The Roots of the Mountains Read online

  CHAPTER XX. THOSE TWO TOGETHER HOLD THE RING OF THE EARTH-GOD.

  AND now they fell silent both of them, and sat hearkening the sounds ofthe Dale, from the whistle of the plover down by the water-side to thefar-off voices of the children and maidens about the kine in the lowermeadows. At last Gold-mane took up the word and said:

  ‘Sweet friend, tell me the uttermost of what thou would’st have of me.Is it not that I should stand by thee and thine in the Folk-mote of theDalesmen, and speak for you when ye pray us for help against your foemen;and then again that I do my best when ye and we are arrayed for battleagainst the Dusky Men? This is easy to do, and great is the reward thouofferest me.’

  ‘I look for this service of thee,’ she said, ‘and none other.’

  ‘And when I go down to the battle,’ said he, ‘shalt thou be sorry for oursundering?’

  She said: ‘There shall be no sundering; I shall wend with thee.’

  Said he: ‘And if I were slain in the battle, would’st thou lament me?’

  ‘Thou shalt not be slain,’ she said.

  Again was there silence betwixt them, till at last he said:

  ‘This then is why thou didst draw me to thee in the Wild-wood?’

  ‘Yea,’ said she.

  Again for a while no word was spoken, and Face-of-god looked on her tillshe cast her eyes down before him.

  Then at last he spake, and the colour came and went in his face as hesaid: ‘Tell me thy name what it is.’

  She said: ‘I am called the Sun-beam.’

  Then he said, and his voice trembled therewith: ‘O Sun-beam, I have beenseeking pleasant and cunning words, and can find none such. But tell methis if thou wilt: dost thou desire me as I desire thee? or is it thatthou wilt suffer me to wed thee and bed thee at last as mere payment forthe help that I shall give to thee and thine? Nay, doubt it not that Iwill take the payment, if this is what thou wilt give me and nought else.Yet tell me.’

  Her face grew troubled, and she said:

  ‘Gold-mane, maybe that thou hast now asked me one question too many; forthis is no fair game to be played between us. For thee, as I deem, thereare this day but two people in the world, and that is thou and I, and theearth is for us two alone. But, my friend, though I have seen but twentyand one summers, it is nowise so with me, and to me there are many in theworld; and chiefly the Folk of the Wolf, amidst whose very heart I havegrown up. Moreover, I can think of her whom I have supplanted, the Brideto wit; and I know her, and how bitter and empty her days shall be for awhile, and how vain all our redes for her shall seem to her. Yea, I knowher sorrow, and see it and grieve for it: so canst not thou, unless thouverily see her before thee, her face unhappy, and her voice changed andhard. Well, I will tell thee what thou askest. When I drew thee to meon the Mountain I thought but of the friendship and brotherhood to beknitted up between our two Folks, nor did I anywise desire thy love of ayoung man. But when I saw thee on the heath and in the Hall that day, itpleased me to think that a man so fair and chieftain-like should one daylie by my side; and again when I saw that the love of me had taken holdof thee, I would not have thee grieved because of me, but would have theehappy. And now what shall I say?—I know not; I cannot tell. Yet am Ithe Friend, as erst I called myself.

  ‘And, Gold-mane, I have seen hitherto but the outward show and image ofthee, and though that be goodly, how would it be if thou didst shame mewith little-heartedness and evil deeds? Let me see thee in the Folk-moteand the battle, and then may I answer thee.’

  Then she held her peace, and he answered nothing; and she turned her facefrom him and said:

  ‘Out on it! have I beguiled myself as well as thee? These are but emptywords I have been saying. If thou wilt drag the truth out of me, this isthe very truth: that to-day is happy to me as it is to thee, and that Ihave longed sore for its coming. O Gold-mane, O speech-friend, if thouwert to pray me or command me that I lie in thine arms to-night, I shouldknow not how to gainsay thee. Yet I beseech thee to forbear, lest thydeath and mine come of it. And why should we die, O friend, when we areso young, and the world lies so fair before us, and the happy days are athand when the Children of the Wolf and the kindreds of the Dale shalldeliver the Folk, and all days shall be good and all years?’

