be idle. Osgod was always ready enough for a talk, though I do not
say he could not work when it was necessary, but now that he is in
your worship's service and under no orders of mine, his tongue will
never cease wagging."

"Oh, I am ready to work a bit, father. I know how long it took me
to hammer out a bar before, and I shall be curious to find out in
what time I can do it now."

"I doubt you will spoil more than you make, Osgod. Still, I too
shall be curious to see how many strokes you can give with the big
hammer, and how quickly you can beat a bar into a blade."

The stay in town was, however, of short duration, for four days
later the earl told him that he was going down to his house at
Bosham, and that he was to accompany him.

"'Tis three months since I was away from London," he said. "The
king is going down into Hereford to hunt, and I am therefore free
for a while, as there are no matters of state that press at present,
though I fear that ere very long the Welsh will be up again. I hear
that their King Griffith, not content with the beating he had a
short time since, is again preparing for war. Still it may be some
time before the storm bursts, and I am longing to be down again
among the green woods or afloat on the water."

Harold took with him a large party of personal friends, his brother
Wulfnoth, and his nephew Hakon. Among the party was Beorn, a young
thane, who also was a ward of the earl. He was two years older
than Wulf, but there had been a close friendship between them at