Arthur D. Howden Smith

“ And since you refused to share your viking spoils with him he will not hear your name spoken without raging that you are the evilest of all his people. Men say—" he hesitated, and crossed himself—"Frakork is a witch and has spelled him against you."
"I know her spells," roared Swain with a mighty laugh. "They are not proof against the sword."
"You will require all your men at your back," insisted Maddad.
"I will go to him alone."
"The man is mad!" cried the Lady Margaret.
"You will not stand a chance for your life," exclaimed Jarl Maddad. "An outlaw! Why, any may slay you." ”

“ Gunni rushed at him, waving his own sword, and the ring swirled inward to disintegrate as Bishop William gathered his robes around him and sped between the enemies, brandishing his crozier like a spear.
"Back!" thundered the bishop in a voice that had bested the storm in his early viking days.
Olvir, red-eyed, intent upon slaying, placed a hand on the sacred vestments and would have shoved him aside; but Bishop William drove the butt of the crozier into his stomach.
"Back, I said!" he thundered again. "God's curse on the man who disobeys." ”

“ Swain grinned.
"Your troubles might have been at an end; ours would have just begun," he answered. "Men say with reason, two jarls rule with justice; one jarl rules with fear. But it occurs to me, Lord Jarl, that you were more than anxious to have me save the lives of your men by inducing Bishop William to compose peacefully your differences with Jarl Paul."
"That is a ridiculous idea, Swain," answered Jarl Rognvald. "I consented to your plan only because you told me so often of the cost in men I must pay if I fought with Jarl Paul. ”

“ Swain reminded her.
"No, Swain, I said I would not lend you men and money—at this time," denied Maddad.
"But why should I aid you at all?" pressed Swain.
Maddad shrugged his shoulders, but a sudden light glowed in the woman's eyes.
"For several reasons," she answered. "For one, because it would be just—you have seen our son; you can judge he will grow to become a creditable man; you know that Jarl Paul has no sons of his own; he refuses us only because he dislikes to divide his power. ”

“ Will your men do it—or shall mine?"
"I have no thought of mercy in my mind," returned Swain almost gently, "yet I am averse to slaying Jarl Paul."
"Why?"
"Dead, he is—dead. Alive—Jarl Rognvald will never quite forget him. He will be a protection for your son."
"But a live man may return to power," exclaimed Jarl Maddad.
"Not from a monastery, after such humiliation as Paul has undergone," answered Swain.
"So you would tonsure him?" cried the Lady Margaret. ”

“ I have much to do on the morrow."
"You will not go to Orphir?" she pressed. "At the least, take some of our people with you."
"So that they may be hewn down by Jarl Paul's house-carls? Not I! See you, mother, I might have come in Deathbringer, with a hundred viking-farers at my back; but that would have meant fighting, and perhaps, the odds against me. No, this is work for one man to do with his wits. I will offer Olvir Rosta a free cut at my neck if I can not outwit Jarl Paul, who is grown grasping and sly with the years." ”

“ Now, Rognvald laughed, too, as did several of the others at the table.
"I have heard of you," he said. "You are he who was outlawed by Jarl Paul for the slaying of Swain Briostreip."
"That is true," admitted Swain.
"You have a viking hold at Lambaborg in the south of Caithness, men say," pursued Jarl Rognvald.
"That also is true."
"And you say you have come here to aid me?"
"That must depend upon yourself," rejoined Swain. "I can not aid any man who is witless, and I do not yet know you sufficiently well to decide whether you are sensible enough to serve my purpose." ”

“ Once more Bishop William came between them.
"Peace, peace," he urged. "Your friends will be at each other's throats. Let us compose this quietly."
"The one way to compose this is to compass Swain's death," answered the Jarl. "He is a trouble-maker, and I am finished with him."
"We shall see about that," said Swain. "Do you still intend to inlaw Frakork and Olvir and give them the lands of my family?"
"I will give them all your family's lands, if I see fit," snarled Jarl Paul. "Be careful of your conduct, Gunni Olaf's son. You are not outlawed yet, but outlawed you may be." ”

