hom the ceorl seeks when his herd has the
murrain, or the girl when her false love forsakes her; we, who have no
dwelling known to man; but are found at need in the wold or the cave, or
the side of dull slimy streams where the murderess-mother hath drowned
her babe. Askest thou, O Hilda, the rich and the learned, askest thou
counsel and lore from the daughter of Faul?"

"No," answered the Vala, haughtily, "not to such as thou do the great
Nornas unfold the future. What knowest thou of the runes of old,
whispered by the trunkless skull to the mighty Odin? runes that control
the elements, and conjure up the Shining Shadows of the grave. Not with
thee will the stars confer; and thy dreams are foul with revelries
obscene, not solemn and haunted with the bodements of things to come!
Only I marvelled, while I beheld thee on the Saxon's grave, what joy such
as thou can find in that life above life, which draws upward the soul of
the true Vala."

"The joy," replied the Witch, "the joy which comes from wisdom and power,
higher than you ever won with your spells from the rune or the star.
Wrath gives the venom to the slaver of the clog, and death to the curse
of the Witch. When wilt thou be as wise as the hag thou despisest? When
will all the clouds that beset thee roll away from thy ken? When thy
hopes are all crushed, when thy passions lie dead, when thy pride is
abased, when thou art but a wreck, like the shafts of this temple,
through which the starlight can shine. Then only, thy soul will see
clearly the sense of the runes, and then, thou and I will meet on the
verge of the Black Shoreless Sea!"

So, despite all her haughtiness and disdain, did these words startle the
lofty Prophetess, that she remained gazing into space long after that
fearful apparition had vanished, and up from the grass, which those
obscene steps had profaned, sprang the lark carolling.

But ere the sun had dispelled the dews on the forest sward, Hilda had
recovered her wonted calm, and, locked within her own secret chamber,
prepared the seid and the runes for the invocation of the dead.

CHAPTER VI.

Resolving, should the auguries consulted permit him to depart, to entrust
Gurth with the charge of informing Edith, Harold parted from his
betrothed, without hint of his suspended designs; and he passed the day
in making all preparations for his absence and his journey, promising
Gurth to give his final answer on the morrow,--when either h