king is sounding'--was thegathering word of the night that has brought us here, and long have wewaited for it. Let Havelok wind his father's horn, that we may hear itonce again."
Then Havelok set it to his lips, and at once the call that he hadremembered came back to him, and clear and sweet and full of longing itsstrange notes rang under the arched roof, unfaltering until the last;and then over him came the full remembrance of all that it had been tohim, and he turned away from the many eyes and sank on the high seat,and set his head in his arms on the table, that men might not see thathe needs must weep; and Goldberga stepped a little before him, and sether hand on his, for I think that she knew the loneliness that came on him.
Yet he was not alone in his sorrow, for down in the hall were men towhom the lost call brought back the memory of a bright young king ridingto his home, and calling the son whom he loved with the call that he hadmade for him alone; and they saw the fair child running from the hall,and the mother following more slowly with smiles of welcome; and theysaw the grim courtmen, who looked on and were glad; and they minded howthey had lifted the boy to the war saddle; and their eyes grew hot withtears also, and they had no need to be ashamed.
And as men stood motionless, with the last notes of the wild horn yetringing in their ears, there drifted a shadow across the days, and, lo!beside Havelok, with his hand on his shoulder, stood the form of Gunnarthe king for a long moment, bright as any one of us who lived, in themorning sunlight, and his face was full of joy and of hope and promisefor the time to come. And then he passed, but as he faded from us hishand was on the hand of Goldberga that clasped her husband's, as thoughhe would wed them afresh there on the high place of his friend's hall.
Now there went a sigh of wonder among the chiefs, and Havelok looked upas if he followed the going of one whom he would not lose, and I knowthat he saw Gunnar after he was unseen to us.
"Surely," he said, "surely that was my father who was here?"
And Sigurd answered, "With your own call you called him, and he was here."
But now the last lurking doubt was gone, and there was no more delay,for the chiefs crowded with shouts of joy to the high place, and theyknelt to Havelok and hailed him as king then and there; and so they ledhim to the great door of the hall, and the mightiest of them raised himhigh on a wide shield before all the freemen who waited on the greenthat is round the jarl's house, and they cried, "Skoal to Havelok the king!"
And there was in answer the most stirring shout that a man may hear--the shout of a host that hail the one for whom they are content to die.
That was the first day of the reign of Havelok the king; and now therewere two kings in the land, and one was loved as few have been loved,and the other was hated. And one was weak in men, as yet, while theother was strong.
Now Sigurd bade all those who were present gather in solemn Thing, thatthey might make Havelok king indeed; and that was a gathering of all thebest in our quarter of the land, so that all would uphold what they haddone. And when they were gathered in the great hall in due order, thedoors were set wide open, and outside the freemen who followed thechiefs sat in silence to see what they might and hear.
Then swore Havelok to keep the ancient laws and customs, and to doeven-handed justice to all men, and to be bound by all else that a goodking should hold by. Sometimes these oaths are not kept as well as theymight be, but I was certain that here was one who would keep them.
Thereafter Sigurd brought forth a crown that he had had made hastily byhis craftsmen from two gold arm rings, and they set it on Havelok'shead, and hailed him as king indeed; and one by one the chiefs came andswore all fealty to him, beginning with Sigurd, and ending with a boy ofsome seventeen winters, who looked at the king he bent before as thoughhe was Thor himself.
Then they would have had Havelok forth to the people at once; but hebade them hearken for a moment, and said, taking Goldberga by the hand,"Were it not for this my wife, I do not think that I had been heretoday, and without her I am nothing. Now I am king by your word, and Ithink that I might bid you take her as queen. But I had rather that shewas made queen by your word also, that whither I live or fall in thestrife that is to come, you may fight for her."
At that there was a murmur of praise, and all agreed that she should becrowned at once. So Havelok set the crown on her head while the chiefsin one voice swore to uphold her through good and ill, as though shewere Havelok himself.
