sought; but above its place rose a dun cloud of smoke from some
houses fired that night by those who held it, and that was the one
thing that spoiled the beauty of all that I saw.

Now Olaf and I spoke of all this, whispering together, for we were
close to the village, and already we had heard voices from thence
as men woke. For Olaf was ever touched by the sight of a fair land
lying before him. And while he spoke, a man seemed to rise out of a
cleft of the rocks below us, and climbed up to us, and bowed before
us, saying that he was to guide us.

He was a great man, clad in leather from head to foot, and carrying
a sledgehammer over his shoulder. That and a billhook stuck in his
belt were his only weapons.

"I am Spray the smith," he said, in a low voice. "The earl is
ready, and the thane also. The knaves are all drunken with our ale,
and we may fall on them at once."

"Have they no watch kept?" asked Olaf wondering.

"None, master."

"Are there Danes with them?"

"Aye; half are Danes. But I met one of them last night and spoke to
him peacefully, being stronger than he, and I said that vikings had
come to Pevensea, and that the earl was minding them. So they fear
no one."