ll bring sorrow to
the giver, and to her to whom it is given no good fortune."

"How long must I wait before we meet again?" he asked.

"I do not know, but I think that when all that jewel once more grows
warm above my immoral heart, this temple which they call eternal will be
but a time-eaten ruin. Hark, the priestess calls. Farewell, you man who
have come out of the north to be my glory and my shame. Farewell, until
the purpose of our lives declares itself and the seed that we have sown
in sorrow shall blossom into an everlasting flower. Farewell. Farewell!"

Then a woman appeared in the background beckoning, and all my dream
vanished away. Yet to my mind came the thought that it was to the lady
who gave the necklace that Death stood near, rather than to him to whom
it was given. For surely death was written in her sad and longing eyes.

So that dream ended. When I, Olaf, awoke in the morning, it was to find
that already everyone was astir, for I had overslept myself. In the
hall were gathered Ragnar, Steinar, Iduna and Freydisa; the elders were
talking together elsewhere on the subject of the forthcoming marriage.
I went to Iduna to embrace her, and she proffered me her cheek, speaking
all the while over her shoulder to Ragnar.

"Where were you last night, brother, that you came in near the dawn,
all covered with mud?" asked Ragnar, turning his back on Iduna, without
making any answer to her words.

"Digging in the Wanderer's grave, brother, as Iduna challenged me to
do."

Now all three of them turned on me eagerly, save Freydisa, who stood by
the fire listening, and with one voice asked if I had found anything.

"Aye," I replied. "I found the Wanderer, a very noble-looking man," and
I began to describe him.

"Peace to this dead Wanderer," broke in Iduna. "Did you find the
necklace?"

"Yes, I found the necklace. Here it is!" And I laid the splendid thing
upon the board.

Then suddenly I lost my speech, since now for the first time I saw
that, twisted round the chain of it, were three broken wires of gold.
I remembered how in my dream I had seen the beautiful woman break such
wires ere she gave half of the jewel to the man in whose breast I had
seemed to dwell, and for a moment grew so frightened that I could say no
more.

"Oh!" exclaimed Iduna, "it is beautiful, beautiful! Oh! Olaf, I thank
you," and she flung her arms about me and kissed me, this time in
earnest.

Then she seized the necklace an