SETTLING DOWN--HAKE PROVES THAT HIS ARMS, AS WELL AS HIS LEGS, ARE
GOOD--A WONDERFUL FISHING INCIDENT, WHICH ENDS IN A SCENE BETWEEN
FREYDISSA AND KRAKE.
The little hamlet on the Vinland lake, which had been so long silent and
deserted, resounded from that time forth with the voices and activities
of energetic labourers, for these adventurous Norsemen had much to do
before their new home could be made comfortable.
The forest and undergrowth around had to be cleared; the huts, of which
there were six, had to be cleaned out, fitted up with new parchment in
the windows--for there was no glass in those days--and new thatch on the
roofs, besides being generally repaired; additional huts had to be built
for the people, pens for the sheep, and stabling for the cattle, all of
which implied felling and squaring timber, while the smaller articles of
household furniture and fittings kept the people generally in full
occupation. Of course a party had to be told off as hunters for the
community, while another party were set to attend to the nets in the
lake, and a third, under the special charge of Karlsefin, went out at
intervals to scour the woods, with the double purpose of procuring food
and investigating the character and resources of the new land.
In regard to this last these settlers had every reason to be satisfied.
The country appeared to be boundless in extent, and was pleasantly
diversified in form; the waters teemed with fish, the land was rich with
verdure, and the forests swarmed with game, large and small.
One day Karlsefin and Biarne, attended by Hake and several men, went out
for a ramble of exploration in the direction of the small river, or
branch of the large river, mentioned in a previous chapter. Some of the
party were armed with bows and arrows, others had spears, the leader and
his friend carried short spears or javelins. All wore their swords and
iron head-pieces, and carried shields. Indeed, no party was ever
allowed to go beyond the neighbourhood of the settlement without being
fully armed, for although no natives had yet been seen, it was quite
possible, nay, highly probable, that when they did appear, their arrival
would be sudden and unexpected.
As they advanced, they heard a rustle of leaves behind a knoll, and next
instant a large deer bounded across their path. Karlsefin hurled his
spear with sudden violence, and grazed its back. Biarne flung his
weapon and missed it. There was an exclamation of disappointment among
the men, which, however, was turned into a cheer of satisfaction when
Hake let fly an arrow and shot it through the heart. So forcibly was
the shaft sent that it passed quite through the animal, and stood,
bloodstained and quivering, in the stem of a tree beyond, while the deer
leaped its own height into the air, and fell stone-dead upon the sward.
"A brave shot--excellently done!" exclaimed Karlsefin, turning to the
young Scot with a look of admiration; "and not the first or second time
I have seen thee do something of the same sort, from which I conclude
that it is not chance, but that your hand is always quick, and your eye
generally true. Is it not so?"
"I never miss my mark," said Hake.
"How now? you _never_ miss your mark? It seems to me, young man, that
though your air is modest, your heart and words are boastful."
"I never boast," replied Hake gravely.
"Say you so?" cried Karlsefin energetically, glancing round among the
trees. "Come, clear yourself in this matter. See you yonder little
bird on the topmost branch of that birch-tree that overhangs the stream?
It is a plain object, well defined against the sky. Touch it if you
can."
"That little bird," said Hake, without moving, "is not _my mark_. I
never make a mark of the moon, nor yet of an object utterly beyond the
compass of my shafts."
"Well, it _is_ considerably out of range," returned Karlsefin, laughing;
"but come, I will test you. See you the round knot on the stem of
yonder pine? It is small truly, so small that I can barely see it,
nevertheless it is not more than half a bow-shot off. Do you object to
make _that_ your mark?"
The words had scarcely left his lips when an arrow stood quivering in
the knot referred to.
With an exclamation and look of surprise Karlsefin said it must have
been a chance, and Biarne seemed inclined to hold the same opinion; but
while they were yet speaking, Hake planted another arrow close by the
side of the first.
"Once more, Hake," said Krake, who stood close behind the archer;
"there's a saying in Ireland that there's good fortune in odd numbers:
try it again."
The Scot readily complied, and sent a third shaft into the knot, with
its head touching the heads of the other two arrows.
"Enough, enough, your arms are as good as your legs," said Karlsefin.
"Ye are a valuable thrall, Hake, and Leif Ericsson has reason to be
grateful to King Olaf of Norway for his gift.--Here, two of you, sling
that deer on a pole and bear it to Gudrid. Tell her how deftly it was
brought down, and relate what you have seen just now. And hark 'ee," he
added, with a peculiar smile, "there is no occasion to say anything
about what occurred before the successful shot. It always adds to the
value of a good story that it be briefly as well as pithily told, and
disencumbered from unnecessary details. A wise tongue is that which
knows when to wag and when to lie still.--Come, Biarne, we will proceed
in our examination of this stream."
