"I was interested in your cloak," Sigurd said. "I think my brother Gunnar will have given it to you. But he left the country more than a twelvemonth ago, and I see that you have worn it hard."
The man laughed. "Not so hard then," he said, "seeing I have not had it in my hands more than a few days, and this is but the second time I have worn it."
"From whom did you receive it? I must needs know, for a good deal hangs upon what you tell me."
The man stared, and then looked rather sullen. "It is fairly mine," he said, "as a thing is that comes from the bottom of the sea."
Now it was Sigurd who stared. "You fished it up from the sea-bed?"
"It came up with my anchor six nights ago or seven."
"Where were you moored?"
He pointed out to sea. "I was lying just off the Ness, having been out with the nets. But the wind shifted at sunset, and I was not hurried, so stayed there snug enough till morning. It is a soft bottom there. In the morning I shipped my anchor, and up comes this cloak with a great stone in the hood of it. It had been cast there by somebody who wanted it to stay there, but you see things went awry with him."
"They did so," said Sigurd. "Now I will give you three crowns for the cloak as it stands."