red the
gallant boy and his comrades, as the boat, a little lob-sided, and
considerably scratched and battered, ran along the crags, and came to
below Broch. Hearty indeed was the welcome they received, and neither
Mr. Adiesen nor Harrison let the boys know that they were there for the
purpose of looking after "those roving madcaps."

In truth Uncle Brues was not a little proud of his nephew, and made him
repeat the story of his swim with Pirate, which Yaspard did, entirely
unconscious of the heroism he had displayed.

"What did you think most about when you were in the water?" Mr. Adiesen
asked after a time--his scientific instincts rising above emotion, and
prompting him to discover what are the sensations a human being
experiences in such exceptional circumstances.

"I thought of Mam Kirsty's old song, 'My cradle and my grave,' chiefly.
I had committed my life to God's hand when I started. Just before I
landed I thought I saw Signy holding out her hands, as she did when she
went adrift. That's about all."

"Well, my dear, I think you must feel that you have had enough of
Vikinging for the rest of your life," said the scientist with a smile;
but he was not ill-pleased when his nephew answered, "It has only made
me long for more! I want _now_ to do real good Viking work. I want to
go out and explore the world--the stars, if that were possible--and to
fight all the foes of the Red Cross, and to bury all feuds, and win
name and fame like a right noble and right valiant Viking."

"You _have_ done so, if you but knew it," quoth Garth; and Harry
Mitchell said, "You will do all that, I don't doubt; and I'll follow
where your flag leads, old man! I never could stand by the side of a
better comrade, and I don't believe I could ever find a finer
leader--so there!"

"Thank you, Harry," Yaspard answered simply.

I need not tell you of the home-coming to Moolapund, of Aunt Osla's
tears and tea, of Signy's joy, of Thor's profound reflections, finished
up with a sage "Just so!"--of all the talk and enjoyment in fighting
their battles o'er again.

We can leave our Viking-boy at this happy stage of his career, assured
(like the Yarl of Broch) that he was heard of in the world in later
days.

* * * * * *

Transcriber's note:

This e-book contains the words "Boden" and "brodhor". In
the original book, the "o" in "Boden" and the first "o" in
"brodhor" were o-macron.