Then I heard no more, and fell asleep in earnest; for I needed rest badly, as one might well suppose.
Something touched my hand and I awoke. It was the great dog, who came and thrust his nose against me, having made up his mind to be friendly altogether. So when his master came in I was fondling his head, and he looked puzzled.
"Say what men will," he said, "I know you are an honest man!"
"Do you hold that any will doubt it?" I asked, wondering what he meant; for he looked strangely at me.
"Aye; the jarl has found your boat, and has sent me back to keep you fast. Know you whose boat you have?"
"It belonged to Jarl Lodbrok, who came ashore in it, as I have come here--and he gave it me."
"Hammer of Thor!" said the man. "Is the jarl alive?"
"What know you of him?" I asked.
"He was our jarl--ours," he answered.
"Who is the other jarl you speak of?" I asked him, with a hope that Halfden had come home, for now I knew that we had indeed followed Lodbrok's track exactly.