“Who are you?” he asked of the old man.

“Alfred, my son, be brave,” said the man; “for I am the one to whom you gave this day the half of all the food that you had.  Be strong and joyful of heart, and listen to what I say.  Rise up early in the morning and blow your horn three times, so loudly that the Danes may hear it.  By nine o’clock, five hundred men will be around you ready to be led into battle.  Go forth bravely, and within seven days your en-e-mies shall be beaten, and you shall go back to your kingdom to reign in peace.”

Then the light went out, and the man was seen no more.

In the morning the king arose early, and crossed over to the mainland.  Then he blew his horn three times very loudly; and when his friends heard it they were glad, but the Danes were filled with fear.

At nine o’clock, five hundred of his bravest soldiers stood around him ready for battle.  He spoke, and told them what he had seen and heard in his dream; and when he had fin-ished, they all cheered loudly, and said that they would follow him and fight for him so long as they had strength.

So they went out bravely to battle; and they beat the Danes, and drove them back into their own place.  And King Alfred ruled wisely and well over all his people for the rest of his days.

KING CANUTE ON THE SEASHORE.

A hundred years or more after the time of Alfred the Great there was a king of England named Ca-nute.  King Canute was a Dane; but the Danes were not so fierce and cruel then as they had been when they were at war with King Alfred.

The great men and of-fi-cers who were around King Canute were always praising him.

“You are the greatest man that ever lived,” one would say.

Then an-oth-er would say, “O king! there can never be an-oth-er man so mighty as you.”

And another would say, “Great Canute, there is nothing in the world that dares to dis-o-bey you.”

The king was a man of sense, and he grew very tired of hearing such foolish speeches.

One day he was by the sea-shore, and his of-fi-cers were with him.  They were praising him, as they were in the habit of doing.  He thought that now he would teach them a lesson, and so he bade them set his chair on the beach close by the edge of the water.

“Am I the greatest man in the world?” he asked.

“O king!” they cried, “there is no one so mighty as you.”

“Do all things obey me?” he asked.

“There is nothing that dares to dis-o-bey you, O king!” they said.  “The world bows before you, and gives you honor.”

“Will the sea obey me?” he asked; and he looked down at the little waves which were lapping the sand at his feet.

The foolish officers were puzzled, but they did not dare to say “No.”

“Command it, O king! and it will obey,” said one.

“Sea,” cried Canute, “I command you to come no farther!  Waves, stop your rolling, and do not dare to touch my feet!”