was his wonder when he found the loaf whole and the measure of wine full. When the king heard thereof, he saw it was a miracle; and when they tried to find the stranger, they could not trace which way he had come or whither he had gone. This was the more strange, for the place being surrounded by water could only be reached by a boat.

While they were thus wondering, even at the ninth hour, there returned the folk who had been out fishing. They had three boats full of fish, and had caught on this one day more fish than they had in all the time they had been on the island. The people were all merry at such good fortune, and the king also rejoiced; yet he secretly wondered at all the strange events of the day.

He

When night came they all went to rest, but the king could not sleep, for he was pondering over all that had come to pass. Presently there shone upon his bed a light from heaven, brighter than the beams of the sun. In the midst of this light he saw the form of an old man with black hair, clothed with priest's garments, and with a mitre on his head. held in his right hand a book of the Gospels adorned most marvellously with gold and jewels. The old man blessed the king, and Alfred said, "Who art thou?" Whereupon the vision answered, "Alfred, my son, rejoice. I am he to whom thou didst give bread and wine to-day. I am called Cuthbert, the servant of Christ, and am come to tell you how to free yourself from the Danes. Now, therefore, be faithful, trust in God, and all shall be well. Rise up early in the morning, cross over to the nearest shore,

and blow loudly three times on your horn. Then, about the ninth hour of the day, five hundred of your dearest friends shall come to your help. And by this sign you shall know that at the end of seven days an army of all your folk shall meet together at Mount Assandune, and shall follow you once again as their king. Then shall you fight the enemy, and,

without a doubt, gain the victory."

Having said these words, the Saint vanished, and the light faded away; but Alfred felt sure that all would come to pass even as St. Cuthbert had said. Early in the morning Alfred left his bed, and hastened to the opposite shore, where he did as he was bade. His horn was heard far and near, and there were soon gathered unto him five hundred of his best friends. He told them what he had heard from St. Cuthbert, and he exhorted them to be strong and of a good courage.

Now, on the seventh day, even as the Saint had said, there came to Alfred a great army to Mount Assandune. The fierce Danes also gathered themselves in battle array. They trusted to their great numbers and to their past victories, but Alfred and his army trusted in God.

So the battle soon began between the Christians and the Pagans, but the victory was easily gained by Alfred, who once more became King of Britain, and ruled wisely and well all the rest of his days.

CHAPTER XVIII.

VICTORY AT EDINGTON.

HAVING turned aside into the pleasant realms of fiction, it is now time to return to the prosaic regions of fact. And here it is well to note that, however much the old chroniclers vary in their accounts of Alfred's doings, while he was an exile in the Forest of Selwood, there is really no substantial difference in their narrative of the events of the subsequent period.

We have seen that Alfred was in hiding from Twelfth Night to Easter 878; and we know that Easter of that year fell on March 23rd. When that date was reached, the winter of the English discontent was over, and the brave followers of Alfred were now able to leave their hiding-places, in which they had sheltered themselves from the cold of winter and the assaults of the Danes. The English Chronicle, which is our best authority during this period, says: "And after this, at Easter, King Alfred, with a small band, constructed a fortress at Athelney; and from this fortress they fought against the army."

King Alfred had chosen this spot with great care, for Athelney, i.e. the Isle of Nobles, lay in the neighbourhood of Somerton, east of the River Parret, where it is joined by the little River Tone. This island is slightly higher than the surrounding

country, and, owing to its difficulty of access, needed but little labour to make it impregnable. On this stronghold Alfred unfurled his standard, the golden dragon, and as soon as the men of Somerset saw it, their hearts were filled with joy, and they hastened to the side of their king. For some weeks Alfred was engaged in a number of skirmishes. One chronicler says "he fought daily battles against the barbarians,"

All these little actions being successful, a great assault was determined on, in the seventh week after Easter. On a pre-arranged day early in May, he moved from Athelney to Brixton, lying to the east of Selwood Forest. To this place came all the neighbouring folk of Somerset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire; and when they saw their king once more in their midst, after such great tribulation, they received him with joy and acclamations, and greeted him as one risen from the dead.

Here then the king encamped for the night, and, rising early the following day, the army of the WestSaxons marched off, full of spirits, in the direction of the Danish headquarters at Chippenham. The first stage in the march was to Iglea, a place which is supposed to be somewhere near Westbury in Wilts. Here the army rested for the night, and then on the next day they resumed their march, till they met the Danes at Ethandune or, as it is now called, Edington.

Directly the Danes realised the situation, they gathered together all their forces, and the result was that a desperate conflict ensued. Alfred formed his