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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz +and Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com + + + + + +THE WANDERER'S NECKLACE + +by H. Rider Haggard + + + + +First Published 1914. + + + + + DEDICATION + + In memory of Oodnadatta and many wanderings oversea I offer these + pictures from the past, my dear Vincent, to you, a lover of the + present if an aspirant who can look upon the future with more of + hope than fear. + Your colleague, + H. Rider Haggard. + To Sir Edgar Vincent, K.C.M.G. + + Ditchingham, + November, 1913. + + + + NOTE BY THE EDITOR + + It chances that I, the Editor of these pages--for, in truth, that + is my humble function--have recovered a considerable knowledge of + a bygone life of mine. This life ended in times that are + comparatively recent, namely, early in the ninth century, as is + fixed by the fact that the Byzantine Empress, Irene, plays a part + in the story. + + The narrative, it will be observed, is not absolutely consecutive; + that is to say, all the details are not filled in. Indeed, it has + returned to me in a series of scenes or pictures, and although + each scene or picture has to do with every other, there are + sometimes gaps between them. To take one example among several-- + the journey of Olaf (in those days my name was Olaf, or Michael + after I was baptised) from the North to Constantinople is not + recorded. The curtain drops at Aar in Jutland and rises again in + Byzantium. Only those events which were of the most importance + seem to have burned themselves into my subconscious memory; many + minor details have vanished, or, at least, I cannot find them. + This, however, does not appear to me to be a matter for regret. If + every episode of a full and eventful life were painted in, the + canvas would be overloaded and the eye that studied it bewildered. + + I do not think that I have anything more to say. My tale must + speak for itself. So I will but add that I hold it unnecessary to + set out the exact method by which I have been able to dig it and + others from the quarry of my past. It is a gift which, although + small at first, I have been able gradually to develop. Therefore, + as I wish to hide my present identity, I will only sign myself + + The Editor. + + + + + + THE WANDERER'S NECKLACE + + + + + BOOK I + + AAR + + + + CHAPTER I + + THE BETROTHAL OF OLAF + +Of my childhood in this Olaf life I can regain but little. There come +to me, however, recollections of a house, surrounded by a moat, +situated in a great plain near to seas or inland lakes, on which plain +stood mounds that I connected with the dead. What the dead were I did +not quite understand, but I gathered that they were people who, having +once walked about and been awake, now laid themselves down in a bed of +earth and slept. I remember looking at a big mound which was said to +cover a chief known as "The Wanderer," whom Freydisa, the wise woman, +my nurse, told me had lived hundreds or thousands of years before, and +thinking that so much earth over him must make him very hot at nights. + +I remember also that the hall called Aar was a long house roofed with +sods, on which grew grass and sometimes little white flowers, and that +inside of it cows were tied up. We lived in a place beyond, that was +separated off from the cows by balks of rough timber. I used to watch +them being milked through a crack between two of the balks where a +knot had fallen out, leaving a convenient eyehole about the height of +a walking-stick from the floor. + +One day my elder and only brother, Ragnar, who had very red hair, came +and pulled me away from this eyehole because he wanted to look through +it himself at a cow that always kicked the girl who milked it. I +howled, and Steinar, my foster-brother, who had light-coloured hair +and blue eyes, and was much bigger and stronger than I, came to my +help, because we always loved each other. He fought Ragnar and made +his nose bleed, after which my mother, the Lady Thora, who was very +beautiful, boxed his ears. Then we all cried, and my father, Thorvald, +a tall man, rather loosely made, who had come in from hunting, for he +carried the skin of some animal of which the blood had run down on to +his leggings, scolded us and told my mother to keep us quiet as he was +tired and wanted to eat. + +That is the only scene which returns to me of my infancy. + +The next of which a vision has come to me is one of a somewhat similar +house to our own in Aar, upon an island called Lesso, where we were +all visiting a chief of the name of Athalbrand. He was a fierce- +looking man with a great forked beard, from which he was called +Athalbrand Fork-beard. One of his nostrils was larger than the other, +and he had a droop in his left eye, both of which peculiarities came +to him from some wound or wounds that he had received in war. In those +days everybody was at war with everybody else, and it was quite +uncommon for anyone to live until his hair turned grey. + +The reason of our visit to this chief Athalbrand was that my elder +brother, Ragnar, might be betrothed to his only surviving child, +Iduna, all of whose brothers had been killed in some battle. I can see +Iduna now as she was when she first appeared before us. We were +sitting at table, and she entered through a door at the top of the +hall. She was clothed in a blue robe, her long fair hair, whereof she +had an abundance, was arranged in two plaits which hung almost to her +knees, and about her neck and arms were massive gold rings that +tinkled as she walked. She had a round face, coloured like a wild +rose, and innocent blue eyes that took in everything, although she +always seemed to look in front of her and see nothing. Her lips were +very red and appeared to smile. Altogether I thought her the loveliest +creature that ever I had looked on, and she walked like a deer and +held her head proudly. + +Still, she did not please Ragnar, who whispered to me that she was sly +and would bring mischief on all that had to do with her. I, who at the +time was about twenty-one years of age, wondered if he had gone mad to +talk thus of this beautiful creature. Then I remembered that just +before we had left home I had caught Ragnar kissing the daughter of +one of our thralls behind the shed in which the calves were kept. She +was a brown girl, very well made, as her rough robe, fastened beneath +her breast with a strap, showed plainly, and she had big dark eyes +with a sleepy look in them. Also, I never saw anyone kiss quite so +hard as she did; Ragnar himself was outpassed. I think that is why +even the great lady, Iduna the Fair, did not please him. All the while +he was thinking of the brown-eyed girl in the russet robe. Still, it +is true that, brown-eyed girl or no, he read Iduna aright. + +Moreover, if Ragnar did not like Iduna, from the first Iduna hated +Ragnar. So it came about that, although both my father, Thorvald, and +Iduna's father, Athalbrand, stormed and threatened, these two declared +that they would have nothing to do with each other, and the project of +their marriage came to an end. + +On the night before we were to leave Lesso, whence Ragnar had already +gone, Athalbrand saw me staring at Iduna. This, indeed, was not +wonderful, as I could not take my eyes from her lovely face, and when +she looked at me and smiled with those red lips of hers I became like +a silly bird that is bewitched by a snake. At first I thought that he +was going to be angry, but suddenly some idea seemed to strike him so +that he called my father, Thorvald, outside the house. Afterwards I +was sent for, and found the two of them seated on a three-cornered, +flat stone, talking in the moonlight, for it was summer-time, when +everything looks blue at night and the sun and the moon ride in the +sky together. Near by stood my mother, listening. + +"Olaf," said my father, "would you like to marry Iduna the Fair?" + +"Like to marry Iduna?" I gasped. "Aye, more than to be High King of +Denmark, for she is no woman, but a goddess." + +At this saying my mother laughed, and Athalbrand, who knew Iduna when +she did not seem a goddess, called me a fool. Then they talked, while +I stood trembling with hope and fear. + +"He's but a second son," said Athalbrand. + +"I have told you there is land enough for both of them, also the gold +that came with his mother will be his, and that's no small sum," +answered Thorvald. + +"He's no warrior, but a skald," objected Athalbrand again; "a silly +half-man who makes songs and plays upon the harp." + +"Songs are sometimes stronger than swords," replied my father, "and, +after all, it is wisdom that rules. One brain can govern many men; +also, harps make merry music at a feast. Moreover, Olaf is brave +enough. How can he be otherwise coming of the stock he does?" + +"He is thin and weedy," objected Athalbrand, a saying that made my +mother angry. + +"Nay, lord Athalbrand," she said; "he is tall and straight as a dart, +and will yet be the handsomest man in these parts." + +"Every duck thinks it has hatched out a swan," grumbled Athalbrand, +while with my eyes I implored my mother to be silent. + +Then he thought for awhile, pulling at his long forked beard, and said +at last: + +"My heart tells me no good of such a marriage. Iduna, who is the only +one left to me, could marry a man of more wealth and power than this +rune-making stripling is ever likely to be. Yet just now I know none +such whom I would wish to hold my place when I am gone. Moreover, it +is spread far and wide throughout the land that my daughter is to be +wed to Thorvald's son, and it matters little to which son. At least, I +will not have it said that she has been given the go-by. Therefore, +let this Olaf take her, if she will have him. Only," he added with a +growl, "let him play no tricks like that red-headed cub, his brother +Ragnar, if he would not taste of a spear through his liver. Now I go +to learn Iduna's mind." + +So he went; as did my father and mother, leaving me alone, thinking +and thanking the gods for the chance that had come my way--yes, and +blessing Ragnar and that brown-eyed wench who had thrown her spell +over him. + +Whilst I stood thus I heard a sound, and, turning, saw Iduna gliding +towards me in the blue twilight, looking more lovely than a dream. At +my side she stopped and said: + +"My father tells me you wish to speak with me," and she laughed a +little softly and held me with her beautiful eyes. + +After that I know not what happened till I saw Iduna bending towards +me like a willow in the wind, and then--oh, joy of joys!--felt her +kiss upon my lips. Now my speech was unsealed, and I told her the tale +that lovers have always told. How that I was ready to die for her (to +which she answered that she had rather that I lived, since ghosts were +no good husbands); how that I was not worthy of her (to which she +answered that I was young, with all my time before me, and might live +to be greater than I thought, as she believed I should); and so forth. + +Only one more thing comes back to me of that blissful hour. Foolishly +I said what I had been thinking, namely, that I blessed Ragnar. At +these words, of a sudden Iduna's face grew stern and the lovelight in +her eyes was changed to such as gleams from swords. + +"I do not bless Ragnar," she answered. "I hope one day to see +Ragnar----" and she checked herself, adding: "Come, let us enter, +Olaf. I hear my father calling me to mix his sleeping-cup." + +So we went into the house hand in hand, and when they saw us coming +thus, all gathered there burst into shouts of laughter after their +rude fashion. Moreover, beakers were thrust into our hands, and we +were made to drink from them and swear some oath. Thus ended our +betrothal. + +I think it was on the next day that we sailed for home in my father's +largest ship of war, which was named the /Swan/. I went unwillingly +enough, who desired to drink more of the delight of Iduna's eyes. +Still, go I must, since Athalbrand would have it so. The marriage, he +said, should take place at Aar at the time of the Spring feast, and +not before. Meanwhile he held it best we should be apart that we might +learn whether we still clung to each other in absence. + +These were the reasons he gave, but I think that he was already +somewhat sorry for what he had done, and reflected that between +harvest and springtime he might find another husband for Iduna, who +was more to his mind. For Athalbrand, as I learned afterwards, was a +scheming and a false-hearted man. Moreover, he was of no high lineage, +but one who had raised himself up by war and plunder, and therefore +his blood did not compel him to honour. + + + +The next scene which comes back to me of those early days is that of +the hunting of the white northern bear, when I saved the life of +Steinar, my foster-brother, and nearly lost my own. + +It was on a day when the winter was merging into spring, but the +coast-line near Aar was still thick with pack ice and large floes +which had floated in from the more northern seas. A certain fisherman +who dwelt on this shore came to the hall to tell us that he had seen a +great white bear on one of these floes, which, he believed, had swum +from it to the land. He was a man with a club-foot, and I can recall a +vision of him limping across the snow towards the drawbridge of Aar, +supporting himself by a staff on the top of which was cut the figure +of some animal. + +"Young lords," he cried out, "there is a white bear on the land, such +a bear as once I saw when I was a boy. Come out and kill the bear and +win honour, but first give me a drink for my news." + +At that time I think my father, Thorvald, was away from home with most +of the men, I do not know why; but Ragnar, Steinar and I were +lingering about the stead with little or nothing to do, since the time +of sowing was not yet. At the news of the club-footed man, we ran for +our spears, and one of us went to tell the only thrall who could be +spared to make ready the horses and come with us. Thora, my mother, +would have stopped us--she said she had heard from her father that +such bears were very dangerous beasts--but Ragnar only thrust her +aside, while I kissed her and told her not to fret. + +Outside the hall I met Freydisa, a dark, quiet woman of middle age, +one of the virgins of Odin, whom I loved and who loved me and, save +one other, me only among men, for she had been my nurse. + +"Whither now, young Olaf?" she asked me. "Has Iduna come here that you +run so fast?" + +"No," I answered, "but a white bear has." + +"Oh! then things are better than I thought, who feared lest it might +be Iduna before her time. Still, you go on an ill errand, from which I +think you will return sadly." + +"Why do you say that, Freydisa?" I asked. "Is it just because you love +to croak like a raven on a rock, or for some good reason?" + +"I don't know, Olaf," she answered. "I say things because they come to +me, and I must, that is all. I tell you that evil will be born of this +bear hunt of yours, and you had better stop at home." + +"To be laughed at by my brethren, Freydisa? Moreover, you are foolish, +for if evil is to be, how can I avoid it? Either your foresight is +nothing or the evil must come." + +"That is so," answered Freydisa. "From your childhood up you had the +gift of reason which is more than is granted to most of these fools +about us. Go, Olaf, and meet your fore-ordained evil. Still, kiss me +before you go lest we should not see each other again for a while. If +the bear kills you, at least you will be saved from Iduna." + +Now while she said these words I was kissing Freydisa, whom I loved +dearly, but when I understood them I leapt back before she could kiss +me again. + +"What do you mean by your talk about Iduna?" I asked. "Iduna is my +betrothed, and I'll suffer no ill speech of her." + +"I know she is, Olaf. You've got Ragnar's leavings. Although he is so +hot-headed, Ragnar is a wise dog in some ways, who can tell what he +should not eat. There, begone, you think me jealous of Iduna, as old +women can be, but it's not that, my dear. Oh! you'll learn before all +is done, if you live. Begone, begone! I'll tell you no more. Hark, +Ragnar is shouting to you," and she pushed me away. + +It was a long ride to where the bear was supposed to be. At first as +we went we talked a great deal, and made a wager as to which of the +three of us should first drive a spear into the beast's body so deep +that the blade was hidden, but afterwards I grew silent. Indeed, I was +musing so much of Iduna and how the time drew near when once more I +should see her sweet face, wondering also why Ragnar and Freydisa +should think so ill of her who seemed a goddess rather than a woman, +that I forgot all about the bear. So completely did I forget it that +when, being by nature very observant, I saw the slot of such a beast +as we passed a certain birch wood, I did not think to connect it with +that which we were hunting or to point it out to the others who were +riding ahead of me. + +At length we came to the sea, and there, sure enough, saw a great ice- +floe, which now and again tilted as the surge caught its broad green +flank. When it tilted towards us we perceived a track worn deep into +the ice by the paws of the prisoned bear as it had marched endlessly +round. Also we saw a big grinning skull, whereon sat a raven picking +at the eye-holes, and some fragments of white fur. + +"The bear is dead!" exclaimed Ragnar. "Odin's curse be on that club- +footed fool who gave us this cold ride for nothing." + +"Yes, I suppose so," said Steinar doubtfully. "Don't you think that it +is dead, Olaf?" + +"What is the good of asking Olaf?" broke in Ragnar, with a loud laugh. +"What does Olaf know about bears? He has been asleep for the last +half-hour dreaming of Athalbrand's blue-eyed daughter; or perhaps he +is making up another poem." + +"Olaf sees farther when he seems asleep than some of us do when we are +awake," answered Steinar hotly. + +"Oh yes," replied Ragnar. "Sleeping or waking, Olaf is perfect in your +eyes, for you've drunk the same milk, and that ties you tighter than a +rope. Wake up, now, brother Olaf, and tell us: Is not the bear dead?" + +Then I answered, "Why, of course, a bear is dead; see its skull, also +pieces of its hide?" + +"There!" exclaimed Ragnar. "Our family prophet has settled the matter. +Let us go home." + +"Olaf said that /a/ bear was dead," answered Steinar, hesitating. + +Ragnar, who had already swung himself round in his quick fashion, +spoke back over his shoulder: + +"Isn't that enough for you? Do you want to hunt a skull or the raven +sitting on it? Or is this, perchance, one of Olaf's riddles? If so, I +am too cold to guess riddles just now." + +"Yet I think there is one for you to guess, brother," I said gently, +"and it is: Where is the live bear hiding? Can't you see that there +were two bears on that ice-head, and that one has killed and eaten the +other?" + +"How do you know that?" asked Ragnar. + +"Because I saw the slot of the second as we passed the birch wood +yonder. It has a split claw on the left forefoot and the others are +all worn by the ice." + +"Then why in Odin's name did you not say so before?" exclaimed Ragnar +angrily. + +Now I was ashamed to confess that I had been dreaming, so I answered +at hazard: + +"Because I wished to look upon the sea and the floating ice. See what +wondrous colours they take in this light!" + +When he heard this, Steinar burst out laughing till tears came into +his blue eyes and his broad shoulders shook. But Ragnar, who cared +nothing for scenery or sunsets, did not laugh. On the contrary, as was +usual with him when vexed, he lost his temper and swore by the more +evil of the gods. Then he turned on me and said: + +"Why not tell the truth at once, Olaf? You are afraid of this beast, +and that's why you let us come on here when you knew it was in the +wood. You hoped that before we got back there it would be too dark to +hunt." + +At this taunt I flushed and gripped the shaft of my long hunting +spear, for among us Northmen to be told that he was afraid of anything +was a deadly insult to a man. + +"If you were not my brother----" I began, then checked myself, for I +was by nature easy-tempered, and went on: "It is true, Ragnar, I am +not so fond of hunting as you are. Still, I think that there will be +time to fight this bear and kill or be killed by it, before it grows +dark, and if not I will return alone to-morrow morning." + +Then I pulled my horse round and rode ahead. As I went, my ears being +very quick, I heard the other two talking together. At least, I +suppose that I heard them; at any rate, I know what they said, +although, strangely enough, nothing at all comes back to me of their +tale of an attack upon a ship or of what then I did or did not do. + +"It is not wise to jeer at Olaf," said Steinar, "for when he is stung +with words he does mad things. Don't you remember what happened when +your father called him 'niddering' last year because Olaf said it was +not just to attack the ship of those British men who had been driven +to our coast by weather, meaning us no harm?" + +"Aye," answered Ragnar. "He leapt among them all alone as soon as our +boat touched her side, and felled the steersman. Then the British men +shouted out that they would not kill so brave a lad, and threw him +into the sea. It cost us that ship, since by the time we had picked +him up she had put about and hoisted her large sail. Oh, Olaf is brave +enough, we all know that! Still, he ought to have been born a woman or +a priest of Freya who only offers flowers. Also, he knows my tongue +and bears no malice." + +"Pray that we get him home safe," said Steinar uneasily, "for if not +there will be trouble with your mother and every other woman in the +land, to say nothing of Iduna the Fair." + +"Iduna the Fair would live through it," answered Ragnar, with a hard +laugh. "But you are right; and, what is more, there will be trouble +among the men also, especially with my father and in my own heart. +After all there is but one Olaf." + +At this moment I held up my hand, and they stopped talking. + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE SLAYING OF THE BEAR + +Leaping from their horses, Ragnar and Steinar came to where I stood, +for already I had dismounted and was pointing to the ground, which +just here had been swept clear of snow by the wind. + +"I see nothing," said Ragnar. + +"But I do, brother," I answered; "who study the ways of wild things +while you think I am asleep. Look, that moss has been turned over; for +it is frozen underneath and pressed up into little mounds between the +bear's claws. Also that tiny pool has gathered in the slot of the paw; +it is its very shape. The other footprints do not show because of the +rock." + +Then I went forward a few paces behind some bushes and called out: +"Here runs the track, sure enough, and, as I thought, the brute has a +split claw; the snow marks it well. Bid the thrall stay with the +horses and come you." + +They obeyed, and there on the white snow which lay beyond the bush we +saw the track of the bear stamped as if in wax. + +"A mighty beast," said Ragnar. "Never have I seen its like." + +"Aye," exclaimed Steinar, "but an ill place to hunt it in," and he +looked doubtfully at the rough gorge, covered with undergrowth, that +some hundred yards farther on became dense birch forest. "I think it +would be well to ride back to Aar, and return to-morrow morning with +all whom we can gather. This is no task for three spears." + +By this time I, Olaf, was springing from rock to rock up the gorge, +following the bear's track. For my brother's taunts rankled in me and +I was determined that I should kill this beast or die and thus show +Ragnar that I feared no bear. So I called back to them over my +shoulder: + +"Aye, go home, it is wisest; but I go on for I have never yet seen one +of these white ice-bears alive." + +"Now it is Olaf who taunts in his turn," said Ragnar with a laugh. +Then they both sprang after me, but always I kept ahead of them. + +For the half of a mile or more they followed me out of the scrub into +the birch forest, where the snow, lying on the matted boughs of the +trees and especially of some firs that were mingled with the birch, +made the place gloomy in that low light. Always in front of me ran the +huge slots of the bear till at length they brought me to a little +forest glade, where some great whirling wind had torn up many trees +which had but a poor root-hold on a patch of almost soilless rock. + +These trees lay in confusion, their tops, which had not yet rotted, +being filled with frozen snow. On the edge of them I paused, having +lost the track. Then I went forward again, casting wide as a hound +does, while behind came Ragnar and Steinar, walking straight past the +edge of the glade, and purposing to meet me at its head. This, indeed, +Ragnar did, but Steinar halted because of a crunching sound that +caught his ear, and then stepped to the right between two fallen +birches to discover its cause. Next moment, as he told me afterwards, +he stood frozen, for there behind the boughs of one of the trees was +the huge white bear, eating some animal that it had killed. The beast +saw him, and, mad with rage at being disturbed, for it was famished +after its long journey on the floe, reared itself up on its hind legs, +roaring till the air shook. High it towered, its hook-like claws +outstretched. + +Steinar tried to spring back, but caught his foot, and fell. Well for +him was it that he did so, for otherwise the blow which the bear +struck would have crushed him to a pulp. The brute did not seem to +understand where he had gone--at any rate, it remained upreared and +beating at the air. Then a doubt took it, its huge paws sank until it +sat like a begging dog, sniffing the wind. At this moment Ragnar came +back shouting, and hurled his spear. It stuck in the beast's chest and +hung there. The bear began to feel for it with its paws, and, catching +the shaft, lifted it to its mouth and champed it, thus dragging the +steel from its hide. + +Then it bethought it of Steinar, and, sinking down, discovered him, +and tore at the birch tree under which he had crept till the splinters +flew from its trunk. Just then I reached it, having seen all. By now +the bear had its teeth fixed in Steinar's shoulder, or, rather, in his +leathern garment, and was dragging him from under the tree. When it +saw me it reared itself up again, lifting Steinar and holding him to +its breast with one paw. I went mad at the sight, and charged it, +driving my spear deep into its throat. With its other paw it struck +the weapon from my hand, shivering the shaft. There it stood, towering +over us like a white pillar, and roared with pain and fury, Steinar +still pressed against it, Ragnar and I helpless. + +"He's sped!" gasped Ragnar. + +I thought for a flash of time, and--oh! well do I remember that +moment: the huge beast foaming at the jaws and Steinar held to its +breast as a little girl holds a doll; the still, snow-laden trees, on +the top of one of which sat a small bird spreading its tail in jerks; +the red light of evening, and about us the great silences of the sky +above and of the lonely forest beneath. It all comes back to me--I can +see it now quite clearly; yes, even the bird flitting to another twig, +and there again spreading its tail to some invisible mate. Then I made +up my mind what to do. + +"Not yet!" I cried. "Keep it in play," and, drawing my short and heavy +sword, I plunged through the birch boughs to get behind the bear. +Ragnar understood. He threw his cap into the brute's face, and then, +after it had growled at him awhile, just as it dropped its great jaws +to crunch Steinar, he found a bough and thrust it between them. + +By now I was behind the bear, and, smiting at its right leg below the +knee, severed the tendon. Down it came, still hugging Steinar. I smote +again with all my strength, and cut into its spine above the tail, +paralysing it. It was a great blow, as it need to be to cleave the +thick hair and hide, and my sword broke in the backbone, so that, like +Ragnar, now I was weaponless. The forepart of the bear rolled about in +the snow, although its after half was still. + +Then once more it seemed to bethink itself of Steinar, who lay +unmoving and senseless. Stretching out a paw, it dragged him towards +its champing jaws. Ragnar leapt upon its back and struck at it with +his knife, thereby only maddening it the more. I ran in and grasped +Steinar, whom the bear was again hugging to its breast. Seeing me, it +loosed Steinar, whom I dragged away and cast behind me, but in the +effort I slipped and fell forward. The bear smote at me, and its +mighty forearm--well for me that it was not its claws--struck me upon +the side of the head and sent me crashing into a tree-top to the left. +Five paces I flew before my body touched the boughs, and there I lay +quiet. + +I suppose that Ragnar told me what passed after this while I was +senseless. At least, I know that the bear began to die, for my spear +had pierced some artery in its throat, and all the talk which +followed, as well as though I heard it with my ears. It roared and +roared, vomiting blood and stretching out its claws after Steinar as +Ragnar dragged him away. Then it laid its head flat upon the snow and +died. Ragnar looked at it and muttered: + +"Dead!" + +Then he walked to that top of the fallen tree in which I lay, and +again muttered: "Dead! Well, Valhalla holds no braver man than Olaf +the Skald." + +Next he went to Steinar and once again exclaimed, "Dead!" + +For so he looked, indeed, smothered in the blood of the bear and with +his garments half torn off him. Still, as the words passed Ragnar's +lips he sat up, rubbed his eyes and smiled as a child does when it +awakes. + +"Are you much hurt?" asked Ragnar. + +"I think not," he answered doubtfully, "save that I feel sore and my +head swims. I have had a bad dream." Then his eyes fell on the bear, +and he added: "Oh, I remember now; it was no dream. Where is Olaf?" + +"Supping with Odin," answered Ragnar and pointed to me. + +Steinar rose to his feet, staggered to where I lay, and stared at me +stretched there as white as the snow, with a smile upon my face and in +my hand a spray of some evergreen bush which I had grasped as I fell. + +"Did he die to save me?" asked Steinar. + +"Aye," answered Ragnar, "and never did man walk that bridge in better +fashion. You were right. Would that I had not mocked him." + +"Would that I had died and not he," said Steinar with a sob. "It is +borne in upon my heart that it were better I had died." + +"Then that may well be, for the heart does not lie at such a time. +Also it is true that he was worth both of us. There was something more +in him than there is in us, Steinar. Come, lift him to my back, and if +you are strong enough, go on to the horses and bid the thrall bring +one of them. I follow." + +Thus ended the fight with the great white bear. + + + +Some four hours later, in the midst of a raging storm of wind and +rain, I was brought at last to the bridge that spanned the moat of the +Hall of Aar, laid like a corpse across the back of one of the horses. +They had been searching for us at Aar, but in that darkness had found +nothing. Only, at the head of the bridge was Freydisa, a torch in her +hand. She glanced at me by the light of the torch. + +"As my heart foretold, so it is," she said. "Bring him in," then +turned and ran to the house. + +They bore me up between the double ranks of stabled kine to where the +great fire of turf and wood burned at the head of the hall, and laid +me on a table. + +"Is he dead?" asked Thorvald, my father, who had come home that night; +"and if so, how?" + +"Aye, father," answered Ragnar, "and nobly. He dragged Steinar yonder +from under the paws of the great white bear and slew it with his +sword." + +"A mighty deed," muttered my father. "Well, at least he comes home in +honour." + +But my mother, whose favourite son I was, lifted up her voice and +wept. Then they took the clothes from off me, and, while all watched, +Freydisa, the skilled woman, examined my hurts. She felt my head and +looked into my eyes, and laying her ear upon my breast, listened for +the beating of my heart. + +Presently she rose, and, turning, said slowly: + +"Olaf is not dead, though near to death. His pulses flutter, the light +of life still burns in his eyes, and though the blood runs from his +ears, I think the skull is not broken." + +When she heard these words, Thora, my mother, whose heart was weak, +fainted for joy, and my father, untwisting a gold ring from his arm, +threw it to Freydisa. + +"First the cure," she said, thrusting it away with her foot. +"Moreover, when I work for love I take no pay." + +Then they washed me, and, having dressed my hurts, laid me on a bed +near the fire that warmth might come back to me. But Freydisa would +not suffer them to give me anything save a little hot milk which she +poured down my throat. + + + +For three days I lay like one dead; indeed, all save my mother held +Freydisa wrong and thought that I was dead. But on the fourth day I +opened my eyes and took food, and after that fell into a natural +sleep. On the morning of the sixth day I sat up and spoke many wild +and wandering words, so that they believed I should only live as a +madman. + +"His mind is gone," said my mother, and wept. + +"Nay," answered Freydisa, "he does but return from a land where they +speak another tongue. Thorvald, bring hither the bear-skin." + +It was brought and hung on a frame of poles at the end of the niche in +which I slept, that, as was usual among northern people, opened out of +the hall. I stared at it for a long while. Then my memory came back +and I asked: + +"Did the great beast kill Steinar?" + +"No," answered my mother, who sat by me. "Steinar was sore hurt, but +escaped and now is well again." + +"Let me see him with my own eyes," I said. + +So he was brought, and I looked on him. "I am glad you live, my +brother," I said, "for know in this long sleep of mine I have dreamed +that you were dead"; and I stretched out my wasted arms towards him, +for I loved Steinar better than any other man. + +He came and kissed me on the brow, saying: + +"Aye, thanks to you, Olaf, I live to be your brother and your thrall +till the end." + +"My brother always, not my thrall," I muttered, for I was growing +tired. Then I went to sleep again. + +Three days later, when my strength began to return, I sent for Steinar +and said: + +"Brother, Iduna the Fair, whom you have never seen, my betrothed, must +wonder how it fares with me, for the tale of this hurt of mine will +have reached Lesso. Now, as there are reasons why Ragnar cannot go, +and as I would send no mean man, I pray you to do me a favour. It is +that you will take a boat and sail to Lesso, carrying with you as a +present from me to Athalbrand's daughter the skin of that white bear, +which I trust will serve her and me as a bed-covering in winter for +many a year to come. Tell her, thanks be to the gods and to the skill +of Freydisa, my nurse, I live who all thought must die, and that I +trust to be strong and well for our marriage at the Spring feast which +draws on. Say also that through all my sickness I have dreamed of none +but her, as I trust that sometimes she may have dreamed of me." + +"Aye, I'll go," answered Steinar, "fast as horses' legs and sails can +carry me," adding with his pleasant laugh: "Long have I desired to see +this Iduna of yours, and to learn whether she is as beautiful as you +say; also what it is in her that Ragnar hates." + +"Be careful that you do not find her too beautiful," broke in +Freydisa, who, as ever, was at my side. + +"How can I if she is for Olaf?" answered Steinar, smiling, as he left +the place to make ready for his journey to Lesso. + +"What did you mean by those words, Freydisa?" I asked when he was +gone. + +"Little or much," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Iduna is +lovely, is she not, and Steinar is handsome, is he not, and of an age +when man seeks woman, and what is brotherhood when man seeks woman and +woman beguiles man?" + +"Peace to your riddles, Freydisa. You forget that Iduna is my +betrothed and that Steinar was fostered with me. Why, I'd trust them +for a week at sea alone." + +"Doubtless, Olaf, being young and foolish, as you are; also that is +your nature. Now here is the broth. Drink it, and I, whom some call a +wise woman and others a witch, say that to-morrow you may rise from +this bed and sit in the sun, if there is any." + +"Freydisa," I said when I had swallowed the broth, "why do folk call +you a witch?" + +"I think because I am a little less of a fool than other women, Olaf. +Also because it has not pleased me to marry, as it is held natural +that all women should do if they have the chance." + +"Why are you wiser, and why have you not married, Freydisa?" + +"I am wiser because I have questioned things more than most, and to +those who question answers come at last. And I am not married because +another woman took the only man I wanted before I met him. That was my +bad luck. Still, it taught me a great lesson, namely, how to wait and +meanwhile to acquire understanding." + +"What understanding have you acquired, Freydisa? For instance, does it +tell you that our gods of wood and stone are true gods which rule the +world? Or are they but wood and stone, as sometimes I have thought?" + +"Then think no more, Olaf, for such thoughts are dangerous. If Leif, +your uncle, Odin's high priest, heard them, what might he not say or +do? Remember that whether the gods live or no, certainly the priest +lives, and on the gods, and if the gods went, where would the priest +be? Also, as regards these gods--well, whatever they may or may not +be, at least they are the voices that in our day speak to us from that +land whence we came and whither we go. The world has known millions of +days, and each day has its god--or its voice--and all the voices speak +truth to those who can hear them. Meanwhile, you are a fool to have +sent Steinar bearing your gift to Iduna. Or perhaps you are very wise. +I cannot say as yet. When I learn I will tell you." + +Then again she shrugged her shoulders and left me wondering what she +meant by her dark sayings. I can see her going now, a wooden bowl in +her hand, and in it a horn spoon of which the handle was cracked +longways, and thus in my mind ends all the scene of my sickness after +the slaying of the white bear. + + + +The next thing that I remember is the coming of the men of Agger. This +cannot have been very long after Steinar went to Lesso, for he had not +yet returned. Being still weak from my great illness, I was seated in +the sun in the shelter of the house, wrapped up in a cloak of +deerskins--for the northern wind blew bitter. By me stood my father, +who was in a happy mood now he knew that I should live and be strong +again. + +"Steinar should be back by now," I said to him. "I trust that he has +come by no ill." + +"Oh no," answered my father carelessly. "For seven days the wind has +been high, and doubtless Athalbrand fears to let him sail from Lesso." + +"Or perhaps Steinar finds Athalbrand's hall a pleasant place to bide +in," suggested Ragnar, who had joined us, a spear in his hand, for he +had come in from hunting. "There are good drink and bright eyes +there." + +I was about to answer sharply, since Ragnar stung me with his bitter +talk of Steinar, of whom I knew him to be somewhat jealous, because he +thought I loved my foster-brother more than I did him, my brother. +Just then, however, three men appeared through trees that grew about +the hall, and came towards the bridge, whereon Ragnar's great +wolfhounds, knowing them for strangers, set up a furious baying and +sprang forward to tear them. By the time the beasts were caught and +quelled, these men, aged persons of presence, had crossed the bridge +and were greeting us. + +"This is the hall of Thorvald of Aar, is it not? And a certain Steinar +dwells here with him, does he not?" asked their spokesman. + +"It is, and I am Thorvald," answered my father. "Also Steinar has +dwelt here from his birth up, but is now away from home on a visit to +the lord Athalbrand of Lesso. Who are you, and what would you of +Steinar, my fosterling" + +"When you have told us the story of Steinar we will tell you who we +are and what we seek," answered the man, adding: "Fear not, we mean +him no harm, but rather good if he is the man we think." + +"Wife," called my father, "come hither. Here are men who would know +the story of Steinar, and say that they mean him good." + +So my mother came, and the men bowed to her. + +"The story of Steinar is short, sirs," she said. "His mother, +Steingerdi, who was my cousin and the friend of my childhood, married +the great chief Hakon, of Agger, two and twenty summers gone. A year +later, just before Steinar was born, she fled to me here, asking +shelter of my lord. Her tale was that she had quarrelled with Hakon +because another woman had crept into her place. Finding that this tale +was true, and that Hakon had treated her ill indeed, we gave her +shelter, and here her son Steinar was born, in giving birth to whom +she died--of a broken heart, as I think, for she was mad with grief +and jealousy. I nursed him with my son Olaf yonder, and as, although +he had news of his birth, Hakon never claimed him, with us he has +dwelt as a son ever since. That is all the tale. Now what would you +with Steinar?" + +"This Lady. The lord Hakon and the three sons whom that other woman +you tell of bore him ere she died--for after Steingerdi's death he +married her--were drowned in making harbour on the night of the great +gale eighteen days ago." + +"That is the day when the bear nearly killed Steinar," I interrupted. + +"Well for him, then, young sir, that he escaped this bear, for now, as +it seems to us, he is the lord of all Hakon's lands and people, being +the only male left living of his issue. This, by the wish of the head +men of Agger, where is Hakon's hall, we have come to tell him, if he +still lives, since by report he is a goodly man and brave--one well +fitted to sit in Hakon's place. + +"Is the heritage great?" asked my father. + +"Aye, very great, Lord. In all Jutland there was no richer man than +Hakon." + +"By Odin!" exclaimed my father, "it seems that Steinar is in Fortune's +favour. Well, men of Agger, enter and rest you. After you have eaten +we will talk further of these matters." + +It was just then that, appearing between the trees on the road that +ran to Fladstrand and to the sea, I saw a company mounted upon horses. +In front was a young woman, wrapped in a coat of furs, talking eagerly +to a man who rode by her. Behind, clad in armour, with a battle-axe +girt about him, rode another man, big and fork-bearded, who stared +about him gloomily, and behind him again ten or twelve thralls and +seamen. + +One glance was enough for me. Then I sprang up, crying: + +"Iduna's self, and with her my brother Steinar, the lord Athalbrand +and his folk. A happy sight indeed!" And I would have run forward to +meet them. + +"Yes, yes," said my mother; "but await them here, I pray you. You are +not yet strong, my son." And she flung her arms about me and held me. + +Presently they were at the bridge, and Steinar, springing from his +horse, lifted Iduna from her saddle, a sight at which I saw my mother +frown. Then I would no longer be restrained, but ran forward, crying +greetings as I came, and, seizing Iduna's hand, I kissed it. Indeed, I +would have kissed her cheek also, but she shrank back, saying: + +"Not before all these folk, Olaf." + +"As you will," I answered, though just then a chill struck me, which, +I thought to myself, came doubtless from the cold wind. "It will be +the sweeter afterwards," I added as gaily as I could. + +"Yes," she said hurriedly. "But, Olaf, how white and thin you are. I +had hoped to find you well again, though, not knowing how it fared +with you, I came to see with my own eyes." + +"That is good of you," I muttered as I turned to grasp Steinar's hand, +adding: "I know well who it was that brought you here." + +"Nay, nay," she said. "I came of myself. But my father waits you, +Olaf." + +So I went to where the lord Athalbrand Fork-beard was dismounting, and +greeted him, lifting my cap. + +"What!" grumbled Athalbrand, who seemed to be in an ill temper, "are +you Olaf? I should scarcely have known you again, lad, for you look +more like a wisp of hay tied on a stick than a man. Now that the flesh +is off you I see you lack bone, unlike some others," and he glanced at +the broad-shouldered Steinar. "Greeting to you, Thorvald. We are come +here through a sea that nearly drowned us, somewhat before the +appointed time, because--well, because, on the whole, I thought it +best to come. I pray Odin that you are more glad to see us than I am +to see you." + +"If so, friend Athalbrand, why did you not stop away?" asked my +father, firing up, then adding quickly: "Nay, no offence; you are +welcome here, whatever your humour, and you too, my daughter that is +to be, and you, Steinar, my fosterling, who, as it chances, are come +in a good hour." + +"How's that, Lord?" asked Steinar absently, for he was looking at +Iduna. + +"Thus, Steinar: These men"--and he pointed to the three messengers-- +"have but just arrived from Agger with the news that your father, +Hakon, and your half-brothers are all drowned. They say also that the +folk of Agger have named you Hakon's heir, as, indeed, you are by +right of blood." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed Steinar, bewildered. "Well, as I never saw my +father or my brothers, and they treated me but ill, I cannot weep for +them." + +"Hakon!" broke in Athalbrand. "Why, I knew him well, for in my youth +we were comrades in war. He was the wealthiest man in Jutland in +cattle, lands, thralls and stored gold. Young friend, your luck is +great," and he stared first at Steinar, then at Iduna, pulling his +forked beard and muttering words to himself that I could not catch. + +"Steinar gets the fortune he deserves," I exclaimed, embracing him. +"Not for nothing did I save you from the bear, Steinar. Come, wish my +foster-brother joy, Iduna." + +"Aye, that I do with all my heart," she said. "Joy and long life to +you, and with them rule and greatness, Steinar, Lord of Agger," and +she curtsied to him, her blue eyes fixed upon his face. + +But Steinar turned away, making no answer. Only Ragnar, who stood by, +burst into a loud laugh. Then, putting his arm through mine, he led me +into the hall, saying: + +"This wind is over cold for you, Olaf. Nay, trouble not about Iduna. +Steinar, Lord of Agger, will care for her, I think." + +That night there was a feast at Aar, and I sat at it with Iduna by my +side. Beautiful she was indeed in her garment of blue, over which +streamed her yellow hair, bright as the gold rings that tinkled on her +rounded arms. She was kind to me also, and bade me tell her the story +of the slaying of the bear, which I did as best I could, though +afterwards Ragnar told it otherwise, and more fully. Only Steinar said +little or nothing, for he seemed to be lost in dreams. + +I thought that this was because he felt sad at the news of the death +of his father and brethren, since, although he had never known them, +blood still calls to blood; and so, I believe, did most there present. +At any rate my father and mother tried to cheer him and in the end +bade the men of Agger draw near to tell him the tale of his heritage. + +They obeyed, and set out all their case, of which the sum was that +Steinar must now be one of the wealthiest and most powerful men of the +northern lands. + +"It seems that we should all take off our caps to you, young lord," +said Athalbrand when he heard this tale of rule and riches. "Why did +you not ask me for my fair daughter?" he added with a half-drunken +laugh, for all the liquor he had swallowed had got a hold of his +brain. Recovering himself, he went on: "It is my will, Thorvald, that +Iduna and this snipe of an Olaf of yours should be wed as soon as +possible. I say that they shall be wed as soon as possible, since +otherwise I know not what may happen." + +Then his head fell forward on the table and he sank to sleep. + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE WANDERER'S NECKLACE + +On the morrow early I lay awake, for how could I sleep when Iduna +rested beneath the same roof with me--Iduna, who, as her father had +decreed, was to become my wife sooner than I had hoped? I was thinking +how beautiful she looked, and how much I loved her; also of other +things that were not so pleasant. For instance, why did not everybody +see her with my eyes? I could not hide from myself that Ragnar went +near to hating her; more than once she had almost been the cause of a +quarrel between us. Freydisa, too, my nurse, who loved me, looked on +her sourly, and even my mother, although she tried to like her for my +sake, had not yet learned to do so, or thus it appeared to me. + +When I asked her why, she replied that she feared the maid was +somewhat selfish, also too fond of drawing the eyes of men, and of the +adornment of her beauty. Of those who were dearest to me, indeed, only +Steinar seemed to think Iduna as perfect as I did myself. This, so far +as it went, was well; but, then, Steinar and I had always thought +alike, which robbed his judgment of something of its worth. + +Whilst I was pondering over these things, although it was still so +early that my father and Athalbrand were yet in bed sleeping off the +fumes of the liquor they had drunk, I heard Steinar himself talking to +the messengers from Agger in the hall. They asked him humbly whether +he would be pleased to return with them that day and take possession +of his inheritance, since they must get back forthwith to Agger with +their tidings. He replied that if they would send some or come +themselves to escort him on the tenth day from that on which they +spoke, he would go to Agger with them, but that until then he could +not do so. + +"Ten days! In ten days who knows what may happen?" said their +spokesman. "Such a heritage as yours will not lack for claimants, +Lord, especially as Hakon has left nephews behind him." + +"I know not what will or will not happen," answered Steinar, "but +until then I cannot come. Go now, I pray you, if you must, and bear my +words and greetings to the men of Agger, whom soon I hope to meet +myself." + +So they went, as I thought, heavily enough. A while afterwards my +father rose and came into the hall, where from my bed I could see +Steinar seated on a stool by the fire brooding. He asked where the men +of Agger were, and Steinar told him what he had done. + +"Are you mad, Steinar?" he asked. "that you have sent them away with +such an answer? Why did you not consult me first?" + +"Because you were asleep, Foster-father, and the messengers said they +must catch the tide. Also I could not leave Aar until I had seen Olaf +and Iduna married." + +"Iduna and Olaf can marry without your help. It takes two to make a +marriage, not three. I see well that you owe love and loyalty to Olaf, +who is your foster-brother and saved your life, but you owe something +to yourself also. I pray Odin that this folly may not have cost you +your lordship. Fortune is a wench who will not bear slighting." + +"I know it," answered Steinar, and there was something strange in his +voice. "Believe me, I do not slight fortune; I follow her in my own +fashion." + +"Then it is a mad fashion," grumbled my father, and walked away. + + + +It comes back to me that it was some days after this that I saw the +ghost of the Wanderer standing on his grave mound. It happened thus. +On a certain afternoon I had been riding alone with Iduna, which was a +great joy to me, though I would sooner have walked, for then I could +have held her hand, and perhaps, if she had suffered it, kissed her. I +had recited to her a poem which I had made comparing her to the +goddess Iduna, the wife of Bragi, she who guarded the apples of +immortal youth whereof the gods must eat or die, she whose garment was +the spring, woven of the flowers that she put on when she escaped from +winter's giant grasp. I think that it was a very good poem of its own +sort, but Iduna seemed to have small taste for poetry and to know +little of the lovely goddess and her apples, although she smiled +sweetly and thanked me for my verses. + +Then she began to talk of other matters, especially of how, after we +were wed, her father wished to make war upon another chieftain and to +seize his land. She said that it was for this reason that he had been +so anxious to form an alliance with my father, Thorvald, as such an +alliance would make him sure of victory. Before that time, she told me +that he, Athalbrand, had purposed to marry her to another lord for +this very reason, but unhappily this lord had been killed in battle. + +"Nay, happily for us, Iduna," I said. + +"Perhaps," she answered with a sigh. "Who knows? At any rate, your +House will be able to give us more ships and men than he who is dead +could have done." + +"Yet I love peace, not war," I broke in, "I who hate the slaying of +those who have never harmed me, and do not seek to die on the swords +of men whom I have no desire to harm. Of what good is war when one has +enough? I would be no widow-maker, Iduna, nor do I wish that others +should make you a widow." + +Iduna looked at me with her steady blue eyes. + +"You talk strangely, Olaf," she said, "and were it not known to be +otherwise, some might hold that you are a coward. Yet it was no coward +who leapt alone on board the battle ship, or who slew the great white +bear to save Steinar's life. I do not understand you, Olaf, you who +have doubts as to the killing of men. How does a man grow great except +upon the blood of others? It is that which fats him. How does the wolf +live? How does the kite live? How does Odin fill Valhalla? By death, +always by death." + +"I cannot answer you," I said; "yet I hold that somewhere there is an +answer which I do not know, since wrong can never be the right." + +Then, as she did not seem to understand, I began to talk of other +things, but from that moment I felt as though a veil swung between me +and Iduna. Her beauty held my flesh, but some other part in me turned +away from her. We were different. + +When we reached the hall we met Steinar, who was lingering near the +door. He ran forward and helped Iduna to dismount, then said: + +"Olaf, I know that you must not overtire yourself as yet, but your +lady has told me that she desires to see the sunset from Odin's Mount. +Have I your leave to take her there?" + +"I do not yet need Olaf's leave to walk abroad, though some few days +hence it may be different," broke in Iduna, with a merry laugh, before +I could answer. "Come, lord Steinar, let us go and see this sunset +whereof you talk so much." + +"Yes, go," I said, "only do not stay too long, for I think a storm +comes up. But who is that has taught Steinar to love sunsets?" + +So they went, and before they had been gone an hour the storm broke as +I had foreseen. First came wind, and with it hail, and after that +thunder and great darkness, lit up from time to time by pulsing +lightning. + +"Steinar and Iduna do not return. I am afraid for them," I said at +last to Freydisa. + +"Then why do you not go to seek them?" she asked with a little laugh. + +"I think I will," I said. + +"If so, I will come with you, Olaf, for you still need a nurse, +though, for my part, I hold that the lord Steinar and the lady Iduna +can guard themselves as well as most folk. No, I am wrong. I mean that +the lady Iduna can guard herself and the lord Steinar. Now, be not +angry. Here's your cloak." + +So we started, for I was urged to this foolish journey by some impulse +that I could not master. There were two ways of reaching Odin's Mount; +one, the shorter, over the rocks and through the forest land. The +other, the longer, ran across the open plain, between the many earth +tombs of the dead who had lived thousands of years before, and past +the great mound in which it was said that a warrior of long ago, who +was named the Wanderer, lay buried. Because of the darkness we chose +this latter road, and presently found ourselves beneath the great mass +of the Wanderer's Mount. Now the darkness was intense, and the +lightning grew rare, for the hail and rain had ceased and the storm +was rolling away. + +"My counsel is," said Freydisa, "that we wait here until the moon +rises, which it should do soon. When the wind has driven away the +clouds it will show us our path, but if we go on in this darkness we +shall fall into some pit. It is not cold to-night, and you will take +no harm." + +"No, indeed," I answered, "for now I am as strong again as ever I +was." + +So we stayed till the lightning, flashing for the last time, showed us +a man and a woman standing quite close to us, although we had not +heard them because of the wind. They were Steinar and Iduna, talking +together eagerly, with their faces very near to each other. At the +same moment they saw us. Steinar said nothing, for he seemed confused, +but Iduna ran to us and said: + +"Thanks be to the gods who send you, Olaf. The great storm caught us +at Odin's temple, where we were forced to shelter. Then, fearing that +you would grow frightened, we started, and lost our way." + +"Is it so?" I answered. "Surely Steinar would have known this road +even in the dark. But what matter, since I have found you?" + +"Aye, he knew as soon as we saw this grave mound. But Steinar was +telling me that some ghost haunts it, and I begged him to stay awhile, +since there is nothing I desire so much as to see a ghost, who believe +little in such things. So he stayed, though he says he fears the dead +more than the living. Freydisa, they tell me that you are very wise. +Cannot you show me this ghost?" + +"The spirit does not ask my leave to appear, lady," answered Freydisa +in her quiet voice. "Still, at times it does appear, for I have seen +it twice. So let us bide here a little on the chance." + +Then she went forward a few steps and began to mutter to herself. + +Some minutes later the clouds broke and the great moon was seen riding +low down in a clear sky, illumining the grave mound and all the plain, +save where we stood in the shadow of the mount. + +"Do you see aught?" asked Freydisa presently. "If not, let us be gone, +for when the Wanderer comes at all it is at the rising of the moon." + +Steinar and Iduna answered, "No," but I, who did see something, said: + +"Look yonder among the shadows. Mayhap it is a wolf stirring. Nay, it +is a man. Look, Iduna." + +"I look and find nothing," she answered. + +"Look again," I said. "He reaches the top of the mount and stands +there staring towards the south. Oh! now he turns, and the moonlight +shines upon his face." + +"You dream, Olaf," said Steinar. "If you do not dream, tell us of the +likeness of this spirit." + +"Its likeness," I answered, "is that of a tall and noble man, worn as +though with years and sorrows. He wears strange rich armour that is +dinted and soiled; on his head is a cap of mail with two long ear- +pieces, beneath which appears his brown hair lined with grey. He holds +a red-coloured sword which is handled with a cross of gold. He points +the sword at you, Steinar. It is as though he were angry with you, or +warned you." + +Now, when Steinar heard these words he shook and groaned, as I +remembered afterwards. But of this I took no note at the time, for +just then Iduna cried out: + +"Say, Olaf, does the man wear a necklace? I see a necklace hanging in +the air above the mount, but naught else." + +"Yes, Iduna, he wears a necklace above his mail. How does it appear to +you?" + +"Oh, beautiful, beautiful!" she answered. "A chain of pale gold, and +hanging from it golden shells inlaid with blue, and between them green +jewels that hold the moon." + +"That is what I see also," I said, as indeed I did. "There! All is +gone." + +Freydisa returned and there was a strange smile on her dark face, for +she had heard all our talk. + +"Who sleeps in that mound, Freydisa?" asked Iduna. + +"How can I tell, Lady, seeing that he was laid there a thousand years +ago, or mayhap more? Yet a story, true or false, remains of him that I +have heard. It is that he was a king of these parts, who followed a +dream to the south. The dream was of a necklace, and of one who wore +it. For many years he wandered, and at length returned again to this +place, which had been his home, wearing the necklace. But when he saw +its shore from the sea he fell down and his spirit left him. What +happened to him in his wanderings none know, for the tale is lost. +Only it is said that his people buried him in yonder mound still +wearing his armour and the necklace he had won. There, as Olaf has +seen, or thinks that he has seen but now, he stands at moonrise ere +trouble comes to any of his race, and stares towards the south--always +towards the south." + +"Is the necklace yet in the mound?" asked Iduna eagerly. + +"Without doubt, Lady. Who would dare to touch the holy thing and bring +on him the curse of the Wanderer and his gods, and with it his own +death? No man that ever sailed the seas, I think." + +"Not so, Freydisa, for I am sure I know one who would dare it for my +sake. Olaf, if you love me, bring me that necklace as a marriage gift. +I tell you that, having once seen it, I want it more than anything in +all the world." + +"Did you hear what Freydisa said?" I asked. "That he who wrought this +sacrilege would bring upon himself evil and death?" + +"Yes, I heard; but it is folly, for who need fear dead bones? As for +the shape you saw, why, it is strengthless for good or ill, a shadow +drawn from what has been by the magic moon, or perchance by Freydisa's +witchery. Olaf, Olaf, get me that necklace or I will never kiss you +more." + +"That means you will not marry me, Iduna?" + +"That means I will only marry the man who gives me that necklace. If +you fear the deed, perhaps there are some others by whom it might be +tried." + +Now when I heard these words a sudden rage seized me. Was I to be +taunted thus by the fair woman whom I loved? + +"Fear is an ill word to use to me," I said sternly. "Know, Iduna, that +if it is put to me thus I fear nothing in life or death. You shall +have the necklace if it can be found in yonder earth, chance what may +to the searcher. Nay, no more words. Steinar will lead you home; I +must talk of this matter with Freydisa." + + + +It was midnight, I know not on what day, since all these things come +back to me in vivid scenes, as flashes of lightning show a landscape, +but are separated from each other by dense darkness. Freydisa and I +stood by the Wanderer's grave, and at our feet lay digging tools, two +lamps, and tinder to light them. We were setting about our grim task +at dead of night, for fear lest the priests should stay us. Also, I +did not wish the people to know that I had done this thing. + +"Here is work for a month," I said doubtfully, looking up at the great +mass of the mound. + +"Nay," replied Freydisa, "since I can show you the door of the grave, +and perchance the passage still stands. Yet, will you really enter +there?" + +"Why not, Freydisa? Must