The Golden Spears | Page 6

"Oh, Nora, how tall and beautiful you are!"
"Oh, not so tall and handsome as you are, Connla," said Nora, as she
flung her white arms round his neck and kissed her brother's lips.
Then they drew back to get a better look of each other, and who should
step between them but the fairy queen.
"Oh, Nora, Nora," said she, "I am not as high as your knee, and as for
you, Connla, you look as straight and as tall as one of the round towers
of Erin."
"And how did we grow so tall in one night?" said Connla.
"In one night!" said the fairy queen. "One night, indeed! Why, you
have been fast asleep, the two of you, for the last seven years!"
"And where was the little mother all that time?" said Connla and Nora
together.
"Oh, the little mother was all right. She knew where you were; but she
is expecting you to-day, and so you must go off to see her, although I
would like to keep you--if I had my way--all to myself here in the
fairyland under the sea. And you will see her to-day; but before you go
here is a necklace for you, Nora; it is formed out of the drops of the
ocean spray, sparkling in the sunshine. They were caught by my fairy
nymphs, for you, as they skimmed the sunlit billows under the shape of

sea-birds, and no queen or princess in the world can match their luster
with the diamonds won with toil from the caves of earth. As for you,
Connla, see here's a helmet of shining gold fit for a king of Erin--and a
king of Erin you will be yet; and here's a spear that will pierce any
shield, and here's a shield that no spear can pierce and no sword can
cleave as long as you fasten your warrior cloak with this brooch of
gold."
And as she spoke she flung round Connla's shoulders a flowing mantle
of yellow silk, and pinned it at his neck with a red gold brooch.
"And now, my children, you must go away from me. You, Nora, will
be a warrior's bride in Erin of the Streams. And you, Connla, will be
king yet over the loveliest province in all the land of Erin; but you will
have to fight for your crown, and days of battle are before you. They
will not come for a long time after you have left the fairyland under the
sea, and until they come lay aside your helmet, shield, and spear, and
warrior's cloak and golden brooch. But when the time comes when you
will be called to battle, enter not upon it without the golden brooch I
give you fastened in your cloak, for if you do harm will come to you.
Now, kiss me, children; your little mother is waiting for you at the foot
of the golden spear, but do not forget to say good-by to Liban the
Mermaid, exiled from the land she loves, and pining in sadness beneath
the sea."
Connla and Nora kissed the fairy queen, and Connla, wearing his
golden helmet and silken cloak, and carrying his shield and spear, led
Nora with him. They passed from the palace through the garden of
roses, through the flowery meadow, through the dark gray rocks, until
they reached the golden strand; and there, sitting and singing the
strange, sweet song, was Liban the Mermaid.
"And so you are going up to Erin," she said, "up through the covering
waters. Kiss me, children, once again; and when you are in Erin of the
Streams, sometimes think of the exile from Erin beneath the sea."
And the children kissed the mermaid, and with sad hearts, bidding her
good-by, they walked along the golden strand. When they had gone

what seemed to them a long way, they began to feel weary; and just
then they saw coming towards them a little man in a red jacket leading
a coal-black steed.
When they met the little man, he said: "Connla, put Nora up on this
steed; then jump up before her."
Connla did as he was told, and when both of them were mounted--
"Now, Connla," said the little man, "catch the bridle in your hands, and
you, Nora, clasp Connla round the waist, and close your eyes."
They did as they were bidden, and then the little man said, "Swash,
swish!" and the steed shot up from the strand like a lark from the grass,
and pierced the covering sea, and went bounding on over the level
waters; and when his hoofs struck the hard ground, Connla and Nora
opened their eyes, and they saw that they were galloping towards a
shady wood.
On went the steed, and soon