he would never rest night or day, winter or summer, till he
could serve Finn with the same sauce, if he could catch him. Finn,
however, had a strong disinclination to meet a giant who could make a
young earthquake or flatten a thunderbolt when he was angry, so
accordingly he kept dodging about from place to place--not much to his
credit as a Trojan, to be sure--whenever he happened to get the hard
word that Far Rua was on the scent of him. And the long and the short of
it was that he heard Far Rua was coming to the Causeway to have a trial
of strength with him; and he was, naturally enough, seized in
consequence with a very warm and sudden fit of affection for his wife,
who was delicate in her health, poor woman, and leading, besides, a very
lonely, uncomfortable life of it in his absence.

"God save all here," said Finn good-humouredly, putting his honest face
into his own door.

"Musha, Finn, avick, an' you're welcome to your own Oonagh, you darlin'
bully." Here followed a smack that it is said to have made the waters of
the lake curl, as it were, with kindness and sympathy.

"Faith," said Finn, "beautiful; and how are you, Oonagh--and how did
you sport your figure during my absence, my bilberry?"

"Never a merrier--as bouncing a grass widow as ever there was in sweet
'Tyrone among the bushes.'"

Finn gave a short, good-humoured cough, and laughed most heartily to
show her how much he was delighted that she made herself happy in his
absence.

"An' what brought you home so soon, Finn?" said she.

"Why, avourneen," said Finn, putting in his answer in the proper way,
"never the thing but the purest of love and affection for yourself.
Sure, you know that's truth, anyhow, Oonagh."

Finn spent two or three happy days with Oonagh, and felt himself very
comfortable considering the dread he had of Far Rua. This, however, grew
upon him so much that his wife could not but perceive something lay on
his mind which he kept altogether to himself. Let a woman alone in the
meantime for ferreting or wheedling a secret out of her good man when
she wishes. Finn was a proof of this.

"It's this Far Rua," said he, "that's troublin' me. When the fellow gets
angry and begins to stamp he'll shake you a whole townland, and it's
well known that he can stop a thunderbolt, for he always carries one
about with him in the shape of a pancake to show to anyone that might
misdoubt it."

As he spoke he clapped his thumb in his mouth, as he