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And the man that can play the instrument of Earthrid would be able to conjure up the most astonishing forms, which are not phantasms, but realities." "That may be so," growled Polecrab. "But I have been to the island by daylight, and what did I find there? Human bones, new and ancient. Those are Earthrid's victims. And you, wife, shall not go." "But will that music play tonight?" asked Maskull.
"As you've come from the south, I suppose you'll go north." "Well, that's right enough," said Maskull, staring hard at him. "But how do you know I've come from the south?" "Well, then, perhaps you haven't but there's a look of Ifdawn about you." "What kind of look?" "A tragical look," said Polecrab. He never even glanced at Maskull, but was gazing at a fixed spot on the water with unblinking eyes.
When he awoke, the day was not so bright, and he guessed it was late afternoon. Polecrab and his wife were both on their feet, and another meal of fish had been cooked and was waiting for him. "Is it decided who is to go with me?" he asked, before sitting down. "I go," said Gleameil. "Do you agree, Polecrab?"
"Are you another of the wise men of the Wombflash Forest?" The man answered him in a gruff, husky voice, looking up as he did so. "I'm a fisherman. I know nothing about wisdom." "What name do you go by?" "Polecrab. What's yours?" "Maskull. If you're a fisherman, you ought to have fish. I'm famishing." Polecrab grunted, and paused a minute before answering. "There's fish enough.
Can you hold me up with one arm, as you did that child?" Maskull complied. "That is being a man!" exclaimed the boy. "Enough!" said Polecrab impatiently. "I called you lads here to say goodbye to your mother. She is going away with this man. I think she may not return, but we don't know." The second boy's face became suddenly inflamed. "Is she going of her own choice?" he inquired.
"I am an ignorant man, stranger, so I can't say. Perhaps there are many others like you who would gladly know." "Where? I should like to meet them." "Do you think you were made of one stuff, and the rest of mankind of another stuff?" "I can't be so presumptuous. Possibly all men are reaching out toward Muspel, in most cases without being aware of it." "In the wrong direction," said Polecrab.
"I think the music will answer all your questions better than Polecrab has done and possibly in a way that will surprise you." "What kind of music can it be to travel all those miles across the sea?" "A peculiar kind, so we are told. Not pleasant, but painful.
Polecrab and his wife looked at one another. "Where are you going to, Mother?" asked the eldest lad. Gleameil bent down, and kissed him. "To the Island." "Well then, if you don't come back by tomorrow morning, I will go and look for you." Maskull grew more and more uneasy in his mind. "This seems to me to be a man's journey," he said. "I think it would be better for you not to come, Gleameil."
Polecrab had by this time manoeuvred his flimsy craft to the position he desired, within a few yards of the current, which at that point made a sharp bend from the east. He shouted out some words to his wife and Maskull. Gleameil kissed her children convulsively, and broke down a little.
"Now that we are alone in a strange place," said Gleameil, averting her head, and looking down over the side of the raft into the water, "tell me what you thought of Polecrab." Maskull paused before answering. "He seemed to me like a mountain wrapped in cloud. You see the lower buttresses, and think that is all.
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