THE EVIL SPIRIT ON "THE SWORD."
Through one day more the western gale blew furiously and _The Sword_
was driven before it, for none on board cared for any better steering.
Many vessels were seen from time to time, but all were too busy caring
for themselves to pay overmuch attention to a trireme that might be
fighting the storm as they were. The vikings were at ease concerning
the weather, but they grumbled much that the tossing and pitching of
their ship prevented them from making fires wherewith to roast their
beef or to broil their fish. On board their Roman keel they had found
gratings of iron for cooking, better than any of their North making.
These gratings were wide, upheld by iron feet, and under them were
slabs of stone to receive ashes and cinders. Fire would remain upon
them well in any ordinary weather, but in such as this the brands and
coals might be cast hither and thither. It was not even a time for the
telling of sagas nor for the lyre of Lysias, and again the men grew
moody and sullen.
The night returned, and Ulric kept the helm through all its watches,
for a heavy weight was on his mind and he had heard from Ben Ezra
concerning the evil spirit. "I would I could slay a demon," he had
answered, "but of what good is a spear for an enemy thou canst not see?
It were almost as if one fought with a god. I have thought I would like
to fight with one, but not with Thor or Odin nor with thy Jehovah."
"They who contend with him are broken," replied the Jew, "but I tell
thee we are far on our way. I think we are not far from Cyprus. We
might safely land in one of the havens of that island."
"We might meet a Roman fleet," said Ulric.
"They have none in these waters," said Ben Ezra. "Their merchant ships
of any consequence go and come in squadrons, well protected, and they
have driven out all pirates. They will not be watching, I think, for
the coming of such as thou art."
"We now are late in the season," replied Ulric. "I had thought to have
reached this water before any other keel from the North. We know not
what may have called upon the Romans for watching. I am thinking that
when this wind abateth I must find the men somewhat to occupy them."
"An evil spirit is a busy one," said Ben Ezra. "All thine would find
enough to do in Cyprus."
Afterward many of the men came to the jarl with questionings, and also
to the Jew and to Lysias. These were looked upon with more favor for
the time, for it was said that they might have some worth for piloting.
A night and a day and a night went by and now the waters were again
quieted. They were even too still, for the rowers had to be sent to the
oars, and the sun looked down upon them with fervent heat, making their
toil burdensome. Once more the ship was floating upon an even keel and
the men speedily bethought them of the fire gratings. Twain of the fat
cattle were butchered, and the jarl thought well of it, that the men
might be kept in good humor. The fires were lighted, and casks of ale
were opened, but the evil spirit was, nevertheless, making himself busy
among the hearts of the men.
In the trireme _The Sword_ itself, when she was captured, there had
been a few skins of wine, but it had been red and sour and the vikings
liked it not. Such as it was it had long since been consumed. In the
spoil of the burned trireme, however, and hardly noticed at the first,
there had been found many wine skins. All had been taken with care, and
now one of them was opened to find out what it might be.
"Dark and sweet and good!" exclaimed Vebba, the son of Uric. "I will
bear a horn of it to the jarl."
Large was the drinking horn, and he filled it to the brim. Sparkles
arose upon the surface of the wine, and it seemed to laugh, as if the
evil spirit which lived in it were accomplishing his purpose.
"It is strong," said Ben Ezra. "Drink it not, O jarl, for the demon of
wine is thine enemy."
But he was too late, for the son of Brander drained the drinking horn
as if it had held naught but ale. He felt it from his head to his feet,
as if it had been poured upon a fire that was burning within him, and
he stood erect, straightening himself and clinching his hands.
"Bring me another horn of it," he said.
"That thou shalt not do," commanded Ben Ezra, sternly. "Thou art the
captain. I bid thee drink no more, lest thou lose thy life and thy
vessel. The demon is upon thee, O jarl! Resist him, or he will bind
thee hand and foot."
Then remembered Ulric a saying of his father and of Hilda, and it was
as if he had heard her voice saying: "Son of Odin, beware of the dark
wine of the south lands, for in it is death."
