this? Have a care. Not too fast. There. Hallo!--
an eel."

And so it was--an enormous eel, that went twirling round the pole in
wondrous fashion until it freed itself, and, after twisting round the
limbs of Olaf and Thorward, who in vain sought to hold it fast, made off
over the wet stones as if they were its native element, and slid into
another large pool, where it disappeared.

"Never mind, Olaf," cried Thorward, with a laugh, "you'll catch hold of
it again. Hook away at it, lad. Don't give."

A tremendous shriek arose from the women on the bank at this juncture.

"Oh! look! look at Freydissa!" cried Gunhild, pointing wildly to the
river bed.

And there Freydissa stood--up to the arm-pits in mud and salmon!

Whether she had fallen in or been pushed in no one could tell, but
unquestionably she _was_ in, having gone in, too, head-foremost, so
that, although she had struggled right-end up she reappeared coated with
mud to an extent that might have suggested a sculptor's clay model--had
sculptors been known to the Norsemen of those days.

There was an irresistible roar of laughter at first, and then loud
expressions of condolence and sympathy, while a dozen strong, but wet
and dirty, hands were stretched forth to the rescue.

"Here, lay hold of my hand, poor thing," cried Krake; "there, now, don't
cry; it would only be wasting tears, with so much water on your face
already."

If anything could have made Freydissa cry it would have been that
remark, for it implied that she was inclined to weep, while nothing was
further from her thoughts at that time.

She did, however, grasp Krake's hand, but instead of aiding herself by
it to get out of the hole, she gave it such a vigorous and hearty pull
that Krake went souse into the mud beside her. Before he could recover
himself Freydissa had put her knee on his body, and, using him as a
foot-rest, thrust him deeper down as she stepped out.

The delight with which this was hailed is beyond description, and many a
year passed after that before men grew tired of twitting Krake about the
pleasant mud-bath that had been given him by Freydissa on the occasion
of the celebrated take of salmon at Little River in Vinland.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

SAGE CONVERSE BETWEEN HAKE AND BERTHA--BIARNE IS OUTWITTED--A MONSTER IS
SLAIN, AND SAVAGES APPEAR ON THE SCENE.

Not long after this an event occurred which produced great excitement in
the new settlement; namely, the appeara