Erling the Bold

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

  IN WHICH GLUMM TAKES TO HUNTING ON THE MOUNTAINS FOR CONSOLATION, ANDFINDS IT UNEXPECTEDLY, WHILE ALRIC PROVES HIMSELF A HERO.

  "I go to the fells to-day," said Glumm to Alric one morning, as thelatter opened the door of Glummstede and entered the hall.

  "I go also," said Alric, leaning a stout spear which he carried againstthe wall, and sitting down on a stool beside the fire to watch Glumm ashe equipped himself for the chase.

  "Art ready, then? for the day is late," said Glumm.

  "All busked," replied the boy.--"I say, Glumm, is that a new spear thouhast got?"

  "Aye; I took it from a Swedish viking the last fight I had off thecoast. We had a tough job of it, and left one or two stout men behindto glut the birds of Odin, but we brought away much booty. This waspart of it," he added, buckling on a long hunting-knife, which was stuckin a richly ornamented sheath, "and that silver tankard too, besides thered mantle that my mother wears, and a few other things--but my comradesgot the most of it."

  "I wish I had been there, Glumm," said Alric.

  "If Hilda were here, lad, she would say it is wrong to wish to fight."

  "Hilda has strange thoughts," observed the boy.

  "So has Erling," remarked his companion.

  "And so has Ada," said Alric, with a sly glance.

  Glumm looked up quickly. "What knowest _thou_ about Ada?" said he.

  The sly look vanished before Glumm had time to observe it, and anexpression of extreme innocence took its place as the lad replied--

  "I know as much about her as is usual with one who has known a girl, andbeen often with her, since the day he was born."

  "True," muttered Glumm, stooping to fasten the thongs that laced theuntanned shoes on his feet. "Ada has strange thoughts also, as thousayest. Come now, take thy spear, and let us be gone."

  "Where shall we go to-day?" asked Alric.

  "To the wolf's glen."

  "To the wolf's glen? that is far."

  "Is it too far for thee, lad?"

  "Nay, twice the distance were not too far for me," returned the boyproudly; "but the day advances, and there is danger without honour inwalking on the fells after dark."

  "The more need for haste," said Glumm, opening the door and going out.

  Alric followed, and for some time these two walked in silence, as thepath was very steep, and so narrow for a considerable distance, thatthey could not walk abreast.

  Snow lay pretty thickly on the mountains, particularly in shelteredplaces, but in exposed parts it had been blown off, and the hunterscould advance easily. In about ten minutes after setting out they lostsight of Glummstede. As they advanced higher and deeper into themountains, the fiord and the sea, with its innumerable skerries, waslost to view, but it was not until they had toiled upwards and onwardsfor nearly two hours that they reached those dark recesses of the fellsto which the bears and wolves were wont to retreat after committingdepredations on the farms in the valleys far below.

  There was something in the rugged grandeur of the scenery here, in thewhiteness of the snow, the blackness of the rocks which peeped out fromits voluminous wreaths, the lightness of the atmosphere, and, above all,the impressive silence, which possessed an indescribable charm for theromantic mind of Alric, and which induced even the stern matter-of-factGlumm to tread with slower steps, and to look around him with a feelingalmost akin to awe. No living thing was to be seen, either among thestupendous crags which still towered above, or in the depths which theyhad left below; but there were several footprints of wolves, all ofwhich Glumm declared, after careful examination, to be old.

  "See here, lad," he said, turning up one of these footprints with thebutt of his spear; "observe the hardish ball of snow just under theprint; that shows that the track is somewhat old. If it had been quitefresh there would have been no such ball."

  "Thou must think my memory of the shortest, Glumm, for I have been toldthat every time I have been out with thee."

  "True, but thou art so stupid," said Glumm, laying his spear lightlyacross the boy's shoulders, "that I have thought fit to impress it onthee by repetition, having an interest in thine education, although thoudost not deserve it."

  "I deserve it, mayhap, more than ye think."

  "How so, boy?"

  "_Why_, because I have for a long time past taken an uncommon interestin thy welfare."

  Glumm laughed, and said he did not know that there was any occasion toconcern himself about his welfare.

  "Oh yes, there is!" cried Alric, "for, when a man goes moping about thecountry as if he were fey, or as if he had dreamed of seeing his ownguardian spirit, his friends cannot help being concerned about him."

  "Why, what is running in the lad's head?" said Glumm, looking with aperplexed expression at his young companion.

  "Nothing runs in my head, save ordinary thoughts. If there be anyunusual running at all, it must be in thine own."

  "Speak, thou little fox," said Glumm, suddenly grasping Alric by thenape of the neck and giving him a shake.

