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who should be arrested before the news of the night's business reaches

them."

"I know of none such," Beorn said, "and believe that these four and the two

who have escaped were alone concerned in it. I will bring with me in the

morning a man and a boy who know more than I do of the matter; they and

Osgod, with whom Wulf will assuredly have talked it over, will be able to

tell you all that was known up to the moment when these men entered the

palace."

The armourer and Ulf told their story in the morning, and Beorn took

Osgod's place by Wulf's bedside, while he too was questioned by the king.

The latter then went to Wulf's chamber.

"What say the leeches this morning, Beorn?

"They are somewhat more hopeful, my lord. They say that his heart beats

more strongly than it did last night, Osgod says that he has not moved or

opened his eyes, but they say that this is not a bad sign, and that it may

be anxiety has brought on an exhaustion, for his breathing is more like

that of one who sleeps than of a man wounded to death."

"His face has grieviously changed since yesterday," the king said sadly,

looking down upon Wulf. "I would give my right hand rather than that he

should die. You have of a surety saved my life among you, Beorn, you and

his stout man-at-arms and the worthy armourer and that shrewd apprentice of

his for had they entered my chamber and taken me unawares they would have

slain me without doubt"

"I have done the best I could since I learnt from the armourer the

suspicion that Wulf entertained, but the whole thing is Wulf's doing. Had I

heard that Walter Fitz-Urse was back in London I should have given the

matter no further thought than that it was one Norman the more. It was, as

he told me, some words that Baron de Burg said when he saw him over in

Normandy the other day that first set him thinking. Then, he could not

understand why Fitz-Urse should return to London at this time, when Normans

are not overwelcome there, and this caused him to have some sort of

suspicion as to his reasons for undertaking such a journey, and determined

him to set a watch on the fellow's movements. Had it been any other than

Wulf who had so acted I should have laughed at his suspicions. But he is as

a brother to me, and knowing how sharp are his wits I am always well

content to follow him without question. I first heard of the matter after

the discovery that the Norman was having secret meetings with some of his

countrymen who were concealed on board a ship, and I at once felt sure that

Wulf had not been running on a false trail, and so did the little I could

to aid those who had the matter in hand."

"You have done well, Beorn, though as you say it is doubtless Wulf to whom

the chief credit is due. I regretted at first that the other two men had

escaped, but had they been taken they might, to save their own lives, have

implicated others, and I might have been forced to lay a complaint against

the Duke of Normandy. As it is now, the matter is at an end. Four men have

tried to murder me, and have been killed. Their bodies have been buried

this morning, and there is no more to be said about it.

"I was obliged to go down and show myself to the people an hour since, for

they assembled in a great crowd, clamouring to see me so that they might

know I was safe. I told them that while I thanked them for their loyal

care, there was nought to be alarmed about. It was true that there had been

an attempt on my life by four men, of whom the leader had a private grudge

against me for a disservice I did him some years ago, but that all had been

killed by my guards without even penetrating my chamber, and that I had run

no sort of personal risk, nor had I any reason whatever to suppose that the

malefactors had accomplices either within or without the palace."

Late in the evening, when the surgeons were applying pungent salts to his

nostrils, Wulf opened his eyes. Osgod was standing beside him holding one

of his hands.

"It is all well, master," he said. "We finished them all off, and no harm

has happened to the king. You have been hurt, but I hope you will soon be

better. The leeches say that you are not to talk, and you had best sleep as

much as you can. They have got some stuff for you to drink here; do you

lie still and I will pour it between your lips."

A look of intelligence came into Wulf's eyes as Osgod spoke; he smiled

faintly, and murmured, "Thank God, the king is safe!" He swallowed a few

spoonfuls of the potion Osgod held to his lips, and then closing his eyes

his regular breathing soon showed that he was again asleep. On the

following day the king proceeded on his way to London, Beorn remaining to

nurse Wulf. The king would have loaded Ulred with presents, but the sturdy

armourer refused to receive anything save a small gold cup in remembrance.

"I want no reward for doing my duty," he said. "I have my trade that keeps

me, and should be no happier were I laden with money. All that I have done

in the matter has been to watch for a few hours at a window, and to make a

journey by ship to York, and I should be ashamed of myself indeed if I

could not take that slight trouble for my king without looking for a

reward."

As to Ulf he was thanked and praised, but the king decided to take no steps

to alter his condition until Wulf should be well enough to be consulted in

the matter. It was a fortnight before the doctors were able to state with

any confidence that the young thane was on the road towards recovery, and

still another month before he had gained sufficient strength to be carried

in a litter to London.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE NORTHERN INVASION.

The news of Harold's marriage to Ealdgyth put an end to the demands of

William of Normandy that Harold should take one of his daughters to wife,

and in the complaints that he addressed to all Christendom against Harold

the breach of his promise in this respect was placed far more prominently

than his failure to carry out his oath to be the duke's man. It must have

been evident indeed to all that it was beyond the power of the English king

to keep this oath, obtained from him by force and treachery. He had been

elected by the voice of the English people, and had no more power than the

meanest of his subjects to hand the crown they had bestowed to another.

The breach of this oath, however, served to obtain all the aid that the

church could give to William. Harold was solemnly excommunicated, and the

struggle for which the duke was preparing thereupon assumed the character

of a sacred war. In England itself the Bull of excommunication had no

effect whatever. The great bulk of bishops and clergy were Englishmen, and

thought far more of their king than of any foreign prince or prelate. Even

the bishops and abbots of Norman blood disregarded the commination, and

remained staunch to Harold. He had been a generous patron to the church,

had maintained them in all the privileges and dignities that Edward had

bestowed upon them, and possessed the love of the whole English people;

therefore, in spite of bann and interdict the churches remained open,

services were held as usual, and people were married and buried as if the

Papal Bull had never been issued.

