midnight
Flatface -LRB- in default of a better , let that name stick to him -RRB- had ascertained beyond a doubt that the entire available force of Norsemen in Ericsfiord had , in consequence of fishing and other expeditions , been reduced to barely thirty fighting men . He himself could muster a band of at least one hundred and fifty good men and true -- not to mention hairy , a hundred and fifty seals having unwillingly contributed their coats to cover these bloodthirsty Skraelingers . The Norsemen , Flatface knew , were strong men and bold , besides being large , but he resolved to take them by surprise , and surely -LRB- he argued with himself -RRB- a hundred and fifty brave men with spears will be more than a match for thirty sleepy men unarmed and in bed ! Flatface had screwed himself up with such considerations ; made a few more inflammatory speeches to his men , by way of screwing them up also , and then , a little before midnight , set forth on his expedition . Now it chanced that there was a man among the Norsemen who was a great hunter and trapper . His name was Tyrker -- the same Tyrker mentioned by Leif as being the man who had found grapes in Vinland . Leif said he was a German , but he said so on no better authority than the fact that he had originally come to Norway from the south of Europe .