Now when the three days were over he went his ways to the Bight of the
Cloven Knoll, and Stephen smiled and nodded to him friendly as he went
out of the door, and once more he was clad in his red-scarlet raiment.
He had his bow in his hand, and besides the three arrows which the
hillman had given, he had two others out of the goodman's quiver.
Moreover he had thought over from time to time what he might give to
the maiden, and now he had in his pouch a fair gold piece which his
mother had given him when he was yet very young, and he thought that
this were a fair gift might he but get it over to the other side of
the Sundering Flood.
Now when he was within eyeshot of the ness, he looked thither, and saw
a little figure on the crest thereof, and knew that the maiden had
prevented him and was there already, so he hastened all he might to
his own vantage ground, and straightway he gave her the sele of the
day, and she greeted him kindly. Then he looks and sees that she is
somewhat decked out for this meeting, for not only did the Dwarfs'
gift, the necklace, gleam and glitter on her little flat child's
bosom, but also she had made her a wreath for her head of the spring
flowers, and another had she done about her loins. She stood there
saying nothing a while, and it seemed to him that she was waiting for
him to praise this new-wrought adornment. So he said: "Thou art in
fairer guise than when first I saw thee; is there any high-tide toward
at thy stead?"
"Nay," she said; "I did this because I looked to see thee today,
whereas the other time we happed on each other unawares. But hast thou
done any more great deeds?"
He laughed and said: "Nay, nay, let me grow a few days older yet.
Nevertheless there is this new thing, that this morning I have brought
thee a gift which I deem I may to flit to thee, and I shall give it to
thee with a good will if thou wilt promise that thou wilt not part
with it ever."
"With all my heart will I promise that," she said; "but tell me what
it is; show it to me."
He drew it forth and held it up between his finger and thumb, and
said: "It is a golden penny, very fair, and I deem it comes from some
far country. My mother gave it to me when I was very young; yet I
remember that she bade me part not with it, save I should give it to
one unto whom I wished all luck, for that she deemed that luck went
with it. Now thou art so fair and so dear, and my only fellow of like
age, that I wish luck to thee as much as luck can be found: so I will
flit it to thee this wise, that I will do it up in a piece of cloth
and tie it to the head of this arrow (which is of no account), and
shoot it over to thee." And therewith he knelt down and fell to
wrapping it up in the rag.
As for the maiden, she was all eager, and quivering with joy at the
getting of such a gift; yet she spake and said: "O how good thou art
to me: yet I deem not that thou shouldst give me thy mother's gift.
And moreover why shouldst thou shoot away thy luck? It may be that I
am not doomed to be lucky, as surely thou art; and it may well be that
thou mayst give me thy luck and make thee less lucky, without eking
mine, if unluck be my weird."
Now though he had set his heart on giving the gold to the fair child,
yet her words seemed wise to him, and he said: "What then shall we
do?" She said: "Abide a while till I think of it."
So they were silent a while, both of them, till the little maid looked
up and said: "Is it a round thing?" "Yea," said he. "What is there
upon it?" she said. Quoth Osberne: "On one side be two warriors, and
on the other the Rood and certain letters."
She thought again and said: "How much were it marred if it were
halved, one warrior and half a cross?" He said: "That hangs upon this,
who has one half and who the other." She said "How would it be, since
I can see that thou wishest that I should share thy gift, and belike
thy luck also, if thou wert to do it into two halves, and keep one
thyself and shoot me the other over the flood?" He leapt up and fell
a-dancing for joy as she spake, and cried out: "O, but thou art wise!
Now I can see that this is what my mother meant me to do, to share the
gold and the luck."
Therewith he took the penny out of its wrapping and drew forth his
whittle, and gat a big stone and set the gold on the steel and smote
it, deftly enough; for he was no ill smith for his years. Then he
stood up and cried out: "There, it is done, and neither of the
warriors is scathed, for there was a waste place betwixt them. Now
then for the shaft and the bow!" The maiden looked eagerly with
knitted brows, and soon saw Osberne take up the shaft and nock it on
the bowstring.
Then he said: "Take heed and stand still and the halfling shall be
thine. Look now, I will send the shaft so that it shall go in the
grass-grown cleft betwixt the two big stones behind thee to thy right
hand." He raised his bow therewith, and saw how she gathered her
skirts about her, as if she would not have them hinder the shaft. Then
he loosed, and the shaft flew, but she abode still a little; and he
laughed and said: "Go, maiden, and find the shaft and the gold." Then
she turned and ran to the cleft, and took out the arrow, and did off
the wrapping with trembling fingers, and gat the gold and looked on
it, and cried out: "O the fair warrior! such like shalt thou be on a
penny, dear child."
