht leath</i>," repeated the man thickly.</p> + +<p>There was a rustle of bushes, and he was alone, wiping the cold sweat +from his face.</p> + +<p>"Woman or fiend!" he muttered hoarsely. "How did she know that last? +Yes, she was crazed, no doubt. I suppose that I do look like the +earl—since he was my grandfather!"</p> + +<p>And with a bitter laugh he climbed into the saddle and pushed his horse +up the bank. The bushes closed behind him, the night closed over him, +but it was long ere the weird words of the old hag who called herself +the Black Woman were closed from his mind.</p> + +<p>For, after all, Yellow Brian was of right not alone an O'Neill, but The +O'Neill.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">THE BEGINNING OF THE STORM.</span></h2> + + +<p>The people of every nation—that is, the tillers of the soil, the people +who form the backbone of their race—are in continual expectancy of a +Man and a Day. Theirs is always the, perhaps, dumb hope, but still the +hope, that in their future lie these two things, a Man and a Day. +Sometimes the Man has come and the Day has failed; sometimes the Day has +come and there has been no Man to use it; but now all Ireland had swept +up in a wild roar, knowing that the Man and the Day had come together.</p> + +<p>And so, in truth, they had. Owen, the Ruadh, or red, O'Neill, had fought +a desperate struggle against the royalists. Little by little he had +cemented his own people together, his personal qualities and his +splendid generalship had overborne all else, and the victory of Benburb +had crowned the whole. Then Owen Ruadh was stricken down with sickness, +Cromwell landed and stormed Drogheda, and Yellow Brian had fought clear +and fled away to the kinsman he had never seen.</p> + +<p>Now, standing on the castle ramparts overlooking Lough Oughter, Yellow +Brian stared moodily out at the lake. His identity had been revealed to +none, and the name of Brian Buidh had little meaning to any in Ireland. +Years since he who was The O'Neill, the same whom the English called +Earl of Tyr-owen, had fled with his family from the land. His eldest son +John had settled at the Spanish court.</p> + +<p>John was a spineless man, unworthy son of a great father, content to +idle away his life in ease and quiet. And it was in the court of Spain +that Brian O'Neill had been born, with only an old Irishwoman to nurse +him and teach him the tongue and tidings of Ireland which his father +cared nothing for.</p> + +<p>Yellow Brian had written out these things, sending the letter to the +sick general who lay within the castle. His terrible news of Drogheda +had created consternation, but already O'Neill's forces had been sent to +join the royalists against the common foe. All Ireland was distraught by +war. Royalist, patriot, and Parliament man fought each against the +other, and the only man who could have faced Cromwell lay sick unto +death.</p> + +<p>The Day was passing, the Man was passing, and shadow lay upon all the +land.</p> + +<p>A man came up and touched Yellow Brian's arm, with word that Owen Ruadh +would see him at once. Brian nodded, following. He was well garbed now, +and a steel jack glittered from beneath his dark-red cloak as he strode +along. Upon his strong-set face brooded bitterness, but his eyes were +young for all their cold blue, and his ruddy hair shone like spun gold +in the sunlight; while his firm mouth and chin, his erect figure, and +his massive shoulders gained him more than one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> look of appreciation +from the clustered O'Reillys.</p> + +<p>He followed the attendant to a large room, whose huge mantel was carven +with the red hand and supporting lions of the clan Reilly, and passed +over to the bed beside the window. He had requested to see O'Neill +alone, and the attendant withdrew silently. Brian approached the bed, +and stood looking down at the man who was passing from Ireland.</p> + +<p>Sharp and bright were the eyes as ever, but the red beard was grayed and +the face was waxen; a spark of color came to it, as Owen Ruadh stretched +forth a hand to take that of his visitor.</p> + +<p>"Brian O'Neill!" he exclaimed, in a voice singularly like that of Brian +himself. "Welcome, kinsman! But why the silence you enjoined in your +letter?"</p> + +<p>"My name is Yellow Brian," answered the younger man somberly. "I have +none other, general. You know the gist of my story, and here is the +rest. I broke with my father, for he would hear nothing of my coming to +Ireland. So I cast off his name and left him to his cursed idleness, +reaching Drogheda barely in time to take part in the siege. I managed to +cut through, as you know, and meant to take service with you—"</p> + +<p>He paused, for words did not come easily to him, as with all his race. A +low groan broke from the crippled warrior.</p> + +<p>"Too late, kinsman, too late! Cromwell is come, and I will never sit a +horse again—ah, no protests, lad! How old are you?"</p> + +<p>"Twenty-three."</p> + +<p>"By my faith, you look thirty! Lad, my heart is sore for you. I am +wasted and broken. I have no money, and Cromwell will shatter all before +him; I can do naught save give you advice."</p> + +<p>"I want naught," broke in Brian quickly, a little glint as of ice in his +blue eyes. "Not for that did I cast off my name and come to—"</p> + +<p>"Tut, tut, lad!" O'Neill reproved him gently. "I understand, so say no +more of that matter. You are Brian Buidh, but to me you are my kinsman, +the rightful head of my house. You can do two things, Yellow +Brian—either follow my advice, or go down to ruin with all Ireland. Now +say, which shall it be?"</p> + +<p>Brian gazed at him with thoughtful face. What was the meaning of this +dark speech? As he looked into the keen, death-smitten eyes of the man +who might have saved Ireland, he smiled a little.</p> + +<p>"I see naught but ruin, Owen Ruadh," he replied slowly. "I care little +for my life, having no ties left on this earth—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nonsense!" broke in the other impatiently. "You are young, lad—the +bitterness will soon pass, trust me. Now see, here is my advice, such +advice as I would give no other man alive. I am dying, Yellow Brian. +Well, I know that Cromwell will break down all I have built up, and I +can see no brightness for my country. But for you I can see much. You +are young, powerful, the last of the old race; you look strangely like +the old earl, Brian!"</p> + +<p>The younger man started. For the first time in many days he remembered +that crazed hag he had met by the Dee water the night of Drogheda.</p> + +<p>"Now, harken well. I tell you that our house lies in the dust, Brian; +there is no hope for it or for any O'Neill. But for Yellow Brian there +is hope. You must carve out a holding for yourself, for you are a ruler +of men by your face, lad. Go into Galway, and there, where Cromwell's +men will have hardest fighting of all, gather a force and make head. I +have heard strange tales of a man who has done this very thing—they say +he has seized on a castle somewhere near Bertraghboy Bay, in Galway, +and— But I am getting weak, Brian lad. Hearken well—Ireland is lost; +carve out now for your own hand, for the Red Hand of the old house, lad! +And take this for my sake."</p> + +<p>Almost whispering the last words, Owen Ruadh took from his finger a +signet graven deeply with the Red Hand of Tyr-owen. Brian accepted it +gravely, kissed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> the hand that gave it, and with tears choking his +throat, left the chamber of the man who was passing from Ireland.</p> + +<p>He had been there a brief fifteen minutes, yet it seemed that an age had +passed. Both he and the sick man had said much in few words, for they +were both men who spared speech and did much. But Brian had received a +great wrench.</p> + +<p>As he had said, he had cast off his father, for the grandfather's blood +ran riot within him, and had kindled to burning rage against the +sluggard who had made his name a thing of reproach in all lands. With +the overstrong bitterness of youth he had meant to die sword in hand, +fighting for Ireland. The few burning words of Owen Ruadh had stripped +all this false heroism from him, however, and had sent a flame of sanity +into his brain.</p> + +<p>Brian returned slowly to the round tower, and stood looking out over the +waters, for the castle was built on an island in the lake a mile from +shore. It was nearing sunset, and snow was in the air—the first snow, +for this was the end of September.</p> + +<p>"Ruin—the storm of men!" He repeated unconsciously the words of the hag +who had stopped him by the Dee water. "What shall I do? Which is the +part of a man, after all; to fall for Ireland or to hew out new lands +and found a new house in the west? By my hilt! That old hag told me +truly after all!"</p> + +<p>At that thought he stood silent, his eyes troubled. What was this fate +which seemed to drive him into the west, instead of leading him to the +flame of swords as he had so long hoped and dreamed? Death meant little +to him; honor meant much. All his life he had lived in Spain, yet it had +been a double life. He had ridden and hunted and learned arms with the +young nobles of the court, but he had talked and sorrowed and dreamed +with the old Irishwoman who had nursed him.</p> + +<p>After all, it is often the dreams of the youth which determine the +career of the man, he reflected.</p> + +<p>Which path should he take? As he stood there struggling with himself, +his hand went unconsciously to his long, powerful jaw; it was a gesture +habitual with him when in deep thought—which he seldom was, however. +Now the youth in him spoke for death, now the sanity which had flashed +into his brain from that of the sick man spoke for the life of deeds and +renown which lay in the west.</p> + +<p>An incident might turn him either way—and the incident came in the +shape of a very tall old man who wore the Irish garb of belted, +long-sleeved tunic and woolen hose, with iron-soled shoes. The old man's +face was cunning, but his eyes were bright and keen and deep gray; his +gray hair hung low to conceal his lopped ears, and there hung about him +an indescribable air of shrewdness faced with apparent openness of +heart.</p> + +<p>Brian glanced at him, remembered that he had heard him called Turlough +Wolf, and looked away carelessly, absorbed in his own thought. But the +old man halted abruptly with an exclamation:</p> + +<p>"<i>Corp na diaoul!</i> Where got you that face and that gesture, Drogheda +man?"</p> + +<p>Brian looked at him, frowning.</p> + +<p>"What mean you, Turlough Wolf?"</p> + +<p>The other stared, his thin jaw fallen.</p> + +<p>"Why—why," he stammered, "I thought it had been The O'Neill come to +life again! When I was a boy I have seen the earl hold his hand to his +chin—often, often! And—and you look like him, Brian Buidh—-"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" Brian forced a laugh, but as he folded his arms again the +glitter of O'Neill's ring on his finger caught the sharp gray eyes.</p> + +<p>Turlough Wolf started.</p> + +<p>"Listen!" he said, coming forward insinuatingly. "Yellow Brian, no man +knows who you are, nor do I ask. But Turlough Wolf knows a man when he +sees one, a chieftain among men. I owe no man service; but if you will +need a swift brain, a cunning hand, and an eye that can read the hearts +of men, I will serve you."</p> + +<p>Brian looked down into the shrewd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> face in wonder, then waved an +impatient hand.</p> + +<p>"No use, Turlough Wolf. I have no money to pay for service, and to-night +I must ride out to seek I know not what—nay, whether I ride west or +east or south, I know not!"</p> + +<p>He turned abruptly, wishing to close the matter, but the old man laid a +restraining hand on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"I seek no money, Yellow Brian. I seek only a master such as yourself; a +man who is a master among men, and whom I can set higher still if he +will heed my counsels. I am old, you are young; I know all parts of the +land by heart, from the Mayo shore to Youghal, and I am skilled at many +things. Take my service and you will not regret it."</p> + +<p>Brian hesitated. After all, he considered, the thing came close to being +uncanny. The Black Woman by Dee water; Owen Ruadh himself, and now this +Ulysseslike Turlough Wolf—whither was fate driving him? Was he really +to meet such persons as the Bird Daughter and Cathbarr of the Ax, or +were they only the figment of a crazed old woman's brain?</p> + +<p>So he hesitated, gazing down into those clear gray eyes. And as he +looked it seemed to him that he found strange things in them, strange +urgings that touched the chords of his soul. After all, adventure lay in +the west, and he was young!</p> + +<p>"Good!" he said, gravely extending his hand. "To-night we ride to the +west, you and I. Come; let us see O'Reilly about horses."</p> + +<p>And this was the beginning of the storm of men that came upon the west.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">THE DARK MASTER.</span></h2> + + +<p>"There are two things, Yellow Brian, for you to mind. First, you must +have men at your back who know you for their master; second, you must +stand alone, giving and receiving aid from no man or party in the +land."</p> + +<p>Brian nodded and stored away the words in his heart, for in their three +weeks of wandering he had learned that Turlough Wolf was better aid than +many men. It was his doing that, when they had chanced on a party of +ravagers beyond Carrick, Yellow Brian had been led into strife with +their leader. The upshot of that matter was that there was a dead rover; +Yellow Brian had a dozen horsemen behind him and money in his purse, and +of the dozen none but feared utterly this silent man who fought like a +fiend.</p> + +<p>To the dozen had been added others—four Scotch plunderers strayed from +Hamilton's horse and half a dozen Breffnians from Ormond's army, who had +been driven out of Munster by the rising of the Parliament men there. +They were a sadly mixed score, of all races and creeds, but were +fighting ruffians to a man, and were bound together by Brian's solemn +pledge that he himself would slay any who quarreled. The result was +peace.</p> + +<p>So now, with a good score of men behind him, Yellow Brian had ridden +down into Galway, was past Lough Corrib and Iar Connaught, and was hard +upon Connemara.</p> + +<p>There was a thin snow upon the hills, and the bleak wind presaged more; +but the score of men sang lustily as they rode. Two days before they had +come upon a dozen strayed Royalist plunderers, and had gained great +store of food and drink—particularly drink. So all were well content +for the time being.</p> + +<p>"Turlough," asked Brian suddenly, as they rode side by side, "did you +ever hear of one called the Black Woman?"</p> + +<p>The Wolf crossed himself and grimaced.</p> + +<p>"That I have, Yellow Brian, but dimly. They say she deals in magic and +sorcery, and no good comes of meeting with her. But stop—there are +horsemen on the road! Scatter the men, and quickly; let us two bide +here."</p> + +<p>There was cunning in the advice, for the two had come to a bend in the +road<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> and the men were a hundred yards behind them. Brian drew rein at +sight of a score of men a scant quarter-mile away and riding up the hill +toward them. He knew that they must also have been seen, but his men +would still be out of sight, so he turned with a quick word:</p> + +<p>"Off into the rocks, men! If I raise my sword, come and strike. Off!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke he bared that same huge cut-or-thrust brand he had borne +from Drogheda and set the point on his boot. Instantly the men scattered +on either side the road, where black rocks thrust up from the snow, and +within two minutes they and their horses had disappeared.</p> + +<p>The riders below came steadily forward in a clump, and Brian saw old +Turlough staring with bulging eyes. Then the Wolf half caught at his +bridle, as if minded to fly, and his hands were trembling.</p> + +<p>"What ails you, man?" smiled Brian. "Are they magicians and sorcerers, +then?"</p> + +<p>"No, <i>fareer gair</i>—worse luck!" blurted out the other. "Look at the +little man who rides first, Yellow Brian!"</p> + +<p>Brian squinted against the snow-glare, and saw that the leader of the +approaching party seemed indeed to be a little man with hunched +shoulders and head that glinted steel.</p> + +<p>"A hunchback!" he exclaimed. "Well, who is he?"</p> + +<p>"The Dark Master—O'Donnell More himself! It is in my mind that this is +a black day, Brian Buidh. O'Donnell More is the master of all men at +craft, and the match of most men at weapons. Beware of him, master, +beware! I had thought that he was still under siege at Bertragh Castle, +else I had never taken this road."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" laughed out Brian joyously, drinking in the clear afternoon +air. "So much the more honor if we slay him, Turlough Wolf! Let him +match me at weapons, or you at wits, if he can!"</p> + +<p>Turlough muttered something and drew back behind Brian's steed with +pallid face. Yellow Brian, however, having a sure trust in his own right +arm and his hidden men, scanned the approaching O'Donnell curiously, +seeking what had inspired such unwonted fear in the old gray Wolf.</p> + +<p>He could find nothing ominous in that hunched figure, save its mail-coat +and steel helm. Yet the face was peculiar. Over a drooping mustache of +black flared forth two intense black eyes. Brian noted this, and the +thin, curved nose and prominent chin, and laughed again.</p> + +<p>"Who is this Dark Master, Turlough?"</p> + +<p>The other shivered slightly. "He is an O'Donnell from the north, come +here some ten years since—he seized on Bertragh even as we intend +seizing on a stead, and has since done evil things in the land. Now +hush, for they say the wind bears him idle talk."</p> + +<p>Brian's thin lips curved a trifle scornfully, but he kept silence, +watching the approaching men. At fifty yards' distance they halted. +Their leader eyed the motionless pair for a moment and then slowly rode +on alone, waving back his followers. And Yellow Brian made a strange +figure, with his ruddy hair streaming from beneath his steel cap and the +bright, naked sword rising up from toe to head beside him.</p> + +<p>"Well?" O'Donnell More's voice was deep and harsh, though Brian +afterward found that it could be changed to suit its owner's mood. "Who +are you thus disputing my passage?"</p> + +<p>"I am Brian Buidh," came Brian's curt reply. "As for dispute, that is as +you will."</p> + +<p>"Yellow Brian?" The black brows shot up in surprise. "A strange name. +Whence come you, and seeking what?"</p> + +<p>"I seek men, O'Donnell More." Brian swiftly determined that this was a +man who might give him aid, a man after his own heart. "Whence I come is +my affair. Give me men, and I will repay with gold."</p> + +<p>"What need have you of men, Yellow Brian," came the sardonic answer, +"when your own lie hidden among the rocks?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>Now indeed Brian started, whereat the other smiled grimly.</p> + +<p>"How knew you that?"</p> + +<p>"If you recognized me from afar, you had not stayed to meet me unless +you had men," stated O'Donnell shrewdly enough.</p> + +<p>"True," said Brian, and laughed out. "Well said, O'Donnell. I have a +score, and want another score. I will match mine against yours, or make +a pact, as you desire."</p> + +<p>The Dark Master sat fingering his sword-hilt and considered. With the +black brows down and the black eyes fixed on him, Brian suddenly began +to like the man less.</p> + +<p>"I will give you service," returned O'Donnell at last.</p> + +<p>Brian smiled. "Men serve me, not I them."</p> + +<p>At this curt answer O'Donnell looked black, then fell into thought, his +shoulders hunched up and his head drawn in like the head of a turtle. +Brian wished now that he had struck first and talked afterward.</p> + +<p>Finally the Dark Master looked up with a slow smile.</p> + +<p>"Welcome to you, Brian of the hard eyes and hollow cheeks," he said. +"<i>Slaintahut!</i> I will not give you men, but I will give you the loan of +men if you will do me one of two favors. Ten miles to the south of here +there is an old tower on a cliff, and in the tower dwells a man with +certain companions who sets me at naught. On an island out near Golam +Head is a castle where a woman rules, who has also set me at naught. Go, +reduce either of these twain, and I will lend you twoscore men for three +months."</p> + +<p>Brian sat his great horse and looked at the Dark Master. He would have +sought advice from Turlough Wolf, save that he did not like to turn his +back on those burning eyes. After all, the pact was not a bad one.</p> + +<p>"These enemies of yours—who are they, and what force have they?"</p> + +<p>The Dark Master chuckled, and his head shot out from between his +shoulders.</p> + +<p>"The man is called Cathbarr of the Ax, and he is a hard man to fight, +for he has ten men like himself, axmen all. The woman cannot fight, but +she has a swift mind, many men, and her name is Nuala O'Malley, of the +O'Malleys of Erris."</p> + +<p>"I had sooner fight a man than a woman," returned Brian slowly. "Also, +this Cathbarr of the Ax has fewer men. I will do you this favor, +O'Donnell Dubh."</p> + +<p>He gave no sign of the wonder that had shot into his mind at the name of +Cathbarr, except that his blue eyes seemed changed suddenly to cold ice. +The Dark Master saw the change, and his smile withered. Brian, watching +him, reflected that this malformed freebooter could be venomous-looking +at times.</p> + +<p>"I have passed my word," O'Donnell the Black made curt answer. "Fetch +either of the twain to Bertragh, dead or alive, and you have the loan of +twoscore men for three months, free. Is it a pact?"</p> + +<p>"It is a pact," answered Brian, and at that the other galloped back to +his men.</p> + +<p>Brian swung his sword and flung it high into the air; before it had +flashed down to nestle in his palm again, his men were scrambling into +the road. He sheathed the sword, smiling a little, and turned to +Turlough.</p> + +<p>"Well? To your mind or not, Wolf?"</p> + +<p>"My father saw the Brown Geraldine at Dublin," responded that worthy, +scratching the gray beard which had begun to sprout. "They broke his +bones with the back of an ax and swung him out in a cage until he died, +and after. He made pacts too easily."</p> + +<p>"Well?" asked Brian again, but a dull flush crossed his cheeks.</p> + +<p>"I gave you my rede," said Turlough sullenly. "I said to stand alone, +receiving aid from neither man nor faction. Now there is mischief to be +repaired."</p> + +<p>"Then my sword shall repair it," said Brian, and ordered the men to +swing in after him. "Guide us to this tower of Cathbarr's, for my honor +is in my own keeping."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>They swung about and headed to the south and the sea.</p> + +<p>The hill-paths, which Turlough Wolf seemed to know perfectly, were +cruelly hard on the horses; none were as yet trodden down, for the snow +was fresh, and all the west coast lay desolate. The plague had stricken +Galway and Mayo heavily that year, smiting the mountains with death. +Some few parties of Roundhead horse had come through, because they +feared God and Ireton more than the plague, and some Royalists had fled +up from the south for much the same reason.</p> + +<p>In any case, Yellow Brian found all the land desolate, and liked it. The +more wasted the land, he reflected, the more chance for that sword of +his to find swinging-room. As he had ridden, news had come from the +east—news of the Wexford killing and the curse that was come upon the +land. Owen Ruadh O'Neill was not yet dead, but Brian knew that he had +prophesied truly. Ireland's day was gloaming fast.</p> + +<p>Despite the dismal tone of Turlough Wolf, Brian told himself that he had +done a good day's work. O'Donnell Dubh would keep his word beyond any +question. As for the man he was to slay, the only part of it which +troubled Brian was the prediction of the Black Woman at the Dee water. +She had known him, and had prophesied O'Neill's death, and had spoken of +the west and this Cathbarr of the Ax. After all, however, she might have +shot a chance shaft which had gone true. Brian had no faith in magic.</p> + +<p>All that afternoon he rode on, Turlough Wolf ahead of him, the men +behind. They feared and hated the old Wolf as much as they feared and +loved Brian.</p> + +<p>Progress was slow, owing to the bad paths, the snow, and sundry changes +of direction, so that when night fell they had covered but eight miles +of the ten. Turlough suggested that they push on and finish their +business at a stroke, but Brian curtly refused. So the men made camp in +lee of a cliff and proceeded to feast away the last of their provisions +and wine, in confidence that on the morrow they would have more, or else +would need none.</p> + +<p>Brian and Turlough built a fire apart, and after their repast Brian +broke silence with a request for information about Cathbarr. It was his +first speech since the parting with the Dark Master.</p> + +<p>"I never heard of him," responded Turlough. "No doubt he is some outlaw +who has become a thorn in the Dark Master's flesh. With the woman it is +different."</p> + +<p>"Tell me of her," said Brian, gazing into the fire.</p> + +<p>"She is an O'Malley, and, like all the clan, makes much of ships and +seamen and little of horses and riders. When the Dark Master came, ten +years ago, he slew her father and mother by treachery, and would have +slain her but that her men carried her off. She was a child then. Now +she is a woman, very bitter against O'Donnell Dubh, and is allied with +the Parliament so that her ships may have the run of the seas, it is +said. O'Donnell takes sides with no faction, but caters to all. He lays +nets and snares, and men fall into them, and he laughs."</p> + +<p>"Why is Nuala O'Malley called the Bird Daughter?" asked Brian quietly.</p> + +<p>At this question old Turlough rose on his elbow, and in his wide, gray +eyes was set mingled fear and wonder.</p> + +<p>"<i>M'anam an diaoul!</i>" he spat out. "Who are you to know this thing?"</p> + +<p>"Answer my question," returned Brian, hiding his own surprise.</p> + +<p>"Seven years ago, master, I was at Sligo Bay with O'Dowda when Hamilton +cut us to pieces. Nuala O'Malley had brought us some powder—she was but +a slip of a girl then. In the evening I was down at the ship when I saw +her come from below, a hooded pigeon in her hands. She whispered in the +bird's ear, set off the hood, and the bird flew into the night. I named +her Bird Daughter, but no other man knew the name."</p> + +<p>"Then a woman did," chuckled Brian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> dryly. "It was but a carrier pigeon, +Turlough; I have seen them used in Spain. Now listen to me."</p> + +<p>With that he told him of the Black Woman and his weird meeting at Dee +water. Old Turlough listened in no little amazement, for he was full of +superstitious fancies, but Brian said nothing of his own name. The +uncanny prophecies, however, which now seemed on the road to fulfilment +were enough to give any man pause.</p> + +<p>When he had finished, a very subdued Turlough Wolf stated that the Black +Woman was an old hag who wandered all over the land, that some called +her crazy and others thought her inspired, and that his own belief was +that she was a banshee, no less.</p> + +<p>At this Brian saw the thing in a more rational light. The old woman knew +of this nook in the west, and, attracted to him by his resemblance to +the long-dead earl, she had endeavored to steer him thither. After all, +it was quite simple.</p> + +<p>Of course, old Turlough swore that he had never breathed his name of +Bird Daughter to a living soul, and that it was but a name he had used +in his own mind for the slim girl who had fetched powder from the south. +Brian chuckled, guessing that Turlough was not the only one who had seen +carrier pigeons used, and who had ascribed the thing to higher powers.</p> + +<p>The incident served the purpose of establishing a firmer intimacy +between Brian and the old man, however, and convinced Turlough that his +master was destined to fly high. Nor through all the storm of men that +befell after did Turlough again breathe reproof as he had dared that +day.</p> + +<p>"I begin to see that your advice was good, Turlough Wolf," said Brian +the next morning, as he rode shivering from camp. "As to making my men +know me for their master, that troubles me little; but I think it will +be a hard matter to avoid making pacts, and to stand alone."</p> + +<p>"Lean on your sword," grunted old Turlough. "To my notion, such +friendship as that huge blade of yours can give is better than good. +Order men ahead."</p> + +<p>Brian nodded and sent two of the men ahead as scouts, with the Wolf +himself. For the better part of an hour they made slow headway among the +rocks, and then emerged suddenly on the slope leading down to the cliffs +and sea. Turlough pointed to the left.</p> + +<p>"There lies the tower, if I mistake not."</p> + +<p>Drawing rein, Brian saw at once why he had been sent on this errand. +Cathbarr's tower was an old ruin at the end of a long and narrow +headland—indeed, at high tide most of the headland would be covered, +for it was low and yet beyond shot of the cliffs. Except from the water, +it was almost impregnable; cannon might have reached it from shore, but +two axmen could have held the narrow way against an army.</p> + +<p>Brian laughed softly and ordered the men to remain where they were.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do, master?" queried old Turlough anxiously.</p> + +<p>"I am going to lean on my sword, as you advised me," chuckled Brian, and +rode on alone.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">BRIAN LEANS ON HIS SWORD.</span></h2> + + +<p>As he had foreseen, Brian was allowed to ride across the narrow neck of +land where his men would have had to battle for progress. It was from no +mere bravado that he had gone forward alone to the tower, but because +men were worth saving, and he believed that his own sword was a match +for any ax. If this ruffian Cathbarr was a freebooting outlaw, he would +be willing enough to stake his ten men on his prowess, and Yellow Brian +was very anxious to have those ten axmen behind him.</p> + +<p>At the top of the tower men watched and steel glistened, and as Brian +rode up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> to the low gateway, it was flung open and a man strode out. +This man hardly came up to Brian's conception of an outlaw, except as to +stature.</p> + +<p>He was a good six feet four, reflected Brian as he drew rein and waited, +and was built in proportion—or, rather, out of proportion. His +shoulders and chest seemed tremendous, and a long mail-shirt reached to +his knees; his hair was short-clipped and brown, and beneath his curly +brown beard Brian made out a massive face, wide-set brown eyes, and an +air not so much ruffianly as of cheerful good-humor.</p> + +<p>Brian had no need to ask his name, however, for in one hand he carried a +weapon such as had seldom seen the light since powder had come to +Ireland. It was an ax, some five feet from haft to helve; double-bladed, +each blade eight inches long, curved back slightly, and two inches thick +by twice as much wide. The edges, which came down sharply from the +thickness, were not overkeen, and were not meant to be so. When the +thing struck, that was the end of what stood before it.</p> + +<p>"<i>Cead mile failte!</i>" cried Cathbarr of the Ax in a deep, rumbling +voice, his white teeth flashing through his beard in a smile. "A hundred +thousand welcomes to you, swordsman! Are you come to capture my lordly +castle?"</p> + +<p>"No; your men," laughed Brian, liking this huge, merry giant on the +instant. "I am come from O'Donnell Dubh to reduce you and fetch you to +him."</p> + +<p>The smile froze on the giant's face.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry for that, yellow one! I like your face and your thews, and +to find that you serve the black traitor of Bertragh is an ill thing."</p> + +<p>"I serve no man," answered Brian easily. "I need men. If I conquer you, +O'Donnell lends me twoscore men for three months; also, by conquering +you I win your men to me, which makes fifty. With my seventy men, I +shall fall to work."</p> + +<p>"By my faith, a ready reckoner!" and Cathbarr grinned again. "Get down +and fight."</p> + +<p>Brian swung out of the saddle and led his horse to one side. They were +not so badly matched, he reflected. Cathbarr's head was bared, while he +had steel cap and jack; but for some reason he felt hesitant at thought +of killing this merry giant.</p> + +<p>"Not so bad," he said, baring his five-foot blade and holding it up +against the huge ax. "Not so bad, eh?"</p> + +<p>Cathbarr burst into a laugh.</p> + +<p>"It will grieve me to crush your skull, dear man," he rumbled. "What a +pair we would make, matched against that Dark Master! But enough. +Ready?"</p> + +<p>Brian nodded slightly, and the long ax flashed up.</p> + +<p>Now, Brian O'Neill had served a stiff apprenticeship at weapons, and had +faced many men whose eyes boded him death, but here, for the first time +in all his life, he felt the self-confidence stricken out of him.</p> + +<p>As Cathbarr heaved up his ax, he became a different man. All the good +cheer fled out of his face; his curly brown beard seemed to stand out +about his head like snakes, and the massiveness of his body was +reflected in the battle-fury of his face. He needed no blows to rouse +him into madness; but with the ax swinging like a reed about him, he +came rushing at Brian, a giant come to earth from of old time. His men +on the tower set up a wild yell of encouragement.</p> + +<p>Brian leaped swiftly aside and, thinking to end the fight at a blow, +brought down his sword against the descending ax-haft. Sparks flew—the +haft was bound with iron; Brian only saved himself from falling by a +miracle.</p> + +<p>Then began a strange battle of feet against brawn, for Cathbarr rushed +and rushed again, but ever Brian slipped away from the falling ax, nor +was he able to strike back. The play of that ax was a marvel to behold; +it was shield and weapon in one, and it seemed no heavier than a thing +of wood as it whirled. Twice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> Brian got in his point against the +mail-coat without effect, and twice the ax brushed his shoulder, so that +he gave over thrusting. He knew that he was fighting for his life +indeed.</p> + +<p>An instant later he discovered that fact anew as a glancing touch of the +ax drove off his steel cap and sent him staggering back a dozen paces, +reeling and clutching at the air. To his amazement Cathbarr did not +follow him, but stood waiting for him to recover; he had not looked for +such courtesy on the west coast.</p> + +<p>He sprang back into his defense, desperate now. Again the ax whirled, +seeming a part of the giant himself, and Brian knew that he was lost if +he waited for it. So, instead of waiting, he leaped under the blow, +dropped his sword, and drove up his fist into the bearded chin, now +flecked with foam.</p> + +<p>It was a cruel blow. Cathbarr grunted, his head rocked back, and he +swayed on his feet. Before he could recover, Brian had set his thigh +against him, caught his arm, and sent him whirling to the ground, ax and +all. Then he picked up his sword and stood leaning on it, panting.</p> + +<p>Cathbarr sat up and gazed around blankly, until his gaze fell on the +waiting figure. Brian looked at him, smiling slightly, and the eyes of +the two men met and clinched. As if he had been a child caught doing +wrong, the giant grinned and wiped the foam from his beard.</p> + +<p>"Was that fair fighting, yellow man?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No," laughed Brian. "It was unfair, Cathbarr; but I think my fists can +best your ax yet."</p> + +<p>Slowly the giant got to his feet. To Brian's surprise he left his ax +where it lay and came forward with extended hand.</p> + +<p>"Had you claimed that blow as fair," he rumbled, "I would have slain +you. Now I love you, yellow man. Let us make a pact together. What is +your name?"</p> + +<p>They struck hands, and Brian felt a great thrill of admiration for this +man whose terrible strength enclosed the simple heart of a child. But +he shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I make no pacts, Cathbarr. My name is Brian Buidh. I made pact with the +Dark Master, and now I am sorry for it; yet it must be held to, for I +see no way out of it. But wait—I have a cunning man whose wit may help +us here."</p> + +<p>He turned and flung up his sword in the air. His men rode down to the +narrow causeway, while from the tower came shouts warning Cathbarr +against treachery. But the giant only grinned again, and Brian shouted +to Turlough Wolf to come on alone.</p> + +<p>Old Turlough obeyed in no little wonder. When he came up Brian told him +what had chanced—that out of enmity had arisen friendship.</p> + +<p>"But," he concluded, trouble in his heart, "you must find me a way out, +Turlough. I have passed my word to O'Donness to reduce Cathbarr; to do +that I must slay him, or he me. I see little honor either way."</p> + +<p>"Few men find honor in their dealings with the Dark Master," grumbled +Turlough, looking from Cathbarr to Brian. "Yet, if you want a way out, +it is an easy matter. Cathbarr of the Ax, give service to my master. +Thus, Brian Buidh, you shall reduce Cathbarr; yet the Dark Master said +naught of giving up this man to him."</p> + +<p>"Good!" cried Brian, eagerness in his blue eyes, and swung on the giant. +"Will you give me your service, friend, and follow me? There shall be a +storm of men—" He paused abruptly as the words fell from his lips, but +he had said enough.</p> + +<p>"I give you service, Yellow Brian," rumbled Cathbarr, taking his hand +again, and his strong, white teeth flashed through his beard. "I will +follow you, and my men, and there shall be firm friendship between us. +Is it good?"</p> + +<p>"It is good!" exclaimed Brian, his heart singing. But Turlough laughed +harshly.</p> + +<p>"So you have again broken my rede,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> Brian Buidh, for this man knows you +not as his master, but names you his friend. I bade you take, not give."</p> + +<p>"It was your own advice," retorted Brian, laughing.</p> + +<p>"Aye, since you asked it, I found the way out. But you have not +conquered him."</p> + +<p>"He conquered me by not telling a lie," said Cathbarr simply. "I serve +him."</p> + +<p>Turlough eyed them keenly, heard how the fight had gone, and then +suddenly comprehended what manner of man this huge, bearded fellow was. +His face cleared, and without a word he clasped Cathbarr's hand, and +asked Brian for orders.</p> + +<p>"How far from here is Bertragh Castle?" questioned Brian.</p> + +<p>"It overlooks Bertraghboy Bay," answered the giant. "Bide here till +noon, while my men bring in their horses from the hills, and with the +night we can arrive there."</p> + +<p>To this Brian assented, well pleased that Cathbarr had horses. Turlough +went back to bring up his men, and Brian entered the tower that served +Cathbarr for castle. It was a small place, but strong; the ten men who +took his hand and gave him service were cut after the pattern of their +master—huge fellows all, O'Flahertys from the mountains who had +followed Cathbarr down to loot the coast, with no ill success.</p> + +<p>It was a strange tale that he heard, while he and his men ate and drank +with their new comrades. For some months Cathbarr had maintained himself +here, raiding O'Donnell's lands chiefly and making his ax feared through +all the coast. In fact, the giant had attempted his own errand—to set +himself up in power; but he had gone about it like a child.</p> + +<p>The Dark Master had come against him with a hundred men, and after +losing a score and more at the causeway, had tried to starve him out. At +that Cathbarr had calmly stolen away by boat, raided O'Donnell's +choicest farms overnight, and was back with his plunder before the Dark +Master guessed his absence. After this O'Donnell had kept watch and ward +upon his lands, with better results; Cathbarr occupied himself with +raiding against the scattered parties of plunderers in the hills, and +had won some booty.</p> + +<p>Brian discovered many things during the hour or two he waited for the +horses to be fetched in. Chief of these was that he had set himself a +difficult nut to crack. The Dark Master held a strong castle, with rich +farms around it, and could summon at need some three hundred men to his +standard. In short, Brian found that O'Donnell held the very position he +himself wanted to hold—and was like to keep it.</p> + +<p>"Of course," he thought soberly, reflecting on his future course, "if I +come off clear to-night I can ride with my seventy men to a better +place. And yet—I don't know! What better place than this? It will be no +long time before hoofs are in the land, for Royalist and Roundhead and +Ulsterman will be storming through the hills; Galway will be the last to +give in to Cromwell, of a certainty. When the hurricane falls, I want a +roof to shelter me—and whom could I turn out better than this +O'Donnell?"</p> + +<p>Cathbarr's tower was too small to serve him as a fortalice, for it was +barely large enough to shelter the eleven axmen. Suddenly an idea +flashed across Brian's mind. Why not a union with this O'Malley woman +against the Dark Master?</p> + +<p>Upon the thought, he rose and went out to the ice-rimmed shore below the +tower, where he paced up and down, considering the matter. After all, it +would do no harm, and there were great possibilities in it. He returned +to the tower at sound of shouts and clattering hoofs, and took Turlough +aside.</p> + +<p>"Turlough Wolf, in your advice you spoke against making pacts with men, +but you said nothing of women. It is my purpose to send you to this +O'Malley castle, to propose a pact with Nuala O'Malley against the Dark +Master. You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> can tell her that I have a hundred horsemen behind me—for +I will have them. Will you do this, bearing her word back to me?"</p> + +<p>Turlough plucked moodily at his ragged beard.</p> + +<p>"I see no harm in such a pact, master," he replied thoughtfully. "As to +reaching the Bird Daughter, that is another matter. I think that I can +do it, however. When shall I start, and where shall I find you again?"</p> + +<p>Brian reflected a moment.</p> + +<p>"Start now, Turlough. Cathbarr and I will have no need of advice this +night, for we shall either fight our way clear, or else the Dark Master +will keep to his word. When you return, you will find me here; if I am +not here, I will leave a man here to give you word of me."</p> + +<p>"I am to say that you have a hundred horsemen behind you?" Turlough's +sharp eyes swept to Brian's half-questioningly.</p> + +<p>"Say a hundred and a half," laughed out Brian, "and trust your silver +tongue for the rest, old Wolf! Never fear, I will have the men. But mind +this, Turlough. I will make no other pact with her than this, against +the Dark Master. It may be that when I have driven him forth I may fly +after other game."</p> + +<p>"Men have sought to drive the Dark Master forth," quoth Turlough, "and +their heads have rotted above his gate. Take heed lest there be an empty +spike there this night, Yellow Brian!"</p> + +<p>But Brian only laughed shortly, and bade the old man affectionate +farewell, for he knew that Turlough loved him. And when Turlough had +ridden somberly away, Brian felt a strange sense of desertion, of loss, +that was no whit inspired by Turlough's gloomy last words. He shook it +off, however, at gripping hands again with Cathbarr. The axmen had +gathered most of their loot and buried what was of value, for Brian had +determined to return here from Bertragh and make use of the tower until +he had heard from Turlough's errand.</p> + +<p>So now, at the head of thirty men, he rode across the narrow causeway +with Cathbarr of the Ax at his side for friend and guide. The giant did +not yet quite comprehend exactly what plan had flashed across the brain +of old Turlough, so as they rode Brian made the thing clearer to him. +When the simple and straightforward Cathbarr grasped the matter, he +smote his horse's neck with a bellow of laughter.</p> + +<p>"Ho! So you bring me before the Dark Master ax in hand, reduced to +<i>your</i> service instead of his, my men added to yours—oh, it is a jest, +brother, a jest! I think that O'Donnell will slay us both on the spot!"</p> + +<p>"Not if your axmen are true," retorted Brian.</p> + +<p>Cathbarr laughed again. "They fear me and they love me, brother," he +cried, gazing back at the file of horsemen. "Your own men fear you and +love you also. Therefore we are men alike."</p> + +<p>Brian began to love the man for his utter simplicity, save where there +was killing in hand. Cathbarr seemed in reality to have the heart of a +child, impulsive and passionate to an extreme, and there was always a +certain rugged power in his bearing which bespoke him a true Flaherty of +the mountains. His men were like himself in this respect, and after they +had fraternized with Brian's men they began to feel the same unbounded +surety in Yellow Brian as Cathbarr expressed. Their axes were the usual +splay-bladed affairs that their grandfathers had used under Red Hugh at +the Yellow Ford, nor indeed in all his life had Brian ever seen another +ax like to that of Cathbarr's.</p> + +<p>They rode through the afternoon while a light snow fell and a keen east +wind cut down from the peaks of the Twelve Pins, until the shaggy horses +slithered along with tails tucked tight beneath them. But there was good +cheer in the company, for the news had spread of how Yellow Brian would +have seventy men behind him that night. When the darkness began to fall, +Bertragh Castle came in sight far below—a gray crag jutting up from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +the plain, scarped and embattled, the sea behind it and the watch-fires +of men twinkling from its keep. All about lay farms and steads, and the +lowing of byred cattle rose on the evening air when the snow ceased.</p> + +<p>"Be careful not to drink or eat in that hall," warned Cathbarr blackly. +"Ill comes of it to all who accept hospitality there."</p> + +<p>Brian nodded and rode on in silence, for there were parties of horsemen +and pikemen down below and the blare of horns shrilled up. Evidently the +riders on the hills had been seen from afar.</p> + +<p>As they reached the lower ground Brian was aware of a band of men riding +to meet them, and halted. Through the dusk came a score of armed +horsemen, and their leader inquired their business, shouting from a safe +distance. Brian returned the shout.</p> + +<p>"I am Yellow Brian, and I seek O'Donnell Dubh according to a pact made +with him yesterday. I have reduced Cathbarr of the Ax, and am come in +peace."</p> + +<p>"You are expected," called the other, riding up with his men. "The Dark +Master is waiting for you."</p> + +<p>And Brian rode on to Bertragh, not without some forebodings.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">YELLOW BRIAN RIDES SOUTH.</span></h2> + + +<p>Outside the castle gates, where cressets flared over the snow, an old +seneschal appeared and ordered Brian to leave his men outside. To this +the men made some objection, but Brian laughed softly.</p> + +<p>"Bide where you are," he said. "You shall not be slain unless I am slain +inside."</p> + +<p>The O'Donnells watched him and Cathbarr with no little wonder, and the +two men made a fine pair as they marched across the creaking drawbridge. +Though Cathbarr topped Brian by half a head, there was no doubt as to +which was the nobler man; the giant gazed around him with amazed eyes, +but Brian held his head high and strode in with a smile flickering on +his lips. But his blue eyes were very sharp that night.</p> + +<p>He saw the crowded men in the courtyard, many of them armed with +muskets, their matches burning, and noted also that the Dark Master +possessed some half-dozen bastards—immense, nine-foot pieces mounted on +huge carriages, with their eight-pound balls piled beside them. In those +days it was no small thing to own such cannon in the west of Ireland, +and Brian eyed them approvingly as he passed through the courtyard. He +was beginning to count them as his own.</p> + +<p>Cathbarr had told him that the Dark Master had brought many O'Donnells +down from the north to settle the farms and lands beyond the castle, but +Brian saw that these were not all. The garrison was a riffraff of all +the armies that had wasted Ireland, and they were fighting men fit for +their work.</p> + +<p>Brian entered the hall, with Cathbarr muttering oaths a pace behind him. +The hall was high, lit with cressets, and beside a huge fireplace sat +the Dark Master in a carved chair of black wood, an old harper sitting +opposite. Behind Brian and Cathbarr flocked in men until the hall was +well filled.</p> + +<p>Brian found the penetrating eyes fixed on him as he advanced, but in +them was no surprise or fear, and O'Donnell calmly stroked his drooping +mustache as he watched. Cathbarr still followed behind, bearing that +great ax of his, and Brian stopped a few paces from the hearth as the +Dark Master spoke.</p> + +<p>"Welcome to Bertragh, Yellow Brian. I had not looked for you so soon."</p> + +<p>"No." Brian's voice rang out richly in the stillness. "But I am here, +O'Donnell Dubh, to claim my two-score men. I have reduced Cathbarr of +the Ax."</p> + +<p>For the first time the hunched O'Donnell seemed to notice Cathbarr. His +black eyes flickered curiously to the giant, then he smiled sourly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>"If he is reduced, why does he not kneel, Brian of the hard eyes?"</p> + +<p>"Kneel," ordered Brian.</p> + +<p>Cathbarr flushed and his beard began to stand out, but he obeyed. There +was no great love in his face as he knelt, holding to his ax, and gazed +at O'Donnell.</p> + +<p>"Throw your ax into the fire," said the Dark Master, his voice smooth as +silk.</p> + +<p>"Do not," exclaimed Brian, and his eyes grew bitterly cold as they +clinched with those of the Dark Master. Over the latter's pallid face +crept a slow red fire, and his head drew back between his shoulders. Men +held their breaths.</p> + +<p>"O'Donnell," went on Brian slowly, "I have fulfilled my pact. I have +reduced Cathbarr of the Ax—but he serves me and not you. Since I have +conquered him as you bade, I call on you to carry out the pact and lend +me two-score men for three months, scat-free."</p> + +<p>If Brian had wanted any testimony as to O'Donnell's iron hand, he had +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"So, Brian of the hard eyes, you have some courage, eh? <i>Duar na +Criosd!</i> 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?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"I am liker to offer battle than accept it, O'Donnell."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Brian laughed a little.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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—"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Then indeed Brian knew that his fate hung upon the Dark Master's +thoughts, and he drew himself up a little straighter, and his blue eyes +glinted colder than any ice as his hand closed upon his sword-hilt. But +at the slight motion O'Donnell looked up keenly.</p> + +<p>"You have ridden hard, Brian. Pause and sup with me—"</p> + +<p>"I did not come to eat or drink," said Brian sternly. "Also, I am weary +of this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> talking. Now fulfil your pact, Dark Master, or be shamed before +all your men."</p> + +<p>"Are you for Royalist or Parliament?" asked O'Donnell, as if he had not +heard.</p> + +<p>"I am for Brian Buidh."</p> + +<p>"Take two-score men and begone," and the other rose. To his surprise, +Brian found that, despite the hunched back, O'Donnell was as tall as +himself. The black eyes flamed out at him for an instant. "I will keep +my honor, though I regret it later, Yellow Brian. Go, with your men. +When next we meet your head shall grin over my gates."</p> + +<p>"Thanks for so much," retorted Brian mockingly, though he drew a swift +breath of relief. "My head serves me too well to render it easily. <i>Slan +leat</i>, O'Donnell!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Slan leat</i>," repeated the Dark Master and turned his back, gazing down +at the fire.</p> + +<p>Brian turned and strode down the hall, Cathbarr at his heels. When they +reached the courtyard he found men saddling in haste, and an officer +saluted him gravely.</p> + +<p>"Two-score men are at your orders, Yellow Brian."</p> + +<p>"Let them follow me," said Brian curtly. "And who quarrels with my men, +dies."</p> + +<p>To that there was no dispute. The drawbridge clanked down once more, +Brian and Cathbarr mounted and rode out to where the thirty waited +grimly, and after them came the forty men from the garrison. Cathbarr, +who trusted the Dark Master little, set his ten axmen in the van, +followed with Brian, and the sixty followed them into the night.</p> + +<p>"I think we came out of that well, brother," said the giant softly. +"Where do we ride?"</p> + +<p>"To your tower, for the night. After that, in search of more men."</p> + +<p>"Toward Galway or Slyne Head?"</p> + +<p>"Wherever there are men."</p> + +<p>After that they rode on in silence, while the men behind fraternized +freely. All were of the same stamp, and indeed the two-score already +were as willing to serve Brian as O'Donnell, since they had witnessed +that scene in the castle hall.</p> + +<p>Brian wondered dully what the outcome of all this was to be. The strain +of facing O'Donnell and bearding him in his own den had been no light +one, but he knew that Cathbarr had spoken truth in saying that they were +well out of it. The Dark Master, he thought, was a man well worth +fighting. To take his castle was not like turning out a chieftain of +some ancient family, with his clan about him for miles around; O'Donnell +had seized upon the place himself, his men were reavers and outlaws, and +the castle was a strong one.</p> + +<p>Then there was the O'Malley alliance. Brian had it in mind to beset the +Dark Master by sea and land at once, for all the O'Malley clan had been +seamen and rovers from time immemorial, while he himself preferred men +and horses at his back. In calmer mood now, he reflected that Turlough +might not return for a week, and there was food and fodder for seventy +men and horses to be obtained.</p> + +<p>If he rode toward Galway he would have to plunder the patriots, which +went against the grain. But in lower Galway and Clare things were +different. That winter no army held to winter quarters save that of +Cromwell, and between Limerick and Galway there was a wild rout of men +out of half a dozen armies, the plague had swept off all but the +seafaring folk, and men held only what their swords could guard.</p> + +<p>So Brian determined that he would ride toward the south.</p> + +<p>He realized well that his men must be drawn together by fighting, that +they must learn a perfect confidence in him, and that they must earn +their sustenance for the time being. Cathbarr already knew of old +Turlough's mission, and of course approved, since in his eyes Brian +could do no wrong. What was more, reflected Brian, he could not make +this alliance empty-handed. He must get men and spare horses, stores and +powder, and some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> muskets or pistols if possible, for few of his men +carried more than sword or perhaps a sorry pistolet or ancient +bombardule out of date a generation since.</p> + +<p>"A storm of men!" he muttered as he gazed at the stars. "A storm of men! +Did that Black Woman speak truly, I wonder? And what dark magic was that +which passed to-night?"</p> + +<p>But no answer came to his questions save that the cold stars chilled him +to the bone. Since they had no better place to seek, they returned to +Cathbarr's tower, but it was long past midnight when they reached it, +and the men were nodding in their saddles. As barely a dozen could crowd +into the place, the rest were forced to camp outside in the snow, but +roaring fires and some little food put them in good humor and it was no +hardship to any of them.</p> + +<p>"It has been a strange two days for us twain," said Brian as he and +Cathbarr divided a scorched bannock one of the Scots had hastily turned +out over the coals.</p> + +<p>"Yes," smiled the giant into his beard, his deep-throated bull's voice +rumbling through their tiny room. "But it is in my mind that there are +stranger days ahead of us, Brian Buidh. A witch-woman once told me that +I would meet my death from water and fire together, brother, in a cause +not mine own."</p> + +<p>"You are not bound to my service," replied Brian.</p> + +<p>"But I am bound to you, for I like you," answered Cathbarr, and his hand +crushed down on Brian's. That night they slept together beneath the same +blanket, and though after that they spoke few words of love or +friendship, the two men drew ever closer each to the other in all +things.</p> + +<p>It had indeed been a strange two days for him, thought Brian as he +roused up the camp late the next morning and set out sentries in the +hills. He had met the Dark Master on the first, and on the second he had +met Cathbarr, then had forced the Dark Master into lending him men +against his will. Now, after a scant three days beyond Lough Corrib, he +had twined his fate with that of other men, had set his heart upon +winning Bertragh Castle, and had won both a stout friend and a stout +enemy.</p> + +<p>For he counted O'Donnell as a foe, in which he was not far wrong.</p> + +<p>However, there was no time to be wasted, for fodder was exceeding +scanty, and Brian himself had no heart for idleness. As he had resolved +on his course during that return ride the night before, he gathered his +men together and briefly ordered them to be ready to ride at noon, and +to Cathbarr alone he outlined his plan. Then he picked two of the axmen +who knew the country roundabout, and ten from among those O'Donnell had +loaned him, and took them aside and told them of Turlough Wolf, who +would come before long.</p> + +<p>"You will bide here," he concluded, "and bid him wait for me. I shall +return this side of ten days. And mind you, if there is feud or +treachery among you so that one man's blood is let, then I will exact a +tenfold vengeance from both men."</p> + +<p>The twelve, who were sturdy ruffians and well able to hold the place +against any sudden attack by the Dark Master, looked into the ice-blue +eyes for an instant, and straightway vowed that there would be neither +treachery nor quarreling among them. And Brian guessed shrewdly that he +had inspired some little fear in their hearts.</p> + +<p>So that at high noon they rode away to the east, threescore strong, with +Brian and Cathbarr and the remaining eight axmen in the van. Brian did +not spare either man or horse that day, for there was little food left +them; when midnight came they had slipped past Galway and were ready to +ride south, though they all went to rest supperless.</p> + +<p>With the morning Brian found that two of the men had slipped off and +were busy plundering a hill-farm a mile away, where an old woman lived +alone. He promptly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> had them brought before him, and bade them take up +their weapons.</p> + +<p>"I am no executioner," he said as he bared his huge sword. "I am a +teacher of lessons, and my lessons must be learned."</p> + +<p>When they rode away from that place, leaving the two men buried under +cairns, Brian was well assured that there would be no more ravaging by +his men, though they died of hunger.</p> + +<p>However, it proved that there was no great chance of this, for Brian +drove such a storm past Slieve Aughty as had not been heard of in +generations. Of all that chanced in those seven days ere he set his face +to the north again, not much has survived, for there were greater storms +to come afterward, and more talked-of fighting. But certain things were +done which had a sequel.</p> + +<p>By the fifth day Brian had swept past Gort toward Lough Graney, and +turned west by Crusheen, which he passed through with a hundred horsemen +at his heels. Two days before he had struck upon fifty Ulstermen who +were working north from Munster, and what were left of them after the +meeting took service with him. From them he learned that O'Neill was +dying or dead, and that the Royalists and Confederacy men were paralyzed +through the south.</p> + +<p>They had left Crusheen ten miles behind them on the fifth day, when +Cathbarr laid his hand on Brian's knee and pointed to the left, where a +hill rose against the sky.</p> + +<p>"Look there, <i>boucal</i>—when the birds fly from the <i>ceanabhan</i>, seek for +snakes!"</p> + +<p>Brian drew rein. Gazing at the long slopes of moor-grass that rose +across the hill, he saw a sudden flight of blackbirds from over the +crest; they flew toward him, then swerved swiftly and darted to the +right. Brian called up two of his men who knew the country, and asked +them what lay over the hill.</p> + +<p>"The Ennis road to Mal Bay," they replied, and he sent them ahead to +scout.</p> + +<p>Before he reached the hill-crest they were back with word that an +"army" was on the road, and Brian pushed forward with Cathbarr to see +for himself. Slipping from their horses, they gained the hilltop and +looked over on the winding road beyond. Neither of them spoke, but +Brian's eyes glinted suddenly, for he beheld a train of four wagons +convoyed by some two hundred troopers. He touched Cathbarr and they +returned.</p> + +<p>"A party of Ormond's Scottish troopers," he said quietly when they had +rejoined the men. "Cathbarr, take thirty men and work around them. When +you strike, I will lead over the hill and flank them."</p> + +<p>The giant nodded, picked his men, and rode away. Brian led his seventy +closer to the rise of ground, and as they waited they could hear the +creaking of wagons and the snap of whips. It was a Royalist convoy, and +since there was no love between the Scots and the Irish of any party, +Brian's men were hungry for the fight.</p> + +<p>They got their fill that day.</p> + +<p>A rippling shout, a scattering of shots, and Brian spurred forward. The +road wound a hundred yards below, and Cathbarr had already fallen on the +vanguard. The Scots were riding forward to whelm him when Brian's men +drove down with a wild yell and smote the length of their flank.</p> + +<p>Brian hewed his way to the side of Cathbarr, and then the sword and ax +flashed side by side. The captain in command of the troopers pistoled +Cathbarr's horse, but the huge ax met his steel cap and Cathbarr was +mounted again. Meanwhile, Brian was engaged with a cornet who had great +skill at fencing, and his huge Spanish blade touched the young officer +lightly until the Scot pulled forth a pistol, and at that Brian smote +with the edge.</p> + +<p>The muskets and pistols of the troopers worked sad havoc among Brian's +men at first, but there was no chance to reload, and when the officers +had gone down the Scots lost heart. They would have trusted to no Gaelic +oaths, for men got no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> quarter in the west, but when Brian shouted at +them in English they listened to him right willingly. A score broke away +and galloped breakneck for the south again, and perhaps fifty had gone +down; the rest gathered about the wagons stared at Brian and Cathbarr in +superstitious awe as the two lowered bloody ax and sword and offered +terms.</p> + +<p>"I offer service to you," said Brian. "I am Brian Buidh, and if you will +ride with me you shall find war. Those who wish may return to Ennis."</p> + +<p>Now, at the most Brian had some seventy-five men left, and those +clustered at the wagons were over a hundred and a score, with muskets. +But their officers were down, they had received no pay for a year and +more, and they were for the most part Macdonalds of the Isles, who loved +freebooting better than army work. So out of them all only ten men chose +to ride to Ennis again, and Cathbarr shook his head as they departed.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me that ill shall come of this," he said, and wiped his ax +clean.</p> + +<p>Brian laughed shortly and dismounted. He found that the wagons contained +powder, stores, and muskets; so after placing the wounded in them, he +rode north to Corrofin that day with close to two hundred men at his +back. Staying that night at Corrofin, he hanged ten of the Scots for +plundering, rested his horses for two days, and set his face homeward +with the surety that his men knew him for master.</p> + +<p>The storm of men was gathering fast.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">BRIAN TAKES CAPTIVES.</span></h2> + + +<p>"<i>Failte abhaile!</i> Welcome, Yellow Brian!"</p> + +<p>"So you won back before me, eh?" Brian swung down from his horse and +gripped hands with old Turlough Wolf. "Get the men camped, Cathbarr, +then join us."</p> + +<p>Turlough's cunning eyes rested on the wagons and weary horsemen, and he +nodded approvingly as Brian told him of what had chanced.</p> + +<p>"Said I not that you were a master of men?" he chuckled quietly, as he +turned to follow into Cathbarr's tower. "But it is easier to master men +than women, Brian. I bear you a bitter rede from the Bird Daughter, +master."</p> + +<p>"Hard words fare ill on empty stomachs," quoth Brian. "Keep it till I +have eaten."</p> + +<p>When Cathbarr had joined them and they had dined well on Royalist stores +and wine, Turlough made report on his mission. It seemed that he had met +with a party of the O'Malleys at the head of Kilkieran Bay at the close +of his first day's ride, and after hearing his errand they had taken him +in their ship out to Gorumna Isle, where stood the hold of Nuala, the +Bird Daughter. And somewhat to his own amazement, Turlough had found +that by this same name she was known along the whole coast.</p> + +<p>He reported that it was a strong place, for the castle had been built by +her father; that she had two large ships and five small ones, and that +both ships and castle were defended by all manner of "shot"—meaning +cannon. She had just returned from Kinsale, where she had been aiding +Blake hold Prince Rupert's fleet in the bay. Now Rupert had slipped +away, and after plundering a French ship with wines, she had come home +again.</p> + +<p>"She seems a woman of heart," smiled Brian. "What of her looks?"</p> + +<p>"I did not see her." Turlough shook his head. "She ordered my message +written out, so she has some clerkly learning. She took an hour to +ponder it, master, then set me ashore with this message.</p> + +<p>"'Tell Yellow Brian,' she ordered, 'that I claim tribute from Golam Head +to Slyne. I will make no pact with him until he pay me tribute; and if I +find him on my land I will set him in chains above my water-gate.'"</p> + +<p>Brian felt no little dismay at this, for he had counted strongly on +alliance with this Bird Daughter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>However, Turlough proceeded to set forth the reasons for such a message, +as he had conceived them within his shrewd mind. First, it seemed that +the pestilence had visited Gorumna in the absence of its mistress, and +that the Dark Master had caught a score of the O'Malleys who had been +wrecked in Bertraghboy Bay, promptly hanging them all. Between the +plague and the hanging Nuala had a bare fourscore men left within the +castle, and she counted Brian's offer as a ruse on the part of +O'Donnell, for she was strongly afraid of treachery.</p> + +<p>"There is more pride than power in that message," commented Cathbarr +easily. "The Dark Master has stripped away all her lands along the +coast, and save for Kilkieran Bay she has little left. Let us fall on +her, brother, and take what <i>is</i> left."</p> + +<p>Brian laughed at this naive counsel, looking at Turlough. But the old +Wolf said nothing, brooding over the fire, and Brian reflected within +himself.</p> + +<p>He had come into a merciless feud, that he knew well. If he was to enter +upon it he must banish all pity from his heart, which was no easy thing +for him; but Turlough related things he had heard which speedily changed +his mind. There were tales of O'Donnell's ridings through the land, of +men slaughtered and women carried off to people his castle; of +treachery, and worse.</p> + +<p>It was also whispered that the Dark Master had made alliance with +certain pirates from the north coast.</p> + +<p>However, Brian knew that he must reach some decision regarding his own +men, and that speedily. The three talked long that night, setting aside +the question of the O'Malley alliance for the time being. Brian had some +two hundred men to house and horses to feed; he had good store of +provision and powder, but Cathbarr's little tower was utterly useless to +house the tenth of them all, while the stores would have to be +sheltered. Then O'Donnell might fling his men on them at any moment, +which would mean disaster in their present position.</p> + +<p>Cathbarr suggested an attack on Bertragh castle, but Turlough dissented.</p> + +<p>"When we strike, we must strike to win," he said shrewdly. "The Dark +Master has more men than we, and the sea is at his back, and they say he +is a warlock to boot."</p> + +<p>The giant stared and crossed himself at talk of warlocks, but Brian +laughed out.</p> + +<p>"I have a plan," he said, fingering his sword. "O'Donnell watches all +the hill-paths like a hawk, even now in winter. Those wagons are of no +great use to us, and we can store the goods here in the tower for the +present. Get it done to-night, Cathbarr, and get the accouterments from +two of those largest Scots for yourself and me."</p> + +<p>Turlough Wolf chuckled suddenly, and Brian knew that the old man had +pierced to something of his plan. But not all.</p> + +<p>"Turlough," he went on as the scheme came to him more clearly, "at dawn +ride out with a hundred men to that hill-road where first we met the +Dark Master. Hide the men in the hills, and be ready to ride hard when +the time comes. Cathbarr, before the dawn breaks have the wagons start +out with twenty of the Scots troopers as escort. Bid as many more as can +lie down in the wagons and cover up close with their muskets. Send a man +or two with them to guide to that hill-road of which I spoke. We will +ride after and catch them up shortly after sunrise."</p> + +<p>"Good!" roared out the giant, whose brains lay all in his ax. "And the +Dark Master will swoop down to the feast, eh?"</p> + +<p>"He will not," returned Brian dryly. "He will send two or threescore men +upon us, and it is my purpose to take as many of these prisoner as may +be."</p> + +<p>Cathbarr stared, and Turlough's gray eyes squinted up at Brian.</p> + +<p>"How is this, master?" he asked in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>quiringly. "It is too good a trap to +waste on prisoners—"</p> + +<p>"My plan is my plan," said Brian briefly. "I am not making war on +O'Donnell, but I intend to pay tribute to the Bird Daughter, and that +right soon. While we are gone have a score of men remain here and build +huts on the cliffs, Cathbarr."</p> + +<p>Turlough fell to staring into the fire, divining the plan at length, and +Cathbarr went out to fulfil his orders. Brian knew well that there was +danger in the scheme, but he determined to deal with one thing at a +time, and thoroughly. Just at present he was intent on forming an +alliance with Nuala O'Malley, for ships and cannon were needful before +he could nip the Dark Master in his hold. It was going to cost the lives +of men, and he made up his mind not to pause for that. If he was to live +and make head it must be by the strong hand alone—the Red Hand of +Tyr-owen; and he looked down at the ring of Owen Ruadh and took it for a +symbol, as his ancestors had taken it.</p> + +<p>Before they went to rest Turlough pointed out that if the hills were +watched he and his hundred would be noted, so Brian bade him hit back +toward Lough Corrib and then to come straight down upon the main road. +It might be that he could overcome the Dark Master's men of himself, and +if not, he would hold them until Turlough came up.</p> + +<p>With this plan arranged, then, the four wagons set forth under the cold +stars, with thirty Scots lying hidden and twenty riding before and +behind. With the first gleam of dawn Turlough and his hundred cantered +off to the northeast, and an hour later Brian and Cathbarr put on the +buff coats and steel jacks of the troopers, with the wide morions; took +a pair of loaded pistols, and galloped after the slow-moving wagons. +Brian wore his Spanish blade, but Cathbarr had sent his ax ahead with +the troopers.</p> + +<p>They caught up with the wagons when the latter were entering upon the +road proper out of the hill-track they had followed. The first snows had +vanished for the most part, leaving bleak, gaunt hills and rugged crags +that twisted with soft fog. The sun struck the fog away, however, and as +Brian rode on he gazed up at the purple mountains on his right, and down +at the purple bog to his left, and caught the gleam of the Bertraghboy +water out beyond. He laughed as he drank in the keen air of morning.</p> + +<p>"Best get your edge ready, Cathbarr of the Ax!"</p> + +<p>Cathbarr grunted, and slung the heavy hammer-ax at his saddlebow. One of +the guides, who were from the Dark Master's twoscore men, pointed to a +twisted peak on their right, whence an almost invisible spiral of gray +smoke wound up.</p> + +<p>"The signal, Yellow Brian," he grinned, cheerfully giving away his +secrets. In fact, all those twoscore men rather hoped that their old +master would be crushed by Brian, for so long as there was booty in +sight they cared not whom they served.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later Brian saw ahead of him that same bend of road where +first he and Turlough had met O'Donnell Dubh. But there was no sign of +Turlough, and he cantered ahead to see if the O'Donnell men were below. +As he did so a bullet sang past his ear, and he whirled to see half a +dozen of his men go down beneath a storm of lead from the hillsides; at +the same instant some three-score men came scrambling down from among +the rocks—those same rocks where he had first laid ambush for the Dark +Master.</p> + +<p>And riders were coming up on the road below!</p> + +<p>He was caught very neatly, and caught by more men than he had looked +for. The remainder of the twenty gathered behind him and Cathbarr, and +the thirty rose among the wagons and for a moment stopped the assault +with their musketry; but before the smoke had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> cleared away two-score +horsemen came thundering up the road from behind the curve, and struck.</p> + +<p>"Albanach! Albanach!"</p> + +<p>The wild yells shrilled up, and the Scots troopers knew that they were +fighting without quarter in sight, for the "Albanach," as they were +termed in Gaelic, gave and got little mercy in Ireland. The saddles of +the fallen were filled from the men in the wagons, and leaving the +musketeers to hold off the unmounted men, Brian plunged into the swirl +of fighting horsemen and joined Cathbarr.</p> + +<p>The odds were heavy, but the big claymores of the Scots were heavier +still. Side by side, Brian and Cathbarr plunged through the ranks, sword +biting and ax smiting, until they stood almost alone among the +O'Donnells, for their men had been borne back. Then the giant bellowed +and his ax crushed down a man stabbing at Brian's horse; Brian pistoled +one who struck at Cathbarr's back, and pressing their horses head to +tail they faced the circle of men, while behind them roared the battle.</p> + +<p>For a moment the O'Donnells held off, recognizing the pair, then one of +them spurred forward with a howl of delight.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dhar mo lamh</i>, Yellow Brian—your head to our gates!"</p> + +<p>Brian thrust unexpectedly, and the man went over his horse's tail as the +ring closed in. So far Cathbarr had forgotten his pistols, but now he +used them, and took a bullet-crease across his neck in return; then the +ax and sword heaved up together, and the ring surged back. A skean went +home in Cathbarr's horse, however, and the giant plunged down, but with +that Brian spurred and went at the O'Donnells with the point of his +blade. This sort of fighting was new to them, and when Brian had spitted +three of them he heard Cathbarr's ax crunch down once more.</p> + +<p>They were still cut off from the wagons, but there came a wild drumming +of hoofs, and wilder yells from the men on the hillside. Like a +thunder-burst, Turlough and his hundred broke on the battle. The +O'Donnells were swallowed up, stamped flat; the unmounted men fled among +the rocks, Turlough's men after them, and a dozen horsemen went +streaming down the road.</p> + +<p>It was hard to make the maddened Scots take prisoners, but Brian did it, +and when Turlough's men came back he found that they had in all thirty +captives. Some forty of the attackers had fallen and the rest had fled.</p> + +<p>Since all his captives expected no less than a quick death, Brian +ordered ten of them bound on spare horses, of which there were plenty. +He himself had lost twenty-three of his Scots, and the remaining score +of captives cheerfully took service under him. Then, picking out one of +them, he gave the man a horse and told him to ride home.</p> + +<p>"Tell your master, O'Donnell Dubh," he said, "that his men made this +attack on me, and therefore there is war between us."</p> + +<p>The man grinned and departed at a gallop, and word passed through the +men that the Dark Master had found his match at last. As to this, +however, they were fated to change their opinion later.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Brian to old Turlough, as between them they bound up a slash +in Cathbarr's thigh, "do you put the wounded in the wagons and begone +home again. Set out sentries against an attack from O'Donnell, and +scatter a score of men out along the roads to watch for other parties. +You might pick up another score of recruits, Turlough Wolf."</p> + +<p>Turlough shook his head and tugged at his beard.</p> + +<p>"Best take me with you, master, instead of this overgrown ox. You may +need brains in dealing with the Bird Daughter, and he has no more brains +than strew his ax-edge. Also he is wounded."</p> + +<p>Brian pondered this, while Cathbarr furtively shook a fist at Turlough. +There was wisdom in the advice, but on the other hand Brian did not like +to leave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> his precious two hundred men in care of Cathbarr. If the Dark +Master attacked suddenly, as he was like to do, brains would be more +needed than brawn.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, he counted on Cathbarr's open face removing the +evident suspicion that the smooth-tongued Turlough had raised in Gorumna +Isle. It had been a mistake, he saw plainly, to send such an emissary on +his mission. Picturing this woman who led her own ships to war, he +limned her in his mind as a large-boned, flat-breasted, wide-hipped +creature—and with good reason. He had seen women fighting at Drogheda +and he had seen them in other places as he rode to the rest, for in +those days many a woman took her slain lord's <i>skean fada</i> and drew +blood for Ireland before she was cut down. And when women rode to battle +there was no mercy asked or given, from Royalist or Confederate or +Parliament man.</p> + +<p>Nuala O'Malley was a woman of blood, said Brian to himself, and he would +give her blood for her help.</p> + +<p>So he curtly refused Turlough's advice, saw that the ten bridles of his +bound and mounted captives were lined together, and beckoned to +Cathbarr. Before they rode off, however, they doffed their Scot +accouterments and took back their own garments, after which Cathbarr led +the way over the hills to Kilkieran Bay, and Turlough took command of +the force in sullen ill-humor.</p> + +<p>The morning was still young, for the attack had taken place a short two +hours after sunrise and had soon been quelled. Beyond a slashed thigh +and a red-creased neck, Cathbarr of the Ax was unhurt, and Brian had +received no scratch. If the ten captives wondered why they were bound +and their comrades freed, they said nothing of it.</p> + +<p>Even after seeing what he had of the merciless war in Ireland, Brian had +much ado in making up his mind to hold to the plan he had formed on the +previous evening. These ten ruffians were scoundrels enough, to judge by +looks, and yet they were men; and he had been raised in no such school +of war as this, where surrender meant slaughter without pity. However, +he determined to do what he could for them, and he would have held to +this determination had it not been for what chanced when they rode down +to the little fishing village where Turlough had met the O'Malley men.</p> + +<p>They arrived just as the evening was darkling, after a hard day's ride.</p> + +<p>As they came within sight of the place, which lay at the head of +Kilkieran water, Brian made out that a small galley was pulled up on +shore, and there were a number of men about the huts. Upon the approach +of the two chiefs with their file of captives there was an instant +scurry of figures; women ran to the huts, and a dozen or more roughly +clad men appeared with pikes and muskets. Brian held up his hand in sign +of peace and rode slowly onward, Cathbarr at his side, to within a dozen +paces of the huts.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" cried out one of the musketeers. "Be off!"</p> + +<p>"Bark less, dog," said Brian, scorn in his eye. "We seek Nuala O'Malley. +Take us out to Gorumna Isle in your boat."</p> + +<p>"What seek ye with the Bird Daughter?" queried the other suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"Her business, not yours."</p> + +<p>The seamen gazed at them doubtfully, then a number of other men came +from the huts, well-armed. One of these set up a cry, pointing at the +captives, and a burst of yells answered him from the rest. Next instant +Brian and Cathbarr had their weapons out and were facing an excited +crowd of men.</p> + +<p>"Be silent, dogs!" bellowed Cathbarr, and his voice quelled the uproar. +"What means this attack? Would you have the Bird Daughter strip you with +whips, fools?"</p> + +<p>The spokesman stood out, his dark face quivering with fury as he +pointed.</p> + +<p>"That is as it may be, axman, but first those bound men shall die. One +is the man who slew my brother, nailing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> him to his own door till he +died; another is he who burned Lame Art's wife and child last +Whit-Sunday—"</p> + +<p>"There is he who lopped my husband's hands and nose! Slay him!" shrieked +out a hag as she burst forward. Brian held out his sword and she drew +back, but instantly others had taken up the cry.</p> + +<p>"And the devil who hung Blind Ulick!"</p> + +<p>"There is he who—"</p> + +<p>In that brief moment Brian heard things too horrible for speech. The ten +bound men had grouped together, some pale as death, others laughing +defiantly. But as the crowd surged forward Brian held up his sword, and +they paused to listen; he knew now that there was no more pity in his +heart for these black ruffians of O'Donnell's.</p> + +<p>"Let the Bird Daughter render judgment upon them," he shouted. "Friends, +take us to the Bird Daughter and let her do as she will, for I bear +these men to her alone."</p> + +<p>At that the crowd fell silent, but their leader gave a rapid order, and +half a dozen men ran down to the strand. Another order, and the maddened +villagers gave back as the seamen closed about Brian and Cathbarr and +their captives.</p> + +<p>"Come," said the leader roughly. "You shall go to Gorumna Isle with us, +strange men, but I do not think that you shall ever come back again."</p> + +<p>"Nor do I," grinned Cathbarr in the ear of Brian, as they left their +horses to the fishermen, unbound the prisoners from their steeds, and +made their way down to the galley. Brian looked at his friend, and they +both smiled grimly.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">THE BIRD DAUGHTER.</span></h2> + + +<p>"Now, <i>there</i> is a castle worth the taking, Yellow Brian!" said +Cathbarr.</p> + +<p>Brian nodded, his eyes shining in the starlight. After a pull of a long +seven miles down the bay, the galley had rounded into the northern end +of Gorumna Isle, guided by a high beacon set among the stars. As they +drew nearer Brian made out that this beacon was set on the tower of a +high pile of masonry black against the sky, lit here and there by +cressets, and it was plain that the Bird Daughter kept good watch since +they had more than once been hailed in passing the islands.</p> + +<p>Once turned into the harbor, Brian found suddenly that they were among +ships, many of them small galleys, but two of good size which bore +riding-lights. Again they responded to hails, and without warning a few +torches blazed out ahead of them. Then it was seen that the castle was +built with its lower part close on the water, and its upper part rising +on the crag. In reality, as he found later, it was two castles in one, +as of necessity it had to be. Were the opposite isles held by an enemy, +and hostile ships in the little harbor, the higher towers running up the +crag could dominate all, and the lower castle could be abandoned without +danger.</p> + +<p>Even in the starlight Brian's trained soldier's eye made out something +of this. Then the leader of the seamen came and stood beside them, for +during the two-hours' trip he had talked somewhat with Cathbarr and had +come to look with more respect on Brian himself. That was only natural, +for seamen ever like those men who talk least.</p> + +<p>"Strangers," he said with rough courtesy, "a word in your ear. If you +would gain speech with the Lady Nuala, deal not with her as with me. +Send in your names and your business, and you may perchance get to see +her in the morning, or a week hence, as she may choose."</p> + +<p>"Thanks," answered Brian. "But my will is not like to hang upon hers."</p> + +<p>The seaman shrugged his shoulders, the oars were put in, and they +floated up to where the torches flared. Here there was a landing-place +of hewn stone, with a gate lying open beyond it, and armed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> men waiting. +One of these, from his bunch of huge keys and air of authority, Brian +knew for the seneschal.</p> + +<p>"<i>M'anam go'n Dhia!</i>" he growled, peering down into the boat as it +ground on the stone, "what fish have you there?"</p> + +<p>"Two salmon and ten herring, Muiertach," laughed one of the men. Brian +and his friend stepped out while the ten prisoners were prodded after +them, and Brian found the seneschal looking him over with some wonder, +hands on hips.</p> + +<p>"Well! A giant with a devil's ax, and Cuculain, the Royal Hound, come to +life again! Who are you, yellow man, and who is this axman, and who are +these ten bound men?"</p> + +<p>Brian was minded to answer curtly enough, but he looked at the seneschal +and remembered the seaman's kindly warning. Under his eye the laugh +withered suddenly on the seneschal's lips.</p> + +<p>"These ten men belong to me, Muiertach. Go, tell the Bird Daughter that +Brian Buidh and Cathbarr of the Ax have come to her, bringing tribute as +she demanded."</p> + +<p>Now it was that Cathbarr, who had asked no questions all that day, +perceived for the first time the reason of their fighting and hard +riding, and what the manner of that tribute was. He broke into a great +bellow of laughter so that the rough-clad seamen stared at him in +wonder, but at a word from Brian he quieted instantly.</p> + +<p>"In the morning the message shall be delivered, Brian Buidh," returned +burly Muiertach with a glimmer of respect in his voice. "And now render +up your weapons, so that we may treat you as guests—"</p> + +<p>"So you sea-rovers are afraid of two men, lest they capture your hold?"</p> + +<p>Brian's biting words brought a deep flush to Muiertach's face.</p> + +<p>"No weapons do we render," he went on, his voice cold as his eyes. "We +come as guests, seneschal, and our business is not with you. Take these +ten men to your dungeons, take us to guest chambers and give us to eat, +and see that we have speech with the Bird Daughter before to-morrow's +sun is high."</p> + +<p>At this Muiertach growled something into his beard, but turned with a +gesture of assent. His men closed around the captives, while Brian and +Cathbarr followed him into the castle, the giant still chuckling to +himself with great rumbles of laughter.</p> + +<p>"Let strict watch be kept over these two," said Muiertach in English to +one of the torchmen who accompanied them, thinking he would not be +understood.</p> + +<p>"You may yet get a touch of the whip for that order," said Brian in the +same tongue.</p> + +<p>Stricken with amazement, Muiertach turned and stared at him, jaw +dropping, while Cathbarr glanced from one to the other in perplexity. +Brian smiled.</p> + +<p>"Lead on, and talk less."</p> + +<p>With tenfold respect, the seneschal obeyed. Now Brian saw that this +castle was indeed a stronghold, and might easily be defended by fewer +men than it had. The inner walls of the lower castle were well lined +with falcons and falconets, while on the towers above peered out heavier +cannon, which he took for culverins from their length of nose. Crossing +the courtyard, they entered the building itself, and Muiertach led them +through upward-winding corridors, studded with cressets and with here +and there a recessed <i>prie-dieu</i> in the wall.</p> + +<p>From the snatches of talk behind the doors they passed, Brian guessed +that this lower castle was occupied by the garrison. In this he was +right, for with torchmen before and behind them they emerged into the +cold night air again and climbed upward, coming to a gate in the wall of +the upper castle. This stood open, but it clanged shut behind them, and +after crossing a steep courtyard they entered a second and broader +corridor.</p> + +<p>Muiertach led them up a long flight of stairs, then another, and finally +flung open a heavy door. It was evident that they were lodged in one of +the towers.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>"Rest sound and fear not to eat our food," said the seneschal. +"<i>Beannacht leath!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Blessing on you," responded Brian and Cathbarr together, and entered.</p> + +<p>For a wonder, Brian found that the chamber was lighted with candles, +which Cathbarr examined with no little awe. Also, it contained a very +good bed, on which the giant looked with suspicion. The hard stone walls +were hung with tattered tapestries, and before they had settled well +into their chairs two men entered with food and wine of the best.</p> + +<p>"Not so bad," smiled Brian as they ate. "How come your wounds, brother?"</p> + +<p>"Those scratches? Bah!" And the giant gurgled down half a quart of +Canary at a stretch. "You are not going to sleep on that bed of cloths?"</p> + +<p>"That I am," laughed Brian, "and soon, for I am overweary with riding. +Try it, Cathbarr, and you will be glad of it."</p> + +<p>"Not I! Since there is no bracken here the floor is good enough for me. +Eh, but this sea-woman will have a thought in her mind over your +message, brother!"</p> + +<p>Brian chuckled, but he was too weary with that day's work to talk or +think, and when the remnants of their meal had been removed and their +door shut, he gratefully sought the first bed he had known for weeks. +After some laughing persuasion he prevailed on the suspicious Cathbarr +to blow out the candles, and upon that he fell asleep.</p> + +<p>When he wakened it was broad daylight, and Cathbarr was still snoring +with his ax looped about his wrist as usual. Brian, feeling like a new +man, went to the open casement and looked out.</p> + +<p>He found himself gazing through a three-foot stone wall, and as he was +doubtless in one of the towers, this argued that the lower walls were +twelve feet thick or more. The lower castle was hid from him, but his +view was toward the upper bay and included the harbor. The two larger +ships, which were small caracks, but large for the west coast in that +day, bore six guns on a side, and Brian saw that they were being +scrubbed and made shipshape. The Bird Daughter must be a woman of some +scrupulousness, he reflected. Beyond the brown sails of two +fishing-boats, and low, storm-boding clouds over the farther hills, +there was nothing more in sight.</p> + +<p>As Cathbarr still wore his long mail-shirt, Brian kicked him awake, and +after his first bellowing yawn their door opened and men brought in jars +of water. When the giant's wounds had been dressed, under protest, and +they had broken their fast, the seneschal appeared.</p> + +<p>"Chieftains," he said respectfully, "the Lady Nuala has received your +message and will have speech with you this afternoon. Until then she +wishes that you keep your chamber, since she knows not your mind in this +visit."</p> + +<p>"That is but fair," assented Brian.</p> + +<p>Cathbarr grumbled, but there was no help for it, since they were +virtually prisoners. The day passed slowly, and toward noon storm drew +down on the harbor and snow eddied in their casement. With that, they +fell to polishing their weapons; Brian procured a razor and a +much-needed shave, and Cathbarr furbished up his huge ax until it glowed +like silver.</p> + +<p>Finally Muiertach appeared. Brian slung the great sword across his back, +and they followed the seneschal down to the courtyard. Here they were +joined by the captive O'Donnells and the seamen who had brought them to +the castle, and Muiertach led them to the great hall.