Cambia Carty and Other Stories Author:William Buckley Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: KING DIARMUID. In the sunlit days while Rome yet trembled on a single hill, there was a great battle fought in Munster of the Music, great, as befitted a host... more »ing of Kings—fierce as a strife of brothers. On that high plateau looped by the curves of the winding Lee, sentinelled by Ardrum, it had raged from noon to noon of two summer days with varying fortune, the fray now toppling over the great ridge of Curragh Beg, now raving along Farren height, even to Rossbeg, amid whose foot-hills it sank hoarsely to rest, the spent combatants giving tardy ear to the mighty Druid of Rostellan, who had hastened from his woods to stay the hideous fight, and not unwillingly they heard his decree which ran thus—Thomond's king, Diarmuid, should without bite or sup march northward across the fords of the Lee to Lisnaraha, while the men of Desmond should fall back beyond the Bride to Lisheens and the hills above at the dawning of the day, ere award of dispute be made. Although he had kept the Gap of Danger through all the hot hours of conflict, King Diarmuid did not sleep well, and towards daybreak turned on his side with such a sigh and such a clatter of armour that Conor of the Women, his fostrr-brother, woke languidly yawning, and asked how he fared. " Badly," replied the king, " I havescarce closed an eye." "Art thou wounded?" Diarmuid shook his head. " Hast thou not glory enough," pursued the other, "outside are many men sleeping very quietly, and yet their heads rest not on the breasts of victory?" The king sighed. "The breasts of a mortal woman come between me and forgetfulness," he replied, patting the muzzle of Scathach, his old wolf-hound, as waking at his feet she lifted herself to lick his hand. " What is the favour of her? " said Conor of the Women. "She is tall, with a roundnes...« less