way now, so we may dismiss him."

"True--and when may we expect Branwen back again, poor child?" asked the
king.

"In a day or two at latest. From what was told me by the runner who was
sent on in advance, it is possible that she may be here to-morrow, in
time for the sports."

The wily chief had settled it in his own mind that Branwen should arrive
exactly at the time when there was to be a presentation of chiefs; which
ceremony was to take place just before the commencement of the sports.
This arrangement he had come to in concert with a little old woman in a
grey shawl, who paid him a private visit daily.

"Do you know, Gadarn, who this youth Cormac is, whom Bladud raves so
much about?"

The northern chief was seized at that moment with one of those violent
fits of sneezing to which of late he had become unpleasantly subject.

"Oh! ye--ye--y-ha! yes;--excuse me, king, but since I went to that Hot
Swamp, something seems to have gone wrong wi'--wi'--ha! my nose."

"Something will go worse wrong with it, chief, if you go on like that.
I thought the last one must have split it. Well, what know you about
Cormac?"

"That he appears to be a very good fellow. I can say nothing more about
him than that, except that your son seems to think he owes his life to
his good nursing at a critical point in his illness."

"I know that well enough," returned the king, "for Bladud has impressed
it on me at least a dozen times. He seems to be very grateful. Indeed
so am I, and it would please me much if I had an opportunity of showing
my gratitude to the lad. Think you that there is any chance of finding
out where he has disappeared to?"

"Not the least chance in the world."

"Indeed!" exclaimed the king in surprise. "That is strange, for Bladud,
who has just left me, says that he has the best of reasons for believing
that we shall have certain news of him tomorrow. But go, Gadarn, and
consult my doctor about this complaint of yours, which interrupts
conversation so awkwardly. We can resume our talk at some other time."

Gadarn obediently went, holding his sides as if in agony, and sneezing
in a manner that caused the roof-tree of the palace to vibrate.

Returning to his own room he found the little old woman in grey awaiting
him.

"You've been laughing again, father," she said. "I see by the
purpleness of your face. You'll burst yourself at last if you go on
so."

"Oh! you little old hag--oh! Cormac--oh! B