"I am a stranger, Oswald, the thane's son," he said. "I do not rightly know in which direction your home may lie."
I know now that he was himself as lost as I, but that he did not tell me, for my sake. It is an easy thing for a stranger to go astray in the Andredsweald. But I could not tell him more than that I knew that I had left the sea always behind me so long as I knew where it lay. So he turned southwards at once when he heard that, and went on swiftly. Then I heard the howl of his dog again, and I laughed, for the other howls that answered him were nearer.
"Listen, shepherd," I said. "Your dog is making his comrades howl for him, and the beating that is to come.
"Are you cold?"
For he had shivered suddenly, and his pace quickened. He had heard the howl of the single wolf that has found its quarry, and calls the answering pack to follow. But he did not tell me of my mistake.
"I am not cold overmuch," he answered. "Let us run and warm me."
Then he ran until we came to the top of a hill whence the last glimmer of the sea over Selsea was plain before him, and there I asked him to set me down lest I tired him.
"Nay, but you keep me warm," he said. "Tell me, are there oak trees as one goes seaward?"
"Ay, many and great ones in some places."
Then he ran down the hill, and the sway of his even stride lulled me so that I dozed a little. I roused when he stayed suddenly.