en they were tired dancing
they set out for the boats, and the moon was rising above the trees as
they sailed away over the lake, and it was not long until they reached
the bank below the fairy palace.

Well, between hunting in the forest, and sailing over the lake, and
dancing in the greenwood glade and in the banquet hall, the days
passed, but all the time the prince was thinking of the Princess
Ailinn, and one moonlit night, when he was lying awake on his couch
thinking of her, a shadow was suddenly cast on the floor.

The prince looked towards the window, and what should he see sitting
on the sill outside but a little woman tapping the pane with a golden
bodkin.

The prince jumped from his couch and opened the window, and the little
woman floated on the moonbeams into the room and sat down on the
floor.

"You are thinking of the Princess Ailinn," said the little woman.

"I never think of anyone else," said the prince.

"I know that," said the little woman, "and it's because of your love
for each other, and because her mother was a friend to me in the
days gone by, that I have come here to try and help you; but there is
not much time for talking, the night advances. At the bank below a
boat awaits you. Step into it and it will lead you to the mainland,
and when you reach it you will find before you a path that will
take you to the green fields of Erin and the plains of Tara. I know
you will have to face danger. I know not what kind of danger; but
whatever it may be do not draw your sword before you tread upon the
mainland, for if you do you shall never reach it, and the boat
will come back again to the floating island; and now go and may luck
go with you;" and saying this the little woman climbed up the
moonbeams and disappeared.

The prince left the palace and descended to the lake, and there before
him he saw a glistening boat; he stepped into it, and the boat went on
and on beneath the moon, and at last he saw the mainland, and he could
trace a winding pathway going away from the shore. The sight filled
his heart with joy, but suddenly the milk-white moonshine died away,
and looking up to the sky he saw the moon turning fiery red, and the
waters of the lake, shining like silver a moment before, took a
blood-red hue, and a wind arose that stirred the waters, and they
leaped up against the little boat, tossing it from side to side. While
Cuglas was wondering at the change, he heard a strange, unearthly
noi