ture to
march by land through a country which has but lately suffered heavily
at the hands of the Danes. It will take him a month or six weeks to cut
down trees and build his ships; therefore we may hope to find him
before he is ready to embark. First we will push through the forest to
the other side; there we will question the inhabitants concerning the
position of the nearest rivers; then we will divide into parties and go
on the search, appointing a place of rendezvous where we may rejoin
each other. It can hardly be that we shall fail to find them if they
have taken that way."

Before entering the forest they obtained a considerable store of
provisions; for they had no idea of its extent, and had no time to
spend in hunting game. The forest of Ardennes was at that time of
immense size, extending from Verdun and Metz on the south, to Liege and
Aix on the north.

Men of the present day would have found it impossible to find their way
through, but would speedily have been lost in its trackless recesses;
but the Saxons and Danes were accustomed to travel in forests, and knew
the signs as well as did the Red-skins and hunters of the American
forests. Therefore they felt no hesitation in entering the forest
without a guide.

The danger which might beset them was of a different kind. Immense
numbers of the inhabitants of France, Champagne, and Burgundy had taken
refuge in the forests, driving their flocks and herds before them. Here
they lived a wild life, hoping that the emperor would ere long clear
the country of the invaders. No mercy could be expected if Edmund and
his party fell in with a number of these fugitives. They would have no
time to tell their story, but would be attacked at once as a party of
plundering Danes.

Knowing that the horses would be an encumbrance to them in the forest,
they were sold to the last party of Northmen they encountered before
entering it, and they pursued their way on foot. The greatest caution
was observed; every sound was marked, and at the call of a human voice,
the low of cattle, or the bleating of sheep, they turned their course
so as to avoid encounter with the inhabitants of the forest. They lit
no fires at night, and scarce a word was spoken on the march. Several
times they had to take refuge in thickets when they heard the sound of
approaching voices, and it needed all their knowledge of woodcraft to
maintain their direction steadily towards the north. At last, after six