ed fugitive in the fens; together with some of the children who
have fled here, and who, too, could not support such a life. It may be
that when the fierce Danes arrive and find nought but children and aged
men even their savage breasts may be moved to pity; but if not, God's
will be done. The younger brethren will seek refuge in the fens, and
will carry with them the sacred relics of the monastery. The most holy
body of St. Guthlac with his scourge and psalmistry, together with the
most valuable jewels and muniments, the charters of the foundation of
the abbey, given by King Ethelbald, and the confirmation thereof by
other kings, with some of the most precious gifts presented to the
abbey."

Edmund and Egbert set to work to assist the weeping monks in making
preparations for their departure. A boat was laden with the relics of
the saints, the muniments of the king, and the most precious vessels.
The table of the great altar covered with plates of gold, which King
Wichtlof had presented, with ten gold chalices, and many other vessels,
was thrown into the well of the convent.

In the distance the smoke of several villages could now be seen rising
over the plain, and it was clear that the Danes were approaching. The
ten priests and twenty monks who were to leave now knelt, and received
the solemn benediction of the abbot, then, with Edmund and Egbert, they
took their places in the boat and rowed away to the wood of Ancarig,
which lay not far from the abbey.

The abbot Theodore and the aged monks and priests now returned to the
church, and, putting on their vestments, commenced the services of the
day; the abbot himself celebrated high mass, assisted by brother Elfget
the deacon, brother Savin the sub-deacon, and the brothers Egelred and
Wyelric, youths who acted as taper-bearers. When the mass was finished,
just as the abbot and his assistants had partaken of the holy
communion, the Danes burst into the church. The abbot was slain upon
the holy altar by the hand of the Danish king Oskytal, and the other
priests and monks were beheaded by the executioner.

The old men and children in the choir were seized and tortured to
disclose where the treasures of the abbey were concealed, and were also
put to death with the prior and sub-prior. Turgar, an acolyte of ten
years of age; a remarkably beautiful boy, stood by the side of the
sub-prior as he was murdered and fearlessly confronted the Danes, and
bade them put him to deat