was saved but the gold and silver, which the spoilers divided among themselves.

The story of the cruel work of the Danes in the Fen country has been told by a chronicler named Ingulf, and, although all his history may not be true, we are sure that he gathered together many of the records of the Abbey of Croyland, and perhaps they were added to by some later writer. It is from Ingulf we learn the story of the little boy who was saved by Sidroc at Croyland. He tells us the boy's name was Thurgar, and that Sidroc, out of pity, took off his little monk's coat and put on him a Danish garment, so that he might escape. This he did, and lived to tell all that he had seen when the Danes burned the minster at Croyland.

We are not surprised at the Danes visiting the Fen country, as its abbeys with their great wealth were the attractions to the Northmen. So having done their worst in that district, they moved on to East Anglia, a kingdom comprising what we now call Norfolk and Suffolk. Its chief town then was Thetford, and its king was Edmund, a man praised for his goodness and humility, but not for his war-like abilities.

CHAPTER X.

A ROYAL MARTYR.

WHY did the Danes attack East Anglia? Probably because it was an outlying dependency of Wessex, and it was thought wise to attack the little king

dom before the greater. But there is a story told by an old chronicler, which, if not true, is interesting, and may be related in this place.

There was a King of Denmark, named Lodbrog, who had two sons, named Inguar and Hubba. Now, one day this king went with his hawk, in a small boat, to catch wild fowl along the coasts of his country. A terrible storm arose, and after being tossed about for many days, Lodbrog was cast ashore on the coast of Norfolk. Here he was found with his hawk, and was taken to King Edmund, who was much pleased with his manly bearing and the strange story of his adventures. He detained him at his palace, and allowed him to go hunting in his woods and forests, under the charge of the royal huntsman, Berne.

Lodbrog proved himself a very successful sportsman, but incurred the wrath of Berne, who one day set upon him and slew him, and buried his body in the thickets of the forest. But Lodbrog, the story says, had a hound, who had been his faithful companion for a long time. So when Berne returned home with the other dogs, this hound remained with his master's body. In the morning, King Edmund asked Berne what had become of Lodbrog. Berne replied that he had not seen him since the previous day. No sooner had he answered than the hound of Lodbrog entered the hall and began fawning on the company, but especially on the king. The dog would not be pacified till some one went whither he led, and found the dead body of Lodbrog.

King Edmund inquired into the cause of Lod

brog's death, and when he found it had been brought about by his own huntsman, he gave orders that Berne should be sent adrift on the sea in Lodbrog's own boat. In a few days the boat was cast ashore in Denmark, and Berne was brought before the sons of Lodbrog, who knew their father's boat. They de

by whose orders he had been put to death. And thus the story leads us to believe that Inguar and Hubba left Denmark with a great host to avenge their father's death. Whatever the reason for their invasion of East Anglia, we know that it was pursued with the most merciless severity, and that it ended in the utter ruin of that kingdom.

The East Angles made a less determined resistance than their neighbours. It seems that one of the Anglian earls, named Ulfketel, opposed the progress of the Danes, and met them in battle at Thetford. But his army was utterly routed, and he and most of his followers were slain. This defeat quite unnerved the king, and he withdrew to Hoxne, a place not far from Diss, in Norfolk. But he was pursued thither by the Danes under Inguar, who found the English king quite unprepared for further conflict.

Inguar demanded that Edmund should divide his

treasures with the invaders, that he should submit to their religion, and reign as a vassal. On hearing these demands, Edmund took counsel with one of his bishops, who urged the king to submit himself to the Danes, or else to flee to a place of safety. But Edmund, like a true Englishman, scorned such advice, for he had determined to die with his subjects, and not forsake his kingdom.

He then called to him the messenger from the Danish chief, and addressed him thus: "Tell your commander I am neither terrified by his threats nor deluded by his promises. You may destroy this frail and failing body like a despised vessel; but know that the freedom of my mind shall never, for an instant, bow before him. It is more honourable to defend our liberties with our lives than to beg mercy with our tears."

He was

Such a speech was one worthy of an Englishman, breathing as it does the love of freedom and the spirit of liberty. But, of course, it brought down upon the king the immediate fury of the Danes. It was now useless to resist. The king was taken, severely beaten, and bound with fetters. then dragged to a tree, tied to its trunk, and cruelly whipped. Even this was not enough to appease the fury of the Danes, for while these tortures were in progress some pierced his body with their arrows. But Edmund bore all his sufferings in silence; and Inguar, to hasten his death, ordered the English king to be beheaded. The corpse was left a prey for the wild beasts, but some faithful monks from Croyland secretly stole away the head and body of

their martyred king, and entombed them safe from the hands of the spoilers.

as St. As may

King Edmund was canonised, and his body placed in a costly shrine. In due time a fine abbey was built over it, and the place was known Edmund's Bury, or Bury St. Edmund's. be supposed, the memory of Edmund, this brave English king, was greatly reverenced in his own. kingdom, and the churches of Norfolk and Suffolk have pictures of him pierced with arrows.

It was a time of great trouble for East Anglia, for there was no one to take Edmund's place. His brother, Edwold, seeing what had happened, retired to a monastery in Dorsetshire, where he led a hermit's life on bread and water. The Northmen placed Guthrum, one of their leaders, over East Anglia, and thus its conquest was complete in all respects. The Danes were now masters of England from the Forth to the Thames, and a last and supreme effort was necessary to conquer Wessex, or England south of the Thames.

The winter of 870 was now at hand, so the Danes remained quiet for a few months before they marched further south. In the meantime, we hear nothing of Ethelred, the King of the West-Saxons, and of his brave brother, Alfred; but we may be sure that they were getting their people into discipline; that all the leaders were ready to go forth; and that the same spirit that the Martyr-King, Edmund, had shown would soon manifest itself in the English south of the Thames.