In the year 871, when Alfred was twenty-two years old, the Danes
invaded various parts of England. Some great battles were fought,
and Alfred's elder brother Ethelred, king of the West Saxons, was
killed. Thus Alfred became king.
The Danes still continued to fight the Saxons, and defeated Alfred
in a long and severe struggle. They took for themselves the northern
and eastern parts of England.
Moreover, Danes from Denmark continued to cross the sea and ravage
the coast of Saxon England. They kept the people in constant alarm.
Alfred therefore determined to meet the pirates on their own element,
the sea. So he built and equipped the first English navy, and in
875 gained the first naval victory ever won by the English.
A few years after this, however, great numbers of Danes from the
northern part of England came pouring into the Saxon lands. Alfred
himself was obliged to flee for his life.
For many months he wandered through forests and over hills to avoid
being taken by the Danes. He sometimes made his home in caves and
in the huts of shepherds and cowherds. Often he tended the cattle
and sheep and was glad to get a part of the farmer's dinner in
pay for his services.
[Illustration: INVASION OF ENGLAND BY THE DANES]
Once, when very hungry, he went into the house of a cowherd and
asked for something to eat. The cowherd's wife was baking cakes
and she said she would give him some when they were done.
"Watch the cakes and do not let them burn, while I go across the
field to look after the cows," said the woman, as she hurried away.
Alfred took his seat on the chimney-corner to do as he was told.
But soon his thoughts turned to his troubles and he forgot about
the cakes.
When the woman came back she cried out with vexation, for the cakes
were burned and spoiled. "You lazy, good-for-nothing man!" she
said, "I warrant you can eat cakes fast enough; but you are too
lazy to help me bake them."
With that she drove the poor hungry Alfred out of her house. In
his ragged dress he certainly did not look like a king, and she
had no idea that he was anything but a poor beggar.