e little hut was situated in the very heart of the fen country, now
drained and cultivated, but in the year 870 untouched by the hand of
man, the haunt of wild-fowl and human fugitives. At the door of the hut
stood a lad some fourteen years old. His only garment was a short
sleeveless tunic girded in at the waist, his arms and legs were bare;
his head was uncovered, and his hair fell in masses on his shoulders.
In his hand he held a short spear, and leaning against the wall of the
hut close at hand was a bow and quiver of arrows. The lad looked at the
sun, which was sinking towards the horizon.

"Father is late," he said. "I trust that no harm has come to him and
Egbert. He said he would return to-day without fail; he said three or
four days, and this is the fourth. It is dull work here alone. You
think so, Wolf, don't you, old fellow? And it is worse for you than it
is for me, pent up on this hummock of ground with scarce room to
stretch your limbs."

A great wolf-hound, who was lying with his head between his paws by the
embers of a fire in the centre of the hut, raised his head on being
addressed, and uttered a low howl indicative of his agreement with his
master's opinion and his disgust at his present place of abode.

"Never mind, old fellow," the boy continued, "we sha'n't be here long,
I hope, and then you shall go with me in the woods again and hunt the
wolves to your heart's content." The great hound gave a lazy wag of his
tail. "And now, Wolf, I must go. You lie here and guard the hut while I
am away. Not that you are likely to have any strangers to call in my
absence."

The dog rose and stretched himself, and followed his master down the
path until it terminated at the edge of the water. Here he gave a low
whimper as the lad stepped in and waded through the water; then turning
he walked back to the hut and threw himself down at the door. The boy
proceeded for some thirty or forty yards through the water, then paused
and pushed aside the wall of rushes which bordered the passage, and
pulled out a boat which was floating among them.

It was constructed of osier rods neatly woven together into a sort of
basket-work, and covered with an untanned hide with the hairy side in.
It was nearly oval in shape, and resembled a great bowl some three feet
and a half wide and a foot longer. A broad paddle with a long handle
lay in it, and the boy, getting into it and standing erect in the
middle paddled down the strip o