{"product_id":"2940013301375","title":"The Norsemen In The West","description":"CHAPTER ONE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE NORSEMEN IN THE WEST; OR AMERICA BEFORE COLUMBUS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE CURTAIN RISES AND THE PLAY BEGINS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne fine autumn evening, between eight and nine hundred years ago, two\u003cbr\u003elarge hairy creatures, bearing some resemblance to polar bears, might\u003cbr\u003ehave been seen creeping slowly, and with much caution, toward the summit\u003cbr\u003eof a ridge that formed a spur to one of the ice-clad mountains of\u003cbr\u003eGreenland.  The creatures went on all-fours.  They had long bodies,\u003cbr\u003eshort legs, shorter tails, and large round heads.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHaving gained the top of the ridge they peeped over and beheld a hamlet\u003cbr\u003enestled at the foot of a frowning cliff; and at the head of a smiling\u003cbr\u003einlet.  We use these terms advisedly, because the cliff, being in deep\u003cbr\u003eshadow, looked unusually black and forbidding, while the inlet, besides\u003cbr\u003ebeing under the influence of a profound calm, was lit up on all its\u003cbr\u003edimples by the rays of the setting sun.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe hamlet consisted of one large cottage and half a dozen small cots,\u003cbr\u003ebesides several sheds and enclosures wherein were a few sleepy-looking\u003cbr\u003esheep, some lean cattle, and several half-starved horses.  There was\u003cbr\u003eactive life there also.  Smoke issued from the chimneys; fresh-looking\u003cbr\u003ewomen busied themselves about household work; rosy children tumbled in\u003cbr\u003eand out at the doors, while men in rough garments and with ruddy\u003cbr\u003ecountenances mended nets or repaired boats on the shore.  On a bench in\u003cbr\u003efront of the principal cottage sat a sturdy man, scarcely middle-aged,\u003cbr\u003ewith shaggy fair and flowing locks.  His right foot served as a horse to\u003cbr\u003ea rapturous little boy, whose locks and looks were so like to those of\u003cbr\u003ethe man that their kinship was obvious--only the man was rugged and\u003cbr\u003erough in exterior; the boy was round and smooth.  Tow typified the hair\u003cbr\u003eof the man; floss silk that of the boy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEverything in and around the hamlet bore evidence of peace and thrift.\u003cbr\u003eIt was a settlement of Norsemen--the _first_ Greenland settlement,\u003cbr\u003eestablished by Eric the Red of Iceland about the year 986--nearly twenty\u003cbr\u003eyears before the date of the opening of our tale--and the hairy\u003cbr\u003ecreatures above referred to had gone there to look at it.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145623781616,"sku":"2940013301375","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013301375_p0.jpg?v=1763579441","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013301375","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}