I bear to be taunted by the woman I am to +wed? Surely it would be better to die and have done. Let the ghost +slay me if he will. It comes upon me that if so I shall be spared +trouble." + +"No bridegroom's talk," said Freydisa, "however true it may be. Yet, +young Olaf, do you take heart, since I think that this ghost has no +desire for your blood. I am wise in my own fashion, Olaf, and much of +the past comes to me, if little of the future, and I believe that this +Wanderer and you have more to do with each other than we can guess. It +may be even that this task is appointed to you and that all these +happenings, which are but begun, work to an end unseen. At the least, +try your fortune, and if you die--why, I who was your nurse from your +mother's knee, love you well enough to die with you. Together we'll +descend to Hela's halls, there to seek out the Wanderer and learn his +story." + +Then, throwing her arms about my neck, she drew me to her and kissed +me on the brow. + +"I was not your mother, Olaf," she went on, "but, to be honest, I +would have been could I have had my fancy though, strangely enough, I +never felt thus towards Ragnar, your brother. Now, why do you make me +talk foolishness? Come hither, and I will show you the entrance to the +grave; it is where the sun first strikes upon it." + +Then she led me to the east of the mound, where, not more than eight +or ten feet from its base, grew a patch of bushes. Among these bushes +was a little hollow, as though at this spot the earth had sunk in. +Here, at her bidding, I began to dig, and with her help worked for the +half of an hour or more in silence, till at length my spade struck +against a stone. + +"It is the door-stone," said Freydisa. "Dig round it." + +So I dug till I made a hole at the edge of the stone large enough for +a man to creep through. After this we paused to rest a while and to +allow the air within the mound to purify. + +"Now," she said, "if you are not afraid, we will enter." + +"I am afraid," I answered. Indeed, the terror which struck me then +returns, so that even as I write I feel fear of the dead man who lay, +and for aught I know still lies, within that grave. "Yet," I added, +"never will I face Iduna more without the necklace, if it can be +found." + +So we struck sparks on to the tinder, and from them lit the two lamps +of seal oil. Then I crept into the hole, Freydisa following me, to +find myself in a narrow passage built of rough stones and roofed with +flat slabs of water-worn rock. This tunnel, save for a little dry soil +that had sifted into it through the cracks between the stones, was +quite clear. We crawled along it without difficulty till we came to +the tomb chamber, which was in the centre of the mound, but at a +higher level than the entrance. For the passage sloped upwards, +doubtless to allow for drainage. The huge stones with which it was +lined and roofed over, were not less than ten feet high and set on end +side by side. One of these upright stones was that designed for the +door. Had it been in place, we could not have entered the chamber +without great labour and the help of many men; but, as it chanced, +either it had never been set up after the burial, or this was done so +hastily that it had fallen. + +"We are in luck's way," said Freydisa, when she noticed this. "No, I +will go first, who know more of ghosts than you do, Olaf. If the +Wanderer strikes, let him strike me," and she clambered over the +fallen slab. + +Presently she called back, saying: + +"Come; all is quiet here, as it should be in such a place." + +I followed her, and sliding down the end of the stone--which I +remember scratched my elbow and made it bleed--found myself in a +little room about twelve feet square. In this place there was but one +thing to be seen: what appeared to be the trunk of a great oak tree, +some nine feet in length, and, standing on it, side by side, two +figures of bronze under a foot in height. + +"The coffin in which the Wanderer lies and the gods he worshipped," +said Freydisa. + +Then she took up first one and next the other of the bronze figures +and we examined them in the light of the lamps, although I feared to +touch them. They were statues of a man and a woman. + +The man, who wore a long and formal beard, was wrapped in what seemed +to be a shroud, through an opening in which appeared his hands. In the +right hand was a scourge with a handle, and in the left a crook such +as a shepherd might use, only shorter. On his head was what I took to +be a helmet, a tall peaked cap ending in a knob, having on either side +of it a stiff feather of bronze, and in front, above the forehead, a +snake, also of bronze. + +The woman was clad in a straight and narrow robe, cut low beneath her +breast. Her face was mild and beautiful, and in her right hand she +held a looped sceptre. Her hair descended in many long plaits on to +her shoulders. For head-dress she wore two horns, supporting between +them a burnished disc of gold like to that of the moon when it is +full. + +"Strange gods!" I muttered. + +"Aye," answered Freydisa, "yet maybe true ones to those who worship +them. But we will talk of these later; now for their servant." + +Then she dropped the figures into a pouch at her side, and began to +examine the trunk of the oak tree, of which the outer sap wood had +been turned to tinder by age, leaving the heart still hard as iron. + +"See," she said, pointing to a line about four inches from the top, +"the tree has been sawn in two length-ways and the lid laid on. Come, +help." + +Then she took an iron-shod staff which we had brought with us, and +worked its sharp point into the crack, after which we both rested our +weight upon the staff. The lid of the coffin lifted quite easily, for +it was not pegged down, and slid of its own weight over the side of +the tree. In the cavity beneath was a form covered with a purple cloak +stained as though by salt water. Freydisa lifted the cloak, and there +lay the Wanderer as he had been placed a thousand or more of years +before our time, as perfect as he had been in the hour of his death, +for the tannin from the new-felled tree in which he was buried had +preserved him. + +Breathless with wonder, we bent down and examined him by the light of +the lamps. He was a tall, spare man, to all appearance of between +fifty and sixty years of age. His face was thin and fine; he wore a +short, grizzled beard; his hair, so far as it could be seen beneath +his helmet, was brown and lightly tinged with grey. + +"Does he call anyone to your mind?" asked Freydisa. + +"Yes, I think so, a little," I replied. "Who is it, now? Oh! I know, +my mother." + +"That is strange, Olaf, since to me he seems much like what you might +become should you live to his years. Yet it was through your mother's +line that Aar came to your race many generations gone, for this much +is known. Well, study him hard, for, look you, now that the air has +got to him, he melts away." + +Melt he did, indeed, till presently there was nothing left save a +skull patched here and there with skin and hair. Yet I never forgot +that face; indeed, to this hour I see it quite clearly. When at length +it had crumbled, we turned to other things, knowing that our time in +the grave must be measured by the oil in the simple lamps we had. +Freydisa lifted a cloth from beneath the chin, revealing a dinted +breastplate of rich armour, different from any of our day and land, +and, lying on it, such a necklace as we had seen upon the ghost, a +beauteous thing of inlaid golden shells and emerald stones shaped like +beetles. + +"Take it for your Iduna," said Freydisa, "since it is for her sake +that we break in upon this great man's rest." + +I seized the precious thing and tugged at it, but the chain was stout +and would not part. Again I tugged, and now it was the neck of the +Wanderer that broke, for the head rolled from the body, and the gold +chain came loose between the two. + +"Let us be going," said Freydisa, as I hid away the necklace. "The oil +in the lamps burns low, and even I do not care to be left here in the +dark with this mighty one whom we have robbed." + +"There's his armour," I said. "I'd have that armour; it is wonderful." + +"Then stop and get it by yourself," she answered, "for my lamp dies." + +"At least, I will take the sword," I exclaimed, and snatched at the +belt by which it was girt about the body. The leather had rotted, and +it came away in my hand. + +Holding it, I clambered over the stone after Freydisa, and followed +her down the passage. Before we reached the end of it the lamps went +out, so that we must finish our journey in the dark. Thankful enough +were both of us when we found ourselves safe in the open air beneath +the familiar stars. + +"Now, how comes it, Freydisa," I asked, when we had got our breath +again, "that this Wanderer, who showed himself so threateningly upon +the crest of his grave, lies patient as a dead sheep within it while +we rob his bones?" + +"Because we were meant to take it, as I think, Olaf. Now, help me to +fill in the mouth of that hole roughly--I will return to finish this +to-morrow--and let us away to the hall. I am weary, and I tell you, +Olaf, that the weight of things to come lies heavy on my soul. I think +wisdom dwells with that Wanderer's bones. Yes, and foresight of the +future and memories of the past." + + + + CHAPTER IV + + IDUNA WEARS THE NECKLACE + +I lay sleeping in my bed at Aar, the sword of the Wanderer by my side +and his necklace beneath my pillow. In my sleep there came to me a +very strange and vivid dream. I dreamed that I was the Wanderer, no +other man, and here I, who write this history in these modern days, +will say that the dream was true. + +Once in the far past I, who afterwards was born as Olaf, and who am +now--well, never mind my name--lived in the shape of that man who in +Olaf's time was by tradition known as the Wanderer. Of that Wanderer +life, however, for some reason which I cannot explain, I am able to +recover but few memories. Other earlier lives come back to me much +more clearly, but at present the details of this particular existence +escape me. For the purpose of the history which I am setting down this +matters little, since, although I know enough to be sure that the +persons concerned in the Olaf life were for the most part the same as +those concerned in the Wanderer life, their stories remain quite +distinct. + +Therefore, I propose to leave that of the Wanderer, so far as I know +it, untold, wild and romantic as it seems to have been. For he must +have been a great man, this Wanderer, who in the early ages of the +northern world, drawn by the magnet of some previous Egyptian +incarnation, broke back to those southern lands with which his +informing spirit was already so familiar, and thence won home again to +the place where he was born, only to die. In considering this dream +which Olaf dreamed, let it be remembered, then, that although a +thousand, or maybe fifteen hundred, of our earthly years separated us +from each other, the Wanderer, into whose tomb I broke at the goading +of Iduna, and I, Olaf, were really the same being clothed in different +shapes of flesh. + +To return to my dream. I, Olaf, or, rather, my spirit, dwelling in the +Wanderer's body, that body which I had just seen lying in the grave, +stood at night in a great columned building, which I knew to be the +temple of some god. At my feet lay a basin of clear water; the +moonlight, which was almost as bright as that of day, showed me my +reflection in the water. It was like to that of the Wanderer as I had +seen him lying in his oak coffin in the mound, only younger than he +had seemed to be in the coffin. Moreover, he wore the same armour that +the man in the coffin wore, and at his side hung the red, cross- +handled sword. There he stood in the temple alone, and looked across a +plain, green with crops, on which sat two mighty images as high as +tall pines, looked to a great river on whose banks grew trees such as +I had never beheld: tall, straight trees, surmounted by a stiff crown +of leaves. Beyond this river lay a white, flat-roofed city, and in it +were other great columned temples. + +The man in whom I, Olaf the Dane, seemed to dwell in my dream turned, +and behind him saw a range of naked hills of brown rock, and in them +the mouth of a desolate valley where was no green thing. Presently he +became aware that he was no longer alone. At his side stood a woman. +She was a very beautiful woman, unlike anyone I, Olaf, had ever seen. +Her shape was tall and slender, her eyes were large, dark and soft as +a deer's, her features were small and straight, save the mouth, of +which the lips were somewhat full. The face, which was dark-hued, like +her hair and eyes, was sad, but wore a sweet and haunting smile. It +was much such a face as that upon the statue of the goddess which we +had found in the Wanderer's tomb, and the dress she wore beneath her +cloak was like to the dress of the goddess. She was speaking +earnestly. + +"My love, my only love," she said, "you must begone this very night; +indeed, the boat awaits you that shall take you down the river to the +sea. All is discovered. My waiting-lady, the priestess, but now has +told me that my father, the king, purposes to seize and throw you into +prison to-morrow, and thereafter to put you on your trial for being +beloved by a daughter of the royal blood, of which, as you are a +foreign man, however noble you may be, the punishment is death. +Moreover, if you are condemned, your doom will be my own. There is but +one way in which to save my life, and that is by your flight, for if +you fly it has been whispered to me that all will be forgotten." + +Now, in my dream, he who wore the Wanderer's shape reasoned with her, +saying at length that it was better they both should die, to live on +in the world of spirits, rather than part for ever. She hid her face +on his breast and answered, + +"I cannot die. I would stay to look upon the sun, not for my own sake, +but because of our child that will be born. Nor can I fly with you, +since then your boat will be stopped. But if you go alone, the guards +will let it pass. They have their commands." + +After this for a while they wept in each other's arms, for their +hearts were broken. + +"Give me some token," he murmured; "let me wear something that you +have worn until my death." + +She opened her cloak, and there upon her breast hung that necklace +which had lain upon the breast of the Wanderer in his tomb, the +necklace of gold and inlaid shells and emerald beetles, only there +were two rows of shells and emeralds, not one. One row she unclasped +and clasped it again round his neck, breaking the little gold threads +that bound the two strands together. + +"Take this," she said, "and I will wear the half which is left of it +even in my grave, as you also shall wear your half in life and death. +Now something comes upon me. It is that when the severed parts of this +necklace are once more joined together, then we two shall meet again +upon the earth." + +"What chance is there that I shall return from my northern home, if +ever I win so far, back to this southern land?" + +"None," she answered. "In this life we shall kiss no more. Yet there +are other lives to come, or so I think and have learned through the +wisdom of my people. Begone, begone, ere my heart breaks on yours; but +never let this necklace of mine, which was that of those who were long +before me, lie upon another woman's breast, for if so it will bring +sorrow to the giver, and to her to whom it is given no good fortune." + +"How long must I wait before we meet again?" he asked. + +"I do not know, but I think that when all that jewel once more grows +warm above my immoral heart, this temple which they call eternal will +be but a time-eaten ruin. Hark, the priestess calls. Farewell, you man +who have come out of the north to be my glory and my shame. Farewell, +until the purpose of our lives declares itself and the seed that we +have sown in sorrow shall blossom into an everlasting flower. +Farewell. Farewell!" + +Then a woman appeared in the background beckoning, and all my dream +vanished away. Yet to my mind came the thought that it was to the lady +who gave the necklace that Death stood near, rather than to him to +whom it was given. For surely death was written in her sad and longing +eyes. + + + +So that dream ended. When I, Olaf, awoke in the morning, it was to +find that already everyone was astir, for I had overslept myself. In +the hall were gathered Ragnar, Steinar, Iduna and Freydisa; the elders +were talking together elsewhere on the subject of the forthcoming +marriage. I went to Iduna to embrace her, and she proffered me her +cheek, speaking all the while over her shoulder to Ragnar. + +"Where were you last night, brother, that you came in near the dawn, +all covered with mud?" asked Ragnar, turning his back on Iduna, +without making any answer to her words. + +"Digging in the Wanderer's grave, brother, as Iduna challenged me to +do." + +Now all three of them turned on me eagerly, save Freydisa, who stood +by the fire listening, and with one voice asked if I had found +anything. + +"Aye," I replied. "I found the Wanderer, a very noble-looking man," +and I began to describe him. + +"Peace to this dead Wanderer," broke in Iduna. "Did you find the +necklace?" + +"Yes, I found the necklace. Here it is!" And I laid the splendid thing +upon the board. + +Then suddenly I lost my speech, since now for the first time I saw +that, twisted round the chain of it, were three broken wires of gold. +I remembered how in my dream I had seen the beautiful woman break such +wires ere she gave half of the jewel to the man in whose breast I had +seemed to dwell, and for a moment grew so frightened that I could say +no more. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Iduna, "it is beautiful, beautiful! Oh! Olaf, I thank +you," and she flung her arms about me and kissed me, this time in +earnest. + +Then she seized the necklace and fastened it round her throat. + +"Stay," I said, awaking. "I think you had best not touch those gems. +Iduna, I have dreamed that they will bring no luck to you or to any +woman, save one." + +Here the dark-faced Freydisa looked up at me, then dropped her eyes +again, and stood listening. + +"You have dreamed!" exclaimed Iduna. "I care little what you have +dreamed. It is for the necklace I care, and not all the ill-luck in +the world shall stay me from the keeping of it." + +Here again Freydisa looked up, but Steinar looked down. + +"Did you find aught else?" asked Ragnar, interrupting. + +"Aye, brother, this!" and from under my cloak I produced the +Wanderer's sword. + +"A wondrous weapon," said Ragnar when he had examined it, "though +somewhat heavy for its length, and of bronze, after the fashion of +those that are buried in the grave mounds. It has seen much wear also, +and, I should say, has loosed many a spirit. Look at the gold work of +the handle. Truly a wondrous weapon, worth all the necklaces in the +world. But tell us your story." + +So I told them, and when I came to the images that we had found +standing on the coffin, Iduna, who was paying little heed, stopped +from her fondling of the necklace and asked where they were. + +"Freydisa has them," I answered. "Show them the Wanderer's gods, +Freydisa." + +"So Freydisa was with you, was she?" said Iduna. + +Then she glanced at the gods, laughed a little at their fashion and +raiment, and again fell to fingering the necklace, which was more to +her than any gods. + +Afterwards Freydisa asked me what was the dream of which I had spoken, +and I told it to her, every word. + +"It is a strange story," said Freydisa. "What do you make of it, +Olaf?" + +"Nothing save that it was a dream. And yet those three broken wires +that are twisted round the chain, which I had never noted till I saw +the necklace in Iduna's hand! They fit well with my dream." + +"Aye, Olaf, and the dream fits well with other things. Have you ever +heard, Olaf, that there are those who say that men live more than once +upon this earth?" + +"No," I answered, laughing. "Yet why should they not do so, as they +live at all? If so, perhaps I am that Wanderer, in whose body I seemed +to be, only then I am sure that the lady with the golden shells was +not Iduna." And again I laughed. + +"No, Olaf, she was not Iduna, though perchance there was an Iduna, all +the same. Tell me, did you see aught of that priestess who was with +the lady?" + +"Only that she was tall and dark, one of middle age. But why waste +words on this midnight madness? Yet that royal woman haunts me. I +would that I could see her again, if only in a dream. Also, Freydisa, +I would that Iduna had not taken the necklace. I fear lest it should +bring misfortune. Where is she now? I will tell her again." + +"Wandering with Steinar, I think, and wearing the necklace. Oh! Olaf, +like you I fear it will bring woe. I cannot read your dream--as yet." + + + +It was the day before that of my marriage. I see them moving about, +the shapes of all those long-forgotten men and women, arrayed in their +bravest garments and rude ornaments of gold and silver, for a great +company had been bidden, many of whom came from far. I see my uncle, +Leif, the dark-browed priest of Odin, passing between the hall and the +temple where on the morrow he must celebrate the marriage rites in +such a fashion as would do honour to the god. I see Iduna, Athalbrand +and Steinar talking together apart. I see myself watching all this +life and stir like one who is mazed, and I know that since I had +entered the Wanderer's grave all things had seemed unreal to me. +Iduna, whom I loved, was about to become my wife, and yet between me +and Iduna continually was thrust a vision of the woman of my dream. At +times I thought that the blow from the bear's paw had hurt my brain; +that I must be going mad. I prayed to the gods that this might not be +so, and when my prayers availed me nothing I sought the counsel of +Freydisa. + +She listened to my story, then said briefly, + +"Let be. Things will go as they are fated. You are no madder than the +rest of men. I can say no more." + +It was the custom of that time and land that, if possible, the wife to +be should not pass the night before her marriage under the same roof +as her future husband. Therefore Athalbrand, whose mood had been +strange of late, went with Iduna to sleep in his beached ship. At my +request Steinar went with them, in order that he might see that they +were brought back in good time in the morning. + +"You will not fail me in this, Steinar?" I said, clasping his hand. + +He tried to answer something, but the words seemed to choke in his +throat and he turned away, leaving them unspoken. + +"Why," I exclaimed, "one might think you were going to be married, not +I." + +"Aye," broke in Iduna hurriedly. "The truth is that Steinar is jealous +of me. How is it that you can make us all love you so much, Olaf?" + +"Would that I were more worthy of your love," I answered, smiling, "as +in years to come I hope to show myself." + +Athalbrand, who was watching, tugged at his forked beard and muttered +something that sounded like an oath. Then he rode off, kicking his +horse savagely and not noting my outstretched hand, or so it seemed. +Of this, however, I took little heed, for I was engaged in kissing +Iduna in farewell. + +"Be not sad," she said, as she kissed me back on the lips. "Remember +that we part for the last time." Again she kissed me and went, +laughing happily. + +The morning came. All was prepared. From far and near the guests were +gathered, waiting to do honour to the marriage feast. Even some of the +men of Agger were there, who had come to pay homage to their new lord. +The spring sun shone brightly, as it should upon a marriage morn, and +without the doors the trumpeters blew blasts with their curved horns. +In the temple the altar of Odin was decorated with flowers, and by it, +also decorated with flowers, the offering awaited sacrifice. My +mother, in her finest robe, the same, in truth, in which she herself +had been wed, stood by the door of the hall, which was cleared of kine +and set with tables, giving and returning greetings. Her arm was round +me, who, as bridegroom, was clothed in new garments of woven wool +through which ran a purple streak, the best that could be made in all +the land. Ragnar came up. + +"They should be here," he said. "The hour is over past." + +"Doubtless the fair bride has been long in decking herself," answered +my father, looking at the sun. "She will come presently." + +Still time went on, and the company began to murmur, while a strange, +cold fear seemed to grip my heart. At length a man was seen riding +towards the hall, and one cried, + +"At last! Here comes the herald!" + +Another answered: "For a messenger of love he rides slowly and sadly." +And a silence fell on all that heard him. + +The man, a stranger to us, arrived and said: + +"I have a message for the lord Thorvald from the lord Athalbrand, +which I was charged to deliver at this hour, neither before nor after. +It is that he sailed for Lesso at the rising of the moon last night, +there purposing to celebrate the marriage of his daughter, the lady +Iduna, with Steinar, lord of Agger, and is therefore grieved that he +and the lady Iduna cannot be present at your feast this day." + +Now, when I heard these words I felt as though a spear had been thrust +through me. "Steinar! Oh! surely not with my brother Steinar," I +gasped, and staggered against the door-post, where I stood like one +who has been struck helpless. + +Ragnar sprang at the messenger, and, dragging him from his horse, +would have killed him had not some stayed his hand. My father, +Thorvald, remained silent, but his half-brother, the dark-browed +priest of Odin, lifted his hands to heaven and called down the curse +of Odin upon the troth-breakers. The company drew swords and shouted +for vengeance, demanding to be led against the false Athalbrand. At +length my father called for silence. + +"Athalbrand is a man without shame," he said. "Steinar is a viper whom +I have nursed in my breast, a viper that has bitten the hand which +saved him from death; aye, you men of Agger, you have a viper for your +lord. Iduna is a light-of-love upon whom all honest women should spit, +who has broken her oath and sold herself for Steinar's wealth and +rule. I swear by Thor that, with your help, my friends and neighbours, +I will be avenged upon all three of these. But for such vengeance +preparations must be made, since Athalbrand and Steinar are strong. +Moreover, they lie in an island, and can only be attacked by sea. +Further, there is no haste, since the mischief is done, and by now +Steinar the Snake and Iduna the Light-of-love will have drunk their +marriage-cup. Come, eat, my friends, and not too sadly, seeing that if +my house has suffered shame, it has escaped worse shame, that of +welcoming a false woman as a bride of one of us. Doubtless, when his +bitterness is past, Olaf, my son, will find a better wife." + +So they sat down and ate the marriage feast. Only the seats of the +bride and bridegroom were empty, for I could not take part in that +feast, but went alone to my sleeping-place and drew the curtains. My +mother also was so overcome that she departed to her own chamber. +Alone I sat upon my bed and listened to the sounds of that marriage +feast, which more resembled such a one as is given at funerals. When +it was finished I heard my father and Ragnar and the head men and +chiefs of the company take counsel together, after which all departed +to their homes. + +So soon as they were gone Freydisa came to me, bringing food and +drink. + +"I am a shamed man, Freydisa," I said, "and can no longer stay in this +land where I have been made one for children to mock at." + +"It is not you who are shamed," answered Freydisa hotly. "It is +Steinar and that----," and she used a harsh word of Iduna. "Oh! I saw +it coming, and yet I dared not warn you. I feared lest I might be +wrong and put doubts into your heart against your foster-brother and +your wife without cause. May Odin destroy them both!" + +"Speak not so roughly, Freydisa," I said. "Ragnar was right about +Iduna. Her beauty never blinded him as it did me, and he read her +truly. Well, she did but follow her nature; and as for Steinar, she +fooled him as she has the power to do by any man, save Ragnar. +Doubtless he will repent bitterly ere all is done. Also I think that +necklace from the grave is an evil magic." + +"It is like you, Olaf, to find excuse even for sin that cannot be +forgiven. Not but what I hold with you that Steinar has been led away +against his will, for I read it in his face. Well, his life must pay +the price of it, for surely he shall bleed on Odin's altar. Now, be a +man. Come out and face your trouble. You are not the first that a +woman has fooled, nor will you be the last. Forget love and dream of +vengeance." + +"I cannot forget love, and I do not wish for vengeance, especially +against Steinar, who is my foster-brother," I answered wearily. + + + + CHAPTER V + + THE BATTLE ON THE SEA + +On the morrow Thorvald, my father, sent messengers to the head men of +Agger, telling them of all that he and his House had suffered at the +hands of Steinar, whereof those of their folk who had been present at +the feast could bear witness. He added that if they stood by Steinar +in his wickedness and treachery, thenceforward he and the men of the +North would be their foes and work them mischief by land and sea. + +In due course these messengers returned with the tale that the head +men of Agger had met together and deposed Steinar from his lordship +over them, electing another man, a nephew of Steinar's father. Also +they sent a present of gold rings in atonement for the wrong which had +been done to the house of Thorvald by one of their blood, and prayed +that Thorvald and the northern men would bear them no ill will for +that in which they were blameless. + +Cheered by this answer, which halved the number of their foes, my +father, Thorvald of Aar, and those Over-men of whom he was the High- +lord, began to make their preparations to attack Athalbrand on his +Island of Lesso. Of all these things Athalbrand learned by his spies, +and later, when the warships were being prepared and manned, two +messengers came from him, old men of repute, and demanded to see my +father. This was the substance of his message, which was delivered in +my hearing. + +That he, Athalbrand, was little to blame for what had happened, which +was due to the mad passions of two young people who had blinded and +misled him. That no marriage had taken place between Steinar and his +daughter, Iduna, as he was prepared and able to prove, since he had +refused to allow any such marriage. That, therefore, he was ready to +outlaw Steinar, who only dwelt with him as an unwelcome guest, and to +return his daughter, Iduna, to me, Olaf, and with her a fine in gold +rings as compensation for the wrong done, of which the amount was to +be ascertained by judges to be agreed upon. + +My father entertained the messengers, but would give them no answer +till he had summoned a council of the Under-lords who stood with him +in this business. At that council, where I was present, some said that +the insult could only be washed out with blood. At length I was called +upon to speak as the man most concerned. While all listened I rose and +said: + +"These are my words. After what has chanced, not for all the wealth in +Denmark would I take Iduna the Fair to be my wife. Let her stay with +Steinar, whom she has chosen. Still, I do not wish to cause the blood +of innocent men to be spent because of my private wrong. Neither do I +wish to wreak vengeance upon Steinar, who for many years was my +brother, and who has been led away by a woman, as may chance to any +one of us and has chanced to many. Therefore I say that my father +should accept Athalbrand's fine in satisfaction of the insult to our +House, and let all this matter be forgotten. As for myself, I purpose +to leave my home, where I have been put to shame, and to seek my +fortune in other lands." + +Now, the most of those present thought this a wise saying and were +ready to abide by it. Yet, unluckily enough, it was made of no account +by what had slipped from my lips at its end. Although many held me +strange and fey, all men loved me because I had a kind heart and +gentleness, also because of the wrongs that I had suffered and for +something which they saw in me, which they believed would one day make +of me a great skald and a wise leader. When she heard me announce thus +publicly that I was determined to leave them, Thora, my mother, +whispered in the ears of Thorvald, my father, and Ragnar and others +also said to each other that this might not be. It was Ragnar, the +headlong, who sprang up and spoke the first. + +"Is my brother to be driven from us and his home like a thrall caught +in theft because a traitor and a false woman have put him to shame?" +he said. "I say that I ask Athalbrand's blood to wash away that stain, +not his gold, and that if need be I will seek it alone and die upon +his spears. Also I say that if Olaf, my brother, turns his back upon +this vengeance, I name him niddering." + +'No man shall name me that," I said, flushing, "and least of all +Ragnar." + +So, amidst shouts, for there had been long peace in the land, and all +the fighting men sighed for battle, it was agreed that war should be +declared on Athalbrand, those present pledging themselves and their +dependents to follow it to the end. + +"Go back to the troth-breaker, Athalbrand," said my father to the +messengers. "Tell him that we will not accept his fine of gold, who +come to take all his wealth, and with it his land and his life. Tell +him also that the young lord Olaf refuses his daughter, Iduna, since +it has not been the fashion of our House to wed with drabs. Tell +Steinar, the woman-thief, that he would do well to slay himself, or to +be sure that he is killed in battle, since if we take him living he +shall be cast into a pit of vipers or sacrificed to Odin, the god of +honour. Begone!" + +"We go," answered the spokesman of the messengers; "yet before we go, +Thorvald, we would say to you that you and your folk are mad. Some +wrong has been done to your son, though perhaps not so much as you may +think. For that wrong full atonement has been offered, and with it the +hand of friendship on which you spit. Know then that the mighty lord +Athalbrand does not fear war, since for every man you can gather he +numbers two, all pledged to him until the death. Also he has consulted +the oracle, and its answer is that if you fight with him, but one of +your House will be left living." + +"Begone!" thundered my father, "lest presently you should stay here +dead." + +So they went. + + + +That day my heart was very heavy, and I sought Freydisa to take +counsel with her. + +"Trouble hovers over me like a croaking raven," I said. "I do not like +this war for a woman who is worth nothing, although she has hurt me +sorely. I fear the future, that it may prove even worse than the past +has been." + +"Then come to learn it, Olaf, for what is known need no more be +feared." + +"I am not so sure of that," I said. "But how can the future be +learned?" + +"Through the voice of the god, Olaf. Am I not one of Odin's virgins, +who know something of the mysteries? Yonder in his temple mayhap he +will speak through me, if you dare to listen." + +"Aye, I dare. I should like to hear the god speak, true words or +false." + +"Then come and hear them, Olaf." + +So we went up to the temple, and Freydisa, who had the right of entry, +unlocked its door. We passed in and lit a lamp in front of the seated +wooden image of Odin, that for unnumbered generations had rested there +behind the altar. I stood by the altar and Freydisa crouched herself +before the image, her forehead laid upon its feet, and muttered runes. +After a while she grew silent, and fear took hold of me. The place was +large, and the feeble light of the lamp scarcely reached to the arched +roof; all about me were great formless shadows. I felt that there were +two worlds, one of the flesh and one of the spirit, and that I stood +between the two. Freydisa seemed to go to sleep; I could no longer +hear her breathing. Then she sighed heavily and turned her head, and +by the light of the lamp I noted that her face was white and ghastly. + +"What do you seek?" her lips asked, for I saw them moving. Yet the +voice that issued from them was not her own voice, but that of a deep- +throated man, who spoke with a strange accent. + +Next came the answer in the voice of Freydisa. + +"I, your virgin, seek to know the fate of him who stands by the altar, +one whom I love." + +For a while there was quiet; then the first voice spoke, still through +the lips of Freydisa. Of this I was sure, for those of the statue +remained immovable. It was what it had always been--a thing of wood. + +"Olaf, the son of Thorvald," said the deep voice, "is an enemy of us +the gods, as was his forefather whose grave he robbed. As his +forefather's fate was, so shall his be, for in both of them dwells the +same spirit. He shall worship that which is upon the hilt of the sword +he stole from the dead, and in this sign shall conquer, since it +prevails against us and makes our curse of none effect. Great sorrow +shall he taste, and great joy. He shall throw away a sceptre for a +woman's kiss, and yet gain a greater sceptre. Olaf, whom we curse, +shall be Olaf the Blessed. Yet in the end shall we prevail against his +flesh and that of those who cling to him preaching that which is upon +the sword but not with the sword, among whom thou shalt be numbered, +woman--thou, and another, who hast done him wrong." + +The voice died away, and was followed by a silence so deep that at +length I could bear it no more. + +"Ask of the war," I said, "and of what shall happen." + +"It is too late," answered the voice of Freydisa. "I sought to know of +you, Olaf, and you alone, and now the spirit has left me." + +Then came another long silence, after which Freydisa sighed thrice and +awoke. We went out of the temple, I bearing the lamp and she resting +on my arm. Near the door I turned and looked back, and it seemed to me +that the image of the god glared upon me wrathfully. + +"What has chanced?" asked Freydisa when we stood beneath the light of +the friendly stars. "I know nothing; my mind is a blackness." + +I told her word for word. When I had finished she said, + +"Give me the Wanderer's sword." + +I gave it to her, and she held it against the sky by the naked blade. + +"The hilt is a cross," she said; "but how can a man worship a cross +and preach it and conquer thereby? I cannot interpret this rede, yet I +do not doubt but that it shall all come true, and that you, Olaf, and +I are doomed to be joined in the same fate, whatever it may be, and +with us some other who has wronged you, Steinar perchance, or Iduna +herself. Well, of this at least I am glad, for if I have loved the +father, I think that I love the son still more, though otherwise." +And, leaning forward, she kissed me solemnly upon the brow. + + + +After Freydisa and I had sought the oracle of Odin, three long ships +of war sailed by the light of the moon from Fladstrand for +Athalbrand's Isle of Lesso. I do not know when we sailed, but in my +mind I can still see those ships creeping out to sea. In command of +the first was Thorvald, my father; of the second, Ragnar, my brother; +and of the third myself, Olaf; and on each of these ships were fifty +men, all of them stout fighters. + +The parting with Thora, my mother, had been sad, for her heart +foreboded ill of this war, and her face could not hide what her heart +told her. Indeed, she wept bitterly, and cursed the name of Iduna the +Fair, who had brought this trouble on her House. Freydisa was sad +also. Yet, watching her opportunity, she glided up to me just before I +embarked and whispered to me, + +"Be of good cheer, for you will return, whoever is left behind." + +"It will give me little comfort to return if certain others are left +behind," I answered. "Oh, that the folk had hearkened to me and made +peace!" + +"Too late to talk of that now," said Freydisa, and we parted. + +This was our plan: To sail for Lesso by the moonlight, and when the +moon went down to creep silently towards the shores of the island. +Then, just at the first break of dawn, we proposed to beach the ships +on a sandy strand we knew, and rush to attack Athalbrand's hall, which +we hoped to carry before men were well awake. It was a bold scheme and +one full of dangers, yet we trusted that its very boldness would cause +it to succeed, especially as we had put it about that, owing to the +unreadiness of our ships, no attack would be made until the coming of +the next moon. + +Doubtless all might have gone well with us but for a strange chance. +As it happened, Athalbrand, a brave and skilful captain, who from his +youth had seen much war by sea and land, had a design of his own which +brought ours to nothing. It was that he and his people should sail to +Fladstrand, burn the ships of Thorvald, my father, that he knew were +fitting out upon the beach, which he hoped to find unguarded, or at +most only watched by a few men, and then return to Lesso before he +could be fallen upon. By ill luck he had chosen this very night for +his enterprise. So it came about that just as the moon was sinking our +watchmen caught sight of four other ships, which by the shields that +hung over their bulwarks they knew must be vessels of war, gliding +towards them over the quiet sea. + +"Athalbrand comes to meet us!" cried one, and in a minute every man +was looking to his arms. There was no time for plans, since in that +low light and mist the vessels were almost bow to bow before we saw +each other. My father's ship ran in between two of Athalbrand's that +were sailing abreast, while mine and that of Ragnar found themselves +almost alongside of the others. On both sides the sails were let down, +for none had any thought of flight. Some rushed to the oars and got +enough of them out to work the ships. Others ran to the grappling +irons, and the rest began to shoot with their bows. Before one could +count two hundred from the time of sighting, the war cry of +"/Valhalla! Valhalla! Victory or Valhalla!/" broke upon the silence of +the night and the battle had begun. + +It was a very fierce battle, and one that the gathering darkness made +more grim. Each ship fought without heed to the others, for as the +fray went on they drifted apart, grappled to their foes. My father, +Thorvald's, vessel fared the worst, since it had an enemy on either +bulwark. He boarded one and cleared it, losing many men. Then the crew +of the other rushed on to him as he regained his own ship. The end of +it was that my father and all his folk were killed, but only after +they had slain the most of their foes, for they died fighting very +bravely. + +Between Ragnar's ship and that of Athalbrand himself the fray was more +even. Ragnar boarded Athalbrand and was driven back. Athalbrand +boarded Ragnar and was driven back. Then for the second time Ragnar +boarded Athalbrand with those men who were left to him. In the narrow +waist of Athalbrand's ship a mighty battle was fought, and here at +last Ragnar and Athalbrand found themselves face to face. + +They hacked at each other with their axes, till at length Ragnar, with +a fearful blow, drove in Athalbrand's helmet and clove his skull in +two, so that he died. But even as he fell, a man, it may have been +friend or foe, for the moon was sinking and the darkness grew dense, +thrust a spear into Ragnar's back, and he was carried, dying, to his +own vessel by those who remained to him. + +Then that fight ceased, for all Athalbrand's people were dead or +wounded to the death. Meanwhile, on the right, I was fighting the ship +that was commanded by Steinar, for it was fated that we two should be +thrown together. Here also the struggle was desperate. Steinar and his +company boarded at the prow, but I and my men, charging up both +boards, drove them back again. In that charge it is true that I, Olaf, +fighting madly, as was my wont when roused, killed three of the Lesso +folk with the Wanderer's sword. Still I see them falling one by one. +Followed by six of my people, I sprang on to the raised prow of +Steinar's ship. Just then the grapnels parted, and there we were left, +defending ourselves as best we could. My mates got their oars and once +more brought our boat alongside. Grapple they could not, because the +irons were lost. Therefore, in obedience to the order which I shouted +to them from the high prow of the enemy's ship, they began to hurl +their ballast stones into her, and thus stove out her bottom, so that +in the end she filled and sank. + +Even while she was down the fray went on. Nearly all my people were +down; indeed but two remained to me when Steinar, not knowing who I +was, rushed up and, having lost his sword, gripped me round the +middle. We wrestled, but Steinar, who was the stronger, forced me back +to the bulwarks and so overboard. Into the sea we went together just +as the ship sank, drawing us down after her. When we rose Steinar was +senseless, but still clinging to me as I caught a rope that was thrown +to me with my right hand, to which the Wanderer's sword was hanging by +a leathern loop. + +The end of it was that I and the senseless Steinar were both drawn +back to my own ship just as the darkness closed in. + + + +An hour later came the dawn, showing a sad sight. My father, +Thorvald's, ship and one of Athalbrand's lay helpless, for all, or +nearly all, their crews were dead, while the other had drifted off and +was now half a mile away. + +Ragnar's ship was still grappled to its foe. My own was perhaps in the +best case, for here over twenty men were left unhurt, and another ten +whose wounds were light. The rest were dead or dying. + +I sat on a bench in the waist of the ship, and at my feet lay the man +who had been dragged from the sea with me. I thought that this man was +dead till the first red rays of dawn lit upon his face, whereon he sat +up, and I saw that he was Steinar. + +"Thus we meet again, my brother," I said in a quiet voice. "Well, +Steinar, look upon your work." And I pointed to the dead and dying and +to the ships around, whence came the sound of groans. + +Steinar stared at me and asked in a thick voice: + +"Was it with you, Olaf, that I fell into the sea?" + +"Even so, Steinar." + +"I knew it not in the darkness, Olaf. If I had known, never would I +have lifted sword against you." + +"What did that matter, Steinar, when you had already pierced my heart, +though not with a sword?" + +At these words Steinar moaned aloud, then said: + +"For the second time you have saved my life." + +"Aye, Steinar; but who knows whether I can do so for a third time? Yet +take comfort, for if I may I will, for thus shall I be best avenged." + +"A white vengeance," said Steinar. "Oh, this is not to be borne." And +drawing a knife he wore at his girdle, he strove to kill himself. + +But I, who was watching, snatched it away, then gave an order. + +"Bind this man and keep him safe. Also bring him drink and a cloak to +cover him." + +"Best kill the dog," grumbled the captain, to whom I spoke. + +"I kill that one who lays a finger on him," I replied. + +Someone whispered into the captain's ear, whereon he nodded and +laughed savagely. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "I am a thickhead. I had forgotten Odin and his +sacrifice. Yes, yes, we'll keep the traitor safe." + +So they bound Steinar to one of the benches and gave him ale and +covered him with a blood-stained cloak taken from a dead man. + +I also drank of the ale and drew a cloak about me, for the air was +keen. Then I said, + +"Let us go to the other ships and see what has chanced there." + +They got out the oars and rowed to Ragnar's vessel, where we saw men +stirring. + +"How went it with you?" I asked of one who stood upon the prow. + +"Not so ill, Olaf," he answered. "We won, and but now, with the new +light, have finished the game. They are all quiet yonder," he added, +nodding at the vessel of Athalbrand, to which they were still +grappled. + +"Where is Ragnar?" I asked. + +"Come on board and see," answered the man. + +A plank was thrust out and I ran across it, fear gripping at my heart. +Resting against the mast sat Ragnar, dying. + +"Good morrow to you, Olaf," he gasped. "I am glad you live, that there +may be one left to sit at Aar." + +"What do you mean, my brother?" + +"I mean, Olaf, that our father, Thorvald, is dead. They called it to +us from yonder." And he pointed with his red sword to our father's +ship, that lay side by side with one of Athalbrand's. "Athalbrand is +dead, for I slew him, and ere the sun is well clear of the sea I also +shall be dead. Oh, weep not, Olaf; we have won a great fight, and I +travel to Valhalla with a glorious company of friends and foes, there +to await you. I say that had I lived to be old, never could I have +found a better death, who then at last might have died like a cow. Get +the ships to Fladstrand, Olaf, and gather more men to put all Lesso to +the sword. Give us good burial, Olaf, and build a great mound over us, +that we may stand thereon at moonrise and mock the men of Lesso as +they row past, till Valhalla is full and the world dies. Is Steinar +dead? Tell me that Steinar is dead, for then I'll speak with him +presently." + +"No, Ragnar, I have taken Steinar captive." + +"Captive! Why captive? Oh, I understand; that he may lie on Odin's +altar. Friends, swear to me that Steinar shall lie on Odin's altar, +Steinar, the bride-thief, Seiner the traitor. Swear it, for I do not +trust this brother of mine, who has woman's milk in his breasts. By +Thor, he might spare him if he had his way. Swear it, or I'll haunt +your beds o' nights and bring the other heroes with me. Swift now, +while my ears are open." + +Then from both ships rose the cry of + +"We swear! Fear not, Ragnar, we swear." + +"That's well," said Ragnar. "Kiss me now, Olaf. Oh! what is it that I +see in your eyes? A new light, a strange light! Olaf, you are not one +of us. This time is not your time, nor this place your place. You +travel to the end by another road. Well, who knows? At that end we may +meet again. At least I love you." + +Then he burst into a wild war song of blood and vengeance, and so +singing sank down and died. + + + +Afterwards, with much labour, I and the men who were left roped +together our vessels, and to them those that we had captured, and when +a favouring wind arose, sailed back for Fladstrand. Here a multitude +awaited us, for a fishing-boat had brought tidings of the great sea +battle. Of the hundred and fifty men who had sailed in my father, +Thorvald's, ships sixty were dead and many others wounded, some of +them to death. Athalbrand's people had fared even worse, since those +of Thorvald had slain their wounded, only one of his vessels having +escaped back to Lesso, there to tell the people of that island and +Iduna all that had happened. Now it was a land of widows and orphans, +so that no man need go wooing there for long, and of Aar and the +country round the same song was sung. Indeed, for generations the folk +of those parts must have told of the battle of Lesso, when the chiefs, +Thorvald and Athalbrand, slew each other upon the seas at night +because of a quarrel about a woman who was known as Iduna the Fair. + +On the sands of Fladstrand my mother, the lady Thora, waited with the +others, for she had moved thither before the sailing of the ships. +When mine, the first of them, was beached, I leapt from it, and +running to her, knelt down and kissed her hand. + +"I see you, my son Olaf," she said, "but where are your father and +brother?" + +"Yonder, mother," I answered, pointing to the ships, and could say no +more. + +"Then why do they tarry, my son?" + +"Alas! mother, because they sleep and will never wake again." + +Now Thora wailed aloud and fell down senseless. Three days later she +died, for her heart, which was weak, could not bear this woe. Once +only did she speak before she died, and then it was to bless me and +pray that we might meet again, and to curse Iduna. Folk noted that of +Steinar she said nothing, either good or ill, although she knew that +he lived and was a prisoner. + +Thus it came about that I, Olaf, was left alone in the world and +inherited the lordship of Aar and its subject lands. No one remained +save my dark-browed uncle, Leif, the priest of Odin, Freydisa, the +wise woman, my nurse, and Steinar, my captive foster-brother, who had +been the cause of all this war. + +The dying words of Ragnar had been noised abroad. The priest of Odin +had laid them before the oracle of the gods, and this oracle declared +that they must be fulfilled without change. + +So all the folk of that land met together at my bidding--yes, even the +women and the children. First we laid the dead in the largest of +Athalbrand's ships, his people and Athalbrand himself being set +undermost. Then on them we set the dead of Thorvald, Thorvald, my +father, and his son Ragnar, my brother, bound to the mast upon their +feet. This done, with great labour we dragged the ship on to high +ground, and above it built a mighty mound of earth. For twenty days we +toiled at the task, till at last it was finished and the dead were +hidden beneath it for ever. Then we separated to our homes and mourned +a while. + +But Steinar was carried to the temple of Odin at Aar, and there kept +in the prison of the temple. + + + + CHAPTER VI + + HOW OLAF FOUGHT WITH ODIN + +It was the eve of the Spring Feast of Odin. It comes back to me that +at this feast it was the custom to sacrifice some beast to Odin and to +lay flowers and other offerings upon the altars of certain other gods +that they might be pleased to grant a fruitful season. On this day, +however, the sacrifice was to be of no beast, but of a man--Steinar +the traitor. + +That night I, Olaf, by the help of Freydisa, the priestess of the god, +won entrance to the dungeon where Steinar lay awaiting his doom. This +was not easy to do. Indeed, I remember that it was only after I had +sworn a great oath to Leif and the other priests that I would attempt +no rescue of the victim, nor aid him to escape from his prison, that I +was admitted there, while armed men stood without to see that I did +not break my word. For my love of Steinar was known, and in this +matter none trusted me. + +That dungeon was a dreadful place. I see it now. In the floor of the +temple was a trap-door, which, when lifted, revealed a flight of +steps. At the foot of these steps was another massive door of oak, +bolted and barred. It was opened and closed behind me, who found +myself in a darksome den built of rough stone, to which air came only +through an opening in the roof, so small that not even a child could +pass it. In the far corner of this hole, bound to the wall by an iron +chain fastened round his middle, Steinar lay upon a bed of rushes, +while on a stool beside him stood food and water. When I entered, +bearing a lamp, Steinar sat up blinking his eyes, for the light, +feeble as it was, hurt them, and I saw that his face was white and +drawn, and the hand he held to shade his eyes was wasted. I looked at +him and my heart swelled with pity, so that I could not speak. + +"Why have you come here, Olaf?" asked Steinar when he knew me. "Is it +to take my life? If so, never were you more welcome." + +"No, Steinar, it is to bid you farewell, since to-morrow at the feast +you die, and I am helpless to save you. In all things else men will +obey me, but not in this." + +"And would you save me if you could?" + +"Aye, Steinar. Why not? Surely you must suffer enough with so much +blood and evil on your hands." + +"Yes, I suffer enough, Olaf. So much that I shall be glad to die. But +if you are not come to kill me, then it is that you may scourge me +with your tongue." + +"Not so, Steinar. It is as I have said, only to bid you farewell and +to ask you a question, if it pleases you to answer me. Why did you do +this thing which has brought about such misery and loss, which has +sent my father, my brother, and a host of brave men to the grave, and +with them my mother, whose breasts nursed you?" + +"Is she dead also, Olaf? Oh! my cup is full." He hid his eyes in his +thin hands and sobbed, then went on: "Why did I do it? Olaf, I did not +do it, but some spirit that entered into me and made me mad--mad for +the lips of Iduna the Fair. Olaf, I would speak no ill of her, since +her sin is mine, but yet it is true that when I hung back she drew me +on, nor could I find the strength to say her nay. Do you pray the +gods, Olaf, that no woman may ever draw you on to such shame as mine. +Hearken now to the great reward that I have won. I was never wed to +Iduna, Olaf. Athalbrand would not suffer it till he was sure of the +matter of the lordship of Agger. Then, when he knew that this was gone +from me, he would suffer it still less, and Iduna herself seemed to +grow cold. In truth, I believe he thought of killing me and sending my +head as a present to your father Thorvald. But this Iduna forbade, +whether because she loved me or for other reasons, I cannot say. Olaf, +you know the rest." + +"Aye, Steinar, I know the rest. Iduna is lost to me, and for that +perhaps I should thank you, although such a thrust as this leaves the +heart sore for life. My father, my mother, my brother--all are lost to +me, and you, too, who were as my twin, are about to be lost. Night has +you all, and with you a hundred other men, because of the madness that +was bred in you by the eyes of Iduna the Fair, who also is lost to +both of us. Steinar, I do not blame you, for I know yours was a +madness which, for their own ends, the gods send upon men, naming it +love. I forgive you, Steinar, if I have aught to forgive, and I tell +you, so weary am I of this world, which I feel holds little that is +good, that, if I might, I'd yield up my life instead of yours, and go +to seek the others, though I doubt whether I should find them, since I +think that our roads are different. Hark! the priests call me. +Steinar, there's no need to bid you to be brave, for who of our +Northern race is not? That's our one heritage: the courage of a bull. +Yet it seems to me that there are other sorts of courage which we +lack: to tread the dark ways of death with eyes fixed on things +gentler and better than we know. Pray to our gods, Steinar, since they +are the best we have to pray to, though dark and bloody in their ways; +pray that we may meet again, where priests and swords are not and +women work no ruin, where we may love as we once loved in childhood +and there is no more sin. Fare you well, my brother Steinar, yet not +for ever, for sure I am that here we did not begin and here we shall +not end. Oh! Steinar, Steinar, who could have dreamed that this would +be the last of all our happy fellowship?" + +When I had spoken such words as these to him, I flung my arms about +him, and we embraced each other. Then that picture fades. + + + +It was the hour of sacrifice. The victim lay bound upon the stone in +the presence of the statue of the god, but outside of the doors of the +little temple, that all who were gathered there might see the +offering. + +The ceremonies were ended. Leif, the head priest, in his robe of +office, had prayed and drunk the cup before the god, dedicating to him +the blood that was about to fall, and narrating in a chant the crimes +for which it was offered up and all the tale of woe that these had +brought about. Then, in the midst of an utter silence, he drew the +sacrificial sword and held it to the lips of Odin that the god might +breathe upon it and make it holy. + +It would seem that the god did breathe; at least, that side of the +sword which had been bright grew dull. Leif turned it to the people, +crying in the ancient words: + +"Odin takes; who dare deny?" + +All eyes were fixed upon him, standing in his black robe, and holding +aloft the gleaming sword that had grown dull. Yes, even the patient +eyes of Steinar, bound upon the stone. + +Then it was that some spirit stirred in my heart which drove me on to +step between the priest and his prey. Standing in the doorway of the +chapel, a tall, young shape against the gloom behind, I said in a +steady voice: + +"I dare deny!" + +A gasp of wonderment went up from all who heard, and Steinar, lifting +himself a little from the stone, stared at me, shook his head as if in +dissent, then let it fall again, and listened. + +"Hearken, friends," I said. "This man, my foster-brother, has +committed a sin against me and my House. My House is dead--I alone +remain; and on behalf of the dead and of myself I forgive him his sin, +which, indeed, was less his than another's. Is there any man among you +who at some time has not been led aside by woman, or who has not again +and again desired to be so led aside? If such a one there be, let him +say that he has no forgiveness in his heart for Steinar, the son of +Hakon. Let him come forward and say it." + +None stirred; even the women drooped their heads and were silent. + +"Then, if this is so," I went on, "and you can forgive, as I do, how +much more should a god forgive? What is a god? Is he not one greater +than man, who must know all the weakness of man, which, for his own +ends, he has bred into the flesh of man? How, then, can he do +otherwise than be pitiful to what he has created? If this be so, how +can the god refuse that which men are willing to grant, and what +sacrifice can please him better than the foregoing of his own +vengeance? Would a god wish to be outdone by a man? If I, Olaf, the +man can forgive, who have been wronged, how much more can Odin the god +forgive, who has suffered no wrong save that of the breaking of those +laws which will ever be broken by men who are as it has pleased him to +fashion them? On Odin's behalf, therefore, and speaking as he would +speak, could he have voice among us, I demand that you set this victim +free, leaving it to his own heart to punish him." + +Now, some whom my simple words had touched, I suppose because there +was truth in them, although in those days and in that land none +understood such truths, and others, because they had known and loved +the open-handed Steinar, who would have given the cloak from his back +to the meanest of them, cried: + +"Aye, let him go free. There has been enough of death through this +Iduna." + +But more stood silent, lost in doubt at this new doctrine. Only Leif, +my uncle, did not stand silent. His dark face began to work as though +a devil possessed him, as, indeed, I think one did. His eyes rolled; +he champed his jaws like an angry hog, and screamed: + +"Surely the lord Olaf is mad, for no sane man would talk thus. Man may +forgive while it is within his power; but this traitor has been +dedicated to Odin, and can a god forgive? Can a god spare when his +nostrils are opened for the smell of blood? If so, of what use is it +to be a god? How is he happier than a man if he must spare? Moreover, +would ye bring the curse of Odin upon you all? I say to you--steal his +sacrifice, and you yourselves shall be sacrificed, you, your