“What work can you do best?” he asked.

Glam said it would suit him very well to mind sheep in the winter.

“Will you mind my sheep?” Thorhall asked.  “Skapti has given you over to me.”

“My service will only be of use to you if I am free to do as I please,” he said.  “I am rather crossgrained when I am not well pleased.”

“That will not hurt me,” said Thorhall.  “I shall be glad if you will come to me.”

“I can do so,” he said.  “Are there any special difficulties?”

“The place seems to be haunted.”

“I am not afraid of ghosts.  It will be the less dull.”

“You will have to risk it,” said Thorhall.  “It will be best to meet it with a bold face.”

Terms were arranged and Glam was to come in the autumn.  Then they parted.  Thorhall found his horses in the very place where he had just been looking for them.  He rode home and thanked Skapti for his service.

The summer passed.  Thorhall heard nothing of his shepherd and no one knew anything about him, but at the appointed time he appeared at Thorhallsstad.  Thorhall treated him kindly, but all the rest of the household disliked him, especially the mistress.  He commenced his work as shepherd, which gave him little trouble.

He had a loud hoarse voice.  The beasts all flocked together whenever he shouted at them.  There was a church in the place, but Glam never went to it.  He abstained from mass, had no religion, and was stubborn and surly.  Every one hated him.

So the time passed till the eve of Yule-tide.  Glam rose early and called for his meal.  The mistress said:  “It is not proper for Christian men to eat on this day, because to-morrow is the first day of Yule and it is our duty to fast to-day.”

“You have many superstitions,” he said; “but I do not see that much comes of them.  I do not know that men are any better off than when there was nothing of that kind.  The ways of men seemed to me better when they were called heathen.  I want my food and no foolery.”

“I am certain,” she said, “that it will fare ill with you to-day if you commit this sin.”

Glam told her that she should bring his food, or that it would be the worse for her.  She did not dare to do otherwise than as he bade her.  When he had eaten he went out, his breath smelling abominably.  It was very dark; there was driving snow, the wind was howling and it became worse as the day advanced.  The shepherd’s voice was heard in the early part of the day, but less later on.  Blizzards set in and a terrific storm in the evening.  People went to mass and so the time passed.  In the evening Glam did not return.  They talked about going out to look for him, but the storm was so violent and the night so dark that no one went.  The night passed and still he had not returned; they waited till the time for mass came.  When it was full day some of the men set forth to search.  They found