warriors pressing heavily upon the ranks of the more lightly clad
Englishmen, and final defeat and surrender, complete the story of the
assault upon Ely.

William had won, but Hereward still defied him. Striking his last blow
in defence, the gallant leader, with a small band of chosen followers,
cut a lane of blood through the Norman ranks and made his way to a small
fleet of ships which he had kept armed and guarded for such an
emergency. Sail was set, and down the stream they sped to the open sea,
still setting at defiance the power of Norman William.

We have two further lines of story to follow, one of history, the other
of romance; one that of the reward of the monks for their treachery, the
other that of the later story of Hereward the Wake. Abbot Thurston
hastened to make his submission to the king. He and the inmates of the
monastery sought the court, then at Warwick, and humbly begged the royal
favor and protection. The story goes that William repaid their visit by
a journey to Ely, where he entered the minster while the monks, all
unconscious of the royal visit, were at their meal in the refectory. The
king stood humbly at a distance from the shrine, as not worthy to
approach it, but sent a mark of gold to be offered as his tribute upon
the altar.

Meanwhile, one Gilbert of Clare entered the refectory, and asked the
feasting monks whether they could not dine at some other time, and if it
were not wise to repress their hunger while King William was in the
church. Like a flock of startled pigeons the monks rose, their appetites
quite gone, and flocked tumultuously towards the church. They were too
late. William was gone. But in his short visit he had left them a most
unwelcome legacy by marking out the site of a castle within the
precincts of the monastery, and giving orders for its immediate building
by forced labor.

Abbot Thurston finally purchased peace from the king at a high rate,
paying him three hundred marks of silver for his one mark of gold. Nor
was this the end. The silver marks proved to be light in weight. To
appease the king's anger at this, another three hundred silver marks
were offered, and King William graciously suffered them to say their
prayers thenceforward in peace. Their treachery to Hereward had not
proved profitable to the traitors.

If now we return to the story of Hereward the Wake, we must once more
leave the realm of history for that of legend, for what further is told
of him