XXI
“FULL GOLD FOR HIM THAT FINDS JARL HAAKON”
Scarcely had Thora left the pig-sty when the noise of an advancing army brought terror to her heart. It seemed as if all the land of Orkadale was filled with armed men. Nearer and nearer they came. Thora entered the house, and gathered her thralls around her. They were filled with fright,—the women weeping and wringing their hands. All seemed helpless with fear, except the spinner in the dim corner, who smiled under her close-drawn veil, and never ceased the whirring of her wheel. Nearer came the army of peasants. Thora looked out upon the roadway, the dark path through the forests of Orkadale. They were coming, coming!—a hundred— nay, a thousand—ten thousand! Far down the road, line after line, row after row, horsemen, foot-soldiers, young, old, peasant, thrall and jarl, they swept onward, through the village of Rimul to Thora’s very door.
“Is is Odin or Thor come again to Norway?” asked the terrified women. Never had there been seen a man of such beauty, as he who came into view, the majestically handsome chief. He sat upon
