All this I watched in dismay, for it seemed to me that we could in
no way take the town. As for Olaf, he said nought; and when we had
come to anchor again he sat on the steersman's bench, looking at
the bridge and saying no word to any of us. The Danes were crowding
the bridge and jeering at us, as one might well see.

Then Rani came aft and sat on the rail by me.

"Well," he said, "how like you this business?"

"Ill enough," I answered. "What can be done?"

He nodded towards Olaf, smiling grimly.

"I know of nothing; but if your king lets him go his own way he
will find out some plan. Know you what he did when the Swedes
blocked us into a lake some years ago?"

"I have not heard," I said.

"Why, seeing that we might not go out by the way in which we came,
Olaf made us dig a new channel, and we went out by that, laughing.
We all had to dig for our lives, grumbling, but we got away."

Now Olaf looked up and saw us, and his face was bright again.

"I am going to see Ethelred," he said, "for I think that I can take
the bridge."