Sebert put his last question: "How long does the son of Lodbrok give me to
consider how I am to order things?" The man shattered the silence with his
boisterous laughter. "It is not a lie about you English that you never do
aught that you do not sit down first and consider, till the crews have eaten
all your provisions and the timbers of your boats are rotting. When a Dane
strikes, it is like the striking of lightning. So soon as you hear the thunder
of his coming, that instant you see the flashing of his weapon. My chief gives
you no time at all. So long a time, he has studied out, will it take me to
come in to you; so much longer to do my errand; and so much longer to get
back. At the end of that time he will blow his horn, and if your gates do not
fly open in obedience, he will take that for your answer."
Either the Lord of Ivarsdale had been doing some rapid thinking during the
long speech, or else he was too incensed to think. Now he rose with sparks
flashing from the steel of his eyes. "By Peter, he is right! I do not need
even that long," he cried. "Since the Wide-Fathomer began the game, the Tower
has been the prize of the strongest. Shall I flinch from a challenge? Our
rights are equal; our luck shall decide. For his answer, be he reminded of his
own Danish saying, that 'It is a strong bird that can take what an eagle has
in his claws,' and let him get what comfort he can from that.
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