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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:41:50 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:41:50 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/13305-0.txt b/13305-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a372977 --- /dev/null +++ b/13305-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9516 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13305 *** + +ALFGAR THE DANE OR THE SECOND CHRONICLE OF AESCENDUNE: + +A Tale of the Days of Edmund Ironside + +by the Rev. A. D. Crake. + + PREFACE. + + CHAPTER I. THE DIARY OF FATHER CUTHBERT. + + CHAPTER II. "ALFGAR, SON OF ANLAF." + + CHAPTER III. THE NIGHT OF ST. BRICE. + + CHAPTER IV. THE DANES IN WESSEX. + + CHAPTER V. THE TRACKS IN THE FOREST. + + CHAPTER VI. THROUGH SUFFERING TO GLORY. + + CHAPTER VII. FATHER AND SON. + + CHAPTER VIII. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + CHAPTER IX. THE CAMP OF THE DANES. + + CHAPTER X. CARISBROOKE IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. + + CHAPTER XI. THE GLEEMAN. + + CHAPTER XII. THE MONASTERY OF ABINGDON. + + CHAPTER XIII. THE CITY OF DORCHESTER. + + CHAPTER XIV. THE SON AND THE FAVOURITE. + + CHAPTER XV. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY AT CLIFFTON. + + CHAPTER XVI. THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS. + + CHAPTER XVII. FOR HEARTH AND HOME. + + CHAPTER XVIII. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + CHAPTER XIX. THE ROYAL DEATHBED. + + CHAPTER XX. THE MIDNIGHT FLIGHT. + + CHAPTER XXI. EDMUND AND CANUTE. + + CHAPTER XXII. SMOOTHER THAN OIL. + + CHAPTER XXIII. WHO HATH DONE THIS DEED? + + CHAPTER XXIV. THE ORDEAL. + + CHAPTER XXV. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + + +PREFACE. + + +The tale now presented to the indulgence of the public is the second +of a series of tales, each complete in itself, which, as stated in the +preface to the first of the series, have been told to the senior boys +of a large school, in order to secure their interest in historical +characters, and to illustrate great epochs in human affairs by the aid +of fiction. + +Yet the Author has distinctly felt that fiction must always, in such +cases, be subordinate to truth, and that it is only legitimately used +as a vehicle of instruction when it fills up the gaps in the outline, +without contradicting them in any respect, or interfering with their +due order and sequence. + +Therefore he has attempted in every instance to consult such original +authorities as lay within his reach, and has done his best to present +an honest picture of the times. + +The period selected on the present occasion is full of the deepest +interest. The English and the Danish invaders of their soil were +struggling desperately for the possession of England--a struggle +aggravated by religious bitterness, and by the sanguinary nature of +the Danish creed. + +The reign of Ethelred the Unready, from his accession, after the +murder of his innocent brother, until the scene depicted in the +nineteenth chapter of the tale, was a tragedy ever deepening. Its +details will seem dark enough as read herein, but how utterly dark +they were can only be appreciated by those who study the contemporary +annals. Many facts therein given have been rejected by the Author as +too harrowing in their nature; and he has preferred to render the +contemplation of woe and suffering less painful, by a display of those +virtues of patience, resignation, and brave submission to the Divine +will, which affliction never fails to bring out in the fold of Christ, +whose promise stands ever fast, that the strength of His people shall +be equal to their needs. + +With the death of the unhappy king, and the accession of his brave but +unfortunate son, the whole character of the history changes. +Englishmen are henceforth at least a match for their oppressors, and +the result of the long contest is the conversion of their foes to +Christianity, their king setting the example, and the union of the two +races--not the submission of one to the other. The Danish element had +been received into the English nation to join in moulding the future +national character--to add its own special virtues to the typical +Englishman of the future. + +One more rude shock had yet to be sustained before the alloy of +foreign blood was complete--the Norman Conquest. This is the subject +of the Third Story of Aescendune, which has yet to be written. + +One character in the tale has always puzzled historians--a character, +so far as the author knows, absolutely without redeeming trait--Edric +Streorn. It is well said that no man is utterly bad, and perhaps he +possessed domestic virtues which were thought unworthy of the +attention of the chroniclers; but as they picture him--now prompting +Ethelred to deeds of treachery against the Danes, now joining those +Danes themselves, and surpassing them in cruelty--now seeking +pretended reconciliation, only to betray his foe more surely, and in +all this aided and supported by the weak, unprincipled king--as thus +pictured there is scarcely a blacker character in history. + +But more incomprehensible than the existence of so bad a man in such a +dark age is the renewed confidence ever accorded him, when, after more +than once betraying the armies of his country into the hands of their +foes, and fighting openly in the hostile cause, he is again forgiven, +nay, received into favour, and sent once more to command the men he +has already deceived, until he repeats the experiment, and when it +fails is again admitted into confidence. + +To some extent the Author has endeavoured to find possible solutions +of the mystery, but mystery it will remain until the day when all +secrets are known. + +The death of this unhappy man is taken, in all its main details, from +a comparison of the chroniclers, as are also all the chief historical +events herein noted. + +An objection has been raised to the modern English in which the Author +has made his characters speak. He can only say in reply that the +Anglo-Saxon in which they really expressed themselves would be +unintelligible to all but the few who have made the study of our +ancient tongue their pursuit--far more unintelligible to those of +ordinary education than Latin or French. Therefore it would be mere +affectation to copy the later orthography of Chaucer, or to interlard +one's sentences with obsolete words. The only course seems to be a +fair translation of the vernacular of the period of the tale into our +own everyday English. The Author anticipated this objection in the +preface to his earlier volume. He repeats his answer for those who may +not have seen the former book. A similar rule has guided him in the +orthography of proper names; he has used the customary Latinised +forms. + +In his descriptions of Dorchester and Abingdon he has been aided by +the kind information received from the present vicar of the +magnificent Abbey Church, still existing in the former ancient town, +and by the extensive information contained in the Chronicle of the +Abbey of Abingdon, edited by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, M.A. He has +also to express his obligations to his friend Mr. Charles Walker, +editor of the "Liturgy of the Church of Sarum," for valuable +assistance in monastic lore. + +The moral aim of the tale has been to depict the mental difficulties +which our heathen forefathers had severally to encounter ere they +could embrace Christianity--difficulties chiefly arising from the +inconsistencies of Christians--and to set forth the example of one +who, having found the "pearl of great price," sold all he had and +bought it, forsaking all that could appeal to the imagination of a +warlike youth--"choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people +of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." + +Yet his Christianity, like that of all other characters in the tale, +is that of their age, not of ours, and men will differ as to its +comparative merits. "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much +be required." + +The author dedicates this tale to his brother, engaged, like himself, +in that most responsible task, the education of youth, in memory of +those happy days when they pored together in rapturous delight over +old legend or romantic lore in their father's home at that very +Clifton (now Clifton Hampden) familiar to hearers or readers of the +tale as the home of Herstan, and the scene of the heroic defence of +the English dwelling against the Danes. It will be a great reward for +the Author's toil should this little volume similarly gladden many +firesides during the approaching Christmas, and perhaps cause some to +thank God for the contrast between the Christmas of 1007 and that of +1874. + +A.D.C. + +All Saints' School, Bloxham. + +Advent, 1874. + + + +CHAPTER I. THE DIARY OF FATHER CUTHBERT. + + +All Saints' Day, 1002. + +Inasmuch as I, Cuthbert, by the long-suffering of the Divine goodness, +am prior of the Benedictine house of St. Wilfrid at Aescendune, it +seems in some sort my duty, following the example of many worthy +brethren, to write some account of the origin and history of the +priory over which it has pleased God to make me overseer, and to note, +as occasion serves from time to time, such passing events as seem +worthy of remembrance; which record, deposited in the archives of the +house, may preserve our memory when our bodies are but dust, and other +brethren fill our places in the choir. Perhaps each generation thinks +the events which happen in its own day more remarkable than any which +have preceded, and that its own period is the crisis of the fate of +Church or State. Yet surely no records of the past, extant, tell us of +such dark threatening clouds as hang over the realm of England at this +time; when the thousandth year since our blessed Lord's nativity +having passed, we seem to be entering on those awful plagues which the +Apocalypse tells us must precede the consummation of all things. + +But we who trust in the Lord have a strong tower wherein to hide, and +we know of a land where there is no darkness or shadow of death; +therefore we will not fear though the earth be moved, and the hills be +carried into the midst of the sea. + +This house of St. Wilfrid was founded by Offa, Thane of Aescendune, in +the year of the Lord 938, and completed by his son and successor Ella, +who was treacherously murdered by his nephew Ragnar, and lies buried +within these sacred walls. The first prior was Father Cuthbert, my +godfather, after whom I was named. He was appointed by Dunstan, just +then on the point of leaving England to escape the rage of the wicked +and unhappy Edwy, and continued to exercise the authority until the +year 975, the year in which our lamented king, Edgar the Magnanimous, +departed to his heavenly rest, with whose decease peace and prosperity +seemed likewise to depart. + +Father Godric succeeded him, under whose paternal rule we enjoyed +peace for ten years. Truly the memory of the just is blessed. He died +in 985, and then was I chosen by the votes of the chapter to be their +prior, and my election was confirmed by the holy Dunstan, who himself +admitted me to mine office. + +And truly the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places, dark +although--as I have said--the times are. The priory lies on the banks +of the glorious Avon, where the forests come nearly down to its banks. +Above us rises a noble hill, crowned with the oak and the beech, +beneath whose shade many a deer and boar repose, and their flesh, when +brought thither to gladden our festivals, is indeed toothsome and +savoury. + +Our buildings are chiefly of wood, although the foundations are of +stone. The great hall is floored and lined with oak, while the +chapel--the Priory Church the people call it--excels for limning and +gilding, as well as for the beauty of its tapestry, any church in this +part of Mercia. Our richest altar cloth is made of the purple robe +which King Edgar wore at his consecration, and which he sent to the +thane Alfred of Aescendune for the Priory Church as a token of the +respect and favour he bore him. And also he gave a veil of gold +embroidery which representeth the destruction of Troy. It is hung upon +great days over the dais at the high table of the hall. + +The monastery is well endowed with lands by the liberality of its +first founder, as appears in the deeds preserved in our great muniment +chest. We have ten hides of woodland, wherein none may cut wood save +for our use in the winter; five hides of arable land, and the same +extent of pasturage for cattle. Now for the care of the culture +thereof we have a hundred serfs attached to the glebe, who, we trust, +do not find us unkind lords. + +There are twenty brethren who have taken the final vows according to +the rule of St. Benedict, and ten novices, besides six lay brethren, +and other our chief servitors. We keep the monastic hours, duly rising +at daybreak to sing our lauds, and lying down after compline, with the +peace and blessing of Him who alone maketh us dwell in safety. + +Our daily work is not light. We preach on Sundays and festivals in the +priory church. We visit the sick. We instruct the youth in the +elements of Christian doctrine. We superintend the labours of those +who till the soil. We copy the sacred writings. In short, we have a +great deal to do, and I fear do it very imperfectly sometimes. + +I will add a few words only about myself. I am the third son of +Alfred {i}, thane of Aescendune, and his wife the Lady Alftrude of +Rollrich. Elfric, my eldest brother, died young. Elfwyn is now thane, +and I, the third boy, was given to the Church, for which I had ever +felt a vocation, perhaps from my love to my godfather. We only had one +sister, Bertha, and she has married the Thane Herstan of Clifton, near +Dorchester, the seat of our good bishop Aelfhelm, and the shrine of +holy Birinus. + +My father and mother both sleep the sleep of the just. They lived to +see their children happy and prosperous, and then departed amidst the +lamentations of all who had known and loved them. Taken from the evil +to come, we cannot mourn them, nor would we call them back, although +we sorely missed their loved forms. They were full of years, yet age +had not dimmed their faculties. My father died in the year 998, my +mother the following year. They rest by the side of their ancestors in +the priory church. + +My brother Elfwyn married Hilda, the daughter of Ceolfric, a Thane of +Wessex, in the year 985. He has two children--Bertric, a fine lad of +twelve, and as good as he is manly; and Ethelgiva, a merry girl of +ten. His household is well-ordered and happy--nurtured in the +admonition of the Lord. + +For myself I have had many offers of promotion in the brotherhood of +St. Benedict, but have refused them. I was once offered the high +office of abbot in one of our great Benedictine houses, but I wished +to be near my own people and my father's house, and here I trust I +shall stay till I seek a continuing city, whose builder and maker is +God. + +And now a little about the state of the country round us. In this +neighbourhood we have as yet been preserved from the evils of war, but +for many years past the Danes, those evil men, have renewed their +inroads, as they used to make them before the great King Alfred +pacified the country. They began again in the year 980, and, with but +slight intermission, have continued year by year. + +The awful prophecy which God forced from the lips of Dunstan {ii}, +at the coronation of our most unhappy king, has been too sadly +fulfilled. Ah me! I fear the curse of the saints is upon him. When the +holy bishop departed this life, I was one of the few who stood round +his bed, and as he foretold of the evil to come, he bade us all bear +our portion manfully, for the time, he said, would be short in which +to endure, and the eternal crown secure. + +Many of those to whom he spoke have since died the martyr's or the +patriot's death, but as yet no evil has reached us at Aescendune, +although many parts of Wessex, nay, all the sea coast and the banks of +the great rivers have been wasted with fire and sword, and the money +which has been given the barbarians has been worse than wasted, for +they only come for more. + +Our armies seem led by traitors; our councils, sad to say, by fools. +Nothing prospers, and thoughtless people say the saints are asleep. +Every day we say the petition in our Litany, "That it would please +Thee to abate the cruelty of our pagan enemies, and to turn their +hearts; we beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord," and we must wait His +time, and pray for strength to submit to His will. + +Around the priory live the serfs, the theows, and ceorls of the +estate, each in his own little cottage, save the domestics, who live +at the Hall, which is only half-a-mile distant. + +On Sundays and Saints' days they all assemble in our minster church. +It was full this day at the high mass, and I preached them a homily +upon the Saints, great part of which I took from a sermon I once heard +the holy Dunstan preach. And he showed us how saints did not live idle +lives on this earth, but always went about, like their Lord and +Master, doing good, and that through much tribulation they entered the +eternal kingdom, which also bids fair to be our lot nowadays, although +we be all miserable sinners, and not saints. + +Ah! how I thought of the dear ones we have lost when the Gospel was +read at mass, about the great multitude which no man could number, and +I almost seemed as if I could see father, mother, and Elfric there. I +would not wish them back; yet my heart is very lonely sometimes. I +wonder whether they remember now that it is All Saints' Day, and that +we are thinking of them. Yes, I am sure they must do so. + +There have been few troubles from the Danes, close at hand; so few +that they seem trivial in comparison with those our countrymen suffer +elsewhere. Still we have many of the pagans living as settlers in our +neighbourhood, whose presence is tolerated for fear of the reprisals +which might follow any acts of hostility against them. Kill one Dane, +the people say, and a hundred come to his funeral. Many of these +settlers have acquired their lands peaceably, but others by the strong +arms of their ancestors in periods of ancient strife; and these have +been allowed to keep their possessions for generations, so that if +they did not retain their heathen customs we might forget they were +not Englishmen. + +One of these lives near us. His name is Anlaf. Some say he boasts of +being a descendant of that Anlaf who once ravaged England, and was +defeated at Brunanburgh. He married an English girl, whose heart, they +say, he broke by his cruelty. They had one child, Alfgar by name. + +The mother died a Christian. Taking my life in my hands, I penetrated +their fortalice, and administered the last sacrament to her; but they +threatened my life for entering their domains, and, perhaps, had I +been but a simple priest, and not also, small boast as it is, the son +of a powerful English thane, whom they feared to offend, I had died in +doing my duty. When the poor girl was dying she committed the boy as +well as she could to my care, begging me to see that he was baptized; +but the father has prevented me from carrying out her wishes, +asserting that he would sooner slay the lad. + +But it seems as if the boy retained some traces of his mother's faith; +over and over again I have seen him hiding in some remote corner of +the church during service time, but he has always shrunk away when any +of the brethren attempted to speak to him. + +I am sure he wishes to be a Christian. + +I may, perhaps, find a chance of speaking to him, and a few words may +reach his heart. He knows my brother's family, and has once or twice +joined them in expeditions in the woods, and even entered their gates. +His must be a lonely life at home; there are no other children, but +from time to time hoary warriors, upon whose souls lies, I fear, the +guilt of much innocent blood, find a home there. + +November 2d.-- + +This morning we said the office and mass for the dead, as usual on All +Souls' Day. My brother Elfwyn and his children were, of course, +present. That boy, Bertric, with all his boyish spirit and brightness, +is very pious. It was a sight which I thought might gladden their +guardian angels to see him and his sister kneeling with clasped hands +at their uncle Elfric's tomb, and when service was over, they made me +tell them the old old story about the first Elfric, the brother of my +father, and how my father rescued him when the old castle was +burnt {iii}. + +When I had told them the story, I saw my brother was anxious to say a +few words to me. + +"Cuthbert," he said, "have you seen the young Dane, Alfgar, lately?" + +"Not very long since," I replied; "he was at mass yesterday." + +"Because I believe the lad longs to be a Christian, but does not dare +speak to any one." + +"He fears his stern father." + +"Yes, Anlaf might slay him if he was to be baptized; yet baptized I am +sure he will be, sooner or later." + +"Does the boy love his father, I wonder?" said I, musingly. + +"Doubtless; it would be unnatural did he not; but perhaps he loves the +memory of his mother yet more. We both knew her, Cuthbert." + +"Yes, when she was a bright-hearted merry village maiden. Poor +Kyneswith!" + +"For her sake, then, let us both try to do something for the boy." + +"With all my heart. I will seek an opportunity of speaking to him, +perhaps he may unburden his mind." + +"Have you seen Edric the sheriff?" asked Elfwyn. + +"Not lately. Has he been here?" + +"He has, and there was something in connection with his visit which +troubled me. He had been telling me for a long time about the +cruelties and insolence of the Danes, when he added, in a marked +manner, that they might go too far, for hundreds of their countrymen, +like Anlaf here, were living unprotected amongst us." + +"What could he mean?" + +"I understood him to hint that we might revenge ourselves upon them, +and replied that whatever their countrymen might be guilty of, our +neighbours would, of course, always be safe amongst Christians." + +"What did he reply?" + +"He changed the subject." + +Elfwyn said no more, but bade me goodbye and returned to the castle; +still I saw that he was a little discomposed by the sheriff's words. I +don't like that sheriff; he is a cruel and a crafty man; but I daresay +his words were only the expression of a passing thought. + + + +CHAPTER II. "ALFGAR, SON OF ANLAF." + + +SUNDAY, November 6th.-- + +Today I noticed Alfgar, the son of Anlaf, at the high mass, and felt a +little discomposed at the relaxation of discipline, which, contrary to +the canons of the church, permits the unbaptized, as well as persons +who ought rightly to be deemed excommunicate, or at least penitents, +to be present at the holy mysteries. + +But it is not this poor boy's fault that he is not a Christian, for I +have seen him, and learned for a certainty the real state of his mind. + +The way in which it came about was this. I marked that after service +he entered the woods, as if he shunned the society of his fellow +worshippers, and there I followed him, coming upon him at last, as if +by accident, in a chestnut glade, the leaves of which strewed the +ground--emblem of our fading mortality. + +He started as he saw me, and at first looked as if he were inclined to +fly my presence, but I gently addressed him. + +"Dominus vobiscum, my son," I said. "I am pleased to see you sometimes +at the minster church." + +"I did not know I was noticed amongst so many," he replied. + +"You mean, my boy, that you would sooner your presence were not +observed. I can guess your reason too well." + +He looked so sad, that I was sorry I had spoken precipitately, and a +deep red blush suffused his dark countenance. He has a most attractive +face--so thoughtful, yet so manly; his mother's gentle lineaments seem +to have tempered the somewhat fierce and haughty bearing of his sire, +as they meet in the countenance of their child. + +My sympathy became so deep that I could not restrain myself and spoke +out: + +"My boy, will you not confide your troubles to me, for your dear +mother's sake? Do you not remember how she commended you to my care? +And never have I forgotten to pray daily that her God may be your God +also." + +At the mention of his mother the tears filled his eyes. We were +sitting together on the trunk of a fallen tree, and he covered his +face with his hands, but I could see that the tears forced their way +between the fingers, and that he was sobbing violently. He is only as +yet a mere boy, and such emotion is excusable. + +At last he looked up. + +"I long to be a Christian like her," he said; "over and over again she +taught me, during her last days on earth, of the Christ she loved, and +who, she said, was ever near her. I have heard all about the faith she +loved, yet I am an outcast from it. What can I do?--my father will not +let me be baptized, and I dare not oppose his will; yet I sometimes +think I ought to chance all, and to die, if death should be the +penalty." + +"Die? You do not surely think he would slay you?" + +"I know he would." + +"In that case, my child, your duty seems plain: your Lord calls you to +give Him your love, your obedience, and to seek refuge in the fold of +His church." + +"Ought I to leave my father?" + +I felt very much puzzled indeed what to say. I could have no doubt as +to the lad's duty; but then his father was his natural guardian, and +in all things, save the plain duty of professing Christ, had a claim +to his obedience. + +"I think," I said at last, "my Alfgar, that when he knew you were +determined to be a Christian he would oppose you no longer; that is, +if you were once baptized he would tolerate a Christian son as he once +did a Christian wife." + +"He broke her heart." + +"At all events I think that you should delay no longer, but should +seek instruction and baptism, which we will afford you; and then, +unless you really feel life is in danger, you should return to him and +try to bear your lot; it may not be so hard as you think." + +"I am not afraid of death; but he is my father, and from his hands it +would be hard." + +"He hates Christianity grievously then?" + +"He says it is the religion of cowards and hypocrites; that it forms a +plea for cowardice when men dare not be men, and is thrown aside fast +enough when they have their foes in their power." + +Alas! I could but feel how much reason the ill lives of Christians had +given him to form this opinion, and of the curse pronounced upon those +who shall put a stumbling block in their brother's way. The +conversation of the Sheriff, Edric Streorn, rose up in my mind as an +apt illustration of Anlaf's words. + +"My boy," I said, "there is nothing perfect on earth. In the visible +church the evil is mingled with the good. Yet the church is the fold +of the Good Shepherd, and there is salvation therein for all who love +and serve their Lord, and strive humbly to follow His example, and +those of His blessed Saints." + +"May I think over all you have said, and meet you next Sunday? You +will be here, will you not?" + +And he looked imploringly in my face. Poor boy! my heart bled for him. + +So we parted, and he went home. + +Friday, November 11th.-- + +I feel thoroughly uneasy and anxious about the sheriff's proceedings. +He has been about the neighbourhood today, and seems to have been +talking secretly with all the black sheep of my flock; thank God, I do +not think there are many. What they can be going to do, or what plot +they are hatching, I cannot discover, only I fear that it is some +design for vengeance upon the Danes--some dark treachery plotted +against those in our midst; and, if such is the case, I can but feel +uneasy for poor Alfgar. I wish the lad would leave his home, if but +for a short time, until the signs are less threatening; but he would +not forsake his father in danger, and I ought hardly to wish it. + +St. Brice's Day, Sunday, November 13th-- + +This has been a harassing and eventful day. Early in the morning, +before the high mass, whereat the neighbourhood is generally present, +I received a missive from the sheriff, bidding me, in the name of the +King, to exhort my people to remain at home tonight, since danger is +afoot, and there is likely, he says, to be a rising on the part of the +pagans who dwell amongst us. Why, they are but one in five in this +neighbourhood; hardly that. I determined to give the message in my own +way, for I could not keep silent, lest, through fault of mine, any of +my sheep should perish. So I preached upon the Saint of the day, who +was pre-eminently a man of peace, and I took occasion to tell my +people that there were many hurtful men about, who, like their master, +Satan, were seeking whom they might devour, and that, like that +master, they chose the night for their misdeeds, seeing they loved +darkness rather than light. So I said I hoped every good Christian +would keep at home, and go to bed early. + +At this point I observed a sarcastic smile upon many faces, notably on +those of the black sheep aforesaid, to whom the sheriff had spoken, +and I concluded that they were very likely to be the ministers of +darkness themselves. So I spoke on the Christian duties of love and +forgiveness, and exhorted all present to take joyfully the +chastisement of the Lord, even like holy Job; and that it would all +tend to their eternal good, through Him who, when He was reviled, +reviled not again. And so with this exhortation to patience I closed +my homily. I fear I spoke to many in vain. + +I am sure they are bent on immediate mischief, and that this notice of +the sheriff has much to do with it. He wants to keep good people at +home to have all the field to himself. I see him--the black +bellwether. + +After mass I mingled with the dispersing congregation. The weather was +very gloomy--the faces of the congregation yet more so. All seemed to +apprehend coming evil. Instead of returning cheerfully home they stood +together in groups, talking in low tones, as if they feared to speak +their thoughts aloud. + +Most of them evidently were men of peace, but not all, as I have +already hinted; and, as I drew near a group standing behind the great +yew tree, I heard one of these latter discoursing to his fellows. + +"Heard you the prior's sermon?" said Siric, for that was the fellow, +Siric of the Wold; "a fine homily he gave us on St. Brice--that man +of peace." + +"It was easy for him to be a man of peace," returned another; "he +hadn't got Danes for his neighbours." + +"Holy Job himself would have turned cutthroat if he had." + +"Then they have been insulting, robbing, and murdering all over the +country." + +Just then I interrupted them, for I could no longer hear the +blasphemy. + +"How now, Siric," said I; "hast thou come to Aescendune to revile the +saints?" + +"Nay, Father," said he, with a mocking smile; "I was only rejoicing +that they were not exposed to such trials as we. Job's Chaldeans were +gentlefolk in comparison with our Danes." + +"Thou blasphemest; and what didst thou say of the blessed St. Brice?" + +"Only that I wished he were living now to tame the cutthroats who live +in our midst, and who murder and rob daily, just in mere sport, or to +keep their hands in." + +"What new outrages have occurred?" I asked. + +"A party of the heathen carried off the cattle from my farm down the +water early this morning, and slew the herdsman." + +"Dost thou know who the fellows were?" + +"All too well; they were Anlaf's men." + +I hardly knew what to answer, the outrage was so recent, and the +excitement of the speaker so pardonable, as I could but feel. + +Well, at this moment my brother Elfwyn came out of the church, where +he had lingered to pray, as he generally does, at his brother's tomb, +and, noticing us, came and joined the group. He seemed much concerned +when he heard the details. + +"Siric," he said, with his usual kind way of speaking, "do not +distress yourself unduly; you know I am rich in flocks and herds. I +will make up the loss of the cattle, my brother the prior will have a +mass said for poor Guthred, and he shall have the last rites performed +at our expense; it is all we can do for him; the rest we must leave to +the mercy of God." + +"Nay, Thane," said Siric; "I thank you for your goodwill, but I may +not stand thus indebted to any man. I will repay myself at the expense +of the robbers. Still you may remember Guthred at God's altar." + +And he strode away. + +My brother was now joined by his children Bertric and Ethelgiva, and +his wife, the Lady Hilda. I saw that he was ill at ease, but we did +not mention the subject, which I am sure was uppermost in both our +minds, lest we should alarm the gentle ones. + +Just then I remembered that I had promised to meet Alfgar in the pine +wood, and I hastened to the spot. + +I found him seated again on the fallen tree. He rose at my approach, +and saluted me with some emotion, as if some inward excitement made +itself visible in spite of his efforts to suppress it. + +"My son," said I, "have you pondered my words of last Sunday?" + +"I have, and I am come to put myself under your instruction. I will be +guided by you in all things, and fulfil thus the dying wish of the +only being who ever loved me." + +"But, my boy, there must be yet a higher, a holier motive." + +"I trust it is not wanting, my father." + +"Are you able to stay long today?" + +"O yes, my father is keeping high festival; a number of his countrymen +are visiting him and holding revel; this morning they drove in a +number of oxen, I know not whence, and slaughtered two on the spot, +and they have broached several barrels of mead; they will keep the +feast all day, and before night my father will not be in a state to +miss me; I always absent myself if I can on such occasions." + +"Then you must come home with me, and share the noon meat, after which +I can give you my time until evensong." + +He made no objection, and we returned to the Priory together, where he +took his noon meat in the guest chamber, and I devoted all the time +between the meal and nones to an examination of my catechumen. + +I found that poor Kyneswith had impressed all the primary truths of +our holy faith deeply upon his mind, although he wanted much building +up, and needed instruction in details; he seemed deeply impressed by +the main facts of the life and teaching of our blessed Lord, +particularly His message of peace on earth, good will towards men, +contrasting so forcibly with the faith of his own people. + +The time passed rapidly away, and we went to the minster church at +three, when nones and evensong were said together, for we could not +keep the people till the proper hour for the latter office, owing to +the darkness of November. + +When the holy office was over, I accompanied my brother part of the +way home, for I wanted to communicate my suspicions, and to learn +whether he shared them. + +It was a dark and gloomy eventide: the sun, which had only made its +appearance at intervals during the day, was fast sinking behind a +heavy bank of clouds which filled the western horizon; and the wind, +which was freshening to a gale, seemed to bear the storm onward in its +track, while it tore the few surviving leaves rudely from the trees, +and whirled them in mazy windings. + +"Elfwyn," said I, "what do you suppose was the true object of the +sheriff in bidding folks keep indoors tonight?" + +"I cannot divine, unless he has some deed of blood on hand which he +wishes to have undisturbed, all to himself and his underlings." + +"Siric spoke mysteriously." + +"Yes; if there is aught going on amiss, he has a hand in it." + +Here I communicated my fears respecting Alfgar, whom I had invited, +with my brother's permission, to sup at the hall. + +"Could you not keep the poor fellow with you all night? I fear his +father is in some danger, as well he may be, acting as wickedly as he +did this very morn." + +"I will try to persuade him to stay, he is along with Bertric and +Ethelgiva; they are only a few steps behind. Cuthbert, I have ordered +every one of my theows and ceorls to be obedient to your warning if +they wish to preserve their allegiance to Aescendune, or to escape +chastisement, and I think none of them are likely to be abroad +tonight." + +"Can you not find out what the sheriff has told them? I saw him +speaking to one or two." + +"I will try. You must be my guest tonight, or at least for a few +hours." + +"Nay, I must return to compline; I may be wanted tonight, and ought to +be at my post," said I. + +We arrived at the old home, dear familiar place! stronger and better +built than most such houses, because, being burnt down in my father's +younger days, it had been rebuilt in a more substantial manner, and +was capable of sustaining a formidable attack successfully. + +We crossed the drawbridge, and entered the courtyard under the +gateway; before us was the door of the great hall, merrily illumined +by its blazing fire. + +There, then, was the supper table bountifully spread, and the theows +and ceorls awaiting the arrival of their lord. We entered, Elfwyn and +I, and soon after Bertric, Ethelgiva, and Alfgar followed. + +A loud horn was blown upon the battlements. Stragglers made their +entrance good; the drawbridge was drawn up, the doors closed, and I +blessed the meat. + + + +CHAPTER III. THE NIGHT OF ST. BRICE. + + +Monday, November 14th, 1002.-- + +I hardly know how to write the events of last night, my pen almost +refuses to begin. I feel thoroughly sickened by the very remembrance +of the bloodshed and treachery which have disgraced Christian England, +and which will assuredly bring down God's judgment upon us. + +But I will do violence to myself, and will write all things +accurately, in order it may serve to show that there were those +amongst us who were not consenting parties, who entered not into the +counsels of those men of blood, whom may God "reward after their +deeds, and according to the wickedness of their own inventions." + +Well, to begin. When supper was ended at the hall last night, my +brother bade his wife and children seek their bower, and Alfgar went +with them; then he addressed his people with that confidence and +affection he not only shows in his outward speech, but really feels in +his heart. + +"Are all the folk present within the gates?" he asked. + +"We are all here, my lord," replied they; "none have been wanting in +their duty." + +"It is well; and now, my people, I ask you, whom I have ever trusted, +and to whom I have tried to be a friend as well as a master, have you +any of you a suspicion what the sheriff is about tonight, and why he +desired the prior to tell good Christians to keep within doors?" + +There was a dead silence. At last one of the ceorls rose up, and spoke +with some hesitation: + +"I think, my lord, that they intend to avenge themselves upon the Dane +folk." + +"Did they say anything about it to you or any other of my people?" + +"Yes; they tried to get two or three of us to join in the work, but +when they found we would do nothing without your knowledge, they told +us no more." + +"Then you do not know what is the exact work they have in hand?" + +"No. But I heard something which made me think that plunder and +massacre were both likely to be committed." + +"Did you hear any particular names mentioned?" + +"Yes. That of Anlaf." + +"This explains Siric's insolence, Cuthbert." + +"It does," I replied. + +"But surely they cannot intend to do anything tonight. They would not +choose Sunday for a deed of darkness. Men who have attended mass +during the day, surely would not so forget their God as to go through +the country like cowardly wolves, pulling down the prey in company +which they dare not attack singly." + +"I should hope the same; but then the looks and words of today," said +I. + +"Did they say what authority they had for their projected scheme?" + +"They dared to say," replied the ceorl who had before spoken, "they +had the sanction of the king." + +There was again a painful silence. We groaned in the bitterness of our +hearts--O Ethelred, son of Edgar, hast thou forgotten all truth and +mercy?--thou, the son of Edgar the Magnanimous? + +Every impulse of our hearts led us to detest the cruel deed of +treachery about to be consummated, but which we could not prevent. + +At least there was one whom we could save from the general +destruction, the young Alfgar, and we determined to detain him if +possible by persuasion, keeping the truth from him, but in any case to +detain him at the hall during the night. + +I could not remain at the hall myself, for, on such a night, it seemed +necessary to be with my own people, and to be ready to seize any +opportunity of saving the effusion of blood, or of giving protection +to any who might seek refuge under the shelter of our roof, where +murder would be sacrilege, a consideration of some importance where +Christians, shame to say, were the murderers. + +But before I went my brother and I sent to Alfgar that we might speak +to him, and prevail upon him to stay with us the night. + +"Alfgar," said Elfwyn, "the night is very stormy and blustering, and +we wish you to remain with us, and share our hospitality till the +morn. Your father will not miss you?" + +"I do not think he will; for after one of these debauches he generally +sleeps far into the next day. But the domestic serfs may remark my +absence." + +"There is another reason, my boy, why we wish you to stay. Wild men +who hate your father's race are abroad, and did you fall into their +hands while returning home it might fare hard with you." + +"I can imagine that. I marked the looks they cast upon me in God's +house, even there, this day. They cannot forgive me my Danish blood, +although my mother was one of themselves, and a Christian." + +"They have suffered much, my lad; and suffering, as is often the case, +has blunted their feelings. But you will stay with us, will you not?" + +"I will stay; many thanks for your kindness." + +After this I had nothing further to detain me at the castle, so I left +for the priory. + +It was a black dark night. The violence of the wind almost lifted me +from my feet; not a star could be seen but occasionally a sharp +hailstorm pelted down. Glad was I, although the distance was not +great, to see the lights of the priory, and to dry my chilled limbs +and wet garments before the fire in the common room while I told my +brethren the tidings of the night, and the suspicions which we +entertained. + +When I had finished there was a dead pause, during which the howling +blast without, as it dashed the hail against the casement, seemed a +fitting accompaniment to our sombre thoughts. + +The compline bell rang. + +This office is always full of heavenly comfort, but there seemed a +special meaning tonight in one verse--"A thousand shall fall beside +thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh +thee." + +Yet the thousands were heavy on our hearts, and I meditated some means +of carrying tidings of their danger to our pagan neighbours; but I +knew nothing of the details of the plot, only that there was a plot, +and I knew that if I sent a brother, the Danes, in their hatred to +monks, would probably set their huge dogs at him before he could +speak, and perhaps worry him to death. Neither could any other +messenger approach their dwellings safely at night. + +I tried to hope, but against reason, that we had perhaps exaggerated +the danger. Still, after the compline was over, we sat in deliberation +a long time in the hall. The novices and lay brothers, ignorant of the +peril, had retired to rest; but we, who knew the portentous state of +things around us, could not have slept had we retired. Ever and anon +we looked forth from doors and windows into the black darkness +without; but although it was near midnight, neither sight nor sound +told of aught amiss, and we were beginning to yield to fatigue, when I +ascended the tower in company with Father Adhelm, to survey the scene +for the last time. It was so windy that we could hardly stand upon the +leaded roof, and although we gazed around, nought met our eyes until +we were on the point of returning. + +"Listen!" said Father Adhelm, the subprior. + +It was unnecessary. Borne upon the wind, a loud noise, as of men who +shout for mastery, met our ears, followed or intermingled with cries +for help or mercy--so we fancied at least. + +While we stood rooted by horror to the spot, a bright light arose, +which rapidly increased, as a conflagration well might in such a wind, +and soon the whole horizon was illuminated. I knew but one homestead +in that direction--the fortified house of Anlaf. + +I thought of the poor boy, with thankfulness that we had restrained +him from returning home. He is saved, at least, thought I, as a brand +from the burning. + +The other brethren joined us, and after a short consultation, we +determined to go to the scene in a body, to mitigate the rage of the +people, and save life where we could. + +So, putting our cowls over our heads, we sallied forth into the black +night--black and dark save where the light of the fire illumined the +horizon, and even cast a faint ray upon our own path. We were not used +to journeys in such weather, and I am afraid we made very slow +progress, but it was not for want of good will. The fire grew brighter +and brighter as we proceeded, and the shouts louder and louder. We +knew that Anlaf had a party of his countrymen, all of them obnoxious +to the English, and could easily understand that they had collected +themselves together for their own destruction. Yet, when we looked +around, we perceived by the blood-red reflection in the skies at other +points, that the same ruthless task was being carried out in many a +distant spot, as well as close at hand. + +Reaching the bank of the river, we directed our course along its banks +until the dark forest closed in upon us, and rapid progress became +difficult. The trees were all rocking wildly in the wind, and here and +there a severed branch fell down before us. Occasionally a gust of +rain and hail descended. The path was wet and slippery. Poor Father +Adhelm groaned aloud. He had the podagra, (or gout), and ought not to +have ventured forth; but zeal would not let him rest. + +"Verily our path is hedged about with thorns. It is hard to kick +against the pricks," said the chamberlain. + +"It is God's work," said I, "and we may not falter." + +Yet I felt my own heart weak. + +But for the red light, which shone even through the shade of the +forest, we could not have pursued our path. But plainer and plainer +the wind brought the fierce shouts of the assailants to our ears, +until, emerging from a dark belt of underwood, the whole horror of the +scene burst upon us. + +Before us, at the distance of a few hundred yards, defended by a mound +and a ditch, rose the irregular and fortified dwelling of Anlaf. It +was wrapped in flames from top to basement, and even as we looked one +of the towers gave way, and fell upon the hall beneath, with hideous +din, in headlong ruin. + +Around the blazing pile stood some two or three hundred men, who +completely encircled it, and who had doubtless prevented the escape of +the inmates. We were evidently too late; the passive attitude of the +assailants showed that their bloody work was done. + +We learned afterwards that the domestics, who were English serfs, had +betrayed the place to the foe, while the Danish lords were revelling +in the great hall, and half drunk with wine. Surprised at the banquet, +they fell an easy prey, and were slaughtered almost without +resistance, after which the house was plundered of everything worth +carrying away, and then set on fire in every part. Further details we +could not gather. All was over when we arrived. + +Full of indignation, I and my brethren advanced straight upon the +group surrounding the sheriff, the crafty and cruel Edric Streorn, and +in the name of God denounced the cruelty and sin of which they had +been guilty. + +"Sir monk," was the reply, "are you traitor to your king that you thus +league yourself with his deadly enemies? All that is done this night +is done by his order." + +"God will avenge the deed," said I. "Ye have not fought like men, but +crept on like serpents, and slain those who, trusting to the faith of +Christians, dwelt blindly in our midst. And now, what can we say? How +can we hope to win our foes to God and Christ when we set at naught +his precepts and despise his example?" + +"Sir monk, I have not time to listen to a homily; keep it for next +Sunday, when I will try to attend. For the present--" + +Here he was interrupted by a loud cry which arose near us. + +"The wolf cub! the wolf cub! Slay him, and the work is complete." + +The cry, "Slay him! slay him!" was taken up by a dozen voices, when I +recognised Alfgar, who by some means had learned the danger of his +kinsfolk, and had come to share their fate. + +"Save him, sheriff!" I cried; "save him! He is a Christian. His mother +was English." + +And I rushed forward myself, and saw that the poor lad had already +been brought on his knees by more than one fell stroke. + +I held up the crucifix, which hung at my girdle, on high; I threw my +arm over his head, and abjured them under the name of Christ, and as +they feared the curse of the Church, to forbear. My brethren all aided +me. + +Sullenly they dropped their weapons, and the sheriff, coming forward, +seconded me, although in a very contemptuous manner. + +"Let him have the lad for his share of the night's work," he said. + +And so God gave me the poor lad's life. + +I had scarcely time to lay him on a sloping bank, where the light +which shone so luridly from his burning home might fall upon him, when +my brother Elfwyn appeared on the scene with a score of his men. + +He recognised us by our habits, and came and looked with me at the +orphan as he lay on the bank. The boy had received no serious wound, +but was exhausted, as much I thought by the violence of his emotions +as by his injuries. He was wet through; his clothes were torn with +brambles, for he had followed a straight path through six miles of +tangled forest, from Aescendune. + +They had unfortunately given him a bed in a chamber which looked +towards his home: he had chanced to wake, had looked from the window, +seen the flames, and had started thither at once, swimming the moat +when he could not cross the drawbridge--suspecting, doubtless, that he +was surrounded by treachery. + +I had already poured a rich cordial down his throat, and he was coming +to himself, my brother aiding me, when the sheriff, grand in his robe +and chain of office, came up. + +"Good day, or rather night, to you, Thane of Aescendune," said he to +Elfwyn; "we have had a fair night's work, and destroyed a big wasp's +nest; have you come for your share in the spoil?" + +"I only ask permission to preserve life; your work has been of an +opposite nature." + +"Yes, we have been obedient to our king, and avenged him this night of +his enemies, who are also, I should have thought, the enemies of the +Church." + +"God will not bless midnight murder," said I. + +"Murder! it is not murder to slay heathen Danes; had they been +Christians it would, of course, have been a different thing." + +"He hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth," I replied. + +"The good prior wishes me to talk theology. Unfortunately I have much +work to do; you will hear tidings soon of other Danish holds than +this. The land may rejoice, freed from her oppressors, and they who +blame our work will praise its results." + +"That remains to be seen," we both replied. + +We had, meanwhile, placed Alfgar, now partially recovered, on a +palfrey; and, supported by my brother and me, one on each side, we led +him homewards. Arrived at the castle, we gave him to the care of +Osred, the domestic physician. He looked at the patient, and +pronounced a favourable opinion, saying that with time and care all +would be well. But his left arm was broken, and he had received a +slight blow on the head. Fever was the leech's chief apprehension; if +he could keep that off, he said he doubted not all would be well. + +St. Andrew's Day.-- + +Our patient has lain some time in a state of delirium, whereat no one +could wonder. In his ravings he was incessantly acting over the scenes +through which he had passed during the dreadful night which followed +St. Brice's Day. But, thanks to a good constitution, today he has +taken a favourable turn, and seems likely to recover from a blow which +would have hopelessly shattered a frailer frame. + +I was seated by his couch when he seemed to awake out of sleep, and I +saw his bright dark eyes fixed inquiringly on me. + +"Where am I?" he inquired. + +"In the Hall of Aescendune; you have been very ill here." + +"Indeed! I have had such dreadful dreams!--but were they all dreams?" + +"Your mind has been wandering for days, my dear son. You must not talk +too much." + +He was silent, but evidently pondered more. + +December 25, Christmas Day, 1003. {iv}-- + +All the household has given itself up to joy and gladness; even poor +Alfgar, who has been released today from the confinement of his +chamber, has entered into the general joy, although ever and anon +relapsing into sadness. + +He knows all now: a day or two agone, when all the household had gone +to hunt in the woods, I was alone with him in his chamber, and thought +that at last I must discharge the painful task of telling him the +truth. + +"My boy," I said, "you have not lately inquired about your father." + +He looked at me very sadly. + +"I know all," he said, "that you would tell me. I have no father, no +mother, no kinsfolk." + +"Some of our people have told you then?" + +"No. At first the events of that fearful night seemed all like a +dream, and mingled themselves with the strange spectres which haunted +me in delirium; but afterwards the real separated itself from the +unreal, and I knew that my father and all his friends, my Danish +uncles amongst them, had perished with the whole household assembled +there that fatal day. I also remembered, but faintly, how I came here. +Did not you save me from the murderers?" + +I briefly explained the whole circumstances to him, adding such words +of consolation as I could think of, and telling him that he must +always look upon Aescendune as his home. At length he rose. He had not +replied. + +"Pardon me, my father," he said, "but may I retire to my chamber? I +wish to say much, but I am too weak now." + +"Meanwhile, you will not leave us?" + +"I have no other home." + +And he retired to his little chamber, from which he emerged no more +today. + +Feast of the Epiphany.-- + +This day my catechumen Alfgar was baptized in the priory church. It +seemed useless to delay longer, as he was fully prepared both +intellectually and spiritually, nay, has been so for some time, only +the tragic event which deprived him of his Danish kinsfolk had +distracted him for a time from spiritual things. Nay, had he not been +surrounded by real Christians and loving friends here at Aescendune, I +fear the Church would have lost him altogether. Such a commentary was +the massacre of St. Brice on the Christian doctrine of love and +forgiveness! He felt it grievously at first, but he was able at length +to distinguish between men that say they are of Christ, and are not, +and those who really set the example of that Lord and his Saints +before them. He is now one of ourselves; a sheep safe in the fold, and +the dying wish of his sainted mother is fulfilled. My brother intends +to adopt him as a son, and as his family is small, the proposal meets +my approbation. Bertric and Ethelgiva already love him as a brother. + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE DANES IN WESSEX. + + +Up to this period we have availed ourselves of extracts from the Diary +of Father Cuthbert; but the events of the following four years, as +recorded in that record, although full of interest for the antiquarian +or the lover of monastic lore, would possess scant interest for the +general reader, and have also little connection with the course of our +tale; therefore we will convey the information they contain, which +properly pertains to our subject, in few words, and those our own, +returning occasionally to the Diary. + +The melancholy history of the times may be compressed, from the +Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other sources, in a few paragraphs. + +Burning with revenge--for his own sister had fallen in the massacre on +St. Brice's night--Sweyn returned to England the following year +(1003). He landed in Devonshire, took Exeter by storm, and returned to +his ships laden with the spoil. Then he sailed eastward, landed again +and ravaged Dorset and Wiltshire. Here the ealdorman Elfric met him +with a large English army; but when he saw the foe he fell sick, or +feigned to be so; and then the old proverb came true, "When the +general fails, the army quails." So the English looked on with fear +and trembling, while Sweyn burnt Wilton and Salisbury, whence he +returned to the sea laden with wealth and stained with blood; yet was +not his revenge satisfied. + +The following year East Anglia suffered as Wessex had suffered the +year before. Ulfketyl, the ealdorman, gave them much money, hoping to +buy peace from the merciless pagans. The result was as he might have +expected. They took the money, laughing at his simplicity, and three +weeks afterwards pillaged Thetford, and burnt it. Then Ulfketyl, who +was a brave man, got an East Anglian army together, and fought the +Danes, giving them the uncommon chastisement of a defeat, so that they +escaped with difficulty to their ships. + +The following year a famine so severe visited England, that even the +Danes forebore to ravage so poor a land; but in 1006, the next year, +they overspread Wessex like locusts. Here the action of our tale is +resumed. + +During this interval of four years in Aescendune there had been peace. +Alfgar had been domesticated as one of the family, and was reported +well of in all the neighbourhood. Diligent in the discharge of his +religious duties, he was equally conspicuous in all warlike sports and +exercises and in the chase, while he afforded much help to Elfwyn the +thane in the management of the estate. In short, he had won his way to +the hearts of all the family; and perhaps the report that he was the +accepted suitor of the fair daughter of Aescendune, Ethelgiva, was not +without foundation. + +Ethelgiva was nearly his own age, and was a perfect type of that +beauty which has ever distinguished the women of the Anglo-Saxon race. +Her fair hair, untouched by artificial adornment, hung like a shower +of gold around her shoulders, while her eyes were of that delicate +blue which seemed to reflect the deep summer sky; but the sweet +pensive expression of her face was that which attracted nearly all who +knew her, and made her the object of general regard. + +Bertric was now about sixteen--a handsome, attractive boy, full of +life and fire, yet still possessing that devotion which Father +Cuthbert had remarked in him as a boy of twelve. As the heir to the +lands of Aescendune, and the only son, he would have been in much +danger of being spoiled had he been less genuine and manly than he +was. He and Alfgar were inseparable; they seemed to revive again the +traditional love of Nisus and Euryalus, or Orestes and Pylades. + +The famine, which had made Wessex too poor even to serve as a bait for +the Danes, had also afflicted Mercia, but not nearly so severely, and +the generosity of the family of Aescendune had been exerted to the +utmost on behalf of the sufferers. + +But the spring of the year 1006 bade fair to atone for the past. It +was bright and balmy. May was just such a month as the poets love to +sing, and June, rich in its promise of fruit, had passed when the +events we are about to relate occurred. At this time there was some +hope amongst the people that God had at length heard the petition +breathed so often in the penitential wail of the Litany--"From the +cruelty of our pagan enemies, good Lord, deliver us"--and they forgot +that the massacre on St. Brice's night yet cried for vengeance. + +It was a fine summer's evening towards the end of the month of July, +and the sun was slowly setting behind the wood-crowned range of hills +in the west, where the forest terminated the pastures of Aescendune; +the cattle were returning to their stalls; the last load of hay was +being transferred from the wain to the rick, and all things spoke of +the calm and rest of a sweet night, fragrant with the breath of +honeysuckle and wild brier, when nature herself seems to court +luxurious repose. + +The priory bell was tolling for compline, and thither many of the +people, released from their labour, were wending their way. The Thane +and his children, accompanied by Alfgar, paused on their homeward +road, and when the drowsy tinkling ceased, deep silence seemed to fall +over the landscape, while the night darkened--if darkness it could be +called when the moonbeams succeeded to the fiercer light of the +glowing orb of day. + +The Lady Hilda was at the window of her bower, slightly indisposed; +she had not gone down to the priory, but sat inhaling the rich +fragrance of the night as the gentle breeze wafted it from a thousand +flowers. Star after star peeped out; one sweet-voiced nightingale +began her song, trilling through the air; another enviously took up +the strain. Hilda thought the earth had never seemed so much like +heaven, and she imagined the tuneful birds sang their vesper song in +union with the monks, whose solemn and plaintive chant awoke the +echoes of the priory church. Her heart was full of solemn yet not sad +thoughts; peace, sweet peace, was the subject of her meditations, and +she thought with gratitude of Him who had hitherto preserved Mercia +from the foe, who had indeed for nearly two years ceased to molest +England. + +But as she gazed, her attention was attracted to a light on the +opposite hills. It was a fire of some kind, and rose up more and more +fiercely each moment. It was but a bonfire in appearance, yet it +marred both the landscape and the meditative rest of the gazer. + +The party from the hall were returning home from the church. + +"Father," said Bertric, "look at that light! Is it not singular? I +never saw one there before." + +But even while they looked another fire appeared in an opposite +direction, and Bertric saw his father turn grave. + +"It is the beacon fire," said he seriously. + +"Yes it is, and see it is answered from the hills to the north," said +Alfgar. + +Then they were silent, and Bertric felt his spirits sink with a vague +kind of apprehension. They said no more till they reached home, and +the whole family met, much later than usual, at the evening meal. + +"You are late," said Hilda to her lord. + +"We were returning home from the meadows on the water, whence the last +load of hay has been carried, and we tarried for the compline at the +priory. The bell sounded as we were passing." + +"Did you see the bonfire on the hills? It must be a large one." + +"I did; and it made me uneasy." + +"Why so, my Elfwyn?" + +"You forget that when the last invasion of our pagan foes was over, it +was agreed in the Witan that a set of beacons should be prepared, in +readiness to fire, on the tops of the hills, and that if the Danes +appeared again, they should be fired everywhere, in which case Mercia +was to hold herself in readiness to come to the aid of Wessex or East +Anglia, whichever the foe might be harrying." + +"But then that was eighteen months agone." + +"Still the beacon piles remain or did remain. I saw one at the summit +of the hills which the trackway crosses between our county and +Oxfordshire, when I last returned form Beranbyrig {v}, and I think +that one gives the present alarm. It means the Danes are again in the +land." + +"Now, God forbid!" said Hilda, with clasped hands. + +"Amen say we all; but I fear me such will be the case, unless some +poor fool has set the pile blazing for amusement. I fancied I saw it +answered away north and west. We will go and see anon." + +Supper being ended, Elfwyn rose to go out, and his example was +followed by Alfgar and Bertric, and several of the serfs, who from the +lower end of the ample board had heard with much alarm the previous +conversation. + +Ascending the hill, they directed their steps towards the highest +point, where an old watchtower had once been reared, composed of +timber, and overlooking the forest. + +From the summit the party gazed over three or four counties lying +dimly beneath them in the still moonlight. + +The mist, slowly rising from the river and forest, partially obscured +the immediate view, and hid the valley beneath in smoke-like wreaths; +but the distant hills rose above. There three large fires immediately +caught the eye, and confirmed the apprehensions. One was on the summit +of the range culminating on the spot now known as Edgehill, lying +about ten miles south; but on the west Malvern Heights had caught the +flame, and on the far north the Leicestershire hills sent forth their +reddening fire in more than one spot. + +"The country has taken the alarm," said the Thane. + +"What must we do, father?" + +"Summon and arm all our vassals, and await the sheriff's orders; the +king will communicate to us through him. We know not yet where the +danger is." + +"Perhaps it is only a false alarm," said Bertric. + +"God grant it; but I dare not hope as much." + +Alfgar was very silent. Well he might be. The enemy dreaded was his +own kith and kin; and although all his sympathies were with his +English friends, from whom he had received more kindness and love than +he had ever known elsewhere, yet he seemed to feel compromised by the +deeds of his kindred, whose savage cruelty no Christianity had as yet +softened. + +While they yet remained on the hill, fire after fire took up the tale +and reddened the horizon, until a score of those baleful bonfires were +in sight. Sighing deeply, Elfwyn led the way down the hill. + +"What have you seen?" was the inquiry of the Lady Hilda. + +"The hills flame with beacons." + +"Alas for poor Wessex!" + +"Alas for England! I have a foreboding that we shall not always be +exempt from the woes which affect our neighbours. Wessex scarcely +tempts the plunderer now; neither does East Anglia. Northumbria is +half Danish, and kites do not peck out kites' eyes. No; on Mercia, +poor Mercia, the blow must sooner or later fall." + +"And how to avert it?" + +"There is but one way; we must fight the foe in Wessex. Now we must +rest, to rise early, and await the sheriff's summons." + +It was silent, deep night; the whole house was buried in slumber, when +Alfgar dreamed a strange dream. He thought he stood amidst the ruins +of his home, the home of his father Anlaf, and that he heard steps +approaching from the forest. Soon a solitary figure emerged, and +searched anxiously amongst the fallen and blackened walls, uttering +one anxious ejaculation, "My son! I seek my son!" and Alfgar knew his +father. Their eyes met, recognition took place, and he awoke with such +a keen impression of his father's presence that he could not shake it +off for a long time. + +"Do the dead indeed revisit earth?" he said. "Nay, it was but a +dream." + +He went to the narrow window of his chamber, and looked out. The dawn +was already breaking in the east, and even as he gazed upon the +purpling skies the birds began their matin songs of praise, and the +valley awoke. The priory bell, beneath, by the riverside, now tolled +its summons to matins, and Alfgar arose and dressed. + +Never did the household of Aescendune begin the day without religious +observance, and the first thing that they did on this, as on every +day, was to repair to the priory church, where Father Cuthbert said +mass; after which he and his brother the Thane were closeted together +for a long time. + +The rest of the party returned home to break their fast, and conversed +about the warnings of the preceding night. + +While they were still at their meal, Bertric, who sat near a window, +cried out, "I see a horseman coming from Warwick." + +The panting steed was soon reined up in front of the drawbridge, which +was down as usual; and, passing beneath the arched gate, the rider +dismounted in the courtyard. + +All the household were soon assembled to hear his news. He bore a +sealed missive addressed to the Thane; but he gave the secret of the +night's alarm in a few words. + +"They are in Wessex, plundering, murdering, and burning. The forces +are all to meet at Dorchester as soon as man and horse can get there." + +"Where did they land?" + +"The great fleet came to Sandwich, and they are advancing westward as +fast as they can come." + +"Are they merciless as ever?" + +"Worse." + +"The fiends!" said Bertric bitterly; and then seeing Alfgar's saddened +face, said, "Oh, I beg pardon," which made matters worse. + +"You are not a Dane, Alfgar; you are a Christian; no one thinks of you +as one." + +Shortly Elfwyn returned from the priory, and received the messenger. +The sealed packet only contained a formal summons to the general +rendezvous of the forces, which was to take place at Dorchester, the +episcopal city of the great Midland diocese, and situated in a central +position, where Wessex and Mercia could easily unite the flower of +their youth. + +All the necessary preparations for departure were shortly made--the +theows and ceorls were collected together, beasts of burden selected +to carry the necessary baggage, the wallets filled with provisions. + +Before the third hour of the day all had been done which the simple +habits of the time required, and only the sorrowful leave takings +remained. Husbands had to bid the last goodbye--it might be the very +last--to their spouses, sons to their aged parents, fathers to their +children. And then there was hurrying to and fro, as of people only +half conscious of what they did; while the warriors strove to smile +and preserve their fortitude. + +But alas! there were no traditions of victory to encourage them; only +gloomy remembrances of defeat; and, but for the stern call of duty +which bade them, as men and Christians, go to the succour of their +brethren, the majority would have preferred to remain at home and +abide the worst, although they knew full well that submission utterly +failed to mitigate the ferocious cruelty of their oppressors, who slew +alike the innocent babe and the grey-haired grandsire. + +Alfgar had volunteered to share the perils of his adopted lord, but +was kindly told that it would be inexpedient. Indeed, by many he would +have been suspected of treachery. + +"Nay, Alfgar, remain at home; to you I commend the protection of my +home, of the Lady Hilda, and our children," said Elfwyn. + +Neither were Bertric's prayers to be allowed to share his father's +perils any better received. He was bidden to remain where he was, and +to be a good son to his mother--not that he had ever been otherwise. + +And so the last sad words of adieu were spoken as bravely as might be, +and the little troop, about fifty in number, departed from the hall. +They crossed the rude wooden bridge, and took the southern road. + +Their loved ones watched them until the last. They saw their warriors +cast many a longing lingering look behind, and then the woodland hid +them from sight; and a dread quiet came down upon Aescendune, as when +the air is still before the coming hurricane. + + + +CHAPTER V. THE TRACKS IN THE FOREST. + + +It was a long time before any news of the warriors reached home; for +in those days the agony of suspense had always to be endured in the +absence of posts and telegrams; but after a few weeks a special +messenger came from the army. He was one of the Aescendune people, and +his was the great privilege of embracing wife and family once more ere +returning to the perils of the field. + +His news was brief. The forces of Mercia had been placed under the +command of Edric, formerly the sheriff of the county in which +Aescendune lay, but long since returned to court, where his smooth +tongue gained him great wealth and high rank. Gifted with a subtle +genius and persuasive eloquence, he had obtained a complete ascendency +over the mind of the weak Ethelred, while he surpassed even that +treacherous monarch in perfidy and cruelty. + +Under his direction that unhappy king had again and again embrued his +hands in innocent blood. This very year they had both given a proof of +these tendencies worth recording. + +Edric had conceived a hatred against the Ealdorman Elfhelm, which he +carefully concealed. He invited that unfortunate lord to a banquet at +Shrewsbury, where he welcomed him as his intimate friend. On the third +or fourth day of the feast he took him to hunt in a wood where he had +prepared an ambuscade, and while all the rest were engaged in the +chase, the common hangman of Shrewsbury, one Godwin "port hund," or +the town's hound, bribed by Edric to commit the crime, sprang from +behind a bush, and foully assassinated the innocent ealdorman. Not to +be behind his favourite in cruelty, Ethelred caused the two sons of +the unfortunate Elfhelm to be brought to him at Corsham, near Bath, +where he was then residing, and he ordered their eyes to be put out. + +Such was the man to whom the destinies of the English army were now +confided, and such the king who ruled the unhappy land--cruel as he +was cowardly. + +Under such leaders it is no marvel that the messenger Ulric had no +good news to tell. The army had assembled, and had marched after the +Danes, whose policy for the present was to avoid a pitched battle, and +to destroy their enemies in detail. So they were continually harassing +the English forces, but avoiding every occasion of fair fight. Did the +English march to a town under the impression the Danes were about to +attack it, they found no foe, but heard the next day that some +miserable district at a distance had been cruelly ravaged. Did they +lie in ambush, the Danes took another road. Meanwhile the English +stragglers were repeatedly cut off; and did they despatch a small +force anywhere, it was sure to fall into an ambush, and be annihilated +by the pagans. + +Their repeated disasters weakened every man's heart, and gave rise to +a well-founded belief that there was treachery in their midst, and +that plans decided even in their secret councils were made known to +the Danes. What wonder, then, that they grew dispirited, and that +murmurs arose on all hands, while the army could scarcely keep +together for want of provisions? + +The war was at present raging in the southern counties, but ever and +anon the marauders made a forced march, and sacked some helpless town +remote from the seat of war. + +There was no prospect, Elfwyn said, of the campaign coming to an end; +the harvest must take care of itself or the women and children must +reap it. The men were all and more than all, wanted in Wessex. + +There were loving messages for wife and children, and Alfgar was not +forgotten. + +But there was one piece of information contained in the letter which +made Alfgar very uneasy, and reminded him of his dream. + +One Boom, a retainer of Elfwyn, had been taken prisoner by the Danes, +and by a very uncommon piece of good fortune had escaped with life +from his ferocious captors. He stated that he had been closely +examined concerning his home, character of the population, and their +means of defence, especially as to the events of St. Brice's night. +Although he strove to evade their questions, yet he incautiously, or +through fear of torture, revealed that he came from Aescendune. + +The name evoked immediate interest, and he was asked several further +questions about the destruction of Anlaf's house, and what became of +his son. He tried to baffle their inquiries, and thought he had +succeeded. + +These facts the Lady Hilda thought of sufficient importance to justify +their communication to Alfgar. They caused her some anxiety. + +The messenger returned to the army. Weeks passed away, and the women +and children, as well as the old men, were all busy in getting in the +bounteous harvest with which this year God had blessed the earth. +Alfgar and Bertric worked like the theows themselves, and slowly the +precious gifts were deposited in the garners. + +Alfgar had one source of consolation in the love he bore to Ethelgiva, +a love which was fully returned. Their troth had been pledged to each +other with the full consent of Elfwyn and the Lady Hilda; and on those +fine August nights, as they walked home after the labours in the +field, or the service in the priory, they forgot all the misery of the +land, and lived only for each other. + +Happy, happy days! How often they looked back to them afterwards! + +A second messenger came during harvest time from the camp, now on the +borders of Sussex. His news was no better than before. The Danes were +harassing the army on every side, but no decisive battle had been +fought. The enemy still seemed to know all the plans of the English +beforehand; and the booty they had gained was enormous, while a deep +distrust of their leaders was spreading amongst the defenders of the +soil. + +Elfwyn expressed his intention of seeking an early leave of absence +should events justify him in paying a short visit home. This delighted +the hearts of his wife and children, and they were happy in +anticipation. + +It was a fine day in September when the thankful people of Aescendune +were called to raise the song of "Harvest Home"--for the fruits of the +earth had indeed been safely gathered in ere the winter storms by the +hands of women and children. Such joy as befitted the absence of their +lords was theirs, and Alfgar and Bertric, not to waste the holiday, +agreed to have a day's hunting in the forest, rich with all the hues +of autumn, while the feast was preparing at home. + +The day was delightful. Two young theows, whose fathers had gone to +the war, but who had been left behind as being too young to share its +dangers, although in the flush of early youth, accompanied them, and +were soon loaded with the lighter game their masters had killed, while +a deer they had slain was hung in the trees, where a wolf could not +reach it, and where wayfarers were not likely to pass until the +sportsmen should return for their own. Onward they wandered until the +sun was declining, and then, having some few miles of forest to +thread, and the deer to send for, they turned on their homeward way. + +No thought of any danger was on their minds that day. The Danes were +too far distant. They were more than a hundred miles from the seat of +war, and a hundred miles in those days meant more than five hundred +would mean now. + +About the hour of five they rested and bathed in a tributary of the +Avon. Bertric's spirits were very high: he laughed and talked like one +whose naturally ardent temperament was stimulated by the bracing +atmosphere and the exercise. His active and handsome frame, bright +with all the attractions of youth, was equal to any amount of woodland +toil; and Alfgar, who was, as we have said, deeply attached to his +companion, felt proud of his younger brother, as he delighted to call +him, and Bertric loved to be called so. Alfgar trusted some day to +have a yet better claim to the title. + +Leaving the bathing place while there was yet time to reach home +before dark, they came at last to a ford across the stream, the only +spot where it could be safely forded, and as such known to the natives +of the vicinity; when their dogs began to whine, and to run with their +noses to the ground, as if they had found something unusual to attract +their attention. + +The two theows who were in front paused at the ford till their lords +came up, and then pointed to the ground with a terrified aspect. +Alfgar gazed and started, as did Bertric. There were the footmarks of +a large number of horses, evidently belonging to a body of horsemen +who must have crossed the ford since they passed it in the morning. + +"Can my father have returned unexpectedly?" said Bertric. "He said he +should get an early leave of absence." + +Alfgar did not answer for a moment. He was evidently very much +alarmed. + +"Look," he said, "at the footmarks, where some have dismounted." + +Bertric looked, and comprehended the terror of his companion. The +armed heels, which had sunk deeply into the mud, had left traces +utterly unlike the marks to which they were accustomed in similar +cases. + +The stories they had both heard of predatory bands of Danes who had +wandered far from their main body, and had sought gratification for +their lust for plunder and blood in remote spots where the inhabitants +dwelt in fancied security, came to their minds, and also the inquiries +which had been made in the Danish camp concerning their home and the +circumstances of St. Brice's fatal night. + +"Still, it may be our father and his men; they may have worn the +spoils of the enemy." + +The spoils generally went the other way, Alfgar thought, but did not +say. + +They crossed the ford in silence, intent only on reaching home. For a +long time they could follow the trail of the horsemen. + +"Who can lead them?" said Bertric, as they bounded onward. "They seem +to know the country." + +A sad and harrowing suspicion had filled Alfgar's mind, that these men +might be deputed to avenge the fiery death of his father--and to +avenge it, probably, on the very people who would have died to prevent +it. + +But the one desire uppermost in the minds of the whole party was to +hasten home. They feared every moment that they might see the bright +flame through the trees, or that the wind might bring them the tidings +that they were all too late--too late to save those whom they loved +from outrage and death. + +So they continued running, or walking when breath failed, at the +utmost speed they could command, and just as the sun set they arrived +at the crest of a hill, from which they could see the hall. + +"Thank God, it yet stands!" said they both. + +They descended, and plunged again into the wood which lay between them +and the goal; their theows, less perfectly trained, and perhaps less +ardent, fell slightly behind. They came upon the spot where they had +left the deer, not, however, with any intention of encumbering +themselves with the burden, as may be imagined. They looked, however, +at the tree where they had hung the carcase, and their eyes met each +other's. + +"It is gone," said Alfgar, with bated breath. + +They said no more, but continued their headlong course, until they had +reached an open glade by the side of a small stream. Here their dogs +became uneasy, and uttered low threatening growls. + +The lads paused, then advanced cautiously, looking before and around. + +Turning a corner round some thick underwood, they came suddenly upon a +sight which justified all their previous alarm. + +A huge fire burned by the side of a brook, over which was roasting the +deer which they had killed. The light shone out in the gathering +darkness, and illumined the recesses of the bushes around, and the +faces of a large body of men reclining on the bank, or engaged in the +task of sharpening their arms while their supper was roasting. A +momentary glance told that they were Danes, thus advancing under the +shadow of the forest, to take their foes unawares. Their horses were +picketed around, and sentinels were evidently posted, to give the +first alarm of any danger. + +Alas! they had seen the poor lads before they could withdraw into the +woods which fringed the path, and instantly prepared for pursuit. +Three or four jumped upon their horses, two or three more plunged into +the wood to cut off the retreat. It was all-important to their plans +that their presence should not be discovered; and these manoeuvres +were executed in perfect silence. + +They had not seen the theows behind, but fixed all their attention on +Bertric and Alfgar, who, on their part, comprehending their danger, +turned at right angles into the wood, and ran for life. The boys were +fleet of foot, and would probably have distanced their pursuers, but +an arrow from some ambush on their left hand pierced Alfgar's thigh, +wounding an important muscle, and he could run no farther. + +"Leave me, leave me, Bertric," he cried; "you are in more danger than +I." + +Poor Bertric would not leave his friend. He tried to assist him, and +turned a deaf ear to all solicitations for the few moments that they +could have availed. It was soon too late, and the heavy hands of the +Danish warriors were laid upon them. + +Shuddering at the contact, they yet yielded without useless and +unmanly resistance, and were at once led to the side of the fire. + +It was a scene Salvator Rosa would have loved to paint: the firelight +bringing out in strong relief the huge limbs of the oak trees, the +bronzed faces of those dread warriors, which no pitiful or tender +feelings ever seemed to visit. + +The theows had fortunately, being behind, taken the alarm in time, and +escaped unnoticed by the Danes. + +A large athletic warrior, but yet a man of some age, rose from his +seat by the fire, and scrutinised the captives. Alfgar knew him. It +was Sidroc, an old fellow warrior of his father, who had often visited +their home near Aescendune, and he was at no loss now to comprehend +the object of their enterprise. + +The warrior gazed upon him fixedly, and then spoke aloud. + +"Whence your name and lineage? Your face is not of the hue of the +faces of the children of the land. Speak! who art thou?" + +"Alfgar, the son of Anlaf." + +"Thor and Woden be praised! We had learned that you yet lived. Boy, +thou art the object of our search. Thou, the descendant of kings, +mayst not longer dwell with slaves. Thy father is at hand." + +"My FATHER!" + +"Yes. Didst thou not know that he escaped on St. Brice's night, +baffling his would-be assassins, and yet lives? He thought thee dead, +and only sought vengeance, when he heard from the captured prisoner of +Elfwyn's band that thou wert yet alive, and he is come to seek thee." + +Poor Alfgar! + + + +CHAPTER VI. THROUGH SUFFERING TO GLORY. + + +For a few minutes Alfgar sat like one stunned by the intelligence. Joy +and fear were strangely mingled together; well did he remember +Sidroc's frequent visits to his father's English home, and that the +warrior had more than once taken him in his infancy upon his knee and +sung to him war songs, telling him that he too must be a warrior some +day. + +He was roused from his reverie by the voice of Sidroc. + +"Who is your companion?" + +"Bertric, the son of Elfwyn of Aescendune; oh! you will see that no +wrong is done to him, will you not? his people saved my life." + +"That they might make you a Christian, knowing that your father would +sooner you had expired in the flames which consumed his house. + +"No," he added sternly; "he is doomed, he and his alike." + +Alfgar uttered a piteous cry, and appealed so earnestly that one might +have thought he would have moved a heart of stone, yet all in vain. + +"Does the eagle mourn over the death of the dove, or heed what pangs +the kid may suffer which writhes beneath its talons? If you are of the +race of warrior kings, act like one." + +While this was going on the warriors had been selecting some light and +sharp arrows and stringing their bows. + +"You have but one target, not two," cried Sidroc, "and scant time +wherein to use it." + +"Then you shall have two, for I will die with him," cried Alfgar, +comprehending at once that the death by which Saint Edmund of East +Anglia, and many a martyr since, had glorified God, was destined for +his companion, his brother. + +He snatched at a weapon, and rushed to the tree to which the victim +was bound, as if he would save him or perish in the attempt, but a +grasp like iron was thrown around him, and he struggled in vain. + +"Bind him, but do him no harm," said Sidroc, "and detain him where he +may see all, and strengthen his nerves for future occasions." + +Against the tree leaned Bertric, pale, yet strangely composed; the +bitterness of death seemed to be past, so composed were his youthful +features. The lips moved in earnest, fervent prayer. Once he glanced +with a look of affection, almost of pity, upon Alfgar, and when the +latter made the vain attempt to deliver him, he cried, "Do not grieve +for me, dear Alfgar, you cannot save me; you have done your best; pray +for me, that is all you can do." + +His patient courage, so unexpected in one so young, touched his +captors, as nothing else would have touched them, and Sidroc +approached him. + +"Bertric of Aescendune, thou mayst save thy life on one condition; +dost thou wish to live?" + +The thought of home and friends, of his mother, awoke in his breast, +and he replied: + +"Yes, for the sake of those who love me." + +"I know nought of them, neither must thou henceforth, but thou mayst +live if thou wilt join our nation and renounce thy Christianity; for +I, who have no son, and seek one, will even adopt thee." + +"I cannot deny my faith." + +"Dost thou not fear the pain, the sharp arrows with which they will +pierce thee?" + +"I fear them, but I fear eternal death more; God help me!" + +He repeated these last words over and over again, as if the struggle +were very sore. + +"Decide," said Sidroc. + +"I have decided--'In manus tuas, Domine,'" he breathed out, "'commendo +spiritum meum.'" + +"Let fly," cried the chieftain, "and let the obstinate young fool know +what death is." + +Arrow after arrow sped through the air and pierced the legs and arms +of the martyr boy, for it was the cruel amusement of the Danes to +avoid the vital parts in their living target. The frame of the +sufferer quivered with agony, while the lip seemed striving to form +the holy name, which has given strength to thousands of martyrs, +whether at the stake, beneath the ferocious beast, or in whatsoever +manner it has pleased God to make His strength perfect in weakness. + +Then Alfgar saw what was the marvellous power of Christianity, and +beheld a heroism utterly beyond the fierce excitement which nerved his +countrymen for their scenes of carnage and blood; not one of his pagan +friends could have suffered as calmly, as patiently--it seemed easier +for the sufferer to bear than for Alfgar to look on; once or twice the +latter gave audible vent to his emotions, but the look which Bertric +turned upon him spoke volumes, and he restrained himself lest he +should add to the pain of the victim. He knew not then that the +example before him would nerve him in moments of severest trial, then +fast approaching, that the one accusation urged against the +Christians, which he had felt most keenly, that of cowardice, was +answered in the weak yet valiant boy, who found strength in the name +of Christ to endure all for His sake; neither did his fierce +countrymen know that they were preparing a disappointment for the +pagan Anlaf, and for all those of his house and lineage. + +We cannot enter more closely into the secret which gave the martyr his +strength; we know not the visions of heavenly joy which may have +overpowered the present pain, we know not whether He who gave this +elaborate framework of flesh and blood, nerve and sinew, miraculously +suspended the full operation of His laws, as is elsewhere recorded of +other martyrs. Certain it is, that sooner than relinquish Him, +Bertric, like Saint Edmund nearly two centuries earlier, yielded his +life to the rage of the enemies of His Lord {vi}. + +The struggle was sharp but short, for Sidroc, to the surprise, and we +must add the disgust, of his compatriots, seized a bow and sent an +arrow straight to the heart. One nervous shudder passed through the +limbs, and all was still; they had killed the body, and had no more +that they could do. + +Alfgar gazed with reverence, as well as love, upon the calm features +from which the expression of pain had wholly passed; the light of the +fire, mingling strangely with that of the rising full moon, illumined +them in this their first day of nothingness, for the spirit which had +lived and dwelt in the tabernacle of clay had fled. + +Yet there was a wondrous beauty still lingering over them; they seemed +etherialised--as if an angel's smile had last stirred their lines, +when the spirit went forth, and left its imprint of wonder, joy, and +awe thereon; and Alfgar instinctively turned from them to the blue +depths of heaven above, where a few stars were visible, although +dimmed by the moonlight; and he seemed to trace his beloved Bertric's +passage to the realms of bliss. A light wind made music in the upper +branches of the oaks, and it seemed to him like the rush of angels' +wings. + +It had often been a sharp struggle to him, nursed in heroic times, +learned in battle songs, and of the very blood of the vikings, to +avoid the feeling that Christianity was not the religion of the brave; +now the difficulty was over, and who shall say that the first joy of +the martyr's soul was not the knowledge that his sufferings had +already borne such fruit to God! + +And not only was Alfgar reconciled to the reproach of the Cross, he +was also content to be an Englishman, if not in blood, at least in +affection and sympathy as in action. + +An hour passed away; the body remained affixed to the tree; the night +grew darker, and the hour approached when, under ordinary +circumstances, people retired to rest, and the band commenced its +preparations for carrying out the attack upon Aescendune. + +One hope Alfgar had, and that not a faint one: he knew that the two +theows had escaped unnoticed, and that they would give warning in time +for either defence or escape; their strength at Aescendune was but +slight for the former, all the able-bodied men were absent at the seat +of war. + +In the excitement of the last hour Alfgar had almost forgotten the +meeting before him, but now it occupied his thoughts fully, and he +began to expect the arrival of Anlaf each moment. He learned from the +conversation around him that he and a portion of the band had gone to +reconnoitre the position of the prey. + +While Sidroc was somewhat impatiently expecting the arrival of his +coadjutor, the cry of a raven was heard; it proved to be the signal +for the party to advance, and Sidroc and his men obeyed at once. + +But all their horses were left picketed by the stream, under the care +of three of the youngest warriors, and there Alfgar was left, safely +bound to a tree, for his captors could not trust him. + +He was strongly, but not cruelly bound; it evidently was not intended +to hurt him, only to secure him, and he could see that one of the +warriors was especially charged to guard him. + +Oh, how anxiously he strained the senses of sight and hearing for news +from the forest party! could he but have given one warning, he would +willingly have died like Bertric; all was silence--dread silence--the +sleeping woods around gave no token of their dread inmates. + +An hour and a half must have passed, when a bright light, increasing +each minute in intensity, appeared through the trees--then a loud and +startling cry arose--after which all was silence. + +The light seemed to increase in extent and to have two chief centres +of its brilliancy, and Alfgar guessed them to be the hall and the +priory. + +But no screams of distress or agony pierced the air from two hundred +women and children, and Alfgar hoped, oh, so earnestly! that they +might have escaped, warned in time by the theows. + +With this hope he was forced to rest content, as hour after hour +rolled by, and at length the footsteps of a returning party were +heard. + +It proved to be only a detachment of the fifty, sent to bring horses +to be loaded with the spoil. Alfgar listened intently to gain +information, and heard enough to show that the Danes had been +disappointed in some way, probably in their thirst for blood. + +"But how could they have known we were coming? We have marched through +a hundred miles of the most desolate country we could find, and have +come faster than any one could have carried the information." + +Such seemed to be the substance of the complaint of the warriors on +guard, from which Alfgar felt justified in believing in the escape of +the theows, and the consequent deliverance of the people, if not of +the place. + +Half the horses were taken to fetch the plunder, the other half left +where they were, for the spot was conveniently situated, and the +distance from Aescendune only about two miles. + +When they had gone, Alfgar heard his guards talking together. + +"What did they say, Hinguar?--not any blood?" + +"No, but plenty of plunder." + +"That is not enough, we want revenge. Odin and Thor will not know +their children; our spears should not be bright." + +"They must have been forewarned; Eric said that they had taken away a +great many things." + +"Why could we not trace them?" + +"Because there is no time; we are too far from the army and fleet; we +must return immediately, before the country takes the alarm; remember +we are only fifty." + +"Yes, but mounted upon the best horses, and the first warriors of our +family; we may take some plunder, and send a few Englishmen to +Niffelheim, before we get back; Anlaf would not let us stay to touch +anything as we came." + +"No; all his desire was to get to this Aescendune." + +"Then the lad whom we made into a target is the only victim, while our +kinsfolk's blood, shed near here, cries for vengeance." + +"He died bravely." + +"Yes, that is a Christian's kind of courage." + +"Well, perhaps some day they will learn to fight, and then--" + +"Their songs tell them of an Alfred who defeated our best warriors." + +"That was long ago; if you go back far enough these English were sea +kings before they were spoiled by becoming Christians." + +"Hush; I think I hear steps." + +"Who comes?" cried one of the guards, challenging a newcomer. + +"I, Anlaf, your chief." + +And the father of Alfgar appeared on the scene. + +Of average height, Anlaf possessed vast muscular powers; his sinews +stood out like tight cords, and his frame, although robust, was yet +such that there seemed no useless flesh about him. His hair was a deep +grizzled red, as also his beard, and his eyes were of the same tinge, +his nose somewhat aquiline, and his whole features, weatherworn as +they were, were those of one born to command, while they lacked the +sheer brutality of expression so conspicuous in some of his +subordinates. + +Ho addressed a few words to the guards, and they led him to Alfgar. + +"Cut him loose," he said. + +They did so. + +He looked mournfully yet sternly on the youth, who himself trembled +all over with emotion. + +"Alfgar," he said, "do I indeed see my son?" + +"You do, my father." + +"Follow me; nay, you are wounded--lean on my arm." + +Alfgar's thigh had, it will be remembered, been pierced by an arrow, +but the wound was not deep, and with his father's assistance he could +proceed. He knew where Anlaf led. At length they came upon a deserted +clearing, and there he paused until Alfgar, who could scarcely keep +up, stood by his side. + +Before them the moonbeams fell upon a dark charred mass of ruins in +the centre of the space. + +"This is the spot where father and son should meet again," said Anlaf +and he embraced his son. + + + +CHAPTER VII. FATHER AND SON. + + +"Here, my son," said the old warrior, as he pointed out the blackened +ruins, "here stood our home, where now the screech owl haunts, and the +wolf has its den. There, where the broken shaft yet remains, was the +chamber in which thou first sawest the light, and wherein thy mother +died there, where snake and toad have their home, was the great hall. +Surely the moonbeams fall more peacefully on the spot now all has been +avenged, and the halls of the murderers have fallen in their turn. But +how didst thou escape?" + +"The folk of Aescendune saved me, father." + +"But how; from the burning pile?" + +"Nay. I had spent the previous day with them, and returned home only +in time to find the place in flames. The enemy seized me, and would +have slain me, but Elfwyn and his brother, Father Cuthbert, delivered +me; and now thou hast slain their Bertric, and burnt both hall and +priory." + +"Think not that I owe them gratitude for aught they have done. They +tampered with thy faith, I now apprehend, even before the night of St. +Brice, and perhaps drew from thee the knowledge which enabled them to +surprise so large a party in my house. But all this was to make thee +abandon the gods of thy fathers, and to inflict the worst injury they +could upon a warrior. I trust they have failed!" + +"Father, I am a Christian!" + +"Say not that again, boy, if thou would not have me kill thee." + +"I can but say it, father. In all that touches not my faith and duty +as a Christian, I am bound to love, honour, and obey you. But our +religion forbids me to nourish revenge." + +"Of what religion, pray, were they who would have slain thy father on +St. Brice's night?" + +Alfgar hung his head. + +"When Christians practise themselves what they teach, then we will +heed their pretensions, but not till then. Their religion is but a +cloak for their cowardice, and they put it aside as a man throws away +a useless garment when they have the chance of slaying their foes +without danger." + +"There are good and bad Christians, father." + +"Commend me to the bad ones then. Do not speak to me of a religion +which makes men cowards and slaves. These English were warriors once, +till the Pope and his bishops converted them, and now what are they? +cruel and treacherous as ever, only without the courage of men." + +Alfgar felt the injustice of all this, and with the example of Bertric +in his mind, he cared nor for the accusation of cowardice. + +"Here, then, my boy, on this spot where thou wert once cradled, +renounce all these Christian follies and superstitions, and thou shalt +go back with me to the camp of King Sweyn, where thou shalt be +received as the descendant of warrior kings, and shalt forget that +thou, the falcon, wert ever the inmate of the dovecote." + +There was a time when this temptation would have been almost +irresistible, but that time was over, and after one earnest prayer for +strength from above, Alfgar replied. + +"My father, if you claim my obedience, I must even go with you to your +people, but it will be to my death. I have said I am a Christian." + +"And dost thou think I have found thee--thee, my only son--to part +with thee again so easily? nay, thou art and shalt be mine, and, if +not mine, then thou shalt be the grave's; for either thou shalt live +as thy ancestors have lived, a warrior and a hero, or the earth shall +cover thee and my disgrace together." + +"Father, I can die." + +"Thou dost not fear death then?" + +"Thou hast left one behind thee--one who did not fear to die the +martyr's death." + +"Dost thou mean Bertric of Aescendune?" + +"I do; they slew him, cruelly, although neither he nor his have ever +dealt cruelly with thy people." + +"Thy people, why not our people? art thou ashamed of thy kindred?" + +"Of their cruelty and treachery." + +Anlaf laughed aloud. + +"Cruelty and treachery indeed! and canst thou say that here? who set +the example in this place? + +"Come boy, come," he continued, "I will lead thee to those who shall +soon talk or drive all this Christian nonsense out of your young head; +meanwhile, do not disgrace yourself and me by attempting to escape." + +Alfgar sighed, and accompanied his father, so inopportunely found, +back to the camp. + +Arrived there, the word was given at once to mount, and the whole +party started on the return journey to the south. Alfgar cast a +longing glance behind at the spot where he knew all that was mortal of +poor Bertric was left, to be, so far as the Danes cared, the prey of +the wolf or the kite; but the young Dane knew well that, if any were +yet alive at Aescendune, the hallowed temple of the martyr would not +want its due honour. + +All his heart was with his English friends; he felt that in going to +the Danish camp he was really going to his death, for although within +a few years the conversion of the Northmen took place, yet at this +period their hatred of Christianity was simply ferocious, and his +father belonged to the old heathen conservatives of his day, as did +all his kinsfolk. + +"O Aescendune, once happy Aescendune!" was the thought, the bitter +thought, as each hour placed a larger barrier of space between Alfgar +and his late home; all its happy memories came freshly back upon him, +and particularly the thought of Ethelgiva, his betrothed, from whom he +was so ruthlessly torn, torn as if he left part of himself behind. + +They reached the confines of the forest by daybreak. Before them +stretched an open country, where wild heaths alternated with +cornfields, and wooded hills were of frequent occurrence upon the +landscape. + +All at once a signal of caution was given, and the whole party retired +again within the cover of the wood, where they could see, for they +were on an eminence, the whole district before them without being +seen. + +A body of fifty English soldiers was passing on the road, which lay at +the distance of a few hundred yards only, travelling at a considerable +speed, as if they anticipated the emergency of Aescendune, and hurried +to the rescue. Alfgar knew them at once; they were Elfwyn and his +troops; oh, if they had but arrived earlier, thought he, and started +to see how completely English his sympathies were. + +The Danes found it hard to repress their laughter at the thought of +the reception which awaited the travellers at home; they had no idea +of spoiling it by attacking them, although the numbers were about +equal; besides, they had got all the plunder and spoil, and a battle +would only endanger the success already obtained. So they lay in cover +until the last straggler had disappeared in the direction of +Aescendune, and then continued their course, with many a jest at the +expense of the English. + +Anlaf watched his son; he knew what his feelings were, and his +thoughts were bitter as he felt that, could Alfgar have been +consulted, he would be in that English band. + +That night they arrived on the banks of the Thames, near Reading, the +border of Mercia. Their passage had been quite unopposed; all the +fighting men were in Wessex; and those who had seen the Danish party +had fled with terror--they had not stopped long to plunder, but had +speared one or two unfortunate victims who fell in their way, a sight +which sickened Alfgar. + +The following day they continued their march to the southeast, +sometimes hiding in woods, for the country was mainly occupied by +Ethelred's troops; sometimes pursued by larger bodies of horsemen, but +always successful in distancing them, until, at the approach of +eventide, they came in sight of the entrenched camp of the northern +host. The spot was on the northern borders of the ancient kingdom of +Sussex--the land of the Saxon Ella--a spot marvelously favoured by +nature, occupying the summit of a low hill, which commanded a wide +prospect on all sides, while itself almost impregnable when fortified, +as it was, by ditches and mounds, dug in the usual Danish fashion, for +the Danes owed much of their success to their skill in fortification. + +Beautiful in time of peace was the country around, but its desolation +was sufficient to sicken the heart. Blackened ruins lay on every side +for miles; nay, they had disfigured the whole day's journey. Scarcely +a town or hall, unless strongly fortified, had they seen standing, and +this for nearly fifty miles. + +Within this fortified enclosure the Northmen had collected abundance +of spoil, and there they detained many prisoners, whom they held to +ransom, putting them to death with the utmost cruelty if the money +were not forthcoming at the stipulated time. + +When the party of Anlaf arrived at the northern gate, crossing the +summit of the ascent on that side, they found it open and almost +unguarded, so slight was the danger from the dispirited English--now +too accustomed to the idea of a foe in the heart of the land. + +Entering, they beheld a strange scene: huts rudely constructed of the +branches of trees, intermingled sparingly with tents, were disposed at +regular intervals. In the centre, where the main streets crossed, was +the royal tent, with the raven banner floating therefrom; and there, +at that moment, was the savage tyrant Sweyn in person. + +Sweyn was the son of Harold Bluetooth, who reigned in Denmark fifty +years, from A.D. 935-985, and who in his old age became a Christian +and strove to convert his subjects. But the ferocious warriors +rebelled against him, and were headed by his unnatural son, Sweyn, +who, although baptized, renounced Christianity, and fought to restore +the bloodstained worship so congenial to the heart of a sea king. +Defeated in battle, the unhappy father fled for his life, and fled in +vain, for he was either murdered or died of his wounds. + +Sweyn then became king, restored idolatry, and gratified to the full +the fell instincts of his savage followers. His great object was now +not merely to plunder, but to conquer England, and all his campaigns +were so directed as to reduce province after province. Sussex and Kent +were now wholly powerless; East Anglia was little better; Wessex +trembled, for every inlet was a path for the robbers, and the turn of +Mercia drew near. + +Sweyn stood at the door of his tent, leaning upon his ponderous +battle-axe; around him were two or three warriors, whose grey hairs +had not softened the look of ferocity so plainly stamped upon their +faces. + +The king was not in armour, but wore a kind of close-fitting tunic, +descending to the knees, and leggings leaving the legs bare above the +knees. A rich mantle was thrown over the tunic, for it was cold. + +By his side, similarly dressed, stood his son, the hopeful Canute, the +future King of England, then only in his twelfth year, but already +showing himself a true cub of the old tiger in fierceness and valour, +yet not devoid of nobler and gentler virtues, as he afterwards showed. + +"Welcome, Anlaf," cried Sweyn, as he saw the party arrive; "welcome, +hast thou enjoyed thy holiday in Mercia?" + +"Bravely, my king, the ravens have tasted flesh." + +"No need to tell me that; thy revenge, then, is accomplished. Hast +thou found thy son?" + +"He is with me, my lord, but their saints must have warned the English +of our approach. We burnt the place but the people were not in it. +Their cries would have been music in our ears." + +"Perhaps St. Brice told them you were coming; the English have a +veneration for him," said Sweyn, bitterly. + +They both laughed a bitter laugh, for both had suffered by the +massacre in the persons of kinsfolks. + +"But is this young springal thy long-lost son? he is like thee, even +as a tame falcon is like, and yet unlike, the free wild bird." + +"He is my son;" and Anlaf introduced Alfgar. + +The youth made his salutations, not ungracefully, yet with an air of +reserve which the king noticed. + +"I thought St. Brice had got him long ago, and feared thou wert on a +wild-goose chase." + +"It is a long tale to tell now, my liege." + +"Have they Christianised him?" said the king, with a sly look. + +"He will soon lose that," replied Anlaf. + +"Yes," said the king; "we know a way of curing the folly," when, even +as he spoke, a spasm, as of mental agony, passed over him, and he +shook like an aspen, but it was gone in a minute. + +Was it the fate of his father which was thus avenged? + +Every one looked aside and pretended not to notice the fact, and +Anlaf, having made his homage, retired, leading Alfgar. + +"You see, my son," commenced the old warrior, as he led his recovered +boy to his own quarters, "how useless it would be for you to struggle +against the tide, such a tide as no swimmer could breast." + +"If he could not swim, it would be easy to drown," said Alfgar, and +there was such a despairing utterance in his tone, that his father was +checked. + +The quarters of Anlaf were in the northwestern angle of the camp; they +consisted of huts hastily constructed from the material which the +neighbouring woods supplied, and one or two tents, the best of which, +stolen property, appertained to the chieftain. + +Over a wide extent of desolated land, beautiful in its general +outline, where the eye could not penetrate to details, looked the +prospect. The round gently-swelling Sussex downs rose on the southern +horizon, guarding the sea, while around them were once cultivated +fields which the foe had reaped, while quick streams wound in between +the gentle elevations, crowned with wood, and here and there the mere +spread its lake-like form. The sun was now sinking behind the huge +rounded forms of some chalk hills in the west, when the camp became +gradually illuminated by the light of numberless fires, whereat oxen +were roasted whole, and partridges and hares by the dozen, for the +Danes were voracious in their appetites. + +In Anlaf's quarters one huge fire blazed for all. Alfgar seemed the +only silent member of the company; the warriors related their +successes, and boasted of their exploits, and the bards sang their +ferocious ditties, until all were tired, and the quiet moon looked +down upon the sleeping camp. + +O the contrast--the calm passionless aspect of the heaven and the +human pandemonium beneath. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + +St. Matthew's Day, 1006.-- + +It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write the events of +the last few days. They have been so calamitous, so unexpected. We +have heard of such things afar off, we had prayed for our brethren in +Wessex, exposed to similar calamities, and now they have fallen upon +us personally. May God, who alone is sufficient for these things, give +us strength to bear all for His name's sake. + +It was a fortnight ago, and our harvest was all gathered in. God had +blessed our increase, and our garners were full with all manner of +store; women and children had mainly been the reapers, but the Lady +Hilda herself had been present amongst them, and so had her daughter, +my niece, Ethelgiva, even sometimes labouring with their own hands. + +Alfgar and Bertric had worked like common serfs, and did themselves +honour thereby, for true nobility lies not in being idle, save in the +field of battle, as the bloody Northmen vainly think. + +Well, the work was over, and we had a mass of thanksgiving, after +which Bertric and Alfgar went hunting in the forest. In the evening +there was a harvest home; it was of course a strange one without the +men, who were afar off, fighting for their country, but we tried to be +thankful for mercies vouchsafed, and I and Father Adhelm were there to +bless the food. + +We found a large party assembled--as many, indeed, as the hall would +contain. My sister, the Lady Hilda, was somewhat uneasy, because +Alfgar and Bertric were not yet back, but still not much alarmed, for +what harm could befall such lads in the woods? So I blessed the food +and the feast commenced. + +Eating and drinking were over, and the old gleeman, striking his harp, +was beginning a song of harvest home, when in rushed the two young +theows who had gone out with Alfgar and Bertric, with the startling +intelligence that there was a band of Northmen lurking in the woods, +who had seized their young lords, and were, they thought, bent on +attacking the place. + +Words of mine cannot paint the terror and dismay the tidings caused; +the scene of distress and fear is yet before my eyes as I write. One +woman rose superior to fear--the Lady Hilda; aided by her, I stilled +the tumult, and we took hasty counsel together. + +Nothing could be done for the poor lads, and the preservation of the +lives of the whole population depended upon our promptitude. It was +wonderful to see how the mother stifled her agony in her own breast, +while she strove to remember that, in the absence of her lord, she was +in charge of the safety of all her people, and the mother of all. I +had already interrogated the two churls; their story was but too +evidently true; and I learned that they had discovered the footmarks +of the Northmen in crossing a ford that afterwards, while returning +hastily home, they stumbled upon them, and Alfgar and Bertric were +taken. The party were evidently awaiting the approach of night, and +were doubtless bent on attacking the castle and village. + +Fifty men! and how could we resist them? The poor old gleemen +expressed their readiness to fight for the old hall, and so did even +the boys; but these accursed pagans are the very spawn of the evil +one, and fight like fiends, whom they equal in skill, so that I saw at +once there was no chance in resistance. + +But there was safety in retreat and flight, and under our +circumstances no dishonour in so seeking it. So I saw the path clear +at once, and not a minute too soon. + +In the depths of the forest, about ten miles from Aescendune, in the +opposite direction to that in which the enemy lay, is a solitary +valley, surrounded by such morasses and quagmires that only those who +know the paths could safely journey thither. But the valley is +fertile, and my father years ago built a substantial farm house with +outbuildings there, which has ever since been occupied by our chief +forester. + +Thither I saw at once the whole party must retreat, alike from the +hall, the priory, and the village. In such a way only could they hope +to escape the wretches to whom bloodshed and cruelty are pastimes. + +Yet I was deeply puzzled to understand what motive could have brought +a war party so far, and why they had passed so many flourishing homes +to come to poor secluded Aescendune. Surely, thought I, there is some +great mystery hidden in this, which time may perhaps show. + +In a brief space of time, shorter, indeed, than under other +circumstances we should have conceived possible, everything was +prepared; horses were loaded with provisions and all things necessary +for immediate use. Old men and children were also mounted, who could +not otherwise travel, and we started. It was indeed painful to part +from home, and to leave all we had to the mercy of the Danes, but +"skin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life." + +So soon as I saw the party safely away from the town, I left them +under the guidance of some ancient foresters, who knew every woodland +path, and hastened to my brethren, who had been duly forewarned, and +were awaiting my arrival. I found them prepared for immediate +departure. We had a large flat-bottomed boat on the river which washes +the monastery garden; they had placed all the sacred vessels and the +treasure of the priory therein, and had sent the novices and lay +brethren to seek their safety with the rest in the woods, only the +brethren, properly so called, remaining. + +And now, ready for immediate flight, we went forth with calm +composure, which God sent us. Then, upon the brink of the stream, we +stopped and listened. No sound broke the dread silence of the night, +and we stood in perfect quiet for some minutes. + +At last we heard the sound of muffled footsteps, as of those who sneak +about on the devil's work, approaching the priory, and we pushed the +boat into the stream. The moon had not yet arisen; it was quite dark. +It was the one boat near. + +We knew well what they were doing--surrounding the priory to prevent +any chance of escape, supposing, of course, that their victims would +be within. This accomplished, they knocked loudly at the doors, and +receiving no answer, raised their fierce battle cry, and looked, +happily in vain, for the pallid faces they expected to see at windows +or loopholes. Then they proceeded to break the doors down with their +battle-axes. A similar din, beginning a moment before, told us that +the hall and the priory were simultaneously attacked. + +We had heard enough. We let the boat drop down the stream till we +reached a small island, where we waited to see the end, praising the +Lord who had not delivered us over for a prey unto their teeth. + +While we waited in suspense, we saw a fierce light flash forth from +the hall, and perceived that, having plundered it of all that was +portable, they had fired it in many places at once; and while we +looked, we saw our own once happy home share the same fate, and +emulate the hall in sending forth its volume of ruddy flame towards +the skies. + +This we had waited for, and we held council, and decided that, having +no home, the brethren should depart with the sacred vessels and +treasure to the mother house at Abingdon, while I remained, as also +Father Adhelm, to minister to our afflicted flock in the woods as best +we might. + +Alas for our poor priory! the foundation of Offa and Ella, once the +light of the neighbourhood! but now our candlestick is removed out of +its place. + +Our minds being made up as to the course to be pursued, we rowed +quietly down the stream, fearing pursuit. + +Down the stream about two hours' journey an old Roman road, leading +southward, crossed the river, where a bridge had once existed, long +since swept away by time, but there was a tolerable ford quite safe, +save in winter floods. + +Hard by stood a hostelry, and thither we journeyed in our +heavily-laden bark. + +The light of the conflagration grew dimmer as we rowed down the +stream, but it still lighted up the heavens with an angry glare. It +was yet deep night when we drew near the inn, and we lay awhile on our +oars, to listen for signs of pursuit; but there was nought to disturb +the dead silence of the night, so we proceeded. + +All the household were buried in sleep when we knocked at the doors--a +proof that they had not observed the redness in the skies, or little +sleep, I trow, would they have taken. + +We were so exhausted with the fatigues and excitement of the enemy, +that we hailed this lonely habitation as a little Zoar. It showed how +safe people were feeling in Mercia, that we could not wake the good +people for a long time, and we were getting impatient, for they seemed +like the seven holy sleepers of Ephesus, awaiting the cessation of +persecution. I wish we could all sleep like those Ephesians, and awake +in better days. + +But their dogs were awake, and saluted us with a vociferous barking, +and would not allow us to land until they were driven away by the oars +which our theows used with much effect upon their hides. + +At last a window was thrown open above. + +"Who are you who travel at this time of night?" said a voice, which +tried to be firm. + +"The poor brethren of St. Benedict from Aescendune." + +"Now the saints help thy lying tongue," thus irreverently he spoke, +"do holy men travel like robbers in dead of night?" + +"Look, my brother, over the tree tops, and you may learn the cause of +our wanderings; dost thou not even yet see the angry glare in the +heavens? It is from Aescendune; the Danes have burned it." + +"Good lack, poor Aescendune! and the people?" + +"Are all safe, we trust, in body." + +"God be praised!" and the host hurried down and admitted us. + +His wife hasted to light a good fire, and to prepare us a breakfast; +in short, we had fallen amongst the faithful, and we met great +hospitality, for which may God repay the worthy host, Goodman Wiglaf. + +We were so fatigued in mind and body that we no sooner lay down than +we fell asleep, and slept until the sun was high in the heavens. + +Wiglaf watched the river jealously to see that no foe pursued; but, as +we afterwards learned, they had other things to think of. + +The road which ran across the river at this spot continued southward +into Wessex, and, so far as we could learn, was free from danger, so I +determined to send my brethren to Abingdon by easy stages along its +course, while I turned back with Father Adhelm, to share the +misfortunes of my kindred and lay brethren in the woods. So we +embraced each other and parted; and we two watched, with loving +hearts, until the glades of the forest hid our brethren, dear to us in +the Lord, from our sight, dimmed as were our eyes with tears. Then we +plucked up our courage, and turned our thoughts to those others, dear +and near to us, who had taken to the woods, where it was again our +duty to seek them. + +Wiglaf rowed us back in a light skiff up the stream, not without much +protest, for he feared the Danes would surely catch us, and at every +bend of the stream he crept round, as if he expected to see a fleet of +boats sweep towards us, while he kept in the middle, as if dreading an +arrow from every bush. At length we reached the immediate +neighbourhood, over which the smoke still hung like a black pall. Here +Father Adhelm and I landed, and, giving Wiglaf our blessing, bade him +depart in peace, which the good soul flatly refused to do until +assured of our safety. + +So, hiding the boat behind some bushes, we crept forward together, +till, getting through the underwood, we came to the edge of the +covert. + +Before us lay the fated village, one mass of deformed and blackened +ruins, from which the dark smoke ceaselessly arose, and made the air +painful to breathe. + +But there was no sign of life; no living thing seemed to breathe +there; the place seemed abandoned for ever. It was a dull day, dull as +the gloom which was upon our spirits; the very heavens seemed to have +put on funeral attire, and the chilly wind which swept over the scene +seemed quite at home. + +We emerged cautiously from our cover, and soon stood where, a few days +before, the priory had risen, beautiful before God; it was but a huge +pile of blackened timber and stone; and even more conspicuous above +all other ruins, by the black smoke it still sent forth, was that +which had been the hall. + +While we stood and pondered, Wiglaf suddenly started. + +"I hear the tramp of men," he said. + +Then I listened, and distinctly heard the footfall of men and horses. +We paused; it drew nearer. We were on the point of taking to the woods +again, when I thought I caught the sound of the word of command in the +English tongue, and the voice seemed familiar. + +We advanced still cautiously amongst the ruins, until we saw fifty or +sixty horsemen cross the wooden bridge which the Danes had left +uninjured, and advance with horror-stricken faces. + +They were my brother and his men. + +I recognised Elfwyn amongst them. I rushed up to him, and our tears +mingled together. + +"They are safe, are safe," I cried. + +"Thank God!" broke from many an overcharged heart. + +"But where are they? where are they?" + +"Safe at the forest farm, protected by brake and morass; and now tell +me, how came you here?" + +Tidings arrived at headquarters that a small party of Danes were +making an incursion into Mercia, riding as rapidly as they could, and +I obtained Edric Streorn's leave to pursue them, with great difficulty +I can tell you, and he would only allow me then to take fifty men. + +"He affected to disbelieve the intelligence, and said sarcastically +that the safety of Wessex could not be neglected for Aescendune. The +Northmen would never hurt a place which had so distinguished itself on +St. Brice's day." + +Here he sighed heavily. + +"Elfwyn," I said, "my brother, we must not be ungrateful to God. Here +are ruins indeed, but they cover no dead bodies; all have escaped." + +"No, Cuthbert, not all." + +I was silent, for I thought of Bertric. + +"We have buried him, Cuthbert, in God's peace, in the place he +hallowed by his blood." + +I saw the tears stream down his manly cheeks. My voice grew so hoarse, +somehow, that I could not ask a question. + +"I will tell you all we have seen by and by, not now. I could not bear +it;" and he covered his face with his hands. + +"How did he die?" I stammered at last. + +"Like St. Edmund." + +I asked no more, but I hope the martyr will forgive me the tears I +shed. I know I ought to rejoice that he has gained his crown, but I +cannot yet. I shall be able some day. + +"How could they find the path through the woods, Cuthbert?" asked my +brother; "how did they know the fords?" + +The same question had occurred to me. + +Then the words of the churl Beorn, who had been taken prisoner, as the +messenger had told us, came fresh to my mind. + +"Elfwyn," said I, "do you remember Beorn?" + +He looked earnestly at me. + +"Did he not say that his captors asked particularly about Aescendune, +and that the name of Anlaf was mentioned, and inquiries made +concerning Alfgar?" + +"He did." + +"It is the curse of St. Brice's night." + +"Fallen upon the innocent." + +"Leave it to God," said I. + +"I will try; let us go to my people." + +And we arose and took the path through the woods, sorrowing for the +news we must carry, and still uncertain about the fate of Alfgar. + + + +CHAPTER IX. THE CAMP OF THE DANES. + + +It was the noontide heat, and two Danish warriors reclined under the +shadow of an ancient beech, hard by the entrenched camp of the Danes, +a few days after the arrival of Alfgar therein. Their spears lay idly +on the grass, as if there were no foe to dread, and the land were +their own; they seemed deeply engrossed in conversation. + +"Well, Anlaf, and when is your son going to give up his Christianity?" + +"You are in a great hurry, Sidroc." + +"Nay, all the camp inquires." + +"They must wait." + +"How long?" + +"I cannot tell," said Anlaf, shifting uneasily about; "he is my only +son, the heir of a long line of warrior princes." + +"To whom his life is a disgrace." + +"Not altogether; he is brave." + +"Would be, you mean, were he not a Christian." + +"No, he is, or he would not dare cross my path as he does; death, with +which I have often threatened him, does not seem to have much terror +for him." + +"Perhaps he does not know how terrible death can be made. Has he ever +heard of the rista oern {vii} (spread eagle)?" + +"I should not value him much if I won him by fear. I must try other +modes." + +"Only do not tarry; Sweyn himself inquires how long his obstinacy is +to be endured." + +"He must not expect that every conversion can be accomplished with as +much rapidity as his own in early days." + +"Better not refer to that." + +"Why! he was baptized himself." + +"He would slay any one who reminded him of it." + +"Yes; the curse of Harold Bluetooth, they say, was not a comfortable +thing to get." + +"The father was a Christian in that case, and the son returned to the +gods of his ancestors; in your case it is the opposite: the first +might be permitted, the last never." + +"You would not talk in that way if he were your own son." + +"Should I not? listen; I had a son, a noble, gallant boy of +fifteen--all fire and spirit--do you know how he died?" + +"It was before we knew each other." + +"Then I will tell you. We had been ravaging the Frankish coasts, and +the lad got a wound in his shoulder; we carried him home, for he had +fought like a wolf, and the leeches tried to cure him, but it was all +in vain; they said he would never be fit to go to battle again. Poor +Sigard! he could not bear that, and he said one day when I was trying +to cheer him, 'No, father, I shall never be able to strike a good +downright blow again, and I cannot live until I die a cow's death in +my bed; I will die as my fathers have died before me when they could +no longer fight.' I saw what he meant, but I did not like the thought, +and I tried to change the subject, but he returned to it again and +again, until at last he persuaded me to let him have his way. So we +took one of our ships, stuffed it full with things that would burn +easily, made a funereal pile on the deck, and laid him thereon in +state, with a mantle fit for a king thrown over him. Then we bade him +goodbye and a happy journey to Valhalla; he was as cheerful as if he +were going to his bridal; we tried to appear as if we were too, but it +tore my heart all the same. Then we applied the torch and cut the +cable; the wind blew fair, the bark stood out to sea. She had not got +half-a-mile from shore when the flames burst out from every crevice of +the hold; we saw them surround the pile where he lay passive; he did +not move so far as we could see, and after that all was hidden from +our sight in flame and smoke." + +The old warrior was silent, and, in spite of his stoicism, Anlaf +thought a tear stood in his eye. + +"So don't tell me I could not give up an only son," added Sidroc. + +Anlaf made no reply, but only sighed--a sign of weakness he strove to +repress the moment he betrayed it. + +They walked back together to the camp, and there they parted. Anlaf +repaired at once to his tent, and found Alfgar seated therein. + +"The king wishes to know when you will be enrolled amongst his +followers." + +The lad looked up sadly, yet firmly; the expression of his face, +whereon filial awe contended with yet higher feelings of duty, was +very touching. Anlaf felt it, and in his heart respected his son, +while sometimes he felt furious at his disobedience. + +"Father, it is useless, you should not have brought me here, I shall +live and die a Christian." + +"At all events, Alfgar, you should give more attention to all we have +said to you, and more respect to the defenders of the old belief in +which your ancestors were all content to die. What do you suppose has +become of them?" + +If Alfgar had been a modern Christian, he might have said, +conscientiously enough, that he believed they would be judged by their +light, but no such compromise in belief was possible then. + +"There is no salvation save in the Church," he said, sorrowfully +enough. + +"Then where are they--in hell?" + +Alfgar was silent. + +"What was good enough for them is good enough for me, and for that +matter for you, too. I should be more comfortable there with them than +with your saints and monks; at all events, I will take my chance with +my forefathers, cannot you do the same?" + +"They did not know all I do." + +"All fudge and priestly pratings, begotten of idleness and dreams. +Valhalla and Niffelheim are much more reasonable; at all events they +are parts of a creed which has made its followers the masters of the +world." + +"This world." + +"The next may take its chance, if there is one, of which I by no means +feel sure. You are throwing away the certainty of pleasure and glory +here for an utter uncertainty; those rewards you will gain by +submission are at your feet to take up; those you will gain by a +bloody death only exist in the imaginations of priests." + +"'Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, but He hath revealed them to +us by His Spirit,'" said Alfgar in a low voice. + +His father was silent; the words struck him like a strain of weird +music; but he did not yield the point, save for the time, and after a +pause changed the subject. + +"You have other motives than heavenly ones. You love a Christian +maiden." + +"How do you know that?" said Alfgar, blushing to the temples. + +"I have lain near you at night, and you talk in your dreams. Now, I +have yet another motive to put before you. You think you have cause to +love the Aescendune people, because they saved your life. I think I +have cause to hate them, because they made you a Christian. Now, if +you die in your superstition, when we invade Mercia they shall suffer +for it." + +"They have suffered enough." + +"Nay, only in buildings, which they will restore. I will pursue them +with unrelenting vengeance, with the death feud, till I have destroyed +the accursed race utterly." + +"Father!" + +"If you would save them," said Anlaf, who saw he had made an +impression, "renounce your Christianity, and I will forget +Aescendune." + +Here he left the tent. + +The days which followed were, it may be imagined, very uncomfortable +ones for Alfgar; but he was not destitute of occupation. It was his +father's wish that he should join the youth of the camp in athletic +and warlike exercises. This he had no objection to do, and he spent +nearly his whole time in practising the use of battle-axe, of bow, of +spear, of sword, and shield, or in managing the war horse, for the +Danes had acquired cavalry tactics on stolen horses. + +Naturally quick, both of eye and hand, he learned all these things +easily, and excited the admiration and envy of his companions. They +became useful in time. + +In this manner nearly a month passed away, when an incident occurred +which claims our attention. + +Strolling on the earthworks which defended the camp, near the royal +quarters, Alfgar came unexpectedly upon no less a person than the king +himself, in close conversation with a stranger. + +There was something in the form and manner of this stranger which even +in the brief moment conveyed recognition to the mind of our hero; and +a second glance, which was all he dared to cast, as he withdrew from +the spot, revealed to him the face of a traitor. + +It was Edric Streorn. + +A few hours later the chieftains were all summoned to a council in the +king's tent, and when, after a short session, they came forth, the +general order was given to break up the encampment, and move towards +the southwest for the winter, for all the resources of the country +around were exhausted. + +The work was a laborious one. From the dawn of day, horses, heavily +laden, left the camp, loaded with the accumulated spoil of the year. +Anlaf himself was very busy, and it was with some real alarm that +Alfgar asked him what would happen did the English suddenly appear. + +"No fear of them, boy. We have received certain intelligence that +their army is disbanded for want of provisions. They will not meet +till the spring unless we rout them up." + +Alfgar knew well whence the "certain intelligence" came. + +Destroying and plundering, the mighty host moved on its way, crossing +into Hampshire, and doing, as the chronicle says, "their old wont." Of +them it might be said in the words of the prophet: + +"Like Eden the land at morn they find; +But they leave it a desolate waste behind." + +Whenever they found a tract of country as yet unexhausted, there they +settled until they had exhausted it. The wretched inhabitants, who had +fled at their approach, perished with hunger, unless they had strength +to crawl to the far distance, where as yet bread might be found. + +It was the custom of the invaders to burn all their resting places +when they left them, and to slay all captives, save such as could be +held to ransom, or a few whom they detained in slavery, till they died +a worse death from want and ill usage. + +Thus they moved from spot to spot, until towards the middle of +November they reached the coast opposite the Isle of Wight, in which +unfortunate island they decided, after due consideration, to winter. + +Opposite the host, across the Solent, rose the lovely and gentle hills +of the "garden of England;" but between them lay the Danish fleet, in +all its grandeur, calmly floating on the water. Each of the lofty +ships bore the ensign of its commander; some carried at the prow the +figures of lions, some of bulls, dolphins, dragons, or armed warriors, +gaudily painted or even gilded; while others bore from their mast the +ensign of voracious birds--the eagle, the raven--which appeared to +stretch their wings as the flag expanded in the wind. + +The sides of the ships were also gay with bright colours, and as the +warriors embarked and hung up their bright shields, grander sight was +never seen. + +But chiefly Alfgar admired the ship of Sweyn, called the "Great +Dragon." It was in the form of an enormous serpent; the sharp head +formed the prow, with hissing tongue protruding forth, and the long +tail tapered over the poop. + +In this ship Anlaf himself had his place, in deference to his descent, +and Alfgar accompanied him. It may easily be imagined he would sooner +have been elsewhere. + +Scarcely a fishing boat belonging to the English could be discerned: +the Danes made a desert around them. + +Eight years before, in the year 998, they had wintered on the island, +and since that time had regarded it as a Danish colony. No English +remained in it save in the position of slaves, and the conquerors had +accumulated huge stores of spoil therein, while they drew their stores +of provisions from every part of the adjacent mainland. + +"Is it not a grand sight, Alfgar?" exclaimed his father. "Are you not +proud of your people, the true monarchs of the sea?" + +Alfgar was for the moment inclined to sympathise; but he thought of +the darker side of the picture, and was silent. + +There was a higher glory far than all this, and it had left a lifelong +impression on his soul. + + + +CHAPTER X. CARISBROOKE IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. + + +The fleet bore the troops of savage soldiery safely--too +safely--across the waters of the Solent, to the estuary formed by the +Medina, where now thousands of visitors seek health and repose, and +the towers of Osborne crown the eastern eminences. A fleet may still +generally be discerned in its waters, but a fleet of pleasure yachts; +far different were the vessels which then sought the shelter of the +lovely harbour, beautiful even then in all the adornment of nature. + +There the Danes cast anchor, and the forces dispersed to their winter +quarters. The king and his favourite chieftains took up their abode at +Carisbrooke, situate about eight miles up the stream, but above the +spot where it ceases to be navigable. + +Their chosen retreat was the precincts of the old castle--old even +then--for it had been once a British stronghold, commanding the route +of the Phoenician tin merchants across the island, whence its name +"Caer brooke," or the "fort on the stream." + +The Romans in after ages saw the importance of the position, fortified +it yet more strongly, and made it the chief military post of the +island, which, under their protecting care, enjoyed singular peace and +prosperity--civilisation flourished, arts and letters were cultivated. +The beautiful coasts and inlets were crowded with villas, and invalids +then, as now, sought the invigorating breezes, from all parts of the +island of Britain, and even from the neighbouring province of Gaul. + +The Roman power fell at last, and when the English pirates, our own +ancestors, like the Danes of our story, attacked the dismembered +provinces of the empire, its wealth and position on the coast made it +an early object of attack--happy those who fled early. The Anglo-Saxon +chronicle shall tell the story of those who remained. + +"AD. 530. This year Cerdic and Cynric conquered the Isle of Wight, and +slew many people at Whitgarasbyrg" (Carisbrooke). + +The conquering Cerdic died four years after, and his son Cynric gave +the island to his nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar. The latter died in 544, +and was buried in the spot he and his had reddened with blood, within +the Roman ramparts of Carisbrooke. + +It is needless to say that at that early period our ancestors were +heathens, and the mode of their conquest was precisely similar to that +we are now describing under another heathen (with less excuse), Sweyn +the son of Harold. + +It was a few days after the arrival of the Danes at their quarters, +and Alfgar stood on the rampart at the close of a November day; it was +St. Martin's Mass, as the festival was then called. The sun was +sinking with fading splendour behind the lofty downs in the west, and +casting his departing beams on the river, the estuary, with the fleet, +and the blue hills of Hampshire in the far distance. + +Southward and westward the view was alike shut in by these lofty +downs, and eastward the hills rose again, so as to enclose the valley, +of which Carisbrooke formed the central feature. + +The ramparts whereon he was standing were of Roman workmanship, built +so solidly that they had resisted every attack of man or of time; +while down below lay the ruins of a magnificent villa, once occupied +by the Roman governor of the island. + +Anlaf appeared and stood beside his son. + +"Alfgar," he said, "the day after tomorrow is the day of St. Brice." + +He paused and looked steadfastly in the face of his son. + +"And the king proposes to enrol you amongst his chosen warriors on +that day; he has marked the skill you have displayed in the mimic +contests with spear or sword, your skill as a horseman, and he wishes +to see whether in actual battle you will fulfil the promise of the +parade ground." + +"And yet he knows my faith." + +"Alfgar," said the old man solemnly, "you must renounce it or die; no +mercy will be shown to a Christian on St. Brice's day; that is why the +king has chosen it. Think, my son, over all I have told you; you will +decide like one who yet controls his senses, and not disgrace your +aged father." + +"Father, I do think of you," said the poor lad; "at least believe +that. I do not grieve for myself. I feel I could easily die for my +faith, but I do grieve over the pain I must cause you." + +The heart of the old warrior was sensibly affected by this appeal, but +not knowing the strength of Christian principle, he could not +reconcile it with facts, and he walked sadly away. + +But two days, and the dread choice had to be made--the crisis in the +life of Alfgar, a crisis which has its parallel in the lives of many +around us--approached, and he had to choose between Christ and Odin, +between the death of the martyr and apostasy. + +He walked to and fro upon the ramparts, after his father left him, in +the growing darkness, feebly illuminated by the light of a new moon. +Below him, in the central area, a huge fire burned, whereat the +evening meal was preparing for the royal banquet, for Sweyn and his +ferocious chieftains were about to feast together. + +Escape was hopeless. Even had he not been bound by the promise given +to his father, it would have been very difficult. He felt that his +motions were watched. The island was full of foes, their fleet +occupied the Solent. No; all that was left was to die with honour. + +But to bring such disgrace upon his father and his kindred! "Blood is +thicker than water," says the old proverb, and Alfgar could not, even +had he wished, ignore the ties of blood; nature pleaded too strongly. +But there was a counter-motive even there--the dying wishes of his +mother. If his father were Danish, she was both English and Christian. + +Before him the alternatives were sharply defined: Apostasy, and his +ancestral honours, with all that the sword of the conqueror could +give; and on the other hand, the martyr's lingering agony, but the +hope of everlasting life after death. + +He could picture the probable scene. The furious king, the scorn of +the companions with whom he had vied, nay, whom he had excelled, in +the exercises of arms, end the ignominious death, perhaps that painful +punishment known as the "spread eagle." No, they could not inflict +that on one so nobly born, the descendant of princes. + +Alas! what might not Sweyn do in his wrath? + +Was Christianity worth the sacrifice? Where were the absolute proofs +of its truth? If it were of God, why did He not protect His people? +The heathen Saxons had been victorious over the Christian Britons; and +now that they had become Christian, the heathen Danes were victorious +over them. Was this likely to happen if Christ were really God? + +Again Odin and Frea, with their children, and the heroes sung by the +scalds, in the war songs which he heard echoing from around the fire +at that moment: + +"How this one was brave, +And bartered his life +For joy in the fight; +How that one was wise, +Was true to his friends +And the dread of his foes." + +Valour, wisdom, fidelity, contempt of death, hatred of meanness and +cowardice, qualities ever shining in the eyes of warlike youth. + +This creed had sufficed for his ancestors for generations, as his +father had told him. Why should he be better than they? If they +trusted to the faith of Odin, might not he? + +And then, if he lived, when the war was carried into Mercia, he would +save his English friends, even although forced to live unknown to +them. + +"Oh! life is sweet," thought he, "sweet to one so young as I. I have +but tasted the cup; shall I throw it down not half empty?" + +He was almost conquered. He had all but turned to seek his father, +when suddenly the remembrance of Bertric flashed vividly upon him. + +He saw, as in a vision, the patient, brave lad enduring mortal agony +for Christ, so patiently, so calmly. Had Bertric, then, died for +nought? He felt as if the martyr were near him, to aid him in this +moment, when his faith was in peril. + +"O Bertric, Bertric!" he cried, "intercede for me, pray for me." + +He fell on his knees, and did not rise until the temptation was +conquered, and then he walked steadily into the great vaulted room, of +Roman construction, which served as the banqueting hall, and took his +usual place by his father's side. + +Oh, how hollow the mirth and revelry that night! How he loathed the +singing, the drunken shouting, the fierce imprecation over the wine +cup--the sensuality, which now distinguished his bloodthirsty +companions. The very knives he saw used for their meals had served as +daggers to despatch the wounded or the helpless prisoner. The eyes, +now weak with debauch, had glowed with the maniacal fury of the +berserkir in the battlefield. Was this the glory of manhood? Nay, +rather of wolves and bears. + +Then he looked up at Sweyn, the murderer of his father, and marvelled +that his hand was yet so steady--his head so clear. This apostate +parricide! never would he live to kiss the hand of such a man; better +die at once, while yet pure from innocent blood. This his Christianity +had taught him. + +"Minstrel," cried the fierce king, "sing us some stirring song of the +days of old; plenty of the fire of the old Vikings in it." + +A strange minstrel, a young gleeman, had been admitted that night--one +whose chain and robes bespoke him of the privileged class--and he sang +in a voice which thrilled all the revellers into awed silence. He sang +of the battle, of the joy of conquest, and the glories of Valhalla, +where deceased warriors drank mead from the skulls of vanquished foes. +And then he sang of the cold and snowy Niffelheim, where in regions of +eternal frost the cowardly and guilty dead mourned their weak and +wasted lives. In words of terrific force he painted their agony, where +Hela, of horrid countenance, reigned supreme; where the palace was +Anguish, Famine the board, Delay and Vain Hope the waiters, Precipice +the threshold, and Leanness the bed. + +But in the innermost chamber of this awful home was the abode of +Raging Despair; and in the final verse of his terrible ode the scald +sang: + +"Listen to the ceaseless wail, +Listen to the frenzied cry +Of anguish, horror, and amaze; +Would ye know from whom they come, +Tell me, warriors, would ye know?" + +Here he paused, after throwing intense emphasis on the last words, +till he had concentrated the attention of all, and the king +gazed--absorbed--then he continued: + +"There wave on wave of bitter woe +Overwhelms the parricide." + +The king started from his seat. He was about to launch his battle-axe +through the air in search of the daring minstrel, when the same dread +expression of unutterable agony we have before mentioned passed over +his face; he trembled as an aspen, and sank, as one paralysed, into +his chair, while his glaring eyes seemed to behold some horrid +apparition unseen by all beside. The warriors now turned in their +wrath to seek the daring or unfortunate minstrel, but he was gone. + +Alfgar had seen the apostate in his moment of retributive agony, and +he shuddered. + +"Better death, far better," he murmured, "than a fate like this. God +keep me firm to Him." + +The king had by this time recovered his usual composure, but his rage +and fury were the more awful that the outbreak was suppressed. + +"Sit down, my warriors, disturb not the feast. What if your king has +been insulted in his own banquet hall? there are hands enow to avenge +him without unseemly tumult. Let us drink like the heroes in Valhalla. +Meanwhile let the minstrel be sought and brought before us, and he +shall make us sport in a different mode." + +The "rista oern" whispered one in his ear. + +The ferocious king nodded, and his eyes sparkled with the expected +gratification of his fierce cruelty. Meanwhile warriors were searching +all the precincts of the camp for the destined victim. + +Nearly half-an-hour had passed, and the king was getting impatient, +for nearly all the chieftains were getting too drunk to appreciate the +spectacle he designed for them. + +"Why do the men delay?" he cried; "let them bring in the minstrel." + +Still he came not; and at length the searchers were forced, one after +the other, to confess their failure. + +"It is well," said the king; "but it was the insult of a Christian, +and shall be washed out in Christian blood. Anlaf, produce thy son." + +"Nay, nay, not now," cried Sidroc and others, for they saw that Sweyn +was already drunk, and consideration for Anlaf made them interfere. +"Not now; tomorrow, tomorrow." + +"Nay, tonight, tonight." + +"Drink first, then, and drown care," said Sidroc, and gave the brutal +tyrant a bowl of rich mead. + +He drank, drank until it was empty, then fell back and reposed with an +idiotic smile superseding the ferocious expression his face had so +lately worn. Meanwhile a hand was laid upon Alfgar's shoulder, and a +keen bright eye met his own, as if to read his inmost thoughts. + +"Come with me, or my father will disgrace himself." + +It was Canute. + +He led Alfgar forth into the courtyard. + +"Thou dost not seem to fear death," said the boy prince. + +"It would be welcome now." + +"So some of our people sometimes say, but the motive is different; +tell me what is the secret of this Christianity?" + +Just then Sidroc and Anlaf came out from the hall and saw the two +together. Sidroc seemed annoyed, and led the young prince away, while +Anlaf seized the opportunity to whisper to his son: + +"My son, I can do no more for thee; I see thou wilt persist in thine +obstinacy. I release thee from thy promise given to me; escape if thou +canst, or die in the attempt; but bring not my grey hairs to contempt +on the morrow." + +At this moment, Sidroc having seen Canute to the royal quarters, +returned. + +"Sidroc," said Anlaf, "I cannot any longer be the jailor of my unhappy +and rebellious son. Let him be confined till the morrow. I shall ask +leave of absence from Sweyn, and now I deliver Alfgar to your care." + +"I accept the charge," said Sidroc; "follow me, Alfgar, son of Anlaf." + +Alfgar followed passively. He could not help looking as if to take +leave of his father; but Anlaf stood as mute and passionless as a +statue. Sidroc reached a party of the guard, and bade them confine the +prisoner in the dungeon beneath the ruined eastern tower. + +"Listen to my last words, thou recreant boy; Sweyn will send for thee +early in the morning before the assembled host; it will be the day of +St. Brice; and even were he not now mad with rage, there would be no +mercy for a Christian on that day. Thou must yield, or die by the +severest torture, compared with which the death of thy late companion +under the archers' shafts was merciful. Be warned!" + + + +CHAPTER XI. THE GLEEMAN. + + +It was a low dungeon, built of that brick which we still recognise as +of Roman manufacture, in the foundations of what had been the eastern +tower of the ancient fortification. The old pile had been badly +preserved by the Saxon conquerors, but it had been built of that solid +architecture which seems almost to defy the assaults of time, and +which in some cases, after fifteen centuries, preserves all its +characteristics, and promises yet to preserve them, when our frailer +erections lie crumbled in the dust. + +The roof was semicircular, and composed of minute bricks, seeming to +form one solid mass; the floor of tiling, arranged in patterns, which +could still be obscurely traced by the light of the lamp left by the +charity of Sidroc to the prisoner; for the dungeon was of bad +reputation; lights had been seen there at unearthly hours, when the +outer door was fast and no inmate existed. + +There were two long narrow windows at the end, unbarred, for they were +too small for the human body to pass through them; they looked upon +the valley and, river beneath, for although the dungeon was below the +level of the courtyard, it was above that of the neighbourhood. + +The prisoner strode up and down the limited area, wrestling with self, +bending the will by prayer to submit to ignominy and pain, for he knew +now that his father had abandoned him, and that he had to apprehend +the worst; still he did not regret the choice he had made, and he +felt, as he prayed, peace and confidence descend like heavenly dew +upon his soul. Mechanically he cast his eyes around the cell, and +tried to trace out the pattern of the flooring, when he saw that the +central figure, around which the circles and squares converged, was +justice, with the scales, and the motto, "Fiat justitia." He knew the +meaning of the words, for Father Cuthbert had taught him some Latin, +and the conviction flashed upon him that, sooner or later, all the +wrong and evil about him would be righted by the power of a judge as +omnipotent as unerring. And this thought made him the more reconciled +to the apparent injustice of which he was the victim, and he prayed +for his father, that God would enlighten him with the true light. + +"Perhaps before he dies he may yet think of me without shame." + +For the shame which he unwillingly brought upon a father who was +stern, yet not unkind or void of parental love, was the bitterest +ingredient in the cup. + +And so the hours rolled on, which brought the dreaded morn nearer and +nearer; and the victim, comforted by prayer, but without hope in this +world, slept, and thought no longer of the torturer's knife, or felt +the cruel anticipations which would rack the waiting mind. + +And while he slept he was wakened, yet but partly wakened, by a voice +which seemed to belong to the borderland 'twixt sleep and waking. + +"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, sleepest thou?" + +"Surely I dream," thought he, and strove to sleep again. + +"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, sleepest thou?" + +Now he sat up, and beheld, or thought he beheld, a figure of one +clothed in the attire of a minstrel, in the centre of the chamber. + +"Art thou yet in the flesh like me?" he cried, repressing a shudder. + +"Even so, a being of like mould, subject to pain and death." + +"A prisoner, then; art doomed to die?" + +"No prisoner, neither art thou, if thou willest to escape." + +"Thou art the gleeman who insulted Sweyn." + +"Nay, who told the brutal tyrant the truth." + +"And what doest thou here?" + +"I am come to deliver thee." + +"But how?" + +"Rise up, cast on your garments." + +Hardly knowing what he did, Alfgar obeyed, and when he stood face to +face with the stranger, began to lose the uneasy impression that the +being who addressed him was otherwise than mortal; for he saw by the +light of the lamp that the gleeman bore all the attributes of a living +man. + +"How came you here?" + +"Because I know the secrets of the prison house--knew them before the +Danes had murdered the once happy dwellers in this garden of England, +which they have made a howling wilderness; hence I escaped the wrath +of the furious parricide, whom the saints destroy, with ease, and +laughed in security at their vain efforts to take me; but we must +waste no time; it yet wants five hours to daybreak; within those five +hours we must reach the opposite shore." + +"But tell me, I cannot understand, why hast thou braved the wrath of +Sweyn? why hast thou cared for me?" + +"All in good time, follow me now, I bid thee by the memory of +Aescendune." + +"Aescendune! surely I dream." + +"Yes, of Aescendune. I have heard that thou art thence. Now waste no +more time." + +More and more mystified, for he had never to his knowledge seen the +speaker before, Alfgar gazed at the gleeman. + +He appeared of noble air and mien, but was evidently but a young man; +he was somewhat above the average height, and looked as though he +could wield the sword as well as the harp. But how were they to +escape? + +Alfgar was not left long in doubt. The stranger took up the lamp and +walked to the farthest recess of the dungeon, where, concealed amongst +the rude carvings with which the builders had ornamented the wall, was +a rose carved in stone. The gleeman pressed it sharply, and a hidden +door sprang open, revealing a winding staircase excavated in the solid +wall. + +"Upwards it leads to the banqueting hall, and you can comprehend my +escape this evening," said he; "but our path is now downwards, unless +you would like to go up and see the drunken beasts of murderers +snoring off their debauch upon the floor as they fell; oh, that it +were lawful for a Christian man to cut their throats as they lie; many +innocent lives would be saved thereby, which those brutes will live to +destroy." + +"Thou art, then, a Christian?" + +The gleeman crossed himself piously. + +"Why not?" said he. + +"I heard you sing like a scald tonight." + +"It was my part, and I acted it passing well, did I not? Sweyn would +own as much; but, pardon me, I am forgetting that my daring put you in +danger." + +"How did you know that?" + +"I heard every word; and perhaps I might even have risked more than +this to save you." + +Meanwhile they had descended nearly a hundred steps, and the +atmosphere became singularly cold and charnel-like, when they entered +a large vault, which, by the light of their torches, appeared of great +extent. Its walls were covered with uncouth representations, and +inscriptions in Latin. + +"What place is this?" + +"It had some connection, I believe, with the old idolatry, and that is +all I know. This passage will guide us to daylight and liberty." + +Following a short and narrow passage, they emerged upon a ruined +vault, whose roof had fallen in. Climbing out with some difficulty, +and disturbing in the process hundreds of bat-mice and not a few rats, +they found themselves in the midst of some old ruins at the foot of +the acclivity whereon the fortress was built, and below them the brook +ran rapidly to join the river. + +"Thanks be to God for our preservation in that den of unclean lions!" +said the gleeman; "but had they known who was amongst them, he would +have had scant chance of escape." + +"May I not know?" + +"Not yet. Come, we must waste no more time." + +They walked swiftly down the brook. No sentinels were posted in this +direction, nor was any lookout kept. + +"The danger is yet to come," said the gleeman, in a low tone. + +Shortly they reached the river, and then they found a boat hidden in +the rushes, which grew tall and strong. They embarked, and Alfgar +steered, by the other's direction, straight down the stream, while he +rowed for full an hour with remarkable strength and dexterity, so that +they drew near the coast, and the cold air from the sea blew in +Alfgar's face. + +Here the gleeman ceased rowing, and spoke to him in a low tone. + +"Do you see those dark figures ahead?" + +"I do." + +"Well, they are the Danish war ships, and our hour of peril draws +near. We must drop down with the tide, which is running out strongly, +and I must steer. You can row, I suppose?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, get the oars ready to pull for your life, if I give the word, +but not till then. Now silence." + +In perfect silence they drifted down upon the ships. Happily for them +there was no moon, and although the stars were bright, there was +little danger that their dark-painted bark would be seen at any +distance. + +One great mass after another seemed to float by them; but it was the +dead hour of the night, and no sounds were heard from the sleeping +crews. They kept lax watch, because they had no foe to dread. There +was, alas! no English fleet. + +One after another, until they had drifted into the centre of the +fleet, where discovery must have been instant death. There above them +rose the "Great Dragon," in all her hideous beauty, the gilded serpent +reposing on the placid waves. Her people, even at that untimely hour, +were engaged in revelry, and as they passed by the fugitives heard the +words: + +"Now the warrior's cup of joy was full, +When he drank the blood of his foe, +Where the slain lay thick on the gory hill, +And torrents of blood from every rill +reddened the river below, +For Odin's hall is the Northman's heaven--" + +But they heard no more, for they had drifted beyond hearing. + +They had now attained the last ship, when suddenly a watchman sprang +to the side. + +"Boat ahoy! Whence and where?" + +"From the 'Great Dragon'--a poor gleeman and his attendant to his home +on the shore." + +"Come on board then, and wake us with a song. The watch is ours, and +we will make it merry." + +There was no help for it; and commending courage with a significant +look to his companion, the gleeman and Alfgar ascended. It was yet +dark, and the language and appearance of each might pass tolerably +under ordinary circumstances for the characters they had assumed. + +"Now a song, and we will keep it up till daylight." + +Thus pressed, the gleeman took his harp and sang an old Scandinavian +song of the first sea king who invaded England, Ragnar Lodbrok. + +He told how the fierce Ragnar sailed for England, how his fleet was +wrecked, but still how, with the relics of his forces, he assaulted +Northumbria, and was taken captive by Ella the king, who threw him +into a hole filled with vipers and toads. + +"Sharp the adder's tooth, but sharper +Spake the sea king to his foes, +Spake while savage brows grew darker, +As he told the countless woes +Which the bear's fierce cubs should bring +To those who slew their father and their king." + +Then he described the retribution, and the lingering death of Ella +under the agonies of the "rista oern" so vividly, that every Danish +heart was filled with emulation. + +"Well sung!" shouted the Danes. "Thou dost sing a song worth hearing. +Hast not taught thy son to sing likewise?" + +In turn Alfgar was forced to support his assumed character. Luckily +his tenacious memory retained the words of many an old song, and the +warriors were well pleased. + +"Why must thou go to shore? We will feed and guerdon thee well if thou +wilt stay with us." + +"We are aweary now, and would fain return to our comrades on the +shore, but we will return by and by." + +"Do so, here is thy reward;" and one of the speakers threw a gold +chain round the gleeman's neck. Gold was plentiful with the robbers. + +They were allowed to return to their boat; but as they did so, many a +keen eye was fixed upon them. The dawn was already beginning to appear +in the east, and every moment was of importance. + +"Thou hast borne the test well," said the gleeman, "and hast not +flinched." + +"I could not in your presence." + +At this moment they heard the rapid splash of a boat, manned by many +rowers, behind, and a voice shouted aloud to the men on board the ship +they had left: + +"Hast seen a boat with a gleeman and harp bearer?" + +"They have just left the ship." + +"Follow; they are English spies. Sweyn will give the weight of their +heads in red gold." + +Instantly they heard the sound of hurried voices, the lowering of +boats, the splash of numerous oars, and all nearly close behind them. +They took an oar each, and pulled with all the energy of men who pull +for life or death. + +The light was gradually growing stronger, and their chance of escape +seemed feeble, when Alfgar saw before them a dense cloud of mist +rolling round the eastern promontory, and uttered a cry of joy as it +enfolded them. + +"The wind is east, keep it on your right cheek, and steer straight +forward. I will take both oars," said the gleeman. + +It was wonderful with what energetic force and success the gleeman +pulled until they had cleared the mist, and saw that they were in the +red light of dawn, in the midst of the Solent. + +One half-mile behind them a solitary boat pursued. There appeared to +be only five men, four rowing and one steering. Other boats there +were, but wide of the mark. + +"Alfgar," said the gleeman, "you will find a quiver of arrows and a +long bow at the bottom of the boat behind you." + +Alfgar handed them to him. + +"The points are passing sharp, and the bow is in order; take your turn +to row." + +Alfgar obeyed; he could not do otherwise, the gleeman's tone of +command was so powerful, but he feared they would loss time by the +change. + +"You need not hurry yourself; let them approach. They are not likely +to have brought other weapons than their swords and axes." + +The boat gained on them rapidly, until it was within a hundred and +fifty yards. + +"Keep just this distance if you can," said the gleeman, and drew an +arrow suddenly to its head; it whistled through the air, and the +steersman, transfixed, rose, leapt in the boat, and fell in the sea a +corpse. + +"Gone to seek oysters for King Sweyn's table, I suppose," said the +gleeman. + +Another steersman promptly took the place, but some yards were lost by +the pursuers. + +"Slacken, we are too far for accurate aim; and we English must not +disgrace ourselves in Danish eyes." + +They slackened, another arrow sped, and the foremost rower fell. +Evidently the Danes had no means of reply. + +"Slacken yet more;" and before the pursuers could recover their +confusion, a third fell, then a fourth, before the unerring shafts. +The fifth was at the fearful gleeman's mercy, but he restrained +himself, now danger had vanished. + +But as he did so he cried aloud: + +"Dane, we give thee thy life, blood sucker though thou art. Go, and +tell King Sweyn that Edmund {viii} the Etheling, son of Ethelred +of England, has been his gleeman, and hopes he enjoyed the song which +told the doom of parricides." + + + +CHAPTER XII. THE MONASTERY OF ABINGDON. + + +One of the central lights of civilisation and Christianity in the +early days of Wessex was the monastery of Abingdon. St. Birinus had +fixed the centre of his missionary labours at Dorchester, only six +miles distant, but the Abbey was the fruit of the heroic zeal of +another evangelist, upon whom his mantle fell--St. Wilfrid. After the +death of Birinus, the zeal of his successors failed to evangelise the +southeastern districts of Wessex, until, at length, came Wilfrid, +fervent in zeal, and, stationing himself at Selsey, near Chichester, +evangelised both Sussex and Wessex, sending out missionaries +like-minded with himself, even into the most inaccessible wilds. + +Centwin was then king of Sussex, but various petty states were +tributary to him, and ruled by viceroys. One of these viceroys was +Cissa, whose dominions included Wiltshire and the greater part of +Berkshire {ix}. This Cissa and his nephew, Hean, founded Abingdon. +A mission was sent out from Chichester which attracted great +multitudes of the Berkshire folk. Hean was present, and heard the +preacher take for his text that verse of St. Matthew which declares +that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than +for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. These words entered into +the hearts of Hean and his sister Cilla, who was with him. They +determined to go and sell all that they had and embrace a life of +poverty. From their uncle, Cissa, they obtained grants of land, +whereon they founded monastic homes. Cilla dedicated the convent she +reared to St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, traditions of whose +life in the neighbourhood had survived the Saxon Conquest. + +Hean obtained the land of which Abingdon formed the central point, +then generally known by the name Cloveshoo. He was tardy in his work +as contrasted with his sister, and Cissa died without seeing the work +for which he had given the land accomplished. Ceadwalla succeeded him +(A.D. 685), and further augmented the territory. He rebelled against +Centwin, and became king of Wessex; spending most of his life in +warfare; it was through his conquest of the island that the "Wight" +became Christian. He made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he died, after +his baptism by Pope Sergius. + +Ina, his successor (A.D. 688), was so angry at the long delay in +building the monastery, that at first he revoked the grant of his +predecessors to Hean, but becoming reconciled, gave all his energy to +the work, and Cloveshoo {x}, or Abingdon, became a monastic town, +and its history commences as a house of God from Ina, about A.D. +690-700. + +Important benefits were thus conferred on the whole neighbourhood; +agriculture flourished, learning increased, a sanctuary for the +oppressed was provided, and last, though not least in Ina's eyes, a +bulwark against Mercia was provided for the neighbourhood; while the +poor and the afflicted found their happiness in every way promoted by +the neighbourhood of the monastery. + +Several times the monastery was in peril by reason of the wars between +Wessex and Mercia. In A. D. 752, Cuthred of Wessex defeated Ethelbald +of Mercia at Burford, hard by, and protected Abingdon from further +aggressions. Twenty-five years later the decision of war was reversed. +Offa, the great and fierce king of Mercia, defeated Cynewulf of +Wessex, at Bensington, and spoiled the land, destroying the convent of +St. Helena, founded by Cilla, and grievously robbing and oppressing +Abingdon. + +But the most awful calamity it ever underwent was its destruction in +the first great Danish invasion, in the early days of King Alfred, +when it was literally levelled with the ground, only, however, to +arise in greater magnificence when the storm had passed away. + +However the period of anarchy had introduced evils which required a +stern reformer, and one was found in the person of the abbot +Ethelwold, the friend of St. Dunstan, who, in conjunction with him and +Oswald, introduced the rule of St. Benedict into Abingdon, +Glastonbury, Ely, and other great houses, which, by its absolute +prohibition of monastic idleness, and its wise regulations, caused the +religious houses of that period to become the central points of +civilisation and learning in the land. + +Here, at this famous monastery, we resume Father Cuthbert's Diary. + +In festo St. Edmundi. + +Again I resume my diary, at the great monastic house of Abingdon, +where I have rejoined my brethren. I have already told how, in company +with Elfwyn, Father Adhelm and I sought the forest farm where our +beloved ones had found refuge from the cruel oppressor. The joy of the +women and children to whom their husbands and fathers were thus +restored was very touching; all seemed willing to forget the +destruction of their homes, since they had been spared to each other, +and I, to whom, by my vows, such love is unknown, yet could but feel +how holy a thing is family affection. + +Alas, there was one family where the bitterness of death had found its +way. I cannot describe the touching scene when Elfwyn told the fate of +dear Bertric. Well, they will learn by and by to thank God for him and +his example, for we doubt not he died a martyr, although we know not +the details, and, unless Alfgar yet lives, shall perhaps never know +them. + +We held a long consultation upon our future movements. It was wisely +decided not to rebuild Aescendune at present, for the place where they +now are can be rendered very commodious, and is far more secure +against a foe. We do not dare to hope that we have seen the last of +our troubles; the Danes are wintering in the Wight, ready for fresh +mischief next spring and summer. + +We have been able to learn nothing of Alfgar; but we think that Anlaf +probably yet lives, and that he has recovered his son; yet we cannot +imagine how he escaped on St. Brice's night. + +Well, to return. We at once set to work, and erected a church of +timber, for the service of God; and I said mass in it the first Sunday +after our arrival there. It may be supposed it is not a very grand +church; but God looks at the living stones, and reads the heart. + +We all had enough to do for the first few days; but within a week one +might suppose we had been living there an age. Log huts were erected +for the whole population; the old farm house, which is large and +strongly built, taking the place of the hall. One must dispense with +some comfort now. + +My brother sent a portion of his men to rejoin the army, but feels +himself justified in entering at once on his winter quarters with the +remainder; in fact, since my arrival at Abingdon, the troops have all +been dismissed for the winter, and the Danes have, as I said, retired +to the Wight. + +Then, leaving Father Adhelm in charge of the woodland settlement, I +determined to visit my brethren here, where I have been received with +all Christian love and hospitality by the abbot and his brethren. +Three days my journey lasted. I travelled with only two attendants, +serfs of our house; a poor prior burnt out from house and home. + +Nov. 21st, 1006.-- + +This evening I heard heavy steps on the stairs, and methought their +tread seemed familiar, as well it might, for no sooner had the door +opened than my son Alfgar, for whom we had mourned as dead, or at +least dead to us, fell upon my neck and wept. + +It was a long time before either of us was composed enough to say +much, but when we had a little recovered, the abbot who had brought +them to my rooms introduced a tall young man in gleeman's garb, as +Edmund the Etheling. + +At length we all sat down to supper, but talked so much we could eat +little, and I soon learned all the news Alfgar had to tell. His tale +is wonderful; he has been indeed delivered from the mouth of the lion, +nay, from the jaws of the fierce lion; but I must set down all things +in order. + +The one thing which delights me most is the way in which his faith has +stood the hard hard test to which it has been put. + +But my dear nephew Bertric, Saint Bertric we must assuredly call him, +oh how it will lighten the grief of his parents and sister to know how +gloriously he died for Christ! One could envy him his crown. + +And then how delighted Ethelgiva will be to learn not only that Alfgar +is alive, but to hear how true and brave he has been. + +But when all these congratulations were over, and we had learned all +that Alfgar had to tell, there was evidently something on the mind of +the prince. + +"Alfgar and I have a very important duty to perform," he said. + +I waited, and he proceeded. + +"There has been grievous treachery in our ranks. Edric Streorn has +sold us to the Danes." + +"I feared as much," said I, sadly. + +"I learned it at Carisbrooke, and am now on my way to Dorchester, +where my royal father has arrived, or will arrive tomorrow. I should +have gone there at once, but Alfgar learned you were here, and would +come. Besides, we need your help to fit us for appearing at court." + +And, in truth, their habiliments were not very royal. + +Well, Abingdon is a town of great resources, wherein all things meet +may be found. + +"We will to the tradesmen tomorrow," I said, "and fit you for the +presence." + +"I have yet heavier news to unfold," Edmund added, very seriously. +"The Danes purpose a winter campaign in the heart of the land, hoping +to take us unawares." + +"Now the saints forbid!" said I. + +"Even so; but they are not all with us. St. Brice is against us." + +I sighed, and so did they. The very remembrance of that day is +sickening. + +"We have heard," said the abbot, "that the king will arrive tomorrow +at Dorchester; we will send you thither in the morning. Meanwhile, my +sons, you do not eat and drink as I would have you. Remember you need +to sustain exhausted nature." + +That was indeed true. They had travelled fast, and had fasted by the +way, of necessity. + +"Well, Alfgar, we will tomorrow to the king," said Edmund, after they +had eaten and drunken; "he must surely listen to us now." + +"He appears to love this wicked Edric," said the abbot sorrowfully. + +"Far better than his own flesh and blood," replied Edmund. + +"My son," said the abbot, "rest here this night in our poor house; +tomorrow we will find you both horses and fitting apparel, and ye +shall go meetly to the king, who is the guest of the bishop." + +"I shall not be sorry, father, to see the inside of my chamber," said +the young prince; for he is yet young, although so wise and +valiant--not more than a year or two older than Alfgar. + +The compline bell rang. + +"I will go with you to thank God first for our deliverance, and to pay +my vows to Him," said Edmund; "then to bed." + +After compline, Edmund went from the chapel to bed. Alfgar would not +retire. He came to my cell; there he talked with me for a full hour. +His affection moves me greatly. He has evidently found a real friend +in Prince Edmund, who has delivered him from a cruel death, and who +wants to attach him permanently to his service. Meanwhile Alfgar is +all haste to return to Aescendune and Ethelgiva, before any further +steps are taken. + +Saturday, Nov. 22d, 1006.-- + +After we had arrayed the Etheling and Alfgar this morning, I decided +to accompany them on their road to Dorchester, for it happened that I +had arranged to say mass and preach tomorrow at the little church of +St. Michael at Clifton, the residence of my sister Bertha and her +husband Herstan. It lies on a cliff over the Thames, on the way to the +cathedral city, whence its name, "the town on the cliff." + +So we started, the Etheling, Alfgar, and I, after the chapter mass at +nine. We crossed the fine timber bridge over the Isis, then kept the +causeway over the marshes, till, crossing an arm of the main stream, +we ascended a hill and passed through the open country. + +On the north the country is richly wooded. There lies the chase of +Neweham, abounding in deer, with a few wolves yet lingering in its +recesses, and forming sport for the ceorls. + +In the neighbourhood of a great monastery the roads are always good, +and waggons can travel easily and smoothly from Abingdon to +Dorchester. So, being well mounted, we were only the best part of an +hour in reaching Clifton. + +The river here makes a sudden bend to the east, after running for some +time almost due north, and at the bend the steep cliff rises whereon +the little church and my brother Herstan's hall is built, with a few +cottages below and around occupied by his theows. + +We went first to the church and offered our devotions. From the +elevated ground whereon it stands, the cathedral of Dorchester and the +Synodune hills formed conspicuous objects. + +Then we turned to the hall, and met a reception such as warmed the +heart. When we had refreshed ourselves, I had to tell Bertha all the +strange events which have recently happened at Aescendune; of the +destruction of her old home, but of the well being of all her friends; +yes, of all, for we know that he has won the martyr's crown. + +Some natural tears she dropped; but I think she soon came to see all +things in their right light, as we try to do. + +Soon after our arrival, Herstan sent a messenger to Dorchester to +learn at what hour the king was expected; and the answer was returned, +that they expected him in time for the banquet at the episcopal palace +this evening. So Edmund and Alfgar consented to pass the day quietly +at Cliffton. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE CITY OF DORCHESTER. + + +Dorchester was at this period the most important city of the Midland +counties, for it was the seat of the great bishopric which extended +its sway over nearly the whole of Mercia. + +Here the apostle of Wessex, Birinus, had converted and baptized +Cynegils, king of that country, Oswald, the saintly king of +Northumbria, being present, and receiving him fresh from the +regenerating waters as his adopted son. Here, the next year, Cuichelm, +his brother, was baptized, and from this centre Christianity was +widely diffused. The good bishop died in the year 650, and was buried +amongst the people he loved, but many years later his relics were +translated to Winchester. But the tale went forth that the cunning +canons of Dorchester had given them another body than that of the +saint, and their shrine was the object of veneration equally with the +rival shrine at Winchester. + +Dorchester became successively the seat of two great bishoprics--the +one West Saxon, the other Mercian. The first, founded by Birinus, when +Wessex extended far north of the Thames, was divided seventy years +later into two sees--Winchester and Sherburne. For some years the city +was without bishops, owing to its insecure position during the strife +between Wessex and Mercia, but later it appears as the seat of the +great Mercian bishopric, retaining its jurisdiction until after the +Norman conquest, when the see was transferred to Lincoln. Therefore +Dorchester long enjoyed a wide celebrity and greater influence, than +the city, Oxenford, which, lying at a distance of ten miles, was +destined to supersede it eventually. + +The day was closing on an evening of November 1006, and the sun was +sinking across the level country beyond the walls, when the people of +Dorchester might have been seen crowding the roads which led from the +eastern gate towards Bensington and Wallingford; the wooden bridge by +which the road crossed the Tame was covered with human beings, and +every eye was eagerly directed along the great high road. The huge +cathedral church towered above the masses, rude in architecture, yet +still impressive in its proportions, while another church, scarcely +smaller in its dimensions, rose from the banks lower down the stream, +below the bridge, and the wooden steeple of a third was visible above +the roofs of the houses in the western part of the city. + +But, as in every other city which had once been Roman, the relics of +departed greatness contrasted painfully (at least we should think so) +with the humbler architecture around. The majesty of the churches was +indeed (as a contemporary wrote) great, but thatched roofs consorted +ill with the remains of shattered column and pedestal, and with the +fragmentary ruins of the grand amphitheatre, which were yet partly +visible, although the stones which had been brought from Bath to build +it had been employed largely in church architecture. + +The light of day was rapidly fading; a light breeze brought down the +remaining leaves from the trees, or whirled them about in all +directions; winter was plainly about to assume the mastery of the +scene, as was evident from the clothing the people wore, the thick fur +and warm woollen cloaks which covered their light tunics. + +At length the sound of approaching cavalry was heard, and the cry "The +King! the King!" was raised, and cheers were given by the multitude. +It was observable, almost at a glance, that they proceeded from the +young and giddy, and that their elders refrained from joining in the +cry. + +About a hundred horsemen, gaily caparisoned, appeared, and in the +midst, with equal numbers of his guard preceding and following, rode +Ethelred the king. He was of middle stature and not uncomely, but +there was a look of vacillation about his face, which would have +struck even an indifferent physiognomist, while his thin lips, which +he was constantly biting (when he was not biting his nails), seemed to +indicate a tendency towards cruelty. + +But by his side rode one, whose restless eyes seemed to wander to each +individual of the crowd in turn, while power and malice seemed equally +conspicuous in his glance. Little changed since we last beheld him +rode the traitor, for so all but the king accounted him, Edric +Streorn. + +Amidst the shouts of the populace, who loved to look on the display, +the Bishop Ednoth {xi} and the chief magistrates of the city +received the monarch and his councillor in front of the church of Sts. +Peter and Paul, and escorted him through the streets to the palace, +which stood in what was then a central position, on the spot now +called Bishop's Court. It was spacious, built around a quadrangular +courtyard, with cloisters surrounding the lowest storey and the smooth +shaven lawn, in the centre of which a granite cross was upraised. A +gateway opened in the southern side and led to the inner court, and +the cloisters opened from either side upon it. + +On the opposite side of the quadrangle was the great hall where synods +were held, and where, on state occasions, such as a royal visit, the +banquet was prepared. + +Here, after the king had availed himself of the bath, and his +attendants had divested themselves of their travel-stained attire, the +throne of the king was placed at the head of the board, and a seat for +the bishop on his right hand, and for Edric on his left. + +Ethelred took his place; upon his head a thin circlet of gold confined +his flowing locks already becoming scant, but, as their natural colour +was light, not otherwise showing signs of age: he was only in his +fortieth year. His tunic was finely embroidered in colours around the +neck, and was below of spotless white, secured by a belt richly +gilded, whereon was a sheath for the dagger or knife, which was used +for all occasions, whether in battle or in meal time, the haft being +inlaid with precious stones. Over the tunic a rich purple mantle was +lightly thrown, and his slippers were of dark cloth, relieved by white +wool; the tunic descended to his heels. + +The attire of Edric was similar in shape, but of different colour; his +tunic was of green, edged with brown fur, his mantle of dark cloth, +and his belt of embossed leather. There was a studied humility in it +all, as if he shunned all comparison with the king. + +Ednoth said grace, and the chanters responded. The canons of the +cathedral, the priests of the other churches, the sheriff of the +county, the reeve of the borough, the burgesses, all had their places, +and the banquet began; huge joints being carried round to each +individual, from which, with his dagger, he cut what he fancied and +deposited it on his plate; then wine, ale, and mead were poured +foaming into metal tankards, and lighter delicacies followed. There +was no delay; no one cared to talk until he had satisfied his +appetite. + +The king, as a matter of course, opened the conversation, when the +edge of desire was gone. + +"Have the levies who served in the war all been disbanded, Sheriff?" + +"The last returned from the garrisons in Sussex a week ago, and are +all hoping for a quiet winter in the bosom of their families." + +"Have they lost many of their number? Did the people of this hundred +suffer greatly in the war which Sweyn forced upon us?" + +"Not very many; still there has been a little mourning, and much +anticipation of future evil," replied the bishop. + +"That is needless," said Edric; "they may all prepare to keep their +Christmas with good cheer. The Danes are sleeping, hibernating like +bears in their winter caves." + +"While they are so near as the Wight, who can rest in peace?" said +Ednoth. + +"The Wight! it must be a hundred miles from here; the Danes have never +reached any spot so far from the coast as this." + +"Yet there is an uneasy belief that they will attack the inland +districts now that they have exhausted the districts on the coast, and +that we must be prepared to suffer as our brethren have done." + +"Before they leave their retreat again we shall be ready to meet them; +our levies will be better trained and more numerous." + +"A curse seemed upon all our exertions this last year," said Ednoth, +sorrowfully. "We were defending our hearths and our homes, yet we were +everywhere outmanoeuvred and beaten. It could not have been worse had +we had spies and traitors in command." + +The king slightly coloured, for he resented all imputations on his +favourite, and was about to make a sharp reply, when a voice which +made him start, replied: + +"Quite right, reverend father! as you say, success was impossible +while spies and traitors commanded our forces." + +All looked up in amazement; two guests had entered unbidden, and the +king, the bishop, and Edric recognised Prince Edmund. + +"The unseemly interruption is a sufficient introduction to the +company. I need not, my friends, present to you my turbulent son +Edmund, or the attendant he has picked up." + +"No need whatsoever, if you will first allow us to explain the reasons +of our presence here. We have somewhat startling news from the enemy." + +"The enemy, by my last advices, lies quiet in the Isle of Wight," said +Edric. + +"I will not dispute your knowledge, my lord Edric," replied the +Prince, "considering the intimacy you stand on with Sweyn." + +"Intimacy! I would sooner own intimacy with the Evil One." + +"You might own that, too, without much exaggeration, since the good +bishop will bear me witness that he is the father of lies." + +"Edmund, this is unbearable," said the king. + +"Pardon, my father and liege, but truth will out." + +The company sat in amazement, while the hand of Edric played +convulsively with the hilt of his dagger; meanwhile Edmund ate, and +gave to Alfgar, ere he spake again. + +"Stay, Edric," whispered the king; "thou art my Edric. I was never +false to thee, nor will I be now; did I not, for thy sake, look over +the death of Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, and put out the eyes of his sons? +canst thou not trust me now?" + +Thus strengthened, Edric remained, and uneasy whispers passed around +the assembly. + +At last Edmund looked up. + +"When the flesh is weak through toil and fasting, speech is not +eloquent, but now listen, all Englishmen true, and I will speak out." + +He told his tale, how he had conceived suspicions that the Danes +intended a winter descent; how he had risked his life (in the +exuberance of youthful daring) to ascertain the truth; how, trusting +to his knowledge of Carisbrooke, wherein he had spent many pleasant +days in his boyhood, he had ventured amongst the Danes as a gleeman, +in imitation of Alfred of old; how there he had assisted, unsuspected, +at a meeting of the council in the great hall, and heard it decided to +invade England, and finally how he had escaped. And then he continued: + +"And in that council I heard that the Danes had a secret friend in the +English army, who ever gave them due warning of our movements, and who +caused all the miscarriage of our last campaign. Stand forth, Edric +Streorn, for thou art the man, and my sword shall prove it, if need +be." + +"Edmund, thou ravest," cried the king; "produce thy witnesses." + +"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, answer; whom didst thou espy talking with +Sweyn?" + +"Edric Streorn." + +"How didst know him?" + +"Because he threatened my life on St. Brice's night, and I had often +seen him while dwelling in Mercia." + +"A Dane witnessing against a free-born Englishman? Can it be endured?" +cried Ethelred. "What, here, my royal guard!--here! here! your King is +insulted--insulted, and by his son and his son's minions." + +The guard rushed in, their weapons in their hands. + +"Seize my son, the false Edmund." + +"Here I am," quietly said the hero of the English army, for such he +was, although not recognised as such by the government of his father. +"Here I am; what Englishman will bind me?" + +The men stood as if paralysed. + +"Will you not obey?" shouted the weak Ethelred, and stamped in +impotent anger on the floor. + +But they would not--they could not touch Edmund. + +Edric whispered in the king's ear. + +"I was wrong," said the king; "retire, guards. + +"Edmund, come with me; tell me what you have seen. I will hear you, +and judge between you and my Edric--judge fairly." + +"Wait till my return, Alfgar." + +Alfgar waited. No one spoke to him; all the company seemed utterly +bewildered, as well they might be until, after the expiration of an +hour, during which time Ednoth had left the hall, and the company +broke up by degrees, an officer of the court came and whispered in his +ear that Edmund awaited him without the gates. + +He left the table at once, and proceeded beyond the precincts of the +palace, following his guide. + +"Where is the prince?" + +"He has had a stormy interview with his father, and has just left him, +refusing to lodge in the palace, to sleep without the precincts. I am +to conduct you thither." + +Leaving the palace, they were passing through some thick shrubbery, +when all at once two strong men sprang upon Alfgar. At the same moment +his attendant turned round and assisted his foes. He struggled, but he +was easily overpowered, when his captors led him away, until, passing +a postern gate in the western wall of the town, they crossed an +embankment, and came upon the river. There they placed him on board a +small boat, and rowed rapidly down the stream. + +In the space of a few minutes they ran the boat ashore in the midst of +dense woods which fringed the farther bank, and there they forced him +to land, and led him upwards until, deep in the woods, they came upon +an old timbered house. They knocked at the door, which was speedily +opened by a man of gigantic stature and ruffianly countenance, by +whose side snarled a mastiff as repulsive as he. + +"Here, Higbald, we have brought thee a prisoner from our lord." + +The wretch looked upon Alfgar with the eyes of an ogre bent on +devouring a captive, and then said: + +"The chamber where blind Cuthred was slaughtered looks out on the +woods behind where no one passes, and it is strong; it will be better +for you to take him there." + +And he drew aside to let them pass. + +"Here, Wolf" said the uncouth gaoler, "smell him, and see you have to +guard him." + +The dog seemed to comprehend. He smelt around the prisoner, then +displayed his huge fangs, and growled, as if to tell Alfgar what his +fate would be if he tried to escape. + +The poor lad turned to his captors who had brought him there, for they +seemed more humane than his new gaoler. + +"For pity's sake, tell me why I am brought here--what crime I have +committed." + +No reply. + +"At least bear a message to one who will think I have deserted him in +his need." + +Again they were silent. + +They had ascended a rough staircase. At the summit a passage led past +two or three doors to one made of the strongest plank, and +strengthened with iron. + +They opened it, thrust him in, showed him, by the light of their +torches, a bed of straw in the corner. + +"There you can lie and sleep as peacefully as at Carisbrooke," said +one of his guards. + +"And let me tell you," added Higbald, "that it will be certain death +to try to get away; for if you could escape me, my dog Wolf, who +prowls about by day and night, would tear you in pieces before any one +could help you. He has killed half-a-dozen men in his day." + +Like a poor wounded deer which retires to his thicket to die, Alfgar +threw himself down upon the bed of straw. His reflections were very, +very bitter. + +"What would Edmund think of him?" + +"He will know I am faithful. He will not think that the lad whose life +he saved has deserted him. He will search till he find me even here." + +Thus in alternate hope and despair he sank at last to sleep--nature +had its way--even as the criminal has slept on the rack. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE SON AND THE FAVOURITE. + + +A stormy scene had meanwhile taken place in an interior chamber of the +palace of the bishop, which had been metamorphosed into a council +chamber for the king. There were present Ethelred himself, his +irrepressible son, the traitor Edric, the bishop, the sheriff of the +shire, and the reeve of the borough, with the captain of the +hus-carles, or royal guard. + +"We all need Divine guidance at this moment," said Edric, clasping his +hands meekly; "would you, my lord and king, ask the bishop to open our +proceedings with especial prayer for the grace of meekness." + +"Hypocrite!" said Edmund, with a sound like the gnashing of teeth. + +The bishop, however, said the form generally used at the meetings of +council, but omitted to notice the special suggestion of Edric. + +"The case before us," said the king, "is a difficult and trying one, +but one which we must discharge in our bounden duty towards our +subjects. Perhaps it is well that the accusation so often urged by +backbiters against our faithful subject Edric should--" + +"Your majesty begs the question when you call that coward 'faithful.'" + +"Silence, Edmund," said the king, sternly, "you are hardly yet of age, +yet you dare to interrupt me. I was going to say that it is a good +thing the accusation should at length be plainly made, and not spoken +in a corner by men who are afraid to speak out." + +"Lest they should get the reward of Elfhelm of Shrewsbury," added +Edmund. + +The bishop here interposed. + +"Prince, remember that God has said, 'Honour thy father.'" + +"Has he not somewhere also said, 'Parents, provoke not your children +to anger'?" + +"God judge between you, then," said the bishop, "but I warn you that +you appear the greater transgressor." + +"Meanwhile," said Edric, "I feel like a man who is being put unjustly +to the torture. What is the accusation against me?--let it be stated +in plain words." + +"That just after the army disbanded in October, you visited the camp +of Sweyn, and gave him to understand that the country was at his +mercy, opposition being removed." + +"What day of the month?" + +"I do not know the exact day." + +"Perhaps it was in the Greek calends," said Edric. + +"I do not know when the Greek calends are, nor do I want to; my mother +spent her time, I thank God, in teaching me to speak the truth, and to +be true to my country, and not in teaching me outlandish gibberish." + +"Still," said the bishop, "it is important to learn the day." + +"Alfgar can perhaps inform you, but one day must have been much like +another to him in the Danish camp." + +"His statement would need verification," said Ednoth. + +"He is as true and brave as any man here." + +"Of course, all Danes are true and brave," said Edric. + +"He is a Christian." + +"Yes; I think he became one on St. Brice's day," suggested Edric. + +"To save his life, no doubt," said the sheriff. + +Meanwhile Ethelred had changed colour, and Edric cried out: + +"Have we not forgotten in whose presence we are? The king, who was +quite ignorant of the mistaken zeal which misinterpreted his wishes +that day, cannot bear to be reminded of it. He is all too merciful and +gentle for such days as ours." + +"I suppose he put on mourning for Elfhelm," whispered Edmund in the +bishop's ear. + +"Forget not that he is your father." + +"We are wasting time," said the king. "Edric, what is your answer to +this accusation?" + +"That when the army disbanded I went on pilgrimage to the shrine of +St. Joseph at Glastonbury, and can produce, in the time requisite for +a messenger to go and return, an attestation to that effect. Here," he +said, putting his hand to his bosom, and drawing out a reliquary, "is +a holy thorn plucked from St. Joseph's tree." + +"Art thou not ashamed, my son, to have brought such a charge against +the venerator of the Saints, one of the few in whom faith yet lives?" + +"No, for I do not believe he was ever there at all." + +"Witness the holy thorn." + +"Thorns may be plucked in bushels round Dorchester or any other +place." + +"It is a question of pure testimony," said the bishop. + +"It is," added the sheriff and the reeve. + +"Then, may I produce my witness?" said Edmund. + +"Certainly," said the king. + +"By all means," added Edric. + +The bishop called an attendant, and ordered him to fetch Alfgar. + +"Before he enters I must remind you all," said Edric, "that the word +of a Dane is to be opposed to that of a Christian." + +"I have already said that Alfgar is a Christian." + +But Edric had already, by his adroit suggestion about St. Brice's day, +predisposed the company to doubt the genuineness of Alfgar's +conversion. + +A long pause succeeded, which no one seemed to care to break. Ethelred +was anxious for his favourite; the traitor himself was studying how to +meet the accusation; the Prince was furious, and was striving in vain +to repress his surging passions, the others were perplexed. + +The messenger returned after a time to say that Alfgar had left the +palace. + +"Left the palace!" said Edmund. + +"About half-an-hour since." + +"There is some vile treason here," said Edmund. + +"Treason! on whose part?" said Edric. + +"Thine, villain." + +"I am glad you think so, for you give me an opportunity of +demonstrating to the court how unreasonable your hatred makes you, and +how unjust. I have not left the king's presence since your first +appearance." + +"It is true," said Ethelred. + +Edmund was completely baffled. + +"It appears to me," said the king, "that he fears the discovery of his +villainy, and has taken himself off. I will offer a fitting reward to +the man who shall produce him; meanwhile, it is useless to continue +this scene." + +"Wait at least a few minutes," said Edmund, and went forth himself. + +Vainly he sought through all the courts of the palace--once he thought +Alfgar, whose fidelity he never suffered himself to doubt, might be in +the chapel, and went there in vain. + +At last he found a servitor who had seen him go with some men into the +city, and hurried forth in search of him. He passed through all the +streets inflaming the curiosity of the watchmen; the darkness (for +there were very few lamps or lights of any kind, in those days, for +public use) was intense, a drizzling rain was falling, and at length, +weary, wet, and dispirited, he returned to the palace, and found that +the council, tired of waiting, had at length broken up. + +The bishop offered him hospitality, evidently sympathising with his +distress, and once suggested a doubt of the fidelity of his page, but +Edmund repelled it instantly. + +"He is true as life," he said. + +"But the king himself is witness that Edric has not left his +presence." + +"If not, he has plenty of villains about him to anticipate his orders, +vile as Godwin, port-hund of Shrewsbury. Depend upon it they have +murdered him, but if so, I will have vengeance, such vengeance--I will +challenge the villain Edric to single combat." + +"The Church would forbid it." + +"Do you then sympathise with the hypocrite?" + +"Alas, my son! who can read the heart of man? I know not what to +think." + +"But you could read the history of the last campaign. A fool might--I +beg pardon--were not all our plans known beforehand? Did not all our +enterprises fail? Were not all our ambushes anticipated? Did we not +fall into all theirs? If they had had a prophet like Elisha, who told +the king of Israel all Benhadad said in his council chamber, they +couldn't have managed better. Can you explain this?" + +"No, my son." + +"Then I can, for I heard Sweyn say that they had a friend in the +English camp." + +"Then you actually put your head in the lion's mouth, prince?" and the +good bishop, purposely to relieve the prince's mind, drew out from him +all the story of his late adventures. + +Deep was the distrust which Ednoth himself entertained of the +fair-speaking Edric, yet he would not encourage the Etheling in +further ill-timed opposition to his father. + +So at last Edmund slept, and trusted that with the morn he should find +Alfgar; but the morn came, and all his inquiries were vain. + +The chamber in which Alfgar was confined contained a box-like recess +for the straw bed, a chair, and a rough table, and these were all the +comforts at his disposal, but they were enough for one in that hardy +age. It was very strongly built, not a loose plank about it, although +the wind found its way through numerous crevices, to the slight +discomfort of the inmate. + +But not one hour of sleep could Alfgar take all that night. What would +the Etheling think of him? was his constant thought, he who had saved +his life at the risk of his (the Etheling's) own. Must he not think +that the lad whose life he had saved had been false to him? and this +thought was agony to the faithful and true heart of the prisoner. + +He scarcely doubted for one moment into whose hands he had +fallen--that he was in Edric Streorn's power. The only thing he could +not quite comprehend was, why they had thought it worth while to +imprison him, when murder would seem the more convenient mode of +removing an unpleasant witness. + +Early on the following day he heard some people approach the door of +the house, and heard them admitted. Shortly afterwards a firm step +ascended the stair, and the door opened. + +Edric Streorn stood before him. + +The captor eyed his captive with a look of conscious pride, and said +with some complacence, "You see, and perhaps repent, your rashness in +the accusation you made." + +"It was true." + +"I do not think it worth my while to deny it here; but what of +that?--I am an Englishman by birth, but (let us say) a Dane by choice. +You are a Dane by the fortune of birth, but an Englishman by choice; +the worse choice, you will find, of the two." + +Alfgar felt confused. + +"But I did not come here to exchange compliments with you, nor to +prove, as to the fools you have chosen to serve, that I was on +pilgrimage at the time you name. I have a direct purpose in detaining +you here, for I have lately seen Sweyn." + +"Traitor!" + +"I thought we had agreed that we could not throw stones at each other +on that account. Well, the gentle Sweyn has taken your evasion very +much to heart, and earnestly desires to repossess himself of your +person; but for this, my easiest plan would have been to rid myself of +so troublesome a witness in a more speedy manner, and you might ere +this have fed the fishes of the Thames. + +"Therefore," he continued, "unless you can satisfy me of two or three +points, I shall deliver you to Sweyn." + +Alfgar thought at first that this was simply an idle threat, since it +would be almost impossible to convey him secretly through the country +to the Isle of Wight. Edric understood his thoughts. + +"You forget," he said, "that Sweyn will shortly be here; your friend, +the Etheling, may have told you that, if you did not know it before; +he is telling it to everybody, but no one believes him. Only think, no +one will believe that Sweyn could be so audacious, and they think +that, listening behind walls and in cupboards, the Etheling, perhaps, +drank too much of what he found there--and that was all. Well, when +Sweyn comes, he may, if he will, make a public example to all +apostates in your honoured person; meanwhile Edmund thinks you have +deserted him." + +No torturer ever seemed to take a keener pleasure in the throes of his +victim, than Edric in the mental agony he kindled in the breast of his +unhappy prisoner. + +"But I said I might release you, or at least mitigate your fate, on +one condition, that you answer me a plain question directly and +plainly. Under what name does Edmund travel, and what disguise, and +does he purpose to trust himself in the Danish camp again? Where is he +at present residing? he has disappeared from the palace." + +"Monster!" said Alfgar, "you tempt like Satan. Away, and leave me to +my fate." + +"You will think better of it by and by when confinement upon bread and +water has tamed you. I will come once more, but it will be the last +time; and, mark you, should your people be defeated--the Danes I +mean--still your escape would not necessarily follow; the house might +take fire, it is of timber, and would soon burn down; a sad misfortune +it would be. + +"Good morning. I am going to mass with the king; shall I say a Pater +and an Ave for you, since you are prevented from being there. The +saints have you in their holy keeping!" + +His manner throughout had been like that of a cat playing with a +mouse, and there was quite a gratified smile upon his lips as he went. + +Strange to say, Alfgar felt less miserable after he was gone. The +wickedness of Edric seemed so great, his hypocrisy so unblushing, that +in his simple faith Alfgar could not believe that he would be allowed +to succeed. Many a holy text in the Psalms came to his mind, and +seemed to assure him of Divine protection. + +"I myself have seen the ungodly in great power; and flourishing like a +green bay tree. + +"I went by, and, lo! he was gone; I sought him, but his place could +nowhere be found. + +"Seek innocency, and take heed to the thing that is right: for that +shall bring a man peace at the last." + +"So, come what will," said he, "I will trust in Him and never will I +save my life by uttering one word which might betray the innocent." + +In this manner days lengthened into weeks. He tried in vain to open +any intercourse with his ferocious jailor, whose ward was sometimes +shared by a comrade, when there was much ungodly revelry below, and +snatches of Danish war songs mingled with profane oaths. The deep, +deep bay of the mastiff sometimes gave warning of the advent of a +stranger, or of the step heard from the distance, in the still deep +night; but this was all that Alfgar could learn of the outer world, +from which he was banished at so critical a moment. + + + +CHAPTER XV. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY AT CLIFFTON. + + +SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT.-- + +The evening, after the Vesper service in the church was over, and +darkness had closed in, we all sat down to our evening meal. The doors +were shut to keep out the storm, and I had already said grace, when +the Etheling suddenly appeared. + +His manner struck us all. He looked wild and agitated, and his first +words cast a chill over us. + +"Where is Alfgar?" + +"Is he not with you, what has happened?" said I and Herstan, speaking +in the same breath. + +"No, I have lost him. I had hoped to find him here; they must have +murdered him," he cried. + +"Murdered him?" + +"Yes, he was too dangerous to Edric to be suffered to live. I might +have foreseen it; and they have put him out of the way by cowardly +assassination," insisted the Etheling. + +There was too much reason in his words. + +"Besides," said he, "if he were well and uninjured, would he not have +come here, where he was sure of a welcome?" + +"I will go to Dorchester at once," said Herstan. + +"It is useless," said Edmund; but my brother, having learnt all that +the prince could tell him, mounted and rode into the town. + +Meanwhile Edmund evidently needed our care; we found he had not eaten +all day. + +"I have risked my life for my country," he said, "and now that I bring +tidings which ought to circulate through the land like the wind, and +rouse every man to action, I am disbelieved. Nay, it is hinted that I +drank too much Danish wine and mead, and misunderstood what I heard. I +could brain the man who dared say so to my face. I could--and would. +Meanwhile no steps are taken, no levies called out; but I will myself +alarm the country. The innocent blood shall not be on my head." + +"Surely they must heed your warning," said we all together. + +"Not they. The fox, Edric, pretended that it was all moonshine." + +"But did you not expose his treachery?" asked I. + +"I tried to do so; but he pulled out a bit of some hedge, which he +said was a holy thorn from St. Joseph's tree at Glastonbury, and that +he was there on pilgrimage when Alfgar saw him--saw him, mark you--at +the Danish camp on the borders of Sussex; and I saw men, I won't +mention names, who had more than once taken reward to slay the +innocent, look as if they would go down on their knees to this holy +thorn, which wasn't a holy thorn at all, but plucked from some hedge +hard at hand. Did not Edric mock them in his heart! I should like to +strangle him." + +How I thought of those who tithed mint and rue, and all manner of +herbs, and passed over justice, mercy, and the love of God. + +So, in unavailing complaints, midnight drew on, and we heard the sound +of my brother's horse. + +He soon entered the room. We saw at a glance that he had laboured in +vain, and spent his strength for nought. + +"No one has seen him," he said. + +"Have you asked many people?" we inquired. + +"Yes, scores. The sheriff, the bishop, the watchmen, the +tradesfolk--no one has seen or heard aught. I will go again tomorrow." + +"Meanwhile, do the people know what passed at the banquet last night?" + +"No; it has all been kept quiet," was the reply. + +We could do no more, and all retired to rest. I have sat up to say my +mattins and finish this diary. It is now nearly the third hour of the +morn, and-- + +Monday Night, 23d Nov. 1006.