bony and wrinkled and grey. And when Larguen beheld them, terror came upon him and he hastened homeward, followed by the bitter denunciations of Kemoc. Then the children of Lîr, in human form at last, turned to Kemoc and besought him to baptize them, because they knew that death was very near.
"Thou art not more sorrowful at parting from us than we are to part with you, dear Kemoc," they said. And Finola said, "Bury us, I pray you, together."
"As oft in life my brothers dear
Were sooth'd by me to rest—
"Ficra and Conn beneath my wings.
And Aed before my breast;
"So place the two on either hand—
Close, like the love that bound me;
"Place Aed as close before my face.
And twine their arms around me."—Joyce.
So Kemoc signed them in Holy Baptism with the blessed Cross, and even as the water touched their foreheads, and while his words were in their ears, death took them. And, as they passed, Kemoc looked up, and, behold, four beautiful children, their faces radiant with joy, and with white wings lined with silver, flying upwards to the clouds. And soon they vanished from his sight and he saw them no more.
He buried them as Finola had wished, and raised a mound over them, and carved their names on a stone.
And over it he sang a lament and prayed to the God of all love and purity, a prayer for the pure and loving souls of those who had been the children of Lîr.
