brought ours to nothing. It was that he and his people should sail to
Fladstrand, burn the ships of Thorvald, my father, that he knew were
fitting out upon the beach, which he hoped to find unguarded, or at most
only watched by a few men, and then return to Lesso before he could
be fallen upon. By ill luck he had chosen this very night for his
enterprise. So it came about that just as the moon was sinking our
watchmen caught sight of four other ships, which by the shields that
hung over their bulwarks they knew must be vessels of war, gliding
towards them over the quiet sea.

"Athalbrand comes to meet us!" cried one, and in a minute every man
was looking to his arms. There was no time for plans, since in that low
light and mist the vessels were almost bow to bow before we saw each
other. My father's ship ran in between two of Athalbrand's that were
sailing abreast, while mine and that of Ragnar found themselves almost
alongside of the others. On both sides the sails were let down, for none
had any thought of flight. Some rushed to the oars and got enough of
them out to work the ships. Others ran to the grappling irons, and the
rest began to shoot with their bows. Before one could count two hundred
from the time of sighting, the war cry of "_Valhalla! Valhalla! Victory
or Valhalla!_" broke upon the silence of the night and the battle had
begun.

It was a very fierce battle, and one that the gathering darkness made
more grim. Each ship fought without heed to the others, for as the
fray went on they drifted apart, grappled to their foes. My father,
Thorvald's, vessel fared the worst, since it had an enemy on either
bulwark. He boarded one and cleared it, losing many men. Then the crew
of the other rushed on to him as he regained his own ship. The end of it
was that my father and all his folk were killed, but only after they had