we could pick up many a
prize of Danish ships returning laden with booty. With such a ship I
could carry a strong crew, and with my trusty Egbert and the best of my
fighting men we should be able to hold our own, even if attacked by two
or three of the Danish galleys."

"The idea is a good one, Edmund," the king said, "and I would that I
myself could carry it into effect. It were a thousand times better to
live a free life on the sea, even if certain at last to be overpowered
by a Danish fleet, than to lurk a hunted fugitive in the woods; but I
cannot do it. So long as I live I must remain among my people, ready to
snatch any chance that may offer of striking a blow against the
invader. But for you it is different."

"I should not, of course, do it," Edmund said, "until all is lost here,
and mean to defend my fort to an extremity; still should it be that the
Danes conquer all our lands, it were well to have such a refuge."

Edmund talked the matter over with Egbert, who warmly entered into the
plan. "So long as I have life I will fight against the Danes, and in a
ship at least we can fight manfully till the end. We must not build her
on the sea-coast, or before the time when we need her she may be
destroyed by the Danes. We will build her on the Parrot. The water is
deep enough far up from the sea to float her when empty, and if we
choose some spot where the river runs among woods we might hide her so
that she may to the last escape the attention of the Danes.

"We must get some men crafty in ship-building from one of the ports,
sending down a body of our own serfs to do the rough work. We will go
to Exeter first and there choose us the craftsman most skilled in
building ships, and will take council with him as to the best form and
size. She must be good to sail and yet able to row fast with a strong
crew, and she must have room to house a goodly number of rowing and
fighting men. You, Edmund, might, before we start, consult King Alfred.
He must have seen at Rome and other ports on the Mediterranean the
ships in use there, which are doubtless far in advance of our own. For
we know from the Holy Bible that a thousand years ago St. Paul made
long voyages in ships, and doubtless they have learned much since those
days."

Edmund thought the idea a good one, and asked the king to make him a
drawing of the vessels in use in the Mediterranean. This King Alfred
readily did, and Egbert and Edmund then journeyed to Exeter, w