"Alfred, my brother!"

Alfred looked round in surprise; consciousness had returned, and the
face was calm and possessed as his own.

"Elfric, my dear Elfric!"

"What does all this mean? How came I here? What makes this smoke?"

"We are in danger, great danger; prisoners in our own house, which they
have set on fire."

"I remember now--is not this our dear father's room?"

"Yes; we are prisoners in it, they have barred the door upon us."

"But they cannot bar us in: there is another door, Alfred; one my father
once pointed out to me, but told me to keep its existence a secret, as
it always had been kept. Who are without?"

"The Mercians, Edgar's army, come to deliver us; if we can reach them,
we are safe."

"I thought they were our foes, but all seems strange now. Alfred, lift
up the tapestry which conceals the recess where dear father's armour hung."

Alfred complied.

"Now, just where the breastplate hung you will find a round knob of wood
like a peg."