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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of King Olaf's Kinsman, by Charles Whistler
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: King Olaf's Kinsman
+       A Story of the Last Saxon Struggle against the Danes in
+       the Days of Ironside and Cnut
+
+Author: Charles Whistler
+
+Release Date: July 3, 2005 [EBook #16196]
+[Date last updated: July 5, 2006]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING OLAF'S KINSMAN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Martin Robb
+
+
+
+
+
+KING OLAF'S KINSMAN
+
+A Story of the Last Saxon Struggle Against the Danes
+in the Days of Ironside and Cnut
+
+by Charles W. Whistler
+
+            Preface.
+ Chapter 1: The Coming Of The Vikings.
+ Chapter 2: Olaf The King.
+ Chapter 3: The Breaking Of London Bridge.
+ Chapter 4: Earl Wulfnoth Of Sussex.
+ Chapter 5: How Redwald Fared At Penhurst.
+ Chapter 6: Sexberga The Thane's Daughter.
+ Chapter 7: The Fight At Leavenheath.
+ Chapter 8: The White Lady Of Wormingford Mere.
+ Chapter 9: The Treachery Of Edric Streone.
+Chapter 10: The Flight From London.
+Chapter 11: The Taking Of The Queen.
+Chapter 12: Among Friends.
+Chapter 13: Jealousy.
+Chapter 14: The Last Great Battle.
+Chapter 15: The Shadow Of Edric Streone.
+Chapter 16: By Wormingford Mere.
+            Notes.
+
+
+
+Preface.
+
+
+No English chronicler mentions the presence of King Olaf the Saint
+in England; but the two churches dedicated to him at either end of
+London Bridge, where his greatest deed was wrought, testify to the
+gratitude of the London citizens towards the viking chief who
+rescued their city from the Danes, and brought back the king of
+their own race towards whom their loyalty was so unswerving.
+
+The deeds of King Olaf recorded in this story of his kinsman are
+therefore from the Norse "Saga of King Olaf the Holy," and the
+various incidents are assigned as nearly as may be to their place
+in the sequence of events given from the death of Swein to the
+accession of Cnut, in the contemporary Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which
+is our most reliable authority for the period.
+
+The place where King Olaf fought his seventh battle, "Ringmereheath
+in Ulfkyl's land," is doubtful. To have localized it, therefore, on
+a traditional battlefield in Suffolk, where a mound and field names
+point to a severe forgotten fight in the line which a southern
+invader would take between Colchester and Sudbury, may be
+pardonable for the purposes of Redwald's story.
+
+With regard to other historic incidents in the tale, some are from
+the Danish "Knytlinga" and "Jomsvikinga" Sagas, which alone give us
+the age of Cnut on his accession to the throne, and recount the
+interception of Queen Emma by Thorkel's men on her projected
+flight. In the ordinary course of history the age of the wise king
+is disregarded, and the doings of the three great jarls are
+naturally enough credited to him, for after the first few years of
+confusion have been passed over, he takes his place as the greatest
+of our rulers since Alfred, and his age is forgotten in his
+wonderful policy.
+
+The doings of Edric Streone are partly from the hints give by the
+Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and partly from the accounts of later
+English writers. But there is no chronicle of either English,
+Danish, or Norse origin which does not hold him and his treachery
+in the utmost scorn.
+
+The account of the battle of Ashingdon follows the definite local
+traditions of the place. The line of the river banks have changed
+but little, and Cnut's earthworks still remain at Canewdon. The
+first battlefield is yet known, and they still tell how Eadmund was
+forced to fight on Ashingdon hill because his way across the ford
+was barred by the Danish ships, and how the pursuit of the routed
+English ended at Hockley.
+
+Wulfnoth and his famous son Godwine are of course historic. The
+Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us how the earl was driven into sullen
+enmity with Ethelred by Streone's brother, and the Danish Sagas
+record Godwine's first introduction by Jarl Ulf to Cnut after the
+battle of Sherston.
+
+As for the places mentioned in Redwald's story, the well on Caldbec
+hill still has its terrors for the village folk, and the
+destruction of the ancient mining village at Penhurst by the Danes
+is remembered yet with strange tales of treasure found among its
+stone buildings. The Bures folk still speak of the White Lady of
+the Mere, and their belief that Boadicea lies under the great mound
+is by no means unlikely to be a tradition of her true resting
+place.
+
+C. W. WHISTLER
+
+STOCKLAND, Nov. 1896.
+
+
+
+Chapter 1: The Coming Of The Vikings.
+
+
+All along our East Anglian shores men had watched for long, and now
+word had come from Ulfkytel, our earl, that the great fleet of
+Swein, the Danish king, had been sighted off the Dunwich cliffs,
+and once again the fear of the Danes was on our land.
+
+And so it came to pass that I, Redwald, son of Siric, the Thane of
+Bures, stood at the gate of our courtyard and watched my father and
+our sturdy housecarles and freemen ride away down the hill and
+across the winding Stour river to join the great levy at
+Colchester. And when I had seen the last flash of arms sparkle from
+among the copses beyond the bridge, I had looked on Siric, my
+father, for the last time in this world, but no thought rose up in
+my mind that this might be so.
+
+Yet if I stand now where I stood on that day, and see by chance the
+glimmer of bright arms through green boughs across the river, there
+comes to me a rush of sadness that dulls the bright May sunshine
+and the sparkle of the rippling water, and fills the soft May-time
+wind with sounds of mourning. Now to me it seems that I was thus
+sad at the time that is brought back to me. But I was not so. It is
+only the weight of long years of remembrance of what should have
+been had I known. At that parting I turned back into the hall
+downcast, only because my father had thought me not yet strong
+enough to ride beside him, and a little angry and hurt moreover,
+for I was broad and strong for my sixteen years.
+
+Little thought I that in years to come I should remember all of
+that leave taking, even to the least thing that happened; but so it
+is. No man may rightly be said to forget aught. All that he has
+known and learnt is there, hidden up in his mind to come forth if
+there is anything that shall call it again to light.
+
+Now my father lies resting among nameless heroes who died for
+England on Nacton Heath--I know not even which of the great mounds
+it may be that holds his bones--but he fell before the flight began
+when Thurketyl Mirehead played the craven. Neither victor nor
+vanquished was he when his end came, but maybe that is the best end
+for a warrior after all. Some must fall, and some may live to
+boast, and some remain to mourn, but to give life for fatherland in
+hottest strife is good. That is what my father would have wished
+for himself, and I at least sorrow but for myself and not for him.
+
+Now I have spoken of remembrance, and I will add this word--that
+some things in a man's life can never be set aside from his memory.
+Waking or sleeping they come back to him. Eight days after that
+going of my father came such a time to me, so that every least
+thing is clear to me today as then.
+
+I sat plaiting a leash for my hounds on the settle before the fire
+in our great hall at Bures, and I remember how the strands of
+leather thong fell in my hand; I remember how my mother's spinning
+wheel stopped short with a snapping of broken threads; how the
+thrall who was feeding the fire stayed with the log in his hands;
+how the sleepy men at the lower end of the hall sprang up with
+heavy words checked on their lips before the lady's presence; how
+the maidens screamed--aye, and how the draught swayed the wall
+hangings, and sent a long train of sparks flying from a half-dead
+torch, as the great door was thrown open and a man flung himself
+into our midst, mud splashed and white faced, with hands that
+quivered towards us as he cried hoarsely:
+
+"In haste, mistress--you must fly--the Danes--" and fell like a log
+at my mother's feet where she sat on the dais, neither moving nor
+speaking more.
+
+It was Grinkel, the leader of our housecarles {1}. His armour
+was rent and gashed, and no sword was in the scabbard at his side,
+and his helm was gone, and now as he fell a bandage slipped from
+his arm, and slowly the red stream from a great wound ran among the
+sweet sedges wherewith the floor was strewn.
+
+There came a mist before my eyes, and my heart beat thick and fast
+as I saw him; but my mother rose up neither screaming nor growing
+faint, though through her mind, as through mine, must have glanced
+the knowledge of all that this homecoming of brave Grinkel meant.
+She stepped from the high place to the warrior's side and hastily
+rebound the wound, telling the maidens meanwhile to bring wine that
+she might revive him if he were not already sped.
+
+Then she rose up while the old steward took the wine and tried to
+force it between the close-set teeth, and she called the farm
+servants to her.
+
+"Make ready all the horses and yoke the oxen to the wains," she
+said in a clear voice that would not tremble. "Send the lads to
+warn the village folk to fly beyond the river. For Grinkel comes
+not in this wise for nought. The Danes are on us."
+
+Now I remember the grim faces of the men as they went, and I
+remember the look on the faces of the women as they heard, and in
+the midst of us seemed to lie terror itself glaring from the set
+eyes of the dead warrior. And of those memories I will say
+nought--I would not have them live in the minds of any by day and
+night as they lived in mine for many a long year thereafter. Many
+were the tales I had heard of the coming of Ingvar's host in the
+days of Eadmund our martyred king, who was crowned here at Bures in
+our own church, and those tales were terrible. Now the like was on
+us, and I saw that what I had heard was not the half.
+
+The old steward rose up now, shaking his head in sorrow. I think he
+was too old for fear.
+
+"Grinkel is dead, lady," he said gently, closing the wild eyes as
+he spoke, and then throwing a cloak from the wall over him. But my
+mother only said, "May he rest in peace. What of the Thane?"
+
+Thereat the steward looked forthright into his lady's face, and
+spoke bravely for all around to hear:
+
+"Doubtless the levy is broken for this once, and he bides with Earl
+Ulfkytel to gather a new and stronger force. The Thane has sent
+Grinkel on, and he has ridden in over-much haste for a wounded man.
+He was ever eager."
+
+My mother gave back her old servant's look in silence, and seemed
+to assent. Yet I, though I was but a lad of sixteen, could see what
+passed in that look of theirs. I knew that surely my father had
+fallen, and that need was great for haste.
+
+Then was hurry and hustle in the house as all that was most
+valuable was gathered, and I myself could but take my arms from the
+wall, and don mail-shirt and helm and sword and seax {2} and
+then look on, useless enough, with my thoughts in a whirl all the
+time.
+
+Presently out of their tangle came one thing clearly to me, and
+that was that there were others whom I loved to be warned, besides
+the villagers.
+
+My mother came into the hall again, and stood for a moment like a
+carven statue looking at the maidens who wrought at packing what
+they might. She had not wept, but in her face was written sorrow
+beyond weeping. Yet almost did she weep, when I stood beside her
+and spoke, putting my hand on her arm.
+
+"Mother," I said, "I must go to Wormingford and warn them also. My
+horse will be ready, and I will return to you."
+
+Then she looked at me, for as I go over these things I know that
+this was the first time that I had ever said to her "I must,"
+without asking her leave, in aught that I would do. And she
+answered me calmly.
+
+"Aye, that is a good thought. They will need help. Bide with them
+if need is, and so join us presently on the road. We will fly to
+London."
+
+"So far, mother?" I said. "Surely Colchester will be safe."
+
+"I will go to Ethelred the king," she answered. "He has ever been
+your father's friend, and will be yours. And I was the queen's
+maiden in the old days, and she will welcome me. Now go and bring
+Hertha to me."
+
+She turned to her work, and I went out across the courtyard.
+Already the wains stood there, the teams of sleepy oxen tossing
+their long horns in the glare of torches. The church bell was
+clanging the alarm of fire to bring home the men from field or
+forest if any were abroad so late, for it was an hour after sunset,
+and there was no moon yet.
+
+The gray horse that my father gave me a year agone stood ready
+saddled in the stall when I came to the stables. I went and loosed
+him, while a groom saw me and ran to help, and as I swung into the
+saddle I saw his face marked with new lines across his forehead.
+
+"Do you fly first, master?" he said, with strange meaning in his
+voice.
+
+"I go to Wormingford," I answered. "Likely enough, therefore, that
+I fly last," and I laughed.
+
+"Aye, let me go, master, let me go," he said. "It is like that the
+Danes are on the road."
+
+"Not yet," I said, touched by question and offer alike. "There is
+many a mile between here and Ipswich, and I think that to go to
+Wormingford is my work, surely."
+
+So I rode away fast, seeing in the valley below me the lights of
+the house that I sought. As I had said, the errand was indeed mine.
+
+For at the great house just across the river below the hills lived
+the one who should be my wife in the days to come--Hertha, daughter
+of Osgod, the Thane of Wormingford. It was now three years since we
+had been betrothed with all solemnity in our church, and that had
+seemed but fit and right, for we were two children who had played
+together since we could run hand in hand. And my mother had been as
+a mother also to little Hertha since she was left with only her
+father to tend her.
+
+Our house and Osgod's were akin, though not near, for we both
+traced our line from Redwald the first Christian king of East
+Anglia, whose name I bore. Hertha was two years younger than I.
+
+Now Osgod the Thane had ridden away to the war with my father, and
+unless he had returned with Grinkel, Hertha was alone in the house
+with her old nurse and the farm servants. Most surely she would
+have been at Bures with us but for some spring-time sickness which
+was among the village children, and from which my mother sought to
+keep her free. It might be that the thane had returned, but it was
+in my mind that the manner of Grinkel's coming boded ill to all of
+us.
+
+So I rode on quickly down the hill towards the river. I knew not
+how near the Danes might be, but I thought little of them, until
+suddenly through the dusk I saw a red point of fire flicker and
+broaden out into flame on a hilltop eastward, where I knew a beacon
+fire was piled against need. And then from every point along the
+Stour valley beacon after beacon flashed out in answer, until all
+the countryside was full of them; and I hurried on more swiftly
+than before.
+
+Our hall stood on the hill crest above church and village, beyond
+the reach of creeping river mist and sudden floods, and I rode down
+the track that crosses the lower road and so comes to the ford
+below Osgod's place on the Essex side of the river. And when I came
+to the crossing my horse pricked his ears and snorted, so that I
+knew there were horsemen about, and I reined up and waited in the
+lane.
+
+I could hear the quick hoofbeats of two steeds, and all the air was
+full of the sound of alarm bells, for the evening was very still.
+
+Then up the road from eastward rode two men at an easy gallop, and
+my horse's manner told me that a stable mate of his was coming, so
+I feared no longer but went into the main road to meet them.
+
+"What news?" I cried, and they halted.
+
+"It is the young master," said one, and I knew the voice of Edred,
+our housecarle. And when he was close to me I could see that he was
+in almost as evil plight as had been Grinkel his comrade. The other
+man I knew not, but he bore a headless spear shaft in his hand, and
+Edred's shield had a great gash across it.
+
+"Master, has Grinkel come?" Edred asked me.
+
+"Aye, and is dead. He bade us fly, and could say no more. What of
+my father?"
+
+The men looked at one another for a moment, and then Edred said
+very sadly:
+
+"Woe is me that I must be the bearer of heavy tidings to you and
+the lady your mother. But what is true is true and must be told.
+Never has such a battle been fought in East Anglia, and the fortune
+of war has gone against us."
+
+The fear that I had read in my mother's eyes fell cold on me at
+those words-and I asked again, longing and fearing to know the
+worst:
+
+"What of the thane, my father?"
+
+"Master, he fell with the first," Edred answered with a breaking of
+his voice. "Nor might we bring him from the place where he fell.
+For the Danes swept us from the field at the last like dead leaves
+in the wind, and there was nought left us but to fly. Two long
+hours we fought first, and then came flight. They say one man began
+it. I know not; but it was no man of ours. Now the Danes are
+marching hitherwards to Colchester."
+
+"What of Osgod of Wormingford?" I asked.
+
+"He lies beside our lord. There is a ring of slain round them. I
+would I were there also," the warrior answered.
+
+"Then were there one less to care for our helpless ones," I said.
+"All are preparing for flight at Bures. Come with me to
+Wormingford, and we will warn them. There is work to do for us who
+are left."
+
+"Aye, master, that is right," he said; "we may fight again and wipe
+out this business."
+
+Then the other man, who belonged to Sudbury, five miles beyond us,
+bade us farewell, and so rode on with his tale of terror, and Edred
+followed me across the ford to Osgod's house, which was but a mile
+from where we met. He told me that Grinkel had found a fresh horse
+in Stoke village, and so had outstripped him.
+
+Many thralls stood at the gate of Osgod's courtyard as we came
+there, and they were staring at the beacon fires around us, and
+listening to the wild bells that rang so strangely. There was a
+fire blazing now on the green before our own house, and one on the
+hill above the Wormingford mere, which men say is haunted.
+
+"I would see your mistress," I said as they came and held my horse.
+I had not been to the house for two days, as it chanced.
+
+Then one ran and brought the house steward, and told him.
+
+"I know not if that may be, master," he said; "but I will ask Dame
+Gunnhild."
+
+"Has the lady gone to rest?" I said, being surprised at this delay.
+
+"She is not well" the man said; "and the dame has not suffered her
+to rise today."
+
+"Then let me have speech with the dame without delay," I said, for
+this made me uneasy, seeing what need there was for speedy flight.
+
+The steward went in, and I bade the thralls do all that Edred
+ordered them, telling him to see to what was needed for flight and
+so I went into the house, and stood by the hall fire waiting for
+Gunnhild the nurse.
+
+There is nothing in all that wide hall that I cannot remember
+clearly, even to a place where the rushes were ill strewn on the
+floor. And the short waiting seemed very long to me.
+
+Then came Gunnhild. She was old, and I feared her, for men said
+that she was a witch. But she had been in the house of Osgod the
+Thane since he himself was a child, and Hertha loved her, and that
+was enough for me. Nor had I any reason to think that the dame had
+any but friendly feelings towards myself, though her bright eyes
+and tall figure, and most of all what was said of her, feared me,
+as I say. Now she came towards me swiftly, and did not wait for me
+to speak first.
+
+"What will you at this hour, Redwald?" she said.
+
+"Nought but pressing need bade me come thus," I answered. "The levy
+is broken, and the Danes are on the way to Colchester. My mother
+flies to London, and you and Hertha must do likewise."
+
+"So your father and hers are slain," she said, looking fixedly at
+me, and standing very still.
+
+"How know you that?" I asked sharply, for I had told the steward
+nothing.
+
+"By your face, Redwald," she said; "you were but a boy two days
+agone, now you have a man's work on your hands, and you will do it.
+Who bade you ride here?"
+
+"No one," I said, wondering, "needs must that I should come."
+
+"That is as I thought," she said; "but we cannot fly."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because the sickness that your mother feared is on Hertha, and she
+cannot go."
+
+Now I was ready to weep, but that would be of no use.
+
+"Is there danger to her?" I said, and I could not keep my voice
+from shaking, for Hertha was all the sister I had, and she in time
+would be nearer than that to me.
+
+"None," answered the dame, "save she runs risk of chill. For she
+has been fevered for a while."
+
+"Which is most to be feared," said I, "chill, or risk of Danish
+cruelty?"
+
+She made no answer, but asked me what were my mother's plans. And
+when I said that she would fly to Ethelred the king, the old nurse
+laughed strangely to herself.
+
+"Then you go to the very cause of all this trouble," she said.
+"Truly the king's name should be 'the Unredy', for rede he has
+none. It is his ill counsel that has brought Swein the Dane on us.
+We have to pay for the Hock-tide slayings {3}."
+
+"We had no share in that" I said.
+
+"No, because half our folk are Danes, more or less, some of the men
+of Ingvar and Guthrum. But Swein will not care for that--they are
+all English to him."
+
+"What will you do, then?" I asked, growing half wild that she
+should stand there quietly and plan nought.
+
+"These folk will side with Swein presently, when they find that he
+is the stronger, and then the old kinship will wake in them, and
+the Wessex king will be nought to their minds. Then will be peace
+here, for the Danes will sweep on to Mercia and London. Do you go
+to Ethelred the Unredy--and I abiding here shall be the safer in
+the end, and Hertha with me."
+
+"But peace has not come yet" I said.
+
+"I can hide until it does come," she said. And then, for my face
+must have shown all the doubt that I felt, she spoke very kindly to
+me. "Trust the old witch who wishes you well, Redwald, my son; she
+who has nursed Hertha for so long will care for her till the last;
+safe she will be until you return to find her when the foolishness
+of Ethelred is paid for."
+
+"Where can you hide?" I asked, and urged her to tell me more, but
+she would not do so.
+
+"No man would dream of the hiding place that I shall seek," she
+said, "and I will tell it to none. Then will it be the surer."
+
+"I know all this country," I answered. "There is no place."
+
+She smiled faintly, and paused a little, thinking.
+
+"I will tell you this," she said at last. "You go to the king;
+well--I go to the queen. That is all you may know. But maybe it
+will be enough to guide you someday."
+
+I could not understand what she meant; nor would she tell me more.
+Only she said that all would be safe, and that I need fear nothing
+either for Hertha or for herself.
+
+"My forbears were safe in that place to which I go," she said; "and
+I alone know where it is. When the time comes, Hertha shall tell
+you of it but that must wait for the days to be."
+
+"I fear they will be long. Let me see Hertha before I go," I said,
+"for I must needs be content."
+
+"How looked she when last you saw her?"
+
+"Well, and bright, and happy," I answered.
+
+"Keep that memory of her therefore," Gunnhild said. "I would not
+have you see her in sickness, nor may she be waked without danger.
+Tell your mother that surely if she could take Hertha with her it
+should be so, but it may not be. She would be harmed by a long
+journey."
+
+The old nurse turned and left me as swiftly as she had come. And
+now it is in my mind that she went thus lest she should weep. So I
+was alone in the hall, and there was no more left for me to do. I
+must even let things be as she would. It came into my thought that
+she was right about our half-Danish folk, for though they had
+fought to keep the newcomers from the land that their fathers had
+won, Swein was no foreigner, and they would as soon own him as
+Ethelred of Wessex, if he got the upper hand and would give them
+peace. Even we Angles never forgot that the race of Ecgberht was
+Saxon and not of our own kin altogether. The Dane was as near to us
+as the Wessex king, save by old comradeship, and the ties that had
+come with years.
+
+So all that Edred and I could do was to bid the steward take his
+orders from Gunnhild, and so ride back to Bures along the riverside
+track. And when we came there the long train of flying people were
+crossing the bridge, and we rode past them one by one, and the
+sight of those wain loads of helpless women and children was the
+most piteous I had ever seen. Many such another train was I to look
+on in the years to come, but none ever wrung my heart as this, for
+I knew every face so well. Yet I thought they would be safe, for
+the Danes were far off yet, and there was full time to gain the
+depths of the forest land on the East Saxon side.
+
+Now, our people had gone on more quickly than the villagers by
+reason of better cattle and more hands to the work, and when we had
+passed the foremost of these, the road went up the hill and no man
+was upon it. So we went quickly, and then came one on foot towards
+the village, and just beyond him were our folk, whom he had passed
+or left.
+
+It was good Father Ailwin, our old priest, and I thought that he
+sought me, or took back some word to others and I would ride back
+for him.
+
+"What is it, Father?" I cried, "I will do your errand."
+
+"Nay, my son, you cannot," he said; "your mother drew me to fly
+with her, and my weakness bade me do it for a while. But I may not
+leave my place. The Danes are not all heathen as they were in
+Eadmund's days, and I think that I am wrong to go. When our folk
+come back they must find their priest waiting for them."
+
+Then I strove to turn him again to flight with us, but I could not,
+and at last he commanded me to desist and leave him. And so he gave
+me his blessing, and I went, being sure that he would be slain, and
+weeping therefore, for I loved him well. But I told him of Dame
+Gunnhild's words, and begged him to seek her and speak with her,
+for she might hide him also for a while if he would not leave the
+place altogether.
+
+So we left our home, and that was the last time I set eyes on our
+hall at Bures. Then I caught up my mother hard by the dark wood
+that is round the great solemn mound that we say is the tomb of
+Boadicea, the Icenian queen of the men who fought against Rome. We
+call it haunted, and none of us dare set foot in those woods, by
+day even.
+
+The beacon fires burnt all round us, and in every farmstead was
+terror and hustle as the poor folk trembled to think what they
+could mean, and some came now and then and asked my mother what
+they should do.
+
+"Bide in your homes till you must needs take to the woods," she
+said; and that was wise counsel, and many were glad thereafter that
+they took it, for the Danes passed them by.
+
+Now I remember all that happened on our journey to London along the
+great Roman road that runs from Colchester thither, but there is
+little to tell thereof, for it was safe and we hardly hurried after
+the first day. We rested at the house of a thane who was well known
+to us on the first evening, and there my mother heard from Edred
+all that had befallen. And she bore the heavy tidings well, for she
+had already given up any hope that my father still lived. Yet as I
+look back I know that she was never the same after that day.
+
+So we came in safety to London, and to the court of Ethelred our
+king, and there we were most kindly received, for my father was
+well known to the king, and the queen loved my mother for the sake
+of old days. They gave us lodging near the great house where the
+court was held, and on the third day after we came, we were bidden
+to the king's presence.
+
+Then it was that I looked on Ethelred for the first time, and I had
+thought that a king should have been more kingly than he. For there
+was no command in his face, and he moved quickly and with little
+meaning in what he did, being restless in his way. But he put his
+hand on my shoulder very kindly, and looked in my face and said:
+
+"One may know that this is the son of Siric, my friend. He is like
+what the good thane was in the old days. What shall I do for him,
+lady?"
+
+Now, my mother would have answered, but I was not afraid of this
+handsome, careless-looking man, and I had my own wishes in the
+matter. So I spoke for myself.
+
+"Make me a warrior, lord king. I would fain fight the Danes, and
+already I can use sword and spear, and can ride."
+
+Then my mother spoke hastily and almost weeping, being broken down
+with all her trouble and the long journey.
+
+"I would have him serve Holy Church rather, in some monastery.
+Already he can read and write, my king, for I have had him taught
+in hopes that this might be."
+
+Thereat the king shook his head, and walked away to the window for
+a minute. Then he came back quickly and said, not looking at my
+mother:
+
+"Holy Church will be best served by warriors who will use carnal
+arms against Swein's heathen just now. The boy is right--I would
+that there were more who had his spirit. We need and shall need
+those who love fighting."
+
+Then he said to me:
+
+"Siric your father had a wondrous sword that I used to envy him;
+you shall learn to use it."
+
+"Lord king," I answered, "I must learn to win it back from the
+Danes, who have it now."
+
+I thought the king changed countenance a little at that, and he bit
+his lip.
+
+"We have been well beaten in East Anglia," he said as if to
+himself. "Here is truth from this boy at least."
+
+Now, if Ethelred did not know that our men had been so scattered by
+the Danes that they could not even ask for truce to recover their
+slain, it seemed plain even to me that the king was ill-served in
+some way. But I could say nought; and after that he bade us
+farewell for the time.
+
+So it came to pass that he gave me a place among the thanes' sons
+of his own court and there I was well trained in all that would
+make me a good warrior. Soon I had many friends, and best of all I
+loved the athelings, Eadmund and Eadward, who soon took notice of
+me, the one because I was never weary of weapon play, and the
+other, Eadward, who was somewhat younger than I, because of the
+learning that our good priest of Bures had taken such pains to
+teach me against my will. For above all things Eadmund loved the
+craft of the warrior, and Eadward all that belonged to peace.
+
+
+
+Chapter 2: Olaf The King.
+
+
+My mother lived but a few months after that flight of ours; but at
+least she knew before she died that Bertha was safe. What the old
+nurse had foreseen had come to pass. The half-Danish and Danish
+folk of the East Angles owned Swein as king, though not willingly,
+and a housecarle from Wormingford made his way to us with word from
+Gunnhild that set our minds at rest. Truly our hall and Osgod's had
+been burnt by parties from the Danish host, and for a time the
+danger was great, for Swein's vengeance for his sister's death was
+terrible.
+
+Now the land was poorer, but in peace. Yet Hertha would keep in
+hiding till we might see how things went, for the Danes might be
+forced back, and when a Danish host retreats it hinders pursuit by
+leaving a desert in its wake. Many a long year will it be before
+those Danish pathways are lost to sight again. They seem to be
+across every shire of our land.
+
+So I lived on in Ethelred's court now in one town and now in
+another, as the long struggle bade us shift either to follow or fly
+the Danes; and presently the memory both of my mother and Hertha
+grew dim, for wartime and new scenes age and harden a youth very
+quickly. Soon I might ride at the side of Eadmund the Atheling to
+try to stay the march of Swein through England; and many were the
+fights I saw with him, until I was the only one left of all the
+youths who had been my comrades at first, and Eadmund had won his
+name of "Ironside" in bravest hopeless struggle.
+
+I grew to be a close and trusted friend of his, and so at last
+amidst the trouble that was all round us in those heavy times the
+remembrance of Hertha became but as part of a childhood that was
+long gone, and I thought of her but as of the little one with whom
+I had played in the old days beside the quiet Stour. There were
+none left to remind me of her, for one by one my few Bures men had
+fallen, and Edred, who had been my servant at the court, gave his
+life for mine in my first battle. Into Swein's East Anglia our
+levies never made their way.
+
+What need for me to say aught of those three years of warfare?
+Their tale is written in fire over all the fair face of England.
+For nothing checked Swein Forkbeard until step by step the Danish
+hosts closed on London, and at last even the brave citizens were
+forced to yield to him. Then Ethelred our king must needs fly from
+his throne, and leave the land to its Danish master.
+
+Yet it was true, as Eadmund the Atheling said, that the Dane was
+but master of the land, and not of the English people. Even today
+my mind is full of wondering honour for those sullen Saxon levies
+of ours who for three years bore defeat after defeat at the hands
+of the trained and hardened veterans of the north, uncomplaining
+and unbent. What wonder if at last we were wearied out and must
+hold our hands for a while?
+
+So now when I was nineteen, and looking and feeling many years
+older by reason of the long stress of warfare and trouble, I was at
+Rouen, in Normandy, at the court of our queen's brother, Richard
+the Duke. To him Ethelred had fled at the last and there, too, were
+the queen and the athelings, good Abbot Elfric of Peterborough, and
+a few more of the court, besides myself. Ethelred had hoped to gain
+some help from the duke; but he could only give us shelter in our
+need, for he had even yet to hold the land that Rolf, his
+forefather, had won against his neighbours, and could spare us not
+one of his warriors.
+
+So in Rouen we waited and watched for some new turn of things that
+might give us fresh hopes of regaining our own land. Yet it was a
+weary waiting for one knew not what; and Ethelred the king grew
+moody and despairing as the days went on, and there seemed to be no
+help.
+
+But Eadmund was ever planning for return, and was restless, riding
+down to each ship that came into the river to hear what news might
+be, until the winter set in, and we must needs wait until
+springtime brought the traders again from the English shores.
+
+Only Elfgiva the queen, whom her own people call Emma, was well
+content to be in her own land again for a while, though one might
+easily see that she sorely grieved for the loss of her state as the
+queen of England. And Eadward the Atheling loved to be among the
+wondrous buildings of the Norman land, spending long hours with the
+learned men, and planning many good things to be wrought in England
+when times of peace should come once more. And in these plannings
+Elfric the abbot was ever ready to help him, and the more, as I
+think, that to hear of their thoughts of return to England, and of
+happier times, would cheer our king. For Elfric would never allow
+but that we were here for a short while only, saying that England
+would yet rise up refreshed, and sweep the Danes into the sea, from
+whence they came.
+
+"Else why should I have given all that I have--even five hundred
+pounds--for St. Florentine his body (wanting the head, in truth,
+but I might not have that), if I were not sure that I should take
+it home for the greater glory of St. Peter's church at Medehamstede
+{4} presently? Answer me that, lord king, and be not so
+downhearted."
+
+This he said one day, being full of his purchase, and I think that
+the cheerfulness of the good man helped our king.
+
+"Verily, Redwald, my son," the abbot said to me, "if I get not St.
+Florentine home, I think my money is not lost. The king waxes more
+hopeful when he sees the shrine waiting to be taken overseas."
+
+Nor could I say for myself that I was not pleased with the stay in
+Rouen. For I had never known the fierce joy of victory, and the
+rest from the long tale of defeat was good to me. Yet I set myself
+to learn all that I could of the splendid weapon craft of the
+Norman warriors, for I thought that I should yet need in England
+all I could learn. And the new life and scenes pleased me well, for
+I was young enough to let the cares of our poor land slip from my
+mind for a while.
+
+So the long winter wore away, and at last the season came when we
+might look for the first ships of the year, and with them news from
+England. Then Eadmund would go to the haven at the mouth of the
+great river Seine that runs to Rouen, so that he should be at hand
+to hear the first tidings that came. Glad enough was I to go with
+him, and we took up our quarters in a great house that belonged to
+the duke at the town they call "The Haven," and there waited, ever
+watching the long gray sea line for a coming sail.
+
+But none came until the first week in March, when the wind blew
+steadily from the northeast, and the sky was clear and bright with
+promise of open weather. Then at last we saw eight ships together
+heading for the haven, and that sight was more welcome than I can
+say.
+
+When they came near we knew that they were no traders, but long
+dragon ships, and at first we thought they were Danish vikings; and
+the townsmen armed in haste and mustered along the wharves to
+prevent their landing, if they came on their wonted errand of
+plunder. And eagerly enough did Eadmund and I join them, only
+hoping for another blow at our foes, and having no thought in our
+minds that the ships we watched were bringing us more hope than we
+dared long for.
+
+Next I knew that these ships were like no Danish vessels that I had
+ever seen, but were far more handsome, both in build and fittings.
+Nor did they fly the terrible raven banner as most Danes were wont.
+Then it was not long before the lines of armed townsmen broke up
+their ranks and crowded down to the wharves to greet the ships in
+all friendliness, for they were Norse, as it would seem, and the
+Norse viking is ever welcome in the land that Rolf Ganger, the
+viking, won for himself.
+
+So the ships came into the harbour, brave with gilded dragon heads
+and sails striped with bright colours, all fresh from their winter
+quarters, and Eadmund turned away, for he thought that they would
+be Swein's men, of the host of Thorkel the Norseman, his great
+captain, and foster father of Cnut his son. For Swein held Norway
+as well as Denmark, and many Norsemen followed him. Thorkel's host
+was that which slew Elfheah, the good archbishop of Canterbury,
+whom his monks called Elphege, but last year.
+
+That, too, was the thought of the seamen to whom I spoke when the
+ships were yet distant, and so we went back to the hall heavy and
+disappointed. We would not speak to these men, knowing that from
+Thorkel's folk we should but hear boasting of Swein's victories.
+
+But presently the steward came into the hall, where we sat silently
+listening to the shouts of the men as they berthed the ships, and
+he said that the leader of the vikings would see and speak with
+Eadmund himself.
+
+"Is he Thorkel, or Thorkel's man?" answered the atheling, "for if
+he be, I will not see him."
+
+"No, lord," said the steward, "he is one who has no dealings with
+the Danes. He will not tell me his name, but I think that he is a
+great man of some kind."
+
+"Not a great man, but thick," said a kindly voice of one who stood
+without. "If hatred of Danes will pass me into Eadmund's presence,
+I may surely enter."
+
+And then there came into the doorway a man who was worth more than
+a second look. Never had I seen one to whom the name of king seemed
+to belong so well by right as to this man, whatever his rank might
+be. He stood and looked round for a moment, as if the dim light
+from the high windows was not enough to show him where we were at
+first, and I could not take my eyes from him.
+
+He was not tall, but very square of shoulder and deep of chest,
+with mighty arms that were bare, save for their heavy gold
+bracelets, below the sleeves of his ring mail, and his hair and
+beard were golden red and very long. He wore a silvered helm,
+whereon was inlaid a golden cross above a narrow gold circlet that
+was round its rim, and his hand rested on the hilt of such a
+priceless sword as is told of in the old tales of the heroes. But I
+forgot all these things as I looked into his pleasant weatherbeaten
+face, and saw the kindly look in the gray eyes that I knew would
+flash most terribly in fight. He was twenty-five years old, as I
+thought; but therein I was wrong, for he was just my own age,
+though looking so much older.
+
+"I am Olaf Haraldsson--Olaf Digri, the Thick, as men call me," he
+said. "Some call me king, though I rule but over a few ships, as a
+sea king. Which of you thanes is Eadmund the Atheling?"
+
+Then Eadmund rose up from his place, and went towards the king. His
+seat had been in shadow, else there had been no need to ask which
+was he.
+
+"I have heard of you, King Olaf," he said, "for your deeds are sung
+in our land already. And you are most welcome. Have you news from
+England?"
+
+So those two grasped each other's hands, and I think there were no
+two other such men living at that time. It was good to see them
+together.
+
+"Aye," said the king, "I have been in England, and therefore I have
+come to find you. Swein is dead, and your chance has come. Let me
+help you to win your land again."
+
+That was plain speaking, and for the moment Eadmund held his
+breath, and could not speak for sheer surprise and gladness. But I
+could not forbear leaping up and shouting, tossing my helm in the
+air as I did so, so wondrous was all this to me, and so full of
+hope.
+
+At that Olaf laughed, and leaving Eadmund to his thoughts, turned
+to me.
+
+"Which of the athelings are you?" he asked. "I have heard of
+Eadmund's brothers," and he held out his strong hand to take mine.
+
+"I am but the atheling's comrade--his servant, rather," I said,
+growing red as I did so, for I had surely forgotten myself in my
+gladness.
+
+"Redwald is no servant, King Olaf," said Eadmund quickly. "He is my
+closest comrade here, and has fought well at my side. Thane of
+Bures in East Anglia he is--but now the Danes hold his place."
+
+"Why then," said Olaf, "Thoralf's grandson surely?"
+
+"Aye, king," I answered, wondering; "my grandfather was named
+Thoralf. He was one of Olaf Tryggvesson's chiefs."
+
+"Then have I found a cousin," laughed the king. "Give me your hand,
+kinsman," and he looked me over from head to foot, but very kindly.
+
+I took the king's hand gladly, but somewhat dazed in my mind at
+being thus owned. And Olaf saw that I was so, and told me more.
+
+"Asta, my good mother, was this Thoralf's cousin, and we Norsemen
+do not lose count of our kin. So I knew well that Thoralf found an
+English home and wife when Olaf Tryggvesson was first in England,
+and that he was Thane of Bures by some right of his lady. So I
+knew, when I heard your name and place, that I had found a kinsman.
+And I have so few that I am glad."
+
+Now I knew that this was true, but we had never thought much of
+Thoralf, rather priding ourselves on his wife's long descent from
+King Redwald. I wished for the first time now that I knew more of
+this Norse grandfather of mine.
+
+"Presently we will find Rani, my foster father, who is with the
+ships," said Olaf; "he knew Thoralf well. You and I must see much
+of one another, cousin."
+
+Then he turned to Eadmund, who was, as it seemed, well pleased that
+I had found so good a friend. And he said:
+
+"Forgive me if I have forgotten greater matters for a moment. But I
+cannot greet a kinsman coldly, and it is in my mind that Redwald is
+a cousin worth finding, if I may judge by the way in which he
+hailed my news."
+
+"Truly," said Eadmund, "I am minded to do as he did, now that I
+have taken all the wonder of it in. But it seems over good to be
+true--Swein dead--and your offered help!"
+
+Then they both laughed, well content, and so Eadmund called the
+steward, and wine and meat were set for the king, and they sat down
+and talked, as he ate with a sailor's hunger. But I listened not to
+their talk, my mind being over full of this good fortune of my own.
+I had none left of my own kin, and till today I had been as it were
+alone.
+
+Presently, however, I heard an East Anglian name that was dear to
+me. Eadmund asked how it was that Swein Forkbeard had died, for
+none thought that his end was yet to be thought of as near. Now it
+would seem that he had gone suddenly.
+
+"He was at Gainsborough," said Olaf, "and he was about to make his
+way south to Eadmund's burg. Whereon men say that to save his town
+and shrine the holy martyr, King Eadmund, whom Ingvar slew, thrust
+Swein through with an iron lance. Some say that he slew him
+otherwise, but all agree as to his slayer. And now I think that
+England will rise."
+
+"What of Cnut, Swein's son?" asked Eadmund.
+
+"He is but a boy. What he may be in a few years' time I know not.
+With him it will be as with myself. I was given a ship when I was
+twelve years old, and thereafter all that my men did goes to my
+credit in the mouths of the scalds. Yet my men and I know well that
+Rani, my foster father, whom you will soon know, was the real
+captain and leader for the first three or four years."
+
+Then said Eadmund:
+
+"Cnut is of no account."
+
+Olaf laughed a little, and answered:
+
+"Cnut's own arm may be of little strength, but his name is on the
+lips of every Dane. There are three chiefs who will hold the
+kingdom in his name, and they are the men whom you must meet:
+Thorkel the High, his foster father; Ulf Sprakalegsson the jarl,
+his brother-in-law; and Eirik the jarl, whose brother Homing holds
+London even now. Good men and loyal they are, and what they do Cnut
+does."
+
+"I have three chiefs in my mind who can match these," said our
+atheling. "Olaf the king, and Ulfkytel of East Anglia, and Edric
+Streone, my foster father."
+
+Then Olaf looked in the face of Eadmund, as it seemed to me in
+surprise, and made no answer.
+
+"Are we not equal then?" asked the atheling.
+
+"I have heard that Edric Streone is on the Danish side," said Olaf.
+"Cannot Utred of Northumbria be trusted?"
+
+"Edric has but sought rest, from need," answered Eadmund. "I know
+not what else he could do at last. He will join us again as soon as
+we land. So also will Utred."
+
+"Then we are equal," said the king, while a cloud seemed to pass
+from his face, for Streone led all Mercia, and were he in truth on
+our side things would go well. It was no very secret talk among
+some of us that Edric the earl had made peace sooner than might
+have been, but that angered Eadmund and the king sorely if so much
+were even hinted.
+
+"Then you will indeed help us?" said Eadmund, for Olaf had accepted
+the place he had named for him as it were.
+
+"I have a debt to England that I can never repay," answered the
+king gravely. "She gave us our first teachers in the Christian
+faith. And Swein has held Norway, my own land, with the help of the
+heathen jarls who are yet there. I fight the fight of the Cross,
+therefore, and when I go back to my own land, it will be to sweep
+away the last worship of Odin and Thor. But the time has not come
+yet," and his eyes shone strangely.
+
+"When it comes I will help you," said Eadmund, "if it may be that I
+can do so."
+
+"I know it, and I thank you; but it is my thought that I shall need
+no help," said the king, while the look on his face was very
+wondrous, so that I had never seen the like. It minded me of the
+pictures of St. Stephen that I saw in a great church here with
+Abbot Elfric and Eadward. Then he spoke of the spread of the Faith
+in Norway, and how that he would be the one who should finish what
+Olaf Tryggvesson, his cousin, had begun; and one might see that he
+longed for power and kingship only for that work.
+
+Long did those two warriors talk before they turned to lighter
+matters, and in the end they planned to ride to Rouen to see the
+king himself on the next day. But before night fell there came more
+news with another ship that came alone into the haven. And she was
+English, bearing messengers from the great witan itself.
+
+These thanes told Eadmund their news, and it was this:
+
+That Cnut had been hailed as king by the Danish host at
+Gainsborough, but that the English people begged Ethelred to return
+to them, promising that a good force should be ready to meet him on
+his landing. Already the London folk had planned a rising there and
+in the great towns against the Thingmen, as the Danish paid
+garrisons were called, and it was likely that this had by this time
+come about.
+
+So at once Eadmund went with these thanes to Rouen, and Olaf would
+have me bide with him till word came from the king as to the next
+doings.
+
+That was a pleasant time to me, for I grew to love Olaf, and he was
+never willing that I should be far from him. Then, too, I heard
+many tales of my grandfather Thoralf from Rani, the old viking who
+had fought beside him, and had been with Tryggvesson when he was
+christened in England. And of all Olaf's men I liked best Ottar the
+Black, the scald, who was but five years older than myself, but who
+had yet seen much fighting with the king both by land and sea. We
+sang much together, for I was willing to learn from him, and he to
+teach me.
+
+Now of this singing there is one thing that I will set down, for
+the matter comes into my story again.
+
+One day Ottar sang the saga of the sword of Hiorvard; how the
+maiden warrior won it from the grave mound of her father, Angantyr,
+in spite of terror of the dead hero, and of the unearthly fires.
+That was a good saga, and when it was ended old Rani said:
+
+"Thoralf had a sword that was won by his father from a chief's
+grave mound in Vendland, It was the most wondrous sword, save only
+Olaf's 'Hneitir' yonder, that I have ever seen. Silver and gold was
+its hilt, and the blade was wrought in patterns on the steel, and
+there were runes in gold close to the hilt. He would call it 'Foe's
+Bane', and that in truth was what the sword was."
+
+I knew only too well that that sword became my father's in his
+turn, and now it was lost to me.
+
+"My father fell with sword 'Foe's Bane' in his hand," I said sadly.
+"Yet I know that the name was not belied ere he did so."
+
+"Then the Danes have it," said Rani, "and it will come back to
+you."
+
+I remembered that Ethelred himself had spoken of the sword, and how
+I had made his face fall when he heard that it was lost. Nor had I
+been long at court before I heard words from one thane or another
+that seemed to say that Edric Streone had made light of our defeat,
+for some reasons of his own.
+
+"I must win it back," I said.
+
+"If there is aught in old sayings," answered Ottar, "the sword will
+draw its holder to face you, unless he won it in fair fight hand to
+hand."
+
+Thereat Olaf laughed, and no more was said. But in years to come
+there were told strange tales of the longing, as it were, of his
+own sword 'Hneitir' to be back at its master's side.
+
+So the time went quickly for me, but to Olaf the waiting seemed
+long before Eadmund rode back from Rouen. And with him came those
+thanes and his half-brother Eadward, but Ethelred himself was not
+with them. He would not go to England, fearing treachery as it
+seemed; but Eadward was to go over and meet the witan and speak
+with them. Yet the thanes said that without the king no force would
+move.
+
+"Why does he not go?" said Olaf impatiently. "Here is time lost
+when a sudden blow would win all."
+
+"Because he is Ethelred the Unredy," answered Eadmund shortly, for
+he was very angry at the delay.
+
+Then was another waiting, but Eadward was very wise though he was
+so young, being but twelve years old at this time, and he had
+Elfric the abbot with him, and at last word came from him that all
+was going well. Then Ethelred made up his mind and listened to
+Olaf's counsel.
+
+"Strike at London," he said. "We know that the citizens are ever
+loyal."
+
+They had risen, as it seemed, and had slain many of the thingmen,
+and Heming, Thorkel's brother, himself. That had but brought on
+them hardships and a stronger garrison, while Ethelred wavered and
+would not come.
+
+At last Ethelred gathered what few men would follow him from
+Normandy and sailed to go to Southampton, and so to Winchester.
+Richard the Duke gave him a few ships and men enough to man them.
+Then Olaf, as it was planned, would sail up the Thames in such time
+as to meet the king's land force at London on a certain day, and
+thus take the city by a double attack. And Olaf asked that I might
+sail with him.
+
+That Eadmund gladly agreed to, saying that we should meet on London
+Bridge shortly, and so I saw him set out full of hope, and then
+waited with Olaf for the short time that he would yet stay before
+sailing. He would not reach the Thames too early lest London should
+be held in too great force for us, and it was his plan that we
+should sail up the great river too suddenly for any new Danish
+force to be gathered.
+
+Now on the evening before we sailed Olaf the king was restless, and
+silent beyond his wont at the feasting before departure, and he
+seemed to take little pleasure even in the songs of Ottar the
+scald, though the men praised them loudly. I thought it likely that
+some foreboding was on him, and that is no good sign before a
+fight.
+
+So presently I spoke to Rani, asking him if aught ailed the king.
+Whereat he answered, smiling:
+
+"Nought ails him but longing to be sword to sword with these old
+foes of ours. This is his way, ever. If he were gay as Biorn the
+marshal yonder I might wonder at him maybe."
+
+But presently Olaf rose up and bade Rani take his place, saying
+that he would go down to the ships to see that all was well. And
+then he beckoned me to follow him, and we went down the long hall
+together. It would seem that this was no new thing that he should
+leave the feast there, for the little hush that fell as we passed
+the long tables lasted no long time, and the men seemed not
+surprised. Indeed King Olaf had little love for sitting over the
+ale cup, and no man was more careful to see to all things about his
+ships and men than he.
+
+The great doors closed after us, and we stood in the white
+moonlight for a moment. The air was cold and sharp after the warmth
+of the crowded hall. Down in the harbour the water was quiet
+enough, but outside a fair breeze was blowing from the southwest.
+
+"The wind will hold, and will serve us well," said Olaf. "Who of
+all the Danish hosts will deem that such a wind is bringing fire
+and sword on them from across the sea?"
+
+Then he folded his cloak round him and we went down to the harbour,
+where the long line of ships lay side by side along the wharf with
+their bows shoreward. The great dragon stem heads towered over us,
+shining strangely in the moonlight, and the gentle send of the
+waves into the harbour made them sway and creak as though they were
+coming to life.
+
+"The dragons are restless as I," he said looking up at them.
+
+"Tomorrow, hungry ones--tomorrow--then shall you and I be set free
+to meet wind and wave and foe again."
+
+Then one of the men on watch began to sing, and his song was an old
+sea stave that had a swing and roll in its rough tune that was like
+the broken surge of sea water, even while it was timed to the fall
+of oar blades into the surf. One may not say how old those songs
+are that the seamen sing.
+
+"That is the dragon's answer," said the king to me. "Sing, Redwald,
+and take your part."
+
+So when the man came to the part where all should join, I took up
+the song with him, and then many others of the men joined in--some
+five or six in each ship.
+
+"That is good," said Olaf, laughing softly. "Here are men whose
+hearts are light."
+
+The man who sang first came now and looked over the high bows of
+the ship, and his figure was black against the moonlight.
+
+"Ho, master scald!" he cried in his great voice, "now shall you
+sing the rest. You have put me out of conceit with my own singing.
+Why are you not at the feast, where I would be if I were not tied
+here!"
+
+"He is keeping the dragons awake," laughed the king. "Nor do I
+think that even a feast would take you from the ship just as the
+tide is on the turn."
+
+"Maybe not, lord king," answered the man, lifting his hand in
+salute. "But the dragons will be wakeful enough--never fear for
+them."
+
+So the king answered back cheerily, and other men came and
+listened, and so at last he turned away, leaving the men who loved
+him pleased and the happier for his coming thus.
+
+Now I thought that we should have gone back to the hall; but Olaf
+walked away from the town, going along the shore. The tide was just
+out, and the flow would soon begin. Soon we lost sight of the last
+lights from the houses, and still he went on, and I followed him,
+not speaking, for I knew not what plans he was making.
+
+At last we came to a place to which I had not been before, and it
+was lonely enough. The forest came down to the beach, and the land
+was low and sheltered between the hills. There the king stayed,
+sitting down on a fallen tree and resting his chin on his hand, as
+he looked out over the water with grave eyes that seemed to see far
+beyond the tossing waves.
+
+I rested beside him, and there we bided silent for an hour or more.
+There was only the sound of the wind in the storm-twisted trees
+behind us, and of the waves as they broke along the edge of the
+bare sands, where a few waking sea birds ran and piped unseen by
+us. Almost had I slept with those well-known sounds in my ears.
+
+Then suddenly the king lifted his head, and spoke one word to me:
+
+"Listen," he said.
+
+I roused, but all that I could hear at first were the sounds that I
+had forgotten--the song of the wind in the trees, the rush of the
+breakers, and the cry of the sea birds across the sands.
+
+Then my heart began to beat wildly, for out of these sounds, or
+among them, began to come clearly, and yet more clearly the sound
+of the tread of many armed feet--the passing of a mighty host--and
+with that the thunder of the war song, and the cry of those who
+bade farewell. And these sounds passed over us and around us, going
+seawards; then they died away out towards the north, and were gone.
+
+Yet still the king listened, and again came the tramp of the armed
+thousands, and the war song, and the voices of parting, and they
+passed, and came, and passed yet once more.
+
+Then after the third time there was nought but the sound of wind
+and wave and sea fowl, and I drew closer to Olaf and asked him:
+
+"What is this that we hear?"
+
+"Wait," he said, and pointed seaward.
+
+Then I looked, and I saw all the northern sky glow red as glows the
+light of a burning town on the low clouds when the host that has
+fired it looks back on its work. And plain and clear in the silver
+moonlight against the crimson sky sat the wraith of a king, throned
+on the sand at the very water's edge, and round him stood shadowy
+nobles, looking seaward.
+
+And even as I saw it the first wave of the rising tide sent its
+edge of foam shorewards, and it surged around the kingly feet and
+sapped the base of the throne, and the stately wraith turned and
+looked upon the nobles, and was gone.
+
+Then faded the red light from the sky, and the waves washed over
+the place where the throne and court had been, and Olaf rose up and
+looked in my face. Nor was there fear of what he had seen and heard
+written in his quiet look.
+
+"What is this, my king?" I said, trembling with the fear that comes
+of things beyond our ken.
+
+"It is the fate of England that is falling on her," he said
+quietly.
+
+"Read it me, for I fear what I have heard and seen," I said.
+
+"We have heard the going of mighty hosts to England, and we have
+heard the sound of farewell. But we have heard no shout of victory,
+or wailing for defeat. Little therefore will be gained or lost by
+this sailing of ours. Yet all is surely lost if we sail not."
+
+Then he ceased, but he had not yet spoken of what we saw, and I
+waited for his words. Yet still he stood silent, and looked out
+over the sea, until I was fain to ask him what the vision meant.
+
+"Surely it was the wraith of a son of Swein that we saw," he said;
+"but it will be long years ere Cnut bears that likeness, for that
+was of a man full grown and mighty."
+
+Now the reading of this was beyond me, for I have no skill in these
+matters, as had Olaf. And he said nought for a little while, but
+seemed to ponder over it.
+
+"Now I know," said he at last. "What we have seen is the outcome of
+the going of the hosts to England. There shall be a Danish kingdom
+built upon sand. Cnut shall reign, but his throne shall fall. The
+wave of English love for England's kings of her own race cannot be
+stayed."
+
+Then I was downcast, for hope that the Danes would be driven from
+the land had filled all my mind, and I said:
+
+"Surely the vision may mean that we shall sweep away the Danish
+rule as the waves sapped the throne and swept over its place."
+
+"Aye, may it be so," answered Olaf. "Often one may read these
+visions best even as their bodings come to pass. Let us go back.
+This is a lonesome place, and strange fancies weigh down a man's
+mind when all he may hear is the wind singing to the surges. Maybe
+these are but dreams. What matters it if Cnut reigns over the old
+Danelagh as Guthrum reigned, if Ethelred is overlord? It will be
+again as in Alfred's days, and once more an English king over the
+English folk, when Cnut is gone."
+
+So he turned, and led the way back towards the town, and when we
+saw the lights close at hand, he bade me say nought of this to any
+man.
+
+"We have seen strange things, cousin," he said, taking my arm, "and
+they will be better untold. You and I may see their meaning
+hereafter, and maybe shall have a share in their working out. Now
+let us sleep, and dream only of seeing England again tomorrow."
+
+
+
+Chapter 3: The Breaking Of London Bridge.
+
+
+There was a fair wind for us into the Thames mouth, and all seemed
+to be going well. But when we came off the Medway it seemed that
+there was to be fighting, for our way was blocked by a fleet and
+that stronger than ours.