Then she came forward again and said: "Now this is strange, that
neither last time nor now have we told each other our names: now I
will tell thee that my name is Elfhild, of Hartshaw Knolls. What is
thine?"
"Elfhild my child," said he, "my name is Osberne Wulfgrim's son, and I
am of Wethermel, as I told thee. Yet belike it is not so strange that
we have not told our names hitherto, and I hope no ill-luck will go
with our telling them, for I suppose that people give each other names
when there are many of them, and they would know one from another. But
as to us, there be only two of us, so that if I call thee Maiden, and
thou call me Swain, it had been enough. Nevertheless I am fain of
calling thee Elfhild."
"And I am full fain of calling thee Osberne," she said. "Besides, if
at any time both thou and I were to depart from this country-side we
might chance to meet amongst folk of many names, and thus we might the
better know each other--But O!" she said, growing exceeding eager,
"dost thou know how good a gift thou has given me? For the halves of
the penny, we shall both keep them for ever, as thou knowest, and by
our having them we shall know each other if we meet in the world
without and our faces have become changed."
Said Osberne: "I deem not that my face will change very much, at least
not till I grow old--nor do I think that thine will either." She
laughed merrily: "O, bairn Osberne, when thou art become a man and a
great man, and art called maybe Earl Osberne Wulfgrimsson, will not
thy face have changed, and thou with the beard and the fierce eyes,
and the mouth that hath shouted in the battle? As for me, Allhallows
grant it that my face may change: look at me, a kind of red crow now,
all skinny and spindle-legged, and yet I may grow to be a fair woman;
and then indeed I should be fain for thee to see me. For somehow it
seems to be shown to me that thou wilt be loved of women & love them
somewhat over-much."
"For my part," said Osberne, "I seem to see of myself that I shall
have much to do slaying wolves and evil things, and standing before
kings and getting gifts of them, so that there will be little time for
me to go about loving women--yet thee I shall ever love, Elfhild."
And he reddened as he spake this, as though he were a youth before his
time. But Elfhild said: "In all ways thou art kind to me, and thee
shall I ever love. But now tell me, Osberne, what wouldst thou have me
do today to make game and play for thee?" Said he: "Call up the sheep
again to thee with the sweet little pipe, for therein is much game."
She nodded her head merrily, and drew forth her pipe and played, and
the sheep came bundling up as the day before; and she danced and
played a long while, and Osberne clapped his hands and laughed and
egged her on, and was full fain of her dancing, and forsooth it was a
wonder and delight to see her.
At last she was wearied out, and cast herself on the grass at the very
edge of the cliff, and said that she could no more. And Osberne
thanked her kindly.
So when she had gotten her breath again, she asked him what next she
should do for his disport. And he bade tell him of how she lived with
those two women, her aunts, and what she did from day to day. So she
sat down as on the other day, with her legs hanging down over the
grisly flood, and told him full sweetly of her joys and her work and
her troubles. And some of the tale was piteous enough, for the two
kinswomen, who were by no means old, for the eldest was only of thirty
summers, were somewhat hard with the child and right careless of her,
as shall be shown afterwards.
But after a little she broke off and said: "But Osberne, dear, these
be no fair tales for thee, though thou art kind to hearken to them. I
have better tales than that, of champions to wit, and ladies and
castles and dragons and the like, that I have heard; some of my
kinswomen, some of folk that come to our house at a pinch, for it is a
poor house; and some, yea and most and the best, from an old woman who
dwelleth in a cot not far from us. And she loveth me and hath learned
me much lore; and I will tell thee thereof if thou wilt hearken."
"I will well," said he, "and thanks thou shalt have of me; I would I
might give thee some other gift." She said: "My tale reward will be
that thou shalt tell me over and over the staves thou madest last time
we met, till I have them by heart. And other staves shalt thou make
for me if thou wilt." "Thus is the bargain struck," said the lad, "now
get thee to the work."
So the little maiden fell to telling him a tale of the Faery, and when
it was done he asked for another; but this was a long one, and wore
the day down, so that Elfhild must needs depart ere it was done. Then
was a talk of when the next meeting should be, and to Osberne nought
was near enough save tomorrow. But Elfhild said that it was nought
safe, lest aught should wake up her kinswomen to asking of her
whereabouts, and again the meeting was appointed for three days hence;
but had it not been for the tale, for which something must be risked,
Elfhild said that the time between must be a week. So each of the
children departed to their houses well pleased.