a fire, and they now, reposing on
their skins, sat in the deepest solitude far away from all the world.

Orm was the first who had discovered this cave, which is shown to this
very day. But as no one then knew anything of it, they were safe from
the pursuit of Aslog's father. They passed the whole winter in this
retirement, contented and even happy; for they knew they were married,
and belonged to one another, and no cruel father could separate them
more. Orm used to go a-hunting, and Aslog stayed at home in the cave,
minded the fire, and prepared the necessary food. Frequently did she
mount the points of the rocks, but her eyes, did they wander ever so
far, saw only glittering snow-fields.

The spring now came on--the woods were green--the meadows put on their
various colors, people began to wander out for summer pleasuring, and
Aslog could but rarely and with circumspection venture to leave the
cave. One evening Orm came in with the intelligence that he had
recognised her father's servants in the distance, and that he could
hardly have been unobserved by them. "They will surround this place,"
continued he, "and never rest till they have found us; we must quit
our retreat, then, without a moment's delay."

They accordingly descended on the other side of the mountain, and
reached the strand, where they fortunately found a boat. Orm pushed
off, and the boat drove into the open sea. They had escaped their
pursuers, but they were now exposed to dangers of another kind:
whither should they turn? They could not venture to land, for Aslog's
father was lord of the whole coast, and they would infallibly fall
into his hands. Nothing then remained for them but to commit their
bark to the wind and waves. They were driven along the entire night.
At break of day the coast had disappeared, and they saw nothing but
the sky, the sea, and the waves. They had not brought one morsel of
food with them, and thirst and hunger began now to torment them. Three
days did they toss about in this state of misery, and Aslog, faint and
exhausted, saw nothing but certain death before her.

At length, on the evening of the third day, they discovered an island
of tolerable magnitude, and surrounded by a number of smaller ones.
Orm immediately steered for it, but, just as he came near it, there
suddenly rose a violent wind, and the sea rolled every moment higher
and higher. He turned about with a view of approaching it on another
side, but with no b