Erling the Bold

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  IN WHICH ALRIC BOASTS A LITTLE, DISCOVERS SECRETS, CONFESSES A LITTLE,AND DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF GREATLY.

  Next day there was great bustle at Ulfstede, and along the shores of thefiord, for the men of Horlingdal were busy launching their ships andmaking preparations to go to the Springs to meet and hold council withKing Harald Haarfager.

  It had been finally resolved, without a dissentient voice, that thewhole district should go forth to meet him in arms, and thus ensure fairplay at the deliberations of the Thing. Even Haldor no longer objected;but, on the contrary, when he heard his son's account of his meetingwith the King, and of the dastardly attempt that had been made toassassinate him and his friend, there shot across his face a gleam ofthat wild ferocity which had procured him his title. It passed quicklyaway, however, and gave place to a look of sad resignation, whichassured those who knew him that he regarded their chance of opposing theKing successfully to be very small indeed.

  The fleet that left the fiord consisted of the longships of Ulf, Haldor,Erling, Glumm, and Guttorm, besides an innumerable flotilla of smallercrafts and boats. Many of the men were well armed, not only withfirst-rate weapons, but with complete suits of excellent mail of thekinds peculiar to the period--such as shirts of leather, with steelrings sewed thickly over them, and others covered with steel scales--while of the poorer bonders and the thralls some wore portions ofdefensive armour, and some trusted to the thick hides of the wolf, whichwere more serviceable against a sword-cut than many people mightsuppose. All had shields, however, and carried either swords, bills,spears, javelins, axes, or bows and arrows, so that, numbering as theydid, about a thousand men, they composed a formidable host.

  While these rowed away over the fiord to the Springs to make war orpeace--as the case might be--with King Harald, a disappointed spirit wasleft behind in Horlingdal.

  "I'm sure I cannot see why I should not be allowed to go too," saidlittle Alric, on returning to Haldorstede, after seeing the fleet setforth. "Of course I cannot fight so well as Erling _yet_, but I can do_something_ in that way; and can even face up to a full-grown man whenoccasion serves, as that red-haired Dane knows full well, methinks, ifhe has got any power of feeling in his neck!"

  This was said to Herfrida, who was in the great hall spreading the boardfor the midday meal, and surrounded by her maidens, some of whom wereengaged in spinning or carding wool, while others wove and sewed, orbusied themselves about household matters.

  "Have patience, my son," said Herfrida. "Thou art not yet strong enoughto go forth to battle. Doubtless, in three or four years--"

  "Three or four years!" exclaimed Alric, to whom such a space of timeappeared an age. "Why, there will be no more fighting left to be doneat the end of three or four years. Does not father say that if the Kingsucceeds in his illegal plans all the independence of the small kingswill be gone for ever, and--and--of course I am old enough to see thatif the small kings are not allowed to do as they please, there will beno more occasion for war--nothing but a dull time of constant peace!"

  Herfrida laughed lightly, while her warlike son strutted up and down theancestral hall like a bantam cock, frowning and grunting indignantly, ashe brooded over the dark prospects of peace that threatened his nativeland, and thought of his own incapacity, on account of youth, to makeglorious hay while yet the sun of war was shining.

  "Mother," he said, stopping suddenly, and crossing his arms, as he stoodwith his feet planted pretty wide apart, after the fashion of those whodesire to be thought very resolute--"mother, I had a dream last night."

  "Tell it me, my son," said Herfrida, sitting down on a low stool besidethe lad.

  Now, it must be known that in those days the Northmen believed in dreamsand omens and warnings--indeed, they were altogether a verysuperstitious people, having perfect faith in giants, good and bad;elves, dark and bright; wraiths, and fetches, and guardian spirits--insomuch that there was scarcely one among the grown-up people who hadnot seen some of these fabulous creatures, or who had not seen someother people who had either seen them themselves or had seen individualswho _said_ they had seen them! There were also many "clear-sighted" or"fore-sighted" old men and women, who not only saw goblins andsupernatural appearances occasionally, and, as it were, accidentally,like ordinary folk, but who also had the gift--so it is said--of seeingsuch things when they pleased--enjoyed, as it were, an unenviableprivilege in that way. It was therefore with unusual interest thatHerfrida asked about her son's dream.