-- + +I had written as far as the word "and," when I was alarmed by a loud +cry from the chamber next my own, which was occupied by the Etheling. +I rose, and knocked at the door, but, receiving no answer, opened it +and went in. + +I saw at once that the prince was delirious; the fever, which I had +marked in his eyes and manner, but which he struggled against, had at +length overcome his brave spirit. + +Just as I entered the room, bearing my torch, he sprang out of bed. + +"There is a snake under my pillow." + +I tried to soothe him. + +"It is Edric; he is turned into a snake, and is trying to sting me. +Kill him! kill him!" + +I got him into bed with some difficulty, and sat by him, after giving +him a composing draught--for I never travel without a few simples at +hand, in case of sickness amongst those to whom I minister. + +He slept at last, but it was evident to me that exposure and +excitement had grievously injured his health, and that he was in +danger of prolonged sickness. Ever and anon he raved in his sleep +about Sweyn, Edric, his father, and Alfgar, mixing them up in his mind +most strangely: but the object of his abhorrence was ever Edric, while +he spoke of Alfgar, "poor Alfgar!" as a father might speak of a son. + +I watched by him all through the night, and in the morning he was +evidently too ill to rise. His mind became clear for a short time, and +yet his memory was so confused that he scarcely comprehended where he +was, or how he got here. + +So my return to Abingdon is indefinitely delayed, for Herstan and my +sister both insist on my staying till he is out of danger, if God +will; and indeed I know no one else to whose care I could willingly +commit him. + +We think it best not to let his father or Edric know where he is, for +we know how his death would rejoice the latter, and the wish is often +father to the action. A little would turn the scale now. + +Herstan has gone into Dorchester again to inquire about Alfgar, and to +ascertain whether any action has been taken consequent upon Edmund's +intelligence from Carisbrooke. + +Saturday.--Vigil of St. Andrew, and Eve of Advent Sunday.-- + +All this week I have been watching by the sickbed of the Etheling. + +I hope the crisis is past, but he is still very weak. He has been +delirious nearly the whole time, and today has but a confused idea of +things around him. + +All our inquiries about Alfgar have been fruitless, but there was one +circumstance which we learned, which seemed to me to bear some +reference to the matter. + +The ferryman, whose hut is situate at the bend of the river below the +Synodune hills, where people cross for Wittenham, says that late on +the night in question a boat with four people passed down the river, +and that it struck him that one only rowed, while two of the rest +seemed guarding the fourth passenger. He did not know the boat, yet he +thought he knew every boat on the river. + +This he has told to Herstan and others, but no further discovery has +ensued. + +But another important matter has claimed our attention. The king left +on Monday without making any efforts to profit by the Etheling's +discovery at Carisbrooke; but we could not in conscience let the +matter rest. So Herstan and I went on to Dorchester on Wednesday, and +I obtained an audience of the bishop, while he sought the sheriff. + +The bishop received me very kindly, and talked to me a great deal a +bout the happy days of Dunstan, when peace and plenty ruled +everywhere; but I led the conversation to the point I aimed at, and +told him frankly how alarmed we were at Abingdon about Edmund's +tidings. + +"And so was I," said he, "and I have persuaded the king to place +guards and watchers all through the coasts opposite the Wight, and +with Edric's aid we elaborated a goodly plan." + +"Indeed," said I, "but I wish Edric had nought to do with it." + +"So did I at first, but I feel convinced that the young Dane who +vanished so suspiciously must have deceived the prince concerning the +presence of Edric in the Danish camp, and that we have no sufficient +reason for thinking him such a child of hell as he would be could he +betray his country thus cruelly. It would be Satanic wickedness. He +is, I believe, a bad and untrustworthy man, but not quite so bad as +all that." + +I tried to explain my reasons for being of a contrary opinion, and +asked what was the plan. + +"Advanced guards have been placed all along the coasts of Hampshire, +beacons prepared on every hill, with constant attendants, so that the +Danes would find their coming blazed over the country at once." + +"But if so, what men have we to oppose to them?" + +"The sheriff has promised that the levies shall appear in case of +need." + +"Does he realise the danger?" + +"I hardly think he believes in it; but the beacons will give +sufficient warning." + +"Who has arranged the guards and chosen the sites for the beacons?" + +"Edric, of course, as general of the forces under the king." + +I could say no more--it was useless--but I felt very sick at heart. +After the noon meat I left the palace, and found my brother ready to +depart for home. His interview had been the counterpart of mine. +Neither had he succeeded in convincing the sheriff that there was any +danger to be apprehended. + +Well, all we can do is to prepare ourselves for the worst. I find that +no tidings have been sent by any authority to the men of this estate +to hold themselves in readiness for sudden alarm. I wonder whether the +same remissness prevails elsewhere. No one expects danger. The Danes, +they say, never fight in winter. + +Advent Sunday, 1006.-- + +My patient was able to sit up for a short time today, but his weakness +is very pitiable to behold, and he dares not leave his room. He +inquired very earnestly after Alfgar, and I found great difficulty in +persuading him to commit the matter to God, which is all that we can +do; for although the river has been dragged, the country searched, no +tidings have yet been obtained, and we can only believe that the poor +lad has been secretly murdered and buried, or that he has been sent +away out of the country. + +"I had a strange dream about him," said Edmund. "I thought that it was +midnight of Christmas Eve, and that I was attending mass, when, just +as the words were sung by the choir, 'Pax in terra,' the scene +suddenly changed, and I stood in the dark on the chalk hills which +overlook the Solent; by my side was a beacon ready laid for firing. I +thought next I saw the Solent covered with the warships of the Danes, +who were advancing towards the English shore, and that I tried to fire +the beacon, but all in vain, for the wood was wet through, and would +not burn. + +"Then I had a strange sense of woe and desolation, for my country was +in danger, and I could not even warn her. All at once I heard steps +rushing towards me, and Alfgar appeared bearing a lighted torch. He +thrust it into the pile, and it fired at once. Other beacon fires +answered it, and the country was aroused. Then I awoke." + +Saturday, December 5th, 1006.-- + +The week has again been spent mainly at Clifton. The prince is better, +but only able to rise a few hours each day, and I fear a relapse would +be fatal. + +On Wednesday I visited Abingdon, and had a long conference with the +abbot about the neglected warning Edmund had given; but he seemed to +think that the beacon fires and the guards placed near the sea coast +secure us sufficiently. Like all the world, he thinks that the +Etheling has exaggerated the danger. + +I have written a full account of all things to my brother at +Aescendune. Father Adhelm is still there ministering to the flock. + +Saturday, December 12th, 1006.-- + +The week has passed monotonously enough. The Etheling is now able to +leave his room, but the stormy weather, with its torrents of rain, +makes it impossible for him to leave the house. The river has +overflowed its banks; all the country around is like a lake. We +console him by telling him that all has been done which is possible, +both to warn the people and learn the fate of Alfgar. He tries to look +contented, but if he knew how little has really been done, and that +that little has been in Edric's hands, he would not be so contented. + +Saturday, December 19th, 1006.-- + +A very severe frost has set in this week, and there has been much +snow; the whole country is decked in her winter braveries for +Christmas. O that it may pass in peace, as the birthday of the Prince +of Peace should pass! + +I intend to spend it at Clifton, after which I shall return to my +flock at Aescendune. + +Edmund has been out today, but the sharp air hurt his lungs, which +have been grievously inflamed, and he was forced to return early. + +He has been so patient for one of his temperament, so grateful for +attention shown him, one would hardly think the lion could be such a +lamb. He intends to receive the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and +Blood of Christ on Christmas day in the little church of St. Michael +here, and then he will leave for London in the course of the week. + +We have heard nothing of Alfgar--we fear there is no hope; but the +prince clings to it, and says his dream will come true, and that +Alfgar has yet a great work to do. + +Christmas Eve, 1006.-- + +O happy happy Christmastide! All griefs seem hushed and all joys +sanctified by the blessed mystery of the Incarnation. O that Mary's +blessed Son, the Prince of Peace, may indeed bring us peace on earth, +and good will towards men! + +The weather is beautiful. The stars shine as brightly tonight as if +they were the lights about His throne; the very earth has decked +herself in her clear and spotless robe of snow in His honour. As for +the dear ones who were with us last Christmas--Bertric, Alfgar (for I +fear he is gone where I hope he keeps a happier Christmas)--they have +left the heart less lonely, for if we miss them on earth they seem to +attract us to heaven, which is yet more like home when we think of the +loved and the lost who await us there. + +We sing a midnight mass in an hour in the little church, another +tomorrow at dawn, a third in the full daylight. All the good people +here will communicate, and the evening will be given up to such +merrymaking as is befitting amongst Christians. All the ceorls and +serfs will be at the Hall, and the prince will share the +entertainment. Herstan and Bertha have been very busy preparing for +it, as also their children, Hermann, Ostryth, and Aelfleda. + +But I must go and assist in decking the church for the midnight +festivity. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS. + + +Alfgar had completely lost the reckoning of times and days since his +imprisonment, but he felt that weeks must have passed away, and that +the critical period foretold by Edmund must be near, so he listened +anxiously for any intelligence from the world without. + +At last the weather became very cold, and being without a fire, his +sufferings were great, until his ferocious gaoler, finding him quite +stiffened, brought up a brazier of coals, which saved his prisoner's +life, while it filled the room with smoke, which could only escape by +the crevices in walls and roof, for to open a window would have been +as bad as to dispense with the fire, such was the state of the outer +air. + +It was what we call an old-fashioned Christmas, in all its glory and +severity--a thing easy enough to bear, nay to enjoy, when men have +warm fires and plenty of food, but hard enough to endure where these +are absent. + +At last Alfgar could but conclude it was Christmastide, for Higbald +was joined by two comrades, and they sang and rioted below in a way +which showed that they had got plenty of intoxicating drink, and were +making free with it. + +In the evening of the day Higbald brought him up his supper, +staggering as he did so, and with it he brought in a bowl of hot mead. + +"Drink," he said, "and drown care. It is Yuletide, and drink thou must +and shalt." + +Alfgar drank moderately, for sooth to say it was invigorating and +welcome that cold day, but Higbald finished the bowl then and there, +and then staggering down, drew the outer bolt in such a way that it +missed the staple, which fact he was too drunk to perceive. + +Alfgar watched the action with eager eyes. It was the first time there +had been even a chance of escape. + +Meanwhile the evening sped by; and the noisy crew below quarrelled and +sang, drank and shouted, while the bright moonlight--brighter as it +was reflected from the snow of that December night--stole over the +scene. + +Not till then did Alfgar pass silently through the open door, and +listen at the head of the staircase. Before him was the outer door, +the key in the lock. The question was--Could he reach it unobserved by +men or mastiff? + +Liberty was worth the attempt. He descended the stairs softly. At the +bottom he looked around. The door was fastened which led into the +large hall where the gaolers were drinking. He advanced to the outer +portal, when he heard the growl of the dog from behind the inner door. + +The moment was critical. Evidently his masters did not comprehend the +action of the too faithful brute, for they cursed and swore at it. +Even then it growled, and the drunken fools--drunken they must have +been indeed--threw some heavy missile at it, which caused it to yelp +and cease its growling. + +Just then something flashed in the ray of moonlight which stole in +through an aperture over the door. + +It was a sharp double-edged sword. + +He grasped it with eagerness. It was now a case of liberty or death. +He knew how to wield it full well. + +Stealthily he turned the key and the door stood open. Still his +captors sang, and he caught the words: + +"When we cannot get blood we can drink the red wine, +The Sea King sang in his might; +For it maddens the brain, it gives strength to the arm, +And kindles the soul in the fight." + +Now he was on the outer side of the door, and he shut it, and then +locked it and tossed the key into the snow. + +But which way was he to go? He could not make out the locality, but it +was evident that the hill rose above him, and he knew that from its +summit he could discern the bearings of places, so he resolved to +ascend. + +It was now about nine at night, an hour when our ancestors generally +retired to rest. All Alfgar's desire and hope--O how joyful a +hope!--was to see from the hill the bearings of Clifton, and to +descend, with all the speed in his power, towards it. He might arrive +before they had retired to rest. So he ran eagerly forward. The moon +was bright, and the snow reflected so much light that locomotion was +easy. + +And now he became conscious that there was a strange gleam along the +snow on his left hand--a strange red gleam, which grew stronger and +stronger as he advanced. It seemed above and below--to redden the +skies, the frozen treetops with their glittering snow wreaths, and the +smooth surface beneath alike. + +Redder and redder as he ascended, until he suddenly emerged upon the +open hill. Before him were earthworks, which had been thrown up in +olden wars, before Englishman or Dane had trodden these coasts. He +scrambled into a deep hollow filled with snow, then out again, and up +to the summit, when he saw the cause of the illumination. + +Before him the whole country to the southeast seemed in flames. +Village after village gave forth its baleful light; and even while he +gazed the fiery flood burst forth in spots hitherto dark. He stood as +one transfixed, until the wind brought with it a strange and fearful +cry, as if the exultation of fiends were mingled with the despairing +cry of perishing human beings. + +He knew whence it came by the red light slowly stealing beyond the +next hill, and the fiery tongues of flame which rose heavenward, +although the houses were hidden by the ground. + +It was from Wallingford, a town three miles below Dorchester. He knew, +too, where he was himself; and the one impulse which rushed upon him +was to hasten to Clifton, where he trusted he might find Edmund, or, +at least, hear of him in this dread emergency. He saw the village +lying beneath in the distance, and turned to rush downward, entering +the wood in a different direction. + +But what sound is that which makes him start and pause? + +It is the bay of the mastiff. He is pursued. He clasps his sword with +desperate tenacity, in which a foe might read his doom, and rushes on, +crushing through the brushwood. + +Again the bay of the hound. + +Onward, onward, he tramples through bush and bramble, until he sees +his progress suddenly arrested by the dark-flowing river. + +He coasts along its banks, keeping up stream. The bay of the dog seems +close at hand, and the trampling of human feet accompanies it. + +All at once he comes upon a road descending to the brink, and sees a +ferry boat at the foot of the descent. He rushes towards it and +enters. The pole is in the boat. He unlooses the chain, but with +difficulty, and precious moments are lost. He hears the panting of the +ferocious beast just as he pushes the boat, with vigorous thrust, out +into the stream. + +The dog, followed closely by the men, is on the bank. The men curse +and swear, but the dog plunges into the chilly stream, which, being +swollen, has too rapid a current to freeze. Alfgar sees the brute +swimming after the boat; he ceases to use the pole, but takes his +sword, kneels on the stern of the boat, and waits for the mastiff. It +gains the boat, and tries to mount, when the keen steel is driven +between the forepaws to its very heart. One loud howl, and it floats +down the stream, dyeing the waters with its life-blood. + +"Cursed Dane!" shouts Higbald. "thou shalt pay with thy own life +blood." + +"When you catch me; and even then you must fight for it. Meanwhile, if +you be an Englishman, warn the good people of Dorchester that the +Danes are upon them. Your Edric has betrayed them." + +Reaching the other shore, Alfgar finds smooth meadows all covered with +snow. He knows his way now. A little higher up he strikes the main +road which leads to Clifton, and rushes on past field and grove, past +hedgerow and forest. Behind him the heavens are growing angry with +lurid light, before him the earth lies in stillness and silence; the +moonbeams slumbering on placid river, glittering on frozen pool, or +silvering happy homesteads--happy hitherto. He sees the lights in the +hall of Herstan yet burning, and casting their reflection abroad. He +is at the foot of the ascent leading up to it. One minute more and-- + +. . . . . . + +Christmas day was almost over when the population of Herstan's village +of Clifton obeyed the summons with alacrity to spend the evening in +the hall in feasting and merriment. They had all duly performed the +religious duties of the day, and had been greatly edified by the +homily of Father Cuthbert at mass; and now innocent mirth was to close +the hallowed day--mirth which they well believed was not alien to the +birthday of Him who once sanctified the marriage festivities at Cana +by His first miracle. + +So thither flocked the young and the old: the wood rangers and hunters +from the forests of Newenham, where Herstan had right of wood cutting; +the men who wove baskets and hurdles of osier work from the river +banks; the theows who cultivated the home farm; the ceorls who rented +a hide of land here and a hide there--all, the grandfather and the +grandson, accepted the invitation to feast. The rich and the poor met +together, for God was the Maker of them all. + +The huge Yule log burnt upon the hearth as it had done since it was +lighted the night before; a profusion of torches turned night into +day; the tables groaned with the weight of the good cheer; in short, +all was there which could express joy and thanksgiving. + +The supper was over; the wild boar roasted whole, the huge joints of +mutton and beef, the made dishes, the various preparations of milk, +had disappeared, the cheerful cup was handed round; after which the +tables were removed, the gleemen sang their Christmas carols, and all +went merry as a "marriage bell." + +Father Cuthbert, seated in a corner near the Yule log, with his +brother-in-law and the Etheling, forgot all his apprehensions, and +shared in the universal joy around him; if his thoughts were sometimes +with those who had once made Christmas bright to him--if he thought +of the bright-haired Bertric, who had been the soul of last Yuletide +festivity at Aescendune, or of the desolated home there, he dismissed +the subject from his mind at once, and suffered no hint to drop which +could dim the mirth of his fellow guests. + +Meanwhile, one of those whom he strove in vain to forget for the time +drew nearer and nearer; a haggard figure, wan and worn by painful +imprisonment, the garments dishevelled, the hair matted, the whole +figure wild with excitement, he drew near the outer gate. + +He heard the song of joy and peace within as he paused one moment +before blowing the horn which hung at the outer gate. + +Peace! Peace! +The whole wide world rejoiceth now, +Let war and discord cease; +Christ reigneth from the manger, +Away with strife and danger; +Our God, before whom angels bow, +Each taught this lesson by his birth, +Good will to men, and peace on earth. +Peace! Peace! +Hark, through the silent air +Angelic songs declare +God comes on earth to dwell +O hear the heavenly chorus swell, +Good will to men, +And on earth, peace. + +He could bear it no longer, the contrast was too painful, he must +break the sweet charm, the hallowed song, for the sky was reddening +yet more luridly behind him, and each moment he expected to see +Dorchester burst forth into flames. O what a Christmas night! + +He blew the horn, and had to blow it again and again before he was +heard. + +At length a solitary serf came to the gate: + +"Who is there?" + +"A messenger for the Etheling; is Prince Edmund with you? I would see +him." + +"All are welcome tonight, but I fear you will find the Etheling +ill-disposed to leave the feast." + +"Let me in." + +Astonished at the tone of the request, the porter reluctantly +complied, first looking around. + +"Why, thou art wild and breathless; is aught amiss?" + +"Step out and look over the hills; what dost thou see?" + +"Why, the heaven is in fire; is it the northern lights?" + +"Southern, you mean; the Danes are upon us." + +Staggered by the tidings, the man no longer opposed his entrance, and +Alfgar staggered into the hall, forgetting that he was come amongst +them like one risen from the dead. + +He entered the hall at first unnoticed, but the merry laughter and +cheerful conversation withered before his presence, as of one who came +to blast it. + +Father Cuthbert and Edmund, amongst others, turned round to see what +caused the lull, and started from their seats as they beheld at the +end of the room Alfgar, his face pale as one risen from the dead, his +black locks hanging dishevelled around his neck, his garments torn, +his whole person disordered. At first they really believed he had +returned from the tomb. + +They hesitated, but for one moment in speechless surprise, then rushed +forward. + +"Alfgar!" cried the Prince. + +"My son!" cried Father Cuthbert, "whence hast thou come? dost thou yet +live?" + +"Father; Prince; I live to warn you--the Danes, the Danes!" and he +sank fainting into the arms of Herstan. + +"Surely he raves," said they all. + +The porter here ventured to speak. + +"My lord, please go to the front of the house and look over the +water." + +Father Cuthbert and Edmund at once left the hall, followed by several +others. + +The mansion was seated on a considerable elevation; below them rolled +the Isis; across the river a couple of miles of flat meadow land lay +between them and the Synodune hills, and beyond the lessening range of +those hills, on the southeast, they looked, and behold the smoke of +the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. FOR HEARTH AND HOME. + + +The inhabitants of Clifton stood on the terrace in front of the hall, +gazing upon the fiery horizon, wrapped in emotions of surprise and +alarm. Living as they did in an unsettled age, and far more prepared +than we should be for such a contingency, yet the sense of the rapid +approach of a cruel and remorseless foe struck terror into many +hearts. + +But they had one amongst them to whom warfare and strife were a second +nature--one in whom the qualities which form the hero were very fully +developed. He gazed with sadness, but without fear, at the coming +storm, and to their late patient the inmates of the hall turned for +advice and aid in their dread emergency. + +"What shall we do?" asked Herstan, gazing with indescribable feelings +at those who clung to him for support. + +"The case is clear as the day," said the prince. "The storm I foretold +in vain has broken over the land, and the levies are not ready to meet +it. Listen; you may hear the sounds of alarm from Dorchester even +here. They see their danger." + +The tolling of the alarm bells, the sound of distant shouts, the +blowing of trumpets rolled in a confused flood of noise across the +intervening space--a distance of between two and three miles--and +manifested the intense alarm of the city, so cruelly aroused from +dreams of peace. + +"But what shall we do?" + +"Defend the place if attacked; it is well adapted for defence. You +have the river on one side, and a cliff no Dane could scale in the +face of our battle-axes; on the other side, your earthworks and +palisades keep the foe at a distance from the main building. How many +able-bodied men are present now?" + +"Happily we have all our force; the feast has brought them all here. +There would be from sixty to seventy men, besides a score of boys." + +"And how are you provided with weapons?" + +"Each man has a battle-axe, and there are scores of spears in the +armoury." + +"And arrows?" + +"Whole sheaves of them; and as good yew bows as were ever bent." + +"Come, we shall do; and now about provisions?" + +"You see we have bounteous fare now, but it would not last many days." + +"Many days we shall not want it--many days? Why, the levies must all +be out within twenty-four hours, and the Danes are not strong enough +to maintain themselves here. It is but a raid; but they might all have +been taken or slain had my father but believed me. As it is, they have +shed much innocent blood by this time." + +"You think, then, our buildings are capable of defence?" + +"Assuredly; it would be madness to sacrifice such a position. If the +Danes are about in the neighbourhood, it would be far more dangerous +to expose your helpless ones without the fortifications. Have you all +your people here, or are there a few sick?" + +"A few sick, only." + +"Let them be sought at once; the heathen will be revelling like fiends +about the country. For the present I think Dorchester and Abingdon +safe. Wallingford, if I may judge by the light over the hills, has +utterly fallen. They were probably taken unawares; and their defences +were never good. Now we must at once to work." + +"Prince, you have more experience of war than I; you will be our +commander." + +"I accept the post. To tell the truth, it will be a treat for me after +the illness and confinement I have gone through; the thought of the +struggle makes me feel myself again." + +And so this strangely constituted man went forth and spoke to the +assembled multitude, who stood passively gazing at the distant +conflagration. + +"Now, Englishmen, a few words to you all. We shall have, I hope, to +fight these Danes; and for the honour of our country must even quit +ourselves like men. Why should not the Englishman be a match for the +Dane? ay, more than a match for the cutthroat heathen? Here we stand +on a rock with our defence secure; and here we will live or die in +defence of our women and children. What say you all?" + +"We will live or die with you." + +"Well said, men. Now, one good hearty cheer; no, stop, I should like +them to be caught in their own traps. I know their plan. If they find +the good people of Dorchester are awake, as the noise shows, they will +swarm all over the neighbourhood like wasps after honey, to plunder +the isolated houses and farms, and carry off all they can; and this +place is too conspicuous--too much of a city on a hill--to be hidden. +Well, we will be ready for them. Now, first of all, we must set our +outposts around to give us due warning of their approach; and then +every man must arm himself as best he can, and let me see what figure +you can all make." + +He was interrupted by a childish voice, and saw Herstan's little son, +a boy of twelve years, touching his garment, and looking at him with +unfeigned admiration. + +"May I not fight the Danes, Prince?" + +"No, you are too young; you must go and take care of your mother and +sisters." + +"I don't want to be shut up with the women. I have killed a wolf. I +shot him with my bow in Newenham wood." + +"Well, we will see by and by, my brave boy. We shall have work for +all; go and arm with the rest. + +"Well, Alfgar?" + +"Let my post be near you." + +"You will fight in this quarrel, then?" + +"Yes; to save Christian blood." + +"Then I adopt you as an Englishman--Dane no longer. I know your +courage and coolness, and will employ it where it is wanted. Now, you +know the place; come and place the outposts where they can retire +easily." + +The small sally port, as it would have been called in later times, was +opened, and two men were in each case posted together all round the +building, under cover of trees, at convenient distances. The trees +immediately around the house had been cut down a few weeks earlier, by +order of Herstan, who saw they might afford cover to an enemy, in case +the prince's prophecies were fulfilled, as proved now to be the case. + +The building was large and irregular, and had been added to at various +times, the hall, looking over the river, forming its most conspicuous +portion; but it had not originally been built for purposes of defence, +and could not have endured the Danish assault for a moment, but for +external defences, utterly independent of the building, which had been +recently added; a mound, surmounted by crossed palisades, skilfully +strengthened by osier bands, and a deep outer ditch, now full of snow, +surrounded the building on three sides. The fourth was defended by the +river, which, being full owing to the late rains, rushed impetuously +along below. + +"Alfgar," said Edmund, "ask Father Cuthbert to see that all the +helpless ones--women and children--are safely shut up in an inner +apartment, where no Danish arrow can find them." + +This was accomplished, and Father Cuthbert cheered them all with his +calm placid manner; reassuring this one and cheering that, seeming +quite insensible to fear himself: one moment all sympathy, then all +brightness, his presence was invaluable in the crisis. + +"And now," said Edmund, "to the stables; the horses and cattle must be +turned loose tonight, or the Danes will burn them in their barns and +sheds." + +The farm buildings lay some little distance without, and the Etheling +and Alfgar, with two or three farm servants, carried out the task +hastily but effectually. Duties were meanwhile assigned to all the +able-bodied women and boys: some provided buckets and ladders, that, +in case the Danes attempted to kindle a flame, they might attempt in +vain; others tore up lint and prepared bandages for the wounded, while +others passed into the upper apartments to see that no lights remained +which could direct the aim of the foe. + +The night had somewhat changed its character while all these things +were going on; clouds obscured the moon, and light flakes of snow +commenced to fall. The wind began to moan, as if a storm were at hand. + +Alfgar visited the outposts while Edmund assigned their several +stations to the men, who were now armed in readiness for the defence. +When the former reached the post on the river's bank lower down, he +saw that the sentinel had thrown himself ear to the earth, and was +listening intently; he imitated his example. + +A deep dull sound from the distance was heard, and Alfgar recognised +the tread of an approaching host. + +"Let us withdraw," he said. + +They fell back quietly; Alfgar, passing rapidly round, warned all the +other sentinels, and when all had entered, the gates were closed; all +was done in profound silence. + +Then Edmund caused the men to fit their arrows to the string, and to +lie upon the inward slope of the earthworks, so as to be invisible; he +placed all the rest of the men at the windows and loopholes of the +building. Similarly prepared, Edmund, with Alfgar and young Hermann by +his side, waited at the window commanding the gateway, when the Lady +Bertha came up to them. + +"Has not Father Cuthbert returned?" + +"Returned?" + +"Yes, he went to the church to bring in the sacred vessels and +vestments." + +Alfgar rose instantly. + +"I will go and seek him," he cried. + +"Then pass out by the postern gate, on the angle nearest the church; I +fear the danger is great, but he must be told that the foe is near, or +he may fall into their hands." + +Alfgar left the hall and passed to an angle of the defences where a +little gate led out towards the church; the bridge had been removed, +and he had absolutely to descend into the ditch amongst the deep snow. + +Emerging, he crossed the burial yard, and found the good father +returning heavily laden with the precious vessels and other objects he +had been able to save. + +"Father," he said; "the enemy is near." + +"Indeed! so soon?" + +"We must enter by the postern gate." + +"I could hardly cross the snow burdened as I am; is it unsafe to try +the other gate? I hear no sound, see no symptom of danger." + +They paused; all was so quiet that Alfgar yielded, and they passed +round the mansion. The drawbridge was up, and no danger seemed near; +the trees were in deep shadow, for the clouds, obscuring the moon, +made the night very dark. + +Alfgar gave the signal, and the drawbridge was lowered; but they had +scarcely set foot upon it when dark figures rushed from the shadows +behind them. The bridge, which they both had passed, was actually +rising, when the foremost Dane leapt upon it, but was rewarded by a +blow from the battle-axe of Alfgar, which sent him tumbling into the +snow; two or three others leapt forward and clung to the edge of the +bridge, but fell into the ditch like the first; the two fugitives +entered, and the gate was closed. + +Then the awful war cry of the Danes arose from earth to heaven, +chilling the very blood and, disdaining all further concealment, the +murderous warriors rushed forward, doubtless expecting to find the +place almost undefended, and to carry the defences at a rush. + +But they were soon fatally undeceived, for so perfect had been +Edmund's arrangements, that a storm of arrows burst from all parts of +the building and embankment, laying nearly half the assailants dying +or wounded on the ground. + +Still the survivors threw themselves into the ditch, and strove in +vain to pass the palisades, which projected over their heads, and +which were vigorously defended by spear and battle-axe. + +But in one place a gigantic warrior succeeded in hewing an aperture +with his axe, wielded by giant strength, and all might have been lost +had not Edmund perceived it, and rushed to its defence, collecting by +his shout half-a-dozen followers. Several Danes strove to pass the +breach; one was already through, and Edmund attacked him; meanwhile +two others had crept through, but were cut off from their fellows, for +the English rallied in front and presented an impenetrable barrier +with their spears, while from the windows above the arrows rained upon +the assailants. + +Edmund's axe had found its victim; Herstan, who was by his side, had +engaged and wounded the second; and, meanwhile, Alfgar, who was +glaring about him for a foe, discovered the third, whose aspects and +form were at once recognised by him. + +"What! you, Higbald!" he cried. + +"You shall escape no more," cried his late gaoler, and brought his axe +down with a mighty rush. Alfgar leapt nimbly aside, and before his +bulky but clumsy antagonist could recover his guard, passed his keen +sword beneath the left arm, through the body, and the giant staggered +and fell, a bloody foam rising to his lips, as he quivered in the +agonies of death. + +All was again silent. The Danes, discomfited for the moment, having +lost half their number, had retired, probably waiting for +reinforcements, and the victor addressed Edmund. + +"Look," he cried; "this man is a servant of Edric Streorn." + +"Is it true, fellow?" said Edmund sternly. + +"What if it is? I am dying now, and it cannot matter to me." + +The last words were interrupted by a convulsive struggle. + +"Art thou an Englishman or a Dane?" said the Etheling, bending over +the dying ruffian in his anxiety to learn the whole truth. + +"What is that to thee?" + +"Much, if thou wouldst escape death." + +"Escape death! I cannot. Neither wilt thou escape Edric Streorn, and I +shall not die unavenged. Ah! young springal, thou wilt not escape +again. To think that thy puny hand should give Higbald his death blow! +Ah, I am choked!" + +Alfgar's sword had pierced his lungs, and a gush of blood rushing to +the mouth stopped the breath of Higbald for ever. + +"I have brought the foe upon you. We are tracked," said Alfgar. "Edric +and the Danes are in alliance." + +"But they have not taken this place yet; neither shall they, by God's +help! Ha! was that lightning? Nay, it is winter." + +A sudden burst of fiery light illuminated the scene, and the defenders +looked forth, in spite of their danger, from their fortifications. The +little church of St. Michael burst forth into billowing eddies of +smoke and flame. + +"This is a grievous sight, to see the place we had dedicated to God +destroyed by the bloody heathen. O that He would stretch forth His +hand as in the days of old!" + +"Would I had but two hundred men; I would fall upon the villains in +the rear, and leave not one," said Edmund. + +"Look--the farm buildings!" cried little Hermann. + +"The poor horses and oxen!" cried the Lady Bertha. + +"They are safe," said Edmund. "You may hear the trampling of hoofs +even now. The fools of Danes are hunting them in all directions. I do +not think they will catch many." + +Lights appeared in two or three places, and soon it became evident +that the ruthless foe had gained their object, as the barns and +stables lit up in all directions, and the manor house was surrounded +by the double conflagration, so that every object was as distinctly +visible as in open daylight. + +"To your buckets! Pour water upon the roof; and, archers, look out for +the enemy; keep him as far off as you can." + +The boys and women were speedily on the roof pouring water in all +directions, in case the wind should deposit the burning brands upon +the structure. Meanwhile flights of arrows came from the distance, and +settled around them; but they were spent before arrival in most cases, +for the defenders kept the ground clear for a large circle around by +their well-sustained discharges. Not a few dead bodies lying in the +glare of the fire testified to their deadly skill. + +The flames passed from stable to barn, and barn to shed. The +triumphant cries of the Danes added to the horror of the scene, heard +as they were amidst the continuous roaring of the flames. Crash, +crash, went roof after roof, the fall of the little church on the +opposite side first leading the awful chorus. Life seemed the penalty +of either Englishman or Dane who dared to trust his person within the +circle of light. + +The Lady Bertha was comforting her two little girls, Ostryth and +Alfreda, where they sat, cowering and terrified, in their own little +bedchamber, the window so barricaded that no arrow could enter, but +yet not sufficiently to keep out the glare of the flames. + +"Mother, how light it is!" said the little Ostryth; "how dreadfully +bright!" + +"It will soon be darker again." + +"But is it fire? Are they burning the house?" + +"No, dearest. They have set the farm on fire. It cannot hurt us." + +"But the horses, and my poor little pony?" + +"Are safe, dearest one. The Etheling went and let them all loose." + +"Oh! how good of him. I am so glad." + +"Mother, let Hermann come and sit with us!" + +"Nay, he will out to the fight. He is a boy, and must learn to be a +soldier." + +"Oh, but he will get hurt, perhaps killed." + +"Courage, dear child; remember how often I have told you how God helps +those who trust in Him. Say your prayers, your Pater and Credo, and +ask God to take care of dear father and Hermann." + +"Mother!" said a voice. She locked up and saw Hermann, his forehead +covered with blood. + +"It is nothing, mother," said the spirited lad, as he wiped the blood +away; "at least only the scratch of an arrow while I was on the roof. +Father wishes you to send all the women who are strong enough to help +to carry water from the river. The well is dry, and the men cannot be +spared from the embankment. We expect another attack, and there are +great patches of blazing straw flying about in the wind." + +She spoke a few words to the women, and all but two or three, who were +too weak or ill, went forth to the work. One kiss she imprinted +eagerly on his brow, and dismissed him back to his perilous task +without allowing herself one sigh. + +"Now, dear ones," she said to the little girls, "keep quiet till +mother comes back. I must go." + +"O mother, do not leave us!" + +But she could not listen to the earnest pleadings, for she felt that +where other women exposed themselves, she too must go, and cheer by +her example. + +A long line, reaching to the brink of the river, was soon formed, and +buckets were being passed from hand to hand. A loud cry, and a boy in +the line fell from an arrow, which retained just sufficient strength +to pierce his heart. Herstan and Father Cuthbert carried the corpse +reverently within, the father remembering that but that morning he had +fed with the Bread of Life, at the altar of St. Michael, this poor +lad, so soon to be called to meet the Judge who had entertained him as +a guest at His holy Table that Christmas morn. Two or three others +were soon wounded, but not seriously, and when a supply of water ready +for all emergencies had been collected on the roof, the dangerous duty +was over. + +Pale and collected, the Lady Bertha was returning to her children, +when she passed the corpse. One moment, and the thought struck her +that it was Hermann, and the mother's heart gave a great leap. +Tremblingly she put aside the cloth with which they had veiled it, and +was undeceived. Repressing her feelings, she was again by the side of +her little girls, when the fearful cries of the assailants once more +rang through the air. + +"Stand to your post! Quit yourselves like men! Be firm!" shouted the +stentorian voice of Edmund. + +Onward came the Danes, in three parties, to attack the three sides of +the building. The arrows diminished their numbers, but stayed them +not. They left a struggling dark line upon the ground, but the wounded +had to care for themselves. Edmund rushed to command the defence at +the gate, leaving Alfgar to superintend that upon the right hand, and +Herstan on the left. They had but one moment, and they were in the +thick of the conflict. + +Shouts mingled with shrieks. Sword, battle-axe, and spear did their +deadly work through and above the palisade; arrows rained down from +the roof and windows on the assailants, women and boys doing their +part in that manner, while the men did theirs with battle-axe and +sword on the bulwarks. In one or two places the palisade threatened to +give way, and at last three or four stakes were dragged out in one +spot, blow after blow of the axe was spent upon the yielding fabric, +and a breach was effected. + +The Etheling perceived it, and rushed to the scene just as two or +three of the English, less used to arms, were yielding before the +ponderous weapons of the Danes. Throwing himself into the breach, his +practised arm made a desert around him. Of immense muscular strength, +his blows came down like the fabled hammer of Thor, crushing helmet +and breastplate alike before the well-tempered steel of his favourite +weapon. The foe were driven back, and for one moment he stood in the +breach alone. + +Then and then only was he recognised. + +"The gleeman! the false gleeman the Etheling Edmund!" in various +energetic cries, attested his fame, and the hatred of his foes. + +"Yes, dogs, ye know me, and the prize ye have to win. Back, drunkards +and cannibals, back to your royal parricide with the gleeman's +greetings, and tell him Hela is waiting for him and his friend the +accursed Edric." + +A shower of arrows was the only answer, but they missed the joints, +and rattled harmlessly from the well-tempered armour which Edmund +wore. Still the position was critical, and Alfgar, with gentle +violence, persuaded him to descend from his perilous position. + +Here the attack was foiled, and foiled so decidedly, that the ditch +was actually half filled with corpses. Cries of distress arose from +the opposite side, but Edmund's arm restored the balance there, so +great was the influence of one man, and so great the power of physical +force in the desperate conflicts of that day. + +Foiled at every point, the invaders were driven from the embankment. +It was evident that they had miscalculated the forces of the +defenders, and that they had advanced beyond their main body in +insufficient strength to take the place by assault. Could they have +supplied the place of the fallen by fresh men, until they had wearied +the defenders out, they would have succeeded, but they were evidently +not in strength to do this so they slowly yielded, until the deadly +struggle ceased, and silence resumed her empire, while the besieged +repaired the damage the defences had sustained. + +"They have retired," said Herstan, wiping the sweat from his brow and +the blood from his axe. + +"Ay," said Edmund, "they will not now take the place by assault--they +are not more than two to one, considering the losses they have +sustained. They have lost twice as many as we. If we were a little +stronger I would head a sally. + +"Ah! what was that?" + +A globe of fire traversing the arc of a circle, rose from beyond the +embers of the barns, and, sailing through the air, fell upon the roof, +which, owing to the intense heat from the conflagration which had +raged around, was in a very dry and inflammable state. Another, then +another followed, and Edmund cried aloud: + +"Pass up the water to the roof, to the roof. We shall need all our +hands now!" + +He rushed up himself, but charged Herstan to remain below, and see +that, whatever happened, the defences were not forsaken for one +moment. + +The defenders on the roof were prompt with their remedy; and no sooner +did a flaming brand arrive than it was extinguished, provided it fell +in a spot easy of access. But at length some of the deadly missiles +fell where they could not be immediately reached, and one of these +eluded the observation of the besieged until they saw a sheet of flame +curl over the eaves beneath the roof, and play upon the surface of the +huge beams above, until they suddenly started into flame. Water was +dashed upon it, but only partially extinguished the destroying +element, which broke out in fresh places until the defenders became +desperate. And now flight after flight of arrows fell amongst them, +and many wounds were received, while the smoke and flame seemed to +find fresh fuel each moment, and to need all the energies of the +English. + +It was at this inauspicious moment that the Danes charged the +palisades again with deadly fury, while the attention of all was drawn +to the flames; so fierce was the attack, that it was necessary once +more to concentrate all the strength of the besieged to repel them; +and the fire gained in strength, roared and hissed in its fury, +seizing for its prey the whole roof of the eastern wing of the +building. + +And now the Danish archers, drawing nearer, sent fresh flights of +arrows on those who were labouring on the house top, and, killing +several, drove the others away. The condition of the English was +rapidly getting desperate. + +Edmund threw himself into the strife, and drove the foe back from the +breach they had previously made, but even his valour could not restore +confidence. + +"All is lost! all is lost!" cried some panic-stricken trembler, as he +saw the flames spread. + +"To the river, to the river, to the boats!" cried others. + +"Nay, nay," shouted Edmund, "we are not conquered yet; we can defend +ourselves till daylight, or we can depart in order. Alfgar, bid the +women and children prepare to leave the hall as the fire spreads; and +you, Herstan, see that if the worst comes to the worst, the retreat to +the river is made in order. We will defend the place if necessary till +the last man, and cover your retreat; but all is not lost yet. Take a +dozen stout men, mount the roof, the fire is not lower down; let them +destroy the burning portion with their axes; let the women stand +behind with the water. + +"Archers, keep the Danes back. See those brutes there aiming at your +wives on the roof; bring them down; make them keep their distance. +Guard well the palisades." + +But, although his orders were obeyed, the Danes grew bolder; the men +could not work on the roof in the midst of the arrows. The women and +children, emerging terror-struck from the hall, made every father's +heart sink within him. + +Edmund cried aloud: + +"To the gate, to the gate! the villains have got the drawbridge down." + +He rushed to the spot himself, and found that some adventurous Dane +had severed the chains and lowered the bridge in the momentary +confusion of its defenders, and the gate was yielding before their +strokes. + +He arrived; and that moment the gate fell. He stood in the breach +himself; one man against a dozen. He did all a hero could; but he was +already bleeding. Alfgar, ever faithful, fought like a lion by his +side. Herstan and his bravest warriors brought their aid, but all +seemed lost. + +"Tell them to retreat to the river. + +"Herstan, conduct the retreat; Alfgar and I can keep them out for five +minutes more." + +"All is lost! all is lost!" the cry arose within. + +"No; saved! saved!" cried Father Cuthbert from the roof. "What! +Englishmen, to the rescue! to the rescue!" + +The Danes suddenly wavered, then turned in surprise and despair; for +from the darkness behind emerged the forms of hundreds of Englishmen, +who fell upon the Danes. The levies were out, and only just in time. + +"One charge!" said Edmund; and, rushing forward, led the way into the +heart of the foe. + +. . . . . . + +The Danes who had attacked the house of Herstan were so far in advance +of their countrymen that they were forced to retreat instantly before +the superior force which came to the rescue of the besieged; and they +fell back, at first in some order, but shortly, owing to the darkness +and the pressure of their foes, in utter confusion. + +But Edmund could pursue them no longer. His strength, having been so +lately an invalid, was utterly gone. He fell from sheer exhaustion, +and was borne back by Alfgar to the hall. + +But there was no longer need for his protection. He had saved the +mansion and all its inmates, as they most readily owned. And now he +received all the loving care and attention he deserved. + +Meanwhile the English continued the pursuit until a small remnant of +Danes repassed the river; only a small remnant of the party which, as +it will be easily guessed, instigated by Edric, had sallied forth to +besiege the place where Edmund had found refuge, who had so recently +provoked the bitter hostility of Sweyn. + +The following day the whole army of the Danes retreated from the ruins +of Wallingford towards the south; and the next day encamped in the +village of Cholsey, which, with its priory, they utterly destroyed. +Then they continued their retreat along the slope of the downs, by +Aston, until they reached Cuckamsley hill, where they abode as a +daring boast; for it had been said that if they ever reached that spot +they should never see the sea again. Alas! the prediction was +unfulfilled {xii}. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + +In the Aescendune Woods, Easter Tide, 1007.-- + +Here I am at home, if I may call these woods home, once more, having +spent my Lent with my brethren in the monastery of Abingdon. We are a +very large party: Herstan and all his family are here, the Etheling +Edmund, and Alfgar. + +We all travelled together from Abingdon. Passing through Oxen ford, +Kirtlington (where Bishop Sidesman of Crediton died at the Great +Council, whose body is buried in the abbey), Beranbyrig, and Warwick, +we reached the domains of Aescendune. + +We passed through the desolated village where lie the blackened ruins +of priory and hall, not without a sigh, and entered the forest. +Although I had so recently travelled by that path (in September last), +yet I could hardly find my way, and had once or twice like to have +lost the party in quagmires. So much the better; for if we can hardly +escape such impediments, I do not think we need fear that the Danes +will find their way through the swamps and brakes. + +But the woods were so fresh and delightful to men like ourselves, who +have but just escaped from the confinement of the town. Blessed, +thrice blessed, are they who dwell in the woods, God's first temples, +apart from strife and the turmoil of arms! + +So spake I to my companions. The while the birds from each tree and +bush chanted their Maker's praise, and the sweet fresh green of +springtide enlivened the scene, as if to welcome us pilgrims to our +home. + +"And not less, father," said the Etheling, "need we be grateful for +yon fat buck, which I mean to send an arrow after. See, we have the +wind of him." + +So speaking, while we all stood motionless, he crept near his victim, +and drawing an arrow to its head, while all we saw was the branching +horns of the stag, he let it fly. It whizzed through the air, and +drank the life blood of the poor beast, which bounded a few steps, +staggered, and fell, when in a moment Alfgar ended its struggles by +drawing his knife across its throat, while young Hermann, a true +hunter by instinct, clapped his hands with joy. + +"We shall bring our dinner with us," quoth the boy. + +At this point I found great difficulty. A brook coming down from the +hills had overflowed the land until a swamp or quagmire had been +formed, whereon huge trees rotted in slime, while creeping plants hid +the deformity of decay. + +Our horses refused the path, and it took me a good hour's search, for +I was guide, to find a more secure one. At last I found the tracks +where others had gone before me, and we followed a winding path for a +full hour, until we arrived in a deep valley, where a brook made its +way between deep rocky banks, by the side of which lay our upward +path. + +"What a splendid place for defence!" said Edmund. "With a score or two +warriors, one might hold an entire army at bay here." + +He pointed out to Alfgar and Hermann, who look upon him as a sort of +demigod, all the capabilities of the place. + +"A few more steps, and we shall see our friends," said I; and we +advanced until, from the summit of the pass, we saw the valley wherein +they have found rest. + +They had worked well during autumn and winter, and the land was well +cultivated; the brook ran through the midst of the vale, which was +bounded by low hills on either side, and clear from forest growth. + +In the centre of the valley the brook divided, forming an island of +about an acre of ground, containing several dwellings. From the +central one, which possessed a chimney, smoke issued, and told of the +noon meat. + +By this time our approach was discovered, and I saw my brother, with a +few serfs, advancing to meet us. It was a happy moment when we +embraced each other again. And then he saw Alfgar, and embraced him as +a son. They did not speak--their feelings were too deep for words. All +that had passed since they last met must have rushed into their minds. +Then Herstan, the Lady Bertha, Hermann, Ostryth, and Alfreda, all had +their turn. + +"Pardon me, prince," said I, when I introduced Edmund; "pardon +brothers who scarcely expected to meet again. Elfwyn, let me introduce +the Etheling Edmund as your guest." + +"The Etheling Edmund!" repeated Elfwyn, with great respect; "it is +indeed an honour which I receive." + +"The less said of it the better," said Edmund. "I am come to be one of +you for a time, and am thankful to find a free-born Englishman to +welcome me to the woods. Never, by God's help, will I return to the +court so long as they pay tribute to the Danes." + +"It is true, then," said Elfwyn--"we hear scant news here--that peace +has been bought?" + +"Yes, bought for thirty-six thousand pounds, by Edric's advice. I +should like to know how much of the money he retains himself. He is +hand and glove with Sweyn. But I purpose deriving one benefit from the +peace, upon which the Danes do not reckon." + +"And that?--" + +"Is to train up an army of Englishmen who shall not be their inferiors +in warlike skill. In courage they are not their inferiors now. Perhaps +you will let me amuse myself by training your own retainers in their +spare moments?" + +"Most willingly. I could desire nothing better," said my brother, +smiling inwardly at the enthusiasm of the young warrior. + +The labourers had just returned from wood and field, and when Edmund +was recognised he was greeted with vociferous cheers, which made the +woods ring. + +But I cannot describe the meeting of Alfgar with the mother and sister +of Bertric; they were alone a long time together after the noon meat, +and I saw afterwards their eyes were red with weeping; well, they were +not all tears of sorrow. + +On the whole it has been a day of deep happiness, hallowed rather than +shadowed by the thought of Bertric, the circumstances of whose heroic +death were only now fully known to his parents and sister. + +. . . . . . + +The voluminous pages of Father Cuthbert's diary for the years of +bitter woe and misery which followed cannot be fully transcribed; they +would fill a volume themselves, and we must content ourselves with a +few extracts, which will probably interest our readers, and carry on +the thread of the history to the place where our narrative will again +flow free and uninterrupted. + +Ascension Tide, 1007.-- + +Edmund, assisted by Alfgar, has begun his task of disciplining and +training all our able-bodied men. He says, and rightly, that he is +sure we shall very soon have the Danes back for more money, and that +there will be no peace till we can defend ourselves properly. It is +amusing to see with what zeal young Hermann takes lessons in arms from +Alfgar; that boy is born to be a soldier. + +September 1007.-- + +We hear of an appointment which causes us much apprehension. The king +Ethelred has appointed Edric Streorn ealdorman of Mercia; we are in +his district, and fear it may bode evil to us all. Edmund is beside +himself with rage; he vows that if Edric appears in these woods he +will slay him as he would a wolf. + +May 1008.-- + +Every three hundred and ten hides of land has been charged with the +cost of a ship, and every eight hides with the cost of breastplate and +helmet; we do trust to recover our supremacy at sea, and then the +Danes cannot return. + +March 1009.-- + +Alas, we are grievously disappointed of our hope. The fleet is +miserably destroyed; Brihtric, Edric's brother, a man like-minded to +himself; accused Wulfnoth, the ealdorman of Sussex, of high treason; +the ealdorman, knowing that he had no chance of justice, seduced the +crews of twenty ships, and became a pirate, like unto the Danes +themselves. Brihtric pursued him with eighty ships, but being a bad +sailor, got aground in a storm, and Wulfnoth came and burned all which +the storm spared. The commanders and crews have forsaken the rest of +the fleet in disgust. + +Whitsuntide, 1009.-- + +Poor Alfgar came to me in great trouble. He and Ethelgiva have been +accepted suitors so long that he thought it time to propose marriage. +She referred him, with her own full consent, to her father; and Elfwyn +says, not unwisely, that he cannot consent until the land is at peace; +that it is currently reported that Thurkill, a Danish earl, is at hand +with an immense fleet, and that to marry might both hamper a warrior's +hands and be the means of bringing up children for the sword. He fully +accepts Alfgar's suit, but postpones the day till peace seems +established, that is "sine die." It is very hard to make Alfgar +reconciled to this. I try to do so. + +July 1009.-- + +Bad news. Thurkill's fleet has landed at Sandwich. + +August 1009.-- + +Worse news. Another fleet of Danes, under Heming and Eglaf, has joined +the former fleet, and both together are ravaging Wessex as far +northward as Berkshire; we have sent all the men we can spare to join +the army, but the king, persuaded by Edric, will not give the Etheling +Edmund any command therein. + +St. Martin's Mass,-- + +One of our men has returned from the army. He states that forces being +gathered from all parts of England, the Danes were waylaid, and must +have been beaten, but that Edric persuaded the king not to fight when +the victory was in his hands, and so they escaped. + +St. Brice's Day, 1009.-- + +This ill-omened anniversary we sang dirge and mass for the souls of +those who were slain by treachery seven years ago. Our forces have +returned from the south. They say the Danes have gone into winter +quarters on the Thames, and that all the neighbourhood pays them +tribute. + +London has hitherto gallantly resisted their attacks. + +Edric Streorn has married the king's daughter, Edmund's half-sister, +Elgitha. Is this a time to be "marrying and giving in marriage"? +Edmund is frantic about it. + +February 1010.-- + +Woeful news. Herstan and all his family, who had returned in peace to +their dwelling, have come to us homeless and destitute. The Danes, as +in 1006, suddenly issued from their ships. They took their way upwards +through Chiltern, and so to Oxford, burning the city. Then they +returned all down the river, the infantry in boats, the cavalry on +horseback, burning on every side. + +But, worst of all, Abingdon is destroyed; the holy house which has +been a house of prayer so many generations! Keeping in their course, +they burned Clifton; but the alarm was given in time, and the people +escaped. There was no chance of defence this time. + +Then they attacked Dorchester, and burned part of the city, but +retired before all was consumed, hearing that a large force was +marching against them; so onward past the ruins of Wallingford, which +had not yet been rebuilt, destroying Bensington on their road. Thus +they went on to Staines, when, fearing the forces of London, they +returned through Kent to their ships. + +Our brethren who took refuge in Abingdon have just arrived. We must +find them room here; they tell a piteous story. + +Ascension Tide, 1010.-- + +A sorrowful Ascension Tide indeed! They have landed in East Anglia. A +battle has been fought and lost. Nearly all the English leaders slain. + +Whitsuntide.-- + +We can hardly keep the festival, the people are so excited by the +news; all Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (once more) are laid waste. +They are on the road to Bedford. + +Edmund and Alfgar, with young Hermann, and all our fighting men, have +gone out on their own account against them. + +July.-- + +The Danes elude all our troops. Edric persuades the king to go +eastward, and the Danes are westward. They go westward, and the Danes +are eastward. There is no chieftain. A witan is summoned; it will do +no good. + +November.-- + +Northampton has fallen, cruelly fallen. The town is burned, and all +therein slain. + +Edmund and Alfgar, with not more than half our men, have returned with +the news. Hermann is seriously wounded, but bears it bravely. He is +only sixteen now. There is mourning over all our fallen heroes; but +they have died so bravely. Edmund says they have slain far more than +twice their number of the marauders. Still his father will give him no +command. It is like private war so far as he is concerned; but many +fresh recruits have joined his standard, and will go out with him in +spring. + +March 1011.-- + +The king and witan have again offered tribute to the Danes; it is +accepted. I do not think the peace will last long. + +Michaelmas, 1011.-- + +Woe is me! the Danes have broken the peace; and Canterbury, the chief +seat of English Christendom, whence came to us the blessed Gospel, is +taken and burnt. Elfmar, the abbot of St. Augustine's--O false +shepherd! O wolf in sheep's clothing! betrayed it. The archbishop is +prisoner. God and the blessed saints preserve him! + +Easter, 1012.-- + +Another saint is added to the calendar; the Archbishop Elphege has +suffered martyrdom. On Easter eve they told him he must find ransom or +die. But he not only firmly refused to give money, but forbade his +impoverished people to do so on his account. Then, on the following +Saturday, they led him to their hustings (or assembly), and shamefully +slaughtered him, casting upon him bones and the horns of oxen. And +then one smote him with an axe iron on the head, and with the blow he +sank down. His holy blood fell on the earth, and his soul he sent +forth to God's kingdom. + +On the morrow they allowed the body to be taken to London, where the +bishops, Ednoth of Dorchester and Elfhelm of London, received it, with +all the townsmen, and buried the holy relics in St. Paul's minster, +where they say many miracles have already been wrought at his tomb. + +Tribute has again been paid, and there is peace awhile. Thurkill, with +forty ships, sweareth to serve King Ethelred and defend the country if +he will feed and pay them. + +Oh that the martyr's intercessions may be heard for his afflicted +country {xiii}. + +August 1013.-- + +This fatal month our own neighbourhood, indeed nearly all Mercia, has +suffered the extreme horrors of war. Sweyn came along Watling Street, +perpetrating the most monstrous cruelties; in short, he and his +committed the worst evil that any army could do. + +We found now how wisely we had decided not to rebuild Aescendune. Not +a hall, farm, or cottage, escaped fire and sword, save those hidden in +the forest like us. Edmund has lost many men in the course of the last +few months; and with the remainder he hid in our woods, ready to +protect us "to the last breath," as he said, "in his body." Alfgar and +Hermann, who have both been wounded (the latter for the second time), +are with him still. But the enemy never discovered our retreat. Praise +be to God for sparing this little Zoar! The saints are not unmindful +how we protested against the iniquity of St. Brice's day. But of one +thing we all feel sure; Anlaf cannot be alive, or revenge would lead +him here. + +December 1013.-- + +Ethelred has fled to Normandy. He sent Queen Emma and her children +before him. Sweyn, the Dane, is now King of England. There seems no +resource but submission. We are told Edric Streorn is in high favour +in the Pagan court; and still is ealdorman of Mercia. Alas! what a +Christmas! + +Candlemas, 1014.-- + +God has at length bared His arm: Sweyn is no more. The blasphemer and +parricide is gone to his dread account. On the eve of the festival he +filled up the measure of his damnation by daring to exact an enormous +tribute from the town where rests the uncorrupt body of the precious +martyr St. Edmund, which even the pagan Danes had hitherto feared to +do. He said that if it were not presently paid he would burn the town +and its people, level to the ground the church of the martyr, and +inflict various tortures on the clergy. Not content with this, he +disparaged the blessed martyr's merits, daring to say there was no +sanctity about him. But, thus setting no bounds to his frowardness, +Divine vengeance did not suffer the blasphemer to prolong his +miserable existence. + +Towards evening of the day when he had held a "thingcourt" at +Gainsborough, where he had repeated all these threats amongst his +warriors, he, alone of the crowd, saw St. Edmund approaching him with +a dreadful aspect. + +Struck with terror, he began to shout, "Help! comrades, help! St. +Edmund is at hand to slay me!" + +While he spoke, the saint thrust his spear fiercely through him, and +he fell from his war horse. They bore him to a bed, whereon he +suffered excruciating agonies till twilight, when he died the third of +the nones of February. From such a death, good Lord, deliver us! The +bloodthirsty and deceitful man shall not live out half his days; +nevertheless, my trust shall be in thee, O Lord {xiv}! + +Lent, 1014.-- + +Ethelred has returned, and is again king; he has promised to amend his +evil ways, and to be ruled by faithful and wise counsellors. All +England has rallied round the descendant of Edgar. Canute has fled. + +Eastertide.-- + +Edmund has returned to court. His father has received him graciously. +Alfgar is with him. Elfwyn will not even yet consent to the marriage, +saying, "Wait a little while; we have not yet done with the Danes." I +fear he is right. + +June 1015.-- + +Herstan is here, and has brought us sad news. A great council has just +been held at Oxford, whereat Edric Streorn, to the indignation of all +men, sat at the king's right hand. Would this had been all! He invited +Sigeferth and Morcar, two of the chief Thanes in the seven burghs, to +supper with him; and there, when he had made them heavy with wine, he +caused them to be cruelly murdered by hired ruffians. Instead of +punishing him, the king sanctioned the deed, took all their +possessions, and sent Sigeferth's widow to be kept prisoner at +Malmesbury. Alas! such deeds will call down God's vengeance upon us. + +Nativity of St. Mary (Sept. 8).-- + +The Etheling went with Alfgar to Malmesbury a few days ago. We now +hear that he has released Sigeferth's widow, and that he has married +her. We know not what to think of the step. It is a bold defiance of +his father's cruel policy. He knew the widow before she was the wife +of Sigeferth, when Alfgar says he made honourable love to her. But it +is a very sudden step. + +October 1015.-- + +Alas! the Divine vengeance has not slumbered long after the late cruel +deed. Canute is in England again. Edmund brought his wife here, asking +us to take care of her. She is a gentle lady, worn down with care. He +has gone, in conjunction with Edric, to fight Canute. I dread this +conjunction. Edmund would have gone alone, but his father insisted on +joining Edric in the command, saying two heads were better than one. + +November 1015.-- + +Alfgar has come home, bringing messages from Edmund, with sad but not +altogether unexpected news. Edric, who is steeped in stratagems and +deceit, plotted against his life again and again, whereupon Edmund +broke up the camp in indignation, and took a separate course with all +the warriors who would follow his standard. Edric took the rest, went +down to the seacoast, seduced the crews of forty ships, and then +joined Canute with his whole forces. Alas! there seems no hope now. + +Epiphany, 1016.-- + +There is war all over the land--civil war. It is not to be wondered +at. But many Englishmen have given their allegiance to Canute, who now +professes himself a Christian, saying they will not serve Ethelred any +more. So Edmund and Canute are both, I fear, ravaging the land, for +Edmund has threatened more than once to regard those people as foes +who refuse to fight against the Danes. Men know not what to do. + +Eastertide, 1016.-- + +We have received strange news. Ethelred is dying. He has summoned his +son. The tidings reached Edmund here. He had only been with us a +single day, and was about to depart again for the war, for Canute +threatens to attack London. It is there Ethelred lies sick unto death. +Edmund seemed more moved than I should have expected. He has departed +in all haste, taking Alfgar with him. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. THE ROYAL DEATHBED. + + +It was the evening of a stormy day in April when a band of five +hundred men, well armed and equipped, were seen approaching the Moor +Gate of London. Their leader rode in front, a stalwart warrior, whose +eagle eye and dauntless brow told of one born to command. By his side +rode a younger warrior, yet one who had nearly reached the prime of +life, and who bore the traces of a life of warfare most legibly +stamped upon him. There was this difference between them, that men +would have recognised the elder at once as an Englishman, while the +younger had all the outward physiognomy of a Dane. + +"Look, Alfgar, and see whether you can see the flag of Wessex floating +over the gates; your eyes are better than mine," said the elder to his +companion. + +"I can barely see through the driving rain and darkening sky, but I +think I discern the royal banner." + +"Then the city yet holds out, and Canute has not arrived. We are yet +in time." + +"The messenger said that their ships could not ascend the river while +the west wind blew, and it is blowing hard enough tonight." + +"Well, when they come they may find London a hard nut even for Canute +to crack. The citizens of London are true as steel." + +"See, we are espied, and they man the gates." + +"Doubtless they think Canute is approaching. Ride rapidly, we shall +soon undeceive them." + +They rode within bow shot of the gates, which were closed, and there +they paused, for a score of bowmen held their shafts to their ears. +Edmund, for our readers have long recognised him, bade his forces +halt, and advanced alone, with Alfgar, holding up his hand in sign of +peace. + +"What, ho! men of London," he cried, "do you not recognise Edmund the +Etheling?" + +A joyous cry of recognition burst forth, the gates were thrown open in +a minute, and as Edmund, followed by his train, rode in, cries of +welcome and exultation burst forth on all sides, while women and +children, sharing the general joy, kissed even the hem of his mantle. + +Well they might, for their need was sore. Canute was near, his ships +had been seen entering the Thames, and his determination to take the +city, which had so often resisted the Danish arms, had been freely and +frankly expressed. + +"Ah, well you know me, my countrymen, for a true Englishman!--one in +whose veins your blood flows, and who will be only too happy to fight +the Danish wolves at your head." + +The cry, "Long live the Etheling Edmund!" had wakened the city, and +the narrow tortuous streets were becoming thronged by the crowd, so +that their farther progress threatened to be slow. Edmund perceived +this, and, turning to the captain of the guard, inquired anxiously: + +"How fares the king, my father?" + +"They say he is at death's door," was the reply. + +"Then I may not tarry, good people. All thanks for your welcome, which +I hope I may live to repay, but just now my place is by my father's +side. I may not now delay till I come to him." + +So the people made way without discontinuing their acclamations, and +Edmund and his train rode on till they reached the precincts of St. +Paul's cathedral church. Night was now coming on apace, amidst showers +of rain and hail, and gusts of wind, which caused the wooden spire to +rock visibly. Here and there faint lights twinkled through the open +doors, where people could be dimly seen on their knees. + +"They pray for the king," whispered an officer of the guard who rode +by the side of the prince. "The bishop Elfhelm has gone forth with the +viaticum." + +Edmund replied not, but hurried his pace as he gazed at the darkening +outlines of the rude structure, which stood within the outer walls, +yet remaining, of the temple of Diana, which in Roman times had +occupied the same spot. + +They descended the hill towards the Fleet, but paused while yet within +the walls. The ancient palace without the gates had been long since +burned by the Danes in one of their various attempts to take the city, +and the court had occupied a large palace, if such it could be called, +once belonging to a powerful noble who had perished in one of the +sanguinary battles of the time. + +The outer portal stood open, but sentinels of the hus-carles were +posted thereat, who at once came forward as Edmund paused at the gate. + +He dismounted, saying, "Alfgar, follow me;" and commended his troops +to the hospitality of the citizens, bidding them to reassemble before +St. Paul's by eight of the morning. + +And the troops broke up to receive such hospitality as the straitened +times permitted men to indulge in. The officers found a welcome in the +palace, amongst the royal guard. The citizens contended who should +entertain the rest. + +Edmund passed through the great hall, where the general silence struck +him forcibly, telling of the extremity to which the monarch was +reduced, and entered an inner apartment, where several dignitaries +both of church and state were waiting. They welcomed him in grave +silence, and the chamberlain who was present spoke in a low voice: + +"Your royal father has long pined for you, my prince; may I conduct +you to him at once?" + +"Who is with him now?" + +"Your royal brothers, the Ethelings Edward and Alfred, the Princess +Edgitha, and the Queen {xv}." + +"Has not the bishop arrived?" + +"He is in the chapel at this moment; the king declined to see him, he +will not believe he is dying; but the bishop waits in prayer." + +"Lead me to his chamber," said Edmund. + +Re-entering the great hall, the chamberlain and prince ascended the +broad staircase which conducted to the upper chambers, and passing +along a passage thickly strewn with rushes to deaden the sound, for +carpets were unknown, they came to a door at the end, where the +chamberlain paused and knocked. + +Loud ravings, as of one in delirium, penetrated the passage from the +chamber, amidst which the chamberlain knocked again. + +"There! there!" cried an agonised voice, "he knocks again; 'tis +Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, whom Edric slew; 'twasn't I, 'twas Edric, I +only shared the spoil; keep him out, I tell you, keep him out." + +The door was not opened; probably those within feared to excite the +king; and the chamberlain whispered to Edmund: + +"He is in delirium, his ravings are very painful." + +"I hear," said Edmund; "how long has he been in this state?" + +"Only a few hours, and he has constantly imagined that men, who are +long since dead, were about him; especially he calls upon Dunstan, +then upon St. Brice, then he calls for his son-in-law, Edric." + +"Ah, Edric!" + +"Yes; but Edric is with Canute, I hear." + +"I wish he were with Satan, in his own place," said Edmund, fiercely, +forgetting all Christian charity at the hated name. + +"It is devoutly to be wished; but he is quiet, we may enter now." + +The king, exhausted by his own violent emotions, lay back upon the +bed, which occupied the centre of the room, surmounted by a wooden +canopy, richly carved, from which curtains depended on either side. + +His face, which time and evil passions had deeply wrinkled, was of a +deadly paleness; his eyes were encircled by a livid tint, and stared +as if they would start from their orbits; his breathing was rapid and +interrupted, but at the moment when Edmund entered he was silent. +Standing on his left hand, wiping the perspiration from his brow, was +Emma, the queen, her face yet comely, and bearing trace of that beauty +which had once earned her the title of the "Pearl of Normandy." Her +evident solicitude and loving care was the one picture of the room +upon which the eye could rest with most contentment. + +Alfred, her eldest son--for Edmund was the offspring of an early amour +of the king--was on the other side of the bed, a well-made youth, +combining in his features the haughty bearing of his Norman maternal +ancestors with the English traits of his father; but now his +expression was one of distress and anxiety, which was yet more deeply +shared by his younger brother, Edward, who even at this period +manifested that strong sense of religious obligation and that early +devotion which in later years caused him to be numbered amongst +canonised saints. + +He knelt at the bedside, and his hand grasped the cold damp hand of +his sire, as if he would strengthen him by his sympathy. + +"O father," he cried; "neglect not longer to make your peace with a +long-suffering God; even in this eleventh hour He will not reject the +penitent." + +He was interrupted by the entrance of Edmund, his half-brother, whom +he feared, because he could not understand so different a nature. + +"Our father has long pined for you," he said, in a timid voice; "I +fear you are too late, and that he will hardly know you." + +"I have ridden from Aescendune day and night since the news of his +danger was brought me. + +"Father," he said, as he bent over the bed, "do you not know me?" + +The dying man raised himself up and looked him full in the face, and a +look of recognition came slowly. + +"Edmund!" he said, "I am so glad, you will protect me; take your +battle-axe, you are strong. Sigeferth and Morcar, whom Edric slew at +Oxford, have been here, and they said they would come back and drag me +with them to some judgment seat; now take thine axe, Edmund, my son, +and slay them when they enter; they want killing again." + +A look of indescribable pain passed over the features of Edmund. + +The door opened, and Edward left the room after a conference with the +physician, who sat in a corner of the room compounding drugs at a +small table; a few minutes passed in silence, when he returned and +held the door open for the bishop of London, who entered, bearing the +viaticum, as the last communion of the sick was then called, and +attended by an acolyte, who bore a lighted taper before him and +carried a bell. + +The king rose up in his bed, glared fixedly at the prelate, and then +shrieked aloud: + +"St. Brice! St. Brice! art thou come again? What dost thou glare at me +for? 'Twas not I who defiled thy festival with blood. It was Edric, +Edric! Why does he not come to answer for his own sin?" + +"If he did, I would brain him," muttered Edmund. + +"There! do not glare upon me. Hast thou brought me the blood of the +victims to drink? Ah! there is Gunhilda. What right hast thou to +complain if I slew thee, which I did not, at least not with my own +hands: thy brother Sweyn has slain thousands. I did not at least kill +my father; I have only disgraced his name, as you will say. + +"O Edmund! Edmund! protect me." + +"My son," said the bishop, in a deep calm voice, which seemed to still +the ravings of the king, "think of thy sins, repent, confess; the +Church hath power to loose in her Lord's name, Who came to save +sinners." + +"Yes, father, heed him," said Edward. "Father, you are dying, the +leech says; you have not a day to live. Waste not the precious hours." + +The patient sank back upon his bed, and for a few minutes only the +sound of his breathing could be heard; the difficulty with which he +drew his breath seemed to increase each moment. + +The bishop held the crucifix before his eyes. + +"Gaze, my son," said he, "at the emblem of Him who died that thou +mightest live, and say, 'O my God, I put Thy most pitiful passion +between Thee and my sins!'" + +"Yes, father, hearken," said Edward. + +"I bethink me now that Gunhilda clung to the crucifix, and said she +was a Christian. But what of that? She was a Dane, and they did right +in dragging her from it and slaying her." + +"My son, my son, you throw away your salvation!" cried the bishop. + +"Father, show him the viaticum," said Emma. + +"It is useless; without repentance and faith 'twould but increase--" +and the prelate paused. "Let us pray. It is all we can do." + +And all present knelt round the bed, while the plaintive cry arose +from the lips of the prelate, and was echoed from all around: + +"Kyrie eleeson: Christe eleeson: kyrie eleeson." + +And so the litany for the dying rolled solemnly along, with its +intense burning words of supplication, its deep agony of prayer, its +loving earnestness of intercession. But upon the dying sinner's ears +it fell as an echo of the long, long past; of that day when the litany +arose before his coronation at Kingston, and the prophetic curse of +Dunstan. + +"Listen!" he said. "I hear the voice of Dunstan. + +"Oh, why didst thou lay thy curse upon me? Did I murder my brother +Edward? Nay, 'twas my cruel mother, who murdered her own husband that +she might become queen. Her sins are visited upon me. Nay, recall thy +curse. Alas! it is uttered in thunders before the eternal judgment +seat. + +"See, they come to drag me thither; they all come--Edward; the victims +whom I slew sixteen years agone in Cumbria; the slain on St. Brice's +day; Elfhelm of Shrewsbury and his sons, with their empty sockets, and +their eyes hanging down; Sigeferth, Morcar, and a thousand others. +See, Dunstan bids them all await me at the judgment seat. I will not +come; nay, they drag me. + +"Edric, wilt thou not answer for me now? Accursed be thy name, +accursed!" + +His frightful maledictions overpowered the supplications around his +bed; but they died away in silence--silence so long continued, that +suspicion soon became certainty. + +Ethelred the Unready was dead. + +"We must leave him to God's mercy," said the bishop, as he closed the +eyes, while the wife and children of the unhappy king sobbed around. +"He knoweth whereof we are made; He remembereth that we are but dust." + +Yet he trembled as he spoke, and, kneeling down, completed with +faltering voice the office for the commendation of the departed soul. + + + +CHAPTER XX. THE MIDNIGHT FLIGHT. + + +So soon as the news of the death of Ethelred travelled abroad, the +bishops, abbots, ealdormen, and thanes of southern England, despairing +of the cause of the house of Cerdic, met together at Southampton, and +renouncing Ethelred and his descendants, elected Canute to be their +king, while he swore that both in things spiritual and temporal he +would maintain their liberties. + +But the citizens of London were of nobler mould, and, disdaining +submission, chose Edmund to be their king. A council was at once held, +and it became apparent that the allegiance of the greater part of +Wessex depended upon Edmund's prompt appearance amongst them, while, +on the other hand, the rapid approach of Canute made his presence in +the city very essential to the safety of the inhabitants. + +Up rose a noble thane, and spake his mind. + +"Surely we can defend our own city until the valiant Edmund brings us +aid. We have kept off Canute before, and his father before him, and we +can do as much again. Meanwhile Edmund will soon have all Wessex at +his back, and Canute will find his match for once." + +The words of the gallant speaker found their echo in many a breast, +and it was decided that Edmund should be advised to hurry into Wessex, +and leave London to defend itself. + +A deputation from the council at once waited upon Edmund, and in the +name of the city, and, as they took the liberty of adding, of every +true man in England, they proferred him his father's crown. Like the +citizens of a certain modern capital, they constituted themselves the +representatives of the nation. + +Edmund, who certainly did not lack confidence, and who could not help +knowing that he alone was able to cope with the Danes, took scant time +to consider their proposal. + +"I accept the crown," he said; "a thorny one it is like to prove, but +I thank you for your love and trust." + +In the course of a day or two Ethelred the Unready was buried by +Archbishop Lyfing in St. Paul's minster, with the assistance of the +cathedral body. Emma and her children, as also Edwy, the son of +Ethelred by his first wife, were the chief mourners, nay, the only +real ones. Most men felt as when a cloud passes away. The sad +procession passed through the streets, the people flocked into the +church, and in the presence of all the "wise men" of London, they +solemnly committed the frail tabernacle in which the living spirit had +sinned and suffered to the parent earth, where the rush and roar of a +mighty city should ever peal around it. + +A few days later the archbishop was called upon to perform a very +different ceremony, the coronation of King Edmund, which also took +place in St. Paul's Cathedral, amidst tears of joy, and cries which +even the sanctity of the place could not wholly restrain, "God bless +King Edmund!" The solemn oath of fidelity was administered, and when +all was over, with mingled tears and acclamations, those who had met +to bury the late king greeted with joy his son and successor. + +It yet remained to be seen whether the choice of the realm would +ratify this decisive step on the part of the citizens of London. + +Emma, the queen dowager, was deeply mortified, even while she +confessed the heritage was hardly worth having. Still her boy Alfred +seemed slighted by the choice, and she left England at once, with +Alfred and Edward, for Normandy, while Elgitha departed secretly from +London to join her husband Edric, and tell him all that had been done. + +Edmund delayed his journey into Wessex until he had duly provided for +the defence of the capital, and had personally examined all the +defences with a warrior's eye. At length the messengers who watched +the Danish fleet announced its arrival at Greenwich, and that bands of +warriors, numerous as locusts, were issuing thence, and advancing upon +London. + +Reluctant as Edmund was to leave the city, it was evident that if he +delayed another day he might indeed share the perils of the +inhabitants, but would probably lose Wessex, where his immediate +presence was all-important. Therefore he called Alfgar, and bade him +prepare at once for a journey to the west. + +Their intended route led them, in the first instance, to Dorchester, +where a large force from Mercia, including most of the men whom Edmund +had so long disciplined himself, and who were under the temporary +charge of Hermann, were to meet him. However, it was late before their +final arrangements could be made, and the sun had already set when the +citizens accompanied them to the Ludgate, and bade them an earnest +farewell. + +They were both clad in light defensive armour, such as could be worn +on a rapid journey, and armed with sword and battle-axe. Their own +steeds, two of the finest horses England could produce, famous for +speed and bottom, awaited them at the gate. Edmund criticised their +condition with a jealous eye, and then expressed approval. + +"Farewell, Englishmen of the loyal and true city! Until we meet in +happier times, farewell! You will know how to guard hearths and homes. +Till we return to aid you, farewell!" + +And, striking spurs into his steed, he and Alfgar rode across the +Fleet river, and, ascending the rising ground, pursued their course +along the Strand. + +"We shall have a moonlight ride," said the king. "Look, Alfgar, 'tis +nearly full." + +"My Lord, do you see those dark spots on the river near Thorney Isle?" + +"Ah! I see them, and recognise the cutthroats. They are the Danes, who +are bent on surrounding the city. Had I my five hundred, I would soon +give some account of that detachment." + +"But now, my Lord, had we not better strike into the northern road at +once, before they see us? We are but two." + +"No; I should like to see them a little closer, and then across the +heath for Windsor. They must have fleet steeds that catch us." + +So they persevered until they had attained a rising ground from which +they perceived the whole force, nearly a thousand strong, of whom one +half had crossed the stream. But the figures of our two adventurers, +outlined on the hill, were too distinct to elude their observation, +and a dozen dark horsemen rode after them at full gallop. + +"Now for a brisk ride," said Edmund; and the two dashed wildly onward, +clearing ditch or hedge until they attained the rising ground +afterwards known as Hounslow Heath, still followed by their pursuers. + +Here Edmund paused and looked round. The speed at which they rode had +separated their pursuers, as he had expected, and one was far the +foremost. + +"Stand by, Alfgar," he said; "two to one is not fair. I thirst for the +blood of this accursed Dane." + +Alfgar knew that he must not dispute the royal will, although he +thought the risk of delay very perilous, with a crowd of foes upon +their track. While he waited up came the Dane, powerfully mounted, +swinging his heavy battle-axe. He swooped upon Edmund, who caused his +horse to start aside, avoided the stroke, and then, guiding his horse +by his knees, and raising his axe in both hands, cleft his antagonist +to the chin before he could recover. + +"Here come two more. Now, Alfgar, there is one apiece. The rest are a +mile behind them. You may take the one on the light grey, I will take +the rascal on the dark steed." + +Another moment and they were both engaged. Alfgar foiled his +opponent's first stroke, and wounded him slightly in return. Now the +battle became desperate, attack succeeding attack, and parry, parry. +Meanwhile Edmund had again laid his foe prostrate in the dust, but did +not interfere; such was his chivalrous spirit in what he considered an +equal combat, although he cast anxious looks behind, where two or +three other riders were rapidly approaching. + +At last victory inclined to Alfgar's side. Parrying a tremendous +stroke with his axe, he returned it with such vigour that the next +moment the Dane lay quivering in the dust. + +"There appear to be only three or four more. I think we might engage +them. By the by, Alfgar, you missed one splendid chance through your +steed not answering your guidance to the moment. But I am tired of the +battle-axe, and shall use my sword for a change. + +"Ah! there come half-a-dozen more round those firs. We must ride +forward and give up the sport." + +Their enemies saw them and quickened their pace. They came to the spot +where their countrymen lay prostrate, and the cry of revenge they +raised, and the manner in which they urged their steeds forward, +showed how strongly the sight appealed to their feelings. + +Onward flew pursuers and pursued--onward till Windsor's height, with +its castled hall, appeared in sight, and tempted them to seek +refreshment for man and beast. But they dared not linger on their +journey, and passed the town without entering. + +They rode all night through a most desolate country, wasted by fire +and sword in all directions. Only in a few spots was there any +appearance of cultivation, for who would sow when they knew not who +should reap? Not one lonely country house, such as abounded in the +days of Edgar the Pacific, did they see standing, although they passed +the blackened ruins of many an abode, showing where once the joys of +home held sway. Here and there they came upon the relics of strife, in +the shape of bodies of men and horses left to rot, and in one spot, +where a ford had been defended, the rival nations had left their +fallen representatives by hundreds. It must have been months before, +yet no one had buried the bodies. Such people as still existed without +the fortified towns had betaken themselves to the woods, or the +recesses of the deep swamps and forests, as the people of Aescendune +had done. + +As they drew near Dorchester, they found yet more sanguinary traces of +recent war, for the Thames had been the scene of constant warfare. +Bensington, half burned, had partially recovered, and had renewed her +fortifications; Wallingford, hard by, had never risen since the +frightful Christmas of 1006. + +Dorchester now rose before them. They had accomplished fifty miles of +hard riding that night. They were seen, challenged, and recognised, by +a patrol without the gates, and the cry, "Long live King Edmund!" +echoed from all sides. A thousand gallant Mercians, the nucleus of an +army, each man fit to be a captain, awaited them there, and Edmund +felt his spirits revive within him, and his hope for England; and +Alfgar met Hermann with great gladness. + +It was pitiful to see the blackened ruins of churches and palace, +which had not been rebuilt since the Danish raid of 1010, but the +commoner dwellings were rising with rapidity from their ashes, or had +already risen, for the shelter of the earthworks and other +fortifications was not to be despised, and prevented the place from +being utterly abandoned. + +Yet it may be noted that Dorchester never fully recovered the events +of that dreadful year, and that its decay probably dates from the +period. + +Resting only a few hours, during which they were the guests of Ednoth, +the bishop, they departed with his fervent blessing and earnest +prayers for their success, and rode westward, attended by their whole +troop. + +Every town they reached received them with enthusiasm. They were now +near the birthplace of the great Alfred, where the hearts of the +people were all thoroughly with their native princes; and men left all +their ordinary occupations to strike one blow for King Edmund and +England. Onward, and like a rolling snowball, they gathered as they +went, until they entered Wiltshire with ten thousand men, and, +crossing the country, reached the opposite border with all the brave +men of Wilts added to their numbers. + +They were now approaching Dorsetshire, and saw before them a rising +ground, with a large stone set in a conspicuous position. + +"What stone is that?" inquired Edmund of a thane, whose habitation was +hard by, and who had joined him with his whole household. + +"It is called the county stone. It marks the place where three +counties meet--Somerset, Wilts, and Dorset; it is in the village of +Penn." + +At this moment a horseman was seen riding wildly after them from the +country in the rear. + +"See that man; he brings news," said Edmund, and the whole party +paused. + +"Alfgar," whispered Edmund to his confidential attendant, "there is +hot work coming; I have long since scented the foe behind." + +The messenger arrived, bowed low to the king, and waited permission to +speak, while his panting breath betrayed his haste and his excitement. + +"Well, your message?" said Edmund; "you have ridden fast to bring it." + +"My lord, Canute, with an army of fifty thousand men, is following +behind with all his speed." + +Edmund looked proudly around upon his host; it was almost equal in +number. Then he looked with a soldier's eye on the ground before him, +and saw that it was the very place where a stand could be made with +every advantage of ground. + +"It is well," said Edmund; "we will wait for him here." + +A loud cheer from those around him showed how he had succeeded in +imparting his own brave spirit to others. The trumpets commanded a +halt; and Alfgar and other riders bore the commands of the king to the +extremities of the host. + +Each division took up rapidly the position assigned; for in this +domestic war men fought side by side with those they had known from +childhood, and were commanded immediately by their own hereditary +chieftains. + +The broken nature of the ground protected them well from an attack on +either flank, and they strengthened this advantage by throwing up a +mound and digging a ditch, with the greatest rapidity. + +While thus engaged, they saw the flashing of spear and shield in the +east, reflecting the setting sun, and speedily the whole country +seemed to glow with the sheen of weapons. + +Edmund raised himself in the stirrups. + +"Englishmen! brethren!" he cried, "you see your foe, the ruthless +destroyers of your land and kinsfolk; the pagan murderers of your +archbishop, the sainted Alphege. God will help them that help +themselves. It shall be ours to strike one glorious blow for liberty +and for just vengeance on this field. I vow to the God of battles I +will conquer or die." + +He took off his helmet and looked solemnly to Heaven, as he called on +the Supreme Being to register his vow, and a deep murmur of sympathy +arose around, until it found loud utterance in the cry, "We will +conquer with our king or die," from a thousand voices, until the +glorious enthusiasm spread throughout the camp. Glorious when men +fight for hearth and altar. + +Edmund looked proudly around. + +"With such warriors," he said, "I need not fear Canute." + +The trench and mound were completed, but the enemy did not advance. He +planted his black raven banner two miles off in the plain, arranged +his forces, and halted for the night. + +"We must fight tomorrow at dawn of day," said Edmund. "Now, bid the +campfires be lighted; we have plenty of meat and bread, mead and wine; +bid each man eat and drink his fill. Men never fight well on empty +stomachs. Then return yourself to my side, and share my tent this +night; perhaps--perhaps--for the last time." + +"If so, woe to England--woe!" said Alfgar. "But I have confidence that +her day of tribulation is passing from her. The blood of the martyred +saints cries aloud for vengeance on the Danes." + + + +CHAPTER XXI. EDMUND AND CANUTE. + + +The watch was duly set; campfires were lighted, and joints of meat +suspended over them; barrels of wine and mead were broached, for all +the country around contributed with loving willingness to the support +of its defenders; and when hunger was appeased the patriotic song +arose from the various fires, and stirring legends of the glorious +days of old, when Danes and Norsemen fled before the English arms, +nerved the courage of the men for the morrow's stern conflict. + +Around the fire kindled next the tent of Edmund sat the warrior +monarch himself, with all the chieftains, the ealdormen, and lesser +thanes who shared his fortunes. + +The minstrels and gleemen were not wanting here, but none could touch +the harp more sweetly than Edmund himself; and, the banquet over, he +sang an ancient lay, which kindled the enthusiasm of all his hearers, +and nerved them to do or die, so that they longed for the morrow. + +Before it was over the trumpet announced some event of importance, and +soon a messenger brought the tidings to Edmund that a large force was +advancing from the west. + +All rose to look at them, not without anxiety; as yet they were far +distant, across a wild moor, but as they drew nearer, and their +standards could be more clearly discerned, it became gradually evident +that it was a reinforcement; and so it proved, for heralds, galloping +forward, announced the men of Dorsetshire. + +They were most gladly received, for now the English forces were equal +in number to their adversaries, and every man felt the hope of victory +strong within him. + +At length Edmund bade messengers go through the camp, and cause every +man to retire to rest, for they must all be stirring by dawn on the +morrow. + +He himself, with Alfgar, went through the host and then inspected the +watch. When he came to the outpost nearest the foe he found Hermann on +duty as officer of the watch, and spoke earnestly to him and his men. + +"Be on your guard," he said, "as men who know that the welfare of +England depends upon them; if you see the least movement on the part +of the crafty Canute, rouse the camp at once; they are not unlikely to +attack us by night if they can surprise us, not otherwise." + +Alfgar was standing on a low mound contemplating the opposite camp, +that of his own countrymen, attentively. + +"Well, Alfgar, my son, do you see aught?" said Edmund approaching him. + +"I fancied I saw some figures seek the hollow where the ditch passes +from us to them." + +"We will wait and see whether aught comes of it," said the king; "how +do you like our prospects?" + +"Well, my lord, I would sooner be with you at this moment than in any +other place in England." + +"Even than in Aescendune?" + +"Yes; just now." + +"Alfgar, do you think your father yet lives?" said Edmund, as he again +gazed upon the Danish camp. + +"I think not; I fear he is numbered amongst the dead; I have over and +over again inquired of Danish prisoners whether they knew aught of +him; they all said he had not been known in their ranks for years." + +"The chances of a warrior's life are so many that he may not +improbably be gone, but remember you found another father at +Carisbrooke." + +"I shall never forget that, my lord." + +Here Hermann interrupted them. + +"My lord, would you look closely at that little clump of furze upon +the banks of the brook?" + +"By St. Edmund, there they are! now to catch Danish wolves in a steel +trap; creep back within the mound." + +The whole guard was speedily aroused. + +"Shall we alarm the camp?" said Hermann. + +"Not for the world, they want all the sleep they can get; this will +only be a reconnoitring party; did they find us asleep they would of +course cut our throats, and then bring their brethren to attack the +camp. As it is, I think we shall cut theirs instead." + +"They have disappeared." + +"Only to appear with more effect; they will be creeping like snakes +coming to be scotched; they won't find a man like Edric at the head of +the English army now--one who always chose the sleepiest and deafest +men for sentinels. Ah, well! he is openly with the enemy now; I only +hope he will come within swing of my battle-axe tomorrow. + +"Ah! There they are." + +"Where?" inquired two or three low voices eagerly. + +"Creeping up the slope; now get your arrows to your ears; take the +opposite men when they arise." + +A few moments, during which men could hear their own hearts beat, when +up rose the Danes from the grass like spectres, and rushed for the +mound. A storm of arrows met them, to which nearly half succumbed. + +Swinging his axe, Edmund, followed, by the rest, jumped from the mound +to meet the survivors; numbers were nearly equal, the English now +slightly superior. Each man met his individual foe. Young Hermann's +sword broke against a Danish axe; he rushed in and got within the +swing of the weapon; both wrestled for the deadly steel, they fell, +rolled over and over on the grass; at length Hermann grasped his +opponent's throat like a vice with his mailed hand, and held till the +arms of his foe hung nerveless by the side and the face grew black, +when, disengaging his right hand, he found his dagger, and drove it to +the victim's heart. + +"Well done!" said Edmund; "you are the last, Hermann; Alfgar has +finished some time; we have been watching you; this little beginning +promises luck tomorrow. + +"You and I must retire now, Alfgar. + +"Good night, Hermann; good night, my men; wipe your swords on the +grass; keep them bright." + +The morning dawned bright and radiant; and with the first appearance +of the sun the horns of the English blew their shrill summons, and the +whole army awoke as a man. A hurried meal was partaken of, hurried of +necessity, for the Danes were already emerging from their camp, and +forming their lines in order of battle. They evidently meant, as +usual, to take the initiative; in fact, in the recent reign, had they +not done so, there would never have been any fighting at all. + +Every one, both friend and foe, expected that Edmund would await the +onset in his entrenched camp. Great, therefore, was the surprise, when +he led his forces without the entrenchments, with the observation that +the breasts of Englishmen were their best bulwarks. + +He knew his forces, that they had confidence in him; and he could not +have shown better his confidence in them, and his feeling that the +time had now at length come to assume the offensive. + +Canute was doubtless somewhat surprised, yet he was learning to know +Edmund. + +The English hero divided his army into three divisions: The right +wing, where he posted around his own person the chosen band whom he +had trained during the last few years of retirement; the left wing, +chiefly composed of the men of Wessex; the centre, the weakest and +newest recruits, whom he posted there with as deep a design as led +Hannibal to use the same strategy at Cannae. + +The Danes advanced impetuously to the attack, led by Canute himself, +somewhat similarly divided, and Edmund at once advanced his forces to +meet them. One hundred yards apart, both armies paused, and glared +upon each other. There was no flinching. With teeth firmly set, lips +compressed, and the whole body thrown into the attitude of a tiger +about to spring, each warrior gazed upon the foe. + +The Danes, clad in black armour, with their ponderous battle-axes, and +fierce visages, upon which no gentle ray of mercy had yet shone; the +English, their minds set upon avenging the outraged national honour, +the desolated homes, the slaughtered families: the Danes bent on +maintaining their cruel superiority; the English bent on reversing it +or dying: the Danes hitherto victorious on nearly every field; the +English turning upon their oppressors as men to whom the only thing +which could make life tolerable was victory. + +Canute's voice was heard crying, "Now, warriors, behold the hounds ye +have so often chastised await your chastisement once more." + +Edmund, on the other hand, "Victory, my men, or a warrior's grave! We +will not live to see England prostrate beneath the tyrant any longer." + +Then came the rush: the crash of steel upon steel, the hideous melee, +where friend and foe seemed blent in one dense struggling mass; the +cries which pain sometimes extorted from the bravest; the shouts of +the excited combatants, until Edmund's centre gave way. + +He had expected this, and desired nothing more. The Danes pressed on +deeply into the core of the hostile army, when they found their +progress stopped by some of the bravest warriors who formed the rear, +and at that moment the wings curved round upon them. + +"Come, my men!" shouted Edmund; and with Alfgar by his side, followed +by the whole of the English cavalry, burst upon the rear of the Danes. +He and his cleft their way in--hewed it through living masses of +flesh; trampled writhing bodies under foot; their very horses seemed +to laugh at the spear and sword, until before him Edmund saw Canute +himself. He struggled violently to reach him; slew two or three living +impediments, and the two rivals faced each other for one moment; then +came Edmund's ponderous blow. Canute avoided it, but his horse fell +beneath it; the spine severed near the neck. He was dragged up +instantly by his armour bearer, who attended upon him, as Alfgar upon +Edmund, and before the attack could be renewed a living torrent +separated the combatants. + +The victory was won; the Danes were in full flight. + +O joy for England! the day of her captivity was turned; henceforward +she might hope. The foe, the invincible foe, was flying before an +English king and an English army. + +For while on the one side Edmund had charged the foe on their left +flank, on the other side the men of Wessex had imitated his example, +and the foe yielded. + +Still, terrible in defeat, more than half fought their way out of the +trap into which they had fallen, and retired upon their camp, closely +pursued, until the trump of Edmund recalled the pursuers, anxious lest +they should in turn fall into an ambuscade, for reinforcements were +awaiting the Danes behind. + +. . . . . . + +From this time the prospects of Edmund and England brightened. Day +after day fresh reinforcements came into his camp, until he followed +Canute, who had retreated into Wiltshire. There, a few days later, a +second battle was fought at Sceorstan {xvi}, wherein much bravery +was shown on both sides. On Monday the two armies fought all day +without any advantage on either side. On the Tuesday the English were +rapidly getting the better, when the traitor Edric, severing the head +of a fallen Englishman named Osmaer, held it up, shouting: + +"Flee, English! flee, English! Edmund is dead." + +They began to yield; and it was as much as Edmund himself could do, by +lifting his helmet, exposing his features, and shouting, "I live to +lead you to victory!" to restore the battle. + +Canute retired upon London, followed closely by Edmund. Upon the road +messengers came from Edric imploring the forgiveness of his injured +brother-in-law, and offering to join him with all his forces. There +was long consultation over this in the English camp; but in spite of +Edmund's own feelings it was decided to receive Edric, since Canute's +fate would seem to be quite decided if England were united by the +union of those southern English who had fought under Canute with +Edric, and the men of Mercia and Wessex who had won the previous +victories. + +So the two armies met together. The men of Hampshire, who had followed +the Dane, were welcomed as returning to their true allegiance by their +countrymen; and Edmund did violence to his feelings by receiving Edric +to his council board, if not to his friendship. + +It was a joyous day when Edmund approached London, and thus fulfilled +the promise of his coronation. Canute, who had made another attempt on +the city, fled before him, but hovered around until two days later. +Edmund engaged him the third time at Brentford, and defeated him +again. Then Edmund retired into Wessex to raise more troops, and +during his absence the Danes took the offensive again, once more +besieging London in vain, while they harried all the neighbouring +districts until Edmund returned with a large army, drove them into +Kent, and gave them such a fearful defeat at Otford that they fled in +despair to the Isle of Sheppey, and all men said Edmund would have +destroyed them utterly, had not Edric persuaded him to stop the +pursuit at Aylesford. + +The Danes soon emerged again, and, crossing the Thames, commenced +plundering Essex, when Edmund and Edric, with all the flower of the +Anglo-Saxon race, advanced to meet them once more. Nearly all the men +of note in England followed Edmund's banner, for, now that his +abilities were proved, there was a general enthusiasm in his favour. +So all the rank and title of the realm stood by him when he drew up +his army hard by the little river Crouch, near Assingdun, in Essex, +then called Assandun. + +There, by his side, when the tents were pitched the evening before the +battle, stood many a brave ealdorman,--Godwin of Lindsey; Ulfketyl, +the hero of the East Angles; Ethelweard, the son of the pious +Ethelwine, whom men called the "Friend of God." And present at that +last banquet were Ednoth, the bishop of Dorchester, and other +ecclesiastics, who had come to pray for the host and to succour the +dying with ghostly aid. Well nigh all the great men of England were +here. But Edric supped in their midst. Their spirits were high that +night, and while Edmund drank to their success on the morrow, each man +responded with a fervour which augured confidence in that morrow's +issue--all save the wicked Edric, whose heart seemed far from his +words. + +The events of that fatal morrow are matter of history. The armies +joined battle. Victory seemed to favour Edmund. The Danes were already +giving way, when Edric turned and fled, with his whole division, whom +he had corrupted. After that all was disorder amongst the English; but +they continued fighting bravely until the moon arose, and they were +becoming surrounded on all sides, when, in sheer desperation, they at +last gave way. + +Edmund would not yield until Alfgar seized the bridle of his horse, +and almost by violence caused him to turn his steed, bidding him live +for England, for he was its hope. It was growing dark rapidly, and the +darkness alone saved Edmund and the relics of the English army. + +With a faithful few, including both Alfgar and Hermann, nearly all of +the party wounded, the English king rode sadly from the scene, +groaning bitterly in spirit. + +"Why did I trust him again? Why did I trust him?" he kept muttering to +himself. + +"You did not trust him. The council overruled you. I was present," +said Alfgar. + +"But I might have resisted." + +And he persisted in his unavailing regret. + +It was a sad sight to see the field of battle strewn for miles with +the dead and dying, while gangs of plunderers swarmed in all +directions. One sharp encounter with such a party served to warm +Edmund's blood, after which he was a little more cheerful. + +But the saddest scene in the flight lay on a gentle eminence, +commanding a view of the field, whose deformities night mercifully +shrouded from view, although the murmurs of the wounded reached them +even there in one long subdued wailing moan. + +There, on that little hill, lay bishops and abbots in their sacerdotal +apparel. Where they had met to pray, there they lay in death! With a +deep sigh Edmund recognised Ednoth, bishop of Dorchester, lying stark +and stiff in his bloody robes. A troop of Danish horsemen had +surrounded the hill and massacred them all. The assassins had even +hewn Ednoth's finger off for the episcopal ring. + +Yet, even at this awful crisis, Edmund's lion heart did not wholly +fail him, as he left the field where lay all the flower of the +Anglo-Saxon race: the brave and faithful Ulfketyl, Earl Ethelweard, +Earl Godwin, Elfric the ealdorman, and well nigh all the great men of +England, all sleeping in death. He rode to the south till he reached +the vale of the Thames, which he pursued until he reached the +neighbourhood of Gloucester--Alfgar and Hermann still by his side. And +now it was seen how his merits were recognised, and how he had already +gained the love of his people, for, from the territory of the Hwiccas, +and all the extreme west of Mercia, men flocked to his standard until +he was at the head of an army almost as numerous as that he had lost +at Assingdun, only less perfectly disciplined and officered. + +But Canute followed hard upon his heels, hoping to crush him while yet +weak in numbers, until he discovered, to his great mortification, his +rival's camp on the banks of the Severn, and saw that the forces were +again nearly equal. + +Then even the Danish chieftains shuddered at the thought of another +battle. Five great battles had been fought, in three of which they had +been defeated. There was no Edric now with Edmund to play into their +hands, and they hesitated to engage a sixth time. + +At this moment an embassy was seen approaching from Edmund's army. +Alfgar bore Edmund's personal defiance to Canute, offering to spare +the effusion of blood, and settle their differences by single combat. + +Canute's brave and impetuous temper caught the suggestion at once. +Such appeals to the God of battles were common in the north, and he +accepted the challenge. + +There is an island in the Severn, then called Oleneige, now called +Olney Island. The following day both armies gathered together on +opposite banks, and the two kings, clad in splendid armour, were +wafted thither. Alfgar, having landed his lord, retired with beating +heart to the English bank. Edmund and Canute were alone on the island. + +The battle began; no words can describe the dread emotion with which +the two nations watched the event. + +They continued a long time without any apparent advantage; at length, +King Edmund's fury adding strength to him, his blows were so thick and +weighty, that Canute, perceiving his own strength to diminish, +conceived a resolution to attempt ending the quarrel by a treaty. + +But being crafty, and fearing lest his disadvantage should be apparent +to Edmund, he collected all his energies and rushed furiously upon +him, then withdrew himself aside, and desired Edmund to suspend the +conflict for a while. + +"Generous prince," said he, "hitherto I have had a covetous desire of +your kingdom, but now I do yet more earnestly covet your friendship; +your father and my father have each reigned over the land, let us +divide the inheritance like brothers." + +Edmund's generous spirit led him to accept the offer, and he threw his +battle-axe to the ground and extended his right hand, which Canute +eagerly grasped {xvii}. + +So the land was divided; Edmund was to be head king and to have +Wessex, Sussex, Kent, East Anglia, and Essex, with the city of London; +while Canute had Northumbria and Mercia. + +Canute professed himself a Christian, and swore to govern his people +according to the old English laws, and to preserve their temporal and +spiritual privileges, a promise which, upon the whole, he well +observed. + +And so England entered upon a peace of fifty years, only broken by an +event yet in the womb of time, the Norman Conquest. + +"Come, Alfgar," said Edmund, one day soon after these events, "let us +go to Aescendune and fix thy wedding day; Elfwyn need fear no longer +that the sword will be the portion of his grandchildren." + +Peace! sweet, sweet peace! oh how joyful it was to be once more in the +deep woods of Aescendune, to hear the sweet song of the birds, and to +fear no evil! Sweet, ineffably sweet were those days to Alfgar and +Ethelgiva! + +So the day was at length appointed; it was to be the feast of St. +Andrew, and to take place at Oxenford, which had been assigned to +Edmund's dominions; for he insisted that it should be celebrated with +all the pomp the presence of a king could lend. + +It was now the season of the falling leaf and there were only a few +weeks longer to wait. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. SMOOTHER THAN OIL. + + +It was the latter end of November, and St. Andrew's day drew near, +when a small but select party of friends met together in an old +mansion hard by St. Frideswide's Cathedral, at Oxenford, to enjoy the +evening banquet. + +First and foremost was the king of Southern England, the valiant +Ironside, and his attendant and friend Alfgar; Elfwyn and Father +Cuthbert from Aescendune, with the Lady Hilda and Ethelgiva; Herstan, +his wife Bertha, and son Hermann, from Clifton, with his sisters; and +Ethelm, the new bishop of Dorchester, the successor of the martyred +Ednoth. + +These, our old acquaintances, had all been gathered together in view +of the approaching union of Alfgar with Ethelgiva, which was to be +solemnised on St. Andrew's day, in the presence of the king. They were +a happy party; all the woes of the past seemed forgotten in the happy +present, or were only remembered in the spirit of the well-known line: + +"Haec olim meminisse juvabit." + +The more substantial viands were removed, generous wines from warmer +climes were introduced, but there was no need of a harper or of +minstrels, save Edmund himself, or of legends and tales to those whose +lives had passed amidst scenes of excitement. They were such as make +history for future generations. + +"How the wind howls without tonight!" observed Edmund; "it makes one +value the blessing of a quiet home and a cheerful fireside. How often, +Alfgar, have you and I lain on such nights under the shelter of a +canvas tent, or even of a bush." + +"Often, indeed, my liege; but those days are gone, perhaps for ever." + +"They had their joys, nevertheless. There is something in a life of +adventure which warms the blood and makes time pass swiftly; my +goodwife and I sometimes tire of each other's company, as I expect +Ethelgiva and you will in time." + +"Never!" said Alfgar, so fervently that there was a general smile. + +"Well, time will show; meanwhile, how is the new hall at Aescendune +getting on, Elfwyn?" + +"It will be ready by next spring; then the young people must make it +their home. Our home in the woods has proved a shelter to us through +such troublous days that Hilda and I are loath to leave it. But, +meanwhile, they must live with us." + +"And how about the priory?" + +"It will be ready before the hall." + +"That is well," observed the bishop, "and as it should be--God's +house first, and then man's." + +"Well, Hermann," said Edmund, addressing his young friend, whose +career in arms he had closely watched since the attack upon the hall +at Clifton, "how do you like the prospect of a long peace?" + +"A peaceful life has its delights," replied Hermann, "but war has also +its charms." + +"Well, thou hast passed unscathed through five great battles, or at +least without any serious wound; but remember all are not so +fortunate, and many a poor cripple sighs over Penn, Sherston, +Brentford, Otford, or Assingdun." + +"The excitement of war blinds one to the risk." + +"So it should, or there would be no war at all. What does my father +the bishop think of the matter?" + +"That wars are necessary evils, only justifiable when fighting, as +you, my lord, have done, for home and altar, but they are no true +children of the Prince of Peace who delight in bloodshed and strife." + +Edmund pondered. + +"And yet I fear I must plead guilty of delighting in a gallant charge. +It stirs the blood, till it flows like fire in the veins. The feeling +is glorious." + +"Yet not one to be encouraged, save when it enables one to perform +necessary deeds of daring for some worthy object, such as holy +Scripture praises in the heroes of old." + +The conversation now became general. Elfwyn and Herstan talked of the +old days of Dunstan; Alfgar and Hermann of the events of the recent +war; the good bishop and Father Cuthbert on ecclesiastical topics; the +ladies upon some question of dresses and embroidery for the +approaching festivity, which seemed to interest them deeply, when an +attendant entered, and approaching the king, whispered a message in +his ear. + +"What! in this house? I will not have it. He knows how hateful his +very presence must be." + +"Your sister, the Princess Elgitha?" + +"Well, I will see her. No, I will not." + +"It is too late, Edmund. You must see me," said a sweet voice, and a +lady, attired in mourning weeds, stood beside him. "It is but seven +months, Edmund, since we lost our father. Shall his children rend and +devour each other?" + +"I do not want to rend and devour. I am no cannibal; but, Elgitha, +your wicked husband--" + +"Stay, Edmund, do not slander the husband before his wife." + +"This is a business! What am I to say? I cannot dissemble, and pretend +to love him, were he ten times my brother-in-law." + +"Nor can I ask it," said a deep voice behind, and Edric stood before +Edmund, his eyes cast down, his hands meekly clasped. "Edmund, I have +often deeply injured you, and betrayed your confidence." + +"You have indeed." + +"But now I repent me of my wickedness. It burdens me so heavily that, +but for your sister, I would retire into a monastery, and there end my +days." + +"It would be the best thing you could do." + +"It would indeed." + +This conference had taken place at the end of the great hall, which +was a very spacious chamber, and the speakers were separated by a +screen from the company. + +"Edmund," cried his sister, "I see what you will do. You will make me +a widow; for Edric cannot live if you refuse him forgiveness. Night +after night he tosses on his uneasy bed, and wishes that it were day. +Surely, Edmund, you have need of forgiveness yourself, yet you refuse +to forgive." + +"You preach like a bishop, but--" + +"Well, you have a real bishop here. Call him, and let him judge +between us." + +Edmund mechanically obeyed, and he called Father Cuthbert also, in +whose judgment he had great faith. + +"What am I to do?" he said. "My country's wounds, inflicted by this +man, yet bleed. Am I to give him the hand of friendship?" + +"I do not deserve it," said Edric, meekly. + +"My lord," said the bishop, gravely, "man may not refuse forgiveness +to his fellow worm; but, Edric, hast thou truly repented of thy sin +before God and his Church?" + +"I have indeed. I have fasted in sackcloth and ashes, I have eaten the +bread of affliction." + +"Where?" + +"In my sad retreat, my castle in Mercia." + +"But some public reparation is due. Art thou willing to accept such +penance as the Church, in consideration of thy perjuries, thy murders, +which man may not avenge, since treaties protect thee--but which God +will surely remember, if thou repent not--to accept such penance, I +say, as the Church shall impose?" + +"I submit myself to your judgment, most reverend father." + +"It shall be duly considered and delivered to thee; and in +consideration of that fact, I think, my lord, you cannot, as a +Christian man, refuse to be reconciled." + +"O Edmund, my brother, be merciful!" said Elgitha. + +"I yield," said Edmund, "but not tonight," he said, as Edric stretched +out his hand, reddened by many a dark deed of murder; "tomorrow, +before God's altar. I shall be at St. Frideswide's at the early mass." + +And he returned to the company. + +A cloud was evidently on his spirits that night, which did not wear +off the rest of the evening. The party separated at what would now be +called an early hour. The bishop and Father Cuthbert lodged at the +monastic house of Osney; Elfwyn, his wife and child, as also Herstan, +with his little party, were accommodated in the mansion. + +The chamber occupied by the king was a long roomy place, containing a +single bedstead of carved wood, surmounted by the usual distinctive +canopy, from which tapestried hangings depended, and upon which +scriptural subjects were woven; the furniture of the room partook of +the usual meagreness of the times. The entrance was through a small +antechamber, wherein, on a humbler bedstead, Alfgar slept. Both rooms +were hung with tapestry, which concealed rough walls, such as a +builder would blush to own as his handiwork in these luxurious days. + +Before retiring to rest, Edmund turned with much affection to his +attendant. + +"Alfgar, I have promised to forgive our enemy." + +"Edric Streorn?" + +Alfgar added no more. + +"Couldst thou forgive him?" + +"I would try." + +"His hand is red with blood. Think of Sigeferth, of Morcar, of +Elfhelm, nay, of a hundred others; then think not how he has plotted +against my life, but how he made my own father hate and disown me; +while he, the pampered favourite, swayed all the councils and betrayed +the land. O Alfgar! couldst thou forgive him?" + +"He plotted against my life and my honour, too," said Alfgar, "and +strove to deprive me of both; yet I am too happy now to harbour +revenge." + +"Well, I meet him at St. Frideswide's tomorrow, and we shall be +formally reconciled in the presence of the bishop and his clergy, +wherewith I trust he will be content, and not trouble me too often +with his presence." + +"Where is he staying now?" + +"I hardly know; but after the reconciliation I must admit him as my +guest, for my sister is with him, if he chooses to stay; but I hope +that will not be the case." + +"His ill-omened presence would cast a gloom upon St. Andrew's day." + +"It would indeed; it shall be avoided if possible. And now let us +commend ourselves to the Lord, who died that we might be forgiven. +'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against +us.'" + +And they slept. + +On the morrow before the altar of St. Frideswide, the king and Edric +had their places in the choir. + +One very touching ceremony, handed down from early times, was still +observed in England--the "kiss of peace," occurring at some period +before the close of the canon of the mass, when all the members of the +cathedral chapter, or of the choir, as the case might be, solemnly +saluted each other. + +And for this reason Edmund and Edric had been placed next each other. +So when this most solemn moment arrived, they looked each other full +in the face, and gave and received the sign of Christian brotherhood. + +After this they both communicated. + +When the holy rite was ended, Edmund invited Edric and Elgitha to +become his guests. + +Edric knew the old palace well. He had occupied it one well-remembered +season, during which, in that very banqueting hall where we have +introduced our readers, Sigeferth and Morcar, the earls of the seven +burghs, were treacherously murdered at the banquet after Edric had +previously made them heavy with wine. + +There was the usual gathering that evening. Did Edric remember the +place, and the bloody event which only he and one other present +connected with the spot?--for Edmund had been far away, and the matter +had been hushed up, as far as was possible, by all the power and +influence Ethelred could exert in his favourite's cause, or rather his +own, for he, the royal villain, shared the ill-gotten spoil. + +If he did remember it, he took care not to show it that night. He was +as calm and self-possessed as a man could be--as a smiling sea under +the summer sky--smiling so that the heedless voyager knows not what +hideous trophies or past storms the smiling depths conceal. + +So was it with this treacherous penitent. + +His presence, however, somewhat chilled the conversation, and they +broke up early; the more so as it was a vigil, the vigil of St. +Andrew, and men strictly observed the law of the Church on such +subjects in those days. + +When he bade Edmund goodnight, Edric said: + +"You cannot tell how true a peace has found its home in my breast +since our reconciliation, which I feel I owe greatly to the +intercession of your patron St. Edmund, to whose tomb I made a +pilgrimage, where I besought this one grace--our reconciliation." + +Edmund thought of the holy thorn; but Edric continued: + +"And you will be glad to hear that the bishop has decided upon my +penance. It is to be a pilgrimage to the Holy Land." + +"I am heartily glad to hear it," said Edmund, speaking the very truth, +although he did try to forgive as he hoped to be forgiven. + +And they separated. + +Meanwhile happiness and expectation were high in the breasts of the +happy lovers, Alfgar and Ethelgiva. The morrow was to unite them. The +ladies sat up nearly all night making the wedding robes complete, and +richly adorning them--Hilda, Bertha, and Ethelgiva, with many skilful +handmaidens. + +They had almost finished their task, and were about to separate, when +St. Frideswide's bell tolled the first hour of the morning (one +o'clock). + +"We are very late," said the lady Hilda, as well she might, for our +ancestors generally retired early, as they rose early; and they bade +each other goodnight. + +"Happy, happy Ethelgiva!" said the mother as she kissed her darling, +not without a maternal sigh, for she felt as if she were losing her +only child, who had for so many a year been the light of their +woodland home--her only child, who had filled not simply her own place +in their affections, but as far as she might the place of the loved +Bertric. + +But the kiss was suspended. The whole party stood silent and +breathless; for a loud and bitter cry, as of one in extreme anguish, +broke upon the silence of the night. + +Ethelgiva uttered but one word as she bounded towards the staircase, +for she knew the voice: + +"Alfgar!" + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. WHO HATH DONE THIS DEED? + + +Alfgar never saw his beloved lord enter his chamber with a look of +greater weariness than he bore that night. + +"It has been a hard fight, old friend," said the familiar king, "but +we have conquered; for my part, I would far sooner have stood out +against him, battle-axe in hand, than have met this struggle, could I +have foreseen it beforehand; but now I have given him the kiss of +peace, peace it must be; he has no more to dread from me." + +"Nor you from him, I trust." + +"I must trust so, or I should not feel I had really forgiven, and I +cannot give my hand where my heart is not; but yet it was such a +fight. 'Tis easy to stand in the deadly gap and keep the foe from a +beleaguered citadel: men praise the deed, and there is a feeling of +conscious pride which sustains one, but the truly great deeds are +those which no chronicler records. It requires more bravery to forgive +sometimes than to avenge." + +"I can well believe that, my lord." + +"Well, if my path has been beset with foes, so has it with friends. +Such love as yours, Alfgar, I say as yours has been!--well, few kings +share such affections." + +"My lord, you first loved me; at least you saved me from a fearful +death." + +"And you have warded off death from me again and again in the +battlefield; nay, deny it not, nor say it was merely your duty, men do +not always do such duty." + +"My lord, you praise me more than I can feel I deserve." + +"Not more than I feel you deserve, and yet were not this your last +night as my companion, were not tomorrow's ceremony to separate us, +perhaps for ever, I do not think I should thus overwhelm your modesty. + +"You blush like a girl," said he, laughingly. + +He lingered some time, and seemed loath to undress. At last he said: + +"Have you seen the messenger Canute sent me?" + +"Yes; I entertained him at the buttery as you requested." + +"Well, he came with a proposal from Canute that we should join in +building and endowing a church at Assingdun, where a priest may ever +say mass for the souls of our dead, whether English or Dane. Of course +I have accepted the offer, but Canute added another and more +mysterious message." + +"And what was that?" + +"'Beware,' he said, 'of Edric; his apparent desire of reconciliation +cannot be trusted;' and he added that Edric was like a certain person +who wanted to become a monk when he was sick." + +"I fear he speaks the truth." + +"But I cannot act upon his advice; it is too late now. I have striven +to do what I thought, and the bishop said, in his Master's name, was +my duty--well, I have my reward in the approbation of my conscience. +Goodnight, Alfgar, goodnight; I shall sleep soundly tonight; I hope +some day I may lay me down for my last long sleep as peacefully." + +Alfgar followed his example, and, commending himself to God, slept. + +About half-an-hour after midnight Alfgar awoke with a strange +impression upon his mind that some one was in the room. It was very +dark and stormy, and the wind, finding its way through crevices in the +ill-built house, would account for many noises, but there was +something stirring which was not the wind, and the impression was +strong on his waking senses that between him and the window, which was +opposite his bed, a figure had passed. + +Not fully trusting impressions produced at such a moment, yet with a +heavy vague sense of evil weighing him down like a nightmare, Alfgar +lay and listened. + +At length he heard a sound which might have been produced by falling +rain percolating through the roof, drop, drop upon the floor, but it +was strange, for there was no sound of rain outside at that moment. + +At length a cold draught made him turn his head, and he dimly saw +Edmund's door open and disclose the window within the room, then shut +slowly again. + +He could control his apprehensions no longer, and rose gently from his +bed, so as not to warn the foe, on the one hand, should one be +present, or if, as he strove to believe, all was fancy, not to awake +Edmund. No one was in his own little room, that he felt rather than +saw in a moment; but some one might be in Edmund's, and he passed +through the door, which he remembered, with a shudder, was shut firmly +when Edmund said "goodnight." At that instant he heard a low click, as +of a spring lock, but very faintly; hesitating no longer, he passed +into the monarch's room, and advanced to the bedside. + +"My lord!" he gently whispered, but there was no answer; he spoke +again in vain. + +Just then he felt his naked feet come into contact with some wet +substance, slightly glutinous, on the floor, and shuddered at the +contact. All trembling, he put his hand to the pillow, and drew it +back; it was wet with the same fluid, which his reason and experience +told him was blood. He could hardly refrain from crying for help, but +first sought a light. The process of procuring light then from flint, +steel, and tinder was very slow, and it was some minutes before he had +a taper lighted, when its beams disclosed to his horror-stricken sight +Edmund, weltering in his blood; a dagger had been driven suddenly and +swiftly to his heart, and he had died apparently without a struggle. +The weapon yet remained {xviii}. + +Here his affliction and grief overpowered him; he threw himself upon +the body from which he had withdrawn the weapon; he kissed the now +cold lips; he cried, half distracted, "O Edmund, my lord, speak!" + +Alas! those lips were never to speak again while time lasted. At +length the first deep emotion passed away, and left the unhappy Alfgar +comparatively master of himself, whereupon he left the chamber, and +cried aloud for help. + +It was his cry which the ladies heard in their distant bower. + +The piercing cry, "Help! Edmund, the king, is slain!" roused the +household--Elfwyn, Herstan, Hermann, the ladies, agitated beyond +measure; the household guard; and, last of all, Edric. + +They beheld Alfgar in his night dress, all bloody, holding a dagger in +his hand, and with his face blanched to a death-like paleness, +uttering cry upon cry. + +"Help! Edmund, the king, is slain!" + +They (the men) rushed to the chamber, and, passing through Alfgar's +little room, beheld, by the light of many torches, Edmund bathed in +his own blood, which still dripped with monotonous but terrible sound +on the floor. + +Edric entered, and with woe, real or affected (no one could tell), +painted in his face, approached the body; and Elfwyn and Herstan +beheld, or thought they beheld, a prodigy: they thought they saw the +eyes open, and regard Edric, and that they saw the blood well up in +the wound. But doubtless this was fancy. + +"One thing we all must do," said Edric; "we must all help to find the +murderer. The first step to that effect will be to note all present +appearances. First, where is the weapon?" + +"Here," said Alfgar, extending it. + +"Why, Alfgar, it is your own dagger," said Elfwyn; "one which he gave +you himself." + +Alfgar uttered a plaintive and pitiful cry. + +Edric possessed himself of the blood-stained weapon. + +"Alfgar," said he, "you must have slept soundly. Tell us what you +heard and saw." + +He briefly related the particulars with which the reader is +acquainted. + +"But how could they enter? Was your door unfastened?" + +"No; it was bolted on the inside, even as I left it last night." + +"Bolted on the inside! then they must have entered through the +window," said Edric, noting the words. + +"Impossible," said both the thanes; "they are barred, both of +them--heavily barred." + +"We can no longer assist our departed lord save by our prayers," said +Edric. "God be thanked, he died friends with me. I shall value the +remembrance of that kiss cf peace in St. Frideswide's so long as I +live. And now I, once his foe, but his friend and avenger now, devote +myself to hunt the murderer. So help me God!" + +"So help me God!" + +"So help me God!" said all present, one after the other. + +"We are then of one heart and soul, and no tie of kindred, no +friendship, shall bar our common action. And now we must rouse the +reeve and burgesses; the gates of the city must be closed, that none +escape. I will send members of the guard to do this, and when they +have assembled we will all take counsel together." + +"O Alfgar," whispered Elfwyn, "how came your dagger there?" + +"I know not. I feel as one distracted," said the faithful and loving +Alfgar, who had lost by this fell stroke a most faithful friend, with +the warmest heart which had ever beaten beneath a monarch's breast. + +Oh, how the thought of the conversation last night came back to him +now--the warning of Canute, the loving words of affection which had +been spoken to him by those lips now cold in death! + +All the imperfections of his character now faded away; he seemed so +brave, yet so loving, so invincible in combat, yet so gentle and +forgiving, as he had shown in forgiving even--even--even--said Alfgar +to his own wounded bleeding heart--even in forgiving his murderer. For +in his eyes it was Edric, and none but Edric, who had done this deed. + +But a terrible suspicion of a very opposite nature was rapidly +assuming sway in other men's minds. + +A council met before daybreak--the reeve or mayor, the chief +burgesses, two or three thanes then in the town, the officers of the +royal guard, Elfwyn, Herstan, and Edric. After a few preliminaries +Edric rose and spake as follows: + +"We have met together under the most awful responsibility which could +fall upon subjects. Edmund, our king, has been murdered, and by whom +we know not." + +All were silent. + +"I grieve to say," he continued, "that there is but one upon whom our +suspicions can now fall with any shadow of probability--one who is +now absent, for I thought it well not to summon him to this council; +and before naming him, I must recall to you, Elfwyn, and to you, +Herstan, the solemn oath we have all three taken to disregard all +appeals of natural affection, and to ascertain the truth, God being +our helper." + +"We have." + +"We have," said they with bursting hearts, for they foresaw what +accusation Edric was about to bring. + +"I grieve, then, to say," he continued, "that this natural affection +must be bitterly tried, for there is but one to whom my words can +apply. Meanwhile, I will put a few questions. With whose dagger was +the deed committed?" + +"Alfgar's," replied those who had been there the previous night. + +"Whose chamber commanded the only entrance to the royal chamber?" + +"Alfgar's." + +"Who incautiously, as if forgetting himself, stated that he found the +door bolted on the inside?" + +"Alfgar." + +"But the motive--the motive? The poor fellow loved him as he loved his +own father." + +"I cannot explain that difficulty, but I can suggest one motive which +may already have suggested itself to several. But let me ask of what +nation is Alfgar?" + +"A Dane; but an Englishman by long habit." + +"I can answer for that," said Elfwyn. + +"Once a Dane always a Dane. Now a secret messenger arrived from Canute +yesterday, and had a long private interview with Alfgar. In short, I +dare not say all I know or suspect, for there can be little doubt who +will reign in England now." + +All were silent. + +At length Edric continued, "none can deny that we have grounds for our +suspicions." + +"Yes, I do deny it," said Elfwyn, "the more so when I remember who +makes the accusation." + +"You do well to reproach me; I deserve it, I confess, and more than +deserve it. Yes, I was Edmund's enemy once; but perhaps you remember +yesterday and the early mass at St. Frideswide's." + +"We do, we do," cried all but Elfwyn and Herstan; but they were +utterly outvoted, and the order was given to the captain of the +hus-carles to arrest Alfgar. + +Alfgar, desolate and almost distracted, not heeding that he was not +summoned to the council, as he might so naturally have expected to be, +wandered mechanically about the palace until the bell summoned him to +the early mass. The bishop was the celebrant, for Father Cuthbert was +to have officiated at the celebration of the marriage of his son in +the faith. The solemn pealing of the bell for the mass at the hour of +daybreak fell upon Alfgar's ears, and he turned almost mechanically to +the cathedral, yet with vague desire to communicate all his griefs and +troubles to a higher power than that of man, and to seek aid from a +diviner source. + +He entered, knelt in a mental attitude easier to imagine than +describe, but felt some heavenly dew fall upon his bleeding wounds; he +left without waiting to speak to any one at the conclusion of the +service, and was crossing the quadrangle to the palace which occupied +a portion of the site of modern Christ Church, when a heavy hand was +laid upon his shoulder. + +He turned and saw the captain of the guard; two or three of his +officers were beside him. + +"It is my painful duty to arrest you and make you my prisoner." + +"On what charge?" said the astonished Alfgar. + +"The murder of the king." + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. THE ORDEAL. + + +The news of the murder of Edmund spread far and wide, and awakened +deep sorrow and indignation, not only amongst his friends and +subjects, but even amongst his former enemies, the Danes, now rapidly +yielding to the civilising and softening influences of Christianity, +following therein the notable example of their king, Canute, who was +everywhere restoring the churches and monasteries he and his had +destroyed, and saying, with no faltering voice, albeit, perhaps, with +a very inadequate realisation of all the words implied, "As for me and +my house, we will serve the Lord." + +Ealdorman and thane came flocking into Oxenford from all the +neighbouring districts of Wessex and Mercia. The body of the lamented +monarch was laid in state in St. Frideswide's; there wax tapers shed a +hallowed light on the sternly composed features of him who had been +the bulwark of England; and there choking sobs and bitter sighs every +hour rent the air, and bore witness to a nation's grief. And there, +two heartbroken ladies, a mother and a daughter, came often to pray, +not only for the soul of the departed king, but also for the discovery +of his murderers and the clearing of the innocent, for neither Hilda +nor Ethelgiva for one moment doubted the spotless innocence of Alfgar. + +They were refused admittance to the cell wherein he was confined by +Edric, who had assumed the direction of all things, and whose claim, +such is the force of impudence, seemed to be tacitly allowed by the +thanes and ealdormen of Wessex. + +But Elfwyn and Herstan could hardly be denied permission to visit him, +owing to their positions, and they both did so. They found him in a +chamber occupying the whole of the higher floor of a tower of the +castle, which served as a prison for the city and neighbourhood, +rudely but massively built. One solitary and deep window admitted a +little air and light, but the height rendered all escape hopeless, +even had the victim wished to escape, which he did not. + +"Alfgar, my son!" said Elfwyn, finding the poor prisoner did not +speak, "do you not know us?" + +"Indeed I do; but do you believe me guilty, nay, even capable of--" + +He could add no more, but they saw that if they doubted they would +hear no more from him--that he scorned self-defence. + +"Guilty!--no, God forbid! we alone in the council asserted your +complete innocence." + +"I thank you; you have taken away the bitterness of death--and +Ethelgiva?" + +"Would die for her conviction of your truth." + +"Thank God!" he said fervently, his face brightening at once; tears, +indeed, rolled down his cheeks, but they seemed rather of gratitude +than grief. + +"We wanted to see, my son, whether you could aid us in discovering the +real assassin--whether you can in any way account for his possession +of your dagger, for your door being still, as you asserted, fast +inside." + +"I knew it made against me, but I couldn't lie, it was fast inside." + +"Then how could the foe have gained admittance?" + +"I could not discover that, but I think there must have been some +secret door. Edric had perhaps lived in the Place before; he once +resided in Oxenford." + +"He did, and in that very house," said Herstan. "I was here at the +time when he assassinated Sigeferth and Morcar in the banqueting +hall." + +"That may supply a clue, I know no other possible one." + +"But how, then, did he get your dagger?" + +"I think our wine was drugged the night before, or I should not have +slept so soundly. I remember with what difficulty I seemed to throw +off a kind of nightmare which oppressed me, and to come to myself." + +"Then I will get a carpenter and search the wainscoting; and I will +see whether I can learn anything about the wine," said Elfwyn. + +"Do so cautiously, my father, very cautiously, for if Edric suspects +you are on his track, he will plot against your life too, and +Ethelgiva will have no protector. + +"Oh, this was to have been my wedding day, my wedding day!" and he +clasped his hands in agony; then the thought of his master--his slain +lord--returned, and he cried, "O Edmund! my master, my dear master, so +good, so gentle, yet so brave; who else could slay him? what fiend +else than Edric, the murderer Edric? That they should think I, or any +one else than Edric, could have done such a deed, such an evil deed!" + +Elfwyn and Herstan both left the scene, the more convinced of Alfgar's +innocence, but yet the more puzzled to convey their impression to +others. + +Meanwhile the arrangements for Edmund's burial were made. It was +decided, according to the wish he had more than once expressed, that +he should rest beneath the shadow of a shrine he had loved well; and +on the second day after his death the mournful procession left +Oxenford for Glastonbury, followed by the tears and prayers of the +citizens. There, after a long and toilsome winter journey, the funeral +cortege arrived, and was joined by his wife Elgitha, his sons Edmund +and Edward. They laid him to rest by the side of his grandfather, +Edgar "the Magnanimous," whose days of peace and prosperity all +England loved to remember. There, amidst the people of Wessex who had +rallied so often to his war cry, all that was mortal of the Ironside +reposed. + +Meanwhile the crafty Edric, who excused himself from attendance on the +solemnities, tarried at Oxenford, and with him tarried also Elfwyn, +Herstan, and the other friends of the unfortunate prisoner, to secure, +as they were able, that justice should be rendered him. + +A special court of justice was speedily organised, wherein Edric +presided as ealdorman of Mercia, for Oxenford properly was a Mercian +city, although, lying on the debateable land, it was frequently +claimed by Wessex as the border land changed its boundaries. + +The court was composed of wise and aged men, ealdormen, thanes, and +burgesses had places, and the bishop of Dorchester sat by Edric as +assessor. + +The court was opened, and the vacant places in the room were occupied +at once by the crowd who were fortunate enough to gain entrance. The +general feeling was strong against the prisoner, the more so because +he had been loved and trusted by Edmund, so that ingratitude added to +the magnitude of his crime in their eyes. + +But amongst those who stood nearest to the place he must occupy were +his betrothed, her mother, Bertha, and young Hermann, who had already +got into several quarrels through his fierce espousing of the cause of +the accused. + +He entered at last under a guard, calm and dignified, in spite of his +suffering. He met the gaze of the multitude without flinching, and his +general demeanour impressed many in his favour. Compurgators, or men +to swear that they believed him innocent, a kind of evidence fully +recognised by the Saxon law, were not wanting; but they consisted +chiefly of his old companions in arms and his friends from Aescendune. +In a lighter accusation, his innocence might have been established by +this primitive mode of evidence, but the case was too serious; the +accusation being one of the murder of a king. + +The charge was duly read; and to the accusation he replied, "Not +guilty!" with a fervour and firmness which caused men to look up. + +The chamberlain was first examined. + +"Were you present when the late king retired to rest?" + +"I was." + +"Who shared his chamber?" + +"The prisoner slept in an antechamber." + +"Was there a fastening to the outer door of the antechamber?" + +"Yes; a strong bolt." + +"Could it be opened from the exterior?" + +"It could not." + +"Was there any other entrance to the royal apartments?" + +"None." + +The dagger was produced, and Elfwyn was examined. + +"Do you recognise the weapon?" + +"I do; it was Alfgar's." + +"How do you recognise it?" + +"It was richly carved about the handle. The letter E is stamped upon +it, with a crown." + +"Whence did the prisoner obtain it?" + +"The king gave it him." (Sensation.) + +"Did you see it on the night of the murder?" + +"I did." + +"Under what circumstances?" + +"The accused held it dripping with blood in his hands, and said he +found it sticking in the corpse." + +Other witnesses were also called to prove these facts. + +The accused was then heard in his own defence, and he repeated with +great simplicity and candour the circumstances so well known to our +readers; and concluded: + +"I can say no more. None who knew the love he bore me, and that I bore +him, could suspect me." + +The bishop here spoke. + +"It is my office," said he, "by the canons of King Athelstane, to +assist secular judges in purging away accusations, therefore I will +ask the accused a few questions." + +"Had you any cause of suspicion against any other person--anything to +point out the doer of this evil deed?" + +"All men loved him save one." + +"And who was that one?" + +"He sits to judge me." + +"Nay," cried the bishop, "we all beheld the reconciliation in St. +Frideswide's church." + +"The king himself was warned not to trust to the reconciliation." + +"By whom?" + +"His brother sovereign." + +"Canute?" + +And here Edric perceptibly changed colour. + +"Even so." + +"Your proofs," said the bishop--"nay, my lord Edric, trust your +reputation to the justice of God and the court." + +"The messenger from Canute, who came here on the vigil of St. Andrew." + +"Where is he?" + +"He has returned to Canute," said Elfwyn. + +"Aught else?" + +"Only I would bid you remember that the ealdorman Edric sought in like +manner reconciliation with Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, and all men know +what followed." + +Here Edric interrupted--"I do not sit here to be judged, but to judge. +These accusations cannot be heard." + +"There is a judgment seat above where you will not be able to make +that plea," said the prisoner solemnly. + +"Alfgar," said the bishop, "this counter-accusation cannot be +received; have you aught else to urge?" + +"None. I commit my cause to God." + +The court retired. + +The pause was long and painful. It afterwards transpired that the +bishop pleaded in Alfgar's favour, while Herstan ably seconded him; +but all was in vain. Edric's eloquence, and the strong circumstantial +evidence against the prisoner, carried the day, and the ealdorman even +proposed that execution should be speedy, "lest," he whispered, +"Canute should interfere to screen his instrument." + +It was a dangerous game, but he thought the services he had rendered +the Danish cause enabled him to play it safely. + +They returned. All men saw the verdict in their faces. Edric spoke +with great solemnity. + +"We find the prisoner guilty." + +There was a dead pause. + +"I appeal to the judgment of God. I demand the ordeal cf fire," said +Alfgar {xix}. + +"It cannot be denied," said the bishop, who had anticipated the +appeal. "I myself will see to the preliminaries; and it may take place +tomorrow morning in St. Frideswide's church." + +Edric and his sympathisers would fain have denied the claim, but they +could not resist the bishop, backed as he was by the popular voice, +for the cry, "The ordeal! yes, the ordeal!" was taken up at once by +the populace. + +While he was hesitating, his brother Goda appeared amongst the crowd. + +"Canute," he whispered, "draws nigh Oxenford. He has heard what is +going on." + +Edric trembled, but soon recovered himself. However, it was not a time +to deny justice. + +The following morning the church of St. Frideswide was crowded at the +early mass. All the friends of the accused were there, and Edric with +all his party. The holy service was about to commence, when the crowd +at the church door moved aside; a passage was speedily made though the +crowd, and three or four ecclesiastics, one habited as a royal +chaplain, escorted a stranger, to whom all paid instinctive reverence, +yet hardly knowing why, for he was only clad in the ordinary robes +worn by noblemen amongst the English. + +He was led to the choir, and placed where Edmund had knelt by Edric's +side some days previously. Edric saw him, and exchanged glances, after +which the ealdorman looked uneasy. + +On the other side knelt the prisoner, with Elfwyn and Herstan on +either side, and his colour heightened. Well it might. He had last +seen that figure when he fought by Edmund's side at Penn. But it was +not that meeting. Words spoken ten years before came back to him with +marvellous force: + +"Tell me what is the secret of this Christianity?" + +And Alfgar knew that Canute had found that secret at last. + +"Why was he here? Did he come as his friend or foe?" + +The mass was over. Alfgar had followed the whole ceremony with rapt +attention, for it was in God alone that he could now put his +confidence. + +Then a furnace was placed in the church, containing nine bars of iron +of red heat, and the fire was blown till the bars, quivering with +heat, glittered in the sight. The bishop approached, and said the +appointed prayers, that God would detect the innocence or guilt of the +prisoner by their means, and reveal the truth known only to Him. + +Then a lane was formed up the church, and the friends of Alfgar kept +one side, while those of Edric kept the other, after which the bars of +iron were laid down about two feet apart. + +The bishop approached. + +"Are ye all fasting with prayer?" he inquired. + +The friends of accused and accuser from either side replied: + +"We are." + +"Humble yourselves, and pray to God to reveal the truth," said he, and +sprinkled them with holy water, after which the book of the Gospels +was passed all round to be kissed. + +"Pray that God may reveal the truth," said he again. + +"We do so pray." + +Then Alfgar, who felt full of divine confidence, took his place at the +end nearest the porch. He was given the book of the Gospels. + +"Swear thy innocence upon the holy Gospels," said the bishop. + +"I do swear that I am innocent of the crime they lay to my charge;" +and he kissed the book; then holy water was sprinkled upon his feet, +and given him to drink. + +The decisive moment approached. He looked round, he saw Ethelgiva, her +eyes full of tears, her lips moving in prayer. + +All fear departed from him. + +The bishop blindfolded him. + +"My son, trust in God, and in His strength go forward," he whispered. + +Alfgar could see nought now. A line of red string was stretched from +the bishop's hand to that of a priest at the other extremity, to guide +him. Canute advanced, took the end from the priest's hand and held it. + +Alfgar started one step. The first iron is passed safely--two, the +second cleared. The excitement is intense. Three cleared--four, five. +Ah, he nears the sixth! No, he misses it!--seven, eight--one +more--nine! SAVED BY GOD! + +Ethelgiva fainted. A deep sound of applause, not even suppressed by +the character of the place. Elfwyn received his adopted son in his +arms: + +"Saved, saved!" he cried. + +"Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory!" replied Alfgar. + +When the first congratulations were over, and Alfgar had somewhat +recovered from the excitement of the shock, and from the +congratulations which were heaped upon him upon all sides, he was told +that Canute awaited him in the audience chamber, and at once repaired +to the presence of his future king with less emotion than may be +imagined; for he was worn out by sensation, and becoming callous to +impressions. + +He was formally introduced by the officer in waiting, and the king at +once dismissed that functionary. + +"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, we have met before," observed the monarch. + +"We have, my lord." + +"I did not refer to later occasions, when we have met on the +battlefield, but to a far earlier one. Need I recall it? Surely there +are some moments in one's life never to be forgotten." + +"There are indeed, my lord. Pardon my confusion. You refer to a scene +in Carisbrooke." + +"Yes. When I asked you, 'What is this Christianity?' you had not much +time given you to answer me then, but your deliberate choice of a +bitter death, in preference to abandoning it, showed me there was +somewhat deeper in it than I had imagined. Alfgar, there are seeds +lightly sown which bear fruit hereafter, and your words were of such a +character--so that I, your future monarch, owe you already a debt of +gratitude, and I had come hither to fulfil it when you saved me the +task by appealing to the ordeal. I for one had full faith in the +justice of God. But had you not so appealed, I should have stepped in +between Edric and his victim." + +"You did not then, my lord, believe in my guilt?" + +"Not for one moment. The lad who defied my unhappy father in the +frantic fury of his power--the warrior I had seen fighting by the side +of his king--the faithful attendant of many years?--Nay, it was +monstrous; who could believe it?" + +"Many, alas! found it possible to believe it, my lord. But who has +been the murderer? You will not permit your brother's blood to fall on +the earth unavenged." + +"Wait. Be patient. God, in whom you trust, will direct the bolt in His +own time. Edmund's blood will not be unavenged. And now, farewell! +Remember, if you have lost one royal friend, you have found another." + +And Alfgar left the presence. + +The next day the whole party from Aescendune returned home. Oxenford +was too full of bitter memories now. One grief of Alfgar was this--he +had not been able to stand by Edmund's grave. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + +CHRISTMASTIDE 1017. + +Ten years ago, this very day, God in His mercy delivered us from the +raging Danes at Cliffton, on Tamesis, and now He hath delivered us +again out of the hands of the raging lion, even of Edric Streorn, and +we are all spared to keep our Christmas in peace in the woods of +Aescendune. + +It is probably the last I shall keep in this place, for the hall and +priory are fast rising from their ruins, and we shall soon return to +our old home, from which we have been banished ten years and more. It +will be sweet to be there once more, serving the Lord in peace, with +none daring to make us afraid. + +Here we are, all of us who are near and dear by the ties of blood, in +this woodland Zoar, which hath indeed been a Zoar in the late +troublous years, utterly untouched, which again we regard as a proof +that Anlaf does not live, for he could have found us out had his +revenge led him to do so when Sweyn was in Mercia. Neither has he +appeared to claim his own estate, which he might easily regain now a +Dane is king. + +Alfgar and Ethelgiva are now speedily to be united. Theirs is to be +the first marriage solemnised in the new minster church by my unworthy +hands. To see them now, one would think they had forgotten all the +past peril. The old people do not mean to abandon their woodland +abode; they love it all too well, and call it the Happy Valley. But +they say that a good road, now the times are safer, shall be made to +the old site, where we are again rearing hall and priory. + +There is now quite a colony here, nearly 300 people. The church is +very commodious, and every day, for the whole period of these late +dreadful wars, mass has been said therein for our suffering brethren +"contra Paganos." Thank God that he hath at length heard our prayers; +our late foes are no longer Pagans but Christians, and are as eager to +build up as they were to cast down; in fact, several of them have +offered their zealous aid in the rebuilding of our priory. + +We had such a happy Christmas evening. We sat by the fire, and Alfgar +was made to relate the whole story again of his escape with Edmund +from Carisbrooke, of his imprisonment by Edric in the Synodune woods, +of the attack and defence of Clifton. We had all heard it before, but +still we wanted to hear it again, just to contrast present peace and +joy with the danger and trials of those days, and to make them sweeter +by the contrast. Truly our Christmas worship had need to be praise and +thanksgiving, not only for the great mystery the church commemorates, +but also for present mercies so freely bestowed upon us all. + +Second Sunday after Easter, 1017.-- + +We have just received intelligence that Canute has been solemnly +crowned at St. Paul's Church, in London, by Archbishop Lyfing. He +called a council of the whole kingdom previously, to which both my +brother and I were summoned, but I cared not to attend. Elfwyn, +however, went, and wanted Alfgar to go, but he begged hard to be +excused, I imagine for two reasons. First of all, he laments Edmund +too deeply to welcome his former enemy as his successor; and secondly, +he does not care to leave Ethelgiva again. + +Well, Elfwyn tells us that when all were present--bishops, ealdormen, +thanes, and the noblest of the people--Canute solemnly proposed that +they should accept him as their king, giving them to understand that, +by a tacit understanding with Edmund, it had been agreed that the +kingdom should not be permanently divided, but that the survivor +should inherit and govern the whole realm. + +The wise men replied that, since Edmund's children were too young to +govern, they could not desire a better monarch than Canute; they +committed the little ones to his care, and acknowledged him as king of +all England. + +And on the morrow Archbishop Lyfing, who had so shortly before crowned +Edmund, placed the emblem of regal dignity on the head of Canute in +St. Paul's Cathedral. + +I hear Edric Streorn is confirmed in the earldom of Mercia. I still +fear that man. + +Sunday after Ascension, 1017.-- + +On this happy Sunday it has pleased God to restore us to our home once +more. The priory is rebuilt in more than its former beauty, and the +hall beside it stands conspicuous in its splendour. They have not +changed the appearance much, for it was the especial wish of every one +concerned that it should remind one of old associations as much as +possible. + +The good bishop of Dorchester, the abbot of Abingdon, and many others +of my friends amongst the brethren there, the neighbouring clergy and +thanes, all met together to dedicate the new house to God. High mass +was solemnly sung in the minster church, and the whole building was +hallowed with psalm and prayer to God; after which followed a +temperate banquet. + +The bishop was very kind and loving, and spoke most affectionately to +our poor people on the subject of their past trials; especially he +commended their new lord, Alfgar, to their allegiance, saying that in +all his deep trials he had shown himself a most perfect Christian, +doing his duty both to God and man. + +Monday.-- + +The abbot and brethren from Abingdon are gone back, and we poor happy +brethren have entered again upon our regular duties. Ah me! what a gap +time has made in our ranks. Of the twenty brethren who were driven out +by the Danes eleven years ago, only twelve yet live, and eight +brethren from Abingdon supply the place of the others. God be praised +that Father Adhelm yet lives! He has been my right hand in so many +perils and trials. + +It is so delightful to be at home once more. Surely never were monks +happier. My heart swells when each morning we sing the three last +joyful psalms at lauds. + +It is settled that Alfgar and Ethelgiva are to be married on the +Monday after the Whitsun octave. O happy pair! O ter felices et nimium +beati! I only hope they will not love earth too well. + +Octave of the Ascension.-- + +Today we have had a special messenger from Canute, who is in the +neighbourhood, to express his royal intention to grace the approaching +marriage with his presence. It will indeed be an honour. Ah! but if +Edmund could be there. + +Whitsunday.-- + +I hardly know how to express my intense surprise and joy. Alfgar's +father has returned--a Christian. + +While all the people were assembling for mass this morning, an aged +man, clad in palmer's weeds, evidently worn by toil and travel, came +from the bridge over the river, which has been rebuilt, towards the +minster church, and entering, knelt down wrapt in devotion. Many +remarked his quaint attire; his face, once stern, now softened by +grace; his hair, once black as the raven's wing, now white as snow; +his dark eyes gleaming beneath thick white eyebrows. I fear he caused +many wandering thoughts, and he would have caused yet more, could they +have known that they beheld the penitent destroyer of the old hall and +priory. + +Now I preached, not knowing at the time who was amongst my hearers, +from the words of Isaiah, "For thy waste and desolate places, and the +land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow, by reason of +the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. +The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, +shall say again in thine ears. The place is too strait for me; give +place to me, that I may dwell." + +Oh, how touching the words seemed; for our waste and desolate places +are indeed peopled with joy and gladness, and many must have thought +of dear Bertric, our martyr boy, when they heard those words, "the +children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other." They +seemed a divine prophecy of joy and gladness unto us. + +And so I preached after this manner, and as I did so I saw the +stranger was deeply moved, and marvelled who he could be, that he +entered so deeply into so personal a sermon, which treated of a +peculiar joy which a stranger intermeddleth not with. + +Now after the mass was ended, we came forth from the church, and +Alfgar, with Ethelgiva, walked down the path to the Lychgate, when +Alfgar's eyes fell upon the stranger, whereupon, to our astonishment, +he started, then stepped forward, fell on his knees, and cried, with a +choked voice, "Father, your blessing!" + +At first we thought it was reverence, somewhat exaggerated, to a +pilgrim, but when the aged man cried aloud, "The God of Abraham bless +thee, even thee, O my son!" and the tears streamed down the furrows of +his aged cheeks, we knew it must be something more than this, and so +it proved. + +It was none other than Anlaf--Anlaf who had disappeared from all the +knowledge of friend or foe for ten years! + +We all received him, especially my brother Elfwyn, with great joy--for +we shared Alfgar's happiness--and we led him into the house, where we +tendered him all the offices of hospitality. + +It was by degrees that we learned his story. He was really converted +to Christianity by the example of his son, whose words produced a far +deeper effect upon him than either he or Alfgar suspected at the time. + +And when he saw that son prefer a cruel death to apostasy, his heart +was moved--deeply moved, so that he pondered over all he had heard +from him and from a once loved wife, whose words had seemed lost, but +whose prayers perhaps watered them into growth after she was dead and +gone. So he left the army without telling any one whither he went, and +sought instruction from a Christian. + +And he found a Christian priest hidden in the woods, where he +administered the word and sacraments to a starving few, but secretly, +for fear of the Danes; and from him he learned the truth and was +baptized. + +Then, feeling himself unhappy in this distracted land--separated from +the English by blood, from the Danes by religion--he determined to go +on pilgrimage. + +Once in the Holy Land, he had to undergo much contumely from the pagan +Saracens, who, to the disgrace of Christendom, defile the Holy City by +their presence, and maltreat the blessed pilgrims; but he had learned +to glory in humiliation. At last he retired to the woods on the +sources of the Jordan, weary of earth, and there he joined an aged +hermit, with whom he lived for two years, and when the hermit died he +took his place, and dwelt as an ascetic, ministering, however, to the +necessities of pilgrims who journeyed that way to the Holy Land. + +From some of these pilgrims he learned, at length, that English and +Danes were united in peace, and a great desire of revisiting England +and searching out his son seized upon him. On the road he heard that +Edmund was dead and Canute reigned alone, and so he came hither at +once, and has arrived, God so willing it, in time to see his son +married to the heiress of Aescendune. + +We have provided him lodgings in the priory. The new hall is not to be +dwelt in till the night when the happy pair enter it and make it their +home. + +Alfgar's cup of joy is full. + +Monday after the Whitsun Octave.-- + +At last it is over. The weary waiting of ten years is ended. Alfgar +and Ethelgiva are man and wife. + +Canute gave away the bride in person. Elfwyn, Hilda, Herstan, Bertha, +and Hermann, with his sisters--indeed all the kindred of the bride +were there. Of the kindred of the bridegroom but one, so far as we +know, is living--his father Anlaf. It has been a warlike race, and +nearly all the members of the family have found a warrior's grave. + +I performed the ceremony, assisted by all the brethren in the choral +portions of the mass and the order of the marriage service. Ethelgiva +was pale and composed although she shed a few natural tears, but wiped +them soon. Alfgar was simple and unaffected, as he always is. All he +does is so naturally done. Like Nathaniel, he is a man without guile. + +The church was crowded. All the retainers and all the neighbours were +present, and when the bride and bridegroom left the sacred building, +they saluted them with cheers which made the welkin ring. + +Then the whole party adjourned to the hall, which was crowded to the +fullest extent. And for the poorer guests, who could not find +admittance, tables were spread in the open air, beneath the shade of +spreading trees, for the day was lovely even for June. + +Canute remained throughout the entertainment, and, by his unaffected +condescension and his cheerful sympathy, won the hearts of all. His +general demeanour tends to efface his foreign descent from the mind. +Yet we sighed for Edmund, for which even Canute would pardon us. He +should have presided at the board. + +When the night was far advanced the whole party broke up and retired +to rest, after a day calculated to efface the recollection of many a +hardship past. + +For my part, when I returned to the priory, I mused for a long time on +the dark paths through which our Lord has conducted us to this happy +day. I thought of the period of Alfgar's conversion and baptism, of +St. Brice's night, for which England has paid so heavy a penance, now, +we trust, happily over. And while I thus thought, my musings led me to +the tomb of Bertric, whose sacred relics, as those of a martyr, now +lie interred beneath our high altar, and I wondered whether his +blessed spirit could sympathise in our earthly joy. Yes; I doubt it +not; and that he witnesses it from above. Through suffering to joy has +been our lot; through suffering to glory his. + +Tuesday.-- + +The king left this morning. His engagements are too numerous to permit +him to give much space to recreation. Before he left he summoned +Alfgar, Anlaf, and Elfwyn, to a conference in the library--for they +have a library as of old in the hall--and then he told Alfgar that he +had talked with Anlaf who wished to convey the manorial rights of his +former patrimony, and all its revenues, to his son, and to join our +brotherhood, and that he desired him to witness the deed. Now, all the +former charters of Aescendune were destroyed in the old hall, and the +king had caused a new one to be drawn up, supplying all the defects +caused by the loss of the earlier documents; conferring and securing, +by royal charter, all the lands of Aescendune, and those formerly +appertaining to Anlaf, upon Alfgar, and his successors for ever, not, +as he said, as a deed of gift, but as a charter securing and defining +their rights and liberties, for him and his successors, to all future +generations; and adding all the waste land of the adjacent forest, +formerly holden of the crown, to their domains, with right of all +temporal jurisdiction, and with the title of Earl, which title is +common in the northern and more Danish districts, more so than +ealdorman, which obtains in the south. + +"Thus much," said he, "I know my brother Edmund would have done for +you, and in his place it has fallen to my lot. + +"Would," he added, "I could be all to you which Edmund would have been +had he lived; that, perhaps, is not possible; but I know, Alfgar," he +added, "how to esteem faithfulness, even when it has been sometimes +exercised at my expense, for one once a rival, now only thought of as +a brother." + +Then he turned to Anlaf. + +"Old companion in arms," he said, "this makes up for Carisbrooke; +well, Alfgar, hadst thou yielded then, thou hadst not been here now. +Thy father and I owe thee something for the example thou didst set +us." + +And then he turned to Elfwyn and wished him joy of his son. + +After that he came to the priory and prayed awhile in front of the +altar; his devotions ended, he came to my cell and made me a startling +offer of a bishopric in Denmark, saying he thought there was much work +to be done for God there, and he thought Englishmen would do it best; +and thus, he added, after their Master's example, return good for +evil {xx}. + +But an old oak such as I am cannot be uprooted, and perhaps it is a +carnal feeling, but I fear my earthly affections bind me here while +life lasts, so, thanking him warmly for the distinction implied in the +offer, I respectfully but firmly declined it. + +And so the king and his retinue left Aescendune. Elfwyn and Hilda +return in a few days to their happy valley; men have been at work for +weeks making a good road there from the hall, and the journey will +only occupy two or three hours to a good walker. + +Herstan and his family leave for their home on the Thames (which has +been rebuilt, together with the little church of St. Michael) +tomorrow. Anlaf takes his vows as a novice next Sunday, his novitiate +will be as short as the rules of our order allow; we shall all then +welcome him as a brother. + +Soon our days will flow tranquilly on. May God mercifully continue +peace in our days. + +"Stablish the thing, O God, that thou hast wrought in us." + +Christmas, 1017.-- + +Strange news greet our festival. Edric Streorn has gone suddenly, +unhouselled, unanointed, unabsolved, to his great account. Hermann, +who is now an officer in the royal hus-carles, has arrived from court, +and from him we have learnt all particulars. + +Edric was alone with the king in a chamber overlooking the Thames. +Hermann was on duty without, with some of the guard, when he heard +voices within in hot contention. + +"You will grant me no favour, not even the life of this traitor, who, +I tell you, is conspiring against you, and desires to place Edwy, the +Etheling, Edmund's brother, on the throne in your place." + +"Your proof lies, I suppose, in the hatred you have always borne him," +was the king's reply. + +Hermann could not help hearing, they spoke so loudly, but the next +words enchained his attention. + +"I tell thee the name 'Alfgar' is first and foremost amongst the +signatures of the men who have conspired to cast thee from the +throne." + +"Then I conclude you placed it there; tush, man, I know thee of old!" + +"Why should you suspect this? was not he Edmund's faithful friend, +worshipping him as a god, and would he not do all he could for his +brother?" + +"I thought you held him guilty of Edmund's murder." + +"That was only because I wished to remove two enemies from your path +instead of one you will not remove one from mine; lo! I forsook Edmund +my king for thy sake, and for thy sake I slew him, and thus thou +rewardest me." + +Then Canute waxed furious, and he shouted, "Guard! guard!" + +Hermann rushed in; and amongst others Eric, the Earl of Northumbria. + +"What, wretch! murderer! apostate blasphemer of the saints! didst thou +murder Edmund, my brother Edmund, who was dear to me as Jonathan to +David, seeing we were bound to each other by an oath! Thou didst +stretch thy hand against the Lord's anointed, and thou shalt die the +death. + +"Cut him down! cut him down, Eric! cut him down, Hermann." + +Eric stepped forward in an instant, and with his huge battle-axe cleft +the unhappy traitor, who had fallen to his knees to obtain mercy, from +the head to the shoulders. + +"Throw the carcase out of window," cried the furious king; "let the +fishes have the carrion. Never shall he find a grave, the vile +regicide; and that he should think I would reward his guilt! Nay, I +have served him as David did the Amalekite." + +Eric and Hermann, between them, raised the corpse, and flung it, all +bleeding and disfigured, into the Thames, the tide just running out +beneath the walls. + +I ought to write, "So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord!" But the +awful doom of his unrepentant soul saddens me, much as he has hated me +and mine. + +Lent, 1018.-- + +A strange discovery has been made which interests us all greatly. At +the time of Alfgar's trial at Oxford, Herstan fancied there must be a +secret staircase communicating with Edmund's room, but sought it in +vain. Now that Edric has avowed the deed, Hermann has obtained the +king's permission to make a thorough search all through the house, and +in the thickness of the huge stone chimney a secret staircase has been +found, with a door opening through the thickness of the wall and +panelling into the room in which Edmund slept, as well as another door +opening into the banqueting hall, where Sigeferth and Morcar were +murdered. It is all clear as day now. Edric must have entered the +royal chamber from the banqueting hall in the dead of the night, and +thus, when no human eye beheld, have accomplished his evil deed. Ah, +well! he could not escape the eye of Him who has said "Vengeance is +mine, I will repay." + +Eastertide, 1018-- + +A son is born to Alfgar and Ethelgiva; and today, Low Sunday, they +presented their babe to Him who said, "Suffer little children to come +unto me." They have named him Edmund. The grandparents, both well and +happy, were present; and the proud and happy father's eyes sparkled +with joy over his little Edmund, glistening from the baptismal font. +It fell to my happy lot thus to enrol the dear child amongst the lambs +of Christ's fold. God grant him length of days here, and endless +length of days beyond the skies when time shall be no more! + +. . . . . . + +Here we close our extracts from Father Cuthbert's Diary; but; before +taking leave of him, we are sure our readers would like to hear a few +more words about his future fortunes, and those of the house of +Aescendune. + +Better king than Canute, saving only the great Alfred, and perhaps +Edgar, had never sat on the English throne. Under his auspices a +change became visible throughout the whole country: villages again +gladdened the blackened wastes; minsters and churches were rebuilt, +whose broad, square Saxon towers yet hand down the memory of our +ancestors. Agriculture revived; golden corn covered the bloodstained +scenes of warfare; men lived once more in peace under the shadow of +their homes, none daring to make them afraid. Peace, with its hallowed +associations, gladdened England for fifty long years {xxi}. + +Anlaf was the first of the group we have introduced to our readers to +leave this transitory world for a better one. He died a few years +after the accession of Canute. Father Cuthbert survived him many +years, and died honoured and lamented in the last year of the great +king. + +His brother Elfwyn, and the lady Hilda, full of years, having outlived +the natural span of man's appointed years, followed him shortly--not +till they had seen their grandchildren, a numerous and hopeful +progeny, grow up around them, and so perpetuate their race upon earth. + +And for Alfgar and Ethelgiva, they lived to see a their children's +children, and peace upon Israel, surviving until the close of the +reign of Edward the Confessor, the son of Ethelred and Emma. Their +days were days of peace, in strange contrast to their youthful years. + +"Peace! and no more from out her brazen portals +The blast of war's great organ shakes the skies; +But, beautiful as songs of the immortals, +The holy harmonies of peace arise." +--Longfellow. + +THE END. + +i Genealogy of Aescendune. + +The reader may be glad to have the genealogy of the family in whom it +has been the author's aim to interest him placed clearly before him. +The following genealogical table, including the principal names in +"The First Chronicle of Aescendune," as well as those in the present +book, may suffice, the date of decease being given in each case. + +Offa, 940 + * Oswald, 937. + * Redwald, 959. + * Ella, 959, m. Edith. + + Elfric, 960. + + Alfred, 998, m. Alftrude. + o Elfric, 975. + o Elfwyn, 1086, m. Hilda. + # Bertric, 1006. + # Ethelgiva, 1064 m. Alfgar. + o Cuthbert, 1034. + o Bertha, 1050 m. Herstan. + + Edgitha, 990. + +ii Curse of Dunstan. + +"In the year of our Lord's incarnation 979, Ethelred, son of Edgar and +Elfrida, obtaining the kingdom, occupied, rather than governed it, for +thirty-seven years. The career of his life is said to have been cruel +in the beginning, wretched in the middle, and disgraceful in the end. +Thus, in the murder to which he gave his concurrence he was cruel, +base in his flight and effeminacy, miserable in his death. + +"The nobility being assembled by the contrivance of his mother, and +the day being appointed for Dunstan, in right of his see, to crown +him, he, though he might be ill-affected to them, forebore to resist, +being a prelate of mature age well versed in secular matters. But, +when placing the crown on his head, he could not refrain from giving +vent, with a loud voice, to that prophetic spirit which he so deeply +imbibed. 'Since,' said he, 'thou hast aspired to the kingdom by the +death of thy brother, hear the word of God. Thus saith the Lord God: +The sin of thy abandoned mother, and of the accomplices of her base +design, shall not be washed out but by much blood of the wretched +inhabitants; and such evils shall come upon the English nation as they +have never suffered from the time they came to England until then.' +Nor was it long after, that is in his third year, that seven piratical +vessels came to Southampton, a port near Winchester, and having +ravaged the coast fled back to the sea. This I think right to mention, +because many reports are circulated among the English concerning these +vessels."--William of Malmesbury, English Chronicle, Bohn's Edition, +pp. + +165-166. + +iii See "First Chronicle of Aescendune." + +iv Chronology of Father Cuthbert. + +The Christian era did not come in use until about the year 532, when +it was first introduced in the code of canon law compiled by Dionysius +Exiguus, and, even then, the year of the world was still frequently +used, as in some cases in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. When at length +the Christian computation became universal, some began the year with +the Incarnation (Christmas), others with the Annunciation; a custom +not wholly abolished in England till 1752, when the "New Style," or +Gregorian Calendar, was introduced. + +But in the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the portion +upon which our tale is based, the year invariably opens with the +Nativity--hence this reckoning has been used in the text, and the +Christmas day in chapter 3 begins a new year. + +v Now Banbury. + +vi Death of St. Edmund. + +There are two stories (or more) concerning the Danish invasion in +which the saintly Edmund met his death; the first, alluded to in the +song of the Etheling (chapter 11), tells how Ragnar Lodbrog, a great +sea king, invaded England, but his fleet being shattered by a storm, +fell into the hands of Ella, King of Northumbria, who threw him into a +pit full of toads and serpents, where he perished, singing his death +song to the last, and calling upon his sons to avenge his fate. Those +sons were Hinguar and Hubba. They invaded East Anglia after they had +avenged their father upon Ella, and King Edmund fought against them, +but was taken prisoner. They offered him his life and throne if he +would forsake Christianity, and reign under them. But he steadfastly +refused, whereupon they put him to death after the manner described in +the tale in the case of Bertric, while he called steadfastly upon +Christ until his latest breath. + +The other tale, given at length by Roger Wendover, tells that Ragnar +Lodbrog, with only his hawk in his hand, was driven by a storm to the +coast of East Anglia, that King Edmund made him his huntsman, but the +former huntsman, Beorn, slew him through jealousy; that King Edmund +put Beorn bound in the boat which had brought Lodbrog over, and sent +him adrift to perish at sea. But the storm in turn blew him to +Denmark, where he told the sons of the man he had slain that Edmund +had murdered their father. Hence they came to avenge him. The +remainder of the tale agrees with the former narrative, and is the +only portion which certainly possesses historical truth. + +St. Edmund has been much venerated in the eastern counties, and his +shrine at Edmundsbury was greatly reverenced. The tale of the death of +Sweyn, given in chapter 18, is a proof of this feeling, in which +perhaps the legend partly originated. + +vii The Rista Oern. + +This punishment was usual among the Northmen, and was called "at rista +oern," from the supposed resemblance of the victim to the figure of an +eagle. The operation was generally performed by the chief himself. It +is thus described by Snorre: + +"Ad speciem aquilae dorsum ita ei laniabat, ut adacto ad spinam +gladio, costisque omnibus ad lumbos usque a tergo divisis, pulmones +extraheret."--Snorre, p. 108. + +viii First appearance of Edmund. + +The first mention of Edmund in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the +commander of the English forces is A.D. 1015, where he was joined with +Edric in the command, as related in the text, chapter 18. The date of +his birth is uncertain, but the comparison of authorities appeared to +the author to justify the ascription of the character and actions, +with which he is credited in the tale, to the English hero who first +taught his generation to assert their equality with the fierce Danish +invaders. + +ix The appellations Wiltshire and Berkshire are of course of later +date. + +x The early name of Abingdon. + +Johnson, the compiler of the famous collection of English canons, is +of opinion that Cloveshoo, where the famous provincial council was +held A.D. 803, is identical with Abingdon, and that the town lost its +ancient name simply owing to the growing notoriety of the famous +abbey; for "no one," says he, "can doubt that the name Abingdon was +taken from the abbey." The first memorial, he adds, in which he finds +the name Abingdon, is in the Chronicle wherein the burial of Bishop +Sidesman, A.D. 977, in St. Mary's Minster, "which is at Abingdon," is +mentioned, who was honourably buried on the north side of that fane in +St. Paul's Chapel. + +On the other hand, some learned antiquarians have maintained the +opposite opinion, that the name Abingdon existed even prior to the +foundation of the monastery; thus the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, in his +edition of the "Chronicle of the Abbey of Abingdon," says--"Abingdon +derives its name, not, as might at first sight be supposed, from the +abbey there founded--Abbey dune or Abbots dune: philology forbids it. +The place was so called from Abba, one of the early colonists of +Berkshire." + +xi Bishops of Dorchester. + +There appears to have been much uncertainty concerning the succession +of the bishops of this important see, owing, perhaps, to the confusion +caused by its having been the seat of two totally distinct +jurisdictions--the one over Wessex, the other over great part of +Mercia. + +The names of the bishops in the narrative are taken from a list kindly +furnished by the Rev. W. Macfarlane, the present vicar of the Abbey +Church, whose indefatigable efforts have restored to the ancient fane +much of the glory of its ancient days. + +According to this list, Ednoth was bishop from 1006 to 1016, when he +was slain by the Danes as recorded in the text; and Ethelm succeeding, +ruled the see till A.D. 1034, through the comparatively happy days of +Canute. + +xii End of the Campaign of 1006. + +The following extract from the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" gives the +further history of the campaign very concisely: + +"Then went the Danes to Wallingford, and that all burned, and were +then one day in Cholsey: and they went then along Ashdown to +Cuckamsley hill, and there abode, as a daring boast; for it had been +often said, if they should reach Cuckamsley hill, that they would +never again get to the sea: then they went homewards another way. Then +were forces assembled at Kennet, and they there joined battle: and +they soon put that band to flight, and afterwards brought their booty +to the sea. But there might the Winchester men see an army daring and +fearless, as they went by their gates towards the sea, and fetched +themselves food and treasures over fifty miles from thence. Then had +the king gone over Thames into Shropshire, and there took up his abode +during the midwinter's tide. Then became the dread of the army so +great, that no man could think or discover how they could be driven +out of the land, or this land maintained against them; for they had +every shire in Wessex sadly marked by burning and by plundering. Then +the king began earnestly with the witan to consider what might seem +most advisable to them all, so that this land might be saved, before +it was utterly destroyed. Then the king and his witan decreed, for the +behoof of the whole nation, though it was hateful to them all, that +they needs must pay tribute to the Danish army. Then the king sent to +the army, and directed it to be made known to them that he would that +there should be a truce between them, and that tribute should be paid, +and food given them. And then all that they accepted, and then were +they victualled from throughout the English nation."--Anglo-Saxon +Chronicle, Bohn's Edition. + +xiii This is copied almost verbatim from the Anglo-Saxon +Chronicle. + +xiv The account is taken almost verbatim from Florence of +Worcester. + +xv Children of Ethelred. + +By his two wives--(1) Aelfleda--(2) Emma, Ethelred had fourteen +children, of whom only four or five have been mentioned in this +narrative, or are of importance to the student--Edmund Ironside and +his brother Edwy (chapter 25), by Aelfleda, and Alfred and Edward by +Emma--the last well known in history as Edward the Confessor, and +introduced in Chapter XIX. of this tale. The following genealogical +table from Edgar to the children of Edmund may be of use. It will be +remembered that the lineage of the present royal house passes through +the last-named son of Edmund Ironside to Egbert: + +Edgar + * Edward the Martyr, d. 979. + * Ethelred the Unready, d. 1016. + + Edmund Ironside, 1016. + o Edmund. + o Edward, who became the great-grandfather of Henry the + Second. + + Edwy. + + Elgitha. + + Alfred, 1036. + + Edward the Confessor, 1066. + +xvi Sceorstan. + +Antiquarians differ much about the site of this famous battle. Sharp +thinks it was near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, and Thorpe, in his +notes to "Florence of Worcester," says--"May not Chimney be the spot, +a hamlet in Oxfordshire, in the parish of Bampton-in-the-Bush, near +the edge of Gloucestershire, the name of Chimney being merely a +translation, introduced after the Norman Conquest, of Sceorstan, which +may probably have owed its origin to a Saxon house or hall, +conspicuous for having a chimney when that luxury was of rare +occurrence?" Others say that Sceorstan was not in Anglo-Saxon "a +chimney," but "a graven stone," and make the site that of a boundary +stone, still separating the four counties of Oxford, Gloucester, +Worcester, and Warwick, near Chipping Norton. Bosworth says it is +Sherston in Wilts. + +xvii Single Combat between Edmund and Canute. + +The following account is from Roger of Wendover: + +"A few days after this lamentable battle (Assingdun), in which so many +nobles fell, King Edmund pursued Canute, who was now committing +ravages in Gloucestershire. The said kings therefore came together to +fight at a place called Deerhurst, Edmund with his men being on the +west side of the river Severn, and Canute with his men on the east, +both preparing themselves manfully for battle. When both armies were +now on the point of engaging, the wicked Earl Edric called together +the chiefs and addressed them as follows: 'Nobles and warriors, why do +we foolishly so often hazard our lives in battle for our kings, when +not even our deaths secure to them the kingdom, or put an end to their +covetousness? My counsel then is, that they alone should fight who +alone are contending for the kingdom; for what must be the lust of +dominion, when England, which formerly sufficed for eight kings, is +not now enough for two? Let them, therefore, either come to terms, or +fight alone for the kingdom.' This speech pleased them all; and the +determination of the chiefs being communicated to the kings, received +their approbation. There is a small island called Olney, in the mouth +of that river. Thither the kings, clad in splendid armour, crossed +over, and commenced a single combat in the presence of the people. +Parrying the thrust of the spear as well by their own skill as by the +interposition of their strong shields, they fought long and fiercely +hand to hand, his valour protecting Edmund, and his good fortune +Canute. The swords rung on their helmets, and sparks of fire flew from +their collision. The stout heart of Edmund was kindled by the act of +fighting, and as his blood grew warm his strength augmented; he raised +his right hand, brandished his sword, and redoubled his blows on the +head of his antagonist with such vehemence, that he seemed rather to +fulminate than to strike. Feeling his strength failing him, and unable +long to endure such an onset, Canute meditated peace; but as he was +crafty, and afraid lest if the youth perceived his weakness he would +not listen to his words of peace, drawing in all his breath he rushed +on Edmund with wonderful valour, and immediately drawing back a +little, he asked him to pause awhile and give him audience. The latter +was of a courteous soul, and, resting his shield on the ground, he +listened to the words of Canute, who thus proceeded: 'Hitherto I have +coveted thy kingdom, bravest of men; but now I prefer thyself not only +to the kingdom of England, but to all the world. Denmark serves me, +Norway yields me subjection, the King of Sweden has shaken hands with +me; so that, although Fortune promises me victory everywhere, yet thy +wonderful manliness hath so won my favour, that I long beyond measure +to have thee as friend and partner of my kingdom. I would that thou in +like manner wert desirous of me; that I might reign with thee in +England, and thou walk me in Denmark.' Why should I add more? King +Edmund most graciously assented and yielded to his words, though he +could not be forced by arms. The kingdom was therefore, by Edmund's +direction, divided between the two, the crown of the whole kingdom +reverting to King Edmund. The whole of England, therefore, to the +south of the river Thames, was ceded to him, with Essex and East +Anglia, and the city of London, the capital of the kingdom, Canute +retaining the northern parts of the kingdom. Laying aside, therefore, +their splendid armour, the kings embraced each other amidst the +rejoicings of both the armies. They then exchanged their garments and +arms in token of peace, and Edmund became Canute, and Canute +Edmund."--Roger of Wendover, Bohn's Edition. + +xviii The Death of Edmund. + +This lamentable occurrence is involved in much mystery. Edric Streorn +was generally credited with the deed, although some writers, e.g. +William of Malmesbury, think he used the aid of attendants on the +king, whom he bribed. The Chronicle is silent as to details. Henry of +Huntingdon ascribes the deed to a son of Edric. Roger of Wendover +agrees with him, adding the facts that the place was Oxford, and the +time St. Andrew's night, as in the text. Amidst these conflicting +statements fiction perhaps most legitimately takes its place. + +xix The Ordeal. + +This ancient custom was observed by Simplicius, Bishop of Autun, so +early as the fourth century, and was very generally in use during the +period of our tale. Although never formally recognised by the Church +of Rome, and forbidden by many edicts on the Continent, it was +administered in England under the direction of the clergy, and its +details prescribed by the canons during a period extending from the +laws of Alfred to the directions given in the ecclesiastical laws of +Edward the Confessor, the year before the Norman Conquest, A.D. 1065. +The first prohibition of its use in England is in the third year of +Henry the Third. + +There were three principal modes of its administration. In the first, +the ordeal by water, the accused had to take a heavy piece of iron +from a boiling cauldron placed in the church--in the second, to carry +a bar of heated iron nine feet. The hand or arm was bound in linen, +the bandage sealed by the priest, and on the third day the limb was +uncovered. If the burn or scald had healed the prisoner was pronounced +innocent, otherwise he had to suffer the punishment due to his +offence. + +The details given in the text are chiefly taken from the Canons of +Athelstane; but the mode of purgation therein described is similar to +that by which it is said Queen Emma repelled an accusation made by +Robert, Bishop of London, in the year 1046. This mode of +administration was perhaps more frequently used when a prompt appeal +was needed to the judgment of God, or in the case of persons of rank, +were they ever, as was seldom the case, compelled to appeal to its +decision. + +xx It was a subject of complaint against Canute in Denmark that he +gave away most of the bishoprics to Englishmen. + +xxi Character of Canute. + +The great change in Canute's character after his accession to the +throne has been noticed by all writers. Each year he seemed to grow in +self-command and in the practice of virtue, while all men were edified +by his strict attention to his religions duties. Later in life he made +a pilgrimage to Rome, and a letter written thence gives a good idea of +his general affection for his people. It is addressed to the +archbishops and bishops and great men, and to all the English people, +and is written in the familiar style a father might use to his +children, especially telling them all he had seen at Rome, and about +the way in which he spent Easter with Pope John and the Emperor, whom +he persuaded to abolish certain dues exacted from English pilgrims. In +the last portion of the letter he tells them how he has made up his +mind to amend his life in every way, and to atone for all the wrongs +committed in the violence of youth. He forbids any person to use +violence or to make the royal needs an excuse for wrongdoing, saying, +"I have no need of money gathered by unrighteousness." He concludes by +saying that he is sure they will all be glad to hear how he has fared, +and that they know he has not spared himself any trouble, and never +will, to do all that lies in his power for the good of his people. + +There is something in the whole tone of the letter which warms one's +heart towards the writer, and one cannot help contrasting the reigns +of the two conquerors, Canute and William: the first, beginning with +violence and bloodshed, grew daily in justice, mercy, and the love of +God, and so passed lamented to his grave; the latter, promising at +first to govern justly, grew worse and worse in oppressive cruelty and +all sorts of wrongdoing, until the sad and hopeless death scene in the +abbey of St. Gervase. But the delineation of the latter period must be +reserved, all being well, for the "Third Chronicle of Aescendune." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Alfgar the Dane or the Second +Chronicle of Aescendune, by A. D. Crake + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13305 *** diff --git a/13305-h/13305-h.htm b/13305-h/13305-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c42b7af --- /dev/null +++ b/13305-h/13305-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7861 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Cygwin (vers 1st September 2003), see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>ALFGAR THE DANE OR THE SECOND CHRONICLE OF +AESCENDUNE</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + li.c1 {list-style: none} +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13305 ***</div> + +<p>ALFGAR THE DANE OR THE SECOND CHRONICLE OF AESCENDUNE:</p> +<p>A Tale of the Days of Edmund Ironside</p> +<p>by the Rev. A. D. Crake.</p> +<h3><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE</a>.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a>. THE DIARY OF FATHER +CUTHBERT.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a>. "ALFGAR, SON OF +ANLAF."</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a>. THE NIGHT OF ST. +BRICE.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a>. THE DANES IN WESSEX.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a>. THE TRACKS IN THE +FOREST.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a>. THROUGH SUFFERING TO +GLORY.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a>. FATHER AND SON.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a>. THE CAMP OF THE +DANES.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a>. CARISBROOKE IN THE ELEVENTH +CENTURY.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a>. THE GLEEMAN.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a>. THE MONASTERY OF +ABINGDON.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a>. THE CITY OF +DORCHESTER.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a>. THE SON AND THE +FAVOURITE.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY +AT CLIFFTON.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a>. THE FEAST OF +CHRISTMAS.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a>. FOR HEARTH AND +HOME.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a>. THE ROYAL +DEATHBED.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a>. THE MIDNIGHT FLIGHT.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a>. EDMUND AND CANUTE.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a>. SMOOTHER THAN +OIL.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a>. WHO HATH DONE THIS +DEED?</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</a>. THE ORDEAL.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h3> +<h2><a name="PREFACE">PREFACE</a>.</h2> +<p>The tale now presented to the indulgence of the public is the +second of a series of tales, each complete in itself, which, as +stated in the preface to the first of the series, have been told to +the senior boys of a large school, in order to secure their +interest in historical characters, and to illustrate great epochs +in human affairs by the aid of fiction.</p> +<p>Yet the Author has distinctly felt that fiction must always, in +such cases, be subordinate to truth, and that it is only +legitimately used as a vehicle of instruction when it fills up the +gaps in the outline, without contradicting them in any respect, or +interfering with their due order and sequence.</p> +<p>Therefore he has attempted in every instance to consult such +original authorities as lay within his reach, and has done his best +to present an honest picture of the times.</p> +<p>The period selected on the present occasion is full of the +deepest interest. The English and the Danish invaders of their soil +were struggling desperately for the possession of England--a +struggle aggravated by religious bitterness, and by the sanguinary +nature of the Danish creed.</p> +<p>The reign of Ethelred the Unready, from his accession, after the +murder of his innocent brother, until the scene depicted in the +nineteenth chapter of the tale, was a tragedy ever deepening. Its +details will seem dark enough as read herein, but how utterly dark +they were can only be appreciated by those who study the +contemporary annals. Many facts therein given have been rejected by +the Author as too harrowing in their nature; and he has preferred +to render the contemplation of woe and suffering less painful, by a +display of those virtues of patience, resignation, and brave +submission to the Divine will, which affliction never fails to +bring out in the fold of Christ, whose promise stands ever fast, +that the strength of His people shall be equal to their needs.</p> +<p>With the death of the unhappy king, and the accession of his +brave but unfortunate son, the whole character of the history +changes. Englishmen are henceforth at least a match for their +oppressors, and the result of the long contest is the conversion of +their foes to Christianity, their king setting the example, and the +union of the two races--not the submission of one to the other. +The Danish element had been received into the English nation to +join in moulding the future national character--to add its own +special virtues to the typical Englishman of the future.</p> +<p>One more rude shock had yet to be sustained before the alloy of +foreign blood was complete--the Norman Conquest. This is the +subject of the Third Story of Aescendune, which has yet to be +written.</p> +<p>One character in the tale has always puzzled historians--a +character, so far as the author knows, absolutely without redeeming +trait--Edric Streorn. It is well said that no man is utterly bad, +and perhaps he possessed domestic virtues which were thought +unworthy of the attention of the chroniclers; but as they picture +him--now prompting Ethelred to deeds of treachery against the +Danes, now joining those Danes themselves, and surpassing them in +cruelty--now seeking pretended reconciliation, only to betray his +foe more surely, and in all this aided and supported by the weak, +unprincipled king--as thus pictured there is scarcely a blacker +character in history.</p> +<p>But more incomprehensible than the existence of so bad a man in +such a dark age is the renewed confidence ever accorded him, when, +after more than once betraying the armies of his country into the +hands of their foes, and fighting openly in the hostile cause, he +is again forgiven, nay, received into favour, and sent once more to +command the men he has already deceived, until he repeats the +experiment, and when it fails is again admitted into +confidence.</p> +<p>To some extent the Author has endeavoured to find possible +solutions of the mystery, but mystery it will remain until the day +when all secrets are known.</p> +<p>The death of this unhappy man is taken, in all its main details, +from a comparison of the chroniclers, as are also all the chief +historical events herein noted.</p> +<p>An objection has been raised to the modern English in which the +Author has made his characters speak. He can only say in reply that +the Anglo-Saxon in which they really expressed themselves would be +unintelligible to all but the few who have made the study of our +ancient tongue their pursuit--far more unintelligible to those of +ordinary education than Latin or French. Therefore it would be mere +affectation to copy the later orthography of Chaucer, or to +interlard one's sentences with obsolete words. The only course +seems to be a fair translation of the vernacular of the period of +the tale into our own everyday English. The Author anticipated this +objection in the preface to his earlier volume. He repeats his +answer for those who may not have seen the former book. A similar +rule has guided him in the orthography of proper names; he has used +the customary Latinised forms.</p> +<p>In his descriptions of Dorchester and Abingdon he has been aided +by the kind information received from the present vicar of the +magnificent Abbey Church, still existing in the former ancient +town, and by the extensive information contained in the Chronicle +of the Abbey of Abingdon, edited by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, M.A. +He has also to express his obligations to his friend Mr. Charles +Walker, editor of the "<i>Liturgy of the Church of Sarum</i>," for +valuable assistance in monastic lore.</p> +<p>The moral aim of the tale has been to depict the mental +difficulties which our heathen forefathers had severally to +encounter ere they could embrace Christianity--difficulties +chiefly arising from the inconsistencies of Christians--and to +set forth the example of one who, having found the "pearl of great +price," sold all he had and bought it, forsaking all that could +appeal to the imagination of a warlike youth--"choosing rather to +suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the +pleasures of sin for a season."</p> +<p>Yet his Christianity, like that of all other characters in the +tale, is that of their age, not of ours, and men will differ as to +its comparative merits. "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him +shall much be required."