Havelok the Dane - A Legend of Old Grimsby and Lincoln by Charles W. (Charles Watts) Whistler
page 269 of 333 (80%)
page 269 of 333 (80%)
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glanced at me to see that all was well.
In the grey of the morning the first of the chiefs to whom the arrow had sped began to come in; but the jarl would not have Havelok waked, for he was greatly troubled at the little wounds that had befallen this long-waited guest. So the chiefs gathered very silently in the great hall, and sat waiting while the light broadened and shone, gleam by gleam, on their bright arms and anxious faces. It was not possible for those who had not yet seen Havelok to be all so sure that it was indeed he. They longed to see him, and to know him for the very son of Gunnar for themselves. Presently there were maybe twenty chiefs in the hall--men who had fought beside Kirkeban, and men who had been boys with Havelok, and some who had known his grandfather--and the jarl thought that it was time that they had the surety that they needed, for time went on, and there was certainty that Hodulf must hear of all this morning. One could not expect that no man would earn reward by warning him. So Sigurd went softly to the place where Havelok lay in the little guest chamber that opened out of the inner room that was the jarl's own, and he slid the boards that closed it apart gently and looked in to wake him. But instead of doing that, he came back to the hall and beckoned the chiefs, and they rose and followed him silently. And when they went Raven went also, without a word, that he might be near his charge while these many strangers spoke with him. Now Sigurd stood at the spot where the little shifting of the sliding board made it possible to see within the chamber, and one by one the chiefs came and peered through the chink for a moment, and stood aside |
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