"
"At any rate," Beorn said, "we may feel sure that we shall both be in time.
Whatever their designs they will have to lay their plans and wait their
opportunity, and such may not come for some time. Farewell, then, Ulred,
and a safe voyage to you. As for me, I have had enough of the sea, and
never wish to set foot on board ship again; for what with the want of space
and the tossing and the sickness, I would rather pass the time in bonds in
a prison cell than be cooped up in a ship."
A few minutes later Beorn, attended by his servants, started for the North,
and in the afternoon Ulred, after giving many orders to his head man as to
the conduct of his business during his absence, took boat, and with Ulf
went on board the ship. To the armourer it was a very serious undertaking
upon which he was embarking. He had never before set foot on board of a
ship, and a sea-voyage in those days was regarded as a very dangerous
business. Nothing short of his loyalty to Harold would have induced him to
have ventured on such an expedition. It was but a few months since that
the Northumbrians had been burning and sacking the country round
Northampton, and even putting aside the dangers of the sea, he regarded the
visit to the North as full of peril.
Ulf on the other hand was delighted. To him the journey was full of
interest and excitement, and on his return he would be regarded as a great
traveller by his comrades.
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