us tug wildly the others shoot over
the side. Slowly we turn, and the heeling ship before us comes into view
over the bow--slowly we turn, as the third ship nears us. We move round,
and, their arrows in our faces, they go sweeping by--just by--the oars
grazing.

And now we can see the ship we have run down as she turns over her deck
to us; the men tumble down the rowers' benches; they leap into the
water; she settles sideways, the water bubbling.

Now come the two other ships from behind us.

Young Lord Erik lies wounded on the after-deck. Half of the men sit
white, about the arrow-struck mast. The other two ships come on.

My lord cries to face them, and we move slowly, seeing over the bow the
ships rush on over the place where their comrades sank, striking the
heads of the swimming men with their oar-blades.

We drop our arms and, heaving three times on the long-oars, send our
ship between the other two.

A flight of arrows, a glimpse on each side of a passing mast--they are
behind us. My lord calls from the after-deck, "Row away, row away!"

Turning my head to look at him I see him laughing, the bow still in his
hand.

We rowed round the sand-spit, and as we went round it we saw the two
ships close together picking up men from where a mast stuck up out of
the light-green water.

"It is the second time we have been comrades," said young Lord Erik, his
right arm bandaged, gazing up palely at my lord as they stood by the
rail.

My lord smiled.

"Yes, true," he said.

We were running along a forest-covered strand, where the roots of old
trees gnarled themselves into the water.

"Now we must go to the hall that I told you about," said my lord.

"Yes and see the girl I am so eager to see!" exclaimed young Lord Erik,
his white face lighting as he gazed up smiling to my lord.

He laughed.

"Ah," he said, "it is both pleasant and good," and he gazed along the
depleted seats.

The next day there was a strange excitement in my lord's eyes, and we
began to put together our clothes. And late in the afternoon we came
into the little bay on the shore of which lay old Raud's castle. We ran
through the water hauling our ship up with cables, and with shouting
from the people coming welcomingly down from the castle, we hastened up
the beach.

As we sat over the meat that night, a curtain was pulled aside from the
door by Lord Raud's chair, and he, rising feebly, my lord slowly, and
smiling, and young Lord Eri