Wulf the Saxon: A Story of the Norman Conquest

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XI.

  THE SECRET PASSAGE.

  Beorn called his men together and distributed them along the rear wall,while Wulf made a fresh examination of the front. He had before noticedthat great piles of stone in blocks from fifty to a hundred pounds inweight were piled along by the parapet, in readiness to hurl down upon anyfoe attempting to ascend the road, while in the courtyard below was animmense reserve of these missiles. He placed twenty of his men here, andposted the other ten as sentries on the side walls, and then went downthrough the passage to Osgod. The bridge was entirely demolished as he haddirected, with the exception of a single plank, which could be thrown overin a moment. Osgod had closed the gate, and had fastened a rope from thetop of the turret to the plank, so that this could be hauled up, withoutthose engaged in the operation being exposed to missiles from the otherside of the chasm.

  "One feels almost ashamed at being so safe," Osgod said, as Wulf joined himon the turret. "It does not give one the chance of a fight."

  "You have had one good fight to-day, Osgod, and can do without another. Ishould be glad if we did not have to strike a blow till we see Gurth'sbanner coming down the valley."

  "We have done very well," Osgod agreed; "and I should be quite contented ifI had but come across that rascal who nearly smothered me in the bog."

  "You need not bear malice against him, Osgod; for if he had not deserted usand led Llewellyn's force away to the spot where he left us, we should notbe masters of the place as at present, and it would have been a terriblebusiness had we been obliged to take this stronghold by storm."

  "That is true enough, master; except by hunger or by a surprise, such as wecarried out, I don't see how the place is to be taken if stoutly defended.There is no reason why the Welsh should have been in such a hurry toreturn, for they must know as well as we do that there is but little chanceof their getting in again. They have come to a halt now down there, andhalf of them have thrown themselves on the ground like a pack of tiredhounds."

  "I have no fear whatever of an open attack, Osgod. They can see forthemselves that the bridge is destroyed, and I do not think they will dreamof coming up that road, which, as they know, we can sweep with stones fromabove. If they attack openly at all, it will be by the wall we scaled. Ifthey make twenty ladders such as we had they may think they might gain afooting, especially as their archers high among the trees would be able tofire down on the defenders of the wall. But what I am really afraid of isthat there may be some secret passage."

  "Do you think so?" Osgod said, startled. "Where could it come from?"

  "Well, Osgod, you see they have cut this winding road up the rock and havemade the tunnel hence to the courtyard, so the chiefs have had abundance oflabour at their disposal. They would naturally wish to provide a means ofescape if the castle were besieged, and like to fall by force or famine;moreover it would enable them to send out messengers or receive messagesfrom without. A passage four feet high and two feet wide would suffice.They may have driven such a passage from some place in the wood behind andit may come up somewhere in the courtyard, perhaps in one of the littlehuts along the side. Of course the entrance would be covered here by astone, and would be hidden among the bushes at the other end. Still I donot think that this is likely, for a hostile force would almost certainlytake up its post in that wood, and attack the place in the rear. If thereis such a passage I think that it must open somewhere on the face of therock, on one side or the other. It looks to us almost perpendicular, butthere may be inequalities by which active men might ascend at some point orother. For a considerable distance we could see there were tufts of shrubsgrowing here and there, and one of these may conceal a small opening. Fromthis point a staircase may have been driven up into the castle."

  "That would be very awkward, master, if it were so."

  "It would indeed. To-night all the force except the sentries shall gatherin the castle, where ten men by turns shall keep guard, one or two beingplaced in the lower chambers. In this way we shall be safe; for before morethan three or four can enter we should be all on foot, and as they can butcome up in single file, could repulse them without difficulty. Tomorrow wewill lower men down with ropes from the walls, and examine every clump ofbushes growing on the face of the rock If we find any signs of a path orentrance we shall have no difficulty in discovering where it enters intothe castle, and can effectually block it up. I shall then feel much morecomfortable than I do at present."

  "I was looking forward to a good night's sleep," Osgod grumbled, "but youridea, master, has quite done away with that. If I went off I should dreamthat I had one of those Welsh wolves at my throat. However, it is a goodthing that you thought of it."

  "I think, my lord," one of the soldiers said, "there are a number of ourmen among the Welsh. I can make out helmets and shields, and I think manyare clad in leather jerkins."

  Wulf looked attentively.

  "Yes, there are certainly shields and helmets," he said. "I fear there isno doubt they have overtaken Oswald's levies."

