by and Alric ran steadily on his
course, rousing up all the fighting men in his passage through the
district. As he advanced, messengers with war-tokens were multiplied,
and, ere the morning's sun had glinted on the mountain peaks or lighted
up the white fields of the Justedal glacier, the whole country was in
arms, and men were crowding to the rendezvous.

Daylight had just commenced to illumine the eastern sky, when Alric,
having completed his round, found himself once more on the cliffs above
the sea. But he was still six or eight miles from Ulfstede, and the
path to it along the top of the cliffs was an extremely rugged one.
Earnestly then did the poor boy wish that he had remembered to put a
piece of bread in his wallet before leaving home, but in his haste he
had forgotten to do so, and now he found himself weary, foot-sore, and
faint from exertion, excitement, and hunger, far from any human
habitation. As there was no remedy for this, he made up his mind to
take a short rest on the grass, and then set off for home as fast as
possible.

With this end in view he selected a soft spot, on a cliff overlooking
the sea, and lay down with a sigh of satisfaction. Almost instantly he
fell into a deep slumber, in which he lay, perfectly motionless, for
some hours. How long that slumber would have lasted it is impossible to
say, for it was prematurely and unpleasantly interrupted.

In his cat-like creepings about the coast, Hauskuld the berserk, having
obtained all the information that he thought would be of use to his
royal master, landed for the last time to reconnoitre the position of
Ulfstede, and see as much as he could of the doings of the people before
turning his prow again to the north. The spot where he ran his boat
ashore was at the foot of a steep cliff, up which he and a comrade
ascended with some difficulty.

At the top, to his surprise, he found a lad lying on the grass sound
asleep. After contemplating him for a few minutes, and whispering a few
words to his comrade, who indulged in a broad grin, Hauskuld drew his
sword and pricked Alric on the shoulder with it. An electric shock
could not have been more effective. The poor boy sprang up with a loud
cry, and for a few seconds gazed at the berserks in bewilderment. Then
it flashed upon his awakening faculties that he was standing before
enemies, so he suddenly turned round and fled, but Hauskuld sprang after
him, and, before he had got three yard