wn and
drink, else--"

"Come, come," interrupted Haldor, laying his hand on Ulf's arm, "Let the
old man be; he seems to think that he has something worth hearing to
tell of; let him have his say out in peace."

"Go on," said Ulf gruffly.

"Was the token sent out a baton or a split arrow?" asked the hermit.

"A baton," said Ulf.

"Then why," rejoined the other, "do men come to a peaceful Thing with
all their war gear on?"

"What say ye? are they armed?" exclaimed Ulf, starting up. "This must
be looked to. Ho! my carles all, to arms--"

At that moment there was a bustle at the lower end of the hall, and
Alric was seen forcing his way towards Ulf's high seat.

"Father," he said eagerly, addressing Haldor, "short is the hour for
acting, and long the hour for feasting."

Haldor cast his eyes upon his son and said--

"What now is in the way?"

"The Danes," said Alric, "are on the fiord--more than six hundred men.
Skarpedin leads them. One of them pitched me into the sea, but I marked
his neck to keep myself in his memory! They have plundered and burnt at
the Springs, and Erling has gone away to attack them all by himself,
with only sixty house-carles. You will have to be quick, father."

"Quick, truly," said Haldor, with a grim smile, as he drew tight the
buckle of his sword-belt.

"Aye," said Ulf, "with six hundred Danes on the fiord, and armed men
descending the vale, methinks--"

"Oh! I can explain that" cried Alric, with an arch smile; "Erling made
me change the baton for the split arrow when I was sent round with the
token."

"That is good luck," said Haldor, while Ulf's brow cleared a little as
he busked himself for the fight; "we shall need all our force."

"Aye, and all our time too," said Guttorm Stoutheart, as he put on his
armour with the cheerful air of a man who dons his wedding dress.
"Come, my merry men all. Lucky it is that my longships are at hand just
now ready loaded with stones:--

"`O! a gallant sight it is to me,
The warships darting o'er the sea,
A pleasant sound it is to hear
The war trump ringing loud and clear.'"

Ulf and his friends and house-carles were soon ready to embark, for in
those days the Norseman kept his weapons ready to his hands, being
accustomed to sudden assaults and frequent alarms. They streamed out of
the hall, and while some collected stones, to be used as missiles,
others ran down to the shore to launch the ships. Meanwhile Ulf,
Haldor,