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In a moment a man's body fell upon the ground below. 'Well, is Gunnar at home? said Gizur, and Thorgrim the Easterling answered: 'Go and see for yourselves; but if Gunnar is not at home, his bill is, and those were his last words, for the thrust had been mortal. It hardly seemed possible that one man could keep such a force at bay, but wherever they went Gunnar's arrows followed them.
As for Grani, he has an evil nature, and there is no turning him from bad deeds. It was in the autumn that Mord, the son of Valgard, sent word to Gunnar's foes that the time had come to make the attack upon Lithend, as all his men had gone to the haymaking on the isles of the sea.
"Gunnar's son," said one old chief: "but were he only the son of Grim, for those twain would I die." So the warriors crept back to the hall silently as they had come; and now they went out to their men and told them that all doubt had gone, and along the road that led to Hodulf's town the jarl sent mounted men to watch for his coming.
"I told him all about it at one time or another," Mord answered. "He always wanted to hear of Denmark." So that was all that the chamberlain knew; but it was plain to me that the earl had put two and two together when he heard Havelok's name, and had remembered that this was also the name of Gunnar's son.
Gunnar's horse was swift and steady, and he never drew rein till he reached the ford which he knew Otkell's men must pass. There he tied up his horse, and awaited them on foot. When Otkell's men came up, they, too, sprang to the ground, and Hallbjorm strode towards Gunnar.
"Well, little man, it was all a bright dream that went too fast. And are we to stay here on this ledge 'til doomsday while you try to re-spin the broken threads of the past?" So Gunnar's thoughts came back to the present and his big shoulders heaved when he laughed. "Eh! Spoken like a Nors-King, Odin. I must be getting old. Well, there's a way from here to the sea.
The homes, the pastures, the players, most of them are gone and time took a heavy price. And only Gunnar is left to toss the last coin upon the counter. Well, I am ready to pay, so long as I get my hands on Grim Hagen." Jack Odin gave him a playful punch on the shoulder, for Gunnar's thoughts seemed to be growing more dismal by the minute.
'Yet I thought, she said, 'that no man could have done this deed but Sigurd, Fafnir's bane, who was my true love. But he has forgotten me, and my promise I must keep. So Gunnar and Brynhild were married, though it was not Gunnar but Sigurd in Gunnar's shape, that had ridden the fire.
But the dwarf did not answer for a few minutes. He stared moodily into the coals, and then feeling behind him in the dark he found a bright shirt and struggled into it. "I was getting ready to take a bath when the thing came at me," he explained simply. "Gunnar! Where is Maya?" Gunnar's big hand squeezed Odin's shoulder. "Steady, lad. I wish I knew. I wish I knew.
It had simply sailed out there and disappeared. "Sunk from sight," were Gunnar's words, and this explained the disappearance as well as anything. It was as though they had been on a boat and the thing had dived overboard. Nea, who had been trained to scientific thinking since she was knee-high, had to think up an answer.
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