第 45 页

his headquarters and resolved to await the approach of the army of England.

A wooden castle was raised on the height, and the country for miles round

was harried by the Norman horse. Every house was given to the flames; men

were slain, women and children taken as slaves, and the destruction was so

complete that it seemed as if it had been done with the deliberate purpose

of forcing Harold to come down and give battle.

No sooner did Harold hear the news that the Normans had landed and were

harrying the land than he ordered the hall to be cleared and issued a

summons for the assembly of a Gemot, and in an hour an assemblage of all

the thanes gathered at York was held in the hall that had so shortly before

been the scene of peaceful feasting. Harold proclaimed to them the news he

had heard, and called upon them to arm and call together their levies for

the defence of England. An enthusiastic reply was given. As the men of the

South had crushed the invaders of the North, so would the men of the North

assist to repel the invasion of the South. Morcar and Edwin promised

solemnly to lead the forces of Northumbria and Mercia to London without a

day's delay, and though Harold trusted his brothers-in-law but little, he

hoped they would have to yield to the patriotic spirit of the thanes and to

play their part as Englishmen.

An hour later messengers started on horseback for the South, bidding all

men to assemble at London to fight for home and freedom against the foreign

invader, and orders were issued that the troops who had fought at Stamford

Bridge should march at daybreak. As soon as the council was over Wulf

mounted his horse and rode at full speed to Helmsley. He had each day

ridden over to see Osgod, who in his anxiety for a rapid cure was proving

himself a most amenable patient, and was strictly carrying out the

prescriptions of the monk who had taken charge of him and of other wounded

who were lying in the village. He was asleep on a rough pallet when Wulf

entered.

"A pest upon the Norman!" he exclaimed angrily when he heard Wulf's news.

"He might have given me a week longer at any rate. I am feeling mightily

better already, for to-day the monk has bandaged my arm, and that so tight

as almost to numb it. But that I care little for, as he has now taken off

that bow-string which was cutting its way into the flesh. He told me that

everything depended upon my keeping absolutely quiet for another week, for

the slightest exertion might make the wound break out afresh, and that if

it burst there would be but a poor chance for me. Well, I must travel in a

waggon instead of on horseback"

"You will do nothing of the sort, Osgod; I absolutely forbid it. It would

be an act of sheer madness. Besides, you would be useless at present even

if you went south, while if you rest here for three or four weeks you may

be able to take part in some of the battles; and, moreover, it may be weeks

before Harold moves against the Normans. At any rate, it is out of the

question that you should move at present. I am not going to have you risk

your life by such folly."

Osgod was silent for a minute or two and then said, "Well, master, I must

obey your orders, but never before did I feel it so hard a thing to do."

"It is for your own good and mine, Osgod. I am not going to lose so

faithful a follower, and would rather do without you for two months than

for all my life. But now I must be going, for I shall ride on ahead so as

to go down to Steyning and fetch our men. I was before sorry that, owing to

my being here, they did not come down with the king; now I am glad, for I

might have lost half of them, while as it is I shall have a hundred men as

good as his own to help to fill up the ranks of Harold's housecarls,

besides the general levy of my tenants."

On his march south Harold was joined by large numbers of men. The news of

the destruction of the army of Harold Hardrada had excited the greatest

enthusiasm, and the thanes presented themselves as a rule with more than

the number of men they were bound to furnish. Wulf rode on fast to London.

As soon as he arrived there he went to the armourer's shop. Ulred paused

at his work as he entered. "Welcome back, my lord Wulf!" he said. "So you

have come safe through the two great battles in the North. Has Osgod fared

equally well, I see that you have come without him?"

"Not equally well, Ulred. He fought with me at Fulford and received no

serious hurt, but at Stamford Bridge he was wounded so sorely that for a

time we thought it would go hard with him; but he has rallied and is doing

well, and save that he will come home without his left arm, he will, I

trust, soon be recovered. No man fought more stoutly than he did at

Stamford Bridge, and the king himself noticed his valour. Although his

wound was but five days' old when we started, he would have come south at

once if I would have suffered him, though he must assuredly have been

carried the whole way in a litter. It troubled him greatly to hear that we

should be face to face with the Normans, and he not there to strike a blow

for England."

"I am glad to hear that the boy lives," the armourer said; "for indeed when

I saw you alone my first thoughts were that he had fought his last battle.

We have terrible news from the South. The Normans are plundering and

slaying from Beachy Head well-nigh to Dover, and the people are flying

before them in crowds. However, matters will be changed as soon as the king

returns to town. London will send her militia in full strength, and we hear

that the thanes of the West are hurrying hither. 'Tis a pity indeed that

Harold was drawn off north, for had he been here the Normans would have had

to fight their best before they established themselves on our shores."

"They could have landed in any case, Ulred. It was not the King of Norway

and Tostig, but the impatience of our sailors and troops, that left our

shores unguarded. Harold tried his best to keep them together, but in vain.

However, they rallied quickly when they heard of the landing in the North,

and are coming in freely now."

"Will the troops of Northumbria be here?"

"I doubt it greatly, Ulred. They are not true men, Edwin and Morcar; they

surrendered York before an arrow was shot against its walls, and received

Harold Hardrada as their king. They would be equally willing to

acknowledge William of Normandy so that they might but preserve their

earldoms under him. They have promised to send their whole forces forward

without delay, but I have no belief that they will be here. I am going to

Steyning as soon as I have eaten a meal and rested for a few hours. I shall

miss Osgod sorely. I trust that it will not be long before I have him by my

side."

"When will the army be back here, master?"

