On the next morning, as the red sun rose above the mist capped hills of
Rathsdale, Olaf was at work among his master's swine, cleaning out the
styes and filling them with new straw. As he worked he asked himself
who the tall man could be who had spoken with him last night upon the
beach, and he began to regret that he had told so much, believing now
that the stranger might be an enemy--perhaps even a spy of the wicked
Queen Gunnhild, who had so often sought to add to her own security by
clearing her path of all who had power to dispute her rights. Gunnhild
was a very wily woman, and it might well be that she had secretly
discovered the abiding place of the young son of King Triggvi, and that
she had sent this man into Esthonia to entrap him.
"Never again shall I be so free in telling my story to a stranger,"
said Olaf to himself. "Thorgils was wise to counsel me to keep secret
my kinship with Triggvi Olafson. When I am a man, and can fight my own
battles, then it will be time enough to lay claim to my father's realm;
and it may be that if I remain in thraldom till that time no one will
guess who I am. As a thrall, then, I must work, even though that work
be no better than the cleaning of my master's stables and pig
styes--Get back, you greedy grunter!"
This last command was addressed to a great bristly boar that brushed
past the boy and made its way to the bed of new straw. Olaf caught the
animal by its hind leg and struggled with it for a moment, until the
boar was thrown heavily on its side, squealing and kicking furiously.
Then three of the other pigs rushed forward, and one knocked against
the lad with such force that he fell on his knees. This made him very
angry, and he rose quickly to his feet and wrestled with the pigs,
driving them back with blows of his clenched hands. But the boar was
not easily turned. It stood stubbornly glaring at him with its small
bloodshot eyes, then suddenly charged at him with a savage roar. Olaf
leapt up, but too slowly, for his left foot was caught by the boar's
high back, and he rolled over in the mire. And now his wrath got the
better of him, and he leapt at the boar with a wild cry, seizing its
ears in his two hands. Then they struggled together for many minutes,
now rolling over, now breaking asunder and again returning to the
charge. But at last Olaf gained the mastery, and his adversary lay
panting and exhausted on the coveted straw. Olaf sat upon the animal's
side with his bare foot upon its snout. His arm was bleeding, and there
was a long scratch upon his cheek. But he did not heed his wounds, for
he had conquered.
As he sat thus a shadow moved across the yellow straw. He raised his
eyes, and beheld the faces of two men, who looked down upon him from
over the barrier of the pig sty. One of the men was his master, Reas.
The other he quickly recognized as the tall man who had spoken with him
last night. Sigurd Erikson was seated on a beautiful white horse, and
he was arrayed as for a long journey.
"This is the boy you mean," said Reas, as Olaf rose and went on with
his work--"an ill favoured loon you will think him. But had I expected
you I should have seen that he had been well washed and decently
clothed. If you would have him for hard labour, however, he is at least
strong, and I will warrant you that he is healthy, and has no bodily
faults. It may be that he is a little wild and wilful, but you can tame
him, and a sound flogging will do him no harm, as I have ofttimes
found. What price do you offer for him, hersir?"
Olaf looked up in anxious surprise, wondering if in truth the stranger
had come to buy him, so that he might carry him off to the wicked Queen
Gunnhild.
"I will give you two silver marks for him," said Sigurd, "and that is
the value of a full grown man slave."
Reas demurred, looking at Olaf as if regretting that the lad was not
more presentable.
"No," he said at last. "You will not find such a thrall as he in every
day's march. If he were but a little cleaner you would see that he is a
very pretty boy. Look at his eyes--keen as a young snake's! Why, no
woman's eyes are more beautiful! Look at his skin, there where his
kirtle is torn. Is it not fair? And he is skilled in many feats. My own
son Rekoni is not more clever than he. He can run for half a day
without being wearied. He can climb the highest pine tree in
Rathsdale--as he did last seed time to harry a bluejay's nest; and no
seamew can swim more lightly on the water."
"As to his climbing," said Sigurd, with a curious look in his blue
eyes, "I do not doubt that he will some day climb much higher than you
list. But swimming is of little avail where there is no sea. And if he
runs so well there is all the more danger of his running away. I think
you will be well paid if I give you two silver marks. But since you set
so high a value on him for his beauty and his skill, then I give you in
addition this little ring of gold for your good wife's wearing. What
say you?"
