broad Norse tongue. But at least he gave us somewhat
more to think of than the sickness that comes of heaving planks
that will by no means keep steady for a moment."

He laughed heartily at himself, and then added:

"Good King Alfred thought not at all of that matter. Now I can
shift the whole credit of this victory to your shoulders, and then
he will not believe that I am the born sea captain that he would
have me think myself."

"I will not have that," I said, "for I have not deserved it."

"Ay; but, I pray you, let me put it from myself, else shall I be
sent to sea again without any one to look to for advice," he said
earnestly, and half laughing at the same time. "I did but take
command of this fleet because the king could find no one else at a
pinch. Heaven defend me from such a charge again!"

"Now you have only the Exeter Danes to deal with," I said.

"How many men might these ships have held?" he asked.

"Maybe five thousand," I answered.

Thereat his face changed, and he rose up from his seat at the high
table, and said that he would go down to see that the ships were
safe, for the gale was blowing heavily as the night fell.

So we went outside the house, and called a man, telling him to find
one of the Poole fishermen and bring him to speak to us.

"There were twelve thousand Danes in Wareham," he said, "for more
have come lately. I thought they would all have been in the ships."

"If that had been possible, not one would have seen the morning's
light," I answered, "for their ships are lost in this gale
certainly."

Now I will say that I was right. The wrecks strewed the shore of
Dorset and Hants next morning; and if any men won to land, there
waited for them the fishers and churls, who hated them. No Danish
fleet was left in the channel after that gale was spent.

When the fisher came, he told us that as many more Danes were left
in Wareham, and that those from Poole had fled thither when they
saw what had happened to the fleet.

"Shall you march on Wareham and scatter them, or will they fall on
us here?" I asked; for we had no more than two thousand men at
most.

"I would that I knew what they thought of this business," he
answered; "but I shall not move tonight. It is far by land, and I
suppose we could not get the ships up in the dark."

So he posted pickets along the road to Wareham, and we went back to
the house for a while. And presently, as it grew dark, a wild
thought came into my