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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Havelok The Dane<br /> + A Legend of Old Grimsby and Lincoln</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Charles Whistler</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: July 7, 2004 [eBook #12847]<br /> +[Most recently updated: March 31, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Martin Robb</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVELOK THE DANE ***</div> + +<h1>Havelok the Dane: A Legend of Old Grimsby and Lincoln.</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">By Charles W. Whistler, M.R.C.S.</h2> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap00">PREFACE.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. GRIM THE FISHER AND HIS SONS.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. KING HODULF’S SECRET.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. HAVELOK, SON OF GUNNAR.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. ACROSS THE SWAN’S PATH.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. STORM AND SHIPWRECK.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. THE BEGINNING OF GRIMSBY TOWN.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. BROTHERHOOD.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. BERTHUN THE COOK.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. CURAN THE PORTER.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. KING ALSI OF LINDSEY.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. THE COMING OF THE PRINCESS.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. IN LINCOLN MARKETPLACE.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. THE WITAN’S FEASTING.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. THE CRAFT OF ALSI THE KING.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. THE FORTUNE OF CURAN THE PORTER.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. A STRANGEST WEDDING.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII. HOW THE BRIDE WENT HOME.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">CHAPTER XVIII. JARL SIGURD OF DENMARK.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap19">CHAPTER XIX. THE LAST OF GRIFFIN OF WALES.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap20">CHAPTER XX. THE OWNING OF THE HEIR.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap21">CHAPTER XXI. THE TOKEN OF SACK AND ANCHOR.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap22">CHAPTER XXII. KING ALSI’S WELCOME.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap23">CHAPTER XXIII. BY TETFORD STREAM.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap24">CHAPTER XXIV. PEACE, AND FAREWELL.</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap00">PREFACE.</a></h2> + +<p> +If any excuse is needed for recasting the ancient legend of Grim the fisher and +his foster-son Havelok the Dane, it may be found in the fascination of the +story itself, which made it one of the most popular legends in England from the +time of the Norman conquest, at least, to that of Elizabeth. From the eleventh +to the thirteenth centuries it seems to have been almost classic; and during +that period two full metrical versions—one in Norman-French and the other in +English—were written, besides many other short versions and abridgments, which +still exist. These are given exhaustively by Professor Skeat in his edition of +the English poem for the Early English Text Society, and it is needless to do +more than refer to them here as the sources from which this story is gathered. +</p> + +<p> +These versions differ most materially from one another in names and incidents, +while yet preserving the main outlines of the whole history. It is evident that +there has been a far more ancient, orally-preserved tradition, which has been +the original of the freely-treated poems and concise prose statements of the +legend which we have. And it seems possible, from among the many variations, +and from under the disguise of the mediaeval forms in which it has been hidden, +to piece together what this original may have been, at least with some +probability. +</p> + +<p> +We have one clue to the age of the legend of Havelok in the statement by the +eleventh-century Norman poet that his tale comes from a British source, which +at least gives a very early date for the happenings related; while another +version tells us that the king of “Lindesie” was a Briton. Welsh names occur, +accordingly, in several places; and it is more than likely that the old legend +preserved a record of actual events in the early days of the Anglo-Saxon +settlement in England, when there were yet marriages between conquerors and +conquered, and the origins of Angle and Jute and Saxon were not yet forgotten +in the pedigrees of the many petty kings. +</p> + +<p> +One of the most curious proofs of the actual British origin of the legend is in +the statement that the death of Havelok’s father occurred as the result of a +British invasion of Denmark for King Arthur, by a force under a leader with the +distinctly Norse name of Hodulf. The claim for conquest of the north by Arthur +is very old, and is repeated by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and may well have +originated in the remembrance of some successful raid on the Danish coasts by +the Norse settlers in the Gower district of Pembrokeshire, in company with a +contingent of their Welsh neighbours. +</p> + +<p> +This episode does not occur in the English version; but here an attack on +Havelok on his return home to Denmark is made by men led by one Griffin, and +this otherwise unexplainable survival of a Welsh name seems to connect the two +accounts in some way that recalls the ancient legend at the back of both. +</p> + +<p> +I have therefore treated the Welsh element in the story as deserving a more +prominent place, at least in subsidiary incidents, than it has in the two old +metrical versions. It has been possible to follow neither of these exactly, as +in names and details they are widely apart; but to one who knows both, the +sequence of events will, I think, be clear enough. +</p> + +<p> +I have, for the same reason of the British origin of the legend, preferred the +simple and apposite derivation of the name of “Curan,” taken by the hero during +his servitude, from the Welsh <i>Cwran</i>, “a wonder,” to the Norman +explanation of the name as meaning a “scullion,” which seems to be rather a +guess, based on the menial position of the prince, than a translation. +</p> + +<p> +For the long existence of a Welsh servile population in the lowlands of +Lincolnshire there is evidence enough in the story of Guthlac of Crowland, and +the type may still be found there. There need be little excuse for claiming +some remains of their old Christianity among them, and the “hermit” who reads +the dream for the princess may well have been a half-forgotten Welsh priest. +But the mediaeval poems have Christianized the ancient legend, until it would +seem to stand in somewhat the same relationship to what it was as the German +“Niebelungen Lied” does to the “Volsunga Saga.” +</p> + +<p> +With regard to the dreams which recur so constantly, I have in the case of the +princess transferred the date of hers to the day previous to her marriage, the +change only involving a difference of a day, but seeming to he needed, as +explanatory of her sudden submission to her guardian. And instead of crediting +Havelok with the supernatural light bodily, it has been transferred to the +dream which seems to haunt those who have to do with him. +</p> + +<p> +As to the names of the various characters, they are in the old versions hardly +twice alike. I have, therefore, taken those which seem to have been modernized +from their originals, or preserved by simple transliteration, and have set them +back in what seems to have been their first form. Gunther, William, and +Bertram, for instance, seem to be modernized from Gunnar, Withelm, and perhaps +Berthun; while Sykar, Aunger, and Gryme are but alternative English spellings +of the northern Sigurd, Arngeir, and Grim. +</p> + +<p> +The device on Havelok’s banner in chapter xxi. is exactly copied from the +ancient seal of the Corporation of Grimsby,<a href="#fn1" +name="fnref1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> which is of the date of Edward the First. The +existence of this is perhaps the best proof that the story of Grim and Havelok +is more than a romance. Certainly the Norse “Heimskringla” record claims an +older northern origin for the town than that of the Danish invasion of Alfred’s +time; and the historic freedom of its ships from toll in the port of Elsinore +has always been held to date from the days of its founder. +</p> + +<p> +The strange and mysterious “blue stones” of Grimsby and Louth are yet in +evidence, and those of the former town are connected by legend with Grim. +Certainly they have some very ancient if long-forgotten associations, and it is +more than likely that they have been brought as “palladia” with the earliest +northern settlers. A similar stone exists in the centre of the little East +Anglian town of Harleston, with a definite legend of settlement attached to it; +and there may be others. The Coronation Stone of Westminster and the stone in +Kingston-on-Thames are well-known proofs of the ancient sanctity that +surrounded such objects for original reasons that are now lost. +</p> + +<p> +The final battle at Tetford, with its details, are from the Norman poem. The +later English account is rounded off with the disgrace and burning alive of the +false guardian; but for many reasons the earlier seems to be the more correct +account. Certainly the mounds of some great forgotten fight remain in the +Tetford valley, and Havelok is said to have come to “Carleflure,” which, being +near Saltfleet, and on the road to Tetford, may be Canton, where there is a +strong camp of what is apparently Danish type. +</p> + +<p> +Those who can read with any comfort the crabbed Norman-French and Early English +poetic versions will see at once where I have added incidents that may bring +the story into a connected whole, as nearly as possible on the old Saga lines; +and those readers to whom the old romance is new will hardly wish that I should +pull the story to pieces again, to no purpose so far as they are concerned. +And, at least, for a fairly free treatment of the subject, I have the authority +of those previous authors whom I have mentioned. +</p> + +<p> +In the different versions, the founder of Grimsby is variously described as a +steward of the Danish king’s castle, a merchant, a fisher, and in the English +poem—probably because it was felt that none other would have undertaken the +drowning of the prince—as a thrall. Another version gives no account of the +sack episode, but says that Grim finds both queen and prince wandering on the +shore. Grim the fisher is certainly a historic character in his own town, and +it has not been hard to combine the various callings of the worthy +foster-father of Havelok and the troubles of both mother and son. A third local +variant tells that Havelok was found at Grimsby by the fisher adrift in an open +boat; and I have given that boat also a place in the story, in a different way. +</p> + +<p> +The names of the kings are too far lost to be set back in their place in +history, but Professor Skeet gives the probable date of Havelok and Grim as at +the end of the sixth century, with a possible identification of the former with +the “governor of Lincoln” baptized by Paulinus. I have, therefore, assumed this +period where required. But a legend of this kind is a romance of all time, and +needs no confinement to date and place. Briton and Saxon, Norman and +Englishman, and maybe Norseman and Dane, have loved the old story, and with its +tale of right and love triumphant it still has its own power. +</p> + +<p> +Stockland, <i>1899</i> +</p> + +<p class="right"> +Chas. W. Whistler +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01">CHAPTER I.<br/> +GRIM THE FISHER AND HIS SONS.</a></h2> + +<p> +This story is not about myself, though, because I tell of things that I have +seen, my name must needs come into it now and then. The man whose deeds I would +not have forgotten is my foster-brother, Havelok, of whom I suppose every one +in England has heard. Havelok the Dane men call him here, and that is how he +will always be known, as I think. +</p> + +<p> +He being so well known, it is likely that some will write down his doings, and, +not knowing them save by hearsay, will write them wrongly and in different +ways, whereof will come confusion, and at last none will be believed. +Wherefore, as he will not set them down himself, it is best that I do so. Not +that I would have anyone think that the penmanship is mine. Well may I handle +oar, and fairly well axe and sword, as is fitting for a seaman, but the pen +made of goose feather is beyond my rough grip in its littleness, though I may +make shift to use a sail-needle, for it is stiff and straightforward in its +ways, and no scrawling goeth therewith. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore my friend Wislac, the English priest, will be the penman, having +skill thereto. I would have it known that I can well trust him to write even as +I speak, though he has full leave to set aside all hard words and unseemly, +such as a sailor is apt to use unawares; and where my Danish way of speaking +goeth not altogether with the English, he may alter the wording as he will, so +long as the sense is always the same. Then, also, will he read over to me what +he has written, and therefore all may be sure that this is indeed my true +story. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Now, as it is needful that one begins at the beginning, it happens that the +first thing to be told is how I came to be Havelok’s foster-brother, and that +seems like beginning with myself after all. But all the story hangs on this, +and so there is no help for it. +</p> + +<p> +If it is asked when this beginning might be, I would say, for an Englishman who +knows not the names of Danish kings, that it was before the first days of the +greatness of Ethelbert of Kent, the overlord of all England, the Bretwalda, and +therefore, as Father Wislac counts, about the year of grace 580. But King +Ethelbert does not come into the story, nor does the overlord of all Denmark; +for the kings of whom I must speak were under-kings, though none the less +kingly for all that. One must ever be the mightiest of many; and, as in +England, there were at that time many kings in Denmark, some over wide lands +and others over but small realms, with that one who was strong enough to make +the rest pay tribute to him as overlord, and only keeping that place by the +power of the strong hand, not for any greater worth. +</p> + +<p> +Our king on the west coast of Denmark, where the story of Havelok the Dane must +needs begin, was Gunnar Kirkeban—so called because, being a heathen altogether, +as were we all in Denmark at that time, he had been the bane of many churches +in the western isles of Scotland, and in Wales and Ireland, and made a boast +thereof. However, that cruelty of his was his own bane in the end, as will be +seen. Otherwise he was a well-loved king and a great warrior, tall, and +stronger than any man in Denmark, as was said. His wife, the queen, was a +foreigner, but the fairest of women. Her name was Eleyn, and from this it was +thought that she came from the far south. Certainly Gunnar had brought her back +from Gardariki,<a href="#fn2" name="fnref2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> whither he had +gone on a trading journey one year. Gunnar and she had two daughters and but +one son, and that son was Havelok, at this time seven years old. +</p> + +<p> +Next to the king came our own lord, Jarl Sigurd, older than Gunnar, and his +best counsellor, though in the matter of sparing harmless and helpless church +folk his advice was never listened to. His hall was many miles from the king’s +place, southward down the coast. +</p> + +<p> +Here, too, lived my father, Grim, with us in a good house which had been his +father’s before him. Well loved by Jarl Sigurd was Grim, who had ever been his +faithful follower, and was the best seaman in all the town. He was also the +most skilful fisher on our coasts, being by birth a well-to-do freeman enough, +and having boats of his own since he could first sail one. At one time the jarl +had made him steward of his house; but the sea drew him ever, and he waxed +restless away from it. Therefore, after a time, he asked the jarl’s leave to +take to the sea again, and so prospered in the fishery that at last he bought a +large trading buss from the Frisian coast, and took to the calling of the +merchant. +</p> + +<p> +So for some years my father, stout warrior as he proved himself in many a fight +at his lord’s side, traded peacefully—that is, so long as men would suffer him +to do so; for it happened more than once that his ship was boarded by Vikings, +who in the end went away, finding that they had made a mistake in thinking that +they had found a prize in a harmless trader, for Grim was wont to man his ship +with warriors, saying that what was worth trading was worth keeping. I mind me +how once he came to England with a second cargo, won on the high seas from a +Viking’s plunder, which the Viking brought alongside our ship, thinking to add +our goods thereto. Things went the other way, and we left him only an empty +ship, which maybe was more than he would have spared to us. That was on my +second voyage, when I was fifteen. +</p> + +<p> +Mostly my father traded to England, for there are few of the Saxon kin who take +ship for themselves, and the havens to which he went were Tetney and Saltfleet, +on the Lindsey shore of Humber, where he soon had friends. +</p> + +<p> +So Grim prospered and waxed rich fast, and in the spring of the year wherein +the story begins was getting the ship ready for the first cruise of the season, +meaning to be afloat early; for then there was less trouble with the wild Norse +Viking folk, for one cruise at least. Then happened that which set all things +going otherwise than he had planned, and makes my story worth telling. +</p> + +<p> +We—that is my father Grim, Leva my mother, my two brothers and myself, and our +two little sisters, Gunhild and Solva—sat quietly in our great room, busy at +one little thing or another, each in his way, before the bright fire that +burned on the hearth in the middle of the floor. There was no trouble at all +for us to think of more than that the wind had held for several weeks in the +southwest and northwest, and we wondered when it would shift to its wonted +springtide easting, so that we could get the ship under way once more for the +voyage she was prepared for. Pleasant talk it was, and none could have thought +that it was to be the last of many such quiet evenings that had gone before. +</p> + +<p> +Yet it seemed that my father was uneasy, and we had been laughing at him for +his silence, until he said, looking into the fire, “I will tell you what is on +my mind, and then maybe you will laugh at me the more for thinking aught of the +matter. Were I in any but a peaceful land, I should say that a great battle had +been fought not so far from us, and to the northward.” +</p> + +<p> +Then my mother looked up at him, knowing that he had seen many fights, and was +wise in the signs that men look for before them; but she asked nothing, and so +I said, “What makes you think this, father?” +</p> + +<p> +He answered me with another question. +</p> + +<p> +“How many kites will you see overhead at any time, sons?” +</p> + +<p> +I wondered at this, but it was easy to answer—to Raven, at least. +</p> + +<p> +“Always one, and sometimes another within sight of the first,” Raven said. +</p> + +<p> +“And if there is food, what then?” +</p> + +<p> +“The first swoops down on it, and the next follows, and the one that watches +the second follows that, and so on until there are many kites gathered.” +</p> + +<p> +“What if one comes late?” +</p> + +<p> +“He swings overhead and screams, and goes back to his place; then no more +come.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay,” he said; “you will make a sailor yet, son Raven, for you watch things. +Now I will tell you what I saw today. There was the one kite sailing over my +head as I was at the ship garth, and presently it screamed so that I looked up. +Then it left its wide circles over the town, and flew northward, straight as an +arrow. Then from the southward came another, following it, and after that +another, and yet others, all going north. And far off I could see where others +flew, and they too went north. And presently flapped over me the ravens in the +wake of the kites, and the great sea eagles came in screaming and went the same +way, and so for all the time that I was at the ship, and until I came home.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is a sacrifice to the Asir somewhere,” I said, “for the birds of Odin +and Thor have always their share.” +</p> + +<p> +My father shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“The birds cry to one another, as I think, and say when the feast is but enough +for those that have gathered. They have cried now that there is room for all at +some great feasting. Once have I seen the like before, and that was when I was +with the ship guard when the jarl fought his great battle in the Orkneys; we +knew that he had fought by the same token.” +</p> + +<p> +But my mother said that I was surely right. There was no fear of battle here, +and indeed with Gunnar and Sigurd to guard the land we had had peace for many a +long year on our own coasts, if other lands had had to fear them. My father +laughed a little, saying that perhaps it was so, and then my mother took the +two little ones and went with them into the sleeping room to put them to rest, +while I and my two brothers went out to the cattle garth to see that all was +well for the night. +</p> + +<p> +Then, when our eyes were used to the moonlight, which was not very bright, away +to the northward we saw a red glow that was not that of the sunset or of the +northern lights, dying down now and then, and then again flaring up as will a +far-off fire; and even as we looked we heard the croak of an unseen raven +flying thitherward overhead. +</p> + +<p> +“Call father,” I said to Withelm, who was the youngest of us three. The boy ran +in, and presently my father came out and looked long at the glow in the sky. +</p> + +<p> +“Even as I thought,” he said. “The king’s town is burning, and I must go to +tell the jarl. Strange that we have had no message. Surely the king’s men must +be hard pressed if this is a foe’s work.” +</p> + +<p> +So he went at once, leaving us full of wonder and excited, as boys will be at +anything that is new and has a touch of fear in it. But he had hardly gone +beyond the outbuildings when one came running and calling him. The jarl had +sent for him, for there was strange news from the king. Then he and this +messenger hastened off together. +</p> + +<p> +In half an hour the war horns were blowing fiercely, and all the quiet town was +awake, for my father’s forebodings were true, and the foe was on us. In our +house my mother was preparing the food that her husband should carry with him, +and I was putting a last polish on the arms that should keep him, while the +tramp of men who went to the gathering rang down the street, one by one at +first, and then in twos and threes. My mother neither wept nor trembled, but +worked with a set face that would not show fear. +</p> + +<p> +Then came in my father, and I armed him, begging at the same time that I might +go also, for I could use <i>my</i> weapons well enough; but he told me that +some must needs bide at home as a guard, and that I was as much wanted there as +at the king’s place, wherewith I had to be content. It was by no means unlikely +that we also might be attacked, if it was true that the king’s men were +outnumbered, as was said. +</p> + +<p> +Now when my father went to say farewell to us, nowhere could be found my +brother Withelm. +</p> + +<p> +“The boy has gone to watch the muster,” my father said. “I shall see him there +presently.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, because he saw that my mother was troubled more than her wont, he added, +“Have no fear for me. This will be no more than a raid of Norsemen, and they +will plunder and be away with the tide before we get to the place.” +</p> + +<p> +So he laughed and went out, having done his best to cheer us all, and I went +with him to where the men were gathered in their arms in the wide space in the +midst of the houses. There I sought for little Withelm, but could not find him +among the women and children who looked on; and before we had been there more +than a few minutes the jarl gave the word, and the march was begun. There were +about fifteen miles to be covered between our town and the king’s. +</p> + +<p> +I watched them out of sight, and then went home, having learned that I was to +be called out only in case of need. And as I drew near the homestead I saw a +light in the little ash grove that was behind the garth.<a href="#fn3" +name="fnref3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> In the midst of the trees, where this light +seemed to be, was our wooden image of Thor the Hammer Bearer, older than any of +us could tell; and in front of this was what we used as his altar—four +roughly-squared stones set together. These stones were blue-black in colour, +and whence they came I do not know, unless it was true that my forefathers +brought them here when first Odin led his folk to the northern lands. Always +they had been the altar for my people, and my father held that we should have +no luck away from them. +</p> + +<p> +So it was strange to see a light in that place, where none would willingly go +after dark, and half was I feared to go and see what it might mean. But then it +came into my mind that the enemy might be creeping on the house through the +grove, and that therefore I must needs find out all about it. So I went softly +to the nearest trees, and crept from one to another, ever getting closer to the +light; and I will say that I feared more that I might see some strange thing +that was more than mortal than that I should see the leading foeman stealing +towards me. But presently it was plain that the light did not move as if men +carried it, but it flickered as a little fire; and at last I saw that it burned +on the altar stones, and that frightened me so that I almost fled. +</p> + +<p> +Maybe I should have done so, but that I heard a voice that I knew; and so, +looking once more, I saw a figure standing before the fire, and knew it. It was +little Withelm, and why a ten-year-old boy should be here I could not think. +But I called him softly, and he started somewhat, turning and trying to look +through the darkness towards me, though he did not seem afraid. There was a +little fire of dry sticks burning on the stones, and the gaunt old statue +seemed to look more terrible than ever in its red blaze. One might have thought +that the worn face writhed itself as the light played over it. +</p> + +<p> +“It is I, Withelm,” I said softly, for the fear of the place was on me. “We +have sought you everywhere, and father would have wished you farewell. What are +you doing here?” +</p> + +<p> +I came forward then, for it was plain that the child feared nothing, so that I +was put to shame. And as I came I asked once more what he was doing in this +place. +</p> + +<p> +“The jarl has surely forgotten the sacrifice to the Asir before the warriors +went to fight, and they will be angry,” he answered very calmly. “It is right +that one should remember, and I feared for father, and therefore—” +</p> + +<p> +He pointed to the altar, and I saw that he had laid his own untasted supper on +the fire that he had lighted, and I had naught to say. The thing was +over-strange to me, who thought nothing of these things. It was true that the +host always sacrificed before sailing on the Viking path, but tonight had been +urgent haste. +</p> + +<p> +“Thor will not listen to any but a warrior,” I said. “Come home, brother, for +mother waits us.” +</p> + +<p> +“If not Thor, who is maybe busy at the battle they talk of, then do I think +that All Father will listen,” he said stoutly. “But this was all that I had to +make sacrifice withal, and it may not be enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“The jarl will make amends when he comes back,” I said, wishing to get home and +away from this place, and yet unwilling to chide the child. “Now let us go, for +mother will grow anxious.” +</p> + +<p> +With that he put his hand in mine, and we both saluted Thor, as was fitting, +and then went homeward. It seemed to me that the glare in the north was fiercer +now than when I had first seen it. +</p> + +<p> +Now, after my mother had put Withelm to bed, I told her how I had found him; +and thereat she wept a little, as I could see in the firelight. +</p> + +<p> +After a long silence she said, “Strange things and good come into the mind of a +child, and one may learn what his fate shall be in the days to come. I am sure +from this that Withelm will be a priest.” +</p> + +<p> +Now as one may buy the place of a godar, with the right to have a temple of the +Asir for a district and the authority that goes therewith, if so be that one +falls vacant or is to be given up by the holder, this did not seem unlikely, +seeing how rich we were fast growing. And indeed my mother’s saying came to +pass hereafter, though not at all in the way of which we both thought. +</p> + +<p> +There was no alarm that night. The old warriors watched round the town and +along the northern tracks, but saw nothing, and in the morning the black smoke +hung over the place of the burning, drifting slowly seaward. The wind had +changed, and they said that it would doubtless have taken the foe away with it, +as my father had hoped. So I went down to the ship with Raven, and worked at +the few things that were still left to be done to her as she lay in her long +shed on the slips, ready to take the water at any tide. She was only waiting +for cargo and stores to be put on board her with the shift of wind that had +come at last, and I thought that my father would see to these things as soon as +he came back. +</p> + +<p> +Now in the evening we had news from the Jarl, and strange enough it was. My +father came back two days afterwards and told us all, and so I may as well make +a short story of it. The ways of Gunnar Kirkeban had been his end, for a +certain Viking chief, a Norseman, had wintered in Wales during the past winter, +and there he had heard from the Welsh of the wrongs that they had suffered at +his hands. Also he had heard of the great booty of Welsh gold that Gunnar had +taken thence in the last summer; and so, when these Welsh asked that he would +bide with them and help fight the next Danes who came, he had offered to do +more than that—he would lead them to Gunnar’s place if they would find men to +man three ships that he had taken, and would be content to share the booty with +them. +</p> + +<p> +The Welsh king was of the line of Arthur, and one who yet hoped to win back the +land of his fathers from the Saxons and English; and so he listened to this +Hodulf, thinking to gain a powerful ally in him for attack on the eastern coast +of England after this. So, favoured by the wind that had kept us from the sea, +Hodulf, with twenty ships in all, had fallen on Gunnar unawares, and had had an +easy victory, besetting the town in such wise that only in the confusion while +the wild Welsh were burning and plundering on every side had the messenger to +the jarl been able to slip away. +</p> + +<p> +But when the jarl and our men reached the town there was naught to be done but +to make terms with Hodulf as best he might, that the whole country might not be +overrun. For Gunnar had been slain in his own hall, with his two young +daughters and with the queen also, as was supposed. Havelok the prince was in +his hands, and for his sake therefore Sigurd had been the more ready to come to +terms. +</p> + +<p> +Then Hodulf sent messengers to the overlord of all Denmark, saying that he +would hold this kingdom as for him, and backed up that promise with a great +present from Gunnar’s treasure, so that he was listened to. Therefore our jarl +was helpless; and there being no other king strong enough to aid him if he +rose, in the end he had to take Hodulf for lord altogether, though it went +sorely against the grain. +</p> + +<p> +I have heard it said by the Welsh folk that Hodulf held the kingdom for their +lord; and it is likely that he humoured them by saying that he would do so, +which was a safe promise to make, as even King Arthur himself could never have +reached him to make him pay scatt. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02">CHAPTER II.<br/> +KING HODULF’S SECRET.</a></h2> + +<p> +My father came home heavy and anxious enough, for he did not know how things +would go under this new king, though he had promised peace to all men who would +own him. We in our place saw nothing of him or his men for the next few weeks, +but he was well spoken of by those who had aught to do with him elsewhere. So +my father went on trying to gather a cargo for England; but it was a slow +business, as the burnt and plundered folk of the great town had naught for us, +and others sold to them. But he would never be idle, and every day when weather +served we went fishing, for he loved his old calling well, as a man will love +that which he can do best. Our two boats and their gear were always in the best +of order, and our kinsman, Arngeir, used and tended them when we were away in +the ship in summertime. +</p> + +<p> +Now, one evening, as we came up from the shore after beaching the boat on the +hard below the town, and half a mile from the nearest houses, and being, as one +may suppose, not altogether in holiday trim, so that Grim and his boys with +their loads of fish and nets looked as though a fisher’s hovel were all the +home that they might own, we saw a horseman, followed at a little distance by +two more, riding towards us. The dusk was gathering, and at first we thought +that this was Jarl Sigurd, who would ask us maybe to send fish to his hall, and +so we set our loads down and waited for him. +</p> + +<p> +But it was not our lord, and I had never seen this man before. From his arms, +which were of a new pattern to me, he might be one of the host of Hodulf, as I +thought. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho, fisher!” he cried, when he was yet some way from us; “leave your lads, and +come hither. I have a word for you.” +</p> + +<p> +He reined up and waited, and now I was sure that he was a Norseman, for his +speech was rougher than ours. He was a tall, handsome man enough; but I liked +neither his voice nor face, nor did I care to hear Grim, my father, summoned in +such wise, not remembering that just now a stranger could not tell that he was +aught but a fisher thrall of the jarl’s. +</p> + +<p> +But my father did as he was asked, setting down the nets that he was carrying, +and only taking with him the long boathook on which he had slung them as he +went forward. I suppose he remembered the old saying, that a man should not +stir a step on land without his weapons, as one never knows when there may be +need of them; and so, having no other, he took this. +</p> + +<p> +I heard the first questions that the man asked, for he spoke loudly. +</p> + +<p> +“Whose man are you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Sigurd’s,” answered my father shortly. +</p> + +<p> +“Whose are the boats?” +</p> + +<p> +“Mine, seeing that I built them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then, there is somewhat that you can do for me,” the horseman said. “Is +your time your own, however?” +</p> + +<p> +“If the jarl needs me not.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tonight, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have naught to do after I have carried the nets home.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is well,” said the stranger; and after that he dropped his voice so that +I heard no more, but he and my father talked long together. +</p> + +<p> +We waited, and at last the talk ended, and my father came hack to us, while the +stranger rode away northward along the sands. Then I asked who the man was, and +what he wanted. +</p> + +<p> +“He is some chief of these Norsemen, and one who asks more questions of a +thrall, as he thinks me, than he would dare ask Sigurd the jarl, or Grim the +merchant either, for that matter.” +</p> + +<p> +Seeing that my father did not wish to say more at this time, we asked nothing +else, but went homeward in silence. It seemed as if he was ill at ease, and he +went more quickly than was his wont, so that presently Raven and little Withelm +lagged behind us with their burdens, for our catch had been a good one. +</p> + +<p> +Then he stopped outside the garth when we reached home, and told me not to go +in yet. And when the others came up he said to them, “Do you two take in the +things and the fish, and tell mother that Radbard and I have to go down to the +ship. There is cargo to be seen to, and it is likely that we shall he late, so +bid her not wait up for us.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he told me to come, and we left the two boys at once and turned away +towards the haven. There was nothing strange in this, for cargo often came at +odd times, and we were wont to work late in stowing it. I did wonder that we +had not stayed to snatch a bit of supper, but it crossed my mind that the +Norseman had told my father of some goods that had maybe been waiting for the +whole day while we were at sea. And then that did not seem likely, for he had +taken us for thralls. So I was puzzled, but held my peace until it should seem +good to my father to tell me what we were about. +</p> + +<p> +When we reached a place where there was no house very near and no man about, he +said to me at last, “What is on hand I do not rightly know, but yon man was +Hodulf, the new king, as I suppose we must call him. He would not tell me his +name, but I saw him when he and the jarl made terms the other day. Now he has +bidden me meet him on the road a mile from the town as soon as it is dark, and +alone. He has somewhat secret for me to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a risk to go alone and unarmed,” I answered; “let me go home and get +your weapons, for the errand does not seem honest.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is what I think also,” said my father, “and that is why I am going to +meet him. It is a bad sign when a king has a secret to share with a thrall, and +I have a mind to find out what it is. There may be some plot against our jarl.” +</p> + +<p> +He was silent for a few minutes, as if thinking, and then he went on. +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot take arms, or he would suspect me, and would tell me nothing; but if +there is any plotting to be done whereof I must tell the jarl, it will be as +well that you should hear it.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he said that he thought it possible for me to creep very close to the +place where he was to meet Hodulf, so that I could hear all or most of what +went on, and that I might as well be armed in case of foul play, for he did not +suppose that the Norseman would think twice about cutting down a thrall who did +not please him. +</p> + +<p> +It was almost dark by this time, and therefore he must be going. I was not to +go home for arms, but to borrow from Arngeir as we passed his house. And this I +did, saying that I had an errand beyond the town and feared prowling men of the +Norse host. Which danger being a very reasonable one, Arngeir offered to go +with me; and I had some difficulty in preventing him from doing so, for he was +like an elder brother to all of us. However, I said that I had no great +distance to go, and feigned to be ashamed of myself for my fears; and he +laughed at me, and let me go my way with sword and spear and seax<a href="#fn4" +name="fnref4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> also, which last my father would take under +his fisher’s jerkin. +</p> + +<p> +I caught up my father quickly, and we went along the sands northwards until we +came to the place where we must separate. The road was but a quarter of a mile +inland from this spot, for it ran near the shore, and it was not much more than +that to the place where Hodulf would be waiting. +</p> + +<p> +“Creep as near as you can,” my father said; “but come to help only if I call. I +do not think that I am likely to do so.” +</p> + +<p> +Then we went our ways, he making straight for the road, and I turning to my +left a little. It was dark, for there was no moon now, but save that I was +soundly scratched by the brambles of the fringe of brushwood that grew all +along the low hills of the coast, there was nothing to prevent my going on +quickly, for I knew the ground well enough, by reason of yearly bird nesting. +When I reached the roadway the meeting place was yet to my left, and I could +hear my father’s footsteps coming steadily in the distance. So I skirted the +road for a little way, and then came to an open bit of heath and rising land, +beyond which I thought I should find Hodulf. Up this I ran quickly, dropping +into the heather at the top; and sure enough, in a hollow just off the road I +could dimly make out the figure of a mounted man waiting. +</p> + +<p> +Then my father came along the road past me, and I crawled among the tall +heather clumps until I was not more than twenty paces from the hollow, which +was a little below me. +</p> + +<p> +Hodulf’s horse winded me, as I think, and threw up its head snorting, and I +heard its bit rattle. But my father was close at hand, and that was lucky. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho, fisher, is that you?” he called softly. +</p> + +<p> +“I am here,” was the answer, and at once my father came into the hollow from +the road. +</p> + +<p> +“Are any folk about?” Hodulf said. +</p> + +<p> +“I have met none. Now, what is all this business?” answered my father. +</p> + +<p> +“Business that will make a free man of you for the rest of your days, and rich, +moreover, master thrall,” said Hodulf. “That is, if you do as I bid you.” +</p> + +<p> +“A thrall can do naught else than what he is bidden.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but he can do that in a way that will earn great reward, now and then; +and your reward for obedience and silence thereafter in this matter shall be +aught that you like to ask.” +</p> + +<p> +“This sounds as if I were to peril my life,” my father said. “I know naught +else that can be worth so much as that might be.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is no peril,” said Hodulf scornfully; “your skin shall not be so much as +scratched—ay, and if this is well done it will know a master’s dog whip no +more.” +</p> + +<p> +I heard my father chuckle with a thrall’s cunning laugh at this, and then he +said eagerly, “Well, master, what is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will tell you. But first will you swear as on the holy ring that of what you +shall do for me no man shall know hereafter?” +</p> + +<p> +“What I do at your bidding none shall know, and that I swear,” answered my +father slowly, as if trying to repeat the king’s words. +</p> + +<p> +“See here, then,” said Hodulf, and I heard his armour clatter as he dismounted. +</p> + +<p> +Then the footsteps of both men shuffled together for a little while, and once I +thought I heard a strange sound as of a muffled cry, at which Hodulf muttered +under his breath. I could see that they took something large from the saddle +bow, and set it on the ground, and then they spoke again. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you a heavy anchor?” asked the king. +</p> + +<p> +“A great one.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then, tie it to this sack and sink it tonight where tide will never +shift it. Then you may come to me and claim what reward you will.” +</p> + +<p> +“Freedom, and gold enough to buy a new boat—two new boats!” said my father +eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +Hodulf laughed at that, and got on his horse again. I saw his tall form lift +itself against the dim sky as he did so. +</p> + +<p> +“What is in the sack?” asked my father. +</p> + +<p> +“That is not your concern,” Hodulf answered sharply. “If you know not, then you +can tell no man, even in your sleep. Put off at once and sink it.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is in my mind,” said my father, “that I had better not look in the sack. +Where shall I find you, lord, when the thing is in the sea? For as yet I have +not heard your name.” +</p> + +<p> +I think that Hodulf had forgotten that he would have to answer this question, +or else he thought that everyone knew him, for he did not reply all at once. +</p> + +<p> +“You may ask the king for your reward,” he said, after a little thought, “for +this is his business. Now you know that it will be best for you to be secret +and sure. Not much worth will your chance of escape from torture be if this +becomes known. But you know also that the reward is certain.” +</p> + +<p> +“The king!” cried my father, with a sort of gasp of surprise. +</p> + +<p> +I could almost think that I saw him staring with mouth agape as would a silly +thrall; for so well had he taken the thrall’s part that had I not known who was +speaking all the time, I had certainly had no doubt that one was there. +</p> + +<p> +“Come to Hodulf, the king, and pray for freedom and your gold as a boon of his +goodness, saying naught else, or making what tale you will of a hard master, or +justice, so that you speak naught of what you have done, and that—and maybe +more—shall be granted.” +</p> + +<p> +“You yourself will speak for me?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am the king—and think not that the darkness will prevent my knowing your +face again,” Hodulf replied. +</p> + +<p> +There was a threat in the words, and with them he turned his horse and rode +away quickly northwards. I heard the hoofs of his men’s horses rattle on the +road as they joined him, before he had gone far. +</p> + +<p> +When the sounds died away altogether, and there was no fear of his coming back +suddenly on us, my father whistled and I joined him. He almost started to find +how near I was. +</p> + +<p> +“You have heard all, then?” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“Every word,” I answered, “and I like it not. Where is this sack he spoke of?” +</p> + +<p> +It lay at his feet. A large sack it was, and full of somewhat heavy and warm +that seemed to move a little when I put my hand on it. Still less did I like +the business as I felt that. +</p> + +<p> +“More also!” quoth my father, as if thinking of the king’s last words. “If that +does not mean a halter for my neck, I am mistaken. What have we here, son, do +you think?” +</p> + +<p> +“Somewhat that should not be here, certainly,” I answered. “There would not be +so much talk about drowning a dog, as one might think this to be.” +</p> + +<p> +“Unless it were his wife’s,” answered my father, with a laugh. +</p> + +<p> +Then he stooped, and I helped him to get the sack on his shoulders. It was +heavy, but not very—not so heavy as a young calf in a sack would be; and he +carried it easily, taking my spear to help him. +</p> + +<p> +“The thrall is even going to take this to the house of Grim the merchant, whom +the king will not know again, though he may see in the dark,” said he; “then we +shall know how we stand.” +</p> + +<p> +We met no one on our way back, for the town had gone to sleep, until the +watchman passed the time of night with us, thinking no doubt that we had fish +or goods in the burden. And when we came home a sleepy thrall opened to us, for +all were at rest save him. And he too went his way to the shed where his place +was when he had stirred the fire to a blaze and lit a torch that we might see +to eat the supper that was left for us. +</p> + +<p> +Then we were alone, and while I set Arngeir’s weapons in a corner, my father +put down the sack, and stood looking at it. It seemed to sway a little, and to +toss as it settled down. And now that there was light it was plain that the +shape of what was inside it was strangely like that of a child, doubled up with +knees to chin, as it showed through the sacking. +</p> + +<p> +“Hodulf or no Hodulf,” said my father, “I am going to see more of this.” +</p> + +<p> +With that he took a knife from the table and cut the cord that fastened the +mouth, turning back the sack quickly. +</p> + +<p> +And lo! gagged and bound hand and foot in such wise that he could not move, in +the sack was a wondrously handsome boy of about the size of Withelm; and for +all his terrible journey across the king’s saddle, and in spite of our rough +handling, his eyes were bright and fearless as he looked up at us. +</p> + +<p> +“Radbard,” said my father, “what if Hodulf had met with a thrall who had done +his bidding in truth?” +</p> + +<p> +I would not think thereof, for surely by this time there had been no light in +the eyes that seemed to me to be grateful to us. +</p> + +<p> +Now my father knelt down by the boy’s side, and began to take the lashings from +him, telling him at the same time to be silent when the gag was gone. +</p> + +<p> +And hard work enough the poor child had to keep himself from screaming when his +limbs were loosed, so cramped was he, for he had been bound almost into a ball. +And even as we rubbed and chafed the cold hands and feet he swooned with the +pain of the blood running freely once more. +</p> + +<p> +“This is a business for mother,” said my father, on that; “get your supper, and +take it to bed with you, and say naught to the boys in the morning. This is a +thing that may not be talked of.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I should have liked to stay, but my father meant what he said, and I could +be of no more use; so I took my food, and went up to the loft where we three +slept, and knew no more of what trouble that night might have for others. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03">CHAPTER III.<br/> +HAVELOK, SON OF GUNNAR.</a></h2> + +<p> +Now after I had gone, Grim, my father, tried to bring the child round, but he +could not do so; and therefore, leaving him near the fire, he went softly to +call Leva, my mother, to help him; and all the while he was wondering who the +child might be, though indeed a fear that he knew only too well was growing in +his heart, for there would surely he only one whom Hodulf could wish out of his +way. +</p> + +<p> +As he opened the door that led to the sleeping room beyond the high seat, the +light shone on Leva, and showed her sitting up in bed with wide eyes that +seemed to gaze on somewhat that was terrible, and at first he thought her +awake. But she yet slept, and so he called her gently, and she started and +woke. +</p> + +<p> +“Husband, is that you?” she said. “I had a strange dream even now which surely +portends somewhat.” +</p> + +<p> +Now, as all men know, our folk in the north are most careful in the matter of +attending to dreams, specially those that come in troubled times, holding that +often warning or good counsel comes from them. I cannot say that I have ever +had any profit in that way myself, being no dreamer at all; but it is certain +that others have, as may be seen hereafter. Wherefore my father asked Leva what +this dream might be. +</p> + +<p> +“In my dream,” she answered, “it seemed that you came into the house bearing a +sack, which you gave into my charge, saying that therein lay wealth and good +fortune for us. And I would not believe this, for you said presently that to +gain this the sack and all that was therein was to be thrown into the sea, +which seemed foolishness. Whereon I cast it into a corner in anger, and +thereout came pitiful cries and wailings. Then said I that it were ill to drown +aught that had a voice as of a child, and so you bade me leave it. Then I +seemed to sleep here; but presently in my dream I rose and looked on the sack +again, and lo! round about it shone a great light, so that all the place was +bright, and I was afraid. Then you came and opened the sack, and therein was a +wondrous child, from whose mouth came a flame, as it were the shaft of a +sunbeam, that stretched over all Denmark, and across the sea to England, +whereby I knew that this child was one who should hereafter be king of both +these lands. And on this I stared even as you woke me.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Grim was silent, for this was passing strange, and moreover it fitted with +his thought of who this child might be, since Hodulf. would make away with him +thus secretly. +</p> + +<p> +“What make you of the dream?” asked Leva, seeing that he pondered on it. +</p> + +<p> +“It is in my mind that your dream will come true altogether, for already it has +begun to do so,” he answered. “Rise and come into the hall, and I will show you +somewhat.” +</p> + +<p> +On that Leva made haste and dressed and came out, and there, lying as if in +sleep before the fire, was the wondrous child of her dream, and the sack was +under his head as he lay; and she was wont to say to those few who knew the +story, that the kingliness of that child was plain to be seen, as had been the +flame of which she had dreamed, so that all might know it, though the clothes +that he wore were such as a churl might be ashamed of. +</p> + +<p> +Then she cried out a little, but not loudly, and knelt by the child to see him +the better; and whether he had come to himself before and had dropped asleep +for very weariness, or out of his swoon had passed into sleep, I cannot say, +but at her touch he stirred a little. +</p> + +<p> +“What child is this? and how came he here?” she asked, wondering. +</p> + +<p> +“Already your dream has told you truly how he came,” Grim answered, “but who he +is I do not rightly know yet. Take him up and bathe him, wife; and if he is the +one I think him, there will be a mark whereby we may know him.” +</p> + +<p> +“How should he be marked? And why look you to find any sign thus?” +</p> + +<p> +But Grim had turned down the rough shirt and bared the child’s neck and right +shoulder, whereon were bruises that made Leva well-nigh weep as she saw them, +for it was plain that he had been evilly treated for many days before this. But +there on the white skin was the mark of the king’s line—the red four-armed +cross with bent ends which Gunnar and all his forebears had borne. +</p> + +<p> +Seeing that, Leva looked up wondering in her husband’s face, and he answered +the question that he saw written in her eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“He is as I thought—he is Havelok, the son of Gunnar, our king. Hodulf gave him +to me that I might drown him.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he told her all that had happened, and how from the first time that he had +lifted the sack and felt what was within it he had feared that this was what +was being done. Hodulf would have no rival growing up beside him, and as he +dared not slay him openly, he would have it thought that he had been stolen +away by his father’s friends, and then folk would maybe wait quietly in hopes +that he would come again when time went on. +</p> + +<p> +Now Leva bathed Havelok in the great tub, and with the warmth and comfort of +the hot water he waked and was well content, so that straightway, when he was +dressed in Withelm’s holiday clothes, which fitted him, though he was but seven +years old at this time, and Withelm was a well-grown boy enough for his ten +winters, he asked for food, and they gave him what was yet on the board; and we +lived well in Denmark. +</p> + +<p> +“There is no doubt that he hath a kingly hunger,” quoth Grim as he watched him. +</p> + +<p> +“Friend,” said Havelok, hearing this, though it was not meant for his ears, “it +is likely, seeing that this is the third day since I have had food given me. +And I thank you, good people, though I would have you know that it is the +custom to serve the king’s son kneeling.” +</p> + +<p> +“How should we know that you are the king’s son indeed?” asked Grim. +</p> + +<p> +“I am Havelok, son of Gunnar,” the boy said gravely. “Yon traitor, Hodulf, has +slain my father, and my two sisters, and driven out my mother, whither I cannot +tell, and now he would drown me.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the boy could hardly keep a brave front any longer, and he added, “Yet I +do not think that you will do to me as I heard him bid you.” +</p> + +<p> +Then came over Grim a great pity and sorrow that it should seem needful thus to +sue to him, and there grew a lump in his throat, so that for a while he might +not answer, and the boy thought him in doubt, so that in his eyes there was a +great fear. But Leva wept outright, and threw herself on her knees beside him, +putting her arms round him as he sat, speaking words of comfort. +</p> + +<p> +Then Grim knelt also, and said, “Thralls of yours are we, Havelok, son of +Gunnar, and for you shall our lives be given before Hodulf shall harm you. Nor +shall he know that you live until the day comes when you can go to him sword in +hand and helm on head, with half the men of this realm at your back, and speak +to him of what he did and what he planned, and the vengeance that shall be +therefor.” +</p> + +<p> +So Grim took on himself to be Havelok’s foster-father, and, as he ended, the +boy said with glowing eyes, “I would that I were grown up. How long shall this +be before it comes to pass?” +</p> + +<p> +And then of a sudden he said, as a tired child will, “Friends, I am sorely +weary. Let me sleep.” +</p> + +<p> +So Leva took him in her arms and laid him in their own bed; and at once he +slept, so that she left him and came back to Grim by the fireside, for there +was much to be said. +</p> + +<p> +First of all it was clear that Havelok must be hidden, and it was not to be +supposed that Hodulf would be satisfied until he had seen the thrall to whom he +had trusted such a secret come back for his reward. If he came not he would be +sought; and then he would find out to whom he had spoken, and there would be +trouble enough. +</p> + +<p> +But it seemed easy to hide Havelok on board the ship, and sail with him to +England as soon as possible. A few days might well pass before a thrall could +get to Hodulf, so that he would suspect nothing just at first. There were +merchants in England who would care for the boy well, and the two boats might +be sunk, so that the king should not ask whose they were. So when Grim came +home again the fisher would be thought of as drowned on his errand, and Hodulf +would be content. +</p> + +<p> +But then, after a little talk of this, it was plain that all the town could not +be told to say that the fisher was drowned on such a night, and Hodulf would +leave naught undone to find the truth of the matter. So the puzzle became +greater, and the one thing that was clear was that Grim was in sore danger, and +Havelok also. +</p> + +<p> +Then suddenly outside the dogs barked, and a voice which they obeyed quieted +them. Grim sprang for his axe, which hung on the wall, and went to the door, +whereon someone was knocking gently. +</p> + +<p> +“Open, uncle; it is I, Arngeir.” +</p> + +<p> +“What does the boy want at this time?” said Grim, taking down the great bar +that kept the door, axe in hand, for one must be cautious in such times as +these. +</p> + +<p> +Arngeir came in—a tall young man of twenty, handsome, and like Grim in ways, +for he was his brother’s son. +</p> + +<p> +“Lucky am I in finding you astir,” he said. “I thought I should have had to +wake you all. Are you just home from sea, or just going out?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not long home,” answered Leva; “but what has brought you?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have a guest for you, if I may bring one here at this hour.” +</p> + +<p> +“A friend of yours never comes at the wrong time,” Grim said. “Why not bring +him in?” +</p> + +<p> +“If it were a friend of mine and a man he would do well enough at my house for +the night,” said Arngeir, smiling; “but the one for whom I have come is a lady, +and, I think, one in sore trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who is she?” asked my mother, wondering much. +</p> + +<p> +“From the king’s town, certainly,” answered Arngeir, “but I do not know her +name. Truth to tell, I forgot to ask it, for she is sorely spent; and so I made +haste to come to you.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Leva would know how a lady came at this time to Arngeir’s house, for he +was alone, save for his four men, being an orphan without other kin beside us, +and his house was close to our shipyard and the sea. +</p> + +<p> +“She came not to me, but I found her,” he replied. “My horse is sick, and I +must get up an hour ago and see to it for the second time tonight. Then as I +came from the stable I saw someone go towards the shipyard, and, as I thought, +into the open warehouse. It was dark, and I could not tell then if this was man +or woman; but I knew that no one had business there, and there are a few things +that a thief might pick up. So I took an axe and one of the dogs, and went to +see what was on hand, but at first there was naught to be found of anyone. If +it had not been for the dog, I think that I should have gone away, but he went +into the corner where the bales of wool are set, and there he whined strangely, +and when I looked, there was this lady on the bales, and she was weeping and +sore afraid. So I asked her what was amiss, and it was not easy to get an +answer at first. But at last she told me that she had escaped from the burning +of the king’s town, and would fain be taken across the sea into some place of +peace. So I cheered her by saying that you would surely help her; and then I +took her to my house and came to you. Worn and rent are her garments, but one +may see that they have been rich, and I deem her some great lady.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go and bring her here, husband,” said my mother, on hearing that. +</p> + +<p> +But he was already going, and at once he and Arngeir went out and down the +street. There were many other ladies and their children who had taken refuge +here with the townsfolk after the burning, and the coming of this one was but +another count in the long tale of trouble that began on the Welsh shore with +the ways of Gunnar, the church’s bane. +</p> + +<p> +My father was long gone, and the day was breaking when he came back. My mother +slept in the great chair before the fire, for waiting had wearied her, but she +woke as she heard Grim’s footstep, and unbarred the door to him, ready to +welcome the guest that she looked for. But he was alone, and on his face was +the mark of some new trouble, and that a great one. +</p> + +<p> +He came in and barred the door after him, and then sat down wearily and ate for +the first time since we had had our meal at sea; and while he did so Leva asked +him nothing, wondering what was wrong, but knowing that she would hear in good +time. And when he had eaten well he spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“The lady is Eleyn the queen. She has been wandering for these many days from +place to place, sometimes in the woods, and sometimes in hiding in the cottages +of the poor folk, always with a fear of staying in one place, lest Hodulf +should find her, for it is known that he is seeking her. Then at last one told +her of my ship, and she is here to seek me.” +</p> + +<p> +Now one may know what the wonder and pity of my mother was, and she would fain +have gone to her. But Grim had left her at Arngeir’s house, for folk were +stirring in the town, and there were many who would know the queen if they saw +her. +</p> + +<p> +“It will soon be known that Arngeir has a guest,” my mother said, “whereas none +would have wondered had she been here.” +</p> + +<p> +“By this time tomorrow it will not matter if Hodulf knows,” answered Grim, “for +she will be safe.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where will you hide her then and what of Havelok?” +</p> + +<p> +“For those two there is no safety but across the sea, and they are the most +precious cargo that I shall ever have carried. Already Arngeir and the men are +at work on the ship, getting the rollers under her keel, that she may take the +water with the next tide. I shall sail with the tide that comes with the +darkness again, saying that I shall find cargo elsewhere in other ports, as I +have done once before.” +</p> + +<p> +“I had not looked to say farewell to you quite so soon,” my mother said; “but +this is right. Now I will have all things ready, that the queen shall be in +what comfort she may on the voyage. But it will be well that none shall know, +even of your seamen, who the passengers are, else will word go to Hodulf in +some way hereafter that Havelok has escaped.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have thought of that,” answered Grim. “It will be best that none, not even +Radbard, shall know who this is whom we have in the house. A chance word goes +far sometimes.” +</p> + +<p> +“The boy will tell his name.” +</p> + +<p> +“There are many who are named after him, and that is no matter. Do you speak to +him, for it is plain that he has sense enough, and bid him say naught but that +he and his mother have escaped from the town, and, if you will, that he escaped +in the sack. I will speak to Radbard, and there will be no trouble. Only +Arngeir must know the truth, and that not until we are on the high seas +perhaps.” +</p> + +<p> +So there seemed to be no more fear, and in an hour the house was astir, and +there was work enough for all in preparing for the voyage. As for me, I went +down to the ship with my father, and worked there. +</p> + +<p> +Now, I will say that not for many a long year did I know who this +foster-brother of mine was. It was enough for me to be told that he was the son +of some great man or other with whom Hodulf had a private feud. Nor did I ever +speak of that night’s work to any, for my father bade me not to do so. +Presently I knew, of course, that the lady was Havelok’s mother; but that told +me nothing, for I never heard her name. +</p> + +<p> +We worked at the ship for three hours or so, stowing the bales of wool and the +other little cargo we had; and then my father sent me to the fishing-boats for +a pair of oars belonging to the ship’s boat that were there, and, as it fell +out, it was a good thing that I and not one of the men went. When I came to the +place where they were drawn up on the beach, as we had left them last night, +there was a stranger talking to some of the fisher folk, who were working at +their nets not far off; and though another might have paid no heed to this, I, +with the remembrance of last night fresh in my mind, wondered if he was by any +chance there on an errand from Hodulf. I thought that, were I he, I should +surely send someone to know, at least, if the fisher went out last night after +I had spoken with him. So I loitered about until the man went away, which he +did slowly, passing close to me, and looking at the boats carefully, as if he +would remember them. Then I went and asked the men to whom he had been speaking +what he wanted. They said that they wondered that he had not spoken to me, for +he had been asking about my father and of his ship, and if he took any +passenger with him this voyage. It would seem that he wanted to sail with us, +from all he said. +</p> + +<p> +Certainly he had begun by asking whose boats these were, and wondered that a +merchant should go fishing at all, when there was no need for him to do so. +Also he had asked if Grim had been out last night, and they had of course told +him that he had not, for neither boat had been shifted from the berth she had +been given when we came in at dusk. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah,” he had said, “well did I wot that your merchant would do no night work,” +and so made a jest of the matter, saying that in his country it were below the +state of a merchant to have aught to do with a thrall’s work. He was certainly +a Norseman, and they thought that I should find him with my father. Now I +thought otherwise, and also I saw that all was known. This man was a spy of +Hodulf’s, and would go straight back to his master. My father must hear of this +at once; and I hurried back to the ship, and took him aside and told him. And +as I did so his face grew grey under the tan that sea and wind had given it, +and I knew not altogether why. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell Arngeir to come to me,” he said; “I am going to the jarl. Tell no one, +but go home and say to mother that I shall be with her in an hour. Then come +back and work here.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he and Arngeir went to Sigurd, and told him all from the beginning. And +when the jarl heard, he was glad for the safety of the queen and of Havelok, +but he said that there was no doubt that Denmark was no place for Grim any +longer. +</p> + +<p> +“That is my thought also,” said my father; “but now am I Havelok’s +foster-father, and for him I can make a home across the sea, where I will train +him up for the time that shall surely come, when he shall return and take his +father’s kingdom.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is well,” the jarl said, “but you have little time. What Hodulf will do +one cannot say, but he may come here with his men behind him to force me to +give you up, and the town will be searched for Havelok, and both he and the +queen will be lost.” +</p> + +<p> +“If that is so,” my father answered, “we have time enough. Two hours for the +spy to reach his master; one hour for Hodulf to hear him, and to bethink +himself; an hour for gathering his men; and four hours, at the least, in which +to get here. Eight hours, at the least, have we, and the tide serves in six. I +had thought of waiting till dark, but that is of no use now. We may as well go, +for there are true men here, who will wait to welcome him who flies when he +comes again.” +</p> + +<p> +“This is a sore wrench for you and yours, good friend and faithful,” Sigurd +said, “but it must be. Nevertheless I can make your loss as little as it may +be. You shall sell all that is yours to me at your own price, that you may have +the means to make a new home well, wherever you may choose.” +</p> + +<p> +At first my father would not have that, saying that there would be much trouble +on his account presently. +</p> + +<p> +But Sigurd said that, first, the trouble was not of his making at all; and +next, that if Hodulf plundered the place, it was as well to send away as much +as possible beforehand; and lastly—and this was what touched my father +most—that he must think of his charge. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, old friend, you are giving up all for Havelok, as would I. And am I to +have no share in the training of him for the days to come?” +</p> + +<p> +Therewith he waited for no more words, but went to his great chest, and took +thereout chain after chain of linked gold rings, and put them in a canvas bag, +without weighing or counting them, and gave them to Grim. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, here is enough to buy half the town!” my father said. +</p> + +<p> +“What of that? The town is Havelok’s by right, and maybe you can buy him a +village across seas with it. But give me a full quittance for my purchase of +your goods and cattle and house, that I may have right to them.” +</p> + +<p> +That Grim did at once, before witnesses who were called in, none wondering that +he chose thus to secure his property while he was away, because Hodulf might +make demands on it. They did not know that any money changed hands, and thought +it formal only, and a wise thing to be done. +</p> + +<p> +After that Grim and Arngeir took leave of the jarl, thanking him, and they went +to our house. +</p> + +<p> +There waited my mother anxiously enough, for she knew from my message that +there was somewhat new to be told, or my father had not left the ship. Nor do I +think that what was to be done was altogether a surprise to her, for she had +thought much, and knew the dangers that might crop up. So, being very brave, +she strove to make light of the trouble that leaving her home cost her, and set +about gathering the few things that she could take. +</p> + +<p> +Now on the hearth sat Withelm, tending the fire, and he heard presently that we +were all to go to sea; and that pleased him well, for he had ever longed to +sail with his father. As for Havelok, he had waked once, and had well eaten, +and now was sleeping again. +</p> + +<p> +Then said Withelm, “When will the sacrifice to Aegir and Ran<a href="#fn5" +name="fnref5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> for luck on the swan’s path be?” +</p> + +<p> +“Scant time have we for that,” my father said, “for tide will not wait.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” said the boy, “it were well to take the stone altar with us, and make +sacrifice on board. I have heard that Aegir is wrathful and strong.” +</p> + +<p> +Then my father said to Leva, “The boy is right in one thing, and that is, that +if we are to make a new home beyond the sea, the blue stones that have belonged +to our family since time untold should go with us, else will there be no luck +in this flitting.” +</p> + +<p> +“What matter?” +</p> + +<p> +“West they came with us in the days of Odin, and west they shall go with us +once more,” my father said. +</p> + +<p> +And there was an end of question on the matter, for presently Arngeir came up +with the team of oxen and a sled, and my father hastily cried to Thor as in +time of sudden war, and then on the sled they loaded the stones easily. I +helped, and it is certain that they were no trouble to uproot or lift, though +they were bedded in the ground and heavy. Wherefrom we all thought that the +flitting was by the will of the Norns, and likely to turn out well. +</p> + +<p> +But in no way could we lift Thor himself. It was as if he were rooted, and +maybe he was so. Therefore we left him, but sadly. +</p> + +<p> +One may suppose that, had any noticed that Grim was taking these sacred things +with him, there would have been a talk; but as we sailed light, none thought +them aught but needed ballast; and we brought other stones to the ship with +them and afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +Of course folk did wonder at this sudden sailing of ours, but my father made no +secret of his wish to get out of the way of Hodulf, who had taken the ships of +one or two other men elsewhere, so that all thought he feared that his would be +the next to be seized, and deemed him prudent in going. As for our own crew, +they were told that it was certain that the ship would be taken unless we went +on this tide, and so they worked well. +</p> + +<p> +Very early in the morning, and unseen, Arngeir had brought Eleyn, the queen, on +board, and she was in the cabin under the raised after deck all the while that +the bustle of making ready was going on. Only my father went in there at any +time, unless he gave the key to one of us, for there he kept his valuables and +the arms. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, when all the men were forward and busy, I got Havelok on board +unnoticed. We had kept Withelm running to and fro from ship to house with +little burdens all the morning, mightily busy; and then, when the chance came, +Havelok in Withelm’s clothes, and with a bundle on his head, came running to +me. I waited by the after cabin, and I opened the door quickly and let him in. +Then he saw his mother; and how those two met, who had thought each other lost +beyond finding, I will not try to say. +</p> + +<p> +I closed the door softly and left them, locking it again, and found Withelm +close to me, and Arngeir watching to see that all went well. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after that there came a Norseman, dressed as a merchant, who talked with +my father of goods, and lading, and whither he was bound, and the like. When he +went away, he thought that he had found out that we were for the Texel, but I +do not know that he was from Hodulf. There had been time for him to send a spy +in haste, however, if he wished to watch us; but at any rate this man heard +naught of our charges. +</p> + +<p> +Then, at the last moment, my mother and the children came on board, and at once +we hauled out of the harbour. I mind that an old woman ran along the wharf when +she found that all were going, and cried that Dame Leva had not paid for +certain fowls bought of her; and my father laughed in lightness of heart, and +threw her a silver penny, so that she let us go with a blessing. And after that +it did not matter what the people thought of this going of ours, for in an hour +we were far at sea with a fair wind on the quarter, heading south at first, +that the Norseman might see us, but when the land was dim astern, and there was +no more fear, bearing away south and west for the Humber in far-off England. +</p> + +<p> +Now that was the last I saw of Denmark for many a long year, and I knew it must +be so. But, as I have told, none but my father and mother, and now Arngeir, +knew all that we were carrying with us. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04">CHAPTER IV.<br/> +ACROSS THE SWAN’S PATH.</a></h2> + +<p> +All that night, and during the morning of the next day, we sailed steadily with +a fresh northwest breeze that bade fair to strengthen by-and-by. If it held, we +should see the cliffs of Northumbria on our bow tomorrow morning, and then +would run down the coast to the Humber, where my father meant to put in first. +He thought to leave the queen and Havelok with merchants whom he knew in +Lindsey, and with them would stay my mother and the little ones while he made a +trading voyage elsewhere. There would be time enough to find out the best place +in which to make a home when the autumn came, and after he had been to an +English port or two that he did not know yet. +</p> + +<p> +When half the morning was past, the sun shone out warmly, and all came on deck +from the after cabin, where the ladies and children were. Our men knew by this +time that we had passengers, flying like ourselves from Hodulf, and therefore +they were not at all surprised to see Havelok and his mother with their +mistress. None of them had ever seen either of them before, as it happened, +though I do not think that any could have recognized the queen as she was then, +wan and worn with the terror of her long hiding. Very silent was she as she sat +on deck gazing ever at the long white wake of the ship that seemed to stretch +for a little way towards Denmark, only to fade away as a track over which one +may never go back. And silent, too, was my mother; but the children, who had no +care, were pleased with all things, and Raven and I were full of the ways of +old seamen. +</p> + +<p> +So everything went quietly until after we had our midday meal. We were all +amidships on the wide deck, except my father and Arngeir, who sat side by side +on the steersman’s bench on the high poop. There was no spray coming on board, +for we were running, and the ship was very steady. Raven and I were forward +with the men, busy with the many little things yet to be done to the rigging +and such like that had been left in the haste at last, and there was no thought +but that this quiet, save for some shift of wind maybe, would last until we saw +the English shore. +</p> + +<p> +Now I do not know if my father had seen aught from the after deck, but +presently he came forward, and passed up the steps to the forecastle, and there +sat down on the weather rail, looking out to leeward for some time quietly. I +thought that maybe he had sighted some of the high land on the Scots coast, for +it was clear enough to see very far, and so I went to see also. But there was +nothing, and we talked of this and that for ten minutes, when he said, “Look +and see if you can catch sight of aught on the skyline just aft of the fore +stay as you sit.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked long, and presently caught sight of something white that showed for a +moment as we heaved up on a wave, and then was gone. +</p> + +<p> +“Somewhat I saw,” I said, “but it has gone. It might have been the top of a +sail.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I caught a glimpse of it again, and my father saw it also, and, as we +watched, it hove up slowly until it was plain to be seen. The vessel it +belonged to was sailing in such a way as to cross our course in the end, though +she was only a few points nearer the wind than we were. It seemed that she was +swifter than ourselves, too, from the way she kept her place on our bow. Now a +merchant must needs look on every sail with more or less distrust, as there is +always a chance of meeting with ship-plundering Vikings, though the best of +them will do naught but take toll from a trader on the high seas. So before +long all our men were watching the stranger, and soon it was plain that she was +a longship, fresh from her winter quarters. We thought, therefore, that she was +not likely to trouble about us, having no need of stores as yet, and we being +plainly in ballast only. Nor did she alter her course in any way, but mile +after mile she sailed with us, always edging up nearer as she went, until at +last we could see the men on her bows and the helmsman at his place. +</p> + +<p> +I thought that one could hardly see a more handsome ship than she was, fresh +with new paint, and with her dragon head shining golden in the sun. But I had +seen her before, and that in no pleasant way. She was the ship of which I have +already spoken—that which we beat off two years ago, taking their cargo of +plunder by way of amends for being attacked. +</p> + +<p> +There was this difference, however, at that time, that then we had all our men +on board, and the Viking was short-handed after a fighting raid, whereas now we +had but fifteen men instead of five-and-twenty, because in the hurry we had not +had time to summon any who lived beyond the town, and it was plain that the +Viking had a full crew, maybe of sixty men. +</p> + +<p> +“It is in my mind,” my father said to Arngeir, “that our old foe will think +twice before he attacks us again; but seeing whom we have to deal with, it is +as well to be ready. We might keep him off with arrows, if he does not find out +how few we are, should he make an attempt on us; but if he boards, we must +submit, and make the best bargain we can.” +</p> + +<p> +So he passed word that the men were to lie down on deck, leaving only a few to +be seen, that the Viking might think us as he had known us before; and then the +arms-chests were opened, and the bows and throwing weapons were set to hand by +us boys while the men armed themselves. +</p> + +<p> +Then my father spoke to them, saying, “I do not know if this Viking will pass +us by as too hard a nut to crack, seeing that he knows of us already; but if he +does not, it will be of no use our trying to fight him, as you can see. I would +not waste your lives for naught. But it may be that a show of force will keep +him off, so we will wait under arms until we are sure what he will do.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the men broke out, saying that they had beaten this man before with him as +leader, and they were in no mind to give up without a fight. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then,” my father answered, “it is plain that you will back me, and so I +will call on you if there is need or chance. But we have the women folk to +think of now, and we must not risk aught.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the longship held on her course steadily, never shifting her helm for so +much as a point. In half an hour or so we must be alongside one another, at +this rate, and that Arngeir did not altogether like the look of, for it would +seem as if she meant to find out all about us at least. There was some little +sea running, and it might be thought easier to board us on the lee side, +therefore. We could not get away from her in any way, for even now, while she +was closer hauled than we, she kept pace with us, and had she paid off to the +same course as ourselves, she would have left us astern in a very short time. +</p> + +<p> +Presently a man swarmed up her rigging in order to look down on our decks, and +as he went up, my father bade our men crawl over to windward, so that he should +see all one gunwale lined with men, and so think that both were, and deem that +we were setting a trap for them in order to entice them alongside by pretending +to be hardly manned. At the same time, he sent the ladies and children into the +cabin, so that they might not be seen. +</p> + +<p> +That did not please Havelok at all, for he seemed to scent a fight in the air, +and wanted weapons, that he might stand beside the other men, asking for an axe +for choice. It was all that I could do to quiet him by saying that if there was +any need of him I would call him, but that just now we thought the Vikings +would go away if they saw many warriors on deck. Which indeed was all that we +hoped, but he thought that would spoil sport, and so hastened into the shelter. +</p> + +<p> +After that there fell a silence on us, for at any moment now we might be hailed +by the other ship. And when we were but a bow shot apart the hail came. The two +vessels were then broadside on to each other, we a little ahead, if anything. +My father was steering now, fully armed, and Arngeir was beside him with +myself. I had the big shield wherewith one guards the helmsman if arrows are +flying. +</p> + +<p> +The Viking bade us strike sail, and let him come alongside, but my father made +no answer. Still we held on, and the Viking paid off a little, as though he +were not so sure if it were wise to fall on us, as we showed no fear of him. +</p> + +<p> +Then my father spoke to Arngeir in a stern voice that I had heard only when we +met this same ship before. +</p> + +<p> +“This will not last long. If there is one chance for us, it is to run him down +and it may be done. Our ship will stand the blow, for these longships are but +eggshells beside her. Pass the word for the men to shoot the steersman when I +give the word. Then they must run forward, lest the Vikings climb over the bows +as we strike her.” +</p> + +<p> +Arngeir’s eyes flashed at that, and at once he went to the men, and there was a +click and rattle as the arrows went to string, and they gathered themselves +together in readiness to leap up when the word came. There seemed every chance +that we should be upon the longship before they knew what we were about, for we +had the weather gauge. +</p> + +<p> +Now the Viking hailed again, and again bore up for us a little, whereat my +father smiled grimly, for it helped his plan. And this time, as there was no +answer, his men sent an arrow or two on board, which did no harm. +</p> + +<p> +“It is plain that we are to be taken,” my father said on that, “so we will wait +no longer. Stand by, men, and one lucky shot will do all. Shoot!” +</p> + +<p> +The helm went up as he spoke, and the men leaped to their feet, raining arrows +round the two men who were at the helm, and down on the Viking we swept with a +great cheer. +</p> + +<p> +But in a moment there were four men on her after deck, and whether the first +helmsman was shot I cannot say; but I think not, for quickly as we had borne +down on her she was ready, rushing away from us, instead of luffing helplessly, +as we had expected. It would almost have seemed that our move had been looked +for. +</p> + +<p> +Ten more minutes passed while we exchanged arrow flights, and then the longship +had so gained on us that she struck sail and waited for us with her long oars +run out and ready. +</p> + +<p> +“That is all we can do,” said my father, with a sort of groan. “Put up your +weapons, men, for it is no good fighting now.” +</p> + +<p> +They did so, growling; and as we neared the longship, her oars took the water, +and she flew alongside of us, and a grappling hook flung deftly from her bows +caught our after gunwale, and at once she dropped astern, and swung to its +chain as to a tow line. We were not so much as bidden to strike sail now, and +the Vikings began to crowd forward in order to board us by the stern, as the +grappling chain was hove short by their windlass. +</p> + +<p> +“Hold on,” my father cried to them “we give up. Where is your chief?” +</p> + +<p> +Now the men were making way for him when a strange thing happened. Out of the +after cabin ran Havelok when he heard that word, crying that it was not the +part of good warriors to give up while they could wield sword—words that surely +he had learned from Gunnar, his father. And after him came his mother, silent, +and terrified lest he should be harmed. +</p> + +<p> +Havelok ran up the steps to my father, and the queen followed. I have said that +there was a little sea running, and this made the ships jerk and strain at the +chain that held them together fiercely, now that it was so short. And even as +the queen came to the top step, where there was no rail, for the steps were not +amidships, but alongside the gunwale, one of these jerks came; and in a moment +she was in the sea, and in a moment also Arngeir was after her, for he was a +fine swimmer. +</p> + +<p> +The Vikings cried out as they saw this, but the poor queen said no word, nor +did she ever rise again after the first time. It is likely that she was drawn +under the longship at once. +</p> + +<p> +So for a little while there was no talk of terms or fighting, but all held +their breath as they watched to see if the queen floated alongside anywhere; +but there was only Arngeir, who swam under the lee of the Viking, and called to +her men for guidance. They threw him a rope’s end as he came to the stern, and +he clung to it for a little while, hoping to see the flash of a white hood that +the queen wore, over the white wave crests: but at last he gave up, and the +Vikings hauled him on board, praising him for his swimming, as he had on his +mail. +</p> + +<p> +Then the chief turned to my father, and spoke to him across the few fathoms of +water that were between the ships. +</p> + +<p> +“We meet again, Grim, as time comes round; and now I have a mind to let you go, +though I have that old grudge against you, for I think that your wife is loss +enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not my wife, Arnvid, but a passenger—one whom I would not have lost for all +that you can take from me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I am glad it is no worse. But it seems that you are in ballast. How +comes it that you have no cargo for me, for you owe me one?” +</p> + +<p> +Then my father told him shortly that he had fled from Hodulf; and all those +doings were news to the Viking, so that they talked in friendly wise, while the +men listened, and the ships crept on together down the wind. +</p> + +<p> +But when all was told, save of the matter of Havelok, and who the lost lady +was, the Viking laughed shortly, and said, “Pleasant gossip, Grim, but not +business. What will you give us to go away in peace? I do not forget that you +all but ran us down just now, and that one or two of us have arrows sticking in +us which came from your ship. But that first was a good bit of seamanship, and +there is not much harm from the last.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said my father, “it seems to me that you owe me a ship, for it is +certain that I once had that one, and gave her back to you.” +</p> + +<p> +The Viking laughed. +</p> + +<p> +“True enough, and therefore I give you back your ship now, and we are quits. +But I am coming on board to see what property I can lift.” +</p> + +<p> +My father shrugged his shoulders, and turned away, and at once the Vikings +hauled on the chain until their dragon head was against our quarter, when the +chief and some twenty of his men came on board. The way in which they took off +the hatches without staying to question where they should begin told a tale of +many a like plundering. +</p> + +<p> +Then, I do not know how it was rightly, for I was aft with my father, there +began a quarrel between the Vikings and our men; and though both Grim and the +chief tried to stop it, five of our few were slain outright, and three more +badly hurt before it was ended. The rest of our crew took refuge on the fore +deck, and there bided after that. The whole fray was over in a few minutes, and +it seemed that the Vikings half expected somewhat of the sort. +</p> + +<p> +Then they took all the linen and woollen goods, and our spare sails, and all +the arms and armour from the men and from the chests to their own ship. Only +they left my father and Arngeir their war gear, saying that it were a shame to +disarm two brave men. +</p> + +<p> +Then the chief said, “Little cargo have you, friend Grim, and therefore I am +the more sure that you have store of money with you. Even flight from Hodulf +would not prevent you from taking that wherewith to trade. So I must have it; +and it rests with you whether we tear your ship to splinters in hunting for +your hiding place or not.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose there is no help for it, but I will say that the most of what I have +is not mine,” said my father. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, what matter? When one gives gold into the hands of a seafarer, one has to +reckon with such chances as this. You must needs hand it over.” +</p> + +<p> +So, as there was naught else to do, Grim brought out the jarl’s heavy bag, and +gave it to the chief, who whistled to himself as he hefted it. +</p> + +<p> +“Grim,” he said, “for half this I would have let you go without sending a man +on board. What is this foolishness? You must have known that.” +</p> + +<p> +“The gold is not mine,” my father answered; “it was my hope that you would have +been content with the cargo.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I have met with an honest man for once,” the Viking said; and he called +his men, and they cast off and left us. +</p> + +<p> +But we were in no happy plight when he had gone away to the eastward on his old +course. Half our men were gone, for the wounded were of no use, and the loss of +the queen weighed heavily on us. And before long it began to blow hard from the +north, and we had to shorten sail before there was real need, lest it should be +too much for us few presently, as it certainly would have been by the time that +darkness fell, for the gale strengthened. +</p> + +<p> +Then, added to all this, there was trouble in the cabin under the after deck, +for since his mother was lost, Havelok had spoken no word. I had brought him +down to my mother from the deck, and had left him with her, hoping that he did +not know what had happened; but now he was in a high fever, and sorely ill. +Perhaps he would have been so in any case, after the long days of Hodulf’s +cruelty, but he had borne them well. A child is apt, however, to give up, as it +were, suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +So, burdened with trouble, we drove before the gale, and the only pleasant +thing was to see how the good ship behaved in it, while at least we were on our +course all the time. Therefore, one could not say that there was any danger; +and but for these other things, none would have thought much of wind or sea, +which were no worse than we had weathered many a time before. We had sea room, +and no lee shore to fear, and the ship was stanch, and no sailor can ask for +more than that. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05">CHAPTER V.<br/> +STORM AND SHIPWRECK.</a></h2> + +<p> +The gale held without much change through the night, and then with morning +shifted a few points to the westward, which was nothing to complain of. The sea +rose, and a few rain squalls came up and passed; but they had no weight in +them, and did not keep the waves down as a steady fall will. And all day long +it was the same, and the ship fled ever before it. There was no thought now of +reaching any port we might wish, but least of all did we think of making the +Lindsey shore, which lies open to the north and east. When the gale broke, we +must find harbour where we could; and indeed; to my father at this time all +ports were alike, as refuge from Hodulf. When darkness came again one of the +wounded men died, and Havelok was yet ill in the after cabin, so that my mother +was most anxious for him. The plunging ship was no place for a sick child. +</p> + +<p> +Now it was not possible for us to tell how far we had run since we had parted +from the Viking, and all we knew was that we had no shore to fear with the wind +as it was, and therefore nothing but patience was needed. But in the night came +a sudden lull in the gale that told of a change at hand, and in half an hour it +was blowing harder than ever from the northeast, and setting us down to the +English coast fast, for we could do naught but run before such a wind. It +thickened up also, and was very dark even until full sunrise, so that one could +hardly tell when the sun was above the sea’s rim. +</p> + +<p> +I crept from the fore cabin about this time, after trying in vain to sleep, and +found the men sheltering under the break of the deck and looking always to +leeward. Two of them were at the steering oar with my father, for Arngeir was +worn out, and I had left him in the cabin, sleeping heavily in spite of the +noise of waves and straining planking. Maybe he would have waked in a moment +had that turmoil ceased. +</p> + +<p> +It was of no use trying to speak to the men without shouting in their ears, and +getting to windward to do that, moreover, and so I looked round to see if there +was any change coming. But all was grey overhead, and a grey wall of rain and +flying drift from the wave tops was all round us, blotting out all things that +were half a mile from us, if there were anything to be blotted out. It always +seems as if there must be somewhat beyond a thickness of any sort at sea. But +there was one thing that I did notice, and that was that the sea was no longer +grey, as it had been yesterday, but was browner against the cold sky, while the +foam of the following wave crests was surely not so white as it had been, and +at this I wondered. +</p> + +<p> +Then I crawled aft and went to my father and asked him what he thought of the +wind and the chance of its dropping. He had had the lead going for long now. +</p> + +<p> +“We are right off the Humber mouth, to judge by the colour of the water,” he +told me, “or else off the Wash, which is more to the south. I cannot tell which +rightly, for we have run far, and maybe faster than I know. If only one could +see—” +</p> + +<p> +There he stopped, and I knew enough to understand that we were in some peril +unless a shift of wind came very soon, since the shore was under our lee now, +if by good luck we were not carried straight into the great river itself. So +for an hour or more I watched, and all the time it seemed that hope grew less, +for the sea grew shorter, as if against tide, and ever its colour was browner +with the mud of the Trent and her sisters. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, as I clung to the rail, there seemed to grow a new sound over and +amid all those to which I had become used—as it were a low roaring that swelled +up in the lulls, and sank and rose again. And I knew what it was, and held up +my hand to my father, listening, and he heard also. It was the thunder of +breakers on a sandy coast to leeward. +</p> + +<p> +He put his whistle to his lips and called shrilly, and the men saw him if they +could not hear, and sprang up, clawing aft through the water that flooded the +waist along the rail. +</p> + +<p> +“Breakers to leeward, men,” he cried “we must wear ship, and then shall clear +them. We shall be standing right into Humber after that, as I think.” +</p> + +<p> +Arngeir heard the men trampling, if not the whistle, and he was with us +directly, and heard what was to be done. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a chance if the yard stands it,” he said, looking aloft. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, but we cannot chance going about in this sea, and we are too short of men +to lower and hoist again. Listen!” +</p> + +<p> +Arngeir did so, and heard for the first time the growing anger of the surf on +the shore, and had no more doubt. We were then running with the wind on the +port quarter, and it was useless to haul closer to the wind on that tack, +whereas if we could wear safely we should be leaving the shore at once by a +little closer sailing. +</p> + +<p> +“Ran is spreading her nets,” said Arngeir, “but if all holds, she will have no +luck with her fishing.”<a href="#fn6" name="fnref6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Then we manned the main sheet and the guys from the great yards, but we were +all too few for the task, which needed every man of the fifteen that we had +sailed with. There was the back stay to be set up afresh on the weather quarter +for the new tack also, and three men must see to that. +</p> + +<p> +We watched my father’s hand for the word, and steadily sheeted home until all +seemed to be going well. But the next moment there was a crash and a cry, and +we were a mastless wreck, drifting helplessly. Maybe some flaw of wind took us +as the head of the great sail went over, but its power was too much for the men +at guys and back stay, and they had the tackle torn through their hands. The +mast snapped six feet above the deck, smashing the gunwales as it fell forward +and overboard, but hurting none of us. +</p> + +<p> +Then a following sea or two broke over the stern, and I was washed from the +poop, for I had been at the sheet, down to the deck, and there saved myself +among the fallen rigging, half drowned. One of the men was washed overboard at +the same time, but a bight of the rigging that was over the side caught him +under the chin, and his mates hauled him on board again by the head, as it +were. He was wont to make a jest of it afterward, saying that he was not likely +to be hanged twice, but he had a wry neck from that day forward. +</p> + +<p> +No more seas came over us, for the wreck over the bows brought us head to wind, +though we shipped a lot of water across the decks as she rolled in the sea. +Then we rode to the drag of the fallen sail for a time, and it seemed quiet now +that there was no noise of wind screaming in rigging above us. But all the +while the thunder of the breakers grew nearer and plainer. +</p> + +<p> +I bided where I was, for the breath was knocked out of me for the moment. I saw +my father lash the helm, and then he and the rest got the two axes that hung by +the cabin door, and came forward with them. The mast was pounding our side in a +way that would start the planking before long, and it must be cut adrift, and +by that time I could join him. +</p> + +<p> +When that was done, and it did not take long, we cleared the anchor and cable +and let go, for it was time. The sound of the surf was drowning all else. But +the anchor held, and the danger was over for the while, and as one might think +altogether; but the tide was running against the gale, and what might happen +when it turned was another matter. +</p> + +<p> +Now we got the sail on deck again, and unlaced it from the yard, setting that +in place with some sort of rigging, ready to be stepped as a mast if the wind +shifted to any point that might help us off shore. +</p> + +<p> +It may be thought how we watched that one cable that held us from the waves and +the place where they broke, for therein lay our only chance, and we longed for +the clear light that comes after rain, that we might see the worst, at least, +if we were to feel it. But the anchor held, and presently we lost the feeling +of a coming terror that had been over us, the utmost peril being past. My +father went to the after cabin now, and though the poor children were bruised +with the heavy rolling of the ship as she came into the wind, they were all +well save Havelok, and he had fallen asleep in my mother’s arms at last. +</p> + +<p> +With the turn of the tide, which came about three hours after midday, the +clouds broke, and slowly the land grew out of the mists until we could see it +plainly, though it was hardly higher than the sea that broke over it in +whirling masses of spindrift. By-and-by we could see far-off hills beyond +wide-stretching marshlands that looked green and rich across yellow sandhills +that fringed the shore. And from them we were not a mile, and at their feet +were such breakers as no ship might win through, though, if we might wait until +they were at rest, the level sand was good for beaching at the neap tides. For +we were well into Humber mouth, and to the northward of us, across the yellow +water, was the long point of Spurn, and the ancient port of Ravenspur, with its +Roman jetties falling into decay under the careless hand of the Saxon, under +its shelter. There was no port on this southern side of the Humber, though +farther south was Tetney Haven and again Saltfleet, to which my father had +been, but neither in nor out of them might a vessel get in a northeast gale. +</p> + +<p> +I have said that this clearness came with the turn of the tide, and now that +began to flow strongly, setting in with the wind with more than its wonted +force, for the northwest shift of the gale had kept it from falling, as it +always will on this coast. That, of course, I learned later, but it makes plain +what happened next. Our anchor began to drag with the weight of both tide and +wind, and that was the uttermost of our dread. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly it tore through its holding, and as it were step by step at first, and +once we thought it stopped when we had paid out all the cable. But wind and sea +were too strong, and presently again we saw the shore marks shifting, and we +knew that there was no hope. The ship must touch the ground sooner or later, +and then the end would come with one last struggle in the surf, and on shore +was no man whose hand might be stretched to drag a spent man to the land, if he +won through. It would have seemed less lonely had one watched us, but I did not +know then that no pity for the wrecked need be looked for from the marshmen of +the Lindsey shore. There was not so much as a fisher’s boat of wicker and skins +in sight on the sandhills, where one might have looked to see some drawn up. +</p> + +<p> +Now my father went to the cabin and told my mother that things were at their +worst, and she was very brave. +</p> + +<p> +“If you are to die at this time, husband,” she said, “it is good that I shall +die with you. Better it is, as I think, than a sickness that comes to one and +leaves the other. But after that you will go to the place of Odin, to Valhalla; +but I whither?” +</p> + +<p> +Then spoke little Withelm, ever thoughtful, and now not at all afraid. +</p> + +<p> +“If Freya wants not a sailor’s wife who is willing to fight the waves with +Grim, my father, it will be strange.” +</p> + +<p> +My mother was wont to say that this saying of the child’s did much to cheer her +at that time, but there is little place for a woman in the old faiths. So she +smiled at him, and that made him bold to speak of what he had surely been +thinking since the storm began. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose that Aegir is wroth because we made no sacrifice to him before we +set sail. I think that I would cast the altar stones to him, that he may know +that we meant to do so.” +</p> + +<p> +This sounds a child’s thought only, and so it was; but it set my father +thinking, and in the end helped us out of trouble. +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard,” my father said, “that men in our case have thrown overboard the +high-seat pillars, and have followed them to shore safely. We have none, but +the stones are more sacred yet. Overboard they shall go, and as the boat with +them goes through the surf we may learn somewhat.” +</p> + +<p> +With that he hastened on deck, and told the men what he would do; and they +thought it a good plan, as maybe they would have deemed anything that seemed to +call for help from the strong ones of the sea. So they got the boat ready to +launch over the quarter, and the four stones, being uncovered since the Vikings +took our cargo, were easily got on deck, and they were placed in the bottom of +the boat, and steadied there with coils of fallen rigging, so that they could +not shift. They were just a fair load for the boat. Then my father cried for +help to the Asir, bidding Aegir take the altar as full sacrifice; and when we +had done so we waited for a chance as a long wave foamed past us, and launched +the boat fairly on its back, so that she seemed to fly from our hands, and was +far astern in a moment. +</p> + +<p> +Now we looked to see her make straight for the breakers, lift on the first of +them, and then capsize. That first line was not a quarter of a mile from us +now. +</p> + +<p> +But she never reached them. She plunged away at first, heading right for the +surf, and then went steadily westward, and up the shore line outside it, until +she was lost to sight among the wild waves, for she was very low in the water. +</p> + +<p> +“Cheer up, men,” my father said, as he saw that; “we are not ashore yet, nor +will be so long as the tide takes that current along shore. We shall stop +dragging directly.” +</p> + +<p> +And so it was, for when the ship slowly came to the place where the boat had +changed her course, the anchor held once more for a while until the gathering +strength of the tide forced it to drag again. Now, however, it was not toward +the shore that we drifted, but up the Humber, as the boat had gone; and as we +went the sea became less heavy, for we were getting into the lee of the Spurn +headland. +</p> + +<p> +Soon the clouds began to break, flying wildly overhead with patches of blue sky +and passing sunshine in between them that gladdened us. The wind worked round +to the eastward at the same time, and we knew that the end of the gale had +come. But, blowing as it did right into the mouth of the river, the sea became +more angry, and it would be worse yet when the tide set again outwards. Already +we had shipped more water than was good, and we might not stand much more. It +seemed best, therefore, to my father that we should try to run as far up the +Humber as we might while we had the chance, for the current that held us safe +might change as tide altered in force and depth. +</p> + +<p> +So we buoyed the cable, not being able to get the anchor in this sea, and then +stepped the yard in the mast’s place, and hoisted the peak of the sail +corner-wise as best we might; and that was enough to heel us almost gunwale +under as the cable was slipped and the ship headed about up the river mouth. We +shipped one or two more heavy seas as she paid off before the wind, but we were +on the watch for them, and no harm was done. +</p> + +<p> +After that the worst was past, for every mile we flew over brought us into +safer waters; and now we began to wonder where the boat with its strange cargo +had gone, and we looked out for her along the shore as we sailed, and at last +saw her, though it was a wonder that we did so. +</p> + +<p> +The tide had set her into a little creek that opened out suddenly, and there +Arngeir saw her first, aground on a sandbank, with the lift of each wave that +crept into the haven she had found sending her higher on it. And my father +cried to us that we had best follow her; and he put the helm over, while we +sheeted home and stood by for the shock of grounding. +</p> + +<p> +Then in a few minutes we were in a smother of foam across a little sand bar, +and after that in quiet water, and the sorely-tried ship was safe. She took the +ground gently enough in the little creek, not ten score paces from where the +boat was lying, and we were but an arrow flight from the shore. As the tide +rose the ship drifted inward toward it, so that we had to wait only for the ebb +that we might go dry shod to the land. +</p> + +<p> +Before that time came there was rest for us all, and we needed it sorely. It +was a wonder that none of the children had been hurt in the wild tossing of the +ship, but children come safely through things that would be hard on a man. +Bruised they were and very hungry, but somehow my mother had managed to steady +them on the cabin floor, and they were none the worse, only Havelok slept even +yet with a sleep that was too heavy to be broken by the worst of the tossing as +he lay in my mother’s lap. She could not tell if this heavy sleep was good or +not. +</p> + +<p> +Then we saw to the wounded men, and thereafter slept in the sun or in the fore +cabin as each chose, leaving Arngeir only on watch. It was possible that the +shore folk would be down to the strand soon, seeking for what the waves might +have sent them, and the tide must be watched also. +</p> + +<p> +Just before its turn he woke us, for it was needful that we should get a line +ashore to prevent the ship from going out with the ebb, and with one I swam +ashore. There was not so much as a stump to which to make fast, and so one of +the men followed me, and we went to the boat, set the altar stones carefully +ashore, then fetched the spare anchor, and moored her with that in a place +where the water seemed deep to the bank. +</p> + +<p> +It was a bad place. For when the tide fell, which it did very fast, we found +that we had put her on a ledge. Presently therefore, and while we were trying +to bail out the water that was in her, the ship took the ground aft, and we +could not move her before the worst happened. Swiftly the tide left her, and +her long keel bent and twisted, and her planks gaped with the strain of her own +weight, all the greater for the water yet in her that flowed to the hanging +bows. The good ship might sail no more. Her back was broken. +</p> + +<p> +That was the only time that I have ever seen my father weep. But as the stout +timbers cracked and groaned under the strain it seemed to him as if the ship +that he loved was calling piteously to him for help that he could not give, and +it was too much for him. The gale that was yet raging overhead and the sea that +was still terrible in the wide waters of the river had been things that had not +moved him, for that the ship should break up in a last struggle with them was, +as it were, a fitting end for her. But that by his fault here in the hardly-won +haven she should meet her end was not to be borne, and he turned away from us +and wept. +</p> + +<p> +Then came my mother and set her hand on his shoulder and spoke softly to him +with wise words. +</p> + +<p> +“Husband, but a little while ago it would have been wonderful if there were one +of us left alive, or one plank of the ship on another. And now we are all safe +and unhurt, and the loss of the ship is the least of ills that might have +been.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, wife,” he said; “you cannot understand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then it is woe for the—for the one who is with us. But how had it been if you +had seen Hodulf and his men round our house, and all the children slain that +one might not escape, while on the roof crowed the red cock, and naught was +left to us? We have lost less than if we had stayed for that, and we have +gained what we sought, even safety. See, to the shore have come the ancient +holy things of our house, and that not by your guidance. Surely here shall be +the place for us that is best.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, wife; you are right in all these things, but it is not for them.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she laughed a little, forcing herself to do so, as it seemed. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then, it is for the ship that I was ever jealous of, for she took you +away from me. Now I think that I should be glad that she can do so no more. But +I am not, for well I know what the trouble must be, and I would have you think +no more of it. The good ship has saved us all, and so her work is done, and +well done. Never, if she sailed many a long sea mile with you, would anything +be worth telling of her besides this. And the burden of common things would +surely be all unmeet for her after what she has borne hither.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well said, Leva, my wife,” my father answered. +</p> + +<p> +From that time he was cheerful, and told us how it was certain that we had been +brought here for good, seeing that the Norns<a href="#fn7" +name="fnref7"><sup>[7]</sup></a> must have led the stones to the haven, so that +this must be the place that we sought. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06">CHAPTER VI.<br/> +THE BEGINNING OF GRIMSBY TOWN.</a></h2> + +<p> +Easily we went ashore when the tide fell, across the spits of sand that ran +between the mud banks, and we climbed the low sandhill range that hid the land +from us, and saw the place where we should bide. And it might have been worse; +for all the level country between us and the hills was fat, green meadow and +marsh, on which were many cattle and sheep feeding. Here and there were groves +of great trees, hemmed in with the quickset fences that are as good as +stockades for defence round the farmsteads of the English folk, and on other +patches of rising ground were the huts of thralls or herdsmen, and across the +wide meadows glittered and flashed streams and meres, above which the wildfowl +that the storm had driven inland wheeled in clouds. All the lower hills seemed +to be wooded thickly, and the alder copses that would shelter boar and deer and +maybe wolves stretched in some places thence across the marsh. Pleasant and +homely seemed all this after long looking at the restless sea. +</p> + +<p> +Then said my father, “Now am I no longer Grim the merchant, and that pride of +mine is at an end. But here is a place where Grim the fisher may do well +enough, if I am any judge of shore and sea. Here have we haven for the boats, +and yonder swim the fish, and inland are the towns that need them. Nor have we +seen a sign of a fisher so far as we have come.” +</p> + +<p> +Now we had been seen as soon as we stood on the sandhills; and before long the +herdsman and thralls began to gather to us, keeping aloof somewhat at first, as +if fearing my father’s arms. But when we spoke with them we could learn +nothing, for they were Welsh marshmen who knew but little of the tongue of +their English masters. Serfs they were now in these old fastnesses of theirs to +the English folk of the Lindiswaras, who had won their land and called it after +their own name, Lindsey. +</p> + +<p> +But before long there rode from one of the farmsteads an Englishman of some +rank, who had been sent for, as it would seem, and he came with half a dozen +armed housecarls behind him to see what was going on. Him we could understand +well enough, for there is not so much difference between our tongue and that of +the English; and when he learned our plight he was very kindly. His name was +Witlaf Stalling, and he was the great man of these parts, being lord over many +a mile of the marsh and upland, and dwelling at his own place, Stallingborough, +some five miles to the north and inland hence. +</p> + +<p> +Now it had been in this man’s power to seize us and all we had as his own, +seeing that we were cast on his shore; but he treated us as guests rather, +bidding us shelter in one of his near farmsteads as long as we would, and +telling my father to come and speak with him when we had saved what we could +from the wreck. He bade the thralls help at that also, so that we had fallen in +with a friend, and our troubles were less for his kindness. +</p> + +<p> +We saved what cargo we had left during the next few days, while we dwelt at the +farm. Then at the height of the spring tides the ship broke up, for a second +gale came before the sea that the last had raised was gone. And then I went +with my father to speak with Witlaf the thane at Stallingborough, that we might +ask his leave to make our home on the little haven, and there become fishers +once more. +</p> + +<p> +That he granted readily, asking many questions about our troubles, for he +wondered that one who had owned so good a ship seemed so content to become a +mere fisher in a strange land, without thought of making his way home. But all +that my father told him was that he had had to fly from the new king of our +land, and that he had been a fisher before, so that there was no hardship in +the change. +</p> + +<p> +“Friend Grim,” said Witlaf when he had heard this, “you are a brave man, as it +seems to me, and well may you prosper here, as once before. I will not stand in +your way. Now, if you will hold it from me on condition of service in any time +of war, to be rendered by yourself and your sons and any men you may hire, I +will grant you what land you will along the coast, so that none may question +you in anything. Not that the land is worth aught to any but a fisher who needs +a place for boats and nets; but if you prosper, others will come to the place, +and you shall be master.” +</p> + +<p> +One could hardly have sought so much as that, and heartily did we thank the +kindly thane, gladly taking the fore shore as he wished. But he said that he +thought the gain was on his side, seeing what men he had won. +</p> + +<p> +“Now we must call the place by a name, for it has none,” he said, laughing. +“Grim’s Stead, maybe?” +</p> + +<p> +“Call the place a town at once,” answered my father, laughing also. “Grimsby +has a good sound to a homeless man.” +</p> + +<p> +So Grimsby the place has been from that day forward, and, as I suppose, will be +now to the end of time. But for a while there was only the one house that we +built of the timbers and planks of our ship by the side of the haven—a good +house enough for a fisher and his family, but not what one would look for from +the name. +</p> + +<p> +By the time that was built Havelok was himself again, though he had been near +to his death. Soon he waxed strong and rosy in the sea winds, and out-went +Withelm both in stature and strength. But it seemed that of all that had +happened he remembered naught, either of the storm, or of his mother’s death, +or of the time of Hodulf. My mother thought that the sickness had taken away +his memory, and that it might come back in time. But from the day we came to +the house on the shore he was content to call Grim and Leva father and mother, +and ourselves were his brothers, even as he will hold us even now. Yet my +father would never take him with us to the fishing, as was right, seeing who he +was and what might lie before him. Nor did he ever ask to go, as we had asked +since we were able to climb into the boat as she lay on the shore; and we who +knew not who he was, and almost forgot how he came to us, ceased to wonder at +this after a while; and it seemed right that he should be the home-stayer, as +if there must needs be one in every household. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless he was always the foremost in all our sports, loving the weapon +play best of all, so that it was no softness that kept him from the sea. I hold +that the old saw that says, “What is bred in the bone cometh out in the flesh,” +is true, and never truer than in the ways of Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +For it is not to be thought that because my father went back perforce to the +fisher’s calling he forgot that the son of Gunnar Kirkeban should be brought up +always in such wise that when the time came he should be ready to go to the +slayer of his father, sword in hand, and knowing how to use it. Therefore both +Havelok and we were trained always in the craft of the warrior. +</p> + +<p> +Witlaf the thane was right when he said that men would draw to the place if we +prospered, and it was not so long before the name that had been a jest at first +was so no longer. Truly we had hard times at first, for our one ship’s boat was +all unfitted for the fishing; but the Humber teemed with fish, and there were +stake nets to be set that need no boat. None seemed to care for taking the fish +but ourselves, for the English folk had no knowledge of the riches to be won +from the sea, and the eels of the river were the best that they ever saw. So +they were very ready to buy, and soon the name of Grim the fisher was known far +and wide in Lindsey, for my father made great baskets of the willows of the +marsh, and carried his burden of fish through the land, alone at first, until +we were able to help him, while Arngeir and we minded the nets. +</p> + +<p> +Only two of our men stayed here with us, being fishers and old comrades of my +father. The rest he bade find their way home to Denmark to their wives and +children, from the Northumbrian coast, or else take service with the king, +Ethelwald, who ruled in East Anglia, beyond the Wash, who, being a Dane by +descent from the Jutes who took part with Angles and Saxons in winning this new +land, was glad to have Danish men for his housecarls. Some went to him, and +were well received there, as we knew long afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +The man who had been washed overboard and hauled back at risk of his neck was +one of these. His name was Mord, and he would have stayed with us; but my +father thought it hard that he should not have some better chance than we could +give him here, for it was not easy to live at first. Somewhat of the same kind +he said to Arngeir, for he had heard of this king when he had been in the +king’s new haven in the Wash some time ago. But Arngeir would by no means leave +the uncle who had been as a father to him. +</p> + +<p> +Now when we marked out the land that Witlaf gave us, there was a good omen. My +father set the four blue altar stones at each corner of the land as the +boundaries, saying that thus they would hallow all the place, rather than make +an altar again of them here where there was no grove to shelter them, or, +indeed, any other spot that was not open, where a holy place might be. And when +we measured the distances between them a second time they were greater than at +first, which betokens the best of luck to him whose house is to be there. I +suppose that they will bide in these places now while Grimsby is a town, for, +as every one knows, it is unlucky to move a boundary stone. +</p> + +<p> +Soon my father found a man who had some skill in the shipwright’s craft, and +brought him to our place from Saltfleet. Then we built as good a boat as one +could wish, and, not long after that, another. But my father was careful that +none of the Lindsey folk whom he had known should think that this fisher was +the Grim whom they had once traded with, lest word should go to Hodulf in any +way. +</p> + +<p> +Now we soon hired men to help us, and the fishing throve apace. We carried the +fish even to the great city of Lincoln, where Alsi the Lindsey king had his +court, though it was thirty miles away. For we had men in the villages on the +road who took the great baskets on from one to another, and always Grim and one +of us were there on the market day, and men said that never had the town and +court seen such fish as Grim’s before. Soon, therefore, he was rich, for a +fisher; and that was heard of by other fishers from far off, and they drew to +Grimsby, so that the town spread, and Witlaf the good thane said that it was a +lucky day which drove us to his shore, for he waxed rich with dues that they +were willing to pay. We built boats and let them out to these men, so that one +might truly say that all the fishery was Grim’s. +</p> + +<p> +Then a trading ship put in, hearing of the new haven, and that was a great day +for us. But her coming made my father anxious, since Hodulf was likely to seek +for news of Grim the merchant from any who had been to England; and hearing at +last of him, he would perhaps be down on us, Vikingwise, with fire and sword. +But after that traders came and went, and we heard naught of him except we +asked for news; for he left us in peace, if he knew that his enemy lived yet. +Men said that he was not much loved in Denmark. +</p> + +<p> +So the town grew, and well did we prosper, so that there is naught to be said +of any more trouble, which is what my story seems to be made up of so far. Yet +we had come well through all at last; and that, I suppose, is what makes the +tale of any man worth hearing. +</p> + +<p> +Twelve years went all well thus, and in those years Havelok came to manhood, +though not yet to his full strength. What that would be in a few more summers +none could tell, for he was already almost a giant in build and power, so that +he could lift and carry at once the four great fish baskets, which we bore one +at a time when full of fish, easily, and it was he who could get a stranded +boat afloat when we could hardly move her between us, though all three of us +were strong as we grew up. +</p> + +<p> +Very handsome was Havelok also, and, like many very strong men, very quiet. And +all loved him, from the children who played along the water’s edge to the +oldest dame in the town; for he had a good word for all, and there was not one +in the place whom he had not helped at one time or another. More than one there +was who owed him life—either his own, or that of a child saved from the water. +</p> + +<p> +Most of all Havelok loved my father; and once, when he was about eighteen, he +took it into his head that he was burdensome to him by reason of his great +growth. So nothing would satisfy him but that he must go with us to the +fishing, though it was against Grim’s will somewhat. But he could make no hand +at it, seeing that he could pull any two of us round if he took an oar, and +being as likely as not to break that moreover. Nor could he bear the quiet of +the long waiting at the drift nets, when hour after hour of the night goes by +in silence before the herring shoal comes in a river of blue and silver and the +buoys sink with its weight; rather would he be at the weapon play with the sons +of Witlaf, our friend, who loved him. +</p> + +<p> +But though the fishing was not for him, after a while he would not be idle, +saying, when my father tried to persuade him to trouble not at all about our +work, that it was no shame for a man to work, but, rather, that he should not +do so. So one day he went to the old Welsh basket maker who served us, and bade +him make a great basket after his own pattern, the like of which the old man +had never so much as thought of. +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed, master,” he said, when it was done, “you will never be able to carry +so great a load of fish as that will hold.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let us see,” quoth Havelok, laughing; and with that he put him gently into it, +and lifted him into the air, and on to his mighty shoulder, carrying him +easily, and setting him down in safety. +</p> + +<p> +The basket maker was cross at first, but none was able to be angry with Havelok +long, and he too began to smile. +</p> + +<p> +“It is ‘curan’ that you are, master,” he said; “not even Arthur himself could +have done that.” +</p> + +<p> +“Many times have I heard your folk call me that. I would learn what it means,” +said Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +But the old man could hardly find the English word for the name, which means “a +wonder,” and nothing more. Nevertheless the marsh folk were wont to call their +friend “Hablok Curan” in their talk, for a wonder he was to all who knew him. +</p> + +<p> +So he came home with his great basket, and said, “Here sit I by the fire, +eating more than my share, and helping to win it not at all. Now will I make +amends, for I will go the fisher’s rounds through the marshlands with my +basket, and I think that I shall do well.” +</p> + +<p> +Now my father tried to prevent him doing this, because, as I know now, it was +not work for a king’s son. But Havelok would not be denied. +</p> + +<p> +“Fat and idle am I, and my muscles need hardening,” he said. “Let me go, +father, for I was restless at home.” +</p> + +<p> +So from that time he went out into the marshland far and wide, and the people +grew to know and love him well. Always he came back with his fish sold, and +gave money and full account to my father, and mostly the account would end +thus: +</p> + +<p> +“Four fish also there were more, but the burden was heavy, and so I even gave +them to a certain old dame.” +</p> + +<p> +And my mother would say, “It is likely that the burden was lighter for her +blessing.” +</p> + +<p> +And, truly, if the love of poor folk did help, Havelok’s burden weighed naught, +great though it was. +</p> + +<p> +Yet we thought little of the blessings of the Welsh folk of the marsh in those +days, for they blessed not in the names of the Asir, being sons of the British +Christians of long ago, and many, as I think, Christians yet. Witlaf and all +the English folk were Odin’s men, as we were, having a temple at the place +called Thor’s Way, among the hills. But we had naught to do with the faith of +the thralls, which was not our business. Only Withelm was curious in the +matter, and was wont to ask them thereof at times, though at first they feared +to tell him anything, seeing how the Saxons and English had treated the +Christian folk at their first coming. But that was forgotten now, by the +English at least, and times were quiet for these poor folk. There was a wise +man, too, of their faith, who lived in the wild hills not far from the city, +and they were wont to go to him for advice if they needed it. They said also +that the king of Lindsey had once been a Christian, for he was Welsh by birth +on his mother’s side, and had been so brought up. It is certain that his sister +Orwenna, who married Ethelwald of East Anglia, was one, but I have seen Alsi +the king at the feasts of the Asir at Thor’s Way when Yuletide was kept, so it +is not so certain about him. He had many Welsh nobles about him at the court, +kinsmen of his mother mostly, so that it did not seem strange, though there is +not much love lost between the English and the folk whom they conquered, as one +might suppose. +</p> + +<p> +Now, as I have said, none but Withelm thought twice about these things; but in +the end the love of the marsh folk was a thing that was needed, and that +Withelm had learned somewhat of their faith was the greatest help that could +be, as will be seen. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07">CHAPTER VII.<br/> +BROTHERHOOD.</a></h2> + +<p> +True are the words of the Havamal, the song of the wisdom of Odin, which say, +“One may know and no other, but all men know if three know.” +</p> + +<p> +Therefore for all these years my father told none of us the secret of Havelok’s +birth; and when Arngeir married my sister Solva he made him take oath that he +would not tell what he knew to her, while she, being but a child at the time of +the flight, had forgotten how this well-loved brother of hers came to us. But +it happened once that Grim was sick, and it seemed likely that he would die, so +that this secret weighed on him, and he did not rightly know what to do for the +best, Havelok at the time being but seventeen, and the time that he should +think of his own place not being yet come. At that time he told Arngeir all +that he foresaw, and set things in order, that we three should not be backward +when need was. +</p> + +<p> +He called us to him, Havelok not being present, and spoke to us. +</p> + +<p> +“Sons,” he said, “well have you all obeyed me all these years, and I think that +you will listen to me now, for I must speak to you of Havelok, who came to us +as you know. Out of his saving from his foes came our flight here; and I will +not find fault with any of the things that happened, for they have turned out +well, save that it seems that I may never see the land of my birth again, and +at times I weary for it. For me Denmark seems to lie within the four square of +the ancient stones; but if you will do my bidding, you and Havelok shall see +her again, though how I cannot tell.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I could hardly speak for trouble, but Withelm said softly, “As we have +been wont to do, father, so it shall be.