  "It must have been mara [nightmare], I think," he said, "for though Inever had it before, it seemed to me very like what Guttorm Stoutheartsays he always has after eating too hearty a meal."

  "Relate it, my son."

  "Well, you must know," said Alric, with much gravity and importance, forhe observed that the girls about the room were working softly that theymight hear him, "I dreamed that I was out on the fells, and there I meta dreadful wolf, as big as a horse, with two heads and three tails, orthree heads and two tails, I mind not which, but it gave me little timeto notice it, for, before I was aware, it dashed at me, and I turned torun, but my feet seemed to cleave to the earth, and my legs felt heavyas lead, so that I could scarce drag myself along, yet, strange to say,the wolf did not overtake me, although I heard it coming nearer andnearer every moment, and I tried to shout, but my voice would not comeout."

  "What hadst thou to supper last night?" asked Herfrida.

  "Let me think," replied the boy meditatively; "I had four cuts ofsalmon, three rolls of bread and butter, half a wild-duck, two smallbits of salt-fish, some eggs, a little milk, and a horn of ale."

  "It must have been mara," said she, thoughtfully; "but go on with thydream."

  "Well, just as I came to the brink of the river, I looked back and sawthe wolf close at my heels, so I dropped suddenly, and the wolf tumbledright over me into the water, but next moment it came up in the shape ofanother monster with a fish's tail, which made straight at me. Then itall at once came into my head that my guardian spirit was behind me, andI turned quickly round, but did not see it."

  "Art thou quite sure of that, my son?"

  Herfrida asked this in a tone of great anxiety, for to see one's ownguardian spirit was thought unlucky, and a sign that the person seeingit was "fey", or death-doomed.

  "I'm quite sure that I did not," replied Alric, to the manifest reliefof his mother; "but I saw a long pole on the ground, which I seized, andattacked the beast therewith, and a most notable fight we had. I onlywish that it had been true, and that thou hadst been there to see it.Mara fled away at once, for I felt no more fear, but laid about me in away that minded me of Erling. Indeed, I don't think he could have doneit better himself. Oh! how I do wish, sometimes, that my dreams wouldcome true! However, I killed the monster at last, and hurled him intothe river, after which I felt tossed about in a strange way, and then mysenses left me, and then I awoke."

  "What thinkest thou of the dream?" said Herfrida to a wrinkled old cronewho sat on a low stool beside the fire.

  The witch-like old creature roused herself a little and said:

  "Good luck is in store for the boy."

  "Thanks for that, granny," said Alric; "canst say what sort o' good luckit is?"

  "No; my knowledge goes no further. It may be good luck in great things,it may be only in small matters; perhaps soon, perhaps a long timehence: I know not."

  Having ventured this very safe and indefinite prophecy, the old womanlet her chin drop on her bosom, and recommenced the rocking to and frowhich had been interrupted by the question; while Alric laughed, and,taking up a three-pronged spear, said that, as he had been disappointedin going to see the fun at the Springs, he would console himself bygoing and sticking salmon at the foss [waterfall].

  "Wilt thou not wait for midday meal?" said Herfrida.

  "No, mother; this roll will suffice till night."

  "And then thou wilt come home ravening, and have mara again."

 
"Be it so. I'd run the risk of that for the sake of the chance ofanother glorious battle such as I had last night!"

  Saying this the reckless youth sallied forth with the spear or leisteron his shoulder, and took the narrow bridle path leading up the glen.

