Harry was soon on his hobby, and would have discoursed on birds for an hour if Bill had not stopped him by asking, "Well, boys, what's the next move?"
"Home, of course," said Harry; "at least, to Collaster first, for the Viking is Tom's prize, and must be taken to the Doctor's house."
"I should like that hugely," said the captive; "but may I beg you to remember my anxious and sorrowing relations, who will strain dim eyes in vain and all the rest of that sort of thing. They'll be horribly frightened at Moolapund if I am not back there tonight, and it's late now."
A long discussion followed as to how the Boden folk were to be informed of the Viking's position. One suggestion was that a Manse boy was to return to Boden in the Osprey, tell the tale, and bring Gloy away; but that plan was rejected, because Yaspard declared that his "followers" would seize the messenger, and hold both him and Gloy as hostages for their captain.
Then a brilliant idea occurred to Harry, who had always been the most reflecting boy of the lot.
"I'll tell you what to do. Send Thor with a message tied to his leg. That was what Svein did once, when he was hurt and in Vega. Crawbie had gone after him; and he carved two words on the cover of his pocket-book, tied it to Crawbie, and Crawbie went to Collaster with it."
"Splendid! Yes, the very thing!" the others cried.
So a hard-boiled egg was taken from the ferdimet, and laid temptingly on Yaspard's hand as a lure for Thor, who was evidently averse to trusting himself in the Laulie. But his weakness was an egg, and he soon flopped across to his master's knee, where he was detained for "further orders."
"Will he go home?" was the next debatable point. Yaspard thought Thor would, if they made it sufficiently plain to his corvidaeous intellect that he must not remain with the boats.
"He has often followed me, poor old chap!" said Yaspard. "I dare say he was coming on my tracks when the shooies fell foul of him; he will return to Moolapund if I drive him off. He won't halt by the way now, for it is near his roosting time, and he is tired to boot."