ENNIS NA SHIA. 97 



The fugitives had already gained the 

 bridge. 



" Follow !" cried the fierce O'Rourke. 



" Follow !" cried the lord of Enniskillen. 



And pell-mell, horse and foot, Macguires 

 and O'Kourkes commingled, they rushed on 

 the bridge, shouting, cursing, impeding each 

 other by their very eagerness. 



Already they had reached the crown of 

 the bridge, when the harper, Slievan, turned, 

 deliberately facing the rushing crowds, and 

 slowly casting off his saffron-coloured, hooded 

 cloak. 



All stood aghast, — for his glittering coronet 

 of snow, and his russet robe trimmed with 

 purple, revealed the king of the mountain 

 fairies. 



The glamourie was at an end. Slowly, 

 but inevitably, the bridge crumbled away 

 from beneath their feet ; buttress after but- 

 tress and arch after arch melted away in thin 

 mist ; nothing remained but here and there 

 a patch of weed or a wave- worn rock, with 

 the fairy lights dancing round it, while a 

 broad trembling line of moonbeams dancing 

 in the water marked the path of the bridge ; 

 and all the time the fairy lights gleamed, 