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well shall my word be kept, therefore,” Grim said, smiling on us. “Listen, +therefore. In the days to come, when time is ripe, Arngeir shall tell you more +of Havelok your foster-brother, and there will be signs enough by which he +shall know that it is time to speak. And then Havelok will need all the help +that you can give him; and as your lord shall you serve him, with both hands, +and with life itself if need be. And I seem to see that each of you has his +place beside him—Radbard as his strong helper, and Raven as his watchful +comrade, and Withelm as his counsellor. For ‘Bare is back without brother +behind it,’ son Radbard and ‘Ere one goes out, give heed to the doorways,’ son +Raven; and ‘Wisdom is wanted by him who fares widely’ son Withelm. So say the +old proverbs, and they are true. No quarreller is Havelok; but if he must +fight, that will be no playground. Careful is he; but he has met with no guile +as yet, and he trusts all men. Slow to think, if sure, are so mighty frames as +his becomes, even when quick wit is needed.” +</p> + +<p> +He was silent for a while, and I thought that he had no more to say, and I knew +that he had spoken rightly of what each was best fitted for, but he went on +once more. +</p> + +<p> +“This is my will, therefore, that to you shall Havelok be as the eldest brother +from this time forward, that these places shall not have to come suddenly to +you hereafter. Then will you know that I have spoken rightly, though maybe it +seems hard to Radbard and Raven now, they being so much older.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I said truly that already Havelok was first in our hearts. And that was +true, for he was as a king among us—a king who was served by all with loving +readiness, and yet one who served all. Maybe that is just what makes a good +king when all is said and done. +</p> + +<p> +Then my father bade us carry him out of the house and down to the shore where +there was a lonely place in the sandhills, covered with the sweet, short grass +that the sheep love; and, while Raven and I bore him, Withelm went and brought +Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“This is well, father,” he said gladly. “I had not thought you strong enough to +come thus far.” +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe it is the last time that I come living out of the house,” Grim said; +“but there is one thing yet to be done, and it must be done here. See, son +Havelok, these are your brothers in all but blood, and they must be that also +in the old Danish way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing more is needed, father,” Havelok said, wondering. “I have no brothers +but these of mine, and they could be no more so.” +</p> + +<p> +Thereat my father smiled, as well content, but he said that the ancient way +must he kept. +</p> + +<p> +“But I am sorely weak,” he added. “Fetch hither Arngeir.” +</p> + +<p> +It was because of this illness that none of us were at the fishing on that day, +and Arngeir was not long in coming. And while we waited for that little while +my father was silent, looking ever northward to the land that he had given up +for Havelok; and I think that foster-son of his knew it, for he knelt beside +him and set his strong arm round him, saying nothing. So Arngeir came with +Raven, who went for him, and my father told him what he needed to be done; and +Arngeir said that it was well thought of, and went to work with his seax on the +smooth turf. +</p> + +<p> +He cut a long strip where it seemed to be toughest, leaving the ends yet fast, +and carefully he raised it and stretched it until it would make an arch some +three spans high, and so propped it at either end with more turf that it stayed +in that position. +</p> + +<p> +Then my father said, “This is the old custom, that they who are of different +family should be brothers indeed. Out of one earth should they be made afresh, +as it were, that on the face of earth they shall be one. Pass therefore under +the arch, beginning with Havelok.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, while my father spoke strange and ancient runes, Havelok did as he was +bidden, kneeling down and creeping under the uplifted turf; and as I came after +him he gave me his hand and raised me, and so with each of the other two. And +then, unbidden, Arngeir followed, for he too loved Havelok, and would fain be +his brother indeed. +</p> + +<p> +After that my father took a sharp flint knife that he had brought with him, and +with it cut Havelok’s arm a little, and each of us set his lips to that wound, +and afterwards he to the like marks in our right arms, and so the ancient rite +was complete. +</p> + +<p> +Yet it had not been needed, as I know, for not even I ever thought of him but +as the dearest of brothers, though I minded how he came. +</p> + +<p> +Now after this my father grew stronger, maybe because this was off his mind; +but he might never go to sea again, nor even to Lincoln town, for he was not +strong enough. What his illness was I do not rightly know, hut I do not think +that any one here overlooked him, though it might be that from across the sea +Hodulf had power to work him harm. It was said that he had Finnish wizards +about his court; but if that was so, he never harmed the one whom he had most +to fear—even Havelok. But then I suppose that even a Finn could not harm one +for whom great things are in store. +</p> + +<p> +So two years more passed over, and then came the time of which one almost fears +to think—the time of the great famine. Slowly it came on the land; but we could +see it coming, and the dread of it was fearsome, but for the hope that never +quite leaves a man until the end. For first the wheat that was winter sown came +not up but in scattered blades here and there, and then ere the spring-sown +grain had lain in the land for three weeks it had rotted, and over the rich, +ploughed lands seemed to rise a sour smell in the springtime air, when one +longs for the sweetness of growing things. And then came drought in April, and +all day long the sun shone, or if it were not shining the clouds that hid it +were hard and grey and high and still over land and sea. +</p> + +<p> +Then before the marsh folk knew what they were doing, the merchants of Lincoln +had bought the stored corn, giving prices that should have told men that it was +precious to those who sold as to the buyers; and then the grass failed in the +drought, and the farmers were glad to sell the cattle and sheep for what they +could gain, rather than see them starve. +</p> + +<p> +Then my father bade us dry and store all the fish we might against the time +that he saw was coming, and hard we worked at that. And even as we toiled, from +day to day we caught less, for the fish were leaving the shores, and we had to +go farther and farther for them, until at last a day came when the boats came +home empty, and the women wept at the shore as the men drew them up silently, +looking away from those whom they could feed no longer. +</p> + +<p> +That was the worst day, as I think, and it was in high summer. I mind that I +went to Stallingborough that day with the last of the fresh fish of yesterday’s +catch for Witlaf’s household, and it was hotter than ever; and in all the +orchards hung not one green apple, and even the hardy blackberry briers had no +leaves or sign of blossom, and in the dikes the watercress was blackened and +evil to see. +</p> + +<p> +But I will say that in Grimsby we felt not the worst, by reason of that wisdom +of my father, and always Witlaf and his house shared with us. Hard it was here, +but elsewhere harder. +</p> + +<p> +And then came the pestilence that goes with famine always. I have heard that +men have prayed to their gods for that, for it has seemed better to them to die +than live. +</p> + +<p> +With the first breath of the pestilence died Grim my father, and about that I +do not like to say much. He bade us remember the words he had spoken of Havelok +our brother, and he spoke long to Arngeir in private of the same; and then he +told us to lay him in mound in the ancient way, but with his face toward +Denmark, whence we came. And thereafter he said no more, but lay still until +there came up suddenly through the thick air a thunderstorm from the north; and +in that he passed, and with his passing the rain came. +</p> + +<p> +Thereof Withelm said that surely Odin fetched him, and that at once he had made +prayer for us. But the Welsh folk said that not Odin but the White Christ had +taken the man who had been a father to them, and had staved off the worst of +the famine from them. +</p> + +<p> +Then pined and died my mother Leva, for she passed in her sleep on the day +before we made the mound over her husband, and so we laid them in it together, +and that was well for both, as I think, for so they would have wished. +</p> + +<p> +So we made a great bale fire over my father’s mound, where it stood over the +highest sandhill; and no warrior was ever more wept, for English and Welsh and +Danes were at one in this. We set his weapons with him, and laid him in the +boat that was the best—and a Saxon gave that—and in it oars and mast and sail, +and so covered him therein. And so he waits for the end of all things that are +now, and the beginning of those better ones that shall be. +</p> + +<p> +That thunderstorm was nothing to the land, for it skirted the shores and died +away to the south, and after it came the heat again; but at least it brought a +little hope. There were fish along the shore that night, too, if not many; and +though they were gone again in the morning, there was a better store in every +house, for men were mindful of Grim’s teaching. +</p> + +<p> +Now, of all men, Havelok seemed to feel the trouble of the famine the most, +because he could not bear to see the children hungry in the cottages of the +fishers. It seemed to him that he had more than his share of the stores, +because so mighty a frame of his needed feeding mightily, as he said. And so +for two days after my father died and was left in his last resting, Havelok +went silent about the place. Here by the shore the pestilence hardly came, and +so that trouble was not added to us, though the weak and old went, as had Grim +and Leva, here and there. +</p> + +<p> +Then, on the third day, Havelok called Arngeir and us, and spoke what was in +his mind. +</p> + +<p> +“Brothers, I may not bear this any longer, and I must go away. I can do no more +to help than can the weakest in the town; and even my strength is an added +trouble to those who have not enough without me. Day by day grows the store in +the house less; and it will waste more slowly if I am elsewhere.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Arngeir said quickly, “This is foolishness, Havelok, my brother. Whither +will you go? For worse is the famine inland; and I think that we may last out +here. The fish will come back presently.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will go to Lincoln. All know that there is plenty there, for the townsfolk +were wise in time. There is the court, and at the court a strong man is likely +to be welcome, if only as one who shall keep the starving poor from the doors, +as porter.” +</p> + +<p> +He spoke bitterly, for Alsi, the king, had no good name for kindness, and at +that Withelm laughed sadly. +</p> + +<p> +“Few poor would Havelok turn away,” he said, under his breath; “rather were he +likely to take the king’s food from the very board, and share it among them.” +</p> + +<p> +That made us laugh a little, for it was true enough; and one might seem to see +our mighty one sweeping the table, while none dared try to stay him. +</p> + +<p> +But many times of late Havelok had gone dinnerless, that he might feed some +weak one in the village. Maybe some of us did likewise; but, if so, we learned +from him. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then,” Havelok said, when we had had our wretched laugh, “Alsi, the +king, can better afford to feed me than can anyone else. Therefore, I will go +and see about it. And if not the king, then, doubtless, some rich merchant will +give me food for work, seeing that I can lift things handily. But Radbard here +is a great and hungry man also, and it will be well that he come with me; or +else, being young and helpless, I may fall into bad hands.” +</p> + +<p> +So he spoke, jesting and making little of the matter. But I saw that he was +right, and that we who were strong to take what might come should go away. It +was likely that a day of our meals would make a week’s fare for Arngeir’s three +little ones, and they were to be thought for. +</p> + +<p> +Now for a little while Arngeir tried to keep us back; but it was plain that he +knew also that our going was well thought of, and only his care for Havelok +stood in the way. Indeed, he said that I and Raven might go. +</p> + +<p> +“Raven knows as much about the fish as did our father,” Havelok said. “He will +go out in the morning, and look at sky and sea, and sniff at the wind; and if I +say it will be fine, he says that the herrings will be in such a place; and so +they are, while maybe it rains all day to spite my weather wisdom. You cannot +do without Raven; for it is ill to miss any chance of the sea just now. Nor can +Withelm go, for he knows all in the place, and who is most in want. It will not +do to be without house steward. So we two will go. Never have I been to Lincoln +yet, and Radbard knows the place well.” +</p> + +<p> +I think that I have never said that Grim would never take Havelok to the city, +lest he should be known by some of the Danish folk who came now and then to the +court, some from over seas, and others from the court of King Ethelwald, of +whom I have spoken, the Norfolk king. But that danger was surely over now, for +Havelok would be forgotten in Denmark; and Ethelwald was long dead, and his +wife also, leaving his daughter Goldberga to her uncle Alsi, as his ward. So +Alsi held both kingdoms until the princess was of age, when she would take her +own. It was said that she lived at Dover until that time, and so none of her +Danes were likely to be at court if we went there and found places. +</p> + +<p> +So Havelok’s plan was to be carried out, and he and I were to set forth next +morning. Arngeir was yet uneasy about it, nevertheless, as one could see; but I +did not at that time know why it should be so doubtful a matter that two strong +men should go forth and seek their fortune but thirty miles away. So we laughed +at him. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” he said, “every one knows Radbard; but they will want to know who his +tall comrade may be. Old foes has Havelok, as Radbard knows, and therefore it +may be well to find a new name for him.” +</p> + +<p> +“No need to go far for that,” Withelm said. “The marsh folk call him Curan.” +</p> + +<p> +“Curan, the wonder, is good,” Arngeir said, after a little thought, for we all +knew Welsh enough by this time. “Or if you like a Danish name better, brother, +call it ‘Kwaran,’ but silent about yourself you must surely be.” +</p> + +<p> +We used to call him that at times—for it means “the quiet” in our old +tongue—seeing how gentle and courtly he was in all his ways. So the name was +well fitting in either way. +</p> + +<p> +“Silent and thoughtful should the son of a king be,” says the Havamal, and so +it was with Havelok, son of Gunnar. +</p> + +<p> +Now when I came to think, it was plain that we three stood in the mind of our +brother in the place which my father had boded for us, and I was glad. Well I +knew that Raven, the watchful, and Withelm, the wise and thoughtful, would do +their parts; and I thought that whether I could do mine was to be seen very +shortly. If I failed in help at need it should not be my fault. It had been +long growing in my mind who Havelok must be, though I said nothing of what I +thought, because my father had bidden me be silent long ago, and I thought that +I knew why. +</p> + +<p> +We were to start early in the morning, so that we should get to the city +betimes in the evening; and there was one thing that troubled the good sisters +more than it did us. They would have had us go in all our finery, such as we +were wont to wear on holidays and at feastings; but none of that was left. It +had gone in buying corn, while there was any left to buy, along with every +silver penny that we had. So we must go in the plain fisher gear, that is made +for use and not for show, frayed and stained, and a trifle tarry, but good +enough. It would not do to go in our war gear into a peaceful city; and so we +took but the seax that every Englishman wears, and the short travelling spear +that all wayfarers use. Hardly was it likely that even the most hungry outlaw +of the wild woldland would care to fall on us; for by this time such as we +seemed had spent their all in food for themselves and their families, and all +the money in Lindsey seemed to have gone away to places where there was yet +somewhat to buy. +</p> + +<p> +Busy were those kind sisters of ours that night in making ready the last meal +that we should need to take from them. And all the while they foretold pleasant +things for us at the king’s court—how that we should find high honour and the +like. So they set us forth well and cheerfully. +</p> + +<p> +With the dawn we started, and Havelok was thoughtful beyond his wont after we +had bidden farewell to the home folk, so that I thought that he grieved for +leaving them at the last. +</p> + +<p> +“Downhearted, are you, brother?” I said, when we had gone a couple of miles in +silence across the level. “I have been to Lincoln two or three times in a month +sometimes in the summer, and it is no great distance after all. I think nothing +of the journey, or of going so short a way from home.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nor do I,” he answered. “First, I was thinking of the many times my father, +Grim, went this way, and now he can walk no more; and then I was thinking of +that empty cottage we passed just now, where there was a pleasant little family +enough three months ago, who are all gone. And then—ay, I will tell you—I had a +dream last night that stays in my mind, so that I think that out of this +journey of ours will come somewhat.” +</p> + +<p> +“Food and shelter, to wit,” said I, “which is all we want for a month or two. +Let us hear it.” +</p> + +<p> +“If we get all that I had in that dream, we shall want no more all our lives,” +he said, with a smile; “but it seems a foolish dream, now that I come to tell +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is mostly the way with dreams. It is strange how wonderful they seem +until daylight comes. I have heard Witlaf’s gleeman say that the best lays he +ever made were in his sleep; but if he remembered aught of them, they were +naught.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not like that altogether with my dream,” Havelok said, “for it went +thus. I thought that I was in Denmark—though how I knew it was Denmark I cannot +say—and on a hill I sat, and at my feet was stretched out all the land, so that +I could see all over it at once. Then I longed for it, and I stretched out my +arms to gather it in, and so long were they that they could well fathom it, and +so I drew it to myself. With towns and castles it was gathered in, and the keys +of the strongholds fell rattling at my feet, while the weight of the great land +seemed to lie on my knees. Then said one, and the voice was the voice of Grim, +‘This is not all the dream that I have made for you, but it is enough for now.’ +That is the dream, therefore, and what make you of it?” +</p> + +<p> +“A most amazing hunger, brother, certainly, and promise of enough to satisfy it +withal. I think that the sisters have talked about our advancement at court +until you have dreamed thereof.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why,” he said, “that is surely at the bottom of the dream, and I am foolish to +think more of it.” +</p> + +<p> +Then we went on, and grew light hearted as the miles passed. But though I had +seemed to think little of the dream, it went strangely with my thoughts of what +might lie before Havelok in days to come. +</p> + +<p> +As we went inland from the sea, the track of the pestilence was more dread, for +we passed house after house that had none living in them, and some held the +deserted dead. I might say many things of what we saw, but I do not like to +think of them much. Many a battlefield have I seen since that day, but I do not +think them so terrible as the field over which has gone the foe that is unseen +ere he smites. One knows the worst of the battle when it is over and the roll +is called, but who knows where famine and pestilence stay? And those have given +life for king or land willingly, but these were helpless. +</p> + +<p> +It was good to climb the welds and look back, for in the high lands there was +none of this. Below us the levels, with their bright waters, were wrapped in a +strange blue haze, that had come with the famine at its worst, and, as men +said, had brought or made the sickness. I had heard of it; but it was not so +plain when one was in it, or else our shore was free, which is likely, seeing +how little we suffered. +</p> + +<p> +After that we kept to the high land, not so much fearing the blue robe of the +pestilence as what things of its working we might see; and so it was late in +the afternoon that we came in sight of Lincoln town, on its hill, with the wide +meres and river at its feet. I have seen no city that stands more wonderfully +than this of ours, with the grey walls of the Roman town to crown the gathering +of red and brown roofs that nestle on the slope and within them. And ever as we +drew nearer Havelok became more silent, as I thought because he had never seen +so great a town before, until we passed the gates of the stockade that keeps +the town that lies without the old walls, and then he said, looking round him +strangely, “Brother, you will laugh at me, no doubt, for an arrant dreamer, but +this is the place whereto in dreams I have been many a time. Now we shall come +to yon turn of the road among the houses, and beyond that we shall surely see a +stone-arched gate in a great wall, and spearmen on guard thereat.” +</p> + +<p> +It was so, and the gate and guard were before us in a few more steps. It was +the gate of the old Roman town, inside which was the palace of the king and one +or two more great houses only. Our English kin hate a walled town or a stone +house, and they would not live within the strong walls, whose wide span was, +save for the king’s palace, which was built partly of the house of the Roman +governor, and these other halls, which went for naught in so wide a meadow, +empty and green, and crossed by two paved roads, with grass growing between the +stones. There were brown marks, as of the buried stones of other foundations, +on the grass where the old streets had been. +</p> + +<p> +All the straggling English town was outside the walls, and only in time of war +would the people use them as a stronghold, as they used the still more ancient +camps on the hills. +</p> + +<p> +“Many times have you heard us tell of this place, Havelok,” I said. “It is no +wonder that you seem to know it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” he answered, “but this is the city of my dreams, and somewhat is to +happen here.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08">CHAPTER VIII.<br/> +BERTHUN THE COOK.</a></h2> + +<p> +For that night we went to the house of the old dame with whom my father and I +were wont to lodge when we came to the market, and she took us in willingly, +though she could make little cheer for us. Truly, as had been said, the +scarcity was not so great in Lincoln, but everything was terribly dear, and +that to some is almost as bad. +</p> + +<p> +“No money have I now, dame,” I said ruefully, “but I think that for old sake’s +sake you will not turn us away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not I, faith,” she answered. “I mind the first day your father came here, and +never a penny had he, and since then there has been no want in this house. Luck +comes with Grim and his folk, as I think. But this is a son whom I have not +seen before, if he is indeed your brother.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am Grim’s son Curan,” said Havelok, “and I have not been to Lincoln ere +this. But I have heard of you many times.” +</p> + +<p> +That pleased our old hostess, and then she asked after Grim. Hard it was to +have to tell her that he was gone, and hard it was for her to hear, for the +little house had been open to us for ten years. +</p> + +<p> +“What will you do now, masters?” she asked, when she had told us of many a +kindness done to her and her husband, who was long dead now, by my father. +</p> + +<p> +I told her that we were too many at home since the fishing had failed, and had +therefore come to find some work here, at the court if possible. +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless two strong men will not have to go far to find somewhat,” she said; +“but the court is full of idle folk, and maybe no place is empty. Now I will +have you bide with me while you are at a loose end, for there are yet a few +silver pennies in store, and I ween that they came out of Grim’s pouch to me. +Lonely am I, and it is no good hoarding them when his sons are hungry.” +</p> + +<p> +We thanked her for that kind saying, but she made light of it, saying that +almost did she hope that we should find no work, that we might bide and lighten +her loneliness for a time. +</p> + +<p> +“But if an old woman’s advice is good for aught, you shall not go to the court +first of all. Sour is King Alsi, and he is likely to turn you away offhand +rather than grant the smallest boon. But there is Berthun the cook, as we call +him—steward is his court name though—and he orders the household, and is +good-natured, so that all like him. Every morning he comes into the market, and +there you can ask him if there is a place for you, and he loves to look on a +man such as Curan. But if it is weapons you want—and I suppose that is in the +minds of tall men always, though it brings sorrow in the end—there is the +captain of the guard who lives over the gate, and he might be glad to see you +enough.” +</p> + +<p> +We said that we would see the steward, for we wanted no long employment. We +would go back to Grimsby when the famine ended, if it were only by the coming +of the fish again. +</p> + +<p> +Then she gave us of the best she had—black bread and milk to wit; and after +that we slept soundly before the fire, as I had done many times before in that +humble house. Black bread and milk it was again in the morning; but there was +plenty, and goodwill to season it. Then the old dame sent us forth cheerfully +and early, that we might not miss Berthun the steward, from whom she hoped +great things for us. +</p> + +<p> +So we sat in the marketplace for an hour or more watching the gates of the wall +for his coming; and men stared at Havelok, so that we went to the bridge and +waited there. One could see all the market from thence. There were a good many +of the market folk coming in presently, and most of them knew me, and more than +one stopped and spoke. +</p> + +<p> +Now Havelok grew restless, and wandered here and there looking at things, +though not going far from me; and while I was thus alone on the bridge, a man I +knew by sight came and leaned on the rail by me, and told me that he had just +seen the most handsome man and the goodliest to look on that was in the +kingdom, as he thought. +</p> + +<p> +“Yonder he stands,” he said, “like a king who has fallen on bad times. I mind +that I thought that Alsi, our king, would look like that, before I saw him, and +sorely disappointed was I in him therefore. Now I wonder who yon man may be?” +</p> + +<p> +I did not say that I knew, but I looked at Havelok, and for the first time, +perhaps because I had never seen him among strangers before, I knew that he was +wondrous to look on. Full head and shoulders was he above all the folk, and the +Lindseymen are no babes in stature. And at the same moment it came to me that +it were not well that men should know him as the son of Grim the fisher. If my +father, who was the wisest of men, had been so careful for all these years, I +must not be less so; for if there were ever any fear of the spies of Hodulf, it +would be now when his foe might be strong enough in years to think of giving +trouble. Not that I ever thought much of the said Hodulf, seeing how far off he +was; but my father had brought me up to dread him for this brother of mine. +Certainly by this time Hodulf knew that Grim had come to England in safety, for +the name of the new town must have come to his ears: and if Grim, then the boy +he had given to him. +</p> + +<p> +The man who spoke to me went away soon, and Havelok strolled back to me. +</p> + +<p> +“I would that the cook, or whoever he is, would come,” he said. “I grow weary +of this crowd that seems to have naught to do but stare at a stranger.” +</p> + +<p> +“What shall we ask, when he does come? and supposing that there is a place for +but one of us?” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then, the one it fits best will take it, and the other must seek some +other chance. That is all.” +</p> + +<p> +“As you will, brother,” I answered, “but I would rather that we should be +together.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I also. But after all, both will be in Lincoln, and we must take what +comes. It is but for a little while, and we shall not like to burden that good +old dame by being too hard to please. We want somewhat to do until we can go +home, not for a day longer, and I care not what it is.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is right,” I said; “and the sooner I see one of our folk coming over this +bridge with a full basket of fish, the better I shall like it. But it may be a +long day before that. Now, I have been thinking that it were not well that you +should say that you are the son of Grim.” +</p> + +<p> +I did not quite know how he would take this, for he was proud of my father as +I. But that very pride made it easy. +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe not,” he said thoughtfully, “for it seems unworthy of his sons that we +have to ask for service from any man. But I do not think that he could blame +us, as things are. Nevertheless, folk shall not talk.” +</p> + +<p> +“Men know me,” said I, “but that cannot be helped.” +</p> + +<p> +He laughed gaily at that. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, here we speak as if one man in a hundred knew you. And after all it may +be that we shall get a place that none need be ashamed of. Look, here comes a +mighty fine lord from the gateway.” +</p> + +<p> +It was Berthun the steward, for whom we were waiting, and I knew him well by +sight. Often had he bought our fish, but I did not think that he would remember +me by name, if he had ever heard it. He was a portly and well-favoured man, not +old, and as he came down the street to the marketplace at the hill foot he +laughed and talked with one and another of the townsfolk, whether high or low, +in very pleasant wise. +</p> + +<p> +Presently he stopped at a stall, and priced some meat; and when he had bought +it he looked round and called for some men to carry it for him; and at that the +idlers made a rush for him, tripping over one another in haste to be first, +while he laughed at them. +</p> + +<p> +He chose two or three, and sent them up the hill to the palace with their +burdens, and then went to another booth and bought. +</p> + +<p> +“This is work at which I should make a good hand,” said Havelok, laughing at +the scrambling men who ran forward when the steward again called for porters. +“Well paid also the job must be, to judge of their eagerness.” +</p> + +<p> +The three men who had been chosen took their burden and went away, and the +steward came near us, to a bakery that was close to the bridge end. +</p> + +<p> +“I have a mind to do porter for once,” Havelok said. “Then I can at least earn +somewhat to take back to the dame tonight.” +</p> + +<p> +“If you do so,” I answered, “I will wait here for you. But you will have to +fight for the place.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the steward bought all that he needed, and that was bread for the whole +palace for the day, and again he called for porters. Whereon Havelok got up +from the bridge rail and went towards him in no great hurry, so that the idlers +were in a crowd before him. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho! friends,” cried Havelok, “let the good cook see all of us and make his +choice. He can only take one at a time.” +</p> + +<p> +“One, forsooth,” said a man from the crowd; “why, there is a load for four men +there.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then, let him pick four little ones, and give these little ones a chance +of being seen.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I do not think that he would have troubled with the matter any more; but +whether the men knew that this was the last load that the steward had to send +home, or whether they quarrelled, I cannot say, but in their eagerness to raise +the two great baskets they fell to struggling over them, and the steward tried +to quiet the turmoil by a free use of his staff, and there was a danger that +the bread should be scattered. +</p> + +<p> +“Here will be waste of what there is none too much of just now,” said Havelok; +and with that he went to the aid of the steward, picking up and setting aside +the men before him, and then brushing the struggling rivals into a ruefully +wondering heap from about the baskets, so that he and the steward faced each +other, while there fell a silence on the little crowd that had gathered. Even +the men who had been put aside stayed their abuse as they saw what manner of +man had come to the rescue of the baskets, and Havelok and the cook began to +laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“Fe, fi, fo, fum!” said Berthun; “here is surely a Cornish giant among us! Now +I thank you, good Blunderbore, or whatever your name is, for brushing off these +flies.” +</p> + +<p> +“The folk in this place are unmannerly,” said Havelok; “hut if you want the +bread carried up the hill I will do it for you.” +</p> + +<p> +Berthun looked him up and down in a puzzled sort of way once or twice ere he +answered, “Well, as that is your own proposal, pick your helpers and do so; I +would not have asked such a thing of you myself.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is not much help needed,” said Havelok. “I think this may be managed if +I get a fair hold.” +</p> + +<p> +Now we were used to seeing him carry such loads as would try the strength of +even Raven and myself, who could lift a load for three men; but when he took +the two great baskets of bread and swung them into place on either arm, a +smothered shout went round the crowd, and more than once I heard the old Welsh +name that the marsh folk had given him spoken. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us be going,” said Havelok to the steward on that. “One would think that +none of these had ever hefted a fair load in his life, to listen to them.” +</p> + +<p> +So he nodded to me across the heads of the crowd, and followed Berthun, and the +idlers followed him for a little. The guard turned these back at the gate, and +Havelok went through, and I could see him no more. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the crowd drifted back to their places, and I heard them talking. +Havelok and his strength was likely to be a nine days’ wonder in Lincoln, and I +was glad that I had asked him not to say whence he was. +</p> + +<p> +“He is some thane’s son who is disguised,” said one. +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe he is under a vow,” said another; and then one chimed in with a story of +some prince of Arthur’s time, by name Gareth, who hid his state at his mother’s +command. +</p> + +<p> +“As for me,” said the baker, “I think that he is a fisher, as he looks—at +least, that is, as his clothes make him.” +</p> + +<p> +So even he had his doubts, and I will say that I understood well enough now why +my father never brought him here before. +</p> + +<p> +Havelok was long in coming back, as I thought, and I seemed to be wasting time +here, and so I bethought me of the other man to whom the old dame had said we +might go—namely, the captain of the gate. I should see Havelok if I stood +there. +</p> + +<p> +The captain was talking with some of his men as I came up, and of course it was +of Havelok that they spoke; and seeing that I wore the same dress as he, they +asked me if I knew who he was. +</p> + +<p> +“He is a fisher from the coast,” I answered. “I have heard him called Curan.” +</p> + +<p> +“Welsh then,” the captain answered, somewhat disappointed, as it seemed. “If he +had been a Mercian, or even a Saxon, I would have had him here, but a fisher +has had no training in arms after all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Some of us have,” said I. +</p> + +<p> +The captain looked me up and down, and then walked round me, saying nothing +until we were face to face again. +</p> + +<p> +“That, I take it, is a hint that you might like to be a housecarl of the +king’s,” he said. “Are you a Lindseyman?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am the son of Grim of Grimsby,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then, I suppose you would not think of it, seeing that my place is not +empty; but if you will dress in that way you must not wonder if I took you for +a likely man for a housecarl. We know Grim well by repute. Come in and tell me +about the famine, and this new town of yours that one hears of.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I could not see Havelok as yet, and so I went into the stone-arched Roman +guardroom, and Eglaf the captain fetched out a pot of wine and some meat, and +made me very welcome while we talked. And presently I thought that I might do +worse than be a housecarl for a time, if Eglaf would have me. I should be armed +at least, and with comrades to help if Havelok needed me; though all the while +I thought myself foolish for thinking that any harm could come to him who was +so strong. Nevertheless, what my father had laid on us all was to be heeded, +and I was to be his helper in arms. So presently I told Eglaf that the +housecarl’s life seemed an easy one, and that it would be pleasant to go armed +for a while, if he would have me for a short time, seeing that the famine had +left us naught to do. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, there is plenty to eat and drink,” he said, “and good lodging in the +great hall or here, as one’s post may be, and a silver penny every day; but no +fighting to be done, seeing that Alsi will sooner pay a foe to go away than let +us see to the matter. Doing naught is mighty hard work at times.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he asked if I had arms, and I said that I would send for them at once, and +that settled the matter. If I chose to come with my own arms I should be +welcome. +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad to get you,” he said, “for there will be a crowd in the place ere +long, for the Witan is to meet, and the thanes will come with their men, and +there will be fine doings, so that we need another strong arm or two that we +may keep the peace,” +</p> + +<p> +He took a long pull at the wine pot, and then went on, “Moreover, the +princess’s Danes are sure to want to fight some of the English folk for sport.” +</p> + +<p> +“What! is she here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not yet. They say that she is coming when the Witan meets, because the Witan +wants to see her, not because Alsi does. But he dare not go against them, and +so it must be.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Goldberga, the princess, was, as I have said, Alsi’s ward, and was at this +time just eighteen, so that it would be time for her to take the kingdom that +was hers by right. It was common talk, however, that Alsi by no means liked the +thought of giving the wide lands of East Anglia up to her, and that he would +not do so if he could anywise help it. Maybe the Witan thought so also, and +would see fair play. Ethelwald and his wife Orwenna had been well loved both +here and in Norfolk, and it was said that Goldberga their daughter grew +wondrous fair and queenly. +</p> + +<p> +I had learned one thing though, and that was that we should have Ethelwald’s +Danes here shortly, and that I did not like; but after all, what did these few +men of an old household know of the past days in Denmark? There had been no +going backwards and forwards between the two countries since the king died ten +years ago. Nevertheless I was glad that I had found a friend in Eglaf, and that +I was to be here. +</p> + +<p> +Then I got up to go, and the captain bade me come as soon as I could, for he +could talk to me as he could not to the men, maybe. So I bade him farewell, and +went slowly back, down the street, sitting down in the old place. +</p> + +<p> +It was not long after that before Havelok came, and I saw Berthun the steward +come as far as the gate with him, and stand looking after him as he walked +away; then Eglaf came out, and both looked and talked for a while, and +therefore, as soon as I knew that Havelok saw me, I went away and across the +bridge to a place that was quiet, and waited for him there. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, brother,” I said, “you have had a long job with the cook. What is the +end of it all?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know,” he answered slowly. “That is to be seen yet.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked at him, for his voice was strange, and I saw that he seemed to have +the same puzzled look in his eyes as he had last night when we came first into +the city. I asked if anything was amiss. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing,” he said; “but this is a place of dreams. I think that I shall wake +presently in Grimsby.” +</p> + +<p> +We walked on, and past the straggling houses outside the stockade, and so into +the fields; and little by little he told me what was troubling him. +</p> + +<p> +Berthun the steward had said nothing until the palace was reached, and had led +him to the great servants’ hall, and there had bidden him set down his load and +rest. Then he had asked if he would like to see the place, and of course +Havelok had said that he would, wondering at the same time if this was all the +pay that the porters got. So he was shown the king’s hall, and the arms on the +wall, and the high seat, and the king’s own chamber, and many more things, and +all the while they seemed nothing strange to Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“This Berthun watched me as a cat watches a mouse all the while,” he said, “and +at last he asked if I had ever seen a king’s house before. I told him that I +had a dream palace which had all these things, but was not the same. And at +that he smiled and asked my name. ‘Curan,’ I said, of course; and at that he +smiled yet more, in a way that seemed to say that he did not believe me. ‘It is +a good name for the purpose,’ he said, ‘but I have to ask your pardon for +calling you by the old giant’s name just now.’ I said that as he did not know +my name, and it was a jest that fitted, it was no matter. Then he made a little +bow, and asked if I would take any food before I went from the place; so I told +him that it was just what I came for, and he laughed, and I had such a meal as +I have not seen for months. It is in my mind that I left a famine in that +house, so hungry was I. There is no pride about this Berthun, for he served me +himself, and I thanked him.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok stopped and passed his hand over his face, and he laughed a +little, uneasy laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“And all the while I could not get it out of my head that he ought to be +kneeling before me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” he went on after a little, “when I had done, this Berthun asked me a +question, saying that he was a discreet man, and that if he could help me in +any way he would do so. Had I a vow on me? Nothing more than to earn my keep +until the famine was over, I said. I had left poor folk who would have the more +for my absence, and he seemed to think that this was a wondrous good deed. So I +told him that if he could help me in this I should be glad. Whereon he lowered +his voice and asked if I must follow the way of Gareth the prince. I had not +heard of this worthy, and so I said that what was good enough for a prince was +doubtless good enough for me, and that pleased him wonderfully. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Gladly will I take you into my service,’ he said, ‘if that will content you.’ +Which it certainly would; and so I am to be porter again tomorrow. Then I said +that I had a comrade to whom I must speak first. He said that no doubt word +must be sent home of my welfare, and he saw me as far as the gate.” +</p> + +<p> +“Which of you went out of the hall first?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Now I come to think of it, I did. I went to let him pass, as the elder, though +it was in my mind to walk out as if the place belonged to me; and why, I do not +know, for no such thought ever came to me in Witlaf’s house, or even in a +cottage; but he stood aside and made me go first.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I longed for Withelm and his counsel, for one thing was plain to me, and +that was that with the once familiar things of the kingship before him the lost +memory of his childhood was waking in Havelok, and I thought that the time my +father boded was at hand. The steward had seen that a court and its ways were +no new thing to him, and had seen too that he had been wont to take the first +place somewhere; so he had deemed that this princely-looking youth was under a +vow of service, in the old way. It is likely that the Welsh name would make him +think that he was from beyond the marches to the west, and that was just as +well. +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok said, “Let us go back to the widow’s house and sleep. My head +aches sorely, and it is full of things that are confused, so that I do not know +rightly who I am or where. Maybe it will pass with rest.” +</p> + +<p> +We turned hack, and then I told him what I meant to do; and that pleased him, +for we should see one another often. +</p> + +<p> +“We are in luck, brother, so far,” he said, “having lit on what we needed so +soon; but I would that these dreams would pass.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is the poor food of many days gone by,” I said. “Berthun will cure that for +you very shortly.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is likely enough,” he answered more gaily. +</p> + +<p> +“Little want is in that house, but honest Berthun does not know what a +trencherman he has hired. But I would that we had somewhat to take back to our +good old dame tonight.” +</p> + +<p> +But she was more than satisfied with our news; and when she saw that Havelok +was silent, she made some curious draught of herbs for him, which he swallowed, +protesting, and after that he slept peacefully. +</p> + +<p> +I went out to the marketplace and found a man whom I knew—one of those who +carried our fish at times; and him I sent, with promise of two silver pennies +presently, to Arngeir for my arms, telling him that all was well. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09">CHAPTER IX.<br/> +CURAN THE PORTER.</a></h2> + +<p> +There is no need for me to say how my arms came to me from Grimsby, and how I +went to Eglaf as I had promised. I will only say that the life was pleasant +enough, if idle, as a housecarl, and that I saw Havelok every day at one time +or another, which was all that I could wish. +</p> + +<p> +But as I had to wait a day or two while the messenger went and the arms came +from home, I saw Havelok meet the steward on the next day: and a quaint meeting +enough it was, for Berthun hardly knew how he should behave to this man, whom +he had made up his mind was a wandering prince. +</p> + +<p> +There was the crowd who waited for the call for porters, as ever; hut the +steward would have none of them, until he saw his new man towering over the +rest, and then he half made a motion to unbonnet, which he checked and turned +into a beckoning wave of the hand, whereon the idlers made their rush for him, +and Havelok walked through and over them, more or less, as they would not make +way for him. But so good-naturedly was this done, that even those whom he +lifted from his path and dropped on one side laughed when they saw who had +cleared a way for himself, and stood gaping to see what came next. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho—why, yes—Curan—that was the name certainly. I have been looking for you, as +we said,” stammered the steward. +</p> + +<p> +“Here am I, therefore,” answered Havelok, “and where is the load?” +</p> + +<p> +“Truth to tell, I have bought but this at present,” said the steward, pointing +to a small basket of green stuff on the stall at which he stood. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I suppose there is more to come,” Havelok said, taking it up; “it will +be a beginning.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not ask you to carry more than that,” Berthun began. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, man, this is foolishness. If you have a porter, make him carry all he +can, else he will not earn his keep.” +</p> + +<p> +“As you will,” answered the steward, shrugging his shoulders as one who cannot +account for some folk’s whims, and going on to the next booth. +</p> + +<p> +Now, I suppose that the idlers looked to see Havelok walk away with this light +load gladly, as any one of them would have done, and that then their turn would +have come; but this was not what they expected. Maybe they would have liked to +see the strong man sweep up all the palace marketing and carry it, as a show, +but it might interfere with their own gains. So there was a murmur or two among +them, and this grew when Havelok took the next burden in like manner. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho, master cook,” cried a ragged man at last, “this is not the custom, and it +is not fair that one man should do all the work, and all for one wage.” +</p> + +<p> +Berthun took no notice of this; and so the cry was repeated, and that by more +than one. And at last he turned round and answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Go to, ye knaves,” he said with a red face and angrily; “if I find a man who +will save me the trouble of your wrangles every day, shall I not do as I +please?” +</p> + +<p> +Then there was a tumult of voices, and some of them seemed sad, as if a last +hope was gone, and that Havelok heard. +</p> + +<p> +“There is somewhat in this,” he said to the cook. “What pay have you given to +each man who carries for you?” +</p> + +<p> +“A yesterday’s loaf each,” answered Berthun, wondering plainly that Havelok +paid any heed to the noise. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then, let us go on, and we will think of somewhat,” Havelok said; and +then he turned to the people, who were silent at once. +</p> + +<p> +“I am a newcomer, and a hungry one,” he said, smiling quietly, “and I have a +mind to earn my loaf well. Hinder me not for today, and hereafter I will take +my chance with the rest, if need is.” +</p> + +<p> +Thereat the folk began to laugh also, for it was plain that none had any chance +at all if he chose to put forth his strength; but an old man said loudly, “Let +the good youth alone now, and he shall talk with us when he has done his errand +and fed that great bulk of his. He has an honest face, and will be fair to +all.” +</p> + +<p> +That seemed to please the crowd; and after that they said no more, but followed +and watched the gathering up of Havelok’s mighty burden. And presently there +was more than he could manage; and he spoke to Berthun, who checked himself in +a half bow as he answered. +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok looked over the faces before him, and beckoned to two men who +seemed weakly and could not press forward, and to them he gave the lighter +wares, and so left the market with his master, as one must call the steward. +</p> + +<p> +“What told I you?” said the old man, as they came back from the great gate. +“Never saw I one with a face like that who harmed any man, either in word or +deed.” +</p> + +<p> +Now when Havelok had set down his load in the kitchen, he straightened himself +and said to Berthun, who was, as one may say, waiting his pleasure. +</p> + +<p> +“This is today’s task; but it is in my mind that I would stay up here and +work.” +</p> + +<p> +“What would you do?” +</p> + +<p> +“There are men yonder who will miss the carrying if I am market porter always. +But here are things I can earn my keep at, and help the other servants with at +the same time. Water drawing there is, and carrying of logs for the fire, and +cleaving them also, and many other things that will be but hardening my +muscles, while they are over heavy to be pleasant for other folk.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” answered Berthun, “that is all I could wish, and welcome to some here +will you be. Let it be so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now, I do not think that you would make a gain by my work this morning?” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly not, if any one is wronged by my doing so,” the puzzled steward said. +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok asked how many men would have been needed to carry up the goods +that he had brought, and Berthun said that he was wont to send one at least +from each stall, and more if the burden was heavy. +</p> + +<p> +“Then today four poor knaves must go dinnerless by reason of my strength, and +that does not please me altogether,” said Havelok gravely. “Give these two +their loaves; and then, I pray you, give me the other four, and let me go back +to the market.” +</p> + +<p> +And then he added, with a smile, “I think that I can order matters there so +that things will be more fair, and that you will have less trouble with that +unmannerly scramble.” +</p> + +<p> +“If you can do that, you are even as your name calls you. Take them and +welcome, Curan, and then come here and do what work you will,” Berthun said in +haste. +</p> + +<p> +“Tasks you must set me, or I shall grow idle. That is the failing of over-big +men,” Havelok said; and he took the loaves and left the palace with the two +market men at his heels. +</p> + +<p> +I saw him come back, and at once the crowd of idlers made for him, but in a +respectful way enough. I knew, however, how easily these folks took to throwing +mud and stones in their own quarrels, and I was a little anxious, for to +interfere with the ways of the market is a high offence among them. +</p> + +<p> +But Havelok knew naught of that, and went his way with his loaves to the bridge +end, and there sat on the rail and looked at the men before him. And <i>lo!</i> +back to my mind came old days in Denmark, and how I once saw Gunnar the king +sitting in open court to do justice, and then I knew for certain that I was +looking on his son. And when Havelok spoke it was in the voice of Gunnar that I +had long forgotten, but which came back to me clear and plain, as if it were +yesterday that I had heard it. Never does a boy forget his first sight of the +king. +</p> + +<p> +“Friends,” said Havelok, “if I do two men’s work I get two men’s pay, or else I +might want to know the reason why. But I am only one man, all the same, and it +seems right to me that none should be the loser. Wherefore I have a mind to +share my pay fairly.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a sort of shout at that and Havelok set his four loaves in a row on +the rail beside him. But then some of the rougher men went to make a rush at +them, and he took the foremost two and shook them, so that others laughed and +bade the rest beware. +</p> + +<p> +“So that is just where the trouble comes in,” said Havelok coolly; “the strong +get the first chance, as I did this morning, by reason of there being none to +see fair play.” +</p> + +<p> +“Bide in the market, master, and we will make you judge among us,” cried a +small man from the edge of the crowd. +</p> + +<p> +“Fair and softly,” Havelok answered. “I am not going to bide here longer than I +can help. Come hither, grandfer,” and he beckoned to the old man who had bidden +them wait his return, “tell me the names of the men who have been longest +without any work.” +</p> + +<p> +The old man pointed out three, and then Havelok stopped him. +</p> + +<p> +“One of these loaves is my own wage,” he said; “but you three shall have the +others, and that will be the easiest day’s work you ever did. But think not +that I am going to do the like every day, for Lincoln hill is no easy climb, +and the loaf is well earned at the top. Moreover, it is not good to encourage +the idle by working for them.” +</p> + +<p> +So the three men had their loaves, and Havelok began to eat his own slowly, +swinging his legs on the bridge rail while the men watched him. +</p> + +<p> +“Master,” said the small man from behind, pushing forward a little, now that +the crowd was looser, “make a law for the market, I pray you, that all may have +a chance.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who am I to make laws?” said my brother slowly, and, as he said this, his hand +went up to his brows as it had gone last night when the palace had wearied him. +</p> + +<p> +“The strong make laws for the weak,” the old man said to him in a low voice. +“If the strong is honest, for the weak it is well. Things are hard for the weak +here; and therefore say somewhat, for it may be of use.” +</p> + +<p> +“It can be none, unless the strong is at hand to see that the law is kept.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sometimes the market will see that a rule is not broken, for itself. There is +no rule for this matter.” +</p> + +<p> +Again Havelok passed his hand over his eyes, and he was long in answering. The +loaf lay at his side now. Presently he looked straight before him, and, as if +he saw far beyond Lincoln Hill and away to the north, he said, “This is my +will, therefore, that from this time forward it shall be the law that men shall +have one among them who may fairly and without favour so order this matter that +all shall come to Berthun the steward in turns that shall be kept, and so also +with the carrying for any other man. There shall be a company of porters, +therefore, which a man must join before he shall do this work, save that every +stranger who comes shall be suffered to take a burden once, and then shall be +told of this company, and the custom that is to be. And I will that this old +man shall see to this matter.” +</p> + +<p> +And then he stopped suddenly, and seemed to start as a great shout went up from +the men, a shout as of praise; and his eyes looked again on them, and that +wonderingly. +</p> + +<p> +“They will keep this law,” said the old man. “Well have you spoken.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have said a lot of foolishness, maybe,” answered Havelok. “For the life of +me I could not say it again.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is not one of us that could not do so,” said his adviser. “But bide you +here, master, in the town?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am in service at the palace.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the old man turned round to the others and said, “This is good that we +have heard, and it is nothing fresh, for all trades have their companies, and +why should not we? Is this stranger’s word to be kept?” +</p> + +<p> +Maybe there were one or two of the rougher men who held their peace, for they +had had more than their share of work, but from the rest came a shout of “Ay!” +as it were at the Witan. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then,” said Havelok suddenly, getting down from his seat and giving his +loaf to the old man, “see you to it; and if any give trouble hereafter, I shall +hear from the cook, and, by Odin, I will even come down and knock their heads +together for them. So farewell.” +</p> + +<p> +He smiled round pleasantly, yet in that way which has a meaning at the back of +it; and at that every cap went off and the men did him reverence as to a thane +at least, and he nodded to them and came across to me. +</p> + +<p> +“Come out into the fields, brother, for I shall weep if I bide here longer.” +</p> + +<p> +So he said; and we went away quickly, while the men gathered round the old +leader who was to be, and talked earnestly. +</p> + +<p> +“This famine plays strange tricks with me,” he said when we were away from +every one. “Did you hear all that I said?” +</p> + +<p> +“I heard all, and you have spoken the best thing that could have been said. +Eight years have I been to this market, and a porters’ guild is just what is +needed. And it will come about now.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was more dreaming, and so I must be a wise man in my dream. Even as in the +palace yesterday it came on me, and I seemed to be at the gate of a great hall, +and it was someone else that was speaking, and yet myself. It is in my mind +that I told these knaves what my lordly will was, forsooth; and the words came +to me in our old Danish tongue, so that it was hard not to use it. But it seems +to me that long ago I did these things, or saw them, I know not which, +somewhere. Tell me, did the king live in our town across the sea?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, but in another some way off. My father took me there once or twice.” +</p> + +<p> +“Can you mind that he took me also?” +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head, and longed for Withelm. Surely I would send for him, or for +Arngeir, if this went on. Arngeir for choice, for I could tell him what I +thought; and that would only puzzle Withelm, who knew less than I. +</p> + +<p> +“We will ask Arngeir some day,” I said; “he can remember.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose he did take me,” mused Havelok; “and I suppose that I want more +sleep or more food or somewhat. Now we will go and tell the old dame of my +luck, for she has lost her lodger.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he told me of his fortune with the steward. +</p> + +<p> +“Half afraid of me he seems, for he will have me do just what I will. That will +be no hard place therefore.” +</p> + +<p> +But I thought that if I knew anything of Havelok my brother, he would be likely +to make it hard by doing every one’s work for him, and that Berthun saw this; +or else that, as I had thought last night, the shrewd courtier saw the prince +behind the fisher’s garb. +</p> + +<p> +So we parted presently at the gate of the palace wall, and I went back to the +widow to wait for my arms, while he went to his master. And I may as well tell +the end of Havelok’s lawmaking. +</p> + +<p> +Berthun went down to the market next day, and came back with a wonder to be +told. And it was to Havelok that he went first to tell it, as he was drawing +bucket after bucket of water from the deep old Roman well in the courtyard to +fill the great tub which he considered a fair load to carry at once. +</p> + +<p> +“There is something strange happening in the market,” he said, “and I think +that you have a hand in it. The decency of the place is wonderful, and you said +that you thought I might have less trouble with the men than I was wont if you +went down with the loaves. What did you? For I went to the baker’s stalls and +bought, and looked round for the tail that is after me always; and I was alone, +and all the market folk were agape to see what was to be done. I thought that I +had offended the market by yesterday’s business, as they had called out on me, +and I thought that I should have to come and fetch your—that is, if it pleased +you. But first I called, as is my wont, for porters. Now all that rabble sat in +a row along a wall, and, by Baldur, when I looked, they had cleaned themselves! +Whereupon an old gaffer, who has carried things once or twice for me when there +has been no crowd and he has been able to come forward, lifted up his voice and +asked how many men I wanted, so please me. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Two,’I said, wondering, and at that two got up and came to me, and I sent +them off. It was the same at the next booth, and the next, for he told off men +as I wanted them; and here am I back a full half-hour earlier than ever before, +and no mud splashes from the crowd either. It is said that they have made a +porters’ guild; and who has put that sense into their heads unless your—that +is, unless you have done so, I cannot say.” +</p> + +<p> +Havelok laughed. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I did tell them that they should take turns, or somewhat like that; and +I also told them that if you complained of them I would see to it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you say that you would pay them, may I ask—that is, of course, if they +were orderly? For if so, I thank—” +</p> + +<p> +“I told them that if you complained I would knock their heads together,” said +Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +And that was the beginning of the Lincoln porters’ guild; and in after days +Havelok was wont to say that he would that all lawmaking was as easy as that +first trial of his. Certainly from that day forward there was no man in all the +market who would not have done aught for my brother, and many a dispute was he +called on to settle. It is not always that a law, however good it may be, finds +not a single one to set himself against it. But then Havelok was a strong man. +</p> + +<p> +Now there is naught to tell of either Havelok or myself for a little while, for +we went on in our new places comfortably enough. One heard much of Havelok, +though, for word of him and his strength and goodliness, and of his kindness +moreover, went through the town, with tales of what he had done. But I never +heard that any dared to ask him to make a show of himself by doing feats of +strength. Only when he came down to the guardroom sometimes with me would he +take part in the weapon play that he loved, and the housecarls, who were all +tried and good warriors, said that he was their master in the use of every +weapon, and it puzzled them to know where he had learned so well, for he yet +wore his fisher’s garb. They sent his arms with mine from Grimsby, thinking +that he also needed them; but he left them with the widow. +</p> + +<p> +Havelok used to laugh if they asked him this, and tell them that it came by +nature, and in that saying there was more than a little truth. So the +housecarls, when they heard how Berthun was wont to treat him, thought also +that he was some great man in hiding, and that the steward knew who he was. +They did not know but that my close friendship with him had sprung up since he +came, and that was well, and Eglaf and he and I were soon much together. The +captain wanted him to leave the cook and be one of his men, but we thought that +he had better bide where he was, rather than let Alsi the king have him always +about him. For now and then that strange feeling, as of the old days, came over +him when he was in the great hall, and he had to go away and brood over it for +a while until he would set himself some mighty task and forget it. +</p> + +<p> +But one day he came to me and said that he was sure he knew the ways of a king +too well for it all to be a dream, adding that Berthun saw that also, and was +curious about him. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me, brother, whence came I? <i>Was</i> I truly brought up in a court?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have never heard,” I answered. “All that I know for certain is that you fled +with us from Hodulf, the new king, and that for reasons which my father never +told me.” +</p> + +<p> +Then said Havelok, “There was naught worth telling, therefore. I suppose I was +the child of some steward like Berthun; but yet—” +</p> + +<p> +So he went away, and I wondered long if it were not time that Arngeir should +tell all that he knew. It was of no good for me to say that in voice and ways +and deed he had brought back to me the Gunnar whom I had not seen for so many +long years, for that was as likely as not to be a fancy of mine, or if not a +fancy, he might be only a sister’s son or the like. But in all that he said +there was no word of his mother, and by that I knew that his remembrance must +be but a shadow, if a growing one. +</p> + +<p> +But there was no head in all the wide street that was not turned to look after +him; and now he went his way from me with two children, whom he had caught up +from somewhere, perched on either shoulder, and another in his arms, and they +crowed with delight as he made believe to be some giant who was to eat them +forthwith, and ran up the hill with them. No such playmate had the Lincoln +children before Havelok came. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10">CHAPTER X.<br/> +KING ALSI OF LINDSEY.</a></h2> + +<p> +Three weeks after we came the Witan<a href="#fn8" +name="fnref8"><sup>[8]</sup></a> began to gather, and that was a fine sight as +the great nobles of Lindsey, and of the North folk of East Anglia, came day by +day into the town with their followings, taking up their quarters either in the +better houses of the place or else pitching bright-coloured tents and pavilions +on the hillside meadows beyond the stockades. Many brought their ladies with +them, and all day long was feasting and mirth at one place or another, as +friend met with friend. Never had I seen such a gay sight as the marketplace +was at midday, when the young thanes and their men met there and matched their +followers at all sorts of sports. The English nobles are far more fond of gay +dress and jewels than our Danish folk, though I must say that when the few +Danes of Ethelwald’s household came it would seem that they had taken kindly to +the fashion of their home. +</p> + +<p> +Our housecarls grumbled a bit for a while, for with all the newcomers dressed +span new for the gathering, we had had nothing fresh for it from the king, as +was the custom, and I for one was ashamed of myself, for under my mail was +naught but the fisher’s coat, which is good enough for hard wear, but not for +show. But one day we were fitted out fresh by the king’s bounty in blue and +scarlet jerkins and hose, and we swaggered after that with the best, as one may +suppose. +</p> + +<p> +Berthun had the ordering of that business, and he came and sat with Eglaf in +the gatehouse and talked of it. +</p> + +<p> +“Pity that you do not put your man Curan into decent gear,” the captain said. +“That old sailcloth rig does not do either him or you or the court credit.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is what I would do,” said the steward, “but he will not take aught but +the food that he calls his hire. He is a strange man altogether, and I think +that he is not what he seems.” +</p> + +<p> +“So you have told me many times, and I think with you. He will be some +crack-brained Welsh princeling who has been crossed in love, and so has taken +some vow on him, as the King Arthur that they prate of taught them to do. Well, +if he is such, it is an easy matter to make him clothe himself decently. It is +only to tell him that the clothes are from the king, and no man who has been +well brought up may refuse such a gift.” +</p> + +<p> +“But suppose that he thanks the king for the gift. Both he and the king will be +wroth with me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not Curan, when he has once got the things on; and as for >Alsi, he will take +the thanks to himself, and chuckle to think that the mistake has gained him +credit for a good deed that he never did.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hush, comrade, hush!” said Berthun quickly; “naught but good of the king!” +</p> + +<p> +“I said naught ill. But if Woden or Frey, or whoever looks after good deeds, +scores the mistake to Alsi as well, it will be the first on the count of +charity that—” +</p> + +<p> +But at this Berthun rose up in stately wise. +</p> + +<p> +“I may not listen to this. To think that here in the guardroom I should hear +such—” +</p> + +<p> +“Sit down, comrade,” said Eglaf, laughing, and pulling the steward into his +seat again. “Well you know that I would be cut to pieces for the king tomorrow +if need were, and so I earn free speech of him I guard. If I may not say what I +think of him to a man who knows as much of him as I, who may?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have no doubt that the king would clothe Curan if I asked him,” said Berthun +stiffly, but noways loth to take his seat again. +</p> + +<p> +“But it is as much as your place is worth to do it. I know what you would say.” +</p> + +<p> +Berthun laughed. +</p> + +<p> +“I will do it myself, and if Alsi does get the credit, what matter?” +</p> + +<p> +Wherefore it came to pass that as I was on guard at the gate leading to the +town next day I saw a most noble-looking man coming towards me, and I looked a +second time, for I thought him one of the noblest of all the thanes who had yet +come, and the second look told me that it was Havelok in this new array. I will +say that honest Berthun had done his part well; and if the king was supposed to +be the giver, he had nothing to complain of. Eglaf had told me of the way in +which the dressing of Havelok was to be done. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho!” said I, “I thought you some newcomer.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hardly know myself,” he answered, “and I am not going to grumble at the +change, seeing that this is holiday time. Berthun came to me last evening, and +called me aside, and said that it was the king’s wont to dress his folk anew at +the time of the Witan, and then wanted to know if my vow prevented me from +wearing aught but fisher’s clothes. And when I said that if new clothes went as +wage for service about the place I was glad to hear it, he was pleased, as if +it had been likely that I would refuse a good offer. So the tailor went to work +on me, and hence this finery. But you are as fine, and this is more than we +counted on when we left Grimsby. I suppose it is all in honour of the lady of +the North folk, Goldberga.” +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe, for I have heard that she is to come.” +</p> + +<p> +“To be fetched rather, if one is to believe all that one hears. They say that +Alsi has kept her almost as a captive in Dover, having given her into the +charge of some friend of his there, that she may be far from her own kingdom +and people. Now the Norfolk Witan has made him bring her here. Berthun seems to +think there will be trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +“Only because Alsi will not want to let the kingdom go from his hand to her. +But that will not matter. He is bound by the old promise to her father.” +</p> + +<p> +Now we were talking to one another in broad Danish, there being none near to +hear us. We had always used it among ourselves at Grimsby, for my father loved +his old tongue. But at that moment there rode up to the gate a splendid +horseman, young and handsome, and with great gold bracelets on his arms, one or +two of which caught my eye at once, for they were of the old Danish patterns, +and just such as Jarl Sigurd used to wear. But if I was quick to notice these +tokens of the old land, he had been yet quicker, for he reined up before I +stayed him, as was my duty if he would pass through this gate to the palace, so +that I might know his authority. +</p> + +<p> +“If I am not mistaken,” he said in our own tongue, “I heard you two talking in +the way I love best. Skoal, therefore, to the first Northman I have met between +here and London town, for it is good to hear a friendly voice.” +</p> + +<p> +“Skoal to the jarl!” I answered, and I gave the salute of Sigurd’s courtmen, +which came into my mind on the moment with the familiar greeting of long years +ago. And “Skoal,” said Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“Jarl! How know you that I am that?” +</p> + +<p> +“By the jarl’s bracelet that you wear, surely.” +</p> + +<p> +“So you are a real Dane—not an English-bred one like myself. That is good. You +and I will have many a talk together. Odin, how good it is to meet a housecarl +who speaks as man to man and does not cringe to me! Who are you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Radbard Grimsson of Grimsby, housecarl just now to this King of Lindsey.” +</p> + +<p> +“And your comrade?” +</p> + +<p> +I was about to tell this friendly countryman Havelok’s name without thought, +but stopped in time. Of all the things I had been brought up to dread most for +him, that an English Dane should find him out was the worst, so I said, “He is +called Curan, and he is a Lindsey marshman.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who can talk Danish though his name is Welsh. That is strange. Well, you are +right about me. I am Ragnar of Norwich, the earl, as the English for jarl goes. +Now I want to see Alsi the king straightway.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is a matter for the captain,” I said, and I called for him. +</p> + +<p> +Eglaf came out and made a deep reverence when he saw the earl, knowing at once +who he was, and as this was just what the earl had said that he did not like, +he looked quaintly at me across Eglaf’s broad bent back, so that I had to grin +perforce. +</p> + +<p> +All unknowing of which the captain heard the earl’s business, and then told me +to see him to the palace gates, and take his horse to the stables when he had +dismounted and was in the hands of Berthun. +</p> + +<p> +So I went, and Havelok turned away and went on some errand down the steep +street. +</p> + +<p> +This Ragnar was one of whom I had often heard, for he was the governor of all +the North folk for Alsi until the Lady Goldberga should take her place. He was +her cousin, being the son of Ethelwald’s sister, who was of course a Dane. +Danish, and from the old country, was his father also, being one of the men who +had come over to the court of East Anglia when Ethelwald was made king. +</p> + +<p> +All the way to the door we talked of Denmark, but it was not far. There Berthun +came out and greeted the earl in court fashion, and I thought that I was done +with, because the grooms had run to take the great bay horse as they heard the +trampling. But, as it happened, I was wanted. +</p> + +<p> +Ragnar went in, saying to me that he would find me out again presently; and I +saw him walk across the great hall to the hearth, and stand there while Berthun +went to the king’s presence to tell him of the new arrival. Then I stood for a +minute to look at the horse, for the grooms had had no orders to take him away; +and mindful of Eglaf’s word to me, I was going to tell them to do so, and to +see it done, when Berthun came hurriedly and called me. +</p> + +<p> +“Master Housecarl,” he said rather breathlessly, “by the king’s order you are +to come within the hall and guard the doorway.” +</p> + +<p> +I shouldered my spear and followed him, and as we were out of hearing of the +grooms I said that the captain had ordered me to take the horse to the stables. +</p> + +<p> +“I will see to that,” he said. “Now you are to bide at the door while the king +speaks with Earl Ragnar, for there will be none else present. Let no one pass +in without the king’s leave.” +</p> + +<p> +We passed through the great door as he said that, and he closed it after him. +Ragnar was yet standing near the high seat, and turned as he heard the sound, +and smiled when he saw me. Berthun went quickly away through a side entrance, +and the hail was empty save for us two. The midday meal was over an hour since, +and the long tables had been cleared away, so that the place seemed desolate to +me, as I had only seen it before when I sat with the other men at the cross +tables for meals. It was not so good a hall as was Jarl Sigurd’s in Denmark, +for it was not rich with carving and colour as was his, and the arms on the +wall were few, and the hangings might have been brighter and better in a king’s +place. +</p> + +<p> +“Our king does not seem to keep much state,” Ragnar said, looking round as I +was looking, and we both laughed. +</p> + +<p> +Then the door on the high place opened, and the king came in, soberly dressed, +and with a smile on his face which seemed to me to have been made on purpose +for this greeting, for he mostly looked sour enough. Nor did it seem that his +eyes had any pleasure in them. +</p> + +<p> +“Welcome, kinsman,” he said, seeming hearty enough, however; “I had looked for +you before this. What news from our good town of Norwich?” +</p> + +<p> +He held out his hand to Ragnar, who took it frankly, and his strong grip +twisted the king’s set smile into a grin of pain for a moment. +</p> + +<p> +“All was well there three weeks ago when I left there to go to London. Now, I +have ridden on to say that the Lady Goldberga is not far hence, so that her +coming may be prepared for.” +</p> + +<p> +Now, as the earl said this, the king’s smile went from his face, and black +enough he looked for a moment. The look passed quickly, and the smile came +back, but it seemed hard to keep it up. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, that is well,” he said; “so you fell in with her on the way.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have attended her from London,” answered the earl, looking steadfastly at +Alsi, “and it was as well that I did so, as it happened.” +</p> + +<p> +“What has been amiss?” asked the king sharply, and trying to look troubled. He +let the smile go now altogether. +</p> + +<p> +“Your henchman, Griffin the Welshman, had no guard with her that was fitting +for our princess,” Ragnar said. “He had but twenty men, and these not of the +best. It is in my mind also that I should have been told of this journey, for I +am surely the right man to have guarded my queen who is to be.” +</p> + +<p> +At that Alsi’s face went ashy pale, and I did not rightly know why at the time, +but it seemed more in anger than aught else. But he had to make some answer. +</p> + +<p> +“We sent a messenger to you,” he said hastily; “I cannot tell why he did not +reach you.” +</p> + +<p> +“He must have come too late, and after I had heard of this from others; so I +had already gone to meet the princess. I am glad that I was sent for, and it +may pass. Well, it is lucky that I was in time, for we were attacked on the +road, and but for my men there would have been trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Alsi broke into wrath, which was real enough. +</p> + +<p> +“This passes all. Where and by whom were you attacked? and why should any fall +on the party?” +</p> + +<p> +“Five miles on the other side of Ancaster town, where the Ermin Street runs +among woods, we were fallen on, but who the men were I cannot say. Why they +should fall on us seems plain enough, seeing that the ransom of a princess is +likely to be a great sum.” +</p> + +<p> +“Was it a sharp fight?” +</p> + +<p> +“It was not,” answered Ragnar, “for it seemed to me that the men looked only to +find your Welsh thane Griffin and his men. When they saw my Norfolk housecarls, +they waited no longer, and we only rode down one or two of them. But I have +somewhat against this Griffin, for he helped me not at all. Until this day he +and his men had ridden fairly with us, but by the time this attack came they +were half a mile behind us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean to say that you think Griffin in league with these—outlaws, as one +may suppose them?” said Alsi, with wrath and more else written in twitching +mouth and crafty eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“I would not have said that,” Ragnar answered, looking in some surprise at the +king, “it had never come into my head. But I will say that as the Ermin Street +is straight as an arrow, and he was in full sight of us, he might have spurred +his horses to our help, whereas he never quickened his pace till he saw that +the outlaws, or whoever they were, had gone. I put this as a complaint to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“These men seem to have scared you, at least,” sneered the king. +</p> + +<p> +Ragnar flushed deeply. +</p> + +<p> +“For the princess—yes. It is not fitting that a man who is in charge of so +precious a lady should hold back in danger, even of the least seeming, as did +Griffin. And I told him so.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I thought that Alsi would have been as angry with Griffin as was the earl, +and that he would add that he also would speak his mind to him, hut instead of +that he went off in another way. +</p> + +<p> +“It was a pity that a pleasant journey with a fair companion was thus broken in +upon. But it was doubtless pleasant that the lady should see that her kinsman +was not unwilling to draw sword for her. A pretty little jest this, got up +between Griffin and yourself, and such as a young man may be forgiven for +playing. I shall hear Goldberga complain of honest Griffin presently, and now I +shall know how to answer her. Ay, I will promise him the like talking to that +you gave him, and then we three will laugh over it all together.” +</p> + +<p> +And with that the king broke into a cackle of laughter, catching hold of the +earl’s arm in his glee. And I never saw any man look so altogether bewildered +as did Ragnar. +</p> + +<p> +“Little jest was there in the matter, lord king, let me tell you,” he said, +trying to draw his arm away. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, I am not angry with you, kinsman; indeed, I am not. We have been young +and eager that bright eyes should see our valour ourselves ere now,” and he +shook his finger at the earl gaily. “I only wonder that you induced that fiery +Welshman to take a rating in the hearing of the princess quietly.” +</p> + +<p> +“What I had to say to him I said apart. I will not say that he did take it +quietly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Meaning—that you had a good laugh over it;” and Alsi shook the earl’s arm as +in glee. “There now, you have made a clean breast, and I am not one to spoil +sport. Go and meet Goldberga at the gates, and bring her to me in state, and +you shall be lodged here, if you will. Quite right of you to tell me this, or +Griffin would have been in trouble. But I must not have the lady scared again, +mind you.” +</p> + +<p> +He turned quickly away, then, with a sort of stifled laugh, as if he wanted to +get away to enjoy a good jest, and left Ragnar staring speechless at him as he +crossed the high place and went through the private door. +</p> + +<p> +Then the earl turned to me, “By Loki, fellow countryman, there is somewhat +wrong here. What does he mean by feigning to think the whole affair a jest? It +won’t be much of a jest if Griffin and I slay one another tomorrow, as we mean +to do, because of what was not done, and what was said about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“It has seemed to me, jarl,” I said plainly, “that all this is more like a jest +between the king and Griffin.” +</p> + +<p> +“Call it a jest, as that is loyal, at least. But I think that you are right. If +Goldberga had been carried off—Come, we shall be saying too much in these +walls.” +</p> + +<p> +I had only been told to wait while the king and earl spoke together, and so I +opened the door and followed him out. The horse was yet there waiting for him, +and it was plain that the king had not meant him to stay. +</p> + +<p> +“Bid the grooms lead the horse after us, and we will go to your captain. Then +you shall take me to one of my friends, for you will know where their houses +are.” +</p> + +<p> +But at that moment a man from the palace ran after us, bringing an order from +the king that I was to go back to him. So Ragnar bade me farewell. +</p> + +<p> +“Come to me tonight at the gatehouse,” he said. “I will speak to the captain to +let you off duty.” +</p> + +<p> +“Say nothing to him, jarl, for it is needless. I am only with him for a time, +and am my own master. I have no turn on watch tonight, and so am free.” +</p> + +<p> +So I went back, and found the king in the hall again, and he was still smiling. +If he had looked me straight in the face, I suppose that he might have seen +that I was not a man to whom he was used, but he did not. He seemed not to wish +to do so. +</p> + +<p> +“So, good fellow,” he said, “you have heard a pleasant jest of our young +kinsman’s contriving, but I will that you say nothing of it. It is a pity to +take a good guardroom story from you, however, without some recompense, and +therefore—” +</p> + +<p> +With that he put a little bag into my hand, and it was heavy. I said nothing, +but bowed in the English way, and he went on, “You understand; no word is to be +said of what you have heard unless I bid you repeat it. That I may have to do, +lest it is said that Griffin the thane is ‘nidring’<a href="#fn9" +name="fnref9"><sup>[9]</sup></a> by any of his enemies. You know all the +story—how the earl and he planned a sham attack on the princess’s party, that +Ragnar might show his valour, which, of course, he could not do if Griffin was +there. Therefore the thane held back. But maybe you heard all, and understood +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I heard all, lord king, and I will say naught.” +</p> + +<p> +The king waved his hand in sign that I was dismissed, and I bowed and went. +There were five rings of gold in the bag, worth about the whole year’s wage of +a courtman, and I thought that for keeping a jest to myself that was good pay +indeed. There must be more behind that business, as it had seemed to me +already. +</p> + +<p> +Now, as I crossed the green within the old walls on my way to the gate, it +happened that Havelok came back from the town, and as he came I heard him +whistling softly to himself a strange wild call, as it were, of a hunting horn, +very sweet, and one that I had never heard before. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho, brother!” I said, for there was no one near us. “What is that call you are +whistling?” +</p> + +<p> +He started and looked up at me suddenly, and I saw that his trouble was on him +again. +</p> + +<p> +“In my dream,” he said slowly, “there is a man on a great horse, and he wears +such bracelets as Ragnar of Norwich, and he winds his horn with that call, and +I run to him; and then I myself am on the horse, and I go to the stables, and +after that there is nothing but the call that I hear. Now it has gone again.” +</p> + +<p> +And his hand went up in the way that made me sad to see. +</p> + +<p> +“It will come back by-and-by. Trouble not about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I would that we were back in Grimsby,” he said, with a great sigh. “This is a +place of shadows. Ghosts are these of days that I think can never have been.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said I, wanting to take him out of himself, “this is no ghost, at all +events. I would that one of our brothers would come from home that I might send +it to them in Grimsby. We do not need it.” +</p> + +<p> +So I showed him the gold, and he wondered at it, and laughed, saying that the +housecarls had the best place after all. And so he went on, and I back to the +gate. +</p> + +<p> +Surely he minded at last the days when Gunnar his father had ridden home to the +gate, as the Danish earl had ridden even now, and had called his son to him +with that call. It was all coming back, as one thing or another brought it to +his mind; and I wondered what should be when he knew that the dream was the +truth. For what should Havelok, foster-son of the fisher, do against a king who +for twelve long years had held his throne? And who in all the old land would +believe that he was indeed the son of the lost king? Better, it seemed to me, +that this had not happened, and that he had been yet the happy, careless, +well-loved son of Grim, with no thought of aught higher than the good of the +folk he knew. +</p> + +<p> +When I got back to the gate, we were marched down the town, that we might be +ready to receive the princess; and as I went through the market, I saw one of +the porters whom I knew, and I beckoned to him, so that he came alongside me in +the ranks, and I asked him if he would go to Grimsby for me for a silver penny. +He would do it gladly; and so I sent him with word to Arngeir that I needed one +of them here to take a gift that I had for them. I would meet whoever came at +the widow’s house, and I set a time when I would look for them. I thought it +was well that the king’s gold should not be wasted, even for a day’s use, if I +could help it. And I wearied to see one of the brothers, and hear all that was +going on. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11">CHAPTER XI.<br/> +THE COMING OF THE PRINCESS.</a></h2> + +<p> +There is no need for me to tell aught of the entry of the Lady Goldberga into +the town, for anyone may know how the people cheered her, and how the party +were met by the Norfolk thanes and many others, and so rode on up the hill to +the palace. What the princess was like I hardly noticed at that time, for she +was closely hooded, and her maidens were round her. And I had something else to +think of; for foremost, and richly dressed, with a gold chain round his neck, +rode a man whose strange way of carrying his head caught my eye at once, so +that I looked more than a second time at him. +</p> + +<p> +And at last I knew him. It was that man of ours whose neck had been twisted by +the way in which he had been hauled on board at the time of the wreck, and had +afterwards gone to Ethelwald’s court. One would say that this Mord had +prospered exceedingly, for he was plainly a man of some consequence in the +princess’s household. He did not know me, though it happened that he looked +right at me for a moment; but I did not expect him to do so after twelve years, +seeing that I was but a boy when we parted. I thought that I would seek him +presently. +</p> + +<p> +Then I saw Griffin, the Welsh thane, and I did not like the looks of him at +all. He was a black-haired man, clean shaven, so that the cruel thinness of his +lips was not hidden, and his black eyes were restless, and never stayed +anywhere, unless he looked at Ragnar for a moment, and then that was a look of +deadly hatred. He wore his armour well, and had a steady seat on his horse; +but, if all that I had heard of him was true, his looks did not belie him. Men +had much to say of him here, for, being some far-off kin to Alsi’s Welsh +mother, he was always about the court, and was hated. He had gone to Dover to +fetch the princess before we came here, but it happened that I had once or +twice seen him at other times when I was in Lincoln, so that I knew him now. +</p> + +<p> +There was great feasting that night in the king’s hall, as one may suppose, and +I sat with the housecarls at the cross tables beyond the fire, and I could see +the Lady Goldberga at Alsi’s side. Tired she was with her long journey, and she +did not remain long at the table; but I had never seen so wondrously beautiful +a lady. Griffin sat next to her on the king’s right hand, for Ragnar was at the +king’s left, in the seat of next honour; and I saw that the lady had no love +for the Welsh thane. But I also thought that I saw how he would give his all +for a kindly glance from her; and if, as Alsi had seemed to hint, Ragnar was a +favoured lover, I did not wonder that Griffin had been ready to do him a bad +turn. I had rather that the thane was my friend than my foe, for he would be no +open enemy. +</p> + +<p> +I left the feast when the first change of guard went out, for I saw that the +ale cup was passing faster than we Danes think fitting, being less given to it +than the English. And when the guard was set I waited alone in the guardroom of +the old gate, for Eglaf was yet at the hall, and would be there all night +maybe. And presently Earl Ragnar came in and sat down with me. +</p> + +<p> +He was silent for a while, and I waited for him to speak, until he looked up at +me with a little laugh, and said, “I told you that I had to fight Griffin +tomorrow?” +</p> + +<p> +“You did, earl. Is that matter settled otherwise?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not at all,” he answered. “I believe now that he was acting under orders, but +I have said things to him which he cannot pass over. I called him ‘nidring’ to +his face, and that I still mean; for though I thought of cowardice at the time, +he is none the less so if he has plotted against the princess. So naught but +the sword will end the feud.” +</p> + +<p> +He pondered for some moments, and then went on, “It is a bad business; for if I +slay Griffin, he is the king’s favourite; and if he slays me, the Norfolk +thanes will have somewhat to say. And all is bad for the Lady Goldberga, who +needs all the friends that she has, for in either case there will be trouble +between the two kingdoms that Alsi holds just now.” +</p> + +<p> +“If Griffin is slain,” I said, “I think that the lady has one trouble out of +the way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay; and the king will make out, as you heard him do even now, that I am +looking that way myself. It is not so, for I will say to you at once that to me +there is but one lady in all the world, and she is in Norfolk at this time. Now +I am going to ask you something that is a favour.” +</p> + +<p> +I thought that he would give me some message for this lady, in case he fell; +but he had more to ask than that. Nothing more or less than that I should be +his second in the fight, because I was a fellow countryman, while to ask an +East Anglian thane would he to make things harder yet for Goldberga. +</p> + +<p> +“I am no thane, earl,” I said plainly. “This is an honour that is over high for +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that you own a town, for I asked Eglaf just now,” he answered; “and +that is enough surely to give you thane’s rank in a matter like this. But that +is neither here nor there; it is as Dane to Dane that I ask you. If I could +find another of us I would ask him also, that you might not have to stand +alone. I am asking you to break the law that bids the keeping of the peace at +the time of the meeting of the Witan.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is no matter,” I said. “If I have to fly, it will be with you as victor; +and if it is but a matter of a fine, I have had that from the king today which +will surely pay it.” +</p> + +<p> +And I told him of the gift for silence, whereat he laughed heartily, and then +said that the secret was more worth than he thought. This looked very bad, and +like proof that the king was at the bottom of the whole business. +</p> + +<p> +Now I had been thinking, and it seemed better that there should be two +witnesses of the fight on our side, and I thought that Havelok was the man who +would make the second. So I told Ragnar that I could find another Dane who was +at least as worthy as I, and he was well pleased. Then he told me where the +meeting was to be, and where we should meet him just before daylight; and so he +went back to the hall, where the lights were yet burning redly, and the songs +were wilder than ever. +</p> + +<p> +And I found Havelok, and told him of the fight that was to be, and asked him to +come with us. His arms were at the widow’s, and he could get them without any +noticing him. +</p> + +<p> +There is no need to say that he was ready as I to help Ragnar, and so we spoke +of time and place, and parted for the night. +</p> + +<p> +Very early came Havelok to the house, for I lodged at the widow’s when I was +not on night duty; and we armed ourselves, and then came Ragnar. He greeted me +first, and then looked at Havelok in amaze, as it seemed, and then bowed a +little, and asked me to make my friend known to him. +</p> + +<p> +“If you are the friend of whom Radbard has told me, I think that I am fortunate +in having come to him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am his brother, lord earl,” answered Havelok, “and I am at your service.” +</p> + +<p> +Ragnar looked from one of us to the other, and then smiled. +</p> + +<p> +“A brother Dane and a brother in arms, truly,” he said. “Well, that is all that +I need ask, except your name, as I am to be another brother of the same sort.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok looked at me, and I nodded. I knew what he meant; but it was not +right that the earl should not know who he was. +</p> + +<p> +“Men call me Curan here, lord earl, and that I must be to you hereafter. But I +am Havelok of Grimsby, son of Grim.” +</p> + +<p> +In a moment I saw that the earl knew more of that name than I had deemed +possible; and then I minded Mord, the wry-necked, who was the chamberlain now. +But Ragnar said nothing beyond that he would remember the request, and that he +was well seconded. And then we went out into the grey morning, and without +recrossing the bridge, away to the level meadows on the south of the river, far +from any roadway. +</p> + +<p> +“There is not an island in the stream,” said Ragnar, “or I should have wanted +the old northern holmgang battle. I doubt if we could even get these Welshmen +to peg out the lists.” +</p> + +<p> +“That we must see to,” I said. “We will have all things fair in some way.” +</p> + +<p> +Half a mile from the town we came to what they call a carr—a woody rise in the +level marsh—and on the skirts of this two men waited us. They were the seconds +of Griffin, Welsh or half Welsh both of them by their looks, and both were well +armed. Their greeting was courteous enough, and they led us by a little track +into the heart of the thickets, and there was a wide and level clearing, most +fit for a fight, in which waited Griffin himself. +</p> + +<p> +Now I had never taken any part in a fight before, and I did not rightly know +what I had to do to begin with. However, one of the other side seemed to be +well up in the matter, and at once he came to me and Havelok and took us aside. +</p> + +<p> +“Here is a little trouble,” he said: “our men have said nothing of what weapons +they will use.” +</p> + +<p> +“I take it,” said Havelok at once, “that they meant to use those which were +most handy to them, therefore.” +</p> + +<p> +The Welshman stared, and answered rather stiffly, “This is not a matter of +chance medley, young sir, but an ordered affair. But doubtless this is the +first time you have been in this case, and do not know the rules. Let me tell +you, therefore, that your earl, being the challenged man, has choice of +weapons. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then,” answered Havelok, “it seems to me that if we say as I have already +said, it is fair on our part. For it is certain that the earl will want to use +the axe, and your man is about half his weight, so that would be uneven.” +</p> + +<p> +“As the challenged man, the earl is entitled to any advantage in weapons.” +</p> + +<p> +“He needs none. Let us fight fairly or not at all. The earl takes the axe.—What +say you, Radbard? Griffin takes what he likes.” +</p> + +<p> +“You keep to the axe after all, and yet say that it gives an advantage.” +</p> + +<p> +“Axe against axe it does, but if your man chooses to take a twenty-foot spear +and keep out of its way, we do not object. We give him his own choice.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the other second said frankly, “This is generous, Cadwal. No more need be +said. But this young thane has not yet asked his earl whether it will suit +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Faith, no,” said Havelok, laughing; “I was thinking what I should like myself, +and nothing at all of the earl.” +</p> + +<p> +So I went across to Ragnar, who was waiting patiently at one end of the +clearing, while Griffin was pacing with uneven steps backward and forward at +the other, and I told him what the question was. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought it would be a matter of swords,” he said, “but I am Dane enough to +like the axe best. Settle it as you will. Of course he knows naught of axe +play, so that you are right in not pressing it on him. He is a light man, and +active, and maybe will be glad not even to try sword to sword; for look at the +sort of bodkin he is wearing.” +</p> + +<p> +The earl and we had the northern long sword, of course; but when I looked I saw +that the Welsh had short, straight, and heavy weapons of about half the length +of ours, and so even sword to sword seemed hard on the lighter man; wherein I +was wrong, as I had yet to learn. +</p> + +<p> +I went back, therefore, and told the others. +</p> + +<p> +“The earl takes the axe, and the thane has his choice, as we have said.” +</p> + +<p> +“We have to thank you,” said the other second, while Cadwal only laughed a +short laugh, and bade us choose the ground with them. +</p> + +<p> +There was no difficulty about that, for the light was clear and bright, and +though the sun was up, the trees bid any bright rays that might be in the eyes +of the fighters. However, we set them across the light, so that all there was +might be even; and then we agreed that if one was forced back to the edge of +the clearing he was to be held beaten, as if we had been on an island. It was +nearly as good, for the shore of trees and brushwood was very plain and sharp. +</p> + +<p> +Now Ragnar unslung his round shield from his shoulders, and took his axe from +me, for I had carried it for him, and his face was quiet and steady, as the +face of one should be who has a deed to do that must be seen through to the +end. But Griffin and his men talked quickly in their own tongue, and I had to +tell them that we understood it well enough. Then they looked at each other, +and were silent suddenly. I wondered what they, were about to say, for it +seemed that my warning came just in time for them. +</p> + +<p> +Griffin took a shield from the thane they called Cadwal, and it was square—a +shape that I had not seen before in use, though Witlaf had one like it on the +wall at Stallingborough. He said that it had been won from a chief by his +forefathers when the English first came into the land, and that it was the old +Roman shape. It seemed unhandy to me, but I had no time to think of it for a +moment, for now Cadwal had a last question. +</p> + +<p> +“Is this fight to be to the death?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I answered; “else were the rule we made about the boundary of no use.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Griffin cried in a sort of choked voice, “It shall be to the death.” +</p> + +<p> +But I said nothing, and the other second, with Cadwal, shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +Ragnar made no sign, but Cadwal said to Havelok, “You were foremost in the +matter just now. What say you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Rules are rules, and what my comrade says is right. If the first blow slays, +we cannot help it, but there shall be no second wound. The man who is first +struck is defeated.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not have it so,” said Griffin. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then, thane, after you have wounded the earl you will have to reckon +with me, if you must slay someone.” +</p> + +<p> +Griffin looked at the towering form of my brother and made no answer, and the +other second told him that it was right. There was naught but an angry word or +two to be atoned for. So there was an end, and Ragnar went on guard. Griffin +made ready also, and at once it was plain that here was no uneven match after +all. +</p> + +<p> +Both of them wore ring mail of the best. We had set the two six paces apart, +and they must step forward to get within striking distance. At once Griffin +seemed to grow smaller, for he crouched down as a cat that is going to spring, +and raised his shield before him, so that from where I stood behind Ragnar I +could only see his black glittering eyes and round helm above its edge. And his +right arm was drawn back, so that only the point of his heavy leaf-bladed sword +was to be seen glancing from the right edge steadily. And now his eyes were +steady as the sword point, which was no brighter than they. If once he got +inside the sweep of the great axe it would be bad for Ragnar. +</p> + +<p> +One step forward went the earl, shield up and axe balanced, but Griffin never +moved. Then Ragnar leapt forward and struck out, but I could see that it was a +feint, and he recovered at once. Griffin’s shield had gone up in a moment above +his head, and in a moment it was back in its place, and over it his eyes glared +as before, unwavering. And then, like a wildcat, he sprang at Ragnar, making no +sweeping blow with his sword, but thrusting with straight arm, so that the +whole weight of his flying body was behind the point. Ragnar struck out, but +the square shield was overhead to stay the blow, and full on the round Danish +buckler the point of the short sword rang, for the earl was ready to meet it. +</p> + +<p> +In a moment the Welshman was back in his crouching guard, leaving a great +ragged hole in the shield whence he had wrenched his weapon point in a way that +told of a wrist turn that had been long practised. Ragnar had needed no leech, +had his quick eye not saved him from that thrust. +</p> + +<p> +Then for a breathing space the two watched each other, while we held our +breath, motionless. And then Griffin slowly began to circle round his foe, +still crouching. +</p> + +<p> +Then, like a thunderbolt, Ragnar’s axe swept down on the thane, and neither +shield nor helm would have been of avail had that blow gone home. Back leapt +Griffin, and the axe shore the edge only of his shield; and then, shield aloft +and point foremost, he flew on the earl before the axe had recovered from its +swing, and I surely thought that the end had come, for the earl’s shield was +lowered, and his face was unguarded. +</p> + +<p> +But that was what he looked for. Up and forward flew the round shield, catching +the thane’s straightened arm along its whole length, and then, as sword and arm +were dashed upwards, smiting him fairly in the face; and, like a stone, the +Welshman was hurled from it, and fell backward in a heap on the grass three +paces away. It seemed to me that he was off his feet in his spring as the +shield smote him. +</p> + +<p> +There he lay, and Havelok strode forward and stood between the two, with his +face to Griffin, for Ragnar had dropped his axe to rest when his foe fell. +</p> + +<p> +“No blood drawn,” said my brother, “but no more fighting can there be. The +man’s arm is out.” +</p> + +<p> +And so it was, for the mighty heave that turned the thrust had ended Griffin’s +fighting for a long day. But he did not think so. +</p> + +<p> +The sweat was standing on his face in great beads from the pain, but he got up +and shifted his sword to his left hand. +</p> + +<p> +“It is to the death,” he cried; “I can fight as well with the left. Stand +aside.” +</p> + +<p> +“An it had been so, you were a dead man now,” said Havelok, “for the earl held +his hand where he might have slain. If he had chosen, you might have felt his +axe before you touched the ground.” +</p> + +<p> +Thereat, without warning other than a snarl of “Your own saying,” Griffin leapt +at my brother fiercely, only to meet a swing of his axe that sent his sword +flying from his hand. And that was deft of Havelok, for there is nothing more +hard to meet than a left-handed attack at any time, and this seemed unlooked +for. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I did say somewhat of this sort,” said Havelok; “but it was lucky that I +had not forgotten it.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he took the thane by the waist and left arm and set him down gently; and +after that all the fury went from him, and he grew pale with the pain of the +arm that was hurt. But both I and the Welshmen had shouted to Griffin to hold, +all uselessly, so quick had been his onset on his new foe. +</p> + +<p> +Cadwal held his peace, biting his lip, but the other Welshman began to blame +Griffin loudly for this. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” said Havelok, smiling; “it was my own fault maybe. The thane was +overhasty certainly, but one does not think with pain gnawing at one. Let that +pass. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, earl, I think that you may say what you have to say that will set things +right once more.” +</p> + +<p> +“Can none of us put the arm back first?” I said. “I will try, if none else has +done such a thing before, for it will not be the first time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Put it back, if you can,” said Cadwal. “If there is anything to be said, it +had better be in some sort of comfort.” +</p> + +<p> +So I put the arm back, for when once the trick is learned there is not, as a +rule, much trouble. But Griffin never thanked me. He left that to his seconds, +who did so well enough. +</p> + +<p> +Then Ragnar came forward and said gravely, “I was wrong when I called you +‘nidring,’ and I take back the word and ask you to forget it. No man who is +that will face the Danish axe as you have faced it, and I will say that the +British sword is a thing to be feared.” +</p> + +<p> +But Griffin made no answer, and when Ragnar held out his hand he would not see +it. +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe I have not yet made amends,” Ragnar went on. “I will add, therefore, as +I know that my words will go no farther, that I am sure that the thing +concerning which we quarrelled yesterday was done by you at the orders of +another. It was not your own doing, and no thought of cowardice is in my mind +now.” +</p> + +<p> +But Griffin never answered; and now he turned his back on the earl, who was +plainly grieved, and said no more to him, but turned to us and the two +Welshmen. +</p> + +<p> +“I do not think that I can say more. If there is aught that is needed, tell me. +We have fought a fair fight, and I have taken back the words that caused it.” +</p> + +<p> +Then said Cadwal, “No more is needed. I did not think that we had met with so +generous a foe. If Griffin will say naught, we say this for him. He has no +cause for enmity left. And I say also that he has to thank this thane for his +life as well as the earl.” +</p> + +<p> +“No thane am I,” said Havelok, “but only Havelok Grimsson of Grimsby. And even +that name is set aside for a while, so that I must ask you to forget it. I have +seen a good fight, if a short one, and one could not smite a wounded man who +forgot himself for a moment.” +</p> + +<p> +There was nothing more to be had from Griffin, for we waited a minute or two in +silence to see if he would speak, and then we saluted and left the wood. +</p> + +<p> +The last thing that I saw seemed to be a matter of high words between Griffin +and his seconds; and, indeed, if they were telling him what they thought, it is +likely that he wished he had been more courteous. It is easy enough for a man +who wants a quarrel to have done with one and then start another. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12">CHAPTER XII.<br/> +IN LINCOLN MARKETPLACE.</a></h2> + +<p> +We went quietly back to the town, and there was only one thing that I wished, +and that was that Havelok had not had to tell his name twice. Ragnar was full +of thanks to us for our help, and said that he would that we would come to +Norfolk with him. +</p> + +<p> +“We have a man who knows you also,” he said, “but he has been with our princess +for a long time now. He is called Mord, and is her chamberlain. He has often +told me how he came by his wry-neck at the time of your shipwreck.” +</p> + +<p> +So he said, and looked at Havelok. But this was a thing that he had not seen, +as he was so sick at the time. I said that I remembered Mord well, and would +seek him some time in the day. +</p> + +<p> +And as I said this I was thinking that I must find out from Mord whether he +knew and had told more than I could of who Havelok was and whence he came to +us. It seemed to me that the earl had heard some tale or other, and unless it +was from him I could not think from whence. +</p> + +<p> +Now the earl said, “This business has ended better than I could have hoped, and +I think that Alsi will not hear of it. Griffin can well account for a slipped +shoulder by any sort of fall that he likes to own to, and Alsi would be hardly +pleased to hear that he had run the risk of setting all Norfolk against him for +nothing after all.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is no doubt that he meant you to know that he does not consider the +quarrel done with,” I said. “You have an enemy there.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing new, that,” answered Ragnar, laughing. “He thinks that I stand in his +way with the princess. I suppose it is common talk that if he wedded her Alsi +would still hold the East Anglian kingdom, making him ealdorman, if only I were +out of the way. But were I to wed the lady, then it is certain that she would +take the crown at once. I do not mean to do so, for then it is likely that +three people would be unhappy for the rest of their days. But that would be +less wretched for her than to wed Griffin.” +</p> + +<p> +“This is no pleasant strait for the poor lady,” said Havelok grimly. “Do none +ask what she herself can wish?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is the trouble,” said the earl, “for she is in Alsi’s hand, and there is +some old promise and oath sworn between him and Ethelwald her father that holds +him back. Else had she been wedded to Griffin before now.” +</p> + +<p> +Then we came to the widow’s house, and Havelok left his arms there, and we went +on to the marketplace. As we crossed the bridge we saw that there was something +going forward, for there was a gathering in the wide space, and a shouting and +cheering now and then, and even Berthun himself was there looking on and +seeming to be highly entertained. +</p> + +<p> +“Here is a crowd that I will not face just now, in my arms,” said the earl; +“for this hole in my shield looks bad, not having been there when I went out. +Farewell for the time, therefore, and think of what I said about your coming to +Norwich with me.” +</p> + +<p> +He turned away therefore, and Havelok looked after him for a moment. The shield +hung at his back, plain to be seen. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a hole, for certain,” he said; “but there is no need to show it in that +wise.” +</p> + +<p> +So he strode after him. +</p> + +<p> +“By your leave, earl, I will arrange your cloak across the shield, and then you +can get it to your armourer without notice.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is well thought of,” answered Ragnar, as Havelok did as he had said. “I +do not forget that I think that I owe you my life, though I have said nothing +as yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“How is that?” +</p> + +<p> +“Griffin would have flown on me as he did on you, certainly; and it is in my +mind that you foresaw it, which I did not. I could not have stayed him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well I did,” answered my brother; “else had either I or you a hole in us like +the one that is well covered now. But I feared what came to pass.” +</p> + +<p> +Ragnar held out his hand, and Havelok took it, and so they parted without more +words; but I knew that these two were friends from that time forward, whatever +happened. +</p> + +<p> +There were some sports of some sort on hand, when we came to see what all the +noise was; and Berthun, seeing us, called Havelok to him. +</p> + +<p> +“I have been looking for you,” he said, with that curious tone of his that +always seemed to be asking pardon for his boldness in speaking to my brother; +“for here are games at which they need some one to show the way.” +</p> + +<p> +“This is a sport that I have not seen before,” answered Havelok, looking over +the heads of the crowd. “I should make a poor hand at it.” +</p> + +<p> +They had been tossing a great fir pole, which was now laid on one side, with +its top split from its falls, and they, thanes and freemen in turn, were +putting a great stone, so heavy that a matter of a few inches beyond the +longest cast yet made would be something to be proud of. Good sport enough it +was to see the brawny housecarls heave it from the ground and swing it. But no +one could lift it above his knee, so that one may suppose that it flew no great +distance at a cast. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but the thanes are trying,” Berthun said. “It is open to all to do what +they can. One of your porters is best man so far.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I will not try to outdo him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I would that you would lift the stone, Curan. That is a thing that I should +most like to see.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well then, master, as you bid me, I will try. But do not expect too much.” +</p> + +<p> +The man who had the stone made his cast, which was nothing to speak of; and +then the stone lay unclaimed for a time, while all the onlookers waited to see +who came forward next. Then Havelok made his way through the crowd, and a +silence as of wonder fell on the people; for some knew him, and had heard of +his strength, and those who did not stared at him as at a wonder. But the +silence did not last long, for the porters who were there set up a sort of +shout of delight, and that one who had made the longest cast so far began to +tell him how best to heft the stone and swing it. +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok bent to raise the stone, and the noise hushed again. I saw his +mighty limbs harden and knot under the strain, and up to his knee he heaved it, +and to his middle, and yet higher, to his chest, while we all held our breaths, +and then with a mighty lift it was at his shoulder, and he poised it, and swung +as one who balances for a moment, and then hurled it from him. Then was a shout +that Alsi might have heard in his hilltop palace, for full four paces beyond +the strong porter’s cast it flew, lighting with a mighty crash, and bedding +itself in the ground where it lit. And I saw the young thanes with wide eyes +looking at my brother, and from beside me Berthun the cook fairly roared with +delight. +</p> + +<p> +And then from across the space between the two lines of onlookers I saw a man +in a fisher’s dress that caught my eye. It was Withelm, and we nodded to each +other, well pleased. +</p> + +<p> +Now there seemed to be a strife as to who should get nearest to Havelok, for +men crowded to pat him and to look up at him, and that pleased him not at all. +One came and bade him take the silver pennies that the thanes had set out for +the prize, but he shook his head and smiled. +</p> + +<p> +“I threw the thing because I was bidden, and not for any prize,” he said. “I +would have it given to the porter who fairly won it.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he elbowed his way to Berthun, and said, “let us go, master; we have +stayed here too long already.” +</p> + +<p> +“As it pleases you,” the steward said; and Havelok waved his hand to me, and +they went their way. +</p> + +<p> +He had not seen Withelm, and I was glad, for I wanted to speak to him alone +first. +</p> + +<p> +Now men began to ask who this was, and many voices answered, while the porter +went to claim the prize from the thane who held it. +</p> + +<p> +Two silver pennies the thane gave him, and said, “This seems to be a friend of +yours, and it was good to hear you try to help him without acrimony. Not that +he needed any hints from any one, however. Who is he?” +</p> + +<p> +“Men call him Curan, that being the name he gives himself; but he came as a +stranger to the place, and none know from whence, unless Berthun the cook may +do so. Surely he is a friend of mine, for he shook me once, and that shaking +made an honest man of me. He himself taught me what fair play is, at that same +time.” +</p> + +<p> +So said the porter, and laughed, and the thane joined him. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, he has made a sort of name for himself as a wonder, certainly, now. I +think that this cast of his will be told of every time men lift a stone here in +Lincoln,” said the thane. +</p> + +<p> +They left the stone where he had set it, and any one may see it there to this +day, and there I suppose it will be for a wonder while Havelok’s name is +remembered. +</p> + +<p> +Then they began wrestling and the like, and I left the crowd and went to +Withelm, going afterwards to the widow’s. I was not yet wanted by Eglaf for any +housecarl duty. +</p> + +<p> +“I sent a man to Grimsby yesterday,” I said; “but you must have passed him on +the way somewhere, for he could not have started soon enough to take you a +message before you left.” +</p> + +<p> +“I met him on the road last night, for I myself thought it time to come and see +how you two fared. I bided at Cabourn for the night, and your messenger came on +with me.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he told me that all were well at Grimsby; for fish came now and then and +kept the famine from the town, though there were none to send elsewhere; and it +was well that we had left, though they all missed us sorely. +</p> + +<p> +Then we began to talk of the doings here; and at last I spoke of Havelok’s +trouble, as one may well call it, telling him also of the strange dream with +which it all began. +</p> + +<p> +“All this is strange,” he said thoughtfully; “but if Havelok our brother is +indeed a king’s son, it is only what he is like in all his ways. Wise was our +father Grim, and I mind how he seemed always to be careful of him in every way, +and good reason must he have had not to say what he knew. We will not ask aught +until the time of which Arngeir knows has come. Nor can we say aught to +Havelok, though he is troubled, for we know nothing. As for the dream, that is +part of it all, and it is a portent, as I think.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did I know the man who could read it, I would go to him and tell him it.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is one man who can read dreams well,” Withelm answered, flushing a +little, “but I do not know if you would care to seek him. I stayed with him +last night, and he is on his way even now to Lincoln, driven by the famine. I +mean the old British priest David, who has his little hut and chapel in the +Cabourn woods. His people have no more to give him.” +</p> + +<p> +I knew that Withelm thought much of this old man of late, and I was not +surprised to hear him speak of him now. All knew his wisdom, and the marsh folk +were wont to seek him when they were in any trouble or difficulty. But I did +not care to go to him, for he seemed to belong to the thralls, as one might +say. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, if he comes here, no doubt you will know where to find him if we need +him,” I said. “Bide with us for a few days at least, for here is plenty, and +there is much going on.” +</p> + +<p> +So we went into the town, and then to the palace, and found Havelok, and after +that I had to go to the gate on guard. And what these two did I cannot say, +but, at all events, there is nothing worth telling of. +</p> + +<p> +Now, however, I have to tell things that I did not see or hear myself, and +therefore I would have it understood that I heard all from those who took some +part or other in the matter, and so know all well. +</p> + +<p> +I have not said much of the meetings of the Witan, for I had naught more to do +with them than to guard the doors of the hall where they met now and then; but +since the princess and Ragnar came they seem to have somewhat to do with the +story, as will be seen. +</p> + +<p> +On this day one of the Norfolk thanes asked in full meeting what plans the king +had for his ward Goldberga, and her coming into her kingdom, saying that she, +being eighteen years of age, was old enough to take her place. +</p> + +<p> +Now Alsi had thought of this beforehand, and was ready at once. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a matter of concern to us always,” he said, “and much have I thought +thereof. It is full time that she took her father’s place with the consent of +the Witan, which is needed.” +</p> + +<p> +He looked round us for reply to this, and at once the Norfolk thanes said, “We +will have Goldberga for our queen, as was the will of Ethelwald.” +</p> + +<p> +“That,” said Alsi, “is as I thought. I needed only to hear it said openly. Now, +therefore, it remains but to speak of one other thing and that is a weighty +one. It was her father’s will and I swore to carry it out, that she should be +wedded to the most goodly and mightiest man in the realm. It seems to me that +on her marriage hangs all the wealth of her kingdom; and ill it would be if, +after she took the throne, she took to herself one who made himself an evil +adviser. I would say that it were better to see her married first, for it does +not follow that you would choose to have the man whom I thought fitting to be +over you, as he certainly would be.” +</p> + +<p> +Now all this was so straightforward in all seeming that none of the thanes +could be aught but pleased. Moreover, it took away a fear that they had had +lest Griffin was to be the man. None could say that he fulfilled the conditions +of the will of Ethelwald. The spokesman said, therefore, that it was well set +before them, and that it was best to wait, saying at the end, “For, after all, +we might have to change our minds concerning the princess, if with her we must +take a man who will prove a burden or tyrant to us all.” +</p> + +<p> +Then they asked the king to find a good husband for the princess as soon as +might be, so that he was not against her liking. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Alsi, “it is a hard task for a man who has no wife to help him; +but we will trust to the good sense of my niece. Now, I had thought of Ragnar +of Norwich; but it is in my mind that the old laws of near kin are somewhat +against this.” +</p> + +<p> +I suppose that he had no intention of letting the earl marry the princess; but +this was policy, as it might please the thanes. However, the matter of kinship +did not please some, and that was all that he needed, for there was excuse then +for him if he forbade that match, which was the last he wanted. +</p> + +<p> +Ragnar sat in his place and heard all this, and he wished himself back at +Norwich. +</p> + +<p> +So there the matter ended, and that was the last sitting of the Witan. There +was to be a great breaking-up feast that night before the thanes scattered to +their homes. +</p> + +<p> +Now while this was going on I ended my spell of duty, and bethought me of Mord +the chamberlain, and so went to Berthun and asked for him. He said that if I +had any special business with Mord I might see him; and I said, truly enough, +that my errand was special, having to do with friends of his; so it was not +long before they took me to him. He was in a long room that was built on the +side of the great hall, as it were, and I could hear the murmur of the voices +of those who spoke at the Witan while I waited. +</p> + +<p> +Now Mord was not so much changed as I, and at first he did not know me at all. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, master housecarl, what may your message be, and from whom is it?” he +said, without more than a glance at me. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, there are some old friends of yours who are anxious to know if you have +forgotten the feeling of a halter round your neck,” I said in good Danish. +</p> + +<p> +Then, after one look, he knew me at once, and ran to me, and took my hand, and +almost kissed me in his pleasure, for since I could handle an oar he had known +me, and had taught me how to do that, moreover. +</p> + +<p> +Then he called for wine and food; and we sat down together and had a long talk +of the old days, and of how we had fared after he left, and of all else that +came uppermost. And sorely he grieved at my father’s death, and at the trouble +that was on us. The famine had not been so sore in the south, and pestilence +had not been at all. +</p> + +<p> +As for himself, he had been courtman, as we call the housecarls, at first, and +so had risen to be chamberlain to the king, and now to the princess, and had +been with her everywhere that Alsi had sent her since her father died. +</p> + +<p> +“It was a good day for me, and wise was Grim when he bade me go to Ethelwald to +seek service,” he said; “yet I would that I had seen him once more. I have +never been to this place before, else I should have sought him.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I was going to ask him about Havelok, but hardly knew how to begin. He +saved me the trouble however, by speaking first. +</p> + +<p> +“Who were the lady and the boy we had on board when we came to England?” he +said. “I never heard, and maybe it was as well that I did not.” +</p> + +<p> +“My father never told me. But why do you think that it was well not to know?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because I am sure that Grim had good reason for not telling. Before I had been +a year at Norwich there came a ship from Denmark into the river, and soon men +told me that her master was asking for news of one Grim, a merchant, who was +lost. So I saw him, not saying who I was or that I had anything to do with +Grim; and then I found that it was not so much of the master that he wanted +news as of the boy we had with us. He did not ask of the lady at all, and I was +sure that this was the man who came and spoke to Grim just as we were sailing, +if you remember. So then it came to me that we knew nothing of the coming on +board of these two, only learning of their presence when we were far at sea. +And now, if Hodulf troubled himself so much about this boy, there must be +something that he was not meant to know about his flight, for he must be of +some note. Did I not know that the king’s son was in his hands at that time, I +should have thought that our passenger was he. However, I told him of the +shipwreck as of a thing that I had seen, saying that Grim and his family and a +few men only had been saved; and I told him also that I had heard that he had +lost some folk in an attack by Vikings. With that he seemed well satisfied, and +I heard no more of him. I have wondered ever since who the boy was, and if he +was yet alive. I mind that he was like to die when he came ashore.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I laughed, and said that he would hear of him soon enough, for all the +town was talking of him; and he guessed whom I meant, for he had heard of the +cook’s mighty man. +</p> + +<p> +Now I said no more but this: +</p> + +<p> +“My father kept this matter secret all these years, and with reason, as we have +seen; and so, while he is here, we call this foster-brother of mine Curan, +until the time comes when his name may he known. Maybe it will be best for you +not to say much of your knowledge of him. What does Earl Ragnar know of our +wreck? For he told me that you knew me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I told him all about it at one time or another,” Mord answered. “He always +wanted to hear of Denmark.” +</p> + +<p> +So that was all that the chamberlain knew; but it was plain to me that the earl +had put two and two together when he heard Havelok’s name, and had remembered +that this was also the name of Gunnar’s son. Afterwards I found that Mord had +heard from Denmark that Hodulf was said to have made away with Havelok, but he +never remembered that at this time. Ragnar knew this, and did remember it. +</p> + +<p> +Pleasant it was to talk of old days with an old friend thus, and the time went +quickly. Then Mord must go to his mistress and I to my place, and so we parted +for the time. But my last doubt of who Havelok my brother might be was gone. I +was sure that he was the son of Gunnar the king. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13">CHAPTER XIII.<br/> +THE WITAN’S FEASTING.