The town with all its houses and buildings stood upon that side ofMarstrand island which looked to landward and was protected by awreath of holms and islets. There people swarmed in its streetsand alleys; there lay the harbour, full of ships and boats, thequays, with folk busy gutting and salting fish; there lay thechurch and churchyard, the market and town hall, and there stoodmany a lofty tree and waved its green branches in summer time.
But upon that half of Marstrand island which looked westward tothe sea, unguarded by isles or skerries, there was nothing butbare and barren rocks and ragged headlands thrust out into thewaves. Heather there was in brown tufts and prickly thorn bushes,holes of the otter and the fox, but never a path, never a house orany sign of man.
Torarin's cabin stood high up on the ridge of the island, so thatit had the town on one side and the wilderness on the other. Andwhen Elsalill opened her door she came out upon broad, naked slabsof rock, from which she had a wide view to the westward, even tothe dark horizon of the open sea.
All the seamen and fishermen who lay icebound at Marstrand used topass Torarin's cabin to climb the rocks and look for any sign ofthe ice parting in the coves and sounds.
Elsalill stood many a time at the cottage door and followed withher eyes the men who mounted the ridge. She was sick at heart fromthe great sorrow that had befallen her, and she said to herself:"I think everyone is happy who has something to look for. But Ihave nothing in the wide world on which to fix my hopes."
One evening Elsalill saw a tall man, who wore a broad-brimmed hatwith a great feather, standing upon the rocks and gazing westwardover the sea like all the others.
And Elsalill knew at once that the man was Sir Archie, the leaderof the Scots, who had talked with her on the quay.
As he passed the cabin on his way home to the town, Elsalill wasstill standing in the doorway, and she was weeping.
"Why do you weep?" he asked, stopping before her.
"I weep because I have nothing to long for," said Elsalill. "WhenI saw you standing upon the rocks and looking out over the sea, Ithought: 'He has surely a home beyond the water, and there he isgoing.'"
Then Sir Archie's heart was softened, and it made him say: "It ismany a year since any spoke to me of my home. God knows how itfares with my father's house. I left it when I was seventeen toserve in the wars abroad."
On saying this Sir Archie entered the cottage with Elsalill andbegan to talk to her of his home.
And Elsalill sat and listened to Sir Archie, who spoke both longand well. Each word that came from his lips made her feel happy.But when the time drew on for Sir Archie to go, he asked if hemight kiss her.
Then Elsalill said No, and would have slipped out of the door, butSir Archie stood in her way and would have made her kiss him.
At that moment the door of the cottage opened, and its mistresscame in in great haste.
Then Sir Archie drew back from Elsalill. He simply gave her hishand in farewell and hurried away.
But Torarin's mother said to Elsalill: "It was well that you sentfor me, for it is not fitting for a maid to sit alone in the housewith such a man as Sir Archie. You know full well that a soldierof fortune has neither honour nor conscience."
"Did I send for you?" asked Elsalill, astonished.
"Yes," answered the old woman. "As I stood at work on the quaythere came a little maid I had never seen before, and brought meword that you begged me to go home."
"How did this maid look?" asked Elsalill.
"I heeded her not so closely that I can tell you how she looked,"said the old woman. "But one thing I marked; she went so lightlyupon the snow that not a sound was heard."
When Elsalill heard this she turned very pale and said: "Then itmust have been an angel from heaven who brought you the messageand led you home."
II
Another time Sir Archie sat in Torarin's cabin and talked withElsalill.
There was no one beside them; they talked gaily together and werevery cheerful.
Sir Archie was telling Elsalill that she must go home with him toScotland. There he would build her a castle and make her a finelady. He told her she should have a hundred serving-maids to waitupon her, and she should dance at the court of the King.
Elsalill sat silently listening to every word Sir Archie said toher, and she believed them all. And Sir Archie thought that neverhad he met a damsel so easy to beguile as Elsalill.
Suddenly Sir Archie ceased speaking and looked down at his lefthand.
"What is it, Sir Archie? Why do you say no more?" asked Elsalill.
Sir Archie opened and closed his hand convulsively. He turned itthis way and that.
"What is it, Sir Archie?" asked Elsalill. "Does your hand pain youon a sudden?"
