So they fared home to the Raven Bay, and laid their keel on the
Rollers, and so went their ways sadly, home to the House of the
Raven: and they deemed that for this time they could do no more in
seeking their valiant kinsman and his fair damsel. And they were
very sorry; for these two were well-beloved of all men. But since
they might not amend it, they abode in peace, awaiting what the
change of days might bring them.



CHAPTER IV: NOW HALLBLITHE TAKETH THE SEA



Now must it be told of Hallblithe that he rode fiercely down to the
sea-shore, and from the top of the beach he gazed about him, and
there below him was the Ship-stead and Rollers of his kindred,
whereon lay the three long-ships, the Seamew, and the Osprey and the
Erne. Heavy and huge they seemed to him as they lay there, black-
sided, icy-cold with the washing of the March waves, their golden
dragon-heads looking seaward wistfully. But first had he looked out
into the offing, and it was 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