ng,--and a
crowned king shalt thou be; yet fearful foes shall assail thee--foreshown
in the shapes of a lion and raven, that came in menace over the bloodred
sea. The two stars in the heaven betoken that the day of thy birth was
also the birthday of a foe, whose star is fatal to thine; and they warn
thee against a battle-field, fought on the day when those stars shall
meet. Farther than this the mystery of thy dream escapes from my
lore;--wouldst thou learn thyself, from the phantom that sent the
dream;--stand by my side at the grave of the Saxon hero, and I will
summon the Scin-laeca to counsel the living. For what to the Vala the
dead may deny, the soul of the brave on the brave may bestow!"

Harold listened with a serious and musing attention which his pride or
his reason had never before accorded to the warnings of Hilda. But his
sense was not yet fascinated by the voice of the charmer, and he answered
with his wonted smile, so sweet yet so haughty:

"A hand outstretched to a crown should be armed for the foe; and the eye
that would guard the living should not be dimmed by the vapours that
encircle the dead."

CHAPTER V.

But from that date changes, slight, yet noticeable and important, were at
work both in the conduct and character of the great Earl.

Hitherto he had advanced on his career without calculation; and nature,
not policy, had achieved his power. But henceforth he began thoughtfully
to cement the foundations of his House, to extend the area, to strengthen
the props. Policy now mingled with the justice that had made him
esteemed, and the generosity that had won him love. Before, though by
temper conciliatory, yet, through honesty, indifferent to the enmities he
provoked, in his adherence to what his conscience approved, he now laid
himself out to propitiate all ancient feuds, soothe all jealousies, and
convert foes into friends. He opened constant and friendly communication
with his uncle Sweyn, King of Denmark; he availed himself sedulously of
all the influence over the Anglo-Danes which his mother's birth made so
facile. He strove also, and wisely, to conciliate the animosities which
the Church had cherished against Godwin's house: he concealed his disdain
of the monks and monkridden: he showed himself the Church's patron and
friend; he endowed largely the convents, and especially one at Waltham,
which had fallen into decay, though favourably known for the piety of its
brotherhood. Bu