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Wulf the Saxon: A Story of the Norman Conquest

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Title: Wulf the Saxon: A Story of the Norman Conquest

Author: G. A. Henty


        
Release date: August 1, 2005 [eBook #8745]
                Most recently updated: September 24, 2013

Language: English

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WULF THE SAXON

A Story of the Norman Conquest

By G. A. HENTY




PREFACE.


Although the immediate results of the Battle of Hastings may have
been of less importance to the world than were those of some other
great battles, the struggle has, in the long run, had a greater
influence upon the destiny of mankind than any other similar event
that has ever taken place. That admixture of Saxon, Danish, and
British races which had come to be known under the general name of
English, was in most respects far behind the rest of Europe. The
island was, as it had always been,--except during the rule of two
or three exceptionally strong kings,--distracted by internal
dissensions. Broad lines of division still separated the North
from the South, and under weak Kings the powerful Earls became
almost independent. The enterprise that had distinguished their
Saxon and Danish ancestors seems to have died out. There was a
general indisposition to change, and except in her ecclesiastical
buildings, England made but little progress in civilization from
the time of Alfred to that of Harold. Its insular position cut it
off from taking part in that rapid advance which, beginning in
Italy, was extending throughout Europe. The arrival, however, of
the impetuous Norman race, securing as it did a close connection
with the Continent, quickened the intellect of the people, raised
their intelligence, was of inestimable benefit to the English, and
played a most important part in raising England among the nations.
Moreover, it has helped to produce the race that has peopled Northern
America, Australia, and the south of Africa, holds possession of
India, and stands forth as the greatest civilizer in the world. The
Conquest of England by the Normans was achieved without even a
shadow of right or justice. It was at the time an unmixed curse to
England; but now we can recognize the enormous benefits that accrued
when in his turn the Englishman conquered the Norman, and the foreign
invaders became an integral portion of the people they had overcome.
For the historical details of the story, I have only had to go to
Freeman's magnificent _History of the Norman Conquest of England_,
which I hope will be perused by all of my readers who are able to
obtain it.

G. A. HENTY



CONTENTS.

CHAP.


I. A QUARREL

II. COUNTRY LIFE

III. AT COURT

IV. A STORM

V. ROUEN

VI. RELEASE OF THE EARL

VII. THE OATH

VIII. TROUBLE WITH WALES

IX. IN THE WELSH VALLEYS

X. PORTHWYN

XI. THE SECRET PASSAGE

XII. EDITH

XIII. HAROLD, THE KING

XIV. WULF'S SUSPICIONS

XV. A MEETING BY THE RIVER

XVI. A VOYAGE NORTH

XVII. AN ATTEMPT AT ASSASSINATION

XVIII. THE NORTHERN INVASION

XIX. STAMFORD BRIDGE

XX. THE LANDING OF THE FOE

XXI. HASTINGS

XXII. THE LORD OF BRAMBER


ILLUSTRATIONS


THE LAST STAND AT HASTINGS

THE YOUNG THANE COMES BACK TO STEYNING

WULF AND HIS FOLLOWERS STORM LLEWELLYN'S STRONGHOLD

WULF LEAPT FORWARD AND CAUGHT THE UPLIFTED WRIST

WULF THE SAXON.




CHAPTER I.


A QUARREL.

The great Abbey of Westminster was approaching its completion; an
army of masons and labourers swarmed like bees upon and around it,
and although differing widely in its massive architecture, with
round Saxon windows and arches, from the edifice that was two or
three generations later to be reared in its place,--to serve as a
still more fitting tomb for the ashes of its pious founder,--it was
a stately abbey, rivalling the most famous of the English fanes of
the period.

From his palace hard by King Edward had watched with the deepest
interest the erection of the minster that was the dearest object
of his life. The King was surrounded by Normans, the people among
whom he had lived until called from his retirement to ascend the
throne of England, and whom he loved far better than those over
whom he reigned. He himself still lived almost the life of a recluse.
He was sincerely anxious for the good of his people, but took small
pains to ensure it, his life being largely passed in religious
devotions, and in watching over the rise of the abbey he had founded.

A town had risen around minster and palace, and here the workmen
employed found their lodgings, while craftsmen of all descriptions
administered to the wants both of these and of the nobles of Edward's
court.

From one of the side doors of the palace a page, some fifteen or
sixteen years of age, ran down the steps in haste. He was evidently
a Saxon by his fair hair and fresh complexion, and any observer of
the time would have seen that he must, therefore, be in the employment
of Earl Harold, the great minister, who had for many years virtually
ruled England in the name of its king.

The young page was strongly and sturdily built. His garb was an
English one, but with some admixture of Norman fashions. He wore
tightly-fitting leg coverings, a garment somewhat resembling a
blouse of blue cloth girded in by a belt at the waist, and falling
in folds to the knee. Over his shoulders hung a short mantle of
orange colour with a hood. On his head was a cap with a wide brim
that was turned up closely behind, and projected in a pointed shovel
shape in front. In his belt was a small dagger. He wore shoes of
light yellow leather fastened by bands over the insteps. As he ran
down the steps of the palace he came into sharp contact with another
page who had just turned the corner of the street.

"I crave your pardon, Walter Fitz-Urse," he said hurriedly, "but I
was in haste and saw you not."

The other lad was as clearly Norman as the speaker was
Saxon. He was perhaps a year the senior in point of age, and
taller by half a head, but was of slighter build. The expression
of his face differed as widely from that of the Saxon as did
his swarthy complexion and dark hair, for while the latter
face wore a frank and pleasant expression, that of the Norman
was haughty and arrogant.

"You did it on purpose," he said angrily, "and were we not
under the shadow of the palace I would chastise you as you
deserve."

The smile died suddenly out from the Saxon's face. "Chastise
me!" he repeated. "You would find it somewhat difficult,
Master Fitz-Urse. Do you think you are talking to a Norman
serf? You will please to remember you are in England; but if
you are not satisfied with my apology, I will ride with you a
few miles into the country, and we will then try with equal
arms where the chastisement is to fall."

The Norman put his hand to his dagger, but there was an
ominous growl from some men who had paused to listen to the
quarrel.

"You are an insolent boor, Wulf of Steyning, and some day
I will punish you as you deserve."

"Some day," the Saxon laughed, "we shall, I hope, see you
and all your tribe sent across the Channel. There are few of
us here who would not see your backs with pleasure."

"What is this?" an imperious voice demanded; and turning
round, Wulf saw William, the Norman Bishop of London, who,
followed by several monks and pages, had pushed his way
through the crowd. "Walter Fitz-Urse, what means this altercation?"

"The Saxon ran against me of set purpose, my lord," Walter Fitz-Urse
said, in tones of deep humility, "and because I complained he
challenged me to ride with him into the country to fight, and then
he said he hoped that some day all the Normans would be sent across
the Channel."

"Is this so?" the prelate said sternly to Wulf; "did you
thus insult not only my page, but all of us, his countrymen?"

"I ran against him by accident," Wulf said, looking up fearlessly
in the prelate's face. "I apologized, though I know not that I was
more in fault than he; but instead of taking my apology as one of
gentle blood should do, he spoke like a churl, and threatened me
with chastisement, and then I did say that I hoped he and all other
Normans in the land would some day be packed across the Channel."

"Your ears ought to be slit as an insolent varlet."

"I meant no insolence, my Lord Bishop; and as to the slitting of
my ears, I fancy Earl Harold, my master, would have something to
say on that score."

The prelate was about to reply, but glancing at the angry faces of
the growing crowd, he said coldly:

"I shall lay the matter before him. Come, Walter, enough of this.
You are also somewhat to blame for not having received more courteously
the apologies of this saucy page."

The crowd fell back with angry mutterings as he turned, and, followed
by Walter Fitz-Urse and the ecclesiastics, made his way along the
street to the principal entrance of the palace. Without waiting
to watch his departure, Wulf, the Saxon page, pushed his way through
the crowd, and went off at full speed to carry the message with
which he had been charged.

"Our king is a good king," a squarely-built man,--whose bare arms
with the knotted muscles showing through the skin, and hands begrimed
with charcoal, indicated that he was a smith,--remarked to a gossip
as the little crowd broke up, "but it is a grievous pity that he
was brought up a Norman, still more that he was not left in peace
to pass his life as a monk as he desired. He fills the land with
his Normans; soon as an English bishop dies, straightway a Norman
is clapped into his place. All the offices at court are filled
with them, and it is seldom a word of honest English is spoken in
the palace. The Norman castles are rising over the land, and his
favourites divide among them the territory of every English earl
or thane who incurs the king's displeasure. Were it not for Earl
Harold, one might as well be under Norman sway altogether."

"Nay, nay, neighbour Ulred, matters are not so bad as that. I dare
say they would have been as you say had it not been for Earl Godwin
and his sons. But it was a great check that Godwin gave them when
he returned after his banishment, and the Norman bishops and nobles
hurried across the seas in a panic. For years now the king has left
all matters in the hands of Harold, and is well content if only he
can fast and pray like any monk, and give all his thoughts and
treasure to the building of yonder abbey."

"We want neither a monk nor a Norman over us," the smith said
roughly, "still less one who is both Norman and monk I would rather
have a Dane, like Canute, who was a strong man and a firm one, than
this king, who, I doubt not, is full of good intentions, and is a
holy and pious monarch, but who is not strong enough for a ruler.
He leaves it to another to preserve England in peace, to keep in
order the great Earls of Mercia and the North, to hold the land
against Harold of Norway, Sweyn, and others, and, above all, to
watch the Normans across the water. A monk is well enough in a
convent, but truly 'tis bad for a country to have a monk as its
king."

"There have been some war-loving prelates, Ulred; men
as ambitious as any of the great earls, and more dangerous,
because they have learning."

"Ay, there have been great prelates," the smith agreed. "Look at
Lyfing of Worcester, to whom next only to Godwin the king owed his
throne. He was an Englishman first and a bishop afterwards, and was
a proof, if needed, that a man can be a great churchman and a great
patriot and statesman too. It was he rather than Godwin who overcame
the opposition of the Danish party, and got the Witan at last to
acquiesce in the choice of London and Wessex, and to give their
vote to Edward.

"Well was it he did so. For had he failed we should have had as
great a struggle in England as when Alfred battled against the
Danes. We of London and the men of Wessex under the great Earl were
bent upon being ruled by a prince of our own blood. The last two
Danish kings had shown us that anything is better than being governed
by the Northmen. It was Lyfing who persuaded the Earl of Mercia to
side with Wessex rather than with Northumbria, but since Lyfing,
what great Englishman have we had in the church? Every bishopric
was granted by Edward to Norman priests, until Godwin and his sons
got the upper hand after their exile. Since then most of them have
been given to Germans. It would seem that the king was so set against
Englishmen that only by bringing in foreigners can Harold prevent
all preferment going to Normans. But what is the consequence? They
say now that our church is governed from Rome, whereas before
Edward's time we Englishmen did not think of taking our orders from
Italy.

"There will trouble come of it all, neighbour. Perhaps not so long
as Edward reigns, but at his death. There is but one of the royal
race surviving, and he, like Edward, has lived all his life abroad.
There can be no doubt what the choice of Englishmen will be. Harold
has been our real ruler for years. He is wise and politic as well
as brave, and a great general. He is our own earl, and will assuredly
be chosen. Then we shall have trouble with the Normans. Already
they bear themselves as if they were our masters, and they will not
give up their hold without a struggle. Men say that William, their
duke, makes no secret of his hope to become master of England, in
which case God help us all. But that won't come as long as Harold
lives and Englishmen can wield sword and battle-axe. As for myself,
I have patched many a Norman suit of armour, but, by St. Swithin,
I shall have far more pleasure in marring than I have ever had in
mending them."

"Know you who were the boys who had that contention just now?"

"The Norman is a page of William, our Norman bishop; I know no more
of him than that the other is Wulf, who is a ward and page of Earl
Harold. His father was thane of Steyning in South Sussex, one of
Godwin's men, and at his death two years ago Harold took the lad
into his household, for he bore great affection for Gyrth, who had
accompanied him in his pilgrimage to Rome, and fought by his side
when he conquered the Welsh. It was there Gyrth got the wound that
at last brought about his death. Wulf has been to my smithy many
times, sometimes about matters of repairs to arms, but more often,
I think, to see my son Osgod. He had seen him once or twice in
calling at the shop, when one day Osgod, who is somewhat given to
mischief, was playing at ball, and drove it into the face of a son
of one of the Norman lords at court. The boy drew his dagger, and
there would have been blood shed, but Wulf, who was passing at the
time, and saw that the thing was a pure mishap and not the result
of set intention, threw himself between them.

"There was a great fuss over it, for the boy took his tale to his
father, who demanded that Osgod should be punished, and would
doubtless have gained his end had not Wulf spoken to Earl Harold,
who intervened in the matter and persuaded the Norman to let it
drop. Since then the boys have been great friends in their way.
Osgod is a year older than the young thane, and has already made
up his mind to be his man when he grows up, and he has got me to
agree to it, though I would rather that he had stuck to my handicraft.
Still, the prospect is not a bad one. Harold will be King of England,
Wulf will be a powerful thane, and will doubtless some day hold
high place at court, and as he seems to have taken a real liking
to Osgod, the boy may have good chances.

"Wulf will make a good fighting man one of these days. Harold sees
that all his pages are well instructed in arms, and the two boys
often have a bout with blunted swords when Wulf comes to my smithy;
and, by my faith, though I have taught Osgod myself, and he already
uses his arms well, the young thane is fully a match for him. You
would hardly believe that the boy can read as well as a monk, but
it is so. Earl Harold, you know, thinks a good deal of education,
and has founded a college at Waltham. He persuaded Wulf's father
to send him there, and, indeed, will take none as his pages unless
they can read. I see not what good reading can do to most men, but
doubtless for one who is at court and may hold some day a high post
there, it is useful to be able to read deeds and grants of estates,
instead of having to trust others' interpretation."

"I wondered to see you press forward so suddenly into the crowd,
neighbour, seeing that you are a busy man, but I understand now
that you had an interest in the affair."

"That had I. I was holding myself in readiness, if that Norman boy
drew his dagger, to give him such a blow across the wrist with my
cudgel that it would be long before he handled a weapon again. I
fear Wulf has got himself into trouble. The bishop will doubtless
complain to the king of the language used by one of Harold's pages,
and though the earl is well able to see that no harm comes to the
lad, it is likely he will send him away to his estates for a time.
For he strives always to avoid quarrels and disputes, and though
he will not give way a jot in matters where it seems to him that
the good of the realm is concerned, he will go much farther lengths
than most men would do in the way of conciliation. Look how he has
borne with Tostig and with the Earls of Mercia. He seems to have
no animosity in his nature, but is ready to forgive all injuries
as soon as pardon is asked."

The smith was not far wrong in his opinion as to what was likely
to happen. As soon as Wulf returned to the palace he was told that
the earl desired his presence, and he proceeded at once to the
apartment where Harold transacted public business. It was a hall
of considerable size; the floor was strewed with rushes; three
scribes sat at a table, and to them the earl dictated his replies
and decisions on the various matters brought before him. When he
saw Wulf enter he rose from his seat, and, beckoning to him to
follow, pushed aside the hangings across a door leading to an
apartment behind and went in. Wulf had no fear whatever of any
severe consequence to himself from his quarrel with Walter Fitz-Urse,
but he was ashamed that his thoughtlessness should have given the
slightest trouble to the earl, for, popular as he was among all
classes of men in southern England, Harold was an object of love
as well as respect to his dependents, and indeed to all who came
in close contact with him.

The earl was now forty-one years of age. He was very tall, and was
considered the strongest man in England. His face was singularly
handsome, with an expression of mingled gentleness and firmness.
His bearing was courteous to all. He united a frank and straightforward
manner with a polished address rare among his rough countrymen.
Harold had travelled more and farther than any Englishman of his
age. He had visited foreign courts and mingled with people more
advanced in civilization than were those of England or Normandy,
and was centuries ahead of the mass of his countrymen. He was an
ardent advocate of education, a strong supporter of the national
church, an upholder of the rights of all men, and although he
occasionally gave way to bursts of passion, was of a singularly
sweet and forgiving disposition.

King Edward was respected by his people because, coming after two
utterly worthless kings, he had an earnest desire for their good,
although that desire seldom led to any very active results. He was
a member of their own royal house. He was deeply religious. His
life was pure and simple, and although all his tastes and sympathies
were with the land in which he had been brought up, Englishmen
forgave him this because at least he was a Saxon, while his
predecessors had been Danes. But while they respected Edward, for
Harold, their real ruler, they felt a passionate admiration. He was
a worthy representative of all that was best in the Saxon character.
He possessed in an eminent degree the openness of nature, the frank
liberality, the indomitable bravery, and the endurance of hardship
that distinguished the race. He was Earl of the West Saxons, and
as such had special claims to their fealty.

London, it was true, did not lie in his earldom, but in that of his
brother Leofwyn, but Leofwyn and Harold were as one--true brothers
in heart and in disposition. The gentleness and courtesy of manner
that, although natural, had been softened and increased by Harold's
contact with foreigners, was not only pardoned but admired because
he was England's champion against foreigners. He had fought, and
victoriously, alike against the Norwegians, the Danes of Northumbria,
and the Welsh, and he struggled as sturdily, though peacefully,
against Norman influence in England. Already the dread of Norman
preponderance was present in the minds of Englishmen. It was no
secret that in his early days Edward had held out hopes, if he had
not given an actual promise, to William of Normandy that he should
succeed him. Of late the king had been somewhat weaned from his
Norman predilections, and had placed himself unreservedly in Harold's
hands, giving to the latter all real power while he confined himself
to the discharge of religious exercises, and to the supervision of
the building of his abbey, varied occasionally by hunting expeditions,
for he still retained a passionate love of the chase; but men knew
that the warlike Duke of Normandy would not be likely to forget the
promise, and that trouble might come to England from over the sea.

Harold, then, they not only regarded as their present ruler, but
as their future king, and as the national leader and champion.
Edward had no children. The royal house was extinct save for Edward
the Atheling, who, like the present king, had lived all his life
abroad, and could have no sympathy with Englishmen. There being,
then, no one of the royal house available, who but Harold, the head
of the great house of Godwin, the earl of the West Saxons, the
virtual ruler of England, could be chosen? The English kings,
although generally selected from the royal house, ruled rather by
the election of the people as declared by their representatives in
the Witan than by their hereditary right. The prince next in
succession by blood might, at the death of the sovereign, be called
king, but he was not really a monarch until elected by the Witan
and formally consecrated.

It had been nine months after he had been acclaimed to the throne
by the people of London that King Edward had been elected king by
the Witan, and formally enthroned. Thus, then, the fact that Harold
did not belong to the royal family mattered but little in the eyes
of Englishmen. To them belonged the right of choosing their own
monarch, and if they chose him, who was to say them nay?

Wulf felt uncomfortable as he followed the stately figure into the
inner room, but he faced the Earl as the door closed behind him
with as fearless a look as that with which he had stood before the
haughty prelate of London. A slight smile played upon Harold's face
as he looked down upon the boy.

"You are a troublesome varlet, Wulf, and the Lord Bishop has been
making serious complaint of you to the king. He says that you brawled
with his page, Walter Fitz-Urse; that you used insolent words against
his countrymen; and that you even withstood himself. What have you
to say to this?"

"The brawling was on the part of the bishop's page and not of mine,
my lord. I was running out to carry the message with which you
charged me to Ernulf of Dover when I ran against Fitz-Urse. That
was not my fault, but a pure mischance, nevertheless I expressed
my regret in fitting terms. Instead of accepting them, he spoke
insolently, talked of chastising me, and put his hand on the hilt
of his dagger. Then, my lord, I grew angry too. Why should I, the
page of Earl Harold, submit to be thus contemptuously spoken to by
this young Norman, who is but the page of an upstart bishop, and
whom, if your lordship will give permission, I would right willingly
fight, with swords or any other weapons. Doubtless, in my anger, I
did not speak respectfully of Walter's countrymen, and for this I
am sorry, since it has been the ground of complaint and of trouble
to you."