wives, +your children, aye, and even your cattle and the fruit of your +fields." + +When they heard this, the people groaned and shouted out: + +"Let Steinar die! Kill him! Kill him that Odin may be fed!" + +"Aye," answered Leif, "Steinar shall die. See, he dies!" + +Then, with a leap like to that of a hungry wolf, he sprang upon the +bound man and slew him. + +I see it now. The rude temple, the glaring statue of the god, the +gathered crowd, open mouthed and eyed, the spring sunshine shining +quietly over all, and, running past the place, a ewe calling to the +lamb that it had lost; I see the dying Steinar turn his white face, +and smile a farewell to me with his fading eyes; I see Leif getting to +his horrible rites that he might learn the omen, and lastly I see the +red sword of the Wanderer appear suddenly between me and him, and in +my hand. I think that my purpose was to cut him down. Only a thought +arose within me. + +This priest was not to blame. He did no more than he had been taught. +Who taught him? The god he served, through whom he gained honour and +livelihood. So the god was to blame, the god that drank the blood of +men, as a thrall drinks ale, to satisfy his filthy appetite. Could +such a monster be a god? Nay, he must be a devil, and why should free +men serve devils? At least, I would not. I would cast him off, and let +him avenge himself upon me if he could. I, Olaf, would match myself +against this god--or devil. + +I strode past Leif and the altar to where the statue of Odin sat +within the temple. + +"Hearken!" I said in such a voice that all lifted their eyes from the +scene of butchery to me. "You believe in Odin, do you not?" + +They answered "Aye." + +"Then you believe that he can revenge himself upon one who rejects and +affronts him?" + +"Aye," they answered again. + +"If this be so," I went on, "will you swear to leave the matter +between Odin and me, Olaf, to be settled according to the law of +single combat, and give peace to the victor, with promise from all +harm save at the hands of his foe?" + +"Aye," they answered, yet scarcely understanding what they said. + +"Good!" I cried. "Now, God Odin, I, Olaf, a man, challenge you to +single combat. Strike you first, you, Odin, whom I name Devil and Wolf +of the skies, but no god. Strike you first, bloody murderer, and kill +me, if you can, who await your stroke!" + +Then I folded my arms and stared at the statue's stony eyes, which +stared back at me, while all the people gasped. + +For a full minute I waited thus, but all that happened was that a wren +settled on the head of Odin and twittered there, then flew off to its +nest in the thatch. + +"Now," I cried, "you have had your turn, and mine comes." + +I drew the Wanderer's sword, and sprang at Odin. My first stroke sunk +up to the hilt in his hollow belly; my next cut the sceptre from his +hand; my third--a great one--hewed the head from off him. It came +rattling down, and out of it crawled a viper, which reared itself up +and hissed. I set my heel upon the reptile's head and crushed it, and +slowly it writhed itself to death. + +"Now, good folk," I cried, "what say you of your god Odin?" + +They answered nothing, for all of them were in flight. Yes, even Leif +fled, cursing me over his shoulder as he went. + +Presently I was alone with the dead Steinar and the shattered god, and +in that loneliness strange visions came to me, for I felt that I had +done a mighty deed, one that made me happy. Round the wall of the +temple crept a figure; it was that of Freydisa, whose face was white +and scared. + +"You are a great man, Olaf," she said; "but how will it end?" + +"I do not know," I answered. "I have done what my heart told me, +neither more nor less, and I bide the issue. Odin shall have his +chance, for here I stay till dark, and then, if I live, I leave this +land. Go, get me all the gold that is mine from the hall, and bring it +here to me by moonrise, and with it some garments and my armour. Bring +me also my best horse." + +"You leave this land?" she said. "That means that you leave me, who +love you, to go forth as the Wanderer went--following a dream to the +South. Well, it is best that you should go, for whatever they have +promised you but now, it is sure that the priests will kill you, even +if you escape the vengeance of the god." And she looked askance at the +shattered statue which had sat in its place for so many generations +that none knew who had set it there, or when. + +"I have killed the god," I answered, pointing to the crushed viper. + +"Not quite, Olaf, for, see, its tail still moves." + +Then she went, leaving me alone. I sat myself down by the murdered +Steinar, and stared at him. Could he be really dead, I wondered, or +did he live on elsewhere? My faith had taught me of a place called +Valhalla where brave men went, but in that faith and its gods I +believed no more. This Valhalla was but a child's tale, invented by a +bloody-minded folk who loved slaughter. Wherever Steinar and the +others were, it was not in Valhalla. Then, perhaps, they slept like +the beasts do after these have been butchered. Perhaps death was the +end of all. It might be so, and yet I did not believe it. There were +other gods besides Odin and his company, for what were those which we +had found in the Wanderer's tomb? I longed to know. + +Yes, I would go south, as the Wanderer went, and search for them. +Perhaps there in the South I should learn the secret truth--and other +things. + +I grew weary of these thoughts of gods who could not be found, or who, +if found, were but devils. My mind went back to my childhood's days, +when Steinar and I played together on the meads, before any woman had +come to wreck our lives. I remembered how we used to play until we +were weary, and how at nights I would tell him tales that I had +learned or woven, until at length we sank to sleep, our arms about +each other's necks. My heart grew full of sorrow that in the end broke +from my eyes in tears. Yes, I wept over Steinar, my brother Steinar, +and kissed his cold and gory lips. + +The evening gathered, the twilight grew, and, one by one, the stars +sprang out in the quiet sky, till the moon appeared and gathered all +their radiance to herself. I heard the sound of a woman's dress, and +looked up, thinking to see Freydisa. But this woman was not Freydisa; +it was Iduna! Yes, Iduna's self! + +I rose to my feet and stood still. She also stood still, on the +farther side of the stone of sacrifice whereon that which had been +Steinar was stretched between us. Then came a struggle of silence, in +which she won at last. + +"Have you come to save him?" I asked. "If so, it is too late. Woman, +behold your work." + +She shook her beautiful head and answered, almost in a whisper: + +"Nay, Olaf, I am come to beg a boon of you: that you will slay me, +here and now." + +"Am I a butcher--or a priest?" I muttered. + +"Oh, slay me, slay me, Olaf!" she went on, throwing herself upon her +knees before me, and rending open her blue robe that her young breast +might take the sword. "Thus, perchance, I, who love life, may pay some +of the price of sin, who, if I slew myself, would but multiply the +debt, which in truth I dare not do." + +Still I shook my head, and once more she spoke: + +"Olaf, in this way or in that doubtless my end will find me, for, if +you refuse this office, there are others of sterner stuff. The knife +that smote Steinar is not blunted. Yet, before I die, who am come here +but to die, I pray you hear the truth, that my memory may be somewhat +less vile to you in the after years. Olaf, you think me the falsest of +the false, yet I am not altogether so. Hark you now! At the time that +Steinar sought me, some madness took him. So soon as we were alone +together, his first words were: 'I am bewitched. I love you.' + +"Olaf, I'll not deny that his worship stirred my blood, for he was +goodly--well, and different to you, with your dreaming eyes and +thoughts that are too deep for me. And yet, by my breath, I swear that +I meant no harm. When we rode together to the ship, it was my purpose +to return upon the morrow and be made your wife. But there upon the +ship my father compelled me. It was his fancy that I should break with +you and be wed to Steinar, who had become so great a lord and who +pleased him better than you did, Olaf. And, as for Steinar--why, have +I not told you that he was mad for me?" + +"Steinar's tale was otherwise, Iduna. He said that you went first, and +that he followed." + +"Were those his words, Olaf? For, if so, how can I give the dead the +lie, and one who died through me? It seems unholy. Yet in this matter +Steinar had no reason left to him and, whether you believe me or no, I +tell the truth. Oh! hear me out, for who knows when they will come to +take me, who have walked into this nest of foes that I may be taken? +Pray as I would, the ship was run out, and we sailed for Lesso. There, +in my father's hall, upon my knees, I entreated him to hold his hand. +I told him what was true: that, of you twain, it was you I loved, not +Steinar. I told him that if he forced this marriage, war would come of +it that might mean all our deaths. But these things moved him nothing. +Then I told him that such a deed of shame would mean the loss of +Steinar's lordship, so that by it he would gain no profit. At last he +listened, for this touched him near. You know the rest. Thorvald, your +father, and Ragnar, who ever hated me, pressed on the war despite all +our offerings of peace. So the ships met, and Hela had her fill." + +"Aye, Iduna, whatever else is false, this is true, that Hela had her +fill." + +"Olaf, I have but one thing more to say. It is this: Only once did +those dead lips touch mine, and then it was against my will. Aye, +although it is shameful, you must learn the truth. My father held me, +Olaf, while I took the betrothal kiss, because I must. But, as you +know, there was no marriage." + +"Aye, I know that," I said, "because Steinar told me so." + +"And, save for that one kiss, Olaf, I am still the maid whom once you +loved so well." + +Now I stared at her. Could this woman lie so blackly over dead +Steinar's corpse? When all was said and done, was it not possible that +she spoke the truth, and that we had been but playthings in the hands +of an evil Fate? Save for some trifling error, which might be forgiven +to one who, as she said, loved the worship that was her beauty's due, +what if she were innocent, after all? + +Perhaps my face showed the thoughts that were passing through my mind. +At the least, she who knew me well found skill to read them. She crept +towards me, still on her knees; she cast her arms about me, and, +resting her weight upon me, drew herself to her feet. + +"Olaf," she whispered, "I love you, I love you well, as I have always +done, though I may have erred a little, as women wayward and still +unwed are apt to do. Olaf, they told me yonder how you had matched +yourself against the god, with his priests for judges, and smitten +him, and I thought this the greatest deed that ever I have known. I +used to think you something of a weakling, Olaf, not in your body but +in your mind, one lost in music and in runes, who feared to put things +to the touch of war; but you have shown me otherwise. You slew the +bear; you overcame Steinar, who was so much stronger than you are, in +the battle of the ships; and now you have bearded Odin, the All- +father. Look, his head lies there, hewn off by you for the sake of one +who, after all, had done you wrong. Olaf, such a deed as that touches +a woman's heart, and he who does it is the man she would wish to lie +upon her breast and be her lord. Olaf, all this evil past may yet be +forgotten. We might go and live elsewhere for awhile, or always, for +with your wisdom and my beauty joined together what could we not +conquer? Olaf, I love you now as I have never loved before, cannot you +love me again?" + +Her arms clung about me; her beautiful blue eyes, shimmering with +moonlit tears, held my eyes, and my heart melted beneath her breath as +winter snows melt in the winds of spring. She saw, she understood; she +cast herself upon me, shaking her long hair over both of us, and +seeking my lips. Almost she had found them, when, feeling something +hard between me and her, something that hurt me, I looked down. Her +cloak had slipped or been thrown aside, and my eye caught the glint of +gold and jewels. In an instant I remembered--the Wanderer's necklace +and the dream--and with those memories my heart froze again. + +"Nay, Iduna," I said, "I loved you well; there's no man will ever love +you more, and you are very fair. Whether you speak true words or +false, I do not know; it is between you and your own spirit. But this +I do know: that betwixt us runs the river of Steinar's blood, aye, and +the blood of Thorvald, my father, of Thora, my mother, of Ragnar, my +brother, and of many another man who clung to us, and that is a stream +which I cannot cross. Find you another husband, Iduna the Fair, since +never will I call you wife." + +She loosed her arms from round me, and, lifting them again, unclasped +the Wanderer's necklace from about her breast. + +"This it is," she said, "which has brought all these evils on me. Take +it back again, and, when you find her, give it to that one for whom it +is meant, that one whom you love truly, as, whatever you may have +thought, you never have loved me." + +Then she sank upon the ground, and resting her golden head upon dead +Steinar's breast, she wept. + + + +I think it was then that Freydisa returned; at least, I recall her +tall form standing near the stone of sacrifice, gazing at us both, a +strange smile on her face. + +"Have you withstood?" she said. "Then, truly, you are in the way of +victory and have less to fear from woman than I thought. All things +are ready as you commanded, my lord Olaf, and there remains but to say +farewell, which you had best do quickly, for they plot your death +yonder." + +"Freydisa," I answered, "I go, but perchance I shall return again. +Meanwhile, all I have is yours, with this charge. Guard you yonder +woman, and see her safe to her home, or wherever she would go, and to +Steinar here give honourable burial." + + + +Then the darkness of oblivion falls, and I remember no more save the +white face of Iduna, her brow stained with Steinar's life-blood, +watching me as I went. + + + + + BOOK II + + BYZANTIUM + + + + CHAPTER I + + IRENE, EMPRESS OF THE EARTH + +A gulf of blackness and the curtain lifts again upon a very different +Olaf from the young northern lord who parted from Iduna at the place +of sacrifice at Aar. + +I see myself standing upon a terrace that overlooks a stretch of quiet +water, which I now know was the Bosphorus. Behind me are a great +palace and the lights of a vast city; in front, upon the sea and upon +the farther shore, are other lights. The moon shines bright above me, +and, having naught else to do, I study my reflection in my own +burnished shield. It shows a man of early middle life; he may be +thirty or five-and-thirty years of age; the same Olaf, yet much +changed. For now my frame is tall and well-knit, though still somewhat +slender; my face is bronzed by southern suns; I wear a short beard; +there is a scar across my cheek, got in some battle; my eyes are +quiet, and have lost the first liveliness of youth. I know that I am +the captain of the Northern Guard of the Empress Irene, widow of the +dead emperor, Leo the Fourth, and joint ruler of the Eastern Empire +with her young son, Constantine, the sixth of that name. + +How I came to fill this place, however, I do not know. The story of my +journey from Jutland to Byzantium is lost to me. Doubtless it must +have taken years, and after these more years of humble service, before +I rose to be the captain of Irene's Northern Guard that she kept ever +about her person, because she would not trust her Grecian soldiers. + +My armour was very rich, yet I noted about myself two things that were +with me in my youth. One was the necklace of golden shells, divided +from each other by beetles of emeralds, that I had taken from the +Wanderer's grave at Aar, and the other the cross-hilted bronze sword +with which this same Wanderer had been girded in his grave. I know now +that because of this weapon, which was of a metal and shape strange to +that land, I had the byname of Olaf Red-Sword, and I know also that +none wished to feel the weight of this same ancient blade. + +When I had finished looking at myself in the shield, I leaned upon the +parapet staring at the sea and wondering how the plains of Aar looked +that night beneath this selfsame moon, and whether Freydisa were dead +by now, and whom Iduna had married, and if she ever thought of me, or +if Steinar came to haunt her sleep. + +So I mused, till presently I felt a light touch upon my shoulder, and +swung round to find myself face to face with the Empress Irene +herself. + +"Augusta!" I said, saluting, for, as Empress, that was her Roman +title, even though she was a Greek. + +"You guard me well, friend Olaf," she said, with a little laugh. "Why, +any enemy, and Christ knows I have plenty, could have cut you down +before ever you knew that he was there." + +"Not so, Augusta," I answered, for I could speak their Greek tongue +well; "since at the end of the terrace the guards stand night and day, +men of my own blood who can be trusted. Nothing which does not fly +could gain this place save through your own chambers, that are also +guarded. It is not usual for any watch to be set here, still I came +myself in case the Empress might need me." + +"That is kind of you, my Captain Olaf, and I think I do need you. At +least, I cannot sleep in this heat, and I am weary of the thoughts of +State, for many matters trouble me just now. Come, change my mind, if +you can, for if so I'll thank you. Tell me of yourself when you were +young. Why did you leave your northern home, where I've heard you were +a barbarian chief, and wander hither to Byzantium?" + +"Because of a woman," I answered. + +"Ah!" she said, clapping her hands; "I knew it. Tell me of this woman +whom you love." + +"The story is short, Augusta. She bewitched my foster-brother, and +caused him to be sacrificed to the northern gods as a troth-breaker, +and I do not love her." + +"You'd not admit it if you did, Olaf. Was she beautiful, well, say as +I am?" + +I turned and looked at the Empress, studying her from head to foot. +She was shorter than Iduna by some inches, also older, and therefore +of a thicker build; but, being a fair Greek, her colour was much the +same, save that the eyes were darker. The mouth, too, was more hard. +For the rest, she was a royal-looking and lovely woman in the flower +of her age, and splendidly attired in robes broidered with gold, over +which she wore long strings of rounded pearls. Her rippling golden +hair was dressed in the old Greek fashion, tied in a simple knot +behind her head, and over it was thrown a light veil worked with +golden stars. + +"Well, Captain Olaf," she said, "have you finished weighing my poor +looks against those of this northern girl in the scales of your +judgment? If so, which of us tips the beam?" + +"Iduna was more beautiful than ever you can have been, Augusta," I +replied quietly. + +She stared at me till her eyes grew quite round, then puckered up her +mouth as though to say something furious, and finally burst out +laughing. + +"By every saint in Byzantium," she said, "or, rather, by their relics, +for of live ones there are none, you are the strangest man whom I have +known. Are you weary of life that you dare to say such a thing to me, +the Empress Irene?" + +"Am I weary of life? Well, Augusta, on the whole I think I am. It +seems to me that death and after it may interest us more. For the +rest, you asked me a question, and, after the fashion of my people, I +answered it as truthfully as I could." + +"By my head, you have said it again," she exclaimed. "Have you not +heard, most innocent Northman, that there are truths which should not +be mentioned and much less repeated?" + +"I have heard many things in Byzantium, Augusta, but I pay no +attention to any of them--or, indeed, to little except my duty." + +"Now that this, this--what's the girl's name?" + +"Iduna the Fair," I said. + +"----this Iduna has thrown you over, at which I am sure I do not +wonder, what mistresses have you in Byzantium, Olaf the Dane?" + +"None at all," I answered. "Women are pleasant, but one may buy sweets +too dear, and all that ever I saw put together were not worth my +brother Steinar, who lost his life through one of them." + +"Tell me, Captain Olaf, are you a secret member of this new society of +hermits of which they talk so much, who, if they see a woman, must +hold their faces in the sand for five minutes afterwards?" + +"I never heard of them, Augusta." + +"Are you a Christian?" + +"No; I am considering that religion--or rather its followers." + +"Are you a pagan, then?" + +"No. I fought a duel with the god Odin, and cut his head off with this +sword, and that is why I left the North, where they worship Odin." + +"Then what are you?" she said, stamping her foot in exasperation. + +"I am the captain of your Imperial Majesty's private guard, a little +of a philosopher, and a fair poet in my own language, not in Greek. +Also, I can play the harp." + +"You say 'not in Greek,' for fear lest I should ask you to write +verses to me, which, indeed, I shall never do, Olaf. A soldier, a +poet, a philosopher, a harpist, one who has renounced women! Now, why +have you renounced women, which is unnatural in a man who is not a +monk? It must be because you still love this Iduna, and hope to get +her some day." + +I shook my head and answered, + +"I might have done that long ago, Augusta." + +"Then it must be because there is some other woman whom you wish to +gain. Why do you always wear that strange necklace?" she added +sharply. "Did it belong to this savage girl Iduna, as, from the look +of it, it might well have done?" + +"Not so, Augusta. She took it for a while, and it brought sorrow on +her, as it will do on all women save one who may or may not live +to-day." + +"Give it me. I have taken a fancy to it; it is unusual. Oh! fear not, +you shall receive its value." + +"If you wish the necklace, Augusta, you must take the head as well; +and my counsel to you is that you do neither, since they will bring +you no good luck." + +"In truth, Captain Olaf, you anger me with your riddles. What do you +mean about this necklace?" + +"I mean, Augusta, that I took it from a very ancient grave----" + +"That I can believe, for the jeweller who made it worked in old +Egypt," she interrupted. + +"----and thereafter I dreamed a dream," I went on, "of the woman who +wears the other half of it. I have not seen her yet, but when I do I +shall know her at once." + +"So!" she exclaimed, "did I not tell you that, east or west or north +or south, there /is/ some other woman?" + +"There was once, Augusta, quite a thousand years ago or more, and +there may be again now, or a thousand years hence. That is what I am +trying to find out. You say the work is Egyptian. Augusta, at your +convenience, will you be pleased to make another captain in my place? +I would visit Egypt." + +"If you leave Byzantium without express permission under my own hand-- +not the Emperor's or anybody else's hand; mine, I say--and are caught, +your eyes shall be put out as a deserter!" she said savagely. + +"As the Augusta pleases," I answered, saluting. + +"Olaf," she went on in a more gentle voice, "you are clearly mad; but, +to tell truth, you are also a madman who pleases me, since I weary of +the rogues and lick-spittles who call themselves sane in Byzantium. +Why, there's not a man in all the city who would dare to speak to me +as you have spoken to-night, and like that breeze from the sea, it is +refreshing. Lend me that necklace, Olaf, till to-morrow morning. I +want to examine it in the lamplight, and I swear to you that I will +not take it from you or play you any tricks about it." + +"Will you promise not to wear it, Augusta?" + +"Of course. Is it likely that I should wish to wear it on my bare +breast after it has been rubbing against your soiled armour?" + +Without another word I unhooked the necklace and handed it to her. She +ran to a little distance, and, with one of those swift movements that +were common to her, fastened it about her own neck. Then she returned, +and threw the great strings of pearls, which she had removed to make +place for it, over my head. + +"Now have you found the woman of that dream, Olaf?" she asked, turning +herself about in the moonlight. + +I shook my head and answered: + +"Nay, Augusta; but I fear that /you/ have found misfortune. When it +comes, I pray you to remember that you promised not to wear the +necklace. Also that your soldier, Olaf, Thorvald's son, would have +given his life rather than that you should have done so, not for the +sake of any dream, but for your sake, Augusta, whom it is his business +to protect." + +"Would, then, it were your business either to protect me a little +more, or a little less!" she exclaimed bitterly. + +Having uttered this dark saying, she vanished from the terrace still +wearing the string of golden shells. + + + +On the following morning the necklace was returned to me by Irene's +favourite lady, who smiled as she gave it to me. She was a dark-eyed, +witty, and able girl named Martina, who had been my friend for a long +while. + +"The Augusta said that you were to examine this jewel to see that it +has not been changed." + +"I never suggested that the Augusta was a thief," I replied, +"therefore it is unnecessary." + +"She said also that I was to tell you, in case you should think that +it has been befouled by her wearing of it, that she has had it +carefully cleaned." + +"That is thoughtful of her, Martina, for it needed washing. Now, will +you take the Augusta's pearls, which she left with me in error?" + +"I have no orders to take any pearls, Captain Olaf, although I did +notice that two of the finest strings in the Empire are missing. Oh! +you great northern child," she added in a whisper, "keep the pearls, +they are a gift, and worth a prince's ransom; and take whatever else +you can get, and keep that too."[*] + +[*] I have no further vision concerning these priceless pearls and do + not know what became of them. Perhaps I was robbed of them during + my imprisonment, or perhaps I gave them to Heliodore or to + Martina. Where are they now, I wonder?--Editor. + +Then, before I could answer her, she was gone. + + + +For some weeks after this I saw no more of the Augusta, who appeared +to avoid me. One day, however, I was summoned to her presence in her +private apartments by the waiting-lady Martina, and went, to find her +alone, save for Martina. The first thing that I noticed was that she +wore about her neck an exact copy of the necklace of golden shells and +emerald beetles; further, that about her waist was a girdle and on her +wrist a bracelet of similar design. Pretending to see nothing, I +saluted and stood to attention. + +"Captain," she began, "yonder"--and she waved her hand towards the +city, so that I could not fail to see the shell bracelet--"the uncles +of my son, the Emperor, lie in prison. Have you heard of the matter, +and, if so, what have you heard?" + +"I have heard, Augusta, that the Emperor having been defeated by the +Bulgarians, some of the legions proposed to set his uncle, Nicephorus +--he who has been made a priest--upon the throne. I have heard further +that thereon the Emperor caused the Cæsar Nicephorus to be blinded, +and the tongues of the two other Cæsars and of their two brothers, the +/Nobilissimi/, to be slit." + +"Do you think well of such a deed, Olaf?" + +"Augusta," I answered, "in this city I make it my business not to +think, for if I did I should certainly go mad." + +"Still, on this matter I command you to think, and to speak the truth +of your thoughts. No harm shall come to you, whatever they may be." + +"Augusta, I obey you. I think that whoever did this wicked thing must +be a devil, either returned from that hell of which everyone is so +fond of talking here, or on the road thither." + +"Oh! you think that, do you? So I was right when I told Martina that +there was only one honest opinion to be had in Constantinople and I +knew where to get it. Well, most severe and indignant judge, suppose I +tell you it was I who commanded that this deed should be done. Then +would you change your judgment?" + +"Not so, Augusta. I should only think much worse of you than ever I +did before. If these great persons were traitors to the State, they +should have been executed. But to torment them, to take away the sight +of heaven and to bring them to the level of dumb beasts, all that +their actual blood may not be on the tormentors' hand--why, the act is +vile. So, at least, it would be held in those northern lands which you +are pleased to call barbarian." + +Now Irene sprang from her seat and clapped her hands for joy. + +"You hear what he says, Martina, and the Emperor shall hear it too; +aye, and so shall my ministers, Stauracius and Aetius, who supported +him in this matter. I alone withstood him; I prayed him for his soul's +sake to be merciful. He answered that he would no longer be governed +by a woman; that he knew how to safeguard his empire, and what +conscience should allow and what refuse. So, in spite of all my tears +and prayers, the vile deed was done, as I think for no good cause. +Well, it cannot be undone. Yet, Olaf, I fear that it may be added to, +and that these royal-born men may be foully murdered. Therefore, I put +you in charge of the prison where they lie. Here is the signed order. +Take with you what men you may think needful, and hold that place, +even should the Emperor himself command you to open. See also that the +prisoners within are cared for and have all they need, but do not +suffer them to escape." + +I saluted and turned to go, when Irene called me back. + +At that moment, too, in obedience to some sign which she made, Martina +left the chamber, looking at me oddly as she did so. I came and stood +before the Empress, who, I noted, seemed somewhat troubled, for her +breast heaved and her gaze was fixed upon the floor now. It was of +mosaic, and represented a heathen goddess talking to a young man, who +stood before her with his arms folded. The goddess was angry with the +man, and held in her left hand a dagger as though she would stab him, +although her right arm was stretched out to embrace him and her +attitude was one of pleading. + +Irene lifted her head, and I saw that her fine eyes were filled with +tears. + +"Olaf," she said, "I am in much trouble, and I know not where to find +a friend." + +I smiled and answered: + +"Need an Empress seek far for friends?" + +"Aye, Olaf; farther than anyone who breathes. An Empress can find +flatterers and partisans, but not a single friend. Such love her only +for what she can give them. But, if fortune went against her, I say +that they would fall away like leaves from a tree in a winter frost, +so that she stood naked to every bitter blast of heaven. Yes, and then +would come the foe and root up that tree and burn it to give them +warmth and to celebrate their triumph. So I think, Olaf, it will be +with me before all is done. Even my son hates me, Olaf, my only child +for whose true welfare I strive night and day." + +"I have heard as much, Augusta," I said. + +"You have heard, like all the world. But what else of ill have you +heard of me, Olaf? Speak out, man; I'm here to learn the truth." + +"I have heard that you are very ambitious, Augusta, and that you hate +your son as much as he hates you, because he is a rival to your power. +It is rumoured that you would be glad if he were dead and you left to +reign alone." + +"Then a lie is rumoured, Olaf. Yet it is true that I am ambitious, who +see far and would build this tottering empire up afresh. Olaf, it is a +bitter thing to have begotten a fool." + +"Then why do you not marry again and beget others, who might be no +fools, Augusta?" I asked bluntly. + +"Ah! why?" she answered, flashing a curious glance upon me. "In truth, +I do not quite know why; but from no lack of suitors, since, were she +but a hideous hag, an empress would find these. Olaf, you may have +learned that I was not born in the purple. I was but a Greek girl of +good race, not even noble, to whom God gave a gift of beauty; and when +I was young I saw a man who took my fancy, also of old race, yet but a +merchant of fruits which they grow in Greece and sell here and at +Rome. I wished to marry him, but my mother, a far-seeing woman, said +that such beauty as mine--though less than that of your Iduna the +Fair, Olaf--was worth money or rank. So they sent away my merchant of +fruits, who married the daughter of another merchant of fruits and +throve very well in business. He came to see me some years ago, fat as +a tub, his face scored all over with the marks of the spotted +sickness, and we talked about old times. I gave him a concession to +import dried fruits into Byzantium--that is what he came to see me for +--and now he's dead. Well, my mother was right, for afterwards this +poor beauty of mine took the fancy of the late Emperor, and, being +very pious, he married me. So the Greek girl, by the will of God, +became Augusta and the first woman in the world." + +"By the will of God?" I repeated. + +"Aye, I suppose so, or else all is raw chance. At least, I, who to-day +might have been bargaining over dried fruits, as I should have done +had I won my will, am--what you know. Look at this robe," and she +spread her glittering dress before me. "Hark to the tramp of those +guards before my door. Why, you are their captain. Go into the +antechambers, and see the ambassadors waiting there in the hope of a +word with the Ruler of the Earth! Look at my legions mustered on the +drilling-grounds, and understand how great the Grecian girl has grown +by virtue of the face which is less beauteous than that of--Iduna the +Fair!" + +"I understand all this, Augusta," I answered. "Yet it would seem that +you are not happy. Did you not tell me just now that you could not +find a friend and that you had begotten a fool?" + +"Happy, Olaf? Why, I am wretched, so wretched that often I think the +hell of which the priests preach is here on earth, and that I dwell in +its hottest fires. Unless love hides it, what happiness is there in +this life of ours, which must end in blackest death?" + +"Love has its miseries also, Augusta. That I know, for once I loved." + +"Aye, but then the love was not true, for this is the greatest curse +of all--to love and not to be beloved. For the sake of a perfect love, +if it could be won--why, I'd sacrifice even my ambition." + +"Then you must keep your ambition, Augusta, since in this world you'll +find nothing perfect." + +"Olaf, I'm not so sure. Thoughts have come to me. Olaf, I told you +that I have no friend in all this glittering Court. Will you be my +friend?" + +"I am your honest servant, Augusta, and I think that such a one is the +best of friends." + +"That's so; and yet no man can be true friend to a woman unless he is +--more than friend. Nature has writ it so." + +"I do not understand," I answered. + +"You mean that you will not understand, and perhaps you are wise. Why +do you stare at that pavement? There's a story written on it. The old +goddess of my people, Aphrodite, loved a certain Adonis--so runs the +fable--but he loved not her, and thought only of his sports. Look, she +woos him there, and he rejects her, and in her rage she stabs him." + +"Not so," I answered. "Of the end of the story I know nothing, but, if +she had meant to kill him, the dagger would be in her right hand, not +in her left." + +"That's true, Olaf; and in the end it was Fate which killed him, not +the goddess whom he had scorned. And yet, Olaf, it is not wise to +scorn goddesses. Oh! of what do I talk? You'll befriend me, will you +not?" + +"Aye, Augusta, to the last drop of my blood, as is my duty. Do I not +take your pay?" + +"Then thus I seal our friendship and here's an earnest of the pay," +Irene said slowly, and, bending forward, she kissed me on the lips. + +At this moment the doors of the chamber were thrown open. Through +them, preceded by heralds, that at once drew back again, entered the +great minister Stauracius, a fat, oily-faced man with a cunning eye, +who announced in a high, thin voice, + +"The ambassadors of the Persians wait upon you, Augusta, as you +appointed at this hour." + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE BLIND CÆSAR + +Irene turned upon the eunuch as a she-lion turns upon some hunter that +disturbs it from its prey. Noting the anger in her eyes, he fell back +and prostrated himself. Thereupon she spoke to me as though his entry +had interrupted her words. + +"Those are the orders, Captain Olaf. See that you forget none of them. +Even if this proud eunuch, who dares to appear before me unannounced, +bids you to do so, I shall hold you to account. To-day I leave the +city for a while for the Baths whither I am sent. You must not +accompany me because of the duty I have laid upon you here. When I +return, be sure I'll summon you," and, knowing that Stauracius could +not see her from where he lay, for a moment she let her splendid eyes +meet my own. In them there was a message I could not mistake. + +"The Augusta shall be obeyed," I answered, saluting. "May the Augusta +return in health and glory and more beautiful than----" + +"Iduna the Fair!" she broke in. "Captain, you are dismissed." + +Again I saluted, retreating from the presence backwards and staying to +bow at each third step, as was the custom. The process was somewhat +long, and as I reached the door I heard her say to Stauracius, + +"Hearken, you dog. If ever you dare to break in upon me thus again, +you shall lose two things--your office and your head. What! May I not +give secret orders to my trusted officer and not be spied upon by you? +Now, cease your grovellings and lead in these Persians, as you have +been bribed to do." + +Passing through the silk-clad, bejewelled Persians who waited in an +antechamber with their slaves and gifts, I gained the great terrace of +the palace which looked upon the sea. Here I found Martina leaning on +the parapet. + +"Have you more of the Augusta's pearls about you, Olaf?" she asked +mockingly, speaking over her shoulder. + +"Not I, Martina," I answered, halting beside her. + +"Indeed. I could have sworn otherwise, for they are perfumed, and I +seemed to catch their odour. When did you begin to use the royal scent +upon that yellow beard of yours, Olaf? If any of us women did so, it +would mean blows and exile; but perchance a captain of the guard may +be forgiven." + +"I use no scents, girl, as you know well. Yet it is true that these +rooms reek of them, and they cling to armour." + +"Yes, and still more to hair. Well, what gift had my mistress for you +to-day?" + +"A commission to guard certain prisoners, Martina." + +"Ah! Have you read it yet? When you do, I think you'll find that it +names you Governor of the jail, which is a high office, carrying much +pay and place. You are in good favour, Olaf, and I hope that when you +come to greatness you will not forget Martina. It was I who put it +into a certain mind to give you this commission as the only man that +could be trusted in the Court." + +"I do not forget a friend, Martina," I answered. + +"That is your reputation, Olaf. Oh! what a road is opening to your +feet. Yet I doubt you'll not walk it, being too honest; or, if you do, +that it will lead you--not to glory, but a grave." + +"Mayhap, Martina, and to speak truth, a grave is the only quiet place +in Constantinople. Mayhap, too, it hides the only real glory." + +"That's what we Christians say. It would be strange if you, who are +not a Christian, alone should believe and keep the saying. Oh!" She +went on with passion, "we are but shams and liars, whom God must hate. +Well, I go to make ready for this journey to the Baths." + +"How long do you stay there?" I asked. + +"The course of waters takes a month. Less than that time does not +serve to clear the Augusta's skin and restore her shape to the lines +of youth which it begins to need, though doubtless you do not think +so. You were named to come as her officer of the Person; but, Olaf, +this other business rose up of a new governor for the jail in which +the Cæsars and /Nobilissimi/ are confined. I saw a chance for you in +it, who, although you have served all these years, have had no real +advancement, and mentioned your name, at which the Augusta leapt. To +tell the truth, Olaf, I was not sure that you would wish to be captain +of the guard at the Baths. Was I right or was I wrong?" + +"I think you were right, Martina. Baths are idle places where folk +drift into trouble, and I follow duty. Martina--may I say it to you?-- +you are a good woman and a kind. I pray that those gods of yours whom +you worship may bless you." + +"You pray in vain, Olaf, for that they will never do. Indeed, I think +that they have cursed me." + +Then suddenly she burst into tears, and, turning, went away. + +I, too, went away somewhat bewildered, for much had happened to me +that morning which I found it hard to understand. Why had the Augusta +kissed me? I took it that this was some kind of imperial jest. It was +known that I kept aloof from women, and she may have desired to see +what I should do when an Augusta kissed me, and then to make a mock of +me. I had heard that she had done as much with others. + +Well, let that be, since Stauracius, who always feared lest a new +favourite should slip between him and power, had settled the matter +for me, for which I blessed Stauracius, although at the moment, being +but a man, I had cursed him. And now why did Martina--the little, dark +Martina with the kind face and the watchful, beady eyes, like to those +of a robin in our northern lands--speak as she had done, and then +burst into tears? + +A doubt struck me, but I, who was never vain, pushed it aside. I did +not understand, and of what use was it to try to interpret the meaning +of the moods of women? My business was war, or, at the moment, the +service that has to do with war, not women. Wars had brought me to the +rank I held, though, strangely enough, of those wars I can recall +nothing now; they have vanished from my vision. To wars also I looked +to advance me in the future, who was no courtier, but a soldier, whom +circumstances had brought to Court. Well, thanks to Martina, as she +said, or to some caprice of the Empress, I had a new commission that +was of more worth to me than her random kisses, and I would go to read +it. + +Read it I did in the little private room upon the palace wall which +was mine as captain of the Augusta's guard, though, being written in +Greek, I found this difficult. Martina had spoken truly. I was made +the Governor of the State prison, with all authority, including that +of life and death should emergency arise. Moreover, this governorship +gave me the rank of a general, with a general's pay, also such +pickings as I chose to take. In short, from captain of the guard, +suddenly I had become a great man in Constantinople, one with whom +even Stauracius and others like him would have to reckon, especially +as his signature appeared upon the commission beneath that of the +Empress. + +Whilst I was wondering what I should do next, a trumpet blew upon the +ramparts, and a Northman of my company entered, saluted and said that +I was summoned. I went out, and there before me stood a dazzling band +that bowed humbly to me, whom yesterday they would have passed without +notice. Their captain, a smooth-faced Greek, came forward, and, +addressing me as "General," said the imperial orders were that he was +to escort me to the State jail. + +"For what purpose?" I asked, since it came to my mind that Irene might +have changed her fancy and issued another kind of commission. + +"As its General and Governor, Illustrious," he replied. + +"Then I will lead," I answered, "do you follow behind me." + +Thus that vision ends. + + + +In the next I see myself dwelling in some stately apartments that +formed the antechambers to the great prison. This prison, which was +situated not far from the Forum of Constantine, covered a large area +of ground, which included a garden where the prisoners were allowed to +walk. It was surrounded by a double wall, with an outer and an inner +moat, the outer dry, and the inner filled with water. There were +double gates also, and by them guard-towers. Moreover, I see a little +yard, with posts in it, where prisoners were scourged, and a small and +horrible room, furnished with a kind of wooden bed, to which they were +bound for the punishment of the putting out of their eyes and the +slitting of their tongues. In front of this room was a block where +those condemned to death were sometimes executed. + +There were many prisoners, not common felons, but people who had been +taken for reasons of State or sometimes of religion. Perhaps in all +they numbered a hundred men, and with them a few women, who had a +quarter to themselves. Besides the jailers, three-score guards were +stationed there night and day, and of all of these I was in command. + +Before I had held my office three days I found that Irene had +appointed me to it with good reason. It happened thus. The most of the +prisoners were allowed to receive presents of food and other things +sent to them by their friends. All these presents were supposed to be +inspected by the officer in charge of the prison. This rule, which had +been much neglected, I enforced again, with the result that I made +some strange discoveries. + +Thus, on the third day, there came a magnificent offering of figs for +the Cæsars and /Nobilissimi/, the brothers-in-law of Irene and the +uncles of the young Emperor Constantine, her son. These figs were +being carried past me formally, when something about the appearance of +one of them excited my suspicion. I took it and offered it to the +jailer who carried the basket. He looked frightened, shook his head, +and said, + +"General, I touch no fruit." + +"Indeed," I answered. "That is strange, since I thought that I saw you +eating of it yesterday." + +"Aye, General," he replied; "the truth is that I ate too much." + +Making no answer, I went to the window, and threw the fig to a long- +tailed, tame monkey which was chained to a post in the yard without. +It caught it and ate greedily. + +"Do not go away, friend," I said to the jailer, who was trying to +depart while my back was turned. "I have questions that I would ask +you." + +So I spoke to him about other matters, and all the while watched the +monkey. + +Soon I saw that it was ill at ease. It began to tear at its stomach +and to whimper like a child. Then it foamed at the mouth, was seized +with convulsions, and within a quarter of an hour by the water-clock +was dead. + +"It would seem that those figs are poisoned, friend," I said, "and +therefore it is fortunate for you that you ate too much fruit +yesterday. Now, man, what do you know of this matter?" + +"Nothing, sir," he answered, falling on his knees. "I swear to you by +Christ, nothing. Only I doubted. The fruits were brought by a woman +whom I thought that once I had seen in the household of the Augustus +Constantine, and I knew----" and he paused. + +"Well, what did you know, man? It would be best to tell me quickly, +who have power here." + +"I knew, sir, what all the world knows, that Constantine would be rid +of his uncles, whom he fears, though they are maimed. No more, I swear +it, no more." + +"Perhaps before the Augusta returns you may remember something more," +I said. "Therefore, I will not judge your case at present. Ho! guard, +come hither." + +As he heard the soldiers stirring without in answer to my summons, the +man, who was unarmed, looked about his desperately; then he sprang at +the fruit, and, seizing a fig, strove to thrust it into his mouth. But +I was too quick for him, and within a few seconds the soldiers had him +fast. + +"Shut this man in a safe dungeon," I said. "Treat and feed him well, +but search him. See also that he does himself no harm and that none +speak with him. Then forget all this business." + +"What charge must be entered in the book, General?" asked the officer, +saluting. + +"A charge of stealing figs that belonged to the Cæsar Nicephorus and +his royal brethren," I answered, and looked through the window. + +He followed my glance, saw the poor monkey lying dead, and started. + +"All shall be done," he said, and the man was led away. + +When he had gone, I sent for the physician of the jail, whom I knew to +be trustworthy, since I had appointed him myself. Without telling him +anything, I bade him examine and preserve the figs, and also dissect +the body of the monkey to discover why it died. + +He bowed and went away with the fruit. A while later he returned, and +showed me an open fig. In the heart of it was a pinch of white powder. + +"What is it?" I asked. + +"The deadliest poison that is known, General. See, the stalk has been +drawn out, the powder blown in through a straw, and then the stalk +replaced." + +"Ah!" I said, "that is clever, but not quite clever enough. They have +mixed the stalks. I noted that the purple fig had the stalk of a green +fig, and that is why I tried it on the monkey." + +"You observe well, General." + +"Yes, Physician, I observe. I learned that when, as a lad, I hunted +game in the far North. Also I learned to keep silent, since noise +frightens game. Do you as much." + +"Have no fear," he answered; and went about his business with the dead +monkey. + +When he had gone I thought a while. Then I rose, and went to the +chapel of the prison, or, rather, to a place whence I could see those +in the chapel without being seen. This chapel was situated in a gloomy +crypt, lighted only with oil lamps that hung from the massive pillars +and arches. The day was the Sabbath of the Christians, and when I +entered the little secret hollow in the walls, the sacrament was being +administered to certain of the prisoners. + +Truly it was a sad sight, for the ministering priest was none other +than the Cæsar Nicephorus, the eldest of the Emperor's uncles, who had +been first ordained in order that he might be unfit to sit upon the +throne, and afterwards blinded, as I have told. He was a tall, pale +man, with an uncertain mouth and a little pointed chin, apparently +between forty and fifty years of age, and his face was made dreadful +by two red hollows where the eyes should have been. Yet, +notwithstanding this disfigurement, and his tonsured crown, and the +broidered priest's robes which hung upon him awkwardly, as he stumbled +through the words of his office, to this poor victim there still +seemed to cling some air of royal birth and bearing. Being blind, he +could not see to administer the Element, and therefore his hand was +guided by one of his imperial brethren, who also had been made a +priest. The tongue of this priest had been slit, but now and again he +gibbered some direction into the ear of Nicephorus. By the altar, +watching all, sat a stern-faced monk, the confessor of the Cæsars and +of the /Nobilissimi/, who was put there to spy upon them. + +I followed the rite to its end, observing these unhappy prisoners +seeking from the mystery of their faith the only consolation that +remained to them. Many of them were men innocent of any crime, save +that of adherence to some fallen cause, political or religious; +victims were they, not sinners, to be released by death alone. I +remember that, as the meaning of the scene came home to me, I recalled +the words of Irene, who had said that she believed this world to be a +hell, and found weight in them. At length, able to bear no more, I +left my hiding-place and went into the garden behind the chapel. Here, +at least, were natural things. Here flowers, tended by the prisoners, +bloomed as they might have done in some less accursed spot. Here the +free birds sang and nested in the trees, for what to them were the +high surrounding walls? + +I sat myself down upon a seat in the shade. Presently, as I had +expected, Nicephorus, the priest-Cæsar, and his four brethren came +into the garden. Two of them led the blind man by the hand, and the +other two clung close to him, for all these unfortunates loved each +other dearly. The four with the split tongues gabbled in his ears. Now +and again, when he could catch or guess at the meaning of a word, he +answered the speaker gently; or the others, seeing that he had not +understood them aright, painfully tried to explain the error. Oh! it +was a piteous thing to see and hear. My gorge rose against the young +brute of an Emperor and his councillors who, for ambition's sake, had +wrought this horrible crime. Little did I know then that ere long +their fate would be his own, and that a mother's hand would deal it +out to him. + +They caught sight of me seated beneath the tree, and chattered like +startled starlings, till at length Nicephorus understood. + +"What say you, dear brothers?" he asked, "that the new governor of the +prison is seated yonder? Well, why should we fear him? He has been +here but a little while, yet he has shown himself very kind to us. +Moreover, he is a man of the North, no treacherous Greek, and the men +of the North are brave and upright. Once, when I was a free prince, I +had some of them in my service, and I loved them well. Our nephew, the +Emperor, offered a large sum to a Northman to blind or murder me, but +he would not do it, and was dismissed from the service of the Empire +because he spoke his mind and prayed his heathen gods to bring a like +fate upon Constantine himself. Lead me to this governor; I would talk +with him." + +So they brought Nicephorus to me, though doubtfully, and when he was +near I rose from my seat and saluted him. Thereon they all gabbled +again with their split tongues, till at length he understood and +flushed with pleasure. + +"General Olaf," he said to me, "I thank you for your courtesy to a +poor prisoner, forgotten by God and cruelly oppressed by man. General +Olaf, the promise is of little worth, but, if ever it should be in my +power, I will remember this kindness, which pleases me more than did +the shouting of the legions in the short day of my prosperity." + +"Sir," I answered, "whatever happens I shall remember your words, +which are more to me than any honours kings can bestow. Now, sir, I +will ask your royal brethren to fall back, as I wish to speak with +you." + +Nicephorus made a sign with his hand, and the four half-dumb men, all +of whom resembled him strangely, especially in the weakness of their +mouths and chins, obeyed. Bowing to me in a stately fashion, they +withdrew, leaving us alone. + +"Sir," I said, "I would warn you that you have enemies whom you may +not suspect, for my duty here wherewith I was charged by the Augusta +is not to oppress but to protect you and your imperial brothers." + +Then I told him the story of the poisoned figs. + +When he had heard it, the tears welled from his hollow eyes and ran +down his pale cheeks. + +"Constantine, my brother Leo's son, has done this," he said, "for +never will he rest until all of us are in the grave." + +"He is cruel because he fears you, O Nicephorus, and it is said that +your ambition has given him cause to fear." + +"Once, General, that was true," the prince replied. "Once, foolishly, +I did aspire to rule; but it is long ago. Now they have made a priest +of me, and I seek peace only. Can I and my brethren help it if, +mutilated though we are, some still wish to use us against the +Emperor? I tell you that Irene herself is at the back of them. She +would set us on high that afterwards she may throw us down and crush +us." + +"I am her servant, Prince, and may not listen to such talk, who know +only that she seeks to protect you from your enemies, and for that +reason has placed me here, it seems not in vain. If you would continue +to live, I warn you and your brethren to fly from plots and to be +careful of what you eat and drink." + +"I do not desire to live, General," he answered. "Oh! that I might +die. Would that I might die." + +"Death is not difficult to find, Prince," I replied, and left him. + +These may seem hard words, but, be it remembered, I was no Christian +then, but a heathen man. To see one who had been great and fallen from +his greatness, one whom Fortune had deserted utterly, whining at Fate +like a fretful child, and yet afraid to seek his freedom, moved me to +contempt as well as to pity. Therefore, I spoke the words. + +Yet all the rest of that day they weighed upon my mind, for I knew +well how I should have interpreted them were I in this poor Cæsar's +place. So heavily did they weigh that, during the following night, an +impulse drew me from my bed and caused me to visit the cells in which +these princes were imprisoned. Four of them were dark and silent, but +in that of Nicephorus burned a light. I listened at the door, and +through the key-place heard that the prisoner within was praying, and +sobbing as he prayed. + +Then I went away; but when I reached the end of the long passage +something drew me back again. It was as though a hand I could not see +were guiding me. I returned to the door of the cell, and now through +it heard choking sounds. Quickly I shot the bolts and unlocked it with +my master-key. This was what I saw within: + +To a bar of the window-place was fastened such a rope as monks wear +for a girdle; at the end of the rope was a noose, and in that noose +the head of Nicephorus. There he hung, struggling. His hands had +gripped the rope above his head, for though he had sought Death, at +the last he tried to escape him. Of such stuff was Nicephorus made. +Yet it was too late, or would have been, for as I entered the place +his hands slipped from the thin cord, which tightened round his +throat, choking him. + +My sword was at my side. Drawing it, with a blow I cut the rope and +caught him in my arms. Already he was swooning, but I poured water +over his face, and, as his neck remained unbroken, he recovered his +breath and senses. + +"What play is this, Prince?" I asked. + +"One that you taught me, General," he answered painfully. "You said +that death could be found. I went to seek him, but at the last I +feared. Oh! I tell you that when I thrust away that stool, my blind +eyes were opened, and I saw the fires of hell and the hands of devils +grasping at my soul to plunge it into them. Blessings be on you who +have saved me from those fires," and seizing my hand he kissed it. + +"Do not thank me," I said, "but thank the God you worship, for I think +that He must have put it into my mind to visit you to-night. Now swear +to me by that God that you will attempt such a deed no more, for if +you will not swear then you must be fettered." + +Then he swore so fervently by his Christ that I was sure he would +never break the oath. After he had sworn I told him how I could not +rest because of the strange fears which oppressed me. + +"Oh!" he said, "without doubt it was God who sent His angel to you +that I might be saved from the most dreadful of all sins. Without +doubt it was God, Who knows you, although you do not know Him." + +After this he fell upon his knees, and, having untied the cut rope +from the window bars, I left him. + + + +Now I tell this story because it has to do with my own, for it was +these words of the Prince that first turned me to the study of the +Christian Faith. Indeed, had they never been spoken, I believe that I +should have lived and died a heathen man. Hitherto I had judged of +that Faith by the works of those who practised it in Constantinople, +and found it wanting. Now, however, I was sure that some Power from +above us had guided me to the chamber of Nicephorus in time to save +his life, me, who, had he died, in a sense would have been guilty of +his blood. For had he not been driven to the deed by my bitter, +mocking words? It may be said that this would have mattered little; +that he might as well have died by his own hand as be taken to Athens, +there to perish with his brethren, whether naturally or by murder I do +not know. But who can judge of such secret things? Without doubt the +sufferings of Nicephorus had a purpose, as have all our sufferings. He +was kept alive for reasons known to his Maker though not to man. + +Here I will add that of this unhappy Cæsar and his brethren I remember +little more. Dimly I seem to recollect that during my period of office +some attack was made upon the prison by those who would have put the +prince to death, but that I discovered the plot through the jailer who +had introduced the poisoned figs, and defeated it with ease, thereby +gaining much credit with Irene and her ministers. If so, of this plot +history says nothing. All it tells of these princes is that afterwards +a mob haled them to the Cathedral of St. Sophia and there proclaimed +Nicephorus emperor. But they were taken again, and at last shipped to +Athens, where they vanished from the sight of men. + +God rest their tortured souls, for they were more sinned against than +sinning. + + + + CHAPTER III + + MOTHER AND SON + +The next vision of this Byzantine life of mine that rises before me is +that of a great round building crowned with men clad in bishops' +robes. At least they wore mitres, and each of them had a crooked +pastoral staff which in most cases was carried by an attendant monk. + +Some debate was in progress, or rather raging. Its subject seemed to +be as to whether images should or should not be worshipped in +churches. It was a furious thing, that debate. One party to it were +called Iconoclasts, that was the party which did not like images, and +I think the other party were called Orthodox, but of this I am not +sure. So furious was it that I, the general and governor of the +prison, had been commanded by those in authority to attend in order to +prevent violence. The beginnings of what happened I do not remember. +What I do remember is that the anti-Iconoclasts, the party to which +the Empress Irene belonged, that was therefore the fashionable sect, +being, as it seemed to me, worsted in argument, fell back on violence. + +There followed a great tumult, in which the spectators took part, and +the strange sight was seen of priests and their partisans, and even of +bishops themselves, falling upon their adversaries and beating them +with whatever weapon was to hand; yes, even with their pastoral +staves. It was a wonderful thing to behold, these ministers of the +Christ of peace belabouring each other with pastoral staves! + +The party that advocated the worship of images was the more numerous +and had the greater number of adherents, and therefore those who +thought otherwise were defeated. A few of them were dragged out into +the street and killed by the mob which waited there, and more were +wounded, notwithstanding all that I and the guards could do to protect +them. Among the Iconoclasts was a gentle-faced old man with a long +beard, one of the bishops from Egypt, who was named Barnabas. He had +said little in the debate, which lasted for several days, and when he +spoke his words were full of charity and kindness. Still, the image +faction hated him, and when