VANDRAD THE VIKING

or

The Feud and the Spell

by

J. STORER CLOUSTON

WITH SIX ILLUSTRATIONS BY HUBERT PATON

CONTENTS. 

I. THE WEST SEA SAILING

II. THE BAIRN-SLAYERS

III. THE HOLY ISLE

IV. THE ISLAND SPELL

V. ANDREAS THE HERMIT

VI. THE HALL OF LIOT

VII. THE VERDICT OF THE SWORD

VIII. IN THE CELL BY THE ROOST

IX. THE MESSAGE OF THE RUNES

X. KING BUE'S FEAST

XI. THE HOUSE IN THE FOREST

XII. THE MAGICIAN

XIII. ARROW AND SHIELD

XIV. THE MIDNIGHT GUEST

XV. THE LAST OF THE LAWMAN

XVI. KING ESTEIN

XVII. THE END OF THE STORY

CHAPTER I. 

THE WEST SEA SAILING. 

Long after King Estein had joined his fathers on the little holmbeyond Hernersfiord, and Helgi, Earl of Askland, had become but awarlike memory, the skalds of Sogn still sang this tale of Vandradthe Viking. It contained much wonderful magic, and someastonishingly hard strokes, as they told it; but reading betweentheir lines, the magic bears a strong resemblance to many spellscast even at this day, and as for the sword strokes, there wasneed for them to be hard in Norway then. For that was the age ofthe making of many kingdoms, and the North was beginning to do itsshare. 

One May morning, more than a thousand years ago, so the storyruns, an old man came slowly along a woodland track that uncoileditself from the mountain passes and snow-crowned inlands ofNorway. Presently the trees grew thinner, and grass and wildflowers spread on either hand, and at last, just where the pathdipped down to the water-side at Hernersfiord, the travellerstopped. For a while he remained there in the morning sunshine, watching the scene below, and now and then speaking out histhoughts absently in the rapt manner of a visionary. 

Though his clothes were old and weather-stained, and bare of anyornament, his face and bearing were such as strike the mind atonce and stay in the memory. He was tall and powerfully framed, and bore his years and the white volume of his beard in analtogether stately fashion; but his eyes were most indelible, paleblue and singularly cold in repose, very bright and keen andsearching when his face was animated. 

They saw much to stir them that morning. On the slope aboveHernersfiord stood the royal hall of Hakonstad, the seat of thekings of Sogn; and all about the house, and right down to thewater's edge, there was a great bustle and movement of men. Fromthe upland valley at the fiord head, warriors trooped down to theships that lay by the long stone pier. The morning sun glanced ontheir helmets and coats of mail, and in the still air the clash ofpreparation rang far up the pine-clad hillside. He could see somebringing weapons and provisions down to the shore, and othersbusily lading the ships. Women mingled in the crowd, and everyhere and there a gay cloak and gilded helm marked a leader ofrank. 

"Ay, the season has come for Vikings to put to sea again, " hesaid. "Brave and gay are the warriors of Sogn, and lightly theyleave. When a man is young, all roads are pleasant, and all leadhome again. Many have I seen set sail these last sixty years, andtheir sailing led them--where?"

And then again, as the stir increased, and he could see the menbeginning to troop on board the long ships, --

"This voyage shall be as the falling of snowflakes into the sea;but what man can escape his fate?"

Meanwhile a party of men had just left the woods, and were comingdown the path to the fiord, ten or twelve in all, headed by anexceedingly broad, black-bearded man, clad in a leather coatclosely covered all over with steel scales, and bearing on hisshoulder a ponderous halberd. 

The path was very narrow at that point, and he of the black beardcalled out gruffly, --

"Make way, old man! Give room to pass. "

Roused abruptly from his reverie, the dreamer turned quietly, butmade no movement to the side. The party by this time were so closethat they had perforce to halt, with some clash of armour, andagain their captain cried, --

"Are you deaf? Make way!"

Yet there was something daunting in the other's pale eye, andthough the Viking moved the halberd uneasily on his shoulder, hisown glance shifted. With the slightest intonation of contempt, thetraveller asked, --

"Who bids me make way?"

The black-bearded man looked at him with an air of someastonishment, and then answered shortly, --

"They call me Ketill; but what is that to you?"

Without heeding the other's gruffness, the old man asked, --

"Does King Hakon sail from Hernersfiord to-day?"

"King Hakon has not sailed for many a day. His son leads thisforce. "

"Ay, I had forgotten, we are both old men now. Then Estein sailsto-day?"

"Ay, and I sail with him. My ship awaits me, so make way, oldman, " replied Ketill. 

"Whither do ye sail?"

"To the west seas. I have no time for talking more. Do you hear?"

"Go on then, " replied the old man, stepping to one side;"something tells me that Estein will have need of all his menbefore this voyage is over. "

Without stopping for further words, the black-bearded captain andhis men pushed past and continued their way to the fiord, whilethe old man slowly followed them. 

As he went down the hillside he talked again aloud to himself:--

"Ay, this then is the meaning of my warning dreams--danger in thesouth lands, danger on the seas. Little heed will Estein Hakonsonpay to the words of an old man, yet I am fain to see the youthagain, and what the gods reveal to me I must speak. "

Down below, near the foot of the path that led from the pier up tothe hall of Hakonstad, a cluster of chiefs stood talking. In themidst of them, Hakon, King of Sogn, one of the independentkinglings who reigned in the then chaotic Norway, watched thedeparture of his son. 

He was a venerable figure, conspicuous by his long, wintry locksand embroidered cloak of blue, straight as a spear-shaft, butgrown too old for warfare. His hand rested on the shoulder of EarlSigvald of Askland, a bluff old warrior, long the king's mostfaithful counsellor and companion in arms. Before them stood hisson Estein, a tall, auburn-haired, bright-eyed young man, gailydressed, after the fashion of the times, in red kirtle and cloak, and armed as yet only with a gilded helmet, surmounted with a pairof hawk's wings, and a sword girt to his side. His face, thoughregular and handsome, would have been rather too grave andreserved but for the keenness of his eyes, and a very pleasantsmile which at times lit up his features when he spoke. 

After they had talked for a while, he glanced round him, and sawthat the bustle was subsiding, and most of the men had goneaboard. 

"All is ready now, " he said. 

"Ay, " replied Thorkel Sigurdson, one of his ship captains, "theywait but for us. "

"Farewell then, Estein!" cried the earl. "Thor speed you, and sendyou worthy foemen!"

"My son, I can ill spare you, " said the king. "But it becomes aking's son to see the world, and prove his valour in distantlands. Warfare in the Baltic seas is but a pastime for commonVikings. England and Valland, [Footnote: France] the countries ofthe black man and the flat lands of the rivers, lie before you. There Estein Hakonson must feed the wolves. "

"And yet, Estein, " he added in a lower tone, as he embraced him, "I would that Yule were here again and you with it. I am growingold, and my dreams last night were sorrow-laden. "

"Farewell, son of Hakon!" shouted a loud-mouthed chieftain. "Iwould that I too were sailing to the southern lands. Spare not, Estein; fire and sword in England, sword and fire in Valland!"

The group had broken up, and Estein was about to go on board whenhe heard himself hailed by name. He looked round, and saw the sameold man who had accosted Ketill coming down the pier after him. 

"Hail, Estein Hakonson!" he cried; "I have come far to see thee. "

"Hail, old man!" replied Estein courteously; "what errand bringsyou here?"

"You know me not?" said the old man, looking at him keenly. 

"Nay, I cannot call your face to mind. "

"My name is Atli, and if my features are strange to thee, muchstranger must my name be. "

He took Estein's hand, looked closely into his eyes for a minute, and then said solemnly, --

"Estein Hakonson, this voyage will have an ending other than yedeem. Troubles I see before ye--fishes feeding on warriors, andwinds that blow as they list, and not as ye. "

"That is likely enough, " replied Estein. "We are not sailing on atrading voyage, and in the west seas the winds often blow high. But what luck shall I have?"

"Strange luck, Estein, I see before thee. Thou shalt be warned andheed not. More shall be left undone than shall be done. Thereshall come a change in thee that I cannot fathom. Many that setout shall not return, but thine own fate is dim to me. "

A young man of barely twenty, very gaily dressed and martial-looking, had come up to them while they were talking. He had areckless, merry look on his handsome face, and bore himself asthough he was aware of his personal attractions. 

"And what is my fate, old man?" he asked, more as if he were injest than in earnest. "Shall I feed the fishes, or make thisstrange change with Estein into a troll, [Footnote: A kind ofgoblin] or werewolf, or whatsoever form he is to take?"

"Thy fate is naught to me, Helgi Sigvaldson, " replied the seer;"yet I think thou wilt never be far from Estein. "

"That was easily answered, " said Helgi with a laugh. "And I canread my fate yet further. When I part from my foster-brotherEstein, then shall a man go to Valhalla. What say you to that?"

Atli's face darkened. 

"Darest thou mock me?" he cried. 

"Not so, " interposed Estein. "' Bare is back without brotherbehind it, ' and Helgi means that death only can part us. Farewell, Atli! If your prophecy comes true, and I return alive, you maychoose what gift you please from among my spoils. "

"Little spoil there will be, Estein!" answered the old man, as thefoster-brothers turned from him down the pier. 

The last man sprang on board, the oars dipped in the still water, and as the little fleet moved slowly down the fiord the crowd onshore gradually dispersed. 

Out at sea, beyond the high headlands that guarded Hernersfiord, afresh breeze was blowing briskly from the north-east, and past therocky islets of the coast white caps gleamed in the sunshine. Asthe ships drew clear of the fiord, and the boom of the outer seabreaking on the skerries rose louder and nearer, sails were spreadand oars shipped. Slowly at first, and then more quickly as theycaught the deep-sea wind, the vessels cut the open water. Past theislands they heeled to the breeze, and over a wake of foam the menwatched the mountains of Norway sink slowly into the wilderness ofwaters. 

On the decked poop of an open boat, sailing over an ocean unknownto him, towards countries of whose whereabouts he was only vaguelyinformed, Estein Hakonson stood lost in stirring fancies. He wasthe only surviving son of the King of Sogn. Three brothers hadfallen in battle, one had perished at sea, and another, theeldest, had died beneath a burning roof-tree. His education hadbeen conducted according to the only standard known inScandinavia. At fourteen he had slain his first man in fair fight;at seventeen he was a Viking captain on the Baltic; and now, attwo-and-twenty--old far beyond his years and hardened in variedexperience--he was setting forth on the Viking path that led tothe wonderful countries of the south. 

The tide of Norse energy was not yet at the full, the fury and theterror were waxing fast, and the fever of unrest was everspreading through the North. Men were always coming back withtales of monasteries filled with untold wealth, and rich provincesto be won by the sword. Skalds sang of the deeds done in thesouth, and shiploads of spoil confirmed their lays. Little wonderthen that Estein should feel his heart beat high as he stood bythe great tiller. 

That night, long after the sun was set, he still sat on deckwatching the stars. By-and-by his foster-brother Helgi came up tohim, wrapped in a long sea cloak, and humming softly to himself. 

"The night is fair, Estein. If Thor is kind, and this wind speedsus, we shall soon reach England. "

"Ay, if the gods are with us, " answered Estein. "I am trying toread the stars. Methinks they are unfavourable. "

Helgi laughed. "What know you of the stars?" he said, "and whatdoes Estein Hakonson want with white magic? Will it make his lifeone day longer? Will it make mine, if I too read the stars?"

"Not one day, Helgi, not one instant of time. We are in the handsof the gods. This serves but to while away a long night. "

"Norsemen should not read the stars, " said Helgi. "These thingsare for Finns and Lapps, and the poor peoples who fear us. "

"I wished to know what Odin thought of Helgi Sigvaldson, " saidEstein with a smile. 

Helgi laughed lightly as he answered, --

"I know what Odin thinks of you, Estein--a foolish man and fey. "

Estein stepped forward a pace, and leaning over the side gazed fora while into the darkness. Helgi too was silent, but his blue eyesdanced and his heart beat high as his thoughts flew ahead of theship to the clash of arms and the shout of victory. 

"There remains but me, " said Estein at length. "Hakon has no otherson. "

"And you have five brothers to avenge; the sword should not rustlong in your scabbard, Estein. "

"Twice I have made the Danes pay a dear atonement for Eric. Icannot punish Thor because he suffered Harald to drown, but ifever in my life it be my fate to meet Thord the Tall, SnaekolGunnarson, or Thorfin of Skapstead, there shall be but one manleft to tell of our meeting. "

"The burners of Olaf have long gone out of Norway, have they not?"

"I was but a child when my brother was burned like a fox in hishole at Laxafiord. The burners knew my father too well to bide athome and welcome him; and since then no man has told aught ofthem, save that Thord the Tall at one time raided much in England, and boasted widely of the burning. He perchance forgot that Hakonhad other sons. 

"But now, Helgi, we must sleep while we may; nights may come whenwe shall want it. "

For six days and six nights they sailed with a favouring wind overan empty ocean. On the seventh day land was sighted on thestarboard bow. 

"Can that be England?" asked old Ulf, Estein's forecastle man, ahairy, hugely muscular Viking from the far northern fiords. 

"The coast of Scotland more likely, " said Helgi. "Shall we try ourluck, Estein?"

"I should like to spill a little Scottish blood, and mayhap carryoff a maid or two, " said Thorolf Hauskoldson, a young giant fromthe upland dales. 

"It may be but a waste of time, " Estein replied. "We had best makefor England while this wind holds. "

"I like not the look of the sky, " said Ulf, gazing round him witha frowning brow. 

The wind had been dropping off for some time, and along theeastern horizon the settled sky was giving place to heavy clouds. For a short time Estein hesitated, but as the outlook grew morethreatening and the wind beat in flaws and gusts, now from onequarter, now from another, the Vikings changed their course andran under oars and sails for the shelter of the land. Littleshelter it promised as they drew nearer: a dark, inhospitable lineof precipices stretched north and south as far as the eye couldreach, and even from a long distance they could see white flashesbreaking at the cliff foot. Again they changed their course; andthen, with a dull hum of approaching rain, a south-easterly stormbroke over them, and there was nothing for it but to turn and runbefore the gale. 

"I read the stars too well, " said Estein grimly between his teeth, clinging to the straining tiller, and watching the rollers risinghigher. "And the first part of Atli's prophecy has come true. "

"Winds, war, and women make a Viking's luck, " replied Helgi; "thisis but the first part of the rede. "

At night the gale increased, the fleet was scattered over theNorth Sea, and next morning from Estein's ship only two otherblack hulls could be seen running before the tempest. Another wildday passed, and it was not till the evening that the weathermoderated. Little by little the great seas began to calm, and thedrifts of stinging rain ceased. In their wake the stars struggledthrough the cloud wrack, and towards morning the wind sankaltogether. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE BAIRN-SLAYERS. 

At earliest dawn eyes were strained to catch a glimpse ofsomething that might tell them where they were. None of the men onEstein's ship had been in those seas more than two or three timesat most, and the vaguest conjectures were rife when, as the lightwas slowly gaining, Ulf raised a cry of land ahead. 

"Land to the right!" cried Helgi, a moment later. 

"Land to the left!" exclaimed Estein; "and we are close on it, methinks. "

When the morning fully broke they found themselves lying off awide-mouthed sound, that bent and narrowed among low, lonely-looking islands. Only on the more distant land to the right wereheather hills of any height to be seen, and those, so far as theycould judge, were uninhabited. A heavy swell was running in fromthe open sea, and a canopy of grey clouds hung over all. 

"I like not this country, " said Ulf. "What think you is it?"

"The Hjaltland islands, I should think, from what men tell ofthem, " Estein suggested. 

"The Orkneys more likely, " said Thorolf, who had sailed in thoseseas before. 

Far astern one other vessel was making towards them. 

"Which ship is that, Ulf?" asked Estein. "One of our fleet, thinkyou?"

"Ay, it is Thorkel Sigurdson's, " replied the shaggy forecastleman, after a long, frowning look. 

"By the hammer of Thor, she seems in haste, " said Helgi. "Theymust have broached the ale over-night. "

"Perchance Thorkel feels cold, " suggested Thorolf with a laugh. 

"They have taken the shields from the sides, " Estein exclaimed asthe ship drew nearer. "Can there be an enemy, think you?"

Again Ulf's hairy face gathered into a heavy frown. "No man can sayI fear a foeman, " he said, "but I should like ill to fight aftertwo sleepless nights. "

"Bah! Thorkel is drunk as usual, and thinks we are chapmen, "[Footnote: Merchants. ] said Helgi. "They are doubtless makingready to board us. "

The ship drew so near that they could plainly see the men onboard, and conspicuous among them the tall form of Thorkelappeared in the bow. 

"He waves to us; there is something behind this, " said Estein. 

"Drunk, " muttered Helgi. "I wager my gold-handled sword he isdrunk. They have ale enough on board to float the ship. "

"A sail!" Estein exclaimed, pointing to a promontory to seawardround which the low black hull and coloured sail of a warship werejust appearing. 

"Ay, and another!" said Ulf. 

"Three-four-seven-eight!" Helgi cried. 

"There come nine, and ten!" added Estein. "How many more?"

They watched the strange fleet in silence as one by one theyturned and bore down upon them, ten ships in all, their oarsrhythmically churning the sea, the strange monsters on the prowscreeping gradually nearer. 

"Orkney Vikings, " muttered Ulf. "If I know one long ship fromanother, they are Orkney Vikings. "

Meantime Thorkel's ship had drawn close alongside, and its captainhailed Estein. 

"There is little time for talking now, son of Hakon!" he shouted. "What think you we should do?--run into the islands, or go to Odinwhere we are? These men, methinks, will show us little mercy. "

"I seek mercy from no man, " answered Estein. "We will bide wherewe are. We could not escape them if we would, and I would not if Icould. Have you seen aught of the other ships?"

"We parted from Ketill yesterday, and I fear me he has gone tofeed the fishes. I have seen nothing of Asgrim and the rest. Ithink with you, Estein, that the bottom here will make as soft aresting-place for us as elsewhere. Fill the beakers and serve themen! It is ill that a man should die thirsty. "

The stout sea-rover turned with a gleam of grim humour in his eyesto the enjoyment of what he fully expected would be his last drinkon earth, and on both ships men buckled on their armour andbestirred themselves for fight. 

Vikings in those days preyed on one another as freely as on men ofalien blood. They came out to fight, and better sport couldgenerally be had from a crew of seasoned warriors like themselvesthan from the softer peoples of the south. Particularly were theOrkney and Shetland islands the stations for the freest of freelances, men so hostile to all semblance of law and order that theson of a Norwegian king would seem in their eyes a most desirablequarry. Many a load of hard-won spoil changed hands on its wayhome; and the shores of Norway itself were so harried by theseisland Vikings that some time later King Harald Harfagri descendedand made a clean sweep of them in the interests of what heprobably considered society. 

The two vessels floated close together, the oars were shipped, andthere, in the grey prosaic early morning light, they heaved gentlyon the North Sea swell, and awaited the approach of the ten. A fewsea-birds circled and screamed above them; a faint pillar of smokerose from some homestead on a distant shore; elsewhere there wasno sign of life save in the ships to seaward. 

Thorkel, leaning over the side of his vessel, told a tale ofbuffetings by night and day such as Estein and his crew hadundergone. That morning he said they had descried Estein's shipjust as the day broke, and almost immediately afterwards ten longships were spied lying at anchor in an island bay. For a time theyhoped to slip by them unseen. The fates, however, were againstthem. They were observed, and the strange Vikings awoke and gavechase like a swarm of bees incautiously aroused. 

Apparently the strangers considered themselves hardly yet preparedfor battle; for they slackened speed as they advanced, and thoseon Estein's ships could see that a hasty bustle of preparation wasgoing on. 

"What think you--friends or foes?" asked Helgi. 

"To the Orkney Vikings all men are foes, " replied Estein. 

"Ay, " said Thorkel with a laugh, "particularly when they are buttwo to ten. "

By this time the strangers were within hailing distance, and inthe leading ship a man in a red cloak came from the poop and stoodbefore the others in the bow. In a loud tone he bade his men ceaserowing, and then, clapping his hand to his mouth, asked in a voicethat had a ring of scornful command what name the captain bore. 

"Estein, the son of Hakon, King of Sogn; and who are you who askmy name?" came the reply across the water. 

"Liot, the son of Skuli, " answered the man in the red cloak. "Withme sails Osmund Hooknose, the son of Hallward. We have here tenwarships, as you see. Yield to us, Estein Hakonson, or we willtake by force what you will not give us. "

The man threw his left hand on his hip, drew himself up, and saidsomething to his crew, accompanying the words by gestures with aspear. They answered with a loud shout, and then struck up a wildand monotonous chorus, the words of which were a refraindescriptive of the usual fate of those who ventured to stand inLiot Skulison's way. At the same time their oars churned thewater, and their vessel was brought into line with the others. 

"It is easily seen that our friend Liot is a valiant man, " saidHelgi with a short laugh. "He and his ill-looking crew make amighty noise. Has any man heard of Liot Skulison or OsmundHooknose before?"

"Ay, " answered Ulf. "They call them the bairn-slayers, becausethey show no mercy even to children. "

"They will meet with other than bairns to-day, " said Helgi. 

Estein and Thorkel had been employed in binding the two vesselstogether with grapnels. Then Estein turned to his men and said, --

"We are of one mind, are we not? We fight while we may, and thenlet Odin do with us what he wills. "

Without waiting for the shout of approval that followed his words, he sprang to the bow, and raising his voice, cried, --

"We are ready for you, Liot and Osmund. When you get on board youcan take what you find here. "

From another ship a man shouted, --

"Then you will fight, little Estein? Remember that we are calledthe bairn-slayers. "

Instantly Thorkel took up the challenge. Three beakers of ale hadmade him in his happiest and most warlike mood, and his eyesgleamed almost merrily as he answered, --

"I know you, Osmund the ugly, by that nose whereon men say youhang the bairns you catch. Little need have you to do aught savelook at them. Here is a gift for you, " and with that he hurled aspear with so true an aim that, if Osmund had not stooped like aflash, his share in the fight would have come to an end there andthen. As it was, the missile struck another man between theshoulders and laid him on the deck. 

"Forward! forward!" cried Liot. "Forward, Vikings! forward, themen of Liot and Osmund!"

The oars struck the water, the wild chorus swelled into a terribleand tuneless roar, and the ten ships bore down on the two. With acrash the bows met, and metal rang on metal with the noise of ahundred smithies; the unequal contest had begun. 

Overpowering as such odds could hardly fail to prove in the longrun, they told more slowly in a sea-fight. Till the men who mannedthe bulwarks were thinned, the sides were practically equal, andat first many of the Orkney Vikings were perforce mere spectators. 

Gradually, as the men in front were thinned, they poured in fromthe other ships, fresh men always being pitted against tired, andkeen swords meeting hacked. 

Liot laid his own ship alongside Estein's, Osmund attackedThorkel's, and the other vessels forced their bows forwardwherever they saw an opening. The Norwegians manned their bulwarksshield to shield, and fought with the courage of despair. TwiceLiot, backed by his boldest men, tried by a headlong rush to forcehimself on board, and twice he was beaten back. A third time hecharged, and selecting a place where the defenders seemedthinnest, struck down a couple of men with two swinging blows ofhis axe, and sprang on to the deck. Three or four men had alreadyfollowed him, a cry of victory rose from the Orkney Vikings, andfor a moment the fate of the battle seemed decided, when a hugestone hurtled through the air, and falling on Liot's shield forcedit down on his helmet and him to his knees. It was the work ofUlf, captain of the forecastle; and roaring like a bull, the oldViking followed his stone. Estein sprang from the poop and cloveone man to the shoulders. Another fell to Ulf's sword. The half-stunned Liot was seized by one of his followers, and bundled backon board his ship; and for the time the day was saved. 

"After them! after them, Ulf!" shouted Estein, and twenty boldNorwegians followed their leader in the wake of Liot's retreatingboarding party. Their foes gave way right and left, the gangwaysround the sides were cleared, and, despite the threats of Liot, his men began to spring from forecastle and quarter-deck into theships behind. 

"Forward, king's men! forward, men of Estein!" roared Ulf. 

"Wait for me, Liot!" cried Estein, charging the poop with his redshield before him. " A bairn is after thee!"

Helgi, who had kept at his shoulder throughout, seized his arm. 

"They are giving way on Thorkel's ship. Osmund is on board. If wereturn not, the ship is cleared. "

With a gesture of despair Estein turned. 

"Back, men, back! Thorkel needs all his friends, I fear, " hecried; and to Helgi he said, "The day is lost. We can but sell ourlives dearly now. "

They came back too late. Already Thorkel's men were pouring onboard Estein's ship, with Osmund of the Hooknose at their heels. Thorkel himself lay stark across the bulwarks, his face to hisfoes, and a great spear-head standing out of his back. 