  They had both risen up as she spake, and now he put forth his hands toher and took her in his arms, wondering the while, as he drew her to him,how much slenderer and smaller and weaker she seemed in his embrace thanhe had thought of her; and when their lips met, he felt that she kissedhim as he her. Then he held her by the shoulders at arms’ length fromhim, and beheld her face how her eyes were closed and her lips quivering.But before him, in a moment of time, passed a picture of the life to bein the fair Dale, and all she would give him there, and the days good andlovely from morn to eve and eve to morn; and though in that moment it washard for him to speak, at last he spoke in a voice hoarse at first, andsaid:

  ‘Thou sayest sooth, O friend; we will not die, but live; I will not dragour deaths upon us both, nor put a sword in the hands of Folk-might, wholoves me not.’

  Then he kissed her on the brow and said: ‘Now shalt thou take me by thehand and lead me forth from the Hall. For the day is waxing old, andhere meseemeth in this dim hall there are words crossing in the air aboutus—words spoken in days long ago, and tales of old time, that keep eggingme on to do my will and die, because that is all that the world hath fora valiant man; and to such words I would not hearken, for in this hour Ihave no will to die, nor can I think of death.’

  She took his hand and led him forth without more words, and they wenthand in hand and paced slowly round the Doom-ring, the light airbreathing upon them till their faces were as calm and quiet as their wontwas, and hers especially as bright and happy as when he had first seenher that day.

  The sun was sinking now, and only sent one golden ray into the valleythrough a cleft in the western rock-wall, but the sky overhead was brightand clear; from the meadows came the sound of the lowing of kine and thevoices of children a-sporting, and it seemed to Gold-mane that they weredrawing nigher, both the children and the kine, and somewhat he begrudgedit that he should not be alone with the Friend.

  Now when they had made half the circuit of the Doom-ring, the Sun-beamstopped him, and then led him through the Ring of Stones, and brought himup to the altar which was amidst of it; and the altar was a great blackstone hewn smooth and clean, and with the image of the Wolf carven on thefront thereof; and on its face lay the gold ring which the priest orcaptain of the Folk bore on his arm between the God and the people at allfolk-motes.

  So she said: ‘This is the altar of the God of Earth, and often hath itbeen reddened by mighty men; and thereon lieth the Ring of the Sons ofthe Wolf; and now it were well that we swore troth on that ring before mybrother cometh; for now will he soon be here.’

  Then Gold-mane took the Ring and thrust his right hand through it, andtook her right hand in his; so that the Ring lay on both their hands, andtherewith he spake aloud:

  ‘I am Face-of-god of the House of the Face, and I do thee to wit, O Godof the Earth, that I pledge my troth to this woman, the Sun-beam of theKindred of the Wolf, to beget my offspring on her, and to live with her,and to die with her: so help me, thou God of the Earth, and the Warriorand the God of the Face!’

  Then spake the Sun-beam: ‘I, the Sun-beam of the Children of the Wolf,pledge my troth to Face-of-god to lie in his bed and to bear his childrenand none other’s, and to be his speech-friend till I die: so help me theWolf and the Warrior and the God of the Earth!’

  Then they laid the Ring on the altar again, and they kissed each otherlong and sweetly, and then turned away from the altar and departed fromthe Doom-ring, going hand in hand together down the meadow, and as theywent, the noise of the kine and the children grew nearer and nearer, andpresently came the whole company of them round a ness of the rock-wall;there were some thirty little lads and lasses driving on the milch-kine,with half a score of older maids
and grown women, one of whom wasBow-may, who was lightly and scantily clad, as one who heeds not theweather, or deems all months midsummer.

  The children came running up merrily when they saw the Sun-beam, butstopped short shyly when they noted the tall fair stranger with her.They were all strong and sturdy children, and some very fair, but brownwith the weather, if not with the sun. Bow-may came up to Gold-mane andtook his hand and greeted him kindly and said:

  ‘So here thou art at last in Shadowy Vale; and I hope that thou artcontent therewith, and as happy as I would wish thee to be. Well, thisis the first time; and when thou comest the second time it may well bethat the world shall be growing better.’

