"How could they find the path through the woods, Cuthbert?" asked my brother; "how did they know the fords?"
The same question had occurred to me.
Then the words of the churl Beorn, who had been taken prisoner, as the messenger had told us, came fresh to my mind.
"Elfwyn," said I, "do you remember Beorn?"
He looked earnestly at me.
"Did he not say that his captors asked particularly about Aescendune, and that the name of Anlaf was mentioned, and inquiries made concerning Alfgar?"
"He did."
"It is the curse of St. Brice's night."
"Fallen upon the innocent."
"Leave it to God," said I.