"Come to Einar," said Ondott. "There shalt thou be safe." "If thou sayest true," answered the thrall, "then it shall be done." "But thou must come," said Ondott, "in the way I shall name. Thus only shalt thou be of service to Einar; but thou shalt be well rewarded if thou showest thyself a man of courage." "Who will not dare much for his freedom?" replied the thrall. "But is harm meant to Hiarandi?" "That is not thine affair," quoth Ondott. Then for a time they spoke together, and certain matters were agreed upon between them. CHAPTER IX OF THE OUTCOME OF ONDOTT'S PLOTTINGS Now spring was well advanced, but the work was ever hard at Cragness, and Hiarandi grew very weary. So his melancholy gained on him again. There came a morning when he was troubled in his demeanor, and spoke little. "What ails thee this day?" asked Asdis of him. "Now," said Hiarandi, "for all my words to Einar, this life irks terribly. Better to be an outlaw, and go where I will--as doth Grettir the Strong, who lives secure from all his foes." Asdis answered: "And what use then couldst thou be to thy wife and son; and is not the time short enough until the ban leaves thee? Be a man, and wait with patience a little while yet!" "Yet something weighs upon me," pursued Hiarandi, "for last night I dreamed, and the dream forebodes ill. Methought I was working in the field, and I left my work and my land; some good reason I had, but it is not clear to me now. I did not go a bow-shot beyond the boundary, but from behind a copse wolves sprang out and fell upon me. As they tore me and I struggled, I awoke, yet the fear is heavy on me still." Asdis laughed, though with effort, and quoth she: "Now take thy boat and fish near the rocks this day. Then no wolves can come near thee." "Nay," answered Hiarandi, "how canst thou ask me to fish when so much must be done on the farm?" "At least," said Asdis, "work on the northern slope, at the ploughing, and away from the boundary." "The frost still lies there in the earth in places," replied Hiarandi. "But on the south slope, where the sun lies, all is ploughed and to-day we must seed." "Take thy sword, then," begged Asdis, "and have it at thy side as thou workest. Then no wolf will hurt thee." But Hiarandi answered, "The day is fine and the wind soft. The sun and the air will clear my head, and we will laugh at this at even-tide. I will take no sword, for it gets in the way." Then he called the thrall and Rolf; and they took the bags of seed, and went out to work. Now that was a fine spring day, so fine that the like of it seldom comes. Old farmers in Broadfirth still call such a day a day of Hiarandi's weather.