“ Gunni shouted.
Jarl Paul frowned.
"The less you say about Swain, the better you will please me," he warned. "He is an outlaw who shows no respect for his lord."
Gunni was incensed past reason.
"You would not say so, if Frakork had not bewitched you," he cried. "The truth is, you intend to take back these lands from us, and give them to her and Olvir Rosta, whom you outlawed for rebellion against yourself, as well as for the slaying of my father and Valthiof, my brother." ”

“ And those of us who fought for Jarl Paul will give you fair warning, Lord Jarl, that you must be fair toward young Jarl Harald, more especially if you desire the increased taxes and our help in building the minster you have vowed to St. Magnus."
"Yes, yes," exclaimed Bishop William hastily. "We must not forget that all the folk are to help build the minster, Lord Jarl, and for that we require peace."
"Touching Sigurd's claim of manbote, I admit it," said Swain. "And I say here, before you all, that I will settle any claims adjudged against me, excepting alone from Frakork and Olvir Rosta. ”

“ Jarl Paul was bewildered by the misfortunes which had visited him, and he could not understand how they had come about. When his messengers carried the fire-arrow through the islands, calling upon his vassels for service, most of them flatly refused attendance, and those who did appear before him brought few men and were reluctant to take any positive action.
"The last time you called upon us the upshot was that we fought among ourselves," one of the richest of the boendr sent him word in declining to go to Westness, either himself or his sons or any of their men. ”

“ If he was here now he would be claiming that he had made away with Jarl Paul to put me in his debt."
"Humph!" said Bishop William. And after a pause:
"Do you think it wise to keep on all your Norse friends and their house-carls, Lord Jarl? The people complain that they are eating up the farms."
"No, there is no end to be served by their staying longer," replied Jarl Rognvald. "In truth, they were never necessary to me, for it is plain to all that the Orkney-folk were ready to accept me whenever I came. ”

“ I am my own master, and shall be, so long as Jarl Paul's writ of outlawry runs against me. I have Deathbringer and a crew of stout carls and the world to roam."
"You are a man of spirit," applauded the Lady Margaret, softly persuasive.
Swain regarded her with distaste, but his attention was distracted at the moment by a tug at his belt. The son of his guests, having eaten to repletion, had clambered to the floor.
"Swain!" piped the boy. "Swain! Give me your sword to play with." ”

“ In command of the viking-farers he left Osbiom Grim's son, who was as close to him as a brother and as loyal as his sword. And it is to be told of Osbiorn and all their company that they stood in ranks upon the beach of the cove under Lambaborg and watched Swain's sail until it was out of sight, for Swain was a leader men cleaved to, either loving him or hating him. For women, except his mother, Asleif, he had little use, holding them to be encumbrances upon a fighting-man and given to backbiting and tale-bearing. ”

“ We are come to this issue, Father Bishop—there shall be a battle between Jarl Rognvald and Jarl Paul, in which many people must die, or else their differences shall be composed—and there is none save you who can compose them. ”

“ Do you think, perhaps, that you now hold the key to the Orkneys in your hands?"
"Who else?" answered the Lady Margaret, scowling. "If you brought Paul here your prisoner, he is now our prisoner. It is for us to drive what bargain we choose with him. Whatever part we allow you to take will be from courtesy or indulgence, and dependent upon your proper attitude."
"I have said I was teaching jarlcraft," said Swain, as if to himself, "but I had not reckoned upon teaching Scots Jarls. Be at your ease, lady. ”

“ In the meantime, the life of the islands went on very quietly, and the boendr and odalmen and the commonfolk who served them were vastly surprized at the ease with which Jarl Rognvald had come amongst them and wrested from Jarl Paul, without the fighting of a battle or the slaying of a man, a good half of his dominions.
"He must be a very wise man," men saidone to another. ”

“ When Jarl Paul did not return to Westness at noon, Sigurd sent out men to find him, not even then suspecting that he had come to harm; but rather supposing that he had met with such good sport that he was loath to abandon it. The searchers followed the coast to the headland above the stone-heap, and found twenty-five dead men in a single pile. Nineteen of the slain were identified as the Jarl's men; the remaining six were unknown—as it chanced, they were young men from outlying islands of the Sudreyar, [11] who had attached themselves to Swain's fortunes and were strangers in the Orkneys. ”