</p> + +<p>The father of this O'Malley woman must have been a man of parts, thought +Brian as he gazed around. The hall was scantily filled with, perhaps, +three-score men ranged along the walls, and at the farther end was a low +dais where a huge log fire roared high. The beams were hung with a few +pennons and ship-ensigns, and on the dais were placed a half-dozen +chairs. Behind one of these stood two women, and in the chair, calmly +facing the hall, sat the Bird Daughter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>Brian caught his breath sharply, and his blue eyes flickered flame as he +saw her. Never in his life had his gaze met such a woman—not in all the +land of Spain or elsewhere in Ireland.</p> + +<p>At this time Nuala O'Malley was twenty years old, and ten of those years +had been passed either on shipboard or here in Gorumna Isle. As one +chronicler describes her, "She was not tall, but neither was she small +of stature, and when she stood on a ship's deck there was no tossing +could cause her to stumble. Her hair was not blue, but neither was it +black, and her eyes were very deep and bright, violet in color, and set +wide in her head. Her nose was neither small nor large, her cheeks were +ever red with the wind off the sea, her mouth was finely curved, but +tight-set withal, and she had more chin than women are wont to have. She +was very lissom in body, but her head never drooped."</p> + +<p>And that is a most excellent description of the Bird Daughter, in fewer +words than most men might use to-day.</p> + +<p>But of all this Brian noted at the moment only that before him sat a +girl-woman whose calm poise and confident power struck out at him like a +vibrant presence. Like himself, she wore a cloak of dark red, but no +steel jack glittered beneath it; there was a torque of ancient gold +about her neck, and her hair was caught up and hidden beneath a small +cap of red.</p> + +<p>Brian thought of the woman he had painted in his mind, then laughed +softly. She caught the laugh on his face, and comprehended it, and was +pleased; then as she watched him very calmly, it seemed to Brian that +her sheer beauty was a thing of deception. It must be, for she was +surely a woman of blood. He had known enough of beautiful women, who +played the parts of men, to know that on the far side of their beauty +was neither mercy nor love nor compassion, that their lovers were many +steps to ambition, and that they were venomous. So his smile died away, +and his blue eyes glittered cold and dark, and this the Bird Daughter +saw also.</p> + +<p>Now, there was no man on the dais save Muiertach, who mounted the two +steps with his keys jangling. As Brian would have gone after him, two +pikemen stepped forward to intervene. Brian looked into their eyes and +they drew back again. He and Cathbarr mounted to the dais, and he bowed +a low, courtly, Spanish bow, of which the Bird Daughter took no note. +Instead he heard her voice, very low and penetrating, and she was +speaking to the two pikemen.</p> + +<p>"Go out into the courtyard," she said, "and give each other five lashes. +This is because you dared insult a guest, and because you drew back +after insulting him. Go!"</p> + +<p>The two pikemen, rather pale under their beards, handed over their pikes +to comrades and strode out of the hall. She turned to Brian, speaking +still in Gaelic:</p> + +<p>"Welcome, Brian Buidh. You have come to bring me tribute?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Lady Nuala, and the tribute is these ten men of the Dark +Master's."</p> + +<p>She looked at Cathbarr; her eyes swept over his ax. Then she looked +again at Brian, and spoke to Muiertach in English.</p> + +<p>"Truly, I have seldom seen such a man as this—"</p> + +<p>A swift look of warning flashed over the seneschal's face, and Brian +laughed.</p> + +<p>"Lady," he said in the same tongue, "he is Cathbarr of the Ax, and he +will be a good man to stand with us against the Dark Master."</p> + +<p>She betrayed no surprise, except that a little tinge of red crept to her +temples.</p> + +<p>"I did not know you spoke English, Brian Buidh. Still, it was not to +Cathbarr that I referred."</p> + +<p>At that it was Brian's turn to redden, and mentally he cursed himself. +There was no evil in this woman's heart, he saw at once. For an instant +he was confused and taken aback. Then she smiled, slowly rose, and +tendered him her hand. Going to one knee, he put her fingers to his +lips.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>"Now sit, Yellow Brian," she said, "and let us talk. First, these +captives of yours. Do you in truth bring them as a tribute? How do I +know they are O'Donnell's men?"</p> + +<p>"Ask these seamen of yours," laughed Brian, seating himself beside her. +Cathbarr remained standing and leaning on his ax, looking like some +giant of the old times.</p> + +<p>She took him at his word, and when she had heard from the seamen certain +tales of what cruelties the ten prisoners had done, her violet eyes +suddenly turned black and an angry pallor drove across her face.</p> + +<p>"That is enough," she interrupted curtly. "Take them out and hang them."</p> + +<p>The men were led away, and Brian saw that her hands were tightly +clenched, but whether in fury or in fear of herself he could not tell. +Then she turned to him, looking straightly into his face, and on the +instant Brian knew that if this girl-woman bade him go to his death, he +would go, laughing.</p> + +<p>"Tell me of yourself, Brian Buidh. Of what family are you? By the ring +on your finger you are an O'Neill; yet I have heard nothing of such a +man as yourself leading that sept. When your messenger came to me, I +read cunning in his face, and took it for a trap set by the Dark Master; +but now that I have seen you and Cathbarr of the Ax, I will take fealty +from you if you wish to serve me."</p> + +<p>Brian smiled a little.</p> + +<p>"Serve you I would, lady, but not in fealty. I take fealty and do not +give it. My name is indeed Brian Buidh, and as for that ring, it was a +gift from Owen Ruadh."</p> + +<p>"Owen Ruadh died two days since," she said softly, watching his face. "I +had word of it this morning."</p> + +<p>At that he started, and Cathbarr's eyes widened in fear of magic. Owen +Ruadh had lain on the other side of Ireland, and three months would have +been fast for such news to travel. But Brian nodded sadly.</p> + +<p>"Carrier pigeons, eh?" he said in English and paused. He knew not why, +but his loneliness seemed stricken into his heart on a sudden; he who +neither explained nor asked for explanation from any man, felt impelled +to open his life to this girl-woman. He crushed down the impulse, yet +not entirely.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, Lady Nuala, there shall be greater confidence between us in +time, and so I truly desire. But know this much—I am better born than +any man in Ireland—aye, than Clanrickard himself; and I am here in the +west to seek a new name and a new power. It is in my mind to take +O'Donnell's castle from him, lady. I have some two hundred men, of whom +the Dark Master himself lent me twoscore, and in alliance with your +ships we could reduce him."</p> + +<p>"How is this, Brian? You say he <i>lent</i> you twoscore men?"</p> + +<p>He laughed and explained the fashion of that loan; and when he had +finished a great laugh ran down the hall, and the Bird Daughter herself +was chuckling. Then he waited for her answer, and it was not long in +coming.</p> + +<p>"There is some reason in your plan, Brian Buidh, but more reason against +it. The castle that O'Donnell holds was formerly my father's. If you +held it, there would be no peace between us, unless you gave fealty to +me, which I see plainly you will not do. I claim that castle, and shall +always claim it."</p> + +<p>"Then it seems that I am held in a cleft stick," smiled Brian easily, +"since I will give fealty to none save the king, or Parliament. You are +allied with the Roundheads, I understand?"</p> + +<p>She nodded, watching him gravely.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Cromwell is master of the country, and I am not minded to butt my +head against a wall, Brian Buidh. If I am to hold to the little that is +left me, I shall need all my strength."</p> + +<p>"And that is not much, lady. Your coasts are plague-smitten, your men +reduced, and Cromwell has not yet won all the country. Galway will be +the last to fall, indeed. But as to Bertragh Castle,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> why should you not +sell your rights in it to me?"</p> + +<p>At his first words a helpless anger flashed into her face, succeeded by +a still more helpless pride.</p> + +<p>"No, I will not sell what I have been unable to conquer back, Brian +Buidh. If there were any way out of this difficulty with honor, I would +take it; for I tell you frankly that I would make alliance with you if I +could."</p> + +<p>Brian gazed at her, reading her heart, and fighting vainly against the +impulse that rose within him. Twice he tried to speak and could not, +while she watched the conflict in his face and wondered. He wished +vainly that he had Turlough's cunning brain to aid him now.</p> + +<p>"Lady," he said at last, biting his lips, "I will do this. I will give +you fealty for the holding of Bertragh Castle, keeping it ever at your +service, but for this alone. When we have taken it, it may be that I +shall render it back after I have won a better for myself; yet, because +I would sit at your side and have equal honor with you, and because we +have need of each other, I will give you the service that I would grant +to no man alive. Is it good?"</p> + +<p>For an instant he thought that she was about to break forth in eager +assent, then she sank back in her chair, while breathless silence filled +the hall. She gazed down at the floor, her face flushing deeply, and +finally looked up again, sadly.</p> + +<p>"I do not desire pity or compassion, Brian Buidh," she said simply, and +her eyes held tears of helpless anger.</p> + +<p>Then Brian saw that she had pierced his mind, for which he was both +sorry and glad. He knew well there were other castles to be had for the +taking, and there was nothing to prevent his riding on past Slyne Head +and winning them—except for his meeting with this girl-woman. Therefore +he lied, and if she knew it, she gave no sign.</p> + +<p>"You mistake me, lady," he said earnestly, his blue eyes softening +darkly.</p> + +<p>"I propose this only as a stepping-stone to my own ambition. Soon there +will be a sweep of war through the coasts, and I would have a roof over +my head. Is it good?"</p> + +<p>She rose and held out her hands to him.</p> + +<p>"It is good, Brian Buidh. Give me fealty-oath, for Bertragh Castle +alone."</p> + +<p>And he gave it, and his words were drowned in a roar of cheers that +stormed down the hall, for the O'Malleys had heard all that passed.</p> + +<p>An hour later Cathbarr of the Ax was despatched in a swift galley to +bear the tidings to Turlough, and bid him make ready for a swift and +sharp campaign.</p> + +<p>Through the remainder of that afternoon and evening Brian sat beside the +Bird Daughter, and he found his tongue loosened most astonishingly, for +him. He told her some part of his story, though not his name, while in +turn he learned of her life, and of how her father and mother had been +slain by O'Donnell through blackest treachery.</p> + +<p>The more he saw of her, the more clearly he read her heart and the more +he gave her deeper fealty than had passed his lips in the oath of +service. As for her, she had met Blake and others of the Roundhead +captains on her cruises, deadly earnest men all; but in the earnestness +of Brian she found somewhat more besides, though she said nothing of it +then. It was arranged between them that in three days they would meet +before Bertragh Castle, by sea and land, and the Dark Master would be +speedily wiped out.</p> + +<p>With the morning Brian set forth to join his men in the largest sailing +galley, for a wild gale was sweeping down from Iar Connaught. But the +O'Malleys were skilled seamen who laughed at wind and waves, and Brian +kissed the hand of the Bird Daughter as he stepped aboard, with never a +thought of the storm of men that was coming down upon them both, and of +the blacker storm which the Dark Master was brewing in his heart.</p> + +<div class="blockquot" style="margin-top: 2.25em;"> +<p>TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. Don't forget this magazine is issued weekly, +and that you will get the continuation of this story without waiting a +month.</p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="Part_II" id="Part_II"></a><i>Nuala O'Malley</i><br /> +by H. Bedford-Jones</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span>Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc.</p> + +<p>This story began in the All-Story Weekly for December 30.</p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">HOW BRIAN WAS NETTED.</span></h2> + + +<p>The Dark Master sat in his dark hall, brooding.</p> + +<p>It was a bad morning, for there was a sweep of wind and black cloud +mingled with snow bearing out of the north; and since the great hall, +with its huge fireplace, was the warmest part of the castle, as many of +the men as could do so had drifted thither, but without making any undue +disturbance over it.</p> + +<p>For that matter, they might have passed unseen, since the hall was black +as night save for a single cresset above the fireplace. Here sat the +Dark Master, a little oaken table before him on which his breakfast had +rested, and at his side crouched a long, lean wolfhound that nuzzled him +unheeded. On the other side the table sat the old <i>seanachie</i>, who was +blind, and who fingered the strings of his harp with odd twangings and +mutterings, but without coherence, for O'Donnell had bade him keep +silence.</p> + +<p>"Go and see what the weather is," commanded the Dark Master. A man rose +and ran outside, while other men came in with wood. Their master +motioned them away, although the fire had sunk down into embers.</p> + +<p>"A gale from the north, which is turning to the eastward, with snow, +master."</p> + +<p>"Remain outside, and bring me word what changes hap, and of all that you +see or hear. Waste no time about it."</p> + +<p>The Dark Master drew his cloak about his humped shoulders, and in the +flickering dim light from overhead his face stood out in all its ghastly +pallor, accentuated by the dead black hair and mustache. But his eyes +were burning strangely, and when they saw it the men drew back, and more +than one sought the outer chill in preference to staying.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span>Now O'Donnell Dubh stared into the embers and muttered below his breath, +while, as if in response, a little flickering whirlwind of gray ash rose +up and fell back again, so that it blew over the embers and deadened +them. The muscles of the Dark Master's face contracted until his teeth +flashed out in a silent snarl.</p> + +<p>"I could have slain, and I did not," he whispered as if to himself. "But +there is still time, and I will not be a fool again!"</p> + +<p>The watching men shivered, for it seemed that the wind scurried down the +wide chimney and again blew up the gray ash until the embers glowed +through a white coating. But the wind wrought more than this, for it +brought down from the gray clouds a whispering murmur that drifted +through the hall, and in that murmur were mingled the sounds of beating +hoofs and ringing steel and shrieking men.</p> + +<p>"Are watchers posted over the hills and the paths and the Galway roads?" +spoke out the Dark Master as he gazed into the ashes.</p> + +<p>"They are watching, master," answered a deep voice from the darkness.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the wolfhound raised its head and stared into the ashes also, +as if it saw something there that no man saw, for the bristles lifted on +its neck, and it whined a little. O'Donnell dropped his hand to the thin +muzzle, and the dog was quiet again. But after that the men stared at +the fireplace with frightened eyes.</p> + +<p>"There is still time, though one has escaped me," said the Dark Master, +looking up suddenly at his sightless harper, who seemed to fall +atrembling beneath the look. "The one who has escaped matters not, for +his bane comes not at my hands. It is the other whom I shall slay—Brian +Buidh of the hard eyes. Then the Bird Daughter. But it seems to me that +one stands in my path of whom I do not know."</p> + +<p>He brooded over the ashes as his head sank between his shoulders like a +turtle's head. Then once again the wind swooped down on the castle, and +whistled down the chimney, and filled the great hall with a thin noise +like the death-rattle of men. The cresset wavered and fell to smoking +overhead.</p> + +<p>The Dark Master reached his hand across the table and caught the hand of +the blind harper and spread it out on the oak. A little shudder shook +the old man, and as if against his will he spread out his other hand +likewise, his two hands lying between those of the Dark Master. Then +there fell a terrible and awestruck silence on the hall.</p> + +<p>The stillness was perfect, and continued for a long while. Slowly +occurred a weird and strange thing, for, although no blast whimpered +down the chimney, the ashes fell away from the embers, which began to +glow more redly and set out the forms of the Dark Master and the blind +harper in a ruddy light. Suddenly a man pointed to the feet of the Dark +Master, and would have cried out but that another man struck him back.</p> + +<p>For the ashes had drifted out from the fireplace, flake after flake, and +were settling about the feet of the Dark Master beneath the table. They +rose slowly into a little gray pile; then one of the men shrieked in +horror at the sight, and the Dark Master threw out his head.</p> + +<p>"Slay him," he said quietly and drew in his head once more, staring at +the table.</p> + +<p>There was a thudding blow and a groan, then the stillness of death. The +ashes were quiet; the fire glowed ruddily. After a little there came a +soft whirl of soot down the chimney, blackening the embers. The soot +rose and fell, rose and fell, again and again; it was as if an eddying +draft of wind were trying to raise it. Finally it was lifted, but it +only whirled about and about over the embers, like a shape drawn +together by some uncanny force.</p> + +<p>The Dark Master raised his head as a clash of steel and the voice of the +watcher came from the outer doorway.</p> + +<p>"Master, the blast thickens with black fog!"</p> + +<p>"Remain on watch," said O'Donnell, and his head fell.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span>But through the hall men's hands went out to one another in the +darkness. For storm-driven fog was not a thing that many men had seen +even on the west coast, and when it did happen men said that a warlock +was at work. There was not far to seek for the warlock in this case, +muttered the O'Donnells.</p> + +<p>Now the Dark Master looked into the fireplace and that whirling figure +of soot raised itself anew and began its unearthly dance over the +embers. After no long time men saw that the pile of gray ashes under the +table was lifting also, lifting and whirling as though the wind spun it; +but there was no wind.</p> + +<p>"There is a man to be blinded," said the Dark Master. "Let him be +blinded with fog and snow, and the men with him, and let the wind come +out of the east and drive him to this place."</p> + +<p>Slowly, so slowly 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.</p> + +<p>"<i>Seanachie</i>," 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?"</p> + +<p>The blind harper began to tremble, but again came the clash and the +watcher's voice from the doorway.</p> + +<p>"Master, there is snow mingled with the fog, and the wind is shifting to +the eastward."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"<i>Seanachie</i>, who stands in my way? Speak!"</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"Master, two people stand in your way."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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—"</p> + +<p>"That is Cathbarr of the Ax," broke in the Dark Master. "His bane comes +not at my hands. Who is the other?"</p> + +<p>Again the old harper seemed to struggle, and his voice came more +faintly:</p> + +<p>"I cannot see, master. I think it is a woman—"</p> + +<p>"That is the Bird Daughter," quoth the Dark Master.</p> + +<p>"Nay, it is an old woman, but she blinds me—"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"What do you see, <i>seanachie</i>? Speak!"</p> + +<p>"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—Cuculain of the yellow hair—the Royal Hound of +Ulster smites them and scatters them—"</p> + +<p>"<i>Liar!</i>"</p> + +<p>With the hoarse word the Dark Master leaned forward and smote the blind +harper with his fist, so that the old man slid from his chair senseless. +Upon that the Dark Master swung around with his teeth bared and his head +drawn in like the head of a snake about to strike.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span>"Lights!" he roared. "Lights! Bear the <i>seanachie</i> to his chamber, and +send men to ring in the harbor and build beacons on the headlands. +Hasten, you dogs, or I'll strip the flesh from you with whips!"</p> + +<p>Under his voice and his flaming eyes the hall sprang into life, while +the men carried out the blind harper and one of their own number who had +been stricken with madness at what he had seen. Then the hall blazed up +with cressets, logs were flung on the fire, and parties of men set out +to build beacons and guard the bay as the Dark Master had given command. +And when word was spread abroad among the others of what had chanced in +the hall that morning, Red Murrough, the Dark Master's lieutenant, swore +a great oath.</p> + +<p>"If that Cuculain of whom the <i>seanachie</i> spoke be not the man Brian +Buidh, then may I go down to hell alive!"</p> + +<p>And the men, who feared Red Murrough's heavy hand and hated him, +muttered that he would be like to travel that same road whether living +or dead, in which there was some truth.</p> + +<p>While these things took place in the hall at Bertragh—and they were +told later to Brian by many who had seen them and heard them, all +telling the same tale—Brian and his sailing galley was making hard +weather of it. Six of the O'Malleys had been sent with him to manage the +galley, for he was no seaman and had placed himself in their hands; and +after rounding into Kilkieran Bay from the castle harbor and reaching +out across the mouth of the bay toward Carna, intending to reach +Cathbarr's tower direct, the blast came down on them, and even the +O'Malleys looked stern.</p> + +<p>Sterner yet they looked when Brian cried that Golam Head was veiling in +fog behind them, and with that the wind swerved almost in a moment and +swept down out of the east, bearing fog and snow with it. Nor was this +all, for the shift of wind bore against the seas and swept down +currents and whirlpools out of the bay, and after the snow and black fog +shrieked down upon them, the seamen straightway fell to praying.</p> + +<p>"Get up and bail!" shouted Brian, kicking them to their feet, for the +seas were sweeping over the counter. The helmsman groaned and bade him +desist, and almost at the same instant their mast crashed over the bow, +breaking the back of one seaman, and the galley broached to.</p> + +<p>With that the O'Malleys ceased praying and fell to work with a will, +getting out the sweeps and bailing. The mingling of snow, shrieking +wind, and black fog had been too much for their superstitious natures, +but made no impression on Brian, for the simple reason that he did not +see why fog and wind should not come together. After he understood their +fears better he shamed them into savage energy by his laughter, and +since the broken-backed man had gone overboard, took his sweep and set +his muscles to work.</p> + +<p>They made shift to keep the craft before the wind, but presently Brian +found that half the men's fear sprang from the fact that the fog and +snow blinded them, shutting out the land, and that the shifting wind had +completely bewildered them. When he asked for their compass, their +leader grunted:</p> + +<p>"No need have we for a compass on this boat, Brian Buidh, save when +warlocks turn the fog and wind upon us. I warrant that were it not for +the fog, we would be safe in port ere now. As it is, the Virgin alone +knows where we are or whither going."</p> + +<p>"This is some of the Dark Master's wizardry," growled out another. +"Before we hung those men of his last night, they said that the winds +would bear word of it to the dark one, <i>cead mile mollaght</i> on him!"</p> + +<p>"Add another thousand curses for me," ordered Brian, "but keep to the +bailing, or I'll give you a taste of my foot! And no more talk of +warlocks."</p> + +<p>The five men fell silent, and indeed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span> they needed all their breath, for +the struggle was a desperate one. Instead of lessening, the fog only +increased with time, and even Brian began to perceive the marvel in it +as swirl after swirl of darkness swept over them. Yet, since the wind +was from the east, he reasoned, it would naturally blow out the fog from +the bogs and low lands. But this explanation was received in dour +silence by the men, so he said no more.</p> + +<p>There was no doubt that Cathbarr had reached home safely, since the +night had been fair enough for the winter season. An hour passed, and +then another, still without a lessening of the eery storm; and the nerve +of the seamen was beginning to give way under the strain, when the +helmsman let out a wild yell:</p> + +<p>"A light ahead! A beacon!"</p> + +<p>The rowers twisted about with shouts of joy, and Brian perceived a +faint, ruddy light against the sky. Also, the fog began to lessen +somewhat; and upon making out that the beacon undoubtedly came from a +high tower or crag, the shout passed around that they had headed back to +Gorumna with the shifting wind.</p> + +<p>This heartened them all greatly, the more so since the gale drove them +straight onward toward the beacon. The fog closed down again, but the +ruddy glare pierced through it; and of a sudden there was no more fog +about them—only a blinding thick snow, which made all things grotesque. +Then two more beacons were made out, lower than the first, and the men +yelled joyously that fires had been lighted on either side the harbor to +guide them in. And so they had been, but otherwise than the men thought.</p> + +<p>Half frozen with the cold, they drove on through the snow and spray +until at length they swept in between the guiding fires and scanned the +shores for landing. Then the snow ceased, though the hurricane howled +down behind them with redoubled fury; and as they floated in against a +low, rocky shore, silence of wild consternation fell on them all. For +they had come to Bertragh Castle, and fifty feet away a score of men +were waiting, while others were running down with torches.</p> + +<p>Even in that moment of terrible dismay, Brian noted their muskets, and +how the lighted matches flared like fireflies in the wind.</p> + +<p>"Trapped!" groaned one of the men, and they would have rowed out again +into the teeth of the storm had not Brian stayed them.</p> + +<p>"No use, comrades. They have muskets, and there are cannon up above. Row +in, and if we must die, then let us die like men and not cowards."</p> + +<p>Seeing no help for it, the men growled assent, and they drifted slowly +in, all standing ready with drawn swords, while Brian's Spanish blade +flared in the prow. Then in the midst of the gathered men he saw a dark +figure with hunched shoulders, sword in hand. As he turned to the seamen +behind him, there was a glitter in his blue eyes colder than the icy +blast behind them.</p> + +<p>"There is the Dark Master, comrades! Let him be first to fall."</p> + +<p>They drove up on the shore, and Brian leaped out, with the men behind +him. Still the group above stood silent until the voice of O'Donnell +sheared through the gale. "Fire, and drop Yellow Brian first."</p> + +<p>So there was to be no word of quarter! As the thought shot like fire +through Brian's mind, he leaped forward with a shout. A ragged stream of +musketry broke out from the men gathered on the higher rocks, and he +heard the bullets whistle. He paid no heed to the seamen who followed +him, however. His eyes were fixed on the Dark Master's figure, and with +only one thought in his mind he plunged ahead.</p> + +<p>More and more muskets spattered out; a bullet splashed against his jack, +and another; something caught his steel cap and tore it away, and a hot +stab shot through his neck. But the group of men was only a dozen paces +from him now, and a wild yell broke from his lips as he saw O'Donnell +step forward to meet him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span>Then only did he remember Turlough's speech on the day of that first +meeting with the Dark Master—"The master of all men at craft and the +match of most men at weapons"—and he knew that, despite the hunched +shoulders, this O'Donnell must be no mean fighter. But the next instant +he was gazing into the evil eyes, and their blades had crossed.</p> + +<p>Flaming with his anger, Brian forced the attack savagely; then a sharp +thrust against his jack showed him that O'Donnell was armed with a +rapier, and he fell to the point with some caution. With the first +moment of play, he knew that he faced a master of fence; yet almost upon +the thought his blade ripped into the Dark Master's arm.</p> + +<p>Involuntarily he drew back, but O'Donnell caught the falling sword in +his left hand and lunged forward viciously. Just as the blades met +again, Brian saw a match go to a musket barely six paces away. He +whirled aside, but too late, for the musket roared out, and a drift of +stars poured into his brain. Then he fell.</p> + +<p>Like a flash the Dark Master leaped at the man who had fired and spitted +him through the throat; the others drew back in swift terror, for +O'Donnell was frothing at the mouth, and his face was the face of a +madman. With a bitter laugh he turned and rolled Brian over with his +foot. The five seamen had gone down under the bullets.</p> + +<p>"He is only stunned," said Red Murrough. "Shall I finish it?"</p> + +<p>"If you want to die with him, yes. Carry him in, and we will nail him up +to the gates to-morrow."</p> + +<p>And the clouds fell asunder, and the stars came out, cold and beautiful.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">THE NAILING OF BRIAN.</span></h2> + + +<p>Brian woke in darkness, with pain tearing at his head and heaviness upon +his hands and feet. When he tried to put his hand to his head, that +heaviness was explained; for he could not, and thick iron struck dull +against stone.</p> + +<p>He lay there, and thought leaped into his brain, and he felt very bitter +of spirit, but chiefly for those men who had come with him, and because +he had failed before the Dark Master's hand.</p> + +<p>It was cold, bitterly cold, and thin snow lay around him, so that he +knew that he was in some tower or prison that faced to the east. It was +from that direction that the snow had driven, as he had sore cause to +know, and he wondered if the Dark Master had had any hand in that +driving. But this he was not to know for many days.</p> + +<p>It was the cold which had awakened him from his unconsciousness, he +guessed. By dint of shifting his position somewhat, he managed to get +his back against a wall, and so got his hands to his head. In such +fashion he made out that his hair was matted and frozen with blood, and +his neck also, where a bullet had plowed through the muscles on the +right side. His head-wound was no more than a jagged tear which had +split half his scalp, but had not hurt the bone, as he found after some +feeling. Then he dropped his hands again, for the chains that bound him +to the wall were very heavy. It must be night, for light would come +where snow had come, and there was no light.</p> + +<p>Now, having found that he was not like to die, at least from his wounds, +he set about stretching to lie down again, and found some straw on the +floor. He drew it up with his feet and gathered it about him; it was +dank and smelled vilely, but at the least it gave his frozen body some +warmth, so that he fell asleep after a time.</p> + +<p>When he wakened again, it was to find men around him and a narrow strip +of cold sunlight coming through a high slit in the wall of his prison. +From the sound of breakers that seemed to roar from below him, he +conjectured that he was in a sea-facing tower of the castle, in which he +was right.</p> + +<p>The men, who were led by Red Mur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span>rough, gave him bread and meat and +wine, but they offered no word and would answer no questions. So he ate +and drank, and felt life and strength creeping back into his bones. He +concluded that it must be the day after his arrival.</p> + +<p>Now Red Murrough beckoned to the hoary old seneschal, whose red-rimmed +eyes glittered evilly. The old man shook his keys and stooped over +Brian, unlocking the hasp which bound him to the wall-ring. The +oppressive silence of these men struck a chill through Brian, but he +came to his feet readily enough as Murrough jerked his shoulder.</p> + +<p>He followed out into a corridor, and the men closed around him, going +with him down-stairs and along other passageways. Brian wondered as to +his fate and what manner of death he was going to die; yet it seemed to +him that death was an impossible and far-off thing where he was +concerned.</p> + +<p>He expected no less than death from the Dark Master, but at the same +time it was very hard to believe that he was going to that fate. He was +by no means afraid to die, but he felt that he would like to see the +Bird Daughter once more. Also, he had always thought of fate as coming +to him suddenly and swiftly in battle or foray; and to be deliberately +done to death in cold blood by hanging or otherwise was not as he would +have wished.</p> + +<p>"At least," he thought without any great comfort, "Cathbarr and Turlough +will avenge me on the Dark Master—though I had liefer be living when +that was done!"</p> + +<p>In one of the larger and lower corridors they came on two men bearing a +body, sewed for burial. Murrough stopped his party and growled out +something.</p> + +<p>"It is the <i>seanachie</i>," answered one of the bearers. "Since the Dark +Master struck him yester-morn he has not spoken, and he died last +night."</p> + +<p>Upon this Red Murrough crossed himself, as did the rest, muttered into +his tangle of red beard, and motioned Brian forward.</p> + +<p>This wider passage gave through a doorway upon the great hall. There was +no dais, but the Dark Master was seated before the huge fireplace, his +wolf-hound crouched down at his side. The hall was pierced near the roof +with openings, and lower down with loopholes, so that when the sun shone +outside it was bright enough.</p> + +<p>Red Murrough led Brian forward, the clank of the heavy chain-links +echoing hollowly through the place, but O'Donnell Dubh did not look up +until the two men stood a scant four paces from him. Then his head came +out from between his rounded shoulders and his eyes spat fire at Brian.</p> + +<p>"A poor ending to proud talk, Brian Buidh!"</p> + +<p>Brian tried to smile, but with ill success, for he was chilled to the +bone and there was blood on his face.</p> + +<p>"I am not yet dead, O'Donnell."</p> + +<p>"You will be soon enough," the Dark Master chuckled, and the hall +thrilled with evil laughter. In the eyes of all Brian had proven himself +the weaker man and therefore deserved his fate. "What of this O'Malley +journey of yours, eh?"</p> + +<p>Brian made no answer, save that his strong lips clamped shut, and his +blue eyes narrowed a little. O'Donnell laughed and began to stroke his +wolf-hound.</p> + +<p>"I have many messengers and many servants, Yellow Brian, and there is +little my enemies do which is not told me. Even now men are riding hard +and fast to trap Cathbarr of the Ax and your following."</p> + +<p>At that Brian laughed, remembering Turlough Wolf and his cunning.</p> + +<p>"I think this trapping will prove a hard matter, Dark Master."</p> + +<p>"That is as it may be. Now, Brian Buidh, death is hard upon you, and +neither an easy nor a swift one. Before you die there are two things +which I would know from your lips."</p> + +<p>Brian looked at him, but without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> speaking. The Dark Master had thrust +out his head, his hand still lingering on the wolfhound's neck, and his +pallid face, drooping mustache, and high brow were very evil to gaze +upon. Brian, eying that thin-nostriled, cruel nose, and the undershot +jaw of the man, read no mercy there.</p> + +<p>"First, who <i>are</i> you, Brian Buidh? Are you an O'Neill, as that ring of +yours would testify, or are you an O'Malley come down from the western +isles?"</p> + +<p>At that Brian laughed out harshly. "Ask those servants of which you +boast, Dark Master. Poor they must be if they cannot tell you even the +names of your enemies!"</p> + +<p>"Well answered!" grinned the other, and chuckled again to himself as +though the reply had indeed pleased him hugely. "I would that you served +me, Brian of the hard eyes; I suppose that you are some left-hand scion +of the Tyr-owens by some woman overseas, and the O'Neill bastards were +ever as strong in arm as the true sons. Yet you might have made pact +with me, whereas now your head shall sit on my gates, after your bones +are broken and you have been nailed to a door."</p> + +<p>"Fools talk over-much of killing, but wise men smite first and talk +after," Brian said contemptuously. He saw that the Dark Master was +somewhat in doubt over slaying him, since if he were indeed an O'Neill +there might be bitter vengeance looked for, or if he belonged to any +other of the great families.</p> + +<p>"Quite true," countered the Dark Master mockingly, and with much relish. +"Therein you were a fool, not to slay when first we met, instead of +making pacts. Who will repay me my two-score men, Brian of the hollow +cheeks?"</p> + +<p>"The Bird Daughter, perhaps," smiled Brian, "since two days ago she hung +ten of those men I took in my ambuscade."</p> + +<p>This stung O'Donnell, and his men with him. One low, deep growl swirled +down the hall, and the Dark Master snarled as his lips bared back from +his teeth. Brian laughed out again, standing very tall and straight, and +his chains clanked a little and stilled the murmur. He saw that +O'Donnell wore his own Spanish blade, and the sight angered him.</p> + +<p>"There is another thing I would know," said the Dark Master slowly. +"Tell me this thing, Brian Buidh, and I will turn you out of my gates a +free man."</p> + +<p>Brian looked keenly at him and saw that the promise was given in +earnest. He wondered what the thing might be, and was not long in +learning.</p> + +<p>"You came hither from Gorumna Castle," went on O'Donnell, fixing him +with his black flaming eyes. "Tell me what force of men is in that +place, Brian of the hard eyes, and for this service you shall be set +free."</p> + +<p>"Now I know that you are a fool, O'Donnell Dubh," and Brian's voice rang +out merrily. "I have heard many tales of your wizardry and your servants +and your watchers, but when an unknown man comes to you, his name is +hidden from you; and all your black art cannot so much as tell you the +number of your enemies! Now slay me and have done, for you have wasted +much breath this day, and so have I, and it goes ill in my mind to waste +speech on fools."</p> + +<p>"You refuse then?" O'Donnell peered up at him, but Brian set his face +hard and made no reply. With a little sigh the Dark Master leaned back +in his chair and motioned to Red Murrough to come forward.</p> + +<p>"Strip him," he said evenly, and at the word a great howl rang out from +all the watching men, like the howl of wolves when they scent blood in +the air.</p> + +<p>Murrough in turn signed to two of his men. These came forward and +stripped off what clothes had been left to Brian, so that he stood naked +before them. In that moment he was minded to spring on the Dark Master +and crush him with his chains, but he saw that Red Mur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span>rough held a +flint-lock pistolet cocked, and knew it would be useless. Also, if he +had to die, he was minded to do it like a man and not to shame the blood +of Tyr-owen, either by seeking death or by shrinking at its face.</p> + +<p>Now there passed a murmur through the hall, and even the Dark Master's +evil features glowed a little; for Brian's body was very fair and slim +and white, yet these judges of men saw that he was like a thing of +steel, and that beneath the satin skin his body was all rippling sinew. +Red Murrough drew out a hasp, brought his chained hands together, and +caught the chain close to his wrists, so that his hands were bound +close.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the Dark Master, settling back and stroking his wolfhound as +if he were watching some curious spectacle, "do with him as we did with +Con O'More last Candlemas. But let us work slowly, for there is no +haste, and we must break his will. In the end we will nail him to the +door, and finish by breaking all his bones. It will be very interesting, +eh?"</p> + +<p>A fierce howl and clash of steel answered him from the men. At another +sign from Red Murrough, Brian felt himself jerked to the floor suddenly, +and his hands were drawn up over his head. His wrist-chains were +fastened to an iron ring set in the floor, and his ankles to another, +and he stared up at the ceiling-rafters of the hall, watching the motes +drift past overhead in the reaching sunbeams. It all seemed very unreal +to him.</p> + +<p>"First that long hair of his," said the Dark Master quietly.</p> + +<p>Murrough went to the fire and returned with a blazing stick. Brian's +gold-red hair had flung back from his head, along the floor, and +presently he felt it burning, until his head was scorched and his brain +began to roast and there was the smell of burnt hair rising from him. +Then Murrough's rough hand brushed over his torn scalp, quelling the +fire, but it did not quell the agony that wrenched Brian.</p> + +<p>"Paint him," ordered O'Donnell.</p> + +<p>Again Murrough went to the fireplace, and returned with a long white-hot +iron which had lain among the embers. This he touched to Brian's right +shoulder, so that the stench of scorched flesh sizzled up in a thin +stream, and followed the iron down across the white breast and thigh, +until it stopped at the knee, and there was a swath of red and blackened +flesh down Brian's body. Yet he had not moved or flinched.</p> + +<p>Then Murrough touched the iron to his left shoulder and drew it very +slowly down his left side. One of the watching men went sick with the +smell and went out vomiting. A second swath of red and black rose on the +white flesh, and beneath it all Brian felt his senses swirling. Try as +he would he could not repress one long shudder, at which a wild yell of +delight shrilled up—and then he fainted.</p> + +<p>"Take him away," said the Dark Master, smiling a little, as he leaned +forward and saw that Brian had indeed swooned with the pain. "To-morrow +we will paint his back with the whip."</p> + +<p>So they loosened him from the iron rings, and four men lifted him and +carried him out. As they passed across the courtyard another came by +with a pail of sea-water, which they flung over him; the salt entered +into his wounds, washing away the blackness from his scalp, and slowly +the life came back to him after he had been chained again in his +tower-room and left alone.</p> + +<p>He was sorry for this, because he thought that he had died under the +iron. He found a pitcher of water beside him, and after drinking a +little he spent the rest in washing out the salt from his flesh, though +every motion was terrible in its torture. So great was the pain that +gasping sobs shook him, though he stared up dry-eyed at the stones, and +a great desire for death came upon him.</p> + +<p>"Slay me, oh God!" he groaned, shuddering again in his anguish. "Slay +me, for I am helpless and cannot slay myself!"</p> + +<p>As if in answer, there came a soft laugh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span> from somewhere overhead, and +the voice of the Dark Master.</p> + +<p>"There is no God in Bertragh Castle save O'Donnell, Brian Buidh!"</p> + +<p>The blasphemy shocked him into his senses, which had wandered. Now he +knew that from some hidden place the Dark Master was watching him and +listening for his ravings, and upon that Brian sternly caught his lips +together and said no more, though he prayed hard within himself. A cloak +had been laid near-by him, and when he had covered himself somewhat +against the cold, though with great pain in the doing, he lay quiet.</p> + +<p>The cold crept into him and for a space he was seized with chills that +sent new thrills of pain through his burned body, for he could not +repress them. After a time he relapsed slowly into numbed +unconsciousness, waking from time to time, and so the hours dragged away +until the night came.</p> + +<p>Then men brought him more food and wine and straw, and he managed to +sleep a bit during the darkness, in utmost misery. But after the day had +come, and more wine had stirred his blood redly, Murrough fetched him to +his feet and bade him follow. Brian did it, though walking was agony, +for his pride was stronger even than his torture.</p> + +<p>He was halted in the courtyard, found the Dark Master and his men +gathered there, and knew that more torture was to come upon him. After a +single scornful glance the Dark Master ordered him triced up to a post, +which was done. Brian saw a man standing by with a long whip, but gained +a brief respite as the drawbridge was lowered to admit a messenger +mounted on a shaggy hill-pony. O'Donnell bade him make haste with his +errand.</p> + +<p>"The word has come, master, that five hundred of Lord Burke's pikemen +are on the road from Galway and will be close by within a day or so."</p> + +<p>"And what of Cathbarr of the Ax?" queried the Dark Master. Brian's +heart caught at the words, then his head fell again at the response.</p> + +<p>"They have scattered in the mountains, it is said, master."</p> + +<p>"Murrough, have men sent to meet these royalists with food and wines, +and if they are bound hither we will entreat them softly and send them +home again empty. Now let us enjoy Brian Buidh a while—though he has +stood up but poorly. It is in my mind that we will nail him up +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>With that Brian felt the whip stroking across his naked back. His +muscles corded and heaved up in horrible contraction, but no sound broke +from him; again and again the hide whip licked about him until he felt +the warm blood running down his legs, and then with merciful suddenness +all things went black, and he hung limp against the post.</p> + +<p>"Take him back," ordered the Dark Master in disgust. "Why, that boy we +cut up the other side of Clifden had more strength than this fool!"</p> + +<p>"His strength went out of him with his hair," grinned Red Murrough, and +they carried Brian to his prison.</p> + +<p>The Dark Master had spoken truly, however. Brian's strength lay not so +much in brute muscles, though he had enough of them, as in his nervous +energy; and the slow horror of his burning hair and of that iron which +had twice raked the length of his body had come close to destroying his +whole nervous system. Other men might have endured the same thing and +laughed the next day, but Brian was high-strung and tense, and while his +will was still strong, his physical endurance was shattered.</p> + +<p>With the next morning, this fact had become quite evident to the general +disgust of all within Bertragh Castle. The Dark Master himself visited +the cell, and upon finding that Brian was lost in a half stupor and +muttering words in Spanish which no one understood, he angrily ordered +that he be revived and finished with that afternoon.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span>Red Murrough set about the task with savage determination. By dint of +sea water externally and mingled wine and uisquebagh internally he had +Brian wakened to a semblance of himself before midday. Then food, oil, +and bandages about his wounds, and in another hour Brian was feeling +like a new man.</p> + +<p>He was under no misapprehension as to the cause of this kindness, but +cared little. So keenly had he suffered that he was glad to reach the +end, and he walked out behind Red Murrough that afternoon with a ghastly +face, but with firm mouth and firmer stride, though he was very weak and +half-drunk with the liquors he had swallowed.</p> + +<p>His fetters were unlocked and he was led to the doorway of the great +hall, with the Dark Master and his men watching eagerly. Red Murrough, +with an evil grin, pressed his back to the door and held up his left arm +against the heavy wood. Brian was half-conscious of another man who bore +a heavy mallet and spikes, and whose breath came foul on his face as he +pressed something cold against the extended left hand.</p> + +<p>Then Brian saw the mallet swing back, heard a sickening crunch, and with +a terrible pain shooting to his soul, fell asleep.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">IN BERTRAGH CASTLE.</span></h2> + + +<p>Now, of what befell after that nail had been driven through his hand, +Brian learned afterward; though at the time he was unconscious and +seemed like to remain so. Hardly had he sagged forward limply when two +men came riding up to the gates demanding instant admittance. One of +these was of the Dark Master's band, the other was a certain Colonel +James Vere, of the garrison which held Galway for the king.</p> + +<p>O'Donnell, who suddenly found himself with greater things on hand than +the nailing of a prisoner, ordered Brian left where he lay for the +present, and had the drawbridge lowered in all haste. Colonel Vere, who +had late been in rebellion against his gracious majesty, was now joined +with Ormond's men against the common enemy, and was in command of that +force of five hundred pikemen which had been marching to the west.</p> + +<p>Knowing this, the Dark Master made ready to set his house in order, +since it was known that Vere's men were only a few hours away. Hardly +had the garrison gone to their posts, leaving Brian in the center of a +little group about the hall doorway, when Colonel Vere rode in and was +received in as stately fashion as possible by the Dark Master. It was +not for nothing that O'Donnell had trimmed his sails to the blast, since +he was on very good terms with all in Galway.</p> + +<p>"Welcome," he exclaimed with a low bow as Vere swung down from his +saddle. "Your men received the provision I sent off yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, and thankful we were!" cried the other cheerily, for he was a +red-faced man of forty, a Munsterman and half-English, and loved his +bottle. "Hearing certain news from one of your men I made bold to ride +ahead in all haste, O'Donnell."</p> + +<p>"News?" repeated the Dark Master softly. "And of what nature, Colonel +Vere?"</p> + +<p>"Why, of one Brian Buidh, or Yellow Brian." At this the Dark Master +began to finger the Spanish blade he had taken from Brian, and for a +second Vere was very near to death, had he known it.</p> + +<p>"What of him, Colonel Vere?"</p> + +<p>"Why, the rogue had the impudence to come down on a convoy of powder and +stores, last week, going from the Archbishop at Ennis to Malbay, for our +use. Not only this, but a hundred of our rascally Scots deserted to him, +he slipped past us at Galway, and I was in hopes you could give me word +of him when I hit over this way. You're something of a ravager yourself, +sink me if you aren't!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> and he dug the Dark Master jovially in the +ribs.</p> + +<p>"Yes," murmured O'Donnell thoughtfully, "so they say, Colonel Vere. But +only when Parliament men come past, you understand. So you heard that +this Yellow Brian was here?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, and that you were doing him to death," coolly responded Vere, and +his eyes flickered to the white form on the stones. "Zounds! What's +this?"</p> + +<p>"Yellow Brian," responded the Dark Master dryly. "What do you want with +him?"</p> + +<p>"Eh? Why, I'll take him back to Galway and hang him! I've a dozen of the +Scots he was fool enough to let loose, and when my men come up they'll +identify him readily enough."</p> + +<p>"Unless he's dead," chuckled O'Donnell. "Well, if you want him you may +have him and welcome. So now come in and sample some prime sack I took +from the O'Malleys last year."</p> + +<p>"With all the honors," responded Vere gallantly, and as they strode past +Brian the Dark Master hastily directed that he be washed and tended and +brought back to his right mind as soon as might be.</p> + +<p>This order, and the conversation preceding it, gave Red Murrough some +cause for thought. So it was that when Brian wakened once more in his +cell, as evening was falling, he found the fetters on him indeed, but +Red Murrough had bound up his wounds, dressed his sundered hand-bones, +and was sitting watching him reflectively. It had occurred to the Dark +Master's lieutenant that there might be something made out of this man, +who seemed wanted in several places at once.</p> + +<p>Therefore it was that while Brian made an excellent meal for a man +swathed from crown to knees in bandages, Red Murrough poured into his +ear the tale of what had chanced in the courtyard, and why it was that +he was not at this moment nailed to the castle door. Brian collected his +energy with some effort.</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it?" he asked weakly.</p> + +<p>"Just this, Yellow Brian," and Murrough stroked his matted red beard +easily. "O'Donnell will make a good thing out of handing you over to the +royalists, who mean to hang you in style, it seems. Now, it is in my +mind that it might advantage you somewhat if you were not moved thence +for a few days—indeed, you might even escape, for I think you are not +without friends."</p> + +<p>"Eh?" Brian stared up at him wonderingly. "What does it matter to you?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, whether you live or die. But you are in my care, and if I +report that you are in too bad shape to be moved—which you are +not—then this Colonel Vere will camp outside our castle until you are +handed over to him. You will gain a few days in which to get your wits +back, and the rest is in your hands."</p> + +<p>"I had not thought you loved me so much," and despite his agony Brian +forced out a bitter laugh.</p> + +<p>"Not I! Faith, I had liefer see you nailed—but a service may be paid +for."</p> + +<p>"I have no money," Brian closed his eyes wearily.</p> + +<p>"No, but you have friends," and Murrough leaned forward. "Promise me a +clerkly writing to the Bird Daughter's men, or to your own men, ordering +that I be paid ten English pounds, and it is done."</p> + +<p>"With pleasure," smiled Brian wryly. "Also, if I escape, I will spare +your life one day, Red Murrough."</p> + +<p>"Good. Then play your part." And Murrough departed well pleased with his +acumen.</p> + +<p>And indeed, the man carried out his bargain more than faithfully. One +visit assured the Dark Master that this broken, burned, cloth-swathed +man was helpless to harm him further, and after that he gave Brian +little thought.</p> + +<p>As Murrough had reckoned Brian's swoop on the convoy had given him some +notoriety, and more than once Brian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span> himself remembered Cathbarr's dark +presage after he had let the ten Scots go free to Ennis; Colonel Vere +was anxious to carry him back to Galway for an example to other +freebooters, and he was quite content to bide at Bertragh Castle until +his prisoner could travel.</p> + +<p>For that matter the other officers of his command were quite as content +as he himself, since all were men from the south-country who loved good +wines, and the Dark Master had better store of these than the empty +royalist commissariat.</p> + +<p>As for the Dark Master, Murrough reported to Brian that he also was well +content. Cromwell was sweeping like an avenging flame from Kilkenny to +Mallow and Ormond was helpless before him; both king's men and Irish +Confederacy men were pouring out of the South in despair, but the two +had finally joined forces and the final stand would take place in the +West. In fact, it seemed that things were dark for Parliament, despite +Cromwell's activity, and the Dark Master was only one of many such who +counted strongly on the rumors that the new king, Charles II, was on his +way to Ireland with aid from France.</p> + +<p>And indeed he was at that time; but Charles, then and later, was more +apt at starting a thing than at finishing it.</p> + +<p>Red Murrough lost no time in getting his "clerkly writing," luckily for +himself. On the morning after his agreement he brought Brian a quill, +and blood for lack of ink, and sheepskin. Brian wrote the order for ten +pounds, promising to honor it himself if he escaped.</p> + +<p>This, however, did not seem likely, and even Murrough frankly stated +that it was impossible. But Brian was tended well, and his perfect +health was a strong asset. His head had been little more than scorched, +and the scalp-wound stayed clean; after the first day there came a +festering in his broken hand, but Murrough washed it out with vinegar +which ate out the wound and cleansed it, after which he bound it firmly +in wooden splints and it promised well.</p> + +<p>More than once Brian laughed grimly at the care he was getting, to the +simple end that he should hang over Galway gates as a warning to the +City of the Tribes and to all who entered the ancient Connacian town. +For in that day Galway was a second Venice, and its commerce made rich +plundering for the O'Malley's both of Gorumna and of Erris in the North, +though the war had somewhat dimmed the glory of the fourteen great +merchant families.</p> + +<p>Brian wondered often what had become of Cathbarr and his two hundred +men, and Murrough could give him little satisfaction. It was known that +the force had slipped away from Cathbarr's tower and had vanished; Brian +guessed that Turlough had either led them north, or else into the +western mountains where the O'Flahertys held savage rule. However, it +was certain that neither the Dark Master nor the royalists had scattered +them as yet.</p> + +<p>So Brian lay in his tower four days and might have lain there four-score +more by dint of Red Murrough's lies, had it not been that on the fourth +evening Colonel Vere managed to stay unexpectedly sober. Being thus +sober, it occurred to him that he had best make sure he had the right +man by the heels. So he ordered his ten Scots troopers in from the camp +outside the walls, and the Dark Master sent for Brian to be identified.</p> + +<p>"I'll have you carried down," said Red Murrough on coming for him. "Play +the part, <i>ma boucal</i>, and when these royalists get into their cups +again they'll forget all that is in their heads. Here's a cup of wine +before ye go, and another for myself. <i>Slainte!</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Slainte</i>," repeated Brian, and went forth to play his part.</p> + +<p>When the four men, with Red Murrough at their head, carried him down +into the great hall, Brian found it no little changed. Tables were set +along the walls, each of them being some ten feet in length by two wide, +of massive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span> oak, and in the center was another at which sat O'Donnell, +Colonel Vere, and one or two other officers. Besides these there were a +score more of the royalist officers mingled with the Dark Master's men, +and it seemed that there would be few sober men in that hall by +midnight, from the appearance of things. Only the ten Scots stood calm +and dour before the fireplace.</p> + +<p>After that first quick glance around, Brian lay with his head back and +his eyes closed, careful not to excite O'Donnell's suspicion that he was +stronger than he seemed. He was set down in front of the ten Scots, and +there was an eager craning forward of men to look at him, for his name +was better known than himself.</p> + +<p>"Zounds!" swore Vere thickly. "The man has a strong and clean-cut face, +O'Donnell! Strike me dead if he does not look like that painting of +O'Neill, the Tyrone Earl, that hangs in the castle at Dublin! Though for +that matter there is little enough of his face to be seen. You must have +borne hardly on him with your cursed tortures."</p> + +<p>"I fancy he is an O'Neill bastard," returned the Dark Master lightly. +Brian felt the red creep into his face, but he knew that he was helpless +in his chains, and he lay quiet. "Is he your man, Vere?"</p> + +<p>"How the devil should I know?" Vere turned to the troopers and spoke in +English. "Well, boys, is this the fellow we're after? Speak up now!"</p> + +<p>"It's no' sae easy tae ken," returned one cautiously. "Yon man has the +look o' Brian Buidh, aye."</p> + +<p>"Devil take you!" cried Vere irritably. "Do you mean to say yes or no? +Speak out, one of you!"</p> + +<p>"Weel, Colonel," answered another cannily, "Jock here has the right of +it. I wouldna swear tae the pawky carl, but I'd ken the een o' him full +weel. An I had a peep in his een, sir. I'm thinkin' I'd ken their +de'il's look. Eh, lads?"</p> + +<p>Since it seemed agreed that they would know Brian better by his hard +blue eyes than by what they could see of his face, the exasperated Vere +commanded that he be made open them if he were unconscious.</p> + +<p>"Run your hand down his body, Murrough," ordered the Dark Master +cynically.</p> + +<p>Red Murrough leaned over Brian, and the latter opened his eyes without +waiting for the rough command to be obeyed. Instantly the Scots broke +into a chorus of recognition as Brian's gaze fell on them. Vere looked +at him with an admiring laugh.</p> + +<p>"Sink me, but the man has eyes! Well, so much the better for the ladies, +eh? Now that this is over, give the lad a rouse and send him back to his +cell."</p> + +<p>He waved the Scots to begone, and rose cup in hand. Smiling evilly, the +Dark Master joined him in the toast to Brian, and a yell of delight +broke from the crowd as they caught the jest and joined in. O'Donnell +was just motioning Murrough to have Brian taken away, when there came a +sudden interruption, as a man hastened up the hall. It was one of Vere's +pikemen.</p> + +<p>"There is a party of four horsemen just outside our camp, colonel. One +of them bade us get safe-conduct for him from O'Donnell Dubh, upon his +honor."</p> + +<p>"Eh?" the Dark Master snarled suddenly. "What was his name, fool?"</p> + +<p>"Cathbarr of the Ax, lord."</p> + +<p>A thrill shot through Brian, and he tried feebly to sit up. The Dark +Master flashed him a glance. The hall had fallen silent.</p> + +<p>"His business?"</p> + +<p>"He bears word from one called the Bird Daughter, he said."</p> + +<p>While the royalists stared, wondering what all this boded, O'Donnell bit +his lips in thought. Finally he nodded.</p> + +<p>"Let the man enter, and tell him that he has my honor for his +safe-conduct."</p> + +<p>Vere nodded, and the pikeman departed. Instantly the hall broke into +uproar, but leaving the table, the Dark Master<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span> crossed swiftly to +Brian, and bent over him.</p> + +<p>"Either swear to keep silence, or I have you gagged."</p> + +<p>"I promise," mumbled Brian as if he were very weak. The Dark Master +ordered him carried behind one of the tables close by, and a cloak flung +over him. When it had been done, Brian found that he could see without +being seen, which was the intent of O'Donnell.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Dark Master was telling Vere and the other officers of +Cathbarr, it seemed, and Vere hastily collected his wine-stricken +senses.</p> + +<p>"Nuala O'Malley, eh?" he exclaimed when the Dark Master had finished. +"She is the one who has held Gorumna Castle and would make no treaty +with us, though she has more than once sent us powder, I understand."</p> + +<p>"I will talk with you later concerning her," returned O'Donnell. "She is +allied with Parliament, they say, and it might be well for all of us if +ships were sent against her place from Galway, and she were reduced."</p> + +<p>Brian saw that things were going badly. The Dark Master seemed to be +playing his cards well, and was doubtless thinking of throwing off the +cloak and openly allying himself with the royalist cause. In this way he +could secure help against Gorumna in the shape of Galway ships and men, +and it was like to go hard with the Bird Daughter in such case.</p> + +<p>However, Vere had no power to treat of such things, as Brian well knew. +Also, Nuala had told him herself that her ships had not preyed on the +commerce of Galway's merchants, but only on certain foreign caracks +which free-traded along the coast. Therefore the Galwegians were not apt +to make a troublesome enemy in haste, even if she were proved to be in +alliance with Cromwell.</p> + +<p>None the less, the Dark Master was plainly thinking of making an effort +in this direction, and Brian knew that the Bird Daughter was in no shape +to carry things with a high hand in Galway town.</p> + +<p>He saw Vere and the Dark Master talking earnestly together across the +table, but could not hear their words—and it was well, indeed, for him +that he could not. As he was to find shortly, O'Donnell's quick brain +had already grasped at what lay behind Cathbarr's coming, or something +of it, and he had formed the devilish scheme on the instant—that scheme +which was to result in many things then undreamed of.</p> + +<p>"If I had followed Turlough's rede, there when I first met this devil," +thought Brian bitterly, "I had slain him upon the road, and that would +have been an end of it. Well, I think that I shall heed Turlough Wolf +next time—if there is a next time."</p> + +<p>Brian looked out from his shelter with troubled eyes, for there was +something in the wind of which he had no inkling. He saw Vere break into +a sudden coarse laugh, and a great light of evil triumph shot across +O'Donnell's face. Then the Dark Master gained his feet, gathered his +cloak about his hunched shoulders, and sent Murrough to stand guard over +Brian with a pistol and to shoot if he spoke out.</p> + +<p>"Surely he cannot be going back on his word, passed before so many men?" +thought Brian bitterly. "No, that would shame him before all Galway, and +he is proud in his way. But what the devil can be forward?"</p> + +<p>To that he obtained no answer. The Dark Master shoved his table back +toward the fireplace, and placed his chair in front of it beside that of +Colonel Vere. It seemed to Brian that the stage was being set for some +grim scene, and a great fear seized on him lest harm was in truth meant +toward Cathbarr.</p> + +<p>No doubt the giant had been in communication with the Bird Daughter, and +it had been ascertained that the galley had come to grief at Bertragh +Castle. A sudden thrill of hope darted through Brian. Was it possible +that Cathbarr had led down his men and placed them in readiness to +attack? Yet such a thing would have been madness—to set a scant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span> two +hundred against Vere's pikemen and the Dark Master's force combined!</p> + +<p>But Brian knew that Turlough Wolf was at large, and Turlough's brain was +more cunning than most.</p> + +<p>If he could only get free, he thought, he might still be able to do +something. He could ride, though it would mean bitter pain, and his +sword-arm was still good—but he had got no farther than this when there +came a tramping of feet, and in the doorway appeared Cathbarr, his +mighty ax in hand, with the O'Donnells around him as jackals surround a +lion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">THE BAITING OF CATHBARR.</span></h2> + + +<p>The bearded giant still wore the long mail-shirt that reached to his +knees, and he paused at the doorway with his eyes roving about the hall. +Well did Brian know whom he sought, but it was vain, for Cathbarr could +not see him where he lay.</p> + +<p>Then Brian saw that the ax had been changed, and wondered at it. One of +the long, back-curving blades had been rubbed down with files, so that +it was very tapering and thin like an ordinary ax-blade, while the other +was still the blunt, heavy thing it had always been. Brian read the +cunning of Turlough Wolf in that handiwork, and in fact the great ax was +thus rendered tenfold more deadly.</p> + +<p>The Dark Master waited quietly until Cathbarr began a slow advance up +the hall, all eyes fixed on him in no little wonder. Then O'Donnell +raised a hand, stopping him.</p> + +<p>"Let us have your message, Cathbarr."</p> + +<p>The giant halted and dropped the ax-head, leaning on the haft of the +weapon. He took his time about replying, however, and his eyes still +roved about the hall ceaselessly and uneasily. Then of a sudden he gave +over the search, and gazed straight at the Dark Master with a swift +word:</p> + +<p>"Have you slain him?"</p> + +<p>"Slain who, Cathbarr?" queried O'Donnell, with a thin smile.</p> + +<p>"<i>Duar na Criosd!</i>" bellowed Cathbarr with sudden fury. "Who but my +friend Brian?"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" The Dark Master laughed and eased back in his chair. "No, he's +still alive, Cathbarr? Is your message from the Bird Daughter in his +regard?"</p> + +<p>"Yes." Cathbarr fought for self-control, the breast of his mail shirt +rising and falling, his bloodshot eyes beginning to circle about the +place once more in a helpless and angry wonder.</p> + +<p>"O'Donnell Dubh," he went on at last, "Nuala O'Malley sends you this +word. Give Brian Buidh over to her, and she will pay you what ransom you +demand."</p> + +<p>"What alliance is there between Brian and her?" asked O'Donnell softly.</p> + +<p>"Brian has given her service, and I have," Cathbarr flung up his head. +"Our men lie in Gorumna Castle, there are ships coming from Erris and +the isles, and if Brian be slain we shall bear on this hold and give no +quarter. We have four hundred men now, and five ships are coming from +the North."</p> + +<p>The Dark Master gazed quietly at the giant, Vere taking no part in the +talk. But Brian, watching also, saw that which brought a mocking smile +to O'Donnell's pallid face. Cathbarr had no fear of any man, and lies +did not come easily to his lips; when he spoke of the force lying in +Gorumna, and of help from Erris, his face gave him away. Brian saw +Turlough behind that tale, but Cathbarr was no man to carry it off with +success.</p> + +<p>"Well," laughed the Dark Master, "none the less shall Brian be slain. +Carry back that word to Nuala O'Malley."</p> + +<p>Cathbarr's mighty chest heaved like a barrel near to bursting. Brian was +minded to break his promise, but Murrough's pistol was at his head, and +he could but lie quietly and watch. The giant's face flushed somewhat.</p> + +<p>"I have not finished," said he. "My<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span> business for the Bird Daughter is +done in truth, but now I have to speak a word of my own."</p> + +<p>"Let us hear it," returned O'Donnell.</p> + +<p>"It is this." Cathbarr drew himself up. "I am more your enemy than is +Brian. Let him go, O'Donnell Dubh, and take me in his place, for I love +him."</p> + +<p>A sudden amazed silence fell on every man there, and but for Murrough's +warning hand Brian would have sat up. O'Donnell's jaw fell for an +instant, then his head drew in between his shoulders, he put a hand to +Vere's arm, and whispered something. The royalist nodded, a grin on his +coarse face, and the Dark Master settled back easily. Cathbarr still +stood waiting, the ax held out before him, and a glory in his wide eyes.</p> + +<p>"I would sooner hold you than Brian," and O'Donnell spoke softly. "If +you will to take his place and die in his stead, Cathbarr, then loose +that ax of yours."</p> + +<p>Brian saw that Cathbarr was lost indeed, for the Dark Master was not +likely to give over his pact with the royalists so easily. Cathbarr +heaved up his ax with a great laugh, like a child; he brought it down on +the stones, but if he had meant to break it the effort was vain. The +huge weapon clanged down and bounded high out of his two hands, so that +men drew back in awe; but the ax whirled twice in the cresset-light, +then fell and slithered over the flagging beneath a table, and no man +touched it.</p> + +<p>"Take me," said Cathbarr simply.</p> + +<p>"Nay," answered the Dark Master calmly, though his eyes flamed, "kneel +down."</p> + +<p>Cathbarr stood breathing heavily for an instant, then slowly obeyed. +Brian saw that his curly beard was beginning to stand out from his face, +but no word came from him as he went to his knees.</p> + +<p>"Now," went on the Dark Master, "pray me for Brian's life, mighty one."</p> + +<p>The giant struggled with himself, for humiliation came hard to him. Then +his voice fell curiously low, terrible in its self-restraint.</p> + +<p>"I pray you for the life of Yellow Brian, O'Donnell."</p> + +<p>Brian forced himself up, thinking to cry out a warning before it was too +late; but Murrough's hand closed over his mouth and forced him back +relentlessly.</p> + +<p>"Bring ropes," said the Dark Master, and ordered Cathbarr to his feet.</p> + +<p>Men hastened out, and returned with a length of rope, binding the +giant's arms behind his back, from elbow to wrist. Then the Dark Master +laughed harshly, but Vere leaned toward him, his face troubled.</p> + +<p>"Do not carry this thing farther, O'Donnell," said the royalist +hoarsely. "This man is a fool, but he has a great heart. Let be."</p> + +<p>For answer the Dark Master whirled on him with such fury in his snarl +that Vere drew back hastily, and no more words passed between them at +that time. O'Donnell rose and walked down the hall toward Cathbarr, in +his hand a little switch that he used upon that wolfhound of his.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said softly, yet his voice pierced hard through the dead +stillness, "in token that your humility in this affair is without guile, +Cathbarr of the Ax, bow your head to me."</p> + +<p>The giant obeyed, closing his eyes. The Dark Master lifted his hand and +cut him twice across the head with his switch, while Brian gasped in +amazement and looked for Cathbarr to strike out with his foot. But +although the giant shuddered, he made no move, and the Dark Master +strode back to his seat with a laugh. Then Cathbarr raised his face, and +Brian saw that it was terribly convulsed.</p> + +<p>"Do with me as you wish," he said, still in that low voice. "But now let +Brian be freed in my presence."</p> + +<p>The Dark Master flung back his head in a laugh, and when the men saw his +jest, a great howl of derision rang up to the rafters. Only Vere's +officers looked on with black faces, for it was plain that this affair +was none of their liking. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span> look of simple wonder came into Cathbarr's +wide-set eyes.</p> + +<p>"Why do you not loose him?" he asked quietly.</p> + +<p>"Fetch the man out, Murrough," ordered the Dark Master. "Shoot him if he +speaks."</p> + +<p>Now, whether through some shred of mercy—for he knew well that Brian +would cry out—or for some other reason, Murrough leaned down swiftly to +Brian's ear.</p> + +<p>"Careful," he whispered as he motioned his men forward. "Play the part, +and mind that this thing is not yet finished."</p> + +<p>The warning came in good time, and cooled Brian's raging impulse. He was +lifted from behind the table, his chains clanking, and laid upon it; +Cathbarr gave a great start and bellowed out one furious word:</p> + +<p>"Dead!"</p> + +<p>"Nay," smiled the Dark Master. "His eyes are open, and he is but weak +with his wounds, Cathbarr. Now say—would you sooner that we cut off +that right hand of his, or blinded him? One of these things I shall do +before I loose him, for I said only that I would take your life for +his."</p> + +<p>Brian saw that the Dark Master was only playing with the giant, for well +he knew that Vere wanted to take him back to Galway whole and sound. But +Cathbarr knew nothing of this, and as the whole terrible trickery +flashed over his simple mind he lifted a face that was dark with blood +and passion.</p> + +<p>"Do not play with me!" he cried out, his voice deep and angry. "Loose +him!"</p> + +<p>Then O'Donnell leaned back in his chair, laughing with his men, and +waved a careless hand toward Vere.</p> + +<p>"He is not mine," he grinned. "I have given him to the royalists, for +hanging at Galway. You, however, are now mine to slay."</p> + +<p>Whether the Dark Master indeed meant to break his plighted faith, Brian +never knew. Cathbarr took a single step forward, his curly beard +writhing and standing out, and his whole face so terrible to look on +that all laughter was stricken dead in the hall.</p> + +<p>"You lied to me!" he cried hoarsely. "You lied to me!"</p> + +<p>O'Donnell laughed.</p> + +<p>"Aye, Cathbarr. Your master goes back to Galway to be hung—he is out of +my hands, but you are in them. However, since I have passed my word on +your safe-conduct, I think that I may hold to it."</p> + +<p>But the giant had not heard him. Throwing back his head, he gave one +deep groan of anguish, and his shoulders began to move very slowly as +his chest heaved up. All the while his eyes were fixed on the Dark +Master, while the whole hall watched him in awe; not even Brian or +O'Donnell himself guessed what that slow movement of Cathbarr's body +boded.</p> + +<p>"Best put chains upon him, Murrough," said the Dark Master, his teeth +shining under his drooping mustache.</p> + +<p>Vere cried out in sudden wonder.</p> + +<p>"'Fore Gad! Look!"</p> + +<p>Then indeed the Dark Master looked, and sprang to his feet, and one +great shout of alarm and fear shrilled up from those watching. For as +Cathbarr stood there, the veins had suddenly come out on his face and +neck, and with a dull sound the ropes had broken on his arms, and he was +free.</p> + +<p>Murrough rushed forward, and his pistol spat fire. Cathbarr, with his +eyes still on the Dark Master, put out a hand and Murrough went whirling +away with a dull groan. Then the giant rushed.</p> + +<p>O'Donnell did not stay for that meeting, but slipped away like a shadow +into his surging men, yelling at them to fire. There were few muskets in +the hall, however, and an instant later Cathbarr had reached the table +where Vere still sat astounded. He brought down a fist on the royalist's +steel cap, and Vere coughed horribly and fell out of his chair with his +skull crushed.</p> + +<p>Now a musket roared out, and another.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span> But Cathbarr caught up the oaken +table and faced around on the men who were surging forward at him; +lifting the ten-foot table as though it were paper, he bellowed +something and rushed at them, casting the table in a great heave. It +fell squarely on the front rank, and then indeed fear came upon the +hall. For Cathbarr's foot had struck against his ax, and he rose with it +in his hand.</p> + +<p>There was a din of screams and shouts, for half the men were struggling +to get out of the hall and the rest were rushing to get at Cathbarr. +Another musket crashed, and in the smoke Brian saw the giant stagger, +recover, and go bellowing into the crowd.</p> + +<p>Brian struggled from the table, groaned with pain, and then stood +watching. He could walk, but his weakness and the chains on his wrists +and ankles hindered him from being of any advantage to Cathbarr, though +he lifted his voice in a shout of encouragement.</p> + +<p>Cathbarr heard the shout, and roared out with delight. A musket-ball had +cut across his forehead, and with the blood dripping from his beard he +looked more like a demon than a man. The huge ax flashed in the smoky +light, and before it men groaned and shrieked and gave back; it cleaved +steel and flesh, or smashed helms and heads together, and the Dark +Master had slipped from the place, so that his men had no leader.</p> + +<p>Over the roar of fear-mad men, over the storm of shrieks and shouts, +over the dust and smoke, rose the mighty bellow of Cathbarr and the +thudding blows of his ax. The royalist officers were fighting around the +doorway, while O'Donnell's men were trying to make head against the +giant, but he swept through them like a whirlwind, awing them more by +his ferocious aspect and his mad rage than by the half-seen effect of +his terrific strength.</p> + +<p>Little by little they eddied out from the door. Men lay all about, +tables were overturned, and through the crowd swirled the terrible ax, +leaving a path of dead in its wake. Brian staggered to the motionless +form of Colonel Vere, and reaching down drew a pistol from the dead +man's belt. His strength was flooding back to him, and in spite of the +agony caused by every movement, he clanked slowly down toward the door. +At sight of his chained and bandage-swathed figure a wild shriek welled +up, and when he laughed and fired into the midst of them all opposition +ceased.</p> + +<p>Cathbarr still sought the Dark Master, raging back and forth, smiting +and smiting with never a pause in the flaillike sweep of his long arms. +He saw Brian standing there, and emitted a wild bellow of joy, but never +ceased from his smiting. Out through the door poured a stream of +maddened figures, for blind panic had come on every man there, and +Cathbarr's was not the only weapon that drew blood as the men fought for +exit.</p> + +<p>Brian laughed again, for now he knew that he would die in no long time, +but it would not be under the torturers. Cathbarr cleared the hall, sent +the last man flying out with an arm lopped from him, and swung to the +huge doors after kicking two or three bodies from his way. When the beam +had dropped into place and they were alone with the dead and dying, he +turned to Brian and flung out his arms.</p> + +<p>"Careful!" exclaimed Brian, seizing his hand. "None of your bear-hugs, +old friend," and he swiftly told of his tortures. Tears ran down the +giant's blood-strewn face as he listened, and with the tenderness of a +woman he picked up Brian and carried him back to a table, setting him on +it.</p> + +<p>"First for these chains, brother," he cried, going back for his ax. "We +may yet win out against these devils."</p> + +<p>"Small chance," smiled Brian grimly. "I cannot swing a blade, and we +cannot hold this hall for long. Besides, you have some wounds."</p> + +<p>Cathbarr roared out a laugh, exuberantly as a boy, and carefully spread +Brian's legs open on the table.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span>"Hold quiet!" he cautioned, and swung up the ax. Down it flashed, the +thinner blade sheared through the chain an inch from Brian's ankle and +split the oak beneath, and Cathbarr drew back for a second blow.</p> + +<p>Four times he struck, and the blows smote off the chains from each wrist +and ankle, although the locked rings still remained. But Brian was free, +and when he gained his feet he found the exercise had somewhat loosened +his muscles, and he picked up a sword.</p> + +<p>"We can at least die fighting, Cathbarr," he said, and looked into the +giant's eyes. "And, brother, I thank you."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" blurted out Cathbarr, wiping the blood from his eyes and +grinning through his beard. "Turlough Wolf has our men hidden around +this royalist camp, and the Bird Daughter has a boat outside the castle. +We cannot get through the royalists, but there is a chance that we can +get to the shore. Besides, she has ships and men coming from her kinsmen +in the North. Now, how shall we get away?"</p> + +<p>Brian shook his head. "I can hardly walk, Cathbarr, to say nothing of +swimming or fighting. There is a rear door out of the hall, yonder, but +no use trying it."</p> + +<p>"Perchance I have still some strength," grinned Cathbarr, picking up his +ax. "Let us have a look at that rear door, before they come at us with +muskets."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">HOW THE DARK MASTER WAS RUINED.</span></h2> + + +<p>The fear that had come upon the O'Donnells was so great that not until +pikemen entered the castle from the camp could the Dark Master get men +at the doors of the hall. And this proved the salvation of Brian and +Cathbarr, for when they left the hall by the rear door and slipped +through the corridors, they came out upon the rear or seaward +battlements of the castle.</p> + +<p>These they found denuded of men, while from the courtyard and front of +the keep were rising shouts and batterings, whereat Cathbarr chuckled.</p> + +<p>"They are all drawn around to the front, brother. Now, how to get down +from here?"</p> + +<p>Brian looked around in the starlight, but saw that there was no gate or +other opening in the walls. He began to lose hope again; once the Dark +Master had burst into the great hall he would scatter men over the whole +castle, and their shrift would be short. At this point the walls were +some thirty feet high, and pointing out to the sea stood four of the +bastards, with balls piled beside them.</p> + +<p>"Now if we had a rope," he said, "the matter would not be hard. Is that +boat near the shore?"</p> + +<p>"Not so far that I cannot make them hear," grinned Cathbarr, opening his +mouth to shout, but Brian stopped him.</p> + +<p>"Be careful—do you want to draw down the O'Donnells likewise? Now, cut +the ropes from these cannon, and if we have time we shall yet get down +safe."</p> + +<p>Cathbarr rushed off in delight, and began hewing at the recoil-ropes +which bound the bastards and their carriages to their places. Brian +followed him, seizing the ropes and trying to knot the strands hastily +and with no little pain to himself; but now the hope of escape began to +thrill through him, and for the first time since sighting the Dark +Master's stronghold he began to think that he might yet get away. +However, he could do little knotting with one hand, and not until +Cathbarr impatiently took over the task was it finished. At the same +instant a great burst of yells rose over the castle.</p> + +<p>"Hasten!" cried Brian, as the other began fastening the line to a +cannon. "I can use one hand—"</p> + +<p>"Save your strength," grunted Cathbarr, lifting him after swinging the +loop of his ax around his neck. "Catch me about the neck with your good +arm, and trust me for the rest, brother."</p> + +<p>Brian did as he was ordered, since there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span> was no time for lowering him +down. The giant scrambled over the edge, gripping the twisting rope, and +Brian tightened his lips to keep down his groans, for the agony was +cruel to him. He was forced against the body of Cathbarr, and swirl +after swirl of pain went over him at each touch on his burns.</p> + +<p>The giant grunted once or twice, for he had many slight wounds also, but +with the rope gripped in hands and feet, he lowered away steadily. At +length they reached the ground, and the scattered rocks along the shore +were but a few yards away.</p> + +<p>Cathbarr sent his bull-like voice roaring out at the stars, while Brian +clung weakly to him and searched the waters. He could see nothing, but +suddenly there drifted in a faint shout, and Cathbarr bellowed once +more.</p> + +<p>"Swim for it," said Brian, as torches began to move along the walls +above. "If those cannon are not loaded, we're safe."</p> + +<p>Cathbarr nodded, and caught up the body of Brian tenderly enough in one +arm, as he splashed out. The icy water shocked Brian's brain awake and +drove the pain out of him momentarily, and before Cathbarr was +waist-deep he heard a hail and saw the dark shape of a galley +approaching.</p> + +<p>Muskets flashed out from the walls, and their bullets whistled overhead, +but five minutes later Brian was on the galley, Cathbarr was clambering +over the side, and the light boat was being rowed out again.</p> + +<p>Brian thought his senses were slipping away when he found Nuala O'Malley +herself holding his head as he lay in the stern, while men flung cloaks +around him; but warm tears dripped on his face, and she patted his arm +soothingly.</p> + +<p>"Lie quiet," she said, but Brian would not, for already his brain was +leaping ahead, and he knew that there was work to be done.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," he asked eagerly, "are my men camped around the royalists? +Is help indeed coming to you from the North?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she replied, trying to quiet him. "A pigeon came in from Erris +to-day, with word that two ships with men were on the way to help me. +When I returned from the South and found that the plague had been at +Gorumna, I sent off asking for help, and now it is coming."</p> + +<p>"Then send word to Turlough!" cried Brian eagerly. "Tell him to throw my +men on the royalist camp <i>to-night</i> and drive the pikemen into the +castle! Colonel Vere is dead, and there is such confusion that all will +think we have more than two hundred men. If we can leaguer them there +until your ships come, we may win all at a blow!"</p> + +<p>Nuala found instantly that there was meat in the plan, and as they were +rowing out to meet one of her caracks, promised to send in the galley +with word to Turlough when they got aboard the larger ship.</p> + +<p>This they were no great while in doing. Brian knew nothing of it, for +upon the Bird Daughter's word he had dropped away into a faint once +more. With this Nuala O'Malley was quite content, so that when Brian +wakened he was greatly refreshed and found himself lying bandaged on a +bunk with the sunlight coming through a stern-port beside him, and the +Bird Daughter watching him with food and drink ready.</p> + +<p>"Take of this first," she smiled; "then we will talk."</p> + +<p>Brian obeyed, being very thirsty and ravenously hungered. He had little +pain except when he tried to move, and so he ate as he lay, propped up +with folded garments, and watched the Bird Daughter. She refused to +speak until he had eaten the meat and cakes she had fetched, but when he +smiled and asked for a razor her grave face rippled with frank laughter, +and her deep violet eyes danced as they looked into his.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry I have none," she said mockingly. "So you must wait till we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span> +come to port again. Just at present we are off Slyne Head and bearing +northward."</p> + +<p>"What!" Brian stared at her. "Are you in jest?"</p> + +<p>It appeared that she was not, for she was sailing north to meet those +ships of her kinsmen, and to hasten them back with her. Meantime +Cathbarr had been sent ashore to meet Turlough and hold the Dark Master +and his royalists in check. Nuala had sent fifty of her men to join +Turlough, left twenty to hold her castle, and had ten with her upon the +carack. It seemed likely that Turlough and Cathbarr could hold the Dark +Master penned up for a few days at least, even with fewer men; if they +could not, said Nuala shortly, they had best sit at spinning-wheels for +the rest of their lives.</p> + +<p>"You are a wonderful girl!" said Brian, and fell asleep again.</p> + +<p>He remembered little of that voyage, for they met two caracks crowded +with men off Innishark that afternoon, found they were the expected +O'Malleys from the North, and turned back with them at once. Brian +wakened again that same evening, but Nuala refused to let him go on deck +until the following morning, when they sighted Bertraghboy Bay. Then +Brian discarded most of his bandages, dressed, and, with his left arm in +a sling, joined the Bird Daughter on the quarterdeck. He found that his +burns were well on toward healing, for he could walk slowly without +great pain, and had every confidence that he could sit a horse if need +be.</p> + +<p>Sailing past Bertragh Castle, the three ships went on up the bay and +cast anchor. It was not hard to see that Turlough and Cathbarr had done +their work well, for in passing the castle they had made out that the +royalist pikemen had been driven inside, and there was some musketry to +be heard at times. No sooner had the anchor-cables roared out, indeed, +than a band of men came riding toward the shore, and Nuala sent off a +boat for them. She had known nothing of Cathbarr's deeds at the castle +until Brian had told her of them, and on seeing that the giant was among +those coming off, she smiled at Brian.</p> + +<p>"Now you shall see how a girl can conquer a giant, Yellow Brian!"</p> + +<p>Brian laughed and waved a hand to Turlough, who was beside Cathbarr in +the boat. As the men came over the rail, Nuala quietly pushed him aside +and faced the giant, sharply bidding him kneel. Cathbarr had been all +for rushing forward to Brian, and obeyed with an ill grace, when Nuala +quickly leaned forward and kissed him on the brow.</p> + +<p>"That is for bravery and faith," she said. "Truly, I would that you +served me!"</p> + +<p>Poor Cathbarr grew redder than the Bird Daughter's cloak. He started to +his feet, gazed around sheepishly, found all men laughing at him—and +did the best thing he could have done, which was to go to his knees +again and put Nuala's hand to his lips.</p> + +<p>"While my master serves you, I serve you," he blurted out, and this +answer must have pleased Nuala mightily, for she flushed, laughed, and +bade all down into the cabin.</p> + +<p>Brian greeted Turlough with no little joy, but beyond assurances that +all went well, gained no knowledge of what had happened. Nuala had sent +for the O'Malley chieftains, and proposed to hold a conference at once.</p> + +<p>The O'Malleys arrived from the other ships in a scant five +minutes—dark, silent men who spoke little, but spoke to the point. Art +Bocagh, or the Lame, had had one leg hamstrung in his youth, but Brian +took him for a dangerous man in battle; while his cousin Shaun the +Little was a very short man with tremendous shoulders.