Now stand forth Hall-face my son, and answer
to my questions in a loud voice, so that all may hear thee.'
So Hall-face stood forth, clad in gleaming war-gear, with an axe over
his shoulder, and seemed a doughty warrior. And Iron-face said to
him:
'Tell me, son, those whom ye met in the wood, and of whom ye brought
home two captives, how much like were they to the murder-carles at
Wood-grey's?'
Said Hall-face: 'As like as peas out of the same cod, and to our
eyes all those whom we saw in the wood might have been sons of one
father and one mother, so much alike were they.'
'Yea,' said the Alderman; 'now tell me how many by thy deeming fell
upon you in the wood?'
Said Hall-face: 'We deemed that if they were any less than
threescore, they were little less.'
'Great was the odds,' said the Alderman. 'Or how many were ye?'
'One score and seven,' said Hall-face.
Said the Alderman: 'And yet ye escaped with life all save those
three?'
Hall-face said: 'I deem that scarce one should have come back alive,
had it not been that as we fought came a noise like the howling of
wolves, and thereat the foemen turned and fled, and there followed on
the fleers tall men clad in sheep-brown raiment, who smote them down
as they fled.
Pages:
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277