e, and his men fell back a little to
make way for him to me. Our swords crossed, and I took his first
thrust fairly on the shield and returned it, wounding him a little,
and he set his teeth and flew at me, point foremost, with the
deadly thrust of the Roman weapon. That the shield met again, and I
struck out over his guard and he went down headlong. And at that
his men made a wild rush on me, yelling. At that time I saw
Thorgils, with a great smile on his face, smite one man to his
right with the axe edge, and another on his left with the blunt
back of the weapon as he swung it round, and Evan saved me from a
man who was coming on me from behind. That is all I know of the
fight, save that it seemed that I heard some cry for quarter, for
of a sudden I went down across Erpwald for no reason that I could
tell.

It was full daylight when I came round, and the first thing that my
eyes lit on was the broad face of Erpwald, who sat by my side with
a woebegone look that changed suddenly to a great grin when he saw
me stir and look at him. Then I saw Evan also watching me, with his
arm tied up, and I was fain to laugh at his solemn face of trouble.
Whereon from somewhere behind me Thorgils cried in his great
seafaring voice:

"There now, what did I tell you two owls? His head is too hard to
mind a bit of a knock like that."

Then he came and laughed at me, and I asked what sent me over.

"The pole-axe man hit you with the flat of his unhandy weapon. It
is lucky for you that he was a bungler, however, for there is a
sore dint in your helm."

I sat up and looked round the camp. There was a knot of captives in
its midst, among whom was the chief I had fought, wounded, indeed,
but not badly, and our men were eating the enemy's provender and
laughing. A fire of green brushwood and heather was sending a tall
pillar of smoke into the air to tell the watchers on the Poldens
and at Watchet that we had done what we came to do. But here we had
to stay till we heard from Ina that we were to join him, and for
Erpwald's sake and Elfrida's I was not sorry.

He had seen his first fight, and nearly found his end therein. I do
not know how I could have looked Elfrida in the face again had he
indeed risen no more from that medley. But I thought that he made
more than enough of my coming to his rescue. It was only a matter
of holding back a crowd till help came.

"All very well to put it in that way, comrade," said Thorgils; "but
where