It was now but a question of time. With a single ship, surroundedon all sides, and weary with storm and battle, there could be onlyone fate for Estein's diminished band. Nevertheless, they stoodtheir ground as stoutly and cheerfully as if the fray were justbeginning. Finding that all efforts to board were useless, theOrkney Vikings confined themselves for some time to keeping up anincessant fire of darts and stones. One by one the defendersdropped at their posts, and at last, when widening gaps appearedin the line of shields, Liot and Osmund boarded together, eachfrom his own side. 

"Back to the poop, Helgi!" Estein cried. "To the poop, men! wecannot hold the gangways. One tired man cannot fight with fivefresh. "

Last of all his men, he stepped from the gangway that ran roundthe low and open waist of the ship, up to the decked poop, his redshield stuck with darts like a pincushion with pins. 

In the forecastle, old Ulf still held his own, backed by somehalf-dozen stout survivors out of all those who had gone intobattle with him in the morning. 

"My hour is come at last, Thorolf, " he said to the upland giant, who seemed to be disengaging something from his coat of ring-mail. "I shall have tales of a merry fight to tell to Odin tonight. Butbefore I fall I shall slay me one of those two Vikings. Wilt thoufollow me, Thorolf, to the gangways, and then to Valhalla?"

With a violent wrench the giant drew a spearhead from his side, and his blood spurted over Ulf, as he swayed on his feet. 

"I go before, " he said, and fell on the deck with a clatter ofsteel. 

"There died a brave man! Now, comrades, after him to Odin!"

And with that the forecastle captain sprang down on the gangway, and knocking men off into the waist in his impetuous rush, swunghis battle-axe round his head and aimed a terrific blow at OsmundHooknose. Quick as lightning Osmund raised his shield and thrustat his foe with his sword. The point of the blade passed in at hisbreast and out between his shoulders, and at the same instant thebattle-axe fell. The edge of the shield was cut through likepaper, and the blade coming fair on the nape of the Hooknose'sneck, the bodies of the two champions rolled together off thegangway. 

Round the poop the last struggle raged. Spent and wounded as theywere, Estein's little band showed a bold front to their foes, andaround the red shield of their leader their lives were dearlysold. 

Then for a few minutes came a lull in the fight, and men couldbreathe for a space. 

"The next onset will be the last, " said Estein grimly. 

"Their ships are sheering off!" exclaimed one. 

"'Tis we who are leaving them, " said another. 

"Look ahead!" cried Helgi; "we shall cheat them yet. "

The men looked round them with astonished faces, for a strangething had happened. They had drifted into one of the dreadedOrkney tideways, and all the time the fight was raging they werebeing borne at increasing speed past islands, holms, and skerries. The scene had completely changed; they were in a narrower sound, swinging like sea-fowl, helpless on the tide. Heather hills wereclose at hand, and right ahead was a great frothing and bubbling, out of which rose the black heads of sunken rocks. 

The other vessels had been twisted off by the whirling eddies, andwere now rapidly scattering, each striving to clear the reef. Onlythe four vessels bound together--Estein's, Thorkel's, Liot's, Osmund's--swept in an unresisting cluster towards the rocks. 

Liot too saw the danger, and raised his voice in a great shout:--

"Let not man of mine touch an oar till Estein Hakonson lie dead onyonder deck. We have yet time to slay them. Forward, Liot's men!"

There was a wild and furious rush of men towards the poop. Downwent man after man of the battle-worn defenders. Liot and Esteinmet sword to sword and face to face. The red shield was rippedfrom top to bottom by a sweep of the bairn-slayer's blade, and atthe same moment Estein's descending sword was met by a Viking'sbattle-axe, and snapped at the hilt. 

"Now, Estein, I have thee!" shouted his foe; but ere the wordswere well out of his mouth, Estein had hurled himself at hiswaist, dagger in hand, and brought him headlong to the deck. Asthey fell, the ships struck with a mighty crash that threw friendand foe alike on the bloody planks. Two vessels stuck fast; theother two broke loose, and plunging over the first line of reefs, settled down by the bows. 

There was a rush to the bulwarks, a splashing of bodies in thewater, and then the doomed and deserted ships, the attacker andthe attacked, sank in the turmoil of the tide. Estein himself hadbeen pitched clear of his foe into the waist, where he had fallenhead first and half-stunned. 

He felt a friendly hand dragging him to the side, and heardHelgi's voice saying, --

"Art thou able to swim for it?"

Then he had a confused recollection of being swept along by anirresistible current, clinging the while to what he afterwardsfound to be a friendly plank, and after that came oblivion. 

CHAPTER III. 

THE HOLY ISLE. 

With the first glimmer of consciousness, Estein became aware of anaching head and a bruised body. Next he felt that he was very wetand cold; and then he discovered that he was not alone. His headrested on something soft, and two hands chafed his temples. 

"Helgi, " he said. 

A voice that was not Helgi's replied, "Thanks be to the saints! heis alive. "

Estein started up, and his gaze met a pair of dark blue eyes. Theyand the hands belonged to a fair young girl, a maid of someseventeen summers, on whose knees his aching head had just beenresting. 

They were sitting on a shelving rock that jutted into the tideway, and at his feet his kindly plank bumped gently in an eddy of thecurrent. 

He looked at her so silently and intently that the blue eyesdrooped and a faint blush rose to the maiden's cheeks. 

"Are you wounded?" she asked. She spoke in the Norse tongue, butwith a pretty, foreign accent, and she looked so fair and so kindthat thoughts of sirens and mermaids passed through the Viking'smind. 

"Wounded? Well, methinks I ought to be, " he answered; "and yet Ifeel rather bruised than pierced. If I can stand--" and as hespoke he rose to his feet, and slipping on the seaweed, slidquietly into the water. 

The girl screamed; and then, as he scrambled out none the worseand only a little the wetter, an irresistible inclination to laughovercame her. Forgetful of his head, he laughed with her. 

"Forgive me, " she said; "I could not help laughing, though, to besure, you seem in no laughing plight. I thought at first that youwere drowned. "

"'Tis your doing, I think, that I am not. Did you find me in thewater?"

"Half in and half out; and it took much pulling to get you whollyout. "

Estein impulsively drew a massive gold ring off his finger, and inthe gift-giving spirit of the times handed it to his preserver. 

"I know not your name, fair maiden, " he said, "but this I know, that you have saved my life. Will you accept this Viking's giftfrom me? It is all that the sea has left me. "

"Nay, keep such gifts for those who deserve them. It would havebeen an unchristian act to let you drown. "

"You use a word that is strange to me; but I would that you mighttake this ring. "

"No, no!" she cried decidedly; "it will be time enough to talk ofgifts when I have earned them. Not, " she added, a little proudly, "that it is my wish to earn gifts. But you are wet and wounded;come where I can give you shelter, poor though it be. "

"Any shelter will seem good to me. Yet, ere I go, I would fainlearn something of my comrades' fate. "

He scanned the sound narrowly, and in all its long stretch therewas not a sign of friend or foe. About a mile back the fatal reef, bared by the ebbing tide, showed its line of black heads high outof the water, but of ships there was no vestige to be seen. It waslong past mid-day by the sun, and he knew that he must have beenunconscious for some hours. In that time, such of the Vikings ashad escaped the rocks had evidently sailed away, leaving only thedead in the sound. 

"They are gone, " he said, turning away, "friends and foes--gone, or drowned, as I should have been, fair maid, but for you. "

They scrambled together up the rocks, and then struck a windingsheep-path that led them over the shoulder of a heath-clad hill. 

At first they walked in silence, the girl in front, going at agreat speed up the narrow track; and Estein watched the wind blowher fair hair about her neck in a waving tangle, and he saw thatshe was tall and slender. By-and-by, when they had crossed thehill and reached a less broken tract of ground, he came up to herside. 

"How did you come to be down where you found me?" he asked. 

"I was on the hill, " she answered, "when I saw ships in the soundrowing hard to escape the current, and then I saw that some hadbeen wrecked. Wreckage was floating by, and I espied, for my eyesare good, a man clinging to a plank; and presently he drifted upona rock, and I thought that perhaps I might save a life. So I wentdown to the shore--and you yourself know the rest. "

"I know, indeed, that I have to thank you for my life, such as itis. And I know further that every girl would not have been sokind. "

She smiled, and her smile was one of those that illuminate a face. 

"Thank rather the tide, which so kindly brought you ashore, for Ihad done little if you had been in the middle of the sound. Butyou have not yet told me how you came to be wrecked. "

Estein told her of the storm at sea and the fight with theVikings; how they had fallen man by man, and how he too would havebeen numbered amongst the dead but for the tideway and the rocks. 

As she listened, her eyes betrayed her interest in the tale, andwhen he had finished, she said, --

"I have heard of Liot and Osmund. They are the most pitiless ofall the robbers in these seas. Give thanks that you escaped them. "

He asked her name, and she told him it was Osla, daughter of aNorse leader who had fought in the Irish seas, and had finallysettled in Ireland. There his daughter was born and passed herearly girlhood; and it was a trace of the Irish accent that Esteinhad noticed in her speech. In one fatal battle her two brothersfell, her father was forced to fly from the land, and Osla hadleft her Irish home with him and come to reside in Orkney. 

"He is a holy Christian man, " she said. "Once he was a famousViking, and his name was well known in the west seas. Now, hewould even have his name forgotten, and he is only known asAndreas, which was the name of one of the blessed apostles; andhere we two live in a little lonely island, keeping aloof from allmen, and striving to live as did the early fathers. "

"That must be a quiet life for you, " said Estein. 

"I sometimes think so myself, " she answered with a smile. "Andwhat do men call you?"

For an instant Estein hesitated. The thought passed through hismind, "She must not know me as son to the King of Sogn till I havedone some deed more worthy of a prince of Yngve's line than lose abattle with two Orkney Vikings. " Then he said, "I am calledVandrad; [Footnote: The Unlucky. ] from my youth up I have been asea-rover, and I fear I may prove ill suited to your father'scompany. "

"My father has met sea-rovers before, " she said, with a smile inher eye. 

By this time they had nearly crossed the island, and Estein sawbefore them another long sound. On the far side of this lay alarge and hilly island that stretched to his left hand as far ashis eye could reach, and on the right broke down at the end of thestrait into a precipitous headland, beyond which sparkled the opensea. In the middle of the sound a small green islet basked like asea monster in the evening sunshine. 

As they stood on the top of the descent that ran steeply to thesea, he cast his eyes around for any signs of life on sea or onshore. Below him, and much to the left, a cluster of small housesround a larger drinking-hall marked the residence of a chieftainof position; on the island across the water lay a few scatteredfarms; and on the little islet his eye could just discern a faintwreath of smoke. The seas were deserted, and the atmosphere seemedcharged with an air of calm loneliness. 

"That is my home, " said Osla, pointing to the little green island. "The early fathers called it the Holy Isle. Our house is ananchorite's cell, and our lands, as you see, are of the smallest. Are you content to come to such a place?"

Estein smiled. "If you dwell there, I am content, " he said. 

Osla tossed her head with what quite failed to be an air ofimpatience. 

"Such things are easy to say now, " she said. "If you say themagain after you have lived on a hermit's fare for one whole day, Imay begin to believe you. "

They descended the hill, and in a little creek on the shore cameupon a skiff. 

"This is our long ship, " said Osla. "If you wish to show yourgratitude, you may assist me to launch her. "

"Now, " she said, when Estein had run the boat into the water, "youcan rest while I row you across. "

"It has never been my custom to let a girl row me, " he replied, taking the oars. 

"But your wounds?"

"If I have any I have forgotten them. "

"Well, I will let you row, for the tide is at the turn, and youwill not need to watch the currents. There is a great roost herewhen the tide is running. "

Estein laughed. "I see that I am with a skilful helmsman, " hesaid. 

"And I, that I am with an over-confident crew, " she answered. 

Only a distant corncrake broke the silence of the lonely channel, its note sounding more faintly as they left the land behind. Thesun set slowly between the headlands to seaward, and by the timethey reached the shore of the islet the stillness was absolute, and the northern air was growing chill. Osla led the Viking up aslope of short sea-turf, and presently crossing the crest of theland, they came upon a settlement so strange and primitive that itcould scarcely, he thought, have been designed by mortal men. 

Facing the land-locked end of the sound, and looking upon a littlebay, a cluster of monastic cells marked the northern limits of theChristian church. From this outpost it had for the time receded, and all save two of the rude stone dwellings looked deserted andforlorn. A thin thread of smoke rose straight heavenward in thestill air, and before the entrance of the cell whence it issuedstood an old and venerable man. Despite a slight stoop, he wasstill much beyond the common height of men. His brows were shaggy, and his grey beard reached well down over his breast; a long andvoluminous cloak, much discoloured by the weather, was bound roundhis waist by a rope, and in his hand he carried a great staff. 

As Estein approached, his brows bent in an expression ofdispleased surprise, but he waited in silence till his daughterspoke. 

"I have brought a shipwrecked seafarer, father, " she said. "He iswounded, I fear, and certainly he is both wet and hungry. I havetold him we would give him shelter and food, and such tending ashis wounds may require. "

"Whence came he?" asked the old man. 

"From the sound beyond the island; at least, he was in the soundwhen I first saw him. "

"And I have to thank your daughter that I am not there now, "Estein added. 

"What is your name?"

"I am known as Vandrad, the son of a noble landowner in Norway. "

The old man looked for a moment as though he would have questionedhim further on his family. Instead, he asked, --

"And why came you to these islands?"

"For that, the wind and not I is answerable. Orkney was the lastplace I had thought of visiting. "

"You were wrecked?"

"Wrecked, and wellnigh drowned. "

In a more courteous tone the old man said, "While you are here youare welcome to such cheer as we can give you. This cell is all mydwelling, but since you have come to this island, enter and restyou in peace. "

Stooping low in the doorway, Estein entered the abode of Andreasthe hermit. Lit only by a small window and the gleam of adriftwood fire, the rude apartment was dusky and dim; yet thereseemed nothing there that should make the sea-king pause at thethreshold. Was it but a smoke wreath that he saw, and did the windrise with a sudden gust out of the stillness of the evening? Itseemed to him a face that appeared and then vanished, and a far-off voice that whispered a warning in his ear. 

"Be not dismayed at our poverty; there is no worse foeman within, "said Osla, with a touch of raillery, as he stood for a momentirresolute. 

Estein made no answer, but stepped quickly into the room. Had heindeed heard a voice from beyond the grave, or was it but thefancy of a wounded head? The impression lingered so vividly thathe stood in a reverie, and the words of his hosts fell unheeded onhis ears. He knew the face, he had heard the voice of old, but inthe kaleidoscope of memory he could see no name to fit them, noincident wherewith they might be linked. 

He was aroused by the voice of Osla. 

"Let us give him food and drink quickly, father. He is faint, andhears us not. "

The tumultuous stir of battle was forgotten as they brought himsupper and gently bound his wounds. A kettle sang a drowsy songand seemed to lay a languid spell upon him, and, as in a dream, heheard the hermit offer up an evening prayer. The petitions, eloquent and brief in his northern tongue, rose above thethrobbing of the roost outside, and died away into a prayerfulsilence; and then, in the pleasant nicker of the firelight, theyparted till the morrow. 

Estein and the hermit stepped out into the cool night. 

"They who visit the Holy Isle must rest content with hardpillows, " said Andreas. "Here in this cell you will find a blanketand a couch of stone. May Christ be with you through the night;"and as he spoke he turned into his own bare apartment. 

Estein looked upward at the stars shining as calmly on him here ason the sea-king who lately paced his long ship's deck; he listenedfor a moment to the roost rising higher and moaning more uneasily;and then above both he saw a pair of dark blue eyes, and heard avoice with just a touch of raillery in it. As he bent his head andentered his cell, he smiled to himself at the pleasantness of thevision. 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE ISLAND SPELL. 

The Holy Isle was bathed in morning sunshine, shadows of lightclouds chased each other over the hills across the sound, and outbeyond the headlands the blue sea glimmered restfully. 

On a bank of turf sloping to the rocks Estein sat with Osla, drinking in the freshness of the air. She had milked theirsolitary cow, baked cakes enough for the day's fare, and now, hersimple housekeeping over, she was free to entertain her guest. 

"My father, I fear, is in a black mood, " she said. "His moods comeand go, I know not why or when. To-day and perhaps to-morrow, andit may be for four days or more, he will sit in his cell or on thegrass before the door, speaking never a word, and hardly answeringwhen I talk to him. Pay no heed to him; he means noinhospitality. "

"I fear he likes me not, " said Estein. "He came here to escapemen, you say, and now he has to entertain a stranger and aViking. "

"It is not that, " she said. "The black moods come when we arealone; they come sometimes with the rising storm, sometimes whenthe sun shines brightest. I cannot tell when the gloom will fall, nor when he will be himself again. When his mind is well, he willtalk to me for hours, and instruct me in many things. "

"Has he instructed you in this religion he professes? Know youwhat gods he worships?"

Osla opened her eyes in perplexed surprise; she hardly feltherself equal to the task of converting this pagan, and yet itwere a pity not to try. So she told him, with a woman'senthusiastic inaccuracy, of this new creed of love, then being sostrikingly illustrated in troubled, warlike Christian Europe. 

"And what of the gods I and my ancestors have worshipped for solong? What place have they in the Valhalla of the white Christ?"

"There are no other gods. "

"No Odin, no Thor, no Freya of the fair seasons, no Valhalla forthe souls of the brave? Nay, Osla, leave me my gods, and I willleave you yours. Mine is the religion of my kinsmen, of my father, of my ancestors. And, " he continued, "would you say that Christianmen are better than worshippers of Odin? Are they braver, aretheir swords keener, are they more faithful to their friends?"

"We want not keen swords. Warfare is your only thought. You livebut to pillage and to fight. Have you known what it is to losehome and brothers all in one battle? Have you fled from a smokingroof-tree? Have you had mercy refused you? Have you had wife orchild borne away to slavery? That is your creed--tell me, is itnot?"

"I have thought of these things, Osla, " said Estein gravely. "Ihave thought of them at night when the stars shone and the windsighed in the trees. When I look upon my home and see the reapersin the fields, and hear the maidens singing at their work, I wouldsometimes be willing to turn hermit like your father, and sit inthe sun for ever. 

"But, " he went on, and his voice rose to a clear, stirring note, "I could not rest long so. The sea calls us Northmen, and wecannot bide at home. Unrest seizes us like a giant and hurls usforth. We must be men; we must seek adventure on sea or on shore;there are foemen to be met, and we long to meet them; and if webear us bravely, never striking sail though the wind blow high, and never flinching from the greatest odds, we know that the godswill smile, and, if they will, we die happy. We are not all bairn-slayers. I have been taught to spare where there was nothingworthy of my steel, and no maid or mother has yet suffered wrongat my hands. Yet must I sail the seas, Osla, and fight where Ifind a foe; for I feel that the gods bid me, and a man cannotstruggle with his fate. "

While he spoke Osla's gaze was fixed on the turning tide, but hereyes, had he seen them, were lit by the fire of his words. Shesprang to her feet as he finished, and said, --

"I, too, have the Norse blood in me; the sea calls me as it callsyou; and if I were a man, I fear I should make a bad hermit. Yet"--and she held up a warning finger to stay the impetuous words onEstein's tongue--"yet I know I should be wrong. What is thisfeeling but the hunger of wolves, and what are your gods but namesfor it? Wolves, too, go out to slay; and if they had speech, doubtless they would say that Thor called them. "

"Is a Viking not different from a wolf, then, in your eyes?"

"By too little, " she answered, "if they hold the same creed. "

"A wolf, then, I am, " he replied; "and I can but try to keep mylips drawn over my fangs and bit on my hind legs, and practisemanliness as best I may. "

"A very hungry manliness, " she retorted. But despite herself shesmiled, and then lightly turned the talk to other things. 

From day to day the quiet island life went on with few incidentsand pleasant monotony. With only one family was there anyintercourse, and that almost entirely on Osla's part. On the shoreof the great island to the west, which men called Hrossey, dwelt alarge farmer, named Margad, and from his household such suppliesas they needed were obtained. He was an honest, peaceable man, asthe times went, with a kindly wife, Gudrun by name, and they bothtook a friendly interest in the hermit's daughter. Estein wouldfain have lived in her society all day, listening to her talk andwatching the wind play with her hair, and every day he noticed, with a sense of growing disappointment, that he saw her moreseldom. Sometimes they would have long talks, and then, abruptlyas it seemed to him, she would have to leave him, and he wouldspend his time in fishing from a boat, or would cross with her toHrossey, and while she went to see Dame Gudrun he pursued the roe-deer and moor-fowl. 

With bow and arrow, and by dint of long and arduous stalks, hebrought home scanty but well-earned spoil, and then, either byhimself, or more often with Osla in the stern, he would cross thesound as the day faded, to a welcome supper and an evening spentin the firelit cell, or to a peaceful night beside the swirl ofthe tideway under a sky so pale and clear that only the brighteststars were ever seen. 

He knew that he was in love, hopelessly in love. Why else shouldhe stay in the Holy Isle after his wounds were healed, and whennothing bade him remain? Far away and faint sounded the echoes ofwar and the shouts of revelry. Like memories of another life, thoughts of his father, of Helgi, of friends and kinsmen, came tohim, pricked him for a moment, and faded into a pair of dark-blueeyes and a tall and slender figure. He still talked to Osla ofvoyages and battles, and caught her sometimes taking more interestthan she would own in some old tale of derring-do, or a story ofhis own adventures. Yet the actual memories of these things grewfainter, and he talked like an old man telling of his youth. 

"I am under a spell, " he would say to himself, and stride morequickly over the heather, and then catch himself smiling at thethought of some word or look of Osla's. 

The hermit's black mood passed away, and was followed by anattitude of grave distance towards his guest. He spoke little, butalways courteously, and seemed to treat him at first merely as anaddition to the live stock of the island. 

One night Estein, after the manner of the skalds, sang a poem ofhis own as they sat round the fire. He called it the "King's WarSong. "

"On high the raven bannerInvites the hungry kites, Red glares the sun at noon-tide, Wild gleam the Northern lights;The war-horn brays its summons, And from each rock-bound fiordCome the sea-kings of Norway, To follow Norway's lord. 

"The cloven arrow speeding, Fraught with war's alarms, Calls the ravens to their feast, The Udallers to arms. See that your helms be burnished, See that your blades be ground, When he of Yngve's kindredSends the war token round!"

"Skoal, [Footnote: The Norse drinking salutation. ] Vandrad!skoal!" cried the hermit. 

His hearers looked at him in amazement. His eyes flashed, his lipstwitched, the whole man was transformed for the moment into theViking of the western seas. 

"Once I was a skald myself, " he said. "You have quickened what Ithought was dead. " And he rose and walked out into the night. 

For a minute they were too surprised to speak. Then Osla saidsoftly, --

"Your magic is too strong, Vandrad. " She threw him one glance thatlived long in his memory, and quickly followed her father. 

For more than an hour afterwards he could dimly see them pacingthe shore in silence, her arm within the hermit's. 

Next day the old man was more silent and reserved than before, butevery now and then Estein saw that his eyes followed him, and thefew words he spoke were couched in a kindlier manner. 

"Sing to him again, " whispered Osla in the evening, and nightafter night the young skald sang and the hermit and his daughterlistened. Sometimes when he was finished the old Viking would talkon various themes. Brief glimpses of his earlier days, snatches ofreligious converse, his travels, and the strange peoples he hadseen, he would touch upon before the evening prayer. 

And so the time passed away, till Estein had spent six weeks inthe Holy Isle. All the while he had made no open love to Osla. Sheseemed merely friendly, and he was distracted between a wilddesire to break down the barriers between them and a strange andnumbing feeling of warning that held him back, he knew not why. Sostrong was it at times that he fancied two spells cast upon him, one by the island maiden, the other by some unknown spirit. 

One morning he found her wandering by the cliffs that formed theseaward barrier of the isle. 

"Let us sit here, Osla, " he said. "I have a new song to sing you. "

"I must bake my cakes, " she answered. "Can you not sing it to usto-night?"

"It concerns only you. Sit here but for a moment; it is not long, and you can escape from me when I have done. "

"Very well, " she said, with a smile and an air of resignation. "Iwill listen, but do not keep me long. "

"If it will tire you, I can wait. "

"You can try me. "

"I must leave the Holy Isle soon, Osla; I have been too long awayfrom my kinsfolk and my country. It is hard to part, but it mustcome some day, and these verses are my parting song. "

She was silent, and seemed intently plucking sea pinks. 

"I cannot tell you why, " he went on, "but to-day I feel that myhour has come to rove again. I would that I might live here forever, but I know it is not fated so. "

Then he sang his farewell song:--

"Canst thou spare a sigh, fair Osla? It is fated I must go. Wiltthou think of Vandrad ever When the sea winds hoarsely blow, Orwill the memory of my love With absence fainter grow?

