n England to the Danes, and it is not by words
that such a right can be disputed. If your messengers had not taken me
by surprise--" He paused, with an odd curl to his lips that could hardly
be called a smile; but Canute gave him grim command to finish, and he
obeyed with rising color. "If your messengers had not come upon me as
I was riding on the Watling Street and brought me here, a prisoner,
I would have argued the matter with arrows, and you would needs have
battered down the defence of stone walls to convince me."

Mutters of mingled admiration and censure buzzed around; and one English
noble, more daring and also more friendly than the others, drew near and
spoke a word of friendly warning in Sebert's ear. Through it all, Canute
sat motionless, studying the Etheling with his bright colorless eyes.

At last he said unexpectedly, "If you would not obey my summons until
my men had dealt with you by force, it cannot be said that you have much
respect for my authority. Do you not then acknowledge me as King of the
English?"

Rothgar betrayed impatience at this branching aside. Sebert himself
showed surprise.

He said hesitatingly, "I--I cannot deny that. You have the same right
that Cerdic had over the Britons. Nay, you have more, for you are the
formal choice of the Witan. I cannot rightly deny that you are King of
the Angles."

"If you acknowledge me to be that," Canute said, "I do not see why you
have not an argument for your defence."

While all stared at him, he rose slowly and stood before them, a
dazzling figure as the light caught the steel of his ring-mail and
turned his polished helm to a fiery dome.

"Sebert Oswaldsson," he said slowly, "I did not feel much love toward
you the first time I saw you, and it is hard for me not to hate you now,
when I see what you are going to be the cause of. If your case had come
before Canute the man, you would have received the answer you expect.
But it is your luck that Canute the man is dead, and you stand before
Canute the King. Hear then my answer: By all the laws of war, the land
belongs to Ivar's son; and had he regained it while war ruled, I had not
taken it from him, though the Witan itself commanded me. But instead
of regaining it, he lost it." He stretched a forbidding hand toward
Rothgar, feeling without seeing his angry impulse. "By what means
matters not; battles have turned on a smaller thing, and the loyalty of
those we have protected is a lawful weap