ALFRED OF MERCIA.
They dashed down the hill, and in a few minutes were through the
trees and on the river bank. They found Biorn drawing up his men.
"Why, what's the matter, Biorn?"
"I am not sure, Jarl, but look up the ice yonder."
He pointed up the frozen bed of the little river, and Sigurd saw a
large party of armed men, pulling a sledge, running toward them.
Sigurd examined them for a minute.
"I don't think they mean to attack us, Biorn, or they would not have
that sledge. They look like Saxons, so best be ready."
By this time more men had arrived from the ships, and as the Saxons
approached, Sigurd saw that there were some fifty men in the party.
Finding the Northmen waiting, they stopped running, and one, better
dressed than the rest, in a bearskin mantle and helmet, hastened on.
As he came near, Astrid said, "Why, Sigurd, he isn't any older than
you are! And you were afraid of him!"
Sigurd made no reply save a smile, for, indeed, the Saxon was only a
youth, but a noble-looking one. Nearly as tall as Sigurd, he was not
so broad, but his face was frank, and attracted the young Jarl at
once.
"Are you Danes or Norsemen?" called the stranger.
"Norsemen," answered Sigurd, "and you are Saxons, I take it."
"Right you are," laughed the boy, with a glance over his shoulder.
"Are you plundering the country?"
"Nay," answered Sigurd. "We are Christians. Bid your men stand
back, for our arrows lie loosely on the strings."
The boy laughed again, as if it were a good joke, and turning, waved
to his men, who halted.
"Let me explain," he said. "I am Alfred, son of Jarl Alfric of
Mercia, and with me is Sigrid my sister. Briefly, we are flying from
the men of King Ethelred; will you assist us?"
Sigurd, suspecting a trap, looked keenly at the boy; but his gaze was
met squarely, and Sigurd's suspicions vanished. "Where is your
sister, and your pursuers?" he asked.
Alfred pointed to the sledge. "My sister is ill, and we have to
carry her." His face suddenly became serious. "Hasten your reply,
sir Norseman, for God's sake! The King's men are not half a mile
behind, and there are nigh three score of them, while half of mine
are wounded or sick."
Sigurd stepped out and gripped his hand. "No time for talking, then!
Take your sister and the sick or wounded men out to my ships, and let
all your fighting men join mine. Take charge of him, Astrid, and use
the boats quickly."
The boy called up his men, dividing them as Sigurd had ordered, and
joining the Norsemen with twenty Saxons.
"We will give Ethelred's men a sharp lesson, Biorn. Do you post the
men as you see fit."
A hundred yards up the river was a bend, and running toward this,
Biorn motioned the men to hide behind the dry bushes that stood along
the banks, while he ran forward to reconnoiter. A minute later he
returned at full speed.
"Here they are," he cried. "Pass the word to wait till they come
opposite, then loose arrows and at them with axes."
Barely had Biorn sunk out of sight when the pursuing party appeared,
three-score Saxons under two leaders. "Pick off the leaders, men,"
whispered Sigurd, and as the party came between the two bands of
Norsemen, Biorn's horn sounded, and a cloud of arrows poured into the
compact body of Saxons. At the same time the vikings seized their
swords and axes and ran forward.
The Saxons resisted bravely, but their leaders had fallen at the
first fire, and after a minute of sharp hand-to-hand fighting they
broke and fled.
Sigurd had headed his men, engaging a tall Saxon in single combat.
The other wounded Sigurd badly in the shoulder at the first exchange
of blows; and, dropping his shield, Sigurd grasped his great sword in
both hands and rushed his foe. At the first blow the other's
shield-arm fell, numb with the shock; at the second his sword flew
from his hand and he slipped on the ice, falling heavily.
Seeing that the enemy had broken, Sigurd paused and shouted:
"Back, men, back! We only want to give them a lesson, not to
slaughter them!"
His own men obeyed, but Alfred's Saxons drove on after the fugitives,
and Sigurd could hardly blame them. Then he turned to his foe; the
man lay looking up, awaiting the death stroke.
"Get up," exclaimed Sigurd with a laugh, "I am no murderer!"
With an amazed expression, the Saxon slowly got up, and then, seizing
Sigurd's hand in his, knelt and kissed it. "Thanks, lord," he said,
"you are the first who ever bested Wulf at the sword, and if you will
take him, he will serve you right well!"
Sigurd smiled, but faintly; and Biorn was just in time to catch him
in his arms. The wounded shoulder was streaming with blood, and he
had suddenly turned faint.
While Biorn held him and the other men crowded around, Wulf tore off
his woolen tunic and deftly bound up the wound, Biorn watching him
suspiciously; then, taking Sigurd's feet while Biorn tenderly held
his body, the two carried him back to the shore.
