ad halted when his companion pushed
forward, there came the rustle of a slight disturbance. Sigurd had
caught his friend by his cloak and was pleading with him in a passionate
undertone, growing more and more desperate at each resolute shake of the
black head. The instant Leif resumed his seat, the Fearless One wrenched
himself free and strode forward. Rolf strove to bar his way, but Robert
Sans-Peur evaded him also, and took up his stand before the bench under
the maple-tree.

"The Fates appear to be balancing their scales to-night, chief," he
said, grimly. "For the dead man whom you believed to be alive, you see
here a living man whom you thought to be dead. For the thrall that you
have lost, I present to you another."

Winding his hand in his long black locks, he tore them from his head and
revealed the crisp waves of his own fair hair.

From either hand there arose a buzz of amazement and incredulity mingled
with grunts of approval and blunt compliments and half-muttered pleas
for leniency. Only two persons neither exclaimed nor moved. Helga stood
in the rigid tearless silence she had promised, her eyes pouring into
her lover's eyes all the courage and loyalty and love of her brave soul.
And the chief sat gazing at the rebel brought back to life, without so
much as a wink of surprise, without any expression whatever upon his
inscrutable face.

After a moment Alwin went on steadily, "I hid myself under this disguise
because I believed that luck might grant me the chance to render you
some service which should outweigh my offence. Because I was a
short-sighted fool, I did not see that the better the Norman succeeded,
the worse became the Saxon's deceit. My mind changed when your own lips
told me what would be the fate of the man who should deceive you."

The chief's face was as impassive as stone, but he nodded slightly.

"A man of my age does not take it well to be fooled by boys," he said.
"It is a poor compliment to his intelligence, when they have the opinion
that they can mould him between their fingers. Though he had rendered me
the greatest service in the world, the man who should deceive me should
die."

Silence fell like a shroud upon the scattered groups. With a queer
little smile upon her drawn lips, Helga softly unsheathed her dagger and
ran her fingers along its edge. Alwln, earl's son, drew a long breath,
and the muscles of his white face twitched a little; then he pulled
himself together resolut