s lips, glancing merrily at his guest over
the top as he drank.

"But your ship," said my lord looking at him.

"Let us go in yours, mine is too battered," answered young Erik.
"Ah--that was a joy--the fog and the shouting and the grey ships!"

His face grew pale in the light with excitement. My lord seemed
reluctant.

"Yes"; he said. "Where shall we go?"

"There--here--anywhere!" cried young Erik, jumping to his feet and waving
his beer-mug to three points of the horizon.

"The men in my town will take care of the harvest."

We were at sea again; my lord cynical on the after-deck, young Erik
talking to the men.

We were passing a sand-spit that ran out into the calm water just
touched with ripples. Over the top of the sand we saw masts rising, and
came out into the open again, where we could see the yellow over our
sides through the light green water, the sand-spit falling behind--we saw
three great ships, heavy-masted, long-yard-armed and with sharp prow.
These slowly neared with flapping sails, and we could see that the decks
were crowded with men. They passed by, as they went hailing us in rough
tongue, laughing out many-languaged questions as to where we had come
from.

Then came something that was very strange. A few men and myself saw my
lord very slowly take up a cross-bow and drawing it, deliberately shoot
an arrow into the side of one of the nearest ships. A yell of defiance
came over the water, and young Erik cried to every man to take his arms.

Why had my lord shot that arrow? Who can say? We do not know.

They came down on us singing Icelandic songs, as is the custom of most
of these people, for the ships were principally full of these men.

One ship passed close by us and the men shouting over the sides, threw
spears at us as they went by, brushing us with their oars. Then this
ship rounded on behind us, and the spears came in showers over the
stern.

But part of our men, dropping their weapons, and throwing themselves at
the oars, drove us over the sparkling sea, toward the ship that came
gliding toward us, with a howl from the enemy that reverberated in the
ears of the straining men inside our wooden bulwarks, our long prow cut
into their ship's side. I saw their mast bend away from us. The other
ship now came on, singing.

We shoot at her with our long-bows, and the singing is turned to
shouting as they come toward us. My lord shouts to pull on the
right-hand oars and while some of