d there during the
night, to recover themselves after their excursion; and now they
soared aloft, and prepared for the journey southward.

"All the husbands are here, and ready!" they cried; "wives and
children also!"

"How light we are!" screamed the young storks in chorus.
"Something pleasant seems creeping over us, even down to our toes,
as if we were full of live frogs. Ah, how delightful it is to travel
into foreign lands!"

"Hold yourselves properly in the line with us," cried papa and
mamma. "Do not use your beaks so much; it tries the lungs." And then
the storks flew away.

About the same time sounded the clang of the warriors' trumpets
across the heath. The Viking had landed with his men. They were
returning home, richly laden with spoil from the Gallic coast, where
the people, as did also the inhabitants of Britain, often cried in
alarm, "Deliver us from the wild northmen."

Life and noisy pleasure came with them into the castle of the
Viking on the moorland. A great cask of mead was drawn into the
hall, piles of wood blazed, cattle were slain and served up, that they
might feast in reality, The priest who offered the sacrifice sprinkled
the devoted parishioners with the warm blood; the fire crackled, and
the smoke rolled along beneath the roof; the soot fell upon them
from the beams; but they were used to all these things. Guests were
invited, and received handsome presents. All wrongs and unfaithfulness
were forgotten. They drank deeply, and threw in each other's faces the
bones that were left, which was looked upon as a sign of good
feeling amongst them. A bard, who was a kind of musician as well as
warrior, and who had been with the Viking in his expedition, and
knew what to sing about, gave them one of his best songs, in which
they heard all their warlike deeds praised, and every wonderful action
brought forward with honor. Every verse ended with this refrain,--

"Gold and possessions will flee away,
Friends and foes must die one day;
Every man on earth must die,
But a famous name will never die."

And with that they beat upon their shields, and hammered upon the
table with knives and bones, in a most outrageous manner.

The Viking's wife sat upon a raised cross seat in the open hall.
She wore a silk dress, golden bracelets, and large amber beads. She
was in costly attire, and the bard named her in his song, and spoke of
the rich treasure of gold which she had brought to her husband. H