ose the
child on the public highway, and let whoever listed take it away. The
good Viking woman could not find it in her heart to allow this, and
she therefore determined that the Viking should never see the child
except by daylight.

One morning the wings of storks were heard rushing over the roof; more
than a hundred pairs of those birds had rested from their exercise
during the previous night, and now they soared aloft, to travel
southwards.

"All males here, and ready," they cried; "and the wives and children
too."

"How light we feel!" screamed the young storks in chorus: "it seems to
be creeping all over us, down into our very toes, as if we were filled
with frogs. Ah, how charming it is, travelling to foreign lands!"

"Mind you keep close to us during your flight," said papa and mamma.
"Don't use your beaks too much, for that tires the chest."

And the storks flew away.

At the same time the sound of the trumpets rolled across the heath,
for the Viking had landed with his warriors; they were returning
home, richly laden with spoil, from the Gallic coast, where the
people, as in the land of the Britons, sang in frightened accents:

"Deliver us from the wild Northmen!"

[Illustration: THE VIKING'S FEAST.]

And life and tumultuous joy came with them into the Viking's castle on
the moorland. The great mead tub was brought into the hall, the pile
of wood was set ablaze, horses were killed, and a great feast was to
begin. The officiating priest sprinkled the slaves with the warm
blood; the fire crackled, the smoke rolled along beneath the roof; but
they were accustomed to that. Guests were invited, and received
handsome gifts: all feuds and all malice were forgotten. And the
company drank deep, and threw the bones of the feast in each others'
faces, and this was considered a sign of good humour. The bard, a kind
of minstrel, but who was also a warrior, and had been on the
expedition with the rest, sang them a song, in which they heard all
their warlike deeds praised, and everything remarkable specially
noticed. Every verse ended with the burden:

"Goods and gold, friends and foes will die; every man must one day die;
But a famous name will never die!"

And with that they beat upon their shields, and hammered the table in
glorious fashion with bones and knives.

The Viking's wife sat upon the high seat in the open hall. She wore a
silken dress, and golden armlets, and great amber beads: she w