</p> +<p>The author dedicates this tale to his brother, engaged, like +himself, in that most responsible task, the education of youth, in +memory of those happy days when they pored together in rapturous +delight over old legend or romantic lore in their father's home at +that very Clifton (now Clifton Hampden) familiar to hearers or +readers of the tale as the home of Herstan, and the scene of the +heroic defence of the English dwelling against the Danes. It will +be a great reward for the Author's toil should this little volume +similarly gladden many firesides during the approaching Christmas, +and perhaps cause some to thank God for the contrast between the +Christmas of 1007 and that of 1874.</p> +<p>A.D.C.</p> +<p>All Saints' School, Bloxham.</p> +<p>Advent, 1874.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a>. THE DIARY OF FATHER +CUTHBERT.</h2> +<p>All Saints' Day, 1002.</p> +<p>Inasmuch as I, Cuthbert, by the long-suffering of the Divine +goodness, am prior of the Benedictine house of St. Wilfrid at +Aescendune, it seems in some sort my duty, following the example of +many worthy brethren, to write some account of the origin and +history of the priory over which it has pleased God to make me +overseer, and to note, as occasion serves from time to time, such +passing events as seem worthy of remembrance; which record, +deposited in the archives of the house, may preserve our memory +when our bodies are but dust, and other brethren fill our places in +the choir. Perhaps each generation thinks the events which happen +in its own day more remarkable than any which have preceded, and +that its own period is the crisis of the fate of Church or State. +Yet surely no records of the past, extant, tell us of such dark +threatening clouds as hang over the realm of England at this time; +when the thousandth year since our blessed Lord's nativity having +passed, we seem to be entering on those awful plagues which the +Apocalypse tells us must precede the consummation of all +things.</p> +<p>But we who trust in the Lord have a strong tower wherein to +hide, and we know of a land where there is no darkness or shadow of +death; therefore we will not fear though the earth be moved, and +the hills be carried into the midst of the sea.</p> +<p>This house of St. Wilfrid was founded by Offa, Thane of +Aescendune, in the year of the Lord 938, and completed by his son +and successor Ella, who was treacherously murdered by his nephew +Ragnar, and lies buried within these sacred walls. The first prior +was Father Cuthbert, my godfather, after whom I was named. He was +appointed by Dunstan, just then on the point of leaving England to +escape the rage of the wicked and unhappy Edwy, and continued to +exercise the authority until the year 975, the year in which our +lamented king, Edgar the Magnanimous, departed to his heavenly +rest, with whose decease peace and prosperity seemed likewise to +depart.</p> +<p>Father Godric succeeded him, under whose paternal rule we +enjoyed peace for ten years. Truly the memory of the just is +blessed. He died in 985, and then was I chosen by the votes of the +chapter to be their prior, and my election was confirmed by the +holy Dunstan, who himself admitted me to mine office.</p> +<p>And truly the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places, dark +although--as I have said--the times are. The priory lies on the +banks of the glorious Avon, where the forests come nearly down to +its banks. Above us rises a noble hill, crowned with the oak and +the beech, beneath whose shade many a deer and boar repose, and +their flesh, when brought thither to gladden our festivals, is +indeed toothsome and savoury.</p> +<p>Our buildings are chiefly of wood, although the foundations are +of stone. The great hall is floored and lined with oak, while the +chapel--the Priory Church the people call it--excels for +limning and gilding, as well as for the beauty of its tapestry, any +church in this part of Mercia. Our richest altar cloth is made of +the purple robe which King Edgar wore at his consecration, and +which he sent to the thane Alfred of Aescendune for the Priory +Church as a token of the respect and favour he bore him. And also +he gave a veil of gold embroidery which representeth the +destruction of Troy. It is hung upon great days over the dais at +the high table of the hall.</p> +<p>The monastery is well endowed with lands by the liberality of +its first founder, as appears in the deeds preserved in our great +muniment chest. We have ten hides of woodland, wherein none may cut +wood save for our use in the winter; five hides of arable land, and +the same extent of pasturage for cattle. Now for the care of the +culture thereof we have a hundred serfs attached to the glebe, who, +we trust, do not find us unkind lords.</p> +<p>There are twenty brethren who have taken the final vows +according to the rule of St. Benedict, and ten novices, besides six +lay brethren, and other our chief servitors. We keep the monastic +hours, duly rising at daybreak to sing our lauds, and lying down +after compline, with the peace and blessing of Him who alone maketh +us dwell in safety.</p> +<p>Our daily work is not light. We preach on Sundays and festivals +in the priory church. We visit the sick. We instruct the youth in +the elements of Christian doctrine. We superintend the labours of +those who till the soil. We copy the sacred writings. In short, we +have a great deal to do, and I fear do it very imperfectly +sometimes.</p> +<p>I will add a few words only about myself. I am the third son of +Alfred<a name="EndNote1anc" href="#EndNote1sym"><sup> {i}</sup></a>, +thane of Aescendune, and his wife the Lady Alftrude of Rollrich. +Elfric, my eldest brother, died young. Elfwyn is now thane, and I, +the third boy, was given to the Church, for which I had ever felt a +vocation, perhaps from my love to my godfather. We only had one +sister, Bertha, and she has married the Thane Herstan of Clifton, +near Dorchester, the seat of our good bishop Aelfhelm, and the +shrine of holy Birinus.</p> +<p>My father and mother both sleep the sleep of the just. They +lived to see their children happy and prosperous, and then departed +amidst the lamentations of all who had known and loved them. Taken +from the evil to come, we cannot mourn them, nor would we call them +back, although we sorely missed their loved forms. They were full +of years, yet age had not dimmed their faculties. My father died in +the year 998, my mother the following year. They rest by the side +of their ancestors in the priory church.</p> +<p>My brother Elfwyn married Hilda, the daughter of Ceolfric, a +Thane of Wessex, in the year 985. He has two children--Bertric, a +fine lad of twelve, and as good as he is manly; and Ethelgiva, a +merry girl of ten. His household is well-ordered and happy-- +nurtured in the admonition of the Lord.</p> +<p>For myself I have had many offers of promotion in the +brotherhood of St. Benedict, but have refused them. I was once +offered the high office of abbot in one of our great Benedictine +houses, but I wished to be near my own people and my father's +house, and here I trust I shall stay till I seek a continuing city, +whose builder and maker is God.</p> +<p>And now a little about the state of the country round us. In +this neighbourhood we have as yet been preserved from the evils of +war, but for many years past the Danes, those evil men, have +renewed their inroads, as they used to make them before the great +King Alfred pacified the country. They began again in the year 980, +and, with but slight intermission, have continued year by year.</p> +<p>The awful prophecy which God forced from the lips of +Dunstan<a name="EndNote2anc" href="#EndNote2sym"><sup> {ii}</sup></a>, +at the coronation of our most unhappy king, has been too sadly +fulfilled. Ah me! I fear the curse of the saints is upon him. When +the holy bishop departed this life, I was one of the few who stood +round his bed, and as he foretold of the evil to come, he bade us +all bear our portion manfully, for the time, he said, would be +short in which to endure, and the eternal crown secure.</p> +<p>Many of those to whom he spoke have since died the martyr's or +the patriot's death, but as yet no evil has reached us at +Aescendune, although many parts of Wessex, nay, all the sea coast +and the banks of the great rivers have been wasted with fire and +sword, and the money which has been given the barbarians has been +worse than wasted, for they only come for more.</p> +<p>Our armies seem led by traitors; our councils, sad to say, by +fools. Nothing prospers, and thoughtless people say the saints are +asleep. Every day we say the petition in our Litany, "That it would +please Thee to abate the cruelty of our pagan enemies, and to turn +their hearts; we beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord," and we must +wait His time, and pray for strength to submit to His will.</p> +<p>Around the priory live the serfs, the theows, and ceorls of the +estate, each in his own little cottage, save the domestics, who +live at the Hall, which is only half-a-mile distant.</p> +<p>On Sundays and Saints' days they all assemble in our minster +church. It was full this day at the high mass, and I preached them +a homily upon the Saints, great part of which I took from a sermon +I once heard the holy Dunstan preach. And he showed us how saints +did not live idle lives on this earth, but always went about, like +their Lord and Master, doing good, and that through much +tribulation they entered the eternal kingdom, which also bids fair +to be our lot nowadays, although we be all miserable sinners, and +not saints.</p> +<p>Ah! how I thought of the dear ones we have lost when the Gospel +was read at mass, about the great multitude which no man could +number, and I almost seemed as if I could see father, mother, and +Elfric there. I would not wish them back; yet my heart is very +lonely sometimes. I wonder whether they remember now that it is All +Saints' Day, and that we are thinking of them. Yes, I am sure they +must do so.</p> +<p>There have been few troubles from the Danes, close at hand; so +few that they seem trivial in comparison with those our countrymen +suffer elsewhere. Still we have many of the pagans living as +settlers in our neighbourhood, whose presence is tolerated for fear +of the reprisals which might follow any acts of hostility against +them. Kill one Dane, the people say, and a hundred come to his +funeral. Many of these settlers have acquired their lands +peaceably, but others by the strong arms of their ancestors in +periods of ancient strife; and these have been allowed to keep +their possessions for generations, so that if they did not retain +their heathen customs we might forget they were not Englishmen.</p> +<p>One of these lives near us. His name is Anlaf. Some say he +boasts of being a descendant of that Anlaf who once ravaged +England, and was defeated at Brunanburgh. He married an English +girl, whose heart, they say, he broke by his cruelty. They had one +child, Alfgar by name.</p> +<p>The mother died a Christian. Taking my life in my hands, I +penetrated their fortalice, and administered the last sacrament to +her; but they threatened my life for entering their domains, and, +perhaps, had I been but a simple priest, and not also, small boast +as it is, the son of a powerful English thane, whom they feared to +offend, I had died in doing my duty. When the poor girl was dying +she committed the boy as well as she could to my care, begging me +to see that he was baptized; but the father has prevented me from +carrying out her wishes, asserting that he would sooner slay the +lad.</p> +<p>But it seems as if the boy retained some traces of his mother's +faith; over and over again I have seen him hiding in some remote +corner of the church during service time, but he has always shrunk +away when any of the brethren attempted to speak to him.</p> +<p>I am sure he wishes to be a Christian.</p> +<p>I may, perhaps, find a chance of speaking to him, and a few +words may reach his heart. He knows my brother's family, and has +once or twice joined them in expeditions in the woods, and even +entered their gates. His must be a lonely life at home; there are +no other children, but from time to time hoary warriors, upon whose +souls lies, I fear, the guilt of much innocent blood, find a home +there.</p> +<p>November 2d.--</p> +<p>This morning we said the office and mass for the dead, as usual +on All Souls' Day. My brother Elfwyn and his children were, of +course, present. That boy, Bertric, with all his boyish spirit and +brightness, is very pious. It was a sight which I thought might +gladden their guardian angels to see him and his sister kneeling +with clasped hands at their uncle Elfric's tomb, and when service +was over, they made me tell them the old old story about the first +Elfric, the brother of my father, and how my father rescued him +when the old castle was burnt<a name="EndNote3anc" href= +"#EndNote3sym"><sup> {iii}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>When I had told them the story, I saw my brother was anxious to +say a few words to me.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert," he said, "have you seen the young Dane, Alfgar, +lately?"</p> +<p>"Not very long since," I replied; "he was at mass +yesterday."</p> +<p>"Because I believe the lad longs to be a Christian, but does not +dare speak to any one."</p> +<p>"He fears his stern father."</p> +<p>"Yes, Anlaf might slay him if he was to be baptized; yet +baptized I am sure he will be, sooner or later."</p> +<p>"Does the boy love his father, I wonder?" said I, musingly.</p> +<p>"Doubtless; it would be unnatural did he not; but perhaps he +loves the memory of his mother yet more. We both knew her, +Cuthbert."</p> +<p>"Yes, when she was a bright-hearted merry village maiden. Poor +Kyneswith!"</p> +<p>"For her sake, then, let us both try to do something for the +boy."</p> +<p>"With all my heart. I will seek an opportunity of speaking to +him, perhaps he may unburden his mind."</p> +<p>"Have you seen Edric the sheriff?" asked Elfwyn.</p> +<p>"Not lately. Has he been here?"</p> +<p>"He has, and there was something in connection with his visit +which troubled me. He had been telling me for a long time about the +cruelties and insolence of the Danes, when he added, in a marked +manner, that they might go too far, for hundreds of their +countrymen, like Anlaf here, were living unprotected amongst +us."</p> +<p>"What could he mean?"</p> +<p>"I understood him to hint that we might revenge ourselves upon +them, and replied that whatever their countrymen might be guilty +of, our neighbours would, of course, always be safe amongst +Christians."</p> +<p>"What did he reply?"</p> +<p>"He changed the subject."</p> +<p>Elfwyn said no more, but bade me goodbye and returned to the +castle; still I saw that he was a little discomposed by the +sheriff's words. I don't like that sheriff; he is a cruel and a +crafty man; but I daresay his words were only the expression of a +passing thought.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a>. "ALFGAR, SON OF +ANLAF."</h2> +<p>SUNDAY, November 6th.--</p> +<p>Today I noticed Alfgar, the son of Anlaf, at the high mass, and +felt a little discomposed at the relaxation of discipline, which, +contrary to the canons of the church, permits the unbaptized, as +well as persons who ought rightly to be deemed excommunicate, or at +least penitents, to be present at the holy mysteries.</p> +<p>But it is not this poor boy's fault that he is not a Christian, +for I have seen him, and learned for a certainty the real state of +his mind.</p> +<p>The way in which it came about was this. I marked that after +service he entered the woods, as if he shunned the society of his +fellow worshippers, and there I followed him, coming upon him at +last, as if by accident, in a chestnut glade, the leaves of which +strewed the ground--emblem of our fading mortality.</p> +<p>He started as he saw me, and at first looked as if he were +inclined to fly my presence, but I gently addressed him.</p> +<p>"Dominus vobiscum, my son," I said. "I am pleased to see you +sometimes at the minster church."</p> +<p>"I did not know I was noticed amongst so many," he replied.</p> +<p>"You mean, my boy, that you would sooner your presence were not +observed. I can guess your reason too well."</p> +<p>He looked so sad, that I was sorry I had spoken precipitately, +and a deep red blush suffused his dark countenance. He has a most +attractive face--so thoughtful, yet so manly; his mother's gentle +lineaments seem to have tempered the somewhat fierce and haughty +bearing of his sire, as they meet in the countenance of their +child.</p> +<p>My sympathy became so deep that I could not restrain myself and +spoke out:</p> +<p>"My boy, will you not confide your troubles to me, for your dear +mother's sake? Do you not remember how she commended you to my +care? And never have I forgotten to pray daily that her God may be +your God also."</p> +<p>At the mention of his mother the tears filled his eyes. We were +sitting together on the trunk of a fallen tree, and he covered his +face with his hands, but I could see that the tears forced their +way between the fingers, and that he was sobbing violently. He is +only as yet a mere boy, and such emotion is excusable.</p> +<p>At last he looked up.</p> +<p>"I long to be a Christian like her," he said; "over and over +again she taught me, during her last days on earth, of the Christ +she loved, and who, she said, was ever near her. I have heard all +about the faith she loved, yet I am an outcast from it. What can I +do?--my father will not let me be baptized, and I dare not oppose +his will; yet I sometimes think I ought to chance all, and to die, +if death should be the penalty."</p> +<p>"Die? You do not surely think he would slay you?"</p> +<p>"I know he would."</p> +<p>"In that case, my child, your duty seems plain: your Lord calls +you to give Him your love, your obedience, and to seek refuge in +the fold of His church."</p> +<p>"Ought I to leave my father?"</p> +<p>I felt very much puzzled indeed what to say. I could have no +doubt as to the lad's duty; but then his father was his natural +guardian, and in all things, save the plain duty of professing +Christ, had a claim to his obedience.</p> +<p>"I think," I said at last, "my Alfgar, that when he knew you +were determined to be a Christian he would oppose you no longer; +that is, if you were once baptized he would tolerate a Christian +son as he once did a Christian wife."</p> +<p>"He broke her heart."</p> +<p>"At all events I think that you should delay no longer, but +should seek instruction and baptism, which we will afford you; and +then, unless you really feel life is in danger, you should return +to him and try to bear your lot; it may not be so hard as you +think."</p> +<p>"I am not afraid of death; but he is my father, and from his +hands it would be hard."</p> +<p>"He hates Christianity grievously then?"</p> +<p>"He says it is the religion of cowards and hypocrites; that it +forms a plea for cowardice when men dare not be men, and is thrown +aside fast enough when they have their foes in their power."</p> +<p>Alas! I could but feel how much reason the ill lives of +Christians had given him to form this opinion, and of the curse +pronounced upon those who shall put a stumbling block in their +brother's way. The conversation of the Sheriff, Edric Streorn, rose +up in my mind as an apt illustration of Anlaf's words.</p> +<p>"My boy," I said, "there is nothing perfect on earth. In the +visible church the evil is mingled with the good. Yet the church is +the fold of the Good Shepherd, and there is salvation therein for +all who love and serve their Lord, and strive humbly to follow His +example, and those of His blessed Saints."</p> +<p>"May I think over all you have said, and meet you next Sunday? +You will be here, will you not?"</p> +<p>And he looked imploringly in my face. Poor boy! my heart bled +for him.</p> +<p>So we parted, and he went home.</p> +<p>Friday, November 11th.--</p> +<p>I feel thoroughly uneasy and anxious about the sheriff's +proceedings. He has been about the neighbourhood today, and seems +to have been talking secretly with all the black sheep of my flock; +thank God, I do not think there are many. What they can be going to +do, or what plot they are hatching, I cannot discover, only I fear +that it is some design for vengeance upon the Danes--some dark +treachery plotted against those in our midst; and, if such is the +case, I can but feel uneasy for poor Alfgar. I wish the lad would +leave his home, if but for a short time, until the signs are less +threatening; but he would not forsake his father in danger, and I +ought hardly to wish it.</p> +<p>St. Brice's Day, Sunday, November 13th--</p> +<p>This has been a harassing and eventful day. Early in the +morning, before the high mass, whereat the neighbourhood is +generally present, I received a missive from the sheriff, bidding +me, in the name of the King, to exhort my people to remain at home +tonight, since danger is afoot, and there is likely, he says, to be +a rising on the part of the pagans who dwell amongst us. Why, they +are but one in five in this neighbourhood; hardly that. I +determined to give the message in my own way, for I could not keep +silent, lest, through fault of mine, any of my sheep should perish. +So I preached upon the Saint of the day, who was pre-eminently a +man of peace, and I took occasion to tell my people that there were +many hurtful men about, who, like their master, Satan, were seeking +whom they might devour, and that, like that master, they chose the +night for their misdeeds, seeing they loved darkness rather than +light. So I said I hoped every good Christian would keep at home, +and go to bed early.</p> +<p>At this point I observed a sarcastic smile upon many faces, +notably on those of the black sheep aforesaid, to whom the sheriff +had spoken, and I concluded that they were very likely to be the +ministers of darkness themselves. So I spoke on the Christian +duties of love and forgiveness, and exhorted all present to take +joyfully the chastisement of the Lord, even like holy Job; and that +it would all tend to their eternal good, through Him who, when He +was reviled, reviled not again. And so with this exhortation to +patience I closed my homily. I fear I spoke to many in vain.</p> +<p>I am sure they are bent on immediate mischief, and that this +notice of the sheriff has much to do with it. He wants to keep good +people at home to have all the field to himself. I see him--the +black bellwether.</p> +<p>After mass I mingled with the dispersing congregation. The +weather was very gloomy--the faces of the congregation yet more +so. All seemed to apprehend coming evil. Instead of returning +cheerfully home they stood together in groups, talking in low +tones, as if they feared to speak their thoughts aloud.</p> +<p>Most of them evidently were men of peace, but not all, as I have +already hinted; and, as I drew near a group standing behind the +great yew tree, I heard one of these latter discoursing to his +fellows.</p> +<p>"Heard you the prior's sermon?" said Siric, for that was the +fellow, Siric of the Wold; "a fine homily he gave us on St. Brice +--that man of peace."</p> +<p>"It was easy for him to be a man of peace," returned another; +"he hadn't got Danes for his neighbours."</p> +<p>"Holy Job himself would have turned cutthroat if he had."</p> +<p>"Then they have been insulting, robbing, and murdering all over +the country."</p> +<p>Just then I interrupted them, for I could no longer hear the +blasphemy.</p> +<p>"How now, Siric," said I; "hast thou come to Aescendune to +revile the saints?"</p> +<p>"Nay, Father," said he, with a mocking smile; "I was only +rejoicing that they were not exposed to such trials as we. Job's +Chaldeans were gentlefolk in comparison with our Danes."</p> +<p>"Thou blasphemest; and what didst thou say of the blessed St. +Brice?"</p> +<p>"Only that I wished he were living now to tame the cutthroats +who live in our midst, and who murder and rob daily, just in mere +sport, or to keep their hands in."</p> +<p>"What new outrages have occurred?" I asked.</p> +<p>"A party of the heathen carried off the cattle from my farm down +the water early this morning, and slew the herdsman."</p> +<p>"Dost thou know who the fellows were?"</p> +<p>"All too well; they were Anlaf's men."</p> +<p>I hardly knew what to answer, the outrage was so recent, and the +excitement of the speaker so pardonable, as I could but feel.</p> +<p>Well, at this moment my brother Elfwyn came out of the church, +where he had lingered to pray, as he generally does, at his +brother's tomb, and, noticing us, came and joined the group. He +seemed much concerned when he heard the details.</p> +<p>"Siric," he said, with his usual kind way of speaking, "do not +distress yourself unduly; you know I am rich in flocks and herds. I +will make up the loss of the cattle, my brother the prior will have +a mass said for poor Guthred, and he shall have the last rites +performed at our expense; it is all we can do for him; the rest we +must leave to the mercy of God."</p> +<p>"Nay, Thane," said Siric; "I thank you for your goodwill, but I +may not stand thus indebted to any man. I will repay myself at the +expense of the robbers. Still you may remember Guthred at God's +altar."</p> +<p>And he strode away.</p> +<p>My brother was now joined by his children Bertric and Ethelgiva, +and his wife, the Lady Hilda. I saw that he was ill at ease, but we +did not mention the subject, which I am sure was uppermost in both +our minds, lest we should alarm the gentle ones.</p> +<p>Just then I remembered that I had promised to meet Alfgar in the +pine wood, and I hastened to the spot.</p> +<p>I found him seated again on the fallen tree. He rose at my +approach, and saluted me with some emotion, as if some inward +excitement made itself visible in spite of his efforts to suppress +it.</p> +<p>"My son," said I, "have you pondered my words of last +Sunday?"</p> +<p>"I have, and I am come to put myself under your instruction. I +will be guided by you in all things, and fulfil thus the dying wish +of the only being who ever loved me."</p> +<p>"But, my boy, there must be yet a higher, a holier motive."</p> +<p>"I trust it is not wanting, my father."</p> +<p>"Are you able to stay long today?"</p> +<p>"O yes, my father is keeping high festival; a number of his +countrymen are visiting him and holding revel; this morning they +drove in a number of oxen, I know not whence, and slaughtered two +on the spot, and they have broached several barrels of mead; they +will keep the feast all day, and before night my father will not be +in a state to miss me; I always absent myself if I can on such +occasions."</p> +<p>"Then you must come home with me, and share the noon meat, after +which I can give you my time until evensong."</p> +<p>He made no objection, and we returned to the Priory together, +where he took his noon meat in the guest chamber, and I devoted all +the time between the meal and nones to an examination of my +catechumen.</p> +<p>I found that poor Kyneswith had impressed all the primary truths +of our holy faith deeply upon his mind, although he wanted much +building up, and needed instruction in details; he seemed deeply +impressed by the main facts of the life and teaching of our blessed +Lord, particularly His message of peace on earth, good will towards +men, contrasting so forcibly with the faith of his own people.</p> +<p>The time passed rapidly away, and we went to the minster church +at three, when nones and evensong were said together, for we could +not keep the people till the proper hour for the latter office, +owing to the darkness of November.</p> +<p>When the holy office was over, I accompanied my brother part of +the way home, for I wanted to communicate my suspicions, and to +learn whether he shared them.</p> +<p>It was a dark and gloomy eventide: the sun, which had only made +its appearance at intervals during the day, was fast sinking behind +a heavy bank of clouds which filled the western horizon; and the +wind, which was freshening to a gale, seemed to bear the storm +onward in its track, while it tore the few surviving leaves rudely +from the trees, and whirled them in mazy windings.</p> +<p>"Elfwyn," said I, "what do you suppose was the true object of +the sheriff in bidding folks keep indoors tonight?"</p> +<p>"I cannot divine, unless he has some deed of blood on hand which +he wishes to have undisturbed, all to himself and his +underlings."</p> +<p>"Siric spoke mysteriously."</p> +<p>"Yes; if there is aught going on amiss, he has a hand in +it."</p> +<p>Here I communicated my fears respecting Alfgar, whom I had +invited, with my brother's permission, to sup at the hall.</p> +<p>"Could you not keep the poor fellow with you all night? I fear +his father is in some danger, as well he may be, acting as wickedly +as he did this very morn."</p> +<p>"I will try to persuade him to stay, he is along with Bertric +and Ethelgiva; they are only a few steps behind. Cuthbert, I have +ordered every one of my theows and ceorls to be obedient to your +warning if they wish to preserve their allegiance to Aescendune, or +to escape chastisement, and I think none of them are likely to be +abroad tonight."</p> +<p>"Can you not find out what the sheriff has told them? I saw him +speaking to one or two."</p> +<p>"I will try. You must be my guest tonight, or at least for a few +hours."</p> +<p>"Nay, I must return to compline; I may be wanted tonight, and +ought to be at my post," said I.</p> +<p>We arrived at the old home, dear familiar place! stronger and +better built than most such houses, because, being burnt down in my +father's younger days, it had been rebuilt in a more substantial +manner, and was capable of sustaining a formidable attack +successfully.</p> +<p>We crossed the drawbridge, and entered the courtyard under the +gateway; before us was the door of the great hall, merrily +illumined by its blazing fire.</p> +<p>There, then, was the supper table bountifully spread, and the +theows and ceorls awaiting the arrival of their lord. We entered, +Elfwyn and I, and soon after Bertric, Ethelgiva, and Alfgar +followed.</p> +<p>A loud horn was blown upon the battlements. Stragglers made +their entrance good; the drawbridge was drawn up, the doors closed, +and I blessed the meat.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a>. THE NIGHT OF ST. +BRICE.</h2> +<p>Monday, November 14th, 1002.--</p> +<p>I hardly know how to write the events of last night, my pen +almost refuses to begin. I feel thoroughly sickened by the very +remembrance of the bloodshed and treachery which have disgraced +Christian England, and which will assuredly bring down God's +judgment upon us.</p> +<p>But I will do violence to myself, and will write all things +accurately, in order it may serve to show that there were those +amongst us who were not consenting parties, who entered not into +the counsels of those men of blood, whom may God "reward after +their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their own +inventions."</p> +<p>Well, to begin. When supper was ended at the hall last night, my +brother bade his wife and children seek their bower, and Alfgar +went with them; then he addressed his people with that confidence +and affection he not only shows in his outward speech, but really +feels in his heart.</p> +<p>"Are all the folk present within the gates?" he asked.</p> +<p>"We are all here, my lord," replied they; "none have been +wanting in their duty."</p> +<p>"It is well; and now, my people, I ask you, whom I have ever +trusted, and to whom I have tried to be a friend as well as a +master, have you any of you a suspicion what the sheriff is about +tonight, and why he desired the prior to tell good Christians to +keep within doors?"</p> +<p>There was a dead silence. At last one of the ceorls rose up, and +spoke with some hesitation:</p> +<p>"I think, my lord, that they intend to avenge themselves upon +the Dane folk."</p> +<p>"Did they say anything about it to you or any other of my +people?"</p> +<p>"Yes; they tried to get two or three of us to join in the work, +but when they found we would do nothing without your knowledge, +they told us no more."</p> +<p>"Then you do not know what is the exact work they have in +hand?"</p> +<p>"No. But I heard something which made me think that plunder and +massacre were both likely to be committed."</p> +<p>"Did you hear any particular names mentioned?"</p> +<p>"Yes. That of Anlaf."</p> +<p>"This explains Siric's insolence, Cuthbert."</p> +<p>"It does," I replied.</p> +<p>"But surely they cannot intend to do anything tonight. They +would not choose Sunday for a deed of darkness. Men who have +attended mass during the day, surely would not so forget their God +as to go through the country like cowardly wolves, pulling down the +prey in company which they dare not attack singly."</p> +<p>"I should hope the same; but then the looks and words of today," +said I.</p> +<p>"Did they say what authority they had for their projected +scheme?"</p> +<p>"They dared to say," replied the ceorl who had before spoken, +"they had the sanction of the king."</p> +<p>There was again a painful silence. We groaned in the bitterness +of our hearts--O Ethelred, son of Edgar, hast thou forgotten all +truth and mercy?--thou, the son of Edgar the Magnanimous?</p> +<p>Every impulse of our hearts led us to detest the cruel deed of +treachery about to be consummated, but which we could not +prevent.</p> +<p>At least there was one whom we could save from the general +destruction, the young Alfgar, and we determined to detain him if +possible by persuasion, keeping the truth from him, but in any case +to detain him at the hall during the night.</p> +<p>I could not remain at the hall myself, for, on such a night, it +seemed necessary to be with my own people, and to be ready to seize +any opportunity of saving the effusion of blood, or of giving +protection to any who might seek refuge under the shelter of our +roof, where murder would be sacrilege, a consideration of some +importance where Christians, shame to say, were the murderers.</p> +<p>But before I went my brother and I sent to Alfgar that we might +speak to him, and prevail upon him to stay with us the night.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said Elfwyn, "the night is very stormy and blustering, +and we wish you to remain with us, and share our hospitality till +the morn. Your father will not miss you?"</p> +<p>"I do not think he will; for after one of these debauches he +generally sleeps far into the next day. But the domestic serfs may +remark my absence."</p> +<p>"There is another reason, my boy, why we wish you to stay. Wild +men who hate your father's race are abroad, and did you fall into +their hands while returning home it might fare hard with you."</p> +<p>"I can imagine that. I marked the looks they cast upon me in +God's house, even there, this day. They cannot forgive me my Danish +blood, although my mother was one of themselves, and a +Christian."</p> +<p>"They have suffered much, my lad; and suffering, as is often the +case, has blunted their feelings. But you will stay with us, will +you not?"</p> +<p>"I will stay; many thanks for your kindness."</p> +<p>After this I had nothing further to detain me at the castle, so +I left for the priory.</p> +<p>It was a black dark night. The violence of the wind almost +lifted me from my feet; not a star could be seen but occasionally a +sharp hailstorm pelted down. Glad was I, although the distance was +not great, to see the lights of the priory, and to dry my chilled +limbs and wet garments before the fire in the common room while I +told my brethren the tidings of the night, and the suspicions which +we entertained.</p> +<p>When I had finished there was a dead pause, during which the +howling blast without, as it dashed the hail against the casement, +seemed a fitting accompaniment to our sombre thoughts.</p> +<p>The compline bell rang.</p> +<p>This office is always full of heavenly comfort, but there seemed +a special meaning tonight in one verse--"A thousand shall fall +beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not +come nigh thee."</p> +<p>Yet the thousands were heavy on our hearts, and I meditated some +means of carrying tidings of their danger to our pagan neighbours; +but I knew nothing of the details of the plot, only that there was +a plot, and I knew that if I sent a brother, the Danes, in their +hatred to monks, would probably set their huge dogs at him before +he could speak, and perhaps worry him to death. Neither could any +other messenger approach their dwellings safely at night.</p> +<p>I tried to hope, but against reason, that we had perhaps +exaggerated the danger. Still, after the compline was over, we sat +in deliberation a long time in the hall. The novices and lay +brothers, ignorant of the peril, had retired to rest; but we, who +knew the portentous state of things around us, could not have slept +had we retired. Ever and anon we looked forth from doors and +windows into the black darkness without; but although it was near +midnight, neither sight nor sound told of aught amiss, and we were +beginning to yield to fatigue, when I ascended the tower in company +with Father Adhelm, to survey the scene for the last time. It was +so windy that we could hardly stand upon the leaded roof, and +although we gazed around, nought met our eyes until we were on the +point of returning.</p> +<p>"Listen!" said Father Adhelm, the subprior.</p> +<p>It was unnecessary. Borne upon the wind, a loud noise, as of men +who shout for mastery, met our ears, followed or intermingled with +cries for help or mercy--so we fancied at least.</p> +<p>While we stood rooted by horror to the spot, a bright light +arose, which rapidly increased, as a conflagration well might in +such a wind, and soon the whole horizon was illuminated. I knew but +one homestead in that direction--the fortified house of +Anlaf.</p> +<p>I thought of the poor boy, with thankfulness that we had +restrained him from returning home. He is saved, at least, thought +I, as a brand from the burning.</p> +<p>The other brethren joined us, and after a short consultation, we +determined to go to the scene in a body, to mitigate the rage of +the people, and save life where we could.</p> +<p>So, putting our cowls over our heads, we sallied forth into the +black night--black and dark save where the light of the fire +illumined the horizon, and even cast a faint ray upon our own path. +We were not used to journeys in such weather, and I am afraid we +made very slow progress, but it was not for want of good will. The +fire grew brighter and brighter as we proceeded, and the shouts +louder and louder. We knew that Anlaf had a party of his +countrymen, all of them obnoxious to the English, and could easily +understand that they had collected themselves together for their +own destruction. Yet, when we looked around, we perceived by the +blood-red reflection in the skies at other points, that the same +ruthless task was being carried out in many a distant spot, as well +as close at hand.</p> +<p>Reaching the bank of the river, we directed our course along its +banks until the dark forest closed in upon us, and rapid progress +became difficult. The trees were all rocking wildly in the wind, +and here and there a severed branch fell down before us. +Occasionally a gust of rain and hail descended. The path was wet +and slippery. Poor Father Adhelm groaned aloud. He had the podagra, +(or gout), and ought not to have ventured forth; but zeal would not +let him rest.</p> +<p>"Verily our path is hedged about with thorns. It is hard to kick +against the pricks," said the chamberlain.</p> +<p>"It is God's work," said I, "and we may not falter."</p> +<p>Yet I felt my own heart weak.</p> +<p>But for the red light, which shone even through the shade of the +forest, we could not have pursued our path. But plainer and plainer +the wind brought the fierce shouts of the assailants to our ears, +until, emerging from a dark belt of underwood, the whole horror of +the scene burst upon us.</p> +<p>Before us, at the distance of a few hundred yards, defended by a +mound and a ditch, rose the irregular and fortified dwelling of +Anlaf. It was wrapped in flames from top to basement, and even as +we looked one of the towers gave way, and fell upon the hall +beneath, with hideous din, in headlong ruin.</p> +<p>Around the blazing pile stood some two or three hundred men, who +completely encircled it, and who had doubtless prevented the escape +of the inmates. We were evidently too late; the passive attitude of +the assailants showed that their bloody work was done.</p> +<p>We learned afterwards that the domestics, who were English +serfs, had betrayed the place to the foe, while the Danish lords +were revelling in the great hall, and half drunk with wine. +Surprised at the banquet, they fell an easy prey, and were +slaughtered almost without resistance, after which the house was +plundered of everything worth carrying away, and then set on fire +in every part. Further details we could not gather. All was over +when we arrived.</p> +<p>Full of indignation, I and my brethren advanced straight upon +the group surrounding the sheriff, the crafty and cruel Edric +Streorn, and in the name of God denounced the cruelty and sin of +which they had been guilty.</p> +<p>"Sir monk," was the reply, "are you traitor to your king that +you thus league yourself with his deadly enemies? All that is done +this night is done by his order."</p> +<p>"God will avenge the deed," said I. "Ye have not fought like +men, but crept on like serpents, and slain those who, trusting to +the faith of Christians, dwelt blindly in our midst. And now, what +can we say? How can we hope to win our foes to God and Christ when +we set at naught his precepts and despise his example?"</p> +<p>"Sir monk, I have not time to listen to a homily; keep it for +next Sunday, when I will try to attend. For the present--"</p> +<p>Here he was interrupted by a loud cry which arose near us.</p> +<p>"The wolf cub! the wolf cub! Slay him, and the work is +complete."</p> +<p>The cry, "Slay him! slay him!" was taken up by a dozen voices, +when I recognised Alfgar, who by some means had learned the danger +of his kinsfolk, and had come to share their fate.</p> +<p>"Save him, sheriff!" I cried; "save him! He is a Christian. His +mother was English."</p> +<p>And I rushed forward myself, and saw that the poor lad had +already been brought on his knees by more than one fell stroke.</p> +<p>I held up the crucifix, which hung at my girdle, on high; I +threw my arm over his head, and abjured them under the name of +Christ, and as they feared the curse of the Church, to forbear. My +brethren all aided me.</p> +<p>Sullenly they dropped their weapons, and the sheriff, coming +forward, seconded me, although in a very contemptuous manner.</p> +<p>"Let him have the lad for his share of the night's work," he +said.</p> +<p>And so God gave me the poor lad's life.</p> +<p>I had scarcely time to lay him on a sloping bank, where the +light which shone so luridly from his burning home might fall upon +him, when my brother Elfwyn appeared on the scene with a score of +his men.</p> +<p>He recognised us by our habits, and came and looked with me at +the orphan as he lay on the bank. The boy had received no serious +wound, but was exhausted, as much I thought by the violence of his +emotions as by his injuries. He was wet through; his clothes were +torn with brambles, for he had followed a straight path through six +miles of tangled forest, from Aescendune.</p> +<p>They had unfortunately given him a bed in a chamber which looked +towards his home: he had chanced to wake, had looked from the +window, seen the flames, and had started thither at once, swimming +the moat when he could not cross the drawbridge--suspecting, +doubtless, that he was surrounded by treachery.</p> +<p>I had already poured a rich cordial down his throat, and he was +coming to himself, my brother aiding me, when the sheriff, grand in +his robe and chain of office, came up.</p> +<p>"Good day, or rather night, to you, Thane of Aescendune," said +he to Elfwyn; "we have had a fair night's work, and destroyed a big +wasp's nest; have you come for your share in the spoil?"</p> +<p>"I only ask permission to preserve life; your work has been of +an opposite nature."</p> +<p>"Yes, we have been obedient to our king, and avenged him this +night of his enemies, who are also, I should have thought, the +enemies of the Church."</p> +<p>"God will not bless midnight murder," said I.</p> +<p>"Murder! it is not murder to slay heathen Danes; had they been +Christians it would, of course, have been a different thing."</p> +<p>"He hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth," I +replied.</p> +<p>"The good prior wishes me to talk theology. Unfortunately I have +much work to do; you will hear tidings soon of other Danish holds +than this. The land may rejoice, freed from her oppressors, and +they who blame our work will praise its results."</p> +<p>"That remains to be seen," we both replied.</p> +<p>We had, meanwhile, placed Alfgar, now partially recovered, on a +palfrey; and, supported by my brother and me, one on each side, we +led him homewards. Arrived at the castle, we gave him to the care +of Osred, the domestic physician. He looked at the patient, and +pronounced a favourable opinion, saying that with time and care all +would be well. But his left arm was broken, and he had received a +slight blow on the head. Fever was the leech's chief apprehension; +if he could keep that off, he said he doubted not all would be +well.</p> +<p>St. Andrew's Day.--</p> +<p>Our patient has lain some time in a state of delirium, whereat +no one could wonder. In his ravings he was incessantly acting over +the scenes through which he had passed during the dreadful night +which followed St. Brice's Day. But, thanks to a good constitution, +today he has taken a favourable turn, and seems likely to recover +from a blow which would have hopelessly shattered a frailer +frame.</p> +<p>I was seated by his couch when he seemed to awake out of sleep, +and I saw his bright dark eyes fixed inquiringly on me.</p> +<p>"Where am I?" he inquired.</p> +<p>"In the Hall of Aescendune; you have been very ill here."</p> +<p>"Indeed! I have had such dreadful dreams!--but were they all +dreams?"</p> +<p>"Your mind has been wandering for days, my dear son. You must +not talk too much."</p> +<p>He was silent, but evidently pondered more.</p> +<p>December 25, Christmas Day, 1003.<a name="EndNote4anc" href= +"#EndNote4sym"><sup> {iv}</sup></a>--</p> +<p>All the household has given itself up to joy and gladness; even +poor Alfgar, who has been released today from the confinement of +his chamber, has entered into the general joy, although ever and +anon relapsing into sadness.</p> +<p>He knows all now: a day or two agone, when all the household had +gone to hunt in the woods, I was alone with him in his chamber, and +thought that at last I must discharge the painful task of telling +him the truth.</p> +<p>"My boy," I said, "you have not lately inquired about your +father."</p> +<p>He looked at me very sadly.</p> +<p>"I know all," he said, "that you would tell me. I have no +father, no mother, no kinsfolk."</p> +<p>"Some of our people have told you then?"</p> +<p>"No. At first the events of that fearful night seemed all like a +dream, and mingled themselves with the strange spectres which +haunted me in delirium; but afterwards the real separated itself +from the unreal, and I knew that my father and all his friends, my +Danish uncles amongst them, had perished with the whole household +assembled there that fatal day. I also remembered, but faintly, how +I came here. Did not you save me from the murderers?"</p> +<p>I briefly explained the whole circumstances to him, adding such +words of consolation as I could think of, and telling him that he +must always look upon Aescendune as his home. At length he rose. He +had not replied.</p> +<p>"Pardon me, my father," he said, "but may I retire to my +chamber? I wish to say much, but I am too weak now."</p> +<p>"Meanwhile, you will not leave us?"</p> +<p>"I have no other home."</p> +<p>And he retired to his little chamber, from which he emerged no +more today.</p> +<p>Feast of the Epiphany.--</p> +<p>This day my catechumen Alfgar was baptized in the priory church. +It seemed useless to delay longer, as he was fully prepared both +intellectually and spiritually, nay, has been so for some time, +only the tragic event which deprived him of his Danish kinsfolk had +distracted him for a time from spiritual things. Nay, had he not +been surrounded by real Christians and loving friends here at +Aescendune, I fear the Church would have lost him altogether. Such +a commentary was the massacre of St. Brice on the Christian +doctrine of love and forgiveness! He felt it grievously at first, +but he was able at length to distinguish between men that say they +are of Christ, and are not, and those who really set the example of +that Lord and his Saints before them. He is now one of ourselves; a +sheep safe in the fold, and the dying wish of his sainted mother is +fulfilled. My brother intends to adopt him as a son, and as his +family is small, the proposal meets my approbation. Bertric and +Ethelgiva already love him as a brother.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a>. THE DANES IN WESSEX.</h2> +<p>Up to this period we have availed ourselves of extracts from the +Diary of Father Cuthbert; but the events of the following four +years, as recorded in that record, although full of interest for +the antiquarian or the lover of monastic lore, would possess scant +interest for the general reader, and have also little connection +with the course of our tale; therefore we will convey the +information they contain, which properly pertains to our subject, +in few words, and those our own, returning occasionally to the +Diary.</p> +<p>The melancholy history of the times may be compressed, from the +Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other sources, in a few paragraphs.</p> +<p>Burning with revenge--for his own sister had fallen in the +massacre on St. Brice's night--Sweyn returned to England the +following year (1003). He landed in Devonshire, took Exeter by +storm, and returned to his ships laden with the spoil. Then he +sailed eastward, landed again and ravaged Dorset and Wiltshire. +Here the ealdorman Elfric met him with a large English army; but +when he saw the foe he fell sick, or feigned to be so; and then the +old proverb came true, "When the general fails, the army quails." +So the English looked on with fear and trembling, while Sweyn burnt +Wilton and Salisbury, whence he returned to the sea laden with +wealth and stained with blood; yet was not his revenge +satisfied.</p> +<p>The following year East Anglia suffered as Wessex had suffered +the year before. Ulfketyl, the ealdorman, gave them much money, +hoping to buy peace from the merciless pagans. The result was as he +might have expected. They took the money, laughing at his +simplicity, and three weeks afterwards pillaged Thetford, and burnt +it. Then Ulfketyl, who was a brave man, got an East Anglian army +together, and fought the Danes, giving them the uncommon +chastisement of a defeat, so that they escaped with difficulty to +their ships.</p> +<p>The following year a famine so severe visited England, that even +the Danes forebore to ravage so poor a land; but in 1006, the next +year, they overspread Wessex like locusts. Here the action of our +tale is resumed.</p> +<p>During this interval of four years in Aescendune there had been +peace. Alfgar had been domesticated as one of the family, and was +reported well of in all the neighbourhood. Diligent in the +discharge of his religious duties, he was equally conspicuous in +all warlike sports and exercises and in the chase, while he +afforded much help to Elfwyn the thane in the management of the +estate. In short, he had won his way to the hearts of all the +family; and perhaps the report that he was the accepted suitor of +the fair daughter of Aescendune, Ethelgiva, was not without +foundation.</p> +<p>Ethelgiva was nearly his own age, and was a perfect type of that +beauty which has ever distinguished the women of the Anglo-Saxon +race. Her fair hair, untouched by artificial adornment, hung like a +shower of gold around her shoulders, while her eyes were of that +delicate blue which seemed to reflect the deep summer sky; but the +sweet pensive expression of her face was that which attracted +nearly all who knew her, and made her the object of general +regard.</p> +<p>Bertric was now about sixteen--a handsome, attractive boy, +full of life and fire, yet still possessing that devotion which +Father Cuthbert had remarked in him as a boy of twelve. As the heir +to the lands of Aescendune, and the only son, he would have been in +much danger of being spoiled had he been less genuine and manly +than he was. He and Alfgar were inseparable; they seemed to revive +again the traditional love of Nisus and Euryalus, or Orestes and +Pylades.</p> +<p>The famine, which had made Wessex too poor even to serve as a +bait for the Danes, had also afflicted Mercia, but not nearly so +severely, and the generosity of the family of Aescendune had been +exerted to the utmost on behalf of the sufferers.</p> +<p>But the spring of the year 1006 bade fair to atone for the past. +It was bright and balmy. May was just such a month as the poets +love to sing, and June, rich in its promise of fruit, had passed +when the events we are about to relate occurred. At this time there +was some hope amongst the people that God had at length heard the +petition breathed so often in the penitential wail of the Litany-- +"From the cruelty of our pagan enemies, good Lord, deliver us"-- +and they forgot that the massacre on St. Brice's night yet cried +for vengeance.</p> +<p>It was a fine summer's evening towards the end of the month of +July, and the sun was slowly setting behind the wood-crowned range +of hills in the west, where the forest terminated the pastures of +Aescendune; the cattle were returning to their stalls; the last +load of hay was being transferred from the wain to the rick, and +all things spoke of the calm and rest of a sweet night, fragrant +with the breath of honeysuckle and wild brier, when nature herself +seems to court luxurious repose.</p> +<p>The priory bell was tolling for compline, and thither many of +the people, released from their labour, were wending their way. The +Thane and his children, accompanied by Alfgar, paused on their +homeward road, and when the drowsy tinkling ceased, deep silence +seemed to fall over the landscape, while the night darkened--if +darkness it could be called when the moonbeams succeeded to the +fiercer light of the glowing orb of day.</p> +<p>The Lady Hilda was at the window of her bower, slightly +indisposed; she had not gone down to the priory, but sat inhaling +the rich fragrance of the night as the gentle breeze wafted it from +a thousand flowers. Star after star peeped out; one sweet-voiced +nightingale began her song, trilling through the air; another +enviously took up the strain. Hilda thought the earth had never +seemed so much like heaven, and she imagined the tuneful birds sang +their vesper song in union with the monks, whose solemn and +plaintive chant awoke the echoes of the priory church. Her heart +was full of solemn yet not sad thoughts; peace, sweet peace, was +the subject of her meditations, and she thought with gratitude of +Him who had hitherto preserved Mercia from the foe, who had indeed +for nearly two years ceased to molest England.</p> +<p>But as she gazed, her attention was attracted to a light on the +opposite hills. It was a fire of some kind, and rose up more and +more fiercely each moment. It was but a bonfire in appearance, yet +it marred both the landscape and the meditative rest of the +gazer.</p> +<p>The party from the hall were returning home from the church.</p> +<p>"Father," said Bertric, "look at that light! Is it not singular? +I never saw one there before."</p> +<p>But even while they looked another fire appeared in an opposite +direction, and Bertric saw his father turn grave.</p> +<p>"It is the beacon fire," said he seriously.</p> +<p>"Yes it is, and see it is answered from the hills to the north," +said Alfgar.</p> +<p>Then they were silent, and Bertric felt his spirits sink with a +vague kind of apprehension. They said no more till they reached +home, and the whole family met, much later than usual, at the +evening meal.</p> +<p>"You are late," said Hilda to her lord.</p> +<p>"We were returning home from the meadows on the water, whence +the last load of hay has been carried, and we tarried for the +compline at the priory. The bell sounded as we were passing."</p> +<p>"Did you see the bonfire on the hills? It must be a large +one."</p> +<p>"I did; and it made me uneasy."</p> +<p>"Why so, my Elfwyn?"</p> +<p>"You forget that when the last invasion of our pagan foes was +over, it was agreed in the Witan that a set of beacons should be +prepared, in readiness to fire, on the tops of the hills, and that +if the Danes appeared again, they should be fired everywhere, in +which case Mercia was to hold herself in readiness to come to the +aid of Wessex or East Anglia, whichever the foe might be +harrying."</p> +<p>"But then <i>that</i> was eighteen months agone."</p> +<p>"Still the beacon piles remain or did remain. I saw one at the +summit of the hills which the trackway crosses between our county +and Oxfordshire, when I last returned form Beranbyrig<a name= +"EndNote5anc" href="#EndNote5sym"><sup> {v}</sup></a>, and I think that +one gives the present alarm. It means the Danes are again in the +land."</p> +<p>"Now, God forbid!" said Hilda, with clasped hands.</p> +<p>"Amen say we all; but I fear me such will be the case, unless +some poor fool has set the pile blazing for amusement. I fancied I +saw it answered away north and west. We will go and see anon."</p> +<p>Supper being ended, Elfwyn rose to go out, and his example was +followed by Alfgar and Bertric, and several of the serfs, who from +the lower end of the ample board had heard with much alarm the +previous conversation.</p> +<p>Ascending the hill, they directed their steps towards the +highest point, where an old watchtower had once been reared, +composed of timber, and overlooking the forest.</p> +<p>From the summit the party gazed over three or four counties +lying dimly beneath them in the still moonlight.</p> +<p>The mist, slowly rising from the river and forest, partially +obscured the immediate view, and hid the valley beneath in +smoke-like wreaths; but the distant hills rose above. There three +large fires immediately caught the eye, and confirmed the +apprehensions. One was on the summit of the range culminating on +the spot now known as Edgehill, lying about ten miles south; but on +the west Malvern Heights had caught the flame, and on the far north +the Leicestershire hills sent forth their reddening fire in more +than one spot.</p> +<p>"The country has taken the alarm," said the Thane.</p> +<p>"What must we do, father?"</p> +<p>"Summon and arm all our vassals, and await the sheriff's orders; +the king will communicate to us through him. We know not yet where +the danger is."</p> +<p>"Perhaps it is only a false alarm," said Bertric.</p> +<p>"God grant it; but I dare not hope as much."</p> +<p>Alfgar was very silent. Well he might be. The enemy dreaded was +his own kith and kin; and although all his sympathies were with his +English friends, from whom he had received more kindness and love +than he had ever known elsewhere, yet he seemed to feel compromised +by the deeds of his kindred, whose savage cruelty no Christianity +had as yet softened.</p> +<p>While they yet remained on the hill, fire after fire took up the +tale and reddened the horizon, until a score of those baleful +bonfires were in sight. Sighing deeply, Elfwyn led the way down the +hill.</p> +<p>"What have you seen?" was the inquiry of the Lady Hilda.</p> +<p>"The hills flame with beacons."</p> +<p>"Alas for poor Wessex!"</p> +<p>"Alas for England! I have a foreboding that we shall not always +be exempt from the woes which affect our neighbours. Wessex +scarcely tempts the plunderer now; neither does East Anglia. +Northumbria is half Danish, and kites do not peck out kites' eyes. +No; on Mercia, poor Mercia, the blow must sooner or later +fall."</p> +<p>"And how to avert it?"</p> +<p>"There is but one way; we must fight the foe in Wessex. Now we +must rest, to rise early, and await the sheriff's summons."</p> +<p>It was silent, deep night; the whole house was buried in +slumber, when Alfgar dreamed a strange dream. He thought he stood +amidst the ruins of his home, the home of his father Anlaf, and +that he heard steps approaching from the forest. Soon a solitary +figure emerged, and searched anxiously amongst the fallen and +blackened walls, uttering one anxious ejaculation, "My son! I seek +my son!" and Alfgar knew his father. Their eyes met, recognition +took place, and he awoke with such a keen impression of his +father's presence that he could not shake it off for a long +time.</p> +<p>"Do the dead indeed revisit earth?" he said. "Nay, it was but a +dream."</p> +<p>He went to the narrow window of his chamber, and looked out. The +dawn was already breaking in the east, and even as he gazed upon +the purpling skies the birds began their matin songs of praise, and +the valley awoke. The priory bell, beneath, by the riverside, now +tolled its summons to matins, and Alfgar arose and dressed.</p> +<p>Never did the household of Aescendune begin the day without +religious observance, and the first thing that they did on this, as +on every day, was to repair to the priory church, where Father +Cuthbert said mass; after which he and his brother the Thane were +closeted together for a long time.</p> +<p>The rest of the party returned home to break their fast, and +conversed about the warnings of the preceding night.</p> +<p>While they were still at their meal, Bertric, who sat near a +window, cried out, "I see a horseman coming from Warwick."</p> +<p>The panting steed was soon reined up in front of the drawbridge, +which was down as usual; and, passing beneath the arched gate, the +rider dismounted in the courtyard.</p> +<p>All the household were soon assembled to hear his news. He bore +a sealed missive addressed to the Thane; but he gave the secret of +the night's alarm in a few words.</p> +<p>"They are in Wessex, plundering, murdering, and burning. The +forces are all to meet at Dorchester as soon as man and horse can +get there."</p> +<p>"Where did they land?"</p> +<p>"The great fleet came to Sandwich, and they are advancing +westward as fast as they can come."</p> +<p>"Are they merciless as ever?"</p> +<p>"Worse."</p> +<p>"The fiends!" said Bertric bitterly; and then seeing Alfgar's +saddened face, said, "Oh, I beg pardon," which made matters +worse.</p> +<p>"You are not a Dane, Alfgar; you are a Christian; no one thinks +of you as one."</p> +<p>Shortly Elfwyn returned from the priory, and received the +messenger. The sealed packet only contained a formal summons to the +general rendezvous of the forces, which was to take place at +Dorchester, the episcopal city of the great Midland diocese, and +situated in a central position, where Wessex and Mercia could +easily unite the flower of their youth.</p> +<p>All the necessary preparations for departure were shortly made +--the theows and ceorls were collected together, beasts of burden +selected to carry the necessary baggage, the wallets filled with +provisions.</p> +<p>Before the third hour of the day all had been done which the +simple habits of the time required, and only the sorrowful leave +takings remained. Husbands had to bid the last goodbye--it might +be the very last--to their spouses, sons to their aged parents, +fathers to their children. And then there was hurrying to and fro, +as of people only half conscious of what they did; while the +warriors strove to smile and preserve their fortitude.</p> +<p>But alas! there were no traditions of victory to encourage them; +only gloomy remembrances of defeat; and, but for the stern call of +duty which bade them, as men and Christians, go to the succour of +their brethren, the majority would have preferred to remain at home +and abide the worst, although they knew full well that submission +utterly failed to mitigate the ferocious cruelty of their +oppressors, who slew alike the innocent babe and the grey-haired +grandsire.</p> +<p>Alfgar had volunteered to share the perils of his adopted lord, +but was kindly told that it would be inexpedient. Indeed, by many +he would have been suspected of treachery.</p> +<p>"Nay, Alfgar, remain at home; to you I commend the protection of +my home, of the Lady Hilda, and our children," said Elfwyn.</p> +<p>Neither were Bertric's prayers to be allowed to share his +father's perils any better received. He was bidden to remain where +he was, and to be a good son to his mother--not that he had ever +been otherwise.</p> +<p>And so the last sad words of adieu were spoken as bravely as +might be, and the little troop, about fifty in number, departed +from the hall. They crossed the rude wooden bridge, and took the +southern road.</p> +<p>Their loved ones watched them until the last. They saw their +warriors cast many a longing lingering look behind, and then the +woodland hid them from sight; and a dread quiet came down upon +Aescendune, as when the air is still before the coming +hurricane.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a>. THE TRACKS IN THE +FOREST.</h2> +<p>It was a long time before any news of the warriors reached home; +for in those days the agony of suspense had always to be endured in +the absence of posts and telegrams; but after a few weeks a special +messenger came from the army. He was one of the Aescendune people, +and his was the great privilege of embracing wife and family once +more ere returning to the perils of the field.</p> +<p>His news was brief. The forces of Mercia had been placed under +the command of Edric, formerly the sheriff of the county in which +Aescendune lay, but long since returned to court, where his smooth +tongue gained him great wealth and high rank. Gifted with a subtle +genius and persuasive eloquence, he had obtained a complete +ascendency over the mind of the weak Ethelred, while he surpassed +even that treacherous monarch in perfidy and cruelty.</p> +<p>Under his direction that unhappy king had again and again +embrued his hands in innocent blood. This very year they had both +given a proof of these tendencies worth recording.</p> +<p>Edric had conceived a hatred against the Ealdorman Elfhelm, +which he carefully concealed. He invited that unfortunate lord to a +banquet at Shrewsbury, where he welcomed him as his intimate +friend. On the third or fourth day of the feast he took him to hunt +in a wood where he had prepared an ambuscade, and while all the +rest were engaged in the chase, the common hangman of Shrewsbury, +one Godwin "port hund," or the town's hound, bribed by Edric to +commit the crime, sprang from behind a bush, and foully +assassinated the innocent ealdorman. Not to be behind his favourite +in cruelty, Ethelred caused the two sons of the unfortunate Elfhelm +to be brought to him at Corsham, near Bath, where he was then +residing, and he ordered their eyes to be put out.</p> +<p>Such was the man to whom the destinies of the English army were +now confided, and such the king who ruled the unhappy land--cruel +as he was cowardly.</p> +<p>Under such leaders it is no marvel that the messenger Ulric had +no good news to tell. The army had assembled, and had marched after +the Danes, whose policy for the present was to avoid a pitched +battle, and to destroy their enemies in detail. So they were +continually harassing the English forces, but avoiding every +occasion of fair fight. Did the English march to a town under the +impression the Danes were about to attack it, they found no foe, +but heard the next day that some miserable district at a distance +had been cruelly ravaged. Did they lie in ambush, the Danes took +another road. Meanwhile the English stragglers were repeatedly cut +off; and did they despatch a small force anywhere, it was sure to +fall into an ambush, and be annihilated by the pagans.</p> +<p>Their repeated disasters weakened every man's heart, and gave +rise to a well-founded belief that there was treachery in their +midst, and that plans decided even in their secret councils were +made known to the Danes. What wonder, then, that they grew +dispirited, and that murmurs arose on all hands, while the army +could scarcely keep together for want of provisions?</p> +<p>The war was at present raging in the southern counties, but ever +and anon the marauders made a forced march, and sacked some +helpless town remote from the seat of war.</p> +<p>There was no prospect, Elfwyn said, of the campaign coming to an +end; the harvest must take care of itself or the women and children +must reap it. The men were all and more than all, wanted in +Wessex.</p> +<p>There were loving messages for wife and children, and Alfgar was +not forgotten.</p> +<p>But there was one piece of information contained in the letter +which made Alfgar very uneasy, and reminded him of his dream.</p> +<p>One Boom, a retainer of Elfwyn, had been taken prisoner by the +Danes, and by a very uncommon piece of good fortune had escaped +with life from his ferocious captors. He stated that he had been +closely examined concerning his home, character of the population, +and their means of defence, especially as to the events of St. +Brice's night. Although he strove to evade their questions, yet he +incautiously, or through fear of torture, revealed that he came +from Aescendune.</p> +<p>The name evoked immediate interest, and he was asked several +further questions about the destruction of Anlaf's house, and what +became of his son. He tried to baffle their inquiries, and thought +he had succeeded.</p> +<p>These facts the Lady Hilda thought of sufficient importance to +justify their communication to Alfgar. They caused her some +anxiety.</p> +<p>The messenger returned to the army. Weeks passed away, and the +women and children, as well as the old men, were all busy in +getting in the bounteous harvest with which this year God had +blessed the earth. Alfgar and Bertric worked like the theows +themselves, and slowly the precious gifts were deposited in the +garners.</p> +<p>Alfgar had one source of consolation in the love he bore to +Ethelgiva, a love which was fully returned. Their troth had been +pledged to each other with the full consent of Elfwyn and the Lady +Hilda; and on those fine August nights, as they walked home after +the labours in the field, or the service in the priory, they forgot +all the misery of the land, and lived only for each other.</p> +<p>Happy, happy days! How often they looked back to them +afterwards!</p> +<p>A second messenger came during harvest time from the camp, now +on the borders of Sussex. His news was no better than before. The +Danes were harassing the army on every side, but no decisive battle +had been fought. The enemy still seemed to know all the plans of +the English beforehand; and the booty they had gained was enormous, +while a deep distrust of their leaders was spreading amongst the +defenders of the soil.</p> +<p>Elfwyn expressed his intention of seeking an early leave of +absence should events justify him in paying a short visit home. +This delighted the hearts of his wife and children, and they were +happy in anticipation.</p> +<p>It was a fine day in September when the thankful people of +Aescendune were called to raise the song of "Harvest Home"--for +the fruits of the earth had indeed been safely gathered in ere the +winter storms by the hands of women and children. Such joy as +befitted the absence of their lords was theirs, and Alfgar and +Bertric, not to waste the holiday, agreed to have a day's hunting +in the forest, rich with all the hues of autumn, while the feast +was preparing at home.</p> +<p>The day was delightful. Two young theows, whose fathers had gone +to the war, but who had been left behind as being too young to +share its dangers, although in the flush of early youth, +accompanied them, and were soon loaded with the lighter game their +masters had killed, while a deer they had slain was hung in the +trees, where a wolf could not reach it, and where wayfarers were +not likely to pass until the sportsmen should return for their own. +Onward they wandered until the sun was declining, and then, having +some few miles of forest to thread, and the deer to send for, they +turned on their homeward way.</p> +<p>No thought of any danger was on their minds that day. The Danes +were too far distant. They were more than a hundred miles from the +seat of war, and a hundred miles in those days meant more than five +hundred would mean now.</p> +<p>About the hour of five they rested and bathed in a tributary of +the Avon. Bertric's spirits were very high: he laughed and talked +like one whose naturally ardent temperament was stimulated by the +bracing atmosphere and the exercise. His active and handsome frame, +bright with all the attractions of youth, was equal to any amount +of woodland toil; and Alfgar, who was, as we have said, deeply +attached to his companion, felt proud of his younger brother, as he +delighted to call him, and Bertric loved to be called so. Alfgar +trusted some day to have a yet better claim to the title.</p> +<p>Leaving the bathing place while there was yet time to reach home +before dark, they came at last to a ford across the stream, the +only spot where it could be safely forded, and as such known to the +natives of the vicinity; when their dogs began to whine, and to run +with their noses to the ground, as if they had found something +unusual to attract their attention.</p> +<p>The two theows who were in front paused at the ford till their +lords came up, and then pointed to the ground with a terrified +aspect. Alfgar gazed and started, as did Bertric. There were the +footmarks of a large number of horses, evidently belonging to a +body of horsemen who must have crossed the ford since they passed +it in the morning.</p> +<p>"Can my father have returned unexpectedly?" said Bertric. "He +said he should get an early leave of absence."</p> +<p>Alfgar did not answer for a moment. He was evidently very much +alarmed.</p> +<p>"Look," he said, "at the footmarks, where some have +dismounted."</p> +<p>Bertric looked, and comprehended the terror of his companion. +The armed heels, which had sunk deeply into the mud, had left +traces utterly unlike the marks to which they were accustomed in +similar cases.</p> +<p>The stories they had both heard of predatory bands of Danes who +had wandered far from their main body, and had sought gratification +for their lust for plunder and blood in remote spots where the +inhabitants dwelt in fancied security, came to their minds, and +also the inquiries which had been made in the Danish camp +concerning their home and the circumstances of St. Brice's fatal +night.</p> +<p>"Still, it may be our father and his men; they may have worn the +spoils of the enemy."</p> +<p>The spoils generally went the other way, Alfgar thought, but did +not say.</p> +<p>They crossed the ford in silence, intent only on reaching home. +For a long time they could follow the trail of the horsemen.</p> +<p>"Who can lead them?" said Bertric, as they bounded onward. "They +seem to know the country."</p> +<p>A sad and harrowing suspicion had filled Alfgar's mind, that +these men might be deputed to avenge the fiery death of his father +--and to avenge it, probably, on the very people who would have +died to prevent it.</p> +<p>But the one desire uppermost in the minds of the whole party was +to hasten home. They feared every moment that they might see the +bright flame through the trees, or that the wind might bring them +the tidings that they were all too late--too late to save those +whom they loved from outrage and death.</p> +<p>So they continued running, or walking when breath failed, at the +utmost speed they could command, and just as the sun set they +arrived at the crest of a hill, from which they could see the +hall.</p> +<p>"Thank God, it yet stands!" said they both.</p> +<p>They descended, and plunged again into the wood which lay +between them and the goal; their theows, less perfectly trained, +and perhaps less ardent, fell slightly behind. They came upon the +spot where they had left the deer, not, however, with any intention +of encumbering themselves with the burden, as may be imagined. They +looked, however, at the tree where they had hung the carcase, and +their eyes met each other's.</p> +<p>"It is gone," said Alfgar, with bated breath.</p> +<p>They said no more, but continued their headlong course, until +they had reached an open glade by the side of a small stream. Here +their dogs became uneasy, and uttered low threatening growls.</p> +<p>The lads paused, then advanced cautiously, looking before and +around.</p> +<p>Turning a corner round some thick underwood, they came suddenly +upon a sight which justified all their previous alarm.</p> +<p>A huge fire burned by the side of a brook, over which was +roasting the deer which they had killed. The light shone out in the +gathering darkness, and illumined the recesses of the bushes +around, and the faces of a large body of men reclining on the bank, +or engaged in the task of sharpening their arms while their supper +was roasting. A momentary glance told that they were Danes, thus +advancing under the shadow of the forest, to take their foes +unawares. Their horses were picketed around, and sentinels were +evidently posted, to give the first alarm of any danger.</p> +<p>Alas! they had seen the poor lads before they could withdraw +into the woods which fringed the path, and instantly prepared for +pursuit. Three or four jumped upon their horses, two or three more +plunged into the wood to cut off the retreat. It was all-important +to their plans that their presence should not be discovered; and +these manoeuvres were executed in perfect silence.</p> +<p>They had not seen the theows behind, but fixed all their +attention on Bertric and Alfgar, who, on their part, comprehending +their danger, turned at right angles into the wood, and ran for +life. The boys were fleet of foot, and would probably have +distanced their pursuers, but an arrow from some ambush on their +left hand pierced Alfgar's thigh, wounding an important muscle, and +he could run no farther.</p> +<p>"Leave me, leave me, Bertric," he cried; "you are in more danger +than I."</p> +<p>Poor Bertric would not leave his friend. He tried to assist him, +and turned a deaf ear to all solicitations for the few moments that +they could have availed. It was soon too late, and the heavy hands +of the Danish warriors were laid upon them.</p> +<p>Shuddering at the contact, they yet yielded without useless and +unmanly resistance, and were at once led to the side of the +fire.</p> +<p>It was a scene Salvator Rosa would have loved to paint: the +firelight bringing out in strong relief the huge limbs of the oak +trees, the bronzed faces of those dread warriors, which no pitiful +or tender feelings ever seemed to visit.</p> +<p>The theows had fortunately, being behind, taken the alarm in +time, and escaped unnoticed by the Danes.</p> +<p>A large athletic warrior, but yet a man of some age, rose from +his seat by the fire, and scrutinised the captives. Alfgar knew +him. It was Sidroc, an old fellow warrior of his father, who had +often visited their home near Aescendune, and he was at no loss now +to comprehend the object of their enterprise.</p> +<p>The warrior gazed upon him fixedly, and then spoke aloud.</p> +<p>"Whence your name and lineage? Your face is not of the hue of +the faces of the children of the land. Speak! who art thou?"</p> +<p>"Alfgar, the son of Anlaf."</p> +<p>"Thor and Woden be praised! We had learned that you yet lived. +Boy, thou art the object of our search. Thou, the descendant of +kings, mayst not longer dwell with slaves. Thy father is at +hand."</p> +<p>"My FATHER!"</p> +<p>"Yes. Didst thou not know that he escaped on St. Brice's night, +baffling his would-be assassins, and yet lives? He thought thee +dead, and only sought vengeance, when he heard from the captured +prisoner of Elfwyn's band that thou wert yet alive, and he is come +to seek thee."</p> +<p>Poor Alfgar!</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a>. THROUGH SUFFERING TO +GLORY.</h2> +<p>For a few minutes Alfgar sat like one stunned by the +intelligence. Joy and fear were strangely mingled together; well +did he remember Sidroc's frequent visits to his father's English +home, and that the warrior had more than once taken him in his +infancy upon his knee and sung to him war songs, telling him that +he too must be a warrior some day.</p> +<p>He was roused from his reverie by the voice of Sidroc.</p> +<p>"Who is your companion?"</p> +<p>"Bertric, the son of Elfwyn of Aescendune; oh! you will see that +no wrong is done to him, will you not? his people saved my +life."</p> +<p>"That they might make you a Christian, knowing that your father +would sooner you had expired in the flames which consumed his +house.</p> +<p>"No," he added sternly; "he is doomed, he and his alike."</p> +<p>Alfgar uttered a piteous cry, and appealed so earnestly that one +might have thought he would have moved a heart of stone, yet all in +vain.</p> +<p>"Does the eagle mourn over the death of the dove, or heed what +pangs the kid may suffer which writhes beneath its talons? If you +are of the race of warrior kings, act like one."</p> +<p>While this was going on the warriors had been selecting some +light and sharp arrows and stringing their bows.</p> +<p>"You have but one target, not two," cried Sidroc, "and scant +time wherein to use it."</p> +<p>"Then you shall have two, for I will die with him," cried +Alfgar, comprehending at once that the death by which Saint Edmund +of East Anglia, and many a martyr since, had glorified God, was +destined for his companion, his brother.</p> +<p>He snatched at a weapon, and rushed to the tree to which the +victim was bound, as if he would save him or perish in the attempt, +but a grasp like iron was thrown around him, and he struggled in +vain.</p> +<p>"Bind him, but do him no harm," said Sidroc, "and detain him +where he may see all, and strengthen his nerves for future +occasions."</p> +<p>Against the tree leaned Bertric, pale, yet strangely composed; +the bitterness of death seemed to be past, so composed were his +youthful features. The lips moved in earnest, fervent prayer. Once +he glanced with a look of affection, almost of pity, upon Alfgar, +and when the latter made the vain attempt to deliver him, he cried, +"Do not grieve for me, dear Alfgar, you cannot save me; you have +done your best; pray for me, that is all you can do."</p> +<p>His patient courage, so unexpected in one so young, touched his +captors, as nothing else would have touched them, and Sidroc +approached him.</p> +<p>"Bertric of Aescendune, thou mayst save thy life on one +condition; dost thou wish to live?"</p> +<p>The thought of home and friends, of his mother, awoke in his +breast, and he replied:</p> +<p>"Yes, for the sake of those who love me."</p> +<p>"I know nought of them, neither must thou henceforth, but thou +mayst live if thou wilt join our nation and renounce thy +Christianity; for I, who have no son, and seek one, will even adopt +thee."</p> +<p>"I cannot deny my faith."</p> +<p>"Dost thou not fear the pain, the sharp arrows with which they +will pierce thee?"</p> +<p>"I fear them, but I fear eternal death more; God help me!"</p> +<p>He repeated these last words over and over again, as if the +struggle were very sore.</p> +<p>"Decide," said Sidroc.</p> +<p>"I have decided--'<i>In manus tuas, Domine</i>,'" he breathed +out, "'<i>commendo spiritum meum</i>.'"</p> +<p>"Let fly," cried the chieftain, "and let the obstinate young +fool know what death is."</p> +<p>Arrow after arrow sped through the air and pierced the legs and +arms of the martyr boy, for it was the cruel amusement of the Danes +to avoid the vital parts in their living target. The frame of the +sufferer quivered with agony, while the lip seemed striving to form +the holy name, which has given strength to thousands of martyrs, +whether at the stake, beneath the ferocious beast, or in whatsoever +manner it has pleased God to make His strength perfect in +weakness.</p> +<p>Then Alfgar saw what was the marvellous power of Christianity, +and beheld a heroism utterly beyond the fierce excitement which +nerved his countrymen for their scenes of carnage and blood; not +one of his pagan friends could have suffered as calmly, as +patiently--it seemed easier for the sufferer to bear than for +Alfgar to look on; once or twice the latter gave audible vent to +his emotions, but the look which Bertric turned upon him spoke +volumes, and he restrained himself lest he should add to the pain +of the victim. He knew not then that the example before him would +nerve him in moments of severest trial, then fast approaching, that +the one accusation urged against the Christians, which he had felt +most keenly, that of cowardice, was answered in the weak yet +valiant boy, who found strength in the name of Christ to endure all +for His sake; neither did his fierce countrymen know that they were +preparing a disappointment for the pagan Anlaf, and for all those +of his house and lineage.</p> +<p>We cannot enter more closely into the secret which gave the +martyr his strength; we know not the visions of heavenly joy which +may have overpowered the present pain, we know not whether He who +gave this elaborate framework of flesh and blood, nerve and sinew, +miraculously suspended the full operation of His laws, as is +elsewhere recorded of other martyrs. Certain it is, that sooner +than relinquish Him, Bertric, like Saint Edmund nearly two +centuries earlier, yielded his life to the rage of the enemies of +His Lord<a name="EndNote6anc" href= +"#EndNote6sym"><sup> {vi}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>The struggle was sharp but short, for Sidroc, to the surprise, +and we must add the disgust, of his compatriots, seized a bow and +sent an arrow straight to the heart. One nervous shudder passed +through the limbs, and all was still; they had killed the body, and +had no more that they could do.</p> +<p>Alfgar gazed with reverence, as well as love, upon the calm +features from which the expression of pain had wholly passed; the +light of the fire, mingling strangely with that of the rising full +moon, illumined them in this their first day of nothingness, for +the spirit which had lived and dwelt in the tabernacle of clay had +fled.</p> +<p>Yet there was a wondrous beauty still lingering over them; they +seemed etherialised--as if an angel's smile had last stirred +their lines, when the spirit went forth, and left its imprint of +wonder, joy, and awe thereon; and Alfgar instinctively turned from +them to the blue depths of heaven above, where a few stars were +visible, although dimmed by the moonlight; and he seemed to trace +his beloved Bertric's passage to the realms of bliss. A light wind +made music in the upper branches of the oaks, and it seemed to him +like the rush of angels' wings.</p> +<p>It had often been a sharp struggle to him, nursed in heroic +times, learned in battle songs, and of the very blood of the +vikings, to avoid the feeling that Christianity was not the +religion of the brave; now the difficulty was over, and who shall +say that the first joy of the martyr's soul was not the knowledge +that his sufferings had already borne such fruit to God!</p> +<p>And not only was Alfgar reconciled to the reproach of the Cross, +he was also content to be an Englishman, if not in blood, at least +in affection and sympathy as in action.</p> +<p>An hour passed away; the body remained affixed to the tree; the +night grew darker, and the hour approached when, under ordinary +circumstances, people retired to rest, and the band commenced its +preparations for carrying out the attack upon Aescendune.</p> +<p>One hope Alfgar had, and that not a faint one: he knew that the +two theows had escaped unnoticed, and that they would give warning +in time for either defence or escape; their strength at Aescendune +was but slight for the former, all the able-bodied men were absent +at the seat of war.</p> +<p>In the excitement of the last hour Alfgar had almost forgotten +the meeting before him, but now it occupied his thoughts fully, and +he began to expect the arrival of Anlaf each moment. He learned +from the conversation around him that he and a portion of the band +had gone to reconnoitre the position of the prey.</p> +<p>While Sidroc was somewhat impatiently expecting the arrival of +his coadjutor, the cry of a raven was heard; it proved to be the +signal for the party to advance, and Sidroc and his men obeyed at +once.</p> +<p>But all their horses were left picketed by the stream, under the +care of three of the youngest warriors, and there Alfgar was left, +safely bound to a tree, for his captors could not trust him.</p> +<p>He was strongly, but not cruelly bound; it evidently was not +intended to hurt him, only to secure him, and he could see that one +of the warriors was especially charged to guard him.</p> +<p>Oh, how anxiously he strained the senses of sight and hearing +for news from the forest party! could he but have given one +warning, he would willingly have died like Bertric; all was silence +--dread silence--the sleeping woods around gave no token of +their dread inmates.</p> +<p>An hour and a half must have passed, when a bright light, +increasing each minute in intensity, appeared through the trees-- +then a loud and startling cry arose--after which all was +silence.</p> +<p>The light seemed to increase in extent and to have two chief +centres of its brilliancy, and Alfgar guessed them to be the hall +and the priory.</p> +<p>But no screams of distress or agony pierced the air from two +hundred women and children, and Alfgar hoped, oh, so earnestly! +that they might have escaped, warned in time by the theows.</p> +<p>With this hope he was forced to rest content, as hour after hour +rolled by, and at length the footsteps of a returning party were +heard.</p> +<p>It proved to be only a detachment of the fifty, sent to bring +horses to be loaded with the spoil. Alfgar listened intently to +gain information, and heard enough to show that the Danes had been +disappointed in some way, probably in their thirst for blood.</p> +<p>"But how could they have known we were coming? We have marched +through a hundred miles of the most desolate country we could find, +and have come faster than any one could have carried the +information."</p> +<p>Such seemed to be the substance of the complaint of the warriors +on guard, from which Alfgar felt justified in believing in the +escape of the theows, and the consequent deliverance of the people, +if not of the place.</p> +<p>Half the horses were taken to fetch the plunder, the other half +left where they were, for the spot was conveniently situated, and +the distance from Aescendune only about two miles.</p> +<p>When they had gone, Alfgar heard his guards talking +together.</p> +<p>"What did they say, Hinguar?--not any blood?"</p> +<p>"No, but plenty of plunder."</p> +<p>"That is not enough, we want revenge. Odin and Thor will not +know their children; our spears should not be bright."</p> +<p>"They must have been forewarned; Eric said that they had taken +away a great many things."</p> +<p>"Why could we not trace them?"</p> +<p>"Because there is no time; we are too far from the army and +fleet; we must return immediately, before the country takes the +alarm; remember we are only fifty."</p> +<p>"Yes, but mounted upon the best horses, and the first warriors +of our family; we may take some plunder, and send a few Englishmen +to Niffelheim, before we get back; Anlaf would not let us stay to +touch anything as we came."</p> +<p>"No; all his desire was to get to this Aescendune."</p> +<p>"Then the lad whom we made into a target is the only victim, +while our kinsfolk's blood, shed near here, cries for +vengeance."</p> +<p>"He died bravely."</p> +<p>"Yes, that is a Christian's kind of courage."</p> +<p>"Well, perhaps some day they will learn to fight, and then +--"</p> +<p>"Their songs tell them of an Alfred who defeated our best +warriors."</p> +<p>"That was long ago; if you go back far enough these English were +sea kings before they were spoiled by becoming Christians."</p> +<p>"Hush; I think I hear steps."</p> +<p>"Who comes?" cried one of the guards, challenging a +newcomer.</p> +<p>"I, Anlaf, your chief."</p> +<p>And the father of Alfgar appeared on the scene.</p> +<p>Of average height, Anlaf possessed vast muscular powers; his +sinews stood out like tight cords, and his frame, although robust, +was yet such that there seemed no useless flesh about him. His hair +was a deep grizzled red, as also his beard, and his eyes were of +the same tinge, his nose somewhat aquiline, and his whole features, +weatherworn as they were, were those of one born to command, while +they lacked the sheer brutality of expression so conspicuous in +some of his subordinates.</p> +<p>Ho addressed a few words to the guards, and they led him to +Alfgar.</p> +<p>"Cut him loose," he said.</p> +<p>They did so.</p> +<p>He looked mournfully yet sternly on the youth, who himself +trembled all over with emotion.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," he said, "do I indeed see my son?"</p> +<p>"You do, my father."</p> +<p>"Follow me; nay, you are wounded--lean on my arm."</p> +<p>Alfgar's thigh had, it will be remembered, been pierced by an +arrow, but the wound was not deep, and with his father's assistance +he could proceed. He knew where Anlaf led. At length they came upon +a deserted clearing, and there he paused until Alfgar, who could +scarcely keep up, stood by his side.</p> +<p>Before them the moonbeams fell upon a dark charred mass of ruins +in the centre of the space.</p> +<p>"This is the spot where father and son should meet again," said +Anlaf and he embraced his son.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a>. FATHER AND SON.</h2> +<p>"Here, my son," said the old warrior, as he pointed out the +blackened ruins, "here stood our home, where now the screech owl +haunts, and the wolf has its den. There, where the broken shaft yet +remains, was the chamber in which thou first sawest the light, and +wherein thy mother died there, where snake and toad have their +home, was the great hall. Surely the moonbeams fall more peacefully +on the spot now all has been avenged, and the halls of the +murderers have fallen in their turn. But how didst thou +escape?"</p> +<p>"The folk of Aescendune saved me, father."</p> +<p>"But how; from the burning pile?"</p> +<p>"Nay. I had spent the previous day with them, and returned home +only in time to find the place in flames. The enemy seized me, and +would have slain me, but Elfwyn and his brother, Father Cuthbert, +delivered me; and now thou hast slain their Bertric, and burnt both +hall and priory."</p> +<p>"Think not that I owe them gratitude for aught they have done. +They tampered with thy faith, I now apprehend, even before the +night of St. Brice, and perhaps drew from thee the knowledge which +enabled them to surprise so large a party in my house. But all this +was to make thee abandon the gods of thy fathers, and to inflict +the worst injury they could upon a warrior. I trust they have +failed!"</p> +<p>"Father, I am a Christian!"</p> +<p>"Say not that again, boy, if thou would not have me kill +thee."</p> +<p>"I can but say it, father. In all that touches not my faith and +duty as a Christian, I am bound to love, honour, and obey you. But +our religion forbids me to nourish revenge."</p> +<p>"Of what religion, pray, were they who would have slain thy +father on St. Brice's night?"</p> +<p>Alfgar hung his head.</p> +<p>"When Christians practise themselves what they teach, then we +will heed their pretensions, but not till then. Their religion is +but a cloak for their cowardice, and they put it aside as a man +throws away a useless garment when they have the chance of slaying +their foes without danger."</p> +<p>"There are good and bad Christians, father."</p> +<p>"Commend me to the bad ones then. Do not speak to me of a +religion which makes men cowards and slaves. These English were +warriors once, till the Pope and his bishops converted them, and +now what are they? cruel and treacherous as ever, only without the +courage of men."</p> +<p>Alfgar felt the injustice of all this, and with the example of +Bertric in his mind, he cared nor for the accusation of +cowardice.</p> +<p>"Here, then, my boy, on this spot where thou wert once cradled, +renounce all these Christian follies and superstitions, and thou +shalt go back with me to the camp of King Sweyn, where thou shalt +be received as the descendant of warrior kings, and shalt forget +that thou, the falcon, wert ever the inmate of the dovecote."</p> +<p>There was a time when this temptation would have been almost +irresistible, but that time was over, and after one earnest prayer +for strength from above, Alfgar replied.</p> +<p>"My father, if you claim my obedience, I must even go with you +to your people, but it will be to my death. I have said I am a +Christian."</p> +<p>"And dost thou think I have found thee--thee, my only son-- +to part with thee again so easily? nay, thou art and shalt be mine, +and, if not mine, then thou shalt be the grave's; for either thou +shalt live as thy ancestors have lived, a warrior and a hero, or +the earth shall cover thee and my disgrace together."</p> +<p>"Father, I can die."</p> +<p>"Thou dost not fear death then?"</p> +<p>"Thou hast left one behind thee--one who did not fear to die +the martyr's death."</p> +<p>"Dost thou mean Bertric of Aescendune?"</p> +<p>"I do; they slew him, cruelly, although neither he nor his have +ever dealt cruelly with thy people."</p> +<p>"Thy people, why not our people? art thou ashamed of thy +kindred?"</p> +<p>"Of their cruelty and treachery."</p> +<p>Anlaf laughed aloud.</p> +<p>"Cruelty and treachery indeed! and canst thou say that here? who +set the example in this place?</p> +<p>"Come boy, come," he continued, "I will lead thee to those who +shall soon talk or drive all this Christian nonsense out of your +young head; meanwhile, do not disgrace yourself and me by +attempting to escape."</p> +<p>Alfgar sighed, and accompanied his father, so inopportunely +found, back to the camp.</p> +<p>Arrived there, the word was given at once to mount, and the +whole party started on the return journey to the south. Alfgar cast +a longing glance behind at the spot where he knew all that was +mortal of poor Bertric was left, to be, so far as the Danes cared, +the prey of the wolf or the kite; but the young Dane knew well +that, if any were yet alive at Aescendune, the hallowed temple of +the martyr would not want its due honour.</p> +<p>All his heart was with his English friends; he felt that in +going to the Danish camp he was really going to his death, for +although within a few years the conversion of the Northmen took +place, yet at this period their hatred of Christianity was simply +ferocious, and his father belonged to the old heathen conservatives +of his day, as did all his kinsfolk.</p> +<p>"O Aescendune, once happy Aescendune!" was the thought, the +bitter thought, as each hour placed a larger barrier of space +between Alfgar and his late home; all its happy memories came +freshly back upon him, and particularly the thought of Ethelgiva, +his betrothed, from whom he was so ruthlessly torn, torn as if he +left part of himself behind.</p> +<p>They reached the confines of the forest by daybreak. Before them +stretched an open country, where wild heaths alternated with +cornfields, and wooded hills were of frequent occurrence upon the +landscape.</p> +<p>All at once a signal of caution was given, and the whole party +retired again within the cover of the wood, where they could see, +for they were on an eminence, the whole district before them +without being seen.</p> +<p>A body of fifty English soldiers was passing on the road, which +lay at the distance of a few hundred yards only, travelling at a +considerable speed, as if they anticipated the emergency of +Aescendune, and hurried to the rescue. Alfgar knew them at once; +they were Elfwyn and his troops; oh, if they had but arrived +earlier, thought he, and started to see how completely English his +sympathies were.</p> +<p>The Danes found it hard to repress their laughter at the thought +of the reception which awaited the travellers at home; they had no +idea of spoiling it by attacking them, although the numbers were +about equal; besides, they had got all the plunder and spoil, and a +battle would only endanger the success already obtained. So they +lay in cover until the last straggler had disappeared in the +direction of Aescendune, and then continued their course, with many +a jest at the expense of the English.</p> +<p>Anlaf watched his son; he knew what his feelings were, and his +thoughts were bitter as he felt that, could Alfgar have been +consulted, he would be in that English band.</p> +<p>That night they arrived on the banks of the Thames, near +Reading, the border of Mercia. Their passage had been quite +unopposed; all the fighting men were in Wessex; and those who had +seen the Danish party had fled with terror--they had not stopped +long to plunder, but had speared one or two unfortunate victims who +fell in their way, a sight which sickened Alfgar.</p> +<p>The following day they continued their march to the southeast, +sometimes hiding in woods, for the country was mainly occupied by +Ethelred's troops; sometimes pursued by larger bodies of horsemen, +but always successful in distancing them, until, at the approach of +eventide, they came in sight of the entrenched camp of the northern +host. The spot was on the northern borders of the ancient kingdom +of Sussex--the land of the Saxon Ella--a spot marvelously +favoured by nature, occupying the summit of a low hill, which +commanded a wide prospect on all sides, while itself almost +impregnable when fortified, as it was, by ditches and mounds, dug +in the usual Danish fashion, for the Danes owed much of their +success to their skill in fortification.</p> +<p>Beautiful in time of peace was the country around, but its +desolation was sufficient to sicken the heart. Blackened ruins lay +on every side for miles; nay, they had disfigured the whole day's +journey. Scarcely a town or hall, unless strongly fortified, had +they seen standing, and this for nearly fifty miles.</p> +<p>Within this fortified enclosure the Northmen had collected +abundance of spoil, and there they detained many prisoners, whom +they held to ransom, putting them to death with the utmost cruelty +if the money were not forthcoming at the stipulated time.</p> +<p>When the party of Anlaf arrived at the northern gate, crossing +the summit of the ascent on that side, they found it open and +almost unguarded, so slight was the danger from the dispirited +English--now too accustomed to the idea of a foe in the heart of +the land.</p> +<p>Entering, they beheld a strange scene: huts rudely constructed +of the branches of trees, intermingled sparingly with tents, were +disposed at regular intervals. In the centre, where the main +streets crossed, was the royal tent, with the raven banner floating +therefrom; and there, at that moment, was the savage tyrant Sweyn +in person.</p> +<p>Sweyn was the son of Harold Bluetooth, who reigned in Denmark +fifty years, from A.D. 935-985, and who in his old age became a +Christian and strove to convert his subjects. But the ferocious +warriors rebelled against him, and were headed by his unnatural +son, Sweyn, who, although baptized, renounced Christianity, and +fought to restore the bloodstained worship so congenial to the +heart of a sea king. Defeated in battle, the unhappy father fled +for his life, and fled in vain, for he was either murdered or died +of his wounds.</p> +<p>Sweyn then became king, restored idolatry, and gratified to the +full the fell instincts of his savage followers. His great object +was now not merely to plunder, but to conquer England, and all his +campaigns were so directed as to reduce province after province. +Sussex and Kent were now wholly powerless; East Anglia was little +better; Wessex trembled, for every inlet was a path for the +robbers, and the turn of Mercia drew near.</p> +<p>Sweyn stood at the door of his tent, leaning upon his ponderous +battle-axe; around him were two or three warriors, whose grey hairs +had not softened the look of ferocity so plainly stamped upon their +faces.</p> +<p>The king was not in armour, but wore a kind of close-fitting +tunic, descending to the knees, and leggings leaving the legs bare +above the knees. A rich mantle was thrown over the tunic, for it +was cold.</p> +<p>By his side, similarly dressed, stood his son, the hopeful +Canute, the future King of England, then only in his twelfth year, +but already showing himself a true cub of the old tiger in +fierceness and valour, yet not devoid of nobler and gentler +virtues, as he afterwards showed.</p> +<p>"Welcome, Anlaf," cried Sweyn, as he saw the party arrive; +"welcome, hast thou enjoyed thy holiday in Mercia?"</p> +<p>"Bravely, my king, the ravens have tasted flesh."</p> +<p>"No need to tell me that; thy revenge, then, is accomplished. +Hast thou found thy son?"</p> +<p>"He is with me, my lord, but their saints must have warned the +English of our approach. We burnt the place but the people were not +in it. Their cries would have been music in our ears."</p> +<p>"Perhaps St. Brice told them you were coming; the English have a +veneration for him," said Sweyn, bitterly.</p> +<p>They both laughed a bitter laugh, for both had suffered by the +massacre in the persons of kinsfolks.</p> +<p>"But is this young springal thy long-lost son? he is like thee, +even as a tame falcon is like, and yet unlike, the free wild +bird."</p> +<p>"He is my son;" and Anlaf introduced Alfgar.</p> +<p>The youth made his salutations, not ungracefully, yet with an +air of reserve which the king noticed.</p> +<p>"I thought St. Brice had got him long ago, and feared thou wert +on a wild-goose chase."</p> +<p>"It is a long tale to tell now, my liege."</p> +<p>"Have they Christianised him?" said the king, with a sly +look.</p> +<p>"He will soon lose that," replied Anlaf.</p> +<p>"Yes," said the king; "we know a way of curing the folly," when, +even as he spoke, a spasm, as of mental agony, passed over him, and +he shook like an aspen, but it was gone in a minute.</p> +<p>Was it the fate of his father which was thus avenged?</p> +<p>Every one looked aside and pretended not to notice the fact, and +Anlaf, having made his homage, retired, leading Alfgar.</p> +<p>"You see, my son," commenced the old warrior, as he led his +recovered boy to his own quarters, "how useless it would be for you +to struggle against the tide, such a tide as no swimmer could +breast."</p> +<p>"If he could not swim, it would be easy to drown," said Alfgar, +and there was such a despairing utterance in his tone, that his +father was checked.</p> +<p>The quarters of Anlaf were in the northwestern angle of the +camp; they consisted of huts hastily constructed from the material +which the neighbouring woods supplied, and one or two tents, the +best of which, stolen property, appertained to the chieftain.</p> +<p>Over a wide extent of desolated land, beautiful in its general +outline, where the eye could not penetrate to details, looked the +prospect. The round gently-swelling Sussex downs rose on the +southern horizon, guarding the sea, while around them were once +cultivated fields which the foe had reaped, while quick streams +wound in between the gentle elevations, crowned with wood, and here +and there the mere spread its lake-like form. The sun was now +sinking behind the huge rounded forms of some chalk hills in the +west, when the camp became gradually illuminated by the light of +numberless fires, whereat oxen were roasted whole, and partridges +and hares by the dozen, for the Danes were voracious in their +appetites.</p> +<p>In Anlaf's quarters one huge fire blazed for all. Alfgar seemed +the only silent member of the company; the warriors related their +successes, and boasted of their exploits, and the bards sang their +ferocious ditties, until all were tired, and the quiet moon looked +down upon the sleeping camp.</p> +<p>O the contrast--the calm passionless aspect of the heaven and +the human pandemonium beneath.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h2> +<p>St. Matthew's Day, 1006.--</p> +<p>It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write the +events of the last few days. They have been so calamitous, so +unexpected. We have heard of such things afar off, we had prayed +for our brethren in Wessex, exposed to similar calamities, and now +they have fallen upon us personally. May God, who alone is +sufficient for these things, give us strength to bear all for His +name's sake.</p> +<p>It was a fortnight ago, and our harvest was all gathered in. God +had blessed our increase, and our garners were full with all manner +of store; women and children had mainly been the reapers, but the +Lady Hilda herself had been present amongst them, and so had her +daughter, my niece, Ethelgiva, even sometimes labouring with their +own hands.</p> +<p>Alfgar and Bertric had worked like common serfs, and did +themselves honour thereby, for true nobility lies not in being +idle, save in the field of battle, as the bloody Northmen vainly +think.</p> +<p>Well, the work was over, and we had a mass of thanksgiving, +after which Bertric and Alfgar went hunting in the forest. In the +evening there was a harvest home; it was of course a strange one +without the men, who were afar off, fighting for their country, but +we tried to be thankful for mercies vouchsafed, and I and Father +Adhelm were there to bless the food.</p> +<p>We found a large party assembled--as many, indeed, as the hall +would contain. My sister, the Lady Hilda, was somewhat uneasy, +because Alfgar and Bertric were not yet back, but still not much +alarmed, for what harm could befall such lads in the woods? So I +blessed the food and the feast commenced.</p> +<p>Eating and drinking were over, and the old gleeman, striking his +harp, was beginning a song of harvest home, when in rushed the two +young theows who had gone out with Alfgar and Bertric, with the +startling intelligence that there was a band of Northmen lurking in +the woods, who had seized their young lords, and were, they +thought, bent on attacking the place.</p> +<p>Words of mine cannot paint the terror and dismay the tidings +caused; the scene of distress and fear is yet before my eyes as I +write. One woman rose superior to fear--the Lady Hilda; aided by +her, I stilled the tumult, and we took hasty counsel together.</p> +<p>Nothing could be done for the poor lads, and the preservation of +the lives of the whole population depended upon our promptitude. It +was wonderful to see how the mother stifled her agony in her own +breast, while she strove to remember that, in the absence of her +lord, she was in charge of the safety of all her people, and the +mother of all. I had already interrogated the two churls; their +story was but too evidently true; and I learned that they had +discovered the footmarks of the Northmen in crossing a ford that +afterwards, while returning hastily home, they stumbled upon them, +and Alfgar and Bertric were taken. The party were evidently +awaiting the approach of night, and were doubtless bent on +attacking the castle and village.</p> +<p>Fifty men! and how could we resist them? The poor old gleemen +expressed their readiness to fight for the old hall, and so did +even the boys; but these accursed pagans are the very spawn of the +evil one, and fight like fiends, whom they equal in skill, so that +I saw at once there was no chance in resistance.</p> +<p>But there was safety in retreat and flight, and under our +circumstances no dishonour in so seeking it. So I saw the path +clear at once, and not a minute too soon.</p> +<p>In the depths of the forest, about ten miles from Aescendune, in +the opposite direction to that in which the enemy lay, is a +solitary valley, surrounded by such morasses and quagmires that +only those who know the paths could safely journey thither. But the +valley is fertile, and my father years ago built a substantial farm +house with outbuildings there, which has ever since been occupied +by our chief forester.</p> +<p>Thither I saw at once the whole party must retreat, alike from +the hall, the priory, and the village. In such a way only could +they hope to escape the wretches to whom bloodshed and cruelty are +pastimes.</p> +<p>Yet I was deeply puzzled to understand what motive could have +brought a war party so far, and why they had passed so many +flourishing homes to come to poor secluded Aescendune. Surely, +thought I, there is some great mystery hidden in this, which time +may perhaps show.</p> +<p>In a brief space of time, shorter, indeed, than under other +circumstances we should have conceived possible, everything was +prepared; horses were loaded with provisions and all things +necessary for immediate use. Old men and children were also +mounted, who could not otherwise travel, and we started. It was +indeed painful to part from home, and to leave all we had to the +mercy of the Danes, but "skin for skin, all that a man hath will he +give for his life."</p> +<p>So soon as I saw the party safely away from the town, I left +them under the guidance of some ancient foresters, who knew every +woodland path, and hastened to my brethren, who had been duly +forewarned, and were awaiting my arrival. I found them prepared for +immediate departure. We had a large flat-bottomed boat on the river +which washes the monastery garden; they had placed all the sacred +vessels and the treasure of the priory therein, and had sent the +novices and lay brethren to seek their safety with the rest in the +woods, only the brethren, properly so called, remaining.</p> +<p>And now, ready for immediate flight, we went forth with calm +composure, which God sent us. Then, upon the brink of the stream, +we stopped and listened. No sound broke the dread silence of the +night, and we stood in perfect quiet for some minutes.</p> +<p>At last we heard the sound of muffled footsteps, as of those who +sneak about on the devil's work, approaching the priory, and we +pushed the boat into the stream. The moon had not yet arisen; it +was quite dark. It was the one boat near.</p> +<p>We knew well what they were doing--surrounding the priory to +prevent any chance of escape, supposing, of course, that their +victims would be within. This accomplished, they knocked loudly at +the doors, and receiving no answer, raised their fierce battle cry, +and looked, happily in vain, for the pallid faces they expected to +see at windows or loopholes. Then they proceeded to break the doors +down with their battle-axes. A similar din, beginning a moment +before, told us that the hall and the priory were simultaneously +attacked.</p> +<p>We had heard enough. We let the boat drop down the stream till +we reached a small island, where we waited to see the end, praising +the Lord who had not delivered us over for a prey unto their +teeth.</p> +<p>While we waited in suspense, we saw a fierce light flash forth +from the hall, and perceived that, having plundered it of all that +was portable, they had fired it in many places at once; and while +we looked, we saw our own once happy home share the same fate, and +emulate the hall in sending forth its volume of ruddy flame towards +the skies.</p> +<p>This we had waited for, and we held council, and decided that, +having no home, the brethren should depart with the sacred vessels +and treasure to the mother house at Abingdon, while I remained, as +also Father Adhelm, to minister to our afflicted flock in the woods +as best we might.</p> +<p>Alas for our poor priory! the foundation of Offa and Ella, once +the light of the neighbourhood! but now our candlestick is removed +out of its place.</p> +<p>Our minds being made up as to the course to be pursued, we rowed +quietly down the stream, fearing pursuit.</p> +<p>Down the stream about two hours' journey an old Roman road, +leading southward, crossed the river, where a bridge had once +existed, long since swept away by time, but there was a tolerable +ford quite safe, save in winter floods.</p> +<p>Hard by stood a hostelry, and thither we journeyed in our +heavily-laden bark.</p> +<p>The light of the conflagration grew dimmer as we rowed down the +stream, but it still lighted up the heavens with an angry glare. It +was yet deep night when we drew near the inn, and we lay awhile on +our oars, to listen for signs of pursuit; but there was nought to +disturb the dead silence of the night, so we proceeded.</p> +<p>All the household were buried in sleep when we knocked at the +doors--a proof that they had not observed the redness in the +skies, or little sleep, I trow, would they have taken.</p> +<p>We were so exhausted with the fatigues and excitement of the +enemy, that we hailed this lonely habitation as a little Zoar. It +showed how safe people were feeling in Mercia, that we could not +wake the good people for a long time, and we were getting +impatient, for they seemed like the seven holy sleepers of Ephesus, +awaiting the cessation of persecution. I wish we could all sleep +like those Ephesians, and awake in better days.</p> +<p>But their dogs were awake, and saluted us with a vociferous +barking, and would not allow us to land until they were driven away +by the oars which our theows used with much effect upon their +hides.</p> +<p>At last a window was thrown open above.</p> +<p>"Who are you who travel at this time of night?" said a voice, +which tried to be firm.</p> +<p>"The poor brethren of St. Benedict from Aescendune."</p> +<p>"Now the saints help thy lying tongue," thus irreverently he +spoke, "do holy men travel like robbers in dead of night?"</p> +<p>"Look, my brother, over the tree tops, and you may learn the +cause of our wanderings; dost thou not even yet see the angry glare +in the heavens? It is from Aescendune; the Danes have burned +it."</p> +<p>"Good lack, poor Aescendune! and the people?"</p> +<p>"Are all safe, we trust, in body."</p> +<p>"God be praised!" and the host hurried down and admitted us.</p> +<p>His wife hasted to light a good fire, and to prepare us a +breakfast; in short, we had fallen amongst the faithful, and we met +great hospitality, for which may God repay the worthy host, Goodman +Wiglaf.</p> +<p>We were so fatigued in mind and body that we no sooner lay down +than we fell asleep, and slept until the sun was high in the +heavens.</p> +<p>Wiglaf watched the river jealously to see that no foe pursued; +but, as we afterwards learned, they had other things to think +of.</p> +<p>The road which ran across the river at this spot continued +southward into Wessex, and, so far as we could learn, was free from +danger, so I determined to send my brethren to Abingdon by easy +stages along its course, while I turned back with Father Adhelm, to +share the misfortunes of my kindred and lay brethren in the woods. +So we embraced each other and parted; and we two watched, with +loving hearts, until the glades of the forest hid our brethren, +dear to us in the Lord, from our sight, dimmed as were our eyes +with tears. Then we plucked up our courage, and turned our thoughts +to those others, dear and near to us, who had taken to the woods, +where it was again our duty to seek them.</p> +<p>Wiglaf rowed us back in a light skiff up the stream, not without +much protest, for he feared the Danes would surely catch us, and at +every bend of the stream he crept round, as if he expected to see a +fleet of boats sweep towards us, while he kept in the middle, as if +dreading an arrow from every bush. At length we reached the +immediate neighbourhood, over which the smoke still hung like a +black pall. Here Father Adhelm and I landed, and, giving Wiglaf our +blessing, bade him depart in peace, which the good soul flatly +refused to do until assured of our safety.</p> +<p>So, hiding the boat behind some bushes, we crept forward +together, till, getting through the underwood, we came to the edge +of the covert.</p> +<p>Before us lay the fated village, one mass of deformed and +blackened ruins, from which the dark smoke ceaselessly arose, and +made the air painful to breathe.</p> +<p>But there was no sign of life; no living thing seemed to breathe +there; the place seemed abandoned for ever. It was a dull day, dull +as the gloom which was upon our spirits; the very heavens seemed to +have put on funeral attire, and the chilly wind which swept over +the scene seemed quite at home.</p> +<p>We emerged cautiously from our cover, and soon stood where, a +few days before, the priory had risen, beautiful before God; it was +but a huge pile of blackened timber and stone; and even more +conspicuous above all other ruins, by the black smoke it still sent +forth, was that which had been the hall.</p> +<p>While we stood and pondered, Wiglaf suddenly started.</p> +<p>"I hear the tramp of men," he said.</p> +<p>Then I listened, and distinctly heard the footfall of men and +horses. We paused; it drew nearer. We were on the point of taking +to the woods again, when I thought I caught the sound of the word +of command in the English tongue, and the voice seemed +familiar.</p> +<p>We advanced still cautiously amongst the ruins, until we saw +fifty or sixty horsemen cross the wooden bridge which the Danes had +left uninjured, and advance with horror-stricken faces.</p> +<p>They were my brother and his men.</p> +<p>I recognised Elfwyn amongst them. I rushed up to him, and our +tears mingled together.</p> +<p>"They are safe, are safe," I cried.</p> +<p>"Thank God!" broke from many an overcharged heart.</p> +<p>"But where are they? where are they?"</p> +<p>"Safe at the forest farm, protected by brake and morass; and now +tell me, how came you here?"</p> +<p>Tidings arrived at headquarters that a small party of Danes were +making an incursion into Mercia, riding as rapidly as they could, +and I obtained Edric Streorn's leave to pursue them, with great +difficulty I can tell you, and he would only allow me then to take +fifty men.</p> +<p>"He affected to disbelieve the intelligence, and said +sarcastically that the safety of Wessex could not be neglected for +Aescendune. The Northmen would never hurt a place which had so +distinguished itself on St. Brice's day."</p> +<p>Here he sighed heavily.</p> +<p>"Elfwyn," I said, "my brother, we must not be ungrateful to God. +Here are ruins indeed, but they cover no dead bodies; all have +escaped."</p> +<p>"No, Cuthbert, not all."</p> +<p>I was silent, for I thought of Bertric.</p> +<p>"We have buried him, Cuthbert, in God's peace, in the place he +hallowed by his blood."</p> +<p>I saw the tears stream down his manly cheeks. My voice grew so +hoarse, somehow, that I could not ask a question.</p> +<p>"I will tell you all we have seen by and by, not now. I could +not bear it;" and he covered his face with his hands.</p> +<p>"How did he die?" I stammered at last.</p> +<p>"Like St. Edmund."</p> +<p>I asked no more, but I hope the martyr will forgive me the tears +I shed. I know I ought to rejoice that he has gained his crown, but +I cannot yet. I shall be able some day.</p> +<p>"How could they find the path through the woods, Cuthbert?" +asked my brother; "how did they know the fords?"</p> +<p>The same question had occurred to me.</p> +<p>Then the words of the churl Beorn, who had been taken prisoner, +as the messenger had told us, came fresh to my mind.</p> +<p>"Elfwyn," said I, "do you remember Beorn?"</p> +<p>He looked earnestly at me.</p> +<p>"Did he not say that his captors asked particularly about +Aescendune, and that the name of Anlaf was mentioned, and inquiries +made concerning Alfgar?"</p> +<p>"He did."</p> +<p>"It is the curse of St. Brice's night."</p> +<p>"Fallen upon the innocent."</p> +<p>"Leave it to God," said I.</p> +<p>"I will try; let us go to my people."</p> +<p>And we arose and took the path through the woods, sorrowing for +the news we must carry, and still uncertain about the fate of +Alfgar.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a>. THE CAMP OF THE +DANES.</h2> +<p>It was the noontide heat, and two Danish warriors reclined under +the shadow of an ancient beech, hard by the entrenched camp of the +Danes, a few days after the arrival of Alfgar therein. Their spears +lay idly on the grass, as if there were no foe to dread, and the +land were their own; they seemed deeply engrossed in +conversation.</p> +<p>"Well, Anlaf, and when is your son going to give up his +Christianity?"</p> +<p>"You are in a great hurry, Sidroc."</p> +<p>"Nay, all the camp inquires."</p> +<p>"They must wait."</p> +<p>"How long?"</p> +<p>"I cannot tell," said Anlaf, shifting uneasily about; "he is my +only son, the heir of a long line of warrior princes."</p> +<p>"To whom his life is a disgrace."</p> +<p>"Not altogether; he is brave."</p> +<p>"Would be, you mean, were he not a Christian."</p> +<p>"No, he is, or he would not dare cross my path as he does; +death, with which I have often threatened him, does not seem to +have much terror for him."</p> +<p>"Perhaps he does not know how terrible death can be made. Has he +ever heard of the rista oern<a name="EndNote7anc" href= +"#EndNote7sym"><sup> {vii}</sup></a> (spread eagle)?"</p> +<p>"I should not value him much if I won him by fear. I must try +other modes."</p> +<p>"Only do not tarry; Sweyn himself inquires how long his +obstinacy is to be endured."</p> +<p>"He must not expect that every conversion can be accomplished +with as much rapidity as his own in early days."</p> +<p>"Better not refer to that."</p> +<p>"Why! he was baptized himself."</p> +<p>"He would slay any one who reminded him of it."</p> +<p>"Yes; the curse of Harold Bluetooth, they say, was not a +comfortable thing to get."</p> +<p>"The father was a Christian in that case, and the son returned +to the gods of his ancestors; in your case it is the opposite: the +first might be permitted, the last never."</p> +<p>"You would not talk in that way if he were your own son."</p> +<p>"Should I not? listen; I had a son, a noble, gallant boy of +fifteen--all fire and spirit--do you know how he died?"</p> +<p>"It was before we knew each other."</p> +<p>"Then I will tell you. We had been ravaging the Frankish coasts, +and the lad got a wound in his shoulder; we carried him home, for +he had fought like a wolf, and the leeches tried to cure him, but +it was all in vain; they said he would never be fit to go to battle +again. Poor Sigard! he could not bear that, and he said one day +when I was trying to cheer him, 'No, father, I shall never be able +to strike a good downright blow again, and I cannot live until I +die a cow's death in my bed; I will die as my fathers have died +before me when they could no longer fight.' I saw what he meant, +but I did not like the thought, and I tried to change the subject, +but he returned to it again and again, until at last he persuaded +me to let him have his way. So we took one of our ships, stuffed it +full with things that would burn easily, made a funereal pile on +the deck, and laid him thereon in state, with a mantle fit for a +king thrown over him. Then we bade him goodbye and a happy journey +to Valhalla; he was as cheerful as if he were going to his bridal; +we tried to appear as if we were too, but it tore my heart all the +same. Then we applied the torch and cut the cable; the wind blew +fair, the bark stood out to sea. She had not got half-a-mile from +shore when the flames burst out from every crevice of the hold; we +saw them surround the pile where he lay passive; he did not move so +far as we could see, and after that all was hidden from our sight +in flame and smoke."</p> +<p>The old warrior was silent, and, in spite of his stoicism, Anlaf +thought a tear stood in his eye.</p> +<p>"So don't tell me I could not give up an only son," added +Sidroc.</p> +<p>Anlaf made no reply, but only sighed--a sign of weakness he +strove to repress the moment he betrayed it.</p> +<p>They walked back together to the camp, and there they parted. +Anlaf repaired at once to his tent, and found Alfgar seated +therein.</p> +<p>"The king wishes to know when you will be enrolled amongst his +followers."</p> +<p>The lad looked up sadly, yet firmly; the expression of his face, +whereon filial awe contended with yet higher feelings of duty, was +very touching. Anlaf felt it, and in his heart respected his son, +while sometimes he felt furious at his disobedience.</p> +<p>"Father, it is useless, you should not have brought me here, I +shall live and die a Christian."</p> +<p>"At all events, Alfgar, you should give more attention to all we +have said to you, and more respect to the defenders of the old +belief in which your ancestors were all content to die. What do you +suppose has become of them?"</p> +<p>If Alfgar had been a modern Christian, he might have said, +conscientiously enough, that he believed they would be judged by +their light, but no such compromise in belief was possible +then.</p> +<p>"There is no salvation save in the Church," he said, sorrowfully +enough.</p> +<p>"Then where are they--in hell?"</p> +<p>Alfgar was silent.</p> +<p>"What was good enough for them is good enough for me, and for +that matter for you, too. I should be more comfortable there with +them than with your saints and monks; at all events, I will take my +chance with my forefathers, cannot you do the same?"</p> +<p>"They did not know all I do."</p> +<p>"All fudge and priestly pratings, begotten of idleness and +dreams. Valhalla and Niffelheim are much more reasonable; at all +events they are parts of a creed which has made its followers the +masters of the world."</p> +<p>"This world."</p> +<p>"The next may take its chance, if there is one, of which I by no +means feel sure. You are throwing away the certainty of pleasure +and glory here for an utter uncertainty; those rewards you will +gain by submission are at your feet to take up; those you will gain +by a bloody death only exist in the imaginations of priests."</p> +<p>"'Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, but He hath revealed +them to us by His Spirit,'" said Alfgar in a low voice.</p> +<p>His father was silent; the words struck him like a strain of +weird music; but he did not yield the point, save for the time, and +after a pause changed the subject.</p> +<p>"You have other motives than heavenly ones. You love a Christian +maiden."</p> +<p>"How do you know that?" said Alfgar, blushing to the +temples.</p> +<p>"I have lain near you at night, and you talk in your dreams. +Now, I have yet another motive to put before you. You think you +have cause to love the Aescendune people, because they saved your +life. I think I have cause to hate them, because they made you a +Christian. Now, if you die in your superstition, when we invade +Mercia they shall suffer for it."</p> +<p>"They have suffered enough."</p> +<p>"Nay, only in buildings, which they will restore. I will pursue +them with unrelenting vengeance, with the death feud, till I have +destroyed the accursed race utterly."</p> +<p>"Father!"</p> +<p>"If you would save them," said Anlaf, who saw he had made an +impression, "renounce your Christianity, and I will forget +Aescendune."</p> +<p>Here he left the tent.</p> +<p>The days which followed were, it may be imagined, very +uncomfortable ones for Alfgar; but he was not destitute of +occupation. It was his father's wish that he should join the youth +of the camp in athletic and warlike exercises. This he had no +objection to do, and he spent nearly his whole time in practising +the use of battle-axe, of bow, of spear, of sword, and shield, or +in managing the war horse, for the Danes had acquired cavalry +tactics on stolen horses.</p> +<p>Naturally quick, both of eye and hand, he learned all these +things easily, and excited the admiration and envy of his +companions. They became useful in time.</p> +<p>In this manner nearly a month passed away, when an incident +occurred which claims our attention.</p> +<p>Strolling on the earthworks which defended the camp, near the +royal quarters, Alfgar came unexpectedly upon no less a person than +the king himself, in close conversation with a stranger.</p> +<p>There was something in the form and manner of this stranger +which even in the brief moment conveyed recognition to the mind of +our hero; and a second glance, which was all he dared to cast, as +he withdrew from the spot, revealed to him the face of a +traitor.</p> +<p>It was Edric Streorn.</p> +<p>A few hours later the chieftains were all summoned to a council +in the king's tent, and when, after a short session, they came +forth, the general order was given to break up the encampment, and +move towards the southwest for the winter, for all the resources of +the country around were exhausted.</p> +<p>The work was a laborious one. From the dawn of day, horses, +heavily laden, left the camp, loaded with the accumulated spoil of +the year. Anlaf himself was very busy, and it was with some real +alarm that Alfgar asked him what would happen did the English +suddenly appear.</p> +<p>"No fear of them, boy. We have received certain intelligence +that their army is disbanded for want of provisions. They will not +meet till the spring unless we rout them up."</p> +<p>Alfgar knew well whence the "certain intelligence" came.</p> +<p>Destroying and plundering, the mighty host moved on its way, +crossing into Hampshire, and doing, as the chronicle says, "their +old wont." Of them it might be said in the words of the +prophet:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Like Eden the land at morn they find; +But they leave it a desolate waste behind." +</pre></div> +<p>Whenever they found a tract of country as yet unexhausted, there +they settled until they had exhausted it. The wretched inhabitants, +who had fled at their approach, perished with hunger, unless they +had strength to crawl to the far distance, where as yet bread might +be found.</p> +<p>It was the custom of the invaders to burn all their resting +places when they left them, and to slay all captives, save such as +could be held to ransom, or a few whom they detained in slavery, +till they died a worse death from want and ill usage.</p> +<p>Thus they moved from spot to spot, until towards the middle of +November they reached the coast opposite the Isle of Wight, in +which unfortunate island they decided, after due consideration, to +winter.</p> +<p>Opposite the host, across the Solent, rose the lovely and gentle +hills of the "garden of England;" but between them lay the Danish +fleet, in all its grandeur, calmly floating on the water. Each of +the lofty ships bore the ensign of its commander; some carried at +the prow the figures of lions, some of bulls, dolphins, dragons, or +armed warriors, gaudily painted or even gilded; while others bore +from their mast the ensign of voracious birds--the eagle, the +raven--which appeared to stretch their wings as the flag expanded +in the wind.</p> +<p>The sides of the ships were also gay with bright colours, and as +the warriors embarked and hung up their bright shields, grander +sight was never seen.</p> +<p>But chiefly Alfgar admired the ship of Sweyn, called the "Great +Dragon." It was in the form of an enormous serpent; the sharp head +formed the prow, with hissing tongue protruding forth, and the long +tail tapered over the poop.</p> +<p>In this ship Anlaf himself had his place, in deference to his +descent, and Alfgar accompanied him. It may easily be imagined he +would sooner have been elsewhere.</p> +<p>Scarcely a fishing boat belonging to the English could be +discerned: the Danes made a desert around them.</p> +<p>Eight years before, in the year 998, they had wintered on the +island, and since that time had regarded it as a Danish colony. No +English remained in it save in the position of slaves, and the +conquerors had accumulated huge stores of spoil therein, while they +drew their stores of provisions from every part of the adjacent +mainland.</p> +<p>"Is it not a grand sight, Alfgar?" exclaimed his father. "Are +you not proud of your people, the true monarchs of the sea?"</p> +<p>Alfgar was for the moment inclined to sympathise; but he thought +of the darker side of the picture, and was silent.</p> +<p>There was a higher glory far than all this, and it had left a +lifelong impression on his soul.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a>. CARISBROOKE IN THE ELEVENTH +CENTURY.</h2> +<p>The fleet bore the troops of savage soldiery safely--too +safely--across the waters of the Solent, to the estuary formed by +the Medina, where now thousands of visitors seek health and repose, +and the towers of Osborne crown the eastern eminences. A fleet may +still generally be discerned in its waters, but a fleet of pleasure +yachts; far different were the vessels which then sought the +shelter of the lovely harbour, beautiful even then in all the +adornment of nature.</p> +<p>There the Danes cast anchor, and the forces dispersed to their +winter quarters. The king and his favourite chieftains took up +their abode at Carisbrooke, situate about eight miles up the +stream, but above the spot where it ceases to be navigable.</p> +<p>Their chosen retreat was the precincts of the old castle--old +even then--for it had been once a British stronghold, commanding +the route of the Phoenician tin merchants across the island, whence +its name "Caer brooke," or the "fort on the stream."</p> +<p>The Romans in after ages saw the importance of the position, +fortified it yet more strongly, and made it the chief military post +of the island, which, under their protecting care, enjoyed singular +peace and prosperity--civilisation flourished, arts and letters +were cultivated. The beautiful coasts and inlets were crowded with +villas, and invalids then, as now, sought the invigorating breezes, +from all parts of the island of Britain, and even from the +neighbouring province of Gaul.</p> +<p>The Roman power fell at last, and when the English pirates, our +own ancestors, like the Danes of our story, attacked the +dismembered provinces of the empire, its wealth and position on the +coast made it an early object of attack--happy those who fled +early. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle shall tell the story of those who +remained.</p> +<p>"AD. 530. This year Cerdic and Cynric conquered the Isle of +Wight, and slew many people at Whitgarasbyrg" (Carisbrooke).</p> +<p>The conquering Cerdic died four years after, and his son Cynric +gave the island to his nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar. The latter died +in 544, and was buried in the spot he and his had reddened with +blood, within the Roman ramparts of Carisbrooke.</p> +<p>It is needless to say that at that early period our ancestors +were heathens, and the mode of their conquest was precisely similar +to that we are now describing under another heathen (with less +excuse), Sweyn the son of Harold.</p> +<p>It was a few days after the arrival of the Danes at their +quarters, and Alfgar stood on the rampart at the close of a +November day; it was St. Martin's Mass, as the festival was then +called. The sun was sinking with fading splendour behind the lofty +downs in the west, and casting his departing beams on the river, +the estuary, with the fleet, and the blue hills of Hampshire in the +far distance.</p> +<p>Southward and westward the view was alike shut in by these lofty +downs, and eastward the hills rose again, so as to enclose the +valley, of which Carisbrooke formed the central feature.</p> +<p>The ramparts whereon he was standing were of Roman workmanship, +built so solidly that they had resisted every attack of man or of +time; while down below lay the ruins of a magnificent villa, once +occupied by the Roman governor of the island.</p> +<p>Anlaf appeared and stood beside his son.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," he said, "the day after tomorrow is the day of St. +Brice."</p> +<p>He paused and looked steadfastly in the face of his son.</p> +<p>"And the king proposes to enrol you amongst his chosen warriors +on that day; he has marked the skill you have displayed in the +mimic contests with spear or sword, your skill as a horseman, and +he wishes to see whether in actual battle you will fulfil the +promise of the parade ground."</p> +<p>"And yet he knows my faith."</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said the old man solemnly, "you must renounce it or +die; no mercy will be shown to a Christian on St. Brice's day; that +is why the king has chosen it. Think, my son, over all I have told +you; you will decide like one who yet controls his senses, and not +disgrace your aged father."</p> +<p>"Father, I do think of you," said the poor lad; "at least +believe that. I do not grieve for myself. I feel I could easily die +for my faith, but I do grieve over the pain I must cause you."</p> +<p>The heart of the old warrior was sensibly affected by this +appeal, but not knowing the strength of Christian principle, he +could not reconcile it with facts, and he walked sadly away.</p> +<p>But two days, and the dread choice had to be made--the crisis +in the life of Alfgar, a crisis which has its parallel in the lives +of many around us--approached, and he had to choose between +Christ and Odin, between the death of the martyr and apostasy.</p> +<p>He walked to and fro upon the ramparts, after his father left +him, in the growing darkness, feebly illuminated by the light of a +new moon. Below him, in the central area, a huge fire burned, +whereat the evening meal was preparing for the royal banquet, for +Sweyn and his ferocious chieftains were about to feast +together.</p> +<p>Escape was hopeless. Even had he not been bound by the promise +given to his father, it would have been very difficult. He felt +that his motions were watched. The island was full of foes, their +fleet occupied the Solent. No; all that was left was to die with +honour.</p> +<p>But to bring such disgrace upon his father and his kindred! +"Blood is thicker than water," says the old proverb, and Alfgar +could not, even had he wished, ignore the ties of blood; nature +pleaded too strongly. But there was a counter-motive even there-- +the dying wishes of his mother. If his father were Danish, she was +both English and Christian.</p> +<p>Before him the alternatives were sharply defined: Apostasy, and +his ancestral honours, with all that the sword of the conqueror +could give; and on the other hand, the martyr's lingering agony, +but the hope of everlasting life after death.</p> +<p>He could picture the probable scene. The furious king, the scorn +of the companions with whom he had vied, nay, whom he had excelled, +in the exercises of arms, end the ignominious death, perhaps that +painful punishment known as the "spread eagle." No, they could not +inflict that on one so nobly born, the descendant of princes.</p> +<p>Alas! what might not Sweyn do in his wrath?</p> +<p>Was Christianity worth the sacrifice? Where were the absolute +proofs of its truth? If it were of God, why did He not protect His +people? The heathen Saxons had been victorious over the Christian +Britons; and now that they had become Christian, the heathen Danes +were victorious over them. Was this likely to happen if Christ were +really God?</p> +<p>Again Odin and Frea, with their children, and the heroes sung by +the scalds, in the war songs which he heard echoing from around the +fire at that moment:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"How this one was brave, +And bartered his life +For joy in the fight; +How that one was wise, +Was true to his friends +And the dread of his foes." +</pre></div> +<p>Valour, wisdom, fidelity, contempt of death, hatred of meanness +and cowardice, qualities ever shining in the eyes of warlike +youth.</p> +<p>This creed had sufficed for his ancestors for generations, as +his father had told him. Why should he be better than they? If they +trusted to the faith of Odin, might not he?</p> +<p>And then, if he lived, when the war was carried into Mercia, he +would save his English friends, even although forced to live +unknown to them.</p> +<p>"Oh! life is sweet," thought he, "sweet to one so young as I. I +have but tasted the cup; shall I throw it down not half empty?"</p> +<p>He was almost conquered. He had all but turned to seek his +father, when suddenly the remembrance of Bertric flashed vividly +upon him.</p> +<p>He saw, as in a vision, the patient, brave lad enduring mortal +agony for Christ, so patiently, so calmly. Had Bertric, then, died +for <i>nought</i>? He felt as if the martyr were near him, to aid +him in this moment, when his faith was in peril.</p> +<p>"O Bertric, Bertric!" he cried, "intercede for me, pray for +me."</p> +<p>He fell on his knees, and did not rise until the temptation was +conquered, and then he walked steadily into the great vaulted room, +of Roman construction, which served as the banqueting hall, and +took his usual place by his father's side.</p> +<p>Oh, how hollow the mirth and revelry that night! How he loathed +the singing, the drunken shouting, the fierce imprecation over the +wine cup--the sensuality, which now distinguished his +bloodthirsty companions. The very knives he saw used for their +meals had served as daggers to despatch the wounded or the helpless +prisoner. The eyes, now weak with debauch, had glowed with the +maniacal fury of the berserkir in the battlefield. Was this the +glory of manhood? Nay, rather of wolves and bears.</p> +<p>Then he looked up at Sweyn, the murderer of his father, and +marvelled that his hand was yet so steady--his head so clear. +This apostate parricide! never would he live to kiss the hand of +such a man; better die at once, while yet pure from innocent blood. +This his Christianity had taught him.</p> +<p>"Minstrel," cried the fierce king, "sing us some stirring song +of the days of old; plenty of the fire of the old Vikings in +it."</p> +<p>A strange minstrel, a young gleeman, had been admitted that +night--one whose chain and robes bespoke him of the privileged +class--and he sang in a voice which thrilled all the revellers +into awed silence. He sang of the battle, of the joy of conquest, +and the glories of Valhalla, where deceased warriors drank mead +from the skulls of vanquished foes. And then he sang of the cold +and snowy Niffelheim, where in regions of eternal frost the +cowardly and guilty dead mourned their weak and wasted lives. In +words of terrific force he painted their agony, where Hela, of +horrid countenance, reigned supreme; where the palace was Anguish, +Famine the board, Delay and Vain Hope the waiters, Precipice the +threshold, and Leanness the bed.</p> +<p>But in the innermost chamber of this awful home was the abode of +Raging Despair; and in the final verse of his terrible ode the +scald sang:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Listen to the ceaseless wail, +Listen to the frenzied cry +Of anguish, horror, and amaze; +Would ye know from whom they come, +Tell me, warriors, would ye know?" +</pre></div> +<p>Here he paused, after throwing intense emphasis on the last +words, till he had concentrated the attention of all, and the king +gazed--absorbed--then he continued:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"There wave on wave of bitter woe +Overwhelms the parricide." +</pre></div> +<p>The king started from his seat. He was about to launch his +battle-axe through the air in search of the daring minstrel, when +the same dread expression of unutterable agony we have before +mentioned passed over his face; he trembled as an aspen, and sank, +as one paralysed, into his chair, while his glaring eyes seemed to +behold some horrid apparition unseen by all beside. The warriors +now turned in their wrath to seek the daring or unfortunate +minstrel, but he was gone.</p> +<p>Alfgar had seen the apostate in his moment of retributive agony, +and he shuddered.</p> +<p>"Better death, far better," he murmured, "than a fate like this. +God keep me firm to Him."</p> +<p>The king had by this time recovered his usual composure, but his +rage and fury were the more awful that the outbreak was +suppressed.</p> +<p>"Sit down, my warriors, disturb not the feast. What if your king +has been insulted in his own banquet hall? there are hands enow to +avenge him without unseemly tumult. Let us drink like the heroes in +Valhalla. Meanwhile let the minstrel be sought and brought before +us, and he shall make us sport in a different mode."</p> +<p>The "rista oern" whispered one in his ear.</p> +<p>The ferocious king nodded, and his eyes sparkled with the +expected gratification of his fierce cruelty. Meanwhile warriors +were searching all the precincts of the camp for the destined +victim.</p> +<p>Nearly half-an-hour had passed, and the king was getting +impatient, for nearly all the chieftains were getting too drunk to +appreciate the spectacle he designed for them.</p> +<p>"Why do the men delay?" he cried; "let them bring in the +minstrel."</p> +<p>Still he came not; and at length the searchers were forced, one +after the other, to confess their failure.</p> +<p>"It is well," said the king; "but it was the insult of a +Christian, and shall be washed out in Christian blood. Anlaf, +produce thy son."</p> +<p>"Nay, nay, not now," cried Sidroc and others, for they saw that +Sweyn was already drunk, and consideration for Anlaf made them +interfere. "Not now; tomorrow, tomorrow."</p> +<p>"Nay, tonight, tonight."</p> +<p>"Drink first, then, and drown care," said Sidroc, and gave the +brutal tyrant a bowl of rich mead.</p> +<p>He drank, drank until it was empty, then fell back and reposed +with an idiotic smile superseding the ferocious expression his face +had so lately worn. Meanwhile a hand was laid upon Alfgar's +shoulder, and a keen bright eye met his own, as if to read his +inmost thoughts.</p> +<p>"Come with me, or my father will disgrace himself."</p> +<p>It was Canute.</p> +<p>He led Alfgar forth into the courtyard.</p> +<p>"Thou dost not seem to fear death," said the boy prince.</p> +<p>"It would be welcome now."</p> +<p>"So some of our people sometimes say, but the motive is +different; tell me what is the secret of this Christianity?"</p> +<p>Just then Sidroc and Anlaf came out from the hall and saw the +two together. Sidroc seemed annoyed, and led the young prince away, +while Anlaf seized the opportunity to whisper to his son:</p> +<p>"My son, I can do no more for thee; I see thou wilt persist in +thine obstinacy. I release thee from thy promise given to me; +escape if thou canst, or die in the attempt; but bring not my grey +hairs to contempt on the morrow."</p> +<p>At this moment, Sidroc having seen Canute to the royal quarters, +returned.</p> +<p>"Sidroc," said Anlaf, "I cannot any longer be the jailor of my +unhappy and rebellious son. Let him be confined till the morrow. I +shall ask leave of absence from Sweyn, and now I deliver Alfgar to +your care."</p> +<p>"I accept the charge," said Sidroc; "follow me, Alfgar, son of +Anlaf."</p> +<p>Alfgar followed passively. He could not help looking as if to +take leave of his father; but Anlaf stood as mute and passionless +as a statue. Sidroc reached a party of the guard, and bade them +confine the prisoner in the dungeon beneath the ruined eastern +tower.</p> +<p>"Listen to my last words, thou recreant boy; Sweyn will send for +thee early in the morning before the assembled host; it will be the +day of St. Brice; and even were he not now mad with rage, there +would be no mercy for a Christian on that day. Thou must yield, or +die by the severest torture, compared with which the death of thy +late companion under the archers' shafts was merciful. Be +warned!"</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a>. THE GLEEMAN.</h2> +<p>It was a low dungeon, built of that brick which we still +recognise as of Roman manufacture, in the foundations of what had +been the eastern tower of the ancient fortification. The old pile +had been badly preserved by the Saxon conquerors, but it had been +built of that solid architecture which seems almost to defy the +assaults of time, and which in some cases, after fifteen centuries, +preserves all its characteristics, and promises yet to preserve +them, when our frailer erections lie crumbled in the dust.</p> +<p>The roof was semicircular, and composed of minute bricks, +seeming to form one solid mass; the floor of tiling, arranged in +patterns, which could still be obscurely traced by the light of the +lamp left by the charity of Sidroc to the prisoner; for the dungeon +was of bad reputation; lights had been seen there at unearthly +hours, when the outer door was fast and no inmate existed.</p> +<p>There were two long narrow windows at the end, unbarred, for +they were too small for the human body to pass through them; they +looked upon the valley and, river beneath, for although the dungeon +was below the level of the courtyard, it was above that of the +neighbourhood.</p> +<p>The prisoner strode up and down the limited area, wrestling with +self, bending the will by prayer to submit to ignominy and pain, +for he knew now that his father had abandoned him, and that he had +to apprehend the worst; still he did not regret the choice he had +made, and he felt, as he prayed, peace and confidence descend like +heavenly dew upon his soul. Mechanically he cast his eyes around +the cell, and tried to trace out the pattern of the flooring, when +he saw that the central figure, around which the circles and +squares converged, was justice, with the scales, and the motto, +"Fiat justitia." He knew the meaning of the words, for Father +Cuthbert had taught him some Latin, and the conviction flashed upon +him that, sooner or later, all the wrong and evil about him would +be righted by the power of a judge as omnipotent as unerring. And +this thought made him the more reconciled to the apparent injustice +of which he was the victim, and he prayed for his father, that God +would enlighten him with the true light.</p> +<p>"Perhaps before he dies he may yet think of me without +shame."</p> +<p>For the shame which he unwillingly brought upon a father who was +stern, yet not unkind or void of parental love, was the bitterest +ingredient in the cup.</p> +<p>And so the hours rolled on, which brought the dreaded morn +nearer and nearer; and the victim, comforted by prayer, but without +hope in this world, slept, and thought no longer of the torturer's +knife, or felt the cruel anticipations which would rack the waiting +mind.</p> +<p>And while he slept he was wakened, yet but partly wakened, by a +voice which seemed to belong to the borderland 'twixt sleep and +waking.</p> +<p>"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, sleepest thou?"</p> +<p>"Surely I dream," thought he, and strove to sleep again.</p> +<p>"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, sleepest thou?"</p> +<p>Now he sat up, and beheld, or thought he beheld, a figure of one +clothed in the attire of a minstrel, in the centre of the +chamber.</p> +<p>"Art thou yet in the flesh like me?" he cried, repressing a +shudder.</p> +<p>"Even so, a being of like mould, subject to pain and death."</p> +<p>"A prisoner, then; art doomed to die?"</p> +<p>"No prisoner, neither art thou, if thou willest to escape."</p> +<p>"Thou art the gleeman who insulted Sweyn."</p> +<p>"Nay, who told the brutal tyrant the truth."</p> +<p>"And what doest thou here?"</p> +<p>"I am come to deliver thee."</p> +<p>"But how?"</p> +<p>"Rise up, cast on your garments."</p> +<p>Hardly knowing what he did, Alfgar obeyed, and when he stood +face to face with the stranger, began to lose the uneasy impression +that the being who addressed him was otherwise than mortal; for he +saw by the light of the lamp that the gleeman bore all the +attributes of a living man.</p> +<p>"How came you here?"</p> +<p>"Because I know the secrets of the prison house--knew them +before the Danes had murdered the once happy dwellers in this +garden of England, which they have made a howling wilderness; hence +I escaped the wrath of the furious parricide, whom the saints +destroy, with ease, and laughed in security at their vain efforts +to take me; but we must waste no time; it yet wants five hours to +daybreak; within those five hours we must reach the opposite +shore."</p> +<p>"But tell me, I cannot understand, why hast thou braved the +wrath of Sweyn? why hast thou cared for me?"</p> +<p>"All in good time, follow me now, I bid thee by the memory of +Aescendune."</p> +<p>"Aescendune! surely I dream."</p> +<p>"Yes, of Aescendune. I have heard that thou art thence. Now +waste no more time."</p> +<p>More and more mystified, for he had never to his knowledge seen +the speaker before, Alfgar gazed at the gleeman.</p> +<p>He appeared of noble air and mien, but was evidently but a young +man; he was somewhat above the average height, and looked as though +he could wield the sword as well as the harp. But how were they to +escape?</p> +<p>Alfgar was not left long in doubt. The stranger took up the lamp +and walked to the farthest recess of the dungeon, where, concealed +amongst the rude carvings with which the builders had ornamented +the wall, was a rose carved in stone. The gleeman pressed it +sharply, and a hidden door sprang open, revealing a winding +staircase excavated in the solid wall.</p> +<p>"Upwards it leads to the banqueting hall, and you can comprehend +my escape this evening," said he; "but our path is now downwards, +unless you would like to go up and see the drunken beasts of +murderers snoring off their debauch upon the floor as they fell; +oh, that it were lawful for a Christian man to cut their throats as +they lie; many innocent lives would be saved thereby, which those +brutes will live to destroy."</p> +<p>"Thou art, then, a Christian?"</p> +<p>The gleeman crossed himself piously.</p> +<p>"Why not?" said he.</p> +<p>"I heard you sing like a scald tonight."</p> +<p>"It was my part, and I acted it passing well, did I not? Sweyn +would own as much; but, pardon me, I am forgetting that my daring +put you in danger."</p> +<p>"How did you know that?"</p> +<p>"I heard every word; and perhaps I might even have risked more +than this to save you."</p> +<p>Meanwhile they had descended nearly a hundred steps, and the +atmosphere became singularly cold and charnel-like, when they +entered a large vault, which, by the light of their torches, +appeared of great extent. Its walls were covered with uncouth +representations, and inscriptions in Latin.</p> +<p>"What place is this?"</p> +<p>"It had some connection, I believe, with the old idolatry, and +that is all I know. This passage will guide us to daylight and +liberty."</p> +<p>Following a short and narrow passage, they emerged upon a ruined +vault, whose roof had fallen in. Climbing out with some difficulty, +and disturbing in the process hundreds of bat-mice and not a few +rats, they found themselves in the midst of some old ruins at the +foot of the acclivity whereon the fortress was built, and below +them the brook ran rapidly to join the river.</p> +<p>"Thanks be to God for our preservation in that den of unclean +lions!" said the gleeman; "but had they known who was amongst them, +he would have had scant chance of escape."</p> +<p>"May I not know?"</p> +<p>"Not yet. Come, we must waste no more time."</p> +<p>They walked swiftly down the brook. No sentinels were posted in +this direction, nor was any lookout kept.</p> +<p>"The danger is yet to come," said the gleeman, in a low +tone.</p> +<p>Shortly they reached the river, and then they found a boat +hidden in the rushes, which grew tall and strong. They embarked, +and Alfgar steered, by the other's direction, straight down the +stream, while he rowed for full an hour with remarkable strength +and dexterity, so that they drew near the coast, and the cold air +from the sea blew in Alfgar's face.</p> +<p>Here the gleeman ceased rowing, and spoke to him in a low +tone.</p> +<p>"Do you see those dark figures ahead?"</p> +<p>"I do."</p> +<p>"Well, they are the Danish war ships, and our hour of peril +draws near. We must drop down with the tide, which is running out +strongly, and I must steer. You can row, I suppose?"</p> +<p>"Yes."</p> +<p>"Well, get the oars ready to pull for your life, if I give the +word, but not till then. Now silence."</p> +<p>In perfect silence they drifted down upon the ships. Happily for +them there was no moon, and although the stars were bright, there +was little danger that their dark-painted bark would be seen at any +distance.</p> +<p>One great mass after another seemed to float by them; but it was +the dead hour of the night, and no sounds were heard from the +sleeping crews. They kept lax watch, because they had no foe to +dread. There was, alas! no English fleet.</p> +<p>One after another, until they had drifted into the centre of the +fleet, where discovery must have been instant death. There above +them rose the "Great Dragon," in all her hideous beauty, the gilded +serpent reposing on the placid waves. Her people, even at that +untimely hour, were engaged in revelry, and as they passed by the +fugitives heard the words:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Now the warrior's cup of joy was full, +When he drank the blood of his foe, +Where the slain lay thick on the gory hill, +And torrents of blood from every rill +reddened the river below, +For Odin's hall is the Northman's heaven--" +</pre></div> +<p>But they heard no more, for they had drifted beyond hearing.</p> +<p>They had now attained the last ship, when suddenly a watchman +sprang to the side.</p> +<p>"Boat ahoy! Whence and where?"</p> +<p>"From the 'Great Dragon'--a poor gleeman and his attendant to +his home on the shore."</p> +<p>"Come on board then, and wake us with a song. The watch is ours, +and we will make it merry."</p> +<p>There was no help for it; and commending courage with a +significant look to his companion, the gleeman and Alfgar ascended. +It was yet dark, and the language and appearance of each might pass +tolerably under ordinary circumstances for the characters they had +assumed.</p> +<p>"Now a song, and we will keep it up till daylight."</p> +<p>Thus pressed, the gleeman took his harp and sang an old +Scandinavian song of the first sea king who invaded England, Ragnar +Lodbrok.</p> +<p>He told how the fierce Ragnar sailed for England, how his fleet +was wrecked, but still how, with the relics of his forces, he +assaulted Northumbria, and was taken captive by Ella the king, who +threw him into a hole filled with vipers and toads.</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Sharp the adder's tooth, but sharper +Spake the sea king to his foes, +Spake while savage brows grew darker, +As he told the countless woes +Which the bear's fierce cubs should bring +To those who slew their father and their king." +</pre></div> +<p>Then he described the retribution, and the lingering death of +Ella under the agonies of the "rista oern" so vividly, that every +Danish heart was filled with emulation.</p> +<p>"Well sung!" shouted the Danes. "Thou dost sing a song worth +hearing. Hast not taught thy son to sing likewise?"</p> +<p>In turn Alfgar was forced to support his assumed character. +Luckily his tenacious memory retained the words of many an old +song, and the warriors were well pleased.</p> +<p>"Why must thou go to shore? We will feed and guerdon thee well +if thou wilt stay with us."</p> +<p>"We are aweary now, and would fain return to our comrades on the +shore, but we will return by and by."</p> +<p>"Do so, here is thy reward;" and one of the speakers threw a +gold chain round the gleeman's neck. Gold was plentiful with the +robbers.</p> +<p>They were allowed to return to their boat; but as they did so, +many a keen eye was fixed upon them. The dawn was already beginning +to appear in the east, and every moment was of importance.</p> +<p>"Thou hast borne the test well," said the gleeman, "and hast not +flinched."</p> +<p>"I could not in your presence."</p> +<p>At this moment they heard the rapid splash of a boat, manned by +many rowers, behind, and a voice shouted aloud to the men on board +the ship they had left:</p> +<p>"Hast seen a boat with a gleeman and harp bearer?"</p> +<p>"They have just left the ship."</p> +<p>"Follow; they are English spies. Sweyn will give the weight of +their heads in red gold."</p> +<p>Instantly they heard the sound of hurried voices, the lowering +of boats, the splash of numerous oars, and all nearly close behind +them. They took an oar each, and pulled with all the energy of men +who pull for life or death.</p> +<p>The light was gradually growing stronger, and their chance of +escape seemed feeble, when Alfgar saw before them a dense cloud of +mist rolling round the eastern promontory, and uttered a cry of joy +as it enfolded them.</p> +<p>"The wind is east, keep it on your right cheek, and steer +straight forward. I will take both oars," said the gleeman.</p> +<p>It was wonderful with what energetic force and success the +gleeman pulled until they had cleared the mist, and saw that they +were in the red light of dawn, in the midst of the Solent.</p> +<p>One half-mile behind them a solitary boat pursued. There +appeared to be only five men, four rowing and one steering. Other +boats there were, but wide of the mark.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said the gleeman, "you will find a quiver of arrows +and a long bow at the bottom of the boat behind you."</p> +<p>Alfgar handed them to him.</p> +<p>"The points are passing sharp, and the bow is in order; take +your turn to row."</p> +<p>Alfgar obeyed; he could not do otherwise, the gleeman's tone of +command was so powerful, but he feared they would loss time by the +change.</p> +<p>"You need not hurry yourself; let them approach. They are not +likely to have brought other weapons than their swords and +axes."</p> +<p>The boat gained on them rapidly, until it was within a hundred +and fifty yards.</p> +<p>"Keep just this distance if you can," said the gleeman, and drew +an arrow suddenly to its head; it whistled through the air, and the +steersman, transfixed, rose, leapt in the boat, and fell in the sea +a corpse.</p> +<p>"Gone to seek oysters for King Sweyn's table, I suppose," said +the gleeman.</p> +<p>Another steersman promptly took the place, but some yards were +lost by the pursuers.</p> +<p>"Slacken, we are too far for accurate aim; and we English must +not disgrace ourselves in Danish eyes."</p> +<p>They slackened, another arrow sped, and the foremost rower fell. +Evidently the Danes had no means of reply.</p> +<p>"Slacken yet more;" and before the pursuers could recover their +confusion, a third fell, then a fourth, before the unerring shafts. +The fifth was at the fearful gleeman's mercy, but he restrained +himself, now danger had vanished.</p> +<p>But as he did so he cried aloud:</p> +<p>"Dane, we give thee thy life, blood sucker though thou art. Go, +and tell King Sweyn that Edmund<a name="EndNote8anc" href= +"#EndNote8sym"><sup> {viii}</sup></a> the Etheling, son of Ethelred of +England, has been his gleeman, and hopes he enjoyed the song which +told the doom of parricides."</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a>. THE MONASTERY OF +ABINGDON.</h2> +<p>One of the central lights of civilisation and Christianity in +the early days of Wessex was the monastery of Abingdon. St. Birinus +had fixed the centre of his missionary labours at Dorchester, only +six miles distant, but the Abbey was the fruit of the heroic zeal +of another evangelist, upon whom his mantle fell--St. Wilfrid. +After the death of Birinus, the zeal of his successors failed to +evangelise the southeastern districts of Wessex, until, at length, +came Wilfrid, fervent in zeal, and, stationing himself at Selsey, +near Chichester, evangelised both Sussex and Wessex, sending out +missionaries like-minded with himself, even into the most +inaccessible wilds.</p> +<p>Centwin was then king of Sussex, but various petty states were +tributary to him, and ruled by viceroys. One of these viceroys was +Cissa, whose dominions included Wiltshire and the greater part of +Berkshire<a name="EndNote9anc" href= +"#EndNote9sym"><sup> {ix}</sup></a>. This Cissa and his nephew, Hean, +founded Abingdon. A mission was sent out from Chichester which +attracted great multitudes of the Berkshire folk. Hean was present, +and heard the preacher take for his text that verse of St. Matthew +which declares that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye +of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. These +words entered into the hearts of Hean and his sister Cilla, who was +with him. They determined to go and sell all that they had and +embrace a life of poverty. From their uncle, Cissa, they obtained +grants of land, whereon they founded monastic homes. Cilla +dedicated the convent she reared to St. Helena, the mother of +Constantine, traditions of whose life in the neighbourhood had +survived the Saxon Conquest.</p> +<p>Hean obtained the land of which Abingdon formed the central +point, then generally known by the name Cloveshoo. He was tardy in +his work as contrasted with his sister, and Cissa died without +seeing the work for which he had given the land accomplished. +Ceadwalla succeeded him (A.D. 685), and further augmented the +territory. He rebelled against Centwin, and became king of Wessex; +spending most of his life in warfare; it was through his conquest +of the island that the "Wight" became Christian. He made a +pilgrimage to Rome, where he died, after his baptism by Pope +Sergius.</p> +<p>Ina, his successor (A.D. 688), was so angry at the long delay in +building the monastery, that at first he revoked the grant of his +predecessors to Hean, but becoming reconciled, gave all his energy +to the work, and Cloveshoo<a name="EndNote10anc" href= +"#EndNote10sym"><sup> {x}</sup></a>, or Abingdon, became a monastic +town, and its history commences as a house of God from Ina, about +A.D. 690-700.</p> +<p>Important benefits were thus conferred on the whole +neighbourhood; agriculture flourished, learning increased, a +sanctuary for the oppressed was provided, and last, though not +least in Ina's eyes, a bulwark against Mercia was provided for the +neighbourhood; while the poor and the afflicted found their +happiness in every way promoted by the neighbourhood of the +monastery.</p> +<p>Several times the monastery was in peril by reason of the wars +between Wessex and Mercia. In A. D. 752, Cuthred of Wessex defeated +Ethelbald of Mercia at Burford, hard by, and protected Abingdon +from further aggressions. Twenty-five years later the decision of +war was reversed. Offa, the great and fierce king of Mercia, +defeated Cynewulf of Wessex, at Bensington, and spoiled the land, +destroying the convent of St. Helena, founded by Cilla, and +grievously robbing and oppressing Abingdon.</p> +<p>But the most awful calamity it ever underwent was its +destruction in the first great Danish invasion, in the early days +of King Alfred, when it was literally levelled with the ground, +only, however, to arise in greater magnificence when the storm had +passed away.</p> +<p>However the period of anarchy had introduced evils which +required a stern reformer, and one was found in the person of the +abbot Ethelwold, the friend of St. Dunstan, who, in conjunction +with him and Oswald, introduced the rule of St. Benedict into +Abingdon, Glastonbury, Ely, and other great houses, which, by its +absolute prohibition of monastic idleness, and its wise +regulations, caused the religious houses of that period to become +the central points of civilisation and learning in the land.</p> +<p>Here, at this famous monastery, we resume Father Cuthbert's +Diary.</p> +<p>In festo St. Edmundi.</p> +<p>Again I resume my diary, at the great monastic house of +Abingdon, where I have rejoined my brethren. I have already told +how, in company with Elfwyn, Father Adhelm and I sought the forest +farm where our beloved ones had found refuge from the cruel +oppressor. The joy of the women and children to whom their husbands +and fathers were thus restored was very touching; all seemed +willing to forget the destruction of their homes, since they had +been spared to each other, and I, to whom, by my vows, such love is +unknown, yet could but feel how holy a thing is family +affection.</p> +<p>Alas, there was one family where the bitterness of death had +found its way. I cannot describe the touching scene when Elfwyn +told the fate of dear Bertric. Well, they will learn by and by to +thank God for him and his example, for we doubt not he died a +martyr, although we know not the details, and, unless Alfgar yet +lives, shall perhaps never know them.</p> +<p>We held a long consultation upon our future movements. It was +wisely decided not to rebuild Aescendune at present, for the place +where they now are can be rendered very commodious, and is far more +secure against a foe. We do not dare to hope that we have seen the +last of our troubles; the Danes are wintering in the Wight, ready +for fresh mischief next spring and summer.</p> +<p>We have been able to learn nothing of Alfgar; but we think that +Anlaf probably yet lives, and that he has recovered his son; yet we +cannot imagine how he escaped on St. Brice's night.</p> +<p>Well, to return. We at once set to work, and erected a church of +timber, for the service of God; and I said mass in it the first +Sunday after our arrival there. It may be supposed it is not a very +grand church; but God looks at the living stones, and reads the +heart.</p> +<p>We all had enough to do for the first few days; but within a +week one might suppose we had been living there an age. Log huts +were erected for the whole population; the old farm house, which is +large and strongly built, taking the place of the hall. One must +dispense with some comfort now.</p> +<p>My brother sent a portion of his men to rejoin the army, but +feels himself justified in entering at once on his winter quarters +with the remainder; in fact, since my arrival at Abingdon, the +troops have all been dismissed for the winter, and the Danes have, +as I said, retired to the Wight.</p> +<p>Then, leaving Father Adhelm in charge of the woodland +settlement, I determined to visit my brethren here, where I have +been received with all Christian love and hospitality by the abbot +and his brethren. Three days my journey lasted. I travelled with +only two attendants, serfs of our house; a poor prior burnt out +from house and home.</p> +<p>Nov. 21st, 1006.--</p> +<p>This evening I heard heavy steps on the stairs, and methought +their tread seemed familiar, as well it might, for no sooner had +the door opened than my son Alfgar, for whom we had mourned as +dead, or at least dead to us, fell upon my neck and wept.</p> +<p>It was a long time before either of us was composed enough to +say much, but when we had a little recovered, the abbot who had +brought them to my rooms introduced a tall young man in gleeman's +garb, as Edmund the Etheling.</p> +<p>At length we all sat down to supper, but talked so much we could +eat little, and I soon learned all the news Alfgar had to tell. His +tale is wonderful; he has been indeed delivered from the mouth of +the lion, nay, from the jaws of the fierce lion; but I must set +down all things in order.</p> +<p>The one thing which delights me most is the way in which his +faith has stood the hard hard test to which it has been put.</p> +<p>But my dear nephew Bertric, Saint Bertric we must assuredly call +him, oh how it will lighten the grief of his parents and sister to +know how gloriously he died for Christ! One could envy him his +crown.</p> +<p>And then how delighted Ethelgiva will be to learn not only that +Alfgar is alive, but to hear how true and brave he has been.</p> +<p>But when all these congratulations were over, and we had learned +all that Alfgar had to tell, there was evidently something on the +mind of the prince.</p> +<p>"Alfgar and I have a very important duty to perform," he +said.</p> +<p>I waited, and he proceeded.</p> +<p>"There has been grievous treachery in our ranks. Edric Streorn +has sold us to the Danes."</p> +<p>"I feared as much," said I, sadly.</p> +<p>"I learned it at Carisbrooke, and am now on my way to +Dorchester, where my royal father has arrived, or will arrive +tomorrow. I should have gone there at once, but Alfgar learned you +were here, and would come. Besides, we need your help to fit us for +appearing at court."</p> +<p>And, in truth, their habiliments were not very royal.</p> +<p>Well, Abingdon is a town of great resources, wherein all things +meet may be found.</p> +<p>"We will to the tradesmen tomorrow," I said, "and fit you for +the presence."</p> +<p>"I have yet heavier news to unfold," Edmund added, very +seriously. "The Danes purpose a winter campaign in the heart of the +land, hoping to take us unawares."</p> +<p>"Now the saints forbid!" said I.</p> +<p>"Even so; but they are not all with us. St. Brice is against +us."</p> +<p>I sighed, and so did they. The very remembrance of that day is +sickening.</p> +<p>"We have heard," said the abbot, "that the king will arrive +tomorrow at Dorchester; we will send you thither in the morning. +Meanwhile, my sons, you do not eat and drink as I would have you. +Remember you need to sustain exhausted nature."</p> +<p>That was indeed true. They had travelled fast, and had fasted by +the way, of necessity.</p> +<p>"Well, Alfgar, we will tomorrow to the king," said Edmund, after +they had eaten and drunken; "he must surely listen to us now."</p> +<p>"He appears to love this wicked Edric," said the abbot +sorrowfully.</p> +<p>"Far better than his own flesh and blood," replied Edmund.</p> +<p>"My son," said the abbot, "rest here this night in our poor +house; tomorrow we will find you both horses and fitting apparel, +and ye shall go meetly to the king, who is the guest of the +bishop."</p> +<p>"I shall not be sorry, father, to see the inside of my chamber," +said the young prince; for he is yet young, although so wise and +valiant--not more than a year or two older than Alfgar.</p> +<p>The compline bell rang.</p> +<p>"I will go with you to thank God first for our deliverance, and +to pay my vows to Him," said Edmund; "then to bed."</p> +<p>After compline, Edmund went from the chapel to bed. Alfgar would +not retire. He came to my cell; there he talked with me for a full +hour. His affection moves me greatly. He has evidently found a real +friend in Prince Edmund, who has delivered him from a cruel death, +and who wants to attach him permanently to his service. Meanwhile +Alfgar is all haste to return to Aescendune and Ethelgiva, before +any further steps are taken.</p> +<p>Saturday, Nov. 22d, 1006.--</p> +<p>After we had arrayed the Etheling and Alfgar this morning, I +decided to accompany them on their road to Dorchester, for it +happened that I had arranged to say mass and preach tomorrow at the +little church of St. Michael at Clifton, the residence of my sister +Bertha and her husband Herstan. It lies on a cliff over the Thames, +on the way to the cathedral city, whence its name, "the town on the +cliff."</p> +<p>So we started, the Etheling, Alfgar, and I, after the chapter +mass at nine. We crossed the fine timber bridge over the Isis, then +kept the causeway over the marshes, till, crossing an arm of the +main stream, we ascended a hill and passed through the open +country.</p> +<p>On the north the country is richly wooded. There lies the chase +of Neweham, abounding in deer, with a few wolves yet lingering in +its recesses, and forming sport for the ceorls.</p> +<p>In the neighbourhood of a great monastery the roads are always +good, and waggons can travel easily and smoothly from Abingdon to +Dorchester. So, being well mounted, we were only the best part of +an hour in reaching Clifton.</p> +<p>The river here makes a sudden bend to the east, after running +for some time almost due north, and at the bend the steep cliff +rises whereon the little church and my brother Herstan's hall is +built, with a few cottages below and around occupied by his +theows.</p> +<p>We went first to the church and offered our devotions. From the +elevated ground whereon it stands, the cathedral of Dorchester and +the Synodune hills formed conspicuous objects.</p> +<p>Then we turned to the hall, and met a reception such as warmed +the heart. When we had refreshed ourselves, I had to tell Bertha +all the strange events which have recently happened at Aescendune; +of the destruction of her old home, but of the well being of all +her friends; yes, of all, for we know that he has won the martyr's +crown.</p> +<p>Some natural tears she dropped; but I think she soon came to see +all things in their right light, as we try to do.</p> +<p>Soon after our arrival, Herstan sent a messenger to Dorchester +to learn at what hour the king was expected; and the answer was +returned, that they expected him in time for the banquet at the +episcopal palace this evening. So Edmund and Alfgar consented to +pass the day quietly at Cliffton.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a>. THE CITY OF +DORCHESTER.</h2> +<p>Dorchester was at this period the most important city of the +Midland counties, for it was the seat of the great bishopric which +extended its sway over nearly the whole of Mercia.</p> +<p>Here the apostle of Wessex, Birinus, had converted and baptized +Cynegils, king of that country, Oswald, the saintly king of +Northumbria, being present, and receiving him fresh from the +regenerating waters as his adopted son. Here, the next year, +Cuichelm, his brother, was baptized, and from this centre +Christianity was widely diffused. The good bishop died in the year +650, and was buried amongst the people he loved, but many years +later his relics were translated to Winchester. But the tale went +forth that the cunning canons of Dorchester had given them another +body than that of the saint, and their shrine was the object of +veneration equally with the rival shrine at Winchester.</p> +<p>Dorchester became successively the seat of two great bishoprics +--the one West Saxon, the other Mercian. The first, founded by +Birinus, when Wessex extended far north of the Thames, was divided +seventy years later into two sees--Winchester and Sherburne. For +some years the city was without bishops, owing to its insecure +position during the strife between Wessex and Mercia, but later it +appears as the seat of the great Mercian bishopric, retaining its +jurisdiction until after the Norman conquest, when the see was +transferred to Lincoln. Therefore Dorchester long enjoyed a wide +celebrity and greater influence, than the city, Oxenford, which, +lying at a distance of ten miles, was destined to supersede it +eventually.</p> +<p>The day was closing on an evening of November 1006, and the sun +was sinking across the level country beyond the walls, when the +people of Dorchester might have been seen crowding the roads which +led from the eastern gate towards Bensington and Wallingford; the +wooden bridge by which the road crossed the Tame was covered with +human beings, and every eye was eagerly directed along the great +high road. The huge cathedral church towered above the masses, rude +in architecture, yet still impressive in its proportions, while +another church, scarcely smaller in its dimensions, rose from the +banks lower down the stream, below the bridge, and the wooden +steeple of a third was visible above the roofs of the houses in the +western part of the city.</p> +<p>But, as in every other city which had once been Roman, the +relics of departed greatness contrasted painfully (at least we +should think so) with the humbler architecture around. The majesty +of the churches was indeed (as a contemporary wrote) great, but +thatched roofs consorted ill with the remains of shattered column +and pedestal, and with the fragmentary ruins of the grand +amphitheatre, which were yet partly visible, although the stones +which had been brought from Bath to build it had been employed +largely in church architecture.</p> +<p>The light of day was rapidly fading; a light breeze brought down +the remaining leaves from the trees, or whirled them about in all +directions; winter was plainly about to assume the mastery of the +scene, as was evident from the clothing the people wore, the thick +fur and warm woollen cloaks which covered their light tunics.</p> +<p>At length the sound of approaching cavalry was heard, and the +cry "The King! the King!" was raised, and cheers were given by the +multitude. It was observable, almost at a glance, that they +proceeded from the young and giddy, and that their elders refrained +from joining in the cry.</p> +<p>About a hundred horsemen, gaily caparisoned, appeared, and in +the midst, with equal numbers of his guard preceding and following, +rode Ethelred the king. He was of middle stature and not uncomely, +but there was a look of vacillation about his face, which would +have struck even an indifferent physiognomist, while his thin lips, +which he was constantly biting (when he was not biting his nails), +seemed to indicate a tendency towards cruelty.</p> +<p>But by his side rode one, whose restless eyes seemed to wander +to each individual of the crowd in turn, while power and malice +seemed equally conspicuous in his glance. Little changed since we +last beheld him rode the traitor, for so all but the king accounted +him, Edric Streorn.</p> +<p>Amidst the shouts of the populace, who loved to look on the +display, the Bishop Ednoth<a name="EndNote11anc" href= +"#EndNote11sym"><sup> {xi}</sup></a> and the chief magistrates of the +city received the monarch and his councillor in front of the church +of Sts. Peter and Paul, and escorted him through the streets to the +palace, which stood in what was then a central position, on the +spot now called Bishop's Court. It was spacious, built around a +quadrangular courtyard, with cloisters surrounding the lowest +storey and the smooth shaven lawn, in the centre of which a granite +cross was upraised. A gateway opened in the southern side and led +to the inner court, and the cloisters opened from either side upon +it.</p> +<p>On the opposite side of the quadrangle was the great hall where +synods were held, and where, on state occasions, such as a royal +visit, the banquet was prepared.</p> +<p>Here, after the king had availed himself of the bath, and his +attendants had divested themselves of their travel-stained attire, +the throne of the king was placed at the head of the board, and a +seat for the bishop on his right hand, and for Edric on his +left.</p> +<p>Ethelred took his place; upon his head a thin circlet of gold +confined his flowing locks already becoming scant, but, as their +natural colour was light, not otherwise showing signs of age: he +was only in his fortieth year. His tunic was finely embroidered in +colours around the neck, and was below of spotless white, secured +by a belt richly gilded, whereon was a sheath for the dagger or +knife, which was used for all occasions, whether in battle or in +meal time, the haft being inlaid with precious stones. Over the +tunic a rich purple mantle was lightly thrown, and his slippers +were of dark cloth, relieved by white wool; the tunic descended to +his heels.</p> +<p>The attire of Edric was similar in shape, but of different +colour; his tunic was of green, edged with brown fur, his mantle of +dark cloth, and his belt of embossed leather. There was a studied +humility in it all, as if he shunned all comparison with the +king.</p> +<p>Ednoth said grace, and the chanters responded. The canons of the +cathedral, the priests of the other churches, the sheriff of the +county, the reeve of the borough, the burgesses, all had their +places, and the banquet began; huge joints being carried round to +each individual, from which, with his dagger, he cut what he +fancied and deposited it on his plate; then wine, ale, and mead +were poured foaming into metal tankards, and lighter delicacies +followed. There was no delay; no one cared to talk until he had +satisfied his appetite.</p> +<p>The king, as a matter of course, opened the conversation, when +the edge of desire was gone.</p> +<p>"Have the levies who served in the war all been disbanded, +Sheriff?"</p> +<p>"The last returned from the garrisons in Sussex a week ago, and +are all hoping for a quiet winter in the bosom of their +families."</p> +<p>"Have they lost many of their number? Did the people of this +hundred suffer greatly in the war which Sweyn forced upon us?"</p> +<p>"Not very many; still there has been a little mourning, and much +anticipation of future evil," replied the bishop.</p> +<p>"That is needless," said Edric; "they may all prepare to keep +their Christmas with good cheer. The Danes are sleeping, +hibernating like bears in their winter caves."</p> +<p>"While they are so near as the Wight, who can rest in peace?" +said Ednoth.</p> +<p>"The Wight! it must be a hundred miles from here; the Danes have +never reached any spot so far from the coast as this."</p> +<p>"Yet there is an uneasy belief that they will attack the inland +districts now that they have exhausted the districts on the coast, +and that we must be prepared to suffer as our brethren have +done."</p> +<p>"Before they leave their retreat again we shall be ready to meet +them; our levies will be better trained and more numerous."</p> +<p>"A curse seemed upon all our exertions this last year," said +Ednoth, sorrowfully. "We were defending our hearths and our homes, +yet we were everywhere outmanoeuvred and beaten. It could not have +been worse had we had spies and traitors in command."</p> +<p>The king slightly coloured, for he resented all imputations on +his favourite, and was about to make a sharp reply, when a voice +which made him start, replied:</p> +<p>"Quite right, reverend father! as you say, success was +impossible while spies and traitors commanded our forces."</p> +<p>All looked up in amazement; two guests had entered unbidden, and +the king, the bishop, and Edric recognised Prince Edmund.</p> +<p>"The unseemly interruption is a sufficient introduction to the +company. I need not, my friends, present to you my turbulent son +Edmund, or the attendant he has picked up."</p> +<p>"No need whatsoever, if you will first allow us to explain the +reasons of our presence here. We have somewhat startling news from +the enemy."</p> +<p>"The enemy, by my last advices, lies quiet in the Isle of +Wight," said Edric.</p> +<p>"I will not dispute your knowledge, my lord Edric," replied the +Prince, "considering the intimacy you stand on with Sweyn."</p> +<p>"Intimacy! I would sooner own intimacy with the Evil One."</p> +<p>"You might own that, too, without much exaggeration, since the +good bishop will bear me witness that he is the father of +lies."</p> +<p>"Edmund, this is unbearable," said the king.</p> +<p>"Pardon, my father and liege, but truth will out."</p> +<p>The company sat in amazement, while the hand of Edric played +convulsively with the hilt of his dagger; meanwhile Edmund ate, and +gave to Alfgar, ere he spake again.</p> +<p>"Stay, Edric," whispered the king; "thou art my Edric. I was +never false to thee, nor will I be now; did I not, for thy sake, +look over the death of Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, and put out the eyes +of his sons? canst thou not trust me now?"</p> +<p>Thus strengthened, Edric remained, and uneasy whispers passed +around the assembly.</p> +<p>At last Edmund looked up.</p> +<p>"When the flesh is weak through toil and fasting, speech is not +eloquent, but now listen, all Englishmen true, and I will speak +out."</p> +<p>He told his tale, how he had conceived suspicions that the Danes +intended a winter descent; how he had risked his life (in the +exuberance of youthful daring) to ascertain the truth; how, +trusting to his knowledge of Carisbrooke, wherein he had spent many +pleasant days in his boyhood, he had ventured amongst the Danes as +a gleeman, in imitation of Alfred of old; how there he had +assisted, unsuspected, at a meeting of the council in the great +hall, and heard it decided to invade England, and finally how he +had escaped. And then he continued:</p> +<p>"And in that council I heard that the Danes had a secret friend +in the English army, who ever gave them due warning of our +movements, and who caused all the miscarriage of our last campaign. +Stand forth, Edric Streorn, for thou art the man, and my sword +shall prove it, if need be."</p> +<p>"Edmund, thou ravest," cried the king; "produce thy +witnesses."</p> +<p>"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, answer; whom didst thou espy talking with +Sweyn?"</p> +<p>"Edric Streorn."</p> +<p>"How didst know him?"</p> +<p>"Because he threatened my life on St. Brice's night, and I had +often seen him while dwelling in Mercia."</p> +<p>"A Dane witnessing against a free-born Englishman? Can it be +endured?" cried Ethelred. "What, here, my royal guard!--here! +here! your King is insulted--insulted, and by his son and his +son's minions."</p> +<p>The guard rushed in, their weapons in their hands.</p> +<p>"Seize my son, the false Edmund."</p> +<p>"Here I am," quietly said the hero of the English army, for such +he was, although not recognised as such by the government of his +father. "Here I am; what Englishman will bind me?"</p> +<p>The men stood as if paralysed.</p> +<p>"Will you not obey?" shouted the weak Ethelred, and stamped in +impotent anger on the floor.</p> +<p>But they would not--they could not touch Edmund.</p> +<p>Edric whispered in the king's ear.</p> +<p>"I was wrong," said the king; "retire, guards.</p> +<p>"Edmund, come with me; tell me what you have seen. I will hear +you, and judge between you and my Edric--judge fairly."</p> +<p>"Wait till my return, Alfgar."</p> +<p>Alfgar waited. No one spoke to him; all the company seemed +utterly bewildered, as well they might be until, after the +expiration of an hour, during which time Ednoth had left the hall, +and the company broke up by degrees, an officer of the court came +and whispered in his ear that Edmund awaited him without the +gates.</p> +<p>He left the table at once, and proceeded beyond the precincts of +the palace, following his guide.</p> +<p>"Where is the prince?"</p> +<p>"He has had a stormy interview with his father, and has just +left him, refusing to lodge in the palace, to sleep without the +precincts. I am to conduct you thither."</p> +<p>Leaving the palace, they were passing through some thick +shrubbery, when all at once two strong men sprang upon Alfgar. At +the same moment his attendant turned round and assisted his foes. +He struggled, but he was easily overpowered, when his captors led +him away, until, passing a postern gate in the western wall of the +town, they crossed an embankment, and came upon the river. There +they placed him on board a small boat, and rowed rapidly down the +stream.</p> +<p>In the space of a few minutes they ran the boat ashore in the +midst of dense woods which fringed the farther bank, and there they +forced him to land, and led him upwards until, deep in the woods, +they came upon an old timbered house. They knocked at the door, +which was speedily opened by a man of gigantic stature and +ruffianly countenance, by whose side snarled a mastiff as repulsive +as he.</p> +<p>"Here, Higbald, we have brought thee a prisoner from our +lord."</p> +<p>The wretch looked upon Alfgar with the eyes of an ogre bent on +devouring a captive, and then said:</p> +<p>"The chamber where blind Cuthred was slaughtered looks out on +the woods behind where no one passes, and it is strong; it will be +better for you to take him there."</p> +<p>And he drew aside to let them pass.</p> +<p>"Here, Wolf" said the uncouth gaoler, "smell him, and see you +have to guard him."</p> +<p>The dog seemed to comprehend. He smelt around the prisoner, then +displayed his huge fangs, and growled, as if to tell Alfgar what +his fate would be if he tried to escape.</p> +<p>The poor lad turned to his captors who had brought him there, +for they seemed more humane than his new gaoler.</p> +<p>"For pity's sake, tell me why I am brought here--what crime I +have committed."</p> +<p>No reply.</p> +<p>"At least bear a message to one who will think I have deserted +him in his need."</p> +<p>Again they were silent.</p> +<p>They had ascended a rough staircase. At the summit a passage led +past two or three doors to one made of the strongest plank, and +strengthened with iron.</p> +<p>They opened it, thrust him in, showed him, by the light of their +torches, a bed of straw in the corner.</p> +<p>"There you can lie and sleep as peacefully as at Carisbrooke," +said one of his guards.</p> +<p>"And let me tell you," added Higbald, "that it will be certain +death to try to get away; for if you could escape me, my dog Wolf, +who prowls about by day and night, would tear you in pieces before +any one could help you. He has killed half-a-dozen men in his +day."</p> +<p>Like a poor wounded deer which retires to his thicket to die, +Alfgar threw himself down upon the bed of straw. His reflections +were very, very bitter.</p> +<p>"What would Edmund think of him?"</p> +<p>"He will know I am faithful. He will not think that the lad +whose life he saved has deserted him. He will search till he find +me even here."</p> +<p>Thus in alternate hope and despair he sank at last to sleep-- +nature had its way--even as the criminal has slept on the +rack.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a>. THE SON AND THE +FAVOURITE.</h2> +<p>A stormy scene had meanwhile taken place in an interior chamber +of the palace of the bishop, which had been metamorphosed into a +council chamber for the king. There were present Ethelred himself, +his irrepressible son, the traitor Edric, the bishop, the sheriff +of the shire, and the reeve of the borough, with the captain of the +hus-carles, or royal guard.</p> +<p>"We all need Divine guidance at this moment," said Edric, +clasping his hands meekly; "would you, my lord and king, ask the +bishop to open our proceedings with especial prayer for the grace +of meekness."</p> +<p>"Hypocrite!" said Edmund, with a sound like the gnashing of +teeth.</p> +<p>The bishop, however, said the form generally used at the +meetings of council, but omitted to notice the special suggestion +of Edric.</p> +<p>"The case before us," said the king, "is a difficult and trying +one, but one which we must discharge in our bounden duty towards +our subjects. Perhaps it is well that the accusation so often urged +by backbiters against our faithful subject Edric should--"</p> +<p>"Your majesty begs the question when you call that coward +'faithful.'"</p> +<p>"Silence, Edmund," said the king, sternly, "you are hardly yet +of age, yet you dare to interrupt me. I was going to say that it is +a good thing the accusation should at length be plainly made, and +not spoken in a corner by men who are afraid to speak out."</p> +<p>"Lest they should get the reward of Elfhelm of Shrewsbury," +added Edmund.</p> +<p>The bishop here interposed.</p> +<p>"Prince, remember that God has said, 'Honour thy father.'"</p> +<p>"Has he not somewhere also said, 'Parents, provoke not your +children to anger'?"</p> +<p>"God judge between you, then," said the bishop, "but I warn you +that you appear the greater transgressor."</p> +<p>"Meanwhile," said Edric, "I feel like a man who is being put +unjustly to the torture. What is the accusation against me?--let +it be stated in plain words."</p> +<p>"That just after the army disbanded in October, you visited the +camp of Sweyn, and gave him to understand that the country was at +his mercy, opposition being removed."</p> +<p>"What day of the month?"</p> +<p>"I do not know the exact day."</p> +<p>"Perhaps it was in the Greek calends," said Edric.</p> +<p>"I do not know when the Greek calends are, nor do I want to; my +mother spent her time, I thank God, in teaching me to speak the +truth, and to be true to my country, and not in teaching me +outlandish gibberish."</p> +<p>"Still," said the bishop, "it is important to learn the +day."</p> +<p>"Alfgar can perhaps inform you, but one day must have been much +like another to him in the Danish camp."</p> +<p>"His statement would need verification," said Ednoth.</p> +<p>"He is as true and brave as any man here."</p> +<p>"Of course, all Danes are true and brave," said Edric.</p> +<p>"He is a Christian."</p> +<p>"Yes; I think he became one on St. Brice's day," suggested +Edric.</p> +<p>"To save his life, no doubt," said the sheriff.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Ethelred had changed colour, and Edric cried out:</p> +<p>"Have we not forgotten in whose presence we are? The king, who +was quite ignorant of the mistaken zeal which misinterpreted his +wishes that day, cannot bear to be reminded of it. He is all too +merciful and gentle for such days as ours."</p> +<p>"I suppose he put on mourning for Elfhelm," whispered Edmund in +the bishop's ear.</p> +<p>"Forget not that he is your father."</p> +<p>"We are wasting time," said the king. "Edric, what is your +answer to this accusation?"</p> +<p>"That when the army disbanded I went on pilgrimage to the shrine +of St. Joseph at Glastonbury, and can produce, in the time +requisite for a messenger to go and return, an attestation to that +effect. Here," he said, putting his hand to his bosom, and drawing +out a reliquary, "is a holy thorn plucked from St. Joseph's +tree."</p> +<p>"Art thou not ashamed, my son, to have brought such a charge +against the venerator of the Saints, one of the few in whom faith +yet lives?"</p> +<p>"No, for I do not believe he was ever there at all."</p> +<p>"Witness the holy thorn."</p> +<p>"Thorns may be plucked in bushels round Dorchester or any other +place."</p> +<p>"It is a question of pure testimony," said the bishop.</p> +<p>"It is," added the sheriff and the reeve.</p> +<p>"Then, may I produce my witness?" said Edmund.</p> +<p>"Certainly," said the king.</p> +<p>"By all means," added Edric.</p> +<p>The bishop called an attendant, and ordered him to fetch +Alfgar.</p> +<p>"Before he enters I must remind you all," said Edric, "that the +word of a Dane is to be opposed to that of a Christian."</p> +<p>"I have already said that Alfgar is a Christian."</p> +<p>But Edric had already, by his adroit suggestion about St. +Brice's day, predisposed the company to doubt the genuineness of +Alfgar's conversion.</p> +<p>A long pause succeeded, which no one seemed to care to break. +Ethelred was anxious for his favourite; the traitor himself was +studying how to meet the accusation; the Prince was furious, and +was striving in vain to repress his surging passions, the others +were perplexed.</p> +<p>The messenger returned after a time to say that Alfgar had left +the palace.</p> +<p>"Left the palace!" said Edmund.</p> +<p>"About half-an-hour since."</p> +<p>"There is some vile treason here," said Edmund.</p> +<p>"Treason! on whose part?" said Edric.</p> +<p>"Thine, villain."</p> +<p>"I am glad you think so, for you give me an opportunity of +demonstrating to the court how unreasonable your hatred makes you, +and how unjust. I have not left the king's presence since your +first appearance."</p> +<p>"It is true," said Ethelred.</p> +<p>Edmund was completely baffled.</p> +<p>"It appears to me," said the king, "that he fears the discovery +of his villainy, and has taken himself off. I will offer a fitting +reward to the man who shall produce him; meanwhile, it is useless +to continue this scene."</p> +<p>"Wait at least a few minutes," said Edmund, and went forth +himself.</p> +<p>Vainly he sought through all the courts of the palace--once he +thought Alfgar, whose fidelity he never suffered himself to doubt, +might be in the chapel, and went there in vain.</p> +<p>At last he found a servitor who had seen him go with some men +into the city, and hurried forth in search of him. He passed +through all the streets inflaming the curiosity of the watchmen; +the darkness (for there were very few lamps or lights of any kind, +in those days, for public use) was intense, a drizzling rain was +falling, and at length, weary, wet, and dispirited, he returned to +the palace, and found that the council, tired of waiting, had at +length broken up.</p> +<p>The bishop offered him hospitality, evidently sympathising with +his distress, and once suggested a doubt of the fidelity of his +page, but Edmund repelled it instantly.</p> +<p>"He is true as life," he said.</p> +<p>"But the king himself is witness that Edric has not left his +presence."</p> +<p>"If not, he has plenty of villains about him to anticipate his +orders, vile as Godwin, port-hund of Shrewsbury. Depend upon it +they have murdered him, but if so, I will have vengeance, such +vengeance--I will challenge the villain Edric to single +combat."</p> +<p>"The Church would forbid it."</p> +<p>"Do you then sympathise with the hypocrite?"</p> +<p>"Alas, my son! who can read the heart of man? I know not what to +think."</p> +<p>"But you could read the history of the last campaign. A fool +might--I beg pardon--were not all our plans known beforehand? +Did not all our enterprises fail? Were not all our ambushes +anticipated? Did we not fall into all theirs? If they had had a +prophet like Elisha, who told the king of Israel all Benhadad said +in his council chamber, they couldn't have managed better. Can you +explain this?"</p> +<p>"No, my son."</p> +<p>"Then I can, for I heard Sweyn say that they had a friend in the +English camp."</p> +<p>"Then you actually put your head in the lion's mouth, prince?" +and the good bishop, purposely to relieve the prince's mind, drew +out from him all the story of his late adventures.</p> +<p>Deep was the distrust which Ednoth himself entertained of the +fair-speaking Edric, yet he would not encourage the Etheling in +further ill-timed opposition to his father.</p> +<p>So at last Edmund slept, and trusted that with the morn he +should find Alfgar; but the morn came, and all his inquiries were +vain.</p> +<p>The chamber in which Alfgar was confined contained a box-like +recess for the straw bed, a chair, and a rough table, and these +were all the comforts at his disposal, but they were enough for one +in that hardy age. It was very strongly built, not a loose plank +about it, although the wind found its way through numerous +crevices, to the slight discomfort of the inmate.</p> +<p>But not one hour of sleep could Alfgar take all that night. What +would the Etheling think of him? was his constant thought, he who +had saved his life at the risk of his (the Etheling's) own. Must he +not think that the lad whose life he had saved had been false to +him? and this thought was agony to the faithful and true heart of +the prisoner.</p> +<p>He scarcely doubted for one moment into whose hands he had +fallen--that he was in Edric Streorn's power. The only thing he +could not quite comprehend was, why they had thought it worth while +to imprison him, when murder would seem the more convenient mode of +removing an unpleasant witness.</p> +<p>Early on the following day he heard some people approach the +door of the house, and heard them admitted. Shortly afterwards a +firm step ascended the stair, and the door opened.</p> +<p>Edric Streorn stood before him.</p> +<p>The captor eyed his captive with a look of conscious pride, and +said with some complacence, "You see, and perhaps repent, your +rashness in the accusation you made."</p> +<p>"It was true."</p> +<p>"I do not think it worth my while to deny it here; but what of +that?--I am an Englishman by birth, but (let us say) a Dane by +choice. You are a Dane by the fortune of birth, but an Englishman +by choice; the worse choice, you will find, of the two."</p> +<p>Alfgar felt confused.</p> +<p>"But I did not come here to exchange compliments with you, nor +to prove, as to the fools you have chosen to serve, that I was on +pilgrimage at the time you name. I have a direct purpose in +detaining you here, for I have lately seen Sweyn."</p> +<p>"Traitor!"</p> +<p>"I thought we had agreed that we could not throw stones at each +other on that account. Well, the gentle Sweyn has taken your +evasion very much to heart, and earnestly desires to repossess +himself of your person; but for this, my easiest plan would have +been to rid myself of so troublesome a witness in a more speedy +manner, and you might ere this have fed the fishes of the +Thames.</p> +<p>"Therefore," he continued, "unless you can satisfy me of two or +three points, I shall deliver you to Sweyn."</p> +<p>Alfgar thought at first that this was simply an idle threat, +since it would be almost impossible to convey him secretly through +the country to the Isle of Wight. Edric understood his +thoughts.</p> +<p>"You forget," he said, "that Sweyn will shortly be here; your +friend, the Etheling, may have told you that, if you did not know +it before; he is telling it to everybody, but no one believes him. +Only think, no one will believe that Sweyn could be so audacious, +and they think that, listening behind walls and in cupboards, the +Etheling, perhaps, drank too much of what he found there--and +that was all. Well, when Sweyn comes, he may, if he will, make a +public example to all apostates in your honoured person; meanwhile +Edmund thinks you have deserted him."</p> +<p>No torturer ever seemed to take a keener pleasure in the throes +of his victim, than Edric in the mental agony he kindled in the +breast of his unhappy prisoner.</p> +<p>"But I said I might release you, or at least mitigate your fate, +on one condition, that you answer me a plain question directly and +plainly. Under what name does Edmund travel, and what disguise, and +does he purpose to trust himself in the Danish camp again? Where is +he at present residing? he has disappeared from the palace."</p> +<p>"Monster!" said Alfgar, "you tempt like Satan. Away, and leave +me to my fate."</p> +<p>"You will think better of it by and by when confinement upon +bread and water has tamed you. I will come once more, but it will +be the last time; and, mark you, should your people be defeated-- +the Danes I mean--still your escape would not necessarily follow; +the house might take fire, it is of timber, and would soon burn +down; a sad misfortune it would be.</p> +<p>"Good morning. I am going to mass with the king; shall I say a +Pater and an Ave for you, since you are prevented from being there. +The saints have you in their holy keeping!"</p> +<p>His manner throughout had been like that of a cat playing with a +mouse, and there was quite a gratified smile upon his lips as he +went.</p> +<p>Strange to say, Alfgar felt less miserable after he was gone. +The wickedness of Edric seemed so great, his hypocrisy so +unblushing, that in his simple faith Alfgar could not believe that +he would be allowed to succeed. Many a holy text in the Psalms came +to his mind, and seemed to assure him of Divine protection.</p> +<p>"I myself have seen the ungodly in great power; and flourishing +like a green bay tree.</p> +<p>"I went by, and, lo! he was gone; I sought him, but his place +could nowhere be found.</p> +<p>"Seek innocency, and take heed to the thing that is right: for +that shall bring a man peace at the last."</p> +<p>"So, come what will," said he, "I will trust in Him and never +will I save my life by uttering one word which might betray the +innocent."</p> +<p>In this manner days lengthened into weeks. He tried in vain to +open any intercourse with his ferocious jailor, whose ward was +sometimes shared by a comrade, when there was much ungodly revelry +below, and snatches of Danish war songs mingled with profane oaths. +The deep, deep bay of the mastiff sometimes gave warning of the +advent of a stranger, or of the step heard from the distance, in +the still deep night; but this was all that Alfgar could learn of +the outer world, from which he was banished at so critical a +moment.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY AT +CLIFFTON.</h2> +<p>SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT.--</p> +<p>The evening, after the Vesper service in the church was over, +and darkness had closed in, we all sat down to our evening meal. +The doors were shut to keep out the storm, and I had already said +grace, when the Etheling suddenly appeared.</p> +<p>His manner struck us all. He looked wild and agitated, and his +first words cast a chill over us.</p> +<p>"Where is Alfgar?"</p> +<p>"Is he not with you, what has happened?" said I and Herstan, +speaking in the same breath.</p> +<p>"No, I have lost him. I had hoped to find him here; they must +have murdered him," he cried.</p> +<p>"Murdered him?"</p> +<p>"Yes, he was too dangerous to Edric to be suffered to live. I +might have foreseen it; and they have put him out of the way by +cowardly assassination," insisted the Etheling.</p> +<p>There was too much reason in his words.</p> +<p>"Besides," said he, "if he were well and uninjured, would he not +have come here, where he was sure of a welcome?"</p> +<p>"I will go to Dorchester at once," said Herstan.</p> +<p>"It is useless," said Edmund; but my brother, having learnt all +that the prince could tell him, mounted and rode into the town.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Edmund evidently needed our care; we found he had not +eaten all day.</p> +<p>"I have risked my life for my country," he said, "and now that I +bring tidings which ought to circulate through the land like the +wind, and rouse every man to action, I am disbelieved. Nay, it is +hinted that I drank too much Danish wine and mead, and +misunderstood what I heard. I could brain the man who dared say so +to my face. I could--and would. Meanwhile no steps are taken, no +levies called out; but I will myself alarm the country. The +innocent blood shall not be on my head."</p> +<p>"Surely they must heed your warning," said we all together.</p> +<p>"Not they. The fox, Edric, pretended that it was all +moonshine."</p> +<p>"But did you not expose his <i>treachery</i>?" asked I.</p> +<p>"I tried to do so; but he pulled out a bit of some hedge, which +he said was a holy thorn from St. Joseph's tree at Glastonbury, and +that he was there on pilgrimage when Alfgar saw him--saw him, +mark you--at the Danish camp on the borders of Sussex; and I saw +men, I won't mention names, who had more than once taken reward to +slay the innocent, look as if they would go down on their knees to +this holy thorn, which wasn't a holy thorn at all, but plucked from +some hedge hard at hand. Did not Edric mock them in his heart! I +should like to strangle him."</p> +<p>How I thought of those who tithed mint and rue, and all manner +of herbs, and passed over justice, mercy, and the love of God.</p> +<p>So, in unavailing complaints, midnight drew on, and we heard the +sound of my brother's horse.</p> +<p>He soon entered the room. We saw at a glance that he had +laboured in vain, and spent his strength for nought.</p> +<p>"No one has seen him," he said.</p> +<p>"Have you asked many people?" we inquired.</p> +<p>"Yes, scores. The sheriff, the bishop, the watchmen, the +tradesfolk--no one has seen or heard aught. I will go again +tomorrow."</p> +<p>"Meanwhile, do the people know what passed at the banquet last +night?"</p> +<p>"No; it has all been kept quiet," was the reply.</p> +<p>We could do no more, and all retired to rest. I have sat up to +say my mattins and finish this diary. It is now nearly the third +hour of the morn, and--</p> +<p>Monday Night, 23d Nov. 1006.--</p> +<p>I had written as far as the word "and," when I was alarmed by a +loud cry from the chamber next my own, which was occupied by the +Etheling. I rose, and knocked at the door, but, receiving no +answer, opened it and went in.</p> +<p>I saw at once that the prince was delirious; the fever, which I +had marked in his eyes and manner, but which he struggled against, +had at length overcome his brave spirit.</p> +<p>Just as I entered the room, bearing my torch, he sprang out of +bed.</p> +<p>"There is a snake under my pillow."</p> +<p>I tried to soothe him.