+
+Now as the longships were cleared for the weapon play, Olaf
+wondered how the Danes should have had word of our coming, for it
+was plain that this fleet of ten ships was waiting for us. Yet we
+had kept well away from the forelands, lest we should make it too
+plain where we were going.
+
+Then one ship left the rest and came swiftly towards us, under
+oars. And when the ship drew near, we saw that she bore the banner
+of Ethelred himself.
+
+So the fair plans that had been made had come to naught, and when
+Olaf understood this his face grew dark with anger, and he said:
+
+"Almost would I leave this foolish king to go his own way without
+help of mine. But I have promised Eadmund, and I must keep my word.
+Henceforward I shall know what I must look for."
+
+Little, therefore, had Olaf to say to Ethelred when they met, nor
+would he go on board the English ship, but Ethelred must come to
+him. Eadmund was at his father's side, and his face was very
+wrathful, for he felt even as did Olaf.
+
+"London is ours already," Ethelred said. "Wherefore I would join
+you."
+
+"London by this time may be in other hands," answered Olaf; "but we
+shall see when we get there. Now must there be no more time lost
+but we must make all speed up the river, tarrying nowhere."
+
+So we sailed on. When we came to Greenwich there were no Danes
+there, nor any Danish ships. I went ashore in a boat, and asked the
+men I saw what was become of them. And they told me that Thorkel's
+fleet had sailed northward on Swein's death, and that the thingmen
+whom he had left in the place had gone to London.
+
+"That is as I thought," said Olaf. "Now there will be more trouble
+in driving them out than there has been in letting them in."
+
+When we came at last in sight of London Bridge I knew that Olaf was
+right, for since the Danes had gained the city they had not been
+idle. They had built a great fort on the Southwark side of the
+river, girt with a wide moat, and all the stronger that the walls
+thus surrounded were partly of timber and stone. The road from
+across London Bridge runs through this fort, so that one might by
+no means pass over it until the place was won. And at the other end
+of the bridge the old Roman walls of London itself were far too
+strong for our force to take by storm.
+
+But the strangest thing to me was to see what they had done to the
+great timber bridge itself, for they had made that also into a
+fortress. The old railing along the roadway was gone, and in its
+place were breast-high bulwarks of strong timber, and on each span
+of the bridge was a high wooden tower whose upper works overhung
+the water, looking downstream, as if they feared assault from the
+river itself.
+
+We came up to the Pool on a good flood-tide, and as we dropped
+anchor there we saw all this, and, moreover, that the place was
+held by the Danes in force. The red cloaks of Cnut's thingmen were
+on bridge and walls and fort alike, and no few of them in either
+stronghold. There was work before us if we would win the place for
+our king.
+
+Before any word had come to Olaf of what should be done, Eadmund
+had gone ashore with all his warriors, and had fallen on the
+Southwark earthwork. It was Olaf's first thought to follow him, but
+he held back.
+
+"Let him go," he said. "Maybe he will like best to win his own city
+without my help at the first onset. Yet unless that fort is weaker
+than it looks, his attack will be of no use. For, see--all the
+Danes from the bridge are going to help."
+
+So it was, and from the deck of Olaf's ship I looked on at the
+fight for half an hour. At one time I thought that we had won the
+place, for our men charged valiantly through the moat and up the
+steep sides of the earthworks.
+
+There waited for them the Danish axes, and an axeman behind a wall
+is equal to two men below him.
+
+I longed to be beside Eadmund, whom I could see now and then, and
+ever where the fighting was fiercest; but Olaf bade me be patient.
+There would be fighting enough for me presently, he said.
+
+"You will see that we shall have to take the bridge, and so cut the
+Danish force in two. Then from the bridge we have but to fight our
+way either into the fort or into the town."
+
+Presently our men gave back. The earthworks were too strong for
+them. Then I asked again that I might go.
+
+"If you must fall, it shall be at my side, cousin," said Olaf,
+laying his hand on my arm. "Eadmund does not need you."
+
+For now he and his men were coming back to the ships, having won
+nought but knowledge of the strength of the fort. The Danes would
+not leave their walls to follow the retreating English, though
+Eadmund halted just beyond bow shot, and waited as if to challenge
+them to fight in the open.
+
+Now by this time the tide was almost full, and the stream of the
+flood was slackening. And it seemed as if one might easily scale
+the bulwarks of the great low-timbered bridge from the foredeck of
+a ship. Ethelred saw that, and as soon as his men were on board
+again the word was passed that attack on the bridge should be made
+by every vessel that could reach it.
+
+As it fell out, we of Olaf's eight ships lay below the rest, and
+must have passed them to reach the bridge. All we might do,
+therefore, was to close up to the sterns of the vessels that were
+leading, and wait to send our men across their decks when the time
+came. That pleased not Olaf at first, for he thought that his turn
+had come; but in the end it was well for us.
+
+Now the ships slipped their cables, and drifted up to the bridge
+steadily, with a few oars going aft to guide them, and as they came
+the Danes crowded above them, manning their towers and lining the
+whole long length with savage faces and gleaming weapons. They
+howled at us as we drew near, and as the bows of the leading ships
+almost touched the piles, they hove grappling irons into them from
+above, holding them fast. Whereat Eadmund thanked them for saving
+trouble, while the arrows fell round him like hail.
+
+But in a moment that word of his was changed, for now fell from
+towers and bulwarks a fearsome rain of heavy darts and javelins,
+and the men fell back from the crowded fore decks to seek safety
+aft until the store of weapons was spent. Truly, there must have
+been sheaves of throwing weapons piled ready on the roadway of the
+bridge.
+
+Then Eadmund's voice cried:
+
+"Steady, men--this cannot last!"
+
+And even as they heard him the warriors swarmed back across the
+corpse-cumbered decks, and began to climb up the piles, for the
+tide held the ships strongly against the bridge. Yet when the ships
+were there the height of the bridge above them was far greater than
+it had seemed from a distance. Now their fore decks were under the
+towers, for the upper works of these overhung the water.
+
+Then the Danish war horns blew, and the men raised a great shout,
+and down from those towers and from openings in the bridge rained
+and thundered great ragged blocks of stone--masses rent from the
+old Roman city walls--and into the ships they crashed, and there
+rose a terrible cry from our men, for no ship that was ever built
+could stand so fierce a storm as this.
+
+Two good ships swayed and sank, and their men climbed on bridge and
+piling, or leapt into the stream to reach the ships that yet were
+afloat. Then the storm stayed for lack of rocks within reach, as it
+would seem, for I saw men hoisting more into the towers as fast as
+crane and windlass would serve them.
+
+Now fell the javelins again, and still the grappling irons held the
+ships, though the oars were manned. Then dared a man in each ship
+to do the bravest deed of that day. Through rain of falling
+javelins each ran forward, axe in hand, and cut the grappling lines
+as our Norsemen cheered them in wild praise. Yet I know that not
+one of those men lived to see that his deed had saved the ships,
+for our oars were out and swiftly we towed them away to safety.
+
+Aye, but I saw one tall Dane on the bridge strive to hold the hands
+of his fellows that he might save at least the brave man in the
+ship below him. And that should be told of him, for such a deed is
+that of a true warrior.
+
+All this I watched in dismay, for it seemed to me that we could in
+no way take the town. As for Olaf, he said nought; and when we had
+come to anchor again he sat on the steersman's bench, looking at
+the bridge and saying no word to any of us. The Danes were crowding
+the bridge and jeering at us, as one might well see.
+
+Then Rani came aft and sat on the rail by me.
+
+"Well," he said, "how like you this business?"
+
+"Ill enough," I answered. "What can be done?"
+
+He nodded towards Olaf, smiling grimly.
+
+"I know of nothing; but if your king lets him go his own way he
+will find out some plan. Know you what he did when the Swedes
+blocked us into a lake some years ago?"
+
+"I have not heard," I said.
+
+"Why, seeing that we might not go out by the way in which we came,
+Olaf made us dig a new channel, and we went out by that, laughing.
+We all had to dig for our lives, grumbling, but we got away."
+
+Now Olaf looked up and saw us, and his face was bright again.
+
+"I am going to see Ethelred," he said, "for I think that I can take
+the bridge."
+
+A boat shot alongside even as he spoke, and a thane came to bid
+Olaf to a council of the leaders on Ethelred's ship. So Olaf went
+with him, and was long away. The tide was almost low, and darkness
+had fallen before he came back in high spirits.
+
+"Ethelred was sorely downcast, even to weeping," he told us, "and
+so had almost given up hope of taking London. He thought of sailing
+away and landing elsewhere. Then I said that I would take the
+bridge tomorrow if I had help in what I needed tonight."
+
+Then he looked round on us, and what he saw in our faces made him
+laugh a little.
+
+"It seems to me that you are over fearful of stone throwing after
+the Danish sort," he said. "Had I not a plan that will save our
+heads and the ship's timbers alike, I would not go. I am not the
+man to risk both for nought. We will build roofs over the fore
+decks and try again."
+
+Then Rani growled:
+
+"How are we to climb out from under your roofs so as to get upon
+the bridge? We have already seen that ladders are needed for that
+also."
+
+"Nay," said Olaf, "we will bring the bridge down to us," and so he
+went forward laughing to find his shipwrights.
+
+So all that night long we wrought as he bade us, and Ethelred's men
+came with spars and timber from houses they pulled down ashore, and
+when morning broke we had on each ship the framework of a strong,
+high-pitched roof that covered the vessels from stem to midships or
+more, and stretched out beyond the gunwales on either board.
+
+Then the men who wrought ashore brought us boatloads of strong
+hurdles and the sides and roofs of the wattled huts of the
+Southwark thralls, and with them all our wooden shelters were
+covered so strongly that, if they might not altogether stand the
+weight of the greatest stones, these roofs would break their fall
+and save the ships.
+
+When all this was finished, King Olaf told us what his plan was. We
+were not to try to storm the bridge, but were to break it.
+
+"See," he said, "all night long the wagons that brought more stones
+have been rumbling and rattling into the middle of the bridge, and
+every Dane thereon will crowd into the centre to see the breaking
+of King Olaf's ships, and their weight will help us. We will go so
+far under the bridge that we may make fast our cables to the piles,
+and then will row hard down the falling tide at its swiftest.
+Whereupon the laugh will be on our side instead of with the Danes,
+as yesterday."
+
+After that he bade us all sleep, for we had some long hours to wait
+for the falling tide when all was done. And we did so, after a good
+meal, as well as we could, while the wains yet brought stones, and
+arrows and darts in sheaves to the bridge. But forward in our ships
+the men were coiling the great cables that should, we hoped, bring
+the bridge and stones alike down harmlessly to us.
+
+It was plain that the Danes knew what the roofs over the ships were
+for, since all the while that we wrought we could see them pointing
+and laughing one to another in scorn, from where we lay, not much
+beyond arrow shot below them. But not one of all the men on the
+bridge could have guessed what our real plan might be. Only we who
+looked at the ancient bridge from the water, and marked how frail
+and decaying some of the piles that upheld its narrow spans were,
+knew how likely it was that Olaf's plan would succeed. The wide
+roadway seemed to them to be strong enough for the wooden towers
+and the many tons of stones they had burdened it with; but now that
+Olaf had showed us, we saw that it was none so safe, so we waited
+in good spirits.
+
+The tide reached its height and as the ships swung idly to their
+cables on the slack, the Danes thronged the bridge, thinking,
+doubtless, that we should attack when they were within reach, as
+yesterday.
+
+The hum of their voices came down to us, and as the time went by,
+and the ebb tide set in, the hum strengthened into a long roar of
+voices, that broke out into a yelling laugh now and then, as some
+word of scorn went round. For they thought our Norsemen were
+afraid.
+
+But they could not see beneath the penthouse roofs, where the men,
+three at each oar, were armed and ready. Nor could they see the
+gangs of twelve men told off to the cables on each foredeck. Six of
+these were to pass the cables round the piles and make fast while
+the other six were to stand by with shields ready, in case the
+roofs were broken. But even then it should not take long to do all
+we needed, and some of the roof would be left surely at the worst.
+
+Four only of the ships were to touch the bridge, one at each of the
+four midmost pilings. The other four were made fast, stern to stern
+of the leading ships, so that their weight of oar play might be
+used to the full in the long pull to come, and two ships would haul
+at each set of piles where the weight was heaviest upon the bridge.
+
+So we waited until the tide was at its fiercest ebb. The water
+rushed through the narrow waterways of the bridge in a broken
+torrent streaked with foam that swirled far down the stream towards
+us; so the time having come, Olaf gave the word. His own ship was
+one of the two in the middle, and Rani was in command of the other.
+
+Then in a moment the oars flashed out, and the moorings were
+slipped; a shout went up from the bridge, and then the Danes were
+silent, wondering. The foam flew from our bows, and as we dashed up
+the stream the Danish war cry broke out again, while from end to
+end of the bridge the weapons flashed and sparkled.
+
+Now the arrows rattled on the penthouse roofs, and one or two
+glanced from Olaf's armour and mine, and from the shields which
+Ottar and I held before him. For we were alone with him at the
+helm. He was steering his ship himself, as was Rani, and hardly
+would he suffer us to be beside him to shield him. But we would
+have it thus in the end.
+
+At last we were almost on the bridge, and Olaf smiled and watched
+the ships to right and left of us--the oar blades were bending as
+the men struggled with clenched teeth against the fierce current
+that flew past us foaming.
+
+Then the Danish grapnels were cast, as yesterday. The shadow of the
+bridge fell black upon us--the line of Danish faces were above our
+bows--and then down crashed the great stones from above, and I saw
+Olaf's lips tighten and set as he saw their work. Yet though the
+good ship quivered and reeled under the shock, the penthouse roofs
+were strong and steep, and but one great stone tore a hole for
+itself, crushing two men beneath it; but the rest bounded into the
+water, splintering an oar blade or two as they went. And all the
+while the arrows rained round us, and the javelins strove to pierce
+the roofs.
+
+Then was a shout from forward of the ship, and Olaf's eyes
+brightened as he raised his hand. Instantly the rowers stayed, and
+the ships drifted away from the bridge more swiftly than they had
+come, while the Danish grappling irons ripped and tore along the
+roofs uselessly. There was no firm hold for them.
+
+That made the Danes think that we were driven off, and their yells
+began afresh.
+
+Then came a quick word from Olaf, and the oars took the water to
+ease the sharp check as the length of the cables was reached, while
+the ship astern of us swung to her tow line. The king glanced to
+right and left of him, and saw that the other three ships had fared
+as well as we, and that they too were dropping down from the
+bridge.
+
+How the Danes roared and howled with joy, thinking that we were all
+in full retreat! Yet, as the last ship tightened her cable, I saw
+the jerk shake one of them from his perch on the bridge bulwarks
+and send him headlong into the water.
+
+Olaf saw it, and raised his hand and shouted. And with one accord
+the oars of the eight great ships smote the water, and bent, and
+tore the waves into foam--and London Bridge was broken!
+
+The memory of that sight will never pass from my mind or from the
+mind of any man of us who saw all that the lifted hand and shout of
+Olaf the king brought about.
+
+There was a slow groaning of timbers and a cracking, and then a
+dead silence. Then the silence was broken by a wild yell of terror
+from the swarming Danes, and ere they could fly from the crowded
+towers and roadway where the bridge was steepest, the whole length
+of three spans bent and swayed towards us, and a wide gap sprang
+open across the roadway. Into that gap crumbled a great stone-laden
+tower, and men like bees from a shaken swarm. And then those three
+spans seemed to melt away with a great rush and roar, and howl of
+men in mortal terror--and down the freed tide swept our ships,
+dragging after them the timbers that the cables yet held.
+
+Then into the Southwark fortress went Eadmund and his men like
+fire, while from the London side of the river came the roar of a
+fight, as the citizens fell on the Danes who were fleeing terror
+smitten from the weakened spans that were left of London Bridge.
+
+Then Olaf swung our ships to either bank, and past us went in
+confusion, on the rush of pent-up water, the great timbers and
+piles of the bridge, as it broke up piece by piece in the current.
+The men on Ethelred's ships had all they could do to save their
+vessels from being stove in by the heavier woodwork when it was
+swept down among them.
+
+That danger passed; and now was our turn come to join in the
+fighting, for there were none to prevent us from getting the ships
+up to the bridge. And so we scaled from our decks the bulwarks that
+had been so terrible, and fell on the Danes in the rear as Eadmund
+in Southwark and the citizens in London took them in the front. It
+must have been that few Danes were left on either bank, for the
+fighting lasted no long time, and when we had done with these men
+from off the bridge there was no other attack.
+
+So, before the evening came we knew that London was once more in
+the hands of Ethelred, and the bells were ringing to welcome back
+an English king to English land. For Olaf had brought him home.
+
+There was high feasting in London town that night, and Ethelred
+deemed that England was already won. Nor was there any honour too
+great for him to show to the man who had wrought this for him.
+
+But what Olaf said was this:
+
+"To win London is much--though, indeed, it should never have been
+thus lost--but London is not England. There will be more fighting
+yet, if Cnut is a worthy son of Swein Forkbeard."
+
+Now, in after years men made light of this breaking of London
+Bridge, and the reason is not far to seek. For, first of all,
+Cnut's folk, when they had the upper hand, liked not to hear
+thereof. And then the citizens would speak little among themselves
+of their thraldom to the Danes, and much of their welcome to
+Ethelred and their own share in the business when the bridge had
+been broken. And lastly, it was wrought by an outlander. Truly no
+Englishman, whether of Saxon or Danish kin, grudges praise to a
+stranger when he has won it well, but Olaf had few to speak for him
+after he had gone hence. But I have told what I saw, and think that
+it should not be forgotten, for it was a great deed. Men sing the
+song that Ottar the scald wrote thereon in Olaf's Norway, and I
+think that they will sing it for many an age to come.
+
+We have forgotten that song; but the first time he sang it was at
+the great feast in the wide hall of the London merchants' guild
+that night, and sorely did the few Danish lords, who sat as
+captives among us unwillingly enough, scowl as they listened. But
+our folk held their breath lest they should lose aught of either
+voice or words of the singer, for they had never heard his like
+before, and this is part of what he sang {5}:
+
+"Bold in the battle
+Bravest in sword play!
+Thou wert the breaker
+Of London's broad bridge.
+Wild waxed the warfare
+When thou gold wonnest
+Where the shields splintered
+'Neath the stones' crashing--
+When the war byrnies broke
+Beaten beneath them.
+
+"Thine was the strong arm
+That Ethelred sought for;
+Back to his lost land
+Thou the king leddest.
+Then was the war storm
+Waged when thou earnest
+Safe to his high seat
+Leading that king's son,
+Throned by thy help
+On the throne of his fathers."
+
+He ended, and our warriors rose and cheered both hero and singer,
+and when the noise ceased Ethelred gave Ottar his own bracelet; but
+to Olaf he gave his hand, and there in the presence of all the
+company thanked him for what he had wrought, giving more praise to
+him than Ottar had sung.
+
+Then sang the English gleemen of the deeds of Eadmund the Atheling,
+and all were well pleased. Now those songs have bided in our minds
+while Ottar's song is forgotten, and maybe that is but natural. But
+Olaf was my kinsman and very dear to me, and I am jealous for his
+fame.
+
+
+
+Chapter 4: Earl Wulfnoth Of Sussex.
+
+
+Cnut the new Danish king was at Gainsborough with all the force
+that had followed Swein his father, and he had made a pact with the
+Lindsey folk, who were Danes of the old settlement, and of landings
+long before the time of Ingvar, that they should fight for him and
+find provision and horses for his host.
+
+So it seemed most likely that the next thing would be that he would
+march on us, and Ethelred gathered all the forces to him here in
+London that he could, against his coming. At once the English
+thanes came in, and even Sigeferth and Morcar, the powerful lords
+of the old Danish seven boroughs in Mercia, brought their men to
+his help, and that was almost more than could have been hoped. Then
+too came Edric Streone, the great Earl of Mercia, Eadmund's uncle
+by marriage and his foster father, praying for and gaining full
+forgiveness for having seemed to side with Swein, as he said. With
+these was Ulfkytel, our East Anglian earl, and many more, while
+word came from Utred of Northumbria that he would not hold back.
+
+So it was not long before Ethelred and Eadmund rode away north
+towards Gainsborough at the head of as good a force as they had
+ever led, in order to be beforehand with the Danes, who as yet had
+made no move. It seemed as though they feared this new rising of
+all England against them, although all Swein's men who had been
+victors before were there with their new king.
+
+But Olaf, who knew more of Denmark and what might happen there than
+we, said that Cnut waited for news from thence. It might be that
+some trouble would arise at home, for seldom did a king come to his
+throne there without fighting against upstarts who would take it.
+
+"So he holds his force in readiness in the Humber to fall on either
+Denmark or England. If things go ill at home, he will go over sea
+first, and return here. But if all is well, we shall have fighting
+enough presently."
+
+Now when the court of Ethelred had gathered again, it was not long
+before he grew more cold in his way with Olaf, and one might easily
+see that this grew more so with the coming of Edric Streone. So
+that when the march to Lindsey was spoken of, Olaf thought well to
+stay in the Thames with the ships, and when Eadmund asked him to
+come north with the levies he said:
+
+"It seems to me that there are jealousies already among your thanes
+concerning me, and I will not be the cause of any divisions among
+your folk. Yet I would help you, and here is what I can do. I will
+see that no landing is made on these southern shores while you are
+northward, for if you beat Cnut he will take ship and come to Essex
+or Kent; or maybe even into the Thames again. Give me authority to
+command here until you return, and I think I can be of more use
+than if I went with you."
+
+So that was what was done in the end, and Olaf was named as captain
+of the ships and of any southern host that he might be able to
+raise, and Olaf asked that I might stay with him.
+
+That our atheling granted gladly, telling me that it was for no
+lack of wish on his part to have me at his side, as ever of late,
+but that I should take a better place with the king my kinsman than
+among the crowd of thanes who were round Ethelred. Then he took his
+own sword from his side and gave it me.
+
+"Farewell therefore for a while, Redwald, my comrade," he said when
+he went away. "You have helped me to tide over many heavy hours
+that would have pressed sorely on me but for your cheerfulness.
+When peace comes you shall have your Anglian home again, with more
+added to its manors for the sake of past days and good service."
+
+That was much for the atheling to say, and heartily did I thank
+him. Yet I had grown to love Olaf my kinsman better than any other
+man, and I was glad to be with him, away from the court jealousies
+and strivings for place. There was little of that in Olaf's fleet,
+where all were old comrades, and had each long ago found the place
+that he could best fill.
+
+So the levies marched on Gainsborough, and Olaf bided in the Thames
+and gathered ships and men till we had a fair fleet and a good
+force. Then came the news that Cnut and all his host had taken ship
+and fled from England without waiting to strike a blow at Ethelred,
+and our folk thought that this was victory for us. But Olaf rode
+down to the ships in haste, and took them down to Erith, while his
+land levies followed on the Kentish shore. For he thought it likely
+that Cnut did but leave Ethelred and his armies in Lindsey while he
+would land here unopposed.
+
+Then came a fisher's boat with word that Cnut's great fleet was
+putting into Sandwich, but before we had planned to throw our force
+between him and London came the strange news that again he had left
+Kent and had sailed northwards.
+
+We sailed then to Sandwich to learn what we might, sending two
+swift ships to watch if Cnut put into the Essex creeks. But at
+Sandwich we found the thanes whom Swein had held as hostages left,
+cruelly maimed in hand and face, with the message from Cnut that he
+would return.
+
+"He may return," said Olaf, "but if all goes well he will find
+England ready for him. There is some trouble in Denmark or he would
+not leave us thus."
+
+So now all that seemed to be on hand was to bring back the towns
+that were yet held by the Danish garrisons, the thingmen, to their
+rightful king, and to gather a fleet that would watch the coast
+against the return of Cnut. These things seemed not so hard, and
+our land would surely soon be secure.
+
+Then began to creep into my mind a longing to be back in my own
+place again at Bures, to see the river and woods that I loved, and
+to take up the old quiet life that was half forgotten, but none the
+less sweet to remember after all this war and wearing trouble. But
+of all England, after Lindsey, East Anglia was the greatest Danish
+stronghold for those old reasons that I have spoken of, and it was
+likely that there would be more fighting there before Ethelred was
+owned than anywhere else. So I could not go back yet, but must wait
+for Earl Ulfkytel and his levies, who would surely make short work
+of the Danes there when their turn came. After that my lands would
+be my own again, and then--What wonder, after three years and more
+of warfare and the hard life of a warrior who had no home but in a
+court which was a camp--after exile in a strange land--with my
+new-found kinship with Olaf the viking--that what should be then
+had gone from my mind? Will any blame the warrior who did but
+remember his playfellow as part of a long-ago dream of lost peace,
+if he had forgotten what tie bound him to her? When I and little
+Hertha were betrothed it had been nought to us but a pleasant show
+wherein we had taken foremost parts--and across the gap of years of
+trouble so it seemed to me still whenever I recalled it. I
+remembered my confirmation at the good bishop's hands more plainly
+than that, for well I knew what I took on me at that time.
+
+But the knowledge of what our betrothal meant would have grown up
+in our hearts had peace lasted. There had been none to mind me of
+it, or of her, and warfare fills up the whole mind of a man. I was
+brought up amid the scenes of camp and march and battle just at
+that time when a boy's mind is ready to be filled with aught, and,
+as he learns, the past slips away, for his real life has begun.
+
+And these were strange days through which I had been. We grew old
+quickly amid all the cruel trouble of the hopeless fighting. As
+David, the holy king, grew from boy to man suddenly in his days,
+which seem so like ours when one hears them read of in Holy Writ,
+so it had been with Olaf--with Eadmund and Eadward his brother--so
+it would be with Cnut, and so it was with myself. I have often
+spoken with men who were rightly held as veteran warriors, and who
+yet had seen less warfare in ten years than we saw in those three.
+It was endless--unceasing--I would have none go through the like. I
+know not now how we bore it.
+
+So I had forgotten Hertha, whether there is blame to me or not. But
+now, as I say, with the sudden slackening of warfare came to me the
+longing for rest. I would fain find my home again and my playmate,
+and all else that belonged to the past. But before I could do so
+there was work to be done, and I was content to look forward and
+wait.
+
+Now I might make a long story of the doings of Olaf the king during
+this summer. Ottar the scald has much to sing of what we wrought.
+For we went through the fair land of Kent with our Norsemen and the
+new levies, and brought back all the folk to Ethelred. It was no
+hard task, for the poor people thought that Cnut had deceived them
+by his flight; and they were ground down by the heavy payments the
+Danes had levied on them. Only at Canterbury, inside whose walls
+the Danish thingmen gathered in desperation, had we any trouble,
+and we must needs lay siege to the place. But in the end Olaf and I
+knelt in the ancient church of St. Martin and gave thanks for
+victory. We had avenged the death of the martyred archbishop,
+Elfheah.
+
+Ethelred ravaged all Lindsey after Cnut was gone. It was a foolish
+and cruel deed, and he left men there who hated his name more than
+even the name of Swein, to whom they had bowed since they must.
+Then he sat down at Oxford as if all were done, while to have
+marched peacefully, but with a high hand, through the old Danelagh
+would have made the land sure to him. Olaf did so in Kent, and when
+we left it, we left a loyal people who would rise against Cnut for
+Ethelred if the Danes should indeed return. And Lindsey would as
+surely rise for Cnut against us.
+
+But Olaf, though he blamed our king for this, in all singleness of
+purpose went on with the task that he had undertaken. And now the
+next thing was to gather a fleet.
+
+"If we could win Wulfnoth of Sussex to help his king, we have a
+fleet ready made," he said. "Let us sail to his place and speak
+with him."
+
+That was true, and the ships that Wulfnoth had were the king's by
+right. They were the last of the fleet that England had had but
+five years ago--and her mightiest.
+
+Now it happened that I was to see much of this Earl Wulfnoth before
+we had done with him, so I will say at once how he came to have the
+king's ships, and how it was that we must ask his help for
+Ethelred--or rather why he had not given it freely.
+
+It was the fault of Brihtric, Edric Streone's brother, who had some
+private grudge against him, and would ruin him if possible. So he
+accused Wulfnoth of treachery to Ethelred, and that being the thing
+that the king always dreaded from day to day--seeing maybe that he
+was not free from blame in that matter himself--so prevailed that
+the earl was outlawed. Whereon he fled to the fleet, and sailed
+away with all the ships that would follow him.
+
+Then Brihtric chased him with the rest, and met with storm and
+shipwreck on the rugged southern coasts. And through the storm fell
+on him Wulfnoth, and beat him and scattered or took the ships the
+storm had spared. Brihtric left the rest to their own devices, and
+the shipmen brought them back into the Thames. There the Danes took
+them presently, and that was the end of England's fleet.
+
+But Wulfnoth turned viking; and would have nought to do with
+Ethelred after that. His Sussex earldom was beyond reach of attack
+through the great Andred's-weald forests that keep its northern
+borders, and he could keep the sea line. So Ethelred left him
+alone, and Swein would not disturb him. But his help was worth
+winning, and Olaf thought that he might do it.
+
+So we sailed to Lymne, and then to Winchelsea, and there we heard
+that the earl and some of his ships were at his great stronghold of
+Pevensea, which lay not far westward along the coast. And we came
+there in the second week of September, when the time was near that
+the ships should be laid up in their winter quarters.
+
+As we came off the mouth of the shallow tidal haven that runs
+behind the great castle, whose old Roman walls seem strong as ever,
+a boat from the shore came off very boldly to speak with us. But we
+could see the sparkle of arms as some ships were manned in all
+haste lest we were no friendly comers.
+
+The leader of the boat's crew was a handsome boy of about fifteen,
+well armed and fearless, and he stepped on board Olaf's ship
+without mistrust when the king hailed him.
+
+"Who are you, and what would you on these shores?" he asked before
+we had spoken.
+
+Olaf laughed pleasantly in his quiet way, and answered:
+
+"I must know who asks me before I say aught."
+
+"Maybe that is fair," said the boy. "I am Godwine, son of Wulfnoth
+the earl."
+
+"Then you have right to ask," answered our king. "I am Olaf
+Haraldsson. I am a viking, and come in peace to see and speak with
+your father."
+
+The boy stared at the king in wonder for a moment.
+
+"Are you truly Olaf the Thick, who broke London Bridge?" he asked.
+
+"Well, I had some hand in it," answered Olaf laughing, "for I told
+the men when to pull, and when they pulled, the bridge came down.
+They did it and I looked on."
+
+Then young Godwine laughed also, and bade the king welcome most
+heartily, adding:
+
+"You must tell me all about the bridge breaking presently."
+
+"Nay; but Redwald my cousin, or Ottar my scald here will tell you
+more than I may."
+
+"Redwald is an Anglian name," said Godwine, taking my hand. "Are
+you English therefore?"
+
+"Aye, young sir, from East Anglian Bures, in Suffolk," I answered.
+
+"Are you Edric Streone's man then?" he said, dropping my hand
+suddenly and half stepping back.
+
+"I am not," I said pretty stoutly, for I was angry with Streone's
+way with Olaf--and with other ways of his. "Ulfkytel is our earl."
+
+"Aye, I have heard of him as an honest man," Godwine said.
+
+"Come ashore, King Olaf, and you other thanes, and there will be
+good cheer for you."
+
+"Can you steer us into the haven, young sir?" asked Rani, who stood
+by smiling to himself. "We must have the ships inside the island
+while the tide serves."
+
+"Aye, that I can," said the boy eagerly; "I take my own ship in and
+out without troubling any other to help."
+
+And with that he took hold of Rani's arm and showed him mark after
+mark, giving him depth of water and the like, while we listened and
+watched his face.
+
+Presently Olaf said:
+
+"Take command of my ship, Godwine, and lead the rest."
+
+"You will take the risk, lord king," he answered laughing.
+
+"Aye, and will hold you blameless if she takes the ground before
+she is beached."
+
+Now there was no doubt that Godwine was used to command, and was
+confident in himself, for he made no more ado, but took charge, and
+bade Rani signal the rest to follow, while he went to the helm
+himself.
+
+Then said Olaf to me while the boy was intent on his work: "Here is
+one who will be a great man in England some day, and I think before
+long."
+
+And I had thought the same; for Earl Wulfnoth's son would rank high
+for the sake of his birth, and it seemed that he was fitted to take
+the great place that might be his.
+
+So Godwine beached the ships well, in the lee of the island on
+which the great castle stands when the tide is high, and we went
+ashore. The castle gates were well guarded in our honour, for
+Godwine had sent the boat back with word who we were.
+
+There greeted us Earl Wulfnoth himself in the courtyard of his
+great house. One went inside the castle walls to find almost a
+village of buildings, all of timber, that had grown up round the
+hall that stood in the midst, and that had its courtyard and
+stockading, as had our own house on the open hill at Bures. I think
+there was no stronger place than this castle of Pevensea in all
+Sussex, if anywhere on the southern coasts.
+
+Now it were long to say how Wulfnoth the earl welcomed King Olaf,
+but it was after a kingly sort, for he was king in all but name in
+his earldom, shut off as it is from the rest of England by the deep
+forests. But he feasted us for two days before he would speak a
+word with Olaf as to what he had come to ask him, saying that it
+was enough for him to see the bridge breaker and the taker of
+Canterbury town, and to do him honour. For Olaf's fame had gone
+widely through all England.
+
+Now Godwine would ever talk with me, for I could tell him of Olaf,
+and also of the long war, and of the Norman court, so that we
+became great friends. But he had no liking for Ethelred, which was
+not wonderful, seeing that Wulfnoth his father had not a good word
+to say for him.
+
+At last, when Olaf told him plainly of the needs of England and of
+her king, and of what he feared of the return of Cnut, Earl
+Wulfnoth answered:
+
+"Had you come to ask me to go a-viking with yourself, gladly would
+I have joined with or followed you. Godwine my son has yet some
+things to learn which a Norseman could teach him, and it would have
+been well. But Ethelred holds me as a traitor; and while Edric
+Streone is at his side I will not have aught to do with him. I will
+drive any Dane out of my land, and that is all. Neither Ethelred
+nor Cnut is aught to me. I and my son are earls of Sussex."
+
+Then he rose up from his high seat and strode out of the hall,
+bidding us follow him. He led us to the eastern gate, and climbed
+to the broad top of the ramparts.
+
+"See yonder," he said, and pointed eastward across the river and
+marsh. "There is the hill where our standard has been raised time
+after time since OElla and Cissa drove in flight the Welsh who had
+raised theirs in the same place before us. There will I raise it
+again against Cnut or Streone or any other of his men."
+
+"Edric Streone is with King Ethelred," said Olaf; "he is not Cnut's
+man."
+
+"He has been Swein's man; and if it suits him will be Cnut's. I
+will not alter my saying of him."
+
+"Ethelred believes in him," answered Olaf, "and Eadmund the
+Atheling believes in him as in himself."
+
+"So much the worse for them," said the earl; "you will see if I am
+not right. I know Edric Streone over well, and he knows it, and
+hates me."
+
+"Come, therefore, and take Ethelred out of his hands," Olaf said.
+
+"Not I. Let him inlaw me again first. I will not go and ask pardon
+for what I have not done."
+
+And after that the earl would say no more on the matter, waxing
+wroth if Olaf would try to persuade him. So it seemed that our
+journey was lost; and Olaf began to be anxious to return to the
+Thames, where our ships should go into winter quarters. But the
+wind held in the east, and kept us for a while.
+
+Wulfnoth was not sorry for this, for it was full harvest time, and
+he sent his housecarles out to his other manors to gather it, so
+that he had few folk about him. Godwine went with them to a place
+on the downs called Chancton, where was a great house of the earl.
+We parted unwillingly; but we might sail at any time if the wind
+shifted, and the earl would have him go.
+
+"When you have done with fighting for Ethelred the Unredy," said
+the boy to me, "bring Olaf back here, and you and I, friend
+Redwald, will go a-viking with him. He says he wants to go to
+Jerusalem Land some day--and that would be a good cruise."
+
+Now the day after the housecarles left Pevensea, there befell a
+matter which would have brought them back hastily had we not been
+in the haven. There was always a beacon fire ready to recall them,
+and they watched for it even as they wrought in the upland fields,
+or if they were among the woods. Turn by turn one would climb to a
+place whence it could be seen, for one may never know what need
+shall be on our English shores, and I was to learn that need for
+arms might be in a forest-girt land also, from foes at home.
+
+Olaf and I were in the ships. The wind was unsteady, and it seemed
+that a shift was coming with that night's new moon, and we were
+preparing for sailing. And from our decks we saw a little train of
+people crossing the difficult path from the mainland to the island
+that folk can only use when the tide is low, and then only if they
+know it well or have a guide to lead them. They say that once the
+path was always under water, but that the land grows slowly, and
+that at some time the island will be joined to the low hills that
+are nearest to it on the northwest.
+
+We went back almost as these folk came into the castle garth by the
+western gate, and met them in the courtyard. Then it was plain that
+there was trouble on hand, for the leader of the party was a thane
+whom I knew by sight, as he had been called to our feasting when
+first we came, and he had brought with him two ladies, who came in
+no sort of state; and, moreover, there were one or two wounded men
+among the twenty rough housecarles who followed them, and bore such
+burdens of household stuff as had been taken by us when we fled
+from Bures.
+
+I had seen the like too often to mistake these signs, and I said to
+Olaf:
+
+"Here is fighting on hand, my king."
+
+And then before he answered, came Wulfnoth out of the great door
+and hurried up to the party, doffing his velvet cap as he saw the
+ladies.
+
+"Ho, friend Relf," he said, "what is amiss?"
+
+"Outlaws, earl," said the thane, "and in strong force."
+
+"This is the pest of my life," answered the earl angrily, "for no
+sooner are our men gone harvesting than these forest knaves begin
+to give trouble.
+
+"When were you last burnt out, Relf of Penhurst?" and he laughed in
+an angry way that had no mirth in it.
+
+"Four years agone--after our trouble with Brihtric," answered the
+thane. "They have not been so bold since then; and the small fights
+I have had with them have not been so fierce that I must fetch you
+from Bosham to my help."
+
+"Evil times make them bold," said the earl. "How many are there in
+this band?"
+
+"Enough to sack the Penhurst miners' village," the thane said. "Men
+say that there are Danes among them; and I know that there are men
+who are well armed beyond the wont of outlaws and forest dwellers."
+
+Then Wulfnoth called to us:
+
+"See here, King Olaf, this is your fault; you have driven the Danes
+out of Kent into our forests, and now we have trouble enough on our
+hands."
+
+"Then, Earl Wulfnoth," answered Olaf, "my men and I will fight them
+here again."
+
+But when we drew near I was fain to look on one of the two ladies
+who still sat on their horses waiting for the earl's pleasure. One
+was Relf the thane's wife, and the other his daughter; and it was
+in my mind that I had never seen so beautiful a maiden as this was.
+It seemed to me that I could willingly give my life in battle
+against those who had harmed her home, if she might know that I did
+so.
+
+But the thane was telling Olaf that there must be some three
+hundred of the outlaws and others.
+
+"I had forty-two men yesterday, and I have but twenty with me now,"
+said he.
+
+"Then you fought?" asked Wulfnoth.
+
+"Aye," answered the thane shortly, for it was plain enough that he
+had done so.
+
+"Have they burnt your house?"
+
+"Not when I left. They are mostly strangers to the land, and they
+bide where there is ale and plunder, in the old Penhurst village at
+the valley's head."
+
+"Then," said Olaf, "let us march at once and save the thane's
+hall."
+
+"That is well said," answered the earl, rubbing his hands with
+glee. "We will make a full end; there will be no more trouble for
+many a year to come."
+
+Then he bethought him of the two ladies, and he called his steward
+and bade him take them in. At which, when they would dismount, I
+went to help the maiden, and was pleased that she thanked me for
+the little trouble, looking at me shyly. I think that I had not
+heard a more pleasant voice than hers, or so it seemed to me at the
+time. She went into the house with her mother, and I was left with
+a remembrance of her words that bided with me; and I called myself
+foolish for thinking twice of the meeting.
+
+Then the earl and Olaf and Relf began to speak of the best way in
+which to deal with these plunderers; and as I looked at the stout
+fair-haired thane it seemed to me that things must have been bad if
+he had had to fly.
+
+It would seem that his place was some ten miles from Pevensea,
+lying at the head of a forest valley, down which was a string of
+the old hammer ponds that the Romans made when they worked the
+iron. And the village, or town as he called it, was in the next
+valley, at the head of the little river Ashbourne, whose waters
+joined the river which makes the haven of Pevensea. The town was
+very old, and had a few earthworks round it, though the place
+whereon it stood was strong by nature. The iron workers in the old
+Roman days had first built there, and they knew how to choose their
+ground. Thence, too, the Romans would float their boatloads of iron
+down to the port of Anderida, as they called Pevensea; and there
+were yet old stone buildings that had been raised by them.
+
+So if these outlaws chose to hold the place, it was likely that we
+should have some fighting, though this would not be quite after the
+manner of forest dwellers, unless it were true that Danes were
+among them.
+
+"Whether there is any fight in them or not," said Wulfnoth, "I will
+have the place surrounded, and let not one get away."
+
+"That is early morning work," Olaf answered. "How many of my men
+will you have?"
+
+"It depends on what manner of men they are," said the earl. "All I
+know of them yet is that they are good trenchermen."
+
+That pleased not Olaf altogether, for there seemed to be a little
+slight in the words--as though he had come to the earl to be fed
+only. And he made a sign to me that I knew well; and I thought to
+myself that Wulfnoth of Sussex was likely to wish that he had seen
+our warriors in their war gear before.
+
+Olaf paid no heed to me as I went quickly down to the ships. The
+men were lying about and watching the sky, for it was changing. But
+at one word from me there was no more listlessness; and Rani called
+them to quarters. I would that in the English levies there was the
+order and quickness that was in Olaf's ships. Yet these men had
+been with him for years, and were not like our hastily-gathered
+villagers.
+
+So in ten minutes or less they were armed and ready for aught; and
+Rani and I led them up to the castle, leaving the ship guard set,
+as if we were making a landing in earnest on an enemy's shore.
+Eight hundred strong we were, and foremost marched the men of
+Olaf's ship, each one of whom wore ring mail of the best and a good
+helm, and carried both sword and axe and round shield.
+
+Wulfnoth stood with his back to the gate as we entered with the
+leading files. But when he heard the tramp and ring of warriors in
+their mail, he started and turned round sharply. I saw his face
+flush red, and I saw Olaf's smile, and Relf's face of wonder. And
+then the earl broke out--angrily enough--for his castle was, as it
+were, taken by Olaf.
+
+"What is the meaning of this?"
+
+"You wished to see my men, lord earl," said Olaf. "I sent for them
+therefore. King Ethelred, for whom they fight just now, was pleased
+with them."
+
+Then the earl saw that Olaf tried one last plan by which to make
+him side with the king. Maybe he thought that this chance had been
+waited for, but it was not so. Therefore he choked down his anger
+that we should come unbidden into his fortress, and laughed
+harshly.
+
+"Well for me, King Olaf, that you come in peace, as it seems. One
+may see that these men are no untried war smiths."
+
+"There is no man in my own crew who has not seen four battles with
+me," answered Olaf. "Some have seen more. The rest of the men have
+each seen two fights of mine."
+
+"I would that I had somewhat on hand that was worthy to be counted
+as another battle of yours, instead of a hunting of these forest
+wolves," answered Wulfnoth, seeming to grow less angry. "Supposing
+that you and I were to fight for the crown of England for
+ourselves--either of us has as much right thereto as Cnut."
+
+"The Danes hold that England has paid scatt {6} to their king
+as overlord, and that is proof of right for Cnut, as they say,"
+answered Olaf.
+
+"They say!" growled Wulfnoth fiercely. "King and witan and people
+have been fools enough to buy peace with gold and not with edged
+steel. But that has been ransom, not tribute. When a warrior is
+made prisoner and held to ransom, is the man who takes the gold to
+set him free his master, therefore, ever after? Scatt, forsooth! I
+have a mind to go and teach the pack of fools whom Streone leads by
+the nose and calls a witan, that there is one man left in England
+who is strong enough to make them pay scatt to himself!"
+
+Then Olaf said, very quietly:
+
+"Why not put an end to Danegeld once for all by helping me drive
+out the last Dane from England? We should be strong enough as
+things are now.
+
+"For Streone and his tools to reap the benefit? Not I," said the
+earl. "Come, we have forgotten our own business."
+
+Now it seemed to me that Wulfnoth was eager to get our men back to
+the ships outside of the walls again, for there is no doubt that
+had Olaf chosen to take the place for Ethelred it was already done.
+But such thought of treachery to his host could never be in Olaf's
+mind, and it was the last time that he tried to win the earl over.
+
+So Wulfnoth went quickly down the ranks and noted all things as a
+chief such as he will. But now and then he waxed moody, and growled
+in his thick beard, "Scatt, forsooth!"
+
+So presently he asked Olaf to bring two ship's crews--about
+eight-score men in all--against the outlaws. Fifty of his own
+housecarles would go, and Relf's twenty. And they were to be ready
+two hours before dawn, as he meant to surprise the outlaws in the
+village at the first light.
+
+Then he praised the men, and had ale brought out for them, and so
+recovered his good temper, and at last he said to Olaf with a great
+laugh:
+
+"Verily you may go away and boast that you are the first man who
+has brought his armed followers inside Pevensea walls without
+leave, since the days when OElla and Cissa forced the Welsh to let
+them in. Now I wot that Ethelred has a friend who must be reckoned
+with."
+
+"Nay, but you would see the men," said Olaf.
+
+"Aye, and I have seen them," answered the earl grimly.
+
+When we sat down in the hall that night I was next to the maiden
+Sexberga, Relf's daughter, at the high table. She was very
+different from the great ladies of the court, who were all that I
+knew. I tried to assure her that her home would be safe, and I
+promised her many things in order to see her smile, and to please
+her.
+
+Yet when I went down to the ships presently, for none of us slept
+within Wulfnoth's walls, I was glad that there was no light of
+burning houses over Penhurst woods, as yet.
+
+
+
+Chapter 5: How Redwald Fared At Penhurst.
+
+
+It was very dark when we marched from Pevensea. We followed the
+earl's men, and save for remembering the muddy torchlit causeway to
+firm ground from the castle, and after that dim hill and dale
+passed in turn, and a long causeway and bridge that spanned the
+mouth of a narrow valley that opened into the great Pevensea level,
+I knew not much of what country we went through. After passing that
+causeway we came into forest land, going along a track for awhile,
+and then turning inland across rolling hills till we began to go
+down again. And as the first streaks of dawn began to show above
+the woods, the word was passed for silence, and then that we should
+lie down and rest in the fern on the edge of a steep slope below
+which shone the faint gleam of water.
+
+Then came Wulfnoth and spoke to Olaf, and said that he and his men
+would go beyond the village so as to take the outlaws from the
+rear. He would send a man to us who would show us all that was
+needed.
+
+After that we lay and waited, and as the sun rose and the light
+grew stronger, I thought that I had never seen a more beautiful
+place.
+
+We were above a little cliff of red rock that went down to the
+valley of the Ashbourne brook. And all the valley from side to side
+was full of the morning mists so that it seemed one lake, while the
+woods were bright with the change of the leaf, from green to red
+and gold--oak and beech and chestnut and hazel each with its own
+colour, and all beautiful. The blue downs rose far away to our left
+across the ridges of the forest land, and inland the Andred's-weald
+stretched, rising hill above hill as far as one might see, timber
+covered. There were trees between us and the village that we
+sought; but above its place rose a dun cloud of smoke from some
+houses fired that night by those who held it, and that was the one
+thing that spoiled the beauty of all that I saw.
+
+Now Olaf and I spoke of all this, whispering together, for we were
+close to the village, and already we had heard voices from thence
+as men woke. For Olaf was ever touched by the sight of a fair land
+lying before him. And while he spoke, a man seemed to rise out of a
+cleft of the rocks below us, and climbed up to us, and bowed before
+us, saying that he was to guide us.
+
+He was a great man, clad in leather from head to foot, and carrying
+a sledgehammer over his shoulder. That and a billhook stuck in his
+belt were his only weapons.
+
+"I am Spray the smith," he said, in a low voice. "The earl is
+ready, and the thane also. The knaves are all drunken with our ale,
+and we may fall on them at once."
+
+"Have they no watch kept?" asked Olaf wondering.
+
+"None, master."
+
+"Are there Danes with them?"
+
+"Aye; half are Danes. But I met one of them last night and spoke to
+him peacefully, being stronger than he, and I said that vikings had
+come to Pevensea, and that the earl was minding them. So they fear
+no one."
+
+Then came a herdsman's call from the woods beyond the village, and
+the smith said:
+
+"That is the thane. Fall on, master, and fear nought."
+
+Whereat I laughed, and the men sprang up. The smith led us for a
+hundred paces through the beech trees and then across the brook,
+and the steep slope up to the village was before us. There was a
+little, ancient earthwork of no account round the place, but if
+there had been a stockade on it, it was gone.
+
+Then came a roar of yells and shouts from the far side, and we knew
+that the work had begun, and ran up the hillside. Then fled a man
+in chain mail out of the place, leaping over the earthworks
+straight at us, unknowing.
+
+Spray the smith swung his hammer, not heeding at all the sword in
+the man's hands. Sword and helm alike shivered under the blow, and
+the man rolled over and over down the hillside.
+
+"That is the first Dane I ever slew," said Spray to me as we topped
+the ridge.
+
+Then we were in the village and among a crowd of wild-looking,
+half-armed forest men, who fled and yelled, and smote and cried for
+quarter in a strange and ghastly medley. There was no order, and
+seemingly no leader among them, and an end was soon made. Before I
+had struck down two men they scattered and fled for hiding, and we
+followed them. Wulfnoth would have no mercy shown to these wretches
+who would harry the peaceful villagers--their own kin. They would
+but band together again.
+
+Now I did a foolish thing which might have cost me my life. For two
+outlaws ran into one of the old stone buildings of which I had
+heard, and I followed them. As I crossed the threshold I stayed for
+a moment, for the place seemed very dark inside, and I could not
+see them. But I was plain enough to them, of course, and before I
+could see that a blow was coming one smote me heavily on the helm
+and I fell forward, while they leapt out over my body into the open
+again. Then I seemed to slip, and fell into nothingness as my
+senses left me.
+
+Presently I came round, nor could I tell how long I had been alone,
+I heard far off shouts that were dull and muffled as if coming
+through walls, and then as my brain cleared, I saw that I was in
+what seemed to be a dungeon like those that Earl Wulfnoth had under
+Pevensea. All round me were walls, and the light came in from a
+round hole above me.
+
+When I saw that I knew that I had indeed fallen into this place,
+and my sword, too, lay on the floor where it had flown from my hand
+as I did so. It was lucky that I had not fallen on it.
+
+Now the shouts died away, and I thought that our men were chasing
+the last of the outlaws into the woods. When the silence fell, I
+waxed lonely, and began to wonder if I had been forgotten. But Olaf
+would miss me presently, and would surely return to the village
+before long. So I would be patient, and at least try to find a way
+out of this trap into which I had come so strangely.
+
+But there was no way out unless a ladder or rope were lowered to
+me. The roof of the place was rounded and arched above me, and the
+hole was in its centre so that I could not reach it. Maybe the
+place was ten feet across and ten feet high under the hole, and it
+minded me of the snake pit into which Gunnar the hero was thrown,
+as Ottar the scald sang. Only here were no snakes, and the air was
+thick and musty, but dry enough. I could see the beams of the house
+roof above the hole.
+
+Then I thought that if I could prise some stones from the old walls
+I might pile them up until I reached the edge of the hole with my
+hands, when it would be easy to draw myself up, though maybe not
+without taking off my armour. But when I tried the joints of the
+masonry with the point of my seax, I did but blunt the weapon, for
+the mortar was harder than the stone, which was the red sandstone
+of the cliff where we had rested.
+
+So I forbore and sat down, leaning my aching head against the cool
+wall, to wait for Olaf's return. There would be time to shout when
+I heard voices again, and it was not good to make much noise in
+that place after the blow of a club that had set my ears ringing
+already.
+
+Then I fell to thinking of Sexberga, and those thoughts were
+pleasant enough. And idly I began to sharpen my seax again on a
+great square stone that was handy in the wall as I sat, but it was
+very soft, and crumbled away under the steel without doing it much
+good.
+
+Now, when one is waiting and thinking, one will play with an idle
+pastime for the sake of keeping one's hands amused as it were, and
+so I went on working the long slit in the stone, which the blade
+was making, deeper and deeper. The sand trickled from it in a
+stream, and then all of a sudden I became aware that I had pierced
+through the stone into a hole behind, and I bent over to see how
+this could be.
+
+The stone was not more than an inch or two thick, and there was
+certainly a hollow which it closed, and when I saw that I broke and
+worked away more of it until I could get my hand in. Then I found
+that I could feel nothing, for the place was deep. So I made the
+hole bigger yet, and put my arm in. Then I found the back and one
+side of a stone-cased chest in the wall, as it were, of which the
+stone I had bored was the door, though this was to all appearance
+like several other of the larger blocks that the place was built
+of.
+
+When I reached downwards my hand could just touch what felt like
+rotten canvas, and at that I began to work again at the hole. The
+stone was too strong to break, though it seemed thin, and I was so
+intent on this, that the voices I had longed to hear made me start.
+
+"He was hereabouts, master, when I last saw him," said one whom I
+thought was Spray the smith.
+
+"I will hang you up if he is lost," said Wulfnoth's voice.
+
+Then I sprang up and shouted, and the vault rang painfully in my
+ears. It was Olaf who called back to me.
+
+"Ho, Redwald where are you?"
+
+"Under the house, in a pit," I answered, standing under the
+opening.
+
+Then someone came tramping above me, and the next moment Spray's
+leather-hosed leg came through the hole, and he nearly joined me.
+Thereat others laughed, and he climbed up quickly enough, for it
+was an ill feeling to be hanging over an unknown depth.
+
+"Lower me down a rope," I said, as I saw his face peering into the
+place with some others.
+
+There seemed to be a ladder handy, for the next minute its end came
+down, and at once I picked up my sword and climbed out. Olaf stood
+in the doorway now with Relf.
+
+"It is easy to see how my cousin got into that place," he said to
+Relf, pointing to my helm, which was sorely dinted.
+
+The big thane looked and laughed.
+
+"That is what felled him. But I knew not of this pit," he said,
+looking past me into the house where Spray and the men stood round
+the hole.
+
+Then the smith said:
+
+"Nor did I, master. But this has been found by the forest men--here
+are their tools."
+
+And when we looked, all the floor of the house was broken up, and
+the stone paving was piled in corners, and a pick or two lay on
+them with a spade and crowbar.
+
+"They have been digging for treasure," said Relf, "and that has
+kept them from my house. There are always tales of gold hidden in
+these old places. I have seen that they have done the like
+elsewhere in the village."
+
+"Aye," said Spray, "they have heard some of our tales, and they
+have dug where we would not, for it spoils a house, and the wife's
+temper also, to meddle with the good stone floor."
+
+Now it seemed to me that here was a likelihood that there was truth
+in the old tales, and that I had lit on the lost hiding place of
+which some memory yet remained even from the days when OElla's men
+took the town from the iron workers five hundred years and more
+ago, when the might of Rome had passed.