“ Jarl Paul bounded from his chair, but Frakork took the words from his mouth.
"It is easily to be seen from Swain's own words why Jarl Paul makes it difficult for him to return to his rights," she said. "As also, why our Lord Jarl desires to restore his protection to me and to Olvir, my grandson. Swain is a hard man, as is widely known, and jealous of others; he shows no respect for the Jarl. On the other hand, Olvir and I have as much wealth and as many friends as Swain, but we are glad to live humbly at the Jarl's orders. Swain is a good enemy and a bad friend ”

“ Swain laughed carelessly.
"The gods are well enough for women," he said. "But a man puts his trust in his sword."
III LONG before dawn Swain was in his boat again, and crossed the narrow waters of the Aurrida Firth to Hrossey. There he beached his craft, and set off on foot across the neck of the island to Orphir, going by way of the fells because he saw early folk astir upon the footpath. The sun was riding high when he came out upon the hillside over Orphir and looked down upon the close-packed ranks of the Thing in the open space before the Jail's steading. ”

“ Rognvald and his chiefs sat to their evening meal in the great hall of Jarl Paul's skalli, eating the food that had been prepared for him and drinking his mead and ale.
In the morning Swain and his men, who were familiar with the country, scouted the vicinity and held speech with certain of the boendr, who told him that Jarl Paul had fled across Aurrida Firth to the steading of Sigurd of Westness. Also, Gunni and Asleif came in, and Asleif carried word that Bishop William would be glad to consult with Jarl Rognvald, with a view to composing the dispute between him and Jarl Paul ”

“ It destroys our chance of surprizing Jarl Paul."
"Not so," replied Swain. "It insures it—as, also, the division of his people."
And then he explained his plan, and the Jarl slapped his hand upon the table.
"Now do I know how you came by such a reputation as a viking-farer in two short years, Swain! It is not many chiefs who combine wit with weapon-skill; but you plan like a clerk or a scald. It is well! Your plan could not be bettered. We will agree to sail for the Hjaltlands [8] this day week, and my friends and I will call up our men from the farms and boun [9] our vessels. ”

“ Some men might see a reason in this."
"Some men are never satisfied," rejoined Swain, with surly indifference.
"I have been wondering, too, why you persuaded me to allow Jarl Paul to retain half of the islands," continued Jarl Rognvald. "It is inconvenient to be obliged to keep so many house-carls in arms. If we had slain him or driven him forth, instead of appealing to the bishop as you suggested, our troubles would have been at an end." ”

“ Now, do you tell me what you propose to do in addition to lending me your dragon and men."
So Swain detailed the results of his attendance at Jarl Paul's Thing at Orphir a few weeks past, as well as the bishop's comment in parting with him on Aurridaside.
"That," he said, "is the edge of the ax we will drive between Jarl Paul and his people."
"It is a good edge upon a good ax," remarked Jarl Rognvald; "but I do not see that you can do more than leave time to drive it home." ”

“ Never was Jarldom won more easily!"
"But touching your Norse friends?" Bishop William reminded him gently.
"They shall go next week, Father Bishop."
VIII WHEN he had recovered his breath and canvassed the situation in which he found himself, Jarl Paul addressed Swain from where he lay in the bottom of the barge.
"This is a great wrong that you do, Swain," he cried. "I am your rightful lord. Your father was my friend, and I have augmented your family's fortunes. I have not deserved such treatment from you. Men will say evil things about you when it becomes known." ”

“ So if it storms you must stay on Fridarey by one pretext or another and see to it that the beacon is kept wet. I think we will come by the westward and through Straumsness to Orphir. We will hunt the badger out of his hole. This brings me to your part, mother. I must have Bishop William with us. Can we rely upon him?"
She shook her head.
"No man can rely upon Bishop William, Swain. He fights for his own hand. For the present, he is against Jarl Paul because he thinks the Jarl does not pay enough attention to religion ”