FAREWELL TO DUBLIN.
Biorn and the vikings crowded around, as he deciphered the scratches,
for they were unable to read Runic, which was more like shorthand
than anything else. A cry of dismay burst from Sigurd.
"Listen, men! 'Ketil bears me to England! Rescue, Sigurd!' Come,
men, to the palace!"
"To the palace! To the palace!" They echoed his words, and the
terrible Jomsborg battle-yell startled the sleeping town, and pealed
up to the castle.
"Bring Thorir Klakke, but harm him not," commanded Sigurd, "while I
arouse the king."
Olaf, however, was already up, wakened by the tumult. Sword in hand,
he entered the great hall just as Sigurd burst in at the other end.
"What means this uproar?" roared Olaf, his eyes blazing with anger.
"Justice and vengeance, King!" panted Sigurd, as he handed Olaf the
bit of wood. Sheathing his weapon with a frown, Olaf took the
object, and by the light of the torches read the message.
"What means it?"
"Astrid of Vendland is kidnaped, Olaf, and I was set upon by three
men in the streets. One I killed, and he was a man of Thorir
Klakke's--stay, here is Thorir now."
Biorn and two vikings entered the hall behind Sigurd, leading the
terrified Thorir. Olaf, grasping the whole situation, strode up and
thundered in the merchant's ear:
"What means this night's work? Where is your brother?"
Thorir stammered out, "Indeed, my lord, I know not. Is he not in his
rooms?" Then, growing bolder, "Am I accountable for Ketil's doings,
Olaf? What mean you?"
Olaf looked into the man's eyes a moment, and before that terrible
gaze Thorir squirmed helplessly, but did not weaken. "Begone to your
rooms!" said the King, contemptuously, and turned abruptly to Sigurd.
"Now tell me the tale in full."
Sigurd told him of the attack, of the flight of the ship, and of
Astrid's cry, in a few words. "I sent men to her rooms," he
concluded. "Here they come now."
Close on his words the men entered, with them Queen Gyda and some of
her ladies. Queen Gyda, who had learned the cause of the tumult from
the vikings, told how a messenger had summoned Astrid an hour before,
saying that Sigurd was hurt in a brawl, and how the girl had run out
hastily.
"Come with me, quickly," ordered the King, and Sigurd followed him to
the ramparts of the castle. The dawn was just breaking, and far out
at sea they saw a speck of white.
"With Thorir I will deal later, for we have no proof against him as
yet," said the King, "but that man yonder has dishonored me, and
shall die. Fairhair, take what men you will from my courtmen, and
the 'Crane,' the fastest longship in the harbor. Ketil has taken his
brother's ship, so you should soon come up with him. The 'Crane' is
in the water, and is well provisioned; so hasten--be off within the
hour."
"Thanks, Olaf!" replied Sigurd. "I was about to ask this very thing
of you. I will take my own men and thirty of yours. Thanks, for all
your kindness, and above all for your friendship, Olaf!"
The King smiled sadly. "I have few friends, Sigurd, and methinks you
are the most faithful of them, though the newest. No, go with God,
and forget him not, for it is still the season of storms."
As Sigurd turned away, the King stopped him with a sudden impulse.
"Stay! Give me your hands." Wondering, Sigurd put his hands between
Olaf's. "Now swear again your oath to me, Jarl Sigurd!"
The boy, overcome by this unexpected title and honor, stumbled
through the oath, and rose with tears in his eyes.
"I need no oath to be faithful, King Olaf! When you have won Norway,
the title of friend is all I want."
Quick tears sprang to Olaf's eyes also, and unbuckling his
sword-belt, he threw it over Sigurd's shoulders, saying, "I have no
earldoms yet, but here is my Jarl-gift, my friend. Farewell!"
Sigurd wrung the King's hand, then turned and ran down the stairway
to the courtyard. Hastily assembling his men, and choosing thirty
from Olaf's followers, he sent them down to the "Crane" with Biorn,
and followed them himself a few minutes later, after bidding Ulf
farewell. The captain would have accompanied him, but Olaf was
sending him on a mission to an Irish king in the interior.
The "Crane," as Olaf had said, was well stocked with all things
needful for a voyage; so, weighing anchor, the sail was run up and
the voyage begun. As they left the harbor, Sigurd told his men of
his advancement, and it was greeted with a shout of satisfaction; for
the Jomsvikings were proud of their young leader, and the other men
had heard many tales of his bravery. Indeed, even though the title
carried no lands, it was the ambition of every chief of good birth to
be made Jarl, or Earl, for the Jarls were second only to the King.