the final tumult began some of them set +upon him. Indeed, one brawny, dark-faced bishop--I think it was he of +Antioch--rushed at Barnabas, and before I could thrust him back, broke +a jewelled staff upon his head, while other priests tore his robe from +neck to shoulder and spat in his face. + +At last the riot was quelled; the dead were borne away, and orders +came to me that I was to convey Barnabas to the State prison if he +still lived, together with some others, of whom I remember nothing. So +thither I took Barnabas, and there, with the help of the prison +physician--he to whom I had given the poisoned figs and the dead +monkey to be examined--I nursed him back to life and health. + +His illness was long, for one of the blows which he had received +crippled him, and during it we talked much together. He was a very +sweet-natured man and holy, a native of Britain, whose father or +grandfather had been a Dane, and therefore there was a tie between us. +In his youth he was a soldier. Having been taken prisoner in some war, +he came to Italy, where he was ordained a priest at Rome. Afterwards +he was sent as a missionary to Egypt, where he was appointed the head +of a monastery, and in the end elected to a bishopric. But he had +never forgotten the Danish tongue, which his parents taught him as a +child, and so we were able to talk together in that language. + +Now it would seem that since that night when the Cæsar Nicephorus +strove to hang himself, I had obtained and studied a copy of the +Christian Scriptures--how I do not know--and therefore was able to +discuss these matters with Barnabas the bishop. Of our arguments I +remember nothing, save that I pointed out to him that whereas the tree +seemed to me to be very good, its fruits were vile beyond imagination, +and I instanced the horrible tumult when he had been wounded almost to +death, not by common men, but by the very leaders of the Christians. + +He answered that these things must happen; that Christ Himself had +said He came to bring not peace but a sword, and that only through war +and struggle would the last truth be reached. The spirit was always +good, he added, but the flesh was always vile. These deeds were those +of the flesh, which passed away, but the spirit remained pure and +immortal. + +The end of it was that under the teaching of the holy Barnabas, saint +and martyr (for afterwards he was murdered by the followers of the +false prophet, Mahomet), I became a Christian and a new man. Now at +length I understood what grace it was that had given me courage to +offer battle to the heathen god, Odin, and to smite him down. Now I +saw also where shone the light which I had been seeking these many +years. Aye, and I clasped that light to my bosom to be my lamp in life +and death. + +So a day came when my beloved master, Barnabas, who would allow no +delay in this matter, baptised me in his cell with water taken from +his drinking vessel, charging me to make public profession before the +Church when opportunity should arise. + +It was just at this time that Irene returned from the Baths, and I +sent to her a written report of all that had happened at the prison +since I had been appointed its governor. Also I prayed that if it were +her will I might be relieved of my office, as it was one which did not +please me. + +A few days later, while I sat in my chamber at the prison writing a +paper concerning a prisoner who had died, the porter at the gate +announced that a messenger from the Augusta wished to see me. I bade +him show in the messenger, and presently there entered no chamberlain +or eunuch, but a woman wrapped in a dark cloak. When the man had gone +and the door was shut, she threw off the cloak and I saw that my +visitor was Martina, the favourite waiting-lady of the Empress. We +greeted each other warmly, who were always friends, and I asked her +tidings. + +"My tidings are, Olaf, that the waters have suited the Augusta very +well. She has lost several pounds in weight and her skin is now like +that of a young child." + +"All health to the Augusta!" I said, laughing. "But you have not come +here to tell me of the state of the royal skin. What next, Martina?" + +"This, Olaf. The Empress has read your report with her own eyes, which +is a rare thing for her to do. She said she wished to see whether or +no you could write Greek. She is much pleased with the report, and +told Stauracius in my presence that she had done well in choosing you +for your office while she was absent from the city, since thereby she +had saved the lives of the Cæsars and /Nobilissimi/, desiring as she +does that these princes should be kept alive, at any rate for the +present. She accedes also to your prayer, and will relieve you of your +office as soon as a new governor can be chosen. You are to return to +guard her person, but with your rank of general confirmed." + +"That is all good news, Martina; so good that I wonder what sting is +hidden in all this honey." + +"That you will find out presently, Olaf. One I can warn you of, +however--the sting of jealousy. Advancement such as yours draws eyes +to you, not all of them in love." + +I nodded and she went on: + +"Meantime your star seems to shine very bright indeed. One might +almost say that the Augusta worshipped it, at least she talks of you +to me continually, and once or twice was in half a mind to send for +you to the Baths. Indeed, had it not been for reasons of State +connected with your prisoners I think she would have done so." + +"Ah!" I said, "now I think I begin to feel another sting in the +honey." + +"Another sting in the honey! Nay, nay, you mean a divine perfume, an +essence of added sweetness, a flavour of the flowers on Mount Ida. +Why, Olaf, if I were your enemy, as I dare say I shall be some day, +for often we learn to hate those whom we have--rather liked, your head +and your shoulders might bid good-bye to each other for such words as +those." + +"Perhaps, Martina; and if they did I do not know that it would greatly +matter--now." + +"Not greatly matter, when you are driving at full gallop along +Fortune's road to Fame's temple with an Empress for your charioteer! +Are you blind or mad, Olaf, or both? And what do you mean by your +'now'? Olaf, something has happened to you since last we met. Have you +fallen in love with some fair prisoner in this hateful place and been +repulsed? Such a fool as you are might take refusal even from a +captive in his own hands. At least you are different." + +"Yes, Martina, something has happened to me. I have become a +Christian." + +"Oh! Olaf, now I see that you are not a fool, as I thought, but very +clever. Why, only yesterday the Augusta said to me--it was after she +had read that report of yours--that if you were but a Christian she +would be minded to lift you high indeed. But as you remained the most +obstinate of heathens she did not see how it could be done without +causing great trouble." + +"Now I wish one could be a Christian within and remain a pagan +without," I answered grimly; "though alas! that may not be. Martina, +do you not understand that it was for no such reasons as these that I +kissed the Cross; that in so doing I sought not fortune, but to be its +servant?" + +"By the Saints! you'll be tonsured next, and ill enough it would suit +you," she exclaimed. "Remember, if things grow too--difficult, you can +always be tonsured, Olaf. Only then you will have to give up the hope +of that lady who wears the other half of the necklace somewhere. I +don't mean Irene's sham half, but the real one. Oh! stop blushing and +stammering, I know the story, and all about Iduna the Fair also. An +exalted person told it me, and so did you, although you were not aware +that you had done so, for you are not one who can keep a secret to +himself. May all the guardian angels help that necklace-lady if ever +she should meet another lady whom I will not name. And now why do you +talk so much? Are you learning to preach, or what? If you really do +mean to become a monk, Olaf, there is another thing you must give up, +and that is war, except of the kind which you saw at the Council the +other day. God above us! what a sight it would be to see you battering +another bishop with a hook-shaped staff over a question of images or +the Two Natures. I should be sorry for that bishop. But you haven't +told me who converted you." + +"Barnabas of Egypt," I said. + +"Oh! I hoped that it had been a lady saint; the story would have been +so much more interesting to the Court. Well, our imperial mistress +does not like Barnabas, because he does not like images, and that may +be a sting in /her/ honey. But perhaps she will forgive him for your +sake. You'll have to worship images." + +"What do I care about images? It is the spirit that I seek, Martina, +and all these things are nothing." + +"You are thorough, as usual, Olaf, and jump farther than you can see. +Well, be advised and say naught for or against images. As they have no +meaning for you, what can it matter if they are or are not there? +Leave them to the blind eyes and little minds. And now I must be gone, +who can listen to your gossip no longer. Oh! I had forgotten my +message. The Augusta commands that you shall wait on her this evening +immediately after she has supped. Hear and obey!" + +Having delivered this formal mandate, to neglect which meant +imprisonment, or worse, she threw her cloak about her, and with a +wondering glance at my face, opened the door and went. + +At the hour appointed, or, rather, somewhat before it, I attended at +the private apartments of the palace. Evidently I was expected, for +one of the chamberlains, on seeing me, bowed and bade me be seated, +then left the ante-room. Presently the door opened again, and through +it came Martina, clad in her white official robe. + +"You are early, Olaf," she said, "like a lover who keeps a tryst. +Well, it is always wise to meet good fortune half way. But why do you +come clad in full armour? It is not the custom to wait thus upon the +Empress at this hour when you are off duty." + +"I thought that I was on duty, Martina." + +"Then, as usual, you thought wrong. Take off that armour; she says +that the sight of it always makes her feel cold after supper. I say +take it off; or if you cannot, I will help you." + +So the mail was removed, leaving me clad in my plain blue tunic and +hose. + +"Would you have me come before the Empress thus?" I asked. + +By way of answer she clapped her hands and bade the eunuch who +answered the signal to bring a certain robe. He went, and presently +reappeared with a wondrous garment of silk broidered with gold, such +as nobles of high rank wore at festivals. This robe, which fitted as +though it had been made for me, I put on, though I liked the look of +it little. Martina would have had me even remove my sword, but I +refused, saying: + +"Except at the express order of the Empress, I and my sword are not +parted." + +"Well, she said nothing about the sword, Olaf, so let it be. All she +said was that I must be careful that the robe matched the colour of +the necklace you wear. She cannot bear colours which jar upon each +other, especially by lamp-light." + +"Am I a man," I asked angrily, "or a beast being decked for +sacrifice?" + +"Fie, Olaf, have you not yet forgotten your heathen talk? Remember, I +pray you, that you are now a Christian in a Christian land." + +"I thank you for reminding me of it," I replied; and that moment a +chamberlain, entering hurriedly, commanded my presence. + +"Good luck to you, Olaf," said Martina as I followed him. "Be sure to +tell me the news later--or to-morrow." + +Then the chamberlain led me, not into the audience hall, as I had +expected, but to the private imperial dining chamber. Here, reclining +upon couches in the old Roman fashion, one on either side of a narrow +table on which stood fruits and flagons of rich-hued Greek wine, were +the two greatest people in the world, the Augusta Irene and the +Augustus Constantine, her son. + +She was wonderfully apparelled in a low-cut garment of white silk, +over which fell a mantle of the imperial purple, and I noted that on +her dazzling bosom hung that necklace of emerald beetles separated by +golden shells which she had caused to be copied from my own. On her +fair hair that grew low upon her forehead and was parted in the +middle, she wore a diadem of gold in which were set emeralds to match +the beetles of the necklace. The Augustus was arrayed in the festal +garments of a Cæsar, also covered with a purple cloak. He was a heavy- +faced and somewhat stupid-looking youth, dark-haired, like his father +and uncles, but having large, blue, and not unkindly eyes. From his +flushed face I gathered that he had drunk well of the strong Greek +wine, and from the sullen look about his mouth that, as was common, he +had been quarrelling with his mother. + +I stood at the end of the table and saluted first the Empress and then +the Emperor. + +"Who's this?" he asked, glancing at me. + +"General Olaf, of my guard," she answered, "Governor of the State +Prison. You remember, you wished me to send for him to settle the +point as to which we were arguing." + +"Oh! yes. Well, General Olaf, of my mother's guard, have you not been +told that you should salute the Augustus before the Augusta?" + +"Sire," I answered humbly, "I have heard nothing of that matter, but +in the land where I was bred I was taught that if a man and a woman +were together I must always bow first to the woman and then to the +man." + +"Well said," exclaimed the Empress, clapping her hands; but the +Emperor answered: "Doubtless your mother taught you that, not your +father. Next time you enter the imperial chamber be pleased to forget +the lesson and to remember that Emperors and Empresses are not men and +women." + +"Sire," I answered, "as you command I will remember that Emperors and +Empresses are not men and women, but Emperors and Empresses." + +At these words the Augustus began to scowl, but, changing his mind, +laughed, as did his mother. He filled a gold cup with wine and pushed +it towards me, saying: + +"Drink to us, soldier, for after you have done so, our wits may be +better matched." + +I took the cup and holding it, said: + +"I pledge your Imperial Majesties, who shine upon the world like twin +stars in the sky. All hail to your Majesties!" and I drank, but not +too deep. + +"You are clever," growled the Augustus. "Well, keep the cup; you've +earned it. Yet drain it first, man. You have scarce wet your lips. Do +you fear that it is poisoned, as you say yonder fruits are?" And he +pointed to a side-table, where stood a jar of glass in which were +those very figs that had been sent to the princes in the prison. + +"The cup you give is mine," interrupted Irene; "still, my servant is +welcome to the gift. It shall be sent to your quarters, General." + +"A soldier has no need of such gauds, your Majesties," I began, when +Constantine, who, while we spoke, had swallowed another draught of the +strong wine, broke in angrily: + +"May I not give a cup of gold but you must claim it, I to whom the +Empire and all its wealth belong?" + +Snatching up the beaker he dashed it to the floor, spilling the wine, +of which I, who wished to keep my head cool, was glad. + +"Have done," he went on in his drunken rage. "Shall the Cæsars +huckster over a piece of worked gold like Jews in a market? Give me +those figs, man; I'll settle the matter of this poison." + +I brought the jar of figs, and, bowing, set them down before him. That +they were the same I knew, for the glass was labelled in my own +writing and in that of the physician. He cut away the sealed parchment +which was stretched over the mouth of the jar. + +"Now hearken you, Olaf," he said. "It is true that I ordered fruit to +be sent to that fool-Cæsar, my uncle, because the last time I saw him +Nicephorus prayed me for it, and I was willing to do him a pleasure. +But that I ordered the fruit to be poisoned, as my mother says, is a +lie, and may God curse the tongue that spoke it. I will show you that +it was a lie," and plunging his hand into the spirit of the jar, he +drew out two of the figs. "Now," he went on, waving them about in a +half-drunken fashion, "this General Olaf of yours says that these are +the same figs which were sent to the Cæsar, I mean the blind priest, +Father Nicephorus. Don't you, Olaf?" + +"Yes, Sire," I answered, "they were placed in that bottle in my +presence and sealed with my seal." + +"Well, those figs were sent by me, and this Olaf tells us they are +poisoned. I'll show him, and you too, mother, that they are /not/ +poisoned, for I will eat one of them." + +Now I looked at the Augusta, but she sat silent, her arms folded on +her white bosom, her handsome face turned as it were to stone. + +Constantine lifted the fig towards his loose mouth. Again I looked at +the Augusta. Still she sat there like a statue, and it came into my +mind that it was her purpose to allow this wine-bemused man to eat the +fig. Then I acted. + +"Augustus," I said, "you must not touch that fruit," and stepping +forward I took it from his hand. + +He sprang to his feet and began to revile me. + +"You watch-dog of the North!" he shouted. "Do you dare to say to the +Emperor that he shall not do this or that? By all the images my mother +worships I'll have you whipped through the Circus." + +"That you will never do," I answered, for my free blood boiled at the +insult. "I tell you, Sire," I went on, leaving out certain words which +I meant to speak, "that the fig is poisoned." + +"And I tell you that you lie, you heathen savage. See here! Either you +eat that fig or I do, so that we may know who speaks the truth. If you +won't, I will. Now obey, or, by Christ! to-morrow you shall be shorter +by a head." + +"The Augustus is pleased to threaten, which is unnecessary," I +remarked. "If I eat the fig, will the Augustus swear to leave the rest +of them uneaten?" + +"Aye," he answered with a hiccough, "for then I shall know the truth, +and for the truth I live, though," he added, "I haven't found it yet." + +"And if I do not eat it, will the Augustus do so?" + +"By the Holy Blood, yes. I'll eat a dozen of them. Am I one to be +hectored by a woman and a barbarian? Eat, or I eat." + +"Good, Sire. It is better that a barbarian should die than that the +world should lose its glorious Emperor. I eat, and when you are as I +soon shall be, as will happen even to an emperor, may my blood lie +heavy on your soul, the blood which I give to save your life." + +Then I lifted the fig to my lips. + +Before ever it touched them, with a motion swift as that of a panther +springing on its prey, Irene had leapt from her couch and dashed the +fruit from my hand. She turned upon her son. + +"What kind of a thing are you," she asked, "who would suffer a brave +man to poison himself that he may save your worthless life? Oh! God, +what have I done that I should have given birth to such a hound? +Whoever poisoned them, these fruits are poisoned, as has been proved +and can be proved again, yes, and shall be. I tell you that if Olaf +had tasted one of them by now he would have been dead or dying." + +Constantine drank another cup of wine, which, oddly enough, seemed to +sober him for the moment. + +"I find all this strange," he said heavily. "You, my mother, would +have suffered me to eat the fig which you declare is poisoned; a +matter whereof you may know something. But when the General Olaf +offers to eat it in my place, with your own royal hand you dash it +from his lips, as he dashed it from mine. And there is another thing +which is still more strange. This Olaf, who also says the figs are +poisoned, offered to eat one of them if I promised I would not do so, +which means, if he is right, that he offered to give his life for +mine. Yet I have done nothing for him except call him hard names; and +as he is your servant he has nothing to look for from me if I should +win the fight with you at last. Now I have heard much talk of +miracles, but this is the only one I have ever seen. Either Olaf is a +liar, or he is a great man and a saint. He says, I am told, that the +monkey which ate one of those figs died. Well, I never thought of it +before, but there are more monkeys in the palace. Indeed, one lives on +the terrace near by, for I fed it this afternoon. We'll put the matter +to the proof and learn of what stuff this Olaf is really made." + +On the table stood a silver bell, and as he spoke he struck it. A +chamberlain entered and was ordered to bring in the monkey. He +departed, and with incredible swiftness the beast and its keeper +arrived. It was a large animal of the baboon tribe, famous throughout +the palace for its tricks. Indeed, on entering, at a word from the man +who led it, it bowed to all of us. + +"Give your beast these," said the Emperor, handing the keeper several +of the figs. + +The baboon took the fruits and, having sniffed at them, put them +aside. Then the keeper fed it with some sweetmeats, which it caught +and devoured, and presently, when its fears were allayed, threw it one +of the figs, which it swallowed, doubtless thinking it a sweetmeat. A +minute or two later it began to show signs of distress and shortly +afterwards died in convulsions. + +"Now," said Irene, "now do you believe, my son?" + +"Yes," he answered, "I believe that there is a saint in +Constantinople. Sir Saint, I salute you. You have saved my life and if +it should come my way, by your brother saints! I'll save yours, +although you are my mother's servant." + +So speaking, he drank off yet another cup of wine and reeled from the +room. + +The keeper, at a sign from Irene, lifted up the body of the dead ape +and also left the chamber, weeping as he went, for he had loved this +beast. + + + + CHAPTER IV + + OLAF OFFERS HIS SWORD + +The Emperor had gone, drunk; the ape had gone, dead; and its keeper +had gone, weeping. Irene and I alone were left in that beautiful place +with the wine-stained table on which stood the jar of poisoned figs +and the bent golden cup lying on the marble floor. + +She sat upon the couch, looking at me with a kind of amazement in her +eyes, and I stood before her at attention, as does a soldier on duty. + +"I wonder why he did not send for one of my servants to eat those figs +--Stauracius, for instance," she mused, adding with a little laugh, +"Well, if he had, there are some whom I could have spared better than +that poor ape, which at times I used to feed. It was an honest +creature, that ape; the only creature in the palace that would not rub +its head in the dust before the Augusta. Ah! now I remember, it always +hated Constantine, for when he was a child he used to tease it with a +stick, getting beyond the length of its chain and striking it. But one +day, as he passed too near, it caught him and buffeted him on the +cheek and tore out some of his hair. He wanted to kill it then, but I +forbade him. Yet he has never forgotten it, he who never does forget +anything he hates, and that is why he sent for the poor beast." + +"The Augusta will remember that the Augustus did not know that the +figs were poisoned." + +"The Augusta is sure that the Augustus knew well enough that those +figs were poisoned, at any rate from the moment that I dashed one of +them from your lips, Olaf. Well, I have made a bitterer enemy than +before, that's all. They say that by Nature's rule mother and child +must love each other, but it is a lie. I tell you it's a lie. From the +time he was tiny I hated that boy, though not half as much as he has +hated me. You are thinking to yourself that this is because our +ambitions clash like meeting swords, and that from them spring these +fires of hate. It is not so. The hate is native to our hearts, and +will only end when one of us lies dead at the other's hand." + +"Terrible words, Augusta." + +"Yes, but true. Truth is always terrible--in Byzantium. Olaf, take +those drugged fruits and set them in the drawer of yonder table; lock +it and guard the key, lest they should poison other honest animals." + +I obeyed and returned to my station. + +She looked at me and said: + +"I grow weary of the sight of you standing there like a statue of the +Roman Mars, with your sword half hid beneath your cloak; and, what's +more, I hate this hall; it reeks of Constantine and his drink and +lies. Oh! he's vile, and for my sins God has made me his mother, +unless, indeed, he was changed at birth, as I've been told, though I +could never prove it. Give me your hand and help me to rise. So, I +thank you. Now follow me. We'll sit a while in my private chamber, +where alone I can be happy, since the Emperor never comes there. Nay, +talk not of duty; you have no guards to set or change to-night. Follow +me; I have secret business of which I would talk with you." + +So she went and I followed through doors that opened mysteriously at +our approach and shut mysteriously behind us, till I found myself in a +little room half-lighted only, that I had never seen before. It was a +scented and a beautiful place, in one corner of which a white statue +gleamed, that of a Venus kissing Cupid, who folded one wing about her +head, and through the open window-place the moonlight shone and +floated the murmur of the sea. + +The double doors were shut, for aught I knew locked, and with her own +hands Irene drew the curtains over them. Near the open window, to +which there was no balcony, stood a couch. + +"Sit yonder, Olaf," she said, "for here there is no ceremony; here we +are but man and woman." + +I obeyed, while she busied herself with the curtains. Then she came +and sat herself down on the couch also, leaning against the end of it +in such a fashion that she could watch me in the moonlight. + +"Olaf," she said, after she had looked at me a while, rather +strangely, as I thought, for the colour came and went upon her face, +which in that light seemed quite young again and wonderfully +beautiful, "Olaf, you are a very brave man." + +"There are hundreds in your service braver, Empress; cowards do not +take to soldiering." + +"I could tell you a different story, Olaf; but it was not of this kind +of courage that I talked. It was of that which made you offer to eat +the poisoned fig in place of Constantine. Why did you do so? It is +true that, as things have happened, he'll remember it in your favour, +for I'll say this of him, he never forgets one who has saved him from +harm, any more than he forgets one who has harmed him. But if you had +eaten you would have died, and then how could he have rewarded you?" + +"Empress, when I took my oath of office I swore to protect both the +Augustus and the Augusta, even with my life. I was fulfilling my oath, +that is all." + +"You are a strange man as well as a brave man to interpret oaths so +strictly. If you will do as much as this for one who is nothing to +you, and who has never paid you a gold piece, how much, I wonder, +would you do for one whom you love." + +"I could offer no more than my life for such a one, Empress, could I?" + +"Someone told me--it may have been you, Olaf, or another--that once +you did more, challenging a heathen god for the sake of one you loved, +and defeating him. It was added that this was for a man, but that I do +not believe. Doubtless it was for the sake of Iduna the Fair, of whom +you have spoken to me, whom it seems you cannot forget although she +was faithless to you. It is said that the best way to hold love is to +be faithless to him who loves, and in truth I believe it," she added +bitterly. + +"You are mistaken, Empress. It was to be avenged on him for the life +of Steinar, my foster-brother, which he had taken in sacrifice, that I +dared Odin and hewed his holy statue to pieces with this sword; of +Steinar, whom Iduna betrayed as she betrayed me, bringing one to death +and the other to shame." + +"At least, had it not been for this Iduna you would never have given +battle to the great god of the North and thus brought his curse upon +you. For, Olaf, those gods live; they are devils." + +"Whether Odin is or is not, I do not fear his curse, Empress." + +"Yet it will find you out before all is done, or so I think. Look you, +pagan blood still runs in me, and, Christian though I am, I would not +dare one of the great gods of Greece and Rome. I'd leave that to the +priests. Do you fear nothing, Olaf?" + +"I think nothing at all, since I hewed off Odin's head and came away +unscathed." + +"Then you are a man to my liking, Olaf." + +She paused, looking at me even more strangely than before, till I +turned my eyes, indeed, and stared out at the sea, wishing that I were +in it, or anywhere away from this lovely and imperious woman whom I +was sworn to obey in all things. + +"Olaf," she said presently, "you have served me well of late. Is there +any reward that you would ask, and if so, what? Anything that I can +give is yours, unless," she added hastily, "the gift will take you +away from Constantinople and from--me." + +"Yes, Augusta," I answered, still staring out at the sea. "In the +prison yonder is an old bishop named Barnabas of Egypt, who was set +upon by other bishops at the Council while you were away and wellnigh +beaten to death. I ask that he may be freed and restored to his +diocese with honour." + +"Barnabas," she replied sharply. "I know the man. He is an Iconoclast, +and therefore my enemy. Only this morning I signed an order that he +should be kept in confinement till he died, here or elsewhere. Still," +she went on, "though I would sooner give you a province, have your +gift, for I can refuse you nothing. Barnabas shall be freed and +restored to his see with honour. I have said." + +Now I began to thank her, but she stopped me, saying: + +"Have done! Another time you can talk to me of heretics with whom you +have made friends, but I, who hear enough of such, would have no more +of them to-night." + +So I grew silent and still stared out at the sea. Indeed, I was +wondering in my mind whether I dared ask leave to depart, for I felt +her eyes burning on me, and grew much afraid. Suddenly I heard a +sound, a gentle sound of rustling silk, and in another instant I felt +Irene's arms clasped about me and Irene's head laid upon my knee. Yes, +she was kneeling before me, sobbing, and her proud head was resting on +my knee. The diadem she wore had fallen from it, and her tresses, +breaking loose, flowed to the ground, and lay there gleaming like gold +in the moonlight. + +She looked up, and her face was that of a weeping saint. + +"Dost understand?" she whispered. + +Now despair took me, which I knew full well would soon be followed by +madness. Then came a thought. + +"Yes," I said hoarsely. "I understand that you grieve over that matter +of the Augustus and the poisoned figs, and would pray me to keep +silence. Have no fear, my lips are sealed, but for his I cannot +answer, though perhaps as he had drunk so much----" + +"Fool!" she whispered. "Is it thus that an Empress pleads with her +captain to keep silence?" Then she drew herself up, a wonderful look +upon her face that had grown suddenly white, a fire in her upturned +eyes, and for the second time kissed me upon the lips. + +I took her in my arms and kissed her back. For an instant my mind +swam. Then in my soul I cried for help, and strength came to me. +Rising, I lifted her as though she were a child, and stood her on her +feet. I said: + +"Hearken, Empress, before destruction falls. I do understand now, +though a moment ago I did not, who never thought it possible that the +queen of the world could look with favour upon one so humble." + +"Love takes no account of rank," she murmured, "and that kiss of yours +upon my lips is more to me than the empire of the world." + +"Yet hearken," I answered. "There is another wall between us which may +not be climbed." + +"Man, what is this wall? Is it named woman? Are you sworn to the +memory of that Iduna, who is more fair than I? Or is it, perchance, +her of the necklace?" + +"Neither. Iduna is dead to me; she of the necklace is but a dream. The +wall is that of your own faith. On this night seven days ago I was +baptised a Christian." + +"Well, what of it? This draws us nearer." + +"Study the sayings of your sacred book, Empress, and you will find +that it thrusts us apart." + +Now she coloured to her hair, and a kind of madness took her. + +"Am I to be preached to by you?" she asked. + +"I preach to myself, Augusta, who need it greatly, not to you, who +mayhap do not need it." + +"Hating me as you do, why should you need it? You are the worst of +hypocrites, who would veil your hate under a priest's robe." + +"Have you no pity, Irene? When did I say that I hated you? Moreover, +if I had hated you, should I----" and I ceased. + +"I do not know what you would or would not have done," she answered +coldly. "I think that Constantine is right, and that you must be what +is called a saint; and, if so, saints are best in heaven, especially +when they know too much on earth. Give me that sword of yours." + +I drew the sword, saluted with it, and gave it to her. + +"It is a heavy weapon," she said. "Whence came it?" + +"From the same grave as the necklace, Augusta." + +"Ah! the necklace that your dream-woman wore. Well, go to seek her in +the land of dreams," and she lifted the sword. + +"Your pardon, Augusta, but you are about to strike with the blunt +edge, which may wound but will not kill." + +She laughed a little, very nervously, and, turning the sword round in +her hand, said: + +"Truly, you are the strangest of men! Ah! I thank you, now I have it +right. Do you understand, Olaf, I mean, Sir Saint, what sort of a +story I must tell of you after I have struck? Do you understand that +not only are you about to die, but that infamy will be poured upon +your name and that your body will be dragged through the streets and +thrown to the dogs with the city offal? Answer, I say, answer!" + +"I understand that you must cause these things to be done for your own +sake, Augusta, and I do not complain. Lies matter nothing to me, who +journey to the Land of Truth, where there are some whom I would meet +again. Be advised by me. Strike here, where the neck joins the +shoulder, holding the sword slantwise, for there even a woman's blow +will serve to sever the great artery." + +"I cannot. Kill yourself, Olaf." + +"A week ago I'd have fallen on the sword; but now, by the rule of our +faith, in such a cause I may not. My blood must be upon your hands, +for which I grieve, knowing that no other road is open to you. +Augusta, if it is worth anything to you, take my full forgiveness for +the deed, and with it my thanks for all the goodness you have shown to +me, but most for your woman's favour. In after years, perhaps, when +death draws near to you also, if ever you remember Olaf, your faithful +servant, you will understand much it is not fitting that I should say. +Give me one moment to make my peace with Heaven as to certain kisses. +Then strike hard and swiftly, and, as you strike, scream for your +guards and women. Your wit will do the rest." + +She lifted the sword, while, after a moment's prayer, I bared my neck +of the silk robe. Then she let it fall again, gasping, and said: + +"Tell me first, for I am curious. Are you no man? Or have you forsworn +woman, as do the monks?" + +"Not I, Augusta. Had I lived, some day I might have married, who would +have wished to leave children behind me, since in our law marriage is +allowed. Forget not your promise as to the Bishop Barnabas, who, I +fear, will weep over this seeming fall of mine." + +"So you would marry, would you?" she said, as one who speaks to +herself; then thought awhile, and handed me back the sword. + +"Olaf," she went on, "you have made me feel as I never felt before-- +ashamed, utterly ashamed, and though I learn to hate you, as it well +may hap I shall, know that I shall always honour you." + +Then she sank down upon the couch, and, hiding her face in her hands, +wept bitterly. + +It was at this moment that I went very near to loving Irene. + +I think she must have felt something of what was passing in my mind, +for suddenly she looked up and said: "Give me that jewel," and she +pointed to the diadem on the floor, "and help me to order my hair; my +hands shake." + +"Nay," I said, as I gave her the crown. "Of that wine I drink no more. +I dare not touch you; you grow too dear." + +"For those words," she whispered, "go in safety, and remember that +from Irene you have naught to fear, as I know well I have naught to +fear from you, O Prince among men." + +So presently I went. + + + +On the following morning, as I sat in my office at the prison, setting +all things in order for whoever should succeed me, Martina entered, as +she had done before. + +"How came you here unannounced?" I asked, when she was seated. + +"By virtue of this," she answered, holding up her hand and showing on +it a ring I knew. It was the signet of the Empress. I saluted the +seal, saying: + +"And for what purpose, Martina? To order me to bonds or death?" + +"To bonds or death!" she exclaimed innocently. "What can our good Olaf +have done worthy of such woes? Nay, I come to free one from bonds, and +perhaps from death, namely, a certain heretic bishop who is named +Barnabas. Here is the order for his release, signed by the Augusta's +hand and sealed with her seal, under which he is at liberty to bide in +Constantinople while he will and to return to his bishopric in Egypt +when it pleases him. Also, if he holds that any have harmed him, he +may make complaint, and it shall be considered without delay." + +I took the parchment, read it, and laid it on the table, saying: + +"The commands of the Empress shall be done. Is there aught else, +Martina?" + +"Yes. To-morrow morning you will be relieved of your office, and +another governor--Stauracius and Aetius are quarrelling as to his name +--will take your place." + +"And I?" + +"You will resume your post as captain of the private guard, only with +the rank of a full general of the army. But that I told you yesterday. +It is now confirmed." + +I said nothing, but a groan I could not choke broke from my lips. + +"You do not seem as pleased as you might be, Olaf. Tell me, now, at +what hour did you leave the palace last night? While waiting for my +mistress to summon me I fell asleep in the vestibule of the ante-room, +and when I awoke and went into that room I found there the gold- +broidered silk robe you wore, cast upon the ground, and your armour +gone." + +"I know not what was the hour, Martina, and speak no more to me, I +pray, of that accursed womanish robe." + +"Which you treated but ill, Olaf, for it is spotted as though with +blood." + +"The Augustus spilt some wine over it." + +"Aye, my mistress told me the story. Also that of how you would have +eaten the poisoned fig, which you snatched from the lips of +Constantine." + +"And what else did your mistress tell you, Martina?" + +"Not much, Olaf. She was in a very strange mood last night, and while +I combed her hair, which, Olaf, was as tangled as though a man had +handled it," and she looked at me till I coloured to the eyes, "and +undid her diadem, that was set on it all awry, she spoke to me of +marriage." + +"Of marriage!" I gasped. + +"Certainly--did I not speak the word with clearness?--of marriage." + +"With whom, Martina?" + +"Oh! grow not jealous before there is need, Olaf. She made no mention +of the name of our future divine master, for whosoever can rule Irene, +if such a one lives, will certainly rule us also. All she said was +that she wished she could find some man to guide, guard and comfort +her, who grew lonely amidst many troubles, and hoped for more sons +than Constantine." + +"What sort of a man, Martina? This Emperor Charlemagne, or some other +king?" + +"No. She vowed that she had seen enough of princes, who were murderers +and liars, all of them; and that what she desired was one of good +birth, no more, brave, honest, and not a fool. I asked her, too, what +she would have him like to look upon." + +"And what did she say to that, Martina?" + +"Oh! she said that he must be tall, and under forty, fair-haired and +bearded, since she loved not these shaven effeminates, who look half +woman and half priest; one who had known war, and yet was no ruffler; +a person of open mind, who had learnt and could learn more. Well, now +that I think of it, by all the Saints!--yes, much such a man as /you/ +are, Olaf." + +"Then she may find them in plenty," I said, with an uneasy laugh. + +"Do you think so? Well, she did not, neither did I. Indeed, she +pointed out that this was her trouble. Among the great of the earth +she knew no such man, and, if she sought lower, then would come +jealousies and war." + +"Indeed they would. Doubtless you showed her that this was so, +Martina." + +"Not at all, Olaf. I asked her of what use it was to be an Empress if +she could not please her own heart in this matter of a husband, which +is one important to a woman. I said also, as for such fears, that a +secret marriage might be thought of, which is an honest business that +could be declared when occasion came." + +"And what did she answer to that, Martina?" + +"She fell into high good humour, called me a faithful and a clever +friend, gave me a handsome jewel, told me that she would have a +mission for me on the morrow--doubtless that which I now fulfil, for I +have heard of no other--said, notwithstanding all the trouble as to +the Augustus and his threats, that she was sure she would sleep better +than she had done for nights, kissed me on both cheeks, and flung +herself upon her knees at her praying-stool, where I left her. But why +are you looking so sad, Olaf?" + +"Oh! I know not, save that I find life difficult, and full of pitfalls +which it is hard to escape." + +Martina rested her elbows on the table and her chin upon her little +hand, staring me full in the face with her quick eyes that pierced +like nails. + +"Olaf," she said, "your star shines bright above you. Keep your eyes +fixed thereon and follow it, and never think about the pitfalls. It +may lead you I know not where." + +"To heaven, perhaps," I suggested. + +"Well, you did not fear to go thither when you would have eaten the +poisoned fig last night. To heaven, perchance, but by a royal road. +Whatever you may think of some others, marriage is an honourable +estate, my Christian friend, especially if a man marries well. And now +good-bye; we shall meet again at the palace, whither you will repair +to-morrow morning. Not before, since I am engaged in directing the +furnishment of your new quarters in the right wing, and, though the +workmen labour all night, they will not be finished until then. Good- +bye, General Olaf. Your servant Martina salutes you and your star," +and she curtsied before me until her knees almost touched the ground. + + + + CHAPTER V + + AVE POST SECULA + +It comes back to me that on the following day my successor in the +governorship of the jail, who he was I know not now, arrived, and that +to him in due form I handed over my offices and duties. Before I did +so, however, I made it my care to release Barnabas, I think on the +previous evening. In his cell I read the Augusta's warrant to the old +bishop. + +"How was it obtained, son," he asked, "for, know, that having so many +enemies on this small matter of image worship, I expected to die in +this place? Now it seems that I am free, and may even return to my +charge in Egypt." + +"The Empress granted it to me as a favour, Father," I answered. "I +told her that you were from the North, like myself." + +He studied me with his shrewd blue eyes, and said: + +"It seems strange to me that so great and unusual a boon should be +granted for such a reason, seeing that better men than I am have +suffered banishment and worse woes for less cause than I have given. +What did you pay the Empress for this favour, son Olaf?" + +"Nothing, Father." + +"Is it so? Olaf, a dream has come to me about you, and in that dream I +saw you walk through a great fire and emerge unscathed, save for the +singeing of your lips and hair." + +"Perhaps they were singed, Father. Otherwise, I am unburned, though +what will happen to me in the future I do not know, for my dangers +seem great." + +"In my dream you triumphed over all of them, Olaf, and also met with +some reward even in this life, though now I know not what it was. Yes, +and triumph you shall, my son in Christ. Fear nothing, even when the +storm-clouds sweep about your head and the lightnings blind your eyes. +I say, fear nothing, for you have friends whom you cannot see. I ask +no more even under the seal of confession, since there are secrets +which it is not well to learn. Who knows, I might go mad, or torture +might draw from me words I would not speak. Therefore, keep your own +counsel, son, and confess to God alone." + +"What will you do now, Father?" I asked. "Return to Egypt?" + +"Nay, not yet awhile. It comes to me that I must bide here for a +space, which under this pardon I have liberty to do, but to what end I +cannot say. Later on I shall return, if God so wills. I go to dwell +with good folk who are known to me, and from time to time will let you +hear where I may be found, if you should need my help or counsel." + +Then I led him to the gates, and, having given him a witnessed copy of +his warrant of release, bade him farewell for that time, making it +known to the guards and certain priests who lingered there that any +who molested him must answer for it to the Augusta. + +Thus we parted. + +Having handed over the keys of the prison, I walked to the palace +unattended, being minded to take up my duties there unnoticed. But +this was not to be. As I entered the palace gate a sentry called out +something, and a messenger, who seemed to be in waiting, departed at +full speed. Then the sentry, saluting, told me that his orders were +that I must stand awhile, he knew not why. Presently I discovered, for +across the square within the gates marched a full general's guard, +whereof the officer also saluted, and prayed me to come with him. I +went, wondering if I was to be given in charge, and by him, surrounded +with this pompous guard, was led to my new quarters, which were more +splendid than I could have dreamed. Here the guard left me, and +presently other officers appeared, some of them old comrades of my +own, asking for orders, of which, of course, I had none to give. Also, +within an hour, I was summoned to a council of generals to discuss +some matter of a war in which the Empire was engaged. By such means as +these it was conveyed to me that I had become a great man, or, at any +rate, one in the way of growing great. + +That afternoon, when, according to my old custom, I was making my +round of the guards, I met the Augusta upon the main terrace, +surrounded by a number of ministers and courtiers. I saluted and would +have passed on, but she bade one of her eunuchs call me to her. So I +came and stood before her. + +"We greet you, General Olaf," she said. "Where have you been all this +long while? Oh! I remember. At the State prison, as its governor, of +which office you are now relieved at your own request. Well, the +palace welcomes you again, for when you are here all within know +themselves safe." + +Thus she spoke, her great eyes searching my face the while, then bowed +her head in token of dismissal. I saluted again, and began to step +backwards, according to the rule, whereon she motioned to me to stand. +Then she began to make a laugh of me to the painted throng about her. + +"Say, nobles and ladies," she said, "did any of you ever see such a +man? We address him as best we may--and we have reason to believe that +he understands our language--yet not one word does he vouchsafe to us +in answer. There he stands, like a soldier cut in iron who moves by +springs, with never an 'I thank you' or a 'Good day' on his lips. +Doubtless he would reprove us all, who, he holds, talk too much, +being, as we all have heard, a man of stern morality, who has no +tenderness for human foibles. By the way, General Olaf, a rumour has +reached us that you have forsaken doubt, and become a Christian. Is +this true?" + +"It is true, Augusta." + +"Then if as a Pagan you were a man of iron, what will you be as a +Christian, we wonder? One hard as diamond, no less. Yet we are glad of +this tidings, as all good servants of the Church must be, since +henceforth our friendship will be closer and we value you. General, +you must be received publicly into the bosom of the Faith; it will be +an encouragement to others to follow your example. Perhaps, as you +have served us so well in many wars and as an officer of our guard, we +ourselves will be your god-mother. The matter shall be considered by +us. What have you to answer to it?" + +"Nothing," I replied, "save that when the Augusta has considered of +the matter, I will consider of my answer." + +At this the courtiers tittered, and, instead of growing angry, as I +thought she might, Irene burst out laughing. + +"Truly we were wrong," she said, "to provoke you to open your mouth, +General, for when you do so, like that red sword you wear, your tongue +is sharp, if somewhat heavy. Tell us, General, are your new quarters +to your taste, and before you reply know that we inspected them +ourselves, and, having a liking for such tasks, attended to their +furnishment. 'Tis done, you will see, in the Northern style, which we +think somewhat cold and heavy--like your sword and tongue." + +"If the Augusta asks me," I said, "the quarters are too fine for a +single soldier. The two rooms where I dwelt before were sufficient." + +"A single soldier! Well, that is a fault which can be remedied. You +should marry, General Olaf." + +"When I find any woman who wishes to marry me and whom I wish to +marry, I will obey the Augusta's commands." + +"So be it, General, only remember that first we must approve the lady. +Venture not, General, to share those new quarters of yours with any +lady whom we do not approve." + +Then, followed by the Court, she turned and walked away, and I went +about my business, wondering what was the meaning of all this guarded +and half-bitter talk. + +The next event that returns to me clearly is that of my public +acceptance as a Christian in the great Cathedral of St. Sophia, which +must have taken place not very long after this meeting upon the +terrace. I know that by every means in my power I had striven, though +without avail, to escape this ceremony, pointing out that I could be +publicly received into the body of the Church at any chapel where +there was a priest and a congregation of a dozen humble folk. But this +the Empress would not allow. The reason she gave was her desire that +my conversion should be proclaimed throughout the city, that other +Pagans, of whom there were thousands, might follow my example. Yet I +think she had another which she did not avow. It was that I might be +made known in public as a man of importance whom it pleased her to +honour. + +On the morning of this rite, Martina came to acquaint me with its +details, and told me that the Empress would be present at the +cathedral in state, making her progress thither in her golden chariot, +drawn by the famed milk-white steeds. I, it seemed, was to ride after +the chariot in my general's uniform, which was splendid enough, +followed by a company of guards, and surrounded by chanting priests. +The Patriarch himself, no less a person, was to receive me and some +other converts, and the cathedral would be filled with all the great +ones of Constantinople. + +I asked whether Irene intended to be my god-mother, as she had +threatened. + +"Not so," replied Martina. "On that point she has changed her mind." + +"So much the better," I said. "But why?" + +"There is a canon of the Church, Olaf, which forbids intermarriage +between a god-parent and his or her god-child," she replied dryly. +"Whether this canon has come to the Augusta's memory or not, I cannot +say. It may be so." + +"Who, then, is to be my god-mother?" I asked hurriedly, leaving the +problem of Irene's motives undiscussed. + +"I am, by the written Imperial decree delivered to me not an hour +ago." + +"You, Martina, you who are younger than myself by many years?" + +"Yes, I. The Augusta has just explained to me that as we seem to be +such very good friends, and to talk together so much alone, doubtless, +she supposed, upon matters of religion, there could be no person more +suitable than such a good Christian as myself to fill that holy +office." + +"What do you mean, Martina?" I asked bluntly. + +"I mean, Olaf," she replied, turning away her head, and speaking in a +strained voice, "that, where you are concerned, the Augusta of late +has done me the honour to be somewhat jealous of me. Well, of a god- +mother no one need be jealous. The Augusta is a clever woman, Olaf." + +"I do not quite understand," I said. "Why should the Augusta be +jealous of you?" + +"There is no reason at all, Olaf, except that, as it happens, she is +jealous of every woman who comes near to you, and she knows that we +are intimate and that you trust me--well, more, perhaps, than you +trust her. Oh! I assure you that of late you have not spoken to any +woman under fifty unnoted and unreported. Many eyes watch you, Olaf." + +"Then they might find better employment. But tell me outright, +Martina, what is the meaning of all this?" + +"Surely even a wooden-headed Northman can guess, Olaf?" + +She glanced round her to make sure that we were alone in the great +apartment of my quarters and that the doors were shut, then went on, +almost in a whisper, "My mistress is wondering whether or no she will +marry again, and, if so, whether she will choose a certain somewhat +over-virtuous Christian soldier as a second husband. As yet she has +not made up her mind. Moreover, even if she had, nothing could be done +at present or until the question of the struggle between her and her +son for power is settled in this way or in that. Therefore, at worst, +or at best, that soldier has yet a while of single life left to him, +say a month or two." + +"Then during that month or two perhaps he would be wise to travel," I +suggested. + +"Perhaps, if he were a fool who would run away from fortune, and if he +could get leave of absence, which in his case is impossible; to +attempt such a journey without it would mean his death. No, if he is +wise, that soldier will bide where he is and await events, possessing +his soul in patience, as a good Christian should do. Now, as your god- +mother, I must instruct you in this service. Look not so troubled; it +is really most simple. You know Stauracius, the eunuch, is to be your +god-father, which is very fortunate for you, since, although he looks +on you with doubt and jealousy, to blind or murder his own god-son +would cause too much scandal even in Constantinople. As a special mark +of grace, also, the Bishop Barnabas, of Egypt, will be allowed to +assist in the ceremony, because it was he who snatched your soul from +the burning. Moreover, since the Sacrament is to be administered +afterwards, he has been commanded to attend here to receive your +confession in the chapel of the palace, and within an hour. You know +that this day being the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, you will +be received in the name of Michael, a high one well fitted to a +warlike saint, though I think that I shall still call you Olaf. So +farewell, my god-son to be, until we meet at the cathedral, where I +shall shine in the reflected light of all your virtues." + +Then she sighed, laughed a little, and glided away. + +In due course a priest of the chapel came to summon me there, saying +that the Bishop Barnabas awaited me. I went and made my confession, +though in truth I had little to tell him that he did not already know. +Afterwards the good old man, who by now was quite recovered from his +hurts and imprisonment, accompanied me to my quarters, where we ate +together. He told me that before he attended in the chapel he had been +received by the Empress, who had spoken to him very kindly, making +light of their difference of opinion as to images and with her own +mouth confirmed him in his bishopric, even hinting at his possible +promotion. + +"This, my son," he added, "I am well aware I owe to your good +offices." + +I asked him if he would return at once to Upper Egypt, where he had +his bishopric. + +"No, my son," he answered, "not yet awhile. The truth is that there +have arrived here the chief man in my diocese, and his daughter. He is +a descendant of the old Pharaohs of the Egyptians who lives near the +second cataract of the Nile, almost on the borders of Ethiopia, +whither the accursed children of Mahomet have not yet forced their +way. He is still a great man among the Egyptians, who look upon him as +their lawful prince. His mission here is to try to plan a new war upon +the followers of the Prophet, who, he holds, might be assailed by the +Empire at the mouths of the Nile, while he attacked them with his +Egyptians from the south." + +Now I grew interested, who had always grieved over the loss of Egypt +to the Empire, and asked what was this prince's name. + +"Magas, my son, and his daughter is named Heliodore. Ah! she is such a +woman as I would see you wed, beautiful indeed, and good and true as +she is beautiful, with a high spirit also, such as befits her ancient +blood. Mayhap you will note her in the cathedral. Nay, I forgot, not +there, but afterwards in this palace, since it is the command of the +Empress, to whom I have been speaking of their matters, that these two +should come to dwell here for a while. After that I hope we shall all +return to Egypt together, though Magas, being on a secret mission, +does not travel under his own name, but as a merchant." + +Suddenly he paused, and began to stare at my throat. + +"Is aught wrong with my armour, Father?" I asked. + +"No, son. I was looking at that trinket which you wear. Of course I +have noted it before, but never closely. It is strange, very strange!" + +"What is strange, Father?" + +"Only that I have seen another like it." + +"I dare say you have," I answered, laughing, "for when I would not +give this to the Augusta, it pleased her to have it copied." + +"No, no; I mean in Egypt, and, what is more, a story hung to the +jewel." + +"On whom? Where? What story?" I asked eagerly. + +"Oh! I cannot stay to tell you now. Moreover, your mind should be +fixed upon immortal crowns, and not on earthly necklaces. I must be +gone; nay, stay me not, I am already late. Do you get you to your +knees and pray till your god-parents come to fetch you." + +Then, in spite of all I could do to keep him, he went, muttering: +"Strange! Exceeding strange!" and leaving me quite unfit for prayer. + + + +An hour later I was riding through the streets of the mighty city, +clad in shining armour. As the season was that of October, in which +the Feast of St. Michael falls, we wore cloaks, although, the day +being warm, they were little needed. Mine was of some fine white +stuff, with a red cross broidered on the right shoulder. Stauracius, +the eunuch and great minister, who had been ordered to act as my god- +father, rode alongside of me on a mule, because he dared not mount a +horse, sweating beneath his thick robe of office, and, as I heard from +time to time, cursing me, his god-son, and all this ceremony beneath +his breath. On my other hand was my god-mother, Martina, riding an +Arab mare, which she did well enough, having been brought up to +horsemanship on the plains of Greece. Her mood was varied, for now she +laughed at the humour of the scene, and now she was sad almost to +tears. + +The streets were lined with thousands of the pleasure-loving people of +the city, who had come out to see the show of the Empress going in +state to the cathedral. They were gathered even on the flat house-tops +and in the entrances to the public buildings and open places. But the +glory of the sight was centred, not about me, with my escort of guards +and chanting priests, but in Irene's self. Preceded and followed by +glittering regiments of soldiers, she drove in her famous golden +chariot, drawn by eight milk-white steeds, each of which was led by a +bejewelled noble. Her dress was splendid and covered with sparkling +gems, and on her yellow hair she wore a crown. As she went the +multitudes shouted their welcome, and she bowed to right and left in +answer to the shouts. Now and again, however, bands of armed men, clad +in a dress of a peculiar colour, emerged from side streets and hooted, +crying: + +"Where is the Augustus? Give us the Augustus. We will not be ruled by +a woman and her eunuchs!" + +These men were of the party of Constantine, and set on by him. Once, +indeed, there was a tumult, for some of them tried to bar the road, +till they were driven away, leaving a few dead or wounded behind them. +But still the crowds shouted and the Empress bowed as though nothing +had happened, and thus by a somewhat winding route, we came to St. +Sophia. + +The Augusta entered, and presently I and those with me followed her +into the wonderful cathedral. I see it now, not in particular, but as +a whole, with its endless columns, its aisles and apses, and its +glittering mosaics shining through the holy gloom, across which shot +bars of light from the high window-places. All the great place was +full of the noblest in the city, rank upon rank of them, come thither +to see the Empress in her glory at the great Feast of St. Michael, +which year by year she attended thus. + +At the altar waited the Patriarch in his splendid robes, attended by +many bishops and priests, among them Barnabas of Egypt. The service +began, I and some other converts standing together near to the altar +rail. The details of it do not return to me. Sweet voices sang, +censers gave forth their incense, banners waved, and images of the +saints, standing everywhere, smiled upon us fixedly. Some of us were +baptised, and some who had already been baptised were received +publicly into the fellowship of the Church, I among them. My god- +father, Stauracius, a deacon prompting him, and my god-mother, +Martina, spoke certain words on my behalf, and I also spoke certain +words which I had learned. + +The splendid Patriarch, a sour-faced man with a slight squint, gave me +his especial blessing. The Bishop Barnabas, upon whom, as I noted, the +Patriarch was always careful to turn his back, offered up a prayer. My +god-father and god-mother embraced me, Stauracius smacking the air at +a distance, for which I was grateful, and Martina touching me gently +with her lips upon the brow. The Empress smiled upon me and, as I +passed her, patted me on the shoulder. Then the Sacrament was +celebrated, whereof the Empress partook first; next we converts, with +our god-parents, and afterwards a number of the congregation. + +It was over at last. The Augusta and her attendants marched down the +cathedral towards the great western doors, priests followed, and, +among them, we converts, whom the people applauded openly. + +Looking to right and left of me, for I was weary of keeping my gaze +fixed upon the floor, presently I caught sight of a face whilst as yet +it was far away. It seemed to draw me, I knew not why. The face was +that of a woman. She stood by an old and stately-looking man with a +white beard, the last of a line of worshippers next to the aisle along +which the procession passed, and I saw that she was young and fair. + +Down the long, resounding aisle the procession marched slowly. Now I +was nearer to the face, and perceived that it was lovely as some rich- +hued flower. The large eyes were dark and soft as a deer's. The +complexion, too, was somewhat dark, as though the sun had kissed it. +The lips were red and curving, and about them played a little smile +that was full of mystery as the eyes were full of thought and +tenderness. The figure was delicate and rounded, but not so very tall. +All these things and others I noted, yet it was not by them that I was +drawn and held, but rather because I /knew this lady/. + +She was the woman of whom, years ago, I had dreamed on the night on +which I broke into the Wanderer's tomb at Aar! + +Never for one moment did I doubt me of this truth. I was sure. I was +sure. It did not even need, while she turned to whisper something to +her companion, that the cloak she wore should open a little, revealing +on her breast a necklace of emerald beetles separated by inlaid shells +of pale and ancient gold. + +She was watching the procession with interest, yet somewhat idly, when +she caught sight of me, whom, from where she stood, she could scarcely +have seen before. Of a sudden her face grew doubtful and troubled, +like to that of one who has just received some hurt. She saw the +ornament about my neck. She turned pale and had she not gripped the +arm of the man beside her, would, I think, have fallen. Then her eyes +caught mine, and Fate had us in its net. + +She leaned forward, gazing, gazing, all her soul in those dark eyes, +and I, too, gazed and gazed. The great cathedral vanished with its +glittering crowds, the sound of chanting and of feet that marched died +from my ears. In place of these I saw a mighty columned temple and two +stone figures, taller than pines, seated on a plain, and through the +moonlit silence heard a sweet voice murmuring: + +"Farewell. For this life, farewell!" + +Now we were near to each other, now I was passing her, I who might not +stay. My hand brushed hers, and oh! it was as though I had drunk a cup +of wine. A spirit entered into me and, bending, I whispered in her +ear, speaking in the Latin tongue, since Greek, which all knew, I did +not dare to use, "/Ave post secula!