"In fact, Wulf, you spoke as a quarrelsome boy and not as the page
of one who has the cares of this kingdom on his shoulders, and whose
great desire is to keep peace between all parties," the earl put
in gravely.

For the first time Wulf hung his head:

"I was wrong, my lord."

"You were wrong, Wulf; it is not good always to say what we think;
and you, as my page, should bear in mind that here at court it
behoves you to behave and to speak not as a headstrong boy, but as
one whose words may, rightly or wrongly, be considered as an echo
of those you may have heard from me. And now to the third charge,
that you withstood the prelate; a matter that, in the king's eyes,
is a very serious one."

"The bishop would give ear to nought I had to say. He listened to
his own page's account and not to mine, and when I said in my defence
that though I did use the words about the Normans, I did so merely
as one boy quarrelling with the other, he said I ought to have my
ears slit. Surely, my lord, a free-born thane is not to be spoken
to even by a Norman bishop as if he were a Norman serf. I only
replied that before there was any slitting of ears your lordship
would have a say in the matter. So far, I admit, I did withstand
the bishop, and I see not how I could have made other reply."

"It would have been better to have held your peace altogether,
Wulf."

"It would, my lord, but it would also surely have been better had
the bishop abstained from talking about slitting ears."

"That would have been better also, but two wrongs do not make a
right. I was present when the bishop made his complaint, and upon
my inquiring more into the matter, his version was somewhat similar
to yours. I then pointed out to him that if holy bishops lost their
tempers and used threats that were beyond their power to carry into
effect, they must not be too severe upon boys who forget the respect
due to their office. Nevertheless, I admitted that you were wrong,
and I promised the king, who was perhaps more disturbed by this
incident than there was any occasion for, that I would take you to
task seriously, and that to avoid any further brawl between you and
young Fitz-Urse, you should for a time be sent away from court. I
did this on the agreement that the bishop should, on his part,
admonish Walter Fitz-Urse against discourteous behaviour and unseemly
brawling, and had I known that he had put his hand on his dagger,
I would have gone further. Have you any witnesses that he did so?"

"Yes, my lord; I saw the smith Ulred among those standing by, and
doubtless he would see the action."

"That is well," Harold said. "I shall acquaint the bishop with the
fact when I tell him that I have ordered you to leave for your
estate at Steyning, and that if his page denies it, I have witnesses
to prove the truth of your assertions. I think in that case he will
be glad to drop the matter, for were I to mention the fact to the
king, he, who has a horror of the drawing of weapons, would order
Walter Fitz-Urse to be sent back to Normandy. So your exile is not
likely to be of long duration. You understand, Wulf, that I am not
seriously angered with you in this matter. You are but a boy, and
one cannot expect that you will behave as a prudent man; but remember,
lad, even a boy's words may do mischief, especially when placed as
you are. There may come a time when you shall show by deeds and not
by words your feelings against the Normans, but till then bear
yourself prudently. We Saxons are over given to hasty words, and
this is a fault. I myself, as all men know, have no love for the
Normans, but no one has heard me speak against them. The king loves
them, as is but natural, seeing that he was brought up amongst them,
and I have not withstood his wishes in the matter, trying only that
a certain amount of preferment in the land should be bestowed upon
those who are its owners and not strangers to it and its tongue.
You will ride this afternoon for Steyning, Wulf, but I hope it will
not be long before you are back again. If I had my own way in the
matter, I should think that sufficient had already been said and
done in so trifling a matter as a boys' quarrel; but as it has been
brought before our king by a bishop, it is in the king's eyes a
serious business, for assuredly he himself would have borne a reproof
from William of London more meekly than you did, and having therefore
become a church matter, it is altogether beyond my power to interfere.
At any rate, a short sojourn on your estate will do you no harm;
it is sometime since you were there, and it is a good thing that
the lord of the soil should be well known by those over whom he is
placed."

Wulf bowed deeply and withdrew. The prospect of a visit for a few
weeks or even months to Steyning was not a terrible one. It was
some years since he had stayed there for any time. He had been two
years at Waltham, and since his father's death had been for the
most part with Harold, and the thought of an unrestricted life and
of spending his time as he chose, hunting and hawking, and going
about among his tenants, was by no means unpleasant. He was quite
satisfied that Harold was not seriously angered with him, and for
anything else he cared little.

As he understood that his duties as a page were at present at an
end, he thought he would first call upon Ulred the smith, to ask
him if he had seen Walter Fitz-Urse handle his dagger, and also to
tell Osgod that he was going away for a time. He found the smith
at work.

"Good morning, Master Wulf; though this is not the first time I
have seen you today, for I was at hand when you had that quarrel
with the Norman page."

"Yes, I caught sight of your face, Ulred. It was about that I have
come to you. The bishop has made complaint against me to the king,
and Earl Harold has ordered me to go down to Steyning for a time.
Of course I acted wrongly in speaking as I did to the bishop, but
so far as Walter Fitz-Urse is concerned I maintain that I did no
wrong. I told my lord as much, and that the Norman put hand upon
his dagger. The earl said that if I could prove that it would benefit
my case. I told him that I had seen you close by, but that I did
not know whether you saw the page do it."

"Assuredly I did," the smith replied, "and had my cudgel in readiness
to tap him on the wrist if he had drawn his dagger. I would testify
the same before King Edward himself."

"Thank you, Ulred, I will tell my lord so."

"I am sorry you are to be sent away from court. That is a bad job,
Master Wulf, and Osgod here will miss you greatly."

"That shall I," the lad said. "Could you not take me down with you,
young master? You could teach me there how to comport myself as
your squire, so that when the time comes that you need one, I should
know my duties. Besides, you could practise on me with sword and
battle-axe."

"I could not do much in the way of teaching you, Osgod, seeing as
yet I am myself but a learner, but I should be glad, in truth, to
have you with me, and it would be good for me to keep up my practice
in arms. I shall feel almost like a stranger there, and should like
to have one I know with me. I could ask Earl Harold to let me have
a horse for you from his stables, where he has two or three score
doing nothing."

"With your favour, sir, I would rather trust to my own feet. I am
a stout walker, and though I shall not be able to keep up with you,
I think that each night I can get to the hostelrie where you may
put up; but, if not, it matters little, I can make my way after you
and join you there--that is, if my father will give me permission
to go."

"You may as well go sooner as later," the smith said. "Since you
have taken into your head that you will be Master Wulf's man, I see
not that it will benefit you remaining in the forge. You know enough
now to mend a broken rivet and to do such repairs to helm and armour
as may be needed on an expedition; therefore, if the young thane
is minded to take you I have naught to say against it."

"Then so shall it be," Wulf said, "I shall see my Lord Harold before
I start, and will tell him that you are minded to be my man, and
that I am minded so to take you. He will not object, I am sure, but
it were best to ask him, since, when I return to court, I shall
have you about me."

"When do you start, Master Wulf?"

"I am ordered to go to-day; therefore, as soon as I have
seen the earl again I shall be off."

"Where will you sleep to-night?"

"I shall ride to Guildford this afternoon."

"Then you had better lay aside your hammer at once, Osgod,"
the smith said, "and don fresh clothes, and make your best suit
into a bundle and start without delay; it is but ten o'clock,
and you may be at Guildford before sunset. 'Tis but thirty
miles, and eight hours' walking will take you there. If the young
thane tells you that Lord Harold makes objection to his taking
you, you can turn your face backward to-morrow and no harm
will be done."

"I shall overtake you before you are half-way, Osgod, and
can then take you up behind me on my horse; and now I will
go back to the palace. I may have to wait some time before I
can see Earl Harold. From sunrise to sunset he has but a few
moments to himself, and I shall have to watch my time to get
a word with him."

It was not, indeed, until two o'clock in the afternoon that
Wulf had a chance of speaking to the duke. Then, seeing that
he was for the moment alone, he entered the room and stood
with bowed head waiting for Harold to address him.

"So you have come to say good-bye, Wulf," the latter said kindly;
"it is best so, boy. A time in the country will do you good, and
there will be much for you to do down there. I have ordered two of
my men to be in readiness to mount and ride with you, for I would
not that you should go unattended. One of them will bear a message
from me and a letter under my hand to the steward, and will tell
him that although you will, of course, remain as my ward until you
come of age, you are in all respects to be treated as if you were
already my sworn man, and thane. It would be well if you could
gather among your tenants twenty stout men as house-carls. The
steward is ordered to pay to you whatever moneys you may require,
and to account for them to me when he sends me in his checkers.
These house-carls will, of course, be paid. There must be ample
store of armour at Steyning for them, for your father was followed
by forty house-carls when he went with me to the Welsh wars. One
of the men who goes with you is a stout man-at-arms and is one of
my own house-carls; he will remain with you and will instruct your
men in arms and teach them to fight shoulder to shoulder. There may
be bad times ere long, and it is upon trained troops and not upon
hasty levies that we must most depend. In time I trust you will be
able to place fifty such men in the field, but at present twenty
will suffice. Have you aught to say to me before you go?"

"Yes, my lord; first, to thank you for your kindness, and to say
that I will carry out your instructions; secondly, to tell you that
Ulred the smith saw Walter Fitz-Urse handle his dagger, and was
standing ready to knock it from his hand did he draw it. Lastly,
that Ulred's son Osgod, who is a stout lad a year older than myself,
and for his age well accustomed to arms, desires to be sworn as my
man and to serve me in hall and in field. I like him much and have
almost daily practised with him in arms, and I should be glad to
have him with me if you see no objection."

"Not at all, Wulf; it is well that a man should have at his side
one in whom he can altogether trust, be he of gentle blood or simple
man-at-arms."

"Then I may take him down with me, my lord?"

"Yes, if it pleases you. Can he ride?"

"Not as yet, my lord, I will see that he is instructed down at
Steyning. He started to walk this morning, understanding that if
you refused him permission to be my man he would at once return.
We shall overtake him on the road."

"Bid one of your escort take him up behind," the earl said, "I like
his spirit. See that he is fittingly apparelled. You shall hear
from me ere long."

Half an hour later Wulf mounted, and with his two followers rode
from Westminster.




CHAPTER II.


COUNTRY LIFE.

Far from being depressed, Wulf felt his spirits rise as he rode
away on his banishment from court, for instead of feeling it a
disgrace he regarded it as a step forward in life. Earl Harold
could certainly, had he been so inclined, have smoothed down the
angry prelate, and could have retained him at court; but by the way
he had spoken, Wulf was convinced that the earl let him go because
he thought that it was good for him to be away. For four years he
had been under tutelage, first at Waltham, and then at the court.
In the last position his life had indeed been a pleasant one, for
as one of Harold's pages he had mixed with all the noble youths of
the court, and had had a place at every festive gathering. Still,
he had been but a page, and treated as a boy. Now he was to go
forth, and to learn his duties as his father's successor.

Harold's steward, who had since the thane's death acted as the
earl's agent in the management of the estate, would instruct him
doubtless in his civil duties, while the soldier who rode behind
him would teach him how to lead men in battle, and how to make the
fighting force of the estate efficient. Beyond these duties his
time would be his own. He would have responsibilities, but they
would be the responsibilities of a thane towards his tenants, and
not of a page towards his master. He was going away a boy, but if
it pleased Harold that he should remain away for two years he would
return a thane. A young one, indeed, but one who had learned the
duties of his station, and who, if needs be, could take his place
in the field of battle at the head of his followers. For, even
putting aside the Normans, from whom the earl seemed to think the
greatest danger would come, there was never any long cessation of
fighting in England.

There were the Welsh, who were always turbulent; the Danes of
Northumbria, who were still a distinct people, although throughout
the rest of England their identity was fast being merged into that
of the Saxons. There were the Norsemen, still ready to take every
opportunity of interfering in the affairs of England, or, if none
offered, to plunder and harry the coast. There were the earls of
Mercia, who bore no great love to the house of Godwin, and who
resented the ascendency of the West Saxons. Lastly, there was
Harold's brother Tostig, a fiery and turbulent noble, now Earl of
Northumbria, who was jealous of Harold, ever ready to join in plots,
and in close alliance with Norway already; he had several times
withstood the royal authority, and would assuredly again become a
fomenter of trouble should he see a favourable opportunity. At the
king's death, if not before, that opportunity would be sure to
present itself. Harold would be certainly chosen king by the people
of London and by the West Saxons, but almost as certainly would his
claim be disputed by the earls of Mercia on one hand, and by Tostig
and the Danes on the other. Wulf was sure, therefore, that the work
spent in preparing his tenants to take the field when called upon
to do so, would not be wasted.

Full of these thoughts he rode for some miles from Westminster
without addressing himself to the two men behind him; then, bethinking
him that these were trusted followers of the earl, and had been
specially told off by him to accompany and stay with him, he called
them up to his side. Wulf had donned a riding suit instead of court
attire, which, in deference to the king's partiality for the Normans,
was, even among the staunchest opposers of the foreigners, a
compromise between Saxon and Norman fashions. He now wore a tunic
of a bright green cloth, girded in at the waist and reaching only
to the knee. Over this was worn a garment closely resembling the
Roman toga, though somewhat less ample. The folds in front fell
below the waist, but it was looped up at each shoulder by a brooch,
leaving the arms bare. His legs were clad in tightly-fitting trousers,
and his feet in somewhat high shoes. On his head he wore a cap in
shape closely resembling the Phrygian bonnet. He was armed with a
dagger, and a short sword, which hung by a leather strap, two or
three inches long, from his belt. The outer garment had a hood which
could in bad weather be drawn over the head.

The man who was the bearer of Harold's orders to the steward wore
a civilian dress, not unlike that of Wulf's. He occupied the position
of a confidential scribe to Harold. The other wore the garb of a
soldier. He was clothed from head to foot in a tight fitting leather
suit, upon which were sewn iron rings overlapping each other, and
strongly resembling in appearance the chain-armour of later days.
His casque, with a curtain of leather similarly covered and affording
a protection to the neck, cheeks, and throat, hung from his saddle-bow,
and he wore a cap with a long projecting peak, while a cloak was
thrown over his shoulders and fell almost to his feet.

"I am afraid you will find it but dull time with me, Leof," Wulf
said as they came up abreast of him, "for the earl says that he has
charged you to remain with me at Steyning."

"I shall not be sorry for that," the soldier said bluntly, "for I
shall be right glad to be away from these Normans who fill every
place at court and swagger there as if Englishmen were but dirt
under their feet. Moreover, I love not London nor its ways, and
shall be glad to be down again among honest country folk, though I
would still rather be following my lord the earl in the field."

"And you, Master Gurth, will your stay down at Steyning be a long
one?"

"No, indeed. I have but to bear my master's wishes and instructions
to the steward, and to stay for a few days to see that they are
carried out according to his desires. I am not like Leof, for I
prefer life in London, where one meets with learned monks and others,
can obtain sometimes the use of a choice manuscript, and can hear
the news from beyond the seas, whereas in the country there is
nought to talk about save beeves and sheep. I like the journey well
enough, though I would that the animal I bestrode were more gentle
in his paces. He has for the last half-hour been fretting on the
rein to place himself by the side of yours. Horses are well enough
for nobles and fighting men, but for a peaceful scrivener like
myself a chair makes a far more comfortable seat."

The soldier gave a contemptuous grunt, and Wulf laughed. "It is
well that we have not all the same tastes, but for my part a seat
in a chair tires me more than one in a saddle, and I am never more
happy than when galloping briskly along," and he shook the reins,
a signal which the horse had been expecting for a considerable time,
and at once responded to by breaking into a canter.

"Stay you, I pray, Master Wulf," the scrivener cried in great
tribulation as his horse followed the example of its companion.
"Even if the animal does not break my neck he will jolt the life
out of me. I pray you curb him in if you would not see me prone in
the dust; and if I am disabled, who is to carry the earl's message
to the steward?"

Wulf reined in his horse. "Pardon me, good Gurth. I had forgotten
that you are not accustomed to journey on horseback. I was scarce
conscious, indeed, that I touched my horse, but he is used to travel
more rapidly, and was so eager to be off at the slightest hint that
I was willing that he should do so. We will try and journey soberly
for the rest of the distance."

Osgod was overtaken, plodding steadily along the road, fifteen miles
from town. Leof took him up on his horse, and they reached Guildford
just as the sun was setting. The inn, which stood in the principal
street of the town, was a low building built with a massive framework
filled in with bricks. The ground-floor was occupied by a single
room. At one end was the great fireplace where, over a pile of
blazing logs, were hung many cauldrons and pots. Round the room ran
a raised bench some six feet wide on which the guests disposed
themselves for sleep at night; rough tables and benches occupied
the rest of the room. Some twenty or thirty travellers were seated
at these. Few were eating, but the greater portion had horns of
beer or mead before them. As Wulf and his companions entered, after
giving over their horses to one of the helpers, the host, seeing
by his attire that he was of condition above the ordinary, came
forward and led him to the end of the room nearest the fire, where
the floor was raised a foot and a half above the general level,
forming a sort of dais where travellers of distinction could take
their meals apart from the rest of the guests. Leof was now spokesman.

"We will have supper, and of your best, master host, for we have
ridden from London. We are in the service of Earl Harold, and are
riding with this young thane, Wulf of Steyning."

The name of Earl Harold was sufficient to gain for them the best
attentions of their host, and in twenty minutes supper was served,
consisting of trout broiled over the fire, swine's flesh, and a
stew of fowls and smoked bacon flavoured with herbs. Wulf took the
head of the table, and the other three sat a short distance below
him. The dishes were handed round, and each with his dagger cut off
his portion and ate it on his wooden platter with the assistance
of dagger and fingers only, for the utility of forks was at that
time a matter undreamt of. After the meal was over, the host brought
a ewer of water with a napkin, and each dipped his fingers into the
water, an operation necessary even for the most dainty feeder.
Presently a glee singer came in, and for an hour amused the guests
with songs, for the most part of a patriotic character.

Wulf was then conducted by the host to a small chamber upstairs,
where there was the luxury of a bed stuffed with straw. The rest
of the travellers, including Wulf's companions, merely wrapped
themselves in their cloaks and lay down on the raised bench which
ran round the room.

On the afternoon of the third day the party arrived at Steyning.
It was four years since Wulf had been at home, and he gave a shout
of pleasure as his eye fell on the long low house with its background
of trees, and touching his horse with his heel he left his companions
behind and galloped towards the door. An old servitor came out.

"Why, Cedric, do you not know me? I am Wulf, whom you first taught
to play single-stick and to draw a bow."

"Why, surely it is my young master," Cedric said, taking the hand
that Wulf held out to him and placing it to his lips; "this is a
glad day indeed for us all. We have longed sorely for a sight of
you, for though I say nought against Master Egbert the steward, who
is well liked by all, it is not the same as having our lord with
us. You have come to stay, I trust."

"For a time at any rate, Cedric. Earl Harold wishes me to learn my
duties as a thane and to fit myself to lead my people in the field
if it be necessary."

"I trust that it never will be so," Cedric said, "but as we fought
under your father so will we all be ready to fight under you should
it be needful. The men of Steyning were never backward when there
was fighting to be done, and in my young days there was no lack of
that, though we have had quiet times since King Edward came to the
throne."

The house was not built for the purpose of resistance, for, unlike
the Normans, the Saxons did not deem it necessary to convert their
houses into castles. It was, however, massively framed, the windows
on the ground-floor were barred, the door was strong and solid, and
after nightfall none could come in or go out without the knowledge
and consent of the master. Wulf's companions came up just as the
steward himself appeared at the door. He knew both Gurth and Leof,
having himself been in the service of Harold before being deputed
by him to manage the estates of Steyning during the earl's guardianship
of its thane.

"The earl sends his greetings to you, Egbert," Gurth said, "and he
has sent us hither with the young thane, who, as the letter I bring
from the earl will inform you, has come down to take up his position
as lord here, and to learn from you all things connected with his
estate."