Then said Havelok, "Now have you taken her for queen for her own sake,and I will tell you a thing that has not been heard here as yet. On thisthrone sits the queen of two lands, and there shall come a day when youand I shall set your lady on that other throne which is hers by right.King's daughter she is, for Ethelwald of the East Angles was her father,and out of her right has she been kept by Alsi of Lindsey, her evilkinsman."
At that men were glad, for great is the magic of kingly descent. Andthereupon that old warrior who had bidden Havelok sound the horn said,"We have heard of Ethelwald the good king, and of this Alsi moreover,and we know men who have seen both, and also Orwenna, the mother of ourown queen here. I followed your father across the seas in the old days,and I seem to hear his voice again as you speak to us. And I saw him--ay, I saw him yonder even now, and I am content. When the time comesthat for the sake of Goldberga you will gather a host and cross the'swan's path,' I will not hold back, if you will have me."
There was spoken the mind of all that company, and they were notbackward to say so. For in the heart of the Dane is ever the love of thesea, and of the clash of arms on a far-off strand that comes afterbattle with wind and wave.
Very bravely did Goldberga thank the chiefs for their love to herhusband and herself in a few words that were all that were needed tobind the hearers to her, so well and truly were they chosen. And shesaid that if the Anglian land was to be won it was for Havelok and notfor herself altogether, and she added, "Here we have spoken as ifalready Hodulf was overthrown, and it is good that we are in such braveheart. Yet this has been foretold to me, and I am sure that there willbe no mishap."
Then Sigurd said, "What gift do we give our queen, now that she has comeamong us?"
But Goldberga replied, "If it is the custom that one shall be given, Iwill mind you of the promise hereafter, when Anglia is won, and you andI are Havelok's upholders on that throne. There is one thing that I willask then, that a wrong may be righted."
"Nay, but we will give you some gift now, and then you shall ask whatyou will also."
"You have given me more than I dared hope," she said, "even the bravehearts and hands that have hailed us here. I can ask no more. Onlypromise to give me one boon when I need it, and I am happy."
Then they said, "What you will, and when you will, Goldberga, the queen.There is naught that you will ask amiss."
Now they showed Havelok to the warriors as crowned king, and I need nottell how he was greeted. And after that we all went back into the hallto speak of the way in which we were to meet Hodulf.
Havelok would have a message sent to him, bidding him give up the landin peace.
"It may be that thus we shall save the sadness of fighting our ownpeople, though, indeed, they love the playground of Hodulf. He is anoutlander, and perhaps he may think well to make terms with us."
Some said that it was of no use, but then Havelok answered that even soit was good to send a challenge to him.
"For the sake of peace we will do this, though I would rather meet himin open fight, for I have my father to avenge."
Now I rose up and said, "Let me go and speak with him, taking Withelm asmy counsellor. For I know all the story, and that will make him surethat he has the right man to fight against. I will speak with him inopen hall, and more than he shall learn how he thought to slay Havelok."
All thought that this was good, and I was to go at once. It was but afew hours' ride, as has been said, to his town, and the matter was aswell done with.
So they gave me a guard of twenty of the jarl's courtmen, and in half anhour I
was riding northward on my errand. And to say the truth I did notknow if it was certain that I should come back, for Hodulf was hardly tobe trusted.
I did wait to break my fast, and that was all, for I had no mind tospend the night on the road back from the talk that I should have had;but though I wasted so little time, the people were already beginning toprepare for rejoicing in their own way with games of all sorts and withfeasting in the open. I saw, as we rode down the street, the piles offirewood that were to roast oxen whole, and near them were the buttsthat held ale for all comers. There were men who set up the marks forthe archers, and others who staked out the rings for the wrestling andsword play. And as we left the town we met two men who led a great brownbear by a ring in his nose, for the baiting. I was sorry for the poorbeast, but the men called him "Hodulf," already, and I thought that agood
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