/" Greeting after the ages! + +I saw her bosom heave; yes, and heard her whisper back: + +"/Ave!/" + +So she knew me also. + + + + CHAPTER VI + + HELIODORE + +That night there was feasting at the palace, and I, Olaf, now known as +Michael, as a convert was one of the chief guests, so that for me +there was no escape. I sat very silent, so silent that the Augusta +frowned, though she was too far off to speak to me. The banquet came +to an end at last and before midnight I was free to go, still without +word from the Empress, who withdrew herself, as I thought in an ill- +humour. + +I sought my bed, but in it knew little of sleep. I had found her for +whom during all the long years I had been searching, though I did not +understand that I was searching. After the ages I had found her and +she had found me. Her eyes said it, and, unless I dreamed, her sweet +voice said it also. + +Who was she? Doubtless that Heliodore, daughter of Magas, the prince +of whom the Bishop Barnabas had spoken to me. Oh! now I understood +what he meant when he spoke of another necklace like to that I wore, +and yet would explain nothing. It lay upon the breast of Heliodore, +Heliodore who was such a one as he wished that I might wed. Well, +certainly I wished it too; but, alas! how could I wed, who was in +Irene's power, a toy for her to play with or to break? And how would +it fare with any woman whom it was known that I wished to wed? I must +be secret until she was gone from Constantinople, and in this way or +in that I could follow her. I, who had ever been open-minded, must +learn to keep my own counsel. + +Now, too, I remembered how Barnabas had said the Augusta commanded +that this Prince Magas and his daughter should come to the palace as +her guests. Well, the place was vast, a town in itself, and likely +enough I should not see them there. Yet I longed to see one of them as +never I had longed for anything before. I was sure, also, that no +fears could keep us apart, even though I knew the road before me to be +full of dangers and of trials, knew that I went with my life in my +hand, the life of which I had been quite careless, but that now had +become so dear to me. For did not the world hold another to whom it +belonged? + +The night passed away. I rose and went about my morning duties. +Scarcely were these finished when a messenger summoned me to the +presence of the Augusta. I followed him with a sinking heart, certain +that those woes which I had foreseen were about to begin. Also, now +there was no woman in the whole world whom I less wished to see than +Irene, Empress of the Earth. + +I was led to the small audience chamber, whereof I have already +spoken, that on the floor of which was the mosaic of the goddess Venus +making pretence to kill her lover. There I found the Augusta seated in +a chair of State, the minister Stauracius, my god-father, who glowered +at me as I entered, some secretaries, and Martina, my god-mother, who +was the lady in attendance. + +I saluted the Empress, who bowed graciously and said: + +"General Olaf--nay, I forgot, General Michael, your god-father +Stauracius has something to say which I trust will please you as much +as it does him and me. Speak, Stauracius." + +"Beloved god-son," began Stauracius, in a voice of sullen rage, "it +has pleased the Augusta to appoint you----" + +"On the prayer and advice of me, Stauracius," interrupted the Empress. + +"----On the prayer and advice of me, Stauracius," repeated the eunuch +like a talking bird, "to be one of her chamberlains and Master of the +Palace, at a salary of" (I forget the sum, but it was a great one) +"with all the power and perquisites to that office pertaining, in +reward of the services which you have rendered to her and the Empire. +Thank the Empress for her gracious favour." + +"Nay," interrupted Irene again, "thank your beloved god-father +Stauracius, who has given me no peace until I offered you this +preferment which has suddenly become vacant, Stauracius alone knows +why, for I do not. Oh! you were wise, Olaf--I mean Michael--to choose +Stauracius for a god-father, though I warn him," she added archly, +"that in his natural love he must not push you forward too fast lest +others should begin to show that jealousy which is a stranger to his +noble nature. Come hither, Michael, and kiss my hand upon your +appointment." + +So I advanced and, kneeling, kissed the Augusta's hand, according to +custom on such occasions, noting, as doubtless Stauracius did also, +that she pressed it hard enough against my lips. Then I rose and said: + +"I thank the Augusta----" + +"And my god-father Stauracius," she interrupted. + +"----And my god-father Stauracius," I echoed, "for her and his +goodness towards me. Yet with humility I venture to say that I am a +soldier who knows nothing whatsoever of the duties of a chamberlain +and of a Master of the Palace, and, therefore, I beg that someone else +more competent may be chosen to fill these high offices." + +On hearing these words Stauracius stared at me with his round and owl- +like eyes. Never before had he known an officer in Constantinople who +wished to decline power and more pay. Scarcely, indeed, could he +believe his ears. But the Augusta only laughed. + +"Baptism has not changed you, Olaf," she said, "who ever were simple, +as I believe your duties will be. At any rate, your god-father and +god-mother will instruct you in them--especially your god-mother. So +no more of such foolish talk. Stauracius, you may be gone to attend to +the affairs of which we have been speaking, as I see you burn to do, +and take those secretaries with you, for the scratching of their pens +sets my teeth on edge. Bide here a moment, General, for as Master of +the Palace it will be your duty to receive certain guests to-day of +whom I wish to speak with you. Bide you also, Martina, that you may +remember my words in case this unpractised officer should forget +them." + +Stauracius and his secretaries bowed themselves out, leaving the three +of us alone. + +"Now, Olaf, or Michael--which do you wish to be called?" + +"It is more easy for a man to alter his nature than his name," I +answered. + +"Have you altered your nature? If so, your manners remain much what +they were. Well, then, be Olaf in private and Michael in public, for +often an alias is convenient enough. Hark! I would read you a lesson. +As the wise King Solomon said, 'Everything has its place and time.' It +is good to repent you of your sins and to think about your soul, but I +pray you do so no more at my feasts, especially when they are given in +your honour. Last night you sat at the board like a mummy at an +Egyptian banquet. Had your skull stood on it, filled with wine, it +could scarce have looked grimmer than did your face. Be more cheerful, +I pray you, or I will have you tonsured and promoted to be a bishop, +like that old heretic Barnabas of whom you are so fond. Ah! you smile +at last, and I am glad to see it. Now hearken again. This afternoon +there comes to the palace a certain old Egyptian named Magas, whom I +place in your especial charge, and with him his wife--at least, I +think she is his wife." + +"Nay, Mistress, his daughter," interrupted Martina. + +"Oh! his daughter," said the Augusta suspiciously. "I did not know she +was his daughter. What is she like, Martina?" + +"I have not seen her, Empress, but someone said that she is a black- +looking woman, such as the Nile breeds." + +"Is it so? Then I charge you, Olaf, keep her far from me, for I love +not these ugly black women, whose woolly hair always smells of grease. +Yes, I give you leave to court her, if you will, since thereby you may +learn some secrets," and she laughed merrily. + +I bowed, saying that I would obey the Augusta's orders to the best of +my power, and she went on: + +"Olaf, I would discover the truth concerning this Magas and his +schemes, which as a soldier you are well fitted to find out. It seems +he has a plan for the recovery of Egypt out of the hands of the +followers of that accursed false prophet whose soul dwells with Satan. +Now, I would win back Egypt, if I may, and thereby add glory to my +name and the Empire. Hear all that he proposes, study it well, and +make report to me. Afterwards I will see him alone, who for the +present will send him a letter by the hand of Martina here bidding him +open all his heart to you. For a week or more I shall have no time to +spend upon this Magas, who must give myself to business upon which +hangs my power and perchance my life." + +These words she spoke heavily, then fell into a fit of brooding. +Rousing herself, she went on: + +"Did you note yesterday, Olaf, if you had any mind left for the things +of earth, that as I drove in state through the streets many met me +with sullen silence, while others cursed me openly and shouted, 'Where +is the Augustus?' 'Give us Constantine. We will have no woman's +rule.'" + +"I saw and heard something of these things, Augusta; also that certain +of the soldiers on guard in the city had a mutinous air." + +"Aye, but what you did not see and hear was that a plot had been laid +to murder me in the cathedral. I got wind of it in time and if you +were still governor of yonder prison you'd know where the murderers +are to-day. Yet they're but tools; it is their captains whom I want. +Well, torture may make them speak; Stauracius has gone to see to it. +Oh! the strife is fierce and doubtful. I walk blindfold along a +precipice. Above are Fortune's heights, and beneath black ruin. +Perhaps you'd be wise to get you to Constantine, Olaf, and become his +man, as many are doing, since he'd be glad of you. No need to shake +your head, for that's not your way; you are no hound to bite the hand +that feeds you, like these street-bred dogs. Would that I could keep +you nearer to me, where hour by hour you might help me with your +counsel and your quiet strength. But it may not be--as yet. I raise +you as high as I dare, but it must be done step by step, for even now +some grow jealous. Take heed to what you eat, Olaf. See that your +guards are Northmen, and beneath your doublet wear mail, especially at +night. Moreover, unless I send for you, do not come near me too often, +and, when we meet, be my humble servant, like others; aye, learn to +crawl and kiss the ground. Above all, keep secret as the grave. + +"Now," she went on after a pause, during which I stood silent, "what +is there more? Oh! with your new offices, you'll retain that of +captain of my guard, for I would be well watched during these next few +weeks. Follow up the matter of the Egyptian; you may find advancement +in it. Perchance one day you will be the general I send against the +Moslems--if I can spare you. On all this matter be secret also, for +once rumour buzzes over it that peach rots. The Egyptian and his +swarthy girl come to the palace to-day, when he will receive my +letter. Meet him and see them well housed, though not too near me; +Martina will help you. Now be gone and leave me to my battles." + +So I went, and she watched me to the door with eyes that were full of +tenderness. + + + +Again there is a blank in my memory, or my vision. I suppose that +Magas and his daughter Heliodore arrived at the palace on the day of +my interview with Irene, of which I have told. I suppose that I +welcomed them and conducted them to the guest house that had been made +ready for them in the gardens. Doubtless, I listened eagerly to the +first words which Heliodore spoke to me, save that one in the +cathedral, the word of greeting. Doubtless, I asked her many things, +and she gave me many answers. But of all this nothing remains. + +What comes back to me is a picture of the Egyptian prince, Magas, and +myself seated at some meal in a chamber overlooking the moonlit palace +garden. We were alone, and this noble, white-bearded man, hook-nosed +and hawk-eyed, was telling me of the troubles of his countrymen, the +Christian Copts of Egypt. + +"Look on me, sir," he said. "As I could prove to you, were it worth +while, and as many could bear witness, for the records have been kept, +I am a descendant in the true line from the ancient Pharaohs of my +country. Moreover, my daughter, through her Grecian mother, is sprung +from the Ptolemies. Our race is Christian, and has been for these +three hundred years, although it was among the last to be converted. +Yet, noble as we are, we suffer every wrong at the hands of the +Moslems. Our goods and lands are doubly taxed, and, if we should go +into the towns of Lower Egypt, we must wear garments on which the +Cross is broidered as a badge of shame. Yet, where I live--near to the +first cataract of the Nile, and not so very far from the city of old +Thebes--the Prophet-worshippers have no real power. I am still the +true ruler of that district, as the Bishop Barnabas will tell you, and +at any moment, were my standard to be lifted, I could call three +thousand Coptic spears to fight for Christ and Egypt. Moreover, if +money were forthcoming, the hosts of Nubia could be raised, and +together we might sweep down on the Moslems like the Nile in flood, +and drive them back to Alexandria." + +Then he went on to set out his plans, which in sum were that a Roman +fleet and army should appear at the mouths of the Nile to besiege and +capture Alexandria, and, with his help, massacre or drive out every +Moslem in Egypt. The scheme, which he set forth with much detail, +seemed feasible enough, and when I had mastered its particulars I +promised to report it to the Empress, and afterwards to speak with him +further. + +I left the chamber, and presently stood in the garden. Although it was +autumn time, the night in this mild climate was very warm and +pleasant, and the moonlight threw black shadows of the trees across +the paths. Under one of these trees, an ancient, green-leaved oak, the +largest of a little grove, I saw a woman sitting. Perchance I knew who +she was, perchance I had come thither to meet her, I cannot say. At +least, this was not our first meeting by many, for as I came she rose, +lifting her flower-like face towards my own, and next moment was in my +arms. + +When we had kissed our full, we began to talk, seated hand in hand +beneath the oak. + +"What have you been doing this day, beloved?" she asked. + +"Much what I do every day, Heliodore. I have attended to my duties, +which are threefold, as Chamberlain, as Master of the Palace, and as +Captain of the Guard. Also, for a little while, I saw the Augusta, to +whom I had to report various matters. The interview was brief, since a +rumour had reached her that the Armenian regiments refuse to take the +oath of fidelity to her alone, as she has commanded should be done, +and demand that the name of the Emperor, her son, should be coupled +with hers, as before. This report disturbed her much, so that she had +little time for other business." + +"Did you speak of my father's matter, Olaf?" + +"Aye, shortly. She listened, and asked whether I were sure that I had +got the truth from him. She added that I had best test it by what I +could win from you by any arts that a man may use. For, Heliodore, +because of something that my god-mother, Martina, said to her, it is +fixed in her mind that you are black-skinned and very ugly. Therefore, +the Augusta, who does not like any man about her to care for other +women, thinks I may make love to you with safety. So I prayed for +leave from my duties on the guard this evening that I might sup with +your father in the guest-house, and see what I could learn from one or +both of you." + +"Love makes you clever, Olaf. But hearken. I do not believe that the +Empress thinks me black and ugly any longer. As it chanced while I +walked in the inner garden this afternoon, where you said I might go +when I wished to be quite alone, dreaming of our love and you, I +looked up and saw an imperial woman of middle age, who was gorgeous as +a peacock, watching me from a little distance. I went on my way, +pretending to see no one, and heard the lady say: + +"'Has all this trouble driven me mad, Martina, or did I behold a woman +beautiful as one of the nymphs of my people's fables wandering yonder +among those bushes?' + +"I repeat her very words, Olaf, not because they are true--for, +remember, she saw me at a distance and against a background of rocks +and autumn flowers--but because they were her words, which I think you +ought to hear, with those that followed them." + +"Irene has said many false things in her life," I said, smiling, "but +by all the Saints these were not among them." + +Then we embraced again, and after that was finished Heliodore, her +head resting on my shoulder, continued her story: + +"'What was she like, Mistress?' asked the lady Martina, for by this +time I had passed behind some little trees. 'I have seen no one who is +beautiful in this garden except yourself.' + +"'She was clad in a clinging white robe, Martina, that left her arms +and bosom bare'--being alone, Olaf, I wore my Egyptian dress beneath +my cloak, which I had laid down because of the heat of the sun. 'She +was not so very tall, yet rounded and most graceful. Her eyes seemed +large and dark, Martina, like her hair; her face was tinted like a +rich-hued rose. Oh! were I a man she seemed such a one as I should +love, who, like all my people, have ever worshipped beauty. Yet, what +did I say, that she put me in mind of a nymph of Greece. Nay, that was +not so. It was of a goddess of Old Egypt that she put me in mind, for +on her face was the dreaming smile which I have seen on that of a +statue of mother Isis whom the Egyptians worshipped. Moreover, she +wore just such a headdress as I have noted upon those statues.' + +"Now the lady Martina answered: 'Surely, you must have dreamed, +Mistress. The only Egyptian woman in the palace is the daughter of the +old Coptic noble, Magas, who is in Olaf's charge, and though I am told +that she is not so ugly as I heard at first, Olaf has never said to me +that she was like a goddess. What you saw was doubtless some image of +Fortune conjured up by your mind. This I take to be the best of omens, +who in these doubtful days grow superstitious.' + +"'Would Olaf tell one woman that another was like a goddess, Martina, +even though she to whom he spoke was his god-mother and a dozen years +younger than himself? Come,' she added, 'and let us see if we can find +this Egyptian.' + +"Then," Heliodore went on, "not knowing what to do, I stood still +there against the rockwork and the flowers till presently, round the +bushes, appeared the splendid lady and Martina." + +Now when I, Olaf, heard all this, I groaned and said: + +"Oh! Heliodore, it was the Augusta herself." + +"Yes, it was the Augusta, as I learned presently. Well, they came, and +I curtsied to them. + +"'Are you the daughter of Magas, the Egyptian?' asked the lady, eyeing +me from head to foot. + +"'Yes, Madam,' I answered. 'I am Heliodore, the daughter of Magas. I +pray that I have done no wrong in walking in this garden, but the +General Olaf, the Master of the Palace, gave me leave to come here.' + +"'And did the General Olaf, whom we know as Michael, give you that +necklace which you wear, also, O Daughter of Magas? Nay, you must +needs answer me, for I am the Augusta.' + +"Now I curtsied again, and said: + +"'Not so, O Augusta; the necklace is from Old Egypt, and was found +upon the body of a royal lady in a tomb. I have worn it for many +years.' + +"'Indeed, and that which the General Michael wears came also from a +tomb.' + +"'Yes, he told me so, Augusta,' I said. + +"'It would seem that the two must once have been one, Daughter of +Magas?' + +"'It may be so, Augusta; I do not know.' + +"Now the Empress looked about her, and the lady Martina, dropping +behind, began to fan herself. + +"'Are you married, girl?' she asked. + +"'No,' I answered. + +"'Are you affianced?' + +"Now I hesitated a little, then answered 'No' again. + +"'You seem to be somewhat doubtful on the point. Farewell for this +while. When you walk abroad in our garden, which is open to you, be +pleased to array yourself in the dress of our country, and not in that +of a courtesan of Egypt.'" + +"What did you answer to that saying?" I asked. + +"That which was not wise, I fear, Olaf, for my temper stirred me. I +answered: 'Madam, I thank you for your permission to walk in your +garden. If ever I should do so again as your guest, be sure that I +will not wear garments which, before Byzantium was a village, were +sacred to the gods of my country and those of my ancestors the Queens +of Egypt.'" + +"And then?" I asked. + +"The Empress answered: 'Well spoken! Such would have been my own words +had I been in your place. Moreover, they are true, and the robe +becomes you well. Yet presume not too far, girl, seeing that Byzantium +is no longer a village, and Egypt has some fanatic Moslem for a +Pharaoh, who thinks little of your ancient blood.' + +"So I bowed and went, and as I walked away heard the Empress rating +the lady Martina about I know not what, save that your name came into +the matter, and my own. Why does this Empress talk so much about you, +Olaf, seeing that she has many officers who are higher in her service, +and why was she so moved about this matter of the necklace of golden +shells?" + +"Heliodore," I answered, "I must tell now what I have hidden from you. +The Augusta has been pleased--why, I cannot say, but chiefly, I +suppose, because of late years it has been my fancy to keep myself +apart from women, which is rare in this land--to show me certain +favour. I gather, even, that, whether she means it or means it not, +she has thought of me as a husband." + +"Oh!" interrupted Heliodore, starting away from me, "now I understand +everything. And, pray, have you thought as a wife of her, who has been +a widow these ten years and has a son of twenty?" + +"God above us alone knows what I have or have not thought, but it is +certain that at present I think of her only as one who has been most +kind to me, but who is more to be feared than my worst foe, if I have +any." + +"Hush!" she said, raising her finger. "I fancied I heard someone stir +behind us." + +"Fear nothing," I answered. "We are alone here, for I set guards of my +own company around the place, with command to admit no one, and my +order runs against all save the Empress in person." + +"Then we are safe, Olaf, since this damp would disarrange her hair, +which, I noted, is curled with irons, not by Nature, like my own. Oh! +Olaf, Olaf, how wonderful is the fate that has brought us together. I +say that when I saw you yonder in the cathedral for the first time +since I was born, I knew you again, as you knew me. That is why, when +you whispered to me, 'Greeting after the ages,' I gave you back your +welcome. I know nothing of the past. If we lived and loved before, +that tale is lost to me. But there's your dream and there's the +necklace. When I was a child, Olaf, it was taken from the embalmed +body of some royal woman, who, by tradition, was of my own race, yes, +and by records of which my father can tell you, for he is among the +last who can still read the writing of the old Egyptians. Moreover, +she was very like me, Olaf, for I remember her well as she lay in her +coffin, preserved by arts which the Egyptians had. She was young, not +much older than I am to-day, and her story tells that she died in +giving birth to a son, who grew up a strong and vigorous man, and +although he was but half royal, founded a new dynasty in Egypt and +became my forefather. This necklace lay upon her breast, and beneath +it a writing on papyrus, which said that when the half of it which was +lost should be joined again to that half, then those who had worn them +would meet once more as mortals. Now the two halves of the necklace +have met, and /we/ have met as God decreed, and it is one and we are +one for ever and for ever, let every Empress of the earth do what they +will to part us." + +"Aye," I answered, embracing her again, "we are one for ever and for +ever, though perchance for a while we may be separated from time to +time." + + + + CHAPTER VII + + VICTORY OR VALHALLA! + +A minute later I heard a rustle as of branches being moved by people +thrusting their way through them. A choked voice commanded, + +"Take him living or dead." + +Armed men appeared about us, four of them, and one cried "Yield!" + +I sprang up and drew the Wanderer's sword. + +"Who orders the General Michael to yield in his own command?" I asked. + +"I do," answered the man. "Yield or die!" + +Now, thinking that these were robbers or murderers hired by some +enemy, I sprang at him, nor was that battle long, for at my first +stroke he fell dead. Then the other three set on me. But I wore mail +beneath my doublet, as Irene had bade me do, and their swords glanced. +Moreover, the old northern rage entered into me, and these easterners +were no match for my skill and strength. First one and then another of +them went down, whereon the third fled away, taking with him a grizzly +wound behind, for I struck him as he fled. + +"Now it seems there is an end of that," I gasped to Heliodore, who was +crouched upon the seat. "Come, let me take you to your father and +summon my guards, ere we meet more of these murderers." + +As I spoke a cloaked and hooded woman glided from the shelter of the +trees behind and stood before us. She threw back the hood from her +head and the moonlight fell upon her face. It was that of the Empress, +but oh! so changed by jealous rage that I should scarce have known +her. The large eyes seemed to flash fire, the cheeks were white, save +where they had been touched with paint, the lips trembled. Twice she +tried to speak and failed, but at the third effort words came. + +"Nay, all is but begun," she said in a voice that was full of hate. +"Know that I have heard your every word. So, traitor, you would tell +my secrets to this Egyptian slut and then murder my own servants," and +she pointed to the dead and wounded men. "Well, you shall pay for it, +both of you, that I swear." + +"Is it murder, Augusta," I asked, saluting, "when four assail one man, +and, thinking them assassins, he fights for his life and wins the +fray?" + +"What are four such curs against you? I should have brought a dozen. +Yet it was at me you struck. Whate'er they did I ordered them to do." + +"Had I known it, Augusta, I would never have drawn sword, who am your +officer and obedient to the end." + +"Nay, you'd stab me with your tongue, not with your sword," she +answered with something like a sob. "You say you are my obedient +officer. Well, now we will see. Smite me that bold-faced baggage dead, +or smite /me/ dead, I care not which, then fall upon your sword." + +"The first I cannot do, Augusta, for it would be murder against one +who has done no wrong, and I will not stain my soul with murder." + +"Done no wrong! Has she not mocked me, my years, my widowhood, yes, +and even my hair, in the pride of her--her youth, me, the Empress of +the World?" + +Now Heliodore spoke for the first time. + +"And has not the Empress of the World called a poor maid of blood as +noble as her own by shameful names?" she asked. + +"For the second," I went on before Irene could answer, "I cannot do +that either, for it would be foul treason as well as murder to lift my +sword against your anointed Majesty. But as for the third, as is my +duty, that I will do--or rather suffer your servants to do--if it +pleases you to repeat the order later when you are calm." + +"What!" cried Heliodore, "would you go and leave me here? Then, Olaf, +by the gods my forefathers worshipped for ten thousand years, and by +the gods I worship, I'll find a means to follow you within an hour. +Oh! Empress of the World, there is another world you do not rule, and +there we'll call you to account." + +Now Irene stared at Heliodore, and Heliodore stared back at her, and +the sight was very strange. + +"At least you have spirit, girl. But think not that shall save you, +for there's no room for both of us on earth." + +"If I go it may prove wide enough, Augusta," I broke in. + +"Nay, you shall not go, Olaf, at least not yet. My orders are that you +do /not/ fall upon your sword. As for this Egyptian witch, well, +presently my people will be here; then we will see." + +Now I drew Heliodore to the trunk of the great tree which stood near +by and set myself in front of her. + +"What are you about to do?" asked the Empress. + +"I am about to fight your eastern curs until I fall, for no northern +man will lift a sword against me, even on your orders, Augusta. When I +am down, this lady must play her own part as God shall guide her." + +"Have no fear, Olaf," Heliodore said gently, "I wear a dagger." + +Scarcely had she spoken when there was a sound of many feet. The man +whom I had wounded had run shouting towards the palace, rousing the +soldiers, both those on watch and those in their quarters. Now these +began to arrive and to gather in the glade before the clump of trees, +for some guards who had heard the clash of arms guided them to the +place. They were of all races and sundry regiments, Greeks, +Byzantines, Bulgars, Armenians, so-called Romans, and with them a +number of Britons and northern men. + +Seeing the Empress and, near by, myself standing with drawn sword +against the tree sheltering the lady Heliodore, also on the ground +those whom I had cut down, they halted. One of their officers asked +what they must do. + +"Kill me that man who has slain my servants, or stay--take him +living," screamed the Augusta. + +Now among those who had gathered was a certain lieutenant of my own, a +blue-eyed, flaxen-haired Norwegian giant of the name of Jodd. This man +loved me like a brother, I believe because once it had been my fortune +to save his life. Also often I had proved his friend when he was in +trouble, for in those days Jodd got drunk at times, and when he was +drunk lost money which he could not pay. + +Now, when he saw my case, I noted that this Jodd, who, if sober, was +no fool at all, although he seemed so slow and stupid, whispered +something to a comrade who was with him, whereon the man turned and +fled away like an arrow. From the direction in which he went I guessed +at once that he was running to the barracks close at hand, where were +stationed quite three hundred Northmen, all of whom were under my +command. + +The soldiers prepared to obey the Augusta's orders, as they were bound +to do. They drew their swords and a number of them advanced towards me +slowly. Then it was that Jodd, with a few Northmen, moved between them +and me, and, saluting the Empress, said in his bad Greek, + +"Your pardon, Augusta, but why are we asked to kill our own general?" + +"Obey my orders, fellow," she answered. + +"Your pardon, Augusta," said the stolid Jodd, "but before we kill our +own general, whom you commanded us to obey in all things, we would +know why we must kill him. It is a custom of our country that no man +shall be killed until he has been heard. General Olaf," and drawing +his short sword for the first time, he saluted me in form, "be pleased +to explain to us why you are to be killed or taken prisoner." + +Now a tumult arose, and a eunuch in the background shouted to the +soldiers to obey the Empress's orders, whereon again some of them +began to advance. + +"If no answer is given to my question," went on Jodd in his slow, +bull-like voice, "I fear that others must be killed besides the +General Olaf. Ho! Northmen. To me, Northmen! Ho! Britons, to me, +Britons! Ho! Saxons, to me, Saxons! Ho! all who are not accursed +Greeks. To me all who are not accursed Greeks!" + +Now at each cry of Jodd's men leapt forward from the gathering crowd, +and, to the number of fifty or more in all, marshalled themselves +behind him, those of each nation standing shoulder to shoulder in +little groups before me. + +"Is my question to be answered?" asked Jodd. "Because, if not, +although we be but one against ten, I think that ere the General Olaf +is cut down or taken there will be good fighting this night." + +Then I spoke, saying, + +"Captain Jodd, and comrades, I will answer your question, and if I +speak wrongly let the Augusta correct me. This is the trouble. The +lady Heliodore here is my affianced wife. We were speaking together in +this garden as the affianced do. The Empress, who, unseen by us, was +hidden behind those trees, overheard our talk, which, for reasons best +known to herself, for in it there was naught of treason or any matter +of the State, made her so angry that she set her servants on to kill +me. Thinking them murderers or robbers, I defended myself, and there +they lie, save one, who fled away wounded. Then the Empress appeared +and ordered me to kill the lady Heliodore. Comrades, look on her whom +the Empress ordered me to kill, and say whether, were she your +affianced, you would kill her even to please the Empress," and, +stepping to one side, I showed them Heliodore in all her loveliness +standing against the tree, the drawn dagger in her hand. + +Now from those that Jodd had summoned there went up a roar of "/No/," +while even the rest were silent. Irene sprang forward and cried, + +"Are my orders to be canvassed and debated? Obey! Cut this man down or +take him living, I care not which, and with him all who cling to him, +or to-morrow you hang, every one of you." + +Now the soldiers who had gathered also began to form up under their +officers, for they saw that before them was war and death. By this +time they were many, and as the alarm spread minute by minute more +arrived. + +"Yield or we attack," said he who had taken command of them. + +"I do not think that we yield," answered Jodd; and just then there +came a sound of men running in ordered companies from the direction of +the Northmen's barracks were Jodd's messenger had told his tale. + +"I am /sure/ that we do not yield," continued Jodd, and suddenly +raised the wild northern war-cry, "/Valhalla, Valhalla! Victory or +Valhalla!/" + +Instantly from three hundred throats, above the sound of the running +feet that drew ever nearer, came the answering shout of "/Valhalla, +Valhalla! Victory or Valhalla!/" Then out of the gloom up dashed the +Northmen. + +Now other shouts arose of "Olaf! Olaf! Olaf! Where is our General +Olaf? Where is Red-Sword?" + +"Here, comrades!" roared Jodd, and up they came those fierce, bearded +men, glad with the lust of battle, and ranged themselves by companies +before us. Again the great voice of Jodd was heard, calling, + +"Empress, do you give us Olaf and his girl and swear by your Christ +that no harm shall come to them? Or must we take them for ourselves?" + +"Never!" she cried back. "The only thing I give to you is death. On to +these rebels, soldiers!" + +Now, seeing what must come, I strove to speak, but Jodd shouted again, + +"Be silent, Olaf. For this hour you are not our general; you are a +prisoner whom it pleases us to rescue. Ring him round, Northmen, ring +him round. Bring the Empress, too; she will serve as hostage." + +Now some of them drew behind us. Then they began to advance, taking us +along with them, and I, who was skilled in war, saw their purpose. +They were drawing out into the open glade, where they could see to +fight, and where their flanks would be protected by a stream of water +on the one hand and a dense belt of trees on the other. + +In her rage the Empress threw herself upon the ground, but two great +fellows lifted her up by the arms and thrust her along with us. +Marching thus, we reached the point that they had chosen, for the +Greeks were in confusion and not ready to attack. There we halted, +just on the crest of a little rise of ground. + +"Augusta," I said, "in the name of God, I pray you to give way. These +Northmen hate your Byzantines, and will take this chance to pay off +their scores. Moreover, they love me, and will die to a man ere they +see me harmed, and then how shall I protect you in the fray?" + +She only glared at me and made no answer. + +The attack began. By this time fifteen hundred or so of the Imperial +troops had collected, and against them stood, perhaps, four hundred +men in all, so that the odds were great. Still, they had no horsemen +or archers, and our position was very good, also we were Northmen and +they were Grecian scum. + +On came the Byzantines, screaming "Irene! Irene!" in a formation of +companies ranged one behind the other, for their object was to break +in our centre by their weight. Jodd saw, and gave some orders; very +good orders, I thought them. Then he sheathed his short-sword, seized +the great battle-axe which was his favourite weapon, and placed +himself in front of our triple line that waited in dead silence. + +Up the slope surged the charge, and on the crest of it the battle met. +At first the weight of the Greeks pressed us back, but, oh! they went +down before the Northmen's steel like corn before the sickle, and soon +that rush was stayed. Breast to breast they hewed and thrust, and so +fearful was the fray that Irene, forgetting her rage, clung to me to +protect her. + +The fight hung doubtful. As in a dream, I watched the giant Jodd cut +down a gorgeous captain, the axe shearing through his golden armour as +though it were but silk. I watched a comrade of my own fall beneath a +spear-thrust. I gazed at the face of Heliodore, who stared wide-eyed +at the red scene, and at the white-lipped Irene, who was clinging to +my arm. Now we were being pressed back again, we who at this point had +at most two hundred men, some of whom were down, to bear the onslaught +of twice that number, and, do what I would, my fingers strayed to my +sword-hilt. + +Our triple line bent in like a bow and began to break. The scales of +war hung on the turn, when, from the dense belt of trees upon our +left, suddenly rose the cry of "/Valhalla! Valhalla! Victory or +Valhalla!/" for which I, who had overheard Jodd's orders, was waiting. +These were his orders--that half of the Northmen should creep down +behind the belt of trees in their dense shadow, and thus outflank the +foe. + +Forth they sprang by companies of fifty, the moonlight gleaming on +their mail, and there, three hundred yards away, a new battle was +begun. Now the Greeks in front of us, fearing for their rear, wavered +a moment and fell back, perhaps, ten paces. I saw the opportunity and +could bear no more, who before all things was a soldier. + +Shouting to some of our wounded to watch the women, I drew my sword +and leapt forward. + +"I come, Northmen!" I cried, and was greeted with a roar of: + +"Olaf Red-Sword! Follow Olaf Red-Sword!" for so the soldiers named me. + +"Steady, Northmen! Shoulder to shoulder, Northmen!" I cried back. "Now +at them! Charge! /Valhalla! Victory or Valhalla!/" + +Down the slope they went before our rush. In thirty paces they were +but a huddled mob, on which our swords played like lightnings. We +rolled them back on to their supports, and those supports, outflanked, +began to flee. We swept through and through them. We slew them by +hundreds, we trod them beneath our victorious feet, and--oh! in that +battle a strange thing happened to me. I thought I saw my dead brother +Ragnar fighting at my side; aye, and I thought I heard him cry to me, +in that lost, remembered voice: + +"The old blood runs in you yet, you Christian man! Oh! you fight well, +you Christian man. We of Valhalla give you greetings, Olaf Red-Sword. +/Valhalla! Valhalla! Victory or Valhalla!/" + +It was done. Some were fled, but more were dead, for, once at grips, +the Northman showed no mercy to the Greek. Back we came, those who +were left of us, for many, perhaps a hundred, were not, and formed a +ring round the women and the wounded. + +"Well done, Olaf," said Heliodore; but Irene only looked at me with a +kind of wonder in her eyes. + +Now the leaders of the Northmen began to talk among themselves, but +although from time to time they glanced at me, they did not ask me to +join in their talk. Presently Jodd came forward and said in his slow +voice: + +"Olaf Red-Sword, we love you, who have always loved us, your comrades, +as we have shown you to-night. You have led us well, Olaf, and, +considering our small numbers, we have just won a victory of which we +are proud. But our necks are in the noose, as yours is, and we think +that in this case our best course is to be bold. Therefore, we name +you Cæsar. Having defeated the Greeks, we propose now to take the +palace and to talk with the regiments without, many of whom are +disloyal and shout for Constantine, whom after all they hate only a +little less than they do Irene yonder. We know not what will be the +end of the matter and do not greatly care, who set our fortunes upon a +throw of the dice, but we think there is a good chance of victory. Do +you accept, and will you throw in your sword with ours?" + +"How can I," I answered, "when there stands the Empress, whose bread I +have eaten and to whom I have sworn fealty?" + +"An Empress, it seems, who desires to slay you over some matter that +has to do with a woman. Olaf, the daggers of her assassins have cut +this thread of fealty. Moreover, as it chances she is in our power, +and as we cannot make our crime against her blacker than it is, we +propose to rid you and ourselves of this Empress, who is our enemy, +and who for her great wickedness well deserves to die. Such is our +offer, to take or to leave, as time is short. Should you refuse it, we +abandon you to your fate, and go to make our terms with Constantine, +who also hates this Empress and even now is plotting her downfall." + +As he spoke I saw certain men draw near to Irene for a purpose which I +could guess, and stepped between her and them. + +"The Augusta is my mistress," I said, "and although I attacked some of +her troops but now, and she has wronged me much, still I defend her to +the last." + +"Little use in that, Olaf, seeing that you are but one and we are +many," answered Jodd. "Come, will you be Cæsar, or will you not?" + +Now Irene crept up behind me and whispered in my ear. + +"Accept," she said. "It pleases me well. Be Cæsar as my husband. So +you will save my life and my throne, of which I vow to you an equal +share. With the help of your Northmen and the legions I command and +who cling to me, we can defeat Constantine and rule the world +together. This petty fray is nothing. What matters it if some lives +have been lost in a palace tumult? The world lies in your grasp; take +it, Olaf, and, with it, /me/." + +I heard and understood. Now had come the great moment of my life. +Something told me that on the one hand were majesty and empire; on the +other much pain and sorrow yet with these a certain holy joy and +peace. It was the latter that I chose, as doubtless Fate or God had +decreed that I should do. + +"I thank you, Augusta," I said, "but, while I can protect her, I will +not seize a throne over the body of one who has been kind to me, nor +will I buy it at the price you offer. There stands my predestined +wife, and I can marry no other woman." + +Now Irene turned to Heliodore, and said in a swift, low voice: + +"Do you understand this matter, lady? Let us have done with jealousies +and be plain, for the lives of all of us hang upon threads that, for +some, must break within a day or two, and with them those of a +thousand, thousand others. Aye, the destiny of the world is at stake. +You say you love this man, whom I will tell you I love also. Well, if +/you/ win him, and he lives, which he scarce can hope to do, he gets +your kisses in whatever corner of the earth will shelter him and you. +If /I/ win him, the empire of the earth is his. Moreover, girl," she +added with meaning, "empresses are not always jealous; sometimes even +they can look the other way. There would be high place for you within +our Court, and, who knows? Your turn might come at length. Also your +father's plans would be forwarded to the last pound of gold in our +treasury and the last soldier in our service. Within five years, +mayhap, he might rule Egypt as our Governor. What say you?" + +Heliodore looked at the Empress with that strange, slow smile of hers. +Then she looked at me, and answered: + +"I say what Olaf says. There are two empires in the case. One, which +you can give, Augusta, is of the world; the other, which I can give +him here, is only a woman's heart, yet, as I think, of another eternal +world that you do not know. I say what Olaf says. Let Olaf speak, +Augusta." + +"Empress," I said slowly, "again I thank you, but it may not be. My +fate lies here," and I laid my hand upon the heart of Heliodore. + +"You are mistaken, Olaf," answered the Empress, in a cold and quiet +voice, but seemingly without anger; "your fate lies there," and she +pointed to the ground, then added, "Believe me, I am sorry, for you +are a man of whom any woman might be proud--yes, even an empress. I +have always thought it, and I thought it again just now when I saw you +lead that charge against those curs in armour," and she pointed +towards the bodies of the Greeks. "So, it is finished, as perchance I +am. If I must die, let it be on your sword, Olaf." + +"Your answer, Olaf Red-Sword!" called Jodd. "You have talked enough." + +"Your answer! Yes, your answer!" the Northmen echoed. + +"The Empress has offered to share her crown with me, Jodd, but, +friends, it cannot be, because of this lady to whom I am affianced." + +"Marry them both," shouted a rude voice, but Jodd replied: + +"Then that is soon settled. Out of our path, Olaf, and look the other +way. When you turn your head again there will be no Empress to trouble +you, except one of your own choosing." + +On hearing these words, and seeing the swords draw near, Irene +clutched hold of me, for always she feared death above everything. + +"You will not see me butchered?" she gasped. + +"Not while I live," I answered. "Hearken, friends. I am the general of +the Augusta's guard, and if she dies, for honour's sake I must die +first. Strike, then, if you will, but through my body." + +"Tear her away!" called a voice. + +"Comrades," I went on, "be not so mad. To-night we have done that +which has earned us death, but while the Empress lives you have a +hostage in your hands with whom you can buy pardon. As a lump of clay +what worth is she to you? Hark! The regiments from the city!" + +As I spoke, from the direction of the palace came a sound of many +voices and of the tread of five thousand feet. + +"True enough," said Jodd, with composure. "They are on us, and now it +is too late to storm the palace. Olaf, like many another man, you have +lost your chance of glory for a woman, or, who knows, perhaps you've +won it. Well, comrades, as I take it you are not minded to fly and be +hunted down like rats, only one thing remains--to die in a fashion +they will remember in Byzantium. Olaf, you'd best mind the women; I +will take command. Ring round, comrades, ring round! 'Tis a good place +for it. Set the wounded in the middle. Keep that Empress living for +the present, but when all is done, kill her. We'll be her escort to +the gates of hell, for there she's bound if ever woman was." + +Then, without murmur or complaint, almost in silence, indeed, they +formed Odin's Ring, that triple circle of the Northmen doomed to die; +the terrible circle that on many a battlefield has been hidden at last +beneath the heap of fallen foes. + +The regiments moved up; there were three of them of full strength. +Irene stared about her, seeking some loophole of escape, and finding +none. Heliodore and I talked together in low tones, making our tryst +beyond the grave. The regiments halted within fifty paces of us. They +liked not the look of Odin's Ring, and the ground over which they had +marched and the fugitives with whom they had spoken told them that +many of them looked their last upon the moon. + +Some mounted generals rode towards us and asked who was in command of +the Northmen. When they learned that it was Jodd, they invited him to +a parley. The end of it was that Jodd and two others stepped twenty +paces from our ranks, and met a councillor--it was Stauracius--and two +of the generals in the open, where no treachery could well be +practised, especially as Stauracius was not a man of war. Here they +talked together for a long while. Then Jodd and his companions +returned, and Jodd said, so that all might hear him: + +"Hearken. These are the terms offered: That we return to our barracks +in peace, bearing our weapons. That nothing be laid to our charge +under any law, military or civil, by the State or private persons, for +this night's slaying and tumult, and that in guarantee thereof twelve +hostages of high rank, upon whose names we have agreed, be given into +our keeping. That we retain our separate stations in the service of +the Empire, or have leave to quit that service within three months, +with the gratuity of a quarter's pay, and go where we will unmolested. +But that, in return for these boons, we surrender the person of the +Empress unharmed, and with her that of the General Olaf, to whom a +fair trial is promised before a military court. That with her own +voice the Augusta shall confirm all these undertakings before she +leaves our ranks. Such is the offer, comrades." + +"And if we refuse it, what?" asked a voice. + +"This: That we shall be ringed round, and either starved out or shot +down by archers. Or, if we try to escape, that we shall be overwhelmed +by numbers, and any of us who chance to be taken living shall be +hanged, sound and wounded together." + +Now the leaders of the Northmen consulted. Irene watched them for +awhile, then turned to me and asked, + +"What will they do, Olaf?" + +"I cannot say, Augusta," I answered, "but I think that they will offer +to surrender you and not myself, since they may doubt them of that +fair trial which is promised to me." + +"Which means," she said, "that, whether I live or die, all these brave +men will be sacrificed to you, Olaf, who, after all, must perish with +them, as will this Egyptian. Are you prepared to accept that blood- +offering, Olaf? If so, you must have changed from the man I loved." + +"No, Augusta," I answered, "I am not prepared. Rather would I trust +myself into your power, Augusta." + +The conference of the officers had come to an end. Their leader +advanced and said, + +"We accept the terms, except as to the matter of Olaf Red-Sword. The +Empress may go free, but Olaf Red-Sword, our general whom we love, we +will not surrender. First will we die." + +"Good!" said Jodd. "I looked for such words from you." + +Then he marched out, with his companions, and again met Stauracius and +the two generals of the Greeks. After they had talked a little while +he returned and said, + +"Those two officers, being men, would have agreed, but Stauracius, the +eunuch, who seems in command, will not agree. He says that Olaf Red- +Sword must be surrendered with the Empress. We answered that in this +case soon there would be no Empress to surrender except one ready for +burial. He replied that was as God might decree; either both must be +surrendered or both be held." + +"Do you know why the dog said that?" whispered Irene to me. "It was +because those Northmen have let slip the offer I made to you but now, +and he is jealous of you, and fears you may take his power. Well, if I +live, one day he shall pay for this who cares so little for my life." + +So she spoke, but I made no answer. Instead, I turned to Heliodore, +saying, + +"You see how matters stand, beloved. Either I must surrender myself, +or all these brave men must perish, and we with them. For myself, I am +ready to die, but I am not willing that you and they should die. Also, +if I yield, I can do no worse than die, whereas perchance after all +things will take another turn. Now what say you?" + +"I say, follow your heart, Olaf," she replied steadily. "Honour comes +first of all. The rest is with God. Wherever you go there I soon shall +be." + +"I thank you," I answered; "your mind is mine." + +Then I stepped forward and said, + +"Comrades, it is my turn to throw in this great game. I have heard and +considered all, and I think it best that I should be surrendered, with +the Augusta, to the Greeks." + +"We will not surrender you," they shouted. + +"Comrades, I am still your general, and my order is that you surrender +me. Also, I have other orders to give to you. That you guard this lady +Heliodore to the last, and that, while one of you remains alive, she +shall be to you as though she were that man's daughter, or mother, or +sister, to help and protect as best he may in every circumstance, seen +or unforeseen. Further, that with her you guard her father, the noble +Egyptian Magas. Will you promise this to me?" + +"Aye!" they roared in answer. + +"You hear them, Heliodore," I said. "Know that henceforth you are one +of a large family, and, however great your enemies, that you will +never lack a friend. Comrades," I went on, "this is my second order, +and perchance the last that I shall ever give to you. Unless you hear +that I am evilly treated in the palace yonder, stay quiet. But if that +tidings should reach you, then all oaths are broken. Do what you can +and will." + +"Aye!" they roared again. + + + +Afterwards what happened? It comes back to me but dimly. I think they +swore the Empress on the Blood of Christ that I should go unharmed. I +think I embraced Heliodore before them all, and gave her into their +keeping. I think I whispered into the ear of Jodd to seek out the +Bishop Barnabas, and pray him to get her and her father away to Egypt +without delay--yes, even by force, if it were needful. Then I think I +left their lines, and that, as I went, leading the Augusta by the +hand, they gave to me the general's salute. That I turned and saluted +them in answer ere I yielded myself into the power of my god-father, +Stauracius, who greeted me with a false and sickly smile. + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + THE TRIAL OF OLAF + +I know not what time went by before I was put upon my trial, but that +trial I can still see as clearly as though it were happening before my +eyes. It took place in a long, low room of the vast palace buildings +that was lighted only by window-places set high up in the wall. These +walls were frescoed, and at the end of the room above the seat of the +judges was a rude picture in bright colours of the condemnation of +Christ by Pilate. Pilate, I remember, was represented with a black +face, to signify his wickedness I suppose, and in the air above him +hung a red-eyed imp shaped like a bat who gripped his robe with one +claw and whispered into his ear. + +There were seven judges, he who presided being a law-officer, and the +other six captains of different grades, chosen mostly from among the +survivors of those troops whom the Northmen had defeated on the night +of the battle in the palace gardens. As this was a military trial, I +was allowed no advocate to defend me, nor indeed did I ask for any. +The Court, however, was open and crowded with spectators, among whom I +saw most of the great officers of the palace, Stauracius with them; +also some ladies, one of whom was Martina, my god-mother. The back of +the long room was packed with soldiers and others, not all of whom +were my enemies. + +Into this place I was brought, guarded by four negroes, great fellows +armed with swords whom I knew to be chosen out of the number of the +executioners of the palace and the city. Indeed, one of them had +served under me when I was governor of the State prison, and been +dismissed by me because of some cruelty which he had practised. + +Noting all these things and the pity in Martina's eyes, I knew that I +was already doomed, but as I had expected nothing else this did not +trouble me over much. + +I stood before the judges, and they stared at me. + +"Why do you not salute us, fellow?" asked one of them, a mincing Greek +captain whom I had seen running like a hare upon the night of the +fray. + +"Because, Captain, I am of senior rank to any whom I see before me, +and as yet uncondemned. Therefore, if salutes are in the question, it +is you who should salute me." + +At this speech they stared at me still harder than before, but among +the soldiers at the end of the hall there arose something like a +murmur of applause. + +"Waste no time in listening to his insolence," said the president of +the Court. "Clerk, set out the case." + +Then a black-robed man who sat beneath the judges rose and read the +charge to me from a parchment. It was brief and to the effect that I, +Michael, formerly known as Olaf or Olaf Red-Sword, a Northman in the +service of the Empress Irene, a general in her armies, a chamberlain +and Master of the Palace, had conspired against the Empress, had +killed her servants, had detained her person, threatening to murder +her; had made war upon her troops and slain some hundreds of them by +the help of other Northmen, and wounded many more. + +I was asked what I pleaded to this charge, and replied, + +"I am not guilty." + +Then witnesses were called. The first of these was the fourth man whom +Irene had set upon me, who alone escaped with a wound behind. This +fellow, having been carried into court, for he could not walk, leaned +over a bar, for he could not sit down, and told his story. When he had +finished I was allowed to examine him. + +"Why did the Empress order you and your companions to attack me?" I +asked. + +"I think because she saw you kiss the Egyptian lady, General," at +which answer many laughed. + +"You tried to kill me, did you not?" + +"Yes, General, for the Empress ordered us so to do." + +"Then what happened?" + +"You killed or cut down three of us one after the other, General, +being too skilful and strong for us. As I turned to fly, me you +wounded here," and, dragging himself round with difficulty, he showed +how my sword had fallen on a part where no soldier should receive a +wound. At this sight those in the Court laughed again. + +"Did I provoke you in any way before you attacked me?" + +"No, indeed, General. It was the Empress you provoked by kissing the +beautiful Egyptian lady. At least, I think so, since every time you +kissed each other she seemed to become more mad, and at last ordered +us to kill both of you." + +Now the laughter grew very loud, for even the Court officers could no +longer restrain themselves, and the ladies hid their faces in their +hands and tittered. + +"Away with that fool!" shouted the president of the Court, and the +poor fellow was hustled out. What became of him afterwards I do not +know, though I can guess. + +Now appeared witness after witness who told of the fray which I have +described already, though for the most part they tried to put another +colour on the matter. Of many of these men I asked no questions. +Indeed, growing weary of their tales, I said at length to the judges, + +"Sirs, what need is there for all this evidence, seeing that among you +I perceive three gallant officers whom I saw running before the +Northmen that night, when with some four hundred swords we routed +about two thousand of you? You yourselves, therefore, are the best +witnesses of what befell. Moreover, I acknowledge that, being moved by +the sight of war, in the end I led the charge against you, before +which charge some died and many fled, you among them." + +Now these captains glowered at me and the president said, + +"The prisoner is right. What need is there of more evidence?" + +"I think much, sir," I answered, "since but one side of the story has +been heard. Now I will call witnesses, of whom the first should be the +Augusta, if she is willing to appear and tell you what happened within +the circle of the Northmen on that night." + +"Call the Augusta!" gasped the president. "Perchance, prisoner +Michael, you will wish next to call God Himself on your behalf?" + +"That, sir," I answered, "I have already done and do. Moreover," I +added slowly, "of this I am sure, that in a time to come, although it +be not to-morrow or the next day, you and everyone who has to do with +this case will find that I have not called Him in vain." + +At these words for a few moments a solemn silence fell upon the Court. +It was as though they had gone home to the heart of everyone who was +present there. Also I saw the curtains that draped a gallery high up +in the wall shake a little. It came into my mind that Irene herself +was hidden behind those curtains, as afterwards I learned was the +case, and that she had made some movement which caused them to +tremble. + +"Well," said the president, after this pause, "as God does not appear +to be your witness, and as you have no other, seeing that you cannot +give evidence yourself under the law, we will now proceed to +judgment." + +"Who says that the General Olaf, Olaf Red-Sword, has no witness?" +exclaimed a deep voice at the end of the hall. "I am here to be his +witness." + +"Who speaks?" asked the president. "Let him come forward." + +There was a disturbance at the end of the hall, and through the crowd +that he seemed to throw before him to right and left appeared the +mighty form of Jodd. He was clad in full armour and bore his famous +battle-axe in his hand. + +"One whom some of you know well enough, as