  She held the distaff which she bore in her hand (for she had beenspinning) as if it were a spear; her limbs were goodly and shapely, andshe trod the thick grass of the Vale with a kind of wary firmness, asthough foemen might be lurking nearby. The Sun-beam smiled upon herkindly and said:

  ‘That shall not fail to be, Bow-may: ye have won a new friend to-day.But tell me, when dost thou look to see the men here, for I was down bythe water when they went away yesterday?’

  ‘They shall come into the Dale a little after sunset,’ said Bow-may.

  ‘Shall I abide them, my friend?’ said Gold-mane, turning to the Sun-beam.

  ‘Yea,’ she said; ‘for what else art thou come hither? or art thou sopressed to depart from us? Last time we met thou wert not so hasty tosunder.’

  They smiled on each other; and Bow-may looked on them and laughedoutright; then a flush showed in her cheeks through the tan of them, andshe turned toward the children and the other women who were busied aboutthe milking of the kine.

  But those two sat down together on a bank amidst the plain meadow, facingthe river and the eastern rock-wall, and the Sun-beam said:

  ‘I am fain to speak to thee and to see thine eyes watching me while Ispeak; and now, my friend, I will tell thee something unasked which hasto do with what e’en now thou didst ask me; for I would have thee trustme wholly, and know me for what I am. Time was I schemed and planned forthis day of betrothal; but now I tell thee it has become no longerneedful for bringing to pass our fellowship in arms with thy people. Yeayesterday, ere he went on a hunt, whereof he shall tell thee, Folk-mightwas against it, in words at least; and yet as one who would have it doneif he might have no part in it. So, in good sooth, this hand that liethin thine is the hand of a wilful woman, who desireth a man, and wouldkeep him for her speech-friend. Now art thou fond and happy; yet bear inmind that there are deeds to be done, and the troth we have just plightedmust be paid for. So hearken, I bid thee. Dost thou care to know whythe wheedling of thee is no longer needful to us?’

  He said: ‘A little while ago I should have said, Yea, If thy lips say thewords. But now, O friend, it seemeth as if thine heart were alreadybecome a part of mine, and I feel as if the chieftain were growing up inme and the longing for deeds: so I say, Tell me, for I were fain to hearwhat toucheth the welfare of thy Folk and their fellowship with my Folk;for on that also have I set my heart?’

  She said gravely and with solemn eyes:

  ‘What thou sayest is good: full glad am I that I have not plighted mytroth to a mere goodly lad, but rather to a chieftain and a warrior. Nowthen hearken! Since I saw thee first in the autumn this hath happened,that the Dusky Men, increasing both in numbers and insolence, have it intheir hearts to win more than Silver-dale, and it is years since theyhave fallen upon Rose-dale and conquered it, rather by murder than bybattle, and made all men thralls there, for feeble were the Folk thereof;and doubt it not but that they will look into Burgdale before long. Theyare already abroad in the woods, and were it not for the fear of the Wolfthey would be thicker therein, and faring wider; for we have slain manyof them, coming upon them unawares; and they know not where we dwell, norwho we be: so they fear to spread about over-much and pry into unknownplaces lest the Wolf howl on them. Yet beware! for they will gather innumbers that we may not meet, and then will they swarm into the Dale; andif ye would live your happy life that ye love so well, ye must now fightfor it; and in that battle must ye needs join yourselves to us, that wemay help each other. Herein have ye nought to choose, for now with youit is no longer a thing to talk of whether ye will help certain strangersand guests and thereby win some gain to yourselves, but whether ye havethe hearts to fight for yourselves, and the wits to be the fellows oftall men and stout warriors who have pledged their lives to win or diefor it.’

  She was silent a little and then turned and looked fondly on Face-of-godand said:

  ‘Therefore, Gold-mane, we need thee no longer; for thou must needs fightin our battle. I have no longer aught to do to wheedle thee to love me.Yet if thou wilt love me, then am I a glad woman.’

  He said: ‘Thou wottest well that thou hast all my love, neither will Ifail thee in the battle. I am not little-hearted, though I would havegiven myself to thee for no reward.’

