cross the deserts among fiends and
monsters, where any one else would be eaten up, or go mad at once.'

'Ah, the dear holy men! It's all by the sign of the blessed cross!'
exclaimed all the girls together, devoutly crossing themselves, while
two or three of the most enthusiastic were half-minded to go forward and
kneel to Philammon for his blessing; but hesitated, their Gothic lovers
being heathenishly stupid and prudish on such points.

'Why should he not know as well as the prefect? Well said, Smid! I
believe that prefect's quill-driver was humbugging us when he said
Asgard was only ten days' sail up.'

'Why?' asked Wulf.

'I never give any reasons. What's the use of being an Amal, and a son
of Odin, if one has always to be giving reasons like a rascally Roman
lawyer? I say the governor looked like a liar; and I say this monk looks
like an honest fellow; and I choose to believe him, and there is an end
of it.'

'Don't look so cross at me, Prince Wulf; I'm sure it's not my fault; I
could only say what the monk told me,' whispered poor Pelagia.

'Who looks cross at you, my queen?' roared the Amal. 'Let me have him
out here, and by Thor's hammer, I'll--'

'Who spoke to you, you stupid darling?' answered Pelagia, who lived in
hourly fear of thunderstorms. 'Who is going to be cross with any one,
except I with you, for mishearing and misunderstanding, and meddling,
as you are always doing? I shall do as I threatened, and run away with
Prince Wulf, if you are not good. Don't you see that the whole crew are
expecting you to make them an oration?'

Whereupon the Amal rose.

'See you here, Wulf the son of Ovida, and warriors all! If we want
wealth, we shan't find it among the sand-hills. If we want women, we
shall find nothing prettier than these among dragons and devils. Don't
look angry, Wulf. You have no mind to marry one of those dog-headed
girls the monk talked of, have you? Well, then, we have money and women;
and if we want sport, it's better sport killing men than killing beasts;
so we had better go where we shall find most of that game, which we
certainly shall not up this road. As for fame and all that, though I've
had enough, there's plenty to be got anywhere along the shores of that
Mediterranean. Let's burn and plunder Alexandria: forty of us Goths
might kill down all these donkey-riders in two days, and hang up that
lying prefect who sent us hereon this fool's errand. Don't answer, Wulf.
I knew he was