ened? Did Hugh die?'the children asked.

'Never was such a fight fought by christened man,' said Sir Richard. 'An
arrow from the ship had saved me from my Devil, and Thorkild of Borkum
had given back before his Devil, till the bowmen on the ship could shoot
it all full of arrows from near by; but Hugh's Devil was cunning, and
had kept behind trees, where no arrow could reach. Body to body there,
by stark strength of sword and hand, had Hugh slain him, and, dying, the
Thing had clenched his teeth on the sword. Judge what teeth they were!'

Sir Richard turned the sword again that the children might see the two
great chiselled gouges on either side of the blade.

'Those same teeth met in Hugh's right arm and side,' Sir Richard went
on. 'I? Oh, I had no more than a broken foot and a fever. Thorkild's ear
was bitten, but Hugh's arm and side clean withered away. I saw him where
he lay along, sucking a fruit in his left hand. His flesh was wasted off
his bones, his hair was patched with white, and his hand was blue-veined
like a woman's. He put his left arm round my neck and whispered, "Take
my sword. It has been thine since Hastings, O my brother, but I can
never hold hilt again." We lay there on the high deck talking of
Santlache, and, I think, of every day since Santlache, and it came so
that we both wept. I was weak, and he little more than a shadow.

'"Nay--nay," said Witta, at the helm-rail. "Gold is a good right arm to
any man. Look--look at the gold!" He bade Thorkild show us the gold and
the elephants' teeth, as though we had been children. He had brought
away all the gold on the bank, and twice as much more, that the people
of the village gave him for slaying the Devils. They worshipped us as
Gods, Thorkild told me: it was one of their old women healed up Hugh's
poor arm.'

'How much gold did you get?'asked Dan.

'How can I say? Where we came out with wedges of iron under the rowers'
feet we returned with wedges of gold hidden beneath planks. There was
dust of gold in packages where we slept and along the side, and
crosswise under the benches we lashed the blackened elephants' teeth.

'"I had sooner have my right arm," said Hugh, when he had seen all.

'"Ahai! That was my fault," said Witta. "I should have taken ransom and
landed you in France when first you came aboard, ten months ago."

'"It is over-late now," said Hugh, laughing.

'Witta plucked at his long shoulder-lock. "But think!" said he. "If I
had