About the hour of five
No thought of any danger was on their minds that day . The Danes were too far distant . They were more than a hundred miles from the seat of war , and a hundred miles in those days meant more than five hundred would mean now . About the hour of five they rested and bathed in a tributary of the Avon . Bertric 's spirits were very high : he laughed and talked like one whose naturally ardent temperament was stimulated by the bracing atmosphere and the exercise . His active and handsome frame , bright with all the attractions of youth , was equal to any amount of woodland toil ; and Alfgar , who was , as we have said , deeply attached to his companion , felt proud of his younger brother , as he delighted to call him , and Bertric loved to be called so . Alfgar trusted some day to have a yet better claim to the title .