"Bring me no more," he said to Vebba, "and let the wine skins be cast
into the sea."
But the demon had been very busy and from lip to lip had already passed
the goblets and the drinking horns. They had been emptied only to be
quickly filled again, and now the Saxons of Sigurd shouted:
"Haha! O jarl! Thou wouldst rob us of our feast? We will show thee a
thing."
Sigurd himself went among them, but to him, also, they paid no heed,
and he came back again.
"I am sleepy," said Ulric. "Wulf the Skater, these three nights I have
wakened. I will lie down for a while. Take the helm."
Then came Tostig the Red and Knud the Bear and four other Saxons of the
house of Brander, and they sat down by Ulric, spear in hand, with their
axes lying by them. Lysias brought his bow and Ben Ezra closed the
visor of his brazen helmet.
"Trouble cometh," he said. "The heathen are full of wine and of the
thirst of blood."
There was no quarrel between twain of the vikings that were stepping
forth upon the fore deck, but they were berserkers, and their seaxes
were in their hands, for they were to fight without mail or shields.
Skin after skin of that dark, strong wine was opening, and the men
loved it, but they would see blood, they said, and the two berserkers
shouted as they fought.
"Both of them are down!" exclaimed Lysias. "Two more take their places.
O that the jarl were awake! But I cannot rouse him. Were the Romans to
come, we were all dead men."
Furious was now the drinking, and a man cast a spear at another without
cause, laughing to see him struggle and bleed.
"The evil spirit hath entered them all!" groaned Ben Ezra. "This is
that which I feared greatly. Every man's sword is against his neighbor."
Terrible was that fighting, for warriors who had lost all skill of
warding blows or parrying spear casts were still strong to throw or to
strike.
"Where is now this jarl of ours?" yelled a drunken viking. "We will see
if he be a son of Odin. We will slay him and then we may sail at our
pleasure. He hath ruled us with too hard a hand."
Steady and stern had indeed been the rule of the son of Brander, and
he had brooked no gainsaying, but he had been a prudent captain from
the first, and there were a full third of the men now to stand by him
in his peril. Would there had been more, for on both sides the slain
were many. Moreover, when a man went down that was quickly his end, on
whichever side he fought, for an enemy came to thrust him.
"Wake, son of Brander! Wake!" shouted Tostig in the ear of Ulric. "Call
thou upon Odin, thy father, and draw thy sword."
Waiting for no orders from any man, Lysias was sending his arrows, sure
and deep striking, calling out:
"With me be thou, O Apollo, god of the bow! With me, O Mars, god of
battles!"
But Ulric opened his eyes slowly and breathed hard. Then he sat up and
he saw the men fighting and the blood flowing.
"Odin!" he roared, in a voice they had not heard before; but the weapon
he lifted was his pole ax, and he rushed forward to the front of his
friends.
"I go with him," said Ben Ezra. "It may be his god hath come to help
him. Be with me, O Jehovah of strength!"
"We will guard thee at the helm," said Knud and Tostig to Wulf the
Skater. "This will be ended speedily. Look at the jarl!"
"He, too, hath a demon!" burst from the lips of Ben Ezra, as he saw
Ulric striking. "They go down before him like corn before the reaper."
Sigurd had been smitten to the deck by his own Saxons, and Ulric stood
over him with his ax until the son of Thorolf was hidden by corpses of
the slain.
Mad with wine and with the fever of the thirst of blood, the rebellious
vikings fought on, nor would they yield to the command of the son of
Brander.
"We will die!" they said. "But we will first slay thee. It is a feast
of swords."
"I would I could spare enough for rowers," said Ben Ezra, "but their
blood is on their own heads. The evil spirit destroyeth them."
"Thus endeth the cruise of _The Sword_!" said Ulric, sadly, when at
last he might pause for breath. "Save thee, O Ben Ezra, and Lysias,
and these few faithful, there are none living save some for whom the
valkyrias are calling. What shall we do? for thou art old. What shall
be the end of these things?"
