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"Ye are free men," he said; "but I am the chief to whom, of your own free wills, you have sworn allegiance on the edge of your swords. Do you think it improves your honor that a stranger should dare to insult your chosen leader in your presence?" "No!" bellowed Valbrand, in a voice of thunder. And Lodin shook his wounded arm at the mutineer.
"His name is Lodin, and he went oft on trading voyages aboard a ship which he owned himself. On a certain summer he made east for Esthonia and there did much business. Now, in the marketplace of one of the Esthonian seaports many thralls were brought for sale, and, among other thralls who were to be sold, Lodin saw a certain woman.
She said: 'It is a heavy tale to tell. I am sold at thrall markets and am brought hither now for sale, and therewith she, knowing Lodin, prayed him to buy her and take her back with him to her kindred in Norway. 'I will give you a choice over that, said he.
If I fail, which I do not expect, I will preserve my life as Lodin is doing; and the Fearless One here shall take his turn." Alwin was too wild with delight to remember any-thing else. "For that, I thank you as for a crown!" he gasped. Even as he stepped out to meet the foe, Leif smiled ironically. "Certainly you are better called the Fearless than the Courteous," he said.
Lodin confessed, however, that he was unacquainted with the effects that indicate the administration of a slow poison, but thought the previous symptoms were such as might be expected from it. For the credit of the profession, this conjectural opinion met with decided reprobation from other medical men.
Meanwhile King Olaf, with some of his chosen companions, journeyed south into Viken, where his mother lived with her husband Lodin the same who had bought her out of her bondage. There he abode throughout the winter among his own kindred as well as many who had been great friends with his father. They welcomed him with very great love.
Pushing past his comrades, he tore his way through the tangle of twining willowy arms and gained the side of the chief. Leif pushed aside the last overhanging bough, and the conflict was before them. Locked in the embrace of as big a bear as it had ever been their luck to see, stood Lodin the Berry-Eater.
A tow-headed giant known as Long Lodin overheard him, and laughed noisily, jerking his thumb over his shoulder toward the deck where Leif's eagle face showed high above their heads. "His luck could carry us safe through even the world of the dead," he reassured him. But Rolf paused in his chess game to throw his friend a keen glance.
As for Aastrid, she was offered for sale at the slave-market, and here, despite her ragged and miserable plight, she was recognized by a rich merchant named Lodin. He offered to pay her ransom if she would become his wife. The poor woman, not knowing what had become of her son, was glad to accept his offer and returned with him to his home in Norway.
The brawling crew along the benches drank and sang and rattled dice in their nightly carousal; and, in a corner, Lodin wrestled with the well-grown bear-cub before a circle of cheering spectators. The firelight flickered over the trophy-laden walls, picking out now a severed paw and now a grinning skull, until the whole place seemed a ghastly shrine of savagery.
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