ward in order to
board us by the stern, as the grappling chain was hove short by their
windlass.

"Hold on," my father cried to them "we give up. Where is your chief?"

Now the men were making way for him when a strange thing happened. Out
of the after cabin ran Havelok when he heard that word, crying that it
was not the part of good warriors to give up while they could wield
sword--words that surely he had learned from Gunnar, his father. And
after him came his mother, silent, and terrified lest he should be harmed.

Havelok ran up the steps to my father, and the queen followed. I have
said that there was a little sea running, and this made the ships jerk
and strain at the chain that held them together fiercely, now that it
was so short. And even as the queen came to the top step, where there
was no rail, for the steps were not amidships, but alongside the
gunwale, one of these jerks came; and in a moment she was in the sea,
and in a moment also Arngeir was after her, for he was a fine swimmer.

The Vikings cried out as they saw this, but the poor queen said no word,
nor did she ever rise again after the first time. It is likely that she
was drawn under the longship at once.

So for a little while there was no talk of terms or fighting, but all
held their breath as they watched to see if the queen floated alongside
anywhere; but there was only Arngeir, who swam under the lee of the
Viking, and called to her men for guidance. They threw him a rope's end
as he came to the stern, and he clung to it for a little while, hoping
to see the flash of a white hood that the queen wore, over the white
wave crests: but at last he gave up, and the Vikings hauled him on
board, praising him for his swimming, as he had on his mail.

Then the chief turned to my father, and spoke to him across the few
fathoms of water that were between the ships.

"We meet again, Grim, as time comes round; and now I have a mind to let
you go, though I have that old grudge against you, for I think that your
wife is loss enough."

"Not my wife, Arnvid, but a passenger--one whom I would not have lost
for all that you can take from me."

"Well, I am glad it is no worse. But it seems that you are in ballast.
How comes it that you have no cargo for me, for you owe me one?"

Then my father told him shortly that he had fled from Hodulf; and all
those doings were news to the Viking, so that they talked in friendly
wise, while the men listened, and the