"Welcome to Steyning, thane," the steward said, doffing his cap;
"it is well that you should be here. I have done my best to carry
out the earl's commands to keep all things in readiness for your
coming, and to be just and fair to the tenants, seeing that they
pay their dues, and yet not pressing too hardly upon them if things
go not well with them; but it is always best that the master should
be in his own place, and right willingly do I give over my authority
to you."

"The authority has been in good hands, I know well," Wulf said,
"and right heartily do I thank you for having so well filled my
place; but I would not take up my thaneship as yet I am but a boy,
and have to learn my duties from you, and shall account myself but
as your pupil. I know something of the ways of court, but nothing
at all of those of the country, and it will be long before I am fit
to take the control of things into my own hands."

They had by this time entered the great hall which formed the common
room of the establishment. Its arrangement was similar to that of
the room at the inn, with its raised dais for the master, his family,
and guests, while the rest of the room was devoted to the retainers
and servants. The cooking, however, was carried on in a room apart.
There were two fireplaces, one upon the dais and the other in the
body of the hall. On the walls hung trophies of the chase and arms
of all sorts. The wooden roof was supported by massive beams, and
with the exception of the trophies on the walls there was no attempt
at decoration of any kind. During the residence of the family at
the house, however, the hangings of tapestry, the work of generations
of dames of Steyning, their daughters and maids, hung upon the walls
round the dais.

The news quickly spread of the arrival of the young thane, and a
score of men and eight or ten women and maids flocked into the hall
to welcome him, and as he stood on the dais each in turn came forward
to kiss his hand and salute him.

"I think my first order must be," he said to the steward, "that a
cask of your best ale be broached."

"That shall be done at once," Egbert replied; "there is never a
lack of drink here, but the best is none too good for the occasion.
And who is this youth with you?" he went on when he had given the
necessary orders, pointing to Osgod, who was standing somewhat shyly
apart.

"He is my friend, and is going to be my body attendant and squire,"
Wulf said. "He, like myself, knows nothing as yet of his duties,
but that he will be faithful and trusty I know full well, and the
earl himself said that I did wisely to bring him with me."

"I will myself instruct him in his duties," Egbert said, "which
indeed are not hard to learn by one of willing mind. He will stand
behind you at table, will hand you your cup and take your orders.
In the old times it would have been his duty to see that you were
not struck down by a traitorous blow while you drank, but those
days are passed. When in the field he will carry your helmet till
you need to put it on; will keep close to you in the fight and guard
you with his shield from arrows, and with his sword from attacks
from behind; he will carry your banner, and see that as long as he
has strength to hold it, it floats fairly out as a rallying point
for your men. In the field indeed his duties are numerous, but at
home in peace, beyond seeing that your arms are bright and clean,
and that your orders are carried out properly, he will have but
little to do. It is well that you brought him with you, for otherwise
you would have had to choose one of the sons of your tenants, and
the choice would have been a difficult one, for each would have
desired the honour, and whichever you chose there would have been
sore jealousy among the others."

The next day there was a great gathering in the hall. The whole of
the tenants attended, and took the oath to be Wulf's men, as they
had been those of his father, to obey his orders, and to follow him
in the field with the due number of men according to the size of
their holdings; while Wulf on his part swore to protect them from
all wrong and oppression, to be a just master, calling upon them
only for such service as he was entitled to demand, and exacting
no feus or payments beyond those customary. A bullock had been
killed, and after the ceremony was over all present sat down to a
banquet at which much ale was drunk and feasting went on till
nightfall.

The next morning Wulf, accompanied by Leof and Egbert, rode round
the estate, choosing among the sons of the tenants thirty stout
young men willing to enrol themselves as house-carls, receiving a
regular rate of pay, and ready at all times to give service under
arms, and to remain in the field as long as they might be required,
whereas the general levy could only be kept under arms for a limited
time. He had already gone into the matter with Leof, who pointed
out that, as at present he had no wish to keep up any show or to
have a body of armed men in the house, it would suffice if the men
were exercised every day for a month, and after that merely practised
with sword and battle-axe for two or three hours once a week. On
these terms he had no difficulty in obtaining considerably more
than the number he asked for, and finally fifty men were enrolled.

For those carls helmets were bought and coats of ringed armour made,
and for a month they exercised daily. Of manoeuvring there was
little indeed. The Saxons and Danes alike fought in line, with but
room enough between them to swing their battle-axes. Each carried
a spear as well as an axe, and when repelling the assault of an
enemy closed up so that their shields well-nigh touched each other.
Their exercise was generally either to engage in combats between
chosen pairs, or, dividing into two parties, to fight line against
line with blunted poles for spears and with stout cudgels for axes.
Leof in these combats acted as judge, decided which side had gained
the victory, praised the skilful, and chided the careless and
sluggish. He gave lessons in the use of the sword and battle-axe
to Wulf and Osgod, sometimes pitting them against each other,
sometimes fighting himself against Wulf, and teaching Osgod how to
assist his master by covering him with his shield.

Sometimes he would order three or four of the men to shoot with
blunted arrows at Wulf, whom he taught to catch them on his shield
or to sever the shafts with a blow of his sword, while Osgod standing
by helped to cover him when two or three arrows flew at him together.
This was a daily exercise, and even after the month's regular work
was over some of the men came up every day to shoot, until Wulf had
attained such coolness and skill that he could in the great majority
of cases cut the shafts in two with his sword.

But the whole day was by no means given up to warlike exercises.
Wulf rode out with the steward inspecting the houses and farms,
learning what there was to be learned of the rude processes of
agriculture, investigating the complaints of the depredations
committed by errant herds of swine or by neighbours' cattle and
sheep, seeing what was required in the repairs of farmhouses, and
learning from Egbert to discriminate between those who were unable
to pay their dues owing to misfortune, illness, or murrain among
the animals, and those whose losses were due to their own sloth or
carelessness. Upon these visits, too, the arms of the tenants were
inspected to ascertain that they could properly fulfil their service
if summoned to take the field.

The lands embraced by Wulf's feof were of considerable extent,
reaching down to the sea, where they were some eight miles broad,
and running back twelve miles beyond Steyning. Several small hamlets
lay within it, and in case of war he could summon more than three
hundred men to his banner. Several of the neighbouring thanes rode
in as soon as they heard that Wulf had returned to fill his father's
place at Steyning, and these visits were duly returned. But accustomed
as Wulf had been to the orderliness of the court of the ascetic
King Edward the rude manners and nightly revelry of these rough
thanes by no means pleased him, so that he was glad when the visits
were over, and he could remain quietly at home, where he was not
without frequent guests.

The most regular of his visitors was the prior of the monastery at
Bramber, which had been founded by the piety of one of Wulf's
ancestors. The prior had, though Wulf was ignorant of it, received
a letter from Earl Harold asking him to befriend Wulf, to encourage
him to keep up the studies he had followed at Waltham, and to see
that he did not fall into the drinking habit so common among the
Saxons. The priest was well fitted for the mission. He was by no
means a strict disciplinarian, but the monastery had the reputation
of being one of the best managed in Sussex, and among the monks
were many of good blood. He was passionately fond of art, and
encouraged its exercise among the monks, so that the illuminated
missals of Bramber were highly prized, and added largely to the
revenues of the monastery.

The prior had been one of the monks at Waltham, and owed his elevation
to the influence of Earl Harold with the late thane of Steyning.
He was well taught in all the learning of the day, and having been
for a time at Westminster, knew more of court life than the majority
of the priors of isolated monasteries, and could suit his conversation
to his hearer. Harold had said in his letter, "The lad has good
parts. He is somewhat full of mischief, and has got into a scrape
here by a quarrel with a Norman page, and by failing somewhat in
the respect due to William of London, who took his compatriot's
part with too much zeal. But Wulf is shrewd, and benefited greatly
by his stay at Waltham, and both for the lad's own sake and for my
friendship with the good thane, his father, I would fain that he
grew up not only a sturdy Englishman, as to which I have no manner
of doubt, but one who may some day play his part at court, and be
a worthy friend and counsellor of an English king. Therefore I pray
you, father, to keep an eye on the lad, and spare him what time you
can from your duties. Tell him not that I have written to you, for
it is the nature of youth to be averse to anything that looks like
guardianship."

Such a request from Earl Harold was regarded by the prior as an
order, and a few days after Wulf was installed at Steyning the prior
rode over on his palfrey, accompanied only by the almoner of the
convent.

"Peace to you, my son," he said, as Wulf bowed respectfully to him,
"I have called not only as the prior of the monastery founded by the
piety of one of the thanes of Steyning, but to welcome one who was
a pupil at Earl Harold's college of Waltham, in which I at one time
was a preceptor. Not when you were there, for I was installed here
just before your good father's death."

"I left there two years since," Wulf said, "in order to be one of
Earl Harold's pages; but I have not forgotten my reading, for the
earl insists that his pages give two hours a day to study."

"Tis a good rule," the prior said, "for learning is like a weapon,
it soon becomes rusted when thrown aside. You will, I hope, continue
the habit."

"I should wish to do so, father, but there are no manuscripts here."

"In that at least I can supply your wants," the prior said. "My
monastery has a good library, and it will be quite at your service,
and also my advice in any matters that may concern you. My almoner
here, brother John, knows pretty well the circumstances of most of
your people, and may be able to tell you where your alms may be
well bestowed, and where they would do more harm than good. The
worthless are ever the most importunate, and for every honest man
in need there are twenty rogues abegging."

The ice once broken, the prior came over frequently. His conversation
was bright and interesting. He himself was engaged in writing a
history of the Saxon and Danish monarchs from the times of Alfred,
and had stores of anecdotes of people and events of whom Wulf had
before heard only vague traditions from the wandering singers and
story-tellers who travelled the country, and were welcome guests
in every household. As Wulf was urged by the prior to come over
whenever time hung on his hands, his visits to the monastery were
naturally very much more frequent than those of the prior to Steyning.
Sometimes he would sit in the private apartment of the prior, but
more often he spent his time studying the rare manuscripts, or
watching the monks at their work of copying and illuminating. If
he went in the evening he generally sat in the refectory, where the
monks for the most part spent their evening in talk and harmless
amusement, for the strict rules and discipline that prevailed in
monastic establishments on the Continent had been unknown up to
that time in England, although some of the Norman bishops were doing
their best to introduce them into the establishments in their
dioceses,--a proceeding that caused great discontent, and was
strongly opposed by the English monks. These had, hitherto, regarded
monastic life as one of work for the good of the poor, and as
affording for those who wished it a tranquil retirement from the
trials of the world. Moreover, it offered special attractions to
those of quiet and studious tastes, since the monasteries provided
the architects and the painters, the teachers and the writers, and
it was here alone that learning was maintained and fostered.
Consequently, at Bramber there was none of that monastic asceticism
that prevailed abroad, and later became the rule in England also.

During the day the monks had their pursuits according to their
tastes. There were those who worked in the copying and painting
room. There were some who drew plans for churches or the dwellings
of the wealthy, and who sometimes went out and superintended the
carrying out of their designs. Some were in charge of the garden,
where the work was chiefly done by the lay servitors, and where the
herbs and simples were grown that were used in the concoction of
the medicines distributed among the sick, and highly prized throughout
the country round. Two or three were skilled in music, and these
taught and conducted the choir, while two acted as teachers to
youths, the sons of thanes and others, who, moved by the ardour
with which their earl advocated learning, intrusted their sons to
the monks for education. Then when the day's work was done, and
vespers sung in the chapel, the monks gathered in the refectory.
The conversation was of a bright and varied description, and as
Wulf moved about from group to group he listened to the talk with
far greater pleasure than he had ever derived from that at court,
and largely increased his knowledge in many respects.

National matters were discussed with keen interest, for the monks
were all English, and viewed with bitter hostility the elevation
of foreigners to the chief dignities of the church, not only because
they were foreigners, but because they introduced innovations of
all kinds, and sought to reduce the Church of England to subjection
to Rome, whereas previously it had been wholly independent of Papal
authority. In secular matters, too, there were dangers that threatened
the tranquillity of the country. Chief among these were the turbulence
and ambition of Tostig, and the menace to the kingdom by his extensive
earldom of Northumbria with its alien Danish population, which was
rendered more serious by his alliance with the kings of Norway.

Then, too, it was doubtful whether the great central earldom of
Mercia could be relied upon to act cordially with the West Saxons;
Griffith of Wales was still restless and turbulent; and lastly,
there was the ever-present menace of the Norman duke. Had England
been united it could have laughed at the pretensions of the Duke
of Normandy; but with Northumbria ready at any moment to break into
civil war, and with Mercia doubtful, the claim of Normandy, however
shadowy and indefensible, could not but be considered as a grave
element of danger.

Listening to the talk of the monks Wulf learned much more as to the
actual situation than he had done in the court of the Normanized
king, and his feelings of patriotism became more and more developed
and strengthened, while he applied himself with even greater ardour
to his military exercises, as he recognized more fully the necessity
that might arise for every West Saxon to be ready to take his place
in the line of battle. The evenings that he spent at home were by
no means dull. It was only in considerable towns that there were
inns for the accommodation of travellers. Everywhere else these
were dependent upon hospitality, and no door was ever closed in
their faces. It was seldom that less than five or six travellers
rested for the night at Steyning, and often that number was largely
exceeded. Besides the wayfarers there were the professional wanderers,
the minstrels, the story-tellers, and occasionally a troupe of
buffoons.

All these were welcome, for they brought the news from without; the
last rumours in London concerning the quarrels of the earls; the
movements of the Danish ships that were harrying the coast, and
those of the vessels Earl Harold despatched to cope with them; the
prices of wool and hides in the chief markets; and even reports of
what was happening beyond the seas. Leaving the dais, Wulf would
go down and listen to the talk of the travellers, or, when they
were of a degree above the common, have them up beside him, and
question them as to their journeyings, the places they had visited,
and the personages they had seen. Thus his hours were fully occupied
from morning until night. He found far less time than he had expected
for sport, and although he occasionally went out with his falcons
or hunted the stag in the forest, which covered a wide extent of
country beyond the hills, it was but seldom that he could find
leisure for these amusements.

"It seems to me that you are always doing something, Wulf," Osgod
said one day. "It is not at all the sort of life I should have
thought a young thane would live. Why, you work many more hours a
day than I did in my father's forge. It is either books, or the
affairs of the tenants, or visiting the monastery all day when you
are not at work with your sword exercises. When I have done with
my work with Leof I like to lie down in the sun and take it quietly,
and I cannot understand how you can be for ever on foot."

"I have so many things to do, Osgod; there is so much to learn, and
I do not wish to grow up a mere beer swiller like Edmund of Angmering
or Ethelred of Arundel. Their lives are, as far as I can see, no
whit higher or more worthy than that of their own serfs, from whom
they differ only that they eat more, drink more, and sleep on softer
beds. Earl Harold expects better things than that of me, and I want
to make myself worthy of being one of those in whom he can place
confidence and on whom he can depend in case of trouble. I have
heard him say how bad it is for England that our thanes are, in
learning and culture, so far behind the nobles of other countries,
and that if England is ever to take her place among great nations
it must be by her thanes first raising themselves to the level of
the nobles abroad, who are the counsellors of their kings. I can
never hope to be anything like Earl Harold, who is the wisest and
greatest of Englishmen, but I do hope so to fit myself that some
day he may think me worthy of trust and confidence."

"Well, master," Osgod said lazily, "every one to his liking. I
hope to be a good soldier and your true servant, but as for all
this thinking and learning it would weary me to death."




CHAPTER III.


AT COURT.

Two months after Wulf had gone down to Steyning one of Harold's men
brought a short letter from the earl himself. "I am glad to hear,
Wulf," it began, "from my steward, Egbert, that you are applying
yourself so heartily to your work. I have also good accounts of you
from the Prior of Bramber, who sometimes writes to me. He is a good
and wise man, as well as a learned one, and I am right glad to hear
that you are spending your time so well. I told you that you should
hear if there was any alteration in your affair. Some change was
made as soon as you had left; for, two days later, meeting William
of London in the presence of the king, I told him that I had inquired
further into the matter, and had found that you were by no means
the aggressor in the quarrel with young Fitz-Urse, for that he had
fingered his dagger, and would doubtless have drawn it had there
not been many bystanders. I also said that, with all respect to
the bishop, it would have been better had he not inclined his ears
solely to the tale of his page, and that under the circumstances
it was scarcely wonderful that, being but a boy, you had defended
yourself when you were, as you deemed, unjustly accused.

"The prelate sent at once for his page, who stoutly denied that he
had touched the hilt of his dagger, but I too had sent off for
Ulred, the armourer, and he brought with him a gossip who had also
been present. I asked the king's permission to introduce them, and
they entirely confirmed your story. Fitz-Urse exclaimed that it was
a Saxon plot to do him harm, and I could see that the bishop was
of the same opinion; but the king, who is ever anxious to do justice,
declared at once that he was sure that the two craftsmen were but
speaking the truth. He sternly rebuked Fitz-Urse as a liar, and
signified to the bishop that he would do well to punish him severely
by sending him back to Normandy, for that he would not tolerate his
presence at court--an order which the bishop obeyed with very bad
grace. But at any rate the lad was sent away by a ship a week later.

"After the bishop had left the audience-chamber the king said that
he was afraid he had acted with harshness to you, as it seemed that
the fault was by no means wholly on your side, and that I could at
once recall you if I wished to do so. I thanked his majesty
dutifully, but said I thought it were best in all ways that for a
time you should remain away from court. In the first place, you
deserved some punishment for your want of respect for the bishop,
to whom you should have submitted yourself, even if you had thought
him unjust. In the second place, as Fitz-Urse had been sent away,
it would create an animosity against you on the part of his countrymen
at court were you to reappear at once; and lastly, that I considered
it would be to your benefit to pass at least some months on your
estates, learning your duties as thane, and making the acquaintance
of your people. Therefore, I wished you to continue at Steyning.
It will assuredly be pleasant for you to know that you are no longer
to be considered as being there in consequence of having fallen
under the king's displeasure, but simply because it is my wish that
you should for a time dwell among your people, and fit yourself to
be a wise lord to them."

Wulf was much pleased at the receipt of this letter, partly because
the fact that he had been sent away in disgrace stung him, and he
had felt obliged frankly to acknowledge to the neighbouring thanes
that he had been sent down on account of a quarrel with a Norman
page; but chiefly because it showed the kindly interest that Harold
felt in him, and that although absent he had still thought of him.

It was nigh ten months before he heard again. During that time he
had grown a good deal, and although he would never be tall, his
frame had so widened out that it was evident he would grow into an
exceptionally powerful man.

At sixteen he was still a boy, and although his position at Steyning,
where, although still under the nominal tutelage of the earl's
steward, he was practically lord and master, accustomed to play the
part of host within its walls, and that of feudal lord over the
wide estates, had given him the habits of authority and the bearing
of one who respected himself, the merry expression of his face,
aided by a slight upward turn of his nose, showed that in other
respects he was unchanged. He had learned with his weapons all that
Leof could teach him. He could wield a light battle-axe, and with
his sword could turn aside or sever an arrow however sharply shot
at him, provided that he had time to mark its flight. With a
quarter-staff he was a match for any youth on the estate, and he
could hurl a dart with unerring aim.

Osgod had sprung up into a powerful young fellow, taller than his
master by well-nigh a head, and his equal in exercises requiring
strength rather than quickness and skill. His duties at table had
been delegated to another, for there was a certain clumsiness in
Osgod's strength that no teaching could correct; and in his eagerness
to serve his master he so frequently spilled the contents of a cup,
or upset a platter, that even Egbert acknowledged that it was
hopeless to attempt to make a skilful servitor of him.

The earl's second letter contained only the words:

"Come up to London as soon as you receive this. Leave Egbert in
charge of everything as before."

Although the time had not seemed long, and his occupations were so
varied that he had never felt dull since he had come down, Wulf was
delighted to receive the summons. He had, unconsciously to himself,
begun to feel restless, and to wonder whether Earl Harold had
altogether forgotten his existence.

"We are going back to London, Osgod," he shouted.

