“It must be remembered that she had been a captive of Gilli,” Alwin reminded the shield-maiden.  “Even Norse wives are sometimes—­”

“She is a coward.  Tell me of Gilli.  At least he is not witless.  What is he like?”

Again the deep water.  Alwin stirred in his seat and fingered at the silver lace on his cap.  He was dressed splendidly now.  Left’s wardrobe had contained nothing black that was also plain, so the bowerman’s long hose were of silk, his tunic was seamed with silver, his belt studded with steel bosses, his cloak lined with fine gray fur.

“Lady,” he stammered, “as I have said, it may be that I am not a fair judge.  Gilli did not behave well to me.  Yet I have heard that he is very kind to his wife.  It is likely that he would give you costly things—­”

Helga’s foot stamped upon the deck.  “What do I care for that?”

He knew how little she cared.  He gave up any further attempts at diplomacy.

But her next words granted him a respite.  “What was the message that you wrote to my mother for Leif?”

“I think I can remember the exact words,” he answered readily, “it gave me so much trouble to spell them.  It read this way, after the greeting:  ’Do you remember the child you sent to Eric?  She is here in Norway with me.  She is well grown and handsome.  I go back the second day after this.  It will be a great grief to her if she is obliged to go also.  If her father could see her, it is likely he would be willing to give her a home in Norway.  It would even be worth while coming all the way to Greenland after her.  It is certain that Gilli would think so, if you could manage that he should see her.’  I think that was all, lady.”

“If Gilli is what I suspect him to be, that is more than enough,” Helga said slowly.  She raised her head and looked straight into his eyes.  “Answer me this,—­you know and must tell,—­is he a high-minded warrior like Leif, or is he a money-loving trader?”

“Lady,” said Alwin desperately, “if you will have the truth, he is a mean-spirited churl who thinks that the only thing in the world is to have property.”

Helga drew a long breath, and her slender hands clenched in her lap.  “Now I have found what I have suspected.  Answer this truthfully also:  If I go back to him, is it not likely that he will marry me to the first creature who offers to make a good bargain with him?”

“Yes,” said Alwin.

For days he had been watching her with uneasy pity, whenever in his mind’s eye he saw her in the power of the unscrupulous trader, It had made him uncomfortable to feel that he was the tool that had brought it about, even though he knew he was as innocent as the bark on which he had written.

Drop by drop the blood sank out of Helga’s face.  Spark by spark, the light died out of her eyes.  Like some poor trapped animal, she sat staring dully ahead of her.

It was more than Alwin could bear in silence.  He leaned forward and shook her arm.  “Lady, do anything rather than despair.  Get into a rage with me,—­though Heaven knows I never intended your misfortune!  Yet it is natural you should feel hard toward me.  I—­”