"Canst thou spare a tear, sweet Osla, When I sail from this fairland? Wilt thou dream of Vandrad sometimes When the waves boom onthe strand? Can visions of a pleasant hour The march of timewithstand?

"Osla, when I bear me bravely, 'Midst the lightning of the sword, And the armies meet like torrents When the mountain snows havethawed The thought of thine approving smile Shall be my solereward. 

"Fare thee well, sweet blue-eyed Osla! The sea-king must not stay, E'en for tresses rich as summer And for smile as bright as May;But one hope I cannot part from--We may meet again some day!"

"Then are you going?" she said, more softly than he had ever heardher speak before. 

"Do you wish me to stay?"

"Not if you wish to rove the seas again, and fight and plunder, asa brave man should, " she cried with a flash of raillery. "If it isyour fate to go, why should I stand in the way? Am I anything toyou?"

She gave him no time to answer, but rose and ran lightly away. 

CHAPTER V. 

ANDREAS THE HERMIT. 

The same day Estein rowed across alone to Hrossey, and startedover the hills with his bow and arrows. He walked for some milesthrough moorland ground, and paused at length on the top of arange of hills, whence he had a wide view over the inland country. There he sat down and mused for long. Below him he saw a valleyopening out into a sweep of low-lying land, watered by many lochs, and bounded by heather hills. All round, in glimpses between thehighest hill-tops, and in wide, unbroken stretches over the lowerranges, the open sea girdled the island. Gradually the stillnessof the place and the freshness of the air told upon him, and atlength he fell asleep. He began to dream, at first of confusedevents and hurrying faces, and then more distinctly and vividly. He had landed, he thought, on the Holy Isle. It was dark, but heseemed to see plainly a figure, wrapped in a long cloak, walkingbefore him towards the cells. It was neither Andreas nor hisdaughter, and with some wonder he quickened his steps and overtookit just as it was about to enter the hermit's cell. Then all atonce it seemed to flash upon him that this was no mortal visitor, and with a sudden thrill of fear he stopped. At that instant thefigure turned a shrouded face on him, and said sternly, and soclearly that the words were ringing in his ears when he woke, --

"What doest THOU here, Estein Hakonson?"

He came to himself with a start, the sweat standing on hisforehead. It was the second time he had heard the voice. Oncebefore it had warned him when he first entered the hermit's cell, but now as then he could find neither name nor circumstance to fitit. 

All at once the prophecy of Atli came into his mind--"You will bewarned, but you will heed not, " and in spite of himself a feelingof gloom settled over his mind. 

A herd of deer browsed unheeded on a distant slope, the hourspassed, and the sun sank low in the west, while he sat therealone. 

At last he rose and retraced his steps back to the shore. The tidewas running strongly, he had a long and stiff pull to win his wayacross, and the summer dusk that never reaches darkness in thenorth was gathering when he landed. 

He looked round as though he expected to see a cloaked figurestart up out of the gloaming, but the island was deserted andstill. Before the cell he paused for an instant. "You will notheed the warning, " he repeated. "Yet what is fated must be, " andthen he entered. 

The hermit was alone. Farmer Margad had come for Osla, for hiswife was unwell, and the credulous people thought the daughter ofthe wizard, as they deemed Father Andreas, might have some healinginfluence. Estein sat down and took his supper; and all the timehe was eating, Andreas paced the floor saying nothing aloud, butmuttering continually under his breath. Legends of shape-changingand black magic came into the young Viking's mind. As he watchedthe old man pass to and fro in the firelight, and the huge, distorted shadow sweep across and across the cell, he fancied onceor twice that he could see the beginnings of some horridtransformation. 

All of a sudden the hermit stopped and looked at him earnestly. 

"Sing to me a song of battle!" he cried; and Estein saw that achange had indeed taken place. A fit of gloom had given way to aperiod of strange excitement, and the spirit of the sea-rover wasreturned. 

Estein composed his mind, and sang the song of the Battle ofDunheath, beginning:--

 "Many the chiefs who drank the mead As the sun rose over the plain, But small the band who bound their wounds When the heath was dark again. "

As the last words died away the hermit began to talk excitedly andvolubly, and in a strain new to his guest. 

"I once sang such songs, " he said. "I sailed the seas in my longship, and men feared my name--feared me, Andreas, the man of God. I was a heathen then, as thou art; I worshipped the gods of theNorth, and the hammer of Thor was my symbol on the ocean. I sparednone who stood in my way. These hands have dripped with the bloodof my foes, and many a widow have I left desolate. "

He paused, and a tongue of flame shot suddenly from the fire andcast a bright light in the cell. 

"Fire!" cried the old man--"fire like that have I brought on myfoes! I have burned them like rats; I have left their homesteadssmouldering! Listen, Vandrad, and I shall tell thee of a deed thatmade my name known throughout all the Northland. Now, " he added, "I am a Christian man, and my soul is safe with Christ. 

"Once I received an injury I swore I should avenge. Hakon, King ofSogn, a proud man and a stern, banished my brother Kolskegg formanslaughter. The deed was but an act of justice on one who hadbeguiled our kinswoman; but the dead man had many friends, and theking hearkened neither to Kolskegg's offers of atonement nor to mypetitions--to mine, who had never asked aught of mortal manbefore! My brother was a dear friend of the king, foster-fathereven to his eldest son Olaf, and he weakly bowed his head and leftthe land. When I heard that he had gone, I pressed my sword-hiltso tightly in my rage that the blood dripped from my nails, and Icursed him aloud for idly suffering such insult to our house topass without revenge. Our race is as old and proud as the kings ofSogn themselves, and I vowed that Hakon should rue that day. I wasa heathen then, Vandrad. "

He said these last words with a gleam in his eyes and a tighteningof his lips, as if he gloated over the memory of his bygone faith. With the same grim reminiscent pleasure, he went on: "I and twoothers sent the cloven arrow through the dales, and gathered armedmen enough to fill three ships. Ay, the sailing of Thord the Tall, Snaekol Gunnarson, and Thorfin of Skapstead is not forgotten yetin Norway. We went to Laxafiord, for there dwelt Olaf, son ofHakon. You have heard the tale?" he cried suddenly, "you know ofthe burning?"

"Go on, " said Estein, in a hard, dry voice; "I am listening, " andall the while his right hand sought his side. 

"It was a deed, " said the hermit, "that made all Norway ring. Welanded in the night time, and saw the lights of the hall betweenthe pine trees. They were feasting, and they heard not ourapproach. We made a ring round the house and heaped faggotsagainst the walls, and still they heard us not. It was a darknight, Vandrad, very dark, till we lit a fire that was seen by menin the outer islands. Then they heard us, they smelt the smoke, and they ran to the doors. The first man who came out I clove tothe waist, for none in Norway had greater skill at arms than I. Then we drove them in and closed the door. Sometimes at night Ihear them shriek even now. There was never such a burning inNorway; we spared not one soul, not one. 

"They asked us to let the women out, but we had come there to slayand not to spare. They shrieked, Vandrad; they cried till the rooffell in, and then they died. My soul is safe with God, and theyare in outer darkness. There they will shriek for ever. "

He paused for a moment, and then went on in the same strain ofhigh excitement, --

"Now you know me. I am Thord the Tall, the burner of OlafHakonson. "

"And where are Snaekol Gunnarson and Thorfin of Skapstead?" Esteinspoke with difficulty, and his right hand had closed on somethingin his belt. 

"Both are dead. They died heathens, and their souls are ashopelessly lost as the soul of Olaf Hakonson. I am the last of theburners. "

The voice of Thord the Tall died away. Estein bent forward, hishand left his side, and something in it gleamed in the firelight. 

Suddenly the hermit started. 

"Osla! I hear Osla!" he said. 

Estein thrust his dagger into its sheath, and bending in thedoorway stepped out into the night. Below the cell he saw a boatleaving the land, and right before him, in the clear, cooltwilight, the form of Osla. 

"Have you tired of my father's company?" she asked, with a smile. 

"I would be alone, " he answered, and walked quickly past her. 

Now he knew the twice-heard voice, and remembered the fleetingface. 

"You came to warn me, Olaf, and I knew you not!" he cried. "I knowyou now--too late!"

He paced the turf with hurried steps. The sacred duty of revengecalled him with a vehemence we cannot now realize. He had sworn tolet slip no chance of taking vengeance on the burners of hisbrother. Often he had sought news of them, and often renewed hisresolution; and now that he had found his foe, was he to idlysuffer him to escape?

Yet he had been this man's guest; he had eaten of his bread, andslept in his dwelling. And his hands were tied by a strongerchain. "Osla, Osla, " he cried, "for your sake I am faithless to myvows, and forgetful of my duty to my kindred!"

Then the memory of Thord the Tall, telling of the burning, rosefresh and strong, and again his hand sought his side, and hisbreath came fast, till the vision of Osla swept aside all otherthoughts. 

The time went by until the hour was hard on midnight. Graduallyhis mind grew more composed. 

"I am in the hands of destiny, " he said to himself. "Let fate dowith me what it will. "

All the northern sky was still red with the afterglow of sunset, creeping slowly eastwards against the dawn; land and sea lay clearand yet dim, for the light was ghostly as a phosphorescentchamber; the tide was slack, and lapped softly on the rocks; andeverything in the world seemed tranquil. 

"The end has come, " he said. 

All at once, on the sheen of the sound, he spied a curious blackmark, far out and vague. Gradually it seemed to steal nearer, tillEstein, looking at it keenly, forgot his thoughts in a risingcuriosity. Then it took shape, and faintly across the water camethe splash of oars and the voices of men. As they drew nearer, hecrouched below a bank and watched their approach with growingwonder and something too of awe. 

"The gods have sent for me, " he thought. 

They were being carried by the current towards the place where hestood, and presently they made a landing on the rocks. Therefollowed a consultation in low tones, and then one man left theboat and came up the bank. He stood out clearly in the transparentdusk--a tall, mail-clad figure, walking with a confident carriage. 

Estein waited till he was opposite him, and then sprang up, daggerin hand. 

"Who art thou?" he demanded. 

The man's hand went straight to his sword, but at the sound ofEstein's voice it fell again. 

"Estein, my foster-brother!" he cried. 

"Helgi!"

Helgi opened his arms and embraced him tenderly, speaking with anemotion he made no effort to control. "Estein, my brother, Ithought thou wert in truth in Valhalla. I have wept for thee, Estein; I have mourned thee as dead. Tell me that this is thy veryself, and not some island ghost come to mock me. "

The friendly voice and grasp, coming in this his hour of trouble, touched Estein to the heart. 

"It is I, indeed, Helgi, " he said; "and never have I felt moreglad to see a face and clasp a hand. How came you here? I thoughtI had parted from my friends for ever. I have been so long alonethat they had begun to seem like dream-men. "

Helgi told him briefly how he had swum ashore to another island, and there been picked up by Ketill, the black-bearded captain ofone of Estein's scattered ships; how, giving up all hope, they hadsailed for the south, and after meeting head winds and littleluck, returned to the Orkneys, where, from a man who had been withMargad, news of the stranger on the Holy Isle had reached theirears. 

"They say, Estein, that your hermit has a fair daughter. Methinksshe would like to see your foster-brother; would she not?"

"Nay, Helgi, ask me no more questions, but take me quickly away. Iam spell-bound here, and I dare not trust myself to stay onemoment longer. "

"I know these spells, Estein; they have been cast on men by othermaids before now. Better take your sorceress with you. It isunlucky to break such spells so rudely. "

"Laugh not, Helgi, " said Estein, taking his arm and hurrying himdown to the shore. "This spell has meant more to me than you canguess. "

"By the hammer of Thor!" exclaimed Helgi, stopping suddenly, "there surely is the witch herself. "

Estein looked round, and standing against the sky he saw theslender form he knew so well. 

"Wait for me, Helgi, " he said, "the spell is on me still, " andstarting away suddenly he ran up the bank again. 

"Osla!" he cried, and stopped abruptly. 

"What means this, Vandrad?" she asked. 

Her eyes were wide open with troubled surprise, and looking intoher upturned face he thought she never was so fair before. 

"They have come for me, Osla, and I must go. Farewell! remember menot. "

"Do you leave us in this way--without saying farewell, or tellingus you were going?"

"I knew not myself when they would come. I told you I must leaveyou and seek the sea again. It has come true sooner than Iexpected. "

He took her hands. 

"Farewell!" he said again. 

She turned her face away. 

"I feared you would tire of us, " she said, her voice sinking verylow. 

"Never, Osla, never! but fate has been too strong for me. Theywait for me now, and I must leave you. "

"Farewell, Vandrad!" she said, looking up, and he saw that hereyes were filled with tears. 

"Osla!" he cried, drawing her towards him. She yielded an instant, and then suddenly broke free and started away. 

"Farewell!" she said again, and her voice sounded like a sob. 

He did not trust himself to answer, but turned and hurried to theboat. 

They pushed off in silence, the oars dipped in the quiet sound, and Estein left the Holy Isle. 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE HALL OF LIOT. 

All through the small hours of the morning Estein sat on the poopin silence. Helgi, wrapped in his cloak, threw himself on the deckbeside him and fell asleep with a lightened heart, while the longship, slipping down the sound with the tide, turned westwards intothe swell of the Atlantic. 

Gloom had settled over Estein's mind. The pleasantest memorieswere distorted by the ghost of that old blood feud; his murderedbrother called aloud for vengeance; in the wash of the waves andthe creaking of the timbers he heard the hermit recite again thestory of the burning, and through it all a voice cried, "Farewell!farewell!"

The sun at that season rises early. With it the breeze freshened, and one by one the sleeping figures in the waist woke, and beganto stir about the ship. Still their leader sat silent. 

Helgi at length sat up with a start, and rubbed his eyes. Helooked at Estein, and smiled. 

"Very much in love methinks, " he said to himself. 

At last Estein saw he was observed, and passing his hand acrosshis brow as if to sweep away his thoughts, asked wearily, --

"Where do we go now, Helgi?"

"Your spell needs a violent remedy, and I have that on my mindthat may cure it. What say you to letting Liot Skulison know thathe did not slay us all? There are here two others besidesourselves who escaped the fate of Thorkel and our comrades, andthey think they owe Liot something. Does revenge seem sweet?"

"Then Liot is alive?"

"Ay, Thor has spared him for us. The Orkney-man who led us to youhas an ancient feud against the bairn-slayers, and he tells meLiot and his men are feasting at his dwelling. Shall we fall uponthem to-night?"

"You are a good physician, Helgi. Battle and storm are the bestcures for such as I. "

"I cannot give you a storm, I fear, " laughed Helgi, "but you canhave fighting enough to-night. Liot keeps two hundred men and moreabout him, and we have here some seventy all told. "

"We have faced greater odds together, Helgi. Life does not seem sofair to me now that I should shrink from odds of three to one. Letus seek Liot wherever he is, and when we have found him, tell himto arm as many men as he can muster. Then let our destiny weaveits web for us. "

Helgi laughed again. 

"That would be a good revenge--to let Liot slay the men of Estein, a shipload at a time. If Odin wishes us to die, I shall try tomeet my fate stoutly, but I shall not help him in the slaying. Nay, Estein, I can devise a better plan than yours. "

Estein smiled for the first time since he had come on board. 

"So long as it gives me a good fight with stout foes, and with youat my side, I care not what plan you propose. "

"There speaks yourself again!" cried Helgi; "and I think that erelong you will meddle with my schemes. I will call Ketill and theOrkneyman, and we four will hold council here. "

Ketill, the broad-beamed captain of the ship--the same whose pathhad been stopped by Atli--a man of few words and stout deeds, andGrim, the Orkneyman, came up to the poop. There they deliberatedfor long. Helgi was all for fire. 

"Let us hear how the men of Liot will sing when they are warm. "

Ketill gave a short laugh. 

"I, too, am for burning, " he said. 

"We must catch them when they are drinking, " said Grim. "WhenLiot's feasts are over many men go to sleep in outhouses round thehall, and we have not force enough here to surround them all atonce. "

"I will have no more burnings, " said Estein. 

"When had we our last?" asked Helgi. "You speak as though we haddone naught but burn foes all our lives. We have never had aburning before, Estein, and it is better to begin as the burnersthan the burned. "

"I have lately heard tell of another. It is no work for bravemen. "

Helgi shrugged his shoulders. 

"Let us drown them then, " he said. 

Ketill gave another short, gruff laugh. 

"Nay, Ketill, I am not jesting; in truth I am in little humour forthat. If seventy brave men cannot clear a hall of two hundreddrinkers, what virtue lies in stout hearts and sharp swords? Wewill enter the hall, you from one end and I from the other, and Ithink the men of Liot Skulison will not have to complain of toopeaceful an evening. "

"We must catch them, then, while they are feasting. Afterwards itwill be too late, with only seventy men, " the wary Grim replied. 

"We can choose our hour, " said Estein; "and whatever plan we fallon, it seems we must be in time. "

Helgi laughed lightly. 

"I thought you would leave us little say, Estein, when once youwere aroused, " he said. "'Tis all the same to me. Fire, sword, orwater--choose what you will, you will always find me by your side;and if you must go to Valhalla, why, I will blithely bear youcompany. "

"Fire were better, " said Ketill, shaking his head. 

The day was still young when the council of war came to an end, and as they had more than sufficient time to reach the hall ofLiot before night, the bows were turned to the open sea, that theymight better escape observation. Once they had got some miles fromland they turned southwards, and striking the sail, to make aslittle mark as they could, moved slowly under oars alone. All daythe long ship rolled in a great ground-swell, the western cliffsof Orkney now hidden by a wall of water, and now glinting in thesunshine as they rose from trough to crest, and right ahead thedistant Scottish coast drawing gradually nearer. As the afternoonwore on they turned landwards again, and towards evening foundthemselves coasting a mountainous island lying to the south ofHrossey. 

"What do men call this?" asked Helgi. 

"They call it Haey, the high island, and it is on a bay to thesouth of it that Liot Skulison dwells, " answered Grim, their pilotfor the time. 

They drew closer and closer to the land, until a towering line ofcliffs rose for more than a thousand feet right above their heads. It was a stern and sombre coast, unbroken by any bays or inlandglimpses, and gloomy and terrible in the fading light. The greatoily swell broke into spouts of foam at the cliff-foot, and allalong the face of the precipice they could see innumerable sea-fowl clinging to the rock. 

Gradually, as they sailed along this hostile land, a light sea-fogbegan to gather. The leaders of the hazardous expedition watchedit closing in upon them with growing apprehension. 

"What say you, Grim?" said Helgi; "can you take us to Liot in thismist?"

Grim looked round him doubtfully. 

"Methinks I can take you there, " he said, "but I fear we shall betoo late, we can move but slowly; and with only seventy men, Idoubt we shall do little when the men of Liot have left thefeast. "

Estein had been standing in silence near the tiller. At thesewords he turned and cried fiercely, --

"Who talks of doing little? Liot or I shall fall to-night, thoughthe blackness of death were round us. Think you I have come to sithere idly in a fog? Tell your men to row like valiant Vikings, Ketill, and not like timorous women. "

The respect due to rank in Norway was little more than the proudNorseman chose to pay, and it was with small deference to hisprince that Ketill answered, --

"You are fey, I think, Estein. I shall not lose my ship that youmay the sooner feed the fishes. "

"Are you, too, afraid? By the hammer of Thor! I think you are inleague with Liot. I shall make these cravens row. "

"That you will not, " replied Ketill. 

In an instant both swords were half-drawn. The men within earshotwere too much surprised at this sudden change from Estein's usualmanner to his followers to do more than look in astonishment atthe dispute, and in another instant the blades would have clashed, when Helgi rushed between them. 

"What is this?" he cried. "Are you possessed of evil spirits, thatyou would quarrel on the eve of battle? Remember, Ketill, thatEstein is your prince; and Estein, my brother, what ails you? Youare under a spell indeed. Would that I had slain the witch ere youparted. You can gain nothing by wrecking the ship, and this fog istoo dense to row a race off such a coast as this. "

Perhaps it was the allusion to the "witch" that brought Estein tohis senses, for his eyes suddenly softened. 

"I was wrong, Ketill, " he said. "The wrath of the gods is upon me, and I am not myself. "

He turned away abruptly, and gazed moodily into the fog; whileKetill, with the look of one who is dealing with a madman, leftthe poop. 

"It is ill sailing with a bewitched leader, " he muttered. 

The idea that Estein was under a spell took rapid hold of thesuperstitious crew. They told each other that this was no earthlymist that had fallen on them, and listening to the break of thesea on the cliffs, they talked low of wizards and sea-monsters, and heard strange voices in the sound of the surge. Then theybecame afraid to row at more than a snail's pace, and sometimesalmost stopped altogether. In vain Helgi went amongst them, andurged that Grim knew these waters so well that there was littledanger, in vain he pointed to the hope of booty and revenge ahead;even as he spoke there was a momentary break in the mist, and theysaw the towering cliff so close above them that his words werewasted. 

"There is witchcraft here, " they said; and Ketill was as obstinateas the rest. The ship crept under the cliffs with hardly any wayon at all, and Helgi, in despair, saw the golden hour slipping by. 

"Oh, for two more good ships, " he thought: "then we could waittill daylight, and fall upon them when we pleased. "

Estein had again fallen a prey to his thoughts. In his gloomyfatalism he thought that the wrath of the gods pursued him for theneglect of his duty to his murdered brother, and he submitted tothe failure of this adventure as the beginning of his punishment. The fighting fire died out, the longing for action was choked, andin their place what was as nearly a spell as can fall on mortalmen had fallen on him. His devoted friend fumed impatiently besidehim as the fog grew denser and the hours went slowly by, andbitterly he cursed the enchantress of the Holy Isle. 

"He talks of the gods, " he said to himself. "This is no work oftheirs; it is the magic of that island witch, may the trolls takeher!"

"The fog lifts!" cried Grim from his post at the tiller. 

The men heard the cry, and ceasing their awestruck talk, lookedeagerly at the fast-widening rifts in the white shroud. Ghost-likewreaths detached themselves, flitted by the ship, and thendissipated in thin air. The summer night sky with its pale starsappeared in lakes above, and below, the fog rose from the waterlike steam. Presently the great cliffs came out clear and terriblein the midnight dusk, and the men cried that the spell was broken. 

Over Estein came the greatest change. As the fog lifted, the lightreturned to his eye, and he turned eagerly to Grim. 

"Where are we now? Have we yet time to catch Liot at his feast?"

The pilot shook his head. 

"It will take us full two hours to reach the bay where Liotdwells, and the feast, I fear, will have ended even now, for thehour is late. "

Helgi's face fell, and he muttered a deep imprecation as he turnedto Estein. 

"What think you?" he asked; "shall we run for some distant bay, and return to-morrow night?"

"I have come to meet Liot to-night, " Estein replied, and turningaway he paced the deck in deep thought. 

Helgi's cheerfulness returned in an instant. He hummed an air, andleaning against the bulwark awaited the march of events with hisusual careless philosophy. 

"The men were right, " he thought; "it was a magic mist. The spellhas lifted with the fog. It wants but a brisk fight now to curehim. "

A grim smile stole over Estein's face, and presently he stoppedbeside Grim, and said, --

"Know you where Liot sleeps in this hall of his?"

"Ay; I was forced to follow him for two years, and I know well hissleeping chamber. "

"Can you lead us to it in the dark?"

Grim looked at him doubtfully before answering. 

"I think so, " he said at length. 

"But are you sure?"

The pilot looked round him. 

"The night is light, " said he, "and there will still be some firein the hall. But it will be a dangerous venture. "

Estein turned impatiently. 

"Methinks you have little feud with Liot, " he said, and went overto where Helgi stood. 

"Well?" asked Helgi. 

"I have a plan. "

"Have you resolved on a burning? This cursed fog has made me cold, and a fire would like me well. "

"You have heard my rede on burnings, Helgi. My scheme is to carryoff Liot in his sleep. They will keep no watch. The very dogs willbe drunk, and I think it will not be so difficult as it seems. Will you come with me into Liot's hall?"

Helgi's blue eyes opened wide, and he laughed as he said, --

"There has never been your match for enterprise in the north, Estein. Your plans seem all so chosen that your foes may have thegreatest chance to slay you. Are we to leave you in Liot's place?"

"I asked if you would follow me. "

"You know the answer to that already. But why trouble with Liot'scarcass? Surely it were easier to slay him where he lies. "

"I like not a midnight murder, and Liot and I have not yet decidedwho is the better man. That is a trial which I would fain make, and then we can see what the gods would do with me. "

"To fight an enemy and capture him afterwards is common enough, but to capture him first and then fight him seems the act of amadman, " answered Helgi. 

"Then I am a madman, " replied Estein, and with that he turned awayand walked forward to consult Ketill. 

He was impelled by his creed of morbid fatalism to seek this test, whereby his fate might be sharply decided. He longed, too, foraction, and the idea, once held, fascinated him. But to all otherson board he seemed merely the victim of some insidious magic. Thathe was under a spell Helgi had no manner of doubt. 

