, and a desire to do wild things, and a cruel
feeling that he did not care what happened to other people so long as he
had a good time, he _gave in to himself_ and began the most wild and
reckless life you can imagine. He armed himself with a great ash-bow and
a sharp spear from his father's armoury. He slung a shield on his back,
and stuck his belt full of knives and daggers and arrows. Then he went
about and collected a gang of all the wildest boys he could find, and
put himself at their head. Then, going through all the country round,
these wild boys attacked anybody they thought was an enemy of theirs,
paid off old grudges, killed and wounded innocent people, set fire to
their houses, and did all the damage they could. Mad with excitement and
lust for blood, they soon became just a robber band, attacking friend
and foe alike, killing just for the pleasure of killing, or sacking
farms and houses to satisfy their greed. They knew all the woods and
by-ways so well that no one could catch them. After a time they began to
build themselves huts where they could sleep, and also hide the treasure
they had plundered from rich men. You can't imagine any wicked or
horrible thing they did not do. And, of course, they forgot God
entirely, though once they had been Christian children and had been
brought up to know and love God. Nine years passed like this, and then
something happened.

One night as Guthlac, the chief, lay on his bed of rushes and soft, warm
skins in the darkness of the wooden cabin, thinking over the excitements
of the day and planning all the wicked things he would do the next day,
a wonderful thought flashed into his mind, and it seemed to swallow up
all the other thoughts. He lay still, gazing into the darkness and
trying to understand what it was. Then, gradually, he found that it was
_God_ he was thinking about--God, Whom he had forgotten for nine long
years.

He did not turn away his mind, but went on thinking about God until his
heart was full of a kind of glow that was _love_. He was surprised, for
he knew he did not really love God; for he was spending all his days
fighting against Him by every wicked thing he could imagine. And then he
began to understand that this feeling inside him was sent by God--it was
God's love for him, and not his love for God. Could it really be that
God loved him? He was so very wicked and cruel, and God--God was so good
and just and merciful.

The robbers, sleeping on the