"So will I," said Winnie; and more or less earnestly the promise was echoed by the crowd.
"Then I will be your princess if you will have me," said Nessa. "And shall I give you a device,—a motto for the tribe?" she added.
"Yes, yes," cried Murtagh. "What is it?"
"'Peace on earth, goodwill towards men.' Will you have that?"
She looked round with a gentle pleading in her eyes, and then taking off her hat knelt down on the grass before Murtagh.
"God bless her!" cried the followers, and Murtagh's face was white, and his hands trembling, as he laid the wreath upon her head.
In the midst of the echoing hurrahs Murtagh led her up the steps of the throne. The excitement of the children had been growing greater and greater. During the ceremony they had been obliged to keep it down, but now it burst forth without restraint.
They danced and shouted round the throne like mad creatures. At last Murtagh struck the first notes of the "Shan van Vaugh," and every one found relief in spending upon that the force of their lungs. How they did sing! Their voices rang through the mountain rocks; even little Ellie, standing on the throne beside Nessa, sang diligently all the time the only words she knew, "Says de Shan van Vaugh; says de Shan van Vaugh;" and when with a last triumphant burst came the ending lines:
"We'll pluck the laurel tree,
And we'll call it Liberty,
For our country shall be free,
Says the Shan van Vaugh"—
Nessa clapped her hands and cried in delight: "Oh, how pretty it is out of doors! How pretty it all is!"