ut of the bay the harp, with a light rush,
glided into the sea.

And once Halfred lay at midsummer in Iceland, on the shore by the black
stone--for every midsummer night he spent alone there, his friends must
remain on the ship--and looked very very sad. For his face had grown
very pale.

Then there came a woman, and a wonderfully beautiful maiden, who was
her daughter, and stood before him; and he turned away his face, but
the mother spoke--

"I know thee, even yet, Halfred Sigskald. I can never forget thy face,
although the smile of Oski no longer plays thereon, and though the
furrows on thy brow are deeply scored as with a plough. This maiden
dids't thou, fifteen years ago, lay in my arms a sleeping child. See
how beautiful she has become, as no other in all Iceland. And this
wreath of summer flowers has she twined for thee. Set it upon thy pale
brow, and thou shalt be healed, for gratitude has woven it."

Then Halfred sprang up, took the wreath from the beautiful blushing
maiden's hand, lifted with mighty force the huge block upwards, threw
the wreath under it, and let the black stone fall heavily in its place
again.

The mother and maiden, weeping, departed.

And during these years Halfred spoke hardly to any, save Hartvik and
Eigil, and to them only when he must.

And what he said was weak and mournful.

And his voice had become very low.

And he was very kind to everyone, above all to those below him.

And often in the night the sailors heard him sigh, and turn himself
upon the straw bed upon the deck, where always, even in the cold
winter, he lay under the stars.

And they heard him often speak when there was no one at hand with whom
he could talk.

And at table he rested his head upon his left hand, and kept his eyes
cast downwards, or looked into the far far distance.

And he almost never complained, only he often shook his head gently,
and pressed very very often his left hand upon his breast, and said
many times--

"The fresh air of heaven shuns me. I cannot breathe. If I will breathe
I must sigh. My heart is almost crushed."

And Hartvik and Eigil said one to the other--"He is ill."

And once, when they sailed to Greece, Hartvik secretly called a
physician--they are very skilful there--and the physician watched
Halfred many days and nights, and said--

"It is a heavy malady under which this poor man suffers.

"And many have already quietly died of it, or sunk into madness.

"We