And a wave of excitement passed over the vast assembly.
"Yes, Michael Sunlocks has escaped," cried Jorgen Jorgensen. "That scoundrel is at liberty. He is free to do his wicked work again. Men of Iceland, I call on you to help me. I call on you to help the Crown of Denmark. The traitor must be taken. I call on you to take him."
A deep murmur ran through the closely-pressed people.
"You've got your guards," shouted a voice from below. "Why do you come to us?"
"Because," cried Jorgen Jorgensen, "my guards are protecting Reykjavik, and because they might scour your island a hundred years and never find what they looked for."
"Thank God!" muttered another voice from below.
"But you know it, every fell and fiord," cried Jorgen Jorgensen, "and never a toad could skulk under a stone but you would root him out of it. Chief Justice," he added, sweeping about, "I have a request to make of you."
"What is it, your Excellency?" said the Judge.
"That you should adjourn this Althing so that every man here present may go out in search of the traitor."
Then a loud involuntary murmur of dissent rose from the people, and at the same moment the Judge said in bewilderment, "What can your Excellency mean?"