"I am right glad of it," the young giant said, stretching his arms
lazily. "I am grievously tired of the country, and had it not been
that nothing would induce me to leave your service, I have thought
sometimes that I would gladly be back again in my father's smithy,
hammering away on hot iron. I used to think it would be the grandest
thing possible to have nothing to do, but I have found that one can
have too much of a good thing. Certainly I am glad to be going back,
but I am not sure whether it won't be worse at court than it is
here."

"Perhaps we may not be staying there," Wulf said encouragingly.
"Maybe the earl is going to start on some expedition; though we
have heard of no trouble, either in the North or in Wales. But even
if I stay at court, Osgod, you will often be able to be away, and
can spend some hours a day at the smithy, where, if you like, you
can take off your smock and belabour iron to your heart's content.
I should say you would be a rare help to your father, for, as Leof
says, for a downright solid blow there are not many men who could
surpass you."

Osgod laughed. "Leof has not forgiven that blow I dealt him a month
ago, when I flattened in his helmet with my blunted axe and stretched
him senseless on the ground; in faith, I meant not to hit so hard,
but he had been taunting me with my slowness, and seeing an opening
for a blow at his head I could not resist it, and struck, as he was
always telling me to do, quickly."

"You well-nigh killed him," Wulf said, shaking his head; "he has
not taken an axe in his hand since, at least not with either of us.
He said to me the first time I invited him to a bout, it was high
time a man should give up teaching when he came to be struck senseless
by a boy."

"Not much of a boy," Osgod replied, "seeing that I stand over six
feet high, and got my muscles hardened early at the forge. However,
he bears me no ill-will; all he ever said to me on the matter was,
'I am glad to see that you can shake off your sluggishness sometimes,
Osgod; I should have been less earnest in my advice to you to strike
more quickly if I had thought that you were going to do it at my
expense. Keep those blows for your master's enemies, lad. If you
deal them to his friends you will lessen their number.'"

"Have my horse brought round at once, Osgod, have the wallets packed,
and be ready to start in an hour's time. I cannot go without riding
over to say good-bye to the prior and some of the monks. Do you,
when you have packed, follow me; it is not greatly out of the way,
and I shall meet you on the road. A short half-hour will suffice
for me there."

"So Harold has sent for you, Wulf?" the prior said, when the young
thane told him that he was on the point of starting for London.
"'Tis as well. Come back when you may, you will now be fit to rule
at Steyning, and to rule well, but I foresee that we are likely to
have you but seldom down here. You are in good train to rise high
among Englishmen. You already possess the favour of Earl Harold,
who is, in all respects but name, King of England. You possess far
more learning than most young men of your rank, and as Harold rightly
thinks much of such knowledge, you are likely, if you live, to learn
more. But better than this, so far as your prospects are concerned
in the troubled times that may be coming, you are quick witted and
ready. I hear that you are already very proficient in arms, and a
match for most grown men. Best of all, so far as your future happiness
is concerned, you have a kind heart and a good disposition. You
could scarce be a page of Earl Harold's and not be a true Englishman
and patriot; therefore, my son, I think that I can predict a bright
and honourable future for you if Harold lives and reigns King of
England. Be steadfast and firm, lad. Act ever in what your heart
tells you is the right; be neither hasty nor quarrelsome. But,"--he
broke off with a smile, "you have had one lesson that way already.
Now I will detain you no longer. _Pax vobiscum_, may God keep
and guard you! If opportunity offer, and a messenger comes this
way, write me a few lines; news of you will be always welcome at
Bramber."

Leaving the prior, Wulf paid a hurried visit to the chambers where
the monks were engaged in their various avocations, and then started
at a canter and met Osgod coming along with a sumpter-horse carrying
the wallets, a store of provisions for the way, and Wulf's arms and
armour fastened to the crupper of his saddle.

"You have done well, Osgod," Wulf said as he turned his horse, and
at a quieter pace proceeded beside him. "I forgot to give you any
directions or to speak about your bringing a pack-horse with you,
but I am glad you thought of it, for our steeds would have been
heavily burdened had all that baggage been divided between them."

"We go back more heavily laden than we came," Osgod remarked. "My
wardrobe was then of the scantiest, and your own has been considerably
added to since we came here. Truly, Wulf, I feel that I have changed
mightily in this year, and can scarce believe that it is but a
twelvemonth back since I flung down my hammer and started on my
tramp to Guildford with a change of clothes dangling from the end
of my cudgel. I was glad when you and your party overtook me, for
I was badly scared once or twice when I met a rough fellow or two
on the way, though, fortunately, they did not deem me worth robbing.
We could give a good account of four or five of such knaves now."

"There has been a change indeed, Osgod, and in me as much as in
you, though I have not shot up into such huge proportions. I was a
page then, and had learned but to obey. I am a boy still, but I
have begun to learn to rule; at any rate, to rule myself. I have
not conquered my fault of hastiness altogether."

Osgod smiled broadly.

"You are quick in temper still, Wulf. You remember it was but
yesterday that you rated me soundly because I had fed your hawks
early, and they were too lazy to fly when you wanted them."

"Well, it was annoying," Wulf laughed; "and you deserved rating,
since you have been told over and over again that the hawks were
not to be fed early in the morning. Besides, the rating did you no
harm."

"None at all, master. I know that you mean not what you say, and
hard words break no bones. I should have thought no more of it had
you yourself not remarked that you were still somewhat hasty of
temper."

"I was wrong, Osgod," Wulf said, holding out his hand, "but you
know that I love you, and that though your carelessness and
forgetfulness chafe me sorely at times, I mean not what I say."

"I know it, master, and I would not have you other than you are. I
suppose it is the thickness of my skull that prevents me from taking
in all that I am told, and perhaps if I had more to do I might do
it better. I shall be able to play my part when it comes to hard
blows, and you must remember that no one can excel in all things.
A staghound is trusty and sure when on the chase, but he could not
be taught to fetch and to carry and to perform all sorts of tricks
such as were done by the little mongrel cur that danced to the order
of the mountebank the other evening. My father always said I was a
fool, and that, though for a piece of rough hammering I was by no
means amiss, I should never learn the real intricacies of repairing
fine armour. Everything has its good, you see, Master Wulf; for had
my father thought better of me in his trade, I doubt if he would
ever have given me leave to quit it, and go as your man."

"I have no doubt that is so, Osgod, and heartily glad am I that you
showed no genius for smith's work. Nature evidently intended you
to damage casques and armour rather than to repair them. You have
not got all my clothes with you," he added, as he looked round at
the led horse.

"No indeed, Wulf," Osgod said, "nor a quarter of them, for in truth
your wardrobe has grown prodigiously since we came here. I had to
talk it over with Egbert, having but little faith in my own wits.
He advised me to take the two suits that were most fitted for court,
saying that if he heard you were going to remain there he would
send on the rest in charge of a couple of well-armed men."

"That is the best plan, doubtless," Wulf agreed. "My hawking suit
and some of the others would be useless to me at court, and it would
have been folly to have burdened ourselves with them if we are
likely to return hither shortly."

"Where shall we stop to-night?" Osgod asked.

"At the monastery of the Grey Friars, where we put up on our way
from London. It will not be a long ride, but we started late.
To-morrow we shall of course make a long day's journey to Guildford.
I don't know what travellers would do were it not for the priories."

"Sleep in the woods, Wulf, and be none the worse for it. For myself,
I would rather lie on the sward with a blazing fire and the greenwood
overhead, than sleep on the cold stones in a monk's kitchen,
especially if it happened to be a fast-day and one had gone to rest
on a well-nigh empty stomach."

"It is never so bad as that," Wulf laughed; "as a rule, however
much the monks may fast, they entertain their guests well."

"If it is an English monastery they do," Osgod admitted, "but not
where there is a Norman prior, with his new-fangled notions, and
his vigils and fasts and flagellations. If I ever become a monk,
which I trust is not likely, I will take care to enter a Saxon
house, where a man may laugh without its being held to be a deadly
sin, and can sleep honestly without being wakened up half a dozen
times by the chapel bell."

"You would assuredly make but a bad monk, Osgod, and come what will
I do not think you will ever take to that vocation. But let us urge
on our horses to a better pace, or the kitchen will be closed, and
there will be but a poor chance of supper when we reach the priory."

"Well, Osgod," Wulf asked the next morning as they rode on their
way, "how did you fare last night?"

"Well enough as to the eating, there was a haunch of cold venison
that a king needn't have grumbled at, but truly my bones ache now
with the hardness of my couch. Couch! there was but the barest
handful of rushes on the cold stone floor, and I woke a score of
times feeling as if my bones were coming through the skin."

"You have been spoilt, Osgod, by a year of sleeping softly. I marked
more than once how thickly the rushes were strewn in that corner
in which you always slept. How will it be when you have to stand
the hardships of a soldier's life?"

"I can sleep well on the ground with my cloak round me," Osgod said
steadily, "and if the place be hard you have but to take up a sod
under your hip-bone and another under your shoulder, and you need
not envy one who sleeps on a straw bed. As to cold and wet, I have
never tried sleeping out of doors, but I doubt not that I can stand
it as well as another. As to eating and drinking, they say that
Earl Harold always looks closely after his men, and holds that if
soldiers are to fight well they must be fed well. At any rate,
Master Wulf, I shall be better off than you will, for I have never
been accustomed, as you have, to such luxuries as a straw bed; and
I doubt whether you ever went hungry to bed as I have done many and
many a time, for in the days when my father hoped to make an armourer
of me I was sent off supperless whenever I bungled a job or neglected
his instructions. I wonder what the earl can want you for in such
haste?"

"I do not suppose he wants me in any haste at all. He may have
spoken to the king about me, and when Edward again spoke of my
returning he would simply send for me to come at once."

Such indeed proved to be the case. When he waited on Harold as soon
as he arrived the latter held out his hand; "I am glad to see you
back again, Wulf. A year of country air and exercise has done wonders
for you, and though you are not as tall as you might be, you have
truly widened out into fair proportions, and should be able to swing
a battle-axe of full weight. Thinking it was time for you to return
here, I spoke to the king, who was in high good-humour, for he had
been mightily pleased that morning at some of the figures the monks
have wrought in stone for the adornment of his Church of St. Peter;
therefore he not only consented to your return, but chided me gently
for not having called you up to town before. 'The matter had
altogether slipped my mind,' he said; 'I told you that he might
return directly it was shown that it was the bishop's page who was
in fault, and from that day I have never thought of it.'

"I told the king that I had purposely kept silence, for I thought
the day had come when you should learn your duties down there instead
of dawdling away your time at court. You need not put on a page's
attire any more. You will remain here as my ward, and I have had
so good an account from the good prior of Bramber that in a short
time I shall be able to receive your oath as Thane of Steyning. You
will attend me to court this evening as one of my gentlemen, and I
will then present you to the king, whom it is well that you should
thank for having pardoned you. I hear from the prior that the varlet
you took down with you has grown into a big man, and is well-nigh
as tall as I am already. He must have lodging with my followers
while you are here."

Finding that he was to remain for the present at Westminster, Wulf
sent off a messenger at once to request Egbert to forward the rest
of his clothes immediately. That evening the earl took him into a
chamber, where the king was seated surrounded by a few of his
favourites.

"This is Wulf of Steyning, my lord king," Harold said, "the youth
who was unfortunate enough to incur your royal displeasure a year
since, and who has upon your order returned from his estates. I
have had excellent accounts of him from my good friend the prior
of Bramber, who speaks well alike of his love of study and his
attention to the affairs of his estate. I have also heard from other
hands of his progress in military exercises, and that he bids fair
to become a valiant and skilful soldier of your majesty. He has
prayed me to express his thanks to your majesty for having pardoned
him, and having authorized me to enrol him again in the ranks of
my followers here."

The king nodded pleasantly in answer to the deep bow that Wulf made.
"I was somewhat hasty in your matter," he said graciously, "and
dealt out somewhat hard measure to you, but doubtless, as Earl
Harold said, your stay in the country has been for your good, and
I am glad to hear that the worthy prior of Bramber speaks so well
of you."

The earl gave a little nod to Wulf, and the latter, gathering that
his case was concluded, and that he could now go at once, retired
with another deep obeisance.

Leaving the palace he made his way to the armourer's, whither he
had sent Osgod as soon as they arrived. The smith doffed his cap
as he entered. "I am right glad to see you back again, young master.
My son gave me a rare surprise, for truly when he walked in I did
not know him again, not having had him in my thoughts or having
heard of his arrival. The varlet saw that I did not know him, and
said, 'Canst mend me a broken dagger, master armourer?'

"'That can I,' I answered, and would have said more, when a laugh
came from his great mouth that well-nigh shook the house, and I
knew that it was my son, though the note was deeper than his used
to be, and was, as I told him, more like the bellow of a bull than
the laugh of a young fellow of eighteen. His mother looked in from
behind the shop and said, 'Surely that must have been Osgod's laugh.'
'It was,' I said, 'and there he stands before you. The impudent
rascal has topped me by over half a head, though I am a fair height
myself.' Then she carried him away, and I saw no more of him until
I had finished my work. Since supper he has been telling me somewhat
of what he has been doing down with you, which, as far as I can
learn, amounts to nothing, save the exercising of his arms and the
devouring of victuals."

"He did all there was to do, Ulred, except that he could not bring
that long body and those loose arms of his to offer me cup or platter
without risk to my garments, and even Egbert was forced to agree
that he should never be able to make a courtly servant of him; but
save in that matter Osgod has got on right well. He has always been
ready when I wanted him, and prepared at once to start with me
either on foot or horseback whenever I wished to go out. He is
growing into a mighty man-at-arms, and well-nigh broke the skull
as well as the casque of the captain and teacher of my house carls.
Another two years, if he goes on as he has done and we go into
battle again, no thane in the land will have a stouter body-guard."

"Are you going to stay in London, Master Wulf?"

"Yes; that is, while the earl is here. When he is away hunting or
attending to the affairs of the state I suppose I shall go with
him. Osgod of course will go with me. While here I shall have but
little use for his services, and he can be at home most part of the
day."

"Then I trust you will soon be off," the smith said bluntly, "for
to have a youth six feet and a hand in height hanging about doing
nothing would set all the men thinking it well that they too should
be idle. Osgod was always ready enough for a talk, though I do not
say he could not work when it was necessary, but now that he is in
your worship's service and under no orders of mine, his tongue will
never cease wagging."

"Oh, I am ready to work a bit, father. I know how long it took me
to hammer out a bar before, and I shall be curious to find out in
what time I can do it now."

"I doubt you will spoil more than you make, Osgod. Still, I too
shall be curious to see how many strokes you can give with the big
hammer, and how quickly you can beat a bar into a blade."

The stay in town was, however, of short duration, for four days
later the earl told him that he was going down to his house at
Bosham, and that he was to accompany him.

"'Tis three months since I was away from London," he said. "The
king is going down into Hereford to hunt, and I am therefore free
for a while, as there are no matters of state that press at present,
though I fear that ere very long the Welsh will be up again. I hear
that their King Griffith, not content with the beating he had a
short time since, is again preparing for war. Still it may be some
time before the storm bursts, and I am longing to be down again
among the green woods or afloat on the water."

Harold took with him a large party of personal friends, his brother
Wulfnoth, and his nephew Hakon. Among the party was Beorn, a young
thane, who also was a ward of the earl. He was two years older
than Wulf, but there had been a close friendship between them at
Edward's court. Shortly after Wulf's departure Beorn had also been
sent by the earl to his estates in Hampshire, and had been recalled
at the same time.

Beorn was far less strong and active than Wulf, having been very
weakly during the early years of his life, nor had he had the same
advantages of education, as he only became Harold's ward a year
after Wulf was installed as a page at Westminster. He was a youth
of good and generous disposition, and looked with feelings of
admiration upon the strength and skill in arms of the younger lad,
and especially at his power of reading.

"I can never be like you there, Wulf," he would say, "but I hope I
may some day grow as strong as you and as skilful in arms."

Beorn's stay in the country had done much for him, his thin tall
frame had filled out and there was a healthy colour on his cheek.
He had practised diligently at military exercises, and although he
found when, on the first day after Wulf's arrival in London, he
challenged him to a trial in arms, he was still very greatly his
inferior in skill and strength, he bade fair to become a gallant
fighter.

"It is a disappointment to me, Wulf," he said as he picked up the
battle-axe that had been struck from his hand and sent flying across
the hall by a sweeping blow of Wulf's weapon. "I have really worked
very hard, and I did think that I ought to have caught you up,
seeing that I am two years the elder. But you have gained more than
I have. I did as well as the other youths who were taught with me
by the house-carl Harold sent down with me, but I am sure I shall
never be as quick or hit as strongly as you do."

"Oh yes, you will, Beorn. Age is nothing. You see you were sick and
ailing till you were fifteen years old, so those years counted for
nothing, and instead of being two years older than I am you are
many years younger. In another four or five years you will come to
your full strength, and will be able to strike a far heavier blow
than I can now; although I do not say heavier than I may be able
to do then, as you are neither so wide nor so deep chested as I am.
But what does it matter, one only fights sometimes. You have other
advantages, you are gentler in speech and manner and have a handsome
face. When we were pages together the bower-maidens of the queen
always made much of you, while they called me impudent, and would
give me many a slap on the cheek."

"Well, you deserved it richly, Wulf, for you were always playing
tricks upon them--hiding their distaffs or tangling their thread,
and giving them pert answers when they wanted you to do their
errands. Well, I hope we shall be always great friends, Wulf. Your
estates lie not far from mine, and though we can scarce be called
neighbours we shall be within a day's ride of each other, and I
trust that we shall fight together under the good earl, and often
spend our time at each other's houses, and hunt and feast together."

"I hope we shall be much together, Beorn," Wulf said warmly, "and
that we shall be sworn friends; but as for feasting, I care but
little for it. We Saxon thanes are too fond both of food and wine-cup,
and though I am no monk I would that our customs could be altered.
I hate foreigners, but their ways are in many respects better than
ours. The Normans, it is true, may not be much better than we are,
but then they are but Northmen a little civilized; but I have heard
the earl say that the French, and still more the Italians, are
vastly ahead of us in all arts, and bear themselves with a courtesy
and gentleness to each other that puts to shame our rough manners."

"We should be neither happier nor better that I can see, Wulf, did
we adopt the manners of these Italians you speak of instead of our
own."

"Perhaps not, Beorn, but we should be able to make the people happier
and better if we could raise them."

"I will not even grant that, Wulf. Think you that the smith and the
shepherd, the bowmaker and the weaver, would be any the happier
could they read or even write than they are as they sing Saxon songs
over their work? I should like to be able to read, because Harold
thinks much of it, but except for that I see not that it would do
me much good. If the king makes me any further grant of land it
will be doubtless properly made out, and I can get a clerk or a
monk to read it to me. My steward will keep the tallies of the
tenants' payments. I can learn the history of our forefathers as
well from the songs and tales of the gleemen as from books."

"You are as bad as my man Osgod," Wulf said indignantly.

"Well, you need not get hot about it, good Wulf," Beorn laughed.
"When you come to see me I will have gleemen to sing the deeds of
our fathers to you. When I come to you I will sit as mum as a mouse
while you read to me from some monk's missal. I will force you
neither to eat nor to drink more than it pleases you, and you shall
give me as much to eat and drink as it pleases me, then we shall
be both well satisfied. As for your man Osgod, I wish I had such
a fellow. He will be well-nigh a giant one of these days, and in
strength may come to rival the earl, who is said to be the strongest
man on English soil."

"He is a good fellow, Beorn, and I could wish for no better to hold
a shield over me in the day of battle or to stand back to back with
me in a hand-to-hand fight."

"You should get him to stand in front of you," Beorn laughed. "He
would be a rare screen against arrows and javelins."