Then Sir Archie turned to Elsalill with a startled face and said:"Do you see this hair, Elsalill, that is wound about my hand? Doyou see this lock of fair hair?"
When he began to speak the girl saw nothing, but ere he hadfinished she saw a coil of fine, fair hair wind itself twice aboutSir Archie's hand.
And Elsalill sprang up in terror and cried out: "Sir Archie, whosehair is it that is bound about your hand?"
Sir Archie looked at her in confusion, not knowing what to say."It is real hair, Elsalill, I can feel it. It lies soft and coolabout my hand. But whence did it come?"
The maid sat staring at his hand, and it seemed that her eyeswould fall out of her head.
"So was it that my foster sister's hair was wound about the handof him who murdered her," she said.
But now Sir Archie burst into a laugh. He quickly drew back hishand.
"Why," said he, "you and I, Elsalill, we are frightening ourselveslike little children. It was nothing more than a bright sunbeamfalling through the window."
But the girl fell to weeping and said: "Now methinks I amcrouching again by the stove and I can see the murderers at theirwork. Ah, but I hoped to the last they would not find my dearfoster sister, but then one of them came and plucked her from thewall, and when she sought to escape he twined her hair about hishand and held her fast. And she fell on her knees before him andsaid: 'Have pity on my youth! Spare my life, let me live longenough to know why I have come into the world! I have done you noill, why would you kill me? Why would you deny me my life?' But hepaid no heed to her words and killed her."
While Elsalill said this Sir Archie stood with a frown on his browand turned his eyes away.
"Ah, if I might one day meet that man!" said Elsalill. She stoodbefore Sir Archie with clenched fists.
"You cannot meet the man," said Sir Archie. "He is dead."
But the maid threw herself upon the bench and sobbed. "Sir Archie,Sir Archie, why have you brought the dead into my thoughts? Now Imust weep all evening and all night. Leave me, Sir Archie, for nowI have no thought for any but the dead. Now I can only think uponmy foster sister and how dear she was to me."
And Sir Archie had no power to console her, but was banished byher tears and wailing and went back to his companions.
III
Sir Archie could not understand why his mind was always so full ofheavy thoughts. He could never escape them, whether he drank withhis companions, or whether he sat in talk with Elsalill. If hedanced all night at the wharves they were still with him, and ifhe walked far and wide over the frozen sea, they followed himthere.
"Why am I ever forced to remember what I would fain forget?" SirArchie asked himself. "It is as though someone were alwaysstealing behind me and whispering in my ear.
"It is as though someone were weaving a net about me," said SirArchie, "to catch all my own thoughts and leave me none but this.I cannot see the pursuer who casts the net, but I can hear hisstep as he comes stealing after me."
"It is as though a painter went before me and painted the samepicture wherever my eyes may rest," said Sir Archie. "Whether Ilook to heaven or to earth I see naught else but this one thing."
"It is as though a mason sat within my heart and chiselled out thesame heavy care," said
Sir Archie. "I cannot see this mason, butday and night I can hear the blows of his mallet as he hammers atmy heart. 'Heart of stone, heart of stone,' he says, 'now youshall yield. Now I shall hammer into you a lasting care.'"
Sir Archie had two friends, Sir Philip and Sir Reginald, whofollowed him wherever he went. They were grieved that he wasalways cast down and that nothing could avail to cheer him.
"What is it that ails you?" they would say. "What makes your eyesburn so, and why are your cheeks so pale?"
Sir Archie would not tell them what it was that tormented him. Hethought: "What would my comrades say of me if they knew I yieldedto these unmanly thoughts? They would no longer obey me if theyfound out that I was racked with remorse for a deed there was noavoiding."
As they continued to press him, he said at last, to throw them offthe scent: "Fortune is playing me strange tricks in these days.There is a girl I have a mind to win, but I cannot come at her.Something always stands in my way."
"Maybe the maiden does not love you?" said Sir Reginald.
"I surely think her heart is disposed toward me," said Sir Archie;"but there is something watching over her, so that I cannot winher."
Then Sir Reginald and Sir Philip began to laugh and said: "Neverfear, we'll get you the girl."