+
+"There is somewhat that I have found in this place," I said. "Come
+and see what it is."
+
+Wondering, Olaf and Wulfnoth climbed down the ladder after me, and
+Relf did but stay to find a torch before he followed us. Then I
+showed them the stone and the hollow behind it, and the earl called
+for the crowbar that was left by the outlaws, and with a stroke or
+two easily broke out the rest of the stone, and the glare of the
+torch shone into the place that it had so long sealed.
+
+It was a chamber in the wall, and maybe a yard square each way. The
+stone had not filled all its width or depth of mouth, but was, as
+it were, a sealed door to be broken and replaced by another. Then
+we could see that the canvas I had thought that I had felt was
+indeed the loose folds of the tied mouths of bags that were neatly
+arranged at the bottom of this stone-built chest. And the canvas
+that I had reached and pulled at had easily parted, and through the
+rent showed the dull gleam of gold coin as the torchlight flared
+upon it.
+
+The light shone too on letters scratched on the soft stone of the
+back of the chamber. I could read them, but Wulfnoth pointed to
+them, saying:
+
+"Here may be a curse written on him who touches. I will have our
+priest read that which is there if he can."
+
+Then I laughed, and said that it was no curse, but the name of some
+Roman who made the place, for all that was there was:
+
+CLAVD. MARTINVS. ARTIF. FEC.
+
+"Which means that a workman named Martin was proud of his work, and
+left his name there," I said when I had read it.
+
+"And was slain, doubtless, lest he should betray the secret," said
+Wulfnoth.
+
+And he put his hand out to take one of the bags from the place,
+feeling round the rotten canvas to get a fair grip of the mass of
+coin.
+
+Then he drew back his hand with a cry that came strangely from his
+stern lips, for it sounded like alarm, and he stepped back.
+
+"As I live," he said, "somewhat cold moved beneath my fingers in
+there."
+
+Even as he spoke something crawled slowly on to the bag that was
+broken and sat on the red gold that was hidden no longer. There it
+stayed, staring at the torchlight--a great wizened toad, whose eyes
+were like the gold which it seemed to guard. And we stared at it,
+for not one of us dared touch it, nor could we say aught.
+
+It is ill to waste breath in wondering how the creature got into
+this long-closed place or how it lived. But when I have told of
+this, many a time have I heard stories of toads that have been
+found in stranger places--even in solid-seeming rock. But however
+it came there--and one may think of many ways--it scared us. It
+seemed a thing not natural.
+
+"It is the evil spirit that guards the treasure," whispered Relf to
+Olaf, edging toward the ladder.
+
+"Fetch Anselm the priest, and let him exorcise this," said the
+earl. "It is some witchcraft of the heathen Romans."
+
+"Were I in Finmark I would say that this was a 'sending' {7},"
+Olaf said, "but we are in Christian England, and this is but a
+toad."
+
+Now I said nothing, but I wished the beast away, for I would see
+the treasure I had found. Then the earl bethought himself.
+
+"Maybe it is but a toad," he said. "I will cast it out."
+
+And with that he went to do so, but liked it not, and drew back
+again.
+
+"Toad or worse," I said then, "I mind not their cold skin, and will
+see what it is."
+
+So I took hold of the beast, and it swelled itself out as I did so,
+and croaked a little. That was the worst it did; but I will say
+this, that the sound almost made me drop it. But I cast it behind
+me into the shadow, and then put both hands into the chamber and
+took out one of the bags.
+
+It was full of gold coin, as was that which had been torn open, and
+as were all the rest--ten of them--when we looked. And the coins
+were older than we could tell, being stamped with strange figures
+that bore some likeness to horses whose limbs fell apart, and a
+strange face on the other side. Many had letters on them, and these
+were mostly--CVNO.
+
+"They are coins of the Welsh folk whom we conquered," said
+Wulfnoth. "I have seen the like before. They made them at Selsea,
+and we find many there on the shore after storms."
+
+Now I think that we had found the hiding place of the tribute money
+that should be sent to Rome when some ship came thence or from
+beyond the Channel to fetch it, or maybe it was some iron master's
+hoarded payment for the good Sussex iron that they smelted in these
+valleys in the Roman days. More likely it was the first, for men
+would know that it had never been sent away. None can tell how the
+places of these hoards are lost, but times of war have strange
+chances. Then folk do but hand down the knowledge that, somewhere,
+the treasure is yet hidden {8}.
+
+"Good booty had OElla and Cissa our forbears, but they have left
+some for us," said Earl Wulfnoth.
+
+"Here is gold enough to buy a good fleet for Ethelred," said Olaf
+thoughtfully.
+
+"Gold enough for you and me to win England for ourselves withal,"
+said the earl in a low voice. "You take the Danelagh, and I the
+rest, and we will keep Ethelred for a puppet overlord."
+
+"If Cnut wins there will be time enough to think of that," answered
+Olaf coldly. "Eadmund is my friend."
+
+"Not Ethelred?" said Wulfnoth eagerly.
+
+"I fight for him," answered Olaf.
+
+"Well, well. I did but speak my own wish," said the earl. "You and
+I will not be agreed on this matter."
+
+Then he turned to Relf, and began to give him some directions about
+a horse whereon to load the treasure. And Olaf and I went back up
+the ladder, leaving them, for the vault grew close and hot, and
+this was their business. The earl would take it back to Pevensea,
+where it would be safe. Word would go round quickly enough
+concerning the find, and of what value it was. Nor would that grow
+less in the telling, though none of us had ever seen so much gold
+together before.
+
+I suppose that I had been in the place for two hours or more, and
+the morning sky had changed strangely since the fight began. The
+sun was hidden with a great mass of heavy clouds that were driving
+up fast from the southwest, although the woods around us were still
+and motionless in the hot, heavy air. The smoke that still rose
+from the burnt houses went up straight as a pine tree.
+
+Olaf looked up at the sky, and seemed anxious.
+
+"There is a gale brewing," he said. "I am glad Rani is with the
+ships."
+
+Then he walked away to a spur of the hill that looked down the
+valley towards the sea. We could see all the tidal water, and
+almost to Pevensea, and there came a long murmur of the sea on the
+pebble beach, even to where we stood, so hushed were all things.
+Surely there was a heavy sea setting in to make so loud a noise as
+that. And all the hills and marshes seemed close at hand, so clear
+was the air.
+
+Then came to us Olaf's ship master, and he was uneasy also.
+
+"Tide is at its highest tonight," he said, "and if the wind gets up
+from the southwest, as seems likely, it will be higher yet than
+usual. See how the clouds whirl over us."
+
+Then the king went back to the building and called to Wulfnoth, who
+came up the ladder asking what was amiss, for he heard that Olaf's
+voice was urgent.
+
+"Here is a gale coming," the king said, "and we must be back with
+the ships."
+
+Wulfnoth came out into the open and looked round.
+
+"Aye; and tide will be high at the causeway. These spring tides run
+wildly at this time of year," he said. "We must be going."
+
+Then was no more delay, but the horns blew the recall, and the men
+came in. We had lost none, but I do not think that many outlaws
+were left.
+
+They brought a farm horse, with baskets slung across its back in
+the Sussex manner, and into them the gold was put. I looked down
+into the vault as the men left it, and saw that Relf was there, and
+that they had tried every great stone in the walls in search of
+another chamber, but that there had not been one. And when he came
+up I was about to draw up the ladder after him, and looked down for
+the last time.
+
+There at the ladder's foot sat the elvish toad, and it seemed to me
+that it looked pitifully up at the light. How many years might it
+have been without sunlight or touch of dew or cool green leaves
+that it had loved? And I was fain to climb down and take it up in
+my hand and set it free on the grass outside the house, where a
+dock spread its broad leaves. It crawled under them in haste, and I
+saw it no more. Then I found that Spray the smith was watching me,
+and he said a strange thing.
+
+"That is a good deed, master," he said. "I think that you shall
+never be in prison."
+
+"May I never be so," I answered, wondering.
+
+"I am a forest-bred man," he said, "and I love all beasts," and
+then he turned away, and went to the men who were waiting for the
+earl's word.
+
+And when all was ready Relf came to me and said that he would go to
+his own place with his men, and that he would ask me to take word
+to his wife and daughter that all was safe at home. The outlaws had
+been too busy in the town to seek further for plunder, or had not
+cared to do so at once. So he went, as we started, and I was
+pleased with the chance of having speech with Sexberga.
+
+Now there was a moaning overhead as we went through the woods along
+the ridge above the valley, and hot breaths of air began to play in
+our faces. The clouds raced above us more swiftly, and black masses
+of scud drifted yet faster below them from across the hard black
+backs of the downs to the westward. There was something strange in
+the feeling of the weather that seemed to betoken more than a storm
+of wind and rain, and we were silent and oppressed as we marched.
+
+Now we came to the crest of the hill where the track goes down to
+the level of the river and marshes and to the causeway, which we
+crossed in the early morning. I could see now how narrow the outlet
+of the river was between the hills where it joined the main tidal
+waters, and the causeway was low, and both it and the bridge were
+very ancient. They call it Boreham Bridge, and it is a place that I
+shall not forget.
+
+When we were halfway down the steep hill suddenly the first blast
+of the gale smote us in the face, and that with a roar and howl and
+rush that drowned all other sounds. The branches flew from the
+trees along the hillside, and more than one great trunk gave way at
+last to that onset. Then all along the coastline grew and widened a
+white line of flying spindrift that hid the distant gray walls of
+Pevensea on its low island, and shone like snow against the black
+dun-edged cloud that came up from out of the sea.
+
+"Hurry, men," shouted Wulfnoth, "or the bridge will be down! Look
+at the tide!"
+
+And that was racing up inland, already foaming through the wooden
+arches that spanned its course. I had heard that the tide reached
+this place a full hour after it began to flow at Pevensea, and even
+now it was thus, two hours before it should have been at its
+highest there.
+
+Wulfnoth's men led, and then came the earl, riding beside Spray and
+the horse which bore the treasure. Olaf was riding just behind
+them, and I marched with our crew not ten paces after him. So we
+went down the hill, and so we stepped on the causeway, and came to
+the first timbers of the bridge. And hardly had I stepped on them
+than there came a great shout from the men behind us, while one
+seized my arm and pointed seaward across the marshes.
+
+There came rushing across the level--blending channel and land into
+one sea as it passed--a vast white roller, great as any wave which
+breaks upon the shore, and its length was lost behind the hill
+before us, and far away to our left. So swiftly did it come that it
+seemed that none of us might gain the hill before it whelmed us and
+causeway and bridge alike.
+
+Earl Wulfnoth grasped the bridle of the pack horse, and the man
+Spray lashed it, shouting aloud to us to hasten. And Olaf turned in
+his saddle and saw me, and reined up until I grasped his stirrup
+leather, and ran on beside him. And our men broke and ran, some
+following us, and some going back to the hill whence we came. And
+all the while the great white billow was thundering nearer, and my
+head reeled with its noise and terror till I knew not what I was
+doing, and let go my hold of Olaf's stirrup.
+
+Then it broke over bridge and causeway, and through its roar I
+heard yells, and the crash of broken timber, before I lost all
+knowledge of aught but that I was lost in that mighty wave, and was
+being whirled like a straw before it, where it would take me.
+
+I struck out wildly as if to swim--but of what avail was that
+against the weight of rushing water? I seemed to be rolled over and
+against broken timber and reeds and stones--and once my hand
+touched a man, for I felt it grate over the scales of armour--and
+my ears were full of roarings and strange sounds, and I thought
+that I was surely lost.
+
+Then a strong grip was on me, and the water flew past me, and
+hurled things at me, for I no longer went with it. My feet touched
+ground, and other hands held me, and then I was ashore, and spent
+almost nigh to death. Well for me it was that in the old days by
+the Stour river I had loved to swim and dive in the deep pool
+behind the island, for I had learned to save my breath. Had I not
+done so, the choking of the great wave had surely ended my days.
+
+It was Olaf who had saved me. Almost had we won to the high ground
+when I had let go his stirrup leather, and then the shoreward edge
+of the wave had caught me. But he had faced its fury as he saw me
+borne away, and had snatched me from it as it tossed me near the
+bank again. Now he bent over me, trying to catch the sound of my
+voice through the roar of the storm and the rush of the flood below
+us. But I could not speak to him though I would, and it was not all
+drowning that ailed me, for the blow which had felled me in the
+fight was even now beginning to do its work. Else had I clung to
+him all along, and had been safe as he was. For he won to shore ten
+yards beyond its reach as the wave came.
+
+Now I know that Olaf and our men carried me into a place under the
+lee of a hill, and bided there till the gale blew over. There was a
+sharp pain as of a piercing weapon in my side as they did so, and
+after that I knew not much of being carried on to the house of
+Relf, the Thane of Penhurst, along a forest road where travelling
+was no easier for the fallen trees that lay across it. And after I
+was there I knew nothing. The blow I had had took its effect on me,
+and I had several ribs broken by some timber that smote me amid the
+tossing of the great wave of the flood.
+
+Many are the tales that men all round the coasts will tell of the
+great sea flood that came on Michaelmas even. For it ran far into
+the land where no tide had run before, and many towns were
+destroyed by it, and many people were drowned. It will be long
+before the scathe it wrought will be forgotten. Many of the earl's
+ships were broken, even where they lay behind the island, and two
+of ours were lost--carried across the level where no ship had ever
+swum before. And eight of our men had been swept from the causeway
+and drowned. Two lie yet under the wreck of bridge and causeway, or
+in the Ashbourne valley amid wrack and ruin of field and forest
+that the flood left behind it.
+
+But these things I learnt afterwards. Now I was like to die, and
+Olaf bided at my side and minded nought else, as men said.
+
+
+
+Chapter 6: Sexberga The Thane's Daughter.
+
+
+Days came and went by while I lay helpless. Olaf the king at last
+must needs leave me, and take the ships back to the Thames, there
+to watch against Cnut's return, in which he, almost alone in
+England, believed. But he would not sail before he knew that I
+would recover, and he left me in the kind hands of Anselm, the old
+Norman priest, who was well skilled in leech craft, and of Relf the
+Thane and his wife. So I need say nought of the long days of
+weakness after danger was gone, for there are few men who have not
+known what they are like, and well for them if they have had such
+tending as these good folk gave to me.
+
+Yet it was not till November had half gone that I was able to ride
+hunting again at last, and to go out with Relf in the crisp frosts
+of early winter through the great woods of the Andred's-weald in
+search of wolf and boar, or when the mists hung round the gray
+copses, and the turf in the glades was soft, and scent was high, to
+follow the deer that harboured in the deep shaws. We were seldom
+without their spoils as we came homeward, and how good it was to
+feel my strength coming back to me as I rode--to find the grip on a
+spear shaft hardening, and the bow hand growing steadier against a
+longer pull on the tough string. And Relf rejoiced with me to see
+this, for he deemed that he owed me the more care because my hurt
+had been gained in fighting for him and his home. Honest and rough,
+with a warm heart was this forest thane, and we grew to be fast
+friends.
+
+Now when I was helpless, Wulfnoth the earl and Godwine would often
+ride from Pevensea to learn how I fared. For Wulfnoth and Godwine
+alike loved Olaf the king, and Godwine thought of me as his own
+friend among the vikings of our fleet. But presently Godwine went
+away to Bosham, where the earl's ships were mostly laid up, to see
+to the housing of his vessels for the winter, and when I grew
+strong it was rather my place to go to Pevensea and wait on
+Wulfnoth, if I would see him. I think the earl came to Penhurst
+more often also, because he would dig for more treasure in all the
+old ruins in the town. But he found no more, as one might well
+suppose, for it was but a chance that our find had escaped the
+searching of the first Saxon comers. Yet I saw him now and then,
+and ever would he rail at Ethelred the king, who sat still and left
+the Danish thingmen in possession of the eastern strongholds even
+yet.
+
+Now one day the thane and I rode together with hawk and hound
+eastward from Penhurst along the spur of a hill that runs thence
+for many a long mile, falling southward on one side towards the sea
+and lower hills between, and northward looking inland over
+forest-covered hill and valley. And we went onward until we came to
+the village that men call Senlac, where the long hill ridge ends
+and sinks sharply into the valley of the little river Asten, and
+there we thought that a heron or mallard would lie in the reedy
+meadows below the place.
+
+But up the course of the stream came another party, and when we
+neared it, we saw that it was the earl himself with but a few
+followers, and he too was riding with hawk on wrist, and hounds in
+leash behind him, though it did not seem as if he had loosed
+either.
+
+"Ho, Relf, good morrow. What sport?" he said.
+
+"Little enough, lord earl, as yet," the thane said.
+
+"Do you and friend Redwald come with me, and I will show you
+somewhat before you go home," the earl answered.
+
+So we must go with him, willingly enough, for he was a great
+hunter, and very skilful in woodcraft.
+
+Now we went back through the village and up the hill again on the
+same track by which we had just come, and when we were almost at
+the top of the rise, the earl bade the men wait while we three rode
+on. So they stayed, and we followed him, not at all knowing what he
+would do.
+
+Then we came to a track leading to the right as we rode, and he
+took that way. It led to a place of which I had heard, for it had
+no good name among the people, but I thought that he would not go
+thither. Nevertheless he held straight on, and came to the place in
+the hillside that was feared. And it was very beautiful, for thence
+one looks out over the valley to the hills beyond, with the long
+line of the sea away to the right, and to the left the valleys that
+slope down to the inlet where Winchelsea stands, far off to the
+eastward. There is a well which they say is haunted, though by what
+I know not, save that men speak of ghostly hands that seize them as
+they pass, if pass they must, at night. Hardly was there a track to
+the place, though the water that comes from the rocky spring is so
+wondrously pure and cold that they call the place Caldbec {9}
+Hill. And there by the side of the spring was a little turf-built
+hut, hardly to be known from the shelving bank against which it
+leant, and to that the earl led us.
+
+"Now," he said, "tie the horses somewhere, and we will go and speak
+with the Wise Woman."
+
+At that Relf was not pleased, as it seemed, for he did not
+dismount.
+
+"Come not if you fear her," said Wulfnoth; "bide with the horses if
+you will, while I and Olaf's cousin go in. Maybe there will be a
+message that he must take to his kinsman."
+
+"I have nought to seek from the old dame," said Relf, "nor is there
+aught that I fear from her. I give her venison betimes, as is
+fitting. I will bide with the horses."
+
+Wulfnoth said no more to him, and turned sharply to me. "You give
+her no venison--maybe you fear her therefore!" he said in a
+scornful way enough.
+
+"I fear her no more than Relf," I answered, "but, like him, I will
+not seek her without reason."
+
+"Maybe there is reason for you to hear what she tells me," the earl
+said. "I will have you come."
+
+He seemed in no wise angry, but rather wishful that I should be
+with him, and so I got off my horse and went. But it crossed my
+mind that Wulfnoth the earl liked not to be alone, and suddenly I
+remembered the way in which two of our Bures franklins had spoken
+to each other when they would see Dame Gunnhild, Hertha's nurse. It
+was just in this same wise.
+
+There was a blue reek of oak-wood smoke across the doorway of the
+hut, and at first the tears came into my eyes with its biting, and
+I could see nothing as the earl drew me inside. We had to stoop low
+as we crossed the threshold, and then the air was clearer at the
+back of the hut, which was far larger than one would think, seeing
+that its front did but cover the mouth of a cave that was in the
+sandstone rock. I heard the water of the cold spring rattling and
+bubbling somewhere close at hand.
+
+There was a long seat hewn from the rock at the very back of the
+place and to one side, and Wulfnoth drew me down beside him upon
+it, and there we sat silent, waiting for I knew not what. A great
+yellow cat came and rubbed itself, tail in air, against my legs,
+and I stroked it, and it purred pleasantly.
+
+Then I became aware that over against us across the fire sat the
+most terrible-looking old witch that I had ever seen or dreamed of,
+elbows on knees and chin on hand, staring at us. And when I saw her
+I forgot the cat, and could not take my eyes off her.
+
+So for long enough we sat, and she turned her bright eyes from one
+of us to the other, letting them rest steadily on each in turn. And
+at last she spoke.
+
+"What do Earl Wulfnoth and Redwald the thane seek?"
+
+"Read me what is in the time to come. What shall be the outcome of
+this strife for England?" the earl said plainly, but in a low
+voice.
+
+"Time to come is longer than I can read," said the old woman, never
+stirring or taking her eyes from the earl. "I can only see into a
+few years, and I cannot always say what I know of them."
+
+Then she turned her gaze on me, and stretched out her hand and
+pointed at me. But her eyes looked past me, as it seemed.
+
+"River and mere and mound," she said in a strangely soft
+voice--"those, and the ways of the old time of Guthrum, in the town
+that saw Eadmund the king. That is what is written for the weird of
+Redwald the thane."
+
+Now at that I was fairly terrified, for it was plain that this old
+woman, who had never set eves on me before, had knowledge more than
+mortal. But if she had gone so far, I would have her go yet
+further. Black terror had been before the days of Guthrum grew
+peaceful, and I swallowed my fear of her and asked:
+
+"What of Guthrum's days?"
+
+"Danish laws in the Danish Anglia," she said, "and the peace that
+comes after the sword and the torch."
+
+"Fire and sword we have had," I said. "Danish laws have ever been
+ours. But Ethelred shall be king."
+
+"Ethelred is king," she answered; "but I speak of time to come."
+
+Then Wulfnoth broke in:
+
+"What is this that you speak of, dame? Tell me if I shall bear fire
+and sword into Ethelred's land, and give it the peace that shall be
+thereafter."
+
+Then she turned her look away from us, and stared across the fire
+and out of the doorway.
+
+"Not with you, nor with your son, but with your son's son shall
+fire and sword come into this land of ours," she said.
+
+"Godwine's son!"
+
+"Aye--Harold Godwinesson, who is unborn. Look through the smoke,
+lords, across the valley, and see if you can learn aught."
+
+Then I stared out through the blue reek, and the earl looked.
+
+"You do but play with me--I see nought!" he cried, half starting up
+in anger.
+
+But I minded him not.
+
+Many a fight have I seen--but that which I saw from Caldbec Hill
+through the smoke of the fire is more than I may say. No fight that
+I have seen was as that--it was most terrible. Surely, if ever such
+a fight shall in truth rage across the quiet Senlac stream and up
+the green hillside, the fate of more than a king shall hang
+thereon. Surely I saw such a strife as makes or ends a nation.
+
+The old woman laughed.
+
+"What has Redwald seen?" she asked mockingly.
+
+The earl glanced at me, and so plainly was it written in my face
+that I had seen somewhat awesome, that he gazed at me in amaze.
+
+And I rose up and said:
+
+"Let me go hence--I will see no more."
+
+And I was staggering to the doorway; but Wulfnoth grasped my arm
+and stayed me, saying:
+
+"Bide here and say what you have seen--if it is aught."
+
+"Ask me not, earl," I answered.
+
+Then the dame spoke in her slow, soft voice.
+
+"What banner saw you? Say that much, Redwald."
+
+"The banner that flies from Pevensea walls--the banner that bears a
+fighting warrior for its sign."
+
+"Ha!" said Wulfnoth; "was it well or ill with that banner?"
+
+"I know not how it went; I saw but a battle--yonder," and I pointed
+to where, across the haze of smoke, valley and stream and hill
+stretched before me, and thought that surely the fight still raged
+as I had seen it--wave after wave of mail-clad horsemen charging
+uphill to where, ringed in by English warriors, Saxon and Anglian
+and Danish shoulder to shoulder, the banner of the Sussex earls
+stood--while from the air above it rained the long arrows thick as
+driving hail.
+
+One thing I knew well, and that was that the warriors who charged
+wore the war gear of the dukes of Rouen--the Normans. How should
+they come here? and who should weld our English races into one thus
+to withstand so new a foe from across the sea?
+
+"So--a battle?" said Wulfnoth. "That is the first fancy that a
+boy's brain will weave. Battles enough shall my banner see. No need
+of you, witch as you are, to tell me that!"
+
+"Maybe not," answered the old woman. "Why, then, Earl Wulfnoth,
+come here to ask me to tell you things you know?" and she turned
+away towards the fire again as if uncaring.
+
+Then the earl changed his tone, saying:
+
+"Nay, good dame, but I would know if I shall take up arms at all at
+this time, and what shall befall if I must do so."
+
+"I tell you, earl, that you have not any share in the wars that
+shall be seen. And let Godwine your son bide with his sheep--so
+shall he find his place."
+
+Then the earl flushed red with anger and waited to hear no more,
+but flung out of the house, muttering hard words on the dame and on
+his own foolishness in seeking her.
+
+Then the great cat sprang on my knee, and clung to me with its
+strong claws as I would set it down to follow him. And as it stayed
+me, the old dame spoke to me, and there was nought to fear in
+either her face or voice.
+
+"Ask me somewhat, Redwald."
+
+I wondered, but I dared not refuse. So I said:
+
+"How shall fare King Olaf?"
+
+"For him a kingdom, and more than a kingdom. For him fame, and
+better than fame. For him a name that shall never die."
+
+"That is a wondrous weird," I said. "Tell me now of Eadmund
+Atheling;" for some strange power that the old woman had seemed to
+draw me to ask of her what I would most know.
+
+"For Eadmund of Wessex? For him the shadow of Edric Streone over
+all his brave life."
+
+"What then of Cnut, the Dane King?"
+
+"Honour and peace, and the goodwill of all men."
+
+"Not mine," I said.
+
+"Yours also, Redwald--for England's sake and his own."
+
+But I could not believe her at that time.
+
+Now the angry voice of Wulfnoth called me from outside the place,
+and the dame said "Go," smiling at me and holding out her hand.
+
+"No more can I tell you, Redwald. But I have this to say of you,
+that you have pleased me in asking nought concerning yourself."
+
+"I would know nought beforehand," I said, speaking old thoughts of
+my own plainly. "It is enough to hope ever for good that may not
+come, and to live with one's life unclouded by fear of the evil
+that must needs be."
+
+The dame smiled again, very sadly, as it seemed to me. "It is well
+said. Now I will tell you this, that over your life is the shadow
+of no greater evil than what every man must meet. Farewell."
+
+So she spoke her last words to me, and sat down by the fire again.
+And it is in my thoughts that she wept, but I know not.
+
+Outside stood the earl, staring over the Senlac valley eastward.
+
+"This were a good place for a battle, after all," he said, as to
+himself. Then he heard me and turned.
+
+"Well, what more has the old witch told you?" he said, trying to
+speak carelessly, though one might see that he longed to hear more.
+
+As we went towards the horses, I told him, therefore, of what had
+been said of Eadmund and Cnut. And as he heard he grew thoughtful.
+
+"Now," he said, slowly and half to himself, "if the shadow of that
+villain Streone is on Eadmund as on me, I will not strike for
+myself--as yet; and Cnut shall win other men's praise before I give
+him mine or go to him unsought."
+
+"Eadmund needs a friend, lord earl," I said, mindful of Olaf's
+errand, yet hardly daring to say more seeing that he had failed.
+
+"If there were no Ethelred--" said the earl, and stopped.
+
+He said no more then until we were nearly within hearing of Relf.
+Then he turned and faced me, taking my hand and staying me.
+
+"I would that Olaf and you were my friends," he said, "for you both
+speak out for those whom you love or serve. See here, Redwald, when
+you are tired of the ways of Ethelred's crew, come to me again, and
+we will plan together. And tell Olaf the same. I shall bide quiet,
+keeping my Sussex against all comers, until I think a time has
+come. And then, maybe, the old banner will go forward. I would have
+you with me then."
+
+So it seemed that I had found a friend, though a strange one, and I
+thanked the earl, and promised him as he wished, for it bound me
+only to what I thought would surely never come to pass.
+
+After that we went on to Relf, and rode to where we had left the
+men. Then the earl left us, making his way to his ships that lay at
+Bulverhythe, where some were in winter quarters. The great sea
+flood had changed the Pevensea haven strangely, and he mistrusted
+it.
+
+I told Relf all these things, but he cared not much for aught but
+his free life in the Penhurst woodlands, where he had no foes or
+fear of foes left, now that the outlaws were done with.
+
+"Well, if there must be fighting under the earl at some time," he
+said, "I am glad that you may be with us."
+
+And he cared to ask no more about it from that day, nor do I think
+that he ever gave these matters, which were so heavy to me, a
+thought, being always light hearted. And now as we rode on
+silently, and I deemed that his mind was full of bodings, as was
+mine, he roused me from the memory of what I had seen and heard by
+saying, with a laugh:
+
+"Saw you the old dame's cat?"
+
+"Aye," I answered carelessly; "a great one, and a friendly beast
+enough."
+
+"Was it so? Then I will warrant that the old witch was in a sorely
+bad temper," he said, laughing again.
+
+"What makes you think that?" I asked, not caring if he answered.
+
+"Why, our folk say that the temper of cat and witch are ever
+opposite. So when they go to ask aught of the old lady, they wait
+outside till they see how the cat--which is, no doubt, her familiar
+spirit--behaves. Then if the beast is wild and savage, they know
+that its mistress will be in good temper and they may go in. But if
+the cat is friendly, they may as well go home, else will they be
+like to get harder words than they would care to hear."
+
+Then I laughed also, and said that there seemed nought strange in
+the ways of the great cat, but that it behaved as if used to being
+noticed kindly.
+
+"That is certain," said Relf. "It is not well to offend either
+mistress or beast. But surely she was ill tempered?"
+
+"There was nothing ill natured in her doing or sayings at all," I
+said. "The earl angered her a little, but that passed."
+
+"Maybe that was enough to put her familiar into a good temper,"
+said Relf, and was satisfied that the common saying was true.
+
+Then I minded a small black cat that belonged to our leech at Bures
+in the old days. It would let none come near it but its master. Yet
+I have many times seen it perched on the shoulder of the town
+witch, and she hated the leech sorely.
+
+So I fell to thinking of the old home and ways, soon, as I thought,
+to be taken up again. But at the same time there stole into my mind
+the feeling that I had grown to love this place.
+
+Then with flap of heavy wings and croak of alarm flew up a great
+heron from a marshy pool, and in a moment all was forgotten as I
+unhooded my hawk--one that Olaf had given me from the Danish spoils
+at Canterbury. Then the rush of the long-winged falcon, and the cry
+of the heron, and the giddy climbing of both into the gray November
+sky as they strove for the highest flight, was all that I cared
+for, and we shook our reins and cantered after the birds as they
+drifted down the wind, soaring too high to breast it.
+
+And when the heron was taken the dark thoughts were gone, and we
+rode back to Penhurst gaily, speaking no word of war or coming
+trouble, but of flight of hawk and wile of quarry, and the like
+pleasant things.
+
+After this I saw no more of Earl Wulfnoth, and the winter set in
+with heavy snow and frosts, so that before long one might hardly
+stir into the woods, where the drifts were over heavy in the deep
+shaws to be very safe to a stranger. But we had some good days when
+word came that the foresters had harboured an old boar in a
+sheltered place. And to attack the fearless beast when he is thus
+penned and at bay amid snow walls, is warriors' sport indeed.
+
+But while the snow fell whirling in the cold blasts from the sea
+round the great low-roofed hall I must needs bide within, and so I
+saw more of the maiden Sexberga than before, as she sat at her
+wheel with the lady, her mother, and the maidens of the house at
+the upper end of the hall, while the men wrought at their indoor
+work of mending and making horse gear and tool handles and the
+like, below the fire that burnt in the centre.
+
+And so it had been like enough that soon I should have bound my
+heart to this pleasant place with ties that would have been hard to
+break, but for some words that came about by chance. For there had
+begun to spring up in my mind a great liking for the words and ways
+of Sexberga, who had been pleasant in my eyes from the very first
+time that I had seen her and her mother in Earl Wulfnoth's
+courtyard.
+
+And I think that there is no wonder in this, for these ladies were
+ever most kind to me, and long were the days since I had spoken
+with any in such a home as this. Nor, as I have said, should I be
+blamed for forgetting old days at Bures in this wise.
+
+Now, soon after Christmas, when there came one of those days when
+men must needs keep under cover, I sat by the fire trimming arrows,
+and presently it chanced that the lady and I were alone in the
+hall, for the maidens were preparing the supper elsewhere, and the
+housecarles had not yet come in from cattle yard and sheep pens.
+And we talked quietly of this and that, as her wheel hummed and
+clicked cheerfully the while, and at last some word of mine led her
+to say:
+
+"I have heard little of your own folk, Redwald. I do not know even
+their names."
+
+"After my father was slain, I had none left but my mother," I said.
+"We are distant kinsfolk of Ulfkytel, our earl, but we have no near
+kin."
+
+"Was your mother's name Hertha?" she said, naturally enough, for I
+had never named her, always speaking, as one will, of her as my
+mother only.
+
+I looked up wondering, for I could not think how she knew that
+name, or indeed any other than that of Siric, my father, and maybe
+Thorgeir, my grandfather, for Olaf had told them at first, when
+they took charge of me, to what family I had belonged, and how I
+was akin to him.
+
+"That was not my mother's name," I answered. "It was that of a
+playfellow of mine. How could you know it?"
+
+"One will go back in thought and word to old times when one is
+sick," the lady said, smiling. "This was a name often on your lips
+as I sat by you in your sickness. It was ever 'Mother' and
+'Hertha'. Olaf said that you had no sisters, or I should have
+thought you called to one of them, maybe."
+
+Then I remembered at last; and for a little while I sat silent, and
+my heart was sorely troubled. And the trouble was because my
+growing thought of Sexberga taught me, all in a flash as it were,
+when the remembrance of Hertha was brought thus clearly back to me,
+what tie bound me to Bures and to this more than playmate of mine.
+In truth, I think that had it not been for this, until I had been
+back in Bures again I should not have recalled it.
+
+Now I was glad that I had said nought that might have made my
+liking for the maiden plain to her, and so things would be the
+easier. Yet for a few moments the thought of saying nought of the
+old betrothal came to me--of letting it remain forgotten. And then
+that seemed to me to be unworthy of a true man. It was done, and
+might not be undone by my will alone. I would even speak plainly of
+the matter; and at least I had not gone so far in any way that the
+lady could blame me for silence. So I hardened my heart--for indeed
+the trouble seemed great--and spoke quickly.
+
+"Hertha was nearer to me than sister, for we were betrothed when I
+was but thirteen and she eleven."
+
+I think the trouble in my voice was plain, for the lady deemed that
+there was some to be told.
+
+"Where is she now?" she asked. "I hope that no harm came to her
+when the evil Danes overran your land."
+
+"I know not where she may be, dear lady," I said. "We know that she
+was in safety after the first peril passed. Now our land is in
+Danish hands, and I have no news from thence for four years."
+
+"There are many places here where one might hide well enough," she
+said thoughtfully. "I suppose her people could find the like in
+your country. But it would be a dull life enough."
+
+Then I told her of Gunnhild the nurse and her wisdom, and said that
+none knew the land around Bures better than she, while she had
+friends everywhere.
+
+"Then you may find your Hertha yet," the lady said at last; and as
+she spoke Sexberga, of whom my mind was full, came into the hall.
+
+"You speak sadly together," she said, looking from one to the
+other, and noting that her mother's wheel was idle.
+
+"It is no happy tale that our friend has told me," the lady said,
+and so told her all that she had learned from me.
+
+Then Sexberga clasped her hands together, and said:
+
+"Shall I ever forget the time when we fled to Pevensea before the
+outlaws? And to think of that terror--if it had lasted for days and
+weeks--and months maybe, as it would for your Hertha. Could you in
+no way seek her, Redwald?"
+
+She knew nothing of the ways of wartime and of the troubles which
+must come to men who are weapon bearers, and I tried to tell her
+how I could by no means have sought Hertha, and how, had that been
+possible, and had I found her, I could hardly have brought her even
+to London in safety. I told her of good Bishop Elfheah and his
+death, and many more things, and yet she said:
+
+"I think you have been over long in seeking her. And she has been
+in hiding for four years past!"
+
+Now that was hardly fair, but what could she think else? Yet in my
+mind was the certainty now that I might have had no easy task to
+win this kindly maiden, who so little cared that I was bound
+elsewhere. Now I will not say that that altogether pleased me, for
+no man likes to learn that a fair maiden who is pleasant to his
+eyes has no like feeling for himself; which is nought but vanity
+after all. So when I turned this over in my mind I knew that I
+ought to be glad that she cared nothing, for so was the less
+trouble in the end, and I found also that what a man ought to be is
+not the same always as what a man is.
+
+So I made no answer, and Sexberga went on:
+
+"Now must you seek her as soon as you can, for that is your part as
+a good warrior--a good knight, as Father Anselm will say when he
+hears thereof."
+
+"Surely I shall go back this spring with our earl," I said. "Then
+shall I find her, for she and her nurse will come back from their
+hiding when peace is sure."
+
+"Aye; and you will not know her!" said Sexberga, clapping her hands
+and laughing. "She is a woman grown, as I am, by this time!"
+
+Then was gone my little playfellow, and in her place, in my
+thoughts, must stand a maiden with eyes of sad reproach that must
+be ever on me. And maybe in her heart would be fear of me, and of
+what I had become, as she was bound to me.
+
+And now Sexberga began to weave fancies of how I should meet this
+long-lost bride of mine, and I could make no answer to her playful
+railing, for I saw more clearly than she. And her mother knew that
+this must be so, and sent her away on some household errand, and I
+was glad.
+
+Then she laid her hand on mine, and spoke very kindly to me.
+
+"I fear, Redwald, that there is a strange trial coming for you; but
+I think that you will face it rightly. It is likely that you will
+hardly know Hertha when you see her; yet you are betrothed to her,
+and that is a thing that cannot be forgotten."
+
+"She will not know me at all," I said.
+
+"Women are keen sighted," the lady answered; "but it is more than
+likely that she will not."
+
+Then said I:
+
+"What if she has no love for me?"
+
+"Or you of her? But I think that in her hiding she has thought of
+you ever, and well will it be for you if you come not short of her
+dream of you. But you have thought of her not at all."
+
+"Blame me not, lady," I said humbly enough, though I thought I
+deserved blame more than she knew.
+
+"I cannot," she answered, and then a half smile crossed her fair
+face; "nor should I have thought it wonderful if some other maiden
+had taken her place in your heart. But that would have been ill for
+three people in the end."
+
+I sat silent, and maybe I was glad that the glow of the fire was
+ruddy on my face, for it seemed that she had seen somewhat of my
+thoughts of late.
+
+"Now you must find Hertha," she went on, "and then if either of you
+will be released, I think that Holy Church will not be hard on you,
+nor keep you bound to each other, for things have turned out ill
+for such a betrothal."
+
+"This is a hard case," I said, "for supposing that one longs for
+release and the other does not?"
+
+"Why, you cannot be so much as lovers yet!" she said, laughing
+suddenly. "Here we speak as if a child's thoughts were aught. Now
+comes into my mind such a plan as is in the old stories. You shall
+seek Hertha as Olaf's kinsman only--as a kinsman who seeks for you,
+maybe, not letting her know who you are. Then may you try to win
+her love, if you will--or if you cannot love her, you may so work
+on her mind that she will not love you, and then all is easy. For
+if she will not love you when you would win her, you will not hold
+her bound."
+
+"Surely not," I said. "This seems a good plan, if only it may be
+carried out. But it depends on whether Hertha knows me again."
+
+"Or the old nurse, Gunnhild," she answered. "If she lives yet, you
+must take her into the plan."
+
+So this seemed to me to be a matter easily managed, as I thought
+thereof, and I was content. And after we had talked a while longer,
+planning thus, I said:
+
+"Now I must go back to Olaf as soon as I can. The winter is wearing
+away."
+
+"Aye; the good king will be missing you," she said.
+
+I was not ready to say more, for I meant a great deal by my words,
+as might be supposed. And the lady knew it, as I think, for
+presently she said:
+
+"I wonder that you spoke not of Hertha before."
+
+"There need be no wonder, lady," I answered. "I have lived but in
+the constant thought of war, until I must needs be quiet here. But
+for this, I should still have forgotten her."
+
+"That is true; but you must remember her now," she said, looking
+quaintly at me.
+
+"I will remember, lady," I answered, kissing her hand; and she
+smiled on me and was content.
+
+Truly that one who teaches a man that he is worthy of trust is his
+best teacher of honour, and the name of the lady of Penhurst is
+ever dear to me.
+
+So it came to pass that I had nought wherewith to blame myself in
+the days to come, and I taught myself to look on Sexberga as a
+pleasant friend only, though it was hard at first, to say the
+truth. And I think that her talk of Hertha, and her jesting at my
+unknown bride, as she would call her, helped me, for it kept me
+mindful.
+
+Then at last came a messenger from Wulfnoth to bid me ride to see
+him at Pevensea, and I went, wondering what new turn of things was
+on hand. But when I reached the castle, I saw a ship that I knew
+lying in the haven--one of Olaf's own. For Ottar the scald had come
+to seek me with the first sign of open weather, bringing also many
+gifts of Danish spoil for Relf and his household, and many words of
+thanks also.
+
+So in two days' time I parted from Relf and his people, not without
+sorrow. Nor could I say all that I would to them of my thoughts of
+what I owed them for their care.
+
+Then Wulfnoth and Godwine gave me twenty pieces of the gold from
+the treasure, and bade me return ere long.
+
+"And I think that you will come back presently with an itching to
+get home a sword stroke at one whom I care not to name lest I break
+out," said the earl grimly.
+
+"At Streone?" said I, being light of heart.
+
+"Aye; curses on him!" answered Wulfnoth, and turned away with a
+scowl of wrath.
+
+Now Ottar had been to Penhurst with me, and we had come thence
+together to the ships. And when the old walls of the great castle
+were lost to sight as the vessel plunged eastward, he said:
+
+"Relf's daughter is a fair maiden, friend Redwald. It is in my mind
+that she will long to see you back again."
+
+"Not so," I answered; "she is but friendly."
+
+"But she had much ado not to weep when you parted just now, and I
+saw her run home from the gate over quickly. These be signs," he
+said sagely, being a scald, and therefore wise in his own conceit
+about such matters.
+
+Maybe I was glad to think that the maiden did care that I went,
+were it ever so little, though I would not believe that it was so.
+
+So I came back into the Thames to Olaf, and glad was he to see me
+once more, and that I was in no wise the worse now for my hurts.
+And in his company it soon came to pass that I longed not at all
+for Penhurst, though at first it seemed to me that I should have
+little pleasure in life away from Sexberga. By and by I could laugh
+at myself for that thought, but I have never seen cause to be sorry
+therefor. There is no shame to a man that his mind has turned
+towards a maiden whom he knows that he could trust and reverence.
+
+
+
+Chapter 7: The Fight At Leavenheath.
+
+
+March and April went by, and Olaf had gathered good fleet enough in
+the Thames. But there was no word of Cnut's return, though the
+dread thereof hung heavy over all the land, in such wise that no
+man could plan what he would do without the thought rising up,
+"Unless the Dane comes," seeing that each day might bring news of
+him.
+
+No man knows now what that terror and uncertainty was like--to have
+ever in one's heart the fear of that awful host that seemed to
+sweep from end to end of the land before a levy could be gathered
+to meet it.
+
+There had been time to gather a levy now against the coming of
+Cnut, but naught had been done. Sick at heart and impatient was
+Olaf, for England's rulers would not take care for her safety.
+
+Then came word of a great council to be held at Oxford, and we
+hoped much from that; but two days after it had been held there
+came to us, angry and desponding, Ulfkytel, our East Anglian earl,
+and told us how things had gone as ill as they might. Few words
+enough are needed to tell it, but none can know what harm was
+wrought thereby. Whereof Olaf says that a good leader will act
+first, and call his council afterwards.
+
+All the best of England were there, not only Saxon thanes of
+Wessex, but also loyal Danes of the old settlement, and had the
+king spoken his will plainly, all would have been well. For of the
+Danish nobles, Utred of Northumbria and the two earls of the old
+seven boroughs, Sigeferth and Morcar, were at one with our earl and
+Eadmund for gathering a great levy, and keeping it together by
+marching through the Danelagh, and calling on the Danish thingmen,
+in the towns they yet held, to surrender.
+
+That plan was good, and would have been carried out; but Edric
+Streone rose up and reminded Ethelred of how the march through
+Lindsey had done more harm than good.
+
+"Cnut will not return," he said, "and messages to these Danish
+garrisons with promise of peace if they surrender will be enough.
+But if we fall on them, they will grow desperate, and will send for
+Cnut to help them. If we win them to peace, Cnut cannot come back."
+
+Thereat Sigeferth of Stamford spoke hotly, minding Streone that the
+harm was done in Lindsey by pillage and burning wrought among
+peaceful folk, who were thus made enemies to the king. The thingmen
+would submit quietly if they knew they must; but if they were left,
+they would send word to Cnut that there was no force to oppose him.
+
+But the words of Streone prevailed as ever, and the council broke
+up, and the nobles fell to feasting, while this foolish message was
+sent to Swein's veterans in their towns.
+
+Then Sigeferth and Morcar made no secret of their belief that
+Streone was playing into Cnut's hands for reasons of his own.
+Wherefore Streone sent for them in friendly wise, as if to recall
+his words, and they went, and came from his house alive no more.
+Then their men went to avenge their lords' deaths, and were driven
+into St. Frideswide's church, and that was burnt over their heads.
+
+"Now the seven boroughs will welcome Cnut," said Ulfkytel, "and
+Lindsey looks for him; so he has a clear road into the heart of
+England."
+
+Then I saw that Streone surely wrought for Cnut, else was he a more
+foolish man than was thought, for all held him as the most skilful
+at statecraft in England.
+
+Then said Ulfkytel:
+
+"Utred has gone to mind his own land, and I have come to ask you to
+help me in East Anglia."
+
+And in the end it came to pass that Olaf gave his new fleet into
+the hands of the London thanes, for Ethelred seemed to care nought
+for it, and took his own ships only, and we sailed first of all to
+Maldon. Little trouble was there, for the Danes who held the place
+submitted, being too few to fight us, and we gave their arms to the
+citizens, and mounted all of our men whom we could, and so left the
+ships and marched towards Colchester, along the great road that I
+had last passed as a fugitive in the years that seemed to me so
+long ago.
+
+It was strange to me as we went, and the mist of time seemed to
+pass away, so that all began to be as plain to my mind as if that
+flight had been but yesterday. There was nothing of the wayside
+happening that I could not remember well.
+
+But all the roadside was changed, for the cottages were gone, and
+the farmsteads stood no longer in the clearings. I know not what
+tales of terror I might have heard concerning the burnings of these
+homes. Where the thralls' huts had been were but patches of nettles
+and docks hiding heaps of ashes, and the farmhouses were charred
+ruins. And we saw now and then a man, skin clad and wretched,
+seeking shelter in the woods in all haste as we sighted him. But I
+had no need to ask aught--I knew only too well what manner of tales
+might be told here, as everywhere in Swein's track.
+
+As we drew nearer Colchester, and the village folk began to learn
+who we were, and so would gather with gifts for the good-natured
+Norsemen who came to release them from the tyranny of the thingmen,
+now and then a face that I knew would start, as it were, upon me
+from among a little crowd. But none knew me, nor were they likely
+to do so. Hardly could I think myself the same as the careless boy
+who had watched his father ride away to the war. Indeed, I know
+that I changed less in the ten years that came after this than in
+the four that had gone by since that day. For in those four years I
+had become the hardened warrior of many defeats and but this one
+victory.
+
+Now when we reached Coggeshall village, word came to us that the
+Danes were gathering in force in Colchester, and that they expected
+Olaf to besiege them there.
+
+"I will waste no time under Colchester walls," he said, "but will
+strike inland a little; then they will come out and give us battle
+in the open to stay our march."
+
+By this time the loyal freemen of Essex had gathered to Ulfkytel in
+good force, and Olaf thought it would be well that he should march
+along the road that leads from Coggeshall to Dunmow and take that
+town, which is strong, so that the Danish forces should not join
+against us.
+
+Therefore he left us, and would go northwards from Dunmow, taking
+the towns from thence to Thetford and Norwich, and he should go to
+Ipswich and maybe to Dunwich after this. So would all East Anglia
+submit. And all went well with Ulfkytel until the time came when he
+must turn back in haste, as I must tell presently.
+
+Now, after he was gone, Olaf thought that it would be well to cross
+the Colne and Stour rivers, and so cut off the Sudbury Danes from
+Colchester if it might be done.
+
+"Then there is no better place than my own," said I, "for the road
+on either side of the Stour can be guarded at Bures, and I know all
+the country well."
+
+That pleased Olaf, and he said that we would take up some strong
+position there, and so wait to draw the Danes into the open, where
+he thought that one battle would do all for us.
+
+Thus I came hack to the home that I loved and longed to see again.
+And when we came in the early morning to the place where the great
+mound of the Icenian queen towers above its woods I know not how my
+heart was stirred. I cannot say the things that I felt, and Olaf
+said:
+
+"Let us ride on alone and see your place."
+
+Then we came swiftly to the crest of the hill, and I could see all
+that was mine by right. But it was a piteous sight for me, and my
+rage and sorrow made me silent as I looked.
+
+The stockading that had been so good was broken and useless, and
+the church was in blackened ruins, standing among the houses where
+black gaps among them also showed that the Danes had been at work
+and that none had had heart to rebuild. Black were the ruins of my
+home on the hill above the village, and across the mere woods one
+burnt gable of Hertha's home stood alone above the hill shoulder to
+show where Osgod had dwelt in the hollow of the hills beside the
+ford.
+
+Then we rode across the bridge and into the street unchallenged,
+for all the poor folk had fled from before us thinking that we were
+some fresh foes. Very strange the deserted place looked to me as I
+sat on my horse on the familiar green, and saw the river gleam
+across the gap where the church had been, and missed the houses
+that I had known so well.
+
+"Call aloud, Redwald," said Olaf. "It may be that your name will
+bring some from their hiding."
+
+So I called, and the empty street echoed back the words:
+
+"Ho, friends! I am Redwald, your thane. Will none come to greet
+me?"
+
+There was no answer, and Olaf lifted up his clear voice:
+
+"Ho, Ethelred's men! here is help against the Danes."
+
+Then from under the staging by the riverside where the boats land
+their cargo, crept two men and came towards us slowly. And one was
+that thrall of mine who would have gone to Wormingford for me on
+the night when we fled. His silver collar of thraldom was gone, for
+the Danes had taken it, and his face bore marks of long hardship,
+but I knew him instantly. So I called him by name, and he stared at
+me fixedly for a moment, and then cried aloud and ran to me and
+fell to kissing my hand and weeping with joy at my return. Nor
+could I get a word from him at first.
+
+Then more of the people came from one place or another, timidly at
+first, but growing bold as they saw these two men without fear of
+us, and by the time that Olaf's warriors came over the bridge there
+were not a few folk standing round us and looking on. One by one I
+knew their faces, though years of pain had marked them sorely. But
+none knew me at first, though doubtless they would do so if I
+called to them as I had called to Brand the thrall.
+
+Now was busy setting of watches and ordering of outposts, and Olaf
+went with me to the top of our hill and there set a strong post of
+our men, for there could be no better place for a camp either for
+rest or defence, and the people told him that every Dane in the
+countryside had gone to Colchester, where they thought to be
+attacked.
+
+Now Brand the thrall had followed us to the hilltop, and while I
+sat and looked at the ruins of my home he left me and spoke to a
+group of countrymen who looked on at the warriors. There was one
+among this group whose face drew me, for I seemed to think that I
+ought to know him, though I could not say who he was. He looked
+like a poor franklin in his rough brown jerkin and leather-gartered
+hose, and broad hat, and he bore no weapon but a short seax in his
+belt, and a quarterstaff, and there was nought about him to claim
+notice. But I was watching for old friends of mine with a full
+heart, and scanned the face of each one that came near.
+
+Then it seemed that the others spoke to this man with a sort of
+reverence, and presently one bared his head before him. Thereat I
+knew who he was, and my heart leapt with joy, for it was good
+Father Ailwin, our priest, who had gone back to his death as we had
+thought.
+
+Then I made haste and went to him, dismounting before him.
+
+"Father," I said, "have you forgotten Redwald, your pupil?"
+
+He took my hand in silence, being too much moved to speak, and
+signed the sign of the cross towards me in token of blessing. I
+bowed my head, and rejoiced that he was yet living.
+
+Then Olaf called me, and I said:
+
+"When the warriors have dispersed, come to the house on the green
+that was Gurth's. The king and I shall be there. We have much to
+say to one another, father."
+
+So I had to leave him at that time, for now Olaf would take eight
+score of our men in haste to Sudbury, which is but five miles away,
+and call on the townsfolk to rise for Ethelred and drive out any
+Danes who were left there.
+
+We went away quickly, and took all our mounted men, for we could
+hear of no Danish force afield yet. It is likely that word of our
+force had gone from Maldon, losing nothing on the way.
+
+We rode to Sudbury gates and called on the townspeople to open
+their gates. Then was some tumult and fighting inside the town, but
+they opened to us, and we rode in. There were some slain men in the
+street, for what Danes had been there had resisted the surrender to
+so small a force.
+
+But the Sudbury folk rejoiced to see us, and hailed Ethelred as
+king very gladly. Then Olaf bade them raise what men they could and
+join him at Bures on the morrow with the first light. Thereat the
+old sheriff of Sudbury, whom I knew well, promised that we should
+have all the men whom he could raise.
+
+"Nor will they be your worst fighters, King Olaf," he said, "for we
+have many wrongs to avenge."
+
+It was late evening when we went back. And in the road where it
+winds between the river and the hill before one comes into Bures
+street waited Rani and some men with news. The Danes had come from
+Colchester, and already their watch fires were burning along the
+heath some four miles to eastward of us. It had fallen out, as Olaf
+wished, that they would try to bar our way into Suffolk, and we
+should have work to hand on the morrow.
+
+Now men had gone with some thralls who could take them safely near
+the host, to spy what they could of the number and the plans of the
+Danes.
+
+So it came to pass that I went no more into the village that night,
+but slept by a fire that burnt where our own hearthstone had been,
+amid the ruins of my home. And that was a sad homecoming enough.
+Moreover, in the first hours of the night a wonderful thing
+happened which seemed to be of ill omen, and was so strange that
+maybe few will believe it.
+
+There was a bit of broken wall near the fire, and I laid me down in
+my cloak under its shelter, setting the sword that Eadmund had
+given me against it close to my head, so that I could reach it
+instantly if need were. After a while I slept, for the day had been
+very long and I was weary, else would sad thoughts have kept me
+waking. And presently there was a rumble and snapping that woke me
+up in a dream of falling ruin, and the man who lay next to me cried
+out and dragged me roughly aside.
+
+The broken wall had fallen, crumbling with the heat of the fire, I
+suppose, and had almost slain me. But I was not touched, though the
+sword was broken. And when Ottar the scald heard of it he was
+troubled, not knowing what this might betoken. But Olaf thought
+little of it.
+
+"It means that axe is better than sword for this fight," he said,
+for he had armed me like himself after the Norse manner, than which
+is none better or more handsome. He had given me a byrnie {10}
+of the best ring mail, and a helm gold-inlaid as became a king's
+kinsman, and axe and shield like his own. He and his men alone of
+all Norsemen in those days bore the cross on both helm and shield.
