So he and his men made ready to go,
while Alf tried to stop them,
and bade them come back,
if they saw that the way was trodden:
'None,' he said,
'have passed the wood from the east since you,
Egil, went eastward, except these, who,
as I suspect, have gone wishing to encounter you.'
Egil said,
'How many will they be, think you, if it is as you say?
We have not lost the game,
though there be some odds against us.'
Alf said:
'I with my house-carles had gone to the wood,
and we came on men's footprints; the trail led into the wood,
and there must have been many in all.
But if you do not believe
this that I say,
go and see for
yourself the trail,
and then turn back,
if it seems as I tell you.
' Egil went his way,
and when they came where
the road entered the wood,
they saw there the tracks
both of men and horses.
Egil's comrades then advised
that they should turn back.
'We will go on,'
said Egil:
'methinks 'tis no wonder that men have gone through Eida-wood, for it is a public road.'
So they went on, and the footmarks continued, being of a numerous company.
And when they came there where the roads forked, then the trail also forked, and was equally strong either way.