We laid in the oars and went aft to the helm; and so in a few minutes the ship had gathered way, and was heeling a little to the wind, and the foam gathered round her bows and slid along her side aft as she headed southward with the wind on her beam.
"Now, Lady Gerda," said Bertric, "we are under way once more, and the question is, Whither?
How far are we from the Norway coast ?" "I cannot tell," she answered.

"It was a little before noon, however, when the ship was set afloat, as I have told you." "We overhauled her at sunset," he said thoughtfully.

"At that time she was not doing more than four knots.

Maybe we are fifty miles from shore, for she may have done better than that, though I doubt it, seeing how wildly she sailed.

Now we can hardly beat back there, for we are too few to work the sail." "It is as well," she answered sadly.