hing but the beam of a
plough and that the horse that each of the others had was only an old
broom, or maybe a rag weed, or the like of that.

"And you know that there was no getting the Princess away from him
after the words that he said. But I came close to her and struck her
on the mouth. 'Now, Guleesh,' said I, 'you may keep her if you will,
but she'll be dumb forever.' And with that we all disappeared from
them.

"But you may be sure I watched them. They stood there together and
Guleesh talked to her and tried to make her talk back, but it was of
no use at all, and he soon found that she was dumb completely. Then
he stood thinking what would he do with her, and at last he took her
by the hand and started toward the priest's house. It was getting near
day now, and the priest was up by the time they came to the door, and
he opened it himself. And when he saw Guleesh and the girl, sure he
thought they were come to be married, and he said: 'Ah, Guleesh, isn't
it the nice boy ye are, that ye can't wait till a decent hour to be
married, but ye must be comin' to me this early? And don't ye know I
can't marry ye lawfully anyway, and I put out of my place?'

"Then says Guleesh: 'Sure, father, you can marry me or anybody else
you like, for you have your place back again, and here's the Pope's
bull for that same. But it's not that I come for, but to ask you to
give shelter to this young lady, the daughter of the King of France.'

[Illustration: "HERE'S THE POPE'S BULL FOR THAT SAME."]

"And with that he takes the Pope's bull out of his pocket and gives it
to the priest, and the priest looked at the writing and the seal and
saw that there was no doubt but it was right. And so he made Guleesh
and the Princess come in and sit down, while Guleesh told him the
whole story, and not a word of it would he have believed only there
was the Pope's bull that he couldn't deny, and so at long last he had
to believe all that Guleesh told him. And the end of it was that the
Princess stayed at the priest's house, for they didn't know how to
send her back to her father's palace, and they had no money, and she
couldn't speak to help them. And the priest gave out that she was the
daughter of his brother, that lived in another county, and that she
was making him a visit. And Guleesh went home and said how he'd been
sleeping beside the rath all night."

Naggeneen paused in his story, while all the fairies drew quietly
closer to him. "Do you