t sign of having seen me."

"That is well, brother, yet I do not feel easy, for it is well-known
that Leif is a shrewd man, with great command over his feelings. But
now, tell me how best I shall aid you in this enterprise."

"That is best done by using your bow well, for we shall require a large
supply of dried meat for the voyage, and we must work diligently as well
as secretly during our few hours of leisure, if we would get ready in
time to sail before the rough winds of autumn set in. There are some
tight casks in Leif's old store which I mean to take possession of, at
the last, for water. Our service will more than pay for these and any
other trifles we may find it needful to appropriate."

Hake thought in his heart that the enterprise was a wild and foolish
one, but, having promised to engage in it, he resolved not to cast the
slightest hindrance in the way, or to say a single word of
discouragement. He therefore approved of all that Heika suggested, and
said that he would give his aid most vigorously.

"Moreover," he continued, "I have had some consolation to-day which will
spur me on, for I have got Bertha to admit that she loves me, and to
promise that if I can obtain my freedom she will wed me. She even gave
me to understand that she would wed me as a thrall, if only Leif and
Karlsefin would give their consent. But that shall not be. Bertha
shall never be a thrall's bride. I will return and claim her, as I have
said."

Heika made no reply, but continued to gaze at the floor in silence.

"Methinks ye are perplexed by something, brother," said Hake.

"I am thinking," replied Heika, "that it is a pity we cannot use those
curious marks made on skins, wherewith, we are told, men can communicate
one with another when they are absent from each other."

"What causes the regret just now?"

"I grudge to quit Leif without a parting word," returned Heika, looking
at his brother with peculiar earnestness; "it seems so ungrateful, so
unkind to one who has ever treated us well."

"I think with you in that, brother," said Hake.

"It would be so easy too," continued Heika, "to have some method of
letting him know what I think, if we could only agree about the signs or
signals beforehand."

Hake laughed softly.

"That would not be easy; for we could scarcely go to him and say, `Leif,
when you see these particular marks on a certain stone, you are to
understand that we take leave of you for ever with hear