late at night and pulled our boat up on
shore and walked quietly to the house. It was rather a wealthy farm, for
there were stables and a storehouse and a smithy at the sides of the
house. There was but one door to the house. We went to it, and I struck
it with my spear.

[Illustration: "_I struck my shield against the door so that it made a
great clanging_"]

"'Hello! Ho! Hello!' I shouted, and my men made a great din.

"At last some one from inside said:

"'Who calls?'

"'I call,' I answered. 'Open! or you will think it Thor who calls,' and
I struck my shield against the door so that it made a great clanging.

"The door opened only a little, but I pushed it wide and leaped into the
room. It was so dark that I could see nothing but a few sparks on the
hearth. I stood with my back to the wall; for I wanted no sword reaching
out of the dark for me.

"'Now start up the fire,' I said.

"'Come, come!' I called, when no one obeyed. 'A fire! This is cold
welcome for your guests.'

"My men laughed.

"'Yes, a stingy host! He acts as though he had not expected us.'

"But now the farmer was blowing on the coals and putting on fresh wood.
Soon it blazed up, and we could see about us. We were in a little feast
hall,[4] with its fire down the middle of it. There were benches for
twenty men along each side. The farmer crouched by the fire, afraid to
move. On a bench in a far corner were a dozen people huddled together.

"'Ho, thralls!' I called to them. 'Bring in the table. We are hungry.'

"Off they ran through a door at the back of the hall. My men came in and
lay down by the fire and warmed themselves, but I set two of them as
guards at the door.

"'Well, friend farmer,' laughed one, 'why such a long face? Do you not
think we shall be merry company?'

"'We came only to cheer you,' said another. 'What man wants to spend the
winter with no guests?'

"'Ah!' another then cried out, sitting up. 'Here comes something that
will be a welcome guest to my stomach.'

"The thralls were bringing in a great pot of meat. They set up a crane
over the fire and hung the pot upon it, and we sat and watched it boil
while we joked. At last the supper began. The farmer sat gloomily on the
bench and would not eat, and you cannot wonder; for he saw us putting
potfuls of his good beef and basket-loads of bread into our big mouths.
When the tables were taken out and the mead-horns came round, I stood up
and raised my horn and said to