our race is at
hand; he rests this night at Warwick, with a force far exceeding
any that we can gather to meet him; their lances might uphold the
skies, their arrows darken the heavens. All the robber barons of
note are there; the butcher priest Ode, who smote with the mace at
Hastings, because he might not shed blood, the fierce Lord of
Oxford, the half Danish Harcourt, Arundel, Talbot, Maltravers,
Peveril, Morton--all swell the train which has advanced to the
destruction of our faint hope of liberty in the Midlands, our trust
that at least old Mercia may defy the despoiler."

"Let us die, then, like brave men," was the cry of many, "since we
cannot live as freemen."

"And shed our blood in vain, leaving the victory to the oppressors!
Nay, we must live for another Senlac, which shall reverse the doom
of the former. Leofric of Deeping, our guest from East Anglia, will
tell you of one who yet defies Norman tyranny, with whom we may
unite, under whose banner victory may yet bless the old flag of
England."

Leofric rose, amidst cheers and demonstrations of applause,
somewhat tempered by the gravity of the occasion; nay, a few
faint-hearted churls said, "Let us hear what he has to propose
before we cheer him."

"Has the name of Hereward, Lord of Brunn, yet reached your ears?"

A general shout of approbation replied, "Yes!"

"He it was who, while yet but a stripling, stirred up the people of
Dover to drive the proud Eustace out of their town, in good King
Edward's time, when he slew with his own hands a French knight. He
fought by the side of our Harold when he tamed Griffith, the
wildcat of Wales. He was in Flanders, to our great loss, when the
Normans invaded England, and there he heard, with grief, of the
death of our Harold and the slaughter at Senlac. Now, hearing that
many brave men yet defy the tyrant in the Isle of Ely, protected by
its bogs and marshes, he has accepted the invitation of the Abbot
Thurstan, and has hastened to return home and place himself at
their head. Three years have passed since Hastings, and yet England
is unconquered; the Normans concentrate their force against Ely in
vain; Crowland, Spalding, and many other places are recovered, and
the Danes promise their assistance to deliver those who were their
brethren under Canute from Norman tyranny.

"Therefore, in the name of the Lord of Brunn and the Abbot Thurstan
of Ely, I invite you to repair thither, to take part in the great
struggle