After Charlemagne died there was no one great enough or strong enough to hold the new Roman Empire together, and once again it broke up into small pieces, and “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not put it together again.” [Illustration] 46 Getting a Start I once knew a boy who had a red birthmark on his arm. It was just the shape of England on the map, and he used to call it “My England.” England is just a little island. It was quite an unimportant little island in 900 A.D. England is still just a little island. But it is now the most important island in the world! About one hundred years after Charles the Great--that is, 900--there was a king of England named Alfred. When Alfred was a boy he had a hard time learning to read, for he did not like to study. In those days many of the hand-written books made by the monks had pretty drawings and letters made in bright colors and even in gold. One day Alfred’s mother showed such a book to her children and promised to give it to the one who could read it first. That was a game. Alfred wanted to win the book, and so, for the first time in his life, he really tried. He studied so hard that in a very short time he had learned to read before his brothers and so he won the book. When Alfred grew up, England was being troubled by pirates. These pirates were cousins of the English--a tribe of Teutons called Danes. The English had long ago become Christians and civilized, but their cousins, the Danes, were still rough and wild. They came over from their own country across the water, landed on the coast of England, robbed the towns and villages, and then sailed back to their homes, carrying off everything valuable they could lay their hands on--like bad boys who climb a farmer’s fence and steal apples from his orchard. At last the Danes became so bold that they didn’t even run away after robbing the country; they were like the bad boys who stick out their tongues and throw stones at the farmer who comes after them. The king’s armies went out to punish these pirates, but, instead of beating, they were beaten. It began to look as if these Danes, who were able to do pretty much as they pleased, might conquer England and rule over the English. Once when things looked pretty black for England, King Alfred was without an army. Alone, ragged, tired out, and hungry, he came to the hut of a shepherd and asked for something to eat. The shepherd’s wife was baking some cakes by the fire, and she told Alfred he should have one if he watched them while she went out to milk the cow. Alfred sat down by the fire, but in thinking about what he could do to beat the Danes he forgot all about the cakes, and when the shepherd’s wife returned they were all burned. Thereupon she scolded him roundly and drove him off, not knowing that it was her king that she was treating in this way, for he never told her who he was.