+Nor would Olaf have any unchristened man in all his host. Many a
+stout warrior did he turn away because he was not and would not be
+a Christian, for many Danes were yet heathen, and most Norway men.
+
+Some of the men who had gone out to see the Danish force came back
+soon after midnight, and they said that there would seem to be
+close on a thousand of them in all.
+
+After that we knew that a hard fight was before us, and the king
+bade us sleep and take what rest we might. Then, very early, came
+men to say that the Sudbury folk had come, and Olaf and I went down
+to the village to meet them. Close on two hundred men had come with
+Prat, the son of the sheriff of Sudbury, at their head, and they
+were not to be despised, for they were sturdy spearmen, and many
+had mail, though the most wore the stout leathern jerkin that will
+turn a sword cut well enough.
+
+And Prat asked that they should have the first place in the fight,
+seeing that they fought for their own land.
+
+"That is the place of my own ship's crew," said Olaf, "nor will
+they be denied it. Now shall you fight under Redwald, your own
+thane, and he will have the next place to me."
+
+That pleased both them and me well, and after that Olaf sent me on
+as advance guard, for we knew the country.
+
+We were nine hundred strong in all, and when I took my men to the
+hilltop I met a man who said that the Danes mustered some fifteen
+hundred strong. There were Anglian Danes there besides thingmen.
+But Olaf had said that we would fight two to one if necessary, and
+so I held on; he would send after me if he would make any change in
+his plans when he heard this. It was well that we had settled with
+the Sudbury force already or we should have had them to deal with
+besides.
+
+We left Bures hill and went down the steep valley beyond it, and I
+thought that the Danes might wait for us in the wood that is on the
+opposite slope. But there were none, and we came out on the open
+ground that stretches away in a fairly level upland for many a mile
+northward and eastward before us. There I waited, for we needed no
+advance guard beyond these last woodlands. One could see to the dip
+that is by Leavenheath, and there the Danes would be. And indeed
+across the open rode a few men in that direction, and I knew that
+they were scouts who would take the news of our coming; but they
+were too far away to be stopped even had I wished to do so. Olaf
+would not be led far from Bures and the river, but would have the
+foe come to him.
+
+So we stayed just beyond the cover, and the bustards ran across the
+heath as we roused them, and the larks sprung up and sang overhead,
+and the blackbirds called their alarm notes in the copse behind us,
+and the men talked of these things and pointed at the rabbits that
+sat up to look at us before they fled, as if there were no fighting
+at hand; for indeed I think that one notes all these well-known
+things more plainly when one's mind is strung up and over watchful,
+as it will be before somewhat great that is looked for.
+
+Then came Olaf at the head of his men, and as he came I saw the
+first sparkle of armour across the heath under the sun, for the
+Danes were in array, and were coming up to the level ground over
+which we looked.
+
+And when Olaf saw that his face grew bright with the joy of battle
+in a good cause, and his hand went to his sword while he looked
+quickly round for the place that he would choose. Nor was he long
+in choosing, for he led us but a furlong from the cover's edge, and
+there drew us up in a half circle, with the hollow towards the
+cover and our horsemen on the flanks, so that the greater force
+could not outflank us, while we had the wood in our rear. So if one
+half of the curved line was forced back it would but drive us
+closer together, back to back, and at the worst we could not be
+followed into the cover except by scattered men who would be of no
+account.
+
+Now the strongest part of our curved line was in the centre, and
+there stood Olaf's mailed shipmen, and behind them my English
+spearmen. That place they liked not at first, till the king told
+them carefully what he would have them do at the first charge of
+horsemen for which he looked, for now it was plain that many of the
+Danes were mounted.
+
+Olaf and I stood between his men and mine, leaving our horses in
+the cover, for a viking leader will ever fight on foot. Rani was on
+the right wing, and Biorn the marshal on the left; and Ottar the
+scald bore Olaf's banner beside the king. There were six of the
+best warriors of the crew before Olaf as his shield wall, and six
+of the best English warriors had been named by Prat to act in the
+same way for me. Olaf had given me a good plain sword in place of
+that which I broke, but I took a spear now, ashen shafted and
+strong, in the English way, that I might be armed as were my men,
+and I think that pleased them.
+
+The Danes came on fast, and they had not been miscounted. They were
+full half as many again as we, and they were drawn up in line with
+their horsemen on the wings as we were, so that at first I thought
+we should fight man to man, both horse and foot, along the whole
+front.
+
+Now they came almost within bow shot, and there they halted and
+closed up, leaning on their weapons, while a great man, tall and
+black bearded, and clad in black chain mail, rode out before them
+and came towards us with his right hand held up in token of parley.
+
+Olaf went out from the line to meet him, and when they were close
+together a great hush fell on the two hosts to hear what was said.
+
+"Are you the leader of this host?" the Dane said.
+
+"Aye. Who are you?" answered Olaf.
+
+"I am Egil Thorarinsson, of Colchester," he answered. "And whoever
+you may be, I call on you to yield to Cnut, King of Denmark and
+England, and Norway also."
+
+"Maybe he is king of neither," Olaf answered quietly. "I am Olaf
+Haraldsson, and I am here to see if he shall be King of England. So
+I call on you to submit peaceably to Ethelred, leaving Cnut to take
+his own land if he can."
+
+"We are Cnut's men and Danes," answered Egil, "and from your speech
+and name it would seem that you are no Englishman. Now if you are
+Olaf the Thick, own your own king Cnut, and leave this Ethelred the
+Unredy to his own foolishness."
+
+"I am one of those Norsemen who hold that Cnut is no king of ours,
+and therefore I fight him wherever I can. But if you will own
+Ethelred there shall be peace from him, and you will but do what
+the Danes of Guthrum's host did in the old days--hold the land you
+have won from an English overlord."
+
+"A fine overlord, forsooth," said the Dane; "maybe one would think
+of it had he been a second Alfred--but Ethelred the Unredy! Not so,
+King Olaf. Will you own Cnut, or must we make you?"
+
+"It seems that we shall not agree until we have fought out this
+question," said Olaf, laughing a little.
+
+The Dane laughed back.
+
+"Aye, I suppose not. I would that you had a few more men. But that
+is a hard lot in the centre."
+
+And so he looked down our line with an unmoved face, and turned his
+horse and rode slowly back to his own men. Olaf came back to us
+with a confident look enough.
+
+"There is a man worth fighting," he said to me; "he is foster
+brother of Thorkel the High, who leads young Cnut, and he seems an
+honest warrior enough."
+
+Then all at once his face hardened, and he spoke in the sharp tone
+of command:
+
+"Get your spearmen forward--the horsemen are coming first."
+
+And I saw even before he spoke that this was so, for they were
+closing in across their line from the wings, and forming up for an
+attack that they maybe thought would break the grim ranks of Olaf's
+crew who were the strength of our centre.
+
+So I gave the word, and my spearmen came quickly forward through
+the viking line, and there stood two deep, setting the butt ends of
+their spears firmly in the ground at their feet, and lowering the
+points to meet the horses breast high. Olaf bade the front rank
+kneel on one knee and take both hands to the spear shaft, and then
+the thick hedge of glittering points was double. I had never seen
+this plan before, but it was what Olaf had bidden us do if there
+was a charge of horsemen. And I stood in the second rank with Prat
+beside me, and behind me were the men of Olaf's shield wall. I took
+my axe in my right hand instead of the sword, for the heavier
+weapon seemed best against what was coming.
+
+Now were the foes ready, even as the spearmen knelt, and a chief
+rode out before them and gave the word to charge, and with a great
+roar they answered him, spurring their horses and flying down on
+us. The arrow shafts rattled on the bow staves as Olaf's vikings
+made ready, and I cried to my spearmen to stand steady, for it
+seemed as if that thundering charge must sweep the crouching lines
+like chaff before it. And as it came we were silent, and no spear
+wavered in all the long hedge to right and left of me.
+
+They were but fifty paces from us; and then with hiss and rattle as
+of the first gust of a storm in dry branches the arrows flew among
+them, smiting man and horse alike, and down went full half of the
+foremost line, while over the fallen leapt and plunged those behind
+them unchecked, and were upon us sword in air; and the tough spear
+shafts bent and cracked, and a great shout went up, and over the
+shoulders of my men flashed the viking axes, falling on horses and
+dismounted men, and the Danish riders recoiled from the steadfast
+spearmen whose line they could not break though they had gapped it
+here and there, while the arrows and javelins flew among them
+unceasingly.
+
+They drew back disordered, and then from the wings charged our
+horsemen and broke them, chasing them back towards their own men in
+disorder, while my stolid spearmen closed up again shoulder to
+shoulder, and the level hedge of spear points was ready again. But
+now they shone no longer, for they were dulled with the crimson
+token of their work.
+
+Then the Danish ranks opened, and their horsemen passed through to
+the rear, and at once our men wheeled back to their posts on the
+wings, shouting in the faces of the Danes as they galloped past
+their lines. Then was the ground open between the forces again, but
+now it was cumbered with fallen men and horses, and below our spear
+points was a ghastly barrier of those who had dared to rush on
+them, for spear had begun and axe had finished the work.
+
+"Well done, spearmen!" Olaf cried to us, "now is our turn."
+
+And at his word his vikings took our place, and we were content.
+For we had borne the first shock of the battle after all, and had
+earned praise. Moreover the whole line cheered us as we fell back
+into the second line.
+
+"Now comes the real fighting," said Olaf to me; "stay by my side,
+cousin, and you and I will see some sword play together."
+
+So I stood on the left hand, and Ottar was on his right with the
+standard, and Prat of Sudbury was next to me. The viking line was
+two deep before us, and Olaf's shieldmen and mine were between us
+and the rear rank, and my spearmen leant on their weapons behind us
+again. But it took us less time to fall into place thus than it has
+taken to say how we stood.
+
+And hardly were we steady again before the whole Danish line broke
+out into their war song and advanced. Then the song became a hoarse
+roar, and their line lapped round to compass our bowed front, and
+man to man they flung themselves on us as the storm of darts and
+arrows crossed from side to side between us. Then rang the war
+chime, the clang of steel on steel loud over Leavenheath, and there
+came into my heart again the longing to wipe out the memory of old
+defeats, and I gripped my axe and shield and waited for my turn to
+come.
+
+There was a little time while I might see all that happened, and at
+the first rush I saw Biorn's men give back a pace--no more--and win
+their place again. I saw our horsemen watching for a chance to
+charge in on the Danish flank, and I saw the Danish riders wheeling
+to meet them. Then I must keep my eyes for what was before me, for
+men were falling. Then Ottar began to sing, and his voice rose over
+the cries of battle, and rang in tune with the sword strokes as it
+seemed to me, and with his singing came to me, as to many, the
+longing to do great deeds and to fall if I might but be sung thus.
+
+Then I saw a Dane fell one of the vikings, and leap at the men of
+Olaf's shield wall, and an axe flashed and he went down. The
+fighting was coming nearer to me, and I watched and waited, and I
+knew that I had never seen so stern a fight as this, for before me
+Olaf's veterans fought against Swein's--the trained thingmen who
+held the towns. And neither side had ever known defeat, and it
+seemed to me that surely we must fight till all were slain, for
+these were men who would not yield.
+
+Then was a gap in the ranks before me for a moment, and through it
+glanced like light a long spear with a hook that caught the edge of
+Prat's red shield and tore it aside; and I smote it and cut the
+shaft in twain, so that it was but wood that darted against Prat's
+mail, and he said, "Thanks, master," and smiled at me, for the
+ranks had closed up again.
+
+Then before me I saw Egil's black armour, and the mighty form of
+the chief who had led the mounted Danes; and they rushed on us and
+their men followed them, and in a moment one was shield to shield
+with me, and I took his blow on mine, and my stroke went home on
+his helm, and he fell at my feet, swaying backwards, while over him
+tripped Egil, and lost his footing, and came with a heavy fall
+against me, so close and suddenly that I could not strike him or he
+me, and I grappled with him and we went down together.
+
+Then my spearmen roared "Out, out!" and charged on the Danes who
+had broken our line thus, and I heard Olaf's voice shouting, and
+then I was inside our line behind the heels of the men who fought,
+and struggling with the Danish chief for mastery.
+
+That was a tough wrestle, but I had been in training with Olaf, and
+the Dane had been shut up in the town at ease; and at last he gave
+way, and I knelt on his broad chest, drew my seax, and bade him
+yield.
+
+"Not I," he said, panting for breath.
+
+But I would not slay a brave warrior who had fallen as I knew by
+chance, and so I said--for fighting was too hot for any man to pay
+heed to us, as his Danes were trying to reach him through my
+spearmen:
+
+"You had better. For you have fought well, and this is but chance."
+
+"Tie me up, then," he growled. "Who are you?"
+
+"Olaf's cousin," said I.
+
+"I can yield to you, then," he said; "take my sword and tie me up,
+for I will escape if I can."
+
+Then two spearmen turned and shouted, and went to drive their
+weapons into the body of my foe, and I put my shield in the way.
+
+"Strike not a fallen man," I said, and they forebore, ashamed.
+
+Then I loosed the baldric that his sword hung in--his axe was gone
+as he fell or wrestled--and took the weapon. And lo! it was sword
+Foe's Bane, my father's sword; and I cast away my axe and gripped
+the well-known hilt, and bade the spearmen guard my captive, and
+turned back into the fight. And all this had gone by in a whirl, as
+it were, and the Danes were still striving to regain their lord,
+while Olaf and Ottar were smiting unceasingly. Only Prat was gone,
+while now our whole line was of spearmen and vikings mingled, and
+the Danish line was in no sort of order, but I thought they
+prepared for another rush on us.
+
+Then it came, and we were driven back fighting; it slackened, and
+we took our ground again. And then I know not what sign Olaf saw in
+the faces of the Danes before him, but suddenly he spoke, and our
+war horns brayed. Then Ottar raised the standard and pointed it
+forward, and there rose a thundering cheer from our whole line as
+we charged and swept the Danes before us, spear and axe and sword
+cleaving their way unchecked. And surely sword Foe's Bane wiped out
+the dishonour of biding in a foeman's power that day.
+
+Then rode our horsemen among the disordered crowd, and that was the
+end. The Danes broke and fled, and Olaf had won his seventh battle,
+and I had seen victory at last; moreover the sword of Thorgeir was
+in my hand.
+
+The light-armed men and the riders followed the flying Danes, and
+Olaf sheathed his red sword with the light of victory shining on
+his face, and while the men cheered around us he put his hand on my
+shoulder and asked if I were hurt.
+
+"I saw you fall, cousin," he said, "but I could not win to you. The
+Danes pressed on to reach the man you had down."
+
+"It was Egil," I said. "I am not hurt--are you touched?"
+
+And he was not, but it was our good mail that had saved us both.
+There would be work for the armourer by and by before we could wear
+it again, for after Egil had fallen I had been beside the king, and
+there was no lack of blows before the time had come when our charge
+ended the matter. Only three of his six shield men and two of mine
+were left.
+
+But Prat was slain, and many another good warrior lay dead where
+our line had been.
+
+Now when I looked for Egil he was gone. The two spearmen lay where
+I thought he had been, and I looked to find him slain also. So I
+asked the men round me, and at last found one who had seen him
+dragged up by the rush that bore us back. And so he had escaped.
+
+"That is the chance of war," said Olaf, "but you could not have
+slain him with honour."
+
+"Nevertheless," said Ottar, "Redwald has a sure token there that he
+overcame him," and he pointed to my sword.
+
+"It is my father's sword," I said. "It has come back to me, even as
+you said it would."
+
+"They have not said too much of sword Foe's Bane," Ottar answered.
+"For I have seen you use it--and I think that Hneitir is hardly
+more handsome."
+
+Now came that which is the most terrible part of a battle, even for
+the victors, and that is the calling of the roll. And sad enough
+were we when that was done, for the loss was heavy. Yet what the
+loss was to the Danes I cannot say, for our men chased them till
+there were no two left together to make a stand among those who had
+not found safety in the woods that fringe the heath.
+
+Then we bore back our wounded--and they were many--to Bures, and it
+was noonday when we reached there. But there was no rest for Olaf
+yet, for Colchester must be barred against the Danes.
+
+He and I therefore took a hundred of our men, mounting them on the
+freshest of the horses, and covered the nine miles between us and
+the town as quickly as we might. Very fair the old place looked to
+me as we crossed the Colne and saw the walls among the trees on the
+steep hillside, and the houses nestling against it. The gates were
+shut, and there was a strong guard along the ramparts on either
+side, and we halted and summoned the townsfolk to surrender to
+Ethelred in peace.
+
+Doubtless some flying Danes had brought news of how the battle had
+gone, for at once the gates were opened to us, and the chief men
+came out and prayed for favour at Olaf's hands, and he told them
+that Ethelred their king would take no revenge on them for having
+bowed to Swein and his mighty force. So there was rejoicing in
+Colchester, for it seemed to the townsfolk that peace had surely
+come at last, and with it relief from the oppression of the
+thingmen. For these warriors had carried matters with a high hand,
+so that no Anglian dared to call them aught but lord--it must be
+"lord Dane" if they spoke even to the meanest of the hosts and the
+gravest burgher must give way to some footman of Swein's if they
+met in street or on bridge. So they were not loved.
+
+Olaf bade the townspeople prove their loyalty by taking all the
+Danish warriors who were in the place, and bringing them to him on
+the market hill where the great roads cross. Then was fighting in
+Colchester for a while, but in the end, towards sunset, there was a
+sullen gathering of them enough, and many were wounded.
+
+Then the king went and spoke to them.
+
+"What think you that I will do to you?" he asked.
+
+"Even as we would do to you," one said.
+
+"Hang me, maybe?" said Olaf.
+
+"Aye, what else?" the man answered in a careless way, but looking
+more anxious than he would wish one to see.
+
+"I do not hang good warriors," the king said. "What would you do if
+I gave you life?"
+
+"What bargain do you want to make?" said the Dane.
+
+"If I put you into a ship and let you go, will you promise to take
+a message for me to Cnut, and not to come back to England as foes?"
+
+"If that is all, we will do it," the man answered, while his look
+grew less careful, and the other men assented readily enough with
+the fierce townsmen and their broad spears waiting around them.
+
+"Go and tell Cnut, then, that Ethelred is king, and how you have
+fared. That is all I bid you. Are there any Norsemen among you?"
+
+There were eight or ten among the six-score prisoners, and Olaf
+spoke aside with them.
+
+"Go back to our own land and say what you have seen of the dealings
+of Olaf Haraldsson with those who fight bravely though against him.
+And if when you hear that I have returned to Norway you come and
+mind me of today, I will give you a place among my own men."
+
+Then they said that they would fain serve him now; but he would not
+have that, and then they said that they would surely come to him if
+they heard that he was anywhere in their land.
+
+There were two trading busses in the river, and into these vessels
+we put the Danes, giving them all they needed to take them back to
+Denmark, but leaving them no arms. The townsfolk would have it that
+they would return and take revenge in spite of their promise, but
+Olaf told them that they must not fear so few men, but rather take
+care to be ready against the coming of more.
+
+So the Danes sailed away down the river and to sea, and whether
+they kept their promise or not I cannot say. But I think that Olaf
+had done somewhat towards preparing a welcome for himself when he
+should return to his own land by acting thus. I would that Ethelred
+and Eadmund had been wise as he, for by forgiveness they would have
+won men to them. But evil counsel was ever waiting on them, and
+maybe they are not to blame so much as is he who gave it.
+
+There were no men of note among these Danes whom we took, and we
+thought that Ulfkytel would maybe hear of Egil before long, if he
+could by any means get his scattered forces together. Yet the rout
+was very complete, else he would have been back in Colchester
+before us.
+
+The townsfolk made a great feast in Colchester for us that night,
+and next day Olaf called the headmen and set all in order for
+Ethelred the king. And we thought that the town was safe for him,
+for a levy would be made to hold the place at once. We rode back to
+Bures in the evening, therefore, taking a few of our men as a guard
+lest there should be parties of Danes on the road--a likely thing
+enough, as a beaten and disbanded force in a hostile land must live
+by plunder, for a time at least. But we met none.
+
+
+
+Chapter 8: The White Lady Of Wormingford Mere.
+
+
+As we rode over the uplands we saw that the Sudbury men would do
+all honour to those who had fallen fighting beside them, for they
+made a great mound over Olaf's men, and Ailwin our priest was there
+with us to see that they had Christian burial with such solemnity
+as might be in those troubled days. There might be no chanting of
+choir or swinging of censer at that burying; but when the holy
+rites were ended Ottar the scald sang the deeds of those who were
+gone, while the mound was closed. And that would be what those
+valiant warriors loved to hear.
+
+So passed the day, and then were our wounded to be seen; but at
+last I might sit quietly in the house on the green and speak all
+that I would with Ailwin, and we had much to say. I know not if I
+longed or feared now to speak of Hertha, but I would do so. Yet
+first I asked Ailwin how he himself had fared when the Danes came;
+for I had thought that he would have been slain.
+
+"Aye, my son, that I should have surely been," he said, "but I
+found a hiding place until their fury was past, and the host swept
+on, leaving but a few among us. Some of these were wounded men, and
+you mind that I am skilled in leechcraft. So I dressed myself in a
+freeman's garb and tended them, winning their respect at least, if
+not gratitude. So I have been the leech ever since, for the church
+was burnt, and many a priest was slain, and these Danes are but
+half Christian if they are not open pagans; and I might not don my
+frock, else would there have been no one left to christen and say
+mass and marry for our poor folk in quiet places."
+
+Then I said:
+
+"Where did you find a hiding place, father?"
+
+"It was shown me by one who made me promise--aye and take oath,
+moreover, as if my word were not enough--that I would tell no man
+where it is. For such a place once known to any but those who use
+it is safe no longer."
+
+"Was it Gunnhild who helped you thus?" I said, for I remembered now
+my last words to him, that he should seek her.
+
+"I may say that it was Gunnhild. There she and Hertha and I were
+safe till the worst was over," he answered, and looked in my face.
+
+Then I must say what was in my mind all the while, and I asked him
+plainly:
+
+"Where is Hertha now, father? Is she yet well and safe?"
+
+"Both well and safe with Gunnhild," he said.
+
+"Where is she--can I seek her?"
+
+The old man looked at me meaningly for a minute, and I grew hot
+under his kindly gaze.
+
+"What remember you of Hertha, my son?" he said gently.
+
+"All, father," I answered; "but does she remember aught?"
+
+"She remembers--she has never forgotten," he said.
+
+And I had forgotten for so long. I think the old priest, who was so
+used to deal with men, saw what was written in my face, for he
+smiled a little and said:
+
+"Women have time to think, but a warrior of today has had none.
+What think you of your meeting with Hertha?"
+
+Then I said, being sure that Ailwin understood the puzzle that was
+in my mind:
+
+"Father, I know not what to think. We are bound--but now it is
+likely that we should not know one another if we met; in truth, I
+think I fear to meet her."
+
+"Is there any other maiden?" he asked, still smiling.
+
+"Once I thought there was--and not so long ago either," I said
+honestly, "but I remembered in time. Now I will say truly that
+there is not."
+
+I had no longing for Penhurst now.
+
+Then there came across me a strange feeling that one might hardly
+call jealousy--though it was near it--and I said:
+
+"Has she seen any other who would make her wish to forget?"
+
+"Truly she has not," Ailwin laughed; "how should she?"
+
+"I know not where she has been, father," I said with a lighter
+heart, although but an hour ago I thought that I should have been
+glad to hear that it was so.
+
+"Ah--I forgot," Ailwin said in some little confusion as I thought,
+and he was silent. But now I would say more.
+
+"Well, then, father, both of us are heart whole, as it seems. But I
+know not if she would be pleased with me as I am now."
+
+Ailwin looked up quickly at me, and then said:
+
+"One cannot tell. Maybe she thinks the same concerning you and your
+thought of her."
+
+Then I told the good man of that plan which the lady of Penhurst
+had made when we spoke of the same doubt, and he laughed thereat,
+which did not please me. So I said:
+
+"Well, then, let me see her."
+
+"Not yet," he said after a little thought. "This is not the first
+time that I have gone over this matter. Gunnhild has spoken with me
+more than once, and yesterday she gave me a message for you, and I
+was but to give it if I found that you longed to see Hertha again."
+
+"What is it, then?"
+
+"She says that the troubles are not over yet. Cnut will be back
+shortly, and then you have warriors' work to do. When that is done
+there will be peace, for England or Denmark, or both, will be worn
+out. It will not be long ere that is so, she says, and she is very
+wise. Then come and find Hertha if you will. But now there will be
+less trouble for both if you meet not."
+
+Then I grew impatient, for I hate concealments of any kind.
+
+"Better break the betrothal at once, then," I said, "for if I must
+wait I cannot say that I may not meet with a maiden whom I shall
+love."
+
+"Then shall you let me know," said Ailwin coolly, "and it shall be
+broken. Thus will be no sorrow to Hertha."
+
+"So be it," said I. "But I think you are hard on me."
+
+"No so, my son," said the good man, "not so. Redwald and Hertha of
+today are strangers. I do not altogether hold with these early
+betrothals; but what is, must be. Wait a little, and then when
+peace comes, and you can dwell, one at Bures and one at Wormingford
+in the old way--seeing one another and learning what shall be best
+for both--all will be well. Be content. Your place and hers lie in
+ruins. Why, Redwald, what home have you to give her?"
+
+Now that word of common sense was the best that he could have
+spoken, for I was waxing angry at being thus played with, as I
+thought. But at that moment Olaf and Ottar came in with clang and
+ring of mail and sword, and so no more was said, and soon Ailwin
+rose to depart. But I followed him out, and asked him for the last
+time:
+
+"Will you not tell me where Hertha bides?"
+
+"No, my son--not yet. Believe me it is best."
+
+"Well, then," I answered, "I shall try to find her; but if I
+cannot, you mind what I said."
+
+"I will not forget. But I will add this--that there are many fair
+maidens, and but one Hertha."
+
+Then he turned away into the dark, and was gone with an uplifting
+of his hand in parting blessing. I knew the good man loved me, and
+now I was sorry that I had spoken harshly to him, yet I had a
+feeling that I had been treated ill. Maybe that was foolish, but
+one acts on foolish thoughts often enough.
+
+There was a man sitting on the settle in the porch of the house as
+I turned back. I had not noticed him as we came out. Now the
+firelight from the half-open door fell on his face, and I saw that
+it was one of those two thralls of mine.
+
+"Ho, Brand," I said, "answer me truly. Know you where bides Dame
+Gunnhild the witch?"
+
+"No, lord. We know not where she bides but it is not far hence, for
+we see her at times in the village, though not often."
+
+"How did she escape when the Danes came?"
+
+"She and the lady Hertha took boat--it was but three days after you
+had gone. All the men had fled as she bade them, but her brother
+came and helped her with the boat. They went into the mere, and
+that was the last we saw of them."
+
+Now I remembered to have heard of Gunnhild's brother, but I had
+never seen him.
+
+"Where does her brother live?" I asked.
+
+"I know not. I have not seen him again," answered the man.
+
+"Whence comes Dame Gunnhild into the village?" I went on, thinking
+that I might learn somewhat in that way.
+
+"Master," said Brand, "she comes at twilight, nor will she have
+anyone follow her. Ill would it fare with the man who did so. I do
+not know whence she comes."
+
+Now it seemed to me that the man had more in his mind than that,
+and at least that there must be some talk about the place, which is
+small enough to make the doings of everyone the talk of each one
+else.
+
+"Where do men say she lives?" I asked therefore.
+
+The man looked doubtfully at me, but he could see that I was not
+angry. So he smiled foolishly, and answered:
+
+"We say nought, lord. Danes hear everything in some way."
+
+"Well, you can tell me safely enough."
+
+"We think it is witchcraft of the old dame's, and that she and the
+lady Hertha live with the White Lady in the mere of Wormingford."
+
+Then I was fain to laugh, for it was witchcraft more than even
+Gunnhild could compass, by which she might find refuge in the
+depths of that bottomless mere where the White Lady dwells. The
+place has an ill name enough among our folk, and even on a bright
+summer day, when all the margin of the wide circle of water is
+starred with the white lilies, I have known silence fall on those
+laughing ones who plucked the flowers, so still and dark are the
+waters, and so silent the thick woods that hem the mere round under
+the shadow of the westward hill that hides the sunset. No man cares
+to go near the mere when darkness has fallen, so much do our people
+fear to see the White Lady of whom Brand spoke.
+
+I feared her not, for she was a lady of our own race, who was
+drowned there by the wild Welsh folk in some raid of theirs when we
+Angles first came from the land beyond the seas and drove them out.
+Ours was the clan of the Wormings--I bore the badge of the twining
+snake myself today, marked on my left arm, as had all my fathers
+before me--so ford and mere were named after us, and we were proud
+of the long descent, as I have said. Once had my mother seen the
+Lady, and that was on the day that my father was slain. Therefore
+had she seen unmoved the coming of Grinkel, for she knew already
+what had befallen. I had not seen the Lady, but I know that many
+others of my race had done so, and ever before the coming to them
+of somewhat great that was not always ill. But she never spoke to
+them, but floated, white robed, over the mere, singing at times, or
+silent.
+
+Now it came into my mind that the thrall was not so far wrong, and
+that there was a chance that Gunnhild might have some hiding place
+among those woods about the mere, for no man willingly searches
+them, and Danes fear these places more than we, being heathenish
+altogether. So I asked Brand if the Danes knew about the White
+Lady.
+
+"Ay, master, they soon learned that. They call her 'Uldra', though
+why I know not."
+
+That was the name of the water spirit they believed in. So I became
+all the more sure that Gunnhild was there. It would be easy for her
+to feign to be the White Lady and so terrify any man who sought
+her. A man is apt to shape aught he sees into what he fears he may
+see.
+
+"Has the White Lady been seen of late?" I asked therefore.
+
+"I have heard that the Danes say that they have seen her," he
+answered. "They have seen also bale fires burning on the mound
+where the great queen lies."
+
+That last was an old tale among us also, but I had never seen any
+light above the great mound. Ottar had many sagas that told of the
+fires that burnt, unearthly, above buried heroes, and the Danes
+would watch for them, and so, as I have said, would certainly see
+them, or deem that they did so. Yet I suppose that these strange
+fires may have burnt on the tombs of heathen men, else would not
+the tales have been told thereof so certainly. But Christian
+warriors rest in peace, and about their last bed is no unquiet. Nor
+may Christian folk be frighted by the bale fires of the long-ago
+heathen's mounds. For their sakes they have been quenched, as I
+think.
+
+So I stood and mused for a while, turning over in my mind how best
+to find Gunnhild at the mere without leading others to her hiding
+place. And at last I laughed to myself, the thing was so simple. I
+had but to go into the mere woods at twilight or in the dusk, and
+wander about until she heard and feared my coming. Then she would
+play the White Lady's part on me to fray me away, and all was done.
+She could not tell who I was, nor would she think it likely that I
+would seek her there, and would easily forgive me for doing so,
+when we met.
+
+I bade Brand the thrall goodnight, and went back into the great
+room of the house, where Olaf sat with Ottar resting and talking
+together. There was no one else in the place, for we had no fear of
+aught, and Olaf cared not to have many men about him. Some of his
+men would come presently and sleep across the doorway, but the
+evening was young yet.
+
+"You seem as if you had heard somewhat pleasant," Olaf said when I
+came in.
+
+I suppose that my certainty of finding Gunnhild and Hertha pleased
+me well enough to make my face bright.
+
+Now both Olaf and Ottar knew of my wish to search for Hertha, and
+who she was, for I had told them as we sailed to Maldon on the way
+to my own country again, and they were eager to help me to take her
+from hiding into what we thought would be greater safety. So when
+the king said this, at first I thought of saying only that I had
+surely found out where she was hidden. But then I would not keep
+back what Ailwin had said, for Olaf might have advice for me.
+
+Therefore I sat down and told them all the story of my talks with
+the priest and the thrall, adding that I was the more sure that
+Gunnhild was hard by, because Ailwin had said that it was but
+yesterday she had given him the message for me.
+
+Then Olaf said:
+
+"Cousin, I think these two old folk are right. Better wait for
+peace, as they say."
+
+"It is not so sure that Cnut will come back," I said.
+
+"Is it not?" said Olaf. "Why--seeing that he has left his host of
+thingmen in the towns, and we had Thorkel's foster brother to fight
+but the other day, and that these Danes do not yield at once and so
+gain peace and hold what they have, but will rather fight than own
+Ethelred--I think that none can well doubt that word has gone round
+the Danes in the kingdom that he will return, and that they need
+not fear to hold out till he comes."
+
+Then the last doubt of trouble to come passed from me, for it was
+plain that these thingmen looked for help presently. But Olaf was
+thinking of my affairs again.
+
+"Four years is overlong for anyone to play ghost on a whole
+countryside," he said laughing. "I cannot think that Gunnhild, even
+if she be a witch, can have bided in sight of the village all this
+time without being found."
+
+"No man dares go near the place," I said.
+
+"Well, whence has she her food unless from the village? I think she
+cannot be so near," he replied, and there was reason in his
+question.
+
+I was cast down at this, for I had made so sure that I had found
+out the secret that was so carefully kept from me. When there is
+mystery made, which is, or seems, needless, there is pleasure and a
+feeling of mastery in finding it out unaided, and I was losing
+that.
+
+I will say this, however, that I was more vexed in this way than
+with the thought that I should not find Hertha, for in my own mind
+I began already to own that Ailwin and Gunnhild were in the right
+about our not meeting yet.
+
+Olaf saw that I was vexed now, and put forward a plan which he
+thought would be pleasant to me, for he was certain that I should
+not be satisfied until I had seen if I was right.
+
+"There is no reason why we should not go to the mere and see if
+Gunnhild is there," he said. "If she is, maybe it will be well for
+you to speak with her. And if not--why, then we know at least that
+she has a good hiding place elsewhere."
+
+That was a plan that pleased me well, for though I had no fear of
+going to that lonely place so long as I had made myself certain
+that I should meet Gunnhild, now that it seemed not quite so sure
+but that I should find myself alone there, the thought of the quest
+was not quite so pleasant to me.
+
+"Then we may as well go at once," Olaf said. "How like you the
+thought, Ottar?"
+
+"I like not such places, my king," the scald answered honestly.
+"There are chills that come over one, and rising of the hair."
+
+"Aye, there are," answered Olaf. "I have a fear of this White Lady
+myself. Therefore am I going with Redwald, because I want to see if
+there is aught to be feared of."
+
+"I will come with you," the scald said, hardening his heart, for
+his mind was full of the wild tales of the old heathen days which
+he sang, and he feared more than we.
+
+"It is but a lady after all," said Olaf, laughing at Ottar's face.
+
+"I have a sort of fear of living ladies," the scald said, "how much
+more, therefore, of their ghosts! I had rather meet Danes. For when
+one sees them there comes a stiffening of back and knees and
+fists--whereas--"
+
+"Aye, Redwald and I know somewhat of what you mean," laughed Olaf,
+and then Ottar laughed, and we took our cloaks and were going, but
+first must seek Rani, and tell him that we were now about to leave
+the village for an hour or so.
+
+Now no man questioned Olaf as to his lonely walks, as I saw in
+Normandy, and Rani said nought but:
+
+"Take your arms, for there may be wandering Danes about."
+
+But we were armed already, though without mail, and as we went not
+far it seemed unlikely that we should need any. It was but a
+half-hour's walk from the house.
+
+Now the mere lies on the south side of the river, which runs into
+it only by a narrow inlet, and this inlet is so overshadowed by the
+trees of the thick woodland that when one has passed through the
+opening it is lost to sight very quickly. So heavy is the growth of
+timber round the mere that one can see the water from no place,
+save for a glimpse as this inlet is passed in going down the river,
+and many a stranger has passed by all unknowing that such a mere
+could be near him. Hardly can the wind reach the wide waters to
+ruffle them even when a gale blows, and so the place is more
+silent, and its terror falls more heavily on a man's mind.
+
+It was two hours after sunset when we started, but the fringe of
+the woodland is but a mile and a half from the village, and we were
+soon there. The night was bright enough, with a clear sky and stars
+overhead, though there was no moon as yet.
+
+As we went Olaf was very cheerful, and railed pleasantly at Ottar
+for his fears, while I said little, not knowing if I wanted to find
+Gunnhild or not.
+
+But Ottar would not pretend to be braver than he felt, having no
+shame in fear of things other than earthly, a matter wherein I
+think that he was right.
+
+"Why," said the king, "if Dame Gunnhild tries to fray us, do you
+but turn that cloak of yours inside out, and you will frighten
+her"--for it chanced that the scald's red cloak had a white woollen
+lining, whereof he was somewhat proud, being a lover of bright
+dress.
+
+"It is ill to mock a spirit," the scald said; "wherefore do I
+believe the less that a Wise Woman will bide in the place that it
+haunts."
+
+So they talked until we came to the woodland; and when we came
+among the trees a silence fell on us.
+
+"It is of no use," I said, "let us go back. You are right, and she
+cannot bide here."
+
+"Why, now that I have got over my fear so far," Olaf said, "I will
+go on, even to the water's edge. Then will we go back."
+
+I could not gainsay him, as may be known, and so we went on. It was
+easy at first to thread our way through the trees, but presently
+they were thicker, and it was dark. There was no wind moving in the
+boughs overhead, and there is no denying that the silence of that
+deserted place weighed heavily on us all.
+
+And when we drew close to the water's edge, and saw the still
+water, starlit, stretching before us, a water hen sprang from the
+reeds almost at our feet with her shrill warning cry, and flapped
+out into the middle of the dark mere, leaving a long trail of
+broken water behind her that gleamed for a moment with dancing star
+sparks from the sky, as if it might have been the path of the White
+Lady herself. And from all round the lake came the answering cries
+of her mates, sounding weird and strange through the silent gloom.
+I heard Ottar draw a deep breath, and we all three started, and
+stood still, as if turned to stone.
+
+"We have taken fright easily," said Olaf, as if angry with himself
+for being thus startled. "My heart beats like a hammer, and I will
+bide here till I can do better than that."
+
+Yet he spoke in a whisper; and I saw no reason to try to answer him
+if I could. Then he walked on, keeping to the right, where the
+ground is high, at the hill foot, but still skirting the water's
+edge. Then I saw something beside the reeds, and went aside to see
+what it was; and, as I thought, it was a canoe that some fisher had
+left. There was a paddle still in it, and a bow net set on hoops,
+such as we were wont to use for eels and tench.
+
+"Here is how Gunnhild might find food," I thought, but it was not
+likely.
+
+Ottar stood and looked into it with me, but the king had walked on.
+
+Now it grew darker as we followed him, and Ottar tripped and fell,
+and I lost him, though I could hear him close behind me as he broke
+a branch now and then in passing.
+
+The king stayed in a clear place that I remembered well. Great
+trees stood round, and it was pleasant to sit there and look out
+over the water on a summers noonday.
+
+"Where is Ottar?" he said, when I stood by him.
+
+"Close behind me. I heard him even now," I answered. "Let us go
+back, my king. There is nought here."
+
+"Aye, we will go back now," he said. "But Ottar is before me."
+
+"Listen," I said, "the scald is behind us. I lost him in the dark."
+
+"Nay, but I heard him in front of me even as you came," the king
+said.
+
+And when we stood still we could hear the scald where I thought;
+but also we heard footsteps and breaking branches before us.
+
+We could see anything that was not in shadow pretty plainly; and
+now Olaf whispered to me:
+
+"Someone is forward, and coming nearer. Get your sword loose."
+
+At that there came a cry like the moor hen's from the thicket
+before us, and in a moment, with a great shout and crashing, there
+broke out on us many men, and I was down and held fast before I
+could draw on them. I saw Olaf draw the long dagger that hung ready
+to his right hand, and smite backwards over his shoulder in the
+face of a man who was pinioning him from behind, and the man
+shrieked and reeled backward into the bushes, hands to face. And
+then Olaf cried, "We are beset," and was borne down.
+
+Then the men tied us roughly with belts, and stood round us.
+
+I looked every moment to see the rush of Ottar into the midst,
+sword in hand; and saw that it would go hard with him, for all the
+men were armed, and some wore mail that rattled as they moved. But
+he came not; and I wondered if he too were taken, or if he had
+turned craven and had fled, a thought that I put from me as sorely
+wronging the brave scald; and then wondered how long it would take
+him to reach the nearest outpost of our men and come to rescue us.
+
+But now one was hammering flint on steel and making a fire in haste
+that he might see who they had caught. And when it blazed up I saw
+that the men were Danes. No doubt they were strangers to the place,
+men who had wandered here from the Leavenheath woods after the
+battle; for no Dane who came from close at hand would have dared to
+shelter in this place. There were fourteen of them in all.
+
+"Ho," said one who seemed to take the lead, "we have trapped some
+gay birds. Now, who might you be?"
+
+He spoke to Olaf, who answered nothing. So the man turned to me
+with the same question. But I followed the king's plan and made no
+answer. Whereat the man kicked me, saying:
+
+"Answer, you Norway rat!"
+
+I ground my teeth with rage, and said nothing.
+
+"Fetch the English churl, and ask him if he knows who these are,"
+said the Dane. "Then shall we see if this is a question of drowning
+or ransom."
+
+Two of tho men went back into the woods, and presently returned,
+dragging with them my thrall Brand, whose teeth chattered with
+terror, more of the place than of the Danes as it seemed, for he
+kept his eyes on the mere.
+
+When he saw me I shook my head ever so little in token that he
+should not own us. If Olaf thought best we could do that for
+ourselves.
+
+Then they cuffed the poor thrall, and asked him if he knew us; and
+for answer he did but point out over the mere, whose waters looked
+black as ink beyond the fire lit circle of trees and shore.
+
+"Let us go hence, lord Danes," he said trembling, "then will I say
+what I can. The Lady is wroth with men who come here at night."
+
+"We care for no ladies," said the leading Dane. "What are you
+feared of?"
+
+"The White Lady who dwells in the mere. To look on her in her wrath
+is death," Brand said--and one might well see that his terror was
+real.
+
+The Danes looked on one another, and there were white faces among
+them. Then, as luck would have it, one said:
+
+"This must be the mere of which I have heard strange tales. Let us
+go," and he began to edge away towards the fire.
+
+Then the leader said:
+
+"Let us find out if these men are worth taking with us," and he
+came and questioned us again, and again we answered not.
+
+"I will make you speak," he said savagely. "Take them up and make
+ready to cast them into the water."
+
+Now I wondered where Ottar was. Surely he must be back with more
+men soon.
+
+"Aye, throw them in, and let us be going," said one or two, for
+they had been asking Brand many questions, and now were eager to
+leave the place and its terrors.
+
+So one brawny Dane took my feet and another my shoulders and began
+to lift me; while I could not so much as struggle, so tightly was I
+bound.
+
+"Hold!" said the leader. "Will you throw away a sword like that?"
+
+It was certain now that they were in haste, for they had forgotten
+to strip me in their wish to have done.
+
+They set me down again, and that was the saving of us. For even as
+they loosed their grip on me, one who stood near the water cried
+out in a sharp voice:
+
+"Listen--what is that!"
+
+And they all stayed motionless as had we when the bird scared us.
+
+There was a sound of wondrously sweet singing from away across the
+mere. Such a voice it was as I had never heard before, neither like
+the singing of man or woman, nor had the song words that I could
+catch.
+
+The Danes forgot us as they heard that, and huddled together in
+twos and threes, looking out to whence the sound came. As for Brand
+the thrall, he fell on his knees and hid his face against a tree
+trunk, crying faintly:
+
+"It is the White Lady."
+
+So too thought I; and now I will not say that I feared her, for she
+was of my own race, and maybe she came to my help.
+
+Then I saw some of the Danes gasp and start, and point across the
+water, speechless, and I looked also.
+
+Plain enough in the firelight stood a tall white figure on the
+water of the mere, coming slowly towards us, and singing the while
+that wondrous song. And ever as it drew nearer the song grew
+wilder; and the long white-robed arm pointed towards us.
+
+Then the thrall leapt up and yelled, and fled into the dark wood.
+And that was enough for the Danes. They gave not another thought to
+us, but cried out in mortal terror and fled also, tripping and
+crashing through the underwood as they went; while the song of the
+White Lady grew louder, and she still neared us.
+
+Then, still singing, her pace quickened, and suddenly I saw that
+she came in no magic wise, but in the fisher's canoe which I had
+seen. And then the bows touched the shore, while with a wholesome
+clank of sword, and throwing back his long white cloak, Ottar the
+scald leapt ashore and came to us, dagger in hand, and cut our
+bonds.
+
+"Into the boat, lord king--quick!" he said. "We shall be safe
+there."
+
+Dazed and stiff I was, but I rose and followed Olaf; then Ottar
+pushed off, and we shot out towards the midst of the mere into
+safety.
+
+Then the king stared at me and at Ottar for a moment in amazement,
+and then laughed until the woods rang again, and I and the scald
+were fain to join him. Never had I heard such sounds before in that
+haunted place.
+
+"Now, Ottar," he said, when he could speak again, "never say more
+that you fear troll, or nix, or ghost--for you have done what you
+told me but half an hour ago was most unwise."
+
+"I needs must do somewhat, lord king," said Ottar gravely, "and it
+came into my mind that these Danes would be as badly scared as
+should I have been had I met Gunnhild; and methought that Redwald's
+lady would forgive me for his sake."
+
+"Aye, surely," I said.
+
+Then--was it fancy, or a vision wrought on me by long looking at
+Ottar as he came across the red track of the firelight on the
+water, still dimpled by the boat, glided the white form of no
+earthly maiden, and was gone.
+
+I saw it and said nought. Ottar sat in the stern facing us, and his
+eyes were away from the fire, and Olaf was beside me, and I thought
+that he started.
+
+Then Ottar said:
+
+"Can we go back by water, Redwald? It would be safer."
+
+I showed him the channel which leads to the river, and he took the
+paddle with which he had so deftly sculled the boat across the
+mere, and as we left the overhanging trees and saw the faint glow
+of the rising moon across the open river we breathed more freely,
+and were safe.
+
+Surely had it not been for the scald's ready wit both Olaf and I
+had been lying even now in the dark mere. For it would have been
+death to us all three had Ottar tried to rescue us sword in hand.
+It is his saying that he was so frozen with fear at first--until he
+knew we had met with mortals only--that he stood still and
+helpless, listening. Then came to him the thought of what to do,
+when he heard the talk of either ransom or drowning and knew that
+we were not slain. So even as Olaf had bidden him in jest, he had
+turned his cloak and had saved us.
+
+But Ottar the scald's courage and craft are well known, and I have
+other thoughts concerning his fear. But I know this, that never
+again could he find that strange and sweet voice that had come to
+him in the need of his master.
+
+Brand the thrall cowered in the house porch when we returned, and
+he was pale as a sheet, while his knees trembled even yet. We took
+him in and gave him wine and meat, and then asked him how the Danes
+got hold of him.
+
+"Master," he said, "they caught me but a little while after I had
+left you--as I set snares for rabbits on the hill. I let them come
+to me, thinking them some of the king's men who are kindly. Then
+they said they needed a guide through the country to the sea, and
+kept me with them."
+
+Then Olaf said to him:
+
+"No ill will come of this seeing of the White Lady, for she came to
+save Redwald your lord; you may sleep in peace therefore, but it
+would be unlucky to say that you saw her."
+
+Then the man said that he would not speak of the matter, and it was
+plain that he dared not do so. But he went away cheerfully enough,
+with his mind at rest from its fears.
+
+"It would be ill luck for me if Rani heard of this," said Olaf,
+looking ruefully at us; "for we cannot deny that he warned us. My
+foster father loves rating a king now and then, though it be only a
+small one like myself."
+
+So we said nought that night, and none asked where we had been. Now
+I slept next to Olaf, and in the night I woke with a new terror on
+me, and I put my hand on his and woke him.
+
+"My king," I whispered, "what if Gunnhild and Hertha are indeed in
+the woods yonder? These Danes will have found them."
+
+The king was silent for a moment, for the fear that my guess as to
+their hiding place might be right came to him also before he gave
+the matter thought.
+
+"It is not likely. The thought of danger makes it seem possible
+again," he said. "But I like not these prowling Danes--they are
+looking for hiding places for themselves."
+
+"She was safe before," I said, but a great fear came to me with his
+words.
+
+There had been nought to drive the Danes to seek sheltered spots
+before, now they were sure to do so.
+
+"This matter is not in our hands," said the king, when I said as
+much. "We can do nought. Pray, therefore, and sleep again. I think
+that you need fear little."
+
+Then after a while he spoke once more.
+
+"Redwald, saw you aught upon the mere while we sat in the canoe in
+its midst?"
+
+"Aye, my king," I answered, knowing what he meant.
+
+"I saw her also," he said.
+
+So it had been no fancy of mine, but the White Lady of our house
+had indeed passed before my eyes. I began to wonder if this
+portended aught to me, but soon I thought that it did not, for the
+like peril in which I had been, and even then had hardly escaped
+from, had not befallen any of my kin, as I was in peril at her own
+place, which was a new thing. So I judged that she showed her
+thought of us only.
+
+In the morning matters fell out so that we had never need to say
+what danger we had run. For the men had seen Brand's plight, which
+was pitiful, after Danes and thickets had done their work on him,
+and told Olaf that the man had met with and escaped Danes from the
+mere woods.
+
+So with twenty men we searched those covers in broad daylight, and
+found no token of any dwellers in the place. Nor were any Danes
+left, save one, and that was the man whom Olaf had smitten, for he
+had died. The embers of the fire were near him, and on the bank lay
+the severed belts that had bound us.
+
+"These Danes have fought among themselves," said our men, and hove
+the body into the water. So the Dane lies there instead of Olaf the
+king and me, with the Welshmen whom my heathen forefathers cast
+into the black depths, in revenge for the death of the White Lady.
+
+Now when we came back to Bures there was a tired horse standing by
+the house door, and in the hall waited a messenger from Colchester,
+and he brought the news that we looked for and yet feared, so that
+we had hoped against hope that it would not come.
+
+A Frisian trader had put into the Colchester river, and he brought
+word that even now Cnut might be taking the sea for England, for in
+all the western havens of Denmark was gathered such a mighty host
+and fleet that no man had ever known the like, and he had heard
+that the day for sailing would soon come.
+
+Then Olaf made no delay but rode to Colchester to see this
+shipmaster and speak with him, for he thought that he might find
+out from him what point on our coasts would be that at which Cnut
+aimed first.
+
+So Gunnhild and Olaf were right, and the little peace we had had
+was to end. Now would come the last struggle of English and Dane
+for mastery in our land, and in my heart I wished that we had such
+a king as Olaf Haraldsson. For it seemed to me that we were not
+ready, though we had had a year and more in which to prepare.
+
+
+
+Chapter 9: The Treachery Of Edric Streone.
+
+
+When Olaf had gone I sought out Father Ailwin, for the danger that
+I had seen for Hertha lay heavily on my mind, and now also I would
+tell him of the certainty of coming warfare, asking him what he and
+Gunnhild would do. So I went to the place where one might be sure
+to find him during the last two days, and that was in the
+churchyard, where our people and Olaf's men were working together
+to raise for him a little wattled chapel among the ruins, that
+should serve at least until I could return and build the church
+anew.
+
+It was a sore grief to me that the old one was gone, for in it had
+been crowned Eadmund the Holy, and it was rich with his gifts. And
+our hall had been the first house in which he had feasted as
+crowned king, so that we call the lane from church to hilltop St.
+Eadmund's Lane since he rode along it in all the pomp of that high
+festival after he left the altar. Only the ruins of God's house and
+man's abode were there now, but the lane was bright with the
+flowers that the good king loved, and the nightingale sang in the
+wooded banks even as when he listened to it in the old days. We had
+always these things to mind us of the martyr.
+
+But Ailwin was not with the men, though he had been foremost in
+working and planning with them. Nor had any of them seen him that
+day.
+
+So I waited for a little while and watched the work, wondering if I
+should live now to do all that I would in making new the place. And
+then as I walked to look across the bridge I passed a heap of earth
+that the men had thrown out for the place of a post, and I saw
+somewhat glittering in it, and stooped and took it up.
+
+It was a silver penny, and when I rubbed the earth from it, I knew
+that it was one of Eadmund's, mint new and fresh as on the day when
+he stood in his robes and crown, even where I stood in the place of
+the old porch, while the people shouted and scrambled and fought in
+glee for the largess he threw among them. Doubtless this had been
+so thrown and had been trodden under foot and lost.
+
+Now it came into my hands even when my thoughts were most troubled,
+and to me it seemed as a sign that I should surely return to the
+place that the saint had loved. I was greatly cheered thereat, for
+as I waited for Olaf to return I saw as it were the long hope of
+home and peace dashed from me, and the pain of the coming war grew
+plainer than I had known it in Ethelred's court. The old love of
+home had waked in me as I wandered in the places of my boyhood, and
+for the first time I learned the aching of the hearts of those who
+had known more of home than I, and would lose it.
+
+But I was young, and it needed but a little thing to turn my
+thoughts, so this token as I say helped me to banish them. What
+might not Eadmund the Saint, who slew Swein to save his shrine from
+heathen hands, be able to do for me?
+
+I would tell Ailwin presently, and ask him what vow I should make
+in return for this remembrance.
+
+But Ailwin came not, and I grew impatient, and went to the cottage
+where he dwelt as the leech, at the head of the little street
+towards our hall. Maybe he would be there.
+
+The door was open, and the little black cat that had been the
+leech's in the old days, and would not leave its house, sat in the
+sun on the step. I went inside and called, but there was no man.
+And then a footstep came from the road and in at the wicket, and a
+strange priest, younger than Ailwin, and frocked and cowled came
+in.
+
+He saluted me gravely, and I bowed to him, and then he asked me
+where Redwald the thane might be found.
+
+"I am he, father," I said.
+
+"Then I have a message to you from Ailwin, your priest, whose place
+I am sent to take for a time."
+
+"This is his house, father," I answered. "Let us come in and hear
+what he would tell me."
+
+So we sat down inside the one room on the bench across the wall,
+and I wondered what I should hear.
+
+"I will give my message first," the priest said, "and afterwards
+you shall tell me Ailwin's ways with your people, and I will try to
+be as himself with them."
+
+I laughed a little, though I was pleased, and answered:
+
+"You cannot do that, father--for he has christened everyone in the
+parish that is thirty years younger than he.
+
+"Aye, I forgot that," the priest said gravely. "They will miss him
+sorely. Therefore I will say that he will return ere long, but that
+my ways must be borne with until he comes."
+
+"Now I think that if you steer between those two sayings of yours
+you will do well," I answered.
+
+"Ailwin's ways wrought in my manner, therefore. I thank you,
+thane," the priest said. "I am cloister bred, and know nought much
+of secular work. Now, that is enough about myself. This morning,
+very early, came Ailwin and asked for one to take his place, and I
+am a Dane of the old settlement, and so I came, as running less
+risk if Cnut returns, as they say he will. Then Ailwin bade me seek
+you and say this. That because of the wandering Danes he would take
+his charges into some more quiet place for a time at least. Truly,
+he bade me tell you, they have a last refuge where none would find
+them, but it is ill fitted for a long stay, and it is likely that
+once there it might now be months before they could leave it. So he
+and Gunnhild think best to go far off. They will return with peace,
+and then he bids me tell you that, if the Lord will, all shall be
+well."