Leaving behind them the two men who were to return to the huts with the
deer, they proceeded down the banks of Little River, until they came to
the pool where Hake and his brother had seen the salmon leap. On the
way down, however, the leader had been convinced of the fact that many
salmon were there, having seen several rise, and observed others passing
over some of the pebbly shallows.
"It was here, was it not," asked Biarne, "that you and your brother saw
the salmon leaping on the occasion of your first visit?"
"It was," replied Hake.
"At what part of the pool?"
"Just below the tail of the island, where the water is deep, and rolls
with numberless oily ripples."
"Ha! a likely spot," said Karlsefin.
At that moment a salmon leaped out of the pool, as if to assure him that
Hake's statement was true, and immediately afterwards another fish rose
and flourished its fan-like tail, as if to make assurance doubly sure.
For some time they went about examining that part of the river, which,
the reader will remember, has been described as being divided for some
distance by a long island into two streams, which again united after
spreading out into a broad rippling shallow. Here Biarne was very
silent and very close in his inspection of the bed of the river,
particularly at the top and lower end of the island.
"It appears to me as if some plan were rolling in your head, Biarne,"
said Karlsefin; "what may it be?"
"Truly a plan is forming in my brain. Simple enough too, only the
details require consideration."
"Well, we must now return home, so we can discuss it on the way."
"You know of our custom in Iceland," said Biarne, as they retraced their
steps, "in regard to a river which is similar to this in the matter of
having two channels--they shut off the water from one channel and catch
the fish when the bed is dry."
"Know it? Ay, I know it well; why, man, how comes it that this did not
occur to me before? We will have it tried, and that without delay.
What is worth doing at all is worth doing at once, unless it can be
clearly shown that there shall be distinct gain by delay. As this
cannot be shown on the present occasion we will begin to-morrow."
Accordingly, in pursuance of this resolve, Karlsefin went down to the
island on Little River with a large party of men, and set to work.
Biarne undertook to superintend what may be termed the engineering
operations, and Thorward, who was a handy fellow, directed the
mechanical details.
First of all, Biarne fixed on the spot at the top of the island where a
dam was to be thrown across the right branch of the stream--that being
the channel which was to be run dry--and planned the direction in which
it was to be placed and the form it was to take. Then strong stakes
were driven into the bed of the river all across the head of that
branch. While this was being done Thorward marked off some tall
straight trees in the forest, and set men to cut them down, while
Karlsefin directed, and with his own hands aided, a party appointed to
collect large piles of earth, sand, stones, mud, and branches, on the
river's bank.
Although the men were numerous and active, the work was so extensive
that it was sunset before all the stakes were driven, the first of the
heavy logs laid down in the bed of the stream, and the rest of the
material collected in readiness on the banks. Having completed these
preparations they returned to the huts and made arrangements for a grand
effort on the following day.
Early in the morning nearly the whole body of the people set off to
Little River, leaving the settlement in charge of one or two men who
chanced at that time to be sick. Of course Olaf was with them, armed
with a huge iron hook fastened to the end of a stout pole. All the
women also went, being quite as anxious as the men to witness the sport.
The island reached, Karlsefin divided his party into two bands. The
smaller body, numbering about twenty-five, were stationed in the water
at the lower end of the channel, at equal distances from each other, so
as to extend from the tail of the island to the right bank of the
stream. These carried strong poles about seven feet long, and were
placed there to frighten back any fish that might attempt to rush down
the river. The rest of the men went in a body to the dam, and there
awaited orders.
When all was ready Karlsefin said to them--"My lads, if we would act
well we must act together. Here is the plan on which you are to
proceed. On getting the word from Biarne to begin, you will all set to
work to dam up the water, right across from this bank to the head of the
island. You see that we have already done the work in part, so that it
only requires to be completed, and to have the centre gap stopped up.
That will be the difficult point, for the great rush of water will be
there, and you will have to do it quickly--to heave in the logs and
stones and rubbish, not forgetting the branches and the turf, which will
keep all together--as if your very lives depended on your speed. A
certain number of you, who shall be told off presently, will do your
best at the same time to deepen the channel of the other branch of the
stream. When this is done you will have a little breathing space, for
doubtless the water will take a little time to run off. You will take
advantage of this time to get your hooks and poles and landing-nets in
readiness. For the rest your own sense will guide you.--Now, Biarne,
tell off the men and go to work."
