f garb of the
other, so that when the corpse was seen it might look as if the king had
perished. He further deliberately drew blood from the beast on which he
had ridden, and bespattered it, so that when it came back into camp he
might make them think he himself was dead. Then he set spur to his
horse and drove it into the midst of the eddies, crossed the river
and alighted, and tried to climb over the rampart that screened the
stronghold by steps set up against the mound. When he got over the top
and could grasp the battlements with his hand, he quietly put his foot
inside, and, without the knowledge of the watch, went lightly on tiptoe
to the house into which the bandits had gone to carouse. And when he had
reached its hall, he sat down under the porch overhanging the door. Now
the strength of their fastness made the warriors feel so safe that they
were tempted to a debauch; for they thought that the swiftly rushing
river made their garrison inaccessible, since it seemed impossible
either to swim over or to cross in boats. For no part of the river
allowed of fording.

Biorn, moved by the revel, said that in his sleep he had seen a beast
come out of the waters, which spouted ghastly fire from its mouth,
enveloping everything in a sheet of flame. Therefore the holes and
corners of the island should, he said, be searched; nor ought they to
trust so much to their position, as rashly to let overweening confidence
bring them to utter ruin. No situation was so strong that the mere
protection of nature was enough for it without human effort. Moreover
they must take great care that the warning of his slumbers was not
followed by a yet more gloomy and disastrous fulfilment. So they all
sallied forth from the stronghold, and narrowly scanned the whole
circuit of the island; and finding the horse they surmised that Fridleif
had been drowned in the waters of the river. They received the horse
within the gates with rejoicing, supposing that it had flung off its
rider and swum over. But Biorn, still scared with the memory of the
visions of the night, advised them to keep watch, since it was not safe
for them yet to put aside suspicion of danger. Then he went to his room
to rest, with the memory of his vision deeply stored in his heart.

Meanwhile the horse, which Fridleif, in order to spread a belief in his
death, had been loosed and besprinkled with blood (though only with that
which lies between flesh and skin), burst all bedabbl