</p> + +<p>Nuala took her seat at the head of the stern-cabin table, and the +position of affairs was gone over carefully.</p> + +<p>It seemed that no sooner had Turlough learned from Cathbarr of what had +taken place in the castle, and that Brian was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span> safe on shipboard, than +he drove his men down pell-mell on the camp, just before dawn. Any other +man would have been exhausted by the events of that night, but Cathbarr +had led them in the assault. The result had been that, with hardly any +resistance, they had slain some four-score of the pikemen, and would +have captured or slain them all had it not been for the Dark Master's +cannon which drove them back.</p> + +<p>The better part of the royalist officers had fallen, either then or +under the ax of Cathbarr in the hall of the castle. In fact, after +learning that he had slain some nineteen persons on that occasion, +Cathbarr had taken no few airs upon himself. Vanity was to him as +natural as to a child, and Brian hugely enjoyed watching the giant +strut. However, what remained of Vere's five hundred pikemen were in the +castle, joined to the Dark Master's men; and Turlough's advice was that +since there must be some seven hundred mouths to feed, the safest plan +was to bide close and force the fight to come to them, rather than to +take it to O'Donnell.</p> + +<p>"There is reason against that, Turlough Wolf," said Brian quickly. "The +Dark Master has men on the hills, and if news is borne to Galway of what +has happened, we are like to have a larger army on our heels than we can +cope with."</p> + +<p>"I have attended to O'Donnell's watchers," said Turlough grimly. "When +Cathbarr bore word of the pact from Gorumna Castle, I sent out horsemen +and we swept the hills bare of men. O'Donnell has no more than are in +the castle, and a score of our own men are on the roads, watching for +any ill."</p> + +<p>"How many men have we in all?" spoke up Lame Art O'Malley. "In our ships +there are sixty men we can spare for land battle."</p> + +<p>"That gives us three hundred in all," replied Turlough to Nuala's +questioning glance. "If we take a strong position we should sweep most +of O'Donnell's men away at the first charge."</p> + +<p>"There you are wrong," said Brian, shaking his head. "Those pikemen are +bad foes for cavalry, and our two hundred horsemen would shatter on them +if they stood firm."</p> + +<p>"Not if we choose our ground," said the Bird Daughter, her eyes +flashing. "Nay, <i>I</i> am master here, my friends! Now this is my rede. We +shall not waste men by attacking the castle, unless forced to it by an +army from Galway. Instead, we will wait until the Dark Master is driven +out by hunger; then we will fall on him and destroy him utterly.</p> + +<p>"Yellow Brian, you have some knowledge of war, and you shall take this +matter in charge. Cathbarr, do you command fifty horse, with the men +from our ships here, and keep the Dark Master in play. With the +remainder, we shall wait in whatever spot Brian shall choose, and before +many days are sped I think that Bertragh will be mine again."</p> + +<p>The Bird Daughter had her way, since none could find much against her +plan; and that afternoon Brian went ashore with her and the O'Malleys, +leaving the three ships at anchor under a small guard. Turlough had made +camp a short mile from the castle, on a little hill among the farms; +both Nuala and the O'Malley men were somewhat surprised at finding the +O'Donnell women and children safe and untouched in their own steads.</p> + +<p>"I saw to that," laughed Turlough, slanting his crafty eyes at Brian. "I +had but to threaten them in Brian's name, and the men only were slain."</p> + +<p>"I think that you are a hard master," laughed Nuala, but Brian smiled +and pointed to his men, who were pouring out to meet him with shouts of +joy.</p> + +<p>"All men do not rule by fear alone, Bird Daughter," he said quietly. She +gave him a quick glance. "I found these men riffraff of the wars, and +while they have no such love for me as Cathbarr here, I think they had +liefer follow me than any other leader."</p> + +<p>After that Nuala said little concerning Brian's discipline.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span>That night Nuala and Brian took up headquarters at one of the larger +farms, and while Cathbarr went before the castle to keep the Dark Master +in check and allow none to leave the place, they called in a number of +those men O'Donnell had loaned to Brian, and questioned them about the +provisioning of the castle.</p> + +<p>From these they found that there was good store of all things for the +usual garrison, but with seven hundred men to feed the Dark Master would +be forced out speedily. So with the dawn Brian and Turlough rode forth +to select a battleground, and while Brian was very sore and riding +caused him great pain at first, he soon found himself in better shape.</p> + +<p>Turlough picked a hollow in the road a mile farther from the castle, +flanked on either hand by woods and hillsides where men might lie +hidden. Brian found it good, and that afternoon a part of their horsemen +were shifted thither in readiness.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>For the next three days there was little done. Twice the Dark Master +attempted sallies with what few horsemen he had left, but on each +occasion Cathbarr's horse smote his men and drove them back. To be sure, +O'Donnell thundered with his bastards, but the guns only burned up good +powder, for Brian would allow no assault made.</p> + +<p>By Turlough's advice, however, they brought about the Dark Master's fall +through certain prisoners made in the two sallies.</p> + +<p>These captives were led through the depleted central camp, though they +knew nothing of that picked place farther back. Having been allowed to +see what men Brian had here, Turlough slyly drove Cathbarr into parading +his vanity before them; and in all innocence the giant told how he could +put the Dark Master's men to flight single-handed, and of his anxiety +lest the O'Donnells should fear to fight in the open. What was more, +Brian affected to be utterly shattered by his wounds, and with that the +prisoners were sent back with a message offering quarter to all within +the castle save the Dark Master himself.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning a horseman came riding fast from Cathbarr with +word that the garrison was stirring. Without delay, Brian donned a +mail-shirt, bound his useless left arm to his side, and mounted. The +Bird Daughter insisted on accompanying him, and stilled his dismayed +protests by asserting her feudal superiority; in the end she had her +way.</p> + +<p>Leaving her kinsmen and a hundred more men to dispute O'Donnell's +passage and give back slowly before him with Cathbarr, she and Brian +rode to their men among the trees on the hillsides over the hollow in +the road. Here they had a hundred and fifty men, composed of the Scots +troopers and the pick of the others, and Nuala took one side of the road +while Brian took the other. Then, being well hidden, they waited.</p> + +<p>Brian was savagely determined to slay the Dark Master that day, and came +near to doing it. Presently a man galloped up to say that O'Donnell and +six hundred men were on the road, having left the rest to hold the +castle. A little later Cathbarr's retreating force came in sight, and +after them marched O'Donnell. He had deployed his muskets in front and +rear, and rode in the midst of his pikemen, whose banner of England blew +out bravely in the morning wind.</p> + +<p>At the edge of the dip in the road Cathbarr led his men in full flight +down the hollow and up the farther rise, where he halted as if to +dispute the Dark Master further. There were barely a dozen mounted men +with O'Donnell, and he made no pursuit, but marched steadily along with +his muskets pecking at Cathbarr's men. When he had come between the +wooded hillsides, however, Cathbarr came charging down the road; the +pikemen settled their pikes three deep to receive him, and with that +Brian led out his men among the trees and swooped down with an ax +swinging in his right hand.</p> + +<p>Alive to his danger, the Dark Master<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</a></span> tried to receive his charge, but +at that instant Nuala's men burst down on the other flank. Brian headed +his men, and at sight of him a yell of dismay went up from the +O'Donnells. A moment later the pikemen's array was broken and the fight +disintegrated into a wild affray wherein the horsemen had much the +better of it.</p> + +<p>Brian tried to cut his way to the Dark Master, but when O'Donnell saw +the pikemen shattered he knew that the day was lost. He gathered his +dozen horsemen and went at Cathbarr viciously; Brian saw the two meet, +saw O'Donnell's blade slip under the ax and Cathbarr go from the saddle, +then the Dark Master had broken through the ring and was riding hard for +the North.</p> + +<p>Brian wheeled his horse instantly, found the Bird Daughter at his side, +and with a score of men behind them they rode out of the battle in +pursuit. It proved useless, however, for the Dark Master had the better +horseflesh; after half an hour he was gaining rapidly, and with a bitter +groan Brian drew rein at last.</p> + +<p>"No use, Nuala," he said. "I must wait until my strength has come back +to me, for I have done too much and can go no farther."</p> + +<p>The girl reined in beside him, and her hand went out to his, and he +found himself gazing deep into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"For what you have done, Brian," she said simply, "thanks. Now let us +ride back, for I think there is work before us, and we shall see the +Dark Master soon enough."</p> + +<p>"I am not minded to wait his coming," quoth Yellow Brian darkly, and +they returned.</p> + +<div class="blockquot" style="margin-top: 2.25em;"> +<p>TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. Don't forget this magazine is issued weekly, +and that you will get the continuation of this story without waiting a +month.</p> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<h2><a name="Part_III" id="Part_III"></a><i>Nuala O'Malley</i><br /> +<i>by</i> H. Bedford-Jones</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_659" id="Page_659">[Pg 659]</a></span>Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc.</p> + +<p>This story began in the All-Story Weekly for December 30.</p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">BRIAN RIDES TO VENGEANCE.</span></h2> + + +<p>"Then you are intent on this vengeance, master?" asked Turlough +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Brian. "I here take oath that I will never cut hair nor +beard again until I have seen the Dark Master dead."</p> + +<p>"You are not like to have a chance at your hair very soon," laughed out +Lame Art O'Malley. "But that is a good oath, Yellow Brian."</p> + +<p>"Then I think this is a better plan," spoke up Turlough Wolf. "Give me +ten men, Brian, and I will go to Galway. I will soon get traces of +O'Donnell; and if he goes into the north to get men of his own sept" +(tribe or family), "as I think most likely, I will send back word, and +we can follow him."</p> + +<p>"Do it," said Brian, and Turlough was gone that night.</p> + +<p>This discussion took place in the hollow, where the fight was soon over +after the flight of the Dark Master. Out of the six hundred who had left +the castle, two hundred had been O'Donnell's men. Half of these remained +and took service with Brian at once. Of the four hundred pikemen, three +hundred had gone down fighting like the stubborn south-country men they +were, and the rest took service<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_660" id="Page_660">[Pg 660]</a></span> with Nuala O'Malley. They were most of +them Kerry men, and well disposed toward ships and piracy.</p> + +<p>Brian had lost in all fifty men in that battle, while the Dark Master +had given Cathbarr a goodly thrust through the shoulder, which had let +out most of the giant's vanity and promised to give the huge ax some +time to rest and rust. So, then, Brian found himself heading two hundred +and fifty men of his own, with Nuala's hundred O'Malleys, when they rode +down again to Bertragh Castle.</p> + +<p>This had been left in charge of a hundred men under Red Murrough, who +had not been slain, but only wounded by Cathbarr's fist, that night in +the great hall. Having left a party to bring in the wounded in wagons +from the farms, they arrived before the castle shortly after noon. +Cathbarr was left in charge of the camp, and Brian rode up to the gates +with Nuala and her two kinsmen, with a flag of truce.</p> + +<p>Murrough and his men were put into consternation by the news Brian gave +them. After much stroking of his matted beard, Murrough proposed to +surrender the castle on condition that he hold his post of lieutenant. +Brian laughed, for he had other views on the subject.</p> + +<p>"You sold your master, and you will have no chance to sell me, Murrough. +I will give you the ten pounds I owe you and a good horse. Refuse, and I +slay you when we storm the castle."</p> + +<p>The end of that matter was that Murrough assented. An hour later he +opened the gates, his men taking service with the rest under Brian. +Then, having obtained his ten English pounds and a horse, he waved +farewell to his men and rode away; and what became of him after that is +not set forth in the chronicle, so he comes no more into this tale.</p> + +<p>Nuala loaded her fifty men into her carack, and sent them home that +night to Gorumna in case of need, proposing to follow later with Lame +Art, Shaun the Little, and her Kerry recruits. The O'Malley cousins +intended going south, since their affair had been so unexpectedly +ended, and picking up a Spanish ship or two before returning home.</p> + +<p>"And now, what of your plans?" asked Nuala, as she and Brian sat +together that night before the huge fireplace in the hall, where Brian +had been burned and where Cathbarr had fought so well. "Of course, we +can settle rents later on."</p> + +<p>"When there are farms to gather rents from," laughed Brian, stretching +out easily. He lifted his bandaged left hand, gazing at it. "First, I am +minded to rest here and wait for news from Galway. The bones in this +hand of mine are not broken, from what I can make out, and it will soon +knit. As soon as may be, I shall ride after the Dark Master; when I have +paid my debts, I will then be in shape to look for a castle for myself."</p> + +<p>"Then you are determined to kill O'Donnell?" and she looked at him +sidewise.</p> + +<p>"He has my Spanish blade," said Brian. "It is good Toledo steel, and I +want it back again."</p> + +<p>"You have three hundred and fifty men here," she observed. "Can you feed +them?"</p> + +<p>"You have food in Gorumna—send me some. When I am well again I shall +ride with most of them, which will lessen the burden. With the spring I +will take lands between here and Slyne Head, for now I am strong enough +to defend what I take."</p> + +<p>"I shall also send you some of my pigeons, Brian. They are born and bred +on Gorumna Isle, and if you tie a message to them they will—"</p> + +<p>"I know," nodded Brian. "I have seen them used in Spain."</p> + +<p>With that she described how she used these pigeons, and Brian saw that +it was not by strength alone that this girl had maintained her position. +She kept men in Galway, Kinvarra, and elsewhere, as far south as the +Shannon and as far north as Erris, with others at Limerick and Tuam and +Castlebar. In this wise she got news of what was passing in Con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_661" id="Page_661">[Pg 661]</a></span>naught +and Munster before most men had it, and more than one foreign ship had +found her caracks waiting for it through the same means, since she held +a privateer commission given her by Blake to legalize her sea-roving. +Also, she had pigeons which carried return messages, chiefly to her +kinsmen in Erris.</p> + +<p>"And what is your goal, Bird Daughter?" Brian turned to her, his blue +eyes clinching on her violet ones. "What will the end of all this wild +life of yours be?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know," she answered him, and turned away from his eyes to +stare down into the fire. "In the end I may be forced into marriage, +though I think not, for I have some will of my own in that regard." She +laughed out suddenly and looked up. "Two years ago Stephen Lynch sent me +a fair screed in all the glory of his chevron and three shamrocks and +wolf crest, saying that he was coming in one of his ships to marry me."</p> + +<p>"And did he ever come?" smiled Brian.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but I took his ship from him and sent him home again by road, tied +to a horse," she rippled out merrily. "Poor Stephen! The Bodkins never +let the Lynches hear the last of it until Stephen fell fighting against +Coote, and there was an end of it and him, too. When are you going to +tell me your name, Brian?"</p> + +<p>At the sudden question Brian was tempted, but forbore.</p> + +<p>"When I have slain the Dark Master," he laughed.</p> + +<p>"Then you are likely to be bearded worse than Cathbarr," she mocked him +gaily. "Unless, indeed, you break that oath you swore this morning."</p> + +<p>"Not I," returned Brian shortly. "I am not given to light oaths or light +pacts, Bird Daughter. I think I shall get me a ship and go cruising some +day."</p> + +<p>"Come with me," she said, rising, "and you may win food and wine without +begging from your overlord. Well, now for that chamber Cathbarr fixed up +for me. <i>Beannacht leath!</i>"</p> + +<p>Somewhat to his surprise, the next morning Brian found that Nuala was +extremely businesslike and even curt. Knowing little of women, he tried +to find wherein he had offended; failed utterly, and gave over the +attempt on seeing that Nuala preferred the company of Cathbarr.</p> + +<p>Then, remembering that kiss she had given the giant aboard ship, he +concluded that the Bird Daughter was drawn by the physical magnificence +of the man, which gave him a little bitterness. So he merely set his jaw +the harder and said nothing of the thing that lay in his heart to any +one. For that matter, he was not quite sure himself what the thing was; +but he knew that he had never seen a woman such as the Bird Daughter in +all his life, and was not apt to find another.</p> + +<p>Turlough having departed on his mission, Brian fell back on Cathbarr to +act as lieutenant; with Nuala herself, the work of getting the castle in +shape proceeded apace. The Bertragh hold was built on a cliff that rose +from the plain on the one hand, and sloped down to the water on the +other; had the Dark Master not fallen into Turlough's trap, he might +have turned out the pikemen to shift for themselves and have held the +castle with his own men for as long as he wished.</p> + +<p>Indeed, Brian found that the removal of danger and the taking of the +castle had somewhat puffed up his men, lessening their fear of him. So, +on the second day, he quelled a free fight that rose among them, hanged +ten of the worst, and after this the others became as lambs before him.</p> + +<p>Upon exploring the castle, Brian was delighted to find it well equipped +in all things except prisoners. The Dark Master had had little use for +captives, it seemed, and his dungeons were in sad disrepair. However, +there was good store of powder, provisions in moderation, a well within +the castle, and no lack of arms and munitions of war. Brian promptly +took the chamber of O'Donnell for his own use—a large tower-room well +furnished in English style, and having the luxury of a fireplace +besides.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_662" id="Page_662">[Pg 662]</a></span>The construction of the building was simple—a large stone structure +with embattled walls, running down close to the sea behind and rising +above the plain in front. Save for the courtyard, the walls were not +separated from the building proper, and there was one high tower, on +which the flagstaff had been shattered since O'Donnell had taken the +place, for he was not given to flags and display. Besides a dozen of the +large bastards, there were five falcons, with plenty of ball.</p> + +<p>Therefore, Brian had good reason to be satisfied with his new home. The +only thing that rankled was that he held it not for himself, but for the +Bird Daughter; and he was determined that when he had settled scores +with the Dark Master he would only remain here until he had secured a +hold for himself, free of all service.</p> + +<p>But settling with O'Donnell Dubh was the first duty he had. Brian +recalled his torture and the agony of Cathbarr every time he entered the +hall. The iron rings that had been in the floor he had already torn out, +while Nuala had taken for her own the lonely wolfhound, which had been +left behind by the Dark Master. But Brian, who put all his desire for +vengeance in the wish to "get back his Spanish blade," could hardly turn +around without having some phase of his sufferings brought back to him.</p> + +<p>The men who had been thrown out along the roads had fetched in word that +the Dark Master had ridden for Galway, so Brian had great hopes that +Turlough would bring back some definite news. If O'Donnell settled in +the city, he was determined to go in at all risks and seek out his enemy +face to face; the O'Malleys were on good terms with the Bodkins, who in +old Galway played <i>Capulet</i> to the <i>Montague</i> of the Lynch family, and +he would be able to command some help in that quarter.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>On the fifth day after the castle had been taken, a galley came over +from Gorumna Castle bearing news. Cromwell had failed before Duncannon, +and promised to fail again at Waterford, and hope was rising high among +the royalists, while O'Neill's Ulster army was biding its time in the +north until a new leader was chosen by the Confederacy to make head with +Ormond against the Parliament armies.</p> + +<p>Upon this the O'Malley rovers were impatient to revictual at Gorumna and +be off to the south after plunder, so Nuala decided to leave Bertragh +the next morning. That night, after Cathbarr had drunk himself asleep +and the O'Malleys had sought their ships, the Bird Daughter unexpectedly +became very cordial toward Brian once more, and they sat up late before +the fireplace.</p> + +<p>Brian did not understand it, but he was quite willing to accept it, and +when the talk turned on personal matters he was careful to ask no +questions concerning Nuala's plans for the future. Instead, he told her +tales of his life at the Spanish court, which interested her vastly, +until in the end she broke forth with a passionate outburst.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I wish I were a man!" she cried softly and eagerly, looking into +the red embers. "All my life I have been among men, and yet not of them; +I have had to do with guns and ships and powder, and I think I have not +done so ill, yet I have had dreams of other things—things which I +hardly know myself."</p> + +<p>Astonished though he was at her sudden unfolding of herself, Brian +looked at her gravely, his blue eyes very soft as he pierced to her +thought.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said gently, "you are a woman, Bird Daughter—and if you were +a man I think that you might have gain, but others would have great +loss."</p> + +<p>"Eh?" She looked straightly at him, unfearing his half-expressed +thought. "I do not seek idle compliments, Yellow Brian, from those who +serve me."</p> + +<p>Brian flushed a little.</p> + +<p>"It is hard to receive compliments gracefully," he said, and at that she +also colored, but laughed, her eyes still on his.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_663" id="Page_663">[Pg 663]</a></span>"There, give grace to my rude tongue, Brian! Of course you meant it—but +why?"</p> + +<p>"Because there is no woman like you, Nuala—so able to weld men into +union, so vibrant with inner power, and yet so womanly withal. It is no +little honor to have known you, to have—"</p> + +<p>"I wish you would tell me your name, Yellow Brian!"</p> + +<p>There was woman's cunning in the placing of that answer, and it took +Brian all aback. For a moment he was near to blurting out his whole +story; then he took shame for letting a girl's face so run away with +him. None the less, he knew well that it was her heart as well as her +face, and her spirit as well as her heart, that had captured him; yet, +because he had had no dealings with women since leaving Spain some +months before, he told himself that if the Bird Daughter had other women +near by to compare herself with, less attraction might be found in her.</p> + +<p>But he did not pause long upon that thought, sweeping his blue eyes to +hers in a smile.</p> + +<p>"If you had been a man, Nuala, you had never had fealty from me."</p> + +<p>"So—then it <i>was</i> pity?" and swift anger leaped into her face.</p> + +<p>"Was it pity that drove Cathbarr to proffer his life for mine?" parried +Brian, his eyes grave. He felt a great impulse to speak out all that was +in him, but crushed it down. Her eyes met his, and held there for a long +moment. Then she spoke very calmly:</p> + +<p>"When will you take that cruise with me, Yellow Brian?"</p> + +<p>"When I have won my Spanish blade again," he smiled, and after that they +talked no more of intimate things, yet Brian's heart was glad within +him.</p> + +<p>With the next morning the Bird Daughter said farewell and went aboard +Lame Art's carack. Sorry was Brian to see her go, for he had come to +count much on her fine backing and inspiring courage, and knew not if he +would ever see her again. As the ships raised anchor, Cathbarr suddenly +let off the bastards with a great roar and raised on the shattered +flag-pole an ensign he had secretly obtained from Shaun the Little. The +ship-cannon barked out in brave answer and hoisted ensigns likewise; but +as Brian looked up at the flag overhead, his despondent mood was not +heartened. The three-masted ship of the O'Malleys flew above him, where +he had much rather flown the red hand of his own house.</p> + +<p>"When I have slain the Dark Master," he thought, watching from those +same sea-facing battlements where he and Cathbarr had descended, as the +two caracks leaped off to the south, "and when I have established myself +in some hold, be it never so small, then I shall take back my name again +and let the red hand hold what it has gripped. But not until these +things have been done, for Brian O'Neill will give fealty to none—no, +not even to the Bird Daughter herself."</p> + +<p>Thus he thought in his proud bitterness, reckoning not on what the +future was to bring forth. However, he had lost his idea that Nuala +might love Cathbarr, and had great gladness of it.</p> + +<p>Now there was work to be done, and Brian soon found himself too busy to +bother his mind with thoughts of bitterness. Cathbarr had done no little +drinking, so that his wound was turning bad, and in no little alarm +Brian banished all liquors from him and tended him carefully. Taking a +lesson from Red Murrough, he washed out the wound with vinegar, and +found that this had its effect.</p> + +<p>Since Brian was irked at having to rely on others for his supplies, he +rode to all the outlying farms and sent off the families there under +escort, with sufficient money to keep them and take them to their homes +in the north. Many of them chose to remain, and certain of his men knew +of women-folk they wished to bring hither, so that Brian saw he would +not lack for farmers and settlers. Enough fodder was obtained to keep +his horses for a time; but as this did not satisfy him, he set forth +after four days on a cattle-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_664" id="Page_664">[Pg 664]</a></span>raid to the northeast, riding past the +Manturks toward Ashford with ninety men.</p> + +<p>He was gone on that raid five days; found to his great joy that his +strength had returned to him, and also found a small party of Royalist +horse near Lough Corrib. These had been buying up cattle for the Galway +garrison, and had collected fifty head; but on Brian's approach they did +not stay for dispute, but fled.</p> + +<p>So Brian cheerfully sent the fifty head of cattle home with as many men, +and with the others swept around through the mountains. With him were +two of Cathbarr's axmen, and they led him to the hold occupied by +Murrough O'Flaherty of the Kine, where Brian stayed half a day. He +concluded a friendship with the mountaineers, promising them powder in +exchange for cattle, and they promised, in turn, that within three weeks +they would fetch a hundred kine down to Castle Bertragh.</p> + +<p>Having thus assured himself of both food and stock for his farms, he +rode home again, to find great news awaiting him.</p> + +<p>First, there had come a galley from Gorumna with wine and stores. Nuala +sent word that her men in Galway had informed her the Dark Master was +there, but in no high favor with Lord Burke and the other commanders. +Second, one of Turlough Wolf's men had come in with news which had +caused Cathbarr to have the men in all readiness against Brian's return.</p> + +<p>The Dark Master was indeed in Galway town, and had made small head with +his suit for men, having related that Vere and his pikemen were lost. +However, he had been promised some help, provided he could gather any +force of his own and would hold Bertragh for the Royalists. Cromwell had +been driven back at Waterford, but Cork had risen for him, and his men +had entered there.</p> + +<p>So the Dark Master was going to the north to get him men in Sligo, as +Turlough had predicted he would do, and his plan was to raise a force, +bring down those Donegal pirates with whom he was in alliance, and set +on Bertragh by sea and land, as Brian himself had aimed at doing. +Turlough said that he was following, but would leave men at Swineford +and Tobercurry with further news of what happed.</p> + +<p>"Good!" cried Brian joyfully. "Cathbarr, have a hundred and fifty men +saddled at dawn—what is this?"</p> + +<p>Turlough's messenger handed him a paper. It was a safe-conduct issued by +the Confederacy and Royalist leaders in the name of one Stephen Burke, +and where the wily Wolf had gotten it the messenger did not know. But it +might come in useful, since there were few parliament men in Sligo and +Mayo, and Brian tucked it away with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Then to the north at dawn—and O'Donnell shall not escape me this +time!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">HOW THE STORM FARED NORTH.</span></h2> + + +<p>Now, it was no easy matter for a band of horsemen to ride from Galway to +Sligo in that day, unless they were known men and rode for the king or +the Confederacy. Scattered bands of men had come into the west from +Ulster and Leinster, and these had driven out what Parliament men had +landed; through the early years of the war Owen Ruadh's men had swept +all the west country, and now the land was resting, waiting for the +storm that was fated to come upon it when the rest of Ireland had been +crushed under the heel of Ireton. Enniskillen alone, in Fermanagh, held +out for Parliament.</p> + +<p>So, while the larger towns were all under Irish authority, the +hill-country was full of seething parties from all armies, most of them +being ravagers and outlaws who would fear to lay hand on so large a +party as Brian's. But little Brian cared for them, and without let or +pause he drove north to Ashford and so into the lowlands.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_665" id="Page_665">[Pg 665]</a></span>Knowing that he must return again by the same way, he avoided the larger +towns and pushed hard for Swineford, where he would find word from +Turlough. More than once he met parties of men on the road, but these +were not anxious to question him, and it was not until he was riding +around Claremorris that men began to feel his heavy hand.</p> + +<p>With Lough Garra falling behind on the left, and Claremorris at safe +distance on the right, Brian was clattering along on the third morning. +His men carried muskets slung at their saddles, with bandoliers of +cartridges at their waists ready for quick action; and well it was that +they were so prepared. Searching ahead with narrowed eyes, Brian caught +a quick glint of steel on the road, and in no long time he made out a +party of a hundred men riding toward him. Brian got ready both his ax +and his safe-conduct, and rode forward without pause.</p> + +<p>Now, he had brought with him most of those Scots troopers he had taken +into service, and as the other party drew near he heard a swift yell of +"Albanach!" that boded no good. But Brian shouted to them and asked who +they were.</p> + +<p>"None of your affair!" answered their leader, a huge, dark man. "Who are +you?"</p> + +<p>"Stephen Burke from Galway," answered Brian; but before the words left +him he saw a musket flash, and one of his men fell.</p> + +<p>Upon that, no more words were wasted. Brian threw up his ax and dug in +his spurs, with his men behind; and when they loosed their muskets they +rode on the hundred with butts swinging. This was a new kind of warfare +in Connaught, and before Brian's ax had struck twice the field was won. +From two prisoners he found that the band was composed of a levy of the +O'Connors out of the Storm Mountains.</p> + +<p>"That is not well for our return," said one of his lieutenants. "We will +have the whole country up after this battle, and we have lost ten men."</p> + +<p>"Then we shall have the more need of recruits," quoth Brian, and let his +prisoners go free, since they would take no service, but only cursed +him.</p> + +<p>However, Brian was not ill pleased, since he found that he was nearly +sped of his wounds, though his left hand gave him some trouble at times. +His pleasure was speedily cured, for when they camped that night on the +hither side of Kiltarnagh there came a rush of men toward dawn, and +before they were beaten off twenty of Brian's men were dead. Five +prisoners were taken, and when two of these had been hung, the other +three confessed that the attack had been made by certain O'Connors from +the southern end of Lough Conn, to whose villages fugitives had come +from the affray of the previous morning.</p> + +<p>With that, Brian took counsel with some of his men who knew the country, +and it was their advice that he give up the ride and return home.</p> + +<p>"I will not," said Brian shortly. "This war was not of my seeking, but +thirty of my men have been slain. Guide me to these villages, and I will +take blood-fine."</p> + +<p>This he did because he needs must. His men did no ravaging, and were in +need of provisions, while he was minded to fill up his ranks. Also, by +taking sharp vengeance, he knew that on his return he was not like to be +molested.</p> + +<p>So he turned aside and rode fast for Lough Conn, which he reached the +next evening, and there came a storm of men on all that country. Twice +through the days that followed Brian had to fight hard—once against a +muster of the O'Connors, and once against a large force of ravaging +hillsmen under one Fitzgerald. Him Brian slew with a blow of his ax that +went from shoulder to saddle.</p> + +<p>From his men he gained fifty recruits and no small booty, both of money +and horses; and from the O'Connors he took bitter blood-fine for his +slain men in spare horses and provisions.</p> + +<p>These doings are set down briefly in the chronicle; but when Brian +turned east<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_666" id="Page_666">[Pg 666]</a></span> again, with Swineford a hard day's ride away, he once more +had a hundred and fifty men at his back, with a good store of all +things, while his name was one that spread fear. He left his men camped +two miles out of Swineford, on the Moy, and rode next morning into the +town with a dozen horsemen only.</p> + +<p>In the town was quartered a small force of Maguires from Fermanagh, and +as he rode in Brian was halted by their leader, who gave him the sele of +the day and asked his name. Brian held out his passport, and after +Maguire had fumbled over it and pretended that he could read, he gave it +back with a grin and Brian passed on with another.</p> + +<p>The seal of the Confederacy on the safe-conduct was quite enough for any +man in these parts, however.</p> + +<p>Brian had not ridden a hundred paces farther before he saw one of +Turlough's men beckoning to him from the door of an inn, so he left his +troopers to drink outside and passed within. Turlough's man joined him +at a table, and there Brian gained news of the most cheering.</p> + +<p>Six days before this the Dark Master had arrived at Swineford, with +Turlough an hour behind him. The old Wolf, whose cunning made up for his +lack of courage, had made shift to get two of O'Donnell's dozen men +embroiled with the Maguires. The upshot of that had been a fight, +followed by a delay of two days for investigation; finally the Dark +Master had slipped away, his two men had promptly been hung, and +Turlough had meantime gone ahead to prepare fresh delays at Bellahy and +Tobercurry. He had four men left with him, though he had left Bertragh +with ten.</p> + +<p>"Then O'Donnell has four days' start of me," reflected Brian. "If +Turlough can hold him, we will catch him at Sligo at latest."</p> + +<p>He left the inn and rode back to his camp, where he had the men on the +road in ten minutes. Tobercurry was only fifteen miles north, and +putting his horses to a gallop, Brian rode hard and fast until that +afternoon he came into the place. He found no garrison, but, instead, +was met by old Turlough himself, with a bandaged head and two wounded +men.</p> + +<p>"<i>Mile failte!</i>" cried Turlough joyously, running forward to kiss +Brian's hand in wild delight. "You are well come, master! Is all well +down below?"</p> + +<p>"All well, old friend," laughed Brian, swinging down to clasp the old +man in his arms. "Where is the Dark Master?"</p> + +<p>"Where we shall catch him in a forked stick presently," chuckled +Turlough, wagging his beard. "Get these wild men of yours out of the +town, and come into the inn with me to talk. I have all the Dark +Master's plans, master, and we have only to strike."</p> + +<p>Brian ordered his men to camp a mile outside town and to do no +plundering, so they clattered off, to the great relief of the townfolk.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Brian, when they two were sitting across a table, "what has +passed that you are bound up? Have you been fighting?"</p> + +<p>"Well, after a fashion," grimaced Turlough disgustedly. "I was here +ahead of the Dark Master, and raised the townpeople against him for a +plunderer. When he came up the road was full of men; but the devil slew +two and wounded two of my own men, cut his way through the rest, and as +I fled north my horse flung me and bruised my head. Has the castle +fallen?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," laughed Brian, and related what had happed at Bertragh. "Have I +time to bide here and eat?"</p> + +<p>Turlough yeasaid this and sent the inn-master bustling for food and +wine. When this was set before them, Turlough Wolf told his tale, +beginning with the statement that two of O'Donnell's men had been +captured when he cut through the townfolk and rode off.</p> + +<p>"Where are they?" asked Brian quickly, his eyes narrowing.</p> + +<p>"Hanged," chuckled the old man succinctly. "At Galway I could make out +nothing more than the word I sent you by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_667" id="Page_667">[Pg 667]</a></span> messenger, so I came north +after O'Donnell Dubh, taking very good care that he saw nothing of me."</p> + +<p>"I'll warrant that," laughed Brian. "We met your man at Swineford."</p> + +<p>"Then no need to tell what passed there. Well, I said that we caught two +of his men here, and I got back into the town just in time to keep the +folk from hanging them to the church steeple."</p> + +<p>"Eh?" Brian stared, with his mouth full. "Why, I thought you said—"</p> + +<p>"<i>Dhar mo lamh</i>, give me time to finish, master!" Turlough hesitated a +little, evidently in some fear. "We took them into the churchyard and +burned them a little, and so got out of them all the Dark Master's +plans. Then the priest shrived them, and I let the townfolk hang them."</p> + +<p>Brian looked across the table, his blue eyes like ice and his nostrils +quivering with anger; the old man slanted up his gray eyes and turned +uneasily in his seat, for well he knew what Brian would say to this.</p> + +<p>"That was ill done, Turlough Wolf. If you had not served me so well, you +would repent that work. By my faith, I am minded to hang you at their +side!"</p> + +<p>Brian meant it, for the torture of men made him furious.</p> + +<p>"I am no fool to spare mad dogs," muttered Turlough sullenly. "It was +the Dark Master who lopped these ears of mine eight years gone."</p> + +<p>"Tell your tale," said Brian curtly and fell to eating again.</p> + +<p>"I found tidings both good and bad, master. From Galway the Dark Master +had sent messengers to his kin in Donegal, bidding them send aid south; +also, he sent to certain pirates north of Sligo Bay. From Sligo to the +Erne all that land is desolate, and has been so these six years, and the +O'Donnells from Lough Swilly have set up a pirate hold near Millhaven. +It was to these that the Dark Master sent also.</p> + +<p>"He has appointed a meeting-place in the hills beyond Drumcliff, at a +certain mountain named Clochaun, or the Stone. Now, whether you think +my craft evil or good, master, it is yet gainful to us."</p> + +<p>This much Brian was forced to acknowledge, though for many days +afterward he was still angry at Turlough for torturing and hanging those +men. He had no scruples about a downright hanging, but torturing was a +very different matter, and one of which he had tasted himself.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is your advice in this?"</p> + +<p>"We can do one of two things, master. The one is to ride on to Sligo and +fall on him when he comes south again with his men; the other is to ride +hard after him and catch him, then fall on the Millhaven men, then meet +the O'Donnells who are coming south to join him at the Stone Mountain +with the rest."</p> + +<p>"The first plan is more cautious," said Brian thoughtfully; "but to +strike him when he has his men around him would be to repeat what we +have done. I like the other way the better."</p> + +<p>"It is both safer and yet more dangerous, master. Safer in that we smite +him and his men separately, and more dangerous because we shall be in +the heart of a wild country, without supplies, and with no aid in case +we are defeated."</p> + +<p>"It is more to my mind to talk of winning than losing," grunted Brian. +"I have spare horses and money with which to buy provisions. Also, I +think that I shall stamp flat that pirate nest at Millhaven, and set up +my own banner there."</p> + +<p>"Then you have a banner of your own, master?" Turlough squinted up +slyly, for it was the first hint Brian had given him of what lay behind +his nickname.</p> + +<p>"Aye!" laughed Brian as the wine warmed him. "And it shall bear the Red +Hand of Tyr-owen, old Wolf; but first to catch the Dark Master. Now let +us go, for we shall ride to the Stone Mountain and see what haps there."</p> + +<p>Upon that they rode forth from the town, and all the townfolk bade the +crafty Turlough farewell, and gave him gifts for warning them against +the "plunderers."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_668" id="Page_668">[Pg 668]</a></span> Turlough looked up at the two bodies swinging in the +wind as they passed the church-tower, and put his tongue in his cheek, +but Brian said no more on the subject.</p> + +<p>That night they camped outside the town, and Brian bought all the +provision that the people would sell. This he loaded on the spare +horses, and the next morning they set off for the north.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Now, in that fighting by Lough Conn, Brian had taken a shrewd clip which +had reopened the bullet-tear over his scalp. Added to this, he was not +yet in all of his former strength, and the hard ride to Tobercurry had +set his blood to heating; wherefore it was that before coming to Sligo +Brian was heavy with fever and was shaken with chill. A hard snow was +driving through the night, and Turlough sent most of the men around the +city to wait for them on the other side the Garravogue to avoid danger.</p> + +<p>There was no garrison in Sligo, however. The old castle which Red Hugh +O'Donnell had fought over in the old days was ruined; the grand +monastery, built by Brian of Tyr-erril, had been burned by Hamilton's +men, together with the town itself, and Sligo was well-nigh desolate. +Turlough got shelter in a hovel, however; managed to put Brian into a +miserable bed, and gave him a brew to drink. With the morning Brian +found his fever gone, but weakness was on him.</p> + +<p>They stayed in Sligo town all that day and the next night, and upon +dawn, Brian insisted on riding north once more, against Turlough's +protests. However, no ill came of it, for Brian was well used to riding, +and the exercise gave him strength, though they made but a short march +that day past the round tower of Drumcliff, halting in the hills.</p> + +<p>As Turlough Wolf knew where the Stone Mountain was they had no use for +guides. It lay only another day's march ahead of them, and there was +some danger that their quarry would descry their coming and flee away to +Millhaven.</p> + +<p>"This is my rede, master;" said Turlough, "that you and I ride ahead +with a few men to see how things go, and leave our men to follow. The +hills are empty of rovers, for there is naught to plunder; but it were +well to know if the Dark Master has joined with those friends of his."</p> + +<p>"That seems good advice," said Brian, and, taking a dozen men, they rode +forward warily, sending out other parties to scout also.</p> + +<p>Over them towered the whiteness of the Stone Mountain, for snow lay +thickly on all things. Brian gazed up at the gray-jutted crags, but his +thoughts were not all with the Dark Master. Him he already accounted +slain, and he was thinking of that Millhaven stronghold.</p> + +<p>One day his own banner should fly there, he told himself. There must be +a good harbor, else the northern pirates had never settled down to hold +the place; and since all the country roundabout lay bleak and unsettled +of men, the vision came to him of first taking the place, and then +fetching O'Neills from the east and north to settle the lands around. +They would flock to him when his condition was made known, and that +Cromwell's men would shatter the royalists and confederacy Brian saw +clearly, as Owen Ruadh had foretold him.</p> + +<p>Already the house of Tyr-owen was scattered and fallen, as the greater +house of Tyr-connall had been before it, for when the last earl had fled +from the land, there had been only the younger branch to hold the sept +together. Owen Ruadh was the final glory of that branch, and now Brian +entertained the vision of transplanting the Red Hand and of making his +rule strong in the west.</p> + +<p>But other men had entertained the same vision before him, and it had +remained a vision, and no more; and the high hopes of Brian himself were +fated to be driven upon the rocks of destiny before many days had passed +over.</p> + +<p>With the afternoon the little party stood on the lower slopes of the +Stone Mountain itself, and Turlough drew the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_669" id="Page_669">[Pg 669]</a></span> shape of the place in the +snow with his pike-haft.</p> + +<p>"Here are we," he explained, "on the southern slopes. A half-mile ahead +of us is a valley with a small and fast-rushing water, where we shall +make camp this night if the Dark Master be not before us. And if he is +not, then he will be on the northern side, where there are two +well-sheltered valleys with water running, fit for the meeting-place and +camp of men. Here is the easternmost, but, as I remember it, the snow +fills the valley somewhat in winter. The other holds a small lake called +the Dubh Linn, or Black Tarn, and in one of these we shall find the Dark +Master, unless he is here before us."</p> + +<p>"Well, let us ride on and see to that," said Brian, and they did so.</p> + +<p>However, they found the valley deserted and empty, and picked a place +for camp, sending back a horseman to bring up the force. They could make +out no smoke rising from the mountain, nor dared they light fires until +after dark for fear of alarming O'Donnell; but when the force came up, +Brian sent out scouts to bring in what word might be had.</p> + +<p>"Where got you such knowledge of this wilderness?" he asked Turlough +that night when the fires were blazing and the men were warmed and fed. +The old man narrowed his gray eyes and chuckled a little.</p> + +<p>"I have been in many armies, master, though I have fought not; and I +have been outlawed twice by the English, in the old days. This was +always a good place to flee to."</p> + +<p>Brian laughed and said no more. That night the men rested well, and +Brian himself got sleep which sent strength into him and served him well +in the days to come, for it was long before he was to sleep again, save +as he rode, nodding in the saddle.</p> + +<p>Not until nearly dawn did the last of the scouts straggle in. None of +these bore any news, and all agreed that no signs could they find of any +large band of men, nor of any men at all. Turlough heard their reports, +letting Brian sleep, and only when the last man came in were any tidings +brought. This man bore a strip of sheepskin, which, he said, an old +woman had given him to bear to his master.</p> + +<p>"A woman!" exclaimed Turlough, scanning the written words on the +sheepskin, but unable to read them. "What is she like? It is a strange +thing if women bide on Slieve Clochaun! Was there any stead near by?"</p> + +<p>"None," replied the man, who trembled with something more than cold. +"<i>M'anam go'n Dhia!</i> She was a witch woman, or worse, Turlough Wolf. She +leaped out of the snow in my path, told me to bear that skin to Yellow +Brian, and vanished in a burst of fire. How could she not have been a +devil?"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" grunted Turlough, though he suddenly laid the strip of skin +down. "You are overwarm with <i>uisquebagh</i>, man. What was this woman +like? Was she clad all in black?"</p> + +<p>"Faith, I did not stop to see," grinned the man sheepishly.</p> + +<p>Turlough stroked his beard, while the men went off to eat and sleep. He +gazed at the strip of skin, and twice stretched out his hand toward it, +with his eye on the fire, but each time drew back. Then he glanced +around craftily, found he was alone, and took from under his cloak a +small, brass crucifix. With this he touched the skin, found that nothing +happened, and rose with a nod. The dawn was just breaking in the east.</p> + +<p>"There is no sorcery in it, at least," he muttered; "but I think it +bodes no great good to us. Ho, Brian!"</p> + +<p>Brian woke and sprang up. Turlough handed him the strip of skin, saying +no word, and when Brian had held it to the light of the embers, he +looked up suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Whence came this?"</p> + +<p>"What does it say first?" returned Turlough uneasily.</p> + +<p>"News!" cried Brian, his blue eyes aflame with eagerness. "It says that +O'Donnell bides alone by the Black Tarn, and that his horsemen from the +north are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_670" id="Page_670">[Pg 670]</a></span> camped two miles beyond the mountain, waiting for him, and +that he has made pact with the Millhaven pirates and they have left for +their stronghold. Answer me—whence came this? It is written in good +English writing, man!"</p> + +<p>Then Turlough told of what had chanced, and when he had done, Brian +stared into his gray eyes with a great wonder. Twice he tried to speak, +but his lips were dry.</p> + +<p>"The Black Woman!" he muttered thickly. "Can it be, Turlough? Who is +she?"</p> + +<p>"That was my thought, master," said Turlough. "Who she is none know save +herself; but she deals with no good. This may be a trap; let us ride +south again, and at once, lest evil come upon us."</p> + +<p>"South? Not I," laughed Brian, though his face was pale. "To horse, +men!"</p> + +<p>And at his ringing shout the camp awoke, and Brian saw his vengeance +drawing near.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TARN.</span></h2> + + +<p>It had been long, indeed, since Brian had given thought to his meeting +with the Black Woman on the other side of Ireland. In that brief +meeting, the Black Woman had spoken of seeing the old earl, his +grandfather, in his youth. Yet it was forty years since the two earls, +O'Donnell and O'Neill, had fled together from Ireland, and even then +Tyr-owen had been an old man. Unless this Black Woman was close on a +hundred years of age, Brian could not see how she had known Hugh O'Neill +in his youth.</p> + +<p>The mere fact that she had recognized him there in the moonlight was +proof of her true speaking, however. Brian could no longer hide from +himself that her words had some strange prophecy in them. She had +foretold his meeting with Cathbarr and with the Bird Daughter, though, +indeed, she might have been attempting only to guide him on the path +which he had afterward followed.</p> + +<p>While the men were saddling, Brian called Turlough and told of the hag's +word that she would meet him again "on a black day for him."</p> + +<p>"Now, what think you she meant by that, Turlough? Is this the meeting?"</p> + +<p>"No, master, for it is no meeting. It may be as you think, and that she +was but trying to lead you into the west; yet, for my part, I call it +sorcery," and the old man crossed himself, for, like better men than +himself, Turlough ascribed all he could not fathom to magic. "It seems +to me that she is some witch who is hanging on your tracks, and that +when—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nonsense!" laughed Brian, flinging the matter from his mind. "At +any rate, she has served me well this time. Now, what rede shall we +follow in this matter, and shall we capture and slay the Dark Master +first, or fall on his men first, or both together?"</p> + +<p>"It is ill to sunder a force of men, master," quoth Turlough. "If those +horsemen of O'Donnell's are encamped in a valley two miles to the north, +it is a vale of which I know well. But we must mind this—if O'Donnell +gets safe into Galway again with either these horsemen or those +Millhaven pirates of his clan, he will drive hard against Bertragh."</p> + +<p>"The Dark Master shall come no more to Galway," said Brian grimly, +fingering his ax. "Now finish, and quickly."</p> + +<p>"I have a plan in my mind, master; but unless we slay the Dark Master, +it is like to fail us. Let us send a hundred of the men around to the +north, for I will tell them how to ride, so that by this night they can +fall upon those men of his and scatter them in the darkness, and drive +them south where we can slay them utterly at our wills. If we drove them +back whence they came, there would be little craft in it, and it is to +my liking to do a thing well or not at all."</p> + +<p>"A true word there," nodded Brian, his eyes gleaming. "I think those men +are as good as dead now, Turlough. Speak on."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_671" id="Page_671">[Pg 671]</a></span>"With fifty men, master, you and I can reach the valley of the Dubh +Linn. We cannot do it with horses, unless we ride around to the north, +and in that there would be danger of striking on the Dark Master's +scouts. But while our hundred are circling far around, we with fifty can +go over the mountain by valleys and paths I know of, so that by this +evening we will come to the Black Tarn and strike the Dark Master as our +hundred men fall on his camp. That is my—"</p> + +<p>"Good!" cried Brian, leaping up eagerly. "Then we—"</p> + +<p>"Hold, master!" And Turlough caught his arm, quickly staying him. When +Brian looked down he read a sudden fear in the old man's gray eyes. +"That was my first rede, Yellow Brian, and you would do well to hear my +second also."</p> + +<p>"Say it," said Brian, and glanced at the brightening sky.</p> + +<p>"My second rede is this. That message might be a trap to ensnare us, +though I have two minds about this Black Woman. But if we fail to slay +the Dark Master at the Black Tarn, we are like to have an ill time."</p> + +<p>"Why so?" asked Brian, for he could see no likelihood of that. "I said +that we would slay him."</p> + +<p>"Master, do you hold the lives of men in your keeping?" In the gray eyes +leaped a swift horror that amazed Brian. "I tell you that if the Dark +Master escapes from our hand, and his men are driven past our fifty into +the south, he will ride hard before us into Galway. I see evil in that +first rede of mine, Yellow Brian. I see evil in it—"</p> + +<p>He broke off, staring past Brian with fixed and unseeing eyes, his face +rigid.</p> + +<p>"Turlough, are you mad?" Brian seized the other's shoulder, shaking him +harshly. The old man shivered a little, and sanity came back into his +eyes as they met the icy blue of Brian's. "What daftness is upon you, +man?"</p> + +<p>"I know not, master," whimpered old Turlough feebly. "Do as you will."</p> + +<p>"Then I will to follow your rede, divide my men as you say, and when we +have slain the Dark Master, we will cut off the last of these O'Donnells +of his, ride to Millhaven and take that hold, and send word to the Bird +Daughter that she may keep Bertragh Castle and send Cathbarr north to +me. Now go, and tell a hundred of the men how to ride around this +mountain; then be ready to guide me over it to the Black Tarn."</p> + +<p>"You are a hard man, Yellow Brian," said Turlough, and turned him about +and did as Brian had ordered.</p> + +<p>None the less, Brian gave some thought to that second rede of +Turlough's. He saw clearly enough that with the northern horsemen driven +past, scattered though they might be, they could be cut off to a man if +the Dark Master were slain. But if O'Donnell should escape by some trick +of fate, he could gather up his men and drive south.</p> + +<p>"If he does that, there will be slaying between Sligo and Galway," swore +Brian quickly. "But I cannot see that he will escape me here. When +another day breaks, I shall have won my Spanish blade again—and then +ho! for the Red Hand of Tyr-owen!"</p> + +<p>So Brian laughed and donned his jack and back-piece, while Turlough drew +plans in the snow and showed the leaders of the hundred how to sweep +around without discovery so that they might fall on the northern +horsemen at eve.</p> + +<p>Brian had grown into an older and grimmer man since the day he had stood +beside the bed of Owen Ruadh O'Neill, short though the time had been. +Youth was still in his face when he smiled out, but suffering had +deepened his eyes and sunk his cheeks and drawn the skin tighter over +that powerful jaw of his. When he had armed, he stood in thought for a +little, with hand on jaw in his instinctive gesture, and wakened +suddenly to find old Turlough bending the knee before him.</p> + +<p>"Now I know of what blood you come, Yellow Brian," said the old man +softly. "I saw Hugh O'Neill, the great earl, standing even as you stand +now, on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_672" id="Page_672">[Pg 672]</a></span> morning when we slew the English at the Yellow Ford."</p> + +<p>"Man, man!" exclaimed Brian in wonder; "that battle was fought fifty +years ago, and yet you say that you were there?"</p> + +<p>"I was the earl's horse-boy, master." And Brian saw tears on the old +man's beard. "I loved him, and I was at the flight of the earls ten +years after, going with Tyr-owen to Italy, and it was these hands laid +him in his grave, master; master, have faith in me—"</p> + +<p>Brian put down his hands to those of Turlough, his heart strangely +softened.</p> + +<p>"He was my grandfather," he said simply, and Turlough broke down and +wept like a child.</p> + +<p>When they left their horses and the camp behind, Brian followed +Turlough, feeling like a new man. He had lightened his heart of a great +load, and he wished that he had talked of these things with Turlough +Wolf long before this. Now he understood why the old man had offered him +service as he stood in that attitude on the battlements of O'Reilly's +castle after leaving Owen Ruadh, and he understood the love that +Turlough bore him, and the silence the old man had kept on the matter, +though it must have ever been deep in his heart to speak out.</p> + +<p>No more words passed between them, nor did Brian tell Turlough more of +his story until long after; but of this there was no need. As they +climbed higher on the mountain they could see the hundred horsemen +filing off to the eastward; but soon these were lost sight of as +Turlough led Brian and the fifty through the valleys and deep openings, +which were drifted deep in snow, making progress slow and wearisome.</p> + +<p>Indeed, Brian thought afterward that this hard traveling might have been +responsible for what chanced on the other side of the mountain.</p> + +<p>On the higher crests and ridges there was little snow, however, and +Turlough seemed to know every inch of the place by heart, though more +than once Brian gave himself up for lost in the maze of smaller peaks +and the twisted paths they followed. Most of the fifty Turlough had +chosen from those hillmen who had joined Brian by Lough Conn, so that +they were not unused to such climbing, and remained with spirits +unshaken by the vast loneliness that surrounded them, and to which other +men might have succumbed somewhat.</p> + +<p>Brian himself was no little awed by the desolate grandeur of the Stone +Mountain, but he only wrapped his cloak more closely about him, and +swore that the Dark Master should yield up the Spanish blade before many +more hours.</p> + +<p>And so indeed it was done, though not as Brian looked for.</p> + +<p>Until long after noon the band wended their way with great toil and pain +over the flanks of the mountain, until Turlough led Brian out to a point +of black rock and motioned toward the valleys below them.</p> + +<p>"There to the left," he said, "is the valley of the Black Tarn. Do you +see that smoke, Brian, and that dark spot between the trees and the +lake?"</p> + +<p>Brian looked, squinting because of the snow-glare. Leading down from the +side of the mountain itself was a valley—long, and widening gradually +to the plain, where a dark wood swallowed it up. Almost under his feet, +as it were, was a small, round lake deep in the rock, with a small, +frozen-over outlet that was lost in the snow.</p> + +<p>But farther down the valley-slopes there were trees, and among them +horses tethered and a fire strewing smoke on the air close beside. +Between this little wood and the tarn itself there stood a low house of +thatch with smoke also rising from it, and from the other fire among the +trees came a sheen of steel caps and jacks, where were men.</p> + +<p>But to Brian all these things were very small and hard to make out +distinctly, as if he were looking at some carven mimicry, such as +children are wont to use in play.</p> + +<p>"Now come," said Turlough Wolf. "It is no easy task getting there +without being discovered, and the way is long."</p> + +<p>Brian found, indeed, that to avoid being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_673" id="Page_673">[Pg 673]</a></span> seen from below they must +needs take a roundabout way; but when the afternoon was far spent they +had come to a snow-filled hollow among the rocks which Turlough declared +was just over the edge of that valley-slope where stood the low house. +Turlough said that in his day that house had not stood there, and he +knew nothing of it.</p> + +<p>Since there could be no talk of lighting a fire, Brian's men huddled +together in the hollow, and ate and drank cheerlessly. Brian was minded +to meet the Dark Master and win his Spanish blade with his own hand, so +he ordered that his men pass on after dark and make ready to fall upon +those men who were camped at the wood, but to hold off until he and +Turlough had smitten the Dark Master in that little thatched house, +where he was most like to be found. Turlough yeasaid this plan, for he +trusted greatly to Brian's strength.</p> + +<p>At length they set out under the cold stars, and Brian's men were very +weary, but promised to do all as he had commanded. He and Turlough set +off alone over the hill, and when they had come to the hill-crest after +much toiling through the snow they looked down and found the house a +hundred yards below them.</p> + +<p>"Let us go down cautiously," said Turlough, "for I think we can peer +through the thatch and plan our stroke well."</p> + +<p>So they struck down openly across the hill-slope, and found that there +was none on guard. The door of the house was fast shut, but Turlough +strode cautiously in the trampled snow around the house, where, at the +side, a spark of firelight glittered through the loose thatch. To this +he led Brian, and Brian stooped down and looked through the cranny, +while Turlough went farther and fared as well.</p> + +<p>There was but one room in the hut, and it was well lighted by the fire +that glittered merrily on the hearth. Sitting not far away, but with his +back to Brian, was a man; he sat on a stool, and there seemed to be a +wide earthenware bowl of water or some dark liquid on the floor between +his feet into which he was staring. In his bent-down position his +rounded shoulders stood up stark against the fire, and Brian knew this +was the Dark Master.</p> + +<p>His hand went to the pistol in his belt, but since there was no other +man in the hut, he thought it shame to murder O'Donnell as he sat, and +made up his mind to go around to the door and burst in. He saw his own +great sword slung across the Dark Master's back, but even as he stirred +to rise, O'Donnell's voice came to him, low and vibrant, so that he bode +where he was and listened.</p> + +<p>"I cannot make out the figures," muttered the Dark Master, still staring +down into the bowl of dark water. "The man has the face of Yellow Brian, +yet he is swart; the woman I sure never saw before. <i>Corp na diaoul!</i> +What is the meaning of this? Who stands in my way?"</p> + +<p>Brian paused in no little astonishment, and stole a glance aside to see +old Turlough crossing himself fervently. It struck his mind that he had +chanced on some sorcery here, and, remembering the tales he had heard of +the Dark Master's work, he laughed a little and settled down. He was +minded to see what this thing might be; but he made his pistol ready in +case the magic told O'Donnell of his danger.</p> + +<p>"It is some great man," came the Dark Master's voice again. "There is +something broidered on his— By my soul, it is the Red Hand of Tyr-owen! +It is The O'Neill himself—the earl— Is Yellow Brian of his blood, +then?"</p> + +<p>At hearing this Brian crouched closer, in some fear and more wonder. Was +the Dark Master in reality seeing such figures in that water-bowl? Then +the man must be either mad or—or figures were there. Now O'Donnell's +voice rose stronger:</p> + +<p>"Which of these twain stands now in my way? It is not Yellow Brian. Ah, +the earl is slipping away, and the woman is smiling. One of his loves, +belike, for he had many; she is fair, wondrous fair! Ah, what's this?"</p> + +<p>Brian saw the dark figure crouch lower, as if in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Changing, changing! Is it this wo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_674" id="Page_674">[Pg 674]</a></span>man who stands in my way, then? +Toothless and grinning, crouched low over a stick, rags and tatters and +wisps of gray hair—"</p> + +<p>The Dark Master paused in his jerky speech, stiffened as if in wild +amazement at that which he beheld, and a sudden cry broke from him, +sharp and awestruck:</p> + +<p>"The Black Woman!"</p> + +<p>Then Brian straightened up, feeling Turlough's hand touch his; but for a +space he stood silent while his mind cast out for what the Dark Master's +words meant.</p> + +<p>In a flash it came to him. Through some black dealings O'Donnell had in +truth pictured The O'Neill in that bowl, and with him a woman he had +loved and who loved him; and this was no other than she whom Brian had +known as the Black Woman, now become an old hag indeed, with only the +memories of her fair youth and her love behind her. And this was why she +had recognized him and why she had evidently watched over him since that +first meeting, out of the love she had borne the earl, his grandsire, in +days now buried under many bitter years.</p> + +<p>The two men looked into each other's eyes, and Brian saw that Turlough's +jaw had dropped loosely, and that fright had stricken the old man almost +out of his senses. With that Brian felt his own fear take wings. He +laughed a little as his grip closed on the haft of his ax, and the cold +star-glint seemed to shine back again from his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Bide here if you will," he smiled quietly. "I have my work to do."</p> + +<p>And, turning with the word, he strode quickly to the door, just as there +came a great cry from within the place.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">BRIAN GETS HIS SWORD AGAIN.</span></h2> + + +<p>Brian pushed the door open, and it gave easily to his fist. Gazing +within he saw the Dark Master standing over the shattered bowl, whose +liquid flowed down toward the hearth and hissed on the embers; plainly, +the Dark Master had seen nothing good in that water, for he had +shattered the bowl with his foot, and his teeth were snarling under his +drooping mustache.</p> + +<p>"I am come," said Brian, laughing grimly as he stood in the doorway.</p> + +<p>O'Donnell whirled, gripping at his sword.</p> + +<p>Now, whether there was magic on the place, as Turlough ever swore, or +whether the opening of the door had made a draft, as Brian thought more +likely, a strange thing happened.</p> + +<p>Brian had raised his pistol in his left hand, meaning to kill the Dark +Master without pity in that first moment. Out of the hearth came a great +swirl of ashes and red embers, flying toward the door and closing around +O'Donnell; as Brian pressed the trigger the ashes smote him in a +blinding swirl, and a harsh laugh answered the roar of the pistol.</p> + +<p>With a curse Brian cleared his eyes of the light ash and reached with +his ax at the dim figure of the Dark Master, nigh hid with ashes and +powder-smoke. From down the vale came other shots and cries, and he knew +his men had struck on that small camp lying there; but at this O'Donnell +gave him other things to think of.</p> + +<p>That was a great fight, for Brian was little used to ax-play and had +much ado to parry the keen thrusts of his own Spanish blade; the roof +was too low to give room for a swing, and when the Dark Master had +lunged him back to the door again, he knew that he had done ill. So with +another bitter curse Brian flung the ax from his hand and ripped out the +long, Irish dagger that hung at his girdle.</p> + +<p>For all his wrath he had taken good heed to fling the ax aright, and the +broad flat of it took the Dark Master full in the chest and bore him +back, reeling and shouting for his men. Before he could recover Brian +leaped at him, caught O'Donnell's sword wrist in his left hand, and +aimed a deadly stroke with his <i>skean</i>.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_675" id="Page_675">[Pg 675]</a></span>The blow went true, but the steel turned aside from the Dark Master's +mail-shirt; O'Donnell caught his wrist in turn, and there the two stood +heaving each at the other for a long minute. Brian's eyes struck cold +and hard into the evil features of the Dark Master; the other's breath +came hot on his cheeks, and so beastlike was the man's face that Brian +half expected those snarling teeth to close snapping at his throat. But +the Dark Master was strong, for all his hunched shoulders.</p> + +<p>Then a great flame of vengeance seemed to cleave Brian's soul, and with +a curt laugh he threw out his strength and flung the Dark Master back +bodily so that he fell into the hearth and burst the mud chimney and the +thatched wall behind. Before he could rise again Brian had whipped out +his other pistol and fired; he saw the man's figure writhe aside, then +up through the powder-smoke rose a burning brand that smote him over the +brow heavily. At the same instant the scattered sparks caught the +thatch, and the whole house broke into flame.</p> + +<p>Brian's eyes found the dark figure once more and he rushed forward. At +the broken heap of mud from the chimney his feet struck on the sword, +which had fallen from the Dark Master's hand, and he caught it up with a +cry of joy and bore forward.</p> + +<p>That brief instant of delay lost him his quarry, however. Brian flung +through the shattered wall, with the whole structure flaming up behind +him; he saw a dark figure on the snow and ran at it, only to find +himself striking at Turlough Wolf, and stayed his hand barely in time.</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" he panted hoarsely, looking around with fierce eyes.</p> + +<p>Then he caught the Dark Master's figure running across the snow toward +that camp amid the trees, where fighting was still forward and men were +shouting and firing. Brian rushed off, with Turlough staggering after +him; but with a sob of despairing anger he saw the Dark Master flit into +the trees, and heard his voice ringing at his men.</p> + +<p>It turned out afterward that Brian's fifty men, weary and chilled, had +made a somewhat heartless assault on the score of horsemen camped in the +trees; therefore, instead of carrying O'Donnell's men off their feet and +cutting them down straightway, they were held off for a little.</p> + +<p>The Dark Master knew that he was lost if he stayed long in that place, +however, and when Brian reached the clump of trees he found that he was +too late. With two or three men behind him, O'Donnell had cut through +Brian's men and was galloping away. Brian groaned savagely, leaped at a +mounted man and dragged him from the saddle, and was just springing up +when Turlough caught and stayed him.</p> + +<p>"Wait, master!" panted the old man in desperate fear of the surging men +around him, but in more desperate fear for Brian. "This is madness, for +I ordered our fifty horses fetched around—"</p> + +<p>"Bide here for them, then!" said Brian, and swung up into the saddle. +One of the Dark Master's men barred his way, and Brian's blade went +through his throat; then he was off after the four figures who by now +were far distant toward the dark forest that swallowed up the valley +ahead.</p> + +<p>The cold night air cleared his brain, however, and after a moment he +drew rein with bitterness upon him. Turlough had spoken rightly, for to +ride after those four men with his naked sword alone was in truth +madness. So he came back again to where the last of the hemmed-in +horsemen was being cut out of his saddle, and when his men gathered +about him with a shout, his tongue gave them little joy.</p> + +<p>"You are fools," he said harshly, "for the Dark Master has escaped us. +Take these horses, fifteen of you, and ride. Let five men go to bring in +our horses with all speed, and let ten more scatter out in search of our +hundred men. These are not more than two miles distant, and in an hour I +must ride from here. See to it that you return with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_676" id="Page_676">[Pg 676]</a></span> men and horses +by then, or shift for yourselves."</p> + +<p>"That is too much," spoke out a burly fellow angrily. "We have been +climbing all day, and have——"</p> + +<p>Brian said no word, but leaned down from his saddle and his Spanish +blade flickered in the light. The man fell and lay quiet, while the +others drew back in black fear.</p> + +<p>"I am master here," said Brian coldly, when a long instant had passed. +"Go."</p> + +<p>There was no more muttering among his recruits, either then or later. He +dismounted, saw that the O'Donnells had been slain to the last man, and +joined Turlough at the campfire. Food and drink had been found in the +camp, and a flagon of wine heartened Brian greatly.</p> + +<p>"Now give me your rede, Turlough Wolf," he said. "I have failed in this +matter, and it seems that ill shall come of it."</p> + +<p>"So I foretold, master, but we may still remedy the ill if we catch +O'Donnell. I think that by now his horsemen are scattered, and this +burning hut will draw our own men thither. Before midnight they will be +here, and we can ride forth. I think that the Dark Master will gather +what men are left him and strike down for Galway."</p> + +<p>"Two men may ride the same road," quoth Brian grimly, and set his naked +blade in his belt. He saw that before him lay some fighting and much +hard riding, so inside the next hour he had his men full-fed. Before +this was finished the spare horses and those of his men came in, for +Turlough had ordered them to start at noon and ride around in case of +need.</p> + +<p>Brian determined to spare neither men nor horseflesh on that riding, and +when his men were mounted he set out across the night to meet his +hundred, and to hear what had been done at the camp two miles distant. +As the moon was rising he met them; and if he was glad at the meeting, +they were twice glad.</p> + +<p>They had found the camp and had lain off it until after dark as +Turlough had bidden them, the more so since there were two-score over a +hundred men there. But at length they had ridden down as if they were +fresh come from the north, and had twice ridden through the camp before +the O'Donnells were well awake, though it had been sharp work. The +result had been that a score of Brian's men had fallen, they had slain a +full half of the O'Donnells, and the rest had been driven and scattered +southward. Brian's men had plundered their camp and were weary, so that +when they heard of what had chanced at the Black Tarn they were somewhat +less than half willing to ride farther.</p> + +<p>But Brian speedily persuaded them to that course, and Turlough led them +all to the south on the way to Sligo.</p> + +<p>Bitterness and heaviness of heart dwelt deep in Brian that night, and +for some time to come. With the escape of the Dark Master, whether it +had been by magic or craft, all his visions had burst; he must ride away +from the pirate hold at Millhaven, he saw that he would lose many men on +his way south, and yet there lay no choice before him. He had scotched +the snake, and now he must kill it. If the Dark Master reached Galway +town in safety, those O'Donnells from Millhaven would be around by sea +to meet him, and the royalists would lend him men and guns to go against +Bertragh in their cause.</p> + +<p>"Is there any likelihood that the Dark Master will miss those scattered +men of his?" he asked Turlough, who rode on his right hand.</p> + +<p>"Little, master. There is but the one road south to Sligo at this +season, and it is great wonder indeed that the scattered men did not +fall on us at the Black Tarn in seeking their master. But with only +seventy-five men or so I do not think they will bide our coming."</p> + +<p>"Nor do I," and Brian laughed grimly as he thought of that fight with +his enemy.</p> + +<p>Certain men had been wounded in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_677" id="Page_677">[Pg 677]</a></span> those frays, and he left them to follow +after him, so that he turned south with a hundred and a score men at his +back. He did not think that the Dark Master would face him, but since +those men were all O'Donnells who would obey him utterly, he looked to +have some fighting; in which he was not far wrong.</p> + +<p>An hour after the day was broken they thundered up to the bridge that +spanned the Garravogue, and ten wild and silent men were holding that +bridge behind an overturned cart for barricade. Brian would waste no men +on a storm, but slew six of the men with musketry and rode over the +other four; even so, those four brought down three of his men before +they were done with.</p> + +<p>Brian baited the horses in Sligo, remaining there a scant half-hour. +From the townfolk he learned that the Dark Master was but two hours +ahead of him, and Brian had great hopes of running him to earth that +same day. So he set forth again and they rode hard to Ballsadare, at the +south branch of Sligo Bay, and on to Coolany at the edge of the Storm +Mountains.</p> + +<p>At this latter place they found different work, however, for here was a +small garrison of Cavan pikemen who stopped them, lined with their pikes +three deep across the road before the church. Brian was no long time in +learning that the Dark Master had spread word of him as a plunderer and +Parliament man.</p> + +<p>"I have no time to waste on you," he said shortly to the leader of the +pikemen. "Here is a safe-conduct, and I am Stephen Burke."</p> + +<p>"None the less, you must stay until I have looked into this," said the +other, pulling out his pistol with some determination.</p> + +<p>"Stay I will not, but I think you shall," replied Brian, and thrust as +the man fired. The bullet glanced from his jack, but the officer fell +back among his pikes, and Brian spurred after him in great anger. His +Scots troopers were in the van, or what was left of them, and they came +down galloping, and rode over the pikemen leaving a sea of smitten men +in the roadway behind.</p> + +<p>Also, ten of Brian's men were left.</p> + +<p>By the evening they were back at Tobercurry again, where Turlough had +hung those two men after torturing them. The Dark Master was something +over an hour ahead of them, and he had stayed to fire the church and the +town. Brian's heart was sore for the townfolk, but he could pause no +longer than to bait horses and men, since he looked for hard riding that +night; however, he gave what money and plunder he had to the townfolk +and got a blessing in return, and so rode forth again as the stars +peeped out.</p> + +<p>"There are Maguires in Swineford, master," said old Turlough with a +cunning, sidelong look.</p> + +<p>"I met them coming north," laughed Brian softly. "They will prove good +men to avoid, so I think that we shall ride around that burg."</p> + +<p>Brian thought that he could get through the Maguires, but he intended to +take no chances. However, they had gained to within five miles of +Swineford and had halted to blow the horses, when one of the scouts came +riding back to say that a score of farmers with three carts were +approaching from the town.</p> + +<p>Presently they came on them—a black mass swinging down the road, which +was very boggy on either hand. Neither Brian nor Turlough smelt any ill +in this until they were within a hundred paces of the party, when +suddenly the carts were swung across the road and a score of muskets +spat death into Brian's men.</p> + +<p>"Back!" shouted Brian, when his men would have charged. "We have no time +and lives to waste on this party—what shall we do, Turlough? The fields +are all bog."</p> + +<p>"We cannot well ride around," said Turlough, when they had ridden back a +little, leaving dead men on the road. "But a little way back is a path +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_678" id="Page_678">[Pg 678]</a></span> leads out and around Swineford. Put ten men here to keep these +O'Donnells from following us, and we will make a short cut to the Moy +near Kiltanmugh. It was a clever trick, this!"</p> + +<p>It was indeed, and it had cost Brian a round score of men, so that he +followed Turlough out into the open land with less than a hundred men +behind him. His fury abated before dawn, when they had splashed across +the Moy and came upon the road once more, but he saw that the O'Donnells +were willing enough to die if the Dark Master might escape, and he +became more cautious.</p> + +<p>When the night fell again they were far south of Claremorris, but a +score of horses had foundered and he was forced to leave more men +behind. Until evening Turlough led him at a distance from the main +roads, then they struck into good riding again and save for one detour +to avoid Tuam would have a clear road between themselves and Galway, +which Brian meant to reach before dawn unless his own horse foundered +with the rest.</p> + +<p>Of the Dark Master they heard nothing until they were fording the Clare +north of Tuam, when two men gave them word that a scant half-hour before +some two-score horsemen had fled past them toward Tuam.</p> + +<p>"Good!" cried Brian. "Now, Turlough, lead us around Tuam, and I think we +shall finish this thing long before the day comes."</p> + +<p>Said Turlough sourly, "Every horse down is a man gone, master," but to +that Brian only laughed and set in his spurs.</p> + +<p>So now they let gallop through the darkness, trusting more to Turlough's +wits than to their horses' feet; for Brian knew that if his own beasts +were spent, those of the Dark Master were no better unless he were to +get mounts at Tuam. That would be hard, however, for there were no +horses to be had save far in the mountains where the war had not swept +all things away.</p> + +<p>No sooner had they reached the road again beyond Tuam than it seemed to +Brian that he heard the faint drum of hoofs ahead of him, and at that he +gave a shout and drove on with such of his men storming behind as might +come. Many of them had gone down, indeed, but now all wakened from their +nodding sleep and kept close, though here and there one dropped out. +Turlough, whose steed had been the best of all save Brian's, kept at his +master's flank.</p> + +<p>They were hard on Claregalway when Brian saw his quarry first—a deep +mass of men far ahead on an open stretch of road. Then he knew that the +race was nearly won, and for all that his beast was sobbing under his +thighs, he raced ahead, and laughed out loud when a little band cut off +from the main body of the Dark Master's men. There were fifteen or less +who waited his coming with pistols ready, but Brian rode hardily at +them, their balls whistled overhead or past, and he was on them.</p> + +<p>The shock of the meeting came near to unseating him, and sent one of the +foe sprawling, horse and man; Brian cut another to the chin and thrust +the life from a third, and before the first sword had slithered on his +steel-cap his men had swept aside the devoted fifteen, and he was riding +on. O'Donnell had straightened his party for nothing.</p> + +<p>Now the Dark Master was riding for his life, and knew it. Some few of +his men fell out with spent beasts, and these Brian's party rode over, +taking and giving but one blow, or none at all. When Claregalway drew up +ahead, cold and gray under the stars, Brian was but two hundred yards +behind with forty men still behind him, while O'Donnell had not half so +many.</p> + +<p>As he thundered down to the river Brian had drawn as much ahead of +Turlough and the others as he was behind the Dark Master. He shouted +back to those of his men whose matches were lit to loose off their +muskets, but before the first pan had flashed out he saw the O'Donnells +draw rein and wheel at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_679" id="Page_679">[Pg 679]</a></span> bridge-head, while two of their number drove +clattering on into the town.</p> + +<p>Now, had Brian chosen to wait for his men things would have fallen out +differently; but this he would not do, for he thought to break through +these as he had done with the others. So he went at them with naked +sword, his heart raging within him and his face set and cold like stone. +He was still fifty paces from the bridge-head when their pistols +spattered out; the men behind dared not fire for fear of hitting him, so +that Brian had all the fight for himself.</p> + +<p>He came near to having none, for at that first discharge a pistol-ball +split his jack and lodged in his buff-coat over his heart, while another +came between his arm and his side, drawing blood a little from both; +while a third and worse went into his horse between the fore shoulders. +Brian felt the poor beast falter shudderingly, and pause; then the +O'Donnells shouted greatly and closed about him, thinking to slay him +before his men could come up.</p> + +<p>Brian saw a long <i>skean</i> plunge into his horse's neck, and in terrible +anger he smote with the edge, so that a hand and arm hung down from the +dagger, a ghastly thing to see. But the poor steed was dead with that +blow, and Brian had but time to fling himself headlong ere the horse +rolled over.</p> + +<p>The leap saved his life, for the O'Donnells were striking fast at him. +Brian rose up between two of them, dragged one down with his left hand +and thrust the other under the arm, and tried to leap up into the +saddle. But as he did so his own men struck, so that the horses were +swept together and pinned Brian's legs between them, and he hung +helpless.</p> + +<p>In that instant he saw an ax swinging above him and flung back his head, +but not enough, for the ax fell, and Brian went down under the horses.</p> + +<p>Save for three of his men who saw the thing and stood over him, Brian +would have been trampled to death on the spot. These O'Donnells were no +loose fighting-men, and they smote shrewdly against the press of +Brian's greater numbers, while their wild cry rose high over the shrill +of steel. When Brian's men knew that he was down, however, they struck +such blows as they knew not they had in them, and quarter was not asked +or offered in that battle by the bridge.</p> + +<p>The fight was not ended until the last O'Donnell went down in a swirl +and clash of steel. Then Turlough, who had kept well out of it according +to his wont, pushed through and fell upon Brian's body. When Brian +opened his eyes his head was still ringing, while his men were bathing +him with water. After an instant he sat up and gazed around.</p> + +<p>"The Dark Master—did you catch him?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, our thought was all for you, master," answered Turlough.</p> + +<p>Brian groaned in great bitterness, but said no word. He knew that his +chance was gone from him for that time, and as he looked around his +heart sank within him. Half of his men had slipped down and lay sleeping +among the dead, and the rest could scarce stay in their saddles for +weariness and lack of sleep. But Turlough sprang up and gazed at the +graying sky with fear in his face.</p> + +<p>"Up, master!" he cried fiercely. "We must still ride hard, for the Dark +Master will send out a troop of horse from Galway to catch us, and we +must get past that town before the sun is high!"</p> + +<p>So the sleeping were roused in haste, the wounded were put in saddle, +and with their beasts staggering under them, those that were left of +Brian's men closed around him and rode over the bridge through +Claregalway.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">BRIAN GOES A CRUISING.</span></h2> + + +<p>Above the head of Bertraghboy Bay there was a swooping curve in the hill +road. It was at this same curve that Brian Buidh had first met<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_680" id="Page_680">[Pg 680]</a></span> the Dark +Master, and it was here he had set that trap which had won him tribute +for the Bird Daughter. When first he had ridden that road Brian had had +a score of lusty men at his back; on the second occasion he had headed a +hundred and four-score; but when he drew rein there a week after that +fight at Claregalway bridge there was with him only old Turlough Wolf, +and their horses were sorry skeletons like themselves.</p> + +<p>"We are somewhat worse than when we twain started out together," laughed +Brian bitterly. "Then we had full bellies at the least, but now we have +naught."</p> + +<p>"There are men coming, master," said Turlough, hanging weakly to his +saddle. "I think they are our castle watchers."</p> + +<p>Very gaunt was Brian that day, and nigh spent with his wounds and hunger +and weariness. During the week that had passed since the Dark Master +slipped away from him, nothing but evil had come upon him.</p> + +<p>First they had tried to slip past to the north of the city, and had +reached the Lough Corrib River, and could even faintly hear the bells of +St. Nicholas below, when a half-troop of horse fell upon them. Then in +desperation Brian's men smote for the last time, and put the royalists +to flight; but there Brian lost the most of his men. However, he got +fresh horses, and so fled eastward again when more men were seen +approaching.</p> + +<p>What chanced in the six days following is not fully set forth, for Brian +got little glory from it. One by one he lost his men, and at length was +forced north again to the shores of Lough Corrib, with men riding hot +and fast to catch him. With Turlough Wolf alone left to him, he had made +shift to cross the lake in a leaky fisherman's boat, the horses swimming +behind, and so came into the O'Flahertys' country.</p> + +<p>There word had also gone forth against him, but because of the pact +between them, Murrough of the Kine sped him in peace through Iar +Connaught, and at length Brian had won home again with joyless heart.</p> + +<p>As Turlough said, men were coming, and they were Brian's own men who +watched the roads. From them he got food and wine and two fresh horses, +and with the afternoon they rode down to Bertragh in worse shape than +they had ridden from it. Brian was the less heartened when he saw two of +Nuala O'Malley's ships in the bay, and knew that she must be at the +castle.</p> + +<p>Indeed, before they reached the gates the Bird Daughter rode out to meet +them, with Cathbarr striding before her. When the woman saw Brian's face +her violet eyes filled with tears, and when he dismounted and kissed her +hand and would have spoken, she stayed him.</p> + +<p>"Nay, we know enough of the story for now, Brian. First rest and eat, +then talk."</p> + +<p>Brian guessed straightway that pigeons had come from her men in Galway +telling of those ridings about the city, and that she had come over to +Bertragh in anxiety; and this was the truth indeed.