d all his family were very anxious, it may be readily
believed, for the earliest news from the field of battle, for battle
every one agreed was impending; and, to gratify their natural curiosity.
Redwald sent out quick and alert members of his troop, to act as
messengers, and bear speedy news from the scene of action.

The night set in clear and bright, as we have already seen; and while
poor Elfric was wandering about uneasily beneath that brilliant sky, the
same stars looked down peacefully upon his home, where all slept sweetly
under the fostering care, as they would have said, of their guardian angels.

The morn broke brightly, and with every promise of a fine harvest day.
The labourers were speedily again in the fields; the cattle wandered
under the herdsman's care to their distant pastures; the subdued
tinkling of the sheep bells met the ear, and the other subdued sounds
which soothe the air on a summer's day; and so the hours fled by, and no
one would have dreamed that, not twenty miles away, man met man in the
fierce and deadly struggle of war.

When the reapers assembled for their midday meal, they discussed the
merits of the quarrel, and nearly all those who had been brought under
the eye of "Edwy the Fair" were eager in pleading his cause, and trying
to find some extenuation of his misdeeds in the matter of the illegal
marriage, for such it was, from the mildest point of view; and scarcely
a voice was raised on the opposite side, until Ella drew near the scene
of conversation, and observed that "while God forbid they should judge
the matter harshly, yet law was law, and right was right, and a
beautiful face or winsome look could not change it."

Strolling near the field, seemingly absorbed in thought, walked Redwald,
and seeing the reapers, he came towards them.

"A picture of peaceful enjoyment," he quietly said. "How often have I
wished I could but lay down sword and lance to take more innocent
weapons in hand, and to spend my declining days 'mid scenes like these."

"Indeed!" said Ella. "It is generally thought that men whose trade is
war love their calling."

"Yes; sometimes the fierce din of battle seems a pastime fit for the
gods, but the banquet is apt to cloy."

"Have you followed your profession for many years?"

"Since I was a mere child; even my boyhood was passed amid the din of arms."

There were very few professional soldiers in that day, and they were
much dreaded. An Englishman was a