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 noise ahead of him, and
a bristling monster, lifting its claws above the water, in a moment
was beside the boat and stuck one of his claws in the left arm of the
prince, and pierced the flesh to the bone. Maddened by the pain the
prince drew his sword and chopped off the monster's claw. The monster
disappeared beneath the lake, and, as it did so, the color of the water
changed, and the silver moonlight shone down from the sky again, but the
boat no longer went on towards the mainland, but sped back towards the
floating island, while forth from the island came a fleet of fairy boats
to meet it, led by the shallop of the fairy queen. The queen greeted the
prince as if she knew not of his attempted flight, and to the music of
the harps the fleet returned to the palace.

The next day passed and the night came, and again the prince was lying
on the couch, thinking of the Princess Ailinn, and again he saw the
shadow on the floor and heard the tapping against the window.

And when he opened it the little woman slid into the room.

"You failed last night," she said, "but I come to give you another
chance. To-morrow the queen must set out on a visit to her fairy
kinsmen, who dwell in the green hill near the plain of Tara; she cannot
take you with her, for if your feet once touched the green grass that
grows in the fruitful fields of Erin, she could never bring you back
again. And so, when you find she has left the palace, go at once into
the banquet hall and look behind the throne, and you will see a small
door let down into the ground. Pull this up and descend the steps which
you will see. Where they lead to I cannot tell. What dangers may be
before you I do not know; but this I know, if you accept anything, no
matter what it is, from anyone you may meet on your way, you shall not
set foot on the soil of Erin."

And having said this the little woman, rising from the floo