harge
of stupidity which she had made against him.

At the same time our hero entered a new and captivating region of mental
and spiritual activity when the hermit laid before him the portions of
Holy Scripture which he had copied out before leaving southern lands,
and expounded to him the grand, the glorious truths that God had
revealed to man through Jesus Christ our Lord. And profoundly deep, and
startling even to himself, were the workings of the young Norseman's
active mind while he sat there, night after night, in the lone hut on
the cliff, poring over the sacred rolls, or holding earnest converse
with the old man about things past, present, and future.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

IN WHICH GLUMM TAKES TO HUNTING ON THE MOUNTAINS FOR CONSOLATION, AND
FINDS IT UNEXPECTEDLY, WHILE ALRIC PROVES HIMSELF A HERO.

"I go to the fells to-day," said Glumm to Alric one morning, as the
latter opened the door of Glummstede and entered the hall.

"I go also," said Alric, leaning a stout spear which he carried against
the wall, and sitting down on a stool beside the fire to watch Glumm as
he equipped himself for the chase.

"Art ready, then? for the day is late," said Glumm.

"All busked," replied the boy.--"I say, Glumm, is that a new spear thou
hast got?"

"Aye; I took it from a Swedish viking the last fight I had off the
coast. We had a tough job of it, and left one or two stout men behind
to glut the birds of Odin, but we brought away much booty. This was
part of it," he added, buckling on a long hunting-knife, which was stuck
in a richly ornamented sheath, "and that silver tankard too, besides the
red mantle that my mother wears, and a few other things--but my comrades
got the most of it."

"I wish I had been there, Glumm," said Alric.

"If Hilda were here, lad, she would say it is wrong to wish to fight."

"Hilda has strange thoughts," observed the boy.

"So has Erling," remarked his companion.

"And so has Ada," said Alric, with a sly glance.

Glumm looked up quickly. "What knowest _thou_ about Ada?" said he.

The sly look vanished before Glumm had time to observe it, and an
expression of extreme innocence took its place as the lad replied--

"I know as much about her as is usual with one who has known a girl, and
been often with her, since the day he was born."

"True," muttered Glumm, stooping to fasten the thongs that laced the
untanned shoes on his feet. "Ada has strange thoughts also, as thou
s