+
+"Where will he go?" I asked.
+
+"I know not. He gave me the message, and I know no more. Not even
+of whom he speaks."
+
+Now for a moment I grew angry with Ailwin again, for it seemed to
+me that I should have been told more than this. Then I thought that
+perhaps Ailwin himself knew not yet where he would go.
+
+"Does Ailwin know that there is news from Denmark?" I asked.
+
+"Our abbot told him, but he knew already, having had word from
+Colchester in some way. He had heard before we as it seems."
+
+That was doubtless Gunnhild's work, for I came to know afterwards
+that in the long years of trouble she had made a chain of friends
+who would pass word to her from every point whence trouble would
+come. It seems to me that much of the dame's knowledge of coming
+events was gained in ways like this rather than by witchcraft.
+
+Then I was glad that the danger that I had learned had been
+foreseen by her and Ailwin; and as I sat without speaking for a few
+minutes I felt that now I was free to follow Olaf where he would
+lead his men to meet the Danes, for Hertha was not here, and her I
+could follow no longer.
+
+There was no more to be learned from the priest, and so we rose up
+and went down to the churchyard, and saw the work, and I told him
+what I could of Ailwin and his ways, and thought that he had found
+one who was like him in thought and gentleness.
+
+So presently I took Eadmund's penny from my pouch and gave it to
+him, telling him about it, even as I would have told Ailwin.
+
+"Give me this back when I return, father," I said, "and it shall
+remind me of some vow which I will make at your advice."
+
+"Make no vows, my son, save this one," he said. "What will befall
+you we know not, and therefore there is but one vow which we know
+certainly that you may be able to keep. I will have you put the
+penny where you may see it often, and so you shall remember, and
+vow if you will, that when your eyes fall on it you shall say a
+prayer to Him who gave power to Eadmund to conquer in dying, for
+this home of yours and this church, that out of ruin may come
+beauty, and after war, peace."
+
+"I will make that vow, father," I said gladly.
+
+"Forget not me at times in the prayer," he said very humbly; and I
+promised that I would not, taking the penny back.
+
+Then he went and began to work on the church, being plainly skilful
+in the matter, and I went up to our hall's ruins and looked out
+over the land, and planned again what I would do in the days to
+come.
+
+It was long dark when Olaf rode back, and he had learnt but little.
+But he had sent messengers to Ulfkytel at Thetford to warn him to
+watch his coasts, for he must go back to London with the ships to
+guard the Thames.
+
+"And you, Redwald, my cousin, must go to Ethelred or Eadmund and
+warn them, and make them rouse, and raise and have ready the
+mightiest levy that they have ever led, for I think that all
+Denmark and Norway have sent their best to follow Cnut. We will
+ride together to Maldon, for the men shall follow me and find the
+ships with their cables up-and-down waiting for them, and you must
+hasten, for no time must be lost."
+
+So it came to pass that my dream of finding Hertha passed from me,
+and the thought of war filled my mind again, for next morning we
+rode away southward along the Roman road, and the cheers of the
+villagers died away behind me and were forgotten.
+
+Then I left Olaf where the road turns off to Maldon, to meet him
+again in London before many days, and I and my fifty men rode on.
+For Olaf would have me go as befitted his kinsman, and a word to
+the Colchester elders had found me the well-armed and mounted
+Anglian warriors who joined us after we reached the great road.
+
+But when I came to London my journey was not at an end. Ethelred
+the king was at Corsham, in Wiltshire, and sorely sick as was said,
+and Eadmund was at Stamford. Now when I heard that I wondered, and
+asked the Sheriff, at whose house I was made most welcome, how this
+was.
+
+Eadmund had been with his father, and had gone to Malmsbury, and
+there had seen the Lady Algitha, the widow of Earl Sigeferth whom
+Edric Streone slew, and had married her, and now had gone to take
+over the Five Boroughs for himself. That was good hearing, maybe,
+for Olaf had feared that Streone would have taken them.
+
+But next I found that this marriage was sorely against the king's
+will, and that he and Eadmund had parted in anger therefore. I
+seemed then to see the hand of Streone in this quarrel, for all men
+knew that he slew the earls to gain the Five Boroughs for his own.
+
+Then I thought that to go so far into Wessex to seek the sick king
+would be but lost time. I had better go to Stamford and seek the
+Atheling, and maybe it would be as well that he was free to act by
+himself, seeing that need was urgent. So I lay but one night in
+London, and then rode away to Stamford along the great Ermin
+Street, and there I found Eadmund and told him all that Olaf had
+bidden me.
+
+And when he had heard all, he said:
+
+"Let me send for Edric Streone, my foster father, and we will take
+counsel with him."
+
+"Send round the war arrow first, my prince," I urged, "then when
+the earl comes no time will be lost. He cannot but counsel you to
+raise men instantly."
+
+"Why," he said, "Cnut can but fall on the east coast. Utred is in
+Northumbria to guard the Humber, and Ulfkytel guards the Wash, and
+Olaf is in the Thames. They will drive away the Danes before they
+set foot on the beach."
+
+"They are still fighting the thingmen in the towns," I said.
+"Northumbria and Anglia are Danish at heart yet."
+
+Aye, and I might have added "Mercia also," but I knew not that yet.
+Eadmund should have known it, though. It was but a few weeks before
+it was plain that Wessex alone and London stood fast for Ethelred.
+
+I chafed, but Eadmund would not be hurried. I cannot tell what
+strange blindness, save it was his trust in Streone, had fallen on
+him at this time.
+
+Then the earl came from Nottingham, and at the very first he sent
+for me. Eadmund had told him my news when he sent for him.
+
+I found him alone in a chamber of Eadmund's house--that which had
+been Sigeferth's, and it seemed that no memory of the murdered earl
+haunted him. His great form was as square and strong as ever, and
+his grizzled brown beard was as bushy and well cared for as when I
+used to see him and speak with him before the flight into Normandy.
+And he still had the same pleasant voice and ways, even to the
+little chuckle--as to himself--when he spoke, and the way he had of
+gazing on the rafters rather than at the man to whom he was
+talking.
+
+"So, Redwald, my friend," he laughed, "you have turned viking as it
+seems! How have you fared in East Anglia with Olaf the Thick?"
+
+"Well enough, lord earl," I said, "but there is work to be done
+there yet."
+
+"Aha! those thingmen are no babes," he said. "Where is your earl
+now?"
+
+"At Thetford, as they say."
+
+"Well, what is this tale that you bring about Cnut?"
+
+I told him, and he laughed in his way.
+
+"Cnut is but a boy. No such great following would gather to him,"
+he said. "It is not possible."
+
+"Eirik and Ulf and Thorkel the jarls may gather them for Cnut," I
+answered. "And he is Swein's son."
+
+"Those men are Cnut as yet, as one may say," answered Edric
+chuckling. "One has to deal with them therefore. What says Olaf?"
+
+"He says the same, lord earl."
+
+Then he turned sharply towards me, though he did not look at me,
+and said:
+
+"The king does not trust Olaf, I fear. He thinks that he might be
+won over to Cnut's side."
+
+"Ethelred our king should have no mistrust of the man who brought
+him home," I said coldly, having no doubt who made the first
+jealousy of Olaf.
+
+"He should not, in truth," Edric answered. "But what if Cnut
+offered Olaf the under-kingship of Norway, or Northumbria say, if
+he would go over to his side?"
+
+"He would not take it," I said.
+
+"Have you ever heard him say as much?" asked Edric in a careless
+way.
+
+I was growing angry now, for this seemed beside the point.
+
+"Such a thing has never been spoken of between us," I said.
+
+"So. Then ask him the question one day, and see what his answer
+is."
+
+"I can answer it now," I said hotly; "he would refuse. Nor will the
+offer ever be made."
+
+"I am not so sure of that," said Edric. "Cnut needs help, and will
+bid high for it. Nay, I know that it will be made. We have our
+spies in Cnut's court, Redwald, and know more than you may think.
+Tell him, therefore, only what I have said to you, and let me know
+his answer by someone whom you can trust."
+
+Then I rose up in my anger, and said:
+
+"You ask me to spy on the king, lord earl, and I will not do it."
+
+"Nay, nay," he said. "I do but want to set our king's mind at rest.
+I know what the honest viking's answer would be; he would be as
+wroth as you. Only I would have sure word to send to Ethelred."
+
+Then I said, while Edric watched me sidelong:
+
+"Olaf's force is small, and our levies, lord earl, should be enough
+without his help, if they are raised in time. Our king may be sure
+that Olaf has not sent me to raise England thus against himself."
+
+"Aye, I will tell Ethelred so. Our king is very sick, and a sick
+man's fancies are many. So Olaf thinks that we should raise a great
+levy at once."
+
+Then he spoke of nought but that, and so earnestly that I believed
+that the summons to the sheriffs would surely go out that night.
+And he spoke of the help of the ships that Olaf had gathered,
+praising him honestly, and not over much or too little, so that I
+forgot his doubtful speeches, and thought that all was well, and
+that his own levies were now gathering.
+
+And so after an hour or more's talk he rose up and held out his
+hand.
+
+"Many thanks, Redwald, for your pains," he said taking mine. "I
+think that Cnut and his jarls will have lost their journey through
+your coming hither. The king shall not forget you when all is safe
+again."
+
+Who would not have been pleased with this? I went from Streone's
+presence with a light heart, until I came to the great hall, and
+there sat in the high place the Lady Algitha herself and her
+maidens. Very beautiful she was, but very sad looking. And when I
+crossed the floor before her I bowed, and she beckoned to me.
+
+So I came near, and knelt on one knee before her.
+
+"You are Redwald, Olaf's kinsman and messenger?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, lady," I answered.
+
+"I have heard of your coming. Have you spoken with the
+earl--Streone?" she said, while a wrinkle crossed her fair forehead
+as she named him.
+
+"I have but just left him, lady."
+
+She sunk her voice very low, and bent a little towards me.
+
+"Were his words pleasant and fair spoken?" she said.
+
+"They could not have been more so--at the last," I replied, the
+memory of my anger coming back to me of a sudden.
+
+"You crossed him once, then?"
+
+"But a little; he crossed me rather," I said plainly.
+
+"Wear your mail, Redwald," she said whisperingly. "Farewell."
+
+Then she was once more herself again, the lady whose hand I might
+kiss reverently and look at afar. But in those few moments she had
+been as a friend who warned me of a danger unforeseen. Even thus
+had Edric Streone spoken with Sigeferth, fairly and pleasantly.
+
+I left the house, feeling uneasy therefore; but I could not think
+that Edric would deem me worth crushing, and it seemed that the
+lady would let her hatred of Edric go far.
+
+They had given me lodging in the town across the river, where there
+was a large guest house that had been made in the days of
+OEthelfloed {11}, the brave lady of the Mercians who won back
+the Five Boroughs from the Danes. One could see the great fort she
+made rising from the river banks over the whole town. No other
+thane was in guest quarters there with me, and I and my men had the
+place to ourselves. Nor was there anyone in Stamford at the time
+whom I knew, apart from the people of Eadmund's household.
+
+So I went along the street slowly enough, and presently I passed a
+house where through the open window I saw a goldsmith working, and
+I thought that he could do somewhat for me. I would have the penny
+of St. Eadmund set in a gold band on the scabbard of sword Foe's
+Bane, where I should see it continually. There was much gilt silver
+work over all the scabbard from end to end--wrought by what skilful
+artists in the Norseland, or how long ago, I cannot tell--and there
+was a place among the other work where such a fitting would go
+well.
+
+But I had placed the coin in safety in the house, and I must go and
+fetch it, and I passed on for the time. Then I loitered on the
+bridge, for the old town and its grim earthworks looks very fair
+thence, and so a thane sent from Eadmund caught me up and took me
+back to the great house, for he had some word for me. It was near
+sunset by this time.
+
+"Redwald, my friend," the Atheling said, when I stood before him,
+"I would have you go back to Olaf. You have done your errand well,
+and your kinsman will want to have you with him. You will fight for
+us no less well with him than here."
+
+Now I could speak plainly with the Atheling ever, and I said, being
+anxious to know more of Streone's meanings:
+
+"I am glad that you tell me so, my prince, for Edric the earl would
+have it that our king fears that Olaf's good faith may be little."
+
+"That is new to me," Eadmund said, frowning; "but, as you know, my
+father and I have had little to say to each other of late."
+
+"Then you doubt him not?" I asked.
+
+"I would as soon doubt Edric himself," he said, "and him I trust as
+I would trust myself."
+
+"That is well," answered I. "For I feared that you also might have
+been doubtful of Olaf."
+
+"Why, what should the king think of Olaf but that he has been his
+best friend?"
+
+"The earl tells me that he has heard that Cnut will offer Olaf some
+under-kingship if he will take his part," I said.
+
+"I cannot tell how he has heard that," Eadmund said, and he looked
+puzzled.
+
+"By your spies in Cnut's court," said I.
+
+"We have no spies there. I hate spying," the Atheling said. "What
+means he?"
+
+Then I saw that for some reason which was beyond me Streone had let
+me know more than was safe. It was plain that if he spoke truth, he
+had more dealings with Cnut than were known to the Atheling. Yet
+the earl might, for Ethelred's sake, watch thus on Cnut, rightly
+enough, and think it safer to say nought to Eadmund, whose wisdom
+was not so great as his valour. It was a poor watch enough though,
+I thought, if he knew the talk about Olaf and not the plans for
+sailing, which should surely have been told him first of all.
+
+"Maybe he minded him of some old plan of Cnut's that he heard when
+you were in Lindsey," I said, that being all that I could imagine.
+"That were enough to return to the mind of our king in his
+sickness, and trouble him."
+
+"Aye, I think my father fears treachery from all men," the Atheling
+answered. "But Olaf has done well for us both at the first and now
+in sending word by you."
+
+Then the sword I was wearing caught Eadmund's eyes, for he was ever
+fond of goodly war gear.
+
+"So--you have a new sword instead of that I gave you," he said.
+"And I think you have made a good exchange. Let me see this."
+
+"I broke the other blade strangely enough," I told him. "But this
+was my father's sword, and it has come back to me."
+
+Now I must tell him all about our great fight, and at the end he
+said:
+
+"I would that I had been there. It was a good fight." Then he
+laughed, and added: "Now, I will say this, that Streone noted this
+fine sword of yours, and wondered who had given it you, and why."
+
+"Did he think that Cnut had bribed me also?" I said. "Such a sword
+as this is to a simple thane as much as a petty kingdom to Olaf."
+
+Then Eadmund spoke in the old tone of comradeship that we had been
+wont to use in Normandy.
+
+"On my word, I believe he did! But you have often spoken to me of
+this sword, and you described it well. I think had I found it on a
+Dane I should have claimed it for you. But I never thought you
+would see it again."
+
+"Would you have believed that I was bribed, my prince, had it not
+chanced that you had heard of the sword from me beforetime?" I
+asked, being bitterly hurt that the earl should have put this into
+Eadmund's mind.
+
+Did he want to make him doubt all his former friends?
+
+"Not I, Redwald," the Atheling said. "Streone is over careful for
+our safety, I think, and lets his love for us make him suspect all
+men. I told him as much, and he said that perhaps it was so. Then I
+said that Olaf had doubtless given you the weapon, and he would
+have me ask you. He thought that you should not have lightly set
+aside my gift."
+
+Now I was sure that the earl strove to break Eadmund's friendship
+with Olaf, for to anger me would help to do so. The next thing
+would be to have me made away with, for that would turn Olaf into a
+foe, and he would leave England maybe. I thought that the earl
+would stand alone in Eadmund's counsels, and did not dream yet that
+he was indeed working for Cnut in order to take the first place in
+England as Thorkel did in Denmark. But that was plain enough ere
+long, and all men know it now. At this time, however, these matters
+puzzled me, and had it not been for the slaying of Sigeferth and
+Morcar and one or two others, maybe I should have thought little of
+danger to myself. It was only as Olaf's kinsman that I was worth a
+thought of the man whose deep statecraft I could not pretend to
+understand.
+
+So I said:
+
+"The earl's life must be uneasy with all these doubts. But so long
+as you yourself have none of King Olaf and myself, it is little
+matter what he thinks. His doubts will be proved false in time, and
+he will have fretted for nought."
+
+"That is true," Eadmund answered. "I would that he troubled me not
+with his suspicions."
+
+So the matter passed, and we spoke for a little while of the fleet
+and of Olaf's plans, and then I left him, saying that I would ride
+back to London with the first light of morning.
+
+"We shall have one good fight, and then peace," said Eadmund.
+"Farewell, and trouble nought about my foster father and his ways
+of doubting. He will doubt me next, maybe."
+
+He laughed lightly, and I went away down the street with a troubled
+mind, and was willing to get back to my lodgings through the dusk
+as quickly as I might.
+
+And when I came there I put on my mail, as the lady had bidden
+me--rather blaming myself for doing so for all that, for it seemed
+to show fear of somewhat that I could not name.
+
+Then I thought of the goldsmith again, and sent a man for him,
+thinking that he could do the work here in hall, so that I could be
+sure of having the scabbard, which was very valuable, when I rode
+away.
+
+When he came I showed him what I would have done, and he said that
+it was no long business, and took his tools into a corner and
+lighted a wax taper and began to work by its light. The sword stood
+by my chair as I ate my supper at the head of the long tables where
+my men sat.
+
+The goldsmith ended his work soon after the men had gone out to the
+stables to tend their horses for the night, and only he and I and
+my headman Thrand were left in the hall. He had put a flat band of
+chased gold round the scabbard, and the silver penny showed through
+a round setting that was in it.
+
+I gave him one of the gold pieces that Earl Wulfnoth had taken from
+the treasure for me, and the man weighed it, wondering at its
+weight and fineness. Then he said that he was overpaid, and must
+give me money for the overweight, and asked that one should go back
+to his house with him and return with it.
+
+"There were men lurking in the porches and on the bridge," he said,
+"when I came down here. I suppose there will be a fray when they
+meet the men they wait for, so I fear to go back alone. A goldsmith
+is ever fair prey."
+
+Then came a knocking on the door, and my man went to see what was
+wanted. Then one said to him:
+
+"Edric the earl bids Redwald the thane to speak with him at his
+house before he sleeps."
+
+Now the goldsmith stood where he could see the long streak of light
+that shone from the door across the street, and he said to me in a
+low voice:
+
+"There are a dozen armed men outside, lord."
+
+Thrand turned round to tell me this message, and as he did so
+Streone's messenger pushed by him into the hail, rudely enough.
+
+"To the stables and call my men," I whispered to the goldsmith,
+pointing to the door which led thither, and he went out slowly, not
+knowing why I sent him.
+
+"Where is Redwald, Olaf's man?" the newcomer said, and his tone was
+so rough that at the uncivil words I glanced at him sharply and
+made no answer. He was fully armed, I saw.
+
+But my follower would not bear this.
+
+"Yonder is Redwald the thane," he said; "mind how you speak, man."
+
+"Thane or not, I have come to take him to Edric the earl," was the
+answer.
+
+"Ho, thane! hear you the earl's message?"
+
+Now when this began, I had taken up the scabbard with my right hand
+and was looking at the work, and the sword was in my left, hidden
+by my cloak as it fell to my side. I suppose the earl's housecarle
+thought I was unarmed.
+
+"I am Redwald," I said, putting the scabbard on the table, and so
+leaving my right hand free. "I hear an uncivilly-given message
+enough. And I think the earl has not sent for me in such terms as
+those."
+
+The man raised his hand a little and made a sign, and I heard the
+quick steps of men crossing the street with clatter of steel. Then
+I knew that Edric had sent for me, dead or alive.
+
+"Come you must," the man said.
+
+"What if I will not?" I answered.
+
+"I will make you," he said, and with that he smote Thrand fairly in
+the face and felled him, hitting squarely from his left shoulder,
+and then his sword was out and he made one step towards me.
+
+Quick as thought I grasped the hilt of my sword, and smote upwards
+with it as I drew it from under the fold of my cloak. There is no
+stopping that stroke, and the man leapt back from it as it seemed,
+but the blade smote him beneath the chin, and so far as he was
+concerned Edric's message had come to naught. He would never draw
+sword on any man again. Nor do I think he would have been thus bold
+had he not thought me unarmed.
+
+Then at the same moment my man was up, cursing, and the doorway to
+the street was full of Edric's men, and some of mine were coming
+leisurely through the other.
+
+The crash of the falling man woke my people into life, and they ran
+to their spears, which were piled along the walls, and the earl's
+men faltered on the threshold, for they liked not the look of sword
+Foe's Bane, maybe. Then my man Thrand ran at the great door, which
+opened inward, and swung it to in the faces of Edric's men, and
+barred it. I heard them give a howl of rage as he did so, for one
+or two of them were flung backward into the street, so suddenly and
+strongly did he fling it against them in his rage.
+
+Then we looked at one another, and at the dead man on the floor, in
+silence. I was the only one of all who knew what this message
+brought by armed men from Streone might mean. And all had happened
+so suddenly, from the time that the man had told me that I must
+come, and had drawn sword on me, to when the door slammed, that
+there had been no time for thought or wonder even.
+
+I took up the scabbard and buckled it on, and sheathed the sword,
+and said:
+
+"We shall hear more of this, men. Stamford town is no place for us
+now."
+
+"What is all this, lord?" asked the leader, who stood with his back
+against the door still.
+
+"Edric the earl has another business on hand like that of Earls
+Sigeferth and Morcar," I said. Whereat the men growled fiercely.
+
+The goldsmith came in with the last of my men, and heard me say
+this, and now looked in the face of him whom I had slain.
+
+"This is the man who brought the like message to our earls," he
+said. "I was at Oxford, and saw him come. And the street then was
+full of armed men, as is ours tonight. Better go hence, lord, else
+you will be burnt out, as our men were when they went to avenge our
+lords' deaths, and were driven into St. Frideswide's Church."
+
+Now it seemed to me also that we had better hasten, or we should
+have a strong force down on us. Then if we fought, Edric would have
+occasion against me, and if not, I was lost.
+
+"To horse, men!" I said. "We will go to Peterborough for this
+night. Abbot Elfric is my friend, and will give us shelter."
+
+"Let us take the road for London rather, and get back to Olaf the
+king," said the headman. "The horses are fresh, and we can ride
+far, and the nights are warm if we must lie out."
+
+"We will speak of that outside the town," I answered. "To horse at
+once, and silently, or they will take warning and bring more men."
+
+They ran out, leaving a dozen with me. Edric's men were yet in the
+street, and now they drew near the door, listening as I thought.
+
+"How shall you escape?" I said to the goldsmith.
+
+"Out of the back way, lord, and up the meadows to the ford if the
+ferryman is asleep. But I must go before the house is beset."
+
+"Keep the gold for your service," I said, "for I think that the
+silver penny has saved me."
+
+So he thanked me, and crept away easily enough. I suppose that
+Edric's men had no orders that had made provision for trouble with
+me of this sort, and that they hardly knew what had happened. But
+it was likely that they would send word to Edric directly, when
+they began to be sure that something had gone amiss. They tried the
+door again, but without much heart. My men wanted to throw it open
+and charge out on them, but I would not suffer it. So long as they
+loitered outside we had time to get away. Then some of them tried
+the gate of the courtyard behind the house, but the men had barred
+that after the goldsmith had gone out. And all the while the horses
+were being saddled silently, and they would be ready in a few
+minutes.
+
+The earl's men spoke now outside the door, and I could hear what
+they said.
+
+"Let us break in and see what has befallen Godric."
+
+"Nay, the hall is full of men now. Let us go back."
+
+"It was Godric's own fault. He had no reason to smite the porter,
+who stayed him not."
+
+Then I thought that the men knew not what their errand was, and
+were to take orders from the slain man. Thus there would be no
+fighting in the street when we came out.
+
+So it was, for when the horses were ready, the stablemen of the
+house threw open the great gates of the courtyard, which was beside
+the house, as it happened, and we rode out quietly, but with
+weapons ready, and they did but shrink together and stare when they
+saw us. There were about thirty of them in all.
+
+Now I would not give Edric any reason to blame me to Eadmund, and
+so I wheeled my men to the right, away from the bridge and along
+the great road towards London, and letting them go on slowly, I
+called to a man who stood foremost.
+
+"This is a sorry business," I said; "but your leader had no right
+to smite my man, and one waxes hasty when a man behaves thus. He
+was an unmannerly messenger."
+
+"Aye, lord, he was," the men said.
+
+"Well, then, tell your earl that I have even now left the town, and
+that being ready to do so I came not with you; and say how it was
+that this man was slain, and that I am sorry therefor."
+
+"We will tell him," they said.
+
+So I spurred my horse and rode after my company, knowing that it
+would be hard for Edric to know the rights of the matter. The men
+would certainly not wonder at the slaying of Godric, seeing how he
+had behaved. I thought that Eadmund would never hear of this.
+
+I believe that I escaped very narrowly, and also that the silver
+penny was the cause thereof. For, first of all, it had been likely
+that Eadmund's messenger would not have found me so easily had I
+gone elsewhere than back to get it, and so I should have been
+belated and attacked in the street by these men. And next, the
+goldsmith warned me that the armed men waited outside. And then it
+was certain that Godric, the earl's man, would have cut me down
+before I could have drawn sword, had I not already held the weapon
+unsheathed. And that was because I looked on the penny and its
+setting before belting on the scabbard.
+
+Now I thought, when we were fairly on the road, that we would go to
+Peterborough, to my good friend the Abbot Elfric, for I would fain
+tell him all this, thinking that he might warn Eadmund of Streone
+to more effect than could I. And inside the abbey walls would be a
+safe place for the night. It was not so certain that we should not
+be pursued, and so we went quickly, the horses rejoicing in the
+road after their idleness, for we had been three weeks in Stamford,
+waiting for the earl.
+
+So we rode till we came to Castor, the old Roman town, and stayed
+not there, but went to the ford over the Nene at Water Newton, the
+road beyond the river being better than that on this side. It is
+not an easy ford, for a horseman has to turn downstream when nearly
+over, else he is over head and ears before he knows. One of my men
+had known somewhat of the place, and was going through first, but
+as his horse shied a little at the sparkling water and he was
+urging it in, a man rode fast down the opposite bank, and into the
+river, coming over to us. I heard his horse snorting, as if out of
+breath.
+
+"Watch how he comes," I said to my man.
+
+But there was little use in that, for he went to ride straight
+through, and next moment his horse was swimming, and he was crying
+for help, being bewildered, for the river was full and current
+strong.
+
+Now, I was used to swimming my horse in our Stour fords, which are
+often very deep in autumn and winter, and so I rode in and grasped
+his horse's bridle, and told him to take heart, and so fetched him
+to our side.
+
+"Give me a fresh mount, in the king's name," he said, for his horse
+was spent.
+
+"Little thanks is that," said I. "What is the hurry?"
+
+"I am sent with all speed to Redwald the thane, at Stamford, with
+word for Eadmund the Atheling."
+
+"I am Redwald," I said. "Who sent you?"
+
+"Olaf the king. Show me your sword, master."
+
+I held out the hilt of my sword, for that was a token which a
+messenger should give and receive that Olaf and I had agreed on.
+
+"Cnut the Dane has landed at Sandwich," the man said. "Eight
+hundred ships he has, and men more than I can count. The Kentish
+men have risen, and Olaf is with them; but he has not, and cannot
+have enough men to stay the Dane. There must be a levy of all
+England."
+
+Then I was almost beside myself with rage, and could have wept, for
+the levy that should have been waiting for this had not even had a
+summons. And from the bottom of my heart I blamed Edric Streone for
+all the woe that I saw must come on England.
+
+There was but one thing for me to do, and that was to go back to
+Stamford and see the Atheling. He would see me at midnight when no
+one else dared wake him, maybe, for he would know that I had heavy
+matters to speak of if I thus summoned him. The messenger would
+have to wait till morning, and could but give his message. I could
+reason with the Atheling, while this messenger would fall into
+Streone's hands. And that I knew now was the worst that could
+befall.
+
+"Give the man a fresh horse," I said. "I must go back with him."
+
+"Not so, lord," the men said. "You will be waylaid."
+
+"I think my luck will serve me," I answered. "Do you find some barn
+at Chesterton over the water, and leave two or three men to watch
+for my coming. Thrand and Guthorm may come with me."
+
+Then they grumbled at my running into danger, but I would be
+obeyed, though I must let them bide on this side of the ford.
+
+We were but seven miles from Stamford town, and we went back at a
+hard gallop on the good turf alongside the paving of the Roman way.
+It was in my mind to see Eadmund and leave him at once, before
+Streone knew that any man had come into the town, if I could.
+
+The bridge was barred, and the gates were too high to be leapt; but
+the guards were sleepy, and would not let me through, until I bade
+them open in the king's name. Then they did so, and we rode
+clattering up the street to the great hall.
+
+There was bustle enough when I beat on the courtyard gates, for the
+place was stockaded, and there was a strong guard inside. Presently
+they opened the wicket, and the captain looked out angrily enough.
+
+He began to rate us, but I cut him short.
+
+"I am Redwald," I said, "and I must see the Atheling without
+delay."
+
+The officer knew me well enough then, and let us in.
+
+"You cannot see the Atheling, thane," he said. "It is as much as my
+life is worth to disturb him."
+
+"I will do it myself, then," I said. "Take me into the house."
+
+"What is amiss?" he asked, hesitating. "Is the king dead?"
+
+"Nay, worse than that," I answered shortly, and the officer stared
+at me in horror.
+
+"Oh, fool!" I said; "Cnut is landed, and it is Eadmund only who can
+save our land. Let me to him."
+
+The warrior clutched his sword hilt with a sort of groan, and
+turned and took me into the house without a word. We went across
+the great hall, where the housecarles slept around the walls, sword
+under pillow, and spear at side. They raised their heads when their
+captain spoke the watchword, and looked at me curiously, but did
+not stir more than enough for that. They were not bidden.
+
+We crossed a room where a few young thanes' sons slept, as I had
+slept before the king's door when I was first at court, and these
+leapt up, sword in hand.
+
+"What will you?" one said in a low voice, setting his back against
+the door.
+
+"I must see Eadmund, our atheling, on king's business," I said
+gently, remembering how I should have felt when on the same duty,
+if one had come thus.
+
+"He may not be waked," the boy said.
+
+Then I spoke loudly, so as to end the business without troubling
+these faithful guards.
+
+"I am Redwald of Bures. I think that Eadmund will see me."
+
+"Hush! hush! thane," the boy said.
+
+But there was no need to say more, for the long camp life had
+sharpened Eadmund's ears to aught unusual. Now I heard the bar of
+the door thrown down, and Eadmund came out with a cloak round him
+and his sheathed sword in his left hand.
+
+"Redwald--friend--what is it?" he said.
+
+"Even what we have feared, my prince," I answered, looking at him.
+
+"Where has the blow fallen?"
+
+"At Sandwich. Olaf is there, and the Kentishmen have risen. His
+word is that he has not enough men."
+
+"Surely Kent and London and Olaf--" he said.
+
+"Eight hundred ships lie in Ebbsfleet. A ship may hold a hundred or
+but twenty men--not less."
+
+Then Eadmund made a sign to his people, and they went out and left
+us together, and we looked on one another.
+
+"Let me send for the earl," he said; but I put my hand on his arm.
+
+"You are enough, my prince. But for sending for him your levies
+would be here, and we should march together even now to London."
+
+He groaned.
+
+"You are right, and I am a fool," he said.
+
+"Wait for the earl no longer," I urged; "raise your own levy, and
+bid him follow you or the king as he will. There must be a raising
+of all England. Send to the king tonight."
+
+"What will Cnut do?" he asked me.
+
+"Olaf thought that if he landed in Kent he would make for London
+and besiege it. If so, you have time yet."
+
+"There shall be no delay. Bide here and help me."
+
+"I cannot," I said, and told him plainly of Edric's message to me,
+and the way in which it was sent; and I ended: "Let me go to Olaf,
+therefore, and take word from you that you come in haste. The earl
+doubts me yet."
+
+"I do not understand it," Eadmund said, "but it must be so. Go back
+and tell Olaf to hold Cnut under London walls, and I will be there
+in a day before he expects, gathering forces as I come."
+
+I kissed his hand and went, and as I did so I heard him bid his
+followers arm him. So I knew that he was roused, and that if he
+were himself all might yet be well.
+
+Then I got to horse, and I and my two men rode down the street as
+fast as we had come. No man was about, and the bridge gates swung
+open for us.
+
+"They are in a hurry to get rid of us," said Thrand, as we went
+through and passed the last houses of the town beyond the river.
+
+Then the road lay white in the moonbeams before us until it ran
+among the trees of the first woodland, and there in the black
+shadow was a sparkle as of armour in the shafts of light that came
+through the leaves into the over-arched hollow of the track.
+
+If any man was there he could see us clearly, though we could not
+well see him, for we were in full brightness.
+
+Then Guthorm spoke, peering under his hand.
+
+"Four men across the road, lord--horsemen standing still."
+
+Then said I:
+
+"If they are friends they will stand aside for us. If not, they
+will expect us to halt and argue matters with them. Any way, they
+have no right to the whole road, even if they mean us no harm. Ride
+on steadily, one on either side of me, and when we are twenty paces
+from them, if they yet bar our way, spur your horses and we will
+clear the road."
+
+"Swords out, master?" said Thrand.
+
+"No, spear butts ready; maybe they are friends. But I am in a
+hurry."
+
+So we rode over those four men, and I fear they were hurt, for we
+left two rolling horse and two men in the road. Nor did I ever know
+if they were Edric's men or not. Howbeit, their swords were drawn,
+and so I think we were not wrong in what we did, though the
+Colchester men smote hard, and my spear shaft was badly sprung over
+a helm.
+
+After that we did not draw rein till we came to our comrades, and
+they were halfway back to Stamford looking for me. Then we took the
+road to London, for we would not tarry now at Peterborough.
+
+Maybe my story would have had a different end had I gone there--but
+it was not to be. Yet, though I knew it not, I was close to Hertha
+at that time.
+
+
+
+Chapter 10: The Flight From London.
+
+
+I came back to Olaf while he gathered his ships in the Pool below
+London Bridge, and I found him ill at ease and angry with Ethelred
+and Eadmund, and when I told him all, most angry with Streone.
+
+"Now you must stay with me, cousin, for that man will have you
+slain if he can. There is no doubt that he works for Cnut. And this
+word of his about a bribe for me is not his own invention; he has
+been told to make it."
+
+Then he told me of the vast host that had poured into Kent. It was
+the greatest host that had ever landed on English shores--greater
+even than had been ours when we Angles left our old home a desert,
+and came over to this new land and took it. Olaf and the Kentish
+levies had fought and had been driven back, and now day by day we
+looked to see Cnut's armies before London, and also for the coming
+of Eadmund with his men. But neither came, for the Mercian levies
+would not fight unless the king himself headed them, and Cnut
+passed through Surrey into Wessex and none could withstand him.
+
+Aye, they fought him. Wessex is covered with nameless battlefields;
+but ere long half of Cnut's fleet was sent round to the Severn, and
+Ethelred, sick and despairing, came back to London with but a few
+men.
+
+It angers me even to think of what befell after that. Eadmund and
+Streone gathered each a good force, and came together within touch
+of Cnut. And then on the eve of battle, Edric made known his plan
+to his Mercian thanes, and that was nothing more nor less than that
+they should go over bodily to Cnut when the fight began. Which
+treachery so wrought on the honest Mercians that they would fight
+not at all, and so disbanded in sight of the enemy, leaving Eadmund
+with but enough men to make good his retreat. And Cnut was master
+of all the land from Kent to Severn shores, Ethelred's own country.
+So Edric Streone went over to Cnut, and with him many thanes who
+despaired of help from Ethelred, and chose rather peace under a
+king who was strong enough to give it them. And one night forty of
+the English ships slipped away from us down the tide and joined the
+Danes at Sandwich. The men had been bribed by Streone, as we found.
+
+Almost then did Olaf make up his mind to leave England, but he
+pitied Ethelred, who turned to him again in this new trouble, and
+he did not go.
+
+"But my men will not bide patiently much longer," he told me; "here
+is neither honour nor gold to be won, and I need them for my going
+to Norway when the time comes."
+
+For every day Olaf looked for some sign that should bid him go back
+and take his own land from Cnut's hand.
+
+Now Ethelred would not stir from London, fearing treachery
+everywhere. And again Eadmund's levies melted away for want of
+their king's presence, and at last we persuaded him to meet Eadmund
+at Coventry, and I went with him. There was a good levy that would
+have followed him, but some breath of suspicion came over him, and
+suddenly he left them and fled back to London and the citizens,
+whom he trusted alone of all England. And he would not suffer me to
+bide with Eadmund, but I must go back with him. So the levies
+melted, and Eadmund went north to Earl Utred of Northumbria for
+help.
+
+Then when the winter wore away, and April came in calm and bright,
+the most awesome thing befell England that had been yet. For in the
+north Eadmund and Utred marched across the country, laying waste
+all as they went, lest the north should rise for Cnut; and going
+east as they went west, Cnut ravaged and burnt all the southern
+midlands. Then rose the wail of all England, for friend and foe
+alike had turned on her, and her case was at its hardest. And from
+that time forwards I know that none who chose Cnut for king should
+be blamed.
+
+Then Cnut fell on York, and Utred of Northumbria, whose wife was
+Danish, submitted to him, and was slain by Streone's advice, as men
+say, though some say that he was slain by Thorkel the Jarl when he
+took the ships that tried to escape from the Humber. It may be
+thus. The shipmen fought well, and were all slain--sixty ships'
+crews.
+
+Now all England was open to Cnut, and Eirik the jarl fell on
+Norwich and drove Ulfkytel back on us, and from him we heard of
+this trouble.
+
+On the eve of St. George's day, Ethelred sent for me to his
+chamber, for he would speak with me. I found him sitting in a great
+chair before the fire, wrapped in furs, though the day was warm and
+sunny, and he was very feeble, so that his thin hands had little
+strength in them. The queen, Emma, was with him, looking young and
+handsome as ever, and in the light of a narrow window sat Eadward
+the Atheling, the sunshine falling on his strange white hair and on
+the pages of a great book over which he pored. He just lifted his
+pale eyes from his reading as I went in and saw who it was, and
+smiled pleasantly at me, and then turned to his book again. I
+thought that the troubles of the time passed lightly on the proud
+lady and the boy, whose learning was all that she cared for.
+
+"Come near, Redwald, my son," the king said, in his voice that had
+grown so faint of late. "I have a charge to lay on you."
+
+I went and knelt by him, and he put his hand on my shoulder, and
+the tears came to my eyes at the kindly touch, for it was the same
+as, and yet so unlike, that which had been a promise of friendship
+to me at the first time that I saw him.
+
+"All things are slipping from me, Redwald," the king said; "nor is
+there aught that I grieve to lay down when the day comes on which I
+must pass through the gate of death. Crown and sceptre have been
+heavy burdens to me, for with them has been the weight of the sword
+also. I have borne those ill, and used that cruelly. I am the
+Unredy; but I have listened to ill counsels, having none of my own,
+nor wit to see what was best."
+
+He ceased for faintness, and my heart ached to hear him speak thus
+to me, his servant. But Emma the queen turned half away from him,
+her face growing hard and scornful as she heard. Then Eadward set
+his book down gently, and, looking sadly at his mother, came and
+stood over against me at the other side of the king, and took his
+wan hand and said:
+
+"There are laws which you have made, my father, which will live in
+the hearts of men alongside those that Eadgar made--our best. There
+will not be all blame to you in the days to come, when men see
+clearly how things have gone with you."
+
+Thereat Ethelred smiled faintly, and he answered:
+
+"I pray that it may be so. But the good outweighs not the evil. I
+may not count the one--I must confess the other."
+
+He passed into thought, looking into the fire, and we were still
+beside him. The queen moved away to the seat where Eadward had been
+sitting and took his place, staring out of the window with unseeing
+eyes. And I was glad that she was no longer beside us.
+
+Presently the king raised his head and turned it a little towards
+me.
+
+"Redwald," he said, "you were our companion in Normandy, and you
+are a trusted friend of ours. It will not be long before the queen
+must fly to her brother--the good duke--again, and it is in my mind
+that her flight will be perilous. When that time comes, let it be
+your place to see her safely thither, with the athelings, her sons.
+It may be that Olaf will help you, but that you must see to as best
+you can. And I have sent for Abbot Elfric to help you."
+
+"Lord king," I said, "what I can I will do, but I think there are
+men better fitted than I to guard our queen."
+
+"None whom we trust more fully," the king said.
+
+"See, my queen, this is he to whom you must look for furtherance of
+your journey."
+
+Then Emma turned from the window, and her face was still unmoved.
+
+"I can trust Redwald," she said. "It will be well."
+
+But Eadward wept openly, for he knew that the king spoke of the day
+when he should die.
+
+"That is well," the king said, and leaned back on his pillows. "Now
+have I no care left. Yet it is hard to put so heavy a burden on
+your young shoulders, my thane."
+
+"It is an honour rather," I answered. "May I be worthy thereof."
+
+Then a brightness came over the king's face, and he answered me
+slowly and plainly, and with great joy, as it were.
+
+"Presently I shall meet with Eadmund, your martyred king, and to
+him I will say that his thane of Bures is worthy."
+
+"Forget me not also, my father, when you come to that place,"
+Eadward said.
+
+"I will not forget. Now is given me to see plainly what shall be in
+the time to come--to what all tends even now. For now in the time
+of my death comes to me rede unearthly, as I think. There must be a
+strong hand who shall weld England into one--who shall bid our land
+forget that difference has ever been betwixt Angle and Saxon, Jute
+and Northumbrian, Mercian and Wessexman, Saxon and English and
+Dane. And when that wonder is wrought, then shall come peace and a
+new life to the land, under one who will give them the laws that
+they need to bind them into one English race, strong and honest,
+and patient in all things."
+
+Then said Eadward, as the king ceased:
+
+"That is what those who love England would most hope for."
+
+But his voice was hushed, as in the presence of one who sees beyond
+this earth.
+
+Thereat the king looked on him, and said:
+
+"Have patience, my son, and you shall see it; aye, and you shall
+have part and share therein."
+
+After that he spoke no more, and for a time we waited beside him.
+Soon he seemed to sleep, and I rose at a sign from the queen and
+left his chamber. Nor did I ever see Ethelred our king alive again.
+For when the morning came he had laid his heavy burdens down and
+had passed to the rest that he longed for. And the bells that rang
+merrily for St. George's mass ceased, and the toll for the dead
+went mournfully over the city.
+
+"Eadmund is king, God help him," men said.
+
+So it came to pass that even as they buried the king in the great
+Church of St. Paul the Danish armies were closing round the city,
+and when I went to Olaf to beg him to advise me concerning the
+flight of the queen, he answered:
+
+"You and I must part, my cousin. For you had better take ship from
+some quiet port, and that on the southern coast, and so make for
+Normandy. But I must see the citizens through this siege, and then
+I will come to you at Rouen, and we will take counsel together
+again."
+
+He would bide no longer in England after this, for the doubt of him
+that Eadmund would not listen to was strong in the minds of others,
+and his presence was of little use. Only the London folk and
+Ulfkytel loved him, knowing him well, and holding that they owed
+him much. But none knew better than Earl Ulfkytel that Olaf must
+not bide here longer.
+
+Now our scouts kept coming in with news of Cnut, and at last I
+could see by which road to fly with most chance of safety. I would
+go by Winchester and so to Southampton and there take ship with the
+queen. Cnut's fleet would be in the Thames ere long, if it barred
+not the mouth already.
+
+But Abbot Elfric had not come. We feared that he had fallen into
+Danish hands, for it was hard to say where they were not. It seemed
+that we must perforce leave London without him. Yet I would stay
+till the last for his coming.
+
+Now I must leave England, and I have said little about myself. But
+when this duty was laid on me by the king, I thought more of my
+lost quest of Hertha than I had done of late. For now I must leave
+her in our poor land, where she must be hunted maybe from hiding to
+biding, place to place, and in my heart grew up an unreasoning
+anger against Ailwin and Gunnhild, who by their secrecy had kept me
+from bringing her here with Olaf.
+
+Then as I looked over this I became sure that they had seen
+somewhat in me which their charge could not love, so that they
+would keep me from her altogether. And I made up my mind to that at
+last, not wondering that it was so, for I was but a warrior and a
+landless thane with nought to be proud of but skilful weapon play,
+and some scars to show that I had been in a fight or two where
+blows were falling. And I minded how I had told Ailwin that I held
+myself free, and thought that he and Gunnhild, and maybe Hertha
+also, would have it so.
+
+Yet I cared little for that, having heavier things to fill my mind
+than thought for a maiden whose very looks I knew not now. At least
+these two had taken Hertha into their charge, denying me any part
+therein, and I could not blame them rightly. I had done my best and
+could no more.
+
+Then at the last moment Elfric came.
+
+"Glad am I that you have not gone, my son," he said, as I greeted
+him. "I have wandered many a long mile over crossroads to escape
+the Danes. Very nearly did they have me once, but I escaped them.
+That will be a pleasant tale beside Duke Richard's fire, however.
+When must we go?"
+
+"With nightfall, father," I said. "The horses are standing almost
+ready even now. How many shall you need?"
+
+"Myself, and my chaplain, and three sisters--five," he said, "if
+you can take so many. These would fly with me and the queen."
+
+I thought for a moment. The queen had Eadward and his brother
+Alfred and five maidens with her, and there were the pack horses
+and the servants. But two of the maidens were unwilling to go,
+being daughters of London thanes. Our court was very small in these
+days. So, as every woman added to our company was a source of
+weakness, in that our pace must be that of the least able to bear
+fatigue, I doubted until I thought that the queen might let the
+sisters take the places of the maidens who cared not to fly with
+her.
+
+I went and asked her this, and she flushed with wounded pride,
+though I gave her my reasons and urged her peril.
+
+"How shall it be told that Emma of Normandy was beholden to a
+nunnery for her handmaidens?" she said.
+
+"It shall not be told, my queen," I said stoutly. "Men shall say
+that you gave protection to the holy women."
+
+Truly my wits were sharpened by sore need, for at once the queen
+agreed to this. She loved power, and even this little use thereof
+pleased her.
+
+"When can we go?" she asked. "I long to see my own land again."
+
+"At nightfall, in two hours' time," I told her.
+
+"It is well. Be ready then," she said.
+
+She had persuaded herself, as I believe, that she arranged all
+things, and I was glad to have it so, for I had feared that I
+should have had trouble more than enough with her unreasoning
+pride.
+
+So I told Elfric that his nuns could go, and he thanked me,
+laughing a little, with some thought of their journey here as I
+thought, and he added:
+
+"Aye, their dress protects them a little. It is not as in the old
+days of heathen against Christian. There is this to be said for
+Cnut, that he will have no monastery or nunnery harried if his
+orders are carried out."
+
+Then a thought came to me, and I wished that I could persuade our
+queen to take on herself and her maidens the convent dress. She
+would not be the first royal lady of England who had worn it. And I
+asked Elfric to persuade her to do so, for Emma's great failing was
+love of queenship.
+
+"If I know aught of our queen," he said, "she wants to ride in
+state."
+
+"She does," I answered. "I think, father, that we have a troublous
+journey before us. She will not believe but that she may ride as
+ever through the land."
+
+"You plan and I will argue," the good man said, being ever light
+hearted.
+
+So he went to the queen and spoke long with her, but she would in
+no wise ride out of London but as a queen, even as she had told me
+more than once. There was nothing against that but that word might
+go to the Danish leaders that she was leaving the city. Still, if
+we could get her to disguise herself thus when our guards left us
+it might be as well. The Danes, did they seek her, would look for a
+larger party than ours, and would pay no heed to us, perhaps.
+
+Now Olaf and my Colchester spearmen would be our guards even to the
+Surrey hills, for beyond them was not much fear of the Danes, who
+were advancing from Mercia, northward of the Thames. Only in the
+towns were garrisons whom we must fear, for they sent out parties
+to raid the land for provender and plunder and to keep the poor
+folk from rising on them.
+
+So it was my plan, and it seemed good to Elfric, to travel as a
+little party only. So could we more easily escape notice, and take
+the byways, while an armed force, however small, would draw on us
+the notice of the Danes whose duty it was to watch against any
+gathering of English warriors.
+
+We started that night as soon as dark came on, and the queen was
+pleased with the guard around her, and that Olaf the king himself
+rode at her side. Men cheered him as we passed along the streets,
+and the queen deemed that the cries were for her, and drew herself
+up proud and disdainful as she sat on her white horse with spearmen
+before and behind her, and her maidens on either side. But I doubt
+if any man knew who she was in the dusk. And I had sent the pack
+horses and servants on before us to wait our coming at a certain
+place, so that none should be able to say that we were a party of
+fugitives.
+
+Presently the queen waxed silent, and Olaf and I could talk to one
+another of what we would do in the time to come if this and that
+happened. I told him that I should certainly return to fight at
+Eadmund's side, for the queen would not keep me in Rouen. When he
+left London it was his wish to seek me there, and so we looked to
+see one another again before very long.
+
+"Then it is farewell, my cousin," he said, when at last we came to
+Banstead, for he would not leave us sooner. "We have had a good
+fight or two together, and may have more, and to more profit, as I
+hope, in the days to come."
+
+We halted at the monastery and prayed for shelter there for the
+night, or at least what was left of it, and while Elfric spoke with
+the superior of the nuns who were there, I took leave thus of Olaf
+and of my spearmen. And these prayed me to return soon and lead
+them again. That I promised them, and so the darkness closed
+between us as they rode away, and I was left sad at heart enough,
+for Olaf was as a brother to me, and I knew not when I should meet
+with him again.
+
+There was no talk of Danes at this quiet place over which the wave
+of war had gone already, leaving it poorer, but in peace; and it
+was not until the next afternoon that we rode out again, our party
+being that which must see the long road over together.
+
+Twelve of us there were. The queen and her two maidens and the
+three nuns, Elfric the abbot and his chaplain, Eadward and Alfred
+the athelings, and Alfred's tutor--who was a churchman of Elfric's
+own monastery--and myself.
+
+Then there were the servants, ten in all, who rode each leading a
+lightly-laden pack horse. It was such a party as an abbot might
+well travel with, and that is all that would be said of us if the
+Danish riders asked aught of the roadside folk. I and Eadward alone
+were armed as the abbot's housecarles. The men bore but spear and
+seax, as would any wayfarer for fear of robbers and the like.
+
+Now, when all was ready in the courtyard, and we waited for the
+queen, she stood on the threshold before I knew her, for the nuns
+of the place, taught by Elfric, had prayed her to take their dress
+for the journey, and she had done so, as also had her two maidens.
+They were as abbess and sisters therefore, and I thought that one
+trouble was over--that is if our queen would but take the part of a
+nun as well as the dress, and be guided by Elfric the abbot.
+
+Thus our journey to the sea was begun. And of that journey I might
+tell much, for it was a strange one. I think that the hardest task
+that a man could have, must be to take a proud and headstrong woman
+through a country full of danger, when she dislikes the manner of
+journey. And when that woman is a queen, surely it is harder yet.
+Had it not been for Elfric and Eadward I know not how we should
+have fared, for at times Emma the queen would not speak with me, if
+some plan that I must needs make was not to her liking. And seeing
+that she knew nought of the meaning of either time or distance,
+that was often enough. And when I heard of danger that must be
+skirted she would tell me that none would dare molest the
+queen--that she would declare herself and all would be well.
+
+And seeing that of all hostages to Cnut the queen would be the most
+valuable, that plan would be fatal. I will say this now, that more
+than once I was obliged for very safety's sake to give wayside
+folk, among whom we were, to understand that the abbess was crazed
+through the long troubles, believing herself a queen.
+
+And, alas for our land! it was but too easy for them to believe it.
+Few there were who knew not some wretched ones crazed at that time
+by all that had befallen them.
+
+Well it was for us that the nights were clear and warm, and that
+the good Surrey and Hampshire franklins' wives were compassionate
+and hospitable. I could not now retrace our footsteps, for we could
+go by no road at times, but must take to the woods and downs.
+
+And ever when we did so the queen rode sullenly, and angry with all
+around her, while Eadward and I and the two priests, who were
+valiant men enough, were ahead, scenting danger everywhere, for we
+had many a narrow escape of meeting raiding Danes. The stragglers
+of that mighty host were everywhere. I think that had we fallen
+into such hands I should have tried to send a man in all haste to
+the nearest post of the thingmen, that we might be taken again by
+warriors at least.
+
+But the ladies bore the long journey well, and Elfric's nuns the
+best. I had little to do with them, having so many cares about me,
+and was glad enough to leave them in the closer charge of the abbot
+and his priests. But soon I found that there was one of the three
+nuns who was untiring and ever able to hearten the rest, and that
+even the queen listened to her. The dress made all five of the
+maidens seem alike at first, but in a few days the pleasant,
+cheerful face of this one seemed familiar to me, and it was fair
+enough for all the novice's garb she wore. I thought she minded me
+of someone whom I knew, and at last, finding out a likeness as I
+looked for one, I called her in my own mind Sister Sexberga, for
+surely she was like that fair friend of mine. It never happened
+that I heard her name, for I was ever forward and away from the
+queen's complainings, and the nuns spoke little even to one
+another.
+
+Little rest and much care had I all the way thus. I will not write
+it, but will go on to the time when we came safely in sight of
+Winchester town. I could not enter it with my charges, but must
+needs go by myself, for here I should learn more sure news than
+anywhere. And what I might learn would decide whether I could take
+ship in Southampton Water or turn eastwards a little and go to
+Portsmouth or Bosham havens.
+
+Now I knew that the Danes held the place in force, and so I told
+the queen. But to pass by her royal city seemed more than she could
+bear, and she wished and commanded us to ride in and call on her
+citizens to rise and protect her.
+
+"Queen of England I am and will be," she said. "I have borne
+indignity long enough."
+
+"My queen," I said, "if you see Winchester you will not see
+Normandy."
+
+Then Elfric spoke with her, and at last she wept, saying that she
+was deserted, and the like, and so turned sullen, bidding us give
+her up to the Danes, who would respect a queen in distress.
+
+Having seen this manner of submission to counsel not once or twice
+before, I put on a franklin's dress, and gave sword Foe's Bane into
+Eadward's keeping, and took a hunting spear instead, and went down
+into the town, leaving my party ten miles away in a nook of the
+wooded hills.
+
+The scarlet-cloaked Danish thingmen at the gates paid no heed to
+me, for it was market day, and many countryside people were going
+in and out. So I went to the marketplace, and sat down on a bench
+outside an inn with others and listened to all that I could, while
+I drank my ale and ate as did the rest.
+
+Some I talked with. There was little hatred of Cnut here, as I
+found. There was some change, too, in the ways of the thingmen, for
+it was not their plan here to make themselves hated and feared as
+in East Anglia.
+
+Then came a man whose face and walk were those of a seaman, and he
+sat down close to me, and I pushed the ale mug towards him, and we
+began to talk of his calling. He had come to Winchester to find some
+merchant who needed a ship, as it seemed, and he began, as a good
+sailor will, to praise his own vessel with little encouragement.