"A fair fight, " he thought, "is always manlier than a secretslaying, but not Odin himself would fly away with the foe who hadslain two shiploads of his followers, and afterwards challenge himto single combat. It is as if he should catch a thief who hadstolen half his goods, and then throw dice with him for the rest. But all spells act most banefully at night, they say; doubtless inthe morning Estein will rest content with giving him a fittingburial--if he catches him. "

And at the thought he laughed aloud. 

"May I die in bed like a woman, " he said to himself, "if this benot the strangest way of fishing for a Viking!"

Ketill was at first for stoutly refusing the adventure; but Helgi, whose convictions sat lightly on him compared with his attachmentto Estein, persuaded him to consent. 

"Are you afraid?" he asked, and that question left no room for theproud Viking to hesitate. 

It was about two hours after midnight when the long ship, stealingunder the shadow of the cliffs, turned into a small bay. It layopen to the south, guarded on either side by a precipitousheadland, and withdrawn from the tideway and the swell of thewestern ocean. In the weird grey light of that June night the mencould see a valley opening out of great inland hills on to a morelevel strip of moorland at the head of the bay. On a spit of sandybeach lay three warships, and on the slope of the hill to the leftstood a small township of low buildings, clustering round thehigher drinking-hall of Liot Skulison. 

In dead silence they hugged the shore as closely as their pilotdared. 

"We are as close inshore as we can win, " he said at length in alow voice. 

The boat was stealthily launched, and into it as many men as itwould hold were crowded. 

"Keep the rowers on their benches, we may have little time to getaway, " said Ketill in a gruff whisper to his forecastle man, whomhe left in command of the ship. 

"We have little wish to be caught. "

"Push off, men, and remember he who speaks above a whisper I shallthink is tired of life. "

The oars dipped and the boat crept slowly landwards. 

"You know the landing, Grim?"

Grim, who sat at the tiller, merely nodded; and presently the bowsgrated on a strip of gravel beach. 

"The trolls take you!" muttered Ketill. "Could you not have toldus to slacken speed? The dead could hear a landing like this. "

"'Tis all right yet, Ketill, " whispered Estein. "We are too farfrom the hall. "

"By the hammer of Thor!" growled the black-bearded captain, whosetemper was ever of the shortest, "these men splash like cattle. "

One by one they stepped ashore, and then the party was divided. One man was left in charge of the boat; Ketill with three otherswent round to where the long ships lay; while Estein, Helgi, andGrim, with six picked men, cautiously approached the hall. 

They crossed a strip of rising heather and struck a sharp slope ofturf. Close above them loomed a dark mass of building, and thesilence was unbroken save by the stealthy fall of their footsteps. Grim led the way, then came Estein, then Helgi, and the othersfollowed in single file. 

Warily they came up to the end of the hall, and under the doorthere was a brief pause. Estein gave his final instructions in awhisper, and then quickly pushing open the door, he stepped in. Helgi, Grim, and one man followed, while the other five waitedoutside with their weapons in their hands. 

These old Norse drinking-halls were long and high rooms, withgreat fires down the middle, and beside them long lines of benchesfor the guests. All down the sides the sleeping chambers opened, and over these hung the arms of the warriors. 

The hall of Liot was very dark and still. A ghostly flicker oflight struggled through the narrow windows, and on the fires theembers slowly died. Beside the benches slumbered the forms of someof the heaviest drinkers, and once or twice they nearly stumbledover these. Grim came up beside Estein and led him about half-waydown the hall. There he stopped and pointed to a door. There wereno words; the others closed up and loosened their daggers in theirsheaths. Estein stepped back softly to the fire and lifted up alog, one end of which still glowed brightly, and then he pushedopen the door. The chamber was dark as a wolf's mouth as he gropedfor the bed. So cautiously he stepped that the heavy breathing ofthe sleeper only broke the silence, and very carefully he wentforward and thrust the log so close to the unconscious slumbererthat he could clearly read his features. Then he placed it againstthe wall, and gave one whispered order. In an instant a mantle wastwisted round Liot's mouth, his hands and feet were bound, and erehe was thoroughly awake, he was mounted on the shoulders of hisfoes, forming one of a singular procession that hurried throughthe hall of Liot Skulison. 

Grim, who walked first, had almost reached the door, when from theblackest of the shadows a man stepped suddenly across his path. For an instant the pilot's heart stood still. Then he saw that hehad only to deal with a half-awakened drinker, and as his mouthwas framing a question, Grim's dagger flashed, and with a cry theman fell heavily on the floor. Instantly there arose such a chorusof barking as might have wakened the dead. 

"The dogs are sobering, " said Helgi. 

"Hasten!" cried Estein. "The men will be on us. "

They hurried through the door, and bearing their captive on theirshoulders, the whole party broke into a run. 

"The dogs are after us!" cried one. 

"Turn and kill them, " said Estein. 

Three men stopped, and with a few sweeping sword slashes scatteredthe yelping crowd; but even as they were driving them off, theycould see that men were coming out of the hall and outhouses. 

"Where is Ketill?" cried Estein, as they reached the boat. 

The man in charge had seen nothing of him. 

"May werewolves seize him!" exclaimed Helgi. "He has had timeenough to tear the long ships plank from plank. "

"We have no time to wait for him; it is his fault if he be left, "said Grim. 

"That knowledge would doubtless comfort him, " replied Estein; "butnevertheless I shall wait. "

"Here they come!" cried Helgi. 

"And here come those who will reach us before them, " said anotherman. 

He was right. A swarm of men were already running down the slope, and it was clear that they must reach the boat first. 

Estein sprang on board. 

"Push off!" he cried; "we will row along the shore to meet them. "

"Well thought of, " said Helgi; "'tis lucky we have one cool headwith us. "

The pursuers at first either failed to see Ketill's party, ormistook them for their own men, for they continued their headlongrush straight to the water, firing arrows and darts as they ran. Then they saw the manoeuvre, and turned with loud cries along theshore. The boat had got a start by this time; the rowers benttheir backs and made her spring like a live thing, and the stillwater rose in oily waves from the bow. But fast as they pulled, the men on shore ran faster. 

"By all the gods, we are too late!" cried Helgi. 

"They take to the water!" said Estein. "Pull, men, pull! Oh, 'tisa night worth living for!"

The four swimmers stoutly struck out for dear life, to a splashingaccompaniment of darts and stones. 

"By the hammer of Thor! they will be struck as we take them onboard, " exclaimed Helgi. "Friend Ketill makes a generous mark. "

"Round them!" said Estein. "Get between them and the shore. "

Grim pressed the tiller hard down, and circling round the swimmersthey were presently hauling them in on the sheltered side. Thenthe crowd on shore set off for their ships. Ketill, dripping withwater, and bleeding from an arrow wound on the shoulder, watchedthem with a grim smile. 

"They will find their ships ready for sea, " he said. 

As he spoke a tongue of flame shot up from one of the long ships, and Estein turned to him in surprise. 

"Then you set them on fire?"

"Ay, " replied Ketill; "we slew some guards--who thereby learnednot to sleep at their posts--and made such holes in the ships aswill take them two days to patch. Then I bethought me it were wellto have a burning, if it were only of a long ship; so we kindledthree great fires, one for each vessel, and if the men of Liotfeel cold to-night, it will not be my fault. But have you gotLiot?"

"Here he is, " said Estein, pointing to the pinioned captive. 

Ketill laughed loud and long. 

"Estein, " he cried, "I ask your pardon. You may be under a spell, but you have given us a merry night's work. We have earned a longdrink. "

CHAPTER VII. 

THE VERDICT OF THE SWORD. 

A shout of congratulation rose from the ship as the boat drew nearand the anxious watchers counted the fourteen men returned againwith their prisoner. Drink was served round in huge beakers, andthe superstitious fears vanished like the fog as they rowed intriumph out of the bay. 

They could see behind them the flames and smoke rising ever higherfrom the burning vessels, and as the ale mounted to their headsthey shouted derisive defiance across the water. 

"Where shall we go now?" asked Grim. 

"Do you know of any uninhabited holm where we could land bydaybreak?" said Estein. 

"There are many such about the Orkneys; one I know well, whichmethinks we should reach soon after sunrise. There I shall takeyou. "

Ketill came up at that moment with a great horn of ale, and cried, with a joviality only shown when drink flowed freely, --

"Drink, Estein, drink!--drink to the soul of Liot Skulison, whichshall shortly speed to Valhalla. Shall we slay him now, or keepthat sport till we have better light to see him die?"

"I have other work on hand than drinking. Liot and I have anaccount to settle at daybreak. "

Ketill stared at him in astonishment. 

"You mean then in very truth to fight?" he cried. "Well, do as youwish; but it is a strange spell. "

He left the poop with his horn, and Estein seated himself on astool, and leaning back against the bulwarks, tried to rest. 

His face was set, his mind made up, and he only waited impatientlyfor the hour of his trial. Sleep came to him in uneasy snatches, during which he seemed to pass years of wild adventure, hauntedall the time by strangely distorted Oslas. He woke at last to thechill of a grey morning and the roll of a Viking ship. With alittle shiver he started to his feet, and began to pace the deck. 

Presently Helgi joined him, and laid his hand on his arm. 

"Estein, " he said, "tempt not your fate too far. Never before haveI seen witchcraft such as this. Why should you fear the wrath ofthe gods? I tell you, my brother, you are under a spell; let usseek some magician who will cure you, and not rashly look fordeath when you are wearied with sleepless nights and black magic. If the wrath of the gods is really on you, it will fall were youto flee from men and seek refuge in the loneliest cave on allthese coasts. I will slay Liot Skulison for you; in fair fight ifyou will, though I think not he deserves such a chance. Was it afair fight when he fell on our two ships with his ten?"

"I would slay him, Helgi, like a dog, were it not that somethingwithin me bids me ask in this wise the wishes of Odin. "

"'Tis the voice of yon witch. "

"She is no witch, Helgi, only the fairest girl in all the North. Listen, and I will tell you the story of this spell; but rememberit is to you alone I tell it, and never must another know of myshame. "

"Have you ever known me betray your trust?"

"Never, Helgi, my brother, or you would not hear this tale. To meit seems the story of six years of my life, though it was scarcelyas many weeks; but I shall make it as brief as I may. "

"The hour is yet early. "

"After the battle, Helgi, I should have been drowned but for thatmaid you saw. She saved my life, and that at least I owe her. Shebrought me to the abode of her father, the hermit of the HolyIsle; and there I learned to love her. For six weeks I was noViking. I forgot my kinsfolk and my country, forgot all but Osla. "

"Call you not that a spell?"

"Did you not say yourself that you had known many spells likethat, cast on men by maids? It was the magic of love thatentangled me. "

"Men said the hermit was a wizard. "

"No wizard, Helgi, or he had never let me come there. He was amoody and fitful old man. I pleased him with my songs, talked tohim of the strange religion he professes--for he is what men calla Christian--and grew in time to think of him as a friend. (Verily, I think there must have been magic!) All this while Ispoke no word of love to Osla, though I think she was notindifferent to me. "

"It was easy to see that. "

"Twice on that island a voice I could not name warned me frombeyond the grave, but I heeded it not. (Can the man have been awizard?) One night--it was the night you landed, Helgi--I satalone with the hermit. Something had moved him to talk. I remembernow! it was a song I sung myself. He told me a tale of a burning. 

"Helgi, he had hardly begun ere I knew the end, and could name mywarning voice. The tale was the burning of Laxafiord, and thevoice was my brother Olaf's. "

"And the hermit?"

"Is Thord the Tall, the last of the burners. "

"Is! Then you slew him not?"

"My dagger was drawn, I was bending towards him, when I heardwithout the steps of Osla. I fled--ask me not what I thought orwhat I did. Thord the Tall and I both live, and I would knowwhether the gods would have it so. Wherefore I meet Liot thismorning. "

"Then you have spared Olaf's burner for the sake of the burner'sdaughter?"

"I had eaten his bread and shared his dwelling for six weeks, andbut for that daughter I had never lived to meet him. "

"He slew your brother, Estein. "

"There is no need to remind me of that. "

"Methinks there is; he still lives. "

"And I still love his daughter. "

Estein turned away as he spoke, and gazed with folded arms overthe grey waters. 

Helgi looked at him in silence; then he went up to his side. 

"Forgive me, Estein, " he said, "and let Odin judge you. I love youtoo well to be aught but a friend whatever you may do. "

"Helgi! but for you I think I should fall upon my sword. "

His friend tried to force a laugh, but it came hard. 

"Nay, rather seek a sword for Liot Skulison, for I see we arenearing the holm. "

"I had forgotten Liot, " said Estein. "We will loose his bonds, andlet him choose his weapons. "

He found Liot sitting in the waist bound hand and foot. His eyewas as firm as if he had been in his own hall, and he looked upindifferently as Estein approached. 

"Do you remember me, Liot?" asked his captor. 

"Ay, Estein. You, methinks, are one of the bairns I thought I hadslain. Well was it for you that the Orkney tides run strong. Butthe luck has changed, I see; and you were a bold man, EsteinHakonson, to change it as you did. Why did you not burn us out?"

"Because I wanted you alone. "

"Ay, torture is a pleasant game for the torturers. How do youintend that I shall die?"

"By my sword, if the gods will it. In an hour, Liot, we fight tothe death. Our battle-ground is yonder holm, the weapons you maychoose yourself; and meanwhile I shall loose your bonds, and ifyou wish to eat or drink you may. "

A look of blank astonishment came over the Viking captain's face. 

"This is a merry jest, Estein, " he said. 

"It is no jest. --Loose his bonds, men. "

Liot gave a shout of joy. 

"Estein, " he cried, "you are a brave man, but I think you arefey. "

"That will soon be seen. "

The Viking's cool indifference gave place to the most exuberantexcitement. Like everybody else he thought that Estein was eithermad or the victim of some enchantment; but so long as he was goingto strike a good blow for life, he cared not how the chance hadcome. He called for ale and meat, and with the eye of an oldsoldier carefully picked his weapons; while the men around himmuttered to each other that Estein was surely fey. 

All this time they had been sailing eastwards before a lightbreeze. The sun had long been up, but the whole sky was obscuredby light clouds, and there was an early morning feel in the air. Nearly the whole length of the wide and lonely firth that dividesOrkney from the Scottish coast lay behind them, and close aheadthey saw the little island that Grim had chosen for the meeting-place. When they had reached the holm they anchored the ship closeinshore, and two boat-loads of men were first sent to prepare thefield of battle. Then when all was ready the two combatants, attended by Helgi and Ketill, were rowed ashore. 

Liot was gay and cheerful as a man going to a feast; while Esteinsat silent in the stern, his thoughts busy with a landing atanother island. 

"You need ale, Estein, " said his opponent; "a man going to fightshould be gay. "

"It is more fitting, " replied Helgi, "for the man who comes backto be cheerful. "

"Well said, " said Ketill. 

Liot only laughed, and springing ashore before the boat hadtouched the rocks, cried, --

"I had little thought to have such a pleasant morning. We willfinish what we began before, Estein. "

"Ay, we will finish, " said Estein. 

They found a wide ring marked off with stones, and in this the twochampions took their stand. Each was armed with a helmet and acoat of ring-mail, and bore in his right hand a sword, and in hisleft a long, heart-shaped shield. Round their waists another swordwas girded, though there was likely to be little time to drawthis. In height and build they were very equally matched, but mennoticed that Estein moved more lightly on his feet. 

In a loud voice Ketill proclaimed that whoever should withdrawoutside the ring of stones should ever after bear the name ofdastard. 

Then all went outside the circle, and with a shout Liot sprang athis foe. Estein caught the sword on his shield, and in returndelivered such a storm of blows that Liot got no chance for a blowin return. He began to give ground, Estein pressing him hotly, hisblade flashing so fast that men could not follow it. It was easilyseen that in quickness and dexterity with his weapon Liot wasinferior to his foe; but with wary eye and cool head he kept wellcovered with his shield, shifting his ground all the time. Twicehe was nearly driven over the line, but each time saved himself bya rapid side movement. 

"I fear that Estein will tire, " muttered Helgi. 

"Ay; he has started too hard, " replied Ketill. 

It seemed as if they were right. Estein's blows became lessfrequent, and Liot in turn attacked hotly. He made as littleimpression, however, as Estein, and then by mutual consent bothmen stopped for a minute's breathing-space. 

"You seem tired, Estein, " said Liot. 

"Guard yourself, " was the reply, and the fight began again. Asbefore, Estein attacked hotly, Liot steadily giving ground. 

"Too hard, too hard! after two sleepless nights he cannot fightlong like this, " exclaimed Helgi. 

So thought Liot, and he bided his time with patience. He wasopposed, however, by one of the best and most determined swordsmenin Norway, and Estein as well as any one knew the risk he ran. Herained in his blows like a hailstorm; but fast though they came, he was sparing his strength, and there was less vigour in hisattack than there seemed. He bent all his energies on driving Liotback on the ring, shifting his ground as fast as his foe, headingoff his attempts to move round, and all the while watching keenlyfor an opening. 

"He wins, Ketill! he wins!" cried Helgi. 

"Ay, " said the black-bearded captain; "there is little skill wecan teach Estein. "

As they neared the stones, Estein's onset became more furious thanever; sword and shield had to shift up and down, right and left, to guard his storm of blows, and all the while Liot was beingdriven back the faster towards one place where larger stones thanusual had been used to make the ring. In vain he sprang suddenlyto one side; Estein was before him, and his blade nearly found itsway home. Two paces more Liot gave way, and then his heel struck aboulder. For an instant he lost his balance, and that moment washis last on earth. As the shield shifted, Estein's sword came fullon his neck, and it was only the bairn-slayer's body that fellwithout the ring. 

"Bring the spades!" cried Ketill--"a fitting enough epitaph forLiot Skulison. "

His conqueror was already in Helgi's arms. 

"I thought I should have had to avenge you, Estein. My heart islight again. "

"Odin has answered me, Helgi. "

"And the spell is broken?"

"No; that spell, I fear, will break only with my death-wound. "

Helgi laughed out of pure light-heartedness. 

"There are fair maids in the south lands, " he said. 

"I go to Norway, " replied Estein. "I would fain see the pine woodsagain. "

That evening they saw the Orkneys faint and far away astern, andEstein, as he watched them fade into the dusk, would have givenall Norway to hear again the roost run clamorous off the HolyIsle. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

IN THE CELL BY THE ROOST. 

On the rocky shore of the Holy Isle, Osla sat alone. The spell ofsummer weather had passed from the islands, and in its wake thewind blew keenly from the north, and the grey cloud-drift hurriedlow overhead. All colour had died out of land and sea; the hillslooked naked and the waters cold. 

And Vandrad, the sea-rover, had gone with the sunshine--had gone, never so Osla said to herself, to return again. 

She rose and tried to give her thoughts a lighter turn, but thenote of the north wind smote drearily upon her ears, and she leftthe sea-shore with a sigh. For seven uneventful years she hadfound in the sea a friend of whom she never tired, and on thelittle island duties enough to make the days pass swiftly by. Whyshould the time now hang heavy on her hands?

She walked slowly to the wind-swept cells. Her father sat within, the blackness of night upon his soul, the Viking fire now burnedcompletely out. 

She tried to rouse him, but he answered only in absentmonosyllables. Again she sought the solace of the sea, but never, it seemed to her, had it looked so cold and so unfriendly. 

"Why did he ever come at all?" she said. 

And so the days went by; summer changed to autumn, and autumn gaveplace to winter. For week after week one gale followed another. For days on end the spin-drift flew in clouds across the island, salt and unceasing. 

The sea was never silent, the gulls flew inland and the cormorantssat storm-bound in their caves; brief glimpses of cold and sunnyweather passed as abruptly as they came, and in the smoke of adriftwood fire Osla plied her needle and followed the wanderingsof her thoughts. 

During all these months the hermit spoke little. So engrossed wasOsla in herself that she hardly noticed how seldom the cloudseemed to lift from his mind. Never as before did he talk with herat length, or instruct her from the curious scraps of knowledgehis once acute mind had picked up from sources Christian andpagan, from the wise men of the North and the monasteries ofsouthern lands. He never once alluded to their guest, never evenapparently observed his departure, and in her heart his daughterthanked him for his silence. 

The lingering winter passed at length, and one morning, in thefirst freshness of spring, Osla stood without the cell. Presentlyher father joined her, and she noticed, though her thoughts werebusy elsewhere, that he wore a strange expression. He looked ather doubtfully, and then said, --

"Where is Vandrad? I would hear him sing. "

Then Osla started, and her heart smote her. 

"Vandrad, father?" she said gently. "He has been gone these eightmonths. Did you not know?"

The hermit seemed hardly to comprehend her words. 

"Gone!" he repeated. "Why did you not tell me?"

"Surely you knew, " she said. 

"Why went he away? I would hear him sing. He used to sing to me ofwar. He sang last night. Last night, " he repeated doubtfully;"methinks it was last night. Bring him to me. "

She turned his questions as best she could, and strove to make himthink of other things. With her arm through his they paced theturf along the shore, and all the while her heart sank lower andlower. She was in the presence of something so mysterious thateven wise men in those days shrank from it in fear. It was thefinger of God alone, they said, that laid a blight on human minds, and there before her was His handiwork. 

Yet, had she but known it, this blight had been the slow work ofyears. Her father's mind, always dark and superstitious, andtinged with morbid melancholy, had gradually in these longsolitary years given way more and more before sombre underminings, till now, with old age at the gates, it had at last succumbed. Some few bright moments there were at rare intervals, but in allthe months that followed it was but the shattered hull of Thordthe Tall, once the terror of the western seas, that lingered onthe Holy Isle. 

The care of him had at least the effect of turning Osla's thoughtsaway from herself. Than sunshine and another's troubles there areno better tonics. 

Yet it was a dreary summer for the hermit's daughter, and it grewall the drearier and more lonesome when the long, fresh days beganto shorten, and the sea was more seldom still and the wind moreoften high. All the time, the old man grew slowly worse. He satcontinually in his cell; and though Osla would not acknowledge herfears even to herself, she knew that death could not be far away. Yet he lingered through the winter storms, and the end came upon aFebruary evening. All the afternoon the hermit had lain with shuteyes, never speaking a word or giving a sign. It fell wet andgusty at night, and Osla, bending over the couch, could hearnothing but the wind and the roost she knew so well. 

At length he raised his head and asked, --

"Are we alone, Osla?"

"There is no one here but me, father. "

"Listen then, " he said. "I have that on my mind that you must hearbefore I die. My end is close at hand. I seem to have been longasleep, and now I know that this wakefulness you see is but theclearness of a man before he dies. "

He took her hand as he spoke, and she tried to stifle a sob. 

"Not so, " she said, while the tears rose so fast that she couldonly dimly see his face; "you are better, far better, to-night. "

"I am death-doomed, Osla. Thord the Tall shall die in his bed to-night, an old and worthless wreck. Once I had little thought ofsuch a death; and even now, though I die a Christian man, and myhope is in Christ Jesus, and St. Andaman the holy, I would likewell to hear the clash of swords around me. But the doom of a manis fated from his birth. "

His daughter was silent, and the old Viking, seeming to gatherstrength as he talked, went on in a strong, clear voice. 

"I have heavy sins at my door. I have burned, I have slain inbattle, I have pillaged towns and devastated corn-lands. May theLord have mercy on my soul!

"He shall have mercy, Osla! I am saved, and the heathen I slew arelost for ever. For the souls of the Christians who fell by thishand I have done penance and given great gifts, and to-night thesethings shall be remembered. To-night we part, Osla. "

She held his great hand in both of hers, and pressed it againsther lips, and in a broken voice she said, --

"No, not to-night, not to-night. "

"Ay, to-night, " he said. "But before we part you must hear of onedeed that haunts me even now, though they were but heathens whom Islew. "

"The burning at Laxafiord?" she whispered. 

"Who has not heard of that burning?" he cried. "The flames leapthigher than the pine trees, the women shrieked--I hear them now!"He paused, and she pressed his hand the tighter. 

"Father!" she said softly, "father!" But he paid no heed to her, for his mind had begun to wander, and he talked wildly to himself. 

"Death-doomed I am. Have mercy upon my soul! . .. .. . Ay, the windblows, a stormy day for fishing, and the flames are leaping--I seethem leap! St. Ringan save me!. .. .. . A Christian man, I tellthee. .. .. . Spare not, spare not! Smite them to the last man!"

Then he fell silent, and she laid her free hand upon his brow, while outside the wind eddied and sang mournfully round the cell. At last his mind cleared again, and he spoke coherently thoughvery feebly. 

"I am dying, Osla; fare thee well! The box--you know the box?"

"The steel-bound box?" she answered. 

"Ay, steel-bound, 'tis steel-bound indeed. I took it--"

He had begun to wander again, but with a last effort he collectedhis thoughts and went on, --

"Open it. There is a writing. Read, it will tell--promise--I canspeak no more. "

"I promise, " she replied, hardly knowing what she said, her heartwas so full. 

