noticed us with those twain to look at,unless they scanned our arms, which were more after the English sortthan the Danish, so far as mail and helms are concerned, and thereforemight seem strange.
The old hall was not changed at all; and handsome it seemed afterAlsi's, though it was not so large. There were more and better weaponson the walls, and carved work was everywhere, so that in the swirl andheat-flicker of the torches the beams, and door posts, and bench ends,and the pillars of the high seat seemed alive with knotted dragons thatbegan, and ended, and writhed everywhere, wondrous to look on. OurEnglish have not the long winter nights, and cruel frosts, and deep snowthat make time for such work as this for the men of the household.
There fell a silence as we came in, and then Sigurd greeted us; and wewere set on the high seat, and feasted royally. On right and left of ourhost sat Havelok and Goldberga, and the jarl's wife next to Havelok, andBiorn the Brown, the sheriff, next to our princess. This was a newcomerhere since my days, but well we liked him.
There is nothing to tell of what happened at this feast, for Sigurdasked no questions of us but the most common ones of sea, and wind, andvoyage, and never a word that would have been hard for Havelok to answerin this company, where men of Hodulf's might well be present. Withelmnoticed this, and said that no doubt it was done purposely, and hethought much of it.
When we had ended with song and tale, and it was near time for rest,Sigurd bade Biorn, the sheriff, take us to his house for the night,telling him that he must answer for our safety, and specially that ofthe fair lady who had come from so far. And then he gave us a good guardof his housecarls to take us down the street, as if he feared some danger.
"Why, jarl," said Biorn, "our guests will have a bad night if they thinkthat in our quiet place they need twenty men to see them to bed thus!"
"Nay, but the town is strange to the lady," answered Sigurd; "and whoknows what she may fear in a foreign land!"
So Biorn laughed, and was content; and we bade farewell to the jarl, andwent out. And then I found that it was to my father's house we were togo, for it had been given to Biorn.
Now, I was next to Goldberga as we came to the door, and there was astep into the house which we always had to warn strangers of when it wasdark; and so, in the old way, without thinking for a moment, I said toher, "One step into the house, sister."
"Ho, Master Radbard, if that is you, you have sharp eyes in the dark,"said Biorn at once; "I was just about to say that myself."
"I have some feeling in my toes," I answered; and that turned thematter, for they laughed.
And then, when we were inside, and the courtmen had gone clattering downthe street homewards, Biorn took the great door bar from its old placeand ran it into the sockets in the doorposts, as I had done so manytimes; and the runes that my father had cut on it when he made the housewere still plain to be seen on it, with the notches I had made with thefirst knife that I ever had. More I will not say, but everywhere that myeyes fell were things that I knew, even to fishing gear, for it seemedthat Biorn was somewhat of a fisher, like Grim himself.
Then they put me and my brothers into our old loft, and Havelok andGoldberga had the room that had been my father's. As for Biorn, he wouldbe in the great room, before the fire. There was only this one door tothe house, and therefore he would guard that. His thralls were in thesheds, as ours used to be, so that we and he were alone in the house.
Now, as soon as we three had gone into our old place of rest, Raven wentat once, as in the old days, to the little square window that was in thehigh-pitched gable, and looked out over the town and sea. We used tolaugh at him for this, for he was never happy until he had seen, as wesaid, if all was yet there.
"There are yet lights in the jarl's hall," he said, "and there are oneor two moving about down in the haven. I think that there is a vesselcoming in."
"Come and lie down, brother," I said. "We are not in Grimsby, and youcannot go and take toll from her if there is."
He laughed, and came to his bed; but we talked of old days and of manythings more for a long while before we slept. And most of all, wethought that Sigurd the jarl knew Havelok by the token of the ring andby that likeness to Gunnar which Mord had seen, and that our errand wasalmost told.
So we slept without thought of any danger; but the first hour of thenight in that house was not so quiet to Goldberga, for presently shewoke Havelok, and she was trembling.
