William O. Stoddard

“ She bade me sail on and find thee, and this I have done. Therefore I am glad that I offered sacrifices to thy God. Henceforth he shall be to me as Odin, the God who is over all the other gods."
She listened as if his voice were music and as if she willed that he might not cease speaking.
"Thou hast said!" she now exclaimed, and a voice behind her, deep and sonorous, added:
"Amen! A great King is he, above all gods. He is the God of gods, and beside him there is no other; for Jehovah, our God, is one God, and there is none like him. O heathen man, thou hast well spoken. ”

“ The entire mass went over, and with it went the bowlders, earth, and trees which it had rent off and brought away. The blow which it struck was as a blow from the hammer of Thor, and a vast wave rolled out of the fiord, breaking the nearer ice as it went and splitting square miles of the sea face beyond into floes of a right size for drifting. Out slipped the ice edge at the cove, a hundred fathoms further. In it came again angrily, but only to retreat once more and leave a wider, surer harbor for The Sword to dip her keel into when her launching hour should come. ”

“ The ice arose with her, so that she sat firmly in a great cleft of it, remaining upright, indeed, but as completely out of water as she had been upon the strand before her launching.
Silent and stern stood Ulric, facing the ice king and asking of himself, "My voyage hath but begun, and is it ended? Was my ship built for this?"
Not so was it with the mind of Knud the Bear, for he gazed long and joyously upon the untellable beauty and majesty of the ice king, and then with a great laugh he shouted:
"Sons of the Northland, the gods are with us. They have sent him. ”

“ Thou wilt have thy mail on, but only thy sword and thy shield."
[Pg 293]
"I will wear no armor!" said Ulric. "I will bear no weights. What were mail and shield against these monsters? I will bring with me the long sword of Annibaal. Odin be with me! He who fighteth a lion must spring as lightly as doth a lion. He who faceth a tiger must move as the lightning or he is lost."
"Thou art wise!" exclaimed the Jew. "I have seen no warrior like thee. Verily I am true to thee. Sharpen thy sword and let thy hand and thy heart be strong. ”

“ A god should be dealt with as if he were a brave warrior."
"Well for thee!" exclaimed Caius. "I would indeed that he were here instead of in Galilee. No god may heal aught so far away, and as for this god of the Jews, they will not that a Roman enter his temple."
"Ben Ezra told me of the temple," said Ulric, "that a court is prepared into which all may come. There only will I enter. It is not well to anger priests in their temple, for they know the ways of their god and we know them not."
"Thou art young, but thou art cunning," said Caius. ”

“ Faith of a son of Odin cannot be broken. It is a tryst of blood between me and thee."
"Better than any oath," said Ben Ezra. "Knowest thou not, O heathen jarl, that thou hast covenanted in the name of thy god, whom thou callest thy father?"
"Odin!" exclaimed Ulric. "So it is. He would be angry with me forever if I failed thee in this matter. It is well to beware of provoking the gods. See to it that thou anger not thine own." ”

“ What hast thou to do with Abbas, and what is thy purpose?"
"Thou art but a fool," said Ulric. "I read thy name in thy face. Thou art Bar Abbas. I have known thy father many days. Did he not tell thee how I rescued him in the tower in Esdraelon that he died not? But I have thought him a prudent man. How is it that he hath permitted this folly?"
"O gladiator," said Bar Abbas with a deep, dark smile, "it is no folly. They who would slay me seek me in the wilderness, not in Jerusalem. A man who waiteth within the gate among the legionaries is hidden from the hunters among the hills. ”

“ The Lion and the Tiger.
Splendid was the appearance of the Saxons on the morning of the great day of the games at Tiberias, when they marched around the arena with the jarl at their head, for their arms and armor were bright and their bearing was that of warriors accustomed to conquer. They themselves gazed, wondering, as they went, at the throngs which crowded the rising tiers of seats. Among these were many in gorgeous apparel, and the rich women had vied with each other in the colors and shapes of their garments and in the gold and jewels of their tiaras and other ornaments. ”

“ The spear he brought was long and strong, with a steel crossguard at the heel of its broad blade. It was very sharp, but its weight would have been unwieldly for a slight man.
Twenty fathoms from the stern of the ship stood the great bear growling, and the others walked around at a greater distance. He was a fathom and a half in length and his paws were tremendous, with claws like reaping hooks. No man ever faced any beast more terrible in aspect than was that angry monster from the darkness which broodeth over the forever frozen sea. ”

“ They are evil!"
"A god may need a serpent as thou needest a spear," said Ulric. "It is plain to me. If I were a god, I would make what I required for my errands. So do they work with winds and seas and rocks, and with thunders and with plagues of many kinds. No man getteth away from them if they have aught against him. Anger not the gods, for they are powerful and they are cunning."
"As thou hast said," replied Caius, gloomily, "I have spoken against them at times, and now they have reached me with this Syrian arrow from the quiver of Herod the jackal." ”

“ The Sword sank heavily into the trough of a sea wave and the Roman keel was lifted high upon a surge, just as a long, vivid sheet of lightning seemed to bring her nearer by its brightness. Her steersman was a giant, unarmored, straining hard at her tiller and bracing himself. At him was Ulric looking when suddenly he threw up his hands, letting the tiller go, and the feathered shaft of the young Greek's long arrow quivered against his naked bosom. ”

