At last I slept, nor did I wake till we had been alongside the wharf at Watchet for two hours, being worn out.  Then I found that Dunwal and his party had gone already, and I wondered, with a mind to be angry, whereat Thorgils laughed.

“I have even sent them on to Norton with a few of our men to help him, and they will see that he goes there and nowhere else.  You will find him waiting.  I did not want him to fall on you on the road.”

“What is the news?” I asked.  “Have you heard aught?”

“The best, I think.  Gerent is hunting Tregoz, and Owen has swept up every outlaw from the Quantocks.  Our folk helped him.  Some of them told all they knew when they were taken.”

“Then,” I said gladly, “Owen knows that I am safe.”

“Not so certainly,” Thorgils said.  “None of our folk can say that you crossed with me, and as this is the only ship afloat at this time of the year there is doubt as to where you are.  It will be good for Owen to see you again.  What a tale you have for him!  On my word, I envy you the telling.”

“Well, then, ride with me to Norton straightway, and you shall tell all and save me words.  Owen shall thank you also for your care for me.”

“What, for letting you sit on my deck while the wind blew?  Nay, but there are no thanks needed between us.  You and I have seen a strange voyage together, and it has ended well.  Maybe you and I will see more sport yet side by side, for I think that we are good comrades.  Let us be going, then, for it was in my mind that I could not rest until I had seen you safe to your journey’s end.”

Then I found that he had his own horses ready for us, and two more men, well armed and mounted also, were waiting with them on the green where I had been set down in the litter.  So in a very short time Thorgils had told his men all that he would have done about the ship, and we were riding fast along the road to Norton, while the thawing snow told of the going of the frost at last.

I had been gone but these few days, but each of them seemed like a month to look back upon as I rode under the shadow of the hills that I had last seen as a hopeless captive.  It grew warm and soft as the midday sun shone on us, and the road was muddy underfoot with the chill water that had filled all the brooks again, but I hardly noticed the change, so eager was I to be back.  Glad enough I was when we saw the village and the mighty earthworks above it, and yet more glad when the guards at the gate told us that Owen was even now in the palace.

I left Thorgils and his men to the care of the guard for the time, while I went straightway to the entrance doors and asked for speech with him.

“It is the word of the king that you shall have free admittance into the palace and to himself at any time, Thane,” the captain of the guards said.

So I passed into the great chamber of the palace that was used as audience hall for all comers, and also as the court of justice.