grew plainer every moment. From the number of twinkling sparks that
flitted here and there, it would seem that many folk were waking,
even if some movement were not on hand.

Presently we turned into the channel that bends to the southwest
from the more open water, and the town was before us. The fisher
took to his oars now, lowering the scrap of sail that had been
enough to drive us very swiftly before the gale so far.

Wareham stands on the tongue of land between two rivers' mouths,
and the tide was setting us into the northward of these. That was
the river one would have to cross in coming to or from Poole, and
maybe we should learn as much there as anywhere.

There were three ships on the mud, but even in the moonlight it was
plain that they were not seaworthy. There were wide gaps in their
bulwarks, which none had tried to mend, and the stem head of one
was gone.

"These ships were hurt in the storm of lest week," the fisher said,
as we drifted past them; "there was hardly one that came in unhurt.
But the Danes were eager to go, and mended them as they could."

Perhaps that was partly the reason why we gained so easy a victory,
I thought at the time, and afterwards knew that I was right. They
had suffered very much, while we lay across channel in safety.

There loomed before us the timbers of a strong bridge that had been
over the north river, when we were fairly in it and under the
nearer houses of the town. But now it was broken down, and the gap
in its middle was too wide for hasty repair.

"When was this done?" I asked the fisherman.

"Since yesterday," he answered.

Now this seemed to me to indicate that the Danes meant to guard
against attack by land from Poole; also that they overrated our
numbers, which was probable in any case, seeing that a fleet had
fled from before us.

There were wharves on the seaward side of the bridge, but none were
beyond; and the houses stood back from the water, so that there was
a sort of open green between it and them. There were no people
about, but we could hear shouts from the town now and then.

"Let us go ashore and speak with some one," I said; "it is of no
use our biding here on the water."

Kolgrim and I were fully armed, and had boat cloaks with us which
covered us well, and we thought none would question who we were if
we mixed among the men in some inn or other gathering place. So we
bade the fisher wait for us, and found the stairs, and went to the