"In three days at most, I imagine. There will be but short stay here before

Harold marches south to meet the Normans. The news of the wanton

destruction they are making has roused him to fury, and he will assuredly

lose no time, even though he have but half the force of England behind

him."

"It is as well to have something to fall back on," the armourer said. "It

is not by one battle that England is to be conquered, and even if we lose

the first we may gain the second. We can stand the loss better than the

Normans, for doubtless William has brought all his strength with him, and

if beaten must make his way back to his ships, while Harold would in a

short time find himself at the head of a larger army than that with which

he may first meet them. Was the slaughter as great as they say at Stamford

Bridge?"

"It was terrible, Ulred; and though the Norsemen suffered vastly more than

we did, the ranks of the housecarls, on whom the brunt of the fighting

fell, have been sorely thinned. We shall feel their loss when we meet the

Normans. Against their heavily-armed troops and their squadrons of knights

and horsemen one of the Thingmen was worth three untried peasants. Had we

but half the number of our foe, and that half all housecarls, I should not

for a moment doubt the issue."

"London will put a strong body in the field, and though we have not the

training of the Thingmen you may trust us to fight sternly, Master Wulf;

and if we are beaten I will warrant that there will not be many of us to

bring the tidings back."

"Of that I am sure, Ulred. The citizens have more to lose and better know

what they are fighting for than the country levies, and as you say, I am

sure they will do their part stoutly. Well, I must stay here no longer. I

shall sleep for two or three hours, and then take a fresh horse from the

king's stable and to-morrow shall be at Steyning. By nightfall I shall be

on my way back with every man on the estate, a hundred and fifty besides

the housecarls, and two days' march will bring us here again. Ulf is well,

I hope? I do not see him."

"He has but carried home some arms I have been mending. We are working

night and day; since the news that the Normans had landed came, there has

been no thought of bed among the armourers and smiths of Westminster and

London. Each man works until he can work no longer, then throws himself

down for two or three hours' sleep, and then wakes up to work again; and so

it will be till the army has moved south with most of us in its ranks."

Wulf reached Steyning soon after daybreak, and as soon as the news that he

had arrived went round, the tenants flocked in. His coming had been

anxiously expected, for the alarm caused by the incursions all over the

country by the Norman horse was intense; and although, so far, none had

come west of Beachy Head, there was a general feeling that at any moment

they might make their appearance. The news, therefore, that Harold was

marching south with his army, and that all were to share in a pitched

battle with the invader instead of being slaughtered on their hearthstones,

caused a deep feeling of satisfaction. Wulf gave orders that every man

should assemble in fighting array at noon, and that if, later on, news came

that the enemy were approaching, the houses were to be deserted, the stacks

fired, and, driving the cattle before them, the women and children should

cross the hills and take shelter in the great forest beyond. A few of the

older men who were unfit to take part in a long day's fighting were to aid

the women in their work.

The arms of all the men were carefully inspected, and the weapons remaining

in the armoury served out to those worst provided. At one o'clock the force

marched off, Wulf riding at the head of the hundred housecarls, while the

tenants, a hundred and fifty strong, followed in good order. Each man

carried six days' provisions. They camped that night in a forest twenty

miles from Steyning, marched thirty miles the next day, and early the

following morning joined the great array that was gathering on the hills

south of London. To his great pleasure Wulf found that Beorn had arrived

the day before with his levy. They had not met since they had returned from

the North with Harold.

"So you have been up there again, Wulf, and fought at Fulford and Stamford

Bridge. It was very unlucky I was not in London when the army marched

north; but I received no summons, and heard nothing of it until the king

was well on his march. None of the thanes along the south coast were

summoned."

"So I heard, Beorn. I fancy the king thought that in case of a landing by

the Normans the men near the coast would all be wanted to help take the

women and cattle to places of security."

"No doubt that was the reason," Beorn said. "At any rate, I am sorry I

missed the fight at Stamford Bridge. The other seems to have been a bad

affair."

"Very bad; we suffered terribly. So much so, indeed, that the earls will

have a good excuse for not getting their levies together in time for the

battle with the Normans."

"They are false loons," Beorn said; "and brothers-in-law as they are of

his, it would have been well had the king after Stamford Bridge had their

heads smitten off for their traitorous surrender to the Norsemen."

"I have no doubt they will hold aloof now, Beorn, until they see how

matters go in the South, and if we are worsted they will hasten to make

their peace with William, and to swear to be his liegemen, just as they

swore to be liegemen to Harold Hardrada. But they will find out their

mistake in the end. William has promised to divide England among his needy

adventurers if he wins, and Edwin and Morcar will very speedily find that

they will not, in that case, be allowed to keep half the country as their

share."

It was a great host that was gathered ready for the march south. Gurth had

brought down the fighting men of East Anglia; the thanes of the West were

there with their tenants; the Bishop of Winchester, Harold's uncle, not

only brought the tenants of the church lands, but he himself with twelve of

his monks had put on armour under their monkish robes. The Abbot of

Peterborough headed a contingent from the Fen Country; the men of London

under the sheriff of the Mid Saxons were there, and prepared to die in

defence of the royal standard, which it was the special privilege of London

to guard. In the Abbey of Westminster, where Harold had received his

crown, and in every church of London, mass was celebrated day and night,

and was attended by crowds of troops and citizens.

Harold himself snatched a day from the cares of preparation to visit

Waltham, the abbey that he had founded, and in which he had taken so lively

an interest, and there earnestly prayed for victory, with the vow that did

he conquer in the strife he would regard himself as God's ransomed servant,

and would throughout his life specially devote himself to His service. A

day or two after Wulf's arrival in London a messenger came from William of

Normandy calling upon Harold to come down from his throne, and to become,