elf, till nothing is left before it. What course
now?"

"The same on which the Gudruda was laid. Perhaps, if we may endure till
we come to the Farey Isles,[*] we shall find her in harbour there."

[*] The Faroes.

"There is not much chance of that," said Skallagrim; "still, the wind is
fair, and we fly fast before it."

Then they lashed the tiller and set to bailing. They bailed long, and it
was heavy work, but they rid the ship of much water. After that they ate
food, for it was now morning, and it came on to blow yet more strongly.

For three days and three nights it blew thus, and the Raven sped along
before the gale. All this time, turn and turn about, Eric and Skallagrim
stood at the helm and tended the sails. They had little time to eat, and
none to sleep. They were so hard pressed also, and must harbour their
strength so closely, that the bodies of the dead men yet cumbered the
hold. Thus they grew very weary and like to fall from faintness, but
still they held the Raven on her course. In the beginning of the fourth
night a great sea struck the good ship so that she quivered from stem to
stern.

"Methinks I hear water bubbling up," said Skallagrim in a hoarse voice.

Eric climbed down into the well and lifted the bottom planks, and
there beneath them was a leak through which the water spouted in a thin
stream. He stopped up the rent as best he might with garments from the
dead men, and placed ballast stones upon them, then clambered on to the
deck again.

"Our hours are short now," he said, "the water rushes in apace."

"Well, it is time to rest," said Skallagrim; "but see, lord!" and he
pointed ahead. "What land is that?"

"It must be the Fareys," answered Eric; "now, if we can but keep afloat
for three hours more, we may yet die ashore."

After this the wind began to fall, but still there was enough to drive
the Raven on swiftly.

And ever the water gained in the hold.

Now they were not far from land, for ahead of them the bleak hills
towered up, shining in the faint midnight light, and between the hills
was a cleft that seemed to be a fjord. Another hour passed, and they
were no more than ten furlongs from the mouth of the fjord, when
suddenly the wind fell, and they were in calm water under shelter of the
land. They went amidships and looked. The hold was half full of water,
and in it floated the bodies of Ospakar's men.

"She has not long to live," said Skallagrim, "but we may still be save