“Oh, hast thou seen him?” cried Egwina. “Heavy was my heart that I could not warn him of Hakon’s intended search. Heavy did it lie in my breast when I knew that Hubba was to come from the west to overrun the land. I feared that the king’s hopes were vain.” “That was the reason, maiden, that I left thee in the house of Hakon the jarl,” said Ethelred. “Niddering did it seem to leave thee, a girl, in the hands of the foe, unwitting what might befall thee. But in the king lieth all our hopes. ’Twere better that thou shouldst perish than that the king be not warned.” “Thou didst right,” declared the girl, warmly. “What am I to be thought of in comparison with the king? Better, oh, better a thousand such as I should perish than Alfred.” “Thou art a true Saxon, and so I deemed thee,” cried the youth. “Would that thegn and coerl were filled with thy spirit, and the Dane would no longer uprear his raven standard in the land. But to tell thee all: Hakon went forth with a goodly company. Alfred, who had been joined by numbers of the Saxons, sallied forth, took the jarl by surprise, and the bones of him and all his company lie whitening on the field.” “Dost thou not remember what the seid woman said?” asked Egwina in awe-struck tones: “‘’Ware, ’ware of the forest, Jarl Hakon, The dragon steals forth from his lair; He tears thee and thy people asunder, And leaves ye as food for the bear.’ “Dost thou suppose, Ethelred, that the vala doth really see what the future holds?” “I wot not. There are many things that I understand not, but this do I know, that ’tis a heathenish practice, and little use have the good priests for it,” and he crossed himself piously. “True; but oft have I wondered whence came the power that seemed to belong to them.” “Think not of it,” answered the youth, hastily. “Whatever of power they may have, ’tis of evil. Concern not thyself with such pagan doings, for unseemly doth it become a Christian. Come, let us to the castle. Bode must be sent to the king to tell him of this victory. Then thou, and I, and others will wend us to the depths of Somerset, where the king’s family abide, and then back to Athelney.” And Egwina accompanied him to the castle. CHAPTER XIV—A PLEASANT SURPRISE Somersetshire was the only county that had remained true to Alfred. Throughout all Devonshire the news of the victory of the Saxons at the castle of Kynwith brought great rejoicing. While everywhere the Saxons were open in their manifestations of delight, it was not deemed wise to precipitate matters by letting them know that the king was preparing to issue forth from his hiding place. Somerset alone was considered worthy to be trusted, and here the secret was told, and many left their homes to go to Athelney.