'
So Angus flung his magic mantle around Grania, and on the wings of the
wind they were carried to Bruga, unknown to Finn or his men.
Then Dermat spake from the tree: 'Thou surely shalt not escape my
vengeance, O Finn, nor shalt thou easily compass my death. Oft have I
cleared the way for thee when thou didst go forth to battle, and oft have
I sheltered thy retreat when thou didst quit the field. Yet art thou
unmindful of mine help, and I swear that I will be avenged.'
When the hero ceased from speaking, one of Finn's nobles said, 'Dermat
speaketh truth, now therefore grant him thy forgiveness.'
But Finn answered, 'I will not to the end of my life grant him
forgiveness, nor shall he know rest or peace until he yieldeth to me his
head.'
Again the noble spake: 'Now pledge I thee the word of a true warrior that,
unless the skies fall upon me or the earth open and swallow me up, no harm
shall come nigh Dermat, for under my care I take his body and his life.'
And looking up, the noble cried, 'O Dermat, I pledge thee my body and my
life that no ill shall befall thee this day, therefore come down out of
the tree.'
Then Dermat rose and stood upon a high bough. With an airy, bird-like
bound he sprang forward and alighted outside the circle formed by the men
who had joined hands, and was soon far beyond the reach of Finn.
And the noble who saved him followed, and they came together to Bruga, and
there Angus and Grania met them, and the joy of the Princess cannot be
told.
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