  ‘It is well,’ said the Sun-beam; ‘nought is undone by that which I havedone. Moreover, it is good that we have plighted troth to-day. ForFolk-might will presently hear thereof, and he must needs abide the thingwhich is done. Hearken! he cometh.’

  For as she spoke there came a glad cry from the women and children, andthose two stood up and turned toward the west and beheld the warriors ofthe Wolf coming down into the Dale by the way that Gold-mane had come.

  ‘Come,’ said the Sun-beam, ‘here are your brethren in arms, let us gogreet them; they will rejoice in thee.’

  So they went thither, and there stood eighty and seven men on the grassbelow the scree and Folk-might their captain; and besides some valiantwomen, and a few carles who were on watch on the waste, and a half scorewho had been left in the Dale, these were all the warriors of the Wolf.They were clad in no holiday raiment, not even Folk-might, but were insheep-brown gear of the coarsest, like to husbandmen late come from theplough, but armed well and goodly.

  But when the twain drew near, the men clashed their spears on theirshields, and cried out for joy of them, for they all knew whatFace-of-god’s presence there betokened of fellowship with the kindreds;but Folk-might came forward and took Face-of-god’s hand and greeted himand said:

  ‘Hail, son of the Alderman! Here hast thou come into the ancient abodeof chieftains and warriors, and belike deeds await thee also.’

  Yet his brow was knitted as he said these words, and he spake slowly, asone that constraineth himself; but presently his face cleared somewhatand he said:

  ‘Dalesman, it behoveth thy people to bestir them if ye would live and seegood days. Hath my sister told thee what is toward? Or what sayestthou?’

  ‘Hail to thee, son of the Wolf!’ said Face-of-god. ‘Thy sister hath toldme all; and even if these Dusky Felons were not our foe-men also, yetcould I have my way, we should have given thee all help, and should havebrought back peace and good days to thy folk.’

  Then Folk-might flushed red and spake, as he cast out his hand towardsthe warriors and up and down toward the Dale:

  ‘These be my folk, and these only: and as to peace, only those of us knowof it who are old men. Yet is it well; and if we and ye together bestrong enough to bring back good days to the feeble men whom the DuskyOnes torment in Silver-dale it shall be better yet.’

  Then he turned about to his sister, and looked keenly into her eyes tillshe reddened, and took her hand and looked at the wrist and said:

  ‘O sister, see I not the mark on thy wrist of the Ring of the God of theEarth? Have not oaths been sworn since yesterday?’

  ‘True it is,’ she said, ‘that this man and I have plighted troth togetherat the altar of the Doom-ring.’

  Said Folk-might: ‘Thou wilt have thy will, and I may not amend it.’Therewith he turned about to Face-of-god and said:

  ‘Thou must look to it to keep this oath, whatever other one thou hastfailed in.’

  Said Face-of-god somewhat wrathfully: ‘I shall keep it, whether thoubiddest me to keep it or b
reak it.’

  ‘That is well,’ said Folk-might, ‘and then for all that hath gone beforethou mayest in a manner pay, if thou art dauntless before the foe.’

  ‘I look to be no blencher in the battle,’ said Face-of-god; ‘that is notthe fashion of our kindred, whosoever may be before us. Yea, and evenwere it thy blade, O mighty warrior of the Wolf, I would do my best tomeet it in manly fashion.’

  As he spake he half drew forth Dale-warden from his sheath, lookingsteadily into the eyes of Folk-might; and the Sun-beam looked upon himhappily. But Folk-might laughed and said:

  ‘Thy sword is good, and I deem that thine heart will not fail thee; butit is by my side and not in face of me that thou shalt redden the goodblade: I see not the day when we twain shall hew at each other.’

  Then in a while he spake again:

  ‘Thou must pardon us if our words are rough; for we have stood in roughplaces, where we had to speak both short and loud, whereas there was muchto do. But now will we twain talk of matters that concern chieftains whoare going on a hard adventure. And ye women, do ye dight the Hall forthe evening feast, which shall be the feast of the troth-plight for youtwain. This indeed we owe thee, O guest; for little shall be thineheritage which thou shalt have with my sister, over and above that thysword winneth for thee.’

