The Captain looked at Shiana.
"Why," said he, "it is not a shoemaker we have in you, but a judge!"
The matter was settled in that way, and everyone was satisfied.
Great as was the people's eagerness to get a sight of the King's men and of their weapons and uniforms, and of their martial order and pomp, still greater was the eagerness of the King's men to get a sight of Shiana, because while Cormac was in the city his mouth had never stopped talking of Shiana and making a wonder of him, and boasting that there was not another man like him in Ireland for depth of mind and sharpness of intellect, and for long-headedness, and for quickness of action when action was necessary.
At the first look they got at him, when he came into the field with the people who had brought him with them to give the security, they felt a kind of disappointment. "Ach!" said they, "if that is he!" He seemed to them to be nothing but a shoemaker, like any other shoemaker, and Cormac's talk to be nothing but boastful nonsense. But when they heard the settlement he made about the horses, they opened their eyes, and were immensely surprised to think that none of themselves had hit upon that way of arranging matters.
When it was all settled and every one was satisfied, and the King's people were thinking of returning home, the Captain came to Shiana and called him aside.
"I want to speak to you, Shiana," said he. "When I was leaving home the King commanded me to bring you down with me when I returned, because he had heard a great account of you, and he would wish to