</a></h2> + +<p> +Now I have to tell of a strange thing that happened in the night that was just +past, the first that the Lady Goldberga had spent here in Lincoln for many a +year, for on that happening hangs a great deal, and it will make clear what I +myself saw presently at the breaking-up feast of the Witan. That puzzled me +mightily at the time, as it did many at the feast, but I see no reason why it +should not be told at once. +</p> + +<p> +Now I have said that Goldberga left the hall early overnight, being wearied +with the journey, and having the remembrance of the attack on her party so near +to Lincoln to trouble her also. Not much cause to love her uncle Alsi had she; +though perhaps, also, not much to make her hate him, except that he had kept +her so far away from her own people of late, in a sort of honourable captivity. +Now it was plain to her that had it not been for the presence of Ragnar and his +men, her guard would not have been able to drive off the attackers; and the +strange way in which Griffin had held back had been too plain for her not to +notice. Already she feared him, and it seemed that he might have plotted her +carrying off thus. That Alsi might have had a hand in the matter did not come +into her mind, as it did into the minds of others, for she knew little of him, +thinking him honest if not very pleasant in his ways, else had not her father +made him her guardian. +</p> + +<p> +I will say now that in the attack he did have a hand. Many a long year +afterward it all came out in some way. He dared not give his niece to Griffin +openly, but he wished to do so, as then he would have an under-king in East +Anglia of his own choosing. Sorely against the grain with him was it that he +should have to give up those fair lands to this girl, who would hold the throne +by her own right, and not at all under him. So he and Griffin had plotted thus, +and only Ragnar’s presence had spoilt the plan, though Griffin had tried to +save it by holding back. But I must say also that up to this time none had had +aught to say against Alsi as a ruler, though he was over close, and not at all +hearty in his ways at home. But now, for the sake of the kingdom, he had begun +to plot; and this plan having come to naught, he must make others, as will be +seen. I do not think that this planning to keep Ethelwald’s kingdom from his +daughter was anything fresh to Alsi, but the time for action had come now. +</p> + +<p> +He had made ready by keeping the fair princess far away, and there were none +who could speak of her goodness, or, indeed, had heard much of her since she +was a child. Therefore, as men were content enough with him, none would trouble +much if the princess came not to the throne, given good reason why she should +not do so. And the very best reason would be that which Alsi had given at the +Witan—if her husband was not fit to be king. +</p> + +<p> +It is possible that Goldberga knew that her marriage would be talked of at this +Witan: but I do not think that she troubled herself much about it, not by any +means intending to be married against her will. I have heard that so ran the +will of Ethelwald, that she was to have choice to some extent. However that may +be, with so many thoughts to trouble her she went to rest, and her sleep was +not easy until the morning was near, and then came quiet. +</p> + +<p> +But presently, in the grey of the dawn, she woke, and called her old nurse, who +was in the chamber with her; and when she came she told her that she had had a +strange vision or dream, so real that she did not know which it was. And what +it portended she could not say, for it was wonderful altogether, and surely was +good. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought that a voice wakened me, calling me to look on somewhat; and so I +rose as I was bidden, and saw before me the most mighty and comeliest man that +could be thought of. Kinglike he was, though he had no crown and was meanly +clad, without brooch or bracelet that a king should wear. But the wonder was +that from his mouth came a bright shaft of flame, as it were of a sunbeam, that +lighted all the place, and on his shoulder shone a cross of burning light as of +red-hot gold, and I knew that it was the mark of a mighty king. +</p> + +<p> +“Then I heard the voice again, and I turned, and saw that it was an angel who +spoke to me, and his face was bright and kind. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Fear not, Goldberga,’ he said, ‘for this is your husband that shall be. +King’s son and heir is he, as that token of the fiery cross shows. More, also, +it will betoken—that he shall reign in England and in Denmark, a great king and +mighty. And this you shall see, and with him shall you reign as queen and +well-loved lady.’ +</p> + +<p> +“So the voice ceased, and the angel was gone, and when I looked up there was +naught but the growing dawn across yon window, and the voice of the thrush that +sings outside.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the old nurse pondered over the dream for a while without speaking, for she +could not see what it might mean at first. +</p> + +<p> +But at last she said, “It is a good dream surely, because of the angel that +spoke; but there seems only one way in which it can come to pass. A prince must +come for you from Denmark, for there he would reign by his own right, and here +he would do so by yours. Yet I have heard that the Danish kings are most +terrible heathen, worse than the Saxon kin, of whom we know the worst now. +Maybe that is why the angel told you to have no fear. I mind Gunnar Kirkeban, +and what he wrought on the churches and Christian folk in Wales—in Gower on the +Severn Sea, and on the holy Dee—when I was young.” +</p> + +<p> +For both Goldberga and this old nurse of hers were Christian, as had been +Orwenna, Ethelwald’s wife, her mother. It had been a great day for them when +the King of Kent had brought over his fair wife, Bertha, from France, for she, +too, was Christian, and had restored the ancient church in the very castle +where Goldberga was kept. +</p> + +<p> +Now the princess went to sleep again, and woke refreshed; but all day long the +memory of the dream and of him whom she saw in it bided with her, until it was +time for her to go to the great hall for the feast of the Witan. +</p> + +<p> +Now it happened that on this night I must be one of the two housecarls who +should stand, torch in hand, behind the king. It was a place that none of the +men cared for much, since they saw their comrades feasting at the end of the +room, while they must bide hungry till the end, and mind that no sparks from +the flaring pine fell on the guests, moreover. Eglaf would have excused me this +had I wished; but I would take my turn with the rest, and maybe did not mind +losing the best of the feast so much as the others. There were some three +hundred guests at that feast, and it was a wondrous fair sight to me as I stood +on the high place and saw them gather. The long table behind which I was ran +right across the dais, rich with gold and silver and glass work: and below +this, all down the hall, ran long tables again, set lengthwise, that none might +have their backs to the king. And at the end of the hall, crosswise, were the +tables for the housecarls, and the men of the house, and of the thanes who were +guests. And as the housecarls came in they hung their shields and weapons on +the walls in order, so that they flashed bright from above the hangings that +Berthun and his men had set up afresh and more gaily than I had seen yet in +this place. +</p> + +<p> +There was a fire on the great hearth in the midst of the hall; but as it was +high summer, only a little one, and over it were no cauldrons, as there would +have been in the winter. Berthun was doing his cookery elsewhere. But between +the tables were spaces where his thralls and the women could pass as they bore +round the food and drink. And backwards and forwards among them went Berthun +until the very last, anxious and important, seeing that all was right, and +showing one guest after another to their places. No light matter was that +either, for to set a thane in too low a place for his rank was likely to be a +cause of strife and complaint. Also he must know if there were old feuds still +remembered, lest he should set deadly enemies side by side. I did not envy him, +by any means. +</p> + +<p> +When it seemed that there were few more guests to come, and only half a dozen +seats were vacant on the high place, Berthun passed into the room beyond the +hall, and at once a hush fell on the noisy folk, who had been talking to one +another as though they had never met before. The gleemen tuned their harps, and +I and my comrade lit our torches from those already burning on the wall, and +stood ready, for the king was coming. +</p> + +<p> +Out of the door backed Berthun with many bows, and loud sang the gleemen, while +all in the hall stood up at once; and then came Alsi, leading the princess, +first; and then Ragnar, with the wife of some great noble; and after him that +noble and another lady; but Griffin was not there. Bright looked Goldberga in +her blue dress, with wondrous jewels on arm and neck, and maybe the brighter +for the absence of the Welsh thane, as I thought. +</p> + +<p> +So they sat as last night, save that the noble who had come next to Ragnar was +in Griffin’s place; and therefore I stood behind the king and the princess, +with the light of my torch falling between the two. +</p> + +<p> +Now they were set, and at once Berthun bore a great beaker of wine to the king, +and all down the hall ran his men with the pitchers of wine and mead and ale, +and with them the women of the household and the wives of the courtmen, filling +every drinking horn for the welcome cup. +</p> + +<p> +Then the gleemen hushed their song, and Alsi stood up with the gold-rimmed horn +of the king in his hand, and high he raised it, and cried, “Waeshael!” +</p> + +<p> +And all the guests rose up, cup in hand, with a wonderful flashing of the +glorious English jewels, and cried with one voice, “Drinc hael, Cyning!” +</p> + +<p> +Then all sat them down, and at once came Berthun’s men with the laden spits and +the cauldrons, and first they served the high table, kneeling on the dais steps +while each noble helped himself and the lady next him with what he would. And +then down the hall the feast began, and for a time befell a silence—the silence +of hungry folk who have before them a good reason for not saying much for a +little while. +</p> + +<p> +I looked for Havelok among Berthun’s men, but he was not there. Nor was he at +the lower cross tables with the other people of the palace. But Withelm was +there, for Eglaf had seen him with me not an hour ago, and had bidden him come, +as a stranger from far off. There were a few other strangers there also, as one +might suppose, for the king’s hall must be open at these times. +</p> + +<p> +Now I looked on all this, and it pleased me; and then I began to hear the talk +of those at the high table, and that was pleasant also. First I heard that +Griffin had fallen off his horse, and had put his arm out. Whereon one said +that he only needed one hand to feed with, and marvelled that so small a hurt +kept him away from so pleasant a place as was his. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that he fell on his face,” answered a thane who had seen him. “He is +not as handsome as he was last night. That is what keeps him away. Some +passerby put his arm in straightway.” +</p> + +<p> +At that I almost laughed, but kept a face wooden as that of our old statue of +Thor, for Eglaf had warned me that I was but a torch, as it were, unless by any +chance I was spoken to. But Ragnar glanced my way with a half smile. Presently +they began to talk of the stone putting, and of the mighty man who had come +with Berthun, and I saw several looking idly down the hall to see if they could +spy him. One of the thanes on the high seat, at the end, was he who had held +the prizes at these sports. +</p> + +<p> +Now it seemed that Alsi had not heard of this before; and when he had been told +all about it, he said that he did not know that he had any man who was strong +enough to make such a cast as they spoke of, though Eglaf had picked up a big +man somewhere lately, whom he had noticed at the hall end once or twice. +</p> + +<p> +Then he ran his eyes over the tables, for now the women folk had sat down among +the men, and one could see everywhere. But he did not see the man he meant, and +so turned sharply on us two housecarls behind him. +</p> + +<p> +“Here he is,” he said, laughing and looking at me. “Were you the mighty stone +putter they make such a talk of?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am not, lord,” I said, somewhat out of countenance, because every one looked +at me together. It had never seemed to me that I was so big before; perhaps +because I was used to Havelok, and to Raven, who was nigh as tall as myself, +and maybe a bit broader. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then, who was he?” said the king. “We must ask Berthun, unless anyone can +see him in the hall.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the thane of the prizes said, “He is not here, lord; for little trouble +would there be in seeing him, if he were, seeing that he is a full head and +shoulders over even this housecarl of yours.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the princess had turned to look at me, and she saw that I was abashed, and +so she smiled at me pleasantly, as much as to say that she was a little sorry +for me, and turned away. Then thought I that if ever the princess needed one to +fight for her, even to death, I would do so for the sake of that smile and the +thought for a rough housecarl that was behind it. +</p> + +<p> +Now came Berthun with more wine, before the matter of the stone was forgotten +in other talk, and the king said, “It seems that you have found a new man, +steward, for all are talking of him. I mean the man who is said to have thrown +a big stone certain miles, or somewhat like it, from all accounts. Where is +he?” +</p> + +<p> +“He is my new porter,” answered Berthun, with much pride; “but he is not in the +hail, for he does not like to hear much of himself, being quiet in his ways, +although so strong.” +</p> + +<p> +“Here is a marvel,” laughed Alsi, “and by-and-by we must see him. I wonder that +Eglaf let you have him.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Eglaf sat at the head of the nearest of the lower tables, and all in +hearing of the king were of course listening by this time. So he said, “The man +had his choice, and chose the heavier place, if you will believe me, lord. It +is terrible to see how Berthun loads him at times; so that I may get him yet.” +</p> + +<p> +Then all laughed at the steward, whose face grew red; but he had to laugh also, +because the jest pleased the king. He went away quickly; and one told Eglaf +that he had better eat no more, else would he run risk of somewhat deadly at +the cook’s hands. But those two were old friends, as has been seen, and they +were ever seeking jests at each other’s expense. +</p> + +<p> +Now the talk drifted away to other things, and I hoped that Havelok had been +forgotten, for no more than I would he like being stared at. The feast went on, +and twice I had to take new torches, but Berthun saw that I had wine, if I +could not eat as yet. Then had men finished eating, and the tables were +cleared, and the singing began, very pleasant to hearken. Not only the gleemen +sang, but the harp went round, and all who could did so. Well do the Lindsey +folk sing, after their own manner, three men at a time, in a gladsome way, with +well-matched voices, and that for just long enough to be pleasant. +</p> + +<p> +So the harp went its way down the hall, and the great folk fell to talk again; +and at last one said, so that Alsi heard him, “Why, we have not seen the strong +man yet. Strange that he is not feasting with the rest.” +</p> + +<p> +Whereat the king beckoned Berthun. +</p> + +<p> +“Bring your new wonder here,” he said. “Say that I have heard of his deed, and +would look on him.” +</p> + +<p> +Berthun bowed and went his way; and I wondered how my brother would bear this, +for the hall and its ordering was wont, as I have said, to bring back his +troubled thoughts of things half remembered. +</p> + +<p> +Presently he came in at the door at the lower end of the hall, and at first +none noticed him, for there was singing going on, and through that door came +and went many with things for the feast from the kitchens. Then some one turned +to see who towered over them thus, and when he saw Havelok he went on looking, +so that others looked also. Then one of the three singers looked, and his voice +stayed, for he was a stranger, and had heard nothing of this newcomer, and then +Havelok followed Berthun up the hall in a kind of hush that fell, and he was +smiling a little, as if it amused him. He had on the things that the steward +had given him, and they were good enough—as good as, if more sober than, my +housecarl finery. But I suppose that not one in all the gathering looked at +what he wore; for as he passed up the long tables, it seemed that there was no +man worth looking at but he, and even Ragnar seemed to be but a common man when +one turned to him with eyes that had seen Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +Now Alsi the king sat staring at him, still as a carven image, with his hand +halfway to his mouth, as he raised his horn from the table; and Ragnar looked +wide-eyed, for he knew him again, and I saw a little smile curl the corners of +his lips and pass; and then Havelok was at the step of the high place, and +there he gave the salute of the courtmen of a Danish king, heeding Berthun, who +tried to make him do reverence, not at all. +</p> + +<p> +Now a spark from my torch drew my eyes from him, lest it should fall on the +princess’s robe; and when it went out, I saw that the fair hand that rested on +the arm of the great chair was shaking like a leaf. When I looked, her face was +white and troubled, and she half rose from her seat and then sank back in it +gently, and the thane who sat next her spoke anxiously to her in a low voice, +and the lady by his side rose up and came to her. +</p> + +<p> +Then Alsi turned, and he too spoke, asking if aught was amiss. +</p> + +<p> +“The princess faints with the heat of the hall,” said the thane’s wife. “She +yet feels the long journey. May she not go hence?” +</p> + +<p> +Then Goldberga said bravely, “It is naught, and it will pass.” +</p> + +<p> +But they made her rise and leave the hall; and the guests stood up as she went +with her ladies round her, and many were the murmurs of pity that I heard. +</p> + +<p> +“As though she had seen a ghost, so white is she,” one whispered. +</p> + +<p> +But none knew how much the lady was to be pitied. She had seen the man of her +vision; and, lo! for all that she knew, he was a thrall who toiled in the +palace kitchens. +</p> + +<p> +And after her, as she withdrew, looked Havelok with eyes in which there was +more than pity. I could see him well, but I did not know how he had seen the +fair princess tremble and grow white as she gazed on him. I know that, as he +saw her for this first time, it was with the wish that he were in Ragnar’s +place. But I thought that if Havelok were king, here was the queen for him. +</p> + +<p> +Now Alsi bade the feast go on, and be spoke a few words only to Havelok, +letting him go at once, and I was glad. This sudden faintness of the princess +had put all out somewhat, and none cared to take up a jest where it had stayed. +Nevertheless, I saw the king’s eyes follow my brother down the hall, and in +them was a new and strange look that was not pleasant at all. +</p> + +<p> +Then it seemed that one was staring at me, and as will happen, I must look in a +certain place; and there was Cadwal, the Welsh thane, halfway down one of the +long tables, glaring first at me, and then at Havelok, as he went. It came into +my mind that he would be wroth with Ragnar for bringing a kitchen knave as his +second, as it were, in derision of Griffin. I thought that I would find a +chance presently to tell him why my fellow second chose to be serving thus, and +so make things right with him, for this seemed to be due to Ragnar, if not to +all concerned. +</p> + +<p> +Not long after Goldberga had gone, the king withdrew also, and then the hall +grew noisy enough, and I could leave my place. But by that time Cadwal had left +also; and next day, when I sought him, both he and Griffin were no longer in +Lincoln, none knowing whither they had gone. So I troubled no more about them. +</p> + +<p> +But had I known that these two had been among the Welshmen that Hodulf led to +Denmark when he slew Gunnar Kirkeban, and therefore knew all the story of the +loss of Havelok, and how Hodulf had sought for news of him, I should have been +in fear enough that we had not yet done with them. Rightly, too, should I have +feared that, as will be seen. +</p> + +<p> +Now while I looked about the hall for Cadwal, Mord the chamberlain saw me, and +made me sit down by him while I ate. Hungry enough was I by that time, as may +be supposed, for one cannot make a meal off the sight of a feast; and as I ate, +the noise of the hall grew apace as the cups went round. Then some of the older +thanes left, and soon Mord and I had that table to ourselves. It was plain that +he was full of something that he would say to me, and when I was ready to +listen he bent near me and said, “So that was the boy who fled with us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay. He has grown since you saw him last.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is not all,” answered Mord. “Well I knew Gunnar, our king, and tonight I +thought he had come back to us from Valhalla, goodlier yet and mightier than +ever, as one who has feasted with the Asir might well be. For if this boy of +ours is not Gunnar’s son, then he is Gunnar himself.” +</p> + +<p> +Now that was no new thought to me, as I have shown, and I was ready for it, +seeing that even I had seen the likeness to the king as I remembered him. +</p> + +<p> +“Keep that thought to yourself for a while, Mord,” I said. “It is in my mind +that you are right, but the time has not yet come for me to know.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is wisdom, too,” he answered; “for if once he gathers a following, there +is a bad time in store for Hodulf. And it will be better that we fall on him +unawares, before he knows that Havelok, son of Gunnar, lives.” +</p> + +<p> +“We fall on him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, you and I, mail on chest and weapon in hand, with Havelok to lead us. +What? think you that I would hold back when Gunnar’s son is calling?” +</p> + +<p> +“Steady, friend,” I said, laughing; “men will be looking at us.” +</p> + +<p> +So he was silent again; and now I thought that the time of which my father +spoke had surely come, for it was plain that Havelok was a man whom men would +gladly follow as he went to win back his kingdom. And I went and fetched +Withelm from where he sat, and so we three talked long and pleasantly, until it +was time for us to go forth from the hall. And we thought that it was good for +Arngeir to come here, for the secret was coming to light of itself, as it were, +and we would have him speak with Mord. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14">CHAPTER XIV.<br/> +THE CRAFT OF ALSI THE KING.</a></h2> + +<p> +Now Alsi the king went from the feast with a new and cruel thought in his mind +under the smiling face that he wore, and long he sat in his own chamber, chin +on hand and eyes far off, thinking; and at last he called Berthun. +</p> + +<p> +“What is the name of this big knave of yours?” he asked, when the steward stood +before him. +</p> + +<p> +“He calls himself Curan, lord.” +</p> + +<p> +“Calls himself. Well, it is likely that he knows his own name best. Is he +Welsh, therefore?” +</p> + +<p> +“So I think, lord.” +</p> + +<p> +“You might have been certain by this time, surely. I like Welshmen about the +place, and I was giving you credit for finding me a good one. Whence comes he?” +</p> + +<p> +Now it was on Berthun’s tongue to say that he thought that Curan came from the +marshland, yet clinging to his own thoughts of what he was. He did not at all +believe that he came from that refuge of thralls. But he must seem certain +unless he was to be laughed at again. +</p> + +<p> +So he said, “He comes from the marsh-country.” +</p> + +<p> +“Does he speak Welsh?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard him do so to the market people, if he happened to meet a Briton +there.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then, of course he is Welsh: and here have I found out in two minutes +what you have taken I do not know how long to think about. Go to, Berthun; you +grow slow of mind with good living.” +</p> + +<p> +The king chuckled, and Berthun bowed humbly; but now the steward was determined +to say no more than he was obliged in answer to more questions. Also he began +to hope that Alsi would ask nothing about the clothes this man of his wore, +else he would be well laughed at for spending his money on a stranger. +</p> + +<p> +But Alsi seemed pleased with himself, or else with what he had heard, and went +on. +</p> + +<p> +“Has this Curan friends in the town?” +</p> + +<p> +“None, lord, so far as I know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let me tell you that you may know a man’s friends by the company he keeps. +With whom does he talk?” +</p> + +<p> +“None come to seek him, lord, except one of the housecarls—the big man to whom +you spoke tonight. Seldom does he go into the town, and then only the porters +seem to know him, for he was among them, as a stranger, when I met him first.” +</p> + +<p> +“A big man will always make an acquaintance with another,” Alsi said, “and the +porters are the lowest in the place. One may be sure that he has left his +friends in some starving village in the marsh, and has none here. That will do, +Berthun. Take care of him, for I may have use for him. But next time you hire a +man, use your wits to learn somewhat of him, if it is too much trouble to ask.” +</p> + +<p> +So Berthun was dismissed, and went out in a bad temper with himself. Yet he +knew that he would have been laughed at for a fool if he had said that he +thought Curan more than he seemed. +</p> + +<p> +Now Alsi was alone, and he fell to thought again. By-and-by it was plain to be +understood what his thoughts had been, and they were bad. And after he had +slept on them they were no better, seeing what came of them. But I think that +he was pleased to find that Havelok was, as he thought, a Welsh marshman, and +well-nigh friendless, for so he would be the more ready to do what he was +bidden; though, indeed, there seemed little doubt that the plan Alsi made for +himself would find no stumbling block in Curan, if it might meet with a check +elsewhere. That, however, was to be seen. +</p> + +<p> +Well pleased was Alsi the king with somewhat, men said in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +But there was one who rose heavy and sorely troubled, and that was the Lady +Goldberga, for all the fancies that had been brought to her by the vision had +come to nothing, or worse than nothing, as she looked on Havelok and saw in the +cook’s knave the very form of him of whom she had dreamed, and whom she could +not forget. Glad had she been to go to her own chamber and away from the kindly +ladies who could not know her real trouble; but not even to her old nurse did +she tell what that was. Her one thought now was to seek someone who was skilful +in the reading of dreams, and so find some new hope from it all. But no one +could tell her of such a one here, unless it were to be a priest of Woden, and +that she would not hear of. +</p> + +<p> +Then, early in the morning, Alsi sent for her, saying that he would speak with +her alone for a while. So she went to him, where he sat in the chamber beyond +the high place; and he greeted her kindly, asking after her rest, and saying +that he hoped that the sudden faintness had hurt her not. Then he led her to a +seat, and bade her rest while he talked of state affairs. +</p> + +<p> +“For it must be known to you, my niece, that the Witan thinks it time that you +should take your father’s kingdom.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Goldberga knew that, and had long made up her mind that when the time came +she would not shrink from the burden of the crown. +</p> + +<p> +It may well have been that Alsi thought that she would wish to wait for a time +yet, for he did not seem altogether pleased when she answered, “If the Witan +thinks right, I am ready.” +</p> + +<p> +“But,” he said, “there is one thing to come before that. The Witan must know +who your husband shall be. And that is reasonable, for he will have a share in +ruling the kingdom.” +</p> + +<p> +Then said Goldberga, “They need have no fear in that matter, for I will wed +none but a king or the heir of a king.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Alsi, dryly enough, “they are not so plentiful as are +blackberries, and there may be two words to that.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am not anxious to be wedded,” answered the princess, “and I can wait. It is, +as you say, a matter that is much to the country.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Alsi tried another plan, seeing that Goldberga was not at all put out by +this. So he forced a cunning smile that was meant to be pleasant, and said, “I +had thought that your mind ran somewhat on Ragnar.” +</p> + +<p> +He looked to see the lady change colour, but she did not. +</p> + +<p> +“Ragnar is my cousin,” she said, “or a good brother to me, if you will. +Moreover, until the other day when he met me in London by some good fortune, I +had hardly seen him since my father died.” +</p> + +<p> +“What think you of Griffin?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing at all, for nidring he is,” answered Goldberga with curling lip. +</p> + +<p> +Now that angered Alsi, for he had so much to do with that business; and if +Griffin was to be called thus by his fault, he was likely to lose a friend. +</p> + +<p> +“I would have you remember,” he said, “that in all this choosing it remains for +me to give consent or withhold it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall only ask your consent to my wedding such a man as I have told you of, +uncle—a king or a king’s son.” +</p> + +<p> +“So,” said Alsi, “you would choose first, and ask me afterwards, forsooth! That +is not the way that things are to be between us. It is for me to choose, and +that according to the oath which I took when your father made me guardian of +you and his realm.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” said Goldberga very gently, “I think that my father would not have meant +that I should be the only one not to be asked.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can only go by what I swore, and that I will carry out. I promised to see +you married to the most goodly and mightiest man in the land.” +</p> + +<p> +“That can be none but a king, as I think.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Alsi grew impatient, for he meant to settle one matter before he went much +farther. +</p> + +<p> +“I will say at once that I can have no king over the East Anglian kingdom. It +is not to be thought of that after all these years I should have to take second +place there. You will hold the kingdom from me, and I shall be overlord there. +I will send you some atheling who can keep the land in order for you, but there +shall be no king to bring that land under the power of his own kingdom.” +</p> + +<p> +That was plain speaking, and it roused Goldberga. +</p> + +<p> +“Never have you been overlord of my kingdom,” she said. “Well have you ruled it +for me while I could not rule it myself, and for that I thank you heartily. But +it is not right that I should seem to hold it from you.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is to be seen,” sneered Alsi, “for it lies with me to say what marriage +you make, and on that depends whether the Witan, in its wisdom, sees fit to +hail you as queen. Not until you are married will you take the kingdom at all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” said the princess, growing pale, “I will speak to the Witan myself, and +learn their will.” +</p> + +<p> +“The Witan has broken up,” answered Alsi, “and the good thanes are miles on +their way homewards by this time. You are too late.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will call them up again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly—that is, if I let my men run hither and thither to fetch them. But +after all, in this matter I am master. Whom you wed lies with me.” +</p> + +<p> +Goldberga saw that she was in the hands of the king, and maybe as much a +prisoner as at Dover. So her spirits fled, and she asked what the king willed. +</p> + +<p> +Alsi knew now that nothing but his utmost plan would be of any avail to save +that kingdom for himself, and so he broke out into wrath, working up his fury +that he might not go back. +</p> + +<p> +“My will is that you obey me in this carrying out of the oath I took on the +holy ring, <a href="#fn10" name="fnref10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> and on the +Gospels also to please your mother. You shall marry the man whom I choose, so +that he be according to the words of that oath.” +</p> + +<p> +“So that he be king or son of a king, I will obey you,” answered Goldberga. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you defy me. For that I have told you that I will not have. Now shall we +see who is master. You mind yon kitchen knave of last night? There can be none +in all England mightier or more goodly than he is to look on, and him shall you +wed. So will my oath be well kept. Then if your precious Witan will have him, +well and good, for his master shall I be.” +</p> + +<p> +Thereat the princess said that it were better that she should die; but now Alsi +had set out all his plan to her, and he did not mean to flinch from carrying it +out. There was no doubt that the Norfolk people would hold that she had +disgraced herself by the marriage, and so would refuse to have her as queen. +And that was all he needed. +</p> + +<p> +But Goldberga had no more to say, for she was past speaking, and the king was +fain to call her ladies. And when they came he went away quickly, and gave +orders for the safe keeping of the princess, lest she should try to fly, or to +get any message to Ragnar or other of the Norfolk thanes. +</p> + +<p> +Now he must go through with this marriage, for he had shown himself too +plainly, and never would the princess trust him again. I have heard that he +sent for Griffin at this time; but, as I found, he was gone; and if the king +thought that perhaps the princess would wed him now to escape from the kitchen +knave, he had no chance to bring him forward. I suppose he could have made out +that Griffin, or for that matter any one else he chose, was such a one as his +oath to Ethelwald demanded. +</p> + +<p> +Sore wept Goldberga when she was back in her own place, and at first it was +hard for her to believe that Alsi could mean what he had threatened. But then +she could not forget her dream, and in that she had most certainly seen the +very form of him who stood before her at the high place last night; and that +perhaps troubled her more than aught, for it seemed to say that him she must +wed. But no king’s son could he be, so that there must be yet such another +mighty man to be found. +</p> + +<p> +And then in her heart she knew that there could not be two such men, both alike +in all points to him of the vision. And she knew also, though maybe she would +not own it, that if this Curan had been but a thane of little estate, she could +have had naught to say against the matter. +</p> + +<p> +And so at last she found that in her trouble and doubt and wish for peace she +was thinking, “Would that he were not the kitchen knave!” +</p> + +<p> +Now, it chanced that the old nurse had gone out into the town, and was away all +this while, so that she knew nothing of this new trouble; and presently she was +coming back with her arms full of what she had bought, and there met her +Havelok and Withelm, who had been to the widow’s, and were on their way to find +me at the gate. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother,” said Havelok, “let me help you up with these things.” +</p> + +<p> +That frightened the old lady, for she had been looking at him, and had made up +her mind that he was some mighty noble, as did most strangers. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, lord,” she said; “that is not fitting for you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Less fitting is it that a strong man should see you thus burdened and not +help. No lord am I, but only the cook’s man. So I am going to the palace.” +</p> + +<p> +But this she would not believe at first, and still refused. However, Lincoln +Hill is very steep, and she was not sorry when Havelok laughed and took the +things from her so soon as she had to halt for breath. +</p> + +<p> +“Curan will carry you up also, if you will, mother,” said Withelm. +</p> + +<p> +The nurse tossed her head at him and made no answer, being on her dignity at +once. Moreover, she had heard of Curan by this time, though she had not seen +him before. So she said no more, and went on proudly enough, with her mighty +attendant after her; but all the while it was in her mind that there was some +jest, or maybe wager, between the two. +</p> + +<p> +Now Withelm stopped at the gate; but I was not there, for I had been sent to +the palace, where guards were to be at each door. The word was that some plot +had been found out against the princess, and that therefore we had to be +careful. One easily believed that with all the talk about the attack made on +her party that was flying about. So he came on to the palace kitchens, for +Berthun knew him well, having so often bought fish from him in the market; and +there he sat down to talk with the steward, for there was nothing much going on +at the time, and I was on guard. +</p> + +<p> +Now, the old nurse went to her mistress; and Goldberga sat in the shadow, and +was weeping no longer, seeing that it would not help at all. +</p> + +<p> +“There is a wonder down yonder,” said the old lady, not seeing that there had +been any trouble yet—“such a man as I never saw in all my days; and he even +carried my goods up all the hill for me, old and ugly as I am. That is not what +every young man would do nowadays. Maybe it was different when I was young, or +else my being young made the difference. The youth with him called him Curan, +which is the name of the strong porter they prate of, but doubtless that was a +jest. This is the most kingly man that could be; and I ween that those two made +a wager that he dared not carry a bundle up to the palace, whereby I was the +gainer, for breath grows short up that pitch. And when I thanked him he bowed +in that wise that can only come of being rightly taught when one is young. Now, +I am going to ask Berthun who he is, for he spoke to him when he saw him, and +that humbly, as it seemed.” +</p> + +<p> +So talked the nurse, and to all Goldberga answered never a word, for all the +trouble came back again, and with it the thought that she hated, that if only— +</p> + +<p> +Then, as the nurse was leaving her, she called her back. +</p> + +<p> +“Nurse,” she said, “I am in sore trouble about the dream. It bides with me, and +will not cease to puzzle me until I weary for some one to read it plainly. I +would that Queen Bertha’s good chaplain were here, for I might have been helped +by him.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the nurse came back, quick to hear the sad tone in the voice of her whom +she had tended and loved since she was a child. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, my pretty, have you been weeping?” she said. “There was naught in a dream +like that to fray you thus.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but it has come to me that this place is altogether heathen; and it may +have come from the hand of Freya, the false fiend that they worship as a +goddess, so that I may be ready to wed a heathen. Is there no Christian in all +this place?” +</p> + +<p> +“There are Welsh folk yet left in the marsh,” said the nurse, pondering; “and +where there is a Briton there is a Christian, and there, also, will be a hidden +priest. But it would be as much as his life is worth to come here, even could +we find one.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Goldberga said, “Alsi is not altogether heathen. If I asked he would +surely grant this.” +</p> + +<p> +For she thought that she knew how to gain consent. +</p> + +<p> +“If one can be found, and that is not likely. Well, then, I will ask Berthun, +who is good-natured enough, and most likely will not trouble about a Christian +coming here; and if so, we need not even ask Alsi.” +</p> + +<p> +So she went, not thinking for a moment that there was a priest of the faith to +be heard of. Mostly she wanted to hear more of Havelok, but she would honestly +do her other errand. +</p> + +<p> +But on her way across the courtyard she met Mord, and he was a great friend of +hers. +</p> + +<p> +“Whither now, nurse? They will not let you go out of the palace. They say that +there is trouble on hand with those folk that fell on us, and we have to bide +in shelter for a day or two.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I have been down the town this hour, and all is quiet enough. This Alsi +is an over-timid man. But I was seeking Berthun with a strange message from the +princess, and one that is not over safe here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let me give it then.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, it is nothing more or less than to ask if he can find a Christian +priest. Our mistress has had a strange dream, and it is true that it sorely +troubles her. So she wants one to whom she may tell it, that it may be read +aright. But though I must ask, I do not hope to find one.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why,” said Mord, “there is not one Christian in all Lindsey.” +</p> + +<p> +“I would not say that. When I was first here with Orwenna the queen, before she +married Ethelwald, there were some in the marsh; for one day I heard my own +tongue spoken there, hunting with my mistress; and so she stayed and talked +with these poor folk, though the Welsh they spoke was bad enough. But they were +Christians, as they told her in fear and trembling. They have not so much need +to fear now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I can help you,” said Mord gladly. “Say nothing to the cook, for I have +found old friends who come from far in the marsh, and they will tell me at once +if they have heard of any priest. Why, when I think, they know Welsh, and one +has called himself by a Welsh name, and you have seen him—Curan the porter.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay; then do you ask these friends, and tell them that the sooner they can +bring a priest the better shall they be rewarded. I would give much to have +Goldberga’s mind set at rest.” +</p> + +<p> +So Mord said that he would go at once; and glad he was to see Withelm sitting +with Berthun, +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said the steward, “I have known Withelm of Grimsby for the last ten +years or so, and I do not suppose that it matters if you speak with him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why should it matter if I speak with any one I choose?” asked Mord, somewhat +angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“That you must ask the king; for his orders are that the people of the princess +have no dealings with outsiders for two days.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mighty careful of us is Alsi all of a sudden,” said Mord. “I suppose he thinks +that someone will stick a seax into some of us in all friendly wise while we +are talking.” +</p> + +<p> +But Berthun only laughed, and went to where the nurse was beckoning to him. He +told her his own thoughts of Havelok, being glad to have a ready hearer. +</p> + +<p> +At once Withelm was able to tell Mord that the old priest who was his friend +was in Lincoln at this time by good chance, and that he would surely come to +the princess at need. But when they came to talk of when and how, it did not +seem all so easy; and Mord went to the nurse to tell her all. +</p> + +<p> +Then they had to speak to Berthun about it, and he was kindly and willing to +help; but he said that none might come to speak with the princess without leave +from the king. No doubt he would grant it easily, if asked by Goldberga +herself. +</p> + +<p> +“I will go and tell her,” said the old lady. “Keep your man here till I +return.” +</p> + +<p> +Now she brought this good news to the princess, and one need not say how she +rejoiced. And now a thought had come to her, and she was eager to send a +message to Alsi. +</p> + +<p> +“Surely,” she thought, “he does but threaten me with the kitchen knave, that he +may make me change my will. And, therefore, if I say that I am ready to obey +him, he will be pleased; and then time is gained at the least, and it is not +possible that he will choose so badly for me after all.” +</p> + +<p> +So when the nurse asked her what she would do about getting the priest to her +presence, she said, “Go and tell my uncle first that I am willing to obey him +in the matter of which we spoke this morning.” +</p> + +<p> +“So that was what has troubled you after all, and not the dream? I thought it +should not have made all these tear marks,” said the nurse quickly. “Now, why +did you not tell me? I dare give Alsi a talking to if he needs it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nurse, but it was the dream. My uncle and I did but disagree on somewhat, +and maybe I was wrong. By-and-by I will tell you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me now, and then I shall know better how to ask for what you need.” +</p> + +<p> +But Goldberga could not bring herself to say what Alsi had threatened, and now +felt sure that she would hear no more of that. So she told the nurse that she +had vowed only to marry a king, and that Alsi had been angry, saying that kings +were not so easily found. Also, that he was the man who had to find her a +husband. +</p> + +<p> +“That is the best sense that this king ever spoke,” said the nurse. “Many a +long year might you wait if you had your way thus. You are wise in sending that +message. Well, after that I will ask him to let you see the priest, saying, if +he is cross-grained, that a talk with him will make your mind even better +fitted to obey. Many things like that I can say. We shall have him here +presently.” +</p> + +<p> +Now, all that seemed very good to both of them, and the nurse went her way. And +when she came to Alsi, she gave the message plainly. +</p> + +<p> +“That will save a great deal of trouble,” said the king. “Tell her that I am +glad to hear it. She says this of her own accord, and not at your advice?” +</p> + +<p> +“She told me before I had heard a word of what the trouble was between you. It +was no word of mine.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad of it. But I will say that I am somewhat surprised.” +</p> + +<p> +And that was true, for this message seemed to Alsi to be nothing more or less +than that Goldberga would marry his man. When he thought for a moment, however, +he saw that it could not be thus; and also, it was plain to him what the poor +girl had in her mind. And now he chuckled to think what a weapon he had against +her. Nor would he be slow to use it. +</p> + +<p> +Then the nurse said that he need have no surprise, for Goldberga was ever +gentle and willing to be led, though sometimes the pride of her race came +uppermost for a time. And then she asked if a certain priest of the faith might +come and speak with her. +</p> + +<p> +Now, Alsi knew that only one could be meant—namely, the hermit who bided at +Cabourn. He had heard of him often, and would not suffer him to be hurt, for +his sister Orwenna had protected him. The heathen English minded him not at all +by this time, for he was the best leech in the land, and so useful to them. So +Alsi said pleasantly that he was quite willing that the priest should come, +deeming that he was at Cabourn, and that it would be a day or two before he +would be brought. +</p> + +<p> +So he called the housecarl from outside the door, and when he came he said, +“Pass the word that when one who calls himself David comes and asks for the +princess, he is to be admitted to her.” +</p> + +<p> +So that was made easy, and the nurse thanked him and withdrew; and when he was +alone, Alsi grinned evilly and rubbed his hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Now is East Anglia mine in truth,” he said; and with that he bade the +housecarl fetch Curan, the cook’s porter, to him. And then he sent one to +Ragnar with such a message that he rode out that night and away to Norwich. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15">CHAPTER XV.<br/> +THE FORTUNE OF CURAN THE PORTER.</a></h2> + +<p> +While the nurse told Withelm to fetch the priest when Alsi was in the hall that +evening, the housecarl came for Havelok; and much wondering, he followed the +man to the king, and presently stood before him and saluted. +</p> + +<p> +“Where did you get that salute?” said Alsi sharply, seeing at once that it was +not English; and, indeed, it was that of Gunnar’s courtmen. +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot tell,” answered my brother. “It seems to be there when needed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, it is not that used here. Get the housecarls to teach you better +manners.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok bowed a little, in token that he would do so; and when Alsi spoke +to him next it was in Welsh. +</p> + +<p> +“You are a marshman, as I hear?” +</p> + +<p> +Now Havelok had learned fairly well from the poor folk who loved him, but +carelessly, so that when he answered Alsi frowned at his way of speaking. +</p> + +<p> +“I am from the marsh,” he said simply. +</p> + +<p> +“We had better get back to English!” the king said; “you people forget your own +tongue. Now, are you married?” +</p> + +<p> +Thereat Havelok laughed lightly. +</p> + +<p> +“That I am not,” he answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then, if I find you a fair wife, you would be willing, doubtless?” +</p> + +<p> +“That I should not,” answered Havelok bluntly, and wondering what this +crafty-looking king was driving at. “What could I do with a wife? For I have +neither house nor goods, nor where to take her, nor withal to keep her; else +had I not been the cook’s knave.” +</p> + +<p> +“It would seem that you carry all your fortune on your back, therefore,” said +Alsi, looking at Havelok’s gay attire with somewhat of a sneer. +</p> + +<p> +“That may well be, King Alsi, for even these clothes are not my own. Berthun +gave them me, and I think that they come from yourself.” +</p> + +<p> +Alsi grinned, for Eglaf’s saying of him was not so far wrong; but he had more +serious business on hand than to talk of these things with a churl. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, if I bid you, it is your part to obey. I have a wife for you, and her you +shall wed.” +</p> + +<p> +“There are two words to that, King Alsi. Neither will I wed against my will, +nor will I wed one who is unwilling.” +</p> + +<p> +“As to that first,” said the king, for he began to be angered with Havelok’s +boldness, “if a man will not do my bidding, I have dungeons where he can have +time to think things over, and men who can keep him there, be he never so +mighty; and if a man will not see with my eyes when I bid him, blinded shall he +be.” +</p> + +<p> +This he said somewhat hurriedly, for a dark flush came on the face of the man +before him, and he thought that he must try some other plan than force with +him. +</p> + +<p> +“And as for that other point, I did not so much as hint that the bride was +likely to be unwilling. I will say that she is willing, rather.” +</p> + +<p> +Now that troubled Havelok, for it seemed that all was arranged already, and the +thought of the dungeon was not pleasant. There was no doubt that if the king +chose he could cast him into one until he was forgotten; and the light and the +breath of the wind from the sea were very dear to Havelok. So he thought that +he would at least gain time by seeming to listen to the proposal; for, after +all, it might come to nothing, and maybe it was but a jest, though a strange +one. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, lord king,” he said, “if the bride knows enough of me to be willing, it +is but fair that I should have the like chance of choice.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Alsi thought that it was impossible that this churl, as he deemed him, +would not be overjoyed to hear of the match he had made for him, and he must +needs know it soon. Yet there was that about Havelok that puzzled him, for his +ways were not those of a churl, and he spoke as a freeman should speak. +</p> + +<p> +So much the more likely that the people would believe him when he said that +Goldberga wedded him of her own wish, he thought. It was as well that he was +not altogether a common-seeming man. +</p> + +<p> +“You have seen the damsel already,” he said therefore. “Now I will not say that +this match is altogether of my choosing; but I have an oath to keep, and it +seems that I can only keep it by making you her husband. But, as I say, she is +willing, and, I will add, well dowered.” +</p> + +<p> +Now it grew plain to my brother that there was something strange in all this, +so he said, “An oath is a thing that must not be hindered in the fulfilling, if +a man can further it. But what has a king’s oath to do with me?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have sworn to find her the goodliest and mightiest man alive; and, though I +must needs say it to your face, there is none like yourself. No flattery this +to bend you to my will, but sober truth—at least, as I see it.” +</p> + +<p> +At that Havelok grew impatient. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, if that be so, who is the bride?” he asked, not caring to give the king +his title, or forgetting to do so, for on him was coming the feeling that he +was this man’s equal here in the palace. And at last, not seeming to notice +this, Alsi answered plainly. +</p> + +<p> +“The Princess Goldberga.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok stared at him in blank wonder for some moments; and Alsi grew red +under his gaze, and his eyes were shifty, and would not meet the honest look +that was on him. +</p> + +<p> +Then at last said Havelok slowly, and watching the king intently all the while, +“What this means I cannot tell. If you speak truth, it is wonderful; and if +not, it is unkingly.” +</p> + +<p> +“On my word as a king, truth it is,” said Alsi hastily, for there was that in +Havelok’s face that he did not like. +</p> + +<p> +One might think that the king was growing afraid of his own kitchen knave. +</p> + +<p> +“If that is so, there is no more to be said,” answered Havelok. “Yet you will +forgive me if I say that I must have this from the lips of the princess herself +as well. It may be that her mind will change.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is but fair,” answered Alsi; “and you are a wise man. The mind of a +damsel is unsteady, whether she be princess or milkmaid; but have no fear.” +</p> + +<p> +“No man fear I; but I do fear to hurt any lady, and I would not do that.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Alsi thought that all was well, and he spoke smooth words to my brother, +so that Havelok doubted him more than ever. Therefore it came into his mind +that all he could do for the best was to seem to agree, and wait for what the +princess herself said. And if Alsi was working some subtlety, then he would +wring his neck for him, if need be; and after that—well, the housecarls would +cut him in pieces, and he would slay some of them, and so go to Valhalla, and +dreams would be at an end. And he would have died to some purpose here, for he +knew that Goldberga would come to her kingdom, ay, and maybe Alsi’s as well, +for she was his sister’s daughter, and his next of kin, and well loved by those +who had been allowed to know aught of her. +</p> + +<p> +But I would not have any think that the promise of so wondrous a bride was not +pleasing to him. It was more, for he had seen her grow white and troubled as +she looked on him, and he had seen her bear well whatever pain had caused that; +and he had known that in the one sight he had of Goldberga somewhat had taught +him what it was to have one face unforgotten in his mind. +</p> + +<p> +So he said to Alsi, “All this fortune that you hold out to me is most unlooked +for, seeing what I am in your hall; and I have not thanked you yet, King Alsi. +That, however, is hard to do, as you may understand.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand well enough,” answered the king, in high good humour again, now +that all seemed to be going well. “And after all, it is the lady whom you must +thank.” +</p> + +<p> +“But when shall I see her to do so?” +</p> + +<p> +“Tomorrow, surely; ay, tomorrow early shall you speak with her,” answered the +king quickly. “Now go, and hold your peace. Let me warn you that there are +those about the court who would go any lengths to remove you from the face of +the earth if they knew of this. Tell no man of the honour that has come to you +as yet. Be the porter for a short time longer, and then you will be the man +whom all envy. It is likely that I must make you a thane, by right of the +choice of the princess.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know well when to speak and when to keep silence, lord king,” said my +brother, and with that he bowed and left the hall. +</p> + +<p> +Then Alsi put his lips to a silver whistle that he carried, and blew a call +that brought Eglaf hurriedly to him from the outer door. +</p> + +<p> +“The guards may go,” said the king; “but see that the porter Curan leaves not +the palace until I myself send him forth tomorrow.” +</p> + +<p> +The captain saluted and went his way. He had had six men within call of the +king all the time that he spoke with Havelok, and one may make what one likes +of that. At least the threat of the dungeon was no idle one. +</p> + +<p> +Now went Havelok from the hall very heavy and troubled, for beyond the fair +talk of the king lurked surely some plan that was not fair at all. It was not +to be thought that he could not prevent, if he chose, a foolish marriage of the +princess, even did she desire it ever so much. And my brother could not believe +that she had set her heart on one whom she had but seen once, and then in the +midst of faintness. That, however, might be known easily when he was face to +face with her. It was a thing that could not be made a matter of pretence. +</p> + +<p> +Now when he came back to the great kitchen, which was nigh as big as the hall, +Withelm was yet there, for the priest was at the widow’s, and there was no +haste to bring him; and by that time I had come in also, and was sitting with +him at the far end, where none had need to come. It was Berthun’s own end, as +one might say, and he was lord in his own place. Only a few thralls were about, +and the cook himself had gone into the town. +</p> + +<p> +“Here is our brother,” I said, “and there is somewhat wrong.” +</p> + +<p> +He came moodily up to us, and sat him down, saying nothing, and he leaned his +head on his hands for a while. +</p> + +<p> +“What is amiss, brother?” said Withelm. +</p> + +<p> +“Wait,” he answered. “I will think before I speak.” +</p> + +<p> +I could see that this was not the old puzzlement, but something new and heavy, +so we held our peace. Long was he before he moved or spoke, and when he did so +it was wearily. +</p> + +<p> +“Well knew I that somewhat was to happen to me in this town, even as I told +you, brother, when we first passed its gates. And now it seems to be coming to +pass. For this is what is on me, as it seems to me—either that I must see the +light of day no more, or must live to be a scorn and sorrow to one for whom it +were meet that a man should die.” +</p> + +<p> +“Surely the black dream is on you, my brother! Neither of these things can be +for you!” I cried. +</p> + +<p> +“Would that it were the dream, for that is not all of sorrow, and that also is +of things so long past that they are forgotten. I can bear that, for your voice +always drives it away. But now the hand of Alsi the king is on me for some ill +of his own—” +</p> + +<p> +“Stay,” said Withelm. “Let us go out and speak, if that name is to be heard. It +were safer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Less safe, brother,” answered Havelok. “At once we should be kept apart. +Listen, and I will tell you all, and then say your say.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he told us, word for word, all that had just passed between him and the +king. And as we listened, it grew on us that here was no wrong to the princess, +but rather the beginning of honour. I could see the downfall that was in store +for Alsi, and I thought also that I saw hope for the winning back of the Danish +kingdom, with an East Anglian host to back us. And this also saw Withelm, and +his eyes sparkled. But Havelok knew not yet all that had grown so plain to us. +</p> + +<p> +He ended, and we said nothing for a moment. +</p> + +<p> +“Well?” he said, not looking up, but with eyes that sought the floor, as if +ashamed. +</p> + +<p> +“By Odin,” said I, speaking the thought that was uppermost, “here will be a +downfall for Alsi!” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, you are right, brother. I will not wed her.” +</p> + +<p> +But that was by no means what I meant, as may be known; and now Withelm held up +a warning hand to me, and I knew that his advice was always best. +</p> + +<p> +“If the maiden is unwilling, wed her not,” he said. “If she is willing, even as +the king said, that is another matter. We have no reason to doubt his word as +yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“You saw not his face as he spoke. And then, how should the princess think of +me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Who knows? Even Odin owned that the minds of maids were hard to fathom. But +one may find a reason or two. Maybe that oath has somewhat to do with it. A +good daughter will go far to carry out her father’s will, and, in the plain +sense thereof, she will certainly do it thus. Then it is likely that she knows +that you are no churl, but the son of Grim, though we have fallen on hard times +for a while. I have heard say that it is the custom here that a man who has +crossed the seas in his own ship so many times is a thane by right of that +hardihood. Thane’s son, therefore, might we call you. Then there is the +jealousy of every other thane, if she chooses an East Anglian. Then she needs +one who shall be mighty to lead her forces. Even the greatest thane will be +content to follow a man who is a warrior of warriors. Ragnar can have told her +what you are in that way. Faith, brother, there are reasons enough.” +</p> + +<p> +Havelok laughed a short laugh at all this, and he grew brighter. There was +sense in Withelm’s words, if they would not bear looking deeply into. +</p> + +<p> +Then I said, adding to these words, “Moreover, Alsi could stop the whole +foolishness of his niece if he did not think it a fitting match in some way.” +</p> + +<p> +“So he could,” answered Havelok. “But yet—I tell you that there was naught but +evil in his face. Why did he try to force me?” +</p> + +<p> +Then he went back to the thing that weighed mostly on his noble heart—the +thought that he was unworthy altogether. +</p> + +<p> +“I fear that the princess does but think of me because she must. It is in my +mind that Alsi may have threatened her also until she has consented. How shall +I know this?” +</p> + +<p> +“Most easily, as she speaks with you,” answered Withelm. “Tomorrow will tell +you that. And then, if you find things thus, what shall prevent your flying?” +</p> + +<p> +“Brother Radbard and the other housecarls,” said Havelok grimly. +</p> + +<p> +“Not if you ask the princess to help you out of her own way by pretending to be +most willing. If Alsi thinks you a gladsome couple, there is no difficulty. You +walk out of the palace as a master there. Then you fly to Ragnar. That is all.” +</p> + +<p> +Now that was such an easy way out of the whole coil that we planned it out. And +yet it seemed to me that it was a pity that Havelok knew not more of what +seemed to us so sure now. So, seeing that things were fairly straightened by +this last thought, I got up and said that I must be going, making a sign to +Withelm to come also; and, with a few more words, we went out. I saw Havelok +set himself to a mighty task of water drawing as I looked back. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” said I, “here is a strange affair with a vengeance. Neither head nor +tail can I make of it. But if all we think is right, this is the marriage for +the son of Gunnar.” +</p> + +<p> +“Son of Gunnar, or son of Grim,” said Withelm, “princess or not, happy is the +maiden who gains Havelok for a husband. Maybe her woman’s wit has told her so. +She will have many suitors whom she knows to be seeking her throne only, and to +him she gives it as a gift unsought.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is all beyond me,” I said; “but he would fill a throne well. But his own +modesty in the matter of his worthiness is likely to stand in the way. Why +should we not tell him all that we know? Then he will feel that he is doing no +wrong.” +</p> + +<p> +“Because we are not sure, and because it is not for us to choose the time. I +have sent for Arngeir this morning, as we said would be well last night. If the +princess is unwilling, there are many things that may be said; and if not, +there must be many days before the wedding; and, ere the day, Havelok may feel +that he is her equal in birth at least, if we are not wrong. But since I have +waited here, Mord has told me the dream that has troubled the princess, that I +may tell the priest, so that he can think it over. She has dreamed that she is +to wed a man who shall be king both in Denmark and England, and she saw the +man, moreover. Strangely like Havelok’s dream is that. Now what else made her +turn faint but that this vision was like Havelok? And does not that make it +possible that she wishes to wed him? Therefore I am going to tell the priest +the story of Havelok, so far as I know it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well thought of. Tell him this also, for now I may surely tell you what you +have not yet heard thereof.” +</p> + +<p> +So I told him how Grim and I had taken Havelok from Hodulf, and then he was the +more certain that we had saved the son of our king. +</p> + +<p> +Now we thought that we had got to the bottom of the whole matter of the +wedding. Of course the dream had all to do with the fainting, but nothing to do +with the supposed wish. But we did not know that. +</p> + +<p> +“Speak not of Gunnar by name, however,” I said; “he was a terror to Christian +folk. The priest is likely to hinder the marriage with all his might else.” +</p> + +<p> +Withelm flushed as he had when he first spoke of the priest to me. +</p> + +<p> +“I think not, brother; for he knows Havelok well, and loves him.” +</p> + +<p> +“So,” said I shortly, “he hopes to make him a Christian, doubtless.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think that he will do so, if he has a Christian wife to help.” +</p> + +<p> +“That would not suit Havelok,” I said, laughing. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but such a mind as his it seems to suit well already, though he has not +heard much.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then,” said I, wondering, “if it suits our best and bravest, it must be a +wondrous faith. It seems strange, however; but I know naught of it. What is +good for him and you, my brother, is sure to be best.” +</p> + +<p> +“I feared that you would be angry.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but with you and Havelok? How should that be? Why, if you two said that +we must turn Christian, I should hold it right; so would Raven. I suppose that +I go to the Ve<a href="#fn11" name="fnref11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> because you +do.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I troubled no more about the matter, being nothing but a sea dog who could +use a weapon. And now I said that I was going to Eglaf to say that I might have +to leave him at any time for home, in case we had to fly with Havelok. So +Withelm went his way to the old priest with a light heart, and I to the +captain. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Eglaf, “this is about what I expected when your brother came. Good +it has been to have you here; and I think that I shall see you as a housecarl +for good yet. When do you go?” +</p> + +<p> +“The first time that I do not turn up on guard I am gone, not till then.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come and drink a farewell cup first.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall be in a great hurry if I do not do that,” I answered, laughing. +</p> + +<p> +But it was my thought that maybe when once my back was turned on the town, I +should not have time to think of going near King Alsi’s guard. +</p> + +<p> +Then I went to find Ragnar the earl, for we thought it well that he should know +what was on hand. But when I came to the house of the thane with whom he was +quartered, they told me that he had gone hastily with all his men, for word had +come of some rising in his land that must be seen to at once. That was bad; and +as one must find a reason for everything, I thought that the going of Griffin +had much to do with the outbreak. There I was wrong, as I found later. But +then, too, I knew that the craft of Alsi was at work in this message. He had +his own reasons for wishing the earl out of the way. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16">CHAPTER XVI.<br/> +A STRANGEST WEDDING.</a></h2> + +<p> +Long spoke Withelm and the priest David together, until it was time for them to +seek the palace; and when they came there, they spoke to Mord also. Then David +thought it was well to say naught to Havelok until more was learned from +Goldberga herself, for he would soon see how things stood with her. Then he +would see Withelm again, and they would plan together for the best. So Withelm +waited for the return of the priest, whom Mord took to his mistress. Alsi and +his men were supping in the hall, but Goldberga was waiting in her own chamber. +</p> + +<p> +Now the princess thought that, after her message to the king, she would hear no +more of the kitchen knave, and so was happier. But all the while she pondered +over her dream the thought of Havelok must needs come into it, and that was +troublesome. Nevertheless, it was not to be helped, seeing that there was no +doubt at all that he and the man of the vision were like to each other as ever +were twins. Wherefore if the thought of one must be pleasant so at last must be +that of the other. And then came the nurse with tales of what Berthun thought +of this man of his—how that he was surely a wandering prince, with a vow of +service on him, like Gareth of the Round Table in the days of Arthur. +</p> + +<p> +So presently it seemed to the princess that the churl was gone, as it were, and +in his place was a wandering atheling, at least, who was not a terror at all. +Then at length the slow time wore away until Mord came with David the priest. +</p> + +<p> +No priestly garb had the old man on, for that had made his danger certain; but +though he was clad in a thrall’s rough dress, he was not to be mistaken for +aught but a most reverend man. +</p> + +<p> +“Peace be with you, my daughter,” he said; “it is good to look on the child of +Orwenna, the queen whom we loved.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the chamberlain left those two alone, and at once Goldberga told the +priest why she had asked him to run the risk of coming to her, for there is no +doubt that he was in peril, though not from Alsi himself. +</p> + +<p> +At first she asked him many things about her mother, and learned much of her +goodness to the poor folk, and of their love to her; and presently, when she +grew more sure of the kindness and seeming wisdom of the priest, she told him +all her dream, adding no thoughts of her own, as she mistrusted them. +</p> + +<p> +Then said David, “There seems naught but good in this, and it is not hard to +unravel. I think that all shall come to pass even as it was told you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I feared the heathen ways of the place, and thought that it might be some +snare of the old gods,” said Goldberga. +</p> + +<p> +But David told her that they could have no power on her, and asked her if the +king knew of the vision, that being one thing of which he was not sure; and +when he found that he did not, the whole affair seemed more strange than +before. +</p> + +<p> +But now the princess asked him, “Plain were the words that I heard, hut what +meant the light as of a sunbeam that came from the mouth of the man of the +vision?” +</p> + +<p> +“That surely means that in word and in heart and in all else the man shall be +kingly altogether, so that there shall be no mistaking the same; and it may +also mean that you shall know the man at once when you see him.” +</p> + +<p> +At that Goldberga grew pale and red by turns, so that David, quick to read the +thoughts of those who came to him for help, asked if she had seen anyone who +she thought must be meant, not at all knowing that she must needs say that this +was Curan. +</p> + +<p> +Not at all willingly did she tell him this; but she did so, adding at last that +Alsi had threatened to wed her to this man. +</p> + +<p> +Now it was plain to David that all was pulling the same way, for surely Alsi +wrought, unknowing, for the fulfilling of the dream; and all seemed to prove +that Havelok was the son of the Danish king, and that he would win back his +kingdom. Then he found out that the princess had no knowledge that the king had +spoken to Havelok, but it did not seem to be needful that he should tell her +that he had done so. That would be told by Alsi himself if he meant, as seemed +certain, to carry out his threat. So he thought awhile, and at last he saw what +he might do without saying anything to bend the choice of the princess in any +way. +</p> + +<p> +“It will soon be plain in what way the dream shall be fulfilled,” he said; “and +this is certain, that you shall be wedded to none but the right man, else had +it not been sent. Have no fear, therefore, even as it was bidden you.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the princess said that the only thing which troubled her was the fear lest +Alsi should yet force her to wed this one who was so like him she had seen in +her dream. +</p> + +<p> +“That,” said the priest, “is doubtless the most strange part of the whole +matter, yet I think that even thus there need be no fear. I will tell you now +that I know this one who is called Curan well, and I, and all who know him, +love him. Truly he is not a Christian, but he is no hater of the faith, and +that is much in these days. Nor is he a churl, but rather one of the most noble +of men. It is certain that, whatever Alsi might wish, he would not wed you +against your will. He has but to know your thoughts in order to help you in any +way. But I must also tell you this, that he is a Dane, who fled from his land +when he was a child; and it is thought that he is the son of the Danish king, +who was slain at the time when Mord, your servant, fled also. He came to +England in the same ship as did Mord, who can tell you more of him. It is +certain that there is a secret about his birth, and the one who knows that +secret is not far off. If need is, we can learn it, for there was a set time +for its telling, and maybe this is it. Now, if it is true that he is the son of +the Danish king, it does seem as if your dream might be bidding you to have no +fear of what seems doubtful in the matter, though I cannot tell, and do not +like to say so for certain. His name is not Curan, but Havelok.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Goldberga said, “I have heard of that flight and of the wreck from Mord +often. He was wont to tell me of the child, and of the lady who was drowned, +and he said that he thought him the king’s son.” +</p> + +<p> +After that she was greatly cheered, for the worst of the trouble seemed to be +over and gone. It was in her mind now that Alsi knew who Havelok was, and that +he tried her, for she was not one to think ill of any. +</p> + +<p> +So she let the priest go, with many thanks, saying, “Now I know that whatever +happens is the will of Heaven, and must be for the best. I am ready for +whatever shall befall.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I do not know what had seemed good to Alsi, for he had changed his mind +concerning David’s visit to Goldberga, and had suddenly given orders that if he +came he was to be put in ward at once. So Mord met the old man as he left the +chamber, and told him that he must fly; and after that Withelm took him away in +the dusk, for none hindered his going, and went to the widow’s with him, +hearing all that had been said; and that which they thought was even as +Goldberga had said, that all must needs be for the best. In a day or two all +would he plain, for Arngeir would have come. So Withelm sent forth the old man +to his own place with a good store of food, going with him for some miles, and +promising him help for coming days until the dearth was ended. +</p> + +<p> +Now into the palace none might come after the feast was set; and all this time +I was on guard, for there were double posts round the place, by reason of +Alsi’s fear of the attackers of the princess, as was said. So it happened that +neither of us saw Havelok until next morning; and now I have to tell how we saw +him, and what happened with the first sunlight, when men were thinking of +breaking their fast. +</p> + +<p> +We of the housecarls took that first meal of the day in the great hall—so many +of us, that is, who were not on duty; and when we had nigh finished, Alsi would +come in and seat himself on the high place, where Eglaf and half a dozen other +thanes sat also at times when there was no special state to be kept. +</p> + +<p> +I was early this morning, having just taken my spell of watching at the gate, +and being, therefore, free for the rest of the day, and I was hungry with the +sweet air of the July weather and the freshness that comes with sunrise. So I +was not altogether pleased to see that there was seemingly some new affair of +state on hand, while the breakfast was not yet set out by reason of +preparations that were going on where the king’s chair was wont to stand. There +was Berthun, looking puzzled and by no means pleased, and his men were busy +setting out benches on the high place, of a sort that were not those that were +wont to be there, in three sides of a square, the open side facing the hall. +One bench made each side, and all three were carved from back rail to clawed +feet wondrously. Old they seemed also. Then, too, instead of the sweet sedges +that strewed the high place, men had spread a cloth of bright hues underfoot +there, and the sedges had been swept among the rushes of the lower places. All +this was so strange that I went forward, and when I had a chance I asked the +steward what was on hand. +</p> + +<p> +“If you know not, master housecarl, no more do I. ‘Justice to be done,’ says +the king, and so I suppose that you have some notable prisoner in ward—maybe +the leader of those villains who scared our fair princess.” +</p> + +<p> +“But we had taken no man, and I will say that we had wondered that we had not +been sent out to hunt those people, instead of biding to see if they came to +trouble us here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then,” said Berthun, “some thane must be bringing a captive shortly. But +why Alsi orders these benches, it passes me to make out. They are those that +have been used for the weddings of his kin since the days of Hengist. Last time +was when Orwenna, his sister, wedded Ethelwald of Norfolk. Maybe he thinks that +they need airing.” +</p> + +<p> +He laughed and went on directing his men; but knowing what I knew, I wondered +what it all might mean, for there was one wedding that I could not help +thinking of. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the hall began to fill as men came in, and every one had somewhat to +say, and all marvelled at this that was going on. Then Berthun came and +beckoned to me, for I must fetch Eglaf the captain at once, as the king had +need of him, in haste. Then Eglaf hurried to the hall; and after a word or two +with Alsi, the horns were blown outside the hall door to call every man of the +guard to the place. And when they came, we were all set round the wall as if +guarding all that were in it. But there were none but the folk of the palace to +guard, and they were wondering as were we; and when that was done, and the +click and rattle of arms as we moved to our places was ended, there was a +silence on all—the silence of men who wait for somewhat to happen. +</p> + +<p> +Now Berthun went to the door on the high place, as he was wont when all was +ready for the king’s presence, and the hush deepened, none knowing what they +expected to see. +</p> + +<p> +Forth came Berthun backward, as was the custom, and he turned aside to let the +king pass him. His face was red and angry, as I thought, but amazed also. I was +standing next to Eglaf, and he was at the foot of the dais, at the end of his +line of men, so that I could see all plainly. +</p> + +<p> +Then came Alsi, leading the princess, and after Goldberga came her nurse. No +other ladies were with her; and now I noticed that there was not one thane on +the high place, which was strange, and the first time that such a thing had +been since I came here. I looked down the hall, and none were present. Now I +looked at Alsi; and on his pale face was a smile that might have been as of one +who will be glad, though he does not feel so. But the eyes of the princess were +bright with tears, and hardly did she look from the floor. Hers was a face to +make one sad to see at that time, wondrously beautiful as it was. +</p> + +<p> +Alsi led her by the hand, and set her on the bench that was to his left, and +signed to the nurse to sit beside her, which the old lady did, bridling and +looking with scorn at the king as she took her place. There she sought the hand +of the princess, and held it tightly, as in comforting wise. Very rich garments +had the nurse, but Goldberga was dressed in some plain robe of white that shone +when the light caught it. Mostly I do not see these things, but now I wished +that she always wore that same. +</p> + +<p> +As for Alsi, he had on his finest gear, even as at the great feast of the +Witan—crimson cloak, fur-lined, and dark-green hose, gold-gartered across, and +white and gold tunic. He had a little crown on also, and that was the only +thing kingly about him, to my mind. +</p> + +<p> +Now he cast one look at Goldberga, which made her shrink into herself, as it +were, and turned with a smile to us all. +</p> + +<p> +“Friends,” he said, “this is short notice for a wedding, but all men know that +‘Happy is the wooing that is not long a-doing,’ so no more need be said of +that. All men know also that when good Ethelwald died he made me swear to him +that I would wed his daughter to the mightiest and goodliest and fairest man +that was in the land. I have ever been mindful of that oath, and now it seems +that the time for keeping it has come. Whether the man whom my niece will wed +is all that the oath requires, you shall judge; and if he is such a one, I must +not stand in the way. I do not myself know that I have ever seen one who is so +fully set forth in words as is this bridegroom in those of the oath.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I heard one whisper near me, “Whom has Goldberga chosen?” +</p> + +<p> +And that was what Alsi would have liked to hear, for his speech seemed to say +that thus it was, and maybe that he did not altogether like the choice. +</p> + +<p> +But now Alsi said to Berthun, “Bring in the bridegroom.” +</p> + +<p> +“Whom shall I bring, lord?” the steward asked in blank wonder, and Alsi +whispered his answer. +</p> + +<p> +At that Berthun’s hands flew up, and his mouth opened, and he did not stir. +</p> + +<p> +“Go, fool,” said Alsi, and I thought that he would have stamped his foot. +</p> + +<p> +Now I knew who was meant in a moment, and even as the steward took his first +step from off the dais to go down the hail to his own entrance, I said to +Eglaf, “Here is an end to my service with you. My time is up.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, what is amiss?” +</p> + +<p> +“The bridegroom is my brother—that is all; and I must be free to serve him as I +may.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, if that is so, you are in luck. But I do not think that either of Grim’s +sons can be the man. Big enough are you, certainly, but goodly? Nay, but that +red head of yours spoils you.” +</p> + +<p> +I daresay that he would have said more about Raven and Withelm, for a talk was +going round; but a hush came suddenly, and then a strange murmur of stifled +wonder, for Havelok came into the hall after Berthun, and all eyes were turned +to him. +</p> + +<p> +Now I saw my brother smile as he came, seeing someone whom he liked first of +all; and then he looked up the hall, and at once his face became ashy pale, for +he saw what was to be done. Yet he went on firmly, looking neither to right nor +left, until he came to the high place. There he caught my eye, and I made a +little sign to him to show that I knew his trouble. +</p> + +<p> +They came to the step, and Berthun stood aside to let Havelok pass, and then +Alsi held out his hand to raise my brother to the high place. But Havelok +seemed not to see that, stepping up by himself as the king bade him come. Then +the women who were in the hall spoke to one another in a murmur that seemed of +praise; but whiter and more white grew the princess, so that I feared that she +would faint. But she did not; and presently there seemed to come into her eyes +some brave resolve, and she was herself again, looking from Alsi to Havelok, +and again at Alsi. +</p> + +<p> +Now, too, the king looked at him up and down, as one who measures his man +before a fight. And when he met Havelok’s eyes he grew red, and turned away to +the folk below him. +</p> + +<p> +“So, friends,” he cried, “what say you? Am I true to the words of my oath in +allowing this marriage?” +</p> + +<p> +There was not one there who did not know Havelok, whom they called Curan; and +though all thought these doings strange, there was a hum of assent, for the +oath said naught of the station in life of the bridegroom. Good King Ethelwald +had been too trustful. +</p> + +<p> +“That is well,” said Alsi, with a grave face. “All here will bear witness that +this was not done without counsel taken. Now, let the bridegroom sit in his +place here to my right.” +</p> + +<p> +He waved his hand, and Havelok sat down on the bench that faced Goldberga; and +now he looked long at her with a look that seemed to be questioning. Alsi was +going to his seat in the cross bench, where the parents of the couple are wont +to sit at a wedding while the vows are made, but he seemed to bethink himself. +It is my belief that he said what he did in order to shame both Havelok and +Goldberga. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, it is not seemly that the bridegroom should sit alone without one to be +by him. Where are your friends, Curan?” +</p> + +<p> +At that Alsi met with more than he bargained for. At once Berthun came forward, +and forth came I, and without a word we sat one on each side of him. There were +others who would have come also, for I saw even Eglaf take a step towards the +high place, had we not done so. +</p> + +<p> +Alsi’s face became black at that, for here was not the friendless churl he was +scoffing at. But he tried to smile, as if pleased. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, this is well,” he said. “Good it is to see a master helping his man, and +a soldier ready to back a comrade of a sort. Now we have witnesses. Let us go +on with the wedding.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the golden loving cup that was used at the feasts had been filled and set +at a little side table that stood there, and it was to be the bride cup that +should be drunk between the twain when all was settled. So Alsi took this cup +and held it, while he sat in the place of the father of the bride. Now, I knew +nothing of what should he done, but Berthun did so, and well he took my +brother’s part, having undertaken for him thus. +</p> + +<p> +“It is the custom,” said Alsi, “that the bridegroom should state what he sets +forth of the dowry to the bride.” +</p> + +<p> +Whereat Berthun, without hesitation, spoke hastily to Havelok, and told him to +let him answer, meaning, as I have not the least doubt, to promise all that he +had saved in long years of service. But Havelok smiled a little, and set his +hand to his neck, and I remembered one thing that he had—a ring which had +always hung on a cord under his jerkin since he came to Grimsby, and which my +father had bidden him keep ever. +</p> + +<p> +“This give I,” he said, setting it on the floor at his feet, “and with it all +that I am, and all that I shall hereafter be, and all that shall be mine at any +time.” +</p> + +<p> +Alsi looked at the ring as it flashed before him, and his face changed. No such +jewel had he in all his treasures, for it was of dwarf work in gold, set with a +deep crimson stone that was like the setting sun for brightness. I do not know +whence these stones came, unless it were from the East. Eleyn the queen, his +mother, was thence, and I know now that the ring was hers. But I think that +when Alsi saw this he half repented of the match, though he had gone too far +now to draw back. So he bowed, and said that it was well, as he would have said +had there been nothing forthcoming. +</p> + +<p> +Then Berthun, in his turn, asked for the bridegroom that the dowry of the bride +should be stated for all to hear. +</p> + +<p> +“The wealth left my niece by her father,” said Alsi. “The matter of the kingdom +is for the Witan of the East Anglians to settle.” +</p> + +<p> +Then came from out the king’s chamber two men bearing bags of gold, and that +was set before the princess. It was a noble dowry, and honest was the king in +this matter at least. +</p> + +<p> +Now were the vows to be said and the bride cup to be drunk, and that was the +hardest part of all to Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly he rose as the king held it out to him, and he took it from his hand and +stood before Goldberga; and she, too, rose and faced him, and for a moment they +stood thus, surely the most handsome couple that had ever been. +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok said, looking in the clear eyes of the princess, “This have I +sworn, that I will wed no unwilling bride. It is but for you to say one word, +and the cup falls, and all is ended.” +</p> + +<p> +Alsi started at that, and I thought he was going to speak, but he held his +peace. Still as a rock was Havelok while he waited for the answer, and the folk +in the hall were as still as he. They began to see that all was not right as +the king would have it thought. +</p> + +<p> +Once the princess looked at Alsi, and that with pride in her face, and then she +looked long and steadfastly at Havelok, and one by one his fingers loosened +themselves on the golden stem of the cup, that she might know him ready for her +word. +</p> + +<p> +Then she put forth her hand and closed it round his strong fingers, that he +must hold it fast by her doing, and that was all that was needed. It was more +than words could have told. And she smiled as she did it. +</p> + +<p> +And at that a light came on Havelok’s face, and he smiled gravely back at her, +and he said in a low voice that shook a little, “May the gods so treat me as I +treat you, my princess. Can it be that you will trust me thus?” +</p> + +<p> +She answered in no words, but I saw her hand tighten over his, and her eyes +never left his face. +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok raised his other hand, and took that of Goldberga, which was on +the cup, and faced to the people. +</p> + +<p> +“Thus do I pledge her who shall be henceforward my wife through good and ill; +and may Odin, Freya, and Niord be witnesses of my oath of faith to her in all +that the word may mean.” +</p> + +<p> +So he drank, and I stole a glance at the king. Never saw I a man so amazed, for +to him the Danish names of the Asir had come as some sort of a shock, seeing +that he had deemed this man, with the name of Curan, a Briton. And he looked at +Berthun with a look that seemed to say more than was likely to be pleasant +by-and-by. But the steward paid no heed to him. +</p> + +<p> +Now Havelok had made his vow, and he gave the cup to the princess; and she, +too, turned a little toward the people, but still she looked on Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“Faith shall answer to faith,” she said in a clear voice. “Here do I take this +man for my husband, in the sight of God, and with you all as witnesses, and I +pray that the blessing of Him may be on us both.” +</p> + +<p> +So she drank also, and Havelok stopped and raised the wondrous ring from where +it had been unheeded on the floor, and took the band of Goldberga, and set it +on her finger, and kissed the hand ere he let it go. +</p> + +<p> +But Goldberga lifted her face toward him, and he bent and kissed her forehead, +and so they were wedded. +</p> + +<p> +I have heard men scoff at the thought of love at first sight, but never can any +one of us do so who saw this wedding. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17">CHAPTER XVII.<br/> +HOW THE BRIDE WENT HOME.</a></h2> + +<p> +Now the folk cheered, and loudest of all honest Eglaf and his warriors. I +wondered what should come next, for neither feast nor bride ale was prepared, +and Berthun was looking puzzled. Then I saw that the only face in all the wide +hall which was not bright was that of Alsi, and his brow was black as a thunder +cloud, while his fingers were white with the force with which he clutched and +twisted the end of his jewelled belt. Plainly he was in a royal rage that none +had scoffed at this wedding, but that all had taken it as a matter that was +right altogether. +</p> + +<p> +But he had one more evil thing in his mind that must be seen through; and he +came forward, smoothing his face, as best he might, to the fixed smile that I +had seen when he spoke with Ragnar, and learned that his first plot had +miscarried. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, friends,” he said, “all this has been so hasty that we have prepared no +feast. Even now, it seems that the horses stand at the door to take bride and +bridegroom hence, and doubtless there waits somewhere the feast that has been +bespoken without my knowledge. Well, strange are the ways of lovers, and we +will pardon them. I have therefore only to bid them farewell.” +</p> + +<p> +With that he turned to Havelok, and held out his hand, as in all good +fellowship, but Havelok would not see it. +</p> + +<p> +“Fare as it shall be meted to you by the Asir, King Alsi,” he said, “for at +least Loki loves craft.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he turned to me, and asked hurriedly where we should go if we must leave +thus. +</p> + +<p> +“To Grimsby,” I said. “That is home.” +</p> + +<p> +Alsi spoke to the princess now, and maybe it was as well that he did not offer +so much as his hand. Wise was he in his way. +</p> + +<p> +“Farewell, niece,” he said; “all this shall come shortly before the Witan of +Ethelwald’s folk.” +</p> + +<p> +“Farewell, uncle,” she answered calmly. “That is a matter which I will see to +myself. You have carried out your oath to the letter, so far, and now it +remains that you should leave the government of the realm to me.” +</p> + +<p> +With that she put her hand on Havelok’s arm. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, husband; we have heard that the horses wait. Let us be gone.” +</p> + +<p> +And then in a quick whisper she added, as if nigh overdone, “Take me hence +quickly, for I may not bear more.” +</p> + +<p> +They wasted no more words; and through a lane of folk, who blessed them, those +two went to the great door down the long hall, and I followed, and Berthun and +the nurse came after me. One flung the door open; and on the steps, all unaware +of what had happened, lounged Mord, waiting, and up and down on the green the +grooms led the horses of the princess—six in all. On two were packed her goods, +and the third had a pack saddle that waited for the bags that held her dowry. +The other three were for herself and Mord and the nurse. There was not one for +Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“This is hasty, my princess,” Mord said. “Whither are we bound?” +</p> + +<p> +“For Grimsby, Mord,” I answered quickly. “Are there no more horses to be had?” +</p> + +<p> +“Never a one, unless we steal from the king,” he answered. +</p> + +<p> +The people were crowding out now that they might see the start, and I saw +Berthun speak to a man among them who was a stranger to me. And from him he +turned directly with a glad face. +</p> + +<p> +“Go down to such a hostelry,” he said to me, “and there ask for what horses you +will. Maybe I shall have to follow you for my part in this matter—that is, if I +am not put in the dungeon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Faith,” I answered, “better had you come with us than run that risk. Alsi is +in a bad mood.” +</p> + +<p> +He shook his head; and then the people behind him made way, for the king was +coming. +</p> + +<p> +“Almost had you forgotten this,” he said; “and I think you will want it.” +</p> + +<p> +The men with the money were there, and he waved his hand to them. Havelok +lifted the princess to her horse without heeding him, and the men set the bags +on the pack horses. +</p> + +<p> +“See the bridegroom down the street, you who were his witnesses,” the king went +on, with a curling lip; “and if you are a wise man, master Berthun, you will +not come back again.” +</p> + +<p> +Berthun bowed and went into the hail, past the king, and across to his own +door, without a word. After him the thronging people closed up, and though I +thought that a housecarl would have been sent to see what he was about, this +would have made an open talk, and Alsi forbore. +</p> + +<p> +“Let Havelok take your horse, Mord,” I whispered to him; “I will tell you why +directly.” +</p> + +<p> +He nodded, and I told Havelok to mount. Then I helped up the nurse, who wept +and muttered to herself; and so we started, Alsi standing on the steps with +words of feigned goodspeed as we did so. +</p> + +<p> +But the housecarls and the people shouted with wishes that were real, no doubt +thinking that we were bound for the far-off kingdom of the prince who had won +Goldberga by service as a kitchen knave in her uncle’s hall for very love of +her. +</p> + +<p> +Directly we were outside the gate that leads down the hill, I saw Withelm, who +was there waiting for me, and he knew at once what had happened. +</p> + +<p> +He came to my side, and asked only, “Already?” +</p> + +<p> +“Already,” I answered; “but it is well. Go to the widow’s straightway, and +bring Havelok’s arms to him at the hostelry at the end of the marketplace, +where we have to find more horses.” +</p> + +<p> +He went at once, and silently we came down the street and to the courtyard of +the inn. Some few folk stared at us; but the princess was hardly known here, +and she had cast her long, white mantle hoodwise over her head and face, so +that one could not tell who she was. So early in the day there were few people +in the marketplace either. +</p> + +<p> +Berthun was in the courtyard of the inn, and I was glad to see him, for I did +not know what would happen to him. It was likely that Alsi would seek for +someone on whom to visit his anger at the way things had gone. But the steward +had been warned, and was not one to run any risk. +</p> + +<p> +“I did but go back for a few things that I did not care to leave,” he said; and +he showed me that he had brought his own horse from the stables, and on it were +large saddlebags. No poor man was Berthun after years of service in the palace, +where gifts from thane and lady are always ready for the man who has had the +care of them. Across the saddle bow also were his mail shirt and arms, and his +shield hung with his helm from the peak. +</p> + +<p> +“You see that I must needs cast in my lot with yours, or rather Curan’s,” he +said, laughing; “but it is in my mind that in the end I shall not be sorry to +have done so. I think that I am tired of the fireside, and want adventure for a +while.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” I answered, “you are likely to have them, and that shortly, if I am not +mistaken; but we shall see. Now about these horses, for we had better get out +of Lincoln as soon as we may.” +</p> + +<p> +The man he had spoken with was a merchant, who came yearly, and was a friend of +his. He had more horses than he meant to keep, as he had here each year; for +every one knows that a horse can always be sold in Lincoln, and they were good +ones. Then my gold came in well, and I bought three, one for each of us +brothers. I daresay that I paid dearly for them, but there was no time for +haggling in the way that a horse dealer loves. Out of the way of Alsi we must +get, before he bethought him of more crafty devices. And I thought, moreover, +that we should be riding towards East Anglia shortly, and it was not everywhere +that a steed fit to carry Havelok on a long journey was to be had. +</p> + +<p> +I had bidden him leave all this to me as we came down the hill, and glad he was +to do so. Now he had dismounted, and stood by the side of the princess, +speaking earnestly to her. It was plain that what he said was pleasant to her +also. But we left them apart, as one might suppose. +</p> + +<p> +Now came a warrior into the courtyard, and he bore more arms. It was Withelm, +who had borrowed the gear of the widow’s dead husband, that he might be ready +for whatever might happen: and it was good to see Havelok’s eyes grow bright as +he spied the well-known weapons that his brother had in his arms. He said one +word to Goldberga, and then came to us. +</p> + +<p> +“Let me get into war gear at once,” he said, laughing in a way that lightened +my heart. “I shall not feel that I have shaken off service to Alsi until I have +done so.” +</p> + +<p> +And then he saw Berthun here for the first time. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but here is my master,” he added. “And I will say that I owe him much for +his kindness.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now the kindness shall be on your part, if any was on mine. Take me into your +service, I pray you, henceforward.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good friend of mine,” said Havelok, “naught have I to offer you. And how +should one serve me?” +</p> + +<p> +“With heart and hand and head, neither more nor less,” answered Berthun. “I +have seen you serve, and now will see you command. Let me bide with you, my +master, at least, giving you such service as I may.” +</p> + +<p> +“Such help as you may, rather. For now we all serve the princess,” Havelok +said. +</p> + +<p> +And with that Berthun was well content for the time. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then,” said I, “see to Havelok’s arms, while we get the horses ready, +for I want Withelm here.” +</p> + +<p> +So Havelok and his new man went into the house with his arms, and then I saw +Goldberga beckoning to us. It was the first time that I had spoken to her, and +I think that I was frightened, if that is what they call the feeling that makes +one wish to be elsewhere. But there was nothing to fear in the sweet face that +she turned to us. +</p> + +<p> +“Brothers,” she said, “Havelok tells me that it was one of you who brought +David the priest to me. I do not rightly know yet which is Withelm.” +</p> + +<p> +With that she smiled and blushed a little, and I stood, helm in hand, stupidly +enough. But my brother was more ready. +</p> + +<p> +“I am Withelm, my princess—” he began. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay; but ‘sister’ it shall be between me and my husband’s brothers. Now, +brother Withelm, there is one thing that is next my heart, and in it I know you +will help me.” +</p> + +<p> +There she wavered for a moment, and then went on bravely. +</p> + +<p> +“Christian am I, and I do not think that we are rightly wedded until the priest +has done his part. And to that Havelok agrees most willingly, saying that I +must ask you thereof, for he does not know where the old man is now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Wedded in the little chapel that is in the thick of Cabourn woods shall you +be, for David has gone there already. We can ride and find him before many +hours are over, sweet lady of ours.” +</p> + +<p> +She thanked him in few words, and with much content. +</p> + +<p> +Then came forth from the house Havelok, in the arms that suited him so +well—golden, shining mail shirt of hard bronze scales, and steel, horned helm, +plain and strong, and girt with sword and seax, and with axe and shield slung +over shoulder, as noble a warrior surely as was in all England, ay, or in the +Northlands that gave him birth either; and what wonder that the eyes of the +princess glowed with a new pride as she looked at her mighty husband? +</p> + +<p> +But Mord almost shouted when he saw him come thus, and to me he said, +</p> + +<p> +“It is Gunnar—Gunnar, I tell you—come back from Asgard to help my princess.” +</p> + +<p> +“Wait till we get to Grimsby, and Arngeir will make all clear,” I said. “Get +into your arms, and we will start. All is ready now.” +</p> + +<p> +We did not wait for Mord, but mounted and rode out, and the princess looked +round at us as she rode first beside Havelok, and said, “Never have I ridden so +well attended, as I think.” +</p> + +<p> +And from beside me, with broad face from under his helm, Berthun answered for +us all, “Never with men so ready to die for you, at least, my mistress.” +</p> + +<p> +And that was true. +</p> + +<p> +Half a mile out of the town we rode at a quick trot, and then thundered Mord +after us, and his hurry surely meant something. I reined up and waited for him. +</p> + +<p> +“What is the hurry, Mord?” said I. +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe it is nothing, and maybe it is much,” he answered; “but Griffin of +Chester has gone up to the palace, for I saw him. He has his arm in a sling, +and his face looks as if it had been trodden on. Now Alsi will tell him all +this, and if we are not followed I am mistaken. He would think nothing of +wiping out our party to take the princess, and Alsi will not mind if he does. +How shall we give him the slip?” +</p> + +<p> +Withelm rode with his chin over his shoulder, and I beckoned him and told him +this. Not long was his quick wit in seeing a way out of what might be a danger. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us ride on quickly down the Ermin Street, and he will think us making for +the south and Norwich. Then we will turn off to Cabourn, and he will lose us. +After that he may hear that some of us belong to Grimsby, and will go there; +but he will be too late to hurt us. Hard men are our fishers, and they would +fight for Havelok and the sons of Grim.” +</p> + +<p> +So we did that, riding down the old Roman way to a wide, waste forest land +where none should see us turn off, and then across the forest paths to Cabourn; +and there we found the hermit, and there Havelok and Goldberga were wedded +again with all the rites of Holy Church, and the bride was well content. +</p> + +<p> +Now while that was our way, I will say what we escaped by this plan of my +brother’s, though we did not hear all for a long time. Presently we did hear +what had happened at Grimsby towards this business, as will be seen. +</p> + +<p> +To Lincoln comes Griffin, with Cadwal his thane, just as we had left the town +thus by another road, and straightway he betakes himself to the palace. There +he finds Alsi in an evil mood, and in the hall the people are talking fast, and +there is no Berthun to receive him. +</p> + +<p> +So, as he sits at the high table and breaks his fast beside the king, he asks +what all the wonderment may be. And Alsi tells him, speaking in Welsh. +</p> + +<p> +“East Anglia is mine,” he says, “for I have rid myself of the girl.” +</p> + +<p> +Griffin sets his hand on his dagger. +</p> + +<p> +“Hast killed her?” he says sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“No; married her.” +</p> + +<p> +“To whom, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“To a man whom the Witan will not have as a king at any price.” +</p> + +<p> +“There you broke faith with me,” says Griffin, snarling. “I would have taken +her, and chanced that.” +</p> + +<p> +“My oath was in the way of that. You missed the chance on the road the other +day, which would have made things easy for us both. There was no other for +you.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Griffin curses Ragnar, and the Welsh tongue is good for that business. +</p> + +<p> +“Who is the man, then?” he says, when he has done. +</p> + +<p> +“The biggest and best-looking countryman of yours that I have ever set eyes +on,” answers Alsi, looking askance at Griffin’s angry face. “There is a sort of +consolation for you.” +</p> + +<p> +“His name,” fairly shouts Griffin. +</p> + +<p> +“Curan, the kitchen knave,” says Alsi, chuckling. +</p> + +<p> +“O fool, and doubly fool!” cries Griffin; “now have you outdone yourself. Was +it not plain to you that the man could be no thrall? Even Ragnar looks mean +beside him, and I hate Ragnar, so that I know well how goodly he is.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Alsi grows uneasy, knowing that this had become plainer and plainer to him +as the wedding went on. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, what do you know of this knave of mine?” he asks. “He was goodly enough +for the sake of my oath, and the Witan will have none of him. That is all I +care for.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do I know of him? Just this—that you have married the queen of the East +Angles to Havelok, son of Gunnar Kirkeban of Denmark, for whom men wait over +there even now. The Witan not have him? I tell you that every man in the land +will follow him and Goldberga if they so much as lift their finger. Done are +the days of your kingship, and that by your own deed.” +</p> + +<p> +Alsi grows white at this and trembles, for he minds the wondrous ring and the +names of the Asir, but he asks for more certainty. +</p> + +<p> +Then Griffin tells him that he was with Hodulf, and knew all the secret of the +making away with the boy, and how that came to naught. Then he says that Hodulf +had heard from certain Vikings that they had fallen on Grim’s ship, and that in +the grappling of the vessel the boy and a lady had been drowned. It is quite +likely that they, or some of them, thought so in truth, seeing how that +happened. After that Hodulf had made inquiry, and was told that there were none +but the children of Grim with him, and so was content. So my father’s wisdom +was justified. +</p> + +<p> +“Now I learned his name the other day; and I have a ship waiting to take me at +once to Hodulf, that I may warn him. I have ridden back from Grimsby even now +to say that, given a chance, say on some lonely ride, that might well have been +contrived, I would take Goldberga with me beyond the sea. I thought more of +that than of Hodulf, to say the truth.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Alsi breaks down altogether, and prays Griffin to help him out of this. +</p> + +<p> +“Follow the party and take her. They are few and unarmed, and it will be easy, +for men think that there is a plot to carry her off, and this will not surprise +any. Go to the sheriff and tell him that it has happened, and he will hang the +men on sight when you have taken them. Then get to sea with the girl, and to +Hodulf, and both he and I will reward you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thanks,” says Griffin, with a sneer; “I have my own men. Yours might have +orders that I am the one to be hanged. It would be worth your while now to make +a friend of your kitchen knave. You are not to be trusted.” +</p> + +<p> +So these two wrangle for a while bitterly, for Alsi is not overlord of Griffin +in any way. And the end is that the thane rides towards Grimsby first of all, +with twenty men at his heels, knowing more than we thought. But he hears naught +of us, and presently meets Arngeir on his way thence to see us. Him he knows, +for already he has had dealings with him in the hiring of the ship. So he +learns from him that certainly no such party as he seeks is on the road, and +therefore rides off to the Ermin Street to stay us from going south. +</p> + +<p> +But now we had time for a long start; and so he follows the Roman road when he +reaches it all that day and part of next, and we hear no more of him at that +time. There are many parties travelling on that way, and he follows one after +another. +</p> + +<p> +Now Arngeir knew at once that somewhat had happened when he heard from Griffin +that the most notable man of those whom he sought was named Curan, and +therefore he turned back at once and waited for us. And when we came in sight +of the long roof of the house that Grim, our father, had built, standing among +the clustering cottages of our fishers, with the masts of a trading ship or two +showing above it in the haven, he was there on the road to greet us, having +watched anxiously for our coming from the beacon tower that we had made. +</p> + +<p> +Maybe we were two miles out of Grimsby at this time, for one can see far along +the level marsh tracks from our tower; and Withelm and Mord and I rode on to +him as soon as we saw him, that we might tell him all that had happened, and we +rode slowly and talked for half a mile or so. +</p> + +<p> +Then Withelm waited and brought Havelok to us, staying himself with the +princess, that he might tell her the wondrous story of her husband; for we +thought that it would be easier for him than for our brother maybe. Havelok was +not one to speak freely of himself. +</p> + +<p> +And when Goldberga had heard all, she was silent for a long way, and then wept +a little, but at last told Withelm that all this had been foretold to her in +her dream. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet I am glad,” she said, “that I did not know this for certain, else had my +Havelok thought that I did but wed him for his birth. Tell him, brother, that +it was not so; say that I knew him as the husband Heaven sent for me when first +I saw him.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Havelok listened to Arngeir as he told him the well-kept secret, and now +and again asked a question. +</p> + +<p> +And when all was told he said, “Now have the dreams passed, and the light is +come. I mind all plainly from the first.” +</p> + +<p> +And he told all that had happened after Hodulf caught him, from the murder of +his sisters to the time when I helped my father to take him from the sack. Only +he never remembered the death of his mother or the storm, or how we came to +Grimsby. Maybe it is rather a wonder that after all those hard things gone +through he should recall anything, for he was nearly dying when we came ashore, +as I have told. +</p> + +<p> +“But I am Grim’s son,” he said, “for all this, and never shall I forget it. By +right of life saved, and by right of upbringing, am I his, and by right of +brotherhood to his sons. Gunnar, who was my father, would have me say this, if +I am like him, as Mord tells me I am.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he looked at us in brotherly wise, as if we would maybe not allow that +claim now; but there needed naught to be said between us when he met our eyes. +He was Grim’s son indeed to us, and we his younger brothers for all the days +that were to come. +</p> + +<p> +“One thing there is that makes me glad,” he said, “and that is because I may +now be held worthy of this sweet bride of mine so strangely given, as indeed I +fear that I am not. Men will say that she has done no wrong in wedding me; and +for all that Alsi may say, it will be believed that she knew well whom she was +wedding. There will be no blame to her.” +</p> + +<p> +That seemed to be all his thought of the matter now, and it was like him. Then +he went back to his princess, and we spurred on to Grimsby, and set all to +work, that the greeting might be all that we could make it. +</p> + +<p> +And so, when those two rode into our garth, and the gates were closed after +them, we reined our horses round them, and drew our swords, and cried the +ancient greeting with one mighty shout: +</p> + +<p> +“Skoal to Havelok Gunnarsson—Skoal to Goldberga, Havelok’s wife! Skoal! Yours +we are, and for you we will die! Skoal!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18">CHAPTER XVIII.<br/> +JARL SIGURD OF DENMARK.</a></h2> + +<p> +Now one would like to tell of quiet days at Grimsby; but they were not to be. +Three days after Havelok’s homecoming we were on the “swan’s path,” and heading +for Denmark, with the soft south wind of high summer speeding us on the way. +And I will tell how that came about, for else it may seem strange that Havelok +did not see to the rights of his wife first of all. +</p> + +<p> +That was his first thought, in truth, and we brothers planned many ways of +getting to work for her, for it was certain that Alsi would be on his guard. +And on the next day came a man from Lincoln to seek Berthun, with news. That +good friend had done what none of us had been able to manage, for he had told +the merchant, his friend, to bide in the hall and hear what went on, and then +to let him know all else that seemed needful that we should hear. Now he had +learned all from the words of Griffin and Alsi, who took no care in their +speech, thinking that none in the hall knew the Welsh tongue that they used. +</p> + +<p> +It being the business of a merchant to know that of every place where he +trades, and he travelling widely, there was no difficulty to him, and mightily +he enjoyed the sport. Then he sent off straightway to us; and now it was plain +that we were in danger—not at once, maybe, but ere long. Griffin would hear +sooner or later that his quarry was in Grimsby after all. So we went to our +good old friend, Witlaf of Stallingborough, and told him all. +</p> + +<p> +“Why,” he said, “I will have no Welsh outsiders harrying my friends. Light up +your beacon if he comes, and shut your gates in his face, and I and the +housecarls will take him in the rear, and he will not wait here long. I have +not had a fight for these twenty years or so, and it does me good to think of +one.” +</p> + +<p> +So we thought that there was little fear of the Welshman. +</p> + +<p> +When I came back from this errand, however, I chose to pass the mound where my +father slept, and on it, hand in hand, sat Havelok and Goldberga—for it was a +quiet place, and none came near it often. It was good to see them thus in that +place, and happy they seemed together. +</p> + +<p> +Goldberga called me when I came near, and I sat down beside them as she bade +me. +</p> + +<p> +“Here we have been talking of what we shall do now, for it seems that to both +of us are many things to hand,” she said. “Good it would be if we could set +them aside; but we were born to them, and we cannot let them be. And, most of +all, here in this place we may not forget the duty that Grim would remind us +of. Havelok must go to Denmark and win back his kingdom from Hodulf first of +all.” +</p> + +<p> +“We have thought that East Anglia was to be won first from Alsi,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“So says Havelok; but I do not think so. For, indeed, I am but the wife, and +the things of the husband come first of all. Now, this is what I would say. +Sail to Denmark before Hodulf knows what is coming, and there will be less +trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am slow at seeing things,” said Havelok; “but the same might be said of your +kingdom.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alsi is ready, and Hodulf is not,” she answered, laughing; “any one can see +that. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it not so, brother?” +</p> + +<p> +So it was; and I thought that she was right. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us ask the brothers,” I said, “for here are many things to be thought of; +and, first of all, where to get men.” +</p> + +<p> +That was the greatest trouble to our minds, but none at all to hers. +</p> + +<p> +“Get them in Denmark,” she said, when we were all together in the great room of +the house that evening. “Let us go as merchant folk, and find Sigurd, or his +son if he is dead. If I am not much mistaken, all the land will rise for the +son of Gunnar so soon as it is known that he has come again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sigurd is yet alive,” Arngeir said; “and more than that, he is waiting. For he +promised Grim that he would be ready, and I heard the promise. I think that +this plan is good, and can well be managed. Here is the ship that Griffin was +to have taken today, and he is not here. Gold enough I have, for Grim hoarded +against this time.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he showed us the store that, through long years, my father had brought +together to take the place of that of Sigurd’s which had been lost; and it was +no small one. And so we planned at once; and in the end we three brothers were +to go with Havelok and Goldberga, leaving Mord to get to Ragnar and tell him +that Goldberga was following the fortunes of her husband, and would return to +see to her own if all went well. Berthun would go with him, and Arngeir would +bide at home, for we needed one to whom messages might come; and while none +would know us now in Denmark, either Arngeir or Mord might be seen, and men +would tell Hodulf that the men of Grim had come home, and so perhaps spoil all. +Word might go to Denmark from Griffin even yet. +</p> + +<p> +We had little thought of any sorry ending to our plans, for the dreams that had +come so true so far cheered us. And so, with the evening tide of the next day, +we sailed in the same ship that had been hired for Griffin. +</p> + +<p> +But first Havelok spent a long hour on my father’s mound alone, thinking of all +that he owed to him who rested there. And to him came Goldberga softly, +presently, lest he should be lonely in that place. And there she spoke to him +of her own faith, saying that already he owed much to it. For he was making his +vows to the Asir for success. +</p> + +<p> +“Shall you pray yet again to the Asir, my husband?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Why should I? I have vowed my vows, and there is an end. If they heed them, +all is well; and if not, the Norns hinder.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is One whom the Norns hinder not at all,” she said gently, and so told +him how that her prayers would go up every day. +</p> + +<p> +Fain was she that he also prayed in that wise to her God, that naught might be +apart in their minds. +</p> + +<p> +Then he said, “I have heard this from David and Withelm also, and it is good. +Teach me to vow to your God, sweet wife, and I will do so; and you shall teach +me to pray as you pray.” +</p> + +<p> +So it came to pass that Havelok in the after days was more than ready to help +the Christian teachers when they came to him; for that was how the vow that he +made ran, that he would do so if he was king, and had the power. +</p> + +<p> +Now there is nothing to tell of our voyage, for one could not wish for a better +passage, if the ship was slow. Indeed, she was so slow that a smaller vessel +that left Tetney haven on the next day reached the same port that we were bound +for on the night that we came to our old home. And that we learned soon after +she had come. +</p> + +<p> +Into Sigurd’s haven we sailed on the morning tide, and strange it seemed to me +to see the well-known place unchanged as we neared it. My father’s house was +there, and Arngeir’s, and the great hall of the jarl towered over all, as I +remembered it. Men were building a ship in the long shed where ours had been +built, and where the queen had hidden; and the fishing boats lay on the hard as +on the day when Havelok had come to us. The little grove was yet behind our +house, and it seemed strange when I remembered that the old stones of its altar +were far beyond the seas. I wondered if Thor yet stood under his great ash +tree; and then I saw one change, for that tree was gone, and in its place stood +a watchtower, stone built, and broad and high, for haven beacon. +</p> + +<p> +On the high fore deck stood Havelok, and his arm was round Goldberga as we ran +in, but they were silent. The land held overmuch of coming wonder for them to +put into words, as I think. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the boats came off to us in the old way, and here and there I seemed +to know the faces of the men, but I was not sure. It was but the remembrance of +the old Danish cast of face, maybe. I could put no names to any of them. And as +we were warped alongside the wharf, there rode down to see who we were Sigurd +the jarl himself, seeming unchanged, although twelve years had gone over him. +He was younger than my father, I think, and was at that age when a man changes +too slowly for a boy to notice aught but that the one he left as a man he +thought old is so yet. He was just the noble-looking warrior that I had always +wondered at and admired. +</p> + +<p> +We had arranged in this way: Havelok was to be the merchant, and we his +partners in the venture, trading with the goods in the ship as our own. That +the owner, who was also ship master, had agreed to willingly enough, as we +promised to make good any loss that might be from our want of skill in +bargaining. One may say that we bought the cargo, which was not a great one, on +our own risk, therefore, hiring the vessel to wait our needs, in case we found +it better to fly or to land elsewhere presently. Then Havelok was to ask the +jarl’s leave to trade in the land, and so find a chance to speak with him in +private. After that the goods might be an excuse for going far and wide through +the villages to let men know who had come, without rousing Hodulf’s fears. +</p> + +<p> +And as we thought of all this on the voyage, Goldberga remembered that it was +likely that Sigurd would know again the ring that had been the queen’s, and she +said that it had better be shown him at once, that he might begin to suspect +who his guest was. For we knew that he was true to the son of Gunnar, if none +else might still be so. +</p> + +<p> +This seemed good to us all; and, indeed, everything seemed to be well planned, +though we knew that there are always some happenings that have been overlooked. +We thought we had provided against these by keeping the ship as our own to wait +for us, however, and it will be seen how it all worked out in the end. +</p> + +<p> +Now Havelok went ashore as soon as the ship was moored; and the moment that he +touched land he made a sign on his breast, and I think that it was not that of +the hammer of Thor, for Goldberga watched him with bright eyes, and she seemed +content as she did so. He went at once to where the jarl sat on his horse +waiting him, and greetings passed. I was so used to seeing men stare at my +brother that I thought little of the long look that Sigurd gave him; but +presently it seemed that he was mightily taken with this newcomer, for he came +on board the ship, that he might speak more with him and us. +</p> + +<p> +“Presently,” he said, “you must come and dine with me at my hall; for the lady +whom I saw as you came in will be weary, and a meal on shore after a long +voyage is ever pleasant. Now what is your errand here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Trading, jarl,” answered Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought you somewhat over warlike-looking for a merchant,” said Sigurd; +“what is your merchandise?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lincoln cloth, and bar iron, and such like; and with it all one thing that is +worth showing to you, jarl, for I will sell it to none but yourself.” +</p> + +<p> +Now we went aft slowly, and presently Havelok and the jarl were alone by the +steering oar, by design on our part. +</p> + +<p> +“This seems to be somewhat special,” said Sigurd. “What is it?” +</p> + +<p> +Havelok took the ring from his pouch, and set it in the jarl’s hand without a +word; and long Sigurd looked at it. I saw the red on his cheek deepen as he did +so, but he said never a word for a long time. And next he looked at Havelok, +and the eyes of these two met. +</p> + +<p> +“This is beyond price,” said the jarl slowly. “Not my whole town would buy +this. It is such as a queen might wear and be proud of.” +</p> + +<p> +“Should I show it to Hodulf the king, therefore?” asked Havelok, with his eyes +on those of the jarl. +</p> + +<p> +“Let no man see it until I know if I can buy it,” answered Sigurd. “Trust it to +my keeping, if you will, for I would have it valued maybe.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is my wife’s, and you must ask her that.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok called Goldberga from her cabin under the after deck, and the jarl +greeted her in most courtly wise. +</p> + +<p> +“I will trust it with you, Jarl Sigurd,” she said, when he asked her if he +might keep the ring for a time. “Yet it is a great trust, as you know, and it +will be well to show the ring to none but men who are true.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is to true men that I would show it,” he answered, with that look that had +passed between him and Havelok already; and I was sure that he knew now pretty +certainly who we were. Yet he could not say more at this time, for the many men +who waited for Havelok must be told somewhat of his coming first. +</p> + +<p> +Now men were gathering on the wharf to see the newcomers, and so the jarl spoke +openly for all to hear. +</p> + +<p> +“Come up to my hall, all of you, and take a meal ashore with me; for good is +the first food on dry land after days at sea and the fare of the ship.” +</p> + +<p> +So he went across the gangway, and to his horse, and rode away quickly, calling +back to us, “Hasten, for we wait for you. And I will find you lodgings in the +town for the time that you bide with us.” +</p> + +<p> +Now at first that seemed somewhat hazardous, for we had meant to stay in the +ship, lest we should have to fly for any reason suddenly. But it seemed that we +had no choice but to do as he bade us, and we could not doubt him in any way. +We should go armed, of course, as in a strange place; and, after all, unless +Hodulf heard of us, and wanted to see us, he was not to be feared as yet. So I +fell to wondering where our lodgings would he, and if the old families still +dwelt in the houses that I had known, and then who had ours. Many such thoughts +will crowd into the mind of one who sees his old land again after many years, +and finds naught changed, to the eye at least. +</p> + +<p> +Men have told me that, as we came into the hall presently, they thought us the +most goodly company that had ever crossed its threshold; and that is likely, +for at our head were Havelok and Goldberga. Raven was a mighty warrior to look +on as he came next, grave and silent, with far-seeing grey eyes that were full +of watching, as it were, from his long seafaring, and yet had the seaman’s +ready smile in them. And Withelm was the pattern of a well-made youth who has +his strength yet to gather, and already knows how to make the best use of that +he has. There were none but thought that he was the most handsome of the three +sons of Grim. And last came I, and I am big enough, at least, to stand at +Havelok’s back; and for the rest, one remembers what Eglaf said of me. But I do +not think that any noticed us with those twain to look at, unless they scanned +our arms, which were more after the English sort than the Danish, so far as +mail and helms are concerned, and therefore might seem strange. +</p> + +<p> +The old hall was not changed at all; and handsome it seemed after Alsi’s, +though it was not so large. There were more and better weapons on the walls, +and carved work was everywhere, so that in the swirl and heat-flicker of the +torches the beams, and door posts, and bench ends, and the pillars of the high +seat seemed alive with knotted dragons that began, and ended, and writhed +everywhere, wondrous to look on. Our English have not the long winter nights, +and cruel frosts, and deep snow that make time for such work as this for the +men of the household. +</p> + +<p> +There fell a silence as we came in, and then Sigurd greeted us; and we were set +on the high seat, and feasted royally. On right and left of our host sat +Havelok and Goldberga, and the jarl’s wife next to Havelok, and Biorn the +Brown, the sheriff, next to our princess. This was a newcomer here since my +days, but well we liked him. +</p> + +<p> +There is nothing to tell of what happened at this feast, for Sigurd asked no +questions of us but the most common ones of sea, and wind, and voyage, and +never a word that would have been hard for Havelok to answer in this company, +where men of Hodulf’s might well be present. Withelm noticed this, and said +that no doubt it was done purposely, and he thought much of it. +</p> + +<p> +When we had ended with song and tale, and it was near time for rest, Sigurd +bade Biorn, the sheriff, take us to his house for the night, telling him that +he must answer for our safety, and specially that of the fair lady who had come +from so far. And then he gave us a good guard of his housecarls to take us down +the street, as if he feared some danger. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, jarl,” said Biorn, “our guests will have a bad night if they think that +in our quiet place they need twenty men to see them to bed thus!” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but the town is strange to the lady,” answered Sigurd; “and who knows +what she may fear in a foreign land!” +</p> + +<p> +So Biorn laughed, and was content; and we bade farewell to the jarl, and went +out. And then I found that it was to my father’s house we were to go, for it +had been given to Biorn. +</p> + +<p> +Now, I was next to Goldberga as we came to the door, and there was a step into +the house which we always had to warn strangers of when it was dark; and so, in +the old way, without thinking for a moment, I said to her, “One step into the +house, sister.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ho, Master Radbard, if that is you, you have sharp eyes in the dark,” said +Biorn at once; “I was just about to say that myself.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have some feeling in my toes,” I answered; and that turned the matter, for +they laughed. +</p> + +<p> +And then, when we were inside, and the courtmen had gone clattering down the +street homewards, Biorn took the great door bar from its old place and ran it +into the sockets in the doorposts, as I had done so many times; and the runes +that my father had cut on it when he made the house were still plain to be seen +on it, with the notches I had made with the first knife that I ever had. More I +will not say, but everywhere that my eyes fell were things that I knew, even to +fishing gear, for it seemed that Biorn was somewhat of a fisher, like Grim +himself. +</p> + +<p> +Then they put me and my brothers into our old loft, and Havelok and Goldberga +had the room that had been my father’s. As for Biorn, he would be in the great +room, before the fire. There was only this one door to the house, and therefore +he would guard that. His thralls were in the sheds, as ours used to be, so that +we and he were alone in the house. +</p> + +<p> +Now, as soon as we three had gone into our old place of rest, Raven went at +once, as in the old days, to the little square window that was in the +high-pitched gable, and looked out over the town and sea. We used to laugh at +him for this, for he was never happy until he had seen, as we said, if all was +yet there. +</p> + +<p> +“There are yet lights in the jarl’s hall,” he said, “and there are one or two +moving about down in the haven. I think that there is a vessel coming in.