Heidrek had added her to his force, and manned her from the other two vessels; but before we reached the ship I saw that Heidrek's men had piled their slain into an outhouse, set the fagot stack round it, and fired it to windward.

There was no more honour for their fallen comrades than that.
So I saw the last of my home in Caithness, and before me was the life of a slave.

They had stripped us of our mail and weapons, of course, and had handled us roughly, but that might be borne.

The low door of the cramped sail room under the fore deck closed, and we were in darkness, and then Dalfin set into words the thought of us all, with a sort of dull groan: "This morning I woke and thought it good to be alive!" Almost at once the ship was warped out of the haven, and went to sea.

The last hope I had that the Scots might yet gather and fall on these pirates left me at that time, and a sort of despair fell on me.