CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
DIFFICULTIES REGARDING INTERCOMMUNICATION--THE POWER OF FINERYDISPLAYED--ALSO THE POWER OF SONG AND SENTIMENT.
The additional force thus opportunely gained by the Norsemen, althoughhailed with so much enthusiasm, did not very materially alter theirposition. True, they now formed a company of above fifty stout andwell-armed men, who, in the hour of extremity, could make a formidableresistance to any foe, however numerous; but what chance had they ofultimately escaping from upwards of a thousand savages, every man ofwhom was an adept at bush-warfare; could dart from tree to tree, andharass and cut off in detail an enemy whom he would not dare, or did notcare, to face in the open field--which latter mode of warfare was morenatural and congenial to the Norsemen?
This truth soon began to force itself upon Karlsefin's understanding;but as he feared to damp the spirits of his less thoughtful comrades, hekept his anxieties to himself, and made the best disposition of hisforce that was possible in the circumstances.
Very soon there was a movement among the savages on shore, and itsobject was not long of being apparent, for presently a fleet of canoeswas seen ascending the river. At the same time the other fleet renewedits advance from above, while the men on shore moved once more towardsthe spit of sand.
"They mean to attack on all sides at once," said Biarne.
"Let them come," growled Thorward. "'Tis death or victory now, lads."
No one spoke, but the eagle glances of the men, and their firm grasp ofsword and spear, told that they were ready; and once more it seemed asif the bloody fight were about to begin, when again it was interruptedby a shout. This time the shout came from the woods, from which, a fewminutes later, a solitary savage was seen to issue. He appeared to bein haste, and ran through the crowd of warriors, who made way for him,straight towards the white-haired chief, to whom he appeared to speakwith great fervour and many gesticulations, though he was too far off tobe heard, or his countenance to be distinctly seen, by the Norsemen.
"That fellow brings news of some sort or other. I should say," remarkedBiarne.
"Whatever his news may be," replied Karlsefin, "I don't think it will belikely to do much for us."
"The rascal's figure seems not unfamiliar to me," said Thorward.
At that moment the crowd of chiefs around Whitepow shouted the word"Ho!" apparently in approbation of something that he had just remarked,and immediately after the man whom Thorward had styled a rascal began totalk and gesticulate again more violently than ever.
"What _is_ the man after now?" said Thorward. "It seems to me that heis mad."
The savage did indeed appear to be slightly deranged, for, in the midstof his talk, he took an arrow and went through the pantomime ofdischarging it; then he applied the point of it to his own back, andfell down as if wounded; whereupon he rose quietly and kneeled with atender air, as if in the act of succouring a wounded man; and thereafterwent on to perform other pantomimic acts, which at last induced Thorwardto open his eyes very wide and whistle, as he exclaimed--"Why, 'tisUtway, that fellow who was half killed in our first brush with theSkraelingers."
"Ay, and who was so tenderly nursed by Bertha," added Biarne.
"There can be no doubt of it," said Karlsefin, in a cheerful voice; "andnow have I some hope of a peaceful end to this affair, for what else canhe be doing but pleading our cause?"
"I'm not so sure of that," replied Thorward. "He may just as likely betelling them what lots of good things might be got by killing us all andtaking possession of Leifsgaard."
"The question will soon be settled, Thorward, for here comes thesavage," said Biarne.
This was true. Having finished his talk, whatever it was, and heard abrief reply from Whitepow, Utway turned round and ran fearlessly towardsthe Norsemen.
"I will go meet him," said Karlsefin.
"There may be danger in that," suggested Biarne.
"Greater danger in showing distrust," replied Karlsefin. "Confidenceshould beget confidence."
Without more words he flung down sword and shield, and advanced unarmedto meet the savage, whom he shook warmly by the hand--a style ofsalutation which Utway thoroughly understood, having learned it whilelying wounded in Leifsgaard.
They could not of course make use of speech, but Utway was such apowerful gesticulator that it was not difficult to make out his meaning.After shaking hands he put his hand on his heart, then laid it onKarlsefin's breast, and pointed towards the old chief with an air thatwould have done credit to a courtier.
Karlsefin at once took the hand of the savage, and walked with himthrough the midst of the native chiefs, above whose heads he toweredconspicuously, until he stood before Whitepow. Taking off his ironhelmet he bowed to the old chief, an act which appeared to afford thatworthy much satisfaction, for, although he did not venture to return thebow, he exclaimed "Ho!" with solemn emphasis.
This was all very pleasant, but it was not much. Karlsefin, therefore,tried his hand at a little gesticulation, while the natives gazed at himwith speechless interest. Whitepow and Utway then replied with avariety of energetic demonstrations, some of which the Norsemanunderstood, while of others he could make nothing at all, but the resultof it all was, that Utway made a final proposal, which was very clear,to the effect that the Norsemen should approach the savages, mingle withthem, and be friends.
