hough noisy, were not
numerous.

The moment Thorward sat down Krake started up and said somewhat
warmly--"'Tis all very well for Thorward to speak in this way, and ask
`What would ye more?' seeing that he has got in his house a handsome and
sweet-tempered wife; but I will tell him of _something more_ that I
want, and that I haven't got just now, and am not likely to get as long
as I remain in Vinland. There is a comely little woman in Iceland, who
was born in that best of countries, Ireland, and who forsook the land,
and her father and mother, and kith and kin, all for the sake of a
red-headed thrall--for he was no better at that time--called Krake.
Now, _I_ want that sweet little Irishwoman! Moreover, there's a stout
curly-headed boy in Iceland who's an elegant chip of the ancient tree,
and the born image of his mother--I want that curly-headed boy! Then
there are six other curly-headed boys in Iceland--only that three of
them are girls, and the youngest had the curls in prospect when I saw it
last, bein' as bare on the head as the palm of my hand--all of them
descending in size, one after another, from the first curly-headed boy--
I want these. Besides which there is a sweet little hut in Iceland at
the edge of a swamp, with the spouting waters not far off, and the
boilin' waters quite handy to cook your dinner without firin', and a
lovely prospect of the burnin' hill behind--I want all that; and I want
to know how Thorward would feel if he wanted all that and couldn't get
it, and was advised to go on wantin' it, and if he couldn't keep himself
easy, to try his best to keep as easy as he could!"

There was some laughter and great applause at this point.

"Moreover," continued Krake, with increasing energy, "it don't give me a
scrap of comfort to be told that this is a vast country, full of all
that's desirable and the best of livin', when I can't enjoy it along
with my sweet little Kathleen and the curly-headed boys and girls before
mentioned. What does Krake care for stuffing his own ugly carcase full
when mayhap the wife and bairns are dyin' for want--anyhow dyin' to see
their husband an' father? And what does Krake care to be the beginning
of a new nation? No more than he does to be the middle of it, and if
left to himself he'd far sooner be the end of it by not beginning it at
all! As for being frightened by the yells of savages, it's not worth my
while to mention _that_, but when Thorward talks about be