ud to his Druid, Coran by name. "O Coran of the
many spells," he said, "and of the cunning magic, I call upon thy aid. A
task is upon me too great for all my skill and wit, greater than any
laid upon me since I seized the kingship. A maiden unseen has met us,
and by her power would take from me my dear, my comely son. If thou help
not, he will be taken from thy king by woman's wiles and witchery."

Then Coran the Druid stood forth and chanted his spells towards the spot
where the maiden's voice had been heard. And none heard her voice again,
nor could Connla see her longer. Only as she vanished before the Druid's
mighty spell, she threw an apple to Connla.

For a whole month from that day Connla would take nothing, either to eat
or to drink, save only from that apple.

But as he ate, it grew again and always kept whole. And all the while
there grew within him a mighty yearning and longing after the maiden he
had seen.

But when the last day of the month of waiting came, Connla stood by the
side of the king his father on the Plain of Arcomin, and again he saw
the maiden come towards him, and again she spoke to him. "'Tis a
glorious place, forsooth, that Connla holds among shortlived mortals
awaiting the day of death. But now the folk of life, the ever-living
ones, beg and bid thee come to Moy Mell, the Plain of Pleasure, for they
have learnt to know thee, seeing thee in thy home among thy dear ones."

When Conn the king heard the maiden's voice he called to his men aloud
and said: "Summon swift my Druid Coran, for I see she has again this day
the power of speech."

Then the maiden said: "O mighty Conn, Fighter of a Hundred Fights, the
Druid's power is little loved; it has little honor in the mighty land,
peopled with so many of the upright. When the Law comes, it will do away
with the Druid's magic spells that issue from the lips of the false
black demon."

Then Conn the king observed that since the coming of the maiden Connla
his son spoke to none that spake to him. So Conn of the Hundred Fights
said to him, "Is it to thy mind what the woman says, my son?"

"'Tis hard upon me," said Connla; "I love my own folk above all things;
but yet a longing seizes me for the maiden."

When the maiden heard this, she answered and said: "The ocean is not so
strong as the waves of thy longing. Come with me in my curragh, the
gleaming, straight-gliding crystal canoe. Soon can we reach Boadag's
realm. I see the bright sun sink