  "And have made them prisoners?"

  Wulf shook his head. "They never take prisoners, you know. I fear they haveslain them all and possessed themselves of their arms and clothes. In noother way can there be Saxon shields and helmets among them."

  "By St. Nicholas!" Osgod exclaimed, "it is too bad that we should bestanding here doing nothing. Why doesn't Llewellyn attack us instead ofkeeping his men gaping there at the castle?"

  "Because at present he can do nothing, and is not fool enough to throw awayhundreds of lives; besides, he must know that his mother and children arein our hands."

  Presently a white flag was raised among the Welsh. Wulf had expected this,and had ordered a white cloth to be held in readiness to raise in reply. Assoon as this flew out to the wind three men were seen to advance with theflag towards the foot of the road up to the castle. Wulf at once sent forthe two interpreters to join him.

  "Shall you let them come up, master?" Osgod asked. "They are as treacherousas snakes. See how that boy led us astray in the bog."

  "You cannot get that boy out of your head, Osgod," Wulf laughed. "There isno conceivable way by which three men could recapture this castle. There isnothing for them to learn. They know its strength and everything connectedwith it, and they can see for themselves that we have destroyed the bridge.I shall be glad to hear what they have to say. Llewellyn himself is, mostlikely, one of the number."

  The little party mounted the road until they stood on the platform fromwhich the bridge started. One of them was a tall figure, dressed in armour,and with long black hair flowing down from under his helmet over hisshoulders. Wulf at once, from the descriptions he had heard of the chief'sappearance, recognized him as Llewellyn ap Rhys.

  "I would speak with the commander of the Saxons who have, in my absence,taken my castle by treachery."

  "I am the commander," Wulf said.

  The Welshman's fingers clenched, and he glanced furiously at the youngSaxon. By a great effort, however, he restrained his passion, and saidcourteously: "I am Llewellyn ap Rhys. To whom have I the pleasure ofspeaking?"

  "I am Wulf of Steyning, prince. I don't know altogether that I have takenyour castle by treachery, indeed I claim to have won it by fair fighting.You went out with your force to attack me among the hills, and during yourabsence I attacked and captured your castle. I will do your garrison creditto say they fought bravely in spite of the surprise. I would gladly havegiven them quarter, but they refused my offers, and, save a few wounded,whom I allowed the women to carry off, died to a man fighting bravely. Nowomen were hurt or insulted, save those who took up arms and fought amongthe men, and it was no fault of ours that they were killed. Methinks thatin your incursions into England you have not always shown the same mercy."

  Llewellyn was silent for a minute. He had indeed never shown any pity inhis forays, but had never expected that his castle and family would be inthe hands of the Saxons.

  "I learn," he said at last, "from the wo
men, that my mother and my childrenare alive in your hands, and I thank you for the honorable treatment I hearthat they have received."

  "They are safe and well," Wulf replied. "We Saxons do not massacre womenand children in cold blood. They will be honourably treated until I canhand them over to the care of Earl Gurth, who will doubtless send them toEngland as hostages."

  "I shall try to win back my castle," Llewellyn said. "May I be sure thatwhatever happens they will be safe?"

  "You may. Even were you forcing your way into the castle I will guaranteethat no hair of their heads shall be injured. And now, prince, it is myturn to question. I see Saxon helmets and shields among your followers.Whence come they?"

  A cloud passed over Llewellyn's face. He had not reckoned on their beingobserved from the castle. Concealment was now out of question, and he saidboldly: "I defeated a party of your countrymen this morning. They came withhostile intent into my territory, and they have been destroyed." Althoughhe had expected the answer, Wulf was shocked at the confirmation of hisfears. Llewellyn, indeed, had fallen on Oswald's levies and annihilatedthem soon after daybreak. Having no idea that a party had separated fromthem during the night, he was returning exulting in the idea that he haddestroyed the whole of the invaders, when the news had reached him of thecapture of his castle. Wulf was silent. "It is the fortune of war," hesaid gravely. "It is not to me that you have to reckon for the deed, butwith Earl Gurth, for whom I hold this castle."

  Llewellyn made no reply, but with a wave of his hand turned and went downthe hill again.

  "I am even more than before convinced, Osgod, that there is a secretpassage. I was watching him closely when the interpreter told him that Ishould hand his mother and children over to Gurth. He pressed his lipstogether, and his face lighted up with exultation for a moment."

  "What do you think he came here for, master?"

  "He came here to assure himself if possible that their lives would not besacrificed in the event of his attacking."