</p> +<p>"It is Edric; he is turned into a snake, and is trying to sting +me. Kill him! kill him!"</p> +<p>I got him into bed with some difficulty, and sat by him, after +giving him a composing draught--for I never travel without a few +simples at hand, in case of sickness amongst those to whom I +minister.</p> +<p>He slept at last, but it was evident to me that exposure and +excitement had grievously injured his health, and that he was in +danger of prolonged sickness. Ever and anon he raved in his sleep +about Sweyn, Edric, his father, and Alfgar, mixing them up in his +mind most strangely: but the object of his abhorrence was ever +Edric, while he spoke of Alfgar, "poor Alfgar!" as a father might +speak of a son.</p> +<p>I watched by him all through the night, and in the morning he +was evidently too ill to rise. His mind became clear for a short +time, and yet his memory was so confused that he scarcely +comprehended where he was, or how he got here.</p> +<p>So my return to Abingdon is indefinitely delayed, for Herstan +and my sister both insist on my staying till he is out of danger, +if God will; and indeed I know no one else to whose care I could +willingly commit him.</p> +<p>We think it best not to let his father or Edric know where he +is, for we know how his death would rejoice the latter, and the +wish is often father to the action. A little would turn the scale +now.</p> +<p>Herstan has gone into Dorchester again to inquire about Alfgar, +and to ascertain whether any action has been taken consequent upon +Edmund's intelligence from Carisbrooke.</p> +<p>Saturday.--Vigil of St. Andrew, and Eve of Advent +Sunday.--</p> +<p>All this week I have been watching by the sickbed of the +Etheling.</p> +<p>I hope the crisis is past, but he is still very weak. He has +been delirious nearly the whole time, and today has but a confused +idea of things around him.</p> +<p>All our inquiries about Alfgar have been fruitless, but there +was one circumstance which we learned, which seemed to me to bear +some reference to the matter.</p> +<p>The ferryman, whose hut is situate at the bend of the river +below the Synodune hills, where people cross for Wittenham, says +that late on the night in question a boat with four people passed +down the river, and that it struck him that one only rowed, while +two of the rest seemed guarding the fourth passenger. He did not +know the boat, yet he thought he knew every boat on the river.</p> +<p>This he has told to Herstan and others, but no further discovery +has ensued.</p> +<p>But another important matter has claimed our attention. The king +left on Monday without making any efforts to profit by the +Etheling's discovery at Carisbrooke; but we could not in conscience +let the matter rest. So Herstan and I went on to Dorchester on +Wednesday, and I obtained an audience of the bishop, while he +sought the sheriff.</p> +<p>The bishop received me very kindly, and talked to me a great +deal a bout the happy days of Dunstan, when peace and plenty ruled +everywhere; but I led the conversation to the point I aimed at, and +told him frankly how alarmed we were at Abingdon about Edmund's +tidings.</p> +<p>"And so was I," said he, "and I have persuaded the king to place +guards and watchers all through the coasts opposite the Wight, and +with Edric's aid we elaborated a goodly plan."</p> +<p>"Indeed," said I, "but I wish Edric had nought to do with +it."</p> +<p>"So did I at first, but I feel convinced that the young Dane who +vanished so suspiciously must have deceived the prince concerning +the presence of Edric in the Danish camp, and that we have no +sufficient reason for thinking him such a child of hell as he would +be could he betray his country thus cruelly. It would be Satanic +wickedness. He is, I believe, a bad and untrustworthy man, but not +quite so bad as all that."</p> +<p>I tried to explain my reasons for being of a contrary opinion, +and asked what was the plan.</p> +<p>"Advanced guards have been placed all along the coasts of +Hampshire, beacons prepared on every hill, with constant +attendants, so that the Danes would find their coming blazed over +the country at once."</p> +<p>"But if so, what men have we to oppose to them?"</p> +<p>"The sheriff has promised that the levies shall appear in case +of need."</p> +<p>"Does he realise the danger?"</p> +<p>"I hardly think he believes in it; but the beacons will give +sufficient warning."</p> +<p>"Who has arranged the guards and chosen the sites for the +beacons?"</p> +<p>"Edric, of course, as general of the forces under the king."</p> +<p>I could say no more--it was useless--but I felt very sick at +heart. After the noon meat I left the palace, and found my brother +ready to depart for home. His interview had been the counterpart of +mine. Neither had he succeeded in convincing the sheriff that there +was any danger to be apprehended.</p> +<p>Well, all we can do is to prepare ourselves for the worst. I +find that no tidings have been sent by any authority to the men of +this estate to hold themselves in readiness for sudden alarm. I +wonder whether the same remissness prevails elsewhere. No one +expects danger. The Danes, they say, never fight in winter.</p> +<p>Advent Sunday, 1006.--</p> +<p>My patient was able to sit up for a short time today, but his +weakness is very pitiable to behold, and he dares not leave his +room. He inquired very earnestly after Alfgar, and I found great +difficulty in persuading him to commit the matter to God, which is +all that we can do; for although the river has been dragged, the +country searched, no tidings have yet been obtained, and we can +only believe that the poor lad has been secretly murdered and +buried, or that he has been sent away out of the country.</p> +<p>"I had a strange dream about him," said Edmund. "I thought that +it was midnight of Christmas Eve, and that I was attending mass, +when, just as the words were sung by the choir, 'Pax in terra,' the +scene suddenly changed, and I stood in the dark on the chalk hills +which overlook the Solent; by my side was a beacon ready laid for +firing. I thought next I saw the Solent covered with the warships +of the Danes, who were advancing towards the English shore, and +that I tried to fire the beacon, but all in vain, for the wood was +wet through, and would not burn.</p> +<p>"Then I had a strange sense of woe and desolation, for my +country was in danger, and I could not even warn her. All at once I +heard steps rushing towards me, and Alfgar appeared bearing a +lighted torch. He thrust it into the pile, and it fired at once. +Other beacon fires answered it, and the country was aroused. Then I +awoke."</p> +<p>Saturday, December 5th, 1006.--</p> +<p>The week has again been spent mainly at Clifton. The prince is +better, but only able to rise a few hours each day, and I fear a +relapse would be fatal.</p> +<p>On Wednesday I visited Abingdon, and had a long conference with +the abbot about the neglected warning Edmund had given; but he +seemed to think that the beacon fires and the guards placed near +the sea coast secure us sufficiently. Like all the world, he thinks +that the Etheling has exaggerated the danger.</p> +<p>I have written a full account of all things to my brother at +Aescendune. Father Adhelm is still there ministering to the +flock.</p> +<p>Saturday, December 12th, 1006.--</p> +<p>The week has passed monotonously enough. The Etheling is now +able to leave his room, but the stormy weather, with its torrents +of rain, makes it impossible for him to leave the house. The river +has overflowed its banks; all the country around is like a lake. We +console him by telling him that all has been done which is +possible, both to warn the people and learn the fate of Alfgar. He +tries to look contented, but if he knew how little has really been +done, and that that little has been in Edric's hands, he would not +be so contented.</p> +<p>Saturday, December 19th, 1006.--</p> +<p>A very severe frost has set in this week, and there has been +much snow; the whole country is decked in her winter braveries for +Christmas. O that it may pass in peace, as the birthday of the +Prince of Peace should pass!</p> +<p>I intend to spend it at Clifton, after which I shall return to +my flock at Aescendune.</p> +<p>Edmund has been out today, but the sharp air hurt his lungs, +which have been grievously inflamed, and he was forced to return +early.</p> +<p>He has been so patient for one of his temperament, so grateful +for attention shown him, one would hardly think the lion could be +such a lamb. He intends to receive the Blessed Sacrament of the +Body and Blood of Christ on Christmas day in the little church of +St. Michael here, and then he will leave for London in the course +of the week.</p> +<p>We have heard nothing of Alfgar--we fear there is no hope; but +the prince clings to it, and says his dream will come true, and +that Alfgar has yet a great work to do.</p> +<p>Christmas Eve, 1006.--</p> +<p>O happy happy Christmastide! All griefs seem hushed and all joys +sanctified by the blessed mystery of the Incarnation. O that Mary's +blessed Son, the Prince of Peace, may indeed bring us peace on +earth, and good will towards men!</p> +<p>The weather is beautiful. The stars shine as brightly tonight as +if they were the lights about His throne; the very earth has decked +herself in her clear and spotless robe of snow in His honour. As +for the dear ones who were with us last Christmas--Bertric, +Alfgar (for I fear he is gone where I hope he keeps a happier +Christmas)--they have left the heart less lonely, for if we miss +them on earth they seem to attract us to heaven, which is yet more +like home when we think of the loved and the lost who await us +there.</p> +<p>We sing a midnight mass in an hour in the little church, another +tomorrow at dawn, a third in the full daylight. All the good people +here will communicate, and the evening will be given up to such +merrymaking as is befitting amongst Christians. All the ceorls and +serfs will be at the Hall, and the prince will share the +entertainment. Herstan and Bertha have been very busy preparing for +it, as also their children, Hermann, Ostryth, and Aelfleda.</p> +<p>But I must go and assist in decking the church for the midnight +festivity.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a>. THE FEAST OF +CHRISTMAS.</h2> +<p>Alfgar had completely lost the reckoning of times and days since +his imprisonment, but he felt that weeks must have passed away, and +that the critical period foretold by Edmund must be near, so he +listened anxiously for any intelligence from the world without.</p> +<p>At last the weather became very cold, and being without a fire, +his sufferings were great, until his ferocious gaoler, finding him +quite stiffened, brought up a brazier of coals, which saved his +prisoner's life, while it filled the room with smoke, which could +only escape by the crevices in walls and roof, for to open a window +would have been as bad as to dispense with the fire, such was the +state of the outer air.</p> +<p>It was what we call an old-fashioned Christmas, in all its glory +and severity--a thing easy enough to bear, nay to enjoy, when men +have warm fires and plenty of food, but hard enough to endure where +these are absent.</p> +<p>At last Alfgar could but conclude it was Christmastide, for +Higbald was joined by two comrades, and they sang and rioted below +in a way which showed that they had got plenty of intoxicating +drink, and were making free with it.</p> +<p>In the evening of the day Higbald brought him up his supper, +staggering as he did so, and with it he brought in a bowl of hot +mead.</p> +<p>"Drink," he said, "and drown care. It is Yuletide, and drink +thou must and shalt."</p> +<p>Alfgar drank moderately, for sooth to say it was invigorating +and welcome that cold day, but Higbald finished the bowl then and +there, and then staggering down, drew the outer bolt in such a way +that it missed the staple, which fact he was too drunk to +perceive.</p> +<p>Alfgar watched the action with eager eyes. It was the first time +there had been even a chance of escape.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the evening sped by; and the noisy crew below +quarrelled and sang, drank and shouted, while the bright moonlight +--brighter as it was reflected from the snow of that December +night--stole over the scene.</p> +<p>Not till then did Alfgar pass silently through the open door, +and listen at the head of the staircase. Before him was the outer +door, the key in the lock. The question was--Could he reach it +unobserved by men or mastiff?</p> +<p>Liberty was worth the attempt. He descended the stairs softly. +At the bottom he looked around. The door was fastened which led +into the large hall where the gaolers were drinking. He advanced to +the outer portal, when he heard the growl of the dog from behind +the inner door.</p> +<p>The moment was critical. Evidently his masters did not +comprehend the action of the too faithful brute, for they cursed +and swore at it. Even then it growled, and the drunken fools-- +drunken they must have been indeed--threw some heavy missile at +it, which caused it to yelp and cease its growling.</p> +<p>Just then something flashed in the ray of moonlight which stole +in through an aperture over the door.</p> +<p>It was a sharp double-edged sword.</p> +<p>He grasped it with eagerness. It was now a case of liberty or +death. He knew how to wield it full well.</p> +<p>Stealthily he turned the key and the door stood open. Still his +captors sang, and he caught the words:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"When we cannot get blood we can drink the red wine, +The Sea King sang in his might; +For it maddens the brain, it gives strength to the arm, +And kindles the soul in the fight." +</pre></div> +<p>Now he was on the outer side of the door, and he shut it, and +then locked it and tossed the key into the snow.</p> +<p>But which way was he to go? He could not make out the locality, +but it was evident that the hill rose above him, and he knew that +from its summit he could discern the bearings of places, so he +resolved to ascend.</p> +<p>It was now about nine at night, an hour when our ancestors +generally retired to rest. All Alfgar's desire and hope--O how +joyful a hope!--was to see from the hill the bearings of Clifton, +and to descend, with all the speed in his power, towards it. He +might arrive before they had retired to rest. So he ran eagerly +forward. The moon was bright, and the snow reflected so much light +that locomotion was easy.</p> +<p>And now he became conscious that there was a strange gleam along +the snow on his left hand--a strange red gleam, which grew +stronger and stronger as he advanced. It seemed above and below-- +to redden the skies, the frozen treetops with their glittering snow +wreaths, and the smooth surface beneath alike.</p> +<p>Redder and redder as he ascended, until he suddenly emerged upon +the open hill. Before him were earthworks, which had been thrown up +in olden wars, before Englishman or Dane had trodden these coasts. +He scrambled into a deep hollow filled with snow, then out again, +and up to the summit, when he saw the cause of the +illumination.</p> +<p>Before him the whole country to the southeast seemed in flames. +Village after village gave forth its baleful light; and even while +he gazed the fiery flood burst forth in spots hitherto dark. He +stood as one transfixed, until the wind brought with it a strange +and fearful cry, as if the exultation of fiends were mingled with +the despairing cry of perishing human beings.</p> +<p>He knew whence it came by the red light slowly stealing beyond +the next hill, and the fiery tongues of flame which rose +heavenward, although the houses were hidden by the ground.</p> +<p>It was from Wallingford, a town three miles below Dorchester. He +knew, too, where he was himself; and the one impulse which rushed +upon him was to hasten to Clifton, where he trusted he might find +Edmund, or, at least, hear of him in this dread emergency. He saw +the village lying beneath in the distance, and turned to rush +downward, entering the wood in a different direction.</p> +<p>But what sound is that which makes him start and pause?</p> +<p>It is the bay of the mastiff. He is pursued. He clasps his sword +with desperate tenacity, in which a foe might read his doom, and +rushes on, crushing through the brushwood.</p> +<p>Again the bay of the hound.</p> +<p>Onward, onward, he tramples through bush and bramble, until he +sees his progress suddenly arrested by the dark-flowing river.</p> +<p>He coasts along its banks, keeping up stream. The bay of the dog +seems close at hand, and the trampling of human feet accompanies +it.</p> +<p>All at once he comes upon a road descending to the brink, and +sees a ferry boat at the foot of the descent. He rushes towards it +and enters. The pole is in the boat. He unlooses the chain, but +with difficulty, and precious moments are lost. He hears the +panting of the ferocious beast just as he pushes the boat, with +vigorous thrust, out into the stream.</p> +<p>The dog, followed closely by the men, is on the bank. The men +curse and swear, but the dog plunges into the chilly stream, which, +being swollen, has too rapid a current to freeze. Alfgar sees the +brute swimming after the boat; he ceases to use the pole, but takes +his sword, kneels on the stern of the boat, and waits for the +mastiff. It gains the boat, and tries to mount, when the keen steel +is driven between the forepaws to its very heart. One loud howl, +and it floats down the stream, dyeing the waters with its +life-blood.</p> +<p>"Cursed Dane!" shouts Higbald. "thou shalt pay with thy own life +blood."</p> +<p>"When you catch me; and even then you must fight for it. +Meanwhile, if you be an Englishman, warn the good people of +Dorchester that the Danes are upon them. Your Edric has betrayed +them."</p> +<p>Reaching the other shore, Alfgar finds smooth meadows all +covered with snow. He knows his way now. A little higher up he +strikes the main road which leads to Clifton, and rushes on past +field and grove, past hedgerow and forest. Behind him the heavens +are growing angry with lurid light, before him the earth lies in +stillness and silence; the moonbeams slumbering on placid river, +glittering on frozen pool, or silvering happy homesteads--happy +hitherto. He sees the lights in the hall of Herstan yet burning, +and casting their reflection abroad. He is at the foot of the +ascent leading up to it. One minute more and--</p> +<p>. . . . . .</p> +<p>Christmas day was almost over when the population of Herstan's +village of Clifton obeyed the summons with alacrity to spend the +evening in the hall in feasting and merriment. They had all duly +performed the religious duties of the day, and had been greatly +edified by the homily of Father Cuthbert at mass; and now innocent +mirth was to close the hallowed day--mirth which they well +believed was not alien to the birthday of Him who once sanctified +the marriage festivities at Cana by His first miracle.</p> +<p>So thither flocked the young and the old: the wood rangers and +hunters from the forests of Newenham, where Herstan had right of +wood cutting; the men who wove baskets and hurdles of osier work +from the river banks; the theows who cultivated the home farm; the +ceorls who rented a hide of land here and a hide there--all, the +grandfather and the grandson, accepted the invitation to feast. The +rich and the poor met together, for God was the Maker of them +all.</p> +<p>The huge Yule log burnt upon the hearth as it had done since it +was lighted the night before; a profusion of torches turned night +into day; the tables groaned with the weight of the good cheer; in +short, all was there which could express joy and thanksgiving.</p> +<p>The supper was over; the wild boar roasted whole, the huge +joints of mutton and beef, the made dishes, the various +preparations of milk, had disappeared, the cheerful cup was handed +round; after which the tables were removed, the gleemen sang their +Christmas carols, and all went merry as a "marriage bell."</p> +<p>Father Cuthbert, seated in a corner near the Yule log, with his +brother-in-law and the Etheling, forgot all his apprehensions, and +shared in the universal joy around him; if his thoughts were +sometimes with those who had once made Christmas bright to him-- +if he thought of the bright-haired Bertric, who had been the soul +of last Yuletide festivity at Aescendune, or of the desolated home +there, he dismissed the subject from his mind at once, and suffered +no hint to drop which could dim the mirth of his fellow guests.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, one of those whom he strove in vain to forget for the +time drew nearer and nearer; a haggard figure, wan and worn by +painful imprisonment, the garments dishevelled, the hair matted, +the whole figure wild with excitement, he drew near the outer +gate.</p> +<p>He heard the song of joy and peace within as he paused one +moment before blowing the horn which hung at the outer gate.</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +Peace! Peace! +The whole wide world rejoiceth now, +Let war and discord cease; +Christ reigneth from the manger, +Away with strife and danger; +Our God, before whom angels bow, +Each taught this lesson by his birth, +Good will to men, and peace on earth. +Peace! Peace! +Hark, through the silent air +Angelic songs declare +God comes on earth to dwell +O hear the heavenly chorus swell, +Good will to men, +And on earth, peace. +</pre></div> +<p>He could bear it no longer, the contrast was too painful, he +must break the sweet charm, the hallowed song, for the sky was +reddening yet more luridly behind him, and each moment he expected +to see Dorchester burst forth into flames. O what a Christmas +night!</p> +<p>He blew the horn, and had to blow it again and again before he +was heard.</p> +<p>At length a solitary serf came to the gate:</p> +<p>"Who is there?"</p> +<p>"A messenger for the Etheling; is Prince Edmund with you? I +would see him."</p> +<p>"All are welcome tonight, but I fear you will find the Etheling +ill-disposed to leave the feast."</p> +<p>"Let me in."</p> +<p>Astonished at the tone of the request, the porter reluctantly +complied, first looking around.</p> +<p>"Why, thou art wild and breathless; is aught amiss?"</p> +<p>"Step out and look over the hills; what dost thou see?"</p> +<p>"Why, the heaven is in fire; is it the northern lights?"</p> +<p>"Southern, you mean; the Danes are upon us."</p> +<p>Staggered by the tidings, the man no longer opposed his +entrance, and Alfgar staggered into the hall, forgetting that he +was come amongst them like one risen from the dead.</p> +<p>He entered the hall at first unnoticed, but the merry laughter +and cheerful conversation withered before his presence, as of one +who came to blast it.</p> +<p>Father Cuthbert and Edmund, amongst others, turned round to see +what caused the lull, and started from their seats as they beheld +at the end of the room Alfgar, his face pale as one risen from the +dead, his black locks hanging dishevelled around his neck, his +garments torn, his whole person disordered. At first they really +believed he had returned from the tomb.</p> +<p>They hesitated, but for one moment in speechless surprise, then +rushed forward.</p> +<p>"Alfgar!" cried the Prince.</p> +<p>"My son!" cried Father Cuthbert, "whence hast thou come? dost +thou yet live?"</p> +<p>"Father; Prince; I live to warn you--the Danes, the Danes!" +and he sank fainting into the arms of Herstan.</p> +<p>"Surely he raves," said they all.</p> +<p>The porter here ventured to speak.</p> +<p>"My lord, please go to the front of the house and look over the +water."</p> +<p>Father Cuthbert and Edmund at once left the hall, followed by +several others.</p> +<p>The mansion was seated on a considerable elevation; below them +rolled the Isis; across the river a couple of miles of flat meadow +land lay between them and the Synodune hills, and beyond the +lessening range of those hills, on the southeast, they looked, and +behold the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a +furnace.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a>. FOR HEARTH AND +HOME.</h2> +<p>The inhabitants of Clifton stood on the terrace in front of the +hall, gazing upon the fiery horizon, wrapped in emotions of +surprise and alarm. Living as they did in an unsettled age, and far +more prepared than we should be for such a contingency, yet the +sense of the rapid approach of a cruel and remorseless foe struck +terror into many hearts.</p> +<p>But they had one amongst them to whom warfare and strife were a +second nature--one in whom the qualities which form the hero were +very fully developed. He gazed with sadness, but without fear, at +the coming storm, and to their late patient the inmates of the hall +turned for advice and aid in their dread emergency.</p> +<p>"What shall we do?" asked Herstan, gazing with indescribable +feelings at those who clung to him for support.</p> +<p>"The case is clear as the day," said the prince. "The storm I +foretold in vain has broken over the land, and the levies are not +ready to meet it. Listen; you may hear the sounds of alarm from +Dorchester even here. They see their danger."</p> +<p>The tolling of the alarm bells, the sound of distant shouts, the +blowing of trumpets rolled in a confused flood of noise across the +intervening space--a distance of between two and three miles-- +and manifested the intense alarm of the city, so cruelly aroused +from dreams of peace.</p> +<p>"But what shall we do?"</p> +<p>"Defend the place if attacked; it is well adapted for defence. +You have the river on one side, and a cliff no Dane could scale in +the face of our battle-axes; on the other side, your earthworks and +palisades keep the foe at a distance from the main building. How +many able-bodied men are present now?"</p> +<p>"Happily we have all our force; the feast has brought them all +here. There would be from sixty to seventy men, besides a score of +boys."</p> +<p>"And how are you provided with weapons?"</p> +<p>"Each man has a battle-axe, and there are scores of spears in +the armoury."</p> +<p>"And arrows?"</p> +<p>"Whole sheaves of them; and as good yew bows as were ever +bent."</p> +<p>"Come, we shall do; and now about provisions?"</p> +<p>"You see we have bounteous fare now, but it would not last many +days."</p> +<p>"Many days we shall not want it--many days? Why, the levies +must all be out within twenty-four hours, and the Danes are not +strong enough to maintain themselves here. It is but a raid; but +they might all have been taken or slain had my father but believed +me. As it is, they have shed much innocent blood by this time."</p> +<p>"You think, then, our buildings are capable of defence?"</p> +<p>"Assuredly; it would be madness to sacrifice such a position. If +the Danes are about in the neighbourhood, it would be far more +dangerous to expose your helpless ones without the fortifications. +Have you all your people here, or are there a few sick?"</p> +<p>"A few sick, only."</p> +<p>"Let them be sought at once; the heathen will be revelling like +fiends about the country. For the present I think Dorchester and +Abingdon safe. Wallingford, if I may judge by the light over the +hills, has utterly fallen. They were probably taken unawares; and +their defences were never good. Now we must at once to work."</p> +<p>"Prince, you have more experience of war than I; you will be our +commander."</p> +<p>"I accept the post. To tell the truth, it will be a treat for me +after the illness and confinement I have gone through; the thought +of the struggle makes me feel myself again."</p> +<p>And so this strangely constituted man went forth and spoke to +the assembled multitude, who stood passively gazing at the distant +conflagration.</p> +<p>"Now, Englishmen, a few words to you all. We shall have, I hope, +to fight these Danes; and for the honour of our country must even +quit ourselves like men. Why should not the Englishman be a match +for the Dane? ay, more than a match for the cutthroat heathen? Here +we stand on a rock with our defence secure; and here we will live +or die in defence of our women and children. What say you all?"</p> +<p>"We will live or die with you."</p> +<p>"Well said, men. Now, one good hearty cheer; no, stop, I should +like them to be caught in their own traps. I know their plan. If +they find the good people of Dorchester are awake, as the noise +shows, they will swarm all over the neighbourhood like wasps after +honey, to plunder the isolated houses and farms, and carry off all +they can; and this place is too conspicuous--too much of a city +on a hill--to be hidden. Well, we will be ready for them. Now, +first of all, we must set our outposts around to give us due +warning of their approach; and then every man must arm himself as +best he can, and let me see what figure you can all make."</p> +<p>He was interrupted by a childish voice, and saw Herstan's little +son, a boy of twelve years, touching his garment, and looking at +him with unfeigned admiration.</p> +<p>"May I not fight the Danes, Prince?"</p> +<p>"No, you are too young; you must go and take care of your mother +and sisters."</p> +<p>"I don't want to be shut up with the women. I have killed a +wolf. I shot him with my bow in Newenham wood."</p> +<p>"Well, we will see by and by, my brave boy. We shall have work +for all; go and arm with the rest.</p> +<p>"Well, Alfgar?"</p> +<p>"Let my post be near you."</p> +<p>"You will fight in this quarrel, then?"</p> +<p>"Yes; to save Christian blood."</p> +<p>"Then I adopt you as an Englishman--Dane no longer. I know +your courage and coolness, and will employ it where it is wanted. +Now, you know the place; come and place the outposts where they can +retire easily."</p> +<p>The small sally port, as it would have been called in later +times, was opened, and two men were in each case posted together +all round the building, under cover of trees, at convenient +distances. The trees immediately around the house had been cut down +a few weeks earlier, by order of Herstan, who saw they might afford +cover to an enemy, in case the prince's prophecies were fulfilled, +as proved now to be the case.</p> +<p>The building was large and irregular, and had been added to at +various times, the hall, looking over the river, forming its most +conspicuous portion; but it had not originally been built for +purposes of defence, and could not have endured the Danish assault +for a moment, but for external defences, utterly independent of the +building, which had been recently added; a mound, surmounted by +crossed palisades, skilfully strengthened by osier bands, and a +deep outer ditch, now full of snow, surrounded the building on +three sides. The fourth was defended by the river, which, being +full owing to the late rains, rushed impetuously along below.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said Edmund, "ask Father Cuthbert to see that all the +helpless ones--women and children--are safely shut up in an +inner apartment, where no Danish arrow can find them."</p> +<p>This was accomplished, and Father Cuthbert cheered them all with +his calm placid manner; reassuring this one and cheering that, +seeming quite insensible to fear himself: one moment all sympathy, +then all brightness, his presence was invaluable in the crisis.</p> +<p>"And now," said Edmund, "to the stables; the horses and cattle +must be turned loose tonight, or the Danes will burn them in their +barns and sheds."</p> +<p>The farm buildings lay some little distance without, and the +Etheling and Alfgar, with two or three farm servants, carried out +the task hastily but effectually. Duties were meanwhile assigned to +all the able-bodied women and boys: some provided buckets and +ladders, that, in case the Danes attempted to kindle a flame, they +might attempt in vain; others tore up lint and prepared bandages +for the wounded, while others passed into the upper apartments to +see that no lights remained which could direct the aim of the +foe.</p> +<p>The night had somewhat changed its character while all these +things were going on; clouds obscured the moon, and light flakes of +snow commenced to fall. The wind began to moan, as if a storm were +at hand.</p> +<p>Alfgar visited the outposts while Edmund assigned their several +stations to the men, who were now armed in readiness for the +defence. When the former reached the post on the river's bank lower +down, he saw that the sentinel had thrown himself ear to the earth, +and was listening intently; he imitated his example.</p> +<p>A deep dull sound from the distance was heard, and Alfgar +recognised the tread of an approaching host.</p> +<p>"Let us withdraw," he said.</p> +<p>They fell back quietly; Alfgar, passing rapidly round, warned +all the other sentinels, and when all had entered, the gates were +closed; all was done in profound silence.</p> +<p>Then Edmund caused the men to fit their arrows to the string, +and to lie upon the inward slope of the earthworks, so as to be +invisible; he placed all the rest of the men at the windows and +loopholes of the building. Similarly prepared, Edmund, with Alfgar +and young Hermann by his side, waited at the window commanding the +gateway, when the Lady Bertha came up to them.</p> +<p>"Has not Father Cuthbert returned?"</p> +<p>"Returned?"</p> +<p>"Yes, he went to the church to bring in the sacred vessels and +vestments."</p> +<p>Alfgar rose instantly.</p> +<p>"I will go and seek him," he cried.</p> +<p>"Then pass out by the postern gate, on the angle nearest the +church; I fear the danger is great, but he must be told that the +foe is near, or he may fall into their hands."</p> +<p>Alfgar left the hall and passed to an angle of the defences +where a little gate led out towards the church; the bridge had been +removed, and he had absolutely to descend into the ditch amongst +the deep snow.</p> +<p>Emerging, he crossed the burial yard, and found the good father +returning heavily laden with the precious vessels and other objects +he had been able to save.</p> +<p>"Father," he said; "the enemy is near."</p> +<p>"Indeed! so soon?"</p> +<p>"We must enter by the postern gate."</p> +<p>"I could hardly cross the snow burdened as I am; is it unsafe to +try the other gate? I hear no sound, see no symptom of danger."</p> +<p>They paused; all was so quiet that Alfgar yielded, and they +passed round the mansion. The drawbridge was up, and no danger +seemed near; the trees were in deep shadow, for the clouds, +obscuring the moon, made the night very dark.</p> +<p>Alfgar gave the signal, and the drawbridge was lowered; but they +had scarcely set foot upon it when dark figures rushed from the +shadows behind them. The bridge, which they both had passed, was +actually rising, when the foremost Dane leapt upon it, but was +rewarded by a blow from the battle-axe of Alfgar, which sent him +tumbling into the snow; two or three others leapt forward and clung +to the edge of the bridge, but fell into the ditch like the first; +the two fugitives entered, and the gate was closed.</p> +<p>Then the awful war cry of the Danes arose from earth to heaven, +chilling the very blood and, disdaining all further concealment, +the murderous warriors rushed forward, doubtless expecting to find +the place almost undefended, and to carry the defences at a +rush.</p> +<p>But they were soon fatally undeceived, for so perfect had been +Edmund's arrangements, that a storm of arrows burst from all parts +of the building and embankment, laying nearly half the assailants +dying or wounded on the ground.</p> +<p>Still the survivors threw themselves into the ditch, and strove +in vain to pass the palisades, which projected over their heads, +and which were vigorously defended by spear and battle-axe.</p> +<p>But in one place a gigantic warrior succeeded in hewing an +aperture with his axe, wielded by giant strength, and all might +have been lost had not Edmund perceived it, and rushed to its +defence, collecting by his shout half-a-dozen followers. Several +Danes strove to pass the breach; one was already through, and +Edmund attacked him; meanwhile two others had crept through, but +were cut off from their fellows, for the English rallied in front +and presented an impenetrable barrier with their spears, while from +the windows above the arrows rained upon the assailants.</p> +<p>Edmund's axe had found its victim; Herstan, who was by his side, +had engaged and wounded the second; and, meanwhile, Alfgar, who was +glaring about him for a foe, discovered the third, whose aspects +and form were at once recognised by him.</p> +<p>"What! you, Higbald!" he cried.</p> +<p>"You shall escape no more," cried his late gaoler, and brought +his axe down with a mighty rush. Alfgar leapt nimbly aside, and +before his bulky but clumsy antagonist could recover his guard, +passed his keen sword beneath the left arm, through the body, and +the giant staggered and fell, a bloody foam rising to his lips, as +he quivered in the agonies of death.</p> +<p>All was again silent. The Danes, discomfited for the moment, +having lost half their number, had retired, probably waiting for +reinforcements, and the victor addressed Edmund.</p> +<p>"Look," he cried; "this man is a servant of Edric Streorn."</p> +<p>"Is it true, fellow?" said Edmund sternly.</p> +<p>"What if it is? I am dying now, and it cannot matter to me."</p> +<p>The last words were interrupted by a convulsive struggle.</p> +<p>"Art thou an Englishman or a Dane?" said the Etheling, bending +over the dying ruffian in his anxiety to learn the whole truth.</p> +<p>"What is that to thee?"</p> +<p>"Much, if thou wouldst escape death."</p> +<p>"Escape death! I cannot. Neither wilt thou escape Edric Streorn, +and I shall not die unavenged. Ah! young springal, thou wilt not +escape again. To think that thy puny hand should give Higbald his +death blow! Ah, I am choked!"</p> +<p>Alfgar's sword had pierced his lungs, and a gush of blood +rushing to the mouth stopped the breath of Higbald for ever.</p> +<p>"I have brought the foe upon you. We are tracked," said Alfgar. +"Edric and the Danes are in alliance."</p> +<p>"But they have not taken this place yet; neither shall they, by +God's help! Ha! was that lightning? Nay, it is winter."</p> +<p>A sudden burst of fiery light illuminated the scene, and the +defenders looked forth, in spite of their danger, from their +fortifications. The little church of St. Michael burst forth into +billowing eddies of smoke and flame.</p> +<p>"This is a grievous sight, to see the place we had dedicated to +God destroyed by the bloody heathen. O that He would stretch forth +His hand as in the days of old!"</p> +<p>"Would I had but two hundred men; I would fall upon the villains +in the rear, and leave not one," said Edmund.</p> +<p>"Look--the farm buildings!" cried little Hermann.</p> +<p>"The poor horses and oxen!" cried the Lady Bertha.</p> +<p>"They are safe," said Edmund. "You may hear the trampling of +hoofs even now. The fools of Danes are hunting them in all +directions. I do not think they will catch many."</p> +<p>Lights appeared in two or three places, and soon it became +evident that the ruthless foe had gained their object, as the barns +and stables lit up in all directions, and the manor house was +surrounded by the double conflagration, so that every object was as +distinctly visible as in open daylight.</p> +<p>"To your buckets! Pour water upon the roof; and, archers, look +out for the enemy; keep him as far off as you can."</p> +<p>The boys and women were speedily on the roof pouring water in +all directions, in case the wind should deposit the burning brands +upon the structure. Meanwhile flights of arrows came from the +distance, and settled around them; but they were spent before +arrival in most cases, for the defenders kept the ground clear for +a large circle around by their well-sustained discharges. Not a few +dead bodies lying in the glare of the fire testified to their +deadly skill.</p> +<p>The flames passed from stable to barn, and barn to shed. The +triumphant cries of the Danes added to the horror of the scene, +heard as they were amidst the continuous roaring of the flames. +Crash, crash, went roof after roof, the fall of the little church +on the opposite side first leading the awful chorus. Life seemed +the penalty of either Englishman or Dane who dared to trust his +person within the circle of light.</p> +<p>The Lady Bertha was comforting her two little girls, Ostryth and +Alfreda, where they sat, cowering and terrified, in their own +little bedchamber, the window so barricaded that no arrow could +enter, but yet not sufficiently to keep out the glare of the +flames.</p> +<p>"Mother, how light it is!" said the little Ostryth; "how +dreadfully bright!"</p> +<p>"It will soon be darker again."</p> +<p>"But is it fire? Are they burning the house?"</p> +<p>"No, dearest. They have set the farm on fire. It cannot hurt +us."</p> +<p>"But the horses, and my poor little pony?"</p> +<p>"Are safe, dearest one. The Etheling went and let them all +loose."</p> +<p>"Oh! how good of him. I am so glad."</p> +<p>"Mother, let Hermann come and sit with us!"</p> +<p>"Nay, he will out to the fight. He is a boy, and must learn to +be a soldier."</p> +<p>"Oh, but he will get hurt, perhaps killed."</p> +<p>"Courage, dear child; remember how often I have told you how God +helps those who trust in Him. Say your prayers, your Pater and +Credo, and ask God to take care of dear father and Hermann."</p> +<p>"Mother!" said a voice. She locked up and saw Hermann, his +forehead covered with blood.</p> +<p>"It is nothing, mother," said the spirited lad, as he wiped the +blood away; "at least only the scratch of an arrow while I was on +the roof. Father wishes you to send all the women who are strong +enough to help to carry water from the river. The well is dry, and +the men cannot be spared from the embankment. We expect another +attack, and there are great patches of blazing straw flying about +in the wind."</p> +<p>She spoke a few words to the women, and all but two or three, +who were too weak or ill, went forth to the work. One kiss she +imprinted eagerly on his brow, and dismissed him back to his +perilous task without allowing herself one sigh.</p> +<p>"Now, dear ones," she said to the little girls, "keep quiet till +mother comes back. I must go."</p> +<p>"O mother, do not leave us!"</p> +<p>But she could not listen to the earnest pleadings, for she felt +that where other women exposed themselves, she too must go, and +cheer by her example.</p> +<p>A long line, reaching to the brink of the river, was soon +formed, and buckets were being passed from hand to hand. A loud +cry, and a boy in the line fell from an arrow, which retained just +sufficient strength to pierce his heart. Herstan and Father +Cuthbert carried the corpse reverently within, the father +remembering that but that morning he had fed with the Bread of +Life, at the altar of St. Michael, this poor lad, so soon to be +called to meet the Judge who had entertained him as a guest at His +holy Table that Christmas morn. Two or three others were soon +wounded, but not seriously, and when a supply of water ready for +all emergencies had been collected on the roof, the dangerous duty +was over.</p> +<p>Pale and collected, the Lady Bertha was returning to her +children, when she passed the corpse. One moment, and the thought +struck her that it was Hermann, and the mother's heart gave a great +leap. Tremblingly she put aside the cloth with which they had +veiled it, and was undeceived. Repressing her feelings, she was +again by the side of her little girls, when the fearful cries of +the assailants once more rang through the air.</p> +<p>"Stand to your post! Quit yourselves like men! Be firm!" shouted +the stentorian voice of Edmund.</p> +<p>Onward came the Danes, in three parties, to attack the three +sides of the building. The arrows diminished their numbers, but +stayed them not. They left a struggling dark line upon the ground, +but the wounded had to care for themselves. Edmund rushed to +command the defence at the gate, leaving Alfgar to superintend that +upon the right hand, and Herstan on the left. They had but one +moment, and they were in the thick of the conflict.</p> +<p>Shouts mingled with shrieks. Sword, battle-axe, and spear did +their deadly work through and above the palisade; arrows rained +down from the roof and windows on the assailants, women and boys +doing their part in that manner, while the men did theirs with +battle-axe and sword on the bulwarks. In one or two places the +palisade threatened to give way, and at last three or four stakes +were dragged out in one spot, blow after blow of the axe was spent +upon the yielding fabric, and a breach was effected.</p> +<p>The Etheling perceived it, and rushed to the scene just as two +or three of the English, less used to arms, were yielding before +the ponderous weapons of the Danes. Throwing himself into the +breach, his practised arm made a desert around him. Of immense +muscular strength, his blows came down like the fabled hammer of +Thor, crushing helmet and breastplate alike before the +well-tempered steel of his favourite weapon. The foe were driven +back, and for one moment he stood in the breach alone.</p> +<p>Then and then only was he recognised.</p> +<p>"The gleeman! the false gleeman the Etheling Edmund!" in various +energetic cries, attested his fame, and the hatred of his foes.</p> +<p>"Yes, dogs, ye know me, and the prize ye have to win. Back, +drunkards and cannibals, back to your royal parricide with the +gleeman's greetings, and tell him Hela is waiting for him and his +friend the accursed Edric."</p> +<p>A shower of arrows was the only answer, but they missed the +joints, and rattled harmlessly from the well-tempered armour which +Edmund wore. Still the position was critical, and Alfgar, with +gentle violence, persuaded him to descend from his perilous +position.</p> +<p>Here the attack was foiled, and foiled so decidedly, that the +ditch was actually half filled with corpses. Cries of distress +arose from the opposite side, but Edmund's arm restored the balance +there, so great was the influence of one man, and so great the +power of physical force in the desperate conflicts of that day.</p> +<p>Foiled at every point, the invaders were driven from the +embankment. It was evident that they had miscalculated the forces +of the defenders, and that they had advanced beyond their main body +in insufficient strength to take the place by assault. Could they +have supplied the place of the fallen by fresh men, until they had +wearied the defenders out, they would have succeeded, but they were +evidently not in strength to do this so they slowly yielded, until +the deadly struggle ceased, and silence resumed her empire, while +the besieged repaired the damage the defences had sustained.</p> +<p>"They have retired," said Herstan, wiping the sweat from his +brow and the blood from his axe.</p> +<p>"Ay," said Edmund, "they will not now take the place by assault +--they are not more than two to one, considering the losses they +have sustained. They have lost twice as many as we. If we were a +little stronger I would head a sally.</p> +<p>"Ah! what was that?"</p> +<p>A globe of fire traversing the arc of a circle, rose from beyond +the embers of the barns, and, sailing through the air, fell upon +the roof, which, owing to the intense heat from the conflagration +which had raged around, was in a very dry and inflammable state. +Another, then another followed, and Edmund cried aloud:</p> +<p>"Pass up the water to the roof, to the roof. We shall need all +our hands now!"</p> +<p>He rushed up himself, but charged Herstan to remain below, and +see that, whatever happened, the defences were not forsaken for one +moment.</p> +<p>The defenders on the roof were prompt with their remedy; and no +sooner did a flaming brand arrive than it was extinguished, +provided it fell in a spot easy of access. But at length some of +the deadly missiles fell where they could not be immediately +reached, and one of these eluded the observation of the besieged +until they saw a sheet of flame curl over the eaves beneath the +roof, and play upon the surface of the huge beams above, until they +suddenly started into flame. Water was dashed upon it, but only +partially extinguished the destroying element, which broke out in +fresh places until the defenders became desperate. And now flight +after flight of arrows fell amongst them, and many wounds were +received, while the smoke and flame seemed to find fresh fuel each +moment, and to need all the energies of the English.</p> +<p>It was at this inauspicious moment that the Danes charged the +palisades again with deadly fury, while the attention of all was +drawn to the flames; so fierce was the attack, that it was +necessary once more to concentrate all the strength of the besieged +to repel them; and the fire gained in strength, roared and hissed +in its fury, seizing for its prey the whole roof of the eastern +wing of the building.</p> +<p>And now the Danish archers, drawing nearer, sent fresh flights +of arrows on those who were labouring on the house top, and, +killing several, drove the others away. The condition of the +English was rapidly getting desperate.</p> +<p>Edmund threw himself into the strife, and drove the foe back +from the breach they had previously made, but even his valour could +not restore confidence.</p> +<p>"All is lost! all is lost!" cried some panic-stricken trembler, +as he saw the flames spread.</p> +<p>"To the river, to the river, to the boats!" cried others.</p> +<p>"Nay, nay," shouted Edmund, "we are not conquered yet; we can +defend ourselves till daylight, or we can depart in order. Alfgar, +bid the women and children prepare to leave the hall as the fire +spreads; and you, Herstan, see that if the worst comes to the +worst, the retreat to the river is made in order. We will defend +the place if necessary till the last man, and cover your retreat; +but all is not lost yet. Take a dozen stout men, mount the roof, +the fire is not lower down; let them destroy the burning portion +with their axes; let the women stand behind with the water.</p> +<p>"Archers, keep the Danes back. See those brutes there aiming at +your wives on the roof; bring them down; make them keep their +distance. Guard well the palisades."</p> +<p>But, although his orders were obeyed, the Danes grew bolder; the +men could not work on the roof in the midst of the arrows. The +women and children, emerging terror-struck from the hall, made +every father's heart sink within him.</p> +<p>Edmund cried aloud:</p> +<p>"To the gate, to the gate! the villains have got the drawbridge +down."</p> +<p>He rushed to the spot himself, and found that some adventurous +Dane had severed the chains and lowered the bridge in the momentary +confusion of its defenders, and the gate was yielding before their +strokes.</p> +<p>He arrived; and that moment the gate fell. He stood in the +breach himself; one man against a dozen. He did all a hero could; +but he was already bleeding. Alfgar, ever faithful, fought like a +lion by his side. Herstan and his bravest warriors brought their +aid, but all seemed lost.</p> +<p>"Tell them to retreat to the river.</p> +<p>"Herstan, conduct the retreat; Alfgar and I can keep them out +for five minutes more."</p> +<p>"All is lost! all is lost!" the cry arose within.</p> +<p>"No; saved! saved!" cried Father Cuthbert from the roof. "What! +Englishmen, to the rescue! to the rescue!"</p> +<p>The Danes suddenly wavered, then turned in surprise and despair; +for from the darkness behind emerged the forms of hundreds of +Englishmen, who fell upon the Danes. The levies were out, and only +just in time.</p> +<p>"One charge!" said Edmund; and, rushing forward, led the way +into the heart of the foe.</p> +<p>. . . . . .</p> +<p>The Danes who had attacked the house of Herstan were so far in +advance of their countrymen that they were forced to retreat +instantly before the superior force which came to the rescue of the +besieged; and they fell back, at first in some order, but shortly, +owing to the darkness and the pressure of their foes, in utter +confusion.</p> +<p>But Edmund could pursue them no longer. His strength, having +been so lately an invalid, was utterly gone. He fell from sheer +exhaustion, and was borne back by Alfgar to the hall.</p> +<p>But there was no longer need for his protection. He had saved +the mansion and all its inmates, as they most readily owned. And +now he received all the loving care and attention he deserved.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the English continued the pursuit until a small +remnant of Danes repassed the river; only a small remnant of the +party which, as it will be easily guessed, instigated by Edric, had +sallied forth to besiege the place where Edmund had found refuge, +who had so recently provoked the bitter hostility of Sweyn.</p> +<p>The following day the whole army of the Danes retreated from the +ruins of Wallingford towards the south; and the next day encamped +in the village of Cholsey, which, with its priory, they utterly +destroyed. Then they continued their retreat along the slope of the +downs, by Aston, until they reached Cuckamsley hill, where they +abode as a daring boast; for it had been said that if they ever +reached that spot they should never see the sea again. Alas! the +prediction was unfulfilled<a name="EndNote12anc" href= +"#EndNote12sym"><sup> {xii}</sup></a>.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h2> +<p>In the Aescendune Woods, Easter Tide, 1007.--</p> +<p>Here I am at home, if I may call these woods home, once more, +having spent my Lent with my brethren in the monastery of Abingdon. +We are a very large party: Herstan and all his family are here, the +Etheling Edmund, and Alfgar.</p> +<p>We all travelled together from Abingdon. Passing through Oxen +ford, Kirtlington (where Bishop Sidesman of Crediton died at the +Great Council, whose body is buried in the abbey), Beranbyrig, and +Warwick, we reached the domains of Aescendune.</p> +<p>We passed through the desolated village where lie the blackened +ruins of priory and hall, not without a sigh, and entered the +forest. Although I had so recently travelled by that path (in +September last), yet I could hardly find my way, and had once or +twice like to have lost the party in quagmires. So much the better; +for if we can hardly escape such impediments, I do not think we +need fear that the Danes will find their way through the swamps and +brakes.</p> +<p>But the woods were so fresh and delightful to men like +ourselves, who have but just escaped from the confinement of the +town. Blessed, thrice blessed, are they who dwell in the woods, +God's first temples, apart from strife and the turmoil of arms!</p> +<p>So spake I to my companions. The while the birds from each tree +and bush chanted their Maker's praise, and the sweet fresh green of +springtide enlivened the scene, as if to welcome us pilgrims to our +home.</p> +<p>"And not less, father," said the Etheling, "need we be grateful +for yon fat buck, which I mean to send an arrow after. See, we have +the wind of him."</p> +<p>So speaking, while we all stood motionless, he crept near his +victim, and drawing an arrow to its head, while all we saw was the +branching horns of the stag, he let it fly. It whizzed through the +air, and drank the life blood of the poor beast, which bounded a +few steps, staggered, and fell, when in a moment Alfgar ended its +struggles by drawing his knife across its throat, while young +Hermann, a true hunter by instinct, clapped his hands with joy.</p> +<p>"We shall bring our dinner with us," quoth the boy.</p> +<p>At this point I found great difficulty. A brook coming down from +the hills had overflowed the land until a swamp or quagmire had +been formed, whereon huge trees rotted in slime, while creeping +plants hid the deformity of decay.</p> +<p>Our horses refused the path, and it took me a good hour's +search, for I was guide, to find a more secure one. At last I found +the tracks where others had gone before me, and we followed a +winding path for a full hour, until we arrived in a deep valley, +where a brook made its way between deep rocky banks, by the side of +which lay our upward path.</p> +<p>"What a splendid place for defence!" said Edmund. "With a score +or two warriors, one might hold an entire army at bay here."</p> +<p>He pointed out to Alfgar and Hermann, who look upon him as a +sort of demigod, all the capabilities of the place.</p> +<p>"A few more steps, and we shall see our friends," said I; and we +advanced until, from the summit of the pass, we saw the valley +wherein they have found rest.</p> +<p>They had worked well during autumn and winter, and the land was +well cultivated; the brook ran through the midst of the vale, which +was bounded by low hills on either side, and clear from forest +growth.</p> +<p>In the centre of the valley the brook divided, forming an island +of about an acre of ground, containing several dwellings. From the +central one, which possessed a chimney, smoke issued, and told of +the noon meat.</p> +<p>By this time our approach was discovered, and I saw my brother, +with a few serfs, advancing to meet us. It was a happy moment when +we embraced each other again. And then he saw Alfgar, and embraced +him as a son. They did not speak--their feelings were too deep +for words. All that had passed since they last met must have rushed +into their minds. Then Herstan, the Lady Bertha, Hermann, Ostryth, +and Alfreda, all had their turn.</p> +<p>"Pardon me, prince," said I, when I introduced Edmund; "pardon +brothers who scarcely expected to meet again. Elfwyn, let me +introduce the Etheling Edmund as your guest."</p> +<p>"The Etheling Edmund!" repeated Elfwyn, with great respect; "it +is indeed an honour which I receive."</p> +<p>"The less said of it the better," said Edmund. "I am come to be +one of you for a time, and am thankful to find a free-born +Englishman to welcome me to the woods. Never, by God's help, will I +return to the court so long as they pay tribute to the Danes."</p> +<p>"It is true, then," said Elfwyn--"we hear scant news here-- +that peace has been bought?"</p> +<p>"Yes, bought for thirty-six thousand pounds, by Edric's advice. +I should like to know how much of the money he retains himself. He +is hand and glove with Sweyn. But I purpose deriving one benefit +from the peace, upon which the Danes do not reckon."</p> +<p>"And that?--"</p> +<p>"Is to train up an army of Englishmen who shall not be their +inferiors in warlike skill. In courage they are not their inferiors +now. Perhaps you will let me amuse myself by training your own +retainers in their spare moments?"</p> +<p>"Most willingly. I could desire nothing better," said my +brother, smiling inwardly at the enthusiasm of the young +warrior.</p> +<p>The labourers had just returned from wood and field, and when +Edmund was recognised he was greeted with vociferous cheers, which +made the woods ring.</p> +<p>But I cannot describe the meeting of Alfgar with the mother and +sister of Bertric; they were alone a long time together after the +noon meat, and I saw afterwards their eyes were red with weeping; +well, they were not all tears of sorrow.</p> +<p>On the whole it has been a day of deep happiness, hallowed +rather than shadowed by the thought of Bertric, the circumstances +of whose heroic death were only now fully known to his parents and +sister.</p> +<p>. . . . . .</p> +<p class="c2">The voluminous pages of Father Cuthbert's diary for +the years of bitter woe and misery which followed cannot be fully +transcribed; they would fill a volume themselves, and we must +content ourselves with a few extracts, which will probably interest +our readers, and carry on the thread of the history to the place +where our narrative will again flow free and uninterrupted.</p> +<p>Ascension Tide, 1007.--</p> +<p>Edmund, assisted by Alfgar, has begun his task of disciplining +and training all our able-bodied men. He says, and rightly, that he +is sure we shall very soon have the Danes back for more money, and +that there will be no peace till we can defend ourselves properly. +It is amusing to see with what zeal young Hermann takes lessons in +arms from Alfgar; that boy is born to be a soldier.</p> +<p>September 1007.--</p> +<p>We hear of an appointment which causes us much apprehension. The +king Ethelred has appointed Edric Streorn ealdorman of Mercia; we +are in his district, and fear it may bode evil to us all. Edmund is +beside himself with rage; he vows that if Edric appears in these +woods he will slay him as he would a wolf.</p> +<p>May 1008.--</p> +<p>Every three hundred and ten hides of land has been charged with +the cost of a ship, and every eight hides with the cost of +breastplate and helmet; we do trust to recover our supremacy at +sea, and then the Danes cannot return.</p> +<p>March 1009.--</p> +<p>Alas, we are grievously disappointed of our hope. The fleet is +miserably destroyed; Brihtric, Edric's brother, a man like-minded +to himself; accused Wulfnoth, the ealdorman of Sussex, of high +treason; the ealdorman, knowing that he had no chance of justice, +seduced the crews of twenty ships, and became a pirate, like unto +the Danes themselves. Brihtric pursued him with eighty ships, but +being a bad sailor, got aground in a storm, and Wulfnoth came and +burned all which the storm spared. The commanders and crews have +forsaken the rest of the fleet in disgust.</p> +<p>Whitsuntide, 1009.--</p> +<p>Poor Alfgar came to me in great trouble. He and Ethelgiva have +been accepted suitors so long that he thought it time to propose +marriage. She referred him, with her own full consent, to her +father; and Elfwyn says, not unwisely, that he cannot consent until +the land is at peace; that it is currently reported that Thurkill, +a Danish earl, is at hand with an immense fleet, and that to marry +might both hamper a warrior's hands and be the means of bringing up +children for the sword. He fully accepts Alfgar's suit, but +postpones the day till peace seems established, that is "sine die." +It is very hard to make Alfgar reconciled to this. I try to do +so.</p> +<p>July 1009.--</p> +<p>Bad news. Thurkill's fleet has landed at Sandwich.</p> +<p>August 1009.--</p> +<p>Worse news. Another fleet of Danes, under Heming and Eglaf, has +joined the former fleet, and both together are ravaging Wessex as +far northward as Berkshire; we have sent all the men we can spare +to join the army, but the king, persuaded by Edric, will not give +the Etheling Edmund any command therein.</p> +<p>St. Martin's Mass,--</p> +<p>One of our men has returned from the army. He states that forces +being gathered from all parts of England, the Danes were waylaid, +and must have been beaten, but that Edric persuaded the king not to +fight when the victory was in his hands, and so they escaped.</p> +<p>St. Brice's Day, 1009.--</p> +<p>This ill-omened anniversary we sang dirge and mass for the souls +of those who were slain by treachery seven years ago. Our forces +have returned from the south. They say the Danes have gone into +winter quarters on the Thames, and that all the neighbourhood pays +them tribute.</p> +<p>London has hitherto gallantly resisted their attacks.</p> +<p>Edric Streorn has married the king's daughter, Edmund's +half-sister, Elgitha. Is this a time to be "marrying and giving in +marriage"? Edmund is frantic about it.</p> +<p>February 1010.--</p> +<p>Woeful news. Herstan and all his family, who had returned in +peace to their dwelling, have come to us homeless and destitute. +The Danes, as in 1006, suddenly issued from their ships. They took +their way upwards through Chiltern, and so to Oxford, burning the +city. Then they returned all down the river, the infantry in boats, +the cavalry on horseback, burning on every side.</p> +<p>But, worst of all, Abingdon is destroyed; the holy house which +has been a house of prayer so many generations! Keeping in their +course, they burned Clifton; but the alarm was given in time, and +the people escaped. There was no chance of defence this time.</p> +<p>Then they attacked Dorchester, and burned part of the city, but +retired before all was consumed, hearing that a large force was +marching against them; so onward past the ruins of Wallingford, +which had not yet been rebuilt, destroying Bensington on their +road. Thus they went on to Staines, when, fearing the forces of +London, they returned through Kent to their ships.</p> +<p>Our brethren who took refuge in Abingdon have just arrived. We +must find them room here; they tell a piteous story.</p> +<p>Ascension Tide, 1010.--</p> +<p>A sorrowful Ascension Tide indeed! They have landed in East +Anglia. A battle has been fought and lost. Nearly all the English +leaders slain.</p> +<p>Whitsuntide.--</p> +<p>We can hardly keep the festival, the people are so excited by +the news; all Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (once more) are laid +waste. They are on the road to Bedford.</p> +<p>Edmund and Alfgar, with young Hermann, and all our fighting men, +have gone out on their own account against them.</p> +<p>July.--</p> +<p>The Danes elude all our troops. Edric persuades the king to go +eastward, and the Danes are westward. They go westward, and the +Danes are eastward. There is no chieftain. A witan is summoned; it +will do no good.</p> +<p>November.--</p> +<p>Northampton has fallen, cruelly fallen. The town is burned, and +all therein slain.</p> +<p>Edmund and Alfgar, with not more than half our men, have +returned with the news. Hermann is seriously wounded, but bears it +bravely. He is only sixteen now. There is mourning over all our +fallen heroes; but they have died so bravely. Edmund says they have +slain far more than twice their number of the marauders. Still his +father will give him no command. It is like private war so far as +he is concerned; but many fresh recruits have joined his standard, +and will go out with him in spring.</p> +<p>March 1011.--</p> +<p>The king and witan have again offered tribute to the Danes; it +is accepted. I do not think the peace will last long.</p> +<p>Michaelmas, 1011.--</p> +<p>Woe is me! the Danes have broken the peace; and Canterbury, the +chief seat of English Christendom, whence came to us the blessed +Gospel, is taken and burnt. Elfmar, the abbot of St. Augustine's-- +O false shepherd! O wolf in sheep's clothing! betrayed it. The +archbishop is prisoner. God and the blessed saints preserve +him!</p> +<p>Easter, 1012.--</p> +<p>Another saint is added to the calendar; the Archbishop Elphege +has suffered martyrdom. On Easter eve they told him he must find +ransom or die. But he not only firmly refused to give money, but +forbade his impoverished people to do so on his account. Then, on +the following Saturday, they led him to their hustings (or +assembly), and shamefully slaughtered him, casting upon him bones +and the horns of oxen. And then one smote him with an axe iron on +the head, and with the blow he sank down. His holy blood fell on +the earth, and his soul he sent forth to God's kingdom.</p> +<p>On the morrow they allowed the body to be taken to London, where +the bishops, Ednoth of Dorchester and Elfhelm of London, received +it, with all the townsmen, and buried the holy relics in St. Paul's +minster, where they say many miracles have already been wrought at +his tomb.</p> +<p>Tribute has again been paid, and there is peace awhile. +Thurkill, with forty ships, sweareth to serve King Ethelred and +defend the country if he will feed and pay them.</p> +<p>Oh that the martyr's intercessions may be heard for his +afflicted country<a name="EndNote13anc" href= +"#EndNote13sym"><sup> {xiii}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>August 1013.--</p> +<p>This fatal month our own neighbourhood, indeed nearly all +Mercia, has suffered the extreme horrors of war. Sweyn came along +Watling Street, perpetrating the most monstrous cruelties; in +short, he and his committed the worst evil that any army could +do.</p> +<p>We found now how wisely we had decided not to rebuild +Aescendune. Not a hall, farm, or cottage, escaped fire and sword, +save those hidden in the forest like us. Edmund has lost many men +in the course of the last few months; and with the remainder he hid +in our woods, ready to protect us "to the last breath," as he said, +"in his body." Alfgar and Hermann, who have both been wounded (the +latter for the second time), are with him still. But the enemy +never discovered our retreat. Praise be to God for sparing this +little Zoar! The saints are not unmindful how we protested against +the iniquity of St. Brice's day. But of one thing we all feel sure; +Anlaf cannot be alive, or revenge would lead him here.</p> +<p>December 1013.--</p> +<p>Ethelred has fled to Normandy. He sent Queen Emma and her +children before him. Sweyn, the Dane, is now King of England. There +seems no resource but submission. We are told Edric Streorn is in +high favour in the Pagan court; and still is ealdorman of Mercia. +Alas! what a Christmas!</p> +<p>Candlemas, 1014.--</p> +<p>God has at length bared His arm: Sweyn is no more. The +blasphemer and parricide is gone to his dread account. On the eve +of the festival he filled up the measure of his damnation by daring +to exact an enormous tribute from the town where rests the +uncorrupt body of the precious martyr St. Edmund, which even the +pagan Danes had hitherto feared to do. He said that if it were not +presently paid he would burn the town and its people, level to the +ground the church of the martyr, and inflict various tortures on +the clergy. Not content with this, he disparaged the blessed +martyr's merits, daring to say there was no sanctity about him. +But, thus setting no bounds to his frowardness, Divine vengeance +did not suffer the blasphemer to prolong his miserable +existence.</p> +<p>Towards evening of the day when he had held a "thingcourt" at +Gainsborough, where he had repeated all these threats amongst his +warriors, he, alone of the crowd, saw St. Edmund approaching him +with a dreadful aspect.</p> +<p>Struck with terror, he began to shout, "Help! comrades, help! +St. Edmund is at hand to slay me!"</p> +<p>While he spoke, the saint thrust his spear fiercely through him, +and he fell from his war horse. They bore him to a bed, whereon he +suffered excruciating agonies till twilight, when he died the third +of the nones of February. From such a death, good Lord, deliver us! +The bloodthirsty and deceitful man shall not live out half his +days; nevertheless, my trust shall be in thee, O Lord<a name= +"EndNote14anc" href="#EndNote14sym"><sup> {xiv}</sup></a>!</p> +<p>Lent, 1014.--</p> +<p>Ethelred has returned, and is again king; he has promised to +amend his evil ways, and to be ruled by faithful and wise +counsellors. All England has rallied round the descendant of Edgar. +Canute has fled.</p> +<p>Eastertide.--</p> +<p>Edmund has returned to court. His father has received him +graciously. Alfgar is with him. Elfwyn will not even yet consent to +the marriage, saying, "Wait a little while; we have not yet done +with the Danes." I fear he is right.</p> +<p>June 1015.--</p> +<p>Herstan is here, and has brought us sad news. A great council +has just been held at Oxford, whereat Edric Streorn, to the +indignation of all men, sat at the king's right hand. Would this +had been all! He invited Sigeferth and Morcar, two of the chief +Thanes in the seven burghs, to supper with him; and there, when he +had made them heavy with wine, he caused them to be cruelly +murdered by hired ruffians. Instead of punishing him, the king +sanctioned the deed, took all their possessions, and sent +Sigeferth's widow to be kept prisoner at Malmesbury. Alas! such +deeds will call down God's vengeance upon us.</p> +<p>Nativity of St. Mary (Sept. 8).--</p> +<p>The Etheling went with Alfgar to Malmesbury a few days ago. We +now hear that he has released Sigeferth's widow, and that he has +married her. We know not what to think of the step. It is a bold +defiance of his father's cruel policy. He knew the widow before she +was the wife of Sigeferth, when Alfgar says he made honourable love +to her. But it is a very sudden step.</p> +<p>October 1015.--</p> +<p>Alas! the Divine vengeance has not slumbered long after the late +cruel deed. Canute is in England again. Edmund brought his wife +here, asking us to take care of her. She is a gentle lady, worn +down with care. He has gone, in conjunction with Edric, to fight +Canute. I dread this conjunction. Edmund would have gone alone, but +his father insisted on joining Edric in the command, saying two +heads were better than one.</p> +<p>November 1015.--</p> +<p>Alfgar has come home, bringing messages from Edmund, with sad +but not altogether unexpected news. Edric, who is steeped in +stratagems and deceit, plotted against his life again and again, +whereupon Edmund broke up the camp in indignation, and took a +separate course with all the warriors who would follow his +standard. Edric took the rest, went down to the seacoast, seduced +the crews of forty ships, and then joined Canute with his whole +forces. Alas! there seems no hope now.</p> +<p>Epiphany, 1016.--</p> +<p>There is war all over the land--civil war. It is not to be +wondered at. But many Englishmen have given their allegiance to +Canute, who now professes himself a Christian, saying they will not +serve Ethelred any more. So Edmund and Canute are both, I fear, +ravaging the land, for Edmund has threatened more than once to +regard those people as foes who refuse to fight against the Danes. +Men know not what to do.</p> +<p>Eastertide, 1016.--</p> +<p>We have received strange news. Ethelred is dying. He has +summoned his son. The tidings reached Edmund here. He had only been +with us a single day, and was about to depart again for the war, +for Canute threatens to attack London. It is there Ethelred lies +sick unto death. Edmund seemed more moved than I should have +expected. He has departed in all haste, taking Alfgar with him.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a>. THE ROYAL DEATHBED.</h2> +<p>It was the evening of a stormy day in April when a band of five +hundred men, well armed and equipped, were seen approaching the +Moor Gate of London. Their leader rode in front, a stalwart +warrior, whose eagle eye and dauntless brow told of one born to +command. By his side rode a younger warrior, yet one who had nearly +reached the prime of life, and who bore the traces of a life of +warfare most legibly stamped upon him. There was this difference +between them, that men would have recognised the elder at once as +an Englishman, while the younger had all the outward physiognomy of +a Dane.</p> +<p>"Look, Alfgar, and see whether you can see the flag of Wessex +floating over the gates; your eyes are better than mine," said the +elder to his companion.</p> +<p>"I can barely see through the driving rain and darkening sky, +but I think I discern the royal banner."</p> +<p>"Then the city yet holds out, and Canute has not arrived. We are +yet in time."</p> +<p>"The messenger said that their ships could not ascend the river +while the west wind blew, and it is blowing hard enough +tonight."</p> +<p>"Well, when they come they may find London a hard nut even for +Canute to crack. The citizens of London are true as steel."</p> +<p>"See, we are espied, and they man the gates."</p> +<p>"Doubtless they think Canute is approaching. Ride rapidly, we +shall soon undeceive them."</p> +<p>They rode within bow shot of the gates, which were closed, and +there they paused, for a score of bowmen held their shafts to their +ears. Edmund, for our readers have long recognised him, bade his +forces halt, and advanced alone, with Alfgar, holding up his hand +in sign of peace.</p> +<p>"What, ho! men of London," he cried, "do you not recognise +Edmund the Etheling?"</p> +<p>A joyous cry of recognition burst forth, the gates were thrown +open in a minute, and as Edmund, followed by his train, rode in, +cries of welcome and exultation burst forth on all sides, while +women and children, sharing the general joy, kissed even the hem of +his mantle.</p> +<p>Well they might, for their need was sore. Canute was near, his +ships had been seen entering the Thames, and his determination to +take the city, which had so often resisted the Danish arms, had +been freely and frankly expressed.</p> +<p>"Ah, well you know me, my countrymen, for a true Englishman!-- +one in whose veins your blood flows, and who will be only too happy +to fight the Danish wolves at your head."</p> +<p>The cry, "Long live the Etheling Edmund!" had wakened the city, +and the narrow tortuous streets were becoming thronged by the +crowd, so that their farther progress threatened to be slow. Edmund +perceived this, and, turning to the captain of the guard, inquired +anxiously:</p> +<p>"How fares the king, my father?"</p> +<p>"They say he is at death's door," was the reply.</p> +<p>"Then I may not tarry, good people. All thanks for your welcome, +which I hope I may live to repay, but just now my place is by my +father's side. I may not now delay till I come to him."</p> +<p>So the people made way without discontinuing their acclamations, +and Edmund and his train rode on till they reached the precincts of +St. Paul's cathedral church. Night was now coming on apace, amidst +showers of rain and hail, and gusts of wind, which caused the +wooden spire to rock visibly. Here and there faint lights twinkled +through the open doors, where people could be dimly seen on their +knees.</p> +<p>"They pray for the king," whispered an officer of the guard who +rode by the side of the prince. "The bishop Elfhelm has gone forth +with the viaticum."</p> +<p>Edmund replied not, but hurried his pace as he gazed at the +darkening outlines of the rude structure, which stood within the +outer walls, yet remaining, of the temple of Diana, which in Roman +times had occupied the same spot.</p> +<p>They descended the hill towards the Fleet, but paused while yet +within the walls. The ancient palace without the gates had been +long since burned by the Danes in one of their various attempts to +take the city, and the court had occupied a large palace, if such +it could be called, once belonging to a powerful noble who had +perished in one of the sanguinary battles of the time.</p> +<p>The outer portal stood open, but sentinels of the hus-carles +were posted thereat, who at once came forward as Edmund paused at +the gate.</p> +<p>He dismounted, saying, "Alfgar, follow me;" and commended his +troops to the hospitality of the citizens, bidding them to +reassemble before St. Paul's by eight of the morning.</p> +<p>And the troops broke up to receive such hospitality as the +straitened times permitted men to indulge in. The officers found a +welcome in the palace, amongst the royal guard. The citizens +contended who should entertain the rest.</p> +<p>Edmund passed through the great hall, where the general silence +struck him forcibly, telling of the extremity to which the monarch +was reduced, and entered an inner apartment, where several +dignitaries both of church and state were waiting. They welcomed +him in grave silence, and the chamberlain who was present spoke in +a low voice:</p> +<p>"Your royal father has long pined for you, my prince; may I +conduct you to him at once?"</p> +<p>"Who is with him now?"</p> +<p>"Your royal brothers, the Ethelings Edward and Alfred, the +Princess Edgitha, and the Queen <a name="EndNote15anc" href= +"#EndNote15sym"><sup> {xv}</sup></a>."</p> +<p>"Has not the bishop arrived?"</p> +<p>"He is in the chapel at this moment; the king declined to see +him, he will not believe he is dying; but the bishop waits in +prayer."</p> +<p>"Lead me to his chamber," said Edmund.</p> +<p>Re-entering the great hall, the chamberlain and prince ascended +the broad staircase which conducted to the upper chambers, and +passing along a passage thickly strewn with rushes to deaden the +sound, for carpets were unknown, they came to a door at the end, +where the chamberlain paused and knocked.</p> +<p>Loud ravings, as of one in delirium, penetrated the passage from +the chamber, amidst which the chamberlain knocked again.</p> +<p>"There! there!" cried an agonised voice, "he knocks again; 'tis +Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, whom Edric slew; 'twasn't I, 'twas Edric, I +only shared the spoil; keep him out, I tell you, keep him out."</p> +<p>The door was not opened; probably those within feared to excite +the king; and the chamberlain whispered to Edmund:</p> +<p>"He is in delirium, his ravings are very painful."</p> +<p>"I hear," said Edmund; "how long has he been in this state?"</p> +<p>"Only a few hours, and he has constantly imagined that men, who +are long since dead, were about him; especially he calls upon +Dunstan, then upon St. Brice, then he calls for his son-in-law, +Edric."</p> +<p>"Ah, Edric!"</p> +<p>"Yes; but Edric is with Canute, I hear."</p> +<p>"I wish he were with Satan, in his own place," said Edmund, +fiercely, forgetting all Christian charity at the hated name.</p> +<p>"It is devoutly to be wished; but he is quiet, we may enter +now."</p> +<p>The king, exhausted by his own violent emotions, lay back upon +the bed, which occupied the centre of the room, surmounted by a +wooden canopy, richly carved, from which curtains depended on +either side.</p> +<p>His face, which time and evil passions had deeply wrinkled, was +of a deadly paleness; his eyes were encircled by a livid tint, and +stared as if they would start from their orbits; his breathing was +rapid and interrupted, but at the moment when Edmund entered he was +silent. Standing on his left hand, wiping the perspiration from his +brow, was Emma, the queen, her face yet comely, and bearing trace +of that beauty which had once earned her the title of the "Pearl of +Normandy." Her evident solicitude and loving care was the one +picture of the room upon which the eye could rest with most +contentment.</p> +<p>Alfred, her eldest son--for Edmund was the offspring of an +early amour of the king--was on the other side of the bed, a +well-made youth, combining in his features the haughty bearing of +his Norman maternal ancestors with the English traits of his +father; but now his expression was one of distress and anxiety, +which was yet more deeply shared by his younger brother, Edward, +who even at this period manifested that strong sense of religious +obligation and that early devotion which in later years caused him +to be numbered amongst canonised saints.</p> +<p>He knelt at the bedside, and his hand grasped the cold damp hand +of his sire, as if he would strengthen him by his sympathy.</p> +<p>"O father," he cried; "neglect not longer to make your peace with +a long-suffering God; even in this eleventh hour He will not reject +the penitent."</p> +<p>He was interrupted by the entrance of Edmund, his half-brother, +whom he feared, because he could not understand so different a +nature.</p> +<p>"Our father has long pined for you," he said, in a timid voice; +"I fear you are too late, and that he will hardly know you."</p> +<p>"I have ridden from Aescendune day and night since the news of +his danger was brought me.</p> +<p>"Father," he said, as he bent over the bed, "do you not know +me?"</p> +<p>The dying man raised himself up and looked him full in the face, +and a look of recognition came slowly.</p> +<p>"Edmund!" he said, "I am so glad, you will protect me; take your +battle-axe, you are strong. Sigeferth and Morcar, whom Edric slew +at Oxford, have been here, and they said they would come back and +drag me with them to some judgment seat; now take thine axe, +Edmund, my son, and slay them when they enter; they want killing +again."</p> +<p>A look of indescribable pain passed over the features of +Edmund.</p> +<p>The door opened, and Edward left the room after a conference +with the physician, who sat in a corner of the room compounding +drugs at a small table; a few minutes passed in silence, when he +returned and held the door open for the bishop of London, who +entered, bearing the viaticum, as the last communion of the sick +was then called, and attended by an acolyte, who bore a lighted +taper before him and carried a bell.</p> +<p>The king rose up in his bed, glared fixedly at the prelate, and +then shrieked aloud:</p> +<p>"St. Brice! St. Brice! art thou come again? What dost thou glare +at me for? 'Twas not I who defiled thy festival with blood. It was +Edric, Edric! Why does he not come to answer for his own sin?"</p> +<p>"If he did, I would brain him," muttered Edmund.</p> +<p>"There! do not glare upon me. Hast thou brought me the blood of +the victims to drink? Ah! there is Gunhilda. What right hast thou +to complain if I slew thee, which I did not, at least not with my +own hands: thy brother Sweyn has slain thousands. I did not at +least kill my father; I have only disgraced his name, as you will +say.</p> +<p>"O Edmund! Edmund! protect me."</p> +<p>"My son," said the bishop, in a deep calm voice, which seemed to +still the ravings of the king, "think of thy sins, repent, confess; +the Church hath power to loose in her Lord's name, Who came to save +sinners."</p> +<p>"Yes, father, heed him," said Edward. "Father, you are dying, +the leech says; you have not a day to live. Waste not the precious +hours."</p> +<p>The patient sank back upon his bed, and for a few minutes only +the sound of his breathing could be heard; the difficulty with +which he drew his breath seemed to increase each moment.</p> +<p>The bishop held the crucifix before his eyes.</p> +<p>"Gaze, my son," said he, "at the emblem of Him who died that +thou mightest live, and say, 'O my God, I put Thy most pitiful +passion between Thee and my sins!'"</p> +<p>"Yes, father, hearken," said Edward.</p> +<p>"I bethink me now that Gunhilda clung to the crucifix, and said +she was a Christian. But what of that? She was a Dane, and they did +right in dragging her from it and slaying her."</p> +<p>"My son, my son, you throw away your salvation!" cried the +bishop.</p> +<p>"Father, show him the viaticum," said Emma.</p> +<p>"It is useless; without repentance and faith 'twould but +increase--" and the prelate paused. "Let us pray. It is all we can +do."</p> +<p>And all present knelt round the bed, while the plaintive cry +arose from the lips of the prelate, and was echoed from all +around:</p> +<p>"Kyrie eleeson: Christe eleeson: kyrie eleeson."</p> +<p>And so the litany for the dying rolled solemnly along, with its +intense burning words of supplication, its deep agony of prayer, +its loving earnestness of intercession. But upon the dying sinner's +ears it fell as an echo of the long, long past; of that day when +the litany arose before his coronation at Kingston, and the +prophetic curse of Dunstan.</p> +<p>"Listen!" he said. "I hear the voice of Dunstan.</p> +<p>"Oh, why didst thou lay thy curse upon me? Did I murder my +brother Edward? Nay, 'twas my cruel mother, who murdered her own +husband that she might become queen. Her sins are visited upon me. +Nay, recall thy curse. Alas! it is uttered in thunders before the +eternal judgment seat.</p> +<p>"See, they come to drag me thither; they all come--Edward; the +victims whom I slew sixteen years agone in Cumbria; the slain on +St. Brice's day; Elfhelm of Shrewsbury and his sons, with their +empty sockets, and their eyes hanging down; Sigeferth, Morcar, and +a thousand others. See, Dunstan bids them all await me at the +judgment seat. I will not come; nay, they drag me.</p> +<p>"Edric, wilt thou not answer for me now? Accursed be thy name, +accursed!"</p> +<p>His frightful maledictions overpowered the supplications around +his bed; but they died away in silence--silence so long +continued, that suspicion soon became certainty.</p> +<p>Ethelred the Unready was dead.</p> +<p>"We must leave him to God's mercy," said the bishop, as he +closed the eyes, while the wife and children of the unhappy king +sobbed around. "He knoweth whereof we are made; He remembereth that +we are but dust."</p> +<p>Yet he trembled as he spoke, and, kneeling down, completed with +faltering voice the office for the commendation of the departed +soul.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a>. THE MIDNIGHT FLIGHT.</h2> +<p>So soon as the news of the death of Ethelred travelled abroad, +the bishops, abbots, ealdormen, and thanes of southern England, +despairing of the cause of the house of Cerdic, met together at +Southampton, and renouncing Ethelred and his descendants, elected +Canute to be their king, while he swore that both in things +spiritual and temporal he would maintain their liberties.</p> +<p>But the citizens of London were of nobler mould, and, disdaining +submission, chose Edmund to be their king. A council was at once +held, and it became apparent that the allegiance of the greater +part of Wessex depended upon Edmund's prompt appearance amongst +them, while, on the other hand, the rapid approach of Canute made +his presence in the city very essential to the safety of the +inhabitants.</p> +<p>Up rose a noble thane, and spake his mind.</p> +<p>"Surely we can defend our own city until the valiant Edmund +brings us aid. We have kept off Canute before, and his father +before him, and we can do as much again. Meanwhile Edmund will soon +have all Wessex at his back, and Canute will find his match for +once."</p> +<p>The words of the gallant speaker found their echo in many a +breast, and it was decided that Edmund should be advised to hurry +into Wessex, and leave London to defend itself.</p> +<p>A deputation from the council at once waited upon Edmund, and in +the name of the city, and, as they took the liberty of adding, of +every true man in England, they proferred him his father's crown. +Like the citizens of a certain modern capital, they constituted +themselves the representatives of the nation.</p> +<p>Edmund, who certainly did not lack confidence, and who could not +help knowing that he alone was able to cope with the Danes, took +scant time to consider their proposal.</p> +<p>"I accept the crown," he said; "a thorny one it is like to +prove, but I thank you for your love and trust."</p> +<p>In the course of a day or two Ethelred the Unready was buried by +Archbishop Lyfing in St. Paul's minster, with the assistance of the +cathedral body. Emma and her children, as also Edwy, the son of +Ethelred by his first wife, were the chief mourners, nay, the only +real ones. Most men felt as when a cloud passes away. The sad +procession passed through the streets, the people flocked into the +church, and in the presence of all the "wise men" of London, they +solemnly committed the frail tabernacle in which the living spirit +had sinned and suffered to the parent earth, where the rush and +roar of a mighty city should ever peal around it.</p> +<p>A few days later the archbishop was called upon to perform a +very different ceremony, the coronation of King Edmund, which also +took place in St. Paul's Cathedral, amidst tears of joy, and cries +which even the sanctity of the place could not wholly restrain, +"God bless King Edmund!" The solemn oath of fidelity was +administered, and when all was over, with mingled tears and +acclamations, those who had met to bury the late king greeted with +joy his son and successor.</p> +<p>It yet remained to be seen whether the choice of the realm would +ratify this decisive step on the part of the citizens of +London.</p> +<p>Emma, the queen dowager, was deeply mortified, even while she +confessed the heritage was hardly worth having. Still her boy +Alfred seemed slighted by the choice, and she left England at once, +with Alfred and Edward, for Normandy, while Elgitha departed +secretly from London to join her husband Edric, and tell him all +that had been done.</p> +<p>Edmund delayed his journey into Wessex until he had duly +provided for the defence of the capital, and had personally +examined all the defences with a warrior's eye. At length the +messengers who watched the Danish fleet announced its arrival at +Greenwich, and that bands of warriors, numerous as locusts, were +issuing thence, and advancing upon London.</p> +<p>Reluctant as Edmund was to leave the city, it was evident that +if he delayed another day he might indeed share the perils of the +inhabitants, but would probably lose Wessex, where his immediate +presence was all-important. Therefore he called Alfgar, and bade +him prepare at once for a journey to the west.</p> +<p>Their intended route led them, in the first instance, to +Dorchester, where a large force from Mercia, including most of the +men whom Edmund had so long disciplined himself, and who were under +the temporary charge of Hermann, were to meet him. However, it was +late before their final arrangements could be made, and the sun had +already set when the citizens accompanied them to the Ludgate, and +bade them an earnest farewell.</p> +<p>They were both clad in light defensive armour, such as could be +worn on a rapid journey, and armed with sword and battle-axe. Their +own steeds, two of the finest horses England could produce, famous +for speed and bottom, awaited them at the gate. Edmund criticised +their condition with a jealous eye, and then expressed +approval.</p> +<p>"Farewell, Englishmen of the loyal and true city! Until we meet +in happier times, farewell! You will know how to guard hearths and +homes. Till we return to aid you, farewell!"</p> +<p>And, striking spurs into his steed, he and Alfgar rode across +the Fleet river, and, ascending the rising ground, pursued their +course along the Strand.</p> +<p>"We shall have a moonlight ride," said the king. "Look, Alfgar, +'tis nearly full."</p> +<p>"My Lord, do you see those dark spots on the river near Thorney +Isle?"</p> +<p>"Ah! I see them, and recognise the cutthroats. They are the +Danes, who are bent on surrounding the city. Had I my five hundred, +I would soon give some account of that detachment."</p> +<p>"But now, my Lord, had we not better strike into the northern +road at once, before they see us? We are but two."</p> +<p>"No; I should like to see them a little closer, and then across +the heath for Windsor. They must have fleet steeds that catch +us."</p> +<p>So they persevered until they had attained a rising ground from +which they perceived the whole force, nearly a thousand strong, of +whom one half had crossed the stream. But the figures of our two +adventurers, outlined on the hill, were too distinct to elude their +observation, and a dozen dark horsemen rode after them at full +gallop.</p> +<p>"Now for a brisk ride," said Edmund; and the two dashed wildly +onward, clearing ditch or hedge until they attained the rising +ground afterwards known as Hounslow Heath, still followed by their +pursuers.</p> +<p>Here Edmund paused and looked round. The speed at which they +rode had separated their pursuers, as he had expected, and one was +far the foremost.</p> +<p>"Stand by, Alfgar," he said; "two to one is not fair. I thirst +for the blood of this accursed Dane."</p> +<p>Alfgar knew that he must not dispute the royal will, although he +thought the risk of delay very perilous, with a crowd of foes upon +their track. While he waited up came the Dane, powerfully mounted, +swinging his heavy battle-axe. He swooped upon Edmund, who caused +his horse to start aside, avoided the stroke, and then, guiding his +horse by his knees, and raising his axe in both hands, cleft his +antagonist to the chin before he could recover.</p> +<p>"Here come two more. Now, Alfgar, there is one apiece. The rest +are a mile behind them. You may take the one on the light grey, I +will take the rascal on the dark steed."</p> +<p>Another moment and they were both engaged. Alfgar foiled his +opponent's first stroke, and wounded him slightly in return. Now +the battle became desperate, attack succeeding attack, and parry, +parry. Meanwhile Edmund had again laid his foe prostrate in the +dust, but did not interfere; such was his chivalrous spirit in what +he considered an equal combat, although he cast anxious looks +behind, where two or three other riders were rapidly +approaching.</p> +<p>At last victory inclined to Alfgar's side. Parrying a tremendous +stroke with his axe, he returned it with such vigour that the next +moment the Dane lay quivering in the dust.</p> +<p>"There appear to be only three or four more. I think we might +engage them. By the by, Alfgar, you missed one splendid chance +through your steed not answering your guidance to the moment. But I +am tired of the battle-axe, and shall use my sword for a +change.</p> +<p>"Ah! there come half-a-dozen more round those firs. We must ride +forward and give up the sport."</p> +<p>Their enemies saw them and quickened their pace. They came to +the spot where their countrymen lay prostrate, and the cry of +revenge they raised, and the manner in which they urged their +steeds forward, showed how strongly the sight appealed to their +feelings.</p> +<p>Onward flew pursuers and pursued--onward till Windsor's +height, with its castled hall, appeared in sight, and tempted them +to seek refreshment for man and beast. But they dared not linger on +their journey, and passed the town without entering.</p> +<p>They rode all night through a most desolate country, wasted by +fire and sword in all directions. Only in a few spots was there any +appearance of cultivation, for who would sow when they knew not who +should reap? Not one lonely country house, such as abounded in the +days of Edgar the Pacific, did they see standing, although they +passed the blackened ruins of many an abode, showing where once the +joys of home held sway. Here and there they came upon the relics of +strife, in the shape of bodies of men and horses left to rot, and +in one spot, where a ford had been defended, the rival nations had +left their fallen representatives by hundreds. It must have been +months before, yet no one had buried the bodies. Such people as +still existed without the fortified towns had betaken themselves to +the woods, or the recesses of the deep swamps and forests, as the +people of Aescendune had done.</p> +<p>As they drew near Dorchester, they found yet more sanguinary +traces of recent war, for the Thames had been the scene of constant +warfare. Bensington, half burned, had partially recovered, and had +renewed her fortifications; Wallingford, hard by, had never risen +since the frightful Christmas of 1006.</p> +<p>Dorchester now rose before them. They had accomplished fifty +miles of hard riding that night. They were seen, challenged, and +recognised, by a patrol without the gates, and the cry, "Long live +King Edmund!" echoed from all sides. A thousand gallant Mercians, +the nucleus of an army, each man fit to be a captain, awaited them +there, and Edmund felt his spirits revive within him, and his hope +for England; and Alfgar met Hermann with great gladness.</p> +<p>It was pitiful to see the blackened ruins of churches and +palace, which had not been rebuilt since the Danish raid of 1010, +but the commoner dwellings were rising with rapidity from their +ashes, or had already risen, for the shelter of the earthworks and +other fortifications was not to be despised, and prevented the +place from being utterly abandoned.</p> +<p>Yet it may be noted that Dorchester never fully recovered the +events of that dreadful year, and that its decay probably dates +from the period.</p> +<p>Resting only a few hours, during which they were the guests of +Ednoth, the bishop, they departed with his fervent blessing and +earnest prayers for their success, and rode westward, attended by +their whole troop.</p> +<p>Every town they reached received them with enthusiasm. They were +now near the birthplace of the great Alfred, where the hearts of +the people were all thoroughly with their native princes; and men +left all their ordinary occupations to strike one blow for King +Edmund and England. Onward, and like a rolling snowball, they +gathered as they went, until they entered Wiltshire with ten +thousand men, and, crossing the country, reached the opposite +border with all the brave men of Wilts added to their numbers.</p> +<p>They were now approaching Dorsetshire, and saw before them a +rising ground, with a large stone set in a conspicuous position.</p> +<p>"What stone is that?" inquired Edmund of a thane, whose +habitation was hard by, and who had joined him with his whole +household.</p> +<p>"It is called the county stone. It marks the place where three +counties meet--Somerset, Wilts, and Dorset; it is in the village +of Penn."</p> +<p>At this moment a horseman was seen riding wildly after them from +the country in the rear.</p> +<p>"See that man; he brings news," said Edmund, and the whole party +paused.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," whispered Edmund to his confidential attendant, "there +is hot work coming; I have long since scented the foe behind."</p> +<p>The messenger arrived, bowed low to the king, and waited +permission to speak, while his panting breath betrayed his haste +and his excitement.</p> +<p>"Well, your message?" said Edmund; "you have ridden fast to +bring it."</p> +<p>"My lord, Canute, with an army of fifty thousand men, is +following behind with all his speed."</p> +<p>Edmund looked proudly around upon his host; it was almost equal +in number. Then he looked with a soldier's eye on the ground before +him, and saw that it was the very place where a stand could be made +with every advantage of ground.</p> +<p>"It is well," said Edmund; "we will wait for him here."</p> +<p>A loud cheer from those around him showed how he had succeeded +in imparting his own brave spirit to others. The trumpets commanded +a halt; and Alfgar and other riders bore the commands of the king +to the extremities of the host.</p> +<p>Each division took up rapidly the position assigned; for in this +domestic war men fought side by side with those they had known from +childhood, and were commanded immediately by their own hereditary +chieftains.</p> +<p>The broken nature of the ground protected them well from an +attack on either flank, and they strengthened this advantage by +throwing up a mound and digging a ditch, with the greatest +rapidity.</p> +<p>While thus engaged, they saw the flashing of spear and shield in +the east, reflecting the setting sun, and speedily the whole +country seemed to glow with the sheen of weapons.</p> +<p>Edmund raised himself in the stirrups.</p> +<p>"Englishmen! brethren!" he cried, "you see your foe, the +ruthless destroyers of your land and kinsfolk; the pagan murderers +of your archbishop, the sainted Alphege. God will help them that +help themselves. It shall be ours to strike one glorious blow for +liberty and for just vengeance on this field. I vow to the God of +battles I will conquer or die."</p> +<p>He took off his helmet and looked solemnly to Heaven, as he +called on the Supreme Being to register his vow, and a deep murmur +of sympathy arose around, until it found loud utterance in the cry, +"We will conquer with our king or die," from a thousand voices, +until the glorious enthusiasm spread throughout the camp. Glorious +when men fight for hearth and altar.</p> +<p>Edmund looked proudly around.</p> +<p>"With such warriors," he said, "I need not fear Canute."</p> +<p>The trench and mound were completed, but the enemy did not +advance. He planted his black raven banner two miles off in the +plain, arranged his forces, and halted for the night.</p> +<p>"We must fight tomorrow at dawn of day," said Edmund. "Now, bid +the campfires be lighted; we have plenty of meat and bread, mead +and wine; bid each man eat and drink his fill. Men never fight well +on empty stomachs. Then return yourself to my side, and share my +tent this night; perhaps--perhaps--for the last time."</p> +<p>"If so, woe to England--woe!" said Alfgar. "But I have +confidence that her day of tribulation is passing from her. The +blood of the martyred saints cries aloud for vengeance on the +Danes."</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a>. EDMUND AND CANUTE.</h2> +<p>The watch was duly set; campfires were lighted, and joints of +meat suspended over them; barrels of wine and mead were broached, +for all the country around contributed with loving willingness to +the support of its defenders; and when hunger was appeased the +patriotic song arose from the various fires, and stirring legends +of the glorious days of old, when Danes and Norsemen fled before +the English arms, nerved the courage of the men for the morrow's +stern conflict.</p> +<p>Around the fire kindled next the tent of Edmund sat the warrior +monarch himself, with all the chieftains, the ealdormen, and lesser +thanes who shared his fortunes.</p> +<p>The minstrels and gleemen were not wanting here, but none could +touch the harp more sweetly than Edmund himself; and, the banquet +over, he sang an ancient lay, which kindled the enthusiasm of all +his hearers, and nerved them to do or die, so that they longed for +the morrow.</p> +<p>Before it was over the trumpet announced some event of +importance, and soon a messenger brought the tidings to Edmund that +a large force was advancing from the west.</p> +<p>All rose to look at them, not without anxiety; as yet they were +far distant, across a wild moor, but as they drew nearer, and their +standards could be more clearly discerned, it became gradually +evident that it was a reinforcement; and so it proved, for heralds, +galloping forward, announced the men of Dorsetshire.</p> +<p>They were most gladly received, for now the English forces were +equal in number to their adversaries, and every man felt the hope +of victory strong within him.</p> +<p>At length Edmund bade messengers go through the camp, and cause +every man to retire to rest, for they must all be stirring by dawn +on the morrow.</p> +<p>He himself, with Alfgar, went through the host and then +inspected the watch. When he came to the outpost nearest the foe he +found Hermann on duty as officer of the watch, and spoke earnestly +to him and his men.</p> +<p>"Be on your guard," he said, "as men who know that the welfare +of England depends upon them; if you see the least movement on the +part of the crafty Canute, rouse the camp at once; they are not +unlikely to attack us by night if they can surprise us, not +otherwise."</p> +<p>Alfgar was standing on a low mound contemplating the opposite +camp, that of his own countrymen, attentively.</p> +<p>"Well, Alfgar, my son, do you see aught?" said Edmund +approaching him.</p> +<p>"I fancied I saw some figures seek the hollow where the ditch +passes from us to them."</p> +<p>"We will wait and see whether aught comes of it," said the king; +"how do you like our prospects?"</p> +<p>"Well, my lord, I would sooner be with you at this moment than +in any other place in England."</p> +<p>"Even than in Aescendune?"</p> +<p>"Yes; just now."</p> +<p>"Alfgar, do you think your father yet lives?" said Edmund, as he +again gazed upon the Danish camp.</p> +<p>"I think not; I fear he is numbered amongst the dead; I have +over and over again inquired of Danish prisoners whether they knew +aught of him; they all said he had not been known in their ranks +for years."</p> +<p>"The chances of a warrior's life are so many that he may not +improbably be gone, but remember you found another father at +Carisbrooke."</p> +<p>"I shall never forget that, my lord."</p> +<p>Here Hermann interrupted them.</p> +<p>"My lord, would you look closely at that little clump of furze +upon the banks of the brook?"</p> +<p>"By St. Edmund, there they are! now to catch Danish wolves in a +steel trap; creep back within the mound."</p> +<p>The whole guard was speedily aroused.</p> +<p>"Shall we alarm the camp?" said Hermann.</p> +<p>"Not for the world, they want all the sleep they can get; this +will only be a reconnoitring party; did they find us asleep they +would of course cut our throats, and then bring their brethren to +attack the camp. As it is, I think we shall cut theirs +instead."</p> +<p>"They have disappeared."</p> +<p>"Only to appear with more effect; they will be creeping like +snakes coming to be scotched; they won't find a man like Edric at +the head of the English army now--one who always chose the +sleepiest and deafest men for sentinels. Ah, well! he is openly +with the enemy now; I only hope he will come within swing of my +battle-axe tomorrow.</p> +<p>"<i>Ah! There they are."</i></p> +<p>"Where?" inquired two or three low voices eagerly.</p> +<p>"Creeping up the slope; now get your arrows to your ears; take +the opposite men when they arise."</p> +<p>A few moments, during which men could hear their own hearts +beat, when up rose the Danes from the grass like spectres, and +rushed for the mound. A storm of arrows met them, to which nearly +half succumbed.</p> +<p>Swinging his axe, Edmund, followed, by the rest, jumped from the +mound to meet the survivors; numbers were nearly equal, the English +now slightly superior. Each man met his individual foe. Young +Hermann's sword broke against a Danish axe; he rushed in and got +within the swing of the weapon; both wrestled for the deadly steel, +they fell, rolled over and over on the grass; at length Hermann +grasped his opponent's throat like a vice with his mailed hand, and +held till the arms of his foe hung nerveless by the side and the +face grew black, when, disengaging his right hand, he found his +dagger, and drove it to the victim's heart.</p> +<p>"Well done!" said Edmund; "you are the last, Hermann; Alfgar has +finished some time; we have been watching you; this little +beginning promises luck tomorrow.</p> +<p>"You and I must retire now, Alfgar.</p> +<p>"Good night, Hermann; good night, my men; wipe your swords on +the grass; keep them bright."</p> +<p>The morning dawned bright and radiant; and with the first +appearance of the sun the horns of the English blew their shrill +summons, and the whole army awoke as a man. A hurried meal was +partaken of, hurried of necessity, for the Danes were already +emerging from their camp, and forming their lines in order of +battle. They evidently meant, as usual, to take the initiative; in +fact, in the recent reign, had they not done so, there would never +have been any fighting at all.</p> +<p>Every one, both friend and foe, expected that Edmund would await +the onset in his entrenched camp. Great, therefore, was the +surprise, when he led his forces without the entrenchments, with +the observation that the breasts of Englishmen were their best +bulwarks.</p> +<p>He knew his forces, that they had confidence in him; and he +could not have shown better his confidence in them, and his feeling +that the time had now at length come to assume the offensive.</p> +<p>Canute was doubtless somewhat surprised, yet he was learning to +know Edmund.</p> +<p>The English hero divided his army into three divisions: The +right wing, where he posted around his own person the chosen band +whom he had trained during the last few years of retirement; the +left wing, chiefly composed of the men of Wessex; the centre, the +weakest and newest recruits, whom he posted there with as deep a +design as led Hannibal to use the same strategy at Cannae.</p> +<p>The Danes advanced impetuously to the attack, led by Canute +himself, somewhat similarly divided, and Edmund at once advanced +his forces to meet them. One hundred yards apart, both armies +paused, and glared upon each other. There was no flinching. With +teeth firmly set, lips compressed, and the whole body thrown into +the attitude of a tiger about to spring, each warrior gazed upon +the foe.</p> +<p>The Danes, clad in black armour, with their ponderous +battle-axes, and fierce visages, upon which no gentle ray of mercy +had yet shone; the English, their minds set upon avenging the +outraged national honour, the desolated homes, the slaughtered +families: the Danes bent on maintaining their cruel superiority; +the English bent on reversing it or dying: the Danes hitherto +victorious on nearly every field; the English turning upon their +oppressors as men to whom the only thing which could make life +tolerable was victory.</p> +<p>Canute's voice was heard crying, "Now, warriors, behold the +hounds ye have so often chastised await your chastisement once +more."</p> +<p>Edmund, on the other hand, "Victory, my men, or a warrior's +grave! We will not live to see England prostrate beneath the tyrant +any longer."</p> +<p>Then came the rush: the crash of steel upon steel, the hideous +melee, where friend and foe seemed blent in one dense struggling +mass; the cries which pain sometimes extorted from the bravest; the +shouts of the excited combatants, until Edmund's centre gave +way.</p> +<p>He had expected this, and desired nothing more. The Danes +pressed on deeply into the core of the hostile army, when they +found their progress stopped by some of the bravest warriors who +formed the rear, and at that moment the wings curved round upon +them.</p> +<p>"Come, my men!" shouted Edmund; and with Alfgar by his side, +followed by the whole of the English cavalry, burst upon the rear +of the Danes. He and his cleft their way in--hewed it through +living masses of flesh; trampled writhing bodies under foot; their +very horses seemed to laugh at the spear and sword, until before +him Edmund saw Canute himself. He struggled violently to reach him; +slew two or three living impediments, and the two rivals faced each +other for one moment; then came Edmund's ponderous blow. Canute +avoided it, but his horse fell beneath it; the spine severed near +the neck. He was dragged up instantly by his armour bearer, who +attended upon him, as Alfgar upon Edmund, and before the attack +could be renewed a living torrent separated the combatants.</p> +<p>The victory was won; the Danes were in full flight.</p> +<p>O joy for England! the day of her captivity was turned; +henceforward she might hope. The foe, the invincible foe, was +flying before an English king and an English army.</p> +<p>For while on the one side Edmund had charged the foe on their +left flank, on the other side the men of Wessex had imitated his +example, and the foe yielded.</p> +<p>Still, terrible in defeat, more than half fought their way out +of the trap into which they had fallen, and retired upon their +camp, closely pursued, until the trump of Edmund recalled the +pursuers, anxious lest they should in turn fall into an ambuscade, +for reinforcements were awaiting the Danes behind.</p> +<p>. . . . . .</p> +<p>From this time the prospects of Edmund and England brightened. +Day after day fresh reinforcements came into his camp, until he +followed Canute, who had retreated into Wiltshire. There, a few +days later, a second battle was fought at Sceorstan<a name= +"EndNote16anc" href="#EndNote16sym"><sup> {xvi}</sup></a>, wherein much +bravery was shown on both sides. On Monday the two armies fought +all day without any advantage on either side. On the Tuesday the +English were rapidly getting the better, when the traitor Edric, +severing the head of a fallen Englishman named Osmaer, held it up, +shouting:</p> +<p>"Flee, English! flee, English! Edmund is dead."</p> +<p>They began to yield; and it was as much as Edmund himself could +do, by lifting his helmet, exposing his features, and shouting, "I +live to lead you to victory!" to restore the battle.</p> +<p>Canute retired upon London, followed closely by Edmund. Upon the +road messengers came from Edric imploring the forgiveness of his +injured brother-in-law, and offering to join him with all his +forces. There was long consultation over this in the English camp; +but in spite of Edmund's own feelings it was decided to receive +Edric, since Canute's fate would seem to be quite decided if +England were united by the union of those southern English who had +fought under Canute with Edric, and the men of Mercia and Wessex +who had won the previous victories.</p> +<p>So the two armies met together. The men of Hampshire, who had +followed the Dane, were welcomed as returning to their true +allegiance by their countrymen; and Edmund did violence to his +feelings by receiving Edric to his council board, if not to his +friendship.</p> +<p>It was a joyous day when Edmund approached London, and thus +fulfilled the promise of his coronation. Canute, who had made +another attempt on the city, fled before him, but hovered around +until two days later. Edmund engaged him the third time at +Brentford, and defeated him again. Then Edmund retired into Wessex +to raise more troops, and during his absence the Danes took the +offensive again, once more besieging London in vain, while they +harried all the neighbouring districts until Edmund returned with a +large army, drove them into Kent, and gave them such a fearful +defeat at Otford that they fled in despair to the Isle of Sheppey, +and all men said Edmund would have destroyed them utterly, had not +Edric persuaded him to stop the pursuit at Aylesford.</p> +<p>The Danes soon emerged again, and, crossing the Thames, +commenced plundering Essex, when Edmund and Edric, with all the +flower of the Anglo-Saxon race, advanced to meet them once more. +Nearly all the men of note in England followed Edmund's banner, +for, now that his abilities were proved, there was a general +enthusiasm in his favour. So all the rank and title of the realm +stood by him when he drew up his army hard by the little river +Crouch, near Assingdun, in Essex, then called Assandun.</p> +<p>There, by his side, when the tents were pitched the evening +before the battle, stood many a brave ealdorman,--Godwin of +Lindsey; Ulfketyl, the hero of the East Angles; Ethelweard, the son +of the pious Ethelwine, whom men called the "Friend of God." And +present at that last banquet were Ednoth, the bishop of Dorchester, +and other ecclesiastics, who had come to pray for the host and to +succour the dying with ghostly aid. Well nigh all the great men of +England were here. But Edric supped in their midst. Their spirits +were high that night, and while Edmund drank to their success on +the morrow, each man responded with a fervour which augured +confidence in that morrow's issue--all save the wicked Edric, +whose heart seemed far from his words.</p> +<p>The events of that fatal morrow are matter of history. The +armies joined battle. Victory seemed to favour Edmund. The Danes +were already giving way, when Edric turned and fled, with his whole +division, whom he had corrupted. After that all was disorder +amongst the English; but they continued fighting bravely until the +moon arose, and they were becoming surrounded on all sides, when, +in sheer desperation, they at last gave way.</p> +<p>Edmund would not yield until Alfgar seized the bridle of his +horse, and almost by violence caused him to turn his steed, bidding +him live for England, for he was its hope. It was growing dark +rapidly, and the darkness alone saved Edmund and the relics of the +English army.</p> +<p>With a faithful few, including both Alfgar and Hermann, nearly +all of the party wounded, the English king rode sadly from the +scene, groaning bitterly in spirit.</p> +<p>"Why did I trust him again? Why did I trust him?" he kept +muttering to himself.</p> +<p>"You did not trust him. The council overruled you. I was +present," said Alfgar.</p> +<p>"But I might have resisted."</p> +<p>And he persisted in his unavailing regret.</p> +<p>It was a sad sight to see the field of battle strewn for miles +with the dead and dying, while gangs of plunderers swarmed in all +directions. One sharp encounter with such a party served to warm +Edmund's blood, after which he was a little more cheerful.</p> +<p>But the saddest scene in the flight lay on a gentle eminence, +commanding a view of the field, whose deformities night mercifully +shrouded from view, although the murmurs of the wounded reached +them even there in one long subdued wailing moan.</p> +<p>There, on that little hill, lay bishops and abbots in their +sacerdotal apparel. Where they had met to pray, there they lay in +death! With a deep sigh Edmund recognised Ednoth, bishop of +Dorchester, lying stark and stiff in his bloody robes. A troop of +Danish horsemen had surrounded the hill and massacred them all. The +assassins had even hewn Ednoth's finger off for the episcopal +ring.</p> +<p>Yet, even at this awful crisis, Edmund's lion heart did not +wholly fail him, as he left the field where lay all the flower of +the Anglo-Saxon race: the brave and faithful Ulfketyl, Earl +Ethelweard, Earl Godwin, Elfric the ealdorman, and well nigh all +the great men of England, all sleeping in death. He rode to the +south till he reached the vale of the Thames, which he pursued +until he reached the neighbourhood of Gloucester--Alfgar and +Hermann still by his side. And now it was seen how his merits were +recognised, and how he had already gained the love of his people, +for, from the territory of the Hwiccas, and all the extreme west of +Mercia, men flocked to his standard until he was at the head of an +army almost as numerous as that he had lost at Assingdun, only less +perfectly disciplined and officered.</p> +<p>But Canute followed hard upon his heels, hoping to crush him +while yet weak in numbers, until he discovered, to his great +mortification, his rival's camp on the banks of the Severn, and saw +that the forces were again nearly equal.</p> +<p>Then even the Danish chieftains shuddered at the thought of +another battle. Five great battles had been fought, in three of +which they had been defeated. There was no Edric now with Edmund to +play into their hands, and they hesitated to engage a sixth +time.</p> +<p>At this moment an embassy was seen approaching from Edmund's +army. Alfgar bore Edmund's personal defiance to Canute, offering to +spare the effusion of blood, and settle their differences by single +combat.</p> +<p>Canute's brave and impetuous temper caught the suggestion at +once. Such appeals to the God of battles were common in the north, +and he accepted the challenge.</p> +<p>There is an island in the Severn, then called Oleneige, now +called Olney Island. The following day both armies gathered +together on opposite banks, and the two kings, clad in splendid +armour, were wafted thither. Alfgar, having landed his lord, +retired with beating heart to the English bank. Edmund and Canute +were alone on the island.</p> +<p>The battle began; no words can describe the dread emotion with +which the two nations watched the event.</p> +<p>They continued a long time without any apparent advantage; at +length, King Edmund's fury adding strength to him, his blows were +so thick and weighty, that Canute, perceiving his own strength to +diminish, conceived a resolution to attempt ending the quarrel by a +treaty.</p> +<p>But being crafty, and fearing lest his disadvantage should be +apparent to Edmund, he collected all his energies and rushed +furiously upon him, then withdrew himself aside, and desired Edmund +to suspend the conflict for a while.</p> +<p>"Generous prince," said he, "hitherto I have had a covetous +desire of your kingdom, but now I do yet more earnestly covet your +friendship; your father and my father have each reigned over the +land, let us divide the inheritance like brothers."</p> +<p>Edmund's generous spirit led him to accept the offer, and he +threw his battle-axe to the ground and extended his right hand, +which Canute eagerly grasped<a name="EndNote17anc" href= +"#EndNote17sym"><sup> {xvii}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>So the land was divided; Edmund was to be head king and to have +Wessex, Sussex, Kent, East Anglia, and Essex, with the city of +London; while Canute had Northumbria and Mercia.</p> +<p>Canute professed himself a Christian, and swore to govern his +people according to the old English laws, and to preserve their +temporal and spiritual privileges, a promise which, upon the whole, +he well observed.</p> +<p>And so England entered upon a peace of fifty years, only broken +by an event yet in the womb of time, the Norman Conquest.</p> +<p>"Come, Alfgar," said Edmund, one day soon after these events, +"let us go to Aescendune and fix thy wedding day; Elfwyn need fear +no longer that the sword will be the portion of his +grandchildren."</p> +<p>Peace! sweet, sweet peace! oh how joyful it was to be once more +in the deep woods of Aescendune, to hear the sweet song of the +birds, and to fear no evil! Sweet, ineffably sweet were those days +to Alfgar and Ethelgiva!</p> +<p>So the day was at length appointed; it was to be the feast of +St. Andrew, and to take place at Oxenford, which had been assigned +to Edmund's dominions; for he insisted that it should be celebrated +with all the pomp the presence of a king could lend.</p> +<p>It was now the season of the falling leaf and there were only a +few weeks longer to wait.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a>. SMOOTHER THAN +OIL.</h2> +<p>It was the latter end of November, and St. Andrew's day drew +near, when a small but select party of friends met together in an +old mansion hard by St. Frideswide's Cathedral, at Oxenford, to +enjoy the evening banquet.</p> +<p>First and foremost was the king of Southern England, the valiant +Ironside, and his attendant and friend Alfgar; Elfwyn and Father +Cuthbert from Aescendune, with the Lady Hilda and Ethelgiva; +Herstan, his wife Bertha, and son Hermann, from Clifton, with his +sisters; and Ethelm, the new bishop of Dorchester, the successor of +the martyred Ednoth.</p> +<p>These, our old acquaintances, had all been gathered together in +view of the approaching union of Alfgar with Ethelgiva, which was +to be solemnised on St. Andrew's day, in the presence of the king. +They were a happy party; all the woes of the past seemed forgotten +in the happy present, or were only remembered in the spirit of the +well-known line:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Haec olim meminisse juvabit." +</pre></div> +<p>The more substantial viands were removed, generous wines from +warmer climes were introduced, but there was no need of a harper or +of minstrels, save Edmund himself, or of legends and tales to those +whose lives had passed amidst scenes of excitement. They were such +as make history for future generations.</p> +<p>"How the wind howls without tonight!" observed Edmund; "it makes +one value the blessing of a quiet home and a cheerful fireside. How +often, Alfgar, have you and I lain on such nights under the shelter +of a canvas tent, or even of a bush."</p> +<p>"Often, indeed, my liege; but those days are gone, perhaps for +ever."</p> +<p>"They had their joys, nevertheless. There is something in a life +of adventure which warms the blood and makes time pass swiftly; my +goodwife and I sometimes tire of each other's company, as I expect +Ethelgiva and you will in time."</p> +<p>"Never!" said Alfgar, so fervently that there was a general +smile.</p> +<p>"Well, time will show; meanwhile, how is the new hall at +Aescendune getting on, Elfwyn?"</p> +<p>"It will be ready by next spring; then the young people must +make it their home. Our home in the woods has proved a shelter to +us through such troublous days that Hilda and I are loath to leave +it. But, meanwhile, they must live with us."</p> +<p>"And how about the priory?"</p> +<p>"It will be ready before the hall."</p> +<p>"That is well," observed the bishop, "and as it should be-- +God's house first, and then man's."</p> +<p>"Well, Hermann," said Edmund, addressing his young friend, whose +career in arms he had closely watched since the attack upon the +hall at Clifton, "how do you like the prospect of a long +peace?"</p> +<p>"A peaceful life has its delights," replied Hermann, "but war +has also its charms."</p> +<p>"Well, thou hast passed unscathed through five great battles, or +at least without any serious wound; but remember all are not so +fortunate, and many a poor cripple sighs over Penn, Sherston, +Brentford, Otford, or Assingdun."</p> +<p>"The excitement of war blinds one to the risk."</p> +<p>"So it should, or there would be no war at all. What does my +father the bishop think of the matter?"</p> +<p>"That wars are necessary evils, only justifiable when fighting, +as you, my lord, have done, for home and altar, but they are no +true children of the Prince of Peace who delight in bloodshed and +strife."</p> +<p>Edmund pondered.</p> +<p>"And yet I fear I must plead guilty of delighting in a gallant +charge. It stirs the blood, till it flows like fire in the veins. +The feeling is glorious."</p> +<p>"Yet not one to be encouraged, save when it enables one to +perform necessary deeds of daring for some worthy object, such as +holy Scripture praises in the heroes of old."</p> +<p>The conversation now became general. Elfwyn and Herstan talked +of the old days of Dunstan; Alfgar and Hermann of the events of the +recent war; the good bishop and Father Cuthbert on ecclesiastical +topics; the ladies upon some question of dresses and embroidery for +the approaching festivity, which seemed to interest them deeply, +when an attendant entered, and approaching the king, whispered a +message in his ear.</p> +<p>"What! in this house? I will not have it. He knows how hateful +his very presence must be."</p> +<p>"Your sister, the Princess Elgitha?"</p> +<p>"Well, I will see her. No, I will not."</p> +<p>"It is too late, Edmund. You must see me," said a sweet voice, +and a lady, attired in mourning weeds, stood beside him. "It is but +seven months, Edmund, since we lost our father. Shall his children +rend and devour each other?"</p> +<p>"I do not want to rend and devour. I am no cannibal; but, +Elgitha, your wicked husband--"</p> +<p>"Stay, Edmund, do not slander the husband before his wife."</p> +<p>"This is a business! What am I to say? I cannot dissemble, and +pretend to love him, were he ten times my brother-in-law."</p> +<p>"Nor can I ask it," said a deep voice behind, and Edric stood +before Edmund, his eyes cast down, his hands meekly clasped. +"Edmund, I have often deeply injured you, and betrayed your +confidence."</p> +<p>"You have indeed."</p> +<p>"But now I repent me of my wickedness. It burdens me so heavily +that, but for your sister, I would retire into a monastery, and +there end my days."</p> +<p>"It would be the best thing you could do."</p> +<p>"It would indeed."</p> +<p>This conference had taken place at the end of the great hall, +which was a very spacious chamber, and the speakers were separated +by a screen from the company.</p> +<p>"Edmund," cried his sister, "I see what you will do. You will +make me a widow; for Edric cannot live if you refuse him +forgiveness. Night after night he tosses on his uneasy bed, and +wishes that it were day. Surely, Edmund, you have need of +forgiveness yourself, yet you refuse to forgive."</p> +<p>"You preach like a bishop, but--"</p> +<p>"Well, you have a real bishop here. Call him, and let him judge +between us."</p> +<p>Edmund mechanically obeyed, and he called Father Cuthbert also, +in whose judgment he had great faith.</p> +<p>"What am I to do?" he said. "My country's wounds, inflicted by +this man, yet bleed. Am I to give him the hand of friendship?"</p> +<p>"I do not deserve it," said Edric, meekly.</p> +<p>"My lord," said the bishop, gravely, "man may not refuse +forgiveness to his fellow worm; but, Edric, hast thou truly +repented of thy sin before God and his Church?"</p> +<p>"I have indeed. I have fasted in sackcloth and ashes, I have +eaten the bread of affliction."</p> +<p>"Where?"</p> +<p>"In my sad retreat, my castle in Mercia."</p> +<p>"But some public reparation is due. Art thou willing to accept +such penance as the Church, in consideration of thy perjuries, thy +murders, which man may not avenge, since treaties protect thee-- +but which God will surely remember, if thou repent not--to accept +such penance, I say, as the Church shall impose?"</p> +<p>"I submit myself to your judgment, most reverend father."</p> +<p>"It shall be duly considered and delivered to thee; and in +consideration of that fact, I think, my lord, you cannot, as a +Christian man, refuse to be reconciled."</p> +<p>"O Edmund, my brother, be merciful!" said Elgitha.</p> +<p>"I yield," said Edmund, "but not tonight," he said, as Edric +stretched out his hand, reddened by many a dark deed of murder; +"tomorrow, before God's altar. I shall be at St. Frideswide's at +the early mass."</p> +<p>And he returned to the company.</p> +<p>A cloud was evidently on his spirits that night, which did not +wear off the rest of the evening. The party separated at what would +now be called an early hour. The bishop and Father Cuthbert lodged +at the monastic house of Osney; Elfwyn, his wife and child, as also +Herstan, with his little party, were accommodated in the +mansion.</p> +<p>The chamber occupied by the king was a long roomy place, +containing a single bedstead of carved wood, surmounted by the +usual distinctive canopy, from which tapestried hangings depended, +and upon which scriptural subjects were woven; the furniture of the +room partook of the usual meagreness of the times. The entrance was +through a small antechamber, wherein, on a humbler bedstead, Alfgar +slept. Both rooms were hung with tapestry, which concealed rough +walls, such as a builder would blush to own as his handiwork in +these luxurious days.</p> +<p>Before retiring to rest, Edmund turned with much affection to +his attendant.</p> +<p>"Alfgar, I have promised to forgive our enemy."</p> +<p>"Edric Streorn?"</p> +<p>Alfgar added no more.</p> +<p>"Couldst thou forgive him?"</p> +<p>"I would try."</p> +<p>"His hand is red with blood. Think of Sigeferth, of Morcar, of +Elfhelm, nay, of a hundred others; then think not how he has +plotted against my life, but how he made my own father hate and +disown me; while he, the pampered favourite, swayed all the +councils and betrayed the land. O Alfgar! couldst thou forgive +him?"</p> +<p>"He plotted against my life and my honour, too," said Alfgar, +"and strove to deprive me of both; yet I am too happy now to +harbour revenge."</p> +<p>"Well, I meet him at St. Frideswide's tomorrow, and we shall be +formally reconciled in the presence of the bishop and his clergy, +wherewith I trust he will be content, and not trouble me too often +with his presence."</p> +<p>"Where is he staying now?"</p> +<p>"I hardly know; but after the reconciliation I must admit him as +my guest, for my sister is with him, if he chooses to stay; but I +hope that will not be the case."</p> +<p>"His ill-omened presence would cast a gloom upon St. Andrew's +day."</p> +<p>"It would indeed; it shall be avoided if possible. And now let +us commend ourselves to the Lord, who died that we might be +forgiven. 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that +trespass against us.'"</p> +<p>And they slept.</p> +<p>On the morrow before the altar of St. Frideswide, the king and +Edric had their places in the choir.</p> +<p>One very touching ceremony, handed down from early times, was +still observed in England--the "kiss of peace," occurring at some +period before the close of the canon of the mass, when all the +members of the cathedral chapter, or of the choir, as the case +might be, solemnly saluted each other.</p> +<p>And for this reason Edmund and Edric had been placed next each +other. So when this most solemn moment arrived, they looked each +other full in the face, and gave and received the sign of Christian +brotherhood.</p> +<p>After this they both communicated.</p> +<p>When the holy rite was ended, Edmund invited Edric and Elgitha +to become his guests.</p> +<p>Edric knew the old palace well. He had occupied it one +well-remembered season, during which, in that very banqueting hall +where we have introduced our readers, Sigeferth and Morcar, the +earls of the seven burghs, were treacherously murdered at the +banquet after Edric had previously made them heavy with wine.</p> +<p>There was the usual gathering that evening. Did Edric remember +the place, and the bloody event which only he and one other present +connected with the spot?--for Edmund had been far away, and the +matter had been hushed up, as far as was possible, by all the power +and influence Ethelred could exert in his favourite's cause, or +rather his own, for he, the royal villain, shared the ill-gotten +spoil.</p> +<p>If he did remember it, he took care not to show it that night. +He was as calm and self-possessed as a man could be--as a smiling +sea under the summer sky--smiling so that the heedless voyager +knows not what hideous trophies or past storms the smiling depths +conceal.</p> +<p>So was it with this treacherous penitent.</p> +<p>His presence, however, somewhat chilled the conversation, and +they broke up early; the more so as it was a vigil, the vigil of +St. Andrew, and men strictly observed the law of the Church on such +subjects in those days.</p> +<p>When he bade Edmund goodnight, Edric said:</p> +<p>"You cannot tell how true a peace has found its home in my +breast since our reconciliation, which I feel I owe greatly to the +intercession of your patron St. Edmund, to whose tomb I made a +pilgrimage, where I besought this one grace--our +reconciliation."</p> +<p>Edmund thought of the holy thorn; but Edric continued:</p> +<p>"And you will be glad to hear that the bishop has decided upon +my penance. It is to be a pilgrimage to the Holy Land."</p> +<p>"I am heartily glad to hear it," said Edmund, speaking the very +truth, although he did try to forgive as he hoped to be +forgiven.</p> +<p>And they separated.</p> +<p>Meanwhile happiness and expectation were high in the breasts of +the happy lovers, Alfgar and Ethelgiva. The morrow was to unite +them. The ladies sat up nearly all night making the wedding robes +complete, and richly adorning them--Hilda, Bertha, and Ethelgiva, +with many skilful handmaidens.</p> +<p>They had almost finished their task, and were about to separate, +when St. Frideswide's bell tolled the first hour of the morning +(one o'clock).</p> +<p>"We are very late," said the lady Hilda, as well she might, for +our ancestors generally retired early, as they rose early; and they +bade each other goodnight.</p> +<p>"Happy, happy Ethelgiva!" said the mother as she kissed her +darling, not without a maternal sigh, for she felt as if she were +losing her only child, who had for so many a year been the light of +their woodland home--her only child, who had filled not simply +her own place in their affections, but as far as she might the +place of the loved Bertric.</p> +<p>But the kiss was suspended. The whole party stood silent and +breathless; for a loud and bitter cry, as of one in extreme +anguish, broke upon the silence of the night.</p> +<p>Ethelgiva uttered but one word as she bounded towards the +staircase, for she knew the voice:</p> +<p>"Alfgar!"</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a>. WHO HATH DONE THIS +DEED?</h2> +<p>Alfgar never saw his beloved lord enter his chamber with a look +of greater weariness than he bore that night.</p> +<p>"It has been a hard fight, old friend," said the familiar king, +"but we have conquered; for my part, I would far sooner have stood +out against him, battle-axe in hand, than have met this struggle, +could I have foreseen it beforehand; but now I have given him the +kiss of peace, peace it must be; he has no more to dread from +me."</p> +<p>"Nor you from him, I trust."</p> +<p>"I must trust so, or I should not feel I had really forgiven, +and I cannot give my hand where my heart is not; but yet it was +such a fight. 'Tis easy to stand in the deadly gap and keep the foe +from a beleaguered citadel: men praise the deed, and there is a +feeling of conscious pride which sustains one, but the truly great +deeds are those which no chronicler records. It requires more +bravery to forgive sometimes than to avenge."</p> +<p>"I can well believe that, my lord."</p> +<p>"Well, if my path has been beset with foes, so has it with +friends. Such love as yours, Alfgar, I say as yours has been!-- +well, few kings share such affections."</p> +<p>"My lord, you first loved me; at least you saved me from a +fearful death."</p> +<p>"And you have warded off death from me again and again in the +battlefield; nay, deny it not, nor say it was merely your duty, men +do not always do such duty."</p> +<p>"My lord, you praise me more than I can feel I deserve."</p> +<p>"Not more than I feel you deserve, and yet were not this your +last night as my companion, were not tomorrow's ceremony to +separate us, perhaps for ever, I do not think I should thus +overwhelm your modesty.</p> +<p>"You blush like a girl," said he, laughingly.</p> +<p>He lingered some time, and seemed loath to undress. At last he +said:</p> +<p>"Have you seen the messenger Canute sent me?"</p> +<p>"Yes; I entertained him at the buttery as you requested."</p> +<p>"Well, he came with a proposal from Canute that we should join +in building and endowing a church at Assingdun, where a priest may +ever say mass for the souls of our dead, whether English or Dane. +Of course I have accepted the offer, but Canute added another and +more mysterious message."</p> +<p>"And what was that?"</p> +<p>"'Beware,' he said, 'of Edric; his apparent desire of +reconciliation cannot be trusted;' and he added that Edric was like +a certain person who wanted to become a monk when he was sick."</p> +<p>"I fear he speaks the truth."</p> +<p>"But I cannot act upon his advice; it is too late now. I have +striven to do what I thought, and the bishop said, in his Master's +name, was my duty--well, I have my reward in the approbation of +my conscience. Goodnight, Alfgar, goodnight; I shall sleep soundly +tonight; I hope some day I may lay me down for my last long sleep +as peacefully."</p> +<p>Alfgar followed his example, and, commending himself to God, +slept.</p> +<p>About half-an-hour after midnight Alfgar awoke with a strange +impression upon his mind that some one was in the room. It was very +dark and stormy, and the wind, finding its way through crevices in +the ill-built house, would account for many noises, but there was +something stirring which was not the wind, and the impression was +strong on his waking senses that between him and the window, which +was opposite his bed, a figure had passed.</p> +<p>Not fully trusting impressions produced at such a moment, yet +with a heavy vague sense of evil weighing him down like a +nightmare, Alfgar lay and listened.</p> +<p>At length he heard a sound which might have been produced by +falling rain percolating through the roof, drop, drop upon the +floor, but it was strange, for there was no sound of rain outside +at that moment.</p> +<p>At length a cold draught made him turn his head, and he dimly +saw Edmund's door open and disclose the window within the room, +then shut slowly again.</p> +<p>He could control his apprehensions no longer, and rose gently +from his bed, so as not to warn the foe, on the one hand, should +one be present, or if, as he strove to believe, all was fancy, not +to awake Edmund. No one was in his own little room, that he felt +rather than saw in a moment; but some one might be in Edmund's, and +he passed through the door, which he remembered, with a shudder, +was shut firmly when Edmund said "goodnight." At that instant he +heard a low click, as of a spring lock, but very faintly; +hesitating no longer, he passed into the monarch's room, and +advanced to the bedside.</p> +<p>"My lord!" he gently whispered, but there was no answer; he +spoke again in vain.</p> +<p>Just then he felt his naked feet come into contact with some wet +substance, slightly glutinous, on the floor, and shuddered at the +contact. All trembling, he put his hand to the pillow, and drew it +back; it was wet with the same fluid, which his reason and +experience told him was blood. He could hardly refrain from crying +for help, but first sought a light. The process of procuring light +then from flint, steel, and tinder was very slow, and it was some +minutes before he had a taper lighted, when its beams disclosed to +his horror-stricken sight Edmund, weltering in his blood; a dagger +had been driven suddenly and swiftly to his heart, and he had died +apparently without a struggle. The weapon yet remained<a name= +"EndNote18anc" href="#EndNote18sym"><sup> {xviii}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>Here his affliction and grief overpowered him; he threw himself +upon the body from which he had withdrawn the weapon; he kissed the +now cold lips; he cried, half distracted, "O Edmund, my lord, +speak!"</p> +<p>Alas! those lips were never to speak again while time lasted. At +length the first deep emotion passed away, and left the unhappy +Alfgar comparatively master of himself, whereupon he left the +chamber, and cried aloud for help.</p> +<p>It was his cry which the ladies heard in their distant +bower.</p> +<p>The piercing cry, "Help! Edmund, the king, is slain!" roused the +household--Elfwyn, Herstan, Hermann, the ladies, agitated beyond +measure; the household guard; and, last of all, Edric.</p> +<p>They beheld Alfgar in his night dress, all bloody, holding a +dagger in his hand, and with his face blanched to a death-like +paleness, uttering cry upon cry.</p> +<p>"Help! Edmund, the king, is slain!"</p> +<p>They (the men) rushed to the chamber, and, passing through +Alfgar's little room, beheld, by the light of many torches, Edmund +bathed in his own blood, which still dripped with monotonous but +terrible sound on the floor.</p> +<p>Edric entered, and with woe, real or affected (no one could +tell), painted in his face, approached the body; and Elfwyn and +Herstan beheld, or thought they beheld, a prodigy: they thought +they saw the eyes open, and regard Edric, and that they saw the +blood well up in the wound. But doubtless this was fancy.</p> +<p>"One thing we all must do," said Edric; "we must all help to +find the murderer. The first step to that effect will be to note +all present appearances. First, where is the weapon?"</p> +<p>"Here," said Alfgar, extending it.</p> +<p>"Why, Alfgar, it is your own dagger," said Elfwyn; "one which he +gave you himself."</p> +<p>Alfgar uttered a plaintive and pitiful cry.</p> +<p>Edric possessed himself of the blood-stained weapon.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said he, "you must have slept soundly. Tell us what +you heard and saw."</p> +<p>He briefly related the particulars with which the reader is +acquainted.</p> +<p>"But how could they enter? Was your door unfastened?"</p> +<p>"No; it was bolted on the inside, even as I left it last +night."</p> +<p>"Bolted on the inside! then they must have entered through the +window," said Edric, noting the words.</p> +<p>"Impossible," said both the thanes; "they are barred, both of +them--heavily barred."</p> +<p>"We can no longer assist our departed lord save by our prayers," +said Edric. "God be thanked, he died friends with me. I shall value +the remembrance of that kiss cf peace in St. Frideswide's so long +as I live. And now I, once his foe, but his friend and avenger now, +devote myself to hunt the murderer. So help me God!"</p> +<p>"So help me God!"</p> +<p>"So help me God!" said all present, one after the other.</p> +<p>"We are then of one heart and soul, and no tie of kindred, no +friendship, shall bar our common action. And now we must rouse the +reeve and burgesses; the gates of the city must be closed, that +none escape. I will send members of the guard to do this, and when +they have assembled we will all take counsel together."</p> +<p>"O Alfgar," whispered Elfwyn, "how came your dagger there?"</p> +<p>"I know not. I feel as one distracted," said the faithful and +loving Alfgar, who had lost by this fell stroke a most faithful +friend, with the warmest heart which had ever beaten beneath a +monarch's breast.</p> +<p>Oh, how the thought of the conversation last night came back to +him now--the warning of Canute, the loving words of affection +which had been spoken to him by those lips now cold in death!</p> +<p>All the imperfections of his character now faded away; he seemed +so brave, yet so loving, so invincible in combat, yet so gentle and +forgiving, as he had shown in forgiving even--even--even-- +said Alfgar to his own wounded bleeding heart--even in forgiving +his murderer. For in his eyes it was Edric, and none but Edric, who +had done this deed.</p> +<p>But a terrible suspicion of a very opposite nature was rapidly +assuming sway in other men's minds.</p> +<p>A council met before daybreak--the reeve or mayor, the chief +burgesses, two or three thanes then in the town, the officers of +the royal guard, Elfwyn, Herstan, and Edric. After a few +preliminaries Edric rose and spake as follows:</p> +<p>"We have met together under the most awful responsibility which +could fall upon subjects. Edmund, our king, has been murdered, and +by whom we know not."</p> +<p>All were silent.</p> +<p>"I grieve to say," he continued, "that there is but one upon +whom our suspicions can now fall with any shadow of probability-- +one who is now absent, for I thought it well not to summon him to +this council; and before naming him, I must recall to you, Elfwyn, +and to you, Herstan, the solemn oath we have all three taken to +disregard all appeals of natural affection, and to ascertain the +truth, God being our helper."</p> +<p>"We have."</p> +<p>"We have," said they with bursting hearts, for they foresaw what +accusation Edric was about to bring.</p> +<p>"I grieve, then, to say," he continued, "that this natural +affection must be bitterly tried, for there is but one to whom my +words can apply. Meanwhile, I will put a few questions. With whose +dagger was the deed committed?"</p> +<p>"Alfgar's," replied those who had been there the previous +night.</p> +<p>"Whose chamber commanded the only entrance to the royal +chamber?"</p> +<p>"Alfgar's."</p> +<p>"Who incautiously, as if forgetting himself, stated that he +found the door bolted on the inside?"</p> +<p>"Alfgar."</p> +<p>"But the motive--the motive? The poor fellow loved him as he +loved his own father."</p> +<p>"I cannot explain that difficulty, but I can suggest one motive +which may already have suggested itself to several. But let me ask +of what nation is Alfgar?"</p> +<p>"A Dane; but an Englishman by long habit."</p> +<p>"I can answer for that," said Elfwyn.</p> +<p>"Once a Dane always a Dane. Now a secret messenger arrived from +Canute yesterday, and had a long private interview with Alfgar. In +short, I dare not say all I know or suspect, for there can be +little doubt who will reign in England now."</p> +<p>All were silent.</p> +<p>At length Edric continued, "none can deny that we have grounds +for our suspicions."</p> +<p>"Yes, I do deny it," said Elfwyn, "the more so when I remember +who makes the accusation."</p> +<p>"You do well to reproach me; I deserve it, I confess, and more +than deserve it. Yes, I was Edmund's enemy once; but perhaps you +remember yesterday and the early mass at St. Frideswide's."</p> +<p>"We do, we do," cried all but Elfwyn and Herstan; but they were +utterly outvoted, and the order was given to the captain of the +hus-carles to arrest Alfgar.</p> +<p>Alfgar, desolate and almost distracted, not heeding that he was +not summoned to the council, as he might so naturally have expected +to be, wandered mechanically about the palace until the bell +summoned him to the early mass. The bishop was the celebrant, for +Father Cuthbert was to have officiated at the celebration of the +marriage of his son in the faith. The solemn pealing of the bell +for the mass at the hour of daybreak fell upon Alfgar's ears, and +he turned almost mechanically to the cathedral, yet with vague +desire to communicate all his griefs and troubles to a higher power +than that of man, and to seek aid from a diviner source.</p> +<p>He entered, knelt in a mental attitude easier to imagine than +describe, but felt some heavenly dew fall upon his bleeding wounds; +he left without waiting to speak to any one at the conclusion of +the service, and was crossing the quadrangle to the palace which +occupied a portion of the site of modern Christ Church, when a +heavy hand was laid upon his shoulder.</p> +<p>He turned and saw the captain of the guard; two or three of his +officers were beside him.</p> +<p>"It is my painful duty to arrest you and make you my +prisoner."</p> +<p>"On what charge?" said the astonished Alfgar.</p> +<p>"The murder of the king."</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</a>. THE ORDEAL.</h2> +<p>The news of the murder of Edmund spread far and wide, and +awakened deep sorrow and indignation, not only amongst his friends +and subjects, but even amongst his former enemies, the Danes, now +rapidly yielding to the civilising and softening influences of +Christianity, following therein the notable example of their king, +Canute, who was everywhere restoring the churches and monasteries +he and his had destroyed, and saying, with no faltering voice, +albeit, perhaps, with a very inadequate realisation of all the +words implied, "As for me and my house, we will serve the +Lord."</p> +<p>Ealdorman and thane came flocking into Oxenford from all the +neighbouring districts of Wessex and Mercia. The body of the +lamented monarch was laid in state in St. Frideswide's; there wax +tapers shed a hallowed light on the sternly composed features of +him who had been the bulwark of England; and there choking sobs and +bitter sighs every hour rent the air, and bore witness to a +nation's grief. And there, two heartbroken ladies, a mother and a +daughter, came often to pray, not only for the soul of the departed +king, but also for the discovery of his murderers and the clearing +of the innocent, for neither Hilda nor Ethelgiva for one moment +doubted the spotless innocence of Alfgar.</p> +<p>They were refused admittance to the cell wherein he was confined +by Edric, who had assumed the direction of all things, and whose +claim, such is the force of impudence, seemed to be tacitly allowed +by the thanes and ealdormen of Wessex.</p> +<p>But Elfwyn and Herstan could hardly be denied permission to +visit him, owing to their positions, and they both did so. They +found him in a chamber occupying the whole of the higher floor of a +tower of the castle, which served as a prison for the city and +neighbourhood, rudely but massively built. One solitary and deep +window admitted a little air and light, but the height rendered all +escape hopeless, even had the victim wished to escape, which he did +not.</p> +<p>"Alfgar, my son!" said Elfwyn, finding the poor prisoner did not +speak, "do you not know us?"</p> +<p>"Indeed I do; but do you believe me guilty, nay, even capable of +--"</p> +<p>He could add no more, but they saw that if they doubted they +would hear no more from him--that he scorned self-defence.</p> +<p>"Guilty!--no, God forbid! we alone in the council asserted +your complete innocence."</p> +<p>"I thank you; you have taken away the bitterness of death--and +Ethelgiva?"</p> +<p>"Would die for her conviction of your truth."</p> +<p>"Thank God!" he said fervently, his face brightening at once; +tears, indeed, rolled down his cheeks, but they seemed rather of +gratitude than grief.</p> +<p>"We wanted to see, my son, whether you could aid us in +discovering the real assassin--whether you can in any way account +for his possession of your dagger, for your door being still, as +you asserted, fast inside."</p> +<p>"I knew it made against me, but I couldn't lie, it was fast +inside."</p> +<p>"Then how could the foe have gained admittance?"</p> +<p>"I could not discover that, but I think there must have been +some secret door. Edric had perhaps lived in the Place before; he +once resided in Oxenford."</p> +<p>"He did, and in that very house," said Herstan. "I was here at +the time when he assassinated Sigeferth and Morcar in the +banqueting hall."</p> +<p>"That may supply a clue, I know no other possible one."</p> +<p>"But how, then, did he get your dagger?"</p> +<p>"I think our wine was drugged the night before, or I should not +have slept so soundly. I remember with what difficulty I seemed to +throw off a kind of nightmare which oppressed me, and to come to +myself."</p> +<p>"Then I will get a carpenter and search the wainscoting; and I +will see whether I can learn anything about the wine," said +Elfwyn.</p> +<p>"Do so cautiously, my father, very cautiously, for if Edric +suspects you are on his track, he will plot against your life too, +and Ethelgiva will have no protector.</p> +<p>"Oh, this was to have been my wedding day, my wedding day!" and +he clasped his hands in agony; then the thought of his master-- +his slain lord--returned, and he cried, "O Edmund! my master, my +dear master, so good, so gentle, yet so brave; who else could slay +him? what fiend else than Edric, the murderer Edric? That they +should think I, or any one else than Edric, could have done such a +deed, such an evil deed!"</p> +<p>Elfwyn and Herstan both left the scene, the more convinced of +Alfgar's innocence, but yet the more puzzled to convey their +impression to others.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the arrangements for Edmund's burial were made. It was +decided, according to the wish he had more than once expressed, +that he should rest beneath the shadow of a shrine he had loved +well; and on the second day after his death the mournful procession +left Oxenford for Glastonbury, followed by the tears and prayers of +the citizens. There, after a long and toilsome winter journey, the +funeral cortege arrived, and was joined by his wife Elgitha, his +sons Edmund and Edward. They laid him to rest by the side of his +grandfather, Edgar "the Magnanimous," whose days of peace and +prosperity all England loved to remember. There, amidst the people +of Wessex who had rallied so often to his war cry, all that was +mortal of the Ironside reposed.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the crafty Edric, who excused himself from attendance +on the solemnities, tarried at Oxenford, and with him tarried also +Elfwyn, Herstan, and the other friends of the unfortunate prisoner, +to secure, as they were able, that justice should be rendered +him.</p> +<p>A special court of justice was speedily organised, wherein Edric +presided as ealdorman of Mercia, for Oxenford properly was a +Mercian city, although, lying on the debateable land, it was +frequently claimed by Wessex as the border land changed its +boundaries.</p> +<p>The court was composed of wise and aged men, ealdormen, thanes, +and burgesses had places, and the bishop of Dorchester sat by Edric +as assessor.</p> +<p>The court was opened, and the vacant places in the room were +occupied at once by the crowd who were fortunate enough to gain +entrance. The general feeling was strong against the prisoner, the +more so because he had been loved and trusted by Edmund, so that +ingratitude added to the magnitude of his crime in their eyes.</p> +<p>But amongst those who stood nearest to the place he must occupy +were his betrothed, her mother, Bertha, and young Hermann, who had +already got into several quarrels through his fierce espousing of +the cause of the accused.</p> +<p>He entered at last under a guard, calm and dignified, in spite +of his suffering. He met the gaze of the multitude without +flinching, and his general demeanour impressed many in his favour. +Compurgators, or men to swear that they believed him innocent, a +kind of evidence fully recognised by the Saxon law, were not +wanting; but they consisted chiefly of his old companions in arms +and his friends from Aescendune. In a lighter accusation, his +innocence might have been established by this primitive mode of +evidence, but the case was too serious; the accusation being one of +the murder of a king.</p> +<p>The charge was duly read; and to the accusation he replied, "Not +guilty!" with a fervour and firmness which caused men to look +up.</p> +<p>The chamberlain was first examined.</p> +<p>"Were you present when the late king retired to rest?"</p> +<p>"I was."</p> +<p>"Who shared his chamber?"</p> +<p>"The prisoner slept in an antechamber."</p> +<p>"Was there a fastening to the outer door of the +antechamber?"</p> +<p>"Yes; a strong bolt."</p> +<p>"Could it be opened from the exterior?"</p> +<p>"It could not."</p> +<p>"Was there any other entrance to the royal apartments?"</p> +<p>"None."</p> +<p>The dagger was produced, and Elfwyn was examined.</p> +<p>"Do you recognise the weapon?"</p> +<p>"I do; it was Alfgar's."</p> +<p>"How do you recognise it?"</p> +<p>"It was richly carved about the handle. The letter E is stamped +upon it, with a crown."</p> +<p>"Whence did the prisoner obtain it?"</p> +<p>"The king gave it him." (Sensation.)</p> +<p>"Did you see it on the night of the murder?"</p> +<p>"I did."</p> +<p>"Under what circumstances?"</p> +<p>"The accused held it dripping with blood in his hands, and said +he found it sticking in the corpse."</p> +<p>Other witnesses were also called to prove these facts.</p> +<p>The accused was then heard in his own defence, and he repeated +with great simplicity and candour the circumstances so well known +to our readers; and concluded:</p> +<p>"I can say no more. None who knew the love he bore me, and that +I bore him, could suspect me."</p> +<p>The bishop here spoke.</p> +<p>"It is my office," said he, "by the canons of King Athelstane, +to assist secular judges in purging away accusations, therefore I +will ask the accused a few questions."</p> +<p>"Had you any cause of suspicion against any other person-- +anything to point out the doer of this evil deed?"</p> +<p>"All men loved him save one."</p> +<p>"And who was that one?"</p> +<p>"He sits to judge me."</p> +<p>"Nay," cried the bishop, "we all beheld the reconciliation in +St. Frideswide's church."</p> +<p>"The king himself was warned not to trust to the +reconciliation."</p> +<p>"By whom?"</p> +<p>"His brother sovereign."</p> +<p>"Canute?"</p> +<p>And here Edric perceptibly changed colour.</p> +<p>"Even so."</p> +<p>"Your proofs," said the bishop--"nay, my lord Edric, trust +your reputation to the justice of God and the court."</p> +<p>"The messenger from Canute, who came here on the vigil of St. +Andrew."</p> +<p>"Where is he?"</p> +<p>"He has returned to Canute," said Elfwyn.</p> +<p>"Aught else?"</p> +<p>"Only I would bid you remember that the ealdorman Edric sought +in like manner reconciliation with Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, and all +men know what followed."</p> +<p>Here Edric interrupted--"I do not sit here to be judged, but +to judge. These accusations cannot be heard."</p> +<p>"There is a judgment seat above where you will not be able to +make that plea," said the prisoner solemnly.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said the bishop, "this counter-accusation cannot be +received; have you aught else to urge?"</p> +<p>"None. I commit my cause to God."</p> +<p>The court retired.</p> +<p>The pause was long and painful. It afterwards transpired that +the bishop pleaded in Alfgar's favour, while Herstan ably seconded +him; but all was in vain. Edric's eloquence, and the strong +circumstantial evidence against the prisoner, carried the day, and +the ealdorman even proposed that execution should be speedy, +"lest," he whispered, "Canute should interfere to screen his +instrument."</p> +<p>It was a dangerous game, but he thought the services he had +rendered the Danish cause enabled him to play it safely.</p> +<p>They returned. All men saw the verdict in their faces. Edric +spoke with great solemnity.</p> +<p>"We find the prisoner guilty."</p> +<p>There was a dead pause.</p> +<p>"I appeal to the judgment of God. I demand the ordeal cf fire," +said Alfgar<a name="EndNote19anc" href= +"#EndNote19sym"><sup> {xix}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>"It cannot be denied," said the bishop, who had anticipated the +appeal. "I myself will see to the preliminaries; and it may take +place tomorrow morning in St. Frideswide's church."</p> +<p>Edric and his sympathisers would fain have denied the claim, but +they could not resist the bishop, backed as he was by the popular +voice, for the cry, "The ordeal! yes, the ordeal!" was taken up at +once by the populace.</p> +<p>While he was hesitating, his brother Goda appeared amongst the +crowd.</p> +<p>"Canute," he whispered, "draws nigh Oxenford. He has heard what +is going on."</p> +<p>Edric trembled, but soon recovered himself. However, it was not +a time to deny justice.</p> +<p>The following morning the church of St. Frideswide was crowded +at the early mass. All the friends of the accused were there, and +Edric with all his party. The holy service was about to commence, +when the crowd at the church door moved aside; a passage was +speedily made though the crowd, and three or four ecclesiastics, +one habited as a royal chaplain, escorted a stranger, to whom all +paid instinctive reverence, yet hardly knowing why, for he was only +clad in the ordinary robes worn by noblemen amongst the +English.</p> +<p>He was led to the choir, and placed where Edmund had knelt by +Edric's side some days previously. Edric saw him, and exchanged +glances, after which the ealdorman looked uneasy.</p> +<p>On the other side knelt the prisoner, with Elfwyn and Herstan on +either side, and his colour heightened. Well it might. He had last +seen that figure when he fought by Edmund's side at Penn. But it +was not that meeting. Words spoken ten years before came back to +him with marvellous force:</p> +<p>"Tell me what is the secret of this Christianity?"</p> +<p>And Alfgar knew that Canute had found that secret at last.</p> +<p>"Why was he here? Did he come as his friend or foe?"</p> +<p>The mass was over. Alfgar had followed the whole ceremony with +rapt attention, for it was in God alone that he could now put his +confidence.</p> +<p>Then a furnace was placed in the church, containing nine bars of +iron of red heat, and the fire was blown till the bars, quivering +with heat, glittered in the sight. The bishop approached, and said +the appointed prayers, that God would detect the innocence or guilt +of the prisoner by their means, and reveal the truth known only to +Him.</p> +<p>Then a lane was formed up the church, and the friends of Alfgar +kept one side, while those of Edric kept the other, after which the +bars of iron were laid down about two feet apart.</p> +<p>The bishop approached.</p> +<p>"Are ye all fasting with prayer?" he inquired.</p> +<p>The friends of accused and accuser from either side replied:</p> +<p>"We are."</p> +<p>"Humble yourselves, and pray to God to reveal the truth," said +he, and sprinkled them with holy water, after which the book of the +Gospels was passed all round to be kissed.</p> +<p>"Pray that God may reveal the truth," said he again.</p> +<p>"We do so pray."</p> +<p>Then Alfgar, who felt full of divine confidence, took his place +at the end nearest the porch. He was given the book of the +Gospels.</p> +<p>"Swear thy innocence upon the holy Gospels," said the +bishop.</p> +<p>"I do swear that I am innocent of the crime they lay to my +charge;" and he kissed the book; then holy water was sprinkled upon +his feet, and given him to drink.</p> +<p>The decisive moment approached. He looked round, he saw +Ethelgiva, her eyes full of tears, her lips moving in prayer.</p> +<p>All fear departed from him.</p> +<p>The bishop blindfolded him.</p> +<p>"My son, trust in God, and in His strength go forward," he +whispered.</p> +<p>Alfgar could see nought now. A line of red string was stretched +from the bishop's hand to that of a priest at the other extremity, +to guide him. Canute advanced, took the end from the priest's hand +and held it.</p> +<p>Alfgar started one step. The first iron is passed safely--two, +the second cleared. The excitement is intense. Three cleared-- +four, five. Ah, he nears the sixth! No, he misses it!--seven, +eight--one more--nine! SAVED BY GOD!</p> +<p>Ethelgiva fainted. A deep sound of applause, not even suppressed +by the character of the place. Elfwyn received his adopted son in +his arms:</p> +<p>"Saved, saved!" he cried.</p> +<p>"Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory!" replied +Alfgar.</p> +<p>When the first congratulations were over, and Alfgar had +somewhat recovered from the excitement of the shock, and from the +congratulations which were heaped upon him upon all sides, he was +told that Canute awaited him in the audience chamber, and at once +repaired to the presence of his future king with less emotion than +may be imagined; for he was worn out by sensation, and becoming +callous to impressions.</p> +<p>He was formally introduced by the officer in waiting, and the +king at once dismissed that functionary.</p> +<p>"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, we have met before," observed the +monarch.</p> +<p>"We have, my lord."</p> +<p>"I did not refer to later occasions, when we have met on the +battlefield, but to a far earlier one. Need I recall it? Surely +there are some moments in one's life never to be forgotten."</p> +<p>"There are indeed, my lord. Pardon my confusion. You refer to a +scene in Carisbrooke."</p> +<p>"Yes. When I asked you, 'What is this Christianity?' you had not +much time given you to answer me then, but your deliberate choice +of a bitter death, in preference to abandoning it, showed me there +was somewhat deeper in it than I had imagined. Alfgar, there are +seeds lightly sown which bear fruit hereafter, and your words were +of such a character--so that I, your future monarch, owe you +already a debt of gratitude, and I had come hither to fulfil it +when you saved me the task by appealing to the ordeal. I for one +had full faith in the justice of God. But had you not so appealed, +I should have stepped in between Edric and his victim."</p> +<p>"You did not then, my lord, believe in my guilt?"</p> +<p>"Not for one moment. The lad who defied my unhappy father in the +frantic fury of his power--the warrior I had seen fighting by the +side of his king--the faithful attendant of many years?--Nay, +it was monstrous; who could believe it?"</p> +<p>"Many, alas! found it possible to believe it, my lord. But who +has been the murderer? You will not permit your brother's blood to +fall on the earth unavenged."</p> +<p>"Wait. Be patient. God, in whom you trust, will direct the bolt +in His own time. Edmund's blood will not be unavenged. And now, +farewell! Remember, if you have lost one royal friend, you have +found another."</p> +<p>And Alfgar left the presence.</p> +<p>The next day the whole party from Aescendune returned home. +Oxenford was too full of bitter memories now. One grief of Alfgar +was this--he had not been able to stand by Edmund's grave.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h2> +<p>CHRISTMASTIDE 1017.</p> +<p>Ten years ago, this very day, God in His mercy delivered us from +the raging Danes at Cliffton, on Tamesis, and now He hath delivered +us again out of the hands of the raging lion, even of Edric +Streorn, and we are all spared to keep our Christmas in peace in +the woods of Aescendune.</p> +<p>It is probably the last I shall keep in this place, for the hall +and priory are fast rising from their ruins, and we shall soon +return to our old home, from which we have been banished ten years +and more. It will be sweet to be there once more, serving the Lord +in peace, with none daring to make us afraid.</p> +<p>Here we are, all of us who are near and dear by the ties of +blood, in this woodland Zoar, which hath indeed been a Zoar in the +late troublous years, utterly untouched, which again we regard as a +proof that Anlaf does not live, for he could have found us out had +his revenge led him to do so when Sweyn was in Mercia. Neither has +he appeared to claim his own estate, which he might easily regain +now a Dane is king.</p> +<p>Alfgar and Ethelgiva are now speedily to be united. Theirs is to +be the first marriage solemnised in the new minster church by my +unworthy hands. To see them now, one would think they had forgotten +all the past peril. The old people do not mean to abandon their +woodland abode; they love it all too well, and call it the Happy +Valley. But they say that a good road, now the times are safer, +shall be made to the old site, where we are again rearing hall and +priory.</p> +<p>There is now quite a colony here, nearly 300 people. The church +is very commodious, and every day, for the whole period of these +late dreadful wars, mass has been said therein for our suffering +brethren "contra Paganos." Thank God that he hath at length heard +our prayers; our late foes are no longer Pagans but Christians, and +are as eager to build up as they were to cast down; in fact, +several of them have offered their zealous aid in the rebuilding of +our priory.</p> +<p>We had such a happy Christmas evening. We sat by the fire, and +Alfgar was made to relate the whole story again of his escape with +Edmund from Carisbrooke, of his imprisonment by Edric in the +Synodune woods, of the attack and defence of Clifton. We had all +heard it before, but still we wanted to hear it again, just to +contrast present peace and joy with the danger and trials of those +days, and to make them sweeter by the contrast. Truly our Christmas +worship had need to be praise and thanksgiving, not only for the +great mystery the church commemorates, but also for present mercies +so freely bestowed upon us all.</p> +<p>Second Sunday after Easter, 1017.--</p> +<p>We have just received intelligence that Canute has been solemnly +crowned at St. Paul's Church, in London, by Archbishop Lyfing. He +called a council of the whole kingdom previously, to which both my +brother and I were summoned, but I cared not to attend. Elfwyn, +however, went, and wanted Alfgar to go, but he begged hard to be +excused, I imagine for two reasons. First of all, he laments Edmund +too deeply to welcome his former enemy as his successor; and +secondly, he does not care to leave Ethelgiva again.</p> +<p>Well, Elfwyn tells us that when all were present--bishops, +ealdormen, thanes, and the noblest of the people--Canute solemnly +proposed that they should accept him as their king, giving them to +understand that, by a tacit understanding with Edmund, it had been +agreed that the kingdom should not be permanently divided, but that +the survivor should inherit and govern the whole realm.</p> +<p>The wise men replied that, since Edmund's children were too +young to govern, they could not desire a better monarch than +Canute; they committed the little ones to his care, and +acknowledged him as king of all England.</p> +<p>And on the morrow Archbishop Lyfing, who had so shortly before +crowned Edmund, placed the emblem of regal dignity on the head of +Canute in St. Paul's Cathedral.</p> +<p>I hear Edric Streorn is confirmed in the earldom of Mercia. I +still fear that man.</p> +<p>Sunday after Ascension, 1017.--</p> +<p>On this happy Sunday it has pleased God to restore us to our +home once more. The priory is rebuilt in more than its former +beauty, and the hall beside it stands conspicuous in its splendour. +They have not changed the appearance much, for it was the especial +wish of every one concerned that it should remind one of old +associations as much as possible.</p> +<p>The good bishop of Dorchester, the abbot of Abingdon, and many +others of my friends amongst the brethren there, the neighbouring +clergy and thanes, all met together to dedicate the new house to +God. High mass was solemnly sung in the minster church, and the +whole building was hallowed with psalm and prayer to God; after +which followed a temperate banquet.</p> +<p>The bishop was very kind and loving, and spoke most +affectionately to our poor people on the subject of their past +trials; especially he commended their new lord, Alfgar, to their +allegiance, saying that in all his deep trials he had shown himself +a most perfect Christian, doing his duty both to God and man.</p> +<p>Monday.--</p> +<p>The abbot and brethren from Abingdon are gone back, and we poor +happy brethren have entered again upon our regular duties. Ah me! +what a gap time has made in our ranks. Of the twenty brethren who +were driven out by the Danes eleven years ago, only twelve yet +live, and eight brethren from Abingdon supply the place of the +others. God be praised that Father Adhelm yet lives! He has been my +right hand in so many perils and trials.</p> +<p>It is so delightful to be at home once more. Surely never were +monks happier. My heart swells when each morning we sing the three +last joyful psalms at lauds.</p> +<p>It is settled that Alfgar and Ethelgiva are to be married on the +Monday after the Whitsun octave. O happy pair! <i>O ter felices et +nimium beati!</i> I only hope they will not love earth too +well.</p> +<p>Octave of the Ascension.--</p> +<p>Today we have had a special messenger from Canute, who is in the +neighbourhood, to express his royal intention to grace the +approaching marriage with his presence. It will indeed be an +honour. Ah! but if Edmund could be there.</p> +<p>Whitsunday.--</p> +<p>I hardly know how to express my intense surprise and joy. +Alfgar's father has returned--a Christian.</p> +<p>While all the people were assembling for mass this morning, an +aged man, clad in palmer's weeds, evidently worn by toil and +travel, came from the bridge over the river, which has been +rebuilt, towards the minster church, and entering, knelt down wrapt +in devotion. Many remarked his quaint attire; his face, once stern, +now softened by grace; his hair, once black as the raven's wing, +now white as snow; his dark eyes gleaming beneath thick white +eyebrows. I fear he caused many wandering thoughts, and he would +have caused yet more, could they have known that they beheld the +penitent destroyer of the old hall and priory.</p> +<p>Now I preached, not knowing at the time who was amongst my +hearers, from the words of Isaiah, "For thy waste and desolate +places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too +narrow, by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee +up shall be far away. The children which thou shalt have, after +thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears. The place +is too strait for me; give place to me, that I may dwell."</p> +<p>Oh, how touching the words seemed; for our waste and desolate +places are indeed peopled with joy and gladness, and many must have +thought of dear Bertric, our martyr boy, when they heard those +words, "the children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost +the other." They seemed a divine prophecy of joy and gladness unto +us.</p> +<p>And so I preached after this manner, and as I did so I saw the +stranger was deeply moved, and marvelled who he could be, that he +entered so deeply into so personal a sermon, which treated of a +peculiar joy which a stranger intermeddleth not with.</p> +<p>Now after the mass was ended, we came forth from the church, and +Alfgar, with Ethelgiva, walked down the path to the Lychgate, when +Alfgar's eyes fell upon the stranger, whereupon, to our +astonishment, he started, then stepped forward, fell on his knees, +and cried, with a choked voice, "Father, your blessing!"</p> +<p>At first we thought it was reverence, somewhat exaggerated, to a +pilgrim, but when the aged man cried aloud, "The God of Abraham +bless thee, even thee, O my son!" and the tears streamed down the +furrows of his aged cheeks, we knew it must be something more than +this, and so it proved.</p> +<p>It was none other than Anlaf--Anlaf who had disappeared from +all the knowledge of friend or foe for ten years!</p> +<p>We all received him, especially my brother Elfwyn, with great +joy--for we shared Alfgar's happiness--and we led him into the +house, where we tendered him all the offices of hospitality.</p> +<p>It was by degrees that we learned his story. He was really +converted to Christianity by the example of his son, whose words +produced a far deeper effect upon him than either he or Alfgar +suspected at the time.</p> +<p>And when he saw that son prefer a cruel death to apostasy, his +heart was moved--deeply moved, so that he pondered over all he +had heard from him and from a once loved wife, whose words had +seemed lost, but whose prayers perhaps watered them into growth +after she was dead and gone. So he left the army without telling +any one whither he went, and sought instruction from a +Christian.</p> +<p>And he found a Christian priest hidden in the woods, where he +administered the word and sacraments to a starving few, but +secretly, for fear of the Danes; and from him he learned the truth +and was baptized.</p> +<p>Then, feeling himself unhappy in this distracted land-- +separated from the English by blood, from the Danes by religion-- +he determined to go on pilgrimage.</p> +<p>Once in the Holy Land, he had to undergo much contumely from the +pagan Saracens, who, to the disgrace of Christendom, defile the +Holy City by their presence, and maltreat the blessed pilgrims; but +he had learned to glory in humiliation. At last he retired to the +woods on the sources of the Jordan, weary of earth, and there he +joined an aged hermit, with whom he lived for two years, and when +the hermit died he took his place, and dwelt as an ascetic, +ministering, however, to the necessities of pilgrims who journeyed +that way to the Holy Land.</p> +<p>From some of these pilgrims he learned, at length, that English +and Danes were united in peace, and a great desire of revisiting +England and searching out his son seized upon him. On the road he +heard that Edmund was dead and Canute reigned alone, and so he came +hither at once, and has arrived, God so willing it, in time to see +his son married to the heiress of Aescendune.</p> +<p>We have provided him lodgings in the priory. The new hall is not +to be dwelt in till the night when the happy pair enter it and make +it their home.</p> +<p>Alfgar's cup of joy is full.</p> +<p>Monday after the Whitsun Octave.--</p> +<p>At last it is over. The weary waiting of ten years is ended. +Alfgar and Ethelgiva are man and wife.</p> +<p>Canute gave away the bride in person. Elfwyn, Hilda, Herstan, +Bertha, and Hermann, with his sisters--indeed all the kindred of +the bride were there. Of the kindred of the bridegroom but one, so +far as we know, is living--his father Anlaf. It has been a +warlike race, and nearly all the members of the family have found a +warrior's grave.</p> +<p>I performed the ceremony, assisted by all the brethren in the +choral portions of the mass and the order of the marriage service. +Ethelgiva was pale and composed although she shed a few natural +tears, but wiped them soon. Alfgar was simple and unaffected, as he +always is. All he does is so naturally done. Like Nathaniel, he is +a man without guile.</p> +<p>The church was crowded. All the retainers and all the neighbours +were present, and when the bride and bridegroom left the sacred +building, they saluted them with cheers which made the welkin +ring.</p> +<p>Then the whole party adjourned to the hall, which was crowded to +the fullest extent. And for the poorer guests, who could not find +admittance, tables were spread in the open air, beneath the shade +of spreading trees, for the day was lovely even for June.</p> +<p>Canute remained throughout the entertainment, and, by his +unaffected condescension and his cheerful sympathy, won the hearts +of all. His general demeanour tends to efface his foreign descent +from the mind. Yet we sighed for Edmund, for which even Canute +would pardon us. He should have presided at the board.</p> +<p>When the night was far advanced the whole party broke up and +retired to rest, after a day calculated to efface the recollection +of many a hardship past.</p> +<p>For my part, when I returned to the priory, I mused for a long +time on the dark paths through which our Lord has conducted us to +this happy day. I thought of the period of Alfgar's conversion and +baptism, of St. Brice's night, for which England has paid so heavy +a penance, now, we trust, happily over. And while I thus thought, +my musings led me to the tomb of Bertric, whose sacred relics, as +those of a martyr, now lie interred beneath our high altar, and I +wondered whether his blessed spirit could sympathise in our earthly +joy. Yes; I doubt it not; and that he witnesses it from above. +Through suffering to joy has been our lot; through suffering to +glory his.</p> +<p>Tuesday.--</p> +<p>The king left this morning. His engagements are too numerous to +permit him to give much space to recreation. Before he left he +summoned Alfgar, Anlaf, and Elfwyn, to a conference in the library +--for they have a library as of old in the hall--and then he +told Alfgar that he had talked with Anlaf who wished to convey the +manorial rights of his former patrimony, and all its revenues, to +his son, and to join our brotherhood, and that he desired him to +witness the deed. Now, all the former charters of Aescendune were +destroyed in the old hall, and the king had caused a new one to be +drawn up, supplying all the defects caused by the loss of the +earlier documents; conferring and securing, by royal charter, all +the lands of Aescendune, and those formerly appertaining to Anlaf, +upon Alfgar, and his successors for ever, not, as he said, as a +deed of gift, but as a charter securing and defining their rights +and liberties, for him and his successors, to all future +generations; and adding all the waste land of the adjacent forest, +formerly holden of the crown, to their domains, with right of all +temporal jurisdiction, and with the title of Earl, which title is +common in the northern and more Danish districts, more so than +ealdorman, which obtains in the south.</p> +<p>"Thus much," said he, "I know my brother Edmund would have done +for you, and in his place it has fallen to my lot.</p> +<p>"Would," he added, "I could be all to you which Edmund would +have been had he lived; that, perhaps, is not possible; but I know, +Alfgar," he added, "how to esteem faithfulness, even when it has +been sometimes exercised at my expense, for one once a rival, now +only thought of as a brother."</p> +<p>Then he turned to Anlaf.</p> +<p>"Old companion in arms," he said, "this makes up for +Carisbrooke; well, Alfgar, hadst thou yielded then, thou hadst not +been here now. Thy father and I owe thee something for the example +thou didst set us."</p> +<p>And then he turned to Elfwyn and wished him joy of his son.</p> +<p>After that he came to the priory and prayed awhile in front of +the altar; his devotions ended, he came to my cell and made me a +startling offer of a bishopric in Denmark, saying he thought there +was much work to be done for God there, and he thought Englishmen +would do it best; and thus, he added, after their Master's example, +return good for evil<a name="EndNote20anc" href= +"#EndNote20sym"><sup> {xx}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>But an old oak such as I am cannot be uprooted, and perhaps it +is a carnal feeling, but I fear my earthly affections bind me here +while life lasts, so, thanking him warmly for the distinction +implied in the offer, I respectfully but firmly declined it.</p> +<p>And so the king and his retinue left Aescendune. Elfwyn and +Hilda return in a few days to their happy valley; men have been at +work for weeks making a good road there from the hall, and the +journey will only occupy two or three hours to a good walker.</p> +<p>Herstan and his family leave for their home on the Thames (which +has been rebuilt, together with the little church of St. Michael) +tomorrow. Anlaf takes his vows as a novice next Sunday, his +novitiate will be as short as the rules of our order allow; we +shall all then welcome him as a brother.</p> +<p>Soon our days will flow tranquilly on. May God mercifully +continue peace in our days.</p> +<p>"Stablish the thing, O God, that thou hast wrought in us."</p> +<p>Christmas, 1017.--</p> +<p>Strange news greet our festival. Edric Streorn has gone +suddenly, unhouselled, unanointed, unabsolved, to his great +account. Hermann, who is now an officer in the royal hus-carles, +has arrived from court, and from him we have learnt all +particulars.</p> +<p>Edric was alone with the king in a chamber overlooking the +Thames. Hermann was on duty without, with some of the guard, when +he heard voices within in hot contention.</p> +<p>"You will grant me no favour, not even the life of this traitor, +who, I tell you, is conspiring against you, and desires to place +Edwy, the Etheling, Edmund's brother, on the throne in your +place."</p> +<p>"Your proof lies, I suppose, in the hatred you have always borne +him," was the king's reply.</p> +<p>Hermann could not help hearing, they spoke so loudly, but the +next words enchained his attention.</p> +<p>"I tell thee the name 'Alfgar' is first and foremost amongst the +signatures of the men who have conspired to cast thee from the +throne."</p> +<p>"Then I conclude you placed it there; tush, man, I know thee of +old!"</p> +<p>"Why should you suspect this? was not he Edmund's faithful +friend, worshipping him as a god, and would he not do all he could +for his brother?"</p> +<p>"I thought you held him guilty of Edmund's murder."</p> +<p>"That was only because I wished to remove two enemies from your +path instead of one you will not remove one from mine; lo! I +forsook Edmund my king for thy sake, and for thy sake I slew him, +and thus thou rewardest me."</p> +<p>Then Canute waxed furious, and he shouted, "Guard! guard!"</p> +<p>Hermann rushed in; and amongst others Eric, the Earl of +Northumbria.</p> +<p>"What, wretch! murderer! apostate blasphemer of the saints! +didst thou murder Edmund, my brother Edmund, who was dear to me as +Jonathan to David, seeing we were bound to each other by an oath! +Thou didst stretch thy hand against the Lord's anointed, and thou +shalt die the death.</p> +<p>"Cut him down! cut him down, Eric! cut him down, Hermann."</p> +<p>Eric stepped forward in an instant, and with his huge battle-axe +cleft the unhappy traitor, who had fallen to his knees to obtain +mercy, from the head to the shoulders.</p> +<p>"Throw the carcase out of window," cried the furious king; "let +the fishes have the carrion. Never shall he find a grave, the vile +regicide; and that he should think I would reward his guilt! Nay, I +have served him as David did the Amalekite."</p> +<p>Eric and Hermann, between them, raised the corpse, and flung it, +all bleeding and disfigured, into the Thames, the tide just running +out beneath the walls.</p> +<p>I ought to write, "So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord!" But +the awful doom of his unrepentant soul saddens me, much as he has +hated me and mine.</p> +<p>Lent, 1018.--</p> +<p>A strange discovery has been made which interests us all +greatly. At the time of Alfgar's trial at Oxford, Herstan fancied +there must be a secret staircase communicating with Edmund's room, +but sought it in vain. Now that Edric has avowed the deed, Hermann +has obtained the king's permission to make a thorough search all +through the house, and in the thickness of the huge stone chimney a +secret staircase has been found, with a door opening through the +thickness of the wall and panelling into the room in which Edmund +slept, as well as another door opening into the banqueting hall, +where Sigeferth and Morcar were murdered. It is all clear as day +now. Edric must have entered the royal chamber from the banqueting +hall in the dead of the night, and thus, when no human eye beheld, +have accomplished his evil deed. Ah, well! he could not escape the +eye of Him who has said "Vengeance is mine, I will repay."</p> +<p>Eastertide, 1018--</p> +<p>A son is born to Alfgar and Ethelgiva; and today, Low Sunday, +they presented their babe to Him who said, "Suffer little children +to come unto me." They have named him Edmund. The grandparents, +both well and happy, were present; and the proud and happy father's +eyes sparkled with joy over his little Edmund, glistening from the +baptismal font. It fell to my happy lot thus to enrol the dear +child amongst the lambs of Christ's fold. God grant him length of +days here, and endless length of days beyond the skies when time +shall be no more!</p> +<p>. . . . . .</p> +<p>Here we close our extracts from Father Cuthbert's Diary; but; +before taking leave of him, we are sure our readers would like to +hear a few more words about his future fortunes, and those of the +house of Aescendune.</p> +<p>Better king than Canute, saving only the great Alfred, and +perhaps Edgar, had never sat on the English throne. Under his +auspices a change became visible throughout the whole country: +villages again gladdened the blackened wastes; minsters and +churches were rebuilt, whose broad, square Saxon towers yet hand +down the memory of our ancestors. Agriculture revived; golden corn +covered the bloodstained scenes of warfare; men lived once more in +peace under the shadow of their homes, none daring to make them +afraid. Peace, with its hallowed associations, gladdened England +for fifty long years<a name="EndNote21anc" href= +"#EndNote21sym"><sup> {xxi}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>Anlaf was the first of the group we have introduced to our +readers to leave this transitory world for a better one. He died a +few years after the accession of Canute. Father Cuthbert survived +him many years, and died honoured and lamented in the last year of +the great king.</p> +<p>His brother Elfwyn, and the lady Hilda, full of years, having +outlived the natural span of man's appointed years, followed him +shortly--not till they had seen their grandchildren, a numerous +and hopeful progeny, grow up around them, and so perpetuate their +race upon earth.</p> +<p>And for Alfgar and Ethelgiva, they lived to see a their +children's children, and peace upon Israel, surviving until the +close of the reign of Edward the Confessor, the son of Ethelred and +Emma. Their days were days of peace, in strange contrast to their +youthful years.</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Peace! and no more from out her brazen portals +The blast of war's great organ shakes the skies; +But, beautiful as songs of the immortals, +The holy harmonies of peace arise." +--Longfellow. +</pre></div> +<p>THE END.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote1sym" href="#EndNote1anc">i</a> Genealogy of +Aescendune.</p> +<p>The reader may be glad to have the genealogy of the family in +whom it has been the author's aim to interest him placed clearly +before him. The following genealogical table, including the +principal names in "The First Chronicle of Aescendune," as well as +those in the present book, may suffice, the date of decease being +given in each case.</p> +<p>Offa, 940</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Oswald, 937.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Redwald, 959.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Ella, 959, m. Edith.</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Elfric, 960.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Alfred, 998, m. Alftrude.</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Elfric, 975.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Elfwyn, 1086, m. Hilda.</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Bertric, 1006.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Ethelgiva, 1064 m. Alfgar.</p> +</li> +</ul> +</li> +<li> +<p>Cuthbert, 1034.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Bertha, 1050 m. Herstan.</p> +</li> +</ul> +</li> +<li> +<p>Edgitha, 990.</p> +</li> +</ul> +</li> +</ul> +<p><a name="EndNote2sym" href="#EndNote2anc">ii</a> Curse of +Dunstan.</p> +<p>"In the year of our Lord's incarnation 979, Ethelred, son of +Edgar and Elfrida, obtaining the kingdom, occupied, rather than +governed it, for thirty-seven years. The career of his life is said +to have been cruel in the beginning, wretched in the middle, and +disgraceful in the end. Thus, in the murder to which he gave his +concurrence he was cruel, base in his flight and effeminacy, +miserable in his death.</p> +<p>"The nobility being assembled by the contrivance of his mother, +and the day being appointed for Dunstan, in right of his see, to +crown him, he, though he might be ill-affected to them, forebore to +resist, being a prelate of mature age well versed in secular +matters. But, when placing the crown on his head, he could not +refrain from giving vent, with a loud voice, to that prophetic +spirit which he so deeply imbibed. 'Since,' said he, 'thou hast +aspired to the kingdom by the death of thy brother, hear the word +of God. Thus saith the Lord God: The sin of thy abandoned mother, +and of the accomplices of her base design, shall not be washed out +but by much blood of the wretched inhabitants; and such evils shall +come upon the English nation as they have never suffered from the +time they came to England until then.' Nor was it long after, that +is in his third year, that seven piratical vessels came to +Southampton, a port near Winchester, and having ravaged the coast +fled back to the sea. This I think right to mention, because many +reports are circulated among the English concerning these +vessels."--William of Malmesbury, English Chronicle, Bohn's +Edition, pp.</p> +<p>165-166.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote3sym" href="#EndNote3anc">iii</a> See "First +Chronicle of Aescendune."</p> +<p><a name="EndNote4sym" href="#EndNote4anc">iv</a> Chronology of +Father Cuthbert.</p> +<p>The Christian era did not come in use until about the year 532, +when it was first introduced in the code of canon law compiled by +Dionysius Exiguus, and, even then, the year of the world was still +frequently used, as in some cases in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. +When at length the Christian computation became universal, some +began the year with the Incarnation (Christmas), others with the +Annunciation; a custom not wholly abolished in England till 1752, +when the "New Style," or Gregorian Calendar, was introduced.</p> +<p>But in the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the +portion upon which our tale is based, the year invariably opens +with the Nativity--hence this reckoning has been used in the +text, and the Christmas day in chapter 3 begins a new year.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote5sym" href="#EndNote5anc">v</a> Now Banbury.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote6sym" href="#EndNote6anc">vi</a> Death of St. +Edmund.</p> +<p>There are two stories (or more) concerning the Danish invasion +in which the saintly Edmund met his death; the first, alluded to in +the song of the Etheling (chapter 11), tells how Ragnar Lodbrog, a +great sea king, invaded England, but his fleet being shattered by a +storm, fell into the hands of Ella, King of Northumbria, who threw +him into a pit full of toads and serpents, where he perished, +singing his death song to the last, and calling upon his sons to +avenge his fate. Those sons were Hinguar and Hubba. They invaded +East Anglia after they had avenged their father upon Ella, and King +Edmund fought against them, but was taken prisoner. They offered +him his life and throne if he would forsake Christianity, and reign +under them. But he steadfastly refused, whereupon they put him to +death after the manner described in the tale in the case of +Bertric, while he called steadfastly upon Christ until his latest +breath.</p> +<p>The other tale, given at length by Roger Wendover, tells that +Ragnar Lodbrog, with only his hawk in his hand, was driven by a +storm to the coast of East Anglia, that King Edmund made him his +huntsman, but the former huntsman, Beorn, slew him through +jealousy; that King Edmund put Beorn bound in the boat which had +brought Lodbrog over, and sent him adrift to perish at sea. But the +storm in turn blew him to Denmark, where he told the sons of the +man he had slain that Edmund had murdered their father. Hence they +came to avenge him. The remainder of the tale agrees with the +former narrative, and is the only portion which certainly possesses +historical truth.</p> +<p>St. Edmund has been much venerated in the eastern counties, and +his shrine at Edmundsbury was greatly reverenced. The tale of the +death of Sweyn, given in chapter 18, is a proof of this feeling, in +which perhaps the legend partly originated.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote7sym" href="#EndNote7anc">vii</a> The Rista +Oern.</p> +<p>This punishment was usual among the Northmen, and was called "at +rista oern," from the supposed resemblance of the victim to the +figure of an eagle. The operation was generally performed by the +chief himself. It is thus described by Snorre:</p> +<p>"Ad speciem aquilae dorsum ita ei laniabat, ut adacto ad spinam +gladio, costisque omnibus ad lumbos usque a tergo divisis, pulmones +extraheret."--Snorre, p. 108.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote8sym" href="#EndNote8anc">viii</a> First +appearance of Edmund.</p> +<p>The first mention of Edmund in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the +commander of the English forces is A.D. 1015, where he was joined +with Edric in the command, as related in the text, chapter 18. The +date of his birth is uncertain, but the comparison of authorities +appeared to the author to justify the ascription of the character +and actions, with which he is credited in the tale, to the English +hero who first taught his generation to assert their equality with +the fierce Danish invaders.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote9sym" href="#EndNote9anc">ix</a> The +appellations Wiltshire and Berkshire are of course of later +date.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote10sym" href="#EndNote10anc">x</a> The early name +of Abingdon.</p> +<p>Johnson, the compiler of the famous collection of English +canons, is of opinion that Cloveshoo, where the famous provincial +council was held A.D. 803, is identical with Abingdon, and that the +town lost its ancient name simply owing to the growing notoriety of +the famous abbey; for "no one," says he, "can doubt that the name +Abingdon was taken from the abbey." The first memorial, he adds, in +which he finds the name Abingdon, is in the Chronicle wherein the +burial of Bishop Sidesman, A.D. 977, in St. Mary's Minster, "which +is at Abingdon," is mentioned, who was honourably buried on the +north side of that fane in St. Paul's Chapel.</p> +<p>On the other hand, some learned antiquarians have maintained the +opposite opinion, that the name Abingdon existed even prior to the +foundation of the monastery; thus the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, in his +edition of the "Chronicle of the Abbey of Abingdon," says-- +"Abingdon derives its name, not, as might at first sight be +supposed, from the abbey there founded--Abbey dune or Abbots +dune: philology forbids it. The place was so called from Abba, one +of the early colonists of Berkshire."</p> +<p><a name="EndNote11sym" href="#EndNote11anc">xi</a> Bishops of +Dorchester.</p> +<p>There appears to have been much uncertainty concerning the +succession of the bishops of this important see, owing, perhaps, to +the confusion caused by its having been the seat of two totally +distinct jurisdictions--the one over Wessex, the other over great +part of Mercia.</p> +<p>The names of the bishops in the narrative are taken from a list +kindly furnished by the Rev. W. Macfarlane, the present vicar of +the Abbey Church, whose indefatigable efforts have restored to the +ancient fane much of the glory of its ancient days.</p> +<p>According to this list, Ednoth was bishop from 1006 to 1016, +when he was slain by the Danes as recorded in the text; and Ethelm +succeeding, ruled the see till A.D. 1034, through the comparatively +happy days of Canute.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote12sym" href="#EndNote12anc">xii</a> End of the +Campaign of 1006.</p> +<p>The following extract from the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" gives the +further history of the campaign very concisely:</p> +<p>"Then went the Danes to Wallingford, and that all burned, and +were then one day in Cholsey: and they went then along Ashdown to +Cuckamsley hill, and there abode, as a daring boast; for it had +been often said, if they should reach Cuckamsley hill, that they +would never again get to the sea: then they went homewards another +way. Then were forces assembled at Kennet, and they there joined +battle: and they soon put that band to flight, and afterwards +brought their booty to the sea. But there might the Winchester men +see an army daring and fearless, as they went by their gates +towards the sea, and fetched themselves food and treasures over +fifty miles from thence. Then had the king gone over Thames into +Shropshire, and there took up his abode during the midwinter's +tide. Then became the dread of the army so great, that no man could +think or discover how they could be driven out of the land, or this +land maintained against them; for they had every shire in Wessex +sadly marked by burning and by plundering. Then the king began +earnestly with the witan to consider what might seem most advisable +to them all, so that this land might be saved, before it was +utterly destroyed. Then the king and his witan decreed, for the +behoof of the whole nation, though it was hateful to them all, that +they needs must pay tribute to the Danish army. Then the king sent +to the army, and directed it to be made known to them that he would +that there should be a truce between them, and that tribute should +be paid, and food given them. And then all that they accepted, and +then were they victualled from throughout the English nation."-- +Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Bohn's Edition.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote13sym" href="#EndNote13anc">xiii</a> This is +copied almost verbatim from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote14sym" href="#EndNote14anc">xiv</a> The account +is taken almost verbatim from Florence of Worcester.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote15sym" href="#EndNote15anc">xv</a> Children of +Ethelred.</p> +<p>By his two wives--(1) Aelfleda--(2) Emma, Ethelred had +fourteen children, of whom only four or five have been mentioned in +this narrative, or are of importance to the student--Edmund +Ironside and his brother Edwy (chapter 25), by Aelfleda, and Alfred +and Edward by Emma--the last well known in history as Edward the +Confessor, and introduced in Chapter XIX. of this tale. The +following genealogical table from Edgar to the children of Edmund +may be of use. It will be remembered that the lineage of the +present royal house passes through the last-named son of Edmund +Ironside to Egbert:</p> +<p>Edgar</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Edward the Martyr, d. 979.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Ethelred the Unready, d. 1016.</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Edmund Ironside, 1016.</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Edmund.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Edward, who became the great-grandfather of Henry the +Second.</p> +</li> +</ul> +</li> +<li> +<p>Edwy.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Elgitha.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Alfred, 1036.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Edward the Confessor, 1066.</p> +</li> +</ul> +</li> +</ul> +<p><a name="EndNote16sym" href="#EndNote16anc">xvi</a> +Sceorstan.</p> +<p>Antiquarians differ much about the site of this famous battle. +Sharp thinks it was near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, and +Thorpe, in his notes to "Florence of Worcester," says--"May not +Chimney be the spot, a hamlet in Oxfordshire, in the parish of +Bampton-in-the-Bush, near the edge of Gloucestershire, the name of +Chimney being merely a translation, introduced after the Norman +Conquest, of Sceorstan, which may probably have owed its origin to +a Saxon house or hall, conspicuous for having a chimney when that +luxury was of rare occurrence?" Others say that Sceorstan was not +in Anglo-Saxon "a chimney," but "a graven stone," and make the site +that of a boundary stone, still separating the four counties of +Oxford, Gloucester, Worcester, and Warwick, near Chipping Norton. +Bosworth says it is Sherston in Wilts.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote17sym" href="#EndNote17anc">xvii</a> Single +Combat between Edmund and Canute.</p> +<p>The following account is from Roger of Wendover:</p> +<p>"A few days after this lamentable battle (Assingdun), in which +so many nobles fell, King Edmund pursued Canute, who was now +committing ravages in Gloucestershire. The said kings therefore +came together to fight at a place called Deerhurst, Edmund with his +men being on the west side of the river Severn, and Canute with his +men on the east, both preparing themselves manfully for battle. +When both armies were now on the point of engaging, the wicked Earl +Edric called together the chiefs and addressed them as follows: +'Nobles and warriors, why do we foolishly so often hazard our lives +in battle for our kings, when not even our deaths secure to them +the kingdom, or put an end to their covetousness? My counsel then +is, that they alone should fight who alone are contending for the +kingdom; for what must be the lust of dominion, when England, which +formerly sufficed for eight kings, is not now enough for two? Let +them, therefore, either come to terms, or fight alone for the +kingdom.' This speech pleased them all; and the determination of +the chiefs being communicated to the kings, received their +approbation. There is a small island called Olney, in the mouth of +that river. Thither the kings, clad in splendid armour, crossed +over, and commenced a single combat in the presence of the people. +Parrying the thrust of the spear as well by their own skill as by +the interposition of their strong shields, they fought long and +fiercely hand to hand, his valour protecting Edmund, and his good +fortune Canute. The swords rung on their helmets, and sparks of +fire flew from their collision. The stout heart of Edmund was +kindled by the act of fighting, and as his blood grew warm his +strength augmented; he raised his right hand, brandished his sword, +and redoubled his blows on the head of his antagonist with such +vehemence, that he seemed rather to fulminate than to strike. +Feeling his strength failing him, and unable long to endure such an +onset, Canute meditated peace; but as he was crafty, and afraid +lest if the youth perceived his weakness he would not listen to his +words of peace, drawing in all his breath he rushed on Edmund with +wonderful valour, and immediately drawing back a little, he asked +him to pause awhile and give him audience. The latter was of a +courteous soul, and, resting his shield on the ground, he listened +to the words of Canute, who thus proceeded: 'Hitherto I have +coveted thy kingdom, bravest of men; but now I prefer thyself not +only to the kingdom of England, but to all the world. Denmark +serves me, Norway yields me subjection, the King of Sweden has +shaken hands with me; so that, although Fortune promises me victory +everywhere, yet thy wonderful manliness hath so won my favour, that +I long beyond measure to have thee as friend and partner of my +kingdom. I would that thou in like manner wert desirous of me; that +I might reign with thee in England, and thou walk me in Denmark.' +Why should I add more? King Edmund most graciously assented and +yielded to his words, though he could not be forced by arms. The +kingdom was therefore, by Edmund's direction, divided between the +two, the crown of the whole kingdom reverting to King Edmund. The +whole of England, therefore, to the south of the river Thames, was +ceded to him, with Essex and East Anglia, and the city of London, +the capital of the kingdom, Canute retaining the northern parts of +the kingdom. Laying aside, therefore, their splendid armour, the +kings embraced each other amidst the rejoicings of both the armies. +They then exchanged their garments and arms in token of peace, and +Edmund became Canute, and Canute Edmund."--Roger of Wendover, +Bohn's Edition.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote18sym" href="#EndNote18anc">xviii</a> The Death +of Edmund.</p> +<p>This lamentable occurrence is involved in much mystery. Edric +Streorn was generally credited with the deed, although some +writers, e.g. William of Malmesbury, think he used the aid of +attendants on the king, whom he bribed. The Chronicle is silent as +to details. Henry of Huntingdon ascribes the deed to a son of +Edric. Roger of Wendover agrees with him, adding the facts that the +place was Oxford, and the time St. Andrew's night, as in the text. +Amidst these conflicting statements fiction perhaps most +legitimately takes its place.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote19sym" href="#EndNote19anc">xix</a> The +Ordeal.</p> +<p>This ancient custom was observed by Simplicius, Bishop of Autun, +so early as the fourth century, and was very generally in use +during the period of our tale. Although never formally recognised +by the Church of Rome, and forbidden by many edicts on the +Continent, it was administered in England under the direction of +the clergy, and its details prescribed by the canons during a +period extending from the laws of Alfred to the directions given in +the ecclesiastical laws of Edward the Confessor, the year before +the Norman Conquest, A.D. 1065. The first prohibition of its use in +England is in the third year of Henry the Third.</p> +<p>There were three principal modes of its administration. In the +first, the ordeal by water, the accused had to take a heavy piece +of iron from a boiling cauldron placed in the church--in the +second, to carry a bar of heated iron nine feet. The hand or arm +was bound in linen, the bandage sealed by the priest, and on the +third day the limb was uncovered. If the burn or scald had healed +the prisoner was pronounced innocent, otherwise he had to suffer +the punishment due to his offence.</p> +<p>The details given in the text are chiefly taken from the Canons +of Athelstane; but the mode of purgation therein described is +similar to that by which it is said Queen Emma repelled an +accusation made by Robert, Bishop of London, in the year 1046. This +mode of administration was perhaps more frequently used when a +prompt appeal was needed to the judgment of God, or in the case of +persons of rank, were they ever, as was seldom the case, compelled +to appeal to its decision.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote20sym" href="#EndNote20anc">xx</a> It was a +subject of complaint against Canute in Denmark that he gave away +most of the bishoprics to Englishmen.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote21sym" href="#EndNote21anc">xxi</a> Character of +Canute.</p> +<p>The great change in Canute's character after his accession to +the throne has been noticed by all writers. Each year he seemed to +grow in self-command and in the practice of virtue, while all men +were edified by his strict attention to his religions duties. Later +in life he made a pilgrimage to Rome, and a letter written thence +gives a good idea of his general affection for his people. It is +addressed to the archbishops and bishops and great men, and to all +the English people, and is written in the familiar style a father +might use to his children, especially telling them all he had seen +at Rome, and about the way in which he spent Easter with Pope John +and the Emperor, whom he persuaded to abolish certain dues exacted +from English pilgrims. In the last portion of the letter he tells +them how he has made up his mind to amend his life in every way, +and to atone for all the wrongs committed in the violence of youth. +He forbids any person to use violence or to make the royal needs an +excuse for wrongdoing, saying, "I have no need of money gathered by +unrighteousness." He concludes by saying that he is sure they will +all be glad to hear how he has fared, and that they know he has not +spared himself any trouble, and never will, to do all that lies in +his power for the good of his people.</p> +<p>There is something in the whole tone of the letter which warms +one's heart towards the writer, and one cannot help contrasting the +reigns of the two conquerors, Canute and William: the first, +beginning with violence and bloodshed, grew daily in justice, +mercy, and the love of God, and so passed lamented to his grave; +the latter, promising at first to govern justly, grew worse and +worse in oppressive cruelty and all sorts of wrongdoing, until the +sad and hopeless death scene in the abbey of St. Gervase. But the +delineation of the latter period must be reserved, all being well, +for the "Third Chronicle of Aescendune."