* * * *

Seeing his misery, Gunnar had clutched Odin's arm. "These were things of
the past, Nors-King, and the things of the past belong to the old dragon.
Let us not complain if he has taken them at last. We have things to do and
we cannot do them if we are sick at heart. Did I tell you that four of my
children died in the flood?" The voice of the broad-shouldered dwarf
sounded husky and far away.

"No, Gunnar. You never told me. Indeed, old friend, I am sorry. Very
sorry. And ashamed that I sit here mourning the past and forgetting your
troubles."

"Yes. They died. My Freida and the other three are coming here. And we will
eat at the same table again--and I will tell them that their grand-sire and
their great-grand-sires were men among men. And that Gunnar himself has
often sat high at the councils. Then we will go out to find Grim Hagen--and
Freida and the three will go back to rebuild the farm. For that is the way
of things--and as long as there are strong ones left to rebuild, Loki
cannot altogether destroy us."

The car moved slowly forward. The dismal fog grew heavier. Until at last
they came to the place where the Old Ship had stood.

Now there was a new ship taking form within its huge cradles. Lights were
everywhere. The red lights of the forge. The blue lights of the welding
torches, the white light of the workbenches. The yellow lights that
surrounded the high scaffolds went up and up to the top of the hour-glass
figure.

"This is our second," Wolden explained. "Our first was much smaller.
We had been working on a smaller model long before Grim Hagen got
ambitious. Some of our scientists have already gone into space. We are
in touch with them. They went quietly and noiselessly. There was no need
for all the destruction and havoc that Grim Hagen worked. But this model
is larger even than the Old Ship, and all the improvements that we once
dreamed of are here. You see, Odin," Wolden continued, "the Old Ship
was ours for centuries. We of Orthe-Gard have exploring minds. We went
over the ship thousands of times. We knew where every bolt and pin was
located. We improved it. In the beginning, when it brought our ancestors
here, it must have been comparatively slow. But during the past forty
years we learned much from your scientists about space. Einstein was
the only thinker in a century gone mad from bickering. About ten years
ago we perfected what I call The Fourth Drive. It would take