There was another brief silence, and then loudly and clearly hecried, --

"Bring up my banner! Forward, Thord's men! Forward!. .. .. . Theyfly!. .. .. . They fly!"

The voice died away, and Osla was left alone. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE MESSAGE OF THE RUNES. 

The story must now come back to Norway. Though Estein had returnedwith neither spoil nor captives, the tale of Liot's capture andthe combat on the holm added much to his renown, and no fewer thansix skalds composed lengthy poems on the adventure. There seemedno reason why the hero of these lays should shrink from talking ofhis expedition, and avoid, so far as he could, the company of men. Gradually strange rumours began to spread. Helgi, who alone knewthe truth, held his peace for Estein's sake, even when the aleflowed most freely. The others who had sailed with them laid nosuch restraint on their tongues, and stories of a spell and anOrkney witch, vague and contradictory, but none the less eagerlylistened to and often repeated, went the round of the country. Theking at last began to take alarm, and one day he called EarlSigvald to him and talked with him alone. 

"What rede can you give, jarl?" he said; "a strange witchcraft Ifear has been at work. When a young man smiles but seldom, broodsoften by himself, and shuns the flagon and the feast, there issomething more to be looked for than a loss of men and ships, orthe changefulness of youth. "

"Get him a wife, " replied the earl. "He has been single too long. There is no cure for spells like a pair of bright eyes. "

But when the king spoke to his son, he found him resolutelyopposed to marriage. Hakon loved him so dearly that he forbore topress the matter, and again he consulted Earl Sigvald. 

"If he will not marry, let him fight, " answered the earl. "For aprince of the race of Yngve, the clash of arms cures melancholybetter than a maid. "

So with the coming of spring Estein cruised in the Baltic, andcarried the terror of his arms far into Finland and Russia. Yet hereturned as moody as before. 

At feasts his spirits sometimes rose to an extraordinary pitch. For the time he would be carried away as he had never been before. He would sing, jest, and quarrel; but his jests were often bitter, and his quarrels gave rise to more talk than his gloom, for beforehe had been of an even and generous temper. And when the fitpassed away he was quieter than ever. 

One day he was out hunting on the fells with Helgi. They wereoftener together than ever, and his foster-brother had far moreinfluence with him than any other man. 

They stood on a desolate hillside a little above the highest pinewoods, examining the tracks of a bear, when Helgi suddenly turnedto him and said, --

"Do you not think, Estein, you have moped and mourned longenough?"

"They whom the gods have cursed, " replied Estein, "have littlecause for laughter. What is there left for me on this earth?"

"To prove yourself a man; to accept the destiny you cannot alter;and in time, Estein, to be a king. Are these things nothing?"

Helgi seldom spoke so gravely, and Estein for a time stood silent. Then he exclaimed, --

"You are right, Helgi; I have acted as a beaten child. HenceforthI shall try to look on my fate, I cannot say merrily, but at leastwith a steady eye. "

As another winter passed, he gradually seemed to come to himself. He was sadder and more reserved than of yore, but the king sawwith joy that the gloom was lifting. One day in the season whenspring and winter overlap, and the snow melts by day and hardensagain over-night, Earl Sigvald returned to Hakonstad from his seatby a northern fiord. King Hakon greeted him cheerfully. 

"The spell is lifting, jarl, " he said; "Estein is becoming himselfagain. "

"That is well, sire, " replied the earl; "and my old heart lightensat the news. But I have other tidings that need your attention. Ihave brought with me Arne the Slim, your scatt-gatherer inJemtland. The people there have slain some of his followers, forced him to fly for his life, and refused to pay scatt to aNorse king. There is work ahead for some of our young blades. "

"They shall see that my arm is longer than they deem, " replied theking grimly. 

Arne told his tale in the great hall before all the assembledchiefs, and the king's face darkened with anger as he listened. Every now and then, as he spoke of some particular act oftreachery, or of his hardships and hurried flight, an angry murmurrose from his audience, and a weapon here and there clashedsternly. Estein alone seemed unmoved. He stood listlessly at theback, apparently hardly hearing what was going on, his thoughtsreturning despite himself to their melancholy groove. All at oncehe heard himself addressed, and turning round saw a stranger athis side. The man was holding out something towards him, and whenhe had caught Estein's eye, he said respectfully, --

"I was charged to give this token to you, sire. " Estein looked athim in surprise, and taking the token from his hand, glanced at itcuriously. 

It was a stave of oak, about two feet long, and shaped with somecare. Along one side an inscription was carved in Runes, and as heread the first words his expression changed and he spelt it keenlythrough. The whole writing ran: "An old man, a maiden, and aspell. Come hither to Jemtland. "

He turned sharply to the man and asked, --

"How came you by this? Who sent it to me?"

"That last I cannot answer, " replied the man. "This only I know, that the night before the Jemtland people attacked us, a man cameto the door of the house where I lodged, and giving me this said, 'Fly, war is afoot, ' and with that he left as suddenly as he came. I aroused my master Arne, and one or two more, and thanks to thewarning, we escaped the fate of our comrades. That is all I cantell you. "

The message made a sharp impression on Estein's mind. "An old man, a maiden, and a spell, " he repeated to himself. He racked hisbrains, but he could think of no one in that remote country whowould be likely to send such a message. It seemed to him to havean almost supernatural import, and again he said to himself, "Anold man, a maiden, and a spell. " Then suddenly he took aresolution, and turning from the messenger stepped into the crowdwho surrounded the king. 

Arne had just finished his tale. There was a moment's angrysilence, and then the king glanced round the host of weather-beaten Vikings and high-born chiefs and cried, --

"Who will punish these cowardly rebels of mine?"

A dozen voices instantly claimed the service. Loudest of them allwas that of Ketill, now married to a wealthy widow and a person ofconsiderable importance, and the black-bearded Viking steppedforward as he spoke. 

"Give me this service, king, " he said. "I have lived at mine easetoo long of late. Laziness begets fat. "

There was a laugh at Ketill's words, for his person had never beennoted for its spareness. 

The Viking frowned and exclaimed, --

"Let those laugh who have tested my steel. "

"Well I know your bravery, Ketill, " began the king, "and there isno man--"

At that instant the ring of men round him suddenly opened andEstein stood before his father. His face was more animated thanany had seen it for many a long day, and in a firm voice he said, --

"I will lead this expedition. "

Steel rang on steel as every armed warrior there clashed hisapproval. By all the gods whose names he could remember EarlSigvald swore that the true Estein was come back, and King Hakonexclaimed joyfully, --

"There speaks my son at last. Prepare yourself then, Estein. Illtidings have been changed to good. "

"And you, Ketill, " said Estein, turning to his former companion, "will you come with me?"

"That will I, " answered Ketill. "I want no braver leader. But thegods curse me if we roast not a few score men this time, Estein. "

For two days there was a turmoil of preparation round Hakonstad, and on the third Estein's two warships sailed down the fiord. Hehad with him Helgi, Ketill, and a picked force; and as he stood ondeck and watched the towering precipices slip by, and the whiteclouds drift over their rough rim of pines, his heart beat high. The message of the Runes was ringing in his mind, and the spiritof roving and adventure boiling up again. 

They sailed far up the coast, and then, leaving their ship in anorthern fiord, struck inland across the mountains. The countrythey were going to lay among the lakes of North Sweden. Its peoplewere more barbarous than the Norwegians, and had long been in astate of half-subjection to the Norse kings. There was not likelyto be hard fighting; for small as Estein's force was, the nativeswere badly armed and little esteemed as warriors. The country, however, was difficult, so the men marched warily, their armsready for instant use, and a sharp watch kept all the time. Thesun came out hot by day, but at nights it felt very cold andfrosty. With all the haste they could make they pushed on by theleast frequented routes and the most desolate places. During thefirst day after they had crossed the mountains, they only saw onefarmhouse, in a forest clearing, and that, when they came up toit, was still and deserted. On the following day they passed asmall hamlet on the banks of a river, and a little later anotherfarm. In neither was there a sign of an inhabitant to be seen, andthey seemed for all the world like dwellings of the dead. 

"This is passing strange, " said Helgi. "Unless, perhaps, theJemtlanders spend the winter in holes and caves, like the bearsthey resemble in all but courage. "

"The alarm has spread, I fear, " answered Estein. "We must make themore haste. "

"Ay, " said Ketill; "on, on!"

Towards evening the head of the column emerged into a smallclearing, and the foster-brothers, who were marching in themiddle, heard a cry from the van. Then Ketill's gruff voice calledout, --

"After him! Nay, slay him not! Have you got him? Ay, bring theknave to Estein. "

The little army came to a halt, and a poor-looking man, clad in askin coat, and trembling violently as they dragged him along, wasbrought before Estein. 

"Spare my life, noble captain!" he pleaded, casting himself on hisknees. "I am but a poor man, I beseech you. "

"Silence, rascal!" thundered Ketill, "or we will have yourcoward's tongue out by the root. "

"Tell me, if you value your life, what means this solitude?"Estein demanded sternly. "Nay, shake not like an old man withpalsy, but speak the truth--if by chance a Jemtlander knows whattruth is. Where are the people?"

"Noble earl, they have heard of your coming, and fled. No man willawait you; you will see none in the country. "

"Do none mean to fight?" asked Helgi. 

"Great prince, " replied the fellow, "the Jemtlanders were never awarlike race. Even the king, I hear, is prepared to fly. "

A contemptuous murmur rose from the Norsemen. 

"Let us begin by hanging this man, " said Ketill, "and then fire, fire through the country!"

"I shall see first whether he has spoken the truth, " answeredEstein. "Bind him, and bring him on. "

The man was bound and guarded, and the march was continued. Earlythe next morning two men were found together in a cottage, andthey told the same tale. 

"Little glory is there in marching against such a people, " saidEstein. "Bind them, and hasten on. "

About an hour later the little army emerged from a hillsideforest, and saw below them a small merchant town. The rude woodenhouses straggled along the edge of a great frozen lake, whosesnow-powdered surface stretched for miles and miles in an unbrokensheet of dazzling whiteness. Between the shores and the outskirtsof the woodlands lay a wide sweep of cultivated country. Everywhere a thin coating of snow covered the ground, and the airwas sharp enough to make the breath of the men rise like a cloudof steam as they marched in battle order down the slope. 

"There are men in the town!" cried Helgi suddenly. "I see theglint of the sun on weapons. Thanks be to the gods, we shall havea fight!"

"Ay, they are coming out, " said Estein. "Halt! we shall takeadvantage of the slope, and await them here. "

The men halted, and grasped their weapons, and in expectantsilence their leaders watched a small troop defile out of thetown. 

"Call you that an army?" growled Ketill. "There are barely a scoreof them. "

"Ay, " said Helgi, with a sigh, "there will be no fighting to-day. "

About twenty men, dressed in skins and fur coats and woodenhelmets, and slenderly armed, had left the town, and now cameslowly up the hill. Their leader alone wore a burnished steelhelmet, and carried a long halberd over his shoulder. Immediatelybehind him walked two boys, and at the sight of them Helgi asked, --

"What mean they by bringing boys against us?"

"Hostages, " suggested Estein laconically. 

When this motley company had come within a hundred yards of them, they stopped, and their leader advanced alone. 

As he drew near to the Norsemen, Estein stepped out a pace or twoto meet him, but they stood so close that Helgi and Ketill couldhear all that passed. They saw that the stranger was a tall, elderly man with a clever face and a dignified bearing. 

"Hail, Estein Hakonson!" he said. 

"You know my name, it seems, " replied Estein, "and therein havethe advantage of me. "

"My name is Thorar, " said the chief, speaking gravely and verycourteously, "lawman of this region of Jemtland"--he made asweeping gesture with his hand as he said this--"and a friendhitherto to the Northmen. "

"I know you by repute as a chief of high birth, and one who haslong been faithful to my father. Yet, methinks, it was somethingless than faithful to drive his scatt-gatherer from the countryand slay his followers. "

"Blame not me for that, Estein, " answered Thorar. "It was donewith neither my knowledge nor consent, and none grieved at such anoutrage more than I. Now, as you see, you have the land at yourmercy; and as an ancient friend of your family and a faithfulservant of my master King Bue, I am come to intercede between KingHakon and him. Give us peace, Estein; and as you have a grey-haired father, spare my master the sorrow and the shame you wouldbring upon him. What can he do against you? The old spirit of mycountrymen has died out, " he added sadly, "and no man dare meetyour force in the field. "

"Is King Bue in the town?" Estein asked. 

"Nay, he could not travel so far; but in his name I bid youwelcome to his feast, if you will accept peace instead of war. Ifyou will not, then I can only mourn the devastation of my country. It will be a bloodless victory, Estein. "

"And what compensation does the king intend to make?"

"What you will; he is powerless. "

"Shall we then march to King Bue?"

"Alas!" said Thorar, "in these evil days he cannot entertain youall. Many of his people have fled to the woods already, and--totell the truth--he, too, would feel ill at ease if he saw so bravea force come nigh him; for he is old, and his spirit is broken. But a following of twenty men or so he will gladly entertain. Theothers I shall have feasted here in the town at my own cost, andwith them I shall leave my two young sons"--he indicated, as hespoke, the two lads. "They are my only children, and them I shallwillingly give you as hostages till your return, that I may savemy country from fire and sword. Though, " he added, with a gravesmile, "if men speak truth, Estein Hakonson can make good hiscoming or going against most. "

"Be it as you will, " replied Estein; "but if--" He paused, andlooked sternly at Thorar. 

"If a king's word and mine are not sufficient, and my only sonssatisfy you not, I can but add my oath--though most men would deemit needless. "

Thorar spoke with dignity and a touch of haughtiness, and Esteinreplied simply and courteously, --

"I shall come. "

He turned to Helgi and said, --

"No fighting will there be, Helgi; but I have known you welcomeeven a feast. What say you?"

"This snow work and marching call for feasting, " replied Helgi, with a laugh. 

"Then Ketill shall stay here with the rest of our troop, and youand I, with twenty more, will to the king. Forward, men!"

"Spare not the ale, " added Ketill. 

"A courteous and gallant man is Thorar, for a Jemtlander, " saidHelgi to Ketill, as they marched down to the town. 

"Dogs and women are his people, " replied Ketill. "They are fitneither to be friends nor enemies. "

Estein liberated the prisoners they had taken on the march, andleaving Ketill in charge of the main force and the hostages, heand Helgi set forth about noon for the seat of King Bue. 

CHAPTER X. 

KING BUE'S FEAST. 

Their way at first took them over a flat, white waste by theshores of the lake. Estein fell back and let Helgi walk in frontwith Thorar; behind those two marched the small band of wild, skin-coated followers of the lawman; and after them came the mail-clad twenty, the shields which hung from their backs clanking nowand again as they struck their harness. Last of all walked theirleader. 

Now that the tension of forced marches and weary journeyingsthrough forest paths was off his mind, his thoughts rancontinually on the Runes. "Come hither to Jemtland, " he said tohimself. He had come, and what was to follow? Something he feltmust happen, and though he was curious, he cared singularly littlewhat it might be. The sun hung high overhead, under foot the snowcrunched pleasantly, and the air was clear and bracing--a day toinspire an adventurer and a skald. His thoughts began to take arhyming turn, and he caught himself repeating his own verses:--

 "Fare thee well, sweet blue-eyed Osla! The sea-king must not stay, E'en for tresses rich as summer And for smile as bright as May; But one hope I cannot part from-- We may meet again some day!"

"And we shall, Osla!" he exclaimed half aloud. 

He was aroused by hearing the voices of Helgi and Thorar come backto him clear and cheerfully. A thought struck him. Could Thorarhave sent the message? A moment's reflection assured him that itwas out of the question, but, to convince himself, he went forwardand joined the lawman. 

"Is it far to King Bue's hall?" he asked. 

"The marshes are firm and frozen, and the snow lies nowhere verydeep. We should reach it by nightfall. "

Helgi laughed, and said, --

"A flight of wild ducks passed overhead just now, and called tomind their kinsmen cooked; their kinsmen cooked called to mind thewherewithal to wash them down; and, in brief, I, for one, shall beglad to meet King Bue. "

"We have a saying that the king loves a guest who loves hischeer, " replied Thorar with a smile. 

"Know you one of an old man, " Estein asked, "and--but I forget it--something of a maiden too? I saw it somewhere written in Runes. "

In obedience to an indefinable instinct, he had said nothing ofthe token to Helgi, and his foster-brother looked at him insurprise. The mention of the Runes brought no look of recognitionto Thorar's face. With his grave smile he answered, --

"There are many sayings concerning maids, and some concerning oldmen; also, if I mistake not, one or two about young men andmaids. "

"Spare Estein those last, " cried Helgi lightly. "He thinks himselfold, and never gives maids a thought at all. "

Evidently Thorar knew nothing of the message, and Estein becamesilent again. 

They were gradually approaching a dark forest, which stretchedfrom the edge of the lake inland, and latish in the afternoon theyentered it by a narrow, rutty road. Darkness closed in fast asthey wound their way through the wood. The air grew colder andcolder, till their hands and faces tingled with the frost. Silencefell upon them, and for some time nothing could be heard but theoccasional clash of steel and the continual creaking of snow andbreaking of dead branches under foot. Then a hum of voices came tothem fitfully, and at last the path opened into a wide glade. 

"We are almost there, " said Thorar. "Smile not, Estein, at ourrude hospitality; or, if you do, let our welcome make amends. "

A young moon had just risen above the trees, and by its pale lightthey saw a small village at the end of the glade. Many lightsflashed, and a babel of voices chattered and shouted as theyapproached. 

"All King Bue's men have not fled, it seems, " Helgi said in a lowvoice. 

Estein made no reply, but the two foster-brothers fell back, andplacing themselves at the head of their twenty followers, enteredthe little village. They found that it consisted of a few meanhouses clustered outside a high wooden stockade. Thorar led themup to a gateway in this fence, and crying, "Welcome, Estein!"stood aside to let the Norsemen file in. 

The scene as they entered was strange and stirring. Immediatelybefore them lay a wide courtyard, in the centre of which stoodKing Bue's hall, high and long, and studded with bright windows. Men were ranged in a line from the gateway to the hall, bearinggreat torches. The smoky flames flashed on snow-covered ground andwild faces, and the branches of black pines outside, making thenight above seem dark as a great vault. All round them rose aclamour of voices, and a throng of skin-coated figures crowded thegate to catch a glimpse of the strangers. 

Estein walked first, and just as he came into the court a man, pushed apparently by the surging crowd, stumbled against him. 

"Make way, there!" cried Thorar sternly, from behind; "give roomfor the king's guests to pass!"

The man hastily stepped back, but not before he had found time towhisper, --

"Beware, Estein! Drink not too deep!"

As he walked along the line of torch-bearers to the door of theking's hall, the peril of their situation, supposing treacherywere really intended, came suddenly home to Estein's mind. It wastoo late to turn back, even had his pride allowed him to think oftaking such a course. He could only resolve to warn his men, and, so far as he could, keep them together and near him. Even as hewas still turning the matter over in his mind, he found himself atthe hall door, where an officer of the court, dressed withbarbaric splendour, ushered him into the drinking-room. Adiscordant chorus of outlandish voices, raised by a hundred guestsor more, bade him welcome. He walked up to his seat by the king, and on the spur of the moment could hit on no plan ofcommunicating with his men. Helgi followed him to the dais, andwith him he just found time to exchange a word. 

"Drink little, and watch!" he whispered. 

"Have you then seen him too?" Helgi replied, in the same anxioustone. Estein looked at him in surprise, and Helgi, coming closebeside him, added rapidly, --

"The last torch-bearer but one was the man we captured in theforest and freed this morning, and methinks I see another of ourprisoners even now. King Bue's hird-men [Footnote: Bodyguard. ]both, sent--" he had to turn away abruptly, and Estein finishedthe sentence under his breath, --

"Sent to trap us. "

He took his seat, and glancing round the hall saw his twentyfollowers scattered here and there among the crowd of guests. 

"Fool!" he thought, "I have walked into the trap like a child inarms. The whole country has been prepared against our coming, thepeople told to leave their houses, and the king's own hird-men setas decoys in our path. Can this be the meaning of the Runes?"

Yet there was no actual proof of treachery, and he could onlywatch and listen. And certainly there was noise enough to beheard. Never among the most hardened drinkers of their own countryhad the foster-brothers seen such an orgie. The king, a foolish-looking old man, evidently completely under Thorar's influence, became very soon in a maudlin condition; man after man around themgrew rapidly more and more drunk; and all the time they themselveswere plied with ale so assiduously that their suspicions grewstronger. So far as his followers were concerned, Estein washelpless. He glanced round the hall now and then, and could seethem quickly succumbing to the Jemtland hospitality. Personally hefound it hard to refuse to pledge the frequent toasts shouted athim, but at last, when the men near him had got in such a statethat their observation was dulled, he placed his drinking-horn onhis lap and thrust his dagger through the bottom. Then, by keepingit always off the table, he was able to let the liquor run throughas fast as it was filled, and always drain an empty cup. Helgi hadadopted a different device. His head lay on his arms, and in replyto all calls to drink he merely uttered incoherent shouts, whileevery now and then Estein could see that he would shake withlaughter. 

Suspicious though he was, it came as a shock to Estein to hear hisworst fears suddenly confirmed. Tongues had been freely loosed, and listening carefully to what was said, he heard the mutteringsof the chief next him take a coherent form. 

"Ay, little they know, " he was saying to himself. "Let them drink, let them drink. Dogs of Norsemen, they came hither to harry ourcountry, and here they shall stay. Ay, they shall never drinkagain, and King Hakon shall look for his son in vain. "

Then the man lost his balance, and rolled off his seat under theboard. He had been placed between Estein and Helgi, and now Esteinwas able to lean over to his foster-brother, and, under pretenceof trying to make him drink, whispered in his ear, --

"Go out by the far door, and await me outside the court on thefarthest side from the entrance. "

Helgi lay still for a minute, and then rising to his feet, muttered something about "strong ale and fresh air, " and staggereddown the hall with a well-feigned semblance of drunkenness. 

Thorar was sitting opposite, touched with drink a little, butstill alert and sober enough. He glanced sharply at Estein; butthe Viking, looking him full in the face, laughed noisily andcried, --

"Helgi's head seems hardly so strong as his hand, Thorar!"

For once the lawman was overreached, and with a laugh he drainedhis horn and answered, --

"I had thought better of you Norsemen. "

The hardest part of the business now remained. To go out in thesame way he knew would excite suspicion; if he delayed too long, search would be made for Helgi; and there sat Thorar facing him. He knew that if he could once get rid of him, he had little tofear from any of the others; and as he thought hard for a plan, the king, who had for some time been fast asleep, suddenly solvedthe difficulty. He woke with a start, saw that the drink wascoming to an end, and cried with drunken ardour, --

"More ale, more ale, Thorar! Estein drinks not!"

Thorar glanced round and saw that no one but himself was capableof going on the errand. Twice he called aloud on servants by theirnames, but there came no answer. Then with a frown he rose andwalked down the hall. 

The high table at which they sat was lit by two great torches seton stands. While Thorar was still going down the room, Estein, with a deliberately clumsy movement, upset and extinguished theone nearest him. Casting a look over his shoulder, he saw thelawman leave the hall at the far end; and then he rose to hisfeet, and making an affectation of relighting the extinguishedtorch from the other, put the second out, and in the sudden half-darkness that ensued, slipped under the board, and ran on hishands and feet for the door at that end of the hall. No one aboutseemed to notice his departure, but just as he carefully openedthe door he thought he saw with the corner of his eye a man slipout at the far end. 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE HOUSE IN THE FOREST. 

Coming from the warmth and light of the hall, the night outsidestruck sharp and bitterly cold. A thin cloud hid the moon, butthere was quite light enough to see that the snow-covered courtwas deserted. Only in the shadows of the paling and the end of thehouse was it possible for a man to be concealed, and before hestepped away from the door Estein ran his eye carefully alongboth. He could see nothing, and had just stepped forward a pace, when noiselessly as a phantom a dark form appeared round thecorner of the hall, and without pausing an instant came straightup to him. He saw only that the man was small, and wrapped in acloak of fur; his sword flashed, and he was almost in the act ofstriking when the figure held up a hand and stopped. 

"Who art thou?" said Estein in a low voice, coming forward a stepas he spoke, and holding his sword ready to smite on the instant. 

"Estein Hakonson, " replied the other in the same tone, "waste notyour blows on friends. Remember the Runes, and follow me. There islittle time for words now. "

He turned as he spoke, and looking over his shoulder to see thatEstein followed him, started for the stockade. For an instantEstein hesitated. 

"Are you mad?" exclaimed the man; "or do you wish to die here likea dog?"

"Lead on, " replied Estein, and still holding his naked sword hefollowed him across the court. 