  It was one of those calm bright days of early autumn in which men _feel_that they draw in fresh life and vigour at each inhalation. With thefragrant odours that arose from innumerable wild flowers, including thatsweetest of plants, the lily of the valley, was mingled the pleasantsmell of the pines, which clothed the knolls, or hung here and therelike eyebrows on the cliffs. The river was swollen considerably byrecent heat, which had caused the great glaciers on the mountain tops tomelt more rapidly than usual, and its rushing sound was mingled with thedeeper roar of the foss, or waterfall, which leaped over a cliff thirtyfeet high about two miles up the valley. Hundreds of rills of all sizesfell and zigzagged down the mountains on either side, some of themappearing like threads of silver on the precipices, and all, river andrills, being as cold as the perpetual ice-fields above which gave thembirth. Birds twittered in the bushes, adding sweetness to the wildmusic, and bright greens and purples, lit up by gleams of sunshine,threw a charm of softness over the somewhat rugged scene.

  The Norse boy's nature was sensitive, and peculiarly susceptible ofoutward influences. As he walked briskly along, casting his eager gazenow at the river which foamed below him, and anon at the distantmountain ridges capped with perennial snows, he forgot his latedisappointment, or, which is the same thing, drowned it in presentenjoyment. Giving vent to his delight, much as boys did a thousandyears later, by violent whistling or in uproarious bursts of song, hedescended to the river's edge, with the intention of darting his salmonspear, when his eye caught sight of a woman's skirt fluttering on one ofthe cliffs above. He knew that Hilda and Ada had gone up the valleytogether on a visit to a kinswoman, for Herfrida had spoken of expectingthem back to midday meal; guessing, therefore, that it must be them, hedrew back out of sight, and clambered hastily up the bank, intending togive them a surprise. He hid himself in the bushes at a jutting pointwhich they had to pass, and from which there was a magnificent view ofthe valley, the fiord, and the distant sea.

  He heard the voices of the two girls in animated conversation as theydrew near, and distinguished the name of Glumm more than once, but, notbeing a gossip by nature, he thought nothing of this, and was intentonly on pouncing out on them when they should reach a certain stone inthe path. Truth constrains us to admit that our young friend, like manyyoung folk of the present day, was a practical joker--yet it must alsobe said that he was not a very bad one, and, to his honour be itrecorded, he never practised jokes on old people!

  It chanced, however, that the two friends stopped short just beforereaching the stone, so that Alric had to exercise patience while thegirls contemplated the view--at least while Hilda did so, for on Ada'sface there was a frown, and her eyes were cast on the ground.

  "How lovely Horlingdal looks on such a day!" observed Hilda.

  "I have no eyes for beautiful things to-night," said Ada pettishly; "Icannot get over it--such cool, thankless indifference when I took thetrouble to dress his--his--stupid head, and then, not satisfied withtelling the whole story over to thee, who cares no more for it than ifit were the slaying of half a dozen sheep, he must needs go and payfrequent visits to Ingeborg and to Halgerda of the Foss--and--and--But Iknow it is all out of spite, and that he does not care a bodkin foreither of them, yet I cannot bear it, and I _won't_ bear it, so he hadbetter look to himself. And yet I would not for the best mantle in thedale that he knew I had two thoughts about the matter."

  "But why play fast and loose with him?" said Hilda, with a laugh at hercompanion's vehemence.

  "Because I like it and I choose to do so."

  "But perchance he does not like it, and does not choose to be treatedso."

  "I care not for that."

  "Truly thy looks and tone belie thee," said Hilda, smiling. "But in allseriousness, Ada, let me advise thee again to be more considerate withGlumm, for I sometimes think that the men who are most worth having arethe most easily turned aside."

  "Hast thou found it so with Erling?" demanded Ada half-angrily.

  Hilda blushed scarlet at this and said:

  "I never thought of Erling in this light; at least I never--he never--that is--"

  Fortunately at this point Alric, in his retreat among the bushes, alsoblushed scarlet, for it only then flashed upon him that he had beenacting the mean part of an eavesdropper, and had been listening toconverse which he should not have heard. Instead, therefore, ofcarrying out his original intention, he scrambled into the path with asmuch noise as possible, and coughed, as he came awkwardly forward.

