ways ready," replied Noblede; "the floor is
strewn with fresh leaves. Alack! No one occupied it since it was last
occupied by Amael."

"Worthy grandfather!" exclaimed Vortigern with a sigh.

"He came to us only to languish a few weeks and pass away."

"May his memory be blessed, as was his life," said Josseline. "I knew
him only a very short while, but I loved and venerated him like my
father."

The family of Morvan, together with the rest of his tribe who cultivated
his lands in common with himself, men, women and children, about thirty
in all, presently sat down to a long table, placed in a large hall that
served at once for kitchen, refectory and a place of assembly during the
long nights of the winter. From the walls hung weapons of war and of the
hunt, fishing nets, bridles and horse saddles. Although it was
midsummer, such was the coolness of that region of woods and mountains,
that the heat of the hearth, before which the meats for the supper were
broiled, felt decidedly comfortable to the harvesters. Its flamboyant
light mingled with that cast by the torches of resinous wood, that were
fastened in iron clamps along the four walls. After the industrious
group had finished their repast, Morvan was the first to rise.

"And now, my boys, to work! The night is clear, we shall thresh the
wheat on the outside floor. Two or three torches planted between the
stones on the edge of the well will give us light until the moon rises.
We shall be through with our task by one o'clock in the morning, we
shall sleep until daybreak, and we shall then return to the fields and
finish taking in the crop."

The torches, placed at Morvan's orders around the edge of the well, cast
their bright light upon a portion of the yard and buildings that were
within the fortified enclosure. Several men, the women and the children,
took a hand in unloading the wagons, while those who were to do the
threshing, Morvan, Vortigern and the old Caswallan among them, stood
waiting for the grain to be brought to them, their flails in their
hands, having for the sake of comfort, stripped themselves of all their
superfluous clothing and keeping only their breeches and shirts on. The
first bundles of grain were placed in the center of the floor, whereupon
the rapid rhythm of the flails, vigorously wielded by robust and
experienced arms, resounded through the air. Apprehending a speedy war,
the Bretons were hastening to take in their crops and place the