rstand that he was curious in the matter. But
Alwin only cast a doubtful glance across the fire at Helga, and begged
him to talk of something else.

Late the next afternoon, Valbrand returned, his horse muddy and spent,
and was closeted for a long time with Leif and the old German. But none
heard what passed between them.

CHAPTER X

THE ROYAL BLOOD OF ALFRED

Brand burns from brand,
Until it is burnt out;
Fire is from fire quickened.
Man to man
Becomes known by speech,
But a fool by his bashful silence.
Ha'vama'l

Brave with fluttering pennant and embroidered linen and sparkling
gilding, amid cheers and prayers and shouts of farewell, on the third
day the "Sea-Deer" set sail for Greenland.

Newly clad from head to foot in a scarlet suit of King Olaf's giving,
Leif stood aft by the great steering oar. The wind blew out his long
hair in a golden banner. The sun splintered its lances upon his gilded
helm. Upon his breast shone the silver crucifix that had been Olaf's
parting gift. His hand was still warm from the clasp of his King's; no
chill at his heart warned him that those hands had met for the last
time, no thought was in him that he had looked his last upon the noble
face he loved. Gazing out over the tumbling blue waves, he thought
exultantly of the time when he should come sailing back, with task
fulfilled, to receive the thanks of his King.

Bravely and merrily the little ship parted from the land and set forth
upon her journey. Every man sat in his place upon the rowing-benches;
every back bent stoutly to the oar. Dripping crystals and flashing in
the sun, the polished blades rose and fell, as the "Sea-Deer" bounded
forward. To those upon her decks, the mass of scarlet cloaks upon the
pier merged into a patch of flame, and then became a fiery dot. The
sunny plain of the city and the green slope of the camp dwindled and
faded; towering cliffs closed about and hid them from the rowers' view.

Leaving the broad elbow of the fiord, they soon entered the narrow arm
that ran in from the sea, like a silver lane between giant walls.
Passing out with the tide, they reached the ocean. The salt wind smote
their faces; the snowy sail drew in a long glad breath and swelled out
with a throb of exultation, and the world of waters closed around their
little craft.

It was a beautiful world, full of the shifting charms of color and of
motion, of the joy of sun and wind; but