“ Behind the city arose Gilboa, wooded and craggy. Before it stretched Esdraelon.
"O Wulf the Skater," said the jarl, "do you bear in mind the things which were said of this city and plain by Ben Ezra and Abbas?"
"More was said to thee than to others," replied Wulf. "It is a city of sieges and a plain of many battles. I can see the blue ridge of Carmel and beyond is the Middle Sea. I would I might see waves this hour and smell the salt air. This is a woeful land, where never is good ice or deep snow. We go on into the winter and we may yet see a snow squall if we are fortunate. ”

“ But be not thou overhasty with a man of rank, for thou wilt be held accountable."
"I will be prudent," said Ulric; "but how is it with thy legionaries? If they are on post, is it not life and death with them?"
"Men have died suddenly," said Caius, "with a legionary motionless at the outer door. He stirred not, being as a pillar of wood. Thy men will be free, and will act as if they were hunters of game instead of statues. Thy head is as good as thy hand."
"I will keep thee," said Ulric, "and I would that the men might have a chance to draw a sword or throw a spear." ”

“ Red grew the edges of the eastern sky as The Sword pressed her iron beak to the crests of the waves and sprang forward. Joyously rang out the war horn of warrior after warrior, for on board were vikings of high descent who would not have chosen for their jarl any of less degree than a son of Odin. They were men entitled to go forward into the feast of swords shoulder to shoulder with kings and with chiefs of renown. ”

“ Then arose from the ground the man in whom the evil spirit had been dwelling, and he stood erect, unharmed, like other men.
"A great rabbi!" whispered Ben Ezra. "One of the learned, from Jerusalem. Thou mayest not speak to him while he is healing."
"He that fled called him a son of Odin," replied Ulric. "He looketh like one."
"He may be one of the gods of this land," muttered Wulf the Skater. "I like him not. He commandeth evil spirits and they obey him. I am glad the jarl is also a son of Odin."
"I am glad to have seen a god," replied Knud the Bear. "He is nobler than other men. ”

“ If this Jesus of Nazareth arriveth, I must have speech with him. I have told thee how he healed me."
"So must I see him," she said. "I listened to him many times in Galilee. He is a very learned rabbi and I would hear him again."
"He is more than a rabbi," said Ulric. "He is a god—and he knoweth the other gods. I would ask him concerning Asgard and Valhalla and concerning thee. Thy slave dealer is dead, O Miriam, and soon will I deal justly with this Abbas and those who are with him."
"Thou art my warrior!" she exclaimed. "Thou art as one of the heroes of Israel. I trust thee!" ”

“ None saw the stone, so swiftly did it pass, but the trierarch said to the centurion:
"O Lentulus, thou art said to be as good a spearman as Pontius of Asia. Have thy pilum ready and try thy fortune."
"It is too far," said Lentulus, poising his pilum. "I was in battle once with that same Pontius. Hercules! I am slain!"
Loud clanged his brazen helmet and prone he fell upon the deck. He did not move again. The stone hurled by Tostig had left him but life enough for that one outcry as it smote him.
"May all the gods forbid!" exclaimed Comus. "What ill fortune is this? He is dead! ”

“ Already Lysias and Knud stood by Ben Ezra, and behind them a few paces halted Ulric the Jarl and his men.
"I wonder thou didst not die," said Ben Ezra, "or that the lions took thee not. I see some of them even now."
"I have slain lions," said Annibaal, "but it is now as if I were friends with them and they harm me not. It is their city and we agree together. Yet I had at this time no more food and I perish, but I lighted my death fire to trap Roman ships to my ledge. I have slain many there, and sometimes I have had joy to hear them when the wind brought their cries to the shore. ”

“ Caius dismounted and walked on to where Ulric stood, and the jarl greeted him, pointing down at Sigurd.
"So! I have lost a good sword by this Julius," exclaimed Caius. "He meant me to lose all that he might win the games. Are any more of thy men hurt?"
"None," said Ulric in Latin, "but this was a chief, a hero, a leader of men. Him we must bury before we march."
"I, too, am a soldier!" shouted Caius. "He was a brave man! Bury him according to thy custom. Thinkest thou I am a dog? I, too, will stand by. Brave men grow scarce. I would that Cæsar had ten legions of such as thou art. ”

“ I am Ulric, the jarl of the Saxons. I am of Odin's line. Of the sons of the gods. I offered sacrifices in the temple of Jehovah asking for thee, and thou seest that he granted my petition."
Even as he spoke she stepped back within the doorway, and he also entered with her, but as yet the door closed not behind them.
"I understand thee partly," she said, trembling greatly. "Thou art a prince among thine own people. O that thou wert a son of Abraham! O that thou wert not a slayer of men in the circus!"
"That I am not!" exclaimed Ulric. "Such business is not for me. I am a free warrior. ”

“ Ulric looked and he thought of the sayings of Olaf, the son of Hakon, for a shrewd suggestion sprouteth in the mind of a wise man like a seed sown in a garden.
"Truly we were overcrowded," said Ulric, standing upon the fore deck of The Sword. "We are thrice too many souls for so small a ship as this. There was too little room for provisions or for sleeping. There is none at all for the storage of spoils. The men will not brook the burning of the shares which may fall to them. They like not my hard ruling even thus far."
"O jarl," said Knud, "what sayest thou? Let us not burn good plunder. ”