As they approached, Astrid ran up.
"Sigurd! Is Sigurd hurt?"
"It is nothing," replied Biorn, "only a wound in the shoulder. He'll
be all right in ten minutes."
Wulf, who had wounded the boy, now surprised Biorn by his tenderness.
Setting the boy with his back to an ice-hummock, he bathed his face
with snow, and Sigurd opened his eyes.
"Keep quiet," growled Biorn, as he struggled to rise, "I will attend
to the embarking, and you can rest for a space."
By the time the water casks were aboard Alfred and the Saxons had
returned, and the Saxon boy seemed genuinely sorry for his rescuer's
mishap. All then embarked, and Biorn divided the men between the two
ships.
On the "Crane" he took the Jomsvikings, Olaf's courtmen, and a dozen
Saxons; the Norse prisoners and thirty Saxons went on board the other
ship. In an hour the sails were hoisted, and the ships bore away
from the land, heading east.
Sigurd sat on the forecastle of the "Crane," Astrid and the two
Saxons near him. "Now tell me your story," said Sigurd, giving his
own name and Astrid's.
"Our father was the Jarl of Mercia," began Alfred, "but King Ethelred
has always been jealous of his popularity, and has persecuted him
unceasingly. Three weeks since a party of armed men appeared to
seize our father, but he fled to a Danish ship on the coast, and she
took him off. My elder brother Alfgar was taken and blinded."
Astrid and Sigurd gave a cry of horror, but Alfred smiled sadly.
"You do not know of what Ethelred is capable, my friends. In his
present condition Alfgar is unfit to become Jarl, thus being as good
as dead in the King's opinion.
"My father had barely time to send a man to warn us at Lincoln, and
we fled from home just in time to get to the fens and escape. Some
fourscore men, all devoted servants of my father, fled with us.
Twice Ethelred's men came upon us, and we beat them off, but wounds
and sickness thinned my men, and these are all I have left. Last
week Sigrid came down with fever, and we had to fly again; but this
time, thanks to you, we are safe. We will never forget that we owe
our lives to you, Jarl Sigurd!"
Astrid immediately took charge of the sick girl. Thanks to his
temperate life, Sigurd's wound promised to heal rapidly, and the man
Wulf proved invaluable. He had been educated in a monastery, and was
skilled in leech-craft, and seemed devoted to the boy Jarl.
"I thought to be killed at once," he told Sigurd, who had summoned
him. "You are the best swordsman, as well as the only merciful
viking, whom I ever met. My life is yours, Jarl, if so you will have
it." The man's words were so sincere that Sigurd accepted his offer
gladly, for he was an expert swordsman as well as leech, and could
both read and write, which was no small accomplishment.
A council was now held on the "Crane's" forecastle, to decide on what
course they should pursue. They finally came to the conclusion that
they would run south and cross to Flanders, where Alfred and Sigrid
would probably find their father. As soon as this course was fixed
on, Biorn took charge of the "Snake," as the other vessel was named,
transferring to her that evening.
It proved well, indeed, that he did so, for during the night a gale
swept down out of the northeast, and bore them helplessly before it.
The Saxons on the "Snake," most of whom had never been to sea before,
were of little use, and even Alfred was sick, though Sigrid escaped;
but there was nothing to do save to keep the ships before the wind.
It was bitterly cold, but as the Norsemen did not mind this much, and
the girls were well wrapped up, no one suffered greatly.
Sigurd had no fears for the two ships, for both were new and rode the
waves easily. The ships of the vikings could only sail with a fair
or a side wind, and as they would be driven far past Flanders unless
the gale broke up soon, the four discussed the situation that evening
in the "Crane's" cabin.
"We are certainly getting all the storms we want," laughed Sigurd to
Astrid, as he came in and shook off the snow. "Shall we take the
chances and head around for the southern end of England?"
"No!" cried Alfred. "Cannot we make for Normandy? There are many
vikings there, and it is settled by Norsemen."
Sigurd shook his head. "Not unless the wind shifts."
"I see," broke in Astrid, "that you are thinking about getting me
back home. I admit that I would like to see Vendland again, but why
don't you just take the simplest course, Sigurd, run before the wind,
then around England and back to King Olaf?"
"It sounds easy," laughed Sigurd, "and that is what I would do if I
were alone. But with you and Sigrid on board I don't like to take
unnecessary risks."
Sigrid laughed as Alfred, in the throes of seasickness, seized his
cloak and left the cabin. "Don't mind us, Jarl; head for Ireland by
all means!"
"Well," responded Sigurd, "we'll see how things look in the morning.
I'm going to turn in now and get some sleep."