Reader, you should have seen the countenance of little Olaf Ericsson
when all this was being said and done! Many a time had he seen nets
hauled and fish taken, and often had he dreamt of netting whales and
other sea-monsters, but never before had he imagined such a thing as
laying the bed of a river dry; and his exuberant fancy depicted to him
scenes which it is not possible to describe. His visage glowed, and his
large blue eyes glared with excitement, while his little bosom heaved
and his heart beat high with expectation.
This condition of course increased tenfold when he saw the men cast off
more or less of their upper garments and spring to the work with the
energy of lunatics. In his own small way he carried logs and branches
and mud and stones till he was as dirty and dishevelled as the best of
them; and when Gudrid looked horrified at him, and said that it would be
next to impossible to clean him, he burst into such a fit of laughter
that he lost his balance, fell head over heels into the river, which was
only knee-deep at the place, and came out more than half-washed in a
moment!
"You see it won't be so difficult as you think," he cried, laughing and
gasping when he emerged; "another plunge like that would make me quite
clean, aunty."
"Ho! Olaf, were you after a salmon?" cried Swend, as he passed with a
large log on his shoulder.
"Not I, Swend; it was a whale I was after."
"You don't say that, boy?" cried Krake, in a tone of admiration. "Was
he a big one?"
"Oh! frightful--so big that--that--I couldn't see him all."
"Couldn't see him _at all_? Ah, then, he _was_ a big one, sure. The
things we can't see at all are always the most wonderful."
"Foolish boy," said Gudrid; "come, I will wring the water out of your
clothes."
"'Tis hardly worth while, aunty," said Olaf, coming on shore; "I'll be
as wet, as ever in a few minutes."
The careful Gudrid nevertheless wrung as much water out of his dripping
garments as was possible without taking them off. By the time this was
done the dam had been completed, and the men stood on the banks of the
river wiping off and wringing out the superabundant mud and water from
their clothes, besides getting ready hooks, nets, and staves. Some of
the nets were several fathoms in length. Others were small bags
fastened to wooden rings at the end of long poles.
Presently a shout was heard from the men at the lower end of the pool,
and they were seen to use their staves smartly several times, as some of
the fish, alarmed no doubt at the strange doings above, endeavoured to
shoot down the river. Ere long the stony ground on which these men
stood became a rippling shallow, and, soon afterwards, a neck of land
connecting the lower end of the island with the shore. They therefore
abandoned it and rejoined their comrades higher up. The fish were now
imprisoned in a pool, retreat having been effectually cut off above and
below, and the whole river diverted into the bed of its left branch.
As the water lowered it became obvious that the pool thus isolated was
absolutely swarming with salmon, for they could be seen darting hither
and thither in shoals, making for the deeper parts of the pool, and
jostling one another under stones. Gradually little islets began to
appear as the water continued to sink, and then the fish seemed to be
seized with a panic. They shot like silver arrows from bank to bank--up
the pool and down again, as if enjoying a piscatorial country dance, or,
in blind flight, rushed clear out upon the pebbly islets, in half dozens
at a time, where they leaped, slid, twirled, and bounded frantically, in
what bore some resemblance to a piscatorial reel. Then, slipping into
the water again, and recovering their fins and tails, they shot away to
encounter similar misfortune elsewhere, or to thrust their noses under
stones, and--entertaining the same delusive notions that are said to
characterise the ostrich--imagine that they were not seen!
By degrees the islets enlarged until they joined here and there, and,
finally, the state of things being inverted, the bed of the stream
became a series of little ponds, which were absolutely boiling with
fish--not unlike, as Krake remarked, to the boiling springs of Iceland,
only that those boiled with heat instead of with living fish.
And now commenced a scene such as, unquestionably, had not been
witnessed there since Vinland was created. The Norsemen were half mad
with excitement. The women ran up and down the banks clapping their
hands and shouting with delight, while Freydissa, unable to contain
herself, cast appearances to the dogs, leaped among the men, and joined
in the fray.
"The big pool first; this way, lads!" shouted Karlsefin, as he seized
the end of a long net and dragged it towards the pool in question.
