They bade us come also, and Bertric and Dalfin rose up and went
gladly. I had no thought that I could be welcome, and was staying,
but Phelim called me.
"Malcolm is a Norse Scot," said Dalfin quietly. "He is not of our
faith, and I do not know if he may come.
"If he will, he may," answered the hermit kindly. "He can be no
evil heathen, seeing that he is your friend."
So, not wishing to seem ungracious, I followed them into the
chapel, which was stone built after the same manner as the cells,
but with a ridge roof instead of the rounded top, and much larger,
being about fifteen feet long and ten wide. Over the door was a
cross of white stones set in the wall, and at the eastern end was a
cross also, and an altar, on which were candles of wax, at which I
wondered, seeing them in this place. Round the walls ran a stone
slab as bench, but I was the only one who used it. The others
knelt, facing eastward, and I, at a sign from Bertric, sat by the
door, wondering what I should see and hear.
There was enough for me to wonder at. I heard them pray, and I
heard them sing, and whether of prayer or song the words were good
to listen to. I heard them pray for the safety of men at sea in the
gale, and for men who fought with the Danes ashore.
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