The friends were well pleased when they heard they were both to
accompany Harold to Bosham, which was one of the favourite abodes
of the Earls of Wessex. It had originally been built as a hunting-seat,
but Godwin had grown to love the place, with its woods extending
for miles back and its quiet landlocked harbour, and additions had
been made until it had grown to be, in point of size at least, a
residence worthy of the great earls, and Harold preferred it to any
of the many mansions belonging to him. It was a large and gay party
that rode down the road through the quiet woods of Surrey and Sussex.
They put up each night at the houses of thanes, where, as notice
had been sent of their coming, they were royally entertained, and
those selected were proud to afford hospitality to the earl.

For a week they stayed at Bosham, hunting in the forests, going off
in parties under the guidance of the foresters, some who cared not
for hard labour, hunting in the woods between Bosham and the hills,
while others went far inland into the weald, which was for the most
part covered by a great forest, with but a few scattered hamlets
here and there. Smoke rising among the trees showed where the
charcoal-burners were at work, or where the furnaces were glowing,
converting the ore into the tough iron that furnished arms and
armour for the greater portion of the men of the south. At the end
of the week the earl announced to his guests that he had provided
a new diversion for them.

"You see those three ships in the harbour," he said. "They were
brought here last night, and three hundred men have been at work
all day preparing them for our reception. I propose that we all
embark with our dogs and servants, and sail along the coast, landing
where we please and taking our sport. As we sail eastward there
are abundant forests, and the game is far more plentiful than here,
and our trip will partake of the character of an adventure in thus
dropping upon unknown places. Tents have been stored on board the
vessels, with abundance of good cheer of all kinds, so that we can
establish ourselves where we will, and sleep on shore instead of
rocking uneasily on the waves."

The proposal was received with acclamation, and the following morning
the whole party embarked upon the three ships. The largest was
occupied by Harold himself, his brother and nephew, and six or seven
of his principal thanes. In this craft too went Wulf and Beorn with
their men. On issuing from the harbour the ships' heads were turned
to the east. The wind was light and fitful, the sails therefore
were not loosed, and they proceeded under oars. There was but little
tide until they reached the extremity of the long point of Selsea,
past which they were hurried at great speed by the rapid current.
Rowing closer inshore they got into quieter water, and continued
their way until tide turned, when they anchored, and landing with
their dogs hunted in the woods for some hours.

On their return to the sea-shore they found the tents erected and
supper prepared, and the sport having been good they remained another
day. The tide took them the next day past the shore of Wulf's estate,
and he begged the earl to land there and to pass a day or two with
his company at Steyning; but all were bent upon the chase, and they
kept on until they reached the point where the white cliffs began
to rise from the edge of the water. Here they landed again, and
spent two or three days in hunting. Neither Wulf nor Beorn had been
to sea before, and the quiet motion of the ships with their bellying
sails and banks of sturdy oarsmen delighted them. There had been
scarcely any motion, and neither had felt the qualms which they had
been warned were generally experienced for a while by those who
went upon the sea for the first time.

When the journey was resumed Wulf was struck with surprise and
almost awe by the mighty cliffs that rose up from the water's edge.
Neither he nor Beorn had seen anything like this, for although both
their estates bordered the sea, the shores were flat, and vessels,
if needs be, could be hauled up on shore.

"What would happen if a gale were to burst upon us here?" Wulf said
to his companion. "If the waves were to dash us against those white
rocks the ships would be broken up like egg-shells."

"Your question is answered," Beorn said, as a bay suddenly opened
to their sight. "You see we are going in here, and shall anchor
snugly somewhere up this river in front of us, which is truly the
best haven we have seen since we left Bosham." Half an hour later
the vessels were moored to the bank, close to a wooden bridge which
spanned the little river.




CHAPTER IV.


A STORM.

After hunting for two days in the forests lying behind Newhaven,
and in the valley in which Lewes lies, they again embarked. The
master of Harold's ship had expressed some doubts as to the weather,
but as he stated that it was but some eight miles round the great
cliff that they saw to the east, and that beyond this the rocks
ceased and there was a bay in which they could ride at anchor, or
if necessary beach their vessels, it was determined to proceed, as
Harold had the day before been visited by a thane whose house lay
but two miles from the shore, and had accepted his invitation for
the party to take up their abode there for a few days, as he promised
them good sport in the forest. The cliffs rose higher as they
proceeded. They kept closer inshore, and although they could see
that the clouds were flying rapidly overhead they felt no breeze
whatever, being protected from the wind by the lofty cliffs. The
master was evidently uneasy, for he urged the rowers to exert
themselves to the utmost. Wulf and Beorn stood looking with amazement
at the cliffs towering up beside them.

"Is it not strange that they should rise like this--like a wall
from the water?" Wulf said. "Had they been built up by human hands
they could scarcely have been more erect and regular. I have never
seen anything at all like it on land."

"Then it must be something formed by the sea, Wulf. Do you see those
caverns at the foot of the cliff, and in some places you see there
is a mound of rocks as if newly formed? It may be that this white
stone is soft, and that the sea beating against the foot wears it
away in time, and then the rock overhead gives way by its weight
and so leaves an upright wall. Perhaps, long back, these hills were
like other hills, sloping gradually down into the sea; but in time,
perhaps many, many years before the Romans landed here, the sea
began to eat them away, and has continued to do so ever since, until
they are as we see them."

"That may be so, Beorn. My father has told me that he could remember
when our estates stretched a good half-mile farther seaward, but
had since been eaten away by the waves, and he says that his father
had told him the same thing; therefore, as you say, in many hundreds
of years even hills, if the stone were soft, might also be worn
away. There we are rounding the point, and beyond there are no more
cliffs; doubtless it is in this bay that the Shipmaster Edred thinks
to anchor."

At that moment their conversation was cut short by a tremendous
gust of wind rushing down the sloping hill into the bay striking
them with such terrible force that the ship heeled over until the
water rushed above the bulwark. The men were thrown against each
other, and several fell down to leeward. The confusion was heightened
by the fact that the great sail, which was but loosely furled to
its yard, burst the ropes, and the wind catching it buried the craft
still further, and she would have filled and sunk had not the
ship-master seized the tiller, and aided by the two sailors there
pushed it up, and so the boat's head payed off from the wind and
ran before it.

The master shouted to the men to lower the sail, which was bellying
and flapping violently, but before his orders could be obeyed there
was a crash. The mast snapped off at the slings of the yard, and
the wreck fell over the bow of the boat. All hands were employed
for some minutes in getting the sail on board and furling it to its
yard, which was laid lengthways along the thwarts. It was found
that three men standing in the bows had been killed, and several
others badly hurt. The vessel was by this time some distance from
shore. Nothing could be done until she was freed of the water, with
which she was nigh half-full, and all hands were employed in bailing
it out.

The squall had increased rather than lessened in fury, and by the
time the water was cleared out they were two miles from the headland.
Orders were then given to man the oars again but it was found that
several of these had been lost, having been washed away when the
men leapt up, believing that the boat would capsize, or had slipped
from the rowlocks unnoticed while they were engaged in getting in
the sail. This was a serious misfortune, for every oar was needed
to force her through the water in the teeth of the wind, which was
blowing directly off shore. The remaining oars were all double-banked,
Harold himself and his thanes taking their places among the rowers.

For an hour they laboured their hardest, but at the end of that
time they were farther from shore than when they began, the force
of the wind acting on the poop and broad hull driving her seaward
faster than the rowers could force her shoreward. The sea, too,
was now getting up, and the motion of the vessel rendered it
increasingly difficult to row. Edred left his place at the tiller
and went forward to Harold.

"My lord," he said, "it is useless. In spite of your efforts we are
drifting farther and farther out, and from the look of the sky I
fear that we are going to have a great gale, and there is nothing
to do but to set a little sail and to run before it. Maybe there
will presently be a shift of wind, which may enable us to make for
shore. At present you are but exhausting yourselves in vain, and
the sea will soon get up so much that it will be impossible to use
the oars."

"So be it," Harold replied; and at the master's orders the oars
were laid in, and the men prepared to get sail upon her. A sailor
climbed up the mast and fastened the stays close to the point which
was broken off. Then another joined him, and a block was lashed to
the mast just below the stays, and the halliards were rove through
it; then Edred brought out a small sail, and this was hoisted, and
the vessel, which had before been rolling heavily, began to glide
swiftly through the water. They had had the satisfaction of seeing
that their consorts, although like themselves nearly capsized by
the squall, had suffered no damage, but after lowering their sails
and yards to the deck, had succeeded in rowing into the bay, their
lighter hull and draught enabling the oars to drive them through
the water in the teeth of the wind.

"She is going along finely now," Wulf said.

"Yes," Beorn agreed; "but before night there is like to be a sea
that will try her."

Harold held a consultation with the master, and presently all the
men were called to work. The great sail was unrolled from its yard
and a portion cut off, somewhat wider than the beam of the boat,
and in length reaching from the bow to the mast. Nails and hammers
were brought up from the little cabin, and the canvas was stretched
from bulwark to bulwark and strongly nailed to the wood on either
side, oars being first lashed across at short intervals to support
it.

"I suppose that is for us to lie under, Master Wulf?" Osgod said.
"It is a pity it was not erected before, for there is not a man on
board who is not drenched to the skin."

"It is not put there to keep you dry, Osgod, but to keep the waves
from coming into the ship. But she goes over them well. The wind
is getting up, Osgod, and we shall have a great sea presently."

"Then why don't we turn and sail back again? It seems to me to be
folly to be running away from the land if such is going to be the
weather."

"How can we sail back again? Do you not see that it is the wind
that is blowing us off, and the vessel must go as the wind takes
her. One can go a little this way or that, but no man ever yet
sailed in the teeth of the wind."

"This is the first time I have ever been to sea," Osgod said, "and
I trust it will be the last. The tossing of the ship makes me
strangely giddy, and many of the servants are downright ill with
it. Why men should go on the water when they can walk upon the land
is more than I can say. I think I will go and lie down under the
shelter of the sail, for indeed I feel as if I were about to die."

Wulf himself was feeling strangely uncomfortable. As long as they
had been at work he had not felt unwell, for the necessity of holding
on to the bulwarks or ropes, and the excitement of their strange
position, had saved him from experiencing many qualms; but both he
and Beorn were soon glad to follow Osgod's example, and to lie down
on the boards under the rowers' benches. Fiercer and fiercer blew
the wind, more and more violent became the motion of the ship;
masses of water fell on the canvas forward, as she plunged into the
waves, and would have soon beaten it in had it not been for the
support of the oars. By evening most of the men were lying under
the shelter, while Harold's brother and friends had retired to the
little cabin in the stern. The earl himself remained by the side
of the ship-master, who had taken his place close to the tiller,
which was worked by four men.

"Think you that she will weather it, Edred?"

"I have little fear about that, my lord. She is a staunch boat, and
I have been aboard her in seas as heavy as this. Besides, that
thought of yours of stretching the canvas across her bow has greatly
improved her chances. The water runs off as fast as it falls on it,
and none comes on board. Had it not been for this every man would
have had to bail all night. No, I have no fear of her weathering
the gale. What I am afraid of is, that if this wind continues to
blow we shall assuredly be lost on the coast of Normandy."

"That would be an ill fortune, indeed, for I know that the Normans
count all that are cast on their shores as lawful prey; and even
if we reach the land in safety and escape murder at the hands of
the lord of the soil and his people, I may fall into the hands of
Duke William, who is assuredly no friend of mine, seeing that I
stand in the way of his designs upon the throne of England. Truly
it was an evil moment when the thought of taking to the sea occurred
to me, and I would give a broad slice of my earldom to be back at
Bosham."

Hour by hour the waves increased in size and violence, and often
poured in over the sides. The number of men on board was too great
for all to work effectively. They therefore were divided into two
parties, one being engaged in bailing while the other lay under
cover, the change being made every hour. Wulf preferred working
to lying still, for as the craft rolled the water washed over them,
while the din of the waves striking the ship's side, and the cataracts
of spray falling on to the canvas above were deafening, and it was
impossible to get a moment's sleep. All were glad when morning
broke, although the scene that met their eyes was the reverse of
comforting. Small as was the amount of sail the vessel tore through
the water under the pressure of the following wind. Great waves
with white crests pursued her, and as they neared her stern it
seemed to Wulf that they must inevitably fall over and crush her.
The spray torn from the crest by the wind filled the air. The wind
shrieked in the cordage, and the vessel creaked and groaned as she
rolled from side to side.

"I would not have believed if I had not seen it, that the sea could
be so violent and ill-behaved," Wulf shouted to Osgod, who was then
standing beside him.

"If my clothes were but dry and my stomach full I would not mind
so much," Osgod replied; "but to be drenched in water all night and
to have nought to eat in the morning, takes the courage out of one
mightily. How long, think you, will this go on?"

"That no one can say. It may last two or three days."

"And no food all that time!" Osgod exclaimed in dismay.

"We could stand that well enough, Osgod; but I do not think there
is much chance of our being called upon to do so, for I heard one
of the sailors say that unless the storm abates marvellously we are
likely to be cast upon the French coast before nightfall."

"I should be glad to be cast anywhere so it were out of this. At
least, whether it be France or England, there must be food to be
had on shore."

"You do not understand, Osgod. Unless we happen to be cast upon a
shelving coast with sand or gravel the craft may be dashed to pieces,
and all lose their lives; for assuredly none could swim long in
such a sea as this."

"Well, we must hope that we shall find a shore such as you speak
of," Osgod said tranquilly; "but for my part, I am content to take
the risk rather than wait another three days before getting anything
to eat."

"And I would rather fast for a week than run the risk of the ship
being broken up on the rocks," Wulf replied. "I can swim but little
even in calm water, and I am sure that I could do nothing among
those waves."

"I can swim, and will look after you," Osgod said confidently. "I
used to swim every day in the Thames."

Wulf shook his head. "I daresay you might look after me if I fell
into the Thames, Osgod, but it is a very different thing in a sea
like this. These waves would dash a swimmer hither and thither as
if he were but a chip of wood; besides, the spray would smother
him. Even at this height above the water it is difficult to breathe
when one turns round and faces the wind. I think that our only
hope lies in running upon a flat shore, where the waves will wash
the vessel up so high that we may be able to leap out from the bow
on to the land beyond the reach of their fury."

Late in the afternoon one of the sailors on the poop astern shouted
out that land was visible, and it was not long before it could be
seen from the deck. All eyes were directed anxiously towards it.

"It is a rocky coast," Edred said, "but the rocks are not high, and
if we can manage to direct the vessel between two of them we may
escape. At present it is needful that most of the crew should keep
in the stern, but when we are about to strike they must all run
suddenly forward, so as to leap out as soon as she touches the
ground. There will be but little time given to them, for assuredly
the seas will batter her to pieces the moment she falls among the
rocks."

Harold issued the order. All were to remain at their posts until
he gave the word, and were then to run forward. The master scanned
the shore anxiously.

"See you, my lord, that opening right ahead of us? It seems to me
barely the width of the ship, but if I can direct her truly between
the rocks methinks that most of the crew will gain the land. I shall
myself take the helm. That is my duty and my right, and should I
not succeed in making the shore, I shall at least die well contented
with the thought that you who are the hope of England will be saved."

"I would fain stay with you, Edred."

"That cannot be, my lord. As it is my duty to stay by the ship to
the last, so it is your first duty to save your life for England.
I need no aid, for the vessel steers well, and by the help of a
rope round the tiller I can manage her alone. Farewell, my lord,
if we are not to meet again on earth. A very few minutes will decide
our fate."

"Swimming will be of no use there, Osgod," Wulf said. "Look how
the spray dashes itself against the black rocks."

"I thought not that it would be so bad," Osgod replied. "I wonder
the master does not cast anchor."

"The ropes would not hold for a moment," Wulf said, "and when they
broke we might drift broadside on to the rocks, which would mean
destruction for all. The master is steering for that narrow opening
between these two great rocks ahead. It will be but two or three
minutes now before our fate is decided."

At this moment Harold shouted:

"Let each man make his peace with God." And baring his head he stood
silently for a minute or two, imitated by all on board. Then Harold
again raised his voice in a shout that was heard above the storm:

"Move forward now all of you, but not further forward than the mast;
for if her head were too far down the master could not hold her
straight. Moreover, the mast will assuredly fall forward and crush
those in front of it. Therefore, let no man go forward of it until
the ship strikes."

The sailors had already cut away the canvas stretched across the
bow, and all on board clustered just aft the mast. Wulf looked back,
and saw the master standing alone on the poop, with his eyes fixed
in front of him and a look of grim resolve on his face. Then he
turned again to look ahead. The scene was terrible. On either side
extended a long line of white foam. Great masses of water were
hurled against the rocks with a thundering crash, and the spray
flew high up into the air, and then, caught by the wind, was carried
far inland. The rocks were now but a few lengths ahead, and the
passage between them looked terribly narrow, so narrow that he
doubted if the ship could possibly pass through them. Not a word
was spoken on board as the ship neared the opening. Now she swerved
a little to one side, now a little to the other, as the waves lifted
her stern and swept her along, but the hand of the master checked
her immediately, and brought her head back to the line.

She was but a length away from the passage when there was a crash
that shook her from stem to stern; then another great wave lifted
her, and Wulf saw a black wall of rock gleaming with the water that
streamed down it. The wall of rock flashed past the bulwarks so
closely that he could have touched it. A moment later the ship struck
again, this time with a force that threw many off their feet, while
the mast fell over the bow. Then once more she lifted, shot a few
feet further, then struck with tremendous force and remained
stationary.

There was a grinding and splintering of planks, as the men rushed
forward, and then a wave swept over the vessel, carrying all on
deck before it into the cove beyond the rock, rolling them over and
over up a sandy shore behind. Some managed to dig their hands and
feet into the sand and to scramble out; more were sucked back again
by the receding waters. As Wulf found himself in the water he felt
his arm clutched, and Osgod shouted in his ear: "Do not struggle,
I can keep you up!"

When thrown up on the sand Wulf tried in vain to resist the backward
rush of the water; he and Osgod were borne out again. When the next
wave again swept them up Wulf saw the earl standing knee-deep in
the water, and as he was swept past, Harold seized him and Osgod,
and with tremendous strength lifted them right out of the water.
"Keep still!" he shouted; "your weight will help me to keep my
feet." Wulf felt his supporter quiver as the water rushed out, for
he was waist-deep now; but directly afterwards he set them both
down on their feet, saying, "Run before the next wave comes." Ten
yards farther and they were beyond the reach of the sea. Harold
was with them, and directed those who had got ashore to form lines,
taking hold of each other's hands, and so to advance far into the
surf and grasp their comrades as they were swept up. Many were saved
in this way, although some of the rescuers were badly hurt by
floating pieces of wreckage, for the vessel had entirely broken up
immediately after her course had been arrested.

As soon as all who could be seen were brought ashore it was found
that ten men were missing, among whom was the master of the ship,
most of them having probably been struck by floating timbers. As
soon as it was certain that no more would come ashore alive Harold
called the men together. Rough litters were made of oars and pieces
of sail, for the conveyance of those who had broken limbs or were
too much injured to walk, and the party prepared for a start. By
this time several men, apparently of the fishing class, had approached,
but stood a short distance away, evidently waiting for the departure
of the party before beginning the work of collecting whatever the
sea might cast up. Harold went over to them, and asked in the Norman
tongue:

"What shore is this, and how far is it to the nearest town where
we can obtain shelter and assistance?"

"You are in Ponthieu, in the territories of Count Conrad. The town
of St. Valery is but two miles along the coast. There you can obtain
all you need."

Returning to his men, Harold ordered the wounded to be raised, and
the party at once set out. Harold had already taken off his gold
chain and rings, and had told his companions to do the same, in
order that the cupidity of the natives might not be excited nor
their rank guessed at. As soon as they started Wulf went up to him.

"My lord," he said, "I fear that you have already been recognized
by one of the fishermen. I saw him looking earnestly at you, and
then whisper to one of his companions. After doing so he hurried
away."

