t in the hands of its former owners to till,
and after to wring from the cultivators the fruits of the harvest;
then, as the country becomes thoroughly impoverished, they must move
elsewhere. Mercia they can overrun whensoever they choose, and after
that there is nothing for them to do but to sweep down again upon
Wessex, and with all the rest of England at their feet it is hopeless
to think that we alone can withstand their united power."

"Then what, think you, must be the end of this?" Edmund asked.

"'Tis difficult to see the end," Alfred replied. "It would seem that
our only hope of release from them is that when they have utterly eaten
up and ravaged England they may turn their thoughts elsewhere. Already
they are harrying the northern coasts of France, but there are richer
prizes on the Mediterranean shores, and it may be that when England is
no longer worth plundering they may sail away to Spain and Italy. We
have acted foolishly in the way we have fought them. When they first
began to arrive upon our coasts we should have laboured hard to build
great fleets, so that we could go forth and meet them on the seas.

"Some, indeed, might have escaped our watch and landed, but the fleets
could have cut off reinforcements coming to them, and thus those who
reached our shores could have been overwhelmed. Even now, I think that
something might be done that way, and I purpose to build a fleet which
may, when they again invade us, take its station near the mouth of the
Thames and fall upon the vessels bringing stores and reinforcements.
This would give much encouragement to the people, whose hopelessness
and desperation are caused principally by the fact that it seems to be
of no use killing the enemy, since so many are ready constantly to take
their places."

"I will gladly undertake to build one ship," Edmund said. "The fort is
now finished, and with the revenues of the land I could at once
commence a ship; and if the Danes give us time, when she is finished I
would build another. I will the more gladly do it, since it seems to me
that if the Danes entirely overrun our country we must take to the sea
and so in turn become plunderers. With this view I will have the ship
built large and strong, so that she may keep the sea in all weathers
and be my home if I am driven out of England. There must be plenty of
ports in France, and many a quiet nook and inlet round England, where
one can put in to refit when necessary, and