'Are you not afraid?'
'Indeed I am not,' said Lawrence, and no sooner was the word spoken
than both head and people disappeared, and he was left in the glen
alone by himself.
He journeyed until he came to another town, and when he ate and drank
enough, he went out on the road, and was walking until he came to a
great house on the side of the road. As the night was closing in, he
went in to try if he could get lodging. There was a young man at the
door who said to him--
'How far are you going, or what are you in search of?'
'I do not know how far I am going, but I am in search of something
that will put fear on me,' said Lawrence.
'You have not far to go, then,' said the young man; 'if you stop in
that big house on the other side of the road there will be fear put on
you before morning, and I'll give you twenty pounds into the bargain.'
'I'll stop in it,' said Lawrence.
The young man went with him, opened the door, and brought him into a
large room in the bottom of the house, and said to him, 'Put down fire
for yourself and I'll send you plenty to eat and drink.' He put down a
fire for himself, and there came a girl to him and brought him
everything that he wanted.
He went on very well, until the hour of midnight came, and then he
heard a great sound over his head, and it was not long until a
stallion and a bull came in and commenced to fight. Lawrence never put
to them nor from them, and when they were tired fighting they went
out. Lawrence went to sleep, and he never awoke until the young man
came in in the morning, and he was surprised when he saw Lawrence
alive. He asked him had he seen anything.
'I saw a stallion and a bull fighting hard for about two hours,' said
Lawrence.
'And weren't you afraid?' said the young man.
'I was not,' says Lawrence.
'If you wait to-night again, I'll give you another twenty pounds,'
says the young man.
'I'll wait, and welcome,' says Lawrence.
The second night, about ten o'clock, Lawrence was going to sleep, when
two black rams came in and began fighting hard. Lawrence neither put
to them nor from them, and when twelve o'clock struck they went out.
The young man came in the morning and asked him did he see anything
last night.
'I saw two black rams fighting,' said Lawrence.
'Were you afraid at all?' said the young man.
'I was not,' said Lawrence.
'Wait to-night, and I'll give you another twenty pounds,' says the
young man.
'All right,' says Lawrence.
The third night he was falling asleep, when there came in a gray old
man and said to him--
'You are the best hero in Ireland; I died twenty years ago, and all
that time I have been in search of a man like you. Come with me now
till I show you your riches; I told you when you were watching your
mother's grave that there was great riches waiting for you.'
He took Lawrence to a chamber under ground, and showed him a large pot
filled with gold, and said to him--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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