Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 5.djvu/90

 62 WORKMEN AND HEROES was a large and powerful man, and of most imposing bearing, a man of sagacity, and a very just man in all things." A very pretty incident is now related of the German Tyrker, who had been one of the thralls of Eric the Red, and of whom Leif was very fond. It was the custom in the households of Norse chiefs to give children into the special charge of a trusted thrall, who was then styled the child's foster-father. Sometimes the thrall was presented to the child as a " tooth-gift," i.e., in commemoration of its cutting its first tooth. " It was discovered one evening that one of their company was missing; and this proved to be Tyrker, the German. Leif was sorely troubled by this ; for Tyrker had lived with Leif and his father for a long time, and had been very devoted to Leif when he was a child. Leif severely reprimanded his com- panions and prepared to go in search of him. They had proceeded but a short distance from the house when they were met by Tyrker, whom they received most cordially. Leif observed at once that his foster-father was in lively spirits. . . . Leif addressed him and asked: 'Wherefore art thou so belated, foster- father mine, and astray from the others ? ' " In the beginning Tyrker spoke for some time in German, rolling his eyes, and grinning, and they could not understand him. But after a time he addressed them in the Norse tongue. "'I did not go much farther [than you]; yet I have something novel to relate. I have found grapes and vines.' '"Is this indeed true, foster-father?' asked Leif. " ' Of a certainty it is true ' replied he ; ' for I was born where there is no lack of either grapes or vines.' " They slept the night through, and on the morrow Leif said to his shipmates : " ' We will now divide our labors ; and each day will either gather grapes, or cut vines, or fell trees, so as to obtain a cargo of these for my ship.' " They acted upon this advice, and it is said that their after-boat was filled with grapes. A cargo sufficient for the ship was cut, and when the spring came they made their ship ready and sailed away. And from its products Leif gave the land a name and called it Wineland." " They sailed out to sea and had fair winds until they sighted Greenland, and the fells below the glacier ; then one of the men spoke up and said : ' Why do you steer the ship so close to the wind ? ' Leif answered : ' I have my mind upon my steering and upon other matters as well. Do you not see anything out of the common ? ' They replied that they saw nothing unusual. ' I do not know,' says Leif, ' whether it is a ship or a skerry that I see.' Now they saw it, and said that it must be a skerry. But he was so much more sharp-sighted than they, that he was able to discern men upon the skerry. ' I think it best to tack,' says Leif, ' so that we may draw near to them and be able to render them assist- ance, if they stand in need of it. And if they should not be peaceably disposed, we. shall have better command of the situation than they.' ' They approached the skerry, and lowering their sail, cast anchor and