But it was not so on the Continent. The Norman barons as a body had at

first refused to support the duke in an invasion of England, but as

individuals they had been brought round to join in William's project, and

to give far more aid in ships and men than they were bound to do by their

feudal engagements. Having accomplished this, William issued an invitation

to all adventurous spirits in Europe to join him in his crusade against the

excommunicated King of England, promising that all should share alike in

the plunder of England and in the division of its land. The bait was a

tempting one. Some joined the enterprise merely for the sake of gaining

glory under the banner of one who was regarded as the greatest military

leader in Europe, others were influenced by love of gain, while, as in the

crusades, numbers joined to obtain absolution for past misdeeds by taking

part in an enterprise blessed by the Pope. Thus the force which William was

collecting greatly exceeded that which the resources of Normandy alone

could have set on foot.

Among the first to hurry to the court of William, as soon as Harold's

accession to the throne was known, was Tostig, in whose mind the refusal of

Harold to embark in a civil war for his sake, and to force him upon the

people of Northumbria in spite of their detestation of him, was an injury

not to be forgiven. The fact that Tostig was ready thus to sacrifice

England to his own private quarrel showed a baseness and recklessness that

could hardly be expected from his early career. William naturally accepted

the alliance, received Tostig's oath of allegiance, and aided him in

fitting out a number of ships manned by Norman and Flemish adventurers.

Evading the watch kept by the English fleet they crossed the sea, landed,

and plundered and ravaged a considerable extent of country, and then

retired, Tostig being enraged that William of Normandy was unwilling to

send an expedition to act in concert with him until the whole of his plans

were prepared and his great army ready for sea.

Normandy indeed had been converted into a vast camp. In every port great

numbers of workmen laboured night and day building ships, for Normandy had

ceased to be a naval power, and its shipping was utterly insufficient to

carry the great army across. Tostig, impatient and hasty, thought no more

of the oath of allegiance that he had sworn to William. Driven from

Yorkshire by the forces of the northern earls he sailed to Scotland, where

he was welcomed by King Malcolm, both as a sworn brother and as the enemy

of England. From Scotland he entered into negotiations with Harold Hardrada

of Norway. This warlike monarch was in a fit mood to listen to his

advances; he had for years been engaged in a struggle with Denmark, which

he had ineffectually attempted to conquer, and had at last been forced to

conclude a treaty of peace with Sweyn, its king.

Tostig had already endeavoured by personal persuasions to induce Sweyn to

revive his claim to the crown of England, and to undertake its conquest;

but he altogether declined to undertake so dangerous and difficult an

enterprise, and Tostig had then turned to Harold of Norway. Whether his

interview with him was before he went to Scotland or whether he went thence

to Norway is a point on which historians differ. Some deny that any

interview took place, but the balance of probability lies strongly in

favour of an early interview, at which Harold entered heartily into

Tostig's plans, and began at once to make preparations for the enterprise.

It was certain that an invading force from Norway would land in

Northumbria, and Harold, although he might not be able to rely greatly upon

the assistance of the northern earls as against the Normans, knew that they

would do their best to defeat an expedition landing on their own shores,

especially when Tostig was a sharer in the invasion. His own thoughts were

wholly bent upon repelling the mighty expedition gathering in Normandy, and

for this purpose, by immense efforts, he collected the greatest army and

fleet that had ever been got together in England. An incessant watch was

kept up along the coast where the Normans might be expected to land, while

the fleet cruised for months between the Thames and the Isle of Wight

prepared to give battle to the invaders.

But the conditions of service in England were such that it was impossible

to keep a great force on foot for an indefinite time. The housecarls were

the only regular portion of the army The great bulk of the force, both land

and sea, consisting of the levies or militia, whose term of service was

very limited. It says much for the influence of Harold that he was able

for four months to keep his army and navy together. Had the foe appeared,

soldiers and sailors would have done their duty, but the long term of

inaction, the weary waiting for a foe that never came, was too much, and

when September arrived and the harvest was ready to be gathered it was

impossible even for him to keep the men longer together. The army

disbanded, the levies went to their homes, and the ships of the fleet

sailed away to the ports to which they belonged. All the efforts and

anxieties of Harold, all his lavish expenditure in feeding and providing

for so great a number of men had been thrown away. England lay for a time

absolutely defenceless against the coming storm.

It was not until August that Wulf had completely recovered his strength,

and was able to join the army.

"This is not a time," Harold said to him on the day he arrived at the camp,

"for the granting of dignities or the bestowal of grants. But if we are

successful, and I remain King of England, the services you have rendered me

at the risk of your life, Wulf, shall be worthily rewarded."

"I need no reward," Wulf replied. "My estates are sufficient for all my

needs, and I desire neither land nor dignity, being more than content that

I have been enabled to render a service to you and to England."

Wulf was, however, at once appointed as commander of the whole of the

housecarls supplied by the thanes of the south coast of Sussex. None of

these bodies were equal in strength to his own carefully prepared

contingent, few of the thanes having kept up more than fifteen or twenty

men constantly under arms, and these only for the past few months, in

consequence of Harold's exhortations. Altogether the force amounted to

about four hundred men. Each party had its own sub-officer, and Wulf did

his best to weld them into one body. When the army broke up, he returned

with the king to Westminster. The day after he arrived there a man met him

as he issued from the palace, and handed him a letter. It contained but the

words:

"_I would fain see you. If you will follow the bearer he will bring you