THE LAUGHTER OF PETERKIN [Illustration: The king saw a fountain of exceeding beauty. _Frontis._] ] THE LAUGHTER OF PETERKIN. “A RETELLING OF OLD TALES OF THE CELTIC WONDERWORLD.” by ⋅ FIONA MACLEOD ⋅ [Illustration] ⋅DRAWINGS⋯BY⋯SUNDERLAND⋯ROLLINSON⋅§⋅ ⋅LONDON⋅ ⋅ARCHIBALD⋅CONSTABLE⋅&⋅CO⋅ ⋅1897⋅ TO ISLA, EILIDH, FIONA, AND IVOR [Illustration] CONTENTS PAGE _PROLOGUE._ THE LAUGHTER OF PETERKIN 9 THE FOUR WHITE SWANS 33 THE FATE OF THE SONS OF TURENN 117 DARTHOOL AND THE SONS OF USNA 177 _NOTES_ 281 ILLUSTRATIONS BY SUNDERLAND ROLLINSON THE KING SAW A FOUNTAIN OF EXCEEDING BEAUTY _Frontispiece_ AS SHE TOUCHED FIONULA, LIR’S FAIR YOUNG DAUGHTER BECAME A BEAUTIFUL SNOW-WHITE SWAN _To face page_ 33 TURENN INTERCEDING FOR HIS SONS " 117 A GREAT RAVEN, GLOSSY BLACK, AND BURNISHED IN THE SUN RAYS _To face page_ 177 [Illustration] The Laughter of Peterkin [Illustration] The Laughter of Peterkin At the rising of the moon, Peterkin awoke, and laughed. He was in his little white bed near the open window, so that when a moonbeam wavered from amid the branches of the great poplar, falling suddenly upon his tangled curls and yellowing them with a ripple of pale gold, it was as though a living thing stole in out of the June night. He had not awaked at first. The moonbeam seemed caught in a tangle: then it glanced along a crescent tress on the pillow: sprang back like a startled bird: flickered hither and thither above the little sleeping face: and at last played idly on the closed eyelids with their long dark eyelashes. It was then that Peterkin awoke. When he opened his eyes he sat up, and so the moonbeam fell into the two white cups of his tiny hands. He held it, but like a yellow eel it wriggled away, and danced mockingly upon the counterpane.