That evening Elsalill was walking alone up the lane, coming fromher work. She was tired and thought to herself: "This is a hardlife and I find no joy in it. It sickens me to stand all day inthe reek of fish. It sickens me to hear the other women laugh andjest in their rude voices. It sickens me to see the hungry gullsfly above the tables trying to snatch the fish out of my hands.Oh, that someone would come and take me away from here! I wouldfollow him to the world's end."
When Elsalill had reached the darkest part of the lane, SirReginald and Sir Philip came out of the shadow and greeted her.
"Mistress Elsalill," they said, "we have a message for you fromSir Archie. He is lying sick at the inn. He longs to speak withyou and begs you to accompany us home."
Elsalill began to fear that Sir Archie might be grievously sick,and she turned at once and went with the two Scottish gallants whowere to bring her to him.
Sir Philip and Sir Reginald walked one on each side of her. Theysmiled at one another and thought that nothing could be easierthan to delude Elsalill.
Elsalill was in great haste; she almost ran down the lane. SirPhilip and Sir Reginald had to take long strides to keep up withher.
But as Elsalill was making such haste to reach the inn, somethingbegan to roll before her feet. It seemed to have been thrown downin front of her, and she nearly stumbled over it.
"What can it be that rolls on and on before my feet?" thoughtElsalill. "It must be a stone that I have kicked from the groundand sent rolling down the hill."
She was in such a hurry to reach Sir Archie that she did not likebeing hindered by the thing that rolled close before her feet. Shekicked it aside, but it came back at once and rolled before herdown the lane.
Elsalill heard it ring like silver when she kicked it away, andshe saw that it was bright and shining.
"It is no common stone," she thought. "I believe it is a coin ofsilver." But she was in such haste to reach Sir Archie that shethought she had no time to pick it up.
But again and again it rolled before her feet, and she thought:"You will go on the faster if you stoop down and pick it up. Youcan throw it far away if it is nothing."
She stooped down and picked it up. It was a big silver coin and itshone white in her hand.
"What is it that you have found in the street, mistress?" askedSir Reginald. "It shines so white in the moonlight."
At that moment they were passing one of the great storehouses,where foreign fisher-folk lodged while they lay at Marstrand.Before the entrance hung a lantern, which threw a feeble lightupon the street.
"Let us see what you have found, mistress," said Sir Philip,standing under the light.
Elsalill held up the coin to the lantern, and hardly had she casteye upon it when she cried out: "This is Herr Arne's money! I knowit well. This is Herr Arne's money!"
"What's that you say, mistress?" asked Sir Reginald. "What makesyou say it is Herr Arne's money?"
"I know the coin," said Elsalill. "I have often seen it in HerrArne's hand. Yes, it is surely Herr Arne's money."
"Shout not so loudly, mistress!" said Sir Philip. "People run herealready to know the cause of this outcry."
But Elsalill paid no heed to Sir Philip. She saw that the door ofthe warehouse stood open. A fire blazed in the midst of the floorand round about it sat a number of men conversing quietly and atleisure.
Elsalill hastened in to them, holding the coin aloft. "Listen tome, every man!" she cried. "Now I know that Herr Arne's murderersare alive. Look here! I have found one of Herr Arne's coins."
All the men turned toward her. She saw that Torarin the fishhawker sat among them.
"What is that you tell us so noisily, my girl?" Torarin asked."How can you know Herr Arne's moneys from any other?"
"Well may I know this very piece of silver from any other," saidElsalill. "It is old and heavy, and it is chipped at the edge.Herr Arne told us that it came from the time of the old kings ofNorway, and never would he part with it when he counted out moneyto pay for his goods."
"Now you must tell us where you have found it, mistress," saidanother of the fishermen.
"I found it rolling before me in the street," said Elsalill. "Oneof the murderers has surely dropped it there."
"It may be as you say," said Torarin, "but what can we do in thismatter? We cannot find the murderers by this alone, that you knowthey have walked in one of our streets."
The fishermen were agreed that Torarin had spoken wisely. Theysettled themselves again about the fire.
"Come home with me, Elsalill," said Torarin. "This is not an hourfor a young maid to run about the streets of the town."
As Torarin said this, Elsalill looked about for her companions.But Sir Reginald and Sir Philip had stolen away without hernoticing their departure.
CHAPTER VI
IN THE TOWN CELLARS