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yet there were not a great many men there, for not many men were required to defend so small a place.

"The English contrived a stratagem. They sent in a Dutch vessel with armed men concealed on board. The mate of the vessel sent word on shore that the captain had died, and they asked permission to bury the body in a burying ground upon the island, near a chapel, saying, that if the islanders would grant this request, they would in return reward them with a good present of the best of the commodities that they had on board their ship.

"The Sark men agreed to this. You see it was not very often that they had an opportunity to procure any foreign commodities in their island. So they accepted the offer, only they stipulated that the men who should come on shore with the body should not bring with them any arms at all, not even the smallest dagger.

"The shipmen agreed to this, and they lowered a great coffin box into a boat and came with it to the shore. When they got to the shore they lifted out the box and proceeded to carry it up toward the chapel. It seemed to be very heavy, but the Sark men were not much surprised at this, for the coffin inside might be a leaden one. So they left the men who came in

the boat to go up to the chapel and attend to the funeral, and they themselves took the boat and went off to the ship to get the commodities. The agreement was that they were to do this while the shipmen were burying the body.

"As soon as the Sark men reached the ship, the armed men rose upon them suddenly from their hiding places, and seized them; and at the same time the men who had gone on shore had formed the funeral procession, and when they reached the chapel they went in and shut the door, and there opened the box. The box, instead of having a coffin in it was full of swords and guns. The men armed themselves with these swords and guns, and then opened the doors and rushed out upon the people. The people fled to the landing and began to call upon the men who had gone off in the boat to come back and help them. But it was too late. They had all been made prisoners, and a new boat load of armed men from the ship were coming on shore. this way the island was captured."

In

“That is a curious story," said John. "Yes," replied Grimkie. "There are a great many curious stories about these islands, and about the countries we shall pass through in going that way, if we do go that way."

"Tell us some more of the stories," said John.

CHAPTER III.

MORE STORIES.

FLORENCE remained sometime longer with Grimkie and John in the great drawing-room; listening to the stories which Grimkie told her about the Channel Islands, and particularly about Normandy, the country through which the chief part of their journey lay, on the way to the place where they would embark for the islands. Most of the stories which Grimkie told, he had read in the history of William the Conqueror-all that country being full of legends and memorials of every kind, connected with the events of his life, and of that of Matilda his queen.

Matilda was William's cousin. She was daughter of the Count of Flanders, and she lived in Brussels. She was a very beautiful girl, and had been so well educated that she had acquired great skill in all the accomplishments usually taught to young ladies of high rank, in those days. She heard that Duke William, her cousin, was in love with her, and intended to

offer her his hand. She declared, however, that she would never marry him; and at the same time uttered some contemptuous expression concerning him, which, when William heard of it, made him exceedingly angry.

It must be remembered that at this time. William was quite a young man, and had not yet performed the exploits and made the conquests, for which he afterward became so renowned.

When William had heard what his cousin had said of him, he went to Brussels, obtained an interview with Matilda, charged her with the impertinence of which she had been guilty, and boxed her ears.

Then followed a violent quarrel, and after the quarrel a reconciliation, the end of which was, that Matilda, who when she came to think of it, rather liked the spirit which William had shown, consented to marry him.

The troubles of the worthy couple did not end here, however. They were married, but as soon as the tidings of the marriage reached the pope, he sent word to William that such a union was within the prohibited degrees of relationship, and he and Matilda must separate. William refused to put away his wife. Then the pope excommunicated him. This led to a long and

bitter quarrel. The end of it was, however, as was usually the case with such quarrels, that the pope consented to grant a dispensation to William and Matilda, and make the marriage lawful, provided they would perform certain penances, and also, which was the most important thing, give a large sum of money each, to found two abbeys in Normandy.

We ought in charity, and perhaps in justice, to suppose that the pope, in desiring these abbeys to be established, had chiefly in view the spiritual benefits to the people of the country which he honestly supposed would result from them. But besides this, he had a political interest in multiplying such establishments, as every new one that was built and endowed increased the hold which the ecclesiastical power exercised over the community, and of course widened and extended the influence of the pope himself, as the head and centre of that power.

William and Matilda both built their abbeys in the town of Caen,-one at one end of the town, and the other at the other. Matilda's was an abbey for women, and William's, one for Each consisted of a magnificent church, for divine service, and for other religious ceremonies, and also of ranges of other buildings, for the occupancy of the monks and nuns.

men.

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