Twenty willing hands assisted. The net encircled the pool and was
thrust in; men with poles forced one side of it down to the bottom, and
the two ends were hauled upon might and main. At the same moment, other
men went with hand nets to smaller pools, and, scooping up the fish,
sent them writhing and struggling through the air towards the bank,
where Gudrid, Thora, Astrid, Gunhild, Sigrid, and even timid Bertha,
sought in vain to restrain their struggles and prevent them from
wriggling back into the almost dry bed of the stream.
"Haul away with heart, men!" shouted Biarne, who was at one end of the
large net.
Already the stout ropes were strained to the uttermost--at last the net
came out bursting with salmon; more hands were hailed; it was run over
the pebbles, up the bank, and onwards to a flat open spot, where, with a
shout, it was emptied on the greensward.
Talk of silver bars! The simile is wretched. No simile is of any avail
here. The brightest and freshest silver bars ever cast might shine as
much as these salmon did, but they could not glitter so, for they could
not wriggle and spring and tumble. They could not show that delicate
pink which enhanced the silvery sheen so wondrously. They could not
exhibit that vigorous life which told of firm flakes--suggestive of
glorious meals for many a day to come. Pooh! even their intrinsic value
could not suggest anything in this case,--for all the silver bars that
ever were coined on earth could not have purchased the appetites which
made the mouths of these Norsemen to water, as they gazed in admiration
on that vast hecatomb of splendid salmon! They absolutely danced round
the fish--it might almost be said they danced _with_ them--in triumphant
glee!
"Come, come," cried Karlsefin loudly; "to work! to work! Ye may dance
after that is done. Here, sweep this pool also."
With a cheer the men ran down the bank, and little Olaf followed, having
already used his hook with such effect that he had pulled six large fish
out of various holes and added them to the general pile.
"Take care, Olaf, that you don't fall in and get drowned," cried Biarne
as he ran past.
"Hurrah!" shouted Olaf, with a flourish of his weapon, which made the
narrowest possible miss of _cleeking_ Tyrker by the nose.
"Have a care!" roared the Turk.
"You've much need to say that," replied Olaf, with a laugh, for Tyrker
at that moment set his heel upon a salmon, fell, and rolled heavily down
the bank. But Tyrker was tough. He rose with a growl and a grin and
ran on to join his comrades.
A second pool was netted, and with the like result. As the net was
being dragged forth, Olaf saw that several fish had escaped. He struck
in his hook at random, for the pools, being by that time a thick
compound of mud and water, could not be seen into.
"Oh! I've got him!" he shouted, struggling with the handle of his hook,
which jerked so violently that the sturdy little fellow was almost
thrown to the ground.
"Hold on!" cried Thorward, running to his aid.
"Why, Olaf, what's this? Have a care. Not too fast. There. Hallo!--
an eel."
And so it was--an enormous eel, that went twirling round the pole in
wondrous fashion until it freed itself, and, after twisting round the
limbs of Olaf and Thorward, who in vain sought to hold it fast, made off
over the wet stones as if they were its native element, and slid into
another large pool, where it disappeared.
"Never mind, Olaf," cried Thorward, with a laugh, "you'll catch hold of
it again. Hook away at it, lad. Don't give."
A tremendous shriek arose from the women on the bank at this juncture.
"Oh! look! look at Freydissa!" cried Gunhild, pointing wildly to the
river bed.
And there Freydissa stood--up to the arm-pits in mud and salmon!
Whether she had fallen in or been pushed in no one could tell, but
unquestionably she _was_ in, having gone in, too, head-foremost, so
that, although she had struggled right-end up she reappeared coated with
mud to an extent that might have suggested a sculptor's clay model--had
sculptors been known to the Norsemen of those days.
There was an irresistible roar of laughter at first, and then loud
expressions of condolence and sympathy, while a dozen strong, but wet
and dirty, hands were stretched forth to the rescue.
"Here, lay hold of my hand, poor thing," cried Krake; "there, now, don't
cry; it would only be wasting tears, with so much water on your face
already."
If anything could have made Freydissa cry it would have been that
remark, for it implied that she was inclined to weep, while nothing was
further from her thoughts at that time.
She did, however, grasp Krake's hand, but instead of aiding herself by
it to get out of the hole, she gave it such a vigorous and hearty pull
that Krake went souse into the mud beside her. Before he could recover
himself Freydissa had put her knee on his body, and, using him as a
foot-rest, thrust him deeper down as she stepped out.
The delight with which this was hailed is beyond description, and many a
year passed after that before men grew tired of twitting Krake about the
pleasant mud-bath that had been given him by Freydissa on the occasion
of the celebrated take of salmon at Little River in Vinland.