nd roar with laughter
at the blows they gave and took.

"Well done! At him again!" he cried. "Another wound; but it will not
bleed."

It was Cerda, too, who had bows and arrows made for the boys, whilst
King Ethelwulf would look on, sometimes smiling and sometimes sighing,
for he cared nothing for these things.

"But we must have fighting-men, Swythe," he said, to a little plump,
rosy-looking monk in a long gown held tightly to his waist by a knotted
rope, which cut in a good way, for the monk was very fat.

"Oh, but fighting's bad, sir, very bad," said the monk, passing one of
his hands round and round over his shining, closely-shaven crown.

"Very bad," said King Ethelwulf. "I hate it; but you know what the
Danes have done to so many of your holy house--killing, burning, and
carrying off everything that is good."

The monk screwed up his face, shook his head, and sighed, while the rosy
little man looked so droll that the King smiled.

"Look here, Swythe," he said, "suppose a horde of the savage wretches
came up here to plunder my pleasant home, what would you do?"

"Hah!" said the monk. "I am a man of peace, sir; I should run away."

"And leave the Queen and my boys and me to be killed or taken
prisoners?"

"Hah! No," said the monk. "I couldn't do that. I'm afraid I should
take the biggest staff I could lift--or a sword--or an axe--and--and if
either of the wretches tried to touch our good Queen or either of my
dear boys I should hit him as hard as ever I could."

"With the club?" said the King.

"No; I should strike him down with the axe, sir."

"But you might kill him, Swythe."

"And if I did, sir," said the little monk fiercely, "it would be a good
thing too; for these Norsemen are wicked pagans, come to kill and slay."

"You see, we must have fighting-men, Swythe," said the King; and then he
turned to the Queen, who was listening to what they said.

"Hah! yes, sir," said the monk, with a sigh. "I suppose we must; and it
does my heart good to see how clever the young Princes are with sword
and bow; but they spend too much time learning to fight. If they would
only spend half the time learning with me!"

"Yes, it would be good," said Queen Osburga sadly.

"But they don't," continued the monk. "There's only young Alured--
Alfred, as you call him--who will learn at all, and he is nearly as idle
as his brothers."

"You cannot say that they are idle," said the Queen, smiling gently.

"