The sister then assumed the scepter in her own name, and suppressed all inquiries in respect to the fate of her brother; and his murder might have remained forever undiscovered, had it not been miraculously revealed at Rome.
A white dove flew into a church there one day, and let fall upon the altar of St.Peter a paper, on which was written, in Anglo-Saxon characters, In Clent Cow-batch, Kenelme king bearne, lieth under Thorne, head bereaved.
For a time nobody could read the writing.

At length an Anglo-Saxon saw it, and translated it into Latin, so that the pope and all others could understand it.

The pope then sent a letter to the authorities in England, who made search and found the body.
But we must end these digressions, which we have indulged thus far in order to give the reader some distinct conception of the ideas and habits of the times, and proceed, in the next chapter, to relate the events immediately connected with Alfred's accession to the throne.
[Footnote 1: A great many other tales are told of the miraculous phenomena exhibited by the body of St.Edmund, which well illustrate the superstitious credulity of those times.

One writer says seriously that, when the head was found, a wolf had it, holding it carefully in his paws, with all the gentleness and care that the most faithful dog would manifest in guarding a trust committed to him by his master.
This wolf followed the funeral procession to the tomb where the body was deposited, and then disappeared.

The head joined itself to the body again where it had been severed, leaving only a purple line to mark the place of separation.].