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Updated: June 23, 2025
I should have burst if I had not told him so." "I have commanded that my men shall not hold speech with the men of Eric except on friendly matters; that they shall avoid a quarrel as they would avoid death." His tone of quiet authority had begun to have its usual effect upon his young follower; Alwin's head had bent before him. But suddenly he looked up with a daring flash.
To the blunt old steersman, to the ox-like Olver, to the half-dozen others who heard it, the change was incomprehensible. They stared at their master, then at each other, and finally gave it up as a whim past their understanding. It may be that Leif was curious to see whether it would be incomprehensible to Alwin as well. He sat watching him intently. Alwin's eyes fell before his master's.
Half a dozen wooden booths tented over with gay striped linen and adorned with streaming flags, a leaping fire, a pile of slain deer, a string of grazing horses, and a throng of brawny men skinning the deer, chasing the horses, scouring armor, drinking, wrestling, and lounging, these were Alwin's first confused impressions. "There it is!" cried Helga. "Saw you ever a prettier spot?
It has been in my mind through every feast; but until now, none of the men who have asked for her has seemed to me a good match." Though his hands kept mechanically at their work, Alwin's brain seemed to have come to a standstill. It must be a dream, a foolish dream. It was not possible that such a thing could have been planned without his even suspecting it. He listened numbly.
Alwin's runners threw him more than once, lapping one over the other as he was zigzagging up a slope, so that he tripped and rolled until a snow-bank stopped him. As he regained his feet after one of these interruptions, he made some angry remark; but beyond this there was little said. It was a dreary night to be on an uncanny errand, with a chill in the air that seemed to freeze the heart.
"Though they have in no way hurried the matter, I believe that he is almost dead now," Rolf comforted his captive. Even as he spoke, the last faint cry ended in a gurgling choke, and there was silence. Instantly the scarf was slipped from Alwin's mouth, and the living fetters unclasped themselves from his limbs. "Thanks to me " Rolf was beginning.
I will disguise myself in some way, and go on this exploring expedition among his following. I shall have many chances to be of service to him." "But suppose they should not come soon enough? Suppose your disguise should be too shallow? His eyes are like arrows that pierce everything they are aimed at. Suppose he should recognize you at once?" The new grimness again squared Alwin's mouth.
"I tell you I must go over the track once more. It may have slipped out of my girdle at some of the places where I tripped." Alwin's words rose in frosty cloud; for he was Leif's unheated sleeping-room, drawing on an extra pair of thick woollen stockings in preparation for his customary outing. "It is foolishness. Four times already have you been over the ground without finding it.
Suddenly, while they faced each other, glowering, an arrow sped out of the thicket a little way down the road, and whizzed between them. A second shaft just grazed Alwin's head; a third carried away a tress of Sigurd's fair hair. Instantly after, a man crashed out of the underbrush and came running toward them, throwing down a bow and drawing a sword as he ran.
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