come."
"Havelok Grimsson of Grimsby men call me," he said.
And then men knew who he was indeed, for little by little the secret hadbeen pieced together, if not told from the king's place, in the yearsthat had passed. And at that there rose and grew a murmur and a cry.
"Havelok, son of Gunnar! Havelok the king!"
Then said Sigurd in a great voice, "Who is for Hodulf of us all? Let noman go hence who is for him."
And I saw two or three men cut down then and there, and after that therewas a roar of voices that called for Havelok to lead them.
"Come down, lord," said Sigurd, unhelming and looking up.
So we went from the tower, and round Havelok the men crowded, kissinghis hand and asking pardon for what they had wrought in error; andSigurd dismounted and knelt before him, holding forth his sword hilt intoken of homage, that his king might touch it.
"Only Havelok son of Gunnar dares call himself son of Grim also, and inthat word all the tale is told. But I have known you from the first bythe token of the ring and by this likeness. Yet I waited for you tospeak, and for the time that should be best; and now that has come ofitself, and I am glad."
So said Sigurd, as we went from the tower to the hall, with the townsmenat our heels in a wondering crowd. There were many among them who wouldshow the wounds that Havelok had given them with pride hereafter, astokens that they had known him well.
Then we stayed on the steps of the hall door, and the jarl called outman by man, and the war arrow was put in their hands with the names ofthose men who waited for the coming of Havelok, that all through thenight the message that should bring him a mighty host on the morrowshould go far and wide.
And the gathering word was, "Come, for the horn of the king is sounding."
Then Sigurd said, "Speak to the people, my king, and all is done."
So Havelok smiled, and lifted his voice, and spoke.
"Stand by me, friends, as steadfastly as you have fought against me, andI shall be well content. And see, here is the queen for whom you willfight also. There is not one of you but will play the man under her eyes."
Not many words or crafty, but men saw his face, and heard that which wasin the voice, and they needed no word of reward to come, but shouted aswe had shouted when the bride came home to Grimsby, and I thought thatwith the shout the throne of Hodulf was rocking.
CHAPTER XX. THE OWNING OF THE HEIR.
Worn out we were with that long fight, and we all had some small wounds--not much worth speaking of; and when these were seen to, we slept.Only my brother Raven waked, and he sat through all the rest of theshort night on the high place, with his sword across his knees,watching, for he blamed himself, overmuch as we all thought, for thehappenings of the attack.
"Trouble not, brother, for we were in the keeping of Biorn, and he couldnot have dreamt that foes could follow us over seas. It was not for youto be on guard."
These were Withelm's words, but for once Raven did not heed them.
"Would Grim, our father, have slept with a lee shore under him, leavinga stranger to keep watch? That is not how he taught me my duty; and Ihave been careless, and I know it. I should have thought of Griffin whenI saw the ship come in."
So he had his way, and the last that I saw ere my eyes closed was hisstern form guarding us; and when I woke he was yet there, motionless,with far-off eyes that noted the little movement that I made, andglanced at me to see that all was well.
In the grey of the morning the first of the chiefs to whom the arrow hadsped began to come in; but the jarl would not have Havelok waked, for hewas greatly troubled at the little wounds that had befallen thislong-waited guest. So the chiefs gathered very silently in the greathall, and sat waiting while the light broadened and shone, gleam bygleam, on their bright arms and anxious faces. It was not possible forthose who had not yet seen Havelok to be all so sure that it was indeedhe. They longed to see him, and to know him for the very son of Gunnarfor themselves.
Presently there were maybe twenty chiefs in the hall--men who hadfought beside Kirkeban, and men who had been boys with Havelok, and somewho had known his grandfather--and the jarl thought that it was timethat they had the surety that they needed, for time went on, and therewas certainty that Hodulf must hear of all this morning. One could notexpect that no man would earn reward by warning him.
