Erling and Glumm, glancing quickly round the group with looks of intense disappointment and alarm, had already put this question to Finn, who explained the cause of their absence.
"Now this is the worst luck of all," cried Glumm, grinding his teeth together in pa.s.sion, and looking at Finn with a dark scowl.
Erling did not speak for a few minutes, but his heaving chest and dilated nostrils told of the storm that raged within him.
"Art thou sure they went to the hermit"s hut?" asked Ulf in a stern voice.
"Quite sure," replied Finn. "I cautioned them not to go, but--"
"Enough," cried Erling. "Father, wilt thou go back to the cave with the women, and a few of the men to guard them?"
"I will, my son, and then will I rejoin thee."
"That do, an it please thee. It matters little. Death must come sooner or later to all.--Come, men, we will now teach this tyrant that though he may conquer our bodies he cannot subdue our spirits. Up! and if we fail to rescue the girls, everlasting disgrace be to him who leaves this vale alive!"
Haldor had already selected a small detachment of men, and turned back with the women and others, while Erling and his men went on as fast as they could run. A short time sufficed to bring them to the edge of the wood near Haldorstede. The old place was now a smoking ruin, with swarms of men around it, most of whom were busily engaged in trying to put out the fire, and save as much as possible from its fury. The man who had kindled it had already paid dearly for his jest with his life.
His body was seen swinging to the limb of a neighbouring tree. Harald Fairhair himself, having just arrived, was directing operations.
There were by that time one or two thousand of the King"s men on the ground, while others were arriving every moment in troops--all bloodstained, and covered with marks of the recent conflict--and Erling saw at once he had no chance whatever of accomplishing his aim by an open attack with only fifty men. He therefore led his force silently by a path that he well knew to an adjacent cliff, over the edge of which they could see all that went on below, while they were themselves well concealed. Here the three leaders held a consultation.
"What dost thou advise, Ulf?" asked Erling.
"_My_ advice," interposed Glumm fiercely, "is that we should make a sudden a.s.sault without delay, kill the King, and then sell our lives dearly."
"And thus," observed Ulf, with something like a sneer, "leave the girls without protectors, and without a chance of deliverance. No," he continued, turning to our hero, "my advice is to wait here as patiently as we can until we ascertain where the girls are. Few, perhaps none, of our men are known to Harald"s men; one of them we can send down to mingle with the enemy as a spy. Whatever we do must be done cautiously, for the sake of the girls."
"That is good advice," said a voice behind them, which was that of the hermit, who had crept towards them on his hands and knees.
"Why, Christian, whence comest thou?" said Ulf.
"From my own hut," replied the hermit, raising himself, "where I have just left Hilda and Ada safe and well. We had deemed ourselves prisoners there till night should set us free; but necessity sharpens the wit even of an old man, and I have discovered a path through the woods, which, although difficult, may be traversed without much chance of our being seen, if done carefully. I have just pa.s.sed along it in safety, and was on the point of returning to the hut when I came upon you here."
"Lead us to them at once," cried Glumm, starting up.
"Nay," said the hermit, laying his hand on the youth"s arm, "restrain thine ardour. It would be easier to bring the girls. .h.i.ther, than to lead a band of armed men by that path without their being discovered.
If ye will take the advice of one who was a warrior in his youth, there is some hope that, G.o.d permitting, we may all escape. Ye know the Crow Cliff? Well, the small boat is lying there. It is well known that men dare not swim down the rapid, unless they are acquainted with the run of the water and the formation of the rock. Thy men know it well, the King"s men know it not. With a boat the maidens may descend in safety.
The men can leap into the river and escape before the enemy could come at them by the hill road."
"Excellently planned," exclaimed Erling in an eager tone; "but, hermit, how dost thou propose to fetch the maidens. .h.i.ther?"
"By going and conducting them. There is much risk, no doubt, but their case is desperate, for their retreat is certain to be discovered."
"Away then," said Ulf, "minutes are precious. We will await thee here, and, at the worst, if they should be captured, we can but die in attempting their rescue."
Without uttering another word the hermit rose, re-entered the underwood, sank down on his hands and knees, and disappeared with a cat-like quietness that had been worthy of one of the red warriors of America.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
IN WHICH IS DESCRIBED A DESPERATE ATTEMPT AT RESCUE, A BOLD LEAP FOR FREEDOM, AND A TRIUMPHANT ESCAPE.
The Crow Cliff, to which Christian had referred, was a high precipitous rock that jutted out into the river just below Haldorstede. It was the termination of the high ridge on the face of which Erling had posted his men, and could be easily reached from the spot where they lay concealed, as well as from the stede itself, but there was no possibility of pa.s.sing down the river in that direction by land, owing to the precipitous nature of the ground. The ordinary path down the valley, which elsewhere followed the curvatures of the river, made at this point a wide detour into the woods, went in a zigzag form up the steep ascent of the ridge, descended similarly on the other side, and did not rejoin the river for nearly half a mile below. The waters were so pent up by the Crow Cliff that they rushed along its base in a furious rapid, which, a hundred yards down, descended in a perpendicular fall of about fifteen feet in depth. The descent of this rapid by a boat was quite possible, for there was a little bay at the lower end of Crow Cliff, just above the foss, into which it could be steered by a dexterous rower; but this mode of descent was attended with the imminent risk of being swept over the fall and dashed to pieces, so that none except the daring young spirits of the glen ever attempted it, while all the rest were content to cross the ridge by the longer and more laborious, but safe, path which we have just described. To descend this rapid by swimming was one of the feats which the youths of the place delighted to venture, and often had Erling and Glumm dared it together, while not a few of their companions had lost their lives in the attempt.