"It is a bargain!" said Reas, eagerly grasping the ring that Sigurd
took from his belt pouch; "and you may take the lad at once."
Olaf drew back to the far corner of the pig sty. There was a frown on
his brow, and his blue eyes flashed in quick anger.
"I will not go!" he said firmly, and he made a rapid movement to leap
over the barrier; but he forgot the wound in his arm, and the pain of
it made him so awkward that Reas caught him by his wrists and held him
there until Sigurd, springing from his horse, came and put an iron
chain round the lad's neck. Then the two men forcibly drew him to the
gate of the pig sty. So, when Reas had opened the gate, Sigurd, who was
a very powerful man, caught Olaf in his arms and carried him to the
horse's side, and, holding the end of the chain, mounted. Olaf
struggled a little to free himself, but finding the chain secure about
his neck, resolved to await a better chance of escape. Then Sigurd gave
Reas the two silver marks in payment of his purchase, and urged his
horse to a quick walk, dragging Olaf behind him.
Very soon Reas and his straggling farmstead were hidden from sight
behind a clump of tall pine trees. Then Sigurd halted at the side of a
little stream.
"You have done well," he said to Olaf, "in thus coming away with
seeming unwillingness. But do not suppose that I value you so lightly
as did your late master, who thinks, foolish man, that you are no
better than many another bond slave whom he might buy in the
marketplace. Had Reas exacted an hundred gold marks instead of two
paltry marks of silver, I should willingly have given him them."
"And why?" asked Olaf with a frown. "Is it that you think to take me
west to Norway, and cast me like a young goat among wolves? I had
thought when you so blandly spoke to me yesternight that you were a man
of honour. Haply Queen Gunnhild would reward you well if you should
deliver me into her clutches. But this you shall never do!"
"Rash boy," said Sigurd as he stroked his horse's mane, "do you not
recognize a friend when you meet one? Or is friendship so strange to
you that you take all men to be your enemies?"
"Enmity comes so often in the guise of friendship," said Olaf, "that it
is well to be wary. I had been wiser last night if I had refused to
speak with you."
"The time will soon come," said Sigurd, "when you will not be sorry
that you so spoke. But I will warn you that it may go very ill with you
if you tell your story to all strangers as you told it to me."
Olaf was perplexed. He looked into the man's face and saw only kindness
there, and yet there was something very suspicious in the stranger's
eagerness to possess him.
"If you are indeed my friend," said the boy, "why do you keep this
chain about my neck? Why do you drag me after you like a dog?"
"Because I am not willing that you should escape me," answered Sigurd.
"But if you will shake my hand and tell me that you will not run away,
then I will take off your chain and you shall ride in front of me on my
horse. You are King Triggvi's son, and I know that, once spoken, your
word will be sacred."
Now, Olaf had never taken any man's hand since he swore foster
brotherhood with Thorgils Thoralf son. He looked upon handshaking as a
most solemn covenant, only to be made when great matters were at stake.
Also, he had never yet told or acted a lie, or been false to anyone. He
answered promptly:
"No, I will not take your hand. Neither will I give you my word that I
shall not escape from you very soon. You may keep the chain about my
neck. It is more easily broken than my promise."
Sigurd looked at the lad and smiled.
"I think," he said, "that I would admire you even more if you were a
little cleaner. Here is a stream of water. Get in and wash yourself."
"I cannot take off my clothes without removing the chain," said Olaf,
"and if the chain be removed I shall run away to where even your horse
cannot follow me. But if you will give me one boon I will promise you
that I will wash myself clean and then come back to the chain."
"What is your boon?" asked Sigurd.
"It is," said Olaf, "that since I am now your lawful thrall, and must
go with you wheresoever you wish, you will go to Biorn the merchant and
buy from him my foster brother Thorgils."
