were badly armed and little esteemed as warriors. The country,
however, was difficult, so the men marched warily, their arms
ready for instant use, and a sharp watch kept all the time. The
sun came out hot by day, but at nights it felt very cold and
frosty. With all the haste they could make they pushed on by the
least frequented routes and the most desolate places. During the
first day after they had crossed the mountains, they only saw one
farmhouse, in a forest clearing, and that, when they came up to
it, was still and deserted. On the following day they passed a
small hamlet on the banks of a river, and a little later another
farm. In neither was there a sign of an inhabitant to be seen, and
they seemed for all the world like dwellings of the dead.

"This is passing strange," said Helgi. "Unless, perhaps, the
Jemtlanders spend the winter in holes and caves, like the bears
they resemble in all but courage."

"The alarm has spread, I fear," answered Estein. "We must make the
more haste."

"Ay," said Ketill; "on, on!"

Towards evening the head of the column emerged into a small
clearing, and the foster-brothers, who were marching in the
middle, heard a cry from the van. Then Ketill's gruff voice called
out,--

"After him! Nay, slay him not! Have you got him? Ay, bring the
knave to Estein."