“You know,” said Fergus, “that I could not kill you whatever you did.”

“We love one another well,” said Conachúr. “It is a great thing to love as we do, my friend.

“But now,” he continued briskly, “we must attend to this troublesome business, and we must have a third person present in order that the world may know how we despatch it.”

He clapped his hands, and, to the servant who appeared:

“Who is in waiting?”

“Borach, lord.”

“Tell him to come here.”

“That is the man who feeds his guests on sharks,” said Fergus.

“He is on duty of honour to-day,” the king replied carelessly, “and he will be witness to the world of my instructions and of your charge. Come forward, good Borach.”

The bulky man strode in.