So there on the ground they wrestled, the stranger on top and Wulnoth beneath seeking to cast him off, and so they struggled until the sun rose; and then stronger and stronger Wulnoth seemed to grow, and weaker and weaker the stranger became, until he fell, and said-- "I can fight no more. Thou hast beaten me. Yet thou wouldst not have done this save for that shadow." He pointed, as he spoke, to the earth, and Wulnoth looked and wondered; for two of the timbers of the ruined king's hall still stood, and they caught the beams of the rising sun, and upon the ground their shadows fell just where the two had struggled, and the shadows formed--a cross, the sign of the weak one whom Wulnoth had called nithing! Then cried Wulnoth and said-- "O stranger, who didst take my name and whom I have conquered, can you tell me this riddle, for I am weary of mysteries. Whence comes it that yonder shadow made me strong and you weak?" "'T is the sign of the mightiest and the strongest," answered the other, and at that Wulnoth laughed aloud in mockery-- "'T is the sign of one who was a nithing," he said; "and yet, if it made me strong, why did it not make thee strong also?" "Thou wouldst not understand even if I told thee, Wanderer," was the reply. And Wulnoth spoke again-- "Now confess that thou didst lie when thou didst take my name." But the other replied-- "I lied not, for of a surety I am Wulnoth, Cerdic's son!" "Now this passes all!" cried Wulnoth. "Then who may I be, if thou art Wulnoth?" "The Wanderer, and thou shalt wander until thy task is done. Yet remember that again thou hast rejected the Strong, and called Him the weak. Hither was I sent to meet thee and to conquer thee, and thou hast conquered me. Well for thee that thou hast conquered Wulnoth, Cerdic's son, for unless thou hadst done this, thou wouldst never have conquered others; and it was for this purpose that Wyborga the Wise sent thee to tarry with Osth the giant to learn strength." "Thou wilt bewilder me with words," cried Wulnoth impatiently. "I tell thee that I am Wulnoth. Moreover, it was Wulnoth whom Osth did teach, and since thou ownest that he taught me, thou ownest that I am Wulnoth, and thou provest thyself false." "I may not explain this to thee," was the answer. "Some day thou shalt understand it." "Some day!" was Wulnoth's angry reply. "Why are all the good things promised thus? The future must be stored with them, and the now has never a one." "The future has all golden store, Wulnoth, since so thou wilt have it. And now farewell." "Not so fast," cried Wulnoth. "I have conquered thee, and thou art my man now." "And truly so, and truly I shall serve thee even though thou mayst not know it. Yet beware of one thing--thou must watch me, for I may yet turn and smite thee. I tell thee, Wulnoth, that I am thy best friend and thy worst foe--weak am I and yet I am thy strength. Seek not to keep me now."