To this Karlsefin returned a decided negative, by shaking his head andfrowning portentously. At the same time he stooped and held his handabout two feet from the ground, as if to indicate something that stoodpretty nearly that height. Then he tenderly patted the top of theimaginary thing, whatever it was, and took it up in his arms, kissed it,and laid it on his breast. After that he indicated another thingsomewhat higher, which he also patted on the top. Thereafter he pressedhis arms close to his side and struggled as if to get loose fromsomething, but could not until he had taken hold of an imaginary knife,cut the something which bound him, and set his arms free.
All this was apparently understood and immensely relished by thenatives, who nodded to each other and vociferated "Ho!" to such anextent that the repetition caused it to sound somewhat like a fiendishlaugh. But here Whitepow put in his veto, shook his head and appearedinexorable, whereupon Karlsefin crossed his arms on his breast andlooked frowningly on the ground.
Things had just reached this uncomfortable pass, when Karlsefin's eyechanced to fall on the end of a piece of bright scarlet cloth with whichGudrid had smilingly ornamented his neck before he set out on thisexpedition,--just as a young wife might, in chivalrous ages, have tied ascarf to her knight's arm before sending him off to the wars.
A sudden idea flashed upon him. He unfastened the strip of cloth, and,advancing, presented it to Whitepow, with a bland smile.
The aged chief was not proof against this. He gazed at the brilliantcloth with intense admiration, and expressed as much delight atreceiving it as if he had been a child--which, by the way, he was, inregard to such fabrics and in his inability to restrain his feelings.
Rejoiced to observe the good effect thus produced, Karlsefin did hisbest to assure the chief that there was plenty more of the same in hispossession, besides other things--all of which Utway corroborated,--andsignified that he, Whitepow, should have large quantities thereof if hewould restore the captives to their friends. In order to add force towhat he said, he drew from his pouch or wallet several small metalornaments strung together like beads, and presented these also toWhitepow, as well as to several of the chiefs who stood nearest to him.At the same time he uncovered, as if inadvertently, a magnificent silverbrooch which hung round his neck, under his leathern war-shirt.
This brooch was by no means a trifling bauble. It was massive,beautifully carved, and hung round with little silver cups anddiamond-shaped pieces of silver about the size of a man's thumb-nail.It was much prized by its owner on account of being an heirloom of hisfamily, having been carried to Iceland by his forefathers when they wereexpatriated from Norway by Ki
ng Harald Fairhair.
Whitepow's eye at once fell on the brooch, and he expressed a strongdesire to possess it.
Karlsefin started as if in alarm, seized the brooch with both hands,held it aloft, and gazed at it in a species of veneration, then,clasping it to his breast, shook his head by way of an emphatic "No!"
Of course Whitepow became doubly anxious to have it; whereupon Karlsefinagain stooped, and, placing his hand about two feet from the ground,patted the top of the thing indicated, and said that he might have thebrooch for _that_ and the other things previously referred to.
Whitepow pondered a few minutes, and Utway said something very seriouslyto him, which resulted in his giving an order to two of his chiefs, whoat once left the group. They quickly returned, leading Hake and thechildren between them--the former being still bound at the elbows.
There was something quite startling in the shout of surprise that Olafgave on observing Karlsefin. It was only equalled by the shriek of gleethat burst from Snorro when he recognised his father.
Olaf instantly seized Snorro and ran towards him. Karlsefin met themmore than half-way, and, with an expression of deep thankfulness, caughtup his little one and strained him to his heart, while Olaf tightlyembraced his leg!
But, recollecting himself instantly, he set Snorro down, removed thesilver brooch from his neck and placed it in the hand of the old chief.At the same time he pointed to Hake's bonds. Whitepow understood him,and, drawing his stone knife, cut these asunder.
"Make no haste, Hake," said his leader, "but take Snorro in your armsand Olaf by the hand, and walk _slowly_ but steadily towards yourcomrades. If any one offers to intercept you, resist not, but turn andcome back hither."
Hake made no reply, but did as he was bid, and was soon in the midst ofhis comrades. Meanwhile Karlsefin, whose joy almost prevented him frommaintaining the dignity that was appropriate to the occasion, took offevery scrap in the shape of ornament that he possessed and presented allto Whitepow, even to the last bauble in the bottom of his wallet, and hetried to make the old man understand that all his men had things of asimilar kind to bestow, which would be brought to him if he would orderthe great mass of his people to retire to a considerable distance,retaining only about his person a party equal in numbers to theNorsemen.
To this the chief seemed inclined to object at first, but again Utway'seloquence and urgency prevailed. The old man stood up, shouted an orderin the voice of a Stentor, and waved his hand. The whole multitude atonce fell back to a considerable distance, leaving only a few of theprincipal men around their chief.
The active Scot instantly bounded towards him--not less with desire toserve his deliverer than with delight at finding himself once more free!
"Go back, Hake, and tell the men to come quietly hither in a compactbody, leaving their bows and spears behind them, only carrying each manhis sword and shield. Let a strong guard stay with the weapons and thechildren, and see that Biarne and Thorward also remain with them.Quietly place the children in a canoe, and do you and Heika stand readyto man it."
"That has already been done," said Hake.
"By whose orders?" demanded Karlsefin.
"At my suggestion," replied Hake.
