Ned, the son of Webb

ho ever supposed that the Vikings had ships that would carry

rpent, the two-masted war-ship which was to transport Vebba's men and others to the coast of England. He knew that Tostig

guess what to say if he were t

the shore and were embarked rapidly, thousand after thousand. It might be an exaggeration, but Ned had obtained an idea that the three hundred ships of the king, sailing from this and other ports, when joined by those of Tostig, would be carrying over

ed. "I like him. He was elected, like one

ad for the English king,-or president. Harold was to be, indeed, the

ad more or less cabin room for men of high degree and importance, but the rank and file, as Ned called them, would, obviously, have to camp out

tter," he said, "if there

ery harper in the fleet seemed to be twanging the best he knew how. There were many flags and streamers, and Ned saw several banners which bore the black pict

land. There are plenty of heathen there to convert, and I'll not be in Norway another winter. It's a cold place in snow time. Even the sea freezes hard, and t

"I'd rather be there, myself. How many day

f. They don't seem to know the name of one saint among them. It's not so in Ireland. I am glad I was born in a civilised land, among Christians. I am told that Duke William of Normand

ca's Norwegian, for he was continually picking up new words. Nevertheless, he was all the while wondering what he was to do among Saxons to keep up the impression that he w

th what else, not to speak of the Gaels and the Welsh and the Cornishmen. It is not at all the same in Ireland, my boy, where all speak the same tongue, except at the north of it and at the south and in the middle. I c

se regions were divided among many tribes, clans, and languages. Each leading

ere it's an every-day matter for one fellow not to underst

mberland, the young friend of Tostig the Earl, wondered more and more at the size, the swiftness, and the good handling of those strangely modelled war-ships. Sailing down the North Sea appeared, thus far, as a very agre

the great oars. To each of the latter, long-handled, broad-bladed, two, or even three, strong men were ordered. On the high deck at the stern stood an officer, shouting loudly in a hoarse cadence like a song, and stamping time with his feet, that all the rowers might pull together. At regular intervals the oarsmen were changed, so that all on

ngland. The night which followed was full of discomfort. In the morning the rain-drenched and weary Vikings were grumbling all over the ship

rian. "Look at them! Who would have expected to see so man

dolefully over a bulwark between two dripping war

otion of the ship I care for. She's a bad one to pitch and

was seen to the westward, word was passed rapidly around, by swift rowboats, that all should draw well together, and make for the wide bay, known as the Humber, for there the landing

t better, for s

e water is bad, too, and I won't drink any beer. There's one thing, though; there isn't any smoking or tobacco chewing among these fellows.

nor had he stationed any forces to oppose the landing of an enemy. The fact was, as Ned had learned f

good missionary. "The ignorant savages! But it'll be a queer lot of teachin

Berserker blessing Thor and Woden for getting him across the se

vens," said Ned to Father Brian, "but what is it

his bed. He'd rather be murdered, any day. May he have his own will in that matter, say I! Most likely he will no

w and then he would hold it up to the light, twirling its heavy weight as if it had been a feather, while his dark, hairy features twisted and gleamed with bloodthirsty ferocity, and his deeply

" said Ned, decidedly. "The world can't

men that came over to harry the land. The worst of all were the giants, like Finn and his big brethren. What wouldst thou think of Sikend now, my boy, if he

er Brian! There's the king's own ship, ahead of us, going right into the

k to the war-horns! All the Vikings will be going blood wild! Ah, my boy, there'll be hard fighti

e better for being propelled by oars. As Ned remarked, oars were as good as steam, for that business, so far as they went. The fl

r Brian, "but the Kentucky could make it loo

u wert saying? I don't know one word of Saxon. It's a

lf, but it was of no use, for his f

be. It's not a country like England that can be civilised in that way. It hath been on my mind, though, that if the Northmen a

ds of Irish have come over to our country, and a

ther Brian. "What's the good of them i

what to say to that point, a l

mmand of the king is that every man shall land i

and up sprang the good

. I'll have good mail under my cassock, and I can swing an ax with any of them. Get thys

ttle trappings, and he shortly discovered that the missionary had not

ce more came twanging with the horn blasts the sound of many harps. It was an hour of intense excitement, for the armament of the Sea King had come to decide the fate and future of a great empire. It was well understood by all, moreover, that it was to be met by a Saxon king and gen

onfessor he had long been the actual ruler of England,

est Saxons had been Alfred's o

n, one after another. Father Brian says that some of them are hitched on a little loosely, even no

ading fleet was, therefore, compelled to accommodate its order and movement to the shape and area of the water it was n

first of them get ashore,"

ada's men have been working havoc everywhere. There hath been hard fighting in the Scotch islands, that's the Orkneys and She

d. "That's a

n harrying the coast of Yorkshire, they call it, to no good that I can see. Now he hath pulled them all together, and if he doth not get him

rowed steadily on. No man could say just where the Humber ended and the Ouse began. Before long the mouth of a river was reached on the left. That was the Don,

. "What he wanteth to do, now, is to get his gr

g in the mind of the good missionary, and

marched away? I am told that it was not so elsewhere. The women wept as if they were mourning, and all the old ones

owed ships of the Vikings were crowding

scenery he was accustomed to. Ever since coming on board the Serpent, however, he had seemed another fellow. He was tall and strong for his age, and his yellow hair was put up in a long braid, which the back

matter, Lars

tter them, he saith, and some of them will be cut to pieces by these Danes and Angles of Northumbe

eard him make since leaving Norway, a

l keep myself a good piece in the rear of this army rathe

d of her, were already making fast at convenient places along the banks. From each of these gang-planks were put out, and lines of warriors were marching forth upo

hat bit of water and swamp between them and us. They are cut off from doing any good if the rest of us get into a battle. M

rada, above the mouth of the Derwent, nevertheless, and amon

ight on up the river, to land so near them. They were not ready, therefore, and the King of Norway had now posted his army in strong positions, while the frightened people who had fled at hi

and can never be conquered without artillery. If King Harold or the Saxon earls could bring out a few batteries of Max

nor forces for them to encounter at the outset. Even when sunset came, and after that the darkness, ship after ship, as it arrived

women of Norway, but no man ever knoweth exactly when the luck will turn, if it's agai