others of your company who +will never know anything again have done in the past. One named Jodd, +the Northman, second in command of the guard to the General Olaf," he +answered, and marched to the spot where witnesses were accustomed to +stand. + +"Take away that barbarian's axe," exclaimed an officer who sat among +the judges. + +"Aye," said Jodd, "come hither, mannikin, and take it away if you can. +I promise you that along with it something else shall be taken away, +to wit your fool's head. Who are you that would dare to disarm an +officer of the Imperial Guard?" + +After this there was no more talk of removing Jodd's axe, and he +proceeded to give his evidence, which, as it only detailed what has +been written already, need not be repeated. What effect it produced +upon the judges, I cannot say, but that it moved those present in the +Court was clear enough. + +"Have you done?" asked the president at length when the story was +finished. + +"Not altogether," said Jodd. "Olaf Red-Sword was promised an open +trial, and that he has, since otherwise I and some friends of mine +could not be in this Court to tell the truth, where perhaps the truth +has seldom been heard before. Also he was promised a fair trial, and +that he has not, seeing that the most of his judges are men with whom +he fought the other day and who only escaped his sword by flight. +To-morrow I propose to ask the people of Byzantium whether it is right +that a man should be tried by his conquered enemies. Now I perceive +that you will find a verdict of 'guilty' against Olaf Red-Sword, and +perhaps condemn him to death. Well, find what verdict you will and +pass what sentence you will, but do not dare to attempt to execute +that sentence." + +"Dare! Dare!" shouted the president. "Who are you, man, who would +dictate to a Court appointed by the Empress what it shall or shall not +do? Be careful lest we pass sentence on you as well as on your fellow- +traitor. Remember where you stand, and that if I lift my finger you +will be taken and bound." + +"Aye, lawyer, I remember this and other things. For instance, that I +have the safe-conduct of the Empress under an oath sworn on the Cross +of the Christ she worships. For instance, also, that I have three +hundred comrades waiting my safe return." + +"Three hundred!" snarled the president. "The Empress has three +thousand within these walls who will soon make an end of your three +hundred." + +"I have been told, lawyer," answered Jodd, "that once there lived +another monarch, one called Xerxes, who thought that he would make an +end of a certain three hundred Greeks, when Greeks were different from +what you are to-day, at a place called Thermopylæ. He made an end of +them, but they cost him more than he cared to pay, and now it is those +Greeks who live for ever and Xerxes who is dead. But that's not all; +since that fray the other night we Northmen have found friends. Have +you heard of the Armenian legions, President, those who favour +Constantine? Well, kill Olaf Red-Sword, or kill me, Jodd, and you have +to deal first with the Northmen and next with the Armenian legions. +Now here I am waiting to be taken by any who can pass this axe." + +At these words a great silence fell upon the Court. Jodd glared about +him, and, seeing that none ventured to draw near, stepped from the +witness-place, advanced to where I was, gave me the full salute of +ceremony, then marched away to the back of the Court, the crowd +opening a path for him. + +When he had gone the judges began to consult together, and, as I +expected, very soon agreed upon their verdict. The president said, or +rather gabbled, + +"Prisoner, we find you guilty. Have you any reason to offer why +sentence of death should not be passed upon you?" + +"Sir," I answered, "I am not here to plead for my life, which already +I have risked a score of times in the service of your people. Yet I +would say this. On the night of the outbreak I was set on, four to +one, for no crime, as you have heard, and did but protect myself. +Afterwards, when I was about to be slain, the Northmen, my comrades, +protected me unasked; then I did my best to save the life of the +Empress, and, in fact, succeeded. My only offence is that when the +great charge took place and your regiments were defeated, remembering +only that I was a soldier, I led that charge. If this is a crime +worthy of death, I am ready to die. Yet I hold that both God and man +will give more honour to me the criminal than to you the judges, and +to those who before ever you sat in this Court instructed you, whom I +know to be but tools, as to the verdict that you should give." + +The applause which my words called forth from those gathered at the +end of the Court died away. In the midst of a great silence the +president, who, like his companions, I could see well, was growing +somewhat fearful, read the sentence in a low voice from a parchment. +After setting out the order by which the Court was constituted and +other matters, it ran: + +"We condemn you, Michael, otherwise called Olaf or Olaf Red-Sword, to +death. This sentence will be executed with or without torture at such +time and in such manner as it may please the Augusta to decree." + +Now the voice of Jodd was heard crying through the gathering gloom, +for night was near: + +"What sort of judgment is this that the judges bring already written +down into the Court? Hearken you, lawyer, and you street-curs, his +companions, who call yourselves soldiers. If Olaf Red-Sword dies, +those hostages whom we hold die also. If he is tortured, those +hostages will be tortured also. Moreover, ere long we will sack this +fine place, and what has befallen Olaf shall befall you also, you +false judges, neither less nor more. Remember it, all you who shall +have charge of Olaf in his bonds, and, if she be within hearing, let +the Augusta Irene remember it also, lest another time there should be +no Olaf to save her life." + +Now I could see that the judges were terrified. Hastily, with white +faces, they consulted together as to whether they should order Jodd to +be seized. Presently I heard the president say to his companions: + +"Nay, best let him go. If he is touched, our hostages will die. +Moreover, doubtless Constantine and the Armenians are at the back of +him, or he would not dare to speak thus. Would that we were clear of +this business which has been thrust upon us." + +Then he called aloud, "Let the prisoner be removed." + +Down the long Court I was marched, only now guards, who had been +called in, went in front of and behind me, and with them the four +executioners by whom I was surrounded. + +"Farewell, god-mother," I whispered to Martina as I passed. + +"Nay, not farewell," she whispered back, looking up at me with eyes +that were full of tears, though what she meant I did not know. + +At the end of the Court, where those who dared to sympathise with me +openly were gathered, rough voices called blessings on me and rough +hands patted me on the shoulder. To one of these men whose voice I +recognised in the gloom I turned to speak a word. Thereon the black +executioner who was between us, he whom I had dismissed from the jail +for cruelty, struck me on the mouth with the back of his hand. Next +instant I heard a sound that reminded me of the growl the white bear +gave when it gripped Steinar. Two arms shot out and caught that black +savage by the head. There was a noise as of something breaking, and +down went the man--a corpse. + +Then they hurried me away, for now it was not only the judges who were +afraid. + + + +It comes to me that for some days, three or four, I sat in my cell at +the palace, for here I was kept because, as I learned afterwards, it +was feared that if I were removed to that State prison of which I had +been governor, some attempt would be made to rescue me. + +This cell was one of several situated beneath that broad terrace which +looked out on to the sea, where Irene had first questioned me as to +the shell necklace and, against my prayer, had set it upon her own +breast. It had a little barred window, out of which I could watch the +sea, and through this window came the sound of sentries tramping +overhead and of the voice of the officer who, at stated hours, arrived +to turn out the guard, as for some years it had been my duty to do. + +I wondered who that officer might be, and wondered also how many of +such men since Byzantium became the capital of the Empire had filled +his office and mine, and what had become of them all. As I knew, if +that terrace had been able to speak, it could have told many bloody +histories, whereof doubtless mine would be another. Doubtless, too, +there were more to follow until the end came, whatever that might be. + +In that strait place I reflected on many things. All my youth came +back to me. I marvelled what had happened at Aar since I left it such +long years ago. Once or twice rumours had reached me from men in my +company, who were Danish-born, that Iduna was a great lady there and +still unmarried. But of Freydisa I had heard nothing. Probably she was +dead, and, if so, I felt sure that her fierce and faithful spirit must +be near me now, as that of Ragnar had seemed to be in the Battle of +the Garden. + +How strange it was that after all my vision had been fulfilled and it +had been my lot to meet her of whom I had dreamed, wearing that +necklace of which I had found one-half upon the Wanderer in his grave- +mound. Were I and the Wanderer the same spirit, I asked of myself, and +she of the dream and Heliodore the same woman? + +Who could tell? At least this was sure, from the moment that first we +saw one another we knew we belonged each to each for the present and +the future. Therefore, as it was with these we had to do, the past +might sleep and all its secrets. + +Now we had met but to be parted again by death, which seemed hard +indeed. Yet since we /had/ met, for my part Fate had my forgiveness +for I knew that we should meet again. I looked back on what I had done +and left undone, and could not blame myself overmuch. True, it would +have been wiser if I had stayed by Irene and Heliodore, and not led +that charge against the Greeks. Only then, as a soldier, I should +never have forgiven myself, for how could I stand still while my +comrades fought for me? No, no, I was glad I had led the charge and +led it well, though my life must pay its price. Nor was this so. I +must die, not because I had lifted sword against Irene's troops, but +for the sin of loving Heliodore. + +After all, what was life as we knew it? A passing breath! Well, as the +body breathes many million times between the cradle and the grave, so +I believed the soul must breathe out its countless lives, each ending +in a form of death. And beyond these, what? I did not know, yet my +new-found faith gave me much comfort. + +In such meditations and in sleep I passed my hours, waiting always +until the door of my cell should open and through it appear, not the +jailer with my food, which I noted was plentiful and delicate, but the +executioners or mayhap the tormentors. + +At length it did open, somewhat late at night, just as I was about to +lay myself down to rest, and through it came a veiled woman. I bowed +and motioned to my visitor to be seated on the stool that was in the +cell, then waited in silence. Presently she threw off her veil, and in +the light of the lamp showed that I stood before the Empress Irene. + +"Olaf," she said hoarsely, "I am come here to save you from yourself, +if it may be so. I was hidden in yonder Court, and heard all that +passed at your trial." + +"I guessed as much, Augusta," I said, "but what of it?" + +"For one thing, this: The coward and fool, who now is dead--of his +wounds--who gave evidence as to the killing of the three other cowards +by you, has caused my name to become a mock throughout Constantinople. +Aye, the vilest make songs upon me in the streets, such songs as I +cannot repeat." + +"I am grieved, Augusta," I said. + +"It is I who should grieve, not you, who are told of as a man who grew +weary of the love of an Empress, and cast her off as though she were a +tavern wench. That is the first matter. The second is that under the +finding of the Court of Justice----" + +"Oh! Augusta," I interrupted, "why stain your lips with those words +'of justice'!" + +"----Under the finding of the Court," she went on, "your fate is left +in my hands. I may kill you or torment your body. Or I may spare you +and raise your head higher than any other in the Empire, aye, and +adorn it with a crown." + +"Doubtless you may do any of these things, Augusta, but which of them +do you wish to do?" + +"Olaf, notwithstanding all that has gone, I would still do the last. I +speak to you no more of love or tenderness, nor do I pretend that this +is for your sake alone. It is for mine also. My name is smirched, and +only marriage can cover up the stain upon it. Moreover, I am beset by +troubles and by dangers. Those accursed Northmen, who love you so well +and who fight, not like men but like devils, are in league with the +Armenian legions and with Constantine. My generals and my troops fall +away from me. If it were assailed, I am not sure that I could hold +this palace, strong though it be. There's but one man who can make me +safe again, and that man is yourself. The Northmen will do your +bidding, and with you in command of them I fear no attack. You have +the honesty, the wit and the soldier's skill and courage. You must +command, or none. Only this time it must not be as Irene's lover, for +that is what they name you, but as her husband. A priest is waiting +within call, and one of high degree. Within an hour, Olaf, you may be +my consort, and within a year the Emperor of the World. Oh!" she went +on with passion, "cannot you forgive what seem to be my sins when you +remember that they were wrought for love of you?" + +"Augusta," I said, "I have small ambition; I am not minded to be an +emperor. But hearken. Put aside this thought of marriage with one so +far beneath you, and let me marry her whom I have chosen, and who has +chosen me. Then once more I'll take command of the Northmen and defend +you and your cause to the last drop of my blood." + +Her face hardened. + +"It may not be," she said, "not only for those reasons I have told +you, but for another which I grieve to have to tell. Heliodore, +daughter of Magas the Egyptian, is dead.' + +"Dead!" I gasped. "Dead!" + +"Aye, Olaf, dead. You did not see, and she, being a brave woman, hid +it from you, but one of those spears that were flung in the fight +struck her in the side. For a while the wound went well. But two days +ago it mortified; last night she died and this morning I myself saw +her buried with honour." + +"How did you see her buried, you who are not welcome among the +Northmen?" I asked. + +"By my order, as her blood was high, she was laid in the palace +graveyard, Olaf." + +"Did she leave me no word or token, Augusta? She swore to me that if +she died she would send to me the other half of that necklace which I +wear." + +"I have heard of none," said Irene, "but you will know, Olaf, that I +have other business to attend to just now than such death-bed gossip. +These things do not come to my ears." + +I looked at Irene and Irene looked at me. + +"Augusta," I said, "I do not believe your story. No spear wounded +Heliodore while I was near her, and when I was not near her your +Greeks were too far away for any spears to be thrown. Indeed, unless +you stabbed her secretly, she was not wounded, and I am sure that, +however much you have hated her, this you would not have dared to do +for your own life's sake. Augusta, for your own purposes you are +trying to deceive me. I will not marry you. Do your worst. You have +lied to me about the woman whom I love, and though I forgive you all +the rest, this I do not forgive. You know well that Heliodore still +lives beneath the sun." + +"If so," answered the Empress, "you have looked your last upon the sun +and--her. Never again shall you behold the beauty of Heliodore. Have +you aught to say? There is still time." + +"Nothing, Augusta, at present, except this. Of late I have learned to +believe in a God. I summon you to meet me before that God. There we +will argue out our case and abide His judgment. If there is no God +there will be no judgment, and I salute you, Empress, who triumph. If, +as I believe and as you say you believe, there is a God, think whom +/you/ will be called upon to salute when that God has heard the truth. +Meanwhile I repeat that Heliodore the Egyptian still lives beneath the +sun." + +Irene rose from the stool on which she sat and thought a moment. I +gazed through the bars of the window-place in my cell out at the night +above. A young moon was floating in the sky, and near to it hung a +star. A little passing cloud with a dented edge drifted over the star +and the lower horn of the moon. It went by, and they shone out again +upon the background of the blue heavens. Also an owl flitted across +the window-place of my cell. It had a mouse in its beak, and the +shadow of it and of the writhing mouse for a moment lay upon Irene's +breast, for I turned my head and saw them. It came into my mind that +here was an allegory. Irene was the night-hawk, and I was the writhing +mouse that fed its appetite. Doubtless it was decreed that the owl +must be and the mouse must be, but beyond them both, hidden in those +blue heavens, stood that Justice which we call God. + +These were the last things that I saw in this life of mine, and +therefore I remember them well, or rather, almost the last. The very +last of which I took note was Irene's face. It had grown like to that +of a devil. The great eyes in it stared out between the puffed and +purple eyelids. The painted cheeks had sunk in and were pallid beneath +and round the paint. The teeth showed in two white lines, the chin +worked. She was no longer a beautiful woman, she was a fiend. + +Irene knocked thrice upon the door. Bolts were thrown back, and men +entered. + +"Blind him!" she said. + + + + CHAPTER IX + + THE HALL OF THE PIT + +The days and the nights went by, but which was day and which was night +I knew not, save for the visits of the jailers with my meals--I who +was blind, I who should never see the light again. At first I suffered +much, but by degrees the pain died away. Also a physician came to tend +my hurts, a skilful man. Soon I discovered, however, that he had +another object. He pitied my state, so much, indeed, he said, that he +offered to supply me with a drug that, if I were willing to take it, +would make an end of me painlessly. Now I understood at once that +Irene desired my death, and, fearing to cause it, set the means of +self-murder within my reach. + +I thanked the man and begged him to give me the drug, which he did, +whereon I hid it away in my garments. When it was seen that I still +lived although I had asked for the medicine, I think that Irene +believed this was because it had failed to work, or that such a means +of death did not please me. So she found another. One evening when a +jailer brought my supper he pressed something heavy into my hand, +which I felt to be a sword. + +"What weapon is this?" I asked, "and why do you give it to me?" + +"It is your own sword," answered the man, "which I was commanded to +return to you. I know no more." + +Then he went away, leaving the sword with me. + +I drew the familiar blade from its sheath, the red blade that the +Wanderer had worn, and touching its keen edge with my fingers, wept +from my blinded eyes to think that never again could I hold it aloft +in war or see the light flash from it as I smote. Yes, I wept in my +weakness, till I remembered that I had no longer any wish to be the +death of men. So I sheathed the good sword and hid it beneath my +mattress lest some jailer should steal it, which, as I could not see +him, he might do easily. Also I desired to put away temptation. + +I think that this hour after the bringing of the sword, which stirred +up so many memories, was the most fearful of all my hours, so fearful +that, had it been prolonged, death would have come to me of its own +accord. I had sunk to misery's lowest deep, who did not know that even +then its tide was turning, who could not dream of all the blessed +years that lay before me, the years of love and of such peaceful joy +as even the blind may win. + +That night Martina came--Martina, who was Hope's harbinger. I heard +the door of my prison open and close softly, and sat still, wondering +whether the murderers had entered at last, wondering, too, whether I +should snatch the sword and strike blindly till I fell. Next I heard +another sound, that of a woman weeping; yes, and felt my hand lifted +and pressed to a woman's lips, which kissed it again and yet again. A +thought struck me, and I began to draw it back. A soft voice spoke +between its sobs. + +"Have no fear, Olaf. I am Martina. Oh, now I understand why yonder +tigress sent me on that distant mission." + +"How did you come here, Martina?" I asked. + +"I still have the signet, Olaf, which Irene, who begins to mistrust +me, forgets. Only this morning I learned the truth on my return to the +palace; yet I have not been idle. Within an hour Jodd and the Northmen +knew it also. Within three they had blinded every hostage whom they +held, aye, and caught two of the brutes who did the deed on you, and +crucified them upon their barrack walls." + +"Oh! Martina," I broke in, "I did not desire that others who are +innocent should share my woes." + +"Nor did I, Olaf; but these Northmen are ill to play with. Moreover, +in a sense it was needful. You do not know what I have learned--that +to-morrow Irene proposed to slit your tongue also because you can tell +too much, and afterwards to cut off your right hand lest you, who are +learned, should write down what you know. I told the Northmen--never +mind how. They sent a herald, a Greek whom they had captured, and, +covering him with arrows, made him call out that if your tongue was +slit they would know of it and slit the tongues of all the hostages +also, and that if your hand was cut off they could cut off their +hands, and take another vengeance which for the present they keep +secret." + +"At least they are faithful," I said. "But, oh! tell me, Martina, what +of Heliodore?" + +"This," she whispered into my ear. "Heliodore and her father sailed an +hour after sunset and are now safe upon the sea, bound for Egypt." + +"Then I was right! When Irene told me she was dead she lied." + +"Aye, if she said that she lied, though thrice she has striven to +murder her, I have no time to tell you how, but was always baffled by +those who watched. Yet she might have succeeded at last, so, although +Heliodore fought against it, it was best that she should go. Those who +are parted may meet again; but how can we meet one who is dead until +we too are dead?" + +"How did she go?" + +"Smuggled from the city disguised as a boy attending on a priest, and +that priest her father shorn of his beard and tonsured. The Bishop +Barnabas passed them out in his following." + +"Then blessings on the Bishop Barnabas," I said. + +"Aye, blessings on him, since without his help it could never have +been done. The secret agents at the port stared hard at those two, +although the good bishop vouched for them and gave their names and +offices. Still, when they saw some rough-looking fellows dressed like +sailors approach, playing with the handles of their knives, the agents +thought well to ask no more questions. Moreover, now that the ship has +sailed, for their own sakes they'll swear that no such priest and boy +went aboard of her. So your Heliodore is away unharmed, as is her +father, though his mission has come to naught. Still, his life is left +in him, for which he may be thankful, who on such a business should +have brought no woman. If he had come alone, Olaf, your eyes would +have been left to you, and set by now upon the orb of empire that your +hand had grasped." + +"Yet I am glad that he did not come alone, Martina." + +"Truly you have a high and faithful heart, and that woman should be +honoured whom you love. What is the secret? There must be more in it +than the mere desire for a woman's beauty, though I know that at times +this can make men mad. In such a business the soul must play its +part." + +"I think so, Martina. Indeed, I believe so, since otherwise we suffer +much in vain. Now tell me, how and when do I die?" + +"I hope you will not die at all, Olaf. Certain plans are laid which +even here I dare not whisper. To-morrow I hear they will lead you +again before the judges, who, by Irene's clemency, will change your +sentence to one of banishment, with secret orders to kill you on the +voyage. But you will never make that voyage. Other schemes are afoot; +you'll learn of them afterwards." + +"Yet, Martina, if you know these plots the Augusta knows them also, +since you and she are one." + +"When those dagger points were thrust into your eyes, Olaf, they cut +the thread that bound us, and now Irene and I are more far apart than +hell and heaven. I tell you that for your sake I hate her and work her +downfall. Am I not your god-mother, Olaf?" + +Then again she kissed my hand and presently was gone. + + + +On the following morning, as I supposed it to be, my jailers came and +said to me that I must appear before the judges to hear some revision +of my sentence. They dressed me in my soldier's gear, and even allowed +me to gird my sword about me, knowing, doubtless, that, save to +himself, a blind man could do no mischief with a sword. Then they led +me I know not whither by passages which turned now here, now there. At +length we entered some place, for doors were closed behind us. + +"This is the Hall of Judgment," said one of them, "but the judges have +not yet come. It is a great room and bare. There is nothing in it +against which you can hurt yourself. Therefore, if it pleases you +after being cramped so long in that narrow cell, you may walk to and +fro, keeping your hands in front of you so that you will know when you +touch the further wall and must turn." + +I thanked them and, glad enough to avail myself of this grace for my +limbs were stiff with want of exercise, began to walk joyfully. I +thought that the room must be one of those numberless apartments which +opened on to the terrace, since distinctly I could hear the wash of +the sea coming from far beneath, doubtless through the open window- +places. + +Forward I stepped boldly, but at a certain point in my march this +curious thing happened. A hand seemed to seize my own and draw me to +the left. Wondering, I followed the guidance of the hand, which +presently left hold of mine. Thereon I continued my march, and as I +did so, thought that I heard another sound, like to that of a +suppressed murmur of human voices. Twenty steps more and I reached the +end of the chamber, for my outstretched fingers touched its marble +wall. I turned and marched back, and lo! at the twentieth step that +hand took mine again and led me to the right, whereon once more the +murmur of voices reached me. + +Thrice this happened, and every time the murmur grew more loud. +Indeed, I thought I heard one say, + +"The man's not blind at all," and another, "Some spirit guides him." + +As I made my fourth journey I caught the sound of a distant tumult, +the shouts of war, the screams of agony, and above them all the well- +remembered cry of "/Valhalla! Valhalla! Victory or Valhalla!/" + +I halted where I was and felt the blood rush into my wasted cheeks. +The Northmen, my Northmen, were in the palace! It was at this that +Martina had hinted. Yet in so vast a place what chance was there that +they would ever find me, and how, being blind, could I find them? +Well, at least my voice was left to me, and I would lift it. + +So with all my strength I cried aloud, "Olaf Red-Sword is here! To +Olaf, men of the North!" + +Thrice I cried. I heard folk running, not to me, but from me, +doubtless those whose whispers had reached my ears. + +I thought of trying to follow them, but the soft and gentle hand, +which was like to that of a woman, once more clasped mine and held me +where I was, suffering me to move no single inch. So there I stood, +even after the hand had loosed me again, for it seemed to me that +there was something most strange in this business. + +Presently another sound arose, the sound of the Northmen pouring +towards the hall, for feet clanged louder and louder down the marble +corridors. More, they had met those who were running from the hall, +for now these fled back before them. They were in the hall, for a cry +of horror, mingled with rage, broke from their lips. + +"'Tis Olaf," said one, "Olaf blinded, and, by Thor, see where he +stands!" + +Then Jodd's voice roared out, + +"Move not, Olaf; move not, or you die." + +Another voice, that of Martina, broke in, "Silence, you fool, or +you'll frighten him and make him fall. Silence all, and leave him to +me!" + +Then quiet fell upon the place; it seemed that even the pursued grew +quiet, and I heard the rustle of a woman's dress drawing towards me. +Next instant a soft hand took my own, just such a hand as not long ago +had seemed to guide and hold me, and Martina's voice said, + +"Follow where I lead, Olaf." + +So I followed eight or ten paces. Then Martina threw her arms about me +and burst into wild laughter. Someone caught her away; next moment two +hair-clad lips kissed me on the brow and the mighty voice of Jodd +shouted, + +"Thanks be to all the gods, dwell they in the north or in the south! +We have saved you! Know you where you stood, Olaf? On the brink of a +pit, the very brink, and beneath is a fall of a hundred feet to where +the waters of the Bosphorus wash among the rocks. Oh! understand this +pretty Grecian game. They, good Christian folk, would not have your +blood upon their souls, and therefore they caused you to walk to your +own death. Well, they shall be dosed with the draught they brewed. + +"Bring them hither, comrades, bring them one by one, these devils who +could sit to watch a blind man walk to his doom to make their sport. +Ah! whom have we here? Why, by Thor! 'tis the lawyer knave, he who was +president of the court that tried you, and was angry because you did +not salute him. Well, lawyer, the wheel has gone round. We Northmen +are in possession of the palace and the Armenian legions are gathered +at its gates and do but wait for Constantine the Emperor to enter and +take the empire and its crown. They'll be here anon, lawyer, but you +understand, having a certain life to save, for word had been brought +to us of your pretty doings, that we were forced to strike before the +signal, and struck not in vain. Now we'll fill in the tedious time +with a trial of our own. See here, I am president of the court, seated +in this fine chair, and these six to right and left are my companion +judges, while you seven who were judges are now prisoners. You know +the crime with which you are charged, so there's no need to set it +out. Your defence, lawyer, and be swift with it." + +"Oh! sir," said the man in a trembling voice, "what we did to the +General Olaf we were ordered to do by one who may not be named." + +"You'd best find the name, lawyer, for were it that of a god we +Northmen would hear it." + +"Well, then, by the Augusta herself. She wished the death of the noble +Michael, or Olaf, but having become superstitious about the matter, +would not have his blood directly on her hands. Therefore she +bethought her of this plan. He was ordered to be brought into the +place you see, which is known as the Hall of the Pit, that in old days +was used by certain bloody-minded emperors to rid them of their +enemies. The central pavement swings upon a hinge. At a touch it +opens, and he who has thought it sound and walked thereon, when +darkness comes is lost, since he falls upon the rocks far below, and +at high tide the water takes him." + +"Yes, yes, we understand the game, lawyer, for there yawns the open +pit. But have you aught more to say?" + +"Nothing, sir, nothing, save that we only did what we were driven to +do. Moreover, no harm has come of it, since whenever the noble general +came to the edge of the opened pit, although he was blind, he halted +and went off to right or left as though someone drew him out of +danger." + +"Well, then, cruel and unjust judges, who could gather to mock at the +murder of a blinded man that you had trapped to his doom----" + +"Sir," broke in one of them, "it was not we who tried to trap him; it +was those jailers who stand there. They told the general that he might +exercise himself by walking up and down the hall." + +"Is that true, Olaf?" asked Jodd. + +"Yes," I answered, "it is true that the two jailers who brought me +here did tell me this, though whether those men are present I cannot +say." + +"Very good," said Jodd. "Add them to the other prisoners, who by their +own showing heard them set the snare and did not warn the victim. Now, +murderers all, this is the sentence of the court upon you: That you +salute the General Olaf and confess your wickedness to him." + +So they saluted me, kneeling, and kissing my feet, and one and all +made confession of their crime. + +"Enough," I said, "I pardon them who are but tools. Pray to God that +He may do as much." + +"You may pardon here, Olaf," said Jodd, "and your God may pardon +hereafter, but we, the Northmen, do not pardon. Blindfold those men +and bind their arms. Now," went on Jodd after a pause, "their turn has +come to show us sport. Run, friends, run, for swords are behind you. +Can you not feel them?" + +The rest may be guessed. Within a few minutes the seven judges and the +two jailers had vanished from the world. No hand came to save /them/ +from the cruel rocks and the waters that seethed a hundred feet below +that dreadful chamber. + +This fantastic, savage vengeance was a thing dreadful to hear; what it +must have been to see I can only guess. I know that I wished I might +have fled from it and that I pleaded with Jodd for mercy on these men. +But neither he nor his companions would listen to me. + +"What mercy had they on you?" he cried. "Let them drink from their own +cup." + +"Let them drink from their own cup!" roared his companions, and then +broke into a roar of laughter as one of the false judges, feeling +space before him, leapt, leapt short, and with a shriek departed for +ever. + + + +It was over. I heard someone enter the hall and whisper in Jodd's ear; +heard his answer also. + +"Let her be brought hither," he said. "For the rest, bid the captains +hold Stauracius and the others fast. If there is any sign of stir +against us, cut their throats, advising them that this will be done +should they allow trouble to arise. Do not fire the palace unless I +give the word, for it would be a pity to burn so fine a building. It +is those who dwell in it who should be burned; but doubtless +Constantine will see to that. Collect the richest of the booty, that +which is most portable, and let it be carried to our quarters in the +baggage carts. See that these things are done quickly, before the +Armenians get their hands into the bag. I'll be with you soon; but if +the Emperor Constantine should arrive first, tell him that all has +gone well, better than he hoped, indeed, and pray him to come hither, +where we may take counsel." + +The messenger went. Jodd and some of the Northmen began to consult +together, and Martina led me aside. + +"Tell me what has chanced, Martina," I asked, "for I am bewildered." + +"A revolution, that is all, Olaf. Jodd and the Northmen are the point +of the spear, its handle is Constantine, and the hands that hold it +are the Armenians. It has been very well done. Some of the guards who +remained were bribed, others frightened away. Only a few fought, and +of them the Northmen made short work. Irene and her ministers were +fooled. They thought the blow would not fall for a week or more, if at +all, since the Empress believed that she had appeased Constantine by +her promises. I'll tell you more later." + +"How did you find me, Martina, and in time?" + +"Oh! Olaf, it is a terrible story. Almost I swoon again to think of +it. It was thus: Irene discovered that I had visited you in your cell; +she grew suspicious of me. This morning I was seized and ordered to +surrender the signet; but first I had heard that they planned your +death to-day, not a sentence of banishment and murder afar off, as I +told you. My last act before I was taken was to dispatch a trusted +messenger to Jodd and the Northmen, telling them that if they would +save you alive they must strike at once, and not to-night, as had been +arranged. Within thirty seconds after he had left my side the eunuchs +had me and took me to my chamber, where they barred me in. A while +later the Augusta came raging like a lioness. She accused me of +treachery, and when I denied it struck me in the face. Look, here are +the marks of the jewels on her hands. Oh, alas! what said I? You +cannot see. She had learned that the lady Heliodore had escaped her, +and that I had some hand in her escape. She vowed that I, your god- +mother, was your lover, and as this is a crime against the Church, +promised me that after other sufferings I should be burned alive in +the Hippodrome before all the people. Lastly she said this, 'Know that +your Olaf of whom you are so fond dies within an hour and thus: He +will be taken to the Hall of the Pit and there given leave to walk +till the judges come. Being blind, you may guess where he will walk. +Before this door is unlocked again I tell you he'll be but a heap of +splintered bones. Aye, you may start and weep; but save your tears for +yourself,' and she called me a foul name. 'I have got you fast at +length, you night-prowling cat, and God Himself cannot give you +strength to stretch out your hand and guide this accursed Olaf from +the edge of the Pit of Death.' + +"'God alone knows what He can do, Augusta,' I answered, for the words +seemed to be put into my lips. + +"Then she cursed and struck me again, and so left me barred in my +chamber. + +"When she had gone I flung myself upon my knees and prayed to God to +save you, Olaf, since I was helpless; prayed as I had never prayed +before. Praying thus, I think that I fell into a swoon, for my agony +was more than I could bear, and in the swoon I dreamed. I dreamed that +I stood in this place, where till now I have never been before. I saw +the judges, the jailers, and a few others watching from that gallery. +I saw you walk along the hall towards the great open pit. Then I +seemed to glide to you and take your hand and guide you round the pit. +And, Olaf, this happened thrice. Afterwards came a tumult while you +were on the very edge of the pit and I held you, not suffering you to +stir. Then in rushed the Northmen and I with them. Yes, standing there +with you upon the edge of the pit, I saw myself and the Northmen rush +into the hall." + +"Martina," I whispered, "a hand that seemed to be a woman's did guide +me thrice round the edge of the pit, and did hold me almost until you +and the Northmen rushed in." + +"Oh! God is great!" she gasped. "God is very great, and to Him I give +thanks. But hearken to the end of the tale. I awoke from my swoon and +heard noise without, and above it the Northmen's cry of victory. They +had scaled the palace walls or broken in the gates--as yet I know not +which--they were on the terrace driving the Greek guards before them. +I ran to the window-place and there below me saw Jodd. I screamed till +he heard me. + +"'Save me if you would save Olaf,' I cried. 'I am prisoned here.' + +"They brought one of their scaling ladders and drew me through the +window. I told them all I knew. They caught a palace eunuch and beat +him till he promised to lead us to this hall. He led, but in the +labyrinth of passages fell down senseless, for they had struck him too +hard. We knew not which way to turn, till suddenly we heard your voice +and ran towards it. + +"That is all the story, Olaf." + + + + CHAPTER X + + OLAF GIVES JUDGMENT + +As Martina finished speaking I heard the sound of tramping guards and +of a woman's dress upon the pavement. Then a voice, that of Irene, +spoke, and though her words were quiet I caught in them the tremble of +smothered rage. + +"Be pleased to tell me, Captain Jodd," she said, "what is happening in +my palace, and why I, the Empress, am haled from my apartment hither +by soldiers under your command?" + +"Lady," answered Jodd, "you are mistaken. Yesterday you were an +empress, to-day you are--well, whatever your son, the Emperor, chooses +to name you. As to what has been and is happening in this palace, I +scarcely know where to begin the tale. First of all your general and +chamberlain Olaf--in case you should not recognise him, I mean that +blind man who stands yonder--was being tricked to death by certain +servants of yours who called themselves judges, and who stated that +they were acting by your orders." + +"Confront me with them," said Irene, "that I may prove to you that +they lie." + +"Certainly. Ho! you, bring the lady Irene here. Now hold her over that +hole. Nay, struggle not, lady, lest you should slip from their hands. +Look down steadily, and you will see by the light that flows in from +the cave beneath, certain heaps lying on the rocks round which the +rising waters seethe. There are your judges whom you say you wish to +meet. If you desire to ask them any questions, we can satisfy your +will. Nay, why should you turn pale at the mere sight of the place +that you thought good enough to be the bed of a faithful soldier of +your own, one high in your service, whom it has pleased you to blind? +Why did it please you to blind him, Lady?" + +"Who are you that dare to ask me questions?" she replied, gathering up +her courage. + +"I'll tell you, Lady. Now that the General Olaf yonder is blinded I am +the officer in command of the Northmen, who, until you tried to murder +the said General Olaf a while ago, were your faithful guard. I am +also, as it chances, the officer in command of this palace, which we +took this morning by assault and by arrangement with most of your +Greek soldiers, having learned from your confidential lady, Martina, +of the vile deed you were about to work on the General Olaf." + +"So it was you who betrayed me, Martina," gasped Irene; "and I had you +in my power. Oh! I had you in my power!" + +"I did not betray you, Augusta. I saved my god-son yonder from torture +and butchery, as by my oath I was bound to do," answered Martina. + +"Have done with this talk of betrayals," went on Jodd, "for who can +betray a devil? Now, Lady, with your State quarrels we have nothing to +do. You can settle them presently with your son, that is, if you still +live. But with this matter of Olaf we have much to do, and we will +settle that at once. The first part of the business we all know, so +let us get to the next. By whose order were you blinded, General +Olaf?" + +"By that of the Augusta," I answered. + +"For what reason, General Olaf?" + +"For one that I will not state," I answered. + +"Good. You were blinded by the Augusta for a reason you will not +state, but which is well known to all of us. Now, we have a law in the +North which says that an eye should be given for an eye and a life for +a life. Would it not then be right, comrades, that this woman should +be blinded also?" + +"What!" screamed Irene, "blinded! I blinded! I, the Empress!" + +"Tell me, Lady, are the eyes of one who was an Empress different from +other eyes? Why should you complain of that darkness into which you +were so ready to plunge one better than yourself. Still, Olaf shall +judge. Is it your will, General, that we blind this woman who put out +your eyes and afterwards tried to murder you?" + +Now, I felt that all in that place were watching me and hanging on the +words that I should speak, so intently that they never heard others +entering it, as I did. For a while I paused, for why should not Irene +suffer a little of that agony of suspense which she had inflicted upon +me and others? + +Then I said, "See what I have lost, friends, through no grave fault of +my own. I was in the way of greatness. I was a soldier whom you +trusted and liked well, one of unstained honour and of unstained name. +Also I loved a woman, by whom I was beloved and whom I hoped to make +my wife. And now what am I? My trade is gone, for how can a maimed man +lead in war, or even do the meanest service of the camp? The rest of +my days, should any be granted to me, must be spent in darkness +blacker than that of midnight. I must live on charity. When the little +store I have is spent, for I have taken no bribe and heaped up no +riches, how can I earn a living? The woman whom I love has been +carried away, after this Empress tried thrice to murder her. Whether I +shall ever find her again in this world I know not, for she has gone +to a far country that is full of enemies to Christian men. Nor do I +know whether she would be willing to take one who is blind and +beggared for a husband, though I think this may be so." + +"Shame on her if she does not," muttered Martina as I paused. + +"Well, friends, that is my case," I went on; "let the Augusta deny it +if she can." + +"Speak, Lady. Do you deny it?" said Jodd. + +"I do not deny that this man was blinded by my order in payment of +crimes for which he might well have suffered death," answered Irene. +"But I do deny that I commanded him to be trapped in yonder pit. If +those dead men said so, then they lied." + +"And if the lady Martina says so, what then?" asked Jodd. + +"Then she lies also," answered the Empress sullenly. + +"Be it so," replied Jodd. "Yet it is strange that, acting on this lie +of the lady Martina's, we found the General Olaf upon the very edge of +yonder hole; yes, with not the breadth of a barleycorn between him and +death. Now, General, both parties have been heard and you shall pass +sentence. If you say that yonder woman is to be blinded, this moment +she looks her last upon the light. If you say that she is to die, this +moment she bids farewell to life." + +Again I thought a while. It came into my mind that Irene, who had +fallen from power, might rise once more and bring fresh evil upon +Heliodore. Now she was in my hand, but if I opened that hand and let +her free----! + +Someone moved towards me, and I heard Irene's voice whispering in my +ear. + +"Olaf," she said, "if I sinned against you it was because I loved you. +Would you be avenged upon one who has burned her soul with so much +evil because she loved too well? Oh! if so, you are no longer Olaf. +For Christ's sake have pity on me, since I am not fit to meet Him. +Give me time to repent. Nay! hear me out! Let not those men drag me +away as they threaten to do. I am fallen now, but who knows, I may +grow great again; indeed, I think I shall. Then, Olaf, may my soul +shrivel everlastingly in hell if I try to harm you or the Egyptian +more--Jesus be my witness that I ask no lesser doom upon my head. Keep +the men back, Martina, for what I swear to him and the Egyptian I +swear to you as well. Moreover, Olaf, I have great wealth. You spoke +of poverty; it shall be far from you. Martina knows where my gold is +hid, and she still holds my keys. Let her take it. I say leave me +alone, but one word more. If ever it is in my power I'll forget +everything and advance you all to great honour. Your brain is not +blinded, Olaf; you can still rule. I swear, I swear, I swear upon the +Holy Blood! Ah! now drag me away if you will. I have spoken." + +"Then perchance, Lady, you will allow Olaf to speak, since we, who +have much to do, must finish this business quickly, before the Emperor +comes with the Armenians," said Jodd. + +"Captain Jodd and his comrades," I said, "the Empress Irene has been +pleased to make certain solemn vows to me which perchance some of you +may have overheard. At least, God heard them, and whether she keeps +them or no is a matter between her and the God in Whom we both +believe. Therefore I set these vows aside; they draw me neither one +way nor the other. Now, you have made me judge in my own matter and +have promised to abide by my judgment, which you will do. Hear it, +then, and let it be remembered. For long I have been the Augusta's +officer, and of late her general and chamberlain. As such I have bound +myself by great oaths to protect her from harm in all cases, and those +oaths heretofore I have kept, when I might have broken them and not +been blamed by men. Whatever has chanced, it seems that she is still +Empress and I am still her officer, seeing that my sword has been +returned to me, although it is true she sent it that I might use it on +myself. It pleased the Empress to put out my eyes. Under our soldier's +law the monarch who rules the Empire has a right to put out the eyes +of an officer who has lifted sword against her forces, or even to kill +him. Whether this is done justly or unjustly again is a matter between +that monarch and God above, to Whom answer must be made at last. +Therefore it would seem that I have no right to pronounce any sentence +against the Augusta Irene, and whatever may have been my private +wrongs, I pronounce none. Yet, as I am still your general until +another is named, I order you to free the Augusta Irene and to work no +vengeance on her person for aught that may have befallen me at her +hands, were her deeds just or unjust." + +When I had finished speaking, in the silence that followed I heard +Irene utter something that was half a sob and half a gasp of +wonderment. Then above the murmuring of the Northmen, to whom this +rede was strange, rose the great voice of Jodd. + +"General Olaf," he said, "while you were talking it came into my mind +that one of those knife points which pierced your eyes had pricked the +brain behind them. But when you had finished talking it came into my +mind that you are a great man who, putting aside your private rights +and wrongs and the glory of revenge which lay to your hand, have +taught us soldiers a lesson in duty which I, at least, never shall +forget. General, if, as I trust, we are together in the future as in +the past, I shall ask you to instruct me in this Christian faith of +yours, which can make a man not only forgive but hide his forgiveness +under the mask of duty, for that, as we know well, is what you have +done. General, your order shall be obeyed. Be she Empress or nothing, +this lady's person is safe from us. More, we will protect her to the +best of our power, as you did in the Battle of the Garden. Yet I tell +her to her face that had it not been for those orders, had you, for +example, said that you left judgment to us, she who has spoilt such a +man should have died a death of shame." + +I heard a sound as of a woman throwing herself upon her knees before +me. I heard Irene's voice whisper through her tears, + +"Olaf, Olaf, for the second time in my life you make me feel ashamed. +Oh! if only you could have loved me! Then I should have grown good +like you." + +There was a stir of feet and another voice spoke, a voice that should +have been clear and youthful, but sounded as though it were thick with +wine. It did not need Martina's whisper to tell me that it was that of +Constantine. + +"Greeting, friends," he said, and at once there came a rattle of +saluting swords and an answering cry of + +"Greeting, Augustus!" + +"You struck before the time," went on the thick, boyish voice. "Yet as +things seem to have gone rather well for us, I cannot blame you, +especially as I see that you hold fast her who has usurped my +birthright." + +Now I heard Irene turn with a swift and furious movement. + +"Your birthright, boy," she cried. "What birthright have you save that +which my body gave?" + +"I thought that my father had more to do with this matter of imperial +right than the Grecian girl whom it pleased him to marry for her fair +face," answered Constantine insolently, adding: "Learn your station, +mother. Learn that you are but the lamp which once held the holy oil, +and that lamps can be shattered." + +"Aye," she answered, "and oil can be spilt for the dogs to lap, if +their gorge does not rise at such rancid stuff. The holy oil forsooth! +Nay, the sour dregs of wine jars, the outscourings of the stews, the +filth of the stables, of such is the holy oil that burns in +Constantine, the drunkard and the liar." + +It would seem that before this torrent of coarse invective Constantine +quailed, who at heart always feared his mother, and I think never more +so than when he appeared to triumph over her. Or perhaps he scorned to +answer it. At least, addressing Jodd, he said, + +"Captain, I and my officers, standing yonder unseen, have heard +something of what passed in this place. By what warrant do you and +your company take upon yourselves to pass judgment upon this mother of +mine? That is the Emperor's right." + +"By the warrant of capture, Augustus," answered Jodd. "We Northmen +took the palace and opened the gates to you and your Armenians. Also +we took her who ruled in the palace, with whom we had a private score +to settle that has to do with our general who stands yonder, blinded. +Well, it is settled in his own fashion, and now we do not yield up +this woman, our prisoner, save on your royal promise that no harm +shall come to her in body. As for the rest, it is your business. Make +a cook-maid of her if you will, only then I think her tongue would +clear the kitchen. But swear to keep her sound in life and limb till +hell calls her, since otherwise we must add her to our company, which +will make no man merrier." + +"No," answered Constantine, "in a week she would corrupt you every one +and breed a war. Well," he added with a boisterous laugh, "I'm master +now at last, and I'll swear by any saint that you may name, or all of +them, no harm shall come to this Empress whose rule is done, and who, +being without friends, need not be feared. Still, lest she should +spawn more mischief or murder, she must be kept close till we and our +councillors decide where she shall dwell in future. Ho! guards, take +my royal father's widow to the dower-palace, and there watch her well. +If she escapes, you shall die beneath the rods. Away with the snake +before it begins to hiss again." + +"I'll hiss no more," said Irene, as the soldiers formed up round her, +"yet, perchance, Constantine, you may live to find that the snake +still has strength to strike and poison in its fangs, you and others. +Do you come with me, Martina?" + +"Nay, Lady, since here stands one whom God and you together have given +me to guard. For his sake I would keep my life in me," and she touched +me on the shoulder. + +"That whelp who is called my son spoke truly when he said that the +fallen have no friends," exclaimed Irene. "Well, you should thank me, +Martina, who made Olaf blind, since, being without eyes, he cannot see +how ugly is your face. In his darkness he may perchance mistake you +for the beauteous Egyptian, Heliodore, as I know you who love him +madly would have him do." + +With this vile taunt she went. + +"I think I'm crazed," said the Emperor, as the doors swung to behind +her. "I should have struck that snake while the stick is in my hand. I +tell you I fear her fangs. Why, if she could, she'd make me as that +poor man is, blind, or even butcher me. Well, she's my mother, and +I've sworn, so there's an end. Now, you Olaf, you are that same +captain, are you not, who dashed the poisoned fig from my lips that +this tender mother of mine would have let me eat when I was in liquor; +yes, and would have swallowed it yourself to save me from my folly?" + +"I am that man, Augustus." + +"Aye, you are that man, and one of whom all the city has been talking. +They say, so poor is your taste, that you turned your back upon the +favours of an Empress because of some young girl you dared to love. +They say also that she paid you back with a dagger in the eyes, she +who was ready to set you in my place." + +"Rumour has many tongues, Augustus," I answered. "At least I fell from +the Empress's favour, and she rewarded me as she held that I +deserved." + +"So it seems. Christ! what a dreadful pit is that. Is this another of +her gifts? Nay, answer not; I heard the tale. Well, Olaf, you saved my +life and your Northmen have set me on the throne, since without them +we could scarcely have won the palace. Now, what payment would you +have?" + +"Leave to go hence, Augustus," I answered. + +"A small boon that you might have taken without asking, if you can +find a dog to lead you, like other blind wretches. And you, Captain +Jodd, and your men, what do you ask?" + +"Such donation as it may please the Augustus to bestow, and after that +permission to follow wherever our General Olaf goes, since he is our +care. Here we have made so many enemies that we cannot sleep at +night." + +"The Empress of the World falls from her throne," mused Constantine, +"and not even a waiting-maid attends her to her prison. But a blinded +captain finds a regiment to escort him hence in love and honour, as +though he were a new-crowned king. Truly Fortune is a jester. If ever +Fate should rob me of my eyes, I wonder, when I had nothing more to +give them, if three hundred faithful swords would follow me to ruin +and to exile?" + +Thus he thought aloud. Afterwards he, Jodd and some others, Martina +among them, went aside, leaving me seated on a bench. Presently they +returned, and Constantine said, + +"General Olaf, I and your companions have taken counsel. Listen. But +to-day messengers have come from Lesbos, whom we met outside the +gates. It seems that the governor there is dead, and that the accursed +Moslems threaten to storm the isle as soon as summer comes and add it +to their empire. Our Christian subjects there pray that a new governor +may be appointed, one who knows war, and that with him may be sent +troops sufficient to repel the prophet-worshippers, who, not having +many ships, cannot attack in great force. Now, Captain Jodd thinks +this task will be to the liking of the Northmen, and though you are +blind, I think that you would serve me well as governor of Lesbos. Is +it your pleasure to accept this office?" + +"Aye, with thankfulness, Augustus," I answered. "Only, after the +Moslems are beaten back, if it pleases God that it should so befall, I +ask leave of absence for a while, since there is one for whom I must +search." + +"I grant it, who name Captain Jodd your deputy. Stay, there's one more +thing. In Lesbos my mother has large vineyards and estates. As part +payment of her debt these shall be conveyed to you. Nay, no thanks; it +is I who owe them. Whatever his faults, Constantine is not ungrateful. +Moreover, enough time has been spent upon this matter. What say you, +Officer? That the Armenians are marshalled and that you have +Stauracius safe? Good! I come to lead them. Then to the Hippodrome to +be proclaimed." + + + + + BOOK III + + EGYPT + + + + CHAPTER I + + TIDINGS FROM EGYPT + +That curtain of oblivion without rent or seam sinks again upon the +visions of this past of mine. It falls, as it were, on the last of the +scenes in the dreadful chamber of the pit, to rise once more far from +Byzantium. + +I am blind and can see nothing, for the power which enables me to +disinter what lies buried beneath the weight and wreck of so many ages +tells me no more than those things that once my senses knew. What I +did not hear then I do not hear now; what I did not see then I do not +see now. Thus it comes about that of Lesbos itself, of the shape of +its mountains or the colour of its seas I can tell nothing more than I +was told, because my sight never dwelt on them in any life that I can +remember. + + + +It was evening. The heat of the sun had passed and the night breeze +blew through the wide, cool chamber in which I sat with Martina, whom +the soldiers, in their rude fashion, called "Olaf's Brown Dog." For +brown was her colouring, and she led me from place to place as dogs +are trained to lead blind men. Yet against her the roughest of them +never said an evil word; not from fear, but because they knew that +none could be said. + +Martina was talking, she who always loved to talk, if not of one +thing, then of another. + +"God-son," she said, "although you are a great grumbler, I tell you +that in my judgment you were born under a lucky star, or saint, call +it which you will. For instance, when you were walking up and down +that Hall of the Pit in the palace at Constantinople, which I always +dream of now if I sup too late----" + +"And your spirit, or double, or whatever you call it, was kindly +leading me round the edge of the death-trap," I interrupted. + +"----and my spirit, or double, making itself useful for once, was +doing what you say, well, who would have thought that before so very +long you would be the governor, much beloved, of the rich and +prosperous island of Lesbos; still the commander, much beloved, of +troops, many of them your own countrymen, and, although you are blind, +the Imperial general who has dealt the Moslems one of the worst +defeats they have suffered for a long while." + +"Jodd and the others did that," I answered. "I only sat here and made +the plans." + +"Jodd!" she exclaimed with contempt. "Jodd has no more head for plans +than a doorpost! Although it is true," she added with a softening of +the voice, "that he is a good man to lean on at a pinch, and a very +terrible fighter; also one who can keep such brain as God gave him +cool in the hour of terror, as Irene knows well enough. Yet it was +you, Olaf, not even I, but you, who remembered that the Northmen are +seafolk born, and turned all those trading vessels into war-galleys +and hid them in the little bays with a few of your people in command +of each. It was you who suffered the Moslem fleet to sail unmolested +into the Mitylene harbours, pretending and giving notice that the only +defence would be by land. Then, after they were at anchor and +beginning to disembark, it was you who fell on them at the dawn and +sank and slew till none remained save those of their army who were +taken prisoners or spared for ransom. Yes, and you commanded our ships +in person; and at night who is a better captain than a blind man? Oh! +you did well, very well; and you are rich with Irene's lands, and sit +here in comfort and in honour, with the best of health save for your +blindness, and I repeat that you were born under a lucky star--or +saint." + +"Not altogether so, Martina," I answered with a sigh. + +"Ah!" she replied, "man can never be content. As usual, you are +thinking of that Egyptian, I mean of the lady Heliodore, of whom, of +course, it is quite right that you should think. Well, it is true that +we have heard nothing of her. Still, that does not mean that we may +not hear. Perhaps Jodd has learned something from those prisoners. +Hark! he comes." + +As she spoke I heard the guards salute without and Jodd's heavy step +at the door of the chamber. + +"Greeting, General," he said presently. "I bring you good news. The +messengers to the Sultan Harun have returned with the ransom. Also +this Caliph sends a writing signed by himself and his ministers, in +which he swears by God and His Prophet that in consideration of our +giving up our prisoners, among whom, it seems, are some great men, +neither he nor his successors will attempt any