+
+I found out from him that Southampton Water was full of Danish
+vessels, and so I asked where his own lay.
+
+"In Bosham haven," he said. "Earl Wulfnoth will have no Danes in
+his land. I must get some safe conduct from the Danish folk here if
+I come into the Water. So being tired of doing nought I even rode
+up to this place to see if aught could be managed for a voyage."
+
+Now I thought that I was in luck's way, for from this man, who
+seemed honest enough, I could perhaps gain all I wanted. His ship
+was a great buss, fitted with a cabin fore and aft under the raised
+decks, and I could wish for no better chance than this might be.
+
+"Would you take passengers for Normandy instead of goods?" I asked
+him carelessly.
+
+"Aye, truly, and gladly if they could pay well."
+
+"Now I will tell you that I am Earl Wulfnoth's friend," I said,
+"and you may know that pay is safe, therefore. I was at Pevensea
+when Olaf the Thick, the viking, came there."
+
+He took my word for my friendship with the earl, and then I
+arranged for all things to be ready for us in a week's time. We had
+some rough country to cross before we came to Bosham, and I would
+not hurry over it. We wrangled over the price a little, as was
+fitting, for I would not seem too eager; but at last he said that
+he would depart on the morrow, and we shook hands and were
+satisfied.
+
+"Speak not of this matter, friend Bertric," I said, "or we may be
+waylaid by Danes off the haven's mouth."
+
+"Little fear of that, master," he laughed. "Our young Earl Godwine
+has beaten one or two ships already."
+
+Then I went back light hearted to my people, and when the queen
+heard what I had done her mood changed, and she was most gracious,
+and thanked me, saying that she feared that I had run into danger
+for her in going into the town. So I felt myself repaid in full for
+the little trouble, that had been without risk as it fell out.
+
+Very fair was the great Andred's-weald in the late April weather,
+but the forest tracts were rough and the way seemed long. Once we
+beat off, easily enough, some cowardly outlaws, but there were no
+Danes in Andred's-weald, and we came to Bosham in safety.
+
+There Bertric's good ship was ready for us, and it happened that no
+other vessels, save fishing craft, were in the haven. I had looked
+to meet Godwine, my friend, but he and his ships were in Dorchester
+water, and there were few to mark our coming into the quiet town,
+or our going on board, which we did without delay.
+
+We had no need of the stout housecarles, who had led the horses and
+served us so well, so the queen, as I asked her, gave them the
+horses as gifts in recompense for their journey, and so when they
+had gone we were few indeed. But there was room for few passengers
+in the buss. The queen and her ladies had the larger after cabin,
+and Elfric and the athelings and the two priests had that under the
+fore deck. I would remain on deck with Bertric and his crew of
+twenty men, but there was no hardship in that.
+
+That night on Bertric's ship was the first for three long weeks
+that had sound sleep for me, for they hauled out into the middle of
+the haven, and none could come near us unseen, and I was at last
+free from care and watching.
+
+But one thing troubled honest Bertric, and that was that he had
+found a black kitten on board. None knew whence it came, and he
+said it was an ill sign. And he dared do nought but treat it well,
+since it had come.
+
+
+
+Chapter 11: The Taking Of The Queen.
+
+
+When the early sunlight woke me, we were almost at the haven mouth,
+and slipping past Selsea, with its gray pile of buildings, on the
+first of the ebb tide. The wind was in the northeast, with a
+springtime coldness in it, but it was fair for Normandy, and there
+was no sea running under the land. We were well out at sea,
+therefore, ere Elfric, almost as worn out as I, came from his close
+quarters forward and stood by me, looking over the blue water of
+the Channel to where the Isle of Wight loomed to the westward.
+
+"Now I think that all is well, Redwald," the abbot said, "and every
+mile from the English shore takes us further from danger."
+
+And so we stood and talked in the waist of the ship, and Eadward
+came and joined us. The men ate their breakfast forward, and
+brought us some, and the two churchmen came out with the little
+atheling, and then Sister Sexberga, as I called her, came and
+shivered in the cold breeze and spoke to Bertric, who was alone on
+the after deck steering, and so went back to the cabin, where the
+queen had all things needful for breaking her fast.
+
+Then Bertric whistled sharply, and I looked up at him. He pointed
+away to the eastward, and out to sea. There I saw far off on the
+skyline the sails of two ships that grew larger as I watched them.
+
+I went to the break of the after deck and climbed up beside him.
+
+"Men say that two ships passed westwards tonight, master," he said.
+"Here be two more heading over from the south."
+
+"Can you tell what they are?" I asked him.
+
+"Longships, as I think," he answered. "We shall know betimes."
+
+The vessels hove up quickly, for our great brown sail bore us more
+or less across their course.
+
+"It is safer to hold on, master," he said, "for to up helm and fly
+would be to bring them after us if they are vikings. They will see
+that we are not laden with cargo, and will not pay heed to us
+therefore."
+
+It was but half an hour after that when we knew that the two ships
+were Danish war vessels, and that they were laying a fresh course
+to overhaul us. Nor was there any chance of our escaping them. They
+were thrice as fast as we.
+
+Then I feared greatly, for I knew not what would happen. It might
+be that they would let our party go on, finding them to all seeming
+nought but church folk; but one could not tell, and I feared. So
+also did Elfric when I went to him and told him what these ships
+were, and that they were bearing down on us.
+
+"We cannot fight," he said. "We must let things be as the Lord
+will."
+
+"If any roughness is shown to the womenfolk," I said, "there will
+be one man who will fight."
+
+"And will lose his life for naught," he answered. "If the worst
+comes to the worst we must even do as the queen has bidden us
+before now. We must proclaim her, and then we shall be safe from
+harm, if captives to Cnut. Tell me, have you heard that he is cruel
+to those he takes?"
+
+"Rather I have heard that he is not," I said. "Moreover, if Emma of
+Normandy suffers aught at his hands he will have the duke to deal
+with very shortly."
+
+"Now are we in the Lord's hands," said Elfric, for a hoarse hail
+came from the leading ship, which was to windward of us. She was a
+splendid dragonship, bright with gold and colour.
+
+"What will you have me do, master?" Bertric cried to me.
+
+"They can do what they will with us whatever we try. We may fare
+better by obeying," I said, for in truth there was nought else to
+do.
+
+Now the great ship ranged up alongside of us, and the tall warrior
+at the helmsman's side hailed us again to heave to. And I saw a man
+bend his bow, and an arrow flew down the wind and stuck in the deck
+not far from me. Whereon Bertric raised his arm in answer and
+called to his men, and luffed while they lowered the sail. The Dane
+at the same time struck sail, and got out some oars in order to
+come alongside of us. There was no sea running that would make this
+dangerous.
+
+Then I went to the low door of the after cabin, and spoke to the
+queen.
+
+"Here is a ship that will come alongside ours," I said. "Fear
+nought, but wait for my word."
+
+And then a glint of bright colour caught my eyes, and I looked more
+closely into the dark place; and there sat the queen no longer as a
+humble abbess, but in her own dress, for she had cast off the garb
+she hated, and she answered me:
+
+"Who dares to stay the Queen of England on her passage?"
+
+"Oh, madam," I said, "for pity's sake don the convent robe again. I
+fear that the Danes are on us."
+
+Then she cowered back into the shadow and said nought, for the very
+word terrified her when she knew her foes were so near. But Sister
+Sexberga came to the door, and she was pale enough, though her face
+lacked no courage.
+
+"What shall we do, Redwald--thane?" she said quickly.
+
+"Keep a brave heart, sister," I answered, "and let me manage all. I
+will bide before the door, and you will hear all I say. Then, if I
+say that we have the Queen of England, let our mistress come
+forward and disclose herself. But I hope they will let us go free.
+Pray that it may be so."
+
+Then the two ships jarred together, and I saw that the Dane was
+well manned with armed warriors, and I also saw that their leader
+was Egil Thorarinsson, whom I had captured and again lost at
+Leavenheath fight. I will say that I was glad to see him, for I
+knew him as a free-spoken warrior who loved fair play, and I
+thought that he owed me a life, for I did not slay him when I
+might.
+
+They leapt on board--a dozen armed Danes with Egil at their
+head--and there before them stood Elfric the abbot with his cross
+in his hand, facing them alone. His priests were forward under
+cover, praying doubtless, with the athelings. The great ship
+sheered off again, and bided within half arrow shot of us, all her
+rail crowded with men looking on.
+
+"Neither gold nor goods have we," Elfric cried. "We are peaceful
+folk who cross the seas. It is the part of a good warrior and
+viking to let such go unharmed."
+
+"Aye, so it is," answered Egil; "but, as it happens, we are looking
+for certain peaceful folk."
+
+"You will not harm us," said Elfric, who knew nought of our queen's
+foolishness. "It is but a party of church people who go to
+Normandy."
+
+"Put the holy man aside," said Egil to his men. "We are not
+heathens, and we will not hurt you, father."
+
+So the warriors laughed, and went to draw Elfric away; but when he
+saw that I stood before the cabin door, he stepped aside by himself
+and watched what should befall. I had no mail on, and at first they
+did not notice me. It was the first day that I had not worn mail
+since we left London; but Foe's Bane was loose in the scabbard, and
+ready in case of need.
+
+"Ho, skipper!" Egil cried, "whom have you on board?"
+
+"Yon priest and some more of his sort," Bertric said.
+
+"We have lit on a crow's nest," a man said, laughing. "Where are
+they, then?"
+
+"In the fore peak, and aft here, deadly sick," said Bertric.
+
+Then Egil's eyes lit on me, and he stared for a minute.
+
+"Ho!" he cried, "here is no crow, but a stout warrior enough. What
+do you here, Olaf's right-hand man?"
+
+"Helping the crows over seas," I said, trying to meet his words
+lightly, though my heart was heavy enough.
+
+"Why then, friend," he said, "I must see these charges of yours.
+Stand aside, and let me go into that cabin."
+
+"Nay, Egil; they are but nuns here."
+
+The honest warrior looked puzzled, but some of his men began to
+crowd aft, being tired of the parley, and one tried to push me
+aside, saying:
+
+"Let us fetch them out, and waste no more words."
+
+Whereon I sent him reeling against the gunwale, hands to face, for
+I dealt with him even as Godric served my warrior at Stamford.
+
+Then I had my sword out, for it was time--and two men who drew
+sword on me went down on the deck before me. Sword Foe's Bane smote
+not amiss. Then was a ring of shouting Danes forming, and I felt
+someone at my shoulder, and Egil cried out:
+
+"Hold, men! the warrior is my man. Let me deal with him."
+
+And there was Sister Sexberga beside me, with Bertric's sword, that
+had hung over his berth, in her hand; and her eyes were flashing,
+and it seemed to me that she had used a sword before this, or had
+learnt its use. It was reddened now.
+
+The men gave back, and Egil came before me and he was laughing.
+
+"That is enough, Redwald of Bures," he said. "I owe you a life, and
+you have it. If all your charges are like that maiden we had better
+begone. Little nunnery training is there about her sword play."
+
+Then the sister shrank back into the cabin, and the men stared
+after her with a kind of awe, as at a Valkyrie of the old faith who
+had come to my help. There was a man whom she had smitten who was
+binding up a wound in his bare forearm. I believe that she stayed a
+shrewd blow from me.
+
+"Let us go, Egil," I said.
+
+"Presently, maybe. But I seek someone, and must needs see your
+people. No harm shall come to them."
+
+Then I thought that all was well, and I turned to the door and
+spoke:
+
+"Lady abbess, you must needs come forward. I know this chief, and
+you need fear nought."
+
+I heard Sister Sexberga's voice speaking low and pleadingly for a
+moment--and then all was lost.
+
+"I am the Queen of England," said Emma in her proud, shrill voice.
+"Begone, churls, and let me not."
+
+And bright in crimson and ermine she came from the cabin and stood
+swaying on the deck before Egil and his men, while round her train
+played heedlessly the ill-omened black kitten; and that seemed
+strange.
+
+Egil bared his head and bowed before her.
+
+"Are you truly the queen?" he said.
+
+"Aye, knave. Who else should I be?" she answered. "Fetch me the old
+priest."
+
+"Nay, Redwald will tell me now," Egil said. "Does this lady speak
+truth?"
+
+"It is true," I answered. "Why should you hinder her going to the
+duke, her brother, who will seek her at your hands?"
+
+Now Emma had been still during these words, looking with hard and
+scornful eyes at all before her, but now she spoke:
+
+"Let the sail be set again that I may go on my way. You shall
+surely answer for this hindrance."
+
+But no one stirred, though even the Danes were silent, for there is
+that in the tones of one who is wont to be obeyed which makes men
+listen whether they will or not.
+
+"Do you hear me?" she said, stamping her foot.
+
+"Redwald, see that I am obeyed. Drive these knaves into the sea,
+and let me be rid of them."
+
+Then Egil answered her, saving me trouble thereby, for I had nought
+to say:
+
+"Queen, we will do your bidding and hoist the sail. But my men and
+I must bide here."
+
+"I care not, so that you do not hinder my folk," she said.
+
+And with that she turned away, saying to the brave sister who yet
+stood beside her:
+
+"Let us seek shelter again--the wind is cold, and I am offended
+with the sight of these men."
+
+They went into the cabin and closed the door after them, and Egil
+and I looked at one another. Egil grinned, but I could not. Outside
+the door the kitten mewed restlessly in the cold wind to be taken
+in.
+
+"So," he said, "cheer up. This is not your fault; you almost won
+through. Had the queen come forth as an abbess, I think that I had
+left you for very shame. Priests and black cats are aye unlucky
+passengers, however."
+
+I think that I was never so angry as then. To lose all our pains
+for the safety of the queen, and that by reason of her own
+foolishness, was hard.
+
+Egil left me and went to Bertric; and once more the sail was set,
+and the ship headed backward for the English coast. We had almost
+lost sight of it. The two longships ranged up on either side of us,
+shortening sail to keep us company.
+
+They took the two men whom I had slain and set them forward under
+some covering. Neither Egil nor his warriors bore me any grudge for
+their fall, which was in fair fight of their own making. After that
+Egil's men made the crew bring them what food and ale they had, and
+sat down below the fore deck quietly enough. They were courtmen of
+Jarl Thorkel's, as I thought, being better than the wild warriors
+who made the bulk of Cnut's great host.
+
+Elfric came to me when all was quiet thus, and leant on the rail
+beside me for some time without speaking. We were making a long
+slant over to the English coast, and my heart was full of heavy
+thoughts, for I could not help wondering if this mischance had come
+about by my fault; and I was angry and sore that all the plans that
+I had made so confidently had come to naught. Presently the abbot
+said:
+
+"The queen takes this matter very easily."
+
+"The trouble is to come," I answered; "she thinks that she is yet
+on her journey."
+
+"It is no fault of ours that she is not," said he. "Maybe it is
+best thus. I suppose that she will understand how things are when
+we reach the shore. What will be done with us?"
+
+"Let us ask Egil," I said. "I think we might have fallen into worse
+hands than his. It is in my mind that he likes not his errand."
+
+So we went aft to the chief, who stood beside Bertric. And when I
+came to him he said, pointing westward:
+
+"Here comes Earl Wulfnoth, as I think."
+
+Then I saw three large ships beating up to us, and the sail of one
+bore, painted on it, the device of a fighting warrior, Earl
+Wulfnoth's own ensign.
+
+Now, on this I had a hope that we might be rescued by him, and my
+face must have shown as much, while Elfric glanced at me with the
+same thought written plainly in his eyes.
+
+"I will not risk meeting the earl, though I do not think that he
+will interfere with us," Egil said; "but we are to windward of him,
+and can do as we like.
+
+"Now, I have been wondering what I shall do with you, Redwald."
+
+"Let me be taken with the queen and the athelings," I said. "What
+will you do with them?"
+
+"They must go to Cnut," he answered; "but I am thinking that that
+will be bad for you."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Maybe it is not my business, but I think that I owe you a good
+turn for letting me off at Leavenheath. If I take you to Cnut,
+Streone will have somewhat to say about you--and he is a great man
+with our king just now."
+
+"Well, what if he has. He knows me well enough, and cares nought
+about me," I answered.
+
+"Cares enough about you to have told Cnut to hang you as soon as he
+gets you," Egil said. "I suppose you have offended him in some
+way."
+
+Then Elfric said:
+
+"That is so. Redwald escaped from his hands at Stamford. We heard
+many tales about it at Peterborough. They say that Eadmund the
+Martyr came bodily and saved him out of a house beset by the earl's
+men."
+
+"If there is one dead man that we Danes have to fear, it is that
+king," Egil said. "Is this tale true?"
+
+And he stared at me as at one who had dealings with the other
+world.
+
+I knew that my story must have come into this shape through some
+tales that the goldsmith had set about.
+
+"Hardly," said I; "but it is a long story. Maybe Eadmund the Saint
+had more to do with it than I know; but I saw him not."
+
+"Well then, Redwald, it seems unsafe for you to go near Streone--"
+
+"It will be unsafe for him," I said savagely, for my temper was
+sorely tried by my failure, as I have said.
+
+Egil laughed.
+
+"Why, then, all the more must I keep you out of his way."
+
+"Hang me and have done," I said; "I am of no more use."
+
+"That," quoth Egil, "is what I thought concerning myself when you
+had me down in the fight. Now I am here to let you go, and bid you
+take heart. This is but chance of war, and one must take it as it
+comes."
+
+Now it was so plain that the honest chief wished me well, that I
+could not but thank him for his words, though, indeed, just at this
+time I seemed to care little for what became of me.
+
+"You are a generous foe, Egil Thorarinsson," I said.
+
+"You and I shall be good friends some day, as I hope," he said;
+"meanwhile we will be fair foes. You slew me not, because I had
+fallen more or less by chance. Therefore I will let you go because
+you have fallen into my hands by chance. I will only lay this on
+you, that you shall bide with Earl Wulfnoth for two months before
+you fight against us again."
+
+I was full of wonder at this, for he might well have made me
+promise to take up arms against Cnut no more, and I could have done
+no less than promise it, seeing that I was in his hands.
+
+"Why, I must tie you down for a while," he said laughing at my face
+of doubt.
+
+"Nay, Egil, I do but wonder that you set me free at all," I said.
+
+"Is that so? I have wondered that you slew me not in the heat of
+battle. Well, I will add this, that if we fall on Earl Wulfnoth you
+may fight for him."
+
+I held out my hand, and Egil took it.
+
+"You have my word, Egil; you are most generous," I said.
+
+Then he glanced at sword Foe's Bane.
+
+"Some day you and I, maybe, will have a good fight for your sword
+in all friendliness," he said.
+
+"Surely I thought you would take it back," I cried. "I feared so,
+for it was my father's sword."
+
+"Aha! I knew there was somewhat strange about that blade," he said.
+"Tell me what story it has."
+
+I told him in a few words about the winning of the sword from the
+grave mound by Thorgeir, my grandfather, and asked Egil how he came
+by it.
+
+"I bought it from a man after Nacton fight, and I have never had
+any luck with it. I was sure it was a magic sword of some sort; for
+it let go three men whom I should surely have slain with any other
+blade. It seemed to turn in my hand. Such swords as these will not
+be used by any other than he who can win them from the owner."
+
+"Ottar, Olaf's scald, said that it would draw the holder to me," I
+said; "but I would not believe it."
+
+"You English have forgotten the old sayings," Egil said. "Now you
+know that he is right; keep the sword therefore."
+
+Then I said:
+
+"If I must die a bed death, Egil, the sword shall be sent to you,
+for I think that you have the most claim to it."
+
+He grew red with pleasure at my saying, and Elfric broke in on our
+talk.
+
+"I would that I might see many more meetings of brave foes like
+this. Then would peace come very shortly."
+
+"Why, father," said Egil, "Redwald and I have not any hate for each
+other, though we must fight on opposite sides."
+
+"That is well. I would that it were ever so."
+
+Then Egil changed his tone, for we were nearing shore. The ships he
+had seen were still far away, beating southward now.
+
+"Are these maidens nuns, or but in disguise, father?" he said.
+
+Elfric answered not at once, and I said:
+
+"Three are nuns, two only are disguised. You will not take the
+queen's maidens from her?"
+
+"Not I," he answered. "I think that even with the abbot's help and
+theirs I shall have trouble enough with the queen when she finds
+that the shore we reach is not Normandy."
+
+"Shall you take me?" asked Elfric.
+
+"I must take all but my own friend here, and the three holy women;
+I will not hinder them. They can find shelter in Selsea or
+Chichester--a nun has always friends and a house--if Redwald will
+see them safely to the door," Egil said very kindly.
+
+Then he bade the men get out the boat, which was a good one, and
+fitted for carrying cargo from ship to shore. Two of Bertric's men
+were to go ashore with me and the nuns, taking messages also to the
+Bosham folk of what had befallen the ship.
+
+"You will scare the wife if you say you have fallen into the hands
+of the Danes," Egil said laughing at the shipmaster.
+
+"It is the truth," Bertric said stoutly. "'Tis the doing of yon
+cat."
+
+"You shall come to no harm with us, and your ship shall come back
+to Bosham shortly. We have no war with your earl, and all will be
+well. Tell them, therefore, that it is thus. King Cnut is generous
+to all who fight not against him."
+
+When I heard that I began to see why our people went over to his
+side so readily, and it seemed to me that he was fighting not only
+with sword, but also with policy.
+
+"Now call your nuns, father," Egil said.
+
+"May I have one word with Redwald first?" the abbot asked.
+
+"Tell him what you will," Egil answered, and went forward.
+
+He called one of the priests and told him to bid the three nuns
+come forth.
+
+Then Elfric said to me:
+
+"Two of these women are nuns, the third, she who stood by you so
+well even now--saving your life, moreover--is not. She is the
+orphan daughter of a thane, whom her guardians begged me to take to
+Normandy, finding her a place in the queen's household or in some
+convent, if that might not be. She is friendless. But I think she
+may as well go with the nuns to Selsea. Bid her wait there till she
+hears from me--unless some lady will take pity on her and give her
+shelter."
+
+"She will be more likely to take the vows, as have so many maidens
+of today who are in her case," I said. "I will do all for the nuns
+and her that I can."
+
+The three sisters came out now. Two were weeping, and they were the
+nuns. The third was flushed and looked troubled, and she cast a
+glance back into the dark cabin. I heard the queen's voice speaking
+fast to her, as it would seem, and she shrank away as if dreading
+it.
+
+Elfric went to meet them, and then the queen herself came through
+the cabin door stooping, for it was not high.
+
+"This is your doing," she said to the abbot. "Am I to be left
+without any attendants?"
+
+"My queen," the good man said, "we can take the sisters no further
+with us. They must go ashore."
+
+The queen looked at the coast, which was plain enough now. It was
+certain that she had no knowledge that we were returning to
+England. That the ship was on another tack meant nothing to her.
+
+"Why cannot they bide here and go on land with me? We cannot be
+more than an hour in reaching the harbour," and she pointed to
+Selsea.
+
+"Tell her, father, I pray you," said the maiden in a low voice.
+"She believes that we are even now nearing her home."
+
+Then I thought that this might come more easily from myself, seeing
+that Elfric had to stay with her, and I stood before her, and
+spoke.
+
+"My Queen, that is not the Norman shore which you see. The Danes,
+into whose hands we have fallen, are taking us back to England."
+
+As I said this, the queen's face grew white with rage, and she
+looked from Elfric to me, speechless. On the deck above stood Egil,
+and he caught my eye, and looked ruefully at us.
+
+"What!" she said, "has Cnut bought you also? Is there no man whom I
+can trust?"
+
+That was the most cruel thing that she could have said, but I knew
+what despair might lie behind her anger, and I answered
+nothing--nor did Elfric. We waited for the storm to pass.
+
+"Ill it was that Ethelred trusted me to your hands--" she began
+again.
+
+But there was one who would not bear this. The friendless maiden
+spoke plainly for us.
+
+"Queen," she said, "I have borne your reproaches to myself in
+silence, but I cannot bear that these brave servants of yours
+should be blamed. Look at the abbot's torn and dusty robes, look at
+the thane's care-worn face--are they in the plight of men who are
+bribed?"
+
+But the queen made no answer, and her face was like stone as she
+looked on none of us, gazing straight before her.
+
+"What lies on yonder deck?" the girl went on, pointing to where the
+two bodies lay under their covering. "It is the thane's sword and
+risk of life that stayed them from laying hands on you. Does a
+bought man slay his buyers?"
+
+Still the queen was silent, and then I said:
+
+"I think that you misjudge us, my queen. Had we wished to betray
+you it would have been long ere this that the Danes would have been
+summoned to take you."
+
+I do not think that she heard me, and I am glad, for I spoke in
+anger. I saw her lean against the bulkhead, and her hand sought her
+heart, and she reeled a little. The maiden sprang forward to
+support her, for it seemed as if she would fall. But she recovered
+in a moment, and shook herself free of the girl's clasp.
+
+"I am wrong, good friends," she said. "Now I know from what you
+have shielded me all this long journey through. What will they do
+with me?"
+
+And she began to weep silently, yet she would not let the maiden
+touch her.
+
+Elfric spoke then in his gentle voice.
+
+"We cannot blame you, my queen, for the blow is heavy; yet the
+chief who has taken us is a true warrior and kindly, you need fear
+nought."
+
+Then came Egil from the fore deck, and bowed to the queen, and
+said:
+
+"I must take you to Cnut the king, lady; and his commands are that
+you are to be treated as becomes the sister of Duke Richard. I am
+here to see that it is so."
+
+Then the queen's mood changed, and she was once more herself.
+
+"You shall answer to my brother for all you do," she said in her
+proud way.
+
+"I have to answer to Jarl Thorkel and to King Cnut," Egil said
+simply. "The duke is no lord of mine."
+
+Thereat the queen paid no sort of heed to him, but spoke to me.
+
+"I will tell my brother hereafter of your great care for me, my
+thane. Why must you leave me now?"
+
+Surely I should have asked Egil to let me stay, but he knew best
+what was safe for me.
+
+"I will not take either thane or nuns, lady," he said. "They must
+leave you even now; time is short."
+
+She glanced coldly at the chief, and answered him by speaking to
+me. She had brought herself now to see that she was powerless.
+
+"Then I must say farewell, Redwald. In better days I will not
+forget your service," and then she smiled a little, and gave me her
+hand to kiss as I knelt before her, adding: "I think that I have
+been an ill-natured travelling companion at times."
+
+Then she turned away quickly and sought the cabin. But she said no
+word to the maiden who had made the journey lighter to her, and I
+saw that this grieved her sorely.
+
+Now I took hasty leave of Elfric and the athelings, and sad was I
+at parting with them. But I told Eadward that Egil was worthy of
+his charge, and a generous foe.
+
+"You will not blame me that this matter has failed even at the
+last, my prince," I said.
+
+"Not I, Redwald, good friend; you and I will laugh over it at some
+time hereafter," the atheling said.
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"It has been waste trouble and pains," I said sorrowfully.
+
+"That it has not been," quoth Elfric. "No duty well and truly done
+is lost in the end, though it may seem to be so at the time. I
+shall remember my guardian in this journey all my life long, and
+the queen shall remember presently. You have been most patient.
+Lose not patience now. Be of good cheer rather that things are none
+so ill as they might be."
+
+So the good man strove to hearten me, for I thought meanly enough
+of myself at that time, because I had been so certain that all was
+well, and now my pride was humbled. Maybe it was good for me that
+this should be so, but good things are passing bitter if all are
+like this. Lastly, he gave me his blessing, and I joined the
+sisters in the boat, and she was cast off, while at that moment the
+black kitten came to the rail and leapt in after us, which I liked
+not at all.
+
+Then the great ship slipped away, her helm went down, and she
+headed away out to sea to escape a meeting with Godwine's vessels
+that had now gone about for the shore again, beating to windward
+for Bosham. As she passed us I saw the abbot and Eadward wave to us
+from the fore deck, and Egil lifted his hand in salute from beside
+Bertric at the helm.
+
+Then they were gone beyond our reach, and we could no longer make
+them out. Our rowers were bending to their oars, and the boat was
+making good way enough, shoreward.
+
+I do not know how I can say enough of Egil's friendliness to me,
+for I found my armour on the floor of the boat alongside the few
+things the poor women had. Helm and shield and axe too were there.
+He was as one of the heroes, of whom Ottar sang, in his way to me.
+Then I grew light hearted in that strange way that comes after long
+strain of fearing the worst, when the worst is known and it is not
+so terrible after all. I had no fear for the queen, and I was free,
+and going to Godwine and his father who were my friends. Also I
+should see Penhurst and Relf again, most likely.
+
+Now when that memory came to me, suddenly I thought that I must see
+Sexberga. And it was strange to me that I had no pleasure in that
+thought. Most of all I hoped that Olaf would put in at Pevensea on
+his way to Normandy. It was likely enough.
+
+So I sat and pondered, not sadly, but looking forward ever, and, as
+I say, feeling that a load was lifted from me. Then at last my
+thoughts came back from myself, and I turned to the sisters and
+told them that the queen was safe, if a prisoner. They need not
+grieve for her. The two nuns wept, but the thane's daughter smiled
+a little, and said, fondling the cat meanwhile on her lap:
+
+"In truth, I think that the queen will be happier in making Egil
+and his Danes obey her in little services than she has been in
+having to be guided by yourself and the abbot."
+
+"It has been hard for her," I answered; "but she owes you much, as
+I think."
+
+"She hates me," the girl said, half tearfully, "because I was the
+only one who dared speak plainly to her."
+
+"Elfric and I owe you much, Sister Sexberga," said I, naming her as
+I had thought of her through all the journey, because I recalled so
+many times when we had looked to her for help in persuading the
+queen to common sense,
+
+She looked astonished at this, and smiled oddly, and then I saw
+what I had done.
+
+"Forgive me," I said hastily; "I know not your name. That is what I
+ever called you to myself when I had to think of you in ordering
+matters."
+
+"Why 'Sexberga'?" she said, looking out seawards.
+
+"Truly I thought you like a lady of that name whom I knew. But now
+the likeness is gone," I said.
+
+"Maybe I ought to be proud thereof," she said coldly enough.
+
+"I will not say that," I answered. "Let me know your name that I
+may remember it."
+
+"My name is Uldra," she said, without looking at me, and flushing a
+little, and then busying herself with the kitten's ears.
+
+"That is a Norse name, lady," said I.
+
+"Aye--and a heathen one. But it is the best I have."
+
+Then I said, feeling that I could not say aright what I would:
+
+"Lady Uldra, I have to thank you for saving my life today. Yours
+was a brave deed."
+
+She shivered a little, at the thought of what she had done, as I
+think, for the heat of anger had gone.
+
+"I am glad I was of use," she answered. "What are we to do when we
+come to land?"
+
+"I will take you and the sisters to the great nunnery that good St.
+Wilfrith founded. There you will be welcomed."
+
+So I said, but as I looked at her I thought what a prison the
+nunnery would be to such a maiden as this. Yet it was all that
+could be done.
+
+"That will be peaceful," she said, but the tears seemed close at
+hand.
+
+Now one of the men spoke to the other, looking back over his
+shoulder at him, and then when he was answered he turned to me.
+
+"Master," he said, "tide serves ill for Selsea, and it will be easy
+for us to go straight up the haven to Bosham. The flood tide is
+strong in with us. May we do so?"
+
+"Is there any nunnery there?" I asked.
+
+"Why, yes, master--a little one."
+
+There too was Wulfnoth's great house, where I should be welcome, as
+I knew. So I asked the sisters if this would suit them.
+
+"One place is as another to us," they replied.
+
+So we went on up the haven, and it was a long pull, so that it was
+late in the afternoon when we came in sight of the town.
+
+Now I had said no more to Uldra about ourselves--save for a few
+words concerning sea and tides and the like--but had tried to cheer
+her, and myself also, by speaking of how Cnut would treat the
+queen--namely, that it was most likely to be in high honour, lest
+the duke should fall on him.
+
+But as we sighted our journey's end, I bethought myself.
+
+"Lady," I said, "is there aught that I can do for you in sending
+messages to your folk? There will be chapmen and the like going
+Londonwards shortly, when the siege is over."
+
+"I have no friends there," she said.
+
+"You shall bid me do what you will for you when I am free to go to
+our king again," said I. "There will be some who would know where
+you are and how you fare."
+
+She thanked me, saying nothing but that when the time came, if I
+yet remembered her and would ask her, she might give me messages
+for those at Peterborough whom she had left, and I promised to do
+all I could in bearing them.
+
+"I cannot forget the maiden who saved my life," I said.
+
+She made no answer, and the boat shot alongside the little wharf,
+where a crowd was gathering quickly to see us come. Many questions
+there were when Bertric's men were known.
+
+There was a kindly-looking monk among his people, and I went to
+him, and brought him to the nuns where they and Uldra stood apart
+by themselves, while the two men were busy with their folk.
+
+"Pax vobiscum," he said; "you shall be welcome, my sisters, at our
+little nunnery for tonight. Then will we ask the bishop on the
+morrow what you had better do."
+
+Then they were eager to go with him, and I bade them farewell,
+bowing, and they turned away. They might say nothing, according to
+their rule, Elfric told me, save in need.
+
+Neither did Uldra speak, though no vow of silence was on her, but
+she went with them for a little way. I was rather hurt at this, and
+began to go back to the boat, wondering that she had no word of
+farewell.
+
+"Redwald--thane," came a gentle call in her voice, and I turned
+sharply.
+
+She was close to me, and the sisters were waiting for her twenty
+paces or so away.
+
+"Farewell," she said. "I could but thank you for all your care for
+us."
+
+"It has been freely given, lady," I said. "I only grieve that the
+journey has ended thus. May it be well with you."
+
+"I will pray for you, thane, day and night in the nunnery that it
+may be so with you," she answered, with a little sort of choking.
+"The gratitude of us helpless women to you for your long patience
+is more than we can say."
+
+Then she went swiftly back to the nuns, and they went their way. I
+thought that I had not deserved so much. And of this I was sure,
+that had not the sisters' dress kept me far from Uldra, I had
+forgotten Hertha in her company. Then thought I that there was no
+reason why I should remember Hertha any longer. And next, that it
+were better that I should think of no maiden at all, at this time.
+
+Which last seemed wisest, and so I grew discontented, and went down
+to the boat and bade the men take my arms and few belongings to
+Earl Wulfnoth's house.
+
+When I came there the steward knew me, and made me very welcome.
+The earl was at Pevensea or Shoreham, but Godwine was in and out of
+the haven, and would be here ere long. So they told me, and set a
+good meal before me. And when I had eaten I lay down on a settle
+and slept the long sleep that comes to one wearied in mind and body
+alike. If the house had burnt over my head I should not have waked,
+for others watched now, and I had no need to wake for aught.
+
+A man knows those things in his sleep, I verily believe. One ill
+dream I had, and that was of Bertric's unlucky kitten, which seemed
+to be the queen in some uncanny way. Sometimes I wonder what became
+of it. I never learned, but it brought me no more ill luck.
+
+
+
+Chapter 12: Among Friends.
+
+
+When I woke it was daylight again. A fire burnt on the hearth in
+the middle of the hall, and someone had spread a wolf-skin rug over
+me. I had not moved from sunset to sunrise, and I was refreshed and
+broad awake at once, wondering at first where I was, and who had
+laughed and woke me.
+
+There was a youth sitting on a table's edge by the wall over
+against where I lay, and a big broad-shouldered man leant on it
+with folded arms beside him, and at first I stared at them till my
+thoughts came back, and they laughed at me again, and then I knew
+Godwine and Relf the thane, who had but just come up from their
+ship to find me.
+
+"On my word," said Godwine, "here is a man who could teach one how
+to sleep! We have sat here and talked about you for ten minutes or
+more."
+
+"Redwald sleeps as though he had lost time to make up," said Relf.
+"Welcome back to us, anyway."
+
+"Aye--welcome you are," said Godwine warmly, "but how did you come
+here?"
+
+I got up and took their hands, rejoicing to see them. It was good
+to be among friends again after the long watching and many dangers.
+Then came the steward followed by his men with a mighty breakfast,
+and as he set the tables on the high place, Godwine's men trooped
+in. They had had to wait for the morning tide into the haven, and
+the ship was just berthed.
+
+"Food first," Relf advised. "Then shall Redwald tell us all he
+knows."
+
+So by and by we sat in the morning sunlight in the courtyard, and I
+told them all that had happened from beginning to end. They knew no
+more than that Ethelred was dead, and that Cnut was besieging
+London.
+
+"We tried to chase those Danes because they had got our man's
+ship," said Godwine. "When we got near enough, for they came down
+wind and passed us before long, we found that Bertric was contented
+enough, running up his own flag, and the Danes did not stay to
+fight. So we came home, only losing our tide by the delay."
+
+"What would you have done had you known that the queen was on
+board, and a prisoner?" I asked.
+
+"Why, nothing more than we have done," Godwine said. "My father
+hates Emma the cat as bitterly as he does Streone the fox, which is
+saying a good deal. The cat's claws are clipped now, maybe."
+
+Well, I knew this, and said nothing. One could expect no more from
+Earl Wulfnoth's son. Nor do I think that any loved Emma the queen
+much. One may know how a person is thought of by the way in which
+folk name them often enough, and though our king would have had his
+young wife called by her English name, Elfgiva, none ever did so.
+Her Norman, foreign name was all we used. If she had been loved, we
+should have rejoiced to name her in our own way.
+
+Then Godwine said:
+
+"You have had an ill time with Emma, as I think, if she is all that
+my father says."
+
+"Nay, Godwine," said Relf, "Redwald will not bear much of this. He
+is the queen's faithful servant, and will have nought against her,
+and he is right."
+
+"So he is, and I am wrong," said the lad at once. "Forgive me,
+friend; I did not think."
+
+Then I laughed, and turned it off. Godwine was only too right, but
+I could not say so. Now, however, I may say that the memory of Emma
+the queen's ways is to me as a nightmare.
+
+"I would that I could meet with this Egil," Godwine said as I gave
+him sword Foe's Bane to handle; and then he forgot all else in the
+beauty of the weapon.
+
+"What have you done with the brave maiden?" Relf asked me now.
+
+"She is in the nunnery here," I said. "She is friendless, having no
+folk of her own nearer than Peterborough."
+
+"That is far off," said Relf, and began to think, twisting his
+beard as was his wont when pondering somewhat weighty.
+
+Now, before he had made up his mind to say any more, Godwine was
+ready to hear about the winning back of the sword, and of the
+fights in Ulfkytel's land, and then a man came from the ships with
+some business, and he went away with him. And by that time Relf had
+somewhat to say.
+
+"Penhurst is a lonesome place, and it will be worse for my wife
+when Sexberga is gone," he said musingly.
+
+"Why, where is your daughter going?" I asked him.
+
+He looked at me sidewise for a moment, and I thought that his face
+fell a little. Then he said:
+
+"Going to be wedded shortly."
+
+"That is well," I said. "To whom?"
+
+Then the thane turned fairly round on me with wide eyes, and a
+blank fear fell on me that he meant that I was to wed her. Yet
+surely the lady had told him that I was betrothed.
+
+"Ho!" he said; "did you not know that? Methought everyone did."
+
+That was worse, and I knew not what he looked for from me.
+
+"I have been away; I have heard nought," I answered lamely enough.
+
+"Oh, aye; so you have," he said. "Truly, I forgot that. We quiet
+people fancy that all the world knows our affairs. And it was in my
+mind that you had a tenderness that way yourself. I knew not how
+you would take it."
+
+Then we both laughed, but it was not a hearty laughter, for each
+feared the other a little, as it seemed.
+
+"I am glad for Sexberga, if she is happy," said I.
+
+"Why, now, that is well," said Relf. "I had thought that I must
+break this matter gently to you."
+
+"Maybe you would have had to do so had I bided at Penhurst much
+longer," said I truly enough.
+
+"All the same, Redwald, I wish it were you, on my faith," said the
+thane, growing red in his earnestness.
+
+"Thanks therefor," said I. "It is good to hear you say so; but I am
+a landless warrior in bad luck, and so it is better as it is. Who
+is the man of Sexberga's choice?"
+
+"Eldred of Dallington," said he. "A good youth enough, and with
+lands enough. He has never seen a fight, though," and then he
+turned on me suddenly, putting his hand on mine. "I could have
+sworn, lad, that you were fond of the girl. Tell me if it is so,
+and Eldred shall go down the wind like a strayed hawk, for all I
+care."
+
+I shook my head, but it came over me for a moment that I wished I
+might recall the wandering fancies of the winter days in
+Penhurst--but that passed, and I was lonely in heart.
+
+"Nay, thane, that is not so. My sword here is all that I love next
+to my king and Olaf my cousin--and Relf the thane. I have no love
+for any maiden, nor could Sexberga think twice of me."
+
+"If you had bided a little longer. Well, then, no hearts are
+broken, or so much as awry, and that is well. So, as I was saying,
+Penhurst will be lonely directly, and already I love this maiden
+with the outland name for saving you. How would she take it if we
+gave her shelter with us? I am going back home in a day or two, and
+you must come with me."
+
+The good thane spoke fast, being easier in his mind, as it seemed,
+on one point, and not willing to make any show of generosity on the
+other.
+
+"That is a kind thought of yours," I said, being very glad, and not
+less so that I could not help rejoicing that I should see more of
+Uldra.
+
+"I wonder what my wife would say?" he said thoughtfully.
+
+"If I know aught of her kindness, and I think that I have proved it
+well," answered I, "she will be glad to help this orphan maiden."
+
+"Let us go and see her, and ask her to come, therefore," said Relf,
+rising up. "I want to thank her, moreover, for saving you."
+
+I was nowise loath, and so we went along under the trees towards
+the nunnery. And as we went Relf talked of Eldred, the Thane of
+Dallington, and the wedding that was to come. And all the while I
+believe that he was troubling about two things that were mixed in
+his mind--fear that I was set aside by Sexberga, and a wish that I
+had been the bridegroom.
+
+Then we knocked on the great door, and he was silent until a sister
+looked through the little barred square wicket in the midst of it.
+
+"We would speak with the Lady Uldra," I said. "I am the thane who
+brought her ashore."
+
+The sister said nought, but shut the wicket door, and left us. We
+heard her steps retreating across the little courtyard, and she
+shut a door after her somewhere else. Then all was quiet.
+
+"What does that mean?" Relf said.
+
+"That we have to wait," said I "that is all. It is the way in which
+they treat folk at these places. They would do the same if the
+queen came. She has gone to her Superior."
+
+"What would Emma say?" chuckled Relf, looking slyly at me.
+
+"One cannot say much to an iron-barred oak door."
+
+"But there are thanes and such-like left outside," he said,
+laughing more yet. "Now Godwine is not here, I dare say that you
+have felt, more than once, the queen's tongue for nought."
+
+"I will deny it," said I, "to anyone but Elfric the abbot," whereat
+he laughed till the tears came into his eyes. He had known our
+queen in the old days before Streone's treachery.
+
+I was glad that the wicket flew open again. Relf stayed his
+laughter in a moment, and became very grave.
+
+"What would she say now?" he whispered.
+
+"Enough," I said, for the sister, having seen that we waited,
+unbarred the gate and let us in. Then she pointed to a door on our
+right, and went away.
+
+I took Relf's arm and led him to this door--for he was going to
+follow the sister--and we opened it. It led into a small
+high-roofed chamber, that had a great crucifix painted in bright
+colours on the east wall, and pictured legends on the rest, between
+high narrow windows.
+
+But there stood Uldra, no longer in convent dress, but in some robe
+of dark blue and crimson that became her well, so that at first I
+hardly knew her, for now for the first time I saw her bright brown
+hair that the novice's hood had hidden from me. I could not say
+that Uldra was fair as Sexberga to look on, but, as ever, I thought
+that her face was the sweetest that I had seen in all my life.
+
+I was a little abashed before this grave and stately maiden, who
+was the same, and yet not the same, as she who had been through so
+much danger and trial with me, and I could not find a word to say
+at first. Nor could she, as it seemed, and so we looked at one
+another until she smiled. It was only for a moment, however, for
+when her face lighted up thus, Relf found his voice and spoke.
+
+"I have come to thank you, lady, for saving my comrade's life
+yesterday," he said, taking her hand and kissing it. "I had lost a
+good friend but for you, he tells me."
+
+"But for the thane, your friend, I know not what would have become
+of us," she answered. "The thanks are from me to him, rather."
+
+"Yet I think that I owe you somewhat," Relf said, "and now I am
+minded to try to show that I would thank you in deed, and not in
+word only."
+
+He paused, and Uldra looked at me as if asking if I could throw any
+light on this stranger's meaning.
+
+"Relf, the Thane of Penhurst, is he who gave me shelter and care
+when I was hurt in a fight and a flood last winter," I said. "He
+has indeed been a good friend to me."
+
+"Not I," said Relf; "you fought for me. It was my wife and
+Sexberga, my daughter, who tended you."
+
+Now at that name, which she already knew, the maiden looked quickly
+away from me, and a little flush began to creep up into her face,
+with pleasure as it would seem.
+
+"I have heard of your daughter Sexberga already," she said to Relf
+with a little smile.
+
+"Why, that is well," he said. "Now, after her wedding my wife will
+be sorely lost for want of a companion, and I would ask you to come
+home to Penhurst with us, and bide there until you may seek your
+friends again--or as long as you wish. And glad shall we be of your
+help at the wedding feast."
+
+So he spoke cheerfully, trying to make all the honour come from
+her, as kindness to himself and his wife. But though the tears came
+into Uldra's eyes at the good thane's plain meaning, she was silent
+yet, save that she said:
+
+"I know not how to thank you for your goodwill to me."
+
+"Nay," he said; "but my wife will blame me if you come not. 'Here,'
+she will say, 'is the companion whom I needed, and a friend of our
+Redwald's, moreover, and you have not brought her.' I pray you,
+come with us. Do you ask her, Redwald; I am rough, and you are
+courtly."
+
+Then I said:
+
+"Lady, this is all that Elfric would wish for you. I cannot tell
+you of the great kindness that is waiting for you in the thane's
+home."
+
+And for answer she turned away and began to weep, and Relf could
+bear that not at all, and he went to her and put his arm round her,
+as he would have done to Sexberga, and tried to reassure her.
+
+"Why," he said, "here is nought to weep about, maiden. Maybe we are
+homely people, but I think that you may learn to be happier in
+freedom with us than here. Nay, but weep not so bitterly, you shall
+be as our daughter to us if you will, for Redwald's life's sake.
+Aye, you shall have Sexberga's own chamber and all that--"
+
+But still Uldra wept, and I was unhappy to see her do so. This
+could not be all for sudden relief from doubt as I had thought at
+first.
+
+Then she took herself gently from the thane's arm, and dried her
+eyes, and clasped her hands tightly before her, and said:
+
+"I cannot say how I thank you; but I must bide here."
+
+"This is a cold place," said the thane. "It is no home for you."
+
+"I think it will be so in the end," she said very sadly.
+
+And I tried hard to think of somewhat to say that might persuade
+her, but there was that meaning in her voice that seemed to stay
+whatever came to me. I thought that she had made up her mind to
+take the veil, and there are few things that will turn a maiden
+from that when once she has chosen it.
+
+Then said Relf:
+
+"Maybe I ask you too suddenly, lady. Let us leave it till tomorrow,
+and I pray you think with all kindness of the matter, for I shall
+be sorely grieved if you will not come."
+
+And I said the same as well as I could, but though she promised to
+give her answer in the morning, it was plain to me that it would be
+even as she said now.
+
+Then we took our leave of her, and found our way out of the place,
+somewhat down-hearted. The door was bolted after us, though I do
+not know who did it, or whence the portress watched our going. And
+it was dismal to hear the great bars jarring in their sockets.
+
+"Poor maid," said Relf. "Why does she choose such a prison?"
+
+"Those dismal nuns have talked her into it," said I angrily.
+
+"Maybe. It is a way they have," the thane said. "'Come in here!'
+said the rat in the trap to the rat outside, 'one is safe from the
+cat behind these bars.'"
+
+So we walked on for a little, and then he said:
+
+"How did she hear of Sexberga? I thought you had had no speech with
+her on the journey."
+
+"Nor had I," I answered. "I thought she was another silent nun. But
+I thought she was like Sexberga, and so I called her Sister
+Sexberga to myself, giving her a name in my thoughts. Then in the
+boat it slipped out unawares when I had to speak to her, and she
+asked to be told why I called her so."
+
+"As much like Sexberga as you are like Godwine, which is not at
+all," said Relf laughing. "Was she pleased?"
+
+"Why, I think not," I answered.
+
+"How much more about Sexberga did you tell her?" he asked.
+
+"Nothing, there was no need."
+
+Then Relf began to chuckle to himself, and I could not tell why.
+But presently he said:
+
+"Did you give the sisters names likewise?"
+
+"Yes, I did. I do not think I should have cared to say what they
+were," I answered, laughing also.
+
+He said no more about this, and we came to the hall, and then went
+to find Godwine at the ships. But I could not but feel disappointed
+that Uldra would not come with us. And that was not all for her own
+sake, as I found when I came to turn over my thoughts a little. I
+would fain see more of the maiden who had borne peril so well, and
+had stood so bravely at my side.
+
+Now when Godwine heard how our errand had failed, he laughed at
+Relf's downcast looks and said, scanning my weatherbeaten and
+forest-worn garments:
+
+"Maidens love to see warriors go in bright array. She is tired of
+those old weeds of Redwald's. We must fit him out afresh in the
+morning, and then she will listen maybe."
+
+He was so pleased with this boyish wisdom of his own, being fully
+persuaded that he was right, that he and I must ride together to
+Chichester with morning light, and find new gear for me.
+
+"We roll in riches since you fell into the pit," he said, when I
+would pay for what I had with my last piece of gold. "And you must
+keep that one; there are more due to you yet as I think."
+
+Nor would he be denied in this, and it is not a warrior's part to
+take an earl's gifts grudgingly. And when I fairly shone in bright
+array from head to foot, he must needs add a wonderful round
+brooch, silver and gold wrought, with crimson garnets at the ends
+and in the spaces of the arms of a cross of inlaid pearl and
+enamel, such as one seldom sees.
+
+"It is a Kentish brooch," he said, "so shall men know that you are
+a friend of the earls of Kent and Sussex."
+
+That was an earl's giving indeed, but Godwine is ever open handed,
+and I am not alone in learning how he will give.
+
+"Now we must go back, and you shall seek this damsel again since
+old Relf is so set thereon. As for you, it is likely that you have
+had trouble enough with her already, and will care little if she
+will not come," he said, and looked me over from head to foot as we
+stood outside the chapman's house in the wide place where the four
+roads cross in Chichester town.
+
+"My faith!" he added, "I believe that even Emma the Cat would mind
+what you told her now!"
+
+"Lord earl," said I, "you will make me vain."
+
+"Earl, forsooth!" he cried, "the clothes have made you mighty
+courtly all at once. Godwine and Redwald are going back to Bosham,
+and the earl bides at Chichester Cross--mind you that!"
+
+And he swung himself on his horse laughing, and we rode away, while
+the people shouted, for they had gathered in twos and threes to
+look on him.
+
+Now when we came back to the great house, there was Relf sitting on
+the bench where we had sat yesterday, and he looked as if he had
+had good news.
+
+"Now, thane," said Godwine, "here is a new messenger to your
+sorrowful damsel."
+
+Relf stared at me and laughed, and when I got off my horse Godwine
+would have us go at once. So Relf took my arm and we went, while
+the young earl joked us till we were out of hearing.
+
+"Now," said the thane, "we will not spoil the earl's jest, but must
+even let him think that all has been his doing thus."
+
+"Why, he will see us start for Penhurst, and if Uldra is not
+there--"
+
+"Aye, but she will be. She is coming gladly," Relf said.
+
+"How is this?" I asked.
+
+"Just that I have been to see the maiden while you were gone, and I
+spoke to her as to a daughter, and so she is coming."
+
+"You would not wait for me, then?" I said, being glad that he had
+managed without me, as things had turned out.
+
+"Methought I could do better alone. The girl would say more to me
+than if you were there, perhaps. Moreover, I had a notion why she
+would not come, and I wanted to ask her if I was right. And I was."
+
+"I thought of that," said I; "she was in the same plight as myself
+until Godwine decked me out thus. Women think more of their attire
+than we."
+
+The thane chuckled in his quiet way.
+
+"Why, perhaps that had somewhat to do with it, but I did not ask
+her, I forgot. But I did tell the old Lady Superior to do so, and
+gave her withal to care for the maiden."
+
+Then I said:
+
+"It is well that you persuaded her; maybe I should have been in the
+way. I should have lost my tongue again, I think."
+
+"Well, yes," said Relf, still laughing to himself, "it was you who
+were in the way; however, as you say, all is well, and she rides
+with us tomorrow. We will go and find a mule or a good forest pony
+for her, and so tell Godwine that the clothes have done it."
+
+Now I never thought that there was anything more behind the thane's
+words, for of all things that had made my soul weary in these last
+weeks the complaints of Emma the queen about her dress had been the
+worst. So this seemed to me to be quite enough to explain Uldra's
+first refusal, and though I believe that Relf had been on the point
+of telling me more, he forbore, and let this suffice.
+
+Relf knew where to look for a beast, and we soon had a good bay
+pony, that was quiet enough and strong, sent to Godwine's stables.
+And then Relf told the earl what he had done.
+
+"Then I was right," said Godwine gleefully. "I will warrant that
+you two wise heads would never have thought thereof."
+
+"Are you coming with us?" I asked him, for I did not care to have
+to find answers to many questions about our speech with Uldra, as
+things were.
+
+"I am coming by sea presently with two ships," he said. "I shall
+wait till Bertric comes back, and so maybe shall have news of your
+queen to tell you. He should not be long. Relf goes back for the
+early hay time, he says, but I believe that he is tired of the
+sea."
+
+"I am no sailor, lord," the thane said.
+
+"As any of my crew will tell you," Godwine said merrily.
+
+"Never, Redwald, was any man so undone as Relf when there is a
+little sea on. A common forest deer thief could tie him up."
+
+"I should have thanked one for slaying me at times," said Relf
+grimly. "I prefer solid ground to shifty deck planks."
+
+So whether it was love of home or loathing of sea that took him
+back to Penhurst, Relf and I left Godwine on the next morning; and
+at the nunnery door waited Uldra, looking bright and cheerful and
+greeting us gladly as we came. And it seemed to me that her
+troubles had passed from her, and that she was indeed glad to be
+leaving the walls of the place that was so prison-like.
+
+Now that was a fair and pleasant ride over the Downs and among the
+forest paths through Sussex, and I look back on it as the brightest
+time that I had had in all the long years of trouble. The joy of
+going back to my old home at Bures had been clouded with the
+knowledge of loss, and with the sight of the trail of war. But here
+were none of these things.
+
+We rode with twenty housecarles of Relf's behind us, and it was a
+new thing to me that I should see the wayside folk run out into the
+trackway to see us pass; that the farm thralls in the fields should
+but rise up, straightening stiffened backs and laughing, and stay
+their work for a moment to watch us; that no man who met us should
+ask with anxious face, "What news of the Danes?"
+
+New it was, and most pleasant to Uldra also, for she had come
+through all the harried land, where the click of steel or the glint
+of armour had bidden the poor folk fly in terror, so that one rode
+through silent and deserted villages, and past farms where nought
+but the dogs told of life about the place. And that was what I had
+seen over all England since Swein of Denmark landed, so long ago.