</p> + +<p>Turlough Wolf hied him away and slept, but Brian sat about a table in +the hall with Cathbarr and Nuala. He was very worn and weary, but when +he had eaten and drunk he refused to sleep yet a while, and told how +that storm had fared north and what had come of it.</p> + +<p>"So I have lost a hundred and fifty hard-won men," he concluded +gloomily. "I would not grudge them if the Dark Master had fallen, but he +is in Galway, and the Millhaven pirates will be down to meet him, and +that means war on Bertragh."</p> + +<p>"I will be glad of that," said Cathbarr simply. "I am sound again and +have been sharpening up this ax of mine."</p> + +<p>Nuala smiled and put her hand across the table to lay it on Brian's.</p> + +<p>"Success would be of little worth, Yellow Brian," she said softly, and +her eyes steadied him, "if it were won with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_681" id="Page_681">[Pg 681]</a></span>out reverses. Few men have +the luck to win always, and a touch of defeat is not an ill thing, +perhaps. When we had this news of you from Galway, a week since, I sent +off a galley to find Blake at the Cove of Cork and seek aid of him. Also +my kinsmen will return to Gorumna before going home to Erris, and we are +not in hard case here. So now get rested, Brian Buidh, and afterward we +will see what may be done. Those Millhaven men have not yet passed +Erris, or I would have word of it by pigeon, so they have doubtless +delayed to plunder in Sligo or Killala."</p> + +<p>Brian looked into her eyes, and from that moment he began to put behind +him all thoughts of capturing that Millhaven castle for himself or of +placing himself out of touch with Nuala O'Malley. He went to his chamber +as she bade, and slept that night and the next day and the night after, +waking on the second morning still empty of sleep and seeming more weary +than when he had laid down.</p> + +<p>This was but seeming, however, and when he had bathed and eaten he felt +more like himself than for many a day.</p> + +<p>Cathbarr had departed at dawn with a wagon-load of powder to trade for +kine with his O'Flaherty kinsmen in the hills, and before Brian had +broken his fast one of the galleys from Gorumna came over with three +pigeons for Nuala. The cage was brought to her as she sat at meat with +Brian in the hall, and she opened the tiny messages with all the +delighted anticipation of a girl.</p> + +<p>"This is from that galley I sent to Cork," she exclaimed, laying down +the first. "It merely reports safe arrival and the delivery of my letter +to Blake, who is leaving there before long. Now for the—ah!"</p> + +<p>"Good news or bad?" smiled Brian easily, as animation flashed into her +face. She looked up at him with a rippling laugh.</p> + +<p>"Both, Brian! This is from Erris, and says that the O'Donnell seamen +have made a landing at Ballycastle under Downpatrick Head, and will +likely put to sea again in a day or two. They will give Erris a wide +berth, never fear, and that means that they will make no pause until +they come to Galway."</p> + +<p>The third message was from Galway itself, and said that the Dark Master +was biding the coming of those Millhaven men, and had been promised both +horsemen and shot if they came, so that Bertragh might be taken and held +for Ireland against the Parliament.</p> + +<p>"It is not taken yet," laughed Nuala as old Turlough came shuffling up, +and they gave him the sele of the day merrily enough. "You had best keep +these birds, Brian, so that if there is any need you may send me +messages to Gorumna. Now, shall we bide here until the Dark Master comes +against us?"</p> + +<p>"I thought you were going to take me cruising with you?" smiled Brian, +but at that Turlough struck in and asked what the messages were. When he +had heard them he stood pulling at his gray beard for a little, then +turned to Brian.</p> + +<p>"How is your body, master?"</p> + +<p>"Well enough," said Brian, feeling his head. "Save for this beard, which +now I may not cut for a time."</p> + +<p>He intended to abide by that oath of his, and so his beard was growing +out and his hair as well, of which latter he was glad.</p> + +<p>Since he had ever kept his face clean shaven, however, the beard was not +to his liking. He was quite unaware that it built out his face greatly +and made him grimmer-looking than before, and yet so young were his blue +eyes except when he was in anger that it was not hard for Nuala to +believe that he was only two years older than herself.</p> + +<p>None the less, she made great sport of his beard, saying that it curled +at the end like a drake's tail, as indeed it did; and as Brian only +repaid her laughter with the open wonder and admiration that he held for +her, there was great good-comradeship between them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_682" id="Page_682">[Pg 682]</a></span>"There is still one chance for stopping the Dark Master," said Turlough +thoughtfully. "If we cut off those pirate ships on their way south he is +not like to get much help from Galway."</p> + +<p>"Oh—and I never thought of it!" cried Nuala, staring at him.</p> + +<p>Turlough chuckled. "That was spoken like a woman, mistress! If the rede +seems good we could lay aboard men from here for fighting, and sail out +with those two ships of yours."</p> + +<p>Now Brian's heart filled with new hope, and after no long discussion +they decided to adopt the plan. Nuala was of the opinion that a short +cruise would do Brian great good, so they decided to set off that +evening in her two ships, leaving Turlough to keep the castle against +Cathbarr's return.</p> + +<p>Had they taken Turlough Wolf with them or had Brian been less +close-mouthed on his return from that cruise, the evil that befell might +have been averted. The old man was cunning and swift at piercing beneath +the craft of other men and turning it back upon themselves; but as +Brian's mind lost its bitterness at his own failure it gained joy at +being with the Bird Daughter, while Nuala had no less friendship and +liking for him, so that neither of them gave much thought to O'Donnell +Dubh who lay in Galway and bided his time after his own fashion.</p> + +<p>Once having reached their decision, they hastened it somewhat and sent +men and muskets aboard the two ships at noon. Nuala wished to sail first +to Gorumna Castle and make all safe there, then reach back for Slyne +Head. She proposed that Brian take one carack and she the other, but at +this Brian laughed.</p> + +<p>"No, lady—I am no seaman, and I am your guest on this cruise, so I go +with you."</p> + +<p>"Well, you shall have good guesting," she answered, flushing a little, +but her eyes not flinching from his, and so they went aboard her ship +together.</p> + +<p>Having two hundred men still, Brian had put fifty on each ship in case +they met with those pirates, who were like to give good battle. Also +Turlough had hopes that many of Brian's men would win home from that +riding of his yet, since a large part of them had dropped out by the way +or had been left behind with wounds. And in the end, indeed, fifty or +less did find their way back.</p> + +<p>Before night they made Gorumna Castle, and Brian found why they had come +here first. With her Kerry recruits, Nuala had a hundred and eighty men, +so she had set to work to build a tower and small keep on the opposite +island, that Gorumna itself might be more easily defended. Also she had +taken some falconets and two bastards out of a large French ship, and +had set about building a battery outside the castle that would overlook +the harbor.</p> + +<p>"That will be better than good when it is done," said Brian approvingly. +"But you had best get it done speedily. When we come back from this +cruise you shall take this hundred men of mine, for I will not need them +until the Dark Master comes, and of that we shall have good warning."</p> + +<p>This she was glad of, and she was glad because Brian had found her work +well planned; nor did either of them suspect what grief that loan of a +hundred men was to bring upon Brian.</p> + +<p>They paused only to sup at Gorumna, then set forth again, and by dawn +were off Slyne Head with a light breeze behind them. Nuala would take no +chance of missing those Millhaven men, so instead of going north among +the islands she turned her ships and beat off Slyne all that day, seeing +no sail save fishing-craft.</p> + +<p>Those were pleasant hours for Brian, for the sea was fair and he had +naught to do but sit with the Bird Daughter. He found himself drawn ever +closer to her, admiring her wit and fairness as he did, and he fancied +that she was by no means unwilling to talk with him and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_683" id="Page_683">[Pg 683]</a></span> open her mind +as she did to few men. Yet he remembered that he was no more than her +vassal, a landless man in truth.</p> + +<p>That night the two caracks separated, standing well off the land and +keeping good watch, but no sign did they catch of the O'Donnell pirates. +Toward morning a stiff wind came upon them from the west, and Brian's +men, being all landsmen, got no great joy out of that cruise.</p> + +<p>"This wind is like to hold," said Nuala, laughing as she stood on the +poop with Brian that morning and watched the decks. "I am afraid that we +might as well give over this attempt, Brian. Your men will be in no +shape to fight. What think you?"</p> + +<p>"Right," nodded Brian slowly, for he saw that those men of his were +worse than useless with their sickness.</p> + +<p>So they turned about and drove before the wind, but before ever they had +got past Slyne Head the men aloft descried a sail to the south that +seemed like a large galley. Nuala signaled the other carack to bear down +with her, and presently they made out that it was a large sailing +galley, which headed straight for them.</p> + +<p>"That is none of my ships," exclaimed Nuala, watching. "It seems strange +that she does not flee before us, Brian. She bears no ensign, yet she +must be from these parts, and would naturally have some fear of +pirates."</p> + +<p>Brian looked at her rather than the ship, and thought her a fine +picture, with her body swinging a little to the sway of the deck and the +wind blowing her red cloak around her. The galley came straight for them +as if seeking speech, however, and when a falconet was fired from the +carack without charge, she lowered her sail and put out her sweeps, +coming straight for them.</p> + +<p>Nuala sped a word to her sailing-master, and the men let down the sails +with shouting and great creaking of ropes. The Bird Daughter stood under +the high poop bulwark, and now she turned to Brian.</p> + +<p>"Do you speak with them and find their business, for it seems to me that +all is not as it should be, and they would likely know me too well."</p> + +<p>Brian nodded, and when the galley had come under their lee he saw that +she was well laden, and had for crew a dozen rough-looking men. One of +these replied to his hail.</p> + +<p>"We are come from Galway, lord, with a gift of stores and wines from +O'Donnell Dubh to certain friends of his whom we came to meet. Are you +those friends, as we think?"</p> + +<p>Brian started in surprise, but needed no word from Nuala. He saw that +the Dark Master must have sent this galley out to meet the Millhaven +men, and that the crew had taken the two caracks for those pirate ships.</p> + +<p>"We are the O'Donnells from Millhaven," he shouted, and ordered the +seaman to cast down ropes to the galley. Her master, a stout man with +bushy black beard, waved a hand in reply, and after another moment the +two craft ground together. The master of the galley got aboard over the +low waist of the carack, and Brian ordered a dozen of his own +green-faced men down into the smaller ship. At this the galley's master +stared somewhat, but came up to the poop.</p> + +<p>"Lord, O'Donnell sends you these stores with a message. I am Con Teague +of Galway."</p> + +<p>"Let us have it," ordered Brian, liking the looks of the man not at all.</p> + +<p>"He bade us say that he was leaving Galway to-morrow at dawn with a +force of men, and that you should meet him at Bertragh Castle and fall +on that place to take it."</p> + +<p>"That is good," laughed Brian. "Now learn that you have found the wrong +ships, my man. We are not the Millhaven pirates, but I am Brian Buidh, +who holds Bertragh; and here is the Lady Nuala, for whom I hold it."</p> + +<p>At that Nuala came forward, and Teague looked greatly astonished, as +well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_684" id="Page_684">[Pg 684]</a></span> he might, and all the Bird Daughter's men fell roaring with +laughter. But he could make no resistance, and stood chapfallen while +Brian talked with Nuala.</p> + +<p>"I must back to the Castle," he said, "and see if this news be true. Do +you go on to Gorumna with my men, and I will let loose a pigeon to you. +If the Dark Master is indeed on the way, then come with all the men you +can spare, and it will go hard if we do not best his royalists, and the +pirates later when the latter come."</p> + +<p>This was clearly the best plan, so Brian sent Teague down into the +galley and followed him, as the light ship was faster than the caracks. +Replacing half of Teague's men with O'Malleys, he had the ropes cast +off, waved his hand at Nuala, and they drove to the eastward and +Bertragh Castle.</p> + +<p>Teague made so much moan over losing his ship that Brian promised it +back to him when they had reached the castle; the stores and wine, +however, he accounted good spoils of war. This put the seaman in better +mood, and by noon the fast galley had covered the twenty miles to +Bertragh, and cast down her anchor in the little bay beyond the castle, +that same bay where Brian had come to grief through O'Donnell's sorcery.</p> + +<p>The men crowded down to meet him joyfully, and Brian found that Cathbarr +had come home safe with his beeves and was hungry for fight. No sign had +been heard of the Dark Master along the roads, however, so Brian set +Turlough in charge of getting the stores and wine-casks off the galley, +and fell to work putting the castle in shape for defense.</p> + +<p>Since there was no need of loosing a pigeon until word came that the +Dark Master was actually on the way, he sent out men to have a beacon +built on the hills at the bay's head as soon as the enemy was sighted. +What with seeing that the bastards and other shot were cleaned and +loaded, and stationing his hundred men to the best advantage, he found +that the afternoon soon wore away.</p> + +<p>"Those are good wines," said Turlough when they sat at meat that +evening, the men eating below in the courtyard around fires. "But I do +not like that ship-master."</p> + +<p>So far Brian had said nothing of how the galley had been taken, save +that they had chanced on it at sea and had heard from Teague that the +Dark Master might be on them in another day. As for the O'Malleys, they +kept to themselves and talked not at all, so that neither Turlough nor +Cathbarr had heard the way of that capture.</p> + +<p>"Is she unladen?" asked Brian.</p> + +<p>"All save a few barrels. That ship-master was so eager to be off," +grunted old Turlough spitefully, "that I stayed the work and put a guard +on the galley until morning."</p> + +<p>"Give the men a cask of the best wine," ordered Brian shortly.</p> + +<p>Having taken upon himself the duties of seneschal, Turlough departed +grumbling. While he was gone, Brian's tongue was a little loosened with +wine, so that he told Cathbarr of how he had taken the galley, at which +the giant bellowed with laughter. Presently from the courtyard came +shouting and singing, and Turlough appeared with a beaker of wine.</p> + +<p>"The men like it well enough," he said, "yet to me it seems soured. +Taste it, Brian; if it be so, then you have made a poor haul on that +cruise."</p> + +<p>Brian sipped the wine, and in truth it seemed to have soured. Cathbarr +made little of that, and would have drunken it except that his clumsy +hand knocked it from the table and emptied it all. But as it happened, +that mischance saved his life.</p> + +<p>A little after, Brian pulled out a Spanish pipe he had got that day from +one of the O'Malleys, with some tobacco, and began puffing in great +good-humor, for it was long since he had tasted tobacco. Cathbarr +watched in awe, never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_685" id="Page_685">[Pg 685]</a></span> having seen this done before, so that Brian and +Turlough had great fun with him. All his life the giant had lived in the +mountains and he knew no more than his ax had taught him; though he had +seen men smoke before, he had ever accounted it sorcery of some kind, +nor could Brian get him to as much as touch the pipe with his finger.</p> + +<p>Brian was sorry that the wine had proved sour; the butts were huge ones, +and he had counted on their lasting him and his men all the winter +through. However, he dismissed the matter from his mind and fell to +talking with Turlough and Cathbarr over their arrangements in case of an +attack. In the midst, one of the men who had been watching from the +tower ran in to say that he had caught sight of a beacon on the hills, +which meant that the arch-enemy was on the road.</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Brian, springing up. "Turlough, go fetch me that cage +of pigeons. Cathbarr, see that the men are set on the walls—"</p> + +<p>He had got no further than this when there came a strange noise from the +doorway. Turning, he saw a man staggering forward, choking as he came, +and recognized him as one of the Bird Daughter's seamen. The fellow held +a bloody sword in his hand.</p> + +<p>"What's this?" cried Brian angrily, noting that there was silence upon +the court-yard. "Has there been wrangling again—"</p> + +<p>"Death!" coughed the O'Malley, staring at him with starting, terrible +eyes. "Con Teague—I slew him—too—too late—"</p> + +<p>"Man, what is forward?" Brian leaped out and caught the seaman in his +arms, for the fellow's head was rolling on his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Death!" whispered the man again. "They are—all dead—"</p> + +<p>His head fell back in death, and the sword fell from his hand with a +clatter. But from Cathbarr, who had gone to the doorway, came one +terrible shout of grief and rage.</p> + +<p>"Brian! Our men lie dead—"</p> + +<p>"I think the Dark Master has sent us a kindly gift," quoth Turlough +Wolf, as Brian rose with horror in his face and let the seaman's body +fall. "Now I know why that wine was sour, master!"</p> + +<div class="blockquot" style="margin-top: 2.25em;"> +<p>TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK. Don't forget this magazine is issued weekly, +and that you will get the conclusion of this story without waiting a +month.</p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="Part_IV" id="Part_IV"></a><i>Nuala O'Malley</i><br /> +<i>by</i> H. Bedford-Jones</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc.</p> + +<p>This story began in the All-Story Weekly for December 30.</p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">BRIAN YIELDS BERTRAGH.</span></h2> + + +<p>"I dare not trust birds alone in this strait, Cathbarr. Go to that +galley with the two O'Malleys and hasten to Gorumna. Bid the Bird +Daughter stay and wait further word from me; but take those hundred men +of mine with her galleys, and hasten back. If the beacon on the tower is +burning, I will be here; if not, and if I can make terms, I will meet +you at that tower of yours. Now hasten!"</p> + +<p>"But—"</p> + +<p>"For God's love go, or my heart will burst!"</p> + +<p>Brian sank down on the horse-stone with a groan, and Cathbarr, catching +up his ax, fled through the open gates and was gone into the night. +Brian gazed up after him, and on the hills he saw that dim beacon-fire +heralding the Dark Master.</p> + +<p>The six men guarding the galley, two of them being O'Malleys, and three +men who had watched on the tower, were all that remained alive in +Bertragh besides<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> Turlough and Brian. The men had drunk deep of that +poisoned wine; when Con Teague and his men tried to get away after a few +had died, they were slain. But so swift was the poison that only one of +the O'Malleys had lived to reach Brian.</p> + +<p>The fires still burned brightly, and before some of them meat was +burning. Sitting in blank despair on a horse-block, Brian saw the dead +bodies of a few less than a hundred men lying there. Turlough Wolf and +his six gave over trying to put life into any of them, and now the old +man came and put his hand on Brian's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Where has Cathbarr of the Ax gone, master?"</p> + +<p>Brian told him dully, and Turlough nodded approval, having at length +learned all the story of how that galley had been taken.</p> + +<p>"Master, there was deep cunning in this. O'Donnell sent that galley to +you, or, rather, to the Bird Daughter, and he had spies watching. Had +the Gorumna men drunk of that brew, he would have fallen on there; but +here came the galley, and now he comes over the hills. And we are few to +meet him."</p> + +<p>"We will be more when the men come in from the hill-roads before him," +and Brian rose up with heavy heart, forcing himself to the task. "Send +out a man to haste them in and to warn what men there be at the farms. +Also let him send a wagon or two, that these dead may be carried out +before the Dark Master falls on us. Send two men to the tower to build a +beacon, for Cathbarr will not be back before to-morrow night."</p> + +<p>Brian went to the stables where the three carrier-pigeons were caged, +and fetched the cage to the great hall. Here he wrote what had happened, +with his plan, in small space, fastened it under the wing of a bird, and +let loose the pigeon from the courtyard.</p> + +<p>Stunned though he was by the sudden and terrible blow, Brian had seized +on the only course left him. If he could make shift to hold the castle +at all, he would do so; if not, he must make terms and get off to +Gorumna that he might take vengeance for this dastardly stroke that had +been dealt him.</p> + +<p>Nuala had nigh three hundred men in her castle, and he felt that all was +not yet lost, even should he have to yield Bertragh. The Dark Master +would hardly have a large force with him, and he would know nothing of +those hundred men Brian had loaned Nuala; so Brian reckoned that if he +could get away, O'Donnell would think him a broken man who could do no +further against him.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's looking too far ahead," thought Brian very wearily. +"Perchance I am broken, indeed, since I have lost two hundred and a half +of men without gain."</p> + +<p>An hour later rode in a score of men with wagons, and fell to work +getting the dead out of the castle, though for burying there was no +time. This score, and two more who came in later, were all the men left +to Brian; they reported that the Dark Master would be on them by +daybreak, with two hundred Scots troopers and one horse cannon.</p> + +<p>"His friends proved niggardly, then," laughed Brian drearily. "We have +but to hold the place till to-morrow night, friends, and the O'Malleys +will relieve us. Now, one man to watch and the rest of us to rest, for +there is work ahead."</p> + +<p>Brian, indeed, got some sleep that night, but it was shot through with +visions of those poisoned men of his, and their twisted faces gibbered +at him, and he thought they shrieked and howled for revenge. When he was +roused at dawn, he found the meaning of those noises, since a great +storm was sweeping down out of the west, and the farther wore the day, +the worse grew the storm.</p> + +<p>"Is Heaven itself fighting against us?" he thought bitterly, watching +the sea from the battlements. "Against this blast Nuala cannot reach me, +if she will."</p> + +<p>He got little time to brood, however. Before he had broken his fast the +Dark<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> Master's horsemen came in sight—two hundred braw Scots, with +wagons and a cannon following after. It was no large force, but Brian +found afterward that it was the best the Dark Master could get, since +the Galway Irish cared nothing whether the Scots lived or died.</p> + +<p>They halted and spread out, half a mile from the castle, and Brian saw +that the men were being quartered on the farms round about. Bitterly he +wished that he had his lost men, for with them he could have sent those +Scots flying home again; but now he was helpless.</p> + +<p>With the gates shut and the bastards loaded with bullets to sweep the +approach, Brian sent his twenty men to the battlements and watched, with +Turlough beside him. It was plain that no offensive operations were +under way as yet, and an hour passed quietly; then ten men rode down to +the castle under a white flag, and foremost of them was the Dark Master.</p> + +<p>"Now, if I were in your place, master," said Turlough, slanting his eyes +up at Brian in his shrewd way, "I would loose those bastards and sweep +the road bare."</p> + +<p>"You are not in my place," said Brian, and the Wolf held his peace.</p> + +<p>The Dark Master looked at those bodies piled between the castle and the +shore, and it was easy to see that he was laughing and pointing them out +to the Scots. At that Brian heard his men mutter no little, and he +himself clenched his nails into his palms and cursed bitterly; but he +forbade his men to fire and they durst not disobey him. The party rode +up under the walls, and the Dark Master grinned at Brian standing above.</p> + +<p>"You have great drunkards, Yellow Brian," he called mockingly. "Have all +your men drunk themselves to death?"</p> + +<p>Brian answered him not, but fingered his hilt; even at that distance the +Dark Master seemed to feel the icy blue eyes upon him, for his leer +vanished.</p> + +<p>"Yield to us, Yellow Brian," he continued, shooting up his head from +betwixt his shoulders. "I do not think you have many men in that +castle."</p> + +<p>"I have enough to hold you till more come," answered Brian.</p> + +<p>"Mayhap, and mayhap not," and O'Donnell laughed again. "Keep a watch to +seaward, Yellow Brian, and when you see four sail turning the headland, +judge if those two caracks of the Bird Daughter's are like to help you."</p> + +<p>"If you have no more to say, get you gone," said Brian, feeling the +anger in him rising beyond endurance. The Dark Master looked along the +walls for a moment, then signed to his men, and they rode off through +the driving snow again.</p> + +<p>Turlough looked at Brian and Brian at him, and the same thought was in +the minds of both. If those Millhaven men had four ships driving down +before that storm, as seemed probable enough, the Bird Daughter's two +little caracks would never land men under the guns of Bertragh.</p> + +<p>About noon the snow fell less thickly, though the storm had risen to +great power, and Brian made out that the Scots were bringing forward +that cannon of theirs. Having some little knowledge of artillery +himself, he drew the charge of bullets from a bastard and put in more +powder, then put the bullets back, a full bag of them. He did the same +with two more of the bastards on that wall, and when the Scots had +halted aimed all three very carefully, and set men by them to fire at +his order. The Scots were turning their cannon about, a score of men +being in their party, and Brian judged that they were eight hundred +paces away—just within range of his bastards.</p> + +<p>"The Dark Master lost this hold because he had too many men," he said to +Turlough, "and we shall lose it because we have too few; but we will +make better use of these shot than did he. Fire, men!"</p> + +<p>The three men brought down their linstocks and ran for it, having seen +that extra charge of powder set in the cannon. But none of the pieces +burst, though they roared loud enough and leaped at their recoil-ropes +like mad things. When the white smoke shredded down the wind,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> Brian's +men yelled in great delight, for those Scots and horses about the cannon +were stricken down or fleeing, and the piece had not yet been loaded.</p> + +<p>"They will get little joy of that cannon," said Brian grimly, and went +in to meat.</p> + +<p>During the rest of the day the cannon stood there silent, dead horses +and men around it; nor was any further attack made. Brian knew well that +having found him prepared, the Dark Master would now attack at night and +hard did Brian pray that the storm might abate from the west, or at +least shift around, so that Nuala's ships could come to his aid.</p> + +<p>Instead, the gale only swooped down the wilder, and seemed like to hold +a day or more, as indeed it did. About mid-afternoon Turlough came and +beckoned him silently out to the rear or seaward battlement and pointed +out.</p> + +<p>No words passed between the two men, nor were any needed; beating around +the southern headland were four flecks of white that Brian knew for +ships coming from the west with the storm, and he saw that for once the +Dark Master had told the truth.</p> + +<p>"I have some skill at war," he said to Turlough that afternoon when they +had seen the four ships weather past them and anchor a mile up the bay; +"and since the Dark Master's troopers are also skilled at that game, +they will fall to work without waste of time or men. We may look to have +the dry moat filled with fascines to-night and our gates blown in with +petards. At the worst, we can hold that tower, where the powder is +stored."</p> + +<p>If he had had more men, Brian would have slung the bastards down from +the high walls and set them in the courtyard where they could sweep the +gates when these had been blown in. But they weighed a ton and half +each, and there was no time to build shears to let them down, even had +they had spars and ropes at hand. So Brian set them to cover the +approach, and had the smaller falcons brought down to the courtyard, all +five, where he trained them on the gates and loaded them with bullets +heavily.</p> + +<p>"Turlough and I will fire these ourselves," he told his men that evening +as they made supper together, the men looking forward to the night's +work with great joy. "Do the rest of you gather on either hand by the +stables, with spare muskets and pistols."</p> + +<p>So this was done as he said. Because of the storm Brian did not light +his beacon after all, but he stocked the tower with food and wine, and +told his men to get there, if they could, when the rest was taken. That +tower had Brian's chamber in the lower part and a ladder in the upper +part, where was great store of powder.</p> + +<p>The five falcons were set in front of the hall doorway, where once Brian +had come near to being nailed. Brian loosed another of the pigeons, +telling Nuala how things chanced, and of the four pirate ships, and set +the last bird in the tower in case of need, which proved a lucky thing +for him in the end.</p> + +<p>Brian and his men slept after meat, while Turlough Wolf remained +watching. It was wearing well on to midnight when the old man woke them +all, and Brian went to the walls to hear a thud of hoofs and a murmur of +men coming across the wind to him. He sent off men to loose the loaded +guns on the outer walls at random, and then suddenly flung lighted +cressets over the gates.</p> + +<p>A wild yell answered this, and bullets from the men who were filling the +dry moat, while others scrambled across it and charged up to the gates +with small powder-kegs and petards ready. This was not done without +scathe, however; Brian's men loosed their muskets, and one by one the +heavy bastards thundered out across the snow, though the result was hard +to see in the darkness.</p> + +<p>There came a ragged flash of musketry in reply, and that abandoned +cannon roared out lustily, though its ball passed far overhead. Brian +stood on a demi-bastion that half flanked the gates, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> after firing +his pistol into the men below, he leaped down the steps into the +courtyard and joined Turlough behind the falcons.</p> + +<p>"One at a time, Turlough. They'll have the gates down in a minute."</p> + +<p>While he waited for the storm to fall, Brian saw that two or three of +his men had been hit. He wondered dully that the Dark Master had not +made a general assault, and concluded that he must wish to save men. It +was a long moment that dragged down on him; then a splash of light burst +up, the gates were driven inward and shattered, and with a great roar +there fell a rain of riven beams and stones and dirt.</p> + +<p>Sheltering in the hall doorway, Brian and Turlough stayed unmoving +through an instant of black silence. Out of it broke a wild Scots yell, +and in the light of the courtyard cressets a wave of men surged up in +the breach. Brian's linstock fell on a falcon, and the little gun barked +a hail of bullets across the Scots; Turlough's gun followed suit, and +the first lines of men went down in a struggling mass.</p> + +<p>The Dark Master was not to be beaten this time, however. Another wave of +Scots swept up, with a mass of men behind them. While some of Brian's +men tried to get the two falcons reloaded, a storm of bullets swept +across the courtyard, and Brian saw Turlough turn and run for it through +the doorway, while two of the men fell over a falcon.</p> + +<p>But as the first line of men broke into the courtyard, Brian fired the +remaining three cannon as fast as he could touch linstock to powder. The +bullet-hail tore the front ranks to shreds, but through the darkling +smoke-cloud he saw other men come leaping, and knew that the game was +up.</p> + +<p>On the next instant his men had closed around him, muskets were stabbing +the powder-smoke, and Brian fell to work with his Spanish blade. +O'Donnells and Scots together heaved up against them, but Brian's point +weaved out between cutlas and claymore and bit out men's lives until +the mass of men surged back again like the backleash of a wave that +comes against a wall.</p> + +<p>Brian heard the Dark Master's voice from somewhere, and with that +muskets spat from the gloom and bullets thudded around him. One slapped +his steel cap away and another nicked his ear, and a third came so close +across his eyes that he felt the hot breath of it; but his men fared in +worse case than that, for they were clutching and reeling and fallen, +and Brian leaped across the last of them into the hall with bullets +driving at his back-piece.</p> + +<p>As he ran through the hall he knew that his falcons had punished +O'Donnell's men heavily, and that his twenty men had not fallen without +some payment for their lives. None the less, Bertragh Castle was now +lost to him and to the Bird Daughter; but he thought it likely that he +would yet make a play that might nip O'Donnell in the midst of his +success.</p> + +<p>In this Brian was a true O'Neill and the true luck of the Red Hand had +seemed to dog him, for he had lost all his men without suffering a +defeat, and now that he was beaten down, he was planning to strike +heaviest.</p> + +<p>He gained the tower well enough, and found Turlough there to receive +him, with food and wine and loaded pistols. They soon had the door of +the lower chamber fast barred and clamped, and Brian flung himself down +on his bed, panting, but unwounded to speak of.</p> + +<p>"Now sleep, master," said the old man. "They will search elsewhere, and +finding this door closed will do naught here until the morning."</p> + +<p>Brian laughed a little.</p> + +<p>"It is not easy to sleep after fighting, Turlough. I think that now I +will send off that last pigeon, so give me that quill yonder."</p> + +<p>With great care Brian wrote his message, telling what had passed, and +saying that he hoped to ride free from the castle next morning. In that +case he would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> at Cathbarr's tower before evening came, and he told +Nuala to have all her men landed there at once, since she could hope to +do nothing by sea against the pirate ships.</p> + +<p>When the writing was bound to the pigeon's wing he loosed the bird +through the seaward casement, and bade Turlough blow out their +flickering oil-light.</p> + +<p>After eating and drinking a little, they lay down to sleep. Men came and +pounded at the door, then departed growling; but Turlough had guessed +aright. The Dark Master was plainly speeding the search for Brian +elsewhere, and since there was no sign of life from the powder-tower, he +did not molest this until close to dawn. Then Brian was wakened by a +shock at the door, and he heard the Dark Master's voice outside +directing his men. Still he seemed to have no thought that Brian was +there, but wanted to get at the powder and into his own chamber again.</p> + +<p>Brian took up his pistols and went to a loophole opening on the +battlements, while Turlough still crouched on the bed in no little fear. +Finding that the Dark Master stood out of his sight, Brian fired at two +of the men under the door, and they fell; then he raised his voice above +the shouting that came from outside.</p> + +<p>"O'Donnell, are you there?"</p> + +<p>The uproar died away, and the other's voice came to him.</p> + +<p>"So you are trapped at last, Brian Buidh! Now yield and I promise you a +swift hanging."</p> + +<p>"Not I," laughed Brian curtly. "There is no lack of powder here, +O'Donnell Dubh, and one of my men holds a pistol ready for it."</p> + +<p>At this he glanced at Turlough, who grimaced. But from outside came a +sudden yell of alarm, and Brian saw a few fleeing figures, while +O'Donnell shouted at his men in furious rage. Brian called out to him +again:</p> + +<p>"Give me a horse and let me go free with the one man left me, or else I +will blow up both tower and castle, and you will have little gain for my +death."</p> + +<p>"Would you trust my word in this?" cried the Dark Master. Brian smiled.</p> + +<p>"Yes, as you must trust mine to leave no fuse in the powder when I am +gone."</p> + +<p>Then fell silence. Brian hated O'Donnell, as he knew he was hated in +return; and so great was the hatred between them that he felt +instinctively he could trust the Dark Master to send him out free. It +seemed to him that the other would sooner have him go broken and crushed +than do him to death, for that would be a greater revenge. Moreover, the +Dark Master could know nothing of those men at Gorumna and would have +little fear of the Bird Daughter.</p> + +<p>And it befell exactly as Brian thought.</p> + +<p>"I agree," cried the Dark Master, stepping out in the dawn-light boldly. +"You shall go forth empty as you came, Yellow Brian. What of those +two-score men you owe me?"</p> + +<p>"The time is not yet up," returned Brian, beginning to unbar the door, +and he laughed at the mocking voice.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">BRIAN MEETS THE BLACK WOMAN.</span></h2> + + +<p>"The storm is over, master, or will be by this night."</p> + +<p>"Too late now, Turlough."</p> + +<p>Brian and the old man stood in the courtyard, while the Dark Master was +seeing to horses being made ready for them. Drawing his cloak farther +about his hunched shoulders, the latter turned to Brian with a mocking +sneer.</p> + +<p>"Now farewell, Brian Buidh, and forget not to repay that loan, if you +can gather enough men together. When you come again, you will find me +here. A merry riding to you. <i>Beannacht leath!</i>"</p> + +<p>Brian looked at him grimly.</p> + +<p>"Your curse would make better company than your blessing, O'Donnell," he +said, and turned to his horse with no more words.</p> + +<p>The Scots who were standing around gave vent to a murmur of approval, +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> Brian saw the black looks passing between them and the wild +O'Donnells. The Highlanders had done murdering enough in Ireland since +Hamilton brought them over, but they were outspoken men, who had little +love for poisoners; and as Brian settled into the saddle with his huge +sword slung across his back, he caught more than one word of muttered +approval, which the Dark Master was powerless to check.</p> + +<p>So Yellow Brian rode out from the castle he had lost, with Turlough Wolf +at his heels, and his heart was very sore. Once across the filled-in +moat and he saw fifty men at work by the shore, loading the dead into +boats to be buried in the bay, for the ground was hard-frozen.</p> + +<p>Parties of Scots troopers and the horseless O'Donnells were scattered +over the farmlands and country ahead, but these offered no menace as the +two horsemen rode slowly through them. For all his bitterness, Brian +noted that the four pirate ships had been brought around into the bay +before the castle, into which the Scots had moved, while a great number +of the O'Donnells had landed and were hastily throwing up brush huts on +the height above the shore, evidently intending to camp there for the +present.</p> + +<p>That was a dark leave-taking for Brian, since he had lost so many men +and his castle to boot. Yet more than once he looked back on Bertragh, +and when they came to the last rise of ground before the track wound +into the hills and woods, he drew rein and pointed back with a curt +laugh.</p> + +<p>"This night I shall return, Turlough, and I think we shall catch the +Dark Master off his guard at last. If we throw part of our men on that +camp at dawn and the rest upon the castle, the tables may yet be +turned."</p> + +<p>"A good rede, Brian O'Neill," nodded the old Wolf approvingly. At thus +hearing his name Brian flung Turlough one lightning-swift glance, then +pulled out his Spanish sword and threw it high, and caught it again with +a great shout.</p> + +<p>"Tyr-owen! <i>Slainte!</i>"</p> + +<p>With that he put spurs to his horse and rode on with better heart, +striving to forget his troubles in thinking of the stroke he would deal +that night. If those three pigeons had won clear to Gorumna, he would +find Nuala and her men waiting at Cathbarr's tower, and before the dawn +they would be back again and over the hills.</p> + +<p>So they rode onward, and presently came to a stretch of forest, dark +against the snow. Suddenly Turlough drew up with a frightened glance +around.</p> + +<p>"Master—what is that wail? If I ever heard a banshee, that is the cry! +Beware of the Little People, master—"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" exclaimed Brian, drawing rein also and listening. He heard a +faint, sobbing cry come from ahead, and so mournful was it, so charged +with wild grief, that for an instant his heart stood still, and the +color fled from his face.</p> + +<p>"It is some woman wailing her dead, Turlough," he said at length, +although doubtfully. "Yet I have never heard a <i>caoine</i> like it; but +onward, and let us see."</p> + +<p>"Wait, master!" implored the old man. "Let us cut over the hills and go +by another path—"</p> + +<p>"Go, if you are afraid," returned Brian, and spurred forward. The other +hesitated, but followed unwillingly, and a moment later Brian came upon +the cause of that mournful wailing, as the trees closed about them and +the road wound into a hollow.</p> + +<p>The dingle was so sheltered by the brooding pines that there was little +snow, except on the track itself, and no wind. Under the spreading +splay-boughs to the right was what seemed to be a heap of rags and +tatters, though the wailing cry ceased as the two riders clattered down, +with Turlough keeping well behind Brian.</p> + +<p>The latter drew rein, seeing that the creature under the pine-boughs was +some old crone whose grief seemed more bitter still than his own.</p> + +<p>"What is wrong, mother?" he cried cheerily. "Are you from one of the +Bertragh farms?"</p> + +<p>The tattered heap moved slightly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> and a wrinkled, withered face peered +up at him.</p> + +<p>"Nay, I come from farther than that," and to his surprise there was a +mocking note in her voice, though it was weak. "That is a good horse of +yours, <i>ma boucal</i>; he must trot sixteen miles to the hour, eh?"</p> + +<p>"All of that, mother," returned Brian, wondering if the old crone was +out of her senses. "Was it you whom I heard wailing a moment ago? Where +is your home?"</p> + +<p>The old woman broke into a cackle of hideous laughter.</p> + +<p>"My home, is it? Once I had a home, Yellow Brian—and it was in +Dungannon, with Tyr-owen and Cormac and Art and the noblest of the +chiefs of Ulster to do me honor! Have you forgotten me, Brian O'Neill, +since we met at the Dee Water?"</p> + +<p>Then Brian gave a great cry, and swung down to earth, for now he +recognized the Black Woman. But as he strode toward her she tried to +rise and failed, and forth from the midst of her rags came a quick gush +of red blood. Brian leaped forward and caught her in his arms, pitying +her.</p> + +<p>"I knew you," she gasped out weakly, clutching at his shoulder. "I knew +you, son of Tyr-owen! You had yellow hair, but your face was the face I +once loved, the face of the great Hugh—"</p> + +<p>She stopped abruptly, and her words were lost in a choking gasp as blood +came from her mouth. Brian swore.</p> + +<p>"<i>Mile Mollaght!</i> What has happened here, woman? Are you wounded?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, those dogs of O'Donnells," she moaned feebly. Then new strength +came to her, and she peered up with another cackle. "But did I not tell +wisely, son? Have you not found Cathbarr of the Ax and the Bird Daughter +even as I foretold?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," returned Brian impatiently. "Where are you wounded, mother? +We can take you—"</p> + +<p>"Peace, avic," she cried. "They came on me last night, and my life is +gone. You shall take vengeance for the old <i>calliagh</i>, Brian—but first +I must talk. Do you know who I am, avic—or who I was, rather?"</p> + +<p>"How should I know that, mother?" answered Brian. "Old Turlough Wolf, +yonder, swears you are some witch—"</p> + +<p>"Turlough!" The hag raised herself on his arm, cackling. "So the old +Wolf is still living! Do <i>you</i> know me, Turlough? Do you remember the +sorrowful day of the earl's flight?"</p> + +<p>Old Turlough, who had ridden closer, bent over and looked down, fear in +his face. Suddenly he straightened up again with a wild cry.</p> + +<p>"Noreen of Breffny! By my hand, it is the earl's love!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, the earl's love!" she gasped out, falling back. "I was his love in +truth, Yellow Brian, and he loved me above all the rest, though +another's hand closed his eyes and laid him to earth in Rome. I knew you +would come, Brian—I saw you at Drogheda, though you saw me not, and I +bade you come here into the West, and I have watched over you—"</p> + +<p>She coughed horribly, clutching at Brian's arm. He stared down at her in +amazement, for the incredible story seemed true enough. This old hag had +been that Noreen of Breffny of whom he had heard much—the fairest maid +of the North, whom the great earl had loved to the last, though the +church had not blessed their union.</p> + +<p>Brian's old Irish nurse had often told him of the "Breffny lily," and it +was bitter and hard to realize that this ancient hag, withered and +shrunk and done to death by the Dark Master's men, had been the fairest +maid in Ulster. She gasped out a little more of her story, and Brian +found that his wild surmises had been true; after seeing him and +recognizing him for one of the earl's house, she had instantly led his +mind to this part of the country, being aware of the strife between +O'Donnell and Nuala<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> O'Malley. It had been a crazed notion enough, and +since then she had kept as near to him as possible in the half-sane idea +that she might help him.</p> + +<p>How she had managed to do it ever remained a mystery to Brian, since his +marches had been none of the slowest, but she had done so.</p> + +<p>"Where are—your men?" she exclaimed after a little. Brian told her what +had chanced at the castle, and she broke out in a last wild cackling +laugh.</p> + +<p>"Tyr-owen's luck!" she cried. "Betrayed and blasted, betrayed and +blasted—but the root of the tree is still strong, Yellow Brian—give me +your blessing, master—give Noreen your blessing before you go to Rome, +Hugh <i>mo mhuirnin</i>—"</p> + +<p>Brian's face blanched and his hands trembled, for he saw that her +wandering mind took him for his grandsire.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dhia agus mhuire orth</i>," he murmured, and with a little sob the Black +Woman died.</p> + +<p>Silence fell upon the dingle, as Brian gazed down at the woman his +grandfather had loved, and whose love had been no less. Then Turlough +pushed his horse closer, looking down with a shrewd leer.</p> + +<p>"Said she not that it would be a black day when you met her again, +master?" he queried with awe in his voice. "I think—"</p> + +<p>"Keep silence!" commanded Brian shortly. "Get down from that horse and +dig a grave."</p> + +<p>"But the ground is frozen—" began old Turlough in dismay. Brian gave +him one look, and the old man hastily dismounted, crossing himself and +mumbling.</p> + +<p>Brian joined him, and they managed to scoop out a shallow grave with +knife and sword, laid the old woman in it, and covered her up again. It +was a sorry burial for the love of the great earl, but it was the best +they could do.</p> + +<p>Shaken more than he cared to admit, Brian mounted and rode on in +silence. As he had thought, there was nothing supernatural about this +weird Black Woman, except, perhaps, the manner in which she had +contrived to keep close to him. She had warned him at the Stone +Mountain, and she must have been keeping close to Bertragh ever since, +unseen by any, with her unhinged mind driving her forward relentlessly.</p> + +<p>"Poor woman!" he thought darkly, gazing into the hills ahead. "There has +been little luck to any who ever followed an O'Neill or loved an +O'Neill! And now it seems likely that the same ill luck of all my family +is to dog my heels, bringing me up to the heights, only to cast me down +lower than before. Well, I may fall, but it shall not be until I have +dragged down the Dark Master. If I fall not I may yet best the ill-luck +and conquer Millhaven for my own."</p> + +<p>With that his mind leaped ahead again as the plan outlined itself to +him. The O'Donnell pirates must have brought their whole force to the +Dark Master's aid, and if he could but cut off that camp of theirs +between the castle and the shore, Nuala O'Malley might bring her two +ships against the weakened four and take them all.</p> + +<p>Then, when the castle had fallen, he could sail north to Millhaven, +reduce the stronghold there, and let fly his own banner at last. It was +a good plan, but it hung on many things.</p> + +<p>With a short laugh at his own fancies he turned in the saddle as the +voice of Turlough broke into his musings.</p> + +<p>"I mind the last time I saw the poor woman back yonder, master. It was +just before the great flight, and I mind now that she was not so +ill-looking even then, though she was well past her youth, and that was +forty years ago. Tyr-connall's bag-pipe men were blowing as we marched +to Lough Swilly, and two earls rode in front when the poor <i>caillin</i> +rushed out and flung herself under Tyr-owen's horse—oh, <i>Mhuire as +truagh, Mhuire as truagh</i> for the old days! And when the earl died, her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +name was on his lips, and I came home again to find her disappeared. Oh, +what sorrow for the old days! Would that I had died in Rome with the +princes—"</p> + +<p>"Stop that wailing," interrupted Brian sternly, for the old man was +lashing himself into a frenzy of grief. "Put spurs to that horse of +yours, Turlough, for we must reach Cathbarr's tower by noon if possible +in order to start the men off over the hills. It'll be a long night's +march, and I've no time to be idling here on the road."</p> + +<p>Upon which he dug in his spurs and urged his steed into a gallop, and in +order to keep up, Turlough Wolf had to give over his laments and do +likewise. Brian forced himself to bend all his energies toward carrying +out his final desperate plan, but he silently vowed that the old woman +who had so foully been cut down by the O'Donnells should not die +unavenged.</p> + +<p>On they galloped without pause, gained the head of Bertraghboy Bay, and +swung to the east on the last stretch of the trip. The storm which had +arisen so inopportunely was now dying away, and the sun was breaking +through the gray clouds; when they turned out from the main track into +the hill-paths that led to Cathbarr's tower, the rough ground made them +slow their pace. When they were still three miles from the tower, +however, Brian gave a shout.</p> + +<p>"Men, Turlough! Cathbarr has sent out men to meet us!"</p> + +<p>So, indeed, it proved, and five minutes later a dozen men met them with +yells of delighted welcome. From these overjoyed fellows Brian quickly +learned that Cathbarr was at the tower and that Nuala O'Malley had just +arrived there.</p> + +<p>So, leaving them to follow, he and Turlough went on at their best speed, +and twenty minutes later they topped that same long rise from which +Brian had first gazed down on the little promontory where stood +Cathbarr's tower. But now, as he saw what lay beneath, he drew up with a +shout of amazement.</p> + +<p>For around the tower and at the base at the neck of land were camped a +goodly force of men, while at anchor near the tower lay—not Nuala's two +ships alone, but also those other two of her kinsmen!</p> + +<p>"Those two O'Malleys have returned from the south," exclaimed Turlough +in wild delight. "That means more men and ships, master—we will cut off +those Millhaven pirates to a man!"</p> + +<p>Brian sent out a long shout, but his arrival had already been noted. As +he rode down the slope, men poured from the camp and tower, and ahead of +them all came Cathbarr of the Ax, with Nuala and Lame Art and Shaun the +Little behind him.</p> + +<p>"Welcome!" bellowed the giant with a huge laugh, pulling Brian from his +horse with a great hug of delight. "Welcome, brother!"</p> + +<p>Brian escaped from his grip and bowed over the Bird Daughter's hand. As +he rose, he saw that her face had lost its ruddy hue, and that her eyes +were ringed with darkness. Before he could speak she smiled and gripped +his hand.</p> + +<p>"The birds came safe, and we know all. Yesterday arrived these kinsmen +of mine, and their force is joined to our own, Yellow Brian—"</p> + +<p>Brian held up his hand, halting her suddenly, and silence fell on the +men who had crowded around. For a moment he gazed into her deep eyes, +then flung up his head and his voice rang clear and stern in the +stillness.</p> + +<p>"Lady Nuala," he said quietly, "I promised you that when I slew the Dark +Master I would tell you my name. Before another day has passed I shall +have slain him; and now I tell you and your kinsmen that I renounce all +fealty to you."</p> + +<p>At this the Bird Daughter started, staring in amazement, while an abrupt +oath burst from Lame Art. Brian went on calmly.</p> + +<p>"This I do because it is not meet that The O'Neill should give fealty to +any,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> Lady Nuala. I am Brian O'Neill, of right The O'Neill and Earl of +Tyr-owen, though these are empty titles. And this night you and I shall +fall on Bertragh together, Bird Daughter, and when we have won it again +it shall be yours as of old."</p> + +<p>And amid a great roar of shouts welling up around him Brian bowed to +Nuala.</p> + +<p>"Then, Brian O'Neill," she said, quieting the tumult a little, "am I to +understand that you wish to make pact with me, and to receive no +reward?"</p> + +<p>For a moment he gazed openly and frankly into her eyes, and under his +look the red crept into her cheeks again; yet her own eyes did not +flinch.</p> + +<p>Brian laughed out.</p> + +<p>"Yes, lady! It may be that I shall have a reward to ask of you, but that +may not be until I have won back what I have lost for you."</p> + +<p>"And what if the reward be too great?"</p> + +<p>"Why, that shall be for you to say!" and Brian laughed again. "Is it +agreed, Bird Daughter?"</p> + +<p>For an instant he thought she meant to refuse, as she drew herself up +and met his level eyes; the men around held their breaths, and the +O'Malley chiefs glanced at each other in puzzled wonder. Then her quick +laugh rippled out and she gave him her hand.</p> + +<p>"Agreed, Brian—and I hope that you can shave that yellow beard of yours +by to-morrow!"</p> + +<p>And the great yell that went up from the men drowned all else in Brian's +ears.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">THE STORM BURSTS.</span></h2> + + +<p>"Now, the first thing is to see what force of men we have," said Brian, +after the midday meal. They were all gathered in Cathbarr's tower before +a log fire, and were preparing the plan of campaign.</p> + +<p>"I have my hundred and eighty men," said Nuala. "When that last pigeon +came from you I set out at once. With the hundred men under Cathbarr, we +have close to three hundred. You can take them all, for my kinsmen here +have enough and to spare to handle my two ships as well as theirs."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Brian, as the two O'Malleys nodded. "I think that by +striking at dawn we shall find most of the O'Donnells ashore or in the +castle, and if you time your sailing to strike on their four ships at +the same time we may easily take castle, camp, and ships at one blow."</p> + +<p>"If all went as men planned we would not need to pray Heaven for aid," +quoth Shaun the Little sententiously. Brian glanced at him.</p> + +<p>"Eh? What do you mean by that?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," returned the wide-shouldered seaman with a shrug. "Except +that there may be more to it than we think, Brian."</p> + +<p>"The Dark Master will not suspect your return so suddenly," spoke up +Nuala. "Pay no heed to Shaun, Brian—he was ever a croaker. When think +you we had best start?"</p> + +<p>"I am no seaman," laughed Brian. "Get there at dawn, that is all. I will +send on my men at once, then; since we have only two horses, Cathbarr +and I will ride after them later and catch them up. Will you take the +men, Turlough, or bide here out of danger?"</p> + +<p>"I think it will be safest with the Lady Nuala," hesitated the old man +craftily.</p> + +<p>"Little you know her, then," roared Lame Art, his cousin joining in the +laugh.</p> + +<p>So Turlough had decided, however, and he stuck to it. Brian then +described closely how the four pirate ships lay in the bay under +Bertragh, while Shaun went out to arrange the distribution of his men on +Nuala's ships.</p> + +<p>The arrangements having been perfected, Brian saw his three hundred men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +troop off on their march over the hills, after which he told Nuala at +greater length all that had taken place in the castle since his parting +with her at sea. Bitter and unrestrained were the curses of the +O'Malleys as they heard of how his men had been poisoned, while Nuala's +eyes flamed forth anger.</p> + +<p>"There shall be no quarter to these O'Donnells," she cried hotly. "Those +whom we take shall hang, and the Scots with them—"</p> + +<p>"Not the Scots," exclaimed Brian quickly. "They are honest men enough, +Nuala, and may serve us well as recruits. If we find them in the castle, +as I think we shall, we may leave them there until we have finished the +Millhaven men; however, it is possible that my men will find the castle +almost unguarded, and so take it at the first blow. However that turns +out, the Dark Master shall not escape us this time."</p> + +<p>During the afternoon, when the two O'Malleys were busily getting their +ships in order for the coming fray, Brian sat in the tower with Nuala. +He told her freely of himself, and although neither of them referred to +that reward of which he had spoken at their meeting, Brian knew well +that he would claim it.</p> + +<p>He did not conceal from himself that the Black Woman had guided him to +more than conquest by sword. The Bird Daughter was such a woman as he +had dreamed of, but had never found at the Spanish court, and he knew +that whether there was love in her heart or not, his own soul was in her +keeping.</p> + +<p>Perhaps he was not the only one who knew this, for as Lame Art rowed out +with his cousin, the latter nodded back at the tower.</p> + +<p>"What think you of this ally, Art Bocagh? Could he be truly the Earl's +grandson?"</p> + +<p>"I know not," grunted the other. "But I do not care whether he be Brian +Buidh or Brian O'Neill or Brian the devil—he is such a man as I would +fain see sitting in Gorumna Castle, Shaun!"</p> + +<p>And Shaun the Little nodded with a grin.</p> + +<p>When the sun began its westering, Brian and Cathbarr rode back from the +tower with food and weapons at their saddle-bows, and they paused at the +hill-crest to watch the four ships weigh anchor and up sail, then went +on into the hills. They were to meet their men at that valley where the +Dark Master had been defeated and broken in the first siege, and jogged +along slowly, resting as they rode.</p> + +<p>"Brother," said Cathbarr suddenly, fingering the haft of his ax and +looking at Brian, "do you remember my telling you, that night after we +had bearded the Dark Master and got the loan of those two-score men, how +an old witch-woman had predicted my fate?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Brian, with a sharp glance. In the giant's face there +was only a simple good-humor, however, mingled with a childlike +confidence in all things. "And I told you that you were not bound to my +service."</p> + +<p>"No, but I am bound to your friendship," laughed Cathbarr rumblingly. "I +can well understand how I might die in a cause not mine own, since I am +fighting for you; but I cannot see how death is to come upon me through +water and fire, brother!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense," smiled Brian. "Death is far from your heels, brother, unless +you are seeking it."</p> + +<p>"Not I, Brian. I neither seek nor avoid if the time comes. Only I wish +that witch-woman had told me a little more—"</p> + +<p>"Keep your mind off it, Cathbarr," said Brian. "In Spain the Moriscoes +say that the fate of man is written on his forehead, and God is just."</p> + +<p>"What the devil do I care about that?" bellowed Cathbarr. "I care not +when I die, brother—but I want to strike a blow or two first, and how +can that be done if death comes by water and fire?"</p> + +<p>"Well, take heart," laughed Brian,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> seeing the cause of the other's +anxiety. "You are not like to die from that cause to-night, and I +promise you blows enough and to spare."</p> + +<p>Cathbarr grunted and said no more. The last of the storm had fled away, +and the two men rode through a glittering sunset and a clear, cold +evening that promised well for the morrow.</p> + +<p>They traveled easily, and it was hard on midnight when a sentry stopped +them half a mile from the hollow where the men were resting. Brian noted +with approval that no fires had been lighted, and he and Cathbarr at +once lay down to get an hour's sleep among the men.</p> + +<p>Two hours before daybreak the camp was astir, and Brian gathered his +lieutenants to arrange the attack. Thinking that the Dark Master would +be in the castle, he and Cathbarr took a hundred men for that attack, +ordering the rest to get as close to the camp as might be, but not to +attack until he had struck on the castle, and to cut off the O'Donnells +from their ships. Then, assured that the plan was understood, he and +Cathbarr loaded their pistols and set out with the hundred.</p> + +<p>Brian ordered his men to give quarter to all the Scots who would accept +it, if they got inside the castle, and as they marched forward through +the darkness he found to his delight that O'Donnell seemed to have no +sentries out.</p> + +<p>"We have caught the black fox this time," muttered Cathbarr, after they +had passed the camp-fires without discovery and the black mass of the +castle loomed up ahead. "They will hardly have repaired those gates by +now, brother."</p> + +<p>Brian nodded, and ordered his men to rest, barely a hundred paces from +the castle. Since there was no need of attacking before dawn, in order +to let Nuala come up the bay, he went forward with Cathbarr to look at +the gates.</p> + +<p>These, as nearly as he could tell, were still shattered in; there were +fires in the courtyard, and sentries were on the wall, but their watch +was lax and the two below were not discovered. They rejoined the +hundred, and Brian bade Cathbarr follow him through the hall to that +chamber he himself had occupied in the tower, where O'Donnell was most +likely to be found.</p> + +<p>"Well, no use of delaying further," he said, when at length the grayness +of dawn began to dull the starlight. Since to light matches would have +meant discovery, he had brought with him those hundred Kerry pikemen +Nuala had recruited after the dark Master's defeat, and he passed on the +word to follow.</p> + +<p>The mass of men gained the moat before a challenge rang out from above, +and with that Brian leaped forward at the gates. A musket roared out, +and another, but Brian and Cathbarr were in the courtyard before the +Scots awakened. A startled group barred their way to the hall, then +Brian thrust once, the huge ax crashed down, and they were through.</p> + +<p>Other men were sleeping in the hall, but Brian did not stop to battle +here, running through before the half-awakened figures sensed what was +forward. A great din of clashing steel and yells was rising from the +court; then he and Cathbarr gained the seaward battlements and rushed at +the Dark Master's chamber. The door was open—it was empty.</p> + +<p>For a moment the two stared at each other in blank dismay. With a yell, +a half-dozen Scots swirled down on them, but Brian threw up his hand.</p> + +<p>"The castle is mine," he shouted. "You shall have quarter!"</p> + +<p>The Scots halted, and when two or three of the Kerry pikemen dashed up +with news that the rest of the garrison had been cut down or given +quarter, they surrendered.</p> + +<p>Brian's first question was as to O'Donnell.</p> + +<p>"Either at the camp or aboard one of his kinsmen's ships," returned one +of the prisoners. "They were carousing all last evening."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>At the same instant Cathbarr caught Brian's arm and whirled him about.</p> + +<p>"Listen, brother!"</p> + +<p>So swift had been Brian's attack that the castle had been won in a scant +three minutes. Now, as he listened, there came a ragged roar of +musketry, pierced by yells, and he knew that the camp was attacked.</p> + +<p>With that, a sudden fear came on him that he would again be outwitted. +There was a thin mist driving in from the sea which would be dissipated +with the daybreak, and if the Dark Master was on one of the ships he +might get away before Nuala's caracks could arrive. Brian had been so +certain that he would find O'Donnell in the castle that the +disappointment was a bitter one, but he knew that there was no time to +lose.</p> + +<p>"Come," he ordered Cathbarr quickly, "get a score of the men and to the +camp. Leave the others here to hold the castle if need be."</p> + +<p>As he strode through the courtyard and the sullen groups of Scots +prisoners, he directed the Kerry men to load the bastards on the walls +and give what help might be in destroying the pirate ships. Then, with +Cathbarr and twenty eager men at his back, he set off for the camp at a +run, fearful that he might yet be too late.</p> + +<p>The day was brightening fast, and from the camp rose a mighty din of +shouts and steel and musketry. Brian's men had charged after one hasty +volley, but their leader gave a groan of dismay as he saw that instead +of attacking from the seaward side as he had ordered, they were pouring +into the camp from the land side.</p> + +<p>O'Donnell must have landed the greater part of his men, for Brian's +force was being held in check, though they had swept in among the brush +huts. Over the tumult Brian heard the piercing voice of the Dark Master, +and with a flame of rage hot in his mind he sped forward and found +himself confronted by a yelling mass of O'Donnells.</p> + +<p>Then fell a sterner battle than any Brian had waged. In the lessening +obscurity it was hard to tell friend from foe, since the mist was +swirling in off the water and holding down the powder-smoke. Brian saved +his pistols, and, with Cathbarr at his side, struck into the wild, +shaggy-haired northern men; they were armed with ax and sword and skean, +and Brian soon found himself hard beset despite the pikemen behind.</p> + +<p>The Spanish blade licked in and out like a tongue of steel, and Brian's +skill stood him in good stead that morn. Ax and broadsword crashed at +him, and as he wore no armor save a steel cap, he more than once gave +himself up for lost. But ever his thin, five-foot steel drove home to +the mark, and ever Cathbarr's great ax hammered and clove at his side, +so that the fight surged back and forth among the huts, as it was +surging on the other side where was the Dark Master, holding off the +main attack.</p> + +<p>Little by little the mist eddied away, however, and the day began to +break. A fresh surge of the wild O'Donnells bore down on Brian's party, +and as they did so a man rose up from among the wounded and stabbed at +Brian with his skean. Brian kicked the arm aside, but slipped in blood +and snow and went down; as a yell shrilled up from the pirates, Cathbarr +leaped forward over him, swinging his ax mightily. With the blunt end he +caught one man full in the face, then drove down his sharp edge and +clove another head to waist. For an instant he was unable to get out his +ax, but Brian thrust up and drove death to a third, then stood on his +feet again.</p> + +<p>At the same instant there came a roar from across the camp where his +main body of men were engaged, and Brian thrilled to the sound. As he +afterward found, it was done by Turlough's cunning word; but up over the +din of battle rose the great shout that struck dismay to the pirates and +heartened Brian himself to new efforts.</p> + +<p>"Tyr-owen! Tyr-owen!"</p> + +<p>With a bellow of "Tyr-owen!" Cath<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>barr went at the foe, and Brian joined +him with his own battle-cry on his lips for the first time in his life. +The shout swelled louder and louder, and among the huts Brian got a +glimpse of the Dark Master. In vain he tried to break through the +Millhaven men, however; they stood like a wall, dying as they fought, +but giving no ground until the ax and the sword had cloven a way, +although the remnant of the twenty pikemen were fighting like fiends.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a yell of dismay went up from the O'Donnell ranks, and they +broke in wild confusion. Leaning on his sword and panting for breath, +Brian looked around and saw what had shattered them so swiftly.</p> + +<p>While the stubborn fight had raged, the eastern sky had been streaming +and bursting into flame. Now, sharply outlined against the crimson +water, appeared Nuala's four ships close on those of the pirates. Even +as he looked, Brian saw their cannon spit out white smoke, while from +behind came a deeper thunder as the castle's guns sent their heavy balls +over the pirate ships.</p> + +<p>These were anchored a hundred yards from shore, and Brian saw the danger +that betided as the stream of fugitives swept down toward the boats. +Nuala's ships were undermanned, for he had counted on cutting off most +of the pirates in the camp; should the Dark Master get to the ships with +his men, things were like to go hard.</p> + +<p>"To the boats!" cried Brian to Cathbarr, and leaping over the dead, the +two joined their men and poured down on the shore.</p> + +<p>The Dark Master himself stood by one of the boats, and others were +filling fast with men as they were shoved down. Brian tried to cut his +way to O'Donnell, but before he could do so the Dark Master had leaped +aboard and oars were out. Fully aware of their danger, those of the +pirates who could do so got into their boats and lay off the shore, +while others splashed aboard; Brian led his men down with a rush, +cutting down man after man, splashing out into the swirling water and +hacking at those in the boats, but all in vain. Some half-dozen of the +boats got off, crowded with men, while the remnant of the pirates held +off Brian's force that their master might escape.</p> + +<p>Drawing out of the fight, Brian pulled forth his pistols and emptied +them both at the figure of O'Donnell. He saw the Dark Master reel, and +the rower next him plunged forward over the bows, but the next moment +O'Donnell had taken up the oar himself and was at work in mad haste. +Brian groaned and flung away his pistols.</p> + +<p>Those aboard the pirate ships had already cut the cables and were +striving to make sail, for there was a light off-shore breeze in their +favor, with an ebbing tide. The O'Malley ships were close on them, +however, and as the cannon crashed out anew the masts of one O'Donnell +ship crashed over. But the Dark Master's boat was alongside another of +the ships, whose sails were streaming up, and now his cannon began to +answer those of Nuala.</p> + +<p>But Brian stood in bitterness, unmindful of the wild yells of his men, +for once more the Dark Master had escaped his hand at the last moment. +Shaun the Little had been correct in his "croakings."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">CATHBARR YIELDS UP HIS AX.</span></h2> + + +<p>Brian gazed out at the scene before him in dull despair. So close were +the ships that he could clearly make out Nuala's figure, with its +shimmering mail and red cloak, on the poop of the foremost.</p> + +<p>Her second carack had fallen behind, a shot having sent its foremast +overside, but the other two ships were driving in. All three were +lowering sail, for the Dark Master's craft were unable to get out of the +bay and were giving over the attempt; his disabled ship was sending +over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> its men to reinforce him, and Brian saw all his own efforts gone +for nothing.</p> + +<p>There came a new burst of cannon, and through the veil of smoke he +perceived that Nuala was laying her carack alongside one of the pirate +ships. But it was not that on which stood the Dark Master; his was the +ship closest to the castle, and Lame Art was bearing down on him, while +Shaun the Little stood for the third, spitting out a final broadside as +he came about and lowered sail.</p> + +<p>The crowding men on the shore had fallen silent as they watched the +impending conflict, but now Brian felt Cathbarr touch his arm, and +turned.</p> + +<p>"Why so doleful, brother?" grinned the giant; though blood dripped into +his beard from a light slash over the brow, his eyes were as clear and +childlike as ever, and the rage of battle had gone from him. "Let us +join in that fight, you and I?"</p> + +<p>"Eh?" Brian started, staring at him. "How may that be?"</p> + +<p>"Ho, here is our captain given way to despair!" bellowed Cathbarr, and +his fist smote down on Brian's back. "Wake up, brother! We have three +boats here, and we can still strike a blow or two!"</p> + +<p>Now Brian wakened to life indeed. He saw the three boats on the shore, +with dead men hanging over them, and leaped instantly into action.</p> + +<p>"Push out those boats—get the oars, there!" he shouted, leaping down to +help shove them out. The men saw his intent, and sprang to work with a +howl of delight.</p> + +<p>In no long time the dead were flung out, and the boats pushed down until +they were afloat. Brian leaped into one, Cathbarr into another, and men +piled in after them until the craft were almost awash.</p> + +<p>An eddy in the veil of smoke that hung over the bay showed Brian that +Lame Art's ship had grappled with that of O'Donnell, and with renewed +confidence thrilling in him, he shouted to his men to get aboard the +O'Malley ship. The Bertragh cannon had ceased to thunder as the ships +came together, but from the ships balls were hailing, musketry was +crackling, and the water was tearing into spurting jets around the +boats.</p> + +<p>Brian's men fell to their oars in sorry fashion enough, but they made up +in energy what they lacked in skill. Driving past Nuala's ship, Brian +saw that she had also grappled and that the battle was raging over her +bulwarks, but sorely tempted to turn aside though he was, he waved his +men on.</p> + +<p>They rowed close under the ship to which she was fastened, and as they +sped past the O'Donnells saw them, and gave them a scattering volley. +One or two of Brian's men went down, and a cry broke from him as he saw +a round shot heaved over into his third boat, sinking her; then they +were past, and bearing down on Art Bocagh's ship.</p> + +<p>"Tyr-owen for O'Malley!"</p> + +<p>Cathbarr's bellow rose over the tumult, and his boat crashed into the +waist of the ship just as Brian leaped up into the mizzen-chains. His +feet gained hold on a triced-up port, and as he looked down he saw a +swell heave up the two boats, then bring them down together with a +splintering smash.</p> + +<p>The result was dire confusion. None of the men were seamen, but some of +them gained the side of Brian, others scrambled in through the ports, +and more than one of them fell short and went down. Standing in the +sinking boat with the water swirling about his ankles, Cathbarr caught +up his ax and leaped; a moment later Brian was over the bulwarks with +the giant at his side, and the O'Malleys welcomed them with a yell of +joy.</p> + +<p>They were badly needed, indeed. The Dark Master had led his men in +furious onslaught across the waist of the ship, and Art Bocagh was being +beaten back to the poop despite his stubborn resistance. Brian saw that +the Dark Master's men far outnumbered Art's, while from the rigging of +each ship musketeers were sending down bullets into the mêlée. With<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> a +shout, Brian and Cathbarr led their men on the O'Donnell flank, and the +tide of battle turned.</p> + +<p>At the first instant the rush of men bore Brian against the Dark Master, +who was fighting like a demon. Brian caught the snarl on the other's +pallid face, and struck savagely; O'Donnell parried the blow with his +skean and returned it, but Brian warded with his left arm and swept down +his blade. The Dark Master flung himself back, but not far enough, and +Brian saw the point rip open the pallid cheek. Even as he pressed his +advantage, however, another surge of men separated them.</p> + +<p>Now Brian gave over every thought save that of reaching his enemy again, +and fell on the O'Donnells with stark madness in his face. A pistol +roared into his stubbly beard and the ball carried off his steel cap, +but he cut down the man and pressed into the midst of the pirates, +cutting and thrusting in terrible rage.</p> + +<p>At sight of him men bore back; the icy flame in his eyes took the heart +from those who faced him, and behind rose Cathbarr's wild bellows as the +giant hewed through after Brian. Back went the pirates, and farther +back. Brian found that he had cut his way to Lame Art, and with a yell +the forces joined and swept on the Dark Master's men.</p> + +<p>O'Donnell had vanished, and now his men were swept back to the bulwarks +and over to their own deck. Here they made a brief stand; then Cathbarr +leaped over into the midst and his ax crushed down two men at once; +Brian followed him, and for an instant it seemed that they would sweep +all before them.</p> + +<p>Just then, however, Lame Art toppled from the bulwarks with a bullet +through him from above, and the Dark Master's disappearance was +explained by a rain of grenades that whirled among the O'Malleys. They +gave back in dismay, Brian and Cathbarr were forced after them, and the +Dark Master himself led his men in a mad stream over the bulwarks once +more.</p> + +<p>There was no stopping them now. The death of Art Bocagh had disheartened +his men, and amid flashing steel and spurting fire Brian and Cathbarr +retreated to the quarterdeck. Here they had a brief breathing space +until the pirates came at them anew, and with such fury that three of +them gained a footing to one side. Brian went at them with a shout, +thrust one man through the body, sent a second back with his bare fist, +and as the third man struck down at him a pikeman transfixed the man +before the blow could fall.</p> + +<p>The boarders drew back, but as they did so a great heave of the grinding +ships broke the hastily flung grapplings. The ships were borne apart, +and the Dark Master with most of his men remained in the waist of the +O'Malley ship.</p> + +<p>This gave a new turn to the conflict. O'Donnell had to master the ship +to win free, and when Brian saw this he gave a great laugh and rejoined +Cathbarr. A quick glance around showed him that Nuala was slowly winning +her grappled decks, while Shaun the Little was hanging off and sending +his cannon crashing into the third pirate ship. The two disabled craft +were slowly drawing together with the tide, which was forcing all eight +into the bay, and were pounding away with their guns as they came.</p> + +<p>Now the combat resolved itself into a desperate struggle for possession +of the quarterdeck, which Brian and Cathbarr held. The Dark Master's men +swarmed up at them bravely enough, but the ax and sword flashed up and +down, and time after time the Millhaven men fell back, unable to win a +footing. Twice the Dark Master himself led them, snarling with baffled +rage, but the first time a pikeman thrust him down and the second time +Cathbarr's ax glanced from his helm.</p> + +<p>O'Donnell reeled back and was lost to sight for a time.</p> + +<p>"That was a poor blow," grunted the giant in disgust. "'Ware, brother! +Stand aside!"</p> + +<p>Brian leaped away as the men behind him ran out a falcon and sent its +blast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> into the crowd below in the waist. A dozen men went down under +that storm of death, but almost at the same moment a grenade burst +behind the falcon, and with that Brian was driven back as a keg of +powder tore out half the quarterdeck in a bursting wall of flame and +smoke.</p> + +<p>Barely had the shattering roar died out when Brian's reeling senses +caught a wild yell of dismay from his men.</p> + +<p>"Fire! The ship is afire forward!"</p> + +<p>Brian saw that the grenades had indeed fired the ship forward, while the +explosion had sent the quarterdeck into a burst of fire also, and the +lowered but unfurled sails were roaring up in flame.</p> + +<p>Up poured the O'Malleys, and Brian staggered back to the poop. He had a +vision of the great form of Cathbarr heaving up through the smoke, +blackened and bleeding, but with the ax whirling like a leaf and smiting +down men; then Brian gained the poop, helped the giant up, and with the +few men left they turned to drive down the pirates, who were striving +desperately to win the ship before it was too late.</p> + +<p>As he stood with Cathbarr at the narrow break of the poop, beating down +man after man, Brian knew that it was only a question of time now, for +the whole ship was breaking into flame forward. Suddenly he felt a tug +at his buff coat, and looked down to see his belt fall away, sundered at +his side by a bullet. He thought little of it, for he had half a dozen +slight wounds, and turned to smite down at a man who had leaped for the +poop; as his sword sheared through helm and skull, there came another +tug, and Brian felt a bullet scrape along his ribs.</p> + +<p>The O'Donnells drew back momentarily, and in the brief pause Brian saw +the figure of the Dark Master by the starboard rail in the waist, aiming +up at him with a pistol, while two men behind him were hastily charging +others. Cathbarr saw the action also, and hastily flung Brian aside, but +too late. A burst of smoke flooded over the waist, and Brian caught the +pistol-flash through it, as the ball ripped his left arm from shoulder +to elbow. Then the pirates were at the poop again, and the waist was +shut out by the flooding smoke as the wind drove it down from forward.</p> + +<p>With a scant dozen men behind them, Brian and Cathbarr once more beat +the enemy back; the giant swung his ax less lightly now, and seemed to +be covered with wounds, though most of them were slight. Brian still +eyed the waist for another glimpse of the Dark Master, but the smoke was +thick and he could see nothing. In the lull he flung a wan smile at +Cathbarr, who stood leaning on his ax, his mail-shirt shredded and +bloody.</p> + +<p>"Are you getting your fill of battle, brother?"</p> + +<p>"Aye," grinned the giant, "and we had best swim for it in another minute +or the ship—look! <i>M'anam an diaoul!</i> Look!"</p> + +<p>At his excited yell Brian turned, as a ball whistled between them. There +below, in a boat half full of dead, but with two men at the oars, stood +the Dark Master, just lowering his pistol. He flung the empty weapon up +at Brian with a hoarse yell of anger, and passed from sight beneath the +ship's counter, toward the stern.</p> + +<p>Realizing only that his enemy was escaping, Brian whirled and darted for +the poop-cabins. He was dimly conscious of a mass of figures behind, +amid whom stood Cathbarr with the ax heaving up and down, then he was in +the cabins. Jerking open the door to the stern-walk, he saw the Dark +Master's boat directly underneath, hardly six feet from him.</p> + +<p>"Tyr-owen!" yelled Brian, and dropping his sword, but holding his skean +firmly, he hurdled the stern-walk railing and leaped.</p> + +<p>At that wild shout the Dark Master looked up, but he was too late. Brian +hurtled down, his body striking O'Donnell full in the chest and driving +him over on top of the two rowers, so that all four men sprawled out +over the dead. For<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> an instant the shock drove the breath out of Brian, +then he felt a hand close on his throat, and struck out with his skean.</p> + +<p>One of the rowers gurgled and fell back, and Brian rolled over just as +steel sank into his side. Giddy and still breathless, he gained his +knees to find the Dark Master thrusting at him from the stern, while at +his side the other rower was rising. Brian brought up his fist, caught +the man full on the chin, and drove him backward over the gunwale. The +lurch of the boat flung the Dark Master forward, Brian felt a sickening +wrench of pain as the sword pierced his shoulder and tore loose from +O'Donnell's hand, then he had clutched his enemy's throat, and his skean +went home.</p> + +<p>Spent though both men were, the sting of the steel woke the Dark Master +to a burst of energy. As the two fell over the thwarts, he twisted above +and bore Brian down and tried to break the grip on his throat, but could +not. For the second time in his life Brian felt that he had a wild +animal in his grasp; the sight of the snarling face, the venomous black +eyes, and the consciousness that his own strength was slowly ebbing, all +roused him to a last great effort.</p> + +<p>The smoke-pall had shut out everything but that wolfish face, and as he +writhed up even that seemed to dim and blur before his eyes, so that in +desperate fear he struck out again and again, blindly. The blows fell +harmless enough, for all his strength was going into that right hand of +his; he did not know that his fingers were crushing out the Dark +Master's life, that O'Donnell's face was purple and his hands feebly +beating the air.</p> + +<p>Brian knew only that the terrible face was hidden from him by some loss +of vision, some horrible failure of sight due to his weakness. Suddenly +there was a great crash at his side, and he thought that a huge ax with +iron twisted around its haft had fallen from the sky and sheared away +half the gunnel of the boat. He struck out again with his skean, and +felt the blow go home—and with that there came a terrific, blinding +roar. The smoke-veil was rent apart by a sheet of flame, Brian realized +that the burning ship must have blown up, and then a blast of hot wind +drove down against him and smote his senses from him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">THE STORM OF MEN COMES TO REST.</span></h2> + + +<p>"Very well, Turlough. Tell Captain Peyton that I will give him an answer +to his message to-night, then bid my kinsman Shaun entertain him in the +hall, with the other officers. Send some food up here, and I may come +down later."</p> + +<p>"And, mistress—you will tell me if—"</p> + +<p>"Surely. Now go."</p> + +<p>Brian tried to open his eyes, but could not. He tried to move, but could +not; and realized at length that he was lying on a bed, and that a +bandage was on his head and others on his limbs.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a hand fell on his cheek, and a thrill shot through him; his +beard had been shaved away, for he could feel the softness of the hand +against his chin. He felt the hand passed over his mouth—and he kissed +it.</p> + +<p>There was a startled gasp, then the soft hand returned to his cheek.</p> + +<p>"Brian! Are you awake at last?"</p> + +<p>"I seem to be," he said, though his voice sounded more like a whisper. +"Is that you, Nuala? Where are we?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is I," came her voice softly, and something warm splashed on +his cheek. "Oh, Brian! I so feared that—that you were dead!"</p> + +<p>The hand moved away, and he moved uneasily, to feel pain through his +body.</p> + +<p>"Nay, put back your hand!" he said. He tried to smile. "There, that's +better. Where are we, Nuala? On your ship?"</p> + +<p>"No, Brian—at Gorumna. But I forgot. Turlough said you must not talk—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, curse Turlough," he cried in irritation. "Gorumna? What has +happened? Where is the Dark Master?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>"Lie still or I must leave you!" she cried sharply, and he obeyed. "The +Dark Master's head is over the gate, Brian. It is two days since the +fight."</p> + +<p>"Take that bandage from my eyes, Nuala," he said. After a minute her +hands went to his head, and as he felt the bandage removed, light +dazzled him, and he shut his eyes with a groan. Then he opened them +again, and gradually he made out the figure of Nuala leaning over him, +while a cresset shed light from above.</p> + +<p>"Tell me what has happened," said Brian quietly, as he tried again to +move and failed. "Why am I helpless here?"</p> + +<p>"Because you are wounded," she replied softly. "Please lie quiet, Brian! +I will tell you all that has chanced."</p> + +<p>"Where is Cathbarr! Did we win?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we won; but—but Cathbarr—he must have flung away his ax before +the ship exploded, for we found it sticking in your boat, and—"</p> + +<p>Her voice broke, and a pang of bitterness shot through Brian as he +remembered it all now. He groaned.</p> + +<p>"And I left him there to die! Oh, coward that I am—coward, and false to +my friend—"</p> + +<p>A great sob shook his body, but Nuala's hands fell on his face, and +there was fear in her voice when she answered him.</p> + +<p>"No, Brian—don't say that! If any one's fault, it was Shaun's for not +coming sooner to your aid. Cathbarr died as he would have wished, and +indeed as he always thought he would die. But now listen, Brian, for I +have news."</p> + +<p>So, leaning over him, she swiftly told him of what had passed. The +O'Donnells had been defeated and slain to the last man; one of their +ships was sunk, and the other three captured, and her men held Bertragh. +As she and Shaun O'Malley lay refitting and gathering their wounded that +same afternoon, a Parliament ship had come in from the south, bearing an +answer to the appeal she had sent to Blake at the Cove of Cork.</p> + +<p>He had not only sent her powder and supplies, but had sent her a blank +commission from Cromwell, which would be filled in upon her definite +allegiance to the Commonwealth. The commission guaranteed her possession +of Gorumna and Bertragh and the lands she claimed, and promised that +when the royalists were driven from Galway the grant would be confirmed +by Parliament.</p> + +<p>"I am to answer Captain Peyton to-night, Brian," she finished, her eyes +dancing. "And Shaun is going to remain and hold Bertragh for me—"</p> + +<p>"What's that?" cried Brian. "Hold Bertragh? Am I then wounded so sore +that I cannot draw sword again?"</p> + +<p>"No," and her laugh rippled out. "Turlough says that you will be as well +as ever in a month, Brian. But since you withdrew your fealty to me, I +had to find another servant!"</p> + +<p>"I had forgotten that," answered Brian moodily. He stared up at her +face, and as he met her eyes saw the color flow up to her temples.</p> + +<p>"You have slain the Dark Master as you promised, Brian," she said +quietly. "And have you forgotten also that you meant to claim a reward +from me for that deed?"</p> + +<p>Brian laughed, and his face softened as happiness laid hold upon his +heart.</p> + +<p>"I have not forgotten that, Nuala; but now I am not going to ask that +reward in the same way I had intended."</p> + +<p>"How do you mean, Brian?" she asked gravely, though her eyes widened a +trifle as if in quick fear.</p> + +<p>"This, dear lady," he smiled. "When you answer Captain Peyton, let the +commission be made out in the name of Nuala O'Neill—and take my fealty +for what is left to me of life, Nuala."</p> + +<p>He looked up steadily, knowing that all things hung on that instant.</p> + +<p>"Well, to tell the truth, Brian," and for a moment she seemed to +hesitate, so that Brian felt a sudden shock, "I—I delayed answering him +in—in that hope!"</p> + +<p>And her face came down to his.</p> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<p>[Transcriber's Note: The following synopsis originally appeared at the +beginning of the second installment.]