encounter him. My voice is against resting all on a single battle."

"Is that thy choice?" said Vebba, indignantly. "Not so, I am sure,
would have chosen thy father; not so think the Saxons of Kent. The
Norman is laying waste all the lands of thy subjects, Lord Harold;
living on plunder, as a robber, in the realm of King Alfred. Dost
thou think that men will get better heart to fight for their country
by hearing that their King shrinks from the danger?"

"Thou speakest well and wisely," said Haco; and all eyes turned to the
young son of Sweyn, as to one who best knew the character of the
hostile army and the skill of its chief. "We have now with us a force
flushed with conquest over a foe hitherto deemed invincible. Men who
have conquered the Norwegian will not shrink from the Norman. Victory
depends upon ardour more than numbers. Every hour of delay damps the
ardour. Are we sure that it will swell the numbers? What I dread
most is not the sword of the Norman Duke, it is his craft. Rely upon
it, that if we meet him not soon, he will march straight to London.
He will proclaim by the way that he comes not to seize the throne, but
to punish Harold, and abide by the Witan, or, perchance, by the word
of the Roman pontiff. The terror of his armament, unresisted, will
spread like a panic through the land. Many will be decoyed by his
false pretexts, many awed by a force that the King dare not meet. If
he come in sight of the city, think you that merchants and cheapmen
will not be daunted by the thought of pillage and sack? They will be
the first to capitulate at the first house which is fired. The city
is weak to guard against siege; its walls long neglected; and in
sieges the Normans are famous. Are we so united (the King's rule thus
fresh) but what no cabals, no dissensions will break out amongst
ourselves? If the Duke come, as come he will, in the name of the