  But the Sun-beam said: ‘Hast thou any to-night?’

  ‘Yea,’ he said; ‘Spear-god, how many was it?’

  There came forward a tall man bearing an axe in his right hand, andcarrying over his shoulder by his left hand a bundle of silver arm-ringsjust such as Gold-mane had seen on the felons who were slain byWood-grey’s house. The carle cast them on the ground and then knelt downand fell to telling them over; and then looked up and said: ‘Twelveyesterday in the wood where the battle was going on; and this morningseven by the tarn in the pine-wood and six near this eastern edge of thewood: one score and five all told. But, Folk-might, they are coming nighto Shadowy Vale.’

  ‘Sooth is that,’ said Folk-might; ‘but it shall be looked to. Come nowapart with me, Face-of-god.’

  So the others went their ways toward the Hall, while Folk-might led theBurgdaler to a sheltered nook under the sheer rocks, and there they satdown to talk, and Folk-might asked Gold-mane closely of the muster of theDalesmen and the Shepherds and the Woodland Caries, and he was wellpleased when Face-of-god told him of how many could march to a strickenfield, and of their archery, and of their weapons and their goodness.

  All this took some time in the telling, and now night was coming onapace, and Folk-might said:

  ‘Now will it be time to go to the Hall; but keep in thy mind that theseDusky Men will overrun you unless ye deal with them betimes. These areof the kind that ye must cast fear into their hearts by falling on them;for if ye abide till they fall upon you, they are like the winter wolvesthat swarm on and on, how many soever ye slay. And this above all thingsshall help you, that we shall bring you whereas ye shall fall on themunawares and destroy them as boys do with a wasp’s nest. Yet shall manya mother’s son bite the dust.

  ‘Is it not so that in four weeks’ time is your spring-feast and market atBurgstead, and thereafter the great Folk-mote?’

  ‘So it is,’ said Gold-mane.

  ‘Thither shall I come then,’ said Folk-might, ‘and give myself out forthe slayer of Rusty and the ransacker of Harts-bane and Penny-thumb; andtherefor shall I offer good blood-wite and theft-wite; and thy fathershall take that; for he is a just man. Then shall I tell my tale. Yetit may be thou shalt see us before if battle betide. And now fair befallthis new year; for soon shall the scabbards be empty and the white swordsbe dancing in the air, and spears and axes shall be the growth of thisspring-tide.’

  And he leaped up from his seat and walked to and fro before Gold-mane,and now was it grown quite dark. Then Folk-might turned to Face-of-godand said:

  ‘Come, guest, the windows of the Hall are yellow; let us to the feast.To-morrow shalt thou get thee to the beginning of this work. I hope ofthee that thou art a good sword; else have I done a folly and my sister aworse one. But now forget that, and feast.’

  Gold-mane arose, not very well at ease, for the man seemed overbearing;yet how might he fall upon the Sun-beam’s kindred, and the captain ofthese new brethren in arms? So he spake not. But Folk-might said tohim:

  ‘Yet I would not have thee forget that I was wroth with thee when I sawthee to-day; and had it not been for the coming battle I had drawn swordupon thee.’

  Then Face-of-god’s wrath was stirred, and he said:

  ‘There is yet time for that! but why art thou wroth with me? And I shalltell thee that there is little manliness in thy chiding. For how may Ifight with thee, thou the brother of my plighted speech-friend and mycaptain in this battle?’

  ‘Therein thou sayest sooth,’ said Folk-might; ‘but hard it was to see youtwo standing together; and thou canst not give the Bride to me as I givemy sister to thee. For I have seen her, and I have seen her looking atthee; and I know that she will not have it so.’

  Then they went on together toward the Hall, and Face-of-god was silentand somewhat troubled; and as they drew near to the Hall, Folk-mightspake again:

  ‘Yet time may amend it; and if not, there is the battle, and maybe theend. Now be we merry!’

  So they went into the Hall together, and there was the Sun-beamgloriously arrayed, as erst in the woodland bower, and Face-of-god sat onthe daïs beside her, and the uttermost sweetness of desire entered intohis soul as he noted her eyes and her mouth, that were grown so kind tohim, and her hand that strayed toward his.

