Next they set Harek on his feet, and led him to the ring round the fire.  Two of the men—­and they were among the strongest of all—­loosened their hands, and each gripped the scald by the wrist and yelled aloud, and at once the man beat on the great pot’s cover drum-wise, and the ring of men whirled away round the fire in the wild dance whose foot beats we had heard as we came.  Then those who sat round raised the chant we heard also.

I saw Harek struggle and try to break away; but at that they whirled yet more quickly, and he lost his footing, and fell, and was dragged up; and then he too must dance, or be haled along the ground.  My eyes grew dizzy with watching, while the drum and the chant dulled into a humming in my brain.

“This cannot go on for long,” I thought.

But then, from among those who sat round and chanted, I saw now one and now another dart to the ring and take the place of a dancer who seemed to tire; and so at last one came and gripped Harek’s wrist and swung into the place of his first holder before he knew that any change was coming, and so with the one on the other side of him.

Then it was plain that my comrade must needs fall worn out before long, and I knew what I was looking on at.  It was the dance of the pixies, in truth—­the dance that ends but with the death of him who has broken in on their revels—­and I would that I and Harek had been slain rather with Kolgrim by the stream yonder.

At last the scald fell, and then with a great howl they let him go, flinging him out of the circle like a stone, and he lay in a heap where they tossed him, and was quite still.

Then the dancers raised a shout, and came and sat down, and some brought earthen vessels of drink to refresh them, while they began to turn their eyes to me, whose turn came next.

Whereon a thought came into my mind, and I almost laughed, for a hope seemed to lie in a simple trick enough.  That I would try presently.

Now I looked, and hoped to see Harek come to himself; but he did not stir.  He lay near the swords, and for the first time now, because of some thinning of the mist, I saw what was on the bank where these had been placed.  There was a great stone dolmen, as they call it—­a giant house, as it were, made of three flat stones for walls, and a fourth for a roof, so heavy that none know how such are raised nowadays.  They might have served for a table, or maybe a stool, for a Jotun.  The two side walls came together from the back, so that the doorway was narrow; and a man might stand and keep it against a dozen, for it was ten feet high, and there was room for sword play.  One minds all these things when they are of no use to him, and only the wish that they could be used is left.  Nevertheless, as I say, I had one little hope.

It was not long before the savage folk were ready for my dance, and they made the ring again, refreshed.  The drum was taken up once more, and a dozen men came and unbound me.  I also struggled as Harek had struggled, unavailingly.  When I was quiet they led me to the circle, and I watched for my plan to work.