Resting only a few hours, during which they were the guests of Ednoth, the bishop, they departed with his fervent blessing and earnest prayers for their success, and rode westward, attended by their whole troop.

Every town they reached received them with enthusiasm.  They were now near the birthplace of the great Alfred, where the hearts of the people were all thoroughly with their native princes; and men left all their ordinary occupations to strike one blow for King Edmund and England.  Onward, and like a rolling snowball, they gathered as they went, until they entered Wiltshire with ten thousand men, and, crossing the country, reached the opposite border with all the brave men of Wilts added to their numbers.

They were now approaching Dorsetshire, and saw before them a rising ground, with a large stone set in a conspicuous position.

“What stone is that?” inquired Edmund of a thane, whose habitation was hard by, and who had joined him with his whole household.

“It is called the county stone.  It marks the place where three counties meet—­Somerset, Wilts, and Dorset; it is in the village of Penn.”

At this moment a horseman was seen riding wildly after them from the country in the rear.

“See that man; he brings news,” said Edmund, and the whole party paused.

“Alfgar,” whispered Edmund to his confidential attendant, “there is hot work coming; I have long since scented the foe behind.”

The messenger arrived, bowed low to the king, and waited permission to speak, while his panting breath betrayed his haste and his excitement.

“Well, your message?” said Edmund; “you have ridden fast to bring it.”

“My lord, Canute, with an army of fifty thousand men, is following behind with all his speed.”

Edmund looked proudly around upon his host; it was almost equal in number.  Then he looked with a soldier’s eye on the ground before him, and saw that it was the very place where a stand could be made with every advantage of ground.

“It is well,” said Edmund; “we will wait for him here.”

A loud cheer from those around him showed how he had succeeded in imparting his own brave spirit to others.  The trumpets commanded a halt; and Alfgar and other riders bore the commands of the king to the extremities of the host.

Each division took up rapidly the position assigned; for in this domestic war men fought side by side with those they had known from childhood, and were commanded immediately by their own hereditary chieftains.

The broken nature of the ground protected them well from an attack on either flank, and they strengthened this advantage by throwing up a mound and digging a ditch, with the greatest rapidity.

While thus engaged, they saw the flashing of spear and shield in the east, reflecting the setting sun, and speedily the whole country seemed to glow with the sheen of weapons.