Sigurd leapt from his horse and at once unfastened the chain from
Olaf's neck, and even helped him to draw off his kirtle and woollen
sark. And when Olaf stood before him naked, Sigurd drew back amazed at
the pure fairness of his skin, the firmness of his well knitted
muscles, and the perfect beauty of his form.
In the stream near which they had halted there was a deep, clear pool
of water, with a high cascade tumbling into it in creamy foam. Olaf ran
lightly over the mossy boulders and plunged into the pool, as though he
knew it well. Sigurd watched him rolling and splashing there in
childish delight. Sometimes the boy seemed lost in the brown depths of
the water, but soon his white body would be seen gliding smoothly along
under the surface, and then emerging amid the spray of the waterfall,
where the shafts of sunlight made a rainbow arc. And at last Olaf came
out and ran swiftly backward and forward on the grassy level until he
was dry. Then returning to his new master he took up his woollen sark.
But his kirtle was gone.
Sigurd said: "I have thrown it away, for it is not well that a king's
son should wear a garment that is sullied by the marks of slavery."
He took off from his own shoulders a riding cloak of scarlet cloth and
added, "Take this cloak and wear it. And when we reach the town I will
buy you more fitting clothes, with sandals for your feet, and a cap to
shield your head from the sun."
Olaf blushed, and took the cloak and put it over him, saying nothing.
Then he caught up an end of the chain and signed to his master to
fasten it about his neck. Signed fastened it and then remounted his
horse.
They had gone a little distance seaward down the dale when they were
met by three armed horsemen, who seemed to have been waiting for them.
Sigurd gave Olaf into their keeping, bidding them guard him well, and
himself rode on in advance. Soon from the top of a hill they came in
sight of the blue sea, and then the little town with its wooden huts
nestling at the foot of the cliffs.
When they entered the town, two of Sigurd's servants took Olaf with
them to the house of a certain merchant, where they gave him some
roasted eggs and wheaten bread, and there they kept him until after
noontide, never speaking to him, but only watching him while they
played countless games of chess and drank many horns of ale.
Now Olaf, as he sat on the floor, chained to the door post, set to
wondering where his new master intended taking him to, and he could
think of no likely destination but Norway. Why else should this man
have bought him but to deliver him to Gunnhild? So thereupon he began
to question how he could escape. And he determined in his mind very
quickly, that when they were on the sea he would free himself from his
chain and jump overboard and swim to land. But then came the thought
that if he did this he would be quite alone in the world, and no one
would ever believe him if he told them that he was the son of Triggvi
Olafson, and perhaps he would again be taken into slavery. If Thorgils
were with him they might do very well together, because Thorgils was
full of the world's wisdom, and could by his wit earn food and shelter
until they were both old enough and skilled enough to join some viking
ship and win renown and power. But if Thorgils was to be left behind in
Esthonia then it would not be so easy. Nothing could be done without
Thorgils. So then Olaf thought it would be much wiser in him to try to
escape at once, before he should be taken on board ship.
The chain was tight about his neck and it was fastened behind, so that
he could not loosen it without arousing the men's suspicions by the
noise it would make. He looked at the other end of it, and saw it was
so fastened that he might easily undo it. Little by little he crept
nearer to the post as the men went on with their game. Before he could
do more, however, there was the sound of horse's feet outside. The two
men sprang up from their seats. One of them went to the door and
presently returned with a bundle of clothes, which he threw down on the
floor, bidding Olaf dress himself. Olaf saw at once that the garments
were of very fine woven cloth, and he wondered much. Even his old
master's son Rekoni had never worn such rich attire as this, and it was
passing strange that he, a bond slave, should be told to clothe himself
in such finery.
He was dressing himself--albeit with great trouble, for the things were
strange to him who had hitherto worn naught but a poor slave's
kirtle--when a shrill horn was sounded from without. Then one of the
men came and helped him to lace his sandals and to don his cloak, and
hurried him out into the courtyard. Here were three horses waiting. The
men pointed to one of them, a shaggy brown pony, and told Olaf to mount.
"I cannot ride," said the boy.
"You will be able to ride long before you reach our journey's end,"
returned the man. "And, lest you should be afraid of falling off, you
will be tied with strong ropes to the horse's back."
