boats there
were, but wide of the mark.

"Alfgar," said the gleeman, "you will find a quiver of arrows and a
long bow at the bottom of the boat behind you."

Alfgar handed them to him.

"The points are passing sharp, and the bow is in order; take your turn
to row."

Alfgar obeyed; he could not do otherwise, the gleeman's tone of
command was so powerful, but he feared they would loss time by the
change.

"You need not hurry yourself; let them approach. They are not likely
to have brought other weapons than their swords and axes."

The boat gained on them rapidly, until it was within a hundred and
fifty yards.

"Keep just this distance if you can," said the gleeman, and drew an
arrow suddenly to its head; it whistled through the air, and the
steersman, transfixed, rose, leapt in the boat, and fell in the sea a
corpse.

"Gone to seek oysters for King Sweyn's table, I suppose," said the
gleeman.

Another steersman promptly took the place, but some yards were lost by
the pursuers.

"Slacken, we are too far for accurate aim; and we English must not
disgrace ourselves in Danish eyes."

They slackened, another arrow sped, and the foremost rower fell.
Evidently the Danes had no means of reply.

"Slacken yet more;" and before the pursuers could recover their
confusion, a third fell, then a fourth, before the unerring shafts.
The fifth was at the fearful gleeman's mercy, but he restrained
himself, now danger had vanished.

But as he did so he cried aloud:

"Dane, we give thee thy life, blood sucker though thou art. Go, and
tell King Sweyn that Edmund {viii} the Etheling, son of Ethelred
of England, has been his gleeman, and hopes he enjoyed the song which
told the doom of parricides."

CHAPTER XII. THE MONASTERY OF ABINGDON.

One of the central lights of civilisation and Christianity in the
early days of Wessex was the monastery of Abingdon. St. Birinus had
fixed the centre of his missionary labours at Dorchester, only six
miles distant, but the Abbey was the fruit of the heroic zeal of
another evangelist, upon whom his mantle fell--St. Wilfrid. After the
death of Birinus, the zeal of his successors failed to evangelise the
southeastern districts of Wessex, until, at length, came Wilfrid,
fervent in zeal, and, stationing himself at Selsey, near Chichester,
evangelised both Sussex and Wessex, sending out missionaries
like-minded with himself, even into the most inaccessible wilds.

Centwin was then