Havelok the Dane

by Charles W. Whistler

seen, and men would tell Hodulfthat the men of Grim had come home, and so perhaps spoil all. Word mightgo to Denmark from Griffin even yet.

  We had little thought of any sorry ending to our plans, for the dreamsthat had come so true so far cheered us. And so, with the evening tideof the next day, we sailed in the same ship that had been hired for Griffin.

  But first Havelok spent a long hour on my father's mound alone, thinkingof all that he owed to him who rested there. And to him came Goldbergasoftly, presently, lest he should be lonely in that place. And there shespoke to him of her own faith, saying that already he owed much to it.For he was making his vows to the Asir for success.

  "Shall you pray yet again to the Asir, my husband?" she asked.

  "Why should I? I have vowed my vows, and there is an end. If they heedthem, all is well; and if not, the Norns hinder."

  "There is One whom the Norns hinder not at all," she said gently, and sotold him how that her prayers would go up every day.

  Fain was she that he also prayed in that wise to her God, that naughtmight be apart in their minds.

  Then he said, "I have heard this from David and Withelm also, and it isgood. Teach me to vow to your God, sweet wife, and I will do so; and youshall teach me to pray as you pray."

  So it came to pass that Havelok in the after days was more than ready tohelp the Christian teachers when they came to him; for that was how thevow that he made ran, that he would do so if he was king, and had the power.

  Now there is nothing to tell of our voyage, for one could not wish for abetter passage, if the ship was slow. Indeed, she was so slow that asmaller vessel that left Tetney haven on the next day reached the sameport that we were bound for on the night that we came to our old home.And that we learned soon after she had come.

  Into Sigurd's haven we sailed on the morning tide, and strange it seemedto me to see the well-known place unchanged as we neared it. My father'shouse was there, and Arngeir's, and the great hall of the jarl toweredover all, as I remembered it. Men were building a ship in the long shedwhere ours had been built, and where the queen had hidden; and thefishing boats lay on the hard as on the day when Havelok had come to us.The little grove was yet behind our house, and it seemed strange when Iremembered that the old stones of its altar were far beyond the seas. Iwondered if Thor yet stood under his great ash tree; and then I saw onechange, for that tree was gone, and in its place stood a watchtower,stone built, and broad and high, for haven beacon.

  On the high fore deck stood Havelok, and his arm was round Goldberga aswe ran in, but they were silent. The land held overmuch of coming wonderfor them to put into words, as I think.

  Presently the boats came off to us in the old way, and here and there Iseemed to know the faces of the men, but I was not sure. It was but theremembrance of the old Danish cast of face, maybe. I could put no namesto any of them. And as we were warped alongside the wharf, there rodedown to see who we were Sigurd the jarl himself, seeming unchanged,although twelve years had gone over him. He was younger than my father,I think, and was at that age when a man changes too slowly for a boy tonotice aught but that the one he left as a man he thought old is so yet.He was just the noble-looking warrior that I had always wondered at andadmired.

  We had arranged in this way: Havelok was to be the merchant, and we hispartners in the venture, trading with the goods in the ship as our own.That the owner, who was also ship master, had agreed to willinglyenough, as we promised to make good any loss that might be from our wantof skill in bargaining. One may say that we bought the cargo, which wasnot a great one, on our own risk, therefore, hiring the vessel to waitour needs, in case we found it better to fly or to land elsewherepresently. Then Havelok was to ask the jarl's leave to trade in theland, and so find a chance to speak with him in private. After that thegoods might be an excuse for going far and wide through the villages tolet men know who had come, without rousing Hodulf's fears.

  And as we thought of all this on the voyage, Goldberga remembered thatit was likely that Sigurd would know again the ring that had been thequeen's, and she said that it had better be shown him at once, that hemight begin to suspect who his guest was. For we knew that he was trueto the son of Gunnar, if none else might still be so.

  This seemed good to us all; and, indeed, everything seemed to be wellplanned, though we knew that there are always some happenings that havebeen overlooked. We thought we had provided against these by keeping theship as our own to wait for us, however, and it will be seen how it allworked out in the end.

