So the chiefs gathered very silently in the great
hall, and sat waiting while the light broadened and shone, gleam by
gleam, on their bright arms and anxious faces. It was not possible for
those who had not yet seen Havelok to be all so sure that it was indeed
he. They longed to see him, and to know him for the very son of Gunnar
for themselves.
Presently there were maybe twenty chiefs in the hall--men who had
fought beside Kirkeban, and men who had been boys with Havelok, and some
who had known his grandfather--and the jarl thought that it was time
that they had the surety that they needed, for time went on, and there
was certainty that Hodulf must hear of all this morning. One could not
expect that no man would earn reward by warning him.
So Sigurd went softly to the place where Havelok lay in the little guest
chamber that opened out of the inner room that was the jarl's own, and
he slid the boards that closed it apart gently and looked in to wake
him. But instead of doing that, he came back to the hall and beckoned
the chiefs, and they rose and followed him silently. And when they went
Raven went also, without a word, that he might be near his charge while
these many strangers spoke with him.
Now Sigurd stood at the spot where the little shifting of the sliding
board made it possible to see within the chamber, and one by one the
chiefs came and peered through the chink for a moment, and stood aside
for the next.
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