o with me as a friend I will trust you, but if
not--well, we must take you as we can. How do you prefer to go?"

He waited for an answer, but I gave him none. I would not even seem
to treat with them.

"Don't say that I did not give you a chance," he said; "but if you
will go as a captive, that is your own fault."

And as I said nothing he turned away, and said to the rest:

"We shall have to bind him. He will not go quietly."

"How shall we get him on board as a captive?" one asked.

"That would be foolishness," Evan said; "the next thing would be
that every one would know who the captive that was taken out of
Watchet was. I have a better plan than that. We will tie him up
like a sorely wounded man, and so get him shipped carefully and
quietly with no questions asked."

"Well, then, there is no time to lose. We must be at the harbour in
four hours' time at the latest. Tide will serve shortly after
that," one of the others said. "What about the sword?--shall we
sell it to the Norsemen?"

"What! and so tell all the countryside what we have been doing?--it
is too well known a weapon. No, put it into one of the bales of
goods, and I can sell it safely to some prince on the other side.
No man dare wear it on this, but they will not know it there, or
will not care if they do. Now get a litter made, and bring me some
bandages."

It seemed to me to be plain that they would try to get me across
the channel into Wales, or maybe Ireland, and my heart sank. But
after all, Owen would gladly pay ransom for me, and that was the
one hope I had. And then I wondered what vessel they had ready, and
all of a sudden I minded that Thorgils had spoken of a winter
voyage that he was going to take on this tide, and my heart leapt.
It was likely that these men were going to sail with him, so I
might have a chance of swift rescue.

Now Evan went to work on me with the help of one of his men, who
seemed to know something of leech craft.

"This," said Evan, "is a poor friend of mine who has met with a bad
fall from his horse. His thigh is broken and his shoulder is out.
Also his jaw is broken, because the horse kicked him as he lay. For
the same reason he is stunned, and cannot move much. It is a bad
case altogether," and he grinned with glee at his own pleasantry.

Then they fitted a long splint to my right leg from hip to ankle,
so that I was helpless as a babe in its swaddlings, and made fast
the other leg to that. They did not