Nuala O"Malley.
by H. Bedford-Jones.
CHAPTER I.
THE BLACK WOMAN.
The horseman reined in as his jaded steed scrambled up the shelving bank, and for a s.p.a.ce sat there motionless, for which the horse gave mute thanks. The moon was struggling to heave through fleecy clouds, as it was hard on midnight; in the half obscurity the rider gazed around suspiciously.
There was nothing in sight to cause any man fear. Behind him rippled the Dee, and all around was desolation. Ardee itself lay a good two miles in the rear, burned and laid waste six weeks before, and ten miles to the south lay Drogheda. Indeed, as the horseman gazed about, he caught sight of a faint glare on the horizon that drew a bitter word from his lips.
Dismounting with some difficulty, owing to his cloak and Spanish hat, he examined a long, raking gash in his horse"s flank; then flung off hat and cloak and calmly proceeded to bind up his own naked shoulder beneath.
His was a strange figure, indeed, now that he stood revealed. He wore no clothing save breeches and high riding-boots; an enormous sword without a sheath was girt about his waist, and the caked blood on his shoulder and cheek made his fair skin stand out with startling contrast.
About his shoulders fell long hair of ruddy yellow, while his face was young and yet very bitter, tortured by both physical and mental anguish, as it seemed. He bound up the deep slash in his shoulder with a strip of cloth torn from his cloak, felt his wealed cheek tenderly, then flung the cloak about him again and drew down his broad-brimmed hat as he turned to his weary horse.
"Well, my friend," and his voice sounded whimsical for all its rich tone, "you"ve had a change of masters to-day, eh? I"d like to spare you, but man"s life is first, though Heaven knows it"s worth little in Ireland this day!" With that he reeled and caught at the saddle for support, put down his head, and sobbed unrestrainedly.
"Oh, my G.o.d!" he groaned at length, straightening himself to shake a clenched and blood-splashed fist at the sky. "Where were You this day?
G.o.d! G.o.d! The blood of men on Thine altars--"
"Faith, you must be new come to Ireland, then!"
At the shrill, mocking voice the man whirled about and his huge blade was out like a flash. But only a cackling laugh answered him, as down from the bank above slipped a perfect hag of a creature, and he drew back in alarm. At that instant the moon flooded out; his sudden motion had flung off his wide hat, and he stood staring at the wrinkled creature whose scanty garments and thin-shredded gray locks were pierced by a pair of weird brown eyes.
Then he quivered indeed, and even the poor horse took a step backward, for the old woman had flung up her arms with a shrill cry as she gazed on the yellow-haired young man.
"The O"Neill!" The words seemed to burst from her involuntarily. She craned forward, her hands twisting at her ragged shawl, and a flood of Gaelic poured from her lips as she stared at the awe-struck man.
"Are you, then, the earl, come back from the dead? Ghost of Tyr-owen, why stand you here idle in the gap of Ulster, where once Cuculain fought against the host of Meave? Do you also stand here to fight as he fought--"
"Peace, mad-woman!" exclaimed the young man, stooping after his hat.
"Peace, and be off out of my way, for I have far to ride."
The Gaelic words came roughly and brokenly from him, but the old hag took no heed. Instead, she advanced swiftly and laid her hand on his arm, still gazing into his face with a great wonder on her wrinkled features.
"Who are you?" she whispered. "Tell the Black Woman your name, if you are no ghost! For even as you stand now, once did these eyes see the great earl himself."
"I am from Drogheda," answered the man, something very like fear stamped on his powerful and bitter-touched young face. "My name is Brian Buidh, and I ride to join Owen Ruadh--"
"Liar!" The old woman spat forth the word with a cackle of laughter.
"Oh, you cannot fool the Black Woman, Yellow Brian! Listen--Brian your name is, and Yellow Brian your name shall be indeed, since this is your will. Owen Ruadh O"Neill lies at the O"Reilly stead at Lough Oughter, but you shall never ride to war behind him, Brian Buidh! No--the Black Woman tells you, and the Black Woman knows. Instead, you shall ride into the west, and there shall be a storm of men--a storm of men behind you and before you--"
"For the love of Heaven, have done!" cried Yellow Brian, shrinking before her, and yet with anger in his face. "Are you crazed, woman?
Drogheda has fallen; O"Neill must join with the royalists, and never shall I ride into the west. Be off, for I have no money."
He turned to mount, but again she stopped him. It seemed to him that there was strange power in that withered hand which rested so lightly on his arm.
