That good friend had done what none of us had been able to manage,
for he had told the merchant, his friend, to bide in the hall and hear
what went on, and then to let him know all else that seemed needful that
we should hear. Now he had learned all from the words of Griffin and
Alsi, who took no care in their speech, thinking that none in the hall
knew the Welsh tongue that they used.
It being the business of a merchant to know that of every place where he
trades, and he travelling widely, there was no difficulty to him, and
mightily he enjoyed the sport. Then he sent off straightway to us; and
now it was plain that we were in danger--not at once, maybe, but ere
long. Griffin would hear sooner or later that his quarry was in Grimsby
after all. So we went to our good old friend, Witlaf of Stallingborough,
and told him all.
"Why," he said, "I will have no Welsh outsiders harrying my friends.
Light up your beacon if he comes, and shut your gates in his face, and I
and the housecarls will take him in the rear, and he will not wait here
long. I have not had a fight for these twenty years or so, and it does
me good to think of one."
So we thought that there was little fear of the Welshman.
When I came back from this errand, however, I chose to pass the mound
where my father slept, and on it, hand in hand, sat Havelok and
Goldberga--for it was a quiet place, and none came near it often.
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