Once we had settled down to that chase there was quiet on the decks, and the ship was on an even keel.

The ladies came out of their cabin under the after deck and sat them down on a bench which ran across under the shelter of the bulkhead, and I saw Gerda with them.

Thoralf's wife had cared for her, and had done it well, so that she seemed to be a very queen as she sat there with those two making much of her.

The elder lady had known her as a child, for she had been in Thorwald's hall with Thoralf the Tall on that visit of which he spoke.

The younger lady, whose name I knew afterward to be Ortrud, was of Gerda's age.
Presently it was plain that Gerda would have us speak to them, and we went and were made known to them, and after that we sat and told of our doings for half an hour.