Alwin was almost beside himself with nervousness. "If the crash does not
come soon, I shall go out of my wits," he whispered to Rolf.

The Wrestler turned upon him a face of such unusual excitement that he
was amazed. "Do you not see?" he whispered. "There will not be any
crash. I have just begun to understand. It was this he meant when he
spoke to you of gaining their friend-ship that they might hear him
willingly. Do you not see?"

Alwin's relief was so great that at first he dared not believe it. When
the truth of it dawned upon him, he was overcome with wonder and
admiration. In those days, nine men out of every ten could draw their
swords and rave and die for their principles; it was only the tenth man
that was strong enough to keep his hand off his weapon, or control his
tongue and live to serve his cause.

"Luck obeys his will as the helm his hand. I shall never worry over him
again," he said contentedly, as with the others he waited in the
courtyard for Leif to come out of the feasting-hall.

Sigurd laughed gayly. "Do you know what I just overheard in the crowd?
Some of Thorkel's men were praising Leif, and one of Eric's churls
thought it worth while to boast to them how he had known the Lucky One
when he was a child. Certainly the tide is beginning to turn."

"Leif Ericsson is an ingenious man," Rolf said, with unusual decision.
"I take shame upon me that ever I doubted his wisdom."

Egil uttered the kind of sullen grunt with which he always prefaced a