ing, seeing the Normans thus falling
from him, revenged himself upon them by appealing to the English; to whom
he made a variety of promises, which he never meant to perform--in
particular, promises to soften the cruelty of the Forest Laws; and who,
in return, so aided him with their valour, that ODO was besieged in the
Castle of Rochester, and forced to abandon it, and to depart from England
for ever: whereupon the other rebellious Norman nobles were soon reduced
and scattered.

Then, the Red King went over to Normandy, where the people suffered
greatly under the loose rule of Duke Robert. The King's object was to
seize upon the Duke's dominions. This, the Duke, of course, prepared to
resist; and miserable war between the two brothers seemed inevitable,
when the powerful nobles on both sides, who had seen so much of war,
interfered to prevent it. A treaty was made. Each of the two brothers
agreed to give up something of his claims, and that the longer-liver of
the two should inherit all the dominions of the other. When they had
come to this loving understanding, they embraced and joined their forces
against Fine-Scholar; who had bought some territory of Robert with a part
of his five thousand pounds, and was considered a dangerous individual in
consequence.

St. Michael's Mount, in Normandy (there is another St. Michael's Mount,
in Cornwall, wonderfully like it), was then, as it is now, a strong place
perched upon the top of a high rock, around which, when the tide is in,
the sea flows, leaving no road to the mainland. In this place,
Fine-Scholar shut himself up with his soldiers, and here he was closely
besieged by his two brothers. At one time, when he was reduced to great
distress for want of water, the generous Robert not only permitted his
men to get water, but sent Fine-Scholar wine from his own table; and, on
being remonstrated with by the Red King, said 'What! shall we let our own
brother die of thirst? Where shall we get another, when he is gone?' At
another time, the Red King riding alone on the shore of the bay, looking
up at the Castle, was taken by two of Fine-Scholar's men, one of whom was
about to kill him, when he cried out, 'Hold, knave! I am the King of
England!' The story says that the soldier raised him from the ground
respectfully and humbly, and that the King took him into his service. The
story may or may not be true; but at any rate it is true that
Fine-Scholar could not hold out ag