</p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13305 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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D. Crake + +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: Alfgar the Dane or the Second Chronicle of Aescendune + +Author: A. D. Crake + +Release Date: August 27, 2004 [EBook #13305] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALFGAR THE DANE *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Robb + + + + + +</pre> + +<p>ALFGAR THE DANE OR THE SECOND CHRONICLE OF AESCENDUNE:</p> +<p>A Tale of the Days of Edmund Ironside</p> +<p>by the Rev. A. D. Crake.</p> +<h3><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE</a>.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a>. THE DIARY OF FATHER +CUTHBERT.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a>. "ALFGAR, SON OF +ANLAF."</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a>. THE NIGHT OF ST. +BRICE.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a>. THE DANES IN WESSEX.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a>. THE TRACKS IN THE +FOREST.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a>. THROUGH SUFFERING TO +GLORY.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a>. FATHER AND SON.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a>. THE CAMP OF THE +DANES.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a>. CARISBROOKE IN THE ELEVENTH +CENTURY.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a>. THE GLEEMAN.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a>. THE MONASTERY OF +ABINGDON.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a>. THE CITY OF +DORCHESTER.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a>. THE SON AND THE +FAVOURITE.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY +AT CLIFFTON.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a>. THE FEAST OF +CHRISTMAS.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a>. FOR HEARTH AND +HOME.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a>. THE ROYAL +DEATHBED.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a>. THE MIDNIGHT FLIGHT.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a>. EDMUND AND CANUTE.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a>. SMOOTHER THAN +OIL.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a>. WHO HATH DONE THIS +DEED?</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</a>. THE ORDEAL.</h3> +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h3> +<h2><a name="PREFACE">PREFACE</a>.</h2> +<p>The tale now presented to the indulgence of the public is the +second of a series of tales, each complete in itself, which, as +stated in the preface to the first of the series, have been told to +the senior boys of a large school, in order to secure their +interest in historical characters, and to illustrate great epochs +in human affairs by the aid of fiction.</p> +<p>Yet the Author has distinctly felt that fiction must always, in +such cases, be subordinate to truth, and that it is only +legitimately used as a vehicle of instruction when it fills up the +gaps in the outline, without contradicting them in any respect, or +interfering with their due order and sequence.</p> +<p>Therefore he has attempted in every instance to consult such +original authorities as lay within his reach, and has done his best +to present an honest picture of the times.</p> +<p>The period selected on the present occasion is full of the +deepest interest. The English and the Danish invaders of their soil +were struggling desperately for the possession of England--a +struggle aggravated by religious bitterness, and by the sanguinary +nature of the Danish creed.</p> +<p>The reign of Ethelred the Unready, from his accession, after the +murder of his innocent brother, until the scene depicted in the +nineteenth chapter of the tale, was a tragedy ever deepening. Its +details will seem dark enough as read herein, but how utterly dark +they were can only be appreciated by those who study the +contemporary annals. Many facts therein given have been rejected by +the Author as too harrowing in their nature; and he has preferred +to render the contemplation of woe and suffering less painful, by a +display of those virtues of patience, resignation, and brave +submission to the Divine will, which affliction never fails to +bring out in the fold of Christ, whose promise stands ever fast, +that the strength of His people shall be equal to their needs.</p> +<p>With the death of the unhappy king, and the accession of his +brave but unfortunate son, the whole character of the history +changes. Englishmen are henceforth at least a match for their +oppressors, and the result of the long contest is the conversion of +their foes to Christianity, their king setting the example, and the +union of the two races--not the submission of one to the other. +The Danish element had been received into the English nation to +join in moulding the future national character--to add its own +special virtues to the typical Englishman of the future.</p> +<p>One more rude shock had yet to be sustained before the alloy of +foreign blood was complete--the Norman Conquest. This is the +subject of the Third Story of Aescendune, which has yet to be +written.</p> +<p>One character in the tale has always puzzled historians--a +character, so far as the author knows, absolutely without redeeming +trait--Edric Streorn. It is well said that no man is utterly bad, +and perhaps he possessed domestic virtues which were thought +unworthy of the attention of the chroniclers; but as they picture +him--now prompting Ethelred to deeds of treachery against the +Danes, now joining those Danes themselves, and surpassing them in +cruelty--now seeking pretended reconciliation, only to betray his +foe more surely, and in all this aided and supported by the weak, +unprincipled king--as thus pictured there is scarcely a blacker +character in history.</p> +<p>But more incomprehensible than the existence of so bad a man in +such a dark age is the renewed confidence ever accorded him, when, +after more than once betraying the armies of his country into the +hands of their foes, and fighting openly in the hostile cause, he +is again forgiven, nay, received into favour, and sent once more to +command the men he has already deceived, until he repeats the +experiment, and when it fails is again admitted into +confidence.</p> +<p>To some extent the Author has endeavoured to find possible +solutions of the mystery, but mystery it will remain until the day +when all secrets are known.</p> +<p>The death of this unhappy man is taken, in all its main details, +from a comparison of the chroniclers, as are also all the chief +historical events herein noted.</p> +<p>An objection has been raised to the modern English in which the +Author has made his characters speak. He can only say in reply that +the Anglo-Saxon in which they really expressed themselves would be +unintelligible to all but the few who have made the study of our +ancient tongue their pursuit--far more unintelligible to those of +ordinary education than Latin or French. Therefore it would be mere +affectation to copy the later orthography of Chaucer, or to +interlard one's sentences with obsolete words. The only course +seems to be a fair translation of the vernacular of the period of +the tale into our own everyday English. The Author anticipated this +objection in the preface to his earlier volume. He repeats his +answer for those who may not have seen the former book. A similar +rule has guided him in the orthography of proper names; he has used +the customary Latinised forms.</p> +<p>In his descriptions of Dorchester and Abingdon he has been aided +by the kind information received from the present vicar of the +magnificent Abbey Church, still existing in the former ancient +town, and by the extensive information contained in the Chronicle +of the Abbey of Abingdon, edited by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, M.A. +He has also to express his obligations to his friend Mr. Charles +Walker, editor of the "<i>Liturgy of the Church of Sarum</i>," for +valuable assistance in monastic lore.</p> +<p>The moral aim of the tale has been to depict the mental +difficulties which our heathen forefathers had severally to +encounter ere they could embrace Christianity--difficulties +chiefly arising from the inconsistencies of Christians--and to +set forth the example of one who, having found the "pearl of great +price," sold all he had and bought it, forsaking all that could +appeal to the imagination of a warlike youth--"choosing rather to +suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the +pleasures of sin for a season."</p> +<p>Yet his Christianity, like that of all other characters in the +tale, is that of their age, not of ours, and men will differ as to +its comparative merits. "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him +shall much be required."</p> +<p>The author dedicates this tale to his brother, engaged, like +himself, in that most responsible task, the education of youth, in +memory of those happy days when they pored together in rapturous +delight over old legend or romantic lore in their father's home at +that very Clifton (now Clifton Hampden) familiar to hearers or +readers of the tale as the home of Herstan, and the scene of the +heroic defence of the English dwelling against the Danes. It will +be a great reward for the Author's toil should this little volume +similarly gladden many firesides during the approaching Christmas, +and perhaps cause some to thank God for the contrast between the +Christmas of 1007 and that of 1874.</p> +<p>A.D.C.</p> +<p>All Saints' School, Bloxham.</p> +<p>Advent, 1874.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a>. THE DIARY OF FATHER +CUTHBERT.</h2> +<p>All Saints' Day, 1002.</p> +<p>Inasmuch as I, Cuthbert, by the long-suffering of the Divine +goodness, am prior of the Benedictine house of St. Wilfrid at +Aescendune, it seems in some sort my duty, following the example of +many worthy brethren, to write some account of the origin and +history of the priory over which it has pleased God to make me +overseer, and to note, as occasion serves from time to time, such +passing events as seem worthy of remembrance; which record, +deposited in the archives of the house, may preserve our memory +when our bodies are but dust, and other brethren fill our places in +the choir. Perhaps each generation thinks the events which happen +in its own day more remarkable than any which have preceded, and +that its own period is the crisis of the fate of Church or State. +Yet surely no records of the past, extant, tell us of such dark +threatening clouds as hang over the realm of England at this time; +when the thousandth year since our blessed Lord's nativity having +passed, we seem to be entering on those awful plagues which the +Apocalypse tells us must precede the consummation of all +things.</p> +<p>But we who trust in the Lord have a strong tower wherein to +hide, and we know of a land where there is no darkness or shadow of +death; therefore we will not fear though the earth be moved, and +the hills be carried into the midst of the sea.</p> +<p>This house of St. Wilfrid was founded by Offa, Thane of +Aescendune, in the year of the Lord 938, and completed by his son +and successor Ella, who was treacherously murdered by his nephew +Ragnar, and lies buried within these sacred walls. The first prior +was Father Cuthbert, my godfather, after whom I was named. He was +appointed by Dunstan, just then on the point of leaving England to +escape the rage of the wicked and unhappy Edwy, and continued to +exercise the authority until the year 975, the year in which our +lamented king, Edgar the Magnanimous, departed to his heavenly +rest, with whose decease peace and prosperity seemed likewise to +depart.</p> +<p>Father Godric succeeded him, under whose paternal rule we +enjoyed peace for ten years. Truly the memory of the just is +blessed. He died in 985, and then was I chosen by the votes of the +chapter to be their prior, and my election was confirmed by the +holy Dunstan, who himself admitted me to mine office.</p> +<p>And truly the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places, dark +although--as I have said--the times are. The priory lies on the +banks of the glorious Avon, where the forests come nearly down to +its banks. Above us rises a noble hill, crowned with the oak and +the beech, beneath whose shade many a deer and boar repose, and +their flesh, when brought thither to gladden our festivals, is +indeed toothsome and savoury.</p> +<p>Our buildings are chiefly of wood, although the foundations are +of stone. The great hall is floored and lined with oak, while the +chapel--the Priory Church the people call it--excels for +limning and gilding, as well as for the beauty of its tapestry, any +church in this part of Mercia. Our richest altar cloth is made of +the purple robe which King Edgar wore at his consecration, and +which he sent to the thane Alfred of Aescendune for the Priory +Church as a token of the respect and favour he bore him. And also +he gave a veil of gold embroidery which representeth the +destruction of Troy. It is hung upon great days over the dais at +the high table of the hall.</p> +<p>The monastery is well endowed with lands by the liberality of +its first founder, as appears in the deeds preserved in our great +muniment chest. We have ten hides of woodland, wherein none may cut +wood save for our use in the winter; five hides of arable land, and +the same extent of pasturage for cattle. Now for the care of the +culture thereof we have a hundred serfs attached to the glebe, who, +we trust, do not find us unkind lords.</p> +<p>There are twenty brethren who have taken the final vows +according to the rule of St. Benedict, and ten novices, besides six +lay brethren, and other our chief servitors. We keep the monastic +hours, duly rising at daybreak to sing our lauds, and lying down +after compline, with the peace and blessing of Him who alone maketh +us dwell in safety.</p> +<p>Our daily work is not light. We preach on Sundays and festivals +in the priory church. We visit the sick. We instruct the youth in +the elements of Christian doctrine. We superintend the labours of +those who till the soil. We copy the sacred writings. In short, we +have a great deal to do, and I fear do it very imperfectly +sometimes.</p> +<p>I will add a few words only about myself. I am the third son of +Alfred<a name="EndNote1anc" href="#EndNote1sym"><sup> {i}</sup></a>, +thane of Aescendune, and his wife the Lady Alftrude of Rollrich. +Elfric, my eldest brother, died young. Elfwyn is now thane, and I, +the third boy, was given to the Church, for which I had ever felt a +vocation, perhaps from my love to my godfather. We only had one +sister, Bertha, and she has married the Thane Herstan of Clifton, +near Dorchester, the seat of our good bishop Aelfhelm, and the +shrine of holy Birinus.</p> +<p>My father and mother both sleep the sleep of the just. They +lived to see their children happy and prosperous, and then departed +amidst the lamentations of all who had known and loved them. Taken +from the evil to come, we cannot mourn them, nor would we call them +back, although we sorely missed their loved forms. They were full +of years, yet age had not dimmed their faculties. My father died in +the year 998, my mother the following year. They rest by the side +of their ancestors in the priory church.</p> +<p>My brother Elfwyn married Hilda, the daughter of Ceolfric, a +Thane of Wessex, in the year 985. He has two children--Bertric, a +fine lad of twelve, and as good as he is manly; and Ethelgiva, a +merry girl of ten. His household is well-ordered and happy-- +nurtured in the admonition of the Lord.</p> +<p>For myself I have had many offers of promotion in the +brotherhood of St. Benedict, but have refused them. I was once +offered the high office of abbot in one of our great Benedictine +houses, but I wished to be near my own people and my father's +house, and here I trust I shall stay till I seek a continuing city, +whose builder and maker is God.</p> +<p>And now a little about the state of the country round us. In +this neighbourhood we have as yet been preserved from the evils of +war, but for many years past the Danes, those evil men, have +renewed their inroads, as they used to make them before the great +King Alfred pacified the country. They began again in the year 980, +and, with but slight intermission, have continued year by year.</p> +<p>The awful prophecy which God forced from the lips of +Dunstan<a name="EndNote2anc" href="#EndNote2sym"><sup> {ii}</sup></a>, +at the coronation of our most unhappy king, has been too sadly +fulfilled. Ah me! I fear the curse of the saints is upon him. When +the holy bishop departed this life, I was one of the few who stood +round his bed, and as he foretold of the evil to come, he bade us +all bear our portion manfully, for the time, he said, would be +short in which to endure, and the eternal crown secure.</p> +<p>Many of those to whom he spoke have since died the martyr's or +the patriot's death, but as yet no evil has reached us at +Aescendune, although many parts of Wessex, nay, all the sea coast +and the banks of the great rivers have been wasted with fire and +sword, and the money which has been given the barbarians has been +worse than wasted, for they only come for more.</p> +<p>Our armies seem led by traitors; our councils, sad to say, by +fools. Nothing prospers, and thoughtless people say the saints are +asleep. Every day we say the petition in our Litany, "That it would +please Thee to abate the cruelty of our pagan enemies, and to turn +their hearts; we beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord," and we must +wait His time, and pray for strength to submit to His will.</p> +<p>Around the priory live the serfs, the theows, and ceorls of the +estate, each in his own little cottage, save the domestics, who +live at the Hall, which is only half-a-mile distant.</p> +<p>On Sundays and Saints' days they all assemble in our minster +church. It was full this day at the high mass, and I preached them +a homily upon the Saints, great part of which I took from a sermon +I once heard the holy Dunstan preach. And he showed us how saints +did not live idle lives on this earth, but always went about, like +their Lord and Master, doing good, and that through much +tribulation they entered the eternal kingdom, which also bids fair +to be our lot nowadays, although we be all miserable sinners, and +not saints.</p> +<p>Ah! how I thought of the dear ones we have lost when the Gospel +was read at mass, about the great multitude which no man could +number, and I almost seemed as if I could see father, mother, and +Elfric there. I would not wish them back; yet my heart is very +lonely sometimes. I wonder whether they remember now that it is All +Saints' Day, and that we are thinking of them. Yes, I am sure they +must do so.</p> +<p>There have been few troubles from the Danes, close at hand; so +few that they seem trivial in comparison with those our countrymen +suffer elsewhere. Still we have many of the pagans living as +settlers in our neighbourhood, whose presence is tolerated for fear +of the reprisals which might follow any acts of hostility against +them. Kill one Dane, the people say, and a hundred come to his +funeral. Many of these settlers have acquired their lands +peaceably, but others by the strong arms of their ancestors in +periods of ancient strife; and these have been allowed to keep +their possessions for generations, so that if they did not retain +their heathen customs we might forget they were not Englishmen.</p> +<p>One of these lives near us. His name is Anlaf. Some say he +boasts of being a descendant of that Anlaf who once ravaged +England, and was defeated at Brunanburgh. He married an English +girl, whose heart, they say, he broke by his cruelty. They had one +child, Alfgar by name.</p> +<p>The mother died a Christian. Taking my life in my hands, I +penetrated their fortalice, and administered the last sacrament to +her; but they threatened my life for entering their domains, and, +perhaps, had I been but a simple priest, and not also, small boast +as it is, the son of a powerful English thane, whom they feared to +offend, I had died in doing my duty. When the poor girl was dying +she committed the boy as well as she could to my care, begging me +to see that he was baptized; but the father has prevented me from +carrying out her wishes, asserting that he would sooner slay the +lad.</p> +<p>But it seems as if the boy retained some traces of his mother's +faith; over and over again I have seen him hiding in some remote +corner of the church during service time, but he has always shrunk +away when any of the brethren attempted to speak to him.</p> +<p>I am sure he wishes to be a Christian.</p> +<p>I may, perhaps, find a chance of speaking to him, and a few +words may reach his heart. He knows my brother's family, and has +once or twice joined them in expeditions in the woods, and even +entered their gates. His must be a lonely life at home; there are +no other children, but from time to time hoary warriors, upon whose +souls lies, I fear, the guilt of much innocent blood, find a home +there.</p> +<p>November 2d.--</p> +<p>This morning we said the office and mass for the dead, as usual +on All Souls' Day. My brother Elfwyn and his children were, of +course, present. That boy, Bertric, with all his boyish spirit and +brightness, is very pious. It was a sight which I thought might +gladden their guardian angels to see him and his sister kneeling +with clasped hands at their uncle Elfric's tomb, and when service +was over, they made me tell them the old old story about the first +Elfric, the brother of my father, and how my father rescued him +when the old castle was burnt<a name="EndNote3anc" href= +"#EndNote3sym"><sup> {iii}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>When I had told them the story, I saw my brother was anxious to +say a few words to me.</p> +<p>"Cuthbert," he said, "have you seen the young Dane, Alfgar, +lately?"</p> +<p>"Not very long since," I replied; "he was at mass +yesterday."</p> +<p>"Because I believe the lad longs to be a Christian, but does not +dare speak to any one."</p> +<p>"He fears his stern father."</p> +<p>"Yes, Anlaf might slay him if he was to be baptized; yet +baptized I am sure he will be, sooner or later."</p> +<p>"Does the boy love his father, I wonder?" said I, musingly.</p> +<p>"Doubtless; it would be unnatural did he not; but perhaps he +loves the memory of his mother yet more. We both knew her, +Cuthbert."</p> +<p>"Yes, when she was a bright-hearted merry village maiden. Poor +Kyneswith!"</p> +<p>"For her sake, then, let us both try to do something for the +boy."</p> +<p>"With all my heart. I will seek an opportunity of speaking to +him, perhaps he may unburden his mind."</p> +<p>"Have you seen Edric the sheriff?" asked Elfwyn.</p> +<p>"Not lately. Has he been here?"</p> +<p>"He has, and there was something in connection with his visit +which troubled me. He had been telling me for a long time about the +cruelties and insolence of the Danes, when he added, in a marked +manner, that they might go too far, for hundreds of their +countrymen, like Anlaf here, were living unprotected amongst +us."</p> +<p>"What could he mean?"</p> +<p>"I understood him to hint that we might revenge ourselves upon +them, and replied that whatever their countrymen might be guilty +of, our neighbours would, of course, always be safe amongst +Christians."</p> +<p>"What did he reply?"</p> +<p>"He changed the subject."</p> +<p>Elfwyn said no more, but bade me goodbye and returned to the +castle; still I saw that he was a little discomposed by the +sheriff's words. I don't like that sheriff; he is a cruel and a +crafty man; but I daresay his words were only the expression of a +passing thought.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a>. "ALFGAR, SON OF +ANLAF."</h2> +<p>SUNDAY, November 6th.--</p> +<p>Today I noticed Alfgar, the son of Anlaf, at the high mass, and +felt a little discomposed at the relaxation of discipline, which, +contrary to the canons of the church, permits the unbaptized, as +well as persons who ought rightly to be deemed excommunicate, or at +least penitents, to be present at the holy mysteries.</p> +<p>But it is not this poor boy's fault that he is not a Christian, +for I have seen him, and learned for a certainty the real state of +his mind.</p> +<p>The way in which it came about was this. I marked that after +service he entered the woods, as if he shunned the society of his +fellow worshippers, and there I followed him, coming upon him at +last, as if by accident, in a chestnut glade, the leaves of which +strewed the ground--emblem of our fading mortality.</p> +<p>He started as he saw me, and at first looked as if he were +inclined to fly my presence, but I gently addressed him.</p> +<p>"Dominus vobiscum, my son," I said. "I am pleased to see you +sometimes at the minster church."</p> +<p>"I did not know I was noticed amongst so many," he replied.</p> +<p>"You mean, my boy, that you would sooner your presence were not +observed. I can guess your reason too well."</p> +<p>He looked so sad, that I was sorry I had spoken precipitately, +and a deep red blush suffused his dark countenance. He has a most +attractive face--so thoughtful, yet so manly; his mother's gentle +lineaments seem to have tempered the somewhat fierce and haughty +bearing of his sire, as they meet in the countenance of their +child.</p> +<p>My sympathy became so deep that I could not restrain myself and +spoke out:</p> +<p>"My boy, will you not confide your troubles to me, for your dear +mother's sake? Do you not remember how she commended you to my +care? And never have I forgotten to pray daily that her God may be +your God also."</p> +<p>At the mention of his mother the tears filled his eyes. We were +sitting together on the trunk of a fallen tree, and he covered his +face with his hands, but I could see that the tears forced their +way between the fingers, and that he was sobbing violently. He is +only as yet a mere boy, and such emotion is excusable.</p> +<p>At last he looked up.</p> +<p>"I long to be a Christian like her," he said; "over and over +again she taught me, during her last days on earth, of the Christ +she loved, and who, she said, was ever near her. I have heard all +about the faith she loved, yet I am an outcast from it. What can I +do?--my father will not let me be baptized, and I dare not oppose +his will; yet I sometimes think I ought to chance all, and to die, +if death should be the penalty."</p> +<p>"Die? You do not surely think he would slay you?"</p> +<p>"I know he would."</p> +<p>"In that case, my child, your duty seems plain: your Lord calls +you to give Him your love, your obedience, and to seek refuge in +the fold of His church."</p> +<p>"Ought I to leave my father?"</p> +<p>I felt very much puzzled indeed what to say. I could have no +doubt as to the lad's duty; but then his father was his natural +guardian, and in all things, save the plain duty of professing +Christ, had a claim to his obedience.</p> +<p>"I think," I said at last, "my Alfgar, that when he knew you +were determined to be a Christian he would oppose you no longer; +that is, if you were once baptized he would tolerate a Christian +son as he once did a Christian wife."</p> +<p>"He broke her heart."</p> +<p>"At all events I think that you should delay no longer, but +should seek instruction and baptism, which we will afford you; and +then, unless you really feel life is in danger, you should return +to him and try to bear your lot; it may not be so hard as you +think."</p> +<p>"I am not afraid of death; but he is my father, and from his +hands it would be hard."</p> +<p>"He hates Christianity grievously then?"</p> +<p>"He says it is the religion of cowards and hypocrites; that it +forms a plea for cowardice when men dare not be men, and is thrown +aside fast enough when they have their foes in their power."</p> +<p>Alas! I could but feel how much reason the ill lives of +Christians had given him to form this opinion, and of the curse +pronounced upon those who shall put a stumbling block in their +brother's way. The conversation of the Sheriff, Edric Streorn, rose +up in my mind as an apt illustration of Anlaf's words.</p> +<p>"My boy," I said, "there is nothing perfect on earth. In the +visible church the evil is mingled with the good. Yet the church is +the fold of the Good Shepherd, and there is salvation therein for +all who love and serve their Lord, and strive humbly to follow His +example, and those of His blessed Saints."</p> +<p>"May I think over all you have said, and meet you next Sunday? +You will be here, will you not?"</p> +<p>And he looked imploringly in my face. Poor boy! my heart bled +for him.</p> +<p>So we parted, and he went home.</p> +<p>Friday, November 11th.--</p> +<p>I feel thoroughly uneasy and anxious about the sheriff's +proceedings. He has been about the neighbourhood today, and seems +to have been talking secretly with all the black sheep of my flock; +thank God, I do not think there are many. What they can be going to +do, or what plot they are hatching, I cannot discover, only I fear +that it is some design for vengeance upon the Danes--some dark +treachery plotted against those in our midst; and, if such is the +case, I can but feel uneasy for poor Alfgar. I wish the lad would +leave his home, if but for a short time, until the signs are less +threatening; but he would not forsake his father in danger, and I +ought hardly to wish it.</p> +<p>St. Brice's Day, Sunday, November 13th--</p> +<p>This has been a harassing and eventful day. Early in the +morning, before the high mass, whereat the neighbourhood is +generally present, I received a missive from the sheriff, bidding +me, in the name of the King, to exhort my people to remain at home +tonight, since danger is afoot, and there is likely, he says, to be +a rising on the part of the pagans who dwell amongst us. Why, they +are but one in five in this neighbourhood; hardly that. I +determined to give the message in my own way, for I could not keep +silent, lest, through fault of mine, any of my sheep should perish. +So I preached upon the Saint of the day, who was pre-eminently a +man of peace, and I took occasion to tell my people that there were +many hurtful men about, who, like their master, Satan, were seeking +whom they might devour, and that, like that master, they chose the +night for their misdeeds, seeing they loved darkness rather than +light. So I said I hoped every good Christian would keep at home, +and go to bed early.</p> +<p>At this point I observed a sarcastic smile upon many faces, +notably on those of the black sheep aforesaid, to whom the sheriff +had spoken, and I concluded that they were very likely to be the +ministers of darkness themselves. So I spoke on the Christian +duties of love and forgiveness, and exhorted all present to take +joyfully the chastisement of the Lord, even like holy Job; and that +it would all tend to their eternal good, through Him who, when He +was reviled, reviled not again. And so with this exhortation to +patience I closed my homily. I fear I spoke to many in vain.</p> +<p>I am sure they are bent on immediate mischief, and that this +notice of the sheriff has much to do with it. He wants to keep good +people at home to have all the field to himself. I see him--the +black bellwether.</p> +<p>After mass I mingled with the dispersing congregation. The +weather was very gloomy--the faces of the congregation yet more +so. All seemed to apprehend coming evil. Instead of returning +cheerfully home they stood together in groups, talking in low +tones, as if they feared to speak their thoughts aloud.</p> +<p>Most of them evidently were men of peace, but not all, as I have +already hinted; and, as I drew near a group standing behind the +great yew tree, I heard one of these latter discoursing to his +fellows.</p> +<p>"Heard you the prior's sermon?" said Siric, for that was the +fellow, Siric of the Wold; "a fine homily he gave us on St. Brice +--that man of peace."</p> +<p>"It was easy for him to be a man of peace," returned another; +"he hadn't got Danes for his neighbours."</p> +<p>"Holy Job himself would have turned cutthroat if he had."</p> +<p>"Then they have been insulting, robbing, and murdering all over +the country."</p> +<p>Just then I interrupted them, for I could no longer hear the +blasphemy.</p> +<p>"How now, Siric," said I; "hast thou come to Aescendune to +revile the saints?"</p> +<p>"Nay, Father," said he, with a mocking smile; "I was only +rejoicing that they were not exposed to such trials as we. Job's +Chaldeans were gentlefolk in comparison with our Danes."</p> +<p>"Thou blasphemest; and what didst thou say of the blessed St. +Brice?"</p> +<p>"Only that I wished he were living now to tame the cutthroats +who live in our midst, and who murder and rob daily, just in mere +sport, or to keep their hands in."</p> +<p>"What new outrages have occurred?" I asked.</p> +<p>"A party of the heathen carried off the cattle from my farm down +the water early this morning, and slew the herdsman."</p> +<p>"Dost thou know who the fellows were?"</p> +<p>"All too well; they were Anlaf's men."</p> +<p>I hardly knew what to answer, the outrage was so recent, and the +excitement of the speaker so pardonable, as I could but feel.</p> +<p>Well, at this moment my brother Elfwyn came out of the church, +where he had lingered to pray, as he generally does, at his +brother's tomb, and, noticing us, came and joined the group. He +seemed much concerned when he heard the details.</p> +<p>"Siric," he said, with his usual kind way of speaking, "do not +distress yourself unduly; you know I am rich in flocks and herds. I +will make up the loss of the cattle, my brother the prior will have +a mass said for poor Guthred, and he shall have the last rites +performed at our expense; it is all we can do for him; the rest we +must leave to the mercy of God."</p> +<p>"Nay, Thane," said Siric; "I thank you for your goodwill, but I +may not stand thus indebted to any man. I will repay myself at the +expense of the robbers. Still you may remember Guthred at God's +altar."</p> +<p>And he strode away.</p> +<p>My brother was now joined by his children Bertric and Ethelgiva, +and his wife, the Lady Hilda. I saw that he was ill at ease, but we +did not mention the subject, which I am sure was uppermost in both +our minds, lest we should alarm the gentle ones.</p> +<p>Just then I remembered that I had promised to meet Alfgar in the +pine wood, and I hastened to the spot.</p> +<p>I found him seated again on the fallen tree. He rose at my +approach, and saluted me with some emotion, as if some inward +excitement made itself visible in spite of his efforts to suppress +it.</p> +<p>"My son," said I, "have you pondered my words of last +Sunday?"</p> +<p>"I have, and I am come to put myself under your instruction. I +will be guided by you in all things, and fulfil thus the dying wish +of the only being who ever loved me."</p> +<p>"But, my boy, there must be yet a higher, a holier motive."</p> +<p>"I trust it is not wanting, my father."</p> +<p>"Are you able to stay long today?"</p> +<p>"O yes, my father is keeping high festival; a number of his +countrymen are visiting him and holding revel; this morning they +drove in a number of oxen, I know not whence, and slaughtered two +on the spot, and they have broached several barrels of mead; they +will keep the feast all day, and before night my father will not be +in a state to miss me; I always absent myself if I can on such +occasions."</p> +<p>"Then you must come home with me, and share the noon meat, after +which I can give you my time until evensong."</p> +<p>He made no objection, and we returned to the Priory together, +where he took his noon meat in the guest chamber, and I devoted all +the time between the meal and nones to an examination of my +catechumen.</p> +<p>I found that poor Kyneswith had impressed all the primary truths +of our holy faith deeply upon his mind, although he wanted much +building up, and needed instruction in details; he seemed deeply +impressed by the main facts of the life and teaching of our blessed +Lord, particularly His message of peace on earth, good will towards +men, contrasting so forcibly with the faith of his own people.</p> +<p>The time passed rapidly away, and we went to the minster church +at three, when nones and evensong were said together, for we could +not keep the people till the proper hour for the latter office, +owing to the darkness of November.</p> +<p>When the holy office was over, I accompanied my brother part of +the way home, for I wanted to communicate my suspicions, and to +learn whether he shared them.</p> +<p>It was a dark and gloomy eventide: the sun, which had only made +its appearance at intervals during the day, was fast sinking behind +a heavy bank of clouds which filled the western horizon; and the +wind, which was freshening to a gale, seemed to bear the storm +onward in its track, while it tore the few surviving leaves rudely +from the trees, and whirled them in mazy windings.</p> +<p>"Elfwyn," said I, "what do you suppose was the true object of +the sheriff in bidding folks keep indoors tonight?"</p> +<p>"I cannot divine, unless he has some deed of blood on hand which +he wishes to have undisturbed, all to himself and his +underlings."</p> +<p>"Siric spoke mysteriously."</p> +<p>"Yes; if there is aught going on amiss, he has a hand in +it."</p> +<p>Here I communicated my fears respecting Alfgar, whom I had +invited, with my brother's permission, to sup at the hall.</p> +<p>"Could you not keep the poor fellow with you all night? I fear +his father is in some danger, as well he may be, acting as wickedly +as he did this very morn."</p> +<p>"I will try to persuade him to stay, he is along with Bertric +and Ethelgiva; they are only a few steps behind. Cuthbert, I have +ordered every one of my theows and ceorls to be obedient to your +warning if they wish to preserve their allegiance to Aescendune, or +to escape chastisement, and I think none of them are likely to be +abroad tonight."</p> +<p>"Can you not find out what the sheriff has told them? I saw him +speaking to one or two."</p> +<p>"I will try. You must be my guest tonight, or at least for a few +hours."</p> +<p>"Nay, I must return to compline; I may be wanted tonight, and +ought to be at my post," said I.</p> +<p>We arrived at the old home, dear familiar place! stronger and +better built than most such houses, because, being burnt down in my +father's younger days, it had been rebuilt in a more substantial +manner, and was capable of sustaining a formidable attack +successfully.</p> +<p>We crossed the drawbridge, and entered the courtyard under the +gateway; before us was the door of the great hall, merrily +illumined by its blazing fire.</p> +<p>There, then, was the supper table bountifully spread, and the +theows and ceorls awaiting the arrival of their lord. We entered, +Elfwyn and I, and soon after Bertric, Ethelgiva, and Alfgar +followed.</p> +<p>A loud horn was blown upon the battlements. Stragglers made +their entrance good; the drawbridge was drawn up, the doors closed, +and I blessed the meat.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a>. THE NIGHT OF ST. +BRICE.</h2> +<p>Monday, November 14th, 1002.--</p> +<p>I hardly know how to write the events of last night, my pen +almost refuses to begin. I feel thoroughly sickened by the very +remembrance of the bloodshed and treachery which have disgraced +Christian England, and which will assuredly bring down God's +judgment upon us.</p> +<p>But I will do violence to myself, and will write all things +accurately, in order it may serve to show that there were those +amongst us who were not consenting parties, who entered not into +the counsels of those men of blood, whom may God "reward after +their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their own +inventions."</p> +<p>Well, to begin. When supper was ended at the hall last night, my +brother bade his wife and children seek their bower, and Alfgar +went with them; then he addressed his people with that confidence +and affection he not only shows in his outward speech, but really +feels in his heart.</p> +<p>"Are all the folk present within the gates?" he asked.</p> +<p>"We are all here, my lord," replied they; "none have been +wanting in their duty."</p> +<p>"It is well; and now, my people, I ask you, whom I have ever +trusted, and to whom I have tried to be a friend as well as a +master, have you any of you a suspicion what the sheriff is about +tonight, and why he desired the prior to tell good Christians to +keep within doors?"</p> +<p>There was a dead silence. At last one of the ceorls rose up, and +spoke with some hesitation:</p> +<p>"I think, my lord, that they intend to avenge themselves upon +the Dane folk."</p> +<p>"Did they say anything about it to you or any other of my +people?"</p> +<p>"Yes; they tried to get two or three of us to join in the work, +but when they found we would do nothing without your knowledge, +they told us no more."</p> +<p>"Then you do not know what is the exact work they have in +hand?"</p> +<p>"No. But I heard something which made me think that plunder and +massacre were both likely to be committed."</p> +<p>"Did you hear any particular names mentioned?"</p> +<p>"Yes. That of Anlaf."</p> +<p>"This explains Siric's insolence, Cuthbert."</p> +<p>"It does," I replied.</p> +<p>"But surely they cannot intend to do anything tonight. They +would not choose Sunday for a deed of darkness. Men who have +attended mass during the day, surely would not so forget their God +as to go through the country like cowardly wolves, pulling down the +prey in company which they dare not attack singly."</p> +<p>"I should hope the same; but then the looks and words of today," +said I.</p> +<p>"Did they say what authority they had for their projected +scheme?"</p> +<p>"They dared to say," replied the ceorl who had before spoken, +"they had the sanction of the king."</p> +<p>There was again a painful silence. We groaned in the bitterness +of our hearts--O Ethelred, son of Edgar, hast thou forgotten all +truth and mercy?--thou, the son of Edgar the Magnanimous?</p> +<p>Every impulse of our hearts led us to detest the cruel deed of +treachery about to be consummated, but which we could not +prevent.</p> +<p>At least there was one whom we could save from the general +destruction, the young Alfgar, and we determined to detain him if +possible by persuasion, keeping the truth from him, but in any case +to detain him at the hall during the night.</p> +<p>I could not remain at the hall myself, for, on such a night, it +seemed necessary to be with my own people, and to be ready to seize +any opportunity of saving the effusion of blood, or of giving +protection to any who might seek refuge under the shelter of our +roof, where murder would be sacrilege, a consideration of some +importance where Christians, shame to say, were the murderers.</p> +<p>But before I went my brother and I sent to Alfgar that we might +speak to him, and prevail upon him to stay with us the night.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said Elfwyn, "the night is very stormy and blustering, +and we wish you to remain with us, and share our hospitality till +the morn. Your father will not miss you?"</p> +<p>"I do not think he will; for after one of these debauches he +generally sleeps far into the next day. But the domestic serfs may +remark my absence."</p> +<p>"There is another reason, my boy, why we wish you to stay. Wild +men who hate your father's race are abroad, and did you fall into +their hands while returning home it might fare hard with you."</p> +<p>"I can imagine that. I marked the looks they cast upon me in +God's house, even there, this day. They cannot forgive me my Danish +blood, although my mother was one of themselves, and a +Christian."</p> +<p>"They have suffered much, my lad; and suffering, as is often the +case, has blunted their feelings. But you will stay with us, will +you not?"</p> +<p>"I will stay; many thanks for your kindness."</p> +<p>After this I had nothing further to detain me at the castle, so +I left for the priory.</p> +<p>It was a black dark night. The violence of the wind almost +lifted me from my feet; not a star could be seen but occasionally a +sharp hailstorm pelted down. Glad was I, although the distance was +not great, to see the lights of the priory, and to dry my chilled +limbs and wet garments before the fire in the common room while I +told my brethren the tidings of the night, and the suspicions which +we entertained.</p> +<p>When I had finished there was a dead pause, during which the +howling blast without, as it dashed the hail against the casement, +seemed a fitting accompaniment to our sombre thoughts.</p> +<p>The compline bell rang.</p> +<p>This office is always full of heavenly comfort, but there seemed +a special meaning tonight in one verse--"A thousand shall fall +beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not +come nigh thee."</p> +<p>Yet the thousands were heavy on our hearts, and I meditated some +means of carrying tidings of their danger to our pagan neighbours; +but I knew nothing of the details of the plot, only that there was +a plot, and I knew that if I sent a brother, the Danes, in their +hatred to monks, would probably set their huge dogs at him before +he could speak, and perhaps worry him to death. Neither could any +other messenger approach their dwellings safely at night.</p> +<p>I tried to hope, but against reason, that we had perhaps +exaggerated the danger. Still, after the compline was over, we sat +in deliberation a long time in the hall. The novices and lay +brothers, ignorant of the peril, had retired to rest; but we, who +knew the portentous state of things around us, could not have slept +had we retired. Ever and anon we looked forth from doors and +windows into the black darkness without; but although it was near +midnight, neither sight nor sound told of aught amiss, and we were +beginning to yield to fatigue, when I ascended the tower in company +with Father Adhelm, to survey the scene for the last time. It was +so windy that we could hardly stand upon the leaded roof, and +although we gazed around, nought met our eyes until we were on the +point of returning.</p> +<p>"Listen!" said Father Adhelm, the subprior.</p> +<p>It was unnecessary. Borne upon the wind, a loud noise, as of men +who shout for mastery, met our ears, followed or intermingled with +cries for help or mercy--so we fancied at least.</p> +<p>While we stood rooted by horror to the spot, a bright light +arose, which rapidly increased, as a conflagration well might in +such a wind, and soon the whole horizon was illuminated. I knew but +one homestead in that direction--the fortified house of +Anlaf.</p> +<p>I thought of the poor boy, with thankfulness that we had +restrained him from returning home. He is saved, at least, thought +I, as a brand from the burning.</p> +<p>The other brethren joined us, and after a short consultation, we +determined to go to the scene in a body, to mitigate the rage of +the people, and save life where we could.</p> +<p>So, putting our cowls over our heads, we sallied forth into the +black night--black and dark save where the light of the fire +illumined the horizon, and even cast a faint ray upon our own path. +We were not used to journeys in such weather, and I am afraid we +made very slow progress, but it was not for want of good will. The +fire grew brighter and brighter as we proceeded, and the shouts +louder and louder. We knew that Anlaf had a party of his +countrymen, all of them obnoxious to the English, and could easily +understand that they had collected themselves together for their +own destruction. Yet, when we looked around, we perceived by the +blood-red reflection in the skies at other points, that the same +ruthless task was being carried out in many a distant spot, as well +as close at hand.</p> +<p>Reaching the bank of the river, we directed our course along its +banks until the dark forest closed in upon us, and rapid progress +became difficult. The trees were all rocking wildly in the wind, +and here and there a severed branch fell down before us. +Occasionally a gust of rain and hail descended. The path was wet +and slippery. Poor Father Adhelm groaned aloud. He had the podagra, +(or gout), and ought not to have ventured forth; but zeal would not +let him rest.</p> +<p>"Verily our path is hedged about with thorns. It is hard to kick +against the pricks," said the chamberlain.</p> +<p>"It is God's work," said I, "and we may not falter."</p> +<p>Yet I felt my own heart weak.</p> +<p>But for the red light, which shone even through the shade of the +forest, we could not have pursued our path. But plainer and plainer +the wind brought the fierce shouts of the assailants to our ears, +until, emerging from a dark belt of underwood, the whole horror of +the scene burst upon us.</p> +<p>Before us, at the distance of a few hundred yards, defended by a +mound and a ditch, rose the irregular and fortified dwelling of +Anlaf. It was wrapped in flames from top to basement, and even as +we looked one of the towers gave way, and fell upon the hall +beneath, with hideous din, in headlong ruin.</p> +<p>Around the blazing pile stood some two or three hundred men, who +completely encircled it, and who had doubtless prevented the escape +of the inmates. We were evidently too late; the passive attitude of +the assailants showed that their bloody work was done.</p> +<p>We learned afterwards that the domestics, who were English +serfs, had betrayed the place to the foe, while the Danish lords +were revelling in the great hall, and half drunk with wine. +Surprised at the banquet, they fell an easy prey, and were +slaughtered almost without resistance, after which the house was +plundered of everything worth carrying away, and then set on fire +in every part. Further details we could not gather. All was over +when we arrived.</p> +<p>Full of indignation, I and my brethren advanced straight upon +the group surrounding the sheriff, the crafty and cruel Edric +Streorn, and in the name of God denounced the cruelty and sin of +which they had been guilty.</p> +<p>"Sir monk," was the reply, "are you traitor to your king that +you thus league yourself with his deadly enemies? All that is done +this night is done by his order."</p> +<p>"God will avenge the deed," said I. "Ye have not fought like +men, but crept on like serpents, and slain those who, trusting to +the faith of Christians, dwelt blindly in our midst. And now, what +can we say? How can we hope to win our foes to God and Christ when +we set at naught his precepts and despise his example?"</p> +<p>"Sir monk, I have not time to listen to a homily; keep it for +next Sunday, when I will try to attend. For the present--"</p> +<p>Here he was interrupted by a loud cry which arose near us.</p> +<p>"The wolf cub! the wolf cub! Slay him, and the work is +complete."</p> +<p>The cry, "Slay him! slay him!" was taken up by a dozen voices, +when I recognised Alfgar, who by some means had learned the danger +of his kinsfolk, and had come to share their fate.</p> +<p>"Save him, sheriff!" I cried; "save him! He is a Christian. His +mother was English."</p> +<p>And I rushed forward myself, and saw that the poor lad had +already been brought on his knees by more than one fell stroke.</p> +<p>I held up the crucifix, which hung at my girdle, on high; I +threw my arm over his head, and abjured them under the name of +Christ, and as they feared the curse of the Church, to forbear. My +brethren all aided me.</p> +<p>Sullenly they dropped their weapons, and the sheriff, coming +forward, seconded me, although in a very contemptuous manner.</p> +<p>"Let him have the lad for his share of the night's work," he +said.</p> +<p>And so God gave me the poor lad's life.</p> +<p>I had scarcely time to lay him on a sloping bank, where the +light which shone so luridly from his burning home might fall upon +him, when my brother Elfwyn appeared on the scene with a score of +his men.</p> +<p>He recognised us by our habits, and came and looked with me at +the orphan as he lay on the bank. The boy had received no serious +wound, but was exhausted, as much I thought by the violence of his +emotions as by his injuries. He was wet through; his clothes were +torn with brambles, for he had followed a straight path through six +miles of tangled forest, from Aescendune.</p> +<p>They had unfortunately given him a bed in a chamber which looked +towards his home: he had chanced to wake, had looked from the +window, seen the flames, and had started thither at once, swimming +the moat when he could not cross the drawbridge--suspecting, +doubtless, that he was surrounded by treachery.</p> +<p>I had already poured a rich cordial down his throat, and he was +coming to himself, my brother aiding me, when the sheriff, grand in +his robe and chain of office, came up.</p> +<p>"Good day, or rather night, to you, Thane of Aescendune," said +he to Elfwyn; "we have had a fair night's work, and destroyed a big +wasp's nest; have you come for your share in the spoil?"</p> +<p>"I only ask permission to preserve life; your work has been of +an opposite nature."</p> +<p>"Yes, we have been obedient to our king, and avenged him this +night of his enemies, who are also, I should have thought, the +enemies of the Church."</p> +<p>"God will not bless midnight murder," said I.</p> +<p>"Murder! it is not murder to slay heathen Danes; had they been +Christians it would, of course, have been a different thing."</p> +<p>"He hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth," I +replied.</p> +<p>"The good prior wishes me to talk theology. Unfortunately I have +much work to do; you will hear tidings soon of other Danish holds +than this. The land may rejoice, freed from her oppressors, and +they who blame our work will praise its results."</p> +<p>"That remains to be seen," we both replied.</p> +<p>We had, meanwhile, placed Alfgar, now partially recovered, on a +palfrey; and, supported by my brother and me, one on each side, we +led him homewards. Arrived at the castle, we gave him to the care +of Osred, the domestic physician. He looked at the patient, and +pronounced a favourable opinion, saying that with time and care all +would be well. But his left arm was broken, and he had received a +slight blow on the head. Fever was the leech's chief apprehension; +if he could keep that off, he said he doubted not all would be +well.</p> +<p>St. Andrew's Day.--</p> +<p>Our patient has lain some time in a state of delirium, whereat +no one could wonder. In his ravings he was incessantly acting over +the scenes through which he had passed during the dreadful night +which followed St. Brice's Day. But, thanks to a good constitution, +today he has taken a favourable turn, and seems likely to recover +from a blow which would have hopelessly shattered a frailer +frame.</p> +<p>I was seated by his couch when he seemed to awake out of sleep, +and I saw his bright dark eyes fixed inquiringly on me.</p> +<p>"Where am I?" he inquired.</p> +<p>"In the Hall of Aescendune; you have been very ill here."</p> +<p>"Indeed! I have had such dreadful dreams!--but were they all +dreams?"</p> +<p>"Your mind has been wandering for days, my dear son. You must +not talk too much."</p> +<p>He was silent, but evidently pondered more.</p> +<p>December 25, Christmas Day, 1003.<a name="EndNote4anc" href= +"#EndNote4sym"><sup> {iv}</sup></a>--</p> +<p>All the household has given itself up to joy and gladness; even +poor Alfgar, who has been released today from the confinement of +his chamber, has entered into the general joy, although ever and +anon relapsing into sadness.</p> +<p>He knows all now: a day or two agone, when all the household had +gone to hunt in the woods, I was alone with him in his chamber, and +thought that at last I must discharge the painful task of telling +him the truth.</p> +<p>"My boy," I said, "you have not lately inquired about your +father."</p> +<p>He looked at me very sadly.</p> +<p>"I know all," he said, "that you would tell me. I have no +father, no mother, no kinsfolk."</p> +<p>"Some of our people have told you then?"</p> +<p>"No. At first the events of that fearful night seemed all like a +dream, and mingled themselves with the strange spectres which +haunted me in delirium; but afterwards the real separated itself +from the unreal, and I knew that my father and all his friends, my +Danish uncles amongst them, had perished with the whole household +assembled there that fatal day. I also remembered, but faintly, how +I came here. Did not you save me from the murderers?"</p> +<p>I briefly explained the whole circumstances to him, adding such +words of consolation as I could think of, and telling him that he +must always look upon Aescendune as his home. At length he rose. He +had not replied.</p> +<p>"Pardon me, my father," he said, "but may I retire to my +chamber? I wish to say much, but I am too weak now."</p> +<p>"Meanwhile, you will not leave us?"</p> +<p>"I have no other home."</p> +<p>And he retired to his little chamber, from which he emerged no +more today.</p> +<p>Feast of the Epiphany.--</p> +<p>This day my catechumen Alfgar was baptized in the priory church. +It seemed useless to delay longer, as he was fully prepared both +intellectually and spiritually, nay, has been so for some time, +only the tragic event which deprived him of his Danish kinsfolk had +distracted him for a time from spiritual things. Nay, had he not +been surrounded by real Christians and loving friends here at +Aescendune, I fear the Church would have lost him altogether. Such +a commentary was the massacre of St. Brice on the Christian +doctrine of love and forgiveness! He felt it grievously at first, +but he was able at length to distinguish between men that say they +are of Christ, and are not, and those who really set the example of +that Lord and his Saints before them. He is now one of ourselves; a +sheep safe in the fold, and the dying wish of his sainted mother is +fulfilled. My brother intends to adopt him as a son, and as his +family is small, the proposal meets my approbation. Bertric and +Ethelgiva already love him as a brother.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a>. THE DANES IN WESSEX.</h2> +<p>Up to this period we have availed ourselves of extracts from the +Diary of Father Cuthbert; but the events of the following four +years, as recorded in that record, although full of interest for +the antiquarian or the lover of monastic lore, would possess scant +interest for the general reader, and have also little connection +with the course of our tale; therefore we will convey the +information they contain, which properly pertains to our subject, +in few words, and those our own, returning occasionally to the +Diary.</p> +<p>The melancholy history of the times may be compressed, from the +Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other sources, in a few paragraphs.</p> +<p>Burning with revenge--for his own sister had fallen in the +massacre on St. Brice's night--Sweyn returned to England the +following year (1003). He landed in Devonshire, took Exeter by +storm, and returned to his ships laden with the spoil. Then he +sailed eastward, landed again and ravaged Dorset and Wiltshire. +Here the ealdorman Elfric met him with a large English army; but +when he saw the foe he fell sick, or feigned to be so; and then the +old proverb came true, "When the general fails, the army quails." +So the English looked on with fear and trembling, while Sweyn burnt +Wilton and Salisbury, whence he returned to the sea laden with +wealth and stained with blood; yet was not his revenge +satisfied.</p> +<p>The following year East Anglia suffered as Wessex had suffered +the year before. Ulfketyl, the ealdorman, gave them much money, +hoping to buy peace from the merciless pagans. The result was as he +might have expected. They took the money, laughing at his +simplicity, and three weeks afterwards pillaged Thetford, and burnt +it. Then Ulfketyl, who was a brave man, got an East Anglian army +together, and fought the Danes, giving them the uncommon +chastisement of a defeat, so that they escaped with difficulty to +their ships.</p> +<p>The following year a famine so severe visited England, that even +the Danes forebore to ravage so poor a land; but in 1006, the next +year, they overspread Wessex like locusts. Here the action of our +tale is resumed.</p> +<p>During this interval of four years in Aescendune there had been +peace. Alfgar had been domesticated as one of the family, and was +reported well of in all the neighbourhood. Diligent in the +discharge of his religious duties, he was equally conspicuous in +all warlike sports and exercises and in the chase, while he +afforded much help to Elfwyn the thane in the management of the +estate. In short, he had won his way to the hearts of all the +family; and perhaps the report that he was the accepted suitor of +the fair daughter of Aescendune, Ethelgiva, was not without +foundation.</p> +<p>Ethelgiva was nearly his own age, and was a perfect type of that +beauty which has ever distinguished the women of the Anglo-Saxon +race. Her fair hair, untouched by artificial adornment, hung like a +shower of gold around her shoulders, while her eyes were of that +delicate blue which seemed to reflect the deep summer sky; but the +sweet pensive expression of her face was that which attracted +nearly all who knew her, and made her the object of general +regard.</p> +<p>Bertric was now about sixteen--a handsome, attractive boy, +full of life and fire, yet still possessing that devotion which +Father Cuthbert had remarked in him as a boy of twelve. As the heir +to the lands of Aescendune, and the only son, he would have been in +much danger of being spoiled had he been less genuine and manly +than he was. He and Alfgar were inseparable; they seemed to revive +again the traditional love of Nisus and Euryalus, or Orestes and +Pylades.</p> +<p>The famine, which had made Wessex too poor even to serve as a +bait for the Danes, had also afflicted Mercia, but not nearly so +severely, and the generosity of the family of Aescendune had been +exerted to the utmost on behalf of the sufferers.</p> +<p>But the spring of the year 1006 bade fair to atone for the past. +It was bright and balmy. May was just such a month as the poets +love to sing, and June, rich in its promise of fruit, had passed +when the events we are about to relate occurred. At this time there +was some hope amongst the people that God had at length heard the +petition breathed so often in the penitential wail of the Litany-- +"From the cruelty of our pagan enemies, good Lord, deliver us"-- +and they forgot that the massacre on St. Brice's night yet cried +for vengeance.</p> +<p>It was a fine summer's evening towards the end of the month of +July, and the sun was slowly setting behind the wood-crowned range +of hills in the west, where the forest terminated the pastures of +Aescendune; the cattle were returning to their stalls; the last +load of hay was being transferred from the wain to the rick, and +all things spoke of the calm and rest of a sweet night, fragrant +with the breath of honeysuckle and wild brier, when nature herself +seems to court luxurious repose.</p> +<p>The priory bell was tolling for compline, and thither many of +the people, released from their labour, were wending their way. The +Thane and his children, accompanied by Alfgar, paused on their +homeward road, and when the drowsy tinkling ceased, deep silence +seemed to fall over the landscape, while the night darkened--if +darkness it could be called when the moonbeams succeeded to the +fiercer light of the glowing orb of day.</p> +<p>The Lady Hilda was at the window of her bower, slightly +indisposed; she had not gone down to the priory, but sat inhaling +the rich fragrance of the night as the gentle breeze wafted it from +a thousand flowers. Star after star peeped out; one sweet-voiced +nightingale began her song, trilling through the air; another +enviously took up the strain. Hilda thought the earth had never +seemed so much like heaven, and she imagined the tuneful birds sang +their vesper song in union with the monks, whose solemn and +plaintive chant awoke the echoes of the priory church. Her heart +was full of solemn yet not sad thoughts; peace, sweet peace, was +the subject of her meditations, and she thought with gratitude of +Him who had hitherto preserved Mercia from the foe, who had indeed +for nearly two years ceased to molest England.</p> +<p>But as she gazed, her attention was attracted to a light on the +opposite hills. It was a fire of some kind, and rose up more and +more fiercely each moment. It was but a bonfire in appearance, yet +it marred both the landscape and the meditative rest of the +gazer.</p> +<p>The party from the hall were returning home from the church.</p> +<p>"Father," said Bertric, "look at that light! Is it not singular? +I never saw one there before."</p> +<p>But even while they looked another fire appeared in an opposite +direction, and Bertric saw his father turn grave.</p> +<p>"It is the beacon fire," said he seriously.</p> +<p>"Yes it is, and see it is answered from the hills to the north," +said Alfgar.</p> +<p>Then they were silent, and Bertric felt his spirits sink with a +vague kind of apprehension. They said no more till they reached +home, and the whole family met, much later than usual, at the +evening meal.</p> +<p>"You are late," said Hilda to her lord.</p> +<p>"We were returning home from the meadows on the water, whence +the last load of hay has been carried, and we tarried for the +compline at the priory. The bell sounded as we were passing."</p> +<p>"Did you see the bonfire on the hills? It must be a large +one."</p> +<p>"I did; and it made me uneasy."</p> +<p>"Why so, my Elfwyn?"</p> +<p>"You forget that when the last invasion of our pagan foes was +over, it was agreed in the Witan that a set of beacons should be +prepared, in readiness to fire, on the tops of the hills, and that +if the Danes appeared again, they should be fired everywhere, in +which case Mercia was to hold herself in readiness to come to the +aid of Wessex or East Anglia, whichever the foe might be +harrying."</p> +<p>"But then <i>that</i> was eighteen months agone."</p> +<p>"Still the beacon piles remain or did remain. I saw one at the +summit of the hills which the trackway crosses between our county +and Oxfordshire, when I last returned form Beranbyrig<a name= +"EndNote5anc" href="#EndNote5sym"><sup> {v}</sup></a>, and I think that +one gives the present alarm. It means the Danes are again in the +land."</p> +<p>"Now, God forbid!" said Hilda, with clasped hands.</p> +<p>"Amen say we all; but I fear me such will be the case, unless +some poor fool has set the pile blazing for amusement. I fancied I +saw it answered away north and west. We will go and see anon."</p> +<p>Supper being ended, Elfwyn rose to go out, and his example was +followed by Alfgar and Bertric, and several of the serfs, who from +the lower end of the ample board had heard with much alarm the +previous conversation.</p> +<p>Ascending the hill, they directed their steps towards the +highest point, where an old watchtower had once been reared, +composed of timber, and overlooking the forest.</p> +<p>From the summit the party gazed over three or four counties +lying dimly beneath them in the still moonlight.</p> +<p>The mist, slowly rising from the river and forest, partially +obscured the immediate view, and hid the valley beneath in +smoke-like wreaths; but the distant hills rose above. There three +large fires immediately caught the eye, and confirmed the +apprehensions. One was on the summit of the range culminating on +the spot now known as Edgehill, lying about ten miles south; but on +the west Malvern Heights had caught the flame, and on the far north +the Leicestershire hills sent forth their reddening fire in more +than one spot.</p> +<p>"The country has taken the alarm," said the Thane.</p> +<p>"What must we do, father?"</p> +<p>"Summon and arm all our vassals, and await the sheriff's orders; +the king will communicate to us through him. We know not yet where +the danger is."</p> +<p>"Perhaps it is only a false alarm," said Bertric.</p> +<p>"God grant it; but I dare not hope as much."</p> +<p>Alfgar was very silent. Well he might be. The enemy dreaded was +his own kith and kin; and although all his sympathies were with his +English friends, from whom he had received more kindness and love +than he had ever known elsewhere, yet he seemed to feel compromised +by the deeds of his kindred, whose savage cruelty no Christianity +had as yet softened.</p> +<p>While they yet remained on the hill, fire after fire took up the +tale and reddened the horizon, until a score of those baleful +bonfires were in sight. Sighing deeply, Elfwyn led the way down the +hill.</p> +<p>"What have you seen?" was the inquiry of the Lady Hilda.</p> +<p>"The hills flame with beacons."</p> +<p>"Alas for poor Wessex!"</p> +<p>"Alas for England! I have a foreboding that we shall not always +be exempt from the woes which affect our neighbours. Wessex +scarcely tempts the plunderer now; neither does East Anglia. +Northumbria is half Danish, and kites do not peck out kites' eyes. +No; on Mercia, poor Mercia, the blow must sooner or later +fall."</p> +<p>"And how to avert it?"</p> +<p>"There is but one way; we must fight the foe in Wessex. Now we +must rest, to rise early, and await the sheriff's summons."</p> +<p>It was silent, deep night; the whole house was buried in +slumber, when Alfgar dreamed a strange dream. He thought he stood +amidst the ruins of his home, the home of his father Anlaf, and +that he heard steps approaching from the forest. Soon a solitary +figure emerged, and searched anxiously amongst the fallen and +blackened walls, uttering one anxious ejaculation, "My son! I seek +my son!" and Alfgar knew his father. Their eyes met, recognition +took place, and he awoke with such a keen impression of his +father's presence that he could not shake it off for a long +time.</p> +<p>"Do the dead indeed revisit earth?" he said. "Nay, it was but a +dream."</p> +<p>He went to the narrow window of his chamber, and looked out. The +dawn was already breaking in the east, and even as he gazed upon +the purpling skies the birds began their matin songs of praise, and +the valley awoke. The priory bell, beneath, by the riverside, now +tolled its summons to matins, and Alfgar arose and dressed.</p> +<p>Never did the household of Aescendune begin the day without +religious observance, and the first thing that they did on this, as +on every day, was to repair to the priory church, where Father +Cuthbert said mass; after which he and his brother the Thane were +closeted together for a long time.</p> +<p>The rest of the party returned home to break their fast, and +conversed about the warnings of the preceding night.</p> +<p>While they were still at their meal, Bertric, who sat near a +window, cried out, "I see a horseman coming from Warwick."</p> +<p>The panting steed was soon reined up in front of the drawbridge, +which was down as usual; and, passing beneath the arched gate, the +rider dismounted in the courtyard.</p> +<p>All the household were soon assembled to hear his news. He bore +a sealed missive addressed to the Thane; but he gave the secret of +the night's alarm in a few words.</p> +<p>"They are in Wessex, plundering, murdering, and burning. The +forces are all to meet at Dorchester as soon as man and horse can +get there."</p> +<p>"Where did they land?"</p> +<p>"The great fleet came to Sandwich, and they are advancing +westward as fast as they can come."</p> +<p>"Are they merciless as ever?"</p> +<p>"Worse."</p> +<p>"The fiends!" said Bertric bitterly; and then seeing Alfgar's +saddened face, said, "Oh, I beg pardon," which made matters +worse.</p> +<p>"You are not a Dane, Alfgar; you are a Christian; no one thinks +of you as one."</p> +<p>Shortly Elfwyn returned from the priory, and received the +messenger. The sealed packet only contained a formal summons to the +general rendezvous of the forces, which was to take place at +Dorchester, the episcopal city of the great Midland diocese, and +situated in a central position, where Wessex and Mercia could +easily unite the flower of their youth.</p> +<p>All the necessary preparations for departure were shortly made +--the theows and ceorls were collected together, beasts of burden +selected to carry the necessary baggage, the wallets filled with +provisions.</p> +<p>Before the third hour of the day all had been done which the +simple habits of the time required, and only the sorrowful leave +takings remained. Husbands had to bid the last goodbye--it might +be the very last--to their spouses, sons to their aged parents, +fathers to their children. And then there was hurrying to and fro, +as of people only half conscious of what they did; while the +warriors strove to smile and preserve their fortitude.</p> +<p>But alas! there were no traditions of victory to encourage them; +only gloomy remembrances of defeat; and, but for the stern call of +duty which bade them, as men and Christians, go to the succour of +their brethren, the majority would have preferred to remain at home +and abide the worst, although they knew full well that submission +utterly failed to mitigate the ferocious cruelty of their +oppressors, who slew alike the innocent babe and the grey-haired +grandsire.</p> +<p>Alfgar had volunteered to share the perils of his adopted lord, +but was kindly told that it would be inexpedient. Indeed, by many +he would have been suspected of treachery.</p> +<p>"Nay, Alfgar, remain at home; to you I commend the protection of +my home, of the Lady Hilda, and our children," said Elfwyn.</p> +<p>Neither were Bertric's prayers to be allowed to share his +father's perils any better received. He was bidden to remain where +he was, and to be a good son to his mother--not that he had ever +been otherwise.</p> +<p>And so the last sad words of adieu were spoken as bravely as +might be, and the little troop, about fifty in number, departed +from the hall. They crossed the rude wooden bridge, and took the +southern road.</p> +<p>Their loved ones watched them until the last. They saw their +warriors cast many a longing lingering look behind, and then the +woodland hid them from sight; and a dread quiet came down upon +Aescendune, as when the air is still before the coming +hurricane.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a>. THE TRACKS IN THE +FOREST.</h2> +<p>It was a long time before any news of the warriors reached home; +for in those days the agony of suspense had always to be endured in +the absence of posts and telegrams; but after a few weeks a special +messenger came from the army. He was one of the Aescendune people, +and his was the great privilege of embracing wife and family once +more ere returning to the perils of the field.</p> +<p>His news was brief. The forces of Mercia had been placed under +the command of Edric, formerly the sheriff of the county in which +Aescendune lay, but long since returned to court, where his smooth +tongue gained him great wealth and high rank. Gifted with a subtle +genius and persuasive eloquence, he had obtained a complete +ascendency over the mind of the weak Ethelred, while he surpassed +even that treacherous monarch in perfidy and cruelty.</p> +<p>Under his direction that unhappy king had again and again +embrued his hands in innocent blood. This very year they had both +given a proof of these tendencies worth recording.</p> +<p>Edric had conceived a hatred against the Ealdorman Elfhelm, +which he carefully concealed. He invited that unfortunate lord to a +banquet at Shrewsbury, where he welcomed him as his intimate +friend. On the third or fourth day of the feast he took him to hunt +in a wood where he had prepared an ambuscade, and while all the +rest were engaged in the chase, the common hangman of Shrewsbury, +one Godwin "port hund," or the town's hound, bribed by Edric to +commit the crime, sprang from behind a bush, and foully +assassinated the innocent ealdorman. Not to be behind his favourite +in cruelty, Ethelred caused the two sons of the unfortunate Elfhelm +to be brought to him at Corsham, near Bath, where he was then +residing, and he ordered their eyes to be put out.</p> +<p>Such was the man to whom the destinies of the English army were +now confided, and such the king who ruled the unhappy land--cruel +as he was cowardly.</p> +<p>Under such leaders it is no marvel that the messenger Ulric had +no good news to tell. The army had assembled, and had marched after +the Danes, whose policy for the present was to avoid a pitched +battle, and to destroy their enemies in detail. So they were +continually harassing the English forces, but avoiding every +occasion of fair fight. Did the English march to a town under the +impression the Danes were about to attack it, they found no foe, +but heard the next day that some miserable district at a distance +had been cruelly ravaged. Did they lie in ambush, the Danes took +another road. Meanwhile the English stragglers were repeatedly cut +off; and did they despatch a small force anywhere, it was sure to +fall into an ambush, and be annihilated by the pagans.</p> +<p>Their repeated disasters weakened every man's heart, and gave +rise to a well-founded belief that there was treachery in their +midst, and that plans decided even in their secret councils were +made known to the Danes. What wonder, then, that they grew +dispirited, and that murmurs arose on all hands, while the army +could scarcely keep together for want of provisions?</p> +<p>The war was at present raging in the southern counties, but ever +and anon the marauders made a forced march, and sacked some +helpless town remote from the seat of war.</p> +<p>There was no prospect, Elfwyn said, of the campaign coming to an +end; the harvest must take care of itself or the women and children +must reap it. The men were all and more than all, wanted in +Wessex.</p> +<p>There were loving messages for wife and children, and Alfgar was +not forgotten.</p> +<p>But there was one piece of information contained in the letter +which made Alfgar very uneasy, and reminded him of his dream.</p> +<p>One Boom, a retainer of Elfwyn, had been taken prisoner by the +Danes, and by a very uncommon piece of good fortune had escaped +with life from his ferocious captors. He stated that he had been +closely examined concerning his home, character of the population, +and their means of defence, especially as to the events of St. +Brice's night. Although he strove to evade their questions, yet he +incautiously, or through fear of torture, revealed that he came +from Aescendune.</p> +<p>The name evoked immediate interest, and he was asked several +further questions about the destruction of Anlaf's house, and what +became of his son. He tried to baffle their inquiries, and thought +he had succeeded.</p> +<p>These facts the Lady Hilda thought of sufficient importance to +justify their communication to Alfgar. They caused her some +anxiety.</p> +<p>The messenger returned to the army. Weeks passed away, and the +women and children, as well as the old men, were all busy in +getting in the bounteous harvest with which this year God had +blessed the earth. Alfgar and Bertric worked like the theows +themselves, and slowly the precious gifts were deposited in the +garners.</p> +<p>Alfgar had one source of consolation in the love he bore to +Ethelgiva, a love which was fully returned. Their troth had been +pledged to each other with the full consent of Elfwyn and the Lady +Hilda; and on those fine August nights, as they walked home after +the labours in the field, or the service in the priory, they forgot +all the misery of the land, and lived only for each other.</p> +<p>Happy, happy days! How often they looked back to them +afterwards!</p> +<p>A second messenger came during harvest time from the camp, now +on the borders of Sussex. His news was no better than before. The +Danes were harassing the army on every side, but no decisive battle +had been fought. The enemy still seemed to know all the plans of +the English beforehand; and the booty they had gained was enormous, +while a deep distrust of their leaders was spreading amongst the +defenders of the soil.</p> +<p>Elfwyn expressed his intention of seeking an early leave of +absence should events justify him in paying a short visit home. +This delighted the hearts of his wife and children, and they were +happy in anticipation.</p> +<p>It was a fine day in September when the thankful people of +Aescendune were called to raise the song of "Harvest Home"--for +the fruits of the earth had indeed been safely gathered in ere the +winter storms by the hands of women and children. Such joy as +befitted the absence of their lords was theirs, and Alfgar and +Bertric, not to waste the holiday, agreed to have a day's hunting +in the forest, rich with all the hues of autumn, while the feast +was preparing at home.</p> +<p>The day was delightful. Two young theows, whose fathers had gone +to the war, but who had been left behind as being too young to +share its dangers, although in the flush of early youth, +accompanied them, and were soon loaded with the lighter game their +masters had killed, while a deer they had slain was hung in the +trees, where a wolf could not reach it, and where wayfarers were +not likely to pass until the sportsmen should return for their own. +Onward they wandered until the sun was declining, and then, having +some few miles of forest to thread, and the deer to send for, they +turned on their homeward way.</p> +<p>No thought of any danger was on their minds that day. The Danes +were too far distant. They were more than a hundred miles from the +seat of war, and a hundred miles in those days meant more than five +hundred would mean now.</p> +<p>About the hour of five they rested and bathed in a tributary of +the Avon. Bertric's spirits were very high: he laughed and talked +like one whose naturally ardent temperament was stimulated by the +bracing atmosphere and the exercise. His active and handsome frame, +bright with all the attractions of youth, was equal to any amount +of woodland toil; and Alfgar, who was, as we have said, deeply +attached to his companion, felt proud of his younger brother, as he +delighted to call him, and Bertric loved to be called so. Alfgar +trusted some day to have a yet better claim to the title.</p> +<p>Leaving the bathing place while there was yet time to reach home +before dark, they came at last to a ford across the stream, the +only spot where it could be safely forded, and as such known to the +natives of the vicinity; when their dogs began to whine, and to run +with their noses to the ground, as if they had found something +unusual to attract their attention.</p> +<p>The two theows who were in front paused at the ford till their +lords came up, and then pointed to the ground with a terrified +aspect. Alfgar gazed and started, as did Bertric. There were the +footmarks of a large number of horses, evidently belonging to a +body of horsemen who must have crossed the ford since they passed +it in the morning.</p> +<p>"Can my father have returned unexpectedly?" said Bertric. "He +said he should get an early leave of absence."</p> +<p>Alfgar did not answer for a moment. He was evidently very much +alarmed.</p> +<p>"Look," he said, "at the footmarks, where some have +dismounted."</p> +<p>Bertric looked, and comprehended the terror of his companion. +The armed heels, which had sunk deeply into the mud, had left +traces utterly unlike the marks to which they were accustomed in +similar cases.</p> +<p>The stories they had both heard of predatory bands of Danes who +had wandered far from their main body, and had sought gratification +for their lust for plunder and blood in remote spots where the +inhabitants dwelt in fancied security, came to their minds, and +also the inquiries which had been made in the Danish camp +concerning their home and the circumstances of St. Brice's fatal +night.</p> +<p>"Still, it may be our father and his men; they may have worn the +spoils of the enemy."</p> +<p>The spoils generally went the other way, Alfgar thought, but did +not say.</p> +<p>They crossed the ford in silence, intent only on reaching home. +For a long time they could follow the trail of the horsemen.</p> +<p>"Who can lead them?" said Bertric, as they bounded onward. "They +seem to know the country."</p> +<p>A sad and harrowing suspicion had filled Alfgar's mind, that +these men might be deputed to avenge the fiery death of his father +--and to avenge it, probably, on the very people who would have +died to prevent it.</p> +<p>But the one desire uppermost in the minds of the whole party was +to hasten home. They feared every moment that they might see the +bright flame through the trees, or that the wind might bring them +the tidings that they were all too late--too late to save those +whom they loved from outrage and death.</p> +<p>So they continued running, or walking when breath failed, at the +utmost speed they could command, and just as the sun set they +arrived at the crest of a hill, from which they could see the +hall.</p> +<p>"Thank God, it yet stands!" said they both.</p> +<p>They descended, and plunged again into the wood which lay +between them and the goal; their theows, less perfectly trained, +and perhaps less ardent, fell slightly behind. They came upon the +spot where they had left the deer, not, however, with any intention +of encumbering themselves with the burden, as may be imagined. They +looked, however, at the tree where they had hung the carcase, and +their eyes met each other's.</p> +<p>"It is gone," said Alfgar, with bated breath.</p> +<p>They said no more, but continued their headlong course, until +they had reached an open glade by the side of a small stream. Here +their dogs became uneasy, and uttered low threatening growls.</p> +<p>The lads paused, then advanced cautiously, looking before and +around.</p> +<p>Turning a corner round some thick underwood, they came suddenly +upon a sight which justified all their previous alarm.</p> +<p>A huge fire burned by the side of a brook, over which was +roasting the deer which they had killed. The light shone out in the +gathering darkness, and illumined the recesses of the bushes +around, and the faces of a large body of men reclining on the bank, +or engaged in the task of sharpening their arms while their supper +was roasting. A momentary glance told that they were Danes, thus +advancing under the shadow of the forest, to take their foes +unawares. Their horses were picketed around, and sentinels were +evidently posted, to give the first alarm of any danger.</p> +<p>Alas! they had seen the poor lads before they could withdraw +into the woods which fringed the path, and instantly prepared for +pursuit. Three or four jumped upon their horses, two or three more +plunged into the wood to cut off the retreat. It was all-important +to their plans that their presence should not be discovered; and +these manoeuvres were executed in perfect silence.</p> +<p>They had not seen the theows behind, but fixed all their +attention on Bertric and Alfgar, who, on their part, comprehending +their danger, turned at right angles into the wood, and ran for +life. The boys were fleet of foot, and would probably have +distanced their pursuers, but an arrow from some ambush on their +left hand pierced Alfgar's thigh, wounding an important muscle, and +he could run no farther.</p> +<p>"Leave me, leave me, Bertric," he cried; "you are in more danger +than I."</p> +<p>Poor Bertric would not leave his friend. He tried to assist him, +and turned a deaf ear to all solicitations for the few moments that +they could have availed. It was soon too late, and the heavy hands +of the Danish warriors were laid upon them.</p> +<p>Shuddering at the contact, they yet yielded without useless and +unmanly resistance, and were at once led to the side of the +fire.</p> +<p>It was a scene Salvator Rosa would have loved to paint: the +firelight bringing out in strong relief the huge limbs of the oak +trees, the bronzed faces of those dread warriors, which no pitiful +or tender feelings ever seemed to visit.</p> +<p>The theows had fortunately, being behind, taken the alarm in +time, and escaped unnoticed by the Danes.</p> +<p>A large athletic warrior, but yet a man of some age, rose from +his seat by the fire, and scrutinised the captives. Alfgar knew +him. It was Sidroc, an old fellow warrior of his father, who had +often visited their home near Aescendune, and he was at no loss now +to comprehend the object of their enterprise.</p> +<p>The warrior gazed upon him fixedly, and then spoke aloud.</p> +<p>"Whence your name and lineage? Your face is not of the hue of +the faces of the children of the land. Speak! who art thou?"</p> +<p>"Alfgar, the son of Anlaf."</p> +<p>"Thor and Woden be praised! We had learned that you yet lived. +Boy, thou art the object of our search. Thou, the descendant of +kings, mayst not longer dwell with slaves. Thy father is at +hand."</p> +<p>"My FATHER!"</p> +<p>"Yes. Didst thou not know that he escaped on St. Brice's night, +baffling his would-be assassins, and yet lives? He thought thee +dead, and only sought vengeance, when he heard from the captured +prisoner of Elfwyn's band that thou wert yet alive, and he is come +to seek thee."</p> +<p>Poor Alfgar!</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a>. THROUGH SUFFERING TO +GLORY.</h2> +<p>For a few minutes Alfgar sat like one stunned by the +intelligence. Joy and fear were strangely mingled together; well +did he remember Sidroc's frequent visits to his father's English +home, and that the warrior had more than once taken him in his +infancy upon his knee and sung to him war songs, telling him that +he too must be a warrior some day.</p> +<p>He was roused from his reverie by the voice of Sidroc.</p> +<p>"Who is your companion?"</p> +<p>"Bertric, the son of Elfwyn of Aescendune; oh! you will see that +no wrong is done to him, will you not? his people saved my +life."</p> +<p>"That they might make you a Christian, knowing that your father +would sooner you had expired in the flames which consumed his +house.</p> +<p>"No," he added sternly; "he is doomed, he and his alike."</p> +<p>Alfgar uttered a piteous cry, and appealed so earnestly that one +might have thought he would have moved a heart of stone, yet all in +vain.</p> +<p>"Does the eagle mourn over the death of the dove, or heed what +pangs the kid may suffer which writhes beneath its talons? If you +are of the race of warrior kings, act like one."</p> +<p>While this was going on the warriors had been selecting some +light and sharp arrows and stringing their bows.</p> +<p>"You have but one target, not two," cried Sidroc, "and scant +time wherein to use it."</p> +<p>"Then you shall have two, for I will die with him," cried +Alfgar, comprehending at once that the death by which Saint Edmund +of East Anglia, and many a martyr since, had glorified God, was +destined for his companion, his brother.</p> +<p>He snatched at a weapon, and rushed to the tree to which the +victim was bound, as if he would save him or perish in the attempt, +but a grasp like iron was thrown around him, and he struggled in +vain.</p> +<p>"Bind him, but do him no harm," said Sidroc, "and detain him +where he may see all, and strengthen his nerves for future +occasions."</p> +<p>Against the tree leaned Bertric, pale, yet strangely composed; +the bitterness of death seemed to be past, so composed were his +youthful features. The lips moved in earnest, fervent prayer. Once +he glanced with a look of affection, almost of pity, upon Alfgar, +and when the latter made the vain attempt to deliver him, he cried, +"Do not grieve for me, dear Alfgar, you cannot save me; you have +done your best; pray for me, that is all you can do."</p> +<p>His patient courage, so unexpected in one so young, touched his +captors, as nothing else would have touched them, and Sidroc +approached him.</p> +<p>"Bertric of Aescendune, thou mayst save thy life on one +condition; dost thou wish to live?"</p> +<p>The thought of home and friends, of his mother, awoke in his +breast, and he replied:</p> +<p>"Yes, for the sake of those who love me."</p> +<p>"I know nought of them, neither must thou henceforth, but thou +mayst live if thou wilt join our nation and renounce thy +Christianity; for I, who have no son, and seek one, will even adopt +thee."</p> +<p>"I cannot deny my faith."</p> +<p>"Dost thou not fear the pain, the sharp arrows with which they +will pierce thee?"</p> +<p>"I fear them, but I fear eternal death more; God help me!"</p> +<p>He repeated these last words over and over again, as if the +struggle were very sore.</p> +<p>"Decide," said Sidroc.</p> +<p>"I have decided--'<i>In manus tuas, Domine</i>,'" he breathed +out, "'<i>commendo spiritum meum</i>.'"</p> +<p>"Let fly," cried the chieftain, "and let the obstinate young +fool know what death is."</p> +<p>Arrow after arrow sped through the air and pierced the legs and +arms of the martyr boy, for it was the cruel amusement of the Danes +to avoid the vital parts in their living target. The frame of the +sufferer quivered with agony, while the lip seemed striving to form +the holy name, which has given strength to thousands of martyrs, +whether at the stake, beneath the ferocious beast, or in whatsoever +manner it has pleased God to make His strength perfect in +weakness.</p> +<p>Then Alfgar saw what was the marvellous power of Christianity, +and beheld a heroism utterly beyond the fierce excitement which +nerved his countrymen for their scenes of carnage and blood; not +one of his pagan friends could have suffered as calmly, as +patiently--it seemed easier for the sufferer to bear than for +Alfgar to look on; once or twice the latter gave audible vent to +his emotions, but the look which Bertric turned upon him spoke +volumes, and he restrained himself lest he should add to the pain +of the victim. He knew not then that the example before him would +nerve him in moments of severest trial, then fast approaching, that +the one accusation urged against the Christians, which he had felt +most keenly, that of cowardice, was answered in the weak yet +valiant boy, who found strength in the name of Christ to endure all +for His sake; neither did his fierce countrymen know that they were +preparing a disappointment for the pagan Anlaf, and for all those +of his house and lineage.</p> +<p>We cannot enter more closely into the secret which gave the +martyr his strength; we know not the visions of heavenly joy which +may have overpowered the present pain, we know not whether He who +gave this elaborate framework of flesh and blood, nerve and sinew, +miraculously suspended the full operation of His laws, as is +elsewhere recorded of other martyrs. Certain it is, that sooner +than relinquish Him, Bertric, like Saint Edmund nearly two +centuries earlier, yielded his life to the rage of the enemies of +His Lord<a name="EndNote6anc" href= +"#EndNote6sym"><sup> {vi}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>The struggle was sharp but short, for Sidroc, to the surprise, +and we must add the disgust, of his compatriots, seized a bow and +sent an arrow straight to the heart. One nervous shudder passed +through the limbs, and all was still; they had killed the body, and +had no more that they could do.</p> +<p>Alfgar gazed with reverence, as well as love, upon the calm +features from which the expression of pain had wholly passed; the +light of the fire, mingling strangely with that of the rising full +moon, illumined them in this their first day of nothingness, for +the spirit which had lived and dwelt in the tabernacle of clay had +fled.</p> +<p>Yet there was a wondrous beauty still lingering over them; they +seemed etherialised--as if an angel's smile had last stirred +their lines, when the spirit went forth, and left its imprint of +wonder, joy, and awe thereon; and Alfgar instinctively turned from +them to the blue depths of heaven above, where a few stars were +visible, although dimmed by the moonlight; and he seemed to trace +his beloved Bertric's passage to the realms of bliss. A light wind +made music in the upper branches of the oaks, and it seemed to him +like the rush of angels' wings.</p> +<p>It had often been a sharp struggle to him, nursed in heroic +times, learned in battle songs, and of the very blood of the +vikings, to avoid the feeling that Christianity was not the +religion of the brave; now the difficulty was over, and who shall +say that the first joy of the martyr's soul was not the knowledge +that his sufferings had already borne such fruit to God!</p> +<p>And not only was Alfgar reconciled to the reproach of the Cross, +he was also content to be an Englishman, if not in blood, at least +in affection and sympathy as in action.</p> +<p>An hour passed away; the body remained affixed to the tree; the +night grew darker, and the hour approached when, under ordinary +circumstances, people retired to rest, and the band commenced its +preparations for carrying out the attack upon Aescendune.</p> +<p>One hope Alfgar had, and that not a faint one: he knew that the +two theows had escaped unnoticed, and that they would give warning +in time for either defence or escape; their strength at Aescendune +was but slight for the former, all the able-bodied men were absent +at the seat of war.</p> +<p>In the excitement of the last hour Alfgar had almost forgotten +the meeting before him, but now it occupied his thoughts fully, and +he began to expect the arrival of Anlaf each moment. He learned +from the conversation around him that he and a portion of the band +had gone to reconnoitre the position of the prey.</p> +<p>While Sidroc was somewhat impatiently expecting the arrival of +his coadjutor, the cry of a raven was heard; it proved to be the +signal for the party to advance, and Sidroc and his men obeyed at +once.</p> +<p>But all their horses were left picketed by the stream, under the +care of three of the youngest warriors, and there Alfgar was left, +safely bound to a tree, for his captors could not trust him.</p> +<p>He was strongly, but not cruelly bound; it evidently was not +intended to hurt him, only to secure him, and he could see that one +of the warriors was especially charged to guard him.</p> +<p>Oh, how anxiously he strained the senses of sight and hearing +for news from the forest party! could he but have given one +warning, he would willingly have died like Bertric; all was silence +--dread silence--the sleeping woods around gave no token of +their dread inmates.</p> +<p>An hour and a half must have passed, when a bright light, +increasing each minute in intensity, appeared through the trees-- +then a loud and startling cry arose--after which all was +silence.</p> +<p>The light seemed to increase in extent and to have two chief +centres of its brilliancy, and Alfgar guessed them to be the hall +and the priory.</p> +<p>But no screams of distress or agony pierced the air from two +hundred women and children, and Alfgar hoped, oh, so earnestly! +that they might have escaped, warned in time by the theows.</p> +<p>With this hope he was forced to rest content, as hour after hour +rolled by, and at length the footsteps of a returning party were +heard.</p> +<p>It proved to be only a detachment of the fifty, sent to bring +horses to be loaded with the spoil. Alfgar listened intently to +gain information, and heard enough to show that the Danes had been +disappointed in some way, probably in their thirst for blood.</p> +<p>"But how could they have known we were coming? We have marched +through a hundred miles of the most desolate country we could find, +and have come faster than any one could have carried the +information."</p> +<p>Such seemed to be the substance of the complaint of the warriors +on guard, from which Alfgar felt justified in believing in the +escape of the theows, and the consequent deliverance of the people, +if not of the place.</p> +<p>Half the horses were taken to fetch the plunder, the other half +left where they were, for the spot was conveniently situated, and +the distance from Aescendune only about two miles.</p> +<p>When they had gone, Alfgar heard his guards talking +together.</p> +<p>"What did they say, Hinguar?--not any blood?"</p> +<p>"No, but plenty of plunder."</p> +<p>"That is not enough, we want revenge. Odin and Thor will not +know their children; our spears should not be bright."</p> +<p>"They must have been forewarned; Eric said that they had taken +away a great many things."</p> +<p>"Why could we not trace them?"</p> +<p>"Because there is no time; we are too far from the army and +fleet; we must return immediately, before the country takes the +alarm; remember we are only fifty."</p> +<p>"Yes, but mounted upon the best horses, and the first warriors +of our family; we may take some plunder, and send a few Englishmen +to Niffelheim, before we get back; Anlaf would not let us stay to +touch anything as we came."</p> +<p>"No; all his desire was to get to this Aescendune."</p> +<p>"Then the lad whom we made into a target is the only victim, +while our kinsfolk's blood, shed near here, cries for +vengeance."</p> +<p>"He died bravely."</p> +<p>"Yes, that is a Christian's kind of courage."</p> +<p>"Well, perhaps some day they will learn to fight, and then +--"</p> +<p>"Their songs tell them of an Alfred who defeated our best +warriors."</p> +<p>"That was long ago; if you go back far enough these English were +sea kings before they were spoiled by becoming Christians."</p> +<p>"Hush; I think I hear steps."</p> +<p>"Who comes?" cried one of the guards, challenging a +newcomer.</p> +<p>"I, Anlaf, your chief."</p> +<p>And the father of Alfgar appeared on the scene.</p> +<p>Of average height, Anlaf possessed vast muscular powers; his +sinews stood out like tight cords, and his frame, although robust, +was yet such that there seemed no useless flesh about him. His hair +was a deep grizzled red, as also his beard, and his eyes were of +the same tinge, his nose somewhat aquiline, and his whole features, +weatherworn as they were, were those of one born to command, while +they lacked the sheer brutality of expression so conspicuous in +some of his subordinates.</p> +<p>Ho addressed a few words to the guards, and they led him to +Alfgar.</p> +<p>"Cut him loose," he said.</p> +<p>They did so.</p> +<p>He looked mournfully yet sternly on the youth, who himself +trembled all over with emotion.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," he said, "do I indeed see my son?"</p> +<p>"You do, my father."</p> +<p>"Follow me; nay, you are wounded--lean on my arm."</p> +<p>Alfgar's thigh had, it will be remembered, been pierced by an +arrow, but the wound was not deep, and with his father's assistance +he could proceed. He knew where Anlaf led. At length they came upon +a deserted clearing, and there he paused until Alfgar, who could +scarcely keep up, stood by his side.</p> +<p>Before them the moonbeams fell upon a dark charred mass of ruins +in the centre of the space.</p> +<p>"This is the spot where father and son should meet again," said +Anlaf and he embraced his son.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a>. FATHER AND SON.</h2> +<p>"Here, my son," said the old warrior, as he pointed out the +blackened ruins, "here stood our home, where now the screech owl +haunts, and the wolf has its den. There, where the broken shaft yet +remains, was the chamber in which thou first sawest the light, and +wherein thy mother died there, where snake and toad have their +home, was the great hall. Surely the moonbeams fall more peacefully +on the spot now all has been avenged, and the halls of the +murderers have fallen in their turn. But how didst thou +escape?"</p> +<p>"The folk of Aescendune saved me, father."</p> +<p>"But how; from the burning pile?"</p> +<p>"Nay. I had spent the previous day with them, and returned home +only in time to find the place in flames. The enemy seized me, and +would have slain me, but Elfwyn and his brother, Father Cuthbert, +delivered me; and now thou hast slain their Bertric, and burnt both +hall and priory."</p> +<p>"Think not that I owe them gratitude for aught they have done. +They tampered with thy faith, I now apprehend, even before the +night of St. Brice, and perhaps drew from thee the knowledge which +enabled them to surprise so large a party in my house. But all this +was to make thee abandon the gods of thy fathers, and to inflict +the worst injury they could upon a warrior. I trust they have +failed!"</p> +<p>"Father, I am a Christian!"</p> +<p>"Say not that again, boy, if thou would not have me kill +thee."</p> +<p>"I can but say it, father. In all that touches not my faith and +duty as a Christian, I am bound to love, honour, and obey you. But +our religion forbids me to nourish revenge."</p> +<p>"Of what religion, pray, were they who would have slain thy +father on St. Brice's night?"</p> +<p>Alfgar hung his head.</p> +<p>"When Christians practise themselves what they teach, then we +will heed their pretensions, but not till then. Their religion is +but a cloak for their cowardice, and they put it aside as a man +throws away a useless garment when they have the chance of slaying +their foes without danger."</p> +<p>"There are good and bad Christians, father."</p> +<p>"Commend me to the bad ones then. Do not speak to me of a +religion which makes men cowards and slaves. These English were +warriors once, till the Pope and his bishops converted them, and +now what are they? cruel and treacherous as ever, only without the +courage of men."</p> +<p>Alfgar felt the injustice of all this, and with the example of +Bertric in his mind, he cared nor for the accusation of +cowardice.</p> +<p>"Here, then, my boy, on this spot where thou wert once cradled, +renounce all these Christian follies and superstitions, and thou +shalt go back with me to the camp of King Sweyn, where thou shalt +be received as the descendant of warrior kings, and shalt forget +that thou, the falcon, wert ever the inmate of the dovecote."</p> +<p>There was a time when this temptation would have been almost +irresistible, but that time was over, and after one earnest prayer +for strength from above, Alfgar replied.</p> +<p>"My father, if you claim my obedience, I must even go with you +to your people, but it will be to my death. I have said I am a +Christian."</p> +<p>"And dost thou think I have found thee--thee, my only son-- +to part with thee again so easily? nay, thou art and shalt be mine, +and, if not mine, then thou shalt be the grave's; for either thou +shalt live as thy ancestors have lived, a warrior and a hero, or +the earth shall cover thee and my disgrace together."</p> +<p>"Father, I can die."</p> +<p>"Thou dost not fear death then?"</p> +<p>"Thou hast left one behind thee--one who did not fear to die +the martyr's death."</p> +<p>"Dost thou mean Bertric of Aescendune?"</p> +<p>"I do; they slew him, cruelly, although neither he nor his have +ever dealt cruelly with thy people."</p> +<p>"Thy people, why not our people? art thou ashamed of thy +kindred?"</p> +<p>"Of their cruelty and treachery."</p> +<p>Anlaf laughed aloud.</p> +<p>"Cruelty and treachery indeed! and canst thou say that here? who +set the example in this place?</p> +<p>"Come boy, come," he continued, "I will lead thee to those who +shall soon talk or drive all this Christian nonsense out of your +young head; meanwhile, do not disgrace yourself and me by +attempting to escape."</p> +<p>Alfgar sighed, and accompanied his father, so inopportunely +found, back to the camp.</p> +<p>Arrived there, the word was given at once to mount, and the +whole party started on the return journey to the south. Alfgar cast +a longing glance behind at the spot where he knew all that was +mortal of poor Bertric was left, to be, so far as the Danes cared, +the prey of the wolf or the kite; but the young Dane knew well +that, if any were yet alive at Aescendune, the hallowed temple of +the martyr would not want its due honour.</p> +<p>All his heart was with his English friends; he felt that in +going to the Danish camp he was really going to his death, for +although within a few years the conversion of the Northmen took +place, yet at this period their hatred of Christianity was simply +ferocious, and his father belonged to the old heathen conservatives +of his day, as did all his kinsfolk.</p> +<p>"O Aescendune, once happy Aescendune!" was the thought, the +bitter thought, as each hour placed a larger barrier of space +between Alfgar and his late home; all its happy memories came +freshly back upon him, and particularly the thought of Ethelgiva, +his betrothed, from whom he was so ruthlessly torn, torn as if he +left part of himself behind.</p> +<p>They reached the confines of the forest by daybreak. Before them +stretched an open country, where wild heaths alternated with +cornfields, and wooded hills were of frequent occurrence upon the +landscape.</p> +<p>All at once a signal of caution was given, and the whole party +retired again within the cover of the wood, where they could see, +for they were on an eminence, the whole district before them +without being seen.</p> +<p>A body of fifty English soldiers was passing on the road, which +lay at the distance of a few hundred yards only, travelling at a +considerable speed, as if they anticipated the emergency of +Aescendune, and hurried to the rescue. Alfgar knew them at once; +they were Elfwyn and his troops; oh, if they had but arrived +earlier, thought he, and started to see how completely English his +sympathies were.</p> +<p>The Danes found it hard to repress their laughter at the thought +of the reception which awaited the travellers at home; they had no +idea of spoiling it by attacking them, although the numbers were +about equal; besides, they had got all the plunder and spoil, and a +battle would only endanger the success already obtained. So they +lay in cover until the last straggler had disappeared in the +direction of Aescendune, and then continued their course, with many +a jest at the expense of the English.</p> +<p>Anlaf watched his son; he knew what his feelings were, and his +thoughts were bitter as he felt that, could Alfgar have been +consulted, he would be in that English band.</p> +<p>That night they arrived on the banks of the Thames, near +Reading, the border of Mercia. Their passage had been quite +unopposed; all the fighting men were in Wessex; and those who had +seen the Danish party had fled with terror--they had not stopped +long to plunder, but had speared one or two unfortunate victims who +fell in their way, a sight which sickened Alfgar.</p> +<p>The following day they continued their march to the southeast, +sometimes hiding in woods, for the country was mainly occupied by +Ethelred's troops; sometimes pursued by larger bodies of horsemen, +but always successful in distancing them, until, at the approach of +eventide, they came in sight of the entrenched camp of the northern +host. The spot was on the northern borders of the ancient kingdom +of Sussex--the land of the Saxon Ella--a spot marvelously +favoured by nature, occupying the summit of a low hill, which +commanded a wide prospect on all sides, while itself almost +impregnable when fortified, as it was, by ditches and mounds, dug +in the usual Danish fashion, for the Danes owed much of their +success to their skill in fortification.</p> +<p>Beautiful in time of peace was the country around, but its +desolation was sufficient to sicken the heart. Blackened ruins lay +on every side for miles; nay, they had disfigured the whole day's +journey. Scarcely a town or hall, unless strongly fortified, had +they seen standing, and this for nearly fifty miles.</p> +<p>Within this fortified enclosure the Northmen had collected +abundance of spoil, and there they detained many prisoners, whom +they held to ransom, putting them to death with the utmost cruelty +if the money were not forthcoming at the stipulated time.</p> +<p>When the party of Anlaf arrived at the northern gate, crossing +the summit of the ascent on that side, they found it open and +almost unguarded, so slight was the danger from the dispirited +English--now too accustomed to the idea of a foe in the heart of +the land.</p> +<p>Entering, they beheld a strange scene: huts rudely constructed +of the branches of trees, intermingled sparingly with tents, were +disposed at regular intervals. In the centre, where the main +streets crossed, was the royal tent, with the raven banner floating +therefrom; and there, at that moment, was the savage tyrant Sweyn +in person.</p> +<p>Sweyn was the son of Harold Bluetooth, who reigned in Denmark +fifty years, from A.D. 935-985, and who in his old age became a +Christian and strove to convert his subjects. But the ferocious +warriors rebelled against him, and were headed by his unnatural +son, Sweyn, who, although baptized, renounced Christianity, and +fought to restore the bloodstained worship so congenial to the +heart of a sea king. Defeated in battle, the unhappy father fled +for his life, and fled in vain, for he was either murdered or died +of his wounds.</p> +<p>Sweyn then became king, restored idolatry, and gratified to the +full the fell instincts of his savage followers. His great object +was now not merely to plunder, but to conquer England, and all his +campaigns were so directed as to reduce province after province. +Sussex and Kent were now wholly powerless; East Anglia was little +better; Wessex trembled, for every inlet was a path for the +robbers, and the turn of Mercia drew near.</p> +<p>Sweyn stood at the door of his tent, leaning upon his ponderous +battle-axe; around him were two or three warriors, whose grey hairs +had not softened the look of ferocity so plainly stamped upon their +faces.</p> +<p>The king was not in armour, but wore a kind of close-fitting +tunic, descending to the knees, and leggings leaving the legs bare +above the knees. A rich mantle was thrown over the tunic, for it +was cold.</p> +<p>By his side, similarly dressed, stood his son, the hopeful +Canute, the future King of England, then only in his twelfth year, +but already showing himself a true cub of the old tiger in +fierceness and valour, yet not devoid of nobler and gentler +virtues, as he afterwards showed.</p> +<p>"Welcome, Anlaf," cried Sweyn, as he saw the party arrive; +"welcome, hast thou enjoyed thy holiday in Mercia?"</p> +<p>"Bravely, my king, the ravens have tasted flesh."</p> +<p>"No need to tell me that; thy revenge, then, is accomplished. +Hast thou found thy son?"</p> +<p>"He is with me, my lord, but their saints must have warned the +English of our approach. We burnt the place but the people were not +in it. Their cries would have been music in our ears."</p> +<p>"Perhaps St. Brice told them you were coming; the English have a +veneration for him," said Sweyn, bitterly.</p> +<p>They both laughed a bitter laugh, for both had suffered by the +massacre in the persons of kinsfolks.</p> +<p>"But is this young springal thy long-lost son? he is like thee, +even as a tame falcon is like, and yet unlike, the free wild +bird."</p> +<p>"He is my son;" and Anlaf introduced Alfgar.</p> +<p>The youth made his salutations, not ungracefully, yet with an +air of reserve which the king noticed.</p> +<p>"I thought St. Brice had got him long ago, and feared thou wert +on a wild-goose chase."</p> +<p>"It is a long tale to tell now, my liege."</p> +<p>"Have they Christianised him?" said the king, with a sly +look.</p> +<p>"He will soon lose that," replied Anlaf.</p> +<p>"Yes," said the king; "we know a way of curing the folly," when, +even as he spoke, a spasm, as of mental agony, passed over him, and +he shook like an aspen, but it was gone in a minute.</p> +<p>Was it the fate of his father which was thus avenged?</p> +<p>Every one looked aside and pretended not to notice the fact, and +Anlaf, having made his homage, retired, leading Alfgar.</p> +<p>"You see, my son," commenced the old warrior, as he led his +recovered boy to his own quarters, "how useless it would be for you +to struggle against the tide, such a tide as no swimmer could +breast."</p> +<p>"If he could not swim, it would be easy to drown," said Alfgar, +and there was such a despairing utterance in his tone, that his +father was checked.</p> +<p>The quarters of Anlaf were in the northwestern angle of the +camp; they consisted of huts hastily constructed from the material +which the neighbouring woods supplied, and one or two tents, the +best of which, stolen property, appertained to the chieftain.</p> +<p>Over a wide extent of desolated land, beautiful in its general +outline, where the eye could not penetrate to details, looked the +prospect. The round gently-swelling Sussex downs rose on the +southern horizon, guarding the sea, while around them were once +cultivated fields which the foe had reaped, while quick streams +wound in between the gentle elevations, crowned with wood, and here +and there the mere spread its lake-like form. The sun was now +sinking behind the huge rounded forms of some chalk hills in the +west, when the camp became gradually illuminated by the light of +numberless fires, whereat oxen were roasted whole, and partridges +and hares by the dozen, for the Danes were voracious in their +appetites.</p> +<p>In Anlaf's quarters one huge fire blazed for all. Alfgar seemed +the only silent member of the company; the warriors related their +successes, and boasted of their exploits, and the bards sang their +ferocious ditties, until all were tired, and the quiet moon looked +down upon the sleeping camp.</p> +<p>O the contrast--the calm passionless aspect of the heaven and +the human pandemonium beneath.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h2> +<p>St. Matthew's Day, 1006.--</p> +<p>It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write the +events of the last few days. They have been so calamitous, so +unexpected. We have heard of such things afar off, we had prayed +for our brethren in Wessex, exposed to similar calamities, and now +they have fallen upon us personally. May God, who alone is +sufficient for these things, give us strength to bear all for His +name's sake.</p> +<p>It was a fortnight ago, and our harvest was all gathered in. God +had blessed our increase, and our garners were full with all manner +of store; women and children had mainly been the reapers, but the +Lady Hilda herself had been present amongst them, and so had her +daughter, my niece, Ethelgiva, even sometimes labouring with their +own hands.</p> +<p>Alfgar and Bertric had worked like common serfs, and did +themselves honour thereby, for true nobility lies not in being +idle, save in the field of battle, as the bloody Northmen vainly +think.</p> +<p>Well, the work was over, and we had a mass of thanksgiving, +after which Bertric and Alfgar went hunting in the forest. In the +evening there was a harvest home; it was of course a strange one +without the men, who were afar off, fighting for their country, but +we tried to be thankful for mercies vouchsafed, and I and Father +Adhelm were there to bless the food.</p> +<p>We found a large party assembled--as many, indeed, as the hall +would contain. My sister, the Lady Hilda, was somewhat uneasy, +because Alfgar and Bertric were not yet back, but still not much +alarmed, for what harm could befall such lads in the woods? So I +blessed the food and the feast commenced.</p> +<p>Eating and drinking were over, and the old gleeman, striking his +harp, was beginning a song of harvest home, when in rushed the two +young theows who had gone out with Alfgar and Bertric, with the +startling intelligence that there was a band of Northmen lurking in +the woods, who had seized their young lords, and were, they +thought, bent on attacking the place.</p> +<p>Words of mine cannot paint the terror and dismay the tidings +caused; the scene of distress and fear is yet before my eyes as I +write. One woman rose superior to fear--the Lady Hilda; aided by +her, I stilled the tumult, and we took hasty counsel together.</p> +<p>Nothing could be done for the poor lads, and the preservation of +the lives of the whole population depended upon our promptitude. It +was wonderful to see how the mother stifled her agony in her own +breast, while she strove to remember that, in the absence of her +lord, she was in charge of the safety of all her people, and the +mother of all. I had already interrogated the two churls; their +story was but too evidently true; and I learned that they had +discovered the footmarks of the Northmen in crossing a ford that +afterwards, while returning hastily home, they stumbled upon them, +and Alfgar and Bertric were taken. The party were evidently +awaiting the approach of night, and were doubtless bent on +attacking the castle and village.</p> +<p>Fifty men! and how could we resist them? The poor old gleemen +expressed their readiness to fight for the old hall, and so did +even the boys; but these accursed pagans are the very spawn of the +evil one, and fight like fiends, whom they equal in skill, so that +I saw at once there was no chance in resistance.</p> +<p>But there was safety in retreat and flight, and under our +circumstances no dishonour in so seeking it. So I saw the path +clear at once, and not a minute too soon.</p> +<p>In the depths of the forest, about ten miles from Aescendune, in +the opposite direction to that in which the enemy lay, is a +solitary valley, surrounded by such morasses and quagmires that +only those who know the paths could safely journey thither. But the +valley is fertile, and my father years ago built a substantial farm +house with outbuildings there, which has ever since been occupied +by our chief forester.</p> +<p>Thither I saw at once the whole party must retreat, alike from +the hall, the priory, and the village. In such a way only could +they hope to escape the wretches to whom bloodshed and cruelty are +pastimes.</p> +<p>Yet I was deeply puzzled to understand what motive could have +brought a war party so far, and why they had passed so many +flourishing homes to come to poor secluded Aescendune. Surely, +thought I, there is some great mystery hidden in this, which time +may perhaps show.</p> +<p>In a brief space of time, shorter, indeed, than under other +circumstances we should have conceived possible, everything was +prepared; horses were loaded with provisions and all things +necessary for immediate use. Old men and children were also +mounted, who could not otherwise travel, and we started. It was +indeed painful to part from home, and to leave all we had to the +mercy of the Danes, but "skin for skin, all that a man hath will he +give for his life."</p> +<p>So soon as I saw the party safely away from the town, I left +them under the guidance of some ancient foresters, who knew every +woodland path, and hastened to my brethren, who had been duly +forewarned, and were awaiting my arrival. I found them prepared for +immediate departure. We had a large flat-bottomed boat on the river +which washes the monastery garden; they had placed all the sacred +vessels and the treasure of the priory therein, and had sent the +novices and lay brethren to seek their safety with the rest in the +woods, only the brethren, properly so called, remaining.</p> +<p>And now, ready for immediate flight, we went forth with calm +composure, which God sent us. Then, upon the brink of the stream, +we stopped and listened. No sound broke the dread silence of the +night, and we stood in perfect quiet for some minutes.</p> +<p>At last we heard the sound of muffled footsteps, as of those who +sneak about on the devil's work, approaching the priory, and we +pushed the boat into the stream. The moon had not yet arisen; it +was quite dark. It was the one boat near.</p> +<p>We knew well what they were doing--surrounding the priory to +prevent any chance of escape, supposing, of course, that their +victims would be within. This accomplished, they knocked loudly at +the doors, and receiving no answer, raised their fierce battle cry, +and looked, happily in vain, for the pallid faces they expected to +see at windows or loopholes. Then they proceeded to break the doors +down with their battle-axes. A similar din, beginning a moment +before, told us that the hall and the priory were simultaneously +attacked.</p> +<p>We had heard enough. We let the boat drop down the stream till +we reached a small island, where we waited to see the end, praising +the Lord who had not delivered us over for a prey unto their +teeth.</p> +<p>While we waited in suspense, we saw a fierce light flash forth +from the hall, and perceived that, having plundered it of all that +was portable, they had fired it in many places at once; and while +we looked, we saw our own once happy home share the same fate, and +emulate the hall in sending forth its volume of ruddy flame towards +the skies.</p> +<p>This we had waited for, and we held council, and decided that, +having no home, the brethren should depart with the sacred vessels +and treasure to the mother house at Abingdon, while I remained, as +also Father Adhelm, to minister to our afflicted flock in the woods +as best we might.</p> +<p>Alas for our poor priory! the foundation of Offa and Ella, once +the light of the neighbourhood! but now our candlestick is removed +out of its place.</p> +<p>Our minds being made up as to the course to be pursued, we rowed +quietly down the stream, fearing pursuit.</p> +<p>Down the stream about two hours' journey an old Roman road, +leading southward, crossed the river, where a bridge had once +existed, long since swept away by time, but there was a tolerable +ford quite safe, save in winter floods.</p> +<p>Hard by stood a hostelry, and thither we journeyed in our +heavily-laden bark.</p> +<p>The light of the conflagration grew dimmer as we rowed down the +stream, but it still lighted up the heavens with an angry glare. It +was yet deep night when we drew near the inn, and we lay awhile on +our oars, to listen for signs of pursuit; but there was nought to +disturb the dead silence of the night, so we proceeded.</p> +<p>All the household were buried in sleep when we knocked at the +doors--a proof that they had not observed the redness in the +skies, or little sleep, I trow, would they have taken.</p> +<p>We were so exhausted with the fatigues and excitement of the +enemy, that we hailed this lonely habitation as a little Zoar. It +showed how safe people were feeling in Mercia, that we could not +wake the good people for a long time, and we were getting +impatient, for they seemed like the seven holy sleepers of Ephesus, +awaiting the cessation of persecution. I wish we could all sleep +like those Ephesians, and awake in better days.</p> +<p>But their dogs were awake, and saluted us with a vociferous +barking, and would not allow us to land until they were driven away +by the oars which our theows used with much effect upon their +hides.</p> +<p>At last a window was thrown open above.</p> +<p>"Who are you who travel at this time of night?" said a voice, +which tried to be firm.</p> +<p>"The poor brethren of St. Benedict from Aescendune."</p> +<p>"Now the saints help thy lying tongue," thus irreverently he +spoke, "do holy men travel like robbers in dead of night?"</p> +<p>"Look, my brother, over the tree tops, and you may learn the +cause of our wanderings; dost thou not even yet see the angry glare +in the heavens? It is from Aescendune; the Danes have burned +it."</p> +<p>"Good lack, poor Aescendune! and the people?"</p> +<p>"Are all safe, we trust, in body."</p> +<p>"God be praised!" and the host hurried down and admitted us.</p> +<p>His wife hasted to light a good fire, and to prepare us a +breakfast; in short, we had fallen amongst the faithful, and we met +great hospitality, for which may God repay the worthy host, Goodman +Wiglaf.</p> +<p>We were so fatigued in mind and body that we no sooner lay down +than we fell asleep, and slept until the sun was high in the +heavens.</p> +<p>Wiglaf watched the river jealously to see that no foe pursued; +but, as we afterwards learned, they had other things to think +of.</p> +<p>The road which ran across the river at this spot continued +southward into Wessex, and, so far as we could learn, was free from +danger, so I determined to send my brethren to Abingdon by easy +stages along its course, while I turned back with Father Adhelm, to +share the misfortunes of my kindred and lay brethren in the woods. +So we embraced each other and parted; and we two watched, with +loving hearts, until the glades of the forest hid our brethren, +dear to us in the Lord, from our sight, dimmed as were our eyes +with tears. Then we plucked up our courage, and turned our thoughts +to those others, dear and near to us, who had taken to the woods, +where it was again our duty to seek them.</p> +<p>Wiglaf rowed us back in a light skiff up the stream, not without +much protest, for he feared the Danes would surely catch us, and at +every bend of the stream he crept round, as if he expected to see a +fleet of boats sweep towards us, while he kept in the middle, as if +dreading an arrow from every bush. At length we reached the +immediate neighbourhood, over which the smoke still hung like a +black pall. Here Father Adhelm and I landed, and, giving Wiglaf our +blessing, bade him depart in peace, which the good soul flatly +refused to do until assured of our safety.</p> +<p>So, hiding the boat behind some bushes, we crept forward +together, till, getting through the underwood, we came to the edge +of the covert.</p> +<p>Before us lay the fated village, one mass of deformed and +blackened ruins, from which the dark smoke ceaselessly arose, and +made the air painful to breathe.</p> +<p>But there was no sign of life; no living thing seemed to breathe +there; the place seemed abandoned for ever. It was a dull day, dull +as the gloom which was upon our spirits; the very heavens seemed to +have put on funeral attire, and the chilly wind which swept over +the scene seemed quite at home.</p> +<p>We emerged cautiously from our cover, and soon stood where, a +few days before, the priory had risen, beautiful before God; it was +but a huge pile of blackened timber and stone; and even more +conspicuous above all other ruins, by the black smoke it still sent +forth, was that which had been the hall.</p> +<p>While we stood and pondered, Wiglaf suddenly started.</p> +<p>"I hear the tramp of men," he said.</p> +<p>Then I listened, and distinctly heard the footfall of men and +horses. We paused; it drew nearer. We were on the point of taking +to the woods again, when I thought I caught the sound of the word +of command in the English tongue, and the voice seemed +familiar.</p> +<p>We advanced still cautiously amongst the ruins, until we saw +fifty or sixty horsemen cross the wooden bridge which the Danes had +left uninjured, and advance with horror-stricken faces.</p> +<p>They were my brother and his men.</p> +<p>I recognised Elfwyn amongst them. I rushed up to him, and our +tears mingled together.</p> +<p>"They are safe, are safe," I cried.</p> +<p>"Thank God!" broke from many an overcharged heart.</p> +<p>"But where are they? where are they?"</p> +<p>"Safe at the forest farm, protected by brake and morass; and now +tell me, how came you here?"</p> +<p>Tidings arrived at headquarters that a small party of Danes were +making an incursion into Mercia, riding as rapidly as they could, +and I obtained Edric Streorn's leave to pursue them, with great +difficulty I can tell you, and he would only allow me then to take +fifty men.</p> +<p>"He affected to disbelieve the intelligence, and said +sarcastically that the safety of Wessex could not be neglected for +Aescendune. The Northmen would never hurt a place which had so +distinguished itself on St. Brice's day."</p> +<p>Here he sighed heavily.</p> +<p>"Elfwyn," I said, "my brother, we must not be ungrateful to God. +Here are ruins indeed, but they cover no dead bodies; all have +escaped."</p> +<p>"No, Cuthbert, not all."</p> +<p>I was silent, for I thought of Bertric.</p> +<p>"We have buried him, Cuthbert, in God's peace, in the place he +hallowed by his blood."</p> +<p>I saw the tears stream down his manly cheeks. My voice grew so +hoarse, somehow, that I could not ask a question.</p> +<p>"I will tell you all we have seen by and by, not now. I could +not bear it;" and he covered his face with his hands.</p> +<p>"How did he die?" I stammered at last.</p> +<p>"Like St. Edmund."</p> +<p>I asked no more, but I hope the martyr will forgive me the tears +I shed. I know I ought to rejoice that he has gained his crown, but +I cannot yet. I shall be able some day.</p> +<p>"How could they find the path through the woods, Cuthbert?" +asked my brother; "how did they know the fords?"</p> +<p>The same question had occurred to me.</p> +<p>Then the words of the churl Beorn, who had been taken prisoner, +as the messenger had told us, came fresh to my mind.</p> +<p>"Elfwyn," said I, "do you remember Beorn?"</p> +<p>He looked earnestly at me.</p> +<p>"Did he not say that his captors asked particularly about +Aescendune, and that the name of Anlaf was mentioned, and inquiries +made concerning Alfgar?"</p> +<p>"He did."</p> +<p>"It is the curse of St. Brice's night."</p> +<p>"Fallen upon the innocent."</p> +<p>"Leave it to God," said I.</p> +<p>"I will try; let us go to my people."</p> +<p>And we arose and took the path through the woods, sorrowing for +the news we must carry, and still uncertain about the fate of +Alfgar.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a>. THE CAMP OF THE +DANES.</h2> +<p>It was the noontide heat, and two Danish warriors reclined under +the shadow of an ancient beech, hard by the entrenched camp of the +Danes, a few days after the arrival of Alfgar therein. Their spears +lay idly on the grass, as if there were no foe to dread, and the +land were their own; they seemed deeply engrossed in +conversation.</p> +<p>"Well, Anlaf, and when is your son going to give up his +Christianity?"</p> +<p>"You are in a great hurry, Sidroc."</p> +<p>"Nay, all the camp inquires."</p> +<p>"They must wait."</p> +<p>"How long?"</p> +<p>"I cannot tell," said Anlaf, shifting uneasily about; "he is my +only son, the heir of a long line of warrior princes."</p> +<p>"To whom his life is a disgrace."</p> +<p>"Not altogether; he is brave."</p> +<p>"Would be, you mean, were he not a Christian."</p> +<p>"No, he is, or he would not dare cross my path as he does; +death, with which I have often threatened him, does not seem to +have much terror for him."</p> +<p>"Perhaps he does not know how terrible death can be made. Has he +ever heard of the rista oern<a name="EndNote7anc" href= +"#EndNote7sym"><sup> {vii}</sup></a> (spread eagle)?"</p> +<p>"I should not value him much if I won him by fear. I must try +other modes."</p> +<p>"Only do not tarry; Sweyn himself inquires how long his +obstinacy is to be endured."</p> +<p>"He must not expect that every conversion can be accomplished +with as much rapidity as his own in early days."</p> +<p>"Better not refer to that."</p> +<p>"Why! he was baptized himself."</p> +<p>"He would slay any one who reminded him of it."</p> +<p>"Yes; the curse of Harold Bluetooth, they say, was not a +comfortable thing to get."</p> +<p>"The father was a Christian in that case, and the son returned +to the gods of his ancestors; in your case it is the opposite: the +first might be permitted, the last never."</p> +<p>"You would not talk in that way if he were your own son."</p> +<p>"Should I not? listen; I had a son, a noble, gallant boy of +fifteen--all fire and spirit--do you know how he died?"</p> +<p>"It was before we knew each other."</p> +<p>"Then I will tell you. We had been ravaging the Frankish coasts, +and the lad got a wound in his shoulder; we carried him home, for +he had fought like a wolf, and the leeches tried to cure him, but +it was all in vain; they said he would never be fit to go to battle +again. Poor Sigard! he could not bear that, and he said one day +when I was trying to cheer him, 'No, father, I shall never be able +to strike a good downright blow again, and I cannot live until I +die a cow's death in my bed; I will die as my fathers have died +before me when they could no longer fight.' I saw what he meant, +but I did not like the thought, and I tried to change the subject, +but he returned to it again and again, until at last he persuaded +me to let him have his way. So we took one of our ships, stuffed it +full with things that would burn easily, made a funereal pile on +the deck, and laid him thereon in state, with a mantle fit for a +king thrown over him. Then we bade him goodbye and a happy journey +to Valhalla; he was as cheerful as if he were going to his bridal; +we tried to appear as if we were too, but it tore my heart all the +same. Then we applied the torch and cut the cable; the wind blew +fair, the bark stood out to sea. She had not got half-a-mile from +shore when the flames burst out from every crevice of the hold; we +saw them surround the pile where he lay passive; he did not move so +far as we could see, and after that all was hidden from our sight +in flame and smoke."</p> +<p>The old warrior was silent, and, in spite of his stoicism, Anlaf +thought a tear stood in his eye.</p> +<p>"So don't tell me I could not give up an only son," added +Sidroc.</p> +<p>Anlaf made no reply, but only sighed--a sign of weakness he +strove to repress the moment he betrayed it.</p> +<p>They walked back together to the camp, and there they parted. +Anlaf repaired at once to his tent, and found Alfgar seated +therein.</p> +<p>"The king wishes to know when you will be enrolled amongst his +followers."</p> +<p>The lad looked up sadly, yet firmly; the expression of his face, +whereon filial awe contended with yet higher feelings of duty, was +very touching. Anlaf felt it, and in his heart respected his son, +while sometimes he felt furious at his disobedience.</p> +<p>"Father, it is useless, you should not have brought me here, I +shall live and die a Christian."</p> +<p>"At all events, Alfgar, you should give more attention to all we +have said to you, and more respect to the defenders of the old +belief in which your ancestors were all content to die. What do you +suppose has become of them?"</p> +<p>If Alfgar had been a modern Christian, he might have said, +conscientiously enough, that he believed they would be judged by +their light, but no such compromise in belief was possible +then.</p> +<p>"There is no salvation save in the Church," he said, sorrowfully +enough.</p> +<p>"Then where are they--in hell?"</p> +<p>Alfgar was silent.</p> +<p>"What was good enough for them is good enough for me, and for +that matter for you, too. I should be more comfortable there with +them than with your saints and monks; at all events, I will take my +chance with my forefathers, cannot you do the same?"</p> +<p>"They did not know all I do."</p> +<p>"All fudge and priestly pratings, begotten of idleness and +dreams. Valhalla and Niffelheim are much more reasonable; at all +events they are parts of a creed which has made its followers the +masters of the world."</p> +<p>"This world."</p> +<p>"The next may take its chance, if there is one, of which I by no +means feel sure. You are throwing away the certainty of pleasure +and glory here for an utter uncertainty; those rewards you will +gain by submission are at your feet to take up; those you will gain +by a bloody death only exist in the imaginations of priests."</p> +<p>"'Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, but He hath revealed +them to us by His Spirit,'" said Alfgar in a low voice.</p> +<p>His father was silent; the words struck him like a strain of +weird music; but he did not yield the point, save for the time, and +after a pause changed the subject.</p> +<p>"You have other motives than heavenly ones. You love a Christian +maiden."</p> +<p>"How do you know that?" said Alfgar, blushing to the +temples.</p> +<p>"I have lain near you at night, and you talk in your dreams. +Now, I have yet another motive to put before you. You think you +have cause to love the Aescendune people, because they saved your +life. I think I have cause to hate them, because they made you a +Christian. Now, if you die in your superstition, when we invade +Mercia they shall suffer for it."</p> +<p>"They have suffered enough."</p> +<p>"Nay, only in buildings, which they will restore. I will pursue +them with unrelenting vengeance, with the death feud, till I have +destroyed the accursed race utterly."</p> +<p>"Father!"</p> +<p>"If you would save them," said Anlaf, who saw he had made an +impression, "renounce your Christianity, and I will forget +Aescendune."</p> +<p>Here he left the tent.</p> +<p>The days which followed were, it may be imagined, very +uncomfortable ones for Alfgar; but he was not destitute of +occupation. It was his father's wish that he should join the youth +of the camp in athletic and warlike exercises. This he had no +objection to do, and he spent nearly his whole time in practising +the use of battle-axe, of bow, of spear, of sword, and shield, or +in managing the war horse, for the Danes had acquired cavalry +tactics on stolen horses.</p> +<p>Naturally quick, both of eye and hand, he learned all these +things easily, and excited the admiration and envy of his +companions. They became useful in time.</p> +<p>In this manner nearly a month passed away, when an incident +occurred which claims our attention.</p> +<p>Strolling on the earthworks which defended the camp, near the +royal quarters, Alfgar came unexpectedly upon no less a person than +the king himself, in close conversation with a stranger.</p> +<p>There was something in the form and manner of this stranger +which even in the brief moment conveyed recognition to the mind of +our hero; and a second glance, which was all he dared to cast, as +he withdrew from the spot, revealed to him the face of a +traitor.</p> +<p>It was Edric Streorn.</p> +<p>A few hours later the chieftains were all summoned to a council +in the king's tent, and when, after a short session, they came +forth, the general order was given to break up the encampment, and +move towards the southwest for the winter, for all the resources of +the country around were exhausted.</p> +<p>The work was a laborious one. From the dawn of day, horses, +heavily laden, left the camp, loaded with the accumulated spoil of +the year. Anlaf himself was very busy, and it was with some real +alarm that Alfgar asked him what would happen did the English +suddenly appear.</p> +<p>"No fear of them, boy. We have received certain intelligence +that their army is disbanded for want of provisions. They will not +meet till the spring unless we rout them up."</p> +<p>Alfgar knew well whence the "certain intelligence" came.</p> +<p>Destroying and plundering, the mighty host moved on its way, +crossing into Hampshire, and doing, as the chronicle says, "their +old wont." Of them it might be said in the words of the +prophet:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Like Eden the land at morn they find; +But they leave it a desolate waste behind." +</pre></div> +<p>Whenever they found a tract of country as yet unexhausted, there +they settled until they had exhausted it. The wretched inhabitants, +who had fled at their approach, perished with hunger, unless they +had strength to crawl to the far distance, where as yet bread might +be found.</p> +<p>It was the custom of the invaders to burn all their resting +places when they left them, and to slay all captives, save such as +could be held to ransom, or a few whom they detained in slavery, +till they died a worse death from want and ill usage.</p> +<p>Thus they moved from spot to spot, until towards the middle of +November they reached the coast opposite the Isle of Wight, in +which unfortunate island they decided, after due consideration, to +winter.</p> +<p>Opposite the host, across the Solent, rose the lovely and gentle +hills of the "garden of England;" but between them lay the Danish +fleet, in all its grandeur, calmly floating on the water. Each of +the lofty ships bore the ensign of its commander; some carried at +the prow the figures of lions, some of bulls, dolphins, dragons, or +armed warriors, gaudily painted or even gilded; while others bore +from their mast the ensign of voracious birds--the eagle, the +raven--which appeared to stretch their wings as the flag expanded +in the wind.</p> +<p>The sides of the ships were also gay with bright colours, and as +the warriors embarked and hung up their bright shields, grander +sight was never seen.</p> +<p>But chiefly Alfgar admired the ship of Sweyn, called the "Great +Dragon." It was in the form of an enormous serpent; the sharp head +formed the prow, with hissing tongue protruding forth, and the long +tail tapered over the poop.</p> +<p>In this ship Anlaf himself had his place, in deference to his +descent, and Alfgar accompanied him. It may easily be imagined he +would sooner have been elsewhere.</p> +<p>Scarcely a fishing boat belonging to the English could be +discerned: the Danes made a desert around them.</p> +<p>Eight years before, in the year 998, they had wintered on the +island, and since that time had regarded it as a Danish colony. No +English remained in it save in the position of slaves, and the +conquerors had accumulated huge stores of spoil therein, while they +drew their stores of provisions from every part of the adjacent +mainland.</p> +<p>"Is it not a grand sight, Alfgar?" exclaimed his father. "Are +you not proud of your people, the true monarchs of the sea?"</p> +<p>Alfgar was for the moment inclined to sympathise; but he thought +of the darker side of the picture, and was silent.</p> +<p>There was a higher glory far than all this, and it had left a +lifelong impression on his soul.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a>. CARISBROOKE IN THE ELEVENTH +CENTURY.</h2> +<p>The fleet bore the troops of savage soldiery safely--too +safely--across the waters of the Solent, to the estuary formed by +the Medina, where now thousands of visitors seek health and repose, +and the towers of Osborne crown the eastern eminences. A fleet may +still generally be discerned in its waters, but a fleet of pleasure +yachts; far different were the vessels which then sought the +shelter of the lovely harbour, beautiful even then in all the +adornment of nature.</p> +<p>There the Danes cast anchor, and the forces dispersed to their +winter quarters. The king and his favourite chieftains took up +their abode at Carisbrooke, situate about eight miles up the +stream, but above the spot where it ceases to be navigable.</p> +<p>Their chosen retreat was the precincts of the old castle--old +even then--for it had been once a British stronghold, commanding +the route of the Phoenician tin merchants across the island, whence +its name "Caer brooke," or the "fort on the stream."</p> +<p>The Romans in after ages saw the importance of the position, +fortified it yet more strongly, and made it the chief military post +of the island, which, under their protecting care, enjoyed singular +peace and prosperity--civilisation flourished, arts and letters +were cultivated. The beautiful coasts and inlets were crowded with +villas, and invalids then, as now, sought the invigorating breezes, +from all parts of the island of Britain, and even from the +neighbouring province of Gaul.</p> +<p>The Roman power fell at last, and when the English pirates, our +own ancestors, like the Danes of our story, attacked the +dismembered provinces of the empire, its wealth and position on the +coast made it an early object of attack--happy those who fled +early. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle shall tell the story of those who +remained.</p> +<p>"AD. 530. This year Cerdic and Cynric conquered the Isle of +Wight, and slew many people at Whitgarasbyrg" (Carisbrooke).</p> +<p>The conquering Cerdic died four years after, and his son Cynric +gave the island to his nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar. The latter died +in 544, and was buried in the spot he and his had reddened with +blood, within the Roman ramparts of Carisbrooke.</p> +<p>It is needless to say that at that early period our ancestors +were heathens, and the mode of their conquest was precisely similar +to that we are now describing under another heathen (with less +excuse), Sweyn the son of Harold.</p> +<p>It was a few days after the arrival of the Danes at their +quarters, and Alfgar stood on the rampart at the close of a +November day; it was St. Martin's Mass, as the festival was then +called. The sun was sinking with fading splendour behind the lofty +downs in the west, and casting his departing beams on the river, +the estuary, with the fleet, and the blue hills of Hampshire in the +far distance.</p> +<p>Southward and westward the view was alike shut in by these lofty +downs, and eastward the hills rose again, so as to enclose the +valley, of which Carisbrooke formed the central feature.</p> +<p>The ramparts whereon he was standing were of Roman workmanship, +built so solidly that they had resisted every attack of man or of +time; while down below lay the ruins of a magnificent villa, once +occupied by the Roman governor of the island.</p> +<p>Anlaf appeared and stood beside his son.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," he said, "the day after tomorrow is the day of St. +Brice."</p> +<p>He paused and looked steadfastly in the face of his son.</p> +<p>"And the king proposes to enrol you amongst his chosen warriors +on that day; he has marked the skill you have displayed in the +mimic contests with spear or sword, your skill as a horseman, and +he wishes to see whether in actual battle you will fulfil the +promise of the parade ground."</p> +<p>"And yet he knows my faith."</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said the old man solemnly, "you must renounce it or +die; no mercy will be shown to a Christian on St. Brice's day; that +is why the king has chosen it. Think, my son, over all I have told +you; you will decide like one who yet controls his senses, and not +disgrace your aged father."</p> +<p>"Father, I do think of you," said the poor lad; "at least +believe that. I do not grieve for myself. I feel I could easily die +for my faith, but I do grieve over the pain I must cause you."</p> +<p>The heart of the old warrior was sensibly affected by this +appeal, but not knowing the strength of Christian principle, he +could not reconcile it with facts, and he walked sadly away.</p> +<p>But two days, and the dread choice had to be made--the crisis +in the life of Alfgar, a crisis which has its parallel in the lives +of many around us--approached, and he had to choose between +Christ and Odin, between the death of the martyr and apostasy.</p> +<p>He walked to and fro upon the ramparts, after his father left +him, in the growing darkness, feebly illuminated by the light of a +new moon. Below him, in the central area, a huge fire burned, +whereat the evening meal was preparing for the royal banquet, for +Sweyn and his ferocious chieftains were about to feast +together.</p> +<p>Escape was hopeless. Even had he not been bound by the promise +given to his father, it would have been very difficult. He felt +that his motions were watched. The island was full of foes, their +fleet occupied the Solent. No; all that was left was to die with +honour.</p> +<p>But to bring such disgrace upon his father and his kindred! +"Blood is thicker than water," says the old proverb, and Alfgar +could not, even had he wished, ignore the ties of blood; nature +pleaded too strongly. But there was a counter-motive even there-- +the dying wishes of his mother. If his father were Danish, she was +both English and Christian.</p> +<p>Before him the alternatives were sharply defined: Apostasy, and +his ancestral honours, with all that the sword of the conqueror +could give; and on the other hand, the martyr's lingering agony, +but the hope of everlasting life after death.</p> +<p>He could picture the probable scene. The furious king, the scorn +of the companions with whom he had vied, nay, whom he had excelled, +in the exercises of arms, end the ignominious death, perhaps that +painful punishment known as the "spread eagle." No, they could not +inflict that on one so nobly born, the descendant of princes.</p> +<p>Alas! what might not Sweyn do in his wrath?</p> +<p>Was Christianity worth the sacrifice? Where were the absolute +proofs of its truth? If it were of God, why did He not protect His +people? The heathen Saxons had been victorious over the Christian +Britons; and now that they had become Christian, the heathen Danes +were victorious over them. Was this likely to happen if Christ were +really God?</p> +<p>Again Odin and Frea, with their children, and the heroes sung by +the scalds, in the war songs which he heard echoing from around the +fire at that moment:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"How this one was brave, +And bartered his life +For joy in the fight; +How that one was wise, +Was true to his friends +And the dread of his foes." +</pre></div> +<p>Valour, wisdom, fidelity, contempt of death, hatred of meanness +and cowardice, qualities ever shining in the eyes of warlike +youth.</p> +<p>This creed had sufficed for his ancestors for generations, as +his father had told him. Why should he be better than they? If they +trusted to the faith of Odin, might not he?</p> +<p>And then, if he lived, when the war was carried into Mercia, he +would save his English friends, even although forced to live +unknown to them.</p> +<p>"Oh! life is sweet," thought he, "sweet to one so young as I. I +have but tasted the cup; shall I throw it down not half empty?"</p> +<p>He was almost conquered. He had all but turned to seek his +father, when suddenly the remembrance of Bertric flashed vividly +upon him.</p> +<p>He saw, as in a vision, the patient, brave lad enduring mortal +agony for Christ, so patiently, so calmly. Had Bertric, then, died +for <i>nought</i>? He felt as if the martyr were near him, to aid +him in this moment, when his faith was in peril.</p> +<p>"O Bertric, Bertric!" he cried, "intercede for me, pray for +me."</p> +<p>He fell on his knees, and did not rise until the temptation was +conquered, and then he walked steadily into the great vaulted room, +of Roman construction, which served as the banqueting hall, and +took his usual place by his father's side.</p> +<p>Oh, how hollow the mirth and revelry that night! How he loathed +the singing, the drunken shouting, the fierce imprecation over the +wine cup--the sensuality, which now distinguished his +bloodthirsty companions. The very knives he saw used for their +meals had served as daggers to despatch the wounded or the helpless +prisoner. The eyes, now weak with debauch, had glowed with the +maniacal fury of the berserkir in the battlefield. Was this the +glory of manhood? Nay, rather of wolves and bears.</p> +<p>Then he looked up at Sweyn, the murderer of his father, and +marvelled that his hand was yet so steady--his head so clear. +This apostate parricide! never would he live to kiss the hand of +such a man; better die at once, while yet pure from innocent blood. +This his Christianity had taught him.</p> +<p>"Minstrel," cried the fierce king, "sing us some stirring song +of the days of old; plenty of the fire of the old Vikings in +it."</p> +<p>A strange minstrel, a young gleeman, had been admitted that +night--one whose chain and robes bespoke him of the privileged +class--and he sang in a voice which thrilled all the revellers +into awed silence. He sang of the battle, of the joy of conquest, +and the glories of Valhalla, where deceased warriors drank mead +from the skulls of vanquished foes. And then he sang of the cold +and snowy Niffelheim, where in regions of eternal frost the +cowardly and guilty dead mourned their weak and wasted lives. In +words of terrific force he painted their agony, where Hela, of +horrid countenance, reigned supreme; where the palace was Anguish, +Famine the board, Delay and Vain Hope the waiters, Precipice the +threshold, and Leanness the bed.</p> +<p>But in the innermost chamber of this awful home was the abode of +Raging Despair; and in the final verse of his terrible ode the +scald sang:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Listen to the ceaseless wail, +Listen to the frenzied cry +Of anguish, horror, and amaze; +Would ye know from whom they come, +Tell me, warriors, would ye know?" +</pre></div> +<p>Here he paused, after throwing intense emphasis on the last +words, till he had concentrated the attention of all, and the king +gazed--absorbed--then he continued:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"There wave on wave of bitter woe +Overwhelms the parricide." +</pre></div> +<p>The king started from his seat. He was about to launch his +battle-axe through the air in search of the daring minstrel, when +the same dread expression of unutterable agony we have before +mentioned passed over his face; he trembled as an aspen, and sank, +as one paralysed, into his chair, while his glaring eyes seemed to +behold some horrid apparition unseen by all beside. The warriors +now turned in their wrath to seek the daring or unfortunate +minstrel, but he was gone.</p> +<p>Alfgar had seen the apostate in his moment of retributive agony, +and he shuddered.</p> +<p>"Better death, far better," he murmured, "than a fate like this. +God keep me firm to Him."</p> +<p>The king had by this time recovered his usual composure, but his +rage and fury were the more awful that the outbreak was +suppressed.</p> +<p>"Sit down, my warriors, disturb not the feast. What if your king +has been insulted in his own banquet hall? there are hands enow to +avenge him without unseemly tumult. Let us drink like the heroes in +Valhalla. Meanwhile let the minstrel be sought and brought before +us, and he shall make us sport in a different mode."</p> +<p>The "rista oern" whispered one in his ear.</p> +<p>The ferocious king nodded, and his eyes sparkled with the +expected gratification of his fierce cruelty. Meanwhile warriors +were searching all the precincts of the camp for the destined +victim.</p> +<p>Nearly half-an-hour had passed, and the king was getting +impatient, for nearly all the chieftains were getting too drunk to +appreciate the spectacle he designed for them.</p> +<p>"Why do the men delay?" he cried; "let them bring in the +minstrel."</p> +<p>Still he came not; and at length the searchers were forced, one +after the other, to confess their failure.</p> +<p>"It is well," said the king; "but it was the insult of a +Christian, and shall be washed out in Christian blood. Anlaf, +produce thy son."</p> +<p>"Nay, nay, not now," cried Sidroc and others, for they saw that +Sweyn was already drunk, and consideration for Anlaf made them +interfere. "Not now; tomorrow, tomorrow."</p> +<p>"Nay, tonight, tonight."</p> +<p>"Drink first, then, and drown care," said Sidroc, and gave the +brutal tyrant a bowl of rich mead.</p> +<p>He drank, drank until it was empty, then fell back and reposed +with an idiotic smile superseding the ferocious expression his face +had so lately worn. Meanwhile a hand was laid upon Alfgar's +shoulder, and a keen bright eye met his own, as if to read his +inmost thoughts.</p> +<p>"Come with me, or my father will disgrace himself."</p> +<p>It was Canute.</p> +<p>He led Alfgar forth into the courtyard.</p> +<p>"Thou dost not seem to fear death," said the boy prince.</p> +<p>"It would be welcome now."</p> +<p>"So some of our people sometimes say, but the motive is +different; tell me what is the secret of this Christianity?"</p> +<p>Just then Sidroc and Anlaf came out from the hall and saw the +two together. Sidroc seemed annoyed, and led the young prince away, +while Anlaf seized the opportunity to whisper to his son:</p> +<p>"My son, I can do no more for thee; I see thou wilt persist in +thine obstinacy. I release thee from thy promise given to me; +escape if thou canst, or die in the attempt; but bring not my grey +hairs to contempt on the morrow."</p> +<p>At this moment, Sidroc having seen Canute to the royal quarters, +returned.</p> +<p>"Sidroc," said Anlaf, "I cannot any longer be the jailor of my +unhappy and rebellious son. Let him be confined till the morrow. I +shall ask leave of absence from Sweyn, and now I deliver Alfgar to +your care."</p> +<p>"I accept the charge," said Sidroc; "follow me, Alfgar, son of +Anlaf."</p> +<p>Alfgar followed passively. He could not help looking as if to +take leave of his father; but Anlaf stood as mute and passionless +as a statue. Sidroc reached a party of the guard, and bade them +confine the prisoner in the dungeon beneath the ruined eastern +tower.</p> +<p>"Listen to my last words, thou recreant boy; Sweyn will send for +thee early in the morning before the assembled host; it will be the +day of St. Brice; and even were he not now mad with rage, there +would be no mercy for a Christian on that day. Thou must yield, or +die by the severest torture, compared with which the death of thy +late companion under the archers' shafts was merciful. Be +warned!"</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a>. THE GLEEMAN.</h2> +<p>It was a low dungeon, built of that brick which we still +recognise as of Roman manufacture, in the foundations of what had +been the eastern tower of the ancient fortification. The old pile +had been badly preserved by the Saxon conquerors, but it had been +built of that solid architecture which seems almost to defy the +assaults of time, and which in some cases, after fifteen centuries, +preserves all its characteristics, and promises yet to preserve +them, when our frailer erections lie crumbled in the dust.</p> +<p>The roof was semicircular, and composed of minute bricks, +seeming to form one solid mass; the floor of tiling, arranged in +patterns, which could still be obscurely traced by the light of the +lamp left by the charity of Sidroc to the prisoner; for the dungeon +was of bad reputation; lights had been seen there at unearthly +hours, when the outer door was fast and no inmate existed.</p> +<p>There were two long narrow windows at the end, unbarred, for +they were too small for the human body to pass through them; they +looked upon the valley and, river beneath, for although the dungeon +was below the level of the courtyard, it was above that of the +neighbourhood.</p> +<p>The prisoner strode up and down the limited area, wrestling with +self, bending the will by prayer to submit to ignominy and pain, +for he knew now that his father had abandoned him, and that he had +to apprehend the worst; still he did not regret the choice he had +made, and he felt, as he prayed, peace and confidence descend like +heavenly dew upon his soul. Mechanically he cast his eyes around +the cell, and tried to trace out the pattern of the flooring, when +he saw that the central figure, around which the circles and +squares converged, was justice, with the scales, and the motto, +"Fiat justitia." He knew the meaning of the words, for Father +Cuthbert had taught him some Latin, and the conviction flashed upon +him that, sooner or later, all the wrong and evil about him would +be righted by the power of a judge as omnipotent as unerring. And +this thought made him the more reconciled to the apparent injustice +of which he was the victim, and he prayed for his father, that God +would enlighten him with the true light.</p> +<p>"Perhaps before he dies he may yet think of me without +shame."</p> +<p>For the shame which he unwillingly brought upon a father who was +stern, yet not unkind or void of parental love, was the bitterest +ingredient in the cup.</p> +<p>And so the hours rolled on, which brought the dreaded morn +nearer and nearer; and the victim, comforted by prayer, but without +hope in this world, slept, and thought no longer of the torturer's +knife, or felt the cruel anticipations which would rack the waiting +mind.</p> +<p>And while he slept he was wakened, yet but partly wakened, by a +voice which seemed to belong to the borderland 'twixt sleep and +waking.</p> +<p>"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, sleepest thou?"</p> +<p>"Surely I dream," thought he, and strove to sleep again.</p> +<p>"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, sleepest thou?"</p> +<p>Now he sat up, and beheld, or thought he beheld, a figure of one +clothed in the attire of a minstrel, in the centre of the +chamber.</p> +<p>"Art thou yet in the flesh like me?" he cried, repressing a +shudder.</p> +<p>"Even so, a being of like mould, subject to pain and death."</p> +<p>"A prisoner, then; art doomed to die?"</p> +<p>"No prisoner, neither art thou, if thou willest to escape."</p> +<p>"Thou art the gleeman who insulted Sweyn."</p> +<p>"Nay, who told the brutal tyrant the truth."</p> +<p>"And what doest thou here?"</p> +<p>"I am come to deliver thee."</p> +<p>"But how?"</p> +<p>"Rise up, cast on your garments."</p> +<p>Hardly knowing what he did, Alfgar obeyed, and when he stood +face to face with the stranger, began to lose the uneasy impression +that the being who addressed him was otherwise than mortal; for he +saw by the light of the lamp that the gleeman bore all the +attributes of a living man.</p> +<p>"How came you here?"</p> +<p>"Because I know the secrets of the prison house--knew them +before the Danes had murdered the once happy dwellers in this +garden of England, which they have made a howling wilderness; hence +I escaped the wrath of the furious parricide, whom the saints +destroy, with ease, and laughed in security at their vain efforts +to take me; but we must waste no time; it yet wants five hours to +daybreak; within those five hours we must reach the opposite +shore."</p> +<p>"But tell me, I cannot understand, why hast thou braved the +wrath of Sweyn? why hast thou cared for me?"</p> +<p>"All in good time, follow me now, I bid thee by the memory of +Aescendune."</p> +<p>"Aescendune! surely I dream."</p> +<p>"Yes, of Aescendune. I have heard that thou art thence. Now +waste no more time."</p> +<p>More and more mystified, for he had never to his knowledge seen +the speaker before, Alfgar gazed at the gleeman.</p> +<p>He appeared of noble air and mien, but was evidently but a young +man; he was somewhat above the average height, and looked as though +he could wield the sword as well as the harp. But how were they to +escape?</p> +<p>Alfgar was not left long in doubt. The stranger took up the lamp +and walked to the farthest recess of the dungeon, where, concealed +amongst the rude carvings with which the builders had ornamented +the wall, was a rose carved in stone. The gleeman pressed it +sharply, and a hidden door sprang open, revealing a winding +staircase excavated in the solid wall.</p> +<p>"Upwards it leads to the banqueting hall, and you can comprehend +my escape this evening," said he; "but our path is now downwards, +unless you would like to go up and see the drunken beasts of +murderers snoring off their debauch upon the floor as they fell; +oh, that it were lawful for a Christian man to cut their throats as +they lie; many innocent lives would be saved thereby, which those +brutes will live to destroy."</p> +<p>"Thou art, then, a Christian?"</p> +<p>The gleeman crossed himself piously.</p> +<p>"Why not?" said he.</p> +<p>"I heard you sing like a scald tonight."</p> +<p>"It was my part, and I acted it passing well, did I not? Sweyn +would own as much; but, pardon me, I am forgetting that my daring +put you in danger."</p> +<p>"How did you know that?"</p> +<p>"I heard every word; and perhaps I might even have risked more +than this to save you."</p> +<p>Meanwhile they had descended nearly a hundred steps, and the +atmosphere became singularly cold and charnel-like, when they +entered a large vault, which, by the light of their torches, +appeared of great extent. Its walls were covered with uncouth +representations, and inscriptions in Latin.</p> +<p>"What place is this?"</p> +<p>"It had some connection, I believe, with the old idolatry, and +that is all I know. This passage will guide us to daylight and +liberty."</p> +<p>Following a short and narrow passage, they emerged upon a ruined +vault, whose roof had fallen in. Climbing out with some difficulty, +and disturbing in the process hundreds of bat-mice and not a few +rats, they found themselves in the midst of some old ruins at the +foot of the acclivity whereon the fortress was built, and below +them the brook ran rapidly to join the river.</p> +<p>"Thanks be to God for our preservation in that den of unclean +lions!" said the gleeman; "but had they known who was amongst them, +he would have had scant chance of escape."</p> +<p>"May I not know?"</p> +<p>"Not yet. Come, we must waste no more time."</p> +<p>They walked swiftly down the brook. No sentinels were posted in +this direction, nor was any lookout kept.</p> +<p>"The danger is yet to come," said the gleeman, in a low +tone.</p> +<p>Shortly they reached the river, and then they found a boat +hidden in the rushes, which grew tall and strong. They embarked, +and Alfgar steered, by the other's direction, straight down the +stream, while he rowed for full an hour with remarkable strength +and dexterity, so that they drew near the coast, and the cold air +from the sea blew in Alfgar's face.</p> +<p>Here the gleeman ceased rowing, and spoke to him in a low +tone.</p> +<p>"Do you see those dark figures ahead?"</p> +<p>"I do."</p> +<p>"Well, they are the Danish war ships, and our hour of peril +draws near. We must drop down with the tide, which is running out +strongly, and I must steer. You can row, I suppose?"</p> +<p>"Yes."</p> +<p>"Well, get the oars ready to pull for your life, if I give the +word, but not till then. Now silence."</p> +<p>In perfect silence they drifted down upon the ships. Happily for +them there was no moon, and although the stars were bright, there +was little danger that their dark-painted bark would be seen at any +distance.</p> +<p>One great mass after another seemed to float by them; but it was +the dead hour of the night, and no sounds were heard from the +sleeping crews. They kept lax watch, because they had no foe to +dread. There was, alas! no English fleet.</p> +<p>One after another, until they had drifted into the centre of the +fleet, where discovery must have been instant death. There above +them rose the "Great Dragon," in all her hideous beauty, the gilded +serpent reposing on the placid waves. Her people, even at that +untimely hour, were engaged in revelry, and as they passed by the +fugitives heard the words:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Now the warrior's cup of joy was full, +When he drank the blood of his foe, +Where the slain lay thick on the gory hill, +And torrents of blood from every rill +reddened the river below, +For Odin's hall is the Northman's heaven--" +</pre></div> +<p>But they heard no more, for they had drifted beyond hearing.</p> +<p>They had now attained the last ship, when suddenly a watchman +sprang to the side.</p> +<p>"Boat ahoy! Whence and where?"</p> +<p>"From the 'Great Dragon'--a poor gleeman and his attendant to +his home on the shore."</p> +<p>"Come on board then, and wake us with a song. The watch is ours, +and we will make it merry."</p> +<p>There was no help for it; and commending courage with a +significant look to his companion, the gleeman and Alfgar ascended. +It was yet dark, and the language and appearance of each might pass +tolerably under ordinary circumstances for the characters they had +assumed.</p> +<p>"Now a song, and we will keep it up till daylight."</p> +<p>Thus pressed, the gleeman took his harp and sang an old +Scandinavian song of the first sea king who invaded England, Ragnar +Lodbrok.</p> +<p>He told how the fierce Ragnar sailed for England, how his fleet +was wrecked, but still how, with the relics of his forces, he +assaulted Northumbria, and was taken captive by Ella the king, who +threw him into a hole filled with vipers and toads.</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Sharp the adder's tooth, but sharper +Spake the sea king to his foes, +Spake while savage brows grew darker, +As he told the countless woes +Which the bear's fierce cubs should bring +To those who slew their father and their king." +</pre></div> +<p>Then he described the retribution, and the lingering death of +Ella under the agonies of the "rista oern" so vividly, that every +Danish heart was filled with emulation.</p> +<p>"Well sung!" shouted the Danes. "Thou dost sing a song worth +hearing. Hast not taught thy son to sing likewise?"</p> +<p>In turn Alfgar was forced to support his assumed character. +Luckily his tenacious memory retained the words of many an old +song, and the warriors were well pleased.</p> +<p>"Why must thou go to shore? We will feed and guerdon thee well +if thou wilt stay with us."</p> +<p>"We are aweary now, and would fain return to our comrades on the +shore, but we will return by and by."</p> +<p>"Do so, here is thy reward;" and one of the speakers threw a +gold chain round the gleeman's neck. Gold was plentiful with the +robbers.</p> +<p>They were allowed to return to their boat; but as they did so, +many a keen eye was fixed upon them. The dawn was already beginning +to appear in the east, and every moment was of importance.</p> +<p>"Thou hast borne the test well," said the gleeman, "and hast not +flinched."</p> +<p>"I could not in your presence."</p> +<p>At this moment they heard the rapid splash of a boat, manned by +many rowers, behind, and a voice shouted aloud to the men on board +the ship they had left:</p> +<p>"Hast seen a boat with a gleeman and harp bearer?"</p> +<p>"They have just left the ship."</p> +<p>"Follow; they are English spies. Sweyn will give the weight of +their heads in red gold."</p> +<p>Instantly they heard the sound of hurried voices, the lowering +of boats, the splash of numerous oars, and all nearly close behind +them. They took an oar each, and pulled with all the energy of men +who pull for life or death.</p> +<p>The light was gradually growing stronger, and their chance of +escape seemed feeble, when Alfgar saw before them a dense cloud of +mist rolling round the eastern promontory, and uttered a cry of joy +as it enfolded them.</p> +<p>"The wind is east, keep it on your right cheek, and steer +straight forward. I will take both oars," said the gleeman.</p> +<p>It was wonderful with what energetic force and success the +gleeman pulled until they had cleared the mist, and saw that they +were in the red light of dawn, in the midst of the Solent.</p> +<p>One half-mile behind them a solitary boat pursued. There +appeared to be only five men, four rowing and one steering. Other +boats there were, but wide of the mark.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said the gleeman, "you will find a quiver of arrows +and a long bow at the bottom of the boat behind you."</p> +<p>Alfgar handed them to him.</p> +<p>"The points are passing sharp, and the bow is in order; take +your turn to row."</p> +<p>Alfgar obeyed; he could not do otherwise, the gleeman's tone of +command was so powerful, but he feared they would loss time by the +change.</p> +<p>"You need not hurry yourself; let them approach. They are not +likely to have brought other weapons than their swords and +axes."</p> +<p>The boat gained on them rapidly, until it was within a hundred +and fifty yards.</p> +<p>"Keep just this distance if you can," said the gleeman, and drew +an arrow suddenly to its head; it whistled through the air, and the +steersman, transfixed, rose, leapt in the boat, and fell in the sea +a corpse.</p> +<p>"Gone to seek oysters for King Sweyn's table, I suppose," said +the gleeman.</p> +<p>Another steersman promptly took the place, but some yards were +lost by the pursuers.</p> +<p>"Slacken, we are too far for accurate aim; and we English must +not disgrace ourselves in Danish eyes."</p> +<p>They slackened, another arrow sped, and the foremost rower fell. +Evidently the Danes had no means of reply.</p> +<p>"Slacken yet more;" and before the pursuers could recover their +confusion, a third fell, then a fourth, before the unerring shafts. +The fifth was at the fearful gleeman's mercy, but he restrained +himself, now danger had vanished.</p> +<p>But as he did so he cried aloud:</p> +<p>"Dane, we give thee thy life, blood sucker though thou art. Go, +and tell King Sweyn that Edmund<a name="EndNote8anc" href= +"#EndNote8sym"><sup> {viii}</sup></a> the Etheling, son of Ethelred of +England, has been his gleeman, and hopes he enjoyed the song which +told the doom of parricides."</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a>. THE MONASTERY OF +ABINGDON.</h2> +<p>One of the central lights of civilisation and Christianity in +the early days of Wessex was the monastery of Abingdon. St. Birinus +had fixed the centre of his missionary labours at Dorchester, only +six miles distant, but the Abbey was the fruit of the heroic zeal +of another evangelist, upon whom his mantle fell--St. Wilfrid. +After the death of Birinus, the zeal of his successors failed to +evangelise the southeastern districts of Wessex, until, at length, +came Wilfrid, fervent in zeal, and, stationing himself at Selsey, +near Chichester, evangelised both Sussex and Wessex, sending out +missionaries like-minded with himself, even into the most +inaccessible wilds.</p> +<p>Centwin was then king of Sussex, but various petty states were +tributary to him, and ruled by viceroys. One of these viceroys was +Cissa, whose dominions included Wiltshire and the greater part of +Berkshire<a name="EndNote9anc" href= +"#EndNote9sym"><sup> {ix}</sup></a>. This Cissa and his nephew, Hean, +founded Abingdon. A mission was sent out from Chichester which +attracted great multitudes of the Berkshire folk. Hean was present, +and heard the preacher take for his text that verse of St. Matthew +which declares that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye +of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. These +words entered into the hearts of Hean and his sister Cilla, who was +with him. They determined to go and sell all that they had and +embrace a life of poverty. From their uncle, Cissa, they obtained +grants of land, whereon they founded monastic homes. Cilla +dedicated the convent she reared to St. Helena, the mother of +Constantine, traditions of whose life in the neighbourhood had +survived the Saxon Conquest.</p> +<p>Hean obtained the land of which Abingdon formed the central +point, then generally known by the name Cloveshoo. He was tardy in +his work as contrasted with his sister, and Cissa died without +seeing the work for which he had given the land accomplished. +Ceadwalla succeeded him (A.D. 685), and further augmented the +territory. He rebelled against Centwin, and became king of Wessex; +spending most of his life in warfare; it was through his conquest +of the island that the "Wight" became Christian. He made a +pilgrimage to Rome, where he died, after his baptism by Pope +Sergius.</p> +<p>Ina, his successor (A.D. 688), was so angry at the long delay in +building the monastery, that at first he revoked the grant of his +predecessors to Hean, but becoming reconciled, gave all his energy +to the work, and Cloveshoo<a name="EndNote10anc" href= +"#EndNote10sym"><sup> {x}</sup></a>, or Abingdon, became a monastic +town, and its history commences as a house of God from Ina, about +A.D. 690-700.</p> +<p>Important benefits were thus conferred on the whole +neighbourhood; agriculture flourished, learning increased, a +sanctuary for the oppressed was provided, and last, though not +least in Ina's eyes, a bulwark against Mercia was provided for the +neighbourhood; while the poor and the afflicted found their +happiness in every way promoted by the neighbourhood of the +monastery.</p> +<p>Several times the monastery was in peril by reason of the wars +between Wessex and Mercia. In A. D. 752, Cuthred of Wessex defeated +Ethelbald of Mercia at Burford, hard by, and protected Abingdon +from further aggressions. Twenty-five years later the decision of +war was reversed. Offa, the great and fierce king of Mercia, +defeated Cynewulf of Wessex, at Bensington, and spoiled the land, +destroying the convent of St. Helena, founded by Cilla, and +grievously robbing and oppressing Abingdon.</p> +<p>But the most awful calamity it ever underwent was its +destruction in the first great Danish invasion, in the early days +of King Alfred, when it was literally levelled with the ground, +only, however, to arise in greater magnificence when the storm had +passed away.</p> +<p>However the period of anarchy had introduced evils which +required a stern reformer, and one was found in the person of the +abbot Ethelwold, the friend of St. Dunstan, who, in conjunction +with him and Oswald, introduced the rule of St. Benedict into +Abingdon, Glastonbury, Ely, and other great houses, which, by its +absolute prohibition of monastic idleness, and its wise +regulations, caused the religious houses of that period to become +the central points of civilisation and learning in the land.</p> +<p>Here, at this famous monastery, we resume Father Cuthbert's +Diary.</p> +<p>In festo St. Edmundi.</p> +<p>Again I resume my diary, at the great monastic house of +Abingdon, where I have rejoined my brethren. I have already told +how, in company with Elfwyn, Father Adhelm and I sought the forest +farm where our beloved ones had found refuge from the cruel +oppressor. The joy of the women and children to whom their husbands +and fathers were thus restored was very touching; all seemed +willing to forget the destruction of their homes, since they had +been spared to each other, and I, to whom, by my vows, such love is +unknown, yet could but feel how holy a thing is family +affection.</p> +<p>Alas, there was one family where the bitterness of death had +found its way. I cannot describe the touching scene when Elfwyn +told the fate of dear Bertric. Well, they will learn by and by to +thank God for him and his example, for we doubt not he died a +martyr, although we know not the details, and, unless Alfgar yet +lives, shall perhaps never know them.</p> +<p>We held a long consultation upon our future movements. It was +wisely decided not to rebuild Aescendune at present, for the place +where they now are can be rendered very commodious, and is far more +secure against a foe. We do not dare to hope that we have seen the +last of our troubles; the Danes are wintering in the Wight, ready +for fresh mischief next spring and summer.</p> +<p>We have been able to learn nothing of Alfgar; but we think that +Anlaf probably yet lives, and that he has recovered his son; yet we +cannot imagine how he escaped on St. Brice's night.</p> +<p>Well, to return. We at once set to work, and erected a church of +timber, for the service of God; and I said mass in it the first +Sunday after our arrival there. It may be supposed it is not a very +grand church; but God looks at the living stones, and reads the +heart.</p> +<p>We all had enough to do for the first few days; but within a +week one might suppose we had been living there an age. Log huts +were erected for the whole population; the old farm house, which is +large and strongly built, taking the place of the hall. One must +dispense with some comfort now.</p> +<p>My brother sent a portion of his men to rejoin the army, but +feels himself justified in entering at once on his winter quarters +with the remainder; in fact, since my arrival at Abingdon, the +troops have all been dismissed for the winter, and the Danes have, +as I said, retired to the Wight.</p> +<p>Then, leaving Father Adhelm in charge of the woodland +settlement, I determined to visit my brethren here, where I have +been received with all Christian love and hospitality by the abbot +and his brethren. Three days my journey lasted. I travelled with +only two attendants, serfs of our house; a poor prior burnt out +from house and home.</p> +<p>Nov. 21st, 1006.--</p> +<p>This evening I heard heavy steps on the stairs, and methought +their tread seemed familiar, as well it might, for no sooner had +the door opened than my son Alfgar, for whom we had mourned as +dead, or at least dead to us, fell upon my neck and wept.</p> +<p>It was a long time before either of us was composed enough to +say much, but when we had a little recovered, the abbot who had +brought them to my rooms introduced a tall young man in gleeman's +garb, as Edmund the Etheling.</p> +<p>At length we all sat down to supper, but talked so much we could +eat little, and I soon learned all the news Alfgar had to tell. His +tale is wonderful; he has been indeed delivered from the mouth of +the lion, nay, from the jaws of the fierce lion; but I must set +down all things in order.</p> +<p>The one thing which delights me most is the way in which his +faith has stood the hard hard test to which it has been put.</p> +<p>But my dear nephew Bertric, Saint Bertric we must assuredly call +him, oh how it will lighten the grief of his parents and sister to +know how gloriously he died for Christ! One could envy him his +crown.</p> +<p>And then how delighted Ethelgiva will be to learn not only that +Alfgar is alive, but to hear how true and brave he has been.</p> +<p>But when all these congratulations were over, and we had learned +all that Alfgar had to tell, there was evidently something on the +mind of the prince.</p> +<p>"Alfgar and I have a very important duty to perform," he +said.</p> +<p>I waited, and he proceeded.</p> +<p>"There has been grievous treachery in our ranks. Edric Streorn +has sold us to the Danes."</p> +<p>"I feared as much," said I, sadly.</p> +<p>"I learned it at Carisbrooke, and am now on my way to +Dorchester, where my royal father has arrived, or will arrive +tomorrow. I should have gone there at once, but Alfgar learned you +were here, and would come. Besides, we need your help to fit us for +appearing at court."</p> +<p>And, in truth, their habiliments were not very royal.</p> +<p>Well, Abingdon is a town of great resources, wherein all things +meet may be found.</p> +<p>"We will to the tradesmen tomorrow," I said, "and fit you for +the presence."</p> +<p>"I have yet heavier news to unfold," Edmund added, very +seriously. "The Danes purpose a winter campaign in the heart of the +land, hoping to take us unawares."</p> +<p>"Now the saints forbid!" said I.</p> +<p>"Even so; but they are not all with us. St. Brice is against +us."</p> +<p>I sighed, and so did they. The very remembrance of that day is +sickening.</p> +<p>"We have heard," said the abbot, "that the king will arrive +tomorrow at Dorchester; we will send you thither in the morning. +Meanwhile, my sons, you do not eat and drink as I would have you. +Remember you need to sustain exhausted nature."</p> +<p>That was indeed true. They had travelled fast, and had fasted by +the way, of necessity.</p> +<p>"Well, Alfgar, we will tomorrow to the king," said Edmund, after +they had eaten and drunken; "he must surely listen to us now."</p> +<p>"He appears to love this wicked Edric," said the abbot +sorrowfully.</p> +<p>"Far better than his own flesh and blood," replied Edmund.</p> +<p>"My son," said the abbot, "rest here this night in our poor +house; tomorrow we will find you both horses and fitting apparel, +and ye shall go meetly to the king, who is the guest of the +bishop."</p> +<p>"I shall not be sorry, father, to see the inside of my chamber," +said the young prince; for he is yet young, although so wise and +valiant--not more than a year or two older than Alfgar.</p> +<p>The compline bell rang.</p> +<p>"I will go with you to thank God first for our deliverance, and +to pay my vows to Him," said Edmund; "then to bed."</p> +<p>After compline, Edmund went from the chapel to bed. Alfgar would +not retire. He came to my cell; there he talked with me for a full +hour. His affection moves me greatly. He has evidently found a real +friend in Prince Edmund, who has delivered him from a cruel death, +and who wants to attach him permanently to his service. Meanwhile +Alfgar is all haste to return to Aescendune and Ethelgiva, before +any further steps are taken.</p> +<p>Saturday, Nov. 22d, 1006.--</p> +<p>After we had arrayed the Etheling and Alfgar this morning, I +decided to accompany them on their road to Dorchester, for it +happened that I had arranged to say mass and preach tomorrow at the +little church of St. Michael at Clifton, the residence of my sister +Bertha and her husband Herstan. It lies on a cliff over the Thames, +on the way to the cathedral city, whence its name, "the town on the +cliff."</p> +<p>So we started, the Etheling, Alfgar, and I, after the chapter +mass at nine. We crossed the fine timber bridge over the Isis, then +kept the causeway over the marshes, till, crossing an arm of the +main stream, we ascended a hill and passed through the open +country.</p> +<p>On the north the country is richly wooded. There lies the chase +of Neweham, abounding in deer, with a few wolves yet lingering in +its recesses, and forming sport for the ceorls.</p> +<p>In the neighbourhood of a great monastery the roads are always +good, and waggons can travel easily and smoothly from Abingdon to +Dorchester. So, being well mounted, we were only the best part of +an hour in reaching Clifton.</p> +<p>The river here makes a sudden bend to the east, after running +for some time almost due north, and at the bend the steep cliff +rises whereon the little church and my brother Herstan's hall is +built, with a few cottages below and around occupied by his +theows.</p> +<p>We went first to the church and offered our devotions. From the +elevated ground whereon it stands, the cathedral of Dorchester and +the Synodune hills formed conspicuous objects.</p> +<p>Then we turned to the hall, and met a reception such as warmed +the heart. When we had refreshed ourselves, I had to tell Bertha +all the strange events which have recently happened at Aescendune; +of the destruction of her old home, but of the well being of all +her friends; yes, of all, for we know that he has won the martyr's +crown.</p> +<p>Some natural tears she dropped; but I think she soon came to see +all things in their right light, as we try to do.</p> +<p>Soon after our arrival, Herstan sent a messenger to Dorchester +to learn at what hour the king was expected; and the answer was +returned, that they expected him in time for the banquet at the +episcopal palace this evening. So Edmund and Alfgar consented to +pass the day quietly at Cliffton.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a>. THE CITY OF +DORCHESTER.</h2> +<p>Dorchester was at this period the most important city of the +Midland counties, for it was the seat of the great bishopric which +extended its sway over nearly the whole of Mercia.</p> +<p>Here the apostle of Wessex, Birinus, had converted and baptized +Cynegils, king of that country, Oswald, the saintly king of +Northumbria, being present, and receiving him fresh from the +regenerating waters as his adopted son. Here, the next year, +Cuichelm, his brother, was baptized, and from this centre +Christianity was widely diffused. The good bishop died in the year +650, and was buried amongst the people he loved, but many years +later his relics were translated to Winchester. But the tale went +forth that the cunning canons of Dorchester had given them another +body than that of the saint, and their shrine was the object of +veneration equally with the rival shrine at Winchester.</p> +<p>Dorchester became successively the seat of two great bishoprics +--the one West Saxon, the other Mercian. The first, founded by +Birinus, when Wessex extended far north of the Thames, was divided +seventy years later into two sees--Winchester and Sherburne. For +some years the city was without bishops, owing to its insecure +position during the strife between Wessex and Mercia, but later it +appears as the seat of the great Mercian bishopric, retaining its +jurisdiction until after the Norman conquest, when the see was +transferred to Lincoln. Therefore Dorchester long enjoyed a wide +celebrity and greater influence, than the city, Oxenford, which, +lying at a distance of ten miles, was destined to supersede it +eventually.</p> +<p>The day was closing on an evening of November 1006, and the sun +was sinking across the level country beyond the walls, when the +people of Dorchester might have been seen crowding the roads which +led from the eastern gate towards Bensington and Wallingford; the +wooden bridge by which the road crossed the Tame was covered with +human beings, and every eye was eagerly directed along the great +high road. The huge cathedral church towered above the masses, rude +in architecture, yet still impressive in its proportions, while +another church, scarcely smaller in its dimensions, rose from the +banks lower down the stream, below the bridge, and the wooden +steeple of a third was visible above the roofs of the houses in the +western part of the city.</p> +<p>But, as in every other city which had once been Roman, the +relics of departed greatness contrasted painfully (at least we +should think so) with the humbler architecture around. The majesty +of the churches was indeed (as a contemporary wrote) great, but +thatched roofs consorted ill with the remains of shattered column +and pedestal, and with the fragmentary ruins of the grand +amphitheatre, which were yet partly visible, although the stones +which had been brought from Bath to build it had been employed +largely in church architecture.</p> +<p>The light of day was rapidly fading; a light breeze brought down +the remaining leaves from the trees, or whirled them about in all +directions; winter was plainly about to assume the mastery of the +scene, as was evident from the clothing the people wore, the thick +fur and warm woollen cloaks which covered their light tunics.</p> +<p>At length the sound of approaching cavalry was heard, and the +cry "The King! the King!" was raised, and cheers were given by the +multitude. It was observable, almost at a glance, that they +proceeded from the young and giddy, and that their elders refrained +from joining in the cry.</p> +<p>About a hundred horsemen, gaily caparisoned, appeared, and in +the midst, with equal numbers of his guard preceding and following, +rode Ethelred the king. He was of middle stature and not uncomely, +but there was a look of vacillation about his face, which would +have struck even an indifferent physiognomist, while his thin lips, +which he was constantly biting (when he was not biting his nails), +seemed to indicate a tendency towards cruelty.</p> +<p>But by his side rode one, whose restless eyes seemed to wander +to each individual of the crowd in turn, while power and malice +seemed equally conspicuous in his glance. Little changed since we +last beheld him rode the traitor, for so all but the king accounted +him, Edric Streorn.</p> +<p>Amidst the shouts of the populace, who loved to look on the +display, the Bishop Ednoth<a name="EndNote11anc" href= +"#EndNote11sym"><sup> {xi}</sup></a> and the chief magistrates of the +city received the monarch and his councillor in front of the church +of Sts. Peter and Paul, and escorted him through the streets to the +palace, which stood in what was then a central position, on the +spot now called Bishop's Court. It was spacious, built around a +quadrangular courtyard, with cloisters surrounding the lowest +storey and the smooth shaven lawn, in the centre of which a granite +cross was upraised. A gateway opened in the southern side and led +to the inner court, and the cloisters opened from either side upon +it.</p> +<p>On the opposite side of the quadrangle was the great hall where +synods were held, and where, on state occasions, such as a royal +visit, the banquet was prepared.</p> +<p>Here, after the king had availed himself of the bath, and his +attendants had divested themselves of their travel-stained attire, +the throne of the king was placed at the head of the board, and a +seat for the bishop on his right hand, and for Edric on his +left.</p> +<p>Ethelred took his place; upon his head a thin circlet of gold +confined his flowing locks already becoming scant, but, as their +natural colour was light, not otherwise showing signs of age: he +was only in his fortieth year. His tunic was finely embroidered in +colours around the neck, and was below of spotless white, secured +by a belt richly gilded, whereon was a sheath for the dagger or +knife, which was used for all occasions, whether in battle or in +meal time, the haft being inlaid with precious stones. Over the +tunic a rich purple mantle was lightly thrown, and his slippers +were of dark cloth, relieved by white wool; the tunic descended to +his heels.</p> +<p>The attire of Edric was similar in shape, but of different +colour; his tunic was of green, edged with brown fur, his mantle of +dark cloth, and his belt of embossed leather. There was a studied +humility in it all, as if he shunned all comparison with the +king.</p> +<p>Ednoth said grace, and the chanters responded. The canons of the +cathedral, the priests of the other churches, the sheriff of the +county, the reeve of the borough, the burgesses, all had their +places, and the banquet began; huge joints being carried round to +each individual, from which, with his dagger, he cut what he +fancied and deposited it on his plate; then wine, ale, and mead +were poured foaming into metal tankards, and lighter delicacies +followed. There was no delay; no one cared to talk until he had +satisfied his appetite.</p> +<p>The king, as a matter of course, opened the conversation, when +the edge of desire was gone.</p> +<p>"Have the levies who served in the war all been disbanded, +Sheriff?"</p> +<p>"The last returned from the garrisons in Sussex a week ago, and +are all hoping for a quiet winter in the bosom of their +families."</p> +<p>"Have they lost many of their number? Did the people of this +hundred suffer greatly in the war which Sweyn forced upon us?"</p> +<p>"Not very many; still there has been a little mourning, and much +anticipation of future evil," replied the bishop.</p> +<p>"That is needless," said Edric; "they may all prepare to keep +their Christmas with good cheer. The Danes are sleeping, +hibernating like bears in their winter caves."</p> +<p>"While they are so near as the Wight, who can rest in peace?" +said Ednoth.</p> +<p>"The Wight! it must be a hundred miles from here; the Danes have +never reached any spot so far from the coast as this."</p> +<p>"Yet there is an uneasy belief that they will attack the inland +districts now that they have exhausted the districts on the coast, +and that we must be prepared to suffer as our brethren have +done."</p> +<p>"Before they leave their retreat again we shall be ready to meet +them; our levies will be better trained and more numerous."</p> +<p>"A curse seemed upon all our exertions this last year," said +Ednoth, sorrowfully. "We were defending our hearths and our homes, +yet we were everywhere outmanoeuvred and beaten. It could not have +been worse had we had spies and traitors in command."</p> +<p>The king slightly coloured, for he resented all imputations on +his favourite, and was about to make a sharp reply, when a voice +which made him start, replied:</p> +<p>"Quite right, reverend father! as you say, success was +impossible while spies and traitors commanded our forces."</p> +<p>All looked up in amazement; two guests had entered unbidden, and +the king, the bishop, and Edric recognised Prince Edmund.</p> +<p>"The unseemly interruption is a sufficient introduction to the +company. I need not, my friends, present to you my turbulent son +Edmund, or the attendant he has picked up."</p> +<p>"No need whatsoever, if you will first allow us to explain the +reasons of our presence here. We have somewhat startling news from +the enemy."</p> +<p>"The enemy, by my last advices, lies quiet in the Isle of +Wight," said Edric.</p> +<p>"I will not dispute your knowledge, my lord Edric," replied the +Prince, "considering the intimacy you stand on with Sweyn."</p> +<p>"Intimacy! I would sooner own intimacy with the Evil One."</p> +<p>"You might own that, too, without much exaggeration, since the +good bishop will bear me witness that he is the father of +lies."</p> +<p>"Edmund, this is unbearable," said the king.</p> +<p>"Pardon, my father and liege, but truth will out."</p> +<p>The company sat in amazement, while the hand of Edric played +convulsively with the hilt of his dagger; meanwhile Edmund ate, and +gave to Alfgar, ere he spake again.</p> +<p>"Stay, Edric," whispered the king; "thou art my Edric. I was +never false to thee, nor will I be now; did I not, for thy sake, +look over the death of Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, and put out the eyes +of his sons? canst thou not trust me now?"</p> +<p>Thus strengthened, Edric remained, and uneasy whispers passed +around the assembly.</p> +<p>At last Edmund looked up.</p> +<p>"When the flesh is weak through toil and fasting, speech is not +eloquent, but now listen, all Englishmen true, and I will speak +out."</p> +<p>He told his tale, how he had conceived suspicions that the Danes +intended a winter descent; how he had risked his life (in the +exuberance of youthful daring) to ascertain the truth; how, +trusting to his knowledge of Carisbrooke, wherein he had spent many +pleasant days in his boyhood, he had ventured amongst the Danes as +a gleeman, in imitation of Alfred of old; how there he had +assisted, unsuspected, at a meeting of the council in the great +hall, and heard it decided to invade England, and finally how he +had escaped. And then he continued:</p> +<p>"And in that council I heard that the Danes had a secret friend +in the English army, who ever gave them due warning of our +movements, and who caused all the miscarriage of our last campaign. +Stand forth, Edric Streorn, for thou art the man, and my sword +shall prove it, if need be."</p> +<p>"Edmund, thou ravest," cried the king; "produce thy +witnesses."</p> +<p>"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, answer; whom didst thou espy talking with +Sweyn?"</p> +<p>"Edric Streorn."</p> +<p>"How didst know him?"</p> +<p>"Because he threatened my life on St. Brice's night, and I had +often seen him while dwelling in Mercia."</p> +<p>"A Dane witnessing against a free-born Englishman? Can it be +endured?" cried Ethelred. "What, here, my royal guard!--here! +here! your King is insulted--insulted, and by his son and his +son's minions."</p> +<p>The guard rushed in, their weapons in their hands.</p> +<p>"Seize my son, the false Edmund."</p> +<p>"Here I am," quietly said the hero of the English army, for such +he was, although not recognised as such by the government of his +father. "Here I am; what Englishman will bind me?"</p> +<p>The men stood as if paralysed.</p> +<p>"Will you not obey?" shouted the weak Ethelred, and stamped in +impotent anger on the floor.</p> +<p>But they would not--they could not touch Edmund.</p> +<p>Edric whispered in the king's ear.</p> +<p>"I was wrong," said the king; "retire, guards.</p> +<p>"Edmund, come with me; tell me what you have seen. I will hear +you, and judge between you and my Edric--judge fairly."</p> +<p>"Wait till my return, Alfgar."</p> +<p>Alfgar waited. No one spoke to him; all the company seemed +utterly bewildered, as well they might be until, after the +expiration of an hour, during which time Ednoth had left the hall, +and the company broke up by degrees, an officer of the court came +and whispered in his ear that Edmund awaited him without the +gates.</p> +<p>He left the table at once, and proceeded beyond the precincts of +the palace, following his guide.</p> +<p>"Where is the prince?"</p> +<p>"He has had a stormy interview with his father, and has just +left him, refusing to lodge in the palace, to sleep without the +precincts. I am to conduct you thither."</p> +<p>Leaving the palace, they were passing through some thick +shrubbery, when all at once two strong men sprang upon Alfgar. At +the same moment his attendant turned round and assisted his foes. +He struggled, but he was easily overpowered, when his captors led +him away, until, passing a postern gate in the western wall of the +town, they crossed an embankment, and came upon the river. There +they placed him on board a small boat, and rowed rapidly down the +stream.</p> +<p>In the space of a few minutes they ran the boat ashore in the +midst of dense woods which fringed the farther bank, and there they +forced him to land, and led him upwards until, deep in the woods, +they came upon an old timbered house. They knocked at the door, +which was speedily opened by a man of gigantic stature and +ruffianly countenance, by whose side snarled a mastiff as repulsive +as he.</p> +<p>"Here, Higbald, we have brought thee a prisoner from our +lord."</p> +<p>The wretch looked upon Alfgar with the eyes of an ogre bent on +devouring a captive, and then said:</p> +<p>"The chamber where blind Cuthred was slaughtered looks out on +the woods behind where no one passes, and it is strong; it will be +better for you to take him there."</p> +<p>And he drew aside to let them pass.</p> +<p>"Here, Wolf" said the uncouth gaoler, "smell him, and see you +have to guard him."</p> +<p>The dog seemed to comprehend. He smelt around the prisoner, then +displayed his huge fangs, and growled, as if to tell Alfgar what +his fate would be if he tried to escape.</p> +<p>The poor lad turned to his captors who had brought him there, +for they seemed more humane than his new gaoler.</p> +<p>"For pity's sake, tell me why I am brought here--what crime I +have committed."</p> +<p>No reply.</p> +<p>"At least bear a message to one who will think I have deserted +him in his need."</p> +<p>Again they were silent.</p> +<p>They had ascended a rough staircase. At the summit a passage led +past two or three doors to one made of the strongest plank, and +strengthened with iron.</p> +<p>They opened it, thrust him in, showed him, by the light of their +torches, a bed of straw in the corner.</p> +<p>"There you can lie and sleep as peacefully as at Carisbrooke," +said one of his guards.</p> +<p>"And let me tell you," added Higbald, "that it will be certain +death to try to get away; for if you could escape me, my dog Wolf, +who prowls about by day and night, would tear you in pieces before +any one could help you. He has killed half-a-dozen men in his +day."</p> +<p>Like a poor wounded deer which retires to his thicket to die, +Alfgar threw himself down upon the bed of straw. His reflections +were very, very bitter.</p> +<p>"What would Edmund think of him?"</p> +<p>"He will know I am faithful. He will not think that the lad +whose life he saved has deserted him. He will search till he find +me even here."</p> +<p>Thus in alternate hope and despair he sank at last to sleep-- +nature had its way--even as the criminal has slept on the +rack.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a>. THE SON AND THE +FAVOURITE.</h2> +<p>A stormy scene had meanwhile taken place in an interior chamber +of the palace of the bishop, which had been metamorphosed into a +council chamber for the king. There were present Ethelred himself, +his irrepressible son, the traitor Edric, the bishop, the sheriff +of the shire, and the reeve of the borough, with the captain of the +hus-carles, or royal guard.</p> +<p>"We all need Divine guidance at this moment," said Edric, +clasping his hands meekly; "would you, my lord and king, ask the +bishop to open our proceedings with especial prayer for the grace +of meekness."</p> +<p>"Hypocrite!" said Edmund, with a sound like the gnashing of +teeth.</p> +<p>The bishop, however, said the form generally used at the +meetings of council, but omitted to notice the special suggestion +of Edric.</p> +<p>"The case before us," said the king, "is a difficult and trying +one, but one which we must discharge in our bounden duty towards +our subjects. Perhaps it is well that the accusation so often urged +by backbiters against our faithful subject Edric should--"</p> +<p>"Your majesty begs the question when you call that coward +'faithful.'"</p> +<p>"Silence, Edmund," said the king, sternly, "you are hardly yet +of age, yet you dare to interrupt me. I was going to say that it is +a good thing the accusation should at length be plainly made, and +not spoken in a corner by men who are afraid to speak out."</p> +<p>"Lest they should get the reward of Elfhelm of Shrewsbury," +added Edmund.</p> +<p>The bishop here interposed.</p> +<p>"Prince, remember that God has said, 'Honour thy father.'"</p> +<p>"Has he not somewhere also said, 'Parents, provoke not your +children to anger'?"</p> +<p>"God judge between you, then," said the bishop, "but I warn you +that you appear the greater transgressor."</p> +<p>"Meanwhile," said Edric, "I feel like a man who is being put +unjustly to the torture. What is the accusation against me?--let +it be stated in plain words."</p> +<p>"That just after the army disbanded in October, you visited the +camp of Sweyn, and gave him to understand that the country was at +his mercy, opposition being removed."</p> +<p>"What day of the month?"</p> +<p>"I do not know the exact day."</p> +<p>"Perhaps it was in the Greek calends," said Edric.</p> +<p>"I do not know when the Greek calends are, nor do I want to; my +mother spent her time, I thank God, in teaching me to speak the +truth, and to be true to my country, and not in teaching me +outlandish gibberish."</p> +<p>"Still," said the bishop, "it is important to learn the +day."</p> +<p>"Alfgar can perhaps inform you, but one day must have been much +like another to him in the Danish camp."</p> +<p>"His statement would need verification," said Ednoth.</p> +<p>"He is as true and brave as any man here."</p> +<p>"Of course, all Danes are true and brave," said Edric.</p> +<p>"He is a Christian."</p> +<p>"Yes; I think he became one on St. Brice's day," suggested +Edric.</p> +<p>"To save his life, no doubt," said the sheriff.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Ethelred had changed colour, and Edric cried out:</p> +<p>"Have we not forgotten in whose presence we are? The king, who +was quite ignorant of the mistaken zeal which misinterpreted his +wishes that day, cannot bear to be reminded of it. He is all too +merciful and gentle for such days as ours."</p> +<p>"I suppose he put on mourning for Elfhelm," whispered Edmund in +the bishop's ear.</p> +<p>"Forget not that he is your father."</p> +<p>"We are wasting time," said the king. "Edric, what is your +answer to this accusation?"</p> +<p>"That when the army disbanded I went on pilgrimage to the shrine +of St. Joseph at Glastonbury, and can produce, in the time +requisite for a messenger to go and return, an attestation to that +effect. Here," he said, putting his hand to his bosom, and drawing +out a reliquary, "is a holy thorn plucked from St. Joseph's +tree."</p> +<p>"Art thou not ashamed, my son, to have brought such a charge +against the venerator of the Saints, one of the few in whom faith +yet lives?"</p> +<p>"No, for I do not believe he was ever there at all."</p> +<p>"Witness the holy thorn."</p> +<p>"Thorns may be plucked in bushels round Dorchester or any other +place."</p> +<p>"It is a question of pure testimony," said the bishop.</p> +<p>"It is," added the sheriff and the reeve.</p> +<p>"Then, may I produce my witness?" said Edmund.</p> +<p>"Certainly," said the king.</p> +<p>"By all means," added Edric.</p> +<p>The bishop called an attendant, and ordered him to fetch +Alfgar.</p> +<p>"Before he enters I must remind you all," said Edric, "that the +word of a Dane is to be opposed to that of a Christian."</p> +<p>"I have already said that Alfgar is a Christian."</p> +<p>But Edric had already, by his adroit suggestion about St. +Brice's day, predisposed the company to doubt the genuineness of +Alfgar's conversion.</p> +<p>A long pause succeeded, which no one seemed to care to break. +Ethelred was anxious for his favourite; the traitor himself was +studying how to meet the accusation; the Prince was furious, and +was striving in vain to repress his surging passions, the others +were perplexed.</p> +<p>The messenger returned after a time to say that Alfgar had left +the palace.</p> +<p>"Left the palace!" said Edmund.</p> +<p>"About half-an-hour since."</p> +<p>"There is some vile treason here," said Edmund.</p> +<p>"Treason! on whose part?" said Edric.</p> +<p>"Thine, villain."</p> +<p>"I am glad you think so, for you give me an opportunity of +demonstrating to the court how unreasonable your hatred makes you, +and how unjust. I have not left the king's presence since your +first appearance."</p> +<p>"It is true," said Ethelred.</p> +<p>Edmund was completely baffled.</p> +<p>"It appears to me," said the king, "that he fears the discovery +of his villainy, and has taken himself off. I will offer a fitting +reward to the man who shall produce him; meanwhile, it is useless +to continue this scene."</p> +<p>"Wait at least a few minutes," said Edmund, and went forth +himself.</p> +<p>Vainly he sought through all the courts of the palace--once he +thought Alfgar, whose fidelity he never suffered himself to doubt, +might be in the chapel, and went there in vain.</p> +<p>At last he found a servitor who had seen him go with some men +into the city, and hurried forth in search of him. He passed +through all the streets inflaming the curiosity of the watchmen; +the darkness (for there were very few lamps or lights of any kind, +in those days, for public use) was intense, a drizzling rain was +falling, and at length, weary, wet, and dispirited, he returned to +the palace, and found that the council, tired of waiting, had at +length broken up.</p> +<p>The bishop offered him hospitality, evidently sympathising with +his distress, and once suggested a doubt of the fidelity of his +page, but Edmund repelled it instantly.</p> +<p>"He is true as life," he said.</p> +<p>"But the king himself is witness that Edric has not left his +presence."</p> +<p>"If not, he has plenty of villains about him to anticipate his +orders, vile as Godwin, port-hund of Shrewsbury. Depend upon it +they have murdered him, but if so, I will have vengeance, such +vengeance--I will challenge the villain Edric to single +combat."</p> +<p>"The Church would forbid it."</p> +<p>"Do you then sympathise with the hypocrite?"</p> +<p>"Alas, my son! who can read the heart of man? I know not what to +think."</p> +<p>"But you could read the history of the last campaign. A fool +might--I beg pardon--were not all our plans known beforehand? +Did not all our enterprises fail? Were not all our ambushes +anticipated? Did we not fall into all theirs? If they had had a +prophet like Elisha, who told the king of Israel all Benhadad said +in his council chamber, they couldn't have managed better. Can you +explain this?"</p> +<p>"No, my son."</p> +<p>"Then I can, for I heard Sweyn say that they had a friend in the +English camp."</p> +<p>"Then you actually put your head in the lion's mouth, prince?" +and the good bishop, purposely to relieve the prince's mind, drew +out from him all the story of his late adventures.</p> +<p>Deep was the distrust which Ednoth himself entertained of the +fair-speaking Edric, yet he would not encourage the Etheling in +further ill-timed opposition to his father.</p> +<p>So at last Edmund slept, and trusted that with the morn he +should find Alfgar; but the morn came, and all his inquiries were +vain.</p> +<p>The chamber in which Alfgar was confined contained a box-like +recess for the straw bed, a chair, and a rough table, and these +were all the comforts at his disposal, but they were enough for one +in that hardy age. It was very strongly built, not a loose plank +about it, although the wind found its way through numerous +crevices, to the slight discomfort of the inmate.</p> +<p>But not one hour of sleep could Alfgar take all that night. What +would the Etheling think of him? was his constant thought, he who +had saved his life at the risk of his (the Etheling's) own. Must he +not think that the lad whose life he had saved had been false to +him? and this thought was agony to the faithful and true heart of +the prisoner.</p> +<p>He scarcely doubted for one moment into whose hands he had +fallen--that he was in Edric Streorn's power. The only thing he +could not quite comprehend was, why they had thought it worth while +to imprison him, when murder would seem the more convenient mode of +removing an unpleasant witness.</p> +<p>Early on the following day he heard some people approach the +door of the house, and heard them admitted. Shortly afterwards a +firm step ascended the stair, and the door opened.</p> +<p>Edric Streorn stood before him.