"I had rather walk," objected Olaf.
"Slaves must obey their masters," said the man; and he took hold of the
boy to help him to mount. But Olaf drew quickly aside with a flash of
rebellion in his eyes.
Now at that moment a company of horsemen came in sight, led by Sigurd
Erikson, and followed by many mules that were laden with bags of food
and merchandise. All the men were well armed with swords and spears,
bows and arrows. The sight of so many horses at once showed Olaf that
the journey, whatever its destination, was to be made by land. As they
came nearer and halted, his eyes quickly searched among the men for
Thorgils Thoralfson. Yes, there indeed was his foster brother, mounted
on one of the pack mules, with the sunlight falling on his white kirtle
and downbent head! Then Olaf grew calm, for his master had kept his
promise, and it mattered little where he was to be taken now that
Thorgils was to be with him in his bondage. Sometime--not today,
perhaps,--they would have a chance of speaking together and of
contriving an escape.
Sigurd, seated on his beautiful white horse, looked like a king
surrounded by his bodyguard. He watched Olaf springing on the pony's
back, and saw the men securing the boy with ropes. One of the men took
the end of the chain, while the other held the pony's halter; and thus,
with a mounted guard on each side of him, the young slave was led out
through the gates.
Very soon the little town in which he had lived in bondage for seven
long years, and the sea that he loved so well, were left far behind.
Sigurd and his followers rode southward over the hills, and then
through long dreary dales, that were strewn with large boulder stones
that made travelling very difficult. There was only a narrow horse
track to guide them, and soon even this was lost in the rank herbage,
and the land became a wild desolate waste without sign of human
dwelling, but only the bare rugged hills, with here and there a thread
of water streaming down them into the lower land. Olaf began to feel
very weary, and the jolting of the pony over the rough ground became
painful to his untrained limbs. But at last the hot sun sank in a blaze
of gold, and the first day's journey came to an end.
A halt was made within the shelter of a vast forest of pine trees, at
the side of a wide, deep stream. Here the horses and mules were
unburdened and allowed to wander, with dogs to watch them lest they
strayed too far. Some of the men then set to raising tents, others
gathered cones and dry twigs to build a fire, while two mounted guard
over their master's moneybags. When all was ready, food and drink were
served round to all alike.
At nightfall, Olaf and Thorgils, still chained, were put to sleep on a
bed of dry ferns. Near them was another slave, a young man who seemed
to be of a foreign land. They watched him silently until he was asleep,
then as they lay there with the stars shining down upon them through
the dark tree branches, they questioned one the other concerning what
had happened to them that day. Olaf asked Thorgils if he had heard the
name of their new master.
"No," answered Thorgils. "Nor can I guess why it is that he has bought
us. All that I know is that he is a Norseman, and that he is very rich."
"I can only think," said Olaf, "that he intends some treachery by us,
and that he means to take us west over sea and deliver us into the
hands of Gunnhild's sons."
"There is little cause to fear such a thing," said Thorgils. "To him we
are but as any other slaves that he might buy in the marketplace, and I
think he has only chosen us because we are of his own country. Had he
discovered that you were your father's son he might indeed design to
take us to Norway. But that is not possible. There are none but our two
selves in all Esthonia who know that you are Olaf Triggvison, and this
man could not by any means have discovered it."
Olaf was silent for many moments, then at last he said:
"Thorgils, I cannot deceive you. This man knows full well whose son I
am, and it was I who told him."
Thorgils drew in his breath, as if he had received a blow.
"You told him?" he cried. "Oh, rash that you are! Have I not always
bidden you keep this secret close in your heart? What need was there to
tell your story to the first inquiring stranger who crossed your path?
You are over ready with your tongue, and now, alas! our misfortunes
must only be greater than before."
"He spoke kindly to me," explained Olaf, "and I could not refuse to
answer him when he asked me how I came to be a bond slave. I little
thought that he was an enemy."
"You are unskilled in the knowledge of men, Ole," returned Thorgils.
"There is a look in his eyes that might soon have told you that there
is evil in his heart, and such smooth tongued men as he are not to be
trusted. But there is one good thing that your thoughtlessness has
done: it has brought us again under one master, so it will go ill if,
working together, we cannot contrive to run away, and join some viking
ship."
