t following to his house, and
you shall go with me.'

Thus it was done; and though the earl's wife was eager to keep her
daughter with her yet a while, she was fain to yield, as the wife of
Iarlaid vowed that not a rood of land should the earl have, unless he
did her bidding. But if he would give his daughter to Manus, she would
bestow on him the third part of her own kingdom, with much treasure
beside. This she did, not from love to Manus, but because she wished
to destroy him. So they were married, and rode back with the wife of
Iarlaid to her own palace. And that night, while he was sleeping, there
came a wise man, who was his father's friend, and awoke him saying:
'Danger lies very close to you, Manus, son of Oireal. You hold yourself
favoured because you have as a bride the daughter of a mighty earl; but
do you know what bride the wife of Iarlaid sought for her own son? It
was no worldly wife she found for him, but the swift March wind, and
never can you prevail against her.'

'Is it thus?' answered Manu. And at the first streak of dawn he went to
the chamber where the queen lay in the midst of her maidens.

'I have come,' he said, 'for the third part of the kingdom, and for the
treasure which you promised me.' But the wife of Iarlaid laughed as she
heard him.

'Not a clod shall you have here,' spake she. 'You must go to the Old
Bergen for that. Mayhap under its stones and rough mountains you may
find a treasure!'

'Then give me your son's six foster brothers as well as my own,'
answered he. And the queen gave them to him, and they set out for Old
Bergen.

A year passed by, and found them still in that wild land, hunting the
reindeer, and digging pits for the mountain sheep to fall into. For a
time Manus and his companions lived merrily, but at length Manus grew
weary of the strange country, and they all took ship for the land of
Lochlann. The wind was fierce and cold, and long was the voyage; but,
one spring day, they sailed into the harbour that lay beneath the castle
of Iarlaid. The queen looked from her window and beheld him mounting the
hill, with the twelve foster brothers behind him. Then she said to her
husband: 'Manus has returned with his twelve foster brothers. Would that
I could put an end to him and his murdering and his slaying.'

'That were a great pity,' answered Iarlaid. 'And it is not I that will
do it.'

'If you will not do it I will,' said she. And she called the twelve
foster brother