h me at first, and he nodded in friendly wise to me, so
that I would not seem to hold aloof, and spoke to him.

"That is Jarl Hubba, surely?"

"Aye, and the best warrior in all Denmark," said Raud. "We fear
Ingvar, and we love Halfden; but Hubba is such a hero as was Ragnar
himself."

And once set on that matter, the two honest men were unwearied in
telling tales of the valour and skill of their master, so that I
had no room for my own thoughts, which was as well.

Then came a man, riding swiftly, to say that the jarls had left
their hunting, and that we were to be taken to the great house.
Moreover, that Rolf and Raud were to be held answerable for our
safe keeping. When I heard that I laughed.

"I will go willingly," I said, rising up.

"What of this man who sits silent here?" asked Rolf.

"Little trouble will be with him," said his brother.

And indeed Beorn almost needed carrying forth.

CHAPTER VIII. HOW WE FARED WITH INGVAR THE DANE.

We came to the shores of a haven at a river mouth, and there we saw
the town clustering round a large hall that rose in the midst of
the lesser houses, which were mostly low roofed and clay walled,
like that of Raud, though some were better, and built of logs set
upon stone foundations. The hall stood on higher ground than the
rest of the houses, so that from the gate of the heavy timber
stockade that went all round it one could see all the windings of
the haven channel and the sea that lay some half mile or more away
at its mouth. And all the town had a deep ditch and mound round it,
as if there was ever fear of foes from shoreward, for these came
down to the haven banks, and the only break they had was where a
wharf and the ship garth were. There were several ships housed in
their long sheds, as I could see.

All round the great hall and the buildings that belonged to it was
a stockade of pointed logs, so that it stood in a wide courtyard on
all four sides, and the great gate of the stockade was opposite the
timber porch of the hall itself. There were other doors in the side
of the hall, but they were high up, and reached by ladders; and
there seemed to be only one more gate in the stockade, leading
landward, and both were such as might not easily be broken down,
when once they were closed and barred with the square logs that
stood beside the entrances ready. And all the windows of the hall
were very high up and narrow, and the roof was timbered, not
thatched.