ad, and she heard him call her
sister.

'Twas not in me to complain that it should be so; for the ways of women
are beyond my understanding.

Presently the old man rose from his seat, and without a word left us to
ourselves. Ludar then narrated how, when the _Gerona_ broke up, he had
fallen near a broken oar, which held him up and enabled him to reach
land almost without a bruise. For a long while he lay in the darkness,
not knowing where he was; but when day broke, he found himself in the
deep cave that goes under the castle, a prisoner there by the rising
tide, and with no means of escape. For to stem the waves at the mouth
was hopeless, and by no manner of shouting and calling could he make his
presence known to anyone outside.

So all day, faint with hunger, he had perched on a ledge just beyond
reach of the tide, and not till evening, when the wind, and with it the
water, subsided, was he able to swim out and come to land at the foot of
the very path up which, long months ago, he had led the party who
recovered Dunluce for the McDonnells.

His story was scarce ended when a cheering without called us to the
courtyard, where the news of the return of Sir Ludar had gathered the
McDonnells, eager with shouts and music to welcome him.

But Ludar would by no means go out till his father arrived to command
it. Then it did us, who loved him, good to see him stand there, with
the maiden's hand in his, receiving the homage of his clansmen.

While thus we stood, there was an uproar at the gate, as two men fought
their way through the throng and approached us.

"Jove and the Muses grant their beloved son a soul to celebrate so
notable a festival in the strains which it deserves!" cried the poet,
shaking all over with emotion, and his eyes dim with tears. "Achilles
hath his Briseis; Odysseus his lost Penelope, and all four have to their
hand an Orpheus (woe's me! without his Eurydice), to chant their
fortunes. Oh! my noble son of a wolf, and thou, my Hollander, how I
rejoice to see you, and to hand to your arms the nymphs of whom one day,
perhaps, it shall be accounted to their honour that they were nourished
on the dews of Parnassus by the Muses' most unworthy disciple."

"A nice dry nurse you be!" said Jack Gedge. "'Tis a mercy the fair
ladies have their ear-drums sound after half-a-year of your noisy
buzzing in them. Sir Ludar, by your leave, captain, you hold in your
hand what you gave me in charge to keep