"By the hammer of Thor!" growled the black-bearded captain, whose
temper was ever of the shortest, "these men splash like cattle."

One by one they stepped ashore, and then the party was divided.
One man was left in charge of the boat; Ketill with three others
went round to where the long ships lay; while Estein, Helgi, and
Grim, with six picked men, cautiously approached the hall.

They crossed a strip of rising heather and struck a sharp slope of
turf. Close above them loomed a dark mass of building, and the
silence was unbroken save by the stealthy fall of their footsteps.
Grim led the way, then came Estein, then Helgi, and the others
followed in single file.

Warily they came up to the end of the hall, and under the door
there was a brief pause. Estein gave his final instructions in a
whisper, and then quickly pushing open the door, he stepped in.
Helgi, Grim, and one man followed, while the other five waited
outside with their weapons in their hands.

These old Norse drinking-halls were long and high rooms, with
great fires down the middle, and beside them long lines of benches
for the guests. All down the sides the sleeping chambers opened,
and over these hung the arms of the warriors.

The hall of Liot was very dark and still. A ghostly flicker of
light struggled through the narrow windows, and on the fires the
embers slowly died. Beside the benches slumbered the forms of some
of the heaviest drinkers, and once or twice they nearly stumbled