Page:The courtship of Ferb (Leahy).djvu/68

 came to that part of the battle where Mani was. Then those two set shield against shield, and they strove with each other in a strife that lasted till the middle of the night; and Fabric dealt Mani three grievous wounds, and Mani smote the head off him after that he had grown weary in the strife. And as to Conor, the might of a hero was his, for at his hand fell thirty valiant men of the people of Gerg, and with them fell the son of Gerg, even Conn the victorious. Thus on either side the army rushed to the attack; almost it seemed that the toes on their feet warred together in the strife. Throughout the castle the warriors stood knee deep in blood, and through the surrounding country was heard the splintering of the shields and the bucklers, and the whirr of the bright green lances, and the clash of the sharp hard swords, and the shattering of skulls in the slaughter, and the cries of the warriors who were overcome in a strife that was greater than they could endure.

Now, after the death of the chief of the Fomorians, Mani met Facen, the son of Dublongsech, and for a long time they fought, and Facen fell at the end of that fight. Also at the hand of Cobhtach the fair-skinned, who was the son of Gerg, died Siaburchenn, the son of Suilremuir. But Mani and Cobhtach were forced into the royal palace after their people had suffered defeat, and they held that palace bravely and manfully till the morning, nor could any enter in of those who fought against them.