engaged with Count Robert, the bold Lord of Brunn had his eye solely upon him, and with men elate with victory was watching his approach, even as he had long been watching and preparing for it. The broken old road[210] was repaired, and the now diminished streams were made passable by means of the wooden bridges which the Norman soldiers carried or caused to be carried with them, and by throwing down stones, and timber, and bricks, and dry earth in strong wooden frames, Duke William, after three days of cruel labour and toils which killed many of his people, got within sight of the deep waters of Ely, and caught a distant view of the Witchford, where his Norman witch had crossed over. But the ford was now guarded by a double castle, or double fort; the one on this side of the stream, and the other on that; and the farther bank and the plain beyond it seemed, as the duke approached a little nearer, to be covered with a Saxon army, and with trophies taken from the Normans. Onward, however, he went until he saw the banner of his half-brother Count Robert held out over the wooden walls of the Saxons; but then he understood full well what had befallen his people at Wisbech; and so, like the persevering and prudent commander that he was, he ordered an immediate retreat. But it passed his skill and his might to conduct this retreat in a safe and orderly manner; the Normans got confused, and Hereward, crossing at the ford, charged through thick and thin, through bog and dry ground, and along the temporary causeway which had been made: the bridges of wood broke down under excess of weight; Duke William himself fell into deep water and was nearly drowned, and many of his people were wholly drowned or smothered, while many more were slain by the sword or taken prisoners. And still the bold Saxons, as they followed, shouted “Hereward for England! Stop, thou Bastard William! Thou art running as fast as thy brother Robert ran from Castle Hereward!”