+Men will hardly believe it now. Relf could hardly believe us as we
+told him. Yet today, were I to ride into an East Saxon village
+shouting "The Danes!" there are men who would cast down tools and
+all else that they were busied with, and clutch at the weapons that
+rust on the wall before thought could come to them. For the terror
+of these years cannot pass from England yet while any man is alive
+who knew it.
+
+Now there was another pleasure for me, and that was to watch Uldra
+growing brighter and happier day by day. It was wonderful to me to
+see this, and with me she was ever frank and open, never wearying
+of speaking of our former journey and its troubles, for we could
+smile at them now. And Relf grew very fond of her in those few
+days, as one might see. Nor do I know how anyone could help doing
+so. Even the rough housecarles would watch for a chance of doing
+some little service for her.
+
+And yet, as I have said, Uldra was not the fairest maiden that I
+had seen. Men are apt to think that the fairest must ever be the
+best, and a man learns that it is not so only by degrees, maybe.
+And when I looked on Uldra's face it began to seem to me the best
+that could be, and ever to me it would seem that I knew it well.
+For some look of hers that should be new to me was not new--I had
+expected it in some way, and should have wondered not to see it
+cross her face. And so in gesture and in word also. So that she
+seemed already well known to me, and why this was I could not say,
+and at times it troubled me as puzzling things will. But, all the
+same, I loved to find myself so puzzled.
+
+Thus, by the time we came over the great spur of the Downs that
+ends in Beachy Head, and looked over all Pevensea level to the
+Penhurst woods and hills beyond, I and Uldra were very good
+friends, and Relf was pleased that it should be so, and rode
+between us in high content.
+
+It was midday when we passed the last hill of the Downs where the
+mighty giant lies like a shadow on the grass by Wilmington; then we
+saw the gray castle where Wulfnoth bided, away to our right; and
+then along the steep ridge inland and down to Boreham, where I must
+tell the maiden of the great sea wave, and how Olaf saved me. And
+so we came to Penhurst in its valley among the trees, and the ride
+was over.
+
+Now there is no need to say what welcome was at that house, whether
+for its lord, or for the warrior who had been nursed back to life
+there, or for the new-come homeless maiden. Relf was not wrong when
+he told her that she should be as a daughter in the house.
+
+Some of the men had ridden on, so that the homecoming feast should
+be spread for us, and there was the lady at the courtyard gates,
+and with her Sexberga, and a tall, handsome young thane, whom I
+knew for Eldred of Dallington; and there was Father Anselm, and
+Spray the smith, and many more whose faces I was glad to see again.
+
+And among all those faces were nought but welcoming looks--save
+from one only. I did not note this, being taken up with watching
+how they greeted Uldra, for that seemed to me to be the only thing
+that I cared about. If I had any thought of Sexberga now, it was as
+if she had been my sister, and I hoped that she would be pleased
+with the maiden who was thus brought to her unlooked for. I need
+have troubled nought about that, however, for she and her mother
+were alike in many things, and if I was sure of the one, so might I
+have been of the other in all that had to do with kindness.
+
+But if I had looked beyond Sexberga to where her young thane stood
+I should have met with a black scowl enough, though I could not
+have told why this should be his greeting for me. I had but seen
+him once before, and that was at Earl Wulfnoth's feast to Olaf when
+we first came.
+
+That was an evening to be remembered as most pleasant when, after
+the feast, we sat and spoke of all that had happened since I left
+Penhurst. I told them all the tale of warfare, and of Olaf's deeds,
+and of the winning back of my sword, and how that helped our
+meeting with Egil.
+
+And when Spray the smith, who sat listening, with the other men in
+the hall below the high place, heard of that escape from the Danes,
+he said, without ceremony:
+
+"Master, well I knew that you would never be cast into prison."
+
+"That was a saying of yours, Spray," said I. "May the luck last."
+
+Then Uldra would tell the story of our journey in her way, and my
+name came pretty often into her tale. So, looking about the hall
+while she spoke, my eyes lit on Eldred, and it seemed that he was
+ill at ease, and displeased with somewhat. I thought that he would
+rather be sitting nearer Sexberga, maybe, and troubled nought about
+him, though I did think that he showed his ill temper over plainly
+in his face.
+
+Now, in all this story telling there was one thing about which I
+said nothing, and that was my search for Hertha. It seemed to me
+that there was no need for doing so, and moreover, I would tell the
+lady thereof in private at some time. And I was glad that Sexberga
+asked me nought about it. I do not think that she had forgotten it,
+but she had her own reasons for saying nought of the matter, which
+were foolish enough when I found them out. The lady, her mother,
+waited for me to say what I would in my own way when I thought
+right.
+
+
+
+Chapter 13: Jealousy.
+
+
+That generous foe of mine, Egil--if indeed I should not call him my
+friend, as he named me once--had set two months as the time in
+which I must bide in peace, and I will not say that this space
+seemed likely to go over-heavily for me. We could hear little news
+except from such ships as put in from along the coast, and the
+first news that came was when Godwine returned from Bosham.
+
+The Danes had taken the queen to Winchester in high honour, and
+there she was living in some sort of state, which pleased her well
+enough, until word came from Cnut concerning her. It was thought
+that he would let her go back to Normandy, keeping the athelings as
+hostages. So concerning her and them my mind was at rest.
+
+Now Cnut was besieging London. But before he had left Wessex, there
+had been a great council of bishops and clergy at Salisbury, and at
+that gathering he had been chosen as king in succession to
+Ethelred, whose house was not loved. There, too, he was present,
+and swore to be their faithful king and to protect Holy Church in
+all things.
+
+Then into Wessex went Eadmund, ravaging and laying waste there. One
+might know what hatred of him would come from that, and my heart
+sank at hearing this folly.
+
+Two days after Godwine came, we saw the sails of a great fleet
+going westward, and we thought that Cnut had been beaten off from
+London. But a ship that had sprung a leak in some way put into
+Wulfnoth's haven at Shoreham from this fleet, and from thence we
+learnt that the Danes had halved their forces, and that Cnut and
+Ulf the jarl were going again into the Severn to withstand Eadmund
+in Wessex, and if possible to hem him in between two forces in the
+old way of the days of Alfred. London was beset straitly, but not
+taken yet.
+
+I was more content then, for I could not have reached our king, had
+I returned from Normandy, as it seemed. And now it was possible
+that he might make headway against the divided forces of the Danes.
+I might join him yet in time to share in some final victory.
+
+So the early summer days at Penhurst became very pleasant to me,
+for I had little care that need sit heavily on my mind. Indeed, I
+think that I should almost have forgotten that I had any, but for
+the foolishness of Sexberga, which bid fair to turn all things to
+sadness at one time.
+
+I had spoken with her mother about my search for Hertha, telling
+her plainly all that had passed between me and Ailwin, and I asked
+her to tell me what she thought I must do now.
+
+"Wait yet longer," she answered; "peace will come, and he will
+bring Hertha back to Bures."
+
+That ought to have been my own plan, but I had rather hoped to hear
+her say that I was right in holding myself free to choose afresh as
+I would. The thought of being bound seemed irksome to me; though
+why I, landless and luckless, should have found it so, I could not
+say. It mattered not at all at present. So I said:
+
+"That is all one can do, lady; it matters not."
+
+"What thinks Sexberga?" I asked presently.
+
+"You have not spoken to her of your search, then?" the lady said.
+"I had thought that she would ask you of it first of all."
+
+She had asked nothing, and I had said nothing.
+
+Then the lady said:
+
+"She and I spoke thereof with Uldra but yesterday, and they were
+both full of your praises for wishing to seek for your Hertha. They
+will be glad to hear that you have done so, and sad that you have
+failed to find her."
+
+Then there came over me a wish that Uldra knew nought about it. And
+that angered me with myself, because it was plain that I cared
+overmuch for the company and pleasant voice and looks of this
+maiden who was friendless as I.
+
+So that was all that was said at the time, and I met Uldra in my
+foolishness as if this were going to make some difference in her
+way with me. Which of course it did not. Whereupon I was angrier
+yet with myself for deeming that it would.
+
+Now, there was another person who should have known of this
+betrothal of mine, and that was Edred, but Sexberga never told him,
+and her mother did not, for she thought that Sexberga would do so.
+
+Of all the foolish things that a maiden can do, the most foolish is
+to try to make the man who is to wed her jealous. For it is playing
+with edged tools in two ways--if the man, being an honest man and
+trustful, is not jealous, the maiden thinks that he cares not, and
+so is herself wretched. But if he is jealous, why, then every
+thought of his towards the maiden is changed and spoilt, and it
+will be long, if ever, before full trust is won again between those
+two.
+
+But this seems to be good sport to some damsels, and so it was with
+Sexberga. The blacker grew the young thane's looks the more she
+would praise me, and the more she would choose to speak with me
+rather than to him; wherefore his life was made wretched for him,
+and I think he hated the sight of me. Maybe I was blind not to see
+this, but I liked him well enough, save for what I thought was his
+sullen temper, and I would try to joke him into better humour at
+times in all good fellowship. But I think that the trouble began
+before I came back, with talk of the time when I had been at
+Penhurst before.
+
+He was ever at Penhurst--I should have thought ill of him if he had
+not been--for Dallington was close at hand, and he was ever
+welcome.
+
+After that talk with the lady I must needs ask Sexberga what she
+thought concerning my strange betrothal, she having had so much to
+say thereon before. And so one day, as I had been with Spray to see
+some traps set by the bank of the Ashbourne river for otter, and was
+coming back with him, bearing a great one between us on a pole, we
+met Sexberga in the woodland track to the house, and Spray went on,
+while I walked back with her on her way to the old village--where
+we had had the fight--and talked about my baffled search.
+
+Now her saying was that I had no need to pay any more heed to this
+betrothal after what I had said to Ailwin, and that he himself
+would seem to try to break it by thus taking Hertha out of my ken.
+And we talked freely of the matter, and the last thing that I said
+was this, coming round to what I had made up my better mind for:
+
+"It is not much matter either way. I can think of no maiden as
+things are."
+
+Whereon we met Eldred, and his face was not pleasant to look on,
+though he said nothing at that moment, and turned and walked
+silently with us on the other side of the maiden.
+
+When we came to the village I said that we would wait outside until
+she came back, and thought that Eldred would go along with her. But
+he stayed with me, and I looked round for a sunny seat where one
+could see all the long chain of bright hammer ponds that went in
+steps, as it were, down the valley before us.
+
+"Nay," he said in a strange voice, "come over to the other side of
+the valley--there is a pleasant place there."
+
+"The lady will miss us," said I.
+
+"We need not be long," he said. "The place I would show you is not
+far. One of us can be back before she has done with these churls."
+
+So, as I supposed that we might have to wait for half an hour,
+because every woman in the place would want to tell her ailments to
+the kindly young mistress most likely, we went together, passing
+over the brook, and going up the steep valley side beyond it, until
+we came to the rocks of the old quarry where we had rested before
+the fight with the outlaws.
+
+A pleasant place enough it was, truly, for the rocks stood round in
+a little cliff, hemming in a lawn of short grass on every side but
+one, and the trees that hung on the bank of the stream closed that
+in. So when we were fairly within this circle of red cliff and
+green trees Eldred said:
+
+"This will do. We will see which of us is to go back to Sexberga."
+
+"Why, you will," said I, thinking that he had some device by which
+he might be free from my presence. "I spoil company for you both,
+and will go back to the hall by the lower track presently."
+
+"You have spoilt company long enough," he said, his face growing
+very savage of a sudden. "Now I will end it, one way or the other."
+
+"What is this foolishness?" I said, seeing now what he meant.
+
+"You know well enough," he answered with a great oath. "Pluck out
+that fine sword of yours and show that you can do more than talk of
+using it."
+
+"Come, Eldred," said I, "I have not deserved this."
+
+"You deserve all that I shall give you," he answered, drawing his
+sword. "Stand up like a man."
+
+Now it seemed very hard to me that all these friendships should be
+broken and spoilt by this foolish business, as they would be if
+either of us was hurt; and so I tried to quiet him yet once more.
+
+"Eldred, listen to reason," I said. "I have done you no wrong. Tell
+me of what you complain."
+
+Thereat he only cursed, bidding me draw and cease prating.
+
+"I will not fight you thus," I said, for he was growing over wild
+to fight well for himself. "Let us find some to attend us and watch
+the business, that neither of us may be blamed. It is ill to slay a
+man in a hidden place like this with none to say that the fight was
+fair."
+
+"You are afraid," he said sneeringly.
+
+"You must ask Relf if that is likely," said I, for I would not be
+angered by his angry words. "But I do not care to risk blame to you
+or me. Nought is gained by fighting thus."
+
+"Ask Relf, forsooth!" he snarled. "I care not to hear again how you
+lay hid in the pit yonder while others fought."
+
+"Have a care, Eldred," I said then. "You grow heedless in your
+anger, and go too far. I do not think that you mean this."
+
+"Do you need to be called nidring {12}?" he snarled at me.
+
+Now none heard that word pass between us, and though it made me
+bitterly angry I kept my wrath back. Truly I began to think that I
+was foolish to argue with him; but there would be grief, lifelong,
+at Penhurst if deadly harm befell either of us where none could say
+that all was fairly fought out.
+
+"Are you not going?" he said in a choking sort of way.
+
+"No," I said, "not until I know what all this is about."
+
+"What good in going over that again?" he answered. "You know well
+enough. Let me be--you have won."
+
+"I know," said I; "but you have not told me aught. I can only guess
+that you think that I have taken your place with Sexberga."
+
+"Aye--and now you have won it."
+
+"I want it not," I answered. "Had you not been so angry you would
+have known that, when I bid you go back and meet her without me."
+
+Now he looked at me with a sort of doubt, and said, in a somewhat
+halting way:
+
+"I heard you just now tell her that it could not be that you could
+think of her--as things are."
+
+Then I remembered what my last words had been, and I saw that they
+might easily have misled him after all the trouble he seemed to
+have had.
+
+"You heard too much or too little," said I, being minded to laugh,
+though the matter was over serious to him to let me do so. "I spoke
+of my own troubles, which were the less because my fortunes prevent
+my thinking of any maiden, seeing that I have no home to give a
+wife when I find her. You were wrong in thinking that I spoke of
+Sexberga--I spoke, as you might have known, of the one whom I have
+lost."
+
+"How should I know that? I know nought of your affairs."
+
+Then thought I to myself that I would punish Sexberga, for she had
+tortured this honest lover of hers over much.
+
+"I will not tell you that tale. Ask Sexberga, who has known it from
+the first."
+
+Then I was sorry for what I had said, for he flushed darkly.
+
+"I have been made a fool of," he said.
+
+"Nay; but you should have been more trustful," said I. "Now, were I
+in your place, I would go home to Dallington and bide there for a
+week, and the maiden will be pleased enough to see you when you
+return. And if she tries to make you jealous again, seem to mind it
+not. There is little sport in it for her then."
+
+"I suppose there would not be," said he, and he began to look more
+cheerful.
+
+"Now," said I, "I was betrothed long ago--the war time has come
+between me and her who should have been my wife. I have hunted for
+her and cannot find her--and that is all. Now you understand. It
+was Sexberga who cheered me in my search, and so I spoke to her
+thereof."
+
+"I should not have doubted you," he said frankly; "forgive me."
+
+I held out my hand and he took it. There was nought but
+friendliness in his grasp, and I could not blame him. I blamed
+Sexberga wholly.
+
+Then he laughed a little ruefully.
+
+"I am a fool with a sword," he said. "Will you teach me somewhat? I
+think I was mad when I used those evil words to you."
+
+"I have forgotten them," I answered; and so I had. One does not
+think much of what a man says in utmost rage as his. "Come, let us
+go back to the village."
+
+So we went back together, but Sexberga had gone on her way homeward
+without us. Whereat Eldred was not sorry, and said that he was
+going back to his own place.
+
+"You will see me no more for a few days," he said. "I think your
+plan is good."
+
+"Mind this," I answered, "I never tried it."
+
+"Lookers-on see best," he answered, laughing bitterly. "But think
+no more of my anger with yourself, I pray you."
+
+I told him that I would not, and so we parted good friends enough,
+though I feared that he might take this matter to heart in such
+wise that he would have some ill moments presently. There was
+little spring in his walk as he took the path towards Dallington.
+
+I said nought of this affair, as one might suppose, and made little
+excuse to Sexberga for leaving her. We had walked too far, and had
+returned too late to find her, I said. She pouted and said nothing,
+but I thought that her punishment had already begun.
+
+Next day there were ships heading in for Pevensea, and I rode away
+to find out what I could, and forgot Eldred and his troubles. For
+Olaf had come, and that was luck beyond what I could have looked
+for.
+
+The ten great ships slid into the haven, and I was first on the
+strand to meet the king. Wulfnoth and Godwine were riding inland,
+and doubtless were returning posthaste if they knew that ships had
+come. But for a little while I had my kinsman to myself, and great
+was his wonder to find me in this place.
+
+"I have thought that I should have to ransom you from Cnut's hand,"
+he said, "for we have heard that Thorkel's men took the queen's
+ship. Were you not taken likewise?"
+
+So when he heard of all that had brought me here, he praised Egil
+highly.
+
+"He is a Norseman, and no Dane, by birth," he said. "One may be
+proud that he is so. I would that he were my man."
+
+Then was my turn, and I wondered how Olaf had left London, for the
+Thames was full of Danish ships, as I had heard.
+
+"Aye, so it is yet," he told me. "The Danes cannot take the city,
+try what they will, though they dug a great ditch round the
+Southwark fort, and took ships through it above the bridge, and so
+kept us shut up close enough. But walls and forts and citizens are
+too much for them. Now the siege is but a blind, while the real
+warfare is to be in Wessex. So I came away with the Danes, my men
+being tired of unprofitable warfare where we were not wanted, and
+gaining, moreover, neither gold nor honour."
+
+"You came away with the Danes?" I cried. "Surely you made no pact
+with them?"
+
+"Not I," said he. "But they sailed with an evening tide, which was
+my chance. Ten ships among four hundred or so make no odds. We took
+off the dragon heads, and when it was quite dark rowed down after
+them, and so caught them up at Greenwich. Then we slipped through
+the fleet easily, for it was mostly of cargo ships full of men, and
+no one paid any heed to us, as might be supposed. So by daylight we
+led the fleet, or nearly, and when the next night came we stood
+away from it, going across Channel. Then I came here to see if
+Wulfnoth or Godwine would cruise with me on some other shore, as I
+promised."
+
+Then I asked him what I had better do, for with the sight of his
+face came the longing to be free again.
+
+"Come with me," he said. "I am going to win ransom from a town or
+two against the time when I shall need gold wherewith to win men to
+me in Norway."
+
+I think that I should have done this in the end, though I did not
+like to leave England without striking one more blow for Eadmund,
+and I cannot deny that I thought that Uldra would blame me if I did
+leave our land when she needed every sword that would strike for
+her. I had come to think very much of what the steadfast eyes of
+the brave maiden would tell me as I watched her face.
+
+But that evening came Wulfnoth and Godwine, and they had made a
+plan for themselves which might help me to reach Eadmund when my
+freedom came. They had manors on the Severn, at Berkeley, and the
+earl would go there to save them if possible from plunder. At
+least, that is what he told me and Olaf. Whether he had any other
+deeper plan I cannot say. It seemed afterwards as if that might be
+so.
+
+They brought back some strange news, too, at which both Olaf and I
+wondered. There was a rumour spreading through the country from
+Winchester that Cnut would wed Emma the queen.
+
+"It is not likely," said Olaf. "She is twenty years older than he."
+
+"If any man wants revenge on Cnut, I would counsel him to go and do
+all he can to see that this marriage comes to pass," sneered the
+earl, in his hatred of the Norman lady.
+
+"What says Redwald?" asked Godwine.
+
+"First, that the queen has little choice in the matter," said I;
+"and next, that, between ourselves, I think that she would do much
+to remain a queen in truth, if it must be over Denmark instead of
+England; and lastly, that if Cnut weds her, he keeps the duke, her
+brother, quiet, and maybe brings over more of our people to his
+side."
+
+It was only too plain now that Cnut had a party for him in England,
+and I thought that he tried to strengthen it thus, if the report
+were true. But it seemed hardly possible; so much so, that when I
+turned the question over in speaking with Olaf presently, we
+thought that no man could have invented the story, and that it must
+be true.
+
+Now Olaf and I went to Penhurst on the next day, for though he
+would not stop long in England, he would see and thank these good
+friends of mine for their care of me. And great was the rejoicing
+when he came.
+
+I had told him of Uldra, and presently he bade Ottar, who was with
+us, sing of Leavenheath fight, and so spoke quietly with her,
+sitting a little apart in the shadow of the hall, for he wished to
+tell her also that he owed her thanks.
+
+When the end of the long summer day came, and he must go back to
+the ships--for he would not sleep away from them--I went with him
+in order to see all that I might of him before he left, for I had
+made up my mind to go westward with Godwine, seeing that my promise
+to Egil was to bide in peace with Wulfnoth till the time came when
+I was free.
+
+So as we rode with no other near us, he said:
+
+"What of Hertha, my cousin?"
+
+"I know not," I answered. "I have heard nought, nor shall I now
+till I go back to Bures."
+
+"Shall you hold to your betrothal?"
+
+"Aye; the ladies think that it is my part to do so."
+
+"So you asked them? Is that why fair Sexberga is so dull and
+restless?"
+
+I laughed, for he had heard Ottar jesting about the fair maid at
+Penhurst more than once.
+
+"No," I answered. "She has been crossing her lover, and he is in
+dudgeon for a while--that is all."
+
+"I am glad," he said. "Asked you aught of Uldra?"
+
+"I have not spoken of it to her."
+
+"Is that so?" said Olaf, smiling. "Now she is likely to have more
+than common interest in you, for one reason or another."
+
+Then I said frankly, knowing what he meant:
+
+"And I in her. That is partly the reason why I must go with
+Wulfnoth and Godwine westward. And the rest of the reason is this,
+that I would be near Eadmund. And maybe if I looked to find more
+reason yet it would be to leave Sexberga to work out matters
+without having me to fall back on when Eldred is to be made
+jealous."
+
+Thereat Olaf laughed long.
+
+"You have had an ill time with the womenfolk of late," he said, and
+it was true enough.
+
+"I have," said I, "and I am tired thereof. I shall be glad to be
+where byrnies and swords are more common than kirtles and
+distaffs."
+
+Yet in my mind I knew that I should not leave Uldra with much
+cheerfulness. Such companionship as ours had been, strange and full
+of peril, was a closer bond than even the care of me that had made
+me think twice or more about Sexberga. Thoughts of her came lightly
+in idleness, but when I thought of Uldra, there was comradeship
+that had borne the strain of peril.
+
+Now I knew well what that comradeship might easily ripen into, and
+maybe, because I knew it, what I would not allow had begun. But
+Uldra had never given me any reason to think that this was so with
+her.
+
+Olaf said that maybe I was right, and after that we talked of his
+doings, wondering now when we should meet again, for we were going
+different ways. Our parting was not as it had been before, when we
+knew that sooner or later we should forgather in one place or the
+other.
+
+"I think, my cousin," he said, "that the time will soon come when I
+shall head north again for Norway, and I long for the sign that I
+must go. I am going to sail now towards Jerusalem Land, that I may
+at least try to see the Holy Places before I die. It may be that I
+shall reach that land, and it may be not, but when the sign comes I
+must turn back and go to fight the last fight that shall be between
+Christian and heathen in our country."
+
+So he said to me before his ship sailed with the morning tide. And
+I had no words in which to answer him, for his going seemed to
+leave me friendless again, so much had we been at one together.
+Almost had I taken up that journey to the Holy Land with him, but I
+thought that if it was a good and pious thing to go on that
+pilgrimage for myself, it was even more so to bide for the sake of
+king and country here in the land that should be holy for all of us
+who are English. And when I said that to Olaf, he smiled brightly
+and answered:
+
+"If old Norway called for me, I would say the same. You are right."
+
+Thus we parted, and I watched his sails fade and sink into the rim
+of the southern sea, and then rode back to Relf feeling as if the
+time to come had little brightness for me.
+
+I went slowly, and by the longer way, for I had much to think of,
+and I cared not just yet for the light talk of the happy people in
+the Penhurst hall. And so I came into the way that leads across the
+woodland through Ashburnham and so by the upper hammer ponds to
+Penhurst, and when I was about a mile from the hall I met Uldra
+coming from a side track.
+
+"Why, thane," she said in her bright way, "is aught amiss?"
+
+"I have lost my kinsman, lady," I said, "and I have none other left
+me. Therefore I am sad enough. But these things must be, and the
+shadow of parting will pass presently."
+
+I got off my horse and walked beside her, and I was glad that I had
+met her first of all. She had been to some sick thrall, and was now
+returning.
+
+"Partings are hard," she said, "but one may always hope to meet
+again."
+
+Then I said, speaking my thoughts:
+
+"I must go west into Wessex with the earl's ships, and I have more
+partings to come therefore."
+
+She made no answer at once, and I thought that none was needed; but
+when she spoke again her voice was graver than before.
+
+"You would be near our king if possible by doing so?"
+
+"That is my thought," I answered. "If I wait in this pleasant place
+I may be far from him when the day comes that I should stand at his
+side again."
+
+"You have six weeks--not so much by two days--yet," she said
+thoughtfully. "It is not long. Then you will be fighting once
+more."
+
+"I hope so--and not in vain at last," I answered. "All our land
+longs for peace."
+
+"Aye, and they tell me that you have a search to make," she said,
+looking away across the woodlands that lay down the valley to our
+right. "I fear there will be sorrow if--if you fall."
+
+"Aye, I have a search that has been made hard for me," I said
+somewhat bitterly. "Truly I had not thought of falling; but it is
+in my mind that little grief will be in that quarter if I do so.
+Those who might have ended the search in an hour or two have kept
+their charge more deeply hidden than ever from me."
+
+"Is that the maiden's doing, think you?" she said, hesitating a
+little, for the question was not an easy one for her to put, maybe.
+But it was like her to make excuse for others.
+
+"I cannot tell," said I, "but I think it likely. We were but
+children, and she fears me now."
+
+"That is to be seen," she said; "but I hope that you will find her.
+What shall you do if--if she loves you not now?"
+
+"I would let her go free, surely."
+
+"Even if you found you loved her yet?"
+
+"Aye. I would not hold her bound were she unwilling."
+
+"But if it were the other way--if she would wed you willingly, and
+you--well, were unwilling?"
+
+"I would keep troth," said I; "she should not know it."
+
+She laughed softly and answered:
+
+"You could not hide that from her."
+
+Then I fell silent, for I liked not this subject at any time--still
+less from Uldra. And I think that she saw that I was displeased at
+her questioning, for after a little while she said shyly:
+
+"I think that I have asked you too closely about your affairs.
+Forgive me--women are anxious about such matters."
+
+"It is a trouble to me, lady," I said, hardening my heart lest I
+should say too much; "but I can see no further than the coming
+warfare. When that is ended there will be time for me to think more
+thereof. But, as I have said, I believe that Hertha wishes that she
+were not bound."
+
+Now I had almost said "even as I wish," but I stopped in time.
+
+"Now, whether that is so or not, she should think well of you for
+your faith kept to her," Uldra said, and there was a little shake
+in her voice as of tears close at hand.
+
+Then I knew that if she kept faith with me as I with her--though
+this was in a poor way enough--I must think well of her also.
+Wherefore, being obliged thus to think of one another, it would be
+likely enough that there would be pretence of love on both
+sides--and so things would be bad. Whereupon the puzzle in my mind
+grew more tangled yet, and I waxed savage, being so helpless.
+
+And all the while those two words that came to me as I talked to
+Relf grew plainer, and seemed to ring in my ears unspoken,
+"Landless and luckless--landless and luckless," for that was what
+it all came to.
+
+Then Uldra looked at me and saw the trouble in my face, and took
+what seemed to her to be the only way to help me.
+
+"You cannot think of these matters now, Redwald," she said softly.
+"It is well for a warrior that he has none who is bound to him so
+closely that he must ever think of her. It is well for Hertha that
+she knows not what peril you are in--that she cannot picture you to
+herself--"
+
+She stopped with a sob that she could not check, and stayed her
+walk as if she had tripped. I turned to her, and put out my hand,
+and she leant on my arm with both hers for a moment, hanging her
+head down, and I thought she was faint, for my pace had quickened.
+So I waited till she raised her head again, longing to help her
+more and yet not daring to do so, lest I should give way altogether
+and say all I would. And then I said:
+
+"Let me set you on the horse--you are weary with keeping step with
+me."
+
+She shook her head, but she said nothing, and so I lifted her and
+set her in the saddle, and the colour came back to her face.
+
+"Thanks, thane," she said, "I am very foolish. I have been setting
+myself in your Hertha's place--as if she knew aught of you now.
+Aye, it is better as it is for both of you, as things must be for a
+while."
+
+And I thought to myself:
+
+"Would that you were in Hertha's place;" and then this other
+thought, "She says right--landless and luckless am I, and there is
+none to trouble about me--nor shall there be."
+
+"But I was going to tell you this, if I may," she said, "I will
+pray night and day that things may be well for you and yours in the
+end."
+
+"Aye, pray therefor, Uldra," I answered, and thereafter we said no
+more, for the hall gates were before us, and the dogs came out to
+bid us welcome, and the thralls followed them to see who came. I
+helped her from the horse, and she smiled and went in.
+
+Now, I saw Uldra no more that night, and Sexberga was unfriendly
+with me because Eldred still kept away. So I had my thoughts to
+myself while Relf slept as was his wont after supper, and the lady
+of the house turned her wheel as ever. I think that I would not
+wish any man to have such strange and sad thoughts as mine were at
+that time. There was nought of which I could be sure--save of
+Uldra's friendship, and of that it were better not to think, maybe.
+
+
+
+Chapter 14: The Last Great Battle.
+
+
+Ten days after I spoke thus with Uldra I was at Berkeley with
+Wulfnoth and Godwine. That was in the third week in June, while I
+was on my honour not to fight for a month yet. I had parted from
+Uldra as from a dear friend and no more, though well I knew now
+that she was more than that to me. And there had been a look in her
+face, moreover, that bided with me, making me wretched and yet
+glad, for it told me that her thoughts were as mine. And more than
+that neither of us would show. The tide of war had hold of me, and
+whither it would drift me none could say. Nor did I lose much. I
+had nought to lose as it seemed to me.
+
+As for the rest of those who were such good friends of mine at
+Penhurst, they had wished me hearty God-speeds, bidding me return
+again, and that soon. Eldred of Dallington and Sexberga stood hand
+in hand as I went, vowing that they would not be content till I
+returned for their wedding, for there was no trouble between them
+since the young thane had come in from his place one day as if
+nought had happened, calling me to walk with him when Sexberga had
+feigned to wish for none of his company. After which he had talked
+lightly of going to Wessex with the earl and me; and he had no
+further trouble. I know not what he said presently in private to
+Sexberga, but he was the one who led thereafter, and I think that
+the maiden was the happier that it was so. There are some maids who
+will seem to wish to rule, though they are longing all the while to
+be ruled.
+
+So we came up the Severn river to Berkeley, passing the endless
+lines of Danish ships that lay along the strand below Anst cliffs
+and Oldbury. Cnut's ship guard held the ancient fort in force, men
+said. His men boarded us, but Wulfnoth's name was well known, and
+it was not Cnut's plan to make an enemy of him. So we went on our
+way unhindered, and I bided, chafing sorely, in the great house
+where Wulfnoth lived in no state at all, as if he were but a rich
+franklin--gray clad and rough in ways and talk.
+
+Now it is hard to me to think of what passed so close to me while I
+was helpless. But I saw nought of the battle that was at
+Pen-Selwood, and even as I heard thereof from men who had left the
+levy, the greatest battle of all was being fought within a
+morning's ride of us, at Sherston.
+
+Two days that battle raged, and all men say that Eadmund would
+surely have chased the Danes in the end to their ships, but for a
+trick of Edric Streone's. It was another count in the long score
+against him, and I seemed to see that the words of the witch of
+Senlac were coming true--his shadow was over our king, for ill in
+all things.
+
+The battle was going against Cnut--once Eadmund himself had cut his
+way through the press of Danes before their king, and had almost
+come to hand strokes with him, but had been borne back. And then
+Streone's eyes lit on one Osmer, a warrior of the Danish host,
+standing near him, and he saw that he was like our king. Therefore
+he slew him, and set his head on a spear, and rode forward to where
+the English line pressed most hardly on the Danish ranks. There he
+raised the head aloft, shouting in his great voice:
+
+"Fly, English, fly! Eadmund is dead. Know his head!"
+
+Then for a moment panic seized our folk, and they held their hands,
+and in that pause Ulf the jarl charged among them, and the line was
+broken and flight began.
+
+But Eadmund unhelmed when he heard the cry that he was slain, and
+rode through the ranks, and our men knew him, and cheered, and fell
+on the Danes afresh, and the broken line closed up, and they fought
+till night fell, and in the night the Danes drew off. And in the
+night by twos and threes, and then in companies, Eadmund's levies
+melted away from him, for his men were worn out and sick of
+slaughter, and knew not enough to bid them stay to follow their
+foes and turn retreat into rout, and doubt into victory. The Danes
+were going, they saw and heard; what need to stay longer?
+
+So it came to pass that nothing was wrought by that awful fighting,
+and both sides claimed victory, for our men deemed that they had
+won, and the Danes claimed it because they were not followed, and
+because Ulf the jarl had cut through our line.
+
+It was through this last that I lost Godwine as a companion. For
+Ulf lost himself in the forest that was in the rear of our forces,
+because he followed the flying too far, and the dusk of the evening
+was close at hand. He thought that the victory was surely won, for
+it had ever been that the first sign of flight was followed by rout
+of our men. At least the Danes learnt this at Sherston, that
+Eadmund could hold his own against them.
+
+So Ulf the jarl wandered all night in the wood, and came out of it
+on the hillside where Godwine was speaking to one of his father's
+shepherds. And Godwine brought him, unknowing who he was, back to
+Berkeley.
+
+Then maybe came into Wulfnoth's mind that rede of the witch of
+Senlac, that bade Godwine mind his sheep, and so find his place, or
+else this was part of the plan which had brought him into Wessex.
+For he asked Ulf to take Godwine to Cnut, and find him a place in
+his court, and the jarl did so. It was not until Godwine came to
+the ships that he knew who it was that he had guided, and they won
+him over, and he stayed.
+
+Nor did I know. I spoke with Ulf, asking him of the battle, and of
+Egil, and the like, for he was the earl's guest. And I thought
+nothing of Godwine's guidance of a Dane to the ships, for the earl
+was no foe of Cnut. But when I rose in the morning after Ulf had
+come, and found that he and Godwine had gone in the night, and was
+told by Wulfnoth who the warrior was, and what he had asked for his
+son, I was very angry, though I knew that the earl had little cause
+to love the house of Ethelred.
+
+But the earl said, very quietly:
+
+"There are two kings in England, and no king of England. Choice is
+free to me, and I choose that king who will honour my son, and who
+has done me no wrong. Were you to go to Cnut I would hold you
+blameworthy, seeing how things have been between you and Eadmund.
+Godwine goes to Cnut even as he flies to his ships. No man may say
+that he did but join him when he was victor."
+
+Now, it was not Wulfnoth's way to give reasons thus for aught that
+he did, and I was surprised that he would do so to me. But I could
+look at things in his way if I put my own love for Eadmund aside,
+and I said:
+
+"I may not blame you, lord earl, maybe; but it is hard for me to
+see my friend take what I think the wrong side."
+
+"Think no ill of him. It is my doing," Wulfnoth said. "All his life
+has Godwine been bidden to hate the house of Ethelred of Wessex.
+Now before long this warfare must end. And if your king has the
+victory I pray you speak for Godwine if need is. And if Cnut is
+victor you will need Godwine, maybe, to speak for you. Let this
+matter bide there between us. I would now that I had not let him
+go, for I am lonely."
+
+Then I knew why the fierce old earl unbent to speak thus to me, and
+I spoke only of honour to be gained in the service of so great a
+king as Cnut.
+
+Thereafter the time went very heavily for me. The great Danish
+fleet left the Severn on the day when Godwine would have come to
+them, and then Eadmund must gather another levy, and prepare for
+some fresh landing. And before that was done I was free again, and
+I could join him with a light heart. The earl gave me a good horse
+when I rode away, and parted with me very kindly for Godwine's
+sake, he said, and his own liking for me also.
+
+"I shall look for you at Pevensea yet. Come to me when things go
+ill with you, and you shall be welcome."
+
+I knew not if ever I should see Sussex again. But of this I was
+sure now, that if fortune went with me presently, I would surely
+seek Ailwin and tell him that I must be free, and so would seek
+Uldra, and ask her to share what I might have to give her, if a
+home should be mine again. I had thought much of this brave, quiet
+maiden while I was chafing at doing nought in Wulfnoth's farmstead,
+though I would not have stayed at Penhurst.
+
+Now came a time when the victory was ours, and it seemed that at
+last the strong hand had come. For men would follow Eadmund, and he
+had the power of making them fight as he would. Yet there was
+nothing that would keep our levies together. Had they done so we
+had surely conquered, but it was ever the same. They fought and
+dispersed, and all the work and loss was for nought. I think it
+would have been the same with the Danish host had they been in
+their own country; but here they must needs hold together, and Cnut
+and his jarls wielded that mighty force as a man wields his sword.
+Eadmund smote as a man who fells his enemy with a staff that breaks
+in the smiting, so that he must needs seek another while his fallen
+foe rises again, sword in hand.
+
+But our men were called from home and fireside to fight, and when
+they won and their own fields and houses were safe, they thought
+they had done all, and went home again, at ease, and maybe boasting
+overmuch.
+
+We marched on London and relieved the city, driving the Danes in
+flight to their ships. And Eadmund slept that night among a great
+host; and in the morning the Wessex men were going home, and only
+his own housecarles and the men who followed him from ruined Mercia
+and East Anglia and Kent would bide around him. London could take
+care of herself now. But Eadmund strove to gather them for one more
+blow, and we had a great fight at Brentford, for the Danes had gone
+up river, and we won. Yet the Danes turned on us when the ships
+were reached, and we lost many men in the river, for they scattered
+in their eagerness to plunder the ships that they thought were
+already won, and so, without order or leaders, were driven to their
+death in the swift water.
+
+Then Wessex disbanded, and all the work of gathering our forces
+must be done over again; and at once the Danes closed in round
+London when Eadmund had gone back to Salisbury.
+
+Surely it would have broken the heart of any man but Eadmund the
+Ironside that thus it must be, but he would say:
+
+"England is waking; we shall win yet."
+
+Then Cnut recalled the ships and host from London, and they raised
+the siege, and went into the Orwell, and once again began to march
+across the heart of our land.
+
+This fourth levy that Eadmund the king had made was the best that
+he had had. And word must have come thereof to the Danes, for they
+went back to their fleet; and so waited for a little while,
+thinking doubtless that this levy would melt away in idleness as
+ever. For they came back into the Medway with the booty they had,
+and there we fell on them and drove them headlong to their ships,
+and I surely thought that we had done with Cnut for good and all.
+
+Then fell the shadow of ill on us. Edric Streone and his men met us
+at Aylesford, and he came in to the king and made most humble
+submission to him.
+
+And that was what Olaf had told Eadmund would happen when once
+again he had the victory. Therefore when I saw the earl come into
+the camp to speak with Eadmund I said:
+
+"Mind you what Olaf said. How that you should hang Streone."
+
+"Aye, I mind it. But the man is deserted by his new friends. They
+have gone."
+
+Almost had Eadmund quarrelled with Olaf on that saying.
+
+"Put him in ward, my king, at least," I urged, and Ulfkytel, who
+had come with us from London, prayed him also to do so.
+
+But Eadmund's fate was on him, and he received his foster father
+kindly, and forgave him, and thought that all would be well.
+
+Now with Ulfkytel came my Colchester men, or rather the thirty who
+were left, And those two brothers, Thrand and Guthorm, who had
+ridden to Stamford with me were there also. These two came to me
+that evening when I was alone, and said that they had a plan they
+would carry out if I gave the word. And it was nothing more or less
+than that they would fall on Edric Streone and slay him when and
+where they met him.
+
+I would that they had not asked me, but had wrought the deed on
+their own account. But I said that I could not have this done, for
+it was too much after Streone's own manner of settling things. I
+could not think of letting my men lie in wait for any foe of mine,
+however good cause I had for hating him. And I did hate Streone
+with a hate that I am not ashamed of, not for my own sake, but
+because he was a traitor to both king and country. There were
+Englishmen who fought for Cnut thinking that thus they wrought best
+for England and her peace--as Wulfnoth chose for Godwine--and I had
+no hatred for them. They were honest if they were wrong; but they
+were no traitors. But Edric Streone was as Judas to me.
+
+So Thrand and Guthorm grumbled, and forbore, though they would have
+spent their own lives willingly in this way had I lifted a finger.
+It was, however, in revenge for the Stamford business that they
+would slay the earl, and that was only my quarrel, nothing higher.
+Nevertheless I owed them thanks for their love thus shown to me,
+and so I told them. Little had I done to deserve it; but who shall
+know what wins the love of rough souls like these?
+
+Strange news came with Streone, though I had heard rumours thereof
+before, as I have said. It was true that Cnut was to wed Emma the
+queen; and they had, as it seemed, already been betrothed, at the
+advice of the three great jarls. Now she and the athelings her sons
+were back in Normandy, and one might see what the reason of this
+policy was, Not only was Duke Richard kept quiet, but also Cnut was
+stepfather to Eadward Atheling and his brothers. That meant that if
+Cnut won, they must needs suffer him to take the crown unopposed.
+And more than this, if Cnut must leave England alone presently,
+when Eadmund died he would claim the throne at once, either for
+himself or for one of these athelings as his under-king. For no man
+ever thought twice of Eadmund's brother Edwy, who was weak bodily,
+nor of his half brother, the other Edwy, whom we called "king of
+the churls," by reason of the low birth of his mother, for no
+thanes would follow him had he had the gift of leading.
+
+Cnut's fleet went from the Medway northward, and it was in the
+thoughts of all men that the end had come, and that he sought his
+own land at last. And that seemed the more certain to most because
+Streone had submitted, as if he knew that he had no further hope of
+honour from the Danish king. Presently, however, it was plain that
+his coming over was but part of the deepest plot that he had yet
+made.
+
+Suddenly, even as our levies dispersed in spite of all the king's
+entreaties, came the news that the Danish fleet had turned and was
+in the Crouch river in Essex, whence already the host had begun
+their march inland across Mercia in the old way. And so for the
+fifth time Eadmund strove to gather all England to him, and his
+summons was well obeyed. The thanes and their men gathered in
+haste, savage with hope deferred, and Cnut shrank back again to
+Ashingdon on the Crouch, and there built himself an earthwork on
+the south side of the river, while his ships lay on the further
+shore at Burnham, and in the anchorage, and along the mud below the
+earthworks, seeming countless. And there he waited for us, and
+there we knew that he meant to end the warfare in one great fight
+for mastery, with his ships behind him that he might go if he were
+at last obliged.
+
+And there, too, though we knew it not, he waited for Streone to
+give England into his hands.
+
+We were close on him when his main force fell back upon his
+earthworks, where they stand on the little hill above the river
+banks that men will call "Cnut's dune" {13} henceforward, in
+memory of what he won there. And Ulfkytel and I and the few East
+Anglians that we had were with the advance guard, and drove in the
+pickets that were between us and the hill. And then we knew that
+Cnut meant to stand and fight in the open, and we were glad, for
+out of his intrenchments poured his men, and we sent horsemen back
+to Eadmund to hurry on the main body of our forces.
+
+They were a mile or two behind us, and we waited impatiently,
+watching the Danish host as it neared us, forming into the terrible
+half circle as it came. And I remember all of that waiting, for the
+day began with such hope, and ended so fearfully for us.
+
+One could not have had a better day on which to fight, for there
+was neither sun to dazzle, nor rain to beat in the faces of men who
+needed eyes to guard their lives. But it was a gray day with a
+pleasant wind that blew in from the sea, and the light was
+wonderfully clear and shadowless as before rain, so that one could
+see all things over-plainly, as it were. The rounded top of
+Ashingdon hill seemed to tower higher than its wont, and close at
+hand, beyond the swampy meadows to our left, and I wondered that
+Cnut had not chosen that for his camping ground, though maybe it
+would have been less well placed for reaching the ships, owing to
+some shoaling of water that did not suit them. The tide was nearly
+high now, and all the wide stretch of the Crouch river was alive
+with the ships that brought over men from the Burnham shore, and
+one could see the very wake and the ripple at the bows as they
+came.
+
+And when one looked at the Danes, the chiefs who ordered the host
+were plain to be seen, and the gay colours of banners and cloaks
+and shields were wonderful in the brightness, though at first we
+were nearly half a mile from them as we waited. I thought that we
+were about equal to them in numbers, and I knew that did we but
+fight as at Sherston the day would surely be ours. For when a force
+that is hard pressed knows that safety is close behind them there
+is an ever-present reason for giving way.
+
+"We can drive this host to the ships, lord earl," I said to
+Ulfkytel.
+
+"Aye, surely," he answered. "They know that the ships wait for
+them, and so will give back."
+
+Now came Eadmund, and behind him our men marched steadily, and at
+his side was Edric Streone. He looked at the Danes, and his face
+was bright and confident.
+
+"How shall we fight, lord earl?" he said to Ulfkytel.
+
+"Redwald and I have spoken thereof," the earl answered. "And it
+seems to us that Olaf's viking plan is best. Let us fight in a
+wedge, and drive the point through that circle and break it in
+twain. We of East Anglia will willingly make the point, as we are
+on our own ground."
+
+"It is a good plan, but I have not tried it," said Eadmund; and
+then Streone spoke.
+
+"The old Saxon line is surely good enough," he said. "What need to
+take up with outland plans?"
+
+"It will be good enough if our men fight as at Sherston," Eadmund
+answered.
+
+And all the thanes who were gathering round him cried out that they
+would surely not fail him, and one could not but listen to the
+voice of all the noblest in England who were gathered there, for
+Eadmund had all his best with him. It was indeed a levy of all
+England.
+
+So we were to fight in line, as Eadmund had given us our places on
+the day before, when we neared the battlefield. He himself was in
+the centre with his Wessex men, and Edric Streone and his Mercians
+were with him. There were some of us who had cried out at that, but
+the earl had said proudly that he would make amends for former ill,
+and the council had listened to and believed his words.
+
+Ulfkytel was on the left, and there our line was flanked by the
+marshes that lie between the long slope where we were to fight and
+Ashingdon hill. At least he would have no horsemen upon him from
+the side, and that flank was safe from turning. The right wing was
+given to the Lindsey men under their own ealdorman, and with them
+were the men of the Five Boroughs {14}.
+
+So our line was drawn up, and Eadmund rode out before them and they
+cheered, and then he unhelmed, and Bishop Ednoth of Dorchester,
+clad in his robes over chain mail, and with a heavy mace at his
+saddle bow, rode up beside him, and a monk who was with him brought
+forward and raised aloft a golden cross, and at that sign the host
+knelt, and the bishop shrived them and blessed them before the
+fight, and the sound of the "Amen" they spoke was like a thunder
+roll from end to end of the line. And it reached the ears of the
+Danes who waited for us, and they broke out into their war
+song--the Heysaa--and thereat our men sprang up and shouted thrice,
+and then the sullen silence of the Saxon kin settled down on them,
+for we are not wont to speak much when work is meant.
+
+Silently we crossed the heath between us and the yelling Danes, and
+I rode beside Eadmund in my old place, and my heart was light, and
+sword Foe's Bane rattled in the scabbard as if longing to be let
+loose. And all the while I kept my eyes on Streone, who was riding
+among his Mercians twenty yards away to our right, and presently
+behind him I saw Thrand and Guthorm.
+
+I thought that was ill for Streone, but I could not help it now--we
+were but a hundred yards from the foe. The first arrow flight
+crossed as I saw them, and then Eadmund cried:
+
+"Forward--remember Sherston!"
+
+At that word the front ranks sprang like wolves to meet one
+another--and then came the shock of the meeting lines and the howl
+and cheer of Dane and Englishman--and under the arrow storm the
+spear and axe and sword were at work.
+
+I kept my shield up and covering Eadmund's right side, and watched.
+The time for us to take our part had not come yet. And Eadmund
+looked on his foes to see what chance might be for a charge that
+would break them when arms grew weary.
+
+Many were the brave deeds that I saw done in that little time, as
+the first lines fought man to man. And presently I knew that over
+against us was Cnut the king, for I saw one who was little more
+than a boy, whose helm bore a golden crown. There were several
+chiefs round him also, and one was Ulf. But I saw not Godwine, for
+he would not fight on that day against his own kin.
+
+There, too, was another chief--he was Eirik the jarl, though I knew
+it not then; and he looked ever to our right, as if waiting for
+somewhat. And when I saw that I looked also, but there was nought
+that I could see. Our whole line was fighting well, and this first
+attack had brought no faltering on either side.
+
+Then said Eadmund to me:
+
+"Let us make a dash for my stepfather yonder," pointing to
+Cnut--and even as he said it the brave bishop on his left threw up
+his arms and fell from his horse, smitten in the face with a
+javelin, and Eadmund leapt down to help him.
+
+As he did so I heard a shout raised that he was slain.
+
+Then was a roar from our right like nothing that I had ever
+heard--I pray that none may ever hear the like again--and I turned
+and looked to see what was on hand, and I saw the Mercians going
+backward, and Streone's horse was heading away from the Danes; and
+then the men of the Five Boroughs howled and fell on Dane and
+Mercian alike, cursing and smiting like madmen.
+
+And I saw my two men leap up among the press and smite over the
+heads of those around them at Streone, and they were smitten
+down--they had not touched him.
+
+That was all in a moment, and I called to the king, and he rose up
+and leapt on his horse and looked. And as he did so the Mercians,
+Streone's men, wheeled round and fell on our flank, fighting for
+the Danes, and the Danish line swept the Stamford men from before
+them and joined the Mercians; and I heard a great sob rise in
+Eadmund's throat, and he called to me, and charged among the
+traitor's men to reach him if he might. And the Mercians broke and
+fled before us, and the Danish line unbroken rolled forward and
+swept us into flight, for our men knew not what they could do.
+
+Then I pointed to Ashingdon hill and cried:
+
+"We can rally yonder!"
+
+And Eadmund gainsaid me not, but groaned, and called to his men,
+and we got together and faced round, so that the Danes drew back a
+little, as men will when a boar turns to bay. And we fought to
+reach the Lindsey and Borough men through the Danes, who had filled
+the gap that the flight of the Mercians had made--and won to them.
+There was the greatest slaughter of the Danish host at that time.
+But we could not win to Ulfkytel, for the centre and left wing of
+the Danes lapped us round, and their right drove him back on the
+marshes, away from us.
+
+Then we were pressed back along the higher ground, and we were
+forced into a great ring that the Danes could not break, and ever
+where sign of weakening was Eadmund rode and shouted and smote, and
+the Danes gave back before him. Once or twice I could hold my hand
+as he sat in the midst of our circle watching all that went on, and
+I saw many things in those few moments while sword Foe's Bane
+rested.
+
+The Mercians had not followed us for very shame, but they sat on
+the open hillside in the place where the Danish line had been. I
+think it was not Streone's fault that they were not fighting hand
+to hand with us. I saw him ride to Ulf the jarl, and I saw Ulf turn
+his shoulder on him, and then he sought Rink, and that chief spoke
+but a word to him, so that he tried not to reach Cnut, who never
+looked at him.
+
+Then I saw Ulfkytel's men breaking and taking to the marshes, where
+the Danes cared not to follow them. More than one I could see
+sinking under the weight of arms in the fen slime among the green
+tussocks of grass that he had slipped from, and I saw that the
+flying men made for Ashingdon hill.
+
+Now as we drew back some word went round among the Danish host and
+their onset slackened, and presently they drew off and left us to
+retreat as we would. They could not break our ring, and we were
+coming to broken land where we might have some advantage.
+
+Then Eadmund said:
+
+"We will go to yonder hill and hold it. Then will East Anglia come
+to us, and we can begin again tomorrow, maybe; and if not, we can
+watch the Danes away. All is not lost yet."
+
+So we went to Ashingdon hill, and there formed up. Only the Danish
+horsemen followed us to find out what we did. And we saw the main
+force drawing back towards their earthworks on one wing, while the
+other held the place of battle, and it was not plain at once why
+they thus divided.
+
+We rested for a short half hour on Ashingdon hill, and the men of
+Ulfkytel gathered to us. But the brave earl was slain, and with him
+Abbot Wulsy, and the Mercians had slain the Ealdorman of Lindsey
+when they turned on us, and many more lay in the place where the
+flight began, good men and noble sold to their deaths by the
+traitor.
+
+It was about midday when we won back to the hill, and the battle,
+from the time when we had first met, had lasted but a short time.
+Yet what with slaughter when we broke, and the desertion of the
+Mercians, we were short of a full third of our men now.
+
+Eadmund waxed restless. There was the best half of a long summer
+day before us, and our men were angry and full of longing to fight
+and take revenge. I think there was not one that did not know all
+that might hang on this battle.
+
+"Redwald," the king said, "is there no way by which we might cross
+the river? Then might we fall on the ships at Burnham, and Cnut
+must send his men over ship by ship, and so we might well gain the
+victory."
+
+I looked at the tide, and called for some Essex men who knew the
+place, and one came and told me that in two hours' time we might
+cross at a ford higher up, which they name Hull bridge, though
+there is no bridge there. And when he heard that, at once our king
+set his men in order and cheered them with fresh hopes, and we
+started to march thither.
+
+And at the same time Cnut's ships began to move, and from Burnham
+and from this shore his men were coming up on the tide towards the
+very place where we would cross, and before the ford could be
+passed by us we knew that they would be there in force.
+
+"So," said Eadmund quietly, "they are before us. We will even go
+back to the hill."
+
+We went back, and then I think that we knew the worst. We were
+hemmed in upon it, for the half of the Danish force that had
+remained were barring our way inland, while from the river every
+other man of the Danish host was coming up to attack us from that
+side.
+
+"Now it would seem that some of us will stay on this hill for
+good," said Eadmund; "but if we must lie here till the last day it
+is a place whence one can look out over the English land and sea
+and river for which we have died."
+
+And so he drew us up in the ring again there on the hilltop, which
+was wide enough, and we sat down and waited for the coming of the
+Danes.
+
+"Lord king," I said, "let us make a wedge and cut through the Danes
+inland. So shall we win back to the open country, and we can gather
+men afresh."
+
+He smiled wearily at me, and it seemed to me that at last he had
+given up hope. And but for Streone's treachery that thing would
+never have been. It had broken our king's spirit.
+
+"Friend," he said, "I will die here if I can."
+
+"That shall not be while there is one to give his life for you," I
+answered, and the thanes around us murmured "Aye!" in that stern
+voice that means more than aught of clamour.