  "Nay then, if that is thy plan," said the boy, "give it a fair trial.Shake away, and see what comes of it. Thou mayest shake out blood,bones, flesh, and life too, and carry home my skin as a trophy, but beassured that thou shalt not shake a word off my tongue!"

  "Boldly spoken," said Glumm, laughing, as he released the lad; "but Ithink thy tone would change if I were to take thee at thy word."

  "That it would not. Thou art not the first man whom I have defied, aye,and drawn blood from, as that red-haired Dane--"

  Alric stopped suddenly. He had reached that age when the tendency toboast begins, at least in manly boys, to be checked by increasing goodsense and good taste. Yet it is no disparagement of Alric's characterto say that he found it uncommonly difficult to refrain, when occasionserved, from making reference to his first warlike exploit, evenalthough frequent rebukes and increasing wisdom told him that boastingwas only fit for the lips of cowards.

  "Why do ye stop?" asked Glumm, who quite understood the boy's feelings,and admired his exercise of self-control.

  "Be--because I have said enough."

  "Good is it," observed the other, "when man or boy knows that he hassaid enough, and has the power to stop when he knows it. But come,Alric, thou hast not said enough to me yet on the matter that--that--"

  "What matter?" asked Alric, with a sly look.

  "Why, the matter of my welfare, to be sure."

  "Ah, true. Well, methinks, Glumm, that I could give thee a littlemedicine for thy mind, but I won't, unless ye promise to keep thy spearoff my back."

  "I promise," said Glumm, whose curiosity was aroused.

  "It is a sad thing when a man looks sweet and a maid looks sour, butthere is a worse thing; that is when the maid _feels_ sour. Thou lovestAda--"

  "Hold!" cried Glumm, turning fiercely on his companion, "and let not thypert tongue dare to speak of such things, else will I show thee thatthere are other things besides spears to lay across thy shoulders."

  "Now art thou truly Glumm the Gruff," cried Alric, laughing, as heleaped to the other side of a mass of fallen rock; "but if thy humourchanges not, I will show thee that I am not named Lightfoot for nothing.Come, don't fume and fret there like a bear with a headache, but let mespeak, and I warrant me thou wilt be reasonably glad."

  "Go on, then, thou incorrigible."

  "Very well; but none of thy hard names, friend Glumm, else will I set mybig brother Erling at thee. There now, don't give way again. What astorm-cloud thou art! Will the knowledge that Ada loves thee as trulyas thou lovest her calm thee down?"

  "I see thou hast discovered my secret," said Glumm, looking at hislittle friend with a somewhat confused expression, "though how theknowledge came to thee is past my understanding. Yet as thou art soclever a warlock I would fain know what ye mean about `Ada's love forme.' Hadst thou said her hatred, I could have believed thee withoutexplanation."

  "Let us go on, then," sa
id Alric, "for there is nothing to be gained andonly time to be lost by thus talking across a stone."

  The path which they followed was broad at that part, and not quite sorugged, so that Alric could walk alongside of his stout friend as herelated to him the incident that was the means of enlightening him as toAda's feelings towards her lover. It was plain from the expression onthe Norseman's face that his soul was rejoiced at the discovery, and hestrode forward at such a pace that the boy was fain to call a halt.

  "Thinkest thou that my legs are as long as thine?" he said, stopping andpanting.

  Glumm laughed; and the laugh was loud and strong. He would have laughedat anything just then, for the humour was upon him, and he felt itdifficult to repress a shout at the end of it!

  "Come on, Alric, I will go slower. But art thou sure of all this? Hastnot mistaken the words?"

  "Mistaken the words!" cried the boy; "why, I tell thee they were asplain to my ears and my senses as what thou hast said this moment."

  "Good," said Glumm; "and now the question comes up, how must I behave toher? But thou canst not aid me herein, for in such matters thou hasthad no experience."

  "Out upon thee for a stupid monster!" said the boy; "have I not justproved that my experience is very deep? I have not, indeed, got thelength thou hast--of wandering about like a poor ghost or a half-wittedfellow, but I have seen enough of such matters to know what common sensesays."

  "And, pray, what does common sense say?"

  "Why, it says, Act towards the maid like a sane man, and, above all, atrue man. Don't go about the land gnashing thy teeth until everyonelaughs at thee. Don't go staring at her in grim silence as if she werea wraith; and, more particularly, don't pretend to be fond of othergirls, for thou didst make a pitiful mess of that attempt. In short, beGlumm without being Gruff, and don't try to be anybody else. Be kindand straightforward to her, worship her, or, as Kettle Flatnose said theother day, `kiss the ground she walks on,' if thou art so inclined, butdon't worry her life out. Show that thou art fond of her, and willingto bide _her_ time. Go on viking cruise, for the proverb says that an`absent body makes a longing spirit,' and bring her back shiploads ofkirtles and mantles and armlets, and gold and silver ornaments--that'swhat common sense says, Glumm, and a great deal more besides, but I fearmuch that it is all wasted on thee."