The man went swiftly up to the paling, and taking an axe fromunder his cloak drove it hard into the wood as high above his headas he could reach. Then with the agility of a cat he drew himselfup by it, seized the top of the fence, and sat there astride. 

"Quick! quick!" he whispered. "Sheathe that sword, and stand notlike a fool looking at me. "

Estein, though a much heavier man, was active and lithe, and hisguide, as he watched him mount, muttered, --

"That is better; we have a chance yet. "

They dropped on the other side, and whispering to Estein tofollow, the man turned to the wood and was about to plunge in, when his companion seized his arm, and said, --

"I trysted here with my foster brother. Till he comes I mustwait. "

The Jemtlander turned on him savagely and answered, --

"Think you I have to succour you of my own pleasure? Never had Iless joy in doing anything. If your brother be not here now hewill never come at all. I was not told to risk my life for him. Come on!"

"Go, then, " said Estein; "here will I bide. "

The man stamped his foot wrathfully, and turned sharply away asthough he would leave him. Then he turned back and answered, --

"The gods curse you and him! See you this path opening ahead ofus? Follow that with all the speed you can make, and I, fool thatI am for my pains, shall turn back and bring him after you if heis to be found. Stare not at me, but hasten! I shall overtake youere long. "

With that he started off under the shadow of the stockade, andEstein, after a moment's deliberation, turned into the path. Neverbefore had he felt himself so completely the football of fortune. Destiny seemed to kick him here and there in no gentle manner, andto no purpose that he could fathom. As he stumbled through theblackness of the tortuous forest path, he tried to connect onething with another, and find some meaning in the token that hadbrought him here. Evidently the sender was so far from being inleague with his foes that he made a kind of contrary current, eddying him one way just when fate seemed to have driven himanother. To add to his perplexities, the disappearance of Helgihad now come to trouble his mind; he had heard no outcry or alarm, his foster-brother had time enough to have easily reached therendezvous before him, and he felt as he walked like a man in amaze. 

Suddenly there came a crash of branches at his side, a man steppedout of the trees, and before he had time to draw a weapon, thesharp, impatient voice of his guide exclaimed, --

"Is this all the way you have made? Your foster-brother hasescaped, or has by this time been captured, I care not which. Isaw him not. "

"But supposing I were more careful of his safety?" Esteindemanded, with a note of anger in his voice. 

"Push on!" replied the other. "The alarm is raised, and neitheryou nor Helgi can be found, so perchance he has not yet sufferedfor his folly. I came not out to hear you talk. "

He started off as he spoke, and Estein, perceiving thehopelessness of further search, followed him with a heart littlelightened. 

"If they have not found him yet, " he thought, "he has perhapsescaped. But why did he not wait for me? If he had been alive, hesurely would have met me. "

For some time he followed his mysterious guide in melancholysilence. There was only room for them to walk in single file, andit took him some trouble to keep up. Sometimes it seemed to himthat they would leave the path and go straight through thetrackless depths of the wood, with a quickness and assurance thatastonished him. Then again they would apparently fall upon a pathfor a time, and perhaps break into a trot while the ground wasclear. 

At last they came into a long, open glade, where a stream brawledbetween snow-clad banks, and the vague form of some frightenedanimal flitted silently towards the shade. The moon had come outof the clouds, and by its light Estein tried to scan the featuresof his companion. So far as a fur cap would let his face be seen, he seemed dark, unkempt, and singularly wild of aspect, but therewas nothing in his look to catch the Viking's memory. He said nota word, but, with a swinging stride, hastened down the glade, Estein close at his shoulder. 

"Where do we go?" Estein asked once. 

"You shall see what you shall see. Waste not your breath, " repliedthe other impatiently. 

Again they turned into the wood, and went for some considerabledistance down a choked and rugged path which all at once ended ina clearing. In the middle stood a small house of wood. The frostedroof sparkled in the moonlight, and a thin stream of smoke rosefrom a wide chimney at one end, but there was never a ray of lightfrom door or window to be seen. The man went straight up to thedoor and knocked. 

"This then is the end of our walk, " said Estein. 

"It would seem so indeed, " replied the other, striking the dooragain impatiently. 

This time there came sounds of a bolt being shot back. Then thedoor swung open, and Estein saw on the threshold an old manholding in his hand a lighted torch. For an instant there passedthrough his mind, like a prospect shown by a flash of lightning, asharp memory of the hermit Andreas. Instinctively he drew back, but the first words spoken dispelled the thought. 

"I have waited for thee, Estein. "

"Atli!" he exclaimed. 

"Ay, " said the old man. "I see thou knewest not where thy waywould lead thee. But enter, Estein, if indeed after a king's feastthou wilt deign to receive my welcome. "

He added the last words with a touch of irony that hardly tendedto propitiate his guest. 

"I have to thank you, methinks, " replied Estein, as he entered, "for bringing me to that same banquet. "

He found himself in a room that seemed to occupy most of the smallhouse. One half of it was covered with a wooden ceiling whichserved as the floor of a loft, while for the rest of the way therewas nothing beneath the sloping rafters of the roof. A ladderreached from the floor to the loft, and at one end, that nearestthe outer door, a fire of logs burned brightly. 

All round the walls hung the skins of many bears and wolves, withhere and there a spear or a bow. 

Atli left the other man to close the door, and followed Estein upto the fire. 

He replied, either not noticing or disregarding the dryness ofEstein's retort, --

"I knew well, Estein, thou wouldst come. Something told me thouwouldst not linger on my summons. "

"Did you then send for me to lead me into this snare?" saidEstein, his brows knitting darkly. 

"Does one eagle betray another to the kites and crows?" repliedthe old man loftily. 

Estein burst out hotly, --

"Speak plainly, old man! Keep mysteries for Rune-carved staves andkindred tricks. What mean this message and this plot and thisrescue? I have left my truest friend and twenty stout followersbesides in yonder hall. I myself have had to flee for my life froma yelping pack of Jemtland dogs; and for aught I know, Ketill andthe rest of my force may be drugged with drink and burned in theirbeds even while I talk with you. Give me some plain answer?"

Atli looked at him for a minute, and then replied gravely, --

"I have heard, indeed, that some strange change had befallenEstein Hakonson. There was a time when he who had just saved thylife would have had fairer thanks than this. "

With a strong effort Estein controlled his temper and answeredmore quietly, --

"You are right. It was another Estein whom you saw before. Bearwith me, and go on. "

He sat down on a bench as he spoke and gazed into the fire. 

"The gods indeed have dealt heavily with thee, " said Atli, "and itis at their bidding that I called thee here. "

"Spoke they with King Bue also?" said Estein, with a slight curlof his lip, looking all the time at the fire. 

"Nay; hear me out, Estein. I knew that King Hakon would send, erelong, an avenging force to Jemtland. "

"He was never the man to forgive an injury, " he added, apparentlyto himself. 

"So, as thou knowest, I sent that token to thee. Then unquietrumours reached mine ears; for though I live apart from men herein this forest, little passes in the country--ay, and in Norwaytoo--that comes not to Atli's knowledge. I learned of the plot totreacherously entrap thy force, and though I have long lived outof Norway my Norse blood boiled within me. "

"Could you not have warned us sooner?" said Estein. 

"Thorar kept his plans secret so long that it was too late to doaught save what I have done. I sent Jomar to the feast, as thouknowest. "

Estein's guide had been sitting before the fire, consuming asupper of cold meat, and paying little heed to the talk, but atthe last words he rose, and throwing the bones on to the flames, said, --

"It was by no will of mine; I bear no love to the Norsemen. "

"Peace!" exclaimed Atli sternly. "Art thou too ungrateful for whatI have done for thee, and fearless of what I can do?"

"Babble on with this Norseman. I am tired, " replied Jomar, andleaving the fire, he rolled himself in a bear-skin, lay down onthe floor, and in a trice was fast asleep. 

"Say now to me, Estein, " continued the old man, "that thou holdestme guiltless of all blame. "

"Of all, save the snatching of me away from the fate of Helgi, "replied Estein sadly. "Yet I remember that you yourself said thatour ends should not be far apart, so I think you have but delayedmy death a little while. "

"Nay, rather, " cried Atli enthusiastically, "believe that Helgilives since thy life is safe! I tell thee, Estein, many fair yearslie before thee. By my mouth, even by old Atli, the gods send amessage to thee!"

His exalted tone, the animation of his face, and the flash of hispale eyes, impressed Estein strongly. 

"By you?" he inquired with some wonder; "what then have you to dowith me?"

With the same ringing voice the old man went on, --

"Even as over the windows of this poor house there hang thoseskins, so over my life hangs a curtain which may not yet be fullylifted--perchance the fates may decree that it shall ever hide me. A little, however, I may venture to raise it. Listen, Estein!"

CHAPTER XII. 

THE MAGICIAN. 

As he said the last words Atli stooped, and lifting two large logscast them on the fire. For a minute he watched them crackle andspit sparks, bending his brows as he deliberated how he shouldbegin. 

Then he turned to Estein and said, --

"When I saw thee by the shore at Hernersfiord, now some two yearsgone, didst thou think then that Atli was a stranger?"

"I thought so indeed, " replied Estein, "though some words you letfall pointed otherwise. "

"Yet, Estein, " the old man said, "when thou wert no higher thanthat bench whereon thou sittest, I dandled thee in mine arms, andthose fingers that now clasp a sword hilt, and, if men say true, clasp it right firmly, played once with my beard. Less snow hadfallen on it then, Estein. Thou canst not remember me?"

Estein looked at him closely before replying. 

"Nay, Atli, my memory carries me not so far back. "

"So it was, " Atli continued; "but chiefly was I the friend ofthine ill-fated brother Olaf. "

"Of Olaf?" exclaimed Estein, with a slight start. 

"Ay, of Olaf. Often have I fought by his side on sea and shore, and dearly, more dearly than I ever loved man or woman since, Iloved the youth. Thou even as a child wert strangely like him infeatures, and as I look upon thee now, there comes back memoriesof blither days. Wonder not then that I long was fain to seethee. "

"Then why came you not to my father's house?" said Estein. "Afriend of his son's would ever be welcome. "

"Thy father and I fell out, " replied Atli, "the wherefore I muststill keep behind the shrouding-curtain, but for my presentpurpose it matters little. I could not visit Hakonstad; I couldnot even stay in the land of my birth. Olaf fell. "

His voice trembled a little, and he paused. Estein said nothing, but waited for him to go on. Then in a brisker tone he continued, --

"For some years I sailed the west seas; but I was growing old andmy strength was wearing away with the wet work and the fighting, so I hied me home again. "

"And my father?" asked Estein. "Knew not of my coming, " Atlireplied. "Of friends and kinsmen I had few left in the land, but Ihad long had other thoughts for myself than the tilling of fieldsand the emptying of horns at Yule. Often at night had I sat out. [Footnote: To "sit out" was a method of reading the futurepractised by sorcerers, in which the magician spent the nightunder the open sky, and summoned the dead to converse with him. ] Ihad read the stars, and talked with divers magicians and menskilled in the wisdom of things unseen. I wandered for long amongthe Finns, I dwelt with the Lapps, and learned the lore of thosefolks. Then I came to Jemtland, where cunning men were said tolive. "

"Cunning!" exclaimed Estein furiously; "treacherous hounds call them. "

"Cunning, indeed, they are, " said the old man, "but not wise. This Jomar here is held a spaeman by the people. "

He glanced contemptuously at the sleeping figure on the floor. 

"Since I came, " he went on, "I have taught him more than he couldhave learned in a lifetime here and now, as thou hast seen, hefears and obeys me as a master. With him I took up my abode, living in a spot known only to few. Yet my thoughts turnedcontinually to Norway, and chiefly flew to thee, Estein. I dreamtof thee often, and at last a voice"--his own sank almost to awhisper as he spoke--"a voice bade me seek thee. How I fared thouknowest. "

"I would that I had given more heed to your warning, " said Esteingloomily. 

"It all came true then?" cried Atli. "Nay, there is no need toanswer. Truth I tell, and truth must happen. "

"Have you, then, further rede to give me?"

"Ay, I have heard of this spell and the sore change that hasbefallen thee, and in my dreams and outsittings I have seen manythings--an old man habited in a strange garb, and a maid by hisside. Ha! flew the shaft true?"

So carried away was Estein by the seer's earnestness, and sosuddenly did his last words strike home, that the thought neveroccurred to him that this might only be the gossip of hisfollowers come in time to Atli's ears. It seemed to him aninspired insight into his past, and he started suddenly, and thensaid slowly, --

"The shaft indeed flew true. "

"For thy brother's sake I owe thee something, " the old man wenton; "I might give weighty reason, but I may not. For thine own Iwish to heal thee, and if I cannot cure this spell there is no manwho can. 

"Wilt thou trust me with the story?" he added, a little dubiously. 

"Ask not that of me, " replied Estein. "Tell me what to do, and Ipromise I shall follow the rede. "

As if afraid that to ask further questions might weaken the forceof his words, Atli fell at once into his mystic manner again. 

"For long I wrestled with the visions. The faces of the wizard andthe witch" (Estein's look darkened for an instant), "I could notsee, but at last, in the still night-time, there spoke a voice tome, and I knew it came from the gods. For three nights it spoke. On the fourth I sat out, and called to me from far beyond themountains and the lakes, even from beyond the grave, thy brotherOlaf. He too spoke to me, and every time the purport of themessage was the same. "

"What said the voice?"

"A ship must cross the seas again. "

The old man repeated the last words low and slowly, and then, fora little, silence fell upon the pair. Vague and meagre though themessage was, it accorded exactly with Estein's long-suppresseddesires. So entirely did Atli believe in himself and the virtue ofhis counsel, that the young Viking was thoroughly infected withhis faith; and then, too, it was that early and suggestive hourwhen a man is quickly stirred. 

Estein was the first to speak. 

"I accept the counsel, Atli, " he cried, springing to his feet. "With the melting of the snow I shall take to the sea again, andsteer for the setting of the sun. "

The old seer laid his hand affectionately upon his shoulder. 

"There spoke the brother of Olaf, " he said. "And now to sleep. Inthe morning I shall send Jomar to warn Ketill, so trouble notthyself further. "

"If I but knew Helgi's fate, " Estein began. 

"Doubt not my words, " said Atli. "His fate is too closely linkedwith thine. "

He showed the Viking to a pallet bed in the loft, where, worn outwith fatigue and anxiety, he quickly fell asleep. 

It was nearly noon when he awoke, and the sun was streamingthrough the attic window. He found Atli in the room below. 

"I have turned sluggard, it seems, " he said. 

"Young heads need sleep, " replied the old man. "There was no needto rise before, or I should have roused thee. Jomar has been gonesince daybreak, and till he returns thou canst do naught. "

"Naught?" said Estein. "Have I not got my foster-brother to seekfor? Give me but a meal to carry me till nightfall and I willaway. "

At first the old man endeavoured to dissuade him, but finding hewas obdurate, he finally gave him a cap and coat of wolf-skin tobe worn over his mail lest he should be seen by any natives, agood bow and arrows, and copious but perplexing directionsregarding the forest paths. As he sallied forth, and followed thetrack by which he had come the night before, his plans were vagueenough. To make for King Bue's hall, and, taking advantage of thewoods that covered all the country, spy out what might be seen, was the hazardous scheme he proposed. Perhaps, he thought, Helgimight be wandering the country too, and if fate was kind theymight meet. In any case he could not rest in his state ofuncertainty, and he pushed boldly on. He smiled as he glanced athis garb: the long wolf-skin coat reached almost to his knees, over his legs he had drawn thick-knitted hose to keep out thecold, his helmet was hidden by the furry cap, and the only part ofhis original equipment to be seen were the sword girt round hiswaist and the long shield that hung upon his back. He had been intwo minds about taking this last, but ere the day was done he hadreason to congratulate himself that it was with him. 

Before long he struck the open glade they had gone down bymoonlight, and following it to the end, he found, after a littlesearch, the opening of another path. This at last divided into twodivergent tracks, and he had to confess himself completelypuzzled. 

"I seem to be the plaything of fate, " he exclaimed, after he hadtried in vain to recall Atli's directions; "let fate decide, lifeis but made up of the castings of a die, " and with that he threwhis dagger into the air, crying, "Point right, haft left!" Itlanded on its point and sunk almost out of sight in the snow. "Right let it be then, " he said, and turned down the right-handpath. 

It had been so dark and their flight so hurried that nothingremained in his memory of the night before, to show him whitherthe way was leading. He only knew that he had wandered for sometime, when a prospect of white, open country began to show inpeeps through the trees ahead. Presently he came to the edge ofthe forest, and saw that the cast of his dagger had led him wideof his mark. A long stretch of treeless country opened out beforehim, getting wider and wider in the distance. Near at hand anarrow lake began, and stretched for a mile or two down the snow-fields, and, like the greater lake they had passed, it was frozenand shining white. Less than a hundred yards from him, between theforest and the water, there lay a small village. A number of menstood about among the houses, and from their movements and thepresence of two or three sledges he judged that a party musteither have lately arrived, or be on the point of departing. Asnothing further seemed to happen, he made up his mind that theymust be arrivals; and then, seeing little to be gained by waitingfurther, he was about to retrace his steps when his attention wasarrested by the appearance of two women. They came out of a house, and one, the taller of the two, went up to a group of men standingnear, while the other, who looked like a peasant's wife, hungbehind. The look of the first figure caught Estein's eye at once, and he felt his heart suddenly beat quickly. He could only see herback as she talked with the men, but every gesture she made, slight though they were, brought sharply and clearly before hismind memories of the Holy Isle. 

"By the hammer of Thor and the horse of Odin, this country issurely bewitched, " he muttered. His fancy, he told himself, wasplaying him a pleasant trick: he had seen Osla so continually inhis mind's eye, that this girl, for girl she seemed, shapedherself after his thoughts. That it could be she he loved, therein the flesh, was almost laughably impossible; yet as she talked, apparently with an air of some authority, to the men beside her, the resemblance became at moments stronger, and then again hewould say to himself, "Nay, that is not like her. " As the mengesticulated and answered her their voices came to himindistinctly, while hers, strain his hearing as he might, he couldnot catch. There seemed to be a dispute about something which thewhole party were engrossed in, when suddenly one man gave a cryand pointed at Estein. Then he saw that in his curiosity he hadstepped outside the shelter of the wood and stood in a spacebetween the trees. 

At the man's cry they all looked round, and he saw the girl'sface. 

"It is she or her spirit, " he exclaimed. 

Instinctively he stepped behind a tree, and at this sign of flightthere was a shout from the men. One shot an arrow, which passedharmlessly to the side, and then they all came at him. He had onlytime to see that more villagers were coming out of the houses, andthat the girl had turned away to join the other woman, when hiswits came back to him, and turning into the path he set off asfast as he could put his feet to the ground. 

For a time the chase was hot: he could hear the men scattering soas to cover the wood behind him, and once or twice the leadersseemed near. Estein was fleet of foot, however, and the wood sodense that it was hard to follow a man for far, and at last thesound of his pursuers died away, and he felt that, for the time atleast, he was safe. But he had long left the path, and there wasnothing to guide him save glimpses of the sinking sun, the icethat showed the north side of twigs and stems, and in more openspaces the lie of the branches to the prevalent wind. And as hewandered on, his mind hardly grasped the bearing and significanceof forest clues. Twenty times, at least, he dismissed theresemblance he had seen as the work of fancy. The girl had beentoo far off to read her features, her figure was not really like, and, most weighty argument, it was out of all reason that sheshould be in this land of forests, so distant from her islandhome. Still each time he dismissed it the resemblance came backfresh and strong, to be sent away again. He had lost all idea ofwhere he was, and the sun had already set, when more by good luckthan by good guidance, the trees grew thinner in front, and hefound himself once more in the glade of the stream. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

ARROW AND SHIELD. 

It seemed strangely still and fresh in the open glade. The blood-red glamour of a frosty sunset was fading from the sky as thedaylight died away; all round the wood was populous with shadows;and over its ragged edge the moon hung pale and faint. 

Estein walked down a little way, and then stopped and listened. Hecould hear the stream rumbling over the stones, but not anothersound. Then the far-off howl of a wolf struck dismally on his ear. Twice it sounded and passed away, leaving the silence moreintense, while all the time the air grew colder. All at once adead branch snapped sharply. Estein looked round keenly, but inthe dusk of the pine stems his eye could pick out nothing. For aminute everything was still, and then a twig cracked again. Thistime he could see plainly a man come from behind a tree and standin the outskirts of the wood. For a minute they stood looking ateach other. The man, so far as he could discern in the waninglight, wore the native skin coat and cap, and seemed to hold inhis hands a bow ready to shoot. 

Estein quietly drew an arrow from his quiver and laid it on hisbow. Just as he cast his eye down to fit the notch to the string, there was a twang from the wood; an arrow whizzed, and stuck hardin his fur cap, stopping only at the steel of his helmet. 

"This archer will deem my fur is of singular proof, " he said tohimself, with the flicker of a smile, as he let a shaft fly inreturn. He could see his foe move to one side, and heard his arrowstrike a branch. Instantly the man fired again, and this timestruck him on the breast, and the arrow, checked by the ring-mailbeneath, hung from his wolf-skin coat. 

He smiled to himself again, and thought, "Never, surely, has thatbowman shot at so stout a garment. Yet he shoots hard andstraight. I wish not to meet with a stronger archer, and could dowell with a worse one now. " And with that he took his shield fromhis back. 

His situation was indeed far from safe, and he had to come to someinstant decision. Standing in the open against the snow, heoffered a fair mark, while his opponent among the trees was hardto see and harder to hit. To try to rush so good an archer, thoughrisky, would certainly have been his scheme, had he not stronglysuspected that this one man was set as a decoy to tempt him intoan ambush. His blood was up, and he vowed that run he would not atany cost; and, in fact, flight was far from easy, for behind himlay the stream, and in crossing he must expose himself. 

It took him but a moment to turn the alternatives over in hismind, and then he suddenly hit upon a plan. His shield was one ofthe long, heart-shaped kind, coming to a point at the lower end, and covering him down to the knee as he stood upright. He raisedit high, and driving the point hard into the ground, dropped onone knee behind it. As he stooped a third arrow sang close abovehis head and sped into the gloaming. Leaning to one side he firedagain, and an instant later a fourth shaft rang on his shield. Then came a brief pause in the hostilities, and, looking round theedge of his fort, Estein could see his foe standing motionlessclose under a tree. He soon tired of waiting, however, andpresently an arrow, aimed evidently at what he could see ofEstein's legs, passed within six inches of one knee and burieditself in the snow beside him. 

"He shoots too well, " muttered Estein. "If this goes on I must trya desperate ruse. I shall have one other shot. "

He rose almost to his full height, fired his arrow, and quicklystooped again. His enemy was evidently on the watch for such anopening, for the two bowstrings twanged together, and whileEstein's shaft struck something with a soft thud, the other hitthe Viking hard on the headpiece. 

Throwing up his arms, he reeled and fell flat upon his back. Yet, as he lay for all the world like a man struck dead, a smile stoleover his face, and he quietly and gently drew his sword. 

"Can my shaft have gone home?" he wondered. Apparently not, forhis foeman left the shelter of the wood, and he could see him walkslowly across the open. He was clad in a loose and almostgrotesquely ill-fitting garment, seemingly of sheep-skin, and heldan arrow on his bow ready to shoot on a sign of movement. When hehad come within ten or fifteen yards, he suddenly dropped his bow, drew his sword, and stepped quickly forward. At the same instantEstein jumped to his feet, and with a shout sprang at him. Theblades were on the point of crossing, when his enemy stoppedshort, dropped his point, and then burst into an uncontrollablefit of laughter. 

"Estein, by the beard of Thor!" he gasped. 

"Helgi!" cried his quondam foe. 

They looked each other in the face for an instant, and thensimultaneously broke out into another fit of mirth. 

"By my faith, Estein, that was a plan worthy of yourself!" criedHelgi. "But 'tis lucky I fired not at you on the ground, as I hadsome thoughts of doing, knowing the trickery of theseJemtlanders. "

"Two things I feared, " replied Estein. "One that you might dothat; the other, that a troop of as villainous-looking knaves asyou now are yourself might hive out of the wood behind you. Buthow did you escape last night, and how came you here?"

"Those are the questions I would ask of you, " said Helgi; "but onestory at a time, and shortly this is mine--a tale, Estein, thatfor credit to its teller, yoked with truthfulness, I will freelyback against yours or ever I hear it. "

"I doubt it not, " replied his friend, with a smile; "you have thelook of one who is high in favour with himself. "

"As I ought!" cried Helgi. "But hear me, and gibe not before theend. I left that hall, accursed of the gods, and over full, Ifear, of drunken men, in the manner you witnessed. My counterfeitof drunkenness was so exceedingly lifelike, that even when I gotoutside I felt my head buzz round in the fresh air and my legssway more than is their wont. 'Friend Helgi, ' I said to myself, 'you have drunk not one horn too few if you value your life at itsproper worth. ' Upon that I applied a handful of snow to my face, and thereupon, on counting my fingers, was able to get within oneof the customary number--erring, if I remember rightly, upon thegenerous side, as befitted my disposition. But to get on to themoving part of my adventures--Where do you take me now?"

