He seemed puzzled.
"It is hardly possible," he muttered to me, "but I could almost swear that they were English.

If not, they are Frisian.

But what could have brought either into these seas?
Have we taken to the Viking path ?" "No," I answered, "the Vikings have taken them." He gave a short laugh and bade me and Phelim lower the sail and hoist it afresh for the new tack, while he and Fergus pulled on.
Gerda put the boat about into the wind and it was soon done.

Astern the enemy howled, thinking that we had given up, for the moment.
Then the sail filled, and the boat heeled to the breeze abeam, and we headed out to sea, taking as wide a sweep as we could, lest we should give the foe too much advantage in the change of course.
As it was, they seemed to gain hand over hand for a while, but they had to pull dead to windward in following us as we went off at an angle to the old course.

Then we began to draw ahead steadily, and they hailed us with threats which made Gerda pale somewhat, for if we were still too far for the words to be heard there was no mistaking them.