"The Black Woman needs no money, Yellow Brian," she cackled merrily.
"You shall meet me once again, on a black day for you; and when you meet with Cathbarr of the Ax you shall remember me, Brian Buidh; and when you ride into the west and meet with the Bird Daughter you shall remember me.
"So go, Yellow Brian, upon whose heart is stamped the red hand of the O"Neills! _Beannacht leath!_"
"_Beannacht leath_," repeated the man thickly.
There was a rustle of bushes, and he was alone, wiping the cold sweat from his face.
"Woman or fiend!" he muttered hoa.r.s.ely. "How did she know that last?
Yes, she was crazed, no doubt. I suppose that I do look like the earl--since he was my grandfather!"
And with a bitter laugh he climbed into the saddle and pushed his horse up the bank. The bushes closed behind him, the night closed over him, but it was long ere the weird words of the old hag who called herself the Black Woman were closed from his mind.
For, after all, Yellow Brian was of right not alone an O"Neill, but The O"Neill.
CHAPTER II.
THE BEGINNING OF THE STORM.
The people of every nation--that is, the tillers of the soil, the people who form the backbone of their race--are in continual expectancy of a Man and a Day. Theirs is always the, perhaps, dumb hope, but still the hope, that in their future lie these two things, a Man and a Day.
Sometimes the Man has come and the Day has failed; sometimes the Day has come and there has been no Man to use it; but now all Ireland had swept up in a wild roar, knowing that the Man and the Day had come together.
And so, in truth, they had. Owen, the Ruadh, or red, O"Neill, had fought a desperate struggle against the royalists. Little by little he had cemented his own people together, his personal qualities and his splendid generalship had overborne all else, and the victory of Benburb had crowned the whole. Then Owen Ruadh was stricken down with sickness, Cromwell landed and stormed Drogheda, and Yellow Brian had fought clear and fled away to the kinsman he had never seen.
Now, standing on the castle ramparts overlooking Lough Oughter, Yellow Brian stared moodily out at the lake. His ident.i.ty had been revealed to none, and the name of Brian Buidh had little meaning to any in Ireland.
Years since he who was The O"Neill, the same whom the English called Earl of Tyr-owen, had fled with his family from the land. His eldest son John had settled at the Spanish court.
John was a spineless man, unworthy son of a great father, content to idle away his life in ease and quiet. And it was in the court of Spain that Brian O"Neill had been born, with only an old Irishwoman to nurse him and teach him the tongue and tidings of Ireland which his father cared nothing for.
Yellow Brian had written out these things, sending the letter to the sick general who lay within the castle. His terrible news of Drogheda had created consternation, but already O"Neill"s forces had been sent to join the royalists against the common foe. All Ireland was distraught by war. Royalist, patriot, and Parliament man fought each against the other, and the only man who could have faced Cromwell lay sick unto death.
The Day was pa.s.sing, the Man was pa.s.sing, and shadow lay upon all the land.
A man came up and touched Yellow Brian"s arm, with word that Owen Ruadh would see him at once. Brian nodded, following. He was well garbed now, and a steel jack glittered from beneath his dark-red cloak as he strode along. Upon his strong-set face brooded bitterness, but his eyes were young for all their cold blue, and his ruddy hair shone like spun gold in the sunlight; while his firm mouth and chin, his erect figure, and his ma.s.sive shoulders gained him more than one look of appreciation from the cl.u.s.tered O"Reillys.
He followed the attendant to a large room, whose huge mantel was carven with the red hand and supporting lions of the clan Reilly, and pa.s.sed over to the bed beside the window. He had requested to see O"Neill alone, and the attendant withdrew silently. Brian approached the bed, and stood looking down at the man who was pa.s.sing from Ireland.
Sharp and bright were the eyes as ever, but the red beard was grayed and the face was waxen; a spark of color came to it, as Owen Ruadh stretched forth a hand to take that of his visitor.
"Brian O"Neill!" he exclaimed, in a voice singularly like that of Brian himself. "Welcome, kinsman! But why the silence you enjoined in your letter?"
"My name is Yellow Brian," answered the younger man somberly. "I have none other, general. You know the gist of my story, and here is the rest. I broke with my father, for he would hear nothing of my coming to Ireland. So I cast off his name and left him to his cursed idleness, reaching Drogheda barely in time to take part in the siege. I managed to cut through, as you know, and meant to take service with you--"