The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Norsemen in the West, by R.M. Ballantyne

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Title: The Norsemen in the West

Author: R.M. Ballantyne

Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21753]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NORSEMEN IN THE WEST ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

THE NORSEMEN IN THE WEST, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE NORSEMEN IN THE WEST; OR AMERICA BEFORE COLUMBUS.

THE CURTAIN RISES AND THE PLAY BEGINS.

One fine autumn evening, between eight and nine hundred years ago, two
large hairy creatures, bearing some resemblance to polar bears, might
have been seen creeping slowly, and with much caution, toward the summit
of a ridge that formed a spur to one of the ice-clad mountains of
Greenland. The creatures went on all-fours. They had long bodies,
short legs, shorter tails, and large round heads.

Having gained the top of the ridge they peeped over and beheld a hamlet
nestled at the foot of a frowning cliff; and at the head of a smiling
inlet. We use these terms advisedly, because the cliff, being in deep
shadow, looked unusually black and forbidding, while the inlet, besides
being under the influence of a profound calm, was lit up on all its
dimples by the rays of the setting sun.

The hamlet consisted of one large cottage and half a dozen small cots,
besides several sheds and enclosures wherein were a few sleepy-looking
sheep, some lean cattle, and several half-starved horses. There was
active life there also. Smoke issued from the chimneys; fresh-looking
women busied themselves about household work; rosy children tumbled in
and out at the doors, while men in rough garments and with ruddy
countenances mended nets or repaired boats on the shore. On a bench in
front of the principal cottage sat a sturdy man, scarcely middle-aged,
with shaggy fair and flowing locks. His right foot served as a horse to
a rapturous little boy, whose locks and looks were so like to those of
the man that their kinship was obvious--only the man was rugged and
rough in exterior; the boy was round and smooth. Tow typified the hair
of the man; floss silk that of the boy.