till alive, but that was many hours before, and both must long since be
dead.

Then Flosi and some of his men drew nearer and climbed up the gable, for
the fire had burned low, and only threw out a flame here and there. And
as they looked into the hall beneath them, which was a mass of charred
and fallen wood, there seemed to rise up from the red ashes a song of
triumph, and they held their breath and looked into each other's faces.

'Is it Skarphedinn's song?' asked Glum, 'and is it a token that he is
dead? or a sign that he is alive? Let us look for him.'

'That shall not be,' said Flosi quickly. 'Fool that you are, do you not
know that even now Kari is gathering together a band to avenge his
kinsmen? Therefore let every man take his horse and ride up to the
Three-corner Fell, and there we can hide and take counsel how we can
escape from our enemies.'

So it was done, and not a whit too soon, for a very great company
scattered over the country, seeking Flosi and his Band of Burners--for
by this ill name men knew them.

As for Kari himself, he begged Hjallti, Njal's cousin, to go with him to
Bergthorasknoll and find Njal's bones and bury them. And, as they went,
men joined them, till they numbered nigh on a hundred when they reached
Bergthorasknoll.

Kari entered the hall first and led them up to the spot where the bed
had stood, and where a great heap of ashes now covered it. The ashes
took long to clear away, and underneath was the oxhide, charred and
shrivelled. But when the oxhide was pulled away they saw the three
bodies fresh and whole, as they had laid them down. Only one finger of
the boy was burned, where he had thrust it outside the hide.

When they saw this a great joy fell on the hearts of all, and Hjallti
said:

'Never have I seen a dead man with a face as bright as this!' And the
other men said likewise.

* * * * *

After that they sought for Skarphedinn, and then found him, fastened by
the beam into the corner, and he had driven his axe into the wall of the
gable, so that it had to be broken out. And they sought the bones of
Grim, and found them lying in the middle of the hall, where he had
dropped down dead. And they sought the bones of other men, and found
them, and nine bodies in all were carried into the church and buried
there.

And that is Burnt Njal's story.

[The _Saga of Burnt Njal_.]

THE LADY OF SOLACE

There was once an emperor who had