  "Heyday!" exclaimed Glumm, "what wisdom do I hear? Assuredly we mustcall thee Alric hinn Frode hereafter. One would think thou must havebeen born before thine own grandfather."

  "Truly that is not so difficult to fancy," retorted Alric. "Even now Ifeel like a great-grandfather while I listen to thee. There wants but asmooth round face and a lisping tongue to make thine appearance suitableto thy wisdom! But what is this that we have here?"

  The boy pointed to a track of some animal in the snow a few yards to oneside of the path.

  "A wolf track," said Glumm, turning aside.

  "A notably huge one," remarked the boy.

  "And quite fresh," said the man.

  "Which is proved," rejoined Alric in a slow, solemn voice, "by the factthat there is no ball of snow beneath the--"

  "Hold thy pert tongue," said Glumm in a hoarse whisper, "the brute mustbe close to us. Do thou keep in the lower end of this gorge--see,yonder, where it is narrow. I will go round to the upper end; perchancethe wolf is there. If so, we stand a good chance of killing him, forthe sides of the chasm are like two walls all the way up. But," addedGlumm, hesitating a moment, and looking fixedly at the small but sturdyframe of his companion, whose heightened colour and flashing eyesbetokened a roused spirit, "I doubt thy--that is--I have no fear of thespirit, if the body were a little bigger."

  "Take thine own big body off, Glumm," said Alric, "and leave me to guardthe pass."

  Glumm grinned as he turned and strode away.

  The spot which the hunters had reached merits particular notice. It wasone of those wild deep rents or fissures which are usually found nearthe summits of almost inaccessible mountains. It was not, however, atthe top of the highest range in that neighbourhood, being merely on thesummit of a ridge which was indeed very high--perhaps five or sixthousand feet--but still far below the serried and shattered peaks whichtowered in all directions round Horlingdal, shutting it out from allcommunication with the rest of the world, except through the fiord andthe pass leading over to the Springs.

  On the place where Alric parted from his friend the rocks of the gorgeor defile rose almost perpendicularly on both sides, and as he advancedhe found that the space between became narrower, until, at the spotwhere he was to take his stand, there was an opening of scarcely sixfeet in width. Beyond this the chasm widened a little, until, at itshigher end, it was nearly twenty yards broad; but, owing to the wideningnature of the defile, the one opening could not be seen from the other,although they were little more than four hundred yards apart.

  The track of the wolf led directly through the pass into the gorge. Asthe lad took his stand he observed with much satisfaction that it wasthat of an unusually large animal. This feeling was tempered, however,with some anxiety lest it should have escaped at the other opening. Itwas also mixed with a touch of agitation; for although Alric had seenhis friend and Erling kill wolves and bears too, he had never beforebeen left to face the foe by himself, and to sustain the brunt of thecharge in his own proper person. Beyond an occasional flutter of theheart, however, there was nothing to indicate, even to himself, that hewas not as firm as the rock on which he stood.

  Now, let it not be supposed that we are here portraying a hero ofromance in whom is united the enthusiasm of the boy with the calmcourage of the man. We crave attention, more particularly that of boys,to the following observations:--

  In the highly safe and civilised times in which we live, many thousandsof us never have a chance, from personal experience, of forming a justestimate of the powers of an average man or boy, and we are too apt toascribe that to heroism which is simply due to knowledge. A man _knows_that he can do a certain thing that seems extremely dangerous, thereforehe does it boldly, not because he is superlatively bold by any means,but because he knows there is no risk--at least none to him. Theproverb that "Familiarity breeds contempt" applies as truly to danger asto anything else; and well is it for the world that the majority ofhuman beings are prone to familiarise themselves with danger in spite ofthose well-meaning but weak ones who have been born with a tendency tosay perpetually, "Take care," "Don't run such risk", etcetera."Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;" and man hasechoed the sentiment in the proverb, "Whatever is worth doing is worthdoing well". Do you climb?--then do it well--do it in suchcircumstances that your spirit will get used to seeing profound depthsbelow you without your heart melting into hot water and your nervesquaking. Do you leap?--then do it well--do it so that you may be ableto turn it to some good account in the day of trial; do it so that youmay know _how_ to leap off a runaway carriage, for instance, withoutbeing killed. Learn to jump off high cliffs into deep water, so that,should the opportunity ever offer, you may be able to plunge off thehigh bulwarks of a vessel to save a sister, or mother, or child, with aslittle thought about yourself as if you were jumping off a sofa.Observe, we do not advocate recklessness. To leap off a cliff so highthat you will be sure to be killed is not leaping "well"; but neither isit well to content yourself with a jump of three or four feet as yourutmost attainment, because that is far short of many a leap which mayhave to be taken in this world to save even your own life, not tomention the lives of others. But enough of this disquisition, which,the reader will observe, has been entered upon chiefly in order to provethat we do not ascribe heroic courage to Alric when we say that, havingbeen familiar with danger from his birth, he prepared to face a wolf ofunknown size and ferocity with considerable coolness, if notindifference to danger.