"'Tis all right, " replied Estein, "I take you to supper and afire. They come in my story. "

"Lead on then, " said Helgi. "To continue my tale: I walked withmuch assurance up to the gateway, singing, I remember, the song ofOdin and the Jotun to prove the clearness of my head. There Ifound a sentinel who, it seemed, had lately been sharing in thehospitality of King Bue. Certain it is that he was more than halfdrunk, and so fast asleep that he woke not even at my singing, andI had to prod him with the hilt of my sword to arouse thesluggard. "

"Then you woke him!" exclaimed Estein, between amusement andsurprise. 

"How else could I pass? The man leaned so heavily upon the gate, that wake him I must, for I liked not to slay a sleeping man, eventhough he stood upon his feet. He looked upon me like a startledcow, and said, 'You are a cursed Norseman. ' 'It would seem so, indeed, ' I replied, and thereupon ran him through with my bladeand opened the gate. Then a plan both humorous and ingenious cameupon my mind, for my wits were strangely sharp. I laid the man outunder the shadow of the fence, where he could not well be seensave by such as had more clearness of vision than becomes theguests of so hospitable a monarch as King Bue, and having strippedhim of his coat and put it round mine own shoulders, I took hisplace and awaited your coming. "

"Singing all the while?" said Estein. 

"Softly and to myself, " replied Helgi; "for what is becomingenough in a guest is not always so well suited to a sentinel. There I stood, stamping my feet and beating my arms upon my breastto keep the cold away, till I began to think that something wasamiss. "

"Then while I was scaling the wall at one end of the court, youwere guarding the gate at the other!" exclaimed Estein. 

"So it would appear now, though I pledge you my word I had nothought of such a thing as I watched that gate last night. Intruth, what I had done began to seem to me so plainly the bestthing to do, that I thought you would surely follow my movementsin your mind--so far as drink allowed you, and come straightway tothe gate in full confidence of finding me on duty. I see now thatyour plan had its merits, though I still maintain that mine wasthe better. "

"Saving only in so far as it left me at the trysting-place alone, "said Estein. 

"And me to shiver at the gate, " answered Helgi, with a laugh. "Well, after a time, which seemed long enough, though doubtless ashorter space than I thought, the hall door opened, and men rushedout with much needless uproar. Then, I must confess, I e'en leftmy post with all the haste I could, and concealed me in theoutbuildings of a small house close without the gate. The door wasopen, but it was so pitch black inside that I knew they could notsee me, though them I saw plainly enough as they stopped at thegate. "

"Who were they?" asked Estein. 

"The black traitor Thorar, and with him some ten or twelve others, doubtless all the sober men at the feast. It took them but a shortspace to find the dead sentinel; and thereupon Thorar, who seemedalmost beside himself with anger, sent the others off in haste tointercept our road to Ketill, while he himself ran to collect aforce from the village. Then I bethought me it was well to havecompany on the road, so I even joined myself to my pursuers. Luckily they went not by the open glade, but kept a path wellshaded and very dark, and for the best part of an hour we musthave run together through the wood. 

"At last we reached a solitary woodman's house, and there for abrief space we paused to inquire of the good man whether he hadseen us pass that way. It was a wise inquiry, and the answer wassuch as an entirely sober man might have reasonably expected. Thewoodman was in the village at the feast, and his wife, good woman, had been in bed for the last two hours, and strangely enough hadnot seen us. So our brisk lads started off at the run again. Butthere we parted company, for I was tired of chasing myself, andthe woman had a pleasant voice, and, so far as I could see, acomely countenance. "

Estein laughed aloud. "My story will seem a tame narrative afterthis, " he exclaimed. 

"Did not I say so, " said Helgi. "Well, I fell behind, andpresently was knocking up the good woman again, for I said tomyself, 'These dogs will not surely come to this house a secondtime, and a night in the cold woods is not to my liking. ' So tomake a long story short, I wrought so upon the tender heart of thewoodman's wife that, Norseman as I was, she gave me shelter andbed, and promised to send me off in the morning before her husbandreturned. "

"As most wives would, " interposed Estein. 

Helgi laughed. "Fate had decided otherwise, " he continued. "Evenas I was eating my morning meal, the goodwife waiting on me mostcourteously, the door opened and the husband entered. I saw fromthe man's ugly look that all his wife's wiles were lost upon him;but the dog was a cowardly dog, and feared the game he thirsted tofix his treacherous teeth in. He had nothing for it but to equipme with this great sheep-skin coat and cap, and a stout bow andsheaf of arrows; and then, after a most kindly parting with hisgoodwife, I made him set me on my way to Ketill. He liked not thejob over much, yet he dared not refuse, and so we started. Ishrewdly suspected, from my memory of the way I had comeovernight, that he was leading me back to King Bue's hall, andmeant on our parting to put a horde of his rascally fellows in myway. I cared little, however, for I had mine own ending for ourwalk. When we had gone a little way I stopped and said to him, --

"'My friend, I am loth to lose your company, but here is theparting of our ways. Mine I need not trouble you with, but yoursfor a space will lead you little further in any direction. ' Andwith that I bound him firmly to a tree, and left him to think uponhis misdeeds. Since then, Estein, I have wandered through theseforests like a man in a fog, cursing roundly the land and all itsinhabitants. "

"Yet it would seem that it is they who have most reason tocomplain of your dealings with them, " said Estein, smiling. 

"I would I were well quit of the land, " replied his friend. "Myheart felt glad when I saw in the glade a man habited after thefashion of the natives. 'There will be one less Jemtlander to-night, ' I said, as I laid an arrow on my bow. 'By all the gods, Estein, I shall laugh whenever I think of it!

"But tell me your adventures. "

Estein told him shortly what had befallen him, excepting only hisseeing the girl in the village. He had made up his mind that theresemblance must have been the work of fancy, yet as soon as theyhad reached the house of Atli, he took the old man aside, andasked him, --

"Shall I then sail when the snows have melted?"

"Assuredly, " replied the seer; "wouldst thou delay what the godsand the dead enjoin?"

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE MIDNIGHT GUEST. 

Jomar had returned early in the day, and they found him alreadywrapped up in his bear-skin fast asleep before the fire. 

"Gave he my warning to Ketill?" Estein asked Atli. 

"Assuredly, " replied the old man; "I have never known him fail me, little though he may have liked the errand. "

"And what said Ketill? Had they been attacked? What news broughtJomar back?"

"Let us wake the knave, and ask him, " said Helgi; and suiting theaction to the word, he drove one foot sufficiently hard into thesleeper's side to rouse him with a start. 

"What said friend Ketill?" Helgi went on, careless of the man'sugly look; "sent he back any message?"

Jomar answered with a dark scowl, regarding him steadily for aminute as if to make sure who he was, and then he snapped backshortly, --

"He said he had lost a dog that answered to the name of Helgi, andwould be well pleased if the beast had died of the mange in thewood, " and without another word he rolled over and closed his eyesagain. 

"'Dog!'" cried Helgi. "Hound, I will beat one dog as it deserves!"

In another instant the Jemtlander would have suffered for histemerity, had not Atli seized the angry Norseman's arm, exclaiming, --

"Peace, Helgi Sigvaldson! Wouldst thou strike my servant in mineown house? The man loves not Norsemen, yet has he saved thyfoster-brother's life, and likely, too, those of Ketill and allhis company. "

"Tell us, Atli, " interposed Estein, "what he said on his return. "

"Little he told even me, " replied Atli, "save that he had seenKetill for the briefest possible space, and then returnedstraightway home. "

"Did he hear aught of the twenty good men who followed us to KingBue's hall?"

It was Jomar himself who replied, though without turning over orlooking at the speaker. 

"Would you have me save them, too, from their fate? I heard naughtof them, and wish only to hear of their deaths. Too many enemieshave I helped already. "

Helgi was about to reply hotly, but Atli checked him with agesture, whispering, --

"Will not his deeds atone for his words?"

Low as he spoke, Jomar caught the words, and muttered loud enoughto be heard, --

"Would that my words might become my deeds. "

Nothing about the mysterious old man had impressed Estein morethan his extraordinary influence over this strange disciple orservant, for he seemed to be partly both; and that one who soloathed and hated the Norsemen could be made to serve his enemiesat a word, seemed to point to a power beyond the ken of ordinaryman. Helgi, too, was evidently struck, for he looked askance fromone to the other, and then fell silent. 

By sunrise next morning, the foster-brothers arranged to start forKetill under Jomar's guidance, and little time was lost in gettingto bed. They went up to the loft by the ladder, heard Atli open adoor and evidently enter some inner room, then being very drowsyafter the cold air, shortly fell asleep. 

Yet the night was not to pass without incident. Helgi knew not howlong he had been asleep, when he woke with a shiver, to find thathis blankets had slipped off him. He gathered them over him again, and then lay for a few minutes listening to the rising wind. As itbeat up in mournful gusts and soughed through the pines, he saidto himself, "The frost has left at last, and thankful am I forthat. " He was just dropping off to sleep again, when his attentionwas startled into wakefulness by a knock at the outer door. It wasrepeated twice, and then he heard Jomar rise with much growling, and go softly across the floor. There followed a parley apparentlythrough a closed door, which ended in a bolt shooting back, andthe door opening with a whistle of wind. So far he had been inthat half-waking state when things produce a confused and almostmonstrous impression, but suddenly his wits were startled intoquickness. Among several voices that seemed to talk with Jomar, his ear all at once caught a woman's. Even the approach of anenemy could not have made him more alert. He listened keenly and, with a sensible feeling of disappointment, heard the door close, the noise cease, and Jomar's steps quietly cross the floor again. This time, however, they went right to the other end of the room, and an inner door opened. He thought he caught Atli's tonesanswering his sullen servant, and presently he heard two men comeout and go to the outer door. Again, with a blast of cold draught, it opened, and the talk began a second time. His curiosity waskeenly excited; he could pick out a woman's voice mostunmistakably, and at last he heard the conference come to an end. The door closed, the party seemed to go away, and then whisperingbegan in the room below him. 

"The woman has come in!" he said to himself, with a start ofexcitement. "Helgi, this matter needs your attention. "

His bed, the outermost of the two, consisted merely of a coarsemattress laid so far back in the loft that the edge of theflooring hid all view of the room below. Very softly he proceededto throw off the blankets and crawl quietly towards the edge, tillhe had gone far enough to get a clear sight of the fire. There helay, and smiled to himself at the prospect below. 

The fire had been raked up to burn brightly, and Jomar, as before, lay fast asleep beside it; but between Helgi and the blaze stoodthe old seer and the hooded and cloaked form of a woman. Her facewas hidden, but her back, the watcher thought, promised well. Shewas tall, and seemed young, and her movements, as she held out herhands to the flames, or half turned to address the old man, hadgrace and the marks of good birth. They talked so low that Helgicould catch nothing they said, and even the quality of the girl'svoice only reached him in snatches. 

"A pleasant voice, methinks, " he said to himself. "Atli, thisbooty must be shared. "

She seemed to be telling a narrative to Atli, who, with foldedarms and deep attention that sometimes passed into suppressedemotion, looked intently at her, and frequently broke in with somewhispered question. 

The Viking had not been watching very long when the girl's voicerose a little as she said something earnestly, and Atli, with aslight movement and a warning frown, glanced up at the loft andpointed with one finger straight at where Helgi lay. Instantly hedropped his head, and as quickly as he dared crawled back to bedagain. There was silence for a moment, but apparently theysuspected nothing, for the whispered talk went on again. 

"By valour or guile I shall see that maiden's face, " he said tohimself, as he lay revolving possible schemes in his mind. 

At last the whispering stopped, and Atli's step crossed the roomand passed into the inner apartment. The door closed behind him, and then saying to himself, "Now or never, my friend, " Helgiquietly slipped into his sheep-skin coat, and stepping softly soas not to disturb Estein or the seer, came boldly down the ladder. 

The girl's look, as he turned at the foot and faced her, stuck inhis mind for long after. Consternation and her sense of theludicrous were having such an obvious struggle in every feature, that after looking straight into her face for a moment, he fairlyburst into a silent convulsion of laughter that shook him till hehad to steady himself by a rung of the ladder. So infectious wasit, that after the briefest conflict, consternation fled thefield, a little smile appeared, and then a merrier, and in amoment she was laughing with him. And certainly for a man commonlymost careful of his appearance, he cut a comical enough figure, with his shoeless feet and tangled hair, and the great ill-fittingsheep-skin coat huddled round him to hide the poverty beneath. 

"I fear my habit pleases not your eye, " he said at last, strivingto control his countenance. 

"It is--" she began, and then her gravity for an instant forsookher again. "It is highly befitting, " she said, more soberly and alittle shyly. 

"In truth, a garb to win a maiden's heart; but I recked not of myclothing, I was in such haste to see the maid, " said Helgi boldly. 

She looked at him with some surprise, and just a sufficient touchof dignity to check the dash of his advances. He saw the change, and quickly added, --

"To be quite honest with you, I knew not indeed that you werehere, and feeling cold I came down to warm me. I should ask yourpardon. "

"Not so, " she said; "how could you know that I was here? I haveonly just arrived. "

"And I, " replied Helgi, "leave early in the morning, though now Iwould fain stay longer. So you will soon forget the man in thesheepskin coat who so alarmed you. "

"But not the coat, " she said demurely, her blue eyes lighting upagain. Helgi's vanity was a little stung, but he answered gaily, --

"I then will remember your face, and you--"

At that instant a door opened, and turning suddenly he saw Atlicome from behind a great bearskin that concealed the entrance tohis inner chamber. The old man's face grew dark with displeasedsurprise, yet he hesitated for an instant, as if uncertain what todo. Then he came up to the girl and said, --

"Thy chamber is ready for thee. " To Helgi he added, "I would speakwith thee, Helgi. "

The girl at once left the fire, and followed him back to the otherroom. As she turned away, Helgi said, --

"Farewell, lady. "

"Farewell, " she answered frankly, with a smile, and went out withAtli. 

"A bold raid and a lucky one, " said the Viking complacently tohimself. "A fairer face and brighter eyes I never saw before. Whocan she be? Like enough some lady come to hear the spaeman'smystic jargon, and swallow potions or mutter spells at hisbidding. I am in two minds about turning wizard myself, if suchvisitors be common. Methinks I could give her as wise a rede asAtli. But it is strange how she came here; she is not of thiscountry, I'll be sworn. "

His reflections were cut short by the entrance of Atli. 

"Helgi, " said the old man, still speaking very low, "thou hastseen that which ought to have remained hidden from thee. "

"But which was well worthy of the seeing, " said Helgi. 

"Speak not so lightly, " replied the old man sternly, and with thatair of mystery he could make so impressive. "Thou knowest not whatthings are behind the veil, or how much may hang upon a word. Icharge thee strictly that thou sayest no word of this to Estein;there are matters that should not come to the ears of kings. "

"I shall say nothing to any one, " Helgi answered more soberly. 

"That is well said, " replied Atli. "Sleep now, for the dawn drawsnigh, and the way is long. "

Helgi had just got back to the loft and was throwing off his coatagain, when Estein suddenly rose on his elbow and looked at him, and for a minute he felt like a criminal caught in the act. 

"Have I been dreaming, Helgi?" said his foster-brother, "or--or--where have you been?"

"To warm myself at the fire, " replied Helgi readily. 

"Spoke you with any one?"

"Ay; Atli heard me and came to see whether perchance a thief hadcome in to carry away his two Norsemen. "

"Then I only dreamt, " said Estein, passing his hand across hiseyes. "I thought I heard the voice of a girl; but when I woke morefully, it was gone, indeed. It sounded like--but it was my dream;"and lying down again, he closed his eyes. 

"Should I tell him?" thought Helgi; "nay, I promised Atli, andafter all this is mine own adventure. "

By the time the day had fairly broken, they were away underJomar's guidance. 

"Remember, Estein, my rede, " said Atli, as they departed. 

"When the snows melt, " cried Estein in reply; "and I think I shallnot have long to wait. "

It was a raw, grey, blustering morning, with no smell of frost inthe air, but rather every sign of thaw, and the old man, afterwatching the two tall mail-clad figures stride off with theirdwarfish guide hastening in front, closed the door, and turnedwith a grave and weary look back to the fire. 

Hardly had he come in when the inner door opened, and the girlentered hastily. 

"Who was that other man?" she asked. "I saw but his back, and yet--" she stopped with a little confusion, for Atli was regarding herwith a look of keen surprise. 

"Knowest thou him?" he asked. "Where hast thou seen him before?"

"Nay, " she answered, with an affectation of indifference, as ifashamed of her curiosity, "I only wondered who he might be. "

"He is a certain trader from Norway, whom men call Estein, " saidAtli, still looking at her curiously. 

"I know not the name, " she said; and then adding with a slightshiver, "How cold this country is, " she turned abruptly and leftthe room again. 

The old man remained lost in thought. "Strange, passing strange, "he muttered, pressing his hand to his forehead. "Can she have seenhim? Or can it be--"

His eyes suddenly brightened, and he began to pace the room. 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE LAST OF THE LAWMAN. 

In silence and haste the three men pursued their way. A thaw hadset in, chill and cloudy; underfoot the snow was soft and melting, and all through the forest they heard the drip of a thousand treesand the creaking and swinging of boughs in the wind. As themorning wore on and they warmed to their work, the two Norsementalked a little with each other, but contrary to their wont oflate, it was Estein who spoke oftenest and seemed in the betterspirits. Helgi, for him, was quiet and thoughtful, and at lastEstein exclaimed, --

"How run your thoughts, Helgi? on the next feast, or the lastmaid, or the man you left bound to the tree? Men will think wehave changed natures if our talk goes as it has this morning. "

"I had a strange dream last night, " replied Helgi. 

"Tell it to me, and I will expound it to a flagon or an eyelash, as the theme may chance to be. "

"Nay, " cried Helgi, with a sudden return to his usual buoyancy, "now that I have my old Estein back with me, I will not turn himagain into a reader of dreams and omens. I am rejoiced to see youin so bright a humour. Had you a pleasant dream?"

"Action lies before me, " said Estein--"the open sea and the landsof the south again; and the very prospect is medicine. "

After a time Estein came up to their guide's side, and said, --

"It will take us surely longer than you said. We had to travel forlong through open country when we left the town, and we have neverreached the beginning of it yet. "

Jomar gave a quick, contemptuous laugh, and answered shortly, --

"Think you then that Thorar brought you by the shortest route?Those prisoners whom you set free reached King Bue's hall manyhours before you. You are not wise, you Northmen. "

Estein looked for a moment as though he would have retortedsharply, but biting his lip he fell back again, nor did heexchange another word with the man. 

It was about mid-day, when, as they were coming down a woodedslope, Helgi exclaimed, --

"Hark! what is that clamour?"

Jomar too heard the shouts, for he stopped for a moment andlistened keenly, and then started off faster than before. Withevery step they took the distant sounds grew louder and the shoutsof men, and even it seemed the clash of steel, could bedistinguished. 

"The attack is made, " cried Helgi. "Pray the gods they scatter notthe dogs before we come up. "

Jomar heard him, and looked over his shoulder with a savageglance. 

"Sometimes dogs bite and rend, " he said. 

"Why have they waited so long?" said Estein, half to himself. "Thefools should have fallen on Ketill that very night. I thank themfor their folly. "

They had now broken into a run, and the uproar sounded so loudthat they knew they must be close upon the town. 

"Some one comes, " exclaimed Helgi, and just as he spoke a mandashed past them in the opposite direction, and throwing them onlya startled glance, disappeared among the trees behind. A minutelater two others ran by to one side, and a fourth stopped andturned when he came upon them. All were Jemtlanders, and Jomar, when he saw them, cursed aloud, while the Norsemen pressed themore excitedly forward. 

Thirty yards further and they were at the edge of the wood, stopping at a spot not far from where the expedition first cameout upon the town. The great lake and the open country lay belowthem, white still, but with all the sheen and sparkle off them, and overhung now by a grey, wet-weather sky. But they took littlenote of sky or snow-fields, for their eyes were enthralled by amore stirring spectacle. 

Over the little town rolled a dense and smoky canopy, and fromeach doomed house the flames leapt and danced. All around it theplain was alive with the signs and terrors of war they saw, blackagainst the snow, men flying over the open country, turningsometimes for the woods, or sometimes sliding and running acrossthe frozen lake, the shouts of the pursuers came to them in aconfusion of uproar, and here and there out over the waste, andmore thickly near the town, the dead lay scattered. The battle wasat an end. Small parties of Norsemen were still driving thevanquished Jemtlanders before them cutting them down as they fled;but the main force seemed already to be devoting itself to theburning and sacking of the town, and Helgi sighed as heexclaimed, --

"Too late after all! the cowardly rabble could not even fight tillwe had come to join in the sport. "

Like an infuriated animal Jomar turned upon him. 

"Whelp of a Norseman!" he cried, drawing his dagger and springingforward, "never more--"

As he spoke, Estein, who stood between them, had just time tothrow out one foot and bring the Jemtlander flat on his face, hisdagger flying from his hand. After looking for a moment inastonishment at their fallen guide, his would-be victim burst outlaughing, and picking up the dagger, handed it back to him, saying, --

"I forgot, friend Jomar, that you were so nigh me. You owed mesomething, indeed, but try not to pay it like that again, for yourown sake. "

The man took the dagger sullenly and answered, --

"I hope never more to see either of you. Go down to the town now, if you can reach it without losing your way again, and my curse gowith you. "

Without waiting for reply or reward, he left them abruptly, anddisappeared in the wood. "That is a man I am glad to see the lastof, " said Helgi, as they started for the town. "It can only be byblack magic that Atli made him serve us. "

"It is strange indeed, " replied Estein, thoughtfully. "I havenoted before that a powerful mind has a strong influence on men ofless wisdom, yet like enough there is something more besides. "

When they had come near enough to be recognized, a loud and joyfulshout went up from their men; one after another of the victors ranout to meet them, and it was with quite a company at their backthat they entered the burning town. In the open market-place, round which most of the houses stood, they found Ketill, hisarmour dinted and smeared with blood, and his eyes gleaming withstern excitement. At last he had got his burning, and he wasenjoying it to the full. A batch of captives had just beenpitilessly decapitated, their gory heads and trunks were strewn onthe crimson snow, and beside them lay five or six more, their legsbound by ropes, awaiting their turn. 

Inured though he was to spectacles of blood and carnage, Estein'smind recoiled from such a scene of butchery as this, and hereplied to Ketill's shout of astonishment and welcome, --

"Right glad I am to see this victory, Ketill, and gallantly youmust have fought, but when has it become our custom to slay ourprisoners?"

"Ay, " answered Helgi, "we could well have missed this part. "

"Know you not that the Jemtlanders slew the twenty who followedyou to King Bue?" answered the black-bearded captain. "They slewthem like cattle, Estein; and shall we spare the murderers now? Iknew not also whether you and Helgi had fallen into their hands, and in case ill had happened to you, it seemed best to takevengeance on the chance. "

"Then since I need no revenge, let the slaying cease, " saidEstein, "though in truth the treacherous dogs ill deserve mercy. "

"As you list, " replied Ketill; "yet there is one here who would bebetter out of the world than in it. "

As he spoke he went up to one prisoner who was lying on his side, with his face pressed down into the snow, like one sorely wounded, and in no gentle fashion turned him over with his foot. 

"Can you not let me die?" said the man, looking up coldly andproudly at his captors, though he was evidently at death's door. "It will not take long now. "

"Thorar!" exclaimed Estein. 

"You have named me, Estein, " replied the wounded lawman. "I hadhoped to witness thy death, now thou canst witness mine. "

"Treacherous foe and faithless friend, " said Estein, sternly, "well have you deserved this death. "

"Faithless to whom?" replied Thorar. "To my king and master Bue Ialone owed allegiance. Long have I planned how to rid us of yourproud and cruel race, and I thought the time had come. Witless andconfident ye walked into my snare, like men blindfolded; and itwas the doing of the gods, and not of you, that my planmiscarried. "

"'Witless and confident?'" answered Estein. "Say rather trustfulof pledges that only a dastard would break. "

"The strong and foolish fight with weapons suited to their hands, "said Thorar; "the weak and wise with weapons suited to theirheads. "

"So hands, it seems, are better than heads, " put in Helgi. 

"Know this at least, " exclaimed Ketill, "your sons have perishedbefore you. I slew them in the outset of the battle. "

The dying man laughed a ghastly laugh. 

"My sons!" he cried. "Think you I would trust my sons withNorsemen? Those boys were thralls. They died for their country asI die, " and his head fell back upon the snow. 

"Dastard!" cried Ketill, "you die indeed. "

He raised his sword as he spoke; but Estein caught his arm beforeit could descend, saying, --

"You cannot slay the dead, Ketill. "

"Has he baulked me then?" said Ketill, bending over his fallenfoe. 

