"Because they were false to their country, in submitting to the Norman invader. When the Conqueror came to Southwark, the brave men of the city of London, guarded by their noble river and Roman walls, bade him defiance. So he came up the south bank of the stream to Wallingford, where the shire-reeve (the sheriff), Wigod, was ready, like a base traitor, to receive him. There Wigod sumptuously entertained him, and the vast mound which told of English victory in earlier days, became the kernel of a Norman stronghold. The Conqueror gave the daughter of Wigod in marriage to his particular friend, Robert d'Oyley, of Oxford Castle; and when men afterwards saw men like Wigod of Wallingford and Edward of Salisbury glutted with the spoils of Englishmen, better and braver than themselves, they ate their bread in bitterness of spirit, and praised the dead more than the living."
Just then a rustling in the branches attracted their attention.
"Oh, grandfather, there is a gallant stag! may I go and take him?—it will replenish our larder for days. We have been so hungry."
"It is death to kill the Baron's deer."
"When he can catch us!—that!—for him," and the boy snapped his fingers.
"Hist! I hear the sound of hound and horn—be cautious, or we may get into dire trouble."
"Trust me, grandfather. Where are my arrows? Oh, here they are. Come, Bruno."
And a large wolf-hound bounded forth, eager as his young master.