“How many?” he asked.

“Like to herrings in a barrel.—­More than I can tell,” the masthead man answered.

Then Thorgils turned to us.

“This is more than I can fully fathom,” he said, leaning on the helm a little, so that the ship edged up a trifle closer to the wind steadily.  “She has her weather gunwale packed with men, who are hiding under it—­armed men.  On my word, it is well that Eric is with us.”

Owen and I looked at one another.  If I had been alone, or with him only, I think I should have rejoiced in this seeming chance of a fight at sea, but with Nona and her maidens on board there was a sort of terror for me in what all this might mean.

No honest vessel hid her men thus, and waited for the coming of two strangers.

“Get your arms on, prince and comrade,” said Thorgils.  “It is in my mind that these are desperate folk of sorts.  We are pranked up with that dragon like any longship, and here is Eric astern of us, and yet there is some look of fighting in the hiding of these men.  Will they face two of us, or what is it?”

“We may not fight with the lady on board, Thorgils,” Owen said under his breath.  “If so be we can get away from them we must.  Yet it will be the first time that Oswald and I have thought of flying.”

“There is no merit in staying for a fight if there is need why one should be out of it,” Thorgils said.  “See, she is going to try to get to windward of us, and now will be a bit of a sailing match.”

Then he called one of the men, and he came aft and took a pole with a round red board on its top from where it hung along the gunwale, and, standing on the stern rail with his arm round the high stern post, waved it slowly.  He was signalling to Eric as Thorgils bade him.

The ship forged up into the wind closer and closer, and the spray flew over her bows as she met the sea.  But the strange vessel was no less weatherly, and kept pace with us, and now Eric was bearing down on us more or less, sailing a little more free than we, though he also had to luff somewhat to keep near us, taking a long slant across our course as we sailed now.

I sent Evan for our arms, for the men were arming silently.  They were in the chests in the fore cabin where I had once been bound, and Nona knew nought of possible trouble on hand.  To keep her from it altogether I went to the low door of her rude shelter before I put on my mail, and looked in, telling her to keep the cabin closed against the spray that was flying, and had a bright smile for my thought.  Then I went back to the deck and armed, and all the while the two ships reached to windward, but even in that little time I saw that the stranger had gained on us.  The man was at work signalling to Eric again.

“We shall know if he means fighting in no long time,” said Thorgils to me.  “If he does I think that he is going to be surprised.”

“How?”