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Forgetting that no weapon hung there now, Alwin's hand flew to his side. Young Haraldsson, catching only the gesture, stayed him peremptorily. "Stand back, they were aimed at me! It is my quarrel." He threw himself from his saddle, and his blade flashed forth like a sunbeam. Evidently there was no need of explanations between the two.
Noticing it, Helga frowned regretfully. "I cannot blame him if he will not speak to me," she said to Sigurd Haraldsson. "The nature of a high-born man is such that a blow is like poison in his blood. It must rankle and fester and break out before he can be healed. I do not think he could have been more lordlike in his father's castle than he was yesterday.
Then a voice called out that the thrall was lying to cover his master; and Eric's laughter burst out anew, and the jeering redoubled. But Alwin's voice rose high above it. "Fools! Is it worth while for me to give my life for a lie? Ask Sigurd Haraldsson, if you will not believe me. He knows that I went there on Yule Eve, to ask concerning my freedom.
"Go and tell Cnut, then, that Ethelred is king, and how you have fared. That is all I bid you. Are there any Norsemen among you?" There were eight or ten among the six-score prisoners, and Olaf spoke aside with them. "Go back to our own land and say what you have seen of the dealings of Olaf Haraldsson with those who fight bravely though against him.
Half a dozen men started in sudden consternation; but they were spared the peril of a reply, for Sigurd Haraldsson stepped out of the throng and stood at Helga's side. "I kept the watch last night, foster-father," he said, quietly. "Let none of your men suffer in life or limb. It was I who received her on board, while it was the others' turn to sleep; and I alone who hid her in the foreroom."
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