So Sigurd went softly to the place where Havelok lay in the little guestchamber that opened out of the inner room that was the jarl's own, andhe slid the boards that closed it apart gently and looked in to wakehim. But instead of doing that, he came back to the hall and beckonedthe chiefs, and they rose and followed him silently. And when they wentRaven went also, without a word, that he might be near his charge whilethese many strangers spoke with him.
Now Sigurd stood at the spot where the little shifting of the slidingboard made it possible to see within the chamber, and one by one thechiefs came and peered through the chink for a moment, and stood asidefor the next. And it was wondrous to see how each man went and lookedwith doubt or wonder or just carelessly, and then turned away with agreat light of joy on his face and a new life in the whole turn and swayof the body.
It was dark in the chamber, save for the dim spaces under the eaves thatlet in the sweet air from the sea to the sleepers. But from somewherealoft, where the timbering of the upper walls toward the east hadshrunk, so that there was a little hole that faced the newly-risen sun,came the long shaft of a sunbeam that pierced the darkness like aglorious spear, and lit on the mighty shoulder of Havelok that lay bareof covering, and on the white hand of Goldberga that was across it. Andon the one they saw the crimson bent-armed cross that was the mark ofthe line whence he and his father had sprung, and on the other glowedand flashed the blood-red stone of the ring of Eleyn the queen. Andround that circle of sunshine was light enough for the chiefs to seethose two noble faces, and they were content.
"Gunnar's son," said one old chief: "but were he only the son of Grim,for those twain would I die."
So the warriors crept back to the hall silently as they had come; andnow they went out to their men and told them that all doubt had gone,and along the road that led to Hodulf's town the jarl sent mounted mento watch for his coming. And always fresh men were pouring in, and amongthem went the chiefs who had seen Havelok, and told them the news.
Now it was not long before there was a gathering of all the chiefs inthe hall of Sigurd, that they might break their fast, and then they sawHavelok as he led in the princess to meet them. He stood on the highplace in his arms, and a shout of greeting went up; and when it wasover, Sigurd asked him to tell all that had happened to him; and he didthat in as few words as might be, for he was no great speaker, thoughwhat he did say was always to the point, and left little to be asked.
And when he had ended, there rose up a grey-headed old chief, and said,"Give this warrior the horn of Gunnar, that we may hear him wind it. Iwould not say that unless I were sure that he was the right man to have it."
Now I stood beside Havelok, and while Sigurd went from the hall to sometreasure chamber to get this that had been asked for, I said to him,"Mind you the day when we met Ragnar. and a call came into your dream?Wind that call now; for, if I am not wrong, it will be welcome to thosewho knew your father."
"I mind the day but not the call. I have never remembered it since," hesaid, and I was sorry.
Sigurd brought the horn, and it was a wondrous one, golden and heavy. Itseemed to be a hunting horn, not very long, and little curved, but fromend to end it was wrought with strange figures of men and beasts inrings that ran round it.
"Have you seen this before?" asked Sigurd wistfully, and looking intoHavelok's face as he gave it into his hand.
One could feel that men waited his answer, and it came slowly.
"Ay, friend, I am sure that I have, but I cannot yet say when or where.I am sure that it is not the first time that I have had it in my hand."
And as he said this, Havelok's face flushed a little, a
nd his browwrinkled as if he tried to bring back the things of that which he hadthought his dream for so long.
It would seem that in the years there had grown up a tale that this wasa magic horn, which none but the very son of Gunnar could wind, and tothe chiefs who saw Havelok now for the first time this was a test toprove him. But all knew that the words he spoke of it were proof enough,for a pretender would have said plainly that it had been Gunnar's, andthat he knew it. I think that Sigurd was wise in what he did next, forhe set another horn in my brother's hand, and asked him the samequestion; and at this Havelok looked for a moment and shook his head.
"I have not seen that one before, nor one like it. I am sure that I haveseen this, or its fellow."
At that the faces that watched brightened, for there was no doubt in theway that Havelok spoke; and then the old chief who had asked for thehorn said, "That--'The horn of the
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