  Now Havelok went ashore as soon as the ship was moored; and the momentthat he touched land he made a sign on his breast, and I think that itwas not that of the hammer of Thor, for Goldberga watched him withbright eyes, and she seemed content as she did so. He went at once towhere the jarl sat on his horse waiting him, and greetings passed. I wasso used to seeing men stare at my brother that I thought little of thelong look that Sigurd gave him; but presently it seemed that he wasmightily taken with this newcomer, for he came on board the ship, thathe might speak more with him and us.

  "Presently," he said, "you must come and dine with me at my hall; forthe lady whom I saw as you came in will be weary, and a meal on shoreafter a long voyage is ever pleasant. Now what is your errand here?"

  "Trading, jarl," answered Havelok.

  "I thought you somewhat over warlike-looking for a merchant," saidSigurd; "what is your merchandise?"

  "Lincoln cloth, and bar iron, and such like; and with it all one thingthat is worth showing to you, jarl, for I will sell it to none butyourself."

  Now we went aft slowly, and presently Havelok and the jarl were alone bythe steering oar, by design on our part.

  "This seems to be somewhat special," said Sigurd. "What is it?"

  Havelok took the ring from his pouch, and set it in the jarl's handwithout a word; and long Sigurd looked at it. I saw the red on his cheekdeepen as he did so, but he said never a word for a long time. And nexthe looked at Havelok, and the eyes of these two met.

  "This is beyond price," said the jarl slowly. "Not my whole town wouldbuy this. It is such as a queen might wear and be proud of."

  "Should I show it to Hodulf the king, therefore?" asked Havelok, withhis eyes on those of the jarl.

  "Let no man see it until I know if I can buy it," answered Sigurd."Trust it to my keeping, if you will, for I would have it valued maybe."

  "It is my wife's, and you must ask her that."

  Then Havelok called Goldberga from her cabin under the after deck, andthe jarl greeted her in most courtly wise.

  "I will trust it with you, Jarl Sigurd," she said, when he asked her ifhe might keep the ring for a time. "Yet it is a great trust, as youknow, and it will be well to show the ring to none but men who are true."

  "It is to true men that I would show it," he answered, with that lookthat had passed between him and Havelok already; and I was sure that heknew now pretty certainly who we were. Yet he could not say more at thistime, for the many men who waited for Havelok must be told somewhat ofhis coming first.

  Now men were gathering on the wharf to see the newcomers, and so thejarl spoke openly for all to hear.

  "Come up to my hall, all of you, and take a meal ashore with me; forgood is the first food on dry land after days at sea and the fare of theship."

  So he went across the gangway, and to his horse, and rode away quickly,calling back to us, "Hasten, for we wait for you. And I will find youlodgings in the town for the time that you bide with us."

  Now at first that seemed somewhat hazardous, for we had meant to stay inthe ship, lest we should have to fly for any reason suddenly. But itseemed that we had no choice but to do as he bade us, and we could notdoubt him in any way. We should go armed, of course, as in a strangeplace; and, after all, unless Hodulf heard of us, and wanted to see us,he was not to be feared as yet. So I fell to wondering where ourlodgings would he, and if the old families still dwelt in the housesthat I had known, and then who had ours. Many such thoughts wil
l crowdinto the mind of one who sees his old land again after many years, andfinds naught changed, to the eye at least.

  Men have told me that, as we came into the hall presently, they thoughtus the most goodly company that had ever crossed its threshold; and thatis likely, for at our head were Havelok and Goldberga. Raven was amighty warrior to look on as he came next, grave and silent, withfar-seeing grey eyes that were full of watching, as it were, from hislong seafaring, and yet had the seaman's ready smile in them. AndWithelm was the pattern of a well-made youth who has his strength yet togather, and already knows how to make the best use of that he has. Therewere none but thought that he was the most handsome of the three sons ofGrim. And last came I, and I am big enough, at least, to stand atHavelok's back; and for the rest, one remembers what Eglaf said of me.But I do not think that any