new attack upon Lesbos +for thirty years. The interpreter will read it to you to-morrow, and +you can send your answering letters with the prisoners." + +"Seeing that these heathen are so many and we are so few, we could +scarcely look for better terms," I said, "as I hope they will think at +Constantinople. At least the prisoners shall sail when all is in +order. Now for another matter. Have you inquired as to the Bishop +Barnabas and the Egyptian Prince Magas and his daughter?" + +"Aye, General, this very day. I found that among the prisoners were +three of the commoner sort who have served in Egypt and left that land +not three months ago. Of these men two have never heard of the bishop +or the others. The third, however, who was wounded in the fight, had +some tidings." + +"What tidings, Jodd?" + +"None that are good, General. The bishop, he says, was killed by +Moslems a while ago, or so he had been told." + +"God rest him. But the others, Jodd, what of the others?" + +"This. It seems that the Copt, as he called him, Magas, returned from +a long journey, as we know he did, and raised an insurrection +somewhere in the south of Egypt, far up the Nile. An expedition was +sent against him, under one Musa, the Governor of Egypt, and there was +much fighting, in which this prisoner took part. The end of it was +that the Copts who fought with Magas were conquered with slaughter, +Magas himself was slain, for he would not fly, and his daughter, the +lady Heliodore, was taken prisoner with some other Coptic women." + +"And then?" I gasped. + +"Then, General, she was brought before the Emir Musa, who, noting her +beauty, proposed to make her his slave. At her prayer, however, being, +as the prisoner said, a merciful man, he gave her a week to mourn her +father before she entered his harem. Still, the worst," he went on +hurriedly, "did not happen. Before that week was done, as the Moslem +force was marching down the Nile, she stabbed the eunuch who was in +charge of her and escaped." + +"I thank God," I said. "But, Jodd, how is the man sure that she was +Heliodore?" + +"Thus: All knew her to be the daughter of Magas, one whom the +Egyptians held in honour. Moreover, among the Moslem soldiers she was +named 'the Lady of the Shells,' because of a certain necklace she +wore, which you will remember." + +"What more?" I asked. + +"Only that the Emir Musa was very angry at her loss and because of it +caused certain soldiers to be beaten on the feet. Moreover, he halted +his army and offered a reward for her. For two days they hunted, even +searching some tombs where it was thought she might have hidden, but +there found nothing but the dead. Then the Emir returned down the +Nile, and that is the end of the story." + +"Send this prisoner to me at once, Jodd, with an interpreter. I would +question him myself." + +"I fear he is not fit to come, General." + +"Then I will go to him. Lead me, Martina." + +"If so, you must go far, General, for he died an hour ago, and his +companions are making him ready for burial." + +"Jodd," I said angrily, "those men have been in our hands for weeks. +How comes it that you did not discover these things before? You had my +orders." + +"Because, General, until they knew that they were to go free none of +these prisoners would tell us anything. However closely they were +questioned, they said that it was against their oath, and that first +they would die. A long while ago I asked this very man of Egypt, and +he vowed that he had never been there." + +"Be comforted, Olaf," broke in Martina, "for what more could he have +told you?" + +"Nothing, perchance," I answered; "yet I should have gained many days +of time. Know that I go to Egypt to search for Heliodore." + +"Be comforted again," said Martina. "This you could not have done +until the peace was signed; it would have been against your oath and +duty." + +"That is so," I answered heavily. + + + +"Olaf," said Martina to me that night after Jodd had left us, "you say +that you will go to Egypt. How will you go? Will the blind Christian +general of the Empire, who has just dealt so great a defeat to the +mighty Caliph of the East, be welcome in Egypt? Above all, will he be +welcomed by the Emir Musa, who rules there, when it is known that he +comes to seek a woman who has escaped from that Emir's harem? Why, +within an hour he'd offer you the choice between death and the Koran. +Olaf, this thing is madness." + +"It may be, Martina. Still, I go to seek Heliodore." + +"If Heliodore still lives you will not help her by dying, and if she +is dead time will be little to her and she can wait for you a while." + +"Yet I go, Martina." + +"You, being blind, go to Egypt to seek one whom those who rule there +have searched for in vain. So be it. But how will you go? It cannot be +as an open enemy, since then you would need a fleet and ten thousand +swords to back you, which you have not. To take a few brave men, +unless they were Moslems, which is impossible, would be but to give +them to death. How do you go, Olaf?" + +"I do not know, Martina. Your brain is more nimble than mine; think, +think, and tell me." + +I heard Martina rise and walk up and down the room for a long time. At +length she returned and sat herself by me again. + +"Olaf," she said, "you always had a taste for music. You have told me +that as a boy in your northern home you used to play upon the harp and +sing songs to it of your own making, and now, since you have been +blind, you have practised at this art till you are its master. Also, +my voice is good; indeed, it is my only gift. It was my voice that +first brought me to Irene's notice, when I was but the daughter of a +poor Greek gentleman who had been her father's friend and therefore +was given a small place about the Court. Of late we have sung many +songs together, have we not, certain of them in that northern tongue, +of which you have taught me something?" + +"Yes, Martina; but what of it?" + +"You are dull, Olaf. I have heard that these Easterns love music, +especially if it be of a sort they do not know. Why, therefore, should +not a blind man and his daughter--no, his orphaned niece--earn an +honest living as travelling musicians in Egypt? These Prophet +worshippers, I am told, think it a great sin to harm one who is maimed +--a poor northern trader in amber who has been robbed by Christian +thieves. Rendered sightless also that he might not be able to swear to +them before the judges, and now, with his sister's child, winning his +bread as best he may. Like you, Olaf, I have skill in languages, and +even know enough of Arabic to beg in it, for my mother, who was a +Syrian, taught it to me as a child, and since we have been here I have +practised. What say you?" + +"I say that we might travel as safely thus as in any other way. Yet, +Martina, how can I ask you to tie such a burden on your back?" + +"Oh! no need to ask, Olaf, since Fate bound it there when it made me +your--god-mother. Where you go I needs must go also, until you are +married," she added with a laugh. "Afterwards, perhaps, you will need +me no more. Well, there's a plan, for what it is worth, and now we'll +sleep on it, hoping to find a better. Pray to St. Michael to-night, +Olaf." + +As it chanced, St. Michael gave me no light, so the end of it was that +I determined to play this part of a blind harper. In those days there +was a trade between Lesbos and Egypt in cedar wood, wool, wine for the +Copts, for the Moslems drank none, and other goods. Peace having been +declared between the island and the Caliph, a small vessel was laden +with such merchandise at my cost, and a Greek of Lesbos, Menas by +name, put in command of it as the owner, with a crew of sailors whom I +could trust to the death. + +To these men, who were Christians, I told my business, swearing them +to secrecy by the most holy of all oaths. But, alas! as I shall show, +although I could trust these sailors when they were masters of +themselves, I could not trust them, or, rather, one of them, when wine +was his master. In our northern land we had a saying that "Ale is +another man," and now its truth was to be proved to me, not for the +first time. + +When all was ready I made known my plans to Jodd alone, in whose hands +I left a writing to say what must be done if I returned no more. To +the other officers and the soldiers I said only that I proposed to +make a journey in this trading ship disguised as a merchant, both for +my health's sake and to discover for myself the state of the +surrounding countries, and especially of the Christians in Egypt. + +When he had heard all, Jodd, although he was a hopeful-minded man, +grew sad over this journey, which I could see he thought would be my +last. + +"I expected no less," he said; "and yet, General, I trusted that your +saint might keep your feet on some safer path. Doubtless this lady +Heliodore is dead, or fled, or wed; at least, you will never find +her." + +"Still, I must search for her, Jodd." + +"You are a blind man. How can you search?" + +Then an idea came to him, and he added, + +"Listen, General. I and the rest of us swore to protect the lady +Heliodore and to be as her father or her brothers. Do you bide here. I +will go to search for her, either with a vessel full of armed men, or +alone, disguised." + +Now I laughed outright and asked, + +"What disguise is there that would hide the giant Jodd, whose fame the +Moslem spies have spread throughout the East? Why, on the darkest +night your voice would betray you to all within a hundred paces. And +what use would one shipload of armed men be against the forces of the +Emir of Egypt? No, no, Jodd, whatever the danger I must go and I +alone. If I am killed, or do not return within eight months, I have +named you to be Governor of Lesbos, as already you have been named my +deputy by Constantine, which appointment will probably be confirmed." + +"I do not want to be Governor of Lesbos," said Jodd. "Moreover, Olaf," +he added slowly, "a blind beggar must have his dog to lead him, his +brown dog. You cannot go alone, Olaf. Those dangers of which you speak +must be shared by another." + +"That is so, and it troubles me much. Indeed, it is in my mind to seek +some other guide, for I think this one would be safest here in your +charge. You must reason with her, Jodd. One can ask too much, even of +a god-mother." + +"Of a god-mother! Why not say of a grandmother? By Thor! Olaf, you are +blind indeed. Still, I'll try. Hush! here she comes to say that our +supper is ready." + +At our meal several others were present, besides the serving folk, and +the talk was general. After it was done I had an interview with some +officers. These left, and I sat myself down upon a cushioned couch, +and, being tired, there fell asleep, till I was awakened, or, rather, +half awakened by voices talking in the garden without. They were those +of Jodd and Martina, and Martina was saying, + +"Cease your words. I and no one else will go on this Egyptian quest +with Olaf. If we die, as I dare say we shall, what does it matter? At +least he shall not die alone." + +"And if the quest should fail, Martina? I mean if he should not find +the lady Heliodore and you should happen both to return safe, what +then?" + +"Why, then--nothing, except that as it has been, so it will be. I +shall continue to play my part, as is my duty and my wish. Do you not +remember that I am Olaf's god-mother?" + +"Yes, I remember. Still, I have heard somewhere that the Christian +Church never ties a knot which it cannot unloose--for a proper fee, +and for my part I do not know why a man should not marry one of +different blood because she has been named his god-mother before a +stone vessel by a man in a broidered robe. You say I do not understand +such matters. Perhaps, so let them be. But, Martina, let us suppose +that this strange search were to succeed, and Olaf has a way of +succeeding where others would fail. For instance, who else could have +escaped alive out of the hand of Irene and become governor of Lesbos, +and, being blind, yet have planned a great victory? Well, supposing +that by the help of gods or men--or women--he should find this +beautiful Heliodore, unwed and still willing, and that they should +marry. What then, Martina?" + +"Then, Captain Jodd," she answered slowly, "if you are yet of the same +mind we may talk again. Only remember that I ask no promises and make +none." + +"So you go to Egypt with Olaf?" + +"Aye, certainly, unless I should die first, and perhaps even then. You +do not understand? Oh! of course you do not understand, nor can I stop +to explain to you. Captain Jodd, I am going to Egypt with a certain +blind beggar, whose name I forget at the moment, but who is my uncle, +where no doubt I shall see many strange things. If ever I come back I +will tell you about them, and, meanwhile, good night." + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE STATUES BY THE NILE + +The first thing that I remember of this journey to Egypt is that I was +sitting in the warm morning sunshine on the deck of our little trading +vessel, that went by the name of the heathen goddess, Diana. We were +in the port of Alexandria. Martina, who now went by the name of Hilda, +stood by my side describing to me the great city that lay before us. + +She told me of the famous Pharos still rising from its rock, although +in it the warning light no longer burned, for since the Moslems took +Egypt they had let it die, as some said because they feared lest it +should guide a Christian fleet to attack them. She described also the +splendid palaces that the Greeks had built, many of them now empty or +burned out, the Christian churches, the mosques, the broad streets and +the grass-grown quays. + +As we were thus engaged, she talking and I listening and asking +questions, she said, + +"The boat is coming with the Saracen officers of the port, who must +inspect and pass the ship before she is allowed to discharge her +cargo. Now, Olaf, remember that henceforth you are called Hodur." (I +had taken this name after that of the blind god of the northern +peoples.) "Play your part well, and, above all, be humble. If you are +reviled, or even struck, show no anger, and be sure to keep that red +sword of yours close hidden beneath your robe. If you do these things +we shall be safe, for I tell you that we are well disguised." + +The boat came alongside and I heard men climbing the ship's ladder. +Then someone kicked me. It was our captain, Menas, who also had his +part to play. + +"Out of the road, you blind beggar," he said. "The noble officers of +the Caliph board our ship, and you block their path." + +"Touch not one whom God has afflicted," said a grave voice, speaking +in bad Greek. "It is easy for us to walk round the man. But who is he, +captain, and why does he come to Egypt? By their looks he and the +woman with him might well have seen happier days." + +"I know not, lord," answered the captain, "who, after they paid their +passage money, took no more note of them. Still they play and sing +well, and served to keep the sailors in good humour when we were +becalmed." + +"Sir," I broke in, "I am a Northman named Hodur, and this woman is my +niece. I was a trader in amber, but thieves robbed me and my +companions of all we had as we journeyed to Byzantium. Me, who was the +leader of our band, they held to ransom, blinding me lest I should be +able to swear to them again, but the others they killed. This is the +only child of my sister, who married a Greek, and now we get our +living by our skill in music." + +"Truly you Christians love each other well," said the officer. "Accept +the Koran and you will not be treated thus. But why do you come to +Egypt?" + +"Sir, we heard that it is a rich land where the people love music, and +have come hoping to earn some money here that we may put by to live +on. Send us not away, sir; we have a little offering to make. Niece +Hilda, where is the gold piece I gave you? Offer it to this lord." + +"Nay, nay," said the officer. "Shall I take bread out of the mouth of +the poor? Clerk," he added in Arabic to a man who was with him, "make +out a writing giving leave to these two to land and to ply their +business anywhere in Egypt without question or hindrance, and bring it +to me to seal. Farewell, musicians. I fear you will find money scarce +in Egypt, for the land has been stricken with a famine. Yet go and +prosper in the name of God, and may He turn your hearts to the true +faith." + +Thus it came about that through the good mind of this Moslem, whose +name, as I learned when we met again, was Yusuf, our feet were lifted +over many stumbling-blocks. Thus it seems that by virtue of his office +he had power to prevent the entry into the land of such folk as we +seemed to be, which power, if they were Christians, was almost always +put in force. Yet because he had seen the captain appear to illtreat +me, or because, being a soldier himself, he guessed that I was of the +same trade, whatever tale it might please me to tell, this rule was +not enforced. Moreover, the writing which he gave me enabled me to go +where we wished in Egypt without let or hindrance. Whenever we were +stopped or threatened, which happened to us several times, it was +enough if we presented it to the nearest person in authority who could +read, after which we were allowed to pass upon our way unhindered. + +Before we left the ship I had a last conversation with the captain, +Menas, telling him that he was to lie in the harbour, always +pretending that he waited for some cargo not yet forthcoming, such as +unharvested corn, or whatever was convenient, until we appeared again. +If after a certain while we did not appear, then he was to make a +trading journey to neighbouring ports and return to Alexandria. These +artifices he must continue to practise until orders to the contrary +reached him under my own hand, or until he had sure evidence that we +were dead. All this the man promised that he would do. + +"Yes," said Martina, who was with me, "you promise, Captain, and we +believe you, but the question is, can you answer for the others? For +instance, for the sailor Cosmas there, who, I see, is already drunken +and talking loudly about many things." + +"Henceforth, lady, Cosmas shall drink water only. When not in his cups +he is an honest fellow, and I do answer for him." + +Yet, alas! as the end showed, Cosmas was not to be answered for by +anyone. + + + +We went ashore and took up our abode in a certain house, where we were +safe. Whether the Christian owners of that house did or did not know +who we were, I am not certain. At any rate, through them we were +introduced at night into the palace of Politian, the Melchite +Patriarch of Alexandria. He was a stern-faced, black-bearded man of +honest heart but narrow views, of whom the Bishop Barnabas had often +spoken to me as his closest friend. To this Politian I told all under +the seal of our Faith, asking his aid in my quest. When I had finished +my tale he thought a while. Then he said, + +"You are a bold man, General Olaf; so bold that I think God must be +leading you to His own ends. Now, you have heard aright. Barnabas, my +beloved brother and your father in Christ, has been taken hence. He +was murdered by some fanatic Moslems soon after his return from +Byzantium. Also it is true that the Prince Magas was killed in war by +the Emir Musa, and that the lady Heliodore escaped out of his +clutches. What became of her afterwards no man knows, but for my part +I believe that she is dead." + +"And I believe that she is alive," I answered, "and therefore I go to +seek her." + +"Seek and ye shall find," mused the Patriarch; "at least, I hope so, +though my advice to you is to bide here and send others to seek." + +"That I will not do," I answered again. + +"Then go, and God be with you. I'll warn certain of the faithful of +your coming, so that you may not lack a friend at need. When you +return, if you should ever return, come to me, for I have more +influence with these Moslems than most, and may be able to serve you. +I can say no more, and it is not safe that you should tarry here too +long. Stay, I forget. There are two things you should know. The first +is that the Emir Musa, he who seized the lady Heliodore, is about to +be deposed. I have the news from the Caliph Harun himself, for with +him I am on friendly terms because of a service I did him through my +skill in medicine. The second is that Irene has beguiled Constantine, +or bewitched him, I know not which. At least, by his own proclamation +once more she rules the Empire jointly with himself, and that I think +will be his death warrant, and perhaps yours also." + +"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," I said. "Now if I live +I shall learn whether any oaths are sacred to Irene, as will +Constantine." + +Then we parted. + + + +Leaving Alexandria, we wandered first to the town of Misra, which +stood near to the mighty pyramids, beneath whose shadow we slept one +night in an empty tomb. Thence by slow marches we made our way up the +banks of the Nile, earning our daily bread by the exercise of our art. +Once or twice we were stopped as spies, but always released again when +I produced the writing that the officer Yusuf had given me upon the +ship. For the rest, none molested us in a land where wandering beggars +were so common. Of money it is true we earned little, but as we had +gold in plenty sewn into our garments this did not matter. Food was +all we needed, and that, as I have said, was never lacking. + +So we went on our strange journey, day by day learning more of the +tongues spoken in Egypt, and especially of Arabic, which the Moslems +used. Whither did we journey? We know not for certain. What I sought +to find were those two huge statues of which I had dreamed at Aar on +the night of the robbing of the Wanderer's tomb. We heard that there +were such figures of stone, which were said to sing at daybreak, and +that they sat upon a plain on the western bank of the Nile, near to +the ruins of the great city of Thebes, now but a village, called by +the Arabs El-Uksor, or "the Palaces." So far as we could discover, it +was in the neighbourhood of this city that Heliodore had escaped from +Musa, and there, if anywhere, I hoped to gain tidings of her fate. +Also something within my heart drew me to those images of forgotten +gods or men. + +At length, two months or more after we left Alexandria, from the deck +of the boat in which we had hired a passage for the last hundred miles +of our journey, Martina saw to the east the ruins of Thebes. To the +west she saw other ruins, and seated in front of them /two mighty +figures of stone/. + +"This is the place," she said, and my heart leapt at her words. "Now +let us land and follow our fortune." + +So when the boat was tied up at sunset, to the west bank of the river, +as it happened, we bade farewell to the owner and went ashore. + +"Whither now?" asked Martina. + +"To the figures of stone," I answered. + +So she led me through fields in which the corn was growing, to the +edge of the desert, meeting no man all the way. Then for a mile or +more we tramped through sand, till at length, late at night, Martina +halted. + +"We stand beneath the statues," she said, "and they are awesome to +look on; mighty, seated kings, higher than a tall tree." + +"What lies behind them?" I asked. + +"The ruins of a great temple." + +"Lead me to that temple." + +So we passed through a gateway into a court, and there we halted. + +"Now tell me what you see," I said. + +"We stand in what has been a hall of many columns," she answered, "but +the most of them are broken. At our feet is a pool in which there is a +little water. Before us lies the plain on which the statues sit, +stretching some miles to the Nile, that is fringed with palms. Across +the broad Nile are the ruins of old Thebes. Behind us are more ruins +and a line of rugged hills of stone, and in them, a little to the +north, the mouth of a valley. The scene is very beautiful beneath the +moon, but very sad and desolate." + +"It is the place that I saw in my dream many years ago at Aar," I +said. + +"It may be," she answered, "but if so it must have changed, since, +save for a jackal creeping among the columns and a dog that barks in +some distant village, I neither see nor hear a living thing. What now, +Olaf?" + +"Now we will eat and sleep," I said. "Perhaps light will come to us in +our sleep." + +So we ate of the food we had brought with us, and afterwards lay down +to rest in a little chamber, painted round with gods, that Martina +found in the ruins of the temple. + +During that night no dreams came to me, nor did anything happen to +disturb us, even in this old temple, of which the very paving-stones +were worn through by the feet of the dead. + +Before the dawn Martina led me back to the colossal statues, and we +waited there, hoping that we should hear them sing, as tradition said +they did when the sun rose. Yet the sun came up as it had done from +the beginning of the world, and struck upon those giant effigies as it +had done for some two thousand years, or so I was told, and they +remained quite silent. I do not think that ever I grieved more over my +blindness than on this day, when I must depend upon Martina to tell me +of the glory of that sunrise over the Egyptian desert and those mighty +ruins reared by the hands of forgotten men. + +Well, the sun rose, and, since the statues would not speak, I took my +harp and played upon it, and Martina sang a wild Eastern song to my +playing. It seemed that our music was heard. At any rate, a few folk +going out to labour came to see by whom it was caused, and finding +only two wandering musicians, presently went away again. Still, one +remained, a woman, Coptic by her dress, with whom I heard Martina +talk. She asked who we were and why we had come to such a place, +whereon Martina repeated to her the story which we had told a hundred +times. The woman answered that we should earn little money in those +parts, as the famine had been sore there owing to the low Nile of the +previous season. Until the crops were ripe again, which in the case of +most of them would not be for some weeks, even food, she added, must +be scarce, though few were left to eat it, since the Moslems had +killed out most of those who dwelt in that district of Upper Egypt. + +Martina replied that she knew this was so, and therefore we had +proposed either to travel on to Nubia or to return north. Still, as I, +her blind uncle, was not well, we had landed from a boat hoping that +we might find some place where we could rest for a week or two until I +grew stronger. + +"Yet," she continued meaningly, "being poor Christian folk we know not +where to look for such a place, since Cross worshippers are not +welcome among those who follow the Prophet." + +Now, when the woman heard that we were Christians her voice changed. +"I also am a Christian," she said; "but give me the sign." + +So we made the sign of the Cross on our breasts, which a Moslem will +die rather than do. + +"My husband and I," went on the woman, "live yonder at the village of +Kurna, which is situated near to the mouth of the valley that is +called Biban-el-Meluk, or Gate of the Kings, for there the monarchs of +old days, who were the forefathers or rulers of us Copts, lie buried. +It is but a very small village, for the Moslems have killed most of us +in a war that was raised a while ago between them and our hereditary +prince, Magas. Yet my husband and I have a good house there, and, +being poor, shall be glad to give you food and shelter if you can pay +us something." + +The end of it was that after some chaffering, for we dared not show +that we had much money, a bargain was struck between us and this good +woman, who was named Palka. Having paid her a week's charges in +advance, she led us to the village of Kurna, which was nearly an +hour's walk away, and here made us known to her husband, a middle-aged +man named Marcus, who took little note of anything save his farming. + +This he carried on upon a patch of fertile ground that was irrigated +by a spring which flowed from the mountains; also he had other lands +near to the Nile, where he grew corn and fodder for his beasts. In his +house, that once had been part of some great stone building of the +ancients, and still remained far larger than he could use, for this +pair had no children, we were given two good rooms. Here we dwelt in +comfort, since, notwithstanding the scarcity of the times, Marcus was +richer than he seemed and lived well. As for the village of Kurna, its +people all told did not amount to more than thirty souls, Christians +every one of them, who were visited from time to time by a Coptic +priest from some distant monastery in the mountains. + +By degrees we grew friendly with Palka, a pleasant, bustling woman of +good birth, who loved to hear of the outside world. Moreover, she was +very shrewd, and soon began to suspect that we were more than mere +wandering players. + +Pretending to be weak and ill, I did not go out much, but followed her +about the house while she was working, talking to her on many matters. + +Thus I led up the subject of Prince Magas and his rebellion, and +learned that he had been killed at a place about fifty miles south +from Kurna. Then I asked if it were true that his daughter had been +killed with him. + +"What do you know of the lady Heliodore?" she asked sharply. + +"Only that my niece, who for a while was a servant in the palace at +Byzantium before she was driven away with others after the Empress +fell, saw her there. Indeed, it was her business to wait upon her and +her father the Prince. Therefore, she is interested in her fate." + +"It seems that you are more interested than your niece, who has never +spoken a word to me concerning her," answered Palka. "Well, since you +are a man, I should not have thought this strange, had you not been +blind, for they say she was the most beautiful woman in Egypt. As for +her fate, you must ask God, since none know it. When the army of Musa +was encamped yonder by the Nile my husband, Marcus, who had taken two +donkey-loads of forage for sale to the camp and was returning by +moonlight, saw her run past him, a red knife in her hand, her face set +towards the Gateway of the Kings. After that he saw her no more, nor +did anyone else, although they hunted long enough, even in the tombs, +which the Moslems, like our people, fear to visit. Doubtless she fell +or threw herself into some hole in the rocks; or perhaps the wild +beasts ate her. Better so than that a child of the old Pharaohs should +become the woman of an infidel." + +"Yes," I answered, "better so. But why do folk fear to visit those +tombs of which you speak, Palka?" + +"Why? Because they are haunted, that is all, and even the bravest +dread the sight of a ghost. How could they be otherwise than haunted, +seeing that yonder valley is sown with the mighty dead like a field +with corn?" + +"Yet the dead sleep quietly enough, Palka." + +"Aye, the common dead, Hodur; but not these kings and queens and +princes, who, being gods of a kind, cannot die. It is said that they +hold their revels yonder at night with songs and wild laughter, and +that those who look upon them come to an evil end within a year. +Whether this be so I cannot say, since for many years none have dared +to visit that place at night. Yet that they eat I know well enough." + +"How do you know, Palka?" + +"For a good reason. With the others in this village I supply the +offerings of their food. The story runs that once the great building, +of which this house is a part, was a college of heathen priests whose +duty it was to make offerings to the dead in the royal tombs. When the +Christians came, those priests were driven away, but we of Kurna who +live in their house still make the offerings. If we did not, +misfortune would overtake us, as indeed has always happened if they +were forgotten or neglected. It is the rent that we pay to the ghosts +of the kings. Twice a week we pay it, setting food and milk and water +upon a certain stone near to the mouth of the valley." + +"Then what happens, Palka?" + +"Nothing, except that the offering is taken." + +"By beggar folk, or perchance by wild creatures!" + +"Would beggar folk dare to enter that place of death?" she answered +with contempt. "Or would wild beasts take the food and pile the dishes +neatly together and replace the flat stones on the mouths of the jars +of milk and water, as a housewife might? Oh! do not laugh. Of late +this has always been done, as I who often fetch the vessels know +well." + +"Have you ever seen these ghosts, Palka?" + +"Yes, once I saw one of them. It was about two months ago that I +passed the mouth of the valley after moonrise, for I had been kept out +late searching for a kid which was lost. Thinking that it might be in +the valley, I peered up it. As I was looking, from round a great rock +glided a ghost. She stood still, with the moonlight shining on her, +and gazed towards the Nile. I, too, stood still in the shadow, thirty +or forty paces away. Then she threw up her arms as though in despair, +turned and vanished." + +"She!" I said, then checked myself and asked indifferently: "Well, +what was the fashion of this ghost?" + +"So far as I could see that of a young and beautiful woman, wearing +such clothes as we find upon the ancient dead, only wrapped more +loosely about her." + +"Had she aught upon her head, Palka?" + +"Yes, a band of gold or a crown set upon her hair, and about her neck +what seemed to be a necklace of green and gold, for the moonlight +flashed upon it. It was much such a necklace as you wear beneath your +robe, Hodur." + +"And pray how do you know what I wear, Palka?" I asked. + +"By means of what you lack, poor man, the eyes in my head. One night +when you were asleep I had need to pass through your chamber to reach +another beyond. You had thrown off your outer garment because of the +heat, and I saw the necklace. Also I saw a great red sword lying by +your side and noted on your bare breast sundry scars, such as hunters +and soldiers come by. All of these things, Hodur, I thought strange, +seeing that I know you to be nothing but a poor blind beggar who gains +his bread by his skill upon the harp." + +"There are beggars who were not always beggars, Palka," I said slowly. + +"Quite so, Hodur, and there are great men and rich who sometimes +appear to be beggars, and--many other things. Still, have no fear that +we shall steal your necklace or talk about the red sword or the gold +with which your niece Hilda weights her garments. Poor girl, she has +all the ways of a fine lady, one who has known Courts, as I think you +said was the case. It must be sad for her to have fallen so low. +Still, have no fear, Hodur," and she took my hand and pressed it in a +certain secret fashion which was practised among the persecuted +Christians in the East when they would reveal themselves to each +other. Then she went away laughing. + +As for me, I sought Martina, who had been sleeping through the heat, +and told her everything. + +"Well," she said when I had finished, "you should give thanks to God, +Olaf, since without doubt this ghost is the lady Heliodore. So should +Jodd," I heard her add beneath her breath, for in my blindness my ears +had grown very quick. + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE VALLEY OF THE DEAD KINGS + +Martina and I had made a plan. Palka, after much coaxing, took us with +her one evening when she went to place the accustomed offerings in the +Valley of the Dead. Indeed, at first she refused outright to allow us +to accompany her, because, she said, only those who were born in the +village of Kurna had made such offerings since the days when the +Pharaohs ruled, and that if strangers shared in this duty it might +bring misfortune. We answered, however, that if so the misfortune +would fall on us, the intruders. Also we pointed out that the jars of +water and milk were heavy, and, as it happened, there was no one from +the hamlet to help to carry them this night. Having weighed these +facts, Palka changed her mind. + +"Well," she said, "it is true that I grow fat, and after labouring all +day at this and that have no desire to bear burdens like an ass. So +come if you will, and if you die or evil spirits carry you away, do +not add yourselves to the number of the ghosts, of whom there are too +many hereabouts, and blame me afterwards." + +"On the contrary," I said, "we will make you our heirs," and I laid a +bag containing some pieces of money upon the table. + +Palka, who was a saving woman, took the money, for I heard it rattle +in her hand, hung the jars about my shoulders, and gave Martina the +meat and corn in a basket. The flat cakes, however, she carried +herself on a wooden trencher, because, as she said, she feared lest we +should break them and anger the ghosts, who liked their food to be +well served. So we started, and presently entered the mouth of that +awful valley which, Martina told me, looked as though it had been +riven through the mountain by lightning strokes and then blasted with +a curse. + +Up this dry and desolate place, which, she said, was bordered on +either side by walls of grey and jagged rock, we walked in silence. +Only I noted that the dog which had followed us from the house clung +close to our heels and now and again whimpered uneasily. + +"The beast sees what we cannot see," whispered Palka in explanation. + +At last we halted, and I set down the jars at her bidding upon a flat +rock which she called the Table of Offerings. + +"See!" she exclaimed to Martina, "those that were placed here three +days ago are all emptied and neatly piled together by the ghosts. I +told Hodur that they did this, but he would not believe me. Now let us +pack them up in the baskets and begone, for the sun sets and the moon +rises within the half of an hour. I would not be here in the dark for +ten pieces of pure gold." + +"Then go swiftly, Palka," I said, "for we bide here this night." + +"Are you mad?" she asked. + +"Not at all," I answered. "A wise man once told me that if one who is +blind can but come face to face with a spirit, he sees it and thereby +regains his sight. If you would know the truth, that is why I have +wandered so far from my own country to find some land where ghosts may +be met." + +"Now I am sure that you are mad," exclaimed Palka. "Come, Hilda, and +leave this fool to make trial of his cure for blindness." + +"Nay," answered Martina, "I must stay with my uncle, although I am +very much afraid. If I did not, he would beat me afterwards." + +"Beat you! Hodur beat a woman! Oh! you are both mad. Or perhaps you +are ghosts also. I have thought it once or twice, who at least am sure +that you are other than you seem. Holy Jesus! this place grows dark, +and I tell you it is full of dead kings. May the Saints guard you; at +the least, you'll keep high company at your death. Farewell; whate'er +befalls, blame me not who warned you," and she departed at a run, the +empty vessels rattling on her back and the dog yapping behind her. + +When she had gone the silence grew deep. + +"Now, Martina," I whispered, "find some place where we may hide whence +you can see this Table of Offerings." + +She led me to where a fallen rock lay within a few paces, and behind +it we sat ourselves down in such a position that Martina could watch +the Table of Offerings by the light of the moon. + +Here we waited for a long while; it may have been two hours, or three, +or four. At least I knew that, although I could see nothing, the +solemnity of that place sank into my soul. I felt as though the dead +were moving about me in the silence. I think it was the same with +Martina, for although the night was very hot in that stifling, airless +valley, she shivered at my side. At last I felt her start and heard +her whisper: + +"I see a figure. It creeps from the shadow of the cliff towards the +Table of Offerings." + +"What is it like?" I asked. + +"It is a woman's figure draped in white cloths; she looks about her; +she takes up the offerings and places them in a basket she carries. It +is a woman--no ghost--for she drinks from one of the jars. Oh! now the +moonlight shines upon her face; it is /that of Heliodore!/" + +I heard and could restrain myself no longer. Leaping up, I ran towards +where I knew the Table of Offerings to be. I tried to speak, but my +voice choked in my throat. The woman saw or heard me coming through +the shadows. At least, uttering a low cry, she fled away, for I caught +the sound of her feet on the rocks and sand. Then I tripped over a +stone and fell down. + +In a moment Martina was at my side. + +"Truly you are foolish, Olaf," she said. "Did you think that the lady +Heliodore would know you at night, changed as you are and in this +garb, that you must rush at her like an angry bull? Now she has gone, +and perchance we shall never find her more. Why did you not speak to +her?" + +"Because my voice choked within me. Oh! blame me not, Martina. If you +knew what it is to love as I do and after so many fears and +sorrows----" + +"I trust that I should know also how to control my love," broke in +Martina sharply. "Come, waste no more time in talk. Let us search." + +Then she took me by the hand and led me to where she had last seen +Heliodore. + +"She has vanished away," she said, "here is nothing but rock." + +"It cannot be," I answered. "Oh! that I had my eyes again, if for an +hour, I who was the best tracker in Jutland. See if no stone has been +stirred, Martina. The sand will be damper where it has lain." + +She left me, and presently returned. + +"I have found something," she said. "When Heliodore fled she still +held her basket, which from the look of it was last used by the +Pharaohs. At least, one of the cakes has fallen from or through it. +Come." + +She led me to the cliff, and up it to perhaps twice the height of a +man, then round a projecting rock. + +"Here is a hole," she said, "such as jackals might make. Perchance it +leads into one of the old tombs whereof the mouth is sealed. It was on +the edge of the hole that I found the cake, therefore doubtless +Heliodore went down it. Now, what shall we do?" + +"Follow, I think. Where is it?" + +"Nay, I go first. Give me your hand, Olaf, and lie upon your breast." + +I did so, and presently felt the weight of Martina swinging on my arm. + +"Leave go," she said faintly, like one who is afraid. + +I obeyed, though with doubt, and heard her feet strike upon some +floor. + +"Thanks be the saints, all is well," she said. "For aught I knew this +hole might have been as deep as that in the Chamber of the Pit. Let +yourself down it, feet first, and drop. 'Tis but shallow." + +I did so, and found myself beside Martina. + +"Now, in the darkness you are the better guide," she whispered. "Lead +on, I'll follow, holding to your robe." + +So I crept forward warily and safely, as the blind can do, till +presently she exclaimed, + +"Halt, here is light again. I think that the roof of the tomb, for by +the paintings on the walls such it must be, has fallen in. It seems to +be a kind of central chamber, out of which run great galleries that +slope downwards and are full of bats. Ah! one of them is caught in my +hair. Olaf, I will go no farther. I fear bats more than ghosts, or +anything in the world." + +Now, I considered a while till a thought struck me. On my back was my +beggar's harp. I unslung it and swept its chords, and wild and sad +they sounded in that solemn place. Then I began to sing an old song +that twice or thrice I had sung with Heliodore in Byzantium. This song +told of a lover seeking his mistress. It was for two voices, since in +the song the mistress answered verse for verse. Here are those of the +lines that I remember, or, rather, the spirit of them rendered into +English. I sang the first verse and waited. + + "Dear maid of mine, + I bid my strings + Beat on thy shrine + With music's wings. + Palace or cell + A shrine I see, + If there thou dwell + And answer me." + +There was no answer, so I sang the second verse and once more waited. + + "On thy love's fire + My passion breathes, + Wind of Desire + Thy incense wreathes. + Greeting! To thee, + Or soon or late, + I, bond or free, + Am dedicate." + +And from somewhere far away in the recesses of that great cave came +the answering strophe. + + "O Love sublime + And undismayed, + No touch of Time + Upon thee laid. + That that is thine; + Ended the quest! + I seek /my/ shrine + Upon /thy/ breast." + +Then I laid down the harp. + +At last a voice, the voice of Heliodore speaking whence I knew not, +asked, + +"Do the dead sing, or is it a living man? And if so, how is that man +named?" + +"A living man," I replied, "and he is named Olaf, son of Thorvald, or +otherwise Michael. That name was given him in the cathedral at +Byzantium, where first his eyes fell on a certain Heliodore, daughter +of Magas the Egyptian, whom now he seeks." + +I heard the sound of footsteps creeping towards me and Heliodore's +voice say, + +"Let me see your face, you who name yourself Olaf, for know that in +these haunted tombs ghosts and visions and mocking voices play strange +tricks. Why do you hide your face, you who call yourself Olaf?" + +"Because the eyes are gone from it, Heliodore. Irene robbed it of the +eyes from jealousy of you, swearing that never more should they behold +your beauty. Perchance you would not wish to come too near to an +eyeless man wrapped in a beggar's robe." + +She looked--I felt her look. She sobbed--I heard her sob, and then her +arms were about me and her lips were pressed upon my own. + +So at length came joy such as I cannot tell; the joy of lost love +found again. + + + +A while went by, how long I know not, and at last I said, + +"Where is Martina? It is time we left this place." + +"Martina!" she exclaimed. "Do you mean Irene's lady, and is she here? +If so, how comes she to be travelling with you, Olaf?" + +"As the best friend man ever had, Heliodore; as one who clung to him +in his ruin and saved him from a cruel death; as one who has risked +her life to help him in his desperate search, and without whom that +search had failed." + +"Then may God reward her, Olaf, for I did not know there were such +women in the world. Lady Martina! Where are you, lady Martina?" + +Thrice she cried the words, and at the third time an answer came from +the shadows at a distance. + +"I am here," said Martina's voice with a little yawn. "I was weary and +have slept while you two greeted each other. Well met at last, lady +Heliodore. See, I have brought you back your Olaf, blind it is true, +but otherwise lacking nothing of health and strength and station." + +Then Heliodore ran to her and kissed first her hand and next her lips. +In after days she told me that for those of one who had been sleeping +the eyes of Martina seemed to be strangely wet and red. But if this +were so her voice trembled not at all. + +"Truly you two should give thanks to God," she said, "Who has brought +you together again in so wondrous a fashion, as I do on your behalf +from the bottom of my heart. Yet you are still hemmed round by dangers +many and great. What now, Olaf? Will you become a ghost also and dwell +here in the tomb with Heliodore; and if so, what tale shall I tell to +Palka and the rest?" + +"Not so," I answered. "I think it will be best that we should return +to Kurna. Heliodore must play her part as the spirit of a queen till +we can hire some boat and escape with her down the Nile." + +"Never," she cried, "I cannot, I cannot. Having come together we must +separate no more. Oh! Olaf, you do not know what a life has been mine +during all these dreadful months. When I escaped from Musa by stabbing +the eunuch who was in charge of me, for which hideous deed may I be +forgiven," and I felt her shudder at my side, "I fled I knew not +whither till I found myself in this valley, where I hid till the night +was gone. Then at daybreak I peeped out from the mouth of the valley +and saw the Moslems searching for me, but as yet a long way off. Also +now I knew this valley. It was that to which my father had brought me +as a child when he came to search for the burying-place of his +ancestor, the Pharaoh, which records he had read told him was here. I +remembered everything: where the tomb should be, how we had entered it +through a hole, how we had found the mummy of a royal lady, whose face +was covered with a gilded mask, and on her breast the necklace which I +wear. + +"I ran along the valley, searching the left side of it with my eyes, +till I saw a flat stone which I knew again. It was called the Table of +Offerings. I was sure that the hole by which we had entered the tomb +was quite near to this stone and a little above it, in the face of the +cliff. I climbed; I found what seemed to be the hole, though of this I +could not be certain. I crept down it till it came to an end, and +then, in my terror, hung by my hands and dropped into the darkness, +not knowing whither I fell, or caring over much if I were killed. As +it chanced it was but a little way, and, finding myself unhurt, I +crawled along the cavern till I reached this place where there is +light, for here the roof of the cave has fallen in. While I crouched +amid the rocks I heard the voices of the soldiers above me, heard +their officer also bidding them bring ropes and torches. To the left +of where you stand there is a sloping passage that runs down to the +great central chamber where sleeps some mighty king, and out of this +passage open other chambers. Into the first of these the light of the +morning sun struggles feebly. I entered it, seeking somewhere to hide +myself, and saw a painted coffin lying on the floor near to the marble +sarcophagus from which it had been dragged. It was that in which we +had found the body of my ancestress; but since then thieves had been +in this place. We had left the coffin in the sarcophagus and the mummy +in the coffin, and replaced their lids. Now the mummy lay on the +floor, half unwrapped and broken in two beneath the breast. Moreover, +the face, which I remembered as being so like my own, was gone to +dust, so that there remained of it nothing but a skull, to which hung +tresses of long black hair, as, indeed, you may see for yourself. + +"By the side of the body was the gilded mask, with black and staring +eyes, and the painted breast-piece of stiff linen, neither of which +the thieves had found worth stealing. + +"I looked and a thought came to me. Lifting the mummy, I thrust it +into the sarcophagus, all of it save the gilded mask and the painted +breast-piece of stiff linen. Then I laid myself down in the coffin, of +which the lid, still lying crosswise, hid me to the waist, and drew +the gilded mask and painted breast-piece over my head and bosom. +Scarcely was it done when the soldiers entered. By now the reflected +sunlight had faded from the place, leaving it in deep shadow; but some +of the men held burning torches made from splinters of old coffins, +that were full of pitch. + +"'Feet have passed here; I saw the marks of them in the dust,' said +the officer. 'She may have hidden in this place. Search! Search! It +will go hard with us if we return to Musa to tell him that he has lost +his toy.' + +"They looked into the sarcophagus and saw the broken mummy. Indeed, +one of them lifted it, unwillingly enough, and let it fall again, +saying grimly, + +"'Musa would scarce care for this companion, though in her day she may +have been fair enough.' + +"Then they came to the coffin. + +"'Here's another,' exclaimed the soldier, 'and one with a gold face. +Allah! how its eyes stare.' + +"'Pull it out,' said the officer. + +"'Let that be your task,' answered the man. 'I'll defile myself with +no more corpses.' + +"The officer came and looked. 'What a haunted hole is this, full of +the ghosts of idol worshippers, or so I think,' he said. 'Those eyes +stare curses at us. Well, the Christian maid is not here. On, before +the torches fail.' + +"Then they went, leaving me; the painted linen creaked upon my breast +as I breathed again. + +"'Till nightfall I lay in that coffin, fearing lest they should +return; and I tell you, Olaf, that strange dreams came to me there, +for I think I swooned or slept in that narrow bed. Yes, dreams of the +past, which you shall hear one day, if we live, for they seem to have +to do with you and me. Aye, I thought that the dead woman in the +sarcophagus at my side awoke and told them to me. At length I rose and +crept back to this place where we stand, for here I could see the +friendly light, and being outworn, laid me down and slept. + +"At the first break of day I crawled from the tomb, followed that same +road by which I had entered, though I found it hard to climb up +through the entrance hole. + +"No living thing was to be seen in the valley, except a great night +bird flitting to its haunt. I was parched with thirst, and knowing +that in this dry place I soon must perish, I glided from rock to rock +towards the mouth of the valley, thinking to find some other grave or +cranny where I might lie hid till night came again and I could descend +to the plain and drink. But, Olaf, before I had gone many steps I +discovered fresh food, milk and water laid upon a rock, and though I +feared lest they might be poisoned, ate and drank of them. When I knew +that they were wholesome I thought that some friend must have set them +there to satisfy my wants, though I knew not who the friend could be. +Afterwards I learned that this food was an offering to the ghosts of +the dead. Among our forefathers in forgotten generations it was, I +know, the custom to make such offerings, since in their blindness they +believed that the spirts of their beloved needed sustenance as their +bodies once had done. Doubtless the memory of the rite still survives; +at least, to this day the offerings are made. Indeed, when it was +found that they were not made in vain, more and more of them were +brought, so that I have lacked nothing. + +"Here then I have dwelt for many moons among the dust of men departed, +only now and again wandering out at night. Once or twice folk have +seen me when I ventured to the plains, and I have been tempted to +speak to them and ask their help. But always they fled away, believing +me to be the ghost of some bygone queen. Indeed, to speak truth, Olaf, +this companionship with spirits, for spirits do dwell in these tombs-- +I have seen them, I tell you I have seen them--has so worked upon my +soul that at times I feel as though I were already of their company. +Moreover, I knew that I could not live long. The loneliness was +sucking up my life as the dry sand sucks water. Had you not come, +Olaf, within some few days or weeks I should have died." + +Now I spoke for the first time, saying, + +"And did you wish to die, Heliodore?" + +"No. Before the war between Musa and my father, Magas, news came to us +from Byzantium that Irene had killed you. All believed it save I, who +did not believe." + +"Why not, Heliodore?" + +"Because I could not feel that you were dead. Therefore I fought for +my life, who otherwise, after we were conquered and ruined and my +father was slain fighting nobly, should have stabbed, not that eunuch, +but myself. Then later, in this tomb, I came to know that you were not +dead. The other lost ones I could feel about me from time to time, but +you never, you who would have been the first to seek me when my soul +was open to such whisperings. So I lived on when all else would have +died, because hope burned in me like a lamp unquenchable. And at last +you came! Oh! at last you came!" + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE CALIPH HARUN + +Here there is an absolute blank in my story. One of those walls of +oblivion of which I have spoken seems to be built across its path. It +is as though a stream had plunged suddenly from some bright valley +into the bosom of a mountain side and there vanished from the ken of +man. What happened in the tomb after Heliodore had ended her tale; +whether we departed thence together or left her there a while; how we +escaped from Kurna, and by what good fortune or artifice we came +safely to Alexandria, I know not. As to all these matters my vision +fails me utterly. So far as I am concerned, they are buried beneath +the dust of time. I know as little of them as I know of where and how +I slept between my life as Olaf and this present life of mine; that +is, nothing at all. Yet in this way or in that the stream did win +through the mountain, since beyond all grows clear again. + +Once more I stood upon the deck of the /Diana/ in the harbour of +Alexandria. With me were Martina and Heliodore. Heliodore's face was +stained and she was dressed as a boy, such a harlequin lad as singers +and mountebanks often take in their company. The ship was ready to +start and the wind served. Yet we could not sail because of the lack +of some permission. A Moslem galley patrolled the harbour and +threatened to sink us if we dared to weigh without this paper. The +mate had gone ashore with a bribe. We waited and waited. At length the +captain, Menas, who stood by me, whispered into my ear, + +"Be calm; he comes; all is well." + +Then I heard the mate shout: "I have the writing under seal," and +Menas gave the order to cast off the ropes that held the ship to the +quay. One of the sailors came up and reported to Menas that their +companion, Cosmas, was missing. It seemed that he had slipped ashore +without leave and had not returned. + +"There let him bide," said Menas, with an oath. "Doubtless the hog +lies drunk in some den. When he awakes he may tell what tale he +pleases and find his own way back to Lesbos. Cast off, cast off! I +say." + +At this moment that same Cosmas appeared. I could not see him, but I +could hear him plainly enough. Evidently he had become involved in +some brawl, for an angry woman and others were demanding money of him +and he was shouting back drunken threats. A man struck him and the +woman got him by the beard. Then his reason left him altogether. + +"Am I, a Christian, to be treated thus by you heathen dogs?" he +screamed. "Oh, you think I am dirt beneath your feet. I have friends, +I tell you I have friends. You know not whom I serve. I say that I am +a soldier of Olaf the Northman, Olaf the Blind, Olaf Red-Sword, he who +made you prophet-worshippers sing so small at Mitylene, as he will do +again ere long." + +"Indeed, friend," said a quiet voice. It was that of the Moslem +captain, Yusuf, he who befriended us when we arrived at Alexandria, +who had been watching all this scene. "Then you serve a great general, +as some of us have cause to know. Tell me, where is he now, for I hear +that he has left Lesbos?" + +"Where is he? Why, aboard yonder ship, of course. Oh! he has fooled +you finely. Another time you'll search beggar's rags more closely." + +"Cast off! Cast off!" roared Menas. + +"Nay," said the officer, "cast not off. Soldiers, drive away those +men. I must have words with the captain of this ship. Come, bring that +drunken fellow with you." + +"Now all is finished," I said. + +"Yes," answered Heliodore, "all is finished. After we have endured so +much it is hard. Well, at least death remains to us." + +"Hold your hand," exclaimed Martina. "God still lives and can save us +yet." + +Black bitterness took hold of me. In some few days I had hoped to +reach Lesbos, and there be wed to Heliodore. And now! And now! + +"Cut the ropes, Menas," I cried, "and out with the oars. We'll risk +the galley. You, Martina, set me at the mouth of the gangway and tell +me when to strike. Though I be blind I may yet hold them back till we +clear the quay." + +She obeyed, and I drew the red sword from beneath my rags. Then, +amidst the confusion which followed, I heard the grave voice of Yusuf +speaking to me. + +"Sir," he said, "for your own sake I pray you put up that sword, which +we think is one whereof tales have been told. To fight is useless, for +I have bowmen who can shoot you down and spears that can outreach you. +General Olaf, a brave man should know when to surrender, especially if +he be blind." + +"Aye, sir," I answered, "and a brave man should know when to die." + +"Why should you die, General?" went on the voice. "I do not know that +for a Christian to visit Egypt disguised as a beggar will be held a +crime worthy of death, unless indeed you came hither to spy out the +land." + +"Can the blind spy?" asked Martina indignantly. + +"Who can say, Lady? But certainly it seems that /your/ eyes are bright +and quick enough. Also there is another matter. A while ago, when this +ship came to Alexandria, I signed a paper giving leave to a certain +eyeless musician and his niece to ply their trade in Egypt. Then there +were two of you; now I behold a third. Who is that comely lad with a +stained face that stands beside you?" + +Heliodore began some story, saying that she was the orphan son of I +forget whom, and while she told it certain of the Moslems slipped past +me. + +"Truly you should do well in the singing trade," interrupted the +officer with a laugh, "seeing that for a boy your voice is wondrous +sweet. Are you quite sure that you remember your sex aright? Well, it +can easily be proved. Bare that lad's bosom, soldiers. Nay, 'tis +needless; snatch off that head-dress." + +A man obeyed, and Heliodore's beautiful black hair, which I would not +suffer her to cut, fell tumbling to her knees. + +"Let me be," she said. "I admit that I am a woman." + +"That is generous of you, Lady," the officer answered in the midst of +the laughter which followed. "Now will you add to your goodness by +telling me your name? You refuse? Then shall I help you? In the late +Coptic war it was my happy fortune twice to see a certain noble +maiden, the daughter of Magas the Prince, whom the Emir Musa +afterwards took for himself, but who fled from him. Tell me, Lady, +have you a twin sister?" + +"Cease your mockings, sir," said Heliodore despairingly. "I am she you +seek." + +"'Tis Musa seeks you, not I, Lady." + +"Then, sir, he seeks in vain, for know that ere he finds I die. Oh! +sir, I know you have a noble heart; be pitiful and let us go. I'll +tell you all the truth. Olaf Red-Sword yonder and I have long been +affianced. Blind though he is, he sought me through great dangers, +aye, and found me. Would you part us at the last? In the name of the +God we both worship, and of your mother, I pray you let us go." + +"By the Prophet, that I would do, Lady, only then I fear me that I +should let my head go from its shoulders also. There are too many in +this secret for it to bide there long if I did as you desire. Nay, you +must to the Emir, all three of you--not Musa, but to his rival, +Obaidallah, who loves him little, and by the decree of the Caliph once +again rules Egypt. Be sure that in a matter between you and Musa you +will meet with justice from Obaidallah. Come now, fearing nothing, to +where we may find you all garments more befitting to your station than +those mummer's robes." + +So a guard was formed round us, and we went. As my feet touched the +quay I heard a sound of angry voices, followed by groans and a splash +in the water. + +"What is that?" I asked of Yusuf. + +"I think, General, that your servants from the /Diana/ have settled +some account that they had with the drunken dog who was so good as to +bark out your name to me. But, with