read my fate yet further. When I part from my foster-brother
Estein, then shall a man go to Valhalla. What say you to that?"

Atli's face darkened.

"Darest thou mock me?" he cried.

"Not so," interposed Estein. "' Bare is back without brother
behind it,' and Helgi means that death only can part us. Farewell,
Atli! If your prophecy comes true, and I return alive, you may
choose what gift you please from among my spoils."

"Little spoil there will be, Estein!" answered the old man, as the
foster-brothers turned from him down the pier.

The last man sprang on board, the oars dipped in the still water,
and as the little fleet moved slowly down the fiord the crowd on
shore gradually dispersed.

Out at sea, beyond the high headlands that guarded Hernersfiord, a
fresh breeze was blowing briskly from the north-east, and past the
rocky islets of the coast white caps gleamed in the sunshine. As
the ships drew clear of the fiord, and the boom of the outer sea
breaking on the skerries rose louder and nearer, sails were spread
and oars shipped. Slowly at first, and then more quickly as they
caught the deep-sea wind, the vessels cut the open water. Past the
islands they heeled to the breeze, and over a wake of foam the men
watched the mountains of Norway sink slowly into the wilderness of
waters.