"That is bad news, Wulf; but I could hardly expect that I should
be long unrecognized. There are many vessels come and go between
the northern ports and our own, and in St. Valery there must be
numbers of sailors and fishermen who have seen me in London. Besides,
we are sure to be questioned by the count as to our rank and
condition, and even could we conceal it for a while, the news is
certain to be brought ere long from England of our having been blown
off the coast, and when it was known it would be speedily guessed
that we were the missing party. Hark you, Wulf; I have never heard
aught good of Count Conrad, and one cannot say what steps he may
take to force us to pay a heavy ransom, but it is like enough that
he will do all he can to prevent the news of my being in his hands
from reaching the ears of the duke. It is likely that you and Beorn,
being but lads, will be watched less rigorously than the rest of
us. Should this be so, try, if you find an opportunity, to send the
news to the duke that we are all held prisoners here. I shall, of
course, endeavour to communicate with him, but some chance may occur
by which you can do so more readily than I can."

"I will try to do so, my lord; but I trust this Norman count will
treat you with all due honour and courtesy."

Wulf then fell back to Beorn's side, and half an hour later the
shipwrecked party entered the gates of St. Valery. The townspeople
flocked round them, and as soon as they learned that they were a
party of shipwrecked Saxons who had been blown by the gale from
England, they were led to the house of the officer in command of
the town. He asked them a few questions, saying, "I must refer the
matter to the count. By the usages of our land all who are cast
upon it become his prisoners, to be put to ransom or otherwise as
he may decide. However, food shall be supplied you at once, but
you must be content to remain under guard until his pleasure is
known."

They were accordingly at once placed in a disused granary, under
the charge of a strong guard. Food was brought to them, and as soon
as they had consumed this, most of the men threw themselves on the
ground, worn out by their long exertions.

"This is a sorry welcome, Wulf, after our escape from the sea,"
Beorn said. "Truly the land seems as inhospitable as the ocean."

"It is not pleasant, Beorn, but at present I feel so thankful for
my escape from those terrible waves that even the thought that we
are all prisoners to this petty noble does not greatly concern me.
Doubtless William of Normandy, who is the liege lord of the land,
will speedily take us out of his hands. Were we alone it may be
that we should suffer a long stay in his dungeons, but Harold and
his brother are far too important personages to be allowed to remain
in the hands of one of the duke's vassals."

"It is shameful," Beorn said indignantly. "I do not say that those
who are cast on our shores may not be often pillaged and ill-treated
by the common folk, but surely none of gentle blood would fail to
show them kindness and hospitality."

"That is so on our coast of Sussex, but I have heard that further
west, and certainly among the Danes of Northumbria, vessels cast
on the coast are considered as gifts from the sea, and even the
lives of those who gain the shore are not often respected. I regret
much that Harold should be with us. It is true that his being here
will doubtless shorten the term of our imprisonment, but it is
unfortunate that he should fall into the hands of William, who is
as famous for craft and subtlety as he is for bravery and skill as
a leader."

"But what can he gain from Harold?" Beorn asked. "Our earl is
well-nigh as much known throughout Europe as William of Normandy,
and all Christendom would cry out with shame were he treated with
ought but courtesy by the duke."

"I doubt not that he will treat him with courtesy, Beorn, but he
may well wring some concessions from him before he lets him depart.
He may bargain that the Normans may be again allowed to hold land
in England, and to build their castles, as they did before Godwin
and his sons returned from exile, and the Normans had to fly the
land, save those around the person of the king. He may beg so many
bishoprics for Norman priests. There is no saying what concessions
he may extort. Of all princes in Europe I had rather Harold had
fallen into the hands of any other than into those of William of
Normandy."

"Truly I have never troubled my head about such matters, Wulf, and
thought that it would be time to do so when I became a thane, and
had a vote at the Witan."

"I have heard much of them from the prior of Bramber, who is a true
Englishman, and though a priest, learned in all matters that appertain
to the history of times past and of our own; he impressed upon me
that just as a boy must practise arms if he is to bear them worthily
as a man, so he should study the story of our kings, and learn what
is passing, not only in our own country but in others, if he is
ever to raise his voice in council."

Harold and his thanes sat apart discussing the position, their
conclusion being very similar to that arrived at by Wulf. Chivalry
had but slight influence as yet in the West of Europe. Kings and
princes cared little as to the means by which they attained an end.
Rivals to a throne were put out of the way without scruple; the
profession of arms was a business like any other, carried on for
gain; a captured foe was valued chiefly for the amount of ransom
that could be obtained for him; petty barons and powerful nobles
alike levied exactions on those who might fall into their hands,
unless previously provided with a safe-conduct. Years later, when
King Richard was made a prisoner on his return from the Holy Land,
it was only because of his great exploits for the recapture of the
Holy Sepulchre that any feeling of reprobation was excited against
his captors. Thus then, although Normandy was at peace with England,
it did not seem an unnatural thing to Harold and his companions
that the noble into whose hands they had fallen should demand a
heavy ransom, or that the Duke of Normandy himself should utilize
the opportunity for his advantage.

On the following morning they heard a large body of horsemen ride
up. A minute later the governor accompanied by a Norman noble
entered. They were followed by a number of men-at-arms, among whom
was a fisherman.

"Now, fellow," the count said to this man, "which is the Saxon
Harold?"

"I am," Harold said, advancing a step before his companions. "I
am Harold, Earl of Wessex. I have with my companions been cast on
your shores. I expect honourable treatment, and am willing to pay
any reasonable ransom should you demand one."

"We will talk of that afterwards," the count said roughly; "for the
present you go with me to my castle at Beaurain. But first do you
and your men hand over all valuables that you may possess; they are
forfeited to me, being cast up on my land."

Without a word Harold produced his chain of office and other
ornaments, and dropped them into a helmet which a soldier at the
orders of the count held out for them. His companions did the same,
the thanes first and then the two lads.

"That will do," the count said to the soldiers. "That is my share,
you can search the rest yourselves."

"I protest against this robbery," Harold said haughtily, "and will
proclaim you in all the courts of Europe as one who is false to his
station, and who condescends to pillage those whom fortune has cast
on his shores."

"You can wait until you get an opportunity to do so," the count
sneered; "it is not likely to come for some time. You can do as you
like to the others," he went on to the governor, "I want not to be
cumbered with them. You can doubtless find work for them on the
fortifications, but if you can put them to no use or they are
troublesome, cut their throats and throw them into the sea."

The Saxons fingered their knives, but Harold said in their own
tongue, "Resistance would be folly, the time may come when we may
turn the tables on this fellow." The soldiers now closed round
Harold and the thanes and led them out of the house. Here they were
ordered to mount each behind a soldier, and as soon as they had
done so they rode out from St. Valery, and crossing the river Somme
at Abbeville, and the Authie by a ford near Crecy, reached the
fortress of Beaurain on the river Canche near the town of Hesdin
before nightfall. On the road Wulf watched anxiously for a chance
to escape, but none offered itself. Soldiers rode on both sides of
the captives, and had he slipped from the horse he could not have
hoped to make his escape across an open country. As soon as they
entered the fortress Harold and the thanes were all consigned to
dungeons, but the count, learning that the two lads had been Harold's
pages, said they should wait on himself. "And see," he said to them,
"that your service is good, if you do not wish to dangle over the
moat at the end of a rope."

"It is a shame that such a man should be a nobleman," Beorn exclaimed
indignantly to Wulf, as he saw that the soldiers were placing chains
upon Harold before they led him away.

"He is a hateful-looking villain," Wulf said. "It is but lately
that he revolted against William. I heard of it from the prior. His
brother, the last Count of Ponthieu, joined France in an invasion
of Normandy. He fell in an ambush at St. Aubin, and this man became
count. For a time he was held prisoner by the duke, but afterwards
he was freed, and received back his dominions as a vassal. His face
is at once cruel and base. I told you the instructions Harold gave
me, Beorn; the need for carrying them out has arrived, and I will
try to make my escape without loss of time from this fortress to
bear the tidings to the duke."

"I will escape with you, Wulf; two can get on better than one."

"That is so, Beorn, and I would gladly have you with me, but maybe
I shall be detected in attempting to escape and be slain, or I may
fall into the hands of peasants and be brought back here, and if
we were together all hope of letting the duke know of our lord's
captivity would be at an end. Therefore it were best that I made
the attempt first. If I fail, which is like enough, then do you in
turn try to get away and bear the news to the duke."

Beorn did not like to stay behind, but he saw that Wulf's plan was
best, and accordingly fell in with it.

"Will you go at once?" he asked.

"No; I will stay for a day or two to lull suspicion. They may watch
us just at first, but if they see that we do as we are ordered with
good-will they will cease to regard us so narrowly; moreover, it
will be needful to know the place well before I devise a plan of
escape."




CHAPTER V.


ROUEN.

For the next two days the lives of the two young Saxons were well-nigh
unbearable. At meals the count by turns abused and jeered at them,
and his companions, following his example, lost no opportunity of
insulting them in every way.

"If this goes on, Wulf," Beorn said as they threw themselves down
on the ground late that night, when the carousal was ended, "I shall
snatch the count's dagger from his belt and bury it in his heart,
though they put me to death by torture afterwards."

"I thought of doing so myself, Beorn, to-night, when he threw a cup
of wine over me. But I said to myself my life is not my own, Harold's
rescue depends on it. We are bound as his men to suffer in patience
whatever may befall us. In another hour I shall try to make my
escape. When it was your turn to wait this evening I stole away for
a time, and went to the shed where they keep the war-engines and
took thence a coil of rope, which I have hidden in the courtyard.
You know that we noticed last night where the sentries were placed,
and decided where I might best drop from the wall unobserved.
Fortunately the moat is dry at present, though they can turn water
into it from the stream at will, so that once down I shall have no
difficulty in getting away. Now I want you to go to sleep directly,
I shall not stir until you do so, then when you are questioned in
the morning you can say that I was by your side when you went to
sleep, and that when you woke in the morning the place was vacant.
You can say that I told you during the day that I could not suffer
these insults much longer, and that you suppose that after you had
gone to sleep I must have got up and either killed myself or in
some way made my escape."

Beorn lay quiet for a time and then Wulf said suddenly, "I have
changed my mind, Beorn; we will go together. I feel it is likely
that in his wrath at my escape the count may slay you, and thus the
object with which you remained behind would come to nothing, therefore
it is best that you go with me."

"I was thinking so myself, Wulf, though I would not say it; but in
truth I think the risks we may run in making our way to Rouen are
small compared to those of staying here."

"We must lose no time, Beorn. The castle is quiet now, and we must
be many miles away from here before morning, for you may be sure
the count's horsemen will scour the country far and wide in pursuit
of us."

They had that morning, before the count was up and their services
were required, wandered about the fortress, apparently paying no
attention to anything, but really closely observing the approaches
to the walls and the general features of the country outside. They
now stole out, keeping in the shadow of the building, until they
reached the staircase leading up to the battlements, close to the
point Wulf had fixed upon for making their descent. This had been
chosen chiefly because no sentry was placed on that part of the
wall, the watch generally being careless, as Normandy was at present
at peace with its neighbours. When they reached the top of the steps
they listened for a short time, but everything was silent. Then
they stepped out on to the narrow pathway along the battlements,
fastened one end of the rope round a piece of stonework and let the
other end drop down into the fosse.

"Shall we both go down together, the rope is strong enough?" Beorn
asked.

"It is strong enough, but we had better go separately, Beorn; we
are neither of us accustomed to climb ropes, and if the upper one
were to slip down too fast he might knock the other off the rope.
It makes no matter who goes first. I will if you like, only mind
if you hear a footstep approaching let yourself down at once whether
I am off the rope or not. Be sure and twist your legs tightly round
it, or it will run through your fingers."

Taking hold of the rope he at once swung himself over, and without
much difficulty reached the bottom in safety. He had scarcely done
so when Beorn came down beside him with a rush.

"What made you come down like that, you narrowly missed coming on
my head?"

"I believe I have cut my fingers to the bone," Beorn groaned; "I
feel as if I were holding a bar of hot iron. You had scarcely started
before I heard voices; they were evidently those of men going their
rounds, so I caught hold of the rope and swung myself off, but
before I got my legs fairly round the rope I began to slip, and
though I gripped it as hard as I could I could not stop myself, but
slid down like lightning."

"Hush!" Wulf whispered, "they are coming along above." The voices
came nearer until they sounded directly overhead Wulf knew that it
was very unlikely they would notice the rope in the dark, but he
felt much relieved as he heard them pass on. He waited until they
could no longer be heard.

"Now, Beorn, we can safely be off."

It was muddy at the bottom of the fosse, but not so deep as they
thought it would be, and they scrambled up the opposite side and
then struck across the country south. Presently they came upon a
road, which they followed, until after three hours' walking they
reached the Authie river, at a spot where the bank was broken down.

"This must be a ford, we had best try to wade across. Anyhow there
cannot be very many yards to swim, and we can both manage that."

They found that the bottom was pebbly, and that even in the middle
the water was not much above their waists.

"That is something done, at any rate," Beorn said. "Now which way
shall we go? This road we are on seems to lead south and we cannot
do better than follow it, the stars give us light enough, now that
our eyes are accustomed to the darkness."

"Yes, we can keep this road, which is no doubt that by which we
travelled before, as far as the village which I heard them call
Noyelle, then we shall have to strike off to the left, for that
place was not far from Abbeville, and shall have to follow the Somme
up some distance, unless we can find means of crossing it."

"I should think we had better leave the road before we get to the
village, so as to be well away from it. If any peasant were going
to work early and caught sight of us he would be sure to mention
it to any horseman who might come along searching for us. I noticed
that there were several woods on our right as we rode along."

"That would be the safest way, no doubt," Wulf agreed. "Fortunately
we can do without food for to-morrow"--for both had managed to get
some supper after they had finished in the hall,--"and having made
up my mind to escape to-night I hid away a large piece of bread
under my smock. We can manage very well on that."

Accordingly after an hour's walking they left the road and bore to
the south-west. But little of the land was cultivated, and they
were fortunate in not coming upon any woodland until light began
to break in the sky. Then they made their way to the nearest wood,
went in for some distance and then threw themselves down, and in a
few minutes were fast asleep. Accustomed to judge time by the
position of the sun, they saw when they awoke that it was already
past noon, and after eating a few mouthfuls of bread they continued
their journey. For the most part their course lay among woods, and
they did not venture across an open piece of country until after a
careful examination to see that no one was in sight.

Shortly after starting they caught sight of a village in the distance,
which they afterwards learned was St. Riguier, but with these
exceptions saw no human habitation. Late in the afternoon they came
down on the bank of the Somme. This was thickly covered with long
reeds and rushes, and among these they sat down and ate the rest
of their bread, confident that however vigilant the search they
would not be traced.

"This is a very different matter to the last crossing," Beorn said.
"This is a wide river, and I fear that I could not swim across it."

"Nor should I like to try. But fortunately there is no occasion for
us to trust to swimming; for we can pull up or break off a number
of these great rushes and make them into two bunches; these will
give us ample support for our passage."

"So they will, Wulf; I should never have thought of that."

Two large bundles were soon made, the reeds being tied together by
a tough climber that wreathed itself everywhere among them, and as
soon as it was quite dark they went down to the water's edge, and
found to their satisfaction that the reeds possessed ample buoyancy
for their purpose. Wading in they started swimming, resting their
chests on the reeds and striking out with their legs, and in a few
minutes were on the southern bank of the river.

"Now we must make to the east of south," Wulf said. "I should say
if we walk steadily all night we shall be beyond the territory of
this vile count. I hope before long we shall strike on some road
leading in the right direction, for if we get among the woods again
we shall be able to make no progress. But any road we may come upon
going at all in the right direction is likely to lead to Rouen."

"How far is it, do you think?"

"I have a very vague idea. The prior had a map of Normandy, and on
this he pointed out to me how the duchy had grown since William
came as a boy to be its duke. I can remember the general position
of the town, but not more than that. I should think from the Somme
to Rouen must be over seventy miles and less than a hundred, but
more closely than that I cannot guess."

They came upon no road before morning, but as the country was open
they made good progress, and when they lay down in a thicket as the
day was breaking they calculated that they must be nearly thirty
miles south of the Somme.

"I feel that I want sleep," Beorn said, "but still more that I want
food. If it is another sixty miles to Rouen I know not how we are
going to travel the distance fasting."

"No, we must get some food to morrow or rather to day, Beorn. We
have nothing of any value to offer for it. They searched us too
closely for anything to escape them. We dare not go into any town
or village until we are quite sure that we are beyond the count's
territories, but we might enter some solitary hut and pray for a
piece of bread for charity, or we can walk all day, by which time
we shall surely be well beyond the Count of Ponthieu's territory,
and could boldly go into a town. If we are seized, we can demand
to be sent to Rouen, saying we are bearers of an important message
to Duke William, and even if they do not send us straight on, they
would hardly keep us without food."

After sleeping for four or five hours they again started, and after
walking some miles came upon a herdsman's cottage The man was out,
and his wife looked with surprise at the two lads, whose garments,
though stained by sea water and travel, were evidently those of
youths of a class above the common. Beorn addressed her in her own
language, and told her that they were wayfarers who had lost their
road and were grievously in need of food. She at once invited them
to come in, and set before them some black bread and some cheese
made from goats' milk. They learned to their satisfaction that they
had long passed the limits of Ponthieu, and that Rouen was distant
about fifty miles.

"The road from Amiens lies five miles to the east," she said; "but
it would be shorter for you to keep due south, for it inclines in
that direction. You will strike it after seven miles' walking, and
after that you cannot miss your way."

After warmly thanking the woman for her hospitality the lads again
started, feeling greatly strengthened and refreshed by their meal;
but want of sleep told upon them, and when they got within sight
of the road they again lay down, and slept until the sun was setting.
Resuming their journey they followed the road, and before morning
crossed over a range of hills, and presently arrived at a small
hamlet close to which was a monastery. Towards this they directed
their steps, and seating themselves on the ground near the door,
waited until it was unbarred.

"You are early wayfarers, my sons," the monk who opened the gates
said as they went up, "and you seem to have travelled far."

"That have we, father, and are sorely in need of food."

The hospitality of the monasteries was unbounded, and the monk at
once led them into the kitchen, where bread, meat, and wine were
placed before them.

"Truly you were hungry," the monk said smilingly as he watched their
onslaught upon the joint.

"We were well-nigh starving, father. For two days we have had nought
to eat save a crust of bread we had brought with us, and some that
a shepherd's wife bestowed upon us out of charity, and we have
walked from near Hesdin."

"I do not ask out of curiosity, my sons," the monk said after a
pause, "and you know it is not our custom to question wayfarers who
come in to ask our hospitality; but it is strange to see two youths,
who by their dress and manner seem to belong to a superior station,
in so pitiable a state as you are, and wandering alone, as it would
seem, penniless through the country. I ask not your confidence, but
if you chose to give it maybe we might aid or advise you. Our prior
is a kindly man and very gentle with the faults of others."

"We are Saxons, father. We were wrecked four days since near St.
Valery, and are now bound on an errand of high importance to Duke
William, to whom it is urgent we should arrive as soon as possible.
We have run sore peril on the way, and have been stripped of our
money and valuables."

"Is your mission of importance to the duke as well as to yourselves?"
the monk asked gravely.

"It is of great importance to him. I am sure that he would consider
that any one who assisted us on our way had done him good service."

The monk look earnestly at them. "I will speak to the prior," he
said. He returned in a few minutes and bade them follow him.

The prior was a tall, gentle old man. "I have heard your story from
brother Gregory," he said, "and I wished to see you that I might
judge for myself whether so strange a tale, as that two shipwrecked
boys should have important business with our duke, could be believed,
before I did aught to help you forward. You look to me honest of
purpose and of gentle blood, and not, I am sure, belonging to the
class of wayfarer who will trump up any story for the purpose of
gaining alms. Whether your errand with the duke is of the importance
you deem it I cannot say, but if you give me your word that you
consider it an urgent matter, I will aid you to proceed at once."

"We do indeed consider it most urgent, father, and we are sure that
the duke will so regard it. We should not have walked well-nigh a
hundred miles in two days and nights, and that almost without food,
had we not deemed it so."

