leared. The excitement is intense. Three cleared--four, five.
Ah, he nears the sixth! No, he misses it!--seven, eight--one
more--nine! SAVED BY GOD!

Ethelgiva fainted. A deep sound of applause, not even suppressed by
the character of the place. Elfwyn received his adopted son in his
arms:

"Saved, saved!" he cried.

"Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory!" replied Alfgar.

When the first congratulations were over, and Alfgar had somewhat
recovered from the excitement of the shock, and from the
congratulations which were heaped upon him upon all sides, he was told
that Canute awaited him in the audience chamber, and at once repaired
to the presence of his future king with less emotion than may be
imagined; for he was worn out by sensation, and becoming callous to
impressions.

He was formally introduced by the officer in waiting, and the king at
once dismissed that functionary.

"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, we have met before," observed the monarch.

"We have, my lord."

"I did not refer to later occasions, when we have met on the
battlefield, but to a far earlier one. Need I recall it? Surely there
are some moments in one's life never to be forgotten."

"There are indeed, my lord. Pardon my confusion. You refer to a scene
in Carisbrooke."

"Yes. When I asked you, 'What is this Christianity?' you had not much
time given you to answer me then, but your deliberate choice of a
bitter death, in preference to abandoning it, showed me there was
somewhat deeper in it than I had imagined. Alfgar, there are seeds
lightly sown which bear fruit hereafter, and your words were of such a
character--so that I, your future monarch, owe you already a debt of
gratitude, and I had come hither to fulfil it when you saved me the
task by appealing to the ordeal. I for one had full faith in the
justice of God. But had you not so appealed, I should have stepped in
between Edric and his victim."

"You did not then, my lord, believe in my guilt?"

"Not for one moment. The lad who defied my unhappy father in the
frantic fury of his power--the warrior I had seen fighting by the side
of his king--the faithful attendant of many years?--Nay, it was
monstrous; who could believe it?"

"Many, alas! found it possible to believe it, my lord. But who has
been the murderer? You will not permit your brother's blood to fall on
the earth unavenged."

"Wait. Be patient. God, in whom you trust, will direct the bolt in His
own time. Edmund's b