hat my bones might have
been burned, as those of my fathers were! but this may not be. Ye can
lay beside me the comrades who have gone before, and then push off and
leave me with the dead."

There was a low murmur among the men as they again dipped their oars,
but not a word was spoken in reply. Just as they reached the point a
vessel came in sight behind them under sail.

"Too late!" muttered Guttorm bitterly, as he looked back; "we are
pursued, and must hold on."

"Not so," answered one of his chief men; "that is Solve Klofe's ship."

"Is that so?" cried Guttorm, while the colour mounted to his pale cheek,
and the fire shone in his old eyes; "then have I better luck than I had
looked for. Quick, get to land! The breeze that brings Solve down will
reach us soon. Get out your arms, and go hail Solve as he passes. Ye
shall sail with him to-night. I will hie me out upon the sea."

He spoke somewhat like his former self for a moment, but soon his voice
sank, for the life-blood was draining fast away.

Ere many minutes had passed, the breeze freshened into a squall of
considerable force. It came off the land, and swept down the fiord,
lashing its waters into seething waves. Solve answered the hail of
Guttorm's men, and landed.

"What news?" he asked: "there is but short space for converse."

The men told him that old Guttorm was dying in his ship. He walked up
the plank that lay from the shore to the gunwale, and found the old
warrior lying on the poop beside the helm, wrapped in his mantle, and
giving directions to his men, who were piling brushwood on the deck.

"This is an ill sight," said Solve, with much feeling, as he knelt
beside the dying chief, who received him with a smile, and held out his
hand.

"Ha! Solve, I am glad thou art here. My last battle has been fought,
and it has been a good one, though we did get the tooth-ache. If it had
only been a victory, I had recked little of this wound."

"Can nothing be done for thee?" asked Solve. "Perchance I may be able
to stop the bleeding."

Guttorm shook his head, and pointed to the blood which had already
flowed from him, and lay in a deep pool in the sides of the ship.

"No, no, Solve, my fighting days are over, and, as I have said, the last
fight has been a good one! Ye see what I am about, and understand how
to carry out my will. Go, relieve me of the trouble, and see that it is
done well. I would rest now."

Solve pressed the hand