The next day the same thing happened. The same man appeared, the same struggle was gone through with, and once more he disappeared in the waters of the well. Dermot had no intention of leaving until he had beaten this fellow. On the third day, when the time for disappearance came, Dermot clung to him and went into the water with him.
Judge to his surprise to find himself not in a well at all, but in a beautiful country with wealth and plenty on every side. Dermot did not have to guess where he was. Every Fenian had heard of this land, but no mortal had ever entered it before. He was in the Land Under the Waves. The well had been the entrance.
When Dermot released his hold on the man with whom he had been struggling, the fellow lost no time in getting away. With the start he got by his quickness he soon disappeared among the trees. Dermot had to go on alone. Before long he found himself before a beautiful castle. At the gate was a guard of seven warriors on either side. The Fenian had only time to draw his sword before they all set upon him.
But these under-sea champions were no match for him either in strength or quickness. He quickly defeated the fourteen guards and many others who came out of the castle to their aid. In the evening, tired from his struggle with the man at the well, and his fighting at the castle gate, he went into the woods and was soon sound asleep.
He was awakened by the touch of a hand on his shoulder. He quickly sprang to his feet, his hand on his sword, to face this newcomer. It was a knight in armor, fully equipped with weapons, but the smile on his face showed that he had not come for fighting.
“Do not draw your sword, for I am a friend,” he said. “Come with me so that you may have food and a better and more comfortable bed.”
“I would be foolish did I refuse such an offer,” replied Dermot. “Lead the way and I will follow.”
The knight led him into a small castle some distance away and took him into the banquet hall, where plenty of food and drink was still on the table. Thirty other knights rested on their beds in the room, and some rose on the entrance of the Fenian. One was the man who had wrestled with Dermot.
“You may be a friend, but you have brought me to an enemy,” he said to his guide.
“He is not your enemy,” replied the knight. “This man was the messenger I sent to bring you here.”