at,--
Go thy way, and silent be,--
It is Membril counsels thee;
Go thy way, and thou shalt see!

Great marvel had Harold to this thing; nevertheless he did the bidding
of Membril the fairy, and it was full wisely done. And presently he
came to where his boat lay, half on the shore and half in the waters,
and he unloosed the thong that held it, and entered into the boat; but
he put neither hand to the oars thereof, for he was intent to do the
bidding of Membril the fairy. Then as if of its own accord, or as if
the kindly waves themselves bore it along, the boat moved upon the
waters and turned toward the yonder haven whereof it was said and sung.
Fair shone the moon, and the night was passing fair; the shadows fell
from the hilltops in their sleep and lay, as they had been little weary
children, in the valleys and upon the shore, and they were rocked in
the cradles of those valleys, and the waters along the shore sung
softly to them. Upon the one side lay the island where grazed the
goats and the kine, and upon the other side lay the island where Harold
and other people abode; between these islands crept the sea with its
gentle murmurings, and upon this sea drifted the boat bearing Harold to
the yonder haven. Now the haven whereunto the course lay brooded
almost beneath the shadow of the Stennis stones, and the waters thereof
were dark, as if, forsooth, the sea frowned whensoever it saw those
bloody stones peering down into its tranquil bosom. And some said that
the place was haunted, and that upon each seventh night came thereunto
the spirits of them that had been slain upon those stones, and waved
their ghostly arms and wailed grievously; but of latter times none
believeth this thing to be true.

It befell that, coming into the haven and bearing toward the shore
thereof, Harold was 'ware of sweet music, and presently he saw figures
as of men and women dancing upon the holm; but neither could he see who
these people were, nor could he tell wherefrom the music came. But
such fair music never had he heard before, and with great marvel he
came from the boat into the cluster of beech-trees that stood between
the haven and that holm where the people danced. Then of a sudden
Harold saw twelve skins lying upon the shore in the moonlight; and they
were the comeliest and most precious sealskins that ever he saw, and he
coveted them. So presently he took up one of the sealskins and bore it
with him into his boa