It was even so. The lawman had gone to his last account, his boltimpotently shot, and his enemies standing triumphantly over him. 

"He at least died well, " said Helgi; "when my turn comes may it bemy luck to look as proudly on my foes. But tell us, Ketill, whatbefell you here since our parting. "

The burly captain frowned and scratched his head, as thoughdeliberating how to do a thing so foreign to his genius as thetelling of a narrative. 

"On a certain day you left us, " he began. 

"Well told indeed, " cried Helgi, laughing, "an excellentbeginning--no skald could do it better. "

"Nay, " replied Ketill, frowning angrily, "if you want matter for ajest, tell a tale yourself. Mine have been no boy's deeds. "

"Take no offence, " replied Helgi, still laughing; "tell your deedsof derring-do, and let Thor himself envy, I will undertake to makeyou laugh at mine own adventures afterwards. "

"I will warrant your doings will make me laugh rather than envy, "said Ketill. "But, as I said, you left us, and so we were lefthere without you. "

"Nay, Ketill, " interposed his tormentor, very seriously, "thisstory passes belief, impose not on my youth. "

"How mean you?" exclaimed the black-bearded captain, wrathfully, his hand seeking his sword hilt. 

"Peace, Helgi, " cried Estein, who saw that his good offices wereneeded; "and you, Ketill, heed not his jests. He is but young andfoolish. "

"And slender, " added the irrepressible Helgi, though not loudenough for Ketill to hear, and the stout Viking resumed his story, sulkily enough. 

"So were we left here in this town. Cold it was, with little todo, so we even broached Thorar's ale forthwith. Presently a manwho had been in the woods came in hastily to tell me he haddisturbed two of these hounds of Jemtlanders spying on the town. It behoved me then to be careful, and I set guards, and was nottoo drunk myself that night. Upon the next morning one came inwith tidings of a man who had left a message for me, though hewould not say who sent him. "

"That would be friend Jomar, " said Helgi. 

"I know not his name, but treachery, he said, was determined; andI stopped all drink thereafter, and there was nothing at all leftthen but to play with dice and sleep. A little later this Thorarcame to the town, and would have persuaded me to follow you to theking; and when I asked for some token he showed me a ring he saidwas yours. Mine own mind is not attentive to these gew-gaws, but aman whose eyes were sharp before a Jemtland axe clove his headthis morning knew it for none of yours. "

"Did you not seize him at once?" said Estein. 

"I was for taking him on the spot, but we spoke without the town, and he had such a company along with him that after a sharp bouthe got off, though he left three of his lads on the snow. 

"May werewolves seize me if this be not dry work! Ho' there, bring me a horn of ale. "

As soon as he had quenched his thirst in a long draught, and wipedhis hairy lips with much relish, the narrator went on:--

"So at night, as you may think, we kept a strict and sober guard, and rested in our harness. And well it was; for I had not slept anhour, it seemed, before the cry arose that the enemy were upon us. But when they saw we were ready for them, the vermin withdrew tothe woods to gather more force, and it was not till day had wellbroken that they ventured out and offered battle. Thereupon I slewthe hostages, set fire to the town, and fell upon themstraightway, and a braver fire and a brisker fight while it lastedI wish not to see. They were seven to one, at the least, but neveran inch of ground did we give, and never a stroke did we spare. Methinks, " he concluded with a chuckle, "they will remember theirwelcome. "

CHAPTER XVI. 

KING ESTEIN. 

It was on a breezy April morning that the mountains of Sogn cameinto view again. A strong slant of south-east wind had driven thetwo ships out to sea; and now, as they raced landwards before afavouring breeze, they saw low down on the horizon one glitteringhill-top after another pierce the morning mist bank. Helgi for thetime had charge of the tiller, while Estein leant against theweather bulwark, busy with his new resolves. 

"A ship must cross the sea again, " he repeated to himself. "Thetime for action is at hand, and we shall see what new freakfortune will play with me. Yet, after all, " he reflected, "thoughshe has pressed my head beneath the tide before, she has alwayssuffered me to rise and gasp ere she drowned me quite. It allcomes to this: the purposes of the gods are too deep for me tofathom, so I must e'en hold my peace and bide the passage ofevents. "

Helgi had been watching him with a half-smile on his frank face, and at last he cried, --

"What counsel hold you with the seamews? Sometimes I see a smile, and sometimes I hear a sigh; and then, again, there is a look ofthe eye as if Liot Skulison were standing before you. "

"I was filling twenty long ships with enough stout lads to manthem, and sailing the western main again, " replied Estein. 

"And whither were you sailing?" asked Helgi. 

"Westward first, " said Estein. 

"With perchance a point or so of south--such a direction as wouldbring us to the Hjaltland Isles, or, it may be, the Orkneys?"

"Aided by a wayward wind, " replied Estein with a smile. 

"Where, doubtless, it would be well to slay another sea-rover, "Helgi went on, "since they cause much trouble to peaceableseafarers from Norway. Witches, too, and warlocks dwell in theisles, men say, and it were well to rid the land of such. "

At this last speech Estein first frowned and flushed, and thenmeeting his foster-brother's look, all outward gaiety and lurkingmirth, he laughed defiantly, and exclaimed, --

"It may be so, Helgi. Everything I do is ordained already, and itmatters not whither I turn the prow of my ship or what I plan. ToOrkney I go!"

"Then run your thoughts still on this maiden?"

"They have run, they are still running, and while I live I see notwhat is to stop their course. "

"Remember, my brother, what stands between you, " said Helgi, moregravely. 

"I have not forgotten. "

"And yet you sail to Orkney?"

"The gods have bidden me cross the seas, " replied Estein, "andthey will steer my ship, whatever haven I choose. "

"Go, then, " said Helgi, "and while that shrewd counsellor whom mencall Helgi Sigvaldson sails with you, at least you will not lacksage advice. "

Estein laughed. 

"'Helgi hinn frode' [Footnote: The wise. ] shall you be calledhenceforth, and Vandrad I shall be no longer. "

They were silent for a time, and then Estein exclaimed, --

"We are well quit of that country of Jemtland! Saw you ever somany trees and so few true men before?"

"Yet was it not quite bare of good things, " replied his friend. 

"What, mean you the woodman's wife?"

"What else?" said Helgi, and then he fell silent again. 

They reached Hernersfiord towards nightfall, and as they crept upthe still, narrow waters darkness gathered fast. One by one, andthen in tens and hundreds and myriads, the stars came out and hunglike a gay awning between the pine-crowned walls. Ahead they sawlights and a looming bank of land, and hails passed from ship toshore and back again. Presently they were gently slipping by thestone pier, where one or two men stood awaiting them. 

"What news?" asked Helgi. 

The men made no reply, but seemed to whisper among themselves, andHelgi repeated his question. Just then a man came hurrying to theend of the pier and shouted, --

"Is it then Estein returned?"

"My father!" exclaimed Helgi. 

"What can bring the jarl here at this hour?" said Estein, springing ashore. 

He met Earl Sigvald on the pier, and by the light of a lantern hesaw that the old man's face was grave and sad. 

"Steel your heart to hear ill tidings, King Estein, " he said. 

The "King" smote upon Estein's ears like a knell, and he guessedthe earl's news before he heard it. 

"King Hakon joined his fathers three days past, " said the earl. "Welcome indeed is your return, for the law says that the deadmust not linger in the house more than five days, and it were illseeming to hold the funeral rites with his son away. "

Estein stood like a man struck dumb, and then muttering, "I willjoin you again, " he started quickly up the pier, and was shortlylost to view in the darkness. 

"Dear was Estein to his father, and dear the old king to his son. Deep and burning, I fear, will his sorrow be, " said the earl. 

"Fain would I comfort him, " replied Helgi. "But I know wellEstein's humours, and now he is best alone for a time. "

They walked slowly up to Hakonstad, the old earl leaning upon hisson's arm, and as they went Helgi told him the tale of theJemtland journey. In his interest the earl forgot even the presentgloom, and swore lustily or roared loudly and heartily as thestory went on. 

"May they lie in darkness for ever as dastards and traitors!" hewould cry, or "A shrewd scheme, by the hammer of Thor! An I werefifty years younger I would have done the same myself, Helgi!" andthen again, "Trolls take me, if this be not enough to make a bearlaugh! What next, Helgi?"

When his son had finished his relation of the visit to the oldseer, he seemed lost in thought. 

"Atli, Atli, " he repeated. "Call you him Atli? I cannot rememberthe name. A friend of Olaf Hakonson, said he? I knew of no suchfriend. Yet it seems that he spoke indeed as one who had takencounsel with the gods; and if his words acted, as you say, likemedicine on Estein, his name matters little. Yet it is passingstrange. "

When they reached Hakonstad, Helgi found that many chiefs hadalready arrived to take part in the funeral rites and, moreparticularly, in the feast with which they always ended. It wasnot till almost all had gone to rest that Estein returned, andthen he went straight to his bed-chamber without exchanging morethan the barest greetings with those he found still talking lowover their ale around the fires. 

The next day was spent in preparations for the solemn ceremoniesof pyre and mound, and the great feast which should mark thereigning of another king in Sogn. The young king himself wentabout bravely, seeing to everything but speaking little. Helgiwatched him anxiously, for he feared greatly that this new sorrowmight cloud his mind afresh. In the evening he noticed him slipfrom the hall by himself, and rising at once he followed him outand came to his side as he paced slowly up the night-hushedvalley. 

"Is my company unwelcome?" he asked. 

"More welcome than my thoughts, " said Estein, taking his arm. 

"Have the black thoughts returned?"

"Do what I will, they are with me again, " replied Estein. "Myfather has died with Olaf unavenged, and now it is too late tokeep my sacred word to him that I would ever follow up the feud. King Hakon already sits in Valhalla, and knows his son for adastard and a breaker of his oaths. While he lived I always toldmyself that I would find some way even yet by which I might fulfilmy promise, but now it is too late. It is hard, Helgi, to lose atonce both a father and a father's regard. "

"King Hakon is with Odin, " said Helgi, "and knows what he hasordained. Odin has not told you to cross the seas for naught, anddoubtless King Hakon even now awaits the issue. Never did man domuch with a downcast mind; so first dismiss your thoughts, andthen for the Viking path again. "

"Helgi hinn frode, " said Estein, pressing his arm, "you are indeeda good counsellor. As soon as I can gather force enough we start. "

"And now for a horn of ale, and then to bed, " responded Helgi, cheerful as ever again. 

Ever since the first wild Northmen, pushing westwards to the sea, had settled in the land of Sogn, its kings had been interred on acertain barren islet hard by the mouth of Hernersfiord, and on themorning of the fifth day after King Hakon's death they bore himout to his last resting-place by the surge of the northern ocean. His body, clad in full armour and decked in robes of state, waslaid upon a bier on the poop of the long ship that had lastcarried him to battle. A picked crew of chiefs and highbornvassals rowed him slowly down the fiord, while in their wake afleet of vessels followed. Estein, arrayed in the full panoply ofwar, as though he were sailing to meet his foes, stood out aloneupon the poop like a graven figure, only the hand that held thetiller ever moving. When they reached the little holm looking outover the sea, they discovered the foundations of a mound alreadyprepared, and great heaps of earth beside them, ready to be builtupon the top. All the chiefs and greater men landed with asufficient number of spademen to assist them with the work, whilethe others lay off in the ships and watched in silence. First, thevessel in which the dead king lay was drawn up and laid upon themound; each chief who had taken an oar hung his shield in turnupon the bulwarks; the sail, gay with coloured cloths, washoisted; the king's standard raised and set in the bows; and thenEstein lit a torch and held it to a heap of fagots underneath. Asthe flames mounted higher and the smoke streamed out to sea thechiefs cast gifts aboard--rings and bracelets of gold and silver, sharp swords and inlaid axes--that the king in his far-off homeamong the gods of the North might think kindly of his friends onearth. One after another they wished his soul fair speed. Estein'swords were few and unsteady with emotion, and those who heard themwondered at their meaning. 

"Fare thee well, my father! I will yet keep my promise to thee!"

Loudest of all cried Earl Sigvald, --

"May Odin be as good a friend to thee as thou hast been to me!Keep me a place beside thee, Hakon. All through life I have beenat thy side, in sunshine and frost, feast and battle-storm, andsoon I hope to follow thee home!"

At last the flames died down and left but the blackened remnantsof the ship and the ashes of its royal captain. The ashes theyreverently gathered up and placed within a copper bowl, a lid theymade of twelve shield bosses, the gifts were gathered and placedall round, and then the spademen heaped the mound above Hakon, King of Sogn. 

With a quicker stroke and tongues unloosed the fleet returned toHakonstad. 

"A noble funeral, Ketill, " said one chief to the black-beardedViking. 

"Ay, " replied Ketill, "a burial worthy of King Estein, and a royalfeast we shall have to follow it. "

"Men say he means to set out on a Viking foray, and that beforemany days are past, " said the other. 

"They speak truth, " answered Ketill. "Many a man will he give tothe wolves, and eager am I to sail with him. There never was abolder captain than Estein. "

For the next two days the talk was all of the voyage to the south. Guests were coming in all the time for Estein's inheritance feast, and many of them--warriors thirsting for adventure and sea-roving--declared their intention of following his banner. A braver forcemen said had never followed a king of Sogn to war. For three daysthe feasting was to reign, and then, so soon as they were ready tosail, the host should take the Viking path. 

The first night of the feast arrived. The hall was brightly litand gaily hung with tapestries and cloths, rich and many-coloured, and men bravely dressed poured into their places all down the longrows of benches. The young king sat in his father's high seat, thehighest-born and most honoured guests ranged beside him, and thoseof humbler standing in the farther places. First, they drank tothe dead King Hakon, to his various great kinsmen in Valhalla, andto each of the gods in turn. Then as horns emptied faster toastafter toast was called across the fires, and honoured with shoutsof "Skoal!" that reached far into the night outside. 

Estein, as was his usual custom, drank lightly, and often he wouldfind his thoughts wandering among the most incongruous events--starlight nights in a far-off islet, tossings on distant seas, andover and over again they would stray to that glimpse of a maidenin the Jemtland forests. Helgi, in whose blue eyes there danced alight that was never kindled by water, rallied him on his absenceof mind. 

"Drink deeper, Estein!" he cried. "Laugh, O king! Look, there sitsKetill, the married man; methinks he looks thirsty. Ketill! drinkwith me to your wife. "

"The trolls take my wife!" thundered Ketill, who, it may beremembered, had espoused a wealthy widow. "That is only a toastfor single men!"

When the shout of laughter that greeted this speech had subsided, Helgi turned again to Estein, and exclaimed, --

"Then that is the toast for us, King Estein. I drink to yourbride!"

"Who is she, Helgi?" cried his father jovially. "Name her. I wouldthat I might see another king married before I die. I saw yourmother married, Estein, and a fair maid she was. The girls must beless fair now, or a gallant king will not stay single long. "

"I could name one fair maid, " said Helgi, glancing at the king, but in Estein's eye he saw a warning look. 

"I have sterner things to think of, jarl, " said Estein. "Five daysfrom this I hope to be upon the sea. "

As he spoke, one of his hird-men came up to the high seat andstopped close beside him. 

"What ho, Kari!" cried Helgi, "you are strangely sober. "

"I have a message for the king, " replied the man. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE END OF THE STORY. 

"A boon! a boon!" exclaimed Helgi. "Kari seeks a boon. A wife, ora farm, or a pair of pigskin trousers; which is it, Kari? Beforeyou win it you must sing us a stave. Strike up, man!"

"No boon I seek, " replied Kari. "A maiden stands without who seeksKing Estein, and will not come inside. "

"Aha!" laughed Helgi. "Blows the wind that way?"

"What does she want?" asked Estein. 

"I know not; she would not tell. "

"Tell her to come in, " said Earl Sigvald. "Do you think it isfitting that the king should go out at every woman's pleasure?"

"That is what I told her, but she said she would see the kingoutside or go away. "

"Bid her come in or go away!" cried the earl. 

"Nay, rather ask her what her errand is about, " said Estein. 

"And tell her, " added Helgi as the bird-man turned away, "thathere sits the king's foster-brother, a most proper person at alltimes to hear a maiden's tale, and now most persuasively chargedwith ale. "

The man went down the hall again, and Earl Sigvald exclaimedtestily, --

"Some thrall's sweetheart doubtless, come to babble hercomplaints. "

"Or perhaps the bride come to claim King Estein's hand, " suggestedhis son. In a minute Kari returned. 

"She will not tell her business, " he said, "but begs earnestly tosee the king. "

"Bid her begone!" cried the earl. "The king is feasting with hisguests. "

"Did not her eyes sparkle and her trouble seem to leave her whenshe heard the king's foster-brother was here?" asked Helgi. 

"I shall press his claims myself, " said Estein, rising from hisseat. 

"Will you see her then?" asked the earl. 

"Why not?" replied Estein. "Perchance she brings tidings ofimportance. "

"If you rise at every strange woman's bidding you will have manysuitors, " said the earl. 

"That is the lot of a king, " replied Estein, with a smile. 

The smile died quickly from his face as he walked down the hall, and men noticed that he looked grave and preoccupied again. It wasnot that his thoughts were running on this unusual summons; as hepassed through the dark vestibule he felt only a little curiosity, and at the door he paused and looked out idly enough. 

It was a fine starlight night, and down below he could see theglimmer of the sea, and across the fiord the black outline of thehills, and nearer at hand he heard the sough of the night breezein the pines. Close outside, the tall, hooded figure of a womanstood clearly outlined, while he himself was obscured in shadow. At the second glance, something in the pose of his strange visitorstruck his memory sharply. She seemed at first afraid to speak, and, with rising interest, he said courteously, --

"You wish to see me?"

The girl seemed to start a little, and then she said in a lowvoice, --

"Are you King Estein?"

The words were almost lost in the hood that shrouded her head. They died away to a low whisper; but ere they were gone Estein hadcaught the slight flavour of a foreign accent, and for an instanthe was on the Holy Isle again. With a sharp effort he controlledthe sudden rush of emotion they called up, and even altered hisvoice to a low, guarded pitch as he answered, --

"I am the king. " The girl paused for a moment as if to collect herthoughts, and then she said, --

"You had a brother, King Estein--Olaf Hakonson--"

She stopped again, and seemed to look hesitatingly at him. 

"What of him?" said Estein. 

"He fell, alas, long since. Forgive me for calling him to mindnow, but he is in my story. "

"Well?"

"Three men were at his death, " said the girl, gaining confidence alittle. "Thord the Tall, Snaekol Gunnarson, and Thorfin ofSkapstead. Snaekol and Thorfin are dead long since--may Godforgive them! but Thord the Tall lived to repent of the burning. "

"It was an ill deed, " said Estein. 

"He was a heathen man then, King Estein--but I forget, you knownot of Christians. "

"I have heard of them, " said Estein, half to himself. 

"As the years drew on he became a Christian, and followed anotherGod and another creed, and left the world and Viking forays, andcame to a little island of the Orkneys with me, his only child. For both my brothers fell in battle, King Estein, and now thereare none others left in the feud. "

"How do men call you?" said Estein, asking only that he might hearher name again. 

"I am Osla, the daughter of Thord the Tall, " she answered, drawingherself up with a touch of half defiant pride. "He was the enemyof your family, but a lender-man [Footnote: Nobleman. ] of highbirth, and a good and noble man. "

"Ay?"

"He lived in the island, " she went on, "for many years, all alonesave for me. "

Estein could not keep himself from asking, --

"Alone all the time?"

"All--save once indeed, when a Viking came by chance, but he leftshortly, " and then she continued hastily: "My father thought oftenof the burning. Many deeds he had done which he repented of therein the solitude of the Holy Isle. Yet was he not worse thanothers, only he became a Christian, and so they seemed ill deedsto him. "

"Even this burning?" said Estein, a little dryly. 

"Think not so harshly of him!" she cried. "He was--he was myfather!"

"I ask your pardon, Mistress Osla. Go on. "

"At length he fell sick, and in the last of the winter storms hedied. "

So far Estein had been listening most curiously, wondering muchwhat the upshot of it all would be, and keeping a severe restrainton his tongue. But at Osla's last words he had nearly betrayedhimself. He was on the verge of crying out in his natural voice, and when he did speak, it was like a man who is choking oversomething. 

"Then Thord the Tall is dead?"

"He died penitent, King Estein, " said Osla. "And he left me awriting--for he had taught me the art of reading on the island--and with it much silver, or at least it seemed much to me. Thewriting bade me seek King Hakon. "

"Knew he not then of my father's death?"

"He was then alive, " she answered; "for the writing further toldme what I knew not before, that I had an uncle still alive, orrather whom my father thought was still alive, and first of all Ihad to seek him. Else should I have come to Sogn in time to seeKing Hakon. "

"What is this uncle's name?"

"He is called Atli, now, " she replied, "but--"

"Atli, a brother of Thord the Tall!"

"Know you him?"

"I have seen him, " he answered evasively. "Once he came here. Buthow did you find him? He dwells in distant parts, so men say. "

"The writing gave me the direction of one who knew where he couldbe found, and so I travelled to a far country--Jemtland it is, many days from Sogn. Thus it was that when I came here King Hakonhad died. "

"And now you seek me?"

"You are his son, and my errand deals with you, for the feudswhich were his are now yours, " she answered. 

For a moment she paused, and seemed to Estein to look doubtfullyat him, as if half afraid to go on. Then she drew a bag from underher cloak, held it out to him, and said simply, but not as one whocraved a boon or sought a favour, --

"This silver is the price of atonement for the death of Olaf--willyou take it?"

He took the bag, weighed it in his hand, and answered slowly, --

"This is a small atonement for a brother's death. "

She gave a little start back, her pride stung to the quick, and heheard her breath come fast. 

Suddenly he dropped the bag, stepped from under the shadow of thedoor, and cried in his natural voice, --

"I must have you too, Osla!"

She started this time indeed, and for an instant the shock ofsurprise took thoughts and words away. 

"Vandrad!" she cried faintly, and then she was trembling in KingEstein's arms. 

"Nay, " he said, "no longer Vandrad, but rather Estein the Lucky!Forgive me, Osla, for deceiving you before; but then, in truth, fate had treated me so ill that I cared not to have it known thatI was son to the King of Sogn. "

A little later he said, --

"So the feud is at an end, and I have found a queen. "

"A queen, Estein?" she whispered. 

"Ay, a queen, worthy of the proudest King of Sogn. And, Osla, doyou know I have seen you since we parted on the Holy Isle? Can youcall to mind a Jemtland village where you halted on your journey, and a man whom the villagers pursued?"

"And that--" she cried in astonishment. 

"Was Vandrad; and Atli--"

"Is Kolskegg, foster-father of thy brother Olaf, " said a voicebehind them, and looking quickly round the lovers saw thevenerable form of the seer standing within five paces of them. 

For a moment they were too surprised to speak, and the old manwent on with kindling enthusiasm, --

"Ay, Osla, I followed thee up from the ship, and awaited under theshadow of Hakonstad itself the issue ordained by the gods. KingEstein, when thou wert with me I knew not who were the wizard andthe witch of the Orkneys. My dreams revealed them not. When Oslacame to me that night ye slept in the loft, I hid her coming fromthee, for I knew the race of Yngve forget not the injuries oftheir kin. Nor when I knew all did I tell anything to Osla, for Iwished the fates to bring matters to an end as they willed. "

"But why did you tell me nothing of yourself?" asked Estein. 

"I have said the reason. Thy race have long and bitter memories, and I knew full well that I could not serve thee hadst thou known. Ay, King Estein, long have I wished to come into atonement withthee, but my brother's rash deed--done to avenge what he thoughtmy injuries--brought the blood feud on me. I was banished for mineown fault, thenceforth Thord exiled me for his. "

Then raising his voice till it rang through the night, he cried, --

"But now, King Estein, the ship has crossed the seas!"

There was a minute's silence after he had finished, and then theking took Osla by the hand and drew her towards the door, saying, --

"I wish them to see my queen to-night. "

"Let me come to-morrow, " she whispered. 

"Go in, Osla, " said her uncle, "I bid thee, " and so she went inwith Estein to the hall. 

As he led her up to the high seat, dead silence fell on theguests, and all men gazed in growing wonder. Opposite Earl Sigvaldhe stopped, and throwing back her hood, cried, --

"You will live to see me married yet, jarl. My southern voyageshall be changed into my wedding feast. Behold Osla, Queen ofSogn!"

Before his father had time to reply, Helgi sprang from his seatwith a shout, and saluting Osla on the cheek, exclaimed, --

"First of all King Estein's friends I wish you joy! Do youremember the sheep-skin coat? I have not forgotten the maiden. Skoal to Queen Osla!"

Instantly the shout was taken up till the smoky rafters rang andrang again; and so the feud ended, though the spell, they say, wasnever broken. 

THE END.