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come and lie down, brother,” I said. “We are not in Grimsby, and you cannot go +and take toll from her if there is.” +</p> + +<p> +He laughed, and came to his bed; but we talked of old days and of many things +more for a long while before we slept. And most of all, we thought that Sigurd +the jarl knew Havelok by the token of the ring and by that likeness to Gunnar +which Mord had seen, and that our errand was almost told. +</p> + +<p> +So we slept without thought of any danger; but the first hour of the night in +that house was not so quiet to Goldberga, for presently she woke Havelok, and +she was trembling. +</p> + +<p> +“Husband,” she said, “it is in my mind that we are in danger in this place; for +I cannot sleep by reason of a dream that will come to me so soon as my eyes are +closed.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are overtired with the voyage,” Havelok told her gently; and then he asked +her what the dream was. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that I see you attacked by a boar and many foxes, and hard pressed, +and then that a bear and good hounds help you. Yet we have to flee to a great +tree, and there is safety. Then come two lions, and they obey you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think that is a dream that comes of waves, and the foam that has followed +us, and the shrill wind in the rigging, and the humming of the sail, sweet +wife; and the tree is the tall mast maybe, and the lions are the surges that +you saw along this shore, where is no danger.” +</p> + +<p> +So she was content; and then all in the house slept. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19">CHAPTER XIX.<br/> +THE LAST OF GRIFFIN OF WALES.</a></h2> + +<p> +Maybe it was about an hour before midnight when the first waking came to any of +us, and then it was Biorn himself who was roused by footsteps that stayed at +the doorway itself, after coming across the garth, and then a voice that was +strange to him which bade him open. At once he caught up his axe and went to +the door, and asked quietly who was there. +</p> + +<p> +“Open at once,” said the man who was without; “we must speak with you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go hence, I pray you, and wait for morning,” said the sheriff. “Here are +guests of the jarl’s, and they must not be disturbed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Open, or we will open for ourselves,” was the answer. “We have no time to stay +here talking.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is no honest speech,” quoth Biorn. “Go hence, or give me your errand from +without.” +</p> + +<p> +“Open, fool, or we will have the door down.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is an axe waiting for you if you do that. I rede you go hence in peace, +or it may be worse for you in the end.” +</p> + +<p> +I suppose it was in the mind of the sheriff that here were some friends of his +who had been overlong at the ale bench in the hall that evening; but on this +there was a little talk outside, and then the crash of a great stone that was +hurled against the door; and at that he started back and got his mail shirt on +him, for the door was strong enough to stand many such blows yet. It seemed +that there was more than a drunken frolic on hand. Then came another stone +against the door, and it shook; and at the same moment Havelok came from his +chamber to see what was amiss, for the noise had waked him. He had thrown on +the feasting gear that he had been wearing; but he had neither mail nor helm, +though he had his axe in his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“What is the noise?” he said anxiously, seeing that Biorn was arming. +</p> + +<p> +The sheriff told him quickly, and again the door was battered. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a pity that a good door should be spoilt,” said Havelok, “for down it is +bound to come thus. Stand you there with the axe, and I will even save them the +trouble of breaking in.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” said Biorn; “we know not how many are there, and it were better that you +should arm first. There is time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, they think that you are alone in the house, no doubt, and will run when +they find out their mistake. They are common thieves from the forest, or +outlaws. Stand you by to cut down the first man that dares to enter, if there +happen to be one bold enough.” +</p> + +<p> +He set his axe down, and went to the bar, and began to slide it back into the +deep socket that would let it free, and the men outside stayed their blows as +they heard it scraping. It was a very heavy bar of oak, some seven feet long, +and over a palm square. +</p> + +<p> +“Now!” cried Havelok, and caught the bar from its place. +</p> + +<p> +He did not take the trouble to set it down and get his axe; but as the door +opened a little he stood back balancing the great beam in his hands, as a boy +would handle a quarterstaff, ready for the rush of the thieves that he +expected, and so he was in the way of Biorn more or less. +</p> + +<p> +Now there was silence outside, and one saw that the door was free, and set his +foot to it, and flung it open, for it went inwards. And then Havelok knew that +there was a stern fight before him, for the moonlight showed the grim form of +Griffin, the Welsh thane, fully armed and ready. +</p> + +<p> +“Stand back, friend,” cried Biorn hastily, fearing for the unarmed man, and +caring nothing that beyond the foremost was a group of some half dozen more +warriors. +</p> + +<p> +But he spoke too late, for as Griffin stepped back a pace on seeing his enemy +himself in the doorway, Havelok had gone a pace forward, and now was outside, +where he had a clear swing of his unhandy weapon. +</p> + +<p> +Now Griffin gathered himself together, and spoke some few words to his men in +his own tongue; but my brother paid no heed to them, for he knew what the way +of the Briton was likely to be. And he was not wrong, for without warning +Griffin flew on him, sword point foremost, and left handed, for he might not +use the right for many a long day yet. +</p> + +<p> +Biorn shouted; but Havelok was ready, and the heavy bar caught and shivered the +light sword, and then swung and hurled the thane back among his men with a rib +broken. Havelok followed that up, falling on the men even as their leader was +among their feet. Two he felled with downright strokes, and another shrank away +in time to save himself from the like fate. Then a fourth got in under his +guard, and wounded Havelok slightly in the left arm; and unless Biorn had been +out and beside him by that time it would have gone hard with him, for both +those who were left were on him, and another was hanging back for a chance to +come. +</p> + +<p> +There was shouting enough now, for the Briton does not fight in silence as do +the northern men, and we had waked. First of all Raven ran down to the great +room, half dazed with sleep, and blaming himself for all this trouble, for he +had seen that a ship was coming in, and he might have thought it possible that +it had brought Griffin and his men, whose tongue had told him at once what had +happened. +</p> + +<p> +Now he called to us to arm quickly, and sought for a weapon for himself; and in +that familiar place he went to the old corner where the oars were wont to be +set. There was one, for I have said that this Biorn was a fisher, and the place +that was handy for us had been so for him. That was a homely weapon to Raven, +and out into the moonlight he came with it, and swept a Welshman away from +Havelok’s side as he came. But now more men were coming—townsfolk who had been +roused by the noise—and they knew nothing of the attackers, and so thought them +friends of ours, who joined us in falling on their sheriff; and there was a +wild confusion when Withelm and I came down armed. +</p> + +<p> +But what we saw first was a dim, white figure in the doorway of the other room; +and there stood Goldberga, wide eyed and trembling. +</p> + +<p> +“My dream, my dream!” she said. +</p> + +<p> +But of that we knew nothing; and we could but tell her to be of good courage, +for we would win through yet, and so went out to the fight. +</p> + +<p> +By this time Griffin was up again, and as I came from the door he was once more +ready to fall on Havelok from behind. So I thought it best to stay him, and I +shouted his name, and he turned and made for me. But there was no skill in his +coming, or he did not think me worth it, for the axe had the better, and there +was an end of Griffin. +</p> + +<p> +Withelm saw at once that Havelok had no weapon but the bar, and he ran to him +and held out his own axe. +</p> + +<p> +“Thanks, brother. Mine is inside the door. Get it for me,” said he; but now he +was laughing, and doing not much harm to anyone, and as I got behind his back I +saw why this was. +</p> + +<p> +There was only one of Griffin’s men left, and all the rest of the crowd of +half-armed men were townsfolk. Havelok and Raven were keeping these back with +sweeps of their long weapons, and behind them against the wall was the sheriff, +swearing and shouting vainly to bid his people hold off and listen to him. And +the noise was so great that they did but think that he was calling them to +rescue him from these who had taken him prisoner. It seemed that the Welshman +was keeping this up also; but neither he nor any of the men cared to risk any +nearness to the sweep of bar and long oar in such hands. There were many broken +heads in that crowd; but it was growing greater every minute, and those who +were coming were well armed, having taken their time over it. They say that +there were sixty men there at one time. +</p> + +<p> +Now ran Withelm with the axe, and at that Havelok parted with the door bar, and +ended the last Welshman at the same time, for he hurled it at him endwise, like +a spear, and it took him full in the chest, and he went down to rise no more. +And at that the townsmen ran in, and we were busy for a space, until once more +they were in a howling circle round us. But they had wounded Havelok again; and +Biorn was at his wit’s end, for he had had to take part in the fight this time. +The men were mad with battle, and forgot who he was, as it seemed. And now some +raised a cry for bows. +</p> + +<p> +That was the worst thing that we had to fear, and Raven called to us, “Into the +house, brothers, and keep them out of it till the jarl comes. He will hear, or +be sent for.” +</p> + +<p> +So we went back and got into the doorway, and we could not bar it at first. But +Withelm hewed off the blade of Raven’s oar, and I went out and cleared the folk +away for a space, and leapt back; and Havelok and I got the door shut quickly +against them as they came back on it, and we barred it with the oar loom. That +was but pine, however, and it would not last long. +</p> + +<p> +Outside, the people were quiet for a little, wondering, no doubt, how to rescue +Biorn. He wanted to go out to them, but it did not seem safe just yet. If they +grew more reasonable it might be so. +</p> + +<p> +Then, as we rested thus, Goldberga came quickly, for she saw that her husband +was wounded, and she began to bind his hurts with a scarf she had. She was very +pale, but she was not weeping, and her hands did not shake as she went to work. +</p> + +<p> +“This is my dream,” she said. “Was that the voice of Griffin that I heard? It +does not seem possible; but there is none other who speaks in the old tongue of +Britain here, surely.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is no more fear of him,” said Havelok, looking tenderly at her. “Your +dream has come true so far, if he was in it. How did it end?” +</p> + +<p> +“We fled to a tree,” she said, smiling faintly. +</p> + +<p> +Havelok smiled also, for this seemed dream stuff only to all of us—all of us +but Withelm, that is, for at once he said, “This door will be down with a few +blows. What of that tower of yours, Biorn? Might we not get there and wait till +the jarl comes?” +</p> + +<p> +At that Biorn almost shouted. +</p> + +<p> +“That is a good thought, and we can get there easily. Well it will be, also, +for the men are wild now, and there have been too many slain and hurt for them +to listen to reason.” +</p> + +<p> +“Bide you here,” said Withelm, “for it is we whom they seek. Then you can talk +to them.” +</p> + +<p> +But he would not do that, seeing that we had been put in his charge by the +jarl. +</p> + +<p> +“I go with you,” he said. “Now, if we climb out of the window that is in the +back of the house we can get to the tower before they know we are gone.” +</p> + +<p> +We went into that chamber where Havelok had once been when he was taken from +the sack, and even as I unbarred the heavy shutter and took it down, the door +began to shake with a fresh attack on it. The trees of the grove were two +hundred yards from the house, maybe, and among them loomed high and black the +watchtower I had seen from the sea. A wide path had been cut to it, and the +moonlight shone straight down this to the door of the building. +</p> + +<p> +Now Biorn went out first, and then he helped out Goldberga, and after her we +made Havelok go; and we called to these three to get to the tower as Withelm +came next, for every moment I looked to see our enemies—if they are to be +called so when I hardly suppose they knew what they were fighting about—come +round to fall on the back of the house. +</p> + +<p> +Because of Goldberga they went; and Biorn opened the tower door, and she passed +into the blackness of its entry, but the two men stayed outside for us. And we +three were all out of the house when the first of the crowd bethought +themselves, and made for the back, and saw us. +</p> + +<p> +At once they raised a shout and a rush, and we did not think it worth while to +wait for them, as they would get between us and the tower, which was open for +us. So we ran, and they were, some twenty of them, hard at our heels as we +reached the door, and half fell inside, for the winding stairway was close to +the entry. I think that Biorn and Havelok had made their plans as they saw what +was coming, for Havelok followed us and stood in the doorway, while Biorn was +just outside with his axe ready. +</p> + +<p> +“Hold hard, friends!” he called, as the men came up and halted before him; +“what is all this?” +</p> + +<p> +“Stand aside and let us get at them,” said the foremost, panting. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” said Biorn; “what harm have they done?” +</p> + +<p> +“Slain a dozen men and lamed twice as many more,” answered several voices; +“have them forth straightway.” +</p> + +<p> +“They were attacked, and defended themselves,” said the sheriff, “and it is no +fault of theirs that they had to do their best. Get you home, and I will answer +to the jarl for them. They are the jarl’s guests.” +</p> + +<p> +Then was a howl that was strange, and with it voices which seemed to let some +light on the matter. +</p> + +<p> +“They have slain the jarl’s guests.” +</p> + +<p> +And then came forward a big black-bearded man whom I had seen in the crowd +already, and he squared up to Biorn. +</p> + +<p> +“Lies are no good, master sheriff, for we know that the outlanders who spoke +the strange tongue must be the guests who came.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am no liar,” answered Biorn. “Is there not one man here who saw the ship and +her folk this afternoon?” +</p> + +<p> +Now this man seemed not to want that question answered, for he shouted to the +crowd not to waste time in wrangling, but to have out the murderers; and he +took a step towards Biorn, bidding him side no more with the men, but let the +folk deal with them. +</p> + +<p> +“You overdo your business as sheriff!” he said. +</p> + +<p> +It was Biorn who wasted no more time, for he saw that here was deeper trouble +than a common riot. He lifted his axe. +</p> + +<p> +“Come nearer at your peril,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +Then the black-bearded man sprang at him, and axe met sword for a parry or two, +flashing white in the moonlight. Then one weapon flashed red suddenly, and it +was Biorn’s, and back into the tower he sprang as his foe fell, and Havelok +flung the door to, and I barred it. +</p> + +<p> +“Up,” said Biorn; and in the dark we stumbled from stair to stair, while the +crowd howled and beat on the door below us. It was good to get out into the +moonlight on the roof, where we could rest. I was glad that the tower was there +instead of Thor, and also that it was strong. It was no great height, but wide, +and the men below looked comfortably far off at all events. +</p> + +<p> +“Here is a fine affair,” quoth Biorn, sitting himself down with his back +against the high stone wall round the tower top. “It will take me all my time +to set this right.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have stood by us well, friend,” Havelok said, “and it is a pity that you +have had to share our trouble so far as this. Who was the man who fell on you?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is the trouble,” answered Biorn, “for there will be more noise over him +than all the rest. He was Hodulf’s steward, the man who gathers the scatt, and +therefore is not liked. And all men know that there was no love lost between +him and me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hodulf’s man,” said I; “how long has he been here, and is he a Norseman?” +</p> + +<p> +For I knew him. He was the man who had spoken to me at the boat side when we +had to fly—one, therefore, who knew all of the secret of Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, one of the Norsemen who came here with the king at the first, and is +almost the last left of that crew. I suppose that you have heard the story.” +</p> + +<p> +We had, in a way that the honest sheriff did not guess, and I only nodded. But +I thought that we had got rid of an enemy in him, and that Griffin had fallen +in with him on landing, and known him, and taken him into his counsel about us. +He would have gone down to see the vessel and collect the king’s dues from her +and from us at the same time. He had not come into the town till late, as we +heard afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +There was no time for asking more now, however, for the shouts of the men round +the door ceased, and someone gave orders, as if there was a plan to be carried +out. So I went and looked over on the side where the door was to see what was +on hand. +</p> + +<p> +It was about what one would have expected. They had got the trunk of a tree, +and were going to batter the door in. But now we were all armed, for Raven had +brought Havelok’s gear with him when he fetched his own. He had thought also +for Goldberga, and she was sitting in the corner of the tower walls wrapped in +a great cloak that she had used at sea, with her eyes on her husband, +unfearing, and as it seemed waiting for the end that her dream foretold. +</p> + +<p> +I called the rest, and we looked down on the men. They saw us, and an arrow or +two flew at us, badly aimed in the moonlight. +</p> + +<p> +“Waste of good arrows,” said Havelok; “but we must keep them from the door +somehow.” +</p> + +<p> +“Would that the jarl would come,” growled Biorn, “for I do not see how we are +to do that.” +</p> + +<p> +“If they do break in,” said I, “any one can hold a stairway like this against a +crowd.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not want to hurt more of these,” answered Havelok, looking round him. And +then his eyes lit up, and he laughed. “Why, we can keep them back easily +enough, after all.” +</p> + +<p> +He went to the tower corner, and shouted to the men below. Four or five had the +heavy log that they were to use as a ram, and they were just about to charge +the door with it, and no timber planking can stand that sort of thing. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho, men,” he cried; “set that down, or some of you may get hurt.” +</p> + +<p> +They set up a roar of laughter at him as they heard, and then Havelok laid hold +of the great square block of stone that was on the very corner of the wall, and +tore it from its setting. +</p> + +<p> +“Odin!” said Biorn, as he saw that, “where do they breed such men as this?” +</p> + +<p> +“Here,” answered Withelm, looking at the sheriff. +</p> + +<p> +Now Havelok hove up the stone over his head, and a sort of gasp went up from +the crowd below. One saw what was coming, and ran to drag back the men with the +beam, and stopped short before he reached them in terror, crying to them to +beware. But their heads were down, and they were starting into a run. +</p> + +<p> +“Halt!” cried Havelok, but they did not stay. “Stand clear!” he shouted in the +sailor’s way. +</p> + +<p> +And then he swung the stone and let it go, while those who watched fled back as +if it was cast at them. Down is crashed on the attackers, felling the man whom +it struck, and dashing the timber from the grasp of the others, so that one +fell with it across his leg and lay howling, while the rest gathered themselves +up and got away from under the tower as soon as they might. +</p> + +<p> +Now no man dared to come forward, and that angered Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you going to let these two bide there?” he said. “Pick the poor knaves +from under the stone and timber, and see to them.” +</p> + +<p> +But they hung back yet, and he called them “nidring.” +</p> + +<p> +Thereat two or three made a step forward, and one said, “Lord, let us do as you +bid us, and harm us not.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are safe,” he answered, and Biorn laughed and said that this was the most +wholesome word that he had heard tonight. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, forsooth! Mighty little of that was there five minutes ago.” +</p> + +<p> +But it was not the terrible stone throwing only that wrung this from them, as I +think. They had seen Havelok in his arms, with the light of battle on his face +in the broad moonlight, and knew him for a king among men. +</p> + +<p> +They took the hurt men from under the tower, and then crowded together, +watching us. And some man must needs loose an arrow at us, and it rang on my +mail, and that let loose the crowd again. Soon we had to shelter under the +battlement, but they were not able to lodge any arrows among us, for that is a +bit of skill that needs daylight. Then they dared to get to the timber once +more, and we saw them coming. +</p> + +<p> +Havelok took his helm, and set it on his sword point, and raised it slowly +above the wall, and that drew all the arrows in a moment. Then he leapt up, and +tore the stone from the other corner; and again, but this time without warning, +it fell on the men below, and that wrought more harm than before. But it stayed +them for a time, though not so long, for now their blood was up, and the +berserk spirit was waking in them. Already the third stone was poised in the +mighty hands, and would have fallen, when there was a cry of, “The jarl! the +jarl!” and along the path into the clearing galloped Sigurd himself, with his +courtmen running behind him, and he called on the men to stay. +</p> + +<p> +They dropped the beam at the command, and were silent. And Sigurd looked up at +the tower, and saw who was there, and stayed with his face raised, motionless +for a space. I minded how Mord had stared and cried out when first he saw +Havelok, the son of Gunnar, in his war gear. +</p> + +<p> +“Biorn! where is Biorn?” cried Sigurd, looking back on the crowd as if he +thought he would be there. +</p> + +<p> +“Here am I, jarl,” came the answer, and the sheriff looked out from beside +Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“What is all this?” +</p> + +<p> +“On my word, jarl, I cannot tell. Here have I been beset in my own house, and +but for your guests some of us would have come off badly. There were outlanders +who fell on us, and, as I think, stirred up the folk to carry on the business, +telling them that we had slain ourselves, as one might say, for it was the cry +that we had slain the jarl’s guests.” +</p> + +<p> +“O fools, to take up the word of a chance stranger against that of your own +sheriff!” Sigurd cried, facing the people. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but the steward said so likewise,” cried some. +</p> + +<p> +“Hodulf’s steward?” said the jarl suddenly; “where is he?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yonder. Biorn slew him.” +</p> + +<p> +“He was leading this crowd,” said Biorn from above, “tried to force his way +into the tower past me, and would not be warned.” +</p> + +<p> +“What of the outlanders?” +</p> + +<p> +“All slain. Seven Welshmen they were.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I said plainly, remembering that the jarl would have known him, “Their +leader was Griffin, who came with Hodulf at the first. What brought him here, +think you, Sigurd the jarl?” +</p> + +<p> +But Sigurd looked round on the people, and scanned them for a long time, and at +last he said, in a hush that fell when he began to speak, “Men who mind the old +days, look at the man whom you have sought to kill, and say if there is that +about him which will tell you why Hodulf’s men have set you on him thus.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the white faces turned with one accord to Havelok, as he stood resting the +great cornerstone on the battlement before him, and there grew a whisper that +became a word and that was almost a shout from the many voices that answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Gunnar! Gunnar Kirkeban come again!” +</p> + +<p> +Then was silence, and the jarl spoke to Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell us your name, and whence you come.” +</p> + +<p> +“Havelok Grimsson of Grimsby men call me,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +And then men knew who he was indeed, for little by little the secret had been +pieced together, if not told from the king’s place, in the years that had +passed. And at that there rose and grew a murmur and a cry. +</p> + +<p> +“Havelok, son of Gunnar! Havelok the king!” +</p> + +<p> +Then said Sigurd in a great voice, “Who is for Hodulf of us all? Let no man go +hence who is for him.” +</p> + +<p> +And I saw two or three men cut down then and there, and after that there was a +roar of voices that called for Havelok to lead them. +</p> + +<p> +“Come down, lord,” said Sigurd, unhelming and looking up. +</p> + +<p> +So we went from the tower, and round Havelok the men crowded, kissing his hand +and asking pardon for what they had wrought in error; and Sigurd dismounted and +knelt before him, holding forth his sword hilt in token of homage, that his +king might touch it. +</p> + +<p> +“Only Havelok son of Gunnar dares call himself son of Grim also, and in that +word all the tale is told. But I have known you from the first by the token of +the ring and by this likeness. Yet I waited for you to speak, and for the time +that should be best; and now that has come of itself, and I am glad.” +</p> + +<p> +So said Sigurd, as we went from the tower to the hall, with the townsmen at our +heels in a wondering crowd. There were many among them who would show the +wounds that Havelok had given them with pride hereafter, as tokens that they +had known him well. +</p> + +<p> +Then we stayed on the steps of the hall door, and the jarl called out man by +man, and the war arrow was put in their hands with the names of those men who +waited for the coming of Havelok, that all through the night the message that +should bring him a mighty host on the morrow should go far and wide. +</p> + +<p> +And the gathering word was, “Come, for the horn of the king is sounding.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Sigurd said, “Speak to the people, my king, and all is done.” +</p> + +<p> +So Havelok smiled, and lifted his voice, and spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“Stand by me, friends, as steadfastly as you have fought against me, and I +shall be well content. And see, here is the queen for whom you will fight also. +There is not one of you but will play the man under her eyes.” +</p> + +<p> +Not many words or crafty, but men saw his face, and heard that which was in the +voice, and they needed no word of reward to come, but shouted as we had shouted +when the bride came home to Grimsby, and I thought that with the shout the +throne of Hodulf was rocking. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20">CHAPTER XX.<br/> +THE OWNING OF THE HEIR.</a></h2> + +<p> +Worn out we were with that long fight, and we all had some small wounds—not +much worth speaking of; and when these were seen to, we slept. Only my brother +Raven waked, and he sat through all the rest of the short night on the high +place, with his sword across his knees, watching, for he blamed himself, +overmuch as we all thought, for the happenings of the attack. +</p> + +<p> +“Trouble not, brother, for we were in the keeping of Biorn, and he could not +have dreamt that foes could follow us over seas. It was not for you to be on +guard.” +</p> + +<p> +These were Withelm’s words, but for once Raven did not heed them. +</p> + +<p> +“Would Grim, our father, have slept with a lee shore under him, leaving a +stranger to keep watch? That is not how he taught me my duty; and I have been +careless, and I know it. I should have thought of Griffin when I saw the ship +come in.” +</p> + +<p> +So he had his way, and the last that I saw ere my eyes closed was his stern +form guarding us; and when I woke he was yet there, motionless, with far-off +eyes that noted the little movement that I made, and glanced at me to see that +all was well. +</p> + +<p> +In the grey of the morning the first of the chiefs to whom the arrow had sped +began to come in; but the jarl would not have Havelok waked, for he was greatly +troubled at the little wounds that had befallen this long-waited guest. So the +chiefs gathered very silently in the great hall, and sat waiting while the +light broadened and shone, gleam by gleam, on their bright arms and anxious +faces. It was not possible for those who had not yet seen Havelok to be all so +sure that it was indeed he. They longed to see him, and to know him for the +very son of Gunnar for themselves. +</p> + +<p> +Presently there were maybe twenty chiefs in the hall—men who had fought beside +Kirkeban, and men who had been boys with Havelok, and some who had known his +grandfather—and the jarl thought that it was time that they had the surety that +they needed, for time went on, and there was certainty that Hodulf must hear of +all this morning. One could not expect that no man would earn reward by warning +him. +</p> + +<p> +So Sigurd went softly to the place where Havelok lay in the little guest +chamber that opened out of the inner room that was the jarl’s own, and he slid +the boards that closed it apart gently and looked in to wake him. But instead +of doing that, he came back to the hall and beckoned the chiefs, and they rose +and followed him silently. And when they went Raven went also, without a word, +that he might be near his charge while these many strangers spoke with him. +</p> + +<p> +Now Sigurd stood at the spot where the little shifting of the sliding board +made it possible to see within the chamber, and one by one the chiefs came and +peered through the chink for a moment, and stood aside for the next. And it was +wondrous to see how each man went and looked with doubt or wonder or just +carelessly, and then turned away with a great light of joy on his face and a +new life in the whole turn and sway of the body. +</p> + +<p> +It was dark in the chamber, save for the dim spaces under the eaves that let in +the sweet air from the sea to the sleepers. But from somewhere aloft, where the +timbering of the upper walls toward the east had shrunk, so that there was a +little hole that faced the newly-risen sun, came the long shaft of a sunbeam +that pierced the darkness like a glorious spear, and lit on the mighty shoulder +of Havelok that lay bare of covering, and on the white hand of Goldberga that +was across it. And on the one they saw the crimson bent-armed cross that was +the mark of the line whence he and his father had sprung, and on the other +glowed and flashed the blood-red stone of the ring of Eleyn the queen. And +round that circle of sunshine was light enough for the chiefs to see those two +noble faces, and they were content. +</p> + +<p> +“Gunnar’s son,” said one old chief: “but were he only the son of Grim, for +those twain would I die.” +</p> + +<p> +So the warriors crept back to the hall silently as they had come; and now they +went out to their men and told them that all doubt had gone, and along the road +that led to Hodulf’s town the jarl sent mounted men to watch for his coming. +And always fresh men were pouring in, and among them went the chiefs who had +seen Havelok, and told them the news. +</p> + +<p> +Now it was not long before there was a gathering of all the chiefs in the hall +of Sigurd, that they might break their fast, and then they saw Havelok as he +led in the princess to meet them. He stood on the high place in his arms, and a +shout of greeting went up; and when it was over, Sigurd asked him to tell all +that had happened to him; and he did that in as few words as might be, for he +was no great speaker, though what he did say was always to the point, and left +little to be asked. +</p> + +<p> +And when he had ended, there rose up a grey-headed old chief, and said, “Give +this warrior the horn of Gunnar, that we may hear him wind it. I would not say +that unless I were sure that he was the right man to have it.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I stood beside Havelok, and while Sigurd went from the hall to some +treasure chamber to get this that had been asked for, I said to him, “Mind you +the day when we met Ragnar. and a call came into your dream? Wind that call +now; for, if I am not wrong, it will be welcome to those who knew your father.” +</p> + +<p> +“I mind the day but not the call. I have never remembered it since,” he said, +and I was sorry. +</p> + +<p> +Sigurd brought the horn, and it was a wondrous one, golden and heavy. It seemed +to be a hunting horn, not very long, and little curved, but from end to end it +was wrought with strange figures of men and beasts in rings that ran round it. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you seen this before?” asked Sigurd wistfully, and looking into Havelok’s +face as he gave it into his hand. +</p> + +<p> +One could feel that men waited his answer, and it came slowly. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, friend, I am sure that I have, but I cannot yet say when or where. I am +sure that it is not the first time that I have had it in my hand.” +</p> + +<p> +And as he said this, Havelok’s face flushed a little, and his brow wrinkled as +if he tried to bring back the things of that which he had thought his dream for +so long. +</p> + +<p> +It would seem that in the years there had grown up a tale that this was a magic +horn, which none but the very son of Gunnar could wind, and to the chiefs who +saw Havelok now for the first time this was a test to prove him. But all knew +that the words he spoke of it were proof enough, for a pretender would have +said plainly that it had been Gunnar’s, and that he knew it. I think that +Sigurd was wise in what he did next, for he set another horn in my brother’s +hand, and asked him the same question; and at this Havelok looked for a moment +and shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“I have not seen that one before, nor one like it. I am sure that I have seen +this, or its fellow.” +</p> + +<p> +At that the faces that watched brightened, for there was no doubt in the way +that Havelok spoke; and then the old chief who had asked for the horn said, +“That—‘The horn of the king is sounding’—was the gathering word of the night +that has brought us here, and long have we waited for it. Let Havelok wind his +father’s horn, that we may hear it once again.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok set it to his lips, and at once the call that he had remembered +came back to him, and clear and sweet and full of longing its strange notes +rang under the arched roof, unfaltering until the last; and then over him came +the full remembrance of all that it had been to him, and he turned away from +the many eyes and sank on the high seat, and set his head in his arms on the +table, that men might not see that he needs must weep; and Goldberga stepped a +little before him, and set her hand on his, for I think that she knew the +loneliness that came on him. +</p> + +<p> +Yet he was not alone in his sorrow, for down in the hall were men to whom the +lost call brought back the memory of a bright young king riding to his home, +and calling the son whom he loved with the call that he had made for him alone; +and they saw the fair child running from the hall, and the mother following +more slowly with smiles of welcome; and they saw the grim courtmen, who looked +on and were glad; and they minded how they had lifted the boy to the war +saddle; and their eyes grew hot with tears also, and they had no need to be +ashamed. +</p> + +<p> +And as men stood motionless, with the last notes of the wild horn yet ringing +in their ears, there drifted a shadow across the days, and, lo! beside Havelok, +with his hand on his shoulder, stood the form of Gunnar the king for a long +moment, bright as any one of us who lived, in the morning sunlight, and his +face was full of joy and of hope and promise for the time to come. And then he +passed, but as he faded from us his hand was on the hand of Goldberga that +clasped her husband’s, as though he would wed them afresh there on the high +place of his friend’s hall. +</p> + +<p> +Now there went a sigh of wonder among the chiefs, and Havelok looked up as if +he followed the going of one whom he would not lose, and I know that he saw +Gunnar after he was unseen to us. +</p> + +<p> +“Surely,” he said, “surely that was my father who was here?” +</p> + +<p> +And Sigurd answered, “With your own call you called him, and he was here.” +</p> + +<p> +But now the last lurking doubt was gone, and there was no more delay, for the +chiefs crowded with shouts of joy to the high place, and they knelt to Havelok +and hailed him as king then and there; and so they led him to the great door of +the hall, and the mightiest of them raised him high on a wide shield before all +the freemen who waited on the green that is round the jarl’s house, and they +cried, “Skoal to Havelok the king!” +</p> + +<p> +And there was in answer the most stirring shout that a man may hear—the shout +of a host that hail the one for whom they are content to die. +</p> + +<p> +That was the first day of the reign of Havelok the king; and now there were two +kings in the land, and one was loved as few have been loved, and the other was +hated. And one was weak in men, as yet, while the other was strong. +</p> + +<p> +Now Sigurd bade all those who were present gather in solemn Thing, that they +might make Havelok king indeed; and that was a gathering of all the best in our +quarter of the land, so that all would uphold what they had done. And when they +were gathered in the great hall in due order, the doors were set wide open, and +outside the freemen who followed the chiefs sat in silence to see what they +might and hear. +</p> + +<p> +Then swore Havelok to keep the ancient laws and customs, and to do even-handed +justice to all men, and to be bound by all else that a good king should hold +by. Sometimes these oaths are not kept as well as they might be, but I was +certain that here was one who would keep them. +</p> + +<p> +Thereafter Sigurd brought forth a crown that he had had made hastily by his +craftsmen from two gold arm rings, and they set it on Havelok’s head, and +hailed him as king indeed; and one by one the chiefs came and swore all fealty +to him, beginning with Sigurd, and ending with a boy of some seventeen winters, +who looked at the king he bent before as though he was Thor himself. +</p> + +<p> +Then they would have had Havelok forth to the people at once; but he bade them +hearken for a moment, and said, taking Goldberga by the hand, “Were it not for +this my wife, I do not think that I had been here today, and without her I am +nothing. Now I am king by your word, and I think that I might bid you take her +as queen. But I had rather that she was made queen by your word also, that +whither I live or fall in the strife that is to come, you may fight for her.” +</p> + +<p> +At that there was a murmur of praise, and all agreed that she should be crowned +at once. So Havelok set the crown on her head while the chiefs in one voice +swore to uphold her through good and ill, as though she were Havelok himself. +</p> + +<p> +Then said Havelok, “Now have you taken her for queen for her own sake, and I +will tell you a thing that has not been heard here as yet. On this throne sits +the queen of two lands, and there shall come a day when you and I shall set +your lady on that other throne which is hers by right. King’s daughter she is, +for Ethelwald of the East Angles was her father, and out of her right has she +been kept by Alsi of Lindsey, her evil kinsman.” +</p> + +<p> +At that men were glad, for great is the magic of kingly descent. And thereupon +that old warrior who had bidden Havelok sound the horn said, “We have heard of +Ethelwald the good king, and of this Alsi moreover, and we know men who have +seen both, and also Orwenna, the mother of our own queen here. I followed your +father across the seas in the old days, and I seem to hear his voice again as +you speak to us. And I saw him—ay, I saw him yonder even now, and I am content. +When the time comes that for the sake of Goldberga you will gather a host and +cross the ‘swan’s path,’ I will not hold back, if you will have me.” +</p> + +<p> +There was spoken the mind of all that company, and they were not backward to +say so. For in the heart of the Dane is ever the love of the sea, and of the +clash of arms on a far-off strand that comes after battle with wind and wave. +</p> + +<p> +Very bravely did Goldberga thank the chiefs for their love to her husband and +herself in a few words that were all that were needed to bind the hearers to +her, so well and truly were they chosen. And she said that if the Anglian land +was to be won it was for Havelok and not for herself altogether, and she added, +“Here we have spoken as if already Hodulf was overthrown, and it is good that +we are in such brave heart. Yet this has been foretold to me, and I am sure +that there will be no mishap.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Sigurd said, “What gift do we give our queen, now that she has come among +us?” +</p> + +<p> +But Goldberga replied, “If it is the custom that one shall be given, I will +mind you of the promise hereafter, when Anglia is won, and you and I are +Havelok’s upholders on that throne. There is one thing that I will ask then, +that a wrong may be righted.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but we will give you some gift now, and then you shall ask what you will +also.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have given me more than I dared hope,” she said, “even the brave hearts +and hands that have hailed us here. I can ask no more. Only promise to give me +one boon when I need it, and I am happy.” +</p> + +<p> +Then they said, “What you will, and when you will, Goldberga, the queen. There +is naught that you will ask amiss.” +</p> + +<p> +Now they showed Havelok to the warriors as crowned king, and I need not tell +how he was greeted. And after that we all went back into the hall to speak of +the way in which we were to meet Hodulf. +</p> + +<p> +Havelok would have a message sent to him, bidding him give up the land in +peace. +</p> + +<p> +“It may be that thus we shall save the sadness of fighting our own people, +though, indeed, they love the playground of Hodulf. He is an outlander, and +perhaps he may think well to make terms with us.” +</p> + +<p> +Some said that it was of no use, but then Havelok answered that even so it was +good to send a challenge to him. +</p> + +<p> +“For the sake of peace we will do this, though I would rather meet him in open +fight, for I have my father to avenge.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I rose up and said, “Let me go and speak with him, taking Withelm as my +counsellor. For I know all the story, and that will make him sure that he has +the right man to fight against. I will speak with him in open hall, and more +than he shall learn how he thought to slay Havelok.” +</p> + +<p> +All thought that this was good, and I was to go at once. It was but a few +hours’ ride, as has been said, to his town, and the matter was as well done +with. +</p> + +<p> +So they gave me a guard of twenty of the jarl’s courtmen, and in half an hour I +was riding northward on my errand. And to say the truth I did not know if it +was certain that I should come back, for Hodulf was hardly to be trusted. +</p> + +<p> +I did wait to break my fast, and that was all, for I had no mind to spend the +night on the road back from the talk that I should have had; but though I +wasted so little time, the people were already beginning to prepare for +rejoicing in their own way with games of all sorts and with feasting in the +open. I saw, as we rode down the street, the piles of firewood that were to +roast oxen whole, and near them were the butts that held ale for all comers. +There were men who set up the marks for the archers, and others who staked out +the rings for the wrestling and sword play. And as we left the town we met two +men who led a great brown bear by a ring in his nose, for the baiting. I was +sorry for the poor beast, but the men called him “Hodulf,” already, and I +thought that a good sign in its way. +</p> + +<p> +Another good sign, and that one which could not be mistaken, was to see the +warriors coming in by twos and threes as the news reached them. They were +dotted along the roads from all quarters, and across the heaths we saw the +flash of the arms of more. +</p> + +<p> +And ever as they met us they hailed us with, “What cheer, comrades? Is the news +true? Is Havelok come to his own?” and the like, and they would hurry on, +rejoicing in the answer that they had. +</p> + +<p> +But I will say that presently, when we passed a stretch of wild moor where we +saw no man, the same was going on towards the town of Hodulf; for if the news +came to a village, some would be for the king that was, and other and older men +for the king that might be. Yet all asked that question; and more than once, +when they heard the reply, there would be a halt and a talk, and then the men +would turn and cast in their lot with the son of Gunnar, hastening to him with +more eager steps than had taken them to Hodulf. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21">CHAPTER XXI.<br/> +THE TOKEN OF SACK AND ANCHOR.</a></h2> + +<p> +It seemed only the other day that I had passed over the well-known ways, and I +showed Withelm the hollow where Grim had met with the king and taken his +precious burden from him. Then we passed along the wild shore, and the linnets +were singing and the whinchats were calling as ever, and the old mounds of the +heroes of the bygone were awesome to me now as long ago, when I looked at them +standing lonesome along the shore with only the wash of the waves to disturb +them. And so we came to the town at high noon, and already there was the bustle +of a gathering host in the place, for the news had fled before us. +</p> + +<p> +They had built a new and greater hall in place of that which had been burned; +and there sat Hodulf with his chiefs, wondering and planning, and maybe waiting +for more certain news of what had happened. Not long would they wait for that +now. +</p> + +<p> +We rode to the door, and one came to meet us with words of welcome, thinking +that we were men who came to the levy that was gathering; but his words stayed +when I asked to be taken to the presence of Hodulf, as I came with a message +from Havelok Gunnarsson the king. +</p> + +<p> +The man, chamberlain or steward, or whatever he was, stared at me, and said in +a low voice, “It is true then?” +</p> + +<p> +“True as I am Radbard Grimsson, who helped Havelok to fly from hence.” +</p> + +<p> +“Unwelcome will you be, for Hodulf is in no good mood,” the man said. “I hardly +think it safe for you to trust yourself with him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” said I, “open the door of the hall, and I will go in with my men, and +see what he says.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, that will be bad for me, but I have a mind to see Havelok.” +</p> + +<p> +So I told Withelm to come at my side, and bade half the courtmen follow us +closely, and when they were inside to see that the door was not barred after us +on any pretence. The rest would bide with the horses outside. +</p> + +<p> +Then we loosed the peace strings of our weapons, and in we went, quietly and in +order; and the chiefs turned to look at us, thinking us more of themselves. +Hodulf sat on his place on the dais, and there were thirty-one others with him, +sitting on the benches that were set along the walls. Withelm counted them. +</p> + +<p> +Then the door was closed, and the man with whom I had spoken set his back +against it, but it was not barred; and I went forward to the steps of the high +place, and stood before Hodulf. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what now?” he said, seeing that I was a stranger. +</p> + +<p> +“First of all, I ask for safe conduct from this hall as a messenger from king +to king.” +</p> + +<p> +“That you have, of course,” he answered. “What is your message?” +</p> + +<p> +It did not seem that he thought of Havelok at all, but rather that I came from +some king to whom he had sent. There were two living not so far off. I thought +that there was no good in beating about the bush, for such an errand as mine +had better he told boldly. So I spoke out for all to hear. +</p> + +<p> +“This is the word of Havelok, son of Gunnar the king, to Hodulf of Norway, who +sits in his place. Home he has come to take his own, and now he would tell you +that the time has come that he is able to rule the kingdom for himself.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what if he has?” said Hodulf, without the least change of face, as if he +had been expecting this, and nothing more or less. +</p> + +<p> +But if he was quiet, the chiefs had heard my words in a very different way. +Some had leaped up, and others bent forward, to hear the answer to my words the +better. I heard one or two laugh; but there were some on whose faces seemed to +be written doubt and anxiety. I think that some would have spoken, for Hodulf +held up his hand for silence, and looked to me for answer. +</p> + +<p> +“It will be well for you to give up the throne to him, making such terms as you +may,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“That is a fair offer,” said Hodulf, quite unmoved, to all seeming, but looking +at me in a way that told me how his anger was held back by main force, as it +were; “but how am I to know that this one who sends so bold a message is the +real Havelok? I am not a fool that I should give up my throne to the first who +asks it. Doubtless you bring some token that you come from the very son of +Gunnar.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is right that you should ask one, and also that you should have one that +there can be no mistaking,” I said. “This is it. By the token of the sack and +the anchor I bid you know that Havelok sends me to you.” +</p> + +<p> +At that the face of Hodulf became ashy grey beneath the tan of wind and sea, +and I saw that his hand clutched the hilt of his sword so that the knuckles of +his fingers grew white. He had never thought to hear of that deed again, and he +knew that he had to deal with the one whom he had thought dead. Some of the +young chiefs in the hall laughed at that token, but he flashed a glance at them +which stayed the laugh on their lips. +</p> + +<p> +“I know not what you mean,” he said, altogether staggered. +</p> + +<p> +“It is right,” I said, “that if the token is not plain I should make it so. It +is but fair also to the chiefs who are here.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he stayed me. True it is that old sin makes new shame. +</p> + +<p> +“I will take it as enough,” he said hastily. “I mind some old saying of the +kind. Ay, that is it—a hidden king and a voyage across the sea. It is enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not enough,” said a chief in the hall close to the high seat. “Let this +warrior say what he means plainly.” +</p> + +<p> +There were many who agreed to this, and I did not wait for Hodulf any longer. I +told them who I was, and then showed them why that token was to be held enough +for any man; and as I spoke, there were black looks toward the high seat among +the older men. As for Hodulf, he sat with a forced smile, and seemed to listen +indulgently, as to a well-made tale. +</p> + +<p> +And after that the matter was out of my hands, for the same chief who had asked +for the tale came and stood by my side, and he faced Hodulf and spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“For twelve years have I served you as king, and now I know that I have wasted +the faith I gave you. What became of the sisters of Havelok? Answer me that, +Hodulf, or I will go and ask their brother concerning whom you have lied to +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go and ask him,” answered Hodulf, biting his lips; “go and hear more lies. Who +can know the son of Gunnar when he sees him?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is answered out of your own mouth,” said the chief. “Is Sigurd a fool +that he should hail the first man who asks him to do so?” +</p> + +<p> +And from beside me Withelm answered also, “Maybe it is a pity that Griffin of +Wales was slain last night in trying to kill Havelok. He knew him, and I have +heard that he came here to warn Hodulf that his time was come.” +</p> + +<p> +Hodulf’s face grew whiter when he heard that; but it was what he needed, as +some sort of excuse to let loose his passion. +</p> + +<p> +White and shaking with wrath and fear, he rose up and he cried, “Murdered is +Griffin! Ho, warriors, let not these go forth!” +</p> + +<p> +Whereon the old chief lifted his voice also, “Ho, Gunnar’s men! Ho, men who +love the old line! To Grim’s son, ahoy!” +</p> + +<p> +And he drew his sword, snapping the thongs that had bound it to the sheath, so +manfully tugged he at them in his wrath, and there was a rush of men to us, and +another to Hodulf. +</p> + +<p> +Now I think that we might have slain him there, and after that have been slain +ourselves, for the odds were against us, even though I had the courtmen; but +that was Havelok’s deed to do, for the sake of father and sisters to be +avenged, and so we only cut our way out of the hall to the door, which my men +threw open at once. There were two of Hodulf’s men hurt only, for the most of +them had run to the high place, and few were between us and our going. So we +took five chiefs and their followers back with us, and that was worth the +errand. +</p> + +<p> +We thought that it would not be long now before Hodulf was on us; but the days +passed, and there was no news of him, and all the while we grew stronger. I do +not know if the same could be said of him, and it is doubtful if time made much +difference to his forces. Those who followed him were the men who owed all to +him, either as men raised to some sort of power when he first came, or else +strangers whom he had brought in with him. Some of the younger chiefs of the +old families held by him also, for they had known no other, and then there were +old feuds with Gunnar that held back some from us; but these few took part with +neither side. +</p> + +<p> +So before a week was out we had a matter of six thousand men in and about the +town; and it seemed that, with so good a force, it was as well to march on +Hodulf as to wait for him. And that was good hearing for us all, for there was +not a man who did not long to be up and doing, though to smite a blow for +Havelok should be the last deed that he might do. +</p> + +<p> +They made me captain of the courtmen who were Havelok’s own, maybe because I +had served with Alsi, and Withelm was captain of Goldberga’s own guard. High +honour was that for the sons of Grim, for there was not one in either of these +companies but was of high birth; but then we were Havelok’s brothers, and all +seemed well content to serve under us. I wanted Raven to be in my place, but he +said that he was no warrior on shore. +</p> + +<p> +“Just now I am Havelok’s watchdog, to be at his heels always. Presently, if he +likes to give me a ship when we sail to England, that will suit me.” +</p> + +<p> +So Havelok made him his standard bearer; and as that would keep him at the +king’s side in the thickest fight, he was well pleased. Goldberga wrought the +standard that he bore, with the help of Sigurd’s wife, and on it was the figure +of Grim, sword and shield in hand, but with his helm at his feet, as showing +that he had laid it by; and on either side of him stood Havelok and his wife, +each with a crown above their heads, as though they waited for the coming time +when they should be set there firmly by the bearing forward of this banner. +Havelok bore his axe, holding out the ring to Goldberga with the other hand, +while she had her sceptre in the left, and stretched the right hand to her +husband. There were runes that told the names of these three, for that is +needful in such work, as it passes the skill of woman to make a good likeness, +nor do I think it would be lucky to do so if it could be compassed. Wondrous +was the banner with gold and bright colours, and it was hung from a gilded +spear, ashen hafted, and long, that it might be seen afar in battle. +</p> + +<p> +Now on the day when Havelok set his men in order for the march on Hodulf word +came that he was coming at last. It is likely that he knew we were on the point +of marching, and would choose his own ground on which to wait for us. So we +went to certain battle, as it seemed, and none were sorry for that. So in the +bright sunshine of a cloudless morning Havelok and Goldberga rode down the line +of the men, who would fight to the death for them, and those two were good to +look on. Day and night Sigurd’s weapon smiths had wrought to make a mail shirt +that should be worthy of a king, and I thought that they had wrought well. They +had set a crown round the helm that they made for him, and Sigurd had given him +a sword that had been his father’s at one time, golden hilted, and with runes +on its blue blade. But Havelok would not part with the axe that Grim had given +him, plain as it was, and that was his chosen weapon. +</p> + +<p> +But for once I think that men looked more at her who rode at Havelok’s side +than at him, goodly and kingly as he was in the war gear. For Goldberga had on +a silver coat of chain mail, and a little gold circlet was round the silver +helm that she wore, while at her saddle bow was an axe, on which were runes +written in gold, and a sword light enough for her hand was in a gem-studded +baldric from her shoulder. There was a chief who had given her these, and it +was said that they had first of all belonged to one who had fought as a shield +maiden at the great battle of Dunheidi, by the side of Hervoer, the sister of +the mighty hero Angantyr. His forefather had won them at that time, and now +they were worn by one who was surely like the Valkyries, for no fairer or more +wondrous to look on in war gear could they be than our English queen. +</p> + +<p> +She would have gone even into the battle with Havelok, but that neither he nor +we would suffer. She was to bide here in the town until we came back in triumph +or defeat; and as men looked on her, they grew strong, that no tears might be +for those bright eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Now I left them before the march began, for I and the courtmen were to go +forward and see where the foe was posted, and so bring word again. And we went +some five miles before we saw the first sign of them. Then on a rise in the +wild heath waited a few horsemen, who watched us for a little while, and then +rode away from us and beyond it. We followed them, and when we came to where +they had been, we saw that they had fallen back on a company of about the same +strength as ours, save that there were more horsemen. I was the only mounted +man of my little force, and that rather to save my strength than because I +liked riding. I should certainly fight on foot, as would Havelok himself, in +the old way. It is not good to trust to the four feet of a horse when one means +business. +</p> + +<p> +We bided where we were, waiting to see what these men did, and soon beyond them +grew the long cloud of dust starred with shifting sparks that told us that the +host of Hodulf was on foot and advancing. It seemed to me that here we had a +good place to meet it, for the land went down in a long slope that was in our +favour, and therefore I set a man on my horse, and sent him back with all speed +to Havelok to bid him hasten. Our host was not so far behind me, and I could +see both from this hill. We had full time to take position here before Hodulf’s +army was in reach. +</p> + +<p> +Now it seemed that the foemen would see what they could also, and they began to +move toward us. It was plain that we should have a small fight on our own +account directly, for I did not mean to let them take our place. We moved, +therefore, toward them, and at that the half-dozen horsemen made for us at a +trot. Then I saw that their leader was Hodulf himself. +</p> + +<p> +We were in a track that led across the hill, and here on the slope it was worn +deep with ages of traffic between the two towns, and on either side the heather +grew thick and high, so that the horsemen could not get round us. So Hodulf +rode forward to where we barred the way, and told me to stand aside. +</p> + +<p> +“What next?” I asked. “I may as well bid you go back, for I came here to stop +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come over to me, and leave this half-crowned kinglet of yours. It shall be +worth your while.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hard up for men must you be, Hodulf,” said one of my courtmen, laughing. +</p> + +<p> +At that he made a sign to his followers, for they came on us at the gallop, +with levelled spears. We closed up, and hewed the spear points off, and then +dealt with the horses and men who foundered among us, and they struggled back, +leaving three men and four horses in the roadway. It was bravely done, too, for +there were only eight of them, and they did us no harm beyond a bruise or two. +I wished that we had taken or slain Hodulf, however, for that might have made +things easier in the end. +</p> + +<p> +Hodulf got back to his courtmen, and now they came on. At that moment over the +hill behind us rode Havelok and Raven, and saw at once what was on hand. They +had ridden on, but the host was hard after them. +</p> + +<p> +“Send a man to bid the host halt,” Havelok said to me, “for we can end the +matter here. Now shall I be hand to hand with Hodulf, even as I would wish.” +</p> + +<p> +I sent a man back as he bade me, and he stayed the host half a mile beyond the +hill, where they were not seen. Hodulf’s army was yet two miles away across the +heath, and none had gone back to hasten it. +</p> + +<p> +Now Havelok went forward, holding up his hand in token of parley, and his enemy +rode from his men to meet him. +</p> + +<p> +“There is much between us, Hodulf,” Havelok said, “and we have been together +along this road before. Yet for the sake of the men who follow us it may be +that we can make peace.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is for me to say,” answered Hodulf, “for you have invaded my land, and +are the peace breaker.” +</p> + +<p> +“I might mind you of a blood feud between us two,” said Havelok, “but that is +not the business of the host. For the sake of the land I will say this. Give up +the throne that you have held for me, and you shall go hence with what treasure +you have gathered, taking your Norsemen with you. There will be no shame in +doing that, for I am able now to hold the land for myself.” +</p> + +<p> +Hodulf laughed a short laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“Fine talk that for the son of Grim the thrall, who drowned Havelok for me! +‘Nidring’ should I be if I gave up to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“If things must go in that way, we will settle the matter here and now. Will +you that we fight hand to hand while our men look on, or shall we go back to +them and charge? I like the first plan best myself, as I would avenge my father +and sisters, and also that insult of the way in which we passed this road +together twelve years ago.” +</p> + +<p> +So said Havelok, and his words fell like ice from his lips, and he was very +still as he spoke, though the red flush crept into his cheek and his brows +lowered. +</p> + +<p> +And Hodulf did not answer at once. He looked at the towering young warrior +before him, and maybe into his mind there crept the thought of the children +whom he had slain, whom this one would avenge. Well he knew that the true +Havelok was speaking with him, though he would not own it, and branded my +father with the name of thrall for the sake of insult to his foster son. +</p> + +<p> +At last he said, “We will go back to the men, for you have advantage in that +bulk of yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“As you will,” answered Havelok. “Twelve years ago that was on your side.” +</p> + +<p> +He reined round at once, and touched his horse with the spur without another +glance at his enemy. And then we shouted, and Raven spurred forward with a +great oath, for Hodulf plucked his sword from the scabbard, and with a new +treachery in his heart, rode after our brother and was almost on him. The shout +was just in time, for Havelok turned in his saddle as the blow was falling. +</p> + +<p> +Quick as light, he took it on the shaft of the spear he carried, and turned it, +wheeling his horse short round at the same time. Lindsey training was there in +that horsemanship of his. Hodulf’s horse shot past as the blow failed, and then +Raven seemed to be the next man to be dealt with. +</p> + +<p> +But Havelok called to him to stand aside, for this was his own fight; and at +that Hodulf had his horse in hand again, and was ready to meet his foe fairly. +</p> + +<p> +And now Havelok had cast aside the spear, and taken the axe from the saddle +bow; and these two met, unshielded, for neither had time to unsling the round +buckler from his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +It was no long fight, for now Hodulf’s men were coming up, and there need be no +more thought of aught but ending one who was ready to smite a foul blow before +us all shamelessly. Havelok spurred his horse, and the two met and closed for +one moment. Then down went the Norseman with cleft helm, and the old wrongs +were avenged, and there was but one king in the land. +</p> + +<p> +Then Hodulf’s men were on Havelok, but not before Raven was at his back, and +over Hodulf there was a struggle in which Havelok was in peril for a short time +before we closed round him. Well fought the courtmen of the fallen king, and +well fought my men, and we bore them back, fighting every foot of ground, until +there were only five of them left, and these five yielded in all honour, being +outnumbered. Yet ours was a smaller band by half ere there was an end. +</p> + +<p> +It had not lasted long, and still the host of Hodulf was so far off that they +knew not so much as that there was any fighting. Then we went to the hilltop, +and set the banner there, and our line came on and halted along the crest. +</p> + +<p> +One hardly need say what wonder and rejoicing there was when it was known how +Hodulf had met his end, and Sigurd and other chiefs went to where we had +fought, and looked on him. And one took the helm, which had round it the stolen +crown, and gave it to Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +“Set it on the standard,” he said, “for we may need that it shall be shown +presently. As for Hodulf, bear him aside out of the path of the host, that we +may lay him in mound when all is ended.” +</p> + +<p> +One cried that he did not deserve honour of any kind, and there were some who +agreed to that openly. I will not say that I was not one of them, for I had +seen the foul play, and heard the insult to Grim, my father. +</p> + +<p> +But Havelok answered gravely, “He has been a king, and I have not heard that he +was altogether a bad one. All else was between him and me, and that is paid for +by his death. Think only of the twelve years in which you have owned him as +lord, and then you will know that it is right that he should be given the last +honours. You had no feud as had I.” +</p> + +<p> +Then they did as he bade them, and that gladly, for the words were king-like, +and of good omen for the days to come. I saw Sigurd and the older chiefs glance +at each other, and it was plain that they were well pleased. +</p> + +<p> +Now the host came on, and it was greater than ours; but when there was no sign +of its leader the march wavered, and at last halted altogether. Whereon some +chiefs rode to speak to us, and Havelok met them with his leaders. He had to +speak first, for they could not well ask where Hodulf was. The helm was a token +that told them much. +</p> + +<p> +“I met your king even now,” he said, “and I offered him peace and honourable +return to Norway with his property if he would give up the throne that is mine +by right. Maybe I was wrong in thinking that he might do so, but he refused. +There were certain matters between us two, besides that of the crown, which +needed settling; and therefore, after that, I challenged him to fight on these +points, that being needful before they were done with. So we fought, and our +feud was ended. Hodulf is dead, and his courtmen would not live after him while +there was a chance of avenging his fall. That was before the host came up. Now +I offer peace and friendship to all, and I can blame none who have held to the +king who has fallen. It was not to be expected that all would own me at once. +Only those Norsemen who came with Hodulf or have come hither since must leave +the land, and they shall go in honour, taking their goods with them. Their time +is up; that is all.” +</p> + +<p> +It was a long speech for Havelok, but in it was all that could be said. Long +and closely did the chiefs look at him as he spoke, for none of them had seen +him before. His words were not idly to be set aside either, and they spoke +together in a low voice when he had ended. +</p> + +<p> +“This is a matter for the whole host to settle,” one said at last. “We will +speak to them, and give you an answer shortly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Take one of Hodulf’s courtmen with you, that he may tell all of the fight,” +Havelok said: “he need not come back.” +</p> + +<p> +I gave the man his arms again, for he might as well have them if he stayed. +</p> + +<p> +“Thanks, lord,” he said. “Here is one who will tell the truth for Havelok.” +</p> + +<p> +Then our host sat down, and we watched the foemen as the news came to them. We +could not hear, of course, for they were a quarter of a mile away, but if any +tumult rose we should be warned in time. They were very still, however. There +was a long talk, and then one chief came back to us. +</p> + +<p> +“I am going to ask a strange thing,” he said, “but the men wish to see Havelok +face to face.