Now the siege is but a blind, while the real warfare is to be in Wessex.

So I came away with the Danes, my men being tired of unprofitable warfare where we were not wanted, and gaining, moreover, neither gold nor honour." "You came away with the Danes ?" I cried.

"Surely you made no pact with them ?" "Not I," said he.

"But they sailed with an evening tide, which was my chance.

Ten ships among four hundred or so make no odds.