The Story of the Glittering Plain | Page 7

only when he had let his eyes come back from where the sea
and sky met, and they had beheld nothing but the waste of waters, that
he beheld the Ship-stead closely; and therewith he saw where a little to
the west of it lay a skiff, which the low wave of the tide lifted and let
fall from time to time. It had a mast, and a black sail hoisted thereon
and flapping with slackened sheet. A man sat in the boat clad in black
raiment, and the sun smote a gleam from the helm on his head. Then
Hallblithe leapt off his horse, and strode down the sands shouldering
his spear; and when he came near to the man in the boat he poised his
spear and shook it and cried out: "Man, art thou friend or foe?"

Said the man: "Thou art a fair young man: but there is grief in thy voice
along with wrath. Cast not till thou hast heard me, and mayst deem
whether I may do aught to heal thy grief."
"What mayst thou do?" said Hallblithe; "art thou not a robber of the sea,
a harrier of the folks that dwell in peace?"
The man laughed: "Yea," said he, "my craft is thieving and carrying off
the daughters of folk, so that we may have a ransom for them. Wilt
thou come over the waters with me?"
Hallblithe said wrathfully:
"Nay, rather, come thou ashore here! Thou seemest a big man, and
belike shall be good of thine hands. Come and fight with me; and then
he of us who is vanquished, if he be unslain, shall serve the other for a
year, and then shalt thou do my business in the ransoming."
The man in the boat laughed again, and that so scornfully that he
angered Hallblithe beyond measure: then he arose in the boat and stood
on his feet swaying from side to side as he laughed. He was passing big,
long-armed and big-headed, and long hair came from under his helm
like the tail of a red horse; his eyes were grey and gleaming, and his
mouth wide.
In a while he stayed his laughter and said: "O Warrior of the Raven,
this were a simple game for thee to play; though it is not far from my
mind, for fighting when I needs must win is no dull work. Look you, if
I slay or vanquish thee, then all is said; and if by some chance stroke
thou slayest me, then is thine only helper in this matter gone from thee.
Now to be short, I bid thee come aboard to me if thou wouldst ever
hear another word of thy damsel betrothed. And moreover this need not
hinder thee to fight with me if thou hast a mind to it thereafter; for we
shall soon come to a land big enough for two to stand on. Or if thou
listest to fight in a boat rocking on the waves, I see not but there may
be manhood in that also."
Now was the hot wrath somewhat run off Hallblithe, nor durst he lose
any chance to hear a word of his beloved; so he said: "Big man, I will
come aboard. But look thou to it, if thou hast a mind to bewray me; for
the sons of the Raven die hard."
"Well," said the big man, "I have heard that their minstrels are of many
words, and think that they have tales to tell. Come aboard and loiter
not." Then Hallblithe waded the surf and lightly strode over the

gunwale of the skiff and sat him down. The big man thrust out into the
deep and haled home the sheet; but there was but little wind.
Then said Hallblithe: "Wilt thou have me row, for I wot not
whitherward to steer?"
Said the red carle: "Maybe thou art not in a hurry; I am not: do as thou
wilt." So Hallblithe took the oars and rowed mightily, while the alien
steered, and they went swiftly and lightly over the sea, and the waves
were little.

CHAPTER V
: THEY COME UNTO THE ISLE OF RANSOM

So the sun grew low, and it set; the stars and the moon shone a while
and then it clouded over. Hallblithe still rowed and rested not, though
he was weary; and the big man sat and steered, and held his peace. But
when the night was grown old and it was not far from the dawn, the
alien said: "Youngling of the Ravens, now shalt thou sleep and I will
row."
Hallblithe was exceeding weary; so he gave the oars to the alien and lay
down in the stern and slept. And in his sleep he dreamed that he was