a boy before his master; but he had his answer ready, and his head was
steadily erect as he gave it.

"King of the Angles, the right of open speech has belonged to my race
as long as the right to the crown has belonged to yours. So my father's
fathers spoke to yours under the council-tree, and so I shall speak to
you while I live."

Back in the shadow, each yeoman laid one hand upon his weapon, and with
the other, thrust an exulting thumb into his neighbor's ribs. But they
did not turn to look at each other; every eye was fastened upon the two
by the fire. Freeman and his leader, or feudal lord and his dependant?
For the moment they stood forth as representatives of a mighty conflict,
and every breath hung upon their motions.

After a time the King made a slight movement with his shoulders.

"I should have remembered," he said, "that your father was ruined by
rebellion."

In a flash the rebel's son had forgotten boyish embarrassment. "Whoso
told you that, royal lord, told you lies. My father stood upon his
right. Steel to turn against the Danes, Ethelred had a right to require;
and steel my father was ready to pay. But Ethelred demanded gold, and
the Lord of Ivarsdale would not stoop to bribe. Nor has it been proven
that his policy was wrong," he added under his breath.

Then there was no longer any doubt concerning the position of Ethelred's
son. He said with deliberate emphasis, "The only policy which concerns
those of your station is obedience."

If there was enough of the old free blood left in the King's thanes to
redden their cheeks, that was all there was. But while they stood in
silence, a mutter ran like a growl through the ranks of yeomen; the gaze
they bent upon their leader had in it almost the force of a command.

He was young, their chief, too young for impassivity. Despite himself,
his hands trembled with excitement. But there was no tremor in his
words.

"We of Ivarsdale do not profess such obedience, King Edmund. That is
for thanes and for the unfree, who owe their all to your generosity. Our
land we hold as our fathers held it--from God's bounty and the might
of our swords. When we have paid the three taxes of fort-building and
bridge-building and field-service, we have paid all that we owe to the
State."

At last they stood defined, the first of the feudal lords and the last
of the odal-born men. Even through the King's loftiness it was suddenly
borne in that, behind the insignificance of