"Brother Gregory," the prior said, "bid lay-brother Philip at once
prepare three palfreys, and tell him he is to ride himself with
these two Saxon youths to Rouen. The distance is thirty miles," he
went on as the monk left the room. "It is not yet six o'clock, and
though our palfreys are not accustomed to travel at rapid speed,
you will be there this afternoon in time to have audience with the
duke."

The lads returned their warm thanks to the prior. "We would gladly
tell you the purport of our mission," Beorn said, "but we are only
the bearers of news, and the duke might be displeased did he know
that we had confided to any before it reached his own ear."

"I wish not to learn it, my son. It is sufficient for me that you
have a mission to our duke, and that I am possibly furthering his
interest by aiding you to reach him. But, in sooth, I am more moved
by the desire to aid two stranger youths, whom the sea and man alike
seem to have treated hardly. Is it long since you left England?"

"We have well-nigh lost account of time, father, so much has taken
place in a few days. 'Tis but a week since we were sailing along
the English coast with a large company in three ships, when a sudden
tempest arose, carried away our sail, blew us off the shore, and
then increasing in fury drove us before it until we were wrecked
on the coast of Ponthieu, near St. Valery. Since then we have been
prisoners, have escaped, and have journeyed here on foot."

"Truly a bad week's work for you," the prior said. "Were all your
ships wrecked?"

"No; our two consorts, being lighter and more easily rowed, regained
the land when we were blown off it."

"Conrad of Ponthieu is an evil man," the prior said. "Had you come
ashore twenty miles farther south you would have been beyond his
jurisdiction. I fear that all the seacoast people view the goods
obtained from vessels cast ashore as a lawful prey, but your company
would assuredly have received fair hospitality if cast on the shores
of Normandy itself. But now methinks I hear the patter of the
palfreys' hoofs. Farewell, my sons, and may God who has protected
you through these dangers give you his blessing."

The lads knelt before him as he placed his hands on their heads and
gave them his benediction. As they rose brother Gregory entered to
say that the horses were ready, and with renewed thanks to the prior
they followed him to the courtyard, mounted, and rode off with the
lay-brother, glad indeed to find their journey on foot thus abridged.
Impatient as they were to reach Rouen, the gentle pace at which the
palfreys ambled along fretted them very much. Brother Philip kept
up a constant string of talk on the monastery, its estates, the
kindness of the prior, the strictness of the subprior, and other
matters of great interest to himself, but of none to the boys, whose
thoughts were with Harold, chained and in prison. The palfreys,
however, made very fair progress, and it was but three o'clock when
they rode into the streets of Rouen, whose size and grandeur would
at any other time have impressed them much, for it was an incomparably
finer city than London.

"That is the duke's palace," brother Philip said, as they approached
a stately building. "I will put up the horses at the convent at the
farther corner of this square, and will then go with you to the
palace, as I have orders to tell any officer who may make a difficulty
about you entering, that I am bid by the prior of Forges to say
that you are here on urgent business with the duke, and to pray
that you may have immediate audience with him."

In those days great men were easy accessible, and one of the ushers,
on receiving the message from the prior, at once led the boys to
an apartment in which the duke was sitting. He looked up in some
surprise on seeing the two lads standing bareheaded at the door,
while the usher repeated the message he had received.

"Advance," he said. "What is this business of which the prior of
Forges has sent me word?"

The two boys advanced and knelt before the duke. He was a man of
about the same age as Harold, with dark hair and complexion, less
tall than the earl, but of a powerful figure, and a stern, resolute
face. The boys had discussed among themselves which should be the
speaker. Wulf had desired that Beorn, being the elder, should deliver
the message, but Beorn insisted that as Wulf himself had received
it from Harold, it was he who should be the one to deliver it to
the duke.

"My Lord Duke," Wulf said, "we are Saxons, pages of Earl Harold,
and we bring you by his orders the news that the vessel in which
he was sailing along his coast had been blown off by a tempest and
cast on the shore of Ponthieu, near St. Valery, and that he and
his companions have been villainously ill-treated by Conrad, Count
of Ponthieu, who has seized them and cast them into dungeons in his
fortress of Beaurain, Harold and his companions being fettered like
malefactors."

The duke was astounded at the news. No greater piece of good fortune
could have befallen him, for he had it in his power to lay his great
rival under an obligation to him, to show himself a generous prince,
and at the same time to obtain substantial benefits. He rose at
once to his feet.

"By the Host," he exclaimed, "but this is foul treatment indeed of
the noble earl, and brings disgrace alike upon the Count of Ponthieu
and upon me, his liege lord. This wrong shall be remedied, and
speedily. You shall see that I waste no moment in rescuing your
lord from this unmannerly count." He struck his hand on the table,
and an attendant entered, "Pray the knights Fitz-Osberne and Warren
to come hither at once. And how is it, boys," he went on, as the
attendant hurried away, "that you were enabled to bear this message
to me?"

"While Harold and his thanes were cast into prison," Wulf said, "the
count kept us to wait upon him; not for our services, but that he
might flout and ill-treat us. We obtained possession of a rope, and
let ourselves down at night from the battlements, and made our way
on foot as far as Forges, where the good prior, learning from us
that we had a message of importance to you, though nothing of its
import, sent us forward on palfreys, so that no time might be lost."

"When did you leave Beaurain?"

"It will be three days come midnight," Wulf said.

"And how did you live by the way?"

"We took a piece of bread with us, and once obtained food at a
shepherd's hut, and this morning we were well entertained at the
convent of Forges."

"You have proved yourselves good and trusty messengers," the duke
said. "Would I were always as well served. As you are the earl's
pages you are of course of gentle blood?"

"We are both his wards, my lord, and shall be thanes when we come
of age."

"And how is it that you, young sir, who seem to be younger than
your companion, are the spokesman?"

"It happened thus," Wulf said modestly. "Some fishermen came up
just after we had gained the shore with the loss of many of our
company. I marked that one of them started on seeing Earl Harold,
and whispered to a companion, and feeling sure that he had recognized
my lord, I told the earl of it as we walked towards St. Valery. He
then charged me if he was taken prisoner by the count to endeavour
to bear the news to you, and to give the same orders to my comrade
Beorn, saying it was likely that we might not be so strictly watched
as the men of the company, and might therefore succeed in slipping
away, as indeed turned out to be the case. I was desirous that Beorn
should tell you the tale, being older and more accustomed to the
speech of the court than I was, but he held that the message, being
first given to me, it was I who should deliver it."

"He judged rightly," the duke said, "and deserves credit for thus
standing aside."

At this moment two knights entered. "Fitz-Osberne, Warren," the
duke said, "a foul wrong has been done by Conrad of Ponthieu to
Earl Harold of Wessex, the foremost of Englishmen next to the king
himself, who has, with a company of his thanes, been cast ashore
near St. Valery. Instead of receiving honourable treatment, as was
his due, he has been most foully seized, chained, and with his
friends thrown into prison by the count, who has sent no intimation
of what has taken place to me, his lord, and had it not been for
these two brave and faithful youths, who effected their escape over
the battlements of Beaurain in order to bring me the news, the earl
might have lingered in shameful captivity. I pray you take horse
at once, with twenty chosen spears, and ride at the top of your
speed to Beaurain. There express in fitting terms to Conrad my
indignation at his foul treatment of one who should have been
received as a most honoured guest. Say that the earl and his company
must at once be released, and be accorded the treatment due not
only to themselves, but to them as my guests, and bid the count
mount with them and ride to my fortress of Eu, to which I myself
will at once journey to receive them. Tell Conrad that I will account
to him for any fair ransom he may claim, and if he demur to obey
my orders warn him that the whole force of Normandy shall at once
be set on foot against him. After having been for two years my
prisoner, methinks he will not care to run the risk of again being
shut up within my walls."

"We will use all haste," Fitz-Osberne said. "Conrad's conduct is a
disgrace to every Norman noble, for all Europe will cry shame when
the news of the earl's treatment gets abroad. That Conrad should
hold him to ransom is only in accordance with his strict rights,
but that he should imprison and chain him is, by the saints, almost
beyond belief."

As soon as the knights had left, the duke sent for his chamberlain,
and ordered him to conduct Beorn and Wulf to an apartment and to
see that they were at once furnished with garments befitting young
nobles, together with a purse of money for their immediate wants.
Then taking a long and heavy gold chain from his neck he placed it
on the table, and with a blow with his dagger cut it in sunder, and
handed half to each of the lads.

"Take this," he said, "in token of my thanks for having brought me
this news, and remember, that if at any time you should have a boon
to ask that it is within my power to grant, I swear to you upon my
ducal honour that it shall be yours. Never have I received more
joyful news than that the great Earl of Wessex will shortly be my
guest."

The lads bowed deeply, and then followed the chamberlain from the
apartment.

"Well, what think you of it, Beorn?" Wulf said, when they found
themselves alone in a handsome chamber.

"So far as rescuing Harold from the power of the Count of Ponthieu
we have surely succeeded even beyond our hopes. As to the rest, I
know not. As you were speaking I marked the satisfaction and joy
on the duke's face, and I said to myself that it was greater than
need have been caused by the thought that Earl Harold was to be his
guest."

"So I thought myself, Beorn. There can be no doubt that, as he said,
he deemed it the best news he had ever received, and I fear greatly
that Harold will but exchange one captivity for another. It will
doubtless be a more pleasant one, but methinks Harold will find
himself as much a prisoner, although treated as an honoured guest
by William, as he was while lying in the dungeon of Conrad. It is
a bad business, and I greatly fear indeed that Harold will long rue
the unfortunate scheme of hunting along the coast that has brought
him to this pass."

In a short time an attendant arrived with ewers, water, and four
suits of handsome garments, belts embroidered with gold thread, and
daggers, together with two plumed caps and purses, each containing
ten gold pieces; he informed them that two horses had been provided
for their use, and that they were to take their meals with the
duke's household, and to consider themselves in all respects as his
guests.

"We look finer birds than we did when we rode in with brother
Philip," Beorn laughed when they had attired themselves in their
new garments. "The more sober of these suits are a good deal gayer
than those we wore at home even at court ceremonies."

"King Edward objects to show," Wulf said, "and his own pages are
so sober in their attire that the earl likes not that we should
outshine them, and we usually cut a poor figure beside those of
William of London and the other Normans of his court."

In a short time the chamberlain came in and informed them that
supper was served, and conducted them to the hall, where he presented
them to the duke's gentlemen and pages as William's guests, and
wards and pages of the Earl of Wessex. The news of Harold's shipwreck
and imprisonment travelled quickly, for orders had already been
issued for the court to prepare to start early the next morning to
accompany the duke to Eu, in order to receive with due honour
William's guest and friend, Harold of England; and while the meal
went on many questions were asked as to the shipwreck and prisonment
of the earl, and the liveliest indignation was expressed at the
conduct of Conrad of Ponthieu.

"Truly all Normans will be reckoned churls," one of the gentlemen
exclaimed indignantly. "The fame of Harold's bravery, wisdom, and
courtesy to all men is known in every court in Europe, and that the
duke's vassal should have dared to imprison and chain him will
excite universal indignation. Why, the rudest of our own Norse
ancestors would not have so foully treated one so noble whom fate
had cast into his hands. Had we been at war with England it would
be shameful, but being at peace there are no words that can fitly
describe the outrage."

When the meal was over, one of the duke's pages who was about the
same age as Beorn asked him what they were going to do with themselves.

"If you have nothing better," he said, "will you ride with me to
my father's castle, it is but five miles away? My name is De Burg.
I can promise you a hearty welcome. My father was one of the knights
who accompanied the duke when he paid his visit to England some
fifteen years ago, and he liked the country much, and has ever since
spoken of the princely hospitality with which they were received
by your king. He did not meet Earl Harold then."

"No, the earl with his father and brothers was away in exile," Wulf
said rather shortly, for that visit had been a most unpleasant one
to Englishmen. It had happened when the Norman influence was
altogether in the ascendant. The king was filling the chief places
at court and in the church with Normans, had bestowed wide domains
upon them, and their castles were everywhere rising to dominate the
land. Englishmen then regarded with hostility this visit of the
young Norman duke with his great train of knights, and although at
the return of Godwin and his sons the greater portion of the intruders
had been driven out, their influence still remained at court, and
it was even said that Edward had promised the duke that he should
be his successor.

It was true that Englishmen laughed at the promise. The King of
England was chosen by the nation, and Edward had no shadow of right
to bequeath the throne even to one of his sons much less to a foreign
prince, who, although related to himself by marriage, had no drop
of English blood in his veins. Still, that the promise should ever
have been made rankled in the minds of the English people, the more
so as the power of Normandy increased, and the ambition as well as
the valour of its duke became more and more manifest According to
English law the promise was but an empty breath, absolutely without
effect or value. According to Norman law it constituted a powerful
claim, and Duke William was assuredly not a man to let such a claim
drop unpressed.

Wulf had heard all this again and again, and the prior of Bramber
had explained it to him in all its bearings, showing him that little
as Englishmen might think of the promise given by Edward so long
ago, it would be likely to bring grievous trouble on the land at
his death. He might perhaps have said more in reference to William's
visit had not Beorn at once accepted the invitation to ride with
young De Burg to his father's castle.




CHAPTER VI


RELEASE OF THE EARL

In a few minutes the three horses were brought out. Wulf and Beorn
were much pleased with the animals that had been placed at their
service. They were powerful horses, which could carry a knight in
his full armour with ease, and seemed full of spirit and fire. They
were handsomely caparisoned, and the lads felt as they sprang on
to their backs that they had never been so well mounted before.

"You would have made the journey more quickly and easily if you had
had these horses three days ago," young De Burg laughed.

"Yes, indeed. There would have been no occasion to hide in the woods
then. With our light weight on their backs they would have made
nothing of the journey."

"You must not expect to see a castle," De Burg said presently,
"though I call it one. In his early days the duke set himself to
destroy the great majority of castles throughout Normandy, for as
you know he had no little trouble with his nobles, and held that
while the strength of these fortresses disposes men to engage either
in civil war or in private feuds with each other, they were of no
avail against the enemies of the country. My father, who is just
the age of the duke, was his loyal follower from the first, and of
his free will levelled his walls as did many others of the duke's
friends, in the first place because it gave the duke pleasure, and
in the second because, had only the castles of those opposed to the
duke been destroyed, there would have been such jealousy and animosity
on the part of their owners that matters would never have quieted
down in the country. Thus it is that throughout the land you will
find but few castles remaining. The nobles felt it strange at first
to be thus dwelling in houses undefended against attack, but they
soon learnt that it was far more convenient than to be shut up
within massive walls, and the present dwellings are much larger and
more comfortable than those of former days. The duke said rightly
that the abolition of fortresses well-nigh doubled his fighting
power, for that so many men were required to garrison them as to
greatly diminish the number their lords could take with them into
the field. You do not have castles in England, do you?"

"No, we live in open houses, and hold that it is far better and
more pleasant to do so. There is no fighting between neighbours
with us. The great earls may quarrel and lead their forces into the
field, or may gather them against Danish and Norwegian pirates, but
except on these occasions, which are rare, all dwell peaceably in
their homes."

The horses were fresh, and the five miles quickly passed over.

"There is the house," De Burg said, pointing to a large building
standing on an eminence. It was castellated in form, and much of
the old building had been incorporated with the additions, but the
outer wall had been pulled down and the moat filled up. Broad
casements had replaced the narrow loopholes, and though the flag
of the De Burgs still waved over the keep, which stood a little
apart from the rest, the family no longer dwelt in it.

"It is chiefly used as a storehouse now," Guy De Burg explained;
"but there, as you see, the old loopholes still remain, and in case
of trouble it might be held for a time. But of that, however, there
is little chance; the duke's hand is a heavy one, and he has shown
himself a great leader. He has raised Normandy well-nigh level with
France, and so long as he lives and reigns there is no fear of
domestic trouble."

The gate stood open and they rode into a courtyard, when several
men came out and took the horses. Guy de Burg ran up a broad staircase
to the entrance of the house itself, and passed beneath a noble
entrance with a lofty pointed arch supported by clustered pillars.
Inside was a spacious hall paved with stone, and from this De Burg
turned into an apartment whose walls were covered with rich hangings.
Here a lady was at work embroidering, surrounded by several of her
maids similarly engaged. A girl some fourteen years old was reading
a missal, while the master of the castle was sitting in a chair
with low arms, and was playing with the ears of a hound whose head
was lying on his knee.

"Well, Guy, what is your news?" he asked as his son entered. "Half
an hour since I received a message from the duke desiring me to
appear with ten men-at-arms in their best trappings to ride with
him to Eu. Is Conrad of Ponthieu giving trouble again, and who are
these young gentlemen with you?"

Guy went down on one knee to kiss his father's hand, and then did
the same to his mother, then he said, "I will with your permission
answer the last question first, father. My friends are young Saxon
thanes, pages to Earl Harold, and at present guests of the duke."

"You are bearers, doubtless, of some message from the king to our
duke?"

"No, my lord," Beorn said, "we were bearers of a message from Earl
Harold."

"It is to meet him, father, that we are to ride to Eu to-morrow.
He has been wrecked on the shores of Ponthieu, and has been foully
imprisoned and even fettered by Count Conrad. Beorn and Wulf escaped
from the prison and brought the news to the duke, who this afternoon
dispatched Fitz-Osberne and Warren at full speed to bid the count
at once free his prisoners, and deliver them over to him at Eu under
pain of his direst displeasure."

"Harold in Normandy and a prisoner! This is strange news indeed.
We shall surely make him welcome, for he is in all respects a great
man, and save our own duke has a reputation second to none in
Europe."

Wulf thought as he looked at the speaker that at least he had no
second thought in his mind. It was a frank honest face, martial in
its outline, but softened by a pleasant smile.

He had spoken in a genial tone of affection to his son, and Wulf
thought, that although no doubt he was ready to take the field at
the summons of his lord, he preferred a quiet life in this stately
home.

"This is news for you, wife," he went on. "You will have to furbish
up your gayest attire, for we shall be having grand doings in honour
of this great English earl, and our dames will have to look their
best in order that he may carry home a fair report of them to the
Saxon ladies. And how did you manage to escape, young sirs, and
when did you arrive with the news?"

Beorn, who as the elder was specially addressed, shortly related
the story of their escape and journey.

"You have done well," the baron said when he had concluded. "Guy,
you may learn from these young Saxons that even pages may be called
upon to do work of more importance than handing wine-cups and
standing behind their lord on state occasions. Had it not been for
their readiness and courage Harold might have lain weeks in prison,
maybe months, while the count was striving to wring the utmost
ransom from him. The lads would doubtless have been slain had they
been detected in making their escape or overtaken on the way, and
the attempt was therefore one that required courage as well as
devotion to their lord. I doubt not that you would exhibit both
qualities did opportunity offer, but I question whether you could
have walked the distance they did, and that on such scanty fare.
We Normans are too apt to trust wholly to our horses' legs to the
neglect of our own, and although I have no doubt that you could
ride as far as a horse could carry you, I warrant that you could
hardly have performed on foot the journey from Beaurain in twice
the time in which they did it. They must have exercised their legs
as well as their arms, and although in a campaign a Norman noble
depends upon his war horse both on the march and on the day of
battle, there may often be times when it is well that a knight
should be able to march as far as any of the footmen in the army.
Well, Agnes, and what have you to say to these Saxon youths? Methinks
your eyes are paying more attention to them than to your missal."

"I can read my missal at any hour, father, but this is the first
time that I have seen young Saxon nobles. I thought there would
have been more difference between them and us. Their hair is fairer
and more golden and their eyes bluer, but their dress differs in
no way from our own." She spoke in a matter-of-fact and serious
air, as if it were a horse or a dog that she was commenting upon,
and both Beorn and Wulf smiled, while Guy laughed outright.

"It is little wonder that their attire is like ours, Agnes," he
said, "seeing that they were furnished with it by the duke's orders.
You do not suppose that after being tossed about on the sea and
well-nigh drowned in landing, and being made prisoners, and then
travelling through the country and sleeping in the woods, Beorn and
Wulf would arrive here with their garments new and spotless. That
would indeed have been a miracle."