  The Hall was full of folk, and all those warriors were there withWood-father and his sons, and Wood-mother, and Bow-may and many otherwomen; and Gold-mane looked down the Hall and deemed that he had neverseen such stalwarth bodies of men, or so bold and meet for battle: as forthe women he had seen fairer in Burgdale, but these were fair of theirown fashion, shapely and well-knit, and strong-armed and large-limbed,yet sweet-voiced and gentle withal. Nay, the very lads of fifteenwinters or so, whereof a few were there, seemed bold and bright-eyed andkeen of wit, and it seemed like that if the warriors fared afield thesewould be with them.

  So wore the feast; and Folk-might as aforetime amongst the healths calledon men to drink to the Jaws of the Wolf, and the Red Hand, and the SilverArm, and the Golden Bushel, and the Ragged Sword. But now hadFace-of-god no need to ask what these meant, since he knew that they werethe names of the kindreds of the Wolf. They drank also to thetroth-plight and to those twain, and shouted aloud over the health andclashed their weapons: and Gold-mane wondered what echo of that shoutwould reach to Burgstead.

  Then sang men songs of old time, and amongst them Wood-wont stood withhis fiddle amidst the Hall and Bow-may beside him, and they sang in turnto it sweetly and clearly; and this is some of what they sang:

  _She singeth_.

  Wild is the waste and long leagues over; Whither then wend ye spear and sword, Where nought shall see your helms but the plover, Far and far from the dear Dale’s sward?

  _He singeth_.

  Many a league shall we wend together With helm and spear and bended bow. Hark! how the wind blows up for weather: Dark shall the night be whither we go.

  Dark shall the night be round the byre, And dark as we drive the brindled kine; Dark and dark round the beacon-fire, Dark down in the pass round our wavering line.

  Turn on thy path, O fair-foot maiden, And come our ways by the pathless road; Look how the clouds hang low and laden Over the walls of the old abode!

  _She singeth_.

  Bare are my feet for the rough waste’s wending, Wild is the wind, and my kirtle’s thin; Faint shall I be ere the long way’s ending Drops down to the Dale and the grief therein.

  _He singeth_.

  Do on the brogu
es of the wild-wood rover, Do on the byrnies’ ring-close mail; Take thou the staff that the barbs hang over, O’er the wind and the waste and the way to prevail.

  Come, for how from thee shall I sunder? Come, that a tale may arise in the land; Come, that the night may be held for a wonder, When the Wolf was led by a maiden’s hand!

  _She singeth_.

  Now will I fare as ye are faring, And wend no way but the way ye wend; And bear but the burdens ye are bearing, And end the day as ye shall end.

  And many an eve when the clouds are drifting Down through the Dale till they dim the roof, Shall they tell in the Hall of the Maiden’s Lifting, And how we drave the spoil aloof.

  _They sing together_.

  Over the moss through the wind and the weather, Through the morn and the eve and the death of the day, Wend we man and maid together, For out of the waste is born the fray.

  Then the Sun-beam spake to Gold-mane softly, and told him how this songwas made by a minstrel concerning a foray in the early days of theirfirst abode in Shadowy Vale, and how in good sooth a maiden led the frayand was the captain of the warriors:

  ‘Erst,’ she said, ‘this was counted as a wonder; but now we are so fewthat it is no wonder though the women will do whatsoever they may.’

  So they talked, and Gold-mane was very happy; but ere the good-night cupwas drunk, Folk-might spake to Face-of-god and said:

  ‘It were well that ye rose betimes in the morning: but thou shalt not goback by the way thou camest. Wood-wise and another shall go with thee,and show thee a way across the necks and the heaths, which is roughenough as far as toil goes, but where thy life shall be safer; andthereby shalt thou hit the ghyll of the Weltering Water, and so come downsafely into Burgdale. Now that we are friends and fellows, it is no hurtfor thee to know the shortest way to Shadowy Vale. What thou shalt tellconcerning us in Burgdale I leave the tale thereof to thee; yet belikethou wilt not tell everything till I come to Burgstead at the springmarket-tide. Now must I presently to bed; for before daylight to-morrowmust I be following the hunt along with two score good men of ours.’