</p> + +<p>The scene is laid in Ireland during Cromwell's time, when the whole +country was in arms for or against the various parties. Brian Buidh, or +Brian of the Yellow Hair, himself The O'Neill, comes home from Spain, +where he had been brought up to fight for his country. After a +mysterious warning from the Black Woman, an old hag, he wins forty men +from O'Donnell More, the Black Master, by a trick, and wins the +friendship of Turlough Wolf and Cathbarr of the Ax. His intention is to +gather a storm of men and hold an independent place near Galway. He +forms an alliance with Nuala O'Malley, known as the Bird Daughter +because of her carrier pigeons, for the purpose of recovering her +castle, Bertragh, which O'Donnell had won years before from her parents +by black treachery.</p> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<p>[Transcriber's Note: The following synopsis originally appeared at the +beginning of the third installment.]</p> + + +<p>The scene is laid in Ireland during Cromwell's time, when the whole +country was in arms for or against the various parties. Brian Buidh, or +Brian of the Yellow Hair, himself The O'Neill, comes home from Spain, +where he had been brought up to fight for his country. After a +mysterious warning from the Black Woman, an old hag, he wins forty men +from O'Donnell More, the Black Master, by a trick, and wins the +friendship of Turlough Wolf and Cathbarr of the Ax. His intention is to +gather a storm of men and hold an independent place near Galway. He +forms an alliance with Nuala O'Malley, known as the Bird Daughter +because of her carrier pigeons, for the purpose of recovering her +castle, Bertragh, which O'Donnell had won years before from her parents +by black treachery.</p> + +<p>By warlock arts O'Donnell More brings Brian and a handful of men through +a snowstorm to Bertragh and makes him prisoner. He proceeds to torture +him fiendishly, ending by nailing him to the castle door by one hand. +Just then Colonel James Vere, British officer, arrives, and demands +Brian in order to hang him comfortably in Galway. Red Murrough, +O'Donnell's lieutenant, agrees, for the promise of ten English pounds, +to pretend that Brian is worse off than he is so that he may take longer +to recover. Cathbarr comes in, and offers to take Brian's place if +O'Donnell will release Brian; and when the Black Master makes fun of +him, he goes berserk and cleans out the hall, escaping with Brian to +Nuala. Then they besiege and best O'Donnell, who escapes.</p> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<p>[Transcriber's Note: The following synopsis originally appeared at the +beginning of the fourth and final installment.]</p> + + +<p>The scene is laid in Ireland during Cromwell's time, when the whole +country was in arms for or against the various parties. Brian Buidh, or +Brian of the Yellow Hair, himself The O'Neill, comes home from Spain, +where he had been brought up to fight for his country. After a +mysterious warning from the Black Woman, an old hag, he wins forty men +from O'Donnell More, the Black Master, by a trick, and wins the +friendship of Turlough Wolf and Cathbarr of the Ax. His intention is to +gather a storm of men and hold an independent place near Galway. He +forms an alliance with Nuala O'Malley, known as the Bird Daughter +because of her carrier pigeons, for the purpose of recovering her +castle, Bertragh, which O'Donnell had won years before from her parents +by black treachery.</p> + +<p>By warlock arts O'Donnell More brings Brian and a handful of men through +a snowstorm to Bertragh and makes him prisoner. He proceeds to torture +him fiendishly, ending by nailing him to the castle door by one hand. +Just then Colonel James Vere, British officer, arrives, and demands +Brian in order to hang him comfortably in Galway. Red Murrough, +O'Donnell's lieutenant, agrees, for the promise of ten English pounds, +to pretend that Brian is worse off than he is so that he may take longer +to recover. Cathbarr comes in, and offers to take Brian's place if +O'Donnell will release Brian; and when the Black Master makes fun of +him, he goes berserk and cleans out the hall, escaping with Brian to +Nuala. Then they besiege and best O'Donnell, who escapes.</p> + +<p>Brian goes after O'Donnell with a couple of hundred men, having +recovered from his hurts, and all but catches him in a valley, just as +he is working some kind of a divination with a bowl of water. Brian gets +back his Spanish sword, but O'Donnell escapes with some of his men, and +Brian loses all of his in chasing him to keep him from joining with his +pirate friends. Brian and Turlough get back to Bertragh exhausted. He +goes cruising with Nuala, and they meet a small vessel laden with wine +and food for some of O'Donnell's men. Brian goes back with it to +Bertragh, while Nuala goes on to Gorumna Castle, her own home. But the +captured wine proves to be poisoned—it is a trick of the Black +Master's.</p> + +<hr style="width: 30%;" /> + +<p>Transcriber's note:</p> + +<p>The following typographical errors present in the +original magazine publication have been corrected for this electronic +edition.</p> + +<p>In Chapter V, a missing quotation mark was added after "I am for Brian +Buidh."</p> + +<p>In Chapter VI, "Dhar mo lamb" was changed to "Dhar mo lamh".</p> + +<p>In Chapter VII, "which were small carracks" was changed to "which were +small caracks". (While "carrack" is the more common English spelling, +the author used "carack" consistently elsewhere in the text.)</p> + +<p>In Chapter XI, a missing quotation mark was added after "I would take +your life for his."</p> + +<p>In Chapter XII, a missing period was added after "shifted thither in +readiness".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIII, "coming ing in one of his ships to marry me" was +changed to "coming in one of his ships to marry me", and "Beannact +leath!" was changed to "Beannacht leath!".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIV, a missing quotation mark was added after "has joined +with those friends of his".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVI, "those of the Dark Maser were no better" was changed to +"those of the Dark Master were no better".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVIII, a missing quotation mark was added after "They'll have +the gates down in a minute."</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIX, "Mhuire as truagh, Muire as truagh" was changed to +"Mhuire as truagh, Mhuire as truagh".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXII, a missing comma was added after "curse Turlough".</p> + +<p>No other corrections were made to the original text.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUALA O'MALLEY***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 30979-h.txt or 30979-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/9/7/30979">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/9/7/30979</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/30979.txt b/30979.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c5e23b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/30979.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8244 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Nuala O'Malley, by H. Bedford-Jones + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Nuala O'Malley + + +Author: H. Bedford-Jones + + + +Release Date: January 15, 2010 [eBook #30979] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUALA O'MALLEY*** + + +E-text prepared by Steven desJardins and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Transcriber's note: + + This novel was originally serialized in four installments in + _All-Story Weekly_ magazine from December 30, 1916, to January + 20, 1917. The original breaks in the serial have been retained, + but summaries of previous events preceding the second, third, + and fourth installments have been moved to the end of this + e-book. The Table of Contents which follows the introduction + was created for this electronic edition. + + + + + +NUALA O'MALLEY + +by + +H. BEDFORD-JONES + + + +ALL-STORY WEEKLY + +VOL. LXVI NUMBER 2 + +SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1916 + + +NUALA O'MALLEY + +by + +H. Bedford-Jones + +Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc. + + + + +This is a stirring, entrancing story of Erin when Cromwell was +campaigning, and when the fighting heritage that is every Irishman's +found vent through sword and ax and fire. You meet Brian Buidh, Brian of +the Yellow Hair, more thrilling than even your favorite movie hero; and +as for Nuala herself--well, just wait till you meet her!--THE EDITOR. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + +Part I + +I. THE BLACK WOMAN. 177 +II. THE BEGINNING OF THE STORM. 179 +III. THE DARK MASTER. 182 +IV. BRIAN LEANS ON HIS SWORD. 186 +V. YELLOW BRIAN RIDES SOUTH. 191 +VI. BRIAN TAKES CAPTIVES. 196 +VII. THE BIRD DAUGHTER. 201 + +Part II + +VIII. HOW BRIAN WAS NETTED. 419 +IX. THE NAILING OF BRIAN. 424 +X. IN BERTRAGH CASTLE. 429 +XI. THE BAITING OF CATHBARR. 434 +XII. HOW THE DARK MASTER WAS RUINED. 438 + +Part III + +XIII. BRIAN RIDES TO VENGEANCE. 659 +XIV. HOW THE STORM FARED NORTH. 664 +XV. WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TARN. 670 +XVI. BRIAN GETS HIS SWORD AGAIN. 674 +XVII. BRIAN GOES A CRUISING. 679 + +Part IV + +XVIII. BRIAN YIELDS BERTRAGH. 137 +XIX. BRIAN MEETS THE BLACK WOMAN. 142 +XX. THE STORM BURSTS. 147 +XXI. CATHBARR YIELDS UP HIS AX. 151 +XXII. THE STORM OF MEN COMES TO REST. 155 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BLACK WOMAN. + + +The horseman reined in as his jaded steed scrambled up the shelving +bank, and for a space sat there motionless, for which the horse gave +mute thanks. The moon was struggling to heave through fleecy clouds, as +it was hard on midnight; in the half obscurity the rider gazed around +suspiciously. + +There was nothing in sight to cause any man fear. Behind him rippled the +Dee, and all around was desolation. Ardee itself lay a good two miles in +the rear, burned and laid waste six weeks before, and ten miles to the +south lay Drogheda. Indeed, as the horseman gazed about, he caught +sight of a faint glare on the horizon that drew a bitter word from his +lips. + +Dismounting with some difficulty, owing to his cloak and Spanish hat, he +examined a long, raking gash in his horse's flank; then flung off hat +and cloak and calmly proceeded to bind up his own naked shoulder +beneath. + +His was a strange figure, indeed, now that he stood revealed. He wore no +clothing save breeches and high riding-boots; an enormous sword without +a sheath was girt about his waist, and the caked blood on his shoulder +and cheek made his fair skin stand out with startling contrast. + +About his shoulders fell long hair of ruddy yellow, while his face was +young and yet very bitter, tortured by both physical and mental +anguish, as it seemed. He bound up the deep slash in his shoulder with a +strip of cloth torn from his cloak, felt his wealed cheek tenderly, then +flung the cloak about him again and drew down his broad-brimmed hat as +he turned to his weary horse. + +"Well, my friend," and his voice sounded whimsical for all its rich +tone, "you've had a change of masters to-day, eh? I'd like to spare you, +but man's life is first, though Heaven knows it's worth little in +Ireland this day!" With that he reeled and caught at the saddle for +support, put down his head, and sobbed unrestrainedly. + +"Oh, my God!" he groaned at length, straightening himself to shake a +clenched and blood-splashed fist at the sky. "Where were You this day? +God! God! The blood of men on Thine altars--" + +"Faith, you must be new come to Ireland, then!" + +At the shrill, mocking voice the man whirled about and his huge blade +was out like a flash. But only a cackling laugh answered him, as down +from the bank above slipped a perfect hag of a creature, and he drew +back in alarm. At that instant the moon flooded out; his sudden motion +had flung off his wide hat, and he stood staring at the wrinkled +creature whose scanty garments and thin-shredded gray locks were pierced +by a pair of weird brown eyes. + +Then he quivered indeed, and even the poor horse took a step backward, +for the old woman had flung up her arms with a shrill cry as she gazed +on the yellow-haired young man. + +"The O'Neill!" The words seemed to burst from her involuntarily. She +craned forward, her hands twisting at her ragged shawl, and a flood of +Gaelic poured from her lips as she stared at the awe-struck man. + +"Are you, then, the earl, come back from the dead? Ghost of Tyr-owen, +why stand you here idle in the gap of Ulster, where once Cuculain fought +against the host of Meave? Do you also stand here to fight as he +fought--" + +"Peace, mad-woman!" exclaimed the young man, stooping after his hat. +"Peace, and be off out of my way, for I have far to ride." + +The Gaelic words came roughly and brokenly from him, but the old hag +took no heed. Instead, she advanced swiftly and laid her hand on his +arm, still gazing into his face with a great wonder on her wrinkled +features. + +"Who are you?" she whispered. "Tell the Black Woman your name, if you +are no ghost! For even as you stand now, once did these eyes see the +great earl himself." + +"I am from Drogheda," answered the man, something very like fear stamped +on his powerful and bitter-touched young face. "My name is Brian Buidh, +and I ride to join Owen Ruadh--" + +"Liar!" The old woman spat forth the word with a cackle of laughter. +"Oh, you cannot fool the Black Woman, Yellow Brian! Listen--Brian your +name is, and Yellow Brian your name shall be indeed, since this is your +will. Owen Ruadh O'Neill lies at the O'Reilly stead at Lough Oughter, +but you shall never ride to war behind him, Brian Buidh! No--the Black +Woman tells you, and the Black Woman knows. Instead, you shall ride into +the west, and there shall be a storm of men--a storm of men behind you +and before you--" + +"For the love of Heaven, have done!" cried Yellow Brian, shrinking +before her, and yet with anger in his face. "Are you crazed, woman? +Drogheda has fallen; O'Neill must join with the royalists, and never +shall I ride into the west. Be off, for I have no money." + +He turned to mount, but again she stopped him. It seemed to him that +there was strange power in that withered hand which rested so lightly on +his arm. + +"The Black Woman needs no money, Yellow Brian," she cackled merrily. +"You shall meet me once again, on a black day for you; and when you meet +with Cathbarr of the Ax you shall remember me, Brian Buidh; and when +you ride into the west and meet with the Bird Daughter you shall +remember me. + +"So go, Yellow Brian, upon whose heart is stamped the red hand of the +O'Neills! _Beannacht leath!_" + +"_Beannacht leath_," repeated the man thickly. + +There was a rustle of bushes, and he was alone, wiping the cold sweat +from his face. + +"Woman or fiend!" he muttered hoarsely. "How did she know that last? +Yes, she was crazed, no doubt. I suppose that I do look like the +earl--since he was my grandfather!" + +And with a bitter laugh he climbed into the saddle and pushed his horse +up the bank. The bushes closed behind him, the night closed over him, +but it was long ere the weird words of the old hag who called herself +the Black Woman were closed from his mind. + +For, after all, Yellow Brian was of right not alone an O'Neill, but The +O'Neill. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BEGINNING OF THE STORM. + + +The people of every nation--that is, the tillers of the soil, the people +who form the backbone of their race--are in continual expectancy of a +Man and a Day. Theirs is always the, perhaps, dumb hope, but still the +hope, that in their future lie these two things, a Man and a Day. +Sometimes the Man has come and the Day has failed; sometimes the Day has +come and there has been no Man to use it; but now all Ireland had swept +up in a wild roar, knowing that the Man and the Day had come together. + +And so, in truth, they had. Owen, the Ruadh, or red, O'Neill, had fought +a desperate struggle against the royalists. Little by little he had +cemented his own people together, his personal qualities and his +splendid generalship had overborne all else, and the victory of Benburb +had crowned the whole. Then Owen Ruadh was stricken down with sickness, +Cromwell landed and stormed Drogheda, and Yellow Brian had fought clear +and fled away to the kinsman he had never seen. + +Now, standing on the castle ramparts overlooking Lough Oughter, Yellow +Brian stared moodily out at the lake. His identity had been revealed to +none, and the name of Brian Buidh had little meaning to any in Ireland. +Years since he who was The O'Neill, the same whom the English called +Earl of Tyr-owen, had fled with his family from the land. His eldest son +John had settled at the Spanish court. + +John was a spineless man, unworthy son of a great father, content to +idle away his life in ease and quiet. And it was in the court of Spain +that Brian O'Neill had been born, with only an old Irishwoman to nurse +him and teach him the tongue and tidings of Ireland which his father +cared nothing for. + +Yellow Brian had written out these things, sending the letter to the +sick general who lay within the castle. His terrible news of Drogheda +had created consternation, but already O'Neill's forces had been sent to +join the royalists against the common foe. All Ireland was distraught by +war. Royalist, patriot, and Parliament man fought each against the +other, and the only man who could have faced Cromwell lay sick unto +death. + +The Day was passing, the Man was passing, and shadow lay upon all the +land. + +A man came up and touched Yellow Brian's arm, with word that Owen Ruadh +would see him at once. Brian nodded, following. He was well garbed now, +and a steel jack glittered from beneath his dark-red cloak as he strode +along. Upon his strong-set face brooded bitterness, but his eyes were +young for all their cold blue, and his ruddy hair shone like spun gold +in the sunlight; while his firm mouth and chin, his erect figure, and +his massive shoulders gained him more than one look of appreciation +from the clustered O'Reillys. + +He followed the attendant to a large room, whose huge mantel was carven +with the red hand and supporting lions of the clan Reilly, and passed +over to the bed beside the window. He had requested to see O'Neill +alone, and the attendant withdrew silently. Brian approached the bed, +and stood looking down at the man who was passing from Ireland. + +Sharp and bright were the eyes as ever, but the red beard was grayed and +the face was waxen; a spark of color came to it, as Owen Ruadh stretched +forth a hand to take that of his visitor. + +"Brian O'Neill!" he exclaimed, in a voice singularly like that of Brian +himself. "Welcome, kinsman! But why the silence you enjoined in your +letter?" + +"My name is Yellow Brian," answered the younger man somberly. "I have +none other, general. You know the gist of my story, and here is the +rest. I broke with my father, for he would hear nothing of my coming to +Ireland. So I cast off his name and left him to his cursed idleness, +reaching Drogheda barely in time to take part in the siege. I managed to +cut through, as you know, and meant to take service with you--" + +He paused, for words did not come easily to him, as with all his race. A +low groan broke from the crippled warrior. + +"Too late, kinsman, too late! Cromwell is come, and I will never sit a +horse again--ah, no protests, lad! How old are you?" + +"Twenty-three." + +"By my faith, you look thirty! Lad, my heart is sore for you. I am +wasted and broken. I have no money, and Cromwell will shatter all before +him; I can do naught save give you advice." + +"I want naught," broke in Brian quickly, a little glint as of ice in his +blue eyes. "Not for that did I cast off my name and come to--" + +"Tut, tut, lad!" O'Neill reproved him gently. "I understand, so say no +more of that matter. You are Brian Buidh, but to me you are my kinsman, +the rightful head of my house. You can do two things, Yellow +Brian--either follow my advice, or go down to ruin with all Ireland. Now +say, which shall it be?" + +Brian gazed at him with thoughtful face. What was the meaning of this +dark speech? As he looked into the keen, death-smitten eyes of the man +who might have saved Ireland, he smiled a little. + +"I see naught but ruin, Owen Ruadh," he replied slowly. "I care little +for my life, having no ties left on this earth--" + +"Oh, nonsense!" broke in the other impatiently. "You are young, lad--the +bitterness will soon pass, trust me. Now see, here is my advice, such +advice as I would give no other man alive. I am dying, Yellow Brian. +Well, I know that Cromwell will break down all I have built up, and I +can see no brightness for my country. But for you I can see much. You +are young, powerful, the last of the old race; you look strangely like +the old earl, Brian!" + +The younger man started. For the first time in many days he remembered +that crazed hag he had met by the Dee water the night of Drogheda. + +"Now, harken well. I tell you that our house lies in the dust, Brian; +there is no hope for it or for any O'Neill. But for Yellow Brian there +is hope. You must carve out a holding for yourself, for you are a ruler +of men by your face, lad. Go into Galway, and there, where Cromwell's +men will have hardest fighting of all, gather a force and make head. I +have heard strange tales of a man who has done this very thing--they say +he has seized on a castle somewhere near Bertraghboy Bay, in Galway, +and-- But I am getting weak, Brian lad. Hearken well--Ireland is lost; +carve out now for your own hand, for the Red Hand of the old house, lad! +And take this for my sake." + +Almost whispering the last words, Owen Ruadh took from his finger a +signet graven deeply with the Red Hand of Tyr-owen. Brian accepted it +gravely, kissed the hand that gave it, and with tears choking his +throat, left the chamber of the man who was passing from Ireland. + +He had been there a brief fifteen minutes, yet it seemed that an age had +passed. Both he and the sick man had said much in few words, for they +were both men who spared speech and did much. But Brian had received a +great wrench. + +As he had said, he had cast off his father, for the grandfather's blood +ran riot within him, and had kindled to burning rage against the +sluggard who had made his name a thing of reproach in all lands. With +the overstrong bitterness of youth he had meant to die sword in hand, +fighting for Ireland. The few burning words of Owen Ruadh had stripped +all this false heroism from him, however, and had sent a flame of sanity +into his brain. + +Brian returned slowly to the round tower, and stood looking out over the +waters, for the castle was built on an island in the lake a mile from +shore. It was nearing sunset, and snow was in the air--the first snow, +for this was the end of September. + +"Ruin--the storm of men!" He repeated unconsciously the words of the hag +who had stopped him by the Dee water. "What shall I do? Which is the +part of a man, after all; to fall for Ireland or to hew out new lands +and found a new house in the west? By my hilt! That old hag told me +truly after all!" + +At that thought he stood silent, his eyes troubled. What was this fate +which seemed to drive him into the west, instead of leading him to the +flame of swords as he had so long hoped and dreamed? Death meant little +to him; honor meant much. All his life he had lived in Spain, yet it had +been a double life. He had ridden and hunted and learned arms with the +young nobles of the court, but he had talked and sorrowed and dreamed +with the old Irishwoman who had nursed him. + +After all, it is often the dreams of the youth which determine the +career of the man, he reflected. + +Which path should he take? As he stood there struggling with himself, +his hand went unconsciously to his long, powerful jaw; it was a gesture +habitual with him when in deep thought--which he seldom was, however. +Now the youth in him spoke for death, now the sanity which had flashed +into his brain from that of the sick man spoke for the life of deeds and +renown which lay in the west. + +An incident might turn him either way--and the incident came in the +shape of a very tall old man who wore the Irish garb of belted, +long-sleeved tunic and woolen hose, with iron-soled shoes. The old man's +face was cunning, but his eyes were bright and keen and deep gray; his +gray hair hung low to conceal his lopped ears, and there hung about him +an indescribable air of shrewdness faced with apparent openness of +heart. + +Brian glanced at him, remembered that he had heard him called Turlough +Wolf, and looked away carelessly, absorbed in his own thought. But the +old man halted abruptly with an exclamation: + +"_Corp na diaoul!_ Where got you that face and that gesture, Drogheda +man?" + +Brian looked at him, frowning. + +"What mean you, Turlough Wolf?" + +The other stared, his thin jaw fallen. + +"Why--why," he stammered, "I thought it had been The O'Neill come to +life again! When I was a boy I have seen the earl hold his hand to his +chin--often, often! And--and you look like him, Brian Buidh---" + +"Nonsense!" Brian forced a laugh, but as he folded his arms again the +glitter of O'Neill's ring on his finger caught the sharp gray eyes. + +Turlough Wolf started. + +"Listen!" he said, coming forward insinuatingly. "Yellow Brian, no man +knows who you are, nor do I ask. But Turlough Wolf knows a man when he +sees one, a chieftain among men. I owe no man service; but if you will +need a swift brain, a cunning hand, and an eye that can read the hearts +of men, I will serve you." + +Brian looked down into the shrewd face in wonder, then waved an +impatient hand. + +"No use, Turlough Wolf. I have no money to pay for service, and to-night +I must ride out to seek I know not what--nay, whether I ride west or +east or south, I know not!" + +He turned abruptly, wishing to close the matter, but the old man laid a +restraining hand on his shoulder. + +"I seek no money, Yellow Brian. I seek only a master such as yourself; a +man who is a master among men, and whom I can set higher still if he +will heed my counsels. I am old, you are young; I know all parts of the +land by heart, from the Mayo shore to Youghal, and I am skilled at many +things. Take my service and you will not regret it." + +Brian hesitated. After all, he considered, the thing came close to being +uncanny. The Black Woman by Dee water; Owen Ruadh himself, and now this +Ulysseslike Turlough Wolf--whither was fate driving him? Was he really +to meet such persons as the Bird Daughter and Cathbarr of the Ax, or +were they only the figment of a crazed old woman's brain? + +So he hesitated, gazing down into those clear gray eyes. And as he +looked it seemed to him that he found strange things in them, strange +urgings that touched the chords of his soul. After all, adventure lay in +the west, and he was young! + +"Good!" he said, gravely extending his hand. "To-night we ride to the +west, you and I. Come; let us see O'Reilly about horses." + +And this was the beginning of the storm of men that came upon the west. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE DARK MASTER. + + +"There are two things, Yellow Brian, for you to mind. First, you must +have men at your back who know you for their master; second, you must +stand alone, giving and receiving aid from no man or party in the +land." + +Brian nodded and stored away the words in his heart, for in their three +weeks of wandering he had learned that Turlough Wolf was better aid than +many men. It was his doing that, when they had chanced on a party of +ravagers beyond Carrick, Yellow Brian had been led into strife with +their leader. The upshot of that matter was that there was a dead rover; +Yellow Brian had a dozen horsemen behind him and money in his purse, and +of the dozen none but feared utterly this silent man who fought like a +fiend. + +To the dozen had been added others--four Scotch plunderers strayed from +Hamilton's horse and half a dozen Breffnians from Ormond's army, who had +been driven out of Munster by the rising of the Parliament men there. +They were a sadly mixed score, of all races and creeds, but were +fighting ruffians to a man, and were bound together by Brian's solemn +pledge that he himself would slay any who quarreled. The result was +peace. + +So now, with a good score of men behind him, Yellow Brian had ridden +down into Galway, was past Lough Corrib and Iar Connaught, and was hard +upon Connemara. + +There was a thin snow upon the hills, and the bleak wind presaged more; +but the score of men sang lustily as they rode. Two days before they had +come upon a dozen strayed Royalist plunderers, and had gained great +store of food and drink--particularly drink. So all were well content +for the time being. + +"Turlough," asked Brian suddenly, as they rode side by side, "did you +ever hear of one called the Black Woman?" + +The Wolf crossed himself and grimaced. + +"That I have, Yellow Brian, but dimly. They say she deals in magic and +sorcery, and no good comes of meeting with her. But stop--there are +horsemen on the road! Scatter the men, and quickly; let us two bide +here." + +There was cunning in the advice, for the two had come to a bend in the +road and the men were a hundred yards behind them. Brian drew rein at +sight of a score of men a scant quarter-mile away and riding up the hill +toward them. He knew that they must also have been seen, but his men +would still be out of sight, so he turned with a quick word: + +"Off into the rocks, men! If I raise my sword, come and strike. Off!" + +As he spoke he bared that same huge cut-or-thrust brand he had borne +from Drogheda and set the point on his boot. Instantly the men scattered +on either side the road, where black rocks thrust up from the snow, and +within two minutes they and their horses had disappeared. + +The riders below came steadily forward in a clump, and Brian saw old +Turlough staring with bulging eyes. Then the Wolf half caught at his +bridle, as if minded to fly, and his hands were trembling. + +"What ails you, man?" smiled Brian. "Are they magicians and sorcerers, +then?" + +"No, _fareer gair_--worse luck!" blurted out the other. "Look at the +little man who rides first, Yellow Brian!" + +Brian squinted against the snow-glare, and saw that the leader of the +approaching party seemed indeed to be a little man with hunched +shoulders and head that glinted steel. + +"A hunchback!" he exclaimed. "Well, who is he?" + +"The Dark Master--O'Donnell More himself! It is in my mind that this is +a black day, Brian Buidh. O'Donnell More is the master of all men at +craft, and the match of most men at weapons. Beware of him, master, +beware! I had thought that he was still under siege at Bertragh Castle, +else I had never taken this road." + +"Nonsense!" laughed out Brian joyously, drinking in the clear afternoon +air. "So much the more honor if we slay him, Turlough Wolf! Let him +match me at weapons, or you at wits, if he can!" + +Turlough muttered something and drew back behind Brian's steed with +pallid face. Yellow Brian, however, having a sure trust in his own right +arm and his hidden men, scanned the approaching O'Donnell curiously, +seeking what had inspired such unwonted fear in the old gray Wolf. + +He could find nothing ominous in that hunched figure, save its mail-coat +and steel helm. Yet the face was peculiar. Over a drooping mustache of +black flared forth two intense black eyes. Brian noted this, and the +thin, curved nose and prominent chin, and laughed again. + +"Who is this Dark Master, Turlough?" + +The other shivered slightly. "He is an O'Donnell from the north, come +here some ten years since--he seized on Bertragh even as we intend +seizing on a stead, and has since done evil things in the land. Now +hush, for they say the wind bears him idle talk." + +Brian's thin lips curved a trifle scornfully, but he kept silence, +watching the approaching men. At fifty yards' distance they halted. +Their leader eyed the motionless pair for a moment and then slowly rode +on alone, waving back his followers. And Yellow Brian made a strange +figure, with his ruddy hair streaming from beneath his steel cap and the +bright, naked sword rising up from toe to head beside him. + +"Well?" O'Donnell More's voice was deep and harsh, though Brian +afterward found that it could be changed to suit its owner's mood. "Who +are you thus disputing my passage?" + +"I am Brian Buidh," came Brian's curt reply. "As for dispute, that is as +you will." + +"Yellow Brian?" The black brows shot up in surprise. "A strange name. +Whence come you, and seeking what?" + +"I seek men, O'Donnell More." Brian swiftly determined that this was a +man who might give him aid, a man after his own heart. "Whence I come is +my affair. Give me men, and I will repay with gold." + +"What need have you of men, Yellow Brian," came the sardonic answer, +"when your own lie hidden among the rocks?" + +Now indeed Brian started, whereat the other smiled grimly. + +"How knew you that?" + +"If you recognized me from afar, you had not stayed to meet me unless +you had men," stated O'Donnell shrewdly enough. + +"True," said Brian, and laughed out. "Well said, O'Donnell. I have a +score, and want another score. I will match mine against yours, or make +a pact, as you desire." + +The Dark Master sat fingering his sword-hilt and considered. With the +black brows down and the black eyes fixed on him, Brian suddenly began +to like the man less. + +"I will give you service," returned O'Donnell at last. + +Brian smiled. "Men serve me, not I them." + +At this curt answer O'Donnell looked black, then fell into thought, his +shoulders hunched up and his head drawn in like the head of a turtle. +Brian wished now that he had struck first and talked afterward. + +Finally the Dark Master looked up with a slow smile. + +"Welcome to you, Brian of the hard eyes and hollow cheeks," he said. +"_Slaintahut!_ I will not give you men, but I will give you the loan of +men if you will do me one of two favors. Ten miles to the south of here +there is an old tower on a cliff, and in the tower dwells a man with +certain companions who sets me at naught. On an island out near Golam +Head is a castle where a woman rules, who has also set me at naught. Go, +reduce either of these twain, and I will lend you twoscore men for three +months." + +Brian sat his great horse and looked at the Dark Master. He would have +sought advice from Turlough Wolf, save that he did not like to turn his +back on those burning eyes. After all, the pact was not a bad one. + +"These enemies of yours--who are they, and what force have they?" + +The Dark Master chuckled, and his head shot out from between his +shoulders. + +"The man is called Cathbarr of the Ax, and he is a hard man to fight, +for he has ten men like himself, axmen all. The woman cannot fight, but +she has a swift mind, many men, and her name is Nuala O'Malley, of the +O'Malleys of Erris." + +"I had sooner fight a man than a woman," returned Brian slowly. "Also, +this Cathbarr of the Ax has fewer men. I will do you this favor, +O'Donnell Dubh." + +He gave no sign of the wonder that had shot into his mind at the name of +Cathbarr, except that his blue eyes seemed changed suddenly to cold ice. +The Dark Master saw the change, and his smile withered. Brian, watching +him, reflected that this malformed freebooter could be venomous-looking +at times. + +"I have passed my word," O'Donnell the Black made curt answer. "Fetch +either of the twain to Bertragh, dead or alive, and you have the loan of +twoscore men for three months, free. Is it a pact?" + +"It is a pact," answered Brian, and at that the other galloped back to +his men. + +Brian swung his sword and flung it high into the air; before it had +flashed down to nestle in his palm again, his men were scrambling into +the road. He sheathed the sword, smiling a little, and turned to +Turlough. + +"Well? To your mind or not, Wolf?" + +"My father saw the Brown Geraldine at Dublin," responded that worthy, +scratching the gray beard which had begun to sprout. "They broke his +bones with the back of an ax and swung him out in a cage until he died, +and after. He made pacts too easily." + +"Well?" asked Brian again, but a dull flush crossed his cheeks. + +"I gave you my rede," said Turlough sullenly. "I said to stand alone, +receiving aid from neither man nor faction. Now there is mischief to be +repaired." + +"Then my sword shall repair it," said Brian, and ordered the men to +swing in after him. "Guide us to this tower of Cathbarr's, for my honor +is in my own keeping." + +They swung about and headed to the south and the sea. + +The hill-paths, which Turlough Wolf seemed to know perfectly, were +cruelly hard on the horses; none were as yet trodden down, for the snow +was fresh, and all the west coast lay desolate. The plague had stricken +Galway and Mayo heavily that year, smiting the mountains with death. +Some few parties of Roundhead horse had come through, because they +feared God and Ireton more than the plague, and some Royalists had fled +up from the south for much the same reason. + +In any case, Yellow Brian found all the land desolate, and liked it. The +more wasted the land, he reflected, the more chance for that sword of +his to find swinging-room. As he had ridden, news had come from the +east--news of the Wexford killing and the curse that was come upon the +land. Owen Ruadh O'Neill was not yet dead, but Brian knew that he had +prophesied truly. Ireland's day was gloaming fast. + +Despite the dismal tone of Turlough Wolf, Brian told himself that he had +done a good day's work. O'Donnell Dubh would keep his word beyond any +question. As for the man he was to slay, the only part of it which +troubled Brian was the prediction of the Black Woman at the Dee water. +She had known him, and had prophesied O'Neill's death, and had spoken of +the west and this Cathbarr of the Ax. After all, however, she might have +shot a chance shaft which had gone true. Brian had no faith in magic. + +All that afternoon he rode on, Turlough Wolf ahead of him, the men +behind. They feared and hated the old Wolf as much as they feared and +loved Brian. + +Progress was slow, owing to the bad paths, the snow, and sundry changes +of direction, so that when night fell they had covered but eight miles +of the ten. Turlough suggested that they push on and finish their +business at a stroke, but Brian curtly refused. So the men made camp in +lee of a cliff and proceeded to feast away the last of their provisions +and wine, in confidence that on the morrow they would have more, or else +would need none. + +Brian and Turlough built a fire apart, and after their repast Brian +broke silence with a request for information about Cathbarr. It was his +first speech since the parting with the Dark Master. + +"I never heard of him," responded Turlough. "No doubt he is some outlaw +who has become a thorn in the Dark Master's flesh. With the woman it is +different." + +"Tell me of her," said Brian, gazing into the fire. + +"She is an O'Malley, and, like all the clan, makes much of ships and +seamen and little of horses and riders. When the Dark Master came, ten +years ago, he slew her father and mother by treachery, and would have +slain her but that her men carried her off. She was a child then. Now +she is a woman, very bitter against O'Donnell Dubh, and is allied with +the Parliament so that her ships may have the run of the seas, it is +said. O'Donnell takes sides with no faction, but caters to all. He lays +nets and snares, and men fall into them, and he laughs." + +"Why is Nuala O'Malley called the Bird Daughter?" asked Brian quietly. + +At this question old Turlough rose on his elbow, and in his wide, gray +eyes was set mingled fear and wonder. + +"_M'anam an diaoul!_" he spat out. "Who are you to know this thing?" + +"Answer my question," returned Brian, hiding his own surprise. + +"Seven years ago, master, I was at Sligo Bay with O'Dowda when Hamilton +cut us to pieces. Nuala O'Malley had brought us some powder--she was but +a slip of a girl then. In the evening I was down at the ship when I saw +her come from below, a hooded pigeon in her hands. She whispered in the +bird's ear, set off the hood, and the bird flew into the night. I named +her Bird Daughter, but no other man knew the name." + +"Then a woman did," chuckled Brian dryly. "It was but a carrier pigeon, +Turlough; I have seen them used in Spain. Now listen to me." + +With that he told him of the Black Woman and his weird meeting at Dee +water. Old Turlough listened in no little amazement, for he was full of +superstitious fancies, but Brian said nothing of his own name. The +uncanny prophecies, however, which now seemed on the road to fulfilment +were enough to give any man pause. + +When he had finished, a very subdued Turlough Wolf stated that the Black +Woman was an old hag who wandered all over the land, that some called +her crazy and others thought her inspired, and that his own belief was +that she was a banshee, no less. + +At this Brian saw the thing in a more rational light. The old woman knew +of this nook in the west, and, attracted to him by his resemblance to +the long-dead earl, she had endeavored to steer him thither. After all, +it was quite simple. + +Of course, old Turlough swore that he had never breathed his name of +Bird Daughter to a living soul, and that it was but a name he had used +in his own mind for the slim girl who had fetched powder from the south. +Brian chuckled, guessing that Turlough was not the only one who had seen +carrier pigeons used, and who had ascribed the thing to higher powers. + +The incident served the purpose of establishing a firmer intimacy +between Brian and the old man, however, and convinced Turlough that his +master was destined to fly high. Nor through all the storm of men that +befell after did Turlough again breathe reproof as he had dared that +day. + +"I begin to see that your advice was good, Turlough Wolf," said Brian +the next morning, as he rode shivering from camp. "As to making my men +know me for their master, that troubles me little; but I think it will +be a hard matter to avoid making pacts, and to stand alone." + +"Lean on your sword," grunted old Turlough. "To my notion, such +friendship as that huge blade of yours can give is better than good. +Order men ahead." + +Brian nodded and sent two of the men ahead as scouts, with the Wolf +himself. For the better part of an hour they made slow headway among the +rocks, and then emerged suddenly on the slope leading down to the cliffs +and sea. Turlough pointed to the left. + +"There lies the tower, if I mistake not." + +Drawing rein, Brian saw at once why he had been sent on this errand. +Cathbarr's tower was an old ruin at the end of a long and narrow +headland--indeed, at high tide most of the headland would be covered, +for it was low and yet beyond shot of the cliffs. Except from the water, +it was almost impregnable; cannon might have reached it from shore, but +two axmen could have held the narrow way against an army. + +Brian laughed softly and ordered the men to remain where they were. + +"What are you going to do, master?" queried old Turlough anxiously. + +"I am going to lean on my sword, as you advised me," chuckled Brian, and +rode on alone. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +BRIAN LEANS ON HIS SWORD. + + +As he had foreseen, Brian was allowed to ride across the narrow neck of +land where his men would have had to battle for progress. It was from no +mere bravado that he had gone forward alone to the tower, but because +men were worth saving, and he believed that his own sword was a match +for any ax. If this ruffian Cathbarr was a freebooting outlaw, he would +be willing enough to stake his ten men on his prowess, and Yellow Brian +was very anxious to have those ten axmen behind him. + +At the top of the tower men watched and steel glistened, and as Brian +rode up to the low gateway, it was flung open and a man strode out. +This man hardly came up to Brian's conception of an outlaw, except as to +stature. + +He was a good six feet four, reflected Brian as he drew rein and waited, +and was built in proportion--or, rather, out of proportion. His +shoulders and chest seemed tremendous, and a long mail-shirt reached to +his knees; his hair was short-clipped and brown, and beneath his curly +brown beard Brian made out a massive face, wide-set brown eyes, and an +air not so much ruffianly as of cheerful good-humor. + +Brian had no need to ask his name, however, for in one hand he carried a +weapon such as had seldom seen the light since powder had come to +Ireland. It was an ax, some five feet from haft to helve; double-bladed, +each blade eight inches long, curved back slightly, and two inches thick +by twice as much wide. The edges, which came down sharply from the +thickness, were not overkeen, and were not meant to be so. When the +thing struck, that was the end of what stood before it. + +"_Cead mile failte!_" cried Cathbarr of the Ax in a deep, rumbling +voice, his white teeth flashing through his beard in a smile. "A hundred +thousand welcomes to you, swordsman! Are you come to capture my lordly +castle?" + +"No; your men," laughed Brian, liking this huge, merry giant on the +instant. "I am come from O'Donnell Dubh to reduce you and fetch you to +him." + +The smile froze on the giant's face. + +"I am sorry for that, yellow one! I like your face and your thews, and +to find that you serve the black traitor of Bertragh is an ill thing." + +"I serve no man," answered Brian easily. "I need men. If I conquer you, +O'Donnell lends me twoscore men for three months; also, by conquering +you I win your men to me, which makes fifty. With my seventy men, I +shall fall to work." + +"By my faith, a ready reckoner!" and Cathbarr grinned again. "Get down +and fight." + +Brian swung out of the saddle and led his horse to one side. They were +not so badly matched, he reflected. Cathbarr's head was bared, while he +had steel cap and jack; but for some reason he felt hesitant at thought +of killing this merry giant. + +"Not so bad," he said, baring his five-foot blade and holding it up +against the huge ax. "Not so bad, eh?" + +Cathbarr burst into a laugh. + +"It will grieve me to crush your skull, dear man," he rumbled. "What a +pair we would make, matched against that Dark Master! But enough. +Ready?" + +Brian nodded slightly, and the long ax flashed up. + +Now, Brian O'Neill had served a stiff apprenticeship at weapons, and had +faced many men whose eyes boded him death, but here, for the first time +in all his life, he felt the self-confidence stricken out of him. + +As Cathbarr heaved up his ax, he became a different man. All the good +cheer fled out of his face; his curly brown beard seemed to stand out +about his head like snakes, and the massiveness of his body was +reflected in the battle-fury of his face. He needed no blows to rouse +him into madness; but with the ax swinging like a reed about him, he +came rushing at Brian, a giant come to earth from of old time. His men +on the tower set up a wild yell of encouragement. + +Brian leaped swiftly aside and, thinking to end the fight at a blow, +brought down his sword against the descending ax-haft. Sparks flew--the +haft was bound with iron; Brian only saved himself from falling by a +miracle. + +Then began a strange battle of feet against brawn, for Cathbarr rushed +and rushed again, but ever Brian slipped away from the falling ax, nor +was he able to strike back. The play of that ax was a marvel to behold; +it was shield and weapon in one, and it seemed no heavier than a thing +of wood as it whirled. Twice Brian got in his point against the +mail-coat without effect, and twice the ax brushed his shoulder, so that +he gave over thrusting. He knew that he was fighting for his life +indeed. + +An instant later he discovered that fact anew as a glancing touch of the +ax drove off his steel cap and sent him staggering back a dozen paces, +reeling and clutching at the air. To his amazement Cathbarr did not +follow him, but stood waiting for him to recover; he had not looked for +such courtesy on the west coast. + +He sprang back into his defense, desperate now. Again the ax whirled, +seeming a part of the giant himself, and Brian knew that he was lost if +he waited for it. So, instead of waiting, he leaped under the blow, +dropped his sword, and drove up his fist into the bearded chin, now +flecked with foam. + +It was a cruel blow. Cathbarr grunted, his head rocked back, and he +swayed on his feet. Before he could recover, Brian had set his thigh +against him, caught his arm, and sent him whirling to the ground, ax and +all. Then he picked up his sword and stood leaning on it, panting. + +Cathbarr sat up and gazed around blankly, until his gaze fell on the +waiting figure. Brian looked at him, smiling slightly, and the eyes of +the two men met and clinched. As if he had been a child caught doing +wrong, the giant grinned and wiped the foam from his beard. + +"Was that fair fighting, yellow man?" he asked. + +"No," laughed Brian. "It was unfair, Cathbarr; but I think my fists can +best your ax yet." + +Slowly the giant got to his feet. To Brian's surprise he left his ax +where it lay and came forward with extended hand. + +"Had you claimed that blow as fair," he rumbled, "I would have slain +you. Now I love you, yellow man. Let us make a pact together. What is +your name?" + +They struck hands, and Brian felt a great thrill of admiration for this +man whose terrible strength enclosed the simple heart of a child. But +he shook his head. + +"I make no pacts, Cathbarr. My name is Brian Buidh. I made pact with the +Dark Master, and now I am sorry for it; yet it must be held to, for I +see no way out of it. But wait--I have a cunning man whose wit may help +us here." + +He turned and flung up his sword in the air. His men rode down to the +narrow causeway, while from the tower came shouts warning Cathbarr +against treachery. But the giant only grinned again, and Brian shouted +to Turlough Wolf to come on alone. + +Old Turlough obeyed in no little wonder. When he came up Brian told him +what had chanced--that out of enmity had arisen friendship. + +"But," he concluded, trouble in his heart, "you must find me a way out, +Turlough. I have passed my word to O'Donness to reduce Cathbarr; to do +that I must slay him, or he me. I see little honor either way." + +"Few men find honor in their dealings with the Dark Master," grumbled +Turlough, looking from Cathbarr to Brian. "Yet, if you want a way out, +it is an easy matter. Cathbarr of the Ax, give service to my master. +Thus, Brian Buidh, you shall reduce Cathbarr; yet the Dark Master said +naught of giving up this man to him." + +"Good!" cried Brian, eagerness in his blue eyes, and swung on the giant. +"Will you give me your service, friend, and follow me? There shall be a +storm of men--" He paused abruptly as the words fell from his lips, but +he had said enough. + +"I give you service, Yellow Brian," rumbled Cathbarr, taking his hand +again, and his strong, white teeth flashed through his beard. "I will +follow you, and my men, and there shall be firm friendship between us. +Is it good?" + +"It is good!" exclaimed Brian, his heart singing. But Turlough laughed +harshly. + +"So you have again broken my rede, Brian Buidh, for this man knows you +not as his master, but names you his friend. I bade you take, not give." + +"It was your own advice," retorted Brian, laughing. + +"Aye, since you asked it, I found the way out. But you have not +conquered him." + +"He conquered me by not telling a lie," said Cathbarr simply. "I serve +him." + +Turlough eyed them keenly, heard how the fight had gone, and then +suddenly comprehended what manner of man this huge, bearded fellow was. +His face cleared, and without a word he clasped Cathbarr's hand, and +asked Brian for orders. + +"How far from here is Bertragh Castle?" questioned Brian. + +"It overlooks Bertraghboy Bay," answered the giant. "Bide here till +noon, while my men bring in their horses from the hills, and with the +night we can arrive there." + +To this Brian assented, well pleased that Cathbarr had horses. Turlough +went back to bring up his men, and Brian entered the tower that served +Cathbarr for castle. It was a small place, but strong; the ten men who +took his hand and gave him service were cut after the pattern of their +master--huge fellows all, O'Flahertys from the mountains who had +followed Cathbarr down to loot the coast, with no ill success. + +It was a strange tale that he heard, while he and his men ate and drank +with their new comrades. For some months Cathbarr had maintained himself +here, raiding O'Donnell's lands chiefly and making his ax feared through +all the coast. In fact, the giant had attempted his own errand--to set +himself up in power; but he had gone about it like a child. + +The Dark Master had come against him with a hundred men, and after +losing a score and more at the causeway, had tried to starve him out. At +that Cathbarr had calmly stolen away by boat, raided O'Donnell's +choicest farms overnight, and was back with his plunder before the Dark +Master guessed his absence. After this O'Donnell had kept watch and ward +upon his lands, with better results; Cathbarr occupied himself with +raiding against the scattered parties of plunderers in the hills, and +had won some booty. + +Brian discovered many things during the hour or two he waited for the +horses to be fetched in. Chief of these was that he had set himself a +difficult nut to crack. The Dark Master held a strong castle, with rich +farms around it, and could summon at need some three hundred men to his +standard. In short, Brian found that O'Donnell held the very position he +himself wanted to hold--and was like to keep it. + +"Of course," he thought soberly, reflecting on his future course, "if I +come off clear to-night I can ride with my seventy men to a better +place. And yet--I don't know! What better place than this? It will be no +long time before hoofs are in the land, for Royalist and Roundhead and +Ulsterman will be storming through the hills; Galway will be the last to +give in to Cromwell, of a certainty. When the hurricane falls, I want a +roof to shelter me--and whom could I turn out better than this +O'Donnell?" + +Cathbarr's tower was too small to serve him as a fortalice, for it was +barely large enough to shelter the eleven axmen. Suddenly an idea +flashed across Brian's mind. Why not a union with this O'Malley woman +against the Dark Master? + +Upon the thought, he rose and went out to the ice-rimmed shore below the +tower, where he paced up and down, considering the matter. After all, it +would do no harm, and there were great possibilities in it. He returned +to the tower at sound of shouts and clattering hoofs, and took Turlough +aside. + +"Turlough Wolf, in your advice you spoke against making pacts with men, +but you said nothing of women. It is my purpose to send you to this +O'Malley castle, to propose a pact with Nuala O'Malley against the Dark +Master. You can tell her that I have a hundred horsemen behind me--for +I will have them. Will you do this, bearing her word back to me?" + +Turlough plucked moodily at his ragged beard. + +"I see no harm in such a pact, master," he replied thoughtfully. "As to +reaching the Bird Daughter, that is another matter. I think that I can +do it, however. When shall I start, and where shall I find you again?" + +Brian reflected a moment. + +"Start now, Turlough. Cathbarr and I will have no need of advice this +night, for we shall either fight our way clear, or else the Dark Master +will keep to his word. When you return, you will find me here; if I am +not here, I will leave a man here to give you word of me." + +"I am to say that you have a hundred horsemen behind you?" Turlough's +sharp eyes swept to Brian's half-questioningly. + +"Say a hundred and a half," laughed out Brian, "and trust your silver +tongue for the rest, old Wolf! Never fear, I will have the men. But mind +this, Turlough. I will make no other pact with her than this, against +the Dark Master. It may be that when I have driven him forth I may fly +after other game." + +"Men have sought to drive the Dark Master forth," quoth Turlough, "and +their heads have rotted above his gate. Take heed lest there be an empty +spike there this night, Yellow Brian!" + +But Brian only laughed shortly, and bade the old man affectionate +farewell, for he knew that Turlough loved him. And when Turlough had +ridden somberly away, Brian felt a strange sense of desertion, of loss, +that was no whit inspired by Turlough's gloomy last words. He shook it +off, however, at gripping hands again with Cathbarr. The axmen had +gathered most of their loot and buried what was of value, for Brian had +determined to return here from Bertragh and make use of the tower until +he had heard from Turlough's errand. + +So now, at the head of thirty men, he rode across the narrow causeway +with Cathbarr of the Ax at his side for friend and guide. The giant did +not yet quite comprehend exactly what plan had flashed across the brain +of old Turlough, so as they rode Brian made the thing clearer to him. +When the simple and straightforward Cathbarr grasped the matter, he +smote his horse's neck with a bellow of laughter. + +"Ho! So you bring me before the Dark Master ax in hand, reduced to +_your_ service instead of his, my men added to yours--oh, it is a jest, +brother, a jest! I think that O'Donnell will slay us both on the spot!" + +"Not if your axmen are true," retorted Brian. + +Cathbarr laughed again. "They fear me and they love me, brother," he +cried, gazing back at the file of horsemen. "Your own men fear you and +love you also. Therefore we are men alike." + +Brian began to love the man for his utter simplicity, save where there +was killing in hand. Cathbarr seemed in reality to have the heart of a +child, impulsive and passionate to an extreme, and there was always a +certain rugged power in his bearing which bespoke him a true Flaherty of +the mountains. His men were like himself in this respect, and after they +had fraternized with Brian's men they began to feel the same unbounded +surety in Yellow Brian as Cathbarr expressed. Their axes were the usual +splay-bladed affairs that their grandfathers had used under Red Hugh at +the Yellow Ford, nor indeed in all his life had Brian ever seen another +ax like to that of Cathbarr's. + +They rode through the afternoon while a light snow fell and a keen east +wind cut down from the peaks of the Twelve Pins, until the shaggy horses +slithered along with tails tucked tight beneath them. But there was good +cheer in the company, for the news had spread of how Yellow Brian would +have seventy men behind him that night. When the darkness began to fall, +Bertragh Castle came in sight far below--a gray crag jutting up from +the plain, scarped and embattled, the sea behind it and the watch-fires +of men twinkling from its keep. All about lay farms and steads, and the +lowing of byred cattle rose on the evening air when the snow ceased. + +"Be careful not to drink or eat in that hall," warned Cathbarr blackly. +"Ill comes of it to all who accept hospitality there." + +Brian nodded and rode on in silence, for there were parties of horsemen +and pikemen down below and the blare of horns shrilled up. Evidently the +riders on the hills had been seen from afar. + +As they reached the lower ground Brian was aware of a band of men riding +to meet them, and halted. Through the dusk came a score of armed +horsemen, and their leader inquired their business, shouting from a safe +distance. Brian returned the shout. + +"I am Yellow Brian, and I seek O'Donnell Dubh according to a pact made +with him yesterday. I have reduced Cathbarr of the Ax, and am come in +peace." + +"You are expected," called the other, riding up with his men. "The Dark +Master is waiting for you." + +And Brian rode on to Bertragh, not without some forebodings. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +YELLOW BRIAN RIDES SOUTH. + + +Outside the castle gates, where cressets flared over the snow, an old +seneschal appeared and ordered Brian to leave his men outside. To this +the men made some objection, but Brian laughed softly. + +"Bide where you are," he said. "You shall not be slain unless I am slain +inside." + +The O'Donnells watched him and Cathbarr with no little wonder, and the +two men made a fine pair as they marched across the creaking drawbridge. +Though Cathbarr topped Brian by half a head, there was no doubt as to +which was the nobler man; the giant gazed around him with amazed eyes, +but Brian held his head high and strode in with a smile flickering on +his lips. But his blue eyes were very sharp that night. + +He saw the crowded men in the courtyard, many of them armed with +muskets, their matches burning, and noted also that the Dark Master +possessed some half-dozen bastards--immense, nine-foot pieces mounted on +huge carriages, with their eight-pound balls piled beside them. In those +days it was no small thing to own such cannon in the west of Ireland, +and Brian eyed them approvingly as he passed through the courtyard. He +was beginning to count them as his own. + +Cathbarr had told him that the Dark Master had brought many O'Donnells +down from the north to settle the farms and lands beyond the castle, but +Brian saw that these were not all. The garrison was a riffraff of all +the armies that had wasted Ireland, and they were fighting men fit for +their work. + +Brian entered the hall, with Cathbarr muttering oaths a pace behind him. +The hall was high, lit with cressets, and beside a huge fireplace sat +the Dark Master in a carved chair of black wood, an old harper sitting +opposite. Behind Brian and Cathbarr flocked in men until the hall was +well filled. + +Brian found the penetrating eyes fixed on him as he advanced, but in +them was no surprise or fear, and O'Donnell calmly stroked his drooping +mustache as he watched. Cathbarr still followed behind, bearing that +great ax of his, and Brian stopped a few paces from the hearth as the +Dark Master spoke. + +"Welcome to Bertragh, Yellow Brian. I had not looked for you so soon." + +"No." Brian's voice rang out richly in the stillness. "But I am here, +O'Donnell Dubh, to claim my two-score men. I have reduced Cathbarr of +the Ax." + +For the first time the hunched O'Donnell seemed to notice Cathbarr. His +black eyes flickered curiously to the giant, then he smiled sourly. + +"If he is reduced, why does he not kneel, Brian of the hard eyes?" + +"Kneel," ordered Brian. + +Cathbarr flushed and his beard began to stand out, but he obeyed. There +was no great love in his face as he knelt, holding to his ax, and gazed +at O'Donnell. + +"Throw your ax into the fire," said the Dark Master, his voice smooth as +silk. + +"Do not," exclaimed Brian, and his eyes grew bitterly cold as they +clinched with those of the Dark Master. Over the latter's pallid face +crept a slow red fire, and his head drew back between his shoulders. Men +held their breaths. + +"O'Donnell," went on Brian slowly, "I have fulfilled my pact. I have +reduced Cathbarr of the Ax--but he serves me and not you. Since I have +conquered him as you bade, I call on you to carry out the pact and lend +me two-score men for three months, scat-free." + +If Brian had wanted any testimony as to O'Donnell's iron hand, he had +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 his fate hung upon the Dark Master's +thoughts, and he drew himself up a little straighter, and his blue eyes +glinted colder than any ice as his hand closed upon his sword-hilt. But +at the slight motion O'Donnell looked up keenly. + +"You have ridden hard, Brian. Pause and sup with me--" + +"I did not come to eat or drink," said Brian sternly. "Also, I am weary +of this talking. Now fulfil your pact, Dark Master, or be shamed before +all your men." + +"Are you for Royalist or Parliament?" asked O'Donnell, as if he had not +heard. + +"I am for Brian Buidh." + +"Take two-score men and begone," and the other rose. To his surprise, +Brian found that, despite the hunched back, O'Donnell was as tall as +himself. The black eyes flamed out at him for an instant. "I will keep +my honor, though I regret it later, Yellow Brian. Go, with your men. +When next we meet your head shall grin over my gates." + +"Thanks for so much," retorted Brian mockingly, though he drew a swift +breath of relief. "My head serves me too well to render it easily. _Slan +leat_, O'Donnell!" + +"_Slan leat_," repeated the Dark Master and turned his back, gazing down +at the fire. + +Brian turned and strode down the hall, Cathbarr at his heels. When they +reached the courtyard he found men saddling in haste, and an officer +saluted him gravely. + +"Two-score men are at your orders, Yellow Brian." + +"Let them follow me," said Brian curtly. "And who quarrels with my men, +dies." + +To that there was no dispute. The drawbridge clanked down once more, +Brian and Cathbarr mounted and rode out to where the thirty waited +grimly, and after them came the forty men from the garrison. Cathbarr, +who trusted the Dark Master little, set his ten axmen in the van, +followed with Brian, and the sixty followed them into the night. + +"I think we came out of that well, brother," said the giant softly. +"Where do we ride?" + +"To your tower, for the night. After that, in search of more men." + +"Toward Galway or Slyne Head?" + +"Wherever there are men." + +After that they rode on in silence, while the men behind fraternized +freely. All were of the same stamp, and indeed the two-score already +were as willing to serve Brian as O'Donnell, since they had witnessed +that scene in the castle hall. + +Brian wondered dully what the outcome of all this was to be. The strain +of facing O'Donnell and bearding him in his own den had been no light +one, but he knew that Cathbarr had spoken truth in saying that they were +well out of it. The Dark Master, he thought, was a man well worth +fighting. To take his castle was not like turning out a chieftain of +some ancient family, with his clan about him for miles around; O'Donnell +had seized upon the place himself, his men were reavers and outlaws, and +the castle was a strong one. + +Then there was the O'Malley alliance. Brian had it in mind to beset the +Dark Master by sea and land at once, for all the O'Malley clan had been +seamen and rovers from time immemorial, while he himself preferred men +and horses at his back. In calmer mood now, he reflected that Turlough +might not return for a week, and there was food and fodder for seventy +men and horses to be obtained. + +If he rode toward Galway he would have to plunder the patriots, which +went against the grain. But in lower Galway and Clare things were +different. That winter no army held to winter quarters save that of +Cromwell, and between Limerick and Galway there was a wild rout of men +out of half a dozen armies, the plague had swept off all but the +seafaring folk, and men held only what their swords could guard. + +So Brian determined that he would ride toward the south. + +He realized well that his men must be drawn together by fighting, that +they must learn a perfect confidence in him, and that they must earn +their sustenance for the time being. Cathbarr already knew of old +Turlough's mission, and of course approved, since in his eyes Brian +could do no wrong. What was more, reflected Brian, he could not make +this alliance empty-handed. He must get men and spare horses, stores and +powder, and some muskets or pistols if possible, for few of his men +carried more than sword or perhaps a sorry pistolet or ancient +bombardule out of date a generation since. + +"A storm of men!" he muttered as he gazed at the stars. "A storm of men! +Did that Black Woman speak truly, I wonder? And what dark magic was that +which passed to-night?" + +But no answer came to his questions save that the cold stars chilled him +to the bone. Since they had no better place to seek, they returned to +Cathbarr's tower, but it was long past midnight when they reached it, +and the men were nodding in their saddles. As barely a dozen could crowd +into the place, the rest were forced to camp outside in the snow, but +roaring fires and some little food put them in good humor and it was no +hardship to any of them. + +"It has been a strange two days for us twain," said Brian as he and +Cathbarr divided a scorched bannock one of the Scots had hastily turned +out over the coals. + +"Yes," smiled the giant into his beard, his deep-throated bull's voice +rumbling through their tiny room. "But it is in my mind that there are +stranger days ahead of us, Brian Buidh. A witch-woman once told me that +I would meet my death from water and fire together, brother, in a cause +not mine own." + +"You are not bound to my service," replied Brian. + +"But I am bound to you, for I like you," answered Cathbarr, and his hand +crushed down on Brian's. That night they slept together beneath the same +blanket, and though after that they spoke few words of love or +friendship, the two men drew ever closer each to the other in all +things. + +It had indeed been a strange two days for him, thought Brian as he +roused up the camp late the next morning and set out sentries in the +hills. He had met the Dark Master on the first, and on the second he had +met Cathbarr, then had forced the Dark Master into lending him men +against his will. Now, after a scant three days beyond Lough Corrib, he +had twined his fate with that of other men, had set his heart upon +winning Bertragh Castle, and had won both a stout friend and a stout +enemy. + +For he counted O'Donnell as a foe, in which he was not far wrong. + +However, there was no time to be wasted, for fodder was exceeding +scanty, and Brian himself had no heart for idleness. As he had resolved +on his course during that return ride the night before, he gathered his +men together and briefly ordered them to be ready to ride at noon, and +to Cathbarr alone he outlined his plan. Then he picked two of the axmen +who knew the country roundabout, and ten from among those O'Donnell had +loaned him, and took them aside and told them of Turlough Wolf, who +would come before long. + +"You will bide here," he concluded, "and bid him wait for me. I shall +return this side of ten days. And mind you, if there is feud or +treachery among you so that one man's blood is let, then I will exact a +tenfold vengeance from both men." + +The twelve, who were sturdy ruffians and well able to hold the place +against any sudden attack by the Dark Master, looked into the ice-blue +eyes for an instant, and straightway vowed that there would be neither +treachery nor quarreling among them. And Brian guessed shrewdly that he +had inspired some little fear in their hearts. + +So that at high noon they rode away to the east, threescore strong, with +Brian and Cathbarr and the remaining eight axmen in the van. Brian did +not spare either man or horse that day, for there was little food left +them; when midnight came they had slipped past Galway and were ready to +ride south, though they all went to rest supperless. + +With the morning Brian found that two of the men had slipped off and +were busy plundering a hill-farm a mile away, where an old woman lived +alone. He promptly had them brought before him, and bade them take up +their weapons. + +"I am no executioner," he said as he bared his huge sword. "I am a +teacher of lessons, and my lessons must be learned." + +When they rode away from that place, leaving the two men buried under +cairns, Brian was well assured that there would be no more ravaging by +his men, though they died of hunger. + +However, it proved that there was no great chance of this, for Brian +drove such a storm past Slieve Aughty as had not been heard of in +generations. Of all that chanced in those seven days ere he set his face +to the north again, not much has survived, for there were greater storms +to come afterward, and more talked-of fighting. But certain things were +done which had a sequel. + +By the fifth day Brian had swept past Gort toward Lough Graney, and +turned west by Crusheen, which he passed through with a hundred horsemen +at his heels. Two days before he had struck upon fifty Ulstermen who +were working north from Munster, and what were left of them after the +meeting took service with him. From them he learned that O'Neill was +dying or dead, and that the Royalists and Confederacy men were paralyzed +through the south. + +They had left Crusheen ten miles behind them on the fifth day, when +Cathbarr laid his hand on Brian's knee and pointed to the left, where a +hill rose against the sky. + +"Look there, _boucal_--when the birds fly from the _ceanabhan_, seek for +snakes!" + +Brian drew rein. Gazing at the long slopes of moor-grass that rose +across the hill, he saw a sudden flight of blackbirds from over the +crest; they flew toward him, then swerved swiftly and darted to the +right. Brian called up two of his men who knew the country, and asked +them what lay over the hill. + +"The Ennis road to Mal Bay," they replied, and he sent them ahead to +scout. + +Before he reached the hill-crest they were back with word that an +"army" was on the road, and Brian pushed forward with Cathbarr to see +for himself. Slipping from their horses, they gained the hilltop and +looked over on the winding road beyond. Neither of them spoke, but +Brian's eyes glinted suddenly, for he beheld a train of four wagons +convoyed by some two hundred troopers. He touched Cathbarr and they +returned. + +"A party of Ormond's Scottish troopers," he said quietly when they had +rejoined the men. "Cathbarr, take thirty men and work around them. When +you strike, I will lead over the hill and flank them." + +The giant nodded, picked his men, and rode away. Brian led his seventy +closer to the rise of ground, and as they waited they could hear the +creaking of wagons and the snap of whips. It was a Royalist convoy, and +since there was no love between the Scots and the Irish of any party, +Brian's men were hungry for the fight. + +They got their fill that day. + +A rippling shout, a scattering of shots, and Brian spurred forward. The +road wound a hundred yards below, and Cathbarr had already fallen on the +vanguard. The Scots were riding forward to whelm him when Brian's men +drove down with a wild yell and smote the length of their flank. + +Brian hewed his way to the side of Cathbarr, and then the sword and ax +flashed side by side. The captain in command of the troopers pistoled +Cathbarr's horse, but the huge ax met his steel cap and Cathbarr was +mounted again. Meanwhile, Brian was engaged with a cornet who had great +skill at fencing, and his huge Spanish blade touched the young officer +lightly until the Scot pulled forth a pistol, and at that Brian smote +with the edge. + +The muskets and pistols of the troopers worked sad havoc among Brian's +men at first, but there was no chance to reload, and when the officers +had gone down the Scots lost heart. They would have trusted to no Gaelic +oaths, for men got no quarter in the west, but when Brian shouted at +them in English they listened to him right willingly. A score broke away +and galloped breakneck for the south again, and perhaps fifty had gone +down; the rest gathered about the wagons stared at Brian and Cathbarr in +superstitious awe as the two lowered bloody ax and sword and offered +terms. + +"I offer service to you," said Brian. "I am Brian Buidh, and if you will +ride with me you shall find war. Those who wish may return to Ennis." + +Now, at the most Brian had some seventy-five men left, and those +clustered at the wagons were over a hundred and a score, with muskets. +But their officers were down, they had received no pay for a year and +more, and they were for the most part Macdonalds of the Isles, who loved +freebooting better than army work. So out of them all only ten men chose +to ride to Ennis again, and Cathbarr shook his head as they departed. + +"It seems to me that ill shall come of this," he said, and wiped his ax +clean. + +Brian laughed shortly and dismounted. He found that the wagons contained +powder, stores, and muskets; so after placing the wounded in them, he +rode north to Corrofin that day with close to two hundred men at his +back. Staying that night at Corrofin, he hanged ten of the Scots for +plundering, rested his horses for two days, and set his face homeward +with the surety that his men knew him for master. + +The storm of men was gathering fast. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +BRIAN TAKES CAPTIVES. + + +"_Failte abhaile!_ Welcome, Yellow Brian!" + +"So you won back before me, eh?" Brian swung down from his horse and +gripped hands with old Turlough Wolf. "Get the men camped, Cathbarr, +then join us." + +Turlough's cunning eyes rested on the wagons and weary horsemen, and he +nodded approvingly as Brian told him of what had chanced. + +"Said I not that you were a master of men?" he chuckled quietly, as he +turned to follow into Cathbarr's tower. "But it is easier to master men +than women, Brian. I bear you a bitter rede from the Bird Daughter, +master." + +"Hard words fare ill on empty stomachs," quoth Brian. "Keep it till I +have eaten." + +When Cathbarr had joined them and they had dined well on Royalist stores +and wine, Turlough made report on his mission. It seemed that he had met +with a party of the O'Malleys at the head of Kilkieran Bay at the close +of his first day's ride, and after hearing his errand they had taken him +in their ship out to Gorumna Isle, where stood the hold of Nuala, the +Bird Daughter. And somewhat to his own amazement, Turlough had found +that by this same name she was known along the whole coast. + +He reported that it was a strong place, for the castle had been built by +her father; that she had two large ships and five small ones, and that +both ships and castle were defended by all manner of "shot"--meaning +cannon. She had just returned from Kinsale, where she had been aiding +Blake hold Prince Rupert's fleet in the bay. Now Rupert had slipped +away, and after plundering a French ship with wines, she had come home +again. + +"She seems a woman of heart," smiled Brian. "What of her looks?" + +"I did not see her." Turlough shook his head. "She ordered my message +written out, so she has some clerkly learning. She took an hour to +ponder it, master, then set me ashore with this message. + +"'Tell Yellow Brian,' she ordered, 'that I claim tribute from Golam Head +to Slyne. I will make no pact with him until he pay me tribute; and if I +find him on my land I will set him in chains above my water-gate.'" + +Brian felt no little dismay at this, for he had counted strongly on +alliance with this Bird Daughter. + +However, Turlough proceeded to set forth the reasons for such a message, +as he had conceived them within his shrewd mind. First, it seemed that +the pestilence had visited Gorumna in the absence of its mistress, and +that the Dark Master had caught a score of the O'Malleys who had been +wrecked in Bertraghboy Bay, promptly hanging them all. Between the +plague and the hanging Nuala had a bare fourscore men left within the +castle, and she counted Brian's offer as a ruse on the part of +O'Donnell, for she was strongly afraid of treachery. + +"There is more pride than power in that message," commented Cathbarr +easily. "The Dark Master has stripped away all her lands along the +coast, and save for Kilkieran Bay she has little left. Let us fall on +her, brother, and take what _is_ left." + +Brian laughed at this naive counsel, looking at Turlough. But the old +Wolf said nothing, brooding over the fire, and Brian reflected within +himself. + +He had come into a merciless feud, that he knew well. If he was to enter +upon it he must banish all pity from his heart, which was no easy thing +for him; but Turlough related things he had heard which speedily changed +his mind. There were tales of O'Donnell's ridings through the land, of +men slaughtered and women carried off to people his castle; of +treachery, and worse. + +It was also whispered that the Dark Master had made alliance with +certain pirates from the north coast. + +However, Brian knew that he must reach some decision regarding his own +men, and that speedily. The three talked long that night, setting aside +the question of the O'Malley alliance for the time being. Brian had some +two hundred men to house and horses to feed; he had good store of +provision and powder, but Cathbarr's little tower was utterly useless to +house the tenth of them all, while the stores would have to be +sheltered. Then O'Donnell might fling his men on them at any moment, +which would mean disaster in their present position. + +Cathbarr suggested an attack on Bertragh castle, but Turlough dissented. + +"When we strike, we must strike to win," he said shrewdly. "The Dark +Master has more men than we, and the sea is at his back, and they say he +is a warlock to boot." + +The giant stared and crossed himself at talk of warlocks, but Brian +laughed out. + +"I have a plan," he said, fingering his sword. "O'Donnell watches all +the hill-paths like a hawk, even now in winter. Those wagons are of no +great use to us, and we can store the goods here in the tower for the +present. Get it done to-night, Cathbarr, and get the accouterments from +two of those largest Scots for yourself and me." + +Turlough Wolf chuckled suddenly, and Brian knew that the old man had +pierced to something of his plan. But not all. + +"Turlough," he went on as the scheme came to him more clearly, "at dawn +ride out with a hundred men to that hill-road where first we met the +Dark Master. Hide the men in the hills, and be ready to ride hard when +the time comes. Cathbarr, before the dawn breaks have the wagons start +out with twenty of the Scots troopers as escort. Bid as many more as can +lie down in the wagons and cover up close with their muskets. Send a man +or two with them to guide to that hill-road of which I spoke. We will +ride after and catch them up shortly after sunrise." + +"Good!" roared out the giant, whose brains lay all in his ax. "And the +Dark Master will swoop down to the feast, eh?" + +"He will not," returned Brian dryly. "He will send two or threescore men +upon us, and it is my purpose to take as many of these prisoner as may +be." + +Cathbarr stared, and Turlough's gray eyes squinted up at Brian. + +"How is this, master?" he asked inquiringly. "It is too good a trap to +waste on prisoners--" + +"My plan is my plan," said Brian briefly. "I am not making war on +O'Donnell, but I intend to pay tribute to the Bird Daughter, and that +right soon. While we are gone have a score of men remain here and build +huts on the cliffs, Cathbarr." + +Turlough fell to staring into the fire, divining the plan at length, and +Cathbarr went out to fulfil his orders. Brian knew well that there was +danger in the scheme, but he determined to deal with one thing at a +time, and thoroughly. Just at present he was intent on forming an +alliance with Nuala O'Malley, for ships and cannon were needful before +he could nip the Dark Master in his hold. It was going to cost the lives +of men, and he made up his mind not to pause for that. If he was to live +and make head it must be by the strong hand alone--the Red Hand of +Tyr-owen; and he looked down at the ring of Owen Ruadh and took it for a +symbol, as his ancestors had taken it. + +Before they went to rest Turlough pointed out that if the hills were +watched he and his hundred would be noted, so Brian bade him hit back +toward Lough Corrib and then to come straight down upon the main road. +It might be that he could overcome the Dark Master's men of himself, and +if not, he would hold them until Turlough came up. + +With this plan arranged, then, the four wagons set forth under the cold +stars, with thirty Scots lying hidden and twenty riding before and +behind. With the first gleam of dawn Turlough and his hundred cantered +off to the northeast, and an hour later Brian and Cathbarr put on the +buff coats and steel jacks of the troopers, with the wide morions; took +a pair of loaded pistols, and galloped after the slow-moving wagons. +Brian wore his Spanish blade, but Cathbarr had sent his ax ahead with +the troopers. + +They caught up with the wagons when the latter were entering upon the +road proper out of the hill-track they had followed. The first snows had +vanished for the most part, leaving bleak, gaunt hills and rugged crags +that twisted with soft fog. The sun struck the fog away, however, and as +Brian rode on he gazed up at the purple mountains on his right, and down +at the purple bog to his left, and caught the gleam of the Bertraghboy +water out beyond. He laughed as he drank in the keen air of morning. + +"Best get your edge ready, Cathbarr of the Ax!" + +Cathbarr grunted, and slung the heavy hammer-ax at his saddlebow. One of +the guides, who were from the Dark Master's twoscore men, pointed to a +twisted peak on their right, whence an almost invisible spiral of gray +smoke wound up. + +"The signal, Yellow Brian," he grinned, cheerfully giving away his +secrets. In fact, all those twoscore men rather hoped that their old +master would be crushed by Brian, for so long as there was booty in +sight they cared not whom they served. + +Half an hour later Brian saw ahead of him that same bend of road where +first he and Turlough had met O'Donnell Dubh. But there was no sign of +Turlough, and he cantered ahead to see if the O'Donnell men were below. +As he did so a bullet sang past his ear, and he whirled to see half a +dozen of his men go down beneath a storm of lead from the hillsides; at +the same instant some three-score men came scrambling down from among +the rocks--those same rocks where he had first laid ambush for the Dark +Master. + +And riders were coming up on the road below! + +He was caught very neatly, and caught by more men than he had looked +for. The remainder of the twenty gathered behind him and Cathbarr, and +the thirty rose among the wagons and for a moment stopped the assault +with their musketry; but before the smoke had cleared away two-score +horsemen came thundering up the road from behind the curve, and struck. + +"Albanach! Albanach!" + +The wild yells shrilled up, and the Scots troopers knew that they were +fighting without quarter in sight, for the "Albanach," as they were +termed in Gaelic, gave and got little mercy in Ireland. The saddles of +the fallen were filled from the men in the wagons, and leaving the +musketeers to hold off the unmounted men, Brian plunged into the swirl +of fighting horsemen and joined Cathbarr. + +The odds were heavy, but the big claymores of the Scots were heavier +still. Side by side, Brian and Cathbarr plunged through the ranks, sword +biting and ax smiting, until they stood almost alone among the +O'Donnells, for their men had been borne back. Then the giant bellowed +and his ax crushed down a man stabbing at Brian's horse; Brian pistoled +one who struck at Cathbarr's back, and pressing their horses head to +tail they faced the circle of men, while behind them roared the battle. + +For a moment the O'Donnells held off, recognizing the pair, then one of +them spurred forward with a howl of delight. + +"_Dhar mo lamh_, Yellow Brian--your head to our gates!" + +Brian thrust unexpectedly, and the man went over his horse's tail as the +ring closed in. So far Cathbarr had forgotten his pistols, but now he +used them, and took a bullet-crease across his neck in return; then the +ax and sword heaved up together, and the ring surged back. A skean went +home in Cathbarr's horse, however, and the giant plunged down, but with +that Brian spurred and went at the O'Donnells with the point of his +blade. This sort of fighting was new to them, and when Brian had spitted +three of them he heard Cathbarr's ax crunch down once more. + +They were still cut off from the wagons, but there came a wild drumming +of hoofs, and wilder yells from the men on the hillside. Like a +thunder-burst, Turlough and his hundred broke on the battle. The +O'Donnells were swallowed up, stamped flat; the unmounted men fled among +the rocks, Turlough's men after them, and a dozen horsemen went +streaming down the road. + +It was hard to make the maddened Scots take prisoners, but Brian did it, +and when Turlough's men came back he found that they had in all thirty +captives. Some forty of the attackers had fallen and the rest had fled. + +Since all his captives expected no less than a quick death, Brian +ordered ten of them bound on spare horses, of which there were plenty. +He himself had lost twenty-three of his Scots, and the remaining score +of captives cheerfully took service under him. Then, picking out one of +them, he gave the man a horse and told him to ride home. + +"Tell your master, O'Donnell Dubh," he said, "that his men made this +attack on me, and therefore there is war between us." + +The man grinned and departed at a gallop, and word passed through the +men that the Dark Master had found his match at last. As to this, +however, they were fated to change their opinion later. + +"Now," said Brian to old Turlough, as between them they bound up a slash +in Cathbarr's thigh, "do you put the wounded in the wagons and begone +home again. Set out sentries against an attack from O'Donnell, and +scatter a score of men out along the roads to watch for other parties. +You might pick up another score of recruits, Turlough Wolf." + +Turlough shook his head and tugged at his beard. + +"Best take me with you, master, instead of this overgrown ox. You may +need brains in dealing with the Bird Daughter, and he has no more brains +than strew his ax-edge. Also he is wounded." + +Brian pondered this, while Cathbarr furtively shook a fist at Turlough. +There was wisdom in the advice, but on the other hand Brian did not like +to leave his precious two hundred men in care of Cathbarr. If the Dark +Master attacked suddenly, as he was like to do, brains would be more +needed than brawn. + +On the other hand, he counted on Cathbarr's open face removing the +evident suspicion that the smooth-tongued Turlough had raised in Gorumna +Isle. It had been a mistake, he saw plainly, to send such an emissary on +his mission. Picturing this woman who led her own ships to war, he +limned her in his mind as a large-boned, flat-breasted, wide-hipped +creature--and with good reason. He had seen women fighting at Drogheda +and he had seen them in other places as he rode to the rest, for in +those days many a woman took her slain lord's _skean fada_ and drew +blood for Ireland before she was cut down. And when women rode to battle +there was no mercy asked or given, from Royalist or Confederate or +Parliament man. + +Nuala O'Malley was a woman of blood, said Brian to himself, and he would +give her blood for her help. + +So he curtly refused Turlough's advice, saw that the ten bridles of his +bound and mounted captives were lined together, and beckoned to +Cathbarr. Before they rode off, however, they doffed their Scot +accouterments and took back their own garments, after which Cathbarr led +the way over the hills to Kilkieran Bay, and Turlough took command of +the force in sullen ill-humor. + +The morning was still young, for the attack had taken place a short two +hours after sunrise and had soon been quelled. Beyond a slashed thigh +and a red-creased neck, Cathbarr of the Ax was unhurt, and Brian had +received no scratch. If the ten captives wondered why they were bound +and their comrades freed, they said nothing of it. + +Even after seeing what he had of the merciless war in Ireland, Brian had +much ado in making up his mind to hold to the plan he had formed on the +previous evening. These ten ruffians were scoundrels enough, to judge by +looks, and yet they were men; and he had been raised in no such school +of war as this, where surrender meant slaughter without pity. However, +he determined to do what he could for them, and he would have held to +this determination had it not been for what chanced when they rode down +to the little fishing village where Turlough had met the O'Malley men. + +They arrived just as the evening was darkling, after a hard day's ride. + +As they came within sight of the place, which lay at the head of +Kilkieran water, Brian made out that a small galley was pulled up on +shore, and there were a number of men about the huts. Upon the approach +of the two chiefs with their file of captives there was an instant +scurry of figures; women ran to the huts, and a dozen or more roughly +clad men appeared with pikes and muskets. Brian held up his hand in sign +of peace and rode slowly onward, Cathbarr at his side, to within a dozen +paces of the huts. + +"Who are you?" cried out one of the musketeers. "Be off!" + +"Bark less, dog," said Brian, scorn in his eye. "We seek Nuala O'Malley. +Take us out to Gorumna Isle in your boat." + +"What seek ye with the Bird Daughter?" queried the other suspiciously. + +"Her business, not yours." + +The seamen gazed at them doubtfully, then a number of other men came +from the huts, well-armed. One of these set up a cry, pointing at the +captives, and a burst of yells answered him from the rest. Next instant +Brian and Cathbarr had their weapons out and were facing an excited +crowd of men. + +"Be silent, dogs!" bellowed Cathbarr, and his voice quelled the uproar. +"What means this attack? Would you have the Bird Daughter strip you with +whips, fools?" + +The spokesman stood out, his dark face quivering with fury as he +pointed. + +"That is as it may be, axman, but first those bound men shall die. One +is the man who slew my brother, nailing him to his own door till he +died; another is he who burned Lame Art's wife and child last +Whit-Sunday--" + +"There is he who lopped my husband's hands and nose! Slay him!" shrieked +out a hag as she burst forward. Brian held out his sword and she drew +back, but instantly others had taken up the cry. + +"And the devil who hung Blind Ulick!" + +"There is he who--" + +In that brief moment Brian heard things too horrible for speech. The ten +bound men had grouped together, some pale as death, others laughing +defiantly. But as the crowd surged forward Brian held up his sword, and +they paused to listen; he knew now that there was no more pity in his +heart for these black ruffians of O'Donnell's. + +"Let the Bird Daughter render judgment upon them," he shouted. "Friends, +take us to the Bird Daughter and let her do as she will, for I bear +these men to her alone." + +At that the crowd fell silent, but their leader gave a rapid order, and +half a dozen men ran down to the strand. Another order, and the maddened +villagers gave back as the seamen closed about Brian and Cathbarr and +their captives. + +"Come," said the leader roughly. "You shall go to Gorumna Isle with us, +strange men, but I do not think that you shall ever come back again." + +"Nor do I," grinned Cathbarr in the ear of Brian, as they left their +horses to the fishermen, unbound the prisoners from their steeds, and +made their way down to the galley. Brian looked at his friend, and they +both smiled grimly. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BIRD DAUGHTER. + + +"Now, _there_ is a castle worth the taking, Yellow Brian!" said +Cathbarr. + +Brian nodded, his eyes shining in the starlight. After a pull of a long +seven miles down the bay, the galley had rounded into the northern end +of Gorumna Isle, guided by a high beacon set among the stars. As they +drew nearer Brian made out that this beacon was set on the tower of a +high pile of masonry black against the sky, lit here and there by +cressets, and it was plain that the Bird Daughter kept good watch since +they had more than once been hailed in passing the islands. + +Once turned into the harbor, Brian found suddenly that they were among +ships, many of them small galleys, but two of good size which bore +riding-lights. Again they responded to hails, and without warning a few +torches blazed out ahead of them. Then it was seen that the castle was +built with its lower part close on the water, and its upper part rising +on the crag. In reality, as he found later, it was two castles in one, +as of necessity it had to be. Were the opposite isles held by an enemy, +and hostile ships in the little harbor, the higher towers running up the +crag could dominate all, and the lower castle could be abandoned without +danger. + +Even in the starlight Brian's trained soldier's eye made out something +of this. Then the leader of the seamen came and stood beside them, for +during the two-hours' trip he had talked somewhat with Cathbarr and had +come to look with more respect on Brian himself. That was only natural, +for seamen ever like those men who talk least. + +"Strangers," he said with rough courtesy, "a word in your ear. If you +would gain speech with the Lady Nuala, deal not with her as with me. +Send in your names and your business, and you may perchance get to see +her in the morning, or a week hence, as she may choose." + +"Thanks," answered Brian. "But my will is not like to hang upon hers." + +The seaman shrugged his shoulders, the oars were put in, and they +floated up to where the torches flared. Here there was a landing-place +of hewn stone, with a gate lying open beyond it, and armed men waiting. +One of these, from his bunch of huge keys and air of authority, Brian +knew for the seneschal. + +"_M'anam go'n Dhia!_" he growled, peering down into the boat as it +ground on the stone, "what fish have you there?" + +"Two salmon and ten herring, Muiertach," laughed one of the men. Brian +and his friend stepped out while the ten prisoners were prodded after +them, and Brian found the seneschal looking him over with some wonder, +hands on hips. + +"Well! A giant with a devil's ax, and Cuculain, the Royal Hound, come to +life again! Who are you, yellow man, and who is this axman, and who are +these ten bound men?" + +Brian was minded to answer curtly enough, but he looked at the seneschal +and remembered the seaman's kindly warning. Under his eye the laugh +withered suddenly on the seneschal's lips. + +"These ten men belong to me, Muiertach. Go, tell the Bird Daughter that +Brian Buidh and Cathbarr of the Ax have come to her, bringing tribute as +she demanded." + +Now it was that Cathbarr, who had asked no questions all that day, +perceived for the first time the reason of their fighting and hard +riding, and what the manner of that tribute was. He broke into a great +bellow of laughter so that the rough-clad seamen stared at him in +wonder, but at a word from Brian he quieted instantly. + +"In the morning the message shall be delivered, Brian Buidh," returned +burly Muiertach with a glimmer of respect in his voice. "And now render +up your weapons, so that we may treat you as guests--" + +"So you sea-rovers are afraid of two men, lest they capture your hold?" + +Brian's biting words brought a deep flush to Muiertach's face. + +"No weapons do we render," he went on, his voice cold as his eyes. "We +come as guests, seneschal, and our business is not with you. Take these +ten men to your dungeons, take us to guest chambers and give us to eat, +and see that we have speech with the Bird Daughter before to-morrow's +sun is high." + +At this Muiertach growled something into his beard, but turned with a +gesture of assent. His men closed around the captives, while Brian and +Cathbarr followed him into the castle, the giant still chuckling to +himself with great rumbles of laughter. + +"Let strict watch be kept over these two," said Muiertach in English to +one of the torchmen who accompanied them, thinking he would not be +understood. + +"You may yet get a touch of the whip for that order," said Brian in the +same tongue. + +Stricken with amazement, Muiertach turned and stared at him, jaw +dropping, while Cathbarr glanced from one to the other in perplexity. +Brian smiled. + +"Lead on, and talk less." + +With tenfold respect, the seneschal obeyed. Now Brian saw that this +castle was indeed a stronghold, and might easily be defended by fewer +men than it had. The inner walls of the lower castle were well lined +with falcons and falconets, while on the towers above peered out heavier +cannon, which he took for culverins from their length of nose. Crossing +the courtyard, they entered the building itself, and Muiertach led them +through upward-winding corridors, studded with cressets and with here +and there a recessed _prie-dieu_ in the wall. + +From the snatches of talk behind the doors they passed, Brian guessed +that this lower castle was occupied by the garrison. In this he was +right, for with torchmen before and behind them they emerged into the +cold night air again and climbed upward, coming to a gate in the wall of +the upper castle. This stood open, but it clanged shut behind them, and +after crossing a steep courtyard they entered a second and broader +corridor. + +Muiertach led them up a long flight of stairs, then another, and finally +flung open a heavy door. It was evident that they were lodged in one of +the towers. + +"Rest sound and fear not to eat our food," said the seneschal. +"_Beannacht leath!_" + +"Blessing on you," responded Brian and Cathbarr together, and entered. + +For a wonder, Brian found that the chamber was lighted with candles, +which Cathbarr examined with no little awe. Also, it contained a very +good bed, on which the giant looked with suspicion. The hard stone walls +were hung with tattered tapestries, and before they had settled well +into their chairs two men entered with food and wine of the best. + +"Not so bad," smiled Brian as they ate. "How come your wounds, brother?" + +"Those scratches? Bah!" And the giant gurgled down half a quart of +Canary at a stretch. "You are not going to sleep on that bed of cloths?" + +"That I am," laughed Brian, "and soon, for I am overweary with riding. +Try it, Cathbarr, and you will be glad of it." + +"Not I! Since there is no bracken here the floor is good enough for me. +Eh, but this sea-woman will have a thought in her mind over your +message, brother!" + +Brian chuckled, but he was too weary with that day's work to talk or +think, and when the remnants of their meal had been removed and their +door shut, he gratefully sought the first bed he had known for weeks. +After some laughing persuasion he prevailed on the suspicious Cathbarr +to blow out the candles, and upon that he fell asleep. + +When he wakened it was broad daylight, and Cathbarr was still snoring +with his ax looped about his wrist as usual. Brian, feeling like a new +man, went to the open casement and looked out. + +He found himself gazing through a three-foot stone wall, and as he was +doubtless in one of the towers, this argued that the lower walls were +twelve feet thick or more. The lower castle was hid from him, but his +view was toward the upper bay and included the harbor. The two larger +ships, which were small caracks, but large for the west coast in that +day, bore six guns on a side, and Brian saw that they were being +scrubbed and made shipshape. The Bird Daughter must be a woman of some +scrupulousness, he reflected. Beyond the brown sails of two +fishing-boats, and low, storm-boding clouds over the farther hills, +there was nothing more in sight. + +As Cathbarr still wore his long mail-shirt, Brian kicked him awake, and +after his first bellowing yawn their door opened and men brought in jars +of water. When the giant's wounds had been dressed, under protest, and +they had broken their fast, the seneschal appeared. + +"Chieftains," he said respectfully, "the Lady Nuala has received your +message and will have speech with you this afternoon. Until then she +wishes that you keep your chamber, since she knows not your mind in this +visit." + +"That is but fair," assented Brian. + +Cathbarr grumbled, but there was no help for it, since they were +virtually prisoners. The day passed slowly, and toward noon storm drew +down on the harbor and snow eddied in their casement. With that, they +fell to polishing their weapons; Brian procured a razor and a +much-needed shave, and Cathbarr furbished up his huge ax until it glowed +like silver. + +Finally Muiertach appeared. Brian slung the great sword across his back, +and they followed the seneschal down to the courtyard. Here they were +joined by the captive O'Donnells and the seamen who had brought them to +the castle, and Muiertach led them to the great hall. + +The father of this O'Malley woman must have been a man of parts, thought +Brian as he gazed around. The hall was scantily filled with, perhaps, +three-score men ranged along the walls, and at the farther end was a low +dais where a huge log fire roared high. The beams were hung with a few +pennons and ship-ensigns, and on the dais were placed a half-dozen +chairs. Behind one of these stood two women, and in the chair, calmly +facing the hall, sat the Bird Daughter. + +Brian caught his breath sharply, and his blue eyes flickered flame as he +saw her. Never in his life had his gaze met such a woman--not in all the +land of Spain or elsewhere in Ireland. + +At this time Nuala O'Malley was twenty years old, and ten of those years +had been passed either on shipboard or here in Gorumna Isle. As one +chronicler describes her, "She was not tall, but neither was she small +of stature, and when she stood on a ship's deck there was no tossing +could cause her to stumble. Her hair was not blue, but neither was it +black, and her eyes were very deep and bright, violet in color, and set +wide in her head. Her nose was neither small nor large, her cheeks were +ever red with the wind off the sea, her mouth was finely curved, but +tight-set withal, and she had more chin than women are wont to have. She +was very lissom in body, but her head never drooped." + +And that is a most excellent description of the Bird Daughter, in fewer +words than most men might use to-day. + +But of all this Brian noted at the moment only that before him sat a +girl-woman whose calm poise and confident power struck out at him like a +vibrant presence. Like himself, she wore a cloak of dark red, but no +steel jack glittered beneath it; there was a torque of ancient gold +about her neck, and her hair was caught up and hidden beneath a small +cap of red. + +Brian thought of the woman he had painted in his mind, then laughed +softly. She caught the laugh on his face, and comprehended it, and was +pleased; then as she watched him very calmly, it seemed to Brian that +her sheer beauty was a thing of deception. It must be, for she was +surely a woman of blood. He had known enough of beautiful women, who +played the parts of men, to know that on the far side of their beauty +was neither mercy nor love nor compassion, that their lovers were many +steps to ambition, and that they were venomous. So his smile died away, +and his blue eyes glittered cold and dark, and this the Bird Daughter +saw also. + +Now, there was no man on the dais save Muiertach, who mounted the two +steps with his keys jangling. As Brian would have gone after him, two +pikemen stepped forward to intervene. Brian looked into their eyes and +they drew back again. He and Cathbarr mounted to the dais, and he bowed +a low, courtly, Spanish bow, of which the Bird Daughter took no note. +Instead he heard her voice, very low and penetrating, and she was +speaking to the two pikemen. + +"Go out into the courtyard," she said, "and give each other five lashes. +This is because you dared insult a guest, and because you drew back +after insulting him. Go!" + +The two pikemen, rather pale under their beards, handed over their pikes +to comrades and strode out of the hall. She turned to Brian, speaking +still in Gaelic: + +"Welcome, Brian Buidh. You have come to bring me tribute?" + +"Yes, Lady Nuala, and the tribute is these ten men of the Dark +Master's." + +She looked at Cathbarr; her eyes swept over his ax. Then she looked +again at Brian, and spoke to Muiertach in English. + +"Truly, I have seldom seen such a man as this--" + +A swift look of warning flashed over the seneschal's face, and Brian +laughed. + +"Lady," he said in the same tongue, "he is Cathbarr of the Ax, and he +will be a good man to stand with us against the Dark Master." + +She betrayed no surprise, except that a little tinge of red crept to her +temples. + +"I did not know you spoke English, Brian Buidh. Still, it was not to +Cathbarr that I referred." + +At that it was Brian's turn to redden, and mentally he cursed himself. +There was no evil in this woman's heart, he saw at once. For an instant +he was confused and taken aback. Then she smiled, slowly rose, and +tendered him her hand. Going to one knee, he put her fingers to his +lips. + +"Now sit, Yellow Brian," she said, "and let us talk. First, these +captives of yours. Do you in truth bring them as a tribute? How do I +know they are O'Donnell's men?" + +"Ask these seamen of yours," laughed Brian, seating himself beside her. +Cathbarr remained standing and leaning on his ax, looking like some +giant of the old times. + +She took him at his word, and when she had heard from the seamen certain +tales of what cruelties the ten prisoners had done, her violet eyes +suddenly turned black and an angry pallor drove across her face. + +"That is enough," she interrupted curtly. "Take them out and hang them." + +The men were led away, and Brian saw that her hands were tightly +clenched, but whether in fury or in fear of herself he could not tell. +Then she turned to him, looking straightly into his face, and on the +instant Brian knew that if this girl-woman bade him go to his death, he +would go, laughing. + +"Tell me of yourself, Brian Buidh. Of what family are you? By the ring +on your finger you are an O'Neill; yet I have heard nothing of such a +man as yourself leading that sept. When your messenger came to me, I +read cunning in his face, and took it for a trap set by the Dark Master; +but now that I have seen you and Cathbarr of the Ax, I will take fealty +from you if you wish to serve me." + +Brian smiled a little. + +"Serve you I would, lady, but not in fealty. I take fealty and do not +give it. My name is indeed Brian Buidh, and as for that ring, it was a +gift from Owen Ruadh." + +"Owen Ruadh died two days since," she said softly, watching his face. "I +had word of it this morning." + +At that he started, and Cathbarr's eyes widened in fear of magic. Owen +Ruadh had lain on the other side of Ireland, and three months would have +been fast for such news to travel. But Brian nodded sadly. + +"Carrier pigeons, eh?" he said in English and paused. He knew not why, +but his loneliness seemed stricken into his heart on a sudden; he who +neither explained nor asked for explanation from any man, felt impelled +to open his life to this girl-woman. He crushed down the impulse, yet +not entirely. + +"Perhaps, Lady Nuala, there shall be greater confidence between us in +time, and so I truly desire. But know this much--I am better born than +any man in Ireland--aye, than Clanrickard himself; and I am here in the +west to seek a new name and a new power. It is in my mind to take +O'Donnell's castle from him, lady. I have some two hundred men, of whom +the Dark Master himself lent me twoscore, and in alliance with your +ships we could reduce him." + +"How is this, Brian? You say he _lent_ you twoscore men?" + +He laughed and explained the fashion of that loan; and when he had +finished a great laugh ran down the hall, and the Bird Daughter herself +was chuckling. Then he waited for her answer, and it was not long in +coming. + +"There is some reason in your plan, Brian Buidh, but more reason against +it. The castle that O'Donnell holds was formerly my father's. If you +held it, there would be no peace between us, unless you gave fealty to +me, which I see plainly you will not do. I claim that castle, and shall +always claim it." + +"Then it seems that I am held in a cleft stick," smiled Brian easily, +"since I will give fealty to none save the king, or Parliament. You are +allied with the Roundheads, I understand?" + +She nodded, watching him gravely. + +"Yes. Cromwell is master of the country, and I am not minded to butt my +head against a wall, Brian Buidh. If I am to hold to the little that is +left me, I shall need all my strength." + +"And that is not much, lady. Your coasts are plague-smitten, your men +reduced, and Cromwell has not yet won all the country. Galway will be +the last to fall, indeed. But as to Bertragh Castle, why should you not +sell your rights in it to me?" + +At his first words a helpless anger flashed into her face, succeeded by +a still more helpless pride. + +"No, I will not sell what I have been unable to conquer back, Brian +Buidh. If there were any way out of this difficulty with honor, I would +take it; for I tell you frankly that I would make alliance with you if I +could." + +Brian gazed at her, reading her heart, and fighting vainly against the +impulse that rose within him. Twice he tried to speak and could not, +while she watched the conflict in his face and wondered. He wished +vainly that he had Turlough's cunning brain to aid him now. + +"Lady," he said at last, biting his lips, "I will do this. I will give +you fealty for the holding of Bertragh Castle, keeping it ever at your +service, but for this alone. When we have taken it, it may be that I +shall render it back after I have won a better for myself; yet, because +I would sit at your side and have equal honor with you, and because we +have need of each other, I will give you the service that I would grant +to no man alive. Is it good?" + +For an instant he thought that she was about to break forth in eager +assent, then she sank back in her chair, while breathless silence filled +the hall. She gazed down at the floor, her face flushing deeply, and +finally looked up again, sadly. + +"I do not desire pity or compassion, Brian Buidh," she said simply, and +her eyes held tears of helpless anger. + +Then Brian saw that she had pierced his mind, for which he was both +sorry and glad. He knew well there were other castles to be had for the +taking, and there was nothing to prevent his riding on past Slyne Head +and winning them--except for his meeting with this girl-woman. Therefore +he lied, and if she knew it, she gave no sign. + +"You mistake me, lady," he said earnestly, his blue eyes softening +darkly. + +"I propose this only as a stepping-stone to my own ambition. Soon there +will be a sweep of war through the coasts, and I would have a roof over +my head. Is it good?" + +She rose and held out her hands to him. + +"It is good, Brian Buidh. Give me fealty-oath, for Bertragh Castle +alone." + +And he gave it, and his words were drowned in a roar of cheers that +stormed down the hall, for the O'Malleys had heard all that passed. + +An hour later Cathbarr of the Ax was despatched in a swift galley to +bear the tidings to Turlough, and bid him make ready for a swift and +sharp campaign. + +Through the remainder of that afternoon and evening Brian sat beside the +Bird Daughter, and he found his tongue loosened most astonishingly, for +him. He told her some part of his story, though not his name, while in +turn he learned of her life, and of how her father and mother had been +slain by O'Donnell through blackest treachery. + +The more he saw of her, the more clearly he read her heart and the more +he gave her deeper fealty than had passed his lips in the oath of +service. As for her, she had met Blake and others of the Roundhead +captains on her cruises, deadly earnest men all; but in the earnestness +of Brian she found somewhat more besides, though she said nothing of it +then. It was arranged between them that in three days they would meet +before Bertragh Castle, by sea and land, and the Dark Master would be +speedily wiped out. + +With the morning Brian set forth to join his men in the largest sailing +galley, for a wild gale was sweeping down from Iar Connaught. But the +O'Malleys were skilled seamen who laughed at wind and waves, and Brian +kissed the hand of the Bird Daughter as he stepped aboard, with never a +thought of the storm of men that was coming down upon them both, and of +the blacker storm which the Dark Master was brewing in his heart. + + +TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. Don't forget this magazine is issued weekly, +and that you will get the continuation of this story without waiting a +month. + + + + +Nuala O'Malley + +by H. Bedford-Jones + +Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc. + + +This story began in the All-Story Weekly for December 30. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +HOW BRIAN WAS NETTED. + + +The Dark Master sat in his dark hall, brooding. + +It was a bad morning, for there was a sweep of wind and black cloud +mingled with snow bearing out of the north; and since the great hall, +with its huge fireplace, was the warmest part of the castle, as many of +the men as could do so had drifted thither, but without making any undue +disturbance over it. + +For that matter, they might have passed unseen, since the hall was black +as night save for a single cresset above the fireplace. Here sat the +Dark Master, a little oaken table before him on which his breakfast had +rested, and at his side crouched a long, lean wolfhound that nuzzled him +unheeded. On the other side the table sat the old _seanachie_, who was +blind, and who fingered the strings of his harp with odd twangings and +mutterings, but without coherence, for O'Donnell had bade him keep +silence. + +"Go and see what the weather is," commanded the Dark Master. A man rose +and ran outside, while other men came in with wood. Their master +motioned them away, although the fire had sunk down into embers. + +"A gale from the north, which is turning to the eastward, with snow, +master." + +"Remain outside, and bring me word what changes hap, and of all that you +see or hear. Waste no time about it." + +The Dark Master drew his cloak about his humped shoulders, and in the +flickering dim light from overhead his face stood out in all its ghastly +pallor, accentuated by the dead black hair and mustache. But his eyes +were burning strangely, and when they saw it the men drew back, and more +than one sought the outer chill in preference to staying. + +Now O'Donnell Dubh stared into the embers and muttered below his breath, +while, as if in response, a little flickering whirlwind of gray ash rose +up and fell back again, so that it blew over the embers and deadened +them. The muscles of the Dark Master's face contracted until his teeth +flashed out in a silent snarl. + +"I could have slain, and I did not," he whispered as if to himself. "But +there is still time, and I will not be a fool again!" + +The watching men shivered, for it seemed that the wind scurried down the +wide chimney and again blew up the gray ash until the embers glowed +through a white coating. But the wind wrought more than this, for it +brought down from the gray clouds a whispering murmur that drifted +through the hall, and in that murmur were mingled the sounds of beating +hoofs and ringing steel and shrieking men. + +"Are watchers posted over the hills and the paths and the Galway roads?" +spoke out the Dark Master as he gazed into the ashes. + +"They are watching, master," answered a deep voice from the darkness. + +Suddenly the wolfhound raised its head and stared into the ashes also, +as if it saw something there that no man saw, for the bristles lifted on +its neck, and it whined a little. O'Donnell dropped his hand to the thin +muzzle, and the dog was quiet again. But after that the men stared at +the fireplace with frightened eyes. + +"There is still time, though one has escaped me," said the Dark Master, +looking up suddenly at his sightless harper, who seemed to fall +atrembling beneath the look. "The one who has escaped matters not, for +his bane comes not at my hands. It is the other whom I shall slay--Brian +Buidh of the hard eyes. Then the Bird Daughter. But it seems to me that +one stands in my path of whom I do not know." + +He brooded over the ashes as his head sank between his shoulders like a +turtle's head. Then once again the wind swooped down on the castle, and +whistled down the chimney, and filled the great hall with a thin noise +like the death-rattle of men. The cresset wavered and fell to smoking +overhead. + +The Dark Master reached his hand across the table and caught the hand of +the blind harper and spread it out on the oak. A little shudder shook +the old man, and as if against his will he spread out his other hand +likewise, his two hands lying between those of the Dark Master. Then +there fell a terrible and awestruck silence on the hall. + +The stillness was perfect, and continued for a long while. Slowly +occurred a weird and strange thing, for, although no blast whimpered +down the chimney, the ashes fell away from the embers, which began to +glow more redly and set out the forms of the Dark Master and the blind +harper in a ruddy light. Suddenly a man pointed to the feet of the Dark +Master, and would have cried out but that another man struck him back. + +For the ashes had drifted out from the fireplace, flake after flake, and +were settling about the feet of the Dark Master beneath the table. They +rose slowly into a little gray pile; then one of the men shrieked in +horror at the sight, and the Dark Master threw out his head. + +"Slay him," he said quietly and drew in his head once more, staring at +the table. + +There was a thudding blow and a groan, then the stillness of death. The +ashes were quiet; the fire glowed ruddily. After a little there came a +soft whirl of soot down the chimney, blackening the embers. The soot +rose and fell, rose and fell, again and again; it was as if an eddying +draft of wind were trying to raise it. Finally it was lifted, but it +only whirled about and about over the embers, like a shape drawn +together by some uncanny force. + +The Dark Master raised his head as a clash of steel and the voice of the +watcher came from the outer doorway. + +"Master, the blast thickens with black fog!" + +"Remain on watch," said O'Donnell, and his head fell. + +But through the hall men's hands went out to one another in the +darkness. For storm-driven fog was not a thing that many men had seen +even on the west coast, and when it did happen men said that a warlock +was at work. There was not far to seek for the warlock in this case, +muttered the O'Donnells. + +Now the Dark Master looked into the fireplace and that whirling figure +of soot raised itself anew and began its unearthly dance over the +embers. After no long time men saw that the pile of gray ashes under the +table was lifting also, lifting and whirling as though the wind spun it; +but there was no wind. + +"There is a man to be blinded," said the Dark Master. "Let him be +blinded with fog and snow, and the men with him, and let the wind come +out of the east and drive him to this place." + +Slowly, so slowly 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--Cuculain of the yellow hair--the Royal Hound of +Ulster smites them and scatters them--" + +"_Liar!_" + +With the hoarse word the Dark Master leaned forward and smote the blind +harper with his fist, so that the old man slid from his chair senseless. +Upon that the Dark Master swung around with his teeth bared and his head +drawn in like the head of a snake about to strike. + +"Lights!" he roared. "Lights! Bear the _seanachie_ to his chamber, and +send men to ring in the harbor and build beacons on the headlands. +Hasten, you dogs, or I'll strip the flesh from you with whips!" + +Under his voice and his flaming eyes the hall sprang into life, while +the men carried out the blind harper and one of their own number who had +been stricken with madness at what he had seen. Then the hall blazed up +with cressets, logs were flung on the fire, and parties of men set out +to build beacons and guard the bay as the Dark Master had given command. +And when word was spread abroad among the others of what had chanced in +the hall that morning, Red Murrough, the Dark Master's lieutenant, swore +a great oath. + +"If that Cuculain of whom the _seanachie_ spoke be not the man Brian +Buidh, then may I go down to hell alive!" + +And the men, who feared Red Murrough's heavy hand and hated him, +muttered that he would be like to travel that same road whether living +or dead, in which there was some truth. + +While these things took place in the hall at Bertragh--and they were +told later to Brian by many who had seen them and heard them, all +telling the same tale--Brian and his sailing galley was making hard +weather of it. Six of the O'Malleys had been sent with him to manage the +galley, for he was no seaman and had placed himself in their hands; and +after rounding into Kilkieran Bay from the castle harbor and reaching +out across the mouth of the bay toward Carna, intending to reach +Cathbarr's tower direct, the blast came down on them, and even the +O'Malleys looked stern. + +Sterner yet they looked when Brian cried that Golam Head was veiling in +fog behind them, and with that the wind swerved almost in a moment and +swept down out of the east, bearing fog and snow with it. Nor was this +all, for the shift of wind bore against the seas and swept down +currents and whirlpools out of the bay, and after the snow and black fog +shrieked down upon them, the seamen straightway fell to praying. + +"Get up and bail!" shouted Brian, kicking them to their feet, for the +seas were sweeping over the counter. The helmsman groaned and bade him +desist, and almost at the same instant their mast crashed over the bow, +breaking the back of one seaman, and the galley broached to. + +With that the O'Malleys ceased praying and fell to work with a will, +getting out the sweeps and bailing. The mingling of snow, shrieking +wind, and black fog had been too much for their superstitious natures, +but made no impression on Brian, for the simple reason that he did not +see why fog and wind should not come together. After he understood their +fears better he shamed them into savage energy by his laughter, and +since the broken-backed man had gone overboard, took his sweep and set +his muscles to work. + +They made shift to keep the craft before the wind, but presently Brian +found that half the men's fear sprang from the fact that the fog and +snow blinded them, shutting out the land, and that the shifting wind had +completely bewildered them. When he asked for their compass, their +leader grunted: + +"No need have we for a compass on this boat, Brian Buidh, save when +warlocks turn the fog and wind upon us. I warrant that were it not for +the fog, we would be safe in port ere now. As it is, the Virgin alone +knows where we are or whither going." + +"This is some of the Dark Master's wizardry," growled out another. +"Before we hung those men of his last night, they said that the winds +would bear word of it to the dark one, _cead mile mollaght_ on him!" + +"Add another thousand curses for me," ordered Brian, "but keep to the +bailing, or I'll give you a taste of my foot! And no more talk of +warlocks." + +The five men fell silent, and indeed they needed all their breath, for +the struggle was a desperate one. Instead of lessening, the fog only +increased with time, and even Brian began to perceive the marvel in it +as swirl after swirl of darkness swept over them. Yet, since the wind +was from the east, he reasoned, it would naturally blow out the fog from +the bogs and low lands. But this explanation was received in dour +silence by the men, so he said no more. + +There was no doubt that Cathbarr had reached home safely, since the +night had been fair enough for the winter season. An hour passed, and +then another, still without a lessening of the eery storm; and the nerve +of the seamen was beginning to give way under the strain, when the +helmsman let out a wild yell: + +"A light ahead! A beacon!" + +The rowers twisted about with shouts of joy, and Brian perceived a +faint, ruddy light against the sky. Also, the fog began to lessen +somewhat; and upon making out that the beacon undoubtedly came from a +high tower or crag, the shout passed around that they had headed back to +Gorumna with the shifting wind. + +This heartened them all greatly, the more so since the gale drove them +straight onward toward the beacon. The fog closed down again, but the +ruddy glare pierced through it; and of a sudden there was no more fog +about them--only a blinding thick snow, which made all things grotesque. +Then two more beacons were made out, lower than the first, and the men +yelled joyously that fires had been lighted on either side the harbor to +guide them in. And so they had been, but otherwise than the men thought. + +Half frozen with the cold, they drove on through the snow and spray +until at length they swept in between the guiding fires and scanned the +shores for landing. Then the snow ceased, though the hurricane howled +down behind them with redoubled fury; and as they floated in against a +low, rocky shore, silence of wild consternation fell on them all. For +they had come to Bertragh Castle, and fifty feet away a score of men +were waiting, while others were running down with torches. + +Even in that moment of terrible dismay, Brian noted their muskets, and +how the lighted matches flared like fireflies in the wind. + +"Trapped!" groaned one of the men, and they would have rowed out again +into the teeth of the storm had not Brian stayed them. + +"No use, comrades. They have muskets, and there are cannon up above. Row +in, and if we must die, then let us die like men and not cowards." + +Seeing no help for it, the men growled assent, and they drifted slowly +in, all standing ready with drawn swords, while Brian's Spanish blade +flared in the prow. Then in the midst of the gathered men he saw a dark +figure with hunched shoulders, sword in hand. As he turned to the seamen +behind him, there was a glitter in his blue eyes colder than the icy +blast behind them. + +"There is the Dark Master, comrades! Let him be first to fall." + +They drove up on the shore, and Brian leaped out, with the men behind +him. Still the group above stood silent until the voice of O'Donnell +sheared through the gale. "Fire, and drop Yellow Brian first." + +So there was to be no word of quarter! As the thought shot like fire +through Brian's mind, he leaped forward with a shout. A ragged stream of +musketry broke out from the men gathered on the higher rocks, and he +heard the bullets whistle. He paid no heed to the seamen who followed +him, however. His eyes were fixed on the Dark Master's figure, and with +only one thought in his mind he plunged ahead. + +More and more muskets spattered out; a bullet splashed against his jack, +and another; something caught his steel cap and tore it away, and a hot +stab shot through his neck. But the group of men was only a dozen paces +from him now, and a wild yell broke from his lips as he saw O'Donnell +step forward to meet him. + +Then only did he remember Turlough's speech on the day of that first +meeting with the Dark Master--"The master of all men at craft and the +match of most men at weapons"--and he knew that, despite the hunched +shoulders, this O'Donnell must be no mean fighter. But the next instant +he was gazing into the evil eyes, and their blades had crossed. + +Flaming with his anger, Brian forced the attack savagely; then a sharp +thrust against his jack showed him that O'Donnell was armed with a +rapier, and he fell to the point with some caution. With the first +moment of play, he knew that he faced a master of fence; yet almost upon +the thought his blade ripped into the Dark Master's arm. + +Involuntarily he drew back, but O'Donnell caught the falling sword in +his left hand and lunged forward viciously. Just as the blades met +again, Brian saw a match go to a musket barely six paces away. He +whirled aside, but too late, for the musket roared out, and a drift of +stars poured into his brain. Then he fell. + +Like a flash the Dark Master leaped at the man who had fired and spitted +him through the throat; the others drew back in swift terror, for +O'Donnell was frothing at the mouth, and his face was the face of a +madman. With a bitter laugh he turned and rolled Brian over with his +foot. The five seamen had gone down under the bullets. + +"He is only stunned," said Red Murrough. "Shall I finish it?" + +"If you want to die with him, yes. Carry him in, and we will nail him up +to the gates to-morrow." + +And the clouds fell asunder, and the stars came out, cold and beautiful. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE NAILING OF BRIAN. + + +Brian woke in darkness, with pain tearing at his head and heaviness upon +his hands and feet. When he tried to put his hand to his head, that +heaviness was explained; for he could not, and thick iron struck dull +against stone. + +He lay there, and thought leaped into his brain, and he felt very bitter +of spirit, but chiefly for those men who had come with him, and because +he had failed before the Dark Master's hand. + +It was cold, bitterly cold, and thin snow lay around him, so that he +knew that he was in some tower or prison that faced to the east. It was +from that direction that the snow had driven, as he had sore cause to +know, and he wondered if the Dark Master had had any hand in that +driving. But this he was not to know for many days. + +It was the cold which had awakened him from his unconsciousness, he +guessed. By dint of shifting his position somewhat, he managed to get +his back against a wall, and so got his hands to his head. In such +fashion he made out that his hair was matted and frozen with blood, and +his neck also, where a bullet had plowed through the muscles on the +right side. His head-wound was no more than a jagged tear which had +split half his scalp, but had not hurt the bone, as he found after some +feeling. Then he dropped his hands again, for the chains that bound him +to the wall were very heavy. It must be night, for light would come +where snow had come, and there was no light. + +Now, having found that he was not like to die, at least from his wounds, +he set about stretching to lie down again, and found some straw on the +floor. He drew it up with his feet and gathered it about him; it was +dank and smelled vilely, but at the least it gave his frozen body some +warmth, so that he fell asleep after a time. + +When he wakened again, it was to find men around him and a narrow strip +of cold sunlight coming through a high slit in the wall of his prison. +From the sound of breakers that seemed to roar from below him, he +conjectured that he was in a sea-facing tower of the castle, in which he +was right. + +The men, who were led by Red Murrough, gave him bread and meat and +wine, but they offered no word and would answer no questions. So he ate +and drank, and felt life and strength creeping back into his bones. He +concluded that it must be the day after his arrival. + +Now Red Murrough beckoned to the hoary old seneschal, whose red-rimmed +eyes glittered evilly. The old man shook his keys and stooped over +Brian, unlocking the hasp which bound him to the wall-ring. The +oppressive silence of these men struck a chill through Brian, but he +came to his feet readily enough as Murrough jerked his shoulder. + +He followed out into a corridor, and the men closed around him, going +with him down-stairs and along other passageways. Brian wondered as to +his fate and what manner of death he was going to die; yet it seemed to +him that death was an impossible and far-off thing where he was +concerned. + +He expected no less than death from the Dark Master, but at the same +time it was very hard to believe that he was going to that fate. He was +by no means afraid to die, but he felt that he would like to see the +Bird Daughter once more. Also, he had always thought of fate as coming +to him suddenly and swiftly in battle or foray; and to be deliberately +done to death in cold blood by hanging or otherwise was not as he would +have wished. + +"At least," he thought without any great comfort, "Cathbarr and Turlough +will avenge me on the Dark Master--though I had liefer be living when +that was done!" + +In one of the larger and lower corridors they came on two men bearing a +body, sewed for burial. Murrough stopped his party and growled out +something. + +"It is the _seanachie_," answered one of the bearers. "Since the Dark +Master struck him yester-morn he has not spoken, and he died last +night." + +Upon this Red Murrough crossed himself, as did the rest, muttered into +his tangle of red beard, and motioned Brian forward. + +This wider passage gave through a doorway upon the great hall. There was +no dais, but the Dark Master was seated before the huge fireplace, his +wolf-hound crouched down at his side. The hall was pierced near the roof +with openings, and lower down with loopholes, so that when the sun shone +outside it was bright enough. + +Red Murrough led Brian forward, the clank of the heavy chain-links +echoing hollowly through the place, but O'Donnell Dubh did not look up +until the two men stood a scant four paces from him. Then his head came +out from between his rounded shoulders and his eyes spat fire at Brian. + +"A poor ending to proud talk, Brian Buidh!" + +Brian tried to smile, but with ill success, for he was chilled to the +bone and there was blood on his face. + +"I am not yet dead, O'Donnell." + +"You will be soon enough," the Dark Master chuckled, and the hall +thrilled with evil laughter. In the eyes of all Brian had proven himself +the weaker man and therefore deserved his fate. "What of this O'Malley +journey of yours, eh?" + +Brian made no answer, save that his strong lips clamped shut, and his +blue eyes narrowed a little. O'Donnell laughed and began to stroke his +wolf-hound. + +"I have many messengers and many servants, Yellow Brian, and there is +little my enemies do which is not told me. Even now men are riding hard +and fast to trap Cathbarr of the Ax and your following." + +At that Brian laughed, remembering Turlough Wolf and his cunning. + +"I think this trapping will prove a hard matter, Dark Master." + +"That is as it may be. Now, Brian Buidh, death is hard upon you, and +neither an easy nor a swift one. Before you die there are two things +which I would know from your lips." + +Brian looked at him, but without speaking. The Dark Master had thrust +out his head, his hand still lingering on the wolfhound's neck, and his +pallid face, drooping mustache, and high brow were very evil to gaze +upon. Brian, eying that thin-nostriled, cruel nose, and the undershot +jaw of the man, read no mercy there. + +"First, who _are_ you, Brian Buidh? Are you an O'Neill, as that ring of +yours would testify, or are you an O'Malley come down from the western +isles?" + +At that Brian laughed out harshly. "Ask those servants of which you +boast, Dark Master. Poor they must be if they cannot tell you even the +names of your enemies!" + +"Well answered!" grinned the other, and chuckled again to himself as +though the reply had indeed pleased him hugely. "I would that you served +me, Brian of the hard eyes; I suppose that you are some left-hand scion +of the Tyr-owens by some woman overseas, and the O'Neill bastards were +ever as strong in arm as the true sons. Yet you might have made pact +with me, whereas now your head shall sit on my gates, after your bones +are broken and you have been nailed to a door." + +"Fools talk over-much of killing, but wise men smite first and talk +after," Brian said contemptuously. He saw that the Dark Master was +somewhat in doubt over slaying him, since if he were indeed an O'Neill +there might be bitter vengeance looked for, or if he belonged to any +other of the great families. + +"Quite true," countered the Dark Master mockingly, and with much relish. +"Therein you were a fool, not to slay when first we met, instead of +making pacts. Who will repay me my two-score men, Brian of the hollow +cheeks?" + +"The Bird Daughter, perhaps," smiled Brian, "since two days ago she hung +ten of those men I took in my ambuscade." + +This stung O'Donnell, and his men with him. One low, deep growl swirled +down the hall, and the Dark Master snarled as his lips bared back from +his teeth. Brian laughed out again, standing very tall and straight, and +his chains clanked a little and stilled the murmur. He saw that +O'Donnell wore his own Spanish blade, and the sight angered him. + +"There is another thing I would know," said the Dark Master slowly. +"Tell me this thing, Brian Buidh, and I will turn you out of my gates a +free man." + +Brian looked keenly at him and saw that the promise was given in +earnest. He wondered what the thing might be, and was not long in +learning. + +"You came hither from Gorumna Castle," went on O'Donnell, fixing him +with his black flaming eyes. "Tell me what force of men is in that +place, Brian of the hard eyes, and for this service you shall be set +free." + +"Now I know that you are a fool, O'Donnell Dubh," and Brian's voice rang +out merrily. "I have heard many tales of your wizardry and your servants +and your watchers, but when an unknown man comes to you, his name is +hidden from you; and all your black art cannot so much as tell you the +number of your enemies! Now slay me and have done, for you have wasted +much breath this day, and so have I, and it goes ill in my mind to waste +speech on fools." + +"You refuse then?" O'Donnell peered up at him, but Brian set his face +hard and made no reply. With a little sigh the Dark Master leaned back +in his chair and motioned to Red Murrough to come forward. + +"Strip him," he said evenly, and at the word a great howl rang out from +all the watching men, like the howl of wolves when they scent blood in +the air. + +Murrough in turn signed to two of his men. These came forward and +stripped off what clothes had been left to Brian, so that he stood naked +before them. In that moment he was minded to spring on the Dark Master +and crush him with his chains, but he saw that Red Murrough held a +flint-lock pistolet cocked, and knew it would be useless. Also, if he +had to die, he was minded to do it like a man and not to shame the blood +of Tyr-owen, either by seeking death or by shrinking at its face. + +Now there passed a murmur through the hall, and even the Dark Master's +evil features glowed a little; for Brian's body was very fair and slim +and white, yet these judges of men saw that he was like a thing of +steel, and that beneath the satin skin his body was all rippling sinew. +Red Murrough drew out a hasp, brought his chained hands together, and +caught the chain close to his wrists, so that his hands were bound +close. + +"Now," said the Dark Master, settling back and stroking his wolfhound as +if he were watching some curious spectacle, "do with him as we did with +Con O'More last Candlemas. But let us work slowly, for there is no +haste, and we must break his will. In the end we will nail him to the +door, and finish by breaking all his bones. It will be very interesting, +eh?" + +A fierce howl and clash of steel answered him from the men. At another +sign from Red Murrough, Brian felt himself jerked to the floor suddenly, +and his hands were drawn up over his head. His wrist-chains were +fastened to an iron ring set in the floor, and his ankles to another, +and he stared up at the ceiling-rafters of the hall, watching the motes +drift past overhead in the reaching sunbeams. It all seemed very unreal +to him. + +"First that long hair of his," said the Dark Master quietly. + +Murrough went to the fire and returned with a blazing stick. Brian's +gold-red hair had flung back from his head, along the floor, and +presently he felt it burning, until his head was scorched and his brain +began to roast and there was the smell of burnt hair rising from him. +Then Murrough's rough hand brushed over his torn scalp, quelling the +fire, but it did not quell the agony that wrenched Brian. + +"Paint him," ordered O'Donnell. + +Again Murrough went to the fireplace, and returned with a long white-hot +iron which had lain among the embers. This he touched to Brian's right +shoulder, so that the stench of scorched flesh sizzled up in a thin +stream, and followed the iron down across the white breast and thigh, +until it stopped at the knee, and there was a swath of red and blackened +flesh down Brian's body. Yet he had not moved or flinched. + +Then Murrough touched the iron to his left shoulder and drew it very +slowly down his left side. One of the watching men went sick with the +smell and went out vomiting. A second swath of red and black rose on the +white flesh, and beneath it all Brian felt his senses swirling. Try as +he would he could not repress one long shudder, at which a wild yell of +delight shrilled up--and then he fainted. + +"Take him away," said the Dark Master, smiling a little, as he leaned +forward and saw that Brian had indeed swooned with the pain. "To-morrow +we will paint his back with the whip." + +So they loosened him from the iron rings, and four men lifted him and +carried him out. As they passed across the courtyard another came by +with a pail of sea-water, which they flung over him; the salt entered +into his wounds, washing away the blackness from his scalp, and slowly +the life came back to him after he had been chained again in his +tower-room and left alone. + +He was sorry for this, because he thought that he had died under the +iron. He found a pitcher of water beside him, and after drinking a +little he spent the rest in washing out the salt from his flesh, though +every motion was terrible in its torture. So great was the pain that +gasping sobs shook him, though he stared up dry-eyed at the stones, and +a great desire for death came upon him. + +"Slay me, oh God!" he groaned, shuddering again in his anguish. "Slay +me, for I am helpless and cannot slay myself!" + +As if in answer, there came a soft laugh from somewhere overhead, and +the voice of the Dark Master. + +"There is no God in Bertragh Castle save O'Donnell, Brian Buidh!" + +The blasphemy shocked him into his senses, which had wandered. Now he +knew that from some hidden place the Dark Master was watching him and +listening for his ravings, and upon that Brian sternly caught his lips +together and said no more, though he prayed hard within himself. A cloak +had been laid near-by him, and when he had covered himself somewhat +against the cold, though with great pain in the doing, he lay quiet. + +The cold crept into him and for a space he was seized with chills that +sent new thrills of pain through his burned body, for he could not +repress them. After a time he relapsed slowly into numbed +unconsciousness, waking from time to time, and so the hours dragged away +until the night came. + +Then men brought him more food and wine and straw, and he managed to +sleep a bit during the darkness, in utmost misery. But after the day had +come, and more wine had stirred his blood redly, Murrough fetched him to +his feet and bade him follow. Brian did it, though walking was agony, +for his pride was stronger even than his torture. + +He was halted in the courtyard, found the Dark Master and his men +gathered there, and knew that more torture was to come upon him. After a +single scornful glance the Dark Master ordered him triced up to a post, +which was done. Brian saw a man standing by with a long whip, but gained +a brief respite as the drawbridge was lowered to admit a messenger +mounted on a shaggy hill-pony. O'Donnell bade him make haste with his +errand. + +"The word has come, master, that five hundred of Lord Burke's pikemen +are on the road from Galway and will be close by within a day or so." + +"And what of Cathbarr of the Ax?" queried the Dark Master. Brian's +heart caught at the words, then his head fell again at the response. + +"They have scattered in the mountains, it is said, master." + +"Murrough, have men sent to meet these royalists with food and wines, +and if they are bound hither we will entreat them softly and send them +home again empty. Now let us enjoy Brian Buidh a while--though he has +stood up but poorly. It is in my mind that we will nail him up +to-morrow." + +With that Brian felt the whip stroking across his naked back. His +muscles corded and heaved up in horrible contraction, but no sound broke +from him; again and again the hide whip licked about him until he felt +the warm blood running down his legs, and then with merciful suddenness +all things went black, and he hung limp against the post. + +"Take him back," ordered the Dark Master in disgust. "Why, that boy we +cut up the other side of Clifden had more strength than this fool!" + +"His strength went out of him with his hair," grinned Red Murrough, and +they carried Brian to his prison. + +The Dark Master had spoken truly, however. Brian's strength lay not so +much in brute muscles, though he had enough of them, as in his nervous +energy; and the slow horror of his burning hair and of that iron which +had twice raked the length of his body had come close to destroying his +whole nervous system. Other men might have endured the same thing and +laughed the next day, but Brian was high-strung and tense, and while his +will was still strong, his physical endurance was shattered. + +With the next morning, this fact had become quite evident to the general +disgust of all within Bertragh Castle. The Dark Master himself visited +the cell, and upon finding that Brian was lost in a half stupor and +muttering words in Spanish which no one understood, he angrily ordered +that he be revived and finished with that afternoon. + +Red Murrough set about the task with savage determination. By dint of +sea water externally and mingled wine and uisquebagh internally he had +Brian wakened to a semblance of himself before midday. Then food, oil, +and bandages about his wounds, and in another hour Brian was feeling +like a new man. + +He was under no misapprehension as to the cause of this kindness, but +cared little. So keenly had he suffered that he was glad to reach the +end, and he walked out behind Red Murrough that afternoon with a ghastly +face, but with firm mouth and firmer stride, though he was very weak and +half-drunk with the liquors he had swallowed. + +His fetters were unlocked and he was led to the doorway of the great +hall, with the Dark Master and his men watching eagerly. Red Murrough, +with an evil grin, pressed his back to the door and held up his left arm +against the heavy wood. Brian was half-conscious of another man who bore +a heavy mallet and spikes, and whose breath came foul on his face as he +pressed something cold against the extended left hand. + +Then Brian saw the mallet swing back, heard a sickening crunch, and with +a terrible pain shooting to his soul, fell asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +IN BERTRAGH CASTLE. + + +Now, of what befell after that nail had been driven through his hand, +Brian learned afterward; though at the time he was unconscious and +seemed like to remain so. Hardly had he sagged forward limply when two +men came riding up to the gates demanding instant admittance. One of +these was of the Dark Master's band, the other was a certain Colonel +James Vere, of the garrison which held Galway for the king. + +O'Donnell, who suddenly found himself with greater things on hand than +the nailing of a prisoner, ordered Brian left where he lay for the +present, and had the drawbridge lowered in all haste. Colonel Vere, who +had late been in rebellion against his gracious majesty, was now joined +with Ormond's men against the common enemy, and was in command of that +force of five hundred pikemen which had been marching to the west. + +Knowing this, the Dark Master made ready to set his house in order, +since it was known that Vere's men were only a few hours away. Hardly +had the garrison gone to their posts, leaving Brian in the center of a +little group about the hall doorway, when Colonel Vere rode in and was +received in as stately fashion as possible by the Dark Master. It was +not for nothing that O'Donnell had trimmed his sails to the blast, since +he was on very good terms with all in Galway. + +"Welcome," he exclaimed with a low bow as Vere swung down from his +saddle. "Your men received the provision I sent off yesterday?" + +"Aye, and thankful we were!" cried the other cheerily, for he was a +red-faced man of forty, a Munsterman and half-English, and loved his +bottle. "Hearing certain news from one of your men I made bold to ride +ahead in all haste, O'Donnell." + +"News?" repeated the Dark Master softly. "And of what nature, Colonel +Vere?" + +"Why, of one Brian Buidh, or Yellow Brian." At this the Dark Master +began to finger the Spanish blade he had taken from Brian, and for a +second Vere was very near to death, had he known it. + +"What of him, Colonel Vere?" + +"Why, the rogue had the impudence to come down on a convoy of powder and +stores, last week, going from the Archbishop at Ennis to Malbay, for our +use. Not only this, but a hundred of our rascally Scots deserted to him, +he slipped past us at Galway, and I was in hopes you could give me word +of him when I hit over this way. You're something of a ravager yourself, +sink me if you aren't!" and he dug the Dark Master jovially in the +ribs. + +"Yes," murmured O'Donnell thoughtfully, "so they say, Colonel Vere. But +only when Parliament men come past, you understand. So you heard that +this Yellow Brian was here?" + +"Aye, and that you were doing him to death," coolly responded Vere, and +his eyes flickered to the white form on the stones. "Zounds! What's +this?" + +"Yellow Brian," responded the Dark Master dryly. "What do you want with +him?" + +"Eh? Why, I'll take him back to Galway and hang him! I've a dozen of the +Scots he was fool enough to let loose, and when my men come up they'll +identify him readily enough." + +"Unless he's dead," chuckled O'Donnell. "Well, if you want him you may +have him and welcome. So now come in and sample some prime sack I took +from the O'Malleys last year." + +"With all the honors," responded Vere gallantly, and as they strode past +Brian the Dark Master hastily directed that he be washed and tended and +brought back to his right mind as soon as might be. + +This order, and the conversation preceding it, gave Red Murrough some +cause for thought. So it was that when Brian wakened once more in his +cell, as evening was falling, he found the fetters on him indeed, but +Red Murrough had bound up his wounds, dressed his sundered hand-bones, +and was sitting watching him reflectively. It had occurred to the Dark +Master's lieutenant that there might be something made out of this man, +who seemed wanted in several places at once. + +Therefore it was that while Brian made an excellent meal for a man +swathed from crown to knees in bandages, Red Murrough poured into his +ear the tale of what had chanced in the courtyard, and why it was that +he was not at this moment nailed to the castle door. Brian collected his +energy with some effort. + +"Well, what of it?" he asked weakly. + +"Just this, Yellow Brian," and Murrough stroked his matted red beard +easily. "O'Donnell will make a good thing out of handing you over to the +royalists, who mean to hang you in style, it seems. Now, it is in my +mind that it might advantage you somewhat if you were not moved thence +for a few days--indeed, you might even escape, for I think you are not +without friends." + +"Eh?" Brian stared up at him wonderingly. "What does it matter to you?" + +"Nothing, whether you live or die. But you are in my care, and if I +report that you are in too bad shape to be moved--which you are +not--then this Colonel Vere will camp outside our castle until you are +handed over to him. You will gain a few days in which to get your wits +back, and the rest is in your hands." + +"I had not thought you loved me so much," and despite his agony Brian +forced out a bitter laugh. + +"Not I! Faith, I had liefer see you nailed--but a service may be paid +for." + +"I have no money," Brian closed his eyes wearily. + +"No, but you have friends," and Murrough leaned forward. "Promise me a +clerkly writing to the Bird Daughter's men, or to your own men, ordering +that I be paid ten English pounds, and it is done." + +"With pleasure," smiled Brian wryly. "Also, if I escape, I will spare +your life one day, Red Murrough." + +"Good. Then play your part." And Murrough departed well pleased with his +acumen. + +And indeed, the man carried out his bargain more than faithfully. One +visit assured the Dark Master that this broken, burned, cloth-swathed +man was helpless to harm him further, and after that he gave Brian +little thought. + +As Murrough had reckoned Brian's swoop on the convoy had given him some +notoriety, and more than once Brian himself remembered Cathbarr's dark +presage after he had let the ten Scots go free to Ennis; Colonel Vere +was anxious to carry him back to Galway for an example to other +freebooters, and he was quite content to bide at Bertragh Castle until +his prisoner could travel. + +For that matter the other officers of his command were quite as content +as he himself, since all were men from the south-country who loved good +wines, and the Dark Master had better store of these than the empty +royalist commissariat. + +As for the Dark Master, Murrough reported to Brian that he also was well +content. Cromwell was sweeping like an avenging flame from Kilkenny to +Mallow and Ormond was helpless before him; both king's men and Irish +Confederacy men were pouring out of the South in despair, but the two +had finally joined forces and the final stand would take place in the +West. In fact, it seemed that things were dark for Parliament, despite +Cromwell's activity, and the Dark Master was only one of many such who +counted strongly on the rumors that the new king, Charles II, was on his +way to Ireland with aid from France. + +And indeed he was at that time; but Charles, then and later, was more +apt at starting a thing than at finishing it. + +Red Murrough lost no time in getting his "clerkly writing," luckily for +himself. On the morning after his agreement he brought Brian a quill, +and blood for lack of ink, and sheepskin. Brian wrote the order for ten +pounds, promising to honor it himself if he escaped. + +This, however, did not seem likely, and even Murrough frankly stated +that it was impossible. But Brian was tended well, and his perfect +health was a strong asset. His head had been little more than scorched, +and the scalp-wound stayed clean; after the first day there came a +festering in his broken hand, but Murrough washed it out with vinegar +which ate out the wound and cleansed it, after which he bound it firmly +in wooden splints and it promised well. + +More than once Brian laughed grimly at the care he was getting, to the +simple end that he should hang over Galway gates as a warning to the +City of the Tribes and to all who entered the ancient Connacian town. +For in that day Galway was a second Venice, and its commerce made rich +plundering for the O'Malley's both of Gorumna and of Erris in the North, +though the war had somewhat dimmed the glory of the fourteen great +merchant families. + +Brian wondered often what had become of Cathbarr and his two hundred +men, and Murrough could give him little satisfaction. It was known that +the force had slipped away from Cathbarr's tower and had vanished; Brian +guessed that Turlough had either led them north, or else into the +western mountains where the O'Flahertys held savage rule. However, it +was certain that neither the Dark Master nor the royalists had scattered +them as yet. + +So Brian lay in his tower four days and might have lain there four-score +more by dint of Red Murrough's lies, had it not been that on the fourth +evening Colonel Vere managed to stay unexpectedly sober. Being thus +sober, it occurred to him that he had best make sure he had the right +man by the heels. So he ordered his ten Scots troopers in from the camp +outside the walls, and the Dark Master sent for Brian to be identified. + +"I'll have you carried down," said Red Murrough on coming for him. "Play +the part, _ma boucal_, and when these royalists get into their cups +again they'll forget all that is in their heads. Here's a cup of wine +before ye go, and another for myself. _Slainte!_" + +"_Slainte_," repeated Brian, and went forth to play his part. + +When the four men, with Red Murrough at their head, carried him down +into the great hall, Brian found it no little changed. Tables were set +along the walls, each of them being some ten feet in length by two wide, +of massive oak, and in the center was another at which sat O'Donnell, +Colonel Vere, and one or two other officers. Besides these there were a +score more of the royalist officers mingled with the Dark Master's men, +and it seemed that there would be few sober men in that hall by +midnight, from the appearance of things. Only the ten Scots stood calm +and dour before the fireplace. + +After that first quick glance around, Brian lay with his head back and +his eyes closed, careful not to excite O'Donnell's suspicion that he was +stronger than he seemed. He was set down in front of the ten Scots, and +there was an eager craning forward of men to look at him, for his name +was better known than himself. + +"Zounds!" swore Vere thickly. "The man has a strong and clean-cut face, +O'Donnell! Strike me dead if he does not look like that painting of +O'Neill, the Tyrone Earl, that hangs in the castle at Dublin! Though for +that matter there is little enough of his face to be seen. You must have +borne hardly on him with your cursed tortures." + +"I fancy he is an O'Neill bastard," returned the Dark Master lightly. +Brian felt the red creep into his face, but he knew that he was helpless +in his chains, and he lay quiet. "Is he your man, Vere?" + +"How the devil should I know?" Vere turned to the troopers and spoke in +English. "Well, boys, is this the fellow we're after? Speak up now!" + +"It's no' sae easy tae ken," returned one cautiously. "Yon man has the +look o' Brian Buidh, aye." + +"Devil take you!" cried Vere irritably. "Do you mean to say yes or no? +Speak out, one of you!" + +"Weel, Colonel," answered another cannily, "Jock here has the right of +it. I wouldna swear tae the pawky carl, but I'd ken the een o' him full +weel. An I had a peep in his een, sir. I'm thinkin' I'd ken their +de'il's look. Eh, lads?" + +Since it seemed agreed that they would know Brian better by his hard +blue eyes than by what they could see of his face, the exasperated Vere +commanded that he be made open them if he were unconscious. + +"Run your hand down his body, Murrough," ordered the Dark Master +cynically. + +Red Murrough leaned over Brian, and the latter opened his eyes without +waiting for the rough command to be obeyed. Instantly the Scots broke +into a chorus of recognition as Brian's gaze fell on them. Vere looked +at him with an admiring laugh. + +"Sink me, but the man has eyes! Well, so much the better for the ladies, +eh? Now that this is over, give the lad a rouse and send him back to his +cell." + +He waved the Scots to begone, and rose cup in hand. Smiling evilly, the +Dark Master joined him in the toast to Brian, and a yell of delight +broke from the crowd as they caught the jest and joined in. O'Donnell +was just motioning Murrough to have Brian taken away, when there came a +sudden interruption, as a man hastened up the hall. It was one of Vere's +pikemen. + +"There is a party of four horsemen just outside our camp, colonel. One +of them bade us get safe-conduct for him from O'Donnell Dubh, upon his +honor." + +"Eh?" the Dark Master snarled suddenly. "What was his name, fool?" + +"Cathbarr of the Ax, lord." + +A thrill shot through Brian, and he tried feebly to sit up. The Dark +Master flashed him a glance. The hall had fallen silent. + +"His business?" + +"He bears word from one called the Bird Daughter, he said." + +While the royalists stared, wondering what all this boded, O'Donnell bit +his lips in thought. Finally he nodded. + +"Let the man enter, and tell him that he has my honor for his +safe-conduct." + +Vere nodded, and the pikeman departed. Instantly the hall broke into +uproar, but leaving the table, the Dark Master crossed swiftly to +Brian, and bent over him. + +"Either swear to keep silence, or I have you gagged." + +"I promise," mumbled Brian as if he were very weak. The Dark Master +ordered him carried behind one of the tables close by, and a cloak flung +over him. When it had been done, Brian found that he could see without +being seen, which was the intent of O'Donnell. + +Meanwhile the Dark Master was telling Vere and the other officers of +Cathbarr, it seemed, and Vere hastily collected his wine-stricken +senses. + +"Nuala O'Malley, eh?" he exclaimed when the Dark Master had finished. +"She is the one who has held Gorumna Castle and would make no treaty +with us, though she has more than once sent us powder, I understand." + +"I will talk with you later concerning her," returned O'Donnell. "She is +allied with Parliament, they say, and it might be well for all of us if +ships were sent against her place from Galway, and she were reduced." + +Brian saw that things were going badly. The Dark Master seemed to be +playing his cards well, and was doubtless thinking of throwing off the +cloak and openly allying himself with the royalist cause. In this way he +could secure help against Gorumna in the shape of Galway ships and men, +and it was like to go hard with the Bird Daughter in such case. + +However, Vere had no power to treat of such things, as Brian well knew. +Also, Nuala had told him herself that her ships had not preyed on the +commerce of Galway's merchants, but only on certain foreign caracks +which free-traded along the coast. Therefore the Galwegians were not apt +to make a troublesome enemy in haste, even if she were proved to be in +alliance with Cromwell. + +None the less, the Dark Master was plainly thinking of making an effort +in this direction, and Brian knew that the Bird Daughter was in no shape +to carry things with a high hand in Galway town. + +He saw Vere and the Dark Master talking earnestly together across the +table, but could not hear their words--and it was well, indeed, for him +that he could not. As he was to find shortly, O'Donnell's quick brain +had already grasped at what lay behind Cathbarr's coming, or something +of it, and he had formed the devilish scheme on the instant--that scheme +which was to result in many things then undreamed of. + +"If I had followed Turlough's rede, there when I first met this devil," +thought Brian bitterly, "I had slain him upon the road, and that would +have been an end of it. Well, I think that I shall heed Turlough Wolf +next time--if there is a next time." + +Brian looked out from his shelter with troubled eyes, for there was +something in the wind of which he had no inkling. He saw Vere break into +a sudden coarse laugh, and a great light of evil triumph shot across +O'Donnell's face. Then the Dark Master gained his feet, gathered his +cloak about his hunched shoulders, and sent Murrough to stand guard over +Brian with a pistol and to shoot if he spoke out. + +"Surely he cannot be going back on his word, passed before so many men?" +thought Brian bitterly. "No, that would shame him before all Galway, and +he is proud in his way. But what the devil can be forward?" + +To that he obtained no answer. The Dark Master shoved his table back +toward the fireplace, and placed his chair in front of it beside that of +Colonel Vere. It seemed to Brian that the stage was being set for some +grim scene, and a great fear seized on him lest harm was in truth meant +toward Cathbarr. + +No doubt the giant had been in communication with the Bird Daughter, and +it had been ascertained that the galley had come to grief at Bertragh +Castle. A sudden thrill of hope darted through Brian. Was it possible +that Cathbarr had led down his men and placed them in readiness to +attack? Yet such a thing would have been madness--to set a scant two +hundred against Vere's pikemen and the Dark Master's force combined! + +But Brian knew that Turlough Wolf was at large, and Turlough's brain was +more cunning than most. + +If he could only get free, he thought, he might still be able to do +something. He could ride, though it would mean bitter pain, and his +sword-arm was still good--but he had got no farther than this when there +came a tramping of feet, and in the doorway appeared Cathbarr, his +mighty ax in hand, with the O'Donnells around him as jackals surround a +lion. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE BAITING OF CATHBARR. + + +The bearded giant still wore the long mail-shirt that reached to his +knees, and he paused at the doorway with his eyes roving about the hall. +Well did Brian know whom he sought, but it was vain, for Cathbarr could +not see him where he lay. + +Then Brian saw that the ax had been changed, and wondered at it. One of +the long, back-curving blades had been rubbed down with files, so that +it was very tapering and thin like an ordinary ax-blade, while the other +was still the blunt, heavy thing it had always been. Brian read the +cunning of Turlough Wolf in that handiwork, and in fact the great ax was +thus rendered tenfold more deadly. + +The Dark Master waited quietly until Cathbarr began a slow advance up +the hall, all eyes fixed on him in no little wonder. Then O'Donnell +raised a hand, stopping him. + +"Let us have your message, Cathbarr." + +The giant halted and dropped the ax-head, leaning on the haft of the +weapon. He took his time about replying, however, and his eyes still +roved about the hall ceaselessly and uneasily. Then of a sudden he gave +over the search, and gazed straight at the Dark Master with a swift +word: + +"Have you slain him?" + +"Slain who, Cathbarr?" queried O'Donnell, with a thin smile. + +"_Duar na Criosd!_" bellowed Cathbarr with sudden fury. "Who but my +friend Brian?" + +"Oh!" The Dark Master laughed and eased back in his chair. "No, he's +still alive, Cathbarr? Is your message from the Bird Daughter in his +regard?" + +"Yes." Cathbarr fought for self-control, the breast of his mail shirt +rising and falling, his bloodshot eyes beginning to circle about the +place once more in a helpless and angry wonder. + +"O'Donnell Dubh," he went on at last, "Nuala O'Malley sends you this +word. Give Brian Buidh over to her, and she will pay you what ransom you +demand." + +"What alliance is there between Brian and her?" asked O'Donnell softly. + +"Brian has given her service, and I have," Cathbarr flung up his head. +"Our men lie in Gorumna Castle, there are ships coming from Erris and +the isles, and if Brian be slain we shall bear on this hold and give no +quarter. We have four hundred men now, and five ships are coming from +the North." + +The Dark Master gazed quietly at the giant, Vere taking no part in the +talk. But Brian, watching also, saw that which brought a mocking smile +to O'Donnell's pallid face. Cathbarr had no fear of any man, and lies +did not come easily to his lips; when he spoke of the force lying in +Gorumna, and of help from Erris, his face gave him away. Brian saw +Turlough behind that tale, but Cathbarr was no man to carry it off with +success. + +"Well," laughed the Dark Master, "none the less shall Brian be slain. +Carry back that word to Nuala O'Malley." + +Cathbarr's mighty chest heaved like a barrel near to bursting. Brian was +minded to break his promise, but Murrough's pistol was at his head, and +he could but lie quietly and watch. The giant's face flushed somewhat. + +"I have not finished," said he. "My business for the Bird Daughter is +done in truth, but now I have to speak a word of my own." + +"Let us hear it," returned O'Donnell. + +"It is this." Cathbarr drew himself up. "I am more your enemy than is +Brian. Let him go, O'Donnell Dubh, and take me in his place, for I love +him." + +A sudden amazed silence fell on every man there, and but for Murrough's +warning hand Brian would have sat up. O'Donnell's jaw fell for an +instant, then his head drew in between his shoulders, he put a hand to +Vere's arm, and whispered something. The royalist nodded, a grin on his +coarse face, and the Dark Master settled back easily. Cathbarr still +stood waiting, the ax held out before him, and a glory in his wide eyes. + +"I would sooner hold you than Brian," and O'Donnell spoke softly. "If +you will to take his place and die in his stead, Cathbarr, then loose +that ax of yours." + +Brian saw that Cathbarr was lost indeed, for the Dark Master was not +likely to give over his pact with the royalists so easily. Cathbarr +heaved up his ax with a great laugh, like a child; he brought it down on +the stones, but if he had meant to break it the effort was vain. The +huge weapon clanged down and bounded high out of his two hands, so that +men drew back in awe; but the ax whirled twice in the cresset-light, +then fell and slithered over the flagging beneath a table, and no man +touched it. + +"Take me," said Cathbarr simply. + +"Nay," answered the Dark Master calmly, though his eyes flamed, "kneel +down." + +Cathbarr stood breathing heavily for an instant, then slowly obeyed. +Brian saw that his curly beard was beginning to stand out from his face, +but no word came from him as he went to his knees. + +"Now," went on the Dark Master, "pray me for Brian's life, mighty one." + +The giant struggled with himself, for humiliation came hard to him. Then +his voice fell curiously low, terrible in its self-restraint. + +"I pray you for the life of Yellow Brian, O'Donnell." + +Brian forced himself up, thinking to cry out a warning before it was too +late; but Murrough's hand closed over his mouth and forced him back +relentlessly. + +"Bring ropes," said the Dark Master, and ordered Cathbarr to his feet. + +Men hastened out, and returned with a length of rope, binding the +giant's arms behind his back, from elbow to wrist. Then the Dark Master +laughed harshly, but Vere leaned toward him, his face troubled. + +"Do not carry this thing farther, O'Donnell," said the royalist +hoarsely. "This man is a fool, but he has a great heart. Let be." + +For answer the Dark Master whirled on him with such fury in his snarl +that Vere drew back hastily, and no more words passed between them at +that time. O'Donnell rose and walked down the hall toward Cathbarr, in +his hand a little switch that he used upon that wolfhound of his. + +"Now," he said softly, yet his voice pierced hard through the dead +stillness, "in token that your humility in this affair is without guile, +Cathbarr of the Ax, bow your head to me." + +The giant obeyed, closing his eyes. The Dark Master lifted his hand and +cut him twice across the head with his switch, while Brian gasped in +amazement and looked for Cathbarr to strike out with his foot. But +although the giant shuddered, he made no move, and the Dark Master +strode back to his seat with a laugh. Then Cathbarr raised his face, and +Brian saw that it was terribly convulsed. + +"Do with me as you wish," he said, still in that low voice. "But now let +Brian be freed in my presence." + +The Dark Master flung back his head in a laugh, and when the men saw his +jest, a great howl of derision rang up to the rafters. Only Vere's +officers looked on with black faces, for it was plain that this affair +was none of their liking. A look of simple wonder came into Cathbarr's +wide-set eyes. + +"Why do you not loose him?" he asked quietly. + +"Fetch the man out, Murrough," ordered the Dark Master. "Shoot him if he +speaks." + +Now, whether through some shred of mercy--for he knew well that Brian +would cry out--or for some other reason, Murrough leaned down swiftly to +Brian's ear. + +"Careful," he whispered as he motioned his men forward. "Play the part, +and mind that this thing is not yet finished." + +The warning came in good time, and cooled Brian's raging impulse. He was +lifted from behind the table, his chains clanking, and laid upon it; +Cathbarr gave a great start and bellowed out one furious word: + +"Dead!" + +"Nay," smiled the Dark Master. "His eyes are open, and he is but weak +with his wounds, Cathbarr. Now say--would you sooner that we cut off +that right hand of his, or blinded him? One of these things I shall do +before I loose him, for I said only that I would take your life for +his." + +Brian saw that the Dark Master was only playing with the giant, for well +he knew that Vere wanted to take him back to Galway whole and sound. But +Cathbarr knew nothing of this, and as the whole terrible trickery +flashed over his simple mind he lifted a face that was dark with blood +and passion. + +"Do not play with me!" he cried out, his voice deep and angry. "Loose +him!" + +Then O'Donnell leaned back in his chair, laughing with his men, and +waved a careless hand toward Vere. + +"He is not mine," he grinned. "I have given him to the royalists, for +hanging at Galway. You, however, are now mine to slay." + +Whether the Dark Master indeed meant to break his plighted faith, Brian +never knew. Cathbarr took a single step forward, his curly beard +writhing and standing out, and his whole face so terrible to look on +that all laughter was stricken dead in the hall. + +"You lied to me!" he cried hoarsely. "You lied to me!" + +O'Donnell laughed. + +"Aye, Cathbarr. Your master goes back to Galway to be hung--he is out of +my hands, but you are in them. However, since I have passed my word on +your safe-conduct, I think that I may hold to it." + +But the giant had not heard him. Throwing back his head, he gave one +deep groan of anguish, and his shoulders began to move very slowly as +his chest heaved up. All the while his eyes were fixed on the Dark +Master, while the whole hall watched him in awe; not even Brian or +O'Donnell himself guessed what that slow movement of Cathbarr's body +boded. + +"Best put chains upon him, Murrough," said the Dark Master, his teeth +shining under his drooping mustache. + +Vere cried out in sudden wonder. + +"'Fore Gad! Look!" + +Then indeed the Dark Master looked, and sprang to his feet, and one +great shout of alarm and fear shrilled up from those watching. For as +Cathbarr stood there, the veins had suddenly come out on his face and +neck, and with a dull sound the ropes had broken on his arms, and he was +free. + +Murrough rushed forward, and his pistol spat fire. Cathbarr, with his +eyes still on the Dark Master, put out a hand and Murrough went whirling +away with a dull groan. Then the giant rushed. + +O'Donnell did not stay for that meeting, but slipped away like a shadow +into his surging men, yelling at them to fire. There were few muskets in +the hall, however, and an instant later Cathbarr had reached the table +where Vere still sat astounded. He brought down a fist on the royalist's +steel cap, and Vere coughed horribly and fell out of his chair with his +skull crushed. + +Now a musket roared out, and another. But Cathbarr caught up the oaken +table and faced around on the men who were surging forward at him; +lifting the ten-foot table as though it were paper, he bellowed +something and rushed at them, casting the table in a great heave. It +fell squarely on the front rank, and then indeed fear came upon the +hall. For Cathbarr's foot had struck against his ax, and he rose with it +in his hand. + +There was a din of screams and shouts, for half the men were struggling +to get out of the hall and the rest were rushing to get at Cathbarr. +Another musket crashed, and in the smoke Brian saw the giant stagger, +recover, and go bellowing into the crowd. + +Brian struggled from the table, groaned with pain, and then stood +watching. He could walk, but his weakness and the chains on his wrists +and ankles hindered him from being of any advantage to Cathbarr, though +he lifted his voice in a shout of encouragement. + +Cathbarr heard the shout, and roared out with delight. A musket-ball had +cut across his forehead, and with the blood dripping from his beard he +looked more like a demon than a man. The huge ax flashed in the smoky +light, and before it men groaned and shrieked and gave back; it cleaved +steel and flesh, or smashed helms and heads together, and the Dark +Master had slipped from the place, so that his men had no leader. + +Over the roar of fear-mad men, over the storm of shrieks and shouts, +over the dust and smoke, rose the mighty bellow of Cathbarr and the +thudding blows of his ax. The royalist officers were fighting around the +doorway, while O'Donnell's men were trying to make head against the +giant, but he swept through them like a whirlwind, awing them more by +his ferocious aspect and his mad rage than by the half-seen effect of +his terrific strength. + +Little by little they eddied out from the door. Men lay all about, +tables were overturned, and through the crowd swirled the terrible ax, +leaving a path of dead in its wake. Brian staggered to the motionless +form of Colonel Vere, and reaching down drew a pistol from the dead +man's belt. His strength was flooding back to him, and in spite of the +agony caused by every movement, he clanked slowly down toward the door. +At sight of his chained and bandage-swathed figure a wild shriek welled +up, and when he laughed and fired into the midst of them all opposition +ceased. + +Cathbarr still sought the Dark Master, raging back and forth, smiting +and smiting with never a pause in the flaillike sweep of his long arms. +He saw Brian standing there, and emitted a wild bellow of joy, but never +ceased from his smiting. Out through the door poured a stream of +maddened figures, for blind panic had come on every man there, and +Cathbarr's was not the only weapon that drew blood as the men fought for +exit. + +Brian laughed again, for now he knew that he would die in no long time, +but it would not be under the torturers. Cathbarr cleared the hall, sent +the last man flying out with an arm lopped from him, and swung to the +huge doors after kicking two or three bodies from his way. When the beam +had dropped into place and they were alone with the dead and dying, he +turned to Brian and flung out his arms. + +"Careful!" exclaimed Brian, seizing his hand. "None of your bear-hugs, +old friend," and he swiftly told of his tortures. Tears ran down the +giant's blood-strewn face as he listened, and with the tenderness of a +woman he picked up Brian and carried him back to a table, setting him on +it. + +"First for these chains, brother," he cried, going back for his ax. "We +may yet win out against these devils." + +"Small chance," smiled Brian grimly. "I cannot swing a blade, and we +cannot hold this hall for long. Besides, you have some wounds." + +Cathbarr roared out a laugh, exuberantly as a boy, and carefully spread +Brian's legs open on the table. + +"Hold quiet!" he cautioned, and swung up the ax. Down it flashed, the +thinner blade sheared through the chain an inch from Brian's ankle and +split the oak beneath, and Cathbarr drew back for a second blow. + +Four times he struck, and the blows smote off the chains from each wrist +and ankle, although the locked rings still remained. But Brian was free, +and when he gained his feet he found the exercise had somewhat loosened +his muscles, and he picked up a sword. + +"We can at least die fighting, Cathbarr," he said, and looked into the +giant's eyes. "And, brother, I thank you." + +"Nonsense!" blurted out Cathbarr, wiping the blood from his eyes and +grinning through his beard. "Turlough Wolf has our men hidden around +this royalist camp, and the Bird Daughter has a boat outside the castle. +We cannot get through the royalists, but there is a chance that we can +get to the shore. Besides, she has ships and men coming from her kinsmen +in the North. Now, how shall we get away?" + +Brian shook his head. "I can hardly walk, Cathbarr, to say nothing of +swimming or fighting. There is a rear door out of the hall, yonder, but +no use trying it." + +"Perchance I have still some strength," grinned Cathbarr, picking up his +ax. "Let us have a look at that rear door, before they come at us with +muskets." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +HOW THE DARK MASTER WAS RUINED. + + +The fear that had come upon the O'Donnells was so great that not until +pikemen entered the castle from the camp could the Dark Master get men +at the doors of the hall. And this proved the salvation of Brian and +Cathbarr, for when they left the hall by the rear door and slipped +through the corridors, they came out upon the rear or seaward +battlements of the castle. + +These they found denuded of men, while from the courtyard and front of +the keep were rising shouts and batterings, whereat Cathbarr chuckled. + +"They are all drawn around to the front, brother. Now, how to get down +from here?" + +Brian looked around in the starlight, but saw that there was no gate or +other opening in the walls. He began to lose hope again; once the Dark +Master had burst into the great hall he would scatter men over the whole +castle, and their shrift would be short. At this point the walls were +some thirty feet high, and pointing out to the sea stood four of the +bastards, with balls piled beside them. + +"Now if we had a rope," he said, "the matter would not be hard. Is that +boat near the shore?" + +"Not so far that I cannot make them hear," grinned Cathbarr, opening his +mouth to shout, but Brian stopped him. + +"Be careful--do you want to draw down the O'Donnells likewise? Now, cut +the ropes from these cannon, and if we have time we shall yet get down +safe." + +Cathbarr rushed off in delight, and began hewing at the recoil-ropes +which bound the bastards and their carriages to their places. Brian +followed him, seizing the ropes and trying to knot the strands hastily +and with no little pain to himself; but now the hope of escape began to +thrill through him, and for the first time since sighting the Dark +Master's stronghold he began to think that he might yet get away. +However, he could do little knotting with one hand, and not until +Cathbarr impatiently took over the task was it finished. At the same +instant a great burst of yells rose over the castle. + +"Hasten!" cried Brian, as the other began fastening the line to a +cannon. "I can use one hand--" + +"Save your strength," grunted Cathbarr, lifting him after swinging the +loop of his ax around his neck. "Catch me about the neck with your good +arm, and trust me for the rest, brother." + +Brian did as he was ordered, since there was no time for lowering him +down. The giant scrambled over the edge, gripping the twisting rope, and +Brian tightened his lips to keep down his groans, for the agony was +cruel to him. He was forced against the body of Cathbarr, and swirl +after swirl of pain went over him at each touch on his burns. + +The giant grunted once or twice, for he had many slight wounds also, but +with the rope gripped in hands and feet, he lowered away steadily. At +length they reached the ground, and the scattered rocks along the shore +were but a few yards away. + +Cathbarr sent his bull-like voice roaring out at the stars, while Brian +clung weakly to him and searched the waters. He could see nothing, but +suddenly there drifted in a faint shout, and Cathbarr bellowed once +more. + +"Swim for it," said Brian, as torches began to move along the walls +above. "If those cannon are not loaded, we're safe." + +Cathbarr nodded, and caught up the body of Brian tenderly enough in one +arm, as he splashed out. The icy water shocked Brian's brain awake and +drove the pain out of him momentarily, and before Cathbarr was +waist-deep he heard a hail and saw the dark shape of a galley +approaching. + +Muskets flashed out from the walls, and their bullets whistled overhead, +but five minutes later Brian was on the galley, Cathbarr was clambering +over the side, and the light boat was being rowed out again. + +Brian thought his senses were slipping away when he found Nuala O'Malley +herself holding his head as he lay in the stern, while men flung cloaks +around him; but warm tears dripped on his face, and she patted his arm +soothingly. + +"Lie quiet," she said, but Brian would not, for already his brain was +leaping ahead, and he knew that there was work to be done. + +"Tell me," he asked eagerly, "are my men camped around the royalists? +Is help indeed coming to you from the North?" + +"Yes," she replied, trying to quiet him. "A pigeon came in from Erris +to-day, with word that two ships with men were on the way to help me. +When I returned from the South and found that the plague had been at +Gorumna, I sent off asking for help, and now it is coming." + +"Then send word to Turlough!" cried Brian eagerly. "Tell him to throw my +men on the royalist camp _to-night_ and drive the pikemen into the +castle! Colonel Vere is dead, and there is such confusion that all will +think we have more than two hundred men. If we can leaguer them there +until your ships come, we may win all at a blow!" + +Nuala found instantly that there was meat in the plan, and as they were +rowing out to meet one of her caracks, promised to send in the galley +with word to Turlough when they got aboard the larger ship. + +This they were no great while in doing. Brian knew nothing of it, for +upon the Bird Daughter's word he had dropped away into a faint once +more. With this Nuala O'Malley was quite content, so that when Brian +wakened he was greatly refreshed and found himself lying bandaged on a +bunk with the sunlight coming through a stern-port beside him, and the +Bird Daughter watching him with food and drink ready. + +"Take of this first," she smiled; "then we will talk." + +Brian obeyed, being very thirsty and ravenously hungered. He had little +pain except when he tried to move, and so he ate as he lay, propped up +with folded garments, and watched the Bird Daughter. She refused to +speak until he had eaten the meat and cakes she had fetched, but when he +smiled and asked for a razor her grave face rippled with frank laughter, +and her deep violet eyes danced as they looked into his. + +"I am sorry I have none," she said mockingly. "So you must wait till we +come to port again. Just at present we are off Slyne Head and bearing +northward." + +"What!" Brian stared at her. "Are you in jest?" + +It appeared that she was not, for she was sailing north to meet those +ships of her kinsmen, and to hasten them back with her. Meantime +Cathbarr had been sent ashore to meet Turlough and hold the Dark Master +and his royalists in check. Nuala had sent fifty of her men to join +Turlough, left twenty to hold her castle, and had ten with her upon the +carack. It seemed likely that Turlough and Cathbarr could hold the Dark +Master penned up for a few days at least, even with fewer men; if they +could not, said Nuala shortly, they had best sit at spinning-wheels for +the rest of their lives. + +"You are a wonderful girl!" said Brian, and fell asleep again. + +He remembered little of that voyage, for they met two caracks crowded +with men off Innishark that afternoon, found they were the expected +O'Malleys from the North, and turned back with them at once. Brian +wakened again that same evening, but Nuala refused to let him go on deck +until the following morning, when they sighted Bertraghboy Bay. Then +Brian discarded most of his bandages, dressed, and, with his left arm in +a sling, joined the Bird Daughter on the quarterdeck. He found that his +burns were well on toward healing, for he could walk slowly without +great pain, and had every confidence that he could sit a horse if need +be. + +Sailing past Bertragh Castle, the three ships went on up the bay and +cast anchor. It was not hard to see that Turlough and Cathbarr had done +their work well, for in passing the castle they had made out that the +royalist pikemen had been driven inside, and there was some musketry to +be heard at times. No sooner had the anchor-cables roared out, indeed, +than a band of men came riding toward the shore, and Nuala sent off a +boat for them. She had known nothing of Cathbarr's deeds at the castle +until Brian had told her of them, and on seeing that the giant was among +those coming off, she smiled at Brian. + +"Now you shall see how a girl can conquer a giant, Yellow Brian!" + +Brian laughed and waved a hand to Turlough, who was beside Cathbarr in +the boat. As the men came over the rail, Nuala quietly pushed him aside +and faced the giant, sharply bidding him kneel. Cathbarr had been all +for rushing forward to Brian, and obeyed with an ill grace, when Nuala +quickly leaned forward and kissed him on the brow. + +"That is for bravery and faith," she said. "Truly, I would that you +served me!" + +Poor Cathbarr grew redder than the Bird Daughter's cloak. He started to +his feet, gazed around sheepishly, found all men laughing at him--and +did the best thing he could have done, which was to go to his knees +again and put Nuala's hand to his lips. + +"While my master serves you, I serve you," he blurted out, and this +answer must have pleased Nuala mightily, for she flushed, laughed, and +bade all down into the cabin. + +Brian greeted Turlough with no little joy, but beyond assurances that +all went well, gained no knowledge of what had happened. Nuala had sent +for the O'Malley chieftains, and proposed to hold a conference at once. + +The O'Malleys arrived from the other ships in a scant five +minutes--dark, silent men who spoke little, but spoke to the point. Art +Bocagh, or the Lame, had had one leg hamstrung in his youth, but Brian +took him for a dangerous man in battle; while his cousin Shaun the +Little was a very short man with tremendous shoulders. + +Nuala took her seat at the head of the stern-cabin table, and the +position of affairs was gone over carefully. + +It seemed that no sooner had Turlough learned from Cathbarr of what had +taken place in the castle, and that Brian was safe on shipboard, than +he drove his men down pell-mell on the camp, just before dawn. Any other +man would have been exhausted by the events of that night, but Cathbarr +had led them in the assault. The result had been that, with hardly any +resistance, they had slain some four-score of the pikemen, and would +have captured or slain them all had it not been for the Dark Master's +cannon which drove them back. + +The better part of the royalist officers had fallen, either then or +under the ax of Cathbarr in the hall of the castle. In fact, after +learning that he had slain some nineteen persons on that occasion, +Cathbarr had taken no few airs upon himself. Vanity was to him as +natural as to a child, and Brian hugely enjoyed watching the giant +strut. However, what remained of Vere's five hundred pikemen were in the +castle, joined to the Dark Master's men; and Turlough's advice was that +since there must be some seven hundred mouths to feed, the safest plan +was to bide close and force the fight to come to them, rather than to +take it to O'Donnell. + +"There is reason against that, Turlough Wolf," said Brian quickly. "The +Dark Master has men on the hills, and if news is borne to Galway of what +has happened, we are like to have a larger army on our heels than we can +cope with." + +"I have attended to O'Donnell's watchers," said Turlough grimly. "When +Cathbarr bore word of the pact from Gorumna Castle, I sent out horsemen +and we swept the hills bare of men. O'Donnell has no more than are in +the castle, and a score of our own men are on the roads, watching for +any ill." + +"How many men have we in all?" spoke up Lame Art O'Malley. "In our ships +there are sixty men we can spare for land battle." + +"That gives us three hundred in all," replied Turlough to Nuala's +questioning glance. "If we take a strong position we should sweep most +of O'Donnell's men away at the first charge." + +"There you are wrong," said Brian, shaking his head. "Those pikemen are +bad foes for cavalry, and our two hundred horsemen would shatter on them +if they stood firm." + +"Not if we choose our ground," said the Bird Daughter, her eyes +flashing. "Nay, _I_ am master here, my friends! Now this is my rede. We +shall not waste men by attacking the castle, unless forced to it by an +army from Galway. Instead, we will wait until the Dark Master is driven +out by hunger; then we will fall on him and destroy him utterly. + +"Yellow Brian, you have some knowledge of war, and you shall take this +matter in charge. Cathbarr, do you command fifty horse, with the men +from our ships here, and keep the Dark Master in play. With the +remainder, we shall wait in whatever spot Brian shall choose, and before +many days are sped I think that Bertragh will be mine again." + +The Bird Daughter had her way, since none could find much against her +plan; and that afternoon Brian went ashore with her and the O'Malleys, +leaving the three ships at anchor under a small guard. Turlough had made +camp a short mile from the castle, on a little hill among the farms; +both Nuala and the O'Malley men were somewhat surprised at finding the +O'Donnell women and children safe and untouched in their own steads. + +"I saw to that," laughed Turlough, slanting his crafty eyes at Brian. "I +had but to threaten them in Brian's name, and the men only were slain." + +"I think that you are a hard master," laughed Nuala, but Brian smiled +and pointed to his men, who were pouring out to meet him with shouts of +joy. + +"All men do not rule by fear alone, Bird Daughter," he said quietly. She +gave him a quick glance. "I found these men riffraff of the wars, and +while they have no such love for me as Cathbarr here, I think they had +liefer follow me than any other leader." + +After that Nuala said little concerning Brian's discipline. + +That night Nuala and Brian took up headquarters at one of the larger +farms, and while Cathbarr went before the castle to keep the Dark Master +in check and allow none to leave the place, they called in a number of +those men O'Donnell had loaned to Brian, and questioned them about the +provisioning of the castle. + +From these they found that there was good store of all things for the +usual garrison, but with seven hundred men to feed the Dark Master would +be forced out speedily. So with the dawn Brian and Turlough rode forth +to select a battleground, and while Brian was very sore and riding +caused him great pain at first, he soon found himself in better shape. + +Turlough picked a hollow in the road a mile farther from the castle, +flanked on either hand by woods and hillsides where men might lie +hidden. Brian found it good, and that afternoon a part of their horsemen +were shifted thither in readiness. + + * * * * * + +For the next three days there was little done. Twice the Dark Master +attempted sallies with what few horsemen he had left, but on each +occasion Cathbarr's horse smote his men and drove them back. To be sure, +O'Donnell thundered with his bastards, but the guns only burned up good +powder, for Brian would allow no assault made. + +By Turlough's advice, however, they brought about the Dark Master's fall +through certain prisoners made in the two sallies. + +These captives were led through the depleted central camp, though they +knew nothing of that picked place farther back. Having been allowed to +see what men Brian had here, Turlough slyly drove Cathbarr into parading +his vanity before them; and in all innocence the giant told how he could +put the Dark Master's men to flight single-handed, and of his anxiety +lest the O'Donnells should fear to fight in the open. What was more, +Brian affected to be utterly shattered by his wounds, and with that the +prisoners were sent back with a message offering quarter to all within +the castle save the Dark Master himself. + +Early the next morning a horseman came riding fast from Cathbarr with +word that the garrison was stirring. Without delay, Brian donned a +mail-shirt, bound his useless left arm to his side, and mounted. The +Bird Daughter insisted on accompanying him, and stilled his dismayed +protests by asserting her feudal superiority; in the end she had her +way. + +Leaving her kinsmen and a hundred more men to dispute O'Donnell's +passage and give back slowly before him with Cathbarr, she and Brian +rode to their men among the trees on the hillsides over the hollow in +the road. Here they had a hundred and fifty men, composed of the Scots +troopers and the pick of the others, and Nuala took one side of the road +while Brian took the other. Then, being well hidden, they waited. + +Brian was savagely determined to slay the Dark Master that day, and came +near to doing it. Presently a man galloped up to say that O'Donnell and +six hundred men were on the road, having left the rest to hold the +castle. A little later Cathbarr's retreating force came in sight, and +after them marched O'Donnell. He had deployed his muskets in front and +rear, and rode in the midst of his pikemen, whose banner of England blew +out bravely in the morning wind. + +At the edge of the dip in the road Cathbarr led his men in full flight +down the hollow and up the farther rise, where he halted as if to +dispute the Dark Master further. There were barely a dozen mounted men +with O'Donnell, and he made no pursuit, but marched steadily along with +his muskets pecking at Cathbarr's men. When he had come between the +wooded hillsides, however, Cathbarr came charging down the road; the +pikemen settled their pikes three deep to receive him, and with that +Brian led out his men among the trees and swooped down with an ax +swinging in his right hand. + +Alive to his danger, the Dark Master tried to receive his charge, but +at that instant Nuala's men burst down on the other flank. Brian headed +his men, and at sight of him a yell of dismay went up from the +O'Donnells. A moment later the pikemen's array was broken and the fight +disintegrated into a wild affray wherein the horsemen had much the +better of it. + +Brian tried to cut his way to the Dark Master, but when O'Donnell saw +the pikemen shattered he knew that the day was lost. He gathered his +dozen horsemen and went at Cathbarr viciously; Brian saw the two meet, +saw O'Donnell's blade slip under the ax and Cathbarr go from the saddle, +then the Dark Master had broken through the ring and was riding hard for +the North. + +Brian wheeled his horse instantly, found the Bird Daughter at his side, +and with a score of men behind them they rode out of the battle in +pursuit. It proved useless, however, for the Dark Master had the better +horseflesh; after half an hour he was gaining rapidly, and with a bitter +groan Brian drew rein at last. + +"No use, Nuala," he said. "I must wait until my strength has come back +to me, for I have done too much and can go no farther." + +The girl reined in beside him, and her hand went out to his, and he +found himself gazing deep into her eyes. + +"For what you have done, Brian," she said simply, "thanks. Now let us +ride back, for I think there is work before us, and we shall see the +Dark Master soon enough." + +"I am not minded to wait his coming," quoth Yellow Brian darkly, and +they returned. + + +TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. Don't forget this magazine is issued weekly, +and that you will get the continuation of this story without waiting a +month. + + + + +Nuala O'Malley + +by H. Bedford-Jones + +Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc. + + +This story began in the All-Story Weekly for December 30. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +BRIAN RIDES TO VENGEANCE. + + +"Then you are intent on this vengeance, master?" asked Turlough +thoughtfully. + +"Yes," answered Brian. "I here take oath that I will never cut hair nor +beard again until I have seen the Dark Master dead." + +"You are not like to have a chance at your hair very soon," laughed out +Lame Art O'Malley. "But that is a good oath, Yellow Brian." + +"Then I think this is a better plan," spoke up Turlough Wolf. "Give me +ten men, Brian, and I will go to Galway. I will soon get traces of +O'Donnell; and if he goes into the north to get men of his own sept" +(tribe or family), "as I think most likely, I will send back word, and +we can follow him." + +"Do it," said Brian, and Turlough was gone that night. + +This discussion took place in the hollow, where the fight was soon over +after the flight of the Dark Master. Out of the six hundred who had left +the castle, two hundred had been O'Donnell's men. Half of these remained +and took service with Brian at once. Of the four hundred pikemen, three +hundred had gone down fighting like the stubborn south-country men they +were, and the rest took service with Nuala O'Malley. They were most of +them Kerry men, and well disposed toward ships and piracy. + +Brian had lost in all fifty men in that battle, while the Dark Master +had given Cathbarr a goodly thrust through the shoulder, which had let +out most of the giant's vanity and promised to give the huge ax some +time to rest and rust. So, then, Brian found himself heading two hundred +and fifty men of his own, with Nuala's hundred O'Malleys, when they rode +down again to Bertragh Castle. + +This had been left in charge of a hundred men under Red Murrough, who +had not been slain, but only wounded by Cathbarr's fist, that night in +the great hall. Having left a party to bring in the wounded in wagons +from the farms, they arrived before the castle shortly after noon. +Cathbarr was left in charge of the camp, and Brian rode up to the gates +with Nuala and her two kinsmen, with a flag of truce. + +Murrough and his men were put into consternation by the news Brian gave +them. After much stroking of his matted beard, Murrough proposed to +surrender the castle on condition that he hold his post of lieutenant. +Brian laughed, for he had other views on the subject. + +"You sold your master, and you will have no chance to sell me, Murrough. +I will give you the ten pounds I owe you and a good horse. Refuse, and I +slay you when we storm the castle." + +The end of that matter was that Murrough assented. An hour later he +opened the gates, his men taking service with the rest under Brian. +Then, having obtained his ten English pounds and a horse, he waved +farewell to his men and rode away; and what became of him after that is +not set forth in the chronicle, so he comes no more into this tale. + +Nuala loaded her fifty men into her carack, and sent them home that +night to Gorumna in case of need, proposing to follow later with Lame +Art, Shaun the Little, and her Kerry recruits. The O'Malley cousins +intended going south, since their affair had been so unexpectedly +ended, and picking up a Spanish ship or two before returning home. + +"And now, what of your plans?" asked Nuala, as she and Brian sat +together that night before the huge fireplace in the hall, where Brian +had been burned and where Cathbarr had fought so well. "Of course, we +can settle rents later on." + +"When there are farms to gather rents from," laughed Brian, stretching +out easily. He lifted his bandaged left hand, gazing at it. "First, I am +minded to rest here and wait for news from Galway. The bones in this +hand of mine are not broken, from what I can make out, and it will soon +knit. As soon as may be, I shall ride after the Dark Master; when I have +paid my debts, I will then be in shape to look for a castle for myself." + +"Then you are determined to kill O'Donnell?" and she looked at him +sidewise. + +"He has my Spanish blade," said Brian. "It is good Toledo steel, and I +want it back again." + +"You have three hundred and fifty men here," she observed. "Can you feed +them?" + +"You have food in Gorumna--send me some. When I am well again I shall +ride with most of them, which will lessen the burden. With the spring I +will take lands between here and Slyne Head, for now I am strong enough +to defend what I take." + +"I shall also send you some of my pigeons, Brian. They are born and bred +on Gorumna Isle, and if you tie a message to them they will--" + +"I know," nodded Brian. "I have seen them used in Spain." + +With that she described how she used these pigeons, and Brian saw that +it was not by strength alone that this girl had maintained her position. +She kept men in Galway, Kinvarra, and elsewhere, as far south as the +Shannon and as far north as Erris, with others at Limerick and Tuam and +Castlebar. In this wise she got news of what was passing in Connaught +and Munster before most men had it, and more than one foreign ship had +found her caracks waiting for it through the same means, since she held +a privateer commission given her by Blake to legalize her sea-roving. +Also, she had pigeons which carried return messages, chiefly to her +kinsmen in Erris. + +"And what is your goal, Bird Daughter?" Brian turned to her, his blue +eyes clinching on her violet ones. "What will the end of all this wild +life of yours be?" + +"I do not know," she answered him, and turned away from his eyes to +stare down into the fire. "In the end I may be forced into marriage, +though I think not, for I have some will of my own in that regard." She +laughed out suddenly and looked up. "Two years ago Stephen Lynch sent me +a fair screed in all the glory of his chevron and three shamrocks and +wolf crest, saying that he was coming in one of his ships to marry me." + +"And did he ever come?" smiled Brian. + +"Yes; but I took his ship from him and sent him home again by road, tied +to a horse," she rippled out merrily. "Poor Stephen! The Bodkins never +let the Lynches hear the last of it until Stephen fell fighting against +Coote, and there was an end of it and him, too. When are you going to +tell me your name, Brian?" + +At the sudden question Brian was tempted, but forbore. + +"When I have slain the Dark Master," he laughed. + +"Then you are likely to be bearded worse than Cathbarr," she mocked him +gaily. "Unless, indeed, you break that oath you swore this morning." + +"Not I," returned Brian shortly. "I am not given to light oaths or light +pacts, Bird Daughter. I think I shall get me a ship and go cruising some +day." + +"Come with me," she said, rising, "and you may win food and wine without +begging from your overlord. Well, now for that chamber Cathbarr fixed up +for me. _Beannacht leath!_" + +Somewhat to his surprise, the next morning Brian found that Nuala was +extremely businesslike and even curt. Knowing little of women, he tried +to find wherein he had offended; failed utterly, and gave over the +attempt on seeing that Nuala preferred the company of Cathbarr. + +Then, remembering that kiss she had given the giant aboard ship, he +concluded that the Bird Daughter was drawn by the physical magnificence +of the man, which gave him a little bitterness. So he merely set his jaw +the harder and said nothing of the thing that lay in his heart to any +one. For that matter, he was not quite sure himself what the thing was; +but he knew that he had never seen a woman such as the Bird Daughter in +all his life, and was not apt to find another. + +Turlough having departed on his mission, Brian fell back on Cathbarr to +act as lieutenant; with Nuala herself, the work of getting the castle in +shape proceeded apace. The Bertragh hold was built on a cliff that rose +from the plain on the one hand, and sloped down to the water on the +other; had the Dark Master not fallen into Turlough's trap, he might +have turned out the pikemen to shift for themselves and have held the +castle with his own men for as long as he wished. + +Indeed, Brian found that the removal of danger and the taking of the +castle had somewhat puffed up his men, lessening their fear of him. So, +on the second day, he quelled a free fight that rose among them, hanged +ten of the worst, and after this the others became as lambs before him. + +Upon exploring the castle, Brian was delighted to find it well equipped +in all things except prisoners. The Dark Master had had little use for +captives, it seemed, and his dungeons were in sad disrepair. However, +there was good store of powder, provisions in moderation, a well within +the castle, and no lack of arms and munitions of war. Brian promptly +took the chamber of O'Donnell for his own use--a large tower-room well +furnished in English style, and having the luxury of a fireplace +besides. + +The construction of the building was simple--a large stone structure +with embattled walls, running down close to the sea behind and rising +above the plain in front. Save for the courtyard, the walls were not +separated from the building proper, and there was one high tower, on +which the flagstaff had been shattered since O'Donnell had taken the +place, for he was not given to flags and display. Besides a dozen of the +large bastards, there were five falcons, with plenty of ball. + +Therefore, Brian had good reason to be satisfied with his new home. The +only thing that rankled was that he held it not for himself, but for the +Bird Daughter; and he was determined that when he had settled scores +with the Dark Master he would only remain here until he had secured a +hold for himself, free of all service. + +But settling with O'Donnell Dubh was the first duty he had. Brian +recalled his torture and the agony of Cathbarr every time he entered the +hall. The iron rings that had been in the floor he had already torn out, +while Nuala had taken for her own the lonely wolfhound, which had been +left behind by the Dark Master. But Brian, who put all his desire for +vengeance in the wish to "get back his Spanish blade," could hardly turn +around without having some phase of his sufferings brought back to him. + +The men who had been thrown out along the roads had fetched in word that +the Dark Master had ridden for Galway, so Brian had great hopes that +Turlough would bring back some definite news. If O'Donnell settled in +the city, he was determined to go in at all risks and seek out his enemy +face to face; the O'Malleys were on good terms with the Bodkins, who in +old Galway played _Capulet_ to the _Montague_ of the Lynch family, and +he would be able to command some help in that quarter. + + * * * * * + +On the fifth day after the castle had been taken, a galley came over +from Gorumna Castle bearing news. Cromwell had failed before Duncannon, +and promised to fail again at Waterford, and hope was rising high among +the royalists, while O'Neill's Ulster army was biding its time in the +north until a new leader was chosen by the Confederacy to make head with +Ormond against the Parliament armies. + +Upon this the O'Malley rovers were impatient to revictual at Gorumna and +be off to the south after plunder, so Nuala decided to leave Bertragh +the next morning. That night, after Cathbarr had drunk himself asleep +and the O'Malleys had sought their ships, the Bird Daughter unexpectedly +became very cordial toward Brian once more, and they sat up late before +the fireplace. + +Brian did not understand it, but he was quite willing to accept it, and +when the talk turned on personal matters he was careful to ask no +questions concerning Nuala's plans for the future. Instead, he told her +tales of his life at the Spanish court, which interested her vastly, +until in the end she broke forth with a passionate outburst. + +"Oh, I wish I were a man!" she cried softly and eagerly, looking into +the red embers. "All my life I have been among men, and yet not of them; +I have had to do with guns and ships and powder, and I think I have not +done so ill, yet I have had dreams of other things--things which I +hardly know myself." + +Astonished though he was at her sudden unfolding of herself, Brian +looked at her gravely, his blue eyes very soft as he pierced to her +thought. + +"Yes," he said gently, "you are a woman, Bird Daughter--and if you were +a man I think that you might have gain, but others would have great +loss." + +"Eh?" She looked straightly at him, unfearing his half-expressed +thought. "I do not seek idle compliments, Yellow Brian, from those who +serve me." + +Brian flushed a little. + +"It is hard to receive compliments gracefully," he said, and at that she +also colored, but laughed, her eyes still on his. + +"There, give grace to my rude tongue, Brian! Of course you meant it--but +why?" + +"Because there is no woman like you, Nuala--so able to weld men into +union, so vibrant with inner power, and yet so womanly withal. It is no +little honor to have known you, to have--" + +"I wish you would tell me your name, Yellow Brian!" + +There was woman's cunning in the placing of that answer, and it took +Brian all aback. For a moment he was near to blurting out his whole +story; then he took shame for letting a girl's face so run away with +him. None the less, he knew well that it was her heart as well as her +face, and her spirit as well as her heart, that had captured him; yet, +because he had had no dealings with women since leaving Spain some +months before, he told himself that if the Bird Daughter had other women +near by to compare herself with, less attraction might be found in her. + +But he did not pause long upon that thought, sweeping his blue eyes to +hers in a smile. + +"If you had been a man, Nuala, you had never had fealty from me." + +"So--then it _was_ pity?" and swift anger leaped into her face. + +"Was it pity that drove Cathbarr to proffer his life for mine?" parried +Brian, his eyes grave. He felt a great impulse to speak out all that was +in him, but crushed it down. Her eyes met his, and held there for a long +moment. Then she spoke very calmly: + +"When will you take that cruise with me, Yellow Brian?" + +"When I have won my Spanish blade again," he smiled, and after that they +talked no more of intimate things, yet Brian's heart was glad within +him. + +With the next morning the Bird Daughter said farewell and went aboard +Lame Art's carack. Sorry was Brian to see her go, for he had come to +count much on her fine backing and inspiring courage, and knew not if he +would ever see her again. As the ships raised anchor, Cathbarr suddenly +let off the bastards with a great roar and raised on the shattered +flag-pole an ensign he had secretly obtained from Shaun the Little. The +ship-cannon barked out in brave answer and hoisted ensigns likewise; but +as Brian looked up at the flag overhead, his despondent mood was not +heartened. The three-masted ship of the O'Malleys flew above him, where +he had much rather flown the red hand of his own house. + +"When I have slain the Dark Master," he thought, watching from those +same sea-facing battlements where he and Cathbarr had descended, as the +two caracks leaped off to the south, "and when I have established myself +in some hold, be it never so small, then I shall take back my name again +and let the red hand hold what it has gripped. But not until these +things have been done, for Brian O'Neill will give fealty to none--no, +not even to the Bird Daughter herself." + +Thus he thought in his proud bitterness, reckoning not on what the +future was to bring forth. However, he had lost his idea that Nuala +might love Cathbarr, and had great gladness of it. + +Now there was work to be done, and Brian soon found himself too busy to +bother his mind with thoughts of bitterness. Cathbarr had done no little +drinking, so that his wound was turning bad, and in no little alarm +Brian banished all liquors from him and tended him carefully. Taking a +lesson from Red Murrough, he washed out the wound with vinegar, and +found that this had its effect. + +Since Brian was irked at having to rely on others for his supplies, he +rode to all the outlying farms and sent off the families there under +escort, with sufficient money to keep them and take them to their homes +in the north. Many of them chose to remain, and certain of his men knew +of women-folk they wished to bring hither, so that Brian saw he would +not lack for farmers and settlers. Enough fodder was obtained to keep +his horses for a time; but as this did not satisfy him, he set forth +after four days on a cattle-raid to the northeast, riding past the +Manturks toward Ashford with ninety men. + +He was gone on that raid five days; found to his great joy that his +strength had returned to him, and also found a small party of Royalist +horse near Lough Corrib. These had been buying up cattle for the Galway +garrison, and had collected fifty head; but on Brian's approach they did +not stay for dispute, but fled. + +So Brian cheerfully sent the fifty head of cattle home with as many men, +and with the others swept around through the mountains. With him were +two of Cathbarr's axmen, and they led him to the hold occupied by +Murrough O'Flaherty of the Kine, where Brian stayed half a day. He +concluded a friendship with the mountaineers, promising them powder in +exchange for cattle, and they promised, in turn, that within three weeks +they would fetch a hundred kine down to Castle Bertragh. + +Having thus assured himself of both food and stock for his farms, he +rode home again, to find great news awaiting him. + +First, there had come a galley from Gorumna with wine and stores. Nuala +sent word that her men in Galway had informed her the Dark Master was +there, but in no high favor with Lord Burke and the other commanders. +Second, one of Turlough Wolf's men had come in with news which had +caused Cathbarr to have the men in all readiness against Brian's return. + +The Dark Master was indeed in Galway town, and had made small head with +his suit for men, having related that Vere and his pikemen were lost. +However, he had been promised some help, provided he could gather any +force of his own and would hold Bertragh for the Royalists. Cromwell had +been driven back at Waterford, but Cork had risen for him, and his men +had entered there. + +So the Dark Master was going to the north to get him men in Sligo, as +Turlough had predicted he would do, and his plan was to raise a force, +bring down those Donegal pirates with whom he was in alliance, and set +on Bertragh by sea and land, as Brian himself had aimed at doing. +Turlough said that he was following, but would leave men at Swineford +and Tobercurry with further news of what happed. + +"Good!" cried Brian joyfully. "Cathbarr, have a hundred and fifty men +saddled at dawn--what is this?" + +Turlough's messenger handed him a paper. It was a safe-conduct issued by +the Confederacy and Royalist leaders in the name of one Stephen Burke, +and where the wily Wolf had gotten it the messenger did not know. But it +might come in useful, since there were few parliament men in Sligo and +Mayo, and Brian tucked it away with a laugh. + +"Then to the north at dawn--and O'Donnell shall not escape me this +time!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +HOW THE STORM FARED NORTH. + + +Now, it was no easy matter for a band of horsemen to ride from Galway to +Sligo in that day, unless they were known men and rode for the king or +the Confederacy. Scattered bands of men had come into the west from +Ulster and Leinster, and these had driven out what Parliament men had +landed; through the early years of the war Owen Ruadh's men had swept +all the west country, and now the land was resting, waiting for the +storm that was fated to come upon it when the rest of Ireland had been +crushed under the heel of Ireton. Enniskillen alone, in Fermanagh, held +out for Parliament. + +So, while the larger towns were all under Irish authority, the +hill-country was full of seething parties from all armies, most of them +being ravagers and outlaws who would fear to lay hand on so large a +party as Brian's. But little Brian cared for them, and without let or +pause he drove north to Ashford and so into the lowlands. + +Knowing that he must return again by the same way, he avoided the larger +towns and pushed hard for Swineford, where he would find word from +Turlough. More than once he met parties of men on the road, but these +were not anxious to question him, and it was not until he was riding +around Claremorris that men began to feel his heavy hand. + +With Lough Garra falling behind on the left, and Claremorris at safe +distance on the right, Brian was clattering along on the third morning. +His men carried muskets slung at their saddles, with bandoliers of +cartridges at their waists ready for quick action; and well it was that +they were so prepared. Searching ahead with narrowed eyes, Brian caught +a quick glint of steel on the road, and in no long time he made out a +party of a hundred men riding toward him. Brian got ready both his ax +and his safe-conduct, and rode forward without pause. + +Now, he had brought with him most of those Scots troopers he had taken +into service, and as the other party drew near he heard a swift yell of +"Albanach!" that boded no good. But Brian shouted to them and asked who +they were. + +"None of your affair!" answered their leader, a huge, dark man. "Who are +you?" + +"Stephen Burke from Galway," answered Brian; but before the words left +him he saw a musket flash, and one of his men fell. + +Upon that, no more words were wasted. Brian threw up his ax and dug in +his spurs, with his men behind; and when they loosed their muskets they +rode on the hundred with butts swinging. This was a new kind of warfare +in Connaught, and before Brian's ax had struck twice the field was won. +From two prisoners he found that the band was composed of a levy of the +O'Connors out of the Storm Mountains. + +"That is not well for our return," said one of his lieutenants. "We will +have the whole country up after this battle, and we have lost ten men." + +"Then we shall have the more need of recruits," quoth Brian, and let his +prisoners go free, since they would take no service, but only cursed +him. + +However, Brian was not ill pleased, since he found that he was nearly +sped of his wounds, though his left hand gave him some trouble at times. +His pleasure was speedily cured, for when they camped that night on the +hither side of Kiltarnagh there came a rush of men toward dawn, and +before they were beaten off twenty of Brian's men were dead. Five +prisoners were taken, and when two of these had been hung, the other +three confessed that the attack had been made by certain O'Connors from +the southern end of Lough Conn, to whose villages fugitives had come +from the affray of the previous morning. + +With that, Brian took counsel with some of his men who knew the country, +and it was their advice that he give up the ride and return home. + +"I will not," said Brian shortly. "This war was not of my seeking, but +thirty of my men have been slain. Guide me to these villages, and I will +take blood-fine." + +This he did because he needs must. His men did no ravaging, and were in +need of provisions, while he was minded to fill up his ranks. Also, by +taking sharp vengeance, he knew that on his return he was not like to be +molested. + +So he turned aside and rode fast for Lough Conn, which he reached the +next evening, and there came a storm of men on all that country. Twice +through the days that followed Brian had to fight hard--once against a +muster of the O'Connors, and once against a large force of ravaging +hillsmen under one Fitzgerald. Him Brian slew with a blow of his ax that +went from shoulder to saddle. + +From his men he gained fifty recruits and no small booty, both of money +and horses; and from the O'Connors he took bitter blood-fine for his +slain men in spare horses and provisions. + +These doings are set down briefly in the chronicle; but when Brian +turned east again, with Swineford a hard day's ride away, he once more +had a hundred and fifty men at his back, with a good store of all +things, while his name was one that spread fear. He left his men camped +two miles out of Swineford, on the Moy, and rode next morning into the +town with a dozen horsemen only. + +In the town was quartered a small force of Maguires from Fermanagh, and +as he rode in Brian was halted by their leader, who gave him the sele of +the day and asked his name. Brian held out his passport, and after +Maguire had fumbled over it and pretended that he could read, he gave it +back with a grin and Brian passed on with another. + +The seal of the Confederacy on the safe-conduct was quite enough for any +man in these parts, however. + +Brian had not ridden a hundred paces farther before he saw one of +Turlough's men beckoning to him from the door of an inn, so he left his +troopers to drink outside and passed within. Turlough's man joined him +at a table, and there Brian gained news of the most cheering. + +Six days before this the Dark Master had arrived at Swineford, with +Turlough an hour behind him. The old Wolf, whose cunning made up for his +lack of courage, had made shift to get two of O'Donnell's dozen men +embroiled with the Maguires. The upshot of that had been a fight, +followed by a delay of two days for investigation; finally the Dark +Master had slipped away, his two men had promptly been hung, and +Turlough had meantime gone ahead to prepare fresh delays at Bellahy and +Tobercurry. He had four men left with him, though he had left Bertragh +with ten. + +"Then O'Donnell has four days' start of me," reflected Brian. "If +Turlough can hold him, we will catch him at Sligo at latest." + +He left the inn and rode back to his camp, where he had the men on the +road in ten minutes. Tobercurry was only fifteen miles north, and +putting his horses to a gallop, Brian rode hard and fast until that +afternoon he came into the place. He found no garrison, but, instead, +was met by old Turlough himself, with a bandaged head and two wounded +men. + +"_Mile failte!_" cried Turlough joyously, running forward to kiss +Brian's hand in wild delight. "You are well come, master! Is all well +down below?" + +"All well, old friend," laughed Brian, swinging down to clasp the old +man in his arms. "Where is the Dark Master?" + +"Where we shall catch him in a forked stick presently," chuckled +Turlough, wagging his beard. "Get these wild men of yours out of the +town, and come into the inn with me to talk. I have all the Dark +Master's plans, master, and we have only to strike." + +Brian ordered his men to camp a mile outside town and to do no +plundering, so they clattered off, to the great relief of the townfolk. + +"Now," said Brian, when they two were sitting across a table, "what has +passed that you are bound up? Have you been fighting?" + +"Well, after a fashion," grimaced Turlough disgustedly. "I was here +ahead of the Dark Master, and raised the townpeople against him for a +plunderer. When he came up the road was full of men; but the devil slew +two and wounded two of my own men, cut his way through the rest, and as +I fled north my horse flung me and bruised my head. Has the castle +fallen?" + +"Yes," laughed Brian, and related what had happed at Bertragh. "Have I +time to bide here and eat?" + +Turlough yeasaid this and sent the inn-master bustling for food and +wine. When this was set before them, Turlough Wolf told his tale, +beginning with the statement that two of O'Donnell's men had been +captured when he cut through the townfolk and rode off. + +"Where are they?" asked Brian quickly, his eyes narrowing. + +"Hanged," chuckled the old man succinctly. "At Galway I could make out +nothing more than the word I sent you by messenger, so I came north +after O'Donnell Dubh, taking very good care that he saw nothing of me." + +"I'll warrant that," laughed Brian. "We met your man at Swineford." + +"Then no need to tell what passed there. Well, I said that we caught two +of his men here, and I got back into the town just in time to keep the +folk from hanging them to the church steeple." + +"Eh?" Brian stared, with his mouth full. "Why, I thought you said--" + +"_Dhar mo lamh_, give me time to finish, master!" Turlough hesitated a +little, evidently in some fear. "We took them into the churchyard and +burned them a little, and so got out of them all the Dark Master's +plans. Then the priest shrived them, and I let the townfolk hang them." + +Brian looked across the table, his blue eyes like ice and his nostrils +quivering with anger; the old man slanted up his gray eyes and turned +uneasily in his seat, for well he knew what Brian would say to this. + +"That was ill done, Turlough Wolf. If you had not served me so well, you +would repent that work. By my faith, I am minded to hang you at their +side!" + +Brian meant it, for the torture of men made him furious. + +"I am no fool to spare mad dogs," muttered Turlough sullenly. "It was +the Dark Master who lopped these ears of mine eight years gone." + +"Tell your tale," said Brian curtly and fell to eating again. + +"I found tidings both good and bad, master. From Galway the Dark Master +had sent messengers to his kin in Donegal, bidding them send aid south; +also, he sent to certain pirates north of Sligo Bay. From Sligo to the +Erne all that land is desolate, and has been so these six years, and the +O'Donnells from Lough Swilly have set up a pirate hold near Millhaven. +It was to these that the Dark Master sent also. + +"He has appointed a meeting-place in the hills beyond Drumcliff, at a +certain mountain named Clochaun, or the Stone. Now, whether you think +my craft evil or good, master, it is yet gainful to us." + +This much Brian was forced to acknowledge, though for many days +afterward he was still angry at Turlough for torturing and hanging those +men. He had no scruples about a downright hanging, but torturing was a +very different matter, and one of which he had tasted himself. + +"Well, what is your advice in this?" + +"We can do one of two things, master. The one is to ride on to Sligo and +fall on him when he comes south again with his men; the other is to ride +hard after him and catch him, then fall on the Millhaven men, then meet +the O'Donnells who are coming south to join him at the Stone Mountain +with the rest." + +"The first plan is more cautious," said Brian thoughtfully; "but to +strike him when he has his men around him would be to repeat what we +have done. I like the other way the better." + +"It is both safer and yet more dangerous, master. Safer in that we smite +him and his men separately, and more dangerous because we shall be in +the heart of a wild country, without supplies, and with no aid in case +we are defeated." + +"It is more to my mind to talk of winning than losing," grunted Brian. +"I have spare horses and money with which to buy provisions. Also, I +think that I shall stamp flat that pirate nest at Millhaven, and set up +my own banner there." + +"Then you have a banner of your own, master?" Turlough squinted up +slyly, for it was the first hint Brian had given him of what lay behind +his nickname. + +"Aye!" laughed Brian as the wine warmed him. "And it shall bear the Red +Hand of Tyr-owen, old Wolf; but first to catch the Dark Master. Now let +us go, for we shall ride to the Stone Mountain and see what haps there." + +Upon that they rode forth from the town, and all the townfolk bade the +crafty Turlough farewell, and gave him gifts for warning them against +the "plunderers." Turlough looked up at the two bodies swinging in the +wind as they passed the church-tower, and put his tongue in his cheek, +but Brian said no more on the subject. + +That night they camped outside the town, and Brian bought all the +provision that the people would sell. This he loaded on the spare +horses, and the next morning they set off for the north. + + * * * * * + +Now, in that fighting by Lough Conn, Brian had taken a shrewd clip which +had reopened the bullet-tear over his scalp. Added to this, he was not +yet in all of his former strength, and the hard ride to Tobercurry had +set his blood to heating; wherefore it was that before coming to Sligo +Brian was heavy with fever and was shaken with chill. A hard snow was +driving through the night, and Turlough sent most of the men around the +city to wait for them on the other side the Garravogue to avoid danger. + +There was no garrison in Sligo, however. The old castle which Red Hugh +O'Donnell had fought over in the old days was ruined; the grand +monastery, built by Brian of Tyr-erril, had been burned by Hamilton's +men, together with the town itself, and Sligo was well-nigh desolate. +Turlough got shelter in a hovel, however; managed to put Brian into a +miserable bed, and gave him a brew to drink. With the morning Brian +found his fever gone, but weakness was on him. + +They stayed in Sligo town all that day and the next night, and upon +dawn, Brian insisted on riding north once more, against Turlough's +protests. However, no ill came of it, for Brian was well used to riding, +and the exercise gave him strength, though they made but a short march +that day past the round tower of Drumcliff, halting in the hills. + +As Turlough Wolf knew where the Stone Mountain was they had no use for +guides. It lay only another day's march ahead of them, and there was +some danger that their quarry would descry their coming and flee away to +Millhaven. + +"This is my rede, master;" said Turlough, "that you and I ride ahead +with a few men to see how things go, and leave our men to follow. The +hills are empty of rovers, for there is naught to plunder; but it were +well to know if the Dark Master has joined with those friends of his." + +"That seems good advice," said Brian, and, taking a dozen men, they rode +forward warily, sending out other parties to scout also. + +Over them towered the whiteness of the Stone Mountain, for snow lay +thickly on all things. Brian gazed up at the gray-jutted crags, but his +thoughts were not all with the Dark Master. Him he already accounted +slain, and he was thinking of that Millhaven stronghold. + +One day his own banner should fly there, he told himself. There must be +a good harbor, else the northern pirates had never settled down to hold +the place; and since all the country roundabout lay bleak and unsettled +of men, the vision came to him of first taking the place, and then +fetching O'Neills from the east and north to settle the lands around. +They would flock to him when his condition was made known, and that +Cromwell's men would shatter the royalists and confederacy Brian saw +clearly, as Owen Ruadh had foretold him. + +Already the house of Tyr-owen was scattered and fallen, as the greater +house of Tyr-connall had been before it, for when the last earl had fled +from the land, there had been only the younger branch to hold the sept +together. Owen Ruadh was the final glory of that branch, and now Brian +entertained the vision of transplanting the Red Hand and of making his +rule strong in the west. + +But other men had entertained the same vision before him, and it had +remained a vision, and no more; and the high hopes of Brian himself were +fated to be driven upon the rocks of destiny before many days had passed +over. + +With the afternoon the little party stood on the lower slopes of the +Stone Mountain itself, and Turlough drew the shape of the place in the +snow with his pike-haft. + +"Here are we," he explained, "on the southern slopes. A half-mile ahead +of us is a valley with a small and fast-rushing water, where we shall +make camp this night if the Dark Master be not before us. And if he is +not, then he will be on the northern side, where there are two +well-sheltered valleys with water running, fit for the meeting-place and +camp of men. Here is the easternmost, but, as I remember it, the snow +fills the valley somewhat in winter. The other holds a small lake called +the Dubh Linn, or Black Tarn, and in one of these we shall find the Dark +Master, unless he is here before us." + +"Well, let us ride on and see to that," said Brian, and they did so. + +However, they found the valley deserted and empty, and picked a place +for camp, sending back a horseman to bring up the force. They could make +out no smoke rising from the mountain, nor dared they light fires until +after dark for fear of alarming O'Donnell; but when the force came up, +Brian sent out scouts to bring in what word might be had. + +"Where got you such knowledge of this wilderness?" he asked Turlough +that night when the fires were blazing and the men were warmed and fed. +The old man narrowed his gray eyes and chuckled a little. + +"I have been in many armies, master, though I have fought not; and I +have been outlawed twice by the English, in the old days. This was +always a good place to flee to." + +Brian laughed and said no more. That night the men rested well, and +Brian himself got sleep which sent strength into him and served him well +in the days to come, for it was long before he was to sleep again, save +as he rode, nodding in the saddle. + +Not until nearly dawn did the last of the scouts straggle in. None of +these bore any news, and all agreed that no signs could they find of any +large band of men, nor of any men at all. Turlough heard their reports, +letting Brian sleep, and only when the last man came in were any tidings +brought. This man bore a strip of sheepskin, which, he said, an old +woman had given him to bear to his master. + +"A woman!" exclaimed Turlough, scanning the written words on the +sheepskin, but unable to read them. "What is she like? It is a strange +thing if women bide on Slieve Clochaun! Was there any stead near by?" + +"None," replied the man, who trembled with something more than cold. +"_M'anam go'n Dhia!_ She was a witch woman, or worse, Turlough Wolf. She +leaped out of the snow in my path, told me to bear that skin to Yellow +Brian, and vanished in a burst of fire. How could she not have been a +devil?" + +"Nonsense!" grunted Turlough, though he suddenly laid the strip of skin +down. "You are overwarm with _uisquebagh_, man. What was this woman +like? Was she clad all in black?" + +"Faith, I did not stop to see," grinned the man sheepishly. + +Turlough stroked his beard, while the men went off to eat and sleep. He +gazed at the strip of skin, and twice stretched out his hand toward it, +with his eye on the fire, but each time drew back. Then he glanced +around craftily, found he was alone, and took from under his cloak a +small, brass crucifix. With this he touched the skin, found that nothing +happened, and rose with a nod. The dawn was just breaking in the east. + +"There is no sorcery in it, at least," he muttered; "but I think it +bodes no great good to us. Ho, Brian!" + +Brian woke and sprang up. Turlough handed him the strip of skin, saying +no word, and when Brian had held it to the light of the embers, he +looked up suddenly. + +"Whence came this?" + +"What does it say first?" returned Turlough uneasily. + +"News!" cried Brian, his blue eyes aflame with eagerness. "It says that +O'Donnell bides alone by the Black Tarn, and that his horsemen from the +north are camped two miles beyond the mountain, waiting for him, and +that he has made pact with the Millhaven pirates and they have left for +their stronghold. Answer me--whence came this? It is written in good +English writing, man!" + +Then Turlough told of what had chanced, and when he had done, Brian +stared into his gray eyes with a great wonder. Twice he tried to speak, +but his lips were dry. + +"The Black Woman!" he muttered thickly. "Can it be, Turlough? Who is +she?" + +"That was my thought, master," said Turlough. "Who she is none know save +herself; but she deals with no good. This may be a trap; let us ride +south again, and at once, lest evil come upon us." + +"South? Not I," laughed Brian, though his face was pale. "To horse, +men!" + +And at his ringing shout the camp awoke, and Brian saw his vengeance +drawing near. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TARN. + + +It had been long, indeed, since Brian had given thought to his meeting +with the Black Woman on the other side of Ireland. In that brief +meeting, the Black Woman had spoken of seeing the old earl, his +grandfather, in his youth. Yet it was forty years since the two earls, +O'Donnell and O'Neill, had fled together from Ireland, and even then +Tyr-owen had been an old man. Unless this Black Woman was close on a +hundred years of age, Brian could not see how she had known Hugh O'Neill +in his youth. + +The mere fact that she had recognized him there in the moonlight was +proof of her true speaking, however. Brian could no longer hide from +himself that her words had some strange prophecy in them. She had +foretold his meeting with Cathbarr and with the Bird Daughter, though, +indeed, she might have been attempting only to guide him on the path +which he had afterward followed. + +While the men were saddling, Brian called Turlough and told of the hag's +word that she would meet him again "on a black day for him." + +"Now, what think you she meant by that, Turlough? Is this the meeting?" + +"No, master, for it is no meeting. It may be as you think, and that she +was but trying to lead you into the west; yet, for my part, I call it +sorcery," and the old man crossed himself, for, like better men than +himself, Turlough ascribed all he could not fathom to magic. "It seems +to me that she is some witch who is hanging on your tracks, and that +when--" + +"Oh, nonsense!" laughed Brian, flinging the matter from his mind. "At +any rate, she has served me well this time. Now, what rede shall we +follow in this matter, and shall we capture and slay the Dark Master +first, or fall on his men first, or both together?" + +"It is ill to sunder a force of men, master," quoth Turlough. "If those +horsemen of O'Donnell's are encamped in a valley two miles to the north, +it is a vale of which I know well. But we must mind this--if O'Donnell +gets safe into Galway again with either these horsemen or those +Millhaven pirates of his clan, he will drive hard against Bertragh." + +"The Dark Master shall come no more to Galway," said Brian grimly, +fingering his ax. "Now finish, and quickly." + +"I have a plan in my mind, master; but unless we slay the Dark Master, +it is like to fail us. Let us send a hundred of the men around to the +north, for I will tell them how to ride, so that by this night they can +fall upon those men of his and scatter them in the darkness, and drive +them south where we can slay them utterly at our wills. If we drove them +back whence they came, there would be little craft in it, and it is to +my liking to do a thing well or not at all." + +"A true word there," nodded Brian, his eyes gleaming. "I think those men +are as good as dead now, Turlough. Speak on." + +"With fifty men, master, you and I can reach the valley of the Dubh +Linn. We cannot do it with horses, unless we ride around to the north, +and in that there would be danger of striking on the Dark Master's +scouts. But while our hundred are circling far around, we with fifty can +go over the mountain by valleys and paths I know of, so that by this +evening we will come to the Black Tarn and strike the Dark Master as our +hundred men fall on his camp. That is my--" + +"Good!" cried Brian, leaping up eagerly. "Then we--" + +"Hold, master!" And Turlough caught his arm, quickly staying him. When +Brian looked down he read a sudden fear in the old man's gray eyes. +"That was my first rede, Yellow Brian, and you would do well to hear my +second also." + +"Say it," said Brian, and glanced at the brightening sky. + +"My second rede is this. That message might be a trap to ensnare us, +though I have two minds about this Black Woman. But if we fail to slay +the Dark Master at the Black Tarn, we are like to have an ill time." + +"Why so?" asked Brian, for he could see no likelihood of that. "I said +that we would slay him." + +"Master, do you hold the lives of men in your keeping?" In the gray eyes +leaped a swift horror that amazed Brian. "I tell you that if the Dark +Master escapes from our hand, and his men are driven past our fifty into +the south, he will ride hard before us into Galway. I see evil in that +first rede of mine, Yellow Brian. I see evil in it--" + +He broke off, staring past Brian with fixed and unseeing eyes, his face +rigid. + +"Turlough, are you mad?" Brian seized the other's shoulder, shaking him +harshly. The old man shivered a little, and sanity came back into his +eyes as they met the icy blue of Brian's. "What daftness is upon you, +man?" + +"I know not, master," whimpered old Turlough feebly. "Do as you will." + +"Then I will to follow your rede, divide my men as you say, and when we +have slain the Dark Master, we will cut off the last of these O'Donnells +of his, ride to Millhaven and take that hold, and send word to the Bird +Daughter that she may keep Bertragh Castle and send Cathbarr north to +me. Now go, and tell a hundred of the men how to ride around this +mountain; then be ready to guide me over it to the Black Tarn." + +"You are a hard man, Yellow Brian," said Turlough, and turned him about +and did as Brian had ordered. + +None the less, Brian gave some thought to that second rede of +Turlough's. He saw clearly enough that with the northern horsemen driven +past, scattered though they might be, they could be cut off to a man if +the Dark Master were slain. But if O'Donnell should escape by some trick +of fate, he could gather up his men and drive south. + +"If he does that, there will be slaying between Sligo and Galway," swore +Brian quickly. "But I cannot see that he will escape me here. When +another day breaks, I shall have won my Spanish blade again--and then +ho! for the Red Hand of Tyr-owen!" + +So Brian laughed and donned his jack and back-piece, while Turlough drew +plans in the snow and showed the leaders of the hundred how to sweep +around without discovery so that they might fall on the northern +horsemen at eve. + +Brian had grown into an older and grimmer man since the day he had stood +beside the bed of Owen Ruadh O'Neill, short though the time had been. +Youth was still in his face when he smiled out, but suffering had +deepened his eyes and sunk his cheeks and drawn the skin tighter over +that powerful jaw of his. When he had armed, he stood in thought for a +little, with hand on jaw in his instinctive gesture, and wakened +suddenly to find old Turlough bending the knee before him. + +"Now I know of what blood you come, Yellow Brian," said the old man +softly. "I saw Hugh O'Neill, the great earl, standing even as you stand +now, on the morning when we slew the English at the Yellow Ford." + +"Man, man!" exclaimed Brian in wonder; "that battle was fought fifty +years ago, and yet you say that you were there?" + +"I was the earl's horse-boy, master." And Brian saw tears on the old +man's beard. "I loved him, and I was at the flight of the earls ten +years after, going with Tyr-owen to Italy, and it was these hands laid +him in his grave, master; master, have faith in me--" + +Brian put down his hands to those of Turlough, his heart strangely +softened. + +"He was my grandfather," he said simply, and Turlough broke down and +wept like a child. + +When they left their horses and the camp behind, Brian followed +Turlough, feeling like a new man. He had lightened his heart of a great +load, and he wished that he had talked of these things with Turlough +Wolf long before this. Now he understood why the old man had offered him +service as he stood in that attitude on the battlements of O'Reilly's +castle after leaving Owen Ruadh, and he understood the love that +Turlough bore him, and the silence the old man had kept on the matter, +though it must have ever been deep in his heart to speak out. + +No more words passed between them, nor did Brian tell Turlough more of +his story until long after; but of this there was no need. As they +climbed higher on the mountain they could see the hundred horsemen +filing off to the eastward; but soon these were lost sight of as +Turlough led Brian and the fifty through the valleys and deep openings, +which were drifted deep in snow, making progress slow and wearisome. + +Indeed, Brian thought afterward that this hard traveling might have been +responsible for what chanced on the other side of the mountain. + +On the higher crests and ridges there was little snow, however, and +Turlough seemed to know every inch of the place by heart, though more +than once Brian gave himself up for lost in the maze of smaller peaks +and the twisted paths they followed. Most of the fifty Turlough had +chosen from those hillmen who had joined Brian by Lough Conn, so that +they were not unused to such climbing, and remained with spirits +unshaken by the vast loneliness that surrounded them, and to which other +men might have succumbed somewhat. + +Brian himself was no little awed by the desolate grandeur of the Stone +Mountain, but he only wrapped his cloak more closely about him, and +swore that the Dark Master should yield up the Spanish blade before many +more hours. + +And so indeed it was done, though not as Brian looked for. + +Until long after noon the band wended their way with great toil and pain +over the flanks of the mountain, until Turlough led Brian out to a point +of black rock and motioned toward the valleys below them. + +"There to the left," he said, "is the valley of the Black Tarn. Do you +see that smoke, Brian, and that dark spot between the trees and the +lake?" + +Brian looked, squinting because of the snow-glare. Leading down from the +side of the mountain itself was a valley--long, and widening gradually +to the plain, where a dark wood swallowed it up. Almost under his feet, +as it were, was a small, round lake deep in the rock, with a small, +frozen-over outlet that was lost in the snow. + +But farther down the valley-slopes there were trees, and among them +horses tethered and a fire strewing smoke on the air close beside. +Between this little wood and the tarn itself there stood a low house of +thatch with smoke also rising from it, and from the other fire among the +trees came a sheen of steel caps and jacks, where were men. + +But to Brian all these things were very small and hard to make out +distinctly, as if he were looking at some carven mimicry, such as +children are wont to use in play. + +"Now come," said Turlough Wolf. "It is no easy task getting there +without being discovered, and the way is long." + +Brian found, indeed, that to avoid being seen from below they must +needs take a roundabout way; but when the afternoon was far spent they +had come to a snow-filled hollow among the rocks which Turlough declared +was just over the edge of that valley-slope where stood the low house. +Turlough said that in his day that house had not stood there, and he +knew nothing of it. + +Since there could be no talk of lighting a fire, Brian's men huddled +together in the hollow, and ate and drank cheerlessly. Brian was minded +to meet the Dark Master and win his Spanish blade with his own hand, so +he ordered that his men pass on after dark and make ready to fall upon +those men who were camped at the wood, but to hold off until he and +Turlough had smitten the Dark Master in that little thatched house, +where he was most like to be found. Turlough yeasaid this plan, for he +trusted greatly to Brian's strength. + +At length they set out under the cold stars, and Brian's men were very +weary, but promised to do all as he had commanded. He and Turlough set +off alone over the hill, and when they had come to the hill-crest after +much toiling through the snow they looked down and found the house a +hundred yards below them. + +"Let us go down cautiously," said Turlough, "for I think we can peer +through the thatch and plan our stroke well." + +So they struck down openly across the hill-slope, and found that there +was none on guard. The door of the house was fast shut, but Turlough +strode cautiously in the trampled snow around the house, where, at the +side, a spark of firelight glittered through the loose thatch. To this +he led Brian, and Brian stooped down and looked through the cranny, +while Turlough went farther and fared as well. + +There was but one room in the hut, and it was well lighted by the fire +that glittered merrily on the hearth. Sitting not far away, but with his +back to Brian, was a man; he sat on a stool, and there seemed to be a +wide earthenware bowl of water or some dark liquid on the floor between +his feet into which he was staring. In his bent-down position his +rounded shoulders stood up stark against the fire, and Brian knew this +was the Dark Master. + +His hand went to the pistol in his belt, but since there was no other +man in the hut, he thought it shame to murder O'Donnell as he sat, and +made up his mind to go around to the door and burst in. He saw his own +great sword slung across the Dark Master's back, but even as he stirred +to rise, O'Donnell's voice came to him, low and vibrant, so that he bode +where he was and listened. + +"I cannot make out the figures," muttered the Dark Master, still staring +down into the bowl of dark water. "The man has the face of Yellow Brian, +yet he is swart; the woman I sure never saw before. _Corp na diaoul!_ +What is the meaning of this? Who stands in my way?" + +Brian paused in no little astonishment, and stole a glance aside to see +old Turlough crossing himself fervently. It struck his mind that he had +chanced on some sorcery here, and, remembering the tales he had heard of +the Dark Master's work, he laughed a little and settled down. He was +minded to see what this thing might be; but he made his pistol ready in +case the magic told O'Donnell of his danger. + +"It is some great man," came the Dark Master's voice again. "There is +something broidered on his-- By my soul, it is the Red Hand of Tyr-owen! +It is The O'Neill himself--the earl-- Is Yellow Brian of his blood, +then?" + +At hearing this Brian crouched closer, in some fear and more wonder. Was +the Dark Master in reality seeing such figures in that water-bowl? Then +the man must be either mad or--or figures were there. Now O'Donnell's +voice rose stronger: + +"Which of these twain stands now in my way? It is not Yellow Brian. Ah, +the earl is slipping away, and the woman is smiling. One of his loves, +belike, for he had many; she is fair, wondrous fair! Ah, what's this?" + +Brian saw the dark figure crouch lower, as if in astonishment. + +"Changing, changing! Is it this woman who stands in my way, then? +Toothless and grinning, crouched low over a stick, rags and tatters and +wisps of gray hair--" + +The Dark Master paused in his jerky speech, stiffened as if in wild +amazement at that which he beheld, and a sudden cry broke from him, +sharp and awestruck: + +"The Black Woman!" + +Then Brian straightened up, feeling Turlough's hand touch his; but for a +space he stood silent while his mind cast out for what the Dark Master's +words meant. + +In a flash it came to him. Through some black dealings O'Donnell had in +truth pictured The O'Neill in that bowl, and with him a woman he had +loved and who loved him; and this was no other than she whom Brian had +known as the Black Woman, now become an old hag indeed, with only the +memories of her fair youth and her love behind her. And this was why she +had recognized him and why she had evidently watched over him since that +first meeting, out of the love she had borne the earl, his grandsire, in +days now buried under many bitter years. + +The two men looked into each other's eyes, and Brian saw that Turlough's +jaw had dropped loosely, and that fright had stricken the old man almost +out of his senses. With that Brian felt his own fear take wings. He +laughed a little as his grip closed on the haft of his ax, and the cold +star-glint seemed to shine back again from his eyes. + +"Bide here if you will," he smiled quietly. "I have my work to do." + +And, turning with the word, he strode quickly to the door, just as there +came a great cry from within the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +BRIAN GETS HIS SWORD AGAIN. + + +Brian pushed the door open, and it gave easily to his fist. Gazing +within he saw the Dark Master standing over the shattered bowl, whose +liquid flowed down toward the hearth and hissed on the embers; plainly, +the Dark Master had seen nothing good in that water, for he had +shattered the bowl with his foot, and his teeth were snarling under his +drooping mustache. + +"I am come," said Brian, laughing grimly as he stood in the doorway. + +O'Donnell whirled, gripping at his sword. + +Now, whether there was magic on the place, as Turlough ever swore, or +whether the opening of the door had made a draft, as Brian thought more +likely, a strange thing happened. + +Brian had raised his pistol in his left hand, meaning to kill the Dark +Master without pity in that first moment. Out of the hearth came a great +swirl of ashes and red embers, flying toward the door and closing around +O'Donnell; as Brian pressed the trigger the ashes smote him in a +blinding swirl, and a harsh laugh answered the roar of the pistol. + +With a curse Brian cleared his eyes of the light ash and reached with +his ax at the dim figure of the Dark Master, nigh hid with ashes and +powder-smoke. From down the vale came other shots and cries, and he knew +his men had struck on that small camp lying there; but at this O'Donnell +gave him other things to think of. + +That was a great fight, for Brian was little used to ax-play and had +much ado to parry the keen thrusts of his own Spanish blade; the roof +was too low to give room for a swing, and when the Dark Master had +lunged him back to the door again, he knew that he had done ill. So with +another bitter curse Brian flung the ax from his hand and ripped out the +long, Irish dagger that hung at his girdle. + +For all his wrath he had taken good heed to fling the ax aright, and the +broad flat of it took the Dark Master full in the chest and bore him +back, reeling and shouting for his men. Before he could recover Brian +leaped at him, caught O'Donnell's sword wrist in his left hand, and +aimed a deadly stroke with his _skean_. + +The blow went true, but the steel turned aside from the Dark Master's +mail-shirt; O'Donnell caught his wrist in turn, and there the two stood +heaving each at the other for a long minute. Brian's eyes struck cold +and hard into the evil features of the Dark Master; the other's breath +came hot on his cheeks, and so beastlike was the man's face that Brian +half expected those snarling teeth to close snapping at his throat. But +the Dark Master was strong, for all his hunched shoulders. + +Then a great flame of vengeance seemed to cleave Brian's soul, and with +a curt laugh he threw out his strength and flung the Dark Master back +bodily so that he fell into the hearth and burst the mud chimney and the +thatched wall behind. Before he could rise again Brian had whipped out +his other pistol and fired; he saw the man's figure writhe aside, then +up through the powder-smoke rose a burning brand that smote him over the +brow heavily. At the same instant the scattered sparks caught the +thatch, and the whole house broke into flame. + +Brian's eyes found the dark figure once more and he rushed forward. At +the broken heap of mud from the chimney his feet struck on the sword, +which had fallen from the Dark Master's hand, and he caught it up with a +cry of joy and bore forward. + +That brief instant of delay lost him his quarry, however. Brian flung +through the shattered wall, with the whole structure flaming up behind +him; he saw a dark figure on the snow and ran at it, only to find +himself striking at Turlough Wolf, and stayed his hand barely in time. + +"Where is he?" he panted hoarsely, looking around with fierce eyes. + +Then he caught the Dark Master's figure running across the snow toward +that camp amid the trees, where fighting was still forward and men were +shouting and firing. Brian rushed off, with Turlough staggering after +him; but with a sob of despairing anger he saw the Dark Master flit into +the trees, and heard his voice ringing at his men. + +It turned out afterward that Brian's fifty men, weary and chilled, had +made a somewhat heartless assault on the score of horsemen camped in the +trees; therefore, instead of carrying O'Donnell's men off their feet and +cutting them down straightway, they were held off for a little. + +The Dark Master knew that he was lost if he stayed long in that place, +however, and when Brian reached the clump of trees he found that he was +too late. With two or three men behind him, O'Donnell had cut through +Brian's men and was galloping away. Brian groaned savagely, leaped at a +mounted man and dragged him from the saddle, and was just springing up +when Turlough caught and stayed him. + +"Wait, master!" panted the old man in desperate fear of the surging men +around him, but in more desperate fear for Brian. "This is madness, for +I ordered our fifty horses fetched around--" + +"Bide here for them, then!" said Brian, and swung up into the saddle. +One of the Dark Master's men barred his way, and Brian's blade went +through his throat; then he was off after the four figures who by now +were far distant toward the dark forest that swallowed up the valley +ahead. + +The cold night air cleared his brain, however, and after a moment he +drew rein with bitterness upon him. Turlough had spoken rightly, for to +ride after those four men with his naked sword alone was in truth +madness. So he came back again to where the last of the hemmed-in +horsemen was being cut out of his saddle, and when his men gathered +about him with a shout, his tongue gave them little joy. + +"You are fools," he said harshly, "for the Dark Master has escaped us. +Take these horses, fifteen of you, and ride. Let five men go to bring in +our horses with all speed, and let ten more scatter out in search of our +hundred men. These are not more than two miles distant, and in an hour I +must ride from here. See to it that you return with the men and horses +by then, or shift for yourselves." + +"That is too much," spoke out a burly fellow angrily. "We have been +climbing all day, and have----" + +Brian said no word, but leaned down from his saddle and his Spanish +blade flickered in the light. The man fell and lay quiet, while the +others drew back in black fear. + +"I am master here," said Brian coldly, when a long instant had passed. +"Go." + +There was no more muttering among his recruits, either then or later. He +dismounted, saw that the O'Donnells had been slain to the last man, and +joined Turlough at the campfire. Food and drink had been found in the +camp, and a flagon of wine heartened Brian greatly. + +"Now give me your rede, Turlough Wolf," he said. "I have failed in this +matter, and it seems that ill shall come of it." + +"So I foretold, master, but we may still remedy the ill if we catch +O'Donnell. I think that by now his horsemen are scattered, and this +burning hut will draw our own men thither. Before midnight they will be +here, and we can ride forth. I think that the Dark Master will gather +what men are left him and strike down for Galway." + +"Two men may ride the same road," quoth Brian grimly, and set his naked +blade in his belt. He saw that before him lay some fighting and much +hard riding, so inside the next hour he had his men full-fed. Before +this was finished the spare horses and those of his men came in, for +Turlough had ordered them to start at noon and ride around in case of +need. + +Brian determined to spare neither men nor horseflesh on that riding, and +when his men were mounted he set out across the night to meet his +hundred, and to hear what had been done at the camp two miles distant. +As the moon was rising he met them; and if he was glad at the meeting, +they were twice glad. + +They had found the camp and had lain off it until after dark as +Turlough had bidden them, the more so since there were two-score over a +hundred men there. But at length they had ridden down as if they were +fresh come from the north, and had twice ridden through the camp before +the O'Donnells were well awake, though it had been sharp work. The +result had been that a score of Brian's men had fallen, they had slain a +full half of the O'Donnells, and the rest had been driven and scattered +southward. Brian's men had plundered their camp and were weary, so that +when they heard of what had chanced at the Black Tarn they were somewhat +less than half willing to ride farther. + +But Brian speedily persuaded them to that course, and Turlough led them +all to the south on the way to Sligo. + +Bitterness and heaviness of heart dwelt deep in Brian that night, and +for some time to come. With the escape of the Dark Master, whether it +had been by magic or craft, all his visions had burst; he must ride away +from the pirate hold at Millhaven, he saw that he would lose many men on +his way south, and yet there lay no choice before him. He had scotched +the snake, and now he must kill it. If the Dark Master reached Galway +town in safety, those O'Donnells from Millhaven would be around by sea +to meet him, and the royalists would lend him men and guns to go against +Bertragh in their cause. + +"Is there any likelihood that the Dark Master will miss those scattered +men of his?" he asked Turlough, who rode on his right hand. + +"Little, master. There is but the one road south to Sligo at this +season, and it is great wonder indeed that the scattered men did not +fall on us at the Black Tarn in seeking their master. But with only +seventy-five men or so I do not think they will bide our coming." + +"Nor do I," and Brian laughed grimly as he thought of that fight with +his enemy. + +Certain men had been wounded in those frays, and he left them to follow +after him, so that he turned south with a hundred and a score men at his +back. He did not think that the Dark Master would face him, but since +those men were all O'Donnells who would obey him utterly, he looked to +have some fighting; in which he was not far wrong. + +An hour after the day was broken they thundered up to the bridge that +spanned the Garravogue, and ten wild and silent men were holding that +bridge behind an overturned cart for barricade. Brian would waste no men +on a storm, but slew six of the men with musketry and rode over the +other four; even so, those four brought down three of his men before +they were done with. + +Brian baited the horses in Sligo, remaining there a scant half-hour. +From the townfolk he learned that the Dark Master was but two hours +ahead of him, and Brian had great hopes of running him to earth that +same day. So he set forth again and they rode hard to Ballsadare, at the +south branch of Sligo Bay, and on to Coolany at the edge of the Storm +Mountains. + +At this latter place they found different work, however, for here was a +small garrison of Cavan pikemen who stopped them, lined with their pikes +three deep across the road before the church. Brian was no long time in +learning that the Dark Master had spread word of him as a plunderer and +Parliament man. + +"I have no time to waste on you," he said shortly to the leader of the +pikemen. "Here is a safe-conduct, and I am Stephen Burke." + +"None the less, you must stay until I have looked into this," said the +other, pulling out his pistol with some determination. + +"Stay I will not, but I think you shall," replied Brian, and thrust as +the man fired. The bullet glanced from his jack, but the officer fell +back among his pikes, and Brian spurred after him in great anger. His +Scots troopers were in the van, or what was left of them, and they came +down galloping, and rode over the pikemen leaving a sea of smitten men +in the roadway behind. + +Also, ten of Brian's men were left. + +By the evening they were back at Tobercurry again, where Turlough had +hung those two men after torturing them. The Dark Master was something +over an hour ahead of them, and he had stayed to fire the church and the +town. Brian's heart was sore for the townfolk, but he could pause no +longer than to bait horses and men, since he looked for hard riding that +night; however, he gave what money and plunder he had to the townfolk +and got a blessing in return, and so rode forth again as the stars +peeped out. + +"There are Maguires in Swineford, master," said old Turlough with a +cunning, sidelong look. + +"I met them coming north," laughed Brian softly. "They will prove good +men to avoid, so I think that we shall ride around that burg." + +Brian thought that he could get through the Maguires, but he intended to +take no chances. However, they had gained to within five miles of +Swineford and had halted to blow the horses, when one of the scouts came +riding back to say that a score of farmers with three carts were +approaching from the town. + +Presently they came on them--a black mass swinging down the road, which +was very boggy on either hand. Neither Brian nor Turlough smelt any ill +in this until they were within a hundred paces of the party, when +suddenly the carts were swung across the road and a score of muskets +spat death into Brian's men. + +"Back!" shouted Brian, when his men would have charged. "We have no time +and lives to waste on this party--what shall we do, Turlough? The fields +are all bog." + +"We cannot well ride around," said Turlough, when they had ridden back a +little, leaving dead men on the road. "But a little way back is a path +that leads out and around Swineford. Put ten men here to keep these +O'Donnells from following us, and we will make a short cut to the Moy +near Kiltanmugh. It was a clever trick, this!" + +It was indeed, and it had cost Brian a round score of men, so that he +followed Turlough out into the open land with less than a hundred men +behind him. His fury abated before dawn, when they had splashed across +the Moy and came upon the road once more, but he saw that the O'Donnells +were willing enough to die if the Dark Master might escape, and he +became more cautious. + +When the night fell again they were far south of Claremorris, but a +score of horses had foundered and he was forced to leave more men +behind. Until evening Turlough led him at a distance from the main +roads, then they struck into good riding again and save for one detour +to avoid Tuam would have a clear road between themselves and Galway, +which Brian meant to reach before dawn unless his own horse foundered +with the rest. + +Of the Dark Master they heard nothing until they were fording the Clare +north of Tuam, when two men gave them word that a scant half-hour before +some two-score horsemen had fled past them toward Tuam. + +"Good!" cried Brian. "Now, Turlough, lead us around Tuam, and I think we +shall finish this thing long before the day comes." + +Said Turlough sourly, "Every horse down is a man gone, master," but to +that Brian only laughed and set in his spurs. + +So now they let gallop through the darkness, trusting more to Turlough's +wits than to their horses' feet; for Brian knew that if his own beasts +were spent, those of the Dark Master were no better unless he were to +get mounts at Tuam. That would be hard, however, for there were no +horses to be had save far in the mountains where the war had not swept +all things away. + +No sooner had they reached the road again beyond Tuam than it seemed to +Brian that he heard the faint drum of hoofs ahead of him, and at that he +gave a shout and drove on with such of his men storming behind as might +come. Many of them had gone down, indeed, but now all wakened from their +nodding sleep and kept close, though here and there one dropped out. +Turlough, whose steed had been the best of all save Brian's, kept at his +master's flank. + +They were hard on Claregalway when Brian saw his quarry first--a deep +mass of men far ahead on an open stretch of road. Then he knew that the +race was nearly won, and for all that his beast was sobbing under his +thighs, he raced ahead, and laughed out loud when a little band cut off +from the main body of the Dark Master's men. There were fifteen or less +who waited his coming with pistols ready, but Brian rode hardily at +them, their balls whistled overhead or past, and he was on them. + +The shock of the meeting came near to unseating him, and sent one of the +foe sprawling, horse and man; Brian cut another to the chin and thrust +the life from a third, and before the first sword had slithered on his +steel-cap his men had swept aside the devoted fifteen, and he was riding +on. O'Donnell had straightened his party for nothing. + +Now the Dark Master was riding for his life, and knew it. Some few of +his men fell out with spent beasts, and these Brian's party rode over, +taking and giving but one blow, or none at all. When Claregalway drew up +ahead, cold and gray under the stars, Brian was but two hundred yards +behind with forty men still behind him, while O'Donnell had not half so +many. + +As he thundered down to the river Brian had drawn as much ahead of +Turlough and the others as he was behind the Dark Master. He shouted +back to those of his men whose matches were lit to loose off their +muskets, but before the first pan had flashed out he saw the O'Donnells +draw rein and wheel at the bridge-head, while two of their number drove +clattering on into the town. + +Now, had Brian chosen to wait for his men things would have fallen out +differently; but this he would not do, for he thought to break through +these as he had done with the others. So he went at them with naked +sword, his heart raging within him and his face set and cold like stone. +He was still fifty paces from the bridge-head when their pistols +spattered out; the men behind dared not fire for fear of hitting him, so +that Brian had all the fight for himself. + +He came near to having none, for at that first discharge a pistol-ball +split his jack and lodged in his buff-coat over his heart, while another +came between his arm and his side, drawing blood a little from both; +while a third and worse went into his horse between the fore shoulders. +Brian felt the poor beast falter shudderingly, and pause; then the +O'Donnells shouted greatly and closed about him, thinking to slay him +before his men could come up. + +Brian saw a long _skean_ plunge into his horse's neck, and in terrible +anger he smote with the edge, so that a hand and arm hung down from the +dagger, a ghastly thing to see. But the poor steed was dead with that +blow, and Brian had but time to fling himself headlong ere the horse +rolled over. + +The leap saved his life, for the O'Donnells were striking fast at him. +Brian rose up between two of them, dragged one down with his left hand +and thrust the other under the arm, and tried to leap up into the +saddle. But as he did so his own men struck, so that the horses were +swept together and pinned Brian's legs between them, and he hung +helpless. + +In that instant he saw an ax swinging above him and flung back his head, +but not enough, for the ax fell, and Brian went down under the horses. + +Save for three of his men who saw the thing and stood over him, Brian +would have been trampled to death on the spot. These O'Donnells were no +loose fighting-men, and they smote shrewdly against the press of +Brian's greater numbers, while their wild cry rose high over the shrill +of steel. When Brian's men knew that he was down, however, they struck +such blows as they knew not they had in them, and quarter was not asked +or offered in that battle by the bridge. + +The fight was not ended until the last O'Donnell went down in a swirl +and clash of steel. Then Turlough, who had kept well out of it according +to his wont, pushed through and fell upon Brian's body. When Brian +opened his eyes his head was still ringing, while his men were bathing +him with water. After an instant he sat up and gazed around. + +"The Dark Master--did you catch him?" + +"Nay, our thought was all for you, master," answered Turlough. + +Brian groaned in great bitterness, but said no word. He knew that his +chance was gone from him for that time, and as he looked around his +heart sank within him. Half of his men had slipped down and lay sleeping +among the dead, and the rest could scarce stay in their saddles for +weariness and lack of sleep. But Turlough sprang up and gazed at the +graying sky with fear in his face. + +"Up, master!" he cried fiercely. "We must still ride hard, for the Dark +Master will send out a troop of horse from Galway to catch us, and we +must get past that town before the sun is high!" + +So the sleeping were roused in haste, the wounded were put in saddle, +and with their beasts staggering under them, those that were left of +Brian's men closed around him and rode over the bridge through +Claregalway. