"We will submit to no one, king or chieftain. All that we gain by the
sword we are masters and lords of. This you may tell to the king who has
sent you. The lords of the sea know no masters on land."

Hasting left with his message, and Rollo continued his advance to the
Seine. Not finding here the ships of the maritime division of the
expedition, which he had expected to meet, he seized on the boats of the
French fishermen and pursued his course. Soon afterwards a French force
was met and put to flight, its leader, Duke Ragnold, being killed. This
event, as we are told, gave rise to a new change in the career of the
famous Hasting. A certain Tetbold or Thibaud, of Northman birth, came to
him and told him that he was suspected of treason, the defeat of the
French having been ascribed to secret information furnished by him.
Whether this were true, or a mere stratagem on the part of his
informant, it had the desired effect of alarming Hasting, who quickly
determined to save himself from peril by joining his old countrymen and
becoming again a viking chief. He thereupon sold his countship to
Tetbold, and hastened to join the army of Norsemen then besieging Paris.
As for the cunning trickster, he settled down into his cheaply bought
countship, and became the founder of the subsequent house of the Counts
of Chartres.

The siege of Paris ended in the usual manner of the Norseman invasions
of France,--that of ransom. Charles marched to its relief with a strong
army, but, instead of venturing to meet his foes in battle, he bought
them off as so often before, paying them a large sum of money, granting
them free navigation of the Seine and entrance to Paris, and confirming
them in the possession of Friesland. This occurred in 887. A year
afterwards he lost his crown, through the indignation of the nobles at