Will you promise me, if I will
let you go, that you will not get off the horse's back or let go his
bridle?'
"Oisin promised and she let him go. Away over the water the horse
galloped again. Tir-na-n-Oge, with its warm sun and its sweet air, was
left behind. A damp sea-wind came up, and it blew the salt spray
harshly into Oisin's face as the horse dashed along. It was a joy to
him. No more of the soft comforts of that weary island. This was
something for a man to face. Yet he did not forget the Princess, and
he meant to go back to her when he had seen his land and his people
once more. Then the clouds and the fog drifted away and the sun shone
out, but still the salt spray covered him, and he felt stronger as he
made his way against it and felt the great, free breeze from the east.
And now he saw something like a little cloud on the horizon, and it
rose higher and grew wider, and then its misty brown faded away and he
saw the beautiful green shores of Erin."
The old woman paused again and said over softly to herself: "The
beautiful--beautiful green shores of Erin.
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