of the hill; and, moreover, he was spent with
toil and hunger, and Skallagrim grew weary of waiting.

"Go!" said Gudruda; "I will be there presently!"

So he kissed her and went, and Swanhild saw the kiss and saw him go.

"Well, lord," said Skallagrim, "hast thou had thy fill of kissing?"

"Not altogether," answered Eric.

They rode a while in silence.

"I thought the maid seemed very fair!" said Skallagrim.

"There are women less favoured, Skallagrim."

"Rich bait for mighty fish!" said Skallagrim. "This I tell thee: that,
strive as thou mayest against thy fate, that maid will be thy bane and
mine also."

"Things foredoomed will happen," said Eric; "but if thou fearest a maid,
the cure is easy: depart from my company."

"Who was the other?" asked the Baresark--"she who crept and peered,
listened, then crept back again, hid her face in her hands, and talked
with a grey wolf that came to her like a dog?"

"That must have been Swanhild," said Eric, "but I did not see her. Ever
does she hide like a rat in the thatch, and as for the wolf, he must
be her Familiar; for, like Groa, her mother, Swanhild plays much with
witchcraft. Now I will away back to Gudruda, for my heart misdoubts me
of this matter. Stay thou here till I come, Lambstail!" And Eric turns
and gallops back to the head of Goldfoss.

When Eric left her, Gudruda drew yet nearer to the edge of the mighty
falls, and seated herself on their very brink. Her breast was full
of joy, and there she sat and let the splendour of the night and the
greatness of the rushing sounds sink into her heart. Yonder shone the
setting sun, poised, as it were, on Westman's distant peaks, and here
sped the waters, and by that path Eric had come back to her. Yea, and
there on Sheep-saddle was the road that he had trod down Goldfoss; and
but now he had slain one Baresark and won another to be his thrall, and
they two alone had smitten the company of Ospakar, and come thence
with honour and but little harmed. Surely no such man as Eric had ever
lived--none so fair and strong and tender; and she was right happy in
his love! She stretched out her arms towards him whom but an hour gone
she had thought dead, but who had lived to come back to her with honour,
and blessed his beloved name, and laughed aloud in her joyousness of
heart, calling:

"_Eric! Eric!_"

But Swanhild, creeping behind her, did not laugh. She heard Gudruda's
voice and guessed Gudruda's gladness, and je