The whole party having assembled, Wilfred, as a consequence of his
rank, spoke first and opened the debate.
"We have all come together tonight, Englishmen and friends, to
consider what we shall do in a very grave crisis--the gravest which
has yet occurred since we fled to this refuge from the Norman
tyrant Hugo--whom may the saints confound. The thrall, Oslac,
imperilling his life for our sake, has been to Aescendune, and
brings us back certain information that there is a great gathering
of men and horse to explore the swamp, for they guess shrewdly that
we are hidden here, and they know now who burnt their farms and
slew their men in the woods--thus making them afraid, the cowards,
to venture therein save in large parties.
"But since the old bear has lost his cub, his thirst for vengeance
incites him to stake all upon one grand attempt to penetrate our
fastnesses, and the dryness of the season seems to him to make it
possible."
"Our pools and sloughs are never quite dry--they are bottomless,"
said Beorn, "and you might stow away the castle of Aescendune in
some of them, and 'twould sink out of sight."
"But it is our object to foil his good intentions towards us:
sooner or later we must fight him, and why not now? Haga, my
father, thou art the oldest and wisest here present; speak, and we
will be guided by thy counsel.
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