  "Why, the wicked boy has been listening," cried Ada, laying her handupon the lad's shoulder, and looking sternly into his face.

  "I have," said Alric bluntly.

  "And art thou not ashamed?"

  "I am," he replied, with a degree of candour in his self-condemnationwhich caused Ada and Hilda to burst into a hearty fit of laughter.

  "But," said Ada, becoming grave again, "thou hast heard too much for thygood."

  "I know it," he replied, "and I'm sorry, Ada, but cannot help it now.This will I say, however: I had no wish or intention to hear when I hidmyself. My desire was only to startle thee and Hilda, and before Ithought what thou wert talking of the thing was out, and now I have gotit I cannot unget it."

  "True, but thou canst keep it," said Ada.

  "I can, and ye may rest assured no word or look of mine shall betraythee. I'll even try to conceal it from myself, and think it was adream, unless, indeed, I see a good chance of helping thee in thisaffair!"

  Alric laughed as he said this, and the girls joined him, after whichthey all went on towards Haldorstede together.

  On reaching the place where Alric had intended to fish, Ada suggestedthat he should go and try his fortune, so he ran down to the river, andthe girls followed him to the bank.

  The spot selected was a rapid which terminated in a small andcomparatively quiet but deep pool. We say comparatively, because in thestate of the river at that time even in the quietest places there wasconsiderable commotion. Just below the pool the river opened out into abroad shallow, over which it passed in noisy foam, but with littledepth, except in the centre. Below this, again, it narrowed, and formedanother deep pool.

  Alric ran into the water till he was about knee-deep, and then plungedhis spear. Nothing resulted from the first plunge, but the effect ofthe second was more tremendous than had ever before happened to theyoung sportsman, for the pole of the trident received a twist so violentthat it would infallibly have been torn from the boy's grasp had he notheld on with the tenacity of a vice, and allowed himself to be draggedbodily into the pool. As we have said, the pool was deep, but that wasnothing to Alric, who could swim like a duck. The Norse maidens whowatched him knew this, and although slightly alarmed, felt on the wholemore inclined to laugh than to tremble as his head emerged and sankagain several times, while the fish which he had struck dragged himabout the pool. After a few seconds of violent and wild exertion itrushed down the pool into the rapid, and then it was that the girlsperceived that Alric had struck and was clinging to one of thelargest-sized salmon that ever appeared in Horlingdal river.

  Fortunate it was for the boy that the fish took the rapid, for it hadalmost choked him in the deep pool; but now he scrambled on his feet,and began to do battle gallantly--endeavouring to thrust the fishdownwards and pin it to the stones whenever it passed over a shallowpart, on which occasions its back and silver sides became visible, andits great tail--wide spreading, like a modern lady's fan--flashed in theair as it beat the water in terror or fury. Alric's spirit was ablazewith excitement, for the fish was too strong for him, so that every timeit wriggled itself he was made to shake and stagger in a mostridiculously helpless manner, and when it tried to bolt he was pulledflat down on his face an
d had to follow it--sometimes on his knees,sometimes at full length, for, over and over again, when he was about torise, or had half-risen, there was another pull, and down he went again,quite flat, while the roaring torrent went right over him.

  But no limpet ever stuck to rock with greater tenacity than did Alric tothe handle of that trident; and it is but just to add, for theinformation of those who know it not, that the difficulty of retainingone's foothold on the pebbly bed of a river when knee-deep in a foamingrapid is very great indeed, even when one has nothing more to do thanattend to the balancing of one's own body--much greater, of course, incircumstances such as we describe.

  At last the salmon made a rush, and was swept over a shallow part of therapid, close under the bank on which the girls stood. Here Alricsucceeded in thrusting it against a large stone. For the first time hemanaged to stand up erect, and, although holding the fish with all hismight, looked up, and breathed, or rather gasped, freely:

  "Hoch! hah! _what_ a fish! sk-ho!"

  "Oh, I wish we could help thee!" exclaimed the girls, with flashing eyesand outstretched hands, as if they could hardly restrain themselves fromleaping into the water, which was indeed the case!

