Days of the Discoverers | Page 9

talk well, and he said it was no tongue that ever he heard."
The Greenland folk welcomed them heartily. Finding that the white
men had not after all been forgotten by their own people, the natives
drew off and gave them no more trouble. The Northmen spent the
winter in sleep, talk, song, and hunting with native guides. Besides the
old man in white fur, as the polar bear was respectfully called, Arctic
foxes, walrus, whales and seal abounded. Many of the new-comers
became skilful in the making and the use of the skin-covered native
boats called Kayaks. Nils had some skill in carving wood and stone,
and could write in the Runic script of Elfdal. In the long evenings when
winds from the cave of the Great Bear buffeted the low huts, he taught
Thorolf and Anders what he knew, and talked with the Skroelings. But
none of them understood the runes of the Wind-wife. Their speech was

quite different.
Spring came with brief, hot sunshine, and the creeping birches budded
on the pebbly shore. Encouraged by the reports from Greenland, new
colonists ventured out, and house-building went on briskly. One day
Thorolf was summoned to Knutson's headquarters.
"Erlandsson," began the Chevalier, "they say that you have information
about Vinland[3] and the Skroelings there, from an old woman who
lived among them. What can you tell me?"
Thorolf told the story of the Wind-wife. Knutson looked interested but
doubtful.
"I have talked with the oldest colonists," he said, "and they know
nothing of any Skroelings but those hereabouts. They say also that
Vinland is hard to come at. Boats venturing south return with tales of
heavy winds, dense fogs and dangerous cliffs and skerries--or do not
return at all. One was caught and crushed in the ice, and the crew were
found on the floe half starved and gnawing bits of hide. In the sagas of
Vinland the Skroelings are spoken of as fierce and treacherous. To hold
such a land would need a strong hand. The old woman may have
forgotten--or the stories may be those of her own people."
Thorolf shook his head. "Nay, my lord. She was not a forgetful
person--and the language is neither Lapp nor Finn."
"She was very old, you say?"
"I think so. I do not know how old."
"Old people sometimes confuse what they have heard with what they
have seen. But I shall remember what you have said."
"If he had known the Wind-wife," said Nils when told of this
conversation, "he would have no doubt."
Knutson wrote to the King, but got no reply for a long time. A ship

with a cargo of trading stores was sent for, and was wrecked on the
Faroes. But in the following spring an expedition to Vinland was really
planned. There was no general desire to take part in it. Many of
Knutson's party now longed for their native land, where the mountains
were drawn swords flashing in the sun, and the malachite and silver
waters and flowery turf, the jeweled scabbards. They dreamed of the
lure sounding over the valleys, of bright-paired maidens dancing the
spring dans. Nevertheless in due season the Rotge left the Greenland
shore and pointed her inquiring beak southeast by south. In the Gudrid
sailed Knutson and his immediate following, with the trading cargo and
most of the provisions. By keeping well out to sea at first the
commander hoped to escape the perils of the coast.
This hope was dashed by an Atlantic gale which drove them westward.
For two days and two nights they were tossed between wind and tide.
Toward the end of the second night the sound of the waves indicated
land to starboard. In the growing light they saw a harbor that seemed
spacious enough for all the ships in the world, sheltered by wooded
hills. If this were Vinland, it was greater than saga told or skald sang.
They landed to take in fresh water, mend a leak and see the country, but
found no grapes, no Skroelings nor any sign of Northmen's presence.
On the rocks grew vineberries, or mountain cranberries, and Knutson
thought that perhaps these and not true grapes were the fruit found in
Vinland. He sent a party of a dozen men, Anders and Thorolf leading,
to explore the forest, ascend some hill if possible and return the same
day. He himself remained with the ships and kept Nils by him. He
rather expected that the natives, learning of the strangers' arrival, would
be drawn by curiosity to visit the bay.
The scouting party followed the banks of the little stream that had
given them fresh water, Anders leading, Thorolf just behind him. Wind
stirred softly in the leaves overhead, unseen birds fluttered and chirped,
sunshine sifting through the