"That will not be easy if our new master should take us to an inland
place," said Olaf. "None of his men have the marks of the sea upon
them; they are landmen."
Thorgils glanced up into the sky and searched for the polar star.
"We are journeying southward," he said presently.
"And what country lies to the south?" asked Olaf.
Thorgils could not tell. But he remembered that on a time some
merchants had come to the coast from a great city in the south called
Mikligard--which was the Norseman's name for Constantinople,--and he
guessed that that might be their journey's end.
Then Olaf crept nearer to their sleeping companion and wakened him.
"Tell me," he asked, "who is this man, our master, and whither is he
taking us?"
"I cannot tell," answered the youth. "It is but three days since that
he bought me, and I can ill understand the tongue these men speak, for
I am not of this land. My home is far across the seas."
"In what realm?" asked Thorgils.
"In England."
"That must be far away indeed," said Olaf, "for never have I heard of
such a land."
"It is an island, out across the Western Sea," explained Thorgils;
"often have I heard it named. In that same land it was that King Erik
Bloodaxe lived and died. Many vikings out of Norway have crossed the
seas for the sake of the wealth they can win from the Angles. And if I
were a viking it is to England I would steer my course."
"Gladly would I go with you," said the English youth; "ay, even now, if
we could but escape. But it seems that we are journeying away from the
seacoast, and there is little hope that we can win our way on board a
ship."
"There is hope enough if we do not delay our escape," returned
Thorgils, looking out to where the campfires burned. He was silent for
many minutes, then, laying his hand on the stranger's arm, he asked:
"What name have you?"
"Egbert," the lad replied.
"And how came it," inquired Thorgils, "that you were brought into
Esthonia?"
Egbert then told his story. He was born, he said, in Northumberland.
His father, a wealthy armourer and silversmith, had been slain by one
of the Northmen who had made a great settlement in that part of the
country, and his mother, whose name was Edith, had then wedded the man
who had made her a widow. The man was named Grim, and he was a warrior
in the service of Erik Bloodaxe, the ruler in those parts. On the death
of King Erik, Grim and many of the Norsemen went back to Norway in the
train of Queen Gunnhild and Erik's sons, and with him he took his wife
and young Egbert. Edith did not live to reach Norway, and Grim,
unwilling to be burdened with her son, had sold Egbert into slavery.
For ten years the boy had suffered in bondage under different masters,
the last of whom--Klerkon Flatface--had brought him into Esthonia.
"My one wish during all these years," said Egbert, "has been to return
to England, where the people are Christian, and do not worship your
heathen gods. Many times I have tried to escape, but always without
success; for I have had no companions, and it is not easy for one so
young as I am to make his way alone through foreign lands."
"What is your age?" Olaf inquired.
"Fifteen summers," answered Egbert.
Thorgils stood up and leaned his hand against the trunk of a tree,
looking down at his two companions.
"I think," said he, "that it would be a very good thing if we three
should run away from this new master of ours--now, while the darkness
lasts,--and, keeping in company, try to get back to the coast. There we
might take possession of a small sailboat, and so make our way over sea
to the land of the Angles. What say you, Ole?"
Olaf was silent for a while. At last he said:
"It were much wiser in us to wait until we are old enough to fight our
way in the world."
"And you will not try to escape?" asked Thorgils.
"No," answered Olaf firmly. "We have a good master. Why should we leave
him?"
"It is because he has given you that fine cloak that you think him
good," returned Thorgils tauntingly; "but, believe me, he has his
private reasons for so bribing you. I can well guess what he means to
do with you, and I tell you that you will surely rue it if you do not
escape while we may; for, if men bear their true nature in their faces,
then this man who has bought us has an evil heart."
"And what would it avail if we were to escape?" asked Olaf. "Boys as we
are, we should be of little use in the world, I think."
"You are afraid!" cried Thorgils.
"Yes," echoed Egbert, "you are afraid." Then turning to Thorgils, he
added: "But why should we urge the lad against his will? He is but a
child, and would only be a burden to us. Let us leave him and go our
ways without him."