"Thou art a wise man, Hake. I thank thee. Go; I need not explain thattwo canoes at least would require to accompany you, so as to repelattack by water, and, if it be necessary, to flee, while we guard theretreat."
"That has already been arranged," said Hake.
"Good, good. Then, whatever betide us, the dear children are like to besafe. Get you gone, Hake; and, harkee, if _we_ should not return, besure thou bear my love to Gudrid.--Away."
Hake bowed in silence and retired. In a few minutes the greater part ofthe Norsemen stood before the old chief, and, by Karlsefin's command,every man who chanced to have any trifling ornament of any kind abouthim took it off and presented it to the savages.
Whitepow, in return, ordered a package of furs to be brought, andpresented each man with a beautiful sable. Karlsefin then made Utwayexplain that he had seen much valuable cloth and many ornaments in theNorsemen's camp, and that these would be given in exchange for suchfurs,--a piece of news which seemed to gratify the savages, for theypossessed an immense number of furs, which were comparatively of littlevalue to them.
Thus amicable relations were established; but when Whitepow invited theNorsemen to accompany him to his village and feast, Karlsefin intimatedthat he intended to sup and pass the night on the spit of sand, and thatin the early morning he would return to his home, whither he hoped thesavages would soon follow him with their furs. That, meanwhile, a smallnumber might accompany him, if they chose, to view his habitation andtake back a report. This was agreed to, and thus happily theconferences ended.
That night the Norsemen held high carousal on the spit of sand, partlybecause they were rejoiced at the successful issue of the expedition asfar as it had gone, and partly because they wished to display afree-and-easy spirit to the savages. They drew a line at the narrowestpart of the neck of land, and there posted armed sentinels, whoresolutely refused to let any one pass. On the outward edge of thespit, other sentinels were placed, who checked all tendency to approachby water, and who--in one or two instances, when some obstinate nativesattempted to force a landing--overturned the canoes and left theoccupants to swim ashore the best way they could.
The only exception to this rule was made in favour of Utway andWhitepow, with the grandson of the latter, little Powlet. These threecame down to the spit after the Norsemen had kindled a magnificentbonfire of dry logs, round which they sat and ate their supper, toldsagas, sang songs, cracked jokes, and drank to absent friends in cans ofpure water, with an amount of dash, fervour, and uproarious laughterthat evidently raised quite a new idea in the savage minds, and filledthem with amazement unutterable, but not inexpressible, for theirglaring eyes, and lengthened jaws, and open mouths were the materialembodiment of surprise. In fact, the entire population sat on thesurrounding banks and heights nearly the whole night, with their handsand chins resting on their knees, listening and gazing in silentadmiration at the proceedings of the Norsemen, as a vast audience mightwitness the entertainments of an amphitheatre.
The utmost hospitality was of course extended by the Norsemen to theirthree visitors, who partook of the food set before them with muchrelish. Fortunately some of the men who had been left to guard the armsstill possessed a few trinkets and pieces of bright cloth, so thatKarlsefin was again enabled to gratify his new friends with a few morepresents.
"Snorro," said Karlsefin, who sat beside Whitepow in front of the firewith the child on his knee, "are you glad to see your father again?"
"Iss," said Snorro, responding _slightly_ to the tender embrace which hereceived.
We are afraid that truth requires us to state, that Snorro had not quitereached the age of reciprocal attachment--at least in regard to men. Ofcourse we do not pretend to know anything about the mysterious feelingswhich he was reported to entertain towards his mother and nurse! All wecan say is, that up to this point in his history the affections of thatfirst-born of Vinland appeared to centre chiefly in his stomach--who fedhim best he loved most! It is but simple justice to add, however, thatOlaf was, in Snorro's eye, an exception to the rule. We really believethat if Olaf had starved and beaten him during the first half of a day,by way of experiment, Snorro would have clung to him and loved himthroughout the other half!
"Come hither, Olaf, take this bit of cloth in your hand, and present itto that little boy," said Karlsefin, pointing to Powlet. "He seems fondof Snorro, and deserves something."
"Fond of him!" exclaimed Olaf, laughing, as he presented the clothaccording to orders, and then returned to Snorro's side. "You shouldhave seen the way he made Snorro laugh one day by painting my face."
Here Olaf went into a minute account of the operation referred to, andtold it with so much humour that the Norsemen threw back their wildheads and shook their shaggy beards in fits of
uproarious laughter,which awakened the echoes of the opposite cliffs, and caused the nativesto think, no doubt, that the very rocks were merry.
After this Krake told a story and sang a rollicking song, and of courseHake was made to sing, which he readily did, giving them one of hisnative airs with such deep pathos, that the very savages--unused thoughthey were to music--could not refrain from venting a murmur ofadmiration, which rose on the night air like a mysterious throb from thehearts of the dark concourse.
Immediately after Hake's song the old chief and his friends took theirleave. The sentinels were now changed and doubled, the fire wasextinguished, each Norseman lay down with his hand on his sword-hilt,and his shield above him, and the vast multitude of savages melted awayto their respective places of repose.
The Norsemen in the West Page 23