Elsket | Page 8

her girlish bidding, and he obeyed and laughed,
well content to have her smile. And he would carry her on his shoulder,
and take her on the mountain to slide, and would gather her flowers.
And I thought it was well. And I thought that in time they would marry
and have the farm, and that there would be children about the house,
and the valley might be filled with their voices as in the old time. And I
was content. And one day he came! (the reference cost him an effort).
Cnut found him fainting on the mountain and brought him here in his
arms. He had come to the village alone, and the idle fools there had told
him of me, and he had asked to meet me, and they told him of the
mountain, and that none could pass the Devil's Ledge but those who
had the old blood, and that I loved not strangers; and he said he would
pass it, and he had come and passed safely the narrow ledge, and
reached the Devil's Seat, when a stone had fallen upon him, and Cnut
had found him there fainting, and had lifted him and brought him here,

risking his own life to save him on the ledge. And he was near to death
for days, and she nursed him and brought him from the grave.
"At first I was cold to him, but there was something about him that
drew me and held me. It was not that he was young and taller than Cnut,
and fair. It was not that his eyes were clear and full of light, and his
figure straight as a young pine. It was not that he had climbed the
mountain and passed the narrow ledge and the Devil's Seat alone,
though I liked well his act; for none but those who have Harold
Haarfager's blood have done it alone in all the years, though many have
tried and failed. I asked him what men called him, and he said, 'Harold;'
then laughing, said some called him, 'Harold the Fair-haired.' The
answer pleased me. There was something in the name which drew me
to him. When I first saw him I had thought of Harald Haarfager, and of
Harald Haardraarder, and of that other Harold, who, though a Saxon,
died bravely for his kingdom when his brother betrayed him, and I held
out my hand and gave him the clasp of friendship."
The old man paused, but after a brief reflection proceeded:
"We made him welcome and we loved him. He knew the world and
could tell us many-things. He knew the story of Norway and the
Vikings, and the Sagas were on his tongue. Cnut loved him and
followed him, and she (the pause which always indicated her who filled
his thoughts)--she, then but a girl, laughed and sang for him, and he
sang for her, and his voice was rich and sweet. And she went with him
to fish and to climb, and often, when Cnut and I were in the field, we
would hear her laugh, clear and fresh from the rocks beside the streams,
as he told her some fine story of his England. He stayed here a month
and a week, and then departed, saying he would come again next year,
and the house was empty and silent after he left. But after a time we
grew used to it once more and the winter came.
"When the spring returned we got a letter--a letter to her--saying he
would come again, and every two weeks another letter came, and I
went for it and brought it to--to her, and she read it to Cnut and me.
And at last he came and I went to meet him, and brought him here,
welcome as if he had been my eldest born, and we were glad. Cnut

smiled and ran forward and gave him his hand, and--she--she did not
come at first, but when she came she was clad in all that was her best,
and wore her silver--the things her mother and her grandmother had
worn, and as she stepped out of the door and saluted him, I saw for the
first time that she was a woman grown, and it was hard to tell which
face was brighter, hers or his, and Cnut smiled to see her so glad."
The old man relapsed into reflection. Presently, however, he resumed:
"This time he was gayer than before:--the summer seemed to come
with him. He sang to her and read to her from books that he had
brought, teaching her to speak English like himself, and he would go
and fish up the streams while she sat near by and talked to him. Cnut
also learned his tongue well,