A few words from Erling gave the men to understand what was expected of them. It was arranged that while he, Ulf, Glumm, and the hermit should put the girls into the little boat and guide them down the rapid, the men were to leap into the water and swim down. All were to land in the little bay, and then make for the cave on the coast in a body, and fight their way thither, if need be; but it was believed there would be no occasion for that, because before the plan was carried out most of the King"s men would probably be a.s.sembled above the Crow Cliff at the stede. A few who could not swim were sent off at once by the track to warn Haldor. All these well-laid plans, however, were suddenly frustrated, for, while Erling was still consulting with Ulf and Glumm as to details, and peeping through the underwood, they beheld a sight which caused their hearts almost to stand still.
From the elevated spot where they lay they could see the hermit advancing rapidly towards them in a crouching att.i.tude, closely followed by the maidens, while at the same time there advanced from the stede a large band of men under a chief, who was evidently commissioned to execute some order of the King. Erling and his friends could clearly see these two parties unwittingly approaching each other, at right angles, each making for a point where the two paths crossed, and where they were certain to meet. They could see their friends quietly but swiftly gliding towards the very fate they sought to avoid, and experienced all the agony of being unable to give a shout of warning, or to prevent the foe from capturing them; for, even if there had been time to rush upon them before the meeting, which there was not, Erling by so doing would have been obliged to place the whole of Harald"s host between him and the boat at Crow Cliff. This consideration, however, would not have deterred him, but another idea had flashed upon his mind.
What that was shall be seen presently.
Before the two parties met, the ears of the hermit, albeit somewhat dulled by age, became aware of the tramp of armed men, and at once he drew the girls hastily aside into the bushes; but the bushes at that part happened to be not very thick, and part of Ada"s dress, which was a gay one with a good deal of scarlet about it, caught the attention of a sharp-eyed warrior. The man uttered a shout and sprang towards them; several others joined in the pursuit, a loud scream from one of the girls was heard, and next moment the fugitives were captured!
"Up and at them!" cried Glumm, endeavouring to rise, but he found himself pinned to the earth by Erling"s powerful arms.
"Stay, Glumm, be quiet, I beseech thee," entreated Erling, as his comrade struggled violently but fruitlessly to escape from his powerful embrace.--"Do listen, Ulf; ye will spoil all by inconsiderate haste. I have a plan: listen--these men are not devils, but Nors.e.m.e.n, and will not hurt the girls; they will take them before the King. Hear me, and they shall yet be rescued!"
While the power of Erling"s muscles restrained Glumm, the deep-toned impa.s.sioned earnestness of his voice held back Ulf, who had leaped up and drawn his sword; but it was with evident reluctance that he paused and listened.
"Now hear me," cried Erling; "I and Glumm will go down and mingle with Harald"s men. Our faces are doubtless not known to any of them; besides, we are so bespattered with the blood and dust of battle that even friends might fail to recognise us. We will go boldly about among the men, and keep near to the girls until a fitting opportunity offers, when we will seize them and bear them off. This will not be so difficult as ye may think."
"Difficult!" cried Glumm, grinding his teeth; "I think nothing difficult except sitting still!"
"Because," continued Erling, "the King"s men will be taken by surprise, and we shall be through the most of them before they are aware that there is need to draw their blades. But (and on this everything will depend) thou must be ready, Ulf, with all the men, to rush, in the twinkling of an eye, to our aid, the moment my shout is heard, for, if this be not done, we cannot fail to be overpowered by numbers. If thou dost but keep them well in play while we make for the boat, and then follow and leap into the river, we shall all escape."
"Come along, then," cried Glumm, in desperate impatience.
"Does the plan like thee, Ulf?" asked Erling.
"Not much," he replied, shaking his head, "but it is the only chance left, so get thee gone. I will not fail thee in the moment of need-- away! See, the girls are already being led before the King."
Erling and Glumm instantly pulled their helmets well down on their brows, wrapped their mantles round them so as to conceal their figures as much as possible, then entered the wood and disappeared.
Meanwhile, on the open s.p.a.ce in front of Haldor"s ruined dwelling, King Harald Haarf.a.ger stood surrounded by his court men. He was still bespattered with the blood and dust of battle, and furiously angry at the escape of Haldor and the burning of the stede. His gilt helmet restrained the exuberance of his s.h.a.ggy locks, and he stood on the top of a slight elevation or mound, from the base of which his men extended in a dense ring in front of him, eager to ascertain who it was that had been so unexpectedly captured. Erling and Glumm mingled with the crowd unnoticed, for so many of the men a.s.sembled there had been collected from various districts, that, to each, strange faces were the rule instead of the exception.
When the girls were led into the ring there was a murmur of admiration, and many complimentary remarks were made about them. The old hermit was dragged in after them, and excited a little attention for a few moments.
He had experienced rough handling from his captors. His grey hair was dishevelled and his face bloodstained, for, although he had offered no resistance, some of the men who seized him were so much out of humour in consequence of the burning of the stede and the escape of its inmates, that they were glad to vent their anger on anyone.
"Good-looking girls, both of them," remarked the King to Jarl Rongvold, as they were being led forward.--"Who are ye?" he added, addressing them.
Ada looked round on the circle of men with a frightened glance, and cast down her eyes, but did not reply, while Hilda raised her eyes timidly to the King"s face, but lacked courage to speak.
"Come," said the King sternly, "let us have no false modesty. Ye are before Norway"s King, therefore speak, and to the point. Who art thou?"
He addressed himself to Hilda, who replied--
"I am Hilda, daughter of Ulf of Romsdal."
"And thou?" he added, turning to her companion.
"My name is Ada. My father is Hakon of Drontheim."