"But, indeed," Beorn said, "our garments differ not greatly from
those we now have on, for Norman fashions are prevalent at King
Edward's court, and we had no choice but to conform to them. Your
language is always spoken there, and methinks that were you to visit
Westminster you would see but little difference between King Edward's
court and that of your own duke."

"And your sisters, do they too dress like us?"

"Queen Edith's ladies dress like her in Norman fashion, but away
from the court the attire is different and more simple. Sisters,
Wulf and I have none; we are orphans both, and wards of Earl Harold,
who holds our estates until we are of age to take the oaths to him
and to lead our men in battle."

"And will you be barons like my father, or counts, or simple knights?"

"We shall be none of these things, Lady Agnes. We have our great
earls as in France you have your great dukes, but below that we
have no titles. We are thanes, that is land owners, who hold their
land direct from our earls. Some have wider lands than others, but
as free thanes we are all equal. As to knights, we have not in
England the titles and ceremonies which are so much thought of in
France and in other courts."

"That is a pity," the girl said gravely, "for the vows of knighthood
make a knight courteous and gentle to enemies and friends alike."

"Or rather, Agnes," her mother put in, "they should do so; but in
truth, looking round at the cruel wars we have had in Normandy, I
do not see that men have been more gentle or courteous than they
would have been had they never taken the vows or had knightly spurs
buckled on; and in truth it seems to me from the news of what has
taken place beyond the sea, that in the civil troubles they have
had in England men are much more gentle with each other, and foes
are far more easily reconciled than with us in Normandy, who are
supposed to be bound by the laws of chivalry. Had our duke been
cast upon the shores of England as Harold has been cast upon that
of Ponthieu, I think that he would not have been so dishonourably
treated by one of the English thanes as Harold has been by Count
Conrad. When Godwin and his sons returned from the exile into which
they had been driven, and again became all powerful, there was not,
as I have heard from your father, a single drop of blood shed, nor
any vengeance taken upon the men who had brought about their exile.
It would have been very different had such things happened here."

"You speak rightly, wife. The English are of a more gentle disposition
than we are, though nowise backward in battle. But now, Guy, it
is time that you were returning. You have already made a longer
stay than usual. I shall see you again to-morrow when we start for
Eu. Young sirs, I hope that on your return you will often ride over
here when your lord does not require you. We shall always be pleased
to see you, and although the forest lies some miles away, Guy can
show you good hunting, though not so good as that which, as I hear,
you can get in England, where the population is not so thick as it
is in this part of Normandy."

The horses were brought round, and the three lads rode into Rouen
just as night was falling.

Long before daybreak there was a stir in the streets of the city,
as parties of knights and nobles rode in with bodies of their
retainers in obedience to the orders of the duke. All in the palace
were awake early. A hasty breakfast was eaten, while just as the
sun rose the duke mounted his horse, and at the head of an array,
composed of some twenty barons and knights and four hundred
men-at-arms, rode out of the city.

"There is a good deal more pomp and show here than there was when
we rode with Harold from London," Wulf said. "In truth these Norman
nobles make a far braver appearance in their armour and robes, and
with their banners carried behind them, than we do. Were the king
himself to ride in state through London he would scarce be so gaily
attended."

"Duke William does not look as if he cared for show," Beorn said.

"Nor does he," Guy, who was riding beside them, put in. "For himself
he is simple in his tastes, but he knows that the people are impressed
by pomp, and love to see a brave cavalcade, therefore he insists
on the observance of outward forms; and his court here on state
occasions vies, as they tell me, with that of Henry of France."

"Where shall we rest tonight?" Wulf asked. "Methinks from the
appearance of the sky that we shall have rain, and unless we sleep
under shelter, many of these fine robes that we see are like to be
as much dabbled in mud as were those in which we arrived."

"We shall sleep in no town, for there is no place on the road between
this and Eu that could receive so large a party; but soon after we
rode out yesterday a train of waggons with tents and all else needful
started from Rouen, and half-way to Eu we shall find the camp erected
and everything in readiness for our reception."

This was indeed the case. The camp had been erected in a sheltered
valley, through which ran a stream that supplied the needs of man
and horses. The tents were placed in regular order, that of the
duke in the centre, those of his chief nobles in order of rank on
either side. Behind was a line for the use of the court officials,
pages, and knights of less degree, while the soldiers would sleep
in the open. As the party rode up a chamberlain with three or four
assistants met them. Each was provided with lists containing the
names of all the duke's following, and these were at once conducted
to the tents alloted to them, so that in a few minutes all were
housed without the slightest confusion or trouble. The squires of
the knights and nobles and the attendants of the officers and pages
at once took the horses and picketed them in lines behind the tents,
rubbing them down and cleaning them with the greatest care, and
then supplying them with forage from the piles that had that morning
been brought in from the neighbouring farms. Fuel in abundance had
also been stacked. A number of cooks had come on with the tent
equipage, and supper was already prepared for the duke and his
party, while animals had been slaughtered and cut up, and the
men-at-arms soon had the joints hanging over their bivouac fires.

"This is all wonderfully well managed, Beorn," Wulf said. "I doubt
whether it could be done so well and orderly with us at home."

"What does it matter?" Beorn said contemptuously. "It makes no
difference whether one sups five minutes after arrival or an hour."

"It matters nothing, Beorn; but what is but a question of an hour's
waiting in a small party is one of going altogether supperless to
bed when it is a large one. The Normans have been constantly fighting
for the last twenty years, and you see they have learned how important
it is that everything should be regular and orderly. If they manage
matters with a large force as well as they do with a small one, as
it is probable that they do, see what an advantage it gives to them.
Were two armies to arrive near each other with the intention of
fighting in the morning, and one knew exactly what to do, and could
get their food in comfort and then lie down to rest, while the other
was all in confusion, no one knowing where he should go or where
to bestow himself, and, being unable to obtain food, forced to lie
down supperless, the first army would obtain a great advantage when
they met the next morning, especially if it had breakfasted well
while the other went into the fight still fasting. Look at ourselves
how weak we were that morning when we had lain down hungry and got
up fasting, while on the morning when the woman gave us that food,
simple as it was, we stepped out boldly and in spirits."

"That is true enough, Wulf, but you know that among us it is said
that Earl Harold is always most careful for the comfort of his
soldiers."

"Yes, the earl always thinks of those around him. As I have never
been in the field I know not what the arrangements are, but I cannot
think they would be so well ordered in a great gathering of Englishmen,
or that we should manage matters as well as the Normans with all
their experience have learnt to do."

"Well, Wulf," Beorn laughed, "you had best study the matter, and
then ask the earl to appoint you to take charge of the arrangements
when he takes the field."

"One could hardly have a more useful office," Wulf said earnestly;
"but it would need a man of experience and of high rank and position,
for our Saxon thanes are not accustomed to discipline as are these
Norman barons, and only one of great authority could induce them
to observe regulations and carry out any plan in due order."

Beorn nodded. "That is true enough, Wulf, and it is therefore clear
that a good many years must pass before you can properly fill the
post of chief chamberlain to the army. For myself, I shall be well
content to do what fighting is required, and to leave all these
matters in your hands."

"Yes; but it can't be left in the hands of one officer," Wulf said
warmly, "unless all give their aid willingly to carry out his plans."

"Well, you need not be angry about it, Wulf. There will be time
enough for that when you get to be grand chamberlain. You know
what the Saxon thanes are--how ease-loving, and averse to trouble
themselves with aught save the chase. I would as soon marshal a
flock of sheep in military order and teach each to keep its place
as get the thanes to conform to strict orders and regulations."

"And yet, Beorn," said Baron De Burg, who had just entered the tent
unnoticed by them in order to speak to his son, who with another
page shared it with them, "unless all will conform to strict orders
and regulations an army is but a mere gathering of armed men,
animated not by one will, but by as many wills as it contains men.
Such an army may be valiant; every man may be a hero, and yet it
may be shattered to pieces by another which gives itself up wholly
to the direction of one will. That is why we Normans have so badly
beaten the French. Every mail has his place in battle. He charges
when he is ordered to charge, or he is held in reserve the whole
day, and the battle ended without his ever striking a blow. We may
fret under inaction, we may see what we think chances of falling
upon the enemy wasted, but we know that our duke is a great leader,
that he has a plan for the battle and will carry it through, and
that disobedience to his orders would be an offence as great as
that of riding from the field. Hence we have learned to obey, and
consequently we have always been victorious against men as brave
as ourselves, but each obeying his own feudal lord, and so fighting
in detached bodies rather than as a whole. Your young companion is
in the right. In a duel between two men strength and skill is
everything; in a struggle between two armies obedience to orders
is a virtue even higher than bravery and skill at arms. Where is
Guy?"

"He is in attendance on the duke, my lord," Beorn said. "We presented
ourselves also at his tent, but he told us that he required no duty
from us."

"Let him come to my tent when he returns," the baron said; "that
is as soon as he has finished supper. I shall be glad if you will
also come, unless the duke sends for you, which methinks he is not
likely to do. He is in thoughtful mood to-day, and will probably
be alone."

Two or three other knights were assembled in Baron de Burg's tent
when the three lads went in. De Burg said a few words to his
companions, explaining who they were, and then continued his
conversation with the others. Beorn and Wulf, as they stood behind
the chairs and listened to the talk, could not help being struck
with the difference between it and the conversations they had heard
at the houses of Saxon thanes.

With Harold they had been accustomed to hear matters of state touched
on. The church and the struggle going on between the Norman prelates
and monks on the one hand and the English clergy on the other was
one that was frequently talked over, as were also the projects
Harold had at heart for encouraging the spread of education and
raising the condition of people generally. At the houses of the
thanes, however, the evenings were passed in feasting and song, and
it was seldom that there was anything like discussion upon general
affairs. Indeed, between men heated with wine and accustomed to
state their opinions bluntly anything like friendly argument was
well nigh impossible. De Burg and his companions made no allusion
at all to public affairs, but discussed gravely and calmly, and
with a courteous respect for each other's opinions, questions
connected with the art of war, hunting, the changed conditions
brought about by the demolition of castles, the improvements gradually
being introduced in armour, and other kindred topics. The other
nobles were men of about the same age as De Burg, and although the
latter's page from time to time carried round wine the goblets were
rarely emptied.

Certain topics were touched upon only to be dropped at once, and
Wulf saw that subjects upon which there was any disagreement among
them were carefully avoided.

When the boys returned to their tent Wulf said, "Their talk reminds
me of the evenings I spent with the prior, his almoner, and two or
three other monks, rather than of those at the houses of Saxon
thanes."

Beorn nodded. "I am not so much against our customs of feasting and
merriment as you are, Wulf, and should not care to spend my evenings
often in listening to such grave talk, but truly these Norman barons
and knights are far more courteous in their speech than our own
thanes, and seem to care but little for the wine cup. I admit that
such men must be far wiser advisers for a king than are our Saxons,
saving of course Harold and his brothers."

"The Normans are not all so abstemious as my father and those you
saw with him," Guy laughed. "Listen. You can hear songs and loud
laughter from many of the tents, ay, and might hear quarrels too
did you listen long enough. But those you saw were all men high in
the confidence of the duke. They have fought together under his
banner in many a field, and are all powerful barons. They are content
to hold their own, and have nothing to gain at the expense of others.
Their value is well established, and I believe that all of them
would be well pleased were they never called upon to set lance in
rest again. Methinks this evening they avoided all public questions
chiefly because we were present; and you see no word was spoken of
the unexpected accident that has thrown Harold on our shores,
although it must have been in all their minds; and doubtless they
talked it over as they rode hither to-day. I should not be surprised
if my father had us in his tent for the very reason that your being
there would prevent more being said about it. I do not suppose any
of them know exactly what is in the duke's mind--possibly he has
not even made it up himself; and it is assuredly wise here in
Normandy to express no strong opinion until the duke's own mind is
manifest."

"I daresay you are right, Guy. I rather wondered why your father
had asked us as well as you to his tent when he had others with
him; but it is like enough that he thought our presence would prevent
any discussion on delicate topics."

The next morning the cavalcade mounted early, and in the afternoon
rode into the fortress of Eu. It stood upon the river Bresle, and
had, previous to the conquest of Ponthieu, been the frontier guard
of Normandy on the north. It lay only some ten miles from the spot
where the Saxon galley had been wrecked. A messenger had arrived
there early in the day from Fitz-Osberne saying that Conrad of
Ponthieu had assented to the demand of the duke for the surrender
of his captives, that these had been at once released from their
confinement, and were now honourably entertained. They would start
on the following morning from Beaurain, and would be accompanied
by Conrad, who desired to come to Eu to pay his respects to the
duke.

Although it had been certain that Conrad would not venture to refuse
the command of his powerful over-lord, Wulf and Beorn were greatly
delighted to hear that Harold and his companions had at once been
released from their imprisonment, and that they would so speedily
arrive at Eu. In the afternoon of the following day a messenger
arrived stating that the cavalcade was but an hour's ride away, and
preparations were at once made to receive it with all honour. The
garrison of the castle in their bravest attire lined the courtyard,
hangings brought from Rouen were disposed round the walls of the
great hall, two chairs of state were placed on the dais, the
men-at-arms who had come from Rouen were drawn up on either side
of the great entrance, and here William with his nobles assembled
when the cavalcade approached the castle.

The procession was headed by the Norman men-at-arms of Fitz-Osberne
and Warren. After them rode Conrad of Ponthieu with Harold by his
side. Both carried hawks on their wrists, and were, apparently, on
the most amiable terms. Behind them rode Harold's brother and nephew
and the two Norman barons; they were followed by the Saxon thanes
and the officers of the count's household. Behind these came on
foot the Saxons of inferior degree who had been left at St. Valery,
and who had by Conrad's orders been sent to join the cavalcade where
it crossed the Somme at Abbeville; the procession was closed by a
strong body of the count's men-at-arms. They rode through the double
line of spearmen until they reached the entrance. Then as Harold
dismounted, the duke descended the steps and embraced him with the
warmest expressions of satisfaction at thus meeting the most
illustrious of Englishmen.

Harold replied in suitable terms, and the duke then turned to Conrad
and thanked him warmly for having acceded to his request.

Ponthieu was but newly conquered, and might yet be a thorn in the
side of Normandy in the event of a renewal of war with France. It
was therefore to William's interest to treat Conrad's obedience to
his orders as if it had been a voluntary submission, and to ignore
his discourteous treatment of his captives. In order to eradicate
all sense of injury on the part of his vassal, he not only paid him
the ransom for Harold but gave him a considerable grant of territory.
The duke now presented his nobles and principal officers to Harold,
and then with his arm placed familiarly on his guest's shoulder led
him into the hall, and placed him in the chair of state beside his
own, other seats being placed for Wulfnoth and Hakon and for some
of the principal Norman barons, while the rest mingled with the
Saxon thanes in the body of the hall. As soon as the reception was
over Wulf hurried out into the courtyard to speak to Osgod.

"Right glad am I to see you again, Osgod; I have been troubled as
to how you were faring."

"In truth we have fared badly enough, master; we have been working
like beasts of burden, without having food that would suffice for
an ass. However, it was not for long, and will do us no harm, though
there are more than one of those fellows at St. Valery with whom I
would gladly have ten minutes play with cudgel or quarter-staff.
You may guess how surprised we were yesterday evening when we were
suddenly called out from the shed where we were sleeping, and with
many professions of regret and apology for our treatment conducted
to better quarters, where a good honest meal was set before us, and
we were then told that the duke himself had just arrived at Eu, and
that Harold and all his following were there to be given up to him.
We had fresh rushes for our beds, and a hearty breakfast this
morning, and were then placed in boats and taken up to Abbeville.
We had been there but an hour when the earl arrived with the thanes,
and glad were we, as you may imagine, to see his face again. They
stopped there for an hour to rest their steeds and to dine, and
then we marched hither as you saw. I had missed you and Beorn from
Harold's party, and made shift to approach the earl and humbly ask
him what had become of you. 'No harm has befallen your master and
his friend, good fellow,' the earl said. 'They have indeed done me
good service, for they made their escape from Beaurain and carried
the news of our detention to Duke William, and it is thus that we
have all obtained our liberty.' You seem to have fared bravely,
Wulf, judging from your attire."

"Yes, we were in sore plight when we arrived at Rouen, but the duke
saw that we were provided with clothes and with horses for our
journey here."

At this moment an attendant came out from the hall and informed
Wulf that the duke desired speech with him. Beorn was already at
the entrance, and they were conducted on to the dais.

"Here are your two pages," the duke said to Harold. "I hold myself
to be greatly their debtor for having carried me the news that has
brought about this meeting, and given me the pleasure of having you
as my guest. They are faithful lads and quick-witted, for no men
could have carried out the mission better or more promptly than
they did."

"Still more am I indebted to them," Harold said as he held out his
hand to the two lads, who bent on one knee while they kissed it.
"I knew not of their going until I learnt from your barons that
they had reached Rouen with the news. They are wards of mine, and
although at one time my pages they have ceased to be so for more
than a year, and have both been down upon their estates learning
the duties of their station, which I deemed better for them than
wasting their time and getting into mischief at court."

The duke nodded. "The result shows that your course was a wise one.
At court youths learn but little good. The atmosphere is not healthy
for men still less for boys, and these youths will shortly be of
an age when they will be fit to render men's service, as indeed
they have already done." The lads now retired from the dais.

"It has been a fortunate week's work for us," Beorn said. "We have
obtained the freedom of our lord and have gained his approbation
and that of Duke William; though, indeed, it matters not greatly
as to the duke."

"I don't know, Beorn; one cannot look into the future, and there
is no saying what may happen. Anyhow, even now it may be of advantage
to us. Honourably as the duke is treating Harold, the earl is still
wholly in his power, and until we hear something of his intentions
we are all just as much prisoners as we were to Conrad, although I
admit the captivity is a very much more pleasant one."




CHAPTER VII.


THE OATH.

From Eu the party travelled back to Rouen where there were feastings
and entertainments in honour of Harold. Nothing could be more
courteous than the duke's manner to his guest. He professed an
almost fraternal affection for him, and handsome lodgings were
assigned in the town to his thanes. A solemn court was held, at
which Harold was knighted by William himself with much state and
ceremonial, according to the rites of chivalry, which had then been
but recently introduced, and had not as yet extended into England.
There were great hunting parties in the forest, and to all outward
appearance the friendship between William and Harold was of the
warmest and most sincere nature. Harold himself was really gratified
at the pains that William took to show the esteem in which he held
him, and his thanes were all well satisfied with the attentions
bestowed upon them by the Norman barons.

Beorn and Wulf had nothing to do save to make friends with young
Normans of their own age, to visit their castles and to join in the
hunting parties. The duke lost no opportunity of showing the sincerity
of the feelings of gratitude he had expressed to them for bringing
him the news of Harold's presence in his dominions, and they were
always specially invited to all court ceremonials, enjoying themselves
exceedingly. Wulf occasionally expressed his surprise to his
companion that no word was said as to their return to England, but
Beorn's answer always silenced him.

"The earl himself seems well satisfied, Wulf. Why should you be
more anxious for him than he is for himself?"

Once indeed he replied, "Harold is of so open and generous nature,
Beorn, that he would be the last person to suspect another of
dishonourable motives. Moreover, it is not because he is apparently
well content here that we must judge him to be without uneasiness.
Whatever he felt it would be impolitic to show it, and we see but
little of him now save when in company of the Normans. He cannot
but know that his presence is required in England."

It was a matter of satisfaction to Wulf that Walter Fitz-Urse was
not at the court, he having a few weeks before returned to England,
where he was again in the suite of the Norman bishop of London. He
himself had become firm friends with Guy de Burg, and often rode
over with him to his father's residence, where they hunted in the
forest together or rode out with falcons on their wrists, Agnes de
Burg often accompanying them on her pony.

Three weeks after their arrival at Rouen the Bretons broke ou

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