“Well,” said Cahal, “you have caused me great labor and hardship; but I ask nothing of you except to send out my bride, Bloom of Youth, to me, and not to bring fog or magic on her or on me till we reach home in safety.”
“White Beard took your bride from me, and he cannot marry her for four days and four years, for she put him under bond not to do so. I will tell you now how to find her. Do you see that broad river in front of us? It flows from the Northern to the Southern World, and there is no way to cross it unless a good hero does so by springing from one bank to the other. When White Beard took the maiden from me, they walked to the brink of the river; he placed the woman then on his shoulder and sprang over the river to the west. ‘Let me down, now,’ said the woman. ‘I will not,’ replied White Beard, ‘I have such regard for you that I will show you every place on the road.’ He did not let her down till he showed her everything between the river and the castle. ‘You may come down,’ said he, when they entered the castle (she could see everything from his shoulder, but nothing from the ground). When coming down she thrust a sleeping pin that she had in the head of the old man, and he fell fast asleep standing there. She has whatever she wishes to eat or to drink in the castle. All is in a mist of enchantment. She can see nothing outside the castle, but everything within. That was my home at one time. I was born and reared in that castle, and lived in it till White Beard drove me away with magic and violence. I came to this place and lived here a time without trouble, till I took Bloom of Youth from Long Sweeper. I was waiting to marry her, when White Beard came, destroyed all my forces, took away my enchantment, carried off Bloom of Youth, and left me here without strength or defence. But one thing is left me, and that I will give you. Here is a torch. When you cross the river, light it. You’ll find the road, and no one has found it since I was there. When you light the torch follow the road to an old cottage, at one side from the castle. In this cottage is a henwife, who has lived there since my childhood. She will show the way to the castle and back to her cottage. From there you may journey homeward in safety, by lighting the torch a second time, and keeping it till you ride out of the castle’s enchantment. This is all I have to tell you.”
Cahal rode briskly to the river, rode across, lighted his torch on the other side, saw a narrow bright road, but nothing on either side. The road was a long one, but he came to the end of it at the door of the henwife’s old cottage. Cahal greeted the henwife.
“A hundred thousand welcomes,” said the old woman. “You are here from my master, the Black Horseman, or you could not be in it. Can I help you in any way?”
“I want nothing of you but to show me the way to the castle of White Beard, where my bride is, and then bring me back to this place.”
“Follow me,” said the henwife, “and leave your horse here.”
She took Cahal by the hand and went forward till she came to the castle and entered it. There Cahal saw the finest woman that ever he had met in the world. “Well,” said he to himself, “I am not sorry, after all my troubles and hardships, if you are the woman I am to marry.”
“A greeting to you, young hero,” said the woman. “Who are you who have been able to come to this castle, and why are you here?”
“My name is Cahal, son of King Conor, in Erin. I am long travelling and fighting to find and to rescue my bride, Bloom of Youth, daughter of the King of Hathony. Who are you, fair lady?” asked Cahal.
“I am the daughter of the King of Hathony. The day before I was taken by Striker, son of the King of Tricks, my father told me that the son of King Conor, in Erin, was betrothed to me. You, I suppose, are that man?”