At that she shivered, and tried not to weep, being very brave.

“Where must we go?” she said, with a little tremble in her voice.

I told her where we would take her, and then she cried out that she must bide near at hand lest her father should be hurt, and none to tend him.

And Wulfhere and I tried a little to overpersuade her, but then a groom came to say that all was ready.

And, truly, no time must be lost, if we would get off safely.

Then I said that it would be safe to go to Bridgwater, for then we should be behind the levy, and that the Danes must cut through that before reaching us.  And to that Wulfhere agreed, for I knew he would rather be swinging his sword against the Danes at Stert than flying through the woods of the Quantocks.

Alswythe thanked me, without words indeed, and then in a few minutes she was mounted, and we were going up towards the high road to Bridgwater.  We had twelve horses, and on them were the women of the house, bearing what valuables they might, as Wulfhere had bade them.  One horse carried two women, but they were a light burden, and we had no such terrible haste to make, seeing that every moment brought us nearer the levy.  There were the men and boys as well, but they led the beasts.

Now when we reached the high road, some half mile away, suddenly Alswythe reined up her horse, by which I walked, giving a little cry, and I asked what it was.

Then she said, sobbing a little, that she would her cows were driven out into the forest where they were wont to feed, lest the cruel Danes should get them.  And to please her I think I should myself have gone back, but that Wulfhere called one of the men, who, it seemed, was the cowherd, bidding him return and do this, if the Danes were not coming yet.  Glad enough was I to hear the man say that he had done it already —­“for no Dane should grow fat on beasts of his tending, and they were a mile off by now.”

So we went on, and every minute I looked to meet our levy advancing.  But the moon rose, and shone on no line of glancing armour that I longed for, and Wulfhere growled to himself as he went.  I would have asked him many questions, but would not leave Alswythe, lest she should be alarmed.  And all the way, as we went, I told her of what had befallen me with Osric, saying only that her father was there, but had not been able to speak for me.  And I told her of the old crone’s words, which she thought would surely come true, all of them, as they had begun to do so.

It is a long five miles from Matelgar’s place to the town, and we could only travel at a foot’s pace.  But still we met no force.  Indeed, until we were just a half mile thence, we saw no one.  Then we met a picket, who, seeing we were fugitives, let us go on unchallenged.

But Wulfhere stopped and questioned the men, and got no pleasant answer as it seemed, for he caught us up growling, coming alongside of me, and saying—­for Alswythe could not know the ways of war—­that they would attack with morning light.  But I felt only too keenly, though I knew so little, that to fight the Danes when they had their foot firmly ashore, was a harder matter than to meet them but just landed.