The Norsemen in the West

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER TWENTY.

  REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES OF OLAF AND SNORRO--THE FORMER SUFFERS THE PANGSOF REMORSE.

  A camp of savages is, in some respects, exceedingly unattractive.Indeed, it may truly be said to be in many respects repulsive. Thereare usually odours in such a camp which are repellent to the nose,dishes that are disgusting to the taste, sights that are disagreeable tothe eyes, sounds that are abhorrent to the ear, and habits that areuncongenial to the feelings.

  Nevertheless there is much in such a camp that is deeply interesting.The student of nature, the mental and moral philosopher, theanthropologist, and the philanthropist--ay, even the cynic--might eachfind much food here suited to his particular tastes and powers of mentaldigestion. At present, however, we have chiefly to do, good reader,with that which interests you and me--namely, Olaf and Snorro, who wereprisoners of war in a savage camp.

  The camp referred to was not the small affair already described ashaving taken sudden flight from the rivulet which flowed into the greatriver, where we have left the Norsemen doing battle with the waters. Itwas the great parent, of which that little camp was but an offshoot--thehead-quarters of a whole tribe of savages, who dwelt in it to the extentof many hundreds. Yet it was not a fixed camp. It was a moving villageof leathern tents, or wigwams, pitched without any regard to order, onthe margin of what appeared to be a small lake, but which was in realitya mere widening of the great river.

  Hither Olaf and Snorro were brought by their captors, and immediatelyconveyed to the tent of the chief, who was an aged and white-hairedthough vigorous and strong-boned savage. Whitepow, for such, curiouslyenough, was his name, opened his eyes uncommonly wide when he saw thechildren of the Norsemen, and, sitting up on the couch of furs on whichhe had been reclining, gazed at them for about five minutes withoutspeaking, almost without winking.

  Snorro did not appear to relish this, for he crept close to Olaf's sideand tried to turn away his eyes, but found this to be impossible, for asort of fascination kept them riveted on the countenance of the agedWhitepow.

  At last the savage chief opened his mouth as well as his eyes, and spoketo the savage who had brought the children into the royal presence.That worthy rapidly related the circumstances of the capture--at leastso it is to be presumed, but no one can now tell for certain--afterwhich Whitepow turned to Olaf and said something which as near aspossible resembled the words:

  "Whardeekum froyoul ittlsiner?"

  "I don't understand you," answered Olaf humbly. Whitepow repeated thewords, and Olaf reiterated his assurance that he could make nothing ofthem whatever.

  This concluded the interview at that time, and Whitepow gave an orderwhich resulted in the children being conveyed to a tent where there wereseveral women, old and young, to whom they were handed over with amessage which we cannot record, not knowing what it was.

  The reception which they met with from these native women wasflattering, if not in all respects pleasant. First, they were placed inthe centre of the group and gazed at in wondering admiration. Then theywere seized and kissed and hugged all round the circle. Then they wereexamined carefully all over, and under as well, their white skins beingas much a matter of interest as their clothing. After that their fairhair was smoothed and parted by not untender hands, and they were huggedagain--just as two new dolls might have been by a group of sisters onfirst making their acquaintance.

  Of course there was an immense deal of talking and chatting andcommenting, also no small amount of giggling, and once or twice one ofthe women addressed Olaf; but Olaf shook his head and stuck to his firstassurance that their words were incomprehensible.

  All this was borne by the captives with wonderful equanimity, becauseneither was old enough to be much affected by dirtiness of person orgarments, and both were thoroughly able to appreciate kindness.

  Finally, a stout and not bad-looking young woman took possession ofSnorro, and robbed her own offspring in order to bestow on him a veryacceptable drink of milk. This last act quite reconciled him to hisfate, and Olaf, though not so easily won over, was somewhat mollified bya kindly old woman, who placed him at her side, and set before him adish of dried berries.

  When this feeding process was concluded, and the first blush of noveltybegan to wear off, the children were turned out in front of the women'stent, where, seated together on a bit of wood, they underwent theinspection of the whole tribe, old and young, male and female. This wasa much more trying ordeal, but in about an hour an order was issuedwhich resulted in the dispersion of every one save a few boys, who wereeither privileged individuals or rebellious subjects, for they not onlycame back to gaze at the children, but ventured at length to carry themoff to play near the banks of the river.

  Olaf was so far reconciled to his new friends that he did not object towitness and take an interest in their games, though he resolutelyrefused to join, fearing that if he did so his little charge might bespirited away while he was not watching.

  At last one of the boys, whose head was very small and round, and whosename appeared to be Powlet, came forward with a little red paint, andoffered to apply it to Olaf's face. All the boys' faces were, we mayobserve, more or less painted with black, red, white, and blue colours,and their heads were decorated more or less with feathers. Indeed,these feathers constituted, with the exception of a trifling shred ofleather about the loins, and some feathers in their hair, all theclothing they wore at that season of the year.

  Olaf refused to be painted, whereupon Powlet rubbed the red paint on thepoint of his own nose, an operation which so tickled the fancy ofSnorro, that he burst into a hearty fit of laughter, to Olaf's ineffablejoy.

  "That's right, Snorrie," he cried, setting the child on his knee, "laughagain; do it heartily; it will cheer us both."

