Now the bishop rode among the men, calling out those whom he knew well,
and bidding the thanes give him their best, or if they had no best, such
as could swim, and very shortly we had full two hundred men ranged on
one side of the road, waiting with us, while the rest went off towards
Bridgwater, the bishop blessing them ere they started. And as they went
they shouted that we should meet again across the ranks of Danes.
When they were gone the bishop bade us rest. And while we lay along the
roadside he went up and down, sorting out men who could swim well, and
there were more than half who could do so, and more yet who said they
were swimmers though poor at it.
Then he told me his plan. How that the men who could not swim must go
over first in the boats, and then the arms of the rest should be ferried
over while they swam, and so little time would be lost: but all must be
done in silence and without lights. So we ate and slept a little, and
then, when it grew dark, started off across the meadows. And there the
collier guided us well, having taken note of all the ground we had
crossed in the morning, as a marshman can.
It was dark, and a white creeping mist was over the open land when we
reached it. But over the mists to our left we could see the twinkle of
Danish watchfires, where they kept the height over Bridgwater; and again
to the right we could see lights of fires at Stert, where the ships lay.
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