But Tostig and Knud had watched the falling of Sigurd and they were
lifting from him the corpses.
"The sail is up," said Ben Ezra. "Steer eastward, for we may not do
aught else now than land in Syria. Thou and thine shall see Jerusalem."
"So be it!" said Ulric. "I think we are none of us wounded. I am not."
"Glad am I of that!" exclaimed Lysias. "I feared for thee in that
combat. But thou art of the heroes and Jove was thy keeper, with Mars
and Apollo."
"A feast of blood!" exclaimed Tostig as he lifted the body of Vebba,
the son of Uric, from Sigurd, the son of Thorolf. "The sea king is not
dead. He was but stunned."
Slowly arose the old warrior until he sat erect and looked around him.
"I saw them!" he said, huskily. "I saw the Nornir in the air above the
sail. I saw the valkyrias, but they looked sternly at me and passed by.
Why, I know not, for I fought well. Odin hath taken many this day. O
jarl, what doest thou?"
"Eastward!" said Ulric. "Canst thou stand upon thy feet?"
Tostig and Knud aided him, and they brought him a goblet of ale, for
wine he would not drink.
"It is well with me now," he said. "My helmet is cloven, but my skull
is safe. The ax of Vebba was heavy, but he will strike no more. Sad is
it that he and these are slain. Better had they fallen in a fight with
the Romans."
"Not so," said Ben Ezra, "for if some of them were living all we were
dead. Let us cast them into the sea."
Wulf the Skater had watched the clouds, and now he said:
"Ulric the Jarl, if thou wilt, they should be over the sides speedily,
for a wind cometh. We shall use no oars henceforth."
Sad work it was to cast so many forms of dead heroes into the sea, but
so had it been foredoomed by the Nornir, and there were some of the
wounded who died while the task went on.
Then Ulric sat down by the hammer of Thor and bowed his head, for his
heart was heavy.
"I can sing no song," he thought, "over such a fight as this. I think
it will now be long before I see the fiords and the hillsides of the
Northland. My fate hath changed for me in an hour, and I know not what
cometh. O Hilda, was this thy dark saying, that I understood not?"
No voice responded, nor any motion of the air, but he looked upward and
he saw birds that were flying eastward.
"So will I go," he muttered, "and they who are with me. There is too
much blood upon this keel. I would she were burned with fire, for I
hate her. The gods of the Romans have had their revenge upon me. I will
never again speak lightly of any gods, for they have ways of their own
and they are cunning. Who shall protect himself against an enemy whom
he cannot see?"
Well blew the wind, and there was little now to be done save to steer
and to rest. All ate and drank, and Ben Ezra seemed to love that dark,
strong wine, but he used it sparingly.
"It is made in my own land," he said, "but this came from a Greek
island, I think. There is good wine in Canaan. I would eat again of
the grapes and the pomegranates of Israel and Judah. O my son! That he
might have been with me! O my Rachel and my daughters and my firstborn
and his brethren! The curse of Jehovah be upon Rome forever! Amen!"
So the old Hebrew warrior wailed in the bitterness of his soul, and
_The Sword_ sprang on over the billows, bearing him to his own land,
but she was now no longer a warship.
"We will not count the days," said Ulric to Lysias. "We will speak to
none that we may pass."
"Pause not!" replied Lysias. "Thou hast thy life yet and I have mine. I
have it in my mind that I shall see my Sapphira. I have had a dream in
the night and she stood and beckoned me."
Ulric answered not, but that night he slept upon the deck dreaming, and
in the morning he thought about his dream also.
"Hilda was there," he said, standing at the helm looking across the
sea. "Behind her was the sun rising. Between her and the sun were many
warriors, heroes of the gods, armed for battle. There was blood on some
of them. But at the right hand of Hilda stood that dark and beautiful
one, and there were flowers in her hair, and the flowers were both red
and white."