"You are not of our folk, Egbert," returned Thorgils, flinging himself
down upon the dry leaves, "and you do not know what the vow of foster
brotherhood means. You ask me to do that which I would sooner die than
do. Ole and I will never part until death parts us. And if either
should be slain, then the other will avenge his death. If Ole wills to
remain in slavery until he is old and gray, then I will always be his
companion in bondage. But to escape without him, that will I never do!"
Nothing more was said. The three boys, weary after their long journey,
curled themselves up to sleep.
So soundly did young Olaf sleep, that at midnight, when a man's hands
unbound the chain about his neck he was not awakened. Very cautiously
the man took him up in his strong arms, and carried him away among the
dark shadows of the trees to a part of the forest far removed from the
campfires. And at last he laid the lad down on a bed of dry reeds and
moss at the side of the stream, where the bright moon, shining through
an open glade, shed its light upon his fair round face and his short
gold hair. There the man stood over him, watching him as he dreamed his
childish dreams. Then he knelt down and gently drew aside the lad's
cloak and opened the front of his kirtle, so that the moonlight fell
upon the white skin of his throat and breast.
Suddenly Olaf awoke and saw the dark figure bending over him.
"Thorgils, Thorgils!" he cried in alarm.
"Be silent!" commanded Sigurd Erikson, gripping the boy's arm. "No harm
will come to you."
Olaf struggled to his feet and was about to take to flight, but his
master's firm grip held him.
"Silly child!" muttered Sigurd. "Why do you fear me? Have I not already
told you that I am your friend?"
"I do not trust your friendship," answered Olaf angrily, remembering
Thorgil's warning. "And now I believe that you have brought me here
only that you may secretly put me to death."
"I have brought you here for your own good, my child," said Sigurd
softly; "and I give you my solemn word that no man, whosoever he be,
shall do you any injury while I live to be your protector. Be silent,
and listen to me."
Olaf grew calmer.
"Yester eve," said Sigurd, "when you told me that you were the son of
King Triggvi Olafson, I could not easily believe your tale. But when
you spoke your mother's name and told me that she was from Ofrestead,
in the Uplands of Norway, then I knew very well that you were telling
me the truth. I looked into your eyes and I saw that they were the eyes
of Queen Astrid--the fairest woman in all the Northland. In your very
words I thought I could hear the music of Queen Astrid's voice--"
"Can it be that my mother is known to you?" cried Olaf eagerly. "Can it
be that you can take me to where she lives?"
"Well do I know her," answered Sigurd. "But, alas! it is many summers
since I saw her last, nor had I heard any tidings of her for a long,
long while, until you told me that she had taken flight from Norway.
Tell me now, what is the name of him whose succour she wished to seek
in Gardarike?"
"Her brother's name," said Olaf, "is Sigurd Erikson."
"I am that same brother," smiled Sigurd, taking the boy by the hand;
"and it is because I am your uncle that I now take you with me into
Holmgard." He drew Olaf nearer to him and put his arm about his neck.
"And you shall live with me as my own dear foster son," he added, "and
I will take care of you and teach you all that a king's son should
know, so that in the time to come you may be well fitted to claim your
dead father's realm. But it is not without great risk that I do this
thing, for I well know that there are many men in Norway who would
gladly hear of your death. Now, if Gunnhild's sons should learn that
you are living in Holmgard they would offer a rich reward to the man
who should compass your end. You will be wise, therefore, if you
breathe no word of your kinship with Triggvi Olafson. Also, you must
betray to no man, not even to your foster brother Thorgils, that I am
your uncle, or that I know your name and kin; for it is a law held
sacred in Gardarike that no one of royal birth shall abide in the land
without the sanction of King Valdemar. If it be known that I am
wilfully breaking that law, then both you and I will fall into the
sorest trouble."
Amazed at hearing all this, and at learning that the man he had taken
for a secret enemy was none other than his own uncle, Olaf was
speechless. He silently put his hand into Sigurd's great palm, and let
himself be led back to the place where Thorgils and Egbert still lay
sound asleep.