lect that the tidings which William first
received of the accession of King Harold were brought to him by Tostig,
Harold's brother, on the day when he was trying his bow and arrows in
the park at Rouen. Tostig was his brother's most inveterate foe. He had
been, during the reign of Edward, a great chieftain, ruling over the
north of England. The city of York was then his capital. He had been
expelled from these his dominions, and had quarreled with his brother
Harold in respect to his right to be restored to them. In the course of
this quarrel he was driven from the country altogether, and went to the
Continent, burning with rage and resentment against his brother; and
when he came to inform William of Harold's usurpation, his object was
not merely to arouse _William_ to action--he wished to act himself. He
told William that he himself had more influence in England still than
his brother, and that if William would supply him with a small fleet
and a moderate number of men, he would make a descent upon the coast and
show what he could do.

William acceded to his proposal, and furnished him with the force which
he required, and Tostig set sail. William had not, apparently, much
confidence in the power of Tostig to produce any great effect, but his
efforts, he thought, might cause some alarm in England, and occasion
sudden and fatiguing marches to the troops, and thus distract and weaken
King Harold's forces. William would not, therefore, accompany Tostig
himself, but, dismissing him with such force as he could readily raise
on so sudden a call, he remained himself in Normandy, and commenced in
earnest his own grand preparations, as is described in the last chapter.

Tostig did not think it prudent to attempt a landing on English shores
until he had obtained some accession to the force which William had
given him. He accordingly passed through the Straits of Dover, and then
turning northward, he sailed along the eastern shores of the German
Ocean in search of allies. He came, at length, to Norway. He entered
into negotiations there with the Norwegian king, whose name, too, was
Harold. This northern Harold was a wild and adventurous soldier and
sailor, a sort of sea king, who had spent a considerable portion of his
life in marauding excursions upon the seas. He readily entered into
Tostig's views. An arrangement was soon concluded, and Tostig set sail
again to cross the German Ocean toward the British shores, while Harold
p