"That last I cannot answer," replied the man. "This only I know, that the night before the Jemtland people attacked us, a man came to the door of the house where I lodged, and giving me this said, 'Fly, war is afoot,' and with that he left as suddenly as he came. I aroused my master Arne, and one or two more, and thanks to the warning, we escaped the fate of our comrades. That is all I can tell you."
The message made a sharp impression on Estein's mind. "An old man, a maiden, and a spell," he repeated to himself. He racked his brains, but he could think of no one in that remote country who would be likely to send such a message. It seemed to him to have an almost supernatural import, and again he said to himself, "An old man, a maiden, and a spell." Then suddenly he took a resolution, and turning from the messenger stepped into the crowd who surrounded the king.
Arne had just finished his tale. There was a moment's angry silence, and then the king glanced round the host of weather-beaten Vikings and high-born chiefs and cried,—
"Who will punish these cowardly rebels of mine?"
A dozen voices instantly claimed the service. Loudest of them all was that of Ketill, now married to a wealthy widow and a person of considerable importance, and the black-bearded Viking stepped forward as he spoke.
"Give me this service, king," he said. "I have lived at mine ease too long of late. Laziness begets fat."
There was a laugh at Ketill's words, for his person had never been noted for its spareness.
The Viking frowned and exclaimed,—
"Let those laugh who have tested my steel."
"Well I know your bravery, Ketill," began the king, "and there is no man—"