ater that lay wrinkling and twinkling below them.

A roomy ship under great press of sall was bearing on Ben Edair from the
east.

Now and again, in a lull of the discussion, a champion would look and
remark on the hurrying vessel; and it may have been during one of these
moments that the adventure happened to Fionn and the Fianna.

"I wonder where that ship comes from?" said Cona'n idly.

But no person could surmise anything about it beyond that it was a
vessel well equipped for war.

As the ship drew by the shore the watchers observed a tall man swing
from the side by means of his spear shafts, and in a little while this
gentleman was announced to Fionn, and was brought into his presence.

A sturdy, bellicose, forthright personage he was indeed. He was equipped
in a wonderful solidity of armour, with a hard, carven helmet on
his head, a splendid red-bossed shield swinging on his shoulder, a
wide-grooved, straight sword clashing along his thigh. On his shoulders
under the shield he carried a splendid scarlet mantle; over his breast
was a great brooch of burnt gold, and in his fist he gripped a pair of
thick-shafted, unburnished spears.

Fionn and the champions looked on this gentleman, and they admired
exceedingly his bearing and equipment.

"Of what blood are you, young gentleman?" Fionn demanded, "and from
which of the four corners of the world do you come?"

"My name is Cael of the Iron," the stranger answered, "and I am son to
the King of Thessaly."

"What errand has brought you here?"

"I do not go on errands," the man replied sternly, "but on the affairs
that please me."

"Be it so. What is the pleasing affair which brings you to this land?"

"Since I left my own country I have not gone from a land or an island
until it paid tribute to me and acknowledged my lordship."

"And you have come to this realm," cried Fionn, doubting his ears.

"For tribute and sovereignty," growled that other, and he struck the
haft of his spear violently on the ground.

"By my hand," said Cona'n, "we have never heard of a warrior, however
great, but his peer was found in Ireland, and the funeral songs of all
such have been chanted by the women of this land."

"By my hand and word," said the harsh stranger, "your talk makes me
think of a small boy or of an idiot."

"Take heed, sir," said Fionn, "for the champions and great dragons of
the Gael are standing by you, and around us there are fourteen battles
of the Fian