fell upon the imperial realm, forcing their way in mighty hosts up the
Rhine, the Maese, and the Seine, and washing out the memory of
Gottfried's murder in torrents of blood, while the brand spread ruin far
and wide.

The chief attack was made on Paris, which the Norsemen invested and
besieged for a year and a half. The march upon Paris was made by sea and
land, the marauders making Rouen their place of rendezvous. From this
centre of operations Rollo--the future conqueror and Duke of Normandy,
now a formidable sea-king--led an overland force towards the French
capital, and on his way was met by an envoy from the emperor, no less a
personage than the Count of Chartres, the once redoubtable Hasting, now
a noble of the empire.

"Valiant sirs," he said to Rollo and his chiefs, "who are you that come
hither, and why have you come?"

"We are Danes," answered Rollo, proudly; "all of us equals, no man the
lord of any other, but lords of all besides. We are come to punish these
people and take their lands. And you, by what name are you called?"

"Have you not heard of a certain Hasting," was the reply, "a sea-king
who left your land with a multitude of ships, and turned into a desert a
great part of this fair land of France?"

"We have heard of him," said Rollo, curtly. "He began well and ended
badly."

"Will you submit to King Charles?" asked the envoy, deeming it wise,
perhaps, to change the subject.