your leave, I will not look to +make sure." + +"God pardon him! As yet I cannot," I muttered, and marched on. + + + +We stood, whether on that day or another I do not know, in some hall +of judgment. Martina whispered to me that a small, dark man was seated +in the chair of state, and about him priests and others. This was the +Emir Obaidallah. Musa, that had been Emir, who, she said, was fat and +sullen, was there also, and whenever his glance fell upon Heliodore I +felt her shiver at my side. So was the Patriarch Politian who pleaded +our cause. The case was long, so long that, being courteous as ever, +they gave us cushions to sit on, also, in an interval, food and +sherbet. + +Musa claimed Heliodore as his slave. An officer who prosecuted claimed +that Allah having given me, their enemy and a well-known general who +had done them much damage, into their hands, I should be put to death. +Politian answered on behalf of all of us, saying that we had harmed no +man. He added that as there was a truce between the Christians and the +Moslems, I could not be made to suffer the penalties of war in a time +of peace, who had come to Egypt but to seek a maid to whom I was +affianced. Moreover, that even if it were so, the murder of prisoners +was not one of those penalties. + +The Emir listened to all but said little. At length, however, he asked +whether we were willing to become Moslems, since if so he thought that +we might go free. We answered that we were not willing. + +"Then it would seem," he said, "that the lady Heliodore, having been +taken in war, must be treated as a prisoner of war, the only question +being to whom she belongs." + +Now Musa interrupted angrily, shouting out that as to this there was +no doubt, since she belonged to him, who had captured her during his +tenure of office. + +The Emir thought a while, and we waited trembling. At last he gave +judgment, saying: + +"The General Olaf the Blind, who in Byzantium was known as Olaf Red- +Sword or as Michael, and who while in the service of the Empress Irene +often made war against the followers of the Prophet, but who +afterwards lost his eyes at the hands of this same evil woman, is a +man of whom all the world has heard. Particularly have we Moslems +heard of him, seeing that as governor of Lesbos in recent days he +inflicted a great defeat upon our navy, slaying many thousands and +taking others prisoner. But as it chances God, Who bides His time to +work justice, set a bait for him in the shape of a fair woman. On this +bait he has been hooked, notwithstanding all his skill and cunning, +and delivered into our hands, having come into Egypt disguised as a +beggar in order to seek out that woman. Still, as he is so famous a +man, and as at present there is a truce between us and the Empire of +the East, which truce raises certain doubtful points of high policy, I +decree that his case be remitted to the Caliph Harun-al-Rashid, my +master, and that he be conveyed to Baghdad there to await judgment. +With him will go the woman whom he alleges to be his niece, but who, +as we are informed, was one of the waiting-ladies of the Empress +Irene. Against her there is nothing to be said save that she may be a +Byzantine spy. + +"Now I come to the matter of the lady Heliodore, who is reported to be +the wife or the lover or the affianced of this General Olaf, a +question of which God alone knows the truth. This lady Heliodore is a +person of high descent and ancient race. She is the only child of the +late Prince Magas, who claimed to have the blood of the old Pharaohs +in his veins, and who within this year was defeated and slain by my +predecessor in office, the Emir Musa. The said Emir, having captured +the lady Heliodore, purposed to place her in his harem, as he had a +right to do, seeing that she refused the blessings of the Faith. As it +chanced, however, she escaped from him, as it is told by stabbing the +eunuch in charge of her. At least it is certain that this eunuch was +found dead, though by whom he was killed is /not/ certain. Now that +she has been taken again, the lord Musa claims the woman as his spoil +and demands that I should hand her over to him. Yet it seems to me +that if she is the spoil of anyone, she belongs to the Emir governing +Egypt at the date of her recapture. It was only by virtue of his +office as Emir, and not by gift, purchase, or marriage contract, that +the lord Musa came into possession of her, which possession was voided +by her flight before she was added to his household and he acquired +any natural rights over her in accordance with our law. Now for my +part, I, as Emir, make no claim to this woman, holding it a hateful +thing before God to force one into my household who has no wish to +dwell there, especially when I know her to be married or affianced to +another man. Still, as here also are involved high questions of law, I +command that the lady Heliodore, daughter of the late Prince Magas, +shall also be conveyed with all courtesy and honour to the Caliph +Harun at Baghdad, there to abide his judgment of her case. The matter +is finished. Let the officers concerned carry out my decree and answer +for the safety of these prisoners with their lives." + +"The matter is not finished," shouted the ex-Emir Musa. "You, +Obaidallah, have uttered this false judgment because your heart is +black towards me whom you have displaced." + +"Then appeal against it," said Obaidallah, "but know that if you +attempt to lay hands upon this lady, my orders are that you be cut +down as an enemy to the law. Patriarch of the Christians, you sail for +Baghdad to visit the Caliph at his request in a ship that he has sent +for you. Into your hands I give these prisoners under guard, knowing +that you will deal well with them, who are of your false faith. To you +also who have the Caliph's ear, Allah knows why, I will entrust +letters making true report of all this matter. Let proper provision be +made for the comfort of the General Olaf and of those with him. Musa, +may your greetings at the Court of Baghdad be such as you deserve; +meanwhile cease to trouble me." + +At the door of that hall I was separated from Heliodore and Martina +and led to some house or prison, where I was given a large room with +servants to wait upon me. Here I slept that night, and on the morrow +asked when we sailed for Beirut on our way to Baghdad. The chief of +the servants answered that he did not know. During that day I was +visited by Yusuf, the officer who had captured us on board the +/Diana/. He also told me that he did not know when we sailed, but +certainly it would not be for some days. Further, he said that I need +have no fear for the lady Heliodore and Martina, as they were well +treated in some other place. Then he led me into a great garden, where +he said I was at liberty to walk whenever I pleased. + +Thus began perhaps the most dreadful time of waiting and suspense in +all this life of mine, seeing that it was the longest. Every few days +the officer Yusuf would visit me and talk of many matters, for we +became friends. Only of Heliodore and Martina he could or would tell +me nothing, nor of when we were to set out on our journey to Baghdad. +I asked to be allowed to speak with the Patriarch Politian, but he +answered that this was impossible, as he had been called away from +Alexandria for a little while. Nor could I have audience with the Emir +Obaidallah, for he too had been called away. + +Now my heart was filled with terrors, for I feared lest in this way or +in that Heliodore had fallen into the hands of the accursed Musa. I +prayed Yusuf to tell me the truth of the matter, whereon he swore by +the Prophet that she was safe, but would say no more. Nor did this +comfort me much, since for aught I knew he might mean she was safe in +death. I was aware, further, that the Moslems held it no crime to +deceive an infidel. Week was added to week, and still I languished in +this rich prison. The best of garments and food were brought to me; I +was even given wine. Kind hands tended me and led me from place to +place. I lacked nothing except freedom and the truth. Doubt and fear +preyed upon my heart till at length I fell ill and scarcely cared to +walk in the garden. One day when Yusuf visited me I told him that he +would not need to come many more times, since I felt that I was going +to die. + +"Do not die," he answered, "since then perchance you will find you +have done so in vain," and he left me. + +On the following evening he returned and told me that he had brought a +physician to see me, a certain Mahommed, who was standing before me. +Although I had no hope from any physician, I prayed this Mahommed to +be seated, whereon Yusuf left us, closing the door behind him. + +"Be pleased to set out your case, General Olaf," said Mahommed in a +grave, quiet voice, "for know that I am sent by the Caliph himself to +minister to you." + +"How can that be, seeing that he is in Baghdad?" I answered. Still, I +told him my ailments. + +When I had finished he said: + +"I perceive that you suffer more from your mind than from your body. +Be so good, now, as to repeat to me the tale of your life, of which I +have already heard something. Tell me especially of those parts of it +which have to do with the lady Heliodore, daughter of Magas, of your +blinding by Irene for her sake, and of your discovery of her in Egypt, +where you sought her disguised as a beggar." + +"Why should I tell you all my story, sir?" + +"That I may know how to heal you of your sickness. Also, General Olaf, +I will be frank with you. I am more than a mere physician; I have +certain powers under the Caliph's seal, and it will be wise on your +part to open all your heart to me." + +Now I reflected that there could be little harm in repeating to this +strange doctor what so many already knew. So I told him everything, +and the tale was long. + +"Wondrous! Most wondrous!" said the grave-voiced physician when I had +finished. "Yet to me the strangest part of your history is that played +therein by the lady Martina. Had she been your lover, now, one might +have understood--perhaps," and he paused. + +"Sir Physician," I answered, "the lady Martina has been and is no more +than my friend." + +"Ah! Now I see new virtues in your religion, since we Moslems do not +find such friends among those women who are neither our mothers nor +our sisters. Evidently the Christian faith must have power to change +the nature of women, which I thought to be impossible. Well, General +Olaf, I will consider of your case, and I may tell you that I have +good hopes of finding a medicine by which it can be cured, all save +your sight, which in this world God Himself cannot give back to you. +Now I have a favour to ask. I see that in this room of yours there is +a curtain hiding the bed of the servant who sleeps with you. I desire +to see another patient here, and that this patient should not see you. +Of your goodness will you sit upon the bed behind that curtain, and +will you swear to me on your honour as a soldier that whatever you may +hear you will in no way reveal yourself?" + +"Surely, that is if it is nothing which will bring disgrace upon my +head or name." + +"It will be nothing to bring disgrace on your head or name, General +Olaf, though perhaps it may bring some sorrow to your heart. As yet I +cannot say." + +"My heart is too full of sorrow to hold more," I answered. + +Then he led me down to the guard's bed, on which I sat myself down, +being strangely interested in this play. He drew the curtain in front +of me, and I heard him return to the centre of the room and clap his +hands. Someone entered, saying, + +"High Lord, your will?" + +"Silence!" he exclaimed, and began to whisper orders, while I wondered +what kind of a physician this might be who was addressed as "High +Lord." + +The servant went, and, after a while of waiting that seemed long, once +more the door was opened, and I heard the sweep of a woman's dress +upon the carpet. + +"Be seated, Lady," said the grave voice of the physician, "for I have +words to say to you." + +"Sir, I obey," answered another voice, at the sound of which my heart +stood still. It was that of Heliodore. + +"Lady," went on the physician, "as my robe will tell you, I am a +doctor of medicine. Also, as it chances, I am something more, namely, +an envoy appointed by the Caliph Harun-al-Rashid, having full powers +to deal with your case. Here are my credentials if you care to read +them," and I heard a crackling as of parchment being unfolded. + +"Sir," answered Heliodore, "I will read the letters later. For the +present I accept your word. Only I would ask one question, if it +pleases you to answer. Why have not I and the General Olaf been +conveyed to the presence of the Caliph himself, as was commanded by +the Emir Obaidallah?" + +"Lady, because it was not convenient to the Caliph to receive you, +since as it chances at present he is moving from place to place upon +the business of the State. Therefore, as you will find in the writing, +he has appointed me to deal with your matter. Now, Lady, the Caliph +and I his servant know all your story from lips which even you would +trust. You are betrothed to a certain enemy of his, a Northman named +Olaf Red-Sword or Michael, who was blinded by the Empress Irene for +some offence against her, but was afterwards appointed by her son +Constantine to be governor of the Isle of Lesbos. This Olaf, by the +will of God, inflicted a heavy defeat upon the forces of the Caliph +which he had sent to take Lesbos. Then, by the goodness of God, he +wandered to Egypt in search of you, with the result that both of you +were taken prisoner. Lady, it will be clear to you that, having this +wild hawk Olaf in his hands, the Caliph would scarcely let him go +again to prey upon the Moslems, though whether he will kill him or +make of him a slave as yet I do not know. Nay, hear me out before you +speak. The Caliph has been told of your wondrous beauty, and as I see +even less than the truth. Also he has heard of the high spirit which +you showed in the Coptic rising, when your father, the Prince Magas, +was slain, and of how you escaped out of the hand of the Emir Musa the +Fat, and were not afraid to dwell for months alone in the tombs of the +ancient dead. Now the Caliph, being moved in his heart by your sad +plight and all that he has heard concerning you, commands me to make +you an offer. + +"The offer is that you should come to his Court, and there be +instructed for a while by his learned men in the truths of religion. +Then, if it pleases you to adopt Islam, he will take you as one of his +wives, and if it does not please you, will add you to his harem, since +it is not lawful for him to marry a woman who remains a Christian. In +either case he will make on you a settlement of property to the value +of that which belonged to your father, the Prince Magas. Reflect well +before you answer. Your choice lies between the memory of a blind man, +whom I think you will never see again, and the high place of one of +the wives of the greatest sovereign of the earth." + +"Sir, before I answer I would put a question to you. Why do you say +'the memory of a blind man'?" + +"Because, Lady, a rumour has reached me which I desired to hold back +from you, but which now you force me to repeat. It is that this +General Olaf has in truth already passed the gate of death." + +"Then, sir," she answered, with a little sob, "it behoves me to follow +him through that gate." + +"That will happen when it pleases God. Meanwhile, what is your +answer?" + +"Sir, my answer is that I, a poor Christian prisoner, a victim of war +and fate, thank the Caliph Harun-al-Rashid for the honours and the +benefits he would shower on me, and with humility decline them." + +"So be it, Lady. The Caliph is not a man who would wish to force your +inclination. Still, this being so, I am charged to say he bids you +remember that you were taken prisoner in war by the Emir Musa. He +holds that, subject to his own prior right, which he waives, you are +the property of the Emir Musa under a just interpretation of the law. +Yet he would be merciful as God is merciful, and therefore he gives +you the choice of three things. The first of these is that you adopt +Islam with a faithful heart and go free." + +"That I refuse, as I have refused it before," said Heliodore. + +"The second is," he continued, "that you enter the harem of the Emir +Musa." + +"That I refuse also." + +"And the third and last is that, having thrust aside his mercy, you +suffer the common fate of a captured Christian who persists in error, +and die." + +"That I accept," said Heliodore. + +"You accept death. In the splendour of your youth and beauty, you +accept death," he said, with a note of wonder in his voice. "Truly, +you are great-hearted, and the Caliph will grieve when he learns his +loss, as I do now. Yet I have my orders, for which my head must +answer. Lady, if you die, it must be here and now. Do you still choose +death?" + +"Yes," she said in a low voice. + +"Behold this cup," he went on, "and this draught which I pour into +it," and I heard the sound of liquid flowing. "Presently I shall ask +you to drink of it, and then, after a little while, say the half of an +hour, you will fall asleep, to wake in whatever world God has +appointed to the idol worshippers of the Cross. You will suffer no +pain and no fear; indeed, maybe the draught will bring you joy." + +"Then give it me," said Heliodore faintly. "I will drink at once and +have done." + +Then it was that I came out from behind my curtain and groped my way +towards them. + +"Sir Physician, or Sir Envoy of the Caliph Harun," I said; but for the +moment went no further, since, with a low cry, Heliodore cast herself +upon my breast and stopped my lips with hers. + +"Hush till I have spoken," I whispered, placing my arm about her; then +continued. "I swore to you just now that I would not reveal myself +unless I heard aught which would bring disgrace on my head or name. To +stand still behind yonder curtain while my betrothed is poisoned at +your hands would bring disgrace upon my head and name so black that +not all the seas of all the world could wash it away. Say, Physician, +does yonder cup hold enough of death for both of us?" + +"Yes, General Olaf, and if you choose to share it I think the Caliph +will be glad, since he loves not the killing of brave men. Only it +must be now and without more words. You can talk for a little +afterwards before the sleep takes you." + +"So be it," I said. "Since I must die, as I heard you decree but now, +it is no crime to die thus, or at least I'll risk it who have one to +guard upon that road. Drink, beloved, a little less than half since I +am the stronger. Then give me the cup." + +"Husband, I pledge you," she said, and drank, thrusting the cup into +my hand. + +I, too, lifted it to my lips. Lo! it was empty. + +"Oh! most cruel of thieves," I cried, "you have stolen all." + +"Aye," she answered. "Shall I see you swallow poison before my eyes? I +die, but perchance God may save you yet." + +"Not so, Heliodore," I cried again, and, turning, began to grope my +way to the window-place, which I knew was far from the ground, since I +had no weapon that would serve my turn. + +In an instant, as I thrust the lattice open, I felt two strong arms +cast about me and heard the physician exclaim, + +"Come, Lady, help me with this madman, lest he do himself a mischief." + +She seized me also, and we struggled together all three of us. The +doors burst open, and I was dragged back into the centre of the room. + +"Olaf Red-Sword, the blind General of the Christians," said the +physician in a new voice, one that was full of majesty and command, "I +who speak to you am no doctor of medicine and no envoy. I am Harun-al- +Rashid, Caliph of the Faithful. Is it not so, my servants?" + +"It is so, Caliph," pealed the answer from many throats. + +"Hearken, then, to the decree of Harun-al-Rashid. Learn both of you +that all which has passed between us was but a play that I have played +to test the love and faithfulness of you twain. Lady Heliodore, be at +ease. You have drunk nothing save water distilled with roses, and no +sleep shall fall on you save that which Nature brings to happiness. +Lady, I tell you that, having seen what I have seen and heard what I +have heard, rather would I stand in the place of that blind man +to-night than be Sovereign of the East. Truly, I knew not that love +such as yours was to be met with in the world. I say that when I saw +you drain the cup in a last poor struggle to drive back the death that +threatened this Olaf my own heart went out in love for you. Yet have +no fear, since my love is of a kind that would not rob you of your +love, but rather would bring it to a rich and glorious blossom in the +sunshine of my favour. Wondrous is the tale of the wooing of you twain +and happy shall be its end. General Olaf, you conquered me in war and +dealt with those of my servants who fell into your hands according to +the nobleness of your heart. Shall I, then, be outdone in generosity +by one whom a while ago I should have named a Christian dog? Not so! +Let the high priest of the Christians, Politian, be brought hither. He +stands without, and with him the lady named Martina, who was the +Empress Irene's waiting-woman." + +The messengers went and there followed a silence. There are times when +the heart is too full for words; at least, Heliodore and I found +nothing to say to each other. We only clasped each other's hand and +waited. + +At length the door opened, and I heard the eager, bustling step of +Politian, also another gliding step, which I knew for that of Martina. +She came to me, she kissed me on the brow, and whispered into my ear, + +"So all is well at last, as I knew it would be; and now, Olaf--and +now, Olaf, you are about to be married. Yes, at once, and--I wish you +joy." + +Her words were simple enough, yet they kindled in my heart a light by +which it saw many things. + +"Martina," I said, "if I have lived to reach this hour, under God it +is through you. Martina, they say that each of us has a guardian angel +in heaven, and if that be so, mine has come to earth. Yet in heaven +alone shall I learn to thank her as I ought." + +Then suddenly Martina was sobbing on my breast; after which I remember +only that Heliodore helped me to wipe away her tears, while in the +background I heard the Caliph say to himself in his deep voice, + +"Wondrous! Wondrous! By Allah! these Christians are a strange folk. +How far wiser is our law, for then he could have married both of them, +and all three would have been happy. Truly he who decreed that it +should be so knew the heart of man and woman and was a prophet sent by +God. Nay, answer me not, friend Politian, since on matters of religion +we have agreed that we will never argue. Do your office according to +your unholy rites, and I and my servants will watch, praying that the +Evil One may be absent from the service. Oh! silence, silence! Have I +not said that we will not argue on subjects of religion? To your +business, man." + +So Politian drew us together to the other end of the chamber, and +there wed us as best he might, with Martina for witness and the solemn +Moslems for congregation. + +When it was over, Harun commanded my wife to lead me before him. + +"Here is a marriage gift for you, General Olaf," he said; "one, I +think, that you will value more than any other," and he handed me +something sharp and heavy. + +I felt it, hilt and blade, and knew it for the Wanderer's sword, yes, +my own red sword from which I took my name, that the Commander of the +Faithful now restored to me, and with it my place and freedom. I took +it, and, saying no word, with that same sword gave to him the triple +salute due to a sovereign. + +Instantly I heard Harun's scimitar, the scimitar that was famous +throughout the East, rattle as it left its scabbard, as did the +scimitars of all those who attended on him, and knew that there was +being returned to me the salute which a sovereign gives to a general +in high command. Then the Caliph spoke again. + +"A wedding gift to you, Lady Heliodore, child of an ancient and mighty +race, and new-made wife of a gallant man. For the second time to-night +take this cup of gold, but let that which lies within it adorn your +breast in memory of Harun. Queens of old have worn those jewels, but +never have they hung above a nobler heart." + +Heliodore took the cup, and in her trembling hand I heard the +priceless gems that filled it clink against its sides. Once more the +Caliph spoke. + +"A gift for you also, Lady Martina. Take this ring from my hand and +place it on your own. It seems a small thing, does it not? Yet +something lies within its circle. In this city I saw to-day a very +beauteous house built by one of your Grecian folk, and behind it lands +that a swift horse could scarcely circle twice within an hour, most +fruitful lands fed by the waters. That house and those lands are +yours, together with rule over all who dwell upon them. There you may +live content with whomever you may please, even if he be a Christian, +free of tax or tribute, provided only that neither you nor he shall +plot against my power. Now, to all three of you farewell, perchance +for ever, unless some of us should meet again in war. General Olaf, +your ship lies in the harbour; use it when you will. I pray that you +will think kindly of Harun-al-Rashid, as he does of you, Olaf Red- +Sword. Come, let us leave these two. Lady Martina, I pray you to be my +guest this night." + +So they all went, leaving Heliodore and myself alone in the great +room, yes, alone at last and safe. + + + + CHAPTER V + + IRENE'S PRAYER + +Years had gone by, I know not how many, but only that much had +happened in them. For a while Irene and young Constantine were joint +rulers of the Empire. Then they quarrelled again, and Constantine, +afraid of treachery, fled with his friends in a ship after an attempt +had been made to seize his person. He purposed to join his legions in +Asia, or so it was said, and make war upon his mother. But those +friends of his upon the ship were traitors, who, fearing Irene's +vengeance or perhaps his own, since she threatened to tell him all the +truth concerning them, seized Constantine and delivered him up to +Irene. She, the mother who bore him, caused him to be taken to the +purple Porphyry Chamber in the palace, that chamber in which, as the +first-born of an emperor, he saw the light, and there robbed him of +light for ever. + +Yes, Stauracius and his butchers blinded Constantine as I had been +blinded. Only it was told that they drove their knives deeper so that +he died. But others say that he lived on, a prisoner, unknown, +unheeded, as those uncles of his whom /he/ had blinded and who once +were in my charge had lived, till in Greece the assassin's daggers +found their hearts. If so, oh! what a fate was his. + +Afterwards for five years Irene reigned alone in glory, while +Stauracius, my god-father, and his brother eunuch, Aetius, strove +against each other to be first Minister of the Crown. Aetius won, and, +not content with all he had, plotted that his relative Nicetas, who +held the place of Captain of the Guard, which once I filled, should be +named successor to the throne. Then at last the nobles rebelled, and, +electing one of their number, Nicephorus, as emperor, seized Irene in +her private house of Eleutherius, where she lay sick, and crowned +Nicephorus in St. Sophia. Next day he visited Irene, when, fearing the +worst and broken by illness, she bought a promise of safety by +revealing to him all her hoarded treasure. + +Thus fell Irene, the mighty Empress of the Eastern Empire! + +Now during all these years Heliodore and I were left in peace at +Lesbos. I was not deposed from my governorship of that isle, which +prospered greatly under my rule. Even Irene's estates, which +Constantine had given me, were not taken away. At the appointed times +I remitted the tribute due, yes, and added to the sum, and received +back the official acknowledgment signed by the Empress, and with it +the official thanks. But with these never came either letter or +message. Yet it is evident she knew that I was married, for to +Heliodore did come a message, and with it a gift. The gift was that +necklace and those other ornaments which Irene had caused to be made +in an exact likeness of the string of golden shells separated by +emerald beetles, one half of which I had taken from the grave of the +Wanderer at Aar and the other half of which was worn by Heliodore. + +So much of the gift. The message was that she who owned the necklace +might wish to have the rest of the set. To it were added the words +that a certain general had been wrong when he prophesied that the +wearing of this necklace by any woman save one would bring ill fortune +to the wearer, since from the day it hung about Irene's neck even that +which seemed to be bad fortune had turned to good. Thus she had +escaped "the most evil thing in the world, namely, another husband," +and had become the first woman in the world. + +These words, which were written on a piece of sheepskin, sealed up, +and addressed to the Lady Heliodore, but unsigned, I thought of the +most evil omen, since boastfulness always seems to be hateful to the +Power that decrees our fates. So, indeed, they proved to be. + + + +On a certain day in early summer--it was the anniversary of my +marriage in Egypt--Heliodore and I had dined with but two guests. +Those guests were Jodd, the great Northman, my lieutenant, and his +wife, Martina, for within a year of our return to Lesbos Jodd and +Martina had married. It comes back to me that there was trouble about +the business, but that when Jodd gave out that either she must marry +him or that he would sail back to his northern land, bidding good-bye +to us all for ever, Martina gave way. I think that Heliodore managed +the matter in some fashion of her own after the birth of our first- +born son; how, I held it best never to inquire. At least, it was +managed, and the marriage turned out well enough in the end, although +at first Martina was moody at times and somewhat sharp of tongue with +Jodd. Then they had a baby which died, and this dead child drew them +closer together than it might have done had it lived. At any rate, +from that time forward Martina grew more gentle with Jodd, and when +other children were born they seemed happy together. + +Well, we four had dined, and it comes to me that our talk turned upon +the Caliph Harun and his wonderful goodness to us, whom as Christians +he was bound to despise and hate. Heliodore told me then for the first +time how she was glad he had made it clear so soon that what she drank +from the gold cup which now stood upon our table was no more than rose +water. + +So strong is the working of the mind that already she had begun to +feel as though poison were numbing her heart and clouding her brain, +and was sure that soon she would have fallen into the sleep which +Harun had warned her would end in death. + +"Had he been a true physician, he would have known that this might be +so, and that such grim jests are very dangerous," I said. Then I +added, for I did not wish to dwell longer upon a scene the memory of +which was dreadful to me, although it had ended well, + +"Tell us, Martina, is it true that those rich possessions of yours in +Alexandria which the Caliph gave you are sold?" + +"Yes, Olaf," she answered, "to a company of Greek merchants, and not +so ill. The contract was signed but yesterday. It was my wish that we +should leave Lesbos and go to live in this place, as we might have +done with safety under Harun's signed /firman/, but Jodd here +refused." + +"Aye," said Jodd in his big voice. "Am I one to dwell among Moslems +and make money out of trade and gardens in however fine a house? Why, +I should have been fighting with these prophet-worshippers within a +month, and had my throat cut. Moreover, how could I bear to be +separated from my general, and whatever she may think, how could +Martina bear to lose sight of her god-son? Why, Olaf, I tell you that, +although you are married and she is married, she still thinks twice as +much of you as she does of me. Oh! blind man's dog once, blind man's +dog always! Look not so angry, Martina. Why, I wonder, does the truth +always make women angry?" and he burst into one of his great laughs. + +At this moment Heliodore rose from the table and walked to the open +window-place to speak to our children and Martina's, a merry company +who were playing together in the garden. Here she stood a while +studying the beautiful view of the bay beneath; then of a sudden +called out, + +"A ship! A ship sailing into the harbour, and it flies the Imperial +standard." + +"Then pray God she brings no bad news," I said, who feared that +Imperial standard and felt that we had all been somewhat too happy of +late. Moreover, I knew that no royal ship was looked for from +Byzantium at this time, and dreaded lest this one should bear letters +from the new Emperor dismissing me from my office, or even worse +tidings. + +"What bad news should she bring?" growled Jodd. "Oh! I know what is in +your mind, General, but if this upstart Nicephorus is wise, he'll +leave you alone, since Lesbos does not want another governor, and will +tell him so if there be need. Yes, it will take more than one ship of +war, aye, and more than three, to set up another governor in Lesbos. +Nay, rebuke me not, General, for I at least have sworn no oath of +homage to this Nicephorus, nor have the other Northmen or the men of +Lesbos." + +"You are like a watchdog, Jodd, barking at you know not what, just +because it is strange. Go now, I pray you, to the quay, and bring back +to us news of this ship." + +So he went, and for the next two hours or more I sat in my private +room dictating letters to Heliodore on matters connected with the +duties of my office. The work came to an end at last, and I was +preparing to take my evening ride on a led mule when Martina entered +the room. + +"Do you ride with us to-night, Martina?" I asked, recognising her +step. + +"No, Olaf," she said quickly, "nor I think can you. Here are letters +for you from Byzantium. Jodd has brought them from the ship." + +"Where is Jodd?" I said. + +"Without, in the company of the captain of the ship, some guards, and +a prisoner." + +"What prisoner?" + +"Perchance the letters will tell you," she replied evasively. "Have I +your command to open and read? They are marked 'Most Secret.'" + +I nodded, since Martina often acted as my secretary in high matters, +being from her training skilled in such things. So she broke the seals +and read to myself and to Heliodore, who also was present in the room, +as follows: + +"'To the Excellent Michael, a General of our armies and Governor of +the Isle of Lesbos, Greetings from Nicephorus, by the will of God +Emperor. + +"'Know, O Michael, that we, the Emperor, reposing especial faith in +you our trusted servant, with these letters deliver into your keeping +a certain prisoner of State. This prisoner is none other than Irene, +who aforetime was Empress. + +"'Because of her many wickednesses in the sight of God and man we by +the decree of the People, of the Army, of the Senate and of the high +Officers of State amidst general rejoicing deposed the said Irene, +widow of the Emperor Leo and mother of the late Emperor Constantine, +and placed ourselves upon the throne. The said Irene, at her own +request, we consigned to the place called the Island of Princes, +setting her in charge of certain holy monks. Whilst there, abusing our +mercy and confidence, she set on foot plots to murder our Person and +repossess herself of the throne. + +"'Now our Councillors with one voice urged that she should be put to +death in punishment of her crimes, but we, being mindful of the +teaching of our Lord and Saviour and of His saying that we should turn +the other cheek to those who smite us, out of our gentle pity have +taken another counsel. + +"'Learn now, most excellent Michael the Blind, who once were known as +Olaf Red-Sword, that we hand over to your keeping the person of Irene, +aforetime Empress, charging you to deal with her as she dealt with you +and as she dealt also with the late Emperor Constantine, the son of +her body, for thus shall her evil plottings be brought to naught.'" + +"By God's Name, he means that I must blind her!" I exclaimed. + +Making no answer, Martina went on with the letter---- + +"'Should the said Irene survive her just punishment, we command you to +make sufficient provision for her daily wants, but no more, and to +charge the same against the sum due Us from the revenues of Lesbos. +Should she die at once, or at any future time, give to her decent +private burial, and report to Us the circumstances of her death duly +attested. + +"'Keep these Presents secret and do not act upon them until the ship +which brings them and the prisoner to you has sailed for Byzantium, +which it is ordered to do as soon as it has been revictualled. On your +head be it to carry out these our commands, for which you shall answer +with your life and those of your wife and children. This signed and +sealed at our Court of Byzantium on the twelfth day of the sixth month +of the first year of our reign, and countersigned by the high officers +whose names appear beneath.'" + + + +Such was this awful letter that, having read, Martina thrust into my +hand as though she would be rid of it. Then followed a silence, which +at length Martina broke. + +"Your commands, Excellency," she said in a dry voice. "I understand +that the--the--prisoner is in the ante-room in charge of the Captain +Jodd." + +"Then let her remain in the charge of the Captain Jodd," I exclaimed +angrily, "and in your charge, Martina, who are accustomed to attending +upon her, and know that you are both answerable for her safety with +your lives. Send the captain of the ship to me and prepare a discharge +for him. I will not see this woman till he has sailed, since until +then I am commanded to keep all secret. Send also the head officer of +the guard." + + + +Three days went by. The Imperial ship had sailed, taking with her my +formal acknowledgment of the Emperor's letter, and the time had come +when once more I must meet Irene face to face. + +I sat in the audience chamber of my Great House, and there was present +with me only Jodd, my lieutenant in office. Being blind, I dared not +receive a desperate woman alone, fearing lest she might stab me or do +herself some mischief. At the door of the chamber Jodd took her from +the guards, whom he bade remain within call, and conducted her to +where I sat. He told me afterwards that she was dressed as a nun, a +white hood half hiding her still beautiful face and a silver crucifix +hanging upon her breast. + +As I heard her come I rose and bowed to her, and my first words to her +were to pray her to be seated. + +"Nay," she answered in that rich, well-remembered voice of hers, "a +prisoner stands before the judge. I greet you, General Olaf, I pray +your pardon--Michael--after long years of separation. You have changed +but little, and I rejoice to see that your health is good and that the +rank and prosperity which I gave have not been taken from you." + +"I greet you, Madam," (almost had I said Augusta), I answered, then +continued hurriedly: "Lady Irene, I have received certain commands +concerning you from the Emperor Nicephorus which it is best that you +should hear, so that you shall hold me quit of blame in aught that it +may be my duty to inflict upon you. Read them, Captain Jodd. Nay, I +forgot, you cannot. Give the copy of the letter to the Lady Irene; the +original she can see afterwards if she wills." + +So the paper was given to her by Jodd, and she read it aloud, weighing +each word carefully. + +"Oh, what a dog is this!" she said when it was finished. "Know, Olaf, +that of my free will I surrendered the throne to him, yes, and all my +private treasure, he swearing upon the Gospels that I should live in +peace and honour till my life's end. And now he sends me to you to be +blinded and then done to death, for that is what he means. Oh! may God +avenge me upon him! May he become a byword and a scorn, and may his +own end be even worse than that which he has prepared for me. May +shame wrap his memory as in a garment, may his bones be dishonoured +and his burying-place forgotten. Aye, and so it shall be."[*] + +[*] The skull of this Nicephorus is said to have been used as a + drinking cup by his victorious enemy, the King Krum.--Editor. + +She paused in her fearful curse, then said in a new voice, that voice +in which she was wont to plead, + +"You will not blind me, Olaf. You'll not take from me my last +blessing, the light of day. Think what it means----" + +"The General Olaf should know well enough," interrupted Jodd, but I +waved him to be silent, and answered, + +"Tell me, Madam, how can I do otherwise? It seems to me that my life +and that of my wife and children hang upon this deed. Moreover, why +should I do otherwise now that by God's justice the wheel has come +round at last?" I added, pointing to the hollows beneath my brows +where the eyes once had been. + +"Oh! Olaf," she said, "if I harmed you, you know well it was because I +loved you." + +"Then God send that no woman ever loves me in such a fashion," broke +in Jodd. + +"Olaf," she continued, taking no note of him, "once you went very near +to loving me also, on that night when you would have eaten the +poisoned figs to save my son, the Emperor. At least, you kissed me. If +you forget, I cannot. Olaf, can you blind a woman whom you have +kissed?" + +"Kissing takes two, and I know that you blinded him," muttered Jodd, +"for I crucified the brutes you commanded to do the deed to which they +confessed." + +"Olaf, I admit that I treated you ill; I admit that I would have +killed you; but, believe me, it was jealousy and naught but jealousy +which drove me on. Almost as soon would I have killed myself; indeed, +I thought of it." + +"And there the matter ended," said Jodd. "It was Olaf who walked the +Hall of the Pit, not you. We found him on the brink of the hole." + +"Olaf, after I regained my power----" + +"By blinding your own son," said Jodd, "for which you will have an +account to settle one day." + +"----I dealt well with you. Knowing that you had married my rival, for +I kept myself informed of all you did, still I lifted no hand against +you----" + +"What good was a maimed man to you when you were courting the Emperor +Charlemagne?" asked Jodd. + +Now at last she turned on him, saying, + +"Well is it for you, Barbarian, that if only for a while Fate has reft +power from my hands. Oh! this is the bitterest drop in all my cup, +that I who for a score of years ruled the world must live to suffer +the insults of such as you." + +"Then why not die and have done?" asked the imperturbable Jodd. "Or, +if you lack the courage, why not submit to the decree of the Emperor, +as so many have submitted to your decree, instead of troubling the +general here with prayers for mercy? It would serve as well." + +"Jodd," I said, "I command you to be silent. This lady is in trouble; +attack those in power, if you will, not those who have fallen." + +"There speaks the man I loved," said Irene. "What perverse fate kept +us apart, Olaf? Had you taken what I offered, by now you and I would +have ruled the world." + +"Perhaps, Madam; yet it is right I should say that I do not regret my +choice, although because of it I can no longer--look upon the world." + +"I know, I know! She of that accursed necklace, which I see you still +wear, came between us and spoiled everything. Now I'm ruined for lack +of you and you are nobody for lack of me, a soldier who will run his +petty course and depart into the universal darkness, leaving never a +name behind him. In the ages to be what man will take count of one of +a score of governors of the little Isle of Lesbos, who might yet have +held the earth in the hollow of his hand and shone a second Cæsar in +its annals? Oh! what marplot of a devil rules our destinies? He who +fashioned those golden shells upon your breast, or so I think. Well, +well, it is so and cannot be altered. The Augusta of the Empire of the +East must plead with the man who rejected her, for sight, or rather +for her life. You understand, do you not, Olaf, that letter is a +command to you to murder me?" + +"Just such a command as you gave to those who blinded your son +Constantine," muttered Jodd beneath his breath. + +"That is what is meant. You are to murder me, and, Olaf, I'm not fit +to die. Great place brings great temptations, and I admit that I have +greatly sinned; I need time upon the earth to make my peace with +Heaven, and if you slay my body now, you will slay my soul as well. +Oh! be pitiful! Be pitiful! Olaf, you cannot kill the woman who has +lain upon your breast, it is against nature. If you did such a thing +you'd never sleep again; you would shudder yourself over the edge of +the world! Being what you are, no pomp or power would ever pay you for +the deed. Be true to your own high heart and spare me. See, I who for +so long was the ruler of many kingdoms, kneel to you and pray you to +spare me," and, casting herself down upon her knees, she laid her head +upon my feet and wept. + +All that scene comes back to me with a strange and terrible vividness, +although I had no sight to aid me in its details, save the sight of my +soul. I remember that the wonder and horror of it pierced me through +and through; the stab of the dagger in my eyes was not more sharp. +There was I, Olaf, a mere gentleman of the North, seated in my chair +of office, and there before me, her mighty head bowed upon my feet, +knelt the Empress of the Earth pleading for her life. In truth all +history could show few stranger scenes. What was I to do? If I yielded +to her piteous prayers, it was probable that my own life and those of +my wife and children would pay the price. Yet how could I clap my +hands in their Eastern fashion and summon the executioners to pierce +those streaming eyes of hers? "Rise, Augusta," I said, for in this +extremity of her shame I gave her back her title, "and tell me, you +who are accustomed to such matters, how I can spare you who deal with +the lives of others as well as with my own?" + +"I thank you for that name," she said as she struggled to her feet. +"I've heard it shouted by tens of thousands in the circus and from the +throats of armies, but never yet has it been half so sweet to me as +now from lips that have no need to utter it. In times bygone I'd have +paid you for this service with a province, but now Irene is so poor +that, like some humble beggar-woman, she can but give her thanks. +Still, repeat it no more, for next time it will sound bitter. What did +you ask? How you could save me, was it not? Well, the thing seems +simple. In all that letter from Nicephorus there is no direct command +that you should blind me. The fellow says that you are to treat me as +I treated you, and as I treated Constantine, the Emperor--because I +must. Well, I imprisoned both of you. Imprison me and you fulfil the +mandate. He says that if I die you are to report it, which shows that +he does not mean that I /must/ die. Oh! the road of escape is easy, +should you desire to travel it. If you do not so desire, then, Olaf, I +pray you as a last favour not to hand me over to common men. I see +that by your side still hangs that red sword of yours wherewith once I +threatened you when you refused me at Byzantium. Draw it, Olaf, and +this time I'll guide its edge across my throat. So you will please +Nicephorus and win the rewards that Irene can no longer give. Baptised +in her blood, what earthly glory is there to which you might not yet +attain, you who had dared to lay hands upon the anointed flesh that +even her worst foes have feared to touch lest God's sudden curse +should strike them dead?" + +So she went on pouring out words with the strange eloquence that she +could command at times, till I grew bewildered. She who had lived in +light and luxury, who had loved the vision of all bright and glorious +things, was pleading for her sight to the man whom she had robbed of +sight that he might never more behold the young beauty of her rival. +She who had imagination to know the greatness of her sins was pleading +to be spared the death she dared not face. She was pleading to me, who +for years had been her faithful soldier, the captain of her own guard, +sworn to protect her from the slightest ill, me upon whom, for a +while, it had pleased her to lavish the wild passion of her imperial +heart, who once had almost loved--who, indeed, had kissed her on the +lips. + +My orders were definite. I was commanded to blind this woman and to +kill her in the blinding, which, in truth, I who had power of life and +death, I who ruled over this island like a king by virtue of the royal +commission, could do without question asked. If I /failed/ to fulfil +those orders, I must be prepared to pay the price, as if I did fulfil +them I might expect a high reward, probably the governorship of some +great province of the Empire. This was no common prisoner. She was the +ex-Empress, a mighty woman to whom tens of thousands or perhaps +millions still looked for help and leadership. It was necessary to +those who had seized her place and power that she should be rendered +incapable of rule. It was desirable to them that she should die. Yet +so delicately were the scales poised between them and the adherents of +Irene, among whom were numbered all the great princes of the Church, +that they themselves did not dare to inflict mutilation or death upon +her. They feared lest it should be followed by a storm of wrath that +would shake Nicephorus from his throne and involve them in his ruin. + +So they sent her to me, the governor of a distant dependency, the man +whom they knew she had wickedly wronged, being certain that her +tongue, which it was said could turn the hearts of all men, would +never soften mine. Then afterwards they would declare that the warrant +was a forgery, that I had but wreaked a private vengeance upon an +ancient foe, and, to still the scandal, degrade me from my +governorship--into some place of greater power and profit. + +Oh! while Irene pleaded before me and, heedless of the presence of +Jodd, even cast her arms about me and laid her head upon my breast, +all these things passed through my mind. In its scales I weighed the +matter out, and the beam rose against me, for I knew well that if I +spared Irene I condemned myself and those who were more to me than +myself, my wife, my children, and all the Northmen who clung to me, +and who would not see me die without blow struck. I understood it all, +and, understanding, of a sudden made up my mind--to spare Irene. Come +what might, I would be no butcher; I would follow my heart +whithersoever it might lead me. + +"Cease, Madam," I said. "I have decided. Jodd, bid the messenger +summon hither Heliodore and Martina, my wife and yours." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Irene, "if these women are to be called in counsel on +my case all is finished, seeing that both of them love you and are my +enemies. Moreover, I have some pride left. To you I could plead, but +not to them, though they blind me with their bodkins after they have +stabbed me with their tongues. Excellency, a last boon! Call in your +guard and kill me." + +"Madam, I said that I had decided, and all the women in the world will +not change my mind in this way or in that. Jodd, do my bidding." + +Jodd struck a bell, once only, which was the signal for the messenger. +He came and received his orders. Then followed a pause, since +Heliodore and Martina were in a place close by and must be sent for. +During this time Irene began to talk to me of sundry general matters. +She compared the view that might be seen from this house in Lesbos to +that from the terrace of her palace on the Bosphorus, and described +its differences to me. She asked me as to the Caliph Harun-al-Rashid, +whom she understood I had seen, inquiring as to the estimate I had +formed of his character. Lastly, with a laugh, she dwelt upon the +strange vicissitudes of life. + +"Look at me," she said. "I began my days as the daughter of a Greek +gentleman, with no dower save my wit and beauty. Then I rose to be a +ruler of the world, and knew all that it has to give of pomp and +power. Nations trembled at my nod; at my smile men grew great; at my +frown they faded into nothingness. Save you, Olaf, none ever really +conquered me, until I fell in the appointed hour. And now! Of this +splendour there is left but a nun's robe; of this countless wealth but +one silver crucifix; of this power--naught." + +So she spoke on, still not knowing to what decision I had come; +whether she were to be blinded or to live or die. To myself I thought +it was a proof of her greatness that she could thus turn her mind to +such things while Fate hovered over her, its hand upon a sword. But it +may be that she thought thus to impress me and to enmesh me in +memories which would tie my hands, or even from the character of my +answers to draw some augury of her doom. + +The women came at length. Heliodore entered first, and to her Irene +bowed. + +"Greeting, Lady of Egypt," she said. "Ah! had you taken my counsel in +the past, that title might have been yours in very truth, and there +you and your husband could have founded a new line of kings +independent of the Empire which totters to its fall." + +"I remember no such counsel, Madam," said Heliodore. "It seems to me +that the course I took was right and one pleasing to God, since it has +given me my husband for myself, although, it is true, wickedly robbed +of his eyes." + +"For yourself! Can you say so while Martina is always at his side?" +she asked in a musing voice. "Well, it may be, for in this world +strange things happen." + +She paused, and I heard both Heliodore and Jodd move as though in +anger, for her bitter shaft had gone home. Then she went on softly, + +"Lady, may I tell you that, in my judgment, your beauty is even +greater than it was, though it is true it has grown from bud to +flower. Few bear their years and a mother's burdens so lightly in +these hot lands." + +Heliodore did not answer, for at that moment Martina entered. Seeing +Irene for the first time, she forgot everything that had passed and +curtseyed to her in the old fashion, murmuring the familiar words, + +"Thy servant greets thee, Augusta." + +"Nay, use not that title, Martina, to one who has done with the world +and its vanities. Call me 'Mother' if you will, for that is the only +name of honour by which those of my religious order may be known. In +truth, as your mother in God, I welcome you and bless you, from my +heart forgiving you those ills which you have worked against me, +being, as I know well, driven by a love that is greater than any woman +bears to woman. But that eating fire of passion scorned is the +heritage of both of us, and of it we will talk afterwards. I must not +waste the time of the General Olaf, whom destiny, in return for many +griefs, has appointed to be my jailer. Oh! Olaf," she added with a +little laugh, "some foresight of the future must have taught me to +train you for the post. Let us then be silent, ladies, and listen to +the judgment which this jailer of mine is about to pass upon me. Do +you know it is no less than whether these eyes of mine, which you were +wont to praise, Martina, which in his lighter moments even this stern +Olaf was wont to praise, should be torn from beneath my brow, and if +so, whether it should be done in such a fashion that I die of the +deed? That and no less is the matter which his lips must settle. Now +speak, Excellency." + +"Madam," I said slowly, "to the best of my wit I have considered the +letter sent to me under the seal and sign of the Emperor Nicephorus. +Although it might be so interpreted by some, I cannot find in that +letter any direct command that I should cause you to be blinded, but +only one that I should keep you under strict guard, giving you such +things as are necessary to your sustenance. This then I shall do, and +by the first ship make report of my action to the Emperor at +Byzantium." + +Now, when she heard these words, at length the proud spirit of Irene +broke. + +"God reward you, for I cannot, Olaf," she cried. "God reward you, +saint among men, who can pay back cruel injuries with the gentlest +mercy." + +So saying, she burst into tears and fell senseless to the ground. + +Martina ran to aid her, but Heliodore turned to me and said in her +tender voice, + +"This is worthy of you, Olaf, and I would not have you do otherwise. +Yet, husband, I fear that this pity of yours has signed the death- +warrant of us all." + + + +So it proved to be, though, as it chanced, that warrant was never +executed. I made my report to Byzantium, and in course of time the +answer came in a letter from the Emperor. This letter coldly approved +of my act in set and formal phrases. It added that the truth had been +conveyed publicly to those slanderers of the Emperor who announced +that he had caused Irene to be first blinded and then put to death in +Lesbos, whereby their evil tongues had been silenced. + +Then came this pregnant sentence: + +"We command you, with your wife and children and your lieutenant, the +Captain Jodd, with his wife and children, to lay down your offices and +report yourselves with all speed to Us at our Court of Byzantium, that +we may confer with you on certain matters. If it is not convenient to +you, or you can find no fitting ship in which to sail at once, know +that within a month of your receipt of this letter our fleet will call +at Lesbos and bring you and the others herein mentioned to our +Presence." + +"That is a death sentence," said Martina, when she had finished +reading out this passage. "I have seen several such sent in my day, +when I was Irene's confidential lady. It is the common form. We shall +never reach Byzantium, Olaf, or, if we do, we shall never leave it +more." + +I nodded, for I knew that this was so. Then, at some whispered word +from Martina, Heliodore spoke. + +"Husband," she said, "foreseeing this issue, Martina, Jodd, and most +of the Northmen and I have made a plan which we now submit to you, +praying that for our sakes, if not for yours, you will not thrust it +aside. We have bought two good ships, armed them and furnished them +with all things needful. Moreover, during the past two months we have +sold much of our property, turning it into gold. This is our plan-- +that we pretend to obey the order of the Emperor, but instead of +heading for Byzantium, sail away north to the land in which you were +born, where, having rank and possessions, you may still become a +mighty chief. If we go at once we shall miss the Imperial fleet, and I +think that none will follow us." + +Now I bowed my head for a while and thought. Then I lifted it and +said, + +"So let it be. No other road is open." + +For my own sake I would not have stirred an inch. I would have gone to +the Court of the Emperor at Byzantium and there argued out the thing +in a gambler's spirit, prepared to win or prepared to lose. There at +least I should have had all the image-worshippers who adored Irene, +that is, the full half of the Empire, upon my side, and if I perished, +I should perish as a saint. But a wife and children are the most +terrible gifts of God, if the most blessed, for they turn our hearts +to water. So, for the first time in my life, I grew afraid, and, for +their sakes, fled. + +As might be expected, having Martina's brains, Heliodore's love, and +the Northmen's loyalty at the back of it, our plan went well. A letter +was sent to the Emperor saying that we would await the arrival of the +fleet to obey his commands, having some private matters to arrange +before we left Lesbos. Then, on a certain evening, we embarked on two +great ships, about four hundred souls in all. + +Before we went I bade farewell to Irene. She was seated outside the +house that had been given to her, employed in spinning, for it was her +fancy to earn the bread she ate by the labour of her hands. Round her +were playing Jodd's children and my own, whom, in order to escape +suspicion, we had sent thither till the time came for us to embark, +since the people of Lesbos only knew of our scheme by rumour. + +"Whither do you go, Olaf?" she asked. + +"Back to the North, whence I came, Madam," I answered, "to save the +lives of these," and I waved my hand towards the children. "If I bide +here all must die. We have been sent for to Byzantium, as I think +/you/ were wont to send for officers who had ceased to please you." + +"I understand, Olaf; moreover, I know it is I who have brought this +trouble upon you because you spared me, whom it was meant that you +should kill. Also I know, through friends of mine, that henceforth, +for reasons of policy, my little end of life is safe, and perhaps with +it my sight. All this I owe to you, though now at times I regret that +I asked the boon. From the lot of an Empress to that of a spinning- +wife is a great change, and one which I find it heard to bear. Still, +I have my peace to make with God, and towards that peace I strive. Yet +will you not take me with you, Olaf? I should like to found a nunnery +in that cold North of yours." + +"No, Augusta. I have done my best by you, and now you must guard +yourself. We part for ever. I go hence to finish where I began. My +birthplace calls me." + +"For ever is a long word, Olaf. Are you sure that we part for ever? +Perchance we shall meet again in death or in other lives. Such, at +least, was the belief of some of the wisest of my people before we +became Christian, and mayhap the Christians do not know everything, +since the world had learnt much before they came. I hope that it may +be so, Olaf, for I owe you a great debt and would repay it to you full +measure, pressed down and running over. Farewell. Take with you the +blessing of a sinful and a broken heart," and, rising, she kissed me +on the brow. + + + +Here ends the story of this life of mine as Olaf Red-Sword, since of +it I can recover no more. The darkness drops. Of what befell me and +the others after my parting with Irene I know nothing or very little. +Doubtless we sailed away north, and, I think, came safely to Aar, +since I have faint visions of Iduna the Fair grown old, but still +unwed, for the stain of Steinar's blood, as it were, still marked her +brow in all men's eyes; and even of Freydisa, white-haired and noble- +looking. How did we meet and how did we separate at last, I wonder? +And what were the fates of Heliodore and of our children; of Martina +and of Jodd? Also, was the prophecy of Odin, spoken through the lips +of Freydisa in the temple at Aar, that he and his fellow gods, or +demons, would prevail against my flesh and that of those who clung to +me, fulfilled at last in the fires of martyrdom for the Faith, as his +promise of my happiness was fulfilled? + +I cannot tell. I cannot tell. Darkness entombs us all and history is +dumb. + + + +At Aar there are many graves! Standing among them, not so long ago, +much of this history came back to me. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of The Wanderer's Necklace, by Haggard + |