I will
not stand in your way. Now, if you will hold it from me on condition of
service in any time of war, to be rendered by yourself and your sons and
any men you may hire, I will grant you what land you will along the
coast, so that none may question you in anything. Not that the land is
worth aught to any but a fisher who needs a place for boats and nets;
but if you prosper, others will come to the place, and you shall be master."
One could hardly have sought so much as that, and heartily did we thank
the kindly thane, gladly taking the fore shore as he wished. But he said
that he thought the gain was on his side, seeing what men he had won.
"Now we must call the place by a name, for it has none," he said,
laughing. "Grim's Stead, maybe?"
"Call the place a town at once," answered my father, laughing also.
"Grimsby has a good sound to a homeless man."
So Grimsby the place has been from that day forward, and, as I suppose,
will be now to the end of time. But for a while there was only the one
house that we built of the timbers and planks of our ship by the side of
the haven--a good house enough for a fisher and his family, but not
what one would look for from the name.
By the time that was built Havelok was himself again, though he had been
near to his death. Soon he waxed strong and rosy in the sea winds, and
out-went Withelm both in stature and strength.
Pages:
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91