e had everything portable collected, and,
during the darkest hour of a dark night, quietly issued from the little
fortress, descended to the beach, and got on board the _Snake_, with all
the women and men, without the savages being aware of the movement.

Once on board, he fortified the vessel as well as he could, and hung the
shields round the bulwarks.

Curiously enough, the savages had fixed on that very night for setting
fire to their pile of timber, which by that time towered to a height
that made it almost equal to the fortress it was about to consume. At
grey dawn the torch was applied to it. At the very same hour Karlsefin
and his men, accompanied by their savage friends, launched their canoes
and left the encampment of the previous night.

The leader of the fleet had purposely encamped when not very far from
the settlement, preferring, with such a large and unexpected party,
rather to arrive in the morning than at night.

Great then was the surprise of the Norsemen when, soon after starting,
they saw a dense cloud of smoke rising in the far distance, and deep was
their anxiety when they observed that this cloud not only spread abroad
and increased in density, but appeared to float exactly over the place
where the settlement lay.

"Give way, lads! push on! There is something wrong at the gaard,"
shouted Karlsefin when he became thoroughly alive to the fact.

There was little necessity for urging the men. Each man became an
impulsive volcano and drove his paddle into the water with such force
and fury that the canoes almost leaped out of the river as well as over
it.

Meanwhile the sun rose in splendour, and with it rose the mighty flames
of the bonfire, which soon caught the neighbouring trees and licked them
up as if they had been stubble. Such intense heat could not be long
withstood. The wooden fortress was soon in flames, and then arose a
yell of triumph from the savages, which sent dismay to the hearts of
those who were approaching, and overawed the little band that still lay
undiscovered on board the _Snake_.

But when it was ascertained that there was no one in the fortress, a cry
of fury followed the shout of triumph, and the whole band, at once
suspecting that their enemies had taken to their vessel, rushed down to
the shores of the lake.

There they found the Norsemen ready to receive them; but they found more
than they had expected, for, just then, Karlsefin and his men swept
round th