+
+Then I saw some Wessex thanes speaking earnestly to one another,
+and presently they beckoned to me, and while Eadmund sat silent on
+his horse I went to them to hear what they would.
+
+"We will get the king off this field if we can," they said. "We
+cannot lose him. If chance is, we will take him against his will.
+Hinder us not."
+
+"That is well," said I. "I will help you, for he is the hope of
+England."
+
+Maybe Ashingdon hilltop is full fifty acres in the more level
+summit, and we could not guard it all; so we waited on that edge
+nearest the Danes, the half circle that faces inland from the
+marshes towards the battle ground we had lost, and to Hockley from
+the river. And presently the Danes began to come up the hill in
+even line, and we watched them drawing nearer in silence.
+
+Then Eadmund bade our bowmen get to work; but the arrows were as
+nought against the long line that did but quicken its advance as
+they felt their sting here and there.
+
+The Danes spread out along the hillside to surround us, and then
+when they had gained the summit they charged on us, and again we
+were hand to hand with them.
+
+I suppose we fought so, without stirring from the place where we
+were, for half an hour. Our circle thinned, but never broke, and
+Dane after Dane fell or drew back to let fresh men come forward,
+and as we might we also sent fresh men from our inner ranks to
+relieve those who had grown weary. It was stern hand-to-hand
+fighting, and one knows how that will ever be--one of two men must
+go down or give way, and our men fell, but give way they would not.
+
+I have said we were on the edge of the hilltop circle, and
+therefore the attack from the steep hill slope was weakest. And so
+it came to pass that presently the line against us there was
+thinned out, because men pressed upwards to the level, and then
+those Wessex thanes saw that we might break through and cut our way
+down the hill and make good our retreat.
+
+Where Eadmund was I followed, and I know that I saved him once or
+twice from spear thrusts that would have slain him when he charged
+among the Danes, where they pressed us most hardly. Wearied was my
+arm, but sword Foe's Bane bit through helm and harness, and once I
+was facing Ulf the jarl, and he cried out to me:
+
+"Well smitten, Wulfnoth's man!"
+
+For he knew me. And I looked for Egil, that I might call him to
+come and win the sword from me, but I could not see him; and a
+foolish fear that some other than he might get the good blade got
+hold of me, for I had no doubt that I must fall, and no fear
+thereof, save that. And why I longed for Egil thus was, I think,
+because of utter weariness and loss of hope.
+
+Then they pushed us as it were over the hill edge, and we began to
+go down, and I knew at once what would come next.
+
+The line of Danes on the hill slope gave way before us and left the
+way clear; and at first we went slowly and in good order, and then
+they charged on us down the hill with crushing weight of numbers.
+
+And so we fled. I saw the Wessex thanes catch Eadmund's bridle, and
+they turned his horse and spoke to him. And he threatened them with
+his sword for a moment; but they were urgent, and at last he fled.
+And I, knowing that if we could keep back the Danes but for a few
+minutes longer he might escape, cried to what chiefs were left to
+us, and we rallied on the hillside for a last stand.
+
+Then my horse reared and fell back on me, and I heard a great
+shout, and the rush of many feet passed over me, and Ashingdon
+fight and aught else was lost in blackness.
+
+
+
+Chapter 15: The Shadow Of Edric Streone.
+
+
+"The man is dead," said a rough voice. "Let him bide."
+
+"He is not," one answered. "He had nought to slay him. Here be
+three flesh wounds only."
+
+Then I began to come to myself, for water was being poured on my
+face, and I opened my eyes and saw Thrand of Colchester looking at
+me. My head was on his knee, and he had a helm full of water in his
+hand. His own head and arm were bandaged, and the man who spoke to
+him was passing on, seeking elsewhere. All that had happened came
+back to me in a moment then, and my ears woke to the sounds round
+me. I knew them only too well, for they were the awesome sounds of
+the time after battle.
+
+"Where is the king?" I said.
+
+"Safe enough, they say," Thrand answered. "Is it well with you,
+master?"
+
+I sat up, and the maze passed from me. I had but been stunned by
+the fall from my horse, and now seemed little the worse, save for
+sickness and dull weight of weariness. I had been an hour or two
+thus, as it would seem, for now the Danish host was gone, and only
+a few men sought for friends on that hillside, as Thrand had sought
+for me. My horse was dead, slain by the spear thrust that made him
+rear. It was that one which Earl Wulfnoth gave me when I left him.
+
+"I shall be myself again directly," I said. "How has it all ended?
+I thought I saw you slain."
+
+"The Danes are chasing our men towards yon village," he said grimly
+pointing towards Hockley. "They will not catch the king, however.
+They smote me badly enough when I tried to be revenged on Streone,
+and they slew Guthorm; but they only stunned me."
+
+"Go hence before Streone catches you," said I.
+
+"Not I," said Thrand. "He knows me not, and I shall wait for
+another chance. The Danes think me a Mercian, and so I bide with
+you. Can you fly now, master?"
+
+I tried to rise, but I was weak and shaken, and sank down again. I
+was not fit for walking even yet.
+
+"I must wait," I said.
+
+"There are stray horses enough down yonder," Thrand said, looking
+over the meadows below us. "I will go and catch one. We must go
+soon, or the Danes will be back."
+
+"No use," said I. "They are between us and safety. I must wait and
+take my chance."
+
+With that I missed the sword that I loved, for I had thought of
+selling my life dearly if the Danes would slay me.
+
+"Where is sword Foe's Bane?" I cried.
+
+Thrand looked round about me, but could see it not. Then he turned
+over one or two of the slain men who lay thickly in the place where
+our last stand was made. But he could not find it, until a wounded
+man of ours asked what he sought. Thrand told him. Then I noted how
+few wounded there were. The sun, nigh to setting now, broke out and
+shone athwart the hillside; and it sparkled like the ice heaps on
+the long banks that a winter's tide has left by the river, for
+everywhere were the mail-clad slain. But the sparkles were steady,
+as on the ice, not as on a host that is marching. Ice cold were
+those who would need mail no more on Ashingdon hill.
+
+"The sword is under the horse," the man said groaning. And it was
+so, and unhurt.
+
+"Get me a sword from off the field," I said, "and hide Foe's Bane
+somewhere. Then, if they slay me, take it to Egil, Jarl Thorkel's
+foster brother; and if not, I can find it again. I will not have it
+taken from me thus."
+
+So Thrand took it and its scabbard and hid both under his cloak,
+and went to where there was a patch of woodland at the foot of the
+hill--ash and alder growing by the marsh side--some two hundred
+yards off.
+
+I closed my eyes and waited till he came back--and he was gone for
+some while. Presently he came, and told me that he had hidden it
+under a fallen tree trunk, and that the place was dry and safe. He
+found me another sword easily enough--and it was notched from point
+to hilt. Its edge was not like that of Foe's Bane, but the man
+whose it had been had done his duty with it. It was an English
+sword.
+
+Now I thought that I could walk again, and stood up and made a step
+or two, painfully enough, in truth, but in such wise that I should
+soon do better. And then over the brow of the hill the Danes began
+to come. They had circled round and I had not noted them, and came
+on us from the other side. They were searching among the slain for
+their comrades.
+
+Half a dozen of them came towards Thrand and me, and I suppose that
+they would have slain me. But my man was ready for them, and took
+the sword from me quickly.
+
+"Will the king suffer us to keep captives?" he said.
+
+"Aye," one answered, in some Jutland speech that was new to me,
+though one could understand it well enough, "there is word that we
+are to take any chiefs alive--but that is a new word to us. Who
+minds it?"
+
+"I do," said Thrand. "Here is one who will pay for freedom, and he
+has yielded to me."
+
+"That is luck for you," they said, and passed on.
+
+There was plunder enough all around, and they were in haste lest
+others should come. Thrand's Anglian speech was Danish enough for
+them.
+
+"Now you are safe, master," Thrand said; "no need for the sword."
+
+"I am a captive," said I bitterly.
+
+Then my eyes sought the ground as Thrand cast the useless blade
+away, and there, crawling on the reddened turf, was a toad that
+feared not the still dead, and must seek its food whether men lived
+or died, unheeding aught but that. And when I saw it, into my mind
+flashed the time when I had stood, weakened and hurt, and looked at
+the like in Penhurst village--and the words that Spray the smith
+spoke came to me, and they cheered me, as a little thing will
+sometimes. And then I thought of her who prayed for me among
+Penhurst woods, and I was glad that life was left me yet.
+
+More Danes kept coming now, and presently one who was in some
+command came to where I sat with Thrand standing over me.
+
+"Is this a captive?" he asked.
+
+"Aye," said Thrand.
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"Some thane or other. What shall I do with him?"
+
+"Cnut wants to see all captives. Take him to the fort whence we
+came."
+
+He passed on, and Thrand said:
+
+"Master, if you can find Egil all may be well, Let us go."
+
+That was all that I could do. Egil or Godwine might befriend me.
+Godwine surely would, but I knew not if his word would go for
+anything.
+
+Aye, but that was an awesome walk across the upland, where the
+flower of England lay dead. I knew not what had befallen us fully
+until I went slowly over Ashingdon hill. All the best blood of
+England was spilt there; and I knew, as we passed the wide ring of
+heaped corpses where our stand had been longest, that the hopes of
+Eadmund had come to nought, and that the shadow of Streone lay
+black across his life.
+
+We came to the further slope of the hill, and were going down, and
+through the tears of rage and grief that filled my eyes I saw a few
+horsemen breasting the slope towards us, and one of them was Edric
+Streone the traitor himself; and when I saw him I felt as a man who
+lights suddenly on a viper, and I shuddered, for the sight of him
+was loathsome to me, and Thrand ground his teeth.
+
+Streone's eyes fell on us, and he turned his horse to meet us. And
+when he knew who I was he glowered at me without speaking, and I
+looked him full in the face once, and then turned my back on him.
+He did not know my man.
+
+"Bind your prisoner," he said sharply to Thrand.
+
+"No need to do that," said Thrand coolly, "he is sorely hurt, and
+has no arms."
+
+Then the other horsemen rode up leisurely.
+
+"Who is this?" said one--and he was Jarl Eirik.
+
+"No one worth having," said Streone, and reined round his horse to
+go on as if caring nought.
+
+They went on up the hill. I suppose that they were going there that
+Edric Streone might say who the slain were. As for us we went our
+way, and Thrand cursed the earl with every step.
+
+We had hardly got away from the hill when men came after us in
+haste, and before I knew that it was myself whom they sought, they
+had pushed Thrand aside and bound my hands.
+
+"What is this?" Thrand asked angrily.
+
+And I said:
+
+"Bind me not. I go to yield myself."
+
+"Earl Edric's orders," said the men. "We are to keep you here till
+he comes."
+
+At that I knew that I had fallen into his hands, and that my life
+was not worth much. I could see that Thrand knew this also.
+
+"That is all very well," I said; "but I am Egil Thorarinsson's
+captive."
+
+Whereat one of the men laughed.
+
+"You may not choose your captor, man. Egil has not been ashore all
+day. He is with the ships yonder."
+
+Then Thrand said, seeming very wroth:
+
+"I will not lose a good captive and ransom for any Mercian
+turncoat. I will go and find the king and make complaint."
+
+"Tell him that you are Egil at the same time," a Dane sneered. "You
+will not hoodwink him as you have this Saxon."
+
+"Is not this man Egil?" I asked, looking at Thrand with a hope that
+he would guess whom I needed.
+
+"He Egil!" they answered, laughing loudly. And at that Thrand
+turned and went away quickly, and I sat down and said:
+
+"What will Earl Edric do with me?"
+
+One said one thing and one another, and I did not listen much. But
+they all thought in the end that Edric's lust for gold would make
+him hold me to heavy ransom. I thought that he loved revenge even
+better than wealth, and this cheered me not at all.
+
+About sunset Edric Streone came. Thrand had, I thought, made his
+escape, most likely, and I was glad. He had helped me all he could.
+
+The earl left the party he was with, and came to me and my guards.
+He looked at me sidewise for a while, and then spoke to me in broad
+Wessex, which the Danes could hardly understand, if at all.
+
+"So, Master Redwald, what will you give for freedom?"
+
+I answered him back in my own Anglian speech, which any Dane knows,
+for it is but the Danish tongue with a difference of turn of voice,
+and words here and there:
+
+"I will give a traitor nothing."
+
+"But I am going to hang you," and he chuckled in his evil way.
+There were many meanings in that laugh of Streone's.
+
+"You can do as you like with me, as it happens," I answered, "but I
+had rather swing at a rope's end as an honest man than sit at
+Cnut's table as Streone the traitor."
+
+He tried to laugh, but it stuck in his throat, and so he turned to
+rage instead.
+
+"Smite him," he said to the Danes.
+
+"Not we," said the spokesman of the half dozen. "Settle your own
+affairs between you."
+
+"Take him to yon tree and hang him, and have done," said Edric.
+
+"Spear me rather," said I in a low voice to the men.
+
+They laughed uneasily, but did not move, and Edric again bade them
+take me to the tree, which was about a hundred paces away.
+
+They took me there and set me under a great bough, and then stood
+looking at me and the earl. They had no rope, and the belts that
+bound me were of no use for a halter. Edric saw what was needed,
+and swore. Then he sent one of the men to the ships to get a line
+of some sort; and I think that his utter hatred of anyone who had
+seen through his plans made him spare me from spear or sword, for
+there is no disgrace in death by steel. But at this time there
+seemed no disgrace in the death he meant me to die, for it was
+shame to him, not to me.
+
+The ships were not so far off. It was not long before three or four
+men came through the gathering dusk, and one had a coil of rope
+over his shoulder. And after them came across the hillside a
+horseman, beside whom ran a man on foot. There were many men about,
+and these were too far for me to heed them. I only noticed that
+which should end my life.
+
+"Set to work quickly," said Streone.
+
+So they flung the end of the line over the bough, sailorwise, and
+made a running bowline in the part that came down. There is torture
+in that way, and some of the men grumbled thereat, being less hard
+hearted. So they began to argue about the matter, and Streone
+watched my face, for this was pleasure to him, as it seemed, though
+he did not look straight at me. I wished they would hasten, that
+was all.
+
+Now the horseman and his follower came up, and lo! Egil was the
+rider, and with him was Thrand.
+
+"Ho!" cried Egil, "hold hard. That is my man."
+
+Streone turned on him with a snarl.
+
+"Your man!" he said. "I took him. Hold your peace."
+
+"There you lie," quoth Thrand. "I took him myself for Egil, my
+master--as your own men know. I told them."
+
+"He did so," the Danes said, for they loved Egil, and Streone was a
+stranger of no great reputation, though high in rank.
+
+"Set him loose," said Egil. "I will have no man interfere with my
+captives."
+
+Then Streone hid his anger, and took Egil aside while the Danes and
+Thrand set me free. Presently Egil broke out into a great laugh.
+
+"Want you to hang him for slaying men of yours!" he cried. "Why, he
+might hang you for the same. How many of his men did you slay this
+morning?"
+
+"That was in fight--he killed the others in time of peace."
+
+"Better not say much of that fight," said Egil. "There was a peace
+breaking there."
+
+Streone turned pale at that, for he saw that the Danes did not hold
+his ways in honour though they had profited by them.
+
+"Well, then, take him. Little gain will he be to you, for he is
+landless and ruined," he sneered, chuckling.
+
+"Well," said Egil, "he is a close friend of Earl Wulfnoth's, and
+maybe it is just as well that you hung him not. Cnut would hardly
+have thanked you for setting that man against him, and maybe
+bringing Olaf the Norseman down on him also."
+
+Streone had thought not of those things. He turned ashy pale at the
+picture Egil had drawn of loss of Cnut's favour. He looked once or
+twice towards me as if he were trying to frame some excuse, but
+none would come.
+
+"I knew it not," he said, falsely enough. "I am glad you came."
+
+Egil only laughed, and with that Streone rode away quickly, and
+never looked back as he went.
+
+Thereafter Egil took me down to the ships, and he sent Thrand for
+sword Foe's Bane when the night had fallen. Most kindly did the
+Dane treat me, but I cared for little. I could not move for
+stiffness and bruising after I had slept for twelve hours on end,
+but that was nought compared with the sorrow for what had befallen
+us.
+
+Two days after this the Danish host followed in the track of
+Eadmund and his flying levies: but Egil stayed in command of the
+ships, and I with him. I had not seen Cnut, but Egil had spoken of
+me to him.
+
+"I have heard of Redwald of Bures before," the king had said. "What
+know I of him? I think it is somewhat good."
+
+"He nearly got Emma the queen out of England," Egil had answered.
+"I know not if you call that a good deed, lord king."
+
+"That is it. She spoke to me for him, asking me to treat him well
+if he fell into my hands, because of his faithful service and
+long-suffering patience on the journey."
+
+Then he asked what he could do, but Egil answered that I would bide
+with him at this time, and hereafter he would mind the king of me
+again.
+
+"Do so," said Cnut. "He must be a friend of mine."
+
+I could not but think well of the young king for this, but it
+seemed unlikely that friendly towards him I should ever be.
+Nevertheless, the words of the witch of Senlac were coming true.
+
+Then we, safe in the shelter of the river, waited for news: the two
+kings being in Wessex. But I could not think it likely that Cnut
+would give time for a fresh gathering of Wessex men to Eadmund.
+
+Nor did he. All men know how the two kings met at Olney in the
+Severn, and how peace was made, after Eadmund had said that he
+would rather fight out the matter hand to hand to the death. Few of
+us knew then how little able Cnut was to fight the mighty Ironside,
+but we thought him strong in body as in name. Else had that plan
+never been thought of.
+
+They say that Edric Streone advised Cnut to take the old Danelagh
+and Northumbria and leave Eadmund the rest of the kingdom, the
+survivor to succeed to all the land. Maybe he did. If so, it was
+that he might earn more from Cnut by giving him all the land. But
+it is certain that thus Cnut wrought best for himself, for the
+Danelagh received him gladly, while Wessex loved Eadmund. And when
+Eadmund should die, Wessex would take Cnut for king at Eadmund's
+word, as it were, by reason of the treaty made and oaths given and
+received. Not for nothing do men call the King Cnut the Wise, for
+it is certain that he had Eadmund in his power, and forbore to use
+his advantage to the full.
+
+So the long struggle ended, and at last there was rest to the land.
+But I, who had hoped for victory, felt as though life had little
+pleasure left when first this news came to me. But in a few days
+came one of Godwine's men bearing messages to me from him, and also
+from Eadmund my king.
+
+The first were most kindly, speaking of hope of seeing me ere long,
+and the like; but it seemed that the young earl had promised
+Eadmund to send me the letter which the messenger brought, and that
+that was the most important business. I took the letter ashore and
+went to Ashingdon hill and sat there among the graves of the slain
+and read it, while the summer sun and wind and sky were over me,
+while the land and sea seemed at rest, and all was in a great peace
+after the strife that I had seen in that place.
+
+To my Thane, greeting.--What has befallen us, and how we have
+divided the kingdom with our brother Cnut in the old way of the
+days of Alfred the greatest of our line, you will have heard. We
+have fought, and all men say that we have fought well; but this is
+how things have been ordered by the Lord of Hosts. Therefore, my
+thane, for your sake, and seeing specially that already our brother
+Cnut is well disposed toward you, as Godwine son of Wulfnoth tells
+us, by reason of your service to Emma the queen--I would bid you
+accept him as ruler of East Anglia, where your place is. And you
+shall hold this letter in proof that thus our word to you is, if in
+days to come the line of Wessex kings shell hold the kingdom once
+more. Few have been those who have been faithful to us as have you.
+
+Now, I will set down no more, for Eadmund my king wrote to me as he
+was wont to speak in the days that were gone, and I wept as I read
+his words--wept bitterly there on Ashingdon hill, and I am not
+ashamed thereof.
+
+And when I had spelt out to the end of his letter there were words
+also that were pleasant to me. For they were written by Elfric the
+abbot, my friend, thus:
+
+Written by the hand of Elfric, Abbot of St. Peter's Minster at
+Medehamstede.
+
+I, Elfric, bid you, my son Redwald, be of cheer, for in the end all
+shall be for the best. Bide in your home of Bures if Cnut wills, as
+I think shall be, and see to the good of your own people as would
+your father who has gone. There is an end of war for England. It
+remains for us to make for the things of peace.
+
+Then I sat and thought for long, and at last it seemed to me that I
+could do nought but as both king and friend would bid me, and the
+words that Elfric had written weighed more with me than those of
+the king. Now that I could fight no more I began to long to get
+back to that home life in the old place that had seemed so near to
+me and had been taken away.
+
+And then came the thought of Uldra, and of what she would say of
+this. But as things were, and with this letter before me, I could
+not doubt what her word would be. She would speak as Elfric wrote.
+Then I longed for Olaf and his counsel. But he was far beyond my
+reach, nor could I tell where he might be. He had gone across the
+gray rim of the sea, and no track was there for me to follow.
+
+The evening fell, and still I sat there, and Thrand of Colchester
+came to seek me--I know not what he feared for me if I grew lonely
+on Ashingdon hill now that all seemed lost.
+
+"Master, come back to the ships," he said. "It is ill biding here
+after sunset. The slain are unquiet by reason of Streone's deeds."
+
+"They will not harm me, Thrand," I answered. "I would I lay here
+with them even now . . . but that is past."
+
+I rose up and went down the hill with him, and the sun set behind
+it, and it was gray and black against the red evening sky. There
+was a mist from the river, and one might think that one saw many
+things moving therein.
+
+And I know not that I saw anything more than mortal--though maybe I
+did--until as we went to Cnut's dune, under which Egil's ship lay,
+and we passed that place where the left wing of our line had been
+driven back on the marsh. Then I saw an armed man coming towards
+us, and Thrand, who walked at my shoulder, closed up to me, for the
+warrior had a drawn sword in his hand.
+
+And when we came face to face I knew that I looked once more on
+Ulfkytel our earl, and a great fear fell on me, for he lay with his
+men in the mound where he fell, and Egil and I had raised it over
+him. Then I must speak.
+
+"Greeting to the earl," I said, and my voice sounded strange.
+
+But he made no answer, save that he looked me in the face and
+smiled at me gravely and sweetly, and sheathed the sword he held,
+folding his arms thereafter as one whose work is done. And while
+one might count a score, I saw him, plainly as in life, and then he
+was gone.
+
+Wherefore I thought that our own earl was not wroth with me for
+what I would do; and after that my mind was at rest, and ready to
+take what peace might come to me at the hands of Cnut the king.
+
+"We have seen the earl," Thrand said, when he was gone.
+
+"Aye. He tells us that the war is at an end, and that, in truth,
+Cnut is king in East Anglia."
+
+"It is well," Thrand answered simply. "Dane were my fathers, and
+Danish is my name and that of Guthorm my brother. If Cnut lets us
+keep our old customs and governs with justice, it is all we need."
+
+There was spoken the word of all Anglia, whether of the north or
+south folk, and I knew it. No man would but hail him there
+willingly. Our people had never forgotten that the Wessex kings
+were far from them, and that little help came from thence.
+
+Now, when I came to Egil, I told him that the letter I had gotten
+bore messages to me from Eadmund, and I read it to him so far as I
+have written here.
+
+"This is good," he answered, when I said that it should be as the
+king said. "Now are you Cnut's man and my friend indeed. Thorkel,
+my foster brother, is to be Earl of East Anglia, and you shall be
+Thane of Bures as ever. And I shall have to mind Colchester and
+this shore, and we shall see much of each other."
+
+So he rejoiced, and I grew more cheerful as the days went on. Then
+Thorkel came, and together we went to Colchester, and thence he
+bade me go to Bures in peace and take my old place, for he said
+that Cnut and Emma the queen would have me honoured in all that I
+would, even did he himself not wish to keep me as his own friend.
+
+Then said I:
+
+"What of Geirmund, your own man, who had Bures?"
+
+Egil laughed.
+
+"Geirmund is the man over whom I fell at your feet at Leavenheath
+fight. You yourself have made an end of him. I wonder that you knew
+it not."
+
+So I went back to Bures, and there is no need to say how my poor
+folk rejoiced. But Ailwin was not there, nor had Gunnhild been
+seen. The young priest was there yet, and well loved.
+
+Then I said to myself:
+
+"Let things bide for a while. When peace comes altogether and
+certainly, then will Ailwin bring back Hertha, and there will be
+trouble enough then, maybe. As it is, my house must be rebuilt, and
+the land has to settle down after war."
+
+With that I set to work to gather the timber together from my own
+woods, that we might begin to build in the coming springtime, and I
+grew happy enough at that work, though I would that I worked for
+Uldra.
+
+Then came the news that Eadmund our king was dead, slain by
+Streone's men--some say by the Earl's son, others by the king's own
+men, whom he bribed. One will, I suppose, never know what hands did
+the deed, but Streone's doing it was when all is told.
+
+There is more in my mind about this than I will say. But Thrand,
+who had been with me, begged that he might go to Colchester for a
+while; and I let him go, for he waxed restless, though I knew not
+what he would leave me for.
+
+Then the kingdom was Cnut's, and he spoke to the Wessex nobles at a
+great council in London in such wise that they hailed him for king.
+There was naught else for them to do. And he promised to keep the
+laws of Eadgar {15}, and to defend Holy Church, and to make no
+difference between Dane and Saxon, and by that time men knew that
+what Cnut the king promised that he would perform.
+
+So came the strong hand that Ethelred our dying king had foretold,
+and sure and lasting peace lay fair before England. Above all
+things that made for our content Cnut promised to send home his
+host. Nor was it long before Jarl Eirik sailed away with all but
+those to whom lands had fallen. There were many manors whose
+English lords had died, and they must own Danish masters.
+
+And I will say this other word, that now at the time that I write
+of these things, men speak of English only, for Cnut has welded the
+races of England into one in such wise as has never been before.
+
+So I mourned for Eadmund, and wrought at home-making until the
+springtime came, and all the while the thought of Uldra grew dearer
+to me, and I longed to seek her again. And the thought of Hertha
+and my betrothal seemed as bondage to me. Yet I would do nought
+till Ailwin came or till I could find him. But none knew where he
+was.
+
+I knew now that it was well that Hertha and I should not meet till
+all was broken off, for her I could not love, and she knew nought
+of me. Yet for her sake I set the Wormingford thralls at work in
+the like manner as my own people were busied, that she might find
+withal to build her own house place afresh, when, if ever, she
+should return.
+
+Now, one day as I stood watching the shaping of the timber for the
+first framing of my hall, Thrand came back. He ran to me when he
+saw me, and cried:
+
+"Master all is avenged! Streone the traitor is no more."
+
+I took him away to a quiet place, for this news was strange, and
+the thralls were listening wonderingly, and I asked him how this
+came about.
+
+"Master, I slew him myself," he said grimly.
+
+Then said I:
+
+"By subtlety--after his own manner?"
+
+"Not so, master. But even in Cnut's own presence."
+
+So I was amazed, and bade him tell all.
+
+"When I left you, master," he said, "I took service with Jarl
+Thorkel. Then he went to court in London, even as I hoped, for that
+was all I needed, and presently came Streone with a great train to
+see Cnut. Now the king is not a great and strong man, as men think
+who have not seen him, but is tall and overgrown for his years,
+looking eighteen or twenty, though he is younger. He will be a
+powerful man some day, but his mail hangs loosely on him now. He is
+like an eagle in face, for his nose is high and bent, and his eyes
+are clear and piercing. Quiet and very pleasant is he in his way,
+and being so young also, some think they can do as they will with
+him. But that they try not twice.
+
+"This is what Streone thought, for he deemed that he should be the
+king's master if he set him on the throne. So he must needs try to
+gain more wealth from the king, and after he had been at court for
+a while, one might see that Cnut grew weary of his words. But at
+last there was a great feast, and I stood behind Thorkel at the
+high place, and Streone was next to Thorkel, and Thorkel to the
+king on his right hand. When the ale was going round, Streone began
+to find fault with some ordering of Cnut's, and at last said:
+
+"Maybe one might judge how things would go when the man who gave
+you this kingdom is treated thus.'
+
+"Then Cnut looked at him very quietly and said:
+
+"'You have the same honours from me as from Ethelred.'
+
+"'Not so, not so,' he said. 'I was wont to sit at the king's right
+hand, with none between me and him.'
+
+"Thereat Thorkel would have spoken, but Cnut held up his hand. I
+saw his bright eyes shining, and Streone should have taken warning,
+but his fate was on him.
+
+"'You think, then, that you have not all you deserve?' the king
+said.
+
+"'I have not. You have all--owing to me.'
+
+"Then Cnut rose up and faced him, and a great hush fell on all the
+assembly.
+
+"'This earl, as it seems, will be content with nothing short of the
+king's seat. Two kings has he pulled down, and one has he slain of
+those two. We have profited by this, as all men know. But here do I
+proclaim myself clear from all part in the slaying of Eadmund my
+brother, who, but for this man, might hereafter have taken all the
+kingdom when I died, according to our oaths. I suppose that no man
+will believe that I had nought to do with this murder, but I am
+clear thereof, both in thought or wish or deed.
+
+"'Now in gaining the kingdom which has been the right of the Danish
+kings--if tribute paid for conquest in old time means aught--at
+least since the days of Guthrum, if not before, I have used the
+help of this earl, for Mercia was ours by right, as in the
+Danelagh. I will not say that his way of helping me has been what
+one would wish, but in war one uses what weapons one can find. For
+his help to me the Earl of Mercia has been well paid. Now, what
+shall be given to the man who betrayed to death the foster son who
+believed in him as in himself?'
+
+"Then I, Thrand the freeman of Colchester, nowise caring what
+befell me, answered in a loud voice:
+
+"'Let him die. He is not fit to live.'
+
+"'Slay him, therefore,' said Cnut.
+
+"Thereat Streone cried for mercy once, grovelling. And he having
+done so, I lifted the axe I bore and slew him, even on the high
+place at the king's feet.
+
+"Then one in the hall said in a great voice:
+
+"'Justice is from the hands of Cnut the king.'
+
+"There went round a murmur of assent to that, and I called to me
+another of Thorkel's men, a Colchester man of your guard also, and
+while all held their peace and Cnut stood still looking at what was
+done, stirring neither hand nor foot, but with his eyes burning
+bright with rage and his head a little forward, as an eagle that
+will strike, we two bore the traitor's body to the window that
+overhangs the Thames, and cast it thereout into the swift tide.
+
+"After that I went my way down the hall, and the king cried:
+
+"'Let the man go forth.'
+
+"So that none spoke to me or withstood me.
+
+"When I got to the street it was dark, and it seemed to me that the
+best thing that I could do was to fly. So I went by day and night,
+and I am here."
+
+So that was the traitor's end. And I was glad, for I knew that
+England was free from her greatest foe. Justly was Edric Streone
+slain, and all men held that it was well done. Nor did any man ever
+seek Thrand to avenge the earl's death on his slayer. I think none
+held him worth avenging.
+
+I bade Thrand hold his peace concerning his part in this matter,
+for a while at least, lest I should lose him.
+
+After Streone's death it was plain that Cnut was king indeed, for
+his Danish jarls knew him too well to despise him. They went each
+to his place, and the land began to smile again with the peace that
+had come, and Cnut sent Eirik the jarl home to Denmark with the
+host, as I have said.
+
+
+
+Chapter 16: By Wormingford Mere.
+
+
+Now it was not long after Streone's death that I had a message from
+Emma the queen to bid me to her wedding with Cnut, that should be
+completed with all magnificence. And I went with Thorkel the jarl
+and Egil, and I could not complain of the welcome I had both from
+the queen and from Cnut. I might say much of that wedding, for it
+was wonderful, but I cared not much for it, except that there I met
+Elfric the abbot again, and he would have me stay in his house, so
+that it was most pleasant to be with him, and away from the bustle
+and mirth of the strangers who were with the king.
+
+But for this wedding Eadward Atheling would not come from Normandy.
+Men said that he was likely to gather forces against his new
+stepfather, but that it would be of no use. So thought I, for it
+was a true word that I had heard at Senlac in the hut on Caldbec
+hill--that Cnut should have the goodwill of all men, even of
+myself. For so it was, as one might see written in the faces of the
+London burghers, who alone of all England had baffled him again and
+again, and now could not do enough honour to him. He had won even
+their love.
+
+When I would go back to Bures, Emma the queen sent for me, hearing
+that I would speak with her ere I went, and she received me most
+kindly, coming down from her high place to greet me.
+
+"Redwald," she said, laughing a little, "I was a sore burden to you
+when we fled hence."
+
+"My queen," I answered, "the danger was the burden. It weighed on
+all of us."
+
+"That is a court speech," she said; "but we taught you court ways,
+and I will not blame it. Nevertheless, though you will not tell me
+so plainly, I know that I made things worse for you by my
+foolishness. Forgive the abbess, if the queen may expect nought but
+smooth words."
+
+"I do not know how I can answer you, Queen Emma," said I at that,
+"but it is true that for you I would go through the same again."
+
+"Then I am forgiven," she said. "Now tell me what became of the
+brave maiden who withstood the Danes with you, and also my sharp
+tongue--trouble sharpened it, Redwald, and I have repented my hard
+words to her."
+
+"She is with friends at Penhurst, near to Earl Wulfnoth's castle of
+Pevensea. And she feared that you would hate her."
+
+"I would that I could reward her rather," the queen said. "Have you
+seen her of late?"
+
+"Not since just before last midsummer," I answered; and I suppose
+my face showed some feeling that the queen noted.
+
+"Redwald," she said, "if you would wed this maiden it is I who
+would give her a portion that should be worthy of her and of you.
+Can it be so?"
+
+"My queen," I said with a great hope in my heart, "if that is your
+will, I think that it must be so. But in honesty I will tell you
+that an old betrothal that was when I was a child seems to stand in
+the way. But neither I nor the child to whom I was betrothed have
+seen one another since the coming of Swein's host. And I know not
+where she is."
+
+"Ah! you would have it broken, and I wonder not. That can surely
+be."
+
+Then all at once came over me one thought of how Hertha had
+perhaps, after all, longed and waited and prayed for my coming. I
+remembered words that Ailwin had spoken that seemed to say that
+this might be so; and thus on the very threshold of freedom I
+shrank back lest I should wrong the child I had loved by breaking
+my troth so solemnly plighted; and I knew not what to say, while
+the queen looked at me wondering.
+
+Then she smiled and said:
+
+"Maybe you cannot love the maiden. Wait awhile, and let me hear of
+you again. One may not, in kindness, force these matters. But I
+will trust you to tell me if she is to wed any other than you--for
+her portion shall be ready for her. The riches of England and
+Denmark and Norway are mine."
+
+There spoke Emma of Normandy again, and her proud look came back.
+The maidens on the dais were smiling at one another, for the queen
+was turned away from them.
+
+"Let it be thus, my queen," I said, after I had thanked her.
+
+And she said that it should be so, deeming that I had thought of
+Uldra not at all, maybe.
+
+Then she spoke of my own doings, and Cnut came as we did so. I
+bowed to him, and he took my hand, calling me "thane" in all good
+faith.
+
+"Now I have to come ere long into your country," he said, "for I
+have vowed to build a church in each place where I have fought and
+conquered. Have you a house where I may stay?"
+
+"My place is far from Ashingdon, lord king," I answered, "and I am
+rebuilding my father's house as best I can."
+
+"I suppose my men burnt it?" he said plainly.
+
+"Your father's men did so in the first coming."
+
+"Therefore shall his son rebuild for your father's son," said the
+king. "Will you accept aught from me?"
+
+"Lord king," said I, "I have fought against you, and have owned you
+unwillingly at first."
+
+"That is certain," he said laughing, "else had you not tried to
+take away my queen. Go to, Redwald, you are a troublesome subject."
+
+"I think I shall be so no longer," I answered.
+
+So those two most royal ones bade me farewell, and I went away to
+Elfric, and found Godwine there. The young earl was high in favour
+with Cnut, and rightly.
+
+Presently came one from the king with somewhat for me, and that was
+a goodly gift of money, which I hardly cared to take at first.
+
+Then Godwine laughed at me.
+
+"We have a great chest half full of gold at Pevensea out of which
+you may take a double handful whenever you need it. Cnut has the
+gold of three kingdoms and says you may do the same out of his
+hoards. Head breaking brought you the first, and hardship the
+second. Take one as you would the other, man. It is your due."
+
+And Elfric added that the king's gift was surely out of goodness of
+heart. There could be no thought of bribes now. So I took it, and
+was glad thereof, for I could not ask my people for rents and dues
+yet.
+
+Elfric asked me of Uldra, as one might suppose, and was glad when
+he heard of her welfare.
+
+"I suppose that when I get back to Medehamstede her folk will want
+to know how she fares in Normandy, or the like. Maybe they have
+troubled the good abbess already more than enough, for she brought
+her to me."
+
+"Whose daughter was she?" I asked.
+
+"Maybe I heard, but I have forgotten," he said. "The abbess knows.
+I saw not her folk, for the sisters brought her with them with my
+consent."
+
+So I went back to Bures well content with all but one thing, and
+that was what troubled me more than enough. But I knew not that to
+my dying day I shall rejoice that I kept my troth to Hertha.
+
+It was on one of those wondrous days that come in October, with
+glory of sunshine and clear sky over gold and crimson of forest and
+copse, that I learnt this.
+
+I would go to Wormingford now and then to see that all was going
+well with the rebuilding of Hertha's home, for Cnut's gift was
+enough for that also, seeing that all one needed was at hand and
+did but require setting up by skilled workers. Our priest, Father
+Oswin, found me such craftsmen as I needed.
+
+"Let me rebuild the church first, father," I had said to him when I
+returned thus rich.
+
+"Not so, my son. That is a matter which must be taken in hand
+presently, and not hurriedly. Shelter first the man who shall do
+it, and provide for the fatherless at Wormingford, and it will be
+better done after all."
+
+Therefore I was very busy. And on this day of which I speak I
+walked in the late afternoon, and must needs turn aside into the
+woods by the mere, for I had often done that of late, loving the
+place for old memories the more now that Olaf came into them. It
+seemed to me that I had never seen the still mere look more
+wondrously beautiful than on this day, for we had had neither wind
+nor rain to mar the autumn beauty of the trees, and that was
+doubled by the mirror of the water.
+
+So I lingered in that place where Olaf and I had been so nearly
+slain, thinking of that night and of many other days, and then I
+heard a footstep coming through the wood, and turned to see who it
+might be, for I had never met any other in the haunted place.
+
+And there came towards me slowly a white-robed maiden who looked
+steadfastly at me, saying nought. And I thought that surely she was
+the White Lady of the Mere. The shadows flickered across her face
+and dress, and in her hand she bore a basket with crimson leaves
+and the like.
+
+And then I saw that surely this was Hertha coming to meet me as in
+the old days when I had waited for her here--Hertha grown older,
+and changed; but yet as I saw her here in the old place one could
+not but know her, and half I cried out her name, and then stayed
+with my heart beating fast.
+
+For as she came into the clearing and was close to me she held out
+her hands, and the basket fell at her feet, and lo! it was Uldra,
+whom I loved--and Uldra was Hertha--and I had in my arms all that I
+longed for, and my trouble was gone for evermore.
+
+"How was it that you knew me not before this?" she asked presently,
+while we walked together to Wormingford to find Ailwin. They had
+but come back that morning.
+
+"Always have I seemed to know you well," I said, "but first the
+sisters' dress, and then that I looked not for Hertha in London,
+prevented me. And so I grew to know your looks and ways as Uldra,
+whom I grew to love. Then all thought of the old likeness that
+puzzled me at first was forgotten. There is no wonder in it, for
+you have grown from childhood to womanhood since we fled from
+Bures, and I have gone through much that blotted your face from my
+mind. Rather do I wonder where you have been all this time."
+
+"One secret I may not tell you today," she said; "and that is where
+our safest hiding place has been in sorest peril. Some day I will
+show it you, for it is not far. But for long did Gunnhild and I
+dwell with her brother in the forest and marsh fastnesses beyond
+the Colne. There one might take to the woods when prowling Danes
+were near, though it was but twice, and but for a few hours then,
+that we had to do so. There was little or no danger there when the
+host passed on. Some day shall you and I ride to that quiet
+farmstead, for I love the kindly folk who cared for me so well."
+
+Then I said, and my words came to pass afterwards:
+
+"If they will, they shall have my best farm here for their own,
+that they may be near you. Now tell me how you came to be with
+Elfric."
+
+She blushed a little, and laughed.
+
+"When we were at Penhurst," she said, "you told me how you were
+seeking me--well, maybe I was seeking you. It fell out thus. When
+you and Olaf, whom I long to see, scattered the Danes here,
+Gunnhild said that we must fly, for they were seeking hiding
+places. So she would go to her sister, who is abbess at Ramsey, by
+the great mere of Whittlesea. So we fled there, and the journey was
+overmuch for her, and there she died after two days. That was a
+sore grief to me, but I will not speak of grief now. Then Ailwin
+told the abbess to keep me with her until all things were safe,
+when he would return for me. But Gunnhild had asked her to find me
+a place with the Lady Algitha, Eadmund Atheling's wife, because I
+should meet you in his house often enough. That she could do, and
+would have done.
+
+"Then the Danes came, and one day Elfric sent word that he was
+going to Normandy. Those two sisters would go home, and so the
+abbess sent me with them, thinking that thus her sister's plan for
+me would be best carried out. For she was told by Elfric that you
+were in charge of the party, saying the sisters would be safe in
+your care. Elfric might get me a place in the queen's new
+household; and if not--if you knew me not nor cared for me--there
+was always the convent."
+
+"So all that plan came out thus--and it is well," I said. "But why
+would you not come to Penhurst at first?"
+
+She laughed lightly, answering:
+
+"Can you not guess? Relf saw, and set things right. Did he never
+tell you what was wrong?"
+
+"He said that it was want of travelling gear," said I.
+
+"Why, that was not it, though being thoughtful and fatherly he
+asked of that first."
+
+"Tell me what was the trouble, then."
+
+"I thought--there were things said, and you called me by her
+name--that the wedding Relf spoke of was yours and Sexberga's. That
+was all."
+
+"Surely Relf knew not who you were?"
+
+"No. He did not till Ailwin came to Penhurst."
+
+"Then," said I, "it passes me to know how he found out what the
+trouble was."
+
+"Because he has a daughter of his own," she laughed.
+
+And so she began to speak of Sexberga's wedding, which had been not
+long since.
+
+Then we came to Wormingford, and there was Ailwin, bent and aged
+indeed by the troubles, but well, and rejoiced to see me once more,
+and that I and Hertha were so happily together. But I had to ask
+his pardon for my roughness to him before I could feel content.
+
+"My son, had you not felt this matter very deeply, I know you would
+not have troubled yourself even to wrath about it. Truly I was glad
+to hear you speak so. There is nought to forgive."
+
+So he said, and maybe he was right.
+
+I rode back presently to Bures with my heart full of joy, and a
+wondrous content. And when I came to the house on the green I was
+to learn that joys come not always singly any more than sorrows,
+which are ever doubled.
+
+The door stood open as I rode up, and in the red light from within
+the house stood two tall figures on the threshold, and the light
+flashed from helms and mail as they moved, and for a moment a fear
+came over me that some new call to arms waited me, so that the
+peace that I thought I had at last found was to be snatched from
+me. For it was as in the days when Olaf's men stood on guard over
+us at the doorway.
+
+More like those days it was yet to be, for as I reined up a voice
+cried:
+
+"Ho, cousin what of the White Lady?"
+
+And Olaf himself came and greeted me as I leapt from the saddle,
+holding my shoulders and looking at me as he took me into the light
+to scan my face. The other warrior was Ottar the scald, my friend,
+and now I had all that I could wish.
+
+We sat together in the old places, and he said presently:
+
+"You seem contented enough with Cnut, to judge by your face, my
+cousin."
+
+"I had forgotten him. I am content with all things," I answered.
+
+"How came you here?"
+
+"Nay, but you shall tell me of yourself first," he said. "Then I
+may have somewhat to say of my doings."
+
+So I told him all.
+
+"Why then, you must be wedded betimes," he said; "for I must see
+that wedding, though I would not have Cnut catch me. The ships are
+in Colchester river, and but for Egil I had never got there even."
+
+Then I heard how he had been southward, and what deeds he had done;
+and it was Ottar who told me that, for Olaf had nought to say of
+himself. But presently when it came to the time when he turned his
+ships homeward, Olaf took up the story.
+
+"When I was minded to go on from this place, in Carl's water as
+they call it, even to Jerusalem and the holy places, I had the sign
+that I looked for--the sign that I should go back to Norway. I
+slept, and in my sleep there came to me a man, very noble looking
+and handsome, and yet terrible, and he stood by me and spoke to me
+saying, 'Fare back to the land that is thy birthright, for King of
+Norway thou shalt be for evermore.' And I knew this man for Olaf
+Tryggvesson my kinsman, and I think that he means that I shall gain
+all Norway for Christ's faith, and that my sons shall reign after
+me in the days to come."
+
+"It is certain that you shall win Norway," I said, "for so also ran
+the words of the Senlac witch, 'For Olaf a kingdom and more than a
+kingdom--a name that shall never die'."
+
+"I think men will remember me if I beat Cnut in my own land," he
+said lightly. "So I came back as far as the Seine river, and there
+was Eadward Atheling trying to raise men against Cnut his
+stepfather. I knew not that that peaceful youth could rage so
+terribly when occasion was, It was ill to speak of Cnut to him--or
+of the queen either. Now I spoke with his few thanes, and they held
+that it was of no use to try to attack England. None would rise to
+help him. But he begged me to go with him for the sake of old days
+and common hatred of the Dane. Wherefore I thought that it was as
+well for England that he learnt his foolishness, and we went
+together, and were well beaten off from the first place we put
+into. So he went back contented to try no more, and I put in here
+on my way homeward."
+
+Then I said:
+
+"Do you blame me for submitting to Cnut?"
+
+"You could do nought else," he answered. "And from all I hear he is
+likely to be a good king. Mind you that vision we saw on the shore
+in Normandy?"
+
+"It has come to pass as you read it," I answered.
+
+Then he said:
+
+"Yet more is to come to pass of that vision. Cnut will reign and
+will pass when his time comes, and with him will pass his kingdoms.
+There will be none of his line who shall keep them {16}."
+
+"After him Eadward, therefore, or Alfred, should they live," I
+said, musing. For the words of dying Ethelred came back to me--his
+foretelling of the strong hand followed by the wise.
+
+"That will be seen," answered Olaf. "Now I came to know if you were
+yet landless and desperate so that you would sail to Norway with
+me. But now I cannot ask you that. Nevertheless I shall be more
+glad to see you wedded and at rest here, for I think that you have
+seen your share of war."
+
+"And I have been unlucky therein," said I.
+
+"Now has your luck changed," said Olaf. "And all is well."
+
+So it came to pass that our wedding was made the happier by the
+presence of Olaf the king and by the songs of Ottar the scald. And
+Egil came from Colchester, and with him many of those of my men who
+were left, and Olaf's ship captains, so that with Sudbury folk and
+our own people there was a merry gathering enough, and the little
+church was over full when Ailwin and Oswin were ready at the altar.
+
+After that was over, Olaf came forward and gave to the priests a
+great chain of gold links, bidding them lay it on the altar for a
+gift towards rebuilding the house of God.
+
+"Only one thing do I ask you," he said, speaking in a hushed voice as
+he stood there. "And that is that no week shall pass without remembrance
+of those of my men who died for England on Leavenheath."
+
+And Oswin said:
+
+"It shall be so, King Olaf, for it has already become our custom
+here. Now will we remember your name also."
+
+    *    *    *    *    *    *
+
+Ten years agone it is since Olaf sailed away from us and won Norway
+from the hand of Cnut. Now and then come Norsemen to me from him
+when they put into Colchester or Maldon, and ever do they bring
+gifts for Hertha and Olaf and Eadmund and Uldra, the children that
+are ours. For all things have gone well with us, and with all
+England under the strong and wise rule of Cnut the king.
+
+I stood beside him on Ashingdon hill when he came to see to the
+building of the churches on the battlefield at the place of the
+first fight, and at Ashingdon, and at Hockley where the flight
+ended. And he dedicated that at Ashingdon to St. Andrew, in memory
+of Eadmund his noble foe and brother king, for on the day of that
+saint Streone slew him.
+
+There Cnut the king stood and spoke to me:
+
+"I build these churches, and their walls will decay in time, and
+maybe men will forget who built them, but the deeds of Eadmund will
+not be forgotten, for there are few men who have fought a losing
+fight so sternly and steadfastly as did he. Nor shall men forget
+you, Redwald, and those who fought and died here, and on the other
+fields that are rich with their blood spilt for love of England.
+None may say that their lives are wasted, for I see before us a new
+brotherhood that will rise out of our long strife, because Dane and
+Saxon and Anglian know each other for men."
+
+So he said, and so it is, and our England is rising from the strife
+into a mighty oneness that has never been hers before.
+
+We went to London before long to see the great wedding that was
+made for Godwine, my friend, and Gyda, the fair daughter of Ulf the
+jarl, and niece of Cnut himself. There also were Relf and the lady
+of Penhurst, and Eldred and Sexberga, and many more of Wulfnoth's
+thanes. But the old viking had gone to his place beyond the grave,
+and I saw him no more after I left him at Berkeley.
+
+Godwine is the greatest man in England now, and well loved. All men
+speak of his deeds in Denmark, whither he took the king's English
+host when troubles were there, and he is one of those who hold the
+kingdoms together since Ulf and Thorkel and Eirik are dead. They
+were slain in petty quarrels, and it is ever in my mind that it was
+in judgment on them for treating with Streone the traitor in the
+days when Cnut had not yet taken the kingship and rule into his own
+hands. I hold him blameless of that, for what could a boy of
+thirteen, however wise, do against their word and plans?
+
+But Thrand of Colchester lives yet, being port reeve of his own
+town under Egil, my good friend.
+
+None have ever seen the White Lady of the Mere again, nor has aught
+ill befallen my thrall, who thought he saw her. I gave him his
+freedom when we were wedded, and he is over the herds for us. But
+ever do I choose rather to call my dear one "Uldra," the name which
+she borrowed from the White Lady when I met her at Bosham, and
+asked what I should call her, for by that name I learnt to love
+her.
+
+Now one day she bade me take her to the great mound of Boadicea the
+queen beyond the river, for she had somewhat to show me, and half
+fearing I went. But she had no fear of the place, and one might see
+that she knew her way through the pathless woods around it well, so
+that I wondered. She led me across the water which stands around it
+in the old trench, stepping on fallen trees which made a sort of
+bridge, and then went to a place where the bushes grew thickly and
+tangled.
+
+"Can you see aught strange here?" she said to me.
+
+I could see nothing but thicket of briar and sloe climbing the
+steep side of the mound. And therefore she parted them, not easily
+at first, for none had touched them for long; and there before me
+was the opening of a low stone-sided-and-roofed passage, leading to
+the heart of the mound.
+
+"Enter," she said. "This is our hiding place in sorest need."
+
+"Hardly dare I do so. It is ill to disturb the mighty dead," I
+answered.
+
+"The dead queen has sheltered us helpless women well," she
+answered. "She is not disturbed, for this is not her resting
+place."
+
+So I went in, stooping double, for the stone passage was very low.
+I cannot tell whence the stone came, nor why the place was made
+unless it were to receive some chiefs of the Iceni, whose bones
+were gone had they ever been there, for there was a stone chamber
+in the mound's heart, fitted with stone seats and stone beds, as it
+were, and four people might well live in that place, for it was
+cool in summer and warm in winter, but very silent.
+
+I spoke not a word till we were in the sunshine again, and then I
+shivered.
+
+"I could not have entered that place alone," I said.
+
+"Gunnhild had no fear thereof, nor had I as a little child. Three
+times we bided there for days, while the Danes pillaged and burnt
+all around us, and were safe."
+
+It was some old secret handed down to Gunnhild that had taught her
+how to find the passage entrance. But she knew not where the great
+queen lay. Maybe her resting place is below the mound itself, or
+maybe she lies elsewhere, as some say.
+
+Then said I:
+
+"Let us close the place. I pray that none may need it again."
+
+So I loosened the earth above with my spear butt and it fell and
+covered the doorway. And none, save Hertha and myself, know where
+its place is.
+
+Yet men say that they see the bale fires burning even now, on the
+mound top on the nights when men look for such things. I have never
+seen them.
+
+There are two men of whom I must say a word, for I love them well.
+One is Father Ailwin, our priest, and my old master--who bides here
+with Oswin, whom I prayed to stay with us also--growing old
+peacefully; and the other is Elfric the abbot, my friend ever, and
+now Cnut's best adviser. Each in his own way fills well the place
+that is his, one as the counsellor and friend of plain folk like
+ourselves, winning the love and reverence of thane, and franklin,
+and thrall alike; and the other as the wisest in the land maybe,
+high in honour with all the highest in church and state. Well have
+those two wrought, and we cannot do without their like, whether in
+village or court.
+
+It is likely that Elfric will be archbishop ere long, and that will
+be well for us all. So great is the name of Cnut the king that
+hereafter it will be that all that was wrought of wisdom in his
+time will be laid to his account; but he would not have it so, for
+he knows what he owes to Elfric. But also I think that the cruel
+deeds wrought by the jarls while he was yet but a child will be
+thought his work also, for men will forget how young he was when
+the crown came to him, seeing that in utmost loyalty the jarls
+spoke of him ever as commanding, as the old viking ways bade them.
+
+But I who knew him almost from the first have seen how he hated
+these deeds, staying the hands of his chiefs as soon as he knew
+what his power was. Therein wrought Emma the queen, whose pride
+taught him what his place was, sooner than might else have been.
+
+Now I will say one last word of myself, who am happy--in wife, and
+children, and home. Cnut made me ealdorman, that so I might serve
+East Anglia, and I am glad, for I must needs go to the great witan
+at times and meet Godwine and Relf and many others who are my
+friends. But, rather than Redwald the ealdorman, I would that I
+might be called ever by the name which comes into the songs of
+Ottar the scald now and then--the name in which I have most pride,
+King Olaf's kinsman.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+Notes.
+
+
+1 the armed followers of a Saxon noble.
+
+2 The national weapon. A short, strong, curved blade used as a dirk.
+
+3 The massacre of the Danes on St. Brice's day, 1002 A.D., in
+  which Swein's sister was killed.
+
+4 Now Peterborough.
+
+5 From the Heimskringla, Saga of Olaf the Saint.
+
+6 Tribute.
+
+7 An embodied familiar spirit.
+
+8 According to Bede, in A.D. 418 the Romans collected and hid
+  all the treasure in England, except some part which they
+  took to Gaul. OElla took Anderida in 491 A.D.
+
+9 The cold spring.
+
+10 Mail shirt.
+
+11 Daughter of Alfred the Great, and wife of Ethelred, Earl of
+   Mercia.
+
+12 The utmost term of Saxon contempt.
+
+13 Now Canewdon.
+
+14 The "Five Boroughs" of the old Danelagh were Leicester,
+   Lincoln, Nottingham, Stamford, and Derby.
+
+15 The work of the great Dunstan, and the first code that
+   recognized the rights of Danish settlers.
+
+16 This prophecy of Olaf's is recorded in the "Saga of Olaf the
+   Saint".
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of King Olaf's Kinsman, by Charles Whistler
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