Ulric the Jarl: A Story of the Penitent Thief

by William O. Stoddard

But he spoke loudly, in the old Hebrew tongue, and at once a voice responded:

"Who art thou, O Jew, coming hither with a sword? The sword hath departed from Israel, as it hath from Tyre and Carthage. I am Annibaal, the foe of Rome and of Greece, and I am dying of hunger. Come hither to me."

As if without fear Ben Ezra walked toward the sound of that voice not many paces. Then crawled out from behind a fallen column a naked, sun-darkened, very hairy shape of a vast man, larger than Sigurd, the son of Thorolf, but he lay prone upon the sand gasping. Only one eye had he, for the other was but a hollow socket, and he had but one hand and one foot and both of his ears were gone. He was but a mutilated remnant of a strong man, and his only weapon was a long straight sword, very bright and seemingly keen, with a golden hilt, whereon were glittering gems.

"O Annibaal," said Ben Ezra, in the tongue of Tyre, "what is this city?"

"It is the city of the dead," said Annibaal. "I was a chief of Carthage, whereof this was a colony, but some came hither from Tyre, and here were already many from Nubia and from Egypt. First the Greeks of Alexander harmed us in the old time, but after them, in my day, came the Romans. They smote us hip and thigh, slaying whom they would slay, making slaves of many, and of me, a prince and captain, they made what thou seest, leaving me here alone."

Already Lysias and Knud stood by Ben Ezra, and behind them a few paces halted Ulric the Jarl and his men.

"I wonder thou didst not die," said Ben Ezra, "or that the lions took thee not. I see some of them even now."

"I have slain lions," said Annibaal, "but it is now as if I were friends with them and they harm me not. It is their city and we agree together. Yet I had at this time no more food and I perish, but I lighted my death fire to trap Roman ships to my ledge. I have slain many there, and sometimes I have had joy to hear them when the wind brought their cries to the shore. Their bodies float to the strand and the beasts and the ravens feast upon the wolves of Rome."

"He must die," muttered Knud. "He slayeth sailors. It is not good to trap men, so that they die a cow's death. It is wicked to rob a warrior of his right to die in fight or by the righteous breaking up of his keel."

So said other of the vikings, thinking of Valhalla and the gods, for they all were religious men, scorning an evil action. But Ulric had sent in haste for food and for water and for ale, commanding that this man should be fed.