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +BRIAN GOES A CRUISING. + + +Above the head of Bertraghboy Bay there was a swooping curve in the hill +road. It was at this same curve that Brian Buidh had first met the Dark +Master, and it was here he had set that trap which had won him tribute +for the Bird Daughter. When first he had ridden that road Brian had had +a score of lusty men at his back; on the second occasion he had headed a +hundred and four-score; but when he drew rein there a week after that +fight at Claregalway bridge there was with him only old Turlough Wolf, +and their horses were sorry skeletons like themselves. + +"We are somewhat worse than when we twain started out together," laughed +Brian bitterly. "Then we had full bellies at the least, but now we have +naught." + +"There are men coming, master," said Turlough, hanging weakly to his +saddle. "I think they are our castle watchers." + +Very gaunt was Brian that day, and nigh spent with his wounds and hunger +and weariness. During the week that had passed since the Dark Master +slipped away from him, nothing but evil had come upon him. + +First they had tried to slip past to the north of the city, and had +reached the Lough Corrib River, and could even faintly hear the bells of +St. Nicholas below, when a half-troop of horse fell upon them. Then in +desperation Brian's men smote for the last time, and put the royalists +to flight; but there Brian lost the most of his men. However, he got +fresh horses, and so fled eastward again when more men were seen +approaching. + +What chanced in the six days following is not fully set forth, for Brian +got little glory from it. One by one he lost his men, and at length was +forced north again to the shores of Lough Corrib, with men riding hot +and fast to catch him. With Turlough Wolf alone left to him, he had made +shift to cross the lake in a leaky fisherman's boat, the horses swimming +behind, and so came into the O'Flahertys' country. + +There word had also gone forth against him, but because of the pact +between them, Murrough of the Kine sped him in peace through Iar +Connaught, and at length Brian had won home again with joyless heart. + +As Turlough said, men were coming, and they were Brian's own men who +watched the roads. From them he got food and wine and two fresh horses, +and with the afternoon they rode down to Bertragh in worse shape than +they had ridden from it. Brian was the less heartened when he saw two of +Nuala O'Malley's ships in the bay, and knew that she must be at the +castle. + +Indeed, before they reached the gates the Bird Daughter rode out to meet +them, with Cathbarr striding before her. When the woman saw Brian's face +her violet eyes filled with tears, and when he dismounted and kissed her +hand and would have spoken, she stayed him. + +"Nay, we know enough of the story for now, Brian. First rest and eat, +then talk." + +Brian guessed straightway that pigeons had come from her men in Galway +telling of those ridings about the city, and that she had come over to +Bertragh in anxiety; and this was the truth indeed. + +Turlough Wolf hied him away and slept, but Brian sat about a table in +the hall with Cathbarr and Nuala. He was very worn and weary, but when +he had eaten and drunk he refused to sleep yet a while, and told how +that storm had fared north and what had come of it. + +"So I have lost a hundred and fifty hard-won men," he concluded +gloomily. "I would not grudge them if the Dark Master had fallen, but he +is in Galway, and the Millhaven pirates will be down to meet him, and +that means war on Bertragh." + +"I will be glad of that," said Cathbarr simply. "I am sound again and +have been sharpening up this ax of mine." + +Nuala smiled and put her hand across the table to lay it on Brian's. + +"Success would be of little worth, Yellow Brian," she said softly, and +her eyes steadied him, "if it were won without reverses. Few men have +the luck to win always, and a touch of defeat is not an ill thing, +perhaps. When we had this news of you from Galway, a week since, I sent +off a galley to find Blake at the Cove of Cork and seek aid of him. Also +my kinsmen will return to Gorumna before going home to Erris, and we are +not in hard case here. So now get rested, Brian Buidh, and afterward we +will see what may be done. Those Millhaven men have not yet passed +Erris, or I would have word of it by pigeon, so they have doubtless +delayed to plunder in Sligo or Killala." + +Brian looked into her eyes, and from that moment he began to put behind +him all thoughts of capturing that Millhaven castle for himself or of +placing himself out of touch with Nuala O'Malley. He went to his chamber +as she bade, and slept that night and the next day and the night after, +waking on the second morning still empty of sleep and seeming more weary +than when he had laid down. + +This was but seeming, however, and when he had bathed and eaten he felt +more like himself than for many a day. + +Cathbarr had departed at dawn with a wagon-load of powder to trade for +kine with his O'Flaherty kinsmen in the hills, and before Brian had +broken his fast one of the galleys from Gorumna came over with three +pigeons for Nuala. The cage was brought to her as she sat at meat with +Brian in the hall, and she opened the tiny messages with all the +delighted anticipation of a girl. + +"This is from that galley I sent to Cork," she exclaimed, laying down +the first. "It merely reports safe arrival and the delivery of my letter +to Blake, who is leaving there before long. Now for the--ah!" + +"Good news or bad?" smiled Brian easily, as animation flashed into her +face. She looked up at him with a rippling laugh. + +"Both, Brian! This is from Erris, and says that the O'Donnell seamen +have made a landing at Ballycastle under Downpatrick Head, and will +likely put to sea again in a day or two. They will give Erris a wide +berth, never fear, and that means that they will make no pause until +they come to Galway." + +The third message was from Galway itself, and said that the Dark Master +was biding the coming of those Millhaven men, and had been promised both +horsemen and shot if they came, so that Bertragh might be taken and held +for Ireland against the Parliament. + +"It is not taken yet," laughed Nuala as old Turlough came shuffling up, +and they gave him the sele of the day merrily enough. "You had best keep +these birds, Brian, so that if there is any need you may send me +messages to Gorumna. Now, shall we bide here until the Dark Master comes +against us?" + +"I thought you were going to take me cruising with you?" smiled Brian, +but at that Turlough struck in and asked what the messages were. When he +had heard them he stood pulling at his gray beard for a little, then +turned to Brian. + +"How is your body, master?" + +"Well enough," said Brian, feeling his head. "Save for this beard, which +now I may not cut for a time." + +He intended to abide by that oath of his, and so his beard was growing +out and his hair as well, of which latter he was glad. + +Since he had ever kept his face clean shaven, however, the beard was not +to his liking. He was quite unaware that it built out his face greatly +and made him grimmer-looking than before, and yet so young were his blue +eyes except when he was in anger that it was not hard for Nuala to +believe that he was only two years older than herself. + +None the less, she made great sport of his beard, saying that it curled +at the end like a drake's tail, as indeed it did; and as Brian only +repaid her laughter with the open wonder and admiration that he held for +her, there was great good-comradeship between them. + +"There is still one chance for stopping the Dark Master," said Turlough +thoughtfully. "If we cut off those pirate ships on their way south he is +not like to get much help from Galway." + +"Oh--and I never thought of it!" cried Nuala, staring at him. + +Turlough chuckled. "That was spoken like a woman, mistress! If the rede +seems good we could lay aboard men from here for fighting, and sail out +with those two ships of yours." + +Now Brian's heart filled with new hope, and after no long discussion +they decided to adopt the plan. Nuala was of the opinion that a short +cruise would do Brian great good, so they decided to set off that +evening in her two ships, leaving Turlough to keep the castle against +Cathbarr's return. + +Had they taken Turlough Wolf with them or had Brian been less +close-mouthed on his return from that cruise, the evil that befell might +have been averted. The old man was cunning and swift at piercing beneath +the craft of other men and turning it back upon themselves; but as +Brian's mind lost its bitterness at his own failure it gained joy at +being with the Bird Daughter, while Nuala had no less friendship and +liking for him, so that neither of them gave much thought to O'Donnell +Dubh who lay in Galway and bided his time after his own fashion. + +Once having reached their decision, they hastened it somewhat and sent +men and muskets aboard the two ships at noon. Nuala wished to sail first +to Gorumna Castle and make all safe there, then reach back for Slyne +Head. She proposed that Brian take one carack and she the other, but at +this Brian laughed. + +"No, lady--I am no seaman, and I am your guest on this cruise, so I go +with you." + +"Well, you shall have good guesting," she answered, flushing a little, +but her eyes not flinching from his, and so they went aboard her ship +together. + +Having two hundred men still, Brian had put fifty on each ship in case +they met with those pirates, who were like to give good battle. Also +Turlough had hopes that many of Brian's men would win home from that +riding of his yet, since a large part of them had dropped out by the way +or had been left behind with wounds. And in the end, indeed, fifty or +less did find their way back. + +Before night they made Gorumna Castle, and Brian found why they had come +here first. With her Kerry recruits, Nuala had a hundred and eighty men, +so she had set to work to build a tower and small keep on the opposite +island, that Gorumna itself might be more easily defended. Also she had +taken some falconets and two bastards out of a large French ship, and +had set about building a battery outside the castle that would overlook +the harbor. + +"That will be better than good when it is done," said Brian approvingly. +"But you had best get it done speedily. When we come back from this +cruise you shall take this hundred men of mine, for I will not need them +until the Dark Master comes, and of that we shall have good warning." + +This she was glad of, and she was glad because Brian had found her work +well planned; nor did either of them suspect what grief that loan of a +hundred men was to bring upon Brian. + +They paused only to sup at Gorumna, then set forth again, and by dawn +were off Slyne Head with a light breeze behind them. Nuala would take no +chance of missing those Millhaven men, so instead of going north among +the islands she turned her ships and beat off Slyne all that day, seeing +no sail save fishing-craft. + +Those were pleasant hours for Brian, for the sea was fair and he had +naught to do but sit with the Bird Daughter. He found himself drawn ever +closer to her, admiring her wit and fairness as he did, and he fancied +that she was by no means unwilling to talk with him and open her mind +as she did to few men. Yet he remembered that he was no more than her +vassal, a landless man in truth. + +That night the two caracks separated, standing well off the land and +keeping good watch, but no sign did they catch of the O'Donnell pirates. +Toward morning a stiff wind came upon them from the west, and Brian's +men, being all landsmen, got no great joy out of that cruise. + +"This wind is like to hold," said Nuala, laughing as she stood on the +poop with Brian that morning and watched the decks. "I am afraid that we +might as well give over this attempt, Brian. Your men will be in no +shape to fight. What think you?" + +"Right," nodded Brian slowly, for he saw that those men of his were +worse than useless with their sickness. + +So they turned about and drove before the wind, but before ever they had +got past Slyne Head the men aloft descried a sail to the south that +seemed like a large galley. Nuala signaled the other carack to bear down +with her, and presently they made out that it was a large sailing +galley, which headed straight for them. + +"That is none of my ships," exclaimed Nuala, watching. "It seems strange +that she does not flee before us, Brian. She bears no ensign, yet she +must be from these parts, and would naturally have some fear of +pirates." + +Brian looked at her rather than the ship, and thought her a fine +picture, with her body swinging a little to the sway of the deck and the +wind blowing her red cloak around her. The galley came straight for them +as if seeking speech, however, and when a falconet was fired from the +carack without charge, she lowered her sail and put out her sweeps, +coming straight for them. + +Nuala sped a word to her sailing-master, and the men let down the sails +with shouting and great creaking of ropes. The Bird Daughter stood under +the high poop bulwark, and now she turned to Brian. + +"Do you speak with them and find their business, for it seems to me that +all is not as it should be, and they would likely know me too well." + +Brian nodded, and when the galley had come under their lee he saw that +she was well laden, and had for crew a dozen rough-looking men. One of +these replied to his hail. + +"We are come from Galway, lord, with a gift of stores and wines from +O'Donnell Dubh to certain friends of his whom we came to meet. Are you +those friends, as we think?" + +Brian started in surprise, but needed no word from Nuala. He saw that +the Dark Master must have sent this galley out to meet the Millhaven +men, and that the crew had taken the two caracks for those pirate ships. + +"We are the O'Donnells from Millhaven," he shouted, and ordered the +seaman to cast down ropes to the galley. Her master, a stout man with +bushy black beard, waved a hand in reply, and after another moment the +two craft ground together. The master of the galley got aboard over the +low waist of the carack, and Brian ordered a dozen of his own +green-faced men down into the smaller ship. At this the galley's master +stared somewhat, but came up to the poop. + +"Lord, O'Donnell sends you these stores with a message. I am Con Teague +of Galway." + +"Let us have it," ordered Brian, liking the looks of the man not at all. + +"He bade us say that he was leaving Galway to-morrow at dawn with a +force of men, and that you should meet him at Bertragh Castle and fall +on that place to take it." + +"That is good," laughed Brian. "Now learn that you have found the wrong +ships, my man. We are not the Millhaven pirates, but I am Brian Buidh, +who holds Bertragh; and here is the Lady Nuala, for whom I hold it." + +At that Nuala came forward, and Teague looked greatly astonished, as +well he might, and all the Bird Daughter's men fell roaring with +laughter. But he could make no resistance, and stood chapfallen while +Brian talked with Nuala. + +"I must back to the Castle," he said, "and see if this news be true. Do +you go on to Gorumna with my men, and I will let loose a pigeon to you. +If the Dark Master is indeed on the way, then come with all the men you +can spare, and it will go hard if we do not best his royalists, and the +pirates later when the latter come." + +This was clearly the best plan, so Brian sent Teague down into the +galley and followed him, as the light ship was faster than the caracks. +Replacing half of Teague's men with O'Malleys, he had the ropes cast +off, waved his hand at Nuala, and they drove to the eastward and +Bertragh Castle. + +Teague made so much moan over losing his ship that Brian promised it +back to him when they had reached the castle; the stores and wine, +however, he accounted good spoils of war. This put the seaman in better +mood, and by noon the fast galley had covered the twenty miles to +Bertragh, and cast down her anchor in the little bay beyond the castle, +that same bay where Brian had come to grief through O'Donnell's sorcery. + +The men crowded down to meet him joyfully, and Brian found that Cathbarr +had come home safe with his beeves and was hungry for fight. No sign had +been heard of the Dark Master along the roads, however, so Brian set +Turlough in charge of getting the stores and wine-casks off the galley, +and fell to work putting the castle in shape for defense. + +Since there was no need of loosing a pigeon until word came that the +Dark Master was actually on the way, he sent out men to have a beacon +built on the hills at the bay's head as soon as the enemy was sighted. +What with seeing that the bastards and other shot were cleaned and +loaded, and stationing his hundred men to the best advantage, he found +that the afternoon soon wore away. + +"Those are good wines," said Turlough when they sat at meat that +evening, the men eating below in the courtyard around fires. "But I do +not like that ship-master." + +So far Brian had said nothing of how the galley had been taken, save +that they had chanced on it at sea and had heard from Teague that the +Dark Master might be on them in another day. As for the O'Malleys, they +kept to themselves and talked not at all, so that neither Turlough nor +Cathbarr had heard the way of that capture. + +"Is she unladen?" asked Brian. + +"All save a few barrels. That ship-master was so eager to be off," +grunted old Turlough spitefully, "that I stayed the work and put a guard +on the galley until morning." + +"Give the men a cask of the best wine," ordered Brian shortly. + +Having taken upon himself the duties of seneschal, Turlough departed +grumbling. While he was gone, Brian's tongue was a little loosened with +wine, so that he told Cathbarr of how he had taken the galley, at which +the giant bellowed with laughter. Presently from the courtyard came +shouting and singing, and Turlough appeared with a beaker of wine. + +"The men like it well enough," he said, "yet to me it seems soured. +Taste it, Brian; if it be so, then you have made a poor haul on that +cruise." + +Brian sipped the wine, and in truth it seemed to have soured. Cathbarr +made little of that, and would have drunken it except that his clumsy +hand knocked it from the table and emptied it all. But as it happened, +that mischance saved his life. + +A little after, Brian pulled out a Spanish pipe he had got that day from +one of the O'Malleys, with some tobacco, and began puffing in great +good-humor, for it was long since he had tasted tobacco. Cathbarr +watched in awe, never having seen this done before, so that Brian and +Turlough had great fun with him. All his life the giant had lived in the +mountains and he knew no more than his ax had taught him; though he had +seen men smoke before, he had ever accounted it sorcery of some kind, +nor could Brian get him to as much as touch the pipe with his finger. + +Brian was sorry that the wine had proved sour; the butts were huge ones, +and he had counted on their lasting him and his men all the winter +through. However, he dismissed the matter from his mind and fell to +talking with Turlough and Cathbarr over their arrangements in case of an +attack. In the midst, one of the men who had been watching from the +tower ran in to say that he had caught sight of a beacon on the hills, +which meant that the arch-enemy was on the road. + +"Good!" exclaimed Brian, springing up. "Turlough, go fetch me that cage +of pigeons. Cathbarr, see that the men are set on the walls--" + +He had got no further than this when there came a strange noise from the +doorway. Turning, he saw a man staggering forward, choking as he came, +and recognized him as one of the Bird Daughter's seamen. The fellow held +a bloody sword in his hand. + +"What's this?" cried Brian angrily, noting that there was silence upon +the court-yard. "Has there been wrangling again--" + +"Death!" coughed the O'Malley, staring at him with starting, terrible +eyes. "Con Teague--I slew him--too--too late--" + +"Man, what is forward?" Brian leaped out and caught the seaman in his +arms, for the fellow's head was rolling on his shoulders. + +"Death!" whispered the man again. "They are--all dead--" + +His head fell back in death, and the sword fell from his hand with a +clatter. But from Cathbarr, who had gone to the doorway, came one +terrible shout of grief and rage. + +"Brian! Our men lie dead--" + +"I think the Dark Master has sent us a kindly gift," quoth Turlough +Wolf, as Brian rose with horror in his face and let the seaman's body +fall. "Now I know why that wine was sour, master!" + + +TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK. Don't forget this magazine is issued weekly, +and that you will get the conclusion of this story without waiting a +month. + + + + +Nuala O'Malley + +by H. Bedford-Jones + +Author of "Malay Gold," "The Ghost Hill," "John Solomon, Supercargo," +etc. + + +This story began in the All-Story Weekly for December 30. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +BRIAN YIELDS BERTRAGH. + + +"I dare not trust birds alone in this strait, Cathbarr. Go to that +galley with the two O'Malleys and hasten to Gorumna. Bid the Bird +Daughter stay and wait further word from me; but take those hundred men +of mine with her galleys, and hasten back. If the beacon on the tower is +burning, I will be here; if not, and if I can make terms, I will meet +you at that tower of yours. Now hasten!" + +"But--" + +"For God's love go, or my heart will burst!" + +Brian sank down on the horse-stone with a groan, and Cathbarr, catching +up his ax, fled through the open gates and was gone into the night. +Brian gazed up after him, and on the hills he saw that dim beacon-fire +heralding the Dark Master. + +The six men guarding the galley, two of them being O'Malleys, and three +men who had watched on the tower, were all that remained alive in +Bertragh besides Turlough and Brian. The men had drunk deep of that +poisoned wine; when Con Teague and his men tried to get away after a few +had died, they were slain. But so swift was the poison that only one of +the O'Malleys had lived to reach Brian. + +The fires still burned brightly, and before some of them meat was +burning. Sitting in blank despair on a horse-block, Brian saw the dead +bodies of a few less than a hundred men lying there. Turlough Wolf and +his six gave over trying to put life into any of them, and now the old +man came and put his hand on Brian's shoulder. + +"Where has Cathbarr of the Ax gone, master?" + +Brian told him dully, and Turlough nodded approval, having at length +learned all the story of how that galley had been taken. + +"Master, there was deep cunning in this. O'Donnell sent that galley to +you, or, rather, to the Bird Daughter, and he had spies watching. Had +the Gorumna men drunk of that brew, he would have fallen on there; but +here came the galley, and now he comes over the hills. And we are few to +meet him." + +"We will be more when the men come in from the hill-roads before him," +and Brian rose up with heavy heart, forcing himself to the task. "Send +out a man to haste them in and to warn what men there be at the farms. +Also let him send a wagon or two, that these dead may be carried out +before the Dark Master falls on us. Send two men to the tower to build a +beacon, for Cathbarr will not be back before to-morrow night." + +Brian went to the stables where the three carrier-pigeons were caged, +and fetched the cage to the great hall. Here he wrote what had happened, +with his plan, in small space, fastened it under the wing of a bird, and +let loose the pigeon from the courtyard. + +Stunned though he was by the sudden and terrible blow, Brian had seized +on the only course left him. If he could make shift to hold the castle +at all, he would do so; if not, he must make terms and get off to +Gorumna that he might take vengeance for this dastardly stroke that had +been dealt him. + +Nuala had nigh three hundred men in her castle, and he felt that all was +not yet lost, even should he have to yield Bertragh. The Dark Master +would hardly have a large force with him, and he would know nothing of +those hundred men Brian had loaned Nuala; so Brian reckoned that if he +could get away, O'Donnell would think him a broken man who could do no +further against him. + +"Well, that's looking too far ahead," thought Brian very wearily. +"Perchance I am broken, indeed, since I have lost two hundred and a half +of men without gain." + +An hour later rode in a score of men with wagons, and fell to work +getting the dead out of the castle, though for burying there was no +time. This score, and two more who came in later, were all the men left +to Brian; they reported that the Dark Master would be on them by +daybreak, with two hundred Scots troopers and one horse cannon. + +"His friends proved niggardly, then," laughed Brian drearily. "We have +but to hold the place till to-morrow night, friends, and the O'Malleys +will relieve us. Now, one man to watch and the rest of us to rest, for +there is work ahead." + +Brian, indeed, got some sleep that night, but it was shot through with +visions of those poisoned men of his, and their twisted faces gibbered +at him, and he thought they shrieked and howled for revenge. When he was +roused at dawn, he found the meaning of those noises, since a great +storm was sweeping down out of the west, and the farther wore the day, +the worse grew the storm. + +"Is Heaven itself fighting against us?" he thought bitterly, watching +the sea from the battlements. "Against this blast Nuala cannot reach me, +if she will." + +He got little time to brood, however. Before he had broken his fast the +Dark Master's horsemen came in sight--two hundred braw Scots, with +wagons and a cannon following after. It was no large force, but Brian +found afterward that it was the best the Dark Master could get, since +the Galway Irish cared nothing whether the Scots lived or died. + +They halted and spread out, half a mile from the castle, and Brian saw +that the men were being quartered on the farms round about. Bitterly he +wished that he had his lost men, for with them he could have sent those +Scots flying home again; but now he was helpless. + +With the gates shut and the bastards loaded with bullets to sweep the +approach, Brian sent his twenty men to the battlements and watched, with +Turlough beside him. It was plain that no offensive operations were +under way as yet, and an hour passed quietly; then ten men rode down to +the castle under a white flag, and foremost of them was the Dark Master. + +"Now, if I were in your place, master," said Turlough, slanting his eyes +up at Brian in his shrewd way, "I would loose those bastards and sweep +the road bare." + +"You are not in my place," said Brian, and the Wolf held his peace. + +The Dark Master looked at those bodies piled between the castle and the +shore, and it was easy to see that he was laughing and pointing them out +to the Scots. At that Brian heard his men mutter no little, and he +himself clenched his nails into his palms and cursed bitterly; but he +forbade his men to fire and they durst not disobey him. The party rode +up under the walls, and the Dark Master grinned at Brian standing above. + +"You have great drunkards, Yellow Brian," he called mockingly. "Have all +your men drunk themselves to death?" + +Brian answered him not, but fingered his hilt; even at that distance the +Dark Master seemed to feel the icy blue eyes upon him, for his leer +vanished. + +"Yield to us, Yellow Brian," he continued, shooting up his head from +betwixt his shoulders. "I do not think you have many men in that +castle." + +"I have enough to hold you till more come," answered Brian. + +"Mayhap, and mayhap not," and O'Donnell laughed again. "Keep a watch to +seaward, Yellow Brian, and when you see four sail turning the headland, +judge if those two caracks of the Bird Daughter's are like to help you." + +"If you have no more to say, get you gone," said Brian, feeling the +anger in him rising beyond endurance. The Dark Master looked along the +walls for a moment, then signed to his men, and they rode off through +the driving snow again. + +Turlough looked at Brian and Brian at him, and the same thought was in +the minds of both. If those Millhaven men had four ships driving down +before that storm, as seemed probable enough, the Bird Daughter's two +little caracks would never land men under the guns of Bertragh. + +About noon the snow fell less thickly, though the storm had risen to +great power, and Brian made out that the Scots were bringing forward +that cannon of theirs. Having some little knowledge of artillery +himself, he drew the charge of bullets from a bastard and put in more +powder, then put the bullets back, a full bag of them. He did the same +with two more of the bastards on that wall, and when the Scots had +halted aimed all three very carefully, and set men by them to fire at +his order. The Scots were turning their cannon about, a score of men +being in their party, and Brian judged that they were eight hundred +paces away--just within range of his bastards. + +"The Dark Master lost this hold because he had too many men," he said to +Turlough, "and we shall lose it because we have too few; but we will +make better use of these shot than did he. Fire, men!" + +The three men brought down their linstocks and ran for it, having seen +that extra charge of powder set in the cannon. But none of the pieces +burst, though they roared loud enough and leaped at their recoil-ropes +like mad things. When the white smoke shredded down the wind, Brian's +men yelled in great delight, for those Scots and horses about the cannon +were stricken down or fleeing, and the piece had not yet been loaded. + +"They will get little joy of that cannon," said Brian grimly, and went +in to meat. + +During the rest of the day the cannon stood there silent, dead horses +and men around it; nor was any further attack made. Brian knew well that +having found him prepared, the Dark Master would now attack at night and +hard did Brian pray that the storm might abate from the west, or at +least shift around, so that Nuala's ships could come to his aid. + +Instead, the gale only swooped down the wilder, and seemed like to hold +a day or more, as indeed it did. About mid-afternoon Turlough came and +beckoned him silently out to the rear or seaward battlement and pointed +out. + +No words passed between the two men, nor were any needed; beating around +the southern headland were four flecks of white that Brian knew for +ships coming from the west with the storm, and he saw that for once the +Dark Master had told the truth. + +"I have some skill at war," he said to Turlough that afternoon when they +had seen the four ships weather past them and anchor a mile up the bay; +"and since the Dark Master's troopers are also skilled at that game, +they will fall to work without waste of time or men. We may look to have +the dry moat filled with fascines to-night and our gates blown in with +petards. At the worst, we can hold that tower, where the powder is +stored." + +If he had had more men, Brian would have slung the bastards down from +the high walls and set them in the courtyard where they could sweep the +gates when these had been blown in. But they weighed a ton and half +each, and there was no time to build shears to let them down, even had +they had spars and ropes at hand. So Brian set them to cover the +approach, and had the smaller falcons brought down to the courtyard, all +five, where he trained them on the gates and loaded them with bullets +heavily. + +"Turlough and I will fire these ourselves," he told his men that evening +as they made supper together, the men looking forward to the night's +work with great joy. "Do the rest of you gather on either hand by the +stables, with spare muskets and pistols." + +So this was done as he said. Because of the storm Brian did not light +his beacon after all, but he stocked the tower with food and wine, and +told his men to get there, if they could, when the rest was taken. That +tower had Brian's chamber in the lower part and a ladder in the upper +part, where was great store of powder. + +The five falcons were set in front of the hall doorway, where once Brian +had come near to being nailed. Brian loosed another of the pigeons, +telling Nuala how things chanced, and of the four pirate ships, and set +the last bird in the tower in case of need, which proved a lucky thing +for him in the end. + +Brian and his men slept after meat, while Turlough Wolf remained +watching. It was wearing well on to midnight when the old man woke them +all, and Brian went to the walls to hear a thud of hoofs and a murmur of +men coming across the wind to him. He sent off men to loose the loaded +guns on the outer walls at random, and then suddenly flung lighted +cressets over the gates. + +A wild yell answered this, and bullets from the men who were filling the +dry moat, while others scrambled across it and charged up to the gates +with small powder-kegs and petards ready. This was not done without +scathe, however; Brian's men loosed their muskets, and one by one the +heavy bastards thundered out across the snow, though the result was hard +to see in the darkness. + +There came a ragged flash of musketry in reply, and that abandoned +cannon roared out lustily, though its ball passed far overhead. Brian +stood on a demi-bastion that half flanked the gates, and after firing +his pistol into the men below, he leaped down the steps into the +courtyard and joined Turlough behind the falcons. + +"One at a time, Turlough. They'll have the gates down in a minute." + +While he waited for the storm to fall, Brian saw that two or three of +his men had been hit. He wondered dully that the Dark Master had not +made a general assault, and concluded that he must wish to save men. It +was a long moment that dragged down on him; then a splash of light burst +up, the gates were driven inward and shattered, and with a great roar +there fell a rain of riven beams and stones and dirt. + +Sheltering in the hall doorway, Brian and Turlough stayed unmoving +through an instant of black silence. Out of it broke a wild Scots yell, +and in the light of the courtyard cressets a wave of men surged up in +the breach. Brian's linstock fell on a falcon, and the little gun barked +a hail of bullets across the Scots; Turlough's gun followed suit, and +the first lines of men went down in a struggling mass. + +The Dark Master was not to be beaten this time, however. Another wave of +Scots swept up, with a mass of men behind them. While some of Brian's +men tried to get the two falcons reloaded, a storm of bullets swept +across the courtyard, and Brian saw Turlough turn and run for it through +the doorway, while two of the men fell over a falcon. + +But as the first line of men broke into the courtyard, Brian fired the +remaining three cannon as fast as he could touch linstock to powder. The +bullet-hail tore the front ranks to shreds, but through the darkling +smoke-cloud he saw other men come leaping, and knew that the game was +up. + +On the next instant his men had closed around him, muskets were stabbing +the powder-smoke, and Brian fell to work with his Spanish blade. +O'Donnells and Scots together heaved up against them, but Brian's point +weaved out between cutlas and claymore and bit out men's lives until +the mass of men surged back again like the backleash of a wave that +comes against a wall. + +Brian heard the Dark Master's voice from somewhere, and with that +muskets spat from the gloom and bullets thudded around him. One slapped +his steel cap away and another nicked his ear, and a third came so close +across his eyes that he felt the hot breath of it; but his men fared in +worse case than that, for they were clutching and reeling and fallen, +and Brian leaped across the last of them into the hall with bullets +driving at his back-piece. + +As he ran through the hall he knew that his falcons had punished +O'Donnell's men heavily, and that his twenty men had not fallen without +some payment for their lives. None the less, Bertragh Castle was now +lost to him and to the Bird Daughter; but he thought it likely that he +would yet make a play that might nip O'Donnell in the midst of his +success. + +In this Brian was a true O'Neill and the true luck of the Red Hand had +seemed to dog him, for he had lost all his men without suffering a +defeat, and now that he was beaten down, he was planning to strike +heaviest. + +He gained the tower well enough, and found Turlough there to receive +him, with food and wine and loaded pistols. They soon had the door of +the lower chamber fast barred and clamped, and Brian flung himself down +on his bed, panting, but unwounded to speak of. + +"Now sleep, master," said the old man. "They will search elsewhere, and +finding this door closed will do naught here until the morning." + +Brian laughed a little. + +"It is not easy to sleep after fighting, Turlough. I think that now I +will send off that last pigeon, so give me that quill yonder." + +With great care Brian wrote his message, telling what had passed, and +saying that he hoped to ride free from the castle next morning. In that +case he would be at Cathbarr's tower before evening came, and he told +Nuala to have all her men landed there at once, since she could hope to +do nothing by sea against the pirate ships. + +When the writing was bound to the pigeon's wing he loosed the bird +through the seaward casement, and bade Turlough blow out their +flickering oil-light. + +After eating and drinking a little, they lay down to sleep. Men came and +pounded at the door, then departed growling; but Turlough had guessed +aright. The Dark Master was plainly speeding the search for Brian +elsewhere, and since there was no sign of life from the powder-tower, he +did not molest this until close to dawn. Then Brian was wakened by a +shock at the door, and he heard the Dark Master's voice outside +directing his men. Still he seemed to have no thought that Brian was +there, but wanted to get at the powder and into his own chamber again. + +Brian took up his pistols and went to a loophole opening on the +battlements, while Turlough still crouched on the bed in no little fear. +Finding that the Dark Master stood out of his sight, Brian fired at two +of the men under the door, and they fell; then he raised his voice above +the shouting that came from outside. + +"O'Donnell, are you there?" + +The uproar died away, and the other's voice came to him. + +"So you are trapped at last, Brian Buidh! Now yield and I promise you a +swift hanging." + +"Not I," laughed Brian curtly. "There is no lack of powder here, +O'Donnell Dubh, and one of my men holds a pistol ready for it." + +At this he glanced at Turlough, who grimaced. But from outside came a +sudden yell of alarm, and Brian saw a few fleeing figures, while +O'Donnell shouted at his men in furious rage. Brian called out to him +again: + +"Give me a horse and let me go free with the one man left me, or else I +will blow up both tower and castle, and you will have little gain for my +death." + +"Would you trust my word in this?" cried the Dark Master. Brian smiled. + +"Yes, as you must trust mine to leave no fuse in the powder when I am +gone." + +Then fell silence. Brian hated O'Donnell, as he knew he was hated in +return; and so great was the hatred between them that he felt +instinctively he could trust the Dark Master to send him out free. It +seemed to him that the other would sooner have him go broken and crushed +than do him to death, for that would be a greater revenge. Moreover, the +Dark Master could know nothing of those men at Gorumna and would have +little fear of the Bird Daughter. + +And it befell exactly as Brian thought. + +"I agree," cried the Dark Master, stepping out in the dawn-light boldly. +"You shall go forth empty as you came, Yellow Brian. What of those +two-score men you owe me?" + +"The time is not yet up," returned Brian, beginning to unbar the door, +and he laughed at the mocking voice. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +BRIAN MEETS THE BLACK WOMAN. + + +"The storm is over, master, or will be by this night." + +"Too late now, Turlough." + +Brian and the old man stood in the courtyard, while the Dark Master was +seeing to horses being made ready for them. Drawing his cloak farther +about his hunched shoulders, the latter turned to Brian with a mocking +sneer. + +"Now farewell, Brian Buidh, and forget not to repay that loan, if you +can gather enough men together. When you come again, you will find me +here. A merry riding to you. _Beannacht leath!_" + +Brian looked at him grimly. + +"Your curse would make better company than your blessing, O'Donnell," he +said, and turned to his horse with no more words. + +The Scots who were standing around gave vent to a murmur of approval, +and Brian saw the black looks passing between them and the wild +O'Donnells. The Highlanders had done murdering enough in Ireland since +Hamilton brought them over, but they were outspoken men, who had little +love for poisoners; and as Brian settled into the saddle with his huge +sword slung across his back, he caught more than one word of muttered +approval, which the Dark Master was powerless to check. + +So Yellow Brian rode out from the castle he had lost, with Turlough Wolf +at his heels, and his heart was very sore. Once across the filled-in +moat and he saw fifty men at work by the shore, loading the dead into +boats to be buried in the bay, for the ground was hard-frozen. + +Parties of Scots troopers and the horseless O'Donnells were scattered +over the farmlands and country ahead, but these offered no menace as the +two horsemen rode slowly through them. For all his bitterness, Brian +noted that the four pirate ships had been brought around into the bay +before the castle, into which the Scots had moved, while a great number +of the O'Donnells had landed and were hastily throwing up brush huts on +the height above the shore, evidently intending to camp there for the +present. + +That was a dark leave-taking for Brian, since he had lost so many men +and his castle to boot. Yet more than once he looked back on Bertragh, +and when they came to the last rise of ground before the track wound +into the hills and woods, he drew rein and pointed back with a curt +laugh. + +"This night I shall return, Turlough, and I think we shall catch the +Dark Master off his guard at last. If we throw part of our men on that +camp at dawn and the rest upon the castle, the tables may yet be +turned." + +"A good rede, Brian O'Neill," nodded the old Wolf approvingly. At thus +hearing his name Brian flung Turlough one lightning-swift glance, then +pulled out his Spanish sword and threw it high, and caught it again with +a great shout. + +"Tyr-owen! _Slainte!_" + +With that he put spurs to his horse and rode on with better heart, +striving to forget his troubles in thinking of the stroke he would deal +that night. If those three pigeons had won clear to Gorumna, he would +find Nuala and her men waiting at Cathbarr's tower, and before the dawn +they would be back again and over the hills. + +So they rode onward, and presently came to a stretch of forest, dark +against the snow. Suddenly Turlough drew up with a frightened glance +around. + +"Master--what is that wail? If I ever heard a banshee, that is the cry! +Beware of the Little People, master--" + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Brian, drawing rein also and listening. He heard a +faint, sobbing cry come from ahead, and so mournful was it, so charged +with wild grief, that for an instant his heart stood still, and the +color fled from his face. + +"It is some woman wailing her dead, Turlough," he said at length, +although doubtfully. "Yet I have never heard a _caoine_ like it; but +onward, and let us see." + +"Wait, master!" implored the old man. "Let us cut over the hills and go +by another path--" + +"Go, if you are afraid," returned Brian, and spurred forward. The other +hesitated, but followed unwillingly, and a moment later Brian came upon +the cause of that mournful wailing, as the trees closed about them and +the road wound into a hollow. + +The dingle was so sheltered by the brooding pines that there was little +snow, except on the track itself, and no wind. Under the spreading +splay-boughs to the right was what seemed to be a heap of rags and +tatters, though the wailing cry ceased as the two riders clattered down, +with Turlough keeping well behind Brian. + +The latter drew rein, seeing that the creature under the pine-boughs was +some old crone whose grief seemed more bitter still than his own. + +"What is wrong, mother?" he cried cheerily. "Are you from one of the +Bertragh farms?" + +The tattered heap moved slightly, and a wrinkled, withered face peered +up at him. + +"Nay, I come from farther than that," and to his surprise there was a +mocking note in her voice, though it was weak. "That is a good horse of +yours, _ma boucal_; he must trot sixteen miles to the hour, eh?" + +"All of that, mother," returned Brian, wondering if the old crone was +out of her senses. "Was it you whom I heard wailing a moment ago? Where +is your home?" + +The old woman broke into a cackle of hideous laughter. + +"My home, is it? Once I had a home, Yellow Brian--and it was in +Dungannon, with Tyr-owen and Cormac and Art and the noblest of the +chiefs of Ulster to do me honor! Have you forgotten me, Brian O'Neill, +since we met at the Dee Water?" + +Then Brian gave a great cry, and swung down to earth, for now he +recognized the Black Woman. But as he strode toward her she tried to +rise and failed, and forth from the midst of her rags came a quick gush +of red blood. Brian leaped forward and caught her in his arms, pitying +her. + +"I knew you," she gasped out weakly, clutching at his shoulder. "I knew +you, son of Tyr-owen! You had yellow hair, but your face was the face I +once loved, the face of the great Hugh--" + +She stopped abruptly, and her words were lost in a choking gasp as blood +came from her mouth. Brian swore. + +"_Mile Mollaght!_ What has happened here, woman? Are you wounded?" + +"Aye, those dogs of O'Donnells," she moaned feebly. Then new strength +came to her, and she peered up with another cackle. "But did I not tell +wisely, son? Have you not found Cathbarr of the Ax and the Bird Daughter +even as I foretold?" + +"Yes, yes," returned Brian impatiently. "Where are you wounded, mother? +We can take you--" + +"Peace, avic," she cried. "They came on me last night, and my life is +gone. You shall take vengeance for the old _calliagh_, Brian--but first +I must talk. Do you know who I am, avic--or who I was, rather?" + +"How should I know that, mother?" answered Brian. "Old Turlough Wolf, +yonder, swears you are some witch--" + +"Turlough!" The hag raised herself on his arm, cackling. "So the old +Wolf is still living! Do _you_ know me, Turlough? Do you remember the +sorrowful day of the earl's flight?" + +Old Turlough, who had ridden closer, bent over and looked down, fear in +his face. Suddenly he straightened up again with a wild cry. + +"Noreen of Breffny! By my hand, it is the earl's love!" + +"Aye, the earl's love!" she gasped out, falling back. "I was his love in +truth, Yellow Brian, and he loved me above all the rest, though +another's hand closed his eyes and laid him to earth in Rome. I knew you +would come, Brian--I saw you at Drogheda, though you saw me not, and I +bade you come here into the West, and I have watched over you--" + +She coughed horribly, clutching at Brian's arm. He stared down at her in +amazement, for the incredible story seemed true enough. This old hag had +been that Noreen of Breffny of whom he had heard much--the fairest maid +of the North, whom the great earl had loved to the last, though the +church had not blessed their union. + +Brian's old Irish nurse had often told him of the "Breffny lily," and it +was bitter and hard to realize that this ancient hag, withered and +shrunk and done to death by the Dark Master's men, had been the fairest +maid in Ulster. She gasped out a little more of her story, and Brian +found that his wild surmises had been true; after seeing him and +recognizing him for one of the earl's house, she had instantly led his +mind to this part of the country, being aware of the strife between +O'Donnell and Nuala O'Malley. It had been a crazed notion enough, and +since then she had kept as near to him as possible in the half-sane idea +that she might help him. + +How she had managed to do it ever remained a mystery to Brian, since his +marches had been none of the slowest, but she had done so. + +"Where are--your men?" she exclaimed after a little. Brian told her what +had chanced at the castle, and she broke out in a last wild cackling +laugh. + +"Tyr-owen's luck!" she cried. "Betrayed and blasted, betrayed and +blasted--but the root of the tree is still strong, Yellow Brian--give me +your blessing, master--give Noreen your blessing before you go to Rome, +Hugh _mo mhuirnin_--" + +Brian's face blanched and his hands trembled, for he saw that her +wandering mind took him for his grandsire. + +"_Dhia agus mhuire orth_," he murmured, and with a little sob the Black +Woman died. + +Silence fell upon the dingle, as Brian gazed down at the woman his +grandfather had loved, and whose love had been no less. Then Turlough +pushed his horse closer, looking down with a shrewd leer. + +"Said she not that it would be a black day when you met her again, +master?" he queried with awe in his voice. "I think--" + +"Keep silence!" commanded Brian shortly. "Get down from that horse and +dig a grave." + +"But the ground is frozen--" began old Turlough in dismay. Brian gave +him one look, and the old man hastily dismounted, crossing himself and +mumbling. + +Brian joined him, and they managed to scoop out a shallow grave with +knife and sword, laid the old woman in it, and covered her up again. It +was a sorry burial for the love of the great earl, but it was the best +they could do. + +Shaken more than he cared to admit, Brian mounted and rode on in +silence. As he had thought, there was nothing supernatural about this +weird Black Woman, except, perhaps, the manner in which she had +contrived to keep close to him. She had warned him at the Stone +Mountain, and she must have been keeping close to Bertragh ever since, +unseen by any, with her unhinged mind driving her forward relentlessly. + +"Poor woman!" he thought darkly, gazing into the hills ahead. "There has +been little luck to any who ever followed an O'Neill or loved an +O'Neill! And now it seems likely that the same ill luck of all my family +is to dog my heels, bringing me up to the heights, only to cast me down +lower than before. Well, I may fall, but it shall not be until I have +dragged down the Dark Master. If I fall not I may yet best the ill-luck +and conquer Millhaven for my own." + +With that his mind leaped ahead again as the plan outlined itself to +him. The O'Donnell pirates must have brought their whole force to the +Dark Master's aid, and if he could but cut off that camp of theirs +between the castle and the shore, Nuala O'Malley might bring her two +ships against the weakened four and take them all. + +Then, when the castle had fallen, he could sail north to Millhaven, +reduce the stronghold there, and let fly his own banner at last. It was +a good plan, but it hung on many things. + +With a short laugh at his own fancies he turned in the saddle as the +voice of Turlough broke into his musings. + +"I mind the last time I saw the poor woman back yonder, master. It was +just before the great flight, and I mind now that she was not so +ill-looking even then, though she was well past her youth, and that was +forty years ago. Tyr-connall's bag-pipe men were blowing as we marched +to Lough Swilly, and two earls rode in front when the poor _caillin_ +rushed out and flung herself under Tyr-owen's horse--oh, _Mhuire as +truagh, Mhuire as truagh_ for the old days! And when the earl died, her +name was on his lips, and I came home again to find her disappeared. Oh, +what sorrow for the old days! Would that I had died in Rome with the +princes--" + +"Stop that wailing," interrupted Brian sternly, for the old man was +lashing himself into a frenzy of grief. "Put spurs to that horse of +yours, Turlough, for we must reach Cathbarr's tower by noon if possible +in order to start the men off over the hills. It'll be a long night's +march, and I've no time to be idling here on the road." + +Upon which he dug in his spurs and urged his steed into a gallop, and in +order to keep up, Turlough Wolf had to give over his laments and do +likewise. Brian forced himself to bend all his energies toward carrying +out his final desperate plan, but he silently vowed that the old woman +who had so foully been cut down by the O'Donnells should not die +unavenged. + +On they galloped without pause, gained the head of Bertraghboy Bay, and +swung to the east on the last stretch of the trip. The storm which had +arisen so inopportunely was now dying away, and the sun was breaking +through the gray clouds; when they turned out from the main track into +the hill-paths that led to Cathbarr's tower, the rough ground made them +slow their pace. When they were still three miles from the tower, +however, Brian gave a shout. + +"Men, Turlough! Cathbarr has sent out men to meet us!" + +So, indeed, it proved, and five minutes later a dozen men met them with +yells of delighted welcome. From these overjoyed fellows Brian quickly +learned that Cathbarr was at the tower and that Nuala O'Malley had just +arrived there. + +So, leaving them to follow, he and Turlough went on at their best speed, +and twenty minutes later they topped that same long rise from which +Brian had first gazed down on the little promontory where stood +Cathbarr's tower. But now, as he saw what lay beneath, he drew up with a +shout of amazement. + +For around the tower and at the base at the neck of land were camped a +goodly force of men, while at anchor near the tower lay--not Nuala's two +ships alone, but also those other two of her kinsmen! + +"Those two O'Malleys have returned from the south," exclaimed Turlough +in wild delight. "That means more men and ships, master--we will cut off +those Millhaven pirates to a man!" + +Brian sent out a long shout, but his arrival had already been noted. As +he rode down the slope, men poured from the camp and tower, and ahead of +them all came Cathbarr of the Ax, with Nuala and Lame Art and Shaun the +Little behind him. + +"Welcome!" bellowed the giant with a huge laugh, pulling Brian from his +horse with a great hug of delight. "Welcome, brother!" + +Brian escaped from his grip and bowed over the Bird Daughter's hand. As +he rose, he saw that her face had lost its ruddy hue, and that her eyes +were ringed with darkness. Before he could speak she smiled and gripped +his hand. + +"The birds came safe, and we know all. Yesterday arrived these kinsmen +of mine, and their force is joined to our own, Yellow Brian--" + +Brian held up his hand, halting her suddenly, and silence fell on the +men who had crowded around. For a moment he gazed into her deep eyes, +then flung up his head and his voice rang clear and stern in the +stillness. + +"Lady Nuala," he said quietly, "I promised you that when I slew the Dark +Master I would tell you my name. Before another day has passed I shall +have slain him; and now I tell you and your kinsmen that I renounce all +fealty to you." + +At this the Bird Daughter started, staring in amazement, while an abrupt +oath burst from Lame Art. Brian went on calmly. + +"This I do because it is not meet that The O'Neill should give fealty to +any, Lady Nuala. I am Brian O'Neill, of right The O'Neill and Earl of +Tyr-owen, though these are empty titles. And this night you and I shall +fall on Bertragh together, Bird Daughter, and when we have won it again +it shall be yours as of old." + +And amid a great roar of shouts welling up around him Brian bowed to +Nuala. + +"Then, Brian O'Neill," she said, quieting the tumult a little, "am I to +understand that you wish to make pact with me, and to receive no +reward?" + +For a moment he gazed openly and frankly into her eyes, and under his +look the red crept into her cheeks again; yet her own eyes did not +flinch. + +Brian laughed out. + +"Yes, lady! It may be that I shall have a reward to ask of you, but that +may not be until I have won back what I have lost for you." + +"And what if the reward be too great?" + +"Why, that shall be for you to say!" and Brian laughed again. "Is it +agreed, Bird Daughter?" + +For an instant he thought she meant to refuse, as she drew herself up +and met his level eyes; the men around held their breaths, and the +O'Malley chiefs glanced at each other in puzzled wonder. Then her quick +laugh rippled out and she gave him her hand. + +"Agreed, Brian--and I hope that you can shave that yellow beard of yours +by to-morrow!" + +And the great yell that went up from the men drowned all else in Brian's +ears. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE STORM BURSTS. + + +"Now, the first thing is to see what force of men we have," said Brian, +after the midday meal. They were all gathered in Cathbarr's tower before +a log fire, and were preparing the plan of campaign. + +"I have my hundred and eighty men," said Nuala. "When that last pigeon +came from you I set out at once. With the hundred men under Cathbarr, we +have close to three hundred. You can take them all, for my kinsmen here +have enough and to spare to handle my two ships as well as theirs." + +"Good!" exclaimed Brian, as the two O'Malleys nodded. "I think that by +striking at dawn we shall find most of the O'Donnells ashore or in the +castle, and if you time your sailing to strike on their four ships at +the same time we may easily take castle, camp, and ships at one blow." + +"If all went as men planned we would not need to pray Heaven for aid," +quoth Shaun the Little sententiously. Brian glanced at him. + +"Eh? What do you mean by that?" + +"Nothing," returned the wide-shouldered seaman with a shrug. "Except +that there may be more to it than we think, Brian." + +"The Dark Master will not suspect your return so suddenly," spoke up +Nuala. "Pay no heed to Shaun, Brian--he was ever a croaker. When think +you we had best start?" + +"I am no seaman," laughed Brian. "Get there at dawn, that is all. I will +send on my men at once, then; since we have only two horses, Cathbarr +and I will ride after them later and catch them up. Will you take the +men, Turlough, or bide here out of danger?" + +"I think it will be safest with the Lady Nuala," hesitated the old man +craftily. + +"Little you know her, then," roared Lame Art, his cousin joining in the +laugh. + +So Turlough had decided, however, and he stuck to it. Brian then +described closely how the four pirate ships lay in the bay under +Bertragh, while Shaun went out to arrange the distribution of his men on +Nuala's ships. + +The arrangements having been perfected, Brian saw his three hundred men +troop off on their march over the hills, after which he told Nuala at +greater length all that had taken place in the castle since his parting +with her at sea. Bitter and unrestrained were the curses of the +O'Malleys as they heard of how his men had been poisoned, while Nuala's +eyes flamed forth anger. + +"There shall be no quarter to these O'Donnells," she cried hotly. "Those +whom we take shall hang, and the Scots with them--" + +"Not the Scots," exclaimed Brian quickly. "They are honest men enough, +Nuala, and may serve us well as recruits. If we find them in the castle, +as I think we shall, we may leave them there until we have finished the +Millhaven men; however, it is possible that my men will find the castle +almost unguarded, and so take it at the first blow. However that turns +out, the Dark Master shall not escape us this time." + +During the afternoon, when the two O'Malleys were busily getting their +ships in order for the coming fray, Brian sat in the tower with Nuala. +He told her freely of himself, and although neither of them referred to +that reward of which he had spoken at their meeting, Brian knew well +that he would claim it. + +He did not conceal from himself that the Black Woman had guided him to +more than conquest by sword. The Bird Daughter was such a woman as he +had dreamed of, but had never found at the Spanish court, and he knew +that whether there was love in her heart or not, his own soul was in her +keeping. + +Perhaps he was not the only one who knew this, for as Lame Art rowed out +with his cousin, the latter nodded back at the tower. + +"What think you of this ally, Art Bocagh? Could he be truly the Earl's +grandson?" + +"I know not," grunted the other. "But I do not care whether he be Brian +Buidh or Brian O'Neill or Brian the devil--he is such a man as I would +fain see sitting in Gorumna Castle, Shaun!" + +And Shaun the Little nodded with a grin. + +When the sun began its westering, Brian and Cathbarr rode back from the +tower with food and weapons at their saddle-bows, and they paused at the +hill-crest to watch the four ships weigh anchor and up sail, then went +on into the hills. They were to meet their men at that valley where the +Dark Master had been defeated and broken in the first siege, and jogged +along slowly, resting as they rode. + +"Brother," said Cathbarr suddenly, fingering the haft of his ax and +looking at Brian, "do you remember my telling you, that night after we +had bearded the Dark Master and got the loan of those two-score men, how +an old witch-woman had predicted my fate?" + +"Yes," returned Brian, with a sharp glance. In the giant's face there +was only a simple good-humor, however, mingled with a childlike +confidence in all things. "And I told you that you were not bound to my +service." + +"No, but I am bound to your friendship," laughed Cathbarr rumblingly. "I +can well understand how I might die in a cause not mine own, since I am +fighting for you; but I cannot see how death is to come upon me through +water and fire, brother!" + +"Nonsense," smiled Brian. "Death is far from your heels, brother, unless +you are seeking it." + +"Not I, Brian. I neither seek nor avoid if the time comes. Only I wish +that witch-woman had told me a little more--" + +"Keep your mind off it, Cathbarr," said Brian. "In Spain the Moriscoes +say that the fate of man is written on his forehead, and God is just." + +"What the devil do I care about that?" bellowed Cathbarr. "I care not +when I die, brother--but I want to strike a blow or two first, and how +can that be done if death comes by water and fire?" + +"Well, take heart," laughed Brian, seeing the cause of the other's +anxiety. "You are not like to die from that cause to-night, and I +promise you blows enough and to spare." + +Cathbarr grunted and said no more. The last of the storm had fled away, +and the two men rode through a glittering sunset and a clear, cold +evening that promised well for the morrow. + +They traveled easily, and it was hard on midnight when a sentry stopped +them half a mile from the hollow where the men were resting. Brian noted +with approval that no fires had been lighted, and he and Cathbarr at +once lay down to get an hour's sleep among the men. + +Two hours before daybreak the camp was astir, and Brian gathered his +lieutenants to arrange the attack. Thinking that the Dark Master would +be in the castle, he and Cathbarr took a hundred men for that attack, +ordering the rest to get as close to the camp as might be, but not to +attack until he had struck on the castle, and to cut off the O'Donnells +from their ships. Then, assured that the plan was understood, he and +Cathbarr loaded their pistols and set out with the hundred. + +Brian ordered his men to give quarter to all the Scots who would accept +it, if they got inside the castle, and as they marched forward through +the darkness he found to his delight that O'Donnell seemed to have no +sentries out. + +"We have caught the black fox this time," muttered Cathbarr, after they +had passed the camp-fires without discovery and the black mass of the +castle loomed up ahead. "They will hardly have repaired those gates by +now, brother." + +Brian nodded, and ordered his men to rest, barely a hundred paces from +the castle. Since there was no need of attacking before dawn, in order +to let Nuala come up the bay, he went forward with Cathbarr to look at +the gates. + +These, as nearly as he could tell, were still shattered in; there were +fires in the courtyard, and sentries were on the wall, but their watch +was lax and the two below were not discovered. They rejoined the +hundred, and Brian bade Cathbarr follow him through the hall to that +chamber he himself had occupied in the tower, where O'Donnell was most +likely to be found. + +"Well, no use of delaying further," he said, when at length the grayness +of dawn began to dull the starlight. Since to light matches would have +meant discovery, he had brought with him those hundred Kerry pikemen +Nuala had recruited after the dark Master's defeat, and he passed on the +word to follow. + +The mass of men gained the moat before a challenge rang out from above, +and with that Brian leaped forward at the gates. A musket roared out, +and another, but Brian and Cathbarr were in the courtyard before the +Scots awakened. A startled group barred their way to the hall, then +Brian thrust once, the huge ax crashed down, and they were through. + +Other men were sleeping in the hall, but Brian did not stop to battle +here, running through before the half-awakened figures sensed what was +forward. A great din of clashing steel and yells was rising from the +court; then he and Cathbarr gained the seaward battlements and rushed at +the Dark Master's chamber. The door was open--it was empty. + +For a moment the two stared at each other in blank dismay. With a yell, +a half-dozen Scots swirled down on them, but Brian threw up his hand. + +"The castle is mine," he shouted. "You shall have quarter!" + +The Scots halted, and when two or three of the Kerry pikemen dashed up +with news that the rest of the garrison had been cut down or given +quarter, they surrendered. + +Brian's first question was as to O'Donnell. + +"Either at the camp or aboard one of his kinsmen's ships," returned one +of the prisoners. "They were carousing all last evening." + +At the same instant Cathbarr caught Brian's arm and whirled him about. + +"Listen, brother!" + +So swift had been Brian's attack that the castle had been won in a scant +three minutes. Now, as he listened, there came a ragged roar of +musketry, pierced by yells, and he knew that the camp was attacked. + +With that, a sudden fear came on him that he would again be outwitted. +There was a thin mist driving in from the sea which would be dissipated +with the daybreak, and if the Dark Master was on one of the ships he +might get away before Nuala's caracks could arrive. Brian had been so +certain that he would find O'Donnell in the castle that the +disappointment was a bitter one, but he knew that there was no time to +lose. + +"Come," he ordered Cathbarr quickly, "get a score of the men and to the +camp. Leave the others here to hold the castle if need be." + +As he strode through the courtyard and the sullen groups of Scots +prisoners, he directed the Kerry men to load the bastards on the walls +and give what help might be in destroying the pirate ships. Then, with +Cathbarr and twenty eager men at his back, he set off for the camp at a +run, fearful that he might yet be too late. + +The day was brightening fast, and from the camp rose a mighty din of +shouts and steel and musketry. Brian's men had charged after one hasty +volley, but their leader gave a groan of dismay as he saw that instead +of attacking from the seaward side as he had ordered, they were pouring +into the camp from the land side. + +O'Donnell must have landed the greater part of his men, for Brian's +force was being held in check, though they had swept in among the brush +huts. Over the tumult Brian heard the piercing voice of the Dark Master, +and with a flame of rage hot in his mind he sped forward and found +himself confronted by a yelling mass of O'Donnells. + +Then fell a sterner battle than any Brian had waged. In the lessening +obscurity it was hard to tell friend from foe, since the mist was +swirling in off the water and holding down the powder-smoke. Brian saved +his pistols, and, with Cathbarr at his side, struck into the wild, +shaggy-haired northern men; they were armed with ax and sword and skean, +and Brian soon found himself hard beset despite the pikemen behind. + +The Spanish blade licked in and out like a tongue of steel, and Brian's +skill stood him in good stead that morn. Ax and broadsword crashed at +him, and as he wore no armor save a steel cap, he more than once gave +himself up for lost. But ever his thin, five-foot steel drove home to +the mark, and ever Cathbarr's great ax hammered and clove at his side, +so that the fight surged back and forth among the huts, as it was +surging on the other side where was the Dark Master, holding off the +main attack. + +Little by little the mist eddied away, however, and the day began to +break. A fresh surge of the wild O'Donnells bore down on Brian's party, +and as they did so a man rose up from among the wounded and stabbed at +Brian with his skean. Brian kicked the arm aside, but slipped in blood +and snow and went down; as a yell shrilled up from the pirates, Cathbarr +leaped forward over him, swinging his ax mightily. With the blunt end he +caught one man full in the face, then drove down his sharp edge and +clove another head to waist. For an instant he was unable to get out his +ax, but Brian thrust up and drove death to a third, then stood on his +feet again. + +At the same instant there came a roar from across the camp where his +main body of men were engaged, and Brian thrilled to the sound. As he +afterward found, it was done by Turlough's cunning word; but up over the +din of battle rose the great shout that struck dismay to the pirates and +heartened Brian himself to new efforts. + +"Tyr-owen! Tyr-owen!" + +With a bellow of "Tyr-owen!" Cathbarr went at the foe, and Brian joined +him with his own battle-cry on his lips for the first time in his life. +The shout swelled louder and louder, and among the huts Brian got a +glimpse of the Dark Master. In vain he tried to break through the +Millhaven men, however; they stood like a wall, dying as they fought, +but giving no ground until the ax and the sword had cloven a way, +although the remnant of the twenty pikemen were fighting like fiends. + +Suddenly a yell of dismay went up from the O'Donnell ranks, and they +broke in wild confusion. Leaning on his sword and panting for breath, +Brian looked around and saw what had shattered them so swiftly. + +While the stubborn fight had raged, the eastern sky had been streaming +and bursting into flame. Now, sharply outlined against the crimson +water, appeared Nuala's four ships close on those of the pirates. Even +as he looked, Brian saw their cannon spit out white smoke, while from +behind came a deeper thunder as the castle's guns sent their heavy balls +over the pirate ships. + +These were anchored a hundred yards from shore, and Brian saw the danger +that betided as the stream of fugitives swept down toward the boats. +Nuala's ships were undermanned, for he had counted on cutting off most +of the pirates in the camp; should the Dark Master get to the ships with +his men, things were like to go hard. + +"To the boats!" cried Brian to Cathbarr, and leaping over the dead, the +two joined their men and poured down on the shore. + +The Dark Master himself stood by one of the boats, and others were +filling fast with men as they were shoved down. Brian tried to cut his +way to O'Donnell, but before he could do so the Dark Master had leaped +aboard and oars were out. Fully aware of their danger, those of the +pirates who could do so got into their boats and lay off the shore, +while others splashed aboard; Brian led his men down with a rush, +cutting down man after man, splashing out into the swirling water and +hacking at those in the boats, but all in vain. Some half-dozen of the +boats got off, crowded with men, while the remnant of the pirates held +off Brian's force that their master might escape. + +Drawing out of the fight, Brian pulled forth his pistols and emptied +them both at the figure of O'Donnell. He saw the Dark Master reel, and +the rower next him plunged forward over the bows, but the next moment +O'Donnell had taken up the oar himself and was at work in mad haste. +Brian groaned and flung away his pistols. + +Those aboard the pirate ships had already cut the cables and were +striving to make sail, for there was a light off-shore breeze in their +favor, with an ebbing tide. The O'Malley ships were close on them, +however, and as the cannon crashed out anew the masts of one O'Donnell +ship crashed over. But the Dark Master's boat was alongside another of +the ships, whose sails were streaming up, and now his cannon began to +answer those of Nuala. + +But Brian stood in bitterness, unmindful of the wild yells of his men, +for once more the Dark Master had escaped his hand at the last moment. +Shaun the Little had been correct in his "croakings." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +CATHBARR YIELDS UP HIS AX. + + +Brian gazed out at the scene before him in dull despair. So close were +the ships that he could clearly make out Nuala's figure, with its +shimmering mail and red cloak, on the poop of the foremost. + +Her second carack had fallen behind, a shot having sent its foremast +overside, but the other two ships were driving in. All three were +lowering sail, for the Dark Master's craft were unable to get out of the +bay and were giving over the attempt; his disabled ship was sending +over its men to reinforce him, and Brian saw all his own efforts gone +for nothing. + +There came a new burst of cannon, and through the veil of smoke he +perceived that Nuala was laying her carack alongside one of the pirate +ships. But it was not that on which stood the Dark Master; his was the +ship closest to the castle, and Lame Art was bearing down on him, while +Shaun the Little stood for the third, spitting out a final broadside as +he came about and lowered sail. + +The crowding men on the shore had fallen silent as they watched the +impending conflict, but now Brian felt Cathbarr touch his arm, and +turned. + +"Why so doleful, brother?" grinned the giant; though blood dripped into +his beard from a light slash over the brow, his eyes were as clear and +childlike as ever, and the rage of battle had gone from him. "Let us +join in that fight, you and I?" + +"Eh?" Brian started, staring at him. "How may that be?" + +"Ho, here is our captain given way to despair!" bellowed Cathbarr, and +his fist smote down on Brian's back. "Wake up, brother! We have three +boats here, and we can still strike a blow or two!" + +Now Brian wakened to life indeed. He saw the three boats on the shore, +with dead men hanging over them, and leaped instantly into action. + +"Push out those boats--get the oars, there!" he shouted, leaping down to +help shove them out. The men saw his intent, and sprang to work with a +howl of delight. + +In no long time the dead were flung out, and the boats pushed down until +they were afloat. Brian leaped into one, Cathbarr into another, and men +piled in after them until the craft were almost awash. + +An eddy in the veil of smoke that hung over the bay showed Brian that +Lame Art's ship had grappled with that of O'Donnell, and with renewed +confidence thrilling in him, he shouted to his men to get aboard the +O'Malley ship. The Bertragh cannon had ceased to thunder as the ships +came together, but from the ships balls were hailing, musketry was +crackling, and the water was tearing into spurting jets around the +boats. + +Brian's men fell to their oars in sorry fashion enough, but they made up +in energy what they lacked in skill. Driving past Nuala's ship, Brian +saw that she had also grappled and that the battle was raging over her +bulwarks, but sorely tempted to turn aside though he was, he waved his +men on. + +They rowed close under the ship to which she was fastened, and as they +sped past the O'Donnells saw them, and gave them a scattering volley. +One or two of Brian's men went down, and a cry broke from him as he saw +a round shot heaved over into his third boat, sinking her; then they +were past, and bearing down on Art Bocagh's ship. + +"Tyr-owen for O'Malley!" + +Cathbarr's bellow rose over the tumult, and his boat crashed into the +waist of the ship just as Brian leaped up into the mizzen-chains. His +feet gained hold on a triced-up port, and as he looked down he saw a +swell heave up the two boats, then bring them down together with a +splintering smash. + +The result was dire confusion. None of the men were seamen, but some of +them gained the side of Brian, others scrambled in through the ports, +and more than one of them fell short and went down. Standing in the +sinking boat with the water swirling about his ankles, Cathbarr caught +up his ax and leaped; a moment later Brian was over the bulwarks with +the giant at his side, and the O'Malleys welcomed them with a yell of +joy. + +They were badly needed, indeed. The Dark Master had led his men in +furious onslaught across the waist of the ship, and Art Bocagh was being +beaten back to the poop despite his stubborn resistance. Brian saw that +the Dark Master's men far outnumbered Art's, while from the rigging of +each ship musketeers were sending down bullets into the melee. With a +shout, Brian and Cathbarr led their men on the O'Donnell flank, and the +tide of battle turned. + +At the first instant the rush of men bore Brian against the Dark Master, +who was fighting like a demon. Brian caught the snarl on the other's +pallid face, and struck savagely; O'Donnell parried the blow with his +skean and returned it, but Brian warded with his left arm and swept down +his blade. The Dark Master flung himself back, but not far enough, and +Brian saw the point rip open the pallid cheek. Even as he pressed his +advantage, however, another surge of men separated them. + +Now Brian gave over every thought save that of reaching his enemy again, +and fell on the O'Donnells with stark madness in his face. A pistol +roared into his stubbly beard and the ball carried off his steel cap, +but he cut down the man and pressed into the midst of the pirates, +cutting and thrusting in terrible rage. + +At sight of him men bore back; the icy flame in his eyes took the heart +from those who faced him, and behind rose Cathbarr's wild bellows as the +giant hewed through after Brian. Back went the pirates, and farther +back. Brian found that he had cut his way to Lame Art, and with a yell +the forces joined and swept on the Dark Master's men. + +O'Donnell had vanished, and now his men were swept back to the bulwarks +and over to their own deck. Here they made a brief stand; then Cathbarr +leaped over into the midst and his ax crushed down two men at once; +Brian followed him, and for an instant it seemed that they would sweep +all before them. + +Just then, however, Lame Art toppled from the bulwarks with a bullet +through him from above, and the Dark Master's disappearance was +explained by a rain of grenades that whirled among the O'Malleys. They +gave back in dismay, Brian and Cathbarr were forced after them, and the +Dark Master himself led his men in a mad stream over the bulwarks once +more. + +There was no stopping them now. The death of Art Bocagh had disheartened +his men, and amid flashing steel and spurting fire Brian and Cathbarr +retreated to the quarterdeck. Here they had a brief breathing space +until the pirates came at them anew, and with such fury that three of +them gained a footing to one side. Brian went at them with a shout, +thrust one man through the body, sent a second back with his bare fist, +and as the third man struck down at him a pikeman transfixed the man +before the blow could fall. + +The boarders drew back, but as they did so a great heave of the grinding +ships broke the hastily flung grapplings. The ships were borne apart, +and the Dark Master with most of his men remained in the waist of the +O'Malley ship. + +This gave a new turn to the conflict. O'Donnell had to master the ship +to win free, and when Brian saw this he gave a great laugh and rejoined +Cathbarr. A quick glance around showed him that Nuala was slowly winning +her grappled decks, while Shaun the Little was hanging off and sending +his cannon crashing into the third pirate ship. The two disabled craft +were slowly drawing together with the tide, which was forcing all eight +into the bay, and were pounding away with their guns as they came. + +Now the combat resolved itself into a desperate struggle for possession +of the quarterdeck, which Brian and Cathbarr held. The Dark Master's men +swarmed up at them bravely enough, but the ax and sword flashed up and +down, and time after time the Millhaven men fell back, unable to win a +footing. Twice the Dark Master himself led them, snarling with baffled +rage, but the first time a pikeman thrust him down and the second time +Cathbarr's ax glanced from his helm. + +O'Donnell reeled back and was lost to sight for a time. + +"That was a poor blow," grunted the giant in disgust. "'Ware, brother! +Stand aside!" + +Brian leaped away as the men behind him ran out a falcon and sent its +blast into the crowd below in the waist. A dozen men went down under +that storm of death, but almost at the same moment a grenade burst +behind the falcon, and with that Brian was driven back as a keg of +powder tore out half the quarterdeck in a bursting wall of flame and +smoke. + +Barely had the shattering roar died out when Brian's reeling senses +caught a wild yell of dismay from his men. + +"Fire! The ship is afire forward!" + +Brian saw that the grenades had indeed fired the ship forward, while the +explosion had sent the quarterdeck into a burst of fire also, and the +lowered but unfurled sails were roaring up in flame. + +Up poured the O'Malleys, and Brian staggered back to the poop. He had a +vision of the great form of Cathbarr heaving up through the smoke, +blackened and bleeding, but with the ax whirling like a leaf and smiting +down men; then Brian gained the poop, helped the giant up, and with the +few men left they turned to drive down the pirates, who were striving +desperately to win the ship before it was too late. + +As he stood with Cathbarr at the narrow break of the poop, beating down +man after man, Brian knew that it was only a question of time now, for +the whole ship was breaking into flame forward. Suddenly he felt a tug +at his buff coat, and looked down to see his belt fall away, sundered at +his side by a bullet. He thought little of it, for he had half a dozen +slight wounds, and turned to smite down at a man who had leaped for the +poop; as his sword sheared through helm and skull, there came another +tug, and Brian felt a bullet scrape along his ribs. + +The O'Donnells drew back momentarily, and in the brief pause Brian saw +the figure of the Dark Master by the starboard rail in the waist, aiming +up at him with a pistol, while two men behind him were hastily charging +others. Cathbarr saw the action also, and hastily flung Brian aside, but +too late. A burst of smoke flooded over the waist, and Brian caught the +pistol-flash through it, as the ball ripped his left arm from shoulder +to elbow. Then the pirates were at the poop again, and the waist was +shut out by the flooding smoke as the wind drove it down from forward. + +With a scant dozen men behind them, Brian and Cathbarr once more beat +the enemy back; the giant swung his ax less lightly now, and seemed to +be covered with wounds, though most of them were slight. Brian still +eyed the waist for another glimpse of the Dark Master, but the smoke was +thick and he could see nothing. In the lull he flung a wan smile at +Cathbarr, who stood leaning on his ax, his mail-shirt shredded and +bloody. + +"Are you getting your fill of battle, brother?" + +"Aye," grinned the giant, "and we had best swim for it in another minute +or the ship--look! _M'anam an diaoul!_ Look!" + +At his excited yell Brian turned, as a ball whistled between them. There +below, in a boat half full of dead, but with two men at the oars, stood +the Dark Master, just lowering his pistol. He flung the empty weapon up +at Brian with a hoarse yell of anger, and passed from sight beneath the +ship's counter, toward the stern. + +Realizing only that his enemy was escaping, Brian whirled and darted for +the poop-cabins. He was dimly conscious of a mass of figures behind, +amid whom stood Cathbarr with the ax heaving up and down, then he was in +the cabins. Jerking open the door to the stern-walk, he saw the Dark +Master's boat directly underneath, hardly six feet from him. + +"Tyr-owen!" yelled Brian, and dropping his sword, but holding his skean +firmly, he hurdled the stern-walk railing and leaped. + +At that wild shout the Dark Master looked up, but he was too late. Brian +hurtled down, his body striking O'Donnell full in the chest and driving +him over on top of the two rowers, so that all four men sprawled out +over the dead. For an instant the shock drove the breath out of Brian, +then he felt a hand close on his throat, and struck out with his skean. + +One of the rowers gurgled and fell back, and Brian rolled over just as +steel sank into his side. Giddy and still breathless, he gained his +knees to find the Dark Master thrusting at him from the stern, while at +his side the other rower was rising. Brian brought up his fist, caught +the man full on the chin, and drove him backward over the gunwale. The +lurch of the boat flung the Dark Master forward, Brian felt a sickening +wrench of pain as the sword pierced his shoulder and tore loose from +O'Donnell's hand, then he had clutched his enemy's throat, and his skean +went home. + +Spent though both men were, the sting of the steel woke the Dark Master +to a burst of energy. As the two fell over the thwarts, he twisted above +and bore Brian down and tried to break the grip on his throat, but could +not. For the second time in his life Brian felt that he had a wild +animal in his grasp; the sight of the snarling face, the venomous black +eyes, and the consciousness that his own strength was slowly ebbing, all +roused him to a last great effort. + +The smoke-pall had shut out everything but that wolfish face, and as he +writhed up even that seemed to dim and blur before his eyes, so that in +desperate fear he struck out again and again, blindly. The blows fell +harmless enough, for all his strength was going into that right hand of +his; he did not know that his fingers were crushing out the Dark +Master's life, that O'Donnell's face was purple and his hands feebly +beating the air. + +Brian knew only that the terrible face was hidden from him by some loss +of vision, some horrible failure of sight due to his weakness. Suddenly +there was a great crash at his side, and he thought that a huge ax with +iron twisted around its haft had fallen from the sky and sheared away +half the gunnel of the boat. He struck out again with his skean, and +felt the blow go home--and with that there came a terrific, blinding +roar. The smoke-veil was rent apart by a sheet of flame, Brian realized +that the burning ship must have blown up, and then a blast of hot wind +drove down against him and smote his senses from him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE STORM OF MEN COMES TO REST. + + +"Very well, Turlough. Tell Captain Peyton that I will give him an answer +to his message to-night, then bid my kinsman Shaun entertain him in the +hall, with the other officers. Send some food up here, and I may come +down later." + +"And, mistress--you will tell me if--" + +"Surely. Now go." + +Brian tried to open his eyes, but could not. He tried to move, but could +not; and realized at length that he was lying on a bed, and that a +bandage was on his head and others on his limbs. + +Suddenly a hand fell on his cheek, and a thrill shot through him; his +beard had been shaved away, for he could feel the softness of the hand +against his chin. He felt the hand passed over his mouth--and he kissed +it. + +There was a startled gasp, then the soft hand returned to his cheek. + +"Brian! Are you awake at last?" + +"I seem to be," he said, though his voice sounded more like a whisper. +"Is that you, Nuala? Where are we?" + +"Yes, it is I," came her voice softly, and something warm splashed on +his cheek. "Oh, Brian! I so feared that--that you were dead!" + +The hand moved away, and he moved uneasily, to feel pain through his +body. + +"Nay, put back your hand!" he said. He tried to smile. "There, that's +better. Where are we, Nuala? On your ship?" + +"No, Brian--at Gorumna. But I forgot. Turlough said you must not talk--" + +"Oh, curse Turlough," he cried in irritation. "Gorumna? What has +happened? Where is the Dark Master?" + +"Lie still or I must leave you!" she cried sharply, and he obeyed. "The +Dark Master's head is over the gate, Brian. It is two days since the +fight." + +"Take that bandage from my eyes, Nuala," he said. After a minute her +hands went to his head, and as he felt the bandage removed, light +dazzled him, and he shut his eyes with a groan. Then he opened them +again, and gradually he made out the figure of Nuala leaning over him, +while a cresset shed light from above. + +"Tell me what has happened," said Brian quietly, as he tried again to +move and failed. "Why am I helpless here?" + +"Because you are wounded," she replied softly. "Please lie quiet, Brian! +I will tell you all that has chanced." + +"Where is Cathbarr! Did we win?" + +"Yes, we won; but--but Cathbarr--he must have flung away his ax before +the ship exploded, for we found it sticking in your boat, and--" + +Her voice broke, and a pang of bitterness shot through Brian as he +remembered it all now. He groaned. + +"And I left him there to die! Oh, coward that I am--coward, and false to +my friend--" + +A great sob shook his body, but Nuala's hands fell on his face, and +there was fear in her voice when she answered him. + +"No, Brian--don't say that! If any one's fault, it was Shaun's for not +coming sooner to your aid. Cathbarr died as he would have wished, and +indeed as he always thought he would die. But now listen, Brian, for I +have news." + +So, leaning over him, she swiftly told him of what had passed. The +O'Donnells had been defeated and slain to the last man; one of their +ships was sunk, and the other three captured, and her men held Bertragh. +As she and Shaun O'Malley lay refitting and gathering their wounded that +same afternoon, a Parliament ship had come in from the south, bearing an +answer to the appeal she had sent to Blake at the Cove of Cork. + +He had not only sent her powder and supplies, but had sent her a blank +commission from Cromwell, which would be filled in upon her definite +allegiance to the Commonwealth. The commission guaranteed her possession +of Gorumna and Bertragh and the lands she claimed, and promised that +when the royalists were driven from Galway the grant would be confirmed +by Parliament. + +"I am to answer Captain Peyton to-night, Brian," she finished, her eyes +dancing. "And Shaun is going to remain and hold Bertragh for me--" + +"What's that?" cried Brian. "Hold Bertragh? Am I then wounded so sore +that I cannot draw sword again?" + +"No," and her laugh rippled out. "Turlough says that you will be as well +as ever in a month, Brian. But since you withdrew your fealty to me, I +had to find another servant!" + +"I had forgotten that," answered Brian moodily. He stared up at her +face, and as he met her eyes saw the color flow up to her temples. + +"You have slain the Dark Master as you promised, Brian," she said +quietly. "And have you forgotten also that you meant to claim a reward +from me for that deed?" + +Brian laughed, and his face softened as happiness laid hold upon his +heart. + +"I have not forgotten that, Nuala; but now I am not going to ask that +reward in the same way I had intended." + +"How do you mean, Brian?" she asked gravely, though her eyes widened a +trifle as if in quick fear. + +"This, dear lady," he smiled. "When you answer Captain Peyton, let the +commission be made out in the name of Nuala O'Neill--and take my fealty +for what is left to me of life, Nuala." + +He looked up steadily, knowing that all things hung on that instant. + +"Well, to tell the truth, Brian," and for a moment she seemed to +hesitate, so that Brian felt a sudden shock, "I--I delayed answering him +in--in that hope!" + +And her face came down to his. + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The following synopsis originally appeared at the +beginning of the second installment.] + + +The scene is laid in Ireland during Cromwell's time, when the whole +country was in arms for or against the various parties. Brian Buidh, or +Brian of the Yellow Hair, himself The O'Neill, comes home from Spain, +where he had been brought up to fight for his country. After a +mysterious warning from the Black Woman, an old hag, he wins forty men +from O'Donnell More, the Black Master, by a trick, and wins the +friendship of Turlough Wolf and Cathbarr of the Ax. His intention is to +gather a storm of men and hold an independent place near Galway. He +forms an alliance with Nuala O'Malley, known as the Bird Daughter +because of her carrier pigeons, for the purpose of recovering her +castle, Bertragh, which O'Donnell had won years before from her parents +by black treachery. + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The following synopsis originally appeared at the +beginning of the third installment.] + + +The scene is laid in Ireland during Cromwell's time, when the whole +country was in arms for or against the various parties. Brian Buidh, or +Brian of the Yellow Hair, himself The O'Neill, comes home from Spain, +where he had been brought up to fight for his country. After a +mysterious warning from the Black Woman, an old hag, he wins forty men +from O'Donnell More, the Black Master, by a trick, and wins the +friendship of Turlough Wolf and Cathbarr of the Ax. His intention is to +gather a storm of men and hold an independent place near Galway. He +forms an alliance with Nuala O'Malley, known as the Bird Daughter +because of her carrier pigeons, for the purpose of recovering her +castle, Bertragh, which O'Donnell had won years before from her parents +by black treachery. + +By warlock arts O'Donnell More brings Brian and a handful of men through +a snowstorm to Bertragh and makes him prisoner. He proceeds to torture +him fiendishly, ending by nailing him to the castle door by one hand. +Just then Colonel James Vere, British officer, arrives, and demands +Brian in order to hang him comfortably in Galway. Red Murrough, +O'Donnell's lieutenant, agrees, for the promise of ten English pounds, +to pretend that Brian is worse off than he is so that he may take longer +to recover. Cathbarr comes in, and offers to take Brian's place if +O'Donnell will release Brian; and when the Black Master makes fun of +him, he goes berserk and cleans out the hall, escaping with Brian to +Nuala. Then they besiege and best O'Donnell, who escapes. + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The following synopsis originally appeared at the +beginning of the fourth and final installment.] + + +The scene is laid in Ireland during Cromwell's time, when the whole +country was in arms for or against the various parties. Brian Buidh, or +Brian of the Yellow Hair, himself The O'Neill, comes home from Spain, +where he had been brought up to fight for his country. After a +mysterious warning from the Black Woman, an old hag, he wins forty men +from O'Donnell More, the Black Master, by a trick, and wins the +friendship of Turlough Wolf and Cathbarr of the Ax. His intention is to +gather a storm of men and hold an independent place near Galway. He +forms an alliance with Nuala O'Malley, known as the Bird Daughter +because of her carrier pigeons, for the purpose of recovering her +castle, Bertragh, which O'Donnell had won years before from her parents +by black treachery. + +By warlock arts O'Donnell More brings Brian and a handful of men through +a snowstorm to Bertragh and makes him prisoner. He proceeds to torture +him fiendishly, ending by nailing him to the castle door by one hand. +Just then Colonel James Vere, British officer, arrives, and demands +Brian in order to hang him comfortably in Galway. Red Murrough, +O'Donnell's lieutenant, agrees, for the promise of ten English pounds, +to pretend that Brian is worse off than he is so that he may take longer +to recover. Cathbarr comes in, and offers to take Brian's place if +O'Donnell will release Brian; and when the Black Master makes fun of +him, he goes berserk and cleans out the hall, escaping with Brian to +Nuala. Then they besiege and best O'Donnell, who escapes. + +Brian goes after O'Donnell with a couple of hundred men, having +recovered from his hurts, and all but catches him in a valley, just as +he is working some kind of a divination with a bowl of water. Brian gets +back his Spanish sword, but O'Donnell escapes with some of his men, and +Brian loses all of his in chasing him to keep him from joining with his +pirate friends. Brian and Turlough get back to Bertragh exhausted. He +goes cruising with Nuala, and they meet a small vessel laden with wine +and food for some of O'Donnell's men. Brian goes back with it to +Bertragh, while Nuala goes on to Gorumna Castle, her own home. But the +captured wine proves to be poisoned--it is a trick of the Black +Master's. + + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +The following typographical errors present in the original magazine +publication have been corrected for this electronic edition. + +In Chapter V, a missing quotation mark was added after "I am for Brian +Buidh." + +In Chapter VI, "Dhar mo lamb" was changed to "Dhar mo lamh". + +In Chapter VII, "which were small carracks" was changed to "which were +small caracks". (While "carrack" is the more common English spelling, +the author used "carack" consistently elsewhere in the text.) + +In Chapter XI, a missing quotation mark was added after "I would take +your life for his." + +In Chapter XII, a missing period was added after "shifted thither in +readiness". + +In Chapter XIII, "coming ing in one of his ships to marry me" was +changed to "coming in one of his ships to marry me", and "Beannact +leath!" was changed to "Beannacht leath!". + +In Chapter XIV, a missing quotation mark was added after "has joined +with those friends of his". + +In Chapter XVI, "those of the Dark Maser were no better" was changed to +"those of the Dark Master were no better". + +In Chapter XVIII, a missing quotation mark was added after "They'll have +the gates down in a minute." + +In Chapter XIX, "Mhuire as truagh, Muire as truagh" was changed to +"Mhuire as truagh, Mhuire as truagh". + +In Chapter XXII, a missing comma was added after "curse Turlough". + +No other corrections were made to the original text. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUALA O'MALLEY*** + + +******* This file should be named 30979.txt or 30979.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/9/7/30979 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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