  Glumm meanwhile reached the other end of the ravine, and there, to hisintense disappointment, found the track of the wolf leading away towardsthe open mountains b
eyond. Just where it left the ravine, however, theanimal had run about so much that the track was crossed and recrossed inconfusion. Glumm therefore had difficulty at first in following it up,but when he did so, great was his joy to find that it doubled back andre-entered the defile. Pressing quickly forward, he came to a brokenpart, near the centre, where, among a heap of grey, weather-worn rockshe perceived two sharp-pointed objects, like a pair of erect ears! Tomake certain, he hurled a stone towards the place. The objectsinstantly disappeared!

  Immediately afterwards, a long grey back and a bushy tail were visibleas the wolf glided among the rocks, making for the side of theprecipice, with the intention, doubtless, of rushing past this boldintruder.

  Glumm observed the movement, and promptly went in the same direction.The wolf noticed this, and paused abruptly--remaining still, as ifuncertain what to do. The hunter at once put to flight his uncertaintyby gliding swiftly towards him. Seeing this, the wolf abandoned theattempt at concealment and bounded into the centre of the ravine, where,with his bristles erect, his back slightly arched, and all hisglittering teeth and blood-red gums exposed, he stood for a moment ortwo the very picture of intensified fury. The hunter advanced with hisspear levelled, steadily, but not hastily, because there was sufficientspace on either hand to render the meeting of the animal in its rush amatter of extreme difficulty, while at every step he took, theprecipices on either side drew closer together. The brute had evidentlya strong objection to turn back, and preferred to run the risk ofpassing its foe, for it suddenly sprang to one side and ran up the cliffas far as possible, like a cat, while it made for the upper end of theravine.

  The Norseman, whose powerful frame was by this time strung to intensityof action, leaped to the same side with the agility of a panther, andgot in before it. The wolf did not stop, but with a ferocious growl itswerved aside, and bounded to the other side of the ravine. Again thehunter leaped across, and stood in its way. He bent forward to resistthe animal's weight and impetus, but the baffled wolf was cowed by hisresolute front. It turned tail, and fled, followed by Glumm with a wildhalloo!

  When the first growl was heard by Alric, it strung him up to the rightpitch instantly, and the next one caused the blood to rush to his face,for he heard the halloo which Glumm uttered as he followed in pursuit.The distance was short. Another moment and the boy saw the infuriatedanimal springing towards him, with Glumm rushing madly after it. Alricwas already in the centre of the pass with the spear levelled, and hisbody bent in anticipation of the shock. The wolf saw him, but did notcheck its pace--with a furious Norseman bounding behind there was noroom for hesitation. It lowered its head, increased its speed, and ranat the opening like a thunderbolt. When within three yards of the boyit swerved, and, leaping up, pawed the cliff on the left while in theair. Alric had foreseen this--his only doubt had been as to which sidethe brute would incline to. He sprang at the same moment, and met itfull in the face as it came down. The point of his spear entered thewolf's chest, and penetrated deep into its body. A terrific yellfollowed. The spear handle broke in the middle, and the boy fell on hisface, while the wolf went right over him, yelling and biting the spear,as, carried on by its impetus, it rolled head over heels for severalyards among the rocks.

  Alric jumped up unhurt, and, for want of a better weapon, seized a massof stone, which he raised above his head, and hurled at the wolf,hitting it fairly on the skull. At the same moment Glumm ran up,intending to transfix the brute with his spear.

  "Hold thy hand, Glumm," gasped the boy.

  Glumm checked himself.

  "In truth it needs no more," he said, bringing the butt of his weapon tothe ground, and leaning on it, while he looked on at the last strugglesof the dying wolf. "Fairly done, lad," he added, with a nod ofapproval, "this will make a man of thee."

  The boy did not speak, but stood with his chest still heaving, hisbreath coming fast, and the expression of triumph on his countenanceshowing that for him a new era had opened up--that the days of boastinghad ended, and those of manly action had fairly and auspiciously begun.