When Leif had emptied a couple of jugs of beer he felt hungry and demanded food. For a whole day and night he had had nothing except two raw shellfish, if that were not something which he had only dreamt. At any rate, his hunger was keen and insatiable. With continually increasing wonder his men stood round him and watched him devour a hearty meal. He was the only one on board who had an appetite. An icy dread instilled by the moonlight still possessed his men like bodily nausea. Even the beer which he had given them they drank more from obedience than from pleasure.
When Leif had made them first stir themselves and then totter a little on their legs, he set them at the oars and bade them set to work like the boys they were! They should only think of their wives and dearest ones, and for the rest row as though a dead man were after them. Leif had had enough adventures for the present. Now he wanted to get home to Norway.
V
Helga, the faithful and anxious, was once more to see the summer die on the fields and in the wood and Leif return home over the autumn sea.
The foggy, raw, cold autumn day became great and festive when she caught sight of Leif's ship out on the fjord. A red flag waved from the mast, a signal which had been agreed upon. There came Leif sailing with her happiness on board.
Merely the fact of his being alive was like a boon from the gods. It filled her soul with summer to feel herself warm and living in his arms. Every time that Leif came home from an expedition, it was equally new and incomprehensible that he lived—lived and was near her again.
Leif came home with spring and renewal of life in his soul. That was always the case with him. The evil and dangerous unrest was gone. He had swept it out of his soul with adventures. Leif was again Leif. His cheerful laughter betokened his inner quiet. There was noise and bustle wherever he moved, but there was a contented assurance in his voice and look.
To Helga, at any rate, it seemed worth while to have endured the pain of longing and anxiety during the summer in order to have him home again. The eager tone of his voice alone, when he asked questions or related incidents, made her heart swell with happiness. She could forget both to answer and to listen, and just cast herself on his neck because she must, because it was so delightful to weep and laugh out her happiness with his arms round her.