Outlaughed Asmund in boyish glee, 'I take no force of these swine!' quoth he; "Over the side now, heroes all, Who will be foremost on yonder wall?' Into the tide have the Norsemen leapt, Into the tide and up on the wall The darts and arrows they fly like rain- The swart-faced Paynims are all a-rout, Like wolves that hunt through the winter snow Now to the palace the wolves have come, Under the portal there crouches a king, A maid might match with Gerda fair, With cheeks like berries and eyes like night, "Who would come at my sire,' quoth she, Then outspoke Asmund, blithe and free, For I will win thy warrior's heart, She hath looked on his limbs, she hath looked in his eyes, The brown cheek reddens like sunset skies. She hath looked on the wealth of his golden hair, The dark eyes veil, for her fate is there. Never a word she hath said but three, 'I am thine;' and the Viking hath bowed the knee. Now many a swart face lies in grave, With silk and torches the town is brave. The dotard king he was nothing loth The Saracen maid so frank and free Until the priest her brow might sign Micklegard's won, and Micklegard's passed, The bark goes swift o'er the southern sea Side by side on the stout pine deck They cling, nor speak, nor of sorrow reck. Merrily sing the shrouds above, Merrily blows the western wind, The wedding song of the Viking's love, Brown are the braids that Queen Freya must bind. B. MONTGOMERIE RANKING. 45 Miss Caramel's Peril. I. HUBERT BROWN and Percy Wilkinson were understood to be very great friends. They had been acquainted many years and were constantly to be seen together. Brown had been called to the bar; Wilkinson was an artist. At the same time, the friendship that subsisted, or was supposed to subsist, between Brown and Wilkinson was not of a very exalted` sort. Friendship is, of course, an edifice often composed of curious materials and reared upon various foundations-sand or clay or rock, as the case may be. The friendship of two women has been described as simply a conspiracy against a third woman. A man who loves to talk-and most men love to talk-needs some one to listen to him; he is disposed to make something of a friend of the first person he encounters willing to endure the penalties of his conversation. Finding such a one, he will pour into his ears. narratives of adventure, observations upon current topics, relations of experiences, hopes, confidences, and confessions. The patient listener is in this wise gradually promoted to the rank of a friend. He seems to be a friend in right of the position he has assumed or has been forced into by circumstances. Yet the confidant does not necessarily love or feel amicably towards the confider-must often, indeed, to speak frankly, hold him to be an utter bore and nuisance. If the confidants who figure subordinately in French classical tragedy, for instance, were but allowed to express themselves, what criticisms they would pass upon the leading characters and their endless revelations of sentiment and emotion, their exceeding selfishness, and their inconsiderate habit of monopolising the conversation! For even confidants may be credited with feelings, if they cannot pretend to any very distinct individuality. No doubt good Horatio' and 'faithful Achates' had something to say in private to the prejudice of Prince Hamlet and Pater Æneas respectively. 6 Wilkinson and Brown so far conducted themselves reasonably, however, that they were willing to take turns in listening to each other. It may be that each was of opinion that the other talked too much and was over urgent to be listened to; but they agreed, apparently, that these were not matters upon which it was expedient to differ. It was better that, if need be, they should both talk at once, and that each should take his chance of being heard. They were |