everything is! To sit at
a table where one is afraid to move lest there be a fight! I speak the
truth when I say that this is the merriest diversion I have,--standing
out here, watering linen, and watching who comes and goes. And now that
my pan is empty, I must betake myself indoors again. Yonder is Valbrand
beckoning you."

It is probable that Alwin would not have hurried to obey the summons,
but with a nod and a smile Helga turned away, and there was nothing for
him but to go forward to meet the steersman.

The old warrior regarded the young favorite with his usual apathy. "It
is the wish of Leif that you attend upon him directly."

"Is he in his sleeping-room?"

"Yes."

It occurred to Alwin to wonder at this summons. His usual hour for
reading came after Leif had retired for the night. If the chief had
overheard the dispute with Thorhall! He lingered, meditating a question;
but a second glance at Valbrand's battered face dissuaded him. He turned
sharply on his heel, and strode across to the storehouse that had become
Leif's headquarters.

A loft that could be reached only by a ladder-like outer stairway, and
was without fireplace or stove or means of heating, does not appear
inviting. But one has a keener sense of appreciation when he considers
that the other alternative was a bed in the great hall, where the air
was as foul as it was warm, and the room was shared with drunken men and
spilled beer and bones and scraps left from feasting. Alwin had no
inclination to hold his nose high in regard to his master's new
lodgings. England itself offered nothing more comfortable.

When he had come up the long flight of steps and swung open the heavy
door, he had even an impulse of admiration. This, the state
guest-chamber, was not without softening details. It was large and high
and weather-proof, and boasted three windows. The box-like straw-filled
beds, that were built against the wall, were spread with snowy linen and
covers of eiderdown. The long brass-bound chests that stood on either
side the door were piled with furs until they offered the softest and
warmest of resting-places. A score of Leif's rich dresses, hanging from
a row of nails, covered the bare walls as with a gorgeous tapestry. The
table was provided with graceful bronze water-pitchers and wash-basins
of silver, and was littered over with silver scissors and gold-mounted
combs and bright-hilted knives, and a medley of costly trinkets. Near
the tab