sleeper.

The cry which aroused young Wilfred from his sleep was uttered in a
tone of distress, which at once appealed to his manhood for aid.

And it was a familiar voice--that of his own foster brother, the
son of his old nurse, with whom, in the innocent days of childhood,
he had sported and romped again and again; for distinctions of rank
were far less regarded amongst the old English than amongst the
Normans--they were "English all."

The poor peasant lad had been so unfortunate as to bring down a
hare with a heavy stick. The animal had risen just before him; the
weapon was ready; the temptation too great. Forgetful of all but
the impulse of the moment, he had flung the stick, and the hare
fell. He was just rushing to seize his prize, when the three Norman
pages came suddenly on the scene.

"Here is a young English lout, killing a hare," shouted Etienne;
"lay hold of him."

And before the astonished Eadwin could fly, the son of his lord
fulfilled his own command, and seized the culprit by the collar.

"How didst thou dare, thou false thief, to kill one of our hares?
Dost thou not know the penalty?"

The unhappy lad stammered out faint excuses, in broken English; "he
had not meant to do it--the thing rose up so suddenly"--and the
like. But in the first place his captors did not understand his