Then he went away down to the shore and ran out a six-oared boat, and held in his hand a great axe that he had with a haft overlaid with iron. He steps into the boat and rows out to the Bear-isles, and when he got there all the men had rowed away but Thorwald and his followers, and he stayed by the skiff to load her, while they brought the goods down to him. So Thiostolf came up just then and jumped into the skiff, and began to load with him, and after a while he said, "Thou canst do but little at this work, and that little thou dost badly." "Thinkst thou thou canst do it better," said Thorwald. "There's one thing to be done which I can do better than thou," said Thiostolf, and then he went on, "The woman who is thy wife has made a bad match, and you shall not live much longer together." Then Thorwald snatched up a fishing-knife that lay by him, and made a stab at Thiostolf; he had lifted his axe to his shoulder and dashed it down. It came on Thorwald's arm and crushed the wrist, but down fell the knife. Then Thiostolf lifted up his axe a second time and gave Thorwald a blow on the head, and he fell dead on the spot. 12. THIOSTOLF'S FLIGHT While this was going on, Thorwald's men came down with their load, but Thiostolf was not slow in his plans. He hewed with both hands at the gunwale of the skiff and cut it down about two planks; then he leapt into his boat, but the dark blue sea poured into the skiff, and down she went with all her freight. Down too sank Thorwald's body, so that his men could not see what had been done to him, but they knew well enough that he was dead. Thiostolf rowed away up the firth, but they shouted after him wishing him ill luck. He made them no answer, but rowed on till he got home, and ran the boat up on the beach, and went up to the house with his axe, all bloody as it was, on his shoulder. Hallgerda stood out of doors, and said, "Thine axe is bloody; what hast thou done?" "I have done now what will cause thee to be wedded a second time." "Thou tellest me then that Thorwald is dead," she said. "So it is," said he, "and now look out for my safety." "So I will," she said; "I will send thee north to Bearfirth, to Swanshol, and Swan, my kinsman, will receive thee with open arms. He is so mighty a man that no one will seek thee thither." So he saddled a horse that she had, and jumped on his back, and rode off north to Bearfirth, to Swanshol, and Swan received him with open arms, and said: "That's what I call a man who does not stick at trifles! And now I promise thee if they seek thee here, they shall get nothing but the greatest shame." Now, the story goes back to Hallgerda, and how she behaved. She called on Liot the Black, her kinsman, to go with her, and bade him saddle their horses, for she said, "I will ride home to my father."