  "It am so fun-ny, O'af," said Snorro, repeating the laugh as he lookedat the native boy.

  Observing the success of his efforts to please, Powlet put a spot of thered paint under each eye, and Snorro laughed so much at this that allthe other boys came crowding round to ascertain and enjoy the joke.

  Powlet now offered to anoint Snorro in the same way, but Snorroobjected, and, pointing to his protector said, with a look of glee--

  "Do O'af."

  Nothing else would have induced Olaf to submit, but Snorro's wish waslaw to him. He therefore consented at once, and Powlet, dipping hisfinger in the red paint which he carried in the hollow of his hand, drewa thick stroke from Olaf's forehead down to the point of his nose, wherehe made it terminate in a large, round spot.

  There was a tremendous shout at this, not only from Snorro, but from allthe other boys; and Olaf was so pleased to see Snorro happy, that heturned to Powlet, pointed to his face, and nodded his head by way ofinviting further decoration.

  Powlet was an intelligent boy. He understood him at once, and went onwith his work, a boy coming up at the moment with some white paint inhis hand, and another with some blue. A white diamond was immediatelyplanted on each cheek, and a blue circle under each eye, with a red spotin the centre of each. So far, the work was very striking andsuggestive, but when Powlet finished off by drawing a series of blue,red, and white lines over Olaf's eyes, in the forms that usuallyindicate astonishment, added a red oval to the chin, with a blue spot inthe middle of it, and stuck some feathers in his hair, the effect wasabsolutely tremendous, for it caused the native boys to yell withdelight, and Snorro almost to fall off his protector's knee in a fit ofjuvenile hysterics.

  "Don't overdo it, Snorrie," said Olaf in some alarm.

  "Oh! O'af, 'oo _is so_ fun-ny!" he cried again, giving way to mirthtill the tears ran down his cheeks.

  At this point a tall savage came rushing out of the chief's tent withglaring eyes, and made for the spot where the boys were assembled. Theyseemed to know at once what was his errand, for, with one consent, theyscattered and fled. The tall savage singled out Powlet, caught him,punched his head, and flung him into the river, after which he turned,and, without taking
any notice of the captives further than to gaze atthem, returned leisurely to the regal tent.

  Meanwhile Powlet came to the surface, swam like an otter to the shore,and, clambering up the bank, ran into the woods, seemingly none theworse of his bath.

  Thus left alone, Olaf put Snorro on his back and sauntered away into thewoods along the banks of the river. Forgetting his ridiculousappearance, he began to think of home and to feel very sad, while hischarge, overcome with his late exertions, fell asleep on his back. Thelonger he walked the sadder he grew, and at last he groaned rather thansaid, "What _shall_ I do?"

  Suddenly it occurred to him, that as the savages appeared to be verycareless about watching him, he might run away. It could do no harm totry, and he would not be in a much worse position than when lost in thewoods before. Under the influence of this thought he stopped and lookedcautiously round in all directions. No one was to be seen. He breathedhard, turned off the track on tiptoe until he had got into what appearedto him to be a very dense and sequestered part of the woods, thensuddenly took to his heels and ran for his life!

  A loud laugh sounded in the bushes in front of him, and he stopped shortjust as Powlet appeared, wagging his small head and laughinginordinately.

  Poor Olaf guessed at once that the boy had been set to watch him; hetherefore wheeled about and walked back to the river, where, going outon a spit of land that he might not be overheard, he sat down on theground and communed bitterly with himself.

  "Oh why, why did I break my promise?" he murmured in deep despondency.

  After a long silence he began to think aloud.

  "It all comes of _disobedience_!" he muttered.

  "Father used to say, `If you love me, obey me. If you want to provethat you love Gudrid, _obey_ her.' That's it, Olaf. It's there thatthe sin lies. He told me never to pass the ridge, and I _did_ pass theridge, even though I had promised not to; and so, owing to that littlebit of disobedience, here you are, Olaf--and Snorrie too--poor Snorrie--and we're likely to remain here for ever, as far as I can see. Oh thatI had not done it! But what good can wishing do _now_? If I had lovedfather better, perhaps I would have obeyed him better."

  It would almost seem as if Olaf had heard of such a word as this--"If yelove me, keep my commandments!"

  After a few minutes he broke forth again--"Yes, I know that I did notintend to disobey; nevertheless I _did_ it. And I did not think suchawful things would follow--but that does not mend the matter. What_shall_ I do? Snorrie, I think I could gladly lay down my life, if Icould give you back once more to your mother."

  Snorro heard not the remark. He was as sound as a top, and Olaf lookedsadly at the little head that lay on his shoulder. Then it struck himthat it was high time to have the child put to bed, so he rose andhurried back to the women's tent, where he was received with as muchkindness as before.

  Very soon Snorro's little head reposed upon a pillow of rabbit-skins,and not long after that Olaf went to rest beside him on a deer-skincouch, where, lying on his back, he could see the sky through the holein the top of the tent whence the smoke of the fire escaped. As he laythere the burden of his thoughts was ever the same--"Oh _why_ did I doit? Why did I disobey?" Thus the poor boy lay, self-condemned, andgazed upwards and pondered, until sweet sleep came and carried heart andbrain to the blessed refuge of oblivion.