“This is the word of Havelok, son of Gunnar the king, to Hodulf of Norway, who sits in his place.  Home he has come to take his own, and now he would tell you that the time has come that he is able to rule the kingdom for himself.”

“And what if he has?” said Hodulf, without the least change of face, as if he had been expecting this, and nothing more or less.

But if he was quiet, the chiefs had heard my words in a very different way.  Some had leaped up, and others bent forward, to hear the answer to my words the better.  I heard one or two laugh; but there were some on whose faces seemed to be written doubt and anxiety.  I think that some would have spoken, for Hodulf held up his hand for silence, and looked to me for answer.

“It will be well for you to give up the throne to him, making such terms as you may,” I said.

“That is a fair offer,” said Hodulf, quite unmoved, to all seeming, but looking at me in a way that told me how his anger was held back by main force, as it were; “but how am I to know that this one who sends so bold a message is the real Havelok?  I am not a fool that I should give up my throne to the first who asks it.  Doubtless you bring some token that you come from the very son of Gunnar.”

“It is right that you should ask one, and also that you should have one that there can be no mistaking,” I said.  “This is it.  By the token of the sack and the anchor I bid you know that Havelok sends me to you.”

At that the face of Hodulf became ashy grey beneath the tan of wind and sea, and I saw that his hand clutched the hilt of his sword so that the knuckles of his fingers grew white.  He had never thought to hear of that deed again, and he knew that he had to deal with the one whom he had thought dead.  Some of the young chiefs in the hall laughed at that token, but he flashed a glance at them which stayed the laugh on their lips.

“I know not what you mean,” he said, altogether staggered.

“It is right,” I said, “that if the token is not plain I should make it so.  It is but fair also to the chiefs who are here.”

Then he stayed me.  True it is that old sin makes new shame.

“I will take it as enough,” he said hastily.  “I mind some old saying of the kind.  Ay, that is it—­a hidden king and a voyage across the sea.  It is enough.”

“Not enough,” said a chief in the hall close to the high seat.  “Let this warrior say what he means plainly.”

There were many who agreed to this, and I did not wait for Hodulf any longer.  I told them who I was, and then showed them why that token was to be held enough for any man; and as I spoke, there were black looks toward the high seat among the older men.  As for Hodulf, he sat with a forced smile, and seemed to listen indulgently, as to a well-made tale.

And after that the matter was out of my hands, for the same chief who had asked for the tale came and stood by my side, and he faced Hodulf and spoke.