</p> +<p>The captor eyed his captive with a look of conscious pride, and +said with some complacence, "You see, and perhaps repent, your +rashness in the accusation you made."</p> +<p>"It was true."</p> +<p>"I do not think it worth my while to deny it here; but what of +that?--I am an Englishman by birth, but (let us say) a Dane by +choice. You are a Dane by the fortune of birth, but an Englishman +by choice; the worse choice, you will find, of the two."</p> +<p>Alfgar felt confused.</p> +<p>"But I did not come here to exchange compliments with you, nor +to prove, as to the fools you have chosen to serve, that I was on +pilgrimage at the time you name. I have a direct purpose in +detaining you here, for I have lately seen Sweyn."</p> +<p>"Traitor!"</p> +<p>"I thought we had agreed that we could not throw stones at each +other on that account. Well, the gentle Sweyn has taken your +evasion very much to heart, and earnestly desires to repossess +himself of your person; but for this, my easiest plan would have +been to rid myself of so troublesome a witness in a more speedy +manner, and you might ere this have fed the fishes of the +Thames.</p> +<p>"Therefore," he continued, "unless you can satisfy me of two or +three points, I shall deliver you to Sweyn."</p> +<p>Alfgar thought at first that this was simply an idle threat, +since it would be almost impossible to convey him secretly through +the country to the Isle of Wight. Edric understood his +thoughts.</p> +<p>"You forget," he said, "that Sweyn will shortly be here; your +friend, the Etheling, may have told you that, if you did not know +it before; he is telling it to everybody, but no one believes him. +Only think, no one will believe that Sweyn could be so audacious, +and they think that, listening behind walls and in cupboards, the +Etheling, perhaps, drank too much of what he found there--and +that was all. Well, when Sweyn comes, he may, if he will, make a +public example to all apostates in your honoured person; meanwhile +Edmund thinks you have deserted him."</p> +<p>No torturer ever seemed to take a keener pleasure in the throes +of his victim, than Edric in the mental agony he kindled in the +breast of his unhappy prisoner.</p> +<p>"But I said I might release you, or at least mitigate your fate, +on one condition, that you answer me a plain question directly and +plainly. Under what name does Edmund travel, and what disguise, and +does he purpose to trust himself in the Danish camp again? Where is +he at present residing? he has disappeared from the palace."</p> +<p>"Monster!" said Alfgar, "you tempt like Satan. Away, and leave +me to my fate."</p> +<p>"You will think better of it by and by when confinement upon +bread and water has tamed you. I will come once more, but it will +be the last time; and, mark you, should your people be defeated-- +the Danes I mean--still your escape would not necessarily follow; +the house might take fire, it is of timber, and would soon burn +down; a sad misfortune it would be.</p> +<p>"Good morning. I am going to mass with the king; shall I say a +Pater and an Ave for you, since you are prevented from being there. +The saints have you in their holy keeping!"</p> +<p>His manner throughout had been like that of a cat playing with a +mouse, and there was quite a gratified smile upon his lips as he +went.</p> +<p>Strange to say, Alfgar felt less miserable after he was gone. +The wickedness of Edric seemed so great, his hypocrisy so +unblushing, that in his simple faith Alfgar could not believe that +he would be allowed to succeed. Many a holy text in the Psalms came +to his mind, and seemed to assure him of Divine protection.</p> +<p>"I myself have seen the ungodly in great power; and flourishing +like a green bay tree.</p> +<p>"I went by, and, lo! he was gone; I sought him, but his place +could nowhere be found.</p> +<p>"Seek innocency, and take heed to the thing that is right: for +that shall bring a man peace at the last."</p> +<p>"So, come what will," said he, "I will trust in Him and never +will I save my life by uttering one word which might betray the +innocent."</p> +<p>In this manner days lengthened into weeks. He tried in vain to +open any intercourse with his ferocious jailor, whose ward was +sometimes shared by a comrade, when there was much ungodly revelry +below, and snatches of Danish war songs mingled with profane oaths. +The deep, deep bay of the mastiff sometimes gave warning of the +advent of a stranger, or of the step heard from the distance, in +the still deep night; but this was all that Alfgar could learn of +the outer world, from which he was banished at so critical a +moment.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY AT +CLIFFTON.</h2> +<p>SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT.--</p> +<p>The evening, after the Vesper service in the church was over, +and darkness had closed in, we all sat down to our evening meal. +The doors were shut to keep out the storm, and I had already said +grace, when the Etheling suddenly appeared.</p> +<p>His manner struck us all. He looked wild and agitated, and his +first words cast a chill over us.</p> +<p>"Where is Alfgar?"</p> +<p>"Is he not with you, what has happened?" said I and Herstan, +speaking in the same breath.</p> +<p>"No, I have lost him. I had hoped to find him here; they must +have murdered him," he cried.</p> +<p>"Murdered him?"</p> +<p>"Yes, he was too dangerous to Edric to be suffered to live. I +might have foreseen it; and they have put him out of the way by +cowardly assassination," insisted the Etheling.</p> +<p>There was too much reason in his words.</p> +<p>"Besides," said he, "if he were well and uninjured, would he not +have come here, where he was sure of a welcome?"</p> +<p>"I will go to Dorchester at once," said Herstan.</p> +<p>"It is useless," said Edmund; but my brother, having learnt all +that the prince could tell him, mounted and rode into the town.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Edmund evidently needed our care; we found he had not +eaten all day.</p> +<p>"I have risked my life for my country," he said, "and now that I +bring tidings which ought to circulate through the land like the +wind, and rouse every man to action, I am disbelieved. Nay, it is +hinted that I drank too much Danish wine and mead, and +misunderstood what I heard. I could brain the man who dared say so +to my face. I could--and would. Meanwhile no steps are taken, no +levies called out; but I will myself alarm the country. The +innocent blood shall not be on my head."</p> +<p>"Surely they must heed your warning," said we all together.</p> +<p>"Not they. The fox, Edric, pretended that it was all +moonshine."</p> +<p>"But did you not expose his <i>treachery</i>?" asked I.</p> +<p>"I tried to do so; but he pulled out a bit of some hedge, which +he said was a holy thorn from St. Joseph's tree at Glastonbury, and +that he was there on pilgrimage when Alfgar saw him--saw him, +mark you--at the Danish camp on the borders of Sussex; and I saw +men, I won't mention names, who had more than once taken reward to +slay the innocent, look as if they would go down on their knees to +this holy thorn, which wasn't a holy thorn at all, but plucked from +some hedge hard at hand. Did not Edric mock them in his heart! I +should like to strangle him."</p> +<p>How I thought of those who tithed mint and rue, and all manner +of herbs, and passed over justice, mercy, and the love of God.</p> +<p>So, in unavailing complaints, midnight drew on, and we heard the +sound of my brother's horse.</p> +<p>He soon entered the room. We saw at a glance that he had +laboured in vain, and spent his strength for nought.</p> +<p>"No one has seen him," he said.</p> +<p>"Have you asked many people?" we inquired.</p> +<p>"Yes, scores. The sheriff, the bishop, the watchmen, the +tradesfolk--no one has seen or heard aught. I will go again +tomorrow."</p> +<p>"Meanwhile, do the people know what passed at the banquet last +night?"</p> +<p>"No; it has all been kept quiet," was the reply.</p> +<p>We could do no more, and all retired to rest. I have sat up to +say my mattins and finish this diary. It is now nearly the third +hour of the morn, and--</p> +<p>Monday Night, 23d Nov. 1006.--</p> +<p>I had written as far as the word "and," when I was alarmed by a +loud cry from the chamber next my own, which was occupied by the +Etheling. I rose, and knocked at the door, but, receiving no +answer, opened it and went in.</p> +<p>I saw at once that the prince was delirious; the fever, which I +had marked in his eyes and manner, but which he struggled against, +had at length overcome his brave spirit.</p> +<p>Just as I entered the room, bearing my torch, he sprang out of +bed.</p> +<p>"There is a snake under my pillow."</p> +<p>I tried to soothe him.</p> +<p>"It is Edric; he is turned into a snake, and is trying to sting +me. Kill him! kill him!"</p> +<p>I got him into bed with some difficulty, and sat by him, after +giving him a composing draught--for I never travel without a few +simples at hand, in case of sickness amongst those to whom I +minister.</p> +<p>He slept at last, but it was evident to me that exposure and +excitement had grievously injured his health, and that he was in +danger of prolonged sickness. Ever and anon he raved in his sleep +about Sweyn, Edric, his father, and Alfgar, mixing them up in his +mind most strangely: but the object of his abhorrence was ever +Edric, while he spoke of Alfgar, "poor Alfgar!" as a father might +speak of a son.</p> +<p>I watched by him all through the night, and in the morning he +was evidently too ill to rise. His mind became clear for a short +time, and yet his memory was so confused that he scarcely +comprehended where he was, or how he got here.</p> +<p>So my return to Abingdon is indefinitely delayed, for Herstan +and my sister both insist on my staying till he is out of danger, +if God will; and indeed I know no one else to whose care I could +willingly commit him.</p> +<p>We think it best not to let his father or Edric know where he +is, for we know how his death would rejoice the latter, and the +wish is often father to the action. A little would turn the scale +now.</p> +<p>Herstan has gone into Dorchester again to inquire about Alfgar, +and to ascertain whether any action has been taken consequent upon +Edmund's intelligence from Carisbrooke.</p> +<p>Saturday.--Vigil of St. Andrew, and Eve of Advent +Sunday.--</p> +<p>All this week I have been watching by the sickbed of the +Etheling.</p> +<p>I hope the crisis is past, but he is still very weak. He has +been delirious nearly the whole time, and today has but a confused +idea of things around him.</p> +<p>All our inquiries about Alfgar have been fruitless, but there +was one circumstance which we learned, which seemed to me to bear +some reference to the matter.</p> +<p>The ferryman, whose hut is situate at the bend of the river +below the Synodune hills, where people cross for Wittenham, says +that late on the night in question a boat with four people passed +down the river, and that it struck him that one only rowed, while +two of the rest seemed guarding the fourth passenger. He did not +know the boat, yet he thought he knew every boat on the river.</p> +<p>This he has told to Herstan and others, but no further discovery +has ensued.</p> +<p>But another important matter has claimed our attention. The king +left on Monday without making any efforts to profit by the +Etheling's discovery at Carisbrooke; but we could not in conscience +let the matter rest. So Herstan and I went on to Dorchester on +Wednesday, and I obtained an audience of the bishop, while he +sought the sheriff.</p> +<p>The bishop received me very kindly, and talked to me a great +deal a bout the happy days of Dunstan, when peace and plenty ruled +everywhere; but I led the conversation to the point I aimed at, and +told him frankly how alarmed we were at Abingdon about Edmund's +tidings.</p> +<p>"And so was I," said he, "and I have persuaded the king to place +guards and watchers all through the coasts opposite the Wight, and +with Edric's aid we elaborated a goodly plan."</p> +<p>"Indeed," said I, "but I wish Edric had nought to do with +it."</p> +<p>"So did I at first, but I feel convinced that the young Dane who +vanished so suspiciously must have deceived the prince concerning +the presence of Edric in the Danish camp, and that we have no +sufficient reason for thinking him such a child of hell as he would +be could he betray his country thus cruelly. It would be Satanic +wickedness. He is, I believe, a bad and untrustworthy man, but not +quite so bad as all that."</p> +<p>I tried to explain my reasons for being of a contrary opinion, +and asked what was the plan.</p> +<p>"Advanced guards have been placed all along the coasts of +Hampshire, beacons prepared on every hill, with constant +attendants, so that the Danes would find their coming blazed over +the country at once."</p> +<p>"But if so, what men have we to oppose to them?"</p> +<p>"The sheriff has promised that the levies shall appear in case +of need."</p> +<p>"Does he realise the danger?"</p> +<p>"I hardly think he believes in it; but the beacons will give +sufficient warning."</p> +<p>"Who has arranged the guards and chosen the sites for the +beacons?"</p> +<p>"Edric, of course, as general of the forces under the king."</p> +<p>I could say no more--it was useless--but I felt very sick at +heart. After the noon meat I left the palace, and found my brother +ready to depart for home. His interview had been the counterpart of +mine. Neither had he succeeded in convincing the sheriff that there +was any danger to be apprehended.</p> +<p>Well, all we can do is to prepare ourselves for the worst. I +find that no tidings have been sent by any authority to the men of +this estate to hold themselves in readiness for sudden alarm. I +wonder whether the same remissness prevails elsewhere. No one +expects danger. The Danes, they say, never fight in winter.</p> +<p>Advent Sunday, 1006.--</p> +<p>My patient was able to sit up for a short time today, but his +weakness is very pitiable to behold, and he dares not leave his +room. He inquired very earnestly after Alfgar, and I found great +difficulty in persuading him to commit the matter to God, which is +all that we can do; for although the river has been dragged, the +country searched, no tidings have yet been obtained, and we can +only believe that the poor lad has been secretly murdered and +buried, or that he has been sent away out of the country.</p> +<p>"I had a strange dream about him," said Edmund. "I thought that +it was midnight of Christmas Eve, and that I was attending mass, +when, just as the words were sung by the choir, 'Pax in terra,' the +scene suddenly changed, and I stood in the dark on the chalk hills +which overlook the Solent; by my side was a beacon ready laid for +firing. I thought next I saw the Solent covered with the warships +of the Danes, who were advancing towards the English shore, and +that I tried to fire the beacon, but all in vain, for the wood was +wet through, and would not burn.</p> +<p>"Then I had a strange sense of woe and desolation, for my +country was in danger, and I could not even warn her. All at once I +heard steps rushing towards me, and Alfgar appeared bearing a +lighted torch. He thrust it into the pile, and it fired at once. +Other beacon fires answered it, and the country was aroused. Then I +awoke."</p> +<p>Saturday, December 5th, 1006.--</p> +<p>The week has again been spent mainly at Clifton. The prince is +better, but only able to rise a few hours each day, and I fear a +relapse would be fatal.</p> +<p>On Wednesday I visited Abingdon, and had a long conference with +the abbot about the neglected warning Edmund had given; but he +seemed to think that the beacon fires and the guards placed near +the sea coast secure us sufficiently. Like all the world, he thinks +that the Etheling has exaggerated the danger.</p> +<p>I have written a full account of all things to my brother at +Aescendune. Father Adhelm is still there ministering to the +flock.</p> +<p>Saturday, December 12th, 1006.--</p> +<p>The week has passed monotonously enough. The Etheling is now +able to leave his room, but the stormy weather, with its torrents +of rain, makes it impossible for him to leave the house. The river +has overflowed its banks; all the country around is like a lake. We +console him by telling him that all has been done which is +possible, both to warn the people and learn the fate of Alfgar. He +tries to look contented, but if he knew how little has really been +done, and that that little has been in Edric's hands, he would not +be so contented.</p> +<p>Saturday, December 19th, 1006.--</p> +<p>A very severe frost has set in this week, and there has been +much snow; the whole country is decked in her winter braveries for +Christmas. O that it may pass in peace, as the birthday of the +Prince of Peace should pass!</p> +<p>I intend to spend it at Clifton, after which I shall return to +my flock at Aescendune.</p> +<p>Edmund has been out today, but the sharp air hurt his lungs, +which have been grievously inflamed, and he was forced to return +early.</p> +<p>He has been so patient for one of his temperament, so grateful +for attention shown him, one would hardly think the lion could be +such a lamb. He intends to receive the Blessed Sacrament of the +Body and Blood of Christ on Christmas day in the little church of +St. Michael here, and then he will leave for London in the course +of the week.</p> +<p>We have heard nothing of Alfgar--we fear there is no hope; but +the prince clings to it, and says his dream will come true, and +that Alfgar has yet a great work to do.</p> +<p>Christmas Eve, 1006.--</p> +<p>O happy happy Christmastide! All griefs seem hushed and all joys +sanctified by the blessed mystery of the Incarnation. O that Mary's +blessed Son, the Prince of Peace, may indeed bring us peace on +earth, and good will towards men!</p> +<p>The weather is beautiful. The stars shine as brightly tonight as +if they were the lights about His throne; the very earth has decked +herself in her clear and spotless robe of snow in His honour. As +for the dear ones who were with us last Christmas--Bertric, +Alfgar (for I fear he is gone where I hope he keeps a happier +Christmas)--they have left the heart less lonely, for if we miss +them on earth they seem to attract us to heaven, which is yet more +like home when we think of the loved and the lost who await us +there.</p> +<p>We sing a midnight mass in an hour in the little church, another +tomorrow at dawn, a third in the full daylight. All the good people +here will communicate, and the evening will be given up to such +merrymaking as is befitting amongst Christians. All the ceorls and +serfs will be at the Hall, and the prince will share the +entertainment. Herstan and Bertha have been very busy preparing for +it, as also their children, Hermann, Ostryth, and Aelfleda.</p> +<p>But I must go and assist in decking the church for the midnight +festivity.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a>. THE FEAST OF +CHRISTMAS.</h2> +<p>Alfgar had completely lost the reckoning of times and days since +his imprisonment, but he felt that weeks must have passed away, and +that the critical period foretold by Edmund must be near, so he +listened anxiously for any intelligence from the world without.</p> +<p>At last the weather became very cold, and being without a fire, +his sufferings were great, until his ferocious gaoler, finding him +quite stiffened, brought up a brazier of coals, which saved his +prisoner's life, while it filled the room with smoke, which could +only escape by the crevices in walls and roof, for to open a window +would have been as bad as to dispense with the fire, such was the +state of the outer air.</p> +<p>It was what we call an old-fashioned Christmas, in all its glory +and severity--a thing easy enough to bear, nay to enjoy, when men +have warm fires and plenty of food, but hard enough to endure where +these are absent.</p> +<p>At last Alfgar could but conclude it was Christmastide, for +Higbald was joined by two comrades, and they sang and rioted below +in a way which showed that they had got plenty of intoxicating +drink, and were making free with it.</p> +<p>In the evening of the day Higbald brought him up his supper, +staggering as he did so, and with it he brought in a bowl of hot +mead.</p> +<p>"Drink," he said, "and drown care. It is Yuletide, and drink +thou must and shalt."</p> +<p>Alfgar drank moderately, for sooth to say it was invigorating +and welcome that cold day, but Higbald finished the bowl then and +there, and then staggering down, drew the outer bolt in such a way +that it missed the staple, which fact he was too drunk to +perceive.</p> +<p>Alfgar watched the action with eager eyes. It was the first time +there had been even a chance of escape.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the evening sped by; and the noisy crew below +quarrelled and sang, drank and shouted, while the bright moonlight +--brighter as it was reflected from the snow of that December +night--stole over the scene.</p> +<p>Not till then did Alfgar pass silently through the open door, +and listen at the head of the staircase. Before him was the outer +door, the key in the lock. The question was--Could he reach it +unobserved by men or mastiff?</p> +<p>Liberty was worth the attempt. He descended the stairs softly. +At the bottom he looked around. The door was fastened which led +into the large hall where the gaolers were drinking. He advanced to +the outer portal, when he heard the growl of the dog from behind +the inner door.</p> +<p>The moment was critical. Evidently his masters did not +comprehend the action of the too faithful brute, for they cursed +and swore at it. Even then it growled, and the drunken fools-- +drunken they must have been indeed--threw some heavy missile at +it, which caused it to yelp and cease its growling.</p> +<p>Just then something flashed in the ray of moonlight which stole +in through an aperture over the door.</p> +<p>It was a sharp double-edged sword.</p> +<p>He grasped it with eagerness. It was now a case of liberty or +death. He knew how to wield it full well.</p> +<p>Stealthily he turned the key and the door stood open. Still his +captors sang, and he caught the words:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"When we cannot get blood we can drink the red wine, +The Sea King sang in his might; +For it maddens the brain, it gives strength to the arm, +And kindles the soul in the fight." +</pre></div> +<p>Now he was on the outer side of the door, and he shut it, and +then locked it and tossed the key into the snow.</p> +<p>But which way was he to go? He could not make out the locality, +but it was evident that the hill rose above him, and he knew that +from its summit he could discern the bearings of places, so he +resolved to ascend.</p> +<p>It was now about nine at night, an hour when our ancestors +generally retired to rest. All Alfgar's desire and hope--O how +joyful a hope!--was to see from the hill the bearings of Clifton, +and to descend, with all the speed in his power, towards it. He +might arrive before they had retired to rest. So he ran eagerly +forward. The moon was bright, and the snow reflected so much light +that locomotion was easy.</p> +<p>And now he became conscious that there was a strange gleam along +the snow on his left hand--a strange red gleam, which grew +stronger and stronger as he advanced. It seemed above and below-- +to redden the skies, the frozen treetops with their glittering snow +wreaths, and the smooth surface beneath alike.</p> +<p>Redder and redder as he ascended, until he suddenly emerged upon +the open hill. Before him were earthworks, which had been thrown up +in olden wars, before Englishman or Dane had trodden these coasts. +He scrambled into a deep hollow filled with snow, then out again, +and up to the summit, when he saw the cause of the +illumination.</p> +<p>Before him the whole country to the southeast seemed in flames. +Village after village gave forth its baleful light; and even while +he gazed the fiery flood burst forth in spots hitherto dark. He +stood as one transfixed, until the wind brought with it a strange +and fearful cry, as if the exultation of fiends were mingled with +the despairing cry of perishing human beings.</p> +<p>He knew whence it came by the red light slowly stealing beyond +the next hill, and the fiery tongues of flame which rose +heavenward, although the houses were hidden by the ground.</p> +<p>It was from Wallingford, a town three miles below Dorchester. He +knew, too, where he was himself; and the one impulse which rushed +upon him was to hasten to Clifton, where he trusted he might find +Edmund, or, at least, hear of him in this dread emergency. He saw +the village lying beneath in the distance, and turned to rush +downward, entering the wood in a different direction.</p> +<p>But what sound is that which makes him start and pause?</p> +<p>It is the bay of the mastiff. He is pursued. He clasps his sword +with desperate tenacity, in which a foe might read his doom, and +rushes on, crushing through the brushwood.</p> +<p>Again the bay of the hound.</p> +<p>Onward, onward, he tramples through bush and bramble, until he +sees his progress suddenly arrested by the dark-flowing river.</p> +<p>He coasts along its banks, keeping up stream. The bay of the dog +seems close at hand, and the trampling of human feet accompanies +it.</p> +<p>All at once he comes upon a road descending to the brink, and +sees a ferry boat at the foot of the descent. He rushes towards it +and enters. The pole is in the boat. He unlooses the chain, but +with difficulty, and precious moments are lost. He hears the +panting of the ferocious beast just as he pushes the boat, with +vigorous thrust, out into the stream.</p> +<p>The dog, followed closely by the men, is on the bank. The men +curse and swear, but the dog plunges into the chilly stream, which, +being swollen, has too rapid a current to freeze. Alfgar sees the +brute swimming after the boat; he ceases to use the pole, but takes +his sword, kneels on the stern of the boat, and waits for the +mastiff. It gains the boat, and tries to mount, when the keen steel +is driven between the forepaws to its very heart. One loud howl, +and it floats down the stream, dyeing the waters with its +life-blood.</p> +<p>"Cursed Dane!" shouts Higbald. "thou shalt pay with thy own life +blood."</p> +<p>"When you catch me; and even then you must fight for it. +Meanwhile, if you be an Englishman, warn the good people of +Dorchester that the Danes are upon them. Your Edric has betrayed +them."</p> +<p>Reaching the other shore, Alfgar finds smooth meadows all +covered with snow. He knows his way now. A little higher up he +strikes the main road which leads to Clifton, and rushes on past +field and grove, past hedgerow and forest. Behind him the heavens +are growing angry with lurid light, before him the earth lies in +stillness and silence; the moonbeams slumbering on placid river, +glittering on frozen pool, or silvering happy homesteads--happy +hitherto. He sees the lights in the hall of Herstan yet burning, +and casting their reflection abroad. He is at the foot of the +ascent leading up to it. One minute more and--</p> +<p>. . . . . .</p> +<p>Christmas day was almost over when the population of Herstan's +village of Clifton obeyed the summons with alacrity to spend the +evening in the hall in feasting and merriment. They had all duly +performed the religious duties of the day, and had been greatly +edified by the homily of Father Cuthbert at mass; and now innocent +mirth was to close the hallowed day--mirth which they well +believed was not alien to the birthday of Him who once sanctified +the marriage festivities at Cana by His first miracle.</p> +<p>So thither flocked the young and the old: the wood rangers and +hunters from the forests of Newenham, where Herstan had right of +wood cutting; the men who wove baskets and hurdles of osier work +from the river banks; the theows who cultivated the home farm; the +ceorls who rented a hide of land here and a hide there--all, the +grandfather and the grandson, accepted the invitation to feast. The +rich and the poor met together, for God was the Maker of them +all.</p> +<p>The huge Yule log burnt upon the hearth as it had done since it +was lighted the night before; a profusion of torches turned night +into day; the tables groaned with the weight of the good cheer; in +short, all was there which could express joy and thanksgiving.</p> +<p>The supper was over; the wild boar roasted whole, the huge +joints of mutton and beef, the made dishes, the various +preparations of milk, had disappeared, the cheerful cup was handed +round; after which the tables were removed, the gleemen sang their +Christmas carols, and all went merry as a "marriage bell."</p> +<p>Father Cuthbert, seated in a corner near the Yule log, with his +brother-in-law and the Etheling, forgot all his apprehensions, and +shared in the universal joy around him; if his thoughts were +sometimes with those who had once made Christmas bright to him-- +if he thought of the bright-haired Bertric, who had been the soul +of last Yuletide festivity at Aescendune, or of the desolated home +there, he dismissed the subject from his mind at once, and suffered +no hint to drop which could dim the mirth of his fellow guests.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, one of those whom he strove in vain to forget for the +time drew nearer and nearer; a haggard figure, wan and worn by +painful imprisonment, the garments dishevelled, the hair matted, +the whole figure wild with excitement, he drew near the outer +gate.</p> +<p>He heard the song of joy and peace within as he paused one +moment before blowing the horn which hung at the outer gate.</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +Peace! Peace! +The whole wide world rejoiceth now, +Let war and discord cease; +Christ reigneth from the manger, +Away with strife and danger; +Our God, before whom angels bow, +Each taught this lesson by his birth, +Good will to men, and peace on earth. +Peace! Peace! +Hark, through the silent air +Angelic songs declare +God comes on earth to dwell +O hear the heavenly chorus swell, +Good will to men, +And on earth, peace. +</pre></div> +<p>He could bear it no longer, the contrast was too painful, he +must break the sweet charm, the hallowed song, for the sky was +reddening yet more luridly behind him, and each moment he expected +to see Dorchester burst forth into flames. O what a Christmas +night!</p> +<p>He blew the horn, and had to blow it again and again before he +was heard.</p> +<p>At length a solitary serf came to the gate:</p> +<p>"Who is there?"</p> +<p>"A messenger for the Etheling; is Prince Edmund with you? I +would see him."</p> +<p>"All are welcome tonight, but I fear you will find the Etheling +ill-disposed to leave the feast."</p> +<p>"Let me in."</p> +<p>Astonished at the tone of the request, the porter reluctantly +complied, first looking around.</p> +<p>"Why, thou art wild and breathless; is aught amiss?"</p> +<p>"Step out and look over the hills; what dost thou see?"</p> +<p>"Why, the heaven is in fire; is it the northern lights?"</p> +<p>"Southern, you mean; the Danes are upon us."</p> +<p>Staggered by the tidings, the man no longer opposed his +entrance, and Alfgar staggered into the hall, forgetting that he +was come amongst them like one risen from the dead.</p> +<p>He entered the hall at first unnoticed, but the merry laughter +and cheerful conversation withered before his presence, as of one +who came to blast it.</p> +<p>Father Cuthbert and Edmund, amongst others, turned round to see +what caused the lull, and started from their seats as they beheld +at the end of the room Alfgar, his face pale as one risen from the +dead, his black locks hanging dishevelled around his neck, his +garments torn, his whole person disordered. At first they really +believed he had returned from the tomb.</p> +<p>They hesitated, but for one moment in speechless surprise, then +rushed forward.</p> +<p>"Alfgar!" cried the Prince.</p> +<p>"My son!" cried Father Cuthbert, "whence hast thou come? dost +thou yet live?"</p> +<p>"Father; Prince; I live to warn you--the Danes, the Danes!" +and he sank fainting into the arms of Herstan.</p> +<p>"Surely he raves," said they all.</p> +<p>The porter here ventured to speak.</p> +<p>"My lord, please go to the front of the house and look over the +water."</p> +<p>Father Cuthbert and Edmund at once left the hall, followed by +several others.</p> +<p>The mansion was seated on a considerable elevation; below them +rolled the Isis; across the river a couple of miles of flat meadow +land lay between them and the Synodune hills, and beyond the +lessening range of those hills, on the southeast, they looked, and +behold the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a +furnace.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a>. FOR HEARTH AND +HOME.</h2> +<p>The inhabitants of Clifton stood on the terrace in front of the +hall, gazing upon the fiery horizon, wrapped in emotions of +surprise and alarm. Living as they did in an unsettled age, and far +more prepared than we should be for such a contingency, yet the +sense of the rapid approach of a cruel and remorseless foe struck +terror into many hearts.</p> +<p>But they had one amongst them to whom warfare and strife were a +second nature--one in whom the qualities which form the hero were +very fully developed. He gazed with sadness, but without fear, at +the coming storm, and to their late patient the inmates of the hall +turned for advice and aid in their dread emergency.</p> +<p>"What shall we do?" asked Herstan, gazing with indescribable +feelings at those who clung to him for support.</p> +<p>"The case is clear as the day," said the prince. "The storm I +foretold in vain has broken over the land, and the levies are not +ready to meet it. Listen; you may hear the sounds of alarm from +Dorchester even here. They see their danger."</p> +<p>The tolling of the alarm bells, the sound of distant shouts, the +blowing of trumpets rolled in a confused flood of noise across the +intervening space--a distance of between two and three miles-- +and manifested the intense alarm of the city, so cruelly aroused +from dreams of peace.</p> +<p>"But what shall we do?"</p> +<p>"Defend the place if attacked; it is well adapted for defence. +You have the river on one side, and a cliff no Dane could scale in +the face of our battle-axes; on the other side, your earthworks and +palisades keep the foe at a distance from the main building. How +many able-bodied men are present now?"</p> +<p>"Happily we have all our force; the feast has brought them all +here. There would be from sixty to seventy men, besides a score of +boys."</p> +<p>"And how are you provided with weapons?"</p> +<p>"Each man has a battle-axe, and there are scores of spears in +the armoury."</p> +<p>"And arrows?"</p> +<p>"Whole sheaves of them; and as good yew bows as were ever +bent."</p> +<p>"Come, we shall do; and now about provisions?"</p> +<p>"You see we have bounteous fare now, but it would not last many +days."</p> +<p>"Many days we shall not want it--many days? Why, the levies +must all be out within twenty-four hours, and the Danes are not +strong enough to maintain themselves here. It is but a raid; but +they might all have been taken or slain had my father but believed +me. As it is, they have shed much innocent blood by this time."</p> +<p>"You think, then, our buildings are capable of defence?"</p> +<p>"Assuredly; it would be madness to sacrifice such a position. If +the Danes are about in the neighbourhood, it would be far more +dangerous to expose your helpless ones without the fortifications. +Have you all your people here, or are there a few sick?"</p> +<p>"A few sick, only."</p> +<p>"Let them be sought at once; the heathen will be revelling like +fiends about the country. For the present I think Dorchester and +Abingdon safe. Wallingford, if I may judge by the light over the +hills, has utterly fallen. They were probably taken unawares; and +their defences were never good. Now we must at once to work."</p> +<p>"Prince, you have more experience of war than I; you will be our +commander."</p> +<p>"I accept the post. To tell the truth, it will be a treat for me +after the illness and confinement I have gone through; the thought +of the struggle makes me feel myself again."</p> +<p>And so this strangely constituted man went forth and spoke to +the assembled multitude, who stood passively gazing at the distant +conflagration.</p> +<p>"Now, Englishmen, a few words to you all. We shall have, I hope, +to fight these Danes; and for the honour of our country must even +quit ourselves like men. Why should not the Englishman be a match +for the Dane? ay, more than a match for the cutthroat heathen? Here +we stand on a rock with our defence secure; and here we will live +or die in defence of our women and children. What say you all?"</p> +<p>"We will live or die with you."</p> +<p>"Well said, men. Now, one good hearty cheer; no, stop, I should +like them to be caught in their own traps. I know their plan. If +they find the good people of Dorchester are awake, as the noise +shows, they will swarm all over the neighbourhood like wasps after +honey, to plunder the isolated houses and farms, and carry off all +they can; and this place is too conspicuous--too much of a city +on a hill--to be hidden. Well, we will be ready for them. Now, +first of all, we must set our outposts around to give us due +warning of their approach; and then every man must arm himself as +best he can, and let me see what figure you can all make."</p> +<p>He was interrupted by a childish voice, and saw Herstan's little +son, a boy of twelve years, touching his garment, and looking at +him with unfeigned admiration.</p> +<p>"May I not fight the Danes, Prince?"</p> +<p>"No, you are too young; you must go and take care of your mother +and sisters."</p> +<p>"I don't want to be shut up with the women. I have killed a +wolf. I shot him with my bow in Newenham wood."</p> +<p>"Well, we will see by and by, my brave boy. We shall have work +for all; go and arm with the rest.</p> +<p>"Well, Alfgar?"</p> +<p>"Let my post be near you."</p> +<p>"You will fight in this quarrel, then?"</p> +<p>"Yes; to save Christian blood."</p> +<p>"Then I adopt you as an Englishman--Dane no longer. I know +your courage and coolness, and will employ it where it is wanted. +Now, you know the place; come and place the outposts where they can +retire easily."</p> +<p>The small sally port, as it would have been called in later +times, was opened, and two men were in each case posted together +all round the building, under cover of trees, at convenient +distances. The trees immediately around the house had been cut down +a few weeks earlier, by order of Herstan, who saw they might afford +cover to an enemy, in case the prince's prophecies were fulfilled, +as proved now to be the case.</p> +<p>The building was large and irregular, and had been added to at +various times, the hall, looking over the river, forming its most +conspicuous portion; but it had not originally been built for +purposes of defence, and could not have endured the Danish assault +for a moment, but for external defences, utterly independent of the +building, which had been recently added; a mound, surmounted by +crossed palisades, skilfully strengthened by osier bands, and a +deep outer ditch, now full of snow, surrounded the building on +three sides. The fourth was defended by the river, which, being +full owing to the late rains, rushed impetuously along below.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said Edmund, "ask Father Cuthbert to see that all the +helpless ones--women and children--are safely shut up in an +inner apartment, where no Danish arrow can find them."</p> +<p>This was accomplished, and Father Cuthbert cheered them all with +his calm placid manner; reassuring this one and cheering that, +seeming quite insensible to fear himself: one moment all sympathy, +then all brightness, his presence was invaluable in the crisis.</p> +<p>"And now," said Edmund, "to the stables; the horses and cattle +must be turned loose tonight, or the Danes will burn them in their +barns and sheds."</p> +<p>The farm buildings lay some little distance without, and the +Etheling and Alfgar, with two or three farm servants, carried out +the task hastily but effectually. Duties were meanwhile assigned to +all the able-bodied women and boys: some provided buckets and +ladders, that, in case the Danes attempted to kindle a flame, they +might attempt in vain; others tore up lint and prepared bandages +for the wounded, while others passed into the upper apartments to +see that no lights remained which could direct the aim of the +foe.</p> +<p>The night had somewhat changed its character while all these +things were going on; clouds obscured the moon, and light flakes of +snow commenced to fall. The wind began to moan, as if a storm were +at hand.</p> +<p>Alfgar visited the outposts while Edmund assigned their several +stations to the men, who were now armed in readiness for the +defence. When the former reached the post on the river's bank lower +down, he saw that the sentinel had thrown himself ear to the earth, +and was listening intently; he imitated his example.</p> +<p>A deep dull sound from the distance was heard, and Alfgar +recognised the tread of an approaching host.</p> +<p>"Let us withdraw," he said.</p> +<p>They fell back quietly; Alfgar, passing rapidly round, warned +all the other sentinels, and when all had entered, the gates were +closed; all was done in profound silence.</p> +<p>Then Edmund caused the men to fit their arrows to the string, +and to lie upon the inward slope of the earthworks, so as to be +invisible; he placed all the rest of the men at the windows and +loopholes of the building. Similarly prepared, Edmund, with Alfgar +and young Hermann by his side, waited at the window commanding the +gateway, when the Lady Bertha came up to them.</p> +<p>"Has not Father Cuthbert returned?"</p> +<p>"Returned?"</p> +<p>"Yes, he went to the church to bring in the sacred vessels and +vestments."</p> +<p>Alfgar rose instantly.</p> +<p>"I will go and seek him," he cried.</p> +<p>"Then pass out by the postern gate, on the angle nearest the +church; I fear the danger is great, but he must be told that the +foe is near, or he may fall into their hands."</p> +<p>Alfgar left the hall and passed to an angle of the defences +where a little gate led out towards the church; the bridge had been +removed, and he had absolutely to descend into the ditch amongst +the deep snow.</p> +<p>Emerging, he crossed the burial yard, and found the good father +returning heavily laden with the precious vessels and other objects +he had been able to save.</p> +<p>"Father," he said; "the enemy is near."</p> +<p>"Indeed! so soon?"</p> +<p>"We must enter by the postern gate."</p> +<p>"I could hardly cross the snow burdened as I am; is it unsafe to +try the other gate? I hear no sound, see no symptom of danger."</p> +<p>They paused; all was so quiet that Alfgar yielded, and they +passed round the mansion. The drawbridge was up, and no danger +seemed near; the trees were in deep shadow, for the clouds, +obscuring the moon, made the night very dark.</p> +<p>Alfgar gave the signal, and the drawbridge was lowered; but they +had scarcely set foot upon it when dark figures rushed from the +shadows behind them. The bridge, which they both had passed, was +actually rising, when the foremost Dane leapt upon it, but was +rewarded by a blow from the battle-axe of Alfgar, which sent him +tumbling into the snow; two or three others leapt forward and clung +to the edge of the bridge, but fell into the ditch like the first; +the two fugitives entered, and the gate was closed.</p> +<p>Then the awful war cry of the Danes arose from earth to heaven, +chilling the very blood and, disdaining all further concealment, +the murderous warriors rushed forward, doubtless expecting to find +the place almost undefended, and to carry the defences at a +rush.</p> +<p>But they were soon fatally undeceived, for so perfect had been +Edmund's arrangements, that a storm of arrows burst from all parts +of the building and embankment, laying nearly half the assailants +dying or wounded on the ground.</p> +<p>Still the survivors threw themselves into the ditch, and strove +in vain to pass the palisades, which projected over their heads, +and which were vigorously defended by spear and battle-axe.</p> +<p>But in one place a gigantic warrior succeeded in hewing an +aperture with his axe, wielded by giant strength, and all might +have been lost had not Edmund perceived it, and rushed to its +defence, collecting by his shout half-a-dozen followers. Several +Danes strove to pass the breach; one was already through, and +Edmund attacked him; meanwhile two others had crept through, but +were cut off from their fellows, for the English rallied in front +and presented an impenetrable barrier with their spears, while from +the windows above the arrows rained upon the assailants.</p> +<p>Edmund's axe had found its victim; Herstan, who was by his side, +had engaged and wounded the second; and, meanwhile, Alfgar, who was +glaring about him for a foe, discovered the third, whose aspects +and form were at once recognised by him.</p> +<p>"What! you, Higbald!" he cried.</p> +<p>"You shall escape no more," cried his late gaoler, and brought +his axe down with a mighty rush. Alfgar leapt nimbly aside, and +before his bulky but clumsy antagonist could recover his guard, +passed his keen sword beneath the left arm, through the body, and +the giant staggered and fell, a bloody foam rising to his lips, as +he quivered in the agonies of death.</p> +<p>All was again silent. The Danes, discomfited for the moment, +having lost half their number, had retired, probably waiting for +reinforcements, and the victor addressed Edmund.</p> +<p>"Look," he cried; "this man is a servant of Edric Streorn."</p> +<p>"Is it true, fellow?" said Edmund sternly.</p> +<p>"What if it is? I am dying now, and it cannot matter to me."</p> +<p>The last words were interrupted by a convulsive struggle.</p> +<p>"Art thou an Englishman or a Dane?" said the Etheling, bending +over the dying ruffian in his anxiety to learn the whole truth.</p> +<p>"What is that to thee?"</p> +<p>"Much, if thou wouldst escape death."</p> +<p>"Escape death! I cannot. Neither wilt thou escape Edric Streorn, +and I shall not die unavenged. Ah! young springal, thou wilt not +escape again. To think that thy puny hand should give Higbald his +death blow! Ah, I am choked!"</p> +<p>Alfgar's sword had pierced his lungs, and a gush of blood +rushing to the mouth stopped the breath of Higbald for ever.</p> +<p>"I have brought the foe upon you. We are tracked," said Alfgar. +"Edric and the Danes are in alliance."</p> +<p>"But they have not taken this place yet; neither shall they, by +God's help! Ha! was that lightning? Nay, it is winter."</p> +<p>A sudden burst of fiery light illuminated the scene, and the +defenders looked forth, in spite of their danger, from their +fortifications. The little church of St. Michael burst forth into +billowing eddies of smoke and flame.</p> +<p>"This is a grievous sight, to see the place we had dedicated to +God destroyed by the bloody heathen. O that He would stretch forth +His hand as in the days of old!"</p> +<p>"Would I had but two hundred men; I would fall upon the villains +in the rear, and leave not one," said Edmund.</p> +<p>"Look--the farm buildings!" cried little Hermann.</p> +<p>"The poor horses and oxen!" cried the Lady Bertha.</p> +<p>"They are safe," said Edmund. "You may hear the trampling of +hoofs even now. The fools of Danes are hunting them in all +directions. I do not think they will catch many."</p> +<p>Lights appeared in two or three places, and soon it became +evident that the ruthless foe had gained their object, as the barns +and stables lit up in all directions, and the manor house was +surrounded by the double conflagration, so that every object was as +distinctly visible as in open daylight.</p> +<p>"To your buckets! Pour water upon the roof; and, archers, look +out for the enemy; keep him as far off as you can."</p> +<p>The boys and women were speedily on the roof pouring water in +all directions, in case the wind should deposit the burning brands +upon the structure. Meanwhile flights of arrows came from the +distance, and settled around them; but they were spent before +arrival in most cases, for the defenders kept the ground clear for +a large circle around by their well-sustained discharges. Not a few +dead bodies lying in the glare of the fire testified to their +deadly skill.</p> +<p>The flames passed from stable to barn, and barn to shed. The +triumphant cries of the Danes added to the horror of the scene, +heard as they were amidst the continuous roaring of the flames. +Crash, crash, went roof after roof, the fall of the little church +on the opposite side first leading the awful chorus. Life seemed +the penalty of either Englishman or Dane who dared to trust his +person within the circle of light.</p> +<p>The Lady Bertha was comforting her two little girls, Ostryth and +Alfreda, where they sat, cowering and terrified, in their own +little bedchamber, the window so barricaded that no arrow could +enter, but yet not sufficiently to keep out the glare of the +flames.</p> +<p>"Mother, how light it is!" said the little Ostryth; "how +dreadfully bright!"</p> +<p>"It will soon be darker again."</p> +<p>"But is it fire? Are they burning the house?"</p> +<p>"No, dearest. They have set the farm on fire. It cannot hurt +us."</p> +<p>"But the horses, and my poor little pony?"</p> +<p>"Are safe, dearest one. The Etheling went and let them all +loose."</p> +<p>"Oh! how good of him. I am so glad."</p> +<p>"Mother, let Hermann come and sit with us!"</p> +<p>"Nay, he will out to the fight. He is a boy, and must learn to +be a soldier."</p> +<p>"Oh, but he will get hurt, perhaps killed."</p> +<p>"Courage, dear child; remember how often I have told you how God +helps those who trust in Him. Say your prayers, your Pater and +Credo, and ask God to take care of dear father and Hermann."</p> +<p>"Mother!" said a voice. She locked up and saw Hermann, his +forehead covered with blood.</p> +<p>"It is nothing, mother," said the spirited lad, as he wiped the +blood away; "at least only the scratch of an arrow while I was on +the roof. Father wishes you to send all the women who are strong +enough to help to carry water from the river. The well is dry, and +the men cannot be spared from the embankment. We expect another +attack, and there are great patches of blazing straw flying about +in the wind."</p> +<p>She spoke a few words to the women, and all but two or three, +who were too weak or ill, went forth to the work. One kiss she +imprinted eagerly on his brow, and dismissed him back to his +perilous task without allowing herself one sigh.</p> +<p>"Now, dear ones," she said to the little girls, "keep quiet till +mother comes back. I must go."</p> +<p>"O mother, do not leave us!"</p> +<p>But she could not listen to the earnest pleadings, for she felt +that where other women exposed themselves, she too must go, and +cheer by her example.</p> +<p>A long line, reaching to the brink of the river, was soon +formed, and buckets were being passed from hand to hand. A loud +cry, and a boy in the line fell from an arrow, which retained just +sufficient strength to pierce his heart. Herstan and Father +Cuthbert carried the corpse reverently within, the father +remembering that but that morning he had fed with the Bread of +Life, at the altar of St. Michael, this poor lad, so soon to be +called to meet the Judge who had entertained him as a guest at His +holy Table that Christmas morn. Two or three others were soon +wounded, but not seriously, and when a supply of water ready for +all emergencies had been collected on the roof, the dangerous duty +was over.</p> +<p>Pale and collected, the Lady Bertha was returning to her +children, when she passed the corpse. One moment, and the thought +struck her that it was Hermann, and the mother's heart gave a great +leap. Tremblingly she put aside the cloth with which they had +veiled it, and was undeceived. Repressing her feelings, she was +again by the side of her little girls, when the fearful cries of +the assailants once more rang through the air.</p> +<p>"Stand to your post! Quit yourselves like men! Be firm!" shouted +the stentorian voice of Edmund.</p> +<p>Onward came the Danes, in three parties, to attack the three +sides of the building. The arrows diminished their numbers, but +stayed them not. They left a struggling dark line upon the ground, +but the wounded had to care for themselves. Edmund rushed to +command the defence at the gate, leaving Alfgar to superintend that +upon the right hand, and Herstan on the left. They had but one +moment, and they were in the thick of the conflict.</p> +<p>Shouts mingled with shrieks. Sword, battle-axe, and spear did +their deadly work through and above the palisade; arrows rained +down from the roof and windows on the assailants, women and boys +doing their part in that manner, while the men did theirs with +battle-axe and sword on the bulwarks. In one or two places the +palisade threatened to give way, and at last three or four stakes +were dragged out in one spot, blow after blow of the axe was spent +upon the yielding fabric, and a breach was effected.</p> +<p>The Etheling perceived it, and rushed to the scene just as two +or three of the English, less used to arms, were yielding before +the ponderous weapons of the Danes. Throwing himself into the +breach, his practised arm made a desert around him. Of immense +muscular strength, his blows came down like the fabled hammer of +Thor, crushing helmet and breastplate alike before the +well-tempered steel of his favourite weapon. The foe were driven +back, and for one moment he stood in the breach alone.</p> +<p>Then and then only was he recognised.</p> +<p>"The gleeman! the false gleeman the Etheling Edmund!" in various +energetic cries, attested his fame, and the hatred of his foes.</p> +<p>"Yes, dogs, ye know me, and the prize ye have to win. Back, +drunkards and cannibals, back to your royal parricide with the +gleeman's greetings, and tell him Hela is waiting for him and his +friend the accursed Edric."</p> +<p>A shower of arrows was the only answer, but they missed the +joints, and rattled harmlessly from the well-tempered armour which +Edmund wore. Still the position was critical, and Alfgar, with +gentle violence, persuaded him to descend from his perilous +position.</p> +<p>Here the attack was foiled, and foiled so decidedly, that the +ditch was actually half filled with corpses. Cries of distress +arose from the opposite side, but Edmund's arm restored the balance +there, so great was the influence of one man, and so great the +power of physical force in the desperate conflicts of that day.</p> +<p>Foiled at every point, the invaders were driven from the +embankment. It was evident that they had miscalculated the forces +of the defenders, and that they had advanced beyond their main body +in insufficient strength to take the place by assault. Could they +have supplied the place of the fallen by fresh men, until they had +wearied the defenders out, they would have succeeded, but they were +evidently not in strength to do this so they slowly yielded, until +the deadly struggle ceased, and silence resumed her empire, while +the besieged repaired the damage the defences had sustained.</p> +<p>"They have retired," said Herstan, wiping the sweat from his +brow and the blood from his axe.</p> +<p>"Ay," said Edmund, "they will not now take the place by assault +--they are not more than two to one, considering the losses they +have sustained. They have lost twice as many as we. If we were a +little stronger I would head a sally.</p> +<p>"Ah! what was that?"</p> +<p>A globe of fire traversing the arc of a circle, rose from beyond +the embers of the barns, and, sailing through the air, fell upon +the roof, which, owing to the intense heat from the conflagration +which had raged around, was in a very dry and inflammable state. +Another, then another followed, and Edmund cried aloud:</p> +<p>"Pass up the water to the roof, to the roof. We shall need all +our hands now!"</p> +<p>He rushed up himself, but charged Herstan to remain below, and +see that, whatever happened, the defences were not forsaken for one +moment.</p> +<p>The defenders on the roof were prompt with their remedy; and no +sooner did a flaming brand arrive than it was extinguished, +provided it fell in a spot easy of access. But at length some of +the deadly missiles fell where they could not be immediately +reached, and one of these eluded the observation of the besieged +until they saw a sheet of flame curl over the eaves beneath the +roof, and play upon the surface of the huge beams above, until they +suddenly started into flame. Water was dashed upon it, but only +partially extinguished the destroying element, which broke out in +fresh places until the defenders became desperate. And now flight +after flight of arrows fell amongst them, and many wounds were +received, while the smoke and flame seemed to find fresh fuel each +moment, and to need all the energies of the English.</p> +<p>It was at this inauspicious moment that the Danes charged the +palisades again with deadly fury, while the attention of all was +drawn to the flames; so fierce was the attack, that it was +necessary once more to concentrate all the strength of the besieged +to repel them; and the fire gained in strength, roared and hissed +in its fury, seizing for its prey the whole roof of the eastern +wing of the building.</p> +<p>And now the Danish archers, drawing nearer, sent fresh flights +of arrows on those who were labouring on the house top, and, +killing several, drove the others away. The condition of the +English was rapidly getting desperate.</p> +<p>Edmund threw himself into the strife, and drove the foe back +from the breach they had previously made, but even his valour could +not restore confidence.</p> +<p>"All is lost! all is lost!" cried some panic-stricken trembler, +as he saw the flames spread.</p> +<p>"To the river, to the river, to the boats!" cried others.</p> +<p>"Nay, nay," shouted Edmund, "we are not conquered yet; we can +defend ourselves till daylight, or we can depart in order. Alfgar, +bid the women and children prepare to leave the hall as the fire +spreads; and you, Herstan, see that if the worst comes to the +worst, the retreat to the river is made in order. We will defend +the place if necessary till the last man, and cover your retreat; +but all is not lost yet. Take a dozen stout men, mount the roof, +the fire is not lower down; let them destroy the burning portion +with their axes; let the women stand behind with the water.</p> +<p>"Archers, keep the Danes back. See those brutes there aiming at +your wives on the roof; bring them down; make them keep their +distance. Guard well the palisades."</p> +<p>But, although his orders were obeyed, the Danes grew bolder; the +men could not work on the roof in the midst of the arrows. The +women and children, emerging terror-struck from the hall, made +every father's heart sink within him.</p> +<p>Edmund cried aloud:</p> +<p>"To the gate, to the gate! the villains have got the drawbridge +down."</p> +<p>He rushed to the spot himself, and found that some adventurous +Dane had severed the chains and lowered the bridge in the momentary +confusion of its defenders, and the gate was yielding before their +strokes.</p> +<p>He arrived; and that moment the gate fell. He stood in the +breach himself; one man against a dozen. He did all a hero could; +but he was already bleeding. Alfgar, ever faithful, fought like a +lion by his side. Herstan and his bravest warriors brought their +aid, but all seemed lost.</p> +<p>"Tell them to retreat to the river.</p> +<p>"Herstan, conduct the retreat; Alfgar and I can keep them out +for five minutes more."</p> +<p>"All is lost! all is lost!" the cry arose within.</p> +<p>"No; saved! saved!" cried Father Cuthbert from the roof. "What! +Englishmen, to the rescue! to the rescue!"</p> +<p>The Danes suddenly wavered, then turned in surprise and despair; +for from the darkness behind emerged the forms of hundreds of +Englishmen, who fell upon the Danes. The levies were out, and only +just in time.</p> +<p>"One charge!" said Edmund; and, rushing forward, led the way +into the heart of the foe.</p> +<p>. . . . . .</p> +<p>The Danes who had attacked the house of Herstan were so far in +advance of their countrymen that they were forced to retreat +instantly before the superior force which came to the rescue of the +besieged; and they fell back, at first in some order, but shortly, +owing to the darkness and the pressure of their foes, in utter +confusion.</p> +<p>But Edmund could pursue them no longer. His strength, having +been so lately an invalid, was utterly gone. He fell from sheer +exhaustion, and was borne back by Alfgar to the hall.</p> +<p>But there was no longer need for his protection. He had saved +the mansion and all its inmates, as they most readily owned. And +now he received all the loving care and attention he deserved.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the English continued the pursuit until a small +remnant of Danes repassed the river; only a small remnant of the +party which, as it will be easily guessed, instigated by Edric, had +sallied forth to besiege the place where Edmund had found refuge, +who had so recently provoked the bitter hostility of Sweyn.</p> +<p>The following day the whole army of the Danes retreated from the +ruins of Wallingford towards the south; and the next day encamped +in the village of Cholsey, which, with its priory, they utterly +destroyed. Then they continued their retreat along the slope of the +downs, by Aston, until they reached Cuckamsley hill, where they +abode as a daring boast; for it had been said that if they ever +reached that spot they should never see the sea again. Alas! the +prediction was unfulfilled<a name="EndNote12anc" href= +"#EndNote12sym"><sup> {xii}</sup></a>.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h2> +<p>In the Aescendune Woods, Easter Tide, 1007.--</p> +<p>Here I am at home, if I may call these woods home, once more, +having spent my Lent with my brethren in the monastery of Abingdon. +We are a very large party: Herstan and all his family are here, the +Etheling Edmund, and Alfgar.</p> +<p>We all travelled together from Abingdon. Passing through Oxen +ford, Kirtlington (where Bishop Sidesman of Crediton died at the +Great Council, whose body is buried in the abbey), Beranbyrig, and +Warwick, we reached the domains of Aescendune.</p> +<p>We passed through the desolated village where lie the blackened +ruins of priory and hall, not without a sigh, and entered the +forest. Although I had so recently travelled by that path (in +September last), yet I could hardly find my way, and had once or +twice like to have lost the party in quagmires. So much the better; +for if we can hardly escape such impediments, I do not think we +need fear that the Danes will find their way through the swamps and +brakes.</p> +<p>But the woods were so fresh and delightful to men like +ourselves, who have but just escaped from the confinement of the +town. Blessed, thrice blessed, are they who dwell in the woods, +God's first temples, apart from strife and the turmoil of arms!</p> +<p>So spake I to my companions. The while the birds from each tree +and bush chanted their Maker's praise, and the sweet fresh green of +springtide enlivened the scene, as if to welcome us pilgrims to our +home.</p> +<p>"And not less, father," said the Etheling, "need we be grateful +for yon fat buck, which I mean to send an arrow after. See, we have +the wind of him."</p> +<p>So speaking, while we all stood motionless, he crept near his +victim, and drawing an arrow to its head, while all we saw was the +branching horns of the stag, he let it fly. It whizzed through the +air, and drank the life blood of the poor beast, which bounded a +few steps, staggered, and fell, when in a moment Alfgar ended its +struggles by drawing his knife across its throat, while young +Hermann, a true hunter by instinct, clapped his hands with joy.</p> +<p>"We shall bring our dinner with us," quoth the boy.</p> +<p>At this point I found great difficulty. A brook coming down from +the hills had overflowed the land until a swamp or quagmire had +been formed, whereon huge trees rotted in slime, while creeping +plants hid the deformity of decay.</p> +<p>Our horses refused the path, and it took me a good hour's +search, for I was guide, to find a more secure one. At last I found +the tracks where others had gone before me, and we followed a +winding path for a full hour, until we arrived in a deep valley, +where a brook made its way between deep rocky banks, by the side of +which lay our upward path.</p> +<p>"What a splendid place for defence!" said Edmund. "With a score +or two warriors, one might hold an entire army at bay here."</p> +<p>He pointed out to Alfgar and Hermann, who look upon him as a +sort of demigod, all the capabilities of the place.</p> +<p>"A few more steps, and we shall see our friends," said I; and we +advanced until, from the summit of the pass, we saw the valley +wherein they have found rest.</p> +<p>They had worked well during autumn and winter, and the land was +well cultivated; the brook ran through the midst of the vale, which +was bounded by low hills on either side, and clear from forest +growth.</p> +<p>In the centre of the valley the brook divided, forming an island +of about an acre of ground, containing several dwellings. From the +central one, which possessed a chimney, smoke issued, and told of +the noon meat.</p> +<p>By this time our approach was discovered, and I saw my brother, +with a few serfs, advancing to meet us. It was a happy moment when +we embraced each other again. And then he saw Alfgar, and embraced +him as a son. They did not speak--their feelings were too deep +for words. All that had passed since they last met must have rushed +into their minds. Then Herstan, the Lady Bertha, Hermann, Ostryth, +and Alfreda, all had their turn.</p> +<p>"Pardon me, prince," said I, when I introduced Edmund; "pardon +brothers who scarcely expected to meet again. Elfwyn, let me +introduce the Etheling Edmund as your guest."</p> +<p>"The Etheling Edmund!" repeated Elfwyn, with great respect; "it +is indeed an honour which I receive."</p> +<p>"The less said of it the better," said Edmund. "I am come to be +one of you for a time, and am thankful to find a free-born +Englishman to welcome me to the woods. Never, by God's help, will I +return to the court so long as they pay tribute to the Danes."</p> +<p>"It is true, then," said Elfwyn--"we hear scant news here-- +that peace has been bought?"</p> +<p>"Yes, bought for thirty-six thousand pounds, by Edric's advice. +I should like to know how much of the money he retains himself. He +is hand and glove with Sweyn. But I purpose deriving one benefit +from the peace, upon which the Danes do not reckon."</p> +<p>"And that?--"</p> +<p>"Is to train up an army of Englishmen who shall not be their +inferiors in warlike skill. In courage they are not their inferiors +now. Perhaps you will let me amuse myself by training your own +retainers in their spare moments?"</p> +<p>"Most willingly. I could desire nothing better," said my +brother, smiling inwardly at the enthusiasm of the young +warrior.</p> +<p>The labourers had just returned from wood and field, and when +Edmund was recognised he was greeted with vociferous cheers, which +made the woods ring.</p> +<p>But I cannot describe the meeting of Alfgar with the mother and +sister of Bertric; they were alone a long time together after the +noon meat, and I saw afterwards their eyes were red with weeping; +well, they were not all tears of sorrow.</p> +<p>On the whole it has been a day of deep happiness, hallowed +rather than shadowed by the thought of Bertric, the circumstances +of whose heroic death were only now fully known to his parents and +sister.</p> +<p>. . . . . .</p> +<p class="c2">The voluminous pages of Father Cuthbert's diary for +the years of bitter woe and misery which followed cannot be fully +transcribed; they would fill a volume themselves, and we must +content ourselves with a few extracts, which will probably interest +our readers, and carry on the thread of the history to the place +where our narrative will again flow free and uninterrupted.</p> +<p>Ascension Tide, 1007.--</p> +<p>Edmund, assisted by Alfgar, has begun his task of disciplining +and training all our able-bodied men. He says, and rightly, that he +is sure we shall very soon have the Danes back for more money, and +that there will be no peace till we can defend ourselves properly. +It is amusing to see with what zeal young Hermann takes lessons in +arms from Alfgar; that boy is born to be a soldier.</p> +<p>September 1007.--</p> +<p>We hear of an appointment which causes us much apprehension. The +king Ethelred has appointed Edric Streorn ealdorman of Mercia; we +are in his district, and fear it may bode evil to us all. Edmund is +beside himself with rage; he vows that if Edric appears in these +woods he will slay him as he would a wolf.</p> +<p>May 1008.--</p> +<p>Every three hundred and ten hides of land has been charged with +the cost of a ship, and every eight hides with the cost of +breastplate and helmet; we do trust to recover our supremacy at +sea, and then the Danes cannot return.</p> +<p>March 1009.--</p> +<p>Alas, we are grievously disappointed of our hope. The fleet is +miserably destroyed; Brihtric, Edric's brother, a man like-minded +to himself; accused Wulfnoth, the ealdorman of Sussex, of high +treason; the ealdorman, knowing that he had no chance of justice, +seduced the crews of twenty ships, and became a pirate, like unto +the Danes themselves. Brihtric pursued him with eighty ships, but +being a bad sailor, got aground in a storm, and Wulfnoth came and +burned all which the storm spared. The commanders and crews have +forsaken the rest of the fleet in disgust.</p> +<p>Whitsuntide, 1009.--</p> +<p>Poor Alfgar came to me in great trouble. He and Ethelgiva have +been accepted suitors so long that he thought it time to propose +marriage. She referred him, with her own full consent, to her +father; and Elfwyn says, not unwisely, that he cannot consent until +the land is at peace; that it is currently reported that Thurkill, +a Danish earl, is at hand with an immense fleet, and that to marry +might both hamper a warrior's hands and be the means of bringing up +children for the sword. He fully accepts Alfgar's suit, but +postpones the day till peace seems established, that is "sine die." +It is very hard to make Alfgar reconciled to this. I try to do +so.</p> +<p>July 1009.--</p> +<p>Bad news. Thurkill's fleet has landed at Sandwich.</p> +<p>August 1009.--</p> +<p>Worse news. Another fleet of Danes, under Heming and Eglaf, has +joined the former fleet, and both together are ravaging Wessex as +far northward as Berkshire; we have sent all the men we can spare +to join the army, but the king, persuaded by Edric, will not give +the Etheling Edmund any command therein.</p> +<p>St. Martin's Mass,--</p> +<p>One of our men has returned from the army. He states that forces +being gathered from all parts of England, the Danes were waylaid, +and must have been beaten, but that Edric persuaded the king not to +fight when the victory was in his hands, and so they escaped.</p> +<p>St. Brice's Day, 1009.--</p> +<p>This ill-omened anniversary we sang dirge and mass for the souls +of those who were slain by treachery seven years ago. Our forces +have returned from the south. They say the Danes have gone into +winter quarters on the Thames, and that all the neighbourhood pays +them tribute.</p> +<p>London has hitherto gallantly resisted their attacks.</p> +<p>Edric Streorn has married the king's daughter, Edmund's +half-sister, Elgitha. Is this a time to be "marrying and giving in +marriage"? Edmund is frantic about it.</p> +<p>February 1010.--</p> +<p>Woeful news. Herstan and all his family, who had returned in +peace to their dwelling, have come to us homeless and destitute. +The Danes, as in 1006, suddenly issued from their ships. They took +their way upwards through Chiltern, and so to Oxford, burning the +city. Then they returned all down the river, the infantry in boats, +the cavalry on horseback, burning on every side.</p> +<p>But, worst of all, Abingdon is destroyed; the holy house which +has been a house of prayer so many generations! Keeping in their +course, they burned Clifton; but the alarm was given in time, and +the people escaped. There was no chance of defence this time.</p> +<p>Then they attacked Dorchester, and burned part of the city, but +retired before all was consumed, hearing that a large force was +marching against them; so onward past the ruins of Wallingford, +which had not yet been rebuilt, destroying Bensington on their +road. Thus they went on to Staines, when, fearing the forces of +London, they returned through Kent to their ships.</p> +<p>Our brethren who took refuge in Abingdon have just arrived. We +must find them room here; they tell a piteous story.</p> +<p>Ascension Tide, 1010.--</p> +<p>A sorrowful Ascension Tide indeed! They have landed in East +Anglia. A battle has been fought and lost. Nearly all the English +leaders slain.</p> +<p>Whitsuntide.--</p> +<p>We can hardly keep the festival, the people are so excited by +the news; all Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (once more) are laid +waste. They are on the road to Bedford.</p> +<p>Edmund and Alfgar, with young Hermann, and all our fighting men, +have gone out on their own account against them.</p> +<p>July.--</p> +<p>The Danes elude all our troops. Edric persuades the king to go +eastward, and the Danes are westward. They go westward, and the +Danes are eastward. There is no chieftain. A witan is summoned; it +will do no good.</p> +<p>November.--</p> +<p>Northampton has fallen, cruelly fallen. The town is burned, and +all therein slain.</p> +<p>Edmund and Alfgar, with not more than half our men, have +returned with the news. Hermann is seriously wounded, but bears it +bravely. He is only sixteen now. There is mourning over all our +fallen heroes; but they have died so bravely. Edmund says they have +slain far more than twice their number of the marauders. Still his +father will give him no command. It is like private war so far as +he is concerned; but many fresh recruits have joined his standard, +and will go out with him in spring.</p> +<p>March 1011.--</p> +<p>The king and witan have again offered tribute to the Danes; it +is accepted. I do not think the peace will last long.</p> +<p>Michaelmas, 1011.--</p> +<p>Woe is me! the Danes have broken the peace; and Canterbury, the +chief seat of English Christendom, whence came to us the blessed +Gospel, is taken and burnt. Elfmar, the abbot of St. Augustine's-- +O false shepherd! O wolf in sheep's clothing! betrayed it. The +archbishop is prisoner. God and the blessed saints preserve +him!</p> +<p>Easter, 1012.--</p> +<p>Another saint is added to the calendar; the Archbishop Elphege +has suffered martyrdom. On Easter eve they told him he must find +ransom or die. But he not only firmly refused to give money, but +forbade his impoverished people to do so on his account. Then, on +the following Saturday, they led him to their hustings (or +assembly), and shamefully slaughtered him, casting upon him bones +and the horns of oxen. And then one smote him with an axe iron on +the head, and with the blow he sank down. His holy blood fell on +the earth, and his soul he sent forth to God's kingdom.</p> +<p>On the morrow they allowed the body to be taken to London, where +the bishops, Ednoth of Dorchester and Elfhelm of London, received +it, with all the townsmen, and buried the holy relics in St. Paul's +minster, where they say many miracles have already been wrought at +his tomb.</p> +<p>Tribute has again been paid, and there is peace awhile. +Thurkill, with forty ships, sweareth to serve King Ethelred and +defend the country if he will feed and pay them.</p> +<p>Oh that the martyr's intercessions may be heard for his +afflicted country<a name="EndNote13anc" href= +"#EndNote13sym"><sup> {xiii}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>August 1013.--</p> +<p>This fatal month our own neighbourhood, indeed nearly all +Mercia, has suffered the extreme horrors of war. Sweyn came along +Watling Street, perpetrating the most monstrous cruelties; in +short, he and his committed the worst evil that any army could +do.</p> +<p>We found now how wisely we had decided not to rebuild +Aescendune. Not a hall, farm, or cottage, escaped fire and sword, +save those hidden in the forest like us. Edmund has lost many men +in the course of the last few months; and with the remainder he hid +in our woods, ready to protect us "to the last breath," as he said, +"in his body." Alfgar and Hermann, who have both been wounded (the +latter for the second time), are with him still. But the enemy +never discovered our retreat. Praise be to God for sparing this +little Zoar! The saints are not unmindful how we protested against +the iniquity of St. Brice's day. But of one thing we all feel sure; +Anlaf cannot be alive, or revenge would lead him here.</p> +<p>December 1013.--</p> +<p>Ethelred has fled to Normandy. He sent Queen Emma and her +children before him. Sweyn, the Dane, is now King of England. There +seems no resource but submission. We are told Edric Streorn is in +high favour in the Pagan court; and still is ealdorman of Mercia. +Alas! what a Christmas!</p> +<p>Candlemas, 1014.--</p> +<p>God has at length bared His arm: Sweyn is no more. The +blasphemer and parricide is gone to his dread account. On the eve +of the festival he filled up the measure of his damnation by daring +to exact an enormous tribute from the town where rests the +uncorrupt body of the precious martyr St. Edmund, which even the +pagan Danes had hitherto feared to do. He said that if it were not +presently paid he would burn the town and its people, level to the +ground the church of the martyr, and inflict various tortures on +the clergy. Not content with this, he disparaged the blessed +martyr's merits, daring to say there was no sanctity about him. +But, thus setting no bounds to his frowardness, Divine vengeance +did not suffer the blasphemer to prolong his miserable +existence.</p> +<p>Towards evening of the day when he had held a "thingcourt" at +Gainsborough, where he had repeated all these threats amongst his +warriors, he, alone of the crowd, saw St. Edmund approaching him +with a dreadful aspect.</p> +<p>Struck with terror, he began to shout, "Help! comrades, help! +St. Edmund is at hand to slay me!"</p> +<p>While he spoke, the saint thrust his spear fiercely through him, +and he fell from his war horse. They bore him to a bed, whereon he +suffered excruciating agonies till twilight, when he died the third +of the nones of February. From such a death, good Lord, deliver us! +The bloodthirsty and deceitful man shall not live out half his +days; nevertheless, my trust shall be in thee, O Lord<a name= +"EndNote14anc" href="#EndNote14sym"><sup> {xiv}</sup></a>!</p> +<p>Lent, 1014.--</p> +<p>Ethelred has returned, and is again king; he has promised to +amend his evil ways, and to be ruled by faithful and wise +counsellors. All England has rallied round the descendant of Edgar. +Canute has fled.</p> +<p>Eastertide.--</p> +<p>Edmund has returned to court. His father has received him +graciously. Alfgar is with him. Elfwyn will not even yet consent to +the marriage, saying, "Wait a little while; we have not yet done +with the Danes." I fear he is right.</p> +<p>June 1015.--</p> +<p>Herstan is here, and has brought us sad news. A great council +has just been held at Oxford, whereat Edric Streorn, to the +indignation of all men, sat at the king's right hand. Would this +had been all! He invited Sigeferth and Morcar, two of the chief +Thanes in the seven burghs, to supper with him; and there, when he +had made them heavy with wine, he caused them to be cruelly +murdered by hired ruffians. Instead of punishing him, the king +sanctioned the deed, took all their possessions, and sent +Sigeferth's widow to be kept prisoner at Malmesbury. Alas! such +deeds will call down God's vengeance upon us.</p> +<p>Nativity of St. Mary (Sept. 8).--</p> +<p>The Etheling went with Alfgar to Malmesbury a few days ago. We +now hear that he has released Sigeferth's widow, and that he has +married her. We know not what to think of the step. It is a bold +defiance of his father's cruel policy. He knew the widow before she +was the wife of Sigeferth, when Alfgar says he made honourable love +to her. But it is a very sudden step.</p> +<p>October 1015.--</p> +<p>Alas! the Divine vengeance has not slumbered long after the late +cruel deed. Canute is in England again. Edmund brought his wife +here, asking us to take care of her. She is a gentle lady, worn +down with care. He has gone, in conjunction with Edric, to fight +Canute. I dread this conjunction. Edmund would have gone alone, but +his father insisted on joining Edric in the command, saying two +heads were better than one.</p> +<p>November 1015.--</p> +<p>Alfgar has come home, bringing messages from Edmund, with sad +but not altogether unexpected news. Edric, who is steeped in +stratagems and deceit, plotted against his life again and again, +whereupon Edmund broke up the camp in indignation, and took a +separate course with all the warriors who would follow his +standard. Edric took the rest, went down to the seacoast, seduced +the crews of forty ships, and then joined Canute with his whole +forces. Alas! there seems no hope now.</p> +<p>Epiphany, 1016.--</p> +<p>There is war all over the land--civil war. It is not to be +wondered at. But many Englishmen have given their allegiance to +Canute, who now professes himself a Christian, saying they will not +serve Ethelred any more. So Edmund and Canute are both, I fear, +ravaging the land, for Edmund has threatened more than once to +regard those people as foes who refuse to fight against the Danes. +Men know not what to do.</p> +<p>Eastertide, 1016.--</p> +<p>We have received strange news. Ethelred is dying. He has +summoned his son. The tidings reached Edmund here. He had only been +with us a single day, and was about to depart again for the war, +for Canute threatens to attack London. It is there Ethelred lies +sick unto death. Edmund seemed more moved than I should have +expected. He has departed in all haste, taking Alfgar with him.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a>. THE ROYAL DEATHBED.</h2> +<p>It was the evening of a stormy day in April when a band of five +hundred men, well armed and equipped, were seen approaching the +Moor Gate of London. Their leader rode in front, a stalwart +warrior, whose eagle eye and dauntless brow told of one born to +command. By his side rode a younger warrior, yet one who had nearly +reached the prime of life, and who bore the traces of a life of +warfare most legibly stamped upon him. There was this difference +between them, that men would have recognised the elder at once as +an Englishman, while the younger had all the outward physiognomy of +a Dane.</p> +<p>"Look, Alfgar, and see whether you can see the flag of Wessex +floating over the gates; your eyes are better than mine," said the +elder to his companion.</p> +<p>"I can barely see through the driving rain and darkening sky, +but I think I discern the royal banner."</p> +<p>"Then the city yet holds out, and Canute has not arrived. We are +yet in time."</p> +<p>"The messenger said that their ships could not ascend the river +while the west wind blew, and it is blowing hard enough +tonight."</p> +<p>"Well, when they come they may find London a hard nut even for +Canute to crack. The citizens of London are true as steel."</p> +<p>"See, we are espied, and they man the gates."</p> +<p>"Doubtless they think Canute is approaching. Ride rapidly, we +shall soon undeceive them."</p> +<p>They rode within bow shot of the gates, which were closed, and +there they paused, for a score of bowmen held their shafts to their +ears. Edmund, for our readers have long recognised him, bade his +forces halt, and advanced alone, with Alfgar, holding up his hand +in sign of peace.</p> +<p>"What, ho! men of London," he cried, "do you not recognise +Edmund the Etheling?"</p> +<p>A joyous cry of recognition burst forth, the gates were thrown +open in a minute, and as Edmund, followed by his train, rode in, +cries of welcome and exultation burst forth on all sides, while +women and children, sharing the general joy, kissed even the hem of +his mantle.</p> +<p>Well they might, for their need was sore. Canute was near, his +ships had been seen entering the Thames, and his determination to +take the city, which had so often resisted the Danish arms, had +been freely and frankly expressed.</p> +<p>"Ah, well you know me, my countrymen, for a true Englishman!-- +one in whose veins your blood flows, and who will be only too happy +to fight the Danish wolves at your head."</p> +<p>The cry, "Long live the Etheling Edmund!" had wakened the city, +and the narrow tortuous streets were becoming thronged by the +crowd, so that their farther progress threatened to be slow. Edmund +perceived this, and, turning to the captain of the guard, inquired +anxiously:</p> +<p>"How fares the king, my father?"</p> +<p>"They say he is at death's door," was the reply.</p> +<p>"Then I may not tarry, good people. All thanks for your welcome, +which I hope I may live to repay, but just now my place is by my +father's side. I may not now delay till I come to him."</p> +<p>So the people made way without discontinuing their acclamations, +and Edmund and his train rode on till they reached the precincts of +St. Paul's cathedral church. Night was now coming on apace, amidst +showers of rain and hail, and gusts of wind, which caused the +wooden spire to rock visibly. Here and there faint lights twinkled +through the open doors, where people could be dimly seen on their +knees.</p> +<p>"They pray for the king," whispered an officer of the guard who +rode by the side of the prince. "The bishop Elfhelm has gone forth +with the viaticum."</p> +<p>Edmund replied not, but hurried his pace as he gazed at the +darkening outlines of the rude structure, which stood within the +outer walls, yet remaining, of the temple of Diana, which in Roman +times had occupied the same spot.</p> +<p>They descended the hill towards the Fleet, but paused while yet +within the walls. The ancient palace without the gates had been +long since burned by the Danes in one of their various attempts to +take the city, and the court had occupied a large palace, if such +it could be called, once belonging to a powerful noble who had +perished in one of the sanguinary battles of the time.</p> +<p>The outer portal stood open, but sentinels of the hus-carles +were posted thereat, who at once came forward as Edmund paused at +the gate.</p> +<p>He dismounted, saying, "Alfgar, follow me;" and commended his +troops to the hospitality of the citizens, bidding them to +reassemble before St. Paul's by eight of the morning.</p> +<p>And the troops broke up to receive such hospitality as the +straitened times permitted men to indulge in. The officers found a +welcome in the palace, amongst the royal guard. The citizens +contended who should entertain the rest.</p> +<p>Edmund passed through the great hall, where the general silence +struck him forcibly, telling of the extremity to which the monarch +was reduced, and entered an inner apartment, where several +dignitaries both of church and state were waiting. They welcomed +him in grave silence, and the chamberlain who was present spoke in +a low voice:</p> +<p>"Your royal father has long pined for you, my prince; may I +conduct you to him at once?"</p> +<p>"Who is with him now?"</p> +<p>"Your royal brothers, the Ethelings Edward and Alfred, the +Princess Edgitha, and the Queen <a name="EndNote15anc" href= +"#EndNote15sym"><sup> {xv}</sup></a>."</p> +<p>"Has not the bishop arrived?"</p> +<p>"He is in the chapel at this moment; the king declined to see +him, he will not believe he is dying; but the bishop waits in +prayer."</p> +<p>"Lead me to his chamber," said Edmund.</p> +<p>Re-entering the great hall, the chamberlain and prince ascended +the broad staircase which conducted to the upper chambers, and +passing along a passage thickly strewn with rushes to deaden the +sound, for carpets were unknown, they came to a door at the end, +where the chamberlain paused and knocked.</p> +<p>Loud ravings, as of one in delirium, penetrated the passage from +the chamber, amidst which the chamberlain knocked again.</p> +<p>"There! there!" cried an agonised voice, "he knocks again; 'tis +Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, whom Edric slew; 'twasn't I, 'twas Edric, I +only shared the spoil; keep him out, I tell you, keep him out."</p> +<p>The door was not opened; probably those within feared to excite +the king; and the chamberlain whispered to Edmund:</p> +<p>"He is in delirium, his ravings are very painful."</p> +<p>"I hear," said Edmund; "how long has he been in this state?"</p> +<p>"Only a few hours, and he has constantly imagined that men, who +are long since dead, were about him; especially he calls upon +Dunstan, then upon St. Brice, then he calls for his son-in-law, +Edric."</p> +<p>"Ah, Edric!"</p> +<p>"Yes; but Edric is with Canute, I hear."</p> +<p>"I wish he were with Satan, in his own place," said Edmund, +fiercely, forgetting all Christian charity at the hated name.</p> +<p>"It is devoutly to be wished; but he is quiet, we may enter +now."</p> +<p>The king, exhausted by his own violent emotions, lay back upon +the bed, which occupied the centre of the room, surmounted by a +wooden canopy, richly carved, from which curtains depended on +either side.</p> +<p>His face, which time and evil passions had deeply wrinkled, was +of a deadly paleness; his eyes were encircled by a livid tint, and +stared as if they would start from their orbits; his breathing was +rapid and interrupted, but at the moment when Edmund entered he was +silent. Standing on his left hand, wiping the perspiration from his +brow, was Emma, the queen, her face yet comely, and bearing trace +of that beauty which had once earned her the title of the "Pearl of +Normandy." Her evident solicitude and loving care was the one +picture of the room upon which the eye could rest with most +contentment.</p> +<p>Alfred, her eldest son--for Edmund was the offspring of an +early amour of the king--was on the other side of the bed, a +well-made youth, combining in his features the haughty bearing of +his Norman maternal ancestors with the English traits of his +father; but now his expression was one of distress and anxiety, +which was yet more deeply shared by his younger brother, Edward, +who even at this period manifested that strong sense of religious +obligation and that early devotion which in later years caused him +to be numbered amongst canonised saints.</p> +<p>He knelt at the bedside, and his hand grasped the cold damp hand +of his sire, as if he would strengthen him by his sympathy.</p> +<p>"O father," he cried; "neglect not longer to make your peace with +a long-suffering God; even in this eleventh hour He will not reject +the penitent."</p> +<p>He was interrupted by the entrance of Edmund, his half-brother, +whom he feared, because he could not understand so different a +nature.</p> +<p>"Our father has long pined for you," he said, in a timid voice; +"I fear you are too late, and that he will hardly know you."</p> +<p>"I have ridden from Aescendune day and night since the news of +his danger was brought me.</p> +<p>"Father," he said, as he bent over the bed, "do you not know +me?"</p> +<p>The dying man raised himself up and looked him full in the face, +and a look of recognition came slowly.</p> +<p>"Edmund!" he said, "I am so glad, you will protect me; take your +battle-axe, you are strong. Sigeferth and Morcar, whom Edric slew +at Oxford, have been here, and they said they would come back and +drag me with them to some judgment seat; now take thine axe, +Edmund, my son, and slay them when they enter; they want killing +again."</p> +<p>A look of indescribable pain passed over the features of +Edmund.</p> +<p>The door opened, and Edward left the room after a conference +with the physician, who sat in a corner of the room compounding +drugs at a small table; a few minutes passed in silence, when he +returned and held the door open for the bishop of London, who +entered, bearing the viaticum, as the last communion of the sick +was then called, and attended by an acolyte, who bore a lighted +taper before him and carried a bell.</p> +<p>The king rose up in his bed, glared fixedly at the prelate, and +then shrieked aloud:</p> +<p>"St. Brice! St. Brice! art thou come again? What dost thou glare +at me for? 'Twas not I who defiled thy festival with blood. It was +Edric, Edric! Why does he not come to answer for his own sin?"</p> +<p>"If he did, I would brain him," muttered Edmund.</p> +<p>"There! do not glare upon me. Hast thou brought me the blood of +the victims to drink? Ah! there is Gunhilda. What right hast thou +to complain if I slew thee, which I did not, at least not with my +own hands: thy brother Sweyn has slain thousands. I did not at +least kill my father; I have only disgraced his name, as you will +say.</p> +<p>"O Edmund! Edmund! protect me."</p> +<p>"My son," said the bishop, in a deep calm voice, which seemed to +still the ravings of the king, "think of thy sins, repent, confess; +the Church hath power to loose in her Lord's name, Who came to save +sinners."</p> +<p>"Yes, father, heed him," said Edward. "Father, you are dying, +the leech says; you have not a day to live. Waste not the precious +hours."</p> +<p>The patient sank back upon his bed, and for a few minutes only +the sound of his breathing could be heard; the difficulty with +which he drew his breath seemed to increase each moment.</p> +<p>The bishop held the crucifix before his eyes.</p> +<p>"Gaze, my son," said he, "at the emblem of Him who died that +thou mightest live, and say, 'O my God, I put Thy most pitiful +passion between Thee and my sins!'"</p> +<p>"Yes, father, hearken," said Edward.</p> +<p>"I bethink me now that Gunhilda clung to the crucifix, and said +she was a Christian. But what of that? She was a Dane, and they did +right in dragging her from it and slaying her."</p> +<p>"My son, my son, you throw away your salvation!" cried the +bishop.</p> +<p>"Father, show him the viaticum," said Emma.</p> +<p>"It is useless; without repentance and faith 'twould but +increase--" and the prelate paused. "Let us pray. It is all we can +do."</p> +<p>And all present knelt round the bed, while the plaintive cry +arose from the lips of the prelate, and was echoed from all +around:</p> +<p>"Kyrie eleeson: Christe eleeson: kyrie eleeson."</p> +<p>And so the litany for the dying rolled solemnly along, with its +intense burning words of supplication, its deep agony of prayer, +its loving earnestness of intercession. But upon the dying sinner's +ears it fell as an echo of the long, long past; of that day when +the litany arose before his coronation at Kingston, and the +prophetic curse of Dunstan.</p> +<p>"Listen!" he said. "I hear the voice of Dunstan.</p> +<p>"Oh, why didst thou lay thy curse upon me? Did I murder my +brother Edward? Nay, 'twas my cruel mother, who murdered her own +husband that she might become queen. Her sins are visited upon me. +Nay, recall thy curse. Alas! it is uttered in thunders before the +eternal judgment seat.</p> +<p>"See, they come to drag me thither; they all come--Edward; the +victims whom I slew sixteen years agone in Cumbria; the slain on +St. Brice's day; Elfhelm of Shrewsbury and his sons, with their +empty sockets, and their eyes hanging down; Sigeferth, Morcar, and +a thousand others. See, Dunstan bids them all await me at the +judgment seat. I will not come; nay, they drag me.</p> +<p>"Edric, wilt thou not answer for me now? Accursed be thy name, +accursed!"</p> +<p>His frightful maledictions overpowered the supplications around +his bed; but they died away in silence--silence so long +continued, that suspicion soon became certainty.</p> +<p>Ethelred the Unready was dead.</p> +<p>"We must leave him to God's mercy," said the bishop, as he +closed the eyes, while the wife and children of the unhappy king +sobbed around. "He knoweth whereof we are made; He remembereth that +we are but dust."</p> +<p>Yet he trembled as he spoke, and, kneeling down, completed with +faltering voice the office for the commendation of the departed +soul.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a>. THE MIDNIGHT FLIGHT.</h2> +<p>So soon as the news of the death of Ethelred travelled abroad, +the bishops, abbots, ealdormen, and thanes of southern England, +despairing of the cause of the house of Cerdic, met together at +Southampton, and renouncing Ethelred and his descendants, elected +Canute to be their king, while he swore that both in things +spiritual and temporal he would maintain their liberties.</p> +<p>But the citizens of London were of nobler mould, and, disdaining +submission, chose Edmund to be their king. A council was at once +held, and it became apparent that the allegiance of the greater +part of Wessex depended upon Edmund's prompt appearance amongst +them, while, on the other hand, the rapid approach of Canute made +his presence in the city very essential to the safety of the +inhabitants.</p> +<p>Up rose a noble thane, and spake his mind.</p> +<p>"Surely we can defend our own city until the valiant Edmund +brings us aid. We have kept off Canute before, and his father +before him, and we can do as much again. Meanwhile Edmund will soon +have all Wessex at his back, and Canute will find his match for +once."</p> +<p>The words of the gallant speaker found their echo in many a +breast, and it was decided that Edmund should be advised to hurry +into Wessex, and leave London to defend itself.</p> +<p>A deputation from the council at once waited upon Edmund, and in +the name of the city, and, as they took the liberty of adding, of +every true man in England, they proferred him his father's crown. +Like the citizens of a certain modern capital, they constituted +themselves the representatives of the nation.</p> +<p>Edmund, who certainly did not lack confidence, and who could not +help knowing that he alone was able to cope with the Danes, took +scant time to consider their proposal.</p> +<p>"I accept the crown," he said; "a thorny one it is like to +prove, but I thank you for your love and trust."</p> +<p>In the course of a day or two Ethelred the Unready was buried by +Archbishop Lyfing in St. Paul's minster, with the assistance of the +cathedral body. Emma and her children, as also Edwy, the son of +Ethelred by his first wife, were the chief mourners, nay, the only +real ones. Most men felt as when a cloud passes away. The sad +procession passed through the streets, the people flocked into the +church, and in the presence of all the "wise men" of London, they +solemnly committed the frail tabernacle in which the living spirit +had sinned and suffered to the parent earth, where the rush and +roar of a mighty city should ever peal around it.</p> +<p>A few days later the archbishop was called upon to perform a +very different ceremony, the coronation of King Edmund, which also +took place in St. Paul's Cathedral, amidst tears of joy, and cries +which even the sanctity of the place could not wholly restrain, +"God bless King Edmund!" The solemn oath of fidelity was +administered, and when all was over, with mingled tears and +acclamations, those who had met to bury the late king greeted with +joy his son and successor.</p> +<p>It yet remained to be seen whether the choice of the realm would +ratify this decisive step on the part of the citizens of +London.</p> +<p>Emma, the queen dowager, was deeply mortified, even while she +confessed the heritage was hardly worth having. Still her boy +Alfred seemed slighted by the choice, and she left England at once, +with Alfred and Edward, for Normandy, while Elgitha departed +secretly from London to join her husband Edric, and tell him all +that had been done.</p> +<p>Edmund delayed his journey into Wessex until he had duly +provided for the defence of the capital, and had personally +examined all the defences with a warrior's eye. At length the +messengers who watched the Danish fleet announced its arrival at +Greenwich, and that bands of warriors, numerous as locusts, were +issuing thence, and advancing upon London.</p> +<p>Reluctant as Edmund was to leave the city, it was evident that +if he delayed another day he might indeed share the perils of the +inhabitants, but would probably lose Wessex, where his immediate +presence was all-important. Therefore he called Alfgar, and bade +him prepare at once for a journey to the west.</p> +<p>Their intended route led them, in the first instance, to +Dorchester, where a large force from Mercia, including most of the +men whom Edmund had so long disciplined himself, and who were under +the temporary charge of Hermann, were to meet him. However, it was +late before their final arrangements could be made, and the sun had +already set when the citizens accompanied them to the Ludgate, and +bade them an earnest farewell.</p> +<p>They were both clad in light defensive armour, such as could be +worn on a rapid journey, and armed with sword and battle-axe. Their +own steeds, two of the finest horses England could produce, famous +for speed and bottom, awaited them at the gate. Edmund criticised +their condition with a jealous eye, and then expressed +approval.</p> +<p>"Farewell, Englishmen of the loyal and true city! Until we meet +in happier times, farewell! You will know how to guard hearths and +homes. Till we return to aid you, farewell!"</p> +<p>And, striking spurs into his steed, he and Alfgar rode across +the Fleet river, and, ascending the rising ground, pursued their +course along the Strand.</p> +<p>"We shall have a moonlight ride," said the king. "Look, Alfgar, +'tis nearly full."</p> +<p>"My Lord, do you see those dark spots on the river near Thorney +Isle?"</p> +<p>"Ah! I see them, and recognise the cutthroats. They are the +Danes, who are bent on surrounding the city. Had I my five hundred, +I would soon give some account of that detachment."</p> +<p>"But now, my Lord, had we not better strike into the northern +road at once, before they see us? We are but two."</p> +<p>"No; I should like to see them a little closer, and then across +the heath for Windsor. They must have fleet steeds that catch +us."</p> +<p>So they persevered until they had attained a rising ground from +which they perceived the whole force, nearly a thousand strong, of +whom one half had crossed the stream. But the figures of our two +adventurers, outlined on the hill, were too distinct to elude their +observation, and a dozen dark horsemen rode after them at full +gallop.</p> +<p>"Now for a brisk ride," said Edmund; and the two dashed wildly +onward, clearing ditch or hedge until they attained the rising +ground afterwards known as Hounslow Heath, still followed by their +pursuers.</p> +<p>Here Edmund paused and looked round. The speed at which they +rode had separated their pursuers, as he had expected, and one was +far the foremost.</p> +<p>"Stand by, Alfgar," he said; "two to one is not fair. I thirst +for the blood of this accursed Dane."</p> +<p>Alfgar knew that he must not dispute the royal will, although he +thought the risk of delay very perilous, with a crowd of foes upon +their track. While he waited up came the Dane, powerfully mounted, +swinging his heavy battle-axe. He swooped upon Edmund, who caused +his horse to start aside, avoided the stroke, and then, guiding his +horse by his knees, and raising his axe in both hands, cleft his +antagonist to the chin before he could recover.</p> +<p>"Here come two more. Now, Alfgar, there is one apiece. The rest +are a mile behind them. You may take the one on the light grey, I +will take the rascal on the dark steed."</p> +<p>Another moment and they were both engaged. Alfgar foiled his +opponent's first stroke, and wounded him slightly in return. Now +the battle became desperate, attack succeeding attack, and parry, +parry. Meanwhile Edmund had again laid his foe prostrate in the +dust, but did not interfere; such was his chivalrous spirit in what +he considered an equal combat, although he cast anxious looks +behind, where two or three other riders were rapidly +approaching.</p> +<p>At last victory inclined to Alfgar's side. Parrying a tremendous +stroke with his axe, he returned it with such vigour that the next +moment the Dane lay quivering in the dust.</p> +<p>"There appear to be only three or four more. I think we might +engage them. By the by, Alfgar, you missed one splendid chance +through your steed not answering your guidance to the moment. But I +am tired of the battle-axe, and shall use my sword for a +change.</p> +<p>"Ah! there come half-a-dozen more round those firs. We must ride +forward and give up the sport."</p> +<p>Their enemies saw them and quickened their pace. They came to +the spot where their countrymen lay prostrate, and the cry of +revenge they raised, and the manner in which they urged their +steeds forward, showed how strongly the sight appealed to their +feelings.</p> +<p>Onward flew pursuers and pursued--onward till Windsor's +height, with its castled hall, appeared in sight, and tempted them +to seek refreshment for man and beast. But they dared not linger on +their journey, and passed the town without entering.</p> +<p>They rode all night through a most desolate country, wasted by +fire and sword in all directions. Only in a few spots was there any +appearance of cultivation, for who would sow when they knew not who +should reap? Not one lonely country house, such as abounded in the +days of Edgar the Pacific, did they see standing, although they +passed the blackened ruins of many an abode, showing where once the +joys of home held sway. Here and there they came upon the relics of +strife, in the shape of bodies of men and horses left to rot, and +in one spot, where a ford had been defended, the rival nations had +left their fallen representatives by hundreds. It must have been +months before, yet no one had buried the bodies. Such people as +still existed without the fortified towns had betaken themselves to +the woods, or the recesses of the deep swamps and forests, as the +people of Aescendune had done.</p> +<p>As they drew near Dorchester, they found yet more sanguinary +traces of recent war, for the Thames had been the scene of constant +warfare. Bensington, half burned, had partially recovered, and had +renewed her fortifications; Wallingford, hard by, had never risen +since the frightful Christmas of 1006.</p> +<p>Dorchester now rose before them. They had accomplished fifty +miles of hard riding that night. They were seen, challenged, and +recognised, by a patrol without the gates, and the cry, "Long live +King Edmund!" echoed from all sides. A thousand gallant Mercians, +the nucleus of an army, each man fit to be a captain, awaited them +there, and Edmund felt his spirits revive within him, and his hope +for England; and Alfgar met Hermann with great gladness.</p> +<p>It was pitiful to see the blackened ruins of churches and +palace, which had not been rebuilt since the Danish raid of 1010, +but the commoner dwellings were rising with rapidity from their +ashes, or had already risen, for the shelter of the earthworks and +other fortifications was not to be despised, and prevented the +place from being utterly abandoned.</p> +<p>Yet it may be noted that Dorchester never fully recovered the +events of that dreadful year, and that its decay probably dates +from the period.</p> +<p>Resting only a few hours, during which they were the guests of +Ednoth, the bishop, they departed with his fervent blessing and +earnest prayers for their success, and rode westward, attended by +their whole troop.</p> +<p>Every town they reached received them with enthusiasm. They were +now near the birthplace of the great Alfred, where the hearts of +the people were all thoroughly with their native princes; and men +left all their ordinary occupations to strike one blow for King +Edmund and England. Onward, and like a rolling snowball, they +gathered as they went, until they entered Wiltshire with ten +thousand men, and, crossing the country, reached the opposite +border with all the brave men of Wilts added to their numbers.</p> +<p>They were now approaching Dorsetshire, and saw before them a +rising ground, with a large stone set in a conspicuous position.</p> +<p>"What stone is that?" inquired Edmund of a thane, whose +habitation was hard by, and who had joined him with his whole +household.</p> +<p>"It is called the county stone. It marks the place where three +counties meet--Somerset, Wilts, and Dorset; it is in the village +of Penn."</p> +<p>At this moment a horseman was seen riding wildly after them from +the country in the rear.</p> +<p>"See that man; he brings news," said Edmund, and the whole party +paused.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," whispered Edmund to his confidential attendant, "there +is hot work coming; I have long since scented the foe behind."</p> +<p>The messenger arrived, bowed low to the king, and waited +permission to speak, while his panting breath betrayed his haste +and his excitement.</p> +<p>"Well, your message?" said Edmund; "you have ridden fast to +bring it."</p> +<p>"My lord, Canute, with an army of fifty thousand men, is +following behind with all his speed."</p> +<p>Edmund looked proudly around upon his host; it was almost equal +in number. Then he looked with a soldier's eye on the ground before +him, and saw that it was the very place where a stand could be made +with every advantage of ground.</p> +<p>"It is well," said Edmund; "we will wait for him here."</p> +<p>A loud cheer from those around him showed how he had succeeded +in imparting his own brave spirit to others. The trumpets commanded +a halt; and Alfgar and other riders bore the commands of the king +to the extremities of the host.</p> +<p>Each division took up rapidly the position assigned; for in this +domestic war men fought side by side with those they had known from +childhood, and were commanded immediately by their own hereditary +chieftains.</p> +<p>The broken nature of the ground protected them well from an +attack on either flank, and they strengthened this advantage by +throwing up a mound and digging a ditch, with the greatest +rapidity.</p> +<p>While thus engaged, they saw the flashing of spear and shield in +the east, reflecting the setting sun, and speedily the whole +country seemed to glow with the sheen of weapons.</p> +<p>Edmund raised himself in the stirrups.</p> +<p>"Englishmen! brethren!" he cried, "you see your foe, the +ruthless destroyers of your land and kinsfolk; the pagan murderers +of your archbishop, the sainted Alphege. God will help them that +help themselves. It shall be ours to strike one glorious blow for +liberty and for just vengeance on this field. I vow to the God of +battles I will conquer or die."</p> +<p>He took off his helmet and looked solemnly to Heaven, as he +called on the Supreme Being to register his vow, and a deep murmur +of sympathy arose around, until it found loud utterance in the cry, +"We will conquer with our king or die," from a thousand voices, +until the glorious enthusiasm spread throughout the camp. Glorious +when men fight for hearth and altar.</p> +<p>Edmund looked proudly around.</p> +<p>"With such warriors," he said, "I need not fear Canute."</p> +<p>The trench and mound were completed, but the enemy did not +advance. He planted his black raven banner two miles off in the +plain, arranged his forces, and halted for the night.</p> +<p>"We must fight tomorrow at dawn of day," said Edmund. "Now, bid +the campfires be lighted; we have plenty of meat and bread, mead +and wine; bid each man eat and drink his fill. Men never fight well +on empty stomachs. Then return yourself to my side, and share my +tent this night; perhaps--perhaps--for the last time."</p> +<p>"If so, woe to England--woe!" said Alfgar. "But I have +confidence that her day of tribulation is passing from her. The +blood of the martyred saints cries aloud for vengeance on the +Danes."</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a>. EDMUND AND CANUTE.</h2> +<p>The watch was duly set; campfires were lighted, and joints of +meat suspended over them; barrels of wine and mead were broached, +for all the country around contributed with loving willingness to +the support of its defenders; and when hunger was appeased the +patriotic song arose from the various fires, and stirring legends +of the glorious days of old, when Danes and Norsemen fled before +the English arms, nerved the courage of the men for the morrow's +stern conflict.</p> +<p>Around the fire kindled next the tent of Edmund sat the warrior +monarch himself, with all the chieftains, the ealdormen, and lesser +thanes who shared his fortunes.</p> +<p>The minstrels and gleemen were not wanting here, but none could +touch the harp more sweetly than Edmund himself; and, the banquet +over, he sang an ancient lay, which kindled the enthusiasm of all +his hearers, and nerved them to do or die, so that they longed for +the morrow.</p> +<p>Before it was over the trumpet announced some event of +importance, and soon a messenger brought the tidings to Edmund that +a large force was advancing from the west.</p> +<p>All rose to look at them, not without anxiety; as yet they were +far distant, across a wild moor, but as they drew nearer, and their +standards could be more clearly discerned, it became gradually +evident that it was a reinforcement; and so it proved, for heralds, +galloping forward, announced the men of Dorsetshire.</p> +<p>They were most gladly received, for now the English forces were +equal in number to their adversaries, and every man felt the hope +of victory strong within him.</p> +<p>At length Edmund bade messengers go through the camp, and cause +every man to retire to rest, for they must all be stirring by dawn +on the morrow.</p> +<p>He himself, with Alfgar, went through the host and then +inspected the watch. When he came to the outpost nearest the foe he +found Hermann on duty as officer of the watch, and spoke earnestly +to him and his men.</p> +<p>"Be on your guard," he said, "as men who know that the welfare +of England depends upon them; if you see the least movement on the +part of the crafty Canute, rouse the camp at once; they are not +unlikely to attack us by night if they can surprise us, not +otherwise."</p> +<p>Alfgar was standing on a low mound contemplating the opposite +camp, that of his own countrymen, attentively.</p> +<p>"Well, Alfgar, my son, do you see aught?" said Edmund +approaching him.</p> +<p>"I fancied I saw some figures seek the hollow where the ditch +passes from us to them."</p> +<p>"We will wait and see whether aught comes of it," said the king; +"how do you like our prospects?"</p> +<p>"Well, my lord, I would sooner be with you at this moment than +in any other place in England."</p> +<p>"Even than in Aescendune?"</p> +<p>"Yes; just now."</p> +<p>"Alfgar, do you think your father yet lives?" said Edmund, as he +again gazed upon the Danish camp.</p> +<p>"I think not; I fear he is numbered amongst the dead; I have +over and over again inquired of Danish prisoners whether they knew +aught of him; they all said he had not been known in their ranks +for years."</p> +<p>"The chances of a warrior's life are so many that he may not +improbably be gone, but remember you found another father at +Carisbrooke."</p> +<p>"I shall never forget that, my lord."</p> +<p>Here Hermann interrupted them.</p> +<p>"My lord, would you look closely at that little clump of furze +upon the banks of the brook?"</p> +<p>"By St. Edmund, there they are! now to catch Danish wolves in a +steel trap; creep back within the mound."</p> +<p>The whole guard was speedily aroused.</p> +<p>"Shall we alarm the camp?" said Hermann.</p> +<p>"Not for the world, they want all the sleep they can get; this +will only be a reconnoitring party; did they find us asleep they +would of course cut our throats, and then bring their brethren to +attack the camp. As it is, I think we shall cut theirs +instead."</p> +<p>"They have disappeared."</p> +<p>"Only to appear with more effect; they will be creeping like +snakes coming to be scotched; they won't find a man like Edric at +the head of the English army now--one who always chose the +sleepiest and deafest men for sentinels. Ah, well! he is openly +with the enemy now; I only hope he will come within swing of my +battle-axe tomorrow.</p> +<p>"<i>Ah! There they are."</i></p> +<p>"Where?" inquired two or three low voices eagerly.</p> +<p>"Creeping up the slope; now get your arrows to your ears; take +the opposite men when they arise."</p> +<p>A few moments, during which men could hear their own hearts +beat, when up rose the Danes from the grass like spectres, and +rushed for the mound. A storm of arrows met them, to which nearly +half succumbed.</p> +<p>Swinging his axe, Edmund, followed, by the rest, jumped from the +mound to meet the survivors; numbers were nearly equal, the English +now slightly superior. Each man met his individual foe. Young +Hermann's sword broke against a Danish axe; he rushed in and got +within the swing of the weapon; both wrestled for the deadly steel, +they fell, rolled over and over on the grass; at length Hermann +grasped his opponent's throat like a vice with his mailed hand, and +held till the arms of his foe hung nerveless by the side and the +face grew black, when, disengaging his right hand, he found his +dagger, and drove it to the victim's heart.</p> +<p>"Well done!" said Edmund; "you are the last, Hermann; Alfgar has +finished some time; we have been watching you; this little +beginning promises luck tomorrow.</p> +<p>"You and I must retire now, Alfgar.</p> +<p>"Good night, Hermann; good night, my men; wipe your swords on +the grass; keep them bright."</p> +<p>The morning dawned bright and radiant; and with the first +appearance of the sun the horns of the English blew their shrill +summons, and the whole army awoke as a man. A hurried meal was +partaken of, hurried of necessity, for the Danes were already +emerging from their camp, and forming their lines in order of +battle. They evidently meant, as usual, to take the initiative; in +fact, in the recent reign, had they not done so, there would never +have been any fighting at all.</p> +<p>Every one, both friend and foe, expected that Edmund would await +the onset in his entrenched camp. Great, therefore, was the +surprise, when he led his forces without the entrenchments, with +the observation that the breasts of Englishmen were their best +bulwarks.</p> +<p>He knew his forces, that they had confidence in him; and he +could not have shown better his confidence in them, and his feeling +that the time had now at length come to assume the offensive.</p> +<p>Canute was doubtless somewhat surprised, yet he was learning to +know Edmund.</p> +<p>The English hero divided his army into three divisions: The +right wing, where he posted around his own person the chosen band +whom he had trained during the last few years of retirement; the +left wing, chiefly composed of the men of Wessex; the centre, the +weakest and newest recruits, whom he posted there with as deep a +design as led Hannibal to use the same strategy at Cannae.</p> +<p>The Danes advanced impetuously to the attack, led by Canute +himself, somewhat similarly divided, and Edmund at once advanced +his forces to meet them. One hundred yards apart, both armies +paused, and glared upon each other. There was no flinching. With +teeth firmly set, lips compressed, and the whole body thrown into +the attitude of a tiger about to spring, each warrior gazed upon +the foe.</p> +<p>The Danes, clad in black armour, with their ponderous +battle-axes, and fierce visages, upon which no gentle ray of mercy +had yet shone; the English, their minds set upon avenging the +outraged national honour, the desolated homes, the slaughtered +families: the Danes bent on maintaining their cruel superiority; +the English bent on reversing it or dying: the Danes hitherto +victorious on nearly every field; the English turning upon their +oppressors as men to whom the only thing which could make life +tolerable was victory.</p> +<p>Canute's voice was heard crying, "Now, warriors, behold the +hounds ye have so often chastised await your chastisement once +more."</p> +<p>Edmund, on the other hand, "Victory, my men, or a warrior's +grave! We will not live to see England prostrate beneath the tyrant +any longer."</p> +<p>Then came the rush: the crash of steel upon steel, the hideous +melee, where friend and foe seemed blent in one dense struggling +mass; the cries which pain sometimes extorted from the bravest; the +shouts of the excited combatants, until Edmund's centre gave +way.</p> +<p>He had expected this, and desired nothing more. The Danes +pressed on deeply into the core of the hostile army, when they +found their progress stopped by some of the bravest warriors who +formed the rear, and at that moment the wings curved round upon +them.</p> +<p>"Come, my men!" shouted Edmund; and with Alfgar by his side, +followed by the whole of the English cavalry, burst upon the rear +of the Danes. He and his cleft their way in--hewed it through +living masses of flesh; trampled writhing bodies under foot; their +very horses seemed to laugh at the spear and sword, until before +him Edmund saw Canute himself. He struggled violently to reach him; +slew two or three living impediments, and the two rivals faced each +other for one moment; then came Edmund's ponderous blow. Canute +avoided it, but his horse fell beneath it; the spine severed near +the neck. He was dragged up instantly by his armour bearer, who +attended upon him, as Alfgar upon Edmund, and before the attack +could be renewed a living torrent separated the combatants.</p> +<p>The victory was won; the Danes were in full flight.</p> +<p>O joy for England! the day of her captivity was turned; +henceforward she might hope. The foe, the invincible foe, was +flying before an English king and an English army.</p> +<p>For while on the one side Edmund had charged the foe on their +left flank, on the other side the men of Wessex had imitated his +example, and the foe yielded.</p> +<p>Still, terrible in defeat, more than half fought their way out +of the trap into which they had fallen, and retired upon their +camp, closely pursued, until the trump of Edmund recalled the +pursuers, anxious lest they should in turn fall into an ambuscade, +for reinforcements were awaiting the Danes behind.</p> +<p>. . . . . .</p> +<p>From this time the prospects of Edmund and England brightened. +Day after day fresh reinforcements came into his camp, until he +followed Canute, who had retreated into Wiltshire. There, a few +days later, a second battle was fought at Sceorstan<a name= +"EndNote16anc" href="#EndNote16sym"><sup> {xvi}</sup></a>, wherein much +bravery was shown on both sides. On Monday the two armies fought +all day without any advantage on either side. On the Tuesday the +English were rapidly getting the better, when the traitor Edric, +severing the head of a fallen Englishman named Osmaer, held it up, +shouting:</p> +<p>"Flee, English! flee, English! Edmund is dead."</p> +<p>They began to yield; and it was as much as Edmund himself could +do, by lifting his helmet, exposing his features, and shouting, "I +live to lead you to victory!" to restore the battle.</p> +<p>Canute retired upon London, followed closely by Edmund. Upon the +road messengers came from Edric imploring the forgiveness of his +injured brother-in-law, and offering to join him with all his +forces. There was long consultation over this in the English camp; +but in spite of Edmund's own feelings it was decided to receive +Edric, since Canute's fate would seem to be quite decided if +England were united by the union of those southern English who had +fought under Canute with Edric, and the men of Mercia and Wessex +who had won the previous victories.</p> +<p>So the two armies met together. The men of Hampshire, who had +followed the Dane, were welcomed as returning to their true +allegiance by their countrymen; and Edmund did violence to his +feelings by receiving Edric to his council board, if not to his +friendship.</p> +<p>It was a joyous day when Edmund approached London, and thus +fulfilled the promise of his coronation. Canute, who had made +another attempt on the city, fled before him, but hovered around +until two days later. Edmund engaged him the third time at +Brentford, and defeated him again. Then Edmund retired into Wessex +to raise more troops, and during his absence the Danes took the +offensive again, once more besieging London in vain, while they +harried all the neighbouring districts until Edmund returned with a +large army, drove them into Kent, and gave them such a fearful +defeat at Otford that they fled in despair to the Isle of Sheppey, +and all men said Edmund would have destroyed them utterly, had not +Edric persuaded him to stop the pursuit at Aylesford.</p> +<p>The Danes soon emerged again, and, crossing the Thames, +commenced plundering Essex, when Edmund and Edric, with all the +flower of the Anglo-Saxon race, advanced to meet them once more. +Nearly all the men of note in England followed Edmund's banner, +for, now that his abilities were proved, there was a general +enthusiasm in his favour. So all the rank and title of the realm +stood by him when he drew up his army hard by the little river +Crouch, near Assingdun, in Essex, then called Assandun.</p> +<p>There, by his side, when the tents were pitched the evening +before the battle, stood many a brave ealdorman,--Godwin of +Lindsey; Ulfketyl, the hero of the East Angles; Ethelweard, the son +of the pious Ethelwine, whom men called the "Friend of God." And +present at that last banquet were Ednoth, the bishop of Dorchester, +and other ecclesiastics, who had come to pray for the host and to +succour the dying with ghostly aid. Well nigh all the great men of +England were here. But Edric supped in their midst. Their spirits +were high that night, and while Edmund drank to their success on +the morrow, each man responded with a fervour which augured +confidence in that morrow's issue--all save the wicked Edric, +whose heart seemed far from his words.</p> +<p>The events of that fatal morrow are matter of history. The +armies joined battle. Victory seemed to favour Edmund. The Danes +were already giving way, when Edric turned and fled, with his whole +division, whom he had corrupted. After that all was disorder +amongst the English; but they continued fighting bravely until the +moon arose, and they were becoming surrounded on all sides, when, +in sheer desperation, they at last gave way.</p> +<p>Edmund would not yield until Alfgar seized the bridle of his +horse, and almost by violence caused him to turn his steed, bidding +him live for England, for he was its hope. It was growing dark +rapidly, and the darkness alone saved Edmund and the relics of the +English army.</p> +<p>With a faithful few, including both Alfgar and Hermann, nearly +all of the party wounded, the English king rode sadly from the +scene, groaning bitterly in spirit.</p> +<p>"Why did I trust him again? Why did I trust him?" he kept +muttering to himself.</p> +<p>"You did not trust him. The council overruled you. I was +present," said Alfgar.</p> +<p>"But I might have resisted."</p> +<p>And he persisted in his unavailing regret.</p> +<p>It was a sad sight to see the field of battle strewn for miles +with the dead and dying, while gangs of plunderers swarmed in all +directions. One sharp encounter with such a party served to warm +Edmund's blood, after which he was a little more cheerful.</p> +<p>But the saddest scene in the flight lay on a gentle eminence, +commanding a view of the field, whose deformities night mercifully +shrouded from view, although the murmurs of the wounded reached +them even there in one long subdued wailing moan.</p> +<p>There, on that little hill, lay bishops and abbots in their +sacerdotal apparel. Where they had met to pray, there they lay in +death! With a deep sigh Edmund recognised Ednoth, bishop of +Dorchester, lying stark and stiff in his bloody robes. A troop of +Danish horsemen had surrounded the hill and massacred them all. The +assassins had even hewn Ednoth's finger off for the episcopal +ring.</p> +<p>Yet, even at this awful crisis, Edmund's lion heart did not +wholly fail him, as he left the field where lay all the flower of +the Anglo-Saxon race: the brave and faithful Ulfketyl, Earl +Ethelweard, Earl Godwin, Elfric the ealdorman, and well nigh all +the great men of England, all sleeping in death. He rode to the +south till he reached the vale of the Thames, which he pursued +until he reached the neighbourhood of Gloucester--Alfgar and +Hermann still by his side. And now it was seen how his merits were +recognised, and how he had already gained the love of his people, +for, from the territory of the Hwiccas, and all the extreme west of +Mercia, men flocked to his standard until he was at the head of an +army almost as numerous as that he had lost at Assingdun, only less +perfectly disciplined and officered.</p> +<p>But Canute followed hard upon his heels, hoping to crush him +while yet weak in numbers, until he discovered, to his great +mortification, his rival's camp on the banks of the Severn, and saw +that the forces were again nearly equal.</p> +<p>Then even the Danish chieftains shuddered at the thought of +another battle. Five great battles had been fought, in three of +which they had been defeated. There was no Edric now with Edmund to +play into their hands, and they hesitated to engage a sixth +time.</p> +<p>At this moment an embassy was seen approaching from Edmund's +army. Alfgar bore Edmund's personal defiance to Canute, offering to +spare the effusion of blood, and settle their differences by single +combat.</p> +<p>Canute's brave and impetuous temper caught the suggestion at +once. Such appeals to the God of battles were common in the north, +and he accepted the challenge.</p> +<p>There is an island in the Severn, then called Oleneige, now +called Olney Island. The following day both armies gathered +together on opposite banks, and the two kings, clad in splendid +armour, were wafted thither. Alfgar, having landed his lord, +retired with beating heart to the English bank. Edmund and Canute +were alone on the island.</p> +<p>The battle began; no words can describe the dread emotion with +which the two nations watched the event.</p> +<p>They continued a long time without any apparent advantage; at +length, King Edmund's fury adding strength to him, his blows were +so thick and weighty, that Canute, perceiving his own strength to +diminish, conceived a resolution to attempt ending the quarrel by a +treaty.</p> +<p>But being crafty, and fearing lest his disadvantage should be +apparent to Edmund, he collected all his energies and rushed +furiously upon him, then withdrew himself aside, and desired Edmund +to suspend the conflict for a while.</p> +<p>"Generous prince," said he, "hitherto I have had a covetous +desire of your kingdom, but now I do yet more earnestly covet your +friendship; your father and my father have each reigned over the +land, let us divide the inheritance like brothers."</p> +<p>Edmund's generous spirit led him to accept the offer, and he +threw his battle-axe to the ground and extended his right hand, +which Canute eagerly grasped<a name="EndNote17anc" href= +"#EndNote17sym"><sup> {xvii}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>So the land was divided; Edmund was to be head king and to have +Wessex, Sussex, Kent, East Anglia, and Essex, with the city of +London; while Canute had Northumbria and Mercia.</p> +<p>Canute professed himself a Christian, and swore to govern his +people according to the old English laws, and to preserve their +temporal and spiritual privileges, a promise which, upon the whole, +he well observed.</p> +<p>And so England entered upon a peace of fifty years, only broken +by an event yet in the womb of time, the Norman Conquest.</p> +<p>"Come, Alfgar," said Edmund, one day soon after these events, +"let us go to Aescendune and fix thy wedding day; Elfwyn need fear +no longer that the sword will be the portion of his +grandchildren."</p> +<p>Peace! sweet, sweet peace! oh how joyful it was to be once more +in the deep woods of Aescendune, to hear the sweet song of the +birds, and to fear no evil! Sweet, ineffably sweet were those days +to Alfgar and Ethelgiva!</p> +<p>So the day was at length appointed; it was to be the feast of +St. Andrew, and to take place at Oxenford, which had been assigned +to Edmund's dominions; for he insisted that it should be celebrated +with all the pomp the presence of a king could lend.</p> +<p>It was now the season of the falling leaf and there were only a +few weeks longer to wait.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a>. SMOOTHER THAN +OIL.</h2> +<p>It was the latter end of November, and St. Andrew's day drew +near, when a small but select party of friends met together in an +old mansion hard by St. Frideswide's Cathedral, at Oxenford, to +enjoy the evening banquet.</p> +<p>First and foremost was the king of Southern England, the valiant +Ironside, and his attendant and friend Alfgar; Elfwyn and Father +Cuthbert from Aescendune, with the Lady Hilda and Ethelgiva; +Herstan, his wife Bertha, and son Hermann, from Clifton, with his +sisters; and Ethelm, the new bishop of Dorchester, the successor of +the martyred Ednoth.</p> +<p>These, our old acquaintances, had all been gathered together in +view of the approaching union of Alfgar with Ethelgiva, which was +to be solemnised on St. Andrew's day, in the presence of the king. +They were a happy party; all the woes of the past seemed forgotten +in the happy present, or were only remembered in the spirit of the +well-known line:</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Haec olim meminisse juvabit." +</pre></div> +<p>The more substantial viands were removed, generous wines from +warmer climes were introduced, but there was no need of a harper or +of minstrels, save Edmund himself, or of legends and tales to those +whose lives had passed amidst scenes of excitement. They were such +as make history for future generations.</p> +<p>"How the wind howls without tonight!" observed Edmund; "it makes +one value the blessing of a quiet home and a cheerful fireside. How +often, Alfgar, have you and I lain on such nights under the shelter +of a canvas tent, or even of a bush."</p> +<p>"Often, indeed, my liege; but those days are gone, perhaps for +ever."</p> +<p>"They had their joys, nevertheless. There is something in a life +of adventure which warms the blood and makes time pass swiftly; my +goodwife and I sometimes tire of each other's company, as I expect +Ethelgiva and you will in time."</p> +<p>"Never!" said Alfgar, so fervently that there was a general +smile.</p> +<p>"Well, time will show; meanwhile, how is the new hall at +Aescendune getting on, Elfwyn?"</p> +<p>"It will be ready by next spring; then the young people must +make it their home. Our home in the woods has proved a shelter to +us through such troublous days that Hilda and I are loath to leave +it. But, meanwhile, they must live with us."</p> +<p>"And how about the priory?"</p> +<p>"It will be ready before the hall."</p> +<p>"That is well," observed the bishop, "and as it should be-- +God's house first, and then man's."</p> +<p>"Well, Hermann," said Edmund, addressing his young friend, whose +career in arms he had closely watched since the attack upon the +hall at Clifton, "how do you like the prospect of a long +peace?"</p> +<p>"A peaceful life has its delights," replied Hermann, "but war +has also its charms."</p> +<p>"Well, thou hast passed unscathed through five great battles, or +at least without any serious wound; but remember all are not so +fortunate, and many a poor cripple sighs over Penn, Sherston, +Brentford, Otford, or Assingdun."</p> +<p>"The excitement of war blinds one to the risk."</p> +<p>"So it should, or there would be no war at all. What does my +father the bishop think of the matter?"</p> +<p>"That wars are necessary evils, only justifiable when fighting, +as you, my lord, have done, for home and altar, but they are no +true children of the Prince of Peace who delight in bloodshed and +strife."</p> +<p>Edmund pondered.</p> +<p>"And yet I fear I must plead guilty of delighting in a gallant +charge. It stirs the blood, till it flows like fire in the veins. +The feeling is glorious."</p> +<p>"Yet not one to be encouraged, save when it enables one to +perform necessary deeds of daring for some worthy object, such as +holy Scripture praises in the heroes of old."</p> +<p>The conversation now became general. Elfwyn and Herstan talked +of the old days of Dunstan; Alfgar and Hermann of the events of the +recent war; the good bishop and Father Cuthbert on ecclesiastical +topics; the ladies upon some question of dresses and embroidery for +the approaching festivity, which seemed to interest them deeply, +when an attendant entered, and approaching the king, whispered a +message in his ear.</p> +<p>"What! in this house? I will not have it. He knows how hateful +his very presence must be."</p> +<p>"Your sister, the Princess Elgitha?"</p> +<p>"Well, I will see her. No, I will not."</p> +<p>"It is too late, Edmund. You must see me," said a sweet voice, +and a lady, attired in mourning weeds, stood beside him. "It is but +seven months, Edmund, since we lost our father. Shall his children +rend and devour each other?"</p> +<p>"I do not want to rend and devour. I am no cannibal; but, +Elgitha, your wicked husband--"</p> +<p>"Stay, Edmund, do not slander the husband before his wife."</p> +<p>"This is a business! What am I to say? I cannot dissemble, and +pretend to love him, were he ten times my brother-in-law."</p> +<p>"Nor can I ask it," said a deep voice behind, and Edric stood +before Edmund, his eyes cast down, his hands meekly clasped. +"Edmund, I have often deeply injured you, and betrayed your +confidence."</p> +<p>"You have indeed."</p> +<p>"But now I repent me of my wickedness. It burdens me so heavily +that, but for your sister, I would retire into a monastery, and +there end my days."</p> +<p>"It would be the best thing you could do."</p> +<p>"It would indeed."</p> +<p>This conference had taken place at the end of the great hall, +which was a very spacious chamber, and the speakers were separated +by a screen from the company.</p> +<p>"Edmund," cried his sister, "I see what you will do. You will +make me a widow; for Edric cannot live if you refuse him +forgiveness. Night after night he tosses on his uneasy bed, and +wishes that it were day. Surely, Edmund, you have need of +forgiveness yourself, yet you refuse to forgive."</p> +<p>"You preach like a bishop, but--"</p> +<p>"Well, you have a real bishop here. Call him, and let him judge +between us."</p> +<p>Edmund mechanically obeyed, and he called Father Cuthbert also, +in whose judgment he had great faith.</p> +<p>"What am I to do?" he said. "My country's wounds, inflicted by +this man, yet bleed. Am I to give him the hand of friendship?"</p> +<p>"I do not deserve it," said Edric, meekly.</p> +<p>"My lord," said the bishop, gravely, "man may not refuse +forgiveness to his fellow worm; but, Edric, hast thou truly +repented of thy sin before God and his Church?"</p> +<p>"I have indeed. I have fasted in sackcloth and ashes, I have +eaten the bread of affliction."</p> +<p>"Where?"</p> +<p>"In my sad retreat, my castle in Mercia."</p> +<p>"But some public reparation is due. Art thou willing to accept +such penance as the Church, in consideration of thy perjuries, thy +murders, which man may not avenge, since treaties protect thee-- +but which God will surely remember, if thou repent not--to accept +such penance, I say, as the Church shall impose?"</p> +<p>"I submit myself to your judgment, most reverend father."</p> +<p>"It shall be duly considered and delivered to thee; and in +consideration of that fact, I think, my lord, you cannot, as a +Christian man, refuse to be reconciled."</p> +<p>"O Edmund, my brother, be merciful!" said Elgitha.</p> +<p>"I yield," said Edmund, "but not tonight," he said, as Edric +stretched out his hand, reddened by many a dark deed of murder; +"tomorrow, before God's altar. I shall be at St. Frideswide's at +the early mass."</p> +<p>And he returned to the company.</p> +<p>A cloud was evidently on his spirits that night, which did not +wear off the rest of the evening. The party separated at what would +now be called an early hour. The bishop and Father Cuthbert lodged +at the monastic house of Osney; Elfwyn, his wife and child, as also +Herstan, with his little party, were accommodated in the +mansion.</p> +<p>The chamber occupied by the king was a long roomy place, +containing a single bedstead of carved wood, surmounted by the +usual distinctive canopy, from which tapestried hangings depended, +and upon which scriptural subjects were woven; the furniture of the +room partook of the usual meagreness of the times. The entrance was +through a small antechamber, wherein, on a humbler bedstead, Alfgar +slept. Both rooms were hung with tapestry, which concealed rough +walls, such as a builder would blush to own as his handiwork in +these luxurious days.</p> +<p>Before retiring to rest, Edmund turned with much affection to +his attendant.</p> +<p>"Alfgar, I have promised to forgive our enemy."</p> +<p>"Edric Streorn?"</p> +<p>Alfgar added no more.</p> +<p>"Couldst thou forgive him?"</p> +<p>"I would try."</p> +<p>"His hand is red with blood. Think of Sigeferth, of Morcar, of +Elfhelm, nay, of a hundred others; then think not how he has +plotted against my life, but how he made my own father hate and +disown me; while he, the pampered favourite, swayed all the +councils and betrayed the land. O Alfgar! couldst thou forgive +him?"</p> +<p>"He plotted against my life and my honour, too," said Alfgar, +"and strove to deprive me of both; yet I am too happy now to +harbour revenge."</p> +<p>"Well, I meet him at St. Frideswide's tomorrow, and we shall be +formally reconciled in the presence of the bishop and his clergy, +wherewith I trust he will be content, and not trouble me too often +with his presence."</p> +<p>"Where is he staying now?"</p> +<p>"I hardly know; but after the reconciliation I must admit him as +my guest, for my sister is with him, if he chooses to stay; but I +hope that will not be the case."</p> +<p>"His ill-omened presence would cast a gloom upon St. Andrew's +day."</p> +<p>"It would indeed; it shall be avoided if possible. And now let +us commend ourselves to the Lord, who died that we might be +forgiven. 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that +trespass against us.'"</p> +<p>And they slept.</p> +<p>On the morrow before the altar of St. Frideswide, the king and +Edric had their places in the choir.</p> +<p>One very touching ceremony, handed down from early times, was +still observed in England--the "kiss of peace," occurring at some +period before the close of the canon of the mass, when all the +members of the cathedral chapter, or of the choir, as the case +might be, solemnly saluted each other.</p> +<p>And for this reason Edmund and Edric had been placed next each +other. So when this most solemn moment arrived, they looked each +other full in the face, and gave and received the sign of Christian +brotherhood.</p> +<p>After this they both communicated.</p> +<p>When the holy rite was ended, Edmund invited Edric and Elgitha +to become his guests.</p> +<p>Edric knew the old palace well. He had occupied it one +well-remembered season, during which, in that very banqueting hall +where we have introduced our readers, Sigeferth and Morcar, the +earls of the seven burghs, were treacherously murdered at the +banquet after Edric had previously made them heavy with wine.</p> +<p>There was the usual gathering that evening. Did Edric remember +the place, and the bloody event which only he and one other present +connected with the spot?--for Edmund had been far away, and the +matter had been hushed up, as far as was possible, by all the power +and influence Ethelred could exert in his favourite's cause, or +rather his own, for he, the royal villain, shared the ill-gotten +spoil.</p> +<p>If he did remember it, he took care not to show it that night. +He was as calm and self-possessed as a man could be--as a smiling +sea under the summer sky--smiling so that the heedless voyager +knows not what hideous trophies or past storms the smiling depths +conceal.</p> +<p>So was it with this treacherous penitent.</p> +<p>His presence, however, somewhat chilled the conversation, and +they broke up early; the more so as it was a vigil, the vigil of +St. Andrew, and men strictly observed the law of the Church on such +subjects in those days.</p> +<p>When he bade Edmund goodnight, Edric said:</p> +<p>"You cannot tell how true a peace has found its home in my +breast since our reconciliation, which I feel I owe greatly to the +intercession of your patron St. Edmund, to whose tomb I made a +pilgrimage, where I besought this one grace--our +reconciliation."</p> +<p>Edmund thought of the holy thorn; but Edric continued:</p> +<p>"And you will be glad to hear that the bishop has decided upon +my penance. It is to be a pilgrimage to the Holy Land."</p> +<p>"I am heartily glad to hear it," said Edmund, speaking the very +truth, although he did try to forgive as he hoped to be +forgiven.</p> +<p>And they separated.</p> +<p>Meanwhile happiness and expectation were high in the breasts of +the happy lovers, Alfgar and Ethelgiva. The morrow was to unite +them. The ladies sat up nearly all night making the wedding robes +complete, and richly adorning them--Hilda, Bertha, and Ethelgiva, +with many skilful handmaidens.</p> +<p>They had almost finished their task, and were about to separate, +when St. Frideswide's bell tolled the first hour of the morning +(one o'clock).</p> +<p>"We are very late," said the lady Hilda, as well she might, for +our ancestors generally retired early, as they rose early; and they +bade each other goodnight.</p> +<p>"Happy, happy Ethelgiva!" said the mother as she kissed her +darling, not without a maternal sigh, for she felt as if she were +losing her only child, who had for so many a year been the light of +their woodland home--her only child, who had filled not simply +her own place in their affections, but as far as she might the +place of the loved Bertric.</p> +<p>But the kiss was suspended. The whole party stood silent and +breathless; for a loud and bitter cry, as of one in extreme +anguish, broke upon the silence of the night.</p> +<p>Ethelgiva uttered but one word as she bounded towards the +staircase, for she knew the voice:</p> +<p>"Alfgar!"</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a>. WHO HATH DONE THIS +DEED?</h2> +<p>Alfgar never saw his beloved lord enter his chamber with a look +of greater weariness than he bore that night.</p> +<p>"It has been a hard fight, old friend," said the familiar king, +"but we have conquered; for my part, I would far sooner have stood +out against him, battle-axe in hand, than have met this struggle, +could I have foreseen it beforehand; but now I have given him the +kiss of peace, peace it must be; he has no more to dread from +me."</p> +<p>"Nor you from him, I trust."</p> +<p>"I must trust so, or I should not feel I had really forgiven, +and I cannot give my hand where my heart is not; but yet it was +such a fight. 'Tis easy to stand in the deadly gap and keep the foe +from a beleaguered citadel: men praise the deed, and there is a +feeling of conscious pride which sustains one, but the truly great +deeds are those which no chronicler records. It requires more +bravery to forgive sometimes than to avenge."</p> +<p>"I can well believe that, my lord."</p> +<p>"Well, if my path has been beset with foes, so has it with +friends. Such love as yours, Alfgar, I say as yours has been!-- +well, few kings share such affections."</p> +<p>"My lord, you first loved me; at least you saved me from a +fearful death."</p> +<p>"And you have warded off death from me again and again in the +battlefield; nay, deny it not, nor say it was merely your duty, men +do not always do such duty."</p> +<p>"My lord, you praise me more than I can feel I deserve."</p> +<p>"Not more than I feel you deserve, and yet were not this your +last night as my companion, were not tomorrow's ceremony to +separate us, perhaps for ever, I do not think I should thus +overwhelm your modesty.</p> +<p>"You blush like a girl," said he, laughingly.</p> +<p>He lingered some time, and seemed loath to undress. At last he +said:</p> +<p>"Have you seen the messenger Canute sent me?"</p> +<p>"Yes; I entertained him at the buttery as you requested."</p> +<p>"Well, he came with a proposal from Canute that we should join +in building and endowing a church at Assingdun, where a priest may +ever say mass for the souls of our dead, whether English or Dane. +Of course I have accepted the offer, but Canute added another and +more mysterious message."</p> +<p>"And what was that?"</p> +<p>"'Beware,' he said, 'of Edric; his apparent desire of +reconciliation cannot be trusted;' and he added that Edric was like +a certain person who wanted to become a monk when he was sick."</p> +<p>"I fear he speaks the truth."</p> +<p>"But I cannot act upon his advice; it is too late now. I have +striven to do what I thought, and the bishop said, in his Master's +name, was my duty--well, I have my reward in the approbation of +my conscience. Goodnight, Alfgar, goodnight; I shall sleep soundly +tonight; I hope some day I may lay me down for my last long sleep +as peacefully."</p> +<p>Alfgar followed his example, and, commending himself to God, +slept.</p> +<p>About half-an-hour after midnight Alfgar awoke with a strange +impression upon his mind that some one was in the room. It was very +dark and stormy, and the wind, finding its way through crevices in +the ill-built house, would account for many noises, but there was +something stirring which was not the wind, and the impression was +strong on his waking senses that between him and the window, which +was opposite his bed, a figure had passed.</p> +<p>Not fully trusting impressions produced at such a moment, yet +with a heavy vague sense of evil weighing him down like a +nightmare, Alfgar lay and listened.</p> +<p>At length he heard a sound which might have been produced by +falling rain percolating through the roof, drop, drop upon the +floor, but it was strange, for there was no sound of rain outside +at that moment.</p> +<p>At length a cold draught made him turn his head, and he dimly +saw Edmund's door open and disclose the window within the room, +then shut slowly again.</p> +<p>He could control his apprehensions no longer, and rose gently +from his bed, so as not to warn the foe, on the one hand, should +one be present, or if, as he strove to believe, all was fancy, not +to awake Edmund. No one was in his own little room, that he felt +rather than saw in a moment; but some one might be in Edmund's, and +he passed through the door, which he remembered, with a shudder, +was shut firmly when Edmund said "goodnight." At that instant he +heard a low click, as of a spring lock, but very faintly; +hesitating no longer, he passed into the monarch's room, and +advanced to the bedside.</p> +<p>"My lord!" he gently whispered, but there was no answer; he +spoke again in vain.</p> +<p>Just then he felt his naked feet come into contact with some wet +substance, slightly glutinous, on the floor, and shuddered at the +contact. All trembling, he put his hand to the pillow, and drew it +back; it was wet with the same fluid, which his reason and +experience told him was blood. He could hardly refrain from crying +for help, but first sought a light. The process of procuring light +then from flint, steel, and tinder was very slow, and it was some +minutes before he had a taper lighted, when its beams disclosed to +his horror-stricken sight Edmund, weltering in his blood; a dagger +had been driven suddenly and swiftly to his heart, and he had died +apparently without a struggle. The weapon yet remained<a name= +"EndNote18anc" href="#EndNote18sym"><sup> {xviii}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>Here his affliction and grief overpowered him; he threw himself +upon the body from which he had withdrawn the weapon; he kissed the +now cold lips; he cried, half distracted, "O Edmund, my lord, +speak!"</p> +<p>Alas! those lips were never to speak again while time lasted. At +length the first deep emotion passed away, and left the unhappy +Alfgar comparatively master of himself, whereupon he left the +chamber, and cried aloud for help.</p> +<p>It was his cry which the ladies heard in their distant +bower.</p> +<p>The piercing cry, "Help! Edmund, the king, is slain!" roused the +household--Elfwyn, Herstan, Hermann, the ladies, agitated beyond +measure; the household guard; and, last of all, Edric.</p> +<p>They beheld Alfgar in his night dress, all bloody, holding a +dagger in his hand, and with his face blanched to a death-like +paleness, uttering cry upon cry.</p> +<p>"Help! Edmund, the king, is slain!"</p> +<p>They (the men) rushed to the chamber, and, passing through +Alfgar's little room, beheld, by the light of many torches, Edmund +bathed in his own blood, which still dripped with monotonous but +terrible sound on the floor.</p> +<p>Edric entered, and with woe, real or affected (no one could +tell), painted in his face, approached the body; and Elfwyn and +Herstan beheld, or thought they beheld, a prodigy: they thought +they saw the eyes open, and regard Edric, and that they saw the +blood well up in the wound. But doubtless this was fancy.</p> +<p>"One thing we all must do," said Edric; "we must all help to +find the murderer. The first step to that effect will be to note +all present appearances. First, where is the weapon?"</p> +<p>"Here," said Alfgar, extending it.</p> +<p>"Why, Alfgar, it is your own dagger," said Elfwyn; "one which he +gave you himself."</p> +<p>Alfgar uttered a plaintive and pitiful cry.</p> +<p>Edric possessed himself of the blood-stained weapon.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said he, "you must have slept soundly. Tell us what +you heard and saw."</p> +<p>He briefly related the particulars with which the reader is +acquainted.</p> +<p>"But how could they enter? Was your door unfastened?"</p> +<p>"No; it was bolted on the inside, even as I left it last +night."</p> +<p>"Bolted on the inside! then they must have entered through the +window," said Edric, noting the words.</p> +<p>"Impossible," said both the thanes; "they are barred, both of +them--heavily barred."</p> +<p>"We can no longer assist our departed lord save by our prayers," +said Edric. "God be thanked, he died friends with me. I shall value +the remembrance of that kiss cf peace in St. Frideswide's so long +as I live. And now I, once his foe, but his friend and avenger now, +devote myself to hunt the murderer. So help me God!"</p> +<p>"So help me God!"</p> +<p>"So help me God!" said all present, one after the other.</p> +<p>"We are then of one heart and soul, and no tie of kindred, no +friendship, shall bar our common action. And now we must rouse the +reeve and burgesses; the gates of the city must be closed, that +none escape. I will send members of the guard to do this, and when +they have assembled we will all take counsel together."</p> +<p>"O Alfgar," whispered Elfwyn, "how came your dagger there?"</p> +<p>"I know not. I feel as one distracted," said the faithful and +loving Alfgar, who had lost by this fell stroke a most faithful +friend, with the warmest heart which had ever beaten beneath a +monarch's breast.</p> +<p>Oh, how the thought of the conversation last night came back to +him now--the warning of Canute, the loving words of affection +which had been spoken to him by those lips now cold in death!</p> +<p>All the imperfections of his character now faded away; he seemed +so brave, yet so loving, so invincible in combat, yet so gentle and +forgiving, as he had shown in forgiving even--even--even-- +said Alfgar to his own wounded bleeding heart--even in forgiving +his murderer. For in his eyes it was Edric, and none but Edric, who +had done this deed.</p> +<p>But a terrible suspicion of a very opposite nature was rapidly +assuming sway in other men's minds.</p> +<p>A council met before daybreak--the reeve or mayor, the chief +burgesses, two or three thanes then in the town, the officers of +the royal guard, Elfwyn, Herstan, and Edric. After a few +preliminaries Edric rose and spake as follows:</p> +<p>"We have met together under the most awful responsibility which +could fall upon subjects. Edmund, our king, has been murdered, and +by whom we know not."</p> +<p>All were silent.</p> +<p>"I grieve to say," he continued, "that there is but one upon +whom our suspicions can now fall with any shadow of probability-- +one who is now absent, for I thought it well not to summon him to +this council; and before naming him, I must recall to you, Elfwyn, +and to you, Herstan, the solemn oath we have all three taken to +disregard all appeals of natural affection, and to ascertain the +truth, God being our helper."</p> +<p>"We have."</p> +<p>"We have," said they with bursting hearts, for they foresaw what +accusation Edric was about to bring.</p> +<p>"I grieve, then, to say," he continued, "that this natural +affection must be bitterly tried, for there is but one to whom my +words can apply. Meanwhile, I will put a few questions. With whose +dagger was the deed committed?"</p> +<p>"Alfgar's," replied those who had been there the previous +night.</p> +<p>"Whose chamber commanded the only entrance to the royal +chamber?"</p> +<p>"Alfgar's."</p> +<p>"Who incautiously, as if forgetting himself, stated that he +found the door bolted on the inside?"</p> +<p>"Alfgar."</p> +<p>"But the motive--the motive? The poor fellow loved him as he +loved his own father."</p> +<p>"I cannot explain that difficulty, but I can suggest one motive +which may already have suggested itself to several. But let me ask +of what nation is Alfgar?"</p> +<p>"A Dane; but an Englishman by long habit."</p> +<p>"I can answer for that," said Elfwyn.</p> +<p>"Once a Dane always a Dane. Now a secret messenger arrived from +Canute yesterday, and had a long private interview with Alfgar. In +short, I dare not say all I know or suspect, for there can be +little doubt who will reign in England now."</p> +<p>All were silent.</p> +<p>At length Edric continued, "none can deny that we have grounds +for our suspicions."</p> +<p>"Yes, I do deny it," said Elfwyn, "the more so when I remember +who makes the accusation."</p> +<p>"You do well to reproach me; I deserve it, I confess, and more +than deserve it. Yes, I was Edmund's enemy once; but perhaps you +remember yesterday and the early mass at St. Frideswide's."</p> +<p>"We do, we do," cried all but Elfwyn and Herstan; but they were +utterly outvoted, and the order was given to the captain of the +hus-carles to arrest Alfgar.</p> +<p>Alfgar, desolate and almost distracted, not heeding that he was +not summoned to the council, as he might so naturally have expected +to be, wandered mechanically about the palace until the bell +summoned him to the early mass. The bishop was the celebrant, for +Father Cuthbert was to have officiated at the celebration of the +marriage of his son in the faith. The solemn pealing of the bell +for the mass at the hour of daybreak fell upon Alfgar's ears, and +he turned almost mechanically to the cathedral, yet with vague +desire to communicate all his griefs and troubles to a higher power +than that of man, and to seek aid from a diviner source.</p> +<p>He entered, knelt in a mental attitude easier to imagine than +describe, but felt some heavenly dew fall upon his bleeding wounds; +he left without waiting to speak to any one at the conclusion of +the service, and was crossing the quadrangle to the palace which +occupied a portion of the site of modern Christ Church, when a +heavy hand was laid upon his shoulder.</p> +<p>He turned and saw the captain of the guard; two or three of his +officers were beside him.</p> +<p>"It is my painful duty to arrest you and make you my +prisoner."</p> +<p>"On what charge?" said the astonished Alfgar.</p> +<p>"The murder of the king."</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</a>. THE ORDEAL.</h2> +<p>The news of the murder of Edmund spread far and wide, and +awakened deep sorrow and indignation, not only amongst his friends +and subjects, but even amongst his former enemies, the Danes, now +rapidly yielding to the civilising and softening influences of +Christianity, following therein the notable example of their king, +Canute, who was everywhere restoring the churches and monasteries +he and his had destroyed, and saying, with no faltering voice, +albeit, perhaps, with a very inadequate realisation of all the +words implied, "As for me and my house, we will serve the +Lord."</p> +<p>Ealdorman and thane came flocking into Oxenford from all the +neighbouring districts of Wessex and Mercia. The body of the +lamented monarch was laid in state in St. Frideswide's; there wax +tapers shed a hallowed light on the sternly composed features of +him who had been the bulwark of England; and there choking sobs and +bitter sighs every hour rent the air, and bore witness to a +nation's grief. And there, two heartbroken ladies, a mother and a +daughter, came often to pray, not only for the soul of the departed +king, but also for the discovery of his murderers and the clearing +of the innocent, for neither Hilda nor Ethelgiva for one moment +doubted the spotless innocence of Alfgar.</p> +<p>They were refused admittance to the cell wherein he was confined +by Edric, who had assumed the direction of all things, and whose +claim, such is the force of impudence, seemed to be tacitly allowed +by the thanes and ealdormen of Wessex.</p> +<p>But Elfwyn and Herstan could hardly be denied permission to +visit him, owing to their positions, and they both did so. They +found him in a chamber occupying the whole of the higher floor of a +tower of the castle, which served as a prison for the city and +neighbourhood, rudely but massively built. One solitary and deep +window admitted a little air and light, but the height rendered all +escape hopeless, even had the victim wished to escape, which he did +not.</p> +<p>"Alfgar, my son!" said Elfwyn, finding the poor prisoner did not +speak, "do you not know us?"</p> +<p>"Indeed I do; but do you believe me guilty, nay, even capable of +--"</p> +<p>He could add no more, but they saw that if they doubted they +would hear no more from him--that he scorned self-defence.</p> +<p>"Guilty!--no, God forbid! we alone in the council asserted +your complete innocence."</p> +<p>"I thank you; you have taken away the bitterness of death--and +Ethelgiva?"</p> +<p>"Would die for her conviction of your truth."</p> +<p>"Thank God!" he said fervently, his face brightening at once; +tears, indeed, rolled down his cheeks, but they seemed rather of +gratitude than grief.</p> +<p>"We wanted to see, my son, whether you could aid us in +discovering the real assassin--whether you can in any way account +for his possession of your dagger, for your door being still, as +you asserted, fast inside."</p> +<p>"I knew it made against me, but I couldn't lie, it was fast +inside."</p> +<p>"Then how could the foe have gained admittance?"</p> +<p>"I could not discover that, but I think there must have been +some secret door. Edric had perhaps lived in the Place before; he +once resided in Oxenford."</p> +<p>"He did, and in that very house," said Herstan. "I was here at +the time when he assassinated Sigeferth and Morcar in the +banqueting hall."</p> +<p>"That may supply a clue, I know no other possible one."</p> +<p>"But how, then, did he get your dagger?"</p> +<p>"I think our wine was drugged the night before, or I should not +have slept so soundly. I remember with what difficulty I seemed to +throw off a kind of nightmare which oppressed me, and to come to +myself."</p> +<p>"Then I will get a carpenter and search the wainscoting; and I +will see whether I can learn anything about the wine," said +Elfwyn.</p> +<p>"Do so cautiously, my father, very cautiously, for if Edric +suspects you are on his track, he will plot against your life too, +and Ethelgiva will have no protector.</p> +<p>"Oh, this was to have been my wedding day, my wedding day!" and +he clasped his hands in agony; then the thought of his master-- +his slain lord--returned, and he cried, "O Edmund! my master, my +dear master, so good, so gentle, yet so brave; who else could slay +him? what fiend else than Edric, the murderer Edric? That they +should think I, or any one else than Edric, could have done such a +deed, such an evil deed!"</p> +<p>Elfwyn and Herstan both left the scene, the more convinced of +Alfgar's innocence, but yet the more puzzled to convey their +impression to others.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the arrangements for Edmund's burial were made. It was +decided, according to the wish he had more than once expressed, +that he should rest beneath the shadow of a shrine he had loved +well; and on the second day after his death the mournful procession +left Oxenford for Glastonbury, followed by the tears and prayers of +the citizens. There, after a long and toilsome winter journey, the +funeral cortege arrived, and was joined by his wife Elgitha, his +sons Edmund and Edward. They laid him to rest by the side of his +grandfather, Edgar "the Magnanimous," whose days of peace and +prosperity all England loved to remember. There, amidst the people +of Wessex who had rallied so often to his war cry, all that was +mortal of the Ironside reposed.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the crafty Edric, who excused himself from attendance +on the solemnities, tarried at Oxenford, and with him tarried also +Elfwyn, Herstan, and the other friends of the unfortunate prisoner, +to secure, as they were able, that justice should be rendered +him.</p> +<p>A special court of justice was speedily organised, wherein Edric +presided as ealdorman of Mercia, for Oxenford properly was a +Mercian city, although, lying on the debateable land, it was +frequently claimed by Wessex as the border land changed its +boundaries.</p> +<p>The court was composed of wise and aged men, ealdormen, thanes, +and burgesses had places, and the bishop of Dorchester sat by Edric +as assessor.</p> +<p>The court was opened, and the vacant places in the room were +occupied at once by the crowd who were fortunate enough to gain +entrance. The general feeling was strong against the prisoner, the +more so because he had been loved and trusted by Edmund, so that +ingratitude added to the magnitude of his crime in their eyes.</p> +<p>But amongst those who stood nearest to the place he must occupy +were his betrothed, her mother, Bertha, and young Hermann, who had +already got into several quarrels through his fierce espousing of +the cause of the accused.</p> +<p>He entered at last under a guard, calm and dignified, in spite +of his suffering. He met the gaze of the multitude without +flinching, and his general demeanour impressed many in his favour. +Compurgators, or men to swear that they believed him innocent, a +kind of evidence fully recognised by the Saxon law, were not +wanting; but they consisted chiefly of his old companions in arms +and his friends from Aescendune. In a lighter accusation, his +innocence might have been established by this primitive mode of +evidence, but the case was too serious; the accusation being one of +the murder of a king.</p> +<p>The charge was duly read; and to the accusation he replied, "Not +guilty!" with a fervour and firmness which caused men to look +up.</p> +<p>The chamberlain was first examined.</p> +<p>"Were you present when the late king retired to rest?"</p> +<p>"I was."</p> +<p>"Who shared his chamber?"</p> +<p>"The prisoner slept in an antechamber."</p> +<p>"Was there a fastening to the outer door of the +antechamber?"</p> +<p>"Yes; a strong bolt."</p> +<p>"Could it be opened from the exterior?"</p> +<p>"It could not."</p> +<p>"Was there any other entrance to the royal apartments?"</p> +<p>"None."</p> +<p>The dagger was produced, and Elfwyn was examined.</p> +<p>"Do you recognise the weapon?"</p> +<p>"I do; it was Alfgar's."</p> +<p>"How do you recognise it?"</p> +<p>"It was richly carved about the handle. The letter E is stamped +upon it, with a crown."</p> +<p>"Whence did the prisoner obtain it?"</p> +<p>"The king gave it him." (Sensation.)</p> +<p>"Did you see it on the night of the murder?"</p> +<p>"I did."</p> +<p>"Under what circumstances?"</p> +<p>"The accused held it dripping with blood in his hands, and said +he found it sticking in the corpse."</p> +<p>Other witnesses were also called to prove these facts.</p> +<p>The accused was then heard in his own defence, and he repeated +with great simplicity and candour the circumstances so well known +to our readers; and concluded:</p> +<p>"I can say no more. None who knew the love he bore me, and that +I bore him, could suspect me."</p> +<p>The bishop here spoke.</p> +<p>"It is my office," said he, "by the canons of King Athelstane, +to assist secular judges in purging away accusations, therefore I +will ask the accused a few questions."</p> +<p>"Had you any cause of suspicion against any other person-- +anything to point out the doer of this evil deed?"</p> +<p>"All men loved him save one."</p> +<p>"And who was that one?"</p> +<p>"He sits to judge me."</p> +<p>"Nay," cried the bishop, "we all beheld the reconciliation in +St. Frideswide's church."</p> +<p>"The king himself was warned not to trust to the +reconciliation."</p> +<p>"By whom?"</p> +<p>"His brother sovereign."</p> +<p>"Canute?"</p> +<p>And here Edric perceptibly changed colour.</p> +<p>"Even so."</p> +<p>"Your proofs," said the bishop--"nay, my lord Edric, trust +your reputation to the justice of God and the court."</p> +<p>"The messenger from Canute, who came here on the vigil of St. +Andrew."</p> +<p>"Where is he?"</p> +<p>"He has returned to Canute," said Elfwyn.</p> +<p>"Aught else?"</p> +<p>"Only I would bid you remember that the ealdorman Edric sought +in like manner reconciliation with Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, and all +men know what followed."</p> +<p>Here Edric interrupted--"I do not sit here to be judged, but +to judge. These accusations cannot be heard."</p> +<p>"There is a judgment seat above where you will not be able to +make that plea," said the prisoner solemnly.</p> +<p>"Alfgar," said the bishop, "this counter-accusation cannot be +received; have you aught else to urge?"</p> +<p>"None. I commit my cause to God."</p> +<p>The court retired.</p> +<p>The pause was long and painful. It afterwards transpired that +the bishop pleaded in Alfgar's favour, while Herstan ably seconded +him; but all was in vain. Edric's eloquence, and the strong +circumstantial evidence against the prisoner, carried the day, and +the ealdorman even proposed that execution should be speedy, +"lest," he whispered, "Canute should interfere to screen his +instrument."</p> +<p>It was a dangerous game, but he thought the services he had +rendered the Danish cause enabled him to play it safely.</p> +<p>They returned. All men saw the verdict in their faces. Edric +spoke with great solemnity.</p> +<p>"We find the prisoner guilty."</p> +<p>There was a dead pause.</p> +<p>"I appeal to the judgment of God. I demand the ordeal cf fire," +said Alfgar<a name="EndNote19anc" href= +"#EndNote19sym"><sup> {xix}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>"It cannot be denied," said the bishop, who had anticipated the +appeal. "I myself will see to the preliminaries; and it may take +place tomorrow morning in St. Frideswide's church."</p> +<p>Edric and his sympathisers would fain have denied the claim, but +they could not resist the bishop, backed as he was by the popular +voice, for the cry, "The ordeal! yes, the ordeal!" was taken up at +once by the populace.</p> +<p>While he was hesitating, his brother Goda appeared amongst the +crowd.</p> +<p>"Canute," he whispered, "draws nigh Oxenford. He has heard what +is going on."</p> +<p>Edric trembled, but soon recovered himself. However, it was not +a time to deny justice.</p> +<p>The following morning the church of St. Frideswide was crowded +at the early mass. All the friends of the accused were there, and +Edric with all his party. The holy service was about to commence, +when the crowd at the church door moved aside; a passage was +speedily made though the crowd, and three or four ecclesiastics, +one habited as a royal chaplain, escorted a stranger, to whom all +paid instinctive reverence, yet hardly knowing why, for he was only +clad in the ordinary robes worn by noblemen amongst the +English.</p> +<p>He was led to the choir, and placed where Edmund had knelt by +Edric's side some days previously. Edric saw him, and exchanged +glances, after which the ealdorman looked uneasy.</p> +<p>On the other side knelt the prisoner, with Elfwyn and Herstan on +either side, and his colour heightened. Well it might. He had last +seen that figure when he fought by Edmund's side at Penn. But it +was not that meeting. Words spoken ten years before came back to +him with marvellous force:</p> +<p>"Tell me what is the secret of this Christianity?"</p> +<p>And Alfgar knew that Canute had found that secret at last.</p> +<p>"Why was he here? Did he come as his friend or foe?"</p> +<p>The mass was over. Alfgar had followed the whole ceremony with +rapt attention, for it was in God alone that he could now put his +confidence.</p> +<p>Then a furnace was placed in the church, containing nine bars of +iron of red heat, and the fire was blown till the bars, quivering +with heat, glittered in the sight. The bishop approached, and said +the appointed prayers, that God would detect the innocence or guilt +of the prisoner by their means, and reveal the truth known only to +Him.</p> +<p>Then a lane was formed up the church, and the friends of Alfgar +kept one side, while those of Edric kept the other, after which the +bars of iron were laid down about two feet apart.</p> +<p>The bishop approached.</p> +<p>"Are ye all fasting with prayer?" he inquired.</p> +<p>The friends of accused and accuser from either side replied:</p> +<p>"We are."</p> +<p>"Humble yourselves, and pray to God to reveal the truth," said +he, and sprinkled them with holy water, after which the book of the +Gospels was passed all round to be kissed.</p> +<p>"Pray that God may reveal the truth," said he again.</p> +<p>"We do so pray."</p> +<p>Then Alfgar, who felt full of divine confidence, took his place +at the end nearest the porch. He was given the book of the +Gospels.</p> +<p>"Swear thy innocence upon the holy Gospels," said the +bishop.</p> +<p>"I do swear that I am innocent of the crime they lay to my +charge;" and he kissed the book; then holy water was sprinkled upon +his feet, and given him to drink.</p> +<p>The decisive moment approached. He looked round, he saw +Ethelgiva, her eyes full of tears, her lips moving in prayer.</p> +<p>All fear departed from him.</p> +<p>The bishop blindfolded him.</p> +<p>"My son, trust in God, and in His strength go forward," he +whispered.</p> +<p>Alfgar could see nought now. A line of red string was stretched +from the bishop's hand to that of a priest at the other extremity, +to guide him. Canute advanced, took the end from the priest's hand +and held it.</p> +<p>Alfgar started one step. The first iron is passed safely--two, +the second cleared. The excitement is intense. Three cleared-- +four, five. Ah, he nears the sixth! No, he misses it!--seven, +eight--one more--nine! SAVED BY GOD!</p> +<p>Ethelgiva fainted. A deep sound of applause, not even suppressed +by the character of the place. Elfwyn received his adopted son in +his arms:</p> +<p>"Saved, saved!" he cried.</p> +<p>"Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory!" replied +Alfgar.</p> +<p>When the first congratulations were over, and Alfgar had +somewhat recovered from the excitement of the shock, and from the +congratulations which were heaped upon him upon all sides, he was +told that Canute awaited him in the audience chamber, and at once +repaired to the presence of his future king with less emotion than +may be imagined; for he was worn out by sensation, and becoming +callous to impressions.</p> +<p>He was formally introduced by the officer in waiting, and the +king at once dismissed that functionary.</p> +<p>"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, we have met before," observed the +monarch.</p> +<p>"We have, my lord."</p> +<p>"I did not refer to later occasions, when we have met on the +battlefield, but to a far earlier one. Need I recall it? Surely +there are some moments in one's life never to be forgotten."</p> +<p>"There are indeed, my lord. Pardon my confusion. You refer to a +scene in Carisbrooke."</p> +<p>"Yes. When I asked you, 'What is this Christianity?' you had not +much time given you to answer me then, but your deliberate choice +of a bitter death, in preference to abandoning it, showed me there +was somewhat deeper in it than I had imagined. Alfgar, there are +seeds lightly sown which bear fruit hereafter, and your words were +of such a character--so that I, your future monarch, owe you +already a debt of gratitude, and I had come hither to fulfil it +when you saved me the task by appealing to the ordeal. I for one +had full faith in the justice of God. But had you not so appealed, +I should have stepped in between Edric and his victim."</p> +<p>"You did not then, my lord, believe in my guilt?"</p> +<p>"Not for one moment. The lad who defied my unhappy father in the +frantic fury of his power--the warrior I had seen fighting by the +side of his king--the faithful attendant of many years?--Nay, +it was monstrous; who could believe it?"</p> +<p>"Many, alas! found it possible to believe it, my lord. But who +has been the murderer? You will not permit your brother's blood to +fall on the earth unavenged."</p> +<p>"Wait. Be patient. God, in whom you trust, will direct the bolt +in His own time. Edmund's blood will not be unavenged. And now, +farewell! Remember, if you have lost one royal friend, you have +found another."</p> +<p>And Alfgar left the presence.</p> +<p>The next day the whole party from Aescendune returned home. +Oxenford was too full of bitter memories now. One grief of Alfgar +was this--he had not been able to stand by Edmund's grave.</p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</a>. FATHER CUTHBERT'S +DIARY.</h2> +<p>CHRISTMASTIDE 1017.</p> +<p>Ten years ago, this very day, God in His mercy delivered us from +the raging Danes at Cliffton, on Tamesis, and now He hath delivered +us again out of the hands of the raging lion, even of Edric +Streorn, and we are all spared to keep our Christmas in peace in +the woods of Aescendune.</p> +<p>It is probably the last I shall keep in this place, for the hall +and priory are fast rising from their ruins, and we shall soon +return to our old home, from which we have been banished ten years +and more. It will be sweet to be there once more, serving the Lord +in peace, with none daring to make us afraid.</p> +<p>Here we are, all of us who are near and dear by the ties of +blood, in this woodland Zoar, which hath indeed been a Zoar in the +late troublous years, utterly untouched, which again we regard as a +proof that Anlaf does not live, for he could have found us out had +his revenge led him to do so when Sweyn was in Mercia. Neither has +he appeared to claim his own estate, which he might easily regain +now a Dane is king.</p> +<p>Alfgar and Ethelgiva are now speedily to be united. Theirs is to +be the first marriage solemnised in the new minster church by my +unworthy hands. To see them now, one would think they had forgotten +all the past peril. The old people do not mean to abandon their +woodland abode; they love it all too well, and call it the Happy +Valley. But they say that a good road, now the times are safer, +shall be made to the old site, where we are again rearing hall and +priory.</p> +<p>There is now quite a colony here, nearly 300 people. The church +is very commodious, and every day, for the whole period of these +late dreadful wars, mass has been said therein for our suffering +brethren "contra Paganos." Thank God that he hath at length heard +our prayers; our late foes are no longer Pagans but Christians, and +are as eager to build up as they were to cast down; in fact, +several of them have offered their zealous aid in the rebuilding of +our priory.</p> +<p>We had such a happy Christmas evening. We sat by the fire, and +Alfgar was made to relate the whole story again of his escape with +Edmund from Carisbrooke, of his imprisonment by Edric in the +Synodune woods, of the attack and defence of Clifton. We had all +heard it before, but still we wanted to hear it again, just to +contrast present peace and joy with the danger and trials of those +days, and to make them sweeter by the contrast. Truly our Christmas +worship had need to be praise and thanksgiving, not only for the +great mystery the church commemorates, but also for present mercies +so freely bestowed upon us all.</p> +<p>Second Sunday after Easter, 1017.--</p> +<p>We have just received intelligence that Canute has been solemnly +crowned at St. Paul's Church, in London, by Archbishop Lyfing. He +called a council of the whole kingdom previously, to which both my +brother and I were summoned, but I cared not to attend. Elfwyn, +however, went, and wanted Alfgar to go, but he begged hard to be +excused, I imagine for two reasons. First of all, he laments Edmund +too deeply to welcome his former enemy as his successor; and +secondly, he does not care to leave Ethelgiva again.</p> +<p>Well, Elfwyn tells us that when all were present--bishops, +ealdormen, thanes, and the noblest of the people--Canute solemnly +proposed that they should accept him as their king, giving them to +understand that, by a tacit understanding with Edmund, it had been +agreed that the kingdom should not be permanently divided, but that +the survivor should inherit and govern the whole realm.</p> +<p>The wise men replied that, since Edmund's children were too +young to govern, they could not desire a better monarch than +Canute; they committed the little ones to his care, and +acknowledged him as king of all England.</p> +<p>And on the morrow Archbishop Lyfing, who had so shortly before +crowned Edmund, placed the emblem of regal dignity on the head of +Canute in St. Paul's Cathedral.</p> +<p>I hear Edric Streorn is confirmed in the earldom of Mercia. I +still fear that man.</p> +<p>Sunday after Ascension, 1017.--</p> +<p>On this happy Sunday it has pleased God to restore us to our +home once more. The priory is rebuilt in more than its former +beauty, and the hall beside it stands conspicuous in its splendour. +They have not changed the appearance much, for it was the especial +wish of every one concerned that it should remind one of old +associations as much as possible.</p> +<p>The good bishop of Dorchester, the abbot of Abingdon, and many +others of my friends amongst the brethren there, the neighbouring +clergy and thanes, all met together to dedicate the new house to +God. High mass was solemnly sung in the minster church, and the +whole building was hallowed with psalm and prayer to God; after +which followed a temperate banquet.</p> +<p>The bishop was very kind and loving, and spoke most +affectionately to our poor people on the subject of their past +trials; especially he commended their new lord, Alfgar, to their +allegiance, saying that in all his deep trials he had shown himself +a most perfect Christian, doing his duty both to God and man.</p> +<p>Monday.--</p> +<p>The abbot and brethren from Abingdon are gone back, and we poor +happy brethren have entered again upon our regular duties. Ah me! +what a gap time has made in our ranks. Of the twenty brethren who +were driven out by the Danes eleven years ago, only twelve yet +live, and eight brethren from Abingdon supply the place of the +others. God be praised that Father Adhelm yet lives! He has been my +right hand in so many perils and trials.</p> +<p>It is so delightful to be at home once more. Surely never were +monks happier. My heart swells when each morning we sing the three +last joyful psalms at lauds.</p> +<p>It is settled that Alfgar and Ethelgiva are to be married on the +Monday after the Whitsun octave. O happy pair! <i>O ter felices et +nimium beati!</i> I only hope they will not love earth too +well.</p> +<p>Octave of the Ascension.--</p> +<p>Today we have had a special messenger from Canute, who is in the +neighbourhood, to express his royal intention to grace the +approaching marriage with his presence. It will indeed be an +honour. Ah! but if Edmund could be there.</p> +<p>Whitsunday.--</p> +<p>I hardly know how to express my intense surprise and joy. +Alfgar's father has returned--a Christian.</p> +<p>While all the people were assembling for mass this morning, an +aged man, clad in palmer's weeds, evidently worn by toil and +travel, came from the bridge over the river, which has been +rebuilt, towards the minster church, and entering, knelt down wrapt +in devotion. Many remarked his quaint attire; his face, once stern, +now softened by grace; his hair, once black as the raven's wing, +now white as snow; his dark eyes gleaming beneath thick white +eyebrows. I fear he caused many wandering thoughts, and he would +have caused yet more, could they have known that they beheld the +penitent destroyer of the old hall and priory.</p> +<p>Now I preached, not knowing at the time who was amongst my +hearers, from the words of Isaiah, "For thy waste and desolate +places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too +narrow, by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee +up shall be far away. The children which thou shalt have, after +thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears. The place +is too strait for me; give place to me, that I may dwell."</p> +<p>Oh, how touching the words seemed; for our waste and desolate +places are indeed peopled with joy and gladness, and many must have +thought of dear Bertric, our martyr boy, when they heard those +words, "the children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost +the other." They seemed a divine prophecy of joy and gladness unto +us.</p> +<p>And so I preached after this manner, and as I did so I saw the +stranger was deeply moved, and marvelled who he could be, that he +entered so deeply into so personal a sermon, which treated of a +peculiar joy which a stranger intermeddleth not with.</p> +<p>Now after the mass was ended, we came forth from the church, and +Alfgar, with Ethelgiva, walked down the path to the Lychgate, when +Alfgar's eyes fell upon the stranger, whereupon, to our +astonishment, he started, then stepped forward, fell on his knees, +and cried, with a choked voice, "Father, your blessing!"</p> +<p>At first we thought it was reverence, somewhat exaggerated, to a +pilgrim, but when the aged man cried aloud, "The God of Abraham +bless thee, even thee, O my son!" and the tears streamed down the +furrows of his aged cheeks, we knew it must be something more than +this, and so it proved.</p> +<p>It was none other than Anlaf--Anlaf who had disappeared from +all the knowledge of friend or foe for ten years!</p> +<p>We all received him, especially my brother Elfwyn, with great +joy--for we shared Alfgar's happiness--and we led him into the +house, where we tendered him all the offices of hospitality.</p> +<p>It was by degrees that we learned his story. He was really +converted to Christianity by the example of his son, whose words +produced a far deeper effect upon him than either he or Alfgar +suspected at the time.</p> +<p>And when he saw that son prefer a cruel death to apostasy, his +heart was moved--deeply moved, so that he pondered over all he +had heard from him and from a once loved wife, whose words had +seemed lost, but whose prayers perhaps watered them into growth +after she was dead and gone. So he left the army without telling +any one whither he went, and sought instruction from a +Christian.</p> +<p>And he found a Christian priest hidden in the woods, where he +administered the word and sacraments to a starving few, but +secretly, for fear of the Danes; and from him he learned the truth +and was baptized.</p> +<p>Then, feeling himself unhappy in this distracted land-- +separated from the English by blood, from the Danes by religion-- +he determined to go on pilgrimage.</p> +<p>Once in the Holy Land, he had to undergo much contumely from the +pagan Saracens, who, to the disgrace of Christendom, defile the +Holy City by their presence, and maltreat the blessed pilgrims; but +he had learned to glory in humiliation. At last he retired to the +woods on the sources of the Jordan, weary of earth, and there he +joined an aged hermit, with whom he lived for two years, and when +the hermit died he took his place, and dwelt as an ascetic, +ministering, however, to the necessities of pilgrims who journeyed +that way to the Holy Land.</p> +<p>From some of these pilgrims he learned, at length, that English +and Danes were united in peace, and a great desire of revisiting +England and searching out his son seized upon him. On the road he +heard that Edmund was dead and Canute reigned alone, and so he came +hither at once, and has arrived, God so willing it, in time to see +his son married to the heiress of Aescendune.</p> +<p>We have provided him lodgings in the priory. The new hall is not +to be dwelt in till the night when the happy pair enter it and make +it their home.</p> +<p>Alfgar's cup of joy is full.</p> +<p>Monday after the Whitsun Octave.--</p> +<p>At last it is over. The weary waiting of ten years is ended. +Alfgar and Ethelgiva are man and wife.</p> +<p>Canute gave away the bride in person. Elfwyn, Hilda, Herstan, +Bertha, and Hermann, with his sisters--indeed all the kindred of +the bride were there. Of the kindred of the bridegroom but one, so +far as we know, is living--his father Anlaf. It has been a +warlike race, and nearly all the members of the family have found a +warrior's grave.</p> +<p>I performed the ceremony, assisted by all the brethren in the +choral portions of the mass and the order of the marriage service. +Ethelgiva was pale and composed although she shed a few natural +tears, but wiped them soon. Alfgar was simple and unaffected, as he +always is. All he does is so naturally done. Like Nathaniel, he is +a man without guile.</p> +<p>The church was crowded. All the retainers and all the neighbours +were present, and when the bride and bridegroom left the sacred +building, they saluted them with cheers which made the welkin +ring.</p> +<p>Then the whole party adjourned to the hall, which was crowded to +the fullest extent. And for the poorer guests, who could not find +admittance, tables were spread in the open air, beneath the shade +of spreading trees, for the day was lovely even for June.</p> +<p>Canute remained throughout the entertainment, and, by his +unaffected condescension and his cheerful sympathy, won the hearts +of all. His general demeanour tends to efface his foreign descent +from the mind. Yet we sighed for Edmund, for which even Canute +would pardon us. He should have presided at the board.</p> +<p>When the night was far advanced the whole party broke up and +retired to rest, after a day calculated to efface the recollection +of many a hardship past.</p> +<p>For my part, when I returned to the priory, I mused for a long +time on the dark paths through which our Lord has conducted us to +this happy day. I thought of the period of Alfgar's conversion and +baptism, of St. Brice's night, for which England has paid so heavy +a penance, now, we trust, happily over. And while I thus thought, +my musings led me to the tomb of Bertric, whose sacred relics, as +those of a martyr, now lie interred beneath our high altar, and I +wondered whether his blessed spirit could sympathise in our earthly +joy. Yes; I doubt it not; and that he witnesses it from above. +Through suffering to joy has been our lot; through suffering to +glory his.</p> +<p>Tuesday.--</p> +<p>The king left this morning. His engagements are too numerous to +permit him to give much space to recreation. Before he left he +summoned Alfgar, Anlaf, and Elfwyn, to a conference in the library +--for they have a library as of old in the hall--and then he +told Alfgar that he had talked with Anlaf who wished to convey the +manorial rights of his former patrimony, and all its revenues, to +his son, and to join our brotherhood, and that he desired him to +witness the deed. Now, all the former charters of Aescendune were +destroyed in the old hall, and the king had caused a new one to be +drawn up, supplying all the defects caused by the loss of the +earlier documents; conferring and securing, by royal charter, all +the lands of Aescendune, and those formerly appertaining to Anlaf, +upon Alfgar, and his successors for ever, not, as he said, as a +deed of gift, but as a charter securing and defining their rights +and liberties, for him and his successors, to all future +generations; and adding all the waste land of the adjacent forest, +formerly holden of the crown, to their domains, with right of all +temporal jurisdiction, and with the title of Earl, which title is +common in the northern and more Danish districts, more so than +ealdorman, which obtains in the south.</p> +<p>"Thus much," said he, "I know my brother Edmund would have done +for you, and in his place it has fallen to my lot.</p> +<p>"Would," he added, "I could be all to you which Edmund would +have been had he lived; that, perhaps, is not possible; but I know, +Alfgar," he added, "how to esteem faithfulness, even when it has +been sometimes exercised at my expense, for one once a rival, now +only thought of as a brother."</p> +<p>Then he turned to Anlaf.</p> +<p>"Old companion in arms," he said, "this makes up for +Carisbrooke; well, Alfgar, hadst thou yielded then, thou hadst not +been here now. Thy father and I owe thee something for the example +thou didst set us."</p> +<p>And then he turned to Elfwyn and wished him joy of his son.</p> +<p>After that he came to the priory and prayed awhile in front of +the altar; his devotions ended, he came to my cell and made me a +startling offer of a bishopric in Denmark, saying he thought there +was much work to be done for God there, and he thought Englishmen +would do it best; and thus, he added, after their Master's example, +return good for evil<a name="EndNote20anc" href= +"#EndNote20sym"><sup> {xx}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>But an old oak such as I am cannot be uprooted, and perhaps it +is a carnal feeling, but I fear my earthly affections bind me here +while life lasts, so, thanking him warmly for the distinction +implied in the offer, I respectfully but firmly declined it.</p> +<p>And so the king and his retinue left Aescendune. Elfwyn and +Hilda return in a few days to their happy valley; men have been at +work for weeks making a good road there from the hall, and the +journey will only occupy two or three hours to a good walker.</p> +<p>Herstan and his family leave for their home on the Thames (which +has been rebuilt, together with the little church of St. Michael) +tomorrow. Anlaf takes his vows as a novice next Sunday, his +novitiate will be as short as the rules of our order allow; we +shall all then welcome him as a brother.</p> +<p>Soon our days will flow tranquilly on. May God mercifully +continue peace in our days.</p> +<p>"Stablish the thing, O God, that thou hast wrought in us."</p> +<p>Christmas, 1017.--</p> +<p>Strange news greet our festival. Edric Streorn has gone +suddenly, unhouselled, unanointed, unabsolved, to his great +account. Hermann, who is now an officer in the royal hus-carles, +has arrived from court, and from him we have learnt all +particulars.</p> +<p>Edric was alone with the king in a chamber overlooking the +Thames. Hermann was on duty without, with some of the guard, when +he heard voices within in hot contention.</p> +<p>"You will grant me no favour, not even the life of this traitor, +who, I tell you, is conspiring against you, and desires to place +Edwy, the Etheling, Edmund's brother, on the throne in your +place."</p> +<p>"Your proof lies, I suppose, in the hatred you have always borne +him," was the king's reply.</p> +<p>Hermann could not help hearing, they spoke so loudly, but the +next words enchained his attention.</p> +<p>"I tell thee the name 'Alfgar' is first and foremost amongst the +signatures of the men who have conspired to cast thee from the +throne."</p> +<p>"Then I conclude you placed it there; tush, man, I know thee of +old!"</p> +<p>"Why should you suspect this? was not he Edmund's faithful +friend, worshipping him as a god, and would he not do all he could +for his brother?"</p> +<p>"I thought you held him guilty of Edmund's murder."</p> +<p>"That was only because I wished to remove two enemies from your +path instead of one you will not remove one from mine; lo! I +forsook Edmund my king for thy sake, and for thy sake I slew him, +and thus thou rewardest me."</p> +<p>Then Canute waxed furious, and he shouted, "Guard! guard!"</p> +<p>Hermann rushed in; and amongst others Eric, the Earl of +Northumbria.</p> +<p>"What, wretch! murderer! apostate blasphemer of the saints! +didst thou murder Edmund, my brother Edmund, who was dear to me as +Jonathan to David, seeing we were bound to each other by an oath! +Thou didst stretch thy hand against the Lord's anointed, and thou +shalt die the death.</p> +<p>"Cut him down! cut him down, Eric! cut him down, Hermann."</p> +<p>Eric stepped forward in an instant, and with his huge battle-axe +cleft the unhappy traitor, who had fallen to his knees to obtain +mercy, from the head to the shoulders.</p> +<p>"Throw the carcase out of window," cried the furious king; "let +the fishes have the carrion. Never shall he find a grave, the vile +regicide; and that he should think I would reward his guilt! Nay, I +have served him as David did the Amalekite."</p> +<p>Eric and Hermann, between them, raised the corpse, and flung it, +all bleeding and disfigured, into the Thames, the tide just running +out beneath the walls.</p> +<p>I ought to write, "So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord!" But +the awful doom of his unrepentant soul saddens me, much as he has +hated me and mine.</p> +<p>Lent, 1018.--</p> +<p>A strange discovery has been made which interests us all +greatly. At the time of Alfgar's trial at Oxford, Herstan fancied +there must be a secret staircase communicating with Edmund's room, +but sought it in vain. Now that Edric has avowed the deed, Hermann +has obtained the king's permission to make a thorough search all +through the house, and in the thickness of the huge stone chimney a +secret staircase has been found, with a door opening through the +thickness of the wall and panelling into the room in which Edmund +slept, as well as another door opening into the banqueting hall, +where Sigeferth and Morcar were murdered. It is all clear as day +now. Edric must have entered the royal chamber from the banqueting +hall in the dead of the night, and thus, when no human eye beheld, +have accomplished his evil deed. Ah, well! he could not escape the +eye of Him who has said "Vengeance is mine, I will repay."</p> +<p>Eastertide, 1018--</p> +<p>A son is born to Alfgar and Ethelgiva; and today, Low Sunday, +they presented their babe to Him who said, "Suffer little children +to come unto me." They have named him Edmund. The grandparents, +both well and happy, were present; and the proud and happy father's +eyes sparkled with joy over his little Edmund, glistening from the +baptismal font. It fell to my happy lot thus to enrol the dear +child amongst the lambs of Christ's fold. God grant him length of +days here, and endless length of days beyond the skies when time +shall be no more!</p> +<p>. . . . . .</p> +<p>Here we close our extracts from Father Cuthbert's Diary; but; +before taking leave of him, we are sure our readers would like to +hear a few more words about his future fortunes, and those of the +house of Aescendune.</p> +<p>Better king than Canute, saving only the great Alfred, and +perhaps Edgar, had never sat on the English throne. Under his +auspices a change became visible throughout the whole country: +villages again gladdened the blackened wastes; minsters and +churches were rebuilt, whose broad, square Saxon towers yet hand +down the memory of our ancestors. Agriculture revived; golden corn +covered the bloodstained scenes of warfare; men lived once more in +peace under the shadow of their homes, none daring to make them +afraid. Peace, with its hallowed associations, gladdened England +for fifty long years<a name="EndNote21anc" href= +"#EndNote21sym"><sup> {xxi}</sup></a>.</p> +<p>Anlaf was the first of the group we have introduced to our +readers to leave this transitory world for a better one. He died a +few years after the accession of Canute. Father Cuthbert survived +him many years, and died honoured and lamented in the last year of +the great king.</p> +<p>His brother Elfwyn, and the lady Hilda, full of years, having +outlived the natural span of man's appointed years, followed him +shortly--not till they had seen their grandchildren, a numerous +and hopeful progeny, grow up around them, and so perpetuate their +race upon earth.</p> +<p>And for Alfgar and Ethelgiva, they lived to see a their +children's children, and peace upon Israel, surviving until the +close of the reign of Edward the Confessor, the son of Ethelred and +Emma. Their days were days of peace, in strange contrast to their +youthful years.</p> +<div class="c1"> +<pre> +"Peace! and no more from out her brazen portals +The blast of war's great organ shakes the skies; +But, beautiful as songs of the immortals, +The holy harmonies of peace arise." +--Longfellow. +</pre></div> +<p>THE END.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote1sym" href="#EndNote1anc">i</a> Genealogy of +Aescendune.</p> +<p>The reader may be glad to have the genealogy of the family in +whom it has been the author's aim to interest him placed clearly +before him. The following genealogical table, including the +principal names in "The First Chronicle of Aescendune," as well as +those in the present book, may suffice, the date of decease being +given in each case.</p> +<p>Offa, 940</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Oswald, 937.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Redwald, 959.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Ella, 959, m. Edith.</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Elfric, 960.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Alfred, 998, m. Alftrude.</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Elfric, 975.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Elfwyn, 1086, m. Hilda.</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Bertric, 1006.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Ethelgiva, 1064 m. Alfgar.</p> +</li> +</ul> +</li> +<li> +<p>Cuthbert, 1034.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Bertha, 1050 m. Herstan.</p> +</li> +</ul> +</li> +<li> +<p>Edgitha, 990.</p> +</li> +</ul> +</li> +</ul> +<p><a name="EndNote2sym" href="#EndNote2anc">ii</a> Curse of +Dunstan.</p> +<p>"In the year of our Lord's incarnation 979, Ethelred, son of +Edgar and Elfrida, obtaining the kingdom, occupied, rather than +governed it, for thirty-seven years. The career of his life is said +to have been cruel in the beginning, wretched in the middle, and +disgraceful in the end. Thus, in the murder to which he gave his +concurrence he was cruel, base in his flight and effeminacy, +miserable in his death.</p> +<p>"The nobility being assembled by the contrivance of his mother, +and the day being appointed for Dunstan, in right of his see, to +crown him, he, though he might be ill-affected to them, forebore to +resist, being a prelate of mature age well versed in secular +matters. But, when placing the crown on his head, he could not +refrain from giving vent, with a loud voice, to that prophetic +spirit which he so deeply imbibed. 'Since,' said he, 'thou hast +aspired to the kingdom by the death of thy brother, hear the word +of God. Thus saith the Lord God: The sin of thy abandoned mother, +and of the accomplices of her base design, shall not be washed out +but by much blood of the wretched inhabitants; and such evils shall +come upon the English nation as they have never suffered from the +time they came to England until then.' Nor was it long after, that +is in his third year, that seven piratical vessels came to +Southampton, a port near Winchester, and having ravaged the coast +fled back to the sea. This I think right to mention, because many +reports are circulated among the English concerning these +vessels."--William of Malmesbury, English Chronicle, Bohn's +Edition, pp.</p> +<p>165-166.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote3sym" href="#EndNote3anc">iii</a> See "First +Chronicle of Aescendune."</p> +<p><a name="EndNote4sym" href="#EndNote4anc">iv</a> Chronology of +Father Cuthbert.</p> +<p>The Christian era did not come in use until about the year 532, +when it was first introduced in the code of canon law compiled by +Dionysius Exiguus, and, even then, the year of the world was still +frequently used, as in some cases in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. +When at length the Christian computation became universal, some +began the year with the Incarnation (Christmas), others with the +Annunciation; a custom not wholly abolished in England till 1752, +when the "New Style," or Gregorian Calendar, was introduced.</p> +<p>But in the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the +portion upon which our tale is based, the year invariably opens +with the Nativity--hence this reckoning has been used in the +text, and the Christmas day in chapter 3 begins a new year.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote5sym" href="#EndNote5anc">v</a> Now Banbury.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote6sym" href="#EndNote6anc">vi</a> Death of St. +Edmund.</p> +<p>There are two stories (or more) concerning the Danish invasion +in which the saintly Edmund met his death; the first, alluded to in +the song of the Etheling (chapter 11), tells how Ragnar Lodbrog, a +great sea king, invaded England, but his fleet being shattered by a +storm, fell into the hands of Ella, King of Northumbria, who threw +him into a pit full of toads and serpents, where he perished, +singing his death song to the last, and calling upon his sons to +avenge his fate. Those sons were Hinguar and Hubba. They invaded +East Anglia after they had avenged their father upon Ella, and King +Edmund fought against them, but was taken prisoner. They offered +him his life and throne if he would forsake Christianity, and reign +under them. But he steadfastly refused, whereupon they put him to +death after the manner described in the tale in the case of +Bertric, while he called steadfastly upon Christ until his latest +breath.</p> +<p>The other tale, given at length by Roger Wendover, tells that +Ragnar Lodbrog, with only his hawk in his hand, was driven by a +storm to the coast of East Anglia, that King Edmund made him his +huntsman, but the former huntsman, Beorn, slew him through +jealousy; that King Edmund put Beorn bound in the boat which had +brought Lodbrog over, and sent him adrift to perish at sea. But the +storm in turn blew him to Denmark, where he told the sons of the +man he had slain that Edmund had murdered their father. Hence they +came to avenge him. The remainder of the tale agrees with the +former narrative, and is the only portion which certainly possesses +historical truth.</p> +<p>St. Edmund has been much venerated in the eastern counties, and +his shrine at Edmundsbury was greatly reverenced. The tale of the +death of Sweyn, given in chapter 18, is a proof of this feeling, in +which perhaps the legend partly originated.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote7sym" href="#EndNote7anc">vii</a> The Rista +Oern.</p> +<p>This punishment was usual among the Northmen, and was called "at +rista oern," from the supposed resemblance of the victim to the +figure of an eagle. The operation was generally performed by the +chief himself. It is thus described by Snorre:</p> +<p>"Ad speciem aquilae dorsum ita ei laniabat, ut adacto ad spinam +gladio, costisque omnibus ad lumbos usque a tergo divisis, pulmones +extraheret."--Snorre, p. 108.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote8sym" href="#EndNote8anc">viii</a> First +appearance of Edmund.</p> +<p>The first mention of Edmund in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the +commander of the English forces is A.D. 1015, where he was joined +with Edric in the command, as related in the text, chapter 18. The +date of his birth is uncertain, but the comparison of authorities +appeared to the author to justify the ascription of the character +and actions, with which he is credited in the tale, to the English +hero who first taught his generation to assert their equality with +the fierce Danish invaders.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote9sym" href="#EndNote9anc">ix</a> The +appellations Wiltshire and Berkshire are of course of later +date.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote10sym" href="#EndNote10anc">x</a> The early name +of Abingdon.</p> +<p>Johnson, the compiler of the famous collection of English +canons, is of opinion that Cloveshoo, where the famous provincial +council was held A.D. 803, is identical with Abingdon, and that the +town lost its ancient name simply owing to the growing notoriety of +the famous abbey; for "no one," says he, "can doubt that the name +Abingdon was taken from the abbey." The first memorial, he adds, in +which he finds the name Abingdon, is in the Chronicle wherein the +burial of Bishop Sidesman, A.D. 977, in St. Mary's Minster, "which +is at Abingdon," is mentioned, who was honourably buried on the +north side of that fane in St. Paul's Chapel.</p> +<p>On the other hand, some learned antiquarians have maintained the +opposite opinion, that the name Abingdon existed even prior to the +foundation of the monastery; thus the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, in his +edition of the "Chronicle of the Abbey of Abingdon," says-- +"Abingdon derives its name, not, as might at first sight be +supposed, from the abbey there founded--Abbey dune or Abbots +dune: philology forbids it. The place was so called from Abba, one +of the early colonists of Berkshire."</p> +<p><a name="EndNote11sym" href="#EndNote11anc">xi</a> Bishops of +Dorchester.</p> +<p>There appears to have been much uncertainty concerning the +succession of the bishops of this important see, owing, perhaps, to +the confusion caused by its having been the seat of two totally +distinct jurisdictions--the one over Wessex, the other over great +part of Mercia.</p> +<p>The names of the bishops in the narrative are taken from a list +kindly furnished by the Rev. W. Macfarlane, the present vicar of +the Abbey Church, whose indefatigable efforts have restored to the +ancient fane much of the glory of its ancient days.</p> +<p>According to this list, Ednoth was bishop from 1006 to 1016, +when he was slain by the Danes as recorded in the text; and Ethelm +succeeding, ruled the see till A.D. 1034, through the comparatively +happy days of Canute.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote12sym" href="#EndNote12anc">xii</a> End of the +Campaign of 1006.</p> +<p>The following extract from the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" gives the +further history of the campaign very concisely:</p> +<p>"Then went the Danes to Wallingford, and that all burned, and +were then one day in Cholsey: and they went then along Ashdown to +Cuckamsley hill, and there abode, as a daring boast; for it had +been often said, if they should reach Cuckamsley hill, that they +would never again get to the sea: then they went homewards another +way. Then were forces assembled at Kennet, and they there joined +battle: and they soon put that band to flight, and afterwards +brought their booty to the sea. But there might the Winchester men +see an army daring and fearless, as they went by their gates +towards the sea, and fetched themselves food and treasures over +fifty miles from thence. Then had the king gone over Thames into +Shropshire, and there took up his abode during the midwinter's +tide. Then became the dread of the army so great, that no man could +think or discover how they could be driven out of the land, or this +land maintained against them; for they had every shire in Wessex +sadly marked by burning and by plundering. Then the king began +earnestly with the witan to consider what might seem most advisable +to them all, so that this land might be saved, before it was +utterly destroyed. Then the king and his witan decreed, for the +behoof of the whole nation, though it was hateful to them all, that +they needs must pay tribute to the Danish army. Then the king sent +to the army, and directed it to be made known to them that he would +that there should be a truce between them, and that tribute should +be paid, and food given them. And then all that they accepted, and +then were they victualled from throughout the English nation."-- +Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Bohn's Edition.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote13sym" href="#EndNote13anc">xiii</a> This is +copied almost verbatim from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote14sym" href="#EndNote14anc">xiv</a> The account +is taken almost verbatim from Florence of Worcester.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote15sym" href="#EndNote15anc">xv</a> Children of +Ethelred.</p> +<p>By his two wives--(1) Aelfleda--(2) Emma, Ethelred had +fourteen children, of whom only four or five have been mentioned in +this narrative, or are of importance to the student--Edmund +Ironside and his brother Edwy (chapter 25), by Aelfleda, and Alfred +and Edward by Emma--the last well known in history as Edward the +Confessor, and introduced in Chapter XIX. of this tale. The +following genealogical table from Edgar to the children of Edmund +may be of use. It will be remembered that the lineage of the +present royal house passes through the last-named son of Edmund +Ironside to Egbert:</p> +<p>Edgar</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Edward the Martyr, d. 979.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Ethelred the Unready, d. 1016.</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Edmund Ironside, 1016.</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Edmund.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Edward, who became the great-grandfather of Henry the +Second.</p> +</li> +</ul> +</li> +<li> +<p>Edwy.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Elgitha.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Alfred, 1036.</p> +</li> +<li> +<p>Edward the Confessor, 1066.</p> +</li> +</ul> +</li> +</ul> +<p><a name="EndNote16sym" href="#EndNote16anc">xvi</a> +Sceorstan.</p> +<p>Antiquarians differ much about the site of this famous battle. +Sharp thinks it was near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, and +Thorpe, in his notes to "Florence of Worcester," says--"May not +Chimney be the spot, a hamlet in Oxfordshire, in the parish of +Bampton-in-the-Bush, near the edge of Gloucestershire, the name of +Chimney being merely a translation, introduced after the Norman +Conquest, of Sceorstan, which may probably have owed its origin to +a Saxon house or hall, conspicuous for having a chimney when that +luxury was of rare occurrence?" Others say that Sceorstan was not +in Anglo-Saxon "a chimney," but "a graven stone," and make the site +that of a boundary stone, still separating the four counties of +Oxford, Gloucester, Worcester, and Warwick, near Chipping Norton. +Bosworth says it is Sherston in Wilts.