uch words
of consolation as I could think of, and telling him that he must
always look upon Aescendune as his home. At length he rose. He had not
replied.

"Pardon me, my father," he said, "but may I retire to my chamber? I
wish to say much, but I am too weak now."

"Meanwhile, you will not leave us?"

"I have no other home."

And he retired to his little chamber, from which he emerged no more
today.

Feast of the Epiphany.--

This day my catechumen Alfgar was baptized in the priory church. It
seemed useless to delay longer, as he was fully prepared both
intellectually and spiritually, nay, has been so for some time, only
the tragic event which deprived him of his Danish kinsfolk had
distracted him for a time from spiritual things. Nay, had he not been
surrounded by real Christians and loving friends here at Aescendune, I
fear the Church would have lost him altogether. Such a commentary was
the massacre of St. Brice on the Christian doctrine of love and
forgiveness! He felt it grievously at first, but he was able at length
to distinguish between men that say they are of Christ, and are not,
and those who really set the example of that Lord and his Saints
before them. He is now one of ourselves; a sheep safe in the fold, and
the dying wish of his sainted mother is fulfilled. My brother intends
to adopt him as a son, and as his family is small, the proposal meets
my approbation. Bertric and Ethelgiva already love him as a brother.

CHAPTER IV. THE DANES IN WESSEX.

Up to this period we have availed ourselves of extracts from the Diary
of Father Cuthbert; but the events of the following four years, as
recorded in that record, although full of interest for the antiquarian
or the lover of monastic lore, would possess scant interest for the
general reader, and have also little connection with the course of our
tale; therefore we will convey the information they contain, which
properly pertains to our subject, in few words, and those our own,
returning occasionally to the Diary.

The melancholy history of the times may be compressed, from the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other sources, in a few paragraphs.

Burning with revenge--for his own sister had fallen in the massacre on
St. Brice's night--Sweyn returned to England the following year
(1003). He landed in Devonshire, took Exeter by storm, and returned to
his ships laden with the spoil. Then he sailed eastward, landed again
and ravaged Dorset and Wiltshire