  ‘What beast is afield then?’ said Gold-mane.

  Said Folk-might: ‘The beasts that beset our lives, the Dusky Men. Inthese days we have learned how to find companies of them; and forsoothevery week they draw nigher to this Dale; and some day they should happenupon us if we were not to look to it, and then would there be a murdergreat and grim; therefore we scour the heaths round about, and the skirtsof the woodland, and we fall upon these felons in divers guises, so thatthey may not know us for the same men; whiles are we clad in homespun, asto-day, and seem like to field-working carles; whiles in scarlet andgold, like knights of the Westland; whiles in wolf-skins; whiles in whiteglittering gear, like the Wights of the Waste: and in all guises thesefelons, for all their fierce hearts, fear us, and flee from us, and wefollow and slay them, and so minish their numbers somewhat against thegreat day of battle.’

  ‘Tell me,’ said Gold-mane; ‘when we fall upon Silver-dale shall theirthralls, the old Dale-dwellers, fight for them or for us?’

  Said Folk-might: ‘The Dusky Men will not dare to put weapons into thehands of their thralls. Nay, the thralls shall help us; for though theyhave but small stomach for the fight, yet joyfully when the fight is overshall they cut their masters’ throats.’

  ‘How is it with these thralls?’ said Gold-mane. ‘I have never seen athrall.’

  ‘But I,’ said Folk-might, ‘have seen a many down in the Cities. Andthere were thralls who were the tyrants of thralls, and held the whipover them; and of the others there were some who were not very hardlyentreated. But with these it is otherwise, and they all bear grievouspains daily; for the Dusky Men are as hogs in a garden of lilies.Whatsoever is fair there have they defiled and deflowered, and theywallow in our fair halls as swine strayed from the dunghill. No delightin life, no sweet days do they have for themselves, and they begrudge thedelight of others therein. Therefore their thralls know no rest orsolace; their reward of toil is many stripes, and the healing of theirstripes grievous toil. To many have they appointed to dig and mine inthe silver-yielding cliffs, and of all the tasks is that the sorest, andthere do stripes abound the most. Such thralls art thou happy not tobehold till thou hast set them free; as we shall do.’

  ‘Tell me again,’ said Face-of-god; ‘Is there no mixed folk between theseDusky Men and the Dalesmen, since they have no women of their own, butlie with the women of the Dale? Moreover, do not the poor folk of theDale beget and bear children, so that there are thralls born of thralls?’

  ‘Wisely thou askest this,’ said Folk-might, ‘but thereof shall I tellthee, that when a Dusky Carle mingles with a woman of the Dale, the childwhich she beareth shall oftenest favour his race and not hers; or elseshall it be witless, a fool natural. But as for the children of thesepoor thralls; yea, the masters cause them to breed if so theirmasterships will, and when the children are born, they keep them or slaythem as they will, as they would with whelps or calves. To be short,year by year these vile wretches grow fiercer and more beastly, and theirthralls more hapless and down-trodden; and now at last is come the timeeither to do or to die, as ye men of Burgdale shall speedily find out.But now must I go sleep if I am to be where I look to be at sunriseto-morrow.’

  Therewith he called for the sleeping-cup, and it was drunk, and all menfared to bed. But the Sun-beam took Gold-mane’s hand ere they parted,and said:

  ‘I shall arise betimes on the morrow; so I say not farewell to-night;yea, and after to-morrow it shall not be long ere we meet again.’

  So Gold-mane lay down in that ancient hall, and it seemed to him ere heslept as if his own kindred were slipping away from him and he werebecoming a child of the Wolf. ‘And yet,’ said he to himself, ‘I ambecome a man; for my Friend, now she no longer telleth me to do orforbear, and I tremble. Nay, rather she is fain to take the word fromme; and this great warrior and ripe man, he talketh with me as if I werea chieftain meet for converse with chieftains. Even so it is and shallbe.’

  And soon thereafter he fell asleep in the Hall in Shadowy Vale.