th Ailwin, and we had much to say. I know not if I
longed or feared now to speak of Hertha, but I would do so. Yet
first I asked Ailwin how he himself had fared when the Danes came;
for I had thought that he would have been slain.

"Aye, my son, that I should have surely been," he said, "but I
found a hiding place until their fury was past, and the host swept
on, leaving but a few among us. Some of these were wounded men, and
you mind that I am skilled in leechcraft. So I dressed myself in a
freeman's garb and tended them, winning their respect at least, if
not gratitude. So I have been the leech ever since, for the church
was burnt, and many a priest was slain, and these Danes are but
half Christian if they are not open pagans; and I might not don my
frock, else would there have been no one left to christen and say
mass and marry for our poor folk in quiet places."

Then I said:

"Where did you find a hiding place, father?"

"It was shown me by one who made me promise--aye and take oath,
moreover, as if my word were not enough--that I would tell no man
where it is. For such a place once known to any but those who use
it is safe no longer."

"Was it Gunnhild who helped you thus?" I said, for I remembered now
my last words to him, that he should seek her.

"I may say that it was Gunnhild. There she and Hertha and I were
safe till the worst was over," he answered, and looked in my face.

Then I must say what was in my mind all the while, and I asked him
plainly:

"Where is Hertha now, father? Is she yet well and safe?"

"Both well and safe with Gunnhild," he said.

"Where is she--can I seek her?"

The old man looked at me meaningly for a minute, and I grew hot
under his kindly gaze.

"What remember you of Hertha, my son?" he said gently.

"All, father," I answered; "but does she remember aught?"

"She remembers--she has never forgotten," he said.

And I had forgotten for so long. I think the old priest, who was so
used to deal with men, saw what was written in my face, for he
smiled a little and said:

"Women have time to think, but a warrior of today has had none.
What think you of your meeting with Hertha?"

Then I said, being sure that Ailwin understood the puzzle that was
in my mind:

"Father, I know not what to think. We are bound--but now it is
likely that we should not know one another if we met; in truth, I
think I fear to meet her."

"Is there any other maiden?" he asked, still smiling.