thine."

"And pray, how shall we give account of our mission," said Erling, "if
you and I cut each other's heads off before fulfilling it?"

"That would then concern us little," said Glumm.

"Nay, thou art more selfish than I thought thee, friend. For my part, I
would not that _she_ should think me so regardless of her welfare as to
leave undelivered a message that may be the means of preventing the ruin
of Horlingdal. My regard for Ada seems to sit more heavily on me than
on thee."

At this Glumm became still more furious. He leaped off his horse, drew
his sword, and flinging it down with the hilt towards Erling, cried in a
voice of suppressed passion:

"No longer will I submit to be trifled with by man or woman. Choose thy
weapon, Erling. This matter shall be settled now and here, and the one
who wins her shall prove him worthy of her by riding forth from this
plain alone. If thou art bent on equal combat we can fall to with
staves cut from yonder tree, or, for the matter of that, we can make
shift to settle it with our knives. What! has woman's love unmanned
thee?"

At this Erling leaped out of the saddle, and drew his sword.

"Take up thy weapon, Glumm, and guard thee. But before we begin,
perhaps it would be well to ask for whose hand it is that we fight."

"Have we not been talking just now of Ada the Dark-eyed?" said Glumm
sternly, as he took up his sword and threw himself into a posture of
defence, with the energetic action of a man thoroughly in earnest.

"Then is our combat uncalled for," said Erling, lowering his point, "for
I desire not the hand of Ada, though I would fight even to the death for
her blue-eyed sister, could I hope thereby to win her love."

"Art thou in earnest?" demanded Glumm in surprise.

"I never was more so in my life," replied Erling; "would that Hilda
regarded me with but half the favour that Ada shows to thee!"

"There thou judgest wrongly," said Glumm, from whose brow the frown of
anger was passing away like a thundercloud before the summer sun. "I
don't pretend to understand a girl's thoughts, but I have wit enough to
see what is very plainly revealed. When I walked with Hilda to-day I
noticed that her eye followed thee unceasingly, and although she talked
to me glibly enough, her thoughts were wandering, so that she uttered
absolute nonsense at times--insomuch that I would have laughed had I not
been jealous of what I deemed the mutual love of Ada and thee.