"Husband," she said, "it is in my mind that we are in danger in thisplace; for I cannot sleep by reason of a dream that will come to me sosoon as my eyes are closed."
"You are overtired with the voyage," Havelok told her gently; and thenhe asked her what the dream was.
"It seems that I see you attacked by a boar and many foxes, and hardpressed, and then that a bear and good hounds help you. Yet we have toflee to a great tree, and there is safety. Then come two lions, and theyobey you."
"I think that is a dream that comes of waves, and the foam that hasfollowed us, and the shrill wind in the rigging, and the humming of thesail, sweet wife; and the tree is the tall mast maybe, and the lions arethe surges that you saw along this shore, where is no danger."
So she was content; and then all in the house slept.
CHAPTER XIX. THE LAST OF GRIFFIN OF WALES.
Maybe it was about an hour before midnight when the first waking came toany of us, and then it was Biorn himself who was roused by footstepsthat stayed at the doorway itself, after coming across the garth, andthen a voice that was strange to him which bade him open. At once hecaught up his axe and went to the door, and asked quietly who was there.
"Open at once," said the man who was without; "we must speak with you."
"Go hence, I pray you, and wait for morning," said the sheriff. "Hereare guests of the jarl's, and they must not be disturbed."
"Open, or we will open for ourselves," was the answer. "We have no timeto stay here talking."
"That is no honest speech," quoth Biorn. "Go hence, or give me yourerrand from without."
"Open, fool, or we will have the door down."
"There is an axe waiting for you if you do that. I rede you go hence inpeace, or it may be worse for you in the end."
I suppose it was in the mind of the sheriff that here were some friendsof his who had been overlong at the ale bench in the hall that evening;but on this there was a little talk outside, and then the crash of agreat stone that was hurled against the door; and at that he startedback and got his mail shirt on him, for the door was strong enough tostand many such blows yet. It seemed that there was more than a drunkenfrolic on hand. Then came another stone against the door, and it shook;and at the same moment Havelok came from his chamber to see what wasamiss, for the noise had waked him. He had thrown on the feasting gearthat he had been wearing; but he had neither mail nor helm, though hehad his axe in his hand.
"What is the noise?" he said anxiously, seeing that Biorn was arming.
The sheriff told him quickly, and again the door was battered.
"It is a pity that a good door should be spoilt," said Havelok, "fordown it is bound to come thus. Stand you there with the axe, and I willeven save them the trouble of breaking in."
"Nay," said Biorn; "we know not how many are there, and it were betterthat you should arm first. There is time."
"Why, they think that you are alone in the house, no doubt, and will runwhen they find out their mistake. They are common thieves from theforest, or outlaws. Stand you by to cut down the first man that dares toenter, if there happen to be one bold enough."
He set his axe down, and went to the bar, and began to slide it backinto the deep socket that would let it free, and the men outside stayedtheir blows as they heard it scraping. It was a very heavy bar of oak,some seven feet long, and over a palm square.
"Now!" cried Havelok, and caught the bar from its place.
He did not take the trouble to set it down and get his axe; but as thedoor opened a little he stood back balancing the great beam in hishands, as a
boy would handle a quarterstaff, ready for the rush of thethieves that he expected, and so he was in the way of Biorn more or less.
Now there was silence outside, and one saw that the door was free, andset his foot to it, and flung it open, for it went inwards. And thenHavelok knew that there was a stern fight before him, for the moonlightshowed the grim form of Griffin, the Welsh thane, fully armed and ready.
"Stand back, friend," cried Biorn hastily, fearing for the unarmed man,and caring nothing that beyond the foremost was a group of some halfdozen more warriors.
But he spoke too late, for as Griffin stepped back a pace on seeing hisenemy himself in the doorway, Havelok had gone a pace forward, and nowwas outside, where he had a clear swing of his unhandy weapon.
Now Griffin