ntertained the company.

A very good tale he told of a friend of his called Biorn--Biorn
Heriolfsson--who was a ship-man like himself, and had come home to
Iceland two winters back expecting to find his father at home. But his
father in the meantime had up-stick with everything and gone off to
Greenland after Eric Red. That put Biorn out, because he was a man who
liked old customs. It had always been his way to spend the winters at
home with his father, and now here was his father flitted to Greenland.
So Biorn stood on the deck of his ship, very much put out. "Shall we
break bulk?" somebody asked him. "No," says Biorn, "you will not do
that. Let me think." When he had thought he told the ship's company
that he was minded to go to Greenland after his father, and they agreed
to make the voyage. He fastened down his cargo again, refitted, and
away. But it was one thing to resolve upon Greenland, and another
thing to hit it off. He had not sailed those seas before, and falling
in with bad weather, was driven out of his course; and then--to make
matters worse--there came down upon him with a northerly wind a thick
blanket of white fog in which he could get no hint of his whereabouts
and drifted upon a strong current, fairly smothered up. He knew no
more where he was than Einar himself could tell them; he lost count of
days and nights, but estimated that he was three weeks at sea before
the fog lifted and he saw the stars. In the morning the sun rose fair
out of the sea, and he got a bearing. More than that, he saw before
him--like a low bank of cloud--a strange coast lying on his starboard
bow. He could not tell where he wag got to, or what land that might
be, but was sure it was not Greenland. The land lay low, and was dark
with woods. The shore was sandy, with hummocks of blown sand upon it,
covered with grass; the surf very heavy. He coasted that country for
two days and nights with a good wind off-shore, but would not try for a
landing anywhere, being set upon Greenland and sure that he was not
there. Other lands he saw, and a great island covered with snow, and
ice-mountains rising sheer out of the sea--but still he kept on his
course. After that he had a spell of heavy weather with green seas
over him constantly; and last of all he saw another land, on his port
bow, which he said was Greenland.

A great ness ran out far into the sea, which he made with safety, and
found smooth water, a town, an anc