  "N-no! ye can't! 's not poss'ble--hah! my! oh there 'e goes again--s-t-swash!"

  Down he went, flat, as he spoke, and water stopped his utterance, whilethe fish wriggled into the centre of the channel, and carried him intothe deep pool below!

  Here the scene was not quite so exciting, because the battle was not sofierce. The salmon had it all his own way in the deep water, anddragged his attached friend hither and thither as he pleased. On theother hand, Alric ceased to contend, and merely held on with his righthand, while with his left he kept his head above water. The poolcircled about in large oily wavelets flecked with foam, so that therewas a great contrast in all this to the tremendous turmoil of the ragingrapid. But the comparative calm did not last long. The huge fish madea frantic, and apparently a last, effort to get free. It rushed down tothe foot of the pool, and passed over the edge into the next rapid.

  The girls shrieked when they saw this, for, unlike the former, this onewas a deep rush of the river, between narrower banks, where its coursewas obstructed by large rocks. Against these the stream beat furiously.Alric knew the spot well, and was aware of the extreme danger of hisposition. He therefore made a violent effort to drag the fish towards apoint where there was a slight break or eddy among a number of boulders,intending to let him go, if necessary, rather than lose his life. Hesucceeded, however, in getting upon one of the rocks quite close to thebank, and then endeavoured to lift the fish out of the water. In thisalso he was successful; made a splendid heave, and flung it with all hisforce towards the bank, on which it alighted, trident and all, at thefeet of Hilda. But in letting go his hold of the handle Alric lost hisbalance, flung his arms above his head in a vain endeavour to recoverhimself, and, with a loud shout, fell back into the roaring torrent andwas swept away.

  A few moments sufficed to carry him into the pool below, to the edge ofwhich the girls rushed, and found that he was floating round and roundin a state of insensibility, every moment passing near to the vortex ofthe rapid that flowed out of it. Hilda at once rushed in waist-deep andcaught him by the collar. She would have been swept away along withhim, but Ada also sprang forward and grasped Hilda by the mantle. Shecould not, however, drag her back; neither could Hilda in any way helpherself. Thus they stood for a few moments swaying to and fro in thecurrent, and, doubtless, one or more of them would have soon beencarried down had not efficient aid been at hand.

  High up on the cliff over the scene where this incident occurred,Christian the hermit was seated on a log before his door. He sat gazingdreamily out upon the landscape when Alric began to fish, but, seeingthe danger to which the lad exposed himself, after he had speared thefish, and fearing that there might be need of his aid, he quicklydescended to the scene of action. He did not arrive a moment too soon,for the whole event occurred very rapidly. Running to the rescue hecaught Ada round the waist with both hands, and drew her gently back;she was soon out of danger, after which there was no great difficulty indragging the others safely to land.

  At once the hermit stripped off the boy's coat, loosened the kerchiefthat was round his throat, and sought, by every means in his power, torestore him to consciousness. His efforts were successful. The boysoon began to breathe, and in a short time stood up, swaying himself toand fro, and blinking.

  The first thing he said was:

  "Where is the salmon?"

  "The salmon? Oh, I forgot all about it," said Ada.

  "Never mind it, dear Alric," said Hilda.

  "Never mind it?" he cried, starting into sudden animation; "what! haveye left it behind?"

  Saying this he burst away from his friends, and ran up the bank of theriver until he came to where the fish was lying, still impaled on thebarbed prongs of the trident. The run so far restored him that he hadsufficient strength to shoulder the fish, although it afterwards turnedout to be a salmon of thirty-five pounds weight, and he quickly rejoinedhis friends, who returned with him to Haldorstede, where, you may bequite sure, he gave a graphic account of the adventure to willing andadmiring ears.

  "So, granny," he said, at the conclusion of the narrative, to the oldcrone who was still seated by the fire, "thy prophecy has come truesooner than ye expected, and it has come doubly true, for though thegood luck in store for me was a matter of small general importance, noone can deny that it is a great fish!"