Page:The Celtic Review volume 3.djvu/170

Rh eagles builded their nests on the shelves of the rocks, and the little folk abode in the homes they had made for themselves in the shelter of the caves. The chronicle tells us that one morning, in the early spring of the year, when the days were short and the nights were long, the young chieftain blew his horn and called for his huntsmen, bidding them follow him, for the morn promised fair, and the game was plentiful. They pursued their, sport the whole of the day, becoming so enamoured of its delights that they must need forget how far from home they were amidst mountains they wist not of, and where the wildness seemed a fitting refuge for the ravaging beasts. Then when the day was far spent they bethought themselves that they were weary, and with nought to satisfy their hunger or thirst, and they began to gaze this way, and that way, and all around them, yet not a path did they see the which would lead them out of the mountainous wilderness. But the chieftain was a brave man, therefore did he command his huntsmen to press forward, and tarry not until they found perchance a crevice of the rocks out of which water flowed forth to quench their thirst. And thus they journeyed through what seemed to them a dreary desert, footsore and travel-worn, when lo! they beheld a spring of clear mountain water; and the men drank of the water and were refreshed thereby, as the morning dew refresheth the grass and the face of the flowers, washing them from the hue of the night. When they had shaken off their weariness they sat themselves down by the stream, and took counsel one with the other how they might find their way back to their own kindred. Then the chieftain spake unto them, saying, ‘Let us abide here until the morrow, for the night is at hand; see yonder the great God departs, and the shadows warn us that the hour is nigh when the wild beast prowleth, for the darkness hideth not from him the prey he seeketh. Let us strike a fire, prepare some meat, and watch in turn till the morning dawneth, and the golden house of the great God is lighted, and He worketh again, then will we find our way back to our fair valley.’