Godwin said that the attempt, were he to make it, would endanger his own life without saving that of the fugitive.

The country, he said, was all in arms.

The peasantry, emboldened by the late victory obtained by the Saxon army, were every where rising; and although it was not far to the Severn, yet to attempt to reach the river while the country was in such a state of excitement would be a desperate undertaking.

They would almost certainly be intercepted; and, if intercepted, their exasperated captors would show no mercy, Godwin said, either to him or to his guide.
Among the other inducements which Ulf offered to Godwin was a valuable gold ring, which he took from his finger, and which, he said, should be his if he would consent to be his guide.

Godwin took the ring into his hand, examined it with much apparent curiosity, and seemed to hesitate.