At first they paused as if they feared treachery, but Wilfred
stepped forward and stood in the gateway.
Turning round he addressed the multitude.
"Men of Aescendune, bear me witness that, in the name of my fathers
and ancestors, I, their heir, take possession of mine inheritance."
A loud burst of cheers greeted these words, and the English,
following their young lord into the castle, found it utterly
deserted.
No words can describe the glee with which they paraded the
battlements, and flung out the ancient banner of the house of
Aescendune to the winds, from the summit of the keep, after which
they penetrated chamber after chamber, with almost childish
curiosity, so new was the idea of such a building to their
imaginations.
But it was with sensations of chilling horror that they explored
its dungeons beneath the very foundations of the towers. Some were
cells for solitary confinement, of the shape of a tomb and not much
larger, the stone doors of which shut with a gloomy solemn
sound--the knell of hope to the captive.
And then they came to the torture chamber, of which they had
already heard from Ordgar, son of Haga, and saw the seat of
judgment, so often occupied by him who had now passed to his dread
account; they beheld the rack, the brazier, the thumbscrew, and
shuddered.
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