  "It is a pity you told him they would be safe," Osgod said.

  "But they will be safe, and even if we are surprised and slain I would notthat Llewellyn should say that it was only the suddenness of his attackthat saved their lives. I will place two of our best men at their door withorders that come what may they are to prevent anyone from entering. But Idon't think it will come to that. Should the passage enter into the castle,as, if it exists, I have no doubt it does, we shall be prepared to dealwith them, if it opens elsewhere we shall have all our force save a fewsentries assembled, and though all the walls fall into their hands, weought to be able to hold it successfully till Gurth arrives to our rescue."

  Wulf returned to the castle, and then joined Beorn at his post on the wallfacing the wood. He communicated to him his ideas as to the probableexistence of a secret passage.

  "We must provide a mode of retreat for your men on guard here, Beorn, incase the Welsh enter by either of these yards instead of by the castle.These flanking towers at the angles of the walls cut off all passage. Wewill construct bridges with two or three planks across these towers, sothat your sentries can retreat from the rear wall to the next, and again onto the inner wall. The doors between the courtyards shall be closed, sothat should they enter either of these outer courts they will be delayed,and your men will have plenty of time to join us in the defence of the lastwall. However, I am convinced the castle itself will be the scene ofaction. Five sentries will be enough to place on this wall. I will put twoon each of the cross walls, so that if your men give the alarm it will bepassed along speedily. I shall remove the last plank of the bridge atnightfall, and have Osgod and four men in the turret and two on the wallabove them. We shall therefore have fifty-five men in the castle, and thatshould be ample. They can keep watch and watch, so there will be overtwenty-five men under arms, and ready to throw themselves upon the Welshwherever they may enter."

  These arrangements were carried out. At ten o'clock all lights wereextinguished, save a torch burning in each room on the ground floor. Thefloors and walls had been carefully examined and sounded, but nothingsuspicious had been discovered. Four men were told off to each room exceptthe great hall, where twenty were gathered in reserve. Half were to keepwatch, but all were to lie down. The orders to those who were to keep awakewere strict If they heard a noise or saw a stone move they were to keepsilent, until two or three men had stepped out, then they were to give thealarm, leap up, and throw themselves upon them.

  "Were the alarm given," he said, "before they fairly issued out the stonemight be moved back again, and it would give us immense trouble before wecould demolish it or find the secret of the spring. Therefore, let them geta footing first."

  From time to time either Beorn or Wulf got up and went noiselessly round tothe different rooms to see that the watch was vigilant. As had beenarranged, each of those on guard raised a hand as they entered a room, soas to show that they were awake. Wulf did not expect that any attempt wouldbe made before midnight. After that hour he sat in a corner of the dais,leaning as if asleep, but with his eyes wandering round the room watchingevery stone, and his ears listening for the faintest sound. He had nofeeling of sleepiness whatever, his senses being all strung up to thehighest pitch.

  From time to time he held up a hand, and ten others were at once elevated,showing that the watchers were as vigilant as himself. It was, he thought,about one o'clock when he heard a faint creaking sound. It did not seem tohim to be in the hall itself, but in a room adjoining it, the doors havingall been left open. He rose to his feet, touched Beorn, who lay a pace ortwo away, and stole noiselessly out, grasping his sword in his hand. Hestopped before he got to the open door of the next room and listened. Allseemed perfectly quiet. He stood motionless, until a minute later there wasa sudden shout, followed almost instantly by a clash of arms.

  With a shout to his followers Wulf ran into the room. The four Saxons wereon their feet, and were attacking three men, who, as he entered, werejoined by a fourth from behind. He and Beorn threw themselves into the frayjust as one of the Saxons fell with his head cloven by a sweeping blow fromthe tall figure opposed to him. One after another in rapid succession theWelsh poured in from a narrow opening, but the Saxons rushed up inoverwhelming numbers. There was a brief fierce fight, and the Welsh wereslain or overpowered. The men who last emerged turned to fly, but meetingthose crowding up from behind were unable to do so. Others ran in only tobe cut down as soon as they appeared; a sound of fierce shouting and angrystruggle came through the opening. When no more showed themselves, Wulfcalled for torches, and a dozen were soon at hand. Seizing one he passedthrough the narrow opening. A winding staircase met his view. With Beornand some Saxons following close behind him, he descended for a considerabledistance, then he found himself in a low and narrow passage, and followingthis for twenty yards stepped out into the open air.

