midnight of Christmas Eve
-- My patient was able to sit up for a short time today , but his weakness is very pitiable to behold , and he dares not leave his room . He inquired very earnestly after Alfgar , and I found great difficulty in persuading him to commit the matter to God , which is all that we can do ; for although the river has been dragged , the country searched , no tidings have yet been obtained , and we can only believe that the poor lad has been secretly murdered and buried , or that he has been sent away out of the country . `` I had a strange dream about him , '' said Edmund . `` I thought that it was midnight of Christmas Eve , and that I was attending mass , when , just as the words were sung by the choir , ` Pax in terra , ' the scene suddenly changed , and I stood in the dark on the chalk hills which overlook the Solent ; by my side was a beacon ready laid for firing . I thought next I saw the Solent covered with the warships of the Danes , who were advancing towards the English shore , and that I tried to fire the beacon , but all in vain , for the wood was wet through , and would not burn . `` Then I had a strange sense of woe and desolation , for my country was in danger , and I could not even warn her . All at once I heard steps rushing towards me , and Alfgar appeared bearing a lighted torch .