The oars were run out, for the wind was light, and under all speed
the "Crane" ran southward. Ketil's ship was out of sight, but his
goal was known, and Sigurd was confident that he would overtake the
other ship before night.
"Why, think you, is he heading for England instead of for Norway?"
Sigurd asked old Biorn.
The latter paused a moment. "Well, Jarl Sigurd, it is in my mind
that Ketil is a cunning man. If he took Astrid to Norway, he would
make nothing; but by taking her to England, much. King Ethelred
would pay high for such a hostage from King Svein of Denmark."
"Oh, I see! Then she will not be harmed?"
"Assuredly not, Jarl, at least till she reaches England, which I
trust will never be. Ethelred is as treacherous as Hakon himself,
and if she once falls into his clutches it would be a bad business."
They did not come up with Ketil's ship so soon as Sigurd expected,
for not till mid-afternoon did the helmsman give a shout, and Sigurd,
running to the forecastle, saw a white speck far ahead.
"Lower the sail," he ordered, "and get out all the oars," for until
then only half the oars had been going, to save the men's strength.
"We cannot come up with them to-day," he explained, "so it were best
to let Ketil think himself safe."
So the sail was lowered and the "Crane" proceeded under her oars till
nightfall, when the sail was hoisted again and the oars taken in.
The wind freshened toward midnight, when Sigurd relinquished the
watch to Biorn, and at dawn he was aroused by the old viking.
"Come, Jarl! A squall from the west has broken on us, and it is
daybreak."
Sigurd followed him to the deck. There he found the sail
close-reefed, and the "Crane" running before a squall of wind and
driving snow. There was nothing to be done, however, save to await
the sunrise.
As full day broke, but dark and gloomy, with flurries of snow, a
shout went up, for not half a mile distant lay Ketil's ship, also
running before the wind.
"Shake out the reefs, men! We may as well take chances, and make
sure of her."
Biorn stopped him, however, and pointing ahead, showed Sigurd a dull
gray line. "England, Jarl, or Wales, rather! It would be useless to
try to board Ketil in this heavy sea; the ships would be smashed to
kindling-wood."
Sigurd reluctantly acknowledged that the old viking was right, so he
contented himself with following the other ship, while with every
hour the Welsh coast grew plainer ahead of them. The sky cleared
off, but the sea was still running too high for any attempt at
boarding.
"I know where we are, Jarl," called out the helmsman. "Do you
remember that great headland, Biorn?"
"That I do," exclaimed the viking. "See how the coast falls away
there, Sigurd? That is Wales, where live my own people, and we are
entering a great firth which goes far up into the country, and on the
right is the Saxon kingdom of Wessex. I recall it well. Six years
ago we sailed up and plundered a town they call Bristol. It must be
that Ketil means to land along the Saxon coast."
Sigurd gazed with interest on the lofty cliffs, but soon they turned
the last headland, and Ketil pointed his ship due east. Sigurd saw
that they were indeed in a great firth; the "Crane" easily held her
own with the fleeing ship, but did not approach closer.
"If they succeed in getting ashore, whither would they take the Lady
Astrid, think you?" inquired Sigurd.
"To King Ethelred, doubtless," answered Biorn, "at London, in the
east. However, they cannot escape us now."
"Arm yourselves, men!" ordered Sigurd, a little later, "the sea is
falling fast, and we will run aboard."
Ketil, however, saw this also, and evidently resolved to take no
chances, for he turned in toward the coast, plying his oars
desperately. The two ships, a quarter of a mile apart, drew into the
coast and ran along the low shores.
Suddenly Biorn gave a cry of fury. "He will escape us yet!" Ketil's
ship, just beyond a headland, was turned in toward the shore. The
helmsman turned the "Crane" and the sail was run down as the other
ship disappeared. Under all her oars, the "Crane" darted ahead, and
there before them lay the ship of Ketil, while the crew were leaping
out. A band of armed men from the town above ran down and met Ketil.
Sigurd did not wait to see the meeting, but as the "Crane" scraped on
the sand and ice he leaped overboard, followed by Biorn, and waded
ashore. Amid Ketil's party Sigurd had seen the flutter of a dress,
and he knew there was little use searching the other ship, so he
dashed up the hill. Suddenly, however, a flight of arrows fell among
Sigurd's men, and the shout rose of "Death to the sea-wolves!"
Sigurd, with Biorn and another man, was far ahead of the rest,
running at top speed. As the sudden attack was made, a number of
Saxons sprang out from ambush and surrounded the three.