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 seeing nothing, resumed his former position. After a minute Bran growled again, a low, vicious growl, which caused Fionn to sit upright, for he knew she would not growl in such a manner unless some one or something strange was near. Then, where the moon-beams made a pathway on the grass, Fionn saw coming towards him two fair young girls, their dresses shimmering like rainbow mist in the silver moonlight, and as they came nearer he rose to receive and welcome them. They were strange to him, and he thought they had either wandered from their road, or were looking for some of his people.

"Are you seeking some one, fair maidens?" he inquired, after greeting them. "If it is any of the women of my household, I will have them roused; for, the hour being late, they have retired."

"It is not your women we seek, but you, Fionn," said one of them, a fair-haired, blue-eyed girl, who appeared to be the elder of the two, "and we have travelled a long way to find you."

"In what way can I serve you?" asked