The bay in which the ship was lying was some ten miles along the shore from the town.

The spies had made their way along the sea-coast by night, but as it was morning when Edmund landed, he thought that it would be safer to make a detour so as to arrive near the landward side of the town and so enter it after dark.
They had not proceeded far when they came upon the ruins of a village.
It had been destroyed by fire, and the freshness of the charred beams showed that it had been done but a short time before, probably not many days.

Marks of blood could be seen in the roadway, but no bodies were visible, and Edmund supposed that, after the Danes had retired, the survivors must have returned and buried their dead.

They had not proceeded far when the Dane pointed out to Edmund a half-naked lad who was running with the swiftness of a deer over a slope of some little distance.
"He is going too fast for us to catch him," Edmund said carelessly; "and as, even if we did so, he could give us no information of any use, for you may be sure he has not ventured near the town, we may well let him go on in his way." For three or four miles further they pursued their course.

The country, which was exceedingly fertile, and covered with corn-fields and vineyards, appeared entirely deserted.