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote17sym" href="#EndNote17anc">xvii</a> Single +Combat between Edmund and Canute.</p> +<p>The following account is from Roger of Wendover:</p> +<p>"A few days after this lamentable battle (Assingdun), in which +so many nobles fell, King Edmund pursued Canute, who was now +committing ravages in Gloucestershire. The said kings therefore +came together to fight at a place called Deerhurst, Edmund with his +men being on the west side of the river Severn, and Canute with his +men on the east, both preparing themselves manfully for battle. +When both armies were now on the point of engaging, the wicked Earl +Edric called together the chiefs and addressed them as follows: +'Nobles and warriors, why do we foolishly so often hazard our lives +in battle for our kings, when not even our deaths secure to them +the kingdom, or put an end to their covetousness? My counsel then +is, that they alone should fight who alone are contending for the +kingdom; for what must be the lust of dominion, when England, which +formerly sufficed for eight kings, is not now enough for two? Let +them, therefore, either come to terms, or fight alone for the +kingdom.' This speech pleased them all; and the determination of +the chiefs being communicated to the kings, received their +approbation. There is a small island called Olney, in the mouth of +that river. Thither the kings, clad in splendid armour, crossed +over, and commenced a single combat in the presence of the people. +Parrying the thrust of the spear as well by their own skill as by +the interposition of their strong shields, they fought long and +fiercely hand to hand, his valour protecting Edmund, and his good +fortune Canute. The swords rung on their helmets, and sparks of +fire flew from their collision. The stout heart of Edmund was +kindled by the act of fighting, and as his blood grew warm his +strength augmented; he raised his right hand, brandished his sword, +and redoubled his blows on the head of his antagonist with such +vehemence, that he seemed rather to fulminate than to strike. +Feeling his strength failing him, and unable long to endure such an +onset, Canute meditated peace; but as he was crafty, and afraid +lest if the youth perceived his weakness he would not listen to his +words of peace, drawing in all his breath he rushed on Edmund with +wonderful valour, and immediately drawing back a little, he asked +him to pause awhile and give him audience. The latter was of a +courteous soul, and, resting his shield on the ground, he listened +to the words of Canute, who thus proceeded: 'Hitherto I have +coveted thy kingdom, bravest of men; but now I prefer thyself not +only to the kingdom of England, but to all the world. Denmark +serves me, Norway yields me subjection, the King of Sweden has +shaken hands with me; so that, although Fortune promises me victory +everywhere, yet thy wonderful manliness hath so won my favour, that +I long beyond measure to have thee as friend and partner of my +kingdom. I would that thou in like manner wert desirous of me; that +I might reign with thee in England, and thou walk me in Denmark.' +Why should I add more? King Edmund most graciously assented and +yielded to his words, though he could not be forced by arms. The +kingdom was therefore, by Edmund's direction, divided between the +two, the crown of the whole kingdom reverting to King Edmund. The +whole of England, therefore, to the south of the river Thames, was +ceded to him, with Essex and East Anglia, and the city of London, +the capital of the kingdom, Canute retaining the northern parts of +the kingdom. Laying aside, therefore, their splendid armour, the +kings embraced each other amidst the rejoicings of both the armies. +They then exchanged their garments and arms in token of peace, and +Edmund became Canute, and Canute Edmund."--Roger of Wendover, +Bohn's Edition.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote18sym" href="#EndNote18anc">xviii</a> The Death +of Edmund.</p> +<p>This lamentable occurrence is involved in much mystery. Edric +Streorn was generally credited with the deed, although some +writers, e.g. William of Malmesbury, think he used the aid of +attendants on the king, whom he bribed. The Chronicle is silent as +to details. Henry of Huntingdon ascribes the deed to a son of +Edric. Roger of Wendover agrees with him, adding the facts that the +place was Oxford, and the time St. Andrew's night, as in the text. +Amidst these conflicting statements fiction perhaps most +legitimately takes its place.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote19sym" href="#EndNote19anc">xix</a> The +Ordeal.</p> +<p>This ancient custom was observed by Simplicius, Bishop of Autun, +so early as the fourth century, and was very generally in use +during the period of our tale. Although never formally recognised +by the Church of Rome, and forbidden by many edicts on the +Continent, it was administered in England under the direction of +the clergy, and its details prescribed by the canons during a +period extending from the laws of Alfred to the directions given in +the ecclesiastical laws of Edward the Confessor, the year before +the Norman Conquest, A.D. 1065. The first prohibition of its use in +England is in the third year of Henry the Third.</p> +<p>There were three principal modes of its administration. In the +first, the ordeal by water, the accused had to take a heavy piece +of iron from a boiling cauldron placed in the church--in the +second, to carry a bar of heated iron nine feet. The hand or arm +was bound in linen, the bandage sealed by the priest, and on the +third day the limb was uncovered. If the burn or scald had healed +the prisoner was pronounced innocent, otherwise he had to suffer +the punishment due to his offence.</p> +<p>The details given in the text are chiefly taken from the Canons +of Athelstane; but the mode of purgation therein described is +similar to that by which it is said Queen Emma repelled an +accusation made by Robert, Bishop of London, in the year 1046. This +mode of administration was perhaps more frequently used when a +prompt appeal was needed to the judgment of God, or in the case of +persons of rank, were they ever, as was seldom the case, compelled +to appeal to its decision.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote20sym" href="#EndNote20anc">xx</a> It was a +subject of complaint against Canute in Denmark that he gave away +most of the bishoprics to Englishmen.</p> +<p><a name="EndNote21sym" href="#EndNote21anc">xxi</a> Character of +Canute.</p> +<p>The great change in Canute's character after his accession to +the throne has been noticed by all writers. Each year he seemed to +grow in self-command and in the practice of virtue, while all men +were edified by his strict attention to his religions duties. Later +in life he made a pilgrimage to Rome, and a letter written thence +gives a good idea of his general affection for his people. It is +addressed to the archbishops and bishops and great men, and to all +the English people, and is written in the familiar style a father +might use to his children, especially telling them all he had seen +at Rome, and about the way in which he spent Easter with Pope John +and the Emperor, whom he persuaded to abolish certain dues exacted +from English pilgrims. In the last portion of the letter he tells +them how he has made up his mind to amend his life in every way, +and to atone for all the wrongs committed in the violence of youth. +He forbids any person to use violence or to make the royal needs an +excuse for wrongdoing, saying, "I have no need of money gathered by +unrighteousness." He concludes by saying that he is sure they will +all be glad to hear how he has fared, and that they know he has not +spared himself any trouble, and never will, to do all that lies in +his power for the good of his people.</p> +<p>There is something in the whole tone of the letter which warms +one's heart towards the writer, and one cannot help contrasting the +reigns of the two conquerors, Canute and William: the first, +beginning with violence and bloodshed, grew daily in justice, +mercy, and the love of God, and so passed lamented to his grave; +the latter, promising at first to govern justly, grew worse and +worse in oppressive cruelty and all sorts of wrongdoing, until the +sad and hopeless death scene in the abbey of St. Gervase. But the +delineation of the latter period must be reserved, all being well, +for the "Third Chronicle of Aescendune."</p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Alfgar the Dane or the Second +Chronicle of Aescendune, by A. D. Crake + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALFGAR THE DANE *** + +***** This file should be named 13305-h.htm or 13305-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/3/0/13305/ + +Produced by Martin Robb + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Alfgar the Dane or the Second Chronicle of Aescendune + +Author: A. D. Crake + +Release Date: August 27, 2004 [EBook #13305] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALFGAR THE DANE *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Robb + + + + + +ALFGAR THE DANE OR THE SECOND CHRONICLE OF AESCENDUNE: + +A Tale of the Days of Edmund Ironside + +by the Rev. A. D. Crake. + + PREFACE. + + CHAPTER I. THE DIARY OF FATHER CUTHBERT. + + CHAPTER II. "ALFGAR, SON OF ANLAF." + + CHAPTER III. THE NIGHT OF ST. BRICE. + + CHAPTER IV. THE DANES IN WESSEX. + + CHAPTER V. THE TRACKS IN THE FOREST. + + CHAPTER VI. THROUGH SUFFERING TO GLORY. + + CHAPTER VII. FATHER AND SON. + + CHAPTER VIII. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + CHAPTER IX. THE CAMP OF THE DANES. + + CHAPTER X. CARISBROOKE IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. + + CHAPTER XI. THE GLEEMAN. + + CHAPTER XII. THE MONASTERY OF ABINGDON. + + CHAPTER XIII. THE CITY OF DORCHESTER. + + CHAPTER XIV. THE SON AND THE FAVOURITE. + + CHAPTER XV. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY AT CLIFFTON. + + CHAPTER XVI. THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS. + + CHAPTER XVII. FOR HEARTH AND HOME. + + CHAPTER XVIII. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + CHAPTER XIX. THE ROYAL DEATHBED. + + CHAPTER XX. THE MIDNIGHT FLIGHT. + + CHAPTER XXI. EDMUND AND CANUTE. + + CHAPTER XXII. SMOOTHER THAN OIL. + + CHAPTER XXIII. WHO HATH DONE THIS DEED? + + CHAPTER XXIV. THE ORDEAL. + + CHAPTER XXV. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + + +PREFACE. + + +The tale now presented to the indulgence of the public is the second +of a series of tales, each complete in itself, which, as stated in the +preface to the first of the series, have been told to the senior boys +of a large school, in order to secure their interest in historical +characters, and to illustrate great epochs in human affairs by the aid +of fiction. + +Yet the Author has distinctly felt that fiction must always, in such +cases, be subordinate to truth, and that it is only legitimately used +as a vehicle of instruction when it fills up the gaps in the outline, +without contradicting them in any respect, or interfering with their +due order and sequence. + +Therefore he has attempted in every instance to consult such original +authorities as lay within his reach, and has done his best to present +an honest picture of the times. + +The period selected on the present occasion is full of the deepest +interest. The English and the Danish invaders of their soil were +struggling desperately for the possession of England--a struggle +aggravated by religious bitterness, and by the sanguinary nature of +the Danish creed. + +The reign of Ethelred the Unready, from his accession, after the +murder of his innocent brother, until the scene depicted in the +nineteenth chapter of the tale, was a tragedy ever deepening. Its +details will seem dark enough as read herein, but how utterly dark +they were can only be appreciated by those who study the contemporary +annals. Many facts therein given have been rejected by the Author as +too harrowing in their nature; and he has preferred to render the +contemplation of woe and suffering less painful, by a display of those +virtues of patience, resignation, and brave submission to the Divine +will, which affliction never fails to bring out in the fold of Christ, +whose promise stands ever fast, that the strength of His people shall +be equal to their needs. + +With the death of the unhappy king, and the accession of his brave but +unfortunate son, the whole character of the history changes. +Englishmen are henceforth at least a match for their oppressors, and +the result of the long contest is the conversion of their foes to +Christianity, their king setting the example, and the union of the two +races--not the submission of one to the other. The Danish element had +been received into the English nation to join in moulding the future +national character--to add its own special virtues to the typical +Englishman of the future. + +One more rude shock had yet to be sustained before the alloy of +foreign blood was complete--the Norman Conquest. This is the subject +of the Third Story of Aescendune, which has yet to be written. + +One character in the tale has always puzzled historians--a character, +so far as the author knows, absolutely without redeeming trait--Edric +Streorn. It is well said that no man is utterly bad, and perhaps he +possessed domestic virtues which were thought unworthy of the +attention of the chroniclers; but as they picture him--now prompting +Ethelred to deeds of treachery against the Danes, now joining those +Danes themselves, and surpassing them in cruelty--now seeking +pretended reconciliation, only to betray his foe more surely, and in +all this aided and supported by the weak, unprincipled king--as thus +pictured there is scarcely a blacker character in history. + +But more incomprehensible than the existence of so bad a man in such a +dark age is the renewed confidence ever accorded him, when, after more +than once betraying the armies of his country into the hands of their +foes, and fighting openly in the hostile cause, he is again forgiven, +nay, received into favour, and sent once more to command the men he +has already deceived, until he repeats the experiment, and when it +fails is again admitted into confidence. + +To some extent the Author has endeavoured to find possible solutions +of the mystery, but mystery it will remain until the day when all +secrets are known. + +The death of this unhappy man is taken, in all its main details, from +a comparison of the chroniclers, as are also all the chief historical +events herein noted. + +An objection has been raised to the modern English in which the Author +has made his characters speak. He can only say in reply that the +Anglo-Saxon in which they really expressed themselves would be +unintelligible to all but the few who have made the study of our +ancient tongue their pursuit--far more unintelligible to those of +ordinary education than Latin or French. Therefore it would be mere +affectation to copy the later orthography of Chaucer, or to interlard +one's sentences with obsolete words. The only course seems to be a +fair translation of the vernacular of the period of the tale into our +own everyday English. The Author anticipated this objection in the +preface to his earlier volume. He repeats his answer for those who may +not have seen the former book. A similar rule has guided him in the +orthography of proper names; he has used the customary Latinised +forms. + +In his descriptions of Dorchester and Abingdon he has been aided by +the kind information received from the present vicar of the +magnificent Abbey Church, still existing in the former ancient town, +and by the extensive information contained in the Chronicle of the +Abbey of Abingdon, edited by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, M.A. He has +also to express his obligations to his friend Mr. Charles Walker, +editor of the "Liturgy of the Church of Sarum," for valuable +assistance in monastic lore. + +The moral aim of the tale has been to depict the mental difficulties +which our heathen forefathers had severally to encounter ere they +could embrace Christianity--difficulties chiefly arising from the +inconsistencies of Christians--and to set forth the example of one +who, having found the "pearl of great price," sold all he had and +bought it, forsaking all that could appeal to the imagination of a +warlike youth--"choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people +of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." + +Yet his Christianity, like that of all other characters in the tale, +is that of their age, not of ours, and men will differ as to its +comparative merits. "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much +be required." + +The author dedicates this tale to his brother, engaged, like himself, +in that most responsible task, the education of youth, in memory of +those happy days when they pored together in rapturous delight over +old legend or romantic lore in their father's home at that very +Clifton (now Clifton Hampden) familiar to hearers or readers of the +tale as the home of Herstan, and the scene of the heroic defence of +the English dwelling against the Danes. It will be a great reward for +the Author's toil should this little volume similarly gladden many +firesides during the approaching Christmas, and perhaps cause some to +thank God for the contrast between the Christmas of 1007 and that of +1874. + +A.D.C. + +All Saints' School, Bloxham. + +Advent, 1874. + + + +CHAPTER I. THE DIARY OF FATHER CUTHBERT. + + +All Saints' Day, 1002. + +Inasmuch as I, Cuthbert, by the long-suffering of the Divine goodness, +am prior of the Benedictine house of St. Wilfrid at Aescendune, it +seems in some sort my duty, following the example of many worthy +brethren, to write some account of the origin and history of the +priory over which it has pleased God to make me overseer, and to note, +as occasion serves from time to time, such passing events as seem +worthy of remembrance; which record, deposited in the archives of the +house, may preserve our memory when our bodies are but dust, and other +brethren fill our places in the choir. Perhaps each generation thinks +the events which happen in its own day more remarkable than any which +have preceded, and that its own period is the crisis of the fate of +Church or State. Yet surely no records of the past, extant, tell us of +such dark threatening clouds as hang over the realm of England at this +time; when the thousandth year since our blessed Lord's nativity +having passed, we seem to be entering on those awful plagues which the +Apocalypse tells us must precede the consummation of all things. + +But we who trust in the Lord have a strong tower wherein to hide, and +we know of a land where there is no darkness or shadow of death; +therefore we will not fear though the earth be moved, and the hills be +carried into the midst of the sea. + +This house of St. Wilfrid was founded by Offa, Thane of Aescendune, in +the year of the Lord 938, and completed by his son and successor Ella, +who was treacherously murdered by his nephew Ragnar, and lies buried +within these sacred walls. The first prior was Father Cuthbert, my +godfather, after whom I was named. He was appointed by Dunstan, just +then on the point of leaving England to escape the rage of the wicked +and unhappy Edwy, and continued to exercise the authority until the +year 975, the year in which our lamented king, Edgar the Magnanimous, +departed to his heavenly rest, with whose decease peace and prosperity +seemed likewise to depart. + +Father Godric succeeded him, under whose paternal rule we enjoyed +peace for ten years. Truly the memory of the just is blessed. He died +in 985, and then was I chosen by the votes of the chapter to be their +prior, and my election was confirmed by the holy Dunstan, who himself +admitted me to mine office. + +And truly the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places, dark +although--as I have said--the times are. The priory lies on the banks +of the glorious Avon, where the forests come nearly down to its banks. +Above us rises a noble hill, crowned with the oak and the beech, +beneath whose shade many a deer and boar repose, and their flesh, when +brought thither to gladden our festivals, is indeed toothsome and +savoury. + +Our buildings are chiefly of wood, although the foundations are of +stone. The great hall is floored and lined with oak, while the +chapel--the Priory Church the people call it--excels for limning and +gilding, as well as for the beauty of its tapestry, any church in this +part of Mercia. Our richest altar cloth is made of the purple robe +which King Edgar wore at his consecration, and which he sent to the +thane Alfred of Aescendune for the Priory Church as a token of the +respect and favour he bore him. And also he gave a veil of gold +embroidery which representeth the destruction of Troy. It is hung upon +great days over the dais at the high table of the hall. + +The monastery is well endowed with lands by the liberality of its +first founder, as appears in the deeds preserved in our great muniment +chest. We have ten hides of woodland, wherein none may cut wood save +for our use in the winter; five hides of arable land, and the same +extent of pasturage for cattle. Now for the care of the culture +thereof we have a hundred serfs attached to the glebe, who, we trust, +do not find us unkind lords. + +There are twenty brethren who have taken the final vows according to +the rule of St. Benedict, and ten novices, besides six lay brethren, +and other our chief servitors. We keep the monastic hours, duly rising +at daybreak to sing our lauds, and lying down after compline, with the +peace and blessing of Him who alone maketh us dwell in safety. + +Our daily work is not light. We preach on Sundays and festivals in the +priory church. We visit the sick. We instruct the youth in the +elements of Christian doctrine. We superintend the labours of those +who till the soil. We copy the sacred writings. In short, we have a +great deal to do, and I fear do it very imperfectly sometimes. + +I will add a few words only about myself. I am the third son of +Alfred {i}, thane of Aescendune, and his wife the Lady Alftrude of +Rollrich. Elfric, my eldest brother, died young. Elfwyn is now thane, +and I, the third boy, was given to the Church, for which I had ever +felt a vocation, perhaps from my love to my godfather. We only had one +sister, Bertha, and she has married the Thane Herstan of Clifton, near +Dorchester, the seat of our good bishop Aelfhelm, and the shrine of +holy Birinus. + +My father and mother both sleep the sleep of the just. They lived to +see their children happy and prosperous, and then departed amidst the +lamentations of all who had known and loved them. Taken from the evil +to come, we cannot mourn them, nor would we call them back, although +we sorely missed their loved forms. They were full of years, yet age +had not dimmed their faculties. My father died in the year 998, my +mother the following year. They rest by the side of their ancestors in +the priory church. + +My brother Elfwyn married Hilda, the daughter of Ceolfric, a Thane of +Wessex, in the year 985. He has two children--Bertric, a fine lad of +twelve, and as good as he is manly; and Ethelgiva, a merry girl of +ten. His household is well-ordered and happy--nurtured in the +admonition of the Lord. + +For myself I have had many offers of promotion in the brotherhood of +St. Benedict, but have refused them. I was once offered the high +office of abbot in one of our great Benedictine houses, but I wished +to be near my own people and my father's house, and here I trust I +shall stay till I seek a continuing city, whose builder and maker is +God. + +And now a little about the state of the country round us. In this +neighbourhood we have as yet been preserved from the evils of war, but +for many years past the Danes, those evil men, have renewed their +inroads, as they used to make them before the great King Alfred +pacified the country. They began again in the year 980, and, with but +slight intermission, have continued year by year. + +The awful prophecy which God forced from the lips of Dunstan {ii}, +at the coronation of our most unhappy king, has been too sadly +fulfilled. Ah me! I fear the curse of the saints is upon him. When the +holy bishop departed this life, I was one of the few who stood round +his bed, and as he foretold of the evil to come, he bade us all bear +our portion manfully, for the time, he said, would be short in which +to endure, and the eternal crown secure. + +Many of those to whom he spoke have since died the martyr's or the +patriot's death, but as yet no evil has reached us at Aescendune, +although many parts of Wessex, nay, all the sea coast and the banks of +the great rivers have been wasted with fire and sword, and the money +which has been given the barbarians has been worse than wasted, for +they only come for more. + +Our armies seem led by traitors; our councils, sad to say, by fools. +Nothing prospers, and thoughtless people say the saints are asleep. +Every day we say the petition in our Litany, "That it would please +Thee to abate the cruelty of our pagan enemies, and to turn their +hearts; we beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord," and we must wait His +time, and pray for strength to submit to His will. + +Around the priory live the serfs, the theows, and ceorls of the +estate, each in his own little cottage, save the domestics, who live +at the Hall, which is only half-a-mile distant. + +On Sundays and Saints' days they all assemble in our minster church. +It was full this day at the high mass, and I preached them a homily +upon the Saints, great part of which I took from a sermon I once heard +the holy Dunstan preach. And he showed us how saints did not live idle +lives on this earth, but always went about, like their Lord and +Master, doing good, and that through much tribulation they entered the +eternal kingdom, which also bids fair to be our lot nowadays, although +we be all miserable sinners, and not saints. + +Ah! how I thought of the dear ones we have lost when the Gospel was +read at mass, about the great multitude which no man could number, and +I almost seemed as if I could see father, mother, and Elfric there. I +would not wish them back; yet my heart is very lonely sometimes. I +wonder whether they remember now that it is All Saints' Day, and that +we are thinking of them. Yes, I am sure they must do so. + +There have been few troubles from the Danes, close at hand; so few +that they seem trivial in comparison with those our countrymen suffer +elsewhere. Still we have many of the pagans living as settlers in our +neighbourhood, whose presence is tolerated for fear of the reprisals +which might follow any acts of hostility against them. Kill one Dane, +the people say, and a hundred come to his funeral. Many of these +settlers have acquired their lands peaceably, but others by the strong +arms of their ancestors in periods of ancient strife; and these have +been allowed to keep their possessions for generations, so that if +they did not retain their heathen customs we might forget they were +not Englishmen. + +One of these lives near us. His name is Anlaf. Some say he boasts of +being a descendant of that Anlaf who once ravaged England, and was +defeated at Brunanburgh. He married an English girl, whose heart, they +say, he broke by his cruelty. They had one child, Alfgar by name. + +The mother died a Christian. Taking my life in my hands, I penetrated +their fortalice, and administered the last sacrament to her; but they +threatened my life for entering their domains, and, perhaps, had I +been but a simple priest, and not also, small boast as it is, the son +of a powerful English thane, whom they feared to offend, I had died in +doing my duty. When the poor girl was dying she committed the boy as +well as she could to my care, begging me to see that he was baptized; +but the father has prevented me from carrying out her wishes, +asserting that he would sooner slay the lad. + +But it seems as if the boy retained some traces of his mother's faith; +over and over again I have seen him hiding in some remote corner of +the church during service time, but he has always shrunk away when any +of the brethren attempted to speak to him. + +I am sure he wishes to be a Christian. + +I may, perhaps, find a chance of speaking to him, and a few words may +reach his heart. He knows my brother's family, and has once or twice +joined them in expeditions in the woods, and even entered their gates. +His must be a lonely life at home; there are no other children, but +from time to time hoary warriors, upon whose souls lies, I fear, the +guilt of much innocent blood, find a home there. + +November 2d.-- + +This morning we said the office and mass for the dead, as usual on All +Souls' Day. My brother Elfwyn and his children were, of course, +present. That boy, Bertric, with all his boyish spirit and brightness, +is very pious. It was a sight which I thought might gladden their +guardian angels to see him and his sister kneeling with clasped hands +at their uncle Elfric's tomb, and when service was over, they made me +tell them the old old story about the first Elfric, the brother of my +father, and how my father rescued him when the old castle was +burnt {iii}. + +When I had told them the story, I saw my brother was anxious to say a +few words to me. + +"Cuthbert," he said, "have you seen the young Dane, Alfgar, lately?" + +"Not very long since," I replied; "he was at mass yesterday." + +"Because I believe the lad longs to be a Christian, but does not dare +speak to any one." + +"He fears his stern father." + +"Yes, Anlaf might slay him if he was to be baptized; yet baptized I am +sure he will be, sooner or later." + +"Does the boy love his father, I wonder?" said I, musingly. + +"Doubtless; it would be unnatural did he not; but perhaps he loves the +memory of his mother yet more. We both knew her, Cuthbert." + +"Yes, when she was a bright-hearted merry village maiden. Poor +Kyneswith!" + +"For her sake, then, let us both try to do something for the boy." + +"With all my heart. I will seek an opportunity of speaking to him, +perhaps he may unburden his mind." + +"Have you seen Edric the sheriff?" asked Elfwyn. + +"Not lately. Has he been here?" + +"He has, and there was something in connection with his visit which +troubled me. He had been telling me for a long time about the +cruelties and insolence of the Danes, when he added, in a marked +manner, that they might go too far, for hundreds of their countrymen, +like Anlaf here, were living unprotected amongst us." + +"What could he mean?" + +"I understood him to hint that we might revenge ourselves upon them, +and replied that whatever their countrymen might be guilty of, our +neighbours would, of course, always be safe amongst Christians." + +"What did he reply?" + +"He changed the subject." + +Elfwyn said no more, but bade me goodbye and returned to the castle; +still I saw that he was a little discomposed by the sheriff's words. I +don't like that sheriff; he is a cruel and a crafty man; but I daresay +his words were only the expression of a passing thought. + + + +CHAPTER II. "ALFGAR, SON OF ANLAF." + + +SUNDAY, November 6th.-- + +Today I noticed Alfgar, the son of Anlaf, at the high mass, and felt a +little discomposed at the relaxation of discipline, which, contrary to +the canons of the church, permits the unbaptized, as well as persons +who ought rightly to be deemed excommunicate, or at least penitents, +to be present at the holy mysteries. + +But it is not this poor boy's fault that he is not a Christian, for I +have seen him, and learned for a certainty the real state of his mind. + +The way in which it came about was this. I marked that after service +he entered the woods, as if he shunned the society of his fellow +worshippers, and there I followed him, coming upon him at last, as if +by accident, in a chestnut glade, the leaves of which strewed the +ground--emblem of our fading mortality. + +He started as he saw me, and at first looked as if he were inclined to +fly my presence, but I gently addressed him. + +"Dominus vobiscum, my son," I said. "I am pleased to see you sometimes +at the minster church." + +"I did not know I was noticed amongst so many," he replied. + +"You mean, my boy, that you would sooner your presence were not +observed. I can guess your reason too well." + +He looked so sad, that I was sorry I had spoken precipitately, and a +deep red blush suffused his dark countenance. He has a most attractive +face--so thoughtful, yet so manly; his mother's gentle lineaments seem +to have tempered the somewhat fierce and haughty bearing of his sire, +as they meet in the countenance of their child. + +My sympathy became so deep that I could not restrain myself and spoke +out: + +"My boy, will you not confide your troubles to me, for your dear +mother's sake? Do you not remember how she commended you to my care? +And never have I forgotten to pray daily that her God may be your God +also." + +At the mention of his mother the tears filled his eyes. We were +sitting together on the trunk of a fallen tree, and he covered his +face with his hands, but I could see that the tears forced their way +between the fingers, and that he was sobbing violently. He is only as +yet a mere boy, and such emotion is excusable. + +At last he looked up. + +"I long to be a Christian like her," he said; "over and over again she +taught me, during her last days on earth, of the Christ she loved, and +who, she said, was ever near her. I have heard all about the faith she +loved, yet I am an outcast from it. What can I do?--my father will not +let me be baptized, and I dare not oppose his will; yet I sometimes +think I ought to chance all, and to die, if death should be the +penalty." + +"Die? You do not surely think he would slay you?" + +"I know he would." + +"In that case, my child, your duty seems plain: your Lord calls you to +give Him your love, your obedience, and to seek refuge in the fold of +His church." + +"Ought I to leave my father?" + +I felt very much puzzled indeed what to say. I could have no doubt as +to the lad's duty; but then his father was his natural guardian, and +in all things, save the plain duty of professing Christ, had a claim +to his obedience. + +"I think," I said at last, "my Alfgar, that when he knew you were +determined to be a Christian he would oppose you no longer; that is, +if you were once baptized he would tolerate a Christian son as he once +did a Christian wife." + +"He broke her heart." + +"At all events I think that you should delay no longer, but should +seek instruction and baptism, which we will afford you; and then, +unless you really feel life is in danger, you should return to him and +try to bear your lot; it may not be so hard as you think." + +"I am not afraid of death; but he is my father, and from his hands it +would be hard." + +"He hates Christianity grievously then?" + +"He says it is the religion of cowards and hypocrites; that it forms a +plea for cowardice when men dare not be men, and is thrown aside fast +enough when they have their foes in their power." + +Alas! I could but feel how much reason the ill lives of Christians had +given him to form this opinion, and of the curse pronounced upon those +who shall put a stumbling block in their brother's way. The +conversation of the Sheriff, Edric Streorn, rose up in my mind as an +apt illustration of Anlaf's words. + +"My boy," I said, "there is nothing perfect on earth. In the visible +church the evil is mingled with the good. Yet the church is the fold +of the Good Shepherd, and there is salvation therein for all who love +and serve their Lord, and strive humbly to follow His example, and +those of His blessed Saints." + +"May I think over all you have said, and meet you next Sunday? You +will be here, will you not?" + +And he looked imploringly in my face. Poor boy! my heart bled for him. + +So we parted, and he went home. + +Friday, November 11th.-- + +I feel thoroughly uneasy and anxious about the sheriff's proceedings. +He has been about the neighbourhood today, and seems to have been +talking secretly with all the black sheep of my flock; thank God, I do +not think there are many. What they can be going to do, or what plot +they are hatching, I cannot discover, only I fear that it is some +design for vengeance upon the Danes--some dark treachery plotted +against those in our midst; and, if such is the case, I can but feel +uneasy for poor Alfgar. I wish the lad would leave his home, if but +for a short time, until the signs are less threatening; but he would +not forsake his father in danger, and I ought hardly to wish it. + +St. Brice's Day, Sunday, November 13th-- + +This has been a harassing and eventful day. Early in the morning, +before the high mass, whereat the neighbourhood is generally present, +I received a missive from the sheriff, bidding me, in the name of the +King, to exhort my people to remain at home tonight, since danger is +afoot, and there is likely, he says, to be a rising on the part of the +pagans who dwell amongst us. Why, they are but one in five in this +neighbourhood; hardly that. I determined to give the message in my own +way, for I could not keep silent, lest, through fault of mine, any of +my sheep should perish. So I preached upon the Saint of the day, who +was pre-eminently a man of peace, and I took occasion to tell my +people that there were many hurtful men about, who, like their master, +Satan, were seeking whom they might devour, and that, like that +master, they chose the night for their misdeeds, seeing they loved +darkness rather than light. So I said I hoped every good Christian +would keep at home, and go to bed early. + +At this point I observed a sarcastic smile upon many faces, notably on +those of the black sheep aforesaid, to whom the sheriff had spoken, +and I concluded that they were very likely to be the ministers of +darkness themselves. So I spoke on the Christian duties of love and +forgiveness, and exhorted all present to take joyfully the +chastisement of the Lord, even like holy Job; and that it would all +tend to their eternal good, through Him who, when He was reviled, +reviled not again. And so with this exhortation to patience I closed +my homily. I fear I spoke to many in vain. + +I am sure they are bent on immediate mischief, and that this notice of +the sheriff has much to do with it. He wants to keep good people at +home to have all the field to himself. I see him--the black +bellwether. + +After mass I mingled with the dispersing congregation. The weather was +very gloomy--the faces of the congregation yet more so. All seemed to +apprehend coming evil. Instead of returning cheerfully home they stood +together in groups, talking in low tones, as if they feared to speak +their thoughts aloud. + +Most of them evidently were men of peace, but not all, as I have +already hinted; and, as I drew near a group standing behind the great +yew tree, I heard one of these latter discoursing to his fellows. + +"Heard you the prior's sermon?" said Siric, for that was the fellow, +Siric of the Wold; "a fine homily he gave us on St. Brice--that man +of peace." + +"It was easy for him to be a man of peace," returned another; "he +hadn't got Danes for his neighbours." + +"Holy Job himself would have turned cutthroat if he had." + +"Then they have been insulting, robbing, and murdering all over the +country." + +Just then I interrupted them, for I could no longer hear the +blasphemy. + +"How now, Siric," said I; "hast thou come to Aescendune to revile the +saints?" + +"Nay, Father," said he, with a mocking smile; "I was only rejoicing +that they were not exposed to such trials as we. Job's Chaldeans were +gentlefolk in comparison with our Danes." + +"Thou blasphemest; and what didst thou say of the blessed St. Brice?" + +"Only that I wished he were living now to tame the cutthroats who live +in our midst, and who murder and rob daily, just in mere sport, or to +keep their hands in." + +"What new outrages have occurred?" I asked. + +"A party of the heathen carried off the cattle from my farm down the +water early this morning, and slew the herdsman." + +"Dost thou know who the fellows were?" + +"All too well; they were Anlaf's men." + +I hardly knew what to answer, the outrage was so recent, and the +excitement of the speaker so pardonable, as I could but feel. + +Well, at this moment my brother Elfwyn came out of the church, where +he had lingered to pray, as he generally does, at his brother's tomb, +and, noticing us, came and joined the group. He seemed much concerned +when he heard the details. + +"Siric," he said, with his usual kind way of speaking, "do not +distress yourself unduly; you know I am rich in flocks and herds. I +will make up the loss of the cattle, my brother the prior will have a +mass said for poor Guthred, and he shall have the last rites performed +at our expense; it is all we can do for him; the rest we must leave to +the mercy of God." + +"Nay, Thane," said Siric; "I thank you for your goodwill, but I may +not stand thus indebted to any man. I will repay myself at the expense +of the robbers. Still you may remember Guthred at God's altar." + +And he strode away. + +My brother was now joined by his children Bertric and Ethelgiva, and +his wife, the Lady Hilda. I saw that he was ill at ease, but we did +not mention the subject, which I am sure was uppermost in both our +minds, lest we should alarm the gentle ones. + +Just then I remembered that I had promised to meet Alfgar in the pine +wood, and I hastened to the spot. + +I found him seated again on the fallen tree. He rose at my approach, +and saluted me with some emotion, as if some inward excitement made +itself visible in spite of his efforts to suppress it. + +"My son," said I, "have you pondered my words of last Sunday?" + +"I have, and I am come to put myself under your instruction. I will be +guided by you in all things, and fulfil thus the dying wish of the +only being who ever loved me." + +"But, my boy, there must be yet a higher, a holier motive." + +"I trust it is not wanting, my father." + +"Are you able to stay long today?" + +"O yes, my father is keeping high festival; a number of his countrymen +are visiting him and holding revel; this morning they drove in a +number of oxen, I know not whence, and slaughtered two on the spot, +and they have broached several barrels of mead; they will keep the +feast all day, and before night my father will not be in a state to +miss me; I always absent myself if I can on such occasions." + +"Then you must come home with me, and share the noon meat, after which +I can give you my time until evensong." + +He made no objection, and we returned to the Priory together, where he +took his noon meat in the guest chamber, and I devoted all the time +between the meal and nones to an examination of my catechumen. + +I found that poor Kyneswith had impressed all the primary truths of +our holy faith deeply upon his mind, although he wanted much building +up, and needed instruction in details; he seemed deeply impressed by +the main facts of the life and teaching of our blessed Lord, +particularly His message of peace on earth, good will towards men, +contrasting so forcibly with the faith of his own people. + +The time passed rapidly away, and we went to the minster church at +three, when nones and evensong were said together, for we could not +keep the people till the proper hour for the latter office, owing to +the darkness of November. + +When the holy office was over, I accompanied my brother part of the +way home, for I wanted to communicate my suspicions, and to learn +whether he shared them. + +It was a dark and gloomy eventide: the sun, which had only made its +appearance at intervals during the day, was fast sinking behind a +heavy bank of clouds which filled the western horizon; and the wind, +which was freshening to a gale, seemed to bear the storm onward in its +track, while it tore the few surviving leaves rudely from the trees, +and whirled them in mazy windings. + +"Elfwyn," said I, "what do you suppose was the true object of the +sheriff in bidding folks keep indoors tonight?" + +"I cannot divine, unless he has some deed of blood on hand which he +wishes to have undisturbed, all to himself and his underlings." + +"Siric spoke mysteriously." + +"Yes; if there is aught going on amiss, he has a hand in it." + +Here I communicated my fears respecting Alfgar, whom I had invited, +with my brother's permission, to sup at the hall. + +"Could you not keep the poor fellow with you all night? I fear his +father is in some danger, as well he may be, acting as wickedly as he +did this very morn." + +"I will try to persuade him to stay, he is along with Bertric and +Ethelgiva; they are only a few steps behind. Cuthbert, I have ordered +every one of my theows and ceorls to be obedient to your warning if +they wish to preserve their allegiance to Aescendune, or to escape +chastisement, and I think none of them are likely to be abroad +tonight." + +"Can you not find out what the sheriff has told them? I saw him +speaking to one or two." + +"I will try. You must be my guest tonight, or at least for a few +hours." + +"Nay, I must return to compline; I may be wanted tonight, and ought to +be at my post," said I. + +We arrived at the old home, dear familiar place! stronger and better +built than most such houses, because, being burnt down in my father's +younger days, it had been rebuilt in a more substantial manner, and +was capable of sustaining a formidable attack successfully. + +We crossed the drawbridge, and entered the courtyard under the +gateway; before us was the door of the great hall, merrily illumined +by its blazing fire. + +There, then, was the supper table bountifully spread, and the theows +and ceorls awaiting the arrival of their lord. We entered, Elfwyn and +I, and soon after Bertric, Ethelgiva, and Alfgar followed. + +A loud horn was blown upon the battlements. Stragglers made their +entrance good; the drawbridge was drawn up, the doors closed, and I +blessed the meat. + + + +CHAPTER III. THE NIGHT OF ST. BRICE. + + +Monday, November 14th, 1002.-- + +I hardly know how to write the events of last night, my pen almost +refuses to begin. I feel thoroughly sickened by the very remembrance +of the bloodshed and treachery which have disgraced Christian England, +and which will assuredly bring down God's judgment upon us. + +But I will do violence to myself, and will write all things +accurately, in order it may serve to show that there were those +amongst us who were not consenting parties, who entered not into the +counsels of those men of blood, whom may God "reward after their +deeds, and according to the wickedness of their own inventions." + +Well, to begin. When supper was ended at the hall last night, my +brother bade his wife and children seek their bower, and Alfgar went +with them; then he addressed his people with that confidence and +affection he not only shows in his outward speech, but really feels in +his heart. + +"Are all the folk present within the gates?" he asked. + +"We are all here, my lord," replied they; "none have been wanting in +their duty." + +"It is well; and now, my people, I ask you, whom I have ever trusted, +and to whom I have tried to be a friend as well as a master, have you +any of you a suspicion what the sheriff is about tonight, and why he +desired the prior to tell good Christians to keep within doors?" + +There was a dead silence. At last one of the ceorls rose up, and spoke +with some hesitation: + +"I think, my lord, that they intend to avenge themselves upon the Dane +folk." + +"Did they say anything about it to you or any other of my people?" + +"Yes; they tried to get two or three of us to join in the work, but +when they found we would do nothing without your knowledge, they told +us no more." + +"Then you do not know what is the exact work they have in hand?" + +"No. But I heard something which made me think that plunder and +massacre were both likely to be committed." + +"Did you hear any particular names mentioned?" + +"Yes. That of Anlaf." + +"This explains Siric's insolence, Cuthbert." + +"It does," I replied. + +"But surely they cannot intend to do anything tonight. They would not +choose Sunday for a deed of darkness. Men who have attended mass +during the day, surely would not so forget their God as to go through +the country like cowardly wolves, pulling down the prey in company +which they dare not attack singly." + +"I should hope the same; but then the looks and words of today," said +I. + +"Did they say what authority they had for their projected scheme?" + +"They dared to say," replied the ceorl who had before spoken, "they +had the sanction of the king." + +There was again a painful silence. We groaned in the bitterness of our +hearts--O Ethelred, son of Edgar, hast thou forgotten all truth and +mercy?--thou, the son of Edgar the Magnanimous? + +Every impulse of our hearts led us to detest the cruel deed of +treachery about to be consummated, but which we could not prevent. + +At least there was one whom we could save from the general +destruction, the young Alfgar, and we determined to detain him if +possible by persuasion, keeping the truth from him, but in any case to +detain him at the hall during the night. + +I could not remain at the hall myself, for, on such a night, it seemed +necessary to be with my own people, and to be ready to seize any +opportunity of saving the effusion of blood, or of giving protection +to any who might seek refuge under the shelter of our roof, where +murder would be sacrilege, a consideration of some importance where +Christians, shame to say, were the murderers. + +But before I went my brother and I sent to Alfgar that we might speak +to him, and prevail upon him to stay with us the night. + +"Alfgar," said Elfwyn, "the night is very stormy and blustering, and +we wish you to remain with us, and share our hospitality till the +morn. Your father will not miss you?" + +"I do not think he will; for after one of these debauches he generally +sleeps far into the next day. But the domestic serfs may remark my +absence." + +"There is another reason, my boy, why we wish you to stay. Wild men +who hate your father's race are abroad, and did you fall into their +hands while returning home it might fare hard with you." + +"I can imagine that. I marked the looks they cast upon me in God's +house, even there, this day. They cannot forgive me my Danish blood, +although my mother was one of themselves, and a Christian." + +"They have suffered much, my lad; and suffering, as is often the case, +has blunted their feelings. But you will stay with us, will you not?" + +"I will stay; many thanks for your kindness." + +After this I had nothing further to detain me at the castle, so I left +for the priory. + +It was a black dark night. The violence of the wind almost lifted me +from my feet; not a star could be seen but occasionally a sharp +hailstorm pelted down. Glad was I, although the distance was not +great, to see the lights of the priory, and to dry my chilled limbs +and wet garments before the fire in the common room while I told my +brethren the tidings of the night, and the suspicions which we +entertained. + +When I had finished there was a dead pause, during which the howling +blast without, as it dashed the hail against the casement, seemed a +fitting accompaniment to our sombre thoughts. + +The compline bell rang. + +This office is always full of heavenly comfort, but there seemed a +special meaning tonight in one verse--"A thousand shall fall beside +thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh +thee." + +Yet the thousands were heavy on our hearts, and I meditated some means +of carrying tidings of their danger to our pagan neighbours; but I +knew nothing of the details of the plot, only that there was a plot, +and I knew that if I sent a brother, the Danes, in their hatred to +monks, would probably set their huge dogs at him before he could +speak, and perhaps worry him to death. Neither could any other +messenger approach their dwellings safely at night. + +I tried to hope, but against reason, that we had perhaps exaggerated +the danger. Still, after the compline was over, we sat in deliberation +a long time in the hall. The novices and lay brothers, ignorant of the +peril, had retired to rest; but we, who knew the portentous state of +things around us, could not have slept had we retired. Ever and anon +we looked forth from doors and windows into the black darkness +without; but although it was near midnight, neither sight nor sound +told of aught amiss, and we were beginning to yield to fatigue, when I +ascended the tower in company with Father Adhelm, to survey the scene +for the last time. It was so windy that we could hardly stand upon the +leaded roof, and although we gazed around, nought met our eyes until +we were on the point of returning. + +"Listen!" said Father Adhelm, the subprior. + +It was unnecessary. Borne upon the wind, a loud noise, as of men who +shout for mastery, met our ears, followed or intermingled with cries +for help or mercy--so we fancied at least. + +While we stood rooted by horror to the spot, a bright light arose, +which rapidly increased, as a conflagration well might in such a wind, +and soon the whole horizon was illuminated. I knew but one homestead +in that direction--the fortified house of Anlaf. + +I thought of the poor boy, with thankfulness that we had restrained +him from returning home. He is saved, at least, thought I, as a brand +from the burning. + +The other brethren joined us, and after a short consultation, we +determined to go to the scene in a body, to mitigate the rage of the +people, and save life where we could. + +So, putting our cowls over our heads, we sallied forth into the black +night--black and dark save where the light of the fire illumined the +horizon, and even cast a faint ray upon our own path. We were not used +to journeys in such weather, and I am afraid we made very slow +progress, but it was not for want of good will. The fire grew brighter +and brighter as we proceeded, and the shouts louder and louder. We +knew that Anlaf had a party of his countrymen, all of them obnoxious +to the English, and could easily understand that they had collected +themselves together for their own destruction. Yet, when we looked +around, we perceived by the blood-red reflection in the skies at other +points, that the same ruthless task was being carried out in many a +distant spot, as well as close at hand. + +Reaching the bank of the river, we directed our course along its banks +until the dark forest closed in upon us, and rapid progress became +difficult. The trees were all rocking wildly in the wind, and here and +there a severed branch fell down before us. Occasionally a gust of +rain and hail descended. The path was wet and slippery. Poor Father +Adhelm groaned aloud. He had the podagra, (or gout), and ought not to +have ventured forth; but zeal would not let him rest. + +"Verily our path is hedged about with thorns. It is hard to kick +against the pricks," said the chamberlain. + +"It is God's work," said I, "and we may not falter." + +Yet I felt my own heart weak. + +But for the red light, which shone even through the shade of the +forest, we could not have pursued our path. But plainer and plainer +the wind brought the fierce shouts of the assailants to our ears, +until, emerging from a dark belt of underwood, the whole horror of the +scene burst upon us. + +Before us, at the distance of a few hundred yards, defended by a mound +and a ditch, rose the irregular and fortified dwelling of Anlaf. It +was wrapped in flames from top to basement, and even as we looked one +of the towers gave way, and fell upon the hall beneath, with hideous +din, in headlong ruin. + +Around the blazing pile stood some two or three hundred men, who +completely encircled it, and who had doubtless prevented the escape of +the inmates. We were evidently too late; the passive attitude of the +assailants showed that their bloody work was done. + +We learned afterwards that the domestics, who were English serfs, had +betrayed the place to the foe, while the Danish lords were revelling +in the great hall, and half drunk with wine. Surprised at the banquet, +they fell an easy prey, and were slaughtered almost without +resistance, after which the house was plundered of everything worth +carrying away, and then set on fire in every part. Further details we +could not gather. All was over when we arrived. + +Full of indignation, I and my brethren advanced straight upon the +group surrounding the sheriff, the crafty and cruel Edric Streorn, and +in the name of God denounced the cruelty and sin of which they had +been guilty. + +"Sir monk," was the reply, "are you traitor to your king that you thus +league yourself with his deadly enemies? All that is done this night +is done by his order." + +"God will avenge the deed," said I. "Ye have not fought like men, but +crept on like serpents, and slain those who, trusting to the faith of +Christians, dwelt blindly in our midst. And now, what can we say? How +can we hope to win our foes to God and Christ when we set at naught +his precepts and despise his example?" + +"Sir monk, I have not time to listen to a homily; keep it for next +Sunday, when I will try to attend. For the present--" + +Here he was interrupted by a loud cry which arose near us. + +"The wolf cub! the wolf cub! Slay him, and the work is complete." + +The cry, "Slay him! slay him!" was taken up by a dozen voices, when I +recognised Alfgar, who by some means had learned the danger of his +kinsfolk, and had come to share their fate. + +"Save him, sheriff!" I cried; "save him! He is a Christian. His mother +was English." + +And I rushed forward myself, and saw that the poor lad had already +been brought on his knees by more than one fell stroke. + +I held up the crucifix, which hung at my girdle, on high; I threw my +arm over his head, and abjured them under the name of Christ, and as +they feared the curse of the Church, to forbear. My brethren all aided +me. + +Sullenly they dropped their weapons, and the sheriff, coming forward, +seconded me, although in a very contemptuous manner. + +"Let him have the lad for his share of the night's work," he said. + +And so God gave me the poor lad's life. + +I had scarcely time to lay him on a sloping bank, where the light +which shone so luridly from his burning home might fall upon him, when +my brother Elfwyn appeared on the scene with a score of his men. + +He recognised us by our habits, and came and looked with me at the +orphan as he lay on the bank. The boy had received no serious wound, +but was exhausted, as much I thought by the violence of his emotions +as by his injuries. He was wet through; his clothes were torn with +brambles, for he had followed a straight path through six miles of +tangled forest, from Aescendune. + +They had unfortunately given him a bed in a chamber which looked +towards his home: he had chanced to wake, had looked from the window, +seen the flames, and had started thither at once, swimming the moat +when he could not cross the drawbridge--suspecting, doubtless, that he +was surrounded by treachery. + +I had already poured a rich cordial down his throat, and he was coming +to himself, my brother aiding me, when the sheriff, grand in his robe +and chain of office, came up. + +"Good day, or rather night, to you, Thane of Aescendune," said he to +Elfwyn; "we have had a fair night's work, and destroyed a big wasp's +nest; have you come for your share in the spoil?" + +"I only ask permission to preserve life; your work has been of an +opposite nature." + +"Yes, we have been obedient to our king, and avenged him this night of +his enemies, who are also, I should have thought, the enemies of the +Church." + +"God will not bless midnight murder," said I. + +"Murder! it is not murder to slay heathen Danes; had they been +Christians it would, of course, have been a different thing." + +"He hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth," I replied. + +"The good prior wishes me to talk theology. Unfortunately I have much +work to do; you will hear tidings soon of other Danish holds than +this. The land may rejoice, freed from her oppressors, and they who +blame our work will praise its results." + +"That remains to be seen," we both replied. + +We had, meanwhile, placed Alfgar, now partially recovered, on a +palfrey; and, supported by my brother and me, one on each side, we led +him homewards. Arrived at the castle, we gave him to the care of +Osred, the domestic physician. He looked at the patient, and +pronounced a favourable opinion, saying that with time and care all +would be well. But his left arm was broken, and he had received a +slight blow on the head. Fever was the leech's chief apprehension; if +he could keep that off, he said he doubted not all would be well. + +St. Andrew's Day.-- + +Our patient has lain some time in a state of delirium, whereat no one +could wonder. In his ravings he was incessantly acting over the scenes +through which he had passed during the dreadful night which followed +St. Brice's Day. But, thanks to a good constitution, today he has +taken a favourable turn, and seems likely to recover from a blow which +would have hopelessly shattered a frailer frame. + +I was seated by his couch when he seemed to awake out of sleep, and I +saw his bright dark eyes fixed inquiringly on me. + +"Where am I?" he inquired. + +"In the Hall of Aescendune; you have been very ill here." + +"Indeed! I have had such dreadful dreams!--but were they all dreams?" + +"Your mind has been wandering for days, my dear son. You must not talk +too much." + +He was silent, but evidently pondered more. + +December 25, Christmas Day, 1003. {iv}-- + +All the household has given itself up to joy and gladness; even poor +Alfgar, who has been released today from the confinement of his +chamber, has entered into the general joy, although ever and anon +relapsing into sadness. + +He knows all now: a day or two agone, when all the household had gone +to hunt in the woods, I was alone with him in his chamber, and thought +that at last I must discharge the painful task of telling him the +truth. + +"My boy," I said, "you have not lately inquired about your father." + +He looked at me very sadly. + +"I know all," he said, "that you would tell me. I have no father, no +mother, no kinsfolk." + +"Some of our people have told you then?" + +"No. At first the events of that fearful night seemed all like a +dream, and mingled themselves with the strange spectres which haunted +me in delirium; but afterwards the real separated itself from the +unreal, and I knew that my father and all his friends, my Danish +uncles amongst them, had perished with the whole household assembled +there that fatal day. I also remembered, but faintly, how I came here. +Did not you save me from the murderers?" + +I briefly explained the whole circumstances to him, adding such words +of consolation as I could think of, and telling him that he must +always look upon Aescendune as his home. At length he rose. He had not +replied. + +"Pardon me, my father," he said, "but may I retire to my chamber? I +wish to say much, but I am too weak now." + +"Meanwhile, you will not leave us?" + +"I have no other home." + +And he retired to his little chamber, from which he emerged no more +today. + +Feast of the Epiphany.-- + +This day my catechumen Alfgar was baptized in the priory church. It +seemed useless to delay longer, as he was fully prepared both +intellectually and spiritually, nay, has been so for some time, only +the tragic event which deprived him of his Danish kinsfolk had +distracted him for a time from spiritual things. Nay, had he not been +surrounded by real Christians and loving friends here at Aescendune, I +fear the Church would have lost him altogether. Such a commentary was +the massacre of St. Brice on the Christian doctrine of love and +forgiveness! He felt it grievously at first, but he was able at length +to distinguish between men that say they are of Christ, and are not, +and those who really set the example of that Lord and his Saints +before them. He is now one of ourselves; a sheep safe in the fold, and +the dying wish of his sainted mother is fulfilled. My brother intends +to adopt him as a son, and as his family is small, the proposal meets +my approbation. Bertric and Ethelgiva already love him as a brother. + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE DANES IN WESSEX. + + +Up to this period we have availed ourselves of extracts from the Diary +of Father Cuthbert; but the events of the following four years, as +recorded in that record, although full of interest for the antiquarian +or the lover of monastic lore, would possess scant interest for the +general reader, and have also little connection with the course of our +tale; therefore we will convey the information they contain, which +properly pertains to our subject, in few words, and those our own, +returning occasionally to the Diary. + +The melancholy history of the times may be compressed, from the +Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other sources, in a few paragraphs. + +Burning with revenge--for his own sister had fallen in the massacre on +St. Brice's night--Sweyn returned to England the following year +(1003). He landed in Devonshire, took Exeter by storm, and returned to +his ships laden with the spoil. Then he sailed eastward, landed again +and ravaged Dorset and Wiltshire. Here the ealdorman Elfric met him +with a large English army; but when he saw the foe he fell sick, or +feigned to be so; and then the old proverb came true, "When the +general fails, the army quails." So the English looked on with fear +and trembling, while Sweyn burnt Wilton and Salisbury, whence he +returned to the sea laden with wealth and stained with blood; yet was +not his revenge satisfied. + +The following year East Anglia suffered as Wessex had suffered the +year before. Ulfketyl, the ealdorman, gave them much money, hoping to +buy peace from the merciless pagans. The result was as he might have +expected. They took the money, laughing at his simplicity, and three +weeks afterwards pillaged Thetford, and burnt it. Then Ulfketyl, who +was a brave man, got an East Anglian army together, and fought the +Danes, giving them the uncommon chastisement of a defeat, so that they +escaped with difficulty to their ships. + +The following year a famine so severe visited England, that even the +Danes forebore to ravage so poor a land; but in 1006, the next year, +they overspread Wessex like locusts. Here the action of our tale is +resumed. + +During this interval of four years in Aescendune there had been peace. +Alfgar had been domesticated as one of the family, and was reported +well of in all the neighbourhood. Diligent in the discharge of his +religious duties, he was equally conspicuous in all warlike sports and +exercises and in the chase, while he afforded much help to Elfwyn the +thane in the management of the estate. In short, he had won his way to +the hearts of all the family; and perhaps the report that he was the +accepted suitor of the fair daughter of Aescendune, Ethelgiva, was not +without foundation. + +Ethelgiva was nearly his own age, and was a perfect type of that +beauty which has ever distinguished the women of the Anglo-Saxon race. +Her fair hair, untouched by artificial adornment, hung like a shower +of gold around her shoulders, while her eyes were of that delicate +blue which seemed to reflect the deep summer sky; but the sweet +pensive expression of her face was that which attracted nearly all who +knew her, and made her the object of general regard. + +Bertric was now about sixteen--a handsome, attractive boy, full of +life and fire, yet still possessing that devotion which Father +Cuthbert had remarked in him as a boy of twelve. As the heir to the +lands of Aescendune, and the only son, he would have been in much +danger of being spoiled had he been less genuine and manly than he +was. He and Alfgar were inseparable; they seemed to revive again the +traditional love of Nisus and Euryalus, or Orestes and Pylades. + +The famine, which had made Wessex too poor even to serve as a bait for +the Danes, had also afflicted Mercia, but not nearly so severely, and +the generosity of the family of Aescendune had been exerted to the +utmost on behalf of the sufferers. + +But the spring of the year 1006 bade fair to atone for the past. It +was bright and balmy. May was just such a month as the poets love to +sing, and June, rich in its promise of fruit, had passed when the +events we are about to relate occurred. At this time there was some +hope amongst the people that God had at length heard the petition +breathed so often in the penitential wail of the Litany--"From the +cruelty of our pagan enemies, good Lord, deliver us"--and they forgot +that the massacre on St. Brice's night yet cried for vengeance. + +It was a fine summer's evening towards the end of the month of July, +and the sun was slowly setting behind the wood-crowned range of hills +in the west, where the forest terminated the pastures of Aescendune; +the cattle were returning to their stalls; the last load of hay was +being transferred from the wain to the rick, and all things spoke of +the calm and rest of a sweet night, fragrant with the breath of +honeysuckle and wild brier, when nature herself seems to court +luxurious repose. + +The priory bell was tolling for compline, and thither many of the +people, released from their labour, were wending their way. The Thane +and his children, accompanied by Alfgar, paused on their homeward +road, and when the drowsy tinkling ceased, deep silence seemed to fall +over the landscape, while the night darkened--if darkness it could be +called when the moonbeams succeeded to the fiercer light of the +glowing orb of day. + +The Lady Hilda was at the window of her bower, slightly indisposed; +she had not gone down to the priory, but sat inhaling the rich +fragrance of the night as the gentle breeze wafted it from a thousand +flowers. Star after star peeped out; one sweet-voiced nightingale +began her song, trilling through the air; another enviously took up +the strain. Hilda thought the earth had never seemed so much like +heaven, and she imagined the tuneful birds sang their vesper song in +union with the monks, whose solemn and plaintive chant awoke the +echoes of the priory church. Her heart was full of solemn yet not sad +thoughts; peace, sweet peace, was the subject of her meditations, and +she thought with gratitude of Him who had hitherto preserved Mercia +from the foe, who had indeed for nearly two years ceased to molest +England. + +But as she gazed, her attention was attracted to a light on the +opposite hills. It was a fire of some kind, and rose up more and more +fiercely each moment. It was but a bonfire in appearance, yet it +marred both the landscape and the meditative rest of the gazer. + +The party from the hall were returning home from the church. + +"Father," said Bertric, "look at that light! Is it not singular? I +never saw one there before." + +But even while they looked another fire appeared in an opposite +direction, and Bertric saw his father turn grave. + +"It is the beacon fire," said he seriously. + +"Yes it is, and see it is answered from the hills to the north," said +Alfgar. + +Then they were silent, and Bertric felt his spirits sink with a vague +kind of apprehension. They said no more till they reached home, and +the whole family met, much later than usual, at the evening meal. + +"You are late," said Hilda to her lord. + +"We were returning home from the meadows on the water, whence the last +load of hay has been carried, and we tarried for the compline at the +priory. The bell sounded as we were passing." + +"Did you see the bonfire on the hills? It must be a large one." + +"I did; and it made me uneasy." + +"Why so, my Elfwyn?" + +"You forget that when the last invasion of our pagan foes was over, it +was agreed in the Witan that a set of beacons should be prepared, in +readiness to fire, on the tops of the hills, and that if the Danes +appeared again, they should be fired everywhere, in which case Mercia +was to hold herself in readiness to come to the aid of Wessex or East +Anglia, whichever the foe might be harrying." + +"But then that was eighteen months agone." + +"Still the beacon piles remain or did remain. I saw one at the summit +of the hills which the trackway crosses between our county and +Oxfordshire, when I last returned form Beranbyrig {v}, and I think +that one gives the present alarm. It means the Danes are again in the +land." + +"Now, God forbid!" said Hilda, with clasped hands. + +"Amen say we all; but I fear me such will be the case, unless some +poor fool has set the pile blazing for amusement. I fancied I saw it +answered away north and west. We will go and see anon." + +Supper being ended, Elfwyn rose to go out, and his example was +followed by Alfgar and Bertric, and several of the serfs, who from the +lower end of the ample board had heard with much alarm the previous +conversation. + +Ascending the hill, they directed their steps towards the highest +point, where an old watchtower had once been reared, composed of +timber, and overlooking the forest. + +From the summit the party gazed over three or four counties lying +dimly beneath them in the still moonlight. + +The mist, slowly rising from the river and forest, partially obscured +the immediate view, and hid the valley beneath in smoke-like wreaths; +but the distant hills rose above. There three large fires immediately +caught the eye, and confirmed the apprehensions. One was on the summit +of the range culminating on the spot now known as Edgehill, lying +about ten miles south; but on the west Malvern Heights had caught the +flame, and on the far north the Leicestershire hills sent forth their +reddening fire in more than one spot. + +"The country has taken the alarm," said the Thane. + +"What must we do, father?" + +"Summon and arm all our vassals, and await the sheriff's orders; the +king will communicate to us through him. We know not yet where the +danger is." + +"Perhaps it is only a false alarm," said Bertric. + +"God grant it; but I dare not hope as much." + +Alfgar was very silent. Well he might be. The enemy dreaded was his +own kith and kin; and although all his sympathies were with his +English friends, from whom he had received more kindness and love than +he had ever known elsewhere, yet he seemed to feel compromised by the +deeds of his kindred, whose savage cruelty no Christianity had as yet +softened. + +While they yet remained on the hill, fire after fire took up the tale +and reddened the horizon, until a score of those baleful bonfires were +in sight. Sighing deeply, Elfwyn led the way down the hill. + +"What have you seen?" was the inquiry of the Lady Hilda. + +"The hills flame with beacons." + +"Alas for poor Wessex!" + +"Alas for England! I have a foreboding that we shall not always be +exempt from the woes which affect our neighbours. Wessex scarcely +tempts the plunderer now; neither does East Anglia. Northumbria is +half Danish, and kites do not peck out kites' eyes. No; on Mercia, +poor Mercia, the blow must sooner or later fall." + +"And how to avert it?" + +"There is but one way; we must fight the foe in Wessex. Now we must +rest, to rise early, and await the sheriff's summons." + +It was silent, deep night; the whole house was buried in slumber, when +Alfgar dreamed a strange dream. He thought he stood amidst the ruins +of his home, the home of his father Anlaf, and that he heard steps +approaching from the forest. Soon a solitary figure emerged, and +searched anxiously amongst the fallen and blackened walls, uttering +one anxious ejaculation, "My son! I seek my son!" and Alfgar knew his +father. Their eyes met, recognition took place, and he awoke with such +a keen impression of his father's presence that he could not shake it +off for a long time. + +"Do the dead indeed revisit earth?" he said. "Nay, it was but a +dream." + +He went to the narrow window of his chamber, and looked out. The dawn +was already breaking in the east, and even as he gazed upon the +purpling skies the birds began their matin songs of praise, and the +valley awoke. The priory bell, beneath, by the riverside, now tolled +its summons to matins, and Alfgar arose and dressed. + +Never did the household of Aescendune begin the day without religious +observance, and the first thing that they did on this, as on every +day, was to repair to the priory church, where Father Cuthbert said +mass; after which he and his brother the Thane were closeted together +for a long time. + +The rest of the party returned home to break their fast, and conversed +about the warnings of the preceding night. + +While they were still at their meal, Bertric, who sat near a window, +cried out, "I see a horseman coming from Warwick." + +The panting steed was soon reined up in front of the drawbridge, which +was down as usual; and, passing beneath the arched gate, the rider +dismounted in the courtyard. + +All the household were soon assembled to hear his news. He bore a +sealed missive addressed to the Thane; but he gave the secret of the +night's alarm in a few words. + +"They are in Wessex, plundering, murdering, and burning. The forces +are all to meet at Dorchester as soon as man and horse can get there." + +"Where did they land?" + +"The great fleet came to Sandwich, and they are advancing westward as +fast as they can come." + +"Are they merciless as ever?" + +"Worse." + +"The fiends!" said Bertric bitterly; and then seeing Alfgar's saddened +face, said, "Oh, I beg pardon," which made matters worse. + +"You are not a Dane, Alfgar; you are a Christian; no one thinks of you +as one." + +Shortly Elfwyn returned from the priory, and received the messenger. +The sealed packet only contained a formal summons to the general +rendezvous of the forces, which was to take place at Dorchester, the +episcopal city of the great Midland diocese, and situated in a central +position, where Wessex and Mercia could easily unite the flower of +their youth. + +All the necessary preparations for departure were shortly made--the +theows and ceorls were collected together, beasts of burden selected +to carry the necessary baggage, the wallets filled with provisions. + +Before the third hour of the day all had been done which the simple +habits of the time required, and only the sorrowful leave takings +remained. Husbands had to bid the last goodbye--it might be the very +last--to their spouses, sons to their aged parents, fathers to their +children. And then there was hurrying to and fro, as of people only +half conscious of what they did; while the warriors strove to smile +and preserve their fortitude. + +But alas! there were no traditions of victory to encourage them; only +gloomy remembrances of defeat; and, but for the stern call of duty +which bade them, as men and Christians, go to the succour of their +brethren, the majority would have preferred to remain at home and +abide the worst, although they knew full well that submission utterly +failed to mitigate the ferocious cruelty of their oppressors, who slew +alike the innocent babe and the grey-haired grandsire. + +Alfgar had volunteered to share the perils of his adopted lord, but +was kindly told that it would be inexpedient. Indeed, by many he would +have been suspected of treachery. + +"Nay, Alfgar, remain at home; to you I commend the protection of my +home, of the Lady Hilda, and our children," said Elfwyn. + +Neither were Bertric's prayers to be allowed to share his father's +perils any better received. He was bidden to remain where he was, and +to be a good son to his mother--not that he had ever been otherwise. + +And so the last sad words of adieu were spoken as bravely as might be, +and the little troop, about fifty in number, departed from the hall. +They crossed the rude wooden bridge, and took the southern road. + +Their loved ones watched them until the last. They saw their warriors +cast many a longing lingering look behind, and then the woodland hid +them from sight; and a dread quiet came down upon Aescendune, as when +the air is still before the coming hurricane. + + + +CHAPTER V. THE TRACKS IN THE FOREST. + + +It was a long time before any news of the warriors reached home; for +in those days the agony of suspense had always to be endured in the +absence of posts and telegrams; but after a few weeks a special +messenger came from the army. He was one of the Aescendune people, and +his was the great privilege of embracing wife and family once more ere +returning to the perils of the field. + +His news was brief. The forces of Mercia had been placed under the +command of Edric, formerly the sheriff of the county in which +Aescendune lay, but long since returned to court, where his smooth +tongue gained him great wealth and high rank. Gifted with a subtle +genius and persuasive eloquence, he had obtained a complete ascendency +over the mind of the weak Ethelred, while he surpassed even that +treacherous monarch in perfidy and cruelty. + +Under his direction that unhappy king had again and again embrued his +hands in innocent blood. This very year they had both given a proof of +these tendencies worth recording. + +Edric had conceived a hatred against the Ealdorman Elfhelm, which he +carefully concealed. He invited that unfortunate lord to a banquet at +Shrewsbury, where he welcomed him as his intimate friend. On the third +or fourth day of the feast he took him to hunt in a wood where he had +prepared an ambuscade, and while all the rest were engaged in the +chase, the common hangman of Shrewsbury, one Godwin "port hund," or +the town's hound, bribed by Edric to commit the crime, sprang from +behind a bush, and foully assassinated the innocent ealdorman. Not to +be behind his favourite in cruelty, Ethelred caused the two sons of +the unfortunate Elfhelm to be brought to him at Corsham, near Bath, +where he was then residing, and he ordered their eyes to be put out. + +Such was the man to whom the destinies of the English army were now +confided, and such the king who ruled the unhappy land--cruel as he +was cowardly. + +Under such leaders it is no marvel that the messenger Ulric had no +good news to tell. The army had assembled, and had marched after the +Danes, whose policy for the present was to avoid a pitched battle, and +to destroy their enemies in detail. So they were continually harassing +the English forces, but avoiding every occasion of fair fight. Did the +English march to a town under the impression the Danes were about to +attack it, they found no foe, but heard the next day that some +miserable district at a distance had been cruelly ravaged. Did they +lie in ambush, the Danes took another road. Meanwhile the English +stragglers were repeatedly cut off; and did they despatch a small +force anywhere, it was sure to fall into an ambush, and be annihilated +by the pagans. + +Their repeated disasters weakened every man's heart, and gave rise to +a well-founded belief that there was treachery in their midst, and +that plans decided even in their secret councils were made known to +the Danes. What wonder, then, that they grew dispirited, and that +murmurs arose on all hands, while the army could scarcely keep +together for want of provisions? + +The war was at present raging in the southern counties, but ever and +anon the marauders made a forced march, and sacked some helpless town +remote from the seat of war. + +There was no prospect, Elfwyn said, of the campaign coming to an end; +the harvest must take care of itself or the women and children must +reap it. The men were all and more than all, wanted in Wessex. + +There were loving messages for wife and children, and Alfgar was not +forgotten. + +But there was one piece of information contained in the letter which +made Alfgar very uneasy, and reminded him of his dream. + +One Boom, a retainer of Elfwyn, had been taken prisoner by the Danes, +and by a very uncommon piece of good fortune had escaped with life +from his ferocious captors. He stated that he had been closely +examined concerning his home, character of the population, and their +means of defence, especially as to the events of St. Brice's night. +Although he strove to evade their questions, yet he incautiously, or +through fear of torture, revealed that he came from Aescendune. + +The name evoked immediate interest, and he was asked several further +questions about the destruction of Anlaf's house, and what became of +his son. He tried to baffle their inquiries, and thought he had +succeeded. + +These facts the Lady Hilda thought of sufficient importance to justify +their communication to Alfgar. They caused her some anxiety. + +The messenger returned to the army. Weeks passed away, and the women +and children, as well as the old men, were all busy in getting in the +bounteous harvest with which this year God had blessed the earth. +Alfgar and Bertric worked like the theows themselves, and slowly the +precious gifts were deposited in the garners. + +Alfgar had one source of consolation in the love he bore to Ethelgiva, +a love which was fully returned. Their troth had been pledged to each +other with the full consent of Elfwyn and the Lady Hilda; and on those +fine August nights, as they walked home after the labours in the +field, or the service in the priory, they forgot all the misery of the +land, and lived only for each other. + +Happy, happy days! How often they looked back to them afterwards! + +A second messenger came during harvest time from the camp, now on the +borders of Sussex. His news was no better than before. The Danes were +harassing the army on every side, but no decisive battle had been +fought. The enemy still seemed to know all the plans of the English +beforehand; and the booty they had gained was enormous, while a deep +distrust of their leaders was spreading amongst the defenders of the +soil. + +Elfwyn expressed his intention of seeking an early leave of absence +should events justify him in paying a short visit home. This delighted +the hearts of his wife and children, and they were happy in +anticipation. + +It was a fine day in September when the thankful people of Aescendune +were called to raise the song of "Harvest Home"--for the fruits of the +earth had indeed been safely gathered in ere the winter storms by the +hands of women and children. Such joy as befitted the absence of their +lords was theirs, and Alfgar and Bertric, not to waste the holiday, +agreed to have a day's hunting in the forest, rich with all the hues +of autumn, while the feast was preparing at home. + +The day was delightful. Two young theows, whose fathers had gone to +the war, but who had been left behind as being too young to share its +dangers, although in the flush of early youth, accompanied them, and +were soon loaded with the lighter game their masters had killed, while +a deer they had slain was hung in the trees, where a wolf could not +reach it, and where wayfarers were not likely to pass until the +sportsmen should return for their own. Onward they wandered until the +sun was declining, and then, having some few miles of forest to +thread, and the deer to send for, they turned on their homeward way. + +No thought of any danger was on their minds that day. The Danes were +too far distant. They were more than a hundred miles from the seat of +war, and a hundred miles in those days meant more than five hundred +would mean now. + +About the hour of five they rested and bathed in a tributary of the +Avon. Bertric's spirits were very high: he laughed and talked like one +whose naturally ardent temperament was stimulated by the bracing +atmosphere and the exercise. His active and handsome frame, bright +with all the attractions of youth, was equal to any amount of woodland +toil; and Alfgar, who was, as we have said, deeply attached to his +companion, felt proud of his younger brother, as he delighted to call +him, and Bertric loved to be called so. Alfgar trusted some day to +have a yet better claim to the title. + +Leaving the bathing place while there was yet time to reach home +before dark, they came at last to a ford across the stream, the only +spot where it could be safely forded, and as such known to the natives +of the vicinity; when their dogs began to whine, and to run with their +noses to the ground, as if they had found something unusual to attract +their attention. + +The two theows who were in front paused at the ford till their lords +came up, and then pointed to the ground with a terrified aspect. +Alfgar gazed and started, as did Bertric. There were the footmarks of +a large number of horses, evidently belonging to a body of horsemen +who must have crossed the ford since they passed it in the morning. + +"Can my father have returned unexpectedly?" said Bertric. "He said he +should get an early leave of absence." + +Alfgar did not answer for a moment. He was evidently very much +alarmed. + +"Look," he said, "at the footmarks, where some have dismounted." + +Bertric looked, and comprehended the terror of his companion. The +armed heels, which had sunk deeply into the mud, had left traces +utterly unlike the marks to which they were accustomed in similar +cases. + +The stories they had both heard of predatory bands of Danes who had +wandered far from their main body, and had sought gratification for +their lust for plunder and blood in remote spots where the inhabitants +dwelt in fancied security, came to their minds, and also the inquiries +which had been made in the Danish camp concerning their home and the +circumstances of St. Brice's fatal night. + +"Still, it may be our father and his men; they may have worn the +spoils of the enemy." + +The spoils generally went the other way, Alfgar thought, but did not +say. + +They crossed the ford in silence, intent only on reaching home. For a +long time they could follow the trail of the horsemen. + +"Who can lead them?" said Bertric, as they bounded onward. "They seem +to know the country." + +A sad and harrowing suspicion had filled Alfgar's mind, that these men +might be deputed to avenge the fiery death of his father--and to +avenge it, probably, on the very people who would have died to prevent +it. + +But the one desire uppermost in the minds of the whole party was to +hasten home. They feared every moment that they might see the bright +flame through the trees, or that the wind might bring them the tidings +that they were all too late--too late to save those whom they loved +from outrage and death. + +So they continued running, or walking when breath failed, at the +utmost speed they could command, and just as the sun set they arrived +at the crest of a hill, from which they could see the hall. + +"Thank God, it yet stands!" said they both. + +They descended, and plunged again into the wood which lay between them +and the goal; their theows, less perfectly trained, and perhaps less +ardent, fell slightly behind. They came upon the spot where they had +left the deer, not, however, with any intention of encumbering +themselves with the burden, as may be imagined. They looked, however, +at the tree where they had hung the carcase, and their eyes met each +other's. + +"It is gone," said Alfgar, with bated breath. + +They said no more, but continued their headlong course, until they had +reached an open glade by the side of a small stream. Here their dogs +became uneasy, and uttered low threatening growls. + +The lads paused, then advanced cautiously, looking before and around. + +Turning a corner round some thick underwood, they came suddenly upon a +sight which justified all their previous alarm. + +A huge fire burned by the side of a brook, over which was roasting the +deer which they had killed. The light shone out in the gathering +darkness, and illumined the recesses of the bushes around, and the +faces of a large body of men reclining on the bank, or engaged in the +task of sharpening their arms while their supper was roasting. A +momentary glance told that they were Danes, thus advancing under the +shadow of the forest, to take their foes unawares. Their horses were +picketed around, and sentinels were evidently posted, to give the +first alarm of any danger. + +Alas! they had seen the poor lads before they could withdraw into the +woods which fringed the path, and instantly prepared for pursuit. +Three or four jumped upon their horses, two or three more plunged into +the wood to cut off the retreat. It was all-important to their plans +that their presence should not be discovered; and these manoeuvres +were executed in perfect silence. + +They had not seen the theows behind, but fixed all their attention on +Bertric and Alfgar, who, on their part, comprehending their danger, +turned at right angles into the wood, and ran for life. The boys were +fleet of foot, and would probably have distanced their pursuers, but +an arrow from some ambush on their left hand pierced Alfgar's thigh, +wounding an important muscle, and he could run no farther. + +"Leave me, leave me, Bertric," he cried; "you are in more danger than +I." + +Poor Bertric would not leave his friend. He tried to assist him, and +turned a deaf ear to all solicitations for the few moments that they +could have availed. It was soon too late, and the heavy hands of the +Danish warriors were laid upon them. + +Shuddering at the contact, they yet yielded without useless and +unmanly resistance, and were at once led to the side of the fire. + +It was a scene Salvator Rosa would have loved to paint: the firelight +bringing out in strong relief the huge limbs of the oak trees, the +bronzed faces of those dread warriors, which no pitiful or tender +feelings ever seemed to visit. + +The theows had fortunately, being behind, taken the alarm in time, and +escaped unnoticed by the Danes. + +A large athletic warrior, but yet a man of some age, rose from his +seat by the fire, and scrutinised the captives. Alfgar knew him. It +was Sidroc, an old fellow warrior of his father, who had often visited +their home near Aescendune, and he was at no loss now to comprehend +the object of their enterprise. + +The warrior gazed upon him fixedly, and then spoke aloud. + +"Whence your name and lineage? Your face is not of the hue of the +faces of the children of the land. Speak! who art thou?" + +"Alfgar, the son of Anlaf." + +"Thor and Woden be praised! We had learned that you yet lived. Boy, +thou art the object of our search. Thou, the descendant of kings, +mayst not longer dwell with slaves. Thy father is at hand." + +"My FATHER!" + +"Yes. Didst thou not know that he escaped on St. Brice's night, +baffling his would-be assassins, and yet lives? He thought thee dead, +and only sought vengeance, when he heard from the captured prisoner of +Elfwyn's band that thou wert yet alive, and he is come to seek thee." + +Poor Alfgar! + + + +CHAPTER VI. THROUGH SUFFERING TO GLORY. + + +For a few minutes Alfgar sat like one stunned by the intelligence. Joy +and fear were strangely mingled together; well did he remember +Sidroc's frequent visits to his father's English home, and that the +warrior had more than once taken him in his infancy upon his knee and +sung to him war songs, telling him that he too must be a warrior some +day. + +He was roused from his reverie by the voice of Sidroc. + +"Who is your companion?" + +"Bertric, the son of Elfwyn of Aescendune; oh! you will see that no +wrong is done to him, will you not? his people saved my life." + +"That they might make you a Christian, knowing that your father would +sooner you had expired in the flames which consumed his house. + +"No," he added sternly; "he is doomed, he and his alike." + +Alfgar uttered a piteous cry, and appealed so earnestly that one might +have thought he would have moved a heart of stone, yet all in vain. + +"Does the eagle mourn over the death of the dove, or heed what pangs +the kid may suffer which writhes beneath its talons? If you are of the +race of warrior kings, act like one." + +While this was going on the warriors had been selecting some light and +sharp arrows and stringing their bows. + +"You have but one target, not two," cried Sidroc, "and scant time +wherein to use it." + +"Then you shall have two, for I will die with him," cried Alfgar, +comprehending at once that the death by which Saint Edmund of East +Anglia, and many a martyr since, had glorified God, was destined for +his companion, his brother. + +He snatched at a weapon, and rushed to the tree to which the victim +was bound, as if he would save him or perish in the attempt, but a +grasp like iron was thrown around him, and he struggled in vain. + +"Bind him, but do him no harm," said Sidroc, "and detain him where he +may see all, and strengthen his nerves for future occasions." + +Against the tree leaned Bertric, pale, yet strangely composed; the +bitterness of death seemed to be past, so composed were his youthful +features. The lips moved in earnest, fervent prayer. Once he glanced +with a look of affection, almost of pity, upon Alfgar, and when the +latter made the vain attempt to deliver him, he cried, "Do not grieve +for me, dear Alfgar, you cannot save me; you have done your best; pray +for me, that is all you can do." + +His patient courage, so unexpected in one so young, touched his +captors, as nothing else would have touched them, and Sidroc +approached him. + +"Bertric of Aescendune, thou mayst save thy life on one condition; +dost thou wish to live?" + +The thought of home and friends, of his mother, awoke in his breast, +and he replied: + +"Yes, for the sake of those who love me." + +"I know nought of them, neither must thou henceforth, but thou mayst +live if thou wilt join our nation and renounce thy Christianity; for +I, who have no son, and seek one, will even adopt thee." + +"I cannot deny my faith." + +"Dost thou not fear the pain, the sharp arrows with which they will +pierce thee?" + +"I fear them, but I fear eternal death more; God help me!" + +He repeated these last words over and over again, as if the struggle +were very sore. + +"Decide," said Sidroc. + +"I have decided--'In manus tuas, Domine,'" he breathed out, "'commendo +spiritum meum.'" + +"Let fly," cried the chieftain, "and let the obstinate young fool know +what death is." + +Arrow after arrow sped through the air and pierced the legs and arms +of the martyr boy, for it was the cruel amusement of the Danes to +avoid the vital parts in their living target. The frame of the +sufferer quivered with agony, while the lip seemed striving to form +the holy name, which has given strength to thousands of martyrs, +whether at the stake, beneath the ferocious beast, or in whatsoever +manner it has pleased God to make His strength perfect in weakness. + +Then Alfgar saw what was the marvellous power of Christianity, and +beheld a heroism utterly beyond the fierce excitement which nerved his +countrymen for their scenes of carnage and blood; not one of his pagan +friends could have suffered as calmly, as patiently--it seemed easier +for the sufferer to bear than for Alfgar to look on; once or twice the +latter gave audible vent to his emotions, but the look which Bertric +turned upon him spoke volumes, and he restrained himself lest he +should add to the pain of the victim. He knew not then that the +example before him would nerve him in moments of severest trial, then +fast approaching, that the one accusation urged against the +Christians, which he had felt most keenly, that of cowardice, was +answered in the weak yet valiant boy, who found strength in the name +of Christ to endure all for His sake; neither did his fierce +countrymen know that they were preparing a disappointment for the +pagan Anlaf, and for all those of his house and lineage. + +We cannot enter more closely into the secret which gave the martyr his +strength; we know not the visions of heavenly joy which may have +overpowered the present pain, we know not whether He who gave this +elaborate framework of flesh and blood, nerve and sinew, miraculously +suspended the full operation of His laws, as is elsewhere recorded of +other martyrs. Certain it is, that sooner than relinquish Him, +Bertric, like Saint Edmund nearly two centuries earlier, yielded his +life to the rage of the enemies of His Lord {vi}. + +The struggle was sharp but short, for Sidroc, to the surprise, and we +must add the disgust, of his compatriots, seized a bow and sent an +arrow straight to the heart. One nervous shudder passed through the +limbs, and all was still; they had killed the body, and had no more +that they could do. + +Alfgar gazed with reverence, as well as love, upon the calm features +from which the expression of pain had wholly passed; the light of the +fire, mingling strangely with that of the rising full moon, illumined +them in this their first day of nothingness, for the spirit which had +lived and dwelt in the tabernacle of clay had fled. + +Yet there was a wondrous beauty still lingering over them; they seemed +etherialised--as if an angel's smile had last stirred their lines, +when the spirit went forth, and left its imprint of wonder, joy, and +awe thereon; and Alfgar instinctively turned from them to the blue +depths of heaven above, where a few stars were visible, although +dimmed by the moonlight; and he seemed to trace his beloved Bertric's +passage to the realms of bliss. A light wind made music in the upper +branches of the oaks, and it seemed to him like the rush of angels' +wings. + +It had often been a sharp struggle to him, nursed in heroic times, +learned in battle songs, and of the very blood of the vikings, to +avoid the feeling that Christianity was not the religion of the brave; +now the difficulty was over, and who shall say that the first joy of +the martyr's soul was not the knowledge that his sufferings had +already borne such fruit to God! + +And not only was Alfgar reconciled to the reproach of the Cross, he +was also content to be an Englishman, if not in blood, at least in +affection and sympathy as in action. + +An hour passed away; the body remained affixed to the tree; the night +grew darker, and the hour approached when, under ordinary +circumstances, people retired to rest, and the band commenced its +preparations for carrying out the attack upon Aescendune. + +One hope Alfgar had, and that not a faint one: he knew that the two +theows had escaped unnoticed, and that they would give warning in time +for either defence or escape; their strength at Aescendune was but +slight for the former, all the able-bodied men were absent at the seat +of war. + +In the excitement of the last hour Alfgar had almost forgotten the +meeting before him, but now it occupied his thoughts fully, and he +began to expect the arrival of Anlaf each moment. He learned from the +conversation around him that he and a portion of the band had gone to +reconnoitre the position of the prey. + +While Sidroc was somewhat impatiently expecting the arrival of his +coadjutor, the cry of a raven was heard; it proved to be the signal +for the party to advance, and Sidroc and his men obeyed at once. + +But all their horses were left picketed by the stream, under the care +of three of the youngest warriors, and there Alfgar was left, safely +bound to a tree, for his captors could not trust him. + +He was strongly, but not cruelly bound; it evidently was not intended +to hurt him, only to secure him, and he could see that one of the +warriors was especially charged to guard him. + +Oh, how anxiously he strained the senses of sight and hearing for news +from the forest party! could he but have given one warning, he would +willingly have died like Bertric; all was silence--dread silence--the +sleeping woods around gave no token of their dread inmates. + +An hour and a half must have passed, when a bright light, increasing +each minute in intensity, appeared through the trees--then a loud and +startling cry arose--after which all was silence. + +The light seemed to increase in extent and to have two chief centres +of its brilliancy, and Alfgar guessed them to be the hall and the +priory. + +But no screams of distress or agony pierced the air from two hundred +women and children, and Alfgar hoped, oh, so earnestly! that they +might have escaped, warned in time by the theows. + +With this hope he was forced to rest content, as hour after hour +rolled by, and at length the footsteps of a returning party were +heard. + +It proved to be only a detachment of the fifty, sent to bring horses +to be loaded with the spoil. Alfgar listened intently to gain +information, and heard enough to show that the Danes had been +disappointed in some way, probably in their thirst for blood. + +"But how could they have known we were coming? We have marched through +a hundred miles of the most desolate country we could find, and have +come faster than any one could have carried the information." + +Such seemed to be the substance of the complaint of the warriors on +guard, from which Alfgar felt justified in believing in the escape of +the theows, and the consequent deliverance of the people, if not of +the place. + +Half the horses were taken to fetch the plunder, the other half left +where they were, for the spot was conveniently situated, and the +distance from Aescendune only about two miles. + +When they had gone, Alfgar heard his guards talking together. + +"What did they say, Hinguar?--not any blood?" + +"No, but plenty of plunder." + +"That is not enough, we want revenge. Odin and Thor will not know +their children; our spears should not be bright." + +"They must have been forewarned; Eric said that they had taken away a +great many things." + +"Why could we not trace them?" + +"Because there is no time; we are too far from the army and fleet; we +must return immediately, before the country takes the alarm; remember +we are only fifty." + +"Yes, but mounted upon the best horses, and the first warriors of our +family; we may take some plunder, and send a few Englishmen to +Niffelheim, before we get back; Anlaf would not let us stay to touch +anything as we came." + +"No; all his desire was to get to this Aescendune." + +"Then the lad whom we made into a target is the only victim, while our +kinsfolk's blood, shed near here, cries for vengeance." + +"He died bravely." + +"Yes, that is a Christian's kind of courage." + +"Well, perhaps some day they will learn to fight, and then--" + +"Their songs tell them of an Alfred who defeated our best warriors." + +"That was long ago; if you go back far enough these English were sea +kings before they were spoiled by becoming Christians." + +"Hush; I think I hear steps." + +"Who comes?" cried one of the guards, challenging a newcomer. + +"I, Anlaf, your chief." + +And the father of Alfgar appeared on the scene. + +Of average height, Anlaf possessed vast muscular powers; his sinews +stood out like tight cords, and his frame, although robust, was yet +such that there seemed no useless flesh about him. His hair was a deep +grizzled red, as also his beard, and his eyes were of the same tinge, +his nose somewhat aquiline, and his whole features, weatherworn as +they were, were those of one born to command, while they lacked the +sheer brutality of expression so conspicuous in some of his +subordinates. + +Ho addressed a few words to the guards, and they led him to Alfgar. + +"Cut him loose," he said. + +They did so. + +He looked mournfully yet sternly on the youth, who himself trembled +all over with emotion. + +"Alfgar," he said, "do I indeed see my son?" + +"You do, my father." + +"Follow me; nay, you are wounded--lean on my arm." + +Alfgar's thigh had, it will be remembered, been pierced by an arrow, +but the wound was not deep, and with his father's assistance he could +proceed. He knew where Anlaf led. At length they came upon a deserted +clearing, and there he paused until Alfgar, who could scarcely keep +up, stood by his side. + +Before them the moonbeams fell upon a dark charred mass of ruins in +the centre of the space. + +"This is the spot where father and son should meet again," said Anlaf +and he embraced his son. + + + +CHAPTER VII. FATHER AND SON. + + +"Here, my son," said the old warrior, as he pointed out the blackened +ruins, "here stood our home, where now the screech owl haunts, and the +wolf has its den. There, where the broken shaft yet remains, was the +chamber in which thou first sawest the light, and wherein thy mother +died there, where snake and toad have their home, was the great hall. +Surely the moonbeams fall more peacefully on the spot now all has been +avenged, and the halls of the murderers have fallen in their turn. But +how didst thou escape?" + +"The folk of Aescendune saved me, father." + +"But how; from the burning pile?" + +"Nay. I had spent the previous day with them, and returned home only +in time to find the place in flames. The enemy seized me, and would +have slain me, but Elfwyn and his brother, Father Cuthbert, delivered +me; and now thou hast slain their Bertric, and burnt both hall and +priory." + +"Think not that I owe them gratitude for aught they have done. They +tampered with thy faith, I now apprehend, even before the night of St. +Brice, and perhaps drew from thee the knowledge which enabled them to +surprise so large a party in my house. But all this was to make thee +abandon the gods of thy fathers, and to inflict the worst injury they +could upon a warrior. I trust they have failed!" + +"Father, I am a Christian!" + +"Say not that again, boy, if thou would not have me kill thee." + +"I can but say it, father. In all that touches not my faith and duty +as a Christian, I am bound to love, honour, and obey you. But our +religion forbids me to nourish revenge." + +"Of what religion, pray, were they who would have slain thy father on +St. Brice's night?" + +Alfgar hung his head. + +"When Christians practise themselves what they teach, then we will +heed their pretensions, but not till then. Their religion is but a +cloak for their cowardice, and they put it aside as a man throws away +a useless garment when they have the chance of slaying their foes +without danger." + +"There are good and bad Christians, father." + +"Commend me to the bad ones then. Do not speak to me of a religion +which makes men cowards and slaves. These English were warriors once, +till the Pope and his bishops converted them, and now what are they? +cruel and treacherous as ever, only without the courage of men." + +Alfgar felt the injustice of all this, and with the example of Bertric +in his mind, he cared nor for the accusation of cowardice. + +"Here, then, my boy, on this spot where thou wert once cradled, +renounce all these Christian follies and superstitions, and thou shalt +go back with me to the camp of King Sweyn, where thou shalt be +received as the descendant of warrior kings, and shalt forget that +thou, the falcon, wert ever the inmate of the dovecote." + +There was a time when this temptation would have been almost +irresistible, but that time was over, and after one earnest prayer for +strength from above, Alfgar replied. + +"My father, if you claim my obedience, I must even go with you to your +people, but it will be to my death. I have said I am a Christian." + +"And dost thou think I have found thee--thee, my only son--to part +with thee again so easily? nay, thou art and shalt be mine, and, if +not mine, then thou shalt be the grave's; for either thou shalt live +as thy ancestors have lived, a warrior and a hero, or the earth shall +cover thee and my disgrace together." + +"Father, I can die." + +"Thou dost not fear death then?" + +"Thou hast left one behind thee--one who did not fear to die the +martyr's death." + +"Dost thou mean Bertric of Aescendune?" + +"I do; they slew him, cruelly, although neither he nor his have ever +dealt cruelly with thy people." + +"Thy people, why not our people? art thou ashamed of thy kindred?" + +"Of their cruelty and treachery." + +Anlaf laughed aloud. + +"Cruelty and treachery indeed! and canst thou say that here? who set +the example in this place? + +"Come boy, come," he continued, "I will lead thee to those who shall +soon talk or drive all this Christian nonsense out of your young head; +meanwhile, do not disgrace yourself and me by attempting to escape." + +Alfgar sighed, and accompanied his father, so inopportunely found, +back to the camp. + +Arrived there, the word was given at once to mount, and the whole +party started on the return journey to the south. Alfgar cast a +longing glance behind at the spot where he knew all that was mortal of +poor Bertric was left, to be, so far as the Danes cared, the prey of +the wolf or the kite; but the young Dane knew well that, if any were +yet alive at Aescendune, the hallowed temple of the martyr would not +want its due honour. + +All his heart was with his English friends; he felt that in going to +the Danish camp he was really going to his death, for although within +a few years the conversion of the Northmen took place, yet at this +period their hatred of Christianity was simply ferocious, and his +father belonged to the old heathen conservatives of his day, as did +all his kinsfolk. + +"O Aescendune, once happy Aescendune!" was the thought, the bitter +thought, as each hour placed a larger barrier of space between Alfgar +and his late home; all its happy memories came freshly back upon him, +and particularly the thought of Ethelgiva, his betrothed, from whom he +was so ruthlessly torn, torn as if he left part of himself behind. + +They reached the confines of the forest by daybreak. Before them +stretched an open country, where wild heaths alternated with +cornfields, and wooded hills were of frequent occurrence upon the +landscape. + +All at once a signal of caution was given, and the whole party retired +again within the cover of the wood, where they could see, for they +were on an eminence, the whole district before them without being +seen. + +A body of fifty English soldiers was passing on the road, which lay at +the distance of a few hundred yards only, travelling at a considerable +speed, as if they anticipated the emergency of Aescendune, and hurried +to the rescue. Alfgar knew them at once; they were Elfwyn and his +troops; oh, if they had but arrived earlier, thought he, and started +to see how completely English his sympathies were. + +The Danes found it hard to repress their laughter at the thought of +the reception which awaited the travellers at home; they had no idea +of spoiling it by attacking them, although the numbers were about +equal; besides, they had got all the plunder and spoil, and a battle +would only endanger the success already obtained. So they lay in cover +until the last straggler had disappeared in the direction of +Aescendune, and then continued their course, with many a jest at the +expense of the English. + +Anlaf watched his son; he knew what his feelings were, and his +thoughts were bitter as he felt that, could Alfgar have been +consulted, he would be in that English band. + +That night they arrived on the banks of the Thames, near Reading, the +border of Mercia. Their passage had been quite unopposed; all the +fighting men were in Wessex; and those who had seen the Danish party +had fled with terror--they had not stopped long to plunder, but had +speared one or two unfortunate victims who fell in their way, a sight +which sickened Alfgar. + +The following day they continued their march to the southeast, +sometimes hiding in woods, for the country was mainly occupied by +Ethelred's troops; sometimes pursued by larger bodies of horsemen, but +always successful in distancing them, until, at the approach of +eventide, they came in sight of the entrenched camp of the northern +host. The spot was on the northern borders of the ancient kingdom of +Sussex--the land of the Saxon Ella--a spot marvelously favoured by +nature, occupying the summit of a low hill, which commanded a wide +prospect on all sides, while itself almost impregnable when fortified, +as it was, by ditches and mounds, dug in the usual Danish fashion, for +the Danes owed much of their success to their skill in fortification. + +Beautiful in time of peace was the country around, but its desolation +was sufficient to sicken the heart. Blackened ruins lay on every side +for miles; nay, they had disfigured the whole day's journey. Scarcely +a town or hall, unless strongly fortified, had they seen standing, and +this for nearly fifty miles. + +Within this fortified enclosure the Northmen had collected abundance +of spoil, and there they detained many prisoners, whom they held to +ransom, putting them to death with the utmost cruelty if the money +were not forthcoming at the stipulated time. + +When the party of Anlaf arrived at the northern gate, crossing the +summit of the ascent on that side, they found it open and almost +unguarded, so slight was the danger from the dispirited English--now +too accustomed to the idea of a foe in the heart of the land. + +Entering, they beheld a strange scene: huts rudely constructed of the +branches of trees, intermingled sparingly with tents, were disposed at +regular intervals. In the centre, where the main streets crossed, was +the royal tent, with the raven banner floating therefrom; and there, +at that moment, was the savage tyrant Sweyn in person. + +Sweyn was the son of Harold Bluetooth, who reigned in Denmark fifty +years, from A.D. 935-985, and who in his old age became a Christian +and strove to convert his subjects. But the ferocious warriors +rebelled against him, and were headed by his unnatural son, Sweyn, +who, although baptized, renounced Christianity, and fought to restore +the bloodstained worship so congenial to the heart of a sea king. +Defeated in battle, the unhappy father fled for his life, and fled in +vain, for he was either murdered or died of his wounds. + +Sweyn then became king, restored idolatry, and gratified to the full +the fell instincts of his savage followers. His great object was now +not merely to plunder, but to conquer England, and all his campaigns +were so directed as to reduce province after province. Sussex and Kent +were now wholly powerless; East Anglia was little better; Wessex +trembled, for every inlet was a path for the robbers, and the turn of +Mercia drew near. + +Sweyn stood at the door of his tent, leaning upon his ponderous +battle-axe; around him were two or three warriors, whose grey hairs +had not softened the look of ferocity so plainly stamped upon their +faces. + +The king was not in armour, but wore a kind of close-fitting tunic, +descending to the knees, and leggings leaving the legs bare above the +knees. A rich mantle was thrown over the tunic, for it was cold. + +By his side, similarly dressed, stood his son, the hopeful Canute, the +future King of England, then only in his twelfth year, but already +showing himself a true cub of the old tiger in fierceness and valour, +yet not devoid of nobler and gentler virtues, as he afterwards showed. + +"Welcome, Anlaf," cried Sweyn, as he saw the party arrive; "welcome, +hast thou enjoyed thy holiday in Mercia?" + +"Bravely, my king, the ravens have tasted flesh." + +"No need to tell me that; thy revenge, then, is accomplished. Hast +thou found thy son?" + +"He is with me, my lord, but their saints must have warned the English +of our approach. We burnt the place but the people were not in it. +Their cries would have been music in our ears." + +"Perhaps St. Brice told them you were coming; the English have a +veneration for him," said Sweyn, bitterly. + +They both laughed a bitter laugh, for both had suffered by the +massacre in the persons of kinsfolks. + +"But is this young springal thy long-lost son? he is like thee, even +as a tame falcon is like, and yet unlike, the free wild bird." + +"He is my son;" and Anlaf introduced Alfgar. + +The youth made his salutations, not ungracefully, yet with an air of +reserve which the king noticed. + +"I thought St. Brice had got him long ago, and feared thou wert on a +wild-goose chase." + +"It is a long tale to tell now, my liege." + +"Have they Christianised him?" said the king, with a sly look. + +"He will soon lose that," replied Anlaf. + +"Yes," said the king; "we know a way of curing the folly," when, even +as he spoke, a spasm, as of mental agony, passed over him, and he +shook like an aspen, but it was gone in a minute. + +Was it the fate of his father which was thus avenged? + +Every one looked aside and pretended not to notice the fact, and +Anlaf, having made his homage, retired, leading Alfgar. + +"You see, my son," commenced the old warrior, as he led his recovered +boy to his own quarters, "how useless it would be for you to struggle +against the tide, such a tide as no swimmer could breast." + +"If he could not swim, it would be easy to drown," said Alfgar, and +there was such a despairing utterance in his tone, that his father was +checked. + +The quarters of Anlaf were in the northwestern angle of the camp; they +consisted of huts hastily constructed from the material which the +neighbouring woods supplied, and one or two tents, the best of which, +stolen property, appertained to the chieftain. + +Over a wide extent of desolated land, beautiful in its general +outline, where the eye could not penetrate to details, looked the +prospect. The round gently-swelling Sussex downs rose on the southern +horizon, guarding the sea, while around them were once cultivated +fields which the foe had reaped, while quick streams wound in between +the gentle elevations, crowned with wood, and here and there the mere +spread its lake-like form. The sun was now sinking behind the huge +rounded forms of some chalk hills in the west, when the camp became +gradually illuminated by the light of numberless fires, whereat oxen +were roasted whole, and partridges and hares by the dozen, for the +Danes were voracious in their appetites. + +In Anlaf's quarters one huge fire blazed for all. Alfgar seemed the +only silent member of the company; the warriors related their +successes, and boasted of their exploits, and the bards sang their +ferocious ditties, until all were tired, and the quiet moon looked +down upon the sleeping camp. + +O the contrast--the calm passionless aspect of the heaven and the +human pandemonium beneath. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + +St. Matthew's Day, 1006.-- + +It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write the events of +the last few days. They have been so calamitous, so unexpected. We +have heard of such things afar off, we had prayed for our brethren in +Wessex, exposed to similar calamities, and now they have fallen upon +us personally. May God, who alone is sufficient for these things, give +us strength to bear all for His name's sake. + +It was a fortnight ago, and our harvest was all gathered in. God had +blessed our increase, and our garners were full with all manner of +store; women and children had mainly been the reapers, but the Lady +Hilda herself had been present amongst them, and so had her daughter, +my niece, Ethelgiva, even sometimes labouring with their own hands. + +Alfgar and Bertric had worked like common serfs, and did themselves +honour thereby, for true nobility lies not in being idle, save in the +field of battle, as the bloody Northmen vainly think. + +Well, the work was over, and we had a mass of thanksgiving, after +which Bertric and Alfgar went hunting in the forest. In the evening +there was a harvest home; it was of course a strange one without the +men, who were afar off, fighting for their country, but we tried to be +thankful for mercies vouchsafed, and I and Father Adhelm were there to +bless the food. + +We found a large party assembled--as many, indeed, as the hall would +contain. My sister, the Lady Hilda, was somewhat uneasy, because +Alfgar and Bertric were not yet back, but still not much alarmed, for +what harm could befall such lads in the woods? So I blessed the food +and the feast commenced. + +Eating and drinking were over, and the old gleeman, striking his harp, +was beginning a song of harvest home, when in rushed the two young +theows who had gone out with Alfgar and Bertric, with the startling +intelligence that there was a band of Northmen lurking in the woods, +who had seized their young lords, and were, they thought, bent on +attacking the place. + +Words of mine cannot paint the terror and dismay the tidings caused; +the scene of distress and fear is yet before my eyes as I write. One +woman rose superior to fear--the Lady Hilda; aided by her, I stilled +the tumult, and we took hasty counsel together. + +Nothing could be done for the poor lads, and the preservation of the +lives of the whole population depended upon our promptitude. It was +wonderful to see how the mother stifled her agony in her own breast, +while she strove to remember that, in the absence of her lord, she was +in charge of the safety of all her people, and the mother of all. I +had already interrogated the two churls; their story was but too +evidently true; and I learned that they had discovered the footmarks +of the Northmen in crossing a ford that afterwards, while returning +hastily home, they stumbled upon them, and Alfgar and Bertric were +taken. The party were evidently awaiting the approach of night, and +were doubtless bent on attacking the castle and village. + +Fifty men! and how could we resist them? The poor old gleemen +expressed their readiness to fight for the old hall, and so did even +the boys; but these accursed pagans are the very spawn of the evil +one, and fight like fiends, whom they equal in skill, so that I saw at +once there was no chance in resistance. + +But there was safety in retreat and flight, and under our +circumstances no dishonour in so seeking it. So I saw the path clear +at once, and not a minute too soon. + +In the depths of the forest, about ten miles from Aescendune, in the +opposite direction to that in which the enemy lay, is a solitary +valley, surrounded by such morasses and quagmires that only those who +know the paths could safely journey thither. But the valley is +fertile, and my father years ago built a substantial farm house with +outbuildings there, which has ever since been occupied by our chief +forester. + +Thither I saw at once the whole party must retreat, alike from the +hall, the priory, and the village. In such a way only could they hope +to escape the wretches to whom bloodshed and cruelty are pastimes. + +Yet I was deeply puzzled to understand what motive could have brought +a war party so far, and why they had passed so many flourishing homes +to come to poor secluded Aescendune. Surely, thought I, there is some +great mystery hidden in this, which time may perhaps show. + +In a brief space of time, shorter, indeed, than under other +circumstances we should have conceived possible, everything was +prepared; horses were loaded with provisions and all things necessary +for immediate use. Old men and children were also mounted, who could +not otherwise travel, and we started. It was indeed painful to part +from home, and to leave all we had to the mercy of the Danes, but +"skin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life." + +So soon as I saw the party safely away from the town, I left them +under the guidance of some ancient foresters, who knew every woodland +path, and hastened to my brethren, who had been duly forewarned, and +were awaiting my arrival. I found them prepared for immediate +departure. We had a large flat-bottomed boat on the river which washes +the monastery garden; they had placed all the sacred vessels and the +treasure of the priory therein, and had sent the novices and lay +brethren to seek their safety with the rest in the woods, only the +brethren, properly so called, remaining. + +And now, ready for immediate flight, we went forth with calm +composure, which God sent us. Then, upon the brink of the stream, we +stopped and listened. No sound broke the dread silence of the night, +and we stood in perfect quiet for some minutes. + +At last we heard the sound of muffled footsteps, as of those who sneak +about on the devil's work, approaching the priory, and we pushed the +boat into the stream. The moon had not yet arisen; it was quite dark. +It was the one boat near. + +We knew well what they were doing--surrounding the priory to prevent +any chance of escape, supposing, of course, that their victims would +be within. This accomplished, they knocked loudly at the doors, and +receiving no answer, raised their fierce battle cry, and looked, +happily in vain, for the pallid faces they expected to see at windows +or loopholes. Then they proceeded to break the doors down with their +battle-axes. A similar din, beginning a moment before, told us that +the hall and the priory were simultaneously attacked. + +We had heard enough. We let the boat drop down the stream till we +reached a small island, where we waited to see the end, praising the +Lord who had not delivered us over for a prey unto their teeth. + +While we waited in suspense, we saw a fierce light flash forth from +the hall, and perceived that, having plundered it of all that was +portable, they had fired it in many places at once; and while we +looked, we saw our own once happy home share the same fate, and +emulate the hall in sending forth its volume of ruddy flame towards +the skies. + +This we had waited for, and we held council, and decided that, having +no home, the brethren should depart with the sacred vessels and +treasure to the mother house at Abingdon, while I remained, as also +Father Adhelm, to minister to our afflicted flock in the woods as best +we might. + +Alas for our poor priory! the foundation of Offa and Ella, once the +light of the neighbourhood! but now our candlestick is removed out of +its place. + +Our minds being made up as to the course to be pursued, we rowed +quietly down the stream, fearing pursuit. + +Down the stream about two hours' journey an old Roman road, leading +southward, crossed the river, where a bridge had once existed, long +since swept away by time, but there was a tolerable ford quite safe, +save in winter floods. + +Hard by stood a hostelry, and thither we journeyed in our +heavily-laden bark. + +The light of the conflagration grew dimmer as we rowed down the +stream, but it still lighted up the heavens with an angry glare. It +was yet deep night when we drew near the inn, and we lay awhile on our +oars, to listen for signs of pursuit; but there was nought to disturb +the dead silence of the night, so we proceeded. + +All the household were buried in sleep when we knocked at the doors--a +proof that they had not observed the redness in the skies, or little +sleep, I trow, would they have taken. + +We were so exhausted with the fatigues and excitement of the enemy, +that we hailed this lonely habitation as a little Zoar. It showed how +safe people were feeling in Mercia, that we could not wake the good +people for a long time, and we were getting impatient, for they seemed +like the seven holy sleepers of Ephesus, awaiting the cessation of +persecution. I wish we could all sleep like those Ephesians, and awake +in better days. + +But their dogs were awake, and saluted us with a vociferous barking, +and would not allow us to land until they were driven away by the oars +which our theows used with much effect upon their hides. + +At last a window was thrown open above. + +"Who are you who travel at this time of night?" said a voice, which +tried to be firm. + +"The poor brethren of St. Benedict from Aescendune." + +"Now the saints help thy lying tongue," thus irreverently he spoke, +"do holy men travel like robbers in dead of night?" + +"Look, my brother, over the tree tops, and you may learn the cause of +our wanderings; dost thou not even yet see the angry glare in the +heavens? It is from Aescendune; the Danes have burned it." + +"Good lack, poor Aescendune! and the people?" + +"Are all safe, we trust, in body." + +"God be praised!" and the host hurried down and admitted us. + +His wife hasted to light a good fire, and to prepare us a breakfast; +in short, we had fallen amongst the faithful, and we met great +hospitality, for which may God repay the worthy host, Goodman Wiglaf. + +We were so fatigued in mind and body that we no sooner lay down than +we fell asleep, and slept until the sun was high in the heavens. + +Wiglaf watched the river jealously to see that no foe pursued; but, as +we afterwards learned, they had other things to think of. + +The road which ran across the river at this spot continued southward +into Wessex, and, so far as we could learn, was free from danger, so I +determined to send my brethren to Abingdon by easy stages along its +course, while I turned back with Father Adhelm, to share the +misfortunes of my kindred and lay brethren in the woods. So we +embraced each other and parted; and we two watched, with loving +hearts, until the glades of the forest hid our brethren, dear to us in +the Lord, from our sight, dimmed as were our eyes with tears. Then we +plucked up our courage, and turned our thoughts to those others, dear +and near to us, who had taken to the woods, where it was again our +duty to seek them. + +Wiglaf rowed us back in a light skiff up the stream, not without much +protest, for he feared the Danes would surely catch us, and at every +bend of the stream he crept round, as if he expected to see a fleet of +boats sweep towards us, while he kept in the middle, as if dreading an +arrow from every bush. At length we reached the immediate +neighbourhood, over which the smoke still hung like a black pall. Here +Father Adhelm and I landed, and, giving Wiglaf our blessing, bade him +depart in peace, which the good soul flatly refused to do until +assured of our safety. + +So, hiding the boat behind some bushes, we crept forward together, +till, getting through the underwood, we came to the edge of the +covert. + +Before us lay the fated village, one mass of deformed and blackened +ruins, from which the dark smoke ceaselessly arose, and made the air +painful to breathe. + +But there was no sign of life; no living thing seemed to breathe +there; the place seemed abandoned for ever. It was a dull day, dull as +the gloom which was upon our spirits; the very heavens seemed to have +put on funeral attire, and the chilly wind which swept over the scene +seemed quite at home. + +We emerged cautiously from our cover, and soon stood where, a few days +before, the priory had risen, beautiful before God; it was but a huge +pile of blackened timber and stone; and even more conspicuous above +all other ruins, by the black smoke it still sent forth, was that +which had been the hall. + +While we stood and pondered, Wiglaf suddenly started. + +"I hear the tramp of men," he said. + +Then I listened, and distinctly heard the footfall of men and horses. +We paused; it drew nearer. We were on the point of taking to the woods +again, when I thought I caught the sound of the word of command in the +English tongue, and the voice seemed familiar. + +We advanced still cautiously amongst the ruins, until we saw fifty or +sixty horsemen cross the wooden bridge which the Danes had left +uninjured, and advance with horror-stricken faces. + +They were my brother and his men. + +I recognised Elfwyn amongst them. I rushed up to him, and our tears +mingled together. + +"They are safe, are safe," I cried. + +"Thank God!" broke from many an overcharged heart. + +"But where are they? where are they?" + +"Safe at the forest farm, protected by brake and morass; and now tell +me, how came you here?" + +Tidings arrived at headquarters that a small party of Danes were +making an incursion into Mercia, riding as rapidly as they could, and +I obtained Edric Streorn's leave to pursue them, with great difficulty +I can tell you, and he would only allow me then to take fifty men. + +"He affected to disbelieve the intelligence, and said sarcastically +that the safety of Wessex could not be neglected for Aescendune. The +Northmen would never hurt a place which had so distinguished itself on +St. Brice's day." + +Here he sighed heavily. + +"Elfwyn," I said, "my brother, we must not be ungrateful to God. Here +are ruins indeed, but they cover no dead bodies; all have escaped." + +"No, Cuthbert, not all." + +I was silent, for I thought of Bertric. + +"We have buried him, Cuthbert, in God's peace, in the place he +hallowed by his blood." + +I saw the tears stream down his manly cheeks. My voice grew so hoarse, +somehow, that I could not ask a question. + +"I will tell you all we have seen by and by, not now. I could not bear +it;" and he covered his face with his hands. + +"How did he die?" I stammered at last. + +"Like St. Edmund." + +I asked no more, but I hope the martyr will forgive me the tears I +shed. I know I ought to rejoice that he has gained his crown, but I +cannot yet. I shall be able some day. + +"How could they find the path through the woods, Cuthbert?" asked my +brother; "how did they know the fords?" + +The same question had occurred to me. + +Then the words of the churl Beorn, who had been taken prisoner, as the +messenger had told us, came fresh to my mind. + +"Elfwyn," said I, "do you remember Beorn?" + +He looked earnestly at me. + +"Did he not say that his captors asked particularly about Aescendune, +and that the name of Anlaf was mentioned, and inquiries made +concerning Alfgar?" + +"He did." + +"It is the curse of St. Brice's night." + +"Fallen upon the innocent." + +"Leave it to God," said I. + +"I will try; let us go to my people." + +And we arose and took the path through the woods, sorrowing for the +news we must carry, and still uncertain about the fate of Alfgar. + + + +CHAPTER IX. THE CAMP OF THE DANES. + + +It was the noontide heat, and two Danish warriors reclined under the +shadow of an ancient beech, hard by the entrenched camp of the Danes, +a few days after the arrival of Alfgar therein. Their spears lay idly +on the grass, as if there were no foe to dread, and the land were +their own; they seemed deeply engrossed in conversation. + +"Well, Anlaf, and when is your son going to give up his Christianity?" + +"You are in a great hurry, Sidroc." + +"Nay, all the camp inquires." + +"They must wait." + +"How long?" + +"I cannot tell," said Anlaf, shifting uneasily about; "he is my only +son, the heir of a long line of warrior princes." + +"To whom his life is a disgrace." + +"Not altogether; he is brave." + +"Would be, you mean, were he not a Christian." + +"No, he is, or he would not dare cross my path as he does; death, with +which I have often threatened him, does not seem to have much terror +for him." + +"Perhaps he does not know how terrible death can be made. Has he ever +heard of the rista oern {vii} (spread eagle)?" + +"I should not value him much if I won him by fear. I must try other +modes." + +"Only do not tarry; Sweyn himself inquires how long his obstinacy is +to be endured." + +"He must not expect that every conversion can be accomplished with as +much rapidity as his own in early days." + +"Better not refer to that." + +"Why! he was baptized himself." + +"He would slay any one who reminded him of it." + +"Yes; the curse of Harold Bluetooth, they say, was not a comfortable +thing to get." + +"The father was a Christian in that case, and the son returned to the +gods of his ancestors; in your case it is the opposite: the first +might be permitted, the last never." + +"You would not talk in that way if he were your own son." + +"Should I not? listen; I had a son, a noble, gallant boy of +fifteen--all fire and spirit--do you know how he died?" + +"It was before we knew each other." + +"Then I will tell you. We had been ravaging the Frankish coasts, and +the lad got a wound in his shoulder; we carried him home, for he had +fought like a wolf, and the leeches tried to cure him, but it was all +in vain; they said he would never be fit to go to battle again. Poor +Sigard! he could not bear that, and he said one day when I was trying +to cheer him, 'No, father, I shall never be able to strike a good +downright blow again, and I cannot live until I die a cow's death in +my bed; I will die as my fathers have died before me when they could +no longer fight.' I saw what he meant, but I did not like the thought, +and I tried to change the subject, but he returned to it again and +again, until at last he persuaded me to let him have his way. So we +took one of our ships, stuffed it full with things that would burn +easily, made a funereal pile on the deck, and laid him thereon in +state, with a mantle fit for a king thrown over him. Then we bade him +goodbye and a happy journey to Valhalla; he was as cheerful as if he +were going to his bridal; we tried to appear as if we were too, but it +tore my heart all the same. Then we applied the torch and cut the +cable; the wind blew fair, the bark stood out to sea. She had not got +half-a-mile from shore when the flames burst out from every crevice of +the hold; we saw them surround the pile where he lay passive; he did +not move so far as we could see, and after that all was hidden from +our sight in flame and smoke." + +The old warrior was silent, and, in spite of his stoicism, Anlaf +thought a tear stood in his eye. + +"So don't tell me I could not give up an only son," added Sidroc. + +Anlaf made no reply, but only sighed--a sign of weakness he strove to +repress the moment he betrayed it. + +They walked back together to the camp, and there they parted. Anlaf +repaired at once to his tent, and found Alfgar seated therein. + +"The king wishes to know when you will be enrolled amongst his +followers." + +The lad looked up sadly, yet firmly; the expression of his face, +whereon filial awe contended with yet higher feelings of duty, was +very touching. Anlaf felt it, and in his heart respected his son, +while sometimes he felt furious at his disobedience. + +"Father, it is useless, you should not have brought me here, I shall +live and die a Christian." + +"At all events, Alfgar, you should give more attention to all we have +said to you, and more respect to the defenders of the old belief in +which your ancestors were all content to die. What do you suppose has +become of them?" + +If Alfgar had been a modern Christian, he might have said, +conscientiously enough, that he believed they would be judged by their +light, but no such compromise in belief was possible then. + +"There is no salvation save in the Church," he said, sorrowfully +enough. + +"Then where are they--in hell?" + +Alfgar was silent. + +"What was good enough for them is good enough for me, and for that +matter for you, too. I should be more comfortable there with them than +with your saints and monks; at all events, I will take my chance with +my forefathers, cannot you do the same?" + +"They did not know all I do." + +"All fudge and priestly pratings, begotten of idleness and dreams. +Valhalla and Niffelheim are much more reasonable; at all events they +are parts of a creed which has made its followers the masters of the +world." + +"This world." + +"The next may take its chance, if there is one, of which I by no means +feel sure. You are throwing away the certainty of pleasure and glory +here for an utter uncertainty; those rewards you will gain by +submission are at your feet to take up; those you will gain by a +bloody death only exist in the imaginations of priests." + +"'Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, but He hath revealed them to +us by His Spirit,'" said Alfgar in a low voice. + +His father was silent; the words struck him like a strain of weird +music; but he did not yield the point, save for the time, and after a +pause changed the subject. + +"You have other motives than heavenly ones. You love a Christian +maiden." + +"How do you know that?" said Alfgar, blushing to the temples. + +"I have lain near you at night, and you talk in your dreams. Now, I +have yet another motive to put before you. You think you have cause to +love the Aescendune people, because they saved your life. I think I +have cause to hate them, because they made you a Christian. Now, if +you die in your superstition, when we invade Mercia they shall suffer +for it." + +"They have suffered enough." + +"Nay, only in buildings, which they will restore. I will pursue them +with unrelenting vengeance, with the death feud, till I have destroyed +the accursed race utterly." + +"Father!" + +"If you would save them," said Anlaf, who saw he had made an +impression, "renounce your Christianity, and I will forget +Aescendune." + +Here he left the tent. + +The days which followed were, it may be imagined, very uncomfortable +ones for Alfgar; but he was not destitute of occupation. It was his +father's wish that he should join the youth of the camp in athletic +and warlike exercises. This he had no objection to do, and he spent +nearly his whole time in practising the use of battle-axe, of bow, of +spear, of sword, and shield, or in managing the war horse, for the +Danes had acquired cavalry tactics on stolen horses. + +Naturally quick, both of eye and hand, he learned all these things +easily, and excited the admiration and envy of his companions. They +became useful in time. + +In this manner nearly a month passed away, when an incident occurred +which claims our attention. + +Strolling on the earthworks which defended the camp, near the royal +quarters, Alfgar came unexpectedly upon no less a person than the king +himself, in close conversation with a stranger. + +There was something in the form and manner of this stranger which even +in the brief moment conveyed recognition to the mind of our hero; and +a second glance, which was all he dared to cast, as he withdrew from +the spot, revealed to him the face of a traitor. + +It was Edric Streorn. + +A few hours later the chieftains were all summoned to a council in the +king's tent, and when, after a short session, they came forth, the +general order was given to break up the encampment, and move towards +the southwest for the winter, for all the resources of the country +around were exhausted. + +The work was a laborious one. From the dawn of day, horses, heavily +laden, left the camp, loaded with the accumulated spoil of the year. +Anlaf himself was very busy, and it was with some real alarm that +Alfgar asked him what would happen did the English suddenly appear. + +"No fear of them, boy. We have received certain intelligence that +their army is disbanded for want of provisions. They will not meet +till the spring unless we rout them up." + +Alfgar knew well whence the "certain intelligence" came. + +Destroying and plundering, the mighty host moved on its way, crossing +into Hampshire, and doing, as the chronicle says, "their old wont." Of +them it might be said in the words of the prophet: + +"Like Eden the land at morn they find; +But they leave it a desolate waste behind." + +Whenever they found a tract of country as yet unexhausted, there they +settled until they had exhausted it. The wretched inhabitants, who had +fled at their approach, perished with hunger, unless they had strength +to crawl to the far distance, where as yet bread might be found. + +It was the custom of the invaders to burn all their resting places +when they left them, and to slay all captives, save such as could be +held to ransom, or a few whom they detained in slavery, till they died +a worse death from want and ill usage. + +Thus they moved from spot to spot, until towards the middle of +November they reached the coast opposite the Isle of Wight, in which +unfortunate island they decided, after due consideration, to winter. + +Opposite the host, across the Solent, rose the lovely and gentle hills +of the "garden of England;" but between them lay the Danish fleet, in +all its grandeur, calmly floating on the water. Each of the lofty +ships bore the ensign of its commander; some carried at the prow the +figures of lions, some of bulls, dolphins, dragons, or armed warriors, +gaudily painted or even gilded; while others bore from their mast the +ensign of voracious birds--the eagle, the raven--which appeared to +stretch their wings as the flag expanded in the wind. + +The sides of the ships were also gay with bright colours, and as the +warriors embarked and hung up their bright shields, grander sight was +never seen. + +But chiefly Alfgar admired the ship of Sweyn, called the "Great +Dragon." It was in the form of an enormous serpent; the sharp head +formed the prow, with hissing tongue protruding forth, and the long +tail tapered over the poop. + +In this ship Anlaf himself had his place, in deference to his descent, +and Alfgar accompanied him. It may easily be imagined he would sooner +have been elsewhere. + +Scarcely a fishing boat belonging to the English could be discerned: +the Danes made a desert around them. + +Eight years before, in the year 998, they had wintered on the island, +and since that time had regarded it as a Danish colony. No English +remained in it save in the position of slaves, and the conquerors had +accumulated huge stores of spoil therein, while they drew their stores +of provisions from every part of the adjacent mainland. + +"Is it not a grand sight, Alfgar?" exclaimed his father. "Are you not +proud of your people, the true monarchs of the sea?" + +Alfgar was for the moment inclined to sympathise; but he thought of +the darker side of the picture, and was silent. + +There was a higher glory far than all this, and it had left a lifelong +impression on his soul. + + + +CHAPTER X. CARISBROOKE IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. + + +The fleet bore the troops of savage soldiery safely--too +safely--across the waters of the Solent, to the estuary formed by the +Medina, where now thousands of visitors seek health and repose, and +the towers of Osborne crown the eastern eminences. A fleet may still +generally be discerned in its waters, but a fleet of pleasure yachts; +far different were the vessels which then sought the shelter of the +lovely harbour, beautiful even then in all the adornment of nature. + +There the Danes cast anchor, and the forces dispersed to their winter +quarters. The king and his favourite chieftains took up their abode at +Carisbrooke, situate about eight miles up the stream, but above the +spot where it ceases to be navigable. + +Their chosen retreat was the precincts of the old castle--old even +then--for it had been once a British stronghold, commanding the route +of the Phoenician tin merchants across the island, whence its name +"Caer brooke," or the "fort on the stream." + +The Romans in after ages saw the importance of the position, fortified +it yet more strongly, and made it the chief military post of the +island, which, under their protecting care, enjoyed singular peace and +prosperity--civilisation flourished, arts and letters were cultivated. +The beautiful coasts and inlets were crowded with villas, and invalids +then, as now, sought the invigorating breezes, from all parts of the +island of Britain, and even from the neighbouring province of Gaul. + +The Roman power fell at last, and when the English pirates, our own +ancestors, like the Danes of our story, attacked the dismembered +provinces of the empire, its wealth and position on the coast made it +an early object of attack--happy those who fled early. The Anglo-Saxon +chronicle shall tell the story of those who remained. + +"AD. 530. This year Cerdic and Cynric conquered the Isle of Wight, and +slew many people at Whitgarasbyrg" (Carisbrooke). + +The conquering Cerdic died four years after, and his son Cynric gave +the island to his nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar. The latter died in 544, +and was buried in the spot he and his had reddened with blood, within +the Roman ramparts of Carisbrooke. + +It is needless to say that at that early period our ancestors were +heathens, and the mode of their conquest was precisely similar to that +we are now describing under another heathen (with less excuse), Sweyn +the son of Harold. + +It was a few days after the arrival of the Danes at their quarters, +and Alfgar stood on the rampart at the close of a November day; it was +St. Martin's Mass, as the festival was then called. The sun was +sinking with fading splendour behind the lofty downs in the west, and +casting his departing beams on the river, the estuary, with the fleet, +and the blue hills of Hampshire in the far distance. + +Southward and westward the view was alike shut in by these lofty +downs, and eastward the hills rose again, so as to enclose the valley, +of which Carisbrooke formed the central feature. + +The ramparts whereon he was standing were of Roman workmanship, built +so solidly that they had resisted every attack of man or of time; +while down below lay the ruins of a magnificent villa, once occupied +by the Roman governor of the island. + +Anlaf appeared and stood beside his son. + +"Alfgar," he said, "the day after tomorrow is the day of St. Brice." + +He paused and looked steadfastly in the face of his son. + +"And the king proposes to enrol you amongst his chosen warriors on +that day; he has marked the skill you have displayed in the mimic +contests with spear or sword, your skill as a horseman, and he wishes +to see whether in actual battle you will fulfil the promise of the +parade ground." + +"And yet he knows my faith." + +"Alfgar," said the old man solemnly, "you must renounce it or die; no +mercy will be shown to a Christian on St. Brice's day; that is why the +king has chosen it. Think, my son, over all I have told you; you will +decide like one who yet controls his senses, and not disgrace your +aged father." + +"Father, I do think of you," said the poor lad; "at least believe +that. I do not grieve for myself. I feel I could easily die for my +faith, but I do grieve over the pain I must cause you." + +The heart of the old warrior was sensibly affected by this appeal, but +not knowing the strength of Christian principle, he could not +reconcile it with facts, and he walked sadly away. + +But two days, and the dread choice had to be made--the crisis in the +life of Alfgar, a crisis which has its parallel in the lives of many +around us--approached, and he had to choose between Christ and Odin, +between the death of the martyr and apostasy. + +He walked to and fro upon the ramparts, after his father left him, in +the growing darkness, feebly illuminated by the light of a new moon. +Below him, in the central area, a huge fire burned, whereat the +evening meal was preparing for the royal banquet, for Sweyn and his +ferocious chieftains were about to feast together. + +Escape was hopeless. Even had he not been bound by the promise given +to his father, it would have been very difficult. He felt that his +motions were watched. The island was full of foes, their fleet +occupied the Solent. No; all that was left was to die with honour. + +But to bring such disgrace upon his father and his kindred! "Blood is +thicker than water," says the old proverb, and Alfgar could not, even +had he wished, ignore the ties of blood; nature pleaded too strongly. +But there was a counter-motive even there--the dying wishes of his +mother. If his father were Danish, she was both English and Christian. + +Before him the alternatives were sharply defined: Apostasy, and his +ancestral honours, with all that the sword of the conqueror could +give; and on the other hand, the martyr's lingering agony, but the +hope of everlasting life after death. + +He could picture the probable scene. The furious king, the scorn of +the companions with whom he had vied, nay, whom he had excelled, in +the exercises of arms, end the ignominious death, perhaps that painful +punishment known as the "spread eagle." No, they could not inflict +that on one so nobly born, the descendant of princes. + +Alas! what might not Sweyn do in his wrath? + +Was Christianity worth the sacrifice? Where were the absolute proofs +of its truth? If it were of God, why did He not protect His people? +The heathen Saxons had been victorious over the Christian Britons; and +now that they had become Christian, the heathen Danes were victorious +over them. Was this likely to happen if Christ were really God? + +Again Odin and Frea, with their children, and the heroes sung by the +scalds, in the war songs which he heard echoing from around the fire +at that moment: + +"How this one was brave, +And bartered his life +For joy in the fight; +How that one was wise, +Was true to his friends +And the dread of his foes." + +Valour, wisdom, fidelity, contempt of death, hatred of meanness and +cowardice, qualities ever shining in the eyes of warlike youth. + +This creed had sufficed for his ancestors for generations, as his +father had told him. Why should he be better than they? If they +trusted to the faith of Odin, might not he? + +And then, if he lived, when the war was carried into Mercia, he would +save his English friends, even although forced to live unknown to +them. + +"Oh! life is sweet," thought he, "sweet to one so young as I. I have +but tasted the cup; shall I throw it down not half empty?" + +He was almost conquered. He had all but turned to seek his father, +when suddenly the remembrance of Bertric flashed vividly upon him. + +He saw, as in a vision, the patient, brave lad enduring mortal agony +for Christ, so patiently, so calmly. Had Bertric, then, died for +nought? He felt as if the martyr were near him, to aid him in this +moment, when his faith was in peril. + +"O Bertric, Bertric!" he cried, "intercede for me, pray for me." + +He fell on his knees, and did not rise until the temptation was +conquered, and then he walked steadily into the great vaulted room, of +Roman construction, which served as the banqueting hall, and took his +usual place by his father's side. + +Oh, how hollow the mirth and revelry that night! How he loathed the +singing, the drunken shouting, the fierce imprecation over the wine +cup--the sensuality, which now distinguished his bloodthirsty +companions. The very knives he saw used for their meals had served as +daggers to despatch the wounded or the helpless prisoner. The eyes, +now weak with debauch, had glowed with the maniacal fury of the +berserkir in the battlefield. Was this the glory of manhood? Nay, +rather of wolves and bears. + +Then he looked up at Sweyn, the murderer of his father, and marvelled +that his hand was yet so steady--his head so clear. This apostate +parricide! never would he live to kiss the hand of such a man; better +die at once, while yet pure from innocent blood. This his Christianity +had taught him. + +"Minstrel," cried the fierce king, "sing us some stirring song of the +days of old; plenty of the fire of the old Vikings in it." + +A strange minstrel, a young gleeman, had been admitted that night--one +whose chain and robes bespoke him of the privileged class--and he sang +in a voice which thrilled all the revellers into awed silence. He sang +of the battle, of the joy of conquest, and the glories of Valhalla, +where deceased warriors drank mead from the skulls of vanquished foes. +And then he sang of the cold and snowy Niffelheim, where in regions of +eternal frost the cowardly and guilty dead mourned their weak and +wasted lives. In words of terrific force he painted their agony, where +Hela, of horrid countenance, reigned supreme; where the palace was +Anguish, Famine the board, Delay and Vain Hope the waiters, Precipice +the threshold, and Leanness the bed. + +But in the innermost chamber of this awful home was the abode of +Raging Despair; and in the final verse of his terrible ode the scald +sang: + +"Listen to the ceaseless wail, +Listen to the frenzied cry +Of anguish, horror, and amaze; +Would ye know from whom they come, +Tell me, warriors, would ye know?" + +Here he paused, after throwing intense emphasis on the last words, +till he had concentrated the attention of all, and the king +gazed--absorbed--then he continued: + +"There wave on wave of bitter woe +Overwhelms the parricide." + +The king started from his seat. He was about to launch his battle-axe +through the air in search of the daring minstrel, when the same dread +expression of unutterable agony we have before mentioned passed over +his face; he trembled as an aspen, and sank, as one paralysed, into +his chair, while his glaring eyes seemed to behold some horrid +apparition unseen by all beside. The warriors now turned in their +wrath to seek the daring or unfortunate minstrel, but he was gone. + +Alfgar had seen the apostate in his moment of retributive agony, and +he shuddered. + +"Better death, far better," he murmured, "than a fate like this. God +keep me firm to Him." + +The king had by this time recovered his usual composure, but his rage +and fury were the more awful that the outbreak was suppressed. + +"Sit down, my warriors, disturb not the feast. What if your king has +been insulted in his own banquet hall? there are hands enow to avenge +him without unseemly tumult. Let us drink like the heroes in Valhalla. +Meanwhile let the minstrel be sought and brought before us, and he +shall make us sport in a different mode." + +The "rista oern" whispered one in his ear. + +The ferocious king nodded, and his eyes sparkled with the expected +gratification of his fierce cruelty. Meanwhile warriors were searching +all the precincts of the camp for the destined victim. + +Nearly half-an-hour had passed, and the king was getting impatient, +for nearly all the chieftains were getting too drunk to appreciate the +spectacle he designed for them. + +"Why do the men delay?" he cried; "let them bring in the minstrel." + +Still he came not; and at length the searchers were forced, one after +the other, to confess their failure. + +"It is well," said the king; "but it was the insult of a Christian, +and shall be washed out in Christian blood. Anlaf, produce thy son." + +"Nay, nay, not now," cried Sidroc and others, for they saw that Sweyn +was already drunk, and consideration for Anlaf made them interfere. +"Not now; tomorrow, tomorrow." + +"Nay, tonight, tonight." + +"Drink first, then, and drown care," said Sidroc, and gave the brutal +tyrant a bowl of rich mead. + +He drank, drank until it was empty, then fell back and reposed with an +idiotic smile superseding the ferocious expression his face had so +lately worn. Meanwhile a hand was laid upon Alfgar's shoulder, and a +keen bright eye met his own, as if to read his inmost thoughts. + +"Come with me, or my father will disgrace himself." + +It was Canute. + +He led Alfgar forth into the courtyard. + +"Thou dost not seem to fear death," said the boy prince. + +"It would be welcome now." + +"So some of our people sometimes say, but the motive is different; +tell me what is the secret of this Christianity?" + +Just then Sidroc and Anlaf came out from the hall and saw the two +together. Sidroc seemed annoyed, and led the young prince away, while +Anlaf seized the opportunity to whisper to his son: + +"My son, I can do no more for thee; I see thou wilt persist in thine +obstinacy. I release thee from thy promise given to me; escape if thou +canst, or die in the attempt; but bring not my grey hairs to contempt +on the morrow." + +At this moment, Sidroc having seen Canute to the royal quarters, +returned. + +"Sidroc," said Anlaf, "I cannot any longer be the jailor of my unhappy +and rebellious son. Let him be confined till the morrow. I shall ask +leave of absence from Sweyn, and now I deliver Alfgar to your care." + +"I accept the charge," said Sidroc; "follow me, Alfgar, son of Anlaf." + +Alfgar followed passively. He could not help looking as if to take +leave of his father; but Anlaf stood as mute and passionless as a +statue. Sidroc reached a party of the guard, and bade them confine the +prisoner in the dungeon beneath the ruined eastern tower. + +"Listen to my last words, thou recreant boy; Sweyn will send for thee +early in the morning before the assembled host; it will be the day of +St. Brice; and even were he not now mad with rage, there would be no +mercy for a Christian on that day. Thou must yield, or die by the +severest torture, compared with which the death of thy late companion +under the archers' shafts was merciful. Be warned!" + + + +CHAPTER XI. THE GLEEMAN. + + +It was a low dungeon, built of that brick which we still recognise as +of Roman manufacture, in the foundations of what had been the eastern +tower of the ancient fortification. The old pile had been badly +preserved by the Saxon conquerors, but it had been built of that solid +architecture which seems almost to defy the assaults of time, and +which in some cases, after fifteen centuries, preserves all its +characteristics, and promises yet to preserve them, when our frailer +erections lie crumbled in the dust. + +The roof was semicircular, and composed of minute bricks, seeming to +form one solid mass; the floor of tiling, arranged in patterns, which +could still be obscurely traced by the light of the lamp left by the +charity of Sidroc to the prisoner; for the dungeon was of bad +reputation; lights had been seen there at unearthly hours, when the +outer door was fast and no inmate existed. + +There were two long narrow windows at the end, unbarred, for they were +too small for the human body to pass through them; they looked upon +the valley and, river beneath, for although the dungeon was below the +level of the courtyard, it was above that of the neighbourhood. + +The prisoner strode up and down the limited area, wrestling with self, +bending the will by prayer to submit to ignominy and pain, for he knew +now that his father had abandoned him, and that he had to apprehend +the worst; still he did not regret the choice he had made, and he +felt, as he prayed, peace and confidence descend like heavenly dew +upon his soul. Mechanically he cast his eyes around the cell, and +tried to trace out the pattern of the flooring, when he saw that the +central figure, around which the circles and squares converged, was +justice, with the scales, and the motto, "Fiat justitia." He knew the +meaning of the words, for Father Cuthbert had taught him some Latin, +and the conviction flashed upon him that, sooner or later, all the +wrong and evil about him would be righted by the power of a judge as +omnipotent as unerring. And this thought made him the more reconciled +to the apparent injustice of which he was the victim, and he prayed +for his father, that God would enlighten him with the true light. + +"Perhaps before he dies he may yet think of me without shame." + +For the shame which he unwillingly brought upon a father who was +stern, yet not unkind or void of parental love, was the bitterest +ingredient in the cup. + +And so the hours rolled on, which brought the dreaded morn nearer and +nearer; and the victim, comforted by prayer, but without hope in this +world, slept, and thought no longer of the torturer's knife, or felt +the cruel anticipations which would rack the waiting mind. + +And while he slept he was wakened, yet but partly wakened, by a voice +which seemed to belong to the borderland 'twixt sleep and waking. + +"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, sleepest thou?" + +"Surely I dream," thought he, and strove to sleep again. + +"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, sleepest thou?" + +Now he sat up, and beheld, or thought he beheld, a figure of one +clothed in the attire of a minstrel, in the centre of the chamber. + +"Art thou yet in the flesh like me?" he cried, repressing a shudder. + +"Even so, a being of like mould, subject to pain and death." + +"A prisoner, then; art doomed to die?" + +"No prisoner, neither art thou, if thou willest to escape." + +"Thou art the gleeman who insulted Sweyn." + +"Nay, who told the brutal tyrant the truth." + +"And what doest thou here?" + +"I am come to deliver thee." + +"But how?" + +"Rise up, cast on your garments." + +Hardly knowing what he did, Alfgar obeyed, and when he stood face to +face with the stranger, began to lose the uneasy impression that the +being who addressed him was otherwise than mortal; for he saw by the +light of the lamp that the gleeman bore all the attributes of a living +man. + +"How came you here?" + +"Because I know the secrets of the prison house--knew them before the +Danes had murdered the once happy dwellers in this garden of England, +which they have made a howling wilderness; hence I escaped the wrath +of the furious parricide, whom the saints destroy, with ease, and +laughed in security at their vain efforts to take me; but we must +waste no time; it yet wants five hours to daybreak; within those five +hours we must reach the opposite shore." + +"But tell me, I cannot understand, why hast thou braved the wrath of +Sweyn? why hast thou cared for me?" + +"All in good time, follow me now, I bid thee by the memory of +Aescendune." + +"Aescendune! surely I dream." + +"Yes, of Aescendune. I have heard that thou art thence. Now waste no +more time." + +More and more mystified, for he had never to his knowledge seen the +speaker before, Alfgar gazed at the gleeman. + +He appeared of noble air and mien, but was evidently but a young man; +he was somewhat above the average height, and looked as though he +could wield the sword as well as the harp. But how were they to +escape? + +Alfgar was not left long in doubt. The stranger took up the lamp and +walked to the farthest recess of the dungeon, where, concealed amongst +the rude carvings with which the builders had ornamented the wall, was +a rose carved in stone. The gleeman pressed it sharply, and a hidden +door sprang open, revealing a winding staircase excavated in the solid +wall. + +"Upwards it leads to the banqueting hall, and you can comprehend my +escape this evening," said he; "but our path is now downwards, unless +you would like to go up and see the drunken beasts of murderers +snoring off their debauch upon the floor as they fell; oh, that it +were lawful for a Christian man to cut their throats as they lie; many +innocent lives would be saved thereby, which those brutes will live to +destroy." + +"Thou art, then, a Christian?" + +The gleeman crossed himself piously. + +"Why not?" said he. + +"I heard you sing like a scald tonight." + +"It was my part, and I acted it passing well, did I not? Sweyn would +own as much; but, pardon me, I am forgetting that my daring put you in +danger." + +"How did you know that?" + +"I heard every word; and perhaps I might even have risked more than +this to save you." + +Meanwhile they had descended nearly a hundred steps, and the +atmosphere became singularly cold and charnel-like, when they entered +a large vault, which, by the light of their torches, appeared of great +extent. Its walls were covered with uncouth representations, and +inscriptions in Latin. + +"What place is this?" + +"It had some connection, I believe, with the old idolatry, and that is +all I know. This passage will guide us to daylight and liberty." + +Following a short and narrow passage, they emerged upon a ruined +vault, whose roof had fallen in. Climbing out with some difficulty, +and disturbing in the process hundreds of bat-mice and not a few rats, +they found themselves in the midst of some old ruins at the foot of +the acclivity whereon the fortress was built, and below them the brook +ran rapidly to join the river. + +"Thanks be to God for our preservation in that den of unclean lions!" +said the gleeman; "but had they known who was amongst them, he would +have had scant chance of escape." + +"May I not know?" + +"Not yet. Come, we must waste no more time." + +They walked swiftly down the brook. No sentinels were posted in this +direction, nor was any lookout kept. + +"The danger is yet to come," said the gleeman, in a low tone. + +Shortly they reached the river, and then they found a boat hidden in +the rushes, which grew tall and strong. They embarked, and Alfgar +steered, by the other's direction, straight down the stream, while he +rowed for full an hour with remarkable strength and dexterity, so that +they drew near the coast, and the cold air from the sea blew in +Alfgar's face. + +Here the gleeman ceased rowing, and spoke to him in a low tone. + +"Do you see those dark figures ahead?" + +"I do." + +"Well, they are the Danish war ships, and our hour of peril draws +near. We must drop down with the tide, which is running out strongly, +and I must steer. You can row, I suppose?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, get the oars ready to pull for your life, if I give the word, +but not till then. Now silence." + +In perfect silence they drifted down upon the ships. Happily for them +there was no moon, and although the stars were bright, there was +little danger that their dark-painted bark would be seen at any +distance. + +One great mass after another seemed to float by them; but it was the +dead hour of the night, and no sounds were heard from the sleeping +crews. They kept lax watch, because they had no foe to dread. There +was, alas! no English fleet. + +One after another, until they had drifted into the centre of the +fleet, where discovery must have been instant death. There above them +rose the "Great Dragon," in all her hideous beauty, the gilded serpent +reposing on the placid waves. Her people, even at that untimely hour, +were engaged in revelry, and as they passed by the fugitives heard the +words: + +"Now the warrior's cup of joy was full, +When he drank the blood of his foe, +Where the slain lay thick on the gory hill, +And torrents of blood from every rill +reddened the river below, +For Odin's hall is the Northman's heaven--" + +But they heard no more, for they had drifted beyond hearing. + +They had now attained the last ship, when suddenly a watchman sprang +to the side. + +"Boat ahoy! Whence and where?" + +"From the 'Great Dragon'--a poor gleeman and his attendant to his home +on the shore." + +"Come on board then, and wake us with a song. The watch is ours, and +we will make it merry." + +There was no help for it; and commending courage with a significant +look to his companion, the gleeman and Alfgar ascended. It was yet +dark, and the language and appearance of each might pass tolerably +under ordinary circumstances for the characters they had assumed. + +"Now a song, and we will keep it up till daylight." + +Thus pressed, the gleeman took his harp and sang an old Scandinavian +song of the first sea king who invaded England, Ragnar Lodbrok. + +He told how the fierce Ragnar sailed for England, how his fleet was +wrecked, but still how, with the relics of his forces, he assaulted +Northumbria, and was taken captive by Ella the king, who threw him +into a hole filled with vipers and toads. + +"Sharp the adder's tooth, but sharper +Spake the sea king to his foes, +Spake while savage brows grew darker, +As he told the countless woes +Which the bear's fierce cubs should bring +To those who slew their father and their king." + +Then he described the retribution, and the lingering death of Ella +under the agonies of the "rista oern" so vividly, that every Danish +heart was filled with emulation. + +"Well sung!" shouted the Danes. "Thou dost sing a song worth hearing. +Hast not taught thy son to sing likewise?" + +In turn Alfgar was forced to support his assumed character. Luckily +his tenacious memory retained the words of many an old song, and the +warriors were well pleased. + +"Why must thou go to shore? We will feed and guerdon thee well if thou +wilt stay with us." + +"We are aweary now, and would fain return to our comrades on the +shore, but we will return by and by." + +"Do so, here is thy reward;" and one of the speakers threw a gold +chain round the gleeman's neck. Gold was plentiful with the robbers. + +They were allowed to return to their boat; but as they did so, many a +keen eye was fixed upon them. The dawn was already beginning to appear +in the east, and every moment was of importance. + +"Thou hast borne the test well," said the gleeman, "and hast not +flinched." + +"I could not in your presence." + +At this moment they heard the rapid splash of a boat, manned by many +rowers, behind, and a voice shouted aloud to the men on board the ship +they had left: + +"Hast seen a boat with a gleeman and harp bearer?" + +"They have just left the ship." + +"Follow; they are English spies. Sweyn will give the weight of their +heads in red gold." + +Instantly they heard the sound of hurried voices, the lowering of +boats, the splash of numerous oars, and all nearly close behind them. +They took an oar each, and pulled with all the energy of men who pull +for life or death. + +The light was gradually growing stronger, and their chance of escape +seemed feeble, when Alfgar saw before them a dense cloud of mist +rolling round the eastern promontory, and uttered a cry of joy as it +enfolded them. + +"The wind is east, keep it on your right cheek, and steer straight +forward. I will take both oars," said the gleeman. + +It was wonderful with what energetic force and success the gleeman +pulled until they had cleared the mist, and saw that they were in the +red light of dawn, in the midst of the Solent. + +One half-mile behind them a solitary boat pursued. There appeared to +be only five men, four rowing and one steering. Other boats there +were, but wide of the mark. + +"Alfgar," said the gleeman, "you will find a quiver of arrows and a +long bow at the bottom of the boat behind you." + +Alfgar handed them to him. + +"The points are passing sharp, and the bow is in order; take your turn +to row." + +Alfgar obeyed; he could not do otherwise, the gleeman's tone of +command was so powerful, but he feared they would loss time by the +change. + +"You need not hurry yourself; let them approach. They are not likely +to have brought other weapons than their swords and axes." + +The boat gained on them rapidly, until it was within a hundred and +fifty yards. + +"Keep just this distance if you can," said the gleeman, and drew an +arrow suddenly to its head; it whistled through the air, and the +steersman, transfixed, rose, leapt in the boat, and fell in the sea a +corpse. + +"Gone to seek oysters for King Sweyn's table, I suppose," said the +gleeman. + +Another steersman promptly took the place, but some yards were lost by +the pursuers. + +"Slacken, we are too far for accurate aim; and we English must not +disgrace ourselves in Danish eyes." + +They slackened, another arrow sped, and the foremost rower fell. +Evidently the Danes had no means of reply. + +"Slacken yet more;" and before the pursuers could recover their +confusion, a third fell, then a fourth, before the unerring shafts. +The fifth was at the fearful gleeman's mercy, but he restrained +himself, now danger had vanished. + +But as he did so he cried aloud: + +"Dane, we give thee thy life, blood sucker though thou art. Go, and +tell King Sweyn that Edmund {viii} the Etheling, son of Ethelred +of England, has been his gleeman, and hopes he enjoyed the song which +told the doom of parricides." + + + +CHAPTER XII. THE MONASTERY OF ABINGDON. + + +One of the central lights of civilisation and Christianity in the +early days of Wessex was the monastery of Abingdon. St. Birinus had +fixed the centre of his missionary labours at Dorchester, only six +miles distant, but the Abbey was the fruit of the heroic zeal of +another evangelist, upon whom his mantle fell--St. Wilfrid. After the +death of Birinus, the zeal of his successors failed to evangelise the +southeastern districts of Wessex, until, at length, came Wilfrid, +fervent in zeal, and, stationing himself at Selsey, near Chichester, +evangelised both Sussex and Wessex, sending out missionaries +like-minded with himself, even into the most inaccessible wilds. + +Centwin was then king of Sussex, but various petty states were +tributary to him, and ruled by viceroys. One of these viceroys was +Cissa, whose dominions included Wiltshire and the greater part of +Berkshire {ix}. This Cissa and his nephew, Hean, founded Abingdon. +A mission was sent out from Chichester which attracted great +multitudes of the Berkshire folk. Hean was present, and heard the +preacher take for his text that verse of St. Matthew which declares +that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than +for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. These words entered into +the hearts of Hean and his sister Cilla, who was with him. They +determined to go and sell all that they had and embrace a life of +poverty. From their uncle, Cissa, they obtained grants of land, +whereon they founded monastic homes. Cilla dedicated the convent she +reared to St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, traditions of whose +life in the neighbourhood had survived the Saxon Conquest. + +Hean obtained the land of which Abingdon formed the central point, +then generally known by the name Cloveshoo. He was tardy in his work +as contrasted with his sister, and Cissa died without seeing the work +for which he had given the land accomplished. Ceadwalla succeeded him +(A.D. 685), and further augmented the territory. He rebelled against +Centwin, and became king of Wessex; spending most of his life in +warfare; it was through his conquest of the island that the "Wight" +became Christian. He made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he died, after +his baptism by Pope Sergius. + +Ina, his successor (A.D. 688), was so angry at the long delay in +building the monastery, that at first he revoked the grant of his +predecessors to Hean, but becoming reconciled, gave all his energy to +the work, and Cloveshoo {x}, or Abingdon, became a monastic town, +and its history commences as a house of God from Ina, about A.D. +690-700. + +Important benefits were thus conferred on the whole neighbourhood; +agriculture flourished, learning increased, a sanctuary for the +oppressed was provided, and last, though not least in Ina's eyes, a +bulwark against Mercia was provided for the neighbourhood; while the +poor and the afflicted found their happiness in every way promoted by +the neighbourhood of the monastery. + +Several times the monastery was in peril by reason of the wars between +Wessex and Mercia. In A. D. 752, Cuthred of Wessex defeated Ethelbald +of Mercia at Burford, hard by, and protected Abingdon from further +aggressions. Twenty-five years later the decision of war was reversed. +Offa, the great and fierce king of Mercia, defeated Cynewulf of +Wessex, at Bensington, and spoiled the land, destroying the convent of +St. Helena, founded by Cilla, and grievously robbing and oppressing +Abingdon. + +But the most awful calamity it ever underwent was its destruction in +the first great Danish invasion, in the early days of King Alfred, +when it was literally levelled with the ground, only, however, to +arise in greater magnificence when the storm had passed away. + +However the period of anarchy had introduced evils which required a +stern reformer, and one was found in the person of the abbot +Ethelwold, the friend of St. Dunstan, who, in conjunction with him and +Oswald, introduced the rule of St. Benedict into Abingdon, +Glastonbury, Ely, and other great houses, which, by its absolute +prohibition of monastic idleness, and its wise regulations, caused the +religious houses of that period to become the central points of +civilisation and learning in the land. + +Here, at this famous monastery, we resume Father Cuthbert's Diary. + +In festo St. Edmundi. + +Again I resume my diary, at the great monastic house of Abingdon, +where I have rejoined my brethren. I have already told how, in company +with Elfwyn, Father Adhelm and I sought the forest farm where our +beloved ones had found refuge from the cruel oppressor. The joy of the +women and children to whom their husbands and fathers were thus +restored was very touching; all seemed willing to forget the +destruction of their homes, since they had been spared to each other, +and I, to whom, by my vows, such love is unknown, yet could but feel +how holy a thing is family affection. + +Alas, there was one family where the bitterness of death had found its +way. I cannot describe the touching scene when Elfwyn told the fate of +dear Bertric. Well, they will learn by and by to thank God for him and +his example, for we doubt not he died a martyr, although we know not +the details, and, unless Alfgar yet lives, shall perhaps never know +them. + +We held a long consultation upon our future movements. It was wisely +decided not to rebuild Aescendune at present, for the place where they +now are can be rendered very commodious, and is far more secure +against a foe. We do not dare to hope that we have seen the last of +our troubles; the Danes are wintering in the Wight, ready for fresh +mischief next spring and summer. + +We have been able to learn nothing of Alfgar; but we think that Anlaf +probably yet lives, and that he has recovered his son; yet we cannot +imagine how he escaped on St. Brice's night. + +Well, to return. We at once set to work, and erected a church of +timber, for the service of God; and I said mass in it the first Sunday +after our arrival there. It may be supposed it is not a very grand +church; but God looks at the living stones, and reads the heart. + +We all had enough to do for the first few days; but within a week one +might suppose we had been living there an age. Log huts were erected +for the whole population; the old farm house, which is large and +strongly built, taking the place of the hall. One must dispense with +some comfort now. + +My brother sent a portion of his men to rejoin the army, but feels +himself justified in entering at once on his winter quarters with the +remainder; in fact, since my arrival at Abingdon, the troops have all +been dismissed for the winter, and the Danes have, as I said, retired +to the Wight. + +Then, leaving Father Adhelm in charge of the woodland settlement, I +determined to visit my brethren here, where I have been received with +all Christian love and hospitality by the abbot and his brethren. +Three days my journey lasted. I travelled with only two attendants, +serfs of our house; a poor prior burnt out from house and home. + +Nov. 21st, 1006.-- + +This evening I heard heavy steps on the stairs, and methought their +tread seemed familiar, as well it might, for no sooner had the door +opened than my son Alfgar, for whom we had mourned as dead, or at +least dead to us, fell upon my neck and wept. + +It was a long time before either of us was composed enough to say +much, but when we had a little recovered, the abbot who had brought +them to my rooms introduced a tall young man in gleeman's garb, as +Edmund the Etheling. + +At length we all sat down to supper, but talked so much we could eat +little, and I soon learned all the news Alfgar had to tell. His tale +is wonderful; he has been indeed delivered from the mouth of the lion, +nay, from the jaws of the fierce lion; but I must set down all things +in order. + +The one thing which delights me most is the way in which his faith has +stood the hard hard test to which it has been put. + +But my dear nephew Bertric, Saint Bertric we must assuredly call him, +oh how it will lighten the grief of his parents and sister to know how +gloriously he died for Christ! One could envy him his crown. + +And then how delighted Ethelgiva will be to learn not only that Alfgar +is alive, but to hear how true and brave he has been. + +But when all these congratulations were over, and we had learned all +that Alfgar had to tell, there was evidently something on the mind of +the prince. + +"Alfgar and I have a very important duty to perform," he said. + +I waited, and he proceeded. + +"There has been grievous treachery in our ranks. Edric Streorn has +sold us to the Danes." + +"I feared as much," said I, sadly. + +"I learned it at Carisbrooke, and am now on my way to Dorchester, +where my royal father has arrived, or will arrive tomorrow. I should +have gone there at once, but Alfgar learned you were here, and would +come. Besides, we need your help to fit us for appearing at court." + +And, in truth, their habiliments were not very royal. + +Well, Abingdon is a town of great resources, wherein all things meet +may be found. + +"We will to the tradesmen tomorrow," I said, "and fit you for the +presence." + +"I have yet heavier news to unfold," Edmund added, very seriously. +"The Danes purpose a winter campaign in the heart of the land, hoping +to take us unawares." + +"Now the saints forbid!" said I. + +"Even so; but they are not all with us. St. Brice is against us." + +I sighed, and so did they. The very remembrance of that day is +sickening. + +"We have heard," said the abbot, "that the king will arrive tomorrow +at Dorchester; we will send you thither in the morning. Meanwhile, my +sons, you do not eat and drink as I would have you. Remember you need +to sustain exhausted nature." + +That was indeed true. They had travelled fast, and had fasted by the +way, of necessity. + +"Well, Alfgar, we will tomorrow to the king," said Edmund, after they +had eaten and drunken; "he must surely listen to us now." + +"He appears to love this wicked Edric," said the abbot sorrowfully. + +"Far better than his own flesh and blood," replied Edmund. + +"My son," said the abbot, "rest here this night in our poor house; +tomorrow we will find you both horses and fitting apparel, and ye +shall go meetly to the king, who is the guest of the bishop." + +"I shall not be sorry, father, to see the inside of my chamber," said +the young prince; for he is yet young, although so wise and +valiant--not more than a year or two older than Alfgar. + +The compline bell rang. + +"I will go with you to thank God first for our deliverance, and to pay +my vows to Him," said Edmund; "then to bed." + +After compline, Edmund went from the chapel to bed. Alfgar would not +retire. He came to my cell; there he talked with me for a full hour. +His affection moves me greatly. He has evidently found a real friend +in Prince Edmund, who has delivered him from a cruel death, and who +wants to attach him permanently to his service. Meanwhile Alfgar is +all haste to return to Aescendune and Ethelgiva, before any further +steps are taken. + +Saturday, Nov. 22d, 1006.-- + +After we had arrayed the Etheling and Alfgar this morning, I decided +to accompany them on their road to Dorchester, for it happened that I +had arranged to say mass and preach tomorrow at the little church of +St. Michael at Clifton, the residence of my sister Bertha and her +husband Herstan. It lies on a cliff over the Thames, on the way to the +cathedral city, whence its name, "the town on the cliff." + +So we started, the Etheling, Alfgar, and I, after the chapter mass at +nine. We crossed the fine timber bridge over the Isis, then kept the +causeway over the marshes, till, crossing an arm of the main stream, +we ascended a hill and passed through the open country. + +On the north the country is richly wooded. There lies the chase of +Neweham, abounding in deer, with a few wolves yet lingering in its +recesses, and forming sport for the ceorls. + +In the neighbourhood of a great monastery the roads are always good, +and waggons can travel easily and smoothly from Abingdon to +Dorchester. So, being well mounted, we were only the best part of an +hour in reaching Clifton. + +The river here makes a sudden bend to the east, after running for some +time almost due north, and at the bend the steep cliff rises whereon +the little church and my brother Herstan's hall is built, with a few +cottages below and around occupied by his theows. + +We went first to the church and offered our devotions. From the +elevated ground whereon it stands, the cathedral of Dorchester and the +Synodune hills formed conspicuous objects. + +Then we turned to the hall, and met a reception such as warmed the +heart. When we had refreshed ourselves, I had to tell Bertha all the +strange events which have recently happened at Aescendune; of the +destruction of her old home, but of the well being of all her friends; +yes, of all, for we know that he has won the martyr's crown. + +Some natural tears she dropped; but I think she soon came to see all +things in their right light, as we try to do. + +Soon after our arrival, Herstan sent a messenger to Dorchester to +learn at what hour the king was expected; and the answer was returned, +that they expected him in time for the banquet at the episcopal palace +this evening. So Edmund and Alfgar consented to pass the day quietly +at Cliffton. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE CITY OF DORCHESTER. + + +Dorchester was at this period the most important city of the Midland +counties, for it was the seat of the great bishopric which extended +its sway over nearly the whole of Mercia. + +Here the apostle of Wessex, Birinus, had converted and baptized +Cynegils, king of that country, Oswald, the saintly king of +Northumbria, being present, and receiving him fresh from the +regenerating waters as his adopted son. Here, the next year, Cuichelm, +his brother, was baptized, and from this centre Christianity was +widely diffused. The good bishop died in the year 650, and was buried +amongst the people he loved, but many years later his relics were +translated to Winchester. But the tale went forth that the cunning +canons of Dorchester had given them another body than that of the +saint, and their shrine was the object of veneration equally with the +rival shrine at Winchester. + +Dorchester became successively the seat of two great bishoprics--the +one West Saxon, the other Mercian. The first, founded by Birinus, when +Wessex extended far north of the Thames, was divided seventy years +later into two sees--Winchester and Sherburne. For some years the city +was without bishops, owing to its insecure position during the strife +between Wessex and Mercia, but later it appears as the seat of the +great Mercian bishopric, retaining its jurisdiction until after the +Norman conquest, when the see was transferred to Lincoln. Therefore +Dorchester long enjoyed a wide celebrity and greater influence, than +the city, Oxenford, which, lying at a distance of ten miles, was +destined to supersede it eventually. + +The day was closing on an evening of November 1006, and the sun was +sinking across the level country beyond the walls, when the people of +Dorchester might have been seen crowding the roads which led from the +eastern gate towards Bensington and Wallingford; the wooden bridge by +which the road crossed the Tame was covered with human beings, and +every eye was eagerly directed along the great high road. The huge +cathedral church towered above the masses, rude in architecture, yet +still impressive in its proportions, while another church, scarcely +smaller in its dimensions, rose from the banks lower down the stream, +below the bridge, and the wooden steeple of a third was visible above +the roofs of the houses in the western part of the city. + +But, as in every other city which had once been Roman, the relics of +departed greatness contrasted painfully (at least we should think so) +with the humbler architecture around. The majesty of the churches was +indeed (as a contemporary wrote) great, but thatched roofs consorted +ill with the remains of shattered column and pedestal, and with the +fragmentary ruins of the grand amphitheatre, which were yet partly +visible, although the stones which had been brought from Bath to build +it had been employed largely in church architecture. + +The light of day was rapidly fading; a light breeze brought down the +remaining leaves from the trees, or whirled them about in all +directions; winter was plainly about to assume the mastery of the +scene, as was evident from the clothing the people wore, the thick fur +and warm woollen cloaks which covered their light tunics. + +At length the sound of approaching cavalry was heard, and the cry "The +King! the King!" was raised, and cheers were given by the multitude. +It was observable, almost at a glance, that they proceeded from the +young and giddy, and that their elders refrained from joining in the +cry. + +About a hundred horsemen, gaily caparisoned, appeared, and in the +midst, with equal numbers of his guard preceding and following, rode +Ethelred the king. He was of middle stature and not uncomely, but +there was a look of vacillation about his face, which would have +struck even an indifferent physiognomist, while his thin lips, which +he was constantly biting (when he was not biting his nails), seemed to +indicate a tendency towards cruelty. + +But by his side rode one, whose restless eyes seemed to wander to each +individual of the crowd in turn, while power and malice seemed equally +conspicuous in his glance. Little changed since we last beheld him +rode the traitor, for so all but the king accounted him, Edric +Streorn. + +Amidst the shouts of the populace, who loved to look on the display, +the Bishop Ednoth {xi} and the chief magistrates of the city +received the monarch and his councillor in front of the church of Sts. +Peter and Paul, and escorted him through the streets to the palace, +which stood in what was then a central position, on the spot now +called Bishop's Court. It was spacious, built around a quadrangular +courtyard, with cloisters surrounding the lowest storey and the smooth +shaven lawn, in the centre of which a granite cross was upraised. A +gateway opened in the southern side and led to the inner court, and +the cloisters opened from either side upon it. + +On the opposite side of the quadrangle was the great hall where synods +were held, and where, on state occasions, such as a royal visit, the +banquet was prepared. + +Here, after the king had availed himself of the bath, and his +attendants had divested themselves of their travel-stained attire, the +throne of the king was placed at the head of the board, and a seat for +the bishop on his right hand, and for Edric on his left. + +Ethelred took his place; upon his head a thin circlet of gold confined +his flowing locks already becoming scant, but, as their natural colour +was light, not otherwise showing signs of age: he was only in his +fortieth year. His tunic was finely embroidered in colours around the +neck, and was below of spotless white, secured by a belt richly +gilded, whereon was a sheath for the dagger or knife, which was used +for all occasions, whether in battle or in meal time, the haft being +inlaid with precious stones. Over the tunic a rich purple mantle was +lightly thrown, and his slippers were of dark cloth, relieved by white +wool; the tunic descended to his heels. + +The attire of Edric was similar in shape, but of different colour; his +tunic was of green, edged with brown fur, his mantle of dark cloth, +and his belt of embossed leather. There was a studied humility in it +all, as if he shunned all comparison with the king. + +Ednoth said grace, and the chanters responded. The canons of the +cathedral, the priests of the other churches, the sheriff of the +county, the reeve of the borough, the burgesses, all had their places, +and the banquet began; huge joints being carried round to each +individual, from which, with his dagger, he cut what he fancied and +deposited it on his plate; then wine, ale, and mead were poured +foaming into metal tankards, and lighter delicacies followed. There +was no delay; no one cared to talk until he had satisfied his +appetite. + +The king, as a matter of course, opened the conversation, when the +edge of desire was gone. + +"Have the levies who served in the war all been disbanded, Sheriff?" + +"The last returned from the garrisons in Sussex a week ago, and are +all hoping for a quiet winter in the bosom of their families." + +"Have they lost many of their number? Did the people of this hundred +suffer greatly in the war which Sweyn forced upon us?" + +"Not very many; still there has been a little mourning, and much +anticipation of future evil," replied the bishop. + +"That is needless," said Edric; "they may all prepare to keep their +Christmas with good cheer. The Danes are sleeping, hibernating like +bears in their winter caves." + +"While they are so near as the Wight, who can rest in peace?" said +Ednoth. + +"The Wight! it must be a hundred miles from here; the Danes have never +reached any spot so far from the coast as this." + +"Yet there is an uneasy belief that they will attack the inland +districts now that they have exhausted the districts on the coast, and +that we must be prepared to suffer as our brethren have done." + +"Before they leave their retreat again we shall be ready to meet them; +our levies will be better trained and more numerous." + +"A curse seemed upon all our exertions this last year," said Ednoth, +sorrowfully. "We were defending our hearths and our homes, yet we were +everywhere outmanoeuvred and beaten. It could not have been worse had +we had spies and traitors in command." + +The king slightly coloured, for he resented all imputations on his +favourite, and was about to make a sharp reply, when a voice which +made him start, replied: + +"Quite right, reverend father! as you say, success was impossible +while spies and traitors commanded our forces." + +All looked up in amazement; two guests had entered unbidden, and the +king, the bishop, and Edric recognised Prince Edmund. + +"The unseemly interruption is a sufficient introduction to the +company. I need not, my friends, present to you my turbulent son +Edmund, or the attendant he has picked up." + +"No need whatsoever, if you will first allow us to explain the reasons +of our presence here. We have somewhat startling news from the enemy." + +"The enemy, by my last advices, lies quiet in the Isle of Wight," said +Edric. + +"I will not dispute your knowledge, my lord Edric," replied the +Prince, "considering the intimacy you stand on with Sweyn." + +"Intimacy! I would sooner own intimacy with the Evil One." + +"You might own that, too, without much exaggeration, since the good +bishop will bear me witness that he is the father of lies." + +"Edmund, this is unbearable," said the king. + +"Pardon, my father and liege, but truth will out." + +The company sat in amazement, while the hand of Edric played +convulsively with the hilt of his dagger; meanwhile Edmund ate, and +gave to Alfgar, ere he spake again. + +"Stay, Edric," whispered the king; "thou art my Edric. I was never +false to thee, nor will I be now; did I not, for thy sake, look over +the death of Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, and put out the eyes of his sons? +canst thou not trust me now?" + +Thus strengthened, Edric remained, and uneasy whispers passed around +the assembly. + +At last Edmund looked up. + +"When the flesh is weak through toil and fasting, speech is not +eloquent, but now listen, all Englishmen true, and I will speak out." + +He told his tale, how he had conceived suspicions that the Danes +intended a winter descent; how he had risked his life (in the +exuberance of youthful daring) to ascertain the truth; how, trusting +to his knowledge of Carisbrooke, wherein he had spent many pleasant +days in his boyhood, he had ventured amongst the Danes as a gleeman, +in imitation of Alfred of old; how there he had assisted, unsuspected, +at a meeting of the council in the great hall, and heard it decided to +invade England, and finally how he had escaped. And then he continued: + +"And in that council I heard that the Danes had a secret friend in the +English army, who ever gave them due warning of our movements, and who +caused all the miscarriage of our last campaign. Stand forth, Edric +Streorn, for thou art the man, and my sword shall prove it, if need +be." + +"Edmund, thou ravest," cried the king; "produce thy witnesses." + +"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, answer; whom didst thou espy talking with +Sweyn?" + +"Edric Streorn." + +"How didst know him?" + +"Because he threatened my life on St. Brice's night, and I had often +seen him while dwelling in Mercia." + +"A Dane witnessing against a free-born Englishman? Can it be endured?" +cried Ethelred. "What, here, my royal guard!--here! here! your King is +insulted--insulted, and by his son and his son's minions." + +The guard rushed in, their weapons in their hands. + +"Seize my son, the false Edmund." + +"Here I am," quietly said the hero of the English army, for such he +was, although not recognised as such by the government of his father. +"Here I am; what Englishman will bind me?" + +The men stood as if paralysed. + +"Will you not obey?" shouted the weak Ethelred, and stamped in +impotent anger on the floor. + +But they would not--they could not touch Edmund. + +Edric whispered in the king's ear. + +"I was wrong," said the king; "retire, guards. + +"Edmund, come with me; tell me what you have seen. I will hear you, +and judge between you and my Edric--judge fairly." + +"Wait till my return, Alfgar." + +Alfgar waited. No one spoke to him; all the company seemed utterly +bewildered, as well they might be until, after the expiration of an +hour, during which time Ednoth had left the hall, and the company +broke up by degrees, an officer of the court came and whispered in his +ear that Edmund awaited him without the gates. + +He left the table at once, and proceeded beyond the precincts of the +palace, following his guide. + +"Where is the prince?" + +"He has had a stormy interview with his father, and has just left him, +refusing to lodge in the palace, to sleep without the precincts. I am +to conduct you thither." + +Leaving the palace, they were passing through some thick shrubbery, +when all at once two strong men sprang upon Alfgar. At the same moment +his attendant turned round and assisted his foes. He struggled, but he +was easily overpowered, when his captors led him away, until, passing +a postern gate in the western wall of the town, they crossed an +embankment, and came upon the river. There they placed him on board a +small boat, and rowed rapidly down the stream. + +In the space of a few minutes they ran the boat ashore in the midst of +dense woods which fringed the farther bank, and there they forced him +to land, and led him upwards until, deep in the woods, they came upon +an old timbered house. They knocked at the door, which was speedily +opened by a man of gigantic stature and ruffianly countenance, by +whose side snarled a mastiff as repulsive as he. + +"Here, Higbald, we have brought thee a prisoner from our lord." + +The wretch looked upon Alfgar with the eyes of an ogre bent on +devouring a captive, and then said: + +"The chamber where blind Cuthred was slaughtered looks out on the +woods behind where no one passes, and it is strong; it will be better +for you to take him there." + +And he drew aside to let them pass. + +"Here, Wolf" said the uncouth gaoler, "smell him, and see you have to +guard him." + +The dog seemed to comprehend. He smelt around the prisoner, then +displayed his huge fangs, and growled, as if to tell Alfgar what his +fate would be if he tried to escape. + +The poor lad turned to his captors who had brought him there, for they +seemed more humane than his new gaoler. + +"For pity's sake, tell me why I am brought here--what crime I have +committed." + +No reply. + +"At least bear a message to one who will think I have deserted him in +his need." + +Again they were silent. + +They had ascended a rough staircase. At the summit a passage led past +two or three doors to one made of the strongest plank, and +strengthened with iron. + +They opened it, thrust him in, showed him, by the light of their +torches, a bed of straw in the corner. + +"There you can lie and sleep as peacefully as at Carisbrooke," said +one of his guards. + +"And let me tell you," added Higbald, "that it will be certain death +to try to get away; for if you could escape me, my dog Wolf, who +prowls about by day and night, would tear you in pieces before any one +could help you. He has killed half-a-dozen men in his day." + +Like a poor wounded deer which retires to his thicket to die, Alfgar +threw himself down upon the bed of straw. His reflections were very, +very bitter. + +"What would Edmund think of him?" + +"He will know I am faithful. He will not think that the lad whose life +he saved has deserted him. He will search till he find me even here." + +Thus in alternate hope and despair he sank at last to sleep--nature +had its way--even as the criminal has slept on the rack. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE SON AND THE FAVOURITE. + + +A stormy scene had meanwhile taken place in an interior chamber of the +palace of the bishop, which had been metamorphosed into a council +chamber for the king. There were present Ethelred himself, his +irrepressible son, the traitor Edric, the bishop, the sheriff of the +shire, and the reeve of the borough, with the captain of the +hus-carles, or royal guard. + +"We all need Divine guidance at this moment," said Edric, clasping his +hands meekly; "would you, my lord and king, ask the bishop to open our +proceedings with especial prayer for the grace of meekness." + +"Hypocrite!" said Edmund, with a sound like the gnashing of teeth. + +The bishop, however, said the form generally used at the meetings of +council, but omitted to notice the special suggestion of Edric. + +"The case before us," said the king, "is a difficult and trying one, +but one which we must discharge in our bounden duty towards our +subjects. Perhaps it is well that the accusation so often urged by +backbiters against our faithful subject Edric should--" + +"Your majesty begs the question when you call that coward 'faithful.'" + +"Silence, Edmund," said the king, sternly, "you are hardly yet of age, +yet you dare to interrupt me. I was going to say that it is a good +thing the accusation should at length be plainly made, and not spoken +in a corner by men who are afraid to speak out." + +"Lest they should get the reward of Elfhelm of Shrewsbury," added +Edmund. + +The bishop here interposed. + +"Prince, remember that God has said, 'Honour thy father.'" + +"Has he not somewhere also said, 'Parents, provoke not your children +to anger'?" + +"God judge between you, then," said the bishop, "but I warn you that +you appear the greater transgressor." + +"Meanwhile," said Edric, "I feel like a man who is being put unjustly +to the torture. What is the accusation against me?--let it be stated +in plain words." + +"That just after the army disbanded in October, you visited the camp +of Sweyn, and gave him to understand that the country was at his +mercy, opposition being removed." + +"What day of the month?" + +"I do not know the exact day." + +"Perhaps it was in the Greek calends," said Edric. + +"I do not know when the Greek calends are, nor do I want to; my mother +spent her time, I thank God, in teaching me to speak the truth, and to +be true to my country, and not in teaching me outlandish gibberish." + +"Still," said the bishop, "it is important to learn the day." + +"Alfgar can perhaps inform you, but one day must have been much like +another to him in the Danish camp." + +"His statement would need verification," said Ednoth. + +"He is as true and brave as any man here." + +"Of course, all Danes are true and brave," said Edric. + +"He is a Christian." + +"Yes; I think he became one on St. Brice's day," suggested Edric. + +"To save his life, no doubt," said the sheriff. + +Meanwhile Ethelred had changed colour, and Edric cried out: + +"Have we not forgotten in whose presence we are? The king, who was +quite ignorant of the mistaken zeal which misinterpreted his wishes +that day, cannot bear to be reminded of it. He is all too merciful and +gentle for such days as ours." + +"I suppose he put on mourning for Elfhelm," whispered Edmund in the +bishop's ear. + +"Forget not that he is your father." + +"We are wasting time," said the king. "Edric, what is your answer to +this accusation?" + +"That when the army disbanded I went on pilgrimage to the shrine of +St. Joseph at Glastonbury, and can produce, in the time requisite for +a messenger to go and return, an attestation to that effect. Here," he +said, putting his hand to his bosom, and drawing out a reliquary, "is +a holy thorn plucked from St. Joseph's tree." + +"Art thou not ashamed, my son, to have brought such a charge against +the venerator of the Saints, one of the few in whom faith yet lives?" + +"No, for I do not believe he was ever there at all." + +"Witness the holy thorn." + +"Thorns may be plucked in bushels round Dorchester or any other +place." + +"It is a question of pure testimony," said the bishop. + +"It is," added the sheriff and the reeve. + +"Then, may I produce my witness?" said Edmund. + +"Certainly," said the king. + +"By all means," added Edric. + +The bishop called an attendant, and ordered him to fetch Alfgar. + +"Before he enters I must remind you all," said Edric, "that the word +of a Dane is to be opposed to that of a Christian." + +"I have already said that Alfgar is a Christian." + +But Edric had already, by his adroit suggestion about St. Brice's day, +predisposed the company to doubt the genuineness of Alfgar's +conversion. + +A long pause succeeded, which no one seemed to care to break. Ethelred +was anxious for his favourite; the traitor himself was studying how to +meet the accusation; the Prince was furious, and was striving in vain +to repress his surging passions, the others were perplexed. + +The messenger returned after a time to say that Alfgar had left the +palace. + +"Left the palace!" said Edmund. + +"About half-an-hour since." + +"There is some vile treason here," said Edmund. + +"Treason! on whose part?" said Edric. + +"Thine, villain." + +"I am glad you think so, for you give me an opportunity of +demonstrating to the court how unreasonable your hatred makes you, and +how unjust. I have not left the king's presence since your first +appearance." + +"It is true," said Ethelred. + +Edmund was completely baffled. + +"It appears to me," said the king, "that he fears the discovery of his +villainy, and has taken himself off. I will offer a fitting reward to +the man who shall produce him; meanwhile, it is useless to continue +this scene." + +"Wait at least a few minutes," said Edmund, and went forth himself. + +Vainly he sought through all the courts of the palace--once he thought +Alfgar, whose fidelity he never suffered himself to doubt, might be in +the chapel, and went there in vain. + +At last he found a servitor who had seen him go with some men into the +city, and hurried forth in search of him. He passed through all the +streets inflaming the curiosity of the watchmen; the darkness (for +there were very few lamps or lights of any kind, in those days, for +public use) was intense, a drizzling rain was falling, and at length, +weary, wet, and dispirited, he returned to the palace, and found that +the council, tired of waiting, had at length broken up. + +The bishop offered him hospitality, evidently sympathising with his +distress, and once suggested a doubt of the fidelity of his page, but +Edmund repelled it instantly. + +"He is true as life," he said. + +"But the king himself is witness that Edric has not left his +presence." + +"If not, he has plenty of villains about him to anticipate his orders, +vile as Godwin, port-hund of Shrewsbury. Depend upon it they have +murdered him, but if so, I will have vengeance, such vengeance--I will +challenge the villain Edric to single combat." + +"The Church would forbid it." + +"Do you then sympathise with the hypocrite?" + +"Alas, my son! who can read the heart of man? I know not what to +think." + +"But you could read the history of the last campaign. A fool might--I +beg pardon--were not all our plans known beforehand? Did not all our +enterprises fail? Were not all our ambushes anticipated? Did we not +fall into all theirs? If they had had a prophet like Elisha, who told +the king of Israel all Benhadad said in his council chamber, they +couldn't have managed better. Can you explain this?" + +"No, my son." + +"Then I can, for I heard Sweyn say that they had a friend in the +English camp." + +"Then you actually put your head in the lion's mouth, prince?" and the +good bishop, purposely to relieve the prince's mind, drew out from him +all the story of his late adventures. + +Deep was the distrust which Ednoth himself entertained of the +fair-speaking Edric, yet he would not encourage the Etheling in +further ill-timed opposition to his father. + +So at last Edmund slept, and trusted that with the morn he should find +Alfgar; but the morn came, and all his inquiries were vain. + +The chamber in which Alfgar was confined contained a box-like recess +for the straw bed, a chair, and a rough table, and these were all the +comforts at his disposal, but they were enough for one in that hardy +age. It was very strongly built, not a loose plank about it, although +the wind found its way through numerous crevices, to the slight +discomfort of the inmate. + +But not one hour of sleep could Alfgar take all that night. What would +the Etheling think of him? was his constant thought, he who had saved +his life at the risk of his (the Etheling's) own. Must he not think +that the lad whose life he had saved had been false to him? and this +thought was agony to the faithful and true heart of the prisoner. + +He scarcely doubted for one moment into whose hands he had +fallen--that he was in Edric Streorn's power. The only thing he could +not quite comprehend was, why they had thought it worth while to +imprison him, when murder would seem the more convenient mode of +removing an unpleasant witness. + +Early on the following day he heard some people approach the door of +the house, and heard them admitted. Shortly afterwards a firm step +ascended the stair, and the door opened. + +Edric Streorn stood before him. + +The captor eyed his captive with a look of conscious pride, and said +with some complacence, "You see, and perhaps repent, your rashness in +the accusation you made." + +"It was true." + +"I do not think it worth my while to deny it here; but what of +that?