the lore of Hilda, and at night I have watched with her by the fount,
and the elm, and the tomb; and I know that thou hast gone through dire
peril; the prison, the war, and the snare; and I know also, that his
Fylgia hath saved the life of my Wolnoth; for had he returned to his
native land, he had returned but to a bloody grave!"

"Says Hilda this?" said the Earl, thoughtfully.

"So say the Vala, the rune, and the Scin-laeca! and such is the doom
that now darkens the brow of Haco! Seest thou not that the hand of
death is in the hush of the smileless lip, and the glance of the
unjoyous eye?"

"Nay, it is but the thought born to captive youth, and nurtured in
solitary dreams. Thou hast seen Hilda?--and Edith, my mother? Edith
is--"

"Well," said Githa, kindly, for she sympathised with that love which
Godwin would have condemned, "though she grieved deeply after thy
departure, and would sit for hours gazing into space, and moaning.
But even ere Hilda divined thy safe return, Edith knew it; I was
beside her at the time; she started up, and cried, 'Harold is in
England!'--'How?--Why thinkest thou so?' said I. And Edith answered,
'I feel it by the touch of the earth, by the breath of the air.' This
is more than love, Harold. I knew two twins who had the same instinct
of each other's comings and goings, and were present each to each even
when absent: Edith is twin to my soul. Thou goest to her now, Harold:
thou wilt find there thy sister Thyra. The child hath drooped of
late, and I besought Hilda to revive her, with herb and charm. Thou
wilt come back, ere thou departest to aid Tostig, thy brother, and