We have said that the Scottish brothers had gone to the margin of the lake to hold a little consultation by themselves, while the affairs of the nation were being settled in the grand parliament.
“What think you? Will these men of Iceland decide to return home or to remain here?” said Hake, seating himself on a bank of wild-flowers, which he began to pluck and scatter with an absent air.
“They will decide to forsake Vinland,” answered Heika.
“You appear to be very sure, brother.”
“I am; because I have been watching the men for some time past, and occasionally leading them on to talk about the matter.”
“Which way do you hope they will decide?” asked Hake.
“I hope they will leave.”
“Do you? For my part I care but little. It seems to me that we have as small a chance of escaping from Greenland as from this land.”
“Brother, ye think in this way because you are content to remain where Bertha dwells. If Bertha were with Emma in bonny Scotland, your wits would be sharp enough to perceive that the voyage from Vinland to Scotland, with an unknown sea between, would be a more hazardous venture than a voyage from Greenland to Scotland, with Iceland between.”
“That may be true, brother, but methinks my wits are sharp enough to perceive that neither voyage concerns us, seeing that we have no ship, and are not likely to succeed in persuading a whale to carry us over.”