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Sigurd said that this was too great a risk, and even Withelm agreed with +him. +</p> + +<p> +But Havelok answered, “The men are my own men, but they are not sure that I am +the right king. It is plain that I am like my father, and therefore it is safe +for me to go.” +</p> + +<p> +“That,” said the chief, “is what we told them, and what they wish to see.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” said Havelok, “I will come. Bid your men sit down, and bid the horsemen +dismount, and I will ride to them with five others. Then can be no fear on +either side.” +</p> + +<p> +“That will do well,” said Sigurd; and the chief went back, and at once the host +sat down. +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok rode to them, and with him went we three and Sigurd and Biorn. +</p> + +<p> +There was a murmur of wonder as he came, and it grew louder as he unhelmed and +stayed before them. +</p> + +<p> +And then one shouted, “Skoal to Havelok Gunnarsson!” and at once the shout was +taken up along the line. And that shout grew until the chiefs joined in it, for +it was the voice of the host, which cannot be gainsaid; and without more delay, +one by one the leaders pressed forward and knelt on one knee to their king, and +did homage to him. Only the Norsemen held back; and presently, when we were +talking to the Danish chiefs in all friendly wise, they drew apart with their +men, and formed up into a close-ranked body that looked dangerous. +</p> + +<p> +“Surely they do not mean to fight!” said Withelm. +</p> + +<p> +Then one of them shouted that he must speak to the king, and that seemed as if +they owned him at least, so Havelok went to them. +</p> + +<p> +“You have heard my terms,” he said, “and I think that they are all that you +could ask. What is amiss?” +</p> + +<p> +“Your terms are good enough,” the speaker said, “and we know that our time is +come. But we must have surety that the people will not fall on us, for we are +flying, as it were. And we want the body of our king. We would not have him +buried any wise, as if he was a thrall.” +</p> + +<p> +“He shall be given to you, and as for the rest none shall harm you. Moreover, +for that saying about your king I will add this: that if there are any of you +who hold lands to which there is no Danish heir, he shall take service with me +if he will, and so keep them.” +</p> + +<p> +So there was no man in all the host who was not content; and that was the +second king-making of Havelok, as it were, for now there was no man against +him. The hosts were disbanded then and there, and we went that day to Hodulf’s +town, and took possession of all that had been in his hands. Then was rejoicing +over all the land, for a king of the old line was on the throne once more, and +his way was full of promise. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22">CHAPTER XXII.<br/> +KING ALSI’S WELCOME.</a></h2> + +<p> +Now there was one thing that was in the minds of all of us, and that was the +winning of Goldberga’s kingdom for her; but that was a matter which was not to +be thought of yet for a long while. Two years were we in Denmark, and well +loved was Havelok by all, whether one speaks of the other kings who owned him +as Gunnar’s heir at once, or the people over whom he and Goldberga reigned. But +we sent messages to Arngeir and to Ragnar to say that all was well, and we +heard from them in time how Alsi feared what was to come, and had rather make +friends with the Anglians than offend them. So he had not given out anything +that was against the princess, but had told all how she had wedded the heir of +Denmark, and that she had given up her land to himself, and followed her +husband across the sea. It was not hard for him to feign gladness in her +well-doing; and Berthun counselled Ragnar to let things be thus, and yet +prepare for her return. +</p> + +<p> +In my own heart was the wish to go back to England always, for there was my +home; and I found that it was the same with my brothers, for there is that in +the English land which makes all who touch it love it. And there was the mound +that held my father, and there were the folk among whom we had been brought up +in the town that we had made; and I longed to see once more the green marshes +and the grey wolds of Lindsey, and the brown waves of the wide Humber rolling +shorewards, line after line. I tired of the heaths and forests and peat mosses +of this land of my birth. And if that was so to me, it was a yet deeper longing +in the hearts of the brothers who hardly remembered this place; and after a +while we spoke of it more often. +</p> + +<p> +I do not know if we said much to others, but at last the younger chiefs began +to wonder when the promised time when they should cross the “swan’s path” for +Goldberga should come. Maybe they tired of the long peace, as a Dane will. But +when that talk began, Withelm knew that things were ripe, and he told Havelok. +That was in the third spring of Havelok’s kingship, when it grew near to the +time when men fit out their ships. +</p> + +<p> +“This is what I have looked for,” he said; “and now we will delay no longer, +for here am I king indeed, and there is none who will rise against me. +Wonderful it is that men have hailed me thus. And now I will tell you, brother, +that I long for England. If I might take my friends with me, I do not think +that I should care if I never came here again. It is not my home; and here my +Goldberga is not altogether happy, well as the folk love her.” +</p> + +<p> +Thereafter he called a great Thing<a href="#fn12" +name="fnref12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> of all the freemen in the land, and set the +matter plainly before them, asking if they minded the words he spoke when they +crowned the queen, and if they were still ready to follow him to the winning of +her crown beyond the sea. +</p> + +<p> +There was no doubt what the answer would be; and it was said at once that the +sooner the ships were got ready the better. +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” said Havelok, “who shall mind this land while I am away? It may be long +ere I come back.” +</p> + +<p> +Now there was a cry that I should be king while Havelok was away, forsooth! and +a poor hand I should have made at the business. But I said that it was +foolishness, and that, moreover, I would go with Havelok. And when they said +that this was modesty on my part, I answered that I had seen several kings, and +that there was but one who was worth thinking of, and that was my brother; +therefore, I would go on serving him where I could see him. +</p> + +<p> +“This is what Grim, my father, said to me long ago,” I said—“I was to mind the +old saying, ‘Bare is back without brother behind it;’ and, therefore, I must +see Havelok safe through this.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, brother,” says Havelok, laughing, “if that saying must be remembered—and +I at least know it is true—it would make for leaving you behind me here to see +all fair when my back was turned.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he saw that I was grieved, for I thought for the moment that he would bid +me to stay, and so I should have to do so; but he took my part. +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot be without my brothers,” he said. “If I had any word in the +matter—which mainly concerns the folk to be ruled, as it seems to me (for I do +not know of any man who would not uphold me)—I should say that Sigurd the jarl +was the right man, for all know that he is a good ruler, nor will it be any new +thing to submit to him.” +</p> + +<p> +That pleased all, and the end of it was that Sigurd was chosen to hold the land +for Havelok. +</p> + +<p> +Then Sigurd sat on the steps of the high place at Havelok’s feet, and the king +said, “I have no need to tell any man here who this is, and why I think him +worthy of the highest honour, for all know him and his worth as well as I. +Mainly by him was the thought of my return kept in the minds of men, so that +when the time came all were ready to hail me, as you have done. Therefore, as +by him I am king, so I make him king also for me. He shall rule all the land +while I am away, and to him shall all men account as to me. And because it is +right that his kingship should be certain, I give him all his jarldom as a +kingdom from henceforth, only subject to me and my heirs as overlord. King +therefore he is, and none can say that you are ruled by naught but a jarl.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Havelok girt on the new king’s sword, and set his own crowned helm on his +head for a moment; and all the Thing hailed him gladly, for he was the right +man without doubt. +</p> + +<p> +Then Sigurd did homage for his new honour; and after that he rose up, and grew +red and uneasy, as if there was somewhat that he wished to say, and was half +afraid to do so. +</p> + +<p> +Thereat some friend in the hall said, “You take your kingship worse than did +Radbard himself, as it seems. What is amiss?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, I wanted to go on the Viking path with Havelok, and now it seems that I +cannot.” +</p> + +<p> +Then one shouted, “I never heard of a land going wrong while its king was away +risking his life to get property for his men. There is no man here who is going +to rise against either you or Havelok. And it is only to send a message to our +great overlord to say what we are about, and he will see that the land is in +peace. Nor do I think that any king would harry Havelok’s land, for he is well +loved by all his peers.” +</p> + +<p> +Wherefore it seemed that Sigurd must go also, and we had to set Biorn as head +man while Sigurd was away; but that would only be for a month or two. So all +things were ordered well, and in a month we set sail with twenty ships, and in +them a matter of fifteen hundred men. +</p> + +<p> +At first we thought that we would make for Grimsby; but then it seemed best to +land elsewhere, and more to the south, for we would have messages sent at once +to Ragnar to call East Anglia to Havelok’s banner, and Alsi would have less +chance of cutting us off from him. So we sailed to Saltfleet haven, which lies +some twenty-five miles southward from Grimsby. Raven piloted us in safely, and +there were none to hinder our landing. The town was empty, indeed, when the +ships came into the haven, for all had fled in haste, except a few thralls, for +fear of the Vikings. +</p> + +<p> +Yet when we sent these thralls to say that Goldberga had come for her own, the +people came back and made us welcome, for her story was in every mouth; and +after that we fared well in Saltfleet, and men began to gather to us. +</p> + +<p> +We sent to Arngeir and to Ragnar at once, and next day the Grimsby folk were +with us, but long before any word could come to Norwich, Alsi had set about +gathering a host against us. +</p> + +<p> +But we had not come to fight him for Lindsey, and our errand was to bid him +give up her own rights to Goldberga. One must be ready with the strong hand if +one expects to find justice from such a man; and Havelok had thought it +possible that if we came here first we should bring him to reason at once, +whereas if we went to Norfolk there would be fighting with all the host of the +Lindsey kingdom before long; while if he did fight here we might save +Goldberga’s land from that trouble, and maybe have fewer to deal with. +</p> + +<p> +So a message was to be sent to Alsi at once, bidding him know that Goldberga +had come to ask for her rights, and that he might give them to her in all +honour. Arngeir was to take this, for it did not seem right that a Dane should +do so, and he was one who would be listened to. I was to go with him, with my +courtmen as guard; and we rode to Lincoln on the fourth day after our coming to +Saltfleet. Good it was to ride over the old land again, and I thought that it +had never looked more fair with the ripening harvest, for when last I had seen +it there was none. The track of the famine was yet on all the villages, for +fewer folk were in them than in the days before the pestilence and the dearth, +but these had enough and to spare. +</p> + +<p> +And when these poor folk heard from us that Curan and his princess had come +again for what was hers, they took rusty weapons and flint-tipped arrows and +stone hammers from the hiding places in the thatch of their hovels, and went +across the marshlands to where the little hill of Saltfleet stands above its +haven, that they might help the one whom they had loved as a fisher lad to +become a mighty king. +</p> + +<p> +So we came to Lincoln, and already there was a gathering of thanes and their +men in the town, and they knew on what errand we had come well enough. But they +were courteous, and we were given quarters in the town at once, that we might +see Alsi with the first light in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +I will not say that we had a quiet night there, for we did not trust Alsi; but +we had no need to fear. In the morning Eglaf came to bid us to the palace to +speak with the king. +</p> + +<p> +“This is about what I expected, when I heard of the mistake that our king had +made,” he said, “and so far you are in luck. It is not everyone who is a fisher +one day and captain of the courtmen next, as one might say. I like the look of +your men, and I am going to take some of the credit of that to myself, for a +man has to learn before he can command.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not deny your share in the matter,” I answered, laughing, “for had it +not been for my time with you I had been at sea altogether. Now, shall we have +to fight you?” +</p> + +<p> +He shrugged his broad shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +“Who knows what is in the mind of our king? I do not, and you know enough of +him by this time to be certain that one cannot guess. He may be all smiles and +rejoicing that his dear niece has come back safely, or just the other way. He +has been very careful how he has dealt with the Norfolk thanes of late, and +what that means I do not know.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he asked what had become of Griffin, and I told him. I do not think that +he was surprised, for some word of the matter had reached here by the news that +chapmen bring from all parts. +</p> + +<p> +Now there was no more time for talk, for we came to the hall; and we went in, +Arngeir leading, and the rest of us following two by two. The hall was pretty +full of thanes and their men, and it was just as I had last seen it. Alsi sat +alone on his high seat, and there was no man with him on the dais. I thought +that he looked thinner and anxious. +</p> + +<p> +Arngeir went up the hall at once, and stood before the king, and greeted him in +the English way, which seemed strange to me after the two years of Danish +customs; and then Alsi bade him tell his errand. +</p> + +<p> +“I have come from Goldberga of East Anglia, and from Havelok the Dane, her +husband, to say that she has returned to her land, and would ask that you would +give her the throne that you have held for her since the day that her father +made you her guardian. It has been said that she might ask you to give account +of your management of the realm to her; but that she does not wish to do, being +sure that all will be rightly done in the matter, and she only asks to be set +in the place that was her father’s.” +</p> + +<p> +So said Arngeir, plainly, and I could see that the thanes thought the words +good. +</p> + +<p> +And Alsi answered, “Has this matter been put before the Witan of the East +Angles?” +</p> + +<p> +I suppose that he thought to hear Arngeir say that there had been no time for +so doing at present, but my brother was readier than I should have been. +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless it has,” he said, “for that was your own promise to Goldberga on her +marriage.” +</p> + +<p> +At that Alsi flushed, and his brows wrinkled. He had said nothing to the Witan +at all, but had waited in hopes that he should hear no more of his niece, +telling the tale that we had heard. +</p> + +<p> +“I have had no answer from them,” he said at last, for Arngeir was looking at +him in a way that he could not meet. “It was her saying that she would do this +for herself.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then they do not refuse,” said Arngeir quietly, “nor did I think that they +would do so. It only remains therefore, that you, King Alsi, should do your +part. Then can the queen speak to the Witan, even as she said, concerning her +husband.” +</p> + +<p> +Now it must have been clear to the king that nothing short of a plain answer +would be taken, and he sat and thought for a while. One could see that he was +planning what to say, as if things had not gone as he expected. Maybe he hoped +to put off the matter by talk of asking the Witan, and so to gain time, for we +had certainly taken him unawares. +</p> + +<p> +At last he said, “How am I to know that you are here with full power to speak +for Goldberga? For this is a weighty matter.” +</p> + +<p> +Arngeir held out his hand, and on it was the ring of Orwenna the queen, which +Alsi had last seen here on the high place. +</p> + +<p> +“There is the token, King Alsi, and it is one which you know well,” he +answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, I know it,” answered the king with a grin that was not pleasant. +</p> + +<p> +And then he said, “I will speak with my thanes, and give you word to carry back +in an hour’s time, now that I know you to be a true messenger.” +</p> + +<p> +“There should be no reason for waiting so long as that, nor do I think that the +matter of the throne of East Anglia is a question for Lindsey thanes,” answered +Arngeir at once. “All this is between you and the princess.” +</p> + +<p> +Thereat one of the thanes rose up and said, “If a kingdom has been handed over +to our king, it is not to be taken again without our having a good deal to say +about it. I do not know, moreover, if we can have a foreigner over any part of +our land.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goldberga never gave up her right to the kingdom,” Arngeir answered, “as +anyone who was here at the wedding would tell you. And as for Havelok, her +husband, being a foreigner, it seems to me that a Jute who has been brought up +here in Lindsey since he was seven winters old is less a foreigner than a +Briton is to us.” +</p> + +<p> +None made any answer to that, and I could see that the king was growing angry +at being met thus at every turn. But he began to smile in that way of his that +I had learned to mistrust. +</p> + +<p> +“That is not altogether courteous to either Goldberga or myself,” he said, as +if he would think the words a jest, seeing that he was half Welsh. “Give me +time, I pray you, to think of this, as I have asked, and you shall go back with +your answer.” +</p> + +<p> +There was no help for it, and we had to leave the hall in order that Alsi might +say what he had to say to his thanes. And I said to Arngeir that it seemed that +we should have to fight the matter out. +</p> + +<p> +“Alsi risks losing both kingdoms if he does that,” he answered, “for we shall +take what we choose if we are the victors. The visions that have been thus +right so far say that we shall be so.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall be glad if we do come out on the right side,” I said; “but I have not +so much faith in these dream tellings as some. Nor do I think that it seems +altogether fair to fight on a certainty.” +</p> + +<p> +“When it is a matter of punishing one who does not keep faith, I do not think +that it matters much,” he answered, laughing. “I should like certainty that he +would not get the best of the honest side in that case.” +</p> + +<p> +We were outside on the wide green within the square of the Roman walls at this +time, and now from within the hall came the sound of shouts and cheering which +we heard plainly enough. But whether it meant that the thanes cheered Alsi +because he would fight, rather than that they applauded his justice to his +niece, was not to be known as yet. As for me, I thought that it was hardly +likely to be the latter. +</p> + +<p> +Then came three thanes from the hail with the message, and it was this, “Alsi +bids Havelok go back to his own land and bide content therewith.” +</p> + +<p> +“What word is there for Goldberga, then?” asked Arngeir. +</p> + +<p> +“None. She has thrown in her lot with the Dane, and it is he with whom we will +not deal.” +</p> + +<p> +Then said I, “How was it that she had to throw in her lot with Havelok? He was +Alsi’s own choice for her.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is not what we have heard,” the spokesman answered. “Now it is best that +you go hence, for you have the answer.” +</p> + +<p> +“This means fighting for Goldberga’s rights,” said Arngeir, “and I will tell +you that Havelok will not be backward in the matter.” +</p> + +<p> +“In that case we shall meet again on the battlefield ere long,” answered the +thane. “I will not say that Havelok is in the wrong, and things might have been +better settled. Farewell till then. The Norns will show who is right.” +</p> + +<p> +So we went, and I thought, as did Arngeir, that there was some little feeling +among his men that Alsi was wrong. +</p> + +<p> +Now Alsi set to work to gather forces in earnest, and he went to work in a way +that was all his own: for, saying nothing about Goldberga, he sent to all his +thanes with word that the Vikings had come in force and invaded the land, led +by the son of Gunnar Kirkeban, whose ways were worse than those of his father, +for he spared none, whereas Kirkeban harried but the Welsh Christian folk. He +prayed them therefore to hasten, that this scourge might be driven back to the +sea whence he came. And that brought men to him fast, for no Englishman can +bear that an invader shall set foot on his shore, be he who he may. Few knew +who the wife of Havelok was at that time, but I do not know that it would have +made so much difference if they had. None thought that into England had come +the fair princess who was so well loved. +</p> + +<p> +Sorely troubled was Goldberga when she heard this answer, but it was all that +the rest of us looked for. And the next question was how best to meet the false +king. +</p> + +<p> +In the end we did a thing that may seem to some to have been rash altogether, +but it was our wish to compel Alsi to fight before his force was great enough +to crush us. It might be long before Ragnar could raise a host and join us, for +there was always a chance that he might have trouble in getting the Norfolk +thanes to come to his standard for a march on Lindsey. If we had gone to +Norfolk at once there would have been no fear of that kind, but the fighting +might have been more bitter and longer drawn out. +</p> + +<p> +We sent the fleet southward into the Wash, that it might wait for us at the +port of the Fossdyke, on what men call the Frieston shore; and then we left +Saltfleet and marched across country to the wolds, and southward and westward +along them, that we might draw Alsi from Lincoln. And all the way men joined us +for the sake of Curan, whom they knew, and of Goldberga, of whom they had +heard, so that in numbers at least our host was a great one. Ragged it might +be, as one may say, with the wild marshmen, who had no sort of training and no +chiefs to keep them in hand; but I knew that no host Alsi could get together +had any such trained force in it as we had in the fifteen hundred Vikings, for +they had seen many fights, and the ways of the sea teach men to hold together +and to obey orders at once and without hesitating. +</p> + +<p> +So we went until we came to Tetford, above Horncastle town; and there is a +great camp on a hilltop, made by the British, no doubt, in the days when they +fought with Rome. There we stayed, for Alsi was upon us. We saw the fires of +his camp in the village and on the hillsides across the valley, but a mile or +two from us that night; and it seemed that his host was greater than ours, as +we thought it would be, but not so much so as to cause dread of the battle that +was to come. +</p> + +<p> +Now there were two men who came to us that night, and we thought that they had +brought some message from Alsi at first. But all that they wanted was to join +Havelok, and we were glad of them. They were those two seconds of Griffin’s, +Cadwal and the other, whose name was Idrys, and with them was David the priest, +who had fled to us. +</p> + +<p> +“We know that Havelok is one who is worth fighting for,” they said, “for we +have proved it already. We are not Alsi’s men, and our fathers fought for his +mother’s Welsh kin against the English long ago. Let us fight for the rights of +Goldberga, at least.” +</p> + +<p> +Havelok welcomed them in all friendliness, though he asked them if they had no +grudge against him for the slaying of Griffin. +</p> + +<p> +“As to that,” they said, “after the duel we think that he deserved all that has +befallen him. We were ashamed to be his seconds.” +</p> + +<p> +Now these two took in hand to lead the marshmen, and set to work with them at +once, for they were ready to follow them as known thanes of the British. And +that was something gained. +</p> + +<p> +We slept on our arms that night, and all night long David woke and prayed for +our success, and I think that his prayers were not lost. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap23">CHAPTER XXIII.<br/> +BY TETFORD STREAM.</a></h2> + +<p> +In the early morning Alsi set his men in order in the valley, and seemed to +wait for us to come down to him, for it was of no use to try to take the strong +camp which sheltered us. And so, after council held, we did not keep him +waiting, but left the hill and marched on him. We had the camp to fall back on +if things went the wrong way, and beyond that the road to the sea and the ships +was open, with a chance of meeting Ragnar on the way, moreover. +</p> + +<p> +Very long and deep seemed the line as we neared it, and it was formed on the +banks of a stream that runs down the valley, so that we must cross the water to +attack. But the stream was shallow now with the August heat, and it was not +much sunk between its banks. +</p> + +<p> +When he saw that, Sigurd, who was a man of many fights, said that we had better +send the marshmen round to fall on the wings of the foe, while we went straight +for the centre of the line in the wedge formation that the Viking loves. For so +we should have no trouble in crossing the stream, and should cut the force +against us in two. +</p> + +<p> +So the two Welsh thanes led their wild levies out on either side of us Danes, +who were in the centre, and then we formed the wedge. Havelok himself would +have gone first of all at its point: but that we would not suffer, for if he +fell the battle was lost at its beginning. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” he said, “for we fight for Goldberga.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what would she say were we to set you foremost of us all?” asked Withelm. +“Little love were there to either of you in that. You are the heart of the +host, and one shields that although it gives strength to all the hands which +obey it.” +</p> + +<p> +So Withelm and Arngeir and I went foremost, and behind us came the courtmen, +and in the midst of their shield wall was Havelok, with Raven and the banner at +his side. After them, rank on rank and with close-locked shields, was such a +force as had not been seen in Lindsey for many a long day. Alsi’s men grew very +silent as they saw us come on, until we reached, through a storm of arrows that +could not stay us, the bank of the stream, and then they raised a war song that +roared and thundered among the hills as though the tide was coming up the +valley in one great wave. But we saved our breath until the first of us were on +the banks of the stream, and then I shouted, and with a great shout of “Ahoy!” +in answer, we charged through the stream and up the far bank, where Alsi’s +spearmen waited for us. +</p> + +<p> +They crowded together as they saw how narrow our front was, and there was a +hedge of steel before us three brothers; but the spear is not the weapon to use +if one would check the onrush of the Northman’s wedge, and shield and axe +between them dashed and hewed a way to the men who got to their swords too +late, and then we were in the midst of Alsi’s line, with the gap that we had +made widening behind us with each step that we took forward. +</p> + +<p> +Now it was sheer hewing at the mass who crowded on us; and I mind how we seemed +to fight in silence, although the battle cries were unceasing, and waxed ever +louder; for it was as when one walks by the shore and thinks not at all of the +noise of breakers that never ends. Now and then there was one shout that was +new, and it seemed to be the only voice. Most of all, the noise grew on the +wings where the savage Welsh fell on their masters and ancient foes in wild +tumult. +</p> + +<p> +We tried to cut our way to Alsi, for we could see him as he sat on his +horse—the only mounted man in all the hosts; but we could not reach him. And +presently the time came when we who were foremost must let fresh men take our +places. Sigurd stepped to my side, and Withelm fell back, and another took the +place of Arngeir, and then my turn came, and we went slowly from the front to +where the hollow centre of the wedge gave us rest. Only a few arrows fell there +now and then; but the time for using bows was past, seeing that we were hand to +hand with all the Lindsey host. And then I saw that Sigurd had done what we had +failed in, for he had reached the shield wall that was round the king himself. +And for a moment I was savage that the chance came to him so soon after I had +left the fighting line; but then I minded that Eglaf, my friend, would be +there, and I was glad that I need not cross swords with him after all. I had +thought of that happening before the fight began, but in the turmoil of hottest +struggle I had forgotten it. +</p> + +<p> +Now Sigurd was before the thick mass of the housecarls, and hand to hand with +them; and then he was among them, and he leapt at the bridle of Alsi’s horse +and grasped it. I saw the king’s sword flash down on his helm, and he reeled +under the stroke, but without letting go of the rein. Then the housecarls made +a rush, and bore back our men, and the horse reared suddenly. There was a wild +shout, and the war saddle was empty; and again our men surged forward, so that +I could not see what had happened. +</p> + +<p> +But now our Welshmen had been beaten back from the wings—not easily, but for +want of training—and they were forced back across the brook, and there held our +bank well, giving way no step further. The water kept them in an even front, +against their will, as it were; and Alsi’s men charged them in vain, knee deep +in the stream that ran red. But that let loose the men who had been held back +from us; and now we were overborne by numbers, and we began to go back. That +was the worst part of the whole fight, and the hardest hour of all the battle, +as may be supposed, for the wedge grew closer, as it was forced together by +sheer weight. None ever broke into it. +</p> + +<p> +Presently our rear was on the water’s edge, and it seemed likely that in +crossing there might be a breaking of the line; and when he saw that, Havelok +called to me, and he went to the front with the courtmen round him. It was good +to hear the cheers of our men as they saw the dancing banner above the fight, +and beneath it, in the bright sun, the gold-circled helm of their king. The +Lindseymen drew back a foot’s pace as they saw the giant who came on them, and +I heard some call that this was Curan of Grimsby, as if in wonder. Then we had +to fight hard, and Sigurd fell back past me, with a wound on his shoulder where +Alsi’s sword had glanced from the helm. No life had been left to Sigurd had a +better hand wielded the weapon; but he was not badly hurt. I could not see Alsi +anywhere, nor Eglaf. +</p> + +<p> +Steadily the numbers drove us back, though before Havelok was always a space +into which men hardly dared to come. The wedge was pushed away from us, and we +had to fall back with it, until we crossed the stream; and there Sigurd swung +the massed men into line, and then came the first pause in the fight. The two +hosts stood, with the narrow water between them, and glared on each other, +silent now. And then the bowmen began to get to work from either side, until +the arrows were all gone. +</p> + +<p> +Now Havelok called to the foe, and they were silent while he spoke to them. +</p> + +<p> +“Is Alsi yet alive?” he said; “for if not, I have no war with his men. If he +is, let me speak with him.” +</p> + +<p> +None answered for a while, and the men looked at each other as if they knew not +if the man they were fighting for lived or not. +</p> + +<p> +Then one came forward and said, “Alsi lives, and we have not done with you yet. +Get you back to your home beyond the sea!” +</p> + +<p> +And then they charged us again; but the water was a better front for us than it +had been for them, and across it they could not win. We drove them back once +and twice; and again came a time when both sides were wearied and must needs +rest. +</p> + +<p> +So it went on until night fell. We never stirred from that water’s edge, and +the stream was choked with valiant English and hardy Danes; and yet the attacks +came with the shout of “Out! out!” and the answer from us of “Havelok, ahoy!” +</p> + +<p> +At last one who seemed a great chief came and cried a truce, for night was +falling; and he said that if Havelok would claim no advantage therefrom, the +men of Lindsey would get back from the field, and leave it free for us to take +our fallen. +</p> + +<p> +“But I must have your word that with the end of that task you go back to the +place you now hold, that we may begin afresh, if it seems good to us, in the +morning.” +</p> + +<p> +Then said Havelok, “That is well spoken, and I cannot but agree. Who are you, +however, for I must know that this is said with authority?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am the Earl of Chester,” he answered. “Alsi has set the leading of the host +in my hands, for he is hurt somewhat.” +</p> + +<p> +“I did not think that Mercians would have troubled to fight to uphold Alsi of +Lindsey in his ways with his niece,” Havelok said. +</p> + +<p> +“What is that?” said the earl. “Hither came I for love of fighting, maybe, in +the first place; and next to drive out certain Vikings. I know naught of the +business of which you speak.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” said I, “go and ask Eglaf, the captain of the housecarls, for he knows +all about it. We are no raiding Danes, but those who fight for Goldberga of +East Anglia.” +</p> + +<p> +At that a hum of voices went down the English line, and this earl bit his lip +in doubt. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” he said, “that is Alsi’s affair, and I will speak to him. We have had a +good fight, and I will not say that either of us has the best of it. Shall it +be as I have said?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay,” answered Havelok; and the earl drew off his men for half a mile, and in +the gathering dusk we crossed the brook, and went on our errand across the +field. It was not hard to find our men, for they lay in a great wedge as we had +fought. There had been no straggling from that array, and no break had been +made in its lines. Alsi had lost more than we, for his men had beaten against +that steel wall in vain, and the arms of the Northman are better than those of +any other nation. +</p> + +<p> +We took the wounded back to the camp, and there Goldberga and the wives of our +English thanes tended them; and as we gathered up the slain the Lindsey men +were among us at the same work, and we spoke to them as if naught was amiss +between us, nor any fight to begin again in the morning. And then we learned +how few knew what we had come for. It was with them as with the Earl of +Chester. They had no knowledge of Goldberga’s homecoming, and least of all +thought that at the back of the trouble were the wiles of Alsi. It was two +years ago that Goldberga had gone, and her wedding had seemed to end her story. +Now the men heard and wondered; and it is said that very many left Alsi that +night and went home, angry with him for his falsehood. +</p> + +<p> +Now when all was done we sought rest, and weary we were. I will say for myself +that I did not feel like fighting next morning at all, for I was tired out, and +the one or two wounds that I had were getting sorely stiff. Raven was much in +the same case, and grumbled, sailor-wise, at the weight of the banner and aught +else that came uppermost in his mind. Yet I knew that he would be the first to +go forward again when the time came. +</p> + +<p> +The host slept on their arms along the bank of the stream through the hot +night, and the banner was pitched in their midst. Soon the moon rose, and only +the footsteps of the sentries along our front went up and down, while across +the water was the same silence; for both hosts were wearied out, and each had +learned that the other were true men, and there was no mistrust on either side. +When the light came once more we should fight to prove who were the best men at +arms, and with no hatred between us. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the mists crept up from the stream and wreathed the sleepers on +either bank with white, swaying clouds, and I mind that the last thought I had +before I closed my eyes was that my armour would be rusted by the clinging +damp—as if it were not war-stained from helm to deerskin shoe already with +stains that needed more cleansing than any rust. +</p> + +<p> +Then I waked suddenly, for someone went past me, and I sat up to see who it +might be. The moon was very bright and high now, but the figure that I saw +wading in the white mist was shadowy, and I could not tell who it was. And then +another and yet another figure came from the rear of our line, and passed among +the sleeping ranks, and joined the first noiselessly; and after a little while +many came, hurrying, and they formed up on the bank of the stream into the +mighty wedge. And I feared greatly, for not one of the sleepers stirred as the +warriors went among us, and I had looked on the faces of those who passed me, +and I knew that they were the dead whom I had seen the men gather even now and +lay in their last rank beyond our line. +</p> + +<p> +Then I saw that on the far bank was gathered another host, and that was of +Alsi’s men, and among them I knew the forms of some who had fallen in the first +onset when I led the charge. +</p> + +<p> +I tried to put forth my hand to wake Withelm, but I could not stir, and when I +would have spoken, I could frame no word, so that alone in all the host I saw +the slain men fight their battle over again, step by step. The wedge of the +Northmen won to the far shore as we had won—as they had won in life but a few +hours ago—and into the line of foemen they cut their way, and on the far side +of the stream they stayed and fought, as it had been in the battle. Yet though +one could see that the men shouted and cried, there was no sound at all, and +among the wildest turmoil walked the sentries of Alsi’s host unconcerned and +unknowing. And to me they seemed to be the ghosts, and the phantom strife that +which was real. +</p> + +<p> +Then I was ware of a stranger thing yet than all I had seen so far, for on the +field were more than those whom I knew. There stood watching on either side of +the battle two other ghostly hosts, taking no part in the struggle, but +watching it as we had watched from our place when we fell back into the rear to +rest, pointing and seeming to cheer strokes that were good and deeds that were +valiant. And I knew that these were men who had fought and died on this same +field in older days, for on one side were the white-clad Britons, and on the +other the stern, dark-faced Romans, steel and bronze from head to foot. +</p> + +<p> +So the battle went onward to where we had won and had been pressed back; and +then, little by little, the hosts faded away, and with them went the watchers, +and surely across the field went the quick gallop of no earthly steeds, the +passing to Odin of the choosers of the slain, the Valkyries. +</p> + +<p> +Then came across the brook to me one through the mist, and the sentries paid no +heed to him, and he came to my side and spoke to me. It was Cadwal, the Welsh +thane, and his breast was gashed so that I thought that he could not have +lived. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, I am dead,” he said, “as men count death, and yet I would have part in +victory over Alsi, for the sake of Havelok and of Goldberga. Stay up my body on +the morrow, that I may seem to fight at least, that I may bide in the ranks +once more in the day of victory. Little victory have the British seen since +Hengist came. Say that you will do this.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he looked wistfully at me, and I gave him some token of assent; and at +that came back all the shadows of our men, and seemed to pray the same. And +then was a stir of feet near me, and a shadow across the trampled grass, and +instead of the dead the voice of Havelok spoke softly to me, and with him was +Goldberga, clad in her mail. And I thought that they and I were slain also, and +I cried to this one who seemed to be one of Odin’s maidens that I too would +fain be stayed up with Cadwal and the rest, that I might have part in victory. +</p> + +<p> +Then Goldberga stooped to me, and laid her soft hand on my forehead, and took +off my helm, so that the air came to me, and thereat I woke altogether. +</p> + +<p> +“Brother,” she said, “you are restless and sorely wounded, as it seems. It is +not good that you should lie in this mist.” +</p> + +<p> +At her voice the others woke, and for a while she talked with us in a low tone, +cheering us. And presently she asked of that strange request that I had made to +her. +</p> + +<p> +I told her, for it was a message that should not be kept back, thus given; and +when he heard it, Withelm sighed a little, and said, “Would that we had all +those who have fallen. Yet if it is as they have asked our brother, our host +will seem as strong as before we joined battle in the morning. Leave this to +me, brother, for it may be done.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he rose up and went softly to where Idrys, the friend of Cadwal, lay, and +spoke long with him. It was true that Cadwal was slain, though I had not yet +heard of it until he told me himself thus. +</p> + +<p> +Then I slept heavily, while the others talked for a while. It is a hard place +at a wedge tip when Englishmen are against one; and I am not much use in a +council. Presently they would wake me if my word was wanted. +</p> + +<p> +But it was not needed, for the sunlight woke me. There was a growing stir in +our lines and across the water also, and I looked round. The mists were yet +dense, for there was not enough breeze to stir the heavy folds of the banner, +and Raven slept still with his arm round its staff. Havelok was not here now, +and I thought that he had gone to the camp with Goldberga, and would be back +shortly. +</p> + +<p> +Then I saw that our rear rank was already formed up, as I thought, and that is +not quite the order of things, as a rule, and it seemed far off from the +stream. I thought that they should have asked me about this, for there were +some of my courtmen in that line. +</p> + +<p> +And then I saw that in the line was no movement, and no flash of arms, as when +one man speaks to another, turning a little. And before that line stood the +form of a chief who leant on his broad spear, motionless and seeming watchful. +I knew him at once, and it was Cadwal, and those he commanded were the dead. +That was even to me an awesome sight, for in the mists they seemed ready and +waiting for the word that would never come to their ears, resting on the spears +that they could use no more. It had been done by the marshmen in the dark hours +of the morning, and from across the stream I saw Alsi’s men staring at the new +force that they thought had come to help us. There were men enough moving along +our bank with food to us to prevent them seeing that this line stirred not at +all. +</p> + +<p> +There was a scald who came with us from Denmark, and now with the full rising +of the sun he took his harp and went along the stream bank singing the song of +Dunheidi fight and so sweet was his voice, and so strong, that even Alsi’s men +gathered to hearken to him. His name was Heidrek, and he has set all that he +saw with Havelok into a saga; but we, here, mostly remember the brave waking +that he gave us that morning. It was wonderful how the bright song cheered us. +One saw that the stiffened limbs shook themselves into litheness once more, and +the listless faces brightened, and into the hearts that were heavy came new +hope, and that was the song’s work. +</p> + +<p> +Now men began to jest with their foes across the stream, and those who had +Danish loaves threw them across in exchange for English, that they might have +somewhat to talk of. Ours were rye, and theirs of barley; but it was not a fair +change after ours had been so long a voyage. +</p> + +<p> +It was not long before our war horns sounded for the mustering, and men ran to +their arms. The Lindsey host drew back from the talk with our men at the same +time, and, without waiting for word from their leaders, began to get in line +along the stream, where they had been when we halted last night. But we had no +thought of falling on them until we had had some parley with the king or the +Earl of Chester. And now it was plain that with the grim rearguard behind us we +outnumbered the men of Alsi who were left. +</p> + +<p> +Now came from the village in rear of the foe a little company, in the midst of +which was one horseman, and that was the king himself. His arm was slung to his +breast, and he sat his horse weakly, so that it was true enough that he had +been hurt. With him were the earl and Eglaf, and the housecarls, and I sent one +to fetch Havelok quickly, that there might be no delay in the words that were +to be said. +</p> + +<p> +Alsi rode to the water’s edge and looked out over our host, and his white face +became whiter, and his thin lips twitched as he saw that our line was no weaker +than it had seemed when first he saw it. He spoke to the earl, and he too +counted the odds before him, and he smiled a little to himself. He had not much +to say to Alsi. +</p> + +<p> +Then broke out a thunderous cheer from all our men, for with Havelok and Sigurd +at her horse’s rein, and with Withelm’s courtmen of her own guard behind her, +came Goldberga the queen to speak with the man who had broken his trust. She +had on her mail, as on the day when we ended Hodulf; and she rode to the centre +of our line, and there stayed, with a flush on her cheek that the wild shouts +of our men had called there. +</p> + +<p> +Then I heard the name of “Goldberga, Goldberga!” run down the English line, and +I saw Alsi shrink back into himself, as it were; and then some Lincoln men +close to him began to grow restless, and all at once they lifted their helms +and cheered also, and that cheer was taken up by all the host, as it seemed, +until the ring of hills seemed alive with voices. And with that Alsi half +turned his horse to fly. +</p> + +<p> +Yet his men did not mean to leave him. It was but the hailing of the lady whom +they knew, and her coming thus was more than the simple warriors had wit or +mind to fathom. But now Goldberga held up her hand, and the cries ceased, and +silence came. Then she lifted her voice, clear as a silver bell, and said, “It +seems strange to me that English folk should be fighting against me and my +husband’s men who have brought me home. I would know the meaning of this, King +Alsi, for it would seem that your oath to my father is badly kept. Maybe I have +thought that the people would not have me in his place; but their voice does +not ring in those shouts, for which I thank them with all my heart, as if they +hated me. Now, therefore, I myself ask that my guardian will give up to me that +which is my own.” +</p> + +<p> +We held our peace, but a hum of talk went all through the English ranks. The +Earl of Chester sat down on the bank, and set his sword across his knees, and +began to tie the peace strings round the hilt, in token that he was going to +fight no more. Now and then he looked at Goldberga, and smiled at her earnest +face. But Alsi made no sign of answer. +</p> + +<p> +Then the queen spoke again to him. +</p> + +<p> +“There must be some reason why you have thus set a host in arms against me,” +she said, “and what that may be I would know.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, as Alsi answered not at all, the earl spoke frankly. +</p> + +<p> +“We were told that we had to drive out the Vikings, and I must say that they do +not go easily. But it was not told us that they came here to right a wrong, +else had I not fought.” +</p> + +<p> +Many called out in the same words, and then sat down as the earl had done. +</p> + +<p> +And at last Alsi spoke for himself. +</p> + +<p> +“We do not fight against you, my niece, but against the Danes. We cannot have +them in the country.” +</p> + +<p> +“They do not mean to bide here, but they will not go before my throne is given +to me. Never came a foreign host into a land in more friendly wise than this of +mine.” +</p> + +<p> +At that Alsi’s face seemed to clear, and his forced smile came to him. He +looked round on the thanes who were nearest him, and coughed, and then +answered, “Here has been some mistake, my niece, and it has cost many good +lives. If it is even as you say, get you to your land of Anglia, and there +shall be peace. I myself will send word to Ragnar that he shall hail you as +queen.” +</p> + +<p> +Then up spoke a new voice, and it was one that I knew well. +</p> + +<p> +“No need to do that, lord king,” said Berthun the cook. “Here have I come +posthaste, and riding day and night, to say that Ragnar is but a day’s march +from here, that he and all Norfolk may see that their queen comes to her own.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Alsi’s face grew ashy pale, and without another word he swung his horse +round and went his way. I saw him reel in the saddle before he had gone far, +and Eglaf set his arm round him and stayed him up. After him Goldberga looked +wistfully, for she was forgiving, and had fain that he had spoken one word of +sorrow. But none else heeded him, for now the thanes, led by the earl himself, +came thronging across the water, that they might ask forgiveness for even +seeming to withstand Goldberga. And on both sides the men set down their arms, +and began to pile mighty fires, that the peace made should not want its +handfasting feast. +</p> + +<p> +For the fair princess had won her own, and there was naught but gladness. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap24">CHAPTER XXIV.<br/> +PEACE, AND FAREWELL.</a></h2> + +<p> +Now there was feasting enough, and somewhere they found at a thane’s house a +great tent, and they set that up, so that Havelok and Goldberga might have +their own court round them, as it were. Gladly did Berthun rid himself of war +gear and take to his old trade again. I suppose that the little Tetford valley +had never heard the like sounds of rejoicing before. +</p> + +<p> +Near midnight a man came to me and said that a message had come to me from the +other side, and I rose from the board and went out, to find Eglaf waiting for +me in the moonlight. He was armed, and his face was wan and tired. +</p> + +<p> +“Come apart, friend,” he said; “I have a message from the king.” +</p> + +<p> +“To me?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, to Havelok. But you must hear it first, and then tell him as you will.” +</p> + +<p> +We walked away from the tent and across the hillside for some way, and then he +said without more words, “This is the message that Alsi sends to Havelok, whose +name was Curan. ‘Forgive the things that are past, for many there are that need +forgiving. I have no heir, and it is for myself that I have schemed amiss. In +Lincoln town lies a great treasure, of which Eglaf and I alone know. Give it, I +pray you, to your Danes, that they may harm the land not at all, and so shall I +ward off some of the evil that might come through me even yet. I think that, +after me, you shall be king.’” +</p> + +<p> +“That is wise of Alsi; but is there no word for Goldberga?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, but not by my mouth. I fetched David the priest two hours ago, and he +bears those messages.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is there yet more to say?” I asked, for it seemed to me that there was. +</p> + +<p> +“There is,” he answered. “Alsi is dead.” +</p> + +<p> +So there was an end of all his schemings, and I will say no more of them. It +was Eglaf’s thought that it was not so much his hurts that had killed the king, +but a broken heart because of this failure. For the second time now I knew that +it is true that “old sin makes new shame.” +</p> + +<p> +Now how we told Havelok this, and how Goldberga was somewhat comforted by the +words that David the priest brought her from her uncle, there is no need to +say. But when the news was known in all the host of Lindsey, there was a great +gathering of all in the wide meadow, and we sat in the camp and wondered what +end should be to the talk. Ragnar had come; but his host was now no great one, +for we had sent word to him of the peace, and there was a great welcome for him +and his men. +</p> + +<p> +The Lindsey thanes did not talk long, and presently some half dozen of the best +of them came to us, and said that with one accord the gathering would ask that +Havelok and Goldberga should reign over them. +</p> + +<p> +“We will answer for all in the land,” they said. “If there are other thanes who +should have had a word in the matter, they are not here because, knowing more +than we, they would not fight for Alsi in this quarrel. If there is any other +man to be thought of, he cannot go against the word of the host.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have my kingdom in Denmark,” said Havelok, “and my wife has hers in Anglia. +How should we take this? See, here is Ragnar of Norwich; he is worthy to be +king, if any. Here, too, is the Earl of Chester, who led you. It will be well +to set these two names before the host.” +</p> + +<p> +“The host will have none but Havelok and Goldberga,” they said. +</p> + +<p> +So the long-ago visions came to pass, and in a few days more we were feasting +in the old hall at Lincoln. But before we left the valley of the battle we laid +in mound in all honour those who had fallen. Seven great mounds we made, at +which men wonder and will wonder while they stand at Tetford. For well fought +the Danes of Goldberga, and well fought the Lindseymen on that day. Yet I think +that those who would fain have lived to see the victory had their share in it, +as they stood in their grim and silent ranks behind us. +</p> + +<p> +Then was a new crowning of those two, and messages to the overlord of Lindsey, +sent by the thanes, to say that all was settled on the old lines of peaceful +tribute to be paid; and then, when word and presents came back from him, +Goldberga rose up on the high place where she had been so strangely wedded, and +looked down at the joyous faces of her nobles at the long tables. +</p> + +<p> +“When I was crowned in Denmark,” she said, “there was a promise made me, that +when this day came to me in Norfolk I might ask one boon of all who upheld me. +I do not know if I may ask it here and now, for the promise was made by my +husband’s people. Yet it is a matter that is dear to my heart that I shall seek +from you all, if I may.” +</p> + +<p> +Then all the hall rang with voices that bade her ask what she would; and she +bowed and flushed red, and hesitated a little. Then she took heart and spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“It is but this,” she said. “Let the poor Christian folk bide in peace; and if +teachers come from the south or from the north presently who will speak of that +faith, bear with them, I pray you, for they work no harm indeed.” +</p> + +<p> +Almost was she weeping as she said this, and her white hands were clasped +tightly before her. But she looked bravely at the thanes, and waited for the +answer, though I think that she feared what it would be. +</p> + +<p> +But an old thane rose up in his place, smiling, and he answered, “If you had +commanded us this, my queen, it would have been done. The Christian folk, if +there are any, shall have no hurt. I think that we had forgotten the old days +of trouble with them. Yet I hear that in Kent the new faith, as it seems to us, +is being taught, and that the king looks on it with favour. It may be that here +it will come also. For your sake I will listen if a teacher comes to me.” +</p> + +<p> +The thanes thought little of this boon, and they all answered that it was +freely granted. But they said that it was no boon to give, and bade her ask +somewhat that was better. +</p> + +<p> +“Why then,” she said, “if I must ask more, think no more of me as queen save as +that I am the wife of the king. Havelok is your ruler in good sooth.” +</p> + +<p> +That pleased them all well, and they laughed and wished that all had wives who +had no mind to rule. +</p> + +<p> +“Here is word that is going home to my wife,” said one to his neighbour. “If +the queen sets the fashion of obedience, it behoves all good wives to follow +her leading.” +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe I would let some other than yourself tell the lady that,” answered the +other thane with a great laugh, for he knew that household and its ruler. +</p> + +<p> +So Goldberga had her will, and then began the long years of peace and happiness +to the kingdoms of which all men know. Wherefore I think that my story is done. +What I have told is halting maybe, and rough, but it is true. And Goldberga, my +sister, says that it is good. Which is all the praise that I need. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +So far went Radbard, my friend, and then he would tell no more. So it is left +to me, Wislac the priest, who have written for him, to finish. He says that +everyone knows the rest, and so they do just now. But in the years to come, +when this story is read, men will want to know more. So it is fit that I should +end the story, telling things that I myself know to be true also. +</p> + +<p> +Sigurd’s host went back in the autumn, rich with the treasure of Alsi the king; +and from that time forward no Danish host ever sought our shores. Wars enough +have been in England here, but they have not harmed us. No host has been +suffered to cross the borders of Lindsey or East Anglia, save in peace, and in +the wars of Penda of Mercia Havelok has taken no part. Yet he has had to fight +to hold his own more than once, but always with victory, for always the prayers +of the few Christians have been with him. +</p> + +<p> +They set Earl Ragnar to hold the southern kingdom for Havelok and his wife; and +presently, when he was left a widower, he wedded the youngest daughter of Grim, +Havelok’s foster father. Eglaf was captain of the Lincoln courtmen or +housecarls, whichever the right name may be among those who speak of them. One +name is Danish and the other English, but they mean the same. As for my good +friend Radbard, he was high sheriff before long, and that he is yet. He wedded +Ragnar’s sister the year that Havelok was crowned in Norwich, which was the +next year after the crowning at Lincoln. +</p> + +<p> +Raven went back to the sea, and he will now be in Denmark or else on the Viking +path with Sigurd, for that is what he best loves. Arngeir bides at Grimsby, +high in honour with all, and the port and town grow greater and more prosperous +year by year. Wise was Grim when he chose to stay in the place where he had +chanced to come, if it were not more than chance that brought him. I suppose +that for all time the ships that are from Grimsby will be free from all dues in +the ports that are Havelok’s in the Danish land. Witlaf, the good old thane, +bides in his place yet, and he rejoices ever that he had a hand in bringing +Havelok up. Nor does our king forget that. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, I think that he forgets naught but ill done toward him. Never is a man +who has done one little thing for him overlooked, if he is met by our king +after many years, and that is a royal gift indeed. +</p> + +<p> +I would that all married folk were as are this royal couple of ours. Never are +they happy apart, and never has a word gone awry between them. If one speaks of +Havelok, one must needs think of Goldberga; and if one says a word of the +queen, one means the king also. Happy in their people and in their wondrous +fair children are they, and that is all that can be wished for them. +</p> + +<p> +There was one thing wanting for long years, that I and Withelm ever longed for +for Havelok—a thing for which Goldberga prayed ever. I came to them from Queen +Bertha in Kent, when good old David died; and at that time Havelok was not a +Christian, but surely the most Christian heathen that ever was. I knew that he +must come into the faith at some time; and I, at least, could not find it in my +heart to blame him altogether for holding to the Asir whom his fathers +worshipped. It was in sheer honesty and singleness of heart that he did so, and +I had never skill enough to show him the right. But Withelm, who has long been +a priest of the faith, and shall surely be our bishop ere long, had more to do +with his conversion than any other. +</p> + +<p> +Yet it did not come until the days when Paulinus came from York and preached +with the fire of the missionary to us all. And then we saw the mighty warrior +go down to the water in the white robe of the catechumen, and come therefrom +with his face shining with a new and wondrous light. +</p> + +<p> +Then he founded a monastery at Grimsby, that there the men of the marsh, who +had been kind to him in the old days, might find teachers in all that was good; +and there it will surely be after many a long year, until there is need for its +work no more, if such a time ever comes. +</p> + +<p> +So the land grows Christian fast, and good will be its folk if they follow the +way of king and queen and their brothers. +</p> + +<p> +Now have I finished also, and this is farewell. Look you, husbands and wives, +that you may be said to be like Havelok and Goldberga; and see, brothers, that +you mind the words that Grim spoke to his sons, and which they heeded so well— +</p> + +<p> +“Bare is back without brother behind it.” And that is a true word, though it +was a heathen who spoke it. +</p> + +<p> +THE END. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1"></a> <a href="#fnref1">[1]</a> +I have to thank the Mayor of Grimsby for most kindly furnishing me with an +impression of this ancient seal. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn2"></a> <a href="#fnref2">[2]</a> +Now Nishni-Novgorod, from time immemorial the great meetingplace of north and +south, east and west. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn3"></a> <a href="#fnref3">[3]</a> +The <i>garth</i> was the fenced and stockaded enclosure round a northern +homestead. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn4"></a> <a href="#fnref4">[4]</a> +The <i>seax</i> was the heavy, curved dagger carried by men of all ranks. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn5"></a> <a href="#fnref5">[5]</a> +The northern sea god and goddess. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn6"></a> <a href="#fnref6">[6]</a> +Men drowned at sea were thought to go to the halls of Pan and Aegir. Ran is +represented as fishing for heroes in time of storm. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn7"></a> <a href="#fnref7">[7]</a> +The Norns were the Fates of the northern mythology. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn8"></a> <a href="#fnref8">[8]</a> +The “Witanagemot,” the representative assembly for the kingdom, whence our +Parliament sprang. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn9"></a> <a href="#fnref9">[9]</a> +The greatest term of reproach for a coward. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn10"></a> <a href="#fnref10">[10]</a> +The gold ring kept in the Temple of the Asir, on which all oaths must be sworn. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn11"></a> <a href="#fnref11">[11]</a> +The sanctuary of the Asir. Thorsway and Withern in Lincolnshire both preserve +the name in the last and first syllable respectively, both meaning “Thor’s +sanctuary.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn12"></a> <a href="#fnref12">[12]</a> +The northern equivalent of the Saxon “Folkmote,” or general assembly of the +people. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVELOK THE DANE ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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