--I am an Englishman by birth, but (let us say) a Dane by choice. +You are a Dane by the fortune of birth, but an Englishman by choice; +the worse choice, you will find, of the two." + +Alfgar felt confused. + +"But I did not come here to exchange compliments with you, nor to +prove, as to the fools you have chosen to serve, that I was on +pilgrimage at the time you name. I have a direct purpose in detaining +you here, for I have lately seen Sweyn." + +"Traitor!" + +"I thought we had agreed that we could not throw stones at each other +on that account. Well, the gentle Sweyn has taken your evasion very +much to heart, and earnestly desires to repossess himself of your +person; but for this, my easiest plan would have been to rid myself of +so troublesome a witness in a more speedy manner, and you might ere +this have fed the fishes of the Thames. + +"Therefore," he continued, "unless you can satisfy me of two or three +points, I shall deliver you to Sweyn." + +Alfgar thought at first that this was simply an idle threat, since it +would be almost impossible to convey him secretly through the country +to the Isle of Wight. Edric understood his thoughts. + +"You forget," he said, "that Sweyn will shortly be here; your friend, +the Etheling, may have told you that, if you did not know it before; +he is telling it to everybody, but no one believes him. Only think, no +one will believe that Sweyn could be so audacious, and they think +that, listening behind walls and in cupboards, the Etheling, perhaps, +drank too much of what he found there--and that was all. Well, when +Sweyn comes, he may, if he will, make a public example to all +apostates in your honoured person; meanwhile Edmund thinks you have +deserted him." + +No torturer ever seemed to take a keener pleasure in the throes of his +victim, than Edric in the mental agony he kindled in the breast of his +unhappy prisoner. + +"But I said I might release you, or at least mitigate your fate, on +one condition, that you answer me a plain question directly and +plainly. Under what name does Edmund travel, and what disguise, and +does he purpose to trust himself in the Danish camp again? Where is he +at present residing? he has disappeared from the palace." + +"Monster!" said Alfgar, "you tempt like Satan. Away, and leave me to +my fate." + +"You will think better of it by and by when confinement upon bread and +water has tamed you. I will come once more, but it will be the last +time; and, mark you, should your people be defeated--the Danes I +mean--still your escape would not necessarily follow; the house might +take fire, it is of timber, and would soon burn down; a sad misfortune +it would be. + +"Good morning. I am going to mass with the king; shall I say a Pater +and an Ave for you, since you are prevented from being there. The +saints have you in their holy keeping!" + +His manner throughout had been like that of a cat playing with a +mouse, and there was quite a gratified smile upon his lips as he went. + +Strange to say, Alfgar felt less miserable after he was gone. The +wickedness of Edric seemed so great, his hypocrisy so unblushing, that +in his simple faith Alfgar could not believe that he would be allowed +to succeed. Many a holy text in the Psalms came to his mind, and +seemed to assure him of Divine protection. + +"I myself have seen the ungodly in great power; and flourishing like a +green bay tree. + +"I went by, and, lo! he was gone; I sought him, but his place could +nowhere be found. + +"Seek innocency, and take heed to the thing that is right: for that +shall bring a man peace at the last." + +"So, come what will," said he, "I will trust in Him and never will I +save my life by uttering one word which might betray the innocent." + +In this manner days lengthened into weeks. He tried in vain to open +any intercourse with his ferocious jailor, whose ward was sometimes +shared by a comrade, when there was much ungodly revelry below, and +snatches of Danish war songs mingled with profane oaths. The deep, +deep bay of the mastiff sometimes gave warning of the advent of a +stranger, or of the step heard from the distance, in the still deep +night; but this was all that Alfgar could learn of the outer world, +from which he was banished at so critical a moment. + + + +CHAPTER XV. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY AT CLIFFTON. + + +SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT.-- + +The evening, after the Vesper service in the church was over, and +darkness had closed in, we all sat down to our evening meal. The doors +were shut to keep out the storm, and I had already said grace, when +the Etheling suddenly appeared. + +His manner struck us all. He looked wild and agitated, and his first +words cast a chill over us. + +"Where is Alfgar?" + +"Is he not with you, what has happened?" said I and Herstan, speaking +in the same breath. + +"No, I have lost him. I had hoped to find him here; they must have +murdered him," he cried. + +"Murdered him?" + +"Yes, he was too dangerous to Edric to be suffered to live. I might +have foreseen it; and they have put him out of the way by cowardly +assassination," insisted the Etheling. + +There was too much reason in his words. + +"Besides," said he, "if he were well and uninjured, would he not have +come here, where he was sure of a welcome?" + +"I will go to Dorchester at once," said Herstan. + +"It is useless," said Edmund; but my brother, having learnt all that +the prince could tell him, mounted and rode into the town. + +Meanwhile Edmund evidently needed our care; we found he had not eaten +all day. + +"I have risked my life for my country," he said, "and now that I bring +tidings which ought to circulate through the land like the wind, and +rouse every man to action, I am disbelieved. Nay, it is hinted that I +drank too much Danish wine and mead, and misunderstood what I heard. I +could brain the man who dared say so to my face. I could--and would. +Meanwhile no steps are taken, no levies called out; but I will myself +alarm the country. The innocent blood shall not be on my head." + +"Surely they must heed your warning," said we all together. + +"Not they. The fox, Edric, pretended that it was all moonshine." + +"But did you not expose his treachery?" asked I. + +"I tried to do so; but he pulled out a bit of some hedge, which he +said was a holy thorn from St. Joseph's tree at Glastonbury, and that +he was there on pilgrimage when Alfgar saw him--saw him, mark you--at +the Danish camp on the borders of Sussex; and I saw men, I won't +mention names, who had more than once taken reward to slay the +innocent, look as if they would go down on their knees to this holy +thorn, which wasn't a holy thorn at all, but plucked from some hedge +hard at hand. Did not Edric mock them in his heart! I should like to +strangle him." + +How I thought of those who tithed mint and rue, and all manner of +herbs, and passed over justice, mercy, and the love of God. + +So, in unavailing complaints, midnight drew on, and we heard the sound +of my brother's horse. + +He soon entered the room. We saw at a glance that he had laboured in +vain, and spent his strength for nought. + +"No one has seen him," he said. + +"Have you asked many people?" we inquired. + +"Yes, scores. The sheriff, the bishop, the watchmen, the +tradesfolk--no one has seen or heard aught. I will go again tomorrow." + +"Meanwhile, do the people know what passed at the banquet last night?" + +"No; it has all been kept quiet," was the reply. + +We could do no more, and all retired to rest. I have sat up to say my +mattins and finish this diary. It is now nearly the third hour of the +morn, and-- + +Monday Night, 23d Nov. 1006.-- + +I had written as far as the word "and," when I was alarmed by a loud +cry from the chamber next my own, which was occupied by the Etheling. +I rose, and knocked at the door, but, receiving no answer, opened it +and went in. + +I saw at once that the prince was delirious; the fever, which I had +marked in his eyes and manner, but which he struggled against, had at +length overcome his brave spirit. + +Just as I entered the room, bearing my torch, he sprang out of bed. + +"There is a snake under my pillow." + +I tried to soothe him. + +"It is Edric; he is turned into a snake, and is trying to sting me. +Kill him! kill him!" + +I got him into bed with some difficulty, and sat by him, after giving +him a composing draught--for I never travel without a few simples at +hand, in case of sickness amongst those to whom I minister. + +He slept at last, but it was evident to me that exposure and +excitement had grievously injured his health, and that he was in +danger of prolonged sickness. Ever and anon he raved in his sleep +about Sweyn, Edric, his father, and Alfgar, mixing them up in his mind +most strangely: but the object of his abhorrence was ever Edric, while +he spoke of Alfgar, "poor Alfgar!" as a father might speak of a son. + +I watched by him all through the night, and in the morning he was +evidently too ill to rise. His mind became clear for a short time, and +yet his memory was so confused that he scarcely comprehended where he +was, or how he got here. + +So my return to Abingdon is indefinitely delayed, for Herstan and my +sister both insist on my staying till he is out of danger, if God +will; and indeed I know no one else to whose care I could willingly +commit him. + +We think it best not to let his father or Edric know where he is, for +we know how his death would rejoice the latter, and the wish is often +father to the action. A little would turn the scale now. + +Herstan has gone into Dorchester again to inquire about Alfgar, and to +ascertain whether any action has been taken consequent upon Edmund's +intelligence from Carisbrooke. + +Saturday.--Vigil of St. Andrew, and Eve of Advent Sunday.-- + +All this week I have been watching by the sickbed of the Etheling. + +I hope the crisis is past, but he is still very weak. He has been +delirious nearly the whole time, and today has but a confused idea of +things around him. + +All our inquiries about Alfgar have been fruitless, but there was one +circumstance which we learned, which seemed to me to bear some +reference to the matter. + +The ferryman, whose hut is situate at the bend of the river below the +Synodune hills, where people cross for Wittenham, says that late on +the night in question a boat with four people passed down the river, +and that it struck him that one only rowed, while two of the rest +seemed guarding the fourth passenger. He did not know the boat, yet he +thought he knew every boat on the river. + +This he has told to Herstan and others, but no further discovery has +ensued. + +But another important matter has claimed our attention. The king left +on Monday without making any efforts to profit by the Etheling's +discovery at Carisbrooke; but we could not in conscience let the +matter rest. So Herstan and I went on to Dorchester on Wednesday, and +I obtained an audience of the bishop, while he sought the sheriff. + +The bishop received me very kindly, and talked to me a great deal a +bout the happy days of Dunstan, when peace and plenty ruled +everywhere; but I led the conversation to the point I aimed at, and +told him frankly how alarmed we were at Abingdon about Edmund's +tidings. + +"And so was I," said he, "and I have persuaded the king to place +guards and watchers all through the coasts opposite the Wight, and +with Edric's aid we elaborated a goodly plan." + +"Indeed," said I, "but I wish Edric had nought to do with it." + +"So did I at first, but I feel convinced that the young Dane who +vanished so suspiciously must have deceived the prince concerning the +presence of Edric in the Danish camp, and that we have no sufficient +reason for thinking him such a child of hell as he would be could he +betray his country thus cruelly. It would be Satanic wickedness. He +is, I believe, a bad and untrustworthy man, but not quite so bad as +all that." + +I tried to explain my reasons for being of a contrary opinion, and +asked what was the plan. + +"Advanced guards have been placed all along the coasts of Hampshire, +beacons prepared on every hill, with constant attendants, so that the +Danes would find their coming blazed over the country at once." + +"But if so, what men have we to oppose to them?" + +"The sheriff has promised that the levies shall appear in case of +need." + +"Does he realise the danger?" + +"I hardly think he believes in it; but the beacons will give +sufficient warning." + +"Who has arranged the guards and chosen the sites for the beacons?" + +"Edric, of course, as general of the forces under the king." + +I could say no more--it was useless--but I felt very sick at heart. +After the noon meat I left the palace, and found my brother ready to +depart for home. His interview had been the counterpart of mine. +Neither had he succeeded in convincing the sheriff that there was any +danger to be apprehended. + +Well, all we can do is to prepare ourselves for the worst. I find that +no tidings have been sent by any authority to the men of this estate +to hold themselves in readiness for sudden alarm. I wonder whether the +same remissness prevails elsewhere. No one expects danger. The Danes, +they say, never fight in winter. + +Advent Sunday, 1006.-- + +My patient was able to sit up for a short time today, but his weakness +is very pitiable to behold, and he dares not leave his room. He +inquired very earnestly after Alfgar, and I found great difficulty in +persuading him to commit the matter to God, which is all that we can +do; for although the river has been dragged, the country searched, no +tidings have yet been obtained, and we can only believe that the poor +lad has been secretly murdered and buried, or that he has been sent +away out of the country. + +"I had a strange dream about him," said Edmund. "I thought that it was +midnight of Christmas Eve, and that I was attending mass, when, just +as the words were sung by the choir, 'Pax in terra,' the scene +suddenly changed, and I stood in the dark on the chalk hills which +overlook the Solent; by my side was a beacon ready laid for firing. I +thought next I saw the Solent covered with the warships of the Danes, +who were advancing towards the English shore, and that I tried to fire +the beacon, but all in vain, for the wood was wet through, and would +not burn. + +"Then I had a strange sense of woe and desolation, for my country was +in danger, and I could not even warn her. All at once I heard steps +rushing towards me, and Alfgar appeared bearing a lighted torch. He +thrust it into the pile, and it fired at once. Other beacon fires +answered it, and the country was aroused. Then I awoke." + +Saturday, December 5th, 1006.-- + +The week has again been spent mainly at Clifton. The prince is better, +but only able to rise a few hours each day, and I fear a relapse would +be fatal. + +On Wednesday I visited Abingdon, and had a long conference with the +abbot about the neglected warning Edmund had given; but he seemed to +think that the beacon fires and the guards placed near the sea coast +secure us sufficiently. Like all the world, he thinks that the +Etheling has exaggerated the danger. + +I have written a full account of all things to my brother at +Aescendune. Father Adhelm is still there ministering to the flock. + +Saturday, December 12th, 1006.-- + +The week has passed monotonously enough. The Etheling is now able to +leave his room, but the stormy weather, with its torrents of rain, +makes it impossible for him to leave the house. The river has +overflowed its banks; all the country around is like a lake. We +console him by telling him that all has been done which is possible, +both to warn the people and learn the fate of Alfgar. He tries to look +contented, but if he knew how little has really been done, and that +that little has been in Edric's hands, he would not be so contented. + +Saturday, December 19th, 1006.-- + +A very severe frost has set in this week, and there has been much +snow; the whole country is decked in her winter braveries for +Christmas. O that it may pass in peace, as the birthday of the Prince +of Peace should pass! + +I intend to spend it at Clifton, after which I shall return to my +flock at Aescendune. + +Edmund has been out today, but the sharp air hurt his lungs, which +have been grievously inflamed, and he was forced to return early. + +He has been so patient for one of his temperament, so grateful for +attention shown him, one would hardly think the lion could be such a +lamb. He intends to receive the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and +Blood of Christ on Christmas day in the little church of St. Michael +here, and then he will leave for London in the course of the week. + +We have heard nothing of Alfgar--we fear there is no hope; but the +prince clings to it, and says his dream will come true, and that +Alfgar has yet a great work to do. + +Christmas Eve, 1006.-- + +O happy happy Christmastide! All griefs seem hushed and all joys +sanctified by the blessed mystery of the Incarnation. O that Mary's +blessed Son, the Prince of Peace, may indeed bring us peace on earth, +and good will towards men! + +The weather is beautiful. The stars shine as brightly tonight as if +they were the lights about His throne; the very earth has decked +herself in her clear and spotless robe of snow in His honour. As for +the dear ones who were with us last Christmas--Bertric, Alfgar (for I +fear he is gone where I hope he keeps a happier Christmas)--they have +left the heart less lonely, for if we miss them on earth they seem to +attract us to heaven, which is yet more like home when we think of the +loved and the lost who await us there. + +We sing a midnight mass in an hour in the little church, another +tomorrow at dawn, a third in the full daylight. All the good people +here will communicate, and the evening will be given up to such +merrymaking as is befitting amongst Christians. All the ceorls and +serfs will be at the Hall, and the prince will share the +entertainment. Herstan and Bertha have been very busy preparing for +it, as also their children, Hermann, Ostryth, and Aelfleda. + +But I must go and assist in decking the church for the midnight +festivity. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS. + + +Alfgar had completely lost the reckoning of times and days since his +imprisonment, but he felt that weeks must have passed away, and that +the critical period foretold by Edmund must be near, so he listened +anxiously for any intelligence from the world without. + +At last the weather became very cold, and being without a fire, his +sufferings were great, until his ferocious gaoler, finding him quite +stiffened, brought up a brazier of coals, which saved his prisoner's +life, while it filled the room with smoke, which could only escape by +the crevices in walls and roof, for to open a window would have been +as bad as to dispense with the fire, such was the state of the outer +air. + +It was what we call an old-fashioned Christmas, in all its glory and +severity--a thing easy enough to bear, nay to enjoy, when men have +warm fires and plenty of food, but hard enough to endure where these +are absent. + +At last Alfgar could but conclude it was Christmastide, for Higbald +was joined by two comrades, and they sang and rioted below in a way +which showed that they had got plenty of intoxicating drink, and were +making free with it. + +In the evening of the day Higbald brought him up his supper, +staggering as he did so, and with it he brought in a bowl of hot mead. + +"Drink," he said, "and drown care. It is Yuletide, and drink thou must +and shalt." + +Alfgar drank moderately, for sooth to say it was invigorating and +welcome that cold day, but Higbald finished the bowl then and there, +and then staggering down, drew the outer bolt in such a way that it +missed the staple, which fact he was too drunk to perceive. + +Alfgar watched the action with eager eyes. It was the first time there +had been even a chance of escape. + +Meanwhile the evening sped by; and the noisy crew below quarrelled and +sang, drank and shouted, while the bright moonlight--brighter as it +was reflected from the snow of that December night--stole over the +scene. + +Not till then did Alfgar pass silently through the open door, and +listen at the head of the staircase. Before him was the outer door, +the key in the lock. The question was--Could he reach it unobserved by +men or mastiff? + +Liberty was worth the attempt. He descended the stairs softly. At the +bottom he looked around. The door was fastened which led into the +large hall where the gaolers were drinking. He advanced to the outer +portal, when he heard the growl of the dog from behind the inner door. + +The moment was critical. Evidently his masters did not comprehend the +action of the too faithful brute, for they cursed and swore at it. +Even then it growled, and the drunken fools--drunken they must have +been indeed--threw some heavy missile at it, which caused it to yelp +and cease its growling. + +Just then something flashed in the ray of moonlight which stole in +through an aperture over the door. + +It was a sharp double-edged sword. + +He grasped it with eagerness. It was now a case of liberty or death. +He knew how to wield it full well. + +Stealthily he turned the key and the door stood open. Still his +captors sang, and he caught the words: + +"When we cannot get blood we can drink the red wine, +The Sea King sang in his might; +For it maddens the brain, it gives strength to the arm, +And kindles the soul in the fight." + +Now he was on the outer side of the door, and he shut it, and then +locked it and tossed the key into the snow. + +But which way was he to go? He could not make out the locality, but it +was evident that the hill rose above him, and he knew that from its +summit he could discern the bearings of places, so he resolved to +ascend. + +It was now about nine at night, an hour when our ancestors generally +retired to rest. All Alfgar's desire and hope--O how joyful a +hope!--was to see from the hill the bearings of Clifton, and to +descend, with all the speed in his power, towards it. He might arrive +before they had retired to rest. So he ran eagerly forward. The moon +was bright, and the snow reflected so much light that locomotion was +easy. + +And now he became conscious that there was a strange gleam along the +snow on his left hand--a strange red gleam, which grew stronger and +stronger as he advanced. It seemed above and below--to redden the +skies, the frozen treetops with their glittering snow wreaths, and the +smooth surface beneath alike. + +Redder and redder as he ascended, until he suddenly emerged upon the +open hill. Before him were earthworks, which had been thrown up in +olden wars, before Englishman or Dane had trodden these coasts. He +scrambled into a deep hollow filled with snow, then out again, and up +to the summit, when he saw the cause of the illumination. + +Before him the whole country to the southeast seemed in flames. +Village after village gave forth its baleful light; and even while he +gazed the fiery flood burst forth in spots hitherto dark. He stood as +one transfixed, until the wind brought with it a strange and fearful +cry, as if the exultation of fiends were mingled with the despairing +cry of perishing human beings. + +He knew whence it came by the red light slowly stealing beyond the +next hill, and the fiery tongues of flame which rose heavenward, +although the houses were hidden by the ground. + +It was from Wallingford, a town three miles below Dorchester. He knew, +too, where he was himself; and the one impulse which rushed upon him +was to hasten to Clifton, where he trusted he might find Edmund, or, +at least, hear of him in this dread emergency. He saw the village +lying beneath in the distance, and turned to rush downward, entering +the wood in a different direction. + +But what sound is that which makes him start and pause? + +It is the bay of the mastiff. He is pursued. He clasps his sword with +desperate tenacity, in which a foe might read his doom, and rushes on, +crushing through the brushwood. + +Again the bay of the hound. + +Onward, onward, he tramples through bush and bramble, until he sees +his progress suddenly arrested by the dark-flowing river. + +He coasts along its banks, keeping up stream. The bay of the dog seems +close at hand, and the trampling of human feet accompanies it. + +All at once he comes upon a road descending to the brink, and sees a +ferry boat at the foot of the descent. He rushes towards it and +enters. The pole is in the boat. He unlooses the chain, but with +difficulty, and precious moments are lost. He hears the panting of the +ferocious beast just as he pushes the boat, with vigorous thrust, out +into the stream. + +The dog, followed closely by the men, is on the bank. The men curse +and swear, but the dog plunges into the chilly stream, which, being +swollen, has too rapid a current to freeze. Alfgar sees the brute +swimming after the boat; he ceases to use the pole, but takes his +sword, kneels on the stern of the boat, and waits for the mastiff. It +gains the boat, and tries to mount, when the keen steel is driven +between the forepaws to its very heart. One loud howl, and it floats +down the stream, dyeing the waters with its life-blood. + +"Cursed Dane!" shouts Higbald. "thou shalt pay with thy own life +blood." + +"When you catch me; and even then you must fight for it. Meanwhile, if +you be an Englishman, warn the good people of Dorchester that the +Danes are upon them. Your Edric has betrayed them." + +Reaching the other shore, Alfgar finds smooth meadows all covered with +snow. He knows his way now. A little higher up he strikes the main +road which leads to Clifton, and rushes on past field and grove, past +hedgerow and forest. Behind him the heavens are growing angry with +lurid light, before him the earth lies in stillness and silence; the +moonbeams slumbering on placid river, glittering on frozen pool, or +silvering happy homesteads--happy hitherto. He sees the lights in the +hall of Herstan yet burning, and casting their reflection abroad. He +is at the foot of the ascent leading up to it. One minute more and-- + +. . . . . . + +Christmas day was almost over when the population of Herstan's village +of Clifton obeyed the summons with alacrity to spend the evening in +the hall in feasting and merriment. They had all duly performed the +religious duties of the day, and had been greatly edified by the +homily of Father Cuthbert at mass; and now innocent mirth was to close +the hallowed day--mirth which they well believed was not alien to the +birthday of Him who once sanctified the marriage festivities at Cana +by His first miracle. + +So thither flocked the young and the old: the wood rangers and hunters +from the forests of Newenham, where Herstan had right of wood cutting; +the men who wove baskets and hurdles of osier work from the river +banks; the theows who cultivated the home farm; the ceorls who rented +a hide of land here and a hide there--all, the grandfather and the +grandson, accepted the invitation to feast. The rich and the poor met +together, for God was the Maker of them all. + +The huge Yule log burnt upon the hearth as it had done since it was +lighted the night before; a profusion of torches turned night into +day; the tables groaned with the weight of the good cheer; in short, +all was there which could express joy and thanksgiving. + +The supper was over; the wild boar roasted whole, the huge joints of +mutton and beef, the made dishes, the various preparations of milk, +had disappeared, the cheerful cup was handed round; after which the +tables were removed, the gleemen sang their Christmas carols, and all +went merry as a "marriage bell." + +Father Cuthbert, seated in a corner near the Yule log, with his +brother-in-law and the Etheling, forgot all his apprehensions, and +shared in the universal joy around him; if his thoughts were sometimes +with those who had once made Christmas bright to him--if he thought +of the bright-haired Bertric, who had been the soul of last Yuletide +festivity at Aescendune, or of the desolated home there, he dismissed +the subject from his mind at once, and suffered no hint to drop which +could dim the mirth of his fellow guests. + +Meanwhile, one of those whom he strove in vain to forget for the time +drew nearer and nearer; a haggard figure, wan and worn by painful +imprisonment, the garments dishevelled, the hair matted, the whole +figure wild with excitement, he drew near the outer gate. + +He heard the song of joy and peace within as he paused one moment +before blowing the horn which hung at the outer gate. + +Peace! Peace! +The whole wide world rejoiceth now, +Let war and discord cease; +Christ reigneth from the manger, +Away with strife and danger; +Our God, before whom angels bow, +Each taught this lesson by his birth, +Good will to men, and peace on earth. +Peace! Peace! +Hark, through the silent air +Angelic songs declare +God comes on earth to dwell +O hear the heavenly chorus swell, +Good will to men, +And on earth, peace. + +He could bear it no longer, the contrast was too painful, he must +break the sweet charm, the hallowed song, for the sky was reddening +yet more luridly behind him, and each moment he expected to see +Dorchester burst forth into flames. O what a Christmas night! + +He blew the horn, and had to blow it again and again before he was +heard. + +At length a solitary serf came to the gate: + +"Who is there?" + +"A messenger for the Etheling; is Prince Edmund with you? I would see +him." + +"All are welcome tonight, but I fear you will find the Etheling +ill-disposed to leave the feast." + +"Let me in." + +Astonished at the tone of the request, the porter reluctantly +complied, first looking around. + +"Why, thou art wild and breathless; is aught amiss?" + +"Step out and look over the hills; what dost thou see?" + +"Why, the heaven is in fire; is it the northern lights?" + +"Southern, you mean; the Danes are upon us." + +Staggered by the tidings, the man no longer opposed his entrance, and +Alfgar staggered into the hall, forgetting that he was come amongst +them like one risen from the dead. + +He entered the hall at first unnoticed, but the merry laughter and +cheerful conversation withered before his presence, as of one who came +to blast it. + +Father Cuthbert and Edmund, amongst others, turned round to see what +caused the lull, and started from their seats as they beheld at the +end of the room Alfgar, his face pale as one risen from the dead, his +black locks hanging dishevelled around his neck, his garments torn, +his whole person disordered. At first they really believed he had +returned from the tomb. + +They hesitated, but for one moment in speechless surprise, then rushed +forward. + +"Alfgar!" cried the Prince. + +"My son!" cried Father Cuthbert, "whence hast thou come? dost thou yet +live?" + +"Father; Prince; I live to warn you--the Danes, the Danes!" and he +sank fainting into the arms of Herstan. + +"Surely he raves," said they all. + +The porter here ventured to speak. + +"My lord, please go to the front of the house and look over the +water." + +Father Cuthbert and Edmund at once left the hall, followed by several +others. + +The mansion was seated on a considerable elevation; below them rolled +the Isis; across the river a couple of miles of flat meadow land lay +between them and the Synodune hills, and beyond the lessening range of +those hills, on the southeast, they looked, and behold the smoke of +the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. FOR HEARTH AND HOME. + + +The inhabitants of Clifton stood on the terrace in front of the hall, +gazing upon the fiery horizon, wrapped in emotions of surprise and +alarm. Living as they did in an unsettled age, and far more prepared +than we should be for such a contingency, yet the sense of the rapid +approach of a cruel and remorseless foe struck terror into many +hearts. + +But they had one amongst them to whom warfare and strife were a second +nature--one in whom the qualities which form the hero were very fully +developed. He gazed with sadness, but without fear, at the coming +storm, and to their late patient the inmates of the hall turned for +advice and aid in their dread emergency. + +"What shall we do?" asked Herstan, gazing with indescribable feelings +at those who clung to him for support. + +"The case is clear as the day," said the prince. "The storm I foretold +in vain has broken over the land, and the levies are not ready to meet +it. Listen; you may hear the sounds of alarm from Dorchester even +here. They see their danger." + +The tolling of the alarm bells, the sound of distant shouts, the +blowing of trumpets rolled in a confused flood of noise across the +intervening space--a distance of between two and three miles--and +manifested the intense alarm of the city, so cruelly aroused from +dreams of peace. + +"But what shall we do?" + +"Defend the place if attacked; it is well adapted for defence. You +have the river on one side, and a cliff no Dane could scale in the +face of our battle-axes; on the other side, your earthworks and +palisades keep the foe at a distance from the main building. How many +able-bodied men are present now?" + +"Happily we have all our force; the feast has brought them all here. +There would be from sixty to seventy men, besides a score of boys." + +"And how are you provided with weapons?" + +"Each man has a battle-axe, and there are scores of spears in the +armoury." + +"And arrows?" + +"Whole sheaves of them; and as good yew bows as were ever bent." + +"Come, we shall do; and now about provisions?" + +"You see we have bounteous fare now, but it would not last many days." + +"Many days we shall not want it--many days? Why, the levies must all +be out within twenty-four hours, and the Danes are not strong enough +to maintain themselves here. It is but a raid; but they might all have +been taken or slain had my father but believed me. As it is, they have +shed much innocent blood by this time." + +"You think, then, our buildings are capable of defence?" + +"Assuredly; it would be madness to sacrifice such a position. If the +Danes are about in the neighbourhood, it would be far more dangerous +to expose your helpless ones without the fortifications. Have you all +your people here, or are there a few sick?" + +"A few sick, only." + +"Let them be sought at once; the heathen will be revelling like fiends +about the country. For the present I think Dorchester and Abingdon +safe. Wallingford, if I may judge by the light over the hills, has +utterly fallen. They were probably taken unawares; and their defences +were never good. Now we must at once to work." + +"Prince, you have more experience of war than I; you will be our +commander." + +"I accept the post. To tell the truth, it will be a treat for me after +the illness and confinement I have gone through; the thought of the +struggle makes me feel myself again." + +And so this strangely constituted man went forth and spoke to the +assembled multitude, who stood passively gazing at the distant +conflagration. + +"Now, Englishmen, a few words to you all. We shall have, I hope, to +fight these Danes; and for the honour of our country must even quit +ourselves like men. Why should not the Englishman be a match for the +Dane? ay, more than a match for the cutthroat heathen? Here we stand +on a rock with our defence secure; and here we will live or die in +defence of our women and children. What say you all?" + +"We will live or die with you." + +"Well said, men. Now, one good hearty cheer; no, stop, I should like +them to be caught in their own traps. I know their plan. If they find +the good people of Dorchester are awake, as the noise shows, they will +swarm all over the neighbourhood like wasps after honey, to plunder +the isolated houses and farms, and carry off all they can; and this +place is too conspicuous--too much of a city on a hill--to be hidden. +Well, we will be ready for them. Now, first of all, we must set our +outposts around to give us due warning of their approach; and then +every man must arm himself as best he can, and let me see what figure +you can all make." + +He was interrupted by a childish voice, and saw Herstan's little son, +a boy of twelve years, touching his garment, and looking at him with +unfeigned admiration. + +"May I not fight the Danes, Prince?" + +"No, you are too young; you must go and take care of your mother and +sisters." + +"I don't want to be shut up with the women. I have killed a wolf. I +shot him with my bow in Newenham wood." + +"Well, we will see by and by, my brave boy. We shall have work for +all; go and arm with the rest. + +"Well, Alfgar?" + +"Let my post be near you." + +"You will fight in this quarrel, then?" + +"Yes; to save Christian blood." + +"Then I adopt you as an Englishman--Dane no longer. I know your +courage and coolness, and will employ it where it is wanted. Now, you +know the place; come and place the outposts where they can retire +easily." + +The small sally port, as it would have been called in later times, was +opened, and two men were in each case posted together all round the +building, under cover of trees, at convenient distances. The trees +immediately around the house had been cut down a few weeks earlier, by +order of Herstan, who saw they might afford cover to an enemy, in case +the prince's prophecies were fulfilled, as proved now to be the case. + +The building was large and irregular, and had been added to at various +times, the hall, looking over the river, forming its most conspicuous +portion; but it had not originally been built for purposes of defence, +and could not have endured the Danish assault for a moment, but for +external defences, utterly independent of the building, which had been +recently added; a mound, surmounted by crossed palisades, skilfully +strengthened by osier bands, and a deep outer ditch, now full of snow, +surrounded the building on three sides. The fourth was defended by the +river, which, being full owing to the late rains, rushed impetuously +along below. + +"Alfgar," said Edmund, "ask Father Cuthbert to see that all the +helpless ones--women and children--are safely shut up in an inner +apartment, where no Danish arrow can find them." + +This was accomplished, and Father Cuthbert cheered them all with his +calm placid manner; reassuring this one and cheering that, seeming +quite insensible to fear himself: one moment all sympathy, then all +brightness, his presence was invaluable in the crisis. + +"And now," said Edmund, "to the stables; the horses and cattle must be +turned loose tonight, or the Danes will burn them in their barns and +sheds." + +The farm buildings lay some little distance without, and the Etheling +and Alfgar, with two or three farm servants, carried out the task +hastily but effectually. Duties were meanwhile assigned to all the +able-bodied women and boys: some provided buckets and ladders, that, +in case the Danes attempted to kindle a flame, they might attempt in +vain; others tore up lint and prepared bandages for the wounded, while +others passed into the upper apartments to see that no lights remained +which could direct the aim of the foe. + +The night had somewhat changed its character while all these things +were going on; clouds obscured the moon, and light flakes of snow +commenced to fall. The wind began to moan, as if a storm were at hand. + +Alfgar visited the outposts while Edmund assigned their several +stations to the men, who were now armed in readiness for the defence. +When the former reached the post on the river's bank lower down, he +saw that the sentinel had thrown himself ear to the earth, and was +listening intently; he imitated his example. + +A deep dull sound from the distance was heard, and Alfgar recognised +the tread of an approaching host. + +"Let us withdraw," he said. + +They fell back quietly; Alfgar, passing rapidly round, warned all the +other sentinels, and when all had entered, the gates were closed; all +was done in profound silence. + +Then Edmund caused the men to fit their arrows to the string, and to +lie upon the inward slope of the earthworks, so as to be invisible; he +placed all the rest of the men at the windows and loopholes of the +building. Similarly prepared, Edmund, with Alfgar and young Hermann by +his side, waited at the window commanding the gateway, when the Lady +Bertha came up to them. + +"Has not Father Cuthbert returned?" + +"Returned?" + +"Yes, he went to the church to bring in the sacred vessels and +vestments." + +Alfgar rose instantly. + +"I will go and seek him," he cried. + +"Then pass out by the postern gate, on the angle nearest the church; I +fear the danger is great, but he must be told that the foe is near, or +he may fall into their hands." + +Alfgar left the hall and passed to an angle of the defences where a +little gate led out towards the church; the bridge had been removed, +and he had absolutely to descend into the ditch amongst the deep snow. + +Emerging, he crossed the burial yard, and found the good father +returning heavily laden with the precious vessels and other objects he +had been able to save. + +"Father," he said; "the enemy is near." + +"Indeed! so soon?" + +"We must enter by the postern gate." + +"I could hardly cross the snow burdened as I am; is it unsafe to try +the other gate? I hear no sound, see no symptom of danger." + +They paused; all was so quiet that Alfgar yielded, and they passed +round the mansion. The drawbridge was up, and no danger seemed near; +the trees were in deep shadow, for the clouds, obscuring the moon, +made the night very dark. + +Alfgar gave the signal, and the drawbridge was lowered; but they had +scarcely set foot upon it when dark figures rushed from the shadows +behind them. The bridge, which they both had passed, was actually +rising, when the foremost Dane leapt upon it, but was rewarded by a +blow from the battle-axe of Alfgar, which sent him tumbling into the +snow; two or three others leapt forward and clung to the edge of the +bridge, but fell into the ditch like the first; the two fugitives +entered, and the gate was closed. + +Then the awful war cry of the Danes arose from earth to heaven, +chilling the very blood and, disdaining all further concealment, the +murderous warriors rushed forward, doubtless expecting to find the +place almost undefended, and to carry the defences at a rush. + +But they were soon fatally undeceived, for so perfect had been +Edmund's arrangements, that a storm of arrows burst from all parts of +the building and embankment, laying nearly half the assailants dying +or wounded on the ground. + +Still the survivors threw themselves into the ditch, and strove in +vain to pass the palisades, which projected over their heads, and +which were vigorously defended by spear and battle-axe. + +But in one place a gigantic warrior succeeded in hewing an aperture +with his axe, wielded by giant strength, and all might have been lost +had not Edmund perceived it, and rushed to its defence, collecting by +his shout half-a-dozen followers. Several Danes strove to pass the +breach; one was already through, and Edmund attacked him; meanwhile +two others had crept through, but were cut off from their fellows, for +the English rallied in front and presented an impenetrable barrier +with their spears, while from the windows above the arrows rained upon +the assailants. + +Edmund's axe had found its victim; Herstan, who was by his side, had +engaged and wounded the second; and, meanwhile, Alfgar, who was +glaring about him for a foe, discovered the third, whose aspects and +form were at once recognised by him. + +"What! you, Higbald!" he cried. + +"You shall escape no more," cried his late gaoler, and brought his axe +down with a mighty rush. Alfgar leapt nimbly aside, and before his +bulky but clumsy antagonist could recover his guard, passed his keen +sword beneath the left arm, through the body, and the giant staggered +and fell, a bloody foam rising to his lips, as he quivered in the +agonies of death. + +All was again silent. The Danes, discomfited for the moment, having +lost half their number, had retired, probably waiting for +reinforcements, and the victor addressed Edmund. + +"Look," he cried; "this man is a servant of Edric Streorn." + +"Is it true, fellow?" said Edmund sternly. + +"What if it is? I am dying now, and it cannot matter to me." + +The last words were interrupted by a convulsive struggle. + +"Art thou an Englishman or a Dane?" said the Etheling, bending over +the dying ruffian in his anxiety to learn the whole truth. + +"What is that to thee?" + +"Much, if thou wouldst escape death." + +"Escape death! I cannot. Neither wilt thou escape Edric Streorn, and I +shall not die unavenged. Ah! young springal, thou wilt not escape +again. To think that thy puny hand should give Higbald his death blow! +Ah, I am choked!" + +Alfgar's sword had pierced his lungs, and a gush of blood rushing to +the mouth stopped the breath of Higbald for ever. + +"I have brought the foe upon you. We are tracked," said Alfgar. "Edric +and the Danes are in alliance." + +"But they have not taken this place yet; neither shall they, by God's +help! Ha! was that lightning? Nay, it is winter." + +A sudden burst of fiery light illuminated the scene, and the defenders +looked forth, in spite of their danger, from their fortifications. The +little church of St. Michael burst forth into billowing eddies of +smoke and flame. + +"This is a grievous sight, to see the place we had dedicated to God +destroyed by the bloody heathen. O that He would stretch forth His +hand as in the days of old!" + +"Would I had but two hundred men; I would fall upon the villains in +the rear, and leave not one," said Edmund. + +"Look--the farm buildings!" cried little Hermann. + +"The poor horses and oxen!" cried the Lady Bertha. + +"They are safe," said Edmund. "You may hear the trampling of hoofs +even now. The fools of Danes are hunting them in all directions. I do +not think they will catch many." + +Lights appeared in two or three places, and soon it became evident +that the ruthless foe had gained their object, as the barns and +stables lit up in all directions, and the manor house was surrounded +by the double conflagration, so that every object was as distinctly +visible as in open daylight. + +"To your buckets! Pour water upon the roof; and, archers, look out for +the enemy; keep him as far off as you can." + +The boys and women were speedily on the roof pouring water in all +directions, in case the wind should deposit the burning brands upon +the structure. Meanwhile flights of arrows came from the distance, and +settled around them; but they were spent before arrival in most cases, +for the defenders kept the ground clear for a large circle around by +their well-sustained discharges. Not a few dead bodies lying in the +glare of the fire testified to their deadly skill. + +The flames passed from stable to barn, and barn to shed. The +triumphant cries of the Danes added to the horror of the scene, heard +as they were amidst the continuous roaring of the flames. Crash, +crash, went roof after roof, the fall of the little church on the +opposite side first leading the awful chorus. Life seemed the penalty +of either Englishman or Dane who dared to trust his person within the +circle of light. + +The Lady Bertha was comforting her two little girls, Ostryth and +Alfreda, where they sat, cowering and terrified, in their own little +bedchamber, the window so barricaded that no arrow could enter, but +yet not sufficiently to keep out the glare of the flames. + +"Mother, how light it is!" said the little Ostryth; "how dreadfully +bright!" + +"It will soon be darker again." + +"But is it fire? Are they burning the house?" + +"No, dearest. They have set the farm on fire. It cannot hurt us." + +"But the horses, and my poor little pony?" + +"Are safe, dearest one. The Etheling went and let them all loose." + +"Oh! how good of him. I am so glad." + +"Mother, let Hermann come and sit with us!" + +"Nay, he will out to the fight. He is a boy, and must learn to be a +soldier." + +"Oh, but he will get hurt, perhaps killed." + +"Courage, dear child; remember how often I have told you how God helps +those who trust in Him. Say your prayers, your Pater and Credo, and +ask God to take care of dear father and Hermann." + +"Mother!" said a voice. She locked up and saw Hermann, his forehead +covered with blood. + +"It is nothing, mother," said the spirited lad, as he wiped the blood +away; "at least only the scratch of an arrow while I was on the roof. +Father wishes you to send all the women who are strong enough to help +to carry water from the river. The well is dry, and the men cannot be +spared from the embankment. We expect another attack, and there are +great patches of blazing straw flying about in the wind." + +She spoke a few words to the women, and all but two or three, who were +too weak or ill, went forth to the work. One kiss she imprinted +eagerly on his brow, and dismissed him back to his perilous task +without allowing herself one sigh. + +"Now, dear ones," she said to the little girls, "keep quiet till +mother comes back. I must go." + +"O mother, do not leave us!" + +But she could not listen to the earnest pleadings, for she felt that +where other women exposed themselves, she too must go, and cheer by +her example. + +A long line, reaching to the brink of the river, was soon formed, and +buckets were being passed from hand to hand. A loud cry, and a boy in +the line fell from an arrow, which retained just sufficient strength +to pierce his heart. Herstan and Father Cuthbert carried the corpse +reverently within, the father remembering that but that morning he had +fed with the Bread of Life, at the altar of St. Michael, this poor +lad, so soon to be called to meet the Judge who had entertained him as +a guest at His holy Table that Christmas morn. Two or three others +were soon wounded, but not seriously, and when a supply of water ready +for all emergencies had been collected on the roof, the dangerous duty +was over. + +Pale and collected, the Lady Bertha was returning to her children, +when she passed the corpse. One moment, and the thought struck her +that it was Hermann, and the mother's heart gave a great leap. +Tremblingly she put aside the cloth with which they had veiled it, and +was undeceived. Repressing her feelings, she was again by the side of +her little girls, when the fearful cries of the assailants once more +rang through the air. + +"Stand to your post! Quit yourselves like men! Be firm!" shouted the +stentorian voice of Edmund. + +Onward came the Danes, in three parties, to attack the three sides of +the building. The arrows diminished their numbers, but stayed them +not. They left a struggling dark line upon the ground, but the wounded +had to care for themselves. Edmund rushed to command the defence at +the gate, leaving Alfgar to superintend that upon the right hand, and +Herstan on the left. They had but one moment, and they were in the +thick of the conflict. + +Shouts mingled with shrieks. Sword, battle-axe, and spear did their +deadly work through and above the palisade; arrows rained down from +the roof and windows on the assailants, women and boys doing their +part in that manner, while the men did theirs with battle-axe and +sword on the bulwarks. In one or two places the palisade threatened to +give way, and at last three or four stakes were dragged out in one +spot, blow after blow of the axe was spent upon the yielding fabric, +and a breach was effected. + +The Etheling perceived it, and rushed to the scene just as two or +three of the English, less used to arms, were yielding before the +ponderous weapons of the Danes. Throwing himself into the breach, his +practised arm made a desert around him. Of immense muscular strength, +his blows came down like the fabled hammer of Thor, crushing helmet +and breastplate alike before the well-tempered steel of his favourite +weapon. The foe were driven back, and for one moment he stood in the +breach alone. + +Then and then only was he recognised. + +"The gleeman! the false gleeman the Etheling Edmund!" in various +energetic cries, attested his fame, and the hatred of his foes. + +"Yes, dogs, ye know me, and the prize ye have to win. Back, drunkards +and cannibals, back to your royal parricide with the gleeman's +greetings, and tell him Hela is waiting for him and his friend the +accursed Edric." + +A shower of arrows was the only answer, but they missed the joints, +and rattled harmlessly from the well-tempered armour which Edmund +wore. Still the position was critical, and Alfgar, with gentle +violence, persuaded him to descend from his perilous position. + +Here the attack was foiled, and foiled so decidedly, that the ditch +was actually half filled with corpses. Cries of distress arose from +the opposite side, but Edmund's arm restored the balance there, so +great was the influence of one man, and so great the power of physical +force in the desperate conflicts of that day. + +Foiled at every point, the invaders were driven from the embankment. +It was evident that they had miscalculated the forces of the +defenders, and that they had advanced beyond their main body in +insufficient strength to take the place by assault. Could they have +supplied the place of the fallen by fresh men, until they had wearied +the defenders out, they would have succeeded, but they were evidently +not in strength to do this so they slowly yielded, until the deadly +struggle ceased, and silence resumed her empire, while the besieged +repaired the damage the defences had sustained. + +"They have retired," said Herstan, wiping the sweat from his brow and +the blood from his axe. + +"Ay," said Edmund, "they will not now take the place by assault--they +are not more than two to one, considering the losses they have +sustained. They have lost twice as many as we. If we were a little +stronger I would head a sally. + +"Ah! what was that?" + +A globe of fire traversing the arc of a circle, rose from beyond the +embers of the barns, and, sailing through the air, fell upon the roof, +which, owing to the intense heat from the conflagration which had +raged around, was in a very dry and inflammable state. Another, then +another followed, and Edmund cried aloud: + +"Pass up the water to the roof, to the roof. We shall need all our +hands now!" + +He rushed up himself, but charged Herstan to remain below, and see +that, whatever happened, the defences were not forsaken for one +moment. + +The defenders on the roof were prompt with their remedy; and no sooner +did a flaming brand arrive than it was extinguished, provided it fell +in a spot easy of access. But at length some of the deadly missiles +fell where they could not be immediately reached, and one of these +eluded the observation of the besieged until they saw a sheet of flame +curl over the eaves beneath the roof, and play upon the surface of the +huge beams above, until they suddenly started into flame. Water was +dashed upon it, but only partially extinguished the destroying +element, which broke out in fresh places until the defenders became +desperate. And now flight after flight of arrows fell amongst them, +and many wounds were received, while the smoke and flame seemed to +find fresh fuel each moment, and to need all the energies of the +English. + +It was at this inauspicious moment that the Danes charged the +palisades again with deadly fury, while the attention of all was drawn +to the flames; so fierce was the attack, that it was necessary once +more to concentrate all the strength of the besieged to repel them; +and the fire gained in strength, roared and hissed in its fury, +seizing for its prey the whole roof of the eastern wing of the +building. + +And now the Danish archers, drawing nearer, sent fresh flights of +arrows on those who were labouring on the house top, and, killing +several, drove the others away. The condition of the English was +rapidly getting desperate. + +Edmund threw himself into the strife, and drove the foe back from the +breach they had previously made, but even his valour could not restore +confidence. + +"All is lost! all is lost!" cried some panic-stricken trembler, as he +saw the flames spread. + +"To the river, to the river, to the boats!" cried others. + +"Nay, nay," shouted Edmund, "we are not conquered yet; we can defend +ourselves till daylight, or we can depart in order. Alfgar, bid the +women and children prepare to leave the hall as the fire spreads; and +you, Herstan, see that if the worst comes to the worst, the retreat to +the river is made in order. We will defend the place if necessary till +the last man, and cover your retreat; but all is not lost yet. Take a +dozen stout men, mount the roof, the fire is not lower down; let them +destroy the burning portion with their axes; let the women stand +behind with the water. + +"Archers, keep the Danes back. See those brutes there aiming at your +wives on the roof; bring them down; make them keep their distance. +Guard well the palisades." + +But, although his orders were obeyed, the Danes grew bolder; the men +could not work on the roof in the midst of the arrows. The women and +children, emerging terror-struck from the hall, made every father's +heart sink within him. + +Edmund cried aloud: + +"To the gate, to the gate! the villains have got the drawbridge down." + +He rushed to the spot himself, and found that some adventurous Dane +had severed the chains and lowered the bridge in the momentary +confusion of its defenders, and the gate was yielding before their +strokes. + +He arrived; and that moment the gate fell. He stood in the breach +himself; one man against a dozen. He did all a hero could; but he was +already bleeding. Alfgar, ever faithful, fought like a lion by his +side. Herstan and his bravest warriors brought their aid, but all +seemed lost. + +"Tell them to retreat to the river. + +"Herstan, conduct the retreat; Alfgar and I can keep them out for five +minutes more." + +"All is lost! all is lost!" the cry arose within. + +"No; saved! saved!" cried Father Cuthbert from the roof. "What! +Englishmen, to the rescue! to the rescue!" + +The Danes suddenly wavered, then turned in surprise and despair; for +from the darkness behind emerged the forms of hundreds of Englishmen, +who fell upon the Danes. The levies were out, and only just in time. + +"One charge!" said Edmund; and, rushing forward, led the way into the +heart of the foe. + +. . . . . . + +The Danes who had attacked the house of Herstan were so far in advance +of their countrymen that they were forced to retreat instantly before +the superior force which came to the rescue of the besieged; and they +fell back, at first in some order, but shortly, owing to the darkness +and the pressure of their foes, in utter confusion. + +But Edmund could pursue them no longer. His strength, having been so +lately an invalid, was utterly gone. He fell from sheer exhaustion, +and was borne back by Alfgar to the hall. + +But there was no longer need for his protection. He had saved the +mansion and all its inmates, as they most readily owned. And now he +received all the loving care and attention he deserved. + +Meanwhile the English continued the pursuit until a small remnant of +Danes repassed the river; only a small remnant of the party which, as +it will be easily guessed, instigated by Edric, had sallied forth to +besiege the place where Edmund had found refuge, who had so recently +provoked the bitter hostility of Sweyn. + +The following day the whole army of the Danes retreated from the ruins +of Wallingford towards the south; and the next day encamped in the +village of Cholsey, which, with its priory, they utterly destroyed. +Then they continued their retreat along the slope of the downs, by +Aston, until they reached Cuckamsley hill, where they abode as a +daring boast; for it had been said that if they ever reached that spot +they should never see the sea again. Alas! the prediction was +unfulfilled {xii}. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + +In the Aescendune Woods, Easter Tide, 1007.-- + +Here I am at home, if I may call these woods home, once more, having +spent my Lent with my brethren in the monastery of Abingdon. We are a +very large party: Herstan and all his family are here, the Etheling +Edmund, and Alfgar. + +We all travelled together from Abingdon. Passing through Oxen ford, +Kirtlington (where Bishop Sidesman of Crediton died at the Great +Council, whose body is buried in the abbey), Beranbyrig, and Warwick, +we reached the domains of Aescendune. + +We passed through the desolated village where lie the blackened ruins +of priory and hall, not without a sigh, and entered the forest. +Although I had so recently travelled by that path (in September last), +yet I could hardly find my way, and had once or twice like to have +lost the party in quagmires. So much the better; for if we can hardly +escape such impediments, I do not think we need fear that the Danes +will find their way through the swamps and brakes. + +But the woods were so fresh and delightful to men like ourselves, who +have but just escaped from the confinement of the town. Blessed, +thrice blessed, are they who dwell in the woods, God's first temples, +apart from strife and the turmoil of arms! + +So spake I to my companions. The while the birds from each tree and +bush chanted their Maker's praise, and the sweet fresh green of +springtide enlivened the scene, as if to welcome us pilgrims to our +home. + +"And not less, father," said the Etheling, "need we be grateful for +yon fat buck, which I mean to send an arrow after. See, we have the +wind of him." + +So speaking, while we all stood motionless, he crept near his victim, +and drawing an arrow to its head, while all we saw was the branching +horns of the stag, he let it fly. It whizzed through the air, and +drank the life blood of the poor beast, which bounded a few steps, +staggered, and fell, when in a moment Alfgar ended its struggles by +drawing his knife across its throat, while young Hermann, a true +hunter by instinct, clapped his hands with joy. + +"We shall bring our dinner with us," quoth the boy. + +At this point I found great difficulty. A brook coming down from the +hills had overflowed the land until a swamp or quagmire had been +formed, whereon huge trees rotted in slime, while creeping plants hid +the deformity of decay. + +Our horses refused the path, and it took me a good hour's search, for +I was guide, to find a more secure one. At last I found the tracks +where others had gone before me, and we followed a winding path for a +full hour, until we arrived in a deep valley, where a brook made its +way between deep rocky banks, by the side of which lay our upward +path. + +"What a splendid place for defence!" said Edmund. "With a score or two +warriors, one might hold an entire army at bay here." + +He pointed out to Alfgar and Hermann, who look upon him as a sort of +demigod, all the capabilities of the place. + +"A few more steps, and we shall see our friends," said I; and we +advanced until, from the summit of the pass, we saw the valley wherein +they have found rest. + +They had worked well during autumn and winter, and the land was well +cultivated; the brook ran through the midst of the vale, which was +bounded by low hills on either side, and clear from forest growth. + +In the centre of the valley the brook divided, forming an island of +about an acre of ground, containing several dwellings. From the +central one, which possessed a chimney, smoke issued, and told of the +noon meat. + +By this time our approach was discovered, and I saw my brother, with a +few serfs, advancing to meet us. It was a happy moment when we +embraced each other again. And then he saw Alfgar, and embraced him as +a son. They did not speak--their feelings were too deep for words. All +that had passed since they last met must have rushed into their minds. +Then Herstan, the Lady Bertha, Hermann, Ostryth, and Alfreda, all had +their turn. + +"Pardon me, prince," said I, when I introduced Edmund; "pardon +brothers who scarcely expected to meet again. Elfwyn, let me introduce +the Etheling Edmund as your guest." + +"The Etheling Edmund!" repeated Elfwyn, with great respect; "it is +indeed an honour which I receive." + +"The less said of it the better," said Edmund. "I am come to be one of +you for a time, and am thankful to find a free-born Englishman to +welcome me to the woods. Never, by God's help, will I return to the +court so long as they pay tribute to the Danes." + +"It is true, then," said Elfwyn--"we hear scant news here--that peace +has been bought?" + +"Yes, bought for thirty-six thousand pounds, by Edric's advice. I +should like to know how much of the money he retains himself. He is +hand and glove with Sweyn. But I purpose deriving one benefit from the +peace, upon which the Danes do not reckon." + +"And that?--" + +"Is to train up an army of Englishmen who shall not be their inferiors +in warlike skill. In courage they are not their inferiors now. Perhaps +you will let me amuse myself by training your own retainers in their +spare moments?" + +"Most willingly. I could desire nothing better," said my brother, +smiling inwardly at the enthusiasm of the young warrior. + +The labourers had just returned from wood and field, and when Edmund +was recognised he was greeted with vociferous cheers, which made the +woods ring. + +But I cannot describe the meeting of Alfgar with the mother and sister +of Bertric; they were alone a long time together after the noon meat, +and I saw afterwards their eyes were red with weeping; well, they were +not all tears of sorrow. + +On the whole it has been a day of deep happiness, hallowed rather than +shadowed by the thought of Bertric, the circumstances of whose heroic +death were only now fully known to his parents and sister. + +. . . . . . + +The voluminous pages of Father Cuthbert's diary for the years of +bitter woe and misery which followed cannot be fully transcribed; they +would fill a volume themselves, and we must content ourselves with a +few extracts, which will probably interest our readers, and carry on +the thread of the history to the place where our narrative will again +flow free and uninterrupted. + +Ascension Tide, 1007.-- + +Edmund, assisted by Alfgar, has begun his task of disciplining and +training all our able-bodied men. He says, and rightly, that he is +sure we shall very soon have the Danes back for more money, and that +there will be no peace till we can defend ourselves properly. It is +amusing to see with what zeal young Hermann takes lessons in arms from +Alfgar; that boy is born to be a soldier. + +September 1007.-- + +We hear of an appointment which causes us much apprehension. The king +Ethelred has appointed Edric Streorn ealdorman of Mercia; we are in +his district, and fear it may bode evil to us all. Edmund is beside +himself with rage; he vows that if Edric appears in these woods he +will slay him as he would a wolf. + +May 1008.-- + +Every three hundred and ten hides of land has been charged with the +cost of a ship, and every eight hides with the cost of breastplate and +helmet; we do trust to recover our supremacy at sea, and then the +Danes cannot return. + +March 1009.-- + +Alas, we are grievously disappointed of our hope. The fleet is +miserably destroyed; Brihtric, Edric's brother, a man like-minded to +himself; accused Wulfnoth, the ealdorman of Sussex, of high treason; +the ealdorman, knowing that he had no chance of justice, seduced the +crews of twenty ships, and became a pirate, like unto the Danes +themselves. Brihtric pursued him with eighty ships, but being a bad +sailor, got aground in a storm, and Wulfnoth came and burned all which +the storm spared. The commanders and crews have forsaken the rest of +the fleet in disgust. + +Whitsuntide, 1009.-- + +Poor Alfgar came to me in great trouble. He and Ethelgiva have been +accepted suitors so long that he thought it time to propose marriage. +She referred him, with her own full consent, to her father; and Elfwyn +says, not unwisely, that he cannot consent until the land is at peace; +that it is currently reported that Thurkill, a Danish earl, is at hand +with an immense fleet, and that to marry might both hamper a warrior's +hands and be the means of bringing up children for the sword. He fully +accepts Alfgar's suit, but postpones the day till peace seems +established, that is "sine die." It is very hard to make Alfgar +reconciled to this. I try to do so. + +July 1009.-- + +Bad news. Thurkill's fleet has landed at Sandwich. + +August 1009.-- + +Worse news. Another fleet of Danes, under Heming and Eglaf, has joined +the former fleet, and both together are ravaging Wessex as far +northward as Berkshire; we have sent all the men we can spare to join +the army, but the king, persuaded by Edric, will not give the Etheling +Edmund any command therein. + +St. Martin's Mass,-- + +One of our men has returned from the army. He states that forces being +gathered from all parts of England, the Danes were waylaid, and must +have been beaten, but that Edric persuaded the king not to fight when +the victory was in his hands, and so they escaped. + +St. Brice's Day, 1009.-- + +This ill-omened anniversary we sang dirge and mass for the souls of +those who were slain by treachery seven years ago. Our forces have +returned from the south. They say the Danes have gone into winter +quarters on the Thames, and that all the neighbourhood pays them +tribute. + +London has hitherto gallantly resisted their attacks. + +Edric Streorn has married the king's daughter, Edmund's half-sister, +Elgitha. Is this a time to be "marrying and giving in marriage"? +Edmund is frantic about it. + +February 1010.-- + +Woeful news. Herstan and all his family, who had returned in peace to +their dwelling, have come to us homeless and destitute. The Danes, as +in 1006, suddenly issued from their ships. They took their way upwards +through Chiltern, and so to Oxford, burning the city. Then they +returned all down the river, the infantry in boats, the cavalry on +horseback, burning on every side. + +But, worst of all, Abingdon is destroyed; the holy house which has +been a house of prayer so many generations! Keeping in their course, +they burned Clifton; but the alarm was given in time, and the people +escaped. There was no chance of defence this time. + +Then they attacked Dorchester, and burned part of the city, but +retired before all was consumed, hearing that a large force was +marching against them; so onward past the ruins of Wallingford, which +had not yet been rebuilt, destroying Bensington on their road. Thus +they went on to Staines, when, fearing the forces of London, they +returned through Kent to their ships. + +Our brethren who took refuge in Abingdon have just arrived. We must +find them room here; they tell a piteous story. + +Ascension Tide, 1010.-- + +A sorrowful Ascension Tide indeed! They have landed in East Anglia. A +battle has been fought and lost. Nearly all the English leaders slain. + +Whitsuntide.-- + +We can hardly keep the festival, the people are so excited by the +news; all Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (once more) are laid waste. +They are on the road to Bedford. + +Edmund and Alfgar, with young Hermann, and all our fighting men, have +gone out on their own account against them. + +July.-- + +The Danes elude all our troops. Edric persuades the king to go +eastward, and the Danes are westward. They go westward, and the Danes +are eastward. There is no chieftain. A witan is summoned; it will do +no good. + +November.-- + +Northampton has fallen, cruelly fallen. The town is burned, and all +therein slain. + +Edmund and Alfgar, with not more than half our men, have returned with +the news. Hermann is seriously wounded, but bears it bravely. He is +only sixteen now. There is mourning over all our fallen heroes; but +they have died so bravely. Edmund says they have slain far more than +twice their number of the marauders. Still his father will give him no +command. It is like private war so far as he is concerned; but many +fresh recruits have joined his standard, and will go out with him in +spring. + +March 1011.-- + +The king and witan have again offered tribute to the Danes; it is +accepted. I do not think the peace will last long. + +Michaelmas, 1011.-- + +Woe is me! the Danes have broken the peace; and Canterbury, the chief +seat of English Christendom, whence came to us the blessed Gospel, is +taken and burnt. Elfmar, the abbot of St. Augustine's--O false +shepherd! O wolf in sheep's clothing! betrayed it. The archbishop is +prisoner. God and the blessed saints preserve him! + +Easter, 1012.-- + +Another saint is added to the calendar; the Archbishop Elphege has +suffered martyrdom. On Easter eve they told him he must find ransom or +die. But he not only firmly refused to give money, but forbade his +impoverished people to do so on his account. Then, on the following +Saturday, they led him to their hustings (or assembly), and shamefully +slaughtered him, casting upon him bones and the horns of oxen. And +then one smote him with an axe iron on the head, and with the blow he +sank down. His holy blood fell on the earth, and his soul he sent +forth to God's kingdom. + +On the morrow they allowed the body to be taken to London, where the +bishops, Ednoth of Dorchester and Elfhelm of London, received it, with +all the townsmen, and buried the holy relics in St. Paul's minster, +where they say many miracles have already been wrought at his tomb. + +Tribute has again been paid, and there is peace awhile. Thurkill, with +forty ships, sweareth to serve King Ethelred and defend the country if +he will feed and pay them. + +Oh that the martyr's intercessions may be heard for his afflicted +country {xiii}. + +August 1013.-- + +This fatal month our own neighbourhood, indeed nearly all Mercia, has +suffered the extreme horrors of war. Sweyn came along Watling Street, +perpetrating the most monstrous cruelties; in short, he and his +committed the worst evil that any army could do. + +We found now how wisely we had decided not to rebuild Aescendune. Not +a hall, farm, or cottage, escaped fire and sword, save those hidden in +the forest like us. Edmund has lost many men in the course of the last +few months; and with the remainder he hid in our woods, ready to +protect us "to the last breath," as he said, "in his body." Alfgar and +Hermann, who have both been wounded (the latter for the second time), +are with him still. But the enemy never discovered our retreat. Praise +be to God for sparing this little Zoar! The saints are not unmindful +how we protested against the iniquity of St. Brice's day. But of one +thing we all feel sure; Anlaf cannot be alive, or revenge would lead +him here. + +December 1013.-- + +Ethelred has fled to Normandy. He sent Queen Emma and her children +before him. Sweyn, the Dane, is now King of England. There seems no +resource but submission. We are told Edric Streorn is in high favour +in the Pagan court; and still is ealdorman of Mercia. Alas! what a +Christmas! + +Candlemas, 1014.-- + +God has at length bared His arm: Sweyn is no more. The blasphemer and +parricide is gone to his dread account. On the eve of the festival he +filled up the measure of his damnation by daring to exact an enormous +tribute from the town where rests the uncorrupt body of the precious +martyr St. Edmund, which even the pagan Danes had hitherto feared to +do. He said that if it were not presently paid he would burn the town +and its people, level to the ground the church of the martyr, and +inflict various tortures on the clergy. Not content with this, he +disparaged the blessed martyr's merits, daring to say there was no +sanctity about him. But, thus setting no bounds to his frowardness, +Divine vengeance did not suffer the blasphemer to prolong his +miserable existence. + +Towards evening of the day when he had held a "thingcourt" at +Gainsborough, where he had repeated all these threats amongst his +warriors, he, alone of the crowd, saw St. Edmund approaching him with +a dreadful aspect. + +Struck with terror, he began to shout, "Help! comrades, help! St. +Edmund is at hand to slay me!" + +While he spoke, the saint thrust his spear fiercely through him, and +he fell from his war horse. They bore him to a bed, whereon he +suffered excruciating agonies till twilight, when he died the third of +the nones of February. From such a death, good Lord, deliver us! The +bloodthirsty and deceitful man shall not live out half his days; +nevertheless, my trust shall be in thee, O Lord {xiv}! + +Lent, 1014.-- + +Ethelred has returned, and is again king; he has promised to amend his +evil ways, and to be ruled by faithful and wise counsellors. All +England has rallied round the descendant of Edgar. Canute has fled. + +Eastertide.-- + +Edmund has returned to court. His father has received him graciously. +Alfgar is with him. Elfwyn will not even yet consent to the marriage, +saying, "Wait a little while; we have not yet done with the Danes." I +fear he is right. + +June 1015.-- + +Herstan is here, and has brought us sad news. A great council has just +been held at Oxford, whereat Edric Streorn, to the indignation of all +men, sat at the king's right hand. Would this had been all! He invited +Sigeferth and Morcar, two of the chief Thanes in the seven burghs, to +supper with him; and there, when he had made them heavy with wine, he +caused them to be cruelly murdered by hired ruffians. Instead of +punishing him, the king sanctioned the deed, took all their +possessions, and sent Sigeferth's widow to be kept prisoner at +Malmesbury. Alas! such deeds will call down God's vengeance upon us. + +Nativity of St. Mary (Sept. 8).-- + +The Etheling went with Alfgar to Malmesbury a few days ago. We now +hear that he has released Sigeferth's widow, and that he has married +her. We know not what to think of the step. It is a bold defiance of +his father's cruel policy. He knew the widow before she was the wife +of Sigeferth, when Alfgar says he made honourable love to her. But it +is a very sudden step. + +October 1015.-- + +Alas! the Divine vengeance has not slumbered long after the late cruel +deed. Canute is in England again. Edmund brought his wife here, asking +us to take care of her. She is a gentle lady, worn down with care. He +has gone, in conjunction with Edric, to fight Canute. I dread this +conjunction. Edmund would have gone alone, but his father insisted on +joining Edric in the command, saying two heads were better than one. + +November 1015.-- + +Alfgar has come home, bringing messages from Edmund, with sad but not +altogether unexpected news. Edric, who is steeped in stratagems and +deceit, plotted against his life again and again, whereupon Edmund +broke up the camp in indignation, and took a separate course with all +the warriors who would follow his standard. Edric took the rest, went +down to the seacoast, seduced the crews of forty ships, and then +joined Canute with his whole forces. Alas! there seems no hope now. + +Epiphany, 1016.-- + +There is war all over the land--civil war. It is not to be wondered +at. But many Englishmen have given their allegiance to Canute, who now +professes himself a Christian, saying they will not serve Ethelred any +more. So Edmund and Canute are both, I fear, ravaging the land, for +Edmund has threatened more than once to regard those people as foes +who refuse to fight against the Danes. Men know not what to do. + +Eastertide, 1016.-- + +We have received strange news. Ethelred is dying. He has summoned his +son. The tidings reached Edmund here. He had only been with us a +single day, and was about to depart again for the war, for Canute +threatens to attack London. It is there Ethelred lies sick unto death. +Edmund seemed more moved than I should have expected. He has departed +in all haste, taking Alfgar with him. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. THE ROYAL DEATHBED. + + +It was the evening of a stormy day in April when a band of five +hundred men, well armed and equipped, were seen approaching the Moor +Gate of London. Their leader rode in front, a stalwart warrior, whose +eagle eye and dauntless brow told of one born to command. By his side +rode a younger warrior, yet one who had nearly reached the prime of +life, and who bore the traces of a life of warfare most legibly +stamped upon him. There was this difference between them, that men +would have recognised the elder at once as an Englishman, while the +younger had all the outward physiognomy of a Dane. + +"Look, Alfgar, and see whether you can see the flag of Wessex floating +over the gates; your eyes are better than mine," said the elder to his +companion. + +"I can barely see through the driving rain and darkening sky, but I +think I discern the royal banner." + +"Then the city yet holds out, and Canute has not arrived. We are yet +in time." + +"The messenger said that their ships could not ascend the river while +the west wind blew, and it is blowing hard enough tonight." + +"Well, when they come they may find London a hard nut even for Canute +to crack. The citizens of London are true as steel." + +"See, we are espied, and they man the gates." + +"Doubtless they think Canute is approaching. Ride rapidly, we shall +soon undeceive them." + +They rode within bow shot of the gates, which were closed, and there +they paused, for a score of bowmen held their shafts to their ears. +Edmund, for our readers have long recognised him, bade his forces +halt, and advanced alone, with Alfgar, holding up his hand in sign of +peace. + +"What, ho! men of London," he cried, "do you not recognise Edmund the +Etheling?" + +A joyous cry of recognition burst forth, the gates were thrown open in +a minute, and as Edmund, followed by his train, rode in, cries of +welcome and exultation burst forth on all sides, while women and +children, sharing the general joy, kissed even the hem of his mantle. + +Well they might, for their need was sore. Canute was near, his ships +had been seen entering the Thames, and his determination to take the +city, which had so often resisted the Danish arms, had been freely and +frankly expressed. + +"Ah, well you know me, my countrymen, for a true Englishman!--one in +whose veins your blood flows, and who will be only too happy to fight +the Danish wolves at your head." + +The cry, "Long live the Etheling Edmund!" had wakened the city, and +the narrow tortuous streets were becoming thronged by the crowd, so +that their farther progress threatened to be slow. Edmund perceived +this, and, turning to the captain of the guard, inquired anxiously: + +"How fares the king, my father?" + +"They say he is at death's door," was the reply. + +"Then I may not tarry, good people. All thanks for your welcome, which +I hope I may live to repay, but just now my place is by my father's +side. I may not now delay till I come to him." + +So the people made way without discontinuing their acclamations, and +Edmund and his train rode on till they reached the precincts of St. +Paul's cathedral church. Night was now coming on apace, amidst showers +of rain and hail, and gusts of wind, which caused the wooden spire to +rock visibly. Here and there faint lights twinkled through the open +doors, where people could be dimly seen on their knees. + +"They pray for the king," whispered an officer of the guard who rode +by the side of the prince. "The bishop Elfhelm has gone forth with the +viaticum." + +Edmund replied not, but hurried his pace as he gazed at the darkening +outlines of the rude structure, which stood within the outer walls, +yet remaining, of the temple of Diana, which in Roman times had +occupied the same spot. + +They descended the hill towards the Fleet, but paused while yet within +the walls. The ancient palace without the gates had been long since +burned by the Danes in one of their various attempts to take the city, +and the court had occupied a large palace, if such it could be called, +once belonging to a powerful noble who had perished in one of the +sanguinary battles of the time. + +The outer portal stood open, but sentinels of the hus-carles were +posted thereat, who at once came forward as Edmund paused at the gate. + +He dismounted, saying, "Alfgar, follow me;" and commended his troops +to the hospitality of the citizens, bidding them to reassemble before +St. Paul's by eight of the morning. + +And the troops broke up to receive such hospitality as the straitened +times permitted men to indulge in. The officers found a welcome in the +palace, amongst the royal guard. The citizens contended who should +entertain the rest. + +Edmund passed through the great hall, where the general silence struck +him forcibly, telling of the extremity to which the monarch was +reduced, and entered an inner apartment, where several dignitaries +both of church and state were waiting. They welcomed him in grave +silence, and the chamberlain who was present spoke in a low voice: + +"Your royal father has long pined for you, my prince; may I conduct +you to him at once?" + +"Who is with him now?" + +"Your royal brothers, the Ethelings Edward and Alfred, the Princess +Edgitha, and the Queen {xv}." + +"Has not the bishop arrived?" + +"He is in the chapel at this moment; the king declined to see him, he +will not believe he is dying; but the bishop waits in prayer." + +"Lead me to his chamber," said Edmund. + +Re-entering the great hall, the chamberlain and prince ascended the +broad staircase which conducted to the upper chambers, and passing +along a passage thickly strewn with rushes to deaden the sound, for +carpets were unknown, they came to a door at the end, where the +chamberlain paused and knocked. + +Loud ravings, as of one in delirium, penetrated the passage from the +chamber, amidst which the chamberlain knocked again. + +"There! there!" cried an agonised voice, "he knocks again; 'tis +Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, whom Edric slew; 'twasn't I, 'twas Edric, I +only shared the spoil; keep him out, I tell you, keep him out." + +The door was not opened; probably those within feared to excite the +king; and the chamberlain whispered to Edmund: + +"He is in delirium, his ravings are very painful." + +"I hear," said Edmund; "how long has he been in this state?" + +"Only a few hours, and he has constantly imagined that men, who are +long since dead, were about him; especially he calls upon Dunstan, +then upon St. Brice, then he calls for his son-in-law, Edric." + +"Ah, Edric!" + +"Yes; but Edric is with Canute, I hear." + +"I wish he were with Satan, in his own place," said Edmund, fiercely, +forgetting all Christian charity at the hated name. + +"It is devoutly to be wished; but he is quiet, we may enter now." + +The king, exhausted by his own violent emotions, lay back upon the +bed, which occupied the centre of the room, surmounted by a wooden +canopy, richly carved, from which curtains depended on either side. + +His face, which time and evil passions had deeply wrinkled, was of a +deadly paleness; his eyes were encircled by a livid tint, and stared +as if they would start from their orbits; his breathing was rapid and +interrupted, but at the moment when Edmund entered he was silent. +Standing on his left hand, wiping the perspiration from his brow, was +Emma, the queen, her face yet comely, and bearing trace of that beauty +which had once earned her the title of the "Pearl of Normandy." Her +evident solicitude and loving care was the one picture of the room +upon which the eye could rest with most contentment. + +Alfred, her eldest son--for Edmund was the offspring of an early amour +of the king--was on the other side of the bed, a well-made youth, +combining in his features the haughty bearing of his Norman maternal +ancestors with the English traits of his father; but now his +expression was one of distress and anxiety, which was yet more deeply +shared by his younger brother, Edward, who even at this period +manifested that strong sense of religious obligation and that early +devotion which in later years caused him to be numbered amongst +canonised saints. + +He knelt at the bedside, and his hand grasped the cold damp hand of +his sire, as if he would strengthen him by his sympathy. + +"O father," he cried; "neglect not longer to make your peace with a +long-suffering God; even in this eleventh hour He will not reject the +penitent." + +He was interrupted by the entrance of Edmund, his half-brother, whom +he feared, because he could not understand so different a nature. + +"Our father has long pined for you," he said, in a timid voice; "I +fear you are too late, and that he will hardly know you." + +"I have ridden from Aescendune day and night since the news of his +danger was brought me. + +"Father," he said, as he bent over the bed, "do you not know me?" + +The dying man raised himself up and looked him full in the face, and a +look of recognition came slowly. + +"Edmund!" he said, "I am so glad, you will protect me; take your +battle-axe, you are strong. Sigeferth and Morcar, whom Edric slew at +Oxford, have been here, and they said they would come back and drag me +with them to some judgment seat; now take thine axe, Edmund, my son, +and slay them when they enter; they want killing again." + +A look of indescribable pain passed over the features of Edmund. + +The door opened, and Edward left the room after a conference with the +physician, who sat in a corner of the room compounding drugs at a +small table; a few minutes passed in silence, when he returned and +held the door open for the bishop of London, who entered, bearing the +viaticum, as the last communion of the sick was then called, and +attended by an acolyte, who bore a lighted taper before him and +carried a bell. + +The king rose up in his bed, glared fixedly at the prelate, and then +shrieked aloud: + +"St. Brice! St. Brice! art thou come again? What dost thou glare at me +for? 'Twas not I who defiled thy festival with blood. It was Edric, +Edric! Why does he not come to answer for his own sin?" + +"If he did, I would brain him," muttered Edmund. + +"There! do not glare upon me. Hast thou brought me the blood of the +victims to drink? Ah! there is Gunhilda. What right hast thou to +complain if I slew thee, which I did not, at least not with my own +hands: thy brother Sweyn has slain thousands. I did not at least kill +my father; I have only disgraced his name, as you will say. + +"O Edmund! Edmund! protect me." + +"My son," said the bishop, in a deep calm voice, which seemed to still +the ravings of the king, "think of thy sins, repent, confess; the +Church hath power to loose in her Lord's name, Who came to save +sinners." + +"Yes, father, heed him," said Edward. "Father, you are dying, the +leech says; you have not a day to live. Waste not the precious hours." + +The patient sank back upon his bed, and for a few minutes only the +sound of his breathing could be heard; the difficulty with which he +drew his breath seemed to increase each moment. + +The bishop held the crucifix before his eyes. + +"Gaze, my son," said he, "at the emblem of Him who died that thou +mightest live, and say, 'O my God, I put Thy most pitiful passion +between Thee and my sins!'" + +"Yes, father, hearken," said Edward. + +"I bethink me now that Gunhilda clung to the crucifix, and said she +was a Christian. But what of that? She was a Dane, and they did right +in dragging her from it and slaying her." + +"My son, my son, you throw away your salvation!" cried the bishop. + +"Father, show him the viaticum," said Emma. + +"It is useless; without repentance and faith 'twould but increase--" +and the prelate paused. "Let us pray. It is all we can do." + +And all present knelt round the bed, while the plaintive cry arose +from the lips of the prelate, and was echoed from all around: + +"Kyrie eleeson: Christe eleeson: kyrie eleeson." + +And so the litany for the dying rolled solemnly along, with its +intense burning words of supplication, its deep agony of prayer, its +loving earnestness of intercession. But upon the dying sinner's ears +it fell as an echo of the long, long past; of that day when the litany +arose before his coronation at Kingston, and the prophetic curse of +Dunstan. + +"Listen!" he said. "I hear the voice of Dunstan. + +"Oh, why didst thou lay thy curse upon me? Did I murder my brother +Edward? Nay, 'twas my cruel mother, who murdered her own husband that +she might become queen. Her sins are visited upon me. Nay, recall thy +curse. Alas! it is uttered in thunders before the eternal judgment +seat. + +"See, they come to drag me thither; they all come--Edward; the victims +whom I slew sixteen years agone in Cumbria; the slain on St. Brice's +day; Elfhelm of Shrewsbury and his sons, with their empty sockets, and +their eyes hanging down; Sigeferth, Morcar, and a thousand others. +See, Dunstan bids them all await me at the judgment seat. I will not +come; nay, they drag me. + +"Edric, wilt thou not answer for me now? Accursed be thy name, +accursed!" + +His frightful maledictions overpowered the supplications around his +bed; but they died away in silence--silence so long continued, that +suspicion soon became certainty. + +Ethelred the Unready was dead. + +"We must leave him to God's mercy," said the bishop, as he closed the +eyes, while the wife and children of the unhappy king sobbed around. +"He knoweth whereof we are made; He remembereth that we are but dust." + +Yet he trembled as he spoke, and, kneeling down, completed with +faltering voice the office for the commendation of the departed soul. + + + +CHAPTER XX. THE MIDNIGHT FLIGHT. + + +So soon as the news of the death of Ethelred travelled abroad, the +bishops, abbots, ealdormen, and thanes of southern England, despairing +of the cause of the house of Cerdic, met together at Southampton, and +renouncing Ethelred and his descendants, elected Canute to be their +king, while he swore that both in things spiritual and temporal he +would maintain their liberties. + +But the citizens of London were of nobler mould, and, disdaining +submission, chose Edmund to be their king. A council was at once held, +and it became apparent that the allegiance of the greater part of +Wessex depended upon Edmund's prompt appearance amongst them, while, +on the other hand, the rapid approach of Canute made his presence in +the city very essential to the safety of the inhabitants. + +Up rose a noble thane, and spake his mind. + +"Surely we can defend our own city until the valiant Edmund brings us +aid. We have kept off Canute before, and his father before him, and we +can do as much again. Meanwhile Edmund will soon have all Wessex at +his back, and Canute will find his match for once." + +The words of the gallant speaker found their echo in many a breast, +and it was decided that Edmund should be advised to hurry into Wessex, +and leave London to defend itself. + +A deputation from the council at once waited upon Edmund, and in the +name of the city, and, as they took the liberty of adding, of every +true man in England, they proferred him his father's crown. Like the +citizens of a certain modern capital, they constituted themselves the +representatives of the nation. + +Edmund, who certainly did not lack confidence, and who could not help +knowing that he alone was able to cope with the Danes, took scant time +to consider their proposal. + +"I accept the crown," he said; "a thorny one it is like to prove, but +I thank you for your love and trust." + +In the course of a day or two Ethelred the Unready was buried by +Archbishop Lyfing in St. Paul's minster, with the assistance of the +cathedral body. Emma and her children, as also Edwy, the son of +Ethelred by his first wife, were the chief mourners, nay, the only +real ones. Most men felt as when a cloud passes away. The sad +procession passed through the streets, the people flocked into the +church, and in the presence of all the "wise men" of London, they +solemnly committed the frail tabernacle in which the living spirit had +sinned and suffered to the parent earth, where the rush and roar of a +mighty city should ever peal around it. + +A few days later the archbishop was called upon to perform a very +different ceremony, the coronation of King Edmund, which also took +place in St. Paul's Cathedral, amidst tears of joy, and cries which +even the sanctity of the place could not wholly restrain, "God bless +King Edmund!" The solemn oath of fidelity was administered, and when +all was over, with mingled tears and acclamations, those who had met +to bury the late king greeted with joy his son and successor. + +It yet remained to be seen whether the choice of the realm would +ratify this decisive step on the part of the citizens of London. + +Emma, the queen dowager, was deeply mortified, even while she +confessed the heritage was hardly worth having. Still her boy Alfred +seemed slighted by the choice, and she left England at once, with +Alfred and Edward, for Normandy, while Elgitha departed secretly from +London to join her husband Edric, and tell him all that had been done. + +Edmund delayed his journey into Wessex until he had duly provided for +the defence of the capital, and had personally examined all the +defences with a warrior's eye. At length the messengers who watched +the Danish fleet announced its arrival at Greenwich, and that bands of +warriors, numerous as locusts, were issuing thence, and advancing upon +London. + +Reluctant as Edmund was to leave the city, it was evident that if he +delayed another day he might indeed share the perils of the +inhabitants, but would probably lose Wessex, where his immediate +presence was all-important. Therefore he called Alfgar, and bade him +prepare at once for a journey to the west. + +Their intended route led them, in the first instance, to Dorchester, +where a large force from Mercia, including most of the men whom Edmund +had so long disciplined himself, and who were under the temporary +charge of Hermann, were to meet him. However, it was late before their +final arrangements could be made, and the sun had already set when the +citizens accompanied them to the Ludgate, and bade them an earnest +farewell. + +They were both clad in light defensive armour, such as could be worn +on a rapid journey, and armed with sword and battle-axe. Their own +steeds, two of the finest horses England could produce, famous for +speed and bottom, awaited them at the gate. Edmund criticised their +condition with a jealous eye, and then expressed approval. + +"Farewell, Englishmen of the loyal and true city! Until we meet in +happier times, farewell! You will know how to guard hearths and homes. +Till we return to aid you, farewell!" + +And, striking spurs into his steed, he and Alfgar rode across the +Fleet river, and, ascending the rising ground, pursued their course +along the Strand. + +"We shall have a moonlight ride," said the king. "Look, Alfgar, 'tis +nearly full." + +"My Lord, do you see those dark spots on the river near Thorney Isle?" + +"Ah! I see them, and recognise the cutthroats. They are the Danes, who +are bent on surrounding the city. Had I my five hundred, I would soon +give some account of that detachment." + +"But now, my Lord, had we not better strike into the northern road at +once, before they see us? We are but two." + +"No; I should like to see them a little closer, and then across the +heath for Windsor. They must have fleet steeds that catch us." + +So they persevered until they had attained a rising ground from which +they perceived the whole force, nearly a thousand strong, of whom one +half had crossed the stream. But the figures of our two adventurers, +outlined on the hill, were too distinct to elude their observation, +and a dozen dark horsemen rode after them at full gallop. + +"Now for a brisk ride," said Edmund; and the two dashed wildly onward, +clearing ditch or hedge until they attained the rising ground +afterwards known as Hounslow Heath, still followed by their pursuers. + +Here Edmund paused and looked round. The speed at which they rode had +separated their pursuers, as he had expected, and one was far the +foremost. + +"Stand by, Alfgar," he said; "two to one is not fair. I thirst for the +blood of this accursed Dane." + +Alfgar knew that he must not dispute the royal will, although he +thought the risk of delay very perilous, with a crowd of foes upon +their track. While he waited up came the Dane, powerfully mounted, +swinging his heavy battle-axe. He swooped upon Edmund, who caused his +horse to start aside, avoided the stroke, and then, guiding his horse +by his knees, and raising his axe in both hands, cleft his antagonist +to the chin before he could recover. + +"Here come two more. Now, Alfgar, there is one apiece. The rest are a +mile behind them. You may take the one on the light grey, I will take +the rascal on the dark steed." + +Another moment and they were both engaged. Alfgar foiled his +opponent's first stroke, and wounded him slightly in return. Now the +battle became desperate, attack succeeding attack, and parry, parry. +Meanwhile Edmund had again laid his foe prostrate in the dust, but did +not interfere; such was his chivalrous spirit in what he considered an +equal combat, although he cast anxious looks behind, where two or +three other riders were rapidly approaching. + +At last victory inclined to Alfgar's side. Parrying a tremendous +stroke with his axe, he returned it with such vigour that the next +moment the Dane lay quivering in the dust. + +"There appear to be only three or four more. I think we might engage +them. By the by, Alfgar, you missed one splendid chance through your +steed not answering your guidance to the moment. But I am tired of the +battle-axe, and shall use my sword for a change. + +"Ah! there come half-a-dozen more round those firs. We must ride +forward and give up the sport." + +Their enemies saw them and quickened their pace. They came to the spot +where their countrymen lay prostrate, and the cry of revenge they +raised, and the manner in which they urged their steeds forward, +showed how strongly the sight appealed to their feelings. + +Onward flew pursuers and pursued--onward till Windsor's height, with +its castled hall, appeared in sight, and tempted them to seek +refreshment for man and beast. But they dared not linger on their +journey, and passed the town without entering. + +They rode all night through a most desolate country, wasted by fire +and sword in all directions. Only in a few spots was there any +appearance of cultivation, for who would sow when they knew not who +should reap? Not one lonely country house, such as abounded in the +days of Edgar the Pacific, did they see standing, although they passed +the blackened ruins of many an abode, showing where once the joys of +home held sway. Here and there they came upon the relics of strife, in +the shape of bodies of men and horses left to rot, and in one spot, +where a ford had been defended, the rival nations had left their +fallen representatives by hundreds. It must have been months before, +yet no one had buried the bodies. Such people as still existed without +the fortified towns had betaken themselves to the woods, or the +recesses of the deep swamps and forests, as the people of Aescendune +had done. + +As they drew near Dorchester, they found yet more sanguinary traces of +recent war, for the Thames had been the scene of constant warfare. +Bensington, half burned, had partially recovered, and had renewed her +fortifications; Wallingford, hard by, had never risen since the +frightful Christmas of 1006. + +Dorchester now rose before them. They had accomplished fifty miles of +hard riding that night. They were seen, challenged, and recognised, by +a patrol without the gates, and the cry, "Long live King Edmund!" +echoed from all sides. A thousand gallant Mercians, the nucleus of an +army, each man fit to be a captain, awaited them there, and Edmund +felt his spirits revive within him, and his hope for England; and +Alfgar met Hermann with great gladness. + +It was pitiful to see the blackened ruins of churches and palace, +which had not been rebuilt since the Danish raid of 1010, but the +commoner dwellings were rising with rapidity from their ashes, or had +already risen, for the shelter of the earthworks and other +fortifications was not to be despised, and prevented the place from +being utterly abandoned. + +Yet it may be noted that Dorchester never fully recovered the events +of that dreadful year, and that its decay probably dates from the +period. + +Resting only a few hours, during which they were the guests of Ednoth, +the bishop, they departed with his fervent blessing and earnest +prayers for their success, and rode westward, attended by their whole +troop. + +Every town they reached received them with enthusiasm. They were now +near the birthplace of the great Alfred, where the hearts of the +people were all thoroughly with their native princes; and men left all +their ordinary occupations to strike one blow for King Edmund and +England. Onward, and like a rolling snowball, they gathered as they +went, until they entered Wiltshire with ten thousand men, and, +crossing the country, reached the opposite border with all the brave +men of Wilts added to their numbers. + +They were now approaching Dorsetshire, and saw before them a rising +ground, with a large stone set in a conspicuous position. + +"What stone is that?" inquired Edmund of a thane, whose habitation was +hard by, and who had joined him with his whole household. + +"It is called the county stone. It marks the place where three +counties meet--Somerset, Wilts, and Dorset; it is in the village of +Penn." + +At this moment a horseman was seen riding wildly after them from the +country in the rear. + +"See that man; he brings news," said Edmund, and the whole party +paused. + +"Alfgar," whispered Edmund to his confidential attendant, "there is +hot work coming; I have long since scented the foe behind." + +The messenger arrived, bowed low to the king, and waited permission to +speak, while his panting breath betrayed his haste and his excitement. + +"Well, your message?" said Edmund; "you have ridden fast to bring it." + +"My lord, Canute, with an army of fifty thousand men, is following +behind with all his speed." + +Edmund looked proudly around upon his host; it was almost equal in +number. Then he looked with a soldier's eye on the ground before him, +and saw that it was the very place where a stand could be made with +every advantage of ground. + +"It is well," said Edmund; "we will wait for him here." + +A loud cheer from those around him showed how he had succeeded in +imparting his own brave spirit to others. The trumpets commanded a +halt; and Alfgar and other riders bore the commands of the king to the +extremities of the host. + +Each division took up rapidly the position assigned; for in this +domestic war men fought side by side with those they had known from +childhood, and were commanded immediately by their own hereditary +chieftains. + +The broken nature of the ground protected them well from an attack on +either flank, and they strengthened this advantage by throwing up a +mound and digging a ditch, with the greatest rapidity. + +While thus engaged, they saw the flashing of spear and shield in the +east, reflecting the setting sun, and speedily the whole country +seemed to glow with the sheen of weapons. + +Edmund raised himself in the stirrups. + +"Englishmen! brethren!" he cried, "you see your foe, the ruthless +destroyers of your land and kinsfolk; the pagan murderers of your +archbishop, the sainted Alphege. God will help them that help +themselves. It shall be ours to strike one glorious blow for liberty +and for just vengeance on this field. I vow to the God of battles I +will conquer or die." + +He took off his helmet and looked solemnly to Heaven, as he called on +the Supreme Being to register his vow, and a deep murmur of sympathy +arose around, until it found loud utterance in the cry, "We will +conquer with our king or die," from a thousand voices, until the +glorious enthusiasm spread throughout the camp. Glorious when men +fight for hearth and altar. + +Edmund looked proudly around. + +"With such warriors," he said, "I need not fear Canute." + +The trench and mound were completed, but the enemy did not advance. He +planted his black raven banner two miles off in the plain, arranged +his forces, and halted for the night. + +"We must fight tomorrow at dawn of day," said Edmund. "Now, bid the +campfires be lighted; we have plenty of meat and bread, mead and wine; +bid each man eat and drink his fill. Men never fight well on empty +stomachs. Then return yourself to my side, and share my tent this +night; perhaps--perhaps--for the last time." + +"If so, woe to England--woe!" said Alfgar. "But I have confidence that +her day of tribulation is passing from her. The blood of the martyred +saints cries aloud for vengeance on the Danes." + + + +CHAPTER XXI. EDMUND AND CANUTE. + + +The watch was duly set; campfires were lighted, and joints of meat +suspended over them; barrels of wine and mead were broached, for all +the country around contributed with loving willingness to the support +of its defenders; and when hunger was appeased the patriotic song +arose from the various fires, and stirring legends of the glorious +days of old, when Danes and Norsemen fled before the English arms, +nerved the courage of the men for the morrow's stern conflict. + +Around the fire kindled next the tent of Edmund sat the warrior +monarch himself, with all the chieftains, the ealdormen, and lesser +thanes who shared his fortunes. + +The minstrels and gleemen were not wanting here, but none could touch +the harp more sweetly than Edmund himself; and, the banquet over, he +sang an ancient lay, which kindled the enthusiasm of all his hearers, +and nerved them to do or die, so that they longed for the morrow. + +Before it was over the trumpet announced some event of importance, and +soon a messenger brought the tidings to Edmund that a large force was +advancing from the west. + +All rose to look at them, not without anxiety; as yet they were far +distant, across a wild moor, but as they drew nearer, and their +standards could be more clearly discerned, it became gradually evident +that it was a reinforcement; and so it proved, for heralds, galloping +forward, announced the men of Dorsetshire. + +They were most gladly received, for now the English forces were equal +in number to their adversaries, and every man felt the hope of victory +strong within him. + +At length Edmund bade messengers go through the camp, and cause every +man to retire to rest, for they must all be stirring by dawn on the +morrow. + +He himself, with Alfgar, went through the host and then inspected the +watch. When he came to the outpost nearest the foe he found Hermann on +duty as officer of the watch, and spoke earnestly to him and his men. + +"Be on your guard," he said, "as men who know that the welfare of +England depends upon them; if you see the least movement on the part +of the crafty Canute, rouse the camp at once; they are not unlikely to +attack us by night if they can surprise us, not otherwise." + +Alfgar was standing on a low mound contemplating the opposite camp, +that of his own countrymen, attentively. + +"Well, Alfgar, my son, do you see aught?" said Edmund approaching him. + +"I fancied I saw some figures seek the hollow where the ditch passes +from us to them." + +"We will wait and see whether aught comes of it," said the king; "how +do you like our prospects?" + +"Well, my lord, I would sooner be with you at this moment than in any +other place in England." + +"Even than in Aescendune?" + +"Yes; just now." + +"Alfgar, do you think your father yet lives?" said Edmund, as he again +gazed upon the Danish camp. + +"I think not; I fear he is numbered amongst the dead; I have over and +over again inquired of Danish prisoners whether they knew aught of +him; they all said he had not been known in their ranks for years." + +"The chances of a warrior's life are so many that he may not +improbably be gone, but remember you found another father at +Carisbrooke." + +"I shall never forget that, my lord." + +Here Hermann interrupted them. + +"My lord, would you look closely at that little clump of furze upon +the banks of the brook?" + +"By St. Edmund, there they are! now to catch Danish wolves in a steel +trap; creep back within the mound." + +The whole guard was speedily aroused. + +"Shall we alarm the camp?" said Hermann. + +"Not for the world, they want all the sleep they can get; this will +only be a reconnoitring party; did they find us asleep they would of +course cut our throats, and then bring their brethren to attack the +camp. As it is, I think we shall cut theirs instead." + +"They have disappeared." + +"Only to appear with more effect; they will be creeping like snakes +coming to be scotched; they won't find a man like Edric at the head of +the English army now--one who always chose the sleepiest and deafest +men for sentinels. Ah, well! he is openly with the enemy now; I only +hope he will come within swing of my battle-axe tomorrow. + +"Ah! There they are." + +"Where?" inquired two or three low voices eagerly. + +"Creeping up the slope; now get your arrows to your ears; take the +opposite men when they arise." + +A few moments, during which men could hear their own hearts beat, when +up rose the Danes from the grass like spectres, and rushed for the +mound. A storm of arrows met them, to which nearly half succumbed. + +Swinging his axe, Edmund, followed, by the rest, jumped from the mound +to meet the survivors; numbers were nearly equal, the English now +slightly superior. Each man met his individual foe. Young Hermann's +sword broke against a Danish axe; he rushed in and got within the +swing of the weapon; both wrestled for the deadly steel, they fell, +rolled over and over on the grass; at length Hermann grasped his +opponent's throat like a vice with his mailed hand, and held till the +arms of his foe hung nerveless by the side and the face grew black, +when, disengaging his right hand, he found his dagger, and drove it to +the victim's heart. + +"Well done!" said Edmund; "you are the last, Hermann; Alfgar has +finished some time; we have been watching you; this little beginning +promises luck tomorrow. + +"You and I must retire now, Alfgar. + +"Good night, Hermann; good night, my men; wipe your swords on the +grass; keep them bright." + +The morning dawned bright and radiant; and with the first appearance +of the sun the horns of the English blew their shrill summons, and the +whole army awoke as a man. A hurried meal was partaken of, hurried of +necessity, for the Danes were already emerging from their camp, and +forming their lines in order of battle. They evidently meant, as +usual, to take the initiative; in fact, in the recent reign, had they +not done so, there would never have been any fighting at all. + +Every one, both friend and foe, expected that Edmund would await the +onset in his entrenched camp. Great, therefore, was the surprise, when +he led his forces without the entrenchments, with the observation that +the breasts of Englishmen were their best bulwarks. + +He knew his forces, that they had confidence in him; and he could not +have shown better his confidence in them, and his feeling that the +time had now at length come to assume the offensive. + +Canute was doubtless somewhat surprised, yet he was learning to know +Edmund. + +The English hero divided his army into three divisions: The right +wing, where he posted around his own person the chosen band whom he +had trained during the last few years of retirement; the left wing, +chiefly composed of the men of Wessex; the centre, the weakest and +newest recruits, whom he posted there with as deep a design as led +Hannibal to use the same strategy at Cannae. + +The Danes advanced impetuously to the attack, led by Canute himself, +somewhat similarly divided, and Edmund at once advanced his forces to +meet them. One hundred yards apart, both armies paused, and glared +upon each other. There was no flinching. With teeth firmly set, lips +compressed, and the whole body thrown into the attitude of a tiger +about to spring, each warrior gazed upon the foe. + +The Danes, clad in black armour, with their ponderous battle-axes, and +fierce visages, upon which no gentle ray of mercy had yet shone; the +English, their minds set upon avenging the outraged national honour, +the desolated homes, the slaughtered families: the Danes bent on +maintaining their cruel superiority; the English bent on reversing it +or dying: the Danes hitherto victorious on nearly every field; the +English turning upon their oppressors as men to whom the only thing +which could make life tolerable was victory. + +Canute's voice was heard crying, "Now, warriors, behold the hounds ye +have so often chastised await your chastisement once more." + +Edmund, on the other hand, "Victory, my men, or a warrior's grave! We +will not live to see England prostrate beneath the tyrant any longer." + +Then came the rush: the crash of steel upon steel, the hideous melee, +where friend and foe seemed blent in one dense struggling mass; the +cries which pain sometimes extorted from the bravest; the shouts of +the excited combatants, until Edmund's centre gave way. + +He had expected this, and desired nothing more. The Danes pressed on +deeply into the core of the hostile army, when they found their +progress stopped by some of the bravest warriors who formed the rear, +and at that moment the wings curved round upon them. + +"Come, my men!" shouted Edmund; and with Alfgar by his side, followed +by the whole of the English cavalry, burst upon the rear of the Danes. +He and his cleft their way in--hewed it through living masses of +flesh; trampled writhing bodies under foot; their very horses seemed +to laugh at the spear and sword, until before him Edmund saw Canute +himself. He struggled violently to reach him; slew two or three living +impediments, and the two rivals faced each other for one moment; then +came Edmund's ponderous blow. Canute avoided it, but his horse fell +beneath it; the spine severed near the neck. He was dragged up +instantly by his armour bearer, who attended upon him, as Alfgar upon +Edmund, and before the attack could be renewed a living torrent +separated the combatants. + +The victory was won; the Danes were in full flight. + +O joy for England! the day of her captivity was turned; henceforward +she might hope. The foe, the invincible foe, was flying before an +English king and an English army. + +For while on the one side Edmund had charged the foe on their left +flank, on the other side the men of Wessex had imitated his example, +and the foe yielded. + +Still, terrible in defeat, more than half fought their way out of the +trap into which they had fallen, and retired upon their camp, closely +pursued, until the trump of Edmund recalled the pursuers, anxious lest +they should in turn fall into an ambuscade, for reinforcements were +awaiting the Danes behind. + +. . . . . . + +From this time the prospects of Edmund and England brightened. Day +after day fresh reinforcements came into his camp, until he followed +Canute, who had retreated into Wiltshire. There, a few days later, a +second battle was fought at Sceorstan {xvi}, wherein much bravery +was shown on both sides. On Monday the two armies fought all day +without any advantage on either side. On the Tuesday the English were +rapidly getting the better, when the traitor Edric, severing the head +of a fallen Englishman named Osmaer, held it up, shouting: + +"Flee, English! flee, English! Edmund is dead." + +They began to yield; and it was as much as Edmund himself could do, by +lifting his helmet, exposing his features, and shouting, "I live to +lead you to victory!" to restore the battle. + +Canute retired upon London, followed closely by Edmund. Upon the road +messengers came from Edric imploring the forgiveness of his injured +brother-in-law, and offering to join him with all his forces. There +was long consultation over this in the English camp; but in spite of +Edmund's own feelings it was decided to receive Edric, since Canute's +fate would seem to be quite decided if England were united by the +union of those southern English who had fought under Canute with +Edric, and the men of Mercia and Wessex who had won the previous +victories. + +So the two armies met together. The men of Hampshire, who had followed +the Dane, were welcomed as returning to their true allegiance by their +countrymen; and Edmund did violence to his feelings by receiving Edric +to his council board, if not to his friendship. + +It was a joyous day when Edmund approached London, and thus fulfilled +the promise of his coronation. Canute, who had made another attempt on +the city, fled before him, but hovered around until two days later. +Edmund engaged him the third time at Brentford, and defeated him +again. Then Edmund retired into Wessex to raise more troops, and +during his absence the Danes took the offensive again, once more +besieging London in vain, while they harried all the neighbouring +districts until Edmund returned with a large army, drove them into +Kent, and gave them such a fearful defeat at Otford that they fled in +despair to the Isle of Sheppey, and all men said Edmund would have +destroyed them utterly, had not Edric persuaded him to stop the +pursuit at Aylesford. + +The Danes soon emerged again, and, crossing the Thames, commenced +plundering Essex, when Edmund and Edric, with all the flower of the +Anglo-Saxon race, advanced to meet them once more. Nearly all the men +of note in England followed Edmund's banner, for, now that his +abilities were proved, there was a general enthusiasm in his favour. +So all the rank and title of the realm stood by him when he drew up +his army hard by the little river Crouch, near Assingdun, in Essex, +then called Assandun. + +There, by his side, when the tents were pitched the evening before the +battle, stood many a brave ealdorman,--Godwin of Lindsey; Ulfketyl, +the hero of the East Angles; Ethelweard, the son of the pious +Ethelwine, whom men called the "Friend of God." And present at that +last banquet were Ednoth, the bishop of Dorchester, and other +ecclesiastics, who had come to pray for the host and to succour the +dying with ghostly aid. Well nigh all the great men of England were +here. But Edric supped in their midst. Their spirits were high that +night, and while Edmund drank to their success on the morrow, each man +responded with a fervour which augured confidence in that morrow's +issue--all save the wicked Edric, whose heart seemed far from his +words. + +The events of that fatal morrow are matter of history. The armies +joined battle. Victory seemed to favour Edmund. The Danes were already +giving way, when Edric turned and fled, with his whole division, whom +he had corrupted. After that all was disorder amongst the English; but +they continued fighting bravely until the moon arose, and they were +becoming surrounded on all sides, when, in sheer desperation, they at +last gave way. + +Edmund would not yield until Alfgar seized the bridle of his horse, +and almost by violence caused him to turn his steed, bidding him live +for England, for he was its hope. It was growing dark rapidly, and the +darkness alone saved Edmund and the relics of the English army. + +With a faithful few, including both Alfgar and Hermann, nearly all of +the party wounded, the English king rode sadly from the scene, +groaning bitterly in spirit. + +"Why did I trust him again? Why did I trust him?" he kept muttering to +himself. + +"You did not trust him. The council overruled you. I was present," +said Alfgar. + +"But I might have resisted." + +And he persisted in his unavailing regret. + +It was a sad sight to see the field of battle strewn for miles with +the dead and dying, while gangs of plunderers swarmed in all +directions. One sharp encounter with such a party served to warm +Edmund's blood, after which he was a little more cheerful. + +But the saddest scene in the flight lay on a gentle eminence, +commanding a view of the field, whose deformities night mercifully +shrouded from view, although the murmurs of the wounded reached them +even there in one long subdued wailing moan. + +There, on that little hill, lay bishops and abbots in their sacerdotal +apparel. Where they had met to pray, there they lay in death! With a +deep sigh Edmund recognised Ednoth, bishop of Dorchester, lying stark +and stiff in his bloody robes. A troop of Danish horsemen had +surrounded the hill and massacred them all. The assassins had even +hewn Ednoth's finger off for the episcopal ring. + +Yet, even at this awful crisis, Edmund's lion heart did not wholly +fail him, as he left the field where lay all the flower of the +Anglo-Saxon race: the brave and faithful Ulfketyl, Earl Ethelweard, +Earl Godwin, Elfric the ealdorman, and well nigh all the great men of +England, all sleeping in death. He rode to the south till he reached +the vale of the Thames, which he pursued until he reached the +neighbourhood of Gloucester--Alfgar and Hermann still by his side. And +now it was seen how his merits were recognised, and how he had already +gained the love of his people, for, from the territory of the Hwiccas, +and all the extreme west of Mercia, men flocked to his standard until +he was at the head of an army almost as numerous as that he had lost +at Assingdun, only less perfectly disciplined and officered. + +But Canute followed hard upon his heels, hoping to crush him while yet +weak in numbers, until he discovered, to his great mortification, his +rival's camp on the banks of the Severn, and saw that the forces were +again nearly equal. + +Then even the Danish chieftains shuddered at the thought of another +battle. Five great battles had been fought, in three of which they had +been defeated. There was no Edric now with Edmund to play into their +hands, and they hesitated to engage a sixth time. + +At this moment an embassy was seen approaching from Edmund's army. +Alfgar bore Edmund's personal defiance to Canute, offering to spare +the effusion of blood, and settle their differences by single combat. + +Canute's brave and impetuous temper caught the suggestion at once. +Such appeals to the God of battles were common in the north, and he +accepted the challenge. + +There is an island in the Severn, then called Oleneige, now called +Olney Island. The following day both armies gathered together on +opposite banks, and the two kings, clad in splendid armour, were +wafted thither. Alfgar, having landed his lord, retired with beating +heart to the English bank. Edmund and Canute were alone on the island. + +The battle began; no words can describe the dread emotion with which +the two nations watched the event. + +They continued a long time without any apparent advantage; at length, +King Edmund's fury adding strength to him, his blows were so thick and +weighty, that Canute, perceiving his own strength to diminish, +conceived a resolution to attempt ending the quarrel by a treaty. + +But being crafty, and fearing lest his disadvantage should be apparent +to Edmund, he collected all his energies and rushed furiously upon +him, then withdrew himself aside, and desired Edmund to suspend the +conflict for a while. + +"Generous prince," said he, "hitherto I have had a covetous desire of +your kingdom, but now I do yet more earnestly covet your friendship; +your father and my father have each reigned over the land, let us +divide the inheritance like brothers." + +Edmund's generous spirit led him to accept the offer, and he threw his +battle-axe to the ground and extended his right hand, which Canute +eagerly grasped {xvii}. + +So the land was divided; Edmund was to be head king and to have +Wessex, Sussex, Kent, East Anglia, and Essex, with the city of London; +while Canute had Northumbria and Mercia. + +Canute professed himself a Christian, and swore to govern his people +according to the old English laws, and to preserve their temporal and +spiritual privileges, a promise which, upon the whole, he well +observed. + +And so England entered upon a peace of fifty years, only broken by an +event yet in the womb of time, the Norman Conquest. + +"Come, Alfgar," said Edmund, one day soon after these events, "let us +go to Aescendune and fix thy wedding day; Elfwyn need fear no longer +that the sword will be the portion of his grandchildren." + +Peace! sweet, sweet peace! oh how joyful it was to be once more in the +deep woods of Aescendune, to hear the sweet song of the birds, and to +fear no evil! Sweet, ineffably sweet were those days to Alfgar and +Ethelgiva! + +So the day was at length appointed; it was to be the feast of St. +Andrew, and to take place at Oxenford, which had been assigned to +Edmund's dominions; for he insisted that it should be celebrated with +all the pomp the presence of a king could lend. + +It was now the season of the falling leaf and there were only a few +weeks longer to wait. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. SMOOTHER THAN OIL. + + +It was the latter end of November, and St. Andrew's day drew near, +when a small but select party of friends met together in an old +mansion hard by St. Frideswide's Cathedral, at Oxenford, to enjoy the +evening banquet. + +First and foremost was the king of Southern England, the valiant +Ironside, and his attendant and friend Alfgar; Elfwyn and Father +Cuthbert from Aescendune, with the Lady Hilda and Ethelgiva; Herstan, +his wife Bertha, and son Hermann, from Clifton, with his sisters; and +Ethelm, the new bishop of Dorchester, the successor of the martyred +Ednoth. + +These, our old acquaintances, had all been gathered together in view +of the approaching union of Alfgar with Ethelgiva, which was to be +solemnised on St. Andrew's day, in the presence of the king. They were +a happy party; all the woes of the past seemed forgotten in the happy +present, or were only remembered in the spirit of the well-known line: + +"Haec olim meminisse juvabit." + +The more substantial viands were removed, generous wines from warmer +climes were introduced, but there was no need of a harper or of +minstrels, save Edmund himself, or of legends and tales to those whose +lives had passed amidst scenes of excitement. They were such as make +history for future generations. + +"How the wind howls without tonight!" observed Edmund; "it makes one +value the blessing of a quiet home and a cheerful fireside. How often, +Alfgar, have you and I lain on such nights under the shelter of a +canvas tent, or even of a bush." + +"Often, indeed, my liege; but those days are gone, perhaps for ever." + +"They had their joys, nevertheless. There is something in a life of +adventure which warms the blood and makes time pass swiftly; my +goodwife and I sometimes tire of each other's company, as I expect +Ethelgiva and you will in time." + +"Never!" said Alfgar, so fervently that there was a general smile. + +"Well, time will show; meanwhile, how is the new hall at Aescendune +getting on, Elfwyn?" + +"It will be ready by next spring; then the young people must make it +their home. Our home in the woods has proved a shelter to us through +such troublous days that Hilda and I are loath to leave it. But, +meanwhile, they must live with us." + +"And how about the priory?" + +"It will be ready before the hall." + +"That is well," observed the bishop, "and as it should be--God's +house first, and then man's." + +"Well, Hermann," said Edmund, addressing his young friend, whose +career in arms he had closely watched since the attack upon the hall +at Clifton, "how do you like the prospect of a long peace?" + +"A peaceful life has its delights," replied Hermann, "but war has also +its charms." + +"Well, thou hast passed unscathed through five great battles, or at +least without any serious wound; but remember all are not so +fortunate, and many a poor cripple sighs over Penn, Sherston, +Brentford, Otford, or Assingdun." + +"The excitement of war blinds one to the risk." + +"So it should, or there would be no war at all. What does my father +the bishop think of the matter?" + +"That wars are necessary evils, only justifiable when fighting, as +you, my lord, have done, for home and altar, but they are no true +children of the Prince of Peace who delight in bloodshed and strife." + +Edmund pondered. + +"And yet I fear I must plead guilty of delighting in a gallant charge. +It stirs the blood, till it flows like fire in the veins. The feeling +is glorious." + +"Yet not one to be encouraged, save when it enables one to perform +necessary deeds of daring for some worthy object, such as holy +Scripture praises in the heroes of old." + +The conversation now became general. Elfwyn and Herstan talked of the +old days of Dunstan; Alfgar and Hermann of the events of the recent +war; the good bishop and Father Cuthbert on ecclesiastical topics; the +ladies upon some question of dresses and embroidery for the +approaching festivity, which seemed to interest them deeply, when an +attendant entered, and approaching the king, whispered a message in +his ear. + +"What! in this house? I will not have it. He knows how hateful his +very presence must be." + +"Your sister, the Princess Elgitha?" + +"Well, I will see her. No, I will not." + +"It is too late, Edmund. You must see me," said a sweet voice, and a +lady, attired in mourning weeds, stood beside him. "It is but seven +months, Edmund, since we lost our father. Shall his children rend and +devour each other?" + +"I do not want to rend and devour. I am no cannibal; but, Elgitha, +your wicked husband--" + +"Stay, Edmund, do not slander the husband before his wife." + +"This is a business! What am I to say? I cannot dissemble, and pretend +to love him, were he ten times my brother-in-law." + +"Nor can I ask it," said a deep voice behind, and Edric stood before +Edmund, his eyes cast down, his hands meekly clasped. "Edmund, I have +often deeply injured you, and betrayed your confidence." + +"You have indeed." + +"But now I repent me of my wickedness. It burdens me so heavily that, +but for your sister, I would retire into a monastery, and there end my +days." + +"It would be the best thing you could do." + +"It would indeed." + +This conference had taken place at the end of the great hall, which +was a very spacious chamber, and the speakers were separated by a +screen from the company. + +"Edmund," cried his sister, "I see what you will do. You will make me +a widow; for Edric cannot live if you refuse him forgiveness. Night +after night he tosses on his uneasy bed, and wishes that it were day. +Surely, Edmund, you have need of forgiveness yourself, yet you refuse +to forgive." + +"You preach like a bishop, but--" + +"Well, you have a real bishop here. Call him, and let him judge +between us." + +Edmund mechanically obeyed, and he called Father Cuthbert also, in +whose judgment he had great faith. + +"What am I to do?" he said. "My country's wounds, inflicted by this +man, yet bleed. Am I to give him the hand of friendship?" + +"I do not deserve it," said Edric, meekly. + +"My lord," said the bishop, gravely, "man may not refuse forgiveness +to his fellow worm; but, Edric, hast thou truly repented of thy sin +before God and his Church?" + +"I have indeed. I have fasted in sackcloth and ashes, I have eaten the +bread of affliction." + +"Where?" + +"In my sad retreat, my castle in Mercia." + +"But some public reparation is due. Art thou willing to accept such +penance as the Church, in consideration of thy perjuries, thy murders, +which man may not avenge, since treaties protect thee--but which God +will surely remember, if thou repent not--to accept such penance, I +say, as the Church shall impose?" + +"I submit myself to your judgment, most reverend father." + +"It shall be duly considered and delivered to thee; and in +consideration of that fact, I think, my lord, you cannot, as a +Christian man, refuse to be reconciled." + +"O Edmund, my brother, be merciful!" said Elgitha. + +"I yield," said Edmund, "but not tonight," he said, as Edric stretched +out his hand, reddened by many a dark deed of murder; "tomorrow, +before God's altar. I shall be at St. Frideswide's at the early mass." + +And he returned to the company. + +A cloud was evidently on his spirits that night, which did not wear +off the rest of the evening. The party separated at what would now be +called an early hour. The bishop and Father Cuthbert lodged at the +monastic house of Osney; Elfwyn, his wife and child, as also Herstan, +with his little party, were accommodated in the mansion. + +The chamber occupied by the king was a long roomy place, containing a +single bedstead of carved wood, surmounted by the usual distinctive +canopy, from which tapestried hangings depended, and upon which +scriptural subjects were woven; the furniture of the room partook of +the usual meagreness of the times. The entrance was through a small +antechamber, wherein, on a humbler bedstead, Alfgar slept. Both rooms +were hung with tapestry, which concealed rough walls, such as a +builder would blush to own as his handiwork in these luxurious days. + +Before retiring to rest, Edmund turned with much affection to his +attendant. + +"Alfgar, I have promised to forgive our enemy." + +"Edric Streorn?" + +Alfgar added no more. + +"Couldst thou forgive him?" + +"I would try." + +"His hand is red with blood. Think of Sigeferth, of Morcar, of +Elfhelm, nay, of a hundred others; then think not how he has plotted +against my life, but how he made my own father hate and disown me; +while he, the pampered favourite, swayed all the councils and betrayed +the land. O Alfgar! couldst thou forgive him?" + +"He plotted against my life and my honour, too," said Alfgar, "and +strove to deprive me of both; yet I am too happy now to harbour +revenge." + +"Well, I meet him at St. Frideswide's tomorrow, and we shall be +formally reconciled in the presence of the bishop and his clergy, +wherewith I trust he will be content, and not trouble me too often +with his presence." + +"Where is he staying now?" + +"I hardly know; but after the reconciliation I must admit him as my +guest, for my sister is with him, if he chooses to stay; but I hope +that will not be the case." + +"His ill-omened presence would cast a gloom upon St. Andrew's day." + +"It would indeed; it shall be avoided if possible. And now let us +commend ourselves to the Lord, who died that we might be forgiven. +'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against +us.'" + +And they slept. + +On the morrow before the altar of St. Frideswide, the king and Edric +had their places in the choir. + +One very touching ceremony, handed down from early times, was still +observed in England--the "kiss of peace," occurring at some period +before the close of the canon of the mass, when all the members of the +cathedral chapter, or of the choir, as the case might be, solemnly +saluted each other. + +And for this reason Edmund and Edric had been placed next each other. +So when this most solemn moment arrived, they looked each other full +in the face, and gave and received the sign of Christian brotherhood. + +After this they both communicated. + +When the holy rite was ended, Edmund invited Edric and Elgitha to +become his guests. + +Edric knew the old palace well. He had occupied it one well-remembered +season, during which, in that very banqueting hall where we have +introduced our readers, Sigeferth and Morcar, the earls of the seven +burghs, were treacherously murdered at the banquet after Edric had +previously made them heavy with wine. + +There was the usual gathering that evening. Did Edric remember the +place, and the bloody event which only he and one other present +connected with the spot?--for Edmund had been far away, and the matter +had been hushed up, as far as was possible, by all the power and +influence Ethelred could exert in his favourite's cause, or rather his +own, for he, the royal villain, shared the ill-gotten spoil. + +If he did remember it, he took care not to show it that night. He was +as calm and self-possessed as a man could be--as a smiling sea under +the summer sky--smiling so that the heedless voyager knows not what +hideous trophies or past storms the smiling depths conceal. + +So was it with this treacherous penitent. + +His presence, however, somewhat chilled the conversation, and they +broke up early; the more so as it was a vigil, the vigil of St. +Andrew, and men strictly observed the law of the Church on such +subjects in those days. + +When he bade Edmund goodnight, Edric said: + +"You cannot tell how true a peace has found its home in my breast +since our reconciliation, which I feel I owe greatly to the +intercession of your patron St. Edmund, to whose tomb I made a +pilgrimage, where I besought this one grace--our reconciliation." + +Edmund thought of the holy thorn; but Edric continued: + +"And you will be glad to hear that the bishop has decided upon my +penance. It is to be a pilgrimage to the Holy Land." + +"I am heartily glad to hear it," said Edmund, speaking the very truth, +although he did try to forgive as he hoped to be forgiven. + +And they separated. + +Meanwhile happiness and expectation were high in the breasts of the +happy lovers, Alfgar and Ethelgiva. The morrow was to unite them. The +ladies sat up nearly all night making the wedding robes complete, and +richly adorning them--Hilda, Bertha, and Ethelgiva, with many skilful +handmaidens. + +They had almost finished their task, and were about to separate, when +St. Frideswide's bell tolled the first hour of the morning (one +o'clock). + +"We are very late," said the lady Hilda, as well she might, for our +ancestors generally retired early, as they rose early; and they bade +each other goodnight. + +"Happy, happy Ethelgiva!" said the mother as she kissed her darling, +not without a maternal sigh, for she felt as if she were losing her +only child, who had for so many a year been the light of their +woodland home--her only child, who had filled not simply her own place +in their affections, but as far as she might the place of the loved +Bertric. + +But the kiss was suspended. The whole party stood silent and +breathless; for a loud and bitter cry, as of one in extreme anguish, +broke upon the silence of the night. + +Ethelgiva uttered but one word as she bounded towards the staircase, +for she knew the voice: + +"Alfgar!" + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. WHO HATH DONE THIS DEED? + + +Alfgar never saw his beloved lord enter his chamber with a look of +greater weariness than he bore that night. + +"It has been a hard fight, old friend," said the familiar king, "but +we have conquered; for my part, I would far sooner have stood out +against him, battle-axe in hand, than have met this struggle, could I +have foreseen it beforehand; but now I have given him the kiss of +peace, peace it must be; he has no more to dread from me." + +"Nor you from him, I trust." + +"I must trust so, or I should not feel I had really forgiven, and I +cannot give my hand where my heart is not; but yet it was such a +fight. 'Tis easy to stand in the deadly gap and keep the foe from a +beleaguered citadel: men praise the deed, and there is a feeling of +conscious pride which sustains one, but the truly great deeds are +those which no chronicler records. It requires more bravery to forgive +sometimes than to avenge." + +"I can well believe that, my lord." + +"Well, if my path has been beset with foes, so has it with friends. +Such love as yours, Alfgar, I say as yours has been!--well, few kings +share such affections." + +"My lord, you first loved me; at least you saved me from a fearful +death." + +"And you have warded off death from me again and again in the +battlefield; nay, deny it not, nor say it was merely your duty, men do +not always do such duty." + +"My lord, you praise me more than I can feel I deserve." + +"Not more than I feel you deserve, and yet were not this your last +night as my companion, were not tomorrow's ceremony to separate us, +perhaps for ever, I do not think I should thus overwhelm your modesty. + +"You blush like a girl," said he, laughingly. + +He lingered some time, and seemed loath to undress. At last he said: + +"Have you seen the messenger Canute sent me?" + +"Yes; I entertained him at the buttery as you requested." + +"Well, he came with a proposal from Canute that we should join in +building and endowing a church at Assingdun, where a priest may ever +say mass for the souls of our dead, whether English or Dane. Of course +I have accepted the offer, but Canute added another and more +mysterious message." + +"And what was that?" + +"'Beware,' he said, 'of Edric; his apparent desire of reconciliation +cannot be trusted;' and he added that Edric was like a certain person +who wanted to become a monk when he was sick." + +"I fear he speaks the truth." + +"But I cannot act upon his advice; it is too late now. I have striven +to do what I thought, and the bishop said, in his Master's name, was +my duty--well, I have my reward in the approbation of my conscience. +Goodnight, Alfgar, goodnight; I shall sleep soundly tonight; I hope +some day I may lay me down for my last long sleep as peacefully." + +Alfgar followed his example, and, commending himself to God, slept. + +About half-an-hour after midnight Alfgar awoke with a strange +impression upon his mind that some one was in the room. It was very +dark and stormy, and the wind, finding its way through crevices in the +ill-built house, would account for many noises, but there was +something stirring which was not the wind, and the impression was +strong on his waking senses that between him and the window, which was +opposite his bed, a figure had passed. + +Not fully trusting impressions produced at such a moment, yet with a +heavy vague sense of evil weighing him down like a nightmare, Alfgar +lay and listened. + +At length he heard a sound which might have been produced by falling +rain percolating through the roof, drop, drop upon the floor, but it +was strange, for there was no sound of rain outside at that moment. + +At length a cold draught made him turn his head, and he dimly saw +Edmund's door open and disclose the window within the room, then shut +slowly again. + +He could control his apprehensions no longer, and rose gently from his +bed, so as not to warn the foe, on the one hand, should one be +present, or if, as he strove to believe, all was fancy, not to awake +Edmund. No one was in his own little room, that he felt rather than +saw in a moment; but some one might be in Edmund's, and he passed +through the door, which he remembered, with a shudder, was shut firmly +when Edmund said "goodnight." At that instant he heard a low click, as +of a spring lock, but very faintly; hesitating no longer, he passed +into the monarch's room, and advanced to the bedside. + +"My lord!" he gently whispered, but there was no answer; he spoke +again in vain. + +Just then he felt his naked feet come into contact with some wet +substance, slightly glutinous, on the floor, and shuddered at the +contact. All trembling, he put his hand to the pillow, and drew it +back; it was wet with the same fluid, which his reason and experience +told him was blood. He could hardly refrain from crying for help, but +first sought a light. The process of procuring light then from flint, +steel, and tinder was very slow, and it was some minutes before he had +a taper lighted, when its beams disclosed to his horror-stricken sight +Edmund, weltering in his blood; a dagger had been driven suddenly and +swiftly to his heart, and he had died apparently without a struggle. +The weapon yet remained {xviii}. + +Here his affliction and grief overpowered him; he threw himself upon +the body from which he had withdrawn the weapon; he kissed the now +cold lips; he cried, half distracted, "O Edmund, my lord, speak!" + +Alas! those lips were never to speak again while time lasted. At +length the first deep emotion passed away, and left the unhappy Alfgar +comparatively master of himself, whereupon he left the chamber, and +cried aloud for help. + +It was his cry which the ladies heard in their distant bower. + +The piercing cry, "Help! Edmund, the king, is slain!" roused the +household--Elfwyn, Herstan, Hermann, the ladies, agitated beyond +measure; the household guard; and, last of all, Edric. + +They beheld Alfgar in his night dress, all bloody, holding a dagger in +his hand, and with his face blanched to a death-like paleness, +uttering cry upon cry. + +"Help! Edmund, the king, is slain!" + +They (the men) rushed to the chamber, and, passing through Alfgar's +little room, beheld, by the light of many torches, Edmund bathed in +his own blood, which still dripped with monotonous but terrible sound +on the floor. + +Edric entered, and with woe, real or affected (no one could tell), +painted in his face, approached the body; and Elfwyn and Herstan +beheld, or thought they beheld, a prodigy: they thought they saw the +eyes open, and regard Edric, and that they saw the blood well up in +the wound. But doubtless this was fancy. + +"One thing we all must do," said Edric; "we must all help to find the +murderer. The first step to that effect will be to note all present +appearances. First, where is the weapon?" + +"Here," said Alfgar, extending it. + +"Why, Alfgar, it is your own dagger," said Elfwyn; "one which he gave +you himself." + +Alfgar uttered a plaintive and pitiful cry. + +Edric possessed himself of the blood-stained weapon. + +"Alfgar," said he, "you must have slept soundly. Tell us what you +heard and saw." + +He briefly related the particulars with which the reader is +acquainted. + +"But how could they enter? Was your door unfastened?" + +"No; it was bolted on the inside, even as I left it last night." + +"Bolted on the inside! then they must have entered through the +window," said Edric, noting the words. + +"Impossible," said both the thanes; "they are barred, both of +them--heavily barred." + +"We can no longer assist our departed lord save by our prayers," said +Edric. "God be thanked, he died friends with me. I shall value the +remembrance of that kiss cf peace in St. Frideswide's so long as I +live. And now I, once his foe, but his friend and avenger now, devote +myself to hunt the murderer. So help me God!" + +"So help me God!" + +"So help me God!" said all present, one after the other. + +"We are then of one heart and soul, and no tie of kindred, no +friendship, shall bar our common action. And now we must rouse the +reeve and burgesses; the gates of the city must be closed, that none +escape. I will send members of the guard to do this, and when they +have assembled we will all take counsel together." + +"O Alfgar," whispered Elfwyn, "how came your dagger there?" + +"I know not. I feel as one distracted," said the faithful and loving +Alfgar, who had lost by this fell stroke a most faithful friend, with +the warmest heart which had ever beaten beneath a monarch's breast. + +Oh, how the thought of the conversation last night came back to him +now--the warning of Canute, the loving words of affection which had +been spoken to him by those lips now cold in death! + +All the imperfections of his character now faded away; he seemed so +brave, yet so loving, so invincible in combat, yet so gentle and +forgiving, as he had shown in forgiving even--even--even--said Alfgar +to his own wounded bleeding heart--even in forgiving his murderer. For +in his eyes it was Edric, and none but Edric, who had done this deed. + +But a terrible suspicion of a very opposite nature was rapidly +assuming sway in other men's minds. + +A council met before daybreak--the reeve or mayor, the chief +burgesses, two or three thanes then in the town, the officers of the +royal guard, Elfwyn, Herstan, and Edric. After a few preliminaries +Edric rose and spake as follows: + +"We have met together under the most awful responsibility which could +fall upon subjects. Edmund, our king, has been murdered, and by whom +we know not." + +All were silent. + +"I grieve to say," he continued, "that there is but one upon whom our +suspicions can now fall with any shadow of probability--one who is +now absent, for I thought it well not to summon him to this council; +and before naming him, I must recall to you, Elfwyn, and to you, +Herstan, the solemn oath we have all three taken to disregard all +appeals of natural affection, and to ascertain the truth, God being +our helper." + +"We have." + +"We have," said they with bursting hearts, for they foresaw what +accusation Edric was about to bring. + +"I grieve, then, to say," he continued, "that this natural affection +must be bitterly tried, for there is but one to whom my words can +apply. Meanwhile, I will put a few questions. With whose dagger was +the deed committed?" + +"Alfgar's," replied those who had been there the previous night. + +"Whose chamber commanded the only entrance to the royal chamber?" + +"Alfgar's." + +"Who incautiously, as if forgetting himself, stated that he found the +door bolted on the inside?" + +"Alfgar." + +"But the motive--the motive? The poor fellow loved him as he loved his +own father." + +"I cannot explain that difficulty, but I can suggest one motive which +may already have suggested itself to several. But let me ask of what +nation is Alfgar?" + +"A Dane; but an Englishman by long habit." + +"I can answer for that," said Elfwyn. + +"Once a Dane always a Dane. Now a secret messenger arrived from Canute +yesterday, and had a long private interview with Alfgar. In short, I +dare not say all I know or suspect, for there can be little doubt who +will reign in England now." + +All were silent. + +At length Edric continued, "none can deny that we have grounds for our +suspicions." + +"Yes, I do deny it," said Elfwyn, "the more so when I remember who +makes the accusation." + +"You do well to reproach me; I deserve it, I confess, and more than +deserve it. Yes, I was Edmund's enemy once; but perhaps you remember +yesterday and the early mass at St. Frideswide's." + +"We do, we do," cried all but Elfwyn and Herstan; but they were +utterly outvoted, and the order was given to the captain of the +hus-carles to arrest Alfgar. + +Alfgar, desolate and almost distracted, not heeding that he was not +summoned to the council, as he might so naturally have expected to be, +wandered mechanically about the palace until the bell summoned him to +the early mass. The bishop was the celebrant, for Father Cuthbert was +to have officiated at the celebration of the marriage of his son in +the faith. The solemn pealing of the bell for the mass at the hour of +daybreak fell upon Alfgar's ears, and he turned almost mechanically to +the cathedral, yet with vague desire to communicate all his griefs and +troubles to a higher power than that of man, and to seek aid from a +diviner source. + +He entered, knelt in a mental attitude easier to imagine than +describe, but felt some heavenly dew fall upon his bleeding wounds; he +left without waiting to speak to any one at the conclusion of the +service, and was crossing the quadrangle to the palace which occupied +a portion of the site of modern Christ Church, when a heavy hand was +laid upon his shoulder. + +He turned and saw the captain of the guard; two or three of his +officers were beside him. + +"It is my painful duty to arrest you and make you my prisoner." + +"On what charge?" said the astonished Alfgar. + +"The murder of the king." + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. THE ORDEAL. + + +The news of the murder of Edmund spread far and wide, and awakened +deep sorrow and indignation, not only amongst his friends and +subjects, but even amongst his former enemies, the Danes, now rapidly +yielding to the civilising and softening influences of Christianity, +following therein the notable example of their king, Canute, who was +everywhere restoring the churches and monasteries he and his had +destroyed, and saying, with no faltering voice, albeit, perhaps, with +a very inadequate realisation of all the words implied, "As for me and +my house, we will serve the Lord." + +Ealdorman and thane came flocking into Oxenford from all the +neighbouring districts of Wessex and Mercia. The body of the lamented +monarch was laid in state in St. Frideswide's; there wax tapers shed a +hallowed light on the sternly composed features of him who had been +the bulwark of England; and there choking sobs and bitter sighs every +hour rent the air, and bore witness to a nation's grief. And there, +two heartbroken ladies, a mother and a daughter, came often to pray, +not only for the soul of the departed king, but also for the discovery +of his murderers and the clearing of the innocent, for neither Hilda +nor Ethelgiva for one moment doubted the spotless innocence of Alfgar. + +They were refused admittance to the cell wherein he was confined by +Edric, who had assumed the direction of all things, and whose claim, +such is the force of impudence, seemed to be tacitly allowed by the +thanes and ealdormen of Wessex. + +But Elfwyn and Herstan could hardly be denied permission to visit him, +owing to their positions, and they both did so. They found him in a +chamber occupying the whole of the higher floor of a tower of the +castle, which served as a prison for the city and neighbourhood, +rudely but massively built. One solitary and deep window admitted a +little air and light, but the height rendered all escape hopeless, +even had the victim wished to escape, which he did not. + +"Alfgar, my son!" said Elfwyn, finding the poor prisoner did not +speak, "do you not know us?" + +"Indeed I do; but do you believe me guilty, nay, even capable of--" + +He could add no more, but they saw that if they doubted they would +hear no more from him--that he scorned self-defence. + +"Guilty!--no, God forbid! we alone in the council asserted your +complete innocence." + +"I thank you; you have taken away the bitterness of death--and +Ethelgiva?" + +"Would die for her conviction of your truth." + +"Thank God!" he said fervently, his face brightening at once; tears, +indeed, rolled down his cheeks, but they seemed rather of gratitude +than grief. + +"We wanted to see, my son, whether you could aid us in discovering the +real assassin--whether you can in any way account for his possession +of your dagger, for your door being still, as you asserted, fast +inside." + +"I knew it made against me, but I couldn't lie, it was fast inside." + +"Then how could the foe have gained admittance?" + +"I could not discover that, but I think there must have been some +secret door. Edric had perhaps lived in the Place before; he once +resided in Oxenford." + +"He did, and in that very house," said Herstan. "I was here at the +time when he assassinated Sigeferth and Morcar in the banqueting +hall." + +"That may supply a clue, I know no other possible one." + +"But how, then, did he get your dagger?" + +"I think our wine was drugged the night before, or I should not have +slept so soundly. I remember with what difficulty I seemed to throw +off a kind of nightmare which oppressed me, and to come to myself." + +"Then I will get a carpenter and search the wainscoting; and I will +see whether I can learn anything about the wine," said Elfwyn. + +"Do so cautiously, my father, very cautiously, for if Edric suspects +you are on his track, he will plot against your life too, and +Ethelgiva will have no protector. + +"Oh, this was to have been my wedding day, my wedding day!" and he +clasped his hands in agony; then the thought of his master--his slain +lord--returned, and he cried, "O Edmund! my master, my dear master, so +good, so gentle, yet so brave; who else could slay him? what fiend +else than Edric, the murderer Edric? That they should think I, or any +one else than Edric, could have done such a deed, such an evil deed!" + +Elfwyn and Herstan both left the scene, the more convinced of Alfgar's +innocence, but yet the more puzzled to convey their impression to +others. + +Meanwhile the arrangements for Edmund's burial were made. It was +decided, according to the wish he had more than once expressed, that +he should rest beneath the shadow of a shrine he had loved well; and +on the second day after his death the mournful procession left +Oxenford for Glastonbury, followed by the tears and prayers of the +citizens. There, after a long and toilsome winter journey, the funeral +cortege arrived, and was joined by his wife Elgitha, his sons Edmund +and Edward. They laid him to rest by the side of his grandfather, +Edgar "the Magnanimous," whose days of peace and prosperity all +England loved to remember. There, amidst the people of Wessex who had +rallied so often to his war cry, all that was mortal of the Ironside +reposed. + +Meanwhile the crafty Edric, who excused himself from attendance on the +solemnities, tarried at Oxenford, and with him tarried also Elfwyn, +Herstan, and the other friends of the unfortunate prisoner, to secure, +as they were able, that justice should be rendered him. + +A special court of justice was speedily organised, wherein Edric +presided as ealdorman of Mercia, for Oxenford properly was a Mercian +city, although, lying on the debateable land, it was frequently +claimed by Wessex as the border land changed its boundaries. + +The court was composed of wise and aged men, ealdormen, thanes, and +burgesses had places, and the bishop of Dorchester sat by Edric as +assessor. + +The court was opened, and the vacant places in the room were occupied +at once by the crowd who were fortunate enough to gain entrance. The +general feeling was strong against the prisoner, the more so because +he had been loved and trusted by Edmund, so that ingratitude added to +the magnitude of his crime in their eyes. + +But amongst those who stood nearest to the place he must occupy were +his betrothed, her mother, Bertha, and young Hermann, who had already +got into several quarrels through his fierce espousing of the cause of +the accused. + +He entered at last under a guard, calm and dignified, in spite of his +suffering. He met the gaze of the multitude without flinching, and his +general demeanour impressed many in his favour. Compurgators, or men +to swear that they believed him innocent, a kind of evidence fully +recognised by the Saxon law, were not wanting; but they consisted +chiefly of his old companions in arms and his friends from Aescendune. +In a lighter accusation, his innocence might have been established by +this primitive mode of evidence, but the case was too serious; the +accusation being one of the murder of a king. + +The charge was duly read; and to the accusation he replied, "Not +guilty!" with a fervour and firmness which caused men to look up. + +The chamberlain was first examined. + +"Were you present when the late king retired to rest?" + +"I was." + +"Who shared his chamber?" + +"The prisoner slept in an antechamber." + +"Was there a fastening to the outer door of the antechamber?" + +"Yes; a strong bolt." + +"Could it be opened from the exterior?" + +"It could not." + +"Was there any other entrance to the royal apartments?" + +"None." + +The dagger was produced, and Elfwyn was examined. + +"Do you recognise the weapon?" + +"I do; it was Alfgar's." + +"How do you recognise it?" + +"It was richly carved about the handle. The letter E is stamped upon +it, with a crown." + +"Whence did the prisoner obtain it?" + +"The king gave it him." (Sensation.) + +"Did you see it on the night of the murder?" + +"I did." + +"Under what circumstances?" + +"The accused held it dripping with blood in his hands, and said he +found it sticking in the corpse." + +Other witnesses were also called to prove these facts. + +The accused was then heard in his own defence, and he repeated with +great simplicity and candour the circumstances so well known to our +readers; and concluded: + +"I can say no more. None who knew the love he bore me, and that I bore +him, could suspect me." + +The bishop here spoke. + +"It is my office," said he, "by the canons of King Athelstane, to +assist secular judges in purging away accusations, therefore I will +ask the accused a few questions." + +"Had you any cause of suspicion against any other person--anything to +point out the doer of this evil deed?" + +"All men loved him save one." + +"And who was that one?" + +"He sits to judge me." + +"Nay," cried the bishop, "we all beheld the reconciliation in St. +Frideswide's church." + +"The king himself was warned not to trust to the reconciliation." + +"By whom?" + +"His brother sovereign." + +"Canute?" + +And here Edric perceptibly changed colour. + +"Even so." + +"Your proofs," said the bishop--"nay, my lord Edric, trust your +reputation to the justice of God and the court." + +"The messenger from Canute, who came here on the vigil of St. Andrew." + +"Where is he?" + +"He has returned to Canute," said Elfwyn. + +"Aught else?" + +"Only I would bid you remember that the ealdorman Edric sought in like +manner reconciliation with Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, and all men know +what followed." + +Here Edric interrupted--"I do not sit here to be judged, but to judge. +These accusations cannot be heard." + +"There is a judgment seat above where you will not be able to make +that plea," said the prisoner solemnly. + +"Alfgar," said the bishop, "this counter-accusation cannot be +received; have you aught else to urge?" + +"None. I commit my cause to God." + +The court retired. + +The pause was long and painful. It afterwards transpired that the +bishop pleaded in Alfgar's favour, while Herstan ably seconded him; +but all was in vain. Edric's eloquence, and the strong circumstantial +evidence against the prisoner, carried the day, and the ealdorman even +proposed that execution should be speedy, "lest," he whispered, +"Canute should interfere to screen his instrument." + +It was a dangerous game, but he thought the services he had rendered +the Danish cause enabled him to play it safely. + +They returned. All men saw the verdict in their faces. Edric spoke +with great solemnity. + +"We find the prisoner guilty." + +There was a dead pause. + +"I appeal to the judgment of God. I demand the ordeal cf fire," said +Alfgar {xix}. + +"It cannot be denied," said the bishop, who had anticipated the +appeal. "I myself will see to the preliminaries; and it may take place +tomorrow morning in St. Frideswide's church." + +Edric and his sympathisers would fain have denied the claim, but they +could not resist the bishop, backed as he was by the popular voice, +for the cry, "The ordeal! yes, the ordeal!" was taken up at once by +the populace. + +While he was hesitating, his brother Goda appeared amongst the crowd. + +"Canute," he whispered, "draws nigh Oxenford. He has heard what is +going on." + +Edric trembled, but soon recovered himself. However, it was not a time +to deny justice. + +The following morning the church of St. Frideswide was crowded at the +early mass. All the friends of the accused were there, and Edric with +all his party. The holy service was about to commence, when the crowd +at the church door moved aside; a passage was speedily made though the +crowd, and three or four ecclesiastics, one habited as a royal +chaplain, escorted a stranger, to whom all paid instinctive reverence, +yet hardly knowing why, for he was only clad in the ordinary robes +worn by noblemen amongst the English. + +He was led to the choir, and placed where Edmund had knelt by Edric's +side some days previously. Edric saw him, and exchanged glances, after +which the ealdorman looked uneasy. + +On the other side knelt the prisoner, with Elfwyn and Herstan on +either side, and his colour heightened. Well it might. He had last +seen that figure when he fought by Edmund's side at Penn. But it was +not that meeting. Words spoken ten years before came back to him with +marvellous force: + +"Tell me what is the secret of this Christianity?" + +And Alfgar knew that Canute had found that secret at last. + +"Why was he here? Did he come as his friend or foe?" + +The mass was over. Alfgar had followed the whole ceremony with rapt +attention, for it was in God alone that he could now put his +confidence. + +Then a furnace was placed in the church, containing nine bars of iron +of red heat, and the fire was blown till the bars, quivering with +heat, glittered in the sight. The bishop approached, and said the +appointed prayers, that God would detect the innocence or guilt of the +prisoner by their means, and reveal the truth known only to Him. + +Then a lane was formed up the church, and the friends of Alfgar kept +one side, while those of Edric kept the other, after which the bars of +iron were laid down about two feet apart. + +The bishop approached. + +"Are ye all fasting with prayer?" he inquired. + +The friends of accused and accuser from either side replied: + +"We are." + +"Humble yourselves, and pray to God to reveal the truth," said he, and +sprinkled them with holy water, after which the book of the Gospels +was passed all round to be kissed. + +"Pray that God may reveal the truth," said he again. + +"We do so pray." + +Then Alfgar, who felt full of divine confidence, took his place at the +end nearest the porch. He was given the book of the Gospels. + +"Swear thy innocence upon the holy Gospels," said the bishop. + +"I do swear that I am innocent of the crime they lay to my charge;" +and he kissed the book; then holy water was sprinkled upon his feet, +and given him to drink. + +The decisive moment approached. He looked round, he saw Ethelgiva, her +eyes full of tears, her lips moving in prayer. + +All fear departed from him. + +The bishop blindfolded him. + +"My son, trust in God, and in His strength go forward," he whispered. + +Alfgar could see nought now. A line of red string was stretched from +the bishop's hand to that of a priest at the other extremity, to guide +him. Canute advanced, took the end from the priest's hand and held it. + +Alfgar started one step. The first iron is passed safely--two, the +second cleared. The excitement is intense. Three cleared--four, five. +Ah, he nears the sixth! No, he misses it!--seven, eight--one +more--nine! SAVED BY GOD! + +Ethelgiva fainted. A deep sound of applause, not even suppressed by +the character of the place. Elfwyn received his adopted son in his +arms: + +"Saved, saved!" he cried. + +"Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory!" replied Alfgar. + +When the first congratulations were over, and Alfgar had somewhat +recovered from the excitement of the shock, and from the +congratulations which were heaped upon him upon all sides, he was told +that Canute awaited him in the audience chamber, and at once repaired +to the presence of his future king with less emotion than may be +imagined; for he was worn out by sensation, and becoming callous to +impressions. + +He was formally introduced by the officer in waiting, and the king at +once dismissed that functionary. + +"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, we have met before," observed the monarch. + +"We have, my lord." + +"I did not refer to later occasions, when we have met on the +battlefield, but to a far earlier one. Need I recall it? Surely there +are some moments in one's life never to be forgotten." + +"There are indeed, my lord. Pardon my confusion. You refer to a scene +in Carisbrooke." + +"Yes. When I asked you, 'What is this Christianity?' you had not much +time given you to answer me then, but your deliberate choice of a +bitter death, in preference to abandoning it, showed me there was +somewhat deeper in it than I had imagined. Alfgar, there are seeds +lightly sown which bear fruit hereafter, and your words were of such a +character--so that I, your future monarch, owe you already a debt of +gratitude, and I had come hither to fulfil it when you saved me the +task by appealing to the ordeal. I for one had full faith in the +justice of God. But had you not so appealed, I should have stepped in +between Edric and his victim." + +"You did not then, my lord, believe in my guilt?" + +"Not for one moment. The lad who defied my unhappy father in the +frantic fury of his power--the warrior I had seen fighting by the side +of his king--the faithful attendant of many years?--Nay, it was +monstrous; who could believe it?" + +"Many, alas! found it possible to believe it, my lord. But who has +been the murderer? You will not permit your brother's blood to fall on +the earth unavenged." + +"Wait. Be patient. God, in whom you trust, will direct the bolt in His +own time. Edmund's blood will not be unavenged. And now, farewell! +Remember, if you have lost one royal friend, you have found another." + +And Alfgar left the presence. + +The next day the whole party from Aescendune returned home. Oxenford +was too full of bitter memories now. One grief of Alfgar was this--he +had not been able to stand by Edmund's grave. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. FATHER CUTHBERT'S DIARY. + + +CHRISTMASTIDE 1017. + +Ten years ago, this very day, God in His mercy delivered us from the +raging Danes at Cliffton, on Tamesis, and now He hath delivered us +again out of the hands of the raging lion, even of Edric Streorn, and +we are all spared to keep our Christmas in peace in the woods of +Aescendune. + +It is probably the last I shall keep in this place, for the hall and +priory are fast rising from their ruins, and we shall soon return to +our old home, from which we have been banished ten years and more. It +will be sweet to be there once more, serving the Lord in peace, with +none daring to make us afraid. + +Here we are, all of us who are near and dear by the ties of blood, in +this woodland Zoar, which hath indeed been a Zoar in the late +troublous years, utterly untouched, which again we regard as a proof +that Anlaf does not live, for he could have found us out had his +revenge led him to do so when Sweyn was in Mercia. Neither has he +appeared to claim his own estate, which he might easily regain now a +Dane is king. + +Alfgar and Ethelgiva are now speedily to be united. Theirs is to be +the first marriage solemnised in the new minster church by my unworthy +hands. To see them now, one would think they had forgotten all the +past peril. The old people do not mean to abandon their woodland +abode; they love it all too well, and call it the Happy Valley. But +they say that a good road, now the times are safer, shall be made to +the old site, where we are again rearing hall and priory. + +There is now quite a colony here, nearly 300 people. The church is +very commodious, and every day, for the whole period of these late +dreadful wars, mass has been said therein for our suffering brethren +"contra Paganos." Thank God that he hath at length heard our prayers; +our late foes are no longer Pagans but Christians, and are as eager to +build up as they were to cast down; in fact, several of them have +offered their zealous aid in the rebuilding of our priory. + +We had such a happy Christmas evening. We sat by the fire, and Alfgar +was made to relate the whole story again of his escape with Edmund +from Carisbrooke, of his imprisonment by Edric in the Synodune woods, +of the attack and defence of Clifton. We had all heard it before, but +still we wanted to hear it again, just to contrast present peace and +joy with the danger and trials of those days, and to make them sweeter +by the contrast. Truly our Christmas worship had need to be praise and +thanksgiving, not only for the great mystery the church commemorates, +but also for present mercies so freely bestowed upon us all. + +Second Sunday after Easter, 1017.-- + +We have just received intelligence that Canute has been solemnly +crowned at St. Paul's Church, in London, by Archbishop Lyfing. He +called a council of the whole kingdom previously, to which both my +brother and I were summoned, but I cared not to attend. Elfwyn, +however, went, and wanted Alfgar to go, but he begged hard to be +excused, I imagine for two reasons. First of all, he laments Edmund +too deeply to welcome his former enemy as his successor; and secondly, +he does not care to leave Ethelgiva again. + +Well, Elfwyn tells us that when all were present--bishops, ealdormen, +thanes, and the noblest of the people--Canute solemnly proposed that +they should accept him as their king, giving them to understand that, +by a tacit understanding with Edmund, it had been agreed that the +kingdom should not be permanently divided, but that the survivor +should inherit and govern the whole realm. + +The wise men replied that, since Edmund's children were too young to +govern, they could not desire a better monarch than Canute; they +committed the little ones to his care, and acknowledged him as king of +all England. + +And on the morrow Archbishop Lyfing, who had so shortly before crowned +Edmund, placed the emblem of regal dignity on the head of Canute in +St. Paul's Cathedral. + +I hear Edric Streorn is confirmed in the earldom of Mercia. I still +fear that man. + +Sunday after Ascension, 1017.-- + +On this happy Sunday it has pleased God to restore us to our home once +more. The priory is rebuilt in more than its former beauty, and the +hall beside it stands conspicuous in its splendour. They have not +changed the appearance much, for it was the especial wish of every one +concerned that it should remind one of old associations as much as +possible. + +The good bishop of Dorchester, the abbot of Abingdon, and many others +of my friends amongst the brethren there, the neighbouring clergy and +thanes, all met together to dedicate the new house to God. High mass +was solemnly sung in the minster church, and the whole building was +hallowed with psalm and prayer to God; after which followed a +temperate banquet. + +The bishop was very kind and loving, and spoke most affectionately to +our poor people on the subject of their past trials; especially he +commended their new lord, Alfgar, to their allegiance, saying that in +all his deep trials he had shown himself a most perfect Christian, +doing his duty both to God and man. + +Monday.-- + +The abbot and brethren from Abingdon are gone back, and we poor happy +brethren have entered again upon our regular duties. Ah me! what a gap +time has made in our ranks. Of the twenty brethren who were driven out +by the Danes eleven years ago, only twelve yet live, and eight +brethren from Abingdon supply the place of the others. God be praised +that Father Adhelm yet lives! He has been my right hand in so many +perils and trials. + +It is so delightful to be at home once more. Surely never were monks +happier. My heart swells when each morning we sing the three last +joyful psalms at lauds. + +It is settled that Alfgar and Ethelgiva are to be married on the +Monday after the Whitsun octave. O happy pair! O ter felices et nimium +beati! I only hope they will not love earth too well. + +Octave of the Ascension.-- + +Today we have had a special messenger from Canute, who is in the +neighbourhood, to express his royal intention to grace the approaching +marriage with his presence. It will indeed be an honour. Ah! but if +Edmund could be there. + +Whitsunday.-- + +I hardly know how to express my intense surprise and joy. Alfgar's +father has returned--a Christian. + +While all the people were assembling for mass this morning, an aged +man, clad in palmer's weeds, evidently worn by toil and travel, came +from the bridge over the river, which has been rebuilt, towards the +minster church, and entering, knelt down wrapt in devotion. Many +remarked his quaint attire; his face, once stern, now softened by +grace; his hair, once black as the raven's wing, now white as snow; +his dark eyes gleaming beneath thick white eyebrows. I fear he caused +many wandering thoughts, and he would have caused yet more, could they +have known that they beheld the penitent destroyer of the old hall and +priory. + +Now I preached, not knowing at the time who was amongst my hearers, +from the words of Isaiah, "For thy waste and desolate places, and the +land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow, by reason of +the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. +The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, +shall say again in thine ears. The place is too strait for me; give +place to me, that I may dwell." + +Oh, how touching the words seemed; for our waste and desolate places +are indeed peopled with joy and gladness, and many must have thought +of dear Bertric, our martyr boy, when they heard those words, "the +children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other." They +seemed a divine prophecy of joy and gladness unto us. + +And so I preached after this manner, and as I did so I saw the +stranger was deeply moved, and marvelled who he could be, that he +entered so deeply into so personal a sermon, which treated of a +peculiar joy which a stranger intermeddleth not with. + +Now after the mass was ended, we came forth from the church, and +Alfgar, with Ethelgiva, walked down the path to the Lychgate, when +Alfgar's eyes fell upon the stranger, whereupon, to our astonishment, +he started, then stepped forward, fell on his knees, and cried, with a +choked voice, "Father, your blessing!" + +At first we thought it was reverence, somewhat exaggerated, to a +pilgrim, but when the aged man cried aloud, "The God of Abraham bless +thee, even thee, O my son!" and the tears streamed down the furrows of +his aged cheeks, we knew it must be something more than this, and so +it proved. + +It was none other than Anlaf--Anlaf who had disappeared from all the +knowledge of friend or foe for ten years! + +We all received him, especially my brother Elfwyn, with great joy--for +we shared Alfgar's happiness--and we led him into the house, where we +tendered him all the offices of hospitality. + +It was by degrees that we learned his story. He was really converted +to Christianity by the example of his son, whose words produced a far +deeper effect upon him than either he or Alfgar suspected at the time. + +And when he saw that son prefer a cruel death to apostasy, his heart +was moved--deeply moved, so that he pondered over all he had heard +from him and from a once loved wife, whose words had seemed lost, but +whose prayers perhaps watered them into growth after she was dead and +gone. So he left the army without telling any one whither he went, and +sought instruction from a Christian. + +And he found a Christian priest hidden in the woods, where he +administered the word and sacraments to a starving few, but secretly, +for fear of the Danes; and from him he learned the truth and was +baptized. + +Then, feeling himself unhappy in this distracted land--separated from +the English by blood, from the Danes by religion--he determined to go +on pilgrimage. + +Once in the Holy Land, he had to undergo much contumely from the pagan +Saracens, who, to the disgrace of Christendom, defile the Holy City by +their presence, and maltreat the blessed pilgrims; but he had learned +to glory in humiliation. At last he retired to the woods on the +sources of the Jordan, weary of earth, and there he joined an aged +hermit, with whom he lived for two years, and when the hermit died he +took his place, and dwelt as an ascetic, ministering, however, to the +necessities of pilgrims who journeyed that way to the Holy Land. + +From some of these pilgrims he learned, at length, that English and +Danes were united in peace, and a great desire of revisiting England +and searching out his son seized upon him. On the road he heard that +Edmund was dead and Canute reigned alone, and so he came hither at +once, and has arrived, God so willing it, in time to see his son +married to the heiress of Aescendune. + +We have provided him lodgings in the priory. The new hall is not to be +dwelt in till the night when the happy pair enter it and make it their +home. + +Alfgar's cup of joy is full. + +Monday after the Whitsun Octave.-- + +At last it is over. The weary waiting of ten years is ended. Alfgar +and Ethelgiva are man and wife. + +Canute gave away the bride in person. Elfwyn, Hilda, Herstan, Bertha, +and Hermann, with his sisters--indeed all the kindred of the bride +were there. Of the kindred of the bridegroom but one, so far as we +know, is living--his father Anlaf. It has been a warlike race, and +nearly all the members of the family have found a warrior's grave. + +I performed the ceremony, assisted by all the brethren in the choral +portions of the mass and the order of the marriage service. Ethelgiva +was pale and composed although she shed a few natural tears, but wiped +them soon. Alfgar was simple and unaffected, as he always is. All he +does is so naturally done. Like Nathaniel, he is a man without guile. + +The church was crowded. All the retainers and all the neighbours were +present, and when the bride and bridegroom left the sacred building, +they saluted them with cheers which made the welkin ring. + +Then the whole party adjourned to the hall, which was crowded to the +fullest extent. And for the poorer guests, who could not find +admittance, tables were spread in the open air, beneath the shade of +spreading trees, for the day was lovely even for June. + +Canute remained throughout the entertainment, and, by his unaffected +condescension and his cheerful sympathy, won the hearts of all. His +general demeanour tends to efface his foreign descent from the mind. +Yet we sighed for Edmund, for which even Canute would pardon us. He +should have presided at the board. + +When the night was far advanced the whole party broke up and retired +to rest, after a day calculated to efface the recollection of many a +hardship past. + +For my part, when I returned to the priory, I mused for a long time on +the dark paths through which our Lord has conducted us to this happy +day. I thought of the period of Alfgar's conversion and baptism, of +St. Brice's night, for which England has paid so heavy a penance, now, +we trust, happily over. And while I thus thought, my musings led me to +the tomb of Bertric, whose sacred relics, as those of a martyr, now +lie interred beneath our high altar, and I wondered whether his +blessed spirit could sympathise in our earthly joy. Yes; I doubt it +not; and that he witnesses it from above. Through suffering to joy has +been our lot; through suffering to glory his. + +Tuesday.-- + +The king left this morning. His engagements are too numerous to permit +him to give much space to recreation. Before he left he summoned +Alfgar, Anlaf, and Elfwyn, to a conference in the library--for they +have a library as of old in the hall--and then he told Alfgar that he +had talked with Anlaf who wished to convey the manorial rights of his +former patrimony, and all its revenues, to his son, and to join our +brotherhood, and that he desired him to witness the deed. Now, all the +former charters of Aescendune were destroyed in the old hall, and the +king had caused a new one to be drawn up, supplying all the defects +caused by the loss of the earlier documents; conferring and securing, +by royal charter, all the lands of Aescendune, and those formerly +appertaining to Anlaf, upon Alfgar, and his successors for ever, not, +as he said, as a deed of gift, but as a charter securing and defining +their rights and liberties, for him and his successors, to all future +generations; and adding all the waste land of the adjacent forest, +formerly holden of the crown, to their domains, with right of all +temporal jurisdiction, and with the title of Earl, which title is +common in the northern and more Danish districts, more so than +ealdorman, which obtains in the south. + +"Thus much," said he, "I know my brother Edmund would have done for +you, and in his place it has fallen to my lot. + +"Would," he added, "I could be all to you which Edmund would have been +had he lived; that, perhaps, is not possible; but I know, Alfgar," he +added, "how to esteem faithfulness, even when it has been sometimes +exercised at my expense, for one once a rival, now only thought of as +a brother." + +Then he turned to Anlaf. + +"Old companion in arms," he said, "this makes up for Carisbrooke; +well, Alfgar, hadst thou yielded then, thou hadst not been here now. +Thy father and I owe thee something for the example thou didst set +us." + +And then he turned to Elfwyn and wished him joy of his son. + +After that he came to the priory and prayed awhile in front of the +altar; his devotions ended, he came to my cell and made me a startling +offer of a bishopric in Denmark, saying he thought there was much work +to be done for God there, and he thought Englishmen would do it best; +and thus, he added, after their Master's example, return good for +evil {xx}. + +But an old oak such as I am cannot be uprooted, and perhaps it is a +carnal feeling, but I fear my earthly affections bind me here while +life lasts, so, thanking him warmly for the distinction implied in the +offer, I respectfully but firmly declined it. + +And so the king and his retinue left Aescendune. Elfwyn and Hilda +return in a few days to their happy valley; men have been at work for +weeks making a good road there from the hall, and the journey will +only occupy two or three hours to a good walker. + +Herstan and his family leave for their home on the Thames (which has +been rebuilt, together with the little church of St. Michael) +tomorrow. Anlaf takes his vows as a novice next Sunday, his novitiate +will be as short as the rules of our order allow; we shall all then +welcome him as a brother. + +Soon our days will flow tranquilly on. May God mercifully continue +peace in our days. + +"Stablish the thing, O God, that thou hast wrought in us." + +Christmas, 1017.-- + +Strange news greet our festival. Edric Streorn has gone suddenly, +unhouselled, unanointed, unabsolved, to his great account. Hermann, +who is now an officer in the royal hus-carles, has arrived from court, +and from him we have learnt all particulars. + +Edric was alone with the king in a chamber overlooking the Thames. +Hermann was on duty without, with some of the guard, when he heard +voices within in hot contention. + +"You will grant me no favour, not even the life of this traitor, who, +I tell you, is conspiring against you, and desires to place Edwy, the +Etheling, Edmund's brother, on the throne in your place." + +"Your proof lies, I suppose, in the hatred you have always borne him," +was the king's reply. + +Hermann could not help hearing, they spoke so loudly, but the next +words enchained his attention. + +"I tell thee the name 'Alfgar' is first and foremost amongst the +signatures of the men who have conspired to cast thee from the +throne." + +"Then I conclude you placed it there; tush, man, I know thee of old!" + +"Why should you suspect this? was not he Edmund's faithful friend, +worshipping him as a god, and would he not do all he could for his +brother?" + +"I thought you held him guilty of Edmund's murder." + +"That was only because I wished to remove two enemies from your path +instead of one you will not remove one from mine; lo! I forsook Edmund +my king for thy sake, and for thy sake I slew him, and thus thou +rewardest me." + +Then Canute waxed furious, and he shouted, "Guard! guard!" + +Hermann rushed in; and amongst others Eric, the Earl of Northumbria. + +"What, wretch! murderer! apostate blasphemer of the saints! didst thou +murder Edmund, my brother Edmund, who was dear to me as Jonathan to +David, seeing we were bound to each other by an oath! Thou didst +stretch thy hand against the Lord's anointed, and thou shalt die the +death. + +"Cut him down! cut him down, Eric! cut him down, Hermann." + +Eric stepped forward in an instant, and with his huge battle-axe cleft +the unhappy traitor, who had fallen to his knees to obtain mercy, from +the head to the shoulders. + +"Throw the carcase out of window," cried the furious king; "let the +fishes have the carrion. Never shall he find a grave, the vile +regicide; and that he should think I would reward his guilt! Nay, I +have served him as David did the Amalekite." + +Eric and Hermann, between them, raised the corpse, and flung it, all +bleeding and disfigured, into the Thames, the tide just running out +beneath the walls. + +I ought to write, "So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord!" But the +awful doom of his unrepentant soul saddens me, much as he has hated me +and mine. + +Lent, 1018.-- + +A strange discovery has been made which interests us all greatly. At +the time of Alfgar's trial at Oxford, Herstan fancied there must be a +secret staircase communicating with Edmund's room, but sought it in +vain. Now that Edric has avowed the deed, Hermann has obtained the +king's permission to make a thorough search all through the house, and +in the thickness of the huge stone chimney a secret staircase has been +found, with a door opening through the thickness of the wall and +panelling into the room in which Edmund slept, as well as another door +opening into the banqueting hall, where Sigeferth and Morcar were +murdered. It is all clear as day now. Edric must have entered the +royal chamber from the banqueting hall in the dead of the night, and +thus, when no human eye beheld, have accomplished his evil deed. Ah, +well! he could not escape the eye of Him who has said "Vengeance is +mine, I will repay." + +Eastertide, 1018-- + +A son is born to Alfgar and Ethelgiva; and today, Low Sunday, they +presented their babe to Him who said, "Suffer little children to come +unto me." They have named him Edmund. The grandparents, both well and +happy, were present; and the proud and happy father's eyes sparkled +with joy over his little Edmund, glistening from the baptismal font. +It fell to my happy lot thus to enrol the dear child amongst the lambs +of Christ's fold. God grant him length of days here, and endless +length of days beyond the skies when time shall be no more! + +. . . . . . + +Here we close our extracts from Father Cuthbert's Diary; but; before +taking leave of him, we are sure our readers would like to hear a few +more words about his future fortunes, and those of the house of +Aescendune. + +Better king than Canute, saving only the great Alfred, and perhaps +Edgar, had never sat on the English throne. Under his auspices a +change became visible throughout the whole country: villages again +gladdened the blackened wastes; minsters and churches were rebuilt, +whose broad, square Saxon towers yet hand down the memory of our +ancestors. Agriculture revived; golden corn covered the bloodstained +scenes of warfare; men lived once more in peace under the shadow of +their homes, none daring to make them afraid. Peace, with its hallowed +associations, gladdened England for fifty long years {xxi}. + +Anlaf was the first of the group we have introduced to our readers to +leave this transitory world for a better one. He died a few years +after the accession of Canute. Father Cuthbert survived him many +years, and died honoured and lamented in the last year of the great +king. + +His brother Elfwyn, and the lady Hilda, full of years, having outlived +the natural span of man's appointed years, followed him shortly--not +till they had seen their grandchildren, a numerous and hopeful +progeny, grow up around them, and so perpetuate their race upon earth. + +And for Alfgar and Ethelgiva, they lived to see a their children's +children, and peace upon Israel, surviving until the close of the +reign of Edward the Confessor, the son of Ethelred and Emma. Their +days were days of peace, in strange contrast to their youthful years. + +"Peace! and no more from out her brazen portals +The blast of war's great organ shakes the skies; +But, beautiful as songs of the immortals, +The holy harmonies of peace arise." +--Longfellow. + +THE END. + +i Genealogy of Aescendune. + +The reader may be glad to have the genealogy of the family in whom it +has been the author's aim to interest him placed clearly before him. +The following genealogical table, including the principal names in +"The First Chronicle of Aescendune," as well as those in the present +book, may suffice, the date of decease being given in each case. + +Offa, 940 + * Oswald, 937. + * Redwald, 959. + * Ella, 959, m. Edith. + + Elfric, 960. + + Alfred, 998, m. Alftrude. + o Elfric, 975. + o Elfwyn, 1086, m. Hilda. + # Bertric, 1006. + # Ethelgiva, 1064 m. Alfgar. + o Cuthbert, 1034. + o Bertha, 1050 m. Herstan. + + Edgitha, 990. + +ii Curse of Dunstan. + +"In the year of our Lord's incarnation 979, Ethelred, son of Edgar and +Elfrida, obtaining the kingdom, occupied, rather than governed it, for +thirty-seven years. The career of his life is said to have been cruel +in the beginning, wretched in the middle, and disgraceful in the end. +Thus, in the murder to which he gave his concurrence he was cruel, +base in his flight and effeminacy, miserable in his death. + +"The nobility being assembled by the contrivance of his mother, and +the day being appointed for Dunstan, in right of his see, to crown +him, he, though he might be ill-affected to them, forebore to resist, +being a prelate of mature age well versed in secular matters. But, +when placing the crown on his head, he could not refrain from giving +vent, with a loud voice, to that prophetic spirit which he so deeply +imbibed. 'Since,' said he, 'thou hast aspired to the kingdom by the +death of thy brother, hear the word of God. Thus saith the Lord God: +The sin of thy abandoned mother, and of the accomplices of her base +design, shall not be washed out but by much blood of the wretched +inhabitants; and such evils shall come upon the English nation as they +have never suffered from the time they came to England until then.' +Nor was it long after, that is in his third year, that seven piratical +vessels came to Southampton, a port near Winchester, and having +ravaged the coast fled back to the sea. This I think right to mention, +because many reports are circulated among the English concerning these +vessels."--William of Malmesbury, English Chronicle, Bohn's Edition, +pp. + +165-166. + +iii See "First Chronicle of Aescendune." + +iv Chronology of Father Cuthbert. + +The Christian era did not come in use until about the year 532, when +it was first introduced in the code of canon law compiled by Dionysius +Exiguus, and, even then, the year of the world was still frequently +used, as in some cases in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. When at length +the Christian computation became universal, some began the year with +the Incarnation (Christmas), others with the Annunciation; a custom +not wholly abolished in England till 1752, when the "New Style," or +Gregorian Calendar, was introduced. + +But in the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the portion +upon which our tale is based, the year invariably opens with the +Nativity--hence this reckoning has been used in the text, and the +Christmas day in chapter 3 begins a new year. + +v Now Banbury. + +vi Death of St. Edmund. + +There are two stories (or more) concerning the Danish invasion in +which the saintly Edmund met his death; the first, alluded to in the +song of the Etheling (chapter 11), tells how Ragnar Lodbrog, a great +sea king, invaded England, but his fleet being shattered by a storm, +fell into the hands of Ella, King of Northumbria, who threw him into a +pit full of toads and serpents, where he perished, singing his death +song to the last, and calling upon his sons to avenge his fate. Those +sons were Hinguar and Hubba. They invaded East Anglia after they had +avenged their father upon Ella, and King Edmund fought against them, +but was taken prisoner. They offered him his life and throne if he +would forsake Christianity, and reign under them. But he steadfastly +refused, whereupon they put him to death after the manner described in +the tale in the case of Bertric, while he called steadfastly upon +Christ until his latest breath. + +The other tale, given at length by Roger Wendover, tells that Ragnar +Lodbrog, with only his hawk in his hand, was driven by a storm to the +coast of East Anglia, that King Edmund made him his huntsman, but the +former huntsman, Beorn, slew him through jealousy; that King Edmund +put Beorn bound in the boat which had brought Lodbrog over, and sent +him adrift to perish at sea. But the storm in turn blew him to +Denmark, where he told the sons of the man he had slain that Edmund +had murdered their father. Hence they came to avenge him. The +remainder of the tale agrees with the former narrative, and is the +only portion which certainly possesses historical truth. + +St. Edmund has been much venerated in the eastern counties, and his +shrine at Edmundsbury was greatly reverenced. The tale of the death of +Sweyn, given in chapter 18, is a proof of this feeling, in which +perhaps the legend partly originated. + +vii The Rista Oern. + +This punishment was usual among the Northmen, and was called "at rista +oern," from the supposed resemblance of the victim to the figure of an +eagle. The operation was generally performed by the chief himself. It +is thus described by Snorre: + +"Ad speciem aquilae dorsum ita ei laniabat, ut adacto ad spinam +gladio, costisque omnibus ad lumbos usque a tergo divisis, pulmones +extraheret."--Snorre, p. 108. + +viii First appearance of Edmund. + +The first mention of Edmund in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the +commander of the English forces is A.D. 1015, where he was joined with +Edric in the command, as related in the text, chapter 18. The date of +his birth is uncertain, but the comparison of authorities appeared to +the author to justify the ascription of the character and actions, +with which he is credited in the tale, to the English hero who first +taught his generation to assert their equality with the fierce Danish +invaders. + +ix The appellations Wiltshire and Berkshire are of course of later +date. + +x The early name of Abingdon. + +Johnson, the compiler of the famous collection of English canons, is +of opinion that Cloveshoo, where the famous provincial council was +held A.D. 803, is identical with Abingdon, and that the town lost its +ancient name simply owing to the growing notoriety of the famous +abbey; for "no one," says he, "can doubt that the name Abingdon was +taken from the abbey." The first memorial, he adds, in which he finds +the name Abingdon, is in the Chronicle wherein the burial of Bishop +Sidesman, A.D. 977, in St. Mary's Minster, "which is at Abingdon," is +mentioned, who was honourably buried on the north side of that fane in +St. Paul's Chapel. + +On the other hand, some learned antiquarians have maintained the +opposite opinion, that the name Abingdon existed even prior to the +foundation of the monastery; thus the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, in his +edition of the "Chronicle of the Abbey of Abingdon," says--"Abingdon +derives its name, not, as might at first sight be supposed, from the +abbey there founded--Abbey dune or Abbots dune: philology forbids it. +The place was so called from Abba, one of the early colonists of +Berkshire." + +xi Bishops of Dorchester. + +There appears to have been much uncertainty concerning the succession +of the bishops of this important see, owing, perhaps, to the confusion +caused by its having been the seat of two totally distinct +jurisdictions--the one over Wessex, the other over great part of +Mercia. + +The names of the bishops in the narrative are taken from a list kindly +furnished by the Rev. W. Macfarlane, the present vicar of the Abbey +Church, whose indefatigable efforts have restored to the ancient fane +much of the glory of its ancient days. + +According to this list, Ednoth was bishop from 1006 to 1016, when he +was slain by the Danes as recorded in the text; and Ethelm succeeding, +ruled the see till A.D. 1034, through the comparatively happy days of +Canute. + +xii End of the Campaign of 1006. + +The following extract from the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" gives the +further history of the campaign very concisely: + +"Then went the Danes to Wallingford, and that all burned, and were +then one day in Cholsey: and they went then along Ashdown to +Cuckamsley hill, and there abode, as a daring boast; for it had been +often said, if they should reach Cuckamsley hill, that they would +never again get to the sea: then they went homewards another way. Then +were forces assembled at Kennet, and they there joined battle: and +they soon put that band to flight, and afterwards brought their booty +to the sea. But there might the Winchester men see an army daring and +fearless, as they went by their gates towards the sea, and fetched +themselves food and treasures over fifty miles from thence. Then had +the king gone over Thames into Shropshire, and there took up his abode +during the midwinter's tide. Then became the dread of the army so +great, that no man could think or discover how they could be driven +out of the land, or this land maintained against them; for they had +every shire in Wessex sadly marked by burning and by plundering. Then +the king began earnestly with the witan to consider what might seem +most advisable to them all, so that this land might be saved, before +it was utterly destroyed. Then the king and his witan decreed, for the +behoof of the whole nation, though it was hateful to them all, that +they needs must pay tribute to the Danish army. Then the king sent to +the army, and directed it to be made known to them that he would that +there should be a truce between them, and that tribute should be paid, +and food given them. And then all that they accepted, and then were +they victualled from throughout the English nation."--Anglo-Saxon +Chronicle, Bohn's Edition. + +xiii This is copied almost verbatim from the Anglo-Saxon +Chronicle. + +xiv The account is taken almost verbatim from Florence of +Worcester. + +xv Children of Ethelred. + +By his two wives--(1) Aelfleda--(2) Emma, Ethelred had fourteen +children, of whom only four or five have been mentioned in this +narrative, or are of importance to the student--Edmund Ironside and +his brother Edwy (chapter 25), by Aelfleda, and Alfred and Edward by +Emma--the last well known in history as Edward the Confessor, and +introduced in Chapter XIX. of this tale. The following genealogical +table from Edgar to the children of Edmund may be of use. It will be +remembered that the lineage of the present royal house passes through +the last-named son of Edmund Ironside to Egbert: + +Edgar + * Edward the Martyr, d. 979. + * Ethelred the Unready, d. 1016. + + Edmund Ironside, 1016. + o Edmund. + o Edward, who became the great-grandfather of Henry the + Second. + + Edwy. + + Elgitha. + + Alfred, 1036. + + Edward the Confessor, 1066. + +xvi Sceorstan. + +Antiquarians differ much about the site of this famous battle. Sharp +thinks it was near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, and Thorpe, in his +notes to "Florence of Worcester," says--"May not Chimney be the spot, +a hamlet in Oxfordshire, in the parish of Bampton-in-the-Bush, near +the edge of Gloucestershire, the name of Chimney being merely a +translation, introduced after the Norman Conquest, of Sceorstan, which +may probably have owed its origin to a Saxon house or hall, +conspicuous for having a chimney when that luxury was of rare +occurrence?" Others say that Sceorstan was not in Anglo-Saxon "a +chimney," but "a graven stone," and make the site that of a boundary +stone, still separating the four counties of Oxford, Gloucester, +Worcester, and Warwick, near Chipping Norton. Bosworth says it is +Sherston in Wilts. + +xvii Single Combat between Edmund and Canute. + +The following account is from Roger of Wendover: + +"A few days after this lamentable battle (Assingdun), in which so many +nobles fell, King Edmund pursued Canute, who was now committing +ravages in Gloucestershire. The said kings therefore came together to +fight at a place called Deerhurst, Edmund with his men being on the +west side of the river Severn, and Canute with his men on the east, +both preparing themselves manfully for battle. When both armies were +now on the point of engaging, the wicked Earl Edric called together +the chiefs and addressed them as follows: 'Nobles and warriors, why do +we foolishly so often hazard our lives in battle for our kings, when +not even our deaths secure to them the kingdom, or put an end to their +covetousness? My counsel then is, that they alone should fight who +alone are contending for the kingdom; for what must be the lust of +dominion, when England, which formerly sufficed for eight kings, is +not now enough for two? Let them, therefore, either come to terms, or +fight alone for the kingdom.' This speech pleased them all; and the +determination of the chiefs being communicated to the kings, received +their approbation. There is a small island called Olney, in the mouth +of that river. Thither the kings, clad in splendid armour, crossed +over, and commenced a single combat in the presence of the people. +Parrying the thrust of the spear as well by their own skill as by the +interposition of their strong shields, they fought long and fiercely +hand to hand, his valour protecting Edmund, and his good fortune +Canute. The swords rung on their helmets, and sparks of fire flew from +their collision. The stout heart of Edmund was kindled by the act of +fighting, and as his blood grew warm his strength augmented; he raised +his right hand, brandished his sword, and redoubled his blows on the +head of his antagonist with such vehemence, that he seemed rather to +fulminate than to strike. Feeling his strength failing him, and unable +long to endure such an onset, Canute meditated peace; but as he was +crafty, and afraid lest if the youth perceived his weakness he would +not listen to his words of peace, drawing in all his breath he rushed +on Edmund with wonderful valour, and immediately drawing back a +little, he asked him to pause awhile and give him audience. The latter +was of a courteous soul, and, resting his shield on the ground, he +listened to the words of Canute, who thus proceeded: 'Hitherto I have +coveted thy kingdom, bravest of men; but now I prefer thyself not only +to the kingdom of England, but to all the world. Denmark serves me, +Norway yields me subjection, the King of Sweden has shaken hands with +me; so that, although Fortune promises me victory everywhere, yet thy +wonderful manliness hath so won my favour, that I long beyond measure +to have thee as friend and partner of my kingdom. I would that thou in +like manner wert desirous of me; that I might reign with thee in +England, and thou walk me in Denmark.' Why should I add more? King +Edmund most graciously assented and yielded to his words, though he +could not be forced by arms. The kingdom was therefore, by Edmund's +direction, divided between the two, the crown of the whole kingdom +reverting to King Edmund. The whole of England, therefore, to the +south of the river Thames, was ceded to him, with Essex and East +Anglia, and the city of London, the capital of the kingdom, Canute +retaining the northern parts of the kingdom. Laying aside, therefore, +their splendid armour, the kings embraced each other amidst the +rejoicings of both the armies. They then exchanged their garments and +arms in token of peace, and Edmund became Canute, and Canute +Edmund."--Roger of Wendover, Bohn's Edition. + +xviii The Death of Edmund. + +This lamentable occurrence is involved in much mystery. Edric Streorn +was generally credited with the deed, although some writers, e.g. +William of Malmesbury, think he used the aid of attendants on the +king, whom he bribed. The Chronicle is silent as to details. Henry of +Huntingdon ascribes the deed to a son of Edric. Roger of Wendover +agrees with him, adding the facts that the place was Oxford, and the +time St. Andrew's night, as in the text. Amidst these conflicting +statements fiction perhaps most legitimately takes its place. + +xix The Ordeal. + +This ancient custom was observed by Simplicius, Bishop of Autun, so +early as the fourth century, and was very generally in use during the +period of our tale. Although never formally recognised by the Church +of Rome, and forbidden by many edicts on the Continent, it was +administered in England under the direction of the clergy, and its +details prescribed by the canons during a period extending from the +laws of Alfred to the directions given in the ecclesiastical laws of +Edward the Confessor, the year before the Norman Conquest, A.D. 1065. +The first prohibition of its use in England is in the third year of +Henry the Third. + +There were three principal modes of its administration. In the first, +the ordeal by water, the accused had to take a heavy piece of iron +from a boiling cauldron placed in the church--in the second, to carry +a bar of heated iron nine feet. The hand or arm was bound in linen, +the bandage sealed by the priest, and on the third day the limb was +uncovered. If the burn or scald had healed the prisoner was pronounced +innocent, otherwise he had to suffer the punishment due to his +offence. + +The details given in the text are chiefly taken from the Canons of +Athelstane; but the mode of purgation therein described is similar to +that by which it is said Queen Emma repelled an accusation made by +Robert, Bishop of London, in the year 1046. This mode of +administration was perhaps more frequently used when a prompt appeal +was needed to the judgment of God, or in the case of persons of rank, +were they ever, as was seldom the case, compelled to appeal to its +decision. + +xx It was a subject of complaint against Canute in Denmark that he +gave away most of the bishoprics to Englishmen. + +xxi Character of Canute. + +The great change in Canute's character after his accession to the +throne has been noticed by all writers. Each year he seemed to grow in +self-command and in the practice of virtue, while all men were edified +by his strict attention to his religions duties. Later in life he made +a pilgrimage to Rome, and a letter written thence gives a good idea of +his general affection for his people. It is addressed to the +archbishops and bishops and great men, and to all the English people, +and is written in the familiar style a father might use to his +children, especially telling them all he had seen at Rome, and about +the way in which he spent Easter with Pope John and the Emperor, whom +he persuaded to abolish certain dues exacted from English pilgrims. In +the last portion of the letter he tells them how he has made up his +mind to amend his life in every way, and to atone for all the wrongs +committed in the violence of youth. He forbids any person to use +violence or to make the royal needs an excuse for wrongdoing, saying, +"I have no need of money gathered by unrighteousness." He concludes by +saying that he is sure they will all be glad to hear how he has fared, +and that they know he has not spared himself any trouble, and never +will, to do all that lies in his power for the good of his people. + +There is something in the whole tone of the letter which warms one's +heart towards the writer, and one cannot help contrasting the reigns +of the two conquerors, Canute and William: the first, beginning with +violence and bloodshed, grew daily in justice, mercy, and the love of +God, and so passed lamented to his grave; the latter, promising at +first to govern justly, grew worse and worse in oppressive cruelty and +all sorts of wrongdoing, until the sad and hopeless death scene in the +abbey of St. Gervase. But the delineation of the latter period must be +reserved, all being well, for the "Third Chronicle of Aescendune." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Alfgar the Dane or the Second +Chronicle of Aescendune, by A. D. 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