my foster father to go alone.

"I will be with you," I said. "Will not Thord come also?"

"Ay," the grim Orkney man answered.

Now all our crew were listening to us, and I looked down the long
gangways by chance, and when I did so no man would meet my eye.
They feared lest they should be made to go to this haunted place,
as it seemed--all but one man, who sat on the mast step swinging
his feet. This was Kolgrim the Tall, the captain of the fore deck,
a young man and of few words, but a terrible swordsman, and knowing
much of sea craft. And when this man saw that I looked at him, he
nodded a little and smiled, for he had been a friend of mine since
I had first come to Einar.

"Two men to row the boat will be enough, jarl," I said. "Kolgrim
yonder will come with us."

"Well," the jarl answered, "maybe four of us are enough. We shall
not fright Sigurd with more, and maybe would find it hard to get
them to come."

So he called Kolgrim, and he said that he would go with us, and
went to get the boat alongside without more words.

Then the jarl and I and Thord armed ourselves--for a warrior should
be met by warriors. The men were very silent, whispering among
themselves, until the jarl was ready and spoke to them.