"Sir," he said, very courteously but without any servility, "I see you
are a stranger, and you meet me on a strange errand. I am the priest
whom they call the hermit, Leofwine--should I name you thane?"

I was going to answer him as I would have replied but yesterday morning
--so hesitated a little, and then answered shortly.

"No thane, Father, but the next thing to it--a masterless man."

"As you will, sir," he replied, thinking that I doubtless had my own
reason for withholding whatever rank I had. "We meet few strangers in
this wild."

"I lost my way, Father," I said, "and wandered here in the night, and,
being sorely weary, slept in this empty hut till two hours ago, waking
to find yon child here."

Now little Turkil, seeing that I looked towards him, got free from his
mother and ran to me, saying that he must go home, and that I must speak
for him, as his mother was wroth with him for playing truant.

The woman, who seemed to be the wife of some well-to-do freeman,
followed him, and I spoke to her, begging her to forgive the boy, as he
had been a pleasant comrade to me, and that, indeed, I had kept him, as
he said some folk were coming from the village.

Whereon she thanked me for tending him, saying that she had feared the
foul fiend whom the collier had seen would surely have devoured him. So
I pleased her by saying that a boy who would face such a monster now
would surely grow up a valiant man. Then Turkil must kiss me in going,