Ulric the Jarl: A Story of the Penitent Thief

by William O. Stoddard

"The son of Brander is jarl, not I," replied the viking, surlily. "Speak thou not carelessly of the leader of men. Thou art no seaman. He will strike when he is ready. Let that content thee."

For deep and strong was the hold of Ulric upon his older men, by reason of his skill as a seaman and as a captain and because of his good fortune; for they saw plainly that Odin and Thor were with him and that the gods of the Middle Sea could do nothing against him. Even the ice gods had been his friends and the god of the Druids had also helped him, sending him away from Britain unharmed. It was a great thing to have such a jarl, of Odin's line. They all knew, moreover, that Hilda, the saga woman, must by this time have gone down to the gods and that she willed exceedingly well to the crew of The Sword and to her young hero.

"He is truly a leader of men," growled the Jew through his thick beard, "but I would once more smite these Philistines of Rome."

"In that I am with thee," said the viking, heartily. "Thou art a good sword. I would see thee in battle. It is pleasant to look upon a warrior that slayeth zealously. But our feast of blood will come to us. Wait."

Up sprang the sun above the blue waves of the Middle Sea, and all the Saxons shouted joyfully. It was true that there were no enemies in sight, nor present hope of any good fighting, but here was a land that they had never seen before. All seamen know the joy there is in finding a country that is unknown.

"Hael! O land of the South!" shouted Tostig the Red. "Thou hast mountains as tall as are those of the North. But this is a bay, a harbor, not a fiord."

"What sayest thou, Ben Ezra?" asked Ulric of the watcher on the mast.

"Row in!" replied the Jew. "There is no other keel in this haven and it is a good one. I see no sail nor any boat seaward. This is Africa, and a city is on the shore, but the fire was at the head of the bay. There are rocks ahead. Row around them."

"I see them; a great ledge," said Ulric. "Broken and sharp-toothed are those rocks, and they would wreck any keel that should strike upon them. It is a place of wrecks."

The rowers rowed and The Sword went on through a wide passage at the right of the ledge. Then she was in a great basin where many keels might ride at anchor, and before her and on either side of her lay the land.