Page:The courtship of Ferb (Leahy).djvu/74

Rh and dead. Then he began to hew down upon all sides the men that were round him, so that they fell foot to foot and neck to neck throughout the palace. Moreover it so chanced that of the thrice fifty warriors who came with Conor into that house, none escaped alive save himself and Brod, and although these two came out, yet they came not out unhurt. And Cobhtach, the son of Gerg, fled from out of the castle, and Conor chased him. And as he followed him over the plain, the maiden, namely Ferb, the daughter of Gerg, came, and with her her comrade who had brought her the news of the coming of Mani. They came together to the place where Mani lay in his gore, a bloody disfigured form; and she mourned and she wept.

"Truly," said she, "thou art lonely now, yet on many nights, as I reckon, thou hast had the fellowship of many.' And she sang this lament while she made testimony for him:—

O boy, your couch is red with gore, Ill-omened from your home you came! For signs had told, that weeping sore Your kindred soon should hear your name.