spear and mail glittering in the sunlight; and I turned and looked at
that good land, and a shuddering delight seized my soul.

But I felt my brother's hand leave mine, and saw him turn his horse's
head and ride swiftly toward the pass; that was a strange pass now.

And at the edge he stopped, turned round and called out aloud, "I pray
thee, Harald, forgive mel now farewell all!"

Then the horse gave one bound forward, and we heard the poor
creature's scream when he felt that he must die, and we heard
afterwards (for we were near enough for that even) a clang and a
crash.

So I turned me about to Hugh, and he understood me though I could not
speak.

We shouted all together, "Mary rings," then laid our bridles on the
necks of our horses, spurred forward, and in five minutes they were
all slain, and I was down among the horse-hoofs.

Not slain though, not wounded. Red Harald smiled grimly when he saw me
rise and lash out again; he and some ten others dismounted, and
holding their long spears out, I went back -- back, back, I saw what
it meant, and sheathed my sword, and their laughter rolled all about
me, and I too smiled.

Presently they all stopped, and I felt the last foot of turf giving
under my feet; I looked down and saw the crack there widening; then in
a moment I fell, and a cloud of dust and earth rolled after me; then
again their mirth rose into thunder-peals of laughter. But through it
all I heard Red Harald shout, "Silence! Evil dogs!"

For as I fell I stretched out my arms, and caughl a tuft of yellow
broom some three feet from the brow, and hung there by the hands, my
feet being loose in the air.

Then Red Harald came and stood on the precipice above me, his great
axe over his shoulder; and he looked down on me not ferociously,
almost kindly, while the wind from the Hollow Land blew about his red
raiment, tattered and dusty now.

And I felt happy, though it pained me to hold straining by the broom,
yet I said, "I will hold out to the last"

It was not long, the plant itself gave way and I fell, and as I fell I
fainted.

I had thought when I fell that I should never wake again; but I woke
at last: for a long time I was quite dizzied and could see nothing at
all: horrible doubts came creeping over me; I half expected to see
presently great half-formed shapes come rolling up to me to crush me;
some thing fiery, not strange, too utterly horrible to be strange, but
utterly vile and ugly, the sig