"
"Why, then, that will carry us far enough," I said. "You are a
friend in need in all truth."
"I wrought for myself. I am glad that things have turned out thus
in the end. Now do you sleep, if you can. You shall wake when need
is."
He came aft and took the oar from me, and I was glad to lie down on
the floor boards amidships and rest. And the first thing that I
noted was that the Saxon sculled better than myself, and
wonderfully easily. Then I slept heavily for maybe three hours.
Bertric roused me about that time. The wind had come, and the sky
had clouded over, and the boat was slipping fast through the water,
looking eastward indeed, but the wind headed us too closely for
that to be of much use. It was blowing from the worst quarter for
us, the southeast, and freshening. The boat was fit for little but
running, and at this time I waxed anxious as to what was before us,
for any Caithness man has heard tales of fishers who have been
caught in the southeast winds, and never heard of more.
Now, it would make a long tale to tell of what came thereafter on
the open sea. Bertric would have me sleep now, and I did so, for I
was fairly worn out, and then the weather grew wilder, until we
were driving before a gale, and our hope of making even the
Shetlands was gone.
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