said, seeming to be somewhat pacified by the quiet way of the
chief. "Set down your arms, and render up yourself and the other
ship captains, and the theft of the cattle and damage here shall be
compounded for at Dorchester."

Then Thorleif turned to his men and said:

"You hear what the sheriff says; what is the answer?"

That came in a crash and rattle of weapons on round shields that
rang over the bay, and sent the staring cattle headlong from where
they had been left at the wharf end, tail in air, down the beach.
There was no doubting what that meant, and Beaduheard, brave man as
he was, if foolish, recoiled. His men were already edging out of
the wide space toward the homeward track, and he glanced at them
and saw it.

At that he seemed to form some sudden resolve; and calling to them,
he rode straight at Thorleif and griped him by the collar of his
mail shirt, crying that he arrested him in the name of Bertric the
king. Thorleif never struggled, but twisted himself round strongly,
and hauled the sheriff off his horse in a moment, and the two
rolled over and over on the ground, wrestling fiercely. Three or
four of Beaduheard's men rode up to their master's help in haste,
caring naught that a dozen of the Danes had sprung forward. There
was a wild shouting and stamping, and the horses went down as the
axes of the Danes flashed. Two more of the sheriff's men joined in,
and I saw the Danes hew off the points of their levelled spears.
Then into the huddled party of our men who were watching the
fight--still doubting whether they should join in or fly--rode a