At last Estein saw he was observed, and passing his hand across
his brow as if to sweep away his thoughts, asked wearily,--

"Where do we go now, Helgi?"

"Your spell needs a violent remedy, and I have that on my mind
that may cure it. What say you to letting Liot Skulison know that
he did not slay us all? There are here two others besides
ourselves who escaped the fate of Thorkel and our comrades, and
they think they owe Liot something. Does revenge seem sweet?"

"Then Liot is alive?"

"Ay, Thor has spared him for us. The Orkney-man who led us to you
has an ancient feud against the bairn-slayers, and he tells me
Liot and his men are feasting at his dwelling. Shall we fall upon
them to-night?"

"You are a good physician, Helgi. Battle and storm are the best
cures for such as I."

"I cannot give you a storm, I fear," laughed Helgi, "but you can
have fighting enough to-night. Liot keeps two hundred men and more
about him, and we have here some seventy all told."

"We have faced greater odds together, Helgi. Life does not seem so
fair to me now that I should shrink from odds of three to one. Let
us seek Liot wherever he is, and when we have found him, tell him
to arm as many men as he can muster. Then let our destiny weave