The Complete Compleat Enchanter Read Online Free PDF Page B

door. Sverre admitted a tall man, pale, blond and beardless, with a proud, stately face and a huge golden horn slung over his back. “There’s another of Them,” whispered Thjalfi. “That’s Heimdall. I wonder if all twelve of Them are meeting here.”
    “Who the devil are They?”
    “Sh!”
    The four bearded men nodded welcome to the newcomer. He took his place beside the Wanderer with lithe grace, and immediately began to say something to the older man, who nodded in rapt attention. Shea caught a few of the words: “—fire horses, but no use telling you with the Bearer of Bad Tidings present.” He nodded contemptuously toward Uncle Fox.
    “It is often seen,” said the latter, raising his voice a trifle, but addressing the red-bearded man as though continuing a conversation begun before, “that liars tell few lies when those are present who can see the truth.”
    “Or it may be that I have that to tell which I do not wish to have repeated to our enemies by the Evil Companion,” said Heimdall, looking straight at Uncle Fox.
    “There are even those,” continued the latter evenly, still paying Heimdall no attention, “who, having no character of their own, wish to destroy all character by assassinating the reputations of others.”
    “Liar and thief!” cried Heimdall angrily, bringing his fist down on the table and almost snarling. Shea saw that his front teeth were, surprisingly, of gold.
    “Here,” rumbled the large redhead, judicially. “Let there be an allaying of the anger of the Æsir in the presence of mortals.”
    “Let there also,” snapped the small man, “be an allaying of insults in the mouth of—”
    “All insults are untrue,” said Heimdall. “I state facts.”
    “Facts! Few are the facts that come from that long wagging chin. Facts like the tale of having nine mothers, or the boast of that horn and the great noise it will make—Beware lest mice nest in it and it fails to give a squeak.”
    “You will hear my trumpet at the Time, Father of Lies. And you will not like the sound.”
    “Some would say that called for the sword.”
    “Try it. Here is the blade that will carve your stinking carcass.”
    “Why, you—” Foxy-face and Heimdall were on their feet and bellowing at each other. Their voices had a volume that made Shea wince. The other three bearded men rose and began shouting also. Above their heads the two black birds who had been the Wanderer’s companions flew round and round with excited cries.
    Just as it looked as though the two original disputants were certain to fling themselves at each other’s throat, the bigger redhead grabbed the smaller one by the shoulders and forced him down. “Sit down!” he thundered. The Wanderer, his sonorous voice full of outraged dignity, shouted: “This is disgraceful! We shall have no respect left. I command you to be quiet, both of you!”
    “But—” yelled Heimdall.
    The Wanderer silenced him with a gesture. “Nothing you can say will be heard. If either of you speaks to the other before bedtime, he shall have nothing less than my gravest displeasure.”
    Heimdall subsided and went over to a far corner to sit and glare at Foxy-face, who returned the glare. Thjalfi whispered to the awed Shea: “It’s like this every time three or four of Them get together. They’re supposed to set us a good example, but the first thing ye know they’re at it like a gang of drunken berserks.”
    “I’d still like to know who They are,” said Shea.
    “Do you mean ye really don’t know?” Thjalfi stared at him with eyes full of honest rustic perplexity. “Don’t that beat all, now? I wouldn’t have believed it if ye hadn’t asked for those turnips. Well, the one that was scrapping with Heimdall is Loki. The big red-bearded one next to him is Thor. The old man, the Wanderer is Odinn, and the fat one is Frey. Have ye got them straight now?”
    Shea looked hard at Thjalfi, but there was nothing in the latter’s face but the most