  "We need do no more to-night, Beorn," he said. "We will see where thiscomes out and block it up in the morning, though they are not likely to tryagain. We can sleep now without fear of interruption."

  His first step was to examine the bodies of the fallen Welshmen. He hadrecognized in the tall man with whom he had crossed swords Llewellyn apRhys, and found him lying beneath four of his followers, who had stood overhim and defended him to the last. He was glad to find that the Welsh princestill lived, and directed that he should be at once carried to a room andthat every attention should be shown him. None of the other fourteenWelshmen who had fallen showed any signs of life.

  Ordering their bodies to be carried out into the courtyard, Wulf placedfour men on guard at the upper opening of the secret passage. They were tobe relieved every hour. He then went out and saw to the relief of thesentries on the walls, and called down to Osgod that the attack had beenmade and repulsed. He then went back and slept soundly till daybreak. Ongoing to the walls he learned that there had been a great commotion down inthe valley. Fierce shouts, loud wailing cries, and a confused sound ofrunning and talking had been heard. At dayb
reak the Welsh were still there,and their fires had been lighted: one party were seen to march away as soonas it was light, but others arrived, and their numbers appeared about thesame as on the previous evening. There was no general movement, but itcould be seen that they gathered in clusters, and listened to men whoaddressed them with animated gestures.

  "They don't know what to do," Wulf said to Osgod, whom he had joined in theturret. "They believe their chief to be dead; they know that his mother andchildren are prisoners in our hands; they can have little hope of capturingthis place, which they believe to be impregnable to open attack. At presentthey must be without a leader, and yet they must be so animated by a spiritof hate and revenge, and by the desire to wipe out their humiliation byretaking this place, that they will not stir from in front of it."

  As he spoke a messenger came from Beorn, saying that the Welsh were pouringarrows and javelins from the hill upon his sentries on the walls, and thatthese were unable to show a head above the parapet. In one of the sheds alarge quantity of hides had been found, and taking a party laden with themWulf proceeded to the wall at the rear. Here he directed the ladders thatwere still lying there to be cut up into lengths of eight feet. These werefixed at intervals upon the parapet, and a cord fastened along the top, themen engaged in the operations being protected by the shields of theircomrades from the rain of missiles from the trees. Hides were thrown overthe ropes, and these hid those on the wall from the view of the enemy,while they themselves could peep out from time to time between the hides tosee that no preparations were being made for an attack.

  The secret passage was next investigated; it was found that the opening wasabout half-way down the rock, and that the assailants must have climbed upby a path that a goat could scarce traverse. Wulf set a party to work tocarry down stones from the courtyard, and to block up the passage solidlyfor ten feet from the opening, a sentry being posted on the wall above.After the erection of the shelter of hides the Welsh only sent anoccasional javelin from the trees, but by the loud yells that were fromtime to time raised, there was no doubt they were still there in force.

  "It is evident that they are going to besiege us, Beorn," Wulf said whenthey sat down to breakfast together. "The question is, are we to remainhere until rumour carries the report of our capture of the place to Gurth,or shall we despatch messengers to him?"

  "As you yourself said yesterday, the messengers could never get away, Wulf.I would give a year's revenue if we could do so, for it may be a long timebefore news comes to Gurth's ears. He may possibly hear of the annihilationof Oswald's force, for any Welsh woman taken captive might mention that intriumph, but they would certainly say nothing of such a grievous blow tothe Welsh cause as the capture of Porthwyn and the death of Llewellyn in anattempt to recapture it. Gurth, therefore, naturally supposing that we hadbeen involved in Oswald's disaster, may abandon all idea of moving againstthis place until the greater part of the country was reduced to obedience."

  "I see, Beorn, that the difficulty of a messenger getting through would beindeed enormous; the Welsh must know that we are but a small band, and thatour first aim would be to communicate with Gurth. You may be sure,therefore, that they will keep a vigilant guard all round the place atnight to see that no messenger makes his way out. Our two interpreters donot know anything like enough Welsh to pass as natives, none of our peopleknow a word of the language, it would be sending anyone to almost certaindeath. I think we must be content to depend upon ourselves. Gurth is sureto learn the news sooner or later, for it will make a great stir allthrough the country. I have just seen Llewellyn, he is very sorely wounded.I think it would be a good thing to let the Welsh know that he is in ourhands, it will render them more chary of attacking us. We might hang out aflag of truce, and when they come up in reply tell them that he is alivebut sorely wounded, and that they may send up a leech, who would betterattend to his wounds than we can do."

  This was accordingly done. Two Welshmen of rank came up to the brokenbridge and were informed that their prince was sorely wounded, and that aleech would be allowed to enter to attend upon him. An hour later a manwith a boy carrying a large basket came up the hill and crossed the plankinto the turret. The basket, which contained various herbs and medicaments,was taken from the boy, who was then sent back again, while the leech wastaken up to the room where Llewellyn was lying, in the care of his motherand her maids.

  Three days passed without any change. The force in the valley was seen tobe considerably diminished, no hostile demonstration had taken place; buttwenty men always remained in the courtyard in the rear, in readiness torun up to the wall in case the sentries gave an alarm.

  On the fourth morning, just as day was breaking, a man ran into the castlewith the news that the Welsh were attacking the wall. Beorn and Wulf sprungto their feet, and with every man except those on duty as sentries ran offto the scene of attack. That it was a serious assault was evident by thewild yells and shouts that were heard.

  Wulf ran up the stairs to the wall. A storm of missiles was strikingagainst the hides; many of them failed to penetrate, but others did so, andseveral of the men were lying wounded under shelter of the parapet, whilethe rest were hurling down javelins between the openings of the hides.

  "What are they doing?" he asked the sub-officer in command of the party.

  "They are preparing to scale the wall, my lord; they have numbers ofladders."

  Wulf was about to look out between the hides, but the officer exclaimed,"Do not so risk your life, my lord; you can see down without danger;" andhe pushed out the lower side of one of the skins from the wall, so thatWulf could look down without being seen by the Welsh archers. The fosse inthe rock and the narrow platform at the foot of the wall were alike crowdedwith foes, who were planting a number of ladders side by side. These werestrongly constructed, and were each wide enough for two men to mountabreast. Eight or ten of these ladders were already planted against thewall, and the enemy were climbing up them. Wulf turned, and waving hissword shouted to the men running into the courtyard from the walls andcastle to hasten up. Already a dozen had joined him, and scarce had theseplaced themselves along the battlements when the heads of the Welshmenappeared above it.

  For a minute or two it seemed that these would overmaster the defence.Several succeeded in crossing the parapet, but they were either cut down orcast headlong into the courtyard. By this time the whole of the Saxons,save the guard in the turret by the bridge, were on the wall, and were ableto form a close line along the parapet against which the ladders wereplaced. The Welsh fought with an utter disregard of life; as fast as thoseat the top were cut down or hurled backwards others took their place. Soclosely did they swarm up the ladders that several of these broke withtheir weight, killing many of those clustered below as well as those on therungs. But for an hour there was no pause. It was well for the defendersthat they had the protection of the line of hides, and were thereforescreened from the arrows of the bowmen on the hill; but these soon ceasedto shoot, as many of their comrades were hit by their missiles, while theywere unable to see whether the arrows had any effect whatever upon thehidden defenders. At length the leaders of the assailants saw that the taskcould not be achieved, and gave the signal by the blowing of cow-horns thatthe attack should cease; but so furious were their followers that manydisregarded the summons, and continued their efforts to gain a footing uponthe wall, or at least to kill one of its defenders, for some time after themain body had withdrawn. As soon as the last of these was killed thegarrison hurled the ladders backwards and then gave a shout of triumph,which was answered by renewed yells of defiance by the Welsh.

  "It has been a hard fight, Wulf," Beorn said, as he removed his helmet.

  "It has indeed. It was a well-planned attack, and was nearly successful. Weought to have had a stronger guard there; but I did not think that theywould venture to attack at daylight, nor that they could have so quicklyrun forward and placed their ladders. Had we been but a minute later inarriving here they would have
gained this wall and the courtyard. Theywould, indeed, have got no farther, but their success would have so excitedthem that we should have had to fight night and day. What has been ourloss?"

  Five of the men were killed; many of the others had received severe woundson the head and shoulders from the knives of their assailants, and had itnot been for the protection afforded by the leathern helmets and jerkinsthe number of killed would have been very much larger.

  "I would as lief fight with a troop of wild cats," exclaimed Osgod--who, assoon as he saw that there was no movement down on the plain, had run upwith half his little garrison to join in the defence of the wall,--as hetried to staunch a deep wound that extended from his ear to his chin. "Overand over again I saw a shock head come up above the wall, and before I hadtime to take a fair blow at it the man would hurl himself over upon me likea wild animal. Three times was I knocked down, and I am no chicken either;if it had not been for my comrades on each side it would have gone hardwith me. I was able to return the service several times, but had the Welshbeen imps they could not have been more active or more fierce. There mustbe a hundred lying slain along here or in the courtyard. I do not wonderthat Oswald's men were all killed by them, though after our previous fightsI held them in but small respect."

  "It is a different thing, Osgod," Beorn said. "In the field we have alwayshad the advantage from our order and our discipline; but here it was managainst man. We had the advantage of position and they of numbers; butdiscipline went for nothing on either side, and I doubt if we should havedone as well as they did had we been the assailants."

  "I am ready to own that," Osgod agreed. "I like to fight with my feet onfirm ground, and should make but a poor figure balanced on the top of aladder."

  When the tumult in the wood had died away Wulf raised a white flag, andordered one of the men who spoke Welsh to shout to the enemy that theymight approach without molestation and remove their wounded and dead fromthe foot of the wall, and also said that the Saxon leaders desired to speakto an officer of rank.

  Two of these came out from the trees. "Hitherto," the interpreter criedwith a loud voice, "my lords, the noble thanes, Beorn of Fareham and Wulfof Steyning, have given the most honourable treatment to your chief,Llewellyn ap Rhys, wounded and a prisoner in their hands, and to hisfamily. Nor have they altered that treatment while you were attacking ourwalls; but they bid me warn you and all others in arms against theauthority of our sovereign lord the king, that henceforth they will holdthem as hostages, and that their lives will be forfeited if any freshattack be made upon the castle."

  Three days passed without any further acts of hostility by the Welsh. Atthe end of that time Llewellyn was sufficiently recovered to sit upsupported by pillows on his couch. He had already heard of the defeat, withterrible slaughter, of the attempt of his countrymen to recapture thecastle, and of the warning that had been given the Welsh that if the attackwas renewed the lives of himself and his family would be forfeited. Beornand Wulf paid him a visit as soon as they heard that he was in a conditionto talk to them.

  "Prince," Wulf said through his interpreter, "it is, you must see, hopelessfor your followers to attempt to recapture this castle. The bridge isdestroyed, the secret passage by which you entered blocked up, and we canresist any attack upon the rear wall. We have shown you and yours a mercysuch as you would certainly not have extended to English men and womenunder similar circumstances, and grieved as we should be to be obliged toproceed to extremities with prisoners, yet were the castle again attacked,and were we to see that there was a prospect of its being recaptured, weshould not hesitate to slay you, as it would be treachery to the king toallow so formidable an enemy as yourself to regain his freedom.

  "Your cause is hopeless. Harold, Tostig, and Gurth are carrying fire andsword through your valleys, and your people will have to choose betweensubmission and death. Why should so hopeless a struggle continue? Gurthwill be here shortly, and then the fate that has befallen the districtsalready subdued will light upon yours. Surely it will be better foryourself and your people that this should be averted. This can only be doneby your sending orders to your followers to scatter to their homes and tolay down their arms. We will at once in that case send a messenger to theearl to tell him that the district has submitted. I must request that inorder the message shall reach him you shall bid two officers of rankaccompany our messenger to Gurth's camp; we giving them our undertakingthat they shall be allowed to leave it unmolested."

  "Your offer tallies with my own intentions," Llewellyn said. "Had I beenfree I would have resisted to the last, but as a prisoner, and with mymother and children in your hands, I am powerless. My harper tells me thatfully four hundred of my followers fell in the attack, and with mystronghold in your power, my tribesmen without a leader, and your armiesdesolating the land, I see that further resistance here would but add tothe misfortunes of my people. I am ready, therefore, to send down my harperand doctor to bid four of my chiefs come up here, under your safe conduct.I shall lay the matter before them, and tell them that I being a prisonercan no longer give them orders, but shall point out to them that in myopinion further resistance can but bring terrible disasters upon thedistrict. This, on their return, they will lay before their men, and if, asI trust, these will agree to scatter to their homes, they will furnish theescort you desire for your messenger."

  Two hours later three of the chiefs summoned arrived, the fourth havingfallen in the assault. They had a private interview with Llewellyn and thenleft. A great meeting was held down in the valley, and in the afternoon thethree chiefs and six others came up to the castle and formally made theirsubmission before Beorn and Wulf, and besought them to send a messenger tothe earl praying